Gardening - Part 2: Flowers!

Today we continue our gardening theme and give you 20 different flowers in French and English.  Ah flowers…they replace words of love and probably do a better job in healing the sick and uplifting the downtrodden.  They stir the poet in each of us. 

(Note:  images of the flowers here are from Wikipedia, not from my garden)

Landscaping and gardening experts say that spring is the best time of the year to plant.  They advise adding a root stimulant like bone meal or mycorrhizae to encourage roots and healthy growth.  Broken branches must be pruned and the surface must be covered with mulch.  The soil has to be moist until the plant is “settled in.” 

When shopping for flowers – especially perennials and annuals – examine their leaves.  Inspect the undersides to make sure there are no pests or signs of disease or decay.

One thing to remember about annuals:  they can’t survive the winter so they have to be replanted every year unless you choose re-seeding annuals.  Perennials will keep though.  Perennial bulbs like daffodils and tulips will remain in the ground throughout winter.  This way you don’t need to dig them up and store them during autumn.

A writer mentioned an interesting thing about edible flowers.  There are some species that you can eat, but do be careful:  you can eat only the petals, and don’t eat edible flowers that you buy at stores unless you’re 100% sure that they were not sprayed with chemicals.  Eat them in small quantities first, in case you’re allergic.  Lastly, don’t eat those that you plucked out of the roadside – think “exhaust” and “pollution.”

The 20 flowers below are a mix of annuals (A), perennials (P), bulbs (B) and others (O).  The letters follow the English names. 

FRENCH	ENGLISH
Amarante	Amaranth (A)
Amaryllis	Amaryllis (B)
Arctotis hybrid	African Daisy (A)
Campanules	Blanketflowers (P)
Crête-de-qoc	Cockscomb (A)
Digitale poupre	Foxglove (P)
Fougère	Fern (O)
Hortensia	Hydrangea (O)
Jasmin trompette	Trumpet Vine ((O)
Liatride	Blazing Star (B)
Lis de paques	Easter Lily (O)
Narcisse des près	Daffodils (B)
Narcissus tazette papyraceus	Paperwhite (B)
Oeillet giroflée	Carnation (P)
Pied d’alouette	Larkspur (A)
Racine de pivoine	Peony (P)
Rose trémière	Hollyhock (P)
Tulipe	Tulip (B)
Violette d’Usambara	African Violet (O)
Violette pied d’oiseau	Pansy (A)

I’ve been watching this TV ad promoting a product called Roll N Grow.  It’s a cloth-like piece of padding that you can put in pots, beds and along the edge of your driveway.  It contains 1,000 seeds and claims that when used, there is no need to do any weeding, hoeing, and all the prep work required before planting flowers.  The company’s web site is www.rollngrow.com.

Has anyone ever tried it?