It's Photo Friday Again!

  For this Photo Friday we’re doing a little feature on a DIY project we’re trying in the office. We recently re-pinned a tutorial on Pinterest that teaches you how to take old 2-liter bottles and turn them into self-watering, seed starter pots. It’s a great way to use up some of that old plastic and it works really well! For ours, instead of starting out little vegetables, we planted a small Blue Moneywort. It is a cute little crawling plant that does great along the bottom of flowerbeds as well as hanging baskets. Its small blue-violet flowers are really lovely to look at. We planted this little guy with some soil, and of course compost, about a week ago and so far it has been thriving. Thanks to Skruben.blogspot.com for the great tutorial! Here is the link to their tutorial: http://skruben.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-self-watering-seed-starter-pots.html

Featured Article: 5 Reasons You're Killing Your Indoor Plants

With all the rainy weather we've been getting lately, we thought that a shift to indoor plant life might be better. Indoor plants often times seem much harder to keep going. Today's article goes over the most common mistakes people make with their indoor plants, and how to remedy them.

What do you think are the most common reasons for house plants dying? What are your remedies? Share in the comments!

Read the article here.

Plants to Try in Your Garden This Year

It's a new year which means it's time to start planning your 2013 garden. While it's good to keep old favorites in the garden, it's also important to spice it up and try something new. We've found our favorite 5 plants to try this year in your garden!

Superbena

Superbena did particularly well in last year's scorching temperatures, given proper watering. To say these plants are heat tolerant is not an exaggeration in the slightest.

Vinca- "Jams 'N Jellies Blackberry"

This is another heat tolerant plant, that was the 2012 AAS Flower Award winner. These beautiful little bloom is a very dark purple hue, and can turn almost black in some areas. These are recommended to be planted near blue, pink, white, or lavender blossoms, to enhance it's natural color.

Brunnera macrophylla- "Jack Frost"

This plant does best in the shady section of your lawn. It does best with shade and well drained and watered soil. This plant is similar to a hosta, with tiny blue flowers. It's a beautiful addition to any yard or garden.

Muhlenbergia capillaris- "Muhly Grass"

This pink and airy grass is great for spicing ups a driveway or path, and definitely add some original gardening flair to any area. This plant does well in poorly drained soil, and they can do well in either full or partial sunlight. It is heat tolerant, but prefers to be well watered.

Mocca Scarlet Tuberous Begonia

Another positive lovely, heat tolerant blossom, this flower has a simply beautiful bloom. This plant requires partial to full shade. You can also dig up the tubers and save them for replanting next year!

These are just a couple we've picked for this year- what are planning on planting this year? Let us know!

Plant Gifting Guide

Finding  a great gift for a coworker, family member, or friend can be tough, and this time of year you have to purchase gifts for a lot of people. Plants make great gifts, and they can still be very personal. Check out our favorite plants for gifting.

Golden Pothos

These plants are great for a new plant owner, or a distracted one. They require very little care and flourish well on their own. Give them a Pothos with water retaining soil and they can water the plant very little, keep it in low to medium lighting and it will thrive. These plants are also known to purify the air as an added benefit! 

Amaryllis

This plant is quickly becoming the new poinsetta. Around the holidays you can find them everywhere from gardening centers to superstores in brightly colored pots. It is important for this plant to go in a sunny, warm spot (somewhere between 68-70 degrees on average). This plant requires light watering until it's stem appears. After that, increase the watering. A flowering Amaryllis needs daily watering. 

Paperwhites

Paperwhites are another low maintenance plant that is easy for beginners. Given lots of sunlight and adequet watering, this plant will brighten any room. When planted for use indoors they grow best in loose materials, like soil, pebbles, tumbled beach glass, things like that. Make sure you keep whatever you plant it in watered. The base of the bulb should be moist but not the entire bulb.  

Mixed Herbs

Herbs can be an extremely useful plant for a foodie who also has a bit of a green thumb. Pick the herbs you choose based on the skill level of the gift receiver. If they're an extremely skilled gardener they could handle a little more challenging herb, but if not there are plenty of herbs that are pretty hard to kill. Visit a local garden center for advice on what to gift for each skill level. The good news- you can plant a variety in one container, so it's a bit more varied of a gift. 

Kalanchoe

This hard to pronounce plant makes a great gift. It comes in a variety of colors, and since it is a succulent it is fairly hardy. Give them light and some water and they'll be good to grow. Plus you can grow a couple varieties, so you have one of all your favorite colors.

These are just a couple of plant you can gift, but they're definitely some of our favorites. What plants will you be gifting this year?

Photo Friday

With the dreary and blustery days we've had for the last week, this Photo Friday couldn't come soon enough. This week's photo is a great picture from one of the gardens using Chamness Brand Compost. It's great for landscapers and gardeners alike, and it makes plants flourish. We love this interesting planting layout that makes a beautiful Cyclone themed pinwheel in Ames.

Did you get any great shots this week? Be sure to share them in the comments!

Photo Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! Hopefully your holiday week was good, if hot. We snapped this shot this week!

Did you get any good photos? Maybe some of your local fireworks? Share them in our comments!

Summer DIY: Creating a nature-friendly bug repellant

It's summer time, which means we're all spending a lot more time outdoors. It also means that bugs are out in full force. The problem with commercial bug sprays is that most are made up of harmful chemicals. Making your own eco-friendly, homemade bug spray is easy, and you'll have your choice of ingredients!

The first thing you need to know about making your own bug spray is that most bugs have an aversion to many natural things. Heres a quick cheat sheet as to what certain pests dislike:

• Mosquitoes- Cinnamon Oil, Castor Oil, Lemon Eucalyptus/Eucalyptus Oil, Citronella Oil, Peppermint Oil, Lemongrass Oil
• Ticks and Lice- Lemon Eucalyptus/Eucalyptus Oil, Rose Geranium Oil
• Biting Flies- Citronella Oil
• Fleas- Orange Oil
• Stinging Insects- Lavender Oil

There are a lot of other natural oils that repel insects, but these are a few of the most effective ones.

You can also choose one of the following as a base for your natural repellant:

• Olive Oil
• Sunflower Oil
• Cooking Oil 
• Witch Hazel
• Alcohol

Be careful using the cooking oils if you are going to be in direct sunlight. Many have found the Witch Hazel to work the best as a base. 

Once you choose your ingredients, mix 10-25 drops of the essential oil(s) of your choice with 2 tbsp of your base liquid. Feel free to make a double batch or larger if you need more spray than this. Then put this mixture in a spray bottle of your choice, and voila! Homemade, nature-friendly bug repellant! 

Photo Friday!

This week's Photo Friday comes from near Cedar Rapids!

Wow! Did you get any great shots this week? Post a link in our comments!

Keeping an open mind about new alternative products

This morning we found this article: WATCH: London Designer Grows Vegetable Leather | Ecorazzi

The article is all about a designer in the UK who is designing a leather out of plant materials. This material can be molded into any shape and will last about 5 years. After 5 years you can add it to your other compostable goods. The leather itself is made of green tea, sugar, bacteria and yeast.

While the idea of putting green tea on your body as clothing seems a little bizarre now, these products could make real change. 12 million tons of trash is a huge amount. That's how much clothing, shoes and textiles end up in landfills annually. A few weeks ago the compostable flip flop and the compostable tooth brush were both featured news stories, and all of those products offer new ways to lower your impact, even if they may seem a little strange at first.

You can keep the product for 5 years, so the leather will still last about as long as a person wears the same clothes, and then you have a convenient excuse to go shopping again. That could be a definite plus! Feel free to share your own experience with off-beat compostables in our comments.

Growing Season in full swing!

It's officially June which means that it's time to pull out that green thumb and get started working in that garden! Have some plants that just aren't looking up to snuff? Compost can help you get the most out of your summer gardening. Here's a quick list of 5 ways that compost can help your garden this summer.

1) Compost helps your soil retain water. This means that your soil has more water to feed your plants and help them develop healthy roots! Healthy roots are key to healthy plant growth, wether you're planting tomatoes or daisies.

2) Compost fights against soil contaminants for your plants. Since it's so absorbent it keeps harmful pesticides and chemicals in your soil from reaching your plants. It also works to degrade these contaminants over time.

3) Compost also helps out the critters in the soil that help your plants. Adding compost to your garden feeds organic matter to micro and macro organisms that will then feed beneficial nutrients to your plants. It also attracts earthworms, who in turn also help your soil. This is just one more thing that makes your plants healthier and your garden more bountiful.

4)If you're in an area with more clay based soil, compost will do wonders! Plants that have never been able to survive due to lack of moisture will thrive. Compost works itself into the clay sediment and helps to release water throughout it, without over saturating your soil and not allowing it drain or under saturating it and letting it grow hard and unable to aerate.

5) Composting is completely natural. That means that you're not introducing chemicals to your plants, as you would with pesticides and some fertilizers. Compost is a natural, organic product. It actually helps your soil in the long run, rather than temporarily fixing a problem, but then causing greater problems in the long run.

We hope your gardens flourish this summer, and we know that with the help of compost they definitely will!