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Tuesday, August 9, 2016

August 9, 2016, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter


 © Kim Willis - no parts of this newsletter may be used without permission.



Hi Gardeners

First harvest 2016 before cooking.
August is the time of year when the garden can start to look a little jaded and mature.  People are busy, the weather is hot and this year it’s very, very dry too, at least in my area.  Weeding can take second place to other pursuits but watering has to be done if you want any hope of a fall revival in the garden.  I spend a lot of time watering and it seems there is always something that still needs it.

Hopefully we are going to get some good rainfall this weekend and we need it. But if we don’t, remember to water young trees and shrubs, especially if they were planted this year.  It’s hard for them to establish a good root system and grow when it’s dry and they are more prone to winter kill after a dry year. 

The frogs have found my little water feature and invaded it.  The plants in there like the heat, I have had to remove some water hyacinth because it got so crowded and I will need to remove some more soon.  The canna in the water has gotten 6 feet tall.  
How many frogs can you see in this picture?

The floral display in my garden is still going although I worry that everything will have finished its bloom cycle early this year.  My garden mums are even beginning to bloom.  Lilies are almost finished blooming, I still have sporadic daylily blooms.  Rudbeckia and phlox are the big blooming stars right now.  My hardy hibiscus have not yet bloomed and they aren’t as big and robust as in previous years, no doubt due to dry weather.  The ligularia will probably bloom this week and it too doesn’t look like it will be as large or have as many blooms as last year.

We had our first sweet corn from the garden this week.  I will say that it’s not the best year for corn – the drought has caused smaller ears and it looks like the inner rows of my corn didn’t get pollinated well.  However any garden sweet corn is superior to store purchased corn.  You have only to grow it once, and pick it just before you want to cook it, to always remember how much better fresh corn is.

This year I tried a recipe I saw on line somewhere for corn and I want to pass it along.  Get your water boiling then add a stick of butter and a cup of milk and then the corn.  Cook for 6-8 minutes with a lid on the pot.  The corn will come from the pot tasting buttery delicious.  Just sprinkle with salt and you are good to eat.  It’s much less messy than buttering it after it’s cooked.

Since we eat corn a lot when it’s in season I thought a stick of butter every time we cooked it might be a bit expensive and wasteful.  So after I took the corn out I saved the water with the milk and butter in the refrigerator and used it to cook corn a second night- it was just as good.  And then I gave the liquid left to the barn cats who loved it.

Why sunflowers face east

Do you grow sunflowers?  Go outside and take a look at yours.  If the flowers are mature they should be facing east.  Before the flowers are mature and ready to be pollinated sunflowers actually track the sun moving their flower heads and leaves during the day to keep them orientated towards the sun.  They do this by adding cells or growing on the stem side away from the sun, tilting the flower/leaves towards the sun.  At night the plants slowly swing in reverse to be ready to face east when the sun comes up.  This is controlled by what we now know is a circadian rhythm.  Facing the sun allows sunflowers to grow faster.

Once sunflowers are mature and ready to be pollinated they stop tracking the sun and face east.  Researchers found that this is because the sun warms the flower face early in the morning and pollinators prefer warm flowers.  When they staked sunflowers to face another direction and then artificially warmed some of the flowers the warmed flowers attracted more pollinators than the ones that weren’t warmed.

When you plant sunflowers remember that the flowers will face east when they are at their best so plan your plantings so that you can enjoy them from that direction.


If you want to read more about the research on sunflowers here’s the info.
 University of California - Davis. "Sunflowers move by the clock." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 August 2016. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160804152431.htm.


Rain Lilies

After the big rain we had 2 weeks ago I had a flush of pretty pink flowers on my rain lilies (Zephyranthes rosea). Rain lilies are also known as fairy lilies. They might be just the thing for a fairy garden if you like those things, but they are also an interesting and charming edition to the summer garden or patio.

I got my bulbs about 4 years ago, from Old House Gardens in Michigan but they are available from other places. (There’s a list of garden catalogs on the pages listed to the right of this main blog.)  Rain lilies are native to South and Central America and are not hardy below zone 9 but they are quite easy to overwinter.  They are relatively inexpensive so you could also treat them as annuals.

There are over 70 species of rain lilies but only 3 species are commonly available to gardeners. Besides the pink rain lilies, Zephyranthes candida, a white flowered rain lily, and Zephyranthes citrina, a yellow flowered one are sometimes available.  There are some hybrids on the market too, but these are hard to find.

The foliage of rain lilies is grass like and unless it gets very dry and cold it stays evergreen and attractive.  Plants are about 12-18 inches tall. Rain lily flowers are shaped like large crocus flowers and they appear in flushes, after a dry spell and then a rain they burst into bloom. Blooming lasts a few days.  The flushes repeat several times a season if conditions are right.

Gardeners will find rain lilies offered as bulbs, generally sold in the spring.  The best way to grow them for northern gardeners is to plant 6 of the small bulbs in a 10 inch pot. Use a good potting medium and add a slow release plant food for blooming plants. They will slowly multiply to fill the pot over a few years.  Place the pot outside after all danger of frost has passed in a sunny location. 

Keep the rain lilies watered until you get good growth started.  After that, let nature handle the watering for the most part.  If there is a really long stretch of dry weather – a couple weeks if it’s hot- they should be deep watered.  This may promote a bloom flush.  If summer is unusually wet you may get just one bloom period.  A few weeks of dry hot weather and then a good rain is what triggers blooming.

When frost threatens simply pick up your pot and bring it inside to a place where it stays above freezing.  If that place is well lit the rain lily leaves will remain green.  If you use a basement or dim place for storage the plants may go dormant and the foliage disappears.

While in winter storage water the lilies sparingly. The pot should dry out between watering.  If the foliage has disappeared don’t water at all until late spring.  The plants won’t normally bloom in the winter.  Sometimes in a warm, bright location with the proper dry and then wet cycle the rain lilies will bloom.  This is more likely in late spring. 

In the spring, after all danger of frost has passed, move your pot of rain lilies back outside to a sunny place.   Work some slow release fertilizer into the soil.  Water well to get them awake and growing if it’s dry and soon blooms will appear again.  Every 2-3 years you may want to re-pot and divide the bulbs to start a new pot.

Alternately you can plant rain lilies in the garden and dig the bulbs in the fall before frost and store them as you would glad corms, or canna tubers.  Re-pot in spring.  Choose a garden spot that isn’t being irrigated regularly and is well drained for best chances of the rain lilies blooming.

Rain lilies are nice for rock gardens and those “rain gardens” designed to catch storm water. They can also be planted at the feet of things like a potted rose or hibiscus that have been trained into tree form. 

One caution, all parts of rain lilies are toxic so keep them out of the reach of children and pets.


Deadheading- should you or shouldn’t you?

Ah, August.  As we gaze out over our gardens we often notice that many plants are setting seed in August.  Should we remove seed heads to keep plants from expending energy setting seed or leave the seeds to feed the birds and make new plants?  The art of removing dying flowers before they make seed heads is affectionately called deadheading by gardeners.

Annual plants, those that complete their life cycle in one year or plants that are treated as annuals because they die if left outside in a northern winter, may continue blooming longer if flowers are removed as they fade.  When annual plants set too many seed pods it signals to the plant that their job - reproducing the species- is done and they can quit blooming and die. 

Some annuals have been selected over the years to keep blooming even if seed pods are not removed.  Examples of these are petunias and marigolds.  However they look nicer if dead blooms are removed.  Many other annuals, however will bloom better and longer if deadheaded before they begin making seed pods.  Even if you want your annual flowers to bloom for a long time you can stop deadheading in September unless you are worried about the plant reseeding around the garden.

The shorter, cooler days of autumn may promote a glorious “last chance to reproduce” flush of bloom, but after September annual plants usually slow down their blooming dramatically, even if not killed by frost.  Let your plants set seed, especially those whose seed is loved by songbirds.  This includes cosmos, sunflowers, zinnias, tithonia, and asters.  When the seed heads are gone and frost has hit the plants pull them all out.

Some perennial plants bloom longer if the dying flowers are removed and deadheading perennials keeps energy going to the plants roots and shoots, instead of nurturing seeds.  Some perennials are not going to re-bloom regardless of whether or not you deadhead them.  You may want to keep some plants deadheaded to prevent them from spreading throughout the garden.

However many of those perennials also feed songbirds and if you like birds around the garden you may want to leave seed pods on the plants beginning late in the season.  Plants that provide good snacks for birds are Echinacea, coreopsis, roses, gaillardia, heliopsis, poppies, perennial rudbeckia, shasta daisy, monarda, and ornamental grasses.  Once the seeds are picked clean the seed pods can be removed to tidy things up, or plants cut back to the ground.

You may want to consider leaving the seedpods of some plants for winter interest or to make dried arrangements.  Ornamental grasses can provide both. Rose hips can look quite cheerful in the winter also.  Plants like clematis and hydrangea have interesting seed heads for dried flower arrangements as do celosia, poppies, amaranth, lavender, yarrow, some sedums, strawflowers, and statice.  These may also look good in the winter in the garden.

Some plants do benefit by prompt deadheading so that plant resources go to building a bigger and better plant.  Unless you are trying to get seed to start new plants, tulips, iris, daylilies, hosta, Asiatic and oriental lilies and peonies are best deadheaded soon after blooms fade.  Hybrid tea roses are also good candidates for deadheading while their hardier landscape rose cousins can be left to make rose hips.
Hosta with seed pods.  A good choice to deadhead.

If plants are not deadheaded many will spread around the garden. If having baby plants pop up everywhere doesn’t bother you then don’t deadhead.  If you don’t like things out of place or feel some plants are too invasive then keep the blooms picked off those plants before they make seed.  Some notorious self-seeders are hollyhocks, morning glories, larkspur, dame’s rocket, phlox, sunflowers, some poppies and yarrow.

If you want to save seed from the garden remember that seed from hybrid varieties of plants may not look anything like its parent.  Also you may need to enclose the seed pods of plants with a paper bag. (Don’t use plastic, it causes moldy seeds.)  Otherwise the birds may beat you to them or they may be scattered and lost.

Deadheading does keep the garden looking nicer, but if a natural garden that feeds the birds and regenerates itself is the goal then let the seed pods stay on most garden plants.  After August, deadheading does little to keep annuals blooming and for most perennials really doesn’t affect them one way or another.  By the time most garden plants have turned brown and crispy from cold weather the seeds will be gone and they can be chopped down and composted if you must tidy up before winter.

White areas (drupes) on blackberries

While picking blackberries from our patch to make a nice blackberry cobbler I noticed another problem caused by our hot dry weather.  Many of the blackberries had white or tan “drupes” the little individual sections that make up the blackberry fruit.  This damage is usually caused by long periods of hot, dry conditions while the fruit is forming.  The side of the fruit facing the sun is usually affected.  There is little that can be done to prevent this.

Occasionally white or tan drupes are caused by stinkbugs or leaf bugs feeding on berries. In this case the white or tan drupes are spaced out and may be on the backside of fruit rather than in patches on the sun side.  If you see stinkbugs or leaf bugs on your berries you could spray with a pesticide safe for food crops.
White drupe visible on top right of ripe berry. 

Blackberries with white drupes are perfectly fine to eat.  They still make a pretty good cobbler.

Refrigerator pickles

I have been making a jar of refrigerator pickles every few days because my husband is a pickle fanatic.  I don’t have enough cukes planted to make a big crock of fermented pickles or can several quarts at a time.  But I hate to see cukes go to waste.  Refrigerator pickles are quick and easy, and taste as good as other pickles.  They must be kept refrigerated though so don’t make too many jars unless you have a spare refrigerator and lots of pickle lovers.  My husband goes through a quart jar of pickles about every 10 days.  He prefers dill but you can make several kinds of refrigerator pickles.

Before I continue- here is the food safety warning.  Refrigerator pickles could still harbor listeria bacteria which will remain active at refrigerator temperatures, according to the USDA.  This would be rare but possible. Wash the cukes well and always use immaculately clean jars and lids.  If you are immune suppressed or have small children this may not be the best way for you to make pickles. 

These pickles should not be kept too long, the USDA recommends no longer than a month. I have had them remain safe, as have many others, for much longer than that, but I’d say 2 months is a good time to discard leftovers.  Label your jars with the date so you know when to discard them. Make sure the brine always covers the pickles.  If you take some out to serve and they sit out a while discard them rather than returning them to the jar. 

Do not reduce the vinegar to water ratio.  A ratio of one part vinegar to one part water is required, although you could add more vinegar.  That said, this type of pickle is generally safe as well as tasty.

Here’s how you do it.  You’ll need clean, washed jars with tight fitting lids.  Quart sized is good for pickles, but you could use pints.  I save commercial pickle jars but if you have canning jars that’s great.  You’ll also need a glass or stainless steel pot to heat the brine.  Aluminum pots shouldn’t be used because they react with the vinegar and cause an off taste.  I don’t know how the new copper pots would work but I would suggest avoiding them.

For each quart jar of dill pickles you will need:
Cucumbers, about 2 medium or 1 and ½ large
1 tablespoon pickling salt- or kosher salt, do not use iodized salt
2 cups of white vinegar
2 cups of water
1 heaping teaspoon of dill seeds- or 3-4 dill flower heads
½  teaspoon of mustard seeds
Several peppercorns, black or mixed
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 grape leaf - optional, adds crispness

(About spices- they can be adjusted to your taste. These amounts are what I use. You can leave one or two out.  Since these are refrigerator pickles you could leave the salt out, but the pickles won’t taste as good.  Do not use salt substitutes in pickles. You can use garlic powder but it makes a scummy layer on the jar bottom. Some people add a tablespoon of sugar, or things like dried red pepper, celery seed or a slice of horse radish. Make one jar of pickles first and taste it after 3 days and see if you like the spice mixture then adjust if necessary.  Pickles get stronger in taste as they age.)

Wash your cucumbers well.  They should be fresh, firm ones.  It takes about 1 and a half large cukes or 2 medium ones to fill a quart.  You do not want to pack the jars too tightly for pickles. Cut off the blossom end- if you can’t tell which end that is cut a slice off both ends and discard. The blossom end has enzymes that will cause the pickles to be mushy.

Cut the cucumbers into thin slices or spears, whichever you prefer.  The pieces must be about an inch below the jar rim because they must be completely covered with the brine.  Put them in the jar.

I put a grape leaf in each jar before the cuke pieces.  Grape leaves help pickles crisp up.  You can use any type of grape leaf, wild ones are fine, just don’t use any that are sprayed with pesticides or that come from close to a road, where they are often covered with pollutants in road dust.  Wash them before placing them in the jars.

Heat the vinegar, water and spices in a pan until they come to a boil.  Pour the hot brine over the cucumber pieces until they are completely covered.  Make sure the spices go into the jar with the fluid. Put on the lid and tighten. If you have extra fluid save it in the refrigerator to add to your next batch or discard.

After the jars cool to room temperature put them in the refrigerator.  Some jars may seal as they cool but these jars are not safe to store outside the refrigerator.  Store these pickles refrigerated.  They’ll keep for 1-2 months this way.  You can taste the pickles right away but they will be better if you let at least 3 days pass.  The taste gets stronger as they age.

If you ever notice mold or a bad smell, discard those pickles at once.

You can make bread and butter and sweet pickles this way too.  Just look up a recipe for them and use those spices and flavorings.  There are more recipes for pickles in the canning page listed on the sidebar of this blog.

Identifying Giant Ragweed Ambrosia trifida

Giant ragweed isn’t as common as regular ragweed so when I saw what I suspected was a giant ragweed plant coming up in a front flower bed I let it grow so I could get a good picture of the plant.  (I’m funny that way.)  It will now be dispatched to the compost pile.

Giant ragweed can cause “hay fever” (pollen allergy) just like its cousin common ragweed so you probably don’t want to encourage its growth.  It’s an annual plant that grows from seed each year to often imposing heights.  In a good, sunny area the plant can get 6 feet tall or more and some bottom leaves can be 8 inches across.

Giant ragweed has 3 lobed (sometimes 5) palmate (hand like) leaves that remind some people of marihuana, hence the common name wild hemp. The margins of the leaflets are toothed, but not as obviously as those of true marihuana, and the leaflets much broader.  And Giant Ragweed leaves do not have any of the pleasant qualities of marihuana.  The leaves are arranged opposite each other on the woody stem.  Both stems and leaves are covered with fine hairs.  The leaf stem is winged near the main stem. Some plants may have several large branches.  Plants have a short taproot and a large fibrous root mat.
 
Giant ragweed, in shade, this one is about 4 feet tall
The flowers of Giant Ragweed are greenish white and inconspicuous although the pollen they produce and release into the wind can cause much distress to hay fever sufferers.  Male flowers are produced on spikes at the top of the plant so the pollen is better distributed into the wind.  Female flowers are below them in short clusters in leaf axils.  Each female flower makes a single seed. 

The woody stems and seed pods of Giant Ragweed will persist well into winter.  Plants will grow in sun or partial shade and prefer fertile, moist soil although they can pop up in many places.  They grow from seed.  It is a native plant and found throughout much of the US and Canada.

Giant Ragweed is edible when young if you like foraged foods.  It is believed that indigenous peoples used ragweed in several medicinal ways, such as a tea for diarrhea and pneumonia and a poultice for insect stings.  It’s unclear whether common ragweed or Giant Ragweed or both were used for these purposes.  Because of the severe reaction to ragweed pollen that many people get it’s not a good plant to cultivate for herbal use unless you are careful to never let it flower.

Probably the best use for Giant Ragweed is to pull it and use it in your compost pile.  It is said to be a compost “activator” and full of minerals as well as a provider of lots of organic matter.  Pull and compost it before it goes to seed or you may find it coming up in places where you put the compost.


Blackberry cobbler, sweet corn and tomatoes, August is good eating.

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. You can also ask me to post garden related events. Kimwillis151@gmail.com

An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook

Invitation
If you are a gardener in Michigan close to Lapeer we invite you to join the Lapeer Area Horticultural Society. The club meets once a month, 6:30 pm, on the third Monday at various places for a short educational talk, snacks and socializing with fellow gardeners. No educational or volunteer requirements for membership, all are welcome. Membership dues are $20 per year. Come and visit us, sit in on a meeting for free. Contact susanmklaffer@yahoo.com  Phone 810-664-8912

For Sale:  I have baby parakeets for sale, hatched this spring $10 each.  They are not hand fed.  Beautiful colors, lutino, (yellow) and shades of pale green, olive green, and sea green.  Some I can sex now, others are a guess.  You’ll need to bring your own cage.  Parakeets are active birds that are a lot of fun to watch.  Call at 989-761-7609.

Also for sale Muscovy ducklings, black laced, about 3 months old, fine to be without mom but you must buy at least 2, unless you have other ducks.  $5 each. Call the number above.  Muscovy are flying ducks, large sized and make good meat ducks.  They do not quack- and are very quiet.



New- Native Shrubs & Trees- Thursday, Sep 8, 2016 6:30-8:30pm, MSU Tollgate Education Conference Center, 28115 Meadowbrook Rd, Novi, MI

Come discover the usefulness of native woody plants in the landscape. Gardeners wishing to include more natives in their plantings have lots of beautiful options. Natives look good, often require less care, and can be more beneficial to native insects and other creatures than are non-native ornamentals. A component of this class will be a walk around the Tollgate grounds to view some of the plants discussed in the lecture. Mary Wilson has been an MSU Horticulture Educator for 30 years with a focus on environmental horticulture. $25.  For more information   http://tollgate.msu.edu/events.

New- Basics of Honey Bees and Beekeeping, Thursday September 22, 6:30-8:30pm, MSU Tollgate Education Conference Center, 28115 Meadowbrook Rd, Novi, MI

Bees have been in the spotlight lately – for good reason. So many food crops depend on bees and other pollinators for production – including our vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Clay Ottoni will introduce us to the fascinating world of honey bees and beekeeping. We will also learn what we can grow in our yard to support and encourage these industrious insects. One lucky attendee will win a bottle of honey! In addition to being an attorney, beekeeper, and farmer, Clay is current president of SEMBA (Southeast Michigan Beekeepers Association) http://www.sembabees.org/ and a long time beekeeper. $25.  For more information   http://tollgate.msu.edu/events.

New - Southeast Michigan Dahlia Show, Sep 10 – 11, 2016 Orchard Mall, 6337 Orchard Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, MI

See hundreds of dahlias on exhibit during the hours the mall is open presented by the Southeast Michigan Dahlia Society. Free.  For more information: judy892@wowway.com.


Summer is here! Our days are longer and there is more hours of light to enjoy being outdoors. We welcome you to join us: experience nature and be inspired! Back Track To Nature will offer programs on two of Lapeer Land Conservancy properties. As well as at Three Roods Farm and the Tibbits Nature Sanctuary both located in Columbiaville, MI.

We offer environmental education programs for scouts, seniors, homeschoolers, garden clubs, youth groups, retreats, special interest groups and we will tailor programming to fit your specific needs.

A Great Hundred Acre Wood Adventure  ( Kids program)   2pm - 3pm Sunday, August 14,2016      Tibbits Nature Sanctuary

Aldo Leopold Bench Building Workshop    1:30pm - 4:30pm, Saturday, August 27, 2016     Tibbits Nature Sanctuary

Reservations are needed for all programs listed. Please call or  email Karen at 810-969-1023 and pagekp@gmail.com  Directions to the Tibbits Nature Sanctuary and Riseman Refuge will be given at the time of registration. Thank you!



Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area.  This link has a lot of events listed on it.

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

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

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 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 email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com




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