While most everyone knows some garden things, like that tomatoes are BOTH a fruit and a vegetable and that trees are the longest living organisms on the entire Earth, but there are a TON of other really interesting garden facts out there that you may or may not already know and may or may not be extremely helpful to you. See below for some of our most favorites fun and practical facts about gardens and their inhabitants.
1.A Rose by Any Other Name
Next Valentine’s Day, consider a different kind of bouquet for your sweetie, as strawberries, apples, peaches, apricots, pears, and quinces all happen to be part of the rose family too!
2.Greenhouses Go Way Back
Emperor Tiberius of Rome loved (and needed?) cucumbers so much that he had greenhouses built in A.D. 30 so that he could always have them, no matter the time of year.
3.Putting the Best Foot Forward
It sort of makes sense when you think about it, but even just imagining tasting things with our feet, like butterflies do, seems a bit strange.
4.Playing with Flowers
Snapdragons are named as such due to their similarities to a dragon, and that if you were to pinch the flower on each side, its “mouth” will “open” and “close.”
5.Very Seedy
Just one strawberry is estimated to have about 200 seeds. And while there are other fruits that carry seeds, strawberries are the only ones who show them off on their exterior.
6.Color Changes
Depending on just how green your thumb is, you can alter the color of your hydrangeas through its soil. The more acidic the soil is, the bluer your flowers will be, and the more basic the soil is, the pinker they will be.
7.Flower Gazing at Night
Although you may have guessed it by their unique name, moonflowers actually only bloom at night time and then close when the sun rises.
8.Another Interesting Bouquet
Although it’s certainly edible, not to mention delicious, and is definitely served as a vegetable, broccoli is actually a flower.
9.Feeling Saucy
Arguably the most consumed fruit in all the world, there are over 50 million tons of tomatoes produced every year in well over 10,000 different varieties.
10.It Just Keeps Growing and Growing and Growing…
Bamboo stands as the most rapidly-growing wood-producing plant in the universe. It is not uncommon for it to grow a whopping 30 inches in just one day.
11.Not So Similar to Its Name
Contrary to how we may regularly refer to it, peanuts are not actually nuts, they are part of the legume family, which also includes lentils and soybeans. One of the reasons for this distinction is that peanuts grow underground, while other nuts do not.
12.Not to Be Used as a Flotation Device
Due to the small air pockets within, cranberries actually float when they are immersed in water.
13.Do Not Ingest
There are several plants out there that are actually deadly. You have probably heard of some of the more common ones like hemlock and nightshade, but you might be surprised to know how many other, more common plants can do harm, such as buttercups, oleanders, and (you could have probably guessed this one) tobacco.
14.Flowers Within Flowers
Although we may call it a sunflower, it is actually more like a bouquet of flowers. The petals, as well as the center of the flower, are comprised of over 1000 single flowers. They are all kept together on the flower’s stalk.
15.A Jack of All Plants
It’s fun to blow the seeds into the air. It can even be fun to stain yourself with the yellow pigment. But that’s not nearly all the uses for dandelions. They aren’t just weeds to get rid of or play with.
They were actually brought from Europe over to the US, specifically because of their many uses, both nutritionally and medically. Roast the greens and add to a salad for an excellent source of vitamins A, C, and K. Or brew some of the root in your tea to help an upset stomach.
Owning and maintaining a garden can be one of the most rewarding hobbies to have. Whether it’s for practicality or just for the challenge, the benefits of gardening are tremendous. Click here to know about how hard it is to start a garden.
And just when you think you know a great deal about plants, flowers, and just gardens in general, you realize that there are a TON of extremely interesting and useful facts about your little patch. Learn more about things you probably didn’t know about gardening.