Bt is commonly sold as an insecticide under several brand names. It can be used for such pests as gypsy moth, eastern tent caterpillar, tomato hornworm and cabbage loopers. The only thing to consider is whether there are rare or endangered butterflies in your area. It does not discriminate whether the caterpillar it kills would have become a gypsy moth or monarch butterfly.

There are also other strains of this bacteria which are effective against mosquitos, Colorado potato beetles and other insect pests. Be sure to get the correct strain for the pest you want to control.

Be aware that Bt will NOT work on a class of insects called sawfly larvae. Although these critters look like caterpillars they are not. Therefore, Bt is not used for pests such as the European pine sawfly larvae.

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More on Types of Nursery Stock

More on Types of Nursery Stock

Also relates to the basal plant of bulbs such as daffodils or tulips.

Configurations that have a backdrop such as a fence, hedge or structure on one side are called a border.

- English nurseryman, Alan Bloom, is credited with popularizing the use of island beds in British gardens.

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Common bedding plants include petunia, zinnia, marigold, begonia, geranium (pelargonium), snapdragon, and sweet alyssum, as well as many, many other flowering plants.

Vegetable transplants are also lumped into this category at the local garden center.

- any insect of the Order Coleoptera, characterized by elytra (thickened outer wings), chewing mouthparts, and complete metamorphosis as part of its life cycle.

Japanese beetles and Colorado potato beetle are two well known plant pests in this group. The damage done by beetles is often characterized as "skeletonizing" the leaf i.e. eating the material between the veins but leaving the veins intact.

Note: At times I have seen the phrase "...acts as a biennial" which is always confusing. I think they probably mean that the plant is a short-lived perennial which is supposed to live more than two years but because of environmental conditions often only makes it a couple of years. In the end, a plant is either an annual, biennial or perennial and cannot really be more than one of these life cycle options.

See Annual and Perennial

An example would be Hosta sieboldiana.

- determination of the relative toxicity or strength of a substance by comparing its effect on a living test organism with that of a standard preparation.

For example, Colorado potato beetles are often resistant to several common insecticides, so a simple bioassay is often needed to determine which one is effective on the local population of beetles at what rate of application. Some beetles are placed in large, covered petri dishes, each of which contains a different pesticide. If the beetles are killed, that indicates that insecticide would be effective on those particular local insects.

Nutrient deficiency, nutrient toxicity, physical damage, weather impacts, poor drainage and other non-living factors would be called abiotic.

- 2) bloom also relates to the waxy coating on a leaf, stem, or seedpod surface producing a dusty appearance which often reflects blue light waves. The blue color in hosta or Colorado blue spruce trees is the result of a waxy bloom on the leaf or needle surface. Over the growing season, this wax may wear off and the green color of the plant tissue beneath may become dominant.

For example, individual species and cultivars of hosta have specific bloom times ranging from late May to late autumn depending on the relative location of the garden.

In vegetables, bolting is undesirable in such plants as Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, collard, endive, kale, kohlrabi, leek, onion, parsley, parsnip, rutabaga, salsify, and turnips. The flower stalks detract from the vegetable production.

However, bolting is a good thing in ornamental biennials such as foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) where it is preferable that many of the plants flower in the first season rather than having only foliage the first year and blooming in the second as is normal for a true biennial.

It is made with quicklime and copper sulfate. The quicklime is rather caustic so, if it is not mixed at the correct strength, it will burn the leaves of the plants. It can also be tough on spray equipment but does qualify as an "organic" alternative for control of certain (but not all) fungal diseases.

More on Beds and Borders

- insect or insect larva that makes tunnels or cavities into the bark or within the wood of trees. They leave holes of various sizes and shapes in the bark as the adults emerge from the tree.

Most native borers infest trees that are already under stress because of drought, age, disease, etc. They are part of nature's scheme to reclaim trees back into the soil.

Some exotic borers such as the Emerald ash borer and Asian Longhorned Beetle will attack healthy trees which makes them especially lethal pests.

Horticulture is a more narrow science devoted to plants with an economic value for fruit, vegetables or ornamental uses.

Contrast with Narrowleaf Evergreens

Bacillus thruingiensis (Bt) for example, is an insecticide which only kills caterpillar members of the insects family, Lepodoptera.

- a rudimentary shoot or flower; may he either vegetative (developing into leaves or stems), flowering (producing one or more flowers), or mixed (containing both leaves and flowers). Some buds are adventitious which means they wait in reserve to see what is needed by the plant before developing into either leaf or flower buds.

1) slang for an insect

2) plant bug is an actual group of insects from the Order Hemiptera which are characterized in part by piercing-sucking mouthparts, a triangular scutellom (hard plate on the thorax), two pairs of wings, and gradual metamorphosis.

One of the most damaging of these for the home gardener is the four lined plant bug. This is what causes those roundish, black spots on the leaves of chrysanthemums, coreopsis and many other plants.

Images of Bulb Plants.

- in the spring when the buds on the top of the hosta crown begin to expand and emerge from the soil, they form what are called "bullets."  Before the leaf blades enlarge and unfold to open, they resemble the business end of a rifle cartridge.

Generally, this occurs when a chemical salt is placed in close proximity to plant parts, especially their roots. Most fertilizers are chemical salt compounds and fresh manure (not composted) also contains a lot of salt. When a clump of fertilizer or fresh manure comes into contact with a root, water is rapidly transferred out of the root and into the salt. This causes plant cells to burst and die resulting in browning to plant tissues. In extreme cases, the entire plant will die.