Flowers (annual and perennial), Vegetable and Fruits

All-American Selection

Every year the All-American Selection of vegetables and flowers comes out with winners of excellence in hardiness and breeding for the upcoming year.

Celosia Candela Pink
Celosia Candela Pink

This year’s flowers begin with a celosia called Candela Pink. It has bright pink blooms with keep coming thru the growing season. Works good in containers or mass plantings and can be dried.

Zinnia Profusion Red Yellow
Zinnia Profusion Red Yellow

Another annual flower is the zinnia Profusion Red Yellow. A bicolor zinnia starting with a bright red center area with yellow outer petals. Like with most zinnias, they will bloom over the season until frost.

Leucanthemum Sweet Daisy Birdy
Leucanthemum Sweet Daisy Birdy

A perennial made it into the AAS which is more unusual is the Leucanthemum Sweet Daisy Birdy. Its hardiness is down to zone 3 with both heat and cold tolerance. The blooms are 5” across white good for a moonlit garden. Being a type of Shasta Daisy, it is a low maintenance plant.

Echalion Crème Brulee
Echalion Crème Brulee

As for vegetables, let us start with an onion called Echalion Crème Brulee. It is a shallot grown from seed with a single center bulb. The bulbs are sweeter than most shallots with a slight citrus flavor.

Pepper Pot-a-peno
Pepper Pot-a-peno

Next is a pepper Pot-a-peno, a compact pepper you can grow in a hanging pot. It is a jalapeno type, early maturing plant.

Goldilocks winter squash
Goldilocks winter squash

Lastly is an acorn winter squash called Goldilocks. It is a vigorous plant with high yields. The color is bright orange making it has a dual eating and decorating fruit.

DIY Projects, Home Improvement

Wall Texture

Wall texture is a way to give a wall a 3-D effect casing shadows with light. You can get the desired effect with painting with different tools, stick-on effects, or wallpaper (not your grandmother’s wallpaper).

Marbled wallpaper


We all know of the popcorn ceilings from the ’60s and 70’s most people hate. It is becoming in vogue to create 3-D textures on walls. One way is when you mud a wall is to take a tool for designing textures in the mud called a comb, stiff brush, or trowel. Then paint when it dries.

Texturing mud


Maybe an easier way is to take a textured wallpaper and use it. They use visual design and raised relief. Patterns come in wood, marble, or metal.

Wallpaper


The easiest way to incorporate painting techniques. Use more paint and a rough brush for a design. You can buy different paint textured roller that is plastic.

Using a textured roller


You can buy silica sand to mix in the paint. This gives the wall a rough, glistening effect.

If you like vintage textures, use Fresco, which applied gives an effect of chalk. Paint the wall then lightly go over it again with light color paint.

House pests

Christmas Cactus

There are 3 types of remarkably similar cacti called Christmas cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, and Easter cactus. What separates them are the blooming times.

Thanksgiving Cactus


The Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti need around 6 weeks of short days to initiate blooming. The Easter cacti need 8 to 12 weeks of short days required for blooming.

Christmas Cactus


There is a difference in their leaves also. The Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncate) have claw-shaped segments and the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) have rounded segments.
The flowers are different on the Easter cactus (Hatiora gaertneri) are larger and daisy-like.

Easter Cactus


If your plants are dropping buds, I can be due moving the plant to another location changing light conditions. The plant due best being root-bound. If the plants turn reddish, the problem is usually too much sun or lack of water (do not overwater, have good drainage).

Pruned Christmas Cactus