More Than Poinsettias!

Trying to do the whole Christmas plant thing this year? Well here’s the scoop.

Believe it or not you actually have options! For years the go-to has always been Poinsettias. Classic Red, Pink, and White used to be the only varieties that you could find, but these days you can get them in just about any color as well. Just know that if you’re seeing Blue, Purple, or a Silver Sparkle, that your Poinsettia is putting on a façade. Psst! It’s Painted!  If that’s your thing we won’t judge. Just don’t let those plant purists find out.

However, we’re here to tell you that you don’t have to succumb to the pressures of Christmas past! If you want to change things up a bit this year we have a couple different plants to try out.

This first plant on our GrowIt! “Nice List” is the Christmas Cactus!

The Christmas Cactus isn’t actually something new at all. It’s a plant that used to be pretty popular but like the Poinsettia (and that “Shake it Off” song by T. Swift) it was overplayed! Now the waiting period has passed. People are starting to question why they disappeared in the first place.

It’s a showy plant that comes in a couple different colors. The most common of which are a red, and a purplish pink. The leaves have a pretty rockin’ texture too. They’re almost reminiscent of pieces on a suit of knight’s armor! Also, even though their name might suggest that they have a thorny or spiky element, they won’t stab your fingers or pets! Plus after the holidays a Christmas Cactus can be kept. It turns into a pretty cool houseplant, and you can look up methods on how to get it to re-bloom!

The other Poinsettia alternative that we have to offer up is the Amaryllis.

If you could ever use the word “sexy” to describe a plant, you would use it to describe the Amaryllis. Sleek and beautiful, it stands out as a decadent piece for this time of the year. If you’re looking to impress guests this Christmas, seek out a couple of these bad boys. Maybe even think about sending one to that special someone.

You can find them in a few different colors. Pink and white are nice, but RED is the way to go. It’s a classic look that hasn’t been overdone. Pricing usually depends on the variety of the Amaryllis. You can usually find these at shops when they’re just about to bloom. However, if you’re feeling adventurous try starting it from a bulb ahead of time!

Whether you’re sticking with the “old standard” or trying something new, we hope you have a fantastic Christmas season!

Merry Christmas!
Mason Day, Cofounder of GrowIt!
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GrowIt! Scholarship Recipients

At GrowIt! we know that the future of our planet lies in the hands of the youth. It’s up to them to plant the gardens of tomorrow! That’s why this Summer/Fall we decided to give away scholarships to Collegiate Students!

We are proud to announce the 2014 GrowIt! Scholarship Recipients! The students below are passionate about plants, and also have a pretty keen eye for a good photo opportunity. Here are their stories (and photos)! Congratulations and Great Job!

Maxwell Mercer

My name is Maxwell Mercer and I’m from Mount Dora, Florida. I’m currently a senior at the University of Florida, and will be graduating this December with a BS in Plant Science, specializing in Landscape and Nursery Horticulture. My parents own a tropical foliage nursery in Apopka. Growing up I would work there whenever we had breaks from school. Throughout my time working there I gained an interest in the company. I plan on taking over the family business and use my knowledge gained during school to grow the company to new heights.

Lindsey Miller

My name is Lindsey Miller. I am a proud Minnesota native who grew up in Brooklyn Park and graduated from Osseo Sr. High School. I am currently enrolled in the Horticultural Science program at the University of Minnesota, and expect to graduate from this program in the spring of 2015. It took me a bit of life experience, and a lot of general courses to realize my hidden passion for environmental science. Upon this realization, it was necessary to choose a more focused area of study: I chose plant science because these organisms were, and continue to be, a key supporter of other forms of life on the planet.

This past summer I was granted a full time internship at the University of Minnesota Display and Trial Garden located on the St. Paul campus. This internship allowed me to observe hundreds of native and locally popular perennial and annual plants throughout the growing season. One of the responsibilities delegated to me was to photograph garden happenings in an effort to draw attention to the garden through use of social media. As I began to do this, I became deeply fascinated by the structure and function of plants in the garden; the ecological interactions that took place before my lens continuously piqued my interest. Thank you to Mason and the GrowIt team for honoring me with this scholarship. I am excited and proud to have my passion for displaying the beauty of plants recognized in this way. I look forward to posting more photos and plant information to the GrowIt! app as the next growing season draws ever closer.

Sarah Swofford

Howdy!  My name is Sarah Swofford and I am a senior Horticulture major at Texas A&M University.  I’m a native Texan – I was born in Houston and grew up in Keller, Texas.  Since I can remember I have been fascinated by nature, especially the plants around me.  I followed this love of nature and it has guided me to a more specialized, detailed, and interesting area of agriculture.  One of the wonderful things about plants is that there’s always something new to learn about them.

I have also discovered that plants are not just beautiful and interesting, but are critical to life.  Realizing how essential plants are to life gives me a passionate desire to find a career involving plant life, sustainability, and the environment.  As I move forward I continually remember the necessity of plants in our everyday lives.

Emma Neigel

Hi my name is Emma Neigel. I am from the small farming community of Athabasca in rural Alberta, Canada. I’m a senior at Mississippi State University (hail state!) and studying Horticulture with a Floriculture concentration. My interest in plants comes from my Mother, who frequently had me help her in the garden. I also worked at a local greenhouse throughout high school and had the opportunity to work at Callaway Gardens in Georgia this past summer. I’m looking into doing the Disney internship this summer in and hope to pursue my Master’s degree in Organic Horticulture in the near future.

David Proven

David Proven is a student at Pennsylvania State University where he studies Landscape Contracting with a concentration in management. He grew up in Perkasie Pennsylvania, a small town about an hour north west of Philadelphia. Living in the suburbs brought David into contact at a young age with many beautiful landscapes ranging from large estates to natural landscapes which are abundant in the area. He always enjoyed seeing how the plants in the landscapes were capable of either enhancing or hindering the house which they surround. He was also introduced to plants at a young age because his grandfather is a certified Pennsylvania Master Gardner and so David was brought up living the green-thumb lifestyle.

Lauren Normandin

My name is Lauren Normandin, I am from Berwick Pennsylvania.  During high school I attended Columbia Montour Area Vocational School in Bloomsburg where I was a student in the Horticulture/ Floriculture program.  My Horticulture teacher Mr. Tim Mauk taught me a lot over those four years but my love for plants began even before that.  As a kid, I spent much of my time with my grandmother in her little greenhouse.  She showed me the miracle of growing beautiful plants from such small seeds.  Because of these two wonderful people I chose to attend the Pennsylvania State University and major in Plant Science Horticulture.  After I graduate I hope to manage a greenhouse or a nursery.

Holiday Contest!

It’s time to kick off the first annual GrowIt! Holiday photo contest!
We will be awarding special prizes to the top three photos uploaded to GrowIt! during the holiday season.

How will we be judging the photos?

• Obviously each photo must be a picture of a living plant. Cut Greens, Christmas Trees, Food, and Silk Flowers DO NOT COUNT!

• The picture must show some sort of Holiday Cheer! No matter which Holidays you celebrate, it’s the time of year to decorate and be with family and friends.

• And lastly if you can get a picture of Santa holding your plant there may be bonus points involved.

So get out there and let’s see those Poinsettia and Christmas Cactus pictures!

An Update on all of the Updates

We interrupt this program to bring you an update from the GrowIt! studio……

Seriously though, gears have been moving behind the scenes here at the GrowIt! laboratory, and we wanted to take a little time and tell you about a couple big changes that have already happened, or are in the works.

SPEED

If you’ve updated the app recently, you might have noticed a couple things. The most obvious change is that it no longer takes years for plants and images to load! Recently we’ve upgraded our back-end servers (Tech Jargon for “we’ve done some computer coding stuff”) to make your GrowIt! experience much more expedient and enjoyable. Our upgrading process allows your phone to load more pictures at a faster rate than ever before. We understand that your time is valuable, and that nobody wants to spend hours waiting for pictures to load.

QUALITY

This is something that you might not have noticed, but the pictures that GrowIt! captures when you use your camera in the app are better than ever! We’ve upped the resolution of the photos that the app can use. We understand that pictures need to be as clear as possible to show the beauty of the plants you love!

UPCOMING: ANDROID!!!??!?!

The transformation process has begun! Our developers have already shown us multiple screens for an Android version of GrowIt! We’re learning that there can be “translation” difficulties when taking an app from one operating system and formatting it for another; however, we are striving to create an app that offers stellar performance for both iPhone and Android users. Our fingers are crossed (when they aren’t typing furiously) but we’re hoping GrowIt! should be available in the Google Play market in the next few months!

We hope all is well with all of our GrowIt! fans out there. Hopefully the snow hasn’t hit you too hard yet.

Just remember when times get cold; Spring is only a few months away, you can make it, and if you need to see something green to brighten your winter days, GrowIt! has you covered.

– Mason Day, Mustachioed CoFounder of GrowIt!

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Guest Blog: DIY Gourd Lamp by Plant Jungle

Halloween has passed and Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. You have plenty of fantastic gourds left over but what do you do? Today we have a guest blogger with the perfect answer to this question. Megan Evans on behalf of Plant Jungle in Utah, details how to turn plain old gourds into stunning works of art.

DIY: How to Make a  Gourd Lamp 

By Megan Evans 

Special thanks to Mark Burton & Graham Hickey

Brought to you by Plant Jungle

Looking for a fun DIY project or a thoughtful holiday gift for a loved one? A homemade gourd lamp is a perfect solution for both. Young bottle gourds can be harvested for culinary purposes. Alternatively if a gourd is allowed to mature it will desiccate to form a hard woody shell. This “petrified” gourd can be hollowed, cleaned and used for a number of applications.  In fact dried bottle gourds have been used for centuries to make items like lamps, utensils, bottles, and even musical instruments such as the sitar.  As bottle gourds come in many shapes and sizes, your imagination is essentially the only limitation to what you can make with these.

Building lamps from bottle gourds is our personal favorite use of bottle gourds. The gourds themselves are very esthetically pleasing as lamps. Additionally placement of a light source within the gourd provides a fantastic glow that casts light through the designs etched into the exterior of the gourd. This provides a really nice effect that will brighten up any room in your house. Construction of a lamp from a bottle gourd essentially consists of 3 major steps: hollowing a dried gourd, carving/drilling a design on the exterior of the gourd, and then fitting the gourd with an appropriate light.

Below are some basic instructions for constructing your own gourd lamp. After mastering the basic approach to using a gourd to construct a lamp we encourage you to be creative and think of new designs and other cool uses for dried gourds. Due to the material of the gourd, we do not recommend that you leave the lamp on unattended or on for long periods of time.

Materials that you will need:

• Dried gourd
• Drill and drill bits- The largest holes were drilled with 1 inch bits with the consecutive holes being 5/16^thof an inch to 1/8^th of an inch. The largest holes can be finished with a dremel
• Sandpaper (80 and 100 grit)
• Stencils
• Compass
• A pencil
• 10 watt incandescent light bulb
• Tapped thread size 1/8^thlamp couplings
• One 2” candelabra socket
• 1/8^thCandelabra base
• 1/8^thlamp nuts & washers
• 1/8^thtapped solid hex nut

Directions:

1. Sand the gourd with 80 grit sandpaper. After thoroughly sanding the rough areas, finish with 100 grit sandpaper.
2. Measure the midsection of the largest part of the gourd and then use a geometric compass to make a concentric circle from the largest section. The concentric circles will provide a systematic placement for the pattern.
3. Use a pencil to stencil the pattern on the gourd prior to drilling.
4. Drill the largest holes around the midsection with a 1inch or smaller bit. Afterward, drill smaller holes along your traced pattern.
5. Drill the top of the gourd to fit a 1/8 Candelabra base
6. To assemble the light fixture insert the candelabra base through the hole on the top of the gourd. Fasten the candelabra in place with a steel washer and hex nut. Do not over tighten the hex nut as this may crack the gourd.

Since 1998, Plant Jungle has been in the indoor plant business selling live and artificial plants as well as plant maintenance tools, pottery, custom gifts, and plant arrangements. Give a unique gift! We can create custom corporate/client, housewarming, and condolence gifts. Additionally, we offer seasonal products such as gourds, pumpkins, and Christmas trees. Plant Jungle also specializes in patioscaping and indoor plant designs including container gardening, office plants, and plant arrangement for special occasions. Plant Jungle can customize interior plant arrangements to your specifications such as custom designed Christmas ornamental plant displays or custom designed garden containers for your business. For more information regarding our custom gifts or perusing our indoor plants go to www.plantjungle.com or contact plantjungle@twistlab.com

As always be sure to check for the latest version of GrowIt! on the Apple App Store, and stay up to date on the latest GrowIt! news at www.facebook.com/growitapp and www.twitter.com/growitmobile!

Quinoa Stuffed Squash!

Every great recipe starts with great ingredients.

Everyone knows that the best of those ingredients are fresh, local, and if possible straight from your garden!

It’s harvest season and with that comes a surplus of veggies like squash, onions and peppers. We thought we would help you out with an AWESOME fall recipe for:

Sausage and Quinoa stuffed Acorn Squash

Courtesy of Seth’s Amazing Girlfriend Elizabeth!

What you will need:

1 Cup Quinoa (cooked according to package)

3 Green Onions, diced

1 Cup Grape Tomatoes, cut in halves

1/2 Red Pepper, diced

2 Spicy Chicken Sausages, diced

3 TBSP. Fresh Mint, diced super fine

1/4 Cup Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley, diced super fine

1/2 Lemon, squeezed

1/2 Lime, Squeezed

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Red Pepper Flakes (Optional)

Parmesan cheese (Optional)

1 Acorn Squash, cut in half

 Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 375°. Cut squash in half, and remove all seeds and strings. Place cut side down into a baking dish with one inch water. Bake 45min.

2. While squash is cooking, prepare quinoa according to package directions.

3. Wisk together olive oil, lemon, lime, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

4. In a large mixing bowl add green onions, tomatoes, red peppers, sausages and olive oil mixture to prepared quinoa. Mix well.

5. Remove squash from oven. Place in a dry baking dish, cut side up. Fill with quinoa mixture, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Place back into oven for 21 minutes, or until heated thoroughly.

6. Serve with love and enjoy 🙂

Gardener’s Note!: Some left over scraps can be replanted for future use! For example if you’re only using the green part of green onions, you can replant the bottoms!

New Friends in the Freedom City

Unless you’re a robot, you probably have a soft spot somewhere in your heart for plants.

There may be plants that you don’t like. Posion Ivy, and Stinging Nettles can be a pain.

Mowing the lawn takes precious time out of your day and those gardens won’t plant themselves.

All of that might be true, but we can all agree plants, for the most part, make the world a better place.

However, it seems that today people are less and less interested in planting things. We are too busy waiting in line for the next gadget, or working our weekends away, and our communities are suffering because of it! We must find a way to resurrect the garden, but who will champion this cause?!!?

This past weekend while Seth was in Des Moines, Iowa celebrating the grand opening of the Greater Des Moines Botanic Garden, I was in Philadelphia, The Birthplace of Freedom, for a gathering of minds. I was lucky enough to be invited to the America in Bloom Symposium. America in Bloom is an organization that works with communities to use flowers to improve cities and towns across this great nation.

    

I was representing GrowIt!, and spreading the news of what we are doing to help get more people interested in veggies and flowers. It was fantastic to be able to share passions and talk with people that have the same goal: More plants in the lives of more people!

There were mayors and city planners from hundreds of communities sharing ideas on how to make America a more beautiful place. Though everyone seemed to have the same overarching goal, there were all sorts of ideas and concepts on how to achieve it. Some felt that we had to reach out to the children in education. Others championed the cause for community gardens, and some felt that the best way to get people involved was through ecological restoration processes with native plants.

I got to tell my story and meet so many people. We talked about using GrowIt! to get community members involved in community plantings. We talked about cities having their own profiles to inspire people to branch out and grow something themselves, or as a means to receive feedback on the items that they had planted.

Overall the weekend was a lot of fun, and we left with some great ideas on how to add some flavor to America.

Learn more about America in Bloom Here: http://www.americainbloom.org

~Mason Day – Co-Founder, GrowIt!

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The Plant Explorers!

We have the great opportunity to meet a lot of people from all over the world through the course of creating and promoting GrowIt! It’s the interactions with different people that really show me how GrowIt! Is making a difference.

Since I was young, my favorite thing in the world has been to meet interesting people and learn what makes them tick and what gets them out of bed in the morning.  I had the opportunity this weekend to act out my passion and meet some very interesting people…and to see a friend’s passion in full swing.

This story starts with my friend at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens, Mr. Kelly Norris.  I will sum him up quickly: he is a kickass individual.  After becoming the director of the gardens, he used his passion and drive to acquire over $18 million in funding to renovate the facility and add 7 acres of outdoor garden space.  This is a wonderful opportunity for all of Des Moines because the garden itself is in the heart of the city.

Kelly had the vision beyond what the gardens current state was; he communicated that vision with passion, built the right team, and then used his drive and determination to make it a reality.  You can read more about Kelly and The Greater Des Moines Botanical Gardens by reading the New York Times story HERE.  If you live near Des Moines, make sure to stop by and take a look at it…..and feel free to put up some wonderful plants on GrowIt!.

I was in Des Moines visiting Kelly and his crew over the weekend for their first annual symposium, “plant exploring”.  As I was driving to Des Moines I couldn’t help but envision an Indiana Jones like figure standing on stage with his trowel in one hand and whip in another hand.  He would be excitedly telling us about the time he was in search of a long lost plant that had only been pictured in ancient scrolls.  After hearing 4 wonderful presentations I can assure you that there were no chase scenes depicted in the stories that were told.  However, there did seem to be some amazing similarities in the fact that one speaker, Mark Hachadourian, was in search for plants that had not been seen for over 100 years.  He started his presentation talking about the incredibly exotic plants that explorers from all over the world would bring back to Victorian England.  As time passed on, wars came and went, family fortunes were broken up and massive greenhouse sculptures were lost.  With those lost structures, the plants disappeared as well. The only proof that they ever existed were pictures drawn out by artists.

Mark’s presentation was chalk full of wonderful images of plants that were so exotic you would l think you were looking at a Hollywood set.  But for me, given how much I enjoy people, I found his enthusiasm for unknown plants the most remarkable.  If you enjoy the observing interesting photos of weird and wild plants you might want to check out his book.

I would like to Thank Kelly Norris, Mark Hachadourian and his other speakers: Dan Hinkley, Jim Ault, and Peter Zale for and great day of plant exploration…even if there was no Indiana themed music. Dun dada dun… dun da dun….

Seth Reed – Co-Founder, GrowIt!

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The Basics

Liking plants and being a good gardener are two very different things. The nice thing about GrowIt! is that we don’t care if you’re a great gardener. If you like plants we’ve got something for you!

For those in the audience that fall into that group of plant fans that might not have the greenest of thumbs we’re here to help you out. The good thing about the skill of growing is that (so far) it hasn’t been determined to be a genetic trait. That means anyone can develop a green thumb. Some just catch on quicker than others.

You have to start out somewhere right? What are good plants for rookie growers?

Why don’t we start out with something simple, yet TOTALLY AWESOME!

SUCCULENTS

Do you have a table, windowsill, patio, deck, yard, bowl, or a plastic cup? I thought so. You can literally plant succulents in any of those areas. Succulents come in millions of different shapes, sizes, and colors. These plants store water which means that they are excellent for those that might not be so great at remembering to water! Maybe you’ve heard of some of them like Echeveria, Hens and Chicks, or Aloe.

A lot of succulents stay petite which makes them great for apartment growers that don’t have much space, but still want to green up their abode.

AIR PLANTS

Are you too lazy to water or just the most forgetful person… ever? Then maybe we need to start with something that requires even less attention than a succulent. Recently Air Plants have become very popular.

Why do they call them air plants? They literally get the water and nutrients they need from the air. They don’t even need soil! You can find air plants in all sorts of cool containers. Some even come attached to magnets for your refrigerator.

Are you already growing some of these plants? Share with us on GrowIt!

Anyone can grow plants, you just have to start at the right level!

Get out there and GrowIt!

-Mason Day, Cofounder, GrowIt!

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Why GrowIt!?

We’ve covered the “What” and the “Who” of GrowIt!

It only seems logical that the next step would be to talk about the Passion behind GrowIt!

In order to dig into the subject, we have to ask:

As I touched on in the last post, Seth and I both came from jobs in the commercial horticulture industry. Think of it this way: when it comes to gardening we were brokers of the raw materials. We could describe it further but you’d be asleep by the end of this senten…. Sorry dozed off there!

We were working in an industry that makes the world beautiful. However, one thing Seth and I noticed was that younger generations were missing out on the beauty of plants and the benefits they provide. Kids from the Eighties and Nineties didn’t grow up in the garden like previous generations did. Because of this, plants and the concept of “growing” don’t come natural to most younger people.

Rather, than admit defeat and accept the future of a colorless world, Seth and I set out to find a way to get plants in front of more people. Rather than try to bring young people to the garden, we wanted to bring the plants to them. The Average American now spends around 3 hours a day using apps on their phone, so naturally that had to be our platform.

We see GrowIt! as a way to introduce people to plants and other gardeners. It’s a community where the experienced gardener can share their expertise and knowledge, but also a place where plant rookies can obtain the most basic plant information. It’s our job to connect people of every growing level.

If you want to see how plants are important to you and society, all you have to do is Google “benefits of plants” to see what I’m talking about. We’re discovering new benefits every day. That’s where the real passion behind GrowIt! is. Sure, it’s a fun app to share your photos and brag about your garden, but at the end of the day the goal is to inspire people to get growing. Plants are amazing, and we want to make sure more people know that.

– Mason Day, Co-founder of GrowIt!

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