If your Christmas cactus has been happily growing for 20 years without ever being pruned, well, congratulations… not all of us are blessed with such a cooperative plant. If yours looks great, leave it alone! Some plants clearly have their lives together better than the rest of us. But when yours starts looking overgrown, lopsided, crowded, or just plain…
If you’ve been giving your Christmas cactus all the love in the world only for it to reward you with a whole lot of green and absolutely no flowers, you’re definitely not alone. These plants can be a little dramatic when it comes to blooming. They don’t just need decent light and the occasional drink of…
You spent all of July and August strutting around the yard showing off your fiery tropicals like you personally invented photosynthesis. But bragging season is officially winding down. By September is where real gardeners prove their worth, and to save the rhizomes for next year, you need to step between them and the first frost….
We buy September mums because nothing says “healthy coping mechanism” like adopting something guaranteed to break your heart by November. Here are nine things I do to keep the flowers going as long as possible and give hardy mums a better shot beyond fall. Task 1: No More Pinching the Stems Pinching stem tips in…
In the pre-internet era, Victorians sometimes used flowers to send messages they didn’t want to put into words. According to some Victorian flower dictionaries, handing someone an azalea meant “Take care of yourself for me.” Turns out, old-timey suitors had the right idea. Azaleas demand that exact same protective energy right now. And in August, a…
August isn’t for forcing buds. It’s the high-stakes maintenance window to keep the plant healthy and let its summer growth mature before fall bud-setting begins. If you’re staring at a pot of limp green stems wondering, “What the cactus am I doing wrong?” take a breath. Here are the seven August tasks I focus on before the fall…