All you need to know about planting, propagating and caring for sunflowers, with tips on the best varieties to grow. Expert advice from BBC Gardeners' World Magazine.
If you enjoygrowing flowers, it can be especially rewarding to cut long-stemmed beauties in your own garden and use them in attractive bouquets. Showy flowers on long stems are also a great addition to a blooming garden, especially when you plant different types together for mixed color. You ...
Severe pruning takes roses to 6 to 10 inches in height and three to five canes. It's ideal for long-stemmed flowers like classic hybrid teas or to refresh any older plants that aren't performing well. Remember that some varieties may not bloom well right after being cut back this much....
Use fine, dry sand and gently bury the flowers in a deep box, being careful not to crush the petals. Keep the flowers in a cool, dry area for about two to three weeks. This method is ideal for flowers with a lot of detail, like roses or peonies. The sand supports the flowers as...
Pruning Climbing Roses M. Long/Moment/GettyImages Climbing roses, despite their common name, do not climb on their own. They must be attached to a support to rise. Climbing roses grow differently than other types of rose plants. The blossoms on your climbing roses appear on the side branches...
Receiving a single stem rose implies that you are the only one. Three roses stand for “I love you.” Eleven stems express the thought “I am the missing stem to make the dozen perfect.” Three-dozen long-stemmed roses mean “My heart belongs to you.”...
which are chemicals that kill bacteria. The bacteria are created from the sap that seeps out of the cut stem. The bacteria grow fast plugging the xylem tubes needed to draw the water. Flower preservatives also contain acid and sugar. The acid helps move the water up the stem. The sugar ...
This group includes roses like Knock Out, which create color blocks of bloom almost all season and require almost no care. It’s also the place to look for some of the most cold-hardy roses for northern gardens, such as the Canadian Explorer Series. Even gardeners mostly interested in ...
Planting bulbs in the fall all but guarantees a beautiful garden come springtime. Here's how to plant bulbs both outside and inside, and the tools you'll need.
Thinning multi-stemmed shrubs, by removing the oldest stems each year, will maintain size and keep the plant vigorously blooming on new stems. If the shrubs are overgrown, cut them down to 3 or 4 inches for a fresh start. A drastic procedure for problem plants, this technique is called "...