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
.JPG) |
| Ligularia seedheads in November |
Winter is making a statement today. Its bitter cold, but we
just had a little dusting of snow. There may be more tonight I guess. In a few days however, we are supposed to be
back in the 40’s, I can’t wait. But it’s
supposed to rain and there’s nothing more dismal than a cold November rain. I’m sure glad I finally got those back
ordered muscari bulbs planted last week.
Our pond is completely frozen over and the ducks have come
back to the barn. The bird feeders have
been swarming with birds. There seems to
be an abundance of purple house finches this year. The squirrels are fighting
and rolling nuts around in our attic, out of the cold.
I succumbed to plant pity last week and brought in the
potted mum that was blooming on my deck.
The flowers were limp and brown from cold. I deadheaded the brown blooms and noticed
lots of tiny buds still intact. So I
watered the plant and set it in the porch window inside. It perked right up and some flowers have
already popped out. I am wondering how
long I can keep it blooming. My frozen porch pumpkins went into the chicken
coops, where the birds devoured them.
Making Houseplants Interesting
When I was managing the garden shop at Kmart in the 70’s
houseplants were hugely popular and everyone wanted them. We had a 30 foot “island” aisle with three
levels of plants. Overhead was a large
rack where dozens of hanging baskets dangled.
Large plants filled display ends
throughout the store. There were 3
aisles of pots, potting soil and macramé hangers.
 |
| Diplodia |
We had weekly plant deliveries, some straight from southern
greenhouses and little snakes and frogs often accompanied them. It took us an hour every morning to water the
plants. But houseplants were a money
maker, with high mark-ups so how the display looked mattered and we pinched,
tidied and watered every day. We went
through pallets of potting soil every week. I had always had houseplants, even as a young
girl but now my house bulged with my “finds” on the job.
My house today has plants in every window. I rarely leave those tender perennials most
people grow as annuals outside to perish in the cold. I take apart containers
at summers end to salvage what I can. I
still look over today’s much more restrained houseplant selections in stores
for new finds. I am constantly shifting
and re-arranging plants to make room for just one more.
Do you have houseplants?
Gardeners should never be without them.
In our area of the country there’s not much gardening to do from
November to April, unless you consider looking at seed catalogs gardening. But you don’t have to live without plants. Even if you keep your home cool, you don’t
have sunny windows or forget to water them sometimes you can find houseplants
to suit the conditions.
Houseplants have a lot to offer besides the fun of growing
them. They clean the air of noxious
fumes and floating particles. They raise
the humidity in the home in winter. They
produce oxygen. Studies have shown that
rooms with plants feel more inviting to people, and have a calming effect. Sick people report less pain in rooms with
plants and recover faster. Homes that
are for sale sell better when attractive plants are added to the rooms.
.JPG) |
| Echeveria Topsy Turvy |
If you think houseplants are boring spider plants, (I
personally like spider plants), scrawny ivies and bare stemmed rubber trees you
haven’t explored the houseplant possibilities quite enough. Do you long for certain conifers that aren’t
hardy in your planting zone? Many small
and slow growing evergreens can actually become great houseplants in the winter
and good patio plants in the summer. Evergreen
perennials such as tender lavenders, rosemary, sweet bay, lemon verbena, small
thymes, lantana, mints, small tiarellas and heucheras, violas and violets, citrus
trees and figs can find places in the home in winter.
Even lovers of ornamental grasses can grow some as
houseplants. Small grasses like ‘Bunny ‘
grasses, and blue fescue, carex, sedges and clumps of bamboo will thrive in a
sunny window. Many garden sedums, even
hens and chicks will do well inside. And
there is a wealth of exotic succulents on the market and many make excellent
houseplants.
Pond enthusiasts can also garden indoors. Set up containers with tropical water lilies,
water hyacinths, calla lilies, and other interesting water plants. There are beautiful ferns other than the well-known
Boston fern that do well indoors. There
are ivies and vines, including small bougainvillea’s, inexpensive orchids, beautiful
gingers, sweet scented jasmines, passionflowers, mandevillas, cane type
begonias, rex begonias, exotic cacti and stone plants, streptocarpus,
carnivorous beauties and so many more unusual and exciting plants.
 |
| Easy to grow moth orchid |
And of course there are all the old standby houseplants,
parlor palms, weeping figs, African violets, jade plants, philodendrons,
Norfolk Pines, prayer plants, pothos, and so on, which with proper care, can
look quite stunning too.
When warm weather comes many houseplants can take a vacation
outside, they can become part of planters and garden beds, and provide interest
on porches and patios. This will help
you have more time to care for the outside gardens.
If this has perked your interest a bit in houseplants or you
already know and love many houseplants then you may want to read the book
below.
Book review-The Unexpected Houseplant –220 extraordinary choices
for every spot in your home by Tovah Martin- 2012 ($3.03 amazon/kindle e-book until the end of the month)
This is a delightful read, not just a care primer for houseplants. The author talks about her love for
houseplants and all plants, her experiences with them, her charming older home
and even her cat. Ms. Martin has written
numerous popular garden books and is a frequent article writer for popular
garden magazines.
You may not find your houseplant in this book, many of the
plants Martin describes are the unusual and eclectic houseplants, some of which
I mentioned above. The more common
houseplants are left to other authors to worry over. But when she’s through discussing her choices,
you’ll want to run out and try to find some of them.
.JPG) |
| Staghorn fern. |
She talks about the plant’s needs, how to display them, what
type of container to grow them in, and many other things woven into a narrative
story beginning from the best fall houseplants through summer and permanent
houseplant residents. Martin is an
organic grower, so there are no plants discussed that require intensive pest
control, although she lists what pests and problems a plant may have. There is a summary of care requirements at the
end of each section. And there’s a section devoted to houseplants that Martin
doesn’t recommend.
This may not be the book for you if you are looking for
basic houseplant care. But if you are
looking for houseplant inspiration this is it. When you get done reading this
book you’ll know there is no excuse not to have houseplants. I bought the kindle version; it’s on sale now
for $3.03 until the end of the month. Of
course this version only has black and white photos. The hard bound version has beautiful color photos
but it will set you back a bit more money.
This book would make an excellent Christmas present for any gardener.
Thousand Cankers disease of black walnuts
I have a love-hate relationship with black walnut
trees. On one hand they provide shade,
nice lumber and food for wildlife. On
the other hand they are messy, invasive, and their roots discourage many plants
from growing near them. But I certainly
do not want them to go the way the ash trees did, we simply cannot afford to
lose another common forest and yard tree.
Thousand Cankers disease (Geosmithia morbidai) is a fungal
disease that is actually native to this continent. So is the tiny beetle that carries it, the
Walnut Twig beetle,( Pityophthorus juglandis,). Somehow, in the last decade or so, the
disease that once was only a minor problem to walnut trees, evolved to become a
deadly killer. So far researchers have not
found a way to control the fungus or the beetle.
Thousand Cankers disease is now known to be in Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont,
Virginia, and Washington, where its
rapidly killing trees. Michigan, as well
as Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
Wyoming and Montana, have put quarantines in effect that ban
walnut trees or walnut wood from entering the state.
Since the disease is now on the west coast, east coast and
mid-south there’s little doubt it will continue to spread. One has only to look at the Emerald Ash Borer
and how it has spread. Emerald Ash
borers kill trees directly by feeding on the trees phloem. The tiny Walnut Twig beetle larvae wouldn’t
kill the tree- it’s the fungal disease that they carry that does that. And Walnut twig beetles are spread the same
way Emerald Ash Borers are spread, in firewood, lumber and on nursery
stock. Both the larvae and beetle can
overwinter.
The Walnut Twig beetle is very tiny, about the size of an i
in this sentence and reddish brown. The
larvae are also small, white and C shaped.
They feed just below the bark in small circular or roughly oblong patches. As they feed they disperse the fungal disease
spores, which infect the wounded area and turn the patch grayish black. If the
bark is peeled off an infected area the circular dark patches can be seen. The fungus clogs the phloem and xylem tubes
that transport food and water in the tree.
Symptoms of tree decline/death are the same as for Emerald Ash
Borer infection. The tree yellows and
wilts, branches die and the canopy thins, water shoots appear at the tree base,
eventually the whole tree dies. You can
see pictures and read more here: http://www.thousandcankers.com/
This disease infects all kinds of walnuts, including
butternuts. English walnuts seem to have
some resistance to the disease however. There is no treatment suggested at this
time. The disease doesn’t move through
the trees cellular system but each patch of beetle larvae feeding and infecting
the tree with the fungus destroys more of the trees ability to move water and
food through the tree. Insecticides for
the beetles have been tried but research has shown little improvement in the
course of the disease from this.
The best offense at this point is to not move walnut wood
and to not buy walnuts or transplant walnuts from other states. If you think you have Thousand Cankers
disease on a walnut near you call the MDARD Customer Service Center (800) 292-3939
or email: DNR-Forestry@michigan.gov
or email: MDA-Info@michigan.gov
Can Pot help cure brain tumors?
New research done at St George University, London and
published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics journal found that cannabinoids (THC
and CBD), when given with radiation treatment significantly improved the
shrinkage of brain tumors in animals over those just given radiation treatments. Some tumors disappeared completely. Human trials are going to begin soon. Brain tumors are very hard to treat in humans and
the treatments with marijuana compounds are very promising with few side
effects attributed to the cannabinoids.
Deep Fried Green Beans
I know they aren’t being grown locally now but if you are
craving something different that’s low calorie, high in vitamins and low carb
to boot try some deep fried green beans.
I don’t normally like green beans nor does my husband but we both liked
these. I hear they are the trend at
fancy restaurants but they are easy to fix.
Start with about a half pound of clean, dry fresh green
beans with the ends removed. Beat an egg
white in a good sized bowl, add the beans and toss them until they are coated. Next add a couple tablespoons of powdered parmesan
cheese with rosemary and garlic, a tablespoon of coconut or almond flour, ( or
use unbleached wheat flour) a little
onion powder, some black pepper and seasoned salt to taste. Toss the beans in the mixture until they are
well coated and seasonings distributed.
Heat some healthy oil (not soybean, corn or canola, these
aren’t good for you!) or some lard to about 350 degrees in a deep pan or fryer. Add the beans in small batches and stir a bit
to separate them. Don’t crowd them in the pan. Fry until the outside is golden and crispy, (
about like potato fries) remove and drain on paper towels. Eat while warm- yummy.
Forcing bulbs
It may be a little late to find the bulbs but it’s not too
late to plant bulbs for indoor forcing if you find some on sale in the garden
shops or you have some bulbs you didn’t get in the ground this fall. 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 November 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
 |
| Tulip bulbs forced in water. Credit:whatcomflowers.net |
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.
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 designated forcing
hyacinths, 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 various 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 frig 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 periods of time below 25 degrees they often die.
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 gently by
moving them to a cool 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.
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 have spring blooming bulbs consider
forcing some this winter.
Bundle up, put on the soup pot and grab some coco
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
More Information
Indian
pipes: Oddities of the plant world
Indian pipes are a plant lacking chlorophyll that hitchhike
with native Michigan trees like oaks.
Posted on November 14, 2014 by Rebecca Finneran, Michigan
State University Extension
When is a
mushroom not a mushroom? The answer is when it is a “ghost plant.” The Michigan
State University Extension lawn and garden hotline (1-888-678-3464) receives
questions about many gardening subjects. Some of the oddest questions are
stimulated by a quiet walk in the woods or park where people encounter plants
of the weirdest kind.
 |
| Indian or Ghost Pipes. Credit: commons.wikimedia.org |
One of the
things that define a plant is that it can make its own food. The green pigment
in the plant parts, primarily leaves, contains a substance known as chlorophyll
that appears green. Chlorophyll contained in organelles known as “plastids” in
the leaf is synonymous with life on earth – the chemical equation for
photosynthesis is the source (byproduct) of the oxygen we breathe.
So when you
come upon an odd collection of white-stemmed “plants,” one might ask is it
really a plant, or am I in OZ? The answer may surprise you. Commonly known as
Indian pipes, ghost plant and oddly enough, corpse plant, Monotropa uniflora
are kind of an anomaly in the plant kingdom. Completely lacking chlorophyll,
this plant makes life happen by “networking” with fungi relatives known as mycorrhizae
and the roots of plants (trees) that are conducting photosynthesis. In short,
these plants optimize their root relationship with the fungi that are uniquely
connected to and fed by the green plant. Brilliant!
The
short-in-stature plant features a single bloom on a single stem that has tiny
leaves that are all white. Aptly named, M. uniflora is a relative of the common
blueberry (Ericacea family), which has a very similar shaped bloom. It can
actually grow in the darkest area of a woodlot since it needs no sunlight to
survive. I usually find this plant growing in the root zone of oak woodlots,
but it is also commonly found under maples.
You might
think this is sort of cheating the system, but some sources claim that the
hijacking of nutrients through a third party is not an offence to the tree that
is busy making the food. Most of the literature cites that the trees don’t even
notice since the mycorrhizae fungi are actually beneficial to them. It’s like
the distant third cousins living in the apartment next door who drive a Ferrari
and look really cool, but don’t ask for much. Huh – wish I could do that!
As it turns
out, this is only one of about 3,000 non-photosynthetic plants in the world.
Who would have thought? So, on your next walk through the woodlot, watch for
this strange adaptation of nature and just enjoy it!
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.
I have several free
roosters, bantam and full sized if anyone is interested. Also free 5 male Muscovy ducks, young, mostly
black feathered. Excellent eating,
less greasy than other duck- taste like beef.
Or great for decorating your pond. Kimwillis151@gmail.com
A
Note to readers- Garden classes will be less frequent during the next few
months.
MSU offered a variety of on line
seminars for those who were interested in beginning farming topics of various
types. Some of those are now available
free to watch at the address below.
Gardeners may be interested in topics like organic pest control. Get the list of topics and links here.
Michigan Great Lakes Expo December
9-11, 2014- Devos Place Conference Center/ Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, Grand
Rapids, Michigan
This annual
conference is for fruit and vegetable growers and the greenhouse industry but
it is open to anyone who wishes to attend and there are numerous educational
classes, several bus tours, lots of educational booths and more than 400
vendors. Many home gardeners enjoy
attending as well as those contemplating or operating a farm market, greenhouse
or nursery business.
Pre-registering for
the event by Nov. 20 will save you about $20 per person. It’s $75 for the 3 day admission with several
discounts also being available for spouses, employees, members of certain
groups etc. It will be $95 if you pay at
the door. Children under 18 are
free. There is also a one day admission
for Thursday, Dec 11 of $40. Admission
includes all educational sessions and exhibits but does not include bus tours
and the various luncheons and dinners.
You can get the
brochure describing the educational events and tours plus more information and
register on line at this link: http://www.glexpo.com/images/2014/GL_Expo_Brochure.pdf
You can also call 734-677-0503
for more information.
Skeleton
Trees, Sunday, November 30, 2:00 pm, Seven Ponds Nature Center 3854 Crawford Rd,
Dryden, Phone:(810) 796-3200
Now that most of the trees are bare let’s see if we can
figure out which tree is which during this nature walk. $3
admission for non-members.
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
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