10 Crazy Facts About Certain Plants

Many people nowadays love gardening and spend lots of time mowing the lawn or trimming their shrubs. It's proven, that gardening can help relieve the stress and add more positivism to a person's life. It's definitely a useful hobby or even a profession. But the plants we grow in our garden are a lot more than they seem. We look at them every day, but we usually don't spare the time to get to know them better. This is why the gardeners from this company which offers professional hedge trimming and other gardening services in Melbourne have gathered these ten crazy facts about certain plants, which will definitely change the way you look at them.

Fact 1. Did you know that during the 1600s the tulips in Holland were considered to be so valuable, that their bulbs were more expensive and worth than even gold? Crazy, but true. This tulip mania, as they call it, even caused the crash of the entire Dutch economy for a while. And another crazy fact about tulips is, that they can grow after they have been cut! So crazy, that it's even creepy.

Fact 2. Another quite crazy fact is, that the vanilla flavouring, which we all know and like, actually comes from the pod of a kind of an orchid, which is called Vanilla planifolia. And even though these pods are called vanilla beans, they are actually closely related to corn than to the green beans! Quite weird, but true.

Fact 3. Many people nowadays wonder if the tomato is a fruit or a vegetable. Well, can you tell me what the avocados and pumpkins are? I know most of you want to say vegetable, but the truth is that from a botanical point of view they are actually fruits. The reason someone states that, is because the avocado and the pumpkin bear their seeds.

Fact 4. Have you ever noticed, that when you put cranberries in water, they never sink, but they just float on the surface? This is because they have small air pockets inside them, which cause them to do it! Isn't nature crazy?

Fact 5. Many people think, that the sunflower is one big and beautiful flower. But when you look closely at the young sunflower, you can notice that the place where the future seeds will be located, is full of small flowers! They are called florets, and they will grow to be the seeds of the sunflower afterwards. The sunflower is not the only flower which has these abilities – the same applies to yarrows, asters, daisies and many other flowers from the sunflower family.

Fact 6. A small botanical lesson for all those, who don't know – strawberries, apples, quinces, peaches, apricots and pears are members of the big rose family, no matter that they are not flowers. A crazy fact indeed.

Fact 7. Do you know what is the difference between the nectarines and the peaches? Well, the only difference is, that the peaches have a fuzzy skin. Quite simple actually. But the crazy part is, that if you want, you can graft branches from the one kind onto the other kind's tree, and you will have both kinds growing in one place!

Fact 8. One simple strawberry can have up to 200 seeds! It's quite a lot for such a small fruit. But what's even more amazing is, that the strawberry is the only fruit, which bears its seed on the outside.

Fact 9. Everyone thinks that peanuts are just a kind of nuts, but this is actually a very common mistake. The fact is, that peanuts are much more related to the lentils and beans. This is simply because they contain much more niacin, foliate and protein than any nut in the world.

Fact 10. There is still no certain verdict which is the hottest chilli pepper in the world. The Guinness World Records gave this title in 2007 to a sort of chilli called Bhut Jolokia, but since then a few kinds of even hotter chilli claimed the price.