plants Archives - Sprinkles of Sand

In the Garden – A Year in Review

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Sprinkles of Sand is celebrating our first year anniversary. In recognition of this joyous event, we thought is would be nice to do a summary of all the articles posted in our “In the Garden”.

Like us, I know many of you are excited and starting to plan for this year’s garden. We look forward to adding new article with special focus on vegetables and flowers.

In the Garden – A Year in Review:

Flowers::
– Growing Sunflowers
– Morning Glories & Moonflowers

Fruits & Vegetables:
– Growing Raspberries
– Growing Blueberries
– Growing Strawberries

Herbs:
– Growing Basil
– Growing Lemon Thyme
– Growing Lavender
– Growing Chamomile
– Growing Lemongrass
– Growing Mint
– Growing Lemon Balm
– Growing Oregano
– Growing Thyme
– Growing Chocolate Mint
– Growing Rosemary
– Growing Pineapple Sage
– Growing Parsley
– Drying Herb – Hanging Method

Plants:
– Growing Cotton
– Caring for African Violets

Bee’s & Wildlife:
– Create a Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary
– Create a Winter Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary
– National Pollinator Week– What’s the Buzz
– What’s the Buzz May Update
– What’s the Buzz July Update
– What’s the Buzz September Update

Is there anything you have interest in and would like to see? Let us know!

Happy Gardening!

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National Pollinator Week

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It’s the first week of summer. It is also National Pollinator Week. Nine years ago, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the designated week. Now it’s not only a national celebration but an international one as well.

National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them. This national focus highlights the importance of pollinators including bees, birds, butterflies and bats.

WHY POLLINATORS ARE IMPORTANT:
These hard-working animals help pollinate over 75% of our flowering plants, and nearly 75% of our crops. Often we may not notice the hummingbirds, bats, bees, beetles, butterflies, and flies that carry pollen from one plant to another as they collect nectar. Yet without them, we would lose our food sources such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, not to mention chocolate and coffee…all of which depend on pollinators.

A recent study of the status of pollinators in North America by the National Academy of Sciences found that populations of honey bees and some wild pollinators are declining.

HOW YOU CAN HELP?
With increasing evidence that many pollinators are in decline, here are some simple things you can do at home to encourage pollinator diversity and abundance.

On these warm early summer days, my plants and flowers are bustling with activity – mostly honeybees and bumblebees. They were easy to spot due to their almost leisurely movement as they collect nectar and pollen for their hives.

When I was choosing plants for my yard, I’m am always looking for ones that are attract pollinators, by ensuring they are a functional and directly support our bees, birds and other wildlife. This year is the first year that I have planted milkweed because it hosts for the Monarch butterfly, but now I know it’s not just a good pollinator plant, it’s an outstanding one. And it’s gorgeous too!

– Plant a Pollinator Garden
– Provide Nesting Sites
– Avoid or Limit Pesticide Use

If you are interested in more information, you can download a variety of resources about pollinators, pollinator week, and what you can do to help pollinators at: https://www.pollinator.org

Another source for information is: https://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/YourHelp.html#garden

I hope you take the time to take a closer look at some of the plants in your yard this week to see what pollinators your supporting – you may be amazed at activity!

Enjoy!

Theresa

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Growing Cotton

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Cotton has always fascinated me and I really wanted to give growing it a try. I live in the Northeastern United States so I wasn’t sure if it would grow here. Well, I’m happy to say that it worked!

I started the seeds inside in my greenhouse in May and covered the seedlings with plastic to be safe because my greenhouse is not heated. The seeds need the temperature to be 60 degrees F to start and will germinate in 7 – 10 days.

When they grew large enough, I transplanted them into a large container with rocks placed on the bottom to help with drainage. I filled ¾ of the container with light composted soil mixed with sand. In the top 1/4 of the container, I used the composted soil mixed with Miracle-Gro potting soil with fertilizer.

Cotton requires full sun and does not like the soil to be too moist. Let it dry in between watering. I only watered mine an average of once a week except when it was really hot and then about twice a week. After approximately 45 days pinkish/yellow flowers appeared.

The flowers die off and become bolls. Once the bolls have formed, stop watering. The plant will start to dry and the leaves will fall off. As it dries, the bolls will split open and the cotton will emerge from within.

The drying process took quite a bit longer than I thought it would. It took at least a month after I stopped watering for the bolls to dry and open. I had cotton balls in November.