No-nonsense site offers helpful gardening tips

The trio in the houseplant section at the home-improvement store practically threw itself at me: a cluster of several long stalks covered with ribbon-like leaves, three of them topped in vivid color. One of these was red, one magenta and one orange. What a fashion clash — the perfect pot for a secret admirer to leave on the doorstep of her admired one.

Another shopper approached. She was older and wore thick eyeglasses. "My, how gorgeous," she said, beginning to poke among the plants. "Guzmania bromeliads! You know, mine grow like crazy, but I've never had any luck getting them to bloom again."

Hmm, I thought. If these bromeliads were merely the skyrockets of the plant world — one spectacular show, then nothing — I might as well choose the potted tulips, which were 10 times cheaper. On the other hand, I could attach instructions to the bromeliads — written in letters cut out of newspaper headlines to keep my identity secret or, better yet, printed out from the computer.

The potted bromeliad trio practically leaped into my cart. At home, I headed straight to the computer to learn how to keep the plants looking good forever.

I rolled up the printed-out tips, tied them with red satin ribbon, wrapped the plants' pot and tiptoed to my admired one's door. It took him a full day to figure out who did the deed. Meanwhile, I was back on the Web, looking up houseplant care for myself.

The challenge

URL/Name of site: www.thegardenhelper.com; The Garden Helper, owned by Bill Beaurain, a farmer in Monroe.

Purpose: The site teaches gardeners, especially beginners and intermediates, how to plan, choose, plant and maintain their own indoor and outdoor Edens.

The setup: The text-heavy home page links to interior pages covering indoor and outdoor concerns.

Ease of navigation: Colored type makes the topics jump out visually for easy searching. Then it's click-click-click to the information that's needed.

What you'll find: I clicked "House Plants" from the selections at the top of the home page. This took me to an article, "Caring for Flowering and Foliage House Plants." Now, isn't that just like a plant guy to draw visitors into the basics first? Links down the left-hand side of the page connect to specialty topics: dish gardens, terrariums, indoor topiaries, repotting, toxic houseplants, pests, a glossary and an explanation of botanical names. Below this come links to tips on cultivating specific plants. These include many common housemates, such as dieffenbachia, coffee plants, mums and jade plants; now I'm ready for shamrocks and Easter lilies, too.

A sample: "Jade plants are best grown in very bright sunlight with low humidity; however, if the plant is accustomed to dimmer light, you must move it into the sun in stages. Jades will sunburn if they are not used to full sun. Jades are best grown between 55 (degrees) F. at night and 75-80 (degrees) F during the day."

The best part: This is a no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point site. There's no philosophy or flowery language, only unvarnished advice. This makes it quick and easy to get usable information.

Thumbs down: Playful typeface detracts from sense of credibility, although we know the owner, a farmer and horticulturist, knows his stuff. Illustrations and larger photos with articles, rather than in the site's separate photo gallery, would create visual appeal.

Surprise: If you've pined for a screensaver showing an unusual daisy, an elegant monarch butterfly or even a banana slug, download one for free here.

Related sites

• www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/houseplants; University of Illinois Extension, Urbana-Champaign. The cleanly laid-out page clearly states what you'll learn here: houseplant needs; selection; care, including vacation and summer tips; types; health, with four symptoms and their possible causes; and propagation. Look up plants by their required light conditions to avoid slogging through charts of botanical and common names.

• www.lowes.com; Lowe's. Type "houseplants" into the search function at the upper left-hand corner of the page, and you'll pull up more than a dozen related articles. I chose "Caring for Houseplants," which provides an overview of houseplants' many demands. Illustrations and photos add to the pleasure of the visit.

• denverplants.com; DenverPlants.com. This site's outdoor-gardening wisdom assists Denver gardeners, but the indoor-gardening advice applies anywhere. Click on links under "Interior Plants" for the lowdown. I chose "House Plants," which took me to an alphabetical list of common names. Click on a name, and you'll get the plant's profile, with a photo; the plant's origin; its growth and flowering habits; and how much food, water and light it needs. Some of the plants, however, fit better into landscapes than interiors. The site looks good, but if you're a grammar fanatic, you'll have to overlook a few transgressions.

Home on the Web appears the first Sunday of the month in Home/Real Estate. Her e-mail is homeontheweb@seattletimes.com