September 18, 2021
"TROWEL"
Trowels were one of the earliest tools invented by man. Garden trowels are a hand tool with a pointed, scoop-shaped metal blade and wooden, metal, or plastic handle. It is comparable to a spade or shovel, but is generally much smaller, being designed for use with one hand. It is used for breaking up earth, digging small holes, especially for planting and weeding, mixing in fertilizer or other additives, and transferring plants to pots.
Garden trowels are available in different widths and sizes. Narrow-bladed trowels can be used in narrow areas between pavers or plant small bulbs or plants. Scoop-shaped or wide blades can be used for digging in raised beds where taller shovels would be difficult.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trowel
September 11, 2021
MONOCOTYLEDON
Monocotyledon, or monocot for short, refers to one of two groups of flowering plants. Flowering plants are placed into two categories. monocots and dicots.
Monocots have seeds that contain a single emerging leaf known as a cotyledon. This category provides a majority of the world's most important agricultural crops including, rice, wheat, corn, sugar cane, bamboo, onion, and garlic.
Monocots have different characteristics than dicots.
- Monocots will have visible tripled flower parts, i.e., three stamens, three petals.
- Veins of monocot leaves are seen in a symmetrical parallel design.
- Monocot roots are adventitious and fibrous and spread up, down, and out.
- Monocots can be propagated from stem or leaf cuttings of an existing plant.
- Monocots only grow from the top of the stem.
- Monocots do not produce wood or bark.
- Monocots are herbaceous.
Examples of monocots: Grasses, palm trees, lilies, orchids, bananas.
For more information on monocots: https://biologydictionary.net/monocot/
September 4, 2021
"ANNUAL"
The definition of the word annual is "a plant that germinates, blossoms, produces seeds, and dies in one growing season. They are common in environments with short growing seasons. Most desert plants are annuals, germinating and flowering after rainfall. Many common weeds, wildflowers, garden flowers, and vegetables are annuals."
1Some of the Northern garden zone annuals can be grown here in Florida year-round or in different seasons than our snowbird states. In garden zones 5 through 8, alyssum, delphiniums, foxgloves, geraniums, hollyhocks, pansy, petunias, snapdragons, stock, violas, and verbena are usually planted in Spring. Not in Florida - our mild weather October through March allows us to plant those wonderful annuals in the wintertime. So, if you live here during the winter and don't know what to plant - look for what you grow during the Spring in Ohio and Michigan. We have a 30+ Summer annuals that can take our heat and rainy season. Annuals provide that boost of color, fragrance, and butterfly resources for our gardens during our sunny, but cooler periods..
Annuals are considered high maintenance, more expensive, and shorter-lived, so they should be planted in smaller numbers than perennials or ornamentals. You can plant annuals in containers, garden beds, hanging baskets, and window boxes.
For more information on Gardening with Annuals in Florida, check out https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MG319
1 THE AMERICAN HERITAGE SCIENCE DICTIONARY
