Growing Staghorn Ferns 25 Years and Counting
Staghorn Ferns, with their antler-like fronds, are easy-care tropicals that thrive on neglect. Larry Hurley shares how his has flourished for 25 years and a whimsical display at Olbrich Gardens.
A Fern, A Nest, A Home: Carolina Wrens in the Staghorn
A no fuss birdhouse. This photo was taken at our home in Bethesda on June 29, 2014, through our dining room window. I have a staghorn fern, a tropical plant, that I put outside each summer. I’ve still got it, and…
For Zoe’s 9th birthday, we celebrated her love for nature with a special gift—a ZZ plant! Little did we know, she had already picked out an African violet earlier that day. From planting pansies at her party to planning a vegetable garden with her G.G., Zoe’s green thumb is starting to bloom. Could she be the next gardener in the family?
Larry Hurley’s Photo Of The Week: Houseplants
Anyone can grow tropical plants indoors, you just need to be aware of the plant’s needs. Some are easier than others. I’ve never been able to successfully grown weeping figs or fiddleleaf figs in the house. They are, after all, large-growing trees that…
Larry Hurley’s Photo Of The Week: An Orchid for the Garden
I hope you have had a chance to visit one of the orchid shows around your area this winter. They are always a nice change from the cold, and bring thoughts of tropical travels. So many kinds and colors! You…
Stephanie’s Peace Lily
One would have thought I would have had a Peace Lily after all these years. But one would be wrong. I am the one Behnke with a brown thumb, which is not from planting. Years ago, after killing so many…
Larry’s Photo Of The Week: Norfolk Island Pine: A Houseplant’s Tropical Origins and Challenges
Norfolk Island Pine, Araucaria heterophylla, is sold as a houseplant during the Christmas season. I’ve tried to grow it several times with limited success. (The success being limited by premature death.) Detailed cultural information available here from the North Carolina Extension Service. …
Larry Hurley’s Photo Of The Week: Poinsettias at Behnke’s Largo
Poinsettias at Behnke’s Largo growing location, November 20,2004 In our prime growing days, Behnke’s sold around 55,000 poinsettias a year, most of which we grew ourselves. This photo is part of one of the three greenhouses we had at Largo,…
Nope! They Are Not My Violets
Some of you might be wondering if these violets could be mine. Last year, I wrote about my attempt at rooting some leaves off my mother’s (Sonja Behnke Festerling) old Chanticleer African Violet. These 3 in the photo are not…
Photo Of The Week by Larry Hurley: Bird’s Nest Fern, Asplenium nidus
You might think this is one of the little people that inhabit Stephanie’s “Fairy Gardens,” but no, it’s me, peeking out from behind a very large Bird’s Nest Fern. Bird’s Nest Fern, Asplenium nidus, is commonly sold in the USA as a tropical…
African Violet Update
Rooting African Violets Last July, I wrote about how my granddaughter Zoe and I decided to try to root some African Violet leaves from my mother’s 50-plus-year-old plant. The one I had ended up with root rot. At the…