July 31, 2018 Kim’s Weekly Garden Blog

Hi Gardeners

Last week I thought the drought might be broken.  I was wrong. This is the last day of July and in the entire month of July we had 1 inch of rain here.  The average rainfall amount for our area in July is about 3 inches, so we have had about a third of what we should get. We may get some rain later today but I’m not counting on it.  The weather service has classified my area as in moderate drought, but if we don’t get rain by Thursday when they post the update we may move into severe drought. 

I’m not worried about brown grass and I can water most of my flower beds.  I am beginning to worry about the larger trees and shrubs.  If the dryness continues we will lose a lot of them, especially if winter is harsh this year. Drought damage often shows up in the following year or two and drought stressed trees and shrubs have higher rates of winter kill.

The drought is also impacting the wildlife around here.  There are deer tracks all around my farm pond. It’s drying up, but still has water unlike the creek that runs through the fields across the road.  That’s now just mud. I’ve been seeing a lot of deer in the daytime, in farm fields already damaged by drought. They may be moving around for water or for lusher places to feed. The birds are disappearing, my feeders have not been busy.  I’m seeing fewer butterflies and bees than normal.

What’s a shame is that when some areas of Michigan got rain it was around the heavily populated areas like Detroit, where a sea of concrete carried it into the storm drains.  Such a waste.  A few areas of Michigan got heavy downpours from time to time and those places might be little spots of green among the brown.

In my garden I noticed many things are shorter than usual.  My oriental lilies were blooming at 3 feet tall, when they normally get to six feet. The tithonia is only 3 feet tall, last year it was 6 feet. I water but unless one has drip irrigation or a good overhead irrigation system it’s not the same as good, consistent rain. Next year I just may have to put in a drip system.

My corn is making ears, but it too is smaller than normal.  We are getting more tomatoes and peppers now, I can water them.  The pumpkins are way out at the edge of our main yard, out of hose reach and they are really suffering.  My husband has been ferrying buckets of water to them, but they still look poorly.

I guess it could be worse – our area could be on fire as well as dry like many areas to the west and in other countries.  We have a red flag warning here and I do think about fire as we have huge brush piles from the trees that were cut down last spring.  Some are by the road, where a tossed cigarette could ignite them but there’s not much I can do about it but be watchful.  My heart goes out to any of you whose property and homes have been destroyed by fire.  Please, all my readers, think about what you would do if fire broke out in your area and make a plan for what actions you would take to fight it or escape.

Another thing I was wrong about was the Japanese beetles.  They are late this year, but unfortunately, they finally showed up.  My grape vines are getting hit but in other areas in the yard it’s not as bad as last year.  Maybe drought discourages them too.

My tropical hibiscus are happy though, all are blooming except the Hawaiian one.  My amaryllis has 2 huge blooms and is making more. The water hyacinth has filled up its tiny pond and is blooming like crazy. The buttered popcorn plant likes the hot dry weather too and is getting tall and is full of flowers. The dahlias, cleome, cosmos and zinnias are shorter than usual but blooming.  My summer bulbs don’t seem happy though, the cannas have some blooms and the glads have buds but the coral drops, crocosemia, and peacock orchids have yet to bloom.

The scents of summer

Yellow mirabilis

As I sat down near my butterfly bed to do some weeding I noticed a delicious smell. It was the yellow four o’ clocks (Mirabilis jalapa). The smell of yellow four o’ clocks in my garden are pure delight, a deep lemony jasmine scent I wish I could capture in a bottle.  The other colors of four o’ clocks are more subtle but still pleasant.

I have a new type of four o’ clock this year too, called fairy trumpets (Mirabilis longiflora).  The blooms have a very long “trumpet” neck.  They are white with a rose center, a nocturnal bloomer, and they also have a very pleasant scent.  In that bed I also have night phlox or candy phlox, (Zaluzianskya capensis), which also has a sweet scent.  The flowers look like little white pinwheels with a deep red reverse side.  In the daytime neither of these are very noticeable but after dark they shine.

Night phlox

I was thinking I’d like to have a perfume with the scent of yellow four o’ clocks so I could enjoy it all year round.  So, I checked and sure enough several expensive perfumes are made with Mirabilis (four o’ clock) scent.  They include ‘Lucia Starlight’, Armani ‘Code Luna’, and ‘Belle de Nuit’.  No clue as to what type or color of Mirabilis is used.  It seems though, that several perfumes include the scent.  (I probably can’t afford them though.)

Other scents I adore in summer are the scents of Nicotiana sylvestris ‘Only the Lonely’, Casa Blanca lilies, moonflowers (Ipomoea alba), heliotrope, lavender, old damask roses, laurentia, summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), honeysuckle and peaches.  (Peaches are a fruit, but they do smell lovely.)

 Other summer scents include that of datura, brugmansia, agastache, some purple and white petunias, some snapdragons, garden phlox, mignonette, pinks, sweet alyssum, and melons. If you didn’t notice your favorite flower scent here it may be that they don’t bloom in summer. Spring and fall have their own suites of intoxicating scents.

If you live in other parts of the country you may be smelling gardenias, camellia, jasmine, orange blossoms, tuberose, plumeria, ylang ylang, freesia, banana shrub (Michelia figo), and probably many others I do not know about. But I do like the scent of many of these warm climate flowers.

Mirabilis longiflora

Even the foliage of many plants smells nicely.  I like the smell of crushed peppermint, anise hyssop, geranium (scented and common), beebalm (monardo), lemon verbena, clary sage, lemon grass, chamomile, rosemary, sweet bay, eucalyptus, and lavender. 

Houseplants can smell nicely in summer too.  Think hoya, jasmines, sanseveria, Michelia champaca (Joy perfume), Brunfelsia gigantea, (Lady of the Night), Clerodendron philippinum,( Cashmere Bouguet), Aglaia odorata (Chinese perfume plant), Telosma cordata ( Chinese violet), Hedychium hybrids ( Ginger lilies), Bouvardia hybrids, and Epiphyllum oxypetalum (Night blooming cereus).

Scent is rather subjective as to whether you like it.  For example, I dislike the smell of basil, but some people like it. I like the smell of patchouli, but some people hate it. Scent is strongly tied to memories for us.  If you only smelled lilies and carnations at funerals, you may dislike the smell of them because you associate it with death and mourning.  But you may smell honeysuckle with a smile, remembering hot afternoons as a kid when you sucked the nectar from the blossoms. Patchouli reminds me of hazy summer nights with another favorite herb when I was younger.

I like the smell of lavender, but I had a boss once who hated it.  No lavender scented products in his office. Lavender is usually associated with “cleanness” and is often used in soaps and cleaning products.  Maybe he had his mouth washed out with it too many times. 

There is a new study out that found lavender scent calms horses. It can be used when horses are being put into trailers or getting a farrier visit or any time they are under stress. Here’s a link; www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180728084141.htm   

Aromatherapy links certain scents with various effects on humans and other animals. Other than lavender, scents of summer such as geranium, chamomile, rose, clary sage, ylang ylang, and fruity smells like sweet orange and grapefruit are also calming and relieve stress.  Maybe that’s why most of us are happier and less stressed in summer.

If you’d like to have a perfume made from your favorite summer scents you can try to make your own essential oils or use a technique where you press scented flowers into a fat of some kind and let them sit.  Or you can go online to one of the companies that custom make perfumes. I tried one for kicks- you chose from a rather limited selection of perfume character groups like sensual or elegant and so on and your 1.7-ounce bottle costs about $80.  Not for me. 

Or you can purchase a kit of essential oils with “fixers” and carrier oils for about the same price.  One kit I saw had essential oils like “firewood” and “fresh dirt” whatever those are, but no Mirabilis or lily.  Some of the so-called scents like “amber” or “white musk” are also made up names for certain artificial scents.  It might be fun to experiment, but I’d rather spend the money on scented plants.

I guess I will be content with smelling summer in the garden when it’s summer and choose from my collection of scented wax melts to make it smell like summer inside in winter.

Dividing iris

August is a good month to divide your bearded iris.  As iris grow they make huge clumps of plants and as they get crowded your blooms will get less.  Iris should be divided every 3-5 years to improve blooming and keep the spot from getting too crowded. You may also want to divide iris to give some to friends or make another garden bed.  If you need to move iris to another location in the garden August is also a good time to do it. It’s pretty easy to divide iris and any gardener should feel competent to do it.  You’ll need a good sharp knife to help divide rhizomes, some scissors to cut the iris leaves and something to put your divided rhizomes in.  You may also want some common household bleach for disinfesting rhizomes.

Start by deciding what you will do with the divided plants.  If you need to prepare a new site, you should get that done.  Iris will “hold” outside of the soil for a few weeks but it’s best to get them planted as quickly as possible.  Next dig the whole clump of iris up.  Irises have shallow roots, and this is easy to do.  If the clumps are packed together in a bed you may cut through some with your spade as you lift them, but you will generally have plenty of good rhizomes left.

Put the clump of iris on a tarp, a board, or on cement and gently wash all the soil off the rhizomes with a garden hose so you can see what you have.  Cut the iris leaves back to about 3-4 inches; it doesn’t matter if they are cut on a slant or straight across.  Rhizomes are actually underground stems and you will see joints or nodes along the rhizome with leaves (or fans in iris terms), popping up along each node. Rhizomes are tan, knotty looking and can branch off in unusual ways.  There should be roots on the bottom of younger rhizomes.

After a rhizome section blooms it will never bloom again.  To determine which rhizomes sections are old you can look for the dead flower stem.  Old rhizomes may also be devoid of roots and have tiny holes on the underside where the roots fell off.  In a clump, old rhizomes are generally in the center. 

Examine the clump you lifted carefully.  You’ll want to divide iris between joints, leaving each section with one or two sets of leaves and a healthy section of rhizome consisting of 2 or more joints.  You can start new plants from a single node or section, but they will be smaller and may not bloom for 2 years.  Sometimes you can snap the joints apart with your fingers but cutting is more precise.

If the old rhizomes have new sections of rhizomes with no leaves or very small leaves on them you can save the old rhizome and replant it with the young daughter plants. It will provide food for them until they grow more leaves.  Otherwise discard old rhizomes that have bloomed. 

Examine the rhizomes you are keeping looking for mushy areas or large holes in the top side of the rhizome.  Large holes may indicate iris borers and there may be a large pink worm inside the hole.  Those pieces should be discarded in the trash, not the compost pile.  Soft, mushy areas indicate bacterial rot and should also be discarded.

Next add one cup of common household bleach, without scent added, to a gallon of water and soak the good rhizomes for 10 minutes.  Remove and allow them to dry in a sunny place for a few hours.  This removes disease organisms.   You can re-use the bleach solution for several batches on the same day. If you know the name or color of the iris you are dividing, you can write that on the leaves of the divided pieces with a marker or add a label held on with a rubber band to the piece.

Replant the divided sections of rhizome shallowly, root side down, leaves up, with the surface of the rhizome just under the soil.  Plant 1 foot apart.   Iris bloom best in full sun positions.  If the weather is dry water the replanted rhizomes once a week.  Larger rhizomes sections will probably bloom in the spring.  Smaller sections may take two years to bloom. 

If you buy iris to plant, try to get them into the ground by mid-September.  This will make it more likely that they will grow well for you and bloom the first spring.

When to harvest hints for the vegetable garden

New gardeners and old gardeners growing something for the first time often wonder when the food crop they are growing is ready to harvest.  After all, when you go through the labor and time to produce your own food you want to pick it when it’s at its absolute best taste and nutrition.  While experience will eventually help you decide when to harvest here are some tips to help you decide if some food crops are ready to eat.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are the most frequently grown plant in food gardens.  Tomatoes help you determine when they are ready to pick by changing color.  Not all tomatoes turn red however, some turn orange, pink, black, yellow, or a combinations of colors. Some even stay green, although there is generally a difference in the shade of green when ripe.  Know what variety you planted!  Pick those tomatoes when they are the right color and slightly soft.   If a tomato falls off before it’s completely ripe or a heavy frost is on the way don’t worry.  Tomatoes will continue to ripen off the vine, even though the taste is better if they are left to ripen in the sun.  Don’t let tomatoes get too ripe, when they get really soft and may even split or leak fluids.

Pick all the ripe tomatoes off a plant, even if you can’t use them.  Picking them keeps the plant producing and lessens the chance of disease from rotting fruits. Pick off those that have spots, cracks, rotted areas and so on.  Compost unwanted fruits or give them to animals like chickens or if you just have too many nice tomatoes and don’t want to can or freeze them donate them to a neighbor, senior center or soup kitchen.

Once you get them in the house don’t refrigerate tomatoes- this ruins the taste and actually makes them spoil faster.  Store them unwashed- wash them right before use.  Store tomatoes that need to ripen a bit in a bright location but out of direct sun.  Store ripe tomatoes in a darker location.

Peppers

Peppers vary tremendously in size, shape and color.  Most can be eaten at almost any stage.  For sweet bell peppers you can harvest them when they are large, but still green or let them ripen to red, yellow or orange.  Hot peppers will be at their hottest at maturity.  Read the variety description to know what the “ripe” color is.  As with most garden plants, keep the peppers picked to keep them producing.  Once you pick them store them in a cool, but not refrigerated place.  Wash just before use.  Peppers can be cut up and frozen, dried, pickled or canned to preserve them.

Eggplant

Eggplants are much the same as tomatoes and peppers- when they are mature they generally change color.  All eggplants are not purple when mature however, there are varieties that are orange, yellow, white and other colors.  Pick eggplants when the mature color is reached.  Like tomatoes eggplants should be stored at room temperature. 

Cucumbers

The aim in harvesting cucumbers is to pick them when they are young and small for the best flavor, thin skin and keeping qualities. Different varieties of cukes have different shapes when mature.  Some are long and slender, some short and plump. The long ones are better for fresh eating but any cuke can be eaten fresh at a young age. Even cucumbers designed to be pickles should be picked while they are still young and small.  Most cucumbers will be green at this correct eating stage although novelty cucumbers that are white or yellow when young exist.  When most cucumbers start turning yellow however, they are getting past the best eating and pickling stage. 

Pick all cucumbers off the vine before they turn completely yellow to keep the vines producing. You can store cucumbers refrigerated or unrefrigerated for several days.

Cabbage

Cabbage is ready to harvest when a tight firm head has formed.  You’ll want to harvest these heads before they split, which if left in the garden too long they will do.  If a split head is harvested immediately it is fine to eat, but after a few days a split head will spoil and be filled with bugs.  If you aren’t ready to harvest your cabbage and want to keep them in the garden a bit longer, give each plant a half turn to break some of the roots.  This can delay splitting for a few more days. 

To store cabbage, you can pull the whole plant and hang them upside down in a cool dark place.  This is how cabbage was stored through the winter in earlier times, but few people have the right conditions for this. Heads may sit for a week or two in a cool place without being washed or having the outer leaves stripped off. Or strip off some of the outer leaves and wrap the head tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator crisper or other cool place. 

Lettuce/greens

Greens should be picked when they are big enough to eat but before the plant starts sending up a tall, flowering stalk.  Once greens bolt or go to seed, they turn bitter.  This usually happens as the weather gets hot.  You can remove all or part of a lettuce plant (except heading types).  Wash greens and store refrigerated after they air dry.  Lettuce that looks wilted as you harvest it can be soaked in a bowl of cold water in the frig for an hour or so and it may revive and crisp up.  There’s no real way to store leafy greens for very long.

Green beans/ wax beans

For the best tasting, tender green beans pick the beans when the pods are small and the “bumps” inside barely noticeable.  Keep beans picked off the plant before they get too large and the pods begin turning yellow as this keeps the plants producing new beans. (Wax beans will be yellow.) Don’t wash until just before cooking.   Beans can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days before use.  Can or freeze them if they can’t be used in a few days.

Radishes, beets

Harvest these when they are still small.  As they get older they get woody or pithy.  Radishes can be round or long like carrots.  The color of beets and radishes doesn’t change much as they mature.  You’ll be pulling up the whole plant.  Wash the roots, trim the leaves back to about half and store refrigerated if you aren’t going to use them immediately.

Carrots

You can pull carrots when they are small, about the size of a pencil or let them get larger.  Some carrots will be a bit woody as they get larger, but most will still have good flavor. Carrots can even be heavily mulched and left in the ground to harvest in late fall and winter.  If carrots are going to be stored for any length of time, trim off most of the leaves and leave them unwashed until just before use. Store carrots in a cool, moist place.  A few can be wrapped in a moist paper towel and stored in the crisper of the refrigerator.

Squash/pumpkins

There are two types of squash, summer squash which includes zucchini and winter, which includes Hubbard, acorn and other types.  Summer squash are harvested when they are young, and the skin is still thin.  When they get large and mature they have a lot of seeds and are tough and not flavorful.  Some summer squash are green when young and change color as they mature.  But some like the patty pans are the same color when young or mature and this can be white or yellow or even other colors.  Summer squash types don’t store for long and should be stored in a cool place.

Winter squash are meant to mature before eating.  They usually start out green and can be a variety of colors when mature.  You want them to have a firm, thick skin.  Pumpkins are winter squash.  You’ll want them to be fully colored before you pick them as squash do not color up much more after picking.  Harvest all winter squash and pumpkins before a hard freeze or they will rot.  Some squash will taste fine if not quite mature, but the really immature ones should probably be put in the compost if you have to pick them early. Store your pumpkins and winter squash in a warm, (room temperature), dark place for long term storage.

Melons

Melons includes cantaloupe, honeydews, watermelon and some other varieties.  Melons are one of the harder things to judge when they are ready to harvest, and an unripe melon just doesn’t taste very good. Melons don’t continue to ripen after they are picked.  An overripe melon is equally awful.  As you grow melons year after year you will get adept at recognizing ripeness but until then count on a few mistakes.

Cantaloupe doesn’t develop the netting on the surface until late in development.  They may look green and smooth at an earlier stage.  Other melons may also change appearance as they mature. A few melons have been developed to change color when mature so they are easier to pick at the right time.  Study the descriptions of melon varieties so you know what to expect and mark the variety in the garden.  Garden experts get many questions about what type of melon is growing in another gardener’s garden each year as people try to figure out what the odd-looking fruits are.

Most melons when mature develop a yellow spot where the melon rests on the ground.  The tendril on the end opposite the stem should be dried up or absent.  Some melons will easily slide off the vine when mature but this isn’t a reliable test as some ripe melons will need to be pulled or cut off.  If a melon begins to crack its generally ripe- on the verge of over ripeness, although excessive rain may cause some unripe melons to crack too.  It’s ok to eat cracked melons if insects or animals haven’t beat you to it.

You can thump the melon, but it takes experience to recognize the hollow sound of a ripe melon.  Smelling muskmelon, cantaloupe and honeydew can be a good test; a ripe melon can be smelled without cutting it.  That’s the way chickens and other animals recognize ripe melons and extra interest in your melon patch means the melons are ripening.

Old-timers often use the plug test on watermelon.  When you think a watermelon looks ripe take a pocket knife and cut a small plug out of the melon and examine it.  Cut a bit off the end and taste it.  If the melon isn’t ripe you can put the plug back in and wait a few days.  The same plug won’t be a reliable indicator for a second test though.

Potatoes

Potatoes can be harvested starting about 2 weeks after they bloomed, for new potatoes.  You can dig down and harvest just a few baby potatoes, leaving the plant or dig up one plant in your patch. You can harvest any time the tubers are the size you like.  When the tops of potatoes have wilted and died, the crop is mature and can be dug, as the tubers will not grow any larger.  If the weather is dry and pests aren’t a problem, you can leave the potatoes for a while in the ground.  Harvest before a hard freeze or harvest as soon as mature if the soil tends to get soggy for long periods. If a hard freeze is predicated and your tops haven’t died yet the potatoes can still be harvested. 

Let potatoes that you intend to store for a while sit spread out in a warm, dark spot for a day or two to cure.  Then brush off the dirt and store in a cool, dark place.  Don’t wash until used.  Don’t refrigerate potatoes for storage- the starch will turn to sugar and give them an off taste.

Sweet Corn

Sweet corn is ready to harvest when the ears feel plump and the corn silk looks brown and dry.  You can peel a little husk back and poke your fingernail into a corn kernel.  If a clear fluid squirts out it’s not quite ripe.  If a milky fluid comes out it’s at the perfect stage.  If no fluid comes out it’s probably starting to get tough and is past the best eating stage.

Corn will hold on the stalk for a few days and ears will ripen over several days to 2 weeks in any patch of corn.  Try not to harvest corn until right before you are going to cook it for the best taste.  If the corn patch is producing more than you can eat each day give some away, can or freeze it.  Next year plant small patches of corn at two-week intervals so it won’t ripen all at once. 

To hold sweet corn for a few days leave it in the husk, keep it moist and refrigerated.  Corn loses flavor each day it is stored as you will realize the first time you have your own corn picked just before it’s cooked.

Onions

Like many crops onions are ready to eat at many stages.  For green onions pull the plants when the stems are the size of a pencil.  Let the rest mature until you like the size they are or need an onion.  Onions need to be kept from going to seed or the bulb will stop growing.  When the leaves get tall and start to thicken at the base bend them over.  This helps them put energy into bulb production and not flowering.

If onion tops have died down and dried the bulb isn’t going to get any bigger so they should be dug and stored.  If the weather is dry you can leave them in the ground for a while before harvesting if you need to.   After harvesting let them dry in the sun for a day or two, then remove the tops. Don’t wash them until just before use and leave the outer papery skin on.  Store onions in a dark, dry place above 40 degrees.  Some types of onions, usually the sweet types don’t store well whole.  Those are best chopped and frozen for storage.

Cosmos- light and lively summer charmer

No, we aren’t talking about the magazine or the vast universe but rather a delightful annual flower that can light up the summer garden.  Cosmos are unusual because the common name and scientific name are the same, although Cosmos is the genus name and there are several species.  Cosmos bipinnatus is a common garden species, but many cosmos species have been hybridized to make some garden varieties. Cosmos atrosanguineus, often sold in catalogs as chocolate cosmos or chocolate daisy is thought to be extinct in the wild.

Cosmos are native to Mexico, South America and the southern United States. It is thought that Spanish priests growing them in Mexican named them because of the orderly spacing of the petals – cosmos refers to “orderly universe” in Greek or Latin.  Most garden species are annuals, but some perennial species exist.  In many places around the world cosmos have naturalized or gone wild.  Cosmos will grow in poor, dry soil and are easy to grow.  They are excellent for children’s gardens, cottage style and informal beds and also attract butterflies and bees.  Cosmos are good cutting flowers too.

The Cosmos bipinnatus plant and related cultivars has fine, narrow leaves that occur in pairs along the stem, giving them a lacy or ferny look. Their flowers generally occur in pastel colors, rose, lavender and white. Cosmos sulphureus or the yellow cosmos has broader, lobed leaves that remind one of marigold leaves. The colors of this cosmos and its cultivars are hot colors, red, orange and yellow. Cosmos range from about 2 feet to 4 feet or so tall, depending on the variety and growing conditions. 

All cosmos flowers are daisy like, with a yellow center and colored petals surrounding the disk.  Some ornamental cosmos have the petals rolled into a quill or “shell” shape.  There are now cosmos flowers that are bi-color or streaked as well as double flowered.  Cosmos begin blooming in mid-summer, as the days begin to shorten and with a little deadheading will bloom until frost.  

Some varieties of cosmos are ‘Seashells’ – a mixture of pastel flowers with rolled or quilled petals, 'Candy Stripe'  which is white with red streaks, 'Day Dream' is white with a red center, 'Picotee' has white petals with red edges, ‘Antiquity’ comes in shades of dusky pinks and mauves, ‘Double Take’ is a lovely double flowered form white , with red or pink stripes, ‘Double Click’ has double flowers in soft pinks, ‘Bright Lights’ is a mixture of hot colors, ‘Sensation’ is a mix of pastel colors.  A cultivar of the chocolate cosmos, Cosmos atrosanguineus  is ‘Choca Mocha’ which is a deep chocolate color.

Cultivation of cosmos

You can sometimes find started plants in the spring but cosmos are very easy to grow from seed sown directly in the garden.  Simply sprinkle the seeds on bare moistened soil where you want them to grow after danger of frost has passed and lightly cover them with soil.  Plants grown from seed will often bloom at the same time as plants set out as transplants because cosmos don’t bloom until the days are getting shorter.  Thin seedlings to about a foot apart.

Cosmos will thrive in almost any soil and can tolerate some drought, although they appreciate some watering when it’s really dry.  They need full sun.  Moderate fertilization, such as a timed-release flower food mixed into the soil at planting, may increase the number and size of flowers but it may also cause the cosmos to “flop” which they are somewhat prone to anyway.  They are best mixed in among sturdier plants that help support them or planted in a dense group to help them support each other.  Cosmos have few insect pests or diseases and will generally flower reliably for you.

Deadheading- removing the flowers as they fade- keeps the cosmos plant blooming longer and encourages it to produce flowering side branches.  As frost approaches you may want to leave some flowers alone and collect the seeds that form.  Or you can let the seeds fall in the garden, which some seem to do anyway, and they will usually sprout when the weather warms.  Be watching the area for the tiny seedlings next spring and don’t pull them thinking they are weeds.

If you need a tough, easy flower to add late summer color to the garden try some cosmos.

Blueberry Jam

In many areas of the country blueberries are being harvested.  Here’s how to make blueberry jam.

This recipe will make about 7 half pint jars.  Sterilize the jars and lids before filling and let them sit in hot water until just before filling. 

Combine 9 cups of crushed blueberries with 6 cups of sugar in a large pot.  Do not add water! 

Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then turn up the heat slowly and bring to a full boil.  Cook and stir until the mixture is very thick. 

Pour the jam into hot jars to a ¼ inch from the rim.  Wipe the rim, put on the lids and tighten them.  Process jars for 5 minutes in a water bath canner.  Cool on a towel, make sure they have sealed, and label jars before storing.

Note:  A water bath canner is simply a large kettle with a rack in it for jars and a lid.   You fill it with water to 2 inches above the jars. Use warm water when adding hot jars.  Bring the water to a boil and then start counting your minutes for processing.

Six weeks of summer left, get out and enjoy!

Kim Willis

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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 people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com

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July 24, 2018 Kim’s Weekly Garden Blog

Hi Gardeners

The drought is broken here. While we didn’t get even an inch of rain over the past three days (7/10 inch), it’s enough that the grass is greening up and I didn’t have to water for three days.  We were supposed to get more rain today, but it hasn’t happened yet.  I may have to water some pots tonight.  There are more chances for rain later in the week and I hope we continue to get it.

It amazes me to see the weather around the country this year.  Floods, drought, fires and extreme heat. Tornadoes and unusual storms are common. The whole country seems to be under weather stress.  And it’s not just this country.  There’s extreme heat in Europe and Japan, along with many other places.  Floods and drought everywhere.  It scares me to think that this is what climate change looks like and that it will get worse.

The mosquitoes popped up amazingly fast after the rain.  Some species lay eggs in dried up ponds and puddles that hatch quickly when it rains. Or maybe they just hatch in the air- it’s so humid. (Kidding) The plants are washed clean but look a little droopy from the moisture.  Many things are falling over.

The Rose of Sharon is starting to bloom, that’s early here.  I even have a mum blooming.  There are still lilies in bloom, the lovely white Casa Blanca is scenting the air, but the lily blooms faded fast this year and it seems the season is just rushing by. I keep wondering what will be left to bloom in August, although I guess there are plenty of annuals around for color.

The tropical hibiscuses are in a blooming streak now, loaded with large flowers.  I am most impressed with the Chinese Foxglove I planted this spring, Rehmannia angulate.  It’s been loaded with large, dangling raspberry pink flowers since spring.  It’s a tender perennial, hardy to zone 7, so I have to decide whether to let it die or bring it inside this fall.  I wish it was hardy here since it is supposed to spread by runners.  Maybe it will self-sow.

I wondered how my hostas would adapt after we removed the large walnut that provided some of the shade for them this spring.  The ones most affected are those on the west end of the garden.  Empress Wu grew huge, but it does look a bit scorched here and there. The heat this year didn’t help.  Sum and Substance is a very yellow green but seems ok. The hosta Gold Standard gets the most sun and it is literally golden this year.  It’s very large and blooming profusely so I guess it’s fine with the spot.

I’m evaluating and recording how things are doing this year.  I think it’s essential that all gardeners start doing this.  Our gardens are going to change with the climate and we need information to make decisions for the future.  Of course, all gardens change over time.  No garden is ever the same two years in a row.  If you think your garden is perfection this year just remember it’s a moment in time.

Hosta Gold Standard 

Don’t eat veggies- eat popcorn

With all the warnings lately about eating salads and other fresh fruits and vegetables one might be tempted to skip them all.  Food borne diseases like E. coli, salmonella and other “gut wrenchers” are often found on greens, veggies and fruits.  So how does one get those important antioxidants and vitamins without them?

Popcorn contains a high number of polyphenols, those good antioxidants that most people associate with fruits and vegetables. Popcorn has 300 mg of polyphenols per serving compared to an average of 160 mg in a serving of fruit or vegetables.  Popcorn contains B vitamins, thiamin, niacin, and folate, and the minerals magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, copper and iron. Popcorn is also one of the few foods we can eat that is 100% unprocessed whole grain, with lots of healthy fiber. 

Many people suggest you air pop popcorn or pop it in some good oil (not soy or corn oil) at home to keep calories lower. However real butter will add a good source of vitamin A, D, K, calcium, lecithin, selenium and iodine. Fat helps your body absorb antioxidants so add the butter, in reasonable amounts of course.  And newer research shows that real butter doesn’t contribute to high blood cholesterol. One tablespoon of butter has about the same calories as a medium banana.

Then add some almonds to your popcorn.  Researchers at the School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK found that almonds increased blood flow, decreased blood pressure, and boosted the levels of antioxidants in the blood in people that ate 50 mg a day of almonds. (That’s a small handful.)  Almonds also boost your fiber intake and provide you with healthy fats and vitamin E.  You can consume them raw or roasted or add them to other foods- like popcorn! 

Add butter and almonds to popcorn plus a little vitamin C, (maybe pasteurized orange juice), and forget the veggies, your diet is great and much safer.

What goes on in the garden at night?

At night when you think your garden is sleeping a deadly war rages between bats and their favorite food, moths.  Yes moths, a bat likes moths better than mosquitoes, there’s more meat. There’s a myth that bats eat their weight in mosquitoes each night.  They eat their weight in insects each night.  Mosquitoes are eaten, but they are only a part of the diet. In fact, several studies of little brown and big brown bats found that about 70% of their diet was moths. http://labs.russell.wisc.edu/mosquitosite/preventing-mosquito-bites/bats-and-birds/

Bat rescue groups, people selling bat boxes and uninformed amateur conservationists keep spreading the false information about bats eating thousands of mosquitoes a night based on old tests where bats were locked in rooms with only mosquitoes to eat.  The researchers counted how many mosquitoes they ate an hour and extrapolated that wild bats ate the same amount and the myth was born.

But when more sophisticated tests were done later, using DNA analysis of bat poop from bats in their natural environment, it was found that mosquitoes are only a small part of most bat’s diets.  A big juicy moth or beetle provides much more cost-efficient food energy.  Mosquitoes are eaten but not preferred.

While we want bats to eat mosquitoes we also want them to eat moths.  Many moths have larvae that are big garden pests. Corn borers, the sphinx moths whose caterpillars are the tomato hornworm, and noctuid moth species whose larvae are cutworms are some examples.  But getting those moths isn’t easy for bats. Bats use sonar radio waves-echolocation- to locate their prey and it seems that many species of moths have developed sonar jamming techniques; they emit high frequency sound waves to disrupt bat sonar. 

Several species of large, night flying moths have this ability.  And not only did they develop this as they evolved alongside bats, they also found other uses for their sounds.  These moths are some of the few insects that can hear, they have ears that detect high frequency noise, and they can use that noise and hearing to communicate with other moths. 

Tomato hornworms are moth babies.

The beautiful luna moth, whose larvae feed on walnut, birch, hickory and sweet gum leaves, has “tails” on it’s wings.  These are also an adaptation to bat predators. The tails confuse the bat into going after them instead of the moth’s body, which allows the moth to escape.

Since a moth’s life really revolves around reproduction, most of the whispered conversation between moths has to do with seduction.  They “whisper” because bats can hear their sounds.  They only converse between each other when they are close to each other and then very softly.

One type of moth however found a new use for the hearing- talking adaptation.  The Asian Corn Borer male moth mimics a bats hunting calls, which causes all the female moths in the vicinity to freeze to avoid bat detection.  That makes it easy for the male moth to mate them. You might call his call a date rape drug.

So, when you look out the window and gaze upon the garden, or maybe take a midnight stroll through it, look for moths fleeing in fear and listen for the whispered conversations of moths.

More on moths, mosquitoes and bats

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0077183

http://jeb.biologists.org/content/219/11/1589

Yarrow- Achillea millefolium, 

Yarrow is an ancient herb, used by the Greeks, Romans and other cultures for thousands of years. Other common names of Achillea include: milfoil, nosebleed plant, woundwort, old man’s pepper, and devil’s nettles.  There are dozens of herbal uses for the plant.  It is a hardy, drought resistant, native, low maintenance plant that’s excellent for sunny perennial gardens.  It’s a wildflower, and a weed.  Indeed, yarrow is a lot of things and every garden needs a yarrow plant.

While common yarrow, Achillea millefolium is the most often seen yarrow in gardens there are several other species.  Several species may have been used to form some common garden cultivars.  Achillea tomentosa or woolly yarrow has fuzzy, silver green leaves. Achillea filipendulina – fernleaf yarrow has the yellow flowers seen in many gardens. Achillea ageratum has ball shaped yellow flowers and a sweet pleasant scent. It is known as sweet yarrow, sweet Nancy, or English mace.

Yarrow is native to most of the northern hemisphere, including North America. It has become naturalized in Australia and New Zealand.  A wide range of butterflies and moths use yarrow as a host or nectar plant and several species of birds, including starlings, (one of the smartest birds), line their nests with yarrow leaves.  It’s thought that the leaves may repel or kill bird mites. Yarrow is also attractive to bees.

Yarrow has long, compound leaves that are feathery or fern-like and lightly hairy.  Leaves clasp the stems.  When crushed the leaves have a strong, pleasant smell somewhat like chrysanthemums. Plants can reach 3 feet tall.  Yarrow foliage remains green under the snow line through the winter.  The plants withstand mowing and will form a thick mat if mowed.

Yarrow flowers are like small daisies, with a row of larger ray flowers surrounding the center disk flowers.  They are carried in clusters at the top of the plant.  Most native yarrows have white flowers although pinkish or lavender plants are also found growing wild.  In cultivated yarrows there are many colors, various shades of yellow, purple, pink, rust and terra cotta.

Yarrow begins blooming in mid-summer and continues into fall.  The seeds of yarrow are small, flat with ridges, brown and oblong shaped.

The roots of yarrow are rhizomes, and the plant can spread through these rhizomes.  They are strong and go deep into the soil and are known for their high mineral content.  Plants form large clumps over time.

Culture of yarrow

Yarrow makes a good addition to flower beds, herbal gardens and native plant collections.  Yarrow prefers full sun conditions but will survive in partial shade. It will tolerate most types of well-drained soil and grows in poor soil other plants struggle in. Yarrow is hardy in planting zones 3-9.

Gardeners will generally start with potted plants, bare root rhizomes or divisions from a gardening friend, but yarrow can be started from seed. The seed needs light to germinate so cover very lightly or just press into the soil surface.  The seeds need warm soil to germinate so start indoors early or sow seeds outside after the soil has warmed up.  Yarrow from seed may bloom the first year but is more likely to bloom the second year.

Space yarrow plants about 18 inches apart.  Yarrow spreads rapidly and may take over large areas of the garden if not controlled.  It is drought tolerant but needs watering to get established.

Yarrow in the garden is rarely bothered by disease or pests.  Deer and rabbits avoid eating it.

Herbal and other uses of yarrow

All northern hemisphere cultures used yarrow species in some form or fashion. Yarrow has been recovered from ancient archeological sites and its use is recorded in some of the earliest written records.  It gets its Latin name from the story of Achilles, who was a warrior in Greek mythology.  Achilles, or in some legends the female Achilleía, treated the wounds of battle with a compress of yarrow.

Achillea has all kinds of herbal claims attached to it.  It is said to be a diaphoretic, astringent, tonic, pain reliever, stimulant and mild aromatic.  Chemical components of yarrow include; isovaleric acid, salicylic acid, asparagin, sterols, and flavonoids.  The deep blue essential oil of yarrow contains proazulenes.

Like many herbs there are contrary properties assigned to yarrow, such as both stopping blood flow and encouraging it.  What part of the herb used and how it is used may explain this.  This is an herb that should not be experimented with by new herbalists as it can cause serious harm.  An experienced herbalist should be consulted before using home remedies of yarrow.

That said, the parts of yarrow used are generally the leaves and flowers, dried or fresh.  The seeds and roots are sometimes used.  Dried, powdered yarrow foliage applied to wounds will help stop bleeding and may ease pain of wounds.  However, as the common name attests, and many children know, putting yarrow leaves in the nose will cause a nose bleed.  (In earlier times nose bleeds were thought to help conditions like headaches.)  Taken internally yarrow may cause excessive bleeding. See cautions below.

Yarrow is also an old remedy to start late menstruation.  In this case it is drank as a tea.  Abortion is an old, old trade for herbalists. It was also given to stop the pain of menstrual cramps and as a general tonic for women.

First People smoked the flowers of yarrow in ceremonial “tobacco”.  Flowers and leaves were also used on hot stones in sweat lodges for relaxation and purification.  The smoke of burning yarrow was inhaled for headaches and to break a fever.  Yarrow leaves were chewed for toothache.  Horses were fed yarrow to improve their stamina- (see cautions below).

Europeans used yarrow in snuff mixtures. They used it to flavor beer and other liquors. Yarrow is used for  breaking fever, for colds, hay fever, diarrhea, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal tract problems, and to induce sweating.  Yarrow tea was used for pain relief and as a mild sedative. See cautions below.

In many cultures yarrow was used to calm the pain and swelling of hemorrhoids and was probably the first hemorrhoid cream ingredient. It was mixed with oils and salves and applied.  People also sat in yarrow sitz baths to ease hemorrhoid pain.

Yarrow is used as a topical salve for skin conditions and minor wounds.

Some people eat young yarrow leaves in salads. Flowers are also edible. It does not have a good taste, but then again, some people also eat slugs and grasshoppers. 

Yarrow oil is sometimes used in cosmetics and in shampoos.  Pick up sticks were once made of yarrow.

Warnings

Pregnant women should not take yarrow as it may cause a miscarriage.  Breast feeding mothers should not use yarrow preparations.  In animal studies long term use of yarrow increased the amount of defective sperm produced by males.

Yarrow taken internally increases blood clotting time and should not be used before surgery. Yarrow increases the production of stomach acid.

If you take these medications avoid yarrow remedies; aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), diclofenac, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Anaprox, Naprosyn, others), dalteparin, enoxaparin, heparin, warfarin (Coumadin), lithium, cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac), nizatidine (Axid), famotidine (Pepcid), omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), rabeprazole, (Aciphex), pantoprazole (Protonix), and esomeprazole (Nexium) anti-acids like Tums, and Rolaids, any type of sedative, barbiturate or sleeping aid.  In fact, talk to your doctor if you take any prescription medication and want to take yarrow preparations.

Do not take yarrow preparations or use them on your skin if you are allergic to ragweed, mums, or marigolds.  Regular use of yarrow may cause photosensitivity when skin is exposed to sunlight.

Dogs, cats and horses may be poisoned if enough yarrow is consumed.  Since the plant is not very good tasting they rarely ingest enough to harm them. Cattle, sheep and goats seem to be able to graze it without harm.

Enjoy some yarrow in your garden.  It’s both useful and pretty.

Watch for daylily rust

Rust is a name for several related fungal diseases that affect a variety of garden plants. Puccinia hemerocallidis is the species that infects daylilies.  Daylily rust didn’t make it to the US until 2000 (native to Asia) but once here it spread rapidly and now most states have had cases of it.  It’s easily transported with daylilies when they are shipped from place to place.  Daylily rust doesn’t kill daylilies outright, but it weakens and stunts them and can cause lack of blooming.  They also look bad when infected with rust.

Daylily rust usually begins when days are cloudy and damp or rainy with temperatures around 70 degrees.  However, it can show up in other environmental conditions.  Spores of the disease are usually brought into the garden on new daylily plants but may be carried by the wind or by gardeners visiting between gardens.

Daylily rust
Credit Scott Nelson -Flickr

The symptoms of daylily rust begin as small yellow spots on either side of the leaf.  They may be overlooked or mistaken for other diseases.  The spots eventually form orange-brown rims and spread.  Streaking of the leaf, often along the vein, also occurs.  But the best diagnostic sign is the presence of raised, orange bumps or blisters that when rubbed leave an orange powder on your finger or a tissue.  You can see the raised bumps better with a hand lens.

Treatment of infected plants involves trimming all the foliage back to an inch or so from the ground.  Many growers also cut nearby daylily plants back also. The plants should then be treated with a commercial garden fungicide containing either azoxystrobin, propiconazole, thiophanate methyl or chlorothalonil (Daconil). Follow label directions for mixing and applying. You’ll need to continue to treat the plants as the foliage regrows, follow label directions for the interval between treatment. Systemic or foliar sprays will both work.  Some control occurs with neem oil but home remedies or “natural” remedies are useless for daylily rust.

The trimmed off foliage should be burnt, buried or placed in a bag and sent to the landfill.  Do not leave it on the ground or put it in the compost pile as they can continue to infect other daylilies.  Winter may kill any spores remaining on plants in colder zones (zone 5 and lower) but be vigilant the following year because you may also be infected again by the wind or other means.  If you had daylily rust last year you may want to use preventative fungicides this year as soon as foliage begins to grow.

The only plant that gets daylily rust besides daylilies is a plant called patrinia (Patrinia scabiosaefolia, P. villosa).  This is an uncommon garden plant although it is sold in some catalogs, mainly for herbal use. Other species of plants do get other forms of rust fungus, but daylilies cannot get these rust species.

Trimming back and removing all daylily foliage after a hard frost or after it dies back in the fall may help prevent the disease.  Try not to water daylilies from overhead, and don’t crowd them so that there is good airflow to dry foliage.  Leaves that are wet for several hours are most susceptible to fungal infections.

Some daylily cultivars are resistant to daylily rust and many catalogs now list this in the description. When buying daylilies look them over carefully for signs of rust. Inspect new daylilies carefully every day for several weeks. You may want to quarantine them for 2 weeks.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

If you want a quick and easy way to make pickles in small batches this is for you.  This recipe could also make two pint jars. If the directions are followed these pickles are safe and taste just like store bought pickles- or better!

For each quart jar of dill pickles you will need:

A clean quart jar and lid, canning jars and lids preferred

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 

notice: for food safety do not use less than equal amounts of vinegar and water.  Cider vinegar can be used but it won’t look as nice.

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

Note you can buy pickling spices already mixed.  Use about 1½ teaspoons per quart.

(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.

Pickles and popcorn plus slab of barb-b-cue ribs, that’s a happy diet

Kim Willis

And So On….

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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 people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com

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