April 9, 2019
Hi Gardeners
We’ve had a few days of beautiful spring weather,
with sunny days and temps near 70. It’s
partly sunny and in the fifties today, a bit windy but not too bad. Of course, as many of you are aware- or if
you aren’t, I hope I am making you aware- we are going to get some winter like
weather across the country, starting tomorrow.
Some places in the south may get severe storms and tornadoes.
I do feel sorry for those whose fruit trees and
magnolias are blooming, because snow and freezing weather may harm these. Don’t worry about the early spring blooming
bulbs, like crocus. Most of these won’t
be harmed even if snow covered. Things
like tulips could be crushed by heavy snow. There’s just not much you can do- unless you can cover clumps of tulips
with something like a bucket. Don’t
cover them with plastic or cloth, which will just be weighed down by snow and
make things worse.
Here at my place the crocus have joined the winter
aconite in bloom. The white snow crocus
by the house bloom first, followed by the early lavender crocus and proceeding
to the large flowered crocus in various spots that are just starting to bloom.
I see buds on the earliest types of daffodils.
The tulips, alliums, hyacinths and fritillaria are well above the
ground.
As I look at the tree line, I notice the slightest
flush of yellow and red, signs the buds are swelling. Pussy willows by the pond have fuzzy catkins.
The amur honeysuckle already has tiny green leaves. The winter wheat in the
farm fields across the road is well sprouted and being grazed nightly by a herd
of 9 deer. I feel sorry for the farmer whose field is being nibbled, but I’m glad
the deer have something to divert them from my gardens.
I have been cleaning out beds and transplanting
things. Cool wet weather is a great time
for moving plants. I moved two landscape
roses and some daylilies. It’s also a good time for fertilizing. I used an entire 20 pound bag of general
purpose fertilizer on my flower beds. I get a soil test about every 3 years,
but I know my property very well, having gardened here for 25 years, so I pretty
much know what’s needed. There are no
hard surfaces for the fertilizer to run off and I’m careful how I spread
it. I know my plants do very well with
my regular spring fertilization, it’s a one time a year fertilization, just as
plants get growing and that’s it for the perennials.
And yes, I do use a “chemical” fertilizer, a granular
slow release type. I don’t mind organic
but I know the plants don’t care either way so I get what I can find at a good
price. My flower beds also get organic
matter from the leaves and other mulches I use, and the soil is rich and
healthy for the most part.
So, what’s happening inside? My amaryllis is still blooming, putting out flower
after flower. An ivy geranium I have in
a window in the front room is blooming like crazy. The hibiscus are starting to bloom
again.
I am going to have to move some plants around though,
to make room for my newest addition, a beautiful cannabis plant. (It’s legal here now.) I need to get Mary Helen, as I’ve named her,
under a good strong grow light. I don’t
usually name plants but this one is special.
As much as I know about plants the care and feeding of a modern pot
plant is very involved. When I was
younger you threw some seeds in a pot and put the pot on a sunny windowsill on
the back side of the house so fewer people could see it. Or the seeds came up
on their own by the porch step where you sat and smoked it.
But cannabis growing is very technical now. So many weeks in this size pot, with this
much light, the so many weeks in the next sized pot with this much light and so
on. Plus, different fertilizer formulas
for different growth stages and managing heat and humidity- it’s a lot of work
it seems. But I will soldier on. And, oh that smell!
Ant
control myths
It’s spring and someone wants an organic solution for
getting rid of ants. As sure as sunrise someone
else will recommend sprinkling cornmeal- or grits- where the ants are to get
rid of them. Somehow the idea that ants
eat cornmeal or grits then bloat and explode got started and it’s hard to make
that false idea die. There’s no evidence
that ants ever die from eating cornmeal or grits. And the biology of the ant’s digestive system
makes that explosion pretty much impossible.
Ants don’t digest solid foods they may gather, like
pollen grains, pieces of dead caterpillars, leaves and so on. The solid bits go into a special pouch area
and get carried back to the nest where they are fed to the ant larvae, which do
digest solids. The larvae then regurgitate
a liquid which is shared through the colony of both worker ants and larvae. There’s no gas build up since they have the
ability to regurgitate. Researchers have
fed cornmeal and other substances to ant colonies with no problems.
The nonsense of cornmeal killing ants probably got
started because cornmeal is often used in ant pesticides as an attractant. A poison is liquefied then added to cornmeal
which absorbs it. When you sprinkle
cornmeal around in the garden you aren’t killing pests, you are attracting
them. You’ll get ants as well as mice
and squirrels and other critters. And
cornmeal can also mold and look and smell nasty. When you hear someone recommending using
cornmeal to make ants explode just laugh.
Boric acid and jelly, it’s the second most common
“home remedy” for ants circulated in social media and among gardeners. And yes, boric acid kills ants, it’s one of
the most common ingredients in commercial ant control products and get this- it’s a registered pesticide! So, it’s not a myth that boric acid kills
ants but it’s neither natural nor safe, that’s the myth. When you use boric
acid, whether you buy commercial products or mix up some concoction you read
about, you are applying a chemical pesticide, not a “natural” product. And
Despite
all the claims boric acid is not harmless to children and pets. Boric
acid powder can be inhaled, and chronic exposure will cause problems. Getting
powder in the eyes will cause severe damage. But the most common way to be
poisoned by boric acid is by consuming it. Normally pets and children would not eat
enough boric acid to make them terribly ill but when someone mixes it with
jelly, honey or maple syrup they may consume enough to become seriously ill or
die.
Boric acid is not harmless to plants either. Boric acid products on plant foliage will dry
it out and cause leaf death. Too much
boric acid in the soil causes plant death.
This can happen when boric acid products are leached into the soil by
rain or irrigation.
So, the bottom line is boric acid is a pesticide and can cause poisoning like all other
chemical pesticides. If you mix up
concoctions with it, they must be placed in containers that pets and children
cannot get into. Boric acid doesn’t just
kill ants. Sweet mixes should not be openly spread around in the environment
where they can kill bees, helpful insects, and wildlife. If you use a powdered mix pets should not be
able to walk through it, as they can be poisoned by licking their paws.
Ants
and peonies
Spring is also the time when another ant myth pops
up. When people look at peonies and peony buds, they often notice ants on them.
Some people swear the peonies need ants and others think ants harm peonies. But the
truth is ants are neither bad for peonies nor good for them.
Peonies have many nectar glands, they occur in the flower’s
reproductive parts, starting when the buds enlarge and lasting at least to the
green seed pod stage. Ants enjoy this
nectar. But peonies don’t need ants to
eat the nectar. Ants don’t help the buds
open by eating “sticky” nectar off and they don’t generally pollinate the peony
flower either. Ants do defend a food
source to some extent and may keep things like caterpillars from eating the
flowers. But this is a minor benefit in
most cases.
Peonies without ants will open their flowers just
fine. And the ants don’t harm the
flowers so there’s no need to control them. There’s plenty of nectar for
everyone. Using pesticides in this case,
even organic ones, is not good environmental stewardship.
Ants don’t show up on every peony plant. Some varieties seem to attract more ants than
others, and what’s available in your area for ant food may determine whether
you have ants on your peony flowers or not.
If you object to ants being on flowers you are cutting for a bouquet you
can shake the flowers or dip them slowly into cold water upside down to remove
ants.
Every year these ant myths pop up again and
again. Do your part by not spreading
these myths and encouraging other gardeners to become educated about ants and
how to control them.
Summer
bulbs to try
Do you associate planting bulbs with fall? If that’s the case, you may be missing out on
some wonderful flowers that are grown from bulbs planted in spring and that
bloom in summer and fall. I like
interesting and different plants and some of the spring planted bulbs provide
plenty of interest. Spring planted bulbs
many gardeners are familiar with are dahlias, glads, and cannas but there are
many more bulbs gardeners should get to know.
(Some of these have tubers, corms or rhizomes botanically but are generally
lumped together with bulbs.) Let’s explore some of those lesser known spring
planted bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and corms.
 |
| calla lilies |
Calla
lilies -Zantedeschia
aethiopica are great summer bulbs. You may be familiar with the small plants
sold in nurseries with a wide assortment of colors, including one that’s nearly
black. The foliage ranges from narrow
sword shaped leaves to broader oval shaped leaves. Some varieties have leaves spotted with
white. But there are callas you can buy
that make huge plants, covered in large impressive flowers. The common original species can grow 3 feet high and
wide with huge white flowers. ‘Green Goddess’ has white flowers that shade to
green near the tip and a frilled edge.
These plants can get 5 feet high.
Callas prefer full sun in the north and light to
partial shade in the south. These plants
are not hardy below zone 8. They are
very frost tender and should not be put outside until after the last frost. You can start them inside a month earlier. Callas can be used as pond plants, with the
pots sitting in shallow water. Keep about
half of the pot above the water line. You
can treat them as annuals or store the bulbs over the winter. If you intend to store the bulbs cut off any
seed pods that start to develop on the plants after blooming.
 |
| Bat flower wikimedia |
Bat
flowers, (Tacca
chantrieri, black and Tacca integrifolia, white) can both be grown from
a tuber planted in spring. These plants have flowers that some say look like a
flying bat with long dangling whiskers.
Actually the bat wings are flower bracts and the small purple flowers
are below them. While you might pay more than $20 for a small
started plant in houseplant catalogs, you’ll pay much less if you buy these
from bulb catalogs. Put them in pots on
the patio for summer interest and you can bring them inside and use them as houseplants
in the winter.
Bat flowers are not hardy and must not be put outside
before all frost danger has passed and brought inside well before frost in fall. They need shade outside and bright indirect
light inside. They must be kept moist and
like humid areas. They can start
blooming when they have two leaves. They
will bloom at intervals, eight or more times a year.
 |
| Crocosemia |
Crocosemia
masonorum. have gently arched,
tall wands of scarlet, yellow or orange flowers that can brighten up garden
beds or star in pots. There are a number of named varieties. Hummingbirds are attracted to them. The leaves look like glad leaves.
Crocosemia are hardy to zone 6 and the
crocosemia corms can be dug up in fall
and stored like glad corms in colder zones.
You can also plant them in pots and move the whole pot inside for
storage. They multiply quickly. These plants like full sun and moist
conditions. I set pots of them in back
of my decorative pond.
 |
| Acidanthera |
Acidanthera
(Acidanthera murielae) or peacock
orchids are another plant with glad like leaves and the gently nodding star
shaped, white flowers are marked with a red blotch in the center. The flowers have
a sweet, light fragrance and make good cut flowers. Plant these thickly in a pot or garden bed for
the best show. They have a long period
of late summer bloom. The corms are
inexpensive and in planting zone 6 and below you could just treat them like
annuals, planting new corms each year. (In
zone 7 they are marginally hardy and hardy in zones higher than 7.)
You can dig the corms in the fall like glad corms and
store them. Or do like I do and plant
them in large pots, moving the pots inside during the winter, where they will
go dormant. Each year the corms multiply
and soon you can divide the corms into two pots. Acidanthera are slow to emerge from dormancy
in spring so don’t discard them thinking they are dead.
 |
| rain lilies |
Rain
lilies - Zephyranthes spp. are winter hardy in zone 7
and higher but northern gardeners can plant the bulbs in pots and bring them
inside for winter. These plants have grass
like leaves and after a rain or a good soaking they quickly produce small perky
flowers in pink, yellow or white. There
are many named varieties. Plant them in
full sun. They need to dry out between
watering to promote bloom. Rain lilies multiply
quickly.
I have mine in a large pot that sits outside in the
summer and is brought inside to a cool area for winter. I get several flushes of flowers after they
come inside in the fall, then they go dormant for the coldest part of
winter. Sometimes they die to the
ground, in other winters the leaves stay green.
Then when the days lengthen in spring, I get flowers before the plants go
back outside after the last frost.
 |
| Double flowered tuberose https://www.gurneys.com/ |
Tuberose
(Polianthes tuberosa) have a
wonderful scent. Pot up some of these
and put them on the patio or near a place you sit in summer. The flowers are in
clusters on a long stem and come in the traditional white as well as a variety
of colors. Bulbs have gotten rather
expensive for small bulbs in the last few years so you may want to put a few in
with other plants. Butterflies are
attracted to the scent of tuberose. They like full sun.
Tuberose is only hardy in zone 8. You can dig up the bulbs and save them
overwinter like glad corms or move a pot with dormant bulbs inside to store
through winter.
 |
| Starfish Iris https://www.michiganbulb.com/ |
Starfish
Iris- Ferraria
crispa, this isn’t a true iris, but it blooms about the same time as bearded
iris. The leaves are iris like too. You could plant it in the ground, but they
show up better in pots, as an unusual conversation piece. The 6 petals of the flower have gold edges
that are frilled, the petals are white and spotted with maroon or mauve. They
do resemble a starfish in many ways. Some
of the plants have flowers with a pleasant vanilla scent but some plants have
flowers with a foul odor.
Starfish iris is only hardy to about zone 8. It needs full sun and well drained soil. After it blooms it goes dormant as summer
heats up. Keep the dormant corms in the
pot on the dry side through summer and remember to bring the pot inside in fall
for winter storage.
 |
| Ground orchids https://www.springhillnursery.com/ |
Ground
orchids - (Bletilla striata) - are a rhizome planted in spring
that can be hardy to zone 6. They bloom
in late spring to early summer and the blooms look like small orchids in shades
of pink, white, purple and lavender. The leaves are sword shaped, with a papery
texture and a crease. The plants are
only 18 inches high so make sure to plant them where you can see them and
appreciate them.
Hardy ground orchids should be planted in partial
shade, in rich loamy soil. It takes a year
or two for them to establish and become showy but it’s worth the wait. They slowly increase over time eventually
becoming a mass of showy small flowers in spring.
 |
| Lycoris wikimedia |
Lycoris-
spider lilies, naked ladies or surprise lilies. These lilies have numerous names that mostly
reflect their blooming habit. The bloom
stalks appear as if by magic from the ground in mid to late summer, long after
the long strap like leaves which appeared in spring have faded and died. There are species and hybrids that flower in
red, yellow, pink and white. The flowers
are in clusters at the top of stalks about 2 feet tall. They have long stamens protruding from the
flowers that give them the spider lily moniker.
Hardiness ratings for lycoris vary. I have seen them blooming by the roadside
here in zone 5, completely hardy, left over from old home sites. Yet I have been unable to get some colors to
be winter hardy and some are rated only to zone 7. In zones 6 and lower I suggest planting
lycoris in tubs and bringing the tubs inside to a cool place to over
winter. Lycoris prefer full sun but may
bloom in partial shade. They multiply,
especially in the ground and become large clumps.
 |
| Crinum 'Eleanor' https://www.plantdelights.com/ |
Crinum
lilies are related to the amaryllis, with similar looking
flowers. However, many species are
hardy, at least to zone 6. Make sure to
check the hardiness rating of any bulbs you buy. Bulbs are generally planted in spring. It’s been my experience that some bulbs will
not bloom the year you plant them.
Crinums once established in the proper planting zones are extremely long
lived, surviving for generations.
Unlike amaryllis the leaves stay green throughout the growing season. Flower colors are shades of red, pink and
white, with at least one red striped variety.
Crinum lilies like full sun and moist soil, although
they can survive periods of dryness. They are good plants for rain gardens. If you live in a zone where they aren’t
hardy, like me, you can grow them in large pots, which you move inside to a
cool bright place in winter. My plant
stays green all winter. Some of these
gorgeous flowers are even fragrant.
Plants get up to 5 feet tall, depending on variety so plan accordingly.
 |
| coral drops |
Coral
Drops- (Bessera
elegans) are related to the
onions and their narrow round leaves will remind you of the alliums or a clump
of chives. The plants are only about 10 inches tall, but the flower
spikes will rise to about 18 inches.
The buds are showy coral red drops dangling from the flower spikes and probably
the reason for the common name. When they open the dainty, ‘flying”
flowers have 6 red orange petals, each with a stripe down the
center. In some flowers the stripe is white, in others a darker red
than the petals. The center of the flower is lighter in color, almost white.
There are 6 very long anthers, they remind me of birds legs sticking out of the
flower. The one female part, the pistil in the center of the flower,
is deep purple.
Coral drops aren’t hardy except in zones 8 and
higher. Plant 6-8 corms in a 10” pot about 3 inches deep in a well-draining
potting mixture. You’ll get lots of summer
flowers if they are kept moist and in full sun.
Move the pots inside for winter storage.
The leaves will die, and the corms go dormant. You can also dig the corms and store them
like glads.
I’m sure I have forgotten some of the unusual bulbs,
corms and rhizomes that one plants in spring for summer flowers. And some catalogs sell oriental, tiger and
species lilies for spring planting, although I think they should be planted in
fall. I ‘ve included some more reading
links to longer articles on some of the plants below.
Are
lawns bad for the environment?
Lawns aren’t necessarily bad, its what we put on them
and what species we use for a lawn that makes the difference between a lawn
that’s good for the environment and one that’s not. You may have heard the term 60 mile an hour
lawn and 20 mile an hour lawn. That
means what kind of lawn looks good when you go by it at that speed. But what looks good is also subjective to the
viewers interpretation.
My lawn is what lawn professionals would call a 60
mile an hour lawn and that looks just fine to me. When you drive by, you’ll see mown, green
space between my flower beds. If you
look at my lawn up close, you’ll see dandelions, violets, ground ivy, purslane,
clover, chickweed, other “weeds” and several types of grass. It’s a lawn that birds, subject to the whims
of my cats, hunt on for bugs and worms.
Chickens scratch on it and occasionally make dust paths. Rabbits graze
on it in the evenings and yes even the deer come by to nibble, until I see them
and chase them off. Moles leave tunnels
and mounds. Bees and butterflies of
various sorts buzz back and forth between flowers in the grass. Frogs hop in front of me as I walk through
it and a snake or two is sometimes seen.
It’s living space, full of diversity.
My lawn is dotted with trees and shrubs. There are beds of flowers here and there. (I
actually have less lawn every year because I expand those beds of flowers.) The edges of my lawn fade into messier,
wilder meadow and then brush and woods.
It’s what is called edge habitat, one of the types of habitat that favor
a wide diversity of plant and animal species.
There are even brush piles in that wilder space.
I don’t use chemicals on my lawn, or even
fertilizer. It’s mown so that its about
3 ½ inches long, long enough that the weeds in the lawn can bloom between
mowing. I don’t roll out the mole
mounds, they eventually smooth themselves out.
Once in a great while I may water the front lawn strips if it gets very,
very dry but the rest is left to nature.
I don’t collect grass clippings they are mulched back into the
lawn. I don’t rake leaves in the fall,
they get chopped up by the mower.
My lawn can be walked on, even driven on
occasionally. It’s also a firebreak. It’s
full and thick. But it’s short enough
that mosquitoes and ticks don’t find it friendly. After all, you don’t have to provide habitat
for everything. And if I lived in the
suburbs my lawn probably wouldn’t earn me a ticket from the blight ordinance
officer, although crabby neighbors might complain about the dandelions.
There are people that would not think my type of lawn
qualifies as lawn. The lawn they like is
stripped of anything but one species of grass, for a great deal of the country
that species is Kentucky bluegrass, which despite the name isn’t a native
grass. They weed and feed and water and
mow and spray for bugs. Moles are
trapped and gassed. Bird feeders are
banned because seed hulls might litter the grass carpet or horrors, sprout a
sunflower in the middle of the grass.
Their lawn is not filled with a diversity of species and isn’t very
helpful to the environment. It is a
firebreak and it does catch some rainwater and release some oxygen. It will keep mosquitoes and ticks down. So, it’s not entirely useless, but foot for
foot, my type of lawn is much better for the environment. It’s a lawn I don’t have to begrudge spending
time on, and I don’t feel guilty about having.
If you want a lawn that’s good for the environment,
you need to see dandelions and violets as wildflowers dotted in the lawn. They are food sources for the pollinators. Clover is the food that keeps the bunnies from
eating other things. Ground ivy smells
good when you mow it and covers bare spots.
Mole tunnels are annoying, but moles are part of the food chain, and no,
they do not eat plant roots. Usually
they are worse in spring and late fall and by summer mowing will have collapsed
most of the tunnels.
If you keep the lawn area mowed, you really don’t
need to spray for mosquitoes and ticks. You are never going to rid your
property of either if they are anywhere nearby.
Grubs may infest your lawn roots, but in a “natural” lawn you’ll find
they do little damage. Those starlings people love to hate will be busy hunting
for those grubs, along with other birds and animals like skunks, toads, and
shrews. Your pets and kids can safely
play on the lawn if you aren’t spraying it.
Instead of spending money on sprays and fertilizers spend it on flowers
or trees and shrubs.
Limit your lawn space to areas right around your home
which helps prevent pollution from gasoline mowers. How much mown space to leave depends of your
wildfire risk. But most people don’t
need to mow acres of property, 100 feet around the home is plenty. To keep brush down, if that’s a goal, you
just need to mow those larger spaces twice a year. Even if you like wildflowers
in a meadow type setting a twice-yearly mowing won’t harm most of them.
You don’t need to feel guilty about having a lawn if
you have a 60 mile an hour lawn. You’ll
probably help the environment more than harm it if you leave the fertilizers,
insecticides and herbicides off it and allow nature to plant what she wants in
it. Wildlife will appreciate this kind
of lawn and species diversity will flourish, even if you don’t limit plants to
native types. It’s all a matter of
seeing the lawn differently, not as an outdoor carpet, but as edge habitat.
More reading
Don’t ask for
an easier life, ask to be a stronger person
Kim Willis
All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without
permission.
And So On….
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