How Genetic Engineering Has Created Large Varieties Of Apple Trees

As technology advances, more and more options are opened up. Suddenly, there are new types of electronic music, new ways of reading books, new ways to communicate and yes, new types of apple trees to buy!

Because of genetic engineering and importing capabilities, we have worked past the minimal kinds of apple trees, and advanced to many different types of flavors, colors, and apples. Here are five well-loved varieties of apples open to consideration for you apple tree.

Brae Burn

First becoming popular in the 1940's, the popularity of Brae Burn apples has spread from its original location of New Zealand, to becoming the best-selling apple in Germany. Beyond that, it has been greatly loved in the United States since the 1980's, recognized as one of the best-loved apples in the world. Perfect for slow eaters, Brae Burn apples generally don't brown very quickly after being cut. Distinguished its sweet, but slight tart taste, you can recognize this apple by its varying color of mostly red, to gold with red streaks. They become ripe around October or November.

Red Delicious

Red and delicious, this apple would not be hated for false advertising. Red Delicious apples are tall, large, and heart-shaped on the outside, and contain a crisp, juicy, sweet interior. First introduced to Peru, Iowa in 1874, these apples are now grown and loved all across the country. These apples are great to put in salads. They become ripe in mid to late September. They are usually best when they are fresh off the tree.

Golden Delicious

Designed much like the Red Delicious apple, the insides are crisp, juicy, and sweet, and are contained by a large, heart-shaped exterior. They make great accomplices to those who love to cook, the Golden Delicious keeps their taste and shape even when cooked or baked! Handle carefully though, the Golden Delicious bruises somewhat easy, however will last a long time if handles gently.

Fuji Apple

Distinguished by its yellow-green skin with red streaks, the Fuji apple has been enjoyed in 1962, starting in Japan. The insides are crunchy, flavorful, and sweet. While the trees can tolerate poor soil conditions, the fruit tends to reflect the soil quality. Fuji apples are often used for cooking, and taste best when they are fresh.

Gala Apples

Straight from New Zealand, they are considered one of the best-tasting apples you can grow (when fresh). They grow quickly, and offer much fruit. The Gala apple is medium sized, with yellow skin (with a hint of red). The insides are juicy, crisp and contain a wonderful scent. Because the Fuji is considered a better option, they are generally not used for cooking.

There are many different types of apple trees to consider. With enough research, you can find one best suited to your time, climate, and taste.

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Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as www.shopforfruitbaskets.com">Shop For Fruit Baskets at www.shopforfruitbaskets.com

How To Easily Remove Excessive Thorns From Your Roses

Though beautiful, a rose can hurt. After all, every rose has its thorns. All sorts of myths symbolize the danger of these little daggers. According to Greek Mythology, Cupid shot arrows into a rose bush after he was stung by a bee, and the pain from his arrow thus caused the thorns to sprout.

Don't cry though if these sharp points have poked you more than once. You took can remove these little darts and create a smooth stemmed rose with just a little care and patience.

Note this: thorns have a purpose. They help the plant drink water, and thus when you remove the thorn, you should be careful to not inflict any excessive damage to the stem. Utilize a proper dethorning technique to avoid injuring the rose. Carelessly dethorning a rose will shorten the life of the flower as the peeled or torn skin will hinder the amount of water the stem can take.

When removing the thorns, you have two choices: wait until the stem is cut or do it while the stem is still attached to the plant. Remove the thorns while the plant is still young and before the rose blooms if you know that a gardener will be cutting the stem in the future for display or for a bouquet. To remove the thorns, apply slight pressure to the sides and then push them off the stem. Do the same with cut stems.

A thorn stripper will help you dethrone roses as well. This strips the stem of leaves and thorns. You can make your own with metal strapping from a hardware store, but if you do, file the edges that touch the flower so you do not tear the stem excessively.

To dethrone the stem with this homemade tool, hold it below the flower and then close the jaws around the stem. Don't use too much pressure because you could damage or even sever the stem. Drag the dethorner down the stem and watch the thorns pop off. Getting the hang of using this tool will take time, but practice makes perfect, and soon you'll know exactly how much pressure to use.

A knife works well to remove thorns as well. Just scrape the stem of the rose with a sharp floral or pairing knife. When removing the thorns from a cut stem, consider removing just the thorns and leaves below the water level.

Think carefully about the look of the rose before trying to remove every thorn and leaf. Consider the flower's use, and then remove thorns as necessary. Again, dethorning the flower can shorten its life, so don't overdo it.

Consider dethorning especially when you need more plant litter for your compost pile. The extra thorns and stems will help build up your lacking pile, and in the end, make handling flowers safer to for you to work with.

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Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as flowers online at www.sendflowersorgifts.com

Why The Beauty Of Roses Is Hard To Resist

Who can resist the beauty of a rose? Its soft delicate petals call to those who see it, begging people to touch them. One of the most prized flowers in a garden, rose varieties exist in abundance. A gardener could plant acres and acres of them, and each rosebush could bear a different color and variety of flower. Royalty and peasants alike have celebrated the scent and delicate beauty of this flower for centuries. No matter their station in life, individuals appreciate the unique and delicate beauty of this coveted flower. Roses still hold importance in flower gardening today.

When a gardener considers whether or not to plant, cultivate, and prune this cherished flower, he has dozens of choices ahead of him. First, he must consider the climate of where he will grow his roses. Roses prefer temperate climates and soil with good drainage. Thirsty plants, these bushes prefer long rainy seasons. If your climate leans towards the hot and dry, search for the rose breed that can withstand your extreme temperatures and lack of moisture. Thanks to scientific technology, rose growers and breeders are constantly working to develop hardier roses that can withstand the extremes of both hot and cold climates.

After finding the best plant for his climate, a gardener must consider the different colors, scents, and sizes available. Breeders grow some roses with their focus only as beauty, and thus the rose might not have a strong scent. And other types of roses emit such a strong scent that their fragrance can fill your yard. In the end, the type of rose depends on the gardener, but the majority of rose gardeners try to find something that has both a pleasant but not overpower scent and a beautiful color.

Colors abound in these plants. From deep magentas to even black, a skilled gardener can coax just about any color of rose to grow. Gardeners will have a variety of hues to choose from when shopping for your rose bushes, so they must pick carefully the one that they think will best complement their garden overall. The right rose has the potential to accentuate both their yard and home in a beautiful way. They may consider a rose that will contrast with their house color and thus stand out in the long run, or maybe they want to stick with a monochromatic theme and shoot for a rose that matches their home perfectly.

Regardless of the color or type, roses will always be a popular flower. Women dream of them, and men fork over a bundle of cash for them. Their finicky climate requirements make them rare, and because of this, the gardeners who grow them appreciate their delicate scent and beauty that makes them so unique.

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Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as flowers online at www.sendflowersorgifts.com

Gardening Tips - The Best Ways To Create And Use Fertilizer

When you do your gardening, you always end up with some leaves and weeds, dead plants and probably some grass clippings. Most people see this as rubbish and send it off to the landfill. Not only is this a waste of one of nature's fertilizers but it takes time and money to get rid of this garden 'rubbish'. So, what alternative is there? Well, a gardening tip to consider is do what nature would do and use all this garden 'rubbish' to provide nutrients for your garden. Following are the gardening tips to help you convert this garden 'rubbish' to compost.

The first thing to know is that organic waste is considered better for your garden than any chemical fertilizer on the market. Nature has a decomposition process that promotes proper chemical change resulting in excellent nutritional benefits to the plants in the garden.

Of course, the question is, "Where shall I put this pile of smelly garden 'rubbish'"? Gardening tips; your compost heap shouldn't be smelly and if it is, you need to alter the composition of it to prevent it becoming anaerobic ie too much nitrogen. This requires the heap not being too wet and having enough oxygen. Once you've got the balance right, you will find that the decomposition process is actually producing some fertilizer that isn't a pong to the nose!

So, what does this suitable place for a fertilizer heap look like? Gardening tips; is should be an area that has plenty of width space and not too deep. If it's too deep, the materials down low in the pile will not be able to get enough of the necessary requirements, and you end up with a smelly heap. Try to choose an area where you can spread out the garden 'rubbish'. You can, if you've got the space, have two heaps side by side. Remember, it's width not depth that's important.

What rubbish can you put into the heap to be converted to garden food? Gardening tips; it must be quickly decomposable - that is, able to rot away quickly. Did you know that orange peel takes years to decompose? Therefore, it's not suitable; nor is meat or diseased plants. However, you can use most other organic material including grass clippings, woody plants, leaves, and vegetable scraps. Using your lawn mower, shred garden 'rubbish' to help quick decomposition.

How do you start the composting process? Gardening tips; make the materials as small as possible. Mix up the pile quite frequently to allow oxygen into the heap which will aid the decomposing process. Water periodically, but not too much as this is a sure way to invite anaerobic micro-organisms which will give you a smelly pile.

No matter what, your compost pile will be a little unsightly. Gardening tips; find a place that isn't easily seen and is also near the garden areas that you will want to fertilize. Be aware of your neighbours; it may be out of sight for you but right in the vision of your neighbor. They really don't want your compost heap near their entertaining area! Construct a compost pen for your pile, or buy a ready-made compost bin to contain all the decomposing material.

Summary:

Use your garden 'rubbish' as garden food and put back nutrients into the soil. Some gardening tips will ensure that you get a good start to making your own fertilizer.

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Brooke Hayles
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Admiring Trees

Near at hand, we all can see beautiful trees. Every time I walk the city parks, or visit the country side, I gaze the trees that I cross bringing back memories of happy tree climbing, tent camping in the woods, long walks with my folks, hiking with friends or just relaxing underneath a tree's branches enjoying the breeze. Although my yard was never big enough, I managed to as a kid to convince my parents to plant trees inside its perimeter and whenever I touch their trunk I get excited knowing that they would not have been there if I did not insist to plant them.

Trees are large, perennial, woody plants, which continue growing until they die. They grow just about everywhere on Earth, from extreme cold regions near the Arctic and the Antarctic to hot tropical regions around the equator and even in deserts and the most diverse populations of trees are found in the tropical rain forests. In comparison to other plant forms, trees are considered long-lived. As perennial plants, they are classified as having a distinct, self-supporting main stem, or trunk, containing a woody tissue that produces secondary limbs and branches. Their height and single main stem differentiate them from shrubs, which are usually shorter and have many stems. With more than 20,000 types of trees growing around the world, a few species can grow really tall, like redwoods and eucalyptus that reach heights of more than 110 m. (360 ft.). Trees live anywhere from a few, to thousands of years, like the olive tree or a bristlecone pine growing in California's White Mountains that has been dated as at least 4700 years old.

Trees do come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and can be divided into six basic groups according to the features they have in common. These are: broadleaf trees, needleleaf trees, palm and pandanus and lily trees, cycad trees, tree ferns, and ginkgo trees. All of the above groups have provided us with food, fibers, medicines, and many other substances valuable in every day life. If you are asked what product you can receive from trees, wood is the one that quickest comes to mind. Since ancient times, people have used wood to make tools and construct buildings as well as for forms of art and expression. Most importantly, wood has also been used as a source of fuel.

Furthermore, trees in the world's forests or plantations provide food and shelter for humans and wildlife. Trees provide us with fruits, nuts, roots and other tree parts which we use to feed ourselves. Tropical fruit trees are among the most popular and include avocados, grapefruits, mangoes, and oranges. Cooler, temperate regions have fewer kinds of fruit trees, but produce vast amounts of apples, cherries, and peaches. Almonds, pecans, walnuts, and macadamia nuts are a few easily recognized species of nut producing trees. The most important nut tree of warm regions is the coconut palm, which produces coconuts. Trees also supply chocolate, coffee, maple syrup, and such spices as cinnamon.

Finally, trees also have a role in conservation. Along lakes and rivers tree roots conserve soil, holding top soil in place, and water, holding water in the ground. Where they grow in open country, they act as windbreaks and keep the wind from blowing away topsoil, therefore aiding in stopping desertification.

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Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Gardening, Home Improvement, and Real Estate

Gardening Can Be suitable For Anyone

There are gardening methods to fit the style and needs of every gardener. And every gardener has preferred and unique ways of growing a beautiful garden. Beginning gardeners can join a local garden club and benefit from the advice of experienced gardeners.

Garden clubs are a valuable resource for a beginner, since members always exchange tips that they have collected in their years of gardening.

A key element for a successful garden involves watering. Plants must be watered in an appropriate manner or they will not thrive. Providing a deep watering every week is better than spraying the garden every day with the hose because most plants prefer thorough and deep watering to frequent, shallow watering. One of the best methods for watering the garden is a soaker hose. This type of hose ensures that the plant's roots are adequately watered.

Experienced gardeners always say there is nothing more important that creating their own compost from recycled household waste. Composting waste materials like leaves, kitchen scraps, and other organic materials results in a rich organic soil amendment that provides excellent nutrients to the garden. Having a compost bin in the home is also a good way to reduce the amount of waste being trucked into already overflowing landfills. Compost added to the garden soil is a good way to balance the pH levels to ensure the soil is not too alkaline or acidic. Composting provides a high-quality humus that has important elements, including iron, phosphorous, and manganese. These are often lacking in commercial fertilizers.

Once plants have been put into the ground, deep cultivation should be avoided because digging deeply near the plants can damage their root systems, dry out the soil, disturb the valuable microorganisms that contribute to plant growth, and cause weeds to rise to the surface. Deep cultivation should be confined to the preparation of a plant bed.

Flowers contribute beauty to the landscape with their bright colors. When selecting garden and landscape flowers, colors that highlight and emphasize those already existing in the landscape are best. When bright colors like reds and oranges are mixed with soothing pastels, an excellent contrast of colors can be achieved in the garden. Many gardeners like to combine a home garden with landscape elements like waterfalls or ponds. Water elements offer a relaxing retreat from everyday stress.

Using flowers in a landscape can increase the value of a home as well. Research has indicated that flowers and plants enhance the resale value of a house, while providing a wonderful experience for the senses at the same time.

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Discover more articles about hobbies and pastimes by visiting www.great-hobbies.com

Tips For Indoor Gardening

During those long winter months one can bring a little bit of the outdoors in with with some indoor gardening. Having plants in the home can really add to your decor and helps off than the look of every room as well as add to your health. Indoor plants can help add moisture to the air as well as help filter the air by exchanging carbon dioxide for oxygen.

Indoor gardening is no more demanding than outdoor gardening and you don't have to have a lot of plants to make a big difference in your home. Just like outdoor plants those that you keep indoors need some basic things such as lighting water and nutrients.

Different types of indoor plants require different amounts of lighting but most plants will grow better with good light. You can help provide this by placing plants near windows where they can get natural light but you may also want to buy a special plant grow light especially for those dark winter days. When choosing plants for your indoor garden, keep in mind that the darker leafed plants usually don't need as much light as the other plants.

Many people tend to kill their indoor plants by overwatering them. While your indoor garden needs water just like your outdoor garden it's important to remember that these plants are in containers and you can't just load them up with a ton of water that will stand in the container and perhaps wrought the roots. Be sure that each container has a good drainage system, perhaps with rocks at the very bottom of the container, and a saucer for the water to drain out into. You should not let the soil get to dry but don't overwater either. Check your in your garden at least once a week to to see if it needs watering.

With indoor gardening, humidity can be a problem particularly in the winter when it is very dry. To keep your plants moisturized you can spray them with a fine mist and if it is really dry dry wrapping the plant in a cone of newspaper or wax paper and missing the play and then. The cold will help keep the moisture into the plant.

Different plants require different kinds and amounts of fertilization. You should be aware of each planning your indoor garden and what its needs are. You can buy indoor fertilizer from any home goods or garden store and you can even buy fertilizer sticks that you stick in the container at the grocery store. Some exotic plants like orchids need special fertilizer of most regular houseplants just use the regular fertilizer you can find in any store.

Here's a few plants you might want to add to your indoor garden:

African violets

These plants have pretty purple flowers and green glossy leaves. They are quite often grown indoors and can add colorful splash to your indoor garden. They like light but don't put them right in the final get scorched. Avoid overwatering as this will kill them.

Philodendrons

These of the most popular and Hardy of all indoor garden plants. They are full of large green leaves and prefer a medium light. It's best to let them dry out a bit between wanderings and you can keep the little dryer in the winter. If the leaves turn brown and you're not watering them enough. They like high humidity but will do okay in most homes. Be sure to wash the leaves off often to remove dust.

Boston Ferns

The Boston fern is a popular indoor plant which produces a thick bundle of leaves. It requires diffused lighting and will need a grow light in rooms where there is not enough natural light. They can be sensitive to chlorine and tap water so watering regularly with distilled water is best. Boston ferns can be a bit difficult to grow as they like cool locations with a lot of humidity. Misting your Boston fern each day can help it be happy and healthy.

Jade Plant

They Jade Plant is a succulent and can tolerate very dry conditions. These plants are extremely tolerant and difficult to kill so few one start in indoor garden but don't have a green calm you do well to consider one of these.

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Lee Dobbins writes for www.backyard-garden-and-patio.com where you can learn more about plants and gardening.

5 Reasons To Grow Your Own Fruit And Vegetables

Having your own vegetable patch or fruit garden was once commonplace, but fell out of favour as the food industry become more commercial and supermarkets began to take over. In recent years however, more and more people have started explore growing their own produce again. Here we give 5 reasons why you might consider starting your own kitchen garden.

- Freshness

Fruit and vegetables taste better and are healthier if eaten as soon as possible after picking. Most fruit you buy from supermarkets and the like is picked well before it is properly ripe, to extend shelf life, and this usually has an impact on flavour. Growing your own lets you taste the freshest possible produce as it's meant to taste.

- Quality

Commercially grown crops are often selected for their high yields, uniform appearance and long shelf lives rather than for quality and taste. When you grow your own, you can concentrate on the quality rather than the economics.

- Price

Much supermarket fresh produce is hugely overpriced, despite their advertising claims. Growing your own from seed is about as inexpensive as you can get, and even growing from small plants you buy is likely to provide you better food at a lower cost. With many plants, you can use the seed from one growing season to provide plants for the next - a self sustaining cycle that will cost you only time and effort to keep going.

- Provenance

More and more people have concerns about how our food is produced, with chemical pesticides and GM food a particular worry. With your own vegetable patch, you know exactly where your food is from and how it was grown.

- Variety

There are literally thousands of different varieties of fruit and vegetables, but supermarkets tend to concentrate on only the most profitable and easy to sell. This means that our choice is often limited to a few select varieties of apple, for example, rather than the hundreds of traditional kinds that exist. Growing your own lets you pick the varieties you like the most, and experiment to find new ones you'll rarely see on sale.

There is of course a downside to all this - it takes time and effort. In these increasingly busy times, we might not think we have the time to spare, but starting small with a few herb plants on your windowsill, or even the odd tomato plant, will give you a taste of growing your own and might even be enough to hook you into it for life!

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Andrea is a contributor to Recipedia Food and Drink Glossary where you can read about all aspects of food and drink, from herbs to shellfish and more.

Container Gardening Should Include The Herbal Plant Scented Geraniums

Planting an herbal garden that includes scented geraniums is not common to container gardening. Most gardeners think of scented geraniums as a floral plant, not an herbal plant but the species, called pelargonium, is an herb with many uses. This delightful herb has many different aromas and gorgeous colors to delight your senses. The scented geranium is best used in container gardening for two reasons. One, you can control the soil and moisture, and two you can bring it indoors when a frost is imminent.

The scented geranium was found in Africa in the 1600's and shipped to England where it became most popular. The gardener of King Charles I grew a variety of scented geraniums in the royal greenhouse. The Victorians thought they were geraniums rather than an herbal plant but if you look at their asymmetrical leaves you can see the difference between scented geraniums and regular geraniums.

The scented geranium is truly a herbal plant for all seasons. It grows and has a lovely aroma throughout the spring and summer and when the chilly winds of autumn threaten this sturdy herbal plant will gladly co-exist inside with you. Nothing could be better when container gardening includes scented geranium with their exquisite flowers, lovely scented leaves, and sturdy characteristics for year round enjoyment of your senses.

True to their name scented geraniums come in a multitude of fragrances. Seemly, the favorite is the rose scented geranium but others are gaining popularity quickly. Some of the more robustly planted are the apple scented, peppermint scented, wood, like cedar or balsam, nutmeg and citronella (also know as the mosquito buster.) You can plant a whole container garden with this one type of plant and have a beautiful diversity. Their leaves alone will contrast interestingly to give you a spectacular container garden. The tiny smooth leaves of the nutmeg scented geranium, or Lady Mary, to the large musk scented leaves of the Lady Plymouth.

The rose scented geraniums are gaining popularity for calming and are increasingly used in mediation and for healing purposes. The plant truly releases a delicious rose scent when rubbed against or crushed. Just brush the leaves to release their scent or make a soothing rose geranium tea to help you relax.

There are many culinary uses for the scented geranium to delight your taste buds. Chop up the leaves and mix with your other favorite herbs such as chives or chervil or thyme to make interesting flavored butters or dips and spreads. A really clever way to use the leaves is to line a baking pan when making pies, puddings or cakes to impart a wonderful flavor to your desserts. Use them for desserts, syrups or custards for another unique flavor. You can even make flavored sugar by layer dry, fresh leaves with sugar. Let them sit a few days, remove the leaves and store the sugar in an air tight container. This can be used in teas, baking goods, or as a sugar scrub. They are delightful in baths and infused in water to rinse your hair.

The scented geranium is a great as a room freshener or added to potpourri. Try adding some to your vacuum bag or put them in a mesh bag and add them to your dryer for a new fresh scent for your clothes.

Scented geraniums are grown from cuttings taken from the mother plant. Cut three to four inches just above a leaf. Strip the lower leaves off and place in a rooting medium, such as a mix of sphagnum peat moss. Place your cutting in bright light and keep it moist. When roots have been established it is time to place it in your container garden. Make sure the soil is porous and fast draining.

When the scented geranium is indoors it is necessary to feed it once a week to ensure full leaf growth. Pinching back the plant not only encourages bushy growth but releases a delicious aroma into the air. Keep the soil evenly damp; do not over water them as this will kill them. They can come back from overly dry situations but not wet ones.

Now it is time to add this multi-talented plant to your container garden. Just one word of caution, once you get to know the scented geranium your herbal garden will never be without it.

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Visit Mary Hanna's websites at: Gardening Herb Cruise Travel and Container Gardening Secrets