Gardenia

Gardenias are waxy, white and very fragrant flowers Gardenias are one of the most popular exotic flowers

Gardenias are native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania. This species can be difficult to grow elsewhere because it demands high humidity to thrive and bright (not direct) light. Some types of gardenias can be grown as houseplants.

Kingdom – Plantae

Division -Magnoliophyta

Class -Magnoliopsida

Order  -Gentianales

Family -Rubiaceae

Genus -Gardenia

Gardenias symbolize purity and sweetness. They indicate secret love. They convey joy. They tell the receiver “you are lovely”.

ome Interesting Facts About Gardenias

• Gardenias are grown for their beautiful foliage and they make great cut flowers.
• Gardenias flowers from about mid-spring to mid-summer, i.e., May through July
• Many of the gardenia species are strongly scented.
• The genus Gardenia is named after Alexander Garden, a physician in Charleston of South Carolina.
• Gardenias can be used as screens, hedges, borders or ground covers.
• In France, Gardenia is the traditional flower which men wear as boutonnieres.
• The most popular cultivated species is the Cape jasmine, native to China.
• Each gardenia flower is followed by 6-sided berries of rich orange-red with long, elegant stems.
• Gardenia thunbergia produces a woody fruit which has hard, angular seeds inside.

About Gardenia Flower and Plant

Gardenias are very fragrant creamy-white flowers with glossy, dark-green leaves. Gardenia flowers are solitary or in small clusters, white or pale yellow. The gardenia flowers are with a tubular-based corolla with 5-12 lobes petals from 5-12 cm diameter.

Gardenia plants are evergreen shrubs and small trees growing to 1-15 m tall. The Gardenia plant leaves are opposite or in whorls of three or four. They are dark green and glossy 5-50 cm long and 3-25 cm broad, with a leathery texture. They are simple, entire, hairless, with wavy margin.

 

Growing Gardenias

• Gardenia plants need high humidity.
• A loose, well-drained organic soil is recommended.
• For best results plant gardenias in full sun, partial shade, or shifting shade.
• Dig a hole twice the size of the root ball.
• Thoroughly mix one part soil and one part planting mix.
• Check that the top of the original root ball is slightly above the level of the surrounding soil.
• Take the soil mixture and make a gentle mound of soil sloping away from the plant so that the water drains away from the trunk.
• Remove any air pockets, if present.
• Water the plant with a root stimulator.

Gardenia Care

• Do not over-water gardenias.
• Fertilize with an acid fertilizer.
• Check for aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, thrips and scales.
• Also check gardenia plants for bud drop, a common ailment.

Sweet Pea

Did you know? Currently, almost every cultivar of the sweet pea is available in international markets, except yellow.

 

Sweet pea is a plant native to the Mediterranean region. Since they are annual climbers and grow in a wide spectrum of colors, they grow for a long period of time, and are the first choice for individual cut flowers and/or exquisite floral decorations.

Kingdom – Plantae

Division – Magnoliophyta

Class – Magnoliopsida

Order – Fabales

Family – Fabaceae

Subfamily – Faboideae

Tribe – Vicieae

Genus – Lathyrus

Species – odoratus

All sweet pea flower varieties are not fragrant, but the ones that are, live up to their namesake. This particular strain of flowers contains up to 160 species.

One must keep a constant eye on the flower throughout its lifespan, as it is prone to all kinds of pests and insects. Unlike the edible pea, seeds of this flower are not edible, and are known to cause toxicity.

Growing Sweet Peas

•  Choose a site in full sun with rich, well-drained soil.
• Sweet Pea vines need full sun and rich, well drained soil.
• Work in some compost before planting. Sweet Pea seeds should be sown directly where it is to grow.
• Soak seeds overnight then plant about an inch deep and 3-4 inches apart.
• Water thoroughly after planting, then restrict water until seeds germinate.
• Fertilize every two to four weeks, or work in a slow-release fertilizer at planting time. Sweet peas are heavy feeders.
• The Sweet Pea plant benefits from deadheading, but leave a few flowers at the end of theseason to seed for next year.

Sweet Pea Plant Care

• Plant Sweet Peas in an area that gets good air circulation.
• Water early in the day so the leaves are dry by nightfall; wet leaves are a magnet for fungus.
• Do not over fertilize or you’ll wind up with very deep green leaves but few flowers.
• Alternatively,organic fertilizers are also excellent for Sweet Peas. Additional mulching with composted manure will help retain soil moisture and provide nutrients for strong plant growth and flowering.
• If the blooms are not cut regularly, deadhead the plant as soon as flowers fade. Allowing the plant to produce seedpods will reduce overall flower production.
• Removing spent blooms will ensure more blooms.
• Do not grow sweet peas where other legumes are growing or grew last year.

Gifting Tip

Sweet Pea is the most popular gifting option world over, but don’t let this deter you into thinking that it will be a common gifting idea. Due to its availability in numerous colors and its ability to be styled into any kind of floral arrangement, it has immense scope for original, innovative arrangements every time.

Rose

Roses for the longest time have enjoyed the honor of being the most popular flowers in the world. The reason for popularity of the rose flower may be its wide variety in terms of color, size, fragrance and other attributes.

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:Magnoliophyta

Class:Magnoliopsida

Order:Rosales

Family:Rosaceae

Subfamily:Rosoideae

Genus:Rosa

The rose has been a symbol of love, beauty, even war and politics from way back in time. The variety, colour and even number of Roses carry symbolic meanings. The Rose is most popularly known as the flower of love, particularly Red Rose.

Roses have been the most popular choice of flowers for the purpose of gifting across the world. They also act as a great addition to home and office decor. A bunch of roses or even a single rose works wonders aesthetically and considerably enlivens a place. Besides fresh cut roses, artificial flowers like silk roses in different colors are also widely used as decoration.

Some Interesting Facts About Roses

• The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia, on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia.
• Historically, the oldest Rose fossils have been found in Colorado, dating back to more than 35 million years ago.
• Roses were considered the most sacred flowers in ancient Egypt and were used as offerings for the Goddess Isis. Roses have also been found in Egyptian tombs, where they were formed into funeral wreaths.
• Confucius, 551 BC to 479 BC, reported that the Imperial Chinese library had many books on Roses.
• Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia (in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley) mentioned Roses in a cuneiform tablet (a system of writing) written in approximately 2860 BC.
• The English were already cultivating and hybridizing Roses in the 15th Century when the English War of Roses took place. The winner of the war, Tudor Henry VII, created the Rose of England (Tudor Rose) by crossbreeding other Roses.
• While no Black Rose yet exists, there are some of such a deep Red color as to suggest Black.
• Roses are universal and grown across the world.
• The Netherlands is the world’s leading exporter of Roses.

The Netherlands, with about 8000 hectares of land under Rose cultivation, is the global leader in Rose cultivation. 54 per cent (about 5000 hectares) of the cultivated land in Ecuador is under Rose cultivation!! Zambia, a small nation, had 80 per cent of its cultivated land under Roses.

Classification of Roses

Broadly, Roses are divided into three classes-

Species Roses

Species Roses are often called Wild Species Roses. Species Roses often have relatively simple, 5-petaled flowers followed by very colorful hips that last well into the winter, providing food for birds and winter color.

The most popular Rose species for sale today is Rosa rugosa owing to its superior hardiness, disease resistance, and extremely easy maintenance. Species roses are widely hybridized. Wild Species Roses include many different varieties. Wild Species Roses usually bloom once in the summer.

Old Garden Roses

Old Garden Roses have a delicate beauty and wonderful perfume, not often found in modern hybrid tea roses. Old Garden Roses are a diverse group from the those with a wonderful fragrance and great winter hardiness to the tender and lovely tea roses, which are best suited for warm climates.

Old Garden Roses comprise a multifaceted group that in general are easy to grow, disease-resistant and winter-hardy. Old Garden Roses grow in several shrub and vine sizes. Although colors do vary, this class of Roses are usually white or pastel in color. These “antique Roses” are generally preferred for lawns and home gardens. Several groupings of Roses classified as Old Garden Roses are China Roses, Tea Roses, Moss Roses, Damask Roses, Bourbon Roses, etc.

Modern Roses

Any Rose identified after 1867, is considered a Modern Rose.

Old Garden Roses are the predecessors of Modern Roses. This group of Roses are very popular. The Modern Rose is the result of crossbreeding the hybrid tea with the polyanthus (a variety of primrose).

The colors of Modern Roses are varied, rich and vibrant. The most popular roses found in the class of Modern Roses are the Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, and Grandiflora Roses. Although Modern Roses are adored by florists and gardeners, they do require proper care, and do not adapt well to colder environments.

Popular Hybrid Varieties of Roses

Species Involved	Hybrid Product
Hybrid Perpetual Rose and Chinese Tea Rose	Hybrid Tea Rose
Hybrid Perpetual Rose and Australian Brier Rose	Yellow Permet Rose
R. multiflora and R. chinensis	Hybrid/Dwarf Polyanthas or Poly Pompon roses
Hybrid Tea Rose and Floribundas	Grandifloras
R. wichuriana, R. multiflora & Hybrid Tea Rose	Dorothy Perkins, American Pillar, Excelsa
R. canina and R. gallica	Albas
R. phoenica and R. gallica	Damaskas Rose
R. damascena and R. alba	Centifolia Rose
Autumn Damask Rose and China Rose	Bourbons

Growing Roses

• Roses may be grown in any well-drained soil with optimum sunlight.
• Most Rose varieties are grown by budding on an understock (lower portion of a plant) propagated from seeds or cuttings. Order rose seeds online and let your garden be filled with the marvellous color and fragrance of roses.
• Clay soils, warm temperatures are always preferred, and the rose plants grow best when not set among other plants.
• Cow manure is the preferred fertilizer for Rose cultivation, but other organic fertilizers, especially composts, are also used.
• Rose plants usually require severe pruning, which must be adapted to the intended use of the flowers.
• Trim off all broken and bruised roots on the Rose plant, cut top growth back to 6 to 8 inches.
• Dig planting holes at least 6 inches deeper to accommodate the roots of the Rose plant without crowding or bending.
• Mix 1 tablespoonful of fertilizer with the soil placed over the drainage material.
• Cover this mixture with plain soil, bringing the level to desired planting depth.
• Make a mound in the center to receive the Rose plant.
• Set Rose plant roots over this mound, spread the roots, and fill in with soil.
• Firm the soil tightly 2 or 3 times while filling the hole.

It is extremely easy to buy rose plants online if you do not wish to go to the trouble of actually planting one. They usually come with a care manual and some plant food. An already flowering plant in a lovely container also makes a great gift item. The blooms stay longer and after they fade there is always the next flowering, thus providing the receiver with a lasting and beautiful gift.

Noisette Roses are the only Roses that originated in the United States of America.

Rose Plant Care

• When watering Roses, soak the soil to a depth of 6 to 8 inches, do not merely sprinkle.
• When it comes to fertilizing your roses, Provide a balanced diet to your roses. See what your plant is deficient in and try to include them in the fertilizer. Timing is also an important part to maximize the benefit of your fertilizer so that the nutrients are available to the plant when it needs it most during the active growing and blooming stage.Order your rose fertilizer now to enhance the vigor of blooming in your roses.
• Mulching during the summer will eliminate weeds amonf Rose plants. Mulches should be applied 2 or 3 weeks before the Roses come into bloom.
• Winter mulching with straw, peat moss, or other material is advisable. This mulch regulates the soil temperature and tempers the effects of freezing and thawing on thr Roses.
• Pull soil up around each Rose plant to a height of about 6 inches after the first frost.

Foolproof Guide to Growing Roses by Field Roebuck is a comprehensive book on growing roses ideal for would-be growers who were always afraid of roses, as well as for gardeners who already grow these beautiful flowers and want to learn more.

Lavender

Spanish Lavender

Lavenders are considered to be one of the versatile flowers in the world. Besides being one of the very sweet smelling flowers and beautiful flowers, lavenders are sought-after for multiple uses, ranging from culinary to medicinal uses.

Kingdom:Plantae

Division:Magnoliophyta

Class:Magnoliopsida

Order:Lamiales

Family:Lamiaceae

Genus:lavandula

The historic use and recognition of lavender is almost as old the history of man. As a herb, lavender has been in documented use for over 2,500 years. In ancient times lavender was used for mummification and perfume by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and people of Arabia. Mention of lavenders can also be found in the Bible, not by the name lavender but rather by the name used at that time – spikenard.

Facts About Lavender Flowers

• The lavenders comprise the genus Lavandula, with about 25-30 species of flowering plants.
• The name “lavender” comes from the Latin “lavare” – to wash, and the botanical name “lavandula” is derived from “livendula” – bluish.
• The native range of lavenders extend across the Canary Islands, North and East Africa, south Europe and the Mediterranean, Arabia, and India.
• Because the cultivated forms of lavenders are planted in gardens world-wide, they are occasionally found growing wild, as garden escapes, well beyond their natural range.
• During the Great Plague in London in the 17th century, it was suggested that a bunch of lavender fastened to each wrist would protect the wearer against the deadly disease.
• Lavenders have a unique fragrance produced by the combination of 180 different constituents and so are widely used in the perfume industry to add a top or middle note to commercial products.
• There are colored lavenders like Yellow, Green, White, Pink lavenders.

Romans used lavender oils for bathing, cooking, and scenting the air, and they most likely gave it the Latin root name (either lavare-to wash or livendula- livid or bluish) from which we derive the modern name. The flower’s soothing ,”tonic” qualities, the insect repellent effects of the strong scent, and the use of the dried plant in smoking mixtures also added to the value placed in the herb by the ancients.

Varieties of Lavenders

French Lavender, English Lavender and Spanish Lavender are the popular varieties of Lavenders.

Common Name	Scientific Name	Description/Uses
Common Lavender	Lavender augustifolia	Raw leaves, petals and flowering tips of lavenders are used as a condiment in salads, soups, stews etc. They provide a very aromatic flavor. An essential oil obtained from these lavender flowers is antihalitosis, powerfully antiseptic, antispasmodic, aromatic, carminative, cholagogue, diuretic, nervine, sedative, stimulant, stomachic and tonic
French Lavender	Lavender stoechas	The flowers, and the essential oil derived from them, are antiasthmatic, antiseptic, antispasmodic, digestive and expectorant. The Lavender oil is used internally to alleviate nausea. Externally, the essential oil is used as an antiseptic wash for wounds, ulcers, sores etc and as a relaxing oil for massage
Spanish Lavender	Lavender stoechas ‘Otto Quast’	Antiseptic and relaxant
English Lavender	Lavender latifolia	English Lavender is much more aromatic and has a far greater delicacy of odour than the French, and the oil fetches ten times the price
Spike/Dutch Lavender	Lavender spica	Its scent contains a hint of spice and camphor in addition to the lavender scent. Spike Lavender is very fragrant and one of the lavenders commonly used for perfume.

Lavender has been extensively used in herbalism. An infusion of lavender is claimed to soothe and heal insect bites. Bunches of lavender are also said to ward off insects. If applied to the temples, lavender oil is said to soothe headaches and used as an aid to sleep.

English lavender grown on my balcony, they have two blooms in this climate annually.

Uses of Lavender

• As an herbal medicine lavender is and has been very widely used. For soothing, relaxing qualities few herbs can be claimed as effective.
• Constituents of the oils found in lavender can treat hyperactivity, insomnia, flatulence, bacteria, fungus, microbial activity on gums, airborne molds.
• Compounds in the plant have even shown promise as a treatment for certain cancers.
• In mice these compounds red against impotence. In a study of men the scent of pumpkin and lavender as the scent found most arousing.
• Ideal for physical and emotional support. Lavender as a whole is an ‘adaptagenic’ essence with a relationship to all Body Systems. It is nicknamed the ultimate ‘first aid in a bottle’ oil. Lavender produces an Anti-Allergic Essential oil, with an inherent antibiotic action.
• It is also an astringent as well as moisturizing to skin. Lavender alleviates aches, pains, and swelling from arthritis to injury to headache. Lavender also alleviates motion sickness.
• According to the German nun Hildegard of Bingen who lived from 1098-1179, lavender “water”, a decoction of vodka, gin, or brandy mixed with lavender, is great for migraine headaches. – sounds good to me, no wonder they Sainted her.
  

Lilac

Aside from Roses, there is no flower as beautiful and aromatic as Lilacs. Of the two, Lilacs have a stronger scent that carries quite a distance. Unfortunately, Lilacs bloom for only a very brief couple of weeks in the spring. To prolong their presence in your yard, grow a variety of Lilacs, including, early, mid and late varieties. With variety and luck, you may be able to see Lilacs in bloom in your yard for up to six weeks. Weather will have a lot to do with how long your blooms last. Once the buds begin to open, pray for a cool dry spell. Once the blooms are over, you still have a nice shade bush, but you have to wait for up to fifty more weeks to see them again.

History

Lilacs in the United States date back to the mid 1750’s. They were grown in America’s first botanical gardens and were popular in New England. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew them in their gardens. Lilac bushes can live for hundreds of years, so a bush planted at that time may still be around. Lilacs originated from Europe and Asia, with the majority of natural varieties coming from Asia. In Europe, lilacs came from the Balkans, France and Turkey.

Where is

the Lilac Capital of the World? Many areas grow them and many have a wide variety in large numbers. But Rochester, N.Y. undoubtedly is the Lilac Capital of the World. It’s love for Lilacs dates back to 1892 when Highland Park horticulturalist John Dunbar planted 20 varieties on the sunny southern slopes of the park. Highland Park in Rochester is the scene of an annual, two week long Lilac Festival ,with over a half a million people attending the event each year. This park has over 500 varieties of lilacs and more than 1200 lilac bushes in the parks’ 155 acres.In addition, many homes and parks in the Rochester area have one or more lilac bushes. If you take a ride along many of the Finger Lakes, you will find thousands of them along the roadside and the sweet smell will come right through your open window.

Cornwall in Ontario, Canada boasts the “City of Lilacs” and rivals Rochester,NY in size of their collection.

Rochester, New Hampshire also calls themselves the “Lilac City”. Lilacs are the state flower.

Did You Know?

There are over 1,000 varieties of Lilacs. They come in several colours, with the most popular being the colour lilac and purple. White and pink are also popular. They also vary widely in size from the small 4 to 8 feet to types those growing up to 30 feet. So there is a variety perfect for your needs.