The Houseplant Helpline – October 2024 Edition
This month, our houseplant expert, Evin Morrison, answers questions about overwatering and managing your houseplant collection.
TREE: Magnolia virginiana (Sweetbay or Swamp Magnolia)
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Lovely, lemon-scented, cup-shaped flowers appear mid-spring and intermittently throughout summer, followed by showy, cone-like fruit. This elegant tree appears in two forms: often multi-trunked/deciduous north of North Carolina and single-trunked/evergreen southward. It is native to lowlands and freshwater swamps along the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
New to the Glossary: Cotyledon, Dicot, Hypocotyl, Eudicot, Monocot
If you read about plants, you've seen the words monocot and dicot. “Mono” means single and “di” means two, but what about “cot”?
It’s short for cotyledon. In angiosperms, it's the first leaf of monocotyledons or one of the first pair of leaves of dicotyledons that emerge from a seed.
Arlington/City of Alexandria Master Gardeners Fall Festival!
Join Extension Master Gardeners for the first ever Arlington/City of Alexandria Master Gardeners Fall Festival! Celebrating plants, gardening and nature at the Buddie Ford Nature Center. See you tomorrow!
FERN: Osmundastrum cinnamomeum (Cinnamon Fern)
Tried and True Native Plant Selection for the Mid-Atlantic
Cinnamon Fern fronds are beautiful when they unfurl in spring and then turn vibrant shades of gold and orange in fall. This versatile, easy to grow native is found frequently to commonly throughout much of the Mid-Atlantic Region.
The Humane Gardener
In The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife, author Nancy Lawson encourages gardeners to adopt animal friendly planting and maintenance practices, creating gardens that welcome both wildlife and human beings. She says, “[a] humane garden feeds animals of all kinds but can also be a feast for human eyes.”