Orchid’s are beautiful, attractive plants that are often used as gifts. If you have been given an Orchid as a gift you may be wondering how to care for an orchid plant. They don’t look like ordinary plants and definitely don’t smell like roses. In fact, they don’t grow in soil either. So are they self-sustaining? Do you have to take care of them or just leave them alone, sort of like a Bonsai Tree.

Tips To Taking Care of Your Orchid Plant

• Place your Orchid in a well lit area but not in direct sunlight. Orchid’s enjoy indirect light source so make sure you face it towards a window that doesn’t get direct sunlight.
• Keep your Orchid in a cool place with minimal heat. Orchids do well in an office or school setting because the temperature is moderate and lacks humidity. You can, however, spritz your plant about once a month to mimic occasional rain.
• Water your plant once a week or every other week. Completely saturate the roots when you water your plant. Let it completely drain of water before putting it back on its shelf or desk.

Colorful Fall Garden

• Mums – Mums come in many different colors and grow fantastic in large spaces.
• Tickseed – This plant looks much like daisies and look best scattered between flowers or as a border.
• Roses – They make a beautfiul addition to your fall garden. Be mindful of the extra attention roses need or else they will perish once winter settles in.
• Aster – These flowers come in pink, blue and white in the fall and look great next to Mums and roses.

Weeds that you struggle with all through spring and summer will dissipate once fall settles in so you don’t have to worry about maintenance. As well, bugs will be less frequent once cooler weather comes. Another great thing is that the cool weather won’t dry out your soil so you won’t have to water frequently.

So what can you grow in the fall? Lots of great foods. You can plant carrots, lettuce, parsnips, collards, spinach and radishes. Before you know it, you will have a plentiful garden full of your favorite veggies.

Decorating Tips For Halloween

• Add Cobwebs – This is a classic look that you can hang anywhere on shrubs or over flowers.
• Add A Color Of Light – You can now purchase red or orange pumpkin or skeleton lights to hang around your garden or bush. Some have stakes so that you can place them close to the ground.
• Add A Few Scarecrows – You can put these up when Fall hits along with a fall wreath to spruce up your houses’ appearance.
• Graveyard – Have some fun and place a graveyard in your front yard. Onlookers will surely sneak a peak at your “haunted” garden.

Fall Tilling

Tilling is good in the fall because the soil has moisture and it helps tilling by decomposing the organic materials. Fall tilling also helps be reducing weeds and preventing garden pests from building nests.
Tilling makes for good soil in the spring which will help the plant’s growth and release nutrients.

Steps To Get Your Garden Ready For Winter

• Time To Close Down Your Garden – Start closing down your garden in late October and November when the temperature drops to the 40’s and 30’s F.
• Move Plants Or Remove Plants – Autumn is a great time to take a moment and look at plants you want moved or removed from your garden.
• Plant Your Bulbs – Fall is the time to plant your bulbs, and bare-root trees and shrubs.
• Divide Your Perennials – Now is a great time to start dividing your perinials like day lillies or hosta plants. Dividing will maintain the health of your plant and will ensure a better coverage for next season.
• Clean Away Dead Debris – Cut away flower heads and any dead branches. This will allow the plant to conserve its energy for the long winter.
• Cover Delicate Plants – For delicate plants like roses it’s best to cover them to insulate them and protect them from snow and sub-zero temperatures.
• Use Mulch To Insulate – It’s best to use mulch to cover the ground as in colder parts of the states, the ground will freeze.
• Cut Back Your Perennials – This can also be done in the spring but fall is a good time as well.

• Plant your fall bulbs at least 6 weeks before hard ground frosts.
• It’s best to plant your bulb on a fall crisp sunny day.
• When buying bulbs, pick large bulbs which indicates a mature bulb in order to yield large flowers.
• Plant your bulbs as soon as possible or else store them in a dry cool place between 50 and 60 degrees F.
• When planting bulbs avoid planting them in a soggy, shady place. Bulbs like sunny dry places.
• Plant bulbs in bunches, 6-12 for small gardens and 12-24 for large gardens. Dig a big trench to plant your bulbs.
• Plant large flowering bulbs such as tulips and daffodils 8-12 inches deep and smaller flowering bulbs like crocus and snowdrops 4-6 inches deep.
• You may have difficulty finding the right way up for some bulbs such as windflowers. To resolve this plant these bulbs sideways.