How to Care for the Luckiest Houseplant

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Instead of carrying around a rabbit’s foot or a four leaf clover, try adding jade plants to your home for good luck! These plants signify wealth and prosperity, so they make the perfect addition to offices and homes. Like most succulents, they’re low-maintenance and easy to care for.

You don’t need to be lucky to find success, just follow these simple care instructions for your jade plant.

Water

Instead of watering your jade plant on a schedule, water as needed. If the top inch of the soil is completely dry, it’s time to water. Depending on the amount of sun and the room temperature, water needs may vary. If your jade plant starts to lose leaves or develop sun spots, it’s trying to tell you it’s thirsty. Water just enough to moisten the soil.

As with all houseplants, avoid over watering as it can lead to root rot and other diseases.

Sunlight

Jade plants love sunlight. Just four to six hours of direct sun a dat promotes healthy growth also protects against diseases. Place your jade plant on a sunny windowsill at work or at home.

Certain varieties of jade, typically ones with variegated leaves, don’t need as much sun. Look for a variety than can thrive in indirect sunlight to place on your desk or coffee table. Jade plants love mild temperatures, anywhere from 50 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit will do.

Soil

Jade prefers a well-draining soil to avoid becoming water logged. Espoma’s Organic Cactus Mix is specialized for succulents. It promotes healthy root growth with its optimum aeration and drainage. Clay pots are great for jade plants because they wick away any excess water and help protect the plant from over watering damage.

Fertilize

Fertilize your jade plant regularly to keep it healthy and growing, try Espoma’s Cactus! Liquid plant food for succulents.

With just a little care, your new jade plant will bring you plenty of luck and prosperity!

Want to be creative with succulents? Try this DIY paint can planter for succulents.

Top Five Trees to Plant for Bees

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Bees, birds, butterflies and other pollinators are responsible for pollinating 85 percent of the planet’s flowers and more than a third of our fruits and vegetables. Without bees, the shelves at our grocery stores would look pretty sparse.

 

Starting a pollinator garden is easy. But, trees in your landscape are just as important as colorful flowers.

 

Bee sure to plant some of these trees for the bees!

 

5 Top Trees For Bees:

 

Native Oaks

Provide bees with winter shelter and habitat by planting native oaks.  Native plants are one of the best ways to help pollinators, after all. Choose native oaks to support pollinators throughout the year, but especially during winter when these strong trees make for excellent shelter. In fact, more than 500 pollinator species call native oaks home, returning year after year.

 

Magnolias

The nourishing pollen and sweet nectar of magnolia trees supports pollinators year round. However pollinators aren’t the only ones that love magnolias. Known for their vibrant blooms, fruit flies, leafhoppers and more are known to visit these trees, too.

 

Tupelo

Have you heard of Tupelo honey? There’s no doubt that bees love Tupelo trees for food and shelter. Plus, tupelo trees provide colorful pops of foliage to the fall landscape with their yellow, red and orange leaves.

 

Yellow Poplar/Tulip Tree

Not actually a poplar, this tree is actually a member of the magnolia family. It gets its name from the large, tulip-like flowers it produces. Its greenish yellow blooms and sweet nectar attract pollinators to the yellow poplar.

 

Black Cherry

Add this sweet, fruit tree to welcome pollinators to your landscape. Not only are black cherry trees practically irresistible to bees and caterpillars, these trees also look spectacular.

 

Once you have picked the perfect tree, keep pollinators coming back for years by keeping your tree healthy. Fertilize regularly with Espoma’s Tree-tone.

 

What to know more? Watch this video to find out how to fertilize trees.

Companion Plants for Your Hydrangeas

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There’s no doubt that hydrangeas can hold their own in the garden. With big colorful blooms and beautiful green foliage, summer’s favorite flower makes a bold statement in any garden.

But, why not pair them with delicate foliage, bold flowers or subtle ornamental grasses for more variety? If you’re looking for ways to make your hydrangeas pop even more, try these companion planting tips.

When planting hydrangeas, be sure to use Espoma’s Bio-tone Starter Plus for best results.

Foliage

It’s hard to go wrong when choosing a color for companion plants. Try pairing hydrangeas with foliage in different hues of the same color. This adds subtle dimension and almost creates a 3-D effect in the garden.

If your hydrangeas are pink, pair them with Rose Glow Barberry shrubs. The deep pink and purple foliage emphasizes the pastel pink flowers and contrasts perfectly with the green leaves. Try planting Blue Star Juniper alongside blue hydrangeas for a beautiful display. This low-maintenance shrub provides beautiful bluish-green foliage that complements any blue flowering plants.

Flowers

When planting flowers with flowers, timing is everything. Be sure to choose a summer blooming flower that will blossom around the same time as your hydrangea. You can choose to plant similar hues or bright contrasting colors. If you’re looking to create a dramatic contrast in the garden, choose a flower that comes in a variety of colors.

Begonias and geraniums are beautiful flowers that come in many different shades, making them a perfect companion for hydrangeas. Create a colorful rainbow garden by pairing blue hydrangeas with pink geraniums or white hydrangeas with scarlet begonias.

Grasses

If you want the focus of your garden to be mainly on hydrangeas, opt for more subtle ornamental grasses that simply enhance their beauty. Most ornamental grasses are low-maintenance and easy to grow, giving you more time to spend perfecting your hydrangeas.

Fountain grass is one of our favorites because it provides pretty feathered plumes that dance in the wind. Green and yellow Japanese forest grass also complements hydrangeas very nicely.

Let us know what you’ll be planting with your hydrangeas this summer! And watch this video on planting hydrangeas.

Guide to Growing Hydrangeas Here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Grateful for Great Gardeners this Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving is days away, and we’re so excited to gather with loved ones and enjoy a locally-grown, organic feast! Does it get any better? It sure does! Because we have so much to be thankful for. Below we’re sharing what we’re thankful for at Espoma this year.

Our Espoma Community

Each time we package a product, meet with a customer or hear from you, we’re filled with overwhelming gratitude.

We are so incredibly thankful for you — specifically your continued support and enthusiasm for organic gardening over the years.

Everyone who supports Espoma becomes part of our organic gardening community. Just last week, we connected with a customer who has been using Espoma products since 1968.

He reminded us we’re all in this together.

organic lawn care, green lawn,

Three Barks for Safe Paws

This year, we launched Espoma’s Safe Paws. Through Safe Paws, we advocate the importance of using organic lawn and garden products to keep pets safe.

Once we learned that cancer affects 1 out of every 3 dogs, we had to take action.

Since then, we’ve been sharing easy, fun ways to keep your pets’ paws safe!

We’re so thankful we’re able to keep pets safe from harmful pesticides by focusing on using organic lawn products.

organic gardening, edible gardening

Green Movement Growing

When we started our organic garden company in 1929, we were organic before organic was trendy.

Now, we’re thrilled families across the nation are joining the green movement.

35 percent of all households in America — a mighty 42 million households — are growing fruits and veggies.

Best of all, the largest increase in food gardening is among young families, according to the National Gardening Association.

Thank YOU for growing your own food, using sustainable energy and reducing waste whenever you can.

Pause and appreciate what you’re most thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Espoma. A Family Tradition Since 1929.

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