Ask The Expert: My lucky bamboo is decaying. one by one its stalks and leaves are turning yellow and finally dead.I have kept it in one inch water.Also I see some black deposition at the bottom of the stalks. Arva

REPLY:
You probably have a fungus spreading through your lucky bamboo. If you have any stems that are not showing signs of being infected remove them from the rest and place in a new clean container. As to the infected ones, if you have any stems with a fair amount of green left to them you can start new plants and throw the infected parts away. You will need to clean your container before you start the new plants. Go to We Are Not Always Lucky With Lucky Bamboo to get instructions on how to start new lucky bamboo. Good Luck and Keep Me posted.

Ask the Expert: my bamboo that i cut and put in water wont root why we put the cuttings in water!do i need a root stimulator?its been 3 weeks. thanks Terry

Reply:

It can take several weeks for lucky bamboo to root especially if rooting hormone was not used.  Rooting hormone is a powder that you dip the cut end of the lucky bamboo into before you place it in the water.  At this point you would have to recut the stem for the rooting hormone to be effective.  If you see little knots forming at the cut end of the lucky bamboo leave it alone — those are roots forming.  However, if you don't see of feel any roots forming, go ahead and recut the lucky bamboo and dip it in the rooting hormone.  You can get rooting hormone at your local garden center.  Good luck and keep me posted.

I'm a momma's girl. Always have been. My mother is my best friend, the delight of my heart and constantly grating but it's all because she loves me. Have a mother like that? I make a point to tell my mom every day that I love her but I want her to feel special on Mother's Day. Card messages that I normally see seem to take a cheesy turn, an overly sappy sentiment or are just plain not befitting of the coolest mother in the world. So, I tapped into my resources and compiled this handy list of good Mothers Day card messages.

Local florists give wonderful suggestions for Mothers Day card messages. They either have mothers and/or are mothers plus they spend each year preparing beautiful Mothers Day flower arrangements. So, the perspective of local florists was very valuable in creating this list of the top 10 card messages for Mom.

Top 10 Card Messages That Tell Mom She's Loved:

1)       May all the love you give to others come back to you on this special day.

2)       Love is not just candlelight dinners, sentimental poems, and bouquets of flowers. It's also bandaging scraped knees, reading favorite stories over and over, and always being there to listen and encourage Love is all the things you do, every day, without fail, to make our house a home, our family a wonderful place to be. Happy Mother's Day, With All My Love

3)       Only a mother can communicate love without saying a word. For the many unspoken ways that you share your love in our family, I hope you know that you're loved and appreciated beyond measure

4)       Happy Mother's Day to the greatest Mom in the whole world!

5)       Thank you for being a great Mother and a good friend.

6)       Thanks for being there when I need you the most and even when I didn't.

7)       Wishing you a Happy Mother's Day.

8)       Thanks for giving me the best things in life: Your time, your care, and your love. Happy Mothers Day.

9)       Thinking of you with love today and always. Happy Mother's Day

10)     For a wonderful mother on Mother's Day.

There are more than 25 messages to enjoy. If you liked this top 10, view all Mothers Day enclosure card messages.

Ask the Expert: My peace lily leaves have turned brown?
I transferred my peace lily to a larger pot and since then the leave have turned a dull brown and r really thin.  What can I do to save this plant? Courtney

Reply:

A peace lily with brown leaves is usually the result of too much fertilizer, too much light or not enough water.  However, the transplanting process can also cause problems. When you transplanted your peace lily did you keep the top of the original root ball at the same level?  If you add a lot of new soil to the top of the root ball, the peace lily will decline instead of thrive.  New soil should only be added to elevate the plant in its new container and to fill in the gap at the sides.  So remove any extra soil place on the top of the root ball.

Also, when you finish transplanting you should saturate the soil and then proceed with normal watering practices.  If you only lightly watered the peace lily see if it needs more water.  This doesn't mean just the very top layer of soil.  All of the soil needs to be moist.

Since fertilizer can cause issues, I wait until my plant has overcome transplant shock before I fertilize it.  If you fertilized immediately following the transplant, you might have more fertilizer than the peace lily can handle.  If this is the case and the plant is towards the dry side water it with fertilizer free water.

Last but not least, make sure that your light source is the same as it was before.  You don't want intense light beating down on your peace lily.

We have a great peace lily information page.  It might give you other clues as to what is going on with your peace lily. Good luck and please keep me posted.

Stuck Inside All Winter? Celebrate Spring With Gardenias!

It's no secret that being inside all winter can be a bummer. Sometimes winter weather isn't as fun as it could be. Well, good news! Spring is in full affect now. I'm sure you're dying to know how I plan on celebrating it. I know I would be if I were you. (Just kidding.) I'm celebrating with gardenias.

Why gardenias you ask? The flower meaning of gardenias is "joy." Pure and simple. Joy is one of the most wonderful feelings ever. Anyone who has ever felt a second of joy knows that it's a feeling to be craved and sought. I want to surround myself with joy and joyous people. Now that winter has gone into hibernation and spring has sprung, it's time to kick off my joyful shoes so I'm buying potted gardenias from my local florist!

Flowering plants are well and good (I love them!!) but sometimes it's more fun to send flowers to put a spring in the step of a friend. When you want to celebrate spring with your buddies, consider sending flowers such as casablanca lilies. This the meaning of this premium flower is "celebration." Perfect!! Perhaps you're wanting something more festive. Believe it or not, "festivity" abounds with baby's breath. There are many arrangements that incorporate these flowers. It's easy to get the party started for Spring with arrangements like these from a local florist.

Know the meaning of your favorite flower? Share it below along with why this flower is your favorite. Not really sure what the flower meaning is? Ask away! Simply log in and comment below.

Ask the Expert: What perennials bloom each season.
I live in the Washington, DC area and would like some flowers to blossom for each season, spring, summer, and fall. Can you help me? Cynthia

Reply:

The possibilies are vast.  So, I'll share a few of my favorites that will also work in your area.   Our hardiness zones are very similar  Paragould Ar is a 6b (6-7)zone and DC is a 7b (7-8)zone.  Knowing what zone you are in is important when selecting perennial.  The hardiness zone defines how cold the area will get and every plant has a cold hadiness thresshold.

For Winter -Gerberas (if you are lucky) and Hellebores.  I also plant tulips and daffodil.

For Spring- Iris, Verbascum, Peonies, Phlox subulata (creeping phlox), Anemone, Bergenia, Clematis and Dianthus.

For Summer - Phlox paniculata, Guara, Echinacea, Ascelepias, Liatris, Gallardia, Veronica, Platycodon, Monarda, Kniphofia and Alcea (hollyhock). I could go on and on but I these are my favorties.  I also plant Asiatic lilies, Oriental lilies and Gladiolus.

For Autumn - Anemone, Solidago, Helianthus, Chrysanthemums, Dianthus, Rudebeckia and Geum.

Of course these are just a handful of the many perennial options for the Washington Dc area.  There are also an abundance of flowering shrubs for each season that can add color to your yard.  The thing to do is to pop into your local nursery & garden center - not a box store.  Most nurseries will have a perennial person (someone who is both knowledgeable about and has actually grown many of the perennials themselves).  I happen to be the perennial person for our garden center.  They will be able to give you the true ins and outs about which perennials perform well in your area.  Other factors such as humidity and rain fall can also determine the right perennials for your area and the staff at your local garden center will be able to help you with those issues.

Good Luck and let me know how your perennial garden does.

Ask The Expert: my bamboo that I aquired 3 mos ago approximately has aquired a stench like "throw~up" (according to my daughter) and gnats are attracted to it! can You suggest to me what might b wrong, and what I can do to fix it, please? I would really appreciate the info, as I really like my plant!  sincerely, Cathi

Reply:

Since I don't know if your lucky bamboo is in soil or water, I will address both but separately.

Lucky bamboo in water - You probably have an overgrowth of algae or fungus.  You could possibly have decaying plant amterial in the water.  You will need to empty the containers and wash it thoroughly with soapy water.  Rinse the container several times with water.  You will also need to wash any pebbles as well.  Wipe the lucky bamboo stem with a damp washcloth.  then place the pebbles and lucky bamboo back in the container and fill with distilled water.  This should take care of the problem.

Lucky bamboo in soil - You probably have a fungus on the top layer of the soil.  This is a result of soil that has been over-watered with poor air circulation and decaying organic matter.  You can scrap off the very top of the soil and throw it away and then let your soil dry slightly.  Sometimes this is all it takes.  If it still persists you will nee a fungicide and an insecticide.

Good Luck and please keep me posted.

Ask the Expert: help for a wilting peace lily
I've had a peace lily from my dad's funeral for the last 7 1/2 yrs. It came in a pot about 12 inches originally, which it outgrew and I repotted the whole thing into a 14.5" pot.  It grew beautifully, flowering twice a year.  It began to outgrow this pot, so I split it into 3 plants recently. One pot is 14.5", the other two are 12.5".  I added potting soil and some of the original dirt to all and watered it like I normally did.  The leaves wilted which I figured was due to the shock of splitting them, but now, 4 days later they are still wilted, like drooping the way they do when it hasn't been watered.  The soil is damp when I put my finger in, but not soggy.  What can I do to help them?? Beth

Reply:

I have seen it take a week or two for a peace lily to overcome shock after it has been split and transplanted.  The key is not to panic.  As long as the soil is moist but not soggy, the peace lily will come out of the wilting phase.

One thing that you might check is the planting depth.  If the peace lily has been planted too deep this could be a problem.  The original top of the root ball should not be covered with soil.  It should always remain the top of the root ball and new soil should only be used to fill the bottom of the container and to close the gap around the sides.  If you placed extra soil on top of the root ball, you will need to remove the extra soil.  Good luck and keep me posted

Earth Day is today–April 22, 2009. The pre-k students at the local school (my favorite little girl included) are celebrating Earth Day 2009 with an outdoor picnic. I thought that was a great idea.

My grandmother's 80-something birthday (she stopped counting in the 1960s) is tomorrow so I'm going to her house to plant a tree in her backyard and do some light gardening.

My brother and his wife are very environmentally conscious. They are throwing a small get-together for some of their friends; much like a raw food party. What are you doing to celebrate?

I want your stories and ideas for how to celebrate Earth Day in 2009. Are you spending time outside today? Are you spending time with friends and family? Reading a nature book to your child as tonight's bedtime story? Who knows. Maybe you'll give me and someone else a great idea for Earth Day 2010!

Happy Earth Day!

I enjoy the Belvedere Flowers blog because there is always something interesting happening at the flower shop! The florists at Belvedere Flowers in Havertown Pennsylvania create some very ingenious designs. Here's one of the ones that caught a friend's attention who quickly passed the link to me. I fell in love with its unique charm. I think you will too.

It's a fresh flower purse for Mother's Day. Let me emphasize this for effect. It's a fresh…flower…Purse. It's too cool! What it is is a moss covered basket shaped like a purse and filled to the brim with beautiful fresh flowers like cymbidium orchids, roses, heather and gerbera daisies. My nose is liking this already!

This video shows off the first of many fresh flower purses created by Belvedere Flowers for Mother's Day. I say that because it's too cute a Mother's Day gift idea not to catch on quickly. Check it out!