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Bee Better - Garden glossary Category: Agriculture and Industry > Garden terms Date & country: 23/06/2018, UK Words: 553

Life Cycle
A series of growth stages through which a plant must pass in its natural lifetime; the stages for an annual plant are seed, seedling, vegetative and floral.

Light Frost
What occurs when the temperature drops below 32 ºF and ice crystals begin to form. Many cool-weather vegetables (such as kale and collards) can not only survive a light frost, but even have their flavor improved by it.

Loam
Organic soil mixture of crumbly clay, silt and sand.

Long-Day Onions
The term given to onion varieties that require a minimum number of days with long periods of sunlight to form proper bulbs; describes growing conditions where daylight lasts at least 14 hours, and nights are, of course, shorter; long-day onions are typically grown in the North

Margin
The area along the leaf blade.

Mature
Fully grown.

Marcescent
Many oaks (Quercus spp.) have marcescent leaves. I have one and at first thought it was a disadvantage because I’m raking leaves in the spring. But then I learned to appreciate the sound of the leaves shimmering in the breeze. Marcescent is when foliage writers but is retained on the plant stem, holding on to their dried leaves until spring.

Male Flower
A flower that has only male parts; many vegetables have flowers that contain both male and female parts within the same flower, but cucurbits such as squash, cucumber, cantaloupe, and watermelon have separate male and female flowers, and pollen must be transferred from the male to female flowers by a pollinator such as a bee in order to make fruit; botanically, a male flower is also called a staminate flower, and it contains a stamen (male part including the pollen-bearing anthers) but no functioning pistil (female part made of stigma, style, and ovary)

Macronutrient
One or all of the primary nutrients N-P-K or the secondary nutrients magnesium and calcium.

Meristem
Tip of plants growth.

Metamorphosis
In an insect or amphibian, the transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages. In a human, it goes from the sweetest child you can possible imagine to the devil incarnate, then back to a reasonable human being.

Microclimate
The climate of a very small or restricted area, especially when this differs from the climate of the surrounding area.

Micronutrient
Also referred to as trace elements, include S, Fe, Mn, B, Mo, Zn, and Cu.

Moisture Meter
An electronic device that measures the exact moisture content of soil at any given point.

Mole
A mole is a carnivorous underground Insectivora (not a rodent) that will eat worms, grubs, and adult insects.

Monoecious
A plant having both the male and female reproductive organs in the same individual; hermaphrodite.

Mound
A growth habit with a tight, half-circle form.

Mound Layering
A method of propagation in which various woody-stemmed plants (as currants, gooseberries, quinces) are cut back to the ground in early spring and the new shoots that they develop are covered with soil to a depth of six to eight inches to induce root growth which forms individual plants that can be removed in the fall. Also called stool layering.

Mulch volcanoVolcano Mulching
Volcano mulching is an improper mulching technique where mulch is piled high against the trunk of a tree.

Mud-pudling
See puddling.

Mulch
Mulch is a material laid on the ground around plants to retain soil moisture, moderate soil temperature, insulate the roots during the winter, reduce erosion, and suppress weed growth. Organic mulches include bark (pine, hardwood, etc.,) wood chips, straw, composted leaves, and newspaper. Inorganic mulches include gravel or stone.

Mycorrhiza
A symbiotic association of the mycelium of a fungus, especially a basidiomycete, with the roots of certain plants, in which the hyphae form a closely woven mass around the rootlets or penetrate the cells of the root.

Naturalized
An establish plant that it lives wild in a region where it is not indigenous.

Native Plants
Native plant is a term used to describe plants endemic (indigenous) to a given area in geologic time. This includes plants that have developed, occur naturally, or existed for many years in an area.

Nemophilist
One who loves the forest and its beauty and solitude.

Neutral
Neutral soil has a pH of 7.

Nematode
A worm of the large phylum Nematoda, such as a roundworm or threadworm.

Necrosis
The death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue due to disease, injury, or failure of the blood supply

Nectar
Nectar is a sweet liquid in many flowers that serves as food for a variety of wildlife, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Nectar Flow
Also known as honey flow, nectar flow is a term used by beekeepers indicating that one or more major nectar sources are in bloom and the weather is favorable for bees to fly and collect the nectar in abundance.

Neem Oil
A horticultural oil used as an organic insecticide and fungicide. Need oil is made from the fruits and seeds of the neem tree, native to India. Neem oil doesn’t harm beneficial insects as long as it isn’t sprayed directly on their habitat or food source

Nidus
A place or point in an organism where a germ or other organism can develop or breed.

Nocturnal
Active at night.

Node
The part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge, often forming a slight swelling or knob.

Nuptial gifts
Food items or inedible tokens that are transferred to females by males during courtship or copulation. Inedible tokens may include items such as a fragment of leaf or twig, a seed tuft, or a silk balloon.

Nursery
A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size.

Nutrients
A substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.

Nyctophile
A person who loves night, darkness.

Opposite
An arrangement of leaves or buds on a stem in which the leaves emerge from the stem in opposing pair.

Open Pollinated
Open pollination is pollination by insects, birds, wind, or other natural mechanisms, and contrasts with cleistogamy, closed pollination, which is one of the many types of self pollination

Organic Matter
Organic materials are those originating from a living organism. Organic has also become the common term to refer to a method of gardening in which no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used.

Ornamental
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as houseplants, for cut flowers and specimen display. The cultivation of these, called floriculture, forms a major branch of horticulture.

Organic
Made of, or derived from or related to living organisms. In agriculture organic means natural. in chemistry organic means a molecule or substance that contains carbon.

Organic
In gardening, organic refers to anything relating to, or derived from living organisms. Soil contains organic matter such as decaying plants and living organisms (worms, fungi, microbes.) Organic is also a labeling term for food and other products that are regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture and other entities to be grown or made using practices approved as organic.

Overseed
To seed an existing stand with another type of plant, such as overseeding the Bermuda grass with ryegrass.

Overwinter
To keep plants alive through the winter.

Ovule
A plant’s egg found within the calyx, it contains all the female genes; when fertilized, an ovule will grow into a seed.

Ovary
The enlarged basal portion of the pistil where ovules are produced.

Oxygen
Tasteless, colorless element, necessary in soil to sustain plant life as well as animal life.

Parthenocarpic
Setting seed or berries without a pollinator. The resulting fruit is sterile.

Patio
A patio is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a residence, and is typically paved.

Parasite
Organism that lives on or in another host organism; fungus is a parasite.

Part Sun:Part Sun
(Or Part Shade) Plants labeled either part sun or part shade don’t like a long exposure to full sun. Because the sun’s intensity varies according to season and geography, observation is the best way to gauge a site’s suitability for your plant’s needs. Generally, figure four to six hours of direct sun daily for plants labeled part sun or part shade

Peat
Partially decomposed vegetation (usually moss) with slow decay due to extreme moisture and cold.

Petal
The parts of a flower that are often conspicuously colored.

Petiole
The stalk that joins a leaf to a stem; leafstalk.

Petrichor
The smell of earth after rain.

Pesticide
A substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals. Not used in Helen’s Haven. Pesticides treat an extensive range of potential plant problems and are applied in numerous ways. Pesticides other than herbicides and fungicides include insecticides, miticides and rodenticides, which kill insects, mites and rodents, respectively. Some pesticides are applied directly to plants or soil and can be in liquid, powder or gas form. Others are baits, such as ant traps or rodent poisons, that appeal to those forms of pests.

Pergola
A pergola is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice. As a type of gazebo, it may also be an extension of a building, or serve as protection for an open terrace, or a link between pavilions.

Perlite
Perlite is a very light weight, heat-treated volcanic rock that is used to improve drainage and to increase the pore space, for oxygen availability to the roots, in potting soil.

Permaculture
Permaculture is sustainable land use design.

Pest Resistant
Pests (weeds, insects, mites, diseases, etc.) that become resistant to a pesticide will not be affected by the pesticide. When pests are resistant, it is more difficult to control the pest.

Peduncle
The stalk of a flower.

Perennial
A perennial are plants lasting at least three life-cycles, such as rosemary, lavender, and many other long lived plants.

Phytoplasma
Aster yellows is a chronic, systemic plant disease caused by a bacterium-like organism called a phytoplasma. The aster yellows phytoplasma (AYP) affects 300 species in 38 families of broad-leaf herbaceous plants, primarily in the aster family, as well as important cereal crops such as wheat and barley.

Photosynthesis
The building of chemical compounds (carbohydrates) from light energy, water and carbon dioxide.

Phototropism
The specific movement of a plant part towards a light source.

Phylloclades
Leaf-like stems.

Phosphorous
Relating to or containing phosphorus.

Photometrics
The study of light, especially color.

Photoperiod
The relationship between the length of light and dark in a 24 hour period.

Phloem
The vascular tissue in plants that conducts sugars and other metabolic products downward from the leaves.

Phosphor Coating
Internal bulb coating that diffuses light and is responsible for variations in color outputs.

pH Scale
pH scale.

pH Tester
Electronic instrument or chemical used to find where soil or water is on the pH scale.

pH
A scale from 1 to 14 that measures the acid to alkaline balance of a growing medium (or anything); in general plants grow best in a range of 5.5 to 6.8 pH.

Pistil
The ovule producing part of a flower. The ovary often supports a long style, topped by a stigma. The mature ovary is a fruit, and the mature ovule is a seed.

Piquancy
Is a term applied to foods with a lower degree of pungency that are agreeably stimulating to the palate.

Pinching Back
Pinching back plants is a form of pruning that encourages branching on the plant. This means that when you pinch a plant, you are removing the main stem, forcing the plant to grow two new stems from the leaf nodes below the pinch or cut.

Pinnately compound evergreen foliage
Includes individual leaflets on a stem. If such a leaf is evenly pinnate, it has an even number of leaves, one on each side of the stem. Oddly pinnate means having the same arrangement as evenly, but with the addition of an extra leaf at the very top of the stem. A leaf whose blade is divided into two or more distinct leaflets.

Picotee
A type of carnation whose light-colored flowers have dark-edged petals.

Pigment
The substance in paint or anything that absorbs light, producing (reflecting) the same color.

Plants with BenefitsPlants with Benefits
Plants With Benefits

Pluviophila
A love of rain; a feeling of joy, hope, and relief on stormy days.

Pluviophile
Some one who loves the rain, who finds joy and peace of mind in rainy days.

Porosity
Soil porosity refers to that part of a soil volume that is not occupied by soil particles or organic matter. Pore spaces are filled with either air, other gases, or water. Large pores (macropores) allow the ready movement of air and the drainage of water.

Potash Fertilizer
A fertilizer that’s high in potassium, which promotes high vegetable yields; all plants need some potassium but some crops, such as artichoke, need more than others and benefit from a high-potassium fertilizer.

Potting Soil
A mixture of loam, peat, sand, and nutrients, used as a growing medium for plants in containers.

Pollen
Fine, dust like micro- spores containing male genes.

Pollinator
An agent of pollen transfer including insects, such as bees, as well as wind

Pome
In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. A fruit consisting of a fleshy enlarged receptacle and a tough central core containing the seeds, e.g., pyracantha, pear.

Pod
A pod is the dried fruit or seed vessel on a plant that encases the seed.

Pollarding
Pollarding is to cut off the top and branches of(a tree to encourage new growth at the top.

Prune
Alter the shape and growth pattern of a plant by cutting stems and shoots. A restaurant in NYC.

Progeny
A descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring.

Propagate
(1) Sexual

Propagation
plant reproduction, done in three ways

Prostrate
A prostrate shrub is a woody plant, most of the branches of which lie upon or just above the ground, rather than being held erect as are the branches of most trees and shrubs. Way too often confused with prostate.

Pre-Emergent Herbicide
Prevents the germination of seeds by inhibiting a key enzyme. In some areas of the world, they are used to prevent crabgrass from appearing in summer lawns. Pre-emergent herbicides are applied to lawns in the spring and fall to prevent the germination of weed seed.

Primary Nutrients
N-P-K (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium)