November 3,
2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter © Kim Willis
http://www.examiner.com/country-living-in-detroit/kimberley-willis
Hi Gardeners
 |
| Milkweed ready to fly. |
This weather is so gorgeous and it just makes me feel good. I
am hoping this record setting warmth is truly predicting the weather we will
have this fall and winter. Anyway every
nice sunny warm day now is appreciated and gets us closer to spring. My doors and windows are open letting in the
warm air.
I have been able to get all my bulbs planted and the summer bulbs dug
up. I emptied the ornamental water
feature. I collected some more garden seeds. I still have carrots to harvest and a nice
crop of romaine lettuce. I am hoping to
get some more garden cleanup done as I am behind on that.
Some pansies came up from seed and are blooming in various parts of the
yard. Calendula and marigolds are
blooming with the mums. One of my hardy
hibiscus popped out a new flower. The woodland nicotiana is still blooming
which amazes me since I consider it a warmth loving plant. And the landscape roses continue to bloom
quite happily.
Last week the robins gathered in large groups around the pond and autumn
olive berries. Then one day I went out
and the red winged blackbirds were everywhere around the pond making their
raspy little song. A flock was migrating through. Both groups are gone now though and so are
the turkey vultures. I sat outside
yesterday evening and it was very quiet.
Just the occasional cawing of a crow and the beeping of a chick a dee
could be heard. I miss the bird songs
but that’s why I have canaries and parakeets inside.
The leaves are going fast too. I’d
say only a week or so more for any leaf color.
A lot of my trees are already bare.
The grass is nice and green though.
Asian
Lady Beetles
I have been hearing from a lot of people about these pesky lady
bugs. I was trying to work outside and
they kept landing on my face. It seems
like we are having a boom year for these lady beetles. As the soybean fields get harvested the
little buggers move to our houses to hibernate for the winter. This is what
makes them much more hated than our native lady beetles.
Even though it seems they are more of a pest than a help, these lady
beetles do eat a lot of aphids and other insects. So we should still consider them beneficial. They
may cover the side of a house outside, particularly on the sunny side, and that
alarms people but they aren’t really harmful to humans. They can give you a
little nip but they are not poisonous and carry no human diseases. They don’t
eat your food. They don’t breed in your house. They don’t destroy wood or
clothing. They do smell bad if crushed
and can leave a stain. And they taste
awful if you have ever swallowed one accidentally.
The Asian lady beetle is highly variable in color and markings, they can
be orange, yellow or brownish with various numbers of black spots. But they all have a black w or m marking on
the back of the head, depending on how you are looking at them. And unlike native lady beetles they cluster
in large groups to hibernate.
But do try to keep them out of the house. Brush yourself off before you go in the door
and seal up all the little cracks if you can.
Let them hide under the siding outside or in the shed or barn. They’ll disperse in spring. It isn’t wise to spray them with pesticides,
especially inside. Few pesticides kill
them easily and you do more harm to yourself spraying inside than you do to
them. You can vacuum them up if you have large numbers inside, a hand vac works
well. There are no products that
effectively repel them so don’t fall for things being sold as such.
November almanac
This month’s
full moon occurs on November 25th. It’s called the full beaver or full frost
moon. In earlier times beaver traps were
set about this time and of course a large part of the country has now received
killing frosts.
Speaking
about the skies a piece of space junk called WT1190F is supposed to hit the
earth on Friday, Nov. 13th. Wow what a coincidence a piece of junk with
the letters WTF in its name crashes on Friday the 13th. But this isn’t a joke. The junk piece may burn up in the atmosphere. But if it doesn’t NASA says it will fall in
the ocean off Sri Lanka. The object is
thought to be hollow and maybe 6 foot long.
Its unusual that it is returning to ground and that a path for it could
be predicted. Most space junk can’t be
tracked or a path predicted. This was
only found in early October by chance. Scientists are actually hoping some of
it will survive entry and they can get a look at what it is and what it came
from. They think it’s from one of our
many space explorations but what if it was from another world’s exploration or
worse – a pod of alien life? OHHH
SPOOKY.
Back to
more mundane things. Both topaz and citrine are considered to be birthstones
for November. November's birth flower is the chrysanthemum. It’s National Adoption month, Native American
Heritage Month, Peanut Butter Lovers month, American Diabetes Month, National
Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, and Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
In England
November 5th is known as Guy Fawkes Day, or Bonfire night. It originally celebrated to commemorate what
was known as the gunpowder revolution but has become known as a day to burn
effigies or pictures of hated people and things. If you have an anger issue that night may be
your chance to burn some anger.
November 11th
is Veterans Day, the 13th is Sadie Hawkins Day, World Diabetes Day
is November 14, World Toilet Day, whatever that means, is November 19th,
November 26th is Thanksgiving. Black Friday, which is an actual
holiday in some states is the 27th. The 28th is a busy day, Abe Lincoln and Robert
E Lees birthdays,(isn’t it odd they share a birthday?) and American Indian
Heritage day.
Native American Crops to give thanks
for
North and
South America are the source of some of the world’s best or most important food
crops. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, (most
edible bean types are from the new world),tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, sweet
potatoes, eggplant, sunflowers, Jerusalem artichoke, amaranth, quinoa, wild
rice, (a different family of plants from Asian rice), avocados, pecans,
peanuts,(no, they did not originate in Africa but in South America), brazil
nuts, cashews, black walnuts, cranberries, blueberries, papaya, pineapple, passionfruit,
pawpaw, chocolate, vanilla, chives, sage,
wintergreen.
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| American food. |
Turkeys are
native to the Americas. While there were
certainly maple trees in other parts of the world maple syrup was not utilized
until after contact with North American people using it. There were grapes and strawberries in other
parts of the world but species from the new world greatly improved these crops.
And of course two very important non- food crops that came from the new world
were tobacco and cotton.
If the
history of where food crops come from, how they were domesticated and used interests
you I recommend reading the book - GLORIOUS
HISTORIES: Tales from the Traditional Kitchen Garden by David C. Stuart,
July 2012. The 237 page book covers
most plant food crops, including how to prepare each item with recipes often
given. The author claims to have grown
and eaten all of the 120 crops described. There are lots of pictures and illustrations.
The electronic version is a great value
at only $3.00 (Amazon) – I don’t know if it’s available in a paper edition.
Why shouldn’t we ban celery instead
of bacon?
Ok, I just
had to weigh in on the issue of bacon causing cancer- and red meat being
suspected of it. It seems the nitrites
that are used to cure bacon and many other meats such as ham, sausage, corned
beef, bologna, and so on, are said to be the culprits for what a panel of experts
believe is an increased chance of colon cancer.
But here’s
the thing. Our bodies require nitrites
for the proper digestion of foods and to maintain a healthy cardio-vascular
system. Athletes take nitrite supplements to help their performances. In fact nitrites
are so important that our bodies actually produce most of the nitrites we need
from protein we eat. The salivary glands
begin producing nitrites the minute you put food in your mouth, whether its
bacon or not. Most of the nitrites found
in the body are produced by the body, only a small percent comes directly from
food we eat. And here’s the surprise –
MORE THAN 90% of DIETARY NITRITES COMES FROM PLANT FOODS. And that’s 90% of the
20% or so of nitrites not produced by your body itself. Our water supplies often have nitrites in
them also.
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| These foods are higher in nitrates than bacon. |
Even if you
ate a lot of processed meat unless you ate no fruits and vegetables at all, you
would get most dietary nitrites from plant based foods. Things like leafy
greens, spinach, celery, beans, potatoes, onions, wheat, corn, oats, oranges,
tomatoes, apples, and all plant foods have lots of nitrites. Of course some plant food sources have more
nitrites than others. Take celery for
instance. It’s so high in nitrites that celery
juice and celery powder are now used to –CURE BACON. Celery is used as a preservative because of
its high nitrate content. Yep that
delightful taste of processed and smoked meats is now frequently caused by celery.
That’s so manufacturers can say it’s all natural, but the nitrite salts used by
people for thousands of years to preserve meat were actually naturally occurring
too. There is no chemical difference in
the nitrites in celery and the nitrites in nitrite salts.
In the body nitrites are changed to several forms
of nitrates by binding to amino
acids in foods. It always occurs to some
extent, but the conversion is limited by the presence of vitamin C and some
other nutrients. It’s an overabundance
of nitrates and certain types of nitrates that MAY lead to an increased cancer
risk. The supposition is that cooking
meat, particularly processed meats, produces more of those bad nitrates. To date however, there is no real proof of
this. The increased risk of cancer is
all based on a relationship between eating processed meats (and to some extent
any red meat) and having a higher incidence of colon cancer.
Some
studies show that the more processed meat you eat the higher your risk of colon
cancer is. And it’s important to say
that some studies found no increased risk. The increased risk, if it occurs, is
actually pretty small. But why 9 or more
people on the recent WHO panel that declared processed meat to be carcinogenic
declined to vote in favor of that recommendation is that just because people
that eat more processed meat have more colon cancer does not mean the processed
meat was the actual cause. That’s not
scientific proof.
The studies
don’t adequately account for other factors in the processed meat eaters diet
and lifestyles that could have also caused the increased incidence of colon
cancer. For example – did the people who
ate more bacon also eat very little foods with vitamin C- which helps prevent
nitrate formation? Do people who eat
more processed meat come from certain ethnicities more genetically inclined to
colon cancer? Or did something that
people eat more of when they eat processed meat eat cause the increased risk? Let’s use white bread/wheat as a good,
realistic cause. People who eat processed
meats tend to consume them with wheat products of some kind. Toast with that bacon, ham and sandwich
bread, crackers and sausage, biscuits and sausage, peperoni and pizza dough, in
fact processed meats are very frequently eaten with a wheat flour product. Maybe
it’s the extra wheat/ processed flour consumed with processed meats that’s the
real culprit.
We have
erred in our dietary recommendations before with some serious health
consequences because of faulty science.
We now have pretty good proof that dietary fat- the fat in bacon, eggs,
and butter- does not cause heart disease nor does it convert into body fat more
than other foods. A generation of people
that switched from natural saturated fats to trans fats margarines and
vegetable oils like soy oil on the governments dietary recommendations are
reaping some serious health consequences like obesity, diabetes, metabolic
syndrome and certain cancers. And those
studies which prove this are based on more than a causal relationship.
Where is a
study to determine if people who eat more celery whether it’s raw, cooked, or incorporated
into processed foods as a preservative or flavor enhancer, have more colon
cancer? Bacon is no worse for you than
celery. It’s just more delicious.
Bee “bits”
Bees may
not be able to find as many flowers as they once did because of pollution from diesel
engine fumes. The nitrous oxide in diesel
fumes masks several types of floral scents, making it hard for bees to find
flowers. Scientists at University of
Southampton and the University of Reading, (Britain) published findings from
research in the Journal of Chemical Ecology that shows diesel fumes are just
one more thing that is leading to the decline of bee populations.
A study
published in in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology found that
wildflowers growing around conventionally grown crops may be a source of
neonicotinoid poisoning in bees. This
may be even more important since current agricultural research has been urging
farmers to leave pollinator strips, areas of natural wildflowers around crops
to attract pollinators. But when
pesticide are sprayed on crops they frequently drift into those little
pollinator strips. Neonicotinoids also
leach into soil and get taken up by wildflowers. These pesticides have known
detrimental health effects on bees and other pollinators. Instead of encouraging pollinators wildflower
plantings near crops may lead to their decline.
Another
study on bees found that the queen bee is probably the most susceptible to
neonicotinoid poisoning. She may be
weakened and produce few healthy offspring or die. When the queen dies the hive goes into
disarray. Eventually the hive will fail.
Another
report on bees published in Cell Press journal Current Biology last month found
that nature is unkind to bees sometimes too.
Researchers found that some plants produce caffeine in their flowers,
instead of nutritious nectar or pollen.
Bees are highly attracted to caffeine and become addicted to it. Once they find flowers with caffeine they
will ignore plants with better food sources to feed on the caffeine laced
flowers. They will also dance more to
show other bees where the caffeine sources are then they do for regular
flowers. Caffeine has been shown to
actually improve bee memory and activity- maybe like in humans- but too much
caffeine can be deadly – just as it is in humans.
Flowers
that produce caffeine then have an advantage over flowers that just provide
nectar or pollen. It’s estimated that about 50% of flowering plants may produce
caffeine but all of them aren’t known.
Besides coffee plants, citrus plants produce a lot of caffeine in their
nectar. I couldn’t find a list of any plants
that might flower in our area. And it’s
not just honeybees, bumblebees and other bees also prefer caffeinated flowers.
It’s good for the flowers but not so good for the bees or their colony – or a
beekeeper wanting some honey.
Uncommon Trees for the Landscape
Does your
Michigan garden have trees? Trees are important elements in the landscape. Even if you only have a small lot, a small
tree will make a large statement. If you
are tired of seeing the same old trees that all landscapers seem to plant, here
are some uncommon landscape trees that may give you inspiration for your Michigan
home site. The kinds of trees a gardener
has in the landscape tell much about what kind of gardener you are. Good gardeners seek out great trees.
Remember to
check the hardiness zones of the trees mentioned to see if they are suitable
for your Michigan site. Trees hardy to
zone 4 should cover most of Michigan. Trees hardy to zone 5 will grow well in
southeast Michigan. With some of the
rarer and more unusual trees it is better for the tree and your wallet to start
with a small tree. Make sure to keep the
tree watered in its first year.
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| Katsura tree. Wikimedia commons |
The Katsura tree, (Cercidiphyllum
japonicum) is delightful in many ways.
It has rounded to heart shaped leaves, often tinged with red in spring
especially in the cultivar ‘Red Fox’ There is a weeping variety known as
‘Pendula’. Katsura has deep yellow to
orange red foliage in autumn. When the
foliage begins to color in the fall the leaves emit a pleasant caramel smell. Katsura makes an excellent shade tree, hardy
to zone 5.
American Yellowwood, (Cladrastis lutea) is a native tree
that deserves more attention. It has
compound leaves of oval, ribbed leaflets and makes a rounded, medium sized
tree. The Yellowwood has clusters of fragrant,
white dangling flowers in spring which turn into flat brown pods in fall. The fall color is brilliant yellow and the
pale gray bark is attractive too. There
is a pink flowered variety known as ‘Perkins Pink’. Yellowwood is hardy from zones 4-8 and will
tolerate partial shade
You
probably know all about Box Elders,
(Acer negundo), a member of the maple family if you live in the East. They are fast growing but often considered to
be undesirable landscape trees. A
variegated variety, ‘Flamingo’, may change your mind. It is shot with pink streaks in spring which
gradually lighten to white as summer progresses. It’s hardy to zone 3.
 |
| Franklin tree. Wikimedia commons |
An American
native that is no longer found in the wild is the Franklin tree, (Franklinia alatamaha). The trees had a very limited natural range in
Georgia and were extinct in the wild by the early 1800’s. The Franklin tree is rarely more than 20 feet
high and is hardy to zone 6. Those in
the heat sink of metro Detroit can probably grow it. It has long oval leaves. In late summer the Franklin tree produces
large, fragrant white flowers similar to camellias which persist until the
leaves turn a deep orange-red in the fall.
The seed capsules that then develop may take more than a year to ripen. The tree is a little tricky to establish and
needs to be watered during dry spells.
Once it gets established it can live for more than a hundred years if
undisturbed.
An unusual
pine for landscapes is Pinus albicaulis, or White Bark Pine. It is a
small pine native to the American northwest, with satiny white peeling bark
similar to a birch. It often contorts
and twists into interesting forms as it grows.
It has short dense tufts of needles.
It’s hardy to zone 4.
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| White Bark Pine. Wikimedia commons |
Another
native evergreen worth mentioning is Port
Orford Cedar, (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)
It has feathery, blue-green flat needles on drooping branches and the
characteristic aromatic cedar wood.
While there are many dwarf cedars offered on the market this variety
makes a large tree. It likes moist soil
and will tolerate shade. It’s hardy to
zone 5.
Lindens are
known for their fragrant flowers but Tilia americana ‘Macrophylla’ or Big Leaf Linden, has interesting leaves
as well as fragrant clusters of white flowers in the spring. The leaves are huge- easily 10 by 10 inches,
and heart shaped. It has nice yellow
fall color too.
For
something really different try an American
Persimmon, (Diospyros virginiana).
It is a small tree but attractive in the landscape, with nice yellow
fall color. You need a male and female tree to get the orange persimmon fruits
that ripen to honey sweetness. The ripe
fruit is used in a variety of ways from baking to pies and puddings. Unlike the oriental varieties, American
Persimmons should not be eaten raw unless very ripe or serious stomach upset
can occur. They should also be kept away
from horses, which like the fruit but become ill from it. American Persimmons are quite cold hardy and
will thrived in zone 5 but the fruit rarely has enough time to ripen above zone
6. (Detroit area)
Western Soapberry, ( Sapindus drummondii), while a common native tree in the Southwest,
will also thrive as far north as zone 5 and will tolerate drought or poor soil and resists wind damage. It is an attractive small to medium
tree. The leaves are compound, composed
of 8-20 long oval leaflets, glossy green above and lighter below. Fall color is golden yellow. In the late spring it has clusters of small
white flowers that are attractive to butterflies. The flowers turn into yellow fruits, like a
leathery cherry, which will persist on the tree through winter as birds don’t
like them. The fruits and the hard seed
inside are poisonous but Native Americans used the fruit as a soap substitute.
Get outside and grab some sun
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.
Four inch
pots of spider plant (house plant) absolutely free. If you want one contact me, (Kim)
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
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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