Question: I saw a plant in my forest that looked like a fern and had colorful leaves. Although I didn't notice them in the summer, early spring. Can you grow this in a shady garden?
A: You probably mean the oriental water lily ( Hydrophyllum virginianum ) , a member of the turnip family that gets its name from its delicate leaves. There are silver spots in the middle of the leaf, and the tips can even have a reddish-purple color. In summer, when the leaves are more or less a solid green, this pretty pattern is absent or weakened. They're probably still in your forest, just blending in with the other green leaves. The white flowers appear around May.
In March, when the fresh leaves appear, it is a spectacle. As far as garden design goes, I wish they were grown more widely as they could be a native counterpart to the Japanese colored fern, but for some reason they are relatively rare in nurseries. Since wild plants propagate from rhizomes and seeds, you can propagate many plants from seed to grow in a forest garden. If you try to keep annual weeds like Japanese wheatgrass in the garden, growth can be vigorous.
Q: How can I keep indoor palms happy? I often see them with brown leaf tips and want to remove them if I try to do it myself.
A: In general, palm trees are difficult to grow well indoors compared to other common houseplants. Although the group is diverse, some species tolerate less favorable conditions than others. It's helpful to know what type of palm tree you have, although I admit that houseplant identification tags are often missing from these lists. Commonly grown palm species include areca palm, lady palm, kentia palm, parlor palm, and fishtail palm. Clemson Cooperative Extension provides basic information on caring for each palm species on its Indoor Palms website .
In general, give palm trees bright light (direct sun is best), light suitable for high temperatures and high humidity. Dry indoor air bothers many houseplants, but a dehumidifier can help. Allow the top mixture to dry slightly before watering, but do not allow the pot to dry out or keep it constantly wet. If the pot is placed on a saucer or in another pot without a drainage hole, be sure to drain it immediately after watering to avoid soaking the roots.
Palms do best when grown in the same size pot for years, although the potting soil itself can be refreshed to remove leftover tap water or unused fertilizer. It is no different from caring for other houseplants, but since palms stick to the pot for a while, gardeners may forget that the flower mix deteriorates over time and needs to be renewed regularly. Potting soil for cacti and sugar plants or anything that provides good drainage will help drain away excess water. When transplanting, pay attention to the same planting depth, as palm trees can only tolerate a planting of five centimeters.
There can be many reasons for yellowing, spotting, or browning of leaves. Low humidity or excessive fertilization can damage leaves or encourage the growth of spider mites, which can damage leaves. On a warm winter day or in the bathtub, termites can soak outside the sheet. Nutrient deficiencies such as potassium (K) can be another cause; In the absence of roots, the plant can extract potassium from old pods and reuse it for young pods. As a result, the lower outer leaves may develop noticeable yellow spots or brown tips as they die.
Lack of light can lead to fruit loss as natural leaf aging occurs over time and even the oldest leaves are affected first. How to distinguish normal leaf fall from potassium deficiency? According to the University of Florida, palm leaves that die due to a deficiency retain a green leaf trachis (the central "midrib" that runs down the middle of the fruit), and the leaves die and take longer to heal. They die completely. and Falling In contrast, normal aging or falling of fruits in low light conditions causes the fruits to brown evenly on the leaf veins and drop relatively quickly.
Florida's fertilizer recommendations for container-grown palms call for an NPK ratio of about 3-1-2, although 2-1-3 is probably as good as the recommended ratio for field-grown palms. Using a fertilizer containing trace elements such as magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe) and boron (B) can at least sometimes help eliminate the deficiency of these elements. All houseplant fertilizers contain no more than the big three: nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
During the growing season, from late spring to early fall, palm trees like to spend time outdoors. When moving them outside, start in partial shade and then gradually give them more sun, but not necessarily full sun. Bring them indoors when the weather cools and place them in the shade in the summer. Summer outdoors improves plants' vitality and allows them to store more energy to sustain life in low light conditions and short days indoors.
The University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Request Extension” to submit questions and photos.
