| They may be pretty, but some of those plants in your garden may be a threat to the local ecosystem. See what the University of Delaware and Old Country Gardens have to say about those beautiful, but sometimes deadly interlopers. |
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OLD COUNTRY GARDENS is proud to offer you only the highest-quality plants, grown by respected nurseries both locally and throughout the country. Visit us to see our wide selection of ornamental trees and shrubs, well-known and unusual evergreens, perennials, annuals, ground covers, small fruit trees, herbs and vegetables, and much, much more. |
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BONSAI is a Japanese word meaning "potted in a tray". Today, we recognize a bonsai as a potted plant that produces the illusion of a much larger tree found in nature.
Bonsai is an art form with a rich history. Beginning in China (where it is called "penjing"), the cultivation of Bonsai spread to Japan, where it has been refined.
Over the past century, interest in this fascinating art form has spread to countries throughout the world where bonsai techniques are applied to native plants.
The creation of a bonsai is an application of techniques under artistic design with the intent to create the illusion of a large tree on a miniature scale. While some plants lend themselves to this practice based on growth habit, leaf size or other features, most any woody plant, tree or shrub can be grown successfully as a bonsai.
OLD COUNTRY GARDENS has many bonsai styles to choose from, along with a variety of bonsai pots and tools. The next time you're here, take a stroll through our bonsai area; you won't be disappointed. |
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ORCHIDS make up an exceedingly varied family; some estimate the number of species at 25,000 or more. Many orchids are so different in appearance that it's hard to believe they are related. Even with this amazing variety of sizes, shapes, and proportions of parts, orchids do have a number of mutual characteristics - characteristics that distinguish them from other plants.
Many of the tropical orchids discovered and collected in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were found growing on the trunks or branches of trees. This growth situation spawned the erroneous but persistent belief that orchids were parasites. Actually these plants utilize the trees only for support, receiving their nutrients from whatever the rain washes their way, as well as from bird droppings and from organic debris that may collect around their roots. There are also terrestrial species that grow with their roots in soil.
It is important to know the basic growth habits of the orchids in your possession, for their needs differ correspondingly. Most terrestrials need water throughout the year; most epiphytes must be kept dry during some period of their growth cycle, usually either before or after flowering or at both times.
Orchid plants, as they grow and enlarge from year to year, do so generally in one of two ways. In others, the upward growth of the plant stops, in most cases, after one growth season; the next year's growth comes from the base of usually the youngest growth.
Out of bloom, some orchids will be handsome foliage plants with masses of dark green leaves (cymbidiums are a familiar example); most species, however, are not particularly attractive when out of bloom.
The variety of form in orchid flowers is remarkable. Some masdevallias look like small kites; catasetums give the illusion of birds in flight; Anguloa cliftoni resembles a tulip; Coelogyne ocellata looks like a miniature daisy. Such descriptive names as dove orchid (Peristeria elate), spider orchid (Brassia caudata), and moth orchid (Phalaenopsis amabilis) give some idea of the variety of imitative forms these flowers may take.
OLD COUNTRY GARDENS is always here to answer your orchid questions, and to provide you with all your orchid-growing needs. |
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