Latest news with #plantlovers
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Houseplant clinic: what kind of pots should I put my plants in?
What's the problem? I'm not sure which pots are better than others, or whether I can just leave my plants in their plastic nursery pots. Diagnosis Nursery pots – the plastic containers plants are often sold in – are typically designed for short-term use and can easily crack. Although choosing the right pot for your plants is about more than just aesthetics, I believe every plant deserves a great pot, the same way as a piece of art is enhanced by a great frame. A good pot can elevate your plant. Prescription If your plants are thriving, you can keep them in nursery pots. But consider repotting if they show signs of being rootbound, growth is slowing or water isn't draining properly. Terracotta pots are porous, promoting airflow and moisture evaporation. These work well for plants that don't like overwatering, such as cacti. Plastic or glazed ceramic pots are good for plants that need more moisture retention, such as ferns. Make sure your pots have drainage holes. Prevention You should never repot more than one pot size up. If the pot is too big for your plant, the soil will hold on to too much water, causing root rot.
ABC News
25-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Plant Profile
SERIES 36 | Episode 13 Jane looks at the popular house plant, Peperomia. There are more than 1400 species around the world, including some native to Queensland and NSW, and many cultivars and hybrids to choose from. They are related to the Piper plants that produce black pepper seeds. COMMON NAME/S Baby rubber plant or peperomia. BOTANICAL NAME Peperomia spp. and cv. ORIGIN Australia, southern Asia, Africa, South and Central America. HABIT Small, semi-succulent herbs. FEATURES Interesting foliage with a range of colours, patterns and textures. USES Will grow outdoors in subtropics and tropics; indoor plant in cooler climates. BEST CLIMATE/POSITION Dappled light in tropical gardens; bright indoor light in cooler climates. PREFERRED SOIL Requires good drainage. PROPAGATION Leaf cuttings, pups. POTENTIAL PROBLEMS Frost sensitive; overwatering will cause root rot. Featured Peperomias VARIEGATED BABY RUBBER PLANT Peperomia obtusifolia 'Albo Marginata' RIPPLE PEPEROMIA Peperomia caperata 'Burgundy' Peperomia albovittata 'Rana Verde'
Irish Times
24-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Irish Times
Six easy tips for making your garden planters last all summer in Ireland
Who doesn't, I ask you, love a properly sumptuous, decadently lush display of summer containers, with all its fleeting, peacock-ish beauty and promises of long, lazy, sunny days. Few things we do in the garden can so quickly pack a powerful visual punch, as well as an emotional one, reconnecting us with childhood memories of sun-kissed terracotta pots filled with scarlet geraniums, and trailing lipstick-pink petunias spilling out of hanging baskets. Concocting and then caring for these limelight-hogging creations so that they stay the pace throughout the summer months is, however, an art akin to making the perfect baked Alaska. Get it wrong and you'll end up feeling downcast. But get it right and your summer pots will be the envy of all who see them. 1. Containers Let's start with the containers themselves. The first rule here, for many good reasons, is the bigger, the better. Larger pots not only offer much more room for hungry, thirsty root systems (many summer bedding plants are notorious guzzlers in this regard), but they also provide much more of an opportunity to create a truly eye-catching display. Better again, they're also less likely to dry out or become waterlogged. Zinc is non-porous as well as being versatile and beautiful. Photograph: iStock Also choose carefully when it comes to the type of material. Both natural terracotta and wood, for example, have a timeless elegance but are porous, so be prepared to put in more hours of watering on warm, sunny days. That's not the case with zinc, which is non-porous as well as being both versatile and beautiful, especially if you can get your hands on some vintage planters (stockists include ). READ MORE Plastic, on the other hand, runs the risk of looking cheap and cheerful. Yet it also has the great advantage of being both non-porous and lightweight (important if it's going to be on a balcony or roof garden, where every kilogramme counts), plus you can give containers a clever upgrade by painting them in the colour of your choice. 2. Shape Shape is another consideration. Too shallow, for example, and containers are prone to drying out. Too tall, and they're vulnerable to blowing over. Too much of a mix and it looks restless. 3. Compost Just like choosing good quality ingredients for a recipe, your growing medium of choice is also crucial. Don't, for example, be tempted to reuse old, spent compost from last year's containers, which won't be capable of sustaining strong healthy plant growth. Likewise, beware of cheap, coarse, poor-quality compost that offers little in the way of nutrients. Instead, try your best to source a good-quality multipurpose compost, ideally peat-free for environmental reasons (I like Klasmann's peat-free potting compost, which is available to order online from Cork-based and Sligo-based ). Then add a handful or two of a good quality, slow-release organic fertiliser into it before planting, making sure to incorporate this well to avoid scorching vulnerable root systems. Peat-free compost. Photograph: Alamy/PA 4. Plants As for your choice of plants – the most important ingredients of all – there are a couple of cardinal rules worth bearing in mind. Firstly, if going for a mixed display of different varieties, make sure they all enjoy similar growing conditions. There's not much point, for example, in planting dahlias (a hungry, thirsty, fast-growing, heat- and sun-loving genus of plants) alongside ferns, which typically prefer shade and cooler conditions. Likewise, don't try to kid yourself that a container filled with sun-loving, drought-tolerant bedding plants is going to thrive in a cool, shady corner. Far better to plant appropriately, choosing species that will naturally flourish in the conditions your garden or allotment can offer them. 'Less is more' is another good rule of thumb, especially when it comes to the number of different species or varieties of plant. Choose just one single variety of dahlia, nemesia, pelargonium, ornamental salvia or nicotiana, for example, and it's guaranteed to create a visually powerful, long-lasting display, as well as one whose simplicity makes it easier to tend. 5. Colours The same goes for your chosen colour palette. Restrict it to three or two colours, or even just one, and you automatically up your chances of producing a memorably beautiful display. This could be a combination of scarlet dahlias and petunias, or a massed display of just one single variety of cosmos, calibrachoa, nemesia, diascia, begonia, bedding fuchsia, or pelargonium. What's key is to focus on long-flowering, floriferous, high-octane species like these that earn their keep by performing well over a long period of time. A summer container filled with Nemesia 'Peach' beside containers filled with Coleus 'Campfire' and Aeonium 'Zwartkop'. Photograph: Richard Johnston Don't overlook the all-important power of a few high-value foliage plants in knitting it all together. Coleus, for example, is available in a mouthwatering range of colours, as are varieties of heuchera and heucherella, while the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, can be used to quickly make a tall, dramatic display of vividly colourful foliage. Other hardworking foliage plants for summer containers include the silver-leaved Helichrysum petiolare, and Plectranthus argentatus. Bear in mind that contrasting forms and different growth habits also make for a more interesting display. Placing, for example, a trailing plant next to one with a strongly vertical habit is always going to be pleasing to the eye. 6. The essentials Last but not least, don't forget the essentials, which are to keep your pots watered (but not sodden); to zealously protect them from slug damage; to faithfully deadhead; and to start liquid feeding them every fortnight from midsummer onwards, ideally using a good-quality liquid seaweed. The rest is in the lap of the gods. This week in the garden Grab the chance to hand-weed and hoe weeds away from paths and beds while they're still young and small and relatively easy to manage. Choose a dry, warm day to help ensure they'll quickly die off, rather than rerooting. Sustained dry weather can cause plant stress due to lack of moisture in the soil, so protect newly planted trees and shrubs by watering generously and then spreading an organic mulch around the surface of the soil to lock in moisture and slow down evaporation. Grass clippings are ideal for this purpose. Dates for your diary May 29th-June 2nd: Ireland's biggest and best-known gardening show, Bord Bia Bloom, returns to the Phoenix Park, Dublin, with 21 show gardens; 11 postcard gardens; a host of floristry and nursery displays, including one from Kells Bay Gardens, which recently exhibited at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show; a new Botanical Hub Demo area; an Ask the Expert Plant Clinic, presented by The Irish Garden magazine; an Ask the Expert Tree Clinic in association with Crann; a Garden Design Clinic in association with the GLDA; plus talks by well-known gardening experts including Adam Frost, Leonie Cornelius, Jimi Blake, Mary Keenan, Diarmuid Gavin, Fiann Ó Nualláin, and Bloom Judges Andrew Wilson, Mark Gregory, Karen Foley, Paul Maher and Feargus McGarvey.
Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Six gardening trends from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025
It's easy to fall in love with a plant, a garden or an idea at the Chelsea Flower Show. But love, especially here, can be fickle. This is because Chelsea is theatre. The clue is in the name: these are show gardens that strive for perfection. Real life isn't like that but that doesn't mean that you can't get some 'take home' ideas. Here are the main trends spotted this week. Rocks were everywhere and came in all shapes and sizes. Some were part of natural-looking landscapes but most were very much 'garden rocks'. They were used as seating, tables, pools, birdbaths and dotted about as what can only be called 'accent rocks'. Some were real, some fake but looked so real you never would
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Five houseplants to add to your home if you hate dusting – and one of them is just £9 from Wilko right now
WE'VE all got our preferred methods of dusting our homes, but did you know certain houseplants can lessen the load when it comes to banishing dust? Many houseplants can catch and hold onto airborne dust particles, which is great news for plant lovers and homeowners. 2 2 The plants do this by pulling in the dust like magnets, from the air and onto their leaves. So, which plants work best for this? S pider plant If you're looking for a low maintenance plant that's easy to find and take care of, the spider plant is the best choice for you. It's great choice for pet owners too, because it's not toxic and resilient to all kinds of conditions. The plant also thrives in indirect sunlight, but you will need to wipe the collected dust from the leaves to ensure it can photosynthesise. Additionally, they absorb nitrogen dioxide which can help to keep the air circulating your home clean and fresh. Snake plant The snake plant is renowned for being succulent, which means it's super easy to look after. It's a great choice for keeping air inside clean and fresh as it releases oxygen into the air whilst removing other toxins. Meanwhile, researchers at Harvard University found it to be one of the most oxygen-producing houseplants, helping you to breathe and sleep better. Better yet, you can pick up this plant for just £9.99 from Wilko right now, making it budget-friendly too. English Ivy If you frequently dye your hair at home, then it's worth investing in an English Ivy plant. I pinky promise you'll have happy houseplants if you avoid the 'gap of death' that's killing them – fixing it is easy That's because it helps to reduce the levels of chemicals, but this plant is toxic for pets so should be avoided by pet owners. The plant is pretty easy to look after though, and needs water and sunlight every day. Peace Lily The peace lily is an ideal plant to be kept in the bedroom as it has a high transpiration rate meaning that when watered, it helps to bring moisture back into the room. However, the bad news is it's toxic to pets and needs a bit more TLC, as it requires morning sunlight only, misting and damp soil. Aloe Vera When you think of aloe vera, chances are its skin-soothing benefits instantly spring to mind. However, it turns out it's also very effective in removing toxins from the air. Aloe Vera plants are great for places like kitchens, so they can banish airborne chemicals found in detergents. HOME insurance experts at Norton Insurance Brokers have identified five popular plants, including wisteria, bamboo, and ivy, that, while visually appealing, are increasingly linked to costly structural issues, rising premiums, and rejected insurance claims. Wisteria - Hidden structural threats and denied claims for water damage Bamboo - Spreading roots linked to floorboard damage and legal disputes English Ivy - Aerial roots prying into mortar and impacting building integrity Tall Trees - Subsidence risk and invalidated policies due to proximity Jasmine - Damp and mould caused by overgrowth near vents and brickwork
