If you are looking for a little color inside your home, try growing orchids as houseplants. Orchids are fascinating because of their extraordinary variety of sizes, colors, shapes, and habits, as well as their variety of fragrances. And best of all, orchids can be grown by just about anyone able to grow other houseplants. Different varieties bloom at different times of the year and can be combined to provide some type of bloom almost year-round.

Like any other houseplant, orchids require proper watering, feeding, light, temperatures, and humidity. Plants should be grown in an east, south, or west window, but should be protected from direct midday sun.

In nature, most orchids grow attached to trees, with the roots hanging loose in the tropical jungle air. They usually receive a good rain once a day and then they dry out. In the home, it is best to allow orchids to dry out well after each watering. If the roots are kept too wet, they may start to rot.

One of the most useful additions you can make in your garden is to plant a tree. A tree adds scale and structure to a garden and pulls together the various elements that create the overall look and feel. The tree's foliage throughout the seasons, and flowers when they are significant, will also add impact to your garden design.

Yet today, many gardens do not have the space for large spreading trees (along with their imposing trunks). But most of us have a small garden--or even a courtyard--that still can use a smaller tree to give balance to the landscape.

Sometimes gardening isn't limited by space, but by time and interest. If you love the idea of being surrounded by a garden, but you can't see yourself spending countless hours with a pruning shear in your hands, a wonderful option is to create a garden paradise on your patio or terrace in containers. And small trees will add balance and make a great addition to any patio collection. If you plant in containers, be sure to use a high-quality potting soil like Master Nursery Professional Potting Soil for best results.

Small trees are sometimes called patio trees and are usually defined as slower-growing and ranging in height from six to fifteen feet. Most produce an incredible display of blooms at some time of the year, and have non-invasive roots as an added landscape benefit.

When selecting a patio tree, allow adequate width to keep walkways, entryways, driveways or buildings clear of overhanging branches. Many small trees, although short, can spread as much laterally as vertically.

Many homeowners revel in the glory of their garden in spring, only to be disappointed when plants start to dry out and look stressed in the heat of summer. The natural reaction is to pour more water into the garden to "moisturize" the plants. This in turn can lead to root rot and/or the continuous lowering of soil temperature to the point that plants aren't stimulated to grow--or just plain die (overwatering is one of the main causes of plant death). But these problems can be greatly reduced or, in many cases, prevented by summer mulching.

The goal of summer mulching is not only to reduce summer heat stress on plants, but to create an environment for plants that will be conducive to good growth. Mulch is to a garden what a roof is to your home. We couldn't heat or air condition the home without the roof. The same seasonal temperature variance occurs in your garden. A 2" layer of mulch not only retains moisture in the soil but it maintains a cooler temperature in the summer and a warmer temperature in the winter.

Mulching also brings many other benefits to the garden. It gives the garden a tidier appearance and greatly improves the growing conditions for plants. Mulch helps suppress weeds and helps to conserve moisture. It creates an environment where earthworms can thrive and enhance the soil's condition. Nature provides this for us in natural settings; when we apply mulch to our garden, we mimic what is naturally done on the forest floor.

The strategy is to stimulate the growth of good soil bacteria, which in turn digest plant foods that the plant will recognize as nutrients and absorb. By keeping moisture in the soil you will attract earthworms and beneficial microbes and bacteria. The earthworms loosen up the soil, easing compaction, while the beneficial microbes help digest nutrients more efficiently, making them more readily available to the plants. Maintaining "moist" soil as opposed to "wet" soil keeps the temperature of the soil at a more consistent level for optimum growth. Mulch also provides a blanket to the soil that protects against soil crusting, as it decomposes and adds humus to the soil.

We recommend spreading a 2" inch layer of mulch or bark over the top of the native soil. There are many mulching materials available. Color, particle size, and nutrient exchange are considerations when choosing your material. We recommend Bumper Crop, Black Forest Organic Compost, or Master Nursery barks. Non-organic decorative mulches such as rock or gravel may be an attractive addition in gardens but give nothing back to the soil. Note: make sure not to place mulch right up against plant stems or tree trunks.

When mulching is incorporated with a good organic fertilizing program, the plants in your garden will not only survive the stress of summer and winter, but will thrive in it. Mulch will also give your garden a more "finished" look, adding to its overall beauty.