GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Annual - Plants whose life cycle lasts only one year, from seed to blooms to seed.
Arboretum - A garden with a large collection of trees and shrubs cultivated for scientific or educational purposes.
Botanical name - The Latin or "scientific" name of a plant, usually composed of two words, the genus and the specific epithet (taken together= species).
Bud - A structure of embryonic tissues, which will become a leaf, a flower, or both, or a new shoot. Especially the stage in which a growing point spends the winter or a dry season. May be naked or enclosed in bud scales. (Source: Colorado St. U. Extension Service)
Bulb - The thickened underground storage organ of the group of perennials, which includes daffodils and tulips.
Butterfly garden - A garden that will attract butterflies.
Conifer - Any cone-bearing tree, which includes trees such as Pines, Firs, Spruces, and Hemlocks.
Cultivar - A cultivar (literally meaning "cultivated variety") is an assemblage of plants that have been selected for a particular attribute or combination of attributes and that is clearly distinct, uniform, and stable in these characteristics, and that when propagated by appropriate means, retains these characteristics. Because most landscape plants do not "come true" from seed, cultivars usually are vegetatively propagated (i.e. by cuttings, tissue culture, or grafting) and therefore usually are clones of the original, selected plant. While cultivars can originate in the wild as a sport, they are not considered cultivars until they are selected for garden use and given a cultivar name in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). (Adapted from the American Hosta Society)
Cultivate - Process of breaking up the soil surface, removing weeds, and preparing for planting.
Cuttings - A method of propagation using sections of stems, roots or leaves.
Dead head - The process of pinching off used or spent blooms to keep the plants well groomed and to prevent them from setting seed. This will promote continued bloom.
Deciduous - Plants that naturally lose their leaves during the dormant season.
Fertilizer - Organic or inorganic mineral elements, which may be either liquid or granular used to amend the soil in order to improve the quality or quantity of plant growth.
Forbs - Flowering plants that grow in grasslands.
Germinate - The process of the sprouting of a seed.
Grafting - The uniting of a short length of stem of one plant onto the rootstock of a different plant. This is often done to produce a hardier or more disease resistant plant.
Ground cover - A group of plants usually used to cover bare earth and create a uniform appearance.
Herb - At the Bickelhaupt, we use the loose definition of an herb as "any plant with a use."
Hybrid - The offspring of two plants of different species or varieties of plants. Hybrids are created when the pollen from one kind of plant is used to pollinate and entirely different variety, resulting in a new plant altogether.
Mulch - Any loose material placed over the soil to control weeds and conserve soil moisture. Usually this is a coarse organic matter, such as leaves, clippings or bark, but plastic sheeting and other commercial products can also be used.
Native plant - Any plant that occurs and grows naturally in a specific region or locality.
Organic gardening - The method of gardening utilizing only materials derived from living things. (i.e. composts and manures)
Perennial - A non-woody plant which grows and lives for more than two years. Perennials usually produce one flower crop each year, lasting anywhere from a week to a month or longer.
Pinching back - Utilizing the thumb and forefinger to nip back the very tip of a branch or stem. Pinching promotes branching, and a bushier, fuller plant.
Propagation - Various methods of starting new plants ranging from starting seeds to identical clones created by cuttings or layering.
Pruning - The cutting and trimming of plants to remove dead or injured wood.
Raised bed - A gardening method where beds are created inside landscape timbers or other frames to raise the soil above the level of the ground.
Root ball - The network of roots along with the attached soil, of any given plant.
Rootbound - A condition which exists when a potted plant has outgrown its container. The roots become entangled and matted together, and the growth of the plant becomes stunted. When repotting, loosen the roots on the outer edges of the root ball, to induce them to once again grow outward.
Staking - The practice of driving a stake into the ground next to, and as a support for a plant. When attaching the plant to the stake, be sure that it is tied loosely so it doesn't strangle the stem. When staking a potted plant, the stake should be set into the planter before the plant is added.
Thinning - The process of removing excess seedlings to allow sufficient room for the remaining plants to grow. Thinning also refers to removing entire branches from a tree or shrub, to give the plant a more open structure.
Transplanting - The process of digging up a plant and moving it to another location.
Variety - A naturally occurring group within a species that is distinct enough to warrant taxonomic recognition but not sufficiently distinct to be segregated as another species. An example is the common thornless honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis).