The species, Hosta tibiae have its flowers borne on panicles.

Depending on the type of plants that grew in the bog, the peat moss will have varying textures. Sphagnum peat tends to be coarse textured while so-called Michigan peat is very fine textured.

Peat moss is used as a soil amendment in the garden but is most often used as part of soilless media used in pots and containers. It is combined with perlite and vermiculite to form a light, well-drained media that holds onto nutrients.

Within perennials there are two subgroups:
1) Woody perennials would include trees and shrubs that form solid, woody tissue that persists from year to year. Trees, of course, may live hundreds or, in a few cases, thousands of years.

2) Herbaceous perennials form soft, non-woody tissue that may persist in tropical or subtropical climates or dies to the ground in temperate regions. Herbaceous perennials may live decades (peonies, hostas) or just a few years (delphinium, gaillardia).

See Annual and Biennial  Images of Perennials.

Perennial ryegrass is commonly combined with Kentucky bluegrass and fescue in cool-season grass seed mixtures for the home landscape in temperate regions.

Care should be taken with using this product in the garden because it is very light and may be blown around in the wind. Also, all the white specks mixed into the soil makes it look unnatural.

The petals of hosta generally range in color from pure white to dark purple. Violet and lavender are also terms used to describe hosta flowers. Some cultivars have dark stripes on lighter colored petals.

When deer eat hostas, they generally eat the blade but leave the petiole looking like celery stalks. Most petioles are the same basic color as the blade but some hosta cultivars have purple or speckled ones.

For example, a pH of 6.0 is ten times as acid as a pH of 7.0. A pH of 5.0 is 100 times more acid than one of 7.0. Dropping to a pH of 4.0 is 1,000 times as acid as a pH of 7.0.

For the gardener, pH of the soil is important because it has an impact on how effectively the plant can use available nutrients from the soil. The vast majority of plants grown in the temperate zones perform best in a slightly acid soil somewhere between 6.0 and 7.0.

A few plants, most notably those in the Ericaceae Family, prefer a highly acid soil in the range of 4.0 to 5.5. In the landscape, this would include rhododendrons and azaleas, heaths, heathers, boxwood and pin oak among others.

If the soil pH is outside the preferred range for a plant, it will be unable to absorb nutrients even if they are in the root zone. A classic example would occur when rhododendron leaves turn yellow but still have dark green veins. This indicates an iron deficiency but a soil test might actually show plenty of iron in the soil. The problem is usually that the pH of the soil is neutral (7.0) or alkaline and the plant is just not able to take up the available iron.

For example, gypsy moth females do not fly. To attract the male moth which can fly, they excrete a strong pheromone. Male gypsy moths will be drawn to them from as much as a mile away.

Another use for pheromones is to draw certain insects into traps so that their populations may be monitored. Commercially produced pheromones are used to monitor gypsy moth build up in an area.

Pheromones are also used as an organic way to control certain pests of fruit trees. Tags containing pheromones are attached to branches in large numbers. There is so much pheromone saturating the area that the males become confused and few of them actually find the females. Studies have shown that this can help to reduce certain pest species without having to spray pesticides.

Phosphorus (P) is one of the macro-nutrients (i.e. needed in relatively large amounts). Generally, it is used in production of flowers and roots.

A fertilizer bag with the numbers 15-10-20 on it  would include 15% nitrogen (N), 10% phosphorus (P) in the form of phosphate (P₂O₅) and 20% potassium (K) in the form of potash (K₂O).

Phosphorus, like potassium,  has a strong electrical attraction to the clay particles in soil. Therefore, in many gardens, it may build up to optimum levels over years of application. In these cases, you may only need to apply nitrogen in subsequent years.

As always, the only way to know how much of each element you need for your particular crop (lawn, flowers, fruit, vegetables, trees, etc.) is to complete a soil test.

Green plants take the energy of the sun i.e. light, in the presence of chlorophyll and combines it with water, carbon dioxide (CO2) and mineral elements to form carbohydrates and sugars used for plant growth. It releases excess oxygen from the water into the air which we animals can breath in before we exhale carbon dioxide.

Each plant has a minimum requirement for light, nutrients, chlorophyll, water and temperature for photosynthesis to take place. If any one of these factors is below the minimum for that species of plant, photosynthesis will be at a low rate or will not occur. For instance, If the plant is not getting the light that it needs, adding fertilizer will not help.

Shade plants are those which have a low minimum light requirement. They are NOT shade LOVING since they cannot grow in the dark but are actually shade TOLERANT and are adapted to low light environments.

Plant problems that cannot be attributed to insects, diseases or physical environmental (abiotic) factors are often called physiological problems.

Carl Linnaeus from Sweden proposed a relatively simple system based on the number of stamens and/or pistils in a plant's flower. Also, each plant (or animal) would have a species name that consisted of only two parts, the genus and a specific epithet.

This classification system known as binomial nomenclature was finally adopted worldwide after decades of debate. Today, if you write about a plant called Monarda didyma, plant people all over the world will understand. If you used one of its many common names such as beebalm, Oswego tea, bergamot, red balm, crimson beebalm or horse mint, the chance for confusion is much greater.

Hosta pods resemble very small cucumbers hanging on the peduncle.  They may be of different colors on the outside. The seeds, when ripe, are dark brown or black with a small wing.

Hybridizers physically move the pollen from the male parent to the pistil of the female parent when cross-breeding Hosta, Hemerocallis (daylilies) and other plants. In nature, this is done by bees and other insects that fly around from flower to flower. Bats and other animals also act as pollenizers in other parts of the world.

A polygamo-dioecious plant will also have some perfect flowers (having both male and female parts) on each plant.

Examples include Honeylocust (Gleditsia), Ash (Fraxinus), Fringe Tree (Chionanthus), Osmanthus and Mulberry (Morus).

A polygamo-monoecious plant will also have some perfect flowers (having both male and female parts) on each plant.

Potassium (K) is one of the macro-nutrients (i.e. needed in relatively large amounts) necessary for plant growth. Generally, it is used in "physiological functions" of the plant which means that it is needed for the plant's chemical processes somehow. It is also used in seed production.

A fertilizer bag with the numbers 15-10-20 on it  would include 15% nitrogen (N), 10% phosphorus (P) in the form of phosphate (P₂O₅) and 20% potassium (K) in the form of potash (K₂O).

Potassium, like phosphorus,  has a strong electrical attraction to the clay particles in soil. Therefore, in many gardens, it may build up to optimum levels over years of application. In these cases, you may only need to apply nitrogen in subsequent years.

As always, the only way to know how much of each element you need for your particular crop (lawn, flowers, fruit, vegetables, trees, etc.) is to complete a soil test.