GARLIC WARNING!

Warning: Garlic oil is a non-selective insecticide, which means that it will kill beneficial insects (such as lady bugs, who are natural predators of aphids) just as well as it kills bad bugs. It's best to keep as many beneficials around as possible. This spray should only be used if you haven't seen any beneficial bugs in your garden. A nightshade recipe, won't harm beneficials, so you should use that if you have some beneficials in your garden.

Hard Water and Insecticidal Soap

Here's an interesting fact I came upon while researching homemade insecticidal soaps, but probably also applies to commercial insecticidal soaps also.

The minerals in hard water react with the soap and create soap scum instead of insecticide. Just like in your shower, if you have hard water. So always use pure water to mix with your insecticidal soap. I saw somewhere that Calgon™ or similar product could be used to soften the water. I would think distilled water would also work well.

Tropic Breeze Hibiscus

We have been gardeners/landscapers/plant lovers for going on 20 years now. In California we could grow some great plants. In Washington we grew some good plants but the weather sucked so most of the gardening joy turned into a sunny day(rare) chore. But here in Florida we really can grow some FANTASTIC plants...tropical plants.
One of my favorites is the hibiscus. Here in Florida it is a bit "generic" and almost everyone has one or someone nearby has one and we tend to shy away from the norm, but this plant is great! It is super easy to propagate from cuttings and I believe it blooms all year round. And pretty!
Here are some pictures of the latest hibiscus blooms - Topic Breeze hibiscus. Our neighbor Maria found this one on sale at Lowes.

Homemade Garden Recipes

UPDATE: Originally this post contained some homemade garden recipes you could easily make in your kitchen, most of them with common household ingredients. However, the post grew to larger and larger proportions, so I had to move it to a separate page. Go to the Homemade Garden Recipes Page. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you.