" 'I grow old, I
grow old,' the garden says. It is nearly
October. The bean leaves grow paler, now
lime, now yellow, now leprous, dissolving before my eyes. The pods curl and do not grow, turn limp and
blacken. The potato vines wither and the
tubers huddle underground in their rough weather-proof jackets, waiting to be
dug. The last tomatoes ripen and split
on the vine; it takes days for them to turn fully now, and a few of the green
ones are beginning to fall off."
- Robert Finch
 |
| Monarch on tithonia |
Hi
Gardeners
It may almost be October but it feels more like almost August
here. How I would like a nice summer thunderstorm
right now. We haven’t had anything but a
few sprinkles since the beginning of the month and like many of you, we are
sweltering in 90 degree+ temperatures with high humidity. My garden is definitely looking old and crunchy,
coated with white dust swirling off the limestone road. When I water the beds along the house the
dust turns to a white slime on the plants.
The trees are losing their leaves but we aren’t seeing
much color. You need cool nights for that. The trees just look sad, dirty and limp. I feel sorry for them. We really need some soaking rain before they
go into dormancy.
The annuals are still blooming, but even they are
looking a bit old. The landscape roses
put out a flush of new blooms. We are
still picking tomatoes and peppers. I’m
ready to clear the vegetable garden out but it’s just been too hot to work out
there. One of our pumpkins rotted on the
vine and I’m worried about the rest.
My houseplants are still outside. Some of them are really liking the heat. I
will start bringing them inside this week if we get cooler weather as
predicted. It still doesn’t look like
frost is coming any time soon though.
Schools around here are giving kids days off because of
the heat. Our schools aren’t built for hot
weather. There’s no air conditioning and few windows that open. It’s the first time I can remember kids
getting days off in the fall for heat.
Weather forecasters are saying a warm September generally predicts a
warm winter. That’s fine but I could use
some cooler fall temperatures about now to get me in the mood to prepare for
winter.
The hummingbirds are gone and most of the robins. The turkey vultures are still here. I’ve been seeing more monarchs this week than
I have seen in several years, which may be one good thing to come from hot fall
weather.
Poisonous
Houseplants
Once again
an article is circulating in social media about a toddler dying from eating a
houseplant called dumb cane or
Dieffenbachia. The article goes on
to breathlessly state that a bite of dumb cane can kill a child in a minute and
an adult in minutes. The supposed author claims her own child died from the
plant. That didn’t happen. This article is hogwash, a ridiculous made up
story for clickbait. Here’s part of the false story, I’ll talk about Dienffenbachia a bit later.
“Please read this carefully. My son
died because he put a piece of leaf in his mouth and tongue and these swelled
to suffocate. This plant is very common in many homes and offices. It is deadly
poisonous and dangerous, to the point of killing a child in 1 minute and an
adult in 15 minutes. If you touch it by chance you should never bring your
fingers to your eyes, as this could cause permanent blindness. Warn your
friends and family.”
At a time
when many people are bringing plants indoors this kind of scaremongering alarms
many people who then moan that they have to get rid of their plants, just in
case. So how poisonous are houseplants
and should you worry about having plants in the house with kids and pets? The answer is that you should be much more
worried about other things you bring into your house. Research of official statistics reveals very,
very few accidental deaths are caused by plants normally in the home. In fact I could find only one death
attributed to a houseplant in recent statistics (last 20 years). That was a child dying in the hospital 17
days after eating philodendron.
Things that are much more dangerous to children and
pets than houseplants in your home are: (from 2015 poison control records, ranked
from top cause down )-Cosmetics/Personal Care Products, Cleaning
Substances (Household), Analgesics, Foreign Bodies/Toys/Miscellaneous ,Topical
Preparations, Vitamins, Antihistamines, Pesticides, Dietary
Supplements/Herbals/Homeopathic medicines. All of these things cause more
poisoning incidences than plants.
Let’s discuss what constitutes plant poisoning when it
comes to those lists of plants toxic to children and pets. Many places publish extensive lists and it
seems like every plant imaginable is on them.
But these lists commonly don’t distinguish between plants that might
give someone a mild stomachache or diarrhea and those that could be
deadly. Many also don’t tell you if its
skin contact with a plant that causes problems like rash or blisters or if you
have to eat the plant to have problems.
If you eliminate plants which cause mild stomach problems or rashes the
list of poisonous plants is greatly reduced, and even fewer of those plants are
common houseplants.
 |
| Amaryllis |
I also need to mention that animals and people may have
different reactions to the same plant.
What might not be poisonous to a child may kill a pet. And some types of animals may be more
sensitive than others to the same plant. However I find the lists of poisonous
plants offered by the humane society and other places to be as misleading as
those lists for humans, including plants that might cause a pet to vomit for
example, but not seriously harm them. Good
lists of toxic plants will state the problem the plant causes, or divide the
plants into mild, moderate or severe toxicity classes.
Don’t fall for lists that use scare tactics, if you
have a question about a plants toxicity consult an expert medical or veterinary
medical source, a .gov or .edu site or poison control site. Look for
sites/articles that provide references to scientific sources. Use up to date
resources because the information on many plants has changed drastically over
the years.
Many plants get put on poisonous plant lists because
they do contain toxic chemicals. However
in many cases it would take a huge amount of that plant to cause death. Neither a child nor a pet is likely to eat 6
of the same type of houseplant in one setting.
And many plants that are toxic have such an awful taste or cause
immediate pain in the mouth which would make the eater promptly reject them. Others cause immediate vomiting. I’m not listing plants that cause minor
problems or that take large quantities to cause serious problems.
What
houseplants to avoid
 |
| Brugmansia |
So which houseplants could cause serious problems in
children or pets? If you have toddlers
or pets I would avoid these plants in the house, unless they can be kept out of
the child or pets reach: Amaryllis, Brugmansia,
coleus (pets), daffodils and
narcissus- primarily pets, (even the water in cut flower vases of these
plants can be harmful), Easter lilies
and other true lilies often given as gift plants, and vase water from cut
lily flowers (very toxic to cats), English ivy (Hedera helix) mild toxicity to humans, worse for pets, hyacinths (bulbs, pets), Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum) toxic to pets, birds, and the slightly
sweet berries are attractive to kids and enough may be eaten to be a problem, philodendron-
(this is oxalate poisoning, which is generally mild, but 1 child’s death and
several cat deaths on record suggest it should be considered differently), and sago palm (Cycas revoluta) which is particularly harmful to dogs.
The case for the toxicity of Dieffenbachia is a little
complicated. It has oxalate crystals that cause pain in the mouth and numbness
of the tongue that make speech difficult.
This effect goes away when water or milk is given and there’s usually no
lasting harm. Theoretically there could
be swelling of the tongue or throat that would impede breathing but there are
no documented cases of death or serious illness from ingesting dieffenbachia in
humans. Poison control centers do get many calls about the plant. (The plant
used to be used to punish children and slaves by making them chew a leaf.) However there is one documented case of fatal
poisoning in a dog; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14513888
Eye problems from touching dieffenbachia are also
generally minor. Many cases of eye
irritation have been reported but most were resolved by flushing the eyes with
water.
Arrowhead
plants (Syngonium
podophyllum), caladium, Calla lily, Colocasia esculenta (elephant ears) Swiss-cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa), peace lily (Spathiphyllum), pothos, and zz plant ,
(Zamioculcas
zamiifolia) have the same oxalate
crystals as dieffenbachia and cause basically the same symptoms. Eating too much of these plants would be a
big problem but because the irritation and burning starts immediately eating
too much rarely happens. You can decide whether your child or pet would be the
rare specimen who keeps eating.
 |
| Pothos |
For some reason spider
plants (Chlorophytum comosum) are
often listed as poisonous. No reliable
reference lists them as toxic. However there’s intriguing evidence that spider
plants have chemical properties similar to catnip and cats may get “addicted”
to eating them. Some cats don’t touch
them however. If your cat is constantly
eating your spider plant you may want to remove it. Spider plants may cause vomiting in dogs and
cats just like eating grass does.
Poinsettia
plants are also only mildly toxic and no children or pets have died from eating
them. Holly berries are more poisonous and should not be brought into
homes with children and pets.
Because plants are sometimes used as houseplants when
normally not considered to be such and because new plants are always coming on
the market this list may not include all really toxic plants. Plants from florists and those used as gift
plants, or cut plant material used for decorating may also have really toxic
properties. Be sure to research before
adding new plants to the house if you have kids and pets.
The 2015 poison control center records (latest records
available) indicate that a 4 year old child died from eating cinnamon
powder. You may want to lock up your
spices. Two teenagers and an adult
committed suicide by eating yew seeds (separate cases). A 69 year old woman died after making a tea
from leaves collected in her garden and drinking it. Those are the plant poisoning cases.
Nicotine is especially dangerous around children. According to the CDC one cigarette butt
consumed can kill a small child. The
liquid nicotine for the new smokeless cigarettes, which is often flavored, is
of special concern to poison control experts. A small amount could be deadly. Also poison control centers are seeing an
uptick in child and pet poisonings from essential oils. Please keep those locked up and don’t consume
them.
There’s no reason to avoid most houseplants because you
have children or pets. While your plants
could be destroyed there’s little chance that a child or pet will be harmed by
them. Your home probably contains things far more dangerous to a child or pets
than plants. Before you throw out the plants throw out your cosmetics, cleaning
products and medications. Houseplants are much more beneficial than harmful and
every household should have some.
Here are some reference sites for this article.
New
England aster
New England Aster, (Aster
novae-angliae), spreads it’s pretty purple flowers along sunny roadsides
and in fields in late summer and fall. It often grows in the same areas as
Goldenrod, producing a stunning color combination gardeners often imitate. In
fact, cultivars of both plants are available for gardeners to use for gorgeous
fall color.
 |
| New England aster |
New England asters are perennial plants that die to the
ground each winter. The stems are stiff and hairy and feel sticky to the touch.
The long dark green leaves seem to clasp the stems at their base. The plants
grow to 5 or more feet in ideal conditions but generally range from 2-3 feet
high.
New England Asters have clusters of small purple
daisy-like flowers with yellow centers. They start blooming in late August and
continue until a hard frost. The flowers range from 1-2 inches wide depending
on growing conditions and individual plant characteristics. There’s a wide variation in color too. If you are choosing to dig some plants up (with
permission) from the wild take the time to examine the growing shape, bloom size
and color and pick the best specimens. It would be best to mark these plants
some way and remove them for transplanting the following spring.
New England Asters prefer sunny, moist areas. Deer don’t bother them and they have few
insect or disease problems. They may be
floppy in gardens where they are fertilized and watered and will benefit from staking
or growing them among sturdier plants, like goldenrod.
New England Asters are excellent plants for native
plant gardens and even for more conventional gardens to bring late fall color.
They also make good cut flowers.
Is
your pot burning?
Maybe it’s because it’s been hot and dry over a good
deal of the country lately but the stories of flower pots erupting into flames
have begun circulating on social media again.
So can flower pots or rather the potting medium in them catch fire? The answer is yes it’s possible but it doesn’t
happen spontaneously. There has to be
something else involved and that’s usually a cigarette butt.
What is called potting soil is actually not soil at all
but a mixture of peat, ground bark, vermiculite or perlite, coir, or other
things. All of these things are flammable
if dry. But the point at which they
would burst into flames spontaneously is an extremely high temperature- 500
degrees F or more. A flower pot sitting
in the sun never reaches that temperature, even on our hottest days. And since decomposition (sometimes attributed
as a cause) ceases at really high temperatures and doesn’t happen in bone dry
potting mixture it isn’t a factor either.
There have been numerous articles in legitimate newspapers
around the country and world about burning flower pots starting house fires so
we know it happens. But those pots had
to have some help igniting and almost always it’s a cigarette butt that was
thrown in a pot. Add some dead dry plant
material and it’s a fire waiting to happen.
Flower pot fires generally happen in dry spells in
early spring, winter and fall when the plant material is dead and the pots aren’t
being watered. Someone comes along and
tosses a cigarette butt in the pot, dry leaves or other debris in the pot
begins burning and the burning plant material ignites the dry potting medium
for an even more spectacular show.
Sometimes fires are also deliberately started by bored kids or vandals.
You don’t need to worry that potting medium in the home
in a sunny window will ignite, even if you let it get bone dry. (That is unless someone in the home is a
smoker who snuffs out butts in the pot or your kids play with lighters.) Pots on decks and porches won’t ignite
either, unless someone helps them.
To see how a pot might go up in flames I took an old
dry pot with a dead plant, (yes I have them) and since I don’t smoke, I used a
lighter to try and start a fire. Even
when I added some dry oak leaves to the pot the fire would only burn for a few
seconds and then go out. Had I left a
butt smoldering in the pot it may have been different. But I think flower pot fires are probably
rare events.
 |
| Didn't burn |
For
safety’s sake
I would avoid mulching containers near buildings with
things like wood chips and shredded bark as these would be more flammable than
potting medium. Don’t allow paper trash
to accumulate in pots, some people think planters are trash cans as well as ash
trays. It’s a good idea to clean out containers and pots when the plant
material in them has died and store them.
Even if no one in your household is a smoker pots
sitting outside on decks and porches with dry plant material, leaves and so on
could be a fire risk in dry weather. A
deliveryman, repairman, mailman or visitor might toss a butt in the pot. Kids
may start a fire as a prank. If the pot
ignites close to the house it could start a house fire. In one case I read about the dry pots were
next to propane tanks for a grill. That
caused some rather spectacular explosions.
If you can’t or don’t want to remove the planting
medium from large pots (after removing dead plant material) close to the house
or other buildings add a layer of sand or gravel to the top of the pots a
couple of inches thick. This is a good
idea for large containers in public places that you may care for. You can remove it before planting in the
containers again. It won’t harm dormant plants left in the pots. You can also cover the containers; most
smokers won’t toss a butt on something they recognize as flammable.
Flower pot fires are rare, and they don’t happen from
spontaneous combustion, inside or out.
Gardeners using some common sense don’t have to worry about their pots
burning the house down.
Japanese
forest grass- Hakone grass (Hakonechloa
macra)
If you like ornamental grasses but thought you couldn’t
grow them in your shady garden Japanese forest grass may be just the plant for
you. This lovely arching grass is native
to Japans cool Hakone mountain area and will grow in partial or even full
shade. It’s hardy in planting zones 5-9 but
probably does best in zones 5-6 where summers tend to be a bit cooler. In zones 7 and above it will need to be in
shadier locations. Hakone grass provides
interesting texture in shade gardens that tend to feature broad leaved plants.
Hakone grass has narrow leaves that arch. It’s a deciduous perennial, dying to the
ground each winter. Plants grow to about
18 inches high and wide. It has rhizomous
roots that slowly spread and create larger clumps. The species has medium green leaves. The most common variety sold is probably ‘Aureola’ which has a golden stripe highlighting
blade edges. ‘All Gold’ is a variety which has almost totally golden leaves. In deep shade it becomes more chartreuse. ‘Albo-striata’
is hard to find but it’s a forest grass with white variegation. ‘Red Wind’ is a variety that takes on a
reddish cast in fall and ‘Nicolas’ is similar but with a more purplish fall
color.
Hakone grass does flower but like most grass flowers
they are not that showy and are generally hidden among the grass blades. You
could collect the seeds but Hakone grass is slow growing from seed and new
plants are better obtained by dividing large plants in early spring.
Hakone grass will grow in partial or full shade but
tends to scorch in full sun. In zones
5-6 partial or light shade brings out the best color and growth while in warmer
zones the plant requires more shade and moisture to do well. They prefer loose well drained soil that is
kept evenly moist. Fertilizer probably
isn’t needed, but a grass fertilizer might give poorly growing plants a boost. Make sure plants are regularly watered while
they are getting established.
Hakone grass will grow in the root zone of black walnut
trees and is said to be deer resistant.
Rabbits will eat it however. Insect
or disease problems are rare. In the late
fall or early spring before new growth starts the previous year’s leaves should
be cut back to the ground. Some
varieties have interesting fall color but most just turn straw brown. In zones 5-6, winter mulch is helpful,
especially in exposed areas. I have
found leaving the foliage alone until late spring allows the plant to provide its
own mulch.
Hakone grass can also be used to provide texture and
interest in large containers. They can
be used to line paths or woven among plants like hosta, heuchera, astilbe and ferns.
They can be used as a clumping ground cover beneath trees. The golden colored varieties looked nice
mixed with purple foliaged plants like heuchera or Japanese maples. If you have a shady patch lighten it up with
some Hakone grass.
Bringing
in tomatoes to ripen
Someday soon there’s going to be a frost and that will
be the end of the tomato season. But
there is a way you can extend your enjoyment of fresh garden tomatoes after
cold weather hits. Tomatoes are a fruit
that will continue to ripen after picking if they have matured enough. These tomatoes won’t taste quite as good as
the ones ripened on the vine but they will be better than most you buy at the
store.
Tomatoes will stop ripening outside after a hard frost
and turn to mush after a freeze. When you know one of those events is near it’s
time to salvage as many tomatoes as you can.
Pick all tomatoes that have even the slightest sign of ripening. This may be indicated by a lightening in
color and a slight softening. Even full
sized, hard green tomatoes will often ripen inside. Pick those tomatoes.
Be careful handling the fruits as bruising may cause
rotting instead of ripening. Don’t bring
in insect damaged fruit or fruit with bottom rot or severe cracking. Bring the fruits inside to a warm place,
never refrigerate them. Some people
swear by lining the green tomatoes up on a sunny window sill with a little
space between each. Others wrap each
tomato in a piece of tissue or newspaper and store in a dark place. Tomatoes will ripen either way.
I wrap the greenest tomatoes to store and set the ones
closest to being ripe on the window sill to finish ripening. Periodically I check the wrapped tomatoes for
signs of ripening and move some to the window sill. There have been times when
I have had tomatoes all the way up to Christmas with this method.
Gardeners should inspect stored tomatoes at least once
a week and remove any that are rotting.
And of course you could always eat the tomatoes green- as in fried green
tomatoes or green tomato salsa or pie.
Green
Tomato Pie
If you don’t want to store your green tomatoes and let
them ripen when frost threatens, you could turn them into pie. This recipe makes one pie, which tastes a lot
like apple pie.
Ingredients
3 cups chopped hard green tomatoes
¾ cup brown
sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup chopped raisins
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 double pie crust
Line a pie pan with the bottom crust. Preheat oven to
375 degrees.
Place the green tomatoes in a pan and add just enough
water to barely cover them.
Bring the tomatoes just to a boil. Turn off heat and drain off water through a
colander or strainer.
Put the tomatoes and all the other ingredients, except
top crust, and toss to mix well.
Put the tomato mixture into the pie pan and add the top
crust, crimping the top edge together. Poke the top crust with a fork in
several places.
Bake about 40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
"For summer there, bear in mind, is a loitering gossip, that only begins to talk of leaving when September rises to go."
- George Washington Cable
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….
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