Hi
Gardeners
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| Purple power |
Memorial weekend is always planting time for me and I
worked very hard getting everything planted around here. The weather was perfect for planting,
overcast to partly sunny and not too hot, with a good rain following it up. The
rain held off until late Sunday, when we got quite a soaker, almost 2
inches. I spent most of Saturday hauling
out the houseplants, what a job that was. I figure about 150 houseplants went
on summer vacation. I am seriously
considering cutting down on houseplants before next winter. Yes you read that right. I have 10 spider plants, and 3 large jade
plants to name some of the multiple species. Some of those may be given away
next fall. Just thinking, you know.
The vegetable garden is pretty much planted. I do have some popcorn left to plant. My husband kept nagging me to plant some this
year. I have a little space where I’ll
put some in a few days. I have tucked petunia, wax begonias and impatiens
around in numerous spots. I planted
about 200 little seedlings of zinnias, marigolds, tithonia, cosmos, four o
clocks and other things in my new cutting garden. I still have some plants in the little
greenhouse I need to find room for, odds and ends.
We had our first harvest of lettuce this week. Too bad the lettuce is usually finished when
the tomatoes start ripening. I planted
some celery this year, first time in a while.
Sweet corn is sprouting, peppers and tomatoes are setting fruit.
This week the yellow Harrisons rose, which I call the graduation
rose, is blooming well, looking pretty with the Dame’s Rocket and Siberian iris. Weigela and the Korean lilacs are blooming as
well as bearded iris. Knock out roses
are in bloom and the trumpet honeysuckle.
Peonies are starting to bloom. The
Prickly Locust is starting to bloom. I have seen wisteria in bloom, but mine
still hasn’t recovered from its drastic pruning 2 years ago by the power
company.
My hostas are huge this year; the rain and mild winter
have made conditions great for them. My
4 year old hosta, Empress Wu, is truly impressive this year at over 3 feet tall
but some other hosta are giving it a run for its title of largest hosta. And the Ostrich ferns have sprung up
virtually overnight to 3 feet high.
Now it’s time for the weeding and edging to begin. And maybe I’ll get back to housework sometime
soon. Hope everyone had a great holiday.
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| Empress Wu Hosta way at far end of the path |
In
defense of Dames Rocket
The beautiful spicy sweet scent of Dames Rocket is
wafting through the evening air. Its
purple flowers blend well with the yellow roses blooming by it. But I know on some webpage somewhere people
are being called to action against the lovely Dames Rocket. “It’s a noxious invasive plant” they holler, “we
must pull it all up- join us for a work day pulling this invasive plant!”
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| Dames Rocket |
How ridiculous this is.
Dames Rocket, Hesperis matronalis,
has been on this continent almost as long as European people and as long as
dandelions and apples and honeybees. It
was a cottage garden flower that also served as an early source of spring
greens and it was as carefully planted here by early European settlers as roses
and cabbages. This is one immigrant that
fully deserves permanent legal status.
Dame’s Rocket looks rather like phlox, both the native
woodland phlox and the phlox of cultivated gardens. It is in the mustard family however and has 4
flower petals instead of five like phlox.
Its leaves are arranged alternately on the stem rather than opposite
each other as in phlox. Dame’s Rocket is
considered to be either a short lived perennial or biannual plant. It spreads by seed, which is produced in long
narrow pea pod like structures. Dames
Rocket is found in most of the Eastern half of the country, southeast Canada and
a few places further west.
Yes Dames Rocket escaped early gardens and popped up in
unexpected places. You’ll see the tall clusters
of beautiful fragrant flowers in shades of lavender, pink and white blooming
along roadsides and ditch banks in late spring.
Many a gardener has stopped and collected some for their own garden. They bring beauty to otherwise dull and man
damaged areas.
Dames Rocket is loved by bees and butterflies. The larvae of many native butterflies and
moths have adapted to eating it and it’s considered a good host plant for
several species. In Europe it’s still a
garden plant, and double flowered varieties and other strains exist. So why is
there such an animosity against it by some in the “native only” crowd?
Dames Rocket isn’t poisonous. It doesn’t spread disease or damage
agricultural crops. Its only crime is to occupy space that some misguided
people feel should be occupied by other plants, native plants. And here’s the
funny thing about that. The places you
see Dames Rocket growing are not natural, undisturbed environments. They are generally found in places already
changed drastically by man. Native
plants would struggle to grow in most of these environments and if Dames Rocket
wasn’t there some other more unpleasant invader might be. And Dames Rocket may actually be better for
some species of wildlife than many native plants that might grow in these
disturbed areas.
If you’ve ever driven along back country roads you have
probably seen apple trees that have grown up along them, maybe from bait pile
apples set out for deer or from apples eaten by animals and the seeds deposited
in their poop. These apple trees also
pop up sometimes along nature trails, busy freeways and parking lot and
retention pond edges. They occupy space
that could be occupied by native trees. But
have you ever seen a campaign to eradicate these alien invasive plants?
I love Dames Rocket and do what I can to keep it
blooming here on my property. I don’t
judge plants by their country of origin, just by their beauty and usefulness. I think the perfume industry should look into
turning the fragrance of Dames Rocket into a new scent, “eau de alien” maybe. And for those who like spring greens try
growing Dames Rocket in the vegetable garden.
When someone urges you to take action against Dames
Rocket, simply because it’s occupying space they feel belongs to some other
plant, tell them to stop interfering with nature. We rarely need to intervene, although there
may be instances when removing truly harmful plants is justified. Nature knows
how to heal damaged environments and provide for creatures in the web of
life. Tell them to go pull dandelions
and cut down wild apple trees instead.
Make your property a sanctuary city for Dames Rocket.
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| Beautiful Dames Rocket |
Growing
mayapples in the garden
If you like native plants ( I do like native plants and
grow a lot of them, despite defending some non-native ones) and have a shady or partially shaded area you
may want to try growing mayapples (Podophyllum
peltatum) in your garden. Mayapples
are also known as maypop, American mandrake and ground lemon. Mayapple is native to the northeastern US and
Canada. The mayapple produces a small golf
ball sized fruit which when fully ripe is edible.
Each mayapple plant begins as a leaf stalk rising from
an underground stem called a rhizome.
There may be several stems from each rhizome and the rhizomes expand and
form colonies of mayapples over time.
Each stalk will produce one or more palmate leaves at the top. The leaves consist of 5 leaflets joined at a
center point which droop slightly and produce an umbrella effect. Like an
umbrella they are folded up as they begin emerging in mid spring and unfurl
gradually. The leaves can be 8 inches
across and the plant can be 18 inches tall.
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| Mayapple foliage right side |
A leaf stalk generally needs to fork and produce at
least 2 leaves before that stalk flowers.
The single flower, white or rarely pink or yellow, develops at the fork
in the leaf stalk. Each flower has 6-9
shiny petals with many yellow stamens in the center. The flower is about 2 inches across and
droops downward. To see the flowers
you’ll generally have to peek under the leaves.
In most of the US the plant blooms in May, which is how it gets one of
its common names. The plants are
pollinated by bumble bees and other native bees.
If pollinated the flower turns into a small oval fruit
which becomes yellow when fully ripe.
Ripening happens in mid to late summer. Each fruit has several
seeds. Box turtles and some mammals eat
the fruits and distribute the seeds.
Technically humans can eat very ripe fruit, without the seeds, but care
must be taken to not eat too many, as mild poisoning will occur. The fruit is said to taste like over ripened
melon. Never eat the seeds, which are
poisonous to humans.
Culture
of mayapple in gardens
Gardeners can start mayapples from rhizome pieces or
seeds. Seeds must be planted directly
after removing them from a ripe fruit to get good germination. Rhizomes are generally easy to get started in
good conditions. Zone hardiness would probably be zones 4-8.
Mayapples are woodland plants and prefer to be planted
under deciduous trees in moist, highly organic soils. They need shade or partially shaded
conditions as the weather warms up. They will quickly spread in good conditions
and some people with those conditions consider them aggressive
multipliers. They make an interesting
taller groundcover but will die back in late summer or in extreme heat.
If mulched with leaves or compost the mayapples won’t
need fertilizer and in most areas won’t need watering. Pests are few, thrips and leaf miners are
occasional problems but plants survive them well. Mayapple can suffer leaf damage from late
frosts in some areas, but plants generally recover.
I like to see mayapple combined with bleeding heart,
wild geraniums, bloodroot, trilliums, lily of the valley and non-natives like
hosta. Remember it will go dormant later
in summer.
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| Mayapple flower |
Caution
All
parts of mayapple are poisonous, even fully ripe fruit must be eaten in
moderation. Of
course as with many poisonous plants there are herbal remedies ascribed to the
plant. Native Americans used it for skin
problems such as warts and there has been some scientific interest in it for
skin cancer cures. In herbal medicine
it is used as a purgative – you’ll be ridding yourself of anything you’ve eaten
from both ends. Mayapple was part of the
remedy ‘Carters Little Liver pills’, actually a laxative, and it is sometimes
used as a liver remedy also. Dried roots
are generally used in herbal medicine.
Two medicines have been made from refined and isolated
chemicals from the plant, one for testicular cancer and one for small cell lung
cancer and leukemia. You cannot make
these remedies at home.
Toxic reactions include drastic vomiting and diarrhea
and severe inflammation of the intestines, which can lead to death. It should never be consumed when pregnant or
nursing. Only experienced herbalists
should experiment with the plant.
Mayapple was said to be used in some native cultures to commit suicide, but that must have
been a terrible way to die.
Some people make jelly or jam from the ripe fruits but
I suggest leaving the fruit for wildlife.
There’s a thin line between safe and unsafe consumption of mayapple and
much nicer and safer plants to make jelly from.
All plants do not have to be eaten.
Just enjoy them for their beauty.
Tips
for planting large containers
Large outdoor containers for planting are very popular
and can range from a half whiskey barrel to huge cement pots. One of the biggest questions gardeners have
about planting in these large containers is “Do I need to fill it all the way
with good potting soil or can I use something on the bottom to take up space?” And the answer is – it depends.
First all containers must have drainage holes. Putting gravel or other things in the bottom
will not compensate for lack of drainage.
Inevitably the containers become water logged and plant roots rot. You may have to drill your own holes in the
bottom of the container. Elevate the container
just a bit, maybe a ½ inch, from the ground or a hard surface so water drains
freely. Little pieces of wood or small
flat rocks can accomplish this.
Next consider what you want to plant in the pot. Annuals won’t need more than a foot of
potting medium. They may do well on less
but if you have a tall pot give them a foot. If you are going to put large tropical plants or
perennials in the pot fill the whole pot.
This is especially true if perennials will remain in the pot over
winter. You’ll have a healthier potted
plant if it has a large area for the root system.
Another thing to consider is whether a container needs
weight in the bottom to keep from being top heavy and tipping over. This is especially true if large plants will
be in the pot in a windy area. You may
even want to add a brick or stones to the bottom of the pot in these instances.
Containers outside can be filled with regular garden
soil if your soil is loamy and light. If
your soil is clay use a potting mixture. You may be able to use a mixture of
garden soil and purchased soil. You want
a loose, absorbent soil that doesn’t crust or compact into a hard mess.
Compost alone probably isn’t a good choice for pots, a
mixture of compost and regular soil would be better. Fill large containers so that a 2 inch gap
remains between the pot rim and the surface level of the soil. This is so water has a chance to collect and
soak in instead of running off.
If you are planting things that won’t need the whole
depth of the planter you can use things like crushed plastic bottles, inverted
smaller pots, Styrofoam chunks, wood chips, charcoal briquettes, and so on to
avoid filling the whole pot with soil and also make it lighter. Packing peanuts are sometimes suggested but some
of these are now biodegradable and will dissolve when they get wet. Remember
the container must have drainage even if you do this.
Mix some slow release granular fertilizer into the
potting soil before planting. Additional
fertilizer may be needed later in the season.
You can re-use potting soil in containers from year to year. Stir it up well, add some compost and fertilizer
and its good for another year. Soil will
settle and be lost each year in some containers and you may need to add
additional doil each year.
Ants
and peonies
The peonies are beginning to bloom or are in bloom over
a good part of the US right now. When
people look at peonies and peony buds they often notice ants on them and that
makes for some interesting conversation.
Ants are neither bad for peonies nor good for
them. Peonies have many nectar glands,
they occur in the flowers reproductive parts, starting when the buds enlarge
and lasting at least to the green seed pod stage. Ants enjoy this nectar. But peonies don’t need ants to eat the
nectar. They don’t help the buds open by
eating “sticky” nectar off and they don’t generally pollinate the peony flower
either. Ants do defend a food source to
some extent and may keep things like caterpillars from eating the flowers. But this is a minor benefit in most cases.
Peonies without ants will open their flowers just
fine. And the ants don’t harm the
flowers so there’s no need to control them. There’s plenty of nectar for
everyone. Using pesticides in this case,
even organic ones, is not good environmental stewardship. I saw a recommendation to sprinkle powdered
sugar on peony buds to remove ants. That
would probably bring a whole lot more ants, because ants love sugar. And that kind of tinkering might well prevent
peony buds from opening well or looking good.
It might also cause mold to form.
Please don’t try that nonsense.
Ants don’t show up on every peony plant. Some varieties seem to attract more ants than
others, and what’s available in your area for ant food may determine whether
you have ants on your peony flowers or not.
If you object to ants being on flowers you are cutting for a bouquet you
can shake the flowers or dip them slowly into cold water upside down to remove
ants.
Ants
and cornmeal
Here’s another common myth concerning ants. Someone wants an organic solution for getting
rid of ants and someone else recommends sprinkling cornmeal- or grits- where
the ants are to get rid of them. Somehow
the idea that ants eat cornmeal or grits then bloat and explode got started and
it’s hard to make that false idea die.
There’s no evidence that ants ever die from eating cornmeal or
grits. And the biology of the ant’s
digestive system makes that explosion pretty much impossible.
Ants don’t digest solid foods they may gather, like
pollen grains, pieces of dead caterpillars, leaves and so on. The solid bits go into a special pouch area
and get carried back to the nest where they are fed to the ant larvae, which do
digest solids. The larvae then
regurgitate a liquid which is shared through the colony of both worker ants and
larvae. There’s no gas build up since
they have the ability to regurgitate.
Researchers have fed cornmeal and other substances to ant colonies with
no problems.
The nonsense of cornmeal killing ants probably got
started because cornmeal is often used in ant pesticides as an attractant. A poison is liquefied then added to cornmeal
which absorbs it. The cornmeal makes it
easier for the ants to carry the poison deep inside a nest and the starch in
cornmeal is tasty to ants. But the
cornmeal needs to be saturated with poison before it kills the ants.
When you sprinkle cornmeal around in the garden you
aren’t killing pests, you are attracting them.
You’ll get ants as well as mice and squirrels and other critters. And cornmeal can also mold and look and smell
nasty. When you hear someone
recommending using cornmeal to make ants explode just laugh.
Do
you have illegal poppies in your garden?
This
article was first published in my Detroit Examiner Gardening column in January
2014. (Detroit Examiner no longer
exists.) I noticed that conversation
about the legality of poppy growing is popping up again in garden forums so
here’s my take on that.
If you have been going through garden catalogs lately
you may have noticed the many poppy varieties being offered, both as seeds and
plants. Some of them are quite gorgeous
and you may be considering adding them to your garden. But before you add certain poppy varieties to
the garden you may want to consider this.
Growing any Papaver
sominiferum poppy varieties or the closely related Papaver paeoniflorum varieties (which are just double flowered P.sominiferum) is illegal. The Poppy
Control Act of 1942 was repealed in the 70’s but controlling the growing of
opium poppy plants was transferred to current laws and regulations on producing
or possessing illegal narcotics. You can
have the seeds of any of these poppies because the use of poppy seeds in
cooking is fine. But cultivation of
these species, growing the plants, is illegal and a federal crime. It is also illegal to have dried opium poppy
seed pods or stalks on your property. Note: It is also illegal to have opium
poppies in Canada.
Still, since so many beautiful varieties are available-
and they are offered in so many catalogs - surely this is a crime that is
rarely prosecuted? But it seems that recently the DEA has stepped up efforts to
get these poppies off the market and prosecute growers. The internet may have had something to do
with this.
Making
opium from poppies isn’t as hard as once thought
Until recently it was commonly thought that growing
poppies to get opium was something hard to do and that the narcotic poppies had
to be grown in certain climates. Processing the opium from the poppies was
considered to be difficult and not something the average person could do. Even the USDA and the DEA officials shared
these ideas with the public. But it
seems that some people have always known that opium poppies grow just fine in
the US and most of Europe and that it is extremely easy to harvest raw opium
from poppy seed pods. It was also easy to produce narcotic concoctions from
other poppy plant parts. These people began to share their knowledge on the
internet (a quick search on the net will tell you several easy ways to produce
opium and other narcotics from poppies), and a pamphlet was written that got
the USDA and the DEA’s attention.
Now the DEA is still not scouring gardens for illegal
opium poppies and arresting the average gardener but they have begun to use the
poppies in creative ways. If some agency
suspects you of doing something illegal, they can get a search warrant based on
the fact that you are growing opium poppies and might have illegal plant parts
or drugs in your house or property. If
they want to they can also arrest you for possession of narcotics just because
you have some pretty opium poppies in your garden or even some opium poppy seed
pods in a dried flower arrangement.
There have been a few interesting cases recently where
one disgruntled gardener will turn in a friend growing the poppies and when
this is done, law enforcement agencies are required to make an arrest. In most
cases a lawyer will successfully argue that you were a naïve gardener and you
won’t go to federal prison for manufacturing narcotics. But if there is any evidence that you did
know the poppies could produce opium or if you seemed to be storing unusual
amounts of seed pods or stalks, or that any poppy seed pods were “scored” ( cut) in your garden you could be in trouble. (You could also be in trouble if you simply
pissed someone in charge off because as most of us know- ignorance of the law
is generally not considered to be an excuse.)
Michael Pollan, a well-known botanist and garden
writer, was thinking along the same lines a few years ago and he did some
extensive research on the subject of opium poppy growing for ornamental reasons
and he admitted, a curiosity about whether he could actually produce opium at
home. Pollan interviewed USDA and DEA people on several
occasions and he intensively interviewed the man who wrote the booklet on
producing opium at home. This man was arrested and indicted on Federal drug
charges soon after the book was brought to the attention of the DEA by a man
who was fighting with him. He wasn’t
growing any poppies, but he had several dozen dried poppy seed pods in his
house that he had purchased from a local florist.
It’s a long but fascinating piece. The short version of it is that Pollan
concludes that the growing of opium poppy species carries some risk for the
gardener. Even using the attractive
dried seed pods of the poppy for floral arrangements could be risky. At one time these seed pods were sold in many
craft and floral shops. They are the urn
shaped pods with “shaker” holes on top.
Pollan says the DEA began asking floral organizations to voluntarily
stop selling the pods. He also says that
certain public gardens were being asked to remove opium poppy species from the
gardens.
It’s kind of interesting that catalogs continue to sell
seeds and even plants of opium poppy species.
Of course seeds would be legal to sell and possess. But in at least one case a seed company was
asked to stop selling poppy seeds (Thompson and Morgan) after a “raid” in one
garden turned up hundreds of opium poppies and records showed the seed for
those poppies was purchased from that company.
So
what poppies are legal to grow?
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| Oriental poppy, a legal species |
There are poppy species that are legal for gardeners to
grow. Papaver rhoeas, Shirley or corn poppies, Papaver orientale, Oriental poppies, and Papaver nudicale or Iceland poppies are all common ornamental and
legal poppies, at least for now. There
are also plants that use poppy in the common name that are not Papaver species,
such as the Himalayan Blue Poppy and the Prickly Poppy which are legal to grow. If you are considering buying any poppies
make sure you know the Latin name of the species so you can decide on whether
or not you want to buy them.
Opium poppies are annual plants but they readily reseed
themselves in the garden. They can
persist for years in even neglected gardens.
You may have some and not be aware of what you are growing. Most double flowered and pom-pom poppies are
opium species and the pretty heritage poppy Danish Flag is also an opium
poppy. Perennial Oriental poppies are
the poppies most often sold in local garden stores and they are not
illegal.
Some gardeners will be fine with taking a chance
growing opium poppies, especially if garden catalogs keep offering them. But you may want to avoid them if you have
anything to hide or have some bitter enemies.
Federal prison is no place for gardeners.
Here’s
where you can see the Schedule II Controlled Substances (2005) law for the US.
Colache
Colache is also called Mexican
salad. It’s not really a salad but it’s
a good side dish for a cook out. You may
even be able to cook this on the grill. It will serve 4-6 people.
Ingredients
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
¾ cup lime flavored beer (you can use
any Mexican style beer too)
1 cup fresh green beans cut in small
pieces
½ cup diced red sweet pepper
6 small summer squash, cut into
chunks
2 large fresh tomatoes, cut into
wedges
2 cups of canned tiny baby corn,
drained or 3 ears of fresh corn, sliced into thin rounds
1 teaspoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon salt
Directions
Cook the onion in a skillet in the
butter, low heat, until the onion is golden.
Add the beer and vegetables. Cover and cook on low, stirring occasionally.
When the squash is tender remove the
colache from the heat and toss with the lime juice and salt. Serve warm.
Chocolate is good for the
heart. Have you had some today?
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
© Kim Willis - no parts of this newsletter may be used
without permission.
And
So On….
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
Join the
LAPEER AREA HORTICULTURE SOCIETY on our 35th
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, JUNE 19th at 6 P.M., SUNCREST DISPLAY GARDENS, behind
the Lapeer County Medical Care facility, 1455 Suncrest Drive, Lapeer, Mi.
All Past, Present, and Prospective members are invited to attend
this special event. This will be a special time to meet old friends and share
some of our memories of the activities of this group.
Guests are welcome.
Displays will be set up showing past activities, as well as old
newsletters of the group. Refreshments provided.
For more information contact:
Dave Klaffer at 810-656-7770 or 664-8912
Find
Michigan garden events/classes here:
(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners
facebook page)
An
interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook
Here’s a
seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
Newsletter/blog
information
If you would like to
pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity
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I write this because I
love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my
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