Indoor Plant Care

 

Whether you are bringing your warm weather plants inside or continuing to care for your indoor plants, here are some helpful suggestions to keeping them healthy.

Check for bugs. The three normal bugs are aphids, spider mites (green plump dots), and mealy bugs (cottony appearance).

Don’t let them dry out! This can be more challenging if you have central air- it creates hot dry air. Keep plants away from any vents.

Winter is usually a dormant time for plants especially succulents  ferns, cactus, and dracaenas  Place them in a bright sunny window and let up on watering.

If you have any further questions, please contact us via our website. http://www.valleyforgeflowers.com

If you would like to see something on the blog, please let us know! Thanks for reading!

 

Fall to HOLIDAY!!

How do you turn a fall faux flower arrangement into a holiday one without breaking the bank?

 

Take this beautiful fall center piece: Magnolias, holland hydrngea, white bleached hydrangea, pods, and silver brunia

 

What could YOU add to make it more festive without buying a whole new piece?

RED!! Anything RED!

We added amaryllis and winter berries!

Of course we would be happy to help you with our amazing faux flower experts! Call the store at 610-525-1711 to talk to a professional.

Homemade Cider Doughnuts

Hot off the press!

One of the greatest parts of a new season is the change in food. With the help of Stonewall kitchen, we felt confident in trying to make our own cider doughnuts.

Stonewall Kitchen “Apple Cider Doughnut Mix” (avaliable at Valley Forge Flowers), butter, a large egg, milk, mixing bowl and pumpkin caramel sauce (we added this as a dip).

Let’s get started!

Beat the egg in the bowl

Add remainder of ingredients and mix until smooth

 

 

Heat up the press and butter it up!

There are a couple options for the actual cooking of the doughnuts. You can use a doughnut cooker/ press (pictured above or doughnut oven trays. Seasoned vets can use a frier. As first time doughnut makers, we went for the system that looked the easiest. Indeed, this press by Stonewall Kitchen was very easy. The dough yields between a dozen and two dozen doughnuts.

 

Using 2 spoons we scooped about 2-3 TBSP into each slot. Let sit for about 5 minutes. While the doughnuts cooked, we prepared the glaze.

The doughnut box comes with a sugar + cinnamon mixture. We melted 1/2 stick of unsalted butter. It is a dip and powder type of glaze.

 

After 5-6 minutes the doughnuts were ready to come out. The dough had turned a beautiful golden brown and was not burnt or cooked uneven. We had a dozen perfectly cooked little doughnuts.

We didn’t even wait for those puppies to cool- into the butter bath! Hilly stumbled with the transferring of the doughnuts in and out of the glaze dishes but eventually got the hang of it. *Warning!* Doughnuts are slippery when wet!

 

By the time we got our doughnuts into the heavenly smelling fall spice-sugar mixture, we were drooling over our perfect little creations.

 

The finished product was absolutely delicious. Not overly sweet and a nice balance of spice. Great alone, with coffee or dipped in the pumpkin caramel sauce for an extra special treat.

By the end of this project, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves. The haunting aroma that traveled through out the store had these delectable pastries flying off the plate. We reccomend this to anyone. A great saturday morning activity with the kids, an easy holiday dessert, or even a rainy afternoon recipe for the inexperienced baker. Stonewall kitchen offeres a variety of different recipes such as blueberry glaze, chocolate frosted and more. You really can’t go wrong! Happy baking!

 

 

Refreshing Dessert Recipes: Lemon Curd

There is certainly something about lemon curd. It is sweet but also tangy as well as refreshing. Originally used in British cooking, it is more widely known as a scone spread in afternoon tea. If you would like to read about the history and try a lime curd recipe, check out this post from a fellow blogger:

http://britishfoodhistory.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/fruit-curd/

We chose to use Stonewall Kitchen’s Lemon Curd. In our opinion, it is as close to perfect as lemon curd comes. You can find it here at Valley Forge Flowers.

Ice Cream Sunday- Kids love it!

French Vanilla Ice Cream, Lemon Curd, Fresh Blue Berries, Blueberry Syrup

We chose vanilla ice cream since it is a neutral flavor. If you want bolder, try strawberry for an extra fruity blast. We scooped the lemon curd over the ice cream. Lemon curd has a tendency to be slick, so we used the back of a spoon to indent the top of the ice cream so the curd could sit.

We added fresh blueberries and blueberry syrup.

Garnish with a mint leaf or just dig in!

 

Palette Refresher for Seafood Dinner

Thin and Crispy Lemon Cookies, Lemon Curd, Fresh Raspberries

Spread curd on cookies.

Add a couple raspberries and serve on a stylish plate!

Ultimate Summer Dessert!

Angel Food Cake, Lemon Curd, Fresh Whipped Cream, Blueberries, Peaches, Blueberry Syrup

Slice cake into 2″ pieces and toast in a toaster oven until crispy and accented in light brown.

Spread lemon curd on the warm cake and add a dollop of whipped cream.

Garnish with blueberries and peaches. Drizzle blueberry syrup on top or try a citrus infused balsamic vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, for more information on Valley Forge Flowers, like us on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/valleyforgeflowers and follow us on Twitter, @VF_Flowers!

 

Homemade Cork Place Holders

We thought we would mix it up a bit with this great project brought to you by Hilly!

Supplies (We bought everything from Michaels)

Corks (Leftover would be more authentic)

Lacy/ Decorative Design Stamps

Stamp Pad and Design Pen (We chose a chocolate color, black can look too harsh. Chose a rich, dark color that you love!)

Hot Glue Gun/ Hot Glue

Twine String

Textured Off-White Paper (on the thicker side)

1) Cut the paper into squares or rectangles. We folded our standard letter size sheet in half twice and cut! This made four equal rectangles.

2)Textures! We stamped the corks with some small stamps.

 

We also experimented with rolling the cork in the ink pad. The possibilities are endless!

3) Stamp the paper rectangles! We chose a part of the stamp we loved and repeated it along the edge of the paper. We tried using different pressures while stamping to add some dimension. Write name/numbers on cards with the design pen.

4) Once corks are dry, tie together using twine string. Tack together with hot glue if needed.

5) Slide Card in between corks. You can tack it with hot glue if you like.

Guaranteed to impress!

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Birthday Bash!

Everybody loves a good party! At Valley Forge, we give parties the foundation for lasting memories. All you and your guests need to do is show up- it couldn’t be any more stress free than that! Here are some samples from Barb’s Birthday Bash! For more information on events, contact us at 610-687-5566.

Subtropical Plants in SE Pennsylvania

What is happening now because our climate is changing here, our zone that we have been has changed because of the microclimate, global warming and more houses, cars and carbon dioxide. Plants that were at one time not hardy here through the winter are, from the zone south of us. Also things that used to like our climate here in the summer time, when the heat gets really bad, no longer like it. So what people are doing now is buying plants under the category of “Subtropicals”. These plants are used to being in a hotter climate and they don’t peter out in the middle of summer.

All of these plants have to be started from cuttings because they are tropicals. They don’t seed themselves very well. You can find them at nurseries or very good flower and flower shops, like Valley Forge Flowers! David, a very knowledgeable horticulturist at VFF, showed some examples of these plants.

Any of the subtropicals can be used indoors and used as house plants. Here is David’s list!

Dragon Wing Begonia, It loves the heat. Can live in the sun or shade.

Ruellia, adds a beautiful blue to your outdoors. Just like the Dragon Wing, it can also take shade.

Angelina, it is a relative of the Snap Dragon. The Snap Dragon loves cool weather and the Angelina thrives in the heat. It seems like no matter how high the numbers reach, this plant thrives.

Lochroma, It is in the nightshade family and has a long trumpet bloom.

Flowering Maple, Traditionally a house plant but loves to be outdoors in the summer.

Plumbago, One of the few “True Blue” flowers. Blue is a hard color to find in a flower.

Oleander, Great pink color!

Hibiscus (Tropical),  There is also a perennial Hibiscus that can stay outside during the winter. It comes in yellows, pinks, and apricot.

Cassandra, This one can also be used as a house plant and brought outside in the summer months.

Gardenia, Very fragrant and has a lovely twist in the bloom.

Coleus, Adds a great foliage!

Caladium,  Loves heat and shade. This one can be trimmed as a topiary if it likes where it is.

Gold Eagle, loves heat, does not flower and acts as a great accent plant.

Lantana, This plant sometimes grows wild in florida. It has a fragrant foliage and a beautiful gradation of colors in the flowers.

Agastache, This plant is a Mexican sage and has an herb quality. It smells great!

 

If you have any questions, go to your local nursery or garden store. You can always come by Valley Forge Flowers too!

Contact us here: http://valleyforgeflowers.com/contact.php or stop by!

 

 

Plant Your Own Terrarium

Terrariums are extremely versatile and be easy customized for any persons taste. Hilly, our terrarium expert from Valley Forge Flowers, suggests first starting with choosing a container to plant in. You can use a tall glass canister, a terrarium, or something similar.

Mulch, pebbles, stones (any type of rock), moss and sand are all acceptable mediums to plant in- feel free to mix and match. Succulents are easy to grow and keep alive. You just need a place for the succulents to root. For a beach theme, collect sand, driftwood, sea glass, shark teeth, anything that represents your favorite shore getaway.  If you are feeling adventurous, add some colored sand or layer it in. Add the succulents- so easy and fabulous!

Below: Inside a BIG  terrarium! The possibilities are endless!

Succulents are similar to a cactus. They thrive best in environments that are well lit but are not a lot of work. All they generally require is a water spritz once a week. They have a rubbery texture and defined leaves.

Pictured below: add a novelty to personalize your terrarium. Sometimes it is fun to add holiday items. Check in with us at Valley Forge Flowers or your local garden store if you need help or advice on this project.

Remember to have fun! Who knew staying on top of the trend could be so easy and light hearted?

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Caring for Your Plants in the Heat of the Summer

It is a great time of year for gardeners! Make sure you are listening to your plants’ needs. Floriculture expert, Marlena Jimenez has some great advice for keep your plants healthy during the hot summer months.

Indoor Plants:

The most important part of having plants is knowing your plants! You have to know their requirements and the types of things that they like. For example succulents, kalanchoes, and orchids all like to be on the dry side. A lot of people think that all plants like to be really wet but that’s not true. Summer is the active growing time for kalanchloes and succulents which means they need more  water than the winter but that still doesn’t mean a lot  of water- every nine days or so if they are living inside. Orchids are generally watered once a week. Ferns on the other hand, like to stay really wet all the time. They do not like to dry out and this is what turns them brown. Herbs you want to dry out in between watering.

Remember to never put hot water on anything!

When Watering, make sure to water THOROUGHLY! If you water and the water runs through quickly, you may not have watered enough (see photo below). Push your finger at least an inch into the soil for an accurate feel of the dry or wetness. If the soil is bone dry, do not be surprised if you need to water it 2 or 3 times. When the soil dries, it shrinks and takes more time to absorb the water.

You think it is watered because it comes out the bottom of the pot…

However if you were to lift the plant out of the pot, you see it is hardly watered…

You should know if your plants like sun or shade. Generally, things dry out faster in the sun than in the shade, this applies for all plants: inside or outside. You also never want to put hot water on anything. Most plants can be moved outside during the warmer months, just be careful and find out what the plant likes.

Outdoor Plants:

Heat with humidity! You are thinking, its so hot I should water them!- not necessarily. Plants gather moisture from the air so they could be fine, always check the soil to see. No humidity and you may have to water twice a day. Don’t forget about wind! Wind dries out plants really fast. Dod it rain? Yes but did it rain enough to soak through your container? You will have to check! If not, you are going to have to water again.

Here is an example of a plant that dried out too many times: you can easily clean this up, pinch some of the top buds off to stimulate new growth and then continue to water, you may be surprised at what you can revive!

Is the plant in the ground or in a pot? If it is in the ground, the ground water tends to “stay”, there is more places for water. Container, less protection for the roots which means it will dry out faster due to the elements. Also, make sure your plants are in proper pot sizes otherwise you will rot the roots.

Pot that is too big:

(Below) The roots are not developed enough for the size of the pot

Pot is too small (below)

Examples of dry plants: flowering vinca, geraniums, begonia.

Examples of wet plants: petunias, million bells

Herbs and Dahlia like to be moist in between waterings when outside.

Hanging baskets should be watered until the water drips down out of the bottom of the basket.

Plants like to be watered in the morning, but if it looks thirsty right now, water it. You drink when you are thirsty, so should your plants! Remember that water systems are not a replacement for good plant care. You want to make sure the plants are still getting proper amounts of water since most watering systems are on timers and not done by ground moisture or other outside factors (wind, humidity). Check to see what your settings are and listen to your plant needs!

Try to get a routine, you drink water every day and your plants do too! Marlena suggests using a shower head for even watering. Make sure you feel the water to see that is is cold.

Make sure to do your research, we are only a phone call away, (610)-687-5566. Relax and enjoy your garden

Like us on Facebook below and follow us on Twitter: @VF_Flowers! Check our website for location and store hours, http://www.valleyforgeflowers.com. Thanks for reading!