The site contains recomendations for growing poinsettia cultivars useful to large commercial growers as well as small specialty growers and home gardeners.

The research is the result of efforts by:

• Universities:
• Purdue University
• University of Florida - Gainesville
• North Carolina State University
• Commercial Site:
• Homewood Nursery, NC
• Commercial Breeders:
• Paul Ecke Ranch
• Oglevee, Ltd.
• Fischer USA
• Selecta First Class
• Dummen

The Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture is a leader in ornamental horticulture research and education.

Consumer publications available include:

• General Horticulture
• Flowers And Houseplants
• Garden And Patio Flowers
• Houseplants
• Flower Arranging
• Fruits And Nuts
• Landscape Management
• Vegetables
• Multimedia Resources

Read more about the Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.

Homewood Nursery and Garden Center is also a sponsor of univeristy research on poinsettia and other garden plants.

Read more about Homewood Nursery and Garden Center.

Dummen is an international breeder of poinsettias and other flowers. The headquarters is in Germany and operates worldwide.

The USA office is in Hilliard, OH.

Dummen is also a major sponsor of university research on plant breeding and growth techniques.

The brand name of their flower varieties is Red Fox.

Dummen produces varieties of the following types of plants:

• Poinsettias
• Pelargonium
• Geranium
• Osteospermum
• New Guinea Impatiens
• Petunias
• Begonias
• Verbenas

Read more about Dummen Plant Breeders.

The Ornamental Bioscience unit was formed in a merger with Mendel Biotechnology. Mendel has discovered ways to control flowering in poinsettias and other flowers that make them easier to grow.

Read more about Selectra First Class Plant Breeders.

Fisher is also a leading sponsor of university research on poinsettias as well as other types of flowers.

Their website has many useful resources for home gardeners as well as professional growers.

Read more about Fischer USA.

Oglevee also sponsors university research on flowers.

Oglevee sells the following types of flowers:

• Begonias
• Carnations
• Geraniums
• Impatiens
• Kalanchoes
• Poinsettias
• Streptocarpus

Oglevee's web site has a great deal of information about growing these types of flowers for both professional growers and home gardeners.

Read more about Oglevee Ltd Flower Variety Producer.

If you have a large greenhouse full of poinsettias growing and reflowering can be tricky. However, if you only have a few plants in your home it is easy.

Fortunately, there is plenty of information available on how to control these conditions properly.

The main conditions for growing poinsettias:

• Night temperatures above 50 F.
• Daytime temperatures below 70 F.
• A period of uninterrupted long, dark nights for about 2 months in the fall.

The ideal is to have a temperature of about 69 F all the time.

This is true of growing new plants or to get a plant to reflower in subsequent years.

How to make poinsettias flower or reflower:

• Light your poinsettia plants with grow lights until 2 a.m. until Sept. 25. Then cover with a black cloth from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. until Oct. 15, followed with natural day lengths.
• Keep the temperature at 69F all the time.

Topics at the Texas Poinsettia Producers Guide site include:

• Poinsettia History
• Poinsettia Forms and Styles
• Poinsettia Economics and Marketing
• Poinsettia Cultural Characteristics
• Poinsettia Cultivars
• Production Schedule
• Poinsettia Height Control
• Selecting a Poinsettia Growing Medium
• Poinsettia Water Quality
• Poinsettia Irrigation
• Poinsettia Nutrition
• Insect and Mite Management
• Poinsettia Diseases and Control
• Common Poinsettia Disorders
• Conversion Tables for Growers and Gardeners
• Additional Poinsettia References

Read more about Texas Poinsettia Producers Guide.

This research is useful to commercial growers as well as gardners and consumers caring for poinsettias.

Read more about the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Poinsettia Site.

Paul Ecke developed a technique for making poinsettias grow multiple branches from a single stem. The creates a fuller more colorful poinsettia plant we are accustomed to seeing at Christmas.

The Ecke family kept this a secret of poinsettia cultivation until around 1996 when university researchers were able to independently make the same discovery.

The result has been good for consumers, since poinsettias are much more plentiful and therefore less expensive than before.

Read more about the Poinsettia Monopoly in America.

Poinsettia plants have brightly colored leaves (bracts) that are often mistaken for flowers. The poinsettia true flowers are small yellow or green structures at the base of the bracts.

This familiar form of poinsettias are due to careful breeding, cultivation and harvesting. In the wild, poinsettias are a shrub or small tree. Poinsettias are originally from Mexico and Central America.

Poinsettias are named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico, who introduced the plant in the U.S. in 1825.

Paul Ecke of Encinitas, California was responsible for the technological advance that made poinsettias a successful commercial plant. One key to poinsettia profits is getting the plants to grow so that multiple branches come off one stem, creating a fuller, more colorful plant.

The Eckes' technique, which involved grafting two varieties of poinsettia together, made it possible to get every seedling to branch. Ecke had perfected this poinsettia secret before 1910 and his family had a virtual poinsettia monopoly for about 80 years. Around 1996 a university researcher made the same discovery and made the technique public.

Since then the Eckes Poinsettia Ranch has adapted and now is a great source of technical assistance and research funding for both commercial growers and consumers.

Poinsettias are a shrub that; as this photo proves, grow to the size of a small tree with thick trucks.

Image by Martin LaBar

Read more about Poinsettia in San Diego Area Garden.

Image by Old Shoe Woman.

The photo below is a great closeup shot of the true flowers of a poinsettia plant. The poinsettia true flowers in this picture are just opening. Unopened true flowers is one important sign that the poinsettia blooms will last a long time. This is an important tip when buying poinsettias.

Image by Tzatziki.

Topics at the site include:

• Basic Poinsettia Production Guidelines
• Poinsettia Variety Trials
• Poinsettia Height Control Examples
• Poinsettia Growth Regulators
• Poinsettia Postharvest Information
• Poinsettia Disorders
• Poinsettia Grower Resources

More information about the University of Florida Floriculture Poinsettia Page.

Site topics include:

• Poinsettia Plant Structure Problems
• Poinsettia Leaf Problems
• Poinsettia Bracts Problems
• Poinsettia Stems Problems
• Poinsettia Roots Problems
• Poinsettia Insects Problems
• Poinsettia Shipping Related Problems
• Poinsettia Problems at the Consumer Level

Read more about the North Carolina State University Poinsettia Diagnostic Key.

This grower is still a major player in the poinsettia market. The Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch website has a great deal of technical information for growing poinsettias on a commercial scale. The Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch also has developed a large number of varieties or cultivars of poinsettias.

Read more about the Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch.

White Pine Cone and Tassel the State Flower of Maine with the state bird, the Chickadee

The white pine cone and tassel (Pinus strobus, linnaeus) was adopted as the state flower of Main by the Legislature of 1895.

Read more about White Pine Cone and Tassel the State Flower of Maine.

Magnolia the State Flower of Louisiana

Southern magnolia flowers are large and showy. Magnolia flowers are white and the fragrance is reminiscent of citronella. Flower of the Southern Magnolia are up to 12 inches across and very fragrant, with 6-12 petals with a waxy texture. The flowers emerge from the tips of twigs on mature Magnolia trees in late spring.

The Southern magnolia, also known as bull bay, is a magnolia native to the southeastern United States, from coastal North Carolina south to central Florida, and west to East Texas. It is a medium to large tree 60-90 feet tall with a striking appearance, both in leaf and in bloom. The southern magnolia tree is an evergreen.

Read more about Magnolia the State Flower of Louisiana.

Goldenrod the State Flower of Kentucky

Goldenrod propagation is by wind-disseminated seed or by underground rhizomes. Goldenrod forms patches that are actually vegetative clones of a single plant.

Goldenrods bloom in late summer and early fall and some species produce abundant nectar when moisture is plentiful before bloom, and the bloom period is relatively warm and sunny. Honey from goldenrods often is dark and strong due to admixtures of other nectars. However when there is a strong honey flow, a light (often water white), spicy-tasting honey is produced. While the bees are ripening the honey there is a rank odor and taste, but finished honey is much milder.

Read more about Goldenrod the State Flower of Kentucky.

Sunflower the State Flower of Kansas

Sunflowers make great garden plants. The are very pretty and people and birds can eat the seeds. Sunflowers are often used in fall floral arrangements.

Read more about Sunflower the State Flower of Kansas.

Wild Prairie Rose the State Flower of Iowa

The Wild Prairie Rose is a bushy flowering plant that grows in a large area of North America, spread widely throughout the Midwestern United States between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. The name is also sometimes applied to Rosa blanda, also known as the Meadow Rose or Smooth Rose, which is also widely spread, but somewhat further to the north.

Read more about Wild Prairie Rose the State Flower of Iowa.

Peony the State Flower of Indiana

The peony or paeony (Paeonia) is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. Peony are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America.

Peonies are extensively grown as ornamental plants for their very large, often scented flowers.

Peonies tend to attract ants to the flower buds. This is due to the nectar that forms on the outside of the flower buds.

Read more about Peony the State Flower of Indiana.

In developed areas the Blue Violet can become a weed as it grows well in lawns and cultivated areas.

Read more about Blue Violet the State Flower of Illinois

mock-orange flowers

Wild mock orange flowers are white and about an inch wide. The wild mock orange is named for the fragrance of its flowers.

The wild mock-orange shrub grows to about 6 feet and makes a great garden ornamental plant. It likes full sun to partial sun. It is garden tolerant and drought tolerant.

The wild mock orange is a deciduous shrub, native to the western United States. The native range of the wild mock orange is from northwestern California in the Sierra Nevada, north to Washington in the Cascade Range, and east to Idaho and Montana.

If you need a floral arrangement with wild mock orange, give your florist plenty of lead time.

Read more about Wild Mock Orange the State Flower of Idaho.

Hawaiian hibiscus (ma‘o hau hele) is the state flower of Hawaii

Hawaiian Hibiscus is a tall shrub with bright yellow flowers. The Hawaiian Hibiscus endangered in its natural habitats.

The Hawaiian Hibiscus has become a moderately popular ornamental in Hawaiian yards. This is a great example of green gardening. Growing the Hawaiian Hibiscus as an ornamental garden plant in Hawaii helps protect this species from extinction.

The Chinese hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) and its numerous hybrids are more commonly grown as garden ornamental plants in the Hawaiian Islands.

If you need a floral arrangement with Hawaiian Hibiscus flowers, you need to give your florist plenty of lead time.

Read more about Hawaiian Hibiscus the State Flower of Hawaii.

Read more about Cherokee Rose the State Flower of Georgia.

orange flowers and orange fruit

Orange Blossoms are not always in the inventory of most florists. If you need a floral arrangement with Orange flowers, you need to give your florist plenty of lead time.

The same techniques for growing good Orange fruit will also produce the most Orange blossoms. The Orange flowers eventually become the Orange fruit, so anything that produces lots of fruit will also produce lots of Orange flowers.

If all the Oranges are allowed to mature, they will be undersized and lacking in sugar and flavor. Harvesting the Orange flowers will reduce the number of fruit so actually increases the quality of the fruit.

Orange trees make a great addition to gardens located in the right climate.

Read more about Orange Blossom the State Flower of Florida.

Peach blossoms are produced in early spring before the leaves. Peach flowers may be solitary or paired, about 1 inch diameter, pink, with five petals.

Peach Blossoms are not always in the inventory of most florists. If you need a floral arrangement with Peach flowers, you need to give your florist plenty of lead time.

The same techniques for growing good peach fruit will also produce the most peach blossoms. The peach flowers eventually become the peach fruit, so anything that produces lots of fruit will also produce lots of peach flowers.

If all the peaches are allowed to mature, they will be undersized and lacking in sugar and flavor. Harvesting the peach flowers will reduce the number of fruit so actually increases the quality of the fruit.

Peach trees make a great addition to gardens located in the right climate.

Read more about Peach Blossom the State Flower of Delaware.

The Mountain Laurel is an evergreen shrub growing to 9-25 ft tall. The leaves are 1-4 1/2 in long and 3/8 to 1 1/2 in wide. The Mountain Laurel's flowers are star-shaped, ranging from red to pink to white, and occurring in clusters. It blooms between May and June. All parts of the The Mountain Laurel plant are poisonous.

The Mountain Laurel is not always in the inventory of most florists. If you need a floral arrangement with Mountain Laurel you need to give your florist plenty of lead time.

Read more about Mountain Laurel the State Flower of Connecticut.

The Rocky Mountain Columbine is not always in the inventory of most florists. If you need a floral arrangement with Rocky Mountain Columbine you need to give your florist plenty of lead time.

Rocky Mountain Columbine is the state flower of Colorado

Read more about Rocky Mountain Columbine the State Flower of Colorado.

Picture of Hibiscus

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Picture of Paeonia californica

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Picture of Chinese hibiscus

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Picture of Anemone canadensis

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Picture of Hibiscus waimeae

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Picture of Madonna lily

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The main dangers to natural areas are invasive plants and human development.

Many of us seek wooded areas in which to live because of their beauty and serenity or because of a love for wildlife and nature. However, managing a woodland is much different than for a typical suburban yard. To keep it healthy and functioning properly there are different responsibilities. A common mistake is to clear all the understory plants (shrubs and groundcovers) and replace it with lawn. Not only is this practice costly and high in maintenance, but the grass normally grows poorly and many of the environmental benefits of the forest are destroyed. Here are some tips for responsible woodland management.

Controlling invasive plants is a part of integrated lawn and garden pest management.

Removing invasive plants is a good example when it is environmentally responsible to use a herbicide. Invasive plants species can cause much more damage to an ecosystem than properly used herbicides.

However, resist the temptation to buy a shelf full of chemicals and use them all on one type of plant. Your local extension agent or the epa link below can help you find best way to control invasive species and other weeds in your lawn or garden.

Invasive plants are non-native plants that:

• grow aggressively or spread rapidly
• displace or out compete other plants, causing harm to our natural areas
• primarily exotic plants - those that originated in another part of the country or world

Composting waste can not only save you money it can also save you time and work. Allowing some leaves and lawn clippings to compost in place will protect and improve your soil in winter. It also allows species such as butterflies to survive the winter.

Composting can provide the very best possible topsoil for your garden. You control the composition and quality of the soil.

• Leaves, grass clippings and other yard debris clog landfills, taking up 20-40% of landfill space.
• This so-called waste is actually a valuable natural resource. Once decomposed, this organic matter provides a free mulch, soil amendment and even a source of nutrients.

When a plant looks unhealthy or unsightly due to some discoloration or damage, our first impulse is often to apply a pesticide without really knowing what's wrong. This not only wastes time and money but can destroy a pest's natural enemies, which sometimes take care of the problem without any intervention. There's also the potential for greater harm to the environment, including other wildlife and even people and their pets. With Integrated Pest Management or IPM, pesticides are only applied as a last resort.

Principles of Integrated Pest Management :

• look at the total picture
• identify the insect, disease, or growing condition that appears to be causing a problem
• monitor the situation
• if any action needs to be taken, use least toxic alternatives first
• note that only 3% to 5% of insects are harmful and that most species have natural predators such as other insects, birds, bats and toads that keep them in check

No living creature exists alone or is totally unaffected by other organisms living nearby. Plants and animals are dependent upon one another for such things as food, shelter, pollination and other needs. There are many complex and often delicate relationships that tie all organisms in a community together. This interrelated community is called an "ecosystem."

With sprawling development, there has been a significant loss of natural areas. By providing wildlife habitat on your property you are helping to offset the losses and provide a place to view the wonders of nature, especially birds and butterflies, up close.

A common myth is that by providing wildlife habitat you will be inviting unwanted rodents and other pests into your garden. In truth, the worst pests, rats and raccoons, are most attracted to garbage and not natural plantings.

These simple steps will result in a more attractive lawn and garden.

The main things to remember about saving water:

• capture as much rainfall as possible- this can be in a pond or allowing it to soak slowly into a planter or lawn.
• reuse water as much as possible - use runoff from watering plants soak into your lawn, make a small pond to capture runoff from watering lawns
• grow plants that use available water - local plants will be adapted to your conditions, it is difficult to grow rainforest plants in the desert or a cactus outdoors in Seattle.

If you are building a new house or a large garden consider a large garden pond as a feature in your garden.

A garden pond on your property has a variety of benefits:

• A garden pond is an efficient way to store water for watering your lawn and garden.
• A garden pond will capture runnoff from watering your lawn and garden and let you reuse the fertilizer instead of turning it into pollution.
• A the larger the garden pond the less lawn there is to mow. A one acre garden pond will save at least $700 and 40 hours of labor per year compared with a similar sized lawn area.
• A garden pond can double as a geothermal pond. A geothermal heat pump system is the most cost effective way to heat and cool a home. A geothermal pond type geothermal heat pump system is the least expensive method of all. This results in a huge savings over the life of the home.

A garden pond conserves water by capturing runoff from all the impervious surfaces on your property. Efficient, low voltage pumps can then pump the water to planters or for lawn watering.

With a bit of extra planning you can create an efficient lawn and garden.

Efficient lawns and gardens save you:

• Time - large well designed gardens take far less time than a lawn to maintain.
• Money - well designed gardens that make use of local plants cost less to create and less to keep looking great
• Effort - it takes less work to make an efficient garden look great
• Natural resources - efficient gardens use less natural resources and can actually improve the environment.

Most of the steps to make your lawn and garden more efficient are cheap and simple. For example, if you have a lawn with grass in the desert, you are working uphill. By making a bunch of large planters and walkways you decrease the amount of work you have to do and reduce the amount of water used greatly.

Not only can gasoline engines be expensive to maintain they cost you time as well.

More efficient green gardens help reduce the need for power equipment and associated headaches.

Adding a garden or increasing the size of your present garden will reduce these costs and problems.

Natural garden design is more casual than formal landscape design (which has carefully pruned plants arranged in orderly rows or symmetric shapes to achieve visual balance). While there are no hard and fast rules, natural areas can serve as role models. Plants are often randomly placed or clustered and shapes and heights vary widely. Most, if not all of the plants used would be native varieties. Balance is obtained with mass and texture. For example, a large tree might be balanced with a large cluster of shrubs. Man-made ornaments, such as statues and formal pools and fountains, are replaced with natural ones -- rocks, logs, and irregularly-shaped ponds.yard with native plants and pond

Whatever you call it, it's a way of designing and maintaining beautiful yards, gardens, and larger landscapes to:

• reduce harm to the environment from your yard or garden
• save time and money with lower maintenance on your yard or garden
• have healthier places to work and play

What we do in our yards and gardens often affects our neighbors and the environment.

Labor Intensive Yards and Gardens:

A typicial 1-acre lawn costs $700 per year in fuel, fertilizer, pesticides and so forth.

Cost Intensive Yards and Gardens:

A typical 1-acre lawn takes at least 40 hours per year to maintain.

Since time is money this means a typical 1-acre lawn costs about $1500 per year to maintain. Plus you have an initial cost of buying lawn mowers, fertilizer and pesticides and other equipment.

There is plenty you can do to reduce this cost in time and money as well as the environmental impact of your green space.

A garden is a home improvement project that can be a significant investment. It is usually a good investment because it adds more value than the cost of the garden.

The tea ceremony, calligraphy and ikebana are the three arts in which Japanese women were traditionally schooled in preparation for marriage. Many modern people still practice this floral art form.

Until the mid 1400's the iIkebana art was restricted to royalty. During this period common people were encouraged to learn and use this style of floral arrangment.

The ikebana style of floral arrangment emphasises simplicity and use of common items. This makes it a good way to begin floral arrangment as a hobby.

The soil and climate of Mobile and the surrounding area are perfect for azaleas so every yard and garden has at least a few bushes.

There are three major azalea and garden attractions in the Mobile area:

• The Mobile Azalea Trails
• The Mobile Botanical Gardens
• Bellingrath Gardens and Home

The Mobile Botanical Gardens and Bellingrath Gardens and Home in nearby Theodore make Mobile a great place for flowers and gardens year round.

Read more about the azalea city of Mobile Alabama.

You buy a simple zen garden with rocks and sand and tools for artfully arranging them. This will teach you principles that apply when you are ready to take the step of having live plants in a garden.

Even experienced gardeners will improve their creativity by limiting themselves to such a simple and elegant medium.

Read more about zen gardening.

You can often save money and get better flowers by buying directly from the grower.