Gardeners and horticulturalists are used to getting grimy. They root around in the soil, applying fertilizers and pesticides. They plant, divide and re-plant. They do all this for the rewards of producing beautiful and nutritious plants to view and eat. But what if you could gain those values without coming into contact with any soil [...]

The tulip genus offers literally thousands of varieties, with more being created all the time. Yet all this complexity can be boiled down into 15 official divisions. But even that number is often reduced into a few simple categories by considering such simple things as bloom time.
One way to arrange a garden is by bloom [...]

Tulips first evolved in the mountain regions of Central to Western Asia near present-day Turkey and Kazakhstan. That area of the Earth naturally has cold winters, spring that supplies ample rain, followed by long, hot and dry summers. As a result, not surprisingly, those are exactly the conditions in which tulips thrive best.
But recreating those [...]

Tulips love to be outdoors when the climate is right. They originated in Central to Western Asia, near present-day Turkey and Kazakhstan. Cold winters and hot, dry summers preceded by a few weeks of good spring rain will make them grow healthy and fast. A garden blessed with those conditions will require very little else [...]

Dozens of flower species make for popular decorating elements. Roses often make it from the garden into the vase. Daisies cheer many a home. Peonies, chrysanthemums and daffodils are perennial favorites. But in this pantheon of flowers a special place must be reserved for tulips.
Thinking of tulips we often have the image of a solid [...]

One of the great things about tulips, apart from their sheer beauty, is how easy they are to plant and care for.
 

 If you time your planting well, or just get lucky, you may not need to water the soil at all before planting your bulbs. Tulips first evolved in rocky, relatively poor soil in hot, [...]

Everyone will have his or her favorite flower, but there’s a reason that orchids have been so popular since their introduction to Victorian society over 100 years ago. Orchids are exquisite.
Orchids come in four varieties - epiphytes that cling to trees, lithophytes that grow on rocks, saprophytes that make a home in leaf litter, and [...]

Like soil-based plant growing, greenhouses offer a good alternative to the hydroponic gardener. Many of the same advantages apply in either setting. But hydroponics is especially well-suited to greenhouses, where light, temperature and airflow are easier to maintain than in some other settings.
Tomatoes, peas, Welsh onions, strawberries and many other fruits and vegetables thrive in [...]

Orchids possess an anatomy that is unique. Though there are over 20,000 natural species and possibly as many as 100,000 or more hybrids, they share many common characteristics. Those give the orchid its distinctive appearance.
Like animals species, flowers have male and female parts. The orchid is unusual in that its male and female aspects have [...]

Selecting a species of orchid to grow will, of course, be heavily influenced by personal taste. But within that broad spectrum, those choices can and should be influenced by the care a given orchid needs. That, in turn, is determined by the native conditions of that species.
For example, orchids naturally thrive on every continent except [...]

There are over 20,000 naturally occurring orchid species, and over 100,000 hybrids. That leaves an enormous range of possible choices, a variety that can be overwhelming. But the choice can be made easier by investigating a few examples.
Cymbidiums, for example, are a very popular option. They’re very hardy and will reward the orchid grower with [...]