Hi Gardeners
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| Dahlias going strong |
We had a very light frost a few nights ago but today is mild and humid. Hopefully we are going to get some rain over
the next few days starting tonight. It’s
very dry. The farmers are harvesting the
soybeans across from us and clouds of dust are being raised. It’s hard to breathe outside. Soy harvest is
usually quick though, and we should have cleaner air after the rain.
Most of my houseplants are
back inside. I’m still arranging and re-arranging things. Still to bring inside are the pots of tender
bulbs, the geraniums and rosemary. It’s always fun to try and squeeze
everything in. I think I have brought in
about 60 pots, which is less than last year but some of the plants are bigger
than last year. I even repotted my ginger and
harvested a few root pieces to use.
The dahlias are still
blooming quite well, annuals are starting to slow down but there are still some
blooms. Woodland nicotiana – Only the Lonely
is in its prime- (see article below).
Also in bloom are the Jerusalem artichokes, Maximillian sunflowers, toad
lilies and mums. The landscape roses are
still blooming and the re-blooming iris- Immortality- is in bloom. I even have a few blooms on the clematis by
the barn. The zebra grass is in bloom,
it’s always so pretty against the blue fall sky. And finally the cup and saucer
vine is in bloom.
The vegetable garden is
basically done. There are a few tomatoes left on the vines but the vines are
pretty much dead. There are a couple of
cabbages left to harvest and I will probably find some onions, maybe potatoes
that I missed when I begin clearing everything out. Oh, and there’s some celery to harvest.
The hummingbirds are definitely
gone now. There are still some robins in
the autumn olive by the pond eating the berries but I’m not seeing the red wing
blackbirds or orioles anymore. The
turkey vultures are still here though- they are usually the last to leave.
We don’t have much fall
color here and I doubt we will get much; it’s been too hot and dry. Leaves are falling from the oaks and walnuts
like crazy but the maples have very little color. I think if we have storms the next few days a
lot of leaves will drop off without ever putting on a show.
 |
| Fall color last year |
October almanac
October’s full moon occurs on the 5th and the
moon’s perigee occurs on the 9th.
This will give us a good chance for precipitation around then. Perigee plus full moon increases the tides
and the chance of precipitation. Apogee is the 24th. The full moon should look large because it’s
at its closest point for the month, if it isn’t cloudy. This full moon is called the Hunters moon, Dying Grass moon or Traveling moon as Native Americans often moved
to winter grounds during this time. The Hunters moon is named such because at
this time of year the moon rises early in the evening and stays bright until
almost dawn, letting hunters easily track animals in the night. It’s now illegal to hunt most game animals
after the sun goes down.
If you like sky gazing you may want to look for the Draconid meteors which will be at
their peak Oct 7-8th. This
meteor shower isn’t as frequent or showy as others but who knows what you might
see. Look for the meteors in the
northwest sky just after dark. Later in
the month the Orionid meteor shower peaks around October 20-21st. This meteor shower occurs through much of the
month however. Good viewing times for this meteor shower are around
midnight. Look straight up and to the southeast.
October’s birthstones are the Tourmaline and Opal. October’s birth flower was the calendula
originally, but now is listed as marigold.
Calendulas were the “marigold” before the African plant we now call
marigold was discovered. So now either calendula or marigolds is considered
correct. The meaning in flower language
is warm, undying and contented love.
October is National popcorn popping month, vegetarian month,
seafood month, cookie month, pizza month, and applejack month. If you are not into food it’s also National
Diabetes month, National Adopt a Shelter Dog month, National Domestic Violence
Awareness month and of course the most used and abused “cause” of all, Breast
Cancer awareness month. I’m not against breast cancer awareness just the
commercialization of it.
Holidays of note in October include the 10th
–World Egg Day – National Dessert day,
21st –Sweetest Day, 21st National Pumpkin Cheesecake
day, 22nd – National Nut Day, 24th –and then there’s two
of the world’s favorite holidays, 30th
-Devils night and 31st - Halloween.
Forcing
bulbs
If you’d like to have spring flowers early this year
you can follow a tradition that’s been practiced for hundreds of years- forcing
bulbs. Forcing bulbs means getting them
to bloom outside of their normal blooming period, and generally indoors. Greenhouses do this to have blooming bulbs
for sale shortly after Christmas but you can easily do it at home too.
 |
| crocus |
Now is the time to purchase those bulbs for forcing- or
for planting outside. If you want flowers very early in the season you need to
get those bulbs quickly because most will need a cold period before bloom. Paper
white narcissus, a yellow narcissus known as Sol D’Or and some hyacinths are
probably still available for forcing.
Paper whites and the yellow equivalent don’t need a cold period to bloom.
Some catalogs may also sell pre-chilled bulbs for late fall and winter potting.
Any kind of spring blooming bulb can be forced, from
tiny crocus and snowdrops to stately tulips and alliums. Fragrant species are
very nice to include if you can. If you
are potting the bulbs in October you may get flowers in late January if you can
provide the cold to chill them. With November planting you won’t get flowers
until February and March, but that will still be earlier than they bloom
outside for most bulbs and it will bring a burst of spring inside just when you
need it most. If you found pre-chilled
bulbs for sale you may get flowers earlier.
What
to plant them in
Paper white and other narcissus and some hyacinths can
be forced in water. You use cute little
vases with a constricted middle designed for this purpose or you fill a
container with rocks, glass beads or marbles, put water in the bottom inch or
two and partially bury the bulbs in the rocks or other substances. You want
just the base of the bulb in water, submerged bulbs will rot. You can start paper whites just about any
time in the fall and winter and expect blooms in about 6 weeks.
Most bulbs, however, do best in potting medium. This is a soilless mix you buy rather than
using garden soil. Since you’ll need to move the pots around and good drainage
is a must, a good lightweight potting mix is essential. Shallow pots are best but they should be deep
enough so the bulbs can be lightly covered with the potting medium and still
have at least 2 inches of medium below them.
The containers should have good drainage.
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| Tulip |
Part of the beauty of spring bulbs indoors can be the
pot they are in so you may want to choose attractive containers, maybe in
colors that will complement the flowers that will bloom in the pot. Plastic hanging baskets are good bulb
planters and could be painted in pretty colors.
Clay pots can also be painted with acrylic craft paints. Even cheap plastic mixing bowls from the
dollar store can work for bulbs. You can
add drainage holes by heating a fork to red hot on your stove and then pushing
it through the bottom of the bowl in several places.
The
planting and chilling process
Except for paper whites and a few hyacinths designated
for forcing, or bulbs that have been pre-chilled, the bulbs you plant for
inside bloom must go through a chilling period before they will flower. Here’s the planting and chilling process.
Moisten the potting medium, add some to the container,
and arrange the bulbs on top. Fill the
container so that the bulbs can be just barely covered with planting medium and
still leave an inch or so of space from the top of the medium to the pot edge
so that you can water the pot without a mess.
To make the prettiest showing put bulbs close
together. Bulbs with large foliage like
tulips need a little more room in the pot but bulbs with narrow foliage like
crocus can be planted with only a bit of a gap between them. Plant bulbs with the pointed end up. Arrange any tulip bulbs so that the flatter
side of the bulb faces toward the pot wall.
The leaves will then droop over the pot sides and the blooms will be
concentrated in the center of the pot.
Once you have arranged the bulbs fill up the pot with
moistened potting medium. Remember to leave space below the pot rim for water.
Some people recommend pots of assorted bulb species or
layering small early bulbs over larger later bulbs. In my experience these don’t work as well as
keeping species separate. Mixing the
colors of course is fine. Pots of blue
and white muscari or peach and yellow tulips for example are quite
wonderful. You can always exchange pots
that have finished blooming with ones that are just beginning.
Once pots are planted they need their chilling period.
If they don’t get this flowers won’t form. The ideal chilling temperatures are
between 30-40 degrees F. You can achieve
this by putting the pots in an unheated garage or chilly basement or in a
refrigerator. If you are going to use
the refrigerator don’t store fruit in it since the ethylene they give off can
disrupt flower formation. A cooler or
insulated box on the patio or deck might work. You can stack the pots. One
person I know uses a window well for the basement window and covers it with a
board. She brings the pots in through
the window. Some people dig a trench
outside, put the pots in it and cover them with straw but you may have a hard
time retrieving the pots in January.
You are trying to prevent the potted bulbs from getting
too cold too. Bulbs planted in the
ground are somewhat insulated because they are planted deeper and have more
soil around them. When bulbs in pots are
subjected to long periods of time below 25 degrees they often die.
One more note about using the outdoor weather to chill
bulbs. How cold your fall and early
winter weather are will affect how soon the bulbs can bloom. Remember chilling
temperatures are below 40 degrees. If
the late fall and early winter are warm the bulbs will take longer to bloom. If you want the bulbs to bloom near a
specific time you need to use a refrigerator to control the chill period.
To get bulbs to bloom at a specific time, first see
what the chilling requirement is for the type of bulb and then count weeks
backward from when you want the plants to bloom. Remember to add about 3 weeks to the chilling
week count because the bulbs will need that time to sprout and begin
bloom. For example if you want daffodils
in bloom April 1 you’ll need about 16 weeks for the forcing process. So the bulbs should be planted and set to
chill by late November.
Pots need to be kept barely moist while chilling. Check your pots every other week and add a
little barely warm water if they seem very dry. When a pot is too dry it feels
very light and the potting medium may draw away from the pot sides. If the soil
seems soggy, check to see if the drainage is obstructed and don’t water. Very wet pots cause the bulbs to rot.
Different plant species require different cooling times
to form flowers. Crocus and grape
hyacinths require about 9 weeks of chilling, snowdrops require 15 weeks,
species tulips that bloom really early in the garden require about 10 weeks,
other tulips require 12-16 weeks. The
later they bloom outside the more chilling weeks they require. Daffodils and narcissus need about 12
weeks. Hyacinths need 12-15 weeks. Iris
reticulate and alliums may need 15 weeks.
When the chilling period is over wake the plants up by gently
by moving them to a little warmer area of 50-60 degrees, in indirect
light. Water the pots with warm
water. After a week move them to a sunny
spot above 60 degrees. Keep the pots moist but not soggy. Most will be sprouting by then and will bloom
in 2-3 weeks.
If you want to prolong bloom or have a specific time
you want bulbs to bloom you can safely leave bulbs to chill longer. If you have lots of chilled pots stagger the
times you wake up the plants.
 |
| Hyacinths ( wikimedia commons) |
What
to do after bloom
Many people discard bulbs after they bloom and some
bulbs won’t do well no matter what you do after they have been forced
anyway. But if you can’t stand to
discard the bulbs some will survive with care.
It doesn’t hurt to try.
After blooms have died cut the whole bloom stalk
off. Keep the pot with the foliage in a
brightly lit spot, give it some liquid fertilizer or a sprinkle of slow release
granular, but don’t overdo the fertilizer.
Keep the pot moist. As soon as
the ground thaws the bulbs can be planted outside, the sooner the better. Choose a spot that’s proper for the bulb
species as far as light and soil conditions. They won’t bloom again this year
of course, but with luck you may get blooms the following spring.
Paper whites, the golden narcissus used for forcing and
hyacinths forced in water won’t do well outside and should just be thrown out. Don’t try to save bulbs for forcing again in
their pots. This almost never works.
Spring bulbs blooming in the window sill make a snowy
February or March day bearable. And
forcing bulbs is a great winter project for young gardeners. If you like spring blooming bulbs consider
forcing some this winter.
Jamaican
Lady of the Night (Brunfelsia jamaicensis)
I like houseplants that bloom, particularly fragrant
bloomers. If you do too you may want to
consider a Jamaican Lady of the Night.
This sensual common name is also applied to other plants but the heady
fragrance of Brunfelsia jamaicensis makes the name very appropriate for this
plant.
 |
| Jamaican lady of the night flower |
Jamaican Lady of the Night has narrow, blade shaped, thick
leaves. It is an upright, woody shrub that
stays small enough for pot culture (about 3 feet maximum) and blooms at a young
age, when plants are still small. Even
when not in bloom the plant makes an attractive house plant. It’s perennial, but not hardy except in the
most tropical climates- zone 10.
The flowers of Jamaican Lady of the Night are 5 large,
frilly, creamy white petals flaring out at the end of a 6 inch long nectar
tube. They put on quite a show and deserve to be placed where everyone can
admire them. For me it blooms in late
summer through fall. In some areas it
will bloom from early to mid-summer through fall. The flowers have a heavenly scent, especially
in the evening, which can perfume a room.
I can only speculate that a night flying moth pollinates these plants in
their native home in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. They are considered endangered in their
native country.
There are other species of Brunfelsia but Brunfelsia jamaicensis probably makes
the best houseplant because of its compact size and large flowers.
Care
of Jamaican Lady of the Night
You’ll want to start with a plant; the plants are generally propagated by cuttings. Plants
are relatively inexpensive and
available through many tropical plant nurseries. Plants grow quickly and may bloom the same
year purchased. (A few sources are- Almostedenplants.com
or Logees.com or toptropicals.com. or pernellgerver.com/
) Jamaican Lady of the Night can be
grown from seeds but seeds are rarely offered and a bit tricky to germinate.
Jamaican Lady of the Night needs good bright light
inside, but not necessarily southern exposure. My plant did well in a northern
window last winter. In the summer they
can go outside and they really like outdoor vacations, but make sure you wait
until temperatures have warmed to staying above 50 degrees and put your plant
in light shade, or where it only gets sun in early morning or evening.
Jamaican Lady of the Night likes temperatures to remain
above 50 degrees; it’s said to prefer warmer temperatures between 70-85 degrees
in the daytime. I will say that my house is 58 degrees at night and 66 degrees
in the daytime in winter and the plant does very well for me. Humidity should be moderate to high, 50% or
greater.
Any good potting medium can be used and Jamaican Lady
of the Night needs to be slightly root bound to bloom well so don’t use too big
of a pot for the plant size. Let the
potting medium dry slightly between watering and make sure the plant is never waterlogged,
good drainage is vital.
Fertilize lightly spring through fall about every 10
days. I use a water soluble plant food
for blooming houseplants. You can stop
fertilizing in the winter months.
 |
| Jamaican lady of the night plant in bloom |
The plant can be pruned to shape after blooming
stops. Plants bloom best on lateral
branches so keep the upright branches a moderate length and allow side branches
to grow.
Jamaican Lady of the Night has few insect pests; mealy
bugs are the only greenhouse pest mentioned in literature.
All parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested. The sap from pruning or broken foliage may
cause a rash in some people. Be wary of
listed medicinal uses for “Lady of the Night” as these usually are referring to
other plants species with this common name.
Only
the Lonely- -Nicotiana sylvestris
Flowers that bloom in late summer and through fall are
always welcome and Only the Lonely, also called woodland nicotiana, star flower
or flowering tobacco, is an annual flower every gardener should make room for. This stately native of South America was all
the rage in North American and English gardens in the early 1900’s. It’s not seen as often today but it surely
deserves more widespread attention.
 |
| Only the Lonely flowers |
I try to have some woodland nicotiana in my garden each
year. It can take up quite a bit of room
but the lovely white fall flowers with their wonderful scent are worth it. It’s
a plant that usually reseeds itself but I collect seeds each year and start a
few plants just in case.
Anyone who has seen tobacco grow will know what its
close relative ‘Only the Lonely’ looks like.
The leaves are broad, light green and huge, sometimes 2 feet or more
long and a foot across. The leaves clasp
the stem and have a sticky feel to them. Plants can grow 8 feet tall in ideal
conditions and 3 feet wide but usually are about 3-4 feet high with flower
stalks adding some additional height.
The flowers of woodland nicotiana are long shiny white
trumpets with a ‘star” flare on the end.
They dangle in clusters from stalks above the foliage. In the evening their sweet scent floats
across the garden. The flowers remain
open all day and make an impressive display. Plants begin blooming in late
summer- August here- and they will continue to bloom until a hard freeze.
Gardeners can sometimes find plants for sale but Nicotiana sylvestris is easy to grow
from seed. Sprinkle the very tiny black
seeds on top of moist potting medium in late spring. Sprinkle them thinly- that’s
the hard part. My pots usually end up so
thick with seedlings they are hard to separate. Press the seed lightly into the soil but don’t
cover. They need warmth to
germinate. Plants are slow growers until
after the summer solstice, when shortening days will cause them to grow
rapidly.
You can sow seeds where they are to grow after the last
frost- and Nicotiana sylvestris often pops up from seed on its own- but in the
spring and early summer plant growth is so slow that the little Only the Lonely
plants are often overpowered by other plants or pulled as weeds. I like to keep them in 4 inch pots until
early summer, and then plant them in the garden with a marker.
Only the Lonely likes full sun, (it will grow in
partial shade but be smaller) warmth and moisture. They’ll grow in any soil and being a member
of the tobacco family they have few pests.
Deer and rabbits don’t bother them.
Just make sure to give them plenty of room.
Caution-
all parts of the plant are poisonous. Some people have smoked
the leaves of this plant after drying them like commercial tobacco but the
leaves have more nicotine than regular tobacco and nicotine is a poison. The plant also has other toxic
chemicals. I would not advise smoking
it.
Only the Lonely is lovely in moon gardens and
outstanding if you like fragrant plants.
It’s a plant you use for visual interest with its huge leaves and large
towers of dangling white flowers. If you
like unusual plants and heirloom type flowers woodland nicotiana will be ideal
for your garden.
Pokeweed
-please don’t eat it
Every year about this time pictures of pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana) berries pop up on
social media and posters ask what it is and if it’s safe to eat. There are always many misidentifications of
the plant and there’s always someone who will tell you its safe to eat the berries,
citing folklore or herbal medicine claims. Don’t listen. If you, a child or pet have eaten poke
berries please call poison control or see a doctor.
The claim is the ripe berries of pokeweed are not
harmful if cooked. That claim has
generally been discredited with several poisonings reported from pies made with
the berries. It has been claimed that an
adult can eat 10 uncooked berries without harm, but that report never says what
happens when you eat the 11th berry. CDC
and poison control centers have several documented cases where children were
poisoned with just a few berries. There
are undoubtedly many cases of mild poisoning that have occurred without being
reported.
I wrote an article about pokeberry last year that goes
into more detail. Here’s the link to the
blog page it’s on.
Making
and canning apple juice
If all the talk about arsenic and other chemicals in
apple juice scares you and apple juice is the favorite drink of your family you
may want to consider making and canning some of your own apple juice. You may have apples in your own yard or have
an orchard nearby. And apples are a fall
staple in farm markets. Making your own
apple juice will take a little time but it isn’t hard to do.
Apple or cider can last a long time without
refrigeration but it may turn hard or alcoholic through fermentation. And sometimes even refrigerated and
pasteurized apple juice will spoil. Because few of us want to have alcohol in
our children’s apple juice and we want to avoid food borne illness, homemade
apple juice should be canned or frozen.
The canned product can sit in the cupboard and not take up freezer
space. You’ll need a simple water bath
canner, and some quart or pint jars with lids to can your own apple juice. You’ll also need some cheesecloth, or an old
clean pillowcase, or some large coffee filters and a colander or strainer.
You can make apple juice at any time of the year but
fall is ideal because apples are abundant, fresh and cheaper in the fall. The apples don’t need to be perfect, you’ll
want to avoid wormy ones but lumpy, scabby ones are fine. A mixture of apple varieties usually makes
the best juice or cider. A small
percentage of not quite ripe apples can be used but the majority of apples used
in juice should be fully ripe.
In some places you can buy organically grown apples if
you aren’t growing your own. (Wash these
apples before use because they can be contaminated with things other than
pesticides.) But conventionally grown apples are perfectly safe if washed
before using. The US does not allow the
use of arsenic in pesticides and orchard growers use care in the selection of
pesticides they do use.
Using
cider to make apple juice
There are two main ways to make apple juice. The easiest way is to start with cold pressed
apple cider from a cider mill. This
method gives you less control over the juice as you did not select the
apples. It will also be more expensive.
You may be able to find cider made from organic apples but chances are the
apples will be conventionally grown.
Cold pressed commercial cider will probably be pasteurized but you will
still need to heat and can the final product for storage.
To make apple juice from cider simply let your cider
sit in the refrigerator undisturbed for 2 days.
Then carefully pour off the clearer fluid from the top of the jugs,
leaving as much sediment as you can behind.
Strain that clearer juice through a colander lined with cheese cloth or
a coffee filter. Each gallon of cider
will give you about 3 quarts of strained juice.
Put your strained juice into a pan and bring to
boiling. Boil one minute. Then pour hot
juice into sterilized jars to a 1/4 inch from the top, add lids and screw bands
and process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes for pint or quart sized jars.
Making
heat processed juice
If you want the most control over the apple juice
contents or have an abundance of home raised apples to use this is a good
method to make juice. Cooking the apples
a little makes them yield more juice and you won’t need a mechanical
press.
Wash the apples and then chop them in chunks. There is no need to peel or core them. In a large pot combine 1 cup of water for
every 3 cups of chopped apples. Cover
the pot and let the apples simmer for about 25 minutes or until they are
soft. Pour off excess water. You will then need to mash or puree the
apples. You can do that in the pot by
hand or with an electric beater. Or you
can put small amounts at a time in a food processor.
Pour the apple puree through a strainer lined with
cheesecloth or a coffee filter and collect the juice. If you have a lot of puree you can put it in
an old thin pillowcase and suspend that over a collection pot. You can buy what is called a jelly bag for
that purpose but it isn’t very large.
Do not press or squeeze the puree through the
strainer. Let it drip slowly for several
hours. Take your collected juice and
bring it to a boil, boil 1 minute, pour into sterilized canning jars to a 1/4
inch from the rim, add lids and process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes
for both quarts and pints.
If you like sweetened apple juice, add sugar to your
taste preferences at the stage where you boil the juice just prior to filling
the jars. A suggestion is a 1/2 cup
sugar to every 3 cups of juice. Do not use artificial sweeteners as they will
turn bitter during heating.
Freezing
apple juice
After making apple juice in either method above it can
be poured into freezer containers instead of canning jars and frozen. If your family likes a lot of apple juice
this may not be the method for you as the juice will need a lot of freezer
space. The frozen juice may separate a
bit as it thaws but will just need to be stirred or shaken before use.
Uses
for apple juice
Besides a refreshing, natural drink apple juice can be
used to make gelatin, turned into jelly or used as a cooking fluid for meat
such as pork, to lend a delightful taste.
It can also be blended with more expensive juices. Always refrigerate opened jars or defrosted
containers of apple juice and use them within a week.
I’m hoping for peace, healing, unity, and better times for
this country
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
© Kim Willis - no parts of this newsletter may be used
without permission.
And
So On….
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