PLENTY Magazine's Spotlight on Costa Farms Peace Lily Giveaway to New Moms in NYC!

Costa Farms and Earth Day New York teamed up to give the gift of 'clean air' to new moms of NYC. On Tuesday, May 6th, representatives from both organizations visited both New York's NYU and Bellevue hospitals to hand out a peace lily gift to all the new moms and to explain how indoor plants provide health benefits for both them and their new addition to their family. Read about it here...

Hey Diane and Robin! (of GMA fame!)

...(that’s Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts)…"Have you had your O2 today?"

Picture this....Marta Maria Garcia, Marketing Director for Costa Farms, volunteers from Earth Day New York and the Ladies of Garden Media Group all donning t-shirts with large ‘O2 for You’ logos prominently displayed shuffling our way through Tuesday morning traffic, parading with hand-painted posters that read…"Plants with a Purpose" and "O2 for You!"

Well, needless to say we caught the attention of the GMA staff!!!!! (We know how to get our message heard, don't ya think?)

Green Heroes...Silent and Always "Working"...

Thank a plant today. Silent and always “working,” these green heroes toil tirelessly to purify our environment and improve our lives, naturally cleansing the very air we breathe. And since most of us spend 90 percent of our lives inside, pay special attention to your indoor plants. They provide truly amazing health benefits.

Working 24/7, they filter the very air we breathe from common pollutants and continuously release oxygen and moisture in our homes and offices. Former NASA research scientist Dr. Bill Wolverton, author of “How to Grow Fresh Air” says, “Houseplants perform these essential functions with the same efficiency as the rainforest in our biosphere.” To maximize the health benefits and freshen the air in your home or office, he recommends at least one houseplant for every 100 square feet.

Green Is in the Air!

Our modern lives depend on technology, but ordinary products like paints, tobacco smoke, printer inks and even carpets hold hidden dangers that plants can help reduce. According Dr. Wolverton, plants improve air quality through their natural “filtering” ability. He discovered houseplants absorb up to 87 percent of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), like ammonia, formaldehyde and benzene, found in many homes and offices. And certain indoor plants “clean” the air every 24 hrs! How? They absorb toxins into the root zone where they’re turned into nutrients. Some tropical plants actually suppress airborne mold. These green heroes just keep doing what comes naturally. Some of the hardest working plants are peace lilies, ferns, palms, and spider plants.

Get yourself an indoor plant and give yourself the gift of fresh air!

Oh Joy! terrain at Styer's Opens!

Joy Deangdeelert Cho, a writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, posted these comments about Urban Outfitters' newest brand launch, terrain at Styer's...."all I can say is we were totally blown away. The fact that we spent almost four hours there says it alone. The new home & garden lifestyle concept turned out to be even more amazing than we could have imagined. The setting is airy, lush, and peaceful with a mix of indoor and outdoor spaces. "

To read more about Joy's visits to terrain and see all of her amazing pictures of terrain, visit her blog at http://ohjoy.blogs.com/

Shrub Roses Add Easy, Ever-blooming Color to Landscapes

Looking for instant color to dress up your deck or patio for that summer garden party or backyard barbeque? Or maybe you need a dash of color to brighten your landscape with long-lasting visual drama. Whatever your garden quandary, consider a low-maintenance shrub rose for nonstop color from spring until fall.

Shrub roses are easy to grow and cover any landscape with gorgeous color and flowers. They look beautiful spilling over the sides of a container, either alone or mixed with your favorite perennials or annuals. User-friendly and low-maintenance, they need little to no care for year-round color and nonstop blooms.

Shrub roses are one of the hottest trends in gardening today, says Doug Jimerson of the Better Homes & Gardens. "Think of shrub roses as a flowering plant -- not a rose," Jimerson says. "The great thing about shrub roses is you don't have to have a green thumb to make them grow. They are so easy -- just plant in a sunny spot, water them and watch them grow. They’re the perfect plant for today's busy homeowners."

Jimerson recommends these four steps for a rosy garden:

1. Get Rich: Use healthy soil in a big hole for roses. Experts say to dig a hole twice the size of the container the rose is in. And be sure to provide ample space for the plants roots to assure healthy and beautiful roses.

2. Sun Kissed: For the most prolific blooms, plant Drift Roses in a location with plenty of sun. Hardy to zone 5, these ground hugging, ever-blooming shrubs are perfect as a border or bedding plant. Growing only about a foot around, they make a stunning low hedge or edge on a border.

3. Feed Me: Drift Roses aren’t fussy eaters. Give them a good dose of slow-release or timed fertilizer, which releases nutrients to the plant when the plant needs it most, and you’re set for the season.

4. Cover Up: And remember to mulch your roses. Mulching helps to buffer the cycle from wet to dry, keeps the feeder roots from drying out, and helps to establish the roots quicker. And less watering is required.

New Groundcover Roses Perfect for Your Landscape

This year try planting Star Roses’ new Drift Roses for a dramatic groundcover effect in your garden. They combine wonderfully with perennials intermixed with other upright shrubs like coreopsis, veronicas or lambs ear and even hostas.

Choose from four cultivars that bloom from spring to early frost. Ranging from scarlet red to bright soft peach, they provide the gardener with a complete range of color solutions for landscape use or in containers.

Two favorites in the collection are the Peach Drift Rose and the Pink Drift Rose. The most floriferous of the series, Peach Drift’s small bright apricot-salmon blooms have dark green, semi-glossy foliage and grow up to 2 feet in height. Pink Drift’s low growing mound of semi-double deep pink blooms, reaches 1-1/2 feet in height with a 3-foot spread.

Make no mistake that these are not finicky miniature roses. These hardy groundcover roses are true low spreading, dwarf shrub roses that grow only about a foot high by 1-1/2 feet wide and are covered with blooms that open to 1-1/2 inches. Drift Roses are perfect in small gardens, splashing your landscapes with visual delight.

Appealing to today’s busy gardener, these low-maintenance roses are highly disease resistant. They require no spraying except in the most humid regions of the Deep South. Bred to be “chemical-free,” Drift Roses resist rust, mildew, Japanese beetles and black spot while blooming for months on end.

Whether planting for a shock of ever-blooming color in a spectacular landscape or seeking easy, carefree ways to solve a gardening challenge, think easy-care Star Roses for long lasting, maintenance-free color.

To find out more about these and other Star Roses, or to find a garden center near you, visit http://www.blogger.com/www.starroses.com.

Urban Outfitters Launches their 1st Lifestyle Store

America’s garden centers have just taken a giant leap in evolution.

Leading lifestyle retailer, Urban Outfitters opens its first garden and home store, terrain at Styer's, on Baltimore Pike in Concordville, PA.

Setting a new standard in garden retailing, terrain artfully marries home fashion and horticulture from around the world. More than a store, terrain promises to be a gardening experience savored by all the senses.

“We inspire people,” says Richard Hayne, chairman and founder of Urban Outfitters, and an avid tomato grower.” That’s what Urban and Anthropologie are known for. We want to excite people in a way that leads them to enjoy gardening as much as we do.”

“We’re bringing fashion outside the home,” says John Kinsella, managing director of terrain. “Our well edited collections span continents, offering elements of classic to contemporary concepts. We’re mixing influences from Europe, Asia and Africa with local artisan’s designs and products.”

According to Kinsella, the confluence of found objects “allows our guests to travel around the world, spanning cultures and generations. It’s like shopping in a world garden market.”

A Garden of Delights
At terrain, you stroll curvaceous pathways only to discover ‘ah- ha’ moments: A sculptured bathtub hand carved from one piece of stone from Indonesia, bubbling Zen fountains, sculptures and found artifacts and objects crafted from wood, stone, and metal blend into the delightful landscape. Stumble upon a hand-carved 300 year-old wooden doors from India; their twenty-foot height creating a dramatic entrance to one of many “garden rooms.”

Stroll into the attached 3,000 square feet of “plants under glass” and you’re greeted by a sumptuous array of indoor plants. Within the garden of delights is the 8,000 square foot Home and Décor center, or bask in the relaxed ambience of the 1,000 square foot greenhouse style café featuring delicious local fare, expertly prepared by a renowned chef.

True to the people who brought you the design innovations of the Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People, stores, terrain celebrates the beauty and abundance of nature while offering rare and contemporary décor for inside and outside the home.

For information visit: http://www.blogger.com/www.terrainathome.com

Campania graces the cover of Better Homes & Gardens

Campania's Low Zen Bowl from their Genesis Collection of lightweight containers is currently appearing on the cover of Better Homes & Garden's April issue, which has an astounding circulation of 7.6 million!

Smart Gardening...saving time and money in the garden

Luke Miller is the editor of Better Homes and Gardens® Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living. Each week he shares tips for saving time and money in the garden at www.bhg.com/smartgardening. He covers all aspects of the home garden, from how you can raise tasty organic produce to low-cost ways to plant a new garden.

Check out his Feb. 6 blog on Own Root Roses

All the presidential hopefuls have one thing in common: they want to bring about change. Change is good, they say. I guess that depends on what you want to change. Here are a few things I’d like to see change in the garden industry. Less Waste. It pains me to fill a garbage can with plastic nursery pots after planting. Some are Number-2 plastic and can go in the recycling bin, but many are made out of other plastics that aren’t readily recycled.
Some solutions: Look for plants in peat or coconut-fiber pots that can be planted directly in the ground. Re-use smaller cell packs to start your own seeds (reducing the need for even more containers). And see if your local nursery, retailer or botanical center has a recycling program.
More Composting. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been really getting into composting lately. I want to make sure every last teabag makes its way into the garden via the compost bin. You can even compost kitchen debris in an apartment — there are small units available where red wiggler worms do the job for you.
Staying Local. Grow your own vegetables and herbs or buy them at a farmer’s market or roadside stand. The taste is almost always superior, the cost is usually lower, and you’ll be helping to save gas and reduce emissions. The easiest things you can grow are also what you’ll probably use the most: tomatoes and lettuce. Merging Edible with Ornamental. I predict there will be a movement toward landscape plants that serve more than one purpose. By that I mean, it won’t be enough to just have a privet hedge. We’ll be expecting an edible hedge, full of shrubs with eye-appealing looks and mouth-watering fruits and nuts. The shrubs are out there. Stay tuned to a future blog when I’ll introduce you to some good candidates. By the way: Do you know how eco-friendly your garden really is? Check out our fun quiz!

Home Composting 101, Part II

Mark Highland, President of The Organic Mechanics Soil Company, once again is contributing some important information regarding home composting.

Mark suggests the following when you are starting to compost...

• Check with local authorities for special laws or ordinances against composting…start by calling your county extension agent.


• Choose a compost bin…build your own or purchase a prefabricated compost bin.


• Decide where to put your compost bin…look for a shady spot, not full sun.


• Prevent excess moisture accumulation from rain…cover or keep lid on bin


• Protect the bin from rodents…purchase ½ mesh hardware cloth, place on ground, fold up sides of hardware cloth an inch or two past the outside edge of the bin, cover edge with soil, pack down soil with foot.

What makes up compost ingredients?

• Starting ingredients are “greens” and “browns”


• Greens = Nitrogen; Browns = Carbon


• Compostables...Greens = grass clippings, kitchen waste, coffee grounds, tea bags; Browns = leaves, shredded newspaper, stale bread, straw.


• Non-compostables…no meat, bones, dairy, oils, dressings, salt, pet waste, diseased plants, dead animals, sand, pressure-treated lumber, or trashStore kitchen scraps in the freezer to reduce kitchen odors.

Thanks Mark for the great ideas!