Hellebores
Hellebores are the moody, gothic jewels of the winter garden. Learn how you can grow them in garden or in pots.
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Looking for a plant that catches its own dinner, lowering the housefly population as it goes? Then the Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula) is the plant for you! Sensationalised and vilified in many a fantasy cartoon and video game, this carnivorous plant is actually pretty cute in person and can make the perfect work desk or windowsill ornament.
No, they won’t bite your finger off… unless you’re a fly.
How to grow venus fly trap in a pot
- Choose a pot up to twice the size of the selected plant. The wider the pot, the more potential humidity immediately around the plant, which it will prefer. Position in a well-lit protected area, ideally with about four hours direct sunlight per day and fill with a low nutrient quality growing media, such as Yates Black Magic Seed Raising Mix with some sphagnum moss mixed in. A kitchen/bathroom window sill may be ideal, with the added humidity a bonus.
- To further assist with soil moisture retention, mix in some Yates Waterwise Water Storage Crystals into the growing media.
- Remove the plant from its container, minimising disturbance to the roots.
- Position in pot and backfill with soil, gently firming down. Water in very well, but allow to drain freely.
- Move outdoors into a sheltered position over winter as the plants enter dormancy. Watering can be reduced during this time (only just enough to keep the soil moist).
Growing tips
- If insects are few and far between, you can try some Yates Thrive Orchid Liquid Plant Food applied at half the recommended rate, in a light spray directly onto foliage (avoid applying to growing media).
- Sitting pots in a shallow tray of water is an easy way to maintain moisture in the growing media, but this should be refreshed daily. Where possible, regular watering (several times a day as required) of a freely drained pot would instead be ideal.
- Avoid using water with high levels of dissolved minerals (‘hard water’). Rainwater is ideal, where available or alternatively use deionised water.
- Trimming off flowers as they shoot up from the base of the plant should help to maximise plant growth.
- While it’s fun to ‘set-off’ the traps, remember this reduces the plant’s chances of catching a meal.
Gardenia
Gardenias have soft scented blooms in white or yellow. Depending on the variety, can be grown as a shrub, standard, hedge or ground cover.
Freesia
Freesias are a spring flowering bulb that produce scented blooms in a range of vibrant colours including pinks, white, yellow, mauve and red.
Flax
Flax (Phormium spp.) are highly versatile plants which can grow well in swampy or dry conditions. Great for large pots or en-masse in garden beds.
Recommended products
Yates Black Magic Seed Raising Mix
Specially formulated for trouble-free seed raising in trays (or outdoor seed sowing direclty into the ground) and propagation of cuttings.
Yates Waterwise Water Storage Crystals
Ideal added to potting mix or garden soil, where the crystals absorb up to hundreds of times their own weight in water and release as plants require it.
Yates Thrive Orchid Liquid Plant Food
Yates Thrive Orchid Liquid Plant Food is a complete fertilizer that provides all types of orchids with the balanced nutrition they need, including potassium to encourage beautiful blooms, plus manganese, iron and copper which are ideal for your pot grown orchids.
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