Gardening Tips

1. Choosing the right plant: You won't have to spend as much time caring for your plants if you choose plants that are suited to your environmental conditions and gardening style. Let the Florist help you find which plants are right for you. 2. Watering: Test the soil in your containers every day with your finger. If it's dry an inch below the surface - water. If you can't water your plants on a regular basis, consider self-watering containers. 3. Fertilizing: Mix a dry, time-release fertilizer into the soil when planting, and use small amounts of liquid fertilizer for regular feeding every few weeks. 4. Fighting Pests: Inspect plants regularly for fungus, insects, bugs, etc. Remove any diseased or dying leaves. Spray insects with water or other natural repellants to get rid of them. 5. Pruning: Don't be afraid to cut or trim plants to keep their shape and encourage growth - just leave at least 2/3 of the original plant intact so it'll have enough surface area to absorb sunlight. Pinch (aka. deadhead) faded flowers regularly to encourage more blooms on annual plants. Keep in mind that every plant is different. Take some time to read up on your plants and learn as much as you can about their individual needs. A little time spent reading and planning now can save you a lot of time and disappointment later. More Quick Tips: Dr. Botnic | Design Queen | Chef Clive

Butterfly Gardening Tips

1.  Try planting flowers that attract butterflies in different size and shape containers.  You can move them around your garden to try different looks and it will add visual interest to your flower bed as well.

2.  Place butterfly feeders around your flower beds.  They should stand above the other flowers in your flower bed and be fairly colourful.  Shallow containers will suffice and you could place a couple of brightly painted (non-toxic) rocks in the container, not only to attract the butterflies, but to give them something to rest on.

3.  Make your own butterfly nectar - here's the recipe:  1 cup of water, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar (ratio is 4 to 1).  Boil until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.  Cool the nectar before placing in feeder.  Change the nectar every couple of days to prevent spoiling- you don't want to harm your garden visitors with bad food!