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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween garden notes


Hi Gardeners
 
The winds have been wicked and make it very chilly outside but we have to be grateful this is all we are getting from that historical storm that is hitting the east coast.  I hope you all have power at your house.   If there were any leaves on the trees they are gone now.  Make sure to fill your bird feeders for the poor birds who really struggle in this weather.  But by the weekend things are expected to improve. 

 One of the things I just noticed that the odd weather this year affected was the bittersweet.  I went out to get some and found no berries on my plants this year.  I was also thinking that I saw no fall webworm tents this fall around here and there are usually a lot.  And my ornamental kale is being eaten by an unusually late crop of cabbage worms.  I thought the chickens were pecking them until I looked closely and found the little worms.  No more kale chips for me.

 We go off daylight savings time this weekend and the mornings will be lighter but it will be dark by 6 pm.  The moon is full for Halloween- if anyone can see it through the snow clouds.  It’s time to get really serious about finishing up those fall garden chores because you don’t have much time left.

Using oak leaves and pine needles in the garden

I have been asked several times lately if oak leaves and pine needles can be used in the garden.  The answer is yes and it’s unlikely they would cause any acidification of the soil.  Even if they did many areas of SE Michigan are alkaline and would actually benefit from a little acidic conditioning.  Oak leaves are actually a good garden mulch because they don’t mat down as readily as other leaves.  They do take longer to break down but that can be a plus too.  The only thing to worry about when using pine needles is that they can be slippery when wet and they can wash away.

Jerusalem artichokes

 I spent a lot of time last week harvesting my Jerusalem artichokes.  If you have never tasted them you really should.  Sunchokes as they are often called, are good eaten raw or cooked.  You can use them in any recipe for potatoes or parsnips or raw like water chestnuts or jicama. 

 Sunchokes are high in fiber, iron, potassium and thiamine.  They have a different starch from potatoes that does not make blood sugar rise and a beneficial effect on insulin production overall.  They are also said to help digestion although I will warn you that until you get used to them they cause a lot of gas! 

 To me they taste more like a sweet potato with a light sweet taste.  A good way to eat them raw is to soak them in a little salt and vinegar for an hour or so.  You can fry them with onions, use them in  pot roast or make soup with them.  Their drawback is that they can be hard to clean as they are quite knobby in some cases.

 Sunchokes are extremely productive and grow almost anywhere. They are perennial, look like small sunflowers and birds like the seeds they produce. In the attached picture you can see what I harvested from just a small spot in one of my raised beds.  The area is about 2x 3 feet in size.  We also have a bigger patch elsewhere. 
 
 New plants

I am excited to learn that Proven Winners will introduce a plum colored sweet autumn clematis in 2013.  ‘Sweet Summer Love’ is reddish-purple, blooms a bit earlier than regular sweet autumn clematis but is still wonderfully fragrant and is hardy to zone 4.

 Have you heard of goji berries?  They are the newest fruit said to be a cure-all for everything and super nutritious.  A new cultivar for home use will be on the market this spring called Big Lifeberry that is hardy to zone 5.  The fruit grows in full sun as a lanky bush that will require staking.

If you like winterberries for their brilliant fall and winter display but don’t have room for the huge bush they tend to become, Proven Winners is introducing a new “dwarf” variety that is heavy fruiting and only 3-4 feet tall called ‘Berry Poppins’.  It needs a pollinator for berries and suggested is ‘Mr. Poppins’.  Winterberry likes moist soil, part shade to full sun and is hardy to zone 3.

 Also new, at least to the scientific community, are two newly discovered ferns that Duke University botanists named Gaga germanotta and Gaga monstraparva, after the singer Lady Gaga. The Costa Rican and Mexican species have a life stage that looks like a Lady Gaga costume and their genetic sequence spelled out GAGA.  Germanotta is because of Lady Gaga’s surname and monstraparva is because she calls her followers little monsters. 

 Japanese Knotweed

 When I was a girl I often snooped along the ally behind our street looking for plants that had escaped through fences and which I felt I could safely liberate and take to my own garden.  I admired a plant that grew in a yard at the end of the street for its bamboo like stems and fragrant white flowers and when it popped up on the ally side of the fence you can be sure I dug it up and brought it home.   The plant happily thrived in the shade of black walnuts, which had stopped many of my efforts to make a garden like my grandmothers in our back yard. 

 Now many years later, how many will not be named, the plant still thrives in my parents yard.  After many years of trying to eradicate it my dad decided it made a rather good screen to hide some new, noisy neighbors behind him and he lets a thicket of the stuff  grow up along the back fence.  This week however the Michigan DNR issued this statement about Japanese Knotweed, (Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica) which I guess some call Mexican Bamboo. 

Michigan has a Prohibited and Restricted Species statute that prevents the possession of listed invasive species. The list includes known invasive species that both MDARD and DNR want to prevent from entering the state or further spreading throughout the state. Prevention of new invasions and the spread of existing invasions are considered top priorities in order to limit the impacts of invasive species to Michigan's ecology, economy and society.

Both departments have received numerous reports of prohibited invasive plant species, such as Japanese knotweed, being sold, purchased and intentionally moved. Japanese knotweed, also known as Mexican bamboo, forms dense stands and limits other plants from growing among their crowded stems. The plant's ability to penetrate through asphalt and the difficulty in eliminating this plant make it especially destructive to both the natural and built environment. Japanese knotweed, which flowers in late summer, was introduced into North America from Asia as an ornamental plant and it now threatens many natural areas as well as parking lots, sidewalks and foundations.

Any person or business who possesses a prohibited or restricted plant species should refrain from selling or moving the plant or plant fragments. Plants should be destroyed in a manner that prevents spread and further infestations. Cutting and moving plant parts to other areas will only make the problem worse. Fragments of stems and roots can produce new plants, so care should be taken to double-bag them for disposal at a landfill or to completely burn them.

 More information about Japanese knotweed and the Prohibited and Restricted Species list can be found at www.michigan.gov/invasivespecies.

In my years at Extension I dealt with many people who were desperate to get rid of this plant and I would never recommend selling it or giving it to friends.   However I still have a bit of a soft spot for it.  The state won’t help you get rid of this pest but if you want to rid your property of it you need applications of weed killers like Round Up applied often, mowing frequently, and pulling and digging out plants.  It grows from tiny pieces of root left behind and also spreads by seed so it can take years to totally remove.

 Dahlia Hill

 I recently heard of a Michigan garden that I was unaware of but maybe some of you have been there because it is near Dow Gardens.  On Main Street in Midland, about a mile north of downtown, is a public garden called Dahlia Hill.  Every year more than 50 volunteers, including many Midland area Master Gardeners plant some 3,000 dahlias of 250 varieties on a terraced hillside called Dahlia Hill.  The garden was started by an artist who became fond of dahlias after his daughter gave his wife some as a present.   Some of the artist’s aluminum sculptures are in the garden.

The garden has been a non-profit public garden for the past 25 years and you can visit free in season from dawn to dusk.  Best times to visit of course would be late summer.  On the last two weekends in May they hold a dahlia sale of what is left after planting.  You can get more information and see pictures at http://www.dahliahill.org/
 
African Violets

African violets are popular houseplants in Michigan because they give us something blooming to look at in winter. Because they are small potted plants they fit easily into most living arrangements and one can have several plants on a windowsill. African violets are generally inexpensive to buy, although for serious collectors some varieties can get quite pricy.

African violets have the reputation of being difficult as a houseplant but new varieties are much easier to grow. While they don’t thrive on neglect as some houseplants do, with a little attention to their needs African violets will reward you with beautiful blooms in a wide range of colors.

Read more of my article at:


 Winter protection for trees and shrubs

Before another Michigan winter hits its time to check your trees and shrubs and protect them from winter winds and hungry animals. Here are some tips to help your woody ornamentals make it safely through winter.

 Read more of my article at


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