Herself’s Houston Garden

Epsom salt provides much needed magnesium and sulfates to your plants. It does not build up in your garden the way fertilizer salts do. Magnesium sulfate is needed for seeds to germinate, and magnesium is critical to the formation of chlorophyll. Your plants need chlorophyll so they can turn the sunlight they receive into food.

A common sign of a lack of chlorophyll is yellowing leaves whose veins remain green.

Tomatoes and roses want 1 tablespoon of Epsom salts per gallon of water/ 2x month.

Shrubs want about 1 tablespoon spread over a 3′x3′ area. So about 1 tablespoon per bush if you don’t have them too close together.

Trees use about 2 tablespoons per tree or 2 tablespoons per 3′x3′ area.

Over the beds use 1 cup per 100 square feet, about 1 cup for a 10′x10′ bed.

The sulfur compounds in Epsom salts also make it easier for your plants to absorb the fertilizers you use.

You can find small containers of Epsom salts in your local pharmacy. Big bags can be found with the lawn fertilizers at the local HD/Lowes/Walmart type stores.

Shrimp plants bloom through out the warm weather. Normally pink, red and white in color I found this yellow one at the Extension Office plant sale in the fall.

Light shade is best for this plant. It is one of the few flowering plants that will bring color to a shady area, and it will get its best color in part shade.  Shrimp plants may die back to the ground if we have long cold temperatures but should return in the spring. The yellow variety is more cold sensitive than the traditional red variety.

Shrimp plants are also drought tolerant once established. But they would rather receive regular waterings. Fertile well drained soil is best. Trim ends to encourage bushy growth.

Shrimp plant can reach 3′ tall when happy. The yellow varieties are smaller than the traditional shrimp plant.

Extremely easy to grow. Not a favorite of deer, but is a favorite of hummingbirds.

Mine bloomed profusely all winter and is still doing so. I find it is rather scraggly looking with all the leaves and flowers on the top and bare stems at the bottom. Once the weather warms I’ll cut it back some and hope that it fills out.

Plants that flower in shade are rare, and rarer still is it to find one with bright colors. This plant dies back to the ground when the weather gets cold and it is the very last plant to come up every spring.

This plant is from the Caribbean. It does not like strong sun, keep it from direct sun. Other growers report it does better in areas away from sprinkler heads so go easy on the water but take care not to let it dry out.

This plant will reach about 2′ tall and is bushy in form.

It has been a totally care free plant so far, I planted it 2 years back.

These grow in water, along the edges of ponds, in bogs, I have them in my swale garden.

They can be invasive use appropriate cautions. Do not plant them unless you are sure you want them. They are extremely difficult to remove once established.

They are used in sewage treatment to remove metals from waste waters.

They grow in full sun and part shade with no trouble here. If it is wet, they will grow.

They bloom early-mid March and are just now winding down the middle of April.

Yellow flag iris can be found wild in bogs from Scandinavia to Siberia and as far south as North Africa. Clovis I, King of the Franks made it his family flower.  On a campaign from Germany they found their way through the swamp by following the flag irises.  Since they will not grow in deep water, he knew the swamps would be shallow enough to march his army through where ever they found this flower.