Kansas City Flowers

Infomercials are designed to suck us in. I will admit, I fell for the Topsy Turvy Planter infomercial. It seemed like a great way to grow fresh vegetables on my small apartment balcony. They took up very little space, and were virtually mess free; Great purchase, right? Wrong, the Topsy Turvy may seem like a great space saving way to grow fresh veggies, but looks can be deceiving. Learn from my mistake and do not fall for this trick.

I was so excited when I first received my Topsy Turvy. I couldn’t wait to get it out of the package and plant my tomatoes. I hung a hook on my balcony, filled the planter with soil, and carefully placed my little tomato plant in it. After all, the website and commercial call it “the easiest way to garden.” The first week seemed to be going okay. My little plant was slowly growing and the planter was holding up well. I could already taste the lovely tomatoes that it would soon be producing.

After about a week, though, I noticed that something was wrong. I should have thought about it sooner. The plant naturally grows towards the sun, but when it is hanging upside down the sun is above it. My plant had begun to grow in a U shape, trying its hardest to reach the sunlight. I figured, Okay, so it’s not going to be the prettiest tomato plant ever, but if it still produces I’ll be happy.

It never did produce one single tomato. It continued to grow upwards, and was growing bigger at the same time. As soon as any tomatoes started to form, the plant was too heavy to support itself and snapped in half. There I found my little plant, dead, laying on the balcony floor. Poor little plant.

If anyone has had success or failure using this product I would love to read about it. Leave me comments below letting me know how your experience with Topsy Turvy ended up.

There is nothing better than a homemade meal made with herbs that you’ve grown yourself. This can be a challenge to achieve in the cooler months, but if you use a window greenhouse you can have fresh herbs year-round. They are easy to install and grow awesome plants. A window greenhouse can be used to grow any kind of plants and flowers, but I prefer to use it in the kitchen to grow herbs.

A window greenhouse is a miniature version of the typical window covered greenhouses we all know. It fits into your existing window frame and extends outward. You can find them in many different sizes, so finding one to accommodate your needs should be easy.

Some herbs will take better to indoor growing than others will. The top three easiest to grow herbs are:

1. Chives: These are widely used and loved. Many recipes will call for chives and you can save money by growing your own. The plant will continue to grow new stalks as it is trimmed, so you can enjoy fresh chives anytime.

2. Mint: Mint comes in many varieties, and is fairly easy to grow indoors. It is used in many desserts and drinks. One thing to remember when growing mint indoors is that it is very susceptible to dry heat, so keep it away from furnace vents.

3. Parsley: this is another common choice of herbs for many recipes. Parsley is available in either curly or straight leafed variety. Both will adapt well to indoor growing. It will lay roots deep, so make sure to have a thick layer of soil. Also, if a parsley plant wilts due to lack of water it is unlikely to recover, so make sure to water thoroughly daily.

An indoor herb garden is a great way to make sure you are stocked up on fresh ingredients. Also, if you have children, it is a great way to show the life cycle of plants and teach responsibility. A window greenhouse will provide the space needed to grow herbs indoors without taking up valuable square footage in your home.

One of the most beautiful trees in Kansas City is the Tulip, or Saucer, Magnolia Tree. It gets its name from the large, tulip-shaped blooms that engulf the tree in early spring. The blooms come in a wonderful shade of pink, purple, or ivory. The Tulip Magnolia retains its beauty into early summer when the petals float down and blanket the surrounding grass.

The tree itself gets to be about thirty feet tall with a twenty-five foot round spread. The blooms grow to be an impressive eight inches round. When not in full bloom, the leaves are about four inches long. They are dark green in summer and a lovely red-brown in autumn. In late autumn and winter months the tree goes into a dormant state and the leaves fall. The fruit of the Tulip Magnolia is a deep pink color. It appears on the tree in August and will attract a wide variety of birds and butterflies.

If you want to grow your own Tulip Magnolia the best time to plant is mid-late February, when the chance of frost is diminished. Remember to plant in an area with enough space for a fully matured tree. Also, you need to plant in an area that provides full, or at a minimum, partial sun. The ideal amount of sunlight for the Tulip Magnolia is eight hours a day. Good natural irrigation is also essential, as these trees do not tolerate wet, saturated soil. This type of magnolia tree does not require fertilizer, however, you will need to add mulch around the base of the trunk and roots to help keep them cool.

You can buy a Tulip Magnolia sapling at one of the local Suburban Lawn and Garden stores. As mentioned above, it will need to be planted in early spring. These trees to not tolerate being planted at other times of the year due to the drastic climate changes common to the Kansas City area. Lightly water your newly transplanted sapling five times a week, taking special care to not saturate the soil. They are slow growers, and hardy little trees when properly cared for.

Enjoy the newest addition to your lawn or garden, it will surely become a favorite.