I live in Zone 7b. I am wanting to do a flower bed next to my house facing east. My thumb is not green. Does anyone have any suggestions as to tall flowers for close to the house, mid-high flowers for the middle, and a good border flower? I would like to do a variety of different colored Foxgloves for next to the house and some Phlox for the border. Any suggestions?
There are no big trees nearby, just a tall thin bush/tree on the south side of the garden that doesn’t realy give much shade. Otherwise it’s pretty much open. It’s in Oklahoma, like I said, zone 7b. so it can get pretty hot. I really don’t want anything taller than about 4′ or so in the back right up next to the house, that’s why I was thinking Foxgloves. Something that is really too much taller than that would be too tall in my opinion. Any more suggestions? So far everything sounds great and maybe my thumb will have a tinge of green this year!

Does the flower bed get direct sunlight (no big trees around)?
or there are trees around?
To make your thumb greener, the most important thing is to learn about how much sunlight the area will get. Since the bed is next to the house, it won’t get afternoon sun that is good for some plants.

Now back to the first question, if no trees around that will be more plants can grow there.
You can choose bulbs cause they are easy to grow.
For tall flower you can have Foxgloves, tall Lupines, Oriental lilies (3-4 ft) if you want taller you can get Orienpet Lilies (3-8 ft). Tall Bearded Irises can also grow to 3+ ft. Gladiolus is good too but you may need to cover them with mulch to make sure they come back next year. Remember that the taller the plant, it may need staking to support the stem.
For medium high flower: you can get Campanula (Bellflower), Liatris Blazing Star, Dutch Iris, Siberian Iris, or Columbine.
For Border: Daylilies like Stella d’ Oro, Happy Return, Little Business. Phlox is better in open area that get more sun

If there are trees around, you can try:
Tall plant: Ostrich Fern, Rocket Ligularia, Azalea.
Medium plants: Toad Lily, Astilbe, Columbine, Helleborus, Bleeding Heart
Border: Variegated Liriope, Brunnera, dwarf Hosta or Impatiens (annual)

You can also add spring flowering bulbs like Daffodils, Tulips, Crocus, Hyacinth so there will be always something growing from Spring to Fall.

Im working on a science project and I need your help

www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/okefenokee_swamp/wildnotes/index.html -
www.gabotsoc.org/articleOkefenokee2003.htm
Or just google water lilies in the Okefenokee Swamp

I’m needing plants/shrubs that can be planted in large planters. The reason I require these is to create shade for my Koi pond to aid in getting rid of unwanted Algae growth.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Japanese Acers look beautiful especially the dark red leaf varieties. Zantadeshia with its tall white trumpet flower is another good one, also any of your conifers for a contrast and structure. For colour in early spring Camelia’s are a good evergreen and maybe some scented evergreen Jasmine. A UV is the best answer for green water but if you are troubled by blanket weed I use barley straw and also if the problem gets out of hand I use ‘string algae control made by Oase. I buy it at my local koi shop for 14.99 its worth every penny, no chemicals just an emzine that eats the algae and doesn’t leave any residue at the bottom of my pond to make the water go bad. Hope this helps.

Garden has pond so i need information how to care for it and the fish/plants within it. Thank you in advance!

I have a 700 gallon pond with a waterfall, plants, and fish. I installed it myself 2 years ago. My personal tips?

1. ponds need 6 hours of sun daily. Yours is already installed, so you can’t control this.
2. Ponds need plants. I use water lilies http://www.flickr.com/photos/21211516@N07/2678434326/ and water hyacinth. Plants shade the water and oxygenate it.
3. Ponds need fish. Fish eat algae. They also look nice! Snails are good too. (I get my snails from the pond in a local park!)
4. Ponds need aeration. A waterfall, bubbler, or sprayer helps put oxygen into the water and keep it moving. Stagnant water = bacteria and mosquitos.
5. Ponds need filtration. I use a biofilter. Sounds fancy, but it’s a big plastic tub with foam blocks at the top of my waterfall, disguised by plants. Take the blocks out, rinse them, put them back in.
6. You Must Fight Algae. Some people buy UV lights to attach to a filter, or inside a filter. I use Pondzyme tablets; they’re beneficial enzymes that "eat" sludge and bacteria.
7. If there is a chance that critters (frogs, turtles) can get into your pond and drown, you may need to put a stepping stone near the edge. I put a milk crate upside down with a stepping stone on top of it. My fish like to hide in the milk crate, so they’re protected from predators.
8. If you use pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers, please make sure they cannot wash into your pond with rainwater or sprinkler runoff. These can be deadly to fish and plants.
9. If your pond freezes in the winter, your fish should be OK if it’s deeper than 18 inches. Keep a hole on top of the ice open, but don’t bang on the ice. You can set a pan of boiling water on the ice to melt a hole.

All the above sounds complicated and tiresome. It isn’t. Most of the purchases are one-time, and once your pond is balanced, it takes little maintenance. Most of these supplies can be bought at home improvement stores or hardware stores; I get my stuff from Lowe’s.

My sides and bottom are covered with green algae, but the water is clear. Sometimes despite your best efforts you will get green sludge. I’ve had to drain my pond once and refill it when this happened after a week of rain and high humidity.

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of more help. Owning a pond is fun!

Eichornia commonly known as water hyacinth is a noxious aquatic weed in many parts of india
it is a surface free floating kind of aquatic plant. the main adaptations of hyacinth are
1. it reproduces extensively by vegetative reproduction
2. its petiole has abundant aerenchymatous (air filled cavity containing cells) tissues which support it over the surface of water
3. it has aerenchymatous roots which mainly help in buoancy
4. since it has enough of water around it so it has very little development of xylem to pump water
5. the leaves have coating of wax over the entire surface to prevent from getting wet
6. it shows dense growth which prevents the entry of light below it, this suppresses the growth of underwater plants and reduces the competition for hyacinth. this act of hyacinth in due course of time can destroy all the aquatic life in water and this is otherwise called as death of lakes

How do flowers reproduce??? Can you please explain this in 1 or 2 paragraphs and site your source?
Thank you!!!!!!
)

the anthers contain the pollen grains. they fall on the stigma of the gynoecium and germinate to form pollen tube and enter the ovary and into ovule through pollentube. before reaching the ovule, the pollen grain undergoes mitosis to form vegetative cell and generative cell. generative nucleus further undergoes mitosis to form two malegametes. one of them fuses with egg cell and forms zygote. this is syngamy. another male gamete fuses with the secondary nucleus to form the endosperm. this is triple fusion and totally it is called double fertilization. this is reproduction in brief.

I’m interested in breeding flowers and plants and making hybrids and was just wondering what species of plants and flowers are good for this kind of hobby.

I’m looking for plants and flowers that have male and female and have varied colors, shapes and sizes etc. I want to grow many different ones and mix them and pick and chose the qualitys for the next generations.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

hard question to answer as there are so many things to ask: like indoor, outdoor, annual, perenial, houseplant? African violets are realitivley cheap and seed quite readily and you can probably get blooms in about 3-6 months from seed to se what your cross had produced. I grow orchids but seriously you dont get to see what your cross did for at least 3 years. I do know that lillys and bearded ireses are popular for this but they only bloom once a year. Violets might be your bet. Good luck!!!

I wanna know how to keep them blossomed. oO

Hardy water lilies are day bloomers. They naturally open around 9 a.m. and close around 4 p.m. They will also close if rained or watered on. On dark, cloudy days, they may not open at all. Generally, their flowers rest on the water surface. The blossoms only last about 2-3 days. Once they close back up permanently and start to rot, clip them off well below the water line. Be sure to use fertilizer tabs in the pots to keep them blooming throughout the season.

However, there are tropical water lilies, some of which are night-bloomers. The blossoms on the night blooming tropical water lilies open at dusk and close about noon on the next day. Their blooms tend to stand out of the water and tropicals flower much more than hardy water lilies. You might want to buy some of both kinds. Just remember that since the tropical ones are not hardy, they can’t be left in the bottom of the pond over winter.

I wanna know how to keep them blossomed. oO

Hardy water lilies are day bloomers. They naturally open around 9 a.m. and close around 4 p.m. They will also close if rained or watered on. On dark, cloudy days, they may not open at all. Generally, their flowers rest on the water surface. The blossoms only last about 2-3 days. Once they close back up permanently and start to rot, clip them off well below the water line. Be sure to use fertilizer tabs in the pots to keep them blooming throughout the season.

However, there are tropical water lilies, some of which are night-bloomers. The blossoms on the night blooming tropical water lilies open at dusk and close about noon on the next day. Their blooms tend to stand out of the water and tropicals flower much more than hardy water lilies. You might want to buy some of both kinds. Just remember that since the tropical ones are not hardy, they can’t be left in the bottom of the pond over winter.

This Summer I’ve been thinking about making a koi pond for the first time in my backward. I’m worried about things like koi disease (koi pox), pond design, predators, pond construction and which liners are best. I need a site or product that has everything listed as one guide.

I found this site that seems to offer the things your asking:
I’m no koi expert per say but hey give it a try!

http://infokoi.com/manual/index.html