The art of cultivating plants in gardens to produce food and medicinal ingredients, or for comfort and ornamental purposes is known as Horticulture. Horticulturists are agriculturists who grow flowers, fruits and nuts, vegetables and herbs, as well as ornamental trees and lawns.
Here are some fun facts about horticulture:
1) Banana
Banana plants are large herbs, distantly related to ginger. They are considered an herb because they never form woody stems the way trees do. The pseudo-stem begins as a small shoot from an underground rhizome called a corm. It grows upward as a single stalk with a tight spiral of leaf sheaths wrapped around it. Banana leaves are simply extensions of the sheaths.
2. Spanish Moss
Spanish Moss is not a moss; it is actually a bromeliad, the same as succulent houseplants and pineapples. Guess what, a fun facts about horticulture it’s not from Spain either! It is native to Mexico, South America, America and the Caribbean. French explorers in the United States were reminded of Spanish Conquistadors long beards when they saw the moss and gave it the name Spanish Moss.
3) Strawberry
The average strawberry has 200 seeds. It’s the only fruit that bears its seeds on the outside. Learn more about strawberries here.
4) Venus flytrap
Some plants are carnivores, gaining nutrients by eating various small insects and spiders, one of the most fun facts about horticulture. A well-known example of a carnivorous plant is the Venus flytrap.
5) Apple Orchard
An apple is 25% air and that is why it floats in water.
I hope you enjoyed the fun facts about horticulture this week. I am sure you have some more of your own and we would appreciate them in the comments section if you would like to share them.