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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

September 1,2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

September 1,2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter    © Kim Willis

Hi Gardeners

Hardy Hibiscus
I am having a hard time believing its September already.  The summer has flown by. The older I get the faster time goes.  Of course when I was a kid dreading the start of school again summer seemed to go pretty fast too.  I used to dream of a time when I could decide when and where I wanted to study- and when I could be outside anytime I wanted to be.  Well I have that now, that’s one thing about being older and retired.  I still study- I try to study something new every month.  Last month I read a lot about behavioral economics, this month I’m going back into plant based information ethno-botany and new plant based science info. 

My hardy hibiscus have finally started blooming and the sweet autumn clematis is pretty right now but a lot of the garden is starting to look faded and past its prime.  The toad lilies are starting to bloom.   My brugmansia still hasn’t opened its flower although I expect it to open very soon.  The one flower is almost as long as the plant, hanging down – it’s more than a foot long.  The plant is only about 30 inches high.  It’s loaded with buds and I am hoping this warm humid spell of weather will allow a lot of them to bloom.

I had two interesting developments among my plants.  A Kousa dogwood I planted way back in April and thought was dead has finally leafed out.  It’s just a bit of a thing and I have it in a tree tube.  I had planted a ninebark close to it in June because I thought it was dead, but decided to leave the dogwood a bit longer.  Now I have to decide which to move.

 I had also planted an ornamental ginger rhizome indoors back in early spring that never sprouted.   I moved its pot out on the deck when it warmed up but still no sprouting.  I kept finding the rhizome out of the pot and one day I found out why. Gingers are supposed to be left with the rhizome right at the soil surface. The cats were trying to cover it with soil and in the process knocking it out of the pot.  I guess the rhizome looked like something they might leave behind that needed covering.  I finally moved the pot to another spot and wedged it between other pots and put a little piece of cement over the middle of the pot.   I finally have 3 healthy looking shoots popping out of the rhizome.  It pays to be patient with some plants I guess.

September almanac

The Harvest moon occurs this month on September 27th. (We just had a full moon on August 29th ) It’s called the harvest moon because farmers often used the light of this month’s full moon to complete their harvest.   The autumn equinox, the start of fall is September 23rd.  We’ll be down to 12 hours of daylight then.

The birth flower for September is the aster or in some places, the morning glory.  Asters are said to symbolize powerful love and morning glories just affection so choose the flower you give this month accordingly.  The September birthstone is sapphire.

September is Hispanic Heritage Month, very appropriate this year,  National Chicken month, Honey month, Classical Music month and International Square Dancing month.

Besides Labor Day (7th) holidays in September include Grandparents day the 13th (who honors us grandparents anyway?) Patriots day on the 11th, the 13th is National Peanut day, the 14th is Pet Memorial day, the 19th is National POW-MIA day, 21st is International Peace Day, the 26th is Native American Day and the 28th is both Good Neighbor Day and Ask a Stupid Question day. 

What’s at the Farmers market

This is prime farmers market shopping time.  Almost all vegetables are on the market, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes, beans, peppers, cucumbers, melons, carrots, cabbage, you name it.  If you want tomatoes for canning better get them soon because this warm wet weather will have plants dying of disease quickly.  Apples are starting to ripen and come on the narket; peaches and plums are almost gone.  Pears and grapes will soon be available.

We have an extra Tuesday this month and I have decided to make this issue mainly about seeds- since this is the time when many gardeners begin collecting seeds for next year.  Have a great Labor Day holiday.

The miracle of seeds

Plants are so amazing.  Despite the fact that we can’t exist without them we don’t know as much about them as we should.  But we are finally realizing that plants do many of the same things animals do- we just have to realize they have a different way of doing things than animals and it’s hard for us animals to fully understand the complexity of plant life. 

Baptisia produces lots of very hard seeds.
For example we now know that plants communicate with each other, that they experience pain and other stimuli, and that they can even perform tasks which we thought only animals did like defend themselves and make decisions about allocating resources.  One of the things plants have in common with animals is that they protect and provide for their young.  In animals embryos are protected in one of two ways, in a uterus inside the animal or in an outside “egg”.  The uterus or egg provides nutrients for the embryo, sustaining them and protecting them until they are born.  After birth some animals let their young fend for themselves, but many animals protect and even feed their young for various amounts of time.

Flowering plants provide for their young in much the same way animals do.  They make various types of seeds, some surrounded by a fleshy protective “uterus” we call a fruit.  All seeds have some food packed in them for the embryo to begin life by germinating and a baby plant ready to grow when conditions are right.  The stored food sustains the embryo until it can begin absorbing water from the soil and making food through photosynthesis.  If a seed needs to go through a long period of dormancy before conditions will be right for it to germinate it will have more food than the seed which can germinate soon after forming. 

If a baby plant normally needs a long period of time before it can sustain itself after germination because of environmental factors like poor soil or low light, it will have seeds that still provide food long after germination.  These are the fleshy looking cotyledons or seed leaves one can see on the stem of seedlings until they get several true leaves. These were folded up inside the seeds.   Some plants have one – monocots- and some plants have two- dicots.  These cotyledons “nurse” (have a food supply that is slowly released) the baby plant as it begins to grow.

Plants provide their babies with many forms of nutrients, proteins, fats, carbs, depending on the species of plants and what the baby will need most to survive.  No one knows yet why plants developed so many forms of nutrients that are included in seeds in varying proportions, to nourish their young.  Even a tiny seed, like the rape seed, can have a large amount of food stored.  But those fats, carbs, oils, and proteins sure have made the human diet and lifestyle possible.  Without them most animal life would fail. (Some tiny animals might survive on non- flowering plants like mosses and algae.)

Plants further protect their babies by making hard seed coats, poisonous chemicals in the seed, chemicals that regulate germination, juicy fruits around them that keep them moist, devices which allow the seeds to disperse through the air or in the fur of animals and by other means.  Unfortunately for plants animals have learned that the food stored for the baby plant is a good food source for them also.  Seeds and fruits, all formed by plants to feed, protect and disperse their babies to good locations  make up about 70% of the human diet, more in the case of those who are vegetarians. 

So the next time you eat bread, enjoy your blueberry cobbler, sip coffee, or munch a chocolate bar thank a plant for sacrificing its babies.

Collecting and storing seeds

As the gardener strolls through the garden in late summer and fall he or she may notice a lot of seed pods hanging on various garden plants, maybe on some plants you never dreamed you could start from seeds.  Wilderness hikers and people touring public gardens may also notice various seeds that they would like to collect.  (Use some sense in these instances, many parks prohibit removing any plant material, and you should ask permission from someone in charge of a public garden before collecting seeds.)  Gardeners want to help plant babies grow.  But collecting the seeds won’t help you grow new plants if you don’t know when to collect the seeds, how to store them and the best ways to get them to
Sometimes mother nature screws up.  In 2008 corn
sprouted before it could be dried enough for storage.
germinate.

Seeds are plant embryos and the plant kingdom has devised many ways to protect the baby plant inside until the time is right for it to start growing.  Some plants use a hard seed coat, some use chemicals and some program their seeds to require periods of cold, alternating heat and cold periods or periods of moist and dry conditions before the seed germinates.   Some seeds are ready to germinate the minute they hit moist soil, others require months or years of dormancy before they awaken.  Some plants even have seeds with a variable dormancy, some sprout quickly; other seeds from the same plant delay their sprouting for various periods of time.  This is to ensure that if conditions are poor when the first batch of a plants seeds sprout, later sprouters may have better conditions.

There are special techniques for some seeds that a gardener needs to know if he or she wants to be successful in germinating the seeds.  And while almost any plants seeds could be started, some garden plants seeds will probably be a big disappointment or take years and years to become flowering or fruiting plants.  Most gardeners will want to propagate these plants in other ways.  This article explores collecting, storing and germinating conditions and techniques.  The basics of growing seeds after they have germinated has been covered in other articles.

Why some plants grown from seed may disappoint you

Apples and some other fruits never produce the same type of fruit from saved seeds.  In other words Delicious apple seeds planted will not produce a tree that has apples like the red delicious.  That’s because apples are sterile if two closely related varieties pollinate each other- and won’t have fruit.  If the Delicious apple tree has fruit it was pollinated by a different type of apple.  When you plant seeds from that apple they may be a nice eating apple – or not- but you will wait many years to find out.  Most apple varieties are propagated by grafting cuttings onto a root stock. The cuttings will produce the same type of apples as the tree they came from. Plums, sweet cherries, almonds, pears and some citrus are also self- sterile and seeds won’t produce the same variety as the parent.

Apples never come true from seed.
Any hybrid plant whether, a tomato or zinnia, will produce seeds that when planted, will look nothing like their parent.  In general about 50% of the offspring of hybrid plants will be inferior to the parent plant; the other 50% might have some value.  This is true whether you grew only one variety of hybrid tomatoes for instance, and they pollinated each other, if the hybrid plant self-pollinated, or the plants crossed with other varieties of the same species in the garden.  That’s because the genes of at least two plants were used to produce the hybrid parent and in sexual reproduction the genes will be randomly re-combined.  You can save the seeds of hybrid plants and experiment by planting them, but you will often be disappointed with the results.

If garden plants are open pollinated- or pure bred- and you grew them close to other varieties of open pollinated, pure bred plants the seeds they produce may also surprise you.  The seeds they produce will grow hybrid plants, a cross between varieties.  In many cases these will be nice plants, because they have what is known as hybrid vigor, but they won’t be exactly like the parent plants.  If you want a particular variety of plant to produce seeds that will turn into plants looking like the parents, then you need to isolate that variety of plant from other varieties.  Thirty feet away from each other is a good rule of thumb to keep plants from crossing, but some plants will require even more space. 

Of course many people want two varieties of plants to cross so they can get new exciting varieties, better flavor or more disease resistance.  You can do this by planting two varieties close to each other and hope the wind or insects spread the pollen from one to the other.  Or for more precise results you can deliver pollen from one plant to another by hand, and prevent the receiving flower from being pollinated accidentally by wind or insects.

Once pollination has happened, the fruit (ovary surrounding the seeds) and seeds of the parent plant won’t give you any clues as to what the seeds will produce when they grow.  You can save the seed from a big round, orange pumpkin and get odd blue warty fruits when you plant those seeds because pumpkins can cross breed with many types of winter squash that might have been growing by it.  Other plants that cross easily are the summer squashes, gourds and winter squashes because they are closely related and many species of melons.  

There is one exception – at least in the common garden plants- where the seeds can tell you if two varieties have crossed.  If you plant a yellow variety of sweet corn next to a white variety and when you take the ears off the yellow corn and see bi-colored kernels, you’ll know the two varieties crossed and if you saved those kernels (seeds) and planted them you would get bi-color corn, white corn and yellow corn ears in the second generation.  Crossing varieties of corn can also affect the taste of the corn, sweet corn pollinated by field corn, for example, will be tougher and less sweet.

Many varieties of flowers and vegetables cross breed easily within the species - that’s how we get new varieties.  There is always some genetic variation in sexually produced plants- when you grow plants from seed- even when you cross two supposedly identical varieties. That’s because some genes are hidden.  A plant’s flowers may be white and if you cross the plant with the same variety of white flowers, you may get white flowers again on seeds grown from that cross.  But if one parent or both had genes for pink flowers you may also end up with some pink flowered plants.

 If you want an exact duplicate of the hosta Great Expectations for example, you would be better off dividing the original plant than breeding one hosta Great Expectations to another and planting the resulting seeds.  But if you want to produce something different or don’t care about color or leaf shape letting different varieties cross breed and collecting the seed is fine.

Genetic variability is the reason for sexual reproduction.  In all life sexual reproduction allows an organism to change to suit conditions or to be manipulated to suit uses humans have planned for it.  Helpful mutations in genes can be passed to other organisms through the gene recombination that occurs during sexual reproduction.

Collecting seeds

In most cases you want to collect the seed when the seed pod or fruit surrounding the seeds is fully ripe.  Since we eat some fruits before they are fully ripe, like cucumbers, you must know what a ripe fruit looks like for that plant and wait to harvest the seeds.  Corn should turn dry and hard on the stalk before saving seeds.  Watermelons should be mushy ripe and the seeds black or dark brown before harvest. Peppers must be fully ripe- and they can be many colors when ripe- and soft.  Most seed pods or seed heads turn brown and dry when the seeds are ready to harvest. The opening of pods means the seeds are ripe.

In some cases for seeds to be properly stored and then sprout, the fruit must first rot or ferment.  While you can cut open a very ripe tomato and extract the seeds for storage, it’s better to let the tomato turn to a rotting, fermenting mush before separating out the seeds, drying them and saving them.  Germination rates will be higher.  Eating a tomato and some other fruits and then extracting the seeds from your feces would also be a way to prepare them for storage, but fermenting them seems a bit nicer and easier to do.   Many seeds are prepared for germination in nature by passing through some animal’s digestion system.

Seedpods on hosta.
Collect seeds on a warm, sunny dry day if at all possible.  It’s best to collect most types of seed before a heavy frost or freeze but collection after that can still work for many seeds. The trick in collecting seed pods and seedheads to get the seeds is to not let them split or otherwise disperse the seeds before you collect them, but still be mature.  Keep a close eye on ripening pods and seedheads.  On a warm day a closed pod in the morning may have shot off the seeds or dropped them on the ground by evening. If seed pods and seedheads are almost dry and nearly ready to harvest you can cut them and put them in paper bags in a warm dry place to finish drying.  Separate the varieties and species because they may drop the seeds.  Label your bags! Or you can surround seed heads or pods with paper bags and tie them right on the living plant.   

Sometimes gardeners have a hard time distinguishing the actual seeds from the seed pods, or remnants of flowers and fruit.   Put the ripe seed heads or pods in paper bags close and shake them.  You may see loose seeds in the bottom.  In most cases a ripe pod or seed head will split or otherwise open or drop its seeds, but in some cases even ripe pods must be opened.  Some flowers like Echinacea, rudbeckia, zinnia and others with daisy like flowers will have a bit of dried petal attached to the seed. Even when dry some of these flower heads must be pulled apart to separate the seeds. 

When you do have the seeds separated from pods and fruit let them dry for a few more days in a warm dark location.  Almost all garden seeds need to be thoroughly dry before storing them so they don’t mold or rot.  Clean out pieces of stem, pod and other debris before storing.  It’s best to place seeds in paper packages, even a twist of tissue or fold of newspaper, before placing them in sealed glass or plastic containers.  This absorbs moisture.  Once again- label containers, there’s nothing worse than forgetting what kinds of seeds you carefully saved.

After your seeds are packaged store the seeds of most common garden plants in the refrigerator crisper drawer or another cool dry dark spot.  Some tropical plant seeds may do better in warmer storage and some seeds may actually need freezing temperatures to properly prepare them for germination.  Most plants grown in temperate climates, both annuals and perennials need a period of cold dormancy before they germinate.  Even if they don’t they will store better in a cool location. 

Storing seeds – or a dry, dormant period – whether in cold or room temperature surroundings, may be all that’s need for some seeds to germinate.  You take them out of storage, plant them inside or outside, keep them moist and soon get new plants.  Common garden annuals, perennials and bi-annuals like zinnias, marigolds, cleome, calendula, nasturtium, annual sunflowers, petunias, poppies, hollyhocks, coleus, begonias, dill, borage, basil, sage, thyme, carrots, lettuce, beets, radishes, spinach, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers will do fine this way.

It’s important to note that some of the above seeds can fall on the ground in late summer and survive moist freezing weather and sprout in the spring when the weather is warm.  But they don’t have to be stored this way to germinate unlike some other plants.  You could plant the seeds of the above plants in the ground after you collect them and mark the spot, then hope they appear in the spring.  But you risk them blowing away, being eaten by animals, getting too wet and rotting or you mistaking them for weeds when they germinate in the spring.

Special germination needs

Some plants need stratification to properly germinate.  In nature stratification occurs when seeds lay in moist soil and are subjected to freezing and thawing.  Then they are ready to quickly germinate when warmer conditions occur- the amount of warmth to get them sprouting will vary by species.  The period that they need to be cold also varies.   In most cases cold stratification is needed, but in a few plants the seeds must be stored in warm and moist conditions to get good germination.

Many common garden perennials need stratification to germinate properly.  These include; Aconitum, Alchemilla, Asclepias (Milkweed), Baptisia, Bloodroot, Buddleia, Candytuft, Caryopteris, Chelone, Cimicifuga, Clematis, Chinese Lantern, Delphinium, Eremurus, Evening Primrose, Filipendula, Fuchsia, Gentians, Geranium species (Cranesbill Geranium), Helianthemum, Helianthus, Heliopsis, Helleborus, Heuchera, Hardy Hibiscus, Hypericum, Incarvillea (Hardy Gloxinia), Knautia,

Lavender, Marsh Marigold, Mazus,  Nepeta (Catmint), Penstemon, Persicaria, Phlox (all types), Platycodon, Primrose, (all types), Ranunculus, Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan, most types), Saponaria (Soapwort), Saxifrage, Scabiosa, Sedums, Sempervivums (Hen-and-Chicks), Sidalcea, St. John’s-Wort, Stokesia, Thalictrum, Tiarella, Tricyrtis (Toad-lily), Veronica, Violas Violets, Virginia Bluebells.

Many wildflowers/natives that a gardener might want to establish also require cold stratification.  Check with experienced growers or it wouldn’t hurt to assume that most wildflowers that drop seed in late summer and fall would need stratification.

Gardeners can achieve stratification by simply planting the seeds of the above plants in the fall in the ground where you want them to grow and marking the spot.  Or you can place the seeds in moist vermiculite in containers in the crisper of the refrigerator, which will be cold enough for most seeds.  A compromise is to plant the seeds in pots of sterile potting mix, well moistened and sink them in the ground covered with mulch.  Remove the mulch when the ground thaws.

If you want to start plants early inside, make sure that they get about 12 weeks of cold, dark treatment before moving them to a warmer, lighted place for germination.

Scarification/soaking

Some seeds require scarification to allow seeds to germinate.  This is the breaking of the seed coat to let moisture in.  These plants may also require a cold period before the scarification process.  In nature the breaking of hard seed coats may happen when animals eat seeds and pass them in feces, with freezing and thawing, with long periods of soaking, or other mechanical breaching or softening of the seed coat.

Some common garden plant seeds that require scarification/and or soaking include morning glories, moonflower vines, wisteria, bedding geranium-(Pelargonium), purple hyacinth beans, babtisia and canna.  These may also require soaking.

Assume that very hard seeds will at least need soaking before they can take up water and germinate.   Soak most seeds in warm water for overnight only.  Too much soaking may drown the embryo inside.  Then wrap the seeds in moist paper towel, slide that in a plastic bag but leave it open just a bit for air.  Place the bag in a warm, well lit place and watch for signs of a root sprouting.  As soon as you see roots the seed can be planted in the ground or pots and kept moist until the leaves are seen.

To actually break the seed coat you can use a nail clipper to chip a tiny hole or a nail file to score one.  Examine the seed before you begin.  You do not want to damage the embryo inside.  There will generally be a slight indentation and a tiny pore where the embryo rests against the inside. The spot may be a different color. Score or chip the seed on the opposite side.  Some people even resort to cracking larger hard seeds with a nut cracker, but you only want to crack, not remove the seed coat.  Then soak the seeds as above. 

Seeds that should not be stored very long

These seeds should be planted soon after you collect them.  If they are cold hardy you can plant them outside. Otherwise plant in pots inside.  The sooner they are planted the better germination will be.

Anthurium, Asparagus species, Clivia, perennial Delphinium, Geranium (Pelargonium) Gerbera, Ginkgo, Impatiens, Kochia, Philodendron, Magnolia, onions, Passiflora, Potentilla, Salvia splendens Tanecetum coccinium (or Pyrethrum).

Special needs plants

Baptisia australis needs to be stored cold (dry) about 6-8 weeks (or longer is fine).  Then soak overnight in warm water, add inoculant for peas and beans and plant inside or outside after danger of frost.  Or plant outside immediately after collecting the seeds using inoculant and expect sprouting in late spring.

Lilies- Asiatic and trumpets - plant outside as soon as seed is collected or save seed in cool area and plant in pots in early spring inside at 60-75 degrees.  They take a long time to germinate, up to 6 weeks, and should not be left in pots very long before transplanting outside.  Oriental lily seed should be planted in baggies or small pots of moist vermiculite and left in a warm, (65 degrees +) bright room for 3-4 months until a small bulb forms.  Then they should be placed in a cooler area for 3 weeks- about 50 degrees, and then an even colder place, just above freezing for a cold dormancy of 12 weeks.  Keep barely moist.  After 12 weeks bring them back into a warm bright area or plant outside.  Lilies grown from seed take several years to bloom.

Gladiolus To possibly have flowers the first year store glad seeds in the refrigerator crisper until January.  Then pot them in a warm bright place, they can take a month to germinate- and move outside after frost is over.  Dig up corms before frost and store overwinter.  Almost all will bloom the second year outside.

Iris-  Bearded iris- you can plant them in the ground or pots sunk in the ground right after collecting.  Or rinse seeds in a mix of 10% chlorine bleach, and store seeds in a bag of moist vermiculite in the refrigerator crisper for 3 months.  Then germinate at 55 degrees in bright light.  Plant outside in spring.  It will take 2-3 years to get blooms.  

Siberian and Japanese iris seed should be soaked in a bowl of water which is emptied and re-filled each day for 2 weeks.  Then they are given a final rinse of 10% chlorine bleach and stored in moist vermiculite in the refrigerator crisper for 12 weeks.  Any that have sprouted should then be potted and placed in a warm bright location.  Un-sprouted seeds should be warmed every day for three days by placing them in water that feels barely warm to the touch for about a half hour.  Then plant them in a warm bright location and plant outside as soon as possible.

Yucca- yucca has a low germination rate outside but a better one if started inside.  Keep the seeds in moist vermiculite in a warm, dark location for at least 30 days.  Then pot up and keep at 65-75 degrees and in bright conditions.  The potting mix should be very well draining, but kept moist.  It can take a year for germination so be patient!  They can be planted outside when they are a few inches tall at a frost free time.

Wisteria – the seeds need to be nicked or cracked and soaked for 24 hours before planting, preferably outside in fall or they can be planted inside at normal room temperatures and bright light.  They take years to bloom from seed.

Trumpet vines- You can plant the seed outside after collecting or store it in moist vermiculite in the refrigerator crisper for 12 weeks, then plant in pots at a moderate temperature inside.  Germination may take weeks.  Plants take a few years to bloom and should be transplanted while still small.

Canna- Canna seeds are very hard and need to be first nicked or scratched and then they are put in a pan and boiling water is poured over them.  After you hear pops – or in a few minutes- remove the seeds. They are then soaked in cool water overnight and should have doubled their size.  Next they are planted in pots in a warm 75 degree + room with bright light.  They should sprout within a week.  The temperature can be lowered slowly to about 65 degrees.  Plant outside after the danger of frost is over and if started in February they will flower by August generally.  They do not sprout well if the seed is simply planted outside in the spring.

Daylilies- daylilies can be direct seeded in the garden and will sprout in spring.  However daylily breeders believe they germinate better if started inside. The seed must be placed in moist vermiculite or in rolls of damp towels in the refrigerator for 6 weeks.  They are then potted in individual small pots and kept in a warm, bright room until they are planted outside in spring.  It takes 2 or more years to get a bloom.

Hosta- hosta seed can also be planted outside in fall but many gardeners collect the seeds and  store them inside dry in the refrigerator. To germinate after at least 6 weeks cold storage, soak the seeds for a half hour in warm water and then pot them in early spring to get a jump on the season.  Grow in bright light inside in moderate temperatures. Plant outside in late spring.  Full leaf coloration may not develop until the second year.

Why some plants don’t develop seeds

Some hybrid plants have been genetically modified so that they are sterile and don’t produce seeds.  This may be because they are invasive, or because we don’t like eating the seeds as in the case of seedless watermelons. The seeds or fruit could be too messy or look bad.  Or the sterility could be a side effect of breeding for double flowers, odd colors or other things.  Besides watermelon you may get sterile daylilies, roses, crabapples, and various other plants. The common ditch daylily is always sterile.  These plants are propagated by cuttings or division.

Some types of garlic produce bulbils instead of seed.
Plants may not produce seeds because they are not mature enough.  If a plants flowers don’t get pollinated because of poor weather or lack of pollinators there won’t be seeds. Some plants require pollination by another plant and if the right partner isn’t close enough they can’t produce seeds.  In some exotic plants a pollinator is required that doesn’t exist where the plant is being grown. And some plants require a set of environmental conditions that are just right before they bloom and produce seeds.

Many plants that reproduce by runners, rhizomes or bulbs don’t produce many seeds or any seeds.  They can reproduce quite well without seeds and don’t put the energy into seed development.  And of course if you dead head flowers- take the flowers off after blooming- you aren’t going to get seeds

Count the number of seeds and fruits you are eating at your next meal and thank the plants they came from.

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.

Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share?  Post them here by emailing me.

An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/875574275841637/

Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area


Here’s a link to classes being offered at Campbell’s Greenhouse, 4077 Burnside Road, North Branch.  Now open.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor
Here’s a link to programs being offered at English Gardens, several locations in Michigan.

Here’s a link to classes at Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy and Shelby Twsp. MI, and now combined with Goldner Walsh in Pontiac MI.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Bordines, Rochester Hills, Grand Blanc, Clarkston and Brighton locations

Here’s a link to events at the Leslie Science and Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road Ann Arbor, Michigan  | Phone 734-997-1553 |
http://www.lesliesnc.org/

Here’s a link to events at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Rd, Tipton, MI

Here’s a link to all the nature programs being offered at Seven Ponds Nature center in Dryden, Michigan. http://www.sevenponds.org/education/progs/springprograms/

Here’s a link to events and classes at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Mi
http://www.meijergardens.org/learn/ (888) 957-1580, (616) 957-1580

Exhibitors/demonstrators wanted
Seven Ponds Nature Center ( Dryden Mi.) Heritage Harvest Days, scheduled for September 19 and 20 is looking for additional artists and crafters who can demonstrate, display, and sell their work, especially that related to nature.  All exhibitors receive free admission to the event, as well as free lunch on one day of the festival. Please contact the center at 810-796-3200 if you would like to set up a booth or exhibit this year.



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.
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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