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Table of Contents

1. Editor's Comments
2. House Plants: Part One
3. Humor for Today
4. Native Plant Follow-up
5. Eustoma F1 (Forever White)
6. Quote for Today
7. Reader Mailbag: Best Palms for House Plants
8. Pair of Pears
9. Subscribe/Unsubscribe

1) Editor's Comments:

This week we are starting a three-part series on house plants. We also have a follow-up on pears, an All American Selection Award winner, our reader mailbag, and more.

Hope you enjoy.

As always, if you do have questions, suggestions or ideas, do not hesitate to drop us a note.

Tom Krueger
tomkrueger@rexseedco.com

Rex Gregor
rexgregor@comcast.net

"Exotic & Unusual Seeds from Around the World"

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2) House Plants: Part One

We'd like to dedicate this series of articles about house plants to folks with brown thumbs and those janitors who care for office plants.

According to the foliage industry, there are more than 250 commonly grown house plants and office plants. The majority of these are grown in homes and offices based on their purchase price because they are a "good deal." As a word of warning, some of these plants were never really intended to be grown in the environment into which we're placing them.

If you are in the process of selecting a "foliage plant" for a house plant or in the office, it is important to inspect the plant -- to make sure it is insect and disease free. Don't hesitate to take a magnifying glass to look at the underside of the leaves for signs of insect eggs - sure, they may spray insecticide to kill any insects, but it has no impact on the eggs. If eggs are present, it is only a short time before the plant will be infected with unexpected insects.

You'll want to select plants that look sturdy, clean, and well potted. Be sure they are shapely and well covered with healthy leaves. Avoid plants with yellow leaves -- an indication they have lost their chlorophyll. Also look for brown leaf margins or wilted leaves with spots or blotches. You don't want a plant with spindly growth.

Have the leaves been treated with "leaf shine?" You'll want to avoid these plants because sometimes these products will not allow the leaf to breath, and the leaf may eventually dry up and fall off. The good looking plant you buy may well become ugly.

There are two seasons when you don't want to have plants delivered to the home or office because you can cause damage to plants -- hot summer days and cold winter months.

In the summer, plants left in a sealed car can be disastrous because the temperature can quickly reach a point of destroying or damaging the plant. And the sun shining through the window glass can burn the leaves. Even if not left in the car, you should shade the plant from direct sun during transport -- the ultraviolet light will damage the leaves.

During winter months, the plants need to be thoroughly wrapped before leaving the store. Even a short time in the cold may damage the plant. This is especially true with poinsettias.

Any change in environmental conditions may cause your beautiful plant to get sick. Sometimes a change in light, water or temperature can be a chief factor in affecting the plant. A major change in any of these factors may result in your plant taking a week or ten days to adjust.

It is always best to try and match your plant's new environment to that under which the plant was being grown. Most quality florist shops and greenhouses are aware of this problem, and will be more than happy to work with you to make the change easier.

As a final consideration, always remember that if you purchase junk, you will get junk; if you select quality, you will grow quality.

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3) Humor for Today:

A teenager who had just received her learner's permit offered to drive her parents to church. After a hair-raising ride, they finally reached their destination.

The mother got out of the car and said, "Thank you!"

"Anytime," her daughter replied.

As the woman slammed the door, she said, "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to God."

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4) Native Plant Follow-up:

Last issue we mentioned native plants. One thing we do want to mention is that you should not collect plants from the wild. You may not know it, but there are more than 2,000 native American plants which are endangered or protected. If you dig them up, you might be violating the law. Also, many of these wild plants are difficult to transplant.

Of course, an exception to this rule would be if their homes were being destroyed by development. You might check with a wildflower conservation society in your area about endangered species.

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5) Eustoma F1 (Forever White):
(AAS Bedding Plant Winner 2003)

The All American Selection (AAS) Committee 2003 Bedding Plant Winner named Eustoma F1 'Forever White' as this year's winner. It no doubt will be the best flowering Eustoma for your flower garden. The large 2-1/2 inch ivory-white bloom will cover the entire plant during the entire growing season.

It has heat tolerance and a tolerance for low moisture situation. This compact branching plant is excellent for container or flower garden culture. It will reach a mature height of 12 inches. The horticultural name is Estoma russellianum (Lisanthus). This species has been known under the name of Eustoma russellianum and/or Eustoma grandiflorum.

From about 1879 to 1931 this beautiful flower was brown by a German firm. It was only offered locally so the world didn't know much about it. In 1952 the Japanese began to cultivate this plant, and in 1977 a Japanese firm (Sakata) introduced several new cultivars. Subsequently, more research was done and gardeners in the U.S. became interested in this beautiful flower and the name was registered and trade marked in several countries. In spite of the conflicts, the common name has still remained as Lisianthus.

The Sakata Seed Company was the first to offer the Lisianthus as a "new cut flower" in the United States. It was obvious that this elegant, beautiful flower with 15 colors and a long vase life was destined to be the greatest thing since the "dog had pups." While the Japanese breeders made many advances, this new flower crop lacked heat tolerance.

This is when the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center from Florida entered the picture. Under the direction of Brent Harbaugh, and with the cooperation of Jay Scott, they developed a heat tolerant dwarf and semi-dwarf variety. This Florida Series is now being marketed as the Maurine Series in United States and Canada. It is estimated that more than 50% of the 'Lisanthus' plugs and seed production will be the result of these two men's work.

We hope you will try this 2003 "best of the best" as named by the All American Selection Committee for 2003.

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6) Quote for Today:

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, Twenty-sixth President

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7) Reader Mailbag: Best Palms for House Plants

Many are slow growing, but as noted, eventually they may overgrow their enviornment. But don't let that worry you, the good news is that it may well take up to 10 to 15 years before that happens. In fact, some will even take up to 20 years before they will outlast your space.

Palms are really quite inexpensive if you start them from seed. Here are a few to consider that make excellent house plants: P20 Ponytail Palm; P30 Parlor Palm; P55 Pigmy Palm; P60 Mexican Cyad; P63 Panama Hat; and P68 Chinese Windmill Palm.

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8) Pair of Pears:

Did you know that pears require cross-pollination to produce fruit? Thus, you need to plant two compatible varieties. A few suggested pairings would be Bartlett, Conference, and Doyenne du Comice. These are good pollinators and yield delicious fruits.

But if you don't have room for two trees, select one with several varieties grafted onto a single rootstock. Your tree will then be self-pollinating, and you'll produce different kinds at different times.

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9) Subscribe/Unsubscribe

This newsletter, the Green Thumb Times, is sent out only to those who have requested a FREE subscription by signing up at http://rexseedco.com or specifically asked to be added, or are a valued customer of Rex's Seedco.

PRIVACY: Your email address is held in the strictest of privacy. It is never traded or sold to anyone else.

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Tom Krueger, Editor and Publisher
tomkrueger@rexseedco.com

Rex Gregor, Contributing Editor
rexgregor@comcast.net

Please feel free to forward The Green Thumb Times to a friend.

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Rex’s Seedco has searched the world for quality growers of garden seeds. Many of these farmers bring together ancient wisdom and modern science so people everywhere may have good health and enjoyment in life. We are dedicated to providing the best wherever they are found.

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