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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

September 8, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

September 8, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter    © Kim Willis


Hi Gardeners

As I write this the rain has ended temporarily and the sun is trying to come out- which probably isn’t good since it may boost the storm potential that is due later today.  A quick look at radar shows a big mass of rain and storms just crossing Lake Michigan and on its way here.  We had almost an inch when I checked the rain gauge this morning and it has been raining for hours since then. I am a little sick of rain.  There are supposed to be lingering showers tomorrow then we get a partly sunny day before rain returns on Friday.
First brugmansia flower
And I am so glad it will be cooler next week.

West Nile disease cases in humans are showing up in Michigan.  The mosquitoes have been awful these past few weeks and they transmit the disease to humans so make sure to protect yourself when outside gardening.  Dump out all the things in your yard that hold water to help keep mosquitoes from breeding.

The rain has caused many crop and garden problems.  Hay farmers are having a hard time finding a window to cut and dry hay.  This year’s wheat crop, harvested in late July, has a lot of vomitoxin problems.  Vomitoxin is produced by a fungus on wheat and it does what the name suggests, makes humans and animals vomit when they eat the contaminated grain. It’s worse in wet weather and it can affect other grains so farmers are worrying about the corn crop which won’t be harvested for a while.  Soybeans are suffering from a disease called white mold, caused by wet weather in many areas.

Brugmansia after a few days
Gardeners are experiencing tremendous disease problems on tomatoes.  I am still getting  some ripe tomatoes but the vines are dying quickly due to various fungal diseases. Late blight is the problem in some places but there are plenty of other fungal diseases this year too. Many people are also having troubles with cucumbers and squash this summer, usually due to fungal disease.  Pepper plants struggled this year because of cool temps- now the hot weather has made some of them pick up growth but it’s probably too late to do any good.

Apple harvest has begun in Michigan with Gala apples and a few other early varieties.  The apple crop looks good and apples are large in size this year.  There was no peach crop to speak of this season in southeast Michigan, a small crop on the west side.  Japanese beetles and spotted wing dropsilla, a fly like pest are affecting the crops of late raspberries. Grape harvest hasn’t begun in most of Michigan.

Inside shot of brugmansia
The brugmansia on my deck, variety Cypress Gardens, has finally begun blooming and I have been fascinated with the process.  Once it began blooming flowers have opened every couple days.  The flowers are white the first day and turn peach-pink the second day.  They hang on the plant for several days and have a light sweet scent like a combination of lily and jasmine.  A white bloom begins to open in the morning and is open by evening.  The next day it is pink and remains pink.  I thought the blooms would quickly drop like hibiscus but one has been there for 6 days.

The rain has made the flower beds look drab and droopy.  The hardy hibiscus flowers are hanging like colorful rags and powdery mildew and rust are infecting plants. At least we haven’t had to do much watering.  I am probably going to have to bail some water out of my little water feature before the fish flop over the sides.

Toad lilies are in bloom.  I still have hostas in bloom along with sweet autumn clematis, hardy hibiscus, rose of Sharon, dahlias, canna, and a late flush of the hardy roses. My mums are starting to bloom.  I stopped fertilizing the annuals, they are a bit bedraggled looking but still blooming.  Goldenrod and asters are blooming on the roadsides.

The trees are starting to change color, especially the Maples. I have a bumper crop of acorns falling everywhere.  Fall is on its way.

Have you ordered your fall bulbs?

It’s time to get those fall bulbs ordered, before the best things are gone. The catalogs have been out since spring.  It’s often hard to get yourself motivated to think of planting this time of year but think how happy you will be in the spring when all your new beauties bloom.  I like to try some new species of bulbs every year.  Bulbs are great planted under your hosta foliage.  In the spring they bloom before the hostas unfurl and then the hosta foliage covers the dying bulb foliage.

Besides the typical tulips, daffodils and other spring bloomers now is the time to buy and plant lilies, iris, and some wildflowers like trilliums.  If you don’t have a catalog just go online to one of the many bulb companies.  Try Brecks, McClure and Zimmerman, Old House Gardens, Van Bourgordien, Van Engelen and Dutch Gardens  for good bulb prices and selections.

Seeds and fruits that could kill you

Last week I had a lot of information about seeds but I forgot something. Some seeds and fruits of common garden plants are not your friends.  These plants have devised very effective ways to protect their babies from being destroyed by animals; they have made them poisonous with various chemicals. You won’t want to eat any of these.  Here is a list of some of those well protected, poisonous seeds and/or fruit.  This list may not include all poisonous seeds and fruits and certainly doesn’t cover all garden plants with poisonous parts.  The list includes plants whose seeds or fruits are most likely to attract adventuresome eaters.

Black Locust- the beans from this tree are toxic.

Castor beans- a beautiful garden plant that has some of the most deadly poisons in the world.  Ricin, which comes from castor beans, can kill an adult with a dose the size of a pin head.  Castor oil is also made from those beans, which is used as a folk remedy laxative, and is also a not so friendly home remedy.  If you grow the plants and have kids, vulnerable adults or pets make sure to cut the flowers off before they go to seed.  The plant should not be eaten either.
Castor bean plant.

Daphne – a shrub with spring flowers that turn into poisonous black berries. 

English Ivy- all parts of English ivy are poison but grown outside English Ivy can produce red berries that may be attractive to kids and pets but are quite poisonous.  Grown inside as a house plant it rarely flowers to produce berries.

Horse chestnut- the nuts produced by these trees are covered with a spiny outer coat.  While the “seed” inside may look like an edible chestnut it is poisonous and should not be eaten, even after cooking.

Jerusalem Cherry- this is generally grown as a houseplant that is loaded with small red berries. These berries are quite poisonous and the plants should be kept away from kids and pets.

Jimson weed- datura- This plant is sometimes grown as an ornamental for its beautiful white trumpet shaped flowers.  It’s often called Angels trumpets or moonflower although both of those names are used for other plants too.  The seeds of this plant are inside a thorny capsule.  They are a potent hallucinogenic but can be deadly if too much is ingested.  Other parts of the plant are also poisonous. Teenagers often hear of the plant and steal seed pods to get the seeds.  They often end up in emergency rooms after ingesting them and some people have died from overdoses.

Lilies of the valley- these plants with their tiny white fragrant flowers produce a red berry that is poisonous.  Other parts of the plant are also poisonous.

Mistletoe – this is usually purchased as a Christmas decoration but the white berries are very toxic – keep it away from kids and pets.

Morning glory- the Morning glory produces round papery seed pods full of hard black seeds.  These seeds are hallucinogenic if ingested and too many could be fatal.  This is another seed that is attractive to teens through word of mouth but can cause serious medical problems if ingested.  Other parts of the plant are poisonous too.

Privet- this common hedge plant produces black berries that are poison.

Purple hyacinth bean – while bean suggests it might be edible the bean pods and seeds of this plant are poisonous even if cooked.  Keep the pods cut off if you enjoy this plant as an ornamental.

Kidney beans- this may surprise you but raw kidney beans are quite poisonous.  Cooking makes them safe to eat.

Oleander- this plant is sometimes grown in pots in the north for its pretty flowers but in the ground in the south.  It has the common name of suicide plant because just a seed or two can cause death.

Pokeweed
Pokeweed – this common weed is striking with its tall reddish tinged foliage and clusters of purple-black berries. In late summer it’s one of the most requested plant identification subjects. The young shoots of the plant can be eaten in early spring if cooked in several changes of water. They are called poke-salad or poke greens.  However the berries are poison- regardless if they are cooked or not.  Mature plant parts are also poisonous.  The berries are quite attractive to kids and even adults mistake them for elderberries or other edible fruit.  They cause many cases of plant poisoning each year in the US.  Pokeweed should not be grown where children, vulnerable adults and pets can find the berries.

Sweet peas- there are wild and cultivated varieties of sweet peas but they have one thing in common- the pods and beans are poisonous.  Don’t confuse them with garden peas.

Yews- yews are a soft needled evergreen often found in home landscapes.  All parts of the yew are poisonous and even a few mouthfuls of yew can kill a grown cow.  Yews produce red fleshy berries with black seeds inside.  While the red fleshy part is not poisonous – birds like them- swallowing just one or 2 of the small seeds inside could kill a child.  Yews should not be planted in landscape used by children, vulnerable adults or pets and should be kept far away from livestock areas.

Gardeners may choose to grow some of these plants and others that are poisonous which is fine if they are aware of the plants toxicity and take steps to protect those that aren’t knowledgeable.

Preparing to bring in the houseplants and tropical plants

We may not be getting frost just yet but it’s time to start thinking about where and when you are going to bring the tender plants and tropicals back inside.  If your plants liked their vacation outside they may have grown tremendously and the spot they occupied last winter may no longer suit them.  Many gardeners will have purchased or grown new plants over the summer that need inside homes for winter.  Some gardeners will have discovered that they can overwinter some plants they considered annuals inside and save money by not having to purchase them next year.

The first thing to do is survey the inside growing space you have.  Know which windows face which direction so you can plan the right pair up with plants.  Plants can be overwintered away from windows if you have brightly lit areas or are willing to provide supplemental light somewhere, such as in a basement.  Even with windows some plants that require high light conditions may need supplemental lighting.  The new compact fluorescent bulbs and LED lights make supplemental lighting affordable and are safer than older light bulbs.

Will you need new shelves, tables or plant stands?  It’s time to shop for them or make them.  Small ladders can be painted and make great multilevel stands in front of windows. Put up shelf brackets on the sides of windows and add shelves so several layers of plants can share the window.  Some dedicated house plant growers know there is no need for curtains if you have enough plants.

You should also be checking over the plants.  Do they need to be re-potted or are they in the ground and need to be potted?  Potting is much easier and cleaner when done outside.  Buy some lightweight potting medium instead of using garden soil to pot plants and they will be lighter, plus you will have fewer problems with insects and other pests being brought inside.  If plants need to be dug up and potted do it now and leave the newly potted plants outside until frost or cold weather.  They will adjust better to the pot if other conditions like light and humidity are the same as their previous location. 

Plants may need to be pruned or shaped before being brought inside.  It’s generally easier to do this outdoors. You may want to take cuttings of some larger plants and root them rather than bringing a large plant inside.  Geraniums, coleus, various ivies and vining plants are often better preserved this way.

Check you plant containers for signs that mice, frogs or other critters haven’t taken up residence in them.  Drainage holes that look like they have been enlarged are a tell-tale sign of mouse invasion.  You won’t want to bring them inside, dump the pot and re-pot with clean soil, checking the rootball of the plant for hidden guests.  Frogs and toads are often on the pots surface or lightly dug into the potting soil and can be hard to spot.  They can also hide in the foliage.

Pests and disease problems should be dealt with outside.  Once the plants are crowded together inside these things can quickly spread.  Spray plants with insecticides outside, rather than polluting your air inside.  You may want to use systemic insecticides if you notice scale or other insects.  These are poured on the soil and taken up by the plant.

Know when to bring in your plants.  Some plants can be covered up before a light frost and survive well into late fall outside.  Others should be brought inside even before frost if the nights are getting very cool.  And some plants will need no protection until very hard freezes or heavy snow is predicted.

Bring streptocarpus in early.
 In general tropical plants need to come in first.  When nights are regularly getting into the low 40’s bring them inside.  This includes things like staghorn fern, African violets, streptocarpus, philodendrons, some bromeliads, orchids, sweet potato vines, Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas cacti, and other houseplants that prefer warm conditions.

Plants that should be brought in when a frost threatens include coleus, rex begonias, peace lilies, ficus, rubber plants, most jasmines, brugmansia, jade plants, kalanachoe, mandevilla, tropical pond lilies, ornamental peppers, aloe, gingers, Boston fern, other tropical ferns, palms, and Chinese hibiscus. 

Plants that can be covered at night when frost is predicted and stay outside a bit longer include  tuberous and cane begonias, poinsettias, geraniums, spider plants, Norfolk pines, citrus trees, rosemary, dracaenas, (spikes) polka dot plant, abutilon, hardy jasmine, gardenias and any semi-tender perennials you are going to overwinter such as plants not quite hardy in your zone.  These should be brought in before a hard freeze.  Some may not be killed but will go into dormancy and lose their foliage if left out too long.  If you are in doubt bring it inside.  Better safe than sorry.

You can cover most blooming true annuals before a frost and extend their garden stay but most annuals won’t do well when brought inside.  Some tender perennials we use as annuals like petunias also fade quickly inside.

Potted mums for fall decorations- how to keep them another season

Fall means chrysanthemums in many areas of the country. Potted mums in blazing or soothing colors are outside the doors of every store. Gardeners buy them to pop into beds where annuals have fizzled or have been killed by frost. They are very affordable and create a vibrant look in the late fall garden. Potted mums are also one of the best plants for cleaning pollutants from indoor air, so they may be good indoor decorations too.

There is nothing wrong with using mums as annuals, and not worrying if they will survive the winter. They will continue blooming with proper care until a hard freeze or snowfall kills them. You can just leave them outside until then. Even if the tag says hardy mum, many of the mums you buy in full bloom in the fall would not survive winter and bloom next year if you plant them this fall.  But there are some tricks that you can use that might help you save some of these mums to bloom again another year.

First keep the mums well-watered.  They are often sold in small pots that dry out rapidly even in cool weather.  Keep them in a sunny spot on the deck or in bright light inside.  At this time don’t use fertilizer on the plants.  They are primed to bloom by greenhouse techniques and the decreasing daylight and don’t really need it.

If you are putting them in a garden bed for color, simply sink the pot in the ground.  You could plant the mums in the ground but you’ll actually have less success in getting them through the winter than if you follow the tip below.  While you could dig them up and re-pot them for winter holding, it’s easier to just leave them in the pot.

If you do plant a mum in the ground when you buy it don’t trim back the dead foliage in late fall.  Leave it until spring.  Mums do best when the dead foliage is left to protect the crown over winter.  Plant the potted mums into the ground as soon as you buy them if you want a good chance of them surviving winter.

When a hard freeze or good snowfall is predicted it’s time to rescue your potted mums.  Bring them inside to a cool room with bright light.  This can be a sunny window in an unheated room or under a grow light in the basement. Mums will even stay healthy at temperatures slightly below freezing if protected. The best temperature would be between 40 and 60 degrees F.  Trim off any dead flowers.  Many times the plants are still blooming vigorously when brought inside and that’s fine. 

While inside you will probably need to water the mums less frequently. The pot should dry out slightly between watering but don’t let them wilt.  If they do wilt, quickly water them and they may revive.  Just don’t let this happen too often.  Don’t fertilize the plants now.

Once blooming slows down or quits cut all of the mum stems back about one third of their length.  If it’s quite cool the mums will enter a semi-dormant phase.  The leaves will remain green but there won’t be much new growth. That’s a good way to keep them until about March.  Even if the leaves brown a bit the plant is probably still alive.  Sometimes the leaves and stems will turn entirely brown if they get really cold but if you look closely and see green near the base of stems the plant may recover.  In this case cut the dead areas off to about 2 inches from the soil surface.

If you are keeping them a little on the warm side new growth will appear.  Mums can get very lanky and ugly looking if this growth is allowed to grow unchecked.  Instead pinch out the young tips of new growth after they have reached 2 inches or so.  This will keep the plant compact and nice looking.  You may need to do this more than once.

When March comes you can bring the mum into warmer conditions if you have a place.  If the plant is exposed to natural light the lengthening daylight will cause the mum to come out of dormancy even if it’s still cool in its area.  You can start fertilizing with a weak fertilizer solution for blooming plants.  The plant will need water more often as it begins to grow. 

Keep new growth pinched back to 2-3 inches and give the mum as much light as you can.  As soon as temperatures moderate in the spring, the ground is thawed and no hard freezes are likely move the mum outside.  In Michigan that’s probably around the beginning of May. You can plant it in the ground or re-pot it into a slightly larger pot.  Use some slow release fertilizer for blooming plants, according to label directions, on the mums.

If you want a compact plant pinch off the tips of those stems until mid–June.  After that quit pinching to let the flower buds form.  Sometimes a saved mum planted in the ground in the spring will flower a lot earlier than other hardy mums because it had a bit of a head start. If the plant is in the ground leave it there the second winter, there’s a good chance it will return in the spring.  Most mums will get larger and fuller with each passing season.

Mums are really better off planted in the ground in spring rather than being re-potted for a second winter inside. But if you re-potted the mum in the spring and want to keep it potted, follow the same procedures listed above.

There are hardy garden mums that will give you years of color.  These hardy mums are best planted in the spring.  You’ll find them being sold as small plants generally, but they grow rapidly through the summer and should bloom the first fall.

Finally- we’re studying marijuana botanically

Because of its illegal status marijuana has been little studied by mainstream botanists and researchers.  It’s hard to collect grow or transport plants, much less keep them in labs because in many places such possession would be illegal and not supported by public funding.  While the US is still dragging its heels with this extremely useful plant Canada is coming out of the dark ages.  (Note marihuana and marijuana are both correct spellings.)

Jonathan Page, a University of British Columbia botanist and Sean Myles, a population geneticist at Dalhousie University conducted a major study of the evolutionary history and genetics of cannabis. The study looked at looked at the genotypes of 81 marijuana and 43 hemp samples.  While marijuana and hemp are closely related hemp is generally grown for its oil and fiber and has little medicinal or recreational use.

The researchers found that most cannabis plants come from three species C. sativa, C. indica and C. ruderalis.  Medicinal and recreational growers have long known of the 3 species and often assign specific attributes to “strains” of marijuana based on the percentages of each species genetic contribution to the strain.  For example C.indica strains are said to give a more mellow high and C.sativa strains a more stimulating high.  In places where recreational or medicinal marijuana is sold you’ll find sellers touting the advantages of named varieties of pot often based on the supposed genetics of the strain.

What the researchers found when they analyzed the genetics of various named strains was that the growers often didn’t have a good handle on the genetics of the plant and what species of cannabis contributed to it.  Often growers said the strain was mostly derived from one cannabis species when actually it came from another.  While there is no doubt that different strains may have different chemical components and effects on the body, the growers of those strains are often mistaken about the genetics.

Hemp is classified as Cannabis sativa, but the C. sativa grown for fiber and oil is vastly different genetically from the C. sativa strains grown for recreational use due to selective breeding.  It’s extremely beneficial to learn the genetic differences between cannabis used for fiber and oil and that used for medicine and recreational use.   Some medical uses are more beneficial when a particular strain of cannabis is used and researchers need to know the true genetics of those strains so treatments can be standardized.  This study is helping botanists get a better picture of cannabis genetics.

Canada has the right attitude about cannabis.  More than 80,000 acres of Canadian land is growing hemp for fiber and oil production, more than any other place in the world.  Canada also licenses 25 medical cannabis growers to provide their more than 21,000 medical marijuana patients with quality, legal product.

Journal Reference: The Genetic Structure of Marijuana and Hemp. PLoS One, August 26, 2015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133292

Fall web worms

If you are noticing those huge webs of wiggling worms on the tips of branches on trees in your area, don’t be alarmed. The fall webworm is a native seasonal pest that doesn’t significantly harm trees even though they look pretty ugly. In Michigan we begin seeing the “tents” of fall webworm in late August. Even after a hard freeze kills the worms inside, or they have become pupae, the nests may hang in the trees until winter winds dislodge them.

Fall webworms are often confused with their spring cousins, the Eastern Tent Caterpillar. Fall webworms enclose leaves at the end of a branch with their white, web like tent. They feed inside the tent and enlarge it when all the leaves inside are eaten. Eastern tent caterpillars make their tents in the crotches of branches and they leave the tent to feed on leaves, returning to the tent for protection from weather. Eastern tent caterpillars appear in late spring and early summer, fall webworms late in the summer.

The nests of fall webworms are usually on the outside branches of a tree, where the branch extends over an open sunny area such as a road or lawn. This makes them very visible to concerned gardeners. Each nest contains a colony of small caterpillars, busily feeding on tree leaves. The caterpillars are either red headed or black headed. Black headed webworms are greenish, with two rows of black bumps on the sides. Red headed webworms are tan with orange or red bumps. Both are covered in long white hairs.

The adult fall webworm is a small white moth, occasionally marked with a few black spots. She lays her eggs on the underside of leaves, where they hatch and begin feeding. The young feed for about 6 weeks then drop to the ground to pupate and over-winter. Occasionally in Michigan’s southern counties there is enough warm weather in fall for the first generation to turn into moths and create a second generation. Levels of the pest are higher in some years too, with heavier populations every 5-7 years.
Fall webworm on walnut tree

Fall webworms prefer to feed on trees such as wild cherry, walnut, hickories and fruit trees but can feed on almost any tree. They seldom feed on willows and cottonwoods. When a tent or web is disturbed all the little caterpillars move in a peculiar synchronized jiggling movement. This may be their attempt to make a predator think something much larger is lurking within.

Controlling fall webworm

Since trees are near the end of their active cycle the loss of leaves from Fall Webworms doesn’t harm them much. If the nests offend you, you can use your garden hose to spray them out of the tree or use a stick to knock them down, and then smash the worms. Worms won’t crawl back up the tree when knocked to the ground. You can trim the tents out of the tree if doing so doesn’t harm the looks of the tree. Valuable ornamental trees can be treated with systemic pesticides early in summer. These go through the tree and kill the worms as they start to feed on leaves later in the year.

Pesticide sprays are not recommended as the collateral damage to the environment isn’t worth it, as trees are barely affected by the feeding of the Fall Webworm. Most pesticides do not effectively penetrate the webs; they would have to be torn open. Spraying foliage around the nests may kill the caterpillars when they enclose more leaves into the web. And burning the tents with a blowtorch is as dangerous to the tree and to you as it is to the worms.

Fall webworms have several natural enemies in Michigan including yellow jackets and paper wasps. If you tolerate these insects on your property then you may have fewer fall webworms. Birds also like to eat the worms, especially if you tear the web for them.

Boots, raincoats and umbrellas today. Add a sweater tomorrow.

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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