An Introduction to Plants
I think of plants in two categories: indoor plants - those plants that require controlled temperature, lighting, water,
and outdoor plants - those plants that will live outside during our four-season weather: snow in winter, high heat in summer.
Since your weather conditions may be very different from mine, you are encouraged to look for plants by name if you know it, or you can contact me directly.

Younger Readers are encouraged to start here.
Interested in specifics on indoor plant cultivation? *Coming soon*
Interested in orchids? My orchid page
Interested in outdoor cultivation? *Coming soon*

For Younger Readers
Most plants have roots that draw food from the soil. Some plants have very deep roots and if you are trying to gow these plants indoors, you will need very deep pots for them. Examples of this kind of plant are dandelion and borage. Other plants have very shallow roots, and can grow in very little soil. Cactus are a good example of this kind of plant. As far as I know, all plants require some water in the soil to stay alive. Even cactus plants will die without water! And, when we grow plants indoors, it is important to provide food for them in the water. Plants grown outside can find food in the soil. Of course, it is also helpful to provide most plants outside with a little extra food as well. Plant food is usually called "fertilizer".

Most plants have leaves that take in light and food from the air. Plants are important to other living things because plants produce oxygen. A process called "photosynthesis" explains how plants do this. If this is too complicated for you, it is easy to remember that while plants require oxygen, they give back oxygen too. Most cactus plants do not have leaves, so they use the body of the plant to "photosynthesize" light. Plants grown indoors often need more light than plants growing outdoors. This is because the sunlight lands directly on plants outside, so they can make full use of it. Plants grown indoors often need extra light from fluorescent lights or special plant growing lights, because our glass windows stop some of the sun's helpful rays from reaching the plants.

Some plants like to have water sprayed on their leaves, like spider plants. These plants may be from tropical environments, where water usually falls on the leaves, or they may suffer from too much dryness in the air caused by heating used in our homes to keep the people warm. Other plants, like african violets, do not like water on their leaves, so we must take extra care when we are watering these.

Some plants produce flowers large enough for people to notice. In fact, there are groups of people who grow plants just for the flowers. Examples of this kind of plant are roses, dahlias, and carnations. Some plant flowers are cut and sold in florist shops. Other plants are grown in gardens, for the gardener to enjoy. Sometimes flowering plants are grown indoors, like african violets. When plants produce flowers, the flowers may be very fragrant, like some roses. Other plants produce flowers without much odour. A few, such as the "carrion plant", produce flowers that smell awful to most people! So why do plants produce flowers? Flowers attract bees and other living things that pollenate the plants. Pollenation means taking some of the pollen from one plant to another. By mixing the pollen, plants are able to produce seeds. That's why many plants produce seeds after the flowers fall off.

Seeds are formed after the flowers bloom and die. Seed production is very difficult work for the plants. That's why people "deadhead" some plants in the garden, like petunias. By removing the flowers when the flowers wilt, the plant will work to produce more flowers instead of producing seeds. When the seeds are produced naturally, they fall into the ground where they will develop roots and grow into new plants. Some seeds are carried by birds, who drop the seeds in other soil. Some seeds, like dandelion seeds, are designed to fly in the wind, so they can land in soil without help from birds!

Not all plants continue life by creating seeds. Some plants, like mint plants, produce "runners", which are long stems that grow into the ground and produce their own roots. Plants like this are often called "invasive", a word that means the plants will spread out in the garden unless the gardener removes the runners. Invasive plants are not bad plants, they are just plants that are very likely to remain in the garden for years without making any extra work for the gardener.

One interesting way to encourage plants to grow is to plant them with "good neighbours". This year, we planted chives next to our rose bushes, and our roses are beautiful. We're also testing the idea that chrysanthemums help to grow better strawberries, and it seems that petunias help beans to grow.

We also learned about a couple of interesting "not good neighbours" for plants. It seems sunflowers do not grow well when planted directly into grass, and pole beans don't seem to be happy when planted with sunflowers. Still, we were able to grow several sunflowers this year, and some of them are called "Early Russian", which have huge flowers. We want to use some sunflower seeds to feed birds in the winter.

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