What Am I?
At one point, I was called a "star berry" and am a small blue or purple berry native to North America. What am I?
What is a blueberry? Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. Wild blueberries reproduce by cross pollination, with each seed producing a plant with a different genetic composition.
This slimy creature is known for eating leaves and leaving a silvery trail behind.
What is a slug? The most common is Arion hortensis, also known by its common name the "garden slug", "small striped slug" or "black field slug". It can be found in gardens, fields, pastures and similar habitats.
This iconic garden, located in France, is known for its geometric hedge mazes and fountains.
What are the Gardens of Versailles? Situated to the west of the palace, the gardens cover some 2,000 acres of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style. It was laid out in the 1630s.
This technique involves cutting away parts of a plant to improve its shape or productivity.
What is pruning? Pruning is the selective removal of plant parts—such as branches, buds, or roots—to improve plant health, control shape, and encourage growth. The best practice is to remove dead or diseased wood at the branch collar, using clean bypass pruners to avoid crushing living tissue.
This is the most widely grown and popular flower nationwide.
What is the rose? Roses are an ancient, diverse plant genus (Rosa) with over 300 wild species and 30,000 cultivated varieties. They trace back 35 million years, have been to space, and boast a rich history of symbolism, culinary use, and record-breaking trivia. Roses are related to apples, raspberries, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, pears and almonds.
I am not naturally growing, but rather a man-made hybrid between sour oranges and citrons. What am I?
What is a lemon? A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some evidence suggests lemons originated during the 1st millennium BC in what is now northeastern India. The juice of the lemon is about 5–6% citric acid, which is what gives it a such sour taste.
This insect larva is known for voraciously consuming plant leaves, especially in vegetable gardens.
What is a caterpillar? 99% of caterpillar species eat plant material, usually leaves. The most effective way to get rid of caterpillars is simply to remove them by hand, but they can also be warded off with some insect sprays.
These beautiful gardens were once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
What are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Historians still aren't sure if they really existed or where they were located, but legend has it that they were built near the Euphrates River in ancient Babylon, now in modern-day Iraq.
What is the technique of growing plants without fertilizers of pesticides?
What is organic gardening? Aside from the lack of chemicals or enhancements, it is also a focus on the larger ecosystem. This type of gardening looks for solutions that improve the health of the soil, the plant, and the animals that surround the garden. Usually this involves a lot of compost and cover crops.
Which flower is the national flower of Japan?
What are cherry blossoms? The cherry blossom, also known as Sakura, holds a special cultural significance in Japan. Every spring, the blooming of cherry blossoms symbolizes renewal, hope, and the transient nature of life. The beauty and fleeting nature of these delicate flowers have made them an iconic symbol of Japan, leading to their designation as the national flower.
I am a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its sweet red fruit. I am one of the few plants that has its seeds on the outside. What am I?
What is a strawberry? Strawberries are not true berries, but actually a hybrid member of the rose family, which is why its blooms smell so sweet.
These tiny isopods are often found in damp areas and can roll into a ball when disturbed.
What are rolly pollies? Other common names for these critters are pill bugs, slaters, potato bugs, curly bugs, and doodle bugs. Despite the name, they are actually terrestrial crustaceans, not insects.
This garden in England is famous for its rock garden and large collection of water lilies.
What are the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew? Founded in 1759, and located to the southwest of London, it houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world".
This method of gardening involves growing plants in a water-based solution without soil.
What is hydroponics? Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, in which roots are suspended directly in water-based, nutrient-rich solutions. By delivering water, essential minerals, and oxygen right to the root zone, this soilless system often yields plants that grow 20% to 50% faster than their soil-grown counterparts.
Most people see these plants as weeds, but the flowers and leaves are a good source of vitamins A and C, iron, calcium and potassium.
What are dandelions? Dandelion is a short-lived perennial that will grow just about anywhere, regardless of soil conditions. A flush of bright yellow flowers are produced very early in the spring and are followed by the distinctive globe-shaped seed heads. Each seed has a pappus, a feathery parachute of soft, white hairs that makes it easily carried by the wind. Each plant can produce up to 20,000 viable seeds.
I am the only edible members of the bromeliad family, and only produce a single, somewhat spiky fruit. What am I?
What is a pineapple? The pineapple is native to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuries. The introduction of the pineapple plant to Europe in the 17th century made it a significant cultural icon of luxury.
This burrowing rodent can cause damage to gardens by creating extensive underground tunnels.
What are moles? Moles are omnivores, but their diet primarily consists of earthworms and other small invertebrates found in the soil. are small, subterranean mammals. They have cylindrical bodies, velvety fur, very small, inconspicuous eyes, and short, powerful forelimbs with large paws adapted for digging.
This historic garden in Italy, known for its Renaissance design and panoramic views of Florence.
What are the Boboli Gardens? Now a sprawling parc located in Florence, it was originally designed as the garden of the Medici family's Pitti Palace in the mid-16th century. It is an important early Italian garden which influenced aristocratic gardens across Europe.
This is the term for the practice of growing plants in vertical layers to save space.
What is vertical gardening? Vertical gardening is an efficient method of growing plants upwards instead of sprawling them across the ground. It maximizes space in small urban lots or balconies and improves plant health by boosting airflow and sunlight. Popular setups include trellises, hanging planters, and tiered towers.
What flower can symbolize friendship and is often given as a gift to friends?
What is a yellow rose? The yellow rose is often associated with friendship due to its bright and cheerful color, which symbolizes warmth, joy, and positivity. Giving a yellow rose as a gift to a friend is a gesture of appreciation, platonic love, and camaraderie. This flower represents the strong bond and connection between friends, making it a popular choice for expressing friendship and admiration.
I am the third most popular melon globally, and am known for my smooth, pale yellow-green rind and sweet, light-green flesh. What am I?
What is a honeydew melon? This fruit grows best in semiarid climates and is harvested based on maturity, not size. Maturity can be hard to judge, but it is based upon the rind color ranging from greenish white (immature) to creamy yellow (mature). It was considered sacred in Ancient Egypt.
These small, sap-sucking insecst often form large colonies on the undersides of leaves.
What are aphids? They are distributed worldwide, but are most common in temperate zones and can migrate great distances, mainly through passive dispersal by winds. To instantly get rid of them, spray infested plants with a strong blast from a garden hose to physically dislodge them.
This series of stunning, terraced Mughal garden complexes are located in South Asia.
What are the Shalimar Gardens? They are characterized by lush greenery, marble pavilions, and cascading water features. The two most notable sites are located in Lahore, Pakistan, and Srinagar, India, built in 1641 and 1619 respectively.
This ancient Japanese technique involves sculpting trees into artistic shapes.
What is bonsai? Bonsai is the ancient Japanese art of growing and shaping miniature trees in containers. It is not a specific type of tree, but rather a practice that uses pruning, wiring, and specialized care to maintain the look of a mature, full-sized tree in a highly condensed form.
Which flower was once more valuable than gold?
What are tulips? During the 1600s, tulips became so valuable in Holland that their bulbs were literally worth more than gold. This investment craze, known as tulip mania, collapsed and crashed the entire Dutch economy.
I am considered the largest tree-borne fruit and can grow up to 3 feet long. I typically weigh between 40 and 120 lbs. What am I?
What is the jackfruit? Native to South Asia, a mature jackfruit tree produces some 200 fruits per year, with older trees bearing up to 500 fruits in a year. You can buy them in some Asian markets.
These insects feed on plant sap, normally in roots or other crevices, and in a few cases the bottoms of stored fruit, and are notoriously difficult to get rid of.
What are mealybugs? Of the more than 2,000 species of mealybugs, many are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and subtropical trees and also act as a vector for several plant diseases. There are some insecticides on the market that can help get rid of them, but unfortunately your best bet is to get rid of the infected plant.
This garden in Canada transforms into a winter wonderland of lights during the holiday season.
What are the Butchart Gardens? The Butchart Gardens is a 122-year-old world famous 55-acre display garden located in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia. The gardens receive over a million visitors each year and have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
This is a sustainable farming method that combines aquaculture (raising fish) with hydroponics (growing plants in water) in a single, closed-loop ecosystem.
What is aquaponics? Fish waste provides vital nutrients for the plants, and the plants naturally purify the water, which is then recirculated back to the fish. The aquaponic process relies on a continuous biological cycle between three main living components, fish, bacteria, and plants.
Which flowering plant produces vanilla beans?
What are orchids? Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily obtained from the seed pods of the flat-leaved Mexican and Central American vanilla. Measured by weight, vanilla is the world's second-most expensive spice after saffron, because growing the vanilla seed pods is labor-intensive.