Bob’s Blog
Caring for Hippeastrum
Hippeastrum have large extravagant trumpet shaped blooms on tall thick stems. In general they will produce 2 stems with at least 4 large flowers per stem making an impressive display. Popular around Christmas and New Year, they flower easily and their showy flowers are sure to brighten up any room or Christmas dining table.
Growing Paperwhites Indoors
Paperwhite narcissus are a great choice for easy to grow blooms for the holiday season. Plant them now for beautiful and fragrant blooms by Christmas. When it comes to growing paperwhites, it couldn’t be easier. All they really need is water and light to flourish.
Testing Garden Soil
Testing your garden's soil is important. If you live in West Virginia, you can get your soil tested for free through WVU's soil testing lab. John Morgan recently got his soil tested and documented the process in the video inside.
How an Appalachian Apple Became The Gold Standard
It’s fall. Here at Bob’s this means three things – pansies, mums, and apples. Apples are pretty amazing. We owe modern apples to central Asian farmers thousands of years ago who first domesticated apples. However, we can look a little closer to home when it comes to the most popular varieties of apples today. Two popular varieties have their origin right here in West Virginia. Grimes Golden and Golden Delicious, West Virginia’s official state fruit. In 2013, the Golden Delicious was one of four apple varieties featured on 33-cent stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
The Basics of Soil Composition
Soils are complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, organic matter, and countless organisms that are the decaying remains of once-living things. It forms at the surface of land – it is the “skin of the earth.”
Overwintering Mums
Overwintering mums is possible. Because many people think that mums (formally called chrysanthemums) are at best a finicky perennial, many gardeners treat them as annuals. But, this does not have to be the case. With just a little winter care for mums, these fall beauties can come back year after year. Keep reading to learn more about how to winterize mums.