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
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| Have a great Thanksgiving. |
This will be a short and sweet newsletter as I know
most of you are busy with Thanksgiving plans, as I am. I hope you have your power today after the
wild and wicked winds. According to the news this is the seventh catastrophic
power outage event this year- a record. Our lights blinked several times and I
filled all the water buckets and got out the flashlights for the second time in
a week. (We prepared Saturday for the
freezing rain.) But our power stayed on thankfully. It’s snowing now. It’s been a rough fall – let’s hope the weather
gives us a break for the rest of the winter.
But we do have one thing to be thankful for this week- we didn’t get the
snow Buffalo got last week!
I found a big leopard frog in the water dish of my
bantam chickens last night. I didn’t
want the chickens or cats to eat him when I dumped him out of the bowl so I
tossed him over the fence into a pile of leaves. I hope he burrowed into the leaves before the
temperature dropped too much. I also saw
several dead skunks on the road – just like in the spring when they come out of
hibernation. I think the animals are
confused about this weather.
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| How my pet turkeys spend Thanksgiving. |
Sunday I took advantage of the mild weather and cut
some evergreen branches to stick into the soil of the planter boxes on the
deck. I will not be decorating them
however, until after Thanksgiving. I am
going to try and do something different this year and decorate them naturally,
with the red berries of nightshade or maybe some bittersweet.
Check
the houseplants
I have noticed that the houseplants are starting to
require more water as the heat is on more in the house and the humidity is
lower. Set up some kind of reminder to
yourself to check the pots through the busy holiday season and water plants
before they wilt. Do not fertilize
houseplants at this time.
You may also want to move some tender plants so their
leaves don’t touch cold windows. Adding
some artificial light, even for plants in windows can help through the long
dismal and gray winter. I use CFL grow
lights with reflectors that are energy efficient and cost little to
operate. I clip the reflectors on a
shelf or window ledge and aim it toward the plants. You can put these close to the plants for
best results because they don’t give off much heat. I turn them on when it’s cloudy and gray (nearly
every day now) and leave them on for several hours after dark.
Optimal lighting and watering of houseplants helps keep
houseplants healthy and nice looking through the winter.
Researchers
choose best tomatoes for growing organically
If you haven’t noticed organic produce is a money maker
for many farmers and researchers are starting to help them improve their
harvests by evaluating varieties gr own under organic
practices and producing new varieties. The
Department of Horticulture at the University of Georgia evaluated many
varieties of tomatoes grown with organic methods and published their results
recently.
The researchers evaluated both hybrid and open
pollinated varieties. Most of the
tomatoes had red colored fruit with the exception of two “pink” varieties. The results showed that two F1 hybrids had
the greatest yields under organic conditions, a variety called HSX 8115H and 'Celebrity', a often
recommended disease resistant variety home gardeners can easily find.
All open pollinated varieties had much less yield than
hybrid tomatoes with the OP variety 'Costoluto
Fiorentino', having the highest yield.
Keep in mind that researchers did not evaluate taste in this trial,
which is personal anyway. And the
tomatoes were grown in the south; however the tomato variety Celebrity has been
evaluated in many different growing areas and always does well. I have grown Celebrity myself, and it is
pretty disease resistant and productive here but I find the flavor bland.
New
varieties of disease resistant Dogwoods to be released.
Dogwoods are great small trees for home
landscapes. They have beautiful flowers
in the spring, nice fall color and the peeling, attractive bark on the small
trees adds winter interest to the garden.
However many dogwoods have a susceptibility to dogwood anthracnose and
powdery mildew and quickly morph into straggly dying messes. Hybrids of Cornus kousa and Cornus florida
seem to be more vigorous and disease resistant but few are on the market, with 'Appalachian
Spring' being the most disease resistant of dogwoods now marketed.
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| Dogwood at Gettysburg. Flickr.com |
University of Tennessee horticulturists have been
working with Cornus (Dogwoods) to develop disease resistant, beautiful hybrid varieties
for home landscapes and out of 400 varieties in the trial they have selected 3
outstanding Dogwoods that will soon be available in nurseries. These varieties are 'Empire', 'Pam's Mountain Bouquet' and 'Red Steeple'.
'Pam's
Mountain Bouquet' may be available this spring. It’s a spreading crown form with a profuse
display of flowers in spring and great disease resistance. Look for ‘Empire’ and ‘Red Steeple’,( a red
foliaged variety), soon.
Decorating
with live plants for the holidays
Combine your love of gardening with holiday decorating
by using live potted plants as part of the decorations. You can use nice potted plants that you have
around the house or use holiday decorating as an excuse to buy more exotic
house plants. Potted plants also make
great office decorations and gifts.
Many stores feature gift plants such as mums,
poinsettias and Christmas cacti around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays
but these aren’t the only plants that can be used as decorations. With a little imagination a beautiful plant
can become the center focus of holiday decorating and remain after the holidays
to lift the spirits all through winter.
Almost any green plant can be made festive by adding a
brightly colored pot, a bow or even tiny decorations. For Thanksgiving you’ll want to decorate with
harvest colors but after Thanksgiving the same plant can be re-decorated with
Christmas colors, and the palette of colors used at Christmas has expanded in
recent years from red and green to many other color combinations.
Common houseplants like Boston Ivy, palms, ribbon
plant, ferns, philodendron, spider plants, Norfolk Island Pine and Jade plants
make excellent decorations in pretty pots with ribbons. Pots of the herb rosemary make excellent
holiday plants, fragrant when brushed.
Sometimes you can find them sheared into a Christmas tree shape.
 |
| Frosty fern |
A less common plant called Frosty Fern is available
only near the holidays. This lovely
plant looks like the tips of its fronds are frosted white. Frosty Fern, Selaginiela Krausianna
Variegatus is actually a club moss, a fern relative. It tolerates the low light that decorative
plants are often subjected to and looks lovely in a red pot. Rabbits Foot fern is also a good decorating
choice.
Other great choices for exotic potted plant decorations
include blooming orchids, gardenias, tropical hibiscus, and potted citrus or
pomegranate trees. Miniature roses can
often be found in stores. These tiny
roses can bloom all winter in a sunny window.
Check any store that sells houseplants for an endless
variety that could become holiday decorations or gifts. The nursery that sold you plants in the
summer may sell houseplants and exotic tropicals in winter.
For Thanksgiving some artificial pumpkins or even small,
real gourds could be added to the pot.
You can hollow out a small pumpkin and insert a plant in its pot. A large wicker basket with several green
plants inserted then surrounded by mixed nuts in the shell, or bittersweet
sprays, or artificial leaves in bright colors would be pretty.
For Christmas add artificial birds, or put tiny elves
in the pot. Spray a few twisted branches with fake snow and insert in the pot.
Try setting the potted plant in a bowl that’s larger than the pot and filling
the bowl with glass Christmas ornaments.
Insert a smaller pot into a clear glass vase or jar and totally surround
the pot with tiny glass ornaments or even beads in your color scheme. Plastic
confetti, tinsel, or plastic ribbon shreds could also fill the clear
container. There is glittery plastic
snow that you scatter on Christmas displays that could fill a container or even
dust the top of a pot.
A clever party favor would be to glue a small wood
square on the bottom of large glass Christmas balls to make them sit upright.
Then remove the top of the ball which is usually a piece of metal held in place
with tiny spring wires. Fill the ball
with water and insert starter plants such as a small spider plant, which will
grow in water for a while.
Wrap pots in colored foil and tie with a bow. Or use gift bags with the plant peeking out
the top. Plants will need to be watered
so if the item you wrap the plant in could be damaged by water, put the pot in
a plastic bag or waterproof container first.
Take good care of your green decoration and it will
survive the holiday. Try to place the
decoration in good light or keep it only a few days in poor light
situations. Water the pots when they are
dry. Keep them out of cold drafts. Keep brown leaves pulled off and browned tips
of leaves trimmed off.
Don’t us lights or heavy ornaments on green
plants. Keep them away from candles and
fireplaces or anything that gives off excessive heat. Don’t use spray on flocking or “snow” on live
plants. When the holidays are over
remove fancy coverings and place the plant where it gets the proper lighting
for its needs.
Forget the difficult to save poinsettias and use plants
meant to survive in the house for holiday decorating. You’ll love the results.
Quick
holiday appetizers from canned biscuits
If you have canned biscuits on hand you have the
makings for several nice appetizers.
Grease a muffin pan and push each biscuit into a shell, (cup) shape. Bake until golden brown. Then add fillings to each muffin cup. Fillings could be ground beef cooked like
sloppy joes, spicy ground sausage and nacho cheese, ground beef with mushroom
gravy, diced cooked chicken or turkey with some cooked peas and gravy - like
tiny pot pies, ground beef with taco seasoning and taco cheese, baked beans and
thin hotdog slices, scrambled eggs with peppers and cheese, even cooked veggies
with a cheese sauce.
Or you can flatten biscuit dough on a greased cookie
sheet. Add cooked meats and cheeses to
the center of each, fold over the dough, crimp the edges, brush with melted
butter and bake for delicious appetizers.
Canned biscuits can make some sweet treats too. Turn the biscuits into shells like above and
fill with pudding, pie filling, fruit and cheese, or melted chocolate, caramel
and nuts. Canned biscuits or crescent
rolls can also be flattened on a greased cookie sheet, spread with melted
butter, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and crushed nuts and baked until brown. Cut into small pieces and serve.
Making
Tipsy Sweet Potato Casserole
Want a different take on sweet potatoes this
Thanksgiving? This is a delightful mashed sweet potato dish that won’t make you
tipsy at all, the alcohol cooks away.
Sweet potatoes are always boiled or steamed before
peeling to keep them from turning black and make it easier to peel them. A shortcut
to peeling is to place the sweet potatoes in a covered microwave safe bowl with
a couple of tablespoons of water.
Microwave on medium high for about 5 minutes, or until the peel slips
off easily. You can start with canned or frozen and thawed sweet potatoes and
avoid the peeling all together.
Ingredients
8 large sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp. butter or margarine
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/3 cup cream or milk
2 tbsp. sherry
Boil the sweet potatoes in their skins with the salt in
a large pot until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the potatoes with a slotted
spoon and peel them. (If you are using
canned or frozen cooked sweet potatoes skip this step. Some frozen sweet potatoes may need cooking.)
Place the potatoes, cream, sugar, and sherry in a large
bowl. Whip the potatoes on medium speed with an electric mixer.
Spray a large oven safe casserole dish with cooking
spray and place the whipped potatoes in it. Bake in a 350 degree F. (180
C) oven for about 25 minutes, until the
top is golden brown.
I am thankful for my large and supportive family and
wonderful husband and I am so thankful that I live in a beautiful, safe,
peaceful area, where I can have my animals and gardens. What are you thankful for?
Have
a great thanksgiving.
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
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.
New- Capital Area Master
Gardeners - Mixing It Up Garden symposium - January 31, 2015, 8:15-4 pm. MSU Plant and Soil
Sciences Building ,1066 Bogue Street East Lansing, MI.
This symposium features a variety of
garden classes to lighten the winter blahs.
Registration fee includes lunch.
A garden marketplace will be available for shoppers. Fees are $35 for
local club members, $45 for other Master Gardeners, $55 for all others.
To get a description of classes and
register online go to: https://mgacac.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/brochure2014_11-14.pdf
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.
Don't forget to check here for more good information
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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