Caring for plants you purchased at our Plant Café

Download a Word document Planting Guide for Zone 5-6 

House Plants – any can be placed outside for the summer out of direct sunlight – e.g. a deck or shady spot.  But spray for bugs before bringing back in the house for the winter.

Download a recipe for making your own organic sprays for a fraction of the cost.

House Plant Examples:
Cactus – Water once a month or less
Pothos – Hard to kill, grows anywhere but loves to be set on a high shelf and hang down or trained to climb up a pole. Heart shaped leaf with yellow or creamy streaks through the leaves. Moderate water and light.
Philodendron – Hard to kill, grows anywhere but loves to be set on a high shelf and hang down or trained to climb up a pole. Comes in many varieties with different shaped leaves.
Moderate water and light.
Peace Plant or Peace Lily – dark green long slender leaves that come to a point.  While bloom in ideal conditions.  Likes to be evenly moist and moderate light.

Perennials – Stay outside all year and come back up on their own.  Why would we ask for more?

Examples:
Hostas – hard waxy leaves.  Water when dry and don’t over-water or the leaves will rot.        Moderate light.  Lots of varieties.
Vinca Minor – Ground cover or use in pots to vine. Creeps along the ground to spread. Purple blue flower in spring.  Will fill in.
Varigated Vinca Minor – ground cover with white edges or put in pots to vine. Purple blue  flower in spring.  Will fill in. 
Violets – Sweet.  Tiny purple or white flowers. Keep in pots if you don’t want it to take over  your grass. Spreads by underground tubers.
Rudbeckia – aka – Black Eyed Susans  Spread underground and doubles in no time. mid to  late summer bright yellow with dark brown centers.
Shasta Daisies – similar to Rudbeckia, only white with yellow centers.
Iris – bloom in May, many colors.  spread underground and multiply.
Day Lilies – old fashioned – Orange, 36′.  New varieties – yellow and 24″
Hydrangeas –  pink to blue to purple large globes made up of smaller blooms.  For Blue  flowers – sprinkle soil with lime.  For pink – acid.  Or be surprised!  Some varieties are white  and some are more flat than round!
Flox – pink, blue, white varieties from ground cover to 36.”  Many are fragrant.

Tender Perennials
– Bring in before frost and treat as a house plant in Zones 6 and colder.  Pittsburgh is Zone 5.5 or 6

Examples:
Scented Geranium
Citronella Plant – (Scented Geranium)
Wandering Jew
Anthurium
Some Herbs

Vegetables
– Summer Gardens Mostly. Some can be planted before the last frost.

Early Veggies:
Kale
Spinach
Snow Peas
Onions
Garlic

Summer Crop:
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Peppers
Broccoli
Beans
Zucchini
Cucumbers

Harvest Crops:
Corn
Brussel Sprouts
Pumpkins