Explore tips, guides, and ideas for all things gardening. From growing beautiful flowers and lush indoor plants to maintaining a thriving vegetable garden, discover practical advice for gardeners of every level. Learn techniques, seasonal care, and innovative gardening solutions to make your garden flourish.
Some bamboos will only be really comfortable in our interiors if they find a favorable environment. It is not always easy to keep them happy!
Some not very hardy bamboos are offered as indoor plants, it is mainly Bambusa ventricosa and Bambusa multiplex, as well as its varieties ‘Alphonse Karr’ and ‘Golden Goddess’. Grown in pots, they measure 1 to 3 m in height. Let’s be frank, they cannot long withstand the conditions generally encountered in our interiors in winter, namely hot, dry air, as well as low light.
To keep them for several years, in an apartment or more easily on a veranda, they must benefit from strong light all year round. A complimentary supply with lighting adapted to the plants is possible, but not always very aesthetic, especially for large pots. The ambient air must be sufficiently humid, with at least 70% hygrometry. Since daily sprays are unlikely, an electric humidifier can raise the necessary rate. Also, place several bamboos side by side and place the pots on saucers containing clay balls. Always maintain 2 to 3 cm of water in order to humidify the air by evaporation.
Small, supple, and light grass, waving in the wind, it is often called “angel hair”. The stem forms dense tufts of evergreen leaves, thin as a hair, of pretty soft green in spring, taking on bronze reflections in autumn. Silvery inflorescences, with a frayed appearance (due to the hairs carried by the seeds, called ridges), emerge from the tuft.
Technical sheet
Type of plant: grass (poaceae) Exposure: sun Soil: dry and poor
Cultivation conditions
The stipe likes open spaces, full sun and poor, light and always well-drained soils. Short-lived perennial, it reseeds itself.
Maintenance and other care
In spring, comb the old foliage by hand, and do not cut it back!
Use
Usage: Solid, border, stew, bouquets.
Species and varieties
S. ‘Pony Tails’, 60 cm, white panicles, then fawn;
S. barbata, 75 cm, long silvery ridges;
S. pulcherrima, 60 cm, very long arabesque ridges;
S. gigantea, 2 m, bluish green leaves, and loose, golden spikes.
With its smooth, dark green foliage speckled with white, Begonia maculata is a magnificent houseplant. When it blooms, it develops small, pale pink flowers. Native to South America, Begonia maculata thrives indoors or on a veranda. How to cultivate and maintain it?
Technical sheet
Latin name: Bégonia maculata Family: Begoniaceae Size: 60 cm to 1.50 m in height Planting: Spring Exposure: Part-shade space without direct sunlight Soil: Rich soil for indoor plants Watering :
Spring: once a week
Summer: once or twice a week
Fall / Winter: once every 10 to 14 days
How to grow Begonia maculata?
Begonia maculata, also known as bamboo begonia or tamaya, is an easy to grow houseplant. Coming from the tropics, it quickly adapts to living in an apartment or on a veranda. The tamaya is distinguished by its asymmetrical green foliage spotted with white and its thick stems. The plant easily develops a temperature between 15 and 25 ° C.
The ideal season to repot Begonia maculata is spring. It thrives in a bright space, but avoid exposing it to direct sunlight. If bamboo begonia has poorly developed foliage, it is most likely due to a lack of light. It will then be necessary to bring it closer to a source of light.
Easy to grow, Begonia maculata is not demanding in terms of planting. To grow successfully, just follow these few steps:
Take a container as wide as it is deep, and pierced with holes to ensure drainage;
Install a layer of clay balls at the bottom;
Use a fertile soil for indoor plants;
Handle the stumps delicately so as not to break the roots;
Cover with substrate;
Water copiously.
After successful flowering, bamboo begonia rests and requires a cooler environment, a temperature of around 15 and 16 ° C to be able to flower again.
How to water begonia maculata?
Begonia maculata needs good humidity to develop. However, although it does need moisture, it does not appreciate spraying directly on its foliage and flowers. Watering should be done sparingly to prevent rotting of the roots or blackening of the leaves. The frequency of watering Begonia maculata depends on the seasons:
– During the spring period, weekly watering is more than sufficient. Water at room temperature is recommended to avoid thermal shock at the roots.
– During the summer period, the water needs of begonia maculata increase. It is advisable to water the plant copiously once or twice a week.
– During the winter and autumn periods, its water needs decrease because its growth practically stops. The ideal is to water once every 10 to 14 days when its substrate is dry to several centimeters deep.
– In dry weather, it is possible to install a saucer of clay balls bathed in water under the pot to bring a little humidity to the air.
Bamboo begonia sometimes needs to be staked to prevent its stems from falling or breaking. It is advisable to prune its damaged or dry leaves and flowers.
What fertilizer should begonia maculata be given?
To ensure the good development of begonia maculata, a supply of fertilizer is essential. A special houseplant or flowering plant fertilizer is recommended. A contribution every 15 days is essential between the months of April and August for a successful culture. In winter, this contribution is unnecessary and risks exhausting the plant.
How to cut Begonia maculata?
The cuttings of Begonia maculata is as easy as planting. To do this, it is essential:
– To wait for spring or the beginning of summer;
– Collect a section with at least 3 leaves;
– Let it soak in water ;
– Wait for 2 to 3 weeks until the roots come to life;
– Wait until the roots reach 2 to 3 cm before transplanting the cuttings.
How to make Begonia maculata bloom again?
A plant that thrives perfectly indoors, begonia maculata is beautiful when it blooms. Its small flowers grow like a cluster in the axils of its leaves. This cluster of flowers is usually pink or white. It enhances the decorative side of begonia maculata. To prolong this flowering, it is advisable to remove and prune faded flowers as much as possible. A regular supply of fertilizer is also required to feed Begonia maculata properly and facilitate its flowering.
Here are some varieties of ferns. Make your choice !
One of the best known, asplenium . It has evergreen foliage and grows well in humus soil without excess humidity in winter.
The variety ‘Cristatum’ has leaves that look like salad!
Polystichum setiferum ‘Congestum’ has evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage. The fronds can freeze and disappear in the winter when it is too cold. Cut them at the end of winter so that they start again. Height: 40 to 70 cm.
Dryopteris lepidopoda grows to 70 cm in height. The fronds that grow in spring turn from yellow to red before finally turning green.
Dryopteris erythrosora has a beautiful salmon color on young foliage.
Polystichum polyblepharum (or bear’s paw) rises to 80 cm in height and has very chiseled foliage.
Athyrium niponicum ‘Ursula’s Red’ has deciduous, purple and silvery decorative foliage. Height: 40 cm.
Plant them:
Choose a location in a grove under trees.
Lift the earth with a claw.
Bring chippings and compost to poor soils .
Place the fern in the ground.
Bring back the existing soil to fill the hole.
Tamp lightly.
Return the existing foam to the foot.
Ferns can also be planted in an old stump or a low wall. For that :
Make a mixture of soil with a little compost.
Incorporate it into the stump and plant the fern (here an ox tongue / asplenium).
Whether deciduous or persistent, ferns bring freshness to the garden as long as it is exposed to partial shade.
In a hedge in the garden or on a pot terrace, its black canes and fine foliage bring a touch of exoticism. Black bamboo ( Phyllostachys nigra ) is not very cautious and can therefore be grown in many regions.
Fast growing, this medium-sized bamboo ( Phyllostachys nigra ) reaches 6 to 8 m in height in our climates. Its fine, tight culms form a thick screen quite quickly. Olive green when it emerges from the ground, it gradually turns to shiny black. Its fine foliage, of a glossy dark green, very dense from the base to the top of the canes, persists in winter. Its rhizomes are not very invasive in heavy soils.
Technical sheet
Situation : rustic down to -20 ° C. The wind dries up the foliage from -10 ° C. Exposure : sunny or slightly shaded and sheltered from strong winds. Soil : ordinary, rich in organic matter. Family : Poacea.
Planting
In isolated tuft or in hedge, spacing the feet from 1.50 to 2 m, associated with other bamboos with colored canes. It supports cultivation in containers placed outside or in a veranda.
Maintenance
If it snows, shake off the heavy stubble . Wait until the end of summer or fall to install it in the ground , surrounding it with an anti-rhizome barrier. Straw the foot well to protect the roots from the cold. It multiplies by dividing its rhizomes at the end of winter. Bring water in dry weather in all seasons.
Variety
The variety ‘Boryana’ is even more astonishing than the others with its glaucous green culms speckled with brown like a panther skin. She is also much more vigorous.
With its pinkish white ears with a bewitching scent, Abelia chinensis accompanies the blossoms of asters and other autumn beauties.
Few shrubs bloom at the end of the season, especially among those that attract bees and butterflies. Installed in my living hedge, Abelia chinensis goes unnoticed almost all year round, stuck between a choisya and a buddleia. But at the end of August, when his ears, composed of small panicles of tubular bells of flowers, form, we only see him, we only smell him! A scent of hyacinth. A wonder that I brush against each time I go out to the garden, making a systematic detour to touch it, smell it, and even get a small pinkish white flower. The buttons, as well as the calyces, sport a dapper old rose. These chalices are until November a charming asset, attractive even when the flowers have fallen. Because flowers have the good taste of falling, instead of withering ugly, when they have finished their life.
I don’t understand why this shrub is so little used. It measures about 2m high and has its place as well in the natural hedge as isolated or at the bottom of a massif. If I am to believe the gardening literature, it grows well in a large container, but I have not tried … Rustic down to -10, even -12 °, it is perfect for gardens located in the south and on the coast. , especially since it supports spray well. In my corner of Brittany, its cute heart-shaped leaves, thick, shiny, and nicely ribbed, turn matt and bronze at the end of autumn.
Easy to grow
This abelia loves the sun but tolerates partial shade. All soils are suitable for it, with a preference for those that are drained. Plant it in the spring or fall, mixing compost with the original soil. Water the summer following planting. It hardly needs pruning, except to possibly help it branch out in the first year and to remove dead wood or disturbing branches. It perfectly tolerates drought and is not very sensitive to diseases or parasites.
Grasses are decorative perennials in winter. They bring a touch of fantasy to a terrace or a balcony at a time when nature is dormant. Hubert Fontaine shows you all the steps to choose them and install them in a basin.
Choice of pot or basin
The basin must be resistant to frost, the earth fiber is a light material which fulfills this condition.
How to install grasses in a basin: step by step
The basin is drilled at the bottom to evacuate the irrigation water.
Place a felt over the drainage hole so that it never clogs.
Pour a bed of clay balls at the bottom of the pot to drain the basin well in case of heavy rains. Grasses prefer to have dry roots in winter.
Cover the drainage with felt to separate the substrate from the clay balls.
Fill the basin with universal potting soil.
Soak the pots to moisten the clods before planting.
Remove the grasses, taking care to scratch the bun intertwined with the roots.
The establishment of grasses depends on your tastes with all the same an elementary rule: the large ones at the bottom and the small ones around.
Choice of varieties
Carex buchananii red rooster (Buchanan’s sedge) which sports a light, aerial foliage in the form of a copper-colored vase
Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘karl Foerter’ has slender green foliage. This grass turns golden in winter.
Sedge evergold with very bright variegated foliage. These long, drooping leaves follow the contours of the basin.
Miscanthus sinensis ‘Kleine Silberspinne’ (Eulalie, Chinese Reed). It is surmounted in autumn by small plumes which sometimes remain hung until spring in the basin.
Blue fescue is a steel gray ground cover grass. A spiky hair, it contrasts with other grasses – Angel hair or stipa. Its thin, very flexible leaves fly in the wind. This small, simmering grass is in perpetual motion in the Gautier Fescue basin, also known as bear hair fescue. Very dense, a little spiky, excellent ground cover finds its place at the edge of the basin.
Trick
The pozzolana highlights the basin of grasses. This lightweight volcanic rock protects plants and provides water retention capacity.
Water copiously the first time.
And after
Simply water after a long period of frost.
In spring, add a grass fertilizer or, failing that, a lawn or bamboo fertilizer.
The pruning of the grasses intervenes when they start to set out again on the stump and not before.
Ornamental grasses are pruned after winter when the stems are dry and reddish.
The size of grasses will depend on their size and decorative appeal. On the material side, you will need, depending on the thickness and size of the stems: a pair of scissors, a pair of shears, or pruning shears.
Start by pruning those that do not stand up like the blue molinie : pruning, severe, is done almost at ground level. The stems, cut into pieces, can be used as mulch. The plant will start again from the base.
Evergreen grasses should be pruned into a ball above the green leaves, using a sharp pair of shears. Remove dry stubble with a rake.
Place 2 liters of compost at the base to prepare for the resumption of vegetation.
For miscanthus sinensis or Chinese Reed, which is very decorative with its dry inflorescences, it is necessary to wait for the culms to break before pruning them above the green leaves using a secateurs.
Add a special lawn fertilizer rich in nitrogen to the foot.
Remember to comb the base to remove the dead leaves and finish with a ball cut.
For the giant miscanthus, which is comparable to bamboo in summer, pruning is done at the base for a resumption of vegetation in April. The dry stems can be used as a stake or be crushed or cut to form compost with the mown grass.
Grasses are decorative almost all year round, especially in winter at a time when the massives lack graphic design. Grasses are found all over the world, there are many decorative varieties all year round.
Advice before planting the grass massive
The creation of a mass of grasses consists first of digging the earth 20 cm deep and refining the surface with a tiller to facilitate the work. Once the soil has been worked, start by placing the pots of grasses in the future massive. Place the x pots for groups of 3 or 5 identical plants to give a mass effect. The distance between the grasses is 30 to 60 cm or more depending on the adult size of the plants.
Which grasses to choose for your massive?
Here are some examples of grasses that will have the most beautiful effect in summer and winter in a massif. Here, a ganivelle fence (Girondine barrier) maintained by chestnut posts in the background is reminiscent of a palisade to hold back the sand and the dunes at the edge of the sea.
The Miscanthus sinensis ‘Kleine Silberspine’ or ‘Gracillimus’ also called Eulalie, China reed or elephant grass. This giant grass grows, depending on the variety, up to 2m50 in height. Its inflorescences in the form of silver, pink or purple plumes last all fall until the heart of winter.
The testacea sedge ‘Prairie Fire’ also called orange sedge is a grass whose evergreen foliage turns orange as the fall. It is said that he sets fire to the massif before winter. Its height does not exceed 50 cm. Its place is rather in the foreground.
Another smaller sedge this time is sedge morrowii ‘Variegata’ called Japanese sedge. Its foliage is variegated green with white central veins. Its evergreen leaves remain decorative all winter despite the cold. A grass that holds its place in front of others.
The Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’ most known herb for swabs. This very compact grass 60 cm in height is surmounted by white ears with brown reflections in the form of swabs; hence its name.
The panicum virgatum ‘rehbraun’ (panic tapered). Although it is native to the humid prairies of the United States, it is also tolerant of drought and very cold conditions. This 80cm foolproof grass has a very light airy look. Like most grasses, it changes color with the seasons
The Sesleria autumnalis (seslérie autumn) is formed by a tuft of bristles within 50 cm of height. It has more of a grassy look bringing a little wild side but maintained the massif. This tuft of grass retains the soil of the steep slopes.
The non-tracing fargesia bamboo will not annoy its congeners. It can go up to 3 m and is easily pruned!
Mulch the massive after planting
Grasses are like a beautiful page of writing; it is necessary that the support is pretty and durable. It is advisable to mulch the massive with BRF (fragmented rameal wood) which prevents competing weeds from growing. It enriches the soil thanks to micro-organisms and earthworms which transform it into humus. It is possible to cover the BRF with glitter. Water copiously the first time to empty air pockets around the root ball.
This series of grasses offers different foliage that illuminates every corner of the garden: lemon yellow with ‘Everillo’, yellow edged with green with ‘Eversheen’, green striped with cream with ‘Evergold’ or ‘Everlite’…
Characteristics
Soil: indifferent Spacing: 40 to 50 cm between 2 plants Planting: from March to May or from September to October Flowering: in May Exposure: sun, partial shade or shade Use: bed, pot, container Height: 30 to 40 cm
Culture
These undemanding grasses , with evergreen foliage with graphic effects and varied colors, provide structure to beds, planters and pots. Depending on the variety, they like the sun, partial shade as well as shade. Adapt the varieties according to the ground and the exposure.
The sedges of the EverColor series are planted in the spring or fall, in the ground or in a container. The type of soil is indifferent (acidic, limestone, acidic, neutral), because they are not demanding.
Dip the cups in a bucket of water to bathe them, facilitate the removal of the clods and dissociate them.
Prepare planting holes at the height of the root ball, then place the root balls at the bottom of the holes.
Fill in the gaps with garden soil or a “special planting” soil.
Firm the surface then water.
If several feet of sedge are planted, make sure to space them 40 to 50 cm apart, or even more depending on the desired effect: the sedges spread out about 40 cm throughout their culture.
EverColor sedges require very little care. They only need to be divided every five or six years to multiply the feet and prevent them from running out.
Use
In spring, tulip, grape hyacinth or narcissus bulbs, as well as primroses, mix with sedge to bring color to their amazing foliage. All summer long, they bring lightness and graphics to perennial and annual beds, as well as to flower arrangements. In a rock garden or a dry garden, sedges work wonders! Planted by dozen in a bed, their foliage is always in motion. With yellow or red horns, the decorative aspect of their foliage will only be amplified! Together with begonias or SunPatiens impatiens , they make magnificent flower boxes in bloom all summer.
Carex associations EverColor series
Bright and colorful border
The round shape of Carex EverColor ‘Everillo’ (1) is used to underline an aisle border, while giving it exceptional luminosity thanks to its very surprising lemon yellow color that blends perfectly with the flamboyant little side of a row orange-yellow rudbeckias (2) in the background. Between each rudbeckia plant, ‘Mystic Spiers’ sage plants (3) have been added to create a very interesting contrast of colors and shapes. The round rudbeckia flowers pair beautifully with the long stems with deep blue spikes of this variety of sage. The latter, by its verticality and its color, thus becomes a perfect setting for the sedge ‘Everillo’, for a scene as bright as it is harmonious.
Foliage and touches of color to brighten up the balcony terrace
On a terrace or balcony, the very graphic silhouette of the Carex oshimensis EverColor further emphasizes the contemporary side of a tall, geometric-shaped hotpot. The variety ‘Everest’ (1) is chosen here for its clear green foliage edged with white, which perfectly tolerates the pink tints sometimes difficult to associate with a Petunia Easy Wave ‘Pink’ (2) planted at its foot. Next to it, a white Cabaret calibrachoa (3) cascades down the wall of the pot, while in the background a nandina ‘Sensation Twilight’ (4) with foliage speckled with white and pink gives even more charm to this composition. In summer, this exceptionally robust shrub is covered with starry white flowers that will blend gently with those of the petunia.
