Depending on the basic plant material in the resulting bog, the peat moss will have varying textures. Sphagnum peat tends to be coarse textured while Michigan peat is very fine textured.

Peat moss is used as a soil amendment in the garden but is most often used as part of soilless media used in pots and containers. It is combined with perlite and vermiculite to form a light, well drained media that holds onto nutrients.

Care should be taken with using this product in the garden because it is very light and may be blown in the wind. Also, all the white specks in the soil makes it look unnatural.

The petals of hosta generally range in color from pure white to dark purple. Violet and lavender are also terms used to describe hosta flowers. Some cultivars have dark stripes on lighter colored petals.

When deer eat hostas, they generally eat the blade but leave the petiole looking like celery stalks. Most petioles are the same basic color as the blade but some hosta cultivars have purple or speckled ones.

For example, a pH of 6.0 is ten times as acid as a pH of 7.0. A pH of 5.0 is 100 times more acid than one of 7.0. Dropping to a pH of 4.0 is 1000 times as acid as a pH of 7.0.

For the gardener, pH of the soil is important because it has an impact on  how the plant can use available nutrients from the soil. The vast majority of plants grown in the temperate regions perform best in a slightly acid soil somewhere between 6.0 and 7.0.

A few plants, most notably those in the Ericaceae Family, prefer a highly acid soil in the range of 4.0 to 5.5. In the landscape, this would include rhododendrons and azaleas, heaths, heathers, boxwood and pin oak among others.

If the soil pH is outside the preferred range for a plant, it will be unable to absorb nutrients even if they are in the root zone. A classic example would be when rhododendron leaves turn yellow with dark green veins. This would indicate an iron deficiency but a soil test might show plenty of iron in the soil. The problem is usually that the pH of the soil is neutral (7.0) or alkaline and the plant is just not able to take up the available iron.

For example, gypsy moth females do not fly. Therefore, they excrete a pheromone that attracts males which can fly, from as far as a mile or more away. Artificially produced pheromones are placed in sticky traps to monitor the gypsy moth population by counting the number of males caught. Depending on the number found, scientists can predict the level of potential infestation for the following season.

Phosphorus (P) is one of the macro nutrients (i.e. needed in relatively large amounts). Generally, it is used in production of flowers and roots.

A fertilizer bag with the numbers 15-10-20 on it  would include 15% nitrogen (N), 10% phosphorus (P) in the form of phosphate (P₂O₅) and 20% potassium (K) in the form of potash (K₂O).

Phosphorus, like potassium,  has a strong electrical attraction to the clay particles in soil. Therefore, in many gardens, it may build up to optimum levels over years of application. In these cases, you may only need to apply nitrogen in subsequent years.

As always, the only way to know how much of each element you need for your particular crop (lawn, flowers, fruit, vegetables, trees, etc.) is to complete a soil test.

Each plant has a minimum requirement for light, nutrients, chlorophyll, water and temperature for photosynthesis to take place. If any one of these factors is below the minimum for that species of plant, photosynthesis will be at a low rate or will not occur. If the plant is not getting the light that it needs, adding fertilizer will not help.

Shade plants are those which have a low minimum light requirement. They are NOT shade LOVING but are actually shade TOLERANT since they cannot grow in the dark.

Carl Linnaeus from Sweden proposed a relatively simple system based on the number of stamens and/or pistils in a plant's flower. Also, each plant (or animal) would have a species name that consisted of only two parts, the genus and a specific epithet.

This classification system known as binomial nomenclature was finally adopted worldwide after decades of debate. Today, if you write about a plant called Monarda didyma, plant people all over the world will understand. If you used one of its many common names such as beebalm, Oswego tea, bergamot, red balm, crimson beebalm or horse mint, the chance for confusion is much greater.

Hybridizers physically move the pollen from the male parent to the pistil of the female parent when cross-breeding hosta, hemerocallis (daylilies) and other plants. In nature, this is done by bees and other insects that fly around from flower to flower. Bats and other animals also act as pollenizers in other parts of the world.

Potassium (K) is one of the macro nutrients (i.e. needed in relatively large amounts) necessary for plant growth. Generally, it is used in "physiological functions" of the plant which means that it is needed for the plant's chemical processes somehow. It is also used in seed production.

A fertilizer bag with the numbers 15-10-20 on it  would include 15% nitrogen (N), 10% phosphorus (P) in the form of phosphate (P₂O₅) and 20% potassium (K) in the form of potash (K₂O).

Potassium, like phosphorus,  has a strong electrical attraction to the clay particles in soil. Therefore, in many gardens, it may build up to optimum levels over years of application. In these cases, you may only need to apply nitrogen in subsequent years.

As always, the only way to know how much of each element you need for your particular crop (lawn, flowers, fruit, vegetables, trees, etc.) is to complete a soil test.