Evergreen Groundcover - Baltic Ivy

The Baltic ivy is a fast evergreen ground cover that not only adds interest to your yard and gardens it also is a good way to prevent erosion.   The leaves on this ivy are blue-green with white veins making this ivy eye-appealing when grown in rock gardens, and on walls and it is very attractive cascading down the sides of a container.   

  

Planting Tips for Baltic Ivy

Plant Baltic ivy in the spring after the danger of frost has passed.  If you intend on planting the ivy in masses, then it is best to purchase them as a bare root.   I bought my Baltic ivy as a bare root and I got more plants for less money because I was a member at greenwoodnursery.com  

Planting a bare root does require a longer rooting and growing time.  On average it took 14 days for the leaves to form on my plants.  Now if you going to plant the Baltic ivy in a feature garden or in a container garden then it is best to buy a nursery-grown plant. 

Ivy grew by patio table

Choose a garden site that has rich soil, good drainage, and sun to partial shade.  If your summers are Hot, temperatures in the mid 90’s to 100’s partial shade in the afternoon would benefit the Baltic ivy.

Hydrate the bare roots by filling a pan with tepid water.  Set the roots into the pan of water and allow them to hydrate for an hour before planting. 

Get Garden Site Ready

1. Loosen a track of soil along the foundation wall or the back border of your rock garden. 
2. Remove the grass, weeds, and rocks. Work a generous amount of compost into the soil. 
3. Plant the ivy bare roots in a hole that will accommodate their root up to the stem.  
4. Firm the soil around the stem.  
5. Plant a nursery-grown ivy the same depth as their nursery container. Space the plants ten inches apart.  
6. Water so the soil is evenly moist.

Care for Baltic Ivy

Apply two inches of mulch around the ivy. The mulch will help to control moisture and will reduce weed growth.

Water the ivy in the morning so that the soil is moist but not wet.   

Here are some of my photographs of Baltic Ivy. The photos below show you the quality of the plants that I bought online at greenwoodnursery.com  Know I have enjoyed the ivy for the last ten years.

Baltic Ivy stays green in winter

Tips:

1. Climbing comes naturally to the ivy, in a few weeks you will see vigorous branching.
2. Feed the ivy in early spring with a water-based fertilizer like miracle grow.
3. Add Baltic ivy to containers, and window boxes. The green leaf with the white veining will accent the flowers. 
4. When the flowers die off the ivy will add color to your containers throughout the winter.
5. Grow Baltic ivy in zones 5-6-7-8. 
6. When the Baltic ivy is mature the height will be 12 inches.  

Garden Idea:

In the autumn, plant yellow daffodils mixed with red tulips in front of the ivy. The backdrop of the Baltic ivy will look beautiful when the flowers bloom in spring.

Grow Persian Silk Tree from Seed

 

The Albizia julibrissin silk tree is commonly referred to as the Persian silk tree or the mimosa tree.  Many homeowners grow this ornamental tree for the fern-like leaves and the showy fragrant flowers.

The flowers bloom in early summer and are rose pink tipped with red. These flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.  The Persian silk tree will accent your landscape beautifully with its eye-appealing greenery and exotic flowers.

Grow the Persian silk tree from seed , when seed in planted in the fall it will grow two feet by the end of the following summer. This fast growing tree can reach the height of 25 to 40 feet within 10 years and is a good landscape tree for shade.

Growing the Persian silk tree is easy provided you have a way to get the seeds. The best way to get the seeds is to ask a neighbor who grows the tree for a seedpod, most homeowners are eager to give away the seeds because if the seeds are left on the tree and they fall to the ground the seedlings will germinate quickly and this is how the tree becomes invasive.   

Harvesting Persian Silk tree Seeds

Allow the seedpods to dry out on the tree.  When they are ripe and ready for harvesting the outer shell will be dark beige.  Collect the seedpods from the tree and lay them out on a paper towel.  Break open the seedpod and remove the brown seed.  Set the seed in an envelope for fall or spring planting.

Planting Silk Tree Seeds

Plan to plant the seeds in spring or late summer.  If you plant in late summer do allow 6 weeks before hard frost.

Plant seeds in a container or in the ground.  Many times I will grow seeds in a container and put the container in the greenhouse over the winter. Come spring the seedlings are approximately 12 to 18 inches in height and ready to be transplanted into the yard. 

 Another way to plant the silk tree seeds is to sow them into well-drained acidic soil with a PH of 4.6 to 5.0.  Silk trees grow best in full sun to partial shade.  If you plant more than one silk tree space the trees 20 feet apart.

Get the growing site ready for planting by clearing away the grass.  It is best to clear a circle of 2 feet wide.  By doing this the tree will not be competing with other plants or grass for hydration. 

Work the top 10 inches of the soil with your shovel; loosen the soil so that it is a fine texture.  Amend the soil with compost or manure.   Plant the seed in a hole that is two inches deep.  And water well.  Cover the planting site with organic mulch; pine needles, dried grass clippings, or a thin layer of straw.

Care for Persian Silk Tree

Keep the growing site evenly moist but not wet. Do not allow the soil to dry out as it puts stress on the seedling.  Germination for the seed is 7 to 14 days.

Persian Silk Tree Tips

1. Flowers are high in pollen and may cause people to have an allergic reaction.
2. Leaves will fold inward and appear closed at night and during periods of rain. 
3. Deep rose-colored flowers will bloom mid-summer.
4. Flowers are a good nectar source for honeybees.
5. Grow the Persian Silk Tree in USDA Zone 6a to 10b
6. The seeds can be harvested for livestock feed or for forage for wildlife
7. The Persian silk tree is commonly referred to as the Mimosa in the US. The mimosa tree is related to the silk tree but the flowers are different.
8. When the Seedling is 10 inches tall fertilize the small tree with spray n' grow. 
9. Stake the tree to support it and to help it to grow straight.
10. Helpful to add a mulch ring around the base of the tree to protect it from lawnmowers and trimmers.  

 

Growing Honeysuckle in Missouri: What I’ve Learned From Planting It in My Own Yard

If you’ve ever walked outside on a warm June evening and caught that sweet, nostalgic honeysuckle scent drifting through the air, you already know why so many of us in Southwest Missouri plant it. Honeysuckle is one of those old‑fashioned vines that feels like childhood  fragrant, forgiving, and full of hummingbirds. And once you grow it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t plant it sooner.

Trumpet Honeysuckle attracts hummingbirds

I’ve grown honeysuckle on fences, trellises, and even a stubborn little slope that refused to grow anything else. It’s one of the easiest vines I’ve ever worked with, and it rewards you with blooms from spring straight through summer. If you love wildlife, this plant practically turns your yard into a tiny nature preserve.

Let me walk you through what I’ve learned the good, the practical, and the “keep an eye on this before it takes over your neighbor’s mailbox.”

🌿 Why I Always Recommend Honeysuckle to New Gardeners

There are a lot of vines out there, but honeysuckle is one of the few that checks every box:

• It grows fast (sometimes very fast).
• It smells incredible the kind of fragrance that stops you mid‑walk.
• Hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees treat it like a buffet.
• It handles Missouri heat better than most people I know.
• Once it’s established, it’s surprisingly drought tolerant.
• Deer usually leave it alone, which is a blessing if you live outside town.

And with more than 150 varieties, you can pick your personality: white, pink, yellow, coral, or deep red.

Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

🌿 Choosing the Right Honeysuckle (Because Not All Are Created Equal)

Here’s something I wish someone had told me early on: some honeysuckles behave beautifully, and others behave like they’re trying to take over the county.

My favorite well‑behaved varieties:

• Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens): Coral or red blooms, hummingbird magnet, not invasive.
• Late Dutch Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’): Purple‑pink blooms with cream centers and wonderful fragrance.

The one to be careful with:

• Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica): The wild one you see in ditches. Beautiful, but it spreads aggressively if you don’t keep it in check.

If you want fragrance without the fight, stick with trumpet honeysuckle.

🌿 Where Honeysuckle Grows Best

Honeysuckle isn’t picky, but it does have preferences:

• Full sun for the most blooms.
• Well‑drained soil to keep the roots happy.
• Something to climb: trellises, chain‑link fences, arbors, mailboxes, or rock walls.

If you’ve got an ugly fence you want to hide, honeysuckle will do the job faster than anything else I’ve planted.

Late Dutch Honeysuckle

🌿 How I Prepare the Planting Area

I treat honeysuckle like I treat tomatoes: give it a good start, and it will take care of itself later.

• Clear out grass, weeds, and rocks.
• Loosen the soil with a shovel.
• Mix in compost

Natural Aphids Insect Control

Stop aphids from sucking the life out of your plants with natural insect control.  Aphids are a garden insect that eat the sap from leaves and stems of plants. The best way to determine if your garden is infected with aphids is to examine the backside of  plant leaves for a very small (1/18 inch) pear shaped bug that may be green, black or red in color. 

Look closely at the leaves of your plants, and if you see white or light green dots, all over the backside of the leaf then this is an indication that these annoying little aphids are sucking the sap from your plant.  It is best to act fast in killing the aphids as they are very destructive.  

You can kill aphids with a  commercial insecticide or you can remove pests from your garden naturally with ladybugs. If you choose natural ladybugs for the removal of aphids then you can achieve this method of pest control by attracting the ladybug to your garden naturally or by buying ladybugs.  

 Ladybugs are small beetles. They are about the size of a pea and come in bright colors such as red and orange with black dots. This little beetle is a natural way to control various insects in your yard and garden. 

Purchase starter ladybugs at your garden supply center. For a medium size garden, you will need 1500 ladybugs. Release the ladybugs into your garden to control spider mites, aphids, whiteflies, and scale insects. Keep the ladybugs in your yard by planting nectar or pollen-producing flowers; marigold, sunflower, garden mint, fennel, dill, fern-leaf yarrow, coneflowers, bee balm and white daisies.   

Water your gardens daily so that your ladybug will have access to hydration from the droplets of water on the leaves. Also, add a water feature or a birdbath to your garden. Check the water in the birdbath or water feature daily.  Clean the water by removing debris; feathers, leaves and then fill the birdbath with fresh clean water. Keep the ladybug in your garden all year round by providing a comfortable winter area. Ladybugs winter under rocks, leaves, bark and hedges. 

Tips

• Ladybugs are a must for organic gardeners
• Some ladybugs are harmful to specific crops, such as beans, melons squash. They are The Mexican beetle This beetle has an elongated body and the colors are the same as the ladybug.

 

Grow Lobelia Cardinal Flower

Lobelia commonly called cardinal flower is an orchid-like red wildflower that is native to the woodland areas in North America.

I first discovered this woodland flower while hiking in the valley just bellow the ridge where our home resides. The flower was growing close to the banks of a stream and I noted that it attracted butterflies and the red throat hummingbirds.  I used a spoon to loosen the soil around the stem.  The roots were close to the soil surface and the plant was easy to dig up.  I quickly returned home so that I could transplant the Lobelia cardinal flower to my garden. I planted the cardinal flowers to the back border of my part sun to shade garden.  The following year I had many cardinal flowers blooming in my garden.  The one plant self seeded and I also planted additional seeds in spring.
 

Cardinal flower looks good growing in the back border of your garden as the stems can reach the height of 3 to 4 feet.  You can also grow it with assorted wildflowers in a woodland setting.  Flowers bloom in late summer and will continue to bloom well into autumn or until the end of season frost.

Cardinal flower growing along stream: Wikipedia commons

Where to Grow
Grow cardinal flower in zones 3 to 8.  Choose a garden site that has sun to part shade.  Also select an area where the soil is evenly moist but not wet. 
 
When to Plant
Plant the seeds outside in May or June when the ground warms to 74 degrees.

Planting
Get the garden site ready for planting. Remove the sod, weeds and all debris.  Loosen the soil to one foot.  Break up the clumps of soil so that soil is fine.

Planting Seed in Masses: 
Mix the seeds with compost or manure.  Place the compost in a wheelbarrow and add water.  The compost should be moist, not wet.  Mix the seeds into the compost.   Add other wildflower seeds to the compost if you are planting a prairie garden.

Scoop up the compost and place it on the soil.  Rake the compost into the fine soil. Cover the seeds with soil to the depth of a half inch.

Planting Seeds for Small Gardens:
Use the eraser end of a pencil to dig holes in the soil that are a half inch deep.  Space the seeds a foot apart.  Set the seed in the center of the hole and cover the hole with the soil.

Care for Lobelia Cardinal Flowers:
Apply a thin layer of grass clippings or mulch around the plant stems.  This organic mulch will aid in retaining moisture and will deter weed growth. Water the cardinal flower every morning with a dripline irrigation or with a soaker hose.

Tips

• Keep the soil evenly moist.  Water the cardinal flowers twice a day in the morning and late afternoon when the temperature exceeds 90 degrees. Keeping the soil evenly moist will ensure that your flowers are healthy. 
• Do not allow the ground to dry out. 
• When seeds start to sprout, and are three to four inches in height you can transplant them by spacing eighteen inches apart, or leave them to grow in masses.
• Refrain from weeding during growing season, as you may remove new growth.
• Companion plants that I like grown with the cardinal flower: Blue Lobelia and Golden Ragwort.  I like the contrast of the colors blue, yellow and red. 

Introduction Image Credit by US Fish and Wildlife Services