Heller Greenhouse260-238-4040

I just want a really pretty flower garden with lots of colorful butterflies and no bees, hornets, wasps (and hopefully no ants, ladybugs, and spiders). However, if any bees or hornets are attracted to the same plants as butterflies, what plants would discourage ALL of them from coming around?

Two plants that are butterfly specific are: Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) and multiple cultivars of Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii). However, as you are going to plant these outdoors and this is Mother Nature’s world. There is no way to discourage what you mentioned from visiting aside from paving your yard.

I got too excited about my first attempt at gardening and now the notoriously unpredictable weather in Oklahoma threatens to kill my plants.

I planted mostly herbs along with some strawberry, cayenne pepper and beefsteak tomato plants.

The strawberry plants and most of the herbs are fine, but some of the leaves on the basil, pepper and tomato plants are turning mushy and/or brown or black. I have covered them with buckets and bowls from the house to protect them from the cold, but they still look damaged.

All told, there have been three full days of cold temperatures and this is the fourth. It may be another day until temperatures return to normal. Is there any reason to believe that some or all of my plants will recover from this, or am I totally screwed?

Note: So far there’s no serious damage to the stems, just the some of the leaves near the tops of the plants don’t look so good.
More info: There was only one night where temps dropped below freezing, and that didn’t last long. Even then there was no frost. Mostly it’s just been cold and kind of windy.

The plants are in the ground and have been for about a week. The basil seemed to have spread its roots pretty well and were flourishing before the cold hit.
Thanks for your help, guys. The weather is warmer now and it looks like most of the plants will be fine.

With the exception of a basil plant that lost about 75 percent of its leaves, most of the other plants should get along fine. I’ve removed the buckets and bowls and pinched off any damaged leaves so the plants won’t waste a lot of energy trying to repair them.

It’s encouraging that I was able to save them. Thanks again!

Yup your screwed!
I would wait a few weeks and re-start with healthy looking plants from your local nursery. The tomatoes and peppers I am sure are goners.
Even if they did come back from the roots everything I have read says they won’t be as good as they could have been before the freeze.

Oh yeah and I have heard good things about the arkansas travelers variety of tomatoes.

I do want to share with you my favorite gardening web site.

www.gardenweb.com
They have a Oklahoma gardening forum for us okies to talk to each other.

I live in TN. So, far we have had about 2 weeks of warm weather (60s & 70s) before spring even set in. Last year, our winter ended right around this time also unlike past decade where cold weather ( < 60F) would last through April. So, should I wait a little longer or can I go ahead and start my flower gardening now?

You can start now but the ideal weather will be around a month or month n a half away. I live in southern IN and started planting last week. For your state the zone is April thru or March thru June. I cant tell exactly on the map on the back of this seed pack but it looks like your safe to start planting now.

I live in southern Idaho .I already planted some bulbs in one dog’s grave ,/ They have not or did not come up so I’m a little worried about them. They are in Scruffy’s grave for those of you from Pets-Dogs) and now I’m looking for plants/flowers that will come back year after year. They will be both Scruffy’ss and Liberty’s memorials. It’s get below freezing in the winter here so we have to fact that in this.

Does anyone have any great ideas of what I can plant in their memorials that will come back year after year and get bigger too? One idea I’m playing is rose bushes. Does anyone know of plants that have beautiful flowers to remind me of them at their graveside?I’m open to suggestions.Can anyone please help me out here?

Thank You for all the suggestions with this!

Violas will come back every year and so will Gerbera daisies. Both a fave of mine!

I need to know the following: Is it ok to give a boy flowers, and under what circumstances? Is it ok to give flowers to someone who is in a play/ musical even if they are only a company member? What types of flowers should be avoided for certain circumstances? and any other random flower giving tips.

You can give a boy flowers anytime, but typically they are given as a boutonniere (pin on) for formal/special occasions, for funerals, or as a get well gift. It is ok to give flowers to anyone in the cast/crew. If the person isn’t one of the more prominent members of the company, I would wait until they are off stage at the end of the production.

Here is a link with descriptions of what different flower colors symbolize:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/meaning-of-the-color-of-flowers.html
In general, red is for love and yellow is for friendship.

Poppies might remind people of war as they are commonly used in war memorials and peace demonstrations.

I live in New Orleans, Louisiana and have been wanting to grow my own herbs and small plants. I don’t have experience in gardening whatsoever and I’d like to know what I should start off with and what plants/herbs are good for this climate (hot and humid). I would like to plant something within the next month. What’s good to plant at this time of year?

Oregano is such an easy herb! The benefit is that is can be used for such a wide variety of things, and it is a perennial so it will come back every year!
Other no brainers (and I know this from my own personal experience) is lemon verbena, thyme (lemon thyme as well) rosemary, mint, and lavender, and basil.
I have had some troubles with sage, but maybe it doesn’t like Ohio weather, so the humid/hot might be good for it! Pretty much any herb is workable, just buy from a good source (preferably a farmer’s market) and read any labels. I know having them indoors vs. outdoors makes a difference as well, so what I share is just from having outdoor herbs. (I just dug up the ground, plopped them in, and they lived!)
Good luck!

So this girl invited me to her nutcracker ballet recital and I want to get her flowers for after the show. I kinda like her, but don’t want too be to assertive and such, what kind of flowers should I buy? I was kinda thinking orange/reddish roses, but I think just red seems way too strong. It doesn’t even have to be roses too. Any suggestions? FYI this is highschool. Thanks.

What about a Silverstone Lavender rose that express serenity and love. A subtle way to say “I love you”.

i live in the midwest, northwest indiana, and am looking for an idea of what type of plants i can plant that will come up every year, that can be in the sun most of the time. I have hostas and mini roses, i need something for filler that will come back year after year. I am not really talented with outdoor plants, so any help would be appreciated.

Plants that come up every year are called perennials.
Hostas are perennials and are shade loving plants, although there are a few varieties that can handle a few hours of full sun, those would be the newer introductions. Most Hostas will fry in full sun. Roses, another perennial, reach their maxium bloom potential in ful sun, approx. 6 hours a day. I’m guessing that you don’t have these both planted in the same place, I hope?
Anyway, to answer your question, before deciding what kinds of plants you want to plant you need to find out first what the growing conditions are for that particular area besides that it will be in the sun ‘most of the time." Has the soil there been amended with anything? Is it wet and clay-ey? Rocky? Rich and loose? Most plants have particular soils that they do
best in.
Do you have a way to water these plants or will you be looking for more drought tolerant plants?
In regards to general suggestions, there are many low maintenance perennials to choose from but many have only a few weeks of bloom . To get the most bang for your gardening buck, look for perennials that will bloom mid season (around the middle of June) until frost. My personal favorites are the coneflowers, which now come in many different colors besides the Purple Coneflower that is really pink..:) They’re pretty much drought tolerant, not too picky about soil, birds love their seeds and the clumps can be divided and spread around ever year if you want to extend your gardening dollar even more.
Ornamental grasses are the hottest selling plant sold in new, high-end housing developments for their ease of care.
We have a great group on Yahoo Groups called therookiegardener with alot of experienced and inexperienced gardeners who like to share their projects and advice. Would love to have you.

I have just moved into a house with a very neglected garden and we are making plans for what to plant for next summer. I want to plant lavender, buddlia and lavateria (have already put the lavender plants in) but is there anything else that will attract lots of butterflies and bees?

Bees love herbs and cotoneaster.

I have cotoneaster horizontalis in my garden, most years it’s covered in bees, then thrushes have the berries in winter.

Good plants are Forget-me-not, Wallflower, Sweet Rocket, Primrose and Daisies, Budleia, French Marigold, Lavender, Ice Plant, Michaelmas Daisy, Scabious, Red Valerian and Ivy.

Some butterflies only go for one particular plant like nettles. If you can spare a patch of ground for those and other native wild flowers you’ll have other wildlife too.

the BBC Breathing Places may be of interest to you there’s a bit about ‘plant for butterflies’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces

I’m looking for flowers for bouquets, decorations, and centerpieces. Would like to know some good flowers, preferably some I could order online and make my own arrangements. I’m getting married in May, so I’m looking for flowers that would be in bloom at that time. Thanks!

Here are just a few pink WEDDING flowers.
Astilbe
Bachelor Button
Canterbury Bell
Bleeding Heart
Carnation
Crabapple
Dahlia
Delphinium (rose-color)
Dogwood
Freesia
Geranium
Gerbera daisy
Gladiola
Hibiscus
Hydrangea
Impatiens
Larkspur
Lily
Mountain Laurel
Orchid – Catlaya – white with shades of pink or lavender in the center
Pansy
Peony
Poinsettia
Ranuncula
Rose
Bridal Pink – bright pink rose
Candia – creamy white with dark pink edges to the petals
Delores – soft pink rose
Jacaranda – hot pink rose
Straw flower
Weeping Cherry