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.
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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