Posts by Alasines

Bearded iris fail for two reasons - a buried rhizome and wet winter soil. Here is the fall and winter routine, plus how to divide crowded clumps so flowering comes back.

There are three kinds of peony and they are planted at different depths. Get the type wrong and you wait years for a flower that never comes. Here is how to tell them apart.

Cool and wet is what kills a desert rose, not cold alone. Here is the winter routine - when to stop watering, what leaf drop means, and how to catch spider mites before they strip the plant.

A gram of saffron takes about 150 flowers—and they all come from one autumn-blooming crocus. Here is how to plant it, pick it and dry it at home.

November is not too late—the ground is still workable and the bulbs still root. Here is what to plant now, what to skip, and what to do if it freezes early.

A desert rose with no flowers is almost always missing sun, a dry rest, or both—not luck. Seven causes, in the order worth checking them.

Three colours, one caudex, one pot—and one branch that will try to take over. Here is how a multi-graft desert rose is made and how to keep it balanced.

A double desert rose packs layer after layer into the flower—but only if it gets enough sun. Here is how to keep the petal count high and the stems upright.

A Stephania caudex grows better in water than most people expect—provided the tuber never touches it. Here is the semi-hydroponic setup that actually works.