Hi gardeners
 |
| Swamp milkweed |
Calendar spring arrives tomorrow. It’s the spring equinox when the day and
night are nearly equal. And it sure
feels like spring here today. It’s
sunny, nearly 50 degrees and the birds are singing. Bulbs are peeking up but still no
flowers. I think my snowdrops may have
gotten buried or destroyed since they would normally be at least visible by now
and I can’t find them. I’ll mark on my
calendar to buy new ones next fall.
The redwing blackbirds, robins,
killdeer and sandhill cranes are back.
Soon it will be time to put out jelly for the orioles and sugar water
for the hummers. And soon the frogs will be singing with the birds, but I haven’t
heard them yet.
Inside the amaryllis has almost
finished blooming. The hibiscus all have
buds now and will soon be blooming again. Impatiens, fuchsia, diplodenia, geraniums, and Easter cactus are
in bloom. I have another ripe lemon on
my tree. Everything is putting out new growth.
I received some plants I ordered in the
mail this week, it’s not the proper time for planting as the company states as
to when it will ship. I had to pot them up as they were shipped as little liner
type root balls without pots. When I
went to find a pot, I saw one on the porch where a plant I brought inside in
the fall had died. I brought it to the sink and dumped the soil in a bag
because I had new potting medium to use.
As I dumped the pot I noticed a clump
and thought maybe I had missed a bulb. I
washed the clump off and no, it wasn’t a bulb.
It was a plastic figurine of Wiley Coyote holding a gun. It was in great
shaped and the feet were marked 1984, Warner Bros. and the word Bully. Bully turned out to be the German company
that made the figurines.
I looked up the figurine on line and it’s
a collectible worth about $15. Where it
came from, I have no idea. I know I
never bought it. I checked with the
grandchildren and no one recognized it. The only thing I can figure out is that
when I dug up a plant to pop into that pot last year the figurine was in the
soil with it. We bought the house long after
1984 so the figurine had to have been in the soil a while. Gardening can surprise you. Wiley Coyote will remain on my desk for now.
Wildflowers and climate change
I keep a journal in which I record when things bloom or leaf
out. I also participate in a citizen
science project that records such data. Hopefully my data records may be of
some benefit to some future researcher, as were the journals of Henry David
Thoreau. His journals of such data from the 1850’s have helped modern
researchers determine how climate change is affecting wildflowers.
Many woodland wildflowers bloom before the trees leaf
out. As the leaves grow and gradually
shade the forest floor beneath them the plants work quickly to photosynthesize
and store energy for the next year. By
summer when the shade is dense many early wildflowers will have faded away in
summer dormancy.
Researchers took data from Thoreau and other sources through
the decades to determine if trees were leafing out earlier and when wildflowers
that favor forests were blooming. They
found that trees were leafing out 2 weeks earlier than they were in Thoreau’s
time (160 years ago) but wildflowers were only appearing a week earlier than
they were previously.
A week may not seem like much of a head start but it does
affect wildflower vitality. Plants have
one less week to photosynthesize before it gets too shady under the trees. Researchers believe the time trees leaf out
before wildflowers finish their life cycles will continue to narrow.
Wildflowers and understory plants that depend on spring sunshine will have to
adapt their rate of photosynthesis or they will gradually weaken and fade away.
Introducing the milkweeds
Milkweeds (Asclepias
sp.) are popular right now. People want
to help pollinators like the monarch butterfly and milkweeds are also part of
the native plant trend. There are about a hundred species of milkweeds in the
US alone. Not all species are easy to
grow or easy to obtain. And not all the species of milkweed are equally as
helpful to Monarchs and other pollinators.
Gardeners are now offered many species of milkweed for
purchasing. Which species you should buy
will depend on what you want from the plant and what will grow in your climate. I am going to discuss some common milkweeds
gardeners can easily find on the market. But first why do you want to plant
milkweed?
Are you into growing native plants? All kinds of milkweeds
aren’t native to every area in the US and if native plants are your goal you
need to research which milkweeds are native to your region. Also, some milkweeds grow in certain soil
conditions better than others, so your location and soil conditions will be
limiting factors as to what species you should plant. All species of milkweed aren’t easily found
on the market so that could also be a factor in what you could grow.
Do you want to help Monarchs? Monarchs are the only common
species of butterflies that need milkweed to lay their eggs on, their larvae
feed only on milkweed. Milkweed Tussock Moth larvae also feed on milkweed.
Some species of milkweeds are better for this purpose, but any species may be
used. Monarch adults feed on milkweed flowers, but they also feed on many other
flowering plants.
Do you want to help all kinds of pollinators? Many species
of butterflies and other insects are attracted to milkweed flowers. Using a
variety of species of milkweed, whether they are native or not, can stretch out
the blooming period and attract many different pollinators.
Do you want a showy plant that may also be good for
pollinators? Some milkweeds aren’t very
pretty but there are species which have nice flowers and forms that will
function as both a nice garden plant and a good plant for pollinators.
One note of caution.
Milkweeds produce chemicals called cardiac glycosides, which are
poisonous to pets and livestock. Because they taste nasty most animals won’t
eat them, but caution should be used when you select a place to plant
milkweed. You may not want them near
horses and pet goats.
Milkweed species often found for sale
Common milkweed- is Asclepias syriaca indeed one of the most common milkweeds
and one of the best for monarchs. It has pink drooping clusters of flowers and
broad leaves. It thrives in moist but well drained to drier areas, prefers full
sun in the north and will grow in partial shade in the south. Hardy in zones 3-8. Native east of the Rocky Mountains in the US.
 |
| Common milkweed flower |
Showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa has light pink, big clusters of
flowers which attract the red-belted clearwing moth as well as other butterflies and moths. It has broad leaves. It
can be an aggressive spreader. Native to
the western and midwestern US. Hardy in zones 4-9.
 |
| Swamp milkweed |
Prairie Milkweed Asclepias sullivanti has rose colored flowers and broad
leaves. It likes full sun in moist to moderately dry soil. It begins bloom in
June and blooms through summer. Native
to the midwest US into northeastern Canada, hardy in zones 3-8.
Swamp/Rose milkweed Asclepias incarnata has rose colored flowers in a more
upright position than common milkweed.
It has narrower leaves than common milkweed and likes moist to wet
conditions in full sun or partial shade. The flowers have a sweet vanilla
fragrance and the plant attracts swallowtail and other butterflies as well as monarchs.
It is native to most of the US and Canada except the west coasts, hardy in
zones 3-9.
Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa is the hot orange milkweed with upward
facing flowers favored by many gardeners. There is a yellow flowered variety
also. This milkweed has narrow leaves and a tuberous root. It needs drier
conditions in full sun. It is native through most of the US and eastern Canada except
the northwest corner. Hardy in zones 3-9.
 |
| Butterfly weed |
Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillate L.
has narrow, grass like leaves. The
flowers are white and in small clusters.
It likes dry conditions in full sun to light shade and will grow in
zones 3-9. This one spreads by rhizomes
and can be aggressive. It is native
to most of the US except the far west and to eastern Canada.
Poke milkweed Asclepias exaltata is a milkweed of woodland edges, preferring
partial or light shade and moderate moisture.
It is a tall milkweed, up to 5 feet, with small clusters of white
flowers and broad leaves. Hardy in zones 4-7. It is native to areas east of the
Mississippi except Florida.
Tropical milkweeds- such as Asclepias curassavica (Mexican milkweed), are sometimes offered in
plant catalogs. They can have vivid colored flowers. Most are not hardy in the
US. There has been some concern that
these milkweeds may actually be harmful to some butterflies. For more reading
on this topic see these links:
There are other species of milkweed that aren’t commonly
found in catalogs and nurseries. Before
you collect seeds or plants in the wild identify the species and see if it is
listed as endangered and if it’s legal to collect the plant.
Milkweed botany
The milkweed flower form is quite interesting, but I am
going to have trouble describing it. Some of milkweed flower petals are
modified to look like little cups or funnels, and 5 of them are arranged around
a central female stigma. There’s a single stamen in each funnel that protrudes
from the top and is often said to look like a horn. There are 5 other petals,
usually colorful, that curl downward at the base of the flower.
Milkweed flowers are in clusters, in some species these
clusters dangle, in others they look ball like and in others the clusters face
upward. Some milkweeds bloom for long
periods of times, others have shorter periods of bloom. Most bloom in mid to late summer.
Milkweed flowers attract insects with color and scent and
their rewards of nectar. The plants produce both nectar and little pollen sacs
called pollinia. Two pollinia are attached together by a thin, threadlike piece
of tissue.
When an insect lands on the flower looking for nectar one of
its legs will hopefully slip down in those funnel petals and snag the pollinia
thread. When it flies away it will carry the pollinia to another milkweed flower,
where the pollinia will this time be scraped off and left to pollinate the
flower.
 |
| Common milkweed pod |
After pollination each seed that develops will have a strand
of airy fluff. These seeds and their
parachutes are cleverly packed inside a pod.
Milkweed pods can be attractive in the garden and are sometimes used in
dried flower arrangements, usually after the seeds have flown away exposing the
shiny inside of the pod. Pods come in a
variety of shapes, depending on species, some are long and slender, others
fatter.
Culture of milkweeds
Milkweeds are perennial plants. Gardeners should realize that some species
are not very attractive even in flower and some species can be aggressive
spreaders. Think carefully about where you want to plant them. If you are
planting them to attract butterflies plant them in groups, bigger groups are
more visible to insects. A corner of
your property that can be left wild will do for many species, other species may
be mixed into flower beds.
Milkweeds can be tricky to start from seed, if you want just
a few plants try to find small plants to buy.
Some species are sold as tubers or rhizomes. If you are going to grow
the milkweeds from seed, make sure to get good instructions for the variety you
want to start and follow them.
While mixtures of the seed of several species are sometimes
offered, I think buying each species seed separately is a better idea. If you mark the species name on pots or flats
or a stake near a garden plot, you’ll know what species is sprouting, and what
conditions it requires. Not all
milkweeds grow well in the same conditions.
Most milkweed species that I know of require moist
stratification and a cold period to germinate. You might want to sow them in
fall, either in flats left outside or right where they are to grow. Most seed scattered outside in spring
probably won’t germinate. You may get
seeds to sprout inside in early spring in pots if a cold stratification period
was given to them before sowing.
Seeds started inside will need strong light, probably from a
growlight, to thrive. If you start them inside gradually harden them off before
planting outside. Don’t try starting seeds too early – smaller plants will
transplant easier and be more vigorous.
Make sure to select growing conditions outside that your
species prefers. Once started milkweeds generally do not need much care. They don’t need fertilization and have few
pests and diseases. Rabbits will
sometimes eat them, but deer avoid them.
When milkweed stems are broken a white sticky sap oozes
out. This sap is poisonous and can
irritate the skin.
If everyone could spare a bit of land to grow some milkweeds
or was willing to give them space in flower beds our pollinators would be very
happy. Give nature a helping hand and
plant some milkweeds.
Using grass to help grow blueberries
Many gardeners want to grow blueberries, since they provide
lots of health benefits as well as being tasty.
But gardeners are often scared of trying blueberries if they don’t have
acidic soil, which blueberries prefer. It can be difficult and expensive to
amend an alkaline soil so that blueberries can grow well, and many gardeners
just don’t want to deal with it. But
what if there was a fairly cheap and easy way to get blueberries to grow in
alkaline soil?
Alkaline soil is any soil in which the pH is higher than
7. Blueberries grow best in soil that is
about 5.5 to 6 on the pH scale. In many
places across the country the soil will be neutral -pH 7 or higher. Blueberries fail to thrive in alkaline soils
because they cannot take iron out of it.
All plants need iron for growth and iron is abundant in most
soil. Plants that have adapted to neutral and alkaline soils have evolved
chelating chemicals that are released from the roots to dissolve iron in the
soil or they form relationships with bacteria which dissolve iron. Plants which in nature grow in acidic moist
soils, where iron is dissolved and readily available for plant roots to absorb,
do not have these evolutionary adaptations.
Gardeners with alkaline soil who want to grow blueberries
are often advised to change the soil pH with Sulphur, aluminum or other
things. Or recently they have been
advised to treat soil around blueberry plants with chelated iron
solutions. Both of these chemical fixes
are tricky to get right, have to be repeated yearly and are expensive. They can also be damaging to the
environment. Planting blueberries in
containers and raised beds with amended soil is also suggested but this is also
expensive and limits the variety and number of blueberry plants that can be
grown, as well as the harvest.
But what if there was an easier way to make sure blueberries
could access iron in the soil?
Something simple and cheap most gardeners could do? Turns out there is such a solution, and it is
to plant grass.
A study done by the University of Chile and published in Frontiers
in Plant Science, 2019; found that intercropping blueberries with common
meadow grass and red fescue that was kept mowed like a lawn- about 3 inches
tall, was as effective in providing iron to blueberry plants as amending soils
with Sulphur or chelated iron. In other words the blueberry plants were grown in a lawn.
The grasses, which could produce chemicals that dissolved
iron and formed beneficial bacteria colonies around their roots, allowed blueberry
roots to also “steal” that dissolved iron.
Growth, crop yield, and berry size in intercropped fields was comparable
to the crops in fields of the same soil that were treated with chelated iron
and much better than untreated control fields.
And the grass grown crops had more antioxidants in the blueberries than
those in the chemically treated soil, making them healthier.
There were two drawbacks in the use of grass intercropping
on blueberries. One is that the crop
required more water to sustain the blueberries and the grass than a blueberry
field without grass. The other was that
the blueberries from the grass fields were softer when ripe than those grown in
the chemical treated fields. This wouldn’t be a problem for home blueberry
growers.
The grass would need to be kept mowed around your
blueberries, but that labor would probably be easier than weeding. I am speculating but native weeds that might
grow in the grass would probably be as beneficial as the grass if they were
kept mowed. And any native perennial grass that grew well in your area could
probably be used. The study didn’t say
if other nutrients like nitrogen, were given to the plants. A gardener might
still need a soil test from time to time and to add appropriate nutrients when needed.
So, if you are a gardener considering growing blueberries or
already have blueberry plants that you are struggling to keep alive you may
want to plant grass around them. Work
the soil up around the plants and sow grass seed thickly. Make sure to keep it well watered and neatly
mown. Make sure to space plants so that
at maturity you can get a mower around them.
This type of culture will be easier, cheaper and more environmentally
friendly than trying to amend soil with chemicals.
More reading
Preparing new vegetable and flower beds
In spring many new gardeners are
wondering just how to prepare the soil where they want to plant either a
vegetable garden or flowerbeds. They
often think they need to buy soil or soil amendments when that usually isn’t
the case. People have been working the
soil for thousands of years and until the last century most gardens were
planted in what soil was available. In
most cases you should do the same.
There are only a few indications that
you will need to purchase soil or soil amendments to have a successful garden. These are if all the topsoil has been
removed, or if the soil is contaminated. Those situations aren’t covered in
this article. Sometimes soil needs to be purchased if the gardener is making
deep raised beds to supplement what can be taken from path areas to fill the
beds. Of course, if you are growing in containers you may want to purchase soil,
but that’s another topic.
The very first thing a new gardener
should do is have the soil tested where they intend to garden. Do it as soon as you can in spring, or
preferably in the fall. For where to get
your soil tested and how to collect the sample contact your local county
Extension office. Almost every county in
the US has an Extension office and if they don’t do soil testing, they should
know where you can get it done. Look
under government for Extension office phone numbers and addresses.
You can’t tell how good soil is by
looking at its color. Black soil isn’t necessarily good soil. Some weeds can indicate whether the soil has
good fertility but that’s still a guess.
A soil test takes out guesswork.
The soil test will tell you what
nutrients your soil may need for healthy plants and in what amounts. It will tell you what the soil pH is and
usually what the percentage of organic matter is in your soil. Keep your results to refer to in the future. You won’t need a soil test every year, but
the first year you garden in a new spot its critical to get one.
Although helpful garden clerks often
recommend soil amendments like peat or topsoil, 99% of the time those amendments
aren’t needed. Remember they are trying to make a sale. Even if you have clay soil, very sandy soil, “bad”
soil or rocky soil you can almost always use the native soil without amendments
if you adjust nutrients and pH according to your soil test and you will have a
decent garden.
When you put topsoil and peat in
existing native soil you often create more problems than you solve. If applied on top of the area this often sets
up what is known as “layering”. Plant roots may grow only in that top layer and
not go in deeply to seek water and nutrients.
These amendments are often lacking nutrients themselves, especially
peat. It’s especially bad to put these amendments into individual holes that
plants are put into.
If the amendments are mixed into the
soil it may require a lot of tilling and later, I’ll explain why that’s bad.
Adding things like sand to clay soil will create cement, not well drained soil.
Peat isn’t much better because it retains moisture. You might think that’s great if the soil is
very sandy, but in this case the peat usually quickly works its way down deep
into the soil and away from where it will do any good. If your native soil isn’t the ideal texture
you will work on it over time, adding organic matter, and you can still use it
now.
The one soil amendment that can always
be used is compost. But you must be careful when you purchase compost. Some compost that is made from lawn clippings,
animal bedding and other things can retain harmful weed killers and
pesticides. When you put this compost in
your garden it can harm the growth of plants.
Any compost you buy should be certified to be pesticide free. If not just wait and make your own compost.
If you find good compost and can afford
to buy it, put it on after the native garden soil is prepared- more on that
later- about six inches thick. Use it like mulch. The worms and other soil
creatures will move it into the native soil in the most beneficial way.
The procedure
So, you are looking at a piece of land that’s
covered in lawn grass or weeds, where do you start? If its spring, you don’t
start by smothering the vegetation.
There isn’t time for that to happen before planting time. If you had
started last fall you could have smothered the area in arborist woodchips and
pulled some back this spring to plant. But not now.
If you cover the planned garden area in
the spring with newspaper or cardboard or tarps or other things that are
sometimes recommended, when you take those things off it may look like the
vegetation is gone, but the roots are under there and they will soon start
growing with exposure to sun.
And don’t let anyone tell you to leave
those papers or cardboard on and plant through them. Modern horticultural knowledge says that’s not
good for the soil or plants. Layered
mulch like this keeps oxygen from soil micro-organisms and plant roots. It often keeps enough rain from reaching the
soil too. It will make a packed layer of soil under the paper/cardboard/
tarp. It’s not good gardening practice
because we now know we must nurture soil organisms to have good soil and
optimal growing conditions for plants.
So, here’s what you will do. Wait until the soil is ready to work. This will be after the frost is out of the
ground. You take a handful of soil and
squeeze it, then open your hand. If the
soil clump crumbles apart it’s ready to work. If it stays in a clump it’s too
wet. Working wet soil compacts it and that’s a very bad way to start a garden.
It will also be very messy and frustrating if it’s too wet.
Mark off your planned garden beds. If you can, cut off any turf layer. Simply cut
down about 4 inches with a shovel then slide the shovel sideways under it a
shovel blade length and lift up a section of turf like lifting up squares of
carpet. Put these turf pieces in your
new compost pile.
Sometimes there is too much area to
remove turf from or the area is covered with deep rooted weeds and tree
saplings. Remove as many big weeds and
saplings as you can then mow everything as close as you can, scalp it.
Now you will borrow or rent a tiller.
You won’t buy one because you will be tempted to use it far too often. You will till the area as deeply as possible,
at least 6 inches, preferably 8-10 inches, just one time. One
time. And it will be the last time for
as long as you have that garden bed. You
don’t need the soil to be in fine particles.
It will probably look clumpy and that’s fine. In the areas where you will be planting you
will take a rake and break up bigger clods and smooth out the surface. Throw
out the rocks and any debris you find.
Note if you are working up soil for
small beds you can simply turn it over with a shovel. Push the shovel in all
the way, lift a shovel of soil and throw it on the soil in front of you.
Continue until done. You can do it for
large beds too, although it’s hard work.
Over-tilling the soil is a big determent
to soil health. Different types of microorganisms have different levels in the
soil in which they live. Every time you till you throw these helpful critters
all around and they have to begin again creating that soil biome. Frequent
tilling tends to compact the soil just beneath the depth of the tiller
tines. This prevents proper movement of
water through the soil. Even most farmers now follow no till practices, tilling
the soil only one time when they first put a field in use.
Powder fine soil created with multiple
passes of a tiller, is not good either.
This soil tends to pack and crust over. It’s not healthy for soil
micro-organisms. The ideal soil texture will look crumbly with small aggregates
or clumps, sort of like crushed cookies.
If your soil test indicated you needed
to add fertilizer or lime you add it over the newly tilled soil in the amount
you were directed to use and then rake it into the soil to mix it in. It will
work deeper into the soil on its own. NEVER
add lime unless you had a soil test and it was recommended. It changes soil pH
and if you don’t need it or add too much you could seriously disrupt how plants
absorb key soil nutrients.
NEVER add Epsom salt to your garden soil. There
is no scientific reason to use it, despite all the myths floating around, and
it can burn plant roots. The magnesium
in it can disrupt the balance of soil nutrients and how plants use them. It can bind up key nutrients and make them
unavailable to plants. Resist the myths,
don’t use Epsom salt in the garden for anything except to soak your feet.
Aftercare
After the soil is warm and things are
planted mulch your new garden. Chopped straw, wood chips, chopped leaves,
compost, even grass clippings. No newspaper under the mulch. You could use shredded
paper although it doesn’t look very nice. Don’t use hay, it brings weed seeds. Don’t worry about the mulch using up nitrogen,
that’s a myth.
Mulch helps keep down weeds, but you
will always have some weeds sprouting.
Weed seeds can remain dormant in the soil for a long time. Little pieces
of roots from things like bindweed also remain in the soil. Keep weeds pulled and certainly don’t let them
go to seed. If you don’t till next year
fewer seeds will be brought to the surface. Mulch. After the first few years you will have fewer
weeds.
Some vegetable crops can be grown by
laying plastic and planting through it.
It’s a subject you should read up on because its too much to cover
here. But new gardeners should use decomposable
mulches as much as possible for soil health.
Using landscape fabric is only recommended for permanent path areas
.
Don’t walk on garden beds when it’s wet
and stay off them as much as possible at other times so you don’t compact the
soil.
If you mulch your soil every year, keep
weeds down, add lots of compost, and don’t till it after that initial
groundbreaking, you will, in a few years, have deep, fertile soil that’s a
pleasure to work with. The first year
you create a garden it’s a lot of work but if you do it right the work gets
less each year.
Get outside and walk in the sun, it’s spring.
Kim Willis
All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without
permission.
And So On….
Find Michigan garden events/classes
here:
(This
is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page but all gardeners anywhere are
welcome)
Newsletter/blog information
I write this because I
love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my
research each week (or things I want to talk about). 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 or anyone you know 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
No comments:
Post a Comment