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….

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/

(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)

Newsletter/blog information

All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

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

If you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me or you can comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly blog if you email me. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine, but I do reserve the right to publish what I want. Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com