Flowering Shrubs Guide By Guest Writer FlowersByPost.Org.UK

Flowering Shrubs GuideThere are quite a few flowering shrubs which can make your garden look particularly pretty and any landscape much more appealing. If you live in a temperate region, it’s easier to grow and take care of such a shrub. The following list is based on the seasonal interest of each flowering shrub. This interest is not only based on the blooms of the shrub, but also on their shape, branching pattern and any other striking peculiarity. The blooming times of the following shrubs vary depending on the region they are growing at. Most people purchase flowering shrubs that they can enjoy all year long so this is the main focus of the list as well.

Spring Flowering Shrubs: There are many lovely shrubs which are in bloom in spring, so it won’t be hard to pick one. Forsythia is a shrub with bright yellow blooms which will beautify your garden from the very first days of spring. Some growers even use methods for forcing the flowers to bloom before spring has come. Some of the most famous flowering shrubs are azaleas and rhododendrons, with some of their types being evergreen. Another popular choice is the lilac, which is a late-comer, but it’s one of the perfect heralds of spring. The lilac has a lovely scent, whose aroma floats in the air everywhere around it and it’s quite recognizable all over the world. Its pretty petals will make your garden a true fairytale spot.

Summer Flowering Shrubs: If you live to the south, you can enjoy the blooms of the mountain laurel, a symbol of the transition from spring to the warmest season. In areas Flowering Shrubs Guide2where the laurel is native to, it can be mostly found in the forests. Another flowering shrub for the summer is the Rose of Sharon, which is in bloom in the second half of summer. The shrub is related to the Hibiscus, but its blossoms are not as large.

Some of these flowering shrubs double in fall and winter too – not devoid of interest. With outstanding autumn colours they add beauty to every landscape.

Fall Shrubs: Shrubs may be smaller than trees, but in autumn it rarely matters, as these following types look lovely. The Viburnum shrub produces white blooms in spring and attractive fall foliage too. They also have clusters of bluish berries which makes them even prettier. The Oakleaf Hydrangea is all about its beautiful clusters of white flowers during the summer. In Fall, on the other hand, its foliage turns purple, red or orangey-bronze – the perfect autumn colours for your garden.

Winter shrubs: Perhaps winter is not the best season for plants, shrubs and flowers, but it shouldn’t result in you neglecting your garden. In terms of landscape interest it’s quite poor, so the focus is usually on the unusual branching patterns. One of the examples of a winter shrub with Flowering Shrubs Guide3a peeling bark is the oakleaf hydrangea, thus making the shrub a triple winner – popular in summer, fall and winter. Another shrub worth a mention is Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick. Because of its rather unusual branching pattern this shrub is often called “contorted filbert” and “corkscrew hazel”. Many people who have this shrub in their garden his shrub in their garden decorate it for Christmas and New Year’s. It’s a good prop for hanging Halloween lanterns and decoration as well.

The Three Sisters – Corn, Beans and Squash

Editor’s Note: Copied from: http://www.threes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2335:three-sisters-corn-beans-squash&catid=79:food-nutrition&Itemid=57 – Please check out this great website for more great information like is found in this article. I read this and thought about how great a story this is and wanted to share with my readers. Hope you enjoy and please check The Book Of Three’s.

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Three SistersThe ancient Native American technique of growing Corn, Beans, and Squash together in an arrangement called the Three Sisters is the ultimate in companion planting and helps increase harvests, naturally!

Corn acts as a support for climbing bean vines, the beans fix nitrogen in the soil for the high feeding requirements of corn and squash, and the squash provides mulch and root protection for the corn and beans! After cooperating beautifully in the garden, corn and beans form a complete protein when eaten together! How’s that for a mutually beneficial relationship?

The Three Sisters are all easy to direct sow in the garden and are a great project for children, teaching them about the beauty of natural harmony while providing a fast-growing reward for their efforts.

Make the best possible use of your garden space this season, and try growing the Three Sisters! Just follow the easy steps listed below, fertilize well, plant other companions like herbs to assist with pest control, and you’ll be harvesting your best crop in no time!

The Iroquois believe corn, beans and squash are precious gifts from the Great Spirit, each watched over by one of three sisters spirits, called the De-o-ha-ko, or “Our Sustainers”. The planting season is marked by ceremonies to honor them, and a festival commemorates the first harvest of “green” corn on the cob. By retelling the stories and performing annual rituals, Native Americans passed down the knowledge of growing, using and preserving the Three Sisters through generations.

Planting instructions

In May or June when soil has warmed:

Shape a flat-topped circular mound of soil about a foot high and 2 feet across at the top, sloping outward toward the base. Plant a circle of Corn seeds on top, about 5 or 6, and water them in well, tamping down your soil mound firmly so it doesn’t wash away in the first rain. Space the mounds 3 or 4 feet apart in the garden.

Since all corn grows on sturdy, dependable stalks, the variety you choose depends on the flavor, disease resistance, and holding ability you want. Sugar Buns is a Sugar Enhanced (SE) yellow hybrid with absolutely scrumptious golden kernels and is positively scrumptious. For SE whites, you can’t beat Silver Princess, with extra-long ears bursting with flavor. And for the sweetest ears yet, you absolutely must try new Corn Mirai™, available in Yellow, White, Bicolor, and even a Mini!

About two weeks later:

When your corn reaches about 5 or 6 inches high, plant Bean seeds (6 to 8 of them) around the edges of the flat top or about halfway down the sloping sides of the circular mound. Push the seeds down deep into the soil and, if you’re planting on the slope, make sure the soil is nice and firm. Add a bit of Nature’s Aid at planting time to help the Beans fix nitrogen.

To get your Beans to climb up the cornstalks, choose Pole rather than Bush varieties. Smeraldo is far and away the best-tasting Pole Bean, with flat pods up to 10 inches long on vigorous 4- to 6-foot vines. Park gardeners rave about Kwintus, a super-early performer with succulent pods on stringless 8- to 10-inch pods. And Blue Lake is the classic name in Beans, with top-quality dark green pods that are both stringless and fiberless, even if you pick them a bit late. We even have Blue Lake available in organic seed!

One week or so after that:

Plant Squash seeds around the base of the mound, on flat ground. You can make them radiate around the mound, or just go in the direction you have available space! 6 to 8 seeds in a ring around the base of the mound is usually plenty.

The traditional Squash family member for this Sister is Pumpkin, with its all-American flavor and long growing season. Rumbo is a unique Korean variety that looks like an heirloom Pumpkin but tastes sweeter and more succulent than a Butternut Squash! For a quicker harvest, grow Summer Squash varieties such as organic Park’s Early Summer Crookneck or Zucchini such as space-saving One Ball Hybrid.

When everything begins growing . . .

Thin the plantings to 2 or 3 Corn stalks, each with no more than 2 Bean plants winding around it. (You’ll need to help the Beans get started growing up the stalks). The Squash is going to vine along the ground, so the number of plants you need depends on how far apart your mounds of corn and beans are, how long the vines get, and how much walking space you need in the garden.

Strawberry Cake Cookies

cake cookies .Any flavor cake mix can be used so this could be a great way to make cookies for a cookie drive or for the kids fundraising efforts for school.scouts.sports team. These are good and so very easy to make!  This is the perfect quick cookie to make for Valentines Day also!

Happiness

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Mosquito Bite Help

Symptoms-Of-Mosquito-and-Insect-BiteI have been following a story of a young girl (who is Chinese – which seems to make her more susceptible to bad reactions to  mosquito bites) and her adoptive mother’s goal to help her child. The young girl has a bite from a mosquito and it turns out to a huge ordeal – with a massive red area and obvious swelling. Some of this is from itching (how can you stop a child from itching?

Anyways – on the pursuit to help her daughter she talked with some friends of hers (who are also Chinese) which is where she found out how Chinese people are often a trigger to horrific reactions to mosquito bites. The friends told her that rubbing the inside of a banana peel on the area will help quickly and very thoroughly. Sure enough when the little girl was bitten again the mother placed the inside of a banana on the are. The little girl said within a couple minutes that the itching was gone.In a couple hours the redness went down considerably. By bedtime the redness was completely gone and all that could be seen was the actual hole of the bite.

I found the article interesting and wondered why bananas.I found out that potassium that is in bananas have great healing properties.So next time you or your loved one gets bit – apply the inside of a banana to releive itching, swelling and pain from a mosquito bite.