July 15, 2014 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.

Day lilies after the rain.

Hi Gardeners

It’s been a strange day with periods of sun mixed with rain.  When I went to the barn this morning the sun was shining, the air was crisp and I could hear seagulls crying- which is not common around here.  I guess they got blown in on the north east wind off the Saginaw Bay. I like cooler weather- nothing wrong with 70’s for me.  Fifties at night- that’s great too. 

We have had a lot of rain this month- close to 5 inches already. That’s more than all of last month.  The weeds are growing like crazy, I can’t keep up.  Mosquitoes are getting bad again too.  But the garden is pretty right now.

Heads up to those of you readers near Livingston County.  Giant Hogweed may have been found there. You heard it here first.  I am waiting to hear some confirmation.  It may have been found on the property of a neighbor of my sister.  The woman who found it is suffering from a very bad rash.   I haven’t seen even a picture of the plant.  Someone from the DNR supposedly identified it but refused to help remove it so I told them to contact the Extension office in Livingston County.  I’ll keep you notified.

I think I am having a problem with coyotes.  A couple of large ducks have gone missing, now my momma barn cat has disappeared.  Her six babies are 5 weeks old and can eat pretty well.  They get scrambled eggs every morning and have dry cat food available all the time.  Since momma was a big hunter who brought them mice and baby bunnies I have been bringing them a hot dog each evening as a substitute.  They seem to approve but they need lots of cuddling and reassurance since she has gone.  If anyone would like to raise a nice baby kitten with lots of love and attention please let me know- they are free.

Renovating strawberry beds

If you have June bearing strawberries and harvest has ended it’s a good time to renovate your strawberry bed.  This will keep your strawberry patch producing well for many years.  Renovating involves these steps, leaf trimming, thinning and fertilization.  Everbearing strawberries do not need this treatment, but if you have had problems with good production you can renovate these beds too, but you will not get any more strawberries this year.

First remove all the old strawberry foliage to just above the plant crown.  Cutting the foliage reduces foliar disease through the summer and causes the plant to have a spurt of vigorous growth with healthy new leaves.  Make sure you make a sharp clean cut with a sharpened mower blade, or hand trimmers.  Don’t use weed “whackers”.  Ragged leaf edges are more susceptible to foliage diseases.

Rake debris out of the bed, including the trimmed leaves and remove any weeds.  Now thin the plants to about 9” apart from center of the plant to the center of the neighbor plant.  You can make rows or ‘beds” where plants are staggered 9” apart.  Strawberries can produce many daughter plants and you may find you have enough new plants to start a new bed or fill in bare spots in your old bed with the plants you thinned out.

After thinning apply a slow release granular fertilizer for vegetable gardens.  Water the strawberry bed well and keep it watered if weather conditions are dry.  That’s it- you have renovated your patch.  Keep it weeded through the rest of summer and mulch with straw just before winter and you should have a great strawberry crop next spring.

Antioxidants and cancer- good or bad?

We have all been told to eat more fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant qualities.  Foods high in antioxidants such as blueberries are touted as “superfoods.”   But clinical trials of antioxidant supplements have routinely failed to show any health benefits.  In fact at least one trial shows that using beta-carotene supplements causes an increased incidence of lung cancer. 

Research using whole foods such as blueberries or almonds or tomatoes often shows some type of health benefit, but the research really can’t tell us just what in the food caused the benefit, although it is often been thought to be antioxidants.  But now researchers may be rethinking the benefits of increasing antioxidants, according to a paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Our cells use oxidants and anti-oxidants continuously as they produce energy for cell growth.  There is a natural balancing system in a healthy cell.  Oxidants are necessary for normal cell functioning.  But if oxidants build up in a cell it causes damage, damage that was thought might lead to cancer.  So extra antioxidants were thought to be a good way to prevent diseases like cancer, resulting from cell damage.

However cancer cells need antioxidants to keep growing as much as normal cells need them. Some think they may need more antioxidants because cancer cells produce more oxidants and if they aren’t balanced by anti-oxidants the cancerous cells would die.  In fact current chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer work by reducing antioxidants so that cancer cells are killed by oxidation.  It doesn’t make sense then that increasing our intake of antioxidants would help to prevent or cure cancer.

This doesn’t mean you should stop eating fruits and vegetables if you like them and they may provide some health benefits in ways other than reducing our risk of cancer.  There is no evidence that the antioxidants in whole foods are going to cause an increased cancer risk.  However antioxidant supplements that you buy in stores are probably doing you no good and may even be doing you harm.

New species of plant found in Texas

Way back in 1974 and again in 1990 a plant was discovered growing in Texas, in an area near the town of Valentine, that had botanists a bit stumped.  They knew it was from the genus Solanum, and the nightshade family that includes tomatoes, eggplant, and potatoes but they wrongly identified it as a variant of known species.

As what often happens now, many years after the original plant specimens were found a botanist at the University of Utah was examining the plants.  From close examination and DNA analysis it was decided that this plant was a new species- something very rarely found in the US.  They named the plant Solanum cordicitum, (cordictum means heart, a tribute to Valentine Texas.)

The new plant is about 14 inches high and covered with prickly hairs.  Even the flower clusters are covered in tiny spines.   The flowers are similar to tomato flowers but are white. Each leaf has 3-4 lobes on each side.  Plants produce spiny seed capsules.

After the plant was identified as a new species researchers were eager to find new fresh specimens of the plant so they returned to the property of Harold Elder, the man who discovered the specimen in 1990 and spent days scouring the dry, desolate area.  They managed to find only one plant already wilted and dying.  It had seeds but none of them germinated for researchers.  Searches in other areas have also failed to find the plant, although there is still hope some can be located.

It is sad to think that if we had been able to identify the plant decades earlier it may have been preserved, but that now it may be lost to us forever. It also makes you wonder how many more plants have gone extinct as they sat in cases waiting to be identified.  And we may never know if this plant had any valuable traits or medicinal uses we could have harvested.

Wildflowers blooming now

Daisy Fleabane

In June this pretty daisy like flower begins popping up in Michigan meadows and on roadsides.  Daisy fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus, is found in moist areas in sun or partial shade.  It is a relative of horseweed, which is much taller, and has tiny whitish flowers that lack the soft charm of fleabane.

Daisy fleabane is an annual plant that reappears each year from seed sown the previous year.  It begins as a rosette of long, floppy leaves, rounded at the tip, then puts up a bloom stalk about a foot high, with a few smaller leaves scattered along it.   The 1/2 to 1 inch  flowers are shaped like a daisy, with numerous rows of white or pink ray flowers , (petals to most people) surrounding a yellow center of disk flowers.  They appear in clusters on the bloom stalk.   Usually June is the peak bloom season although they sometimes bloom until August.

The dainty flowers are similar to asters, but have more layers of “petals”.  Asters bloom much later than daisy fleabane.  The plant gets its name because people once tied the flowers in bundles to dry and hang in the home, where it was thought that they repelled fleas.

Jewel weed

Jewelweed ( Impatiens capensis) is an interesting native wildflower that grows in shaded to partially shaded moist areas.  In Michigan, Jewelweed usually begins flowering in July and can continue until frost.  It is found in swampy woods, marshes, ditches and wet fields.  It is sometimes cultivated in shade gardens.

As a member of the Impatiens family the Jewelweed leaf is very similar to the leaf of the impatiens we plant in our yards.  They are large, broadly oval, thin, and have toothed edges.  Jewelweed grows much taller than garden impatiens, with stems up to 8 feet in height if conditions are good.  The stems are very succulent, can become as large as a pencil or larger, and have prominent swollen joints.

The flowers of Jewelweed begin as small clusters of whitish buds coming from a stem and leaf junction.  They are on top of the leaves as they begin but by the time the buds open the leaves will have grown and the pretty yellow and orange flowers will dangle beneath them on slender stalks.

The flowers are yellow and funnel shaped ending in a narrow, curled tube called a spur. There is a flare of petals at the lower side of the opening that are usually orange.  The yellow throat of the flower is speckled with orange and brown.   There is another species of Jewelweed that has flowers that are entirely pale yellow.  The flowers vary from 1/2 inch to an inch long. 

The flowers turn into long oval seed capsules and the plant gets another common name, Touch-me-not, because the capsules explode at the slightest touch throwing the hard dark seeds far from the plant.  The plant grows from seed each year.

Jewelweed is one of the noted native and folk remedy plants.  The leaves and stems contain an astringent and a fungicide.  The juice of crushed plants is boiled with soft fat or lard and applied to hemorrhoids.  The plant juice is said to heal poison ivy rash and insect bites and is used to cure athlete’s foot.  The plant should not be taken internally.

Neonicotinoid pesticides – I was wrong

You have heard me say or read things I wrote saying that treating seeds with pesticides doesn’t make the plant tissue have pesticide in it after they have grown.   It turns out that seed treatments from the class of pesticides called neonicotinoids can be applied to seeds and the pesticide will be present in plant tissue and pollen after the plant grows.  (Other pesticides, such as fungicides, don’t persist in plant tissue after seed germination.)  So I am setting the record straight and giving a warning here.

Neonicotinoid pesticides are fairly new (1980’s) and what set them apart from other classes of pesticides was that they aren’t very toxic to humans, animals or birds but really work well on insects.  In fact we use them on pets and livestock to control parasites quite frequently. Neonicotinoids include imidacloprid, ( one of the most widely used pesticides in the world ), acetamiprid, clothianidin, nitenpyram, nithiazine, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam.

Neonicotinoid pesticide treated seeds – and nearly all field corn and soybeans are now treated with them- turn into plants that still have a small amount of the pesticide in their leaves and pollen.  This can harm pollinators like bees, although it doesn’t seem to cause outright death.  But a far greater harm and many outright bee deaths occur in the spring when fields are being planted.  When corn and other crops are planted by machines talc or other substances are added to the seed to keep it from clumping.  These substances absorb the pesticides and then are often blown into the wind, coating nearby plants like dandelions with pesticide laden dust.  This dust is toxic enough to kill bees immediately.  The pesticide companies are working to develop safer ways to keep seeds from clumping in planters.

 Even if they don’t die directly from the pesticide bees may get “brain damage” from pesticide exposure.  Exposed bees don’t forage well, get lost when out foraging and the pollen and nectar they carry to the hive may cause reproductive failure in the next generation.  Other pollinators probably suffer similar fates.  It is widely agreed now that neonicotinoids have a detrimental effect on bee populations.

Neonicotinoids persist in the environment for a long time and may build up in the soil and water.  While they may not be very toxic to birds it is believed that many farmland bird numbers are declining simply because there are fewer insects to feed their young during breeding season.  Maybe that’s why the birds mob my suet feeder in the spring and summer and it’s a good way you can help increase bird numbers- keep feeding suet all year.

While on the surface fewer bugs seems like a good idea, it rarely turns out well when you upset natures balance.  Bugs are here for a reason.   You can do your part to help restore some balance by reducing your use of pesticides since homeowners use a lot of neonicotinoids and often use them less carefully than farmers and other professionals.   Read the article below under more information to see how neonicotinoids are used in the flowering plants you buy for your garden and patio and how they may affect pollinators.

Take the umbrella to the garden and pull some weeds.

Kim Willis

 “He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero

More Information

Planting garden center flowers is good for bees and other beneficial insects

The discovery of neonicotinoid insecticide in leaves and flowers of some garden center plants should not stop you from buying and planting flowers because the benefit to bees far outweighs the potential risk.

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Dave Smitley, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Entomology

Recently, some Internet and media sources have suggested that buying and planting flowers from your local garden center could be harmful to bees because traces of neonicotinoid insecticides were found in the leaves and flowers of plants randomly purchased from garden centers around the country. Although it is true that concentrations of over 100 ppb of imidacloprid in nectar or pollen are toxic to honey bees, and lower concentrations (10 to 100 ppb) could affect their foraging behavior and immune response, the potential harm to pollinators in the yard and garden from buying and purchasing flowers from a garden center has been exaggerated. In fact, planting annual and perennial flowers and flowering trees and shrubs is expected to be beneficial for bees and other beneficial insects.

Greenhouse and nursery growers started using alternatives to neonicotinoid insecticides this year, and although the transition is not complete, the amount used is less than in previous years, and the plan should be fully adopted in 2015. Michigan State University began working with growers in March of 2014 to identify pest control strategies where neonicotinoids have been used so that alternative strategies could be adopted. Also, experiments were initiated to determine the risk to bees after treated plants are sold and planted in yard and garden. Several experiments are in progress now, where treated plants are put into screen cages with colonies of bumble bees.

People should not become too alarmed by the detection of neonicotinoids found in the leaves and flowers of some garden center plants. This does not mean that the plants will be toxic to bees. Here are several reasons why:

• ·         Michigan is home to some of the largest greenhouse flower growers in the country. In a recent survey we found most growers do not make soil applications of neonicotinoid applications to petunias, impatiens, marigolds, New Guinea impatiens, verbena, ageratum, celosia, dianthus, portulaca, salvia, snapdragons, vinca and other bedding plants grown in flats. They usually do not spray flowers with any insecticide in the last two weeks of production. So flowers sold by the flat should be safe for bees.
• ·         Many trees and shrubs, including all conifers, and many broadleaf trees like maple and oak trees are wind pollinated and are not usually visited by bees.
• ·         Perennial flowers, roses, flowering shrubs and flowering trees will be a valuable resource for bees and other pollinators for many years after they are planted, while the risk to bees will be limited to those plants that were treated with a soil drench, and only when they are flowering in the first year.
• ·         Bees feed on a large variety of flowering plants, and often forage as far away as a mile from their colony. Because they are feeding on many different plants, the presence of a neonicotinoid insecticide in one plant will be diluted when they feed on untreated plants.

Flowers bought in flats should be completely safe to bees. If you are worried about some of the perennials or flowering trees and shrubs that you purchase, the flowers could be removed during the first summer after planting. Also, if you buy trees or shrubs in a container you can reduce the amount of imidacloprid or any neonicotinoid insecticide which may be present in the soil by watering them until you see water emerging from the bottom of the container, and continue to run the water for another ten minutes. This will flush any neonicotinoid insecticide residue that is not tightly bound to the organic matter in the soil.

Another way to encourage bees and beneficial insects is to avoid spraying insecticides in the yard and garden as much as possible, and never spray flower blossoms. If you have a problem with caterpillars chewing too many holes in the leaves of some plants, you can use a product containing Bacillus thuringensis or B.t. without harming bees and other beneficial insects.

Another bee-friendly option is to use horticultural oil or an insecticidal soap. They are effective on most soft-bodied insects and can be used on cool mornings, less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, after sunset, or at any time that bees are not present. The soap and oil residue is not harmful to bees, but spraying them directly is. Soap and oil can cause some plant injury, especially to open flowers, so do not exceed the rate given on the product label. In rare cases where a plant needs to be protected against damaging insects by using a broad-spectrum insecticide, it should be sprayed after petal-fall (after the plant is done blooming).

You may want to read Michigan State University Extension bulletin, “Native Bees & Their Conservation on Farmland,” by Rufus Isaacs and Julianna Tuell.

Dr. Smitley’s work is funded in part by MSU’s AgBioResearch.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. 

Events, classes and other offerings

Please let me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other gardeners.  These events are primarily in Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an event I’ll be glad to do it.

Master Gardeners if you belong to an association that approves your hours please check with that association before assuming a class or work day will count as credit.

Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share?  Post them here by emailing me at kimwillis151@gmail.com

New- Weeds and Herbs from the Wild Tuesday, August 19 at 7: 00pm at Seven Ponds Nature Center 3854 Crawford Road, Dryden, MI 

The Friends of Herbs at Seven Ponds will host speaker: Jim McDonald- innovative Michigan herbalist and wildcrafter. He will share with us what herbs and weeds can be harvested during this time of year. Preregistration is required by calling 810-796-3200 to reserve your seat. Join us for a wonderful informative program, cost is $5.00 per person.

New-  Herb & Butterfly Garden Tours -Sunday, August 10, 2:00 pm Seven Ponds Nature Center, 3854 Crawford Road, Dryden, MI 

We have the loveliest cultivated gardens totally maintained by volunteer gardeners. This is a walk suited for those who cannot venture too far from the center. Non-members- $3.00 adults, members and children 12 and under free.

New-Garden Party & Daylily Dig- Sat, July 26, and Sunday July 27- 9am-6pm, Merrittscape, 5940 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford Township, MI.

Featuring over 200 varieties of award winning daylilies for sale.  You pick 'em, we dig 'em. 1000's of plants. We have over an acre and one half of spectacular ponds and display gardens to enjoy and inspire.  248-681-7955.

New- Cool Plants for Shady Areas- Sat, August 9, 10am English Gardens, all locations (Ann Arbor, East Pointe, Clinton Twps., Dearborn Heights, Royal Oak, Commerce Twps., West Bloomfield  call 1-800-335-Grow

Creating a beautiful garden is possible even in the shade.  This program will cover basic information on planning, planting and maintaining flowers and plants in the shade. Special emphasis will be given on perennials. FREE. www.EnglishGardens.com.

Genesee County Master Gardeners 2014 Bus Trip - Open to the Public!! Thursday, July 17, 2014-  Please Park in the U of M parking lot on the corner of Robert T. and Saginaw in Flint.  Entrance to parking lot is on Robert T. (we will be leaving no later 8 am exactly, no refunds)


The tour will be to Brenda’s Butterfly habitat and Barson’s greenhouse (in Westland) and Matthaei Botanical gardens and Nichols Arboretum (In Ann Arbor)



Cost $60.00
(includes Lunch, snacks, water and fees)

Make Check Payable to: MGAGCM
Send to: P.O. Box 34, Flushing, MI. 48433

Please register no later than Monday, June 30, 2014
Contact person: Sabrina VanDyke at 810-407-0808

Schedule

9:00 a.m. 
Arrive at Barson’s Greenhouse approximately 
Presentation at Barson’s Greenhouse
Explore Brenda’s Butterfly Habitat

12:00 p.m.
Leave Barson Greenhouse

12:30 p.m. 
Arrive at Matthaei Botanical gardens and Nichols Arboretum

Picnic Lunch/ Dinner 

5:30 p.m.
Depart for home

Send the below information with the check - Thanks!!
NAME (s) 
PHONE # (cell phone if possible)

Contact person: Sabrina VanDyke at 810-407-0808

Michigan Ag Expo 2014- July 22, 2014 - July 24, 2014 Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Ag Expo is Michigan’s largest outdoor agricultural show. With more than 250 vendors, demonstrations, educational sessions, and ride and drive equipment available, there is something for everyone. Admission to the show is free!

Visit the Ag Expo 2014 website for more information. http://agexpo.msu.edu/

Garden Day August 2, 2014, 8 am – 4:15 pm,  Michigan State University Department of Horticulture, East Lansing Mi.

MSU’s annual garden day is on Saturday this year.  The keynote speaker is Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants, Flower Confidential, and The Drunken Botanist and other books.  Ms Stewart is also the concluding speaker and you can also stay for a reception after the event where she will discuss the Drunken Botanist. You can choose from a number of excellent workshops/classes, 1 morning and 1 afternoon session. Classes include Herbal housekeeping, Best Herbaceous perennials, Creative Containers, Dividing Perennials, Herbs at Home, Pruning Basics, Gardening in the Shade, Unusual Trees and Shrubs, Creative Edge, and Going Native.

Cost of the event is $85 until July 22nd , $95 after.  Lunch and free parking included. Additional $39 for evening reception.  Go to hrt.msu.edu/garden-day-2014  for class descriptions and to register.

The Lapeer area Horticulture Society is looking for new members.  There are no education or experience requirements to join; only a love of gardening is needed.  The Horticulture Society meets the third Monday of each month for socializing, networking and a brief educational presentation.  Everyone is invited to join.  Dues are only $15 a year.  For more information on joining or meeting locations contact Bev Kobylas at bkobylas@yahoo.com

Newsletter information

If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly notes. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.

Once again the opinions in this newsletter are mine and I do not represent any organization or business. I do not make any income from this newsletter. I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com