Category: plants

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5 Houseplants You Basically Can’t Kill

Do you want to spice up your house? Add some houseplants.

Your thumb is more brown than green, you say?

Not to worry.

Here are five plants that even you can’t kill. Plus, you can buy them online. Put them throughout your living space to let others know you are a Responsible Adult with living plants – and plants (like these) can also do *some* work to clean and detoxify your air.

Scroll through this list of five plants that you simply can’t kill.

1. Snake Plant

You can’t kill this plant. It doesn’t need much water or even direct sunlight. Whenever you think about it – say once or twice a month – water it. In return, this gorgeous West African native will make your air a little bit purer.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

2. Cast Iron Plant

Have a corner in your apartment that literally never sees any sunlight? That would be perfect for the cast iron plant, originally native to China. Also, don’t forget to water it. Kidding. You can totally forget (in fact, water it sparingly).

Photo Credit: Flickr

3. Jade Plant

This one does like sunny spots, so don’t stick it in the dark. But it definitely doesn’t need regular watering – just when the soil feels dry or it starts to look shriveled. Put a small pot of this lucky African plant in your home and reap the benefits.

Photo Credit: Pxhere

4. Aloe

You. Cannot. Kill. This. Plant. Full of vitamins A, C, E, B-12, folate, calcium, magnesium, zinc, etc., etc., it’s amazing for skin and for margaritas.

Photo Credit: Pexels

5. Rubber Plant

Native to Southeast Asia, its sap was once the primary ingredient in, you guessed it, rubber. Now, it makes a great houseplant – especially if you have high ceilings, as they can grow to be very tall. They also have beautiful dark green leaves that complement pretty much any decor.

Photo Credit: Pexels

Psyched now to get some green into your life? These plants are as beautiful as they are hardy. You can’t kill them so find a couple and make your home look good and breathe easier. You’ll also look like an adult that can keep plants alive and that’s always a good thing.

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There is a garden in Alnwick Park…

There is a garden in Alnwick Park, Northumberland which contains over 100 different types of poisonous plants, which visitors are prohibited from touching or smelling. Despite this, seven people fainted in 2014 from inhaling the toxic fumes.

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Some Plants Can Hear When They’re Being Eaten and They Fight Back

Ready to be weirded out? There are some plants that can hear when they’re being eaten.

Yes, they can actually hear the chomp, chomp of a caterpillar munching.

If I were a plant I would be losing my mind!

Photo Credit: Unsplash, Bankim Desai

How can we tell?

Scientists have long known about vibrations affecting plants. Think about your elementary science project where you talked to your plants or played music for them and compared their growth to that of a “control” plant. Remember that? Well, sound is really just vibrations that get carried through the air.

Two researchers from the University of Missouri wanted to dig deeper into this effect. So Rex Cocroft and Heidi Appel brought in some insects to help them out.

In their study, they used caterpillars known to eat “Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard.” This plant was chosen due to its known production of mustard oil.

Arabidopsis plant
Photo Credit: iStock

“A caterpillar that eats nothing but mustard oil plants can get poisoned if the levels get too high,” Appel told Farm Journal.

Interesting…

The next step was to set up a small vibration microphone to pick up the munching sounds of the caterpillars having lunch. Next, they played back these sounds for the poor Arabidopsis and, lo and behold, the plant began to excrete more mustard oil than typical when it wasn’t “under attack.”

“This indicates that the plants are able to distinguish feeding vibrations from other common sources of environmental vibration,” Cocroft said.

In addition to the oils, the plant produced more anthocyanins, a specific chemical that gives its flowers a red color.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

What does this mean?

While it does take time for the plant to build up the oil (a few hours to days), the researchers stated that one should think of it as the plant going to war. If the caterpillar keeps eating, it will be poisoned, leaving it dead. The oil is the plant’s defense mechanism.

“This research also opens the window of plant behavior a little wider, showing that plants have many of the same responses to outside influences that animals do, even though the responses look different,” he said.

Smart plants…I think I’ll become a strict carnivore.

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15 Stunning Gardens Around the World You Might Want to Visit

If you’re a garden lover, take note of these spots. Like to take long strolls through acres of plants in absolute silence? My personal favorite place to do this is at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. The grounds are so spectacular that I can literally spend hours there just walking around.

Here are 15 gardens around the world that you might want to seek out if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

1. Jardin Majorelle — Marrakech, Morocco

2. Allan Gardens Conservatory — Toronto, Canada

3. The Ruth Bancroft Garden — Walnut Creek, California

4. Longwood Gardens — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

5. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation — Dumfries, Scotland

6. Jardim Botânico — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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7. Jardín Etnobotánico de Oaxaca — Oaxaca, Mexico

8. Le Château de Villandry — Loire Valley, France

9. Hortus Botanicus — Amsterdam, The Netherlands

10. The Butchart Gardens — British Columbia, Canada

11. Lotusland — Santa Barbara, California

12. Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden — Tromsø, Norway

13. The New York Botanical Garden — New York City

14. Kenroku-en — Kanazawa, Japan

15. Les Jardins de Marqueyssac — Dordogne, France

Those places all look pretty spectacular, don’t they?

Do you have a favorite garden that didn’t make the list? Share in the comments!

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The Reason Why Fresh-Cut Grass Smells so Nice Is Actually Kind of Dark

Those of us who grew up in suburbia probably have a lot of positive associations with the smell of fresh-cut grass. It’s summer, we’re playing outside, our dads are home on the weekends – maybe all of the above. Even now, catching a whiff may cause us to stop, take a deep breath, and smile.

But what if I told you the smell is the result of thousands of blades of grass in distress, working fervently to heal themselves without rot setting in before it’s too late.

Yeah. Makes you think about that whole vegan thing, doesn’t it?

It turns out that when leafy green plants are harmed, they release organic compounds known as green leaf volatiles that help form new cells that heal wounds faster, prevent bacterial infection and fungal growth (sort of like plant antibiotics), and produce compounds that prevent further damage.

They also can serve as distress signals, which some believe leads to questions about a form of language meant to warn others about potential harm.

While some of these emissions help oxygenate the atmosphere, others could pollute the air by contributing to photochemical smog in urban areas – really, the jury is out on that.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll take this as one more reason to stop mowing the lawn and just let my “bee garden” take over naturally.

My neighbors can object until they’re blue in the face; I have SCIENCE on my side.

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IKEA Told Kids to Bully a Plant for 30 Days. The Results Are Jaw-Dropping

In order to raise awareness about Anti-Bullying Day on May 4th, IKEA UAE conducted a truly unique experiment. They took two identical plants and placed them in a local school.

Both plants were cared for in the same way. They both had the same water, sunlight, and fertilizers. Their conditions were entirely the same except for one single notable exception – students were encouraged to pay regular compliments to one plant and to relentlessly bully the other.

After 30 days, the results were pretty clear. While the complimented plant thrived, the bullied plant showed significant signs of struggle with discolored, drooping leaves.

Ever wonder just how damaging bullying can be? What if you bullied a plant nonstop for a whole month?

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

IKEA decided to test this out as part of its campaign to raise awareness about Anti-Bullying Day on May 4th in the Middle East.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

The experiment placed two identical plants in a local school.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

One plant was given words of encouragement and compliments on a regular basis.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

The other plant was verbally bullied with mean, hateful words.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

Other than the type of words they were exposed to, the plants were treated exactly alike.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

They both received equal amounts of water, sunlight, and fertilizers.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

The final results are stunning.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

Check out the video below to see the full experiment.

Viewers on YouTube had a lot to say about it.

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

Photo Credit: IKEA UAE/YouTube

It just goes to show how much power our words can have. I mean, if hurtful words can do this much damage to a plant, just imagine what they do to a person.

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In the late 80s NASA…

In the late 80s NASA studied house plants as a means of providing cleaner and purer air for their space stations. They found Peace Lilies and Chrysanthemums to be the best all rounders at air filtering. 20

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11 Photos That Prove You Have No Idea How Food Grows

We all know what our food looks like once it’s sitting on shelves, poured out of a can, or on our plates at a restaurant, but most of us never get to see what our fruits, vegetables, seeds, etc., look like when they’re still in the fields or on the trees.

I hope you find these pictures as interesting (and enlightening!) as I did!

#12. Sesame Seeds

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

They look like beans!

#11. Pistachios

Photo Credit: Panoramio

I would have guessed some exotic fruit. And why are they not green?

#10. Vanilla Bean

Photo Credit: Flickr

*resists making limp joke*

#9. Kiwi

Photo Credit: Blogger

This is like some kind of fantasy. Like New Zealand itself, really.

#8. Peanuts

Photo Credit: WordPress

They have flowers! Who knew?

#7. Brussels Sprouts

Photo Credit: Flickr

These aren’t weird or anything. I just think they’re so pretty in their natural state.

#6. Almonds

Photo Credit: Flickr

So many of these are prettier than expected.

#5. Cinnamon

Photo Credit: Blogspot

Or just a tree?

#4. Cranberries

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

They’re green before they’re floating in a bog like in the commercial.

#3. Cacao

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

I could not have picked this out of a food lineup.

#2. Saffron

Photo Credit: Garden of Eaden

Look how it grows in the rocks – I love the color!

#1. Cashews

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Wut. They look like peppers!

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