Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter November 12, 2013

November 12, 2013 - Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

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These weekly garden notes are written by Kim Willis, unless another author is noted, and the opinions expressed in these notes are her opinions and do not represent any other individual, group or organizations opinions.

Hi Gardeners

Well we have had our first snow fall.  I had a light coating anyway on the grass. And I just looked out the window and it’s snowing again.  Too early if you ask me.  It got very cold last night and I think the flowers will finally be done for.  If you had to drive last night or early this morning I feel sorry for you- it was icy and people never know how to drive at the first time we get snow.   It is supposed to warm into the 50’s by the weekend so maybe that will be the last of the snow for a while. 

I planted some heather this spring and it bloomed beautifully then.  Walking around the yard this weekend I noticed that one of the heathers was in bloom again.  Also still in bloom was the verbena variety Lanai Twister Pink.  It bloomed prolifically all summer and was still in bloom Sunday.  Most of the fall color was gone but the barberry I planted in front of my chicken run was almost electric in color – red and orange.

I have been thinking about what did well for me this year in the flower and vegetable gardens.  I planted two new knock out roses this spring – double pink and “Sunny” and both were outstanding bloomers.  The cuphea, “Firecracker” was outstanding.  I have brought it inside for the winter.  The dahlia Gloria Van Heemstede was just so prolific in bloom, early to start blooming too, and the color was so sunny yellow that I highly recommend it.  It’s an heirloom so you won’t find it just anywhere.  I got mine from Old House Gardens.

I was not impressed by the tomato Tigerella, but I am still wondering if I got what the tag said it was.  Despite other melons and pumpkins having a banner year the melon “Fairy” did not do well for me.   I’ll review some other things later on and if you have a plant that you liked or didn’t like this year why don’t you send me a note about it and I’ll pass on your observations.

New onion won’t make you cry and may help you lose weight

I love onions cooked and raw.  And onions are really good for us, having anti-inflammatory  properties and keeping blood from clotting in your arteries.  But I hate peeling and chopping onions because of all the crying involved.  I have tried every trick from holding food in my mouth, peeling under water, and getting the onion cold before cutting.  Sometimes I cry anyway.  It’s not just the tears streaming down, it’s actually very irritating to the eyes.

Scientists in New Zealand have finally produced an onion that doesn’t have the protein that causes eye irritation.  In 2008 scientists identified the protein that causes the eye irritation when onions are cut.  Once the protein was identified they worked to develop a gene “silencer”, a way to turn off that gene but leave the health properties and taste of the onion intact.

They were surprised to find that in the making of this onion that the genetic changes also improved the onions ability to bust clots and ease inflammation more than unmodified onions and even garlic.  The taste was just like regular onions and it can be cooked and used just like any other onion. Since this onion has better cardiovascular benefits than garlic it may be helpful to people who don’t like to take garlic capsules because of the body odor it causes in people who consume it.

Then scientists fed the tearless onion to rats and found that compared to control groups of rats who got regular onions or no onions that rats fed the new onion gained less weight on the same diet.  They appeared just as healthy as control groups, even healthier because they developed fewer cardiovascular problems.   Study results were published in last month’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

The new onion isn’t on the market yet.  Because it has technically been genetically modified it has to be approved by the FDA before it can be sold here.   I don’t see why it won’t be on the market in a few years though, and I for one would love to try it.

New Jersey tea cultivar

Last week I talked about native shrubs and mentioned New Jersey Tea would make a great plant to experiment with to make a better landscape plant.  Well it turns out Proven Winners and Monrovia are offering a new cultivar. Marie Bleu™ (Ceanothus x pallidus) is a hybrid of 3 native Ceanothus species.  It has a profusion of lilac blue flowers in early summer that are very attractive to bees and butterflies.  The flowers turn into red seed heads that add late summer and fall color. 

Marie Bleu™ is slightly less hardy than our eastern New Jersey Tea- rated hardy to zone 6.  It makes a compact dense shrub 2-3 feet tall.  It can be trimmed to shape after blooming.  It will grow in full sun to partial shade and withstands dry conditions.  Marie Bleu™ makes an excellent filler plant for borders or even containers and looks great in massed form.  Both Monrovia and Proven Winners are wholesalers; you’ll have to check local nurseries and online sources to buy the plant.

Earthworms are an invasive species reshaping the landscape

You may have never seen an Ovenbird, a sparrow sized warbler that used to be common in Northeastern forests.  And most of us who are of a certain age remember when forest floors generally had drifts of trillium, sarsaparilla and Solomon’s seal.   Deer are responsible for some loss of vegetation but studies at several Northeastern and Midwest Universities have found another culprit – the earthworm.

Earthworms are not native to North America.  They were brought here from Europe and Asia, all 16 species of them.  They arrived with the first farmers and slowly spread across the country.  Two species night crawlers (Lumbricus terrestris) and redworms,( Lumbricus rubellus) are mostly responsible for making  drastic changes in forest ecology across the country and may even be responsible for  increasing global warming .

Before the arrival of earthworms deciduous forests in the northern and eastern states always had a deep “duff” layer of leaves and other slowly decaying vegetation.   The decomposition of the duff was done by various species of fungus.  The deep fluffy forest duff was the nesting spot for birds like the ovenbird and home to salamanders, frogs, and other reptiles and amphibians.   Many forest understory  plants germinated their seeds in the duff and it protected their crowns in the winter.  The forest duff was a rich and diverse community of small organisms like insects and snails which were eaten by larger things like reptiles, mice and birds, which in turn were fed upon by even larger creatures.  Then in some forests earthworms arrived.

As most gardeners know earthworms quickly eat vegetation that falls to the ground.  In agricultural setting earthworms are beneficial, breaking down compost, aerating the soil and enriching it with their droppings.  But when the forest duff quickly disappears so does the community of plants and animals that depended on it.    The forest landscape has changed forever, since it’s almost impossible to rid an area of worms once they arrive.

Trees sequester carbon in their wood and leaves.  When those leaves remain on the forest floor for a long time so does the carbon, keeping it out of our atmosphere.  Worms, in the process of eating and digesting the leaves, release carbon into the air.  Since they also pull leaves underground before eating them and cause the soil to form aggregates that do trap carbon, researchers aren’t sure how great the loss of carbon sequestration is.   Research is ongoing in the northern forests of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont and other places where there are still some places free of earthworms to compare with places that have worms.

Earthworms have caused the decline of Ovenbirds (and perhaps other birds), many species of salamanders and other reptiles and amphibians as well as several species of plants, including sugar maples, which like the forest duff to germinate and grow in.  Some state and national forest areas prohibit the use of worms as fish bait or bringing any potted plants into these areas in an effort to exclude earthworms. 

Any forest that has regenerated from farmed land has earthworms in the soil.  Because earthworm eggs can be transported in the treads of boots and machinery even areas that were never farmed or gardened often get earthworms.  When people move close to old growth forests and bring in plants for the landscape or start a garden they almost always contaminate the soil with worms.   We probably have to accept that the forest ecology that existed before European farmers arrived in North America will probably cease to exist at some point.   The lowly earthworm  has forever changed the land.

Antelopes use overpasses

Wouldn’t it be great if the deer had a way to cross the road without endangering people?  Well in Wyoming antelope have learned to cross highways on overpasses and tunnels. The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Wyoming Department of Transportation collaborated on constructing 8 safe crossing places for antelope on Wyoming highways last year.  High fences along the roads funnel the animals to safe crossing at overpasses or tunnels.

In fall 2012 the antelope used the safe crossings somewhat suspiciously and reluctantly but this year it seems they had accepted them and used them readily. The Wildlife Conservation Society helped find the places where antelope had established crossing sites and both the WCS and Wyoming DOT were pleased with the great reduction in car-antelope crashes.  Now the antelope are a little different than Michigan’s whitetail deer in that they move from summer grounds to winter grounds in large migrating herds over established routes.  But whitetails also have preferred routes to cross roads.  Putting up a deer crossing sign helps somewhat if motorists pay attention but maybe Michigan should consider overpasses or tunnels at sites with high numbers of deer-car crashes, especially along expressways. 

Deer and other large herd animals will follow paths that others of their species use and teach the safe passage way to their young.  Of course this would not solve all the deer-car crash problems because there are too many roads and too many deer but it might help in areas where colliding with a deer is more likely to cause death to a driver such as on freeways.  It probably won’t happen though because of one major factor- money.  Some of these people who cry over hunters killing deer and get angry at humans who hit deer with their cars should get together and fund a few safe crossings.

verbena Lanai Twister

Another citizen science project you can get involved in

At the University of Oklahoma researchers are studying soil microbes to find “natural products” molecules made by the microbes such as fungi that can be used to make drugs and therapies to cure diseases.   One such compound, maximiscin, has already been found that is produced by soil microbes from Alaska and has shown promise in curing melanoma, a common cancer. 

Researchers believe that there are thousands if not millions of such microbe produced natural products in soil.  Soil microbes are often specific to certain areas, even only a few miles apart.  Your backyard or special spot may have the soil microbes that can produce a substance that will cure a disease or produce an astounding scientific advance.   If only the researchers could sample soil from everywhere!   Well maybe they can, with your help.

The University of Oklahoma has launched a citizen science project to collect soil from across the country.  You can download a form here http://npdg.ou.edu/citizenscience to register to help.  You can also email NPDG@ou.edu with your name and mailing address or call them at (405) 325-2219 to request a kit. You will be sent a postage paid soil collection box and instructions and then can mail a soil sample to the researchers.  They’ll acknowledge your sample and you’ll then be able to track the research on their website.  You can do this as an individual or it makes an excellent school, 4-H or cub/girl scout project.

Watch out for deer!

Kim

Garden as though you will live forever. William Kent

More Information

Over wintering tender bulbs

By Kim Willis- previously published on Examiner.com

If you haven’t done it already it’s time to get out there and dig up the tender bulbs before another Michigan winter hits.  Even though we have had some frost and freezing weather if the ground isn’t frozen most of those bulbs can be saved until spring and then replanted to bloom again.  Tender bulbs include dahlias, cannas, calla lilies, pineapple lilies, tuberous begonias, gladiolus and others. 

If you are lucky, you’ll find your bulbs have multiplied and you’ll have more bulbs to plant next year or share with friends.  But first you need to get them safely through the winter.  Different types of bulbs require different care.  Here’s some tips on how to keep them from drying up or molding in storage.

Tuberous begonias, callas, rain lilies and pineapple lilies

Pineapple lilies (Eucomis),callas, rain lilies and tuberous begonias do best if they are put in pots and sunk in the ground in the spring.  Then after the foliage dies but before a hard freeze, the whole pot should be lifted and brought inside. If the bulbs were planted in the ground carefully dig them and plant them in pots of good potting soil.  Don’t cut foliage off, let it die naturally.  Store pots in a just above freezing location in either a dark or dimly lit location.   Check the pots from time to time and add a little water if they feel dry. 

Tuberous begonias in pots can also be brought inside before a frost, while still in bloom and in a bright window they will bloom for a few more months.   After Thanksgiving however they should be encouraged to go dormant and rest by withholding water and putting the pot in a cold but above freezing spot.

Some cane type- angel wing type begonias also go through a dormant period.  Treat them like tuberous begonias.

About March the pots should be brought into a warmer, sunny location and regular watering resumed once the foliage begins growing again.   Fertilize at half strength.  You can divide and repot them once shoots are showing if desired.  Place outside after danger of frost has passed.

Cannas and dahlias

Dahlias are one of the harder bulbs to over winter successfully although they often multiply tremendously. Cannas are a bit easier, they don’t seem to dry out as easily.  When frost has killed the tops but before the ground freezes carefully dig cannas and dahlias.   Try not to cut through tubers or break them off.  Trim off any dead foliage but be careful not to cut the main stem too close at this point.  Leave the clump together and divide in spring if possible. 

Place the clump in a paper bag or open bucket and cover with lightly moistened sphagnum peat, coarse sawdust, or wood shavings. Store the containers in a cool dark location where they won’t freeze.  Make it a point to check the dahlia and canna bulbs each month and moisten the medium they are stored in if they look like they are shriveling.  If mold is seen, remove them from the medium they were stored in and replace it with drier medium. 

If you planted the cannas or dahlias in pots they can be brought inside in the pots and stored over winter.  Wait until frost has killed the foliage but don’t let the pots freeze solid.  Trim off dead foliage and store the pots in a cool dark place.  Water lightly if the soil gets very dry.  This is a good way to store very rare or valuable dahlias and cannas.   In spring threat the pots like those of begonias and rain lilies above.  You can divide them then if desired.

In late March the dahlias can be taken out and examined.  Leave them in a bright area for a week or so and see if you can see tiny buds, which generally look reddish, around the old stem.   You can carefully cut apart the clumps near the top, making sure each group of tubers has at least one bud from the stem area.  Plant the tuber clusters in good potting soil and get them started growing in a sunny warm area.  Plant outside after frost.

Cannas will generally be showing buds on tubers around late March also.  You can set them in a bright area with tops of the tubers exposed and buds will become more visible.  Each tuber that has a bud can become another plant.  Pot them in good potting soil to get an early start on blooming.   Put outside after any frost danger has passed.

Gladiolus

Gladiolus corms are fairly easy to over winter.  Anytime after the tops have died back but before frost they should be dug up.  They cling tightly to their old stems; don’t break off the stems, carefully cut them off to avoid damage to the older, main corm (bulb). 

You will generally find one large firm looking glad corm with a shriveled corm below it and sometimes dozens of tiny corms or several medium sized one.  These smaller corms can be saved and will bloom in a few years.  The shriveled corm on the base of the large corm can be carefully removed and discarded.

Let the corms sit in a sunny place where they can’t freeze for a few days to cure them.  Then gently brush off dirt and store them in a bag of wood shavings.  It’s best to sort out the small corms so they can be planted in pots or a nursery bed in the spring.  Store the corms in a dark, dry place until spring.  They can be started inside, but most are planted directly in the ground after frost has passed.

Make sure all your bulbs are stored where mice and other critters can’t make a meal of them.  Metal trash cans can be a good option for bulbs that aren’t left in pots.