Plant Gardens 101

Having a large, indefinite number of stamens.

The botanical name for Solomon’s seal.

The botanical name for lily-of-the-valley.

A bed planted with annuals and other flowers that bloom continuously or repeatedly, providing a supply of cut flowers for the home.

The botanical name for mock orange.

A fairly fast-acting natural fertilizer containing about 10 percent nitrogen.

See daylength.

A layer of cells in the stem of woody plants that produces the outer bark.

Multiple cross sections of a stem showing cork cambium

The response of plants to the length of the day, especially as it affects their blooming. In temperate zones, long-day plants typically bloom in spring and early summer, short-day plants in fall. By manipulating light in greenhouses, growers can induce plants to bloom out of their seasons. Many plants are day-neutral, or not affected by the length of the day.

Like a feather. Refers to compound leaves or fronds arranged in two rows on either side of a central stalk.

A solid, bulblike underground stem, resembling a bulb but without its scales and sometimes with a membranous coat. Typical examples are the corms of crocus and gladiolus. Corms bear roots at the base and nourish the young plant just as bulbs do.

The first species to colonize an area after the soil is disturbed by fire, flood, or earthquake or after a farm or garden is abandoned.

Decomposed organic matter, often referred to as “brown gold,” that has the crumbly texture and feel of good garden soil. It is both a fertilizer and a soil conditioner. Materials suitable for a compost pile include leaves, grass clippings, dead plants, and vegetable kitchen wastes, as well as cow and horse manures.

A part of a plant removed from its parent and treated so that it produces roots and shoots and becomes a new plant. Most cuttings are taken from stems or shoots, but sometimes leaf or root cuttings are used.

A hole filled with rocks and gravel, usually located beneath a drainpipe to absorb water that would otherwise flood the area.

As a species name, means “bearing pealike seeds.” For example, the Sawara false cypress, Chamaecyparis pisifera, is a conifer that bears rounded seeds in small cones.

A bacterial substance added to a compost pile to speed the decomposition of organic materials. Also called activator; compost activator.

A tiny plant that is produced on the leaves of certain plants such as the pickaback plant, Tolmiea menziesii. When plantlets fall off and take root, they become new plants

Any container bought or built to contain the ingredients of a compost pile.

A plant in the crucifer or mustard family (Cruciferae), whose members have flowers with four petals arranged like a cross.