page links

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

August 28, 2018 Kim’s Weekly Garden Blog


Hi Gardeners
Hardy hibiscus
It’s steamy hot here today, and wet, wet, wet.  Finally, we are getting rain-everyday.  It’s like monsoon season but the gardens are loving it.  Everything looks so lush and perky.  The grass is green and thick again.  Its amazing how fast things recover after good rains.  I have had to dump water out of some pots but its still all good for me.  But it could get a little less humid and a bit cooler.
The hardy hibiscuses are in bloom, and the anemone, toad lilies and snakeroot are beginning to bloom.  The dahlias seem to have grown a foot this week and are loaded with flowers.  Woodland nicotiana is blooming everywhere now, it seeds itself around.  The jewelweed is full of flowers.  I have given up battling the morning glories and they are in bloom everywhere too.
I’m still waiting for the first bloom from my Hawaiian hibiscus.  It has buds but every day I have to remove Japanese beetles from them.  I don’t know why they attract them. The beetles were late arriving this year, but they are making up for that.
I am seeing few frogs this year but lots of baby toads now.  I have been hearing the tree frogs calling again after the rains and yesterday I saw one tiny green baby jewel of a tree frog on the ramp railing. Hopefully he will fatten up on mosquitoes before winter and won’t get on any plants I’m bringing inside.
Our duck has a nest in one of my flower beds, under some bamboo.  It’s close to the road so I don’t know how successful she will be, but if a coon doesn’t find it we’ll try again for baby ducks.  She doesn’t give up.
It’s hard to believe it’s almost September.  Where did summer go?

Time to think about those vacationing houseplants
If you have plants outside for the summer like I do you may have a month or more left before cold weather will force you to bring them inside.  But it’s time to think about that big move and do some planning. 
As it gets cooler we may forget about watering pots, do check every day and water when needed. You may need to water less now though, so don’t water without checking the pot.
The angle of the sun changes with the season.  Are any houseplants getting too much or too little sun now?  It may be time to change their position.  Usually a little more sun is tolerated now than when the plant was moved outside in spring because the plant has adjusted its leaf tissue and the sun’s strength is less now.  But if leaves look crisped or bleached move the plant.
If plants need to be taken out of the ground and potted do that now so they will have adjusted to pot living before being stressed by the inside move.  If the summer outside has caused plants to outgrow or even split their pots, you may want to repot them now.  However, it’s sometimes better to wait until spring to repot if you don’t want the plant to get any bigger during fall and winter because a tight pot helps restrict growth. And you may not have room for a bigger pot!

Plants often look very healthy outside at the end of summer but if they don’t, check them over carefully for signs of disease and pests. Treat them now so you don’t bring the problem inside and spread it to other plants.
If a plant needs pruning to shape it or so that it will fit through the door, do that now.  It gives the plant a bit of time to recover before being stressed by the move.
If you bought plants over the summer that you will be bringing inside have you thought where you will be putting them?  Will you need grow light bulbs?  Order them now.  Grow light bulbs lose efficiency after a year or two of use so you may want to replace them.  Will you need shelves, trays for beneath plants or hangers?  Get them now. A sudden change in weather may bring those plants inside sooner than you think.
Start paying attention to the weather.  Most houseplants need to be inside before nights regularly get below 40 degrees F, even if there is no frost.   Hardier plants like geraniums, rosemary, spider plants, and a few others can be covered to protect them from a light frost, especially if it looks like the weather will get warm again. But generally bring in plants before the first frost.  Fall weather can be very changeable, it can be 80 degrees one day and 30 the next so pay attention to weather forecasts.
I love it when the houseplants first come back inside because it looks like a jungle in here.  But I am considering the fact that I may have too many houseplants and deciding whether I need seven spider plants and 5 big jade plants and so on.  You may want to think about that too.  We could give them away, right?   

Borage- Borago officinalis
Borage is an interesting plant that you may want to consider for your garden. I have always admired it as an ornamental for the back of the border.  Borage has pretty blue edible flowers and leaves, some medicinal uses and will attract tons of bees to the garden.  Butterflies also visit it.  Other common names for borage include starflower, bee bush, bee bread, and bugloss. 
Borage is native to the Mediterranean region as many herbs are. It’s been cultivated for centuries; the Greeks and Romans wrote about it. It’s an annual plant but it freely self-seeds and will generally return each year to some spot in your garden.  In its native range it’s now being grown as a commercial crop, for the oil pressed from its seeds.

Borage flower faded to pink
Borage is a lanky plant about 3 feet high.  It may need staking in the garden if not grown among other plants that can support it. At the bottom of the plant the rough oval leaves can be 2 feet long, they are smaller near the top of the plant, and narrower. Leaves are arranged alternately on the stems.  All parts of the plant including flowers are covered with white bristly hairs.  These hairs may irritate some peoples skin and are the biggest drawback in consuming plant parts.
The flowers are usually a true blue, star shaped with 5 narrow petals.  The sexual parts form a cone shape in the center of the flower. Occasionally a plant has pink flowers but as the blue flowers age they may take on a purplish pink color, which some people may think was the original flower color.  There is a white flowered cultivar but why people would want that when the blue flower is so pretty is hard to understand. Flowers appear abundantly through the summer on clusters at the top of the plants.
Some people think the flower is fragrant, but I have never noticed that.  They do have a sweet nectar that children can suck from a flower, and which bees absolutely love.  Bees also take pollen from the plants.  The plants are self-fertile, you won’t need two plants to get seeds but like most plants they prefer cross pollination.  Small seed pods form on plants after they flower and if you don’t want the plant to spread seeds around the garden, remove pods while they are still green.
Bees make a specially flavored honey from borage some people really like but it’s debatable whether or not the honey may have some toxic properties.  In parts of Europe they are now testing borage honey for the percentage of PA ( see below) that it has, high PA percentage is not desirable.

Growing borage
Most gardeners will start this plant from seeds. It can be sown right in the garden after danger of frost or started inside about 6 weeks before the last frost.  Simply sprinkle seed on moist soil and cover it lightly.  Thin plants to about 18 inches apart in the garden.  Plants flower about 8 weeks after planting.
Borage likes full sun.  It tolerates most soil types. It can grow in dry conditions and does not like wet areas.  The more water it gets the floppier plants will be and when planted in moist climates or where regularly watered it may need staking.

Uses of borage
Borage is often touted as a companion plant or said to aide the flavor of tomatoes, discourage hornworms and other pests, improve the soil and all manner of garden miracles.  Most of this is bunk, old wives’ tales.  The one good thing borage does for the garden besides add beauty is to attract pollinators.  This could improve the yields of fruits and some strawberry growers start borage plants early so they’ll be in flower at the same time as strawberries, attracting those needed pollinators.
Borage has numerous culinary and medicinal uses.  The leaves and flowers have a cucumber like taste and both can be added to salads.  Flowers are often used as edible decorations on cakes and pastries and floated in drinks. It’s used as a flavor in gin.
Borage leaves are used in soups in Europe and in the German green sauce, Grüne Soße.  In Italy they are added to the fillings in ravioli and other pasta dishes. It is used to flavor some pickles.  Borage is used fresh, as the dried herb has little flavor.
Medicinally borage has a long history and many uses.  (However, borage does have some toxic chemical properties and should be used cautiously.)  Borage is used to cure depression by soaking flowers in wine and giving the wine to sufferers.  Infusion of the flowers is used for PMS and hot flashes, for gastrointestinal cramps and colic and for fever. It is also used for bronchitis, as a blood purifier and as a diuretic.
The seeds of borage are pressed to make an oil.  The oil has long been used for skin conditions such as eczema and for cosmetics.  However commercial production of the oil is now being done because the oil is high in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), and other healthy fatty acids.  It is used as a dietary supplement and for every condition imaginable now.
If you are trying one of the wonderous miracle cures going around for the product, (supposedly cures RA, ADHD, alcoholism, diabetes, asthma, wrinkles, among other things) make sure the borage oil you use is certified PA free.  PA stands for pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are found in borage seed oil and which are toxic to the liver and carcinogenic.  They can be removed to make the oil safer but there’s no scientific basis for most of the “miracle” uses.
Cautions
As mentioned above borage contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids as well as other substances that are toxic.  These toxins can harm the liver, cause cancer and birth defects and may cause bleeding disorders. You’ll see much argument on herbal sites about borage safety with many dismissing any harm the plant could cause.  This is foolish because the plant has been well studied and there is danger in using too much of the product, especially seed oil that has not been purified of PA.  Home herbalists cannot remove the toxin.
If you are using borage flowers and leaves in cooking, there is probably little harm done.  Still I would suggest pregnant women not eat it and small children’s intake should also be watched.
With seed oil and things like medicinal tinctures of plant parts great caution should be used.  Pregnant and nursing women should not use them. Keep them away from children.  Seed oil should be certified PA free and home pressed oil should not be consumed by anyone, although it may be used in modest amounts on the skin.  Even the purified oil may cause excessive bleeding during surgeries and may interfere with prescription and over the counter medications.  Tell your doctor if you take herbal remedies with borage in them.
Borage is an ancient herb with many uses and it’s a beautiful garden plant that pollinators love.  Try some in your garden.
 
Yellow jacket
Are you having bee problems?
In late summer many gardeners are besieged by bees and desperate to get rid of them.  Bees and wasps often get more aggressive in late summer and their populations have built up to large numbers.  If you are having bee problems click on the link below where there is an article I wrote previously on identifying and dealing with bees.
Tomato hornworms
Those big green “worms” you find eating your tomatoes in your garden came from a rather pretty moth that you probably didn’t mind in your garden.  The fat green caterpillars are known as tomato or tobacco hornworms.  These little buggers can go from eggs to tiny caterpillars to huge fat caterpillars 4 inches long and as big around as your thumb in a matter of 3 weeks.  To grow that fast they eat a lot of your tomato plant, preferring leaves and green fruit.
Tomato hornworms have a large curved spine or hook on the upper side of the rear end that can be either red or black, depending on the species.  The caterpillars start out a lighter, yellow green color but soon their green bodies are the same shade as tomato leaves.  Tomato hornworms are hairless, and the body is marked with a series of white v shaped markings and tiny black lines that look like stitches.  Along the bottom edge of the caterpillar are round spots outlined in gold that almost look like grommet holes.  To confuse predators there are two round markings on the hook or rear end that look like eyes.
Manduca sexta
The tomato hornworm life cycle
There are two species of moths that lay eggs on tomatoes that turn into the munching destroyers, tomato hornworms. Manduca quinquemaculata is the tomato hornworm, whose caterpillar has a black horn and Manduca sexta is the tobacco hornworn, whose caterpillar has a red horn.  Both types eat tomatoes. In some areas both species of moths and caterpillars of both hook colors are present. 
The moths that produce hornworms are often called sphinx or hawk moths.  They are large, up to 6 inches in wingspan, fat bodied, brown mottled moths, sometimes marked with brighter yellow or orange.  The adult moths do not eat tomatoes, they sip nectar from a variety of flowers.
Like many moths, hawk moths are generally active at dusk. They lay single pale green eggs on the undersides of leaves of tomato, pepper, eggplant and potato plants and weeds in the same family such as nightshade and horsenettle.  While the caterpillars occasionally eat these other plants, they prefer tomatoes.
Tomato hornworms are usually noticed about the first week of August and they generally feed for a few weeks before falling to the ground. The caterpillars burrow into the ground and turn into pupa.  The pupas are brown, hard, shiny, worm-like things with a curved “handle” on the front end, generally found buried in a few inches of soil.
In northern states there is generally only one generation a year, in the south there may be two generations. The tomato or tobacco hornworm over winters as a pupa.  Moths may come from warmer areas in the spring to lay eggs also.  While tomatoes are their favorite garden plant hornworms will sometimes eat peppers, eggplant and potatoes.  And of course, they also eat on tobacco plants in the south.
Finding hornworms
The first sign you might notice of the tomato hornworms presence is green or blackish green pellet-like excrement under and on plants.  There will be lots of bare stems and partly eaten green tomatoes, particularly at the top of the plant. Hornworms rarely eat ripe tomatoes. In the last week or so of the caterpillar stage their appetite is enormous, and the damage becomes very noticeable.  The caterpillars may have been on the plants for weeks.  Caterpillars do move from plant to plant if the plants are close.
It takes a sharp eye to spot the culprit as tomato hornworms are perfectly camouflaged as they lie on tomato stems.  Smaller hornworms may hide on the undersides of leaves. Stay still and quiet and you can sometimes trace them by their munching sounds. Usually they are found near the top of plants.
Tomato hornworms will not kill a tomato plant although the damage can look bad for a while.  They do destroy a lot of young fruit if left unchecked.   There are usually only a few tomato hornworms per plant.  To find the hornworms scout each plant carefully and look right above any piles of greenish-black caterpillar poop.   They are more easily found in the early morning or evening when they are most active
Control of tomato hornworms
Tomato hornworms have few natural predators although chickens sometimes eat them.  They are filled with tomato foliage, which is poisonous, although a chicken eating one or two doesn’t seem to have any problems.  Here are some ways to control hornworms.
Handpick them and squish them. If you are squeamish about handling tomato hornworms you may be able to pay a kid to look for them.  They do not bite or “sting” humans and the hook is harmless.
Use insecticidal soaps formulated for garden plants or use a Bt product.  These only kill caterpillars. Or you can use a garden insecticide safe for food plants.  Insecticides with carbaryl, spinosod, permethrin, or bifenthrin will work.  Read and follow label directions carefully.
Till the soil in the fall to bring pupa to the surface to freeze and rotate the area where you grow tomatoes each year.
If you notice a rather sluggish tomato hornworm with small white projections all over it leave it alone.  These are wasp cocoons. The Braconid wasp lays its eggs on living hornworms; they feed on hornworms, weakening them and then turn into the little cocoons which are on the caterpillar.  Each cocoon will turn into a wasp which lays eggs on more caterpillars, keeping their numbers in check.
Tomato hornworms are excellent fish bait.  If you are a fisherperson you may want to check the tomato plants before you head to your favorite fishing hole.
While tomato hornworms are startling and scary to some people they are easier to deal with than some other tomato problems.  Do not rip out your plants.   Gardeners will find that they can harvest plenty of tomatoes with just picking the caterpillars from the plants at the first sign of damage.

How to help a flooded landscape
I guess the recent rains here after a dry summer have me thinking about flooding. This year has been wet in many parts of the United States and many homeowners are having trouble with flooding or water standing on the lawn and garden areas. And for some areas the worse part of the year for flooding- hurricane season is near.  While dry conditions can be harmful to plants conditions that are too wet can be equally bad if not worse for the landscape.  Here are some tips to help you deal with landscape plants that have received a little more water than they like.
First try to drain the water away from your lawn, trees and ornamental plants if it’s possible.  You may have to dig a trench to a roadside ditch or another place to let water flow off.  If you have a place to safely pump it you can also use a sump pump, irrigation pump or even a fountain or pond pump to remove water.  Pay attention to where the water will flow as you pump or trench it off.  It’s not fair to send it to a neighbor’s property unless the neighbor agrees to allow it.
Try to drain off the water as soon as possible.  Even 24 hours of standing water can affect plants, some types of plants more than others.  If some part of the plant remains above water chances are better than if they are totally submerged, but root damage will begin in soaked soil soon after flooding.  Even if there is no water visible on the surface of the ground soil that is totally saturated will cause root damage to plants.  Roots need air spaces in soil or they simply drown.  If you dig a shallow hole in the soil and water pools there, your soil is saturated and needs draining.
Of course, there are cases when there is nothing you can do to get rid of the water but wait and hope.  In some cases, the plants will make it through, in other cases be prepared to replace some of your landscape.  If you have flood insurance, check with your policy holder to see if landscape damage is covered.


Lawn grass
Grass that is totally under water for more than 48 hours will probably die.  Warm, sunny conditions, while beginning to dry the ground, will hasten grass death if water can’t be removed.  Grass only partially submerged will last longer but totally saturated soil leads to rotting of the grass roots and if the condition lasts a week or so, the lawn may die.
Bluegrass, the most common Midwestern lawn grass, has some tolerance to flooding while perennial and annual rye is less tolerant.  Bentgrass, common on golf courses, is tolerant.  After you can get to the grass dig a small clump to check on it.  If you see firm white roots and bases of the leaf stems, (crowns) the grass may make it.  Black or brown mushy looking roots and crowns mean the grass is dead.
If silt and debris were deposited on the lawn during the flooding the chances of lawn grass surviving may be less.  A small layer, less than an inch, may not impact the lawn much unless it is heavily contaminated with harmful substances such as salt, oil and gas, but a deep layer of mud or debris will kill the grass.  Try to rake or shovel it off.
If the grass dies and you suspect contamination of the soil, seed a small area with annual rye grass, which will germinate quickly and grow if the debris isn’t contaminated.  Then you can seed with more expensive lawn grass.  If the ryegrass doesn’t grow well you may have to scrape off the contaminated soil down to the original soil, removing the dead sod, before re-planting.
If your grass seemed to make it through the flood it will benefit from fertilizing with nitrogen, especially if it is looking yellow or pale green.  Use a lawn fertilizer without any weed killers or insecticides for this.  Follow the label directions or use about 3 pounds per 1000 square feet.  Unless your soil has really dried out, don’t water the fertilizer into the soil as is normally done, it should dissolve in contact with wet soil.
As long as the soil is wet, limit traffic on the lawn so that the soil doesn’t get compacted or rutted.  You may even have to let it get a little longer than usual before mowing. If you do, only take off a third of the grass blade on the first mowing.  If it needs to be shortened further wait a few days then mow again.  Keep the grass blades about 3½ inches long.  Never use a weighted roller on the lawn when it’s wet to “flatten” it.  This will cause serious soil compaction and limit the growth of grass roots. 
Trees and shrubs
Generally, trees and shrubs will take a few days of flooding, if they are not totally submerged, without problems.  Shrubs and small trees that are covered by water will probably die if the water doesn’t recede in 2-3 days.  Some species may be harmed after 24 hours of submergence.  Species of trees that typically grow in wet or bottom land areas such as willows, river birch, black gum, red maple, black ash, cottonwood, swamp oak and so on will generally have few problems with flooding. 
Some species of trees will not do well if the ground remains saturated or they are in standing water for more than a few days.  Redbuds, flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), sugar maple, white oak, hickory, pine, spruce, cedar, junipers, and most fruit trees are examples of trees which really suffer from wet feet.   If you cannot drain off the water around them you may expect a weakened or dead tree. 
Trees that have had their roots too wet for too long will often begin to wilt, or will fail to leaf out, or drop their leaves.  The symptoms are similar to being too dry, because the rotted roots cannot transport water to the rest of the tree.  Trees that survive may appear yellow or pale green.  Use a wait and see approach for trees and shrubs that have been flooded.  Give them a little time to recover before deciding they are dead.  They may take longer than normal to leaf out if they were not actively growing before the flood.
Fertilizing surviving trees may help them recover.  Many nutrients are washed out of flooded areas and damaged roots have a difficult time efficiently collecting nutrients that are left.  And this seems like its counterintuitive, but if the weather turns dry later in the season water the trees and shrubs because their damaged root systems may make them more susceptible to death from drought conditions.
Toppling trees
In water-soaked ground only a small amount of wind may topple trees, even large trees. One side of the root ball usually remains in the ground with the other tipped up out of the ground.  With smaller trees you can sometimes wench the tree upright and stake it, if you can find solid ground to put a stake in.  If done right away many of these trees will recover.
If the tree is large or there’s no way to stake it, you should remove the tree.  Some species of trees will continue growing with part of the roots in the ground, but they will never be healthy trees.  You could try cutting the trunk off a few feet above ground and then pushing the root ball back into the soil.  Some trees will the regenerate from the roots, but not all species do this, and it will be a long slow process.  Uprooted shrubs that are hard to stake might benefit from this.
Ornamental perennials
There are, of course, some perennials that like wet conditions.  But most common garden perennials, mums, daylilies, iris, poppies, sedums, hosta, roses, lavender, peonies and so on don’t like waterlogged soil or being submerged.  If you cannot drain water away from them you stand to lose many of them in just a few days.  You may want to wade into the water and lift your favorites right out of the ground.  Pot them somewhere drier and wait for better soil conditions to re-plant them.
As with trees and shrubs use a wait and see attitude with your perennials after the water goes down and give plants a little longer to break dormancy if they were dormant when flooded.  Some may recover slowly from just a bit of live root system that’s left.  And like lawns and trees fertilization of flooded perennials may speed recovery.
If you suspect that flooding may occur again you may want to replace the dead perennials with plants better suited to wet conditions or install a drainage system.  Plants that are called “rain garden” plants usually survive short periods of flooding or saturated soil.
Vegetables and small fruit
Some vegetables that are flooded can be replanted after the soil has dried to reasonably moist conditions.  (If the soil crumbles apart after you clench a fistful of it and then release your hand, it’s probably ready to plant.)  Most mature plants will not recover if they have been submerged a few days.
Perennial vegetables like rhubarb and asparagus may need to be replaced if they were submerged in water for more than 48 hours or if there is standing water or waterlogged soil for more than 3 days.
Strawberries that are flooded for more than 48 hours will probably die and need to be replaced.  Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and grapes will not stand being submerged for more than 4 days in standing water, maybe less.  As with perennials if you can get the fruit plants out of the ground and hold them somewhere until the water drains you may save them.
Any fruit or vegetables that were in contact with flood water shouldn’t be eaten as they may be contaminated with soil borne disease bacteria.   Stay out of the garden until the soil has dried out to avoid compacting the soil.  Raised beds will help prevent flooded plants in the future if your garden is in a low spot. 
After a flood the gardener should assess the landscape to see how likely a future flood will be.  Drain tiles, ditches to carry off water, pump systems, raised beds, or moving gardens to higher ground should be considered.  Too much water is usually just as bad for plants as too little and there is generally less time to deal with the situation.  Planning ahead is your best insurance.
Apple Scones
This is a good treat for after school or good for breakfast too.  As soon as it cools enough to bake I’ll be making a batch. Scones are like dense cookies. This makes 16 scones.  They can be frozen after they cool.
Ingredients
2 cups flour
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons apple pie spice
1 large apple peeled, cored and finely chopped- Granny Smith, Honeycrisp or McIntosh work well.
½ cup pecans, finely chopped (walnuts can be used)
2 eggs
1/3 cup cold butter, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons maple syrup (artificial is ok)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or a copper or Teflon non-stick sheet.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine dry ingredients with butter in a food processor or mixing bowl and blend until crumbly. 
Add apple pieces and pecans and blend well. 
Lightly beat 1 egg.  Add egg, milk, maple syrup and vanilla to dry mix and blend just until combined.  Don’t overmix.
Divide dough in two and pat each portion out on the cookie sheet in a circle shape about 8 inches across.
Beat the other egg with one tablespoon water.  Brush tops of dough with egg mixture. 
Bake dough until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.
Cool scones and then cut each circle into 8 wedges.
Scones are excellent served with butter or apple spice soft cream cheese.

I hope your holiday weekend is fun and safe!
Kim Willis

And So On….

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:
(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





1 comment: