May 28, 2019, it's wet out there

Hi Gardeners

What a weekend it was.  Early Saturday morning we got 2-8/10 inches of rain in just a few hours.  Lightning was intense and frequent all through the storm.  The roadside ditch flooded over into our lawn and many roads around here were flooded. But as inconvenient as that was for us so many places around the country have it much worse.  Some gardeners have no gardens as well as no house. The number of tornadoes this year has been unusually high and there is far worse flooding going on in other places. 

Grass is growing like crazy here, which was not good because our riding mower was out of service for a week.  I do keep some areas of lawn.  In just a little over a week the grass was 6-8 inches long. The mower came back on Sunday and on Monday I spent a lot of time mowing.  Some areas can’t be mowed along the road though because there is standing water on top of the ground and even the little push mower sinks in the ground. 

It’s not just me that’s having trouble with wet ground around here.  Most of the farm fields aren’t planted yet, and many have standing water in large areas of them.  This is a problem across the country I understand, with many states reporting a late planting season or early planted crops being destroyed by flooding.  Along with the tariffs, farmers are being hit hard by weather.

Many farmers in my state are abandoning the wheat fields that were planted last fall because between winter damage and wet fields this year they don’t expect to break even on the harvest.  They are burning the wheat down with weed killers.  Some will replant with soy or corn and some will leave the land fallow.  The farmers still hoping to plant corn or soy are switching to early maturing varieties and hoping for drier weather so they can plant it.  Some farmers have crop insurance that will cover their losses if they can’t plant but things are not looking great for farmers this year.  I wonder if this is the beginning of a cycle caused by climate change and if in years to come getting our food crops planted and harvested will become increasingly difficult.

I’m lucky because most of my vegetable garden is in the ground now. I planted the sweet corn last week, cucumbers, tomatoes and a sweet pepper.  I still have to choose one more tomato to grow and I have a bag of onion sets that needs to be planted.  I should stop buying onion sets.  I like to plant them in any open spots, as tomatoes or other things fill in, I pull them for green onions and some get left to make bulbs.  But they are always the last thing I plant and by the time I get to them I am so tempted just to skip them. 

The weeds are getting ahead of me too, with all the rain.  I generally do not mind weeding but right now planting and mowing are competing for my time and weeding gets done in bits and pieces.  I walk by and get the urge to get down there and pull some weeds but more urgent tasks pull me away.

My houseplants got moved outside this weekend, and that is always a big job. It was perfect weather for that job, cloudy, wet and mild for most of the time. Many are in the shade getting adjusted to outside light and will need to be moved again in a week or so, but they are outside.  The peace lily is in bloom.

The bleeding hearts, forget me nots, lilies of the valley and early bearded iris are now blooming.  The large purple alliums are taking center stage now, they are pretty, but those things are aggressive spreaders.  The tulips and daffodils are starting to fade, although some are still in bloom. The akebia is blooming and the flowering quince, lilacs and redbud are all in full bloom. My strawberries are blooming too. Buds are appearing on the roses.  Things are a week, or two in some cases, behind last year in bloom time.

It looks like I lost my passionfruit vine over winter, despite its vigorous growth last year.  It was a hardy type, but I just can’t get one to live more than a year or two.  I don’t know whether to try again or not.  Everybody has a plant type that doesn’t like their garden

Time for plant bargains

After Memorial Day in many parts of the country garden shops will begin to markdown some plants.  But the markdown in garden catalogs and online will be even more intense. It gets hard to hold and ship such things as dormant plants and bulbs as the season progresses and all the major and not so major garden catalogs will have these on sale now.  And potted plants are also hard for many nurseries to keep healthy and small enough for easy shipping, so those will be on sale too.

Shipping is so fast now you can have those bargain plants in a matter of days.  The selection may be getting limited, but the prices are good, and you will probably get larger, more mature plants.  So, if you have been looking for something locally you can’t find, or plants you wanted seemed too costly earlier in the spring try shopping garden catalogs now.  You’ll be amazed at the prices you can get this time of year.

Why your peonies don’t bloom

One of the common garden questions this time of the year is why aren’t my peonies blooming?  Peonies can survive and bloom with little care on old farmsteads for fifty years or more, yet many gardeners have difficulty getting them to bloom.  So just why are these gardeners having problems with their peonies?

One of the most common reasons peonies don’t bloom is their age.  It takes 3-5 years from seed to the first flower.  But most peonies are sold as root divisions and while these root divisions technically come from an older, blooming plant it can also take a year or more after you plant a peony before you get blooms and a few more years before you get a full, mature plant full of blooms.

This is true even if the peony you bought was blooming in a pot, which by the way, isn’t the best way to buy a peony.  Peonies don’t like transplanting or dividing. Every time a peony is moved or divided it can take a year or more before it blooms again and several years before it becomes a large plant with numerous blooms.  When you plant a peony make sure you place it where you won’t have to move it in a year or two.  And don’t dig up and divide your peonies every few years either.  They are best left alone, and they do not need dividing to keep blooming, in fact dividing will inhibit bloom.

Peonies are best planted in the fall and in a dormant state. Bareroot clumps are fine and are the common way peonies are sold.  The second-best time to plant is in very early spring.  If you do have to move a peony do it in the fall.

Which brings me to another reason your peonies might not bloom, planting them too deep.  Peonies have small red bumps or “eyes” on the top of root clumps, and these should only be about 2 inches below the soil surface.  When planting a potted peony or transplanting a peony make sure the peony is planted at the same level it was growing in the pot or in its former location (unless you are trying to correct a too deep planting).

There is some debate among experts as to whether a peony you suspect was too deeply planted should be dug up and replanted.  Over time many plants have the ability to correct the depth of their roots, the plant pushes upward or downward as needed.  This may take years and the peony may not bloom during that time.  But if you dig it up and re-plant it, the peony could also take years to bloom again. You might try carefully removing a few inches of soil from around the peony.  Or just dig it and replant it and hope for the best.

Not getting enough sun is another reason peonies fail to bloom.  Yes, there are some peonies that continue to bloom in partial shade, but these are exceptions, and no particular cultivar is better in shade.  Peonies need full sun, at least 6 hours of sun midday, to bloom well.  Often if peonies bloom less as they age it’s because a tree has grown larger and is now shading them.

Peonies also need their foliage the whole season to make enough energy to set next years blooms.  Don’t cut down peony foliage before the first frost even if it looks unattractive.  The only exception is if the foliage is infected with botrytis, see below.

Peonies are a plant that thrives without much fertilization.  In fact, if they get too much nitrogen, they can stop blooming.  This can be a problem if they are planted in a lawn that is heavily fertilized, as lawn fertilizer is high in nitrogen.  There’s not much you can do about excessive nitrogen in the current year.  But make sure that in the following years the peony plant does not get fertilized with the lawn.

Sometimes failure to bloom may be caused by a common peony disease, gray mold or botrytis blight (Botrytis paeoniae).  This disease is prevalent when spring is wet and cool, and some types of peonies are more susceptible than others.  The fungal disease can start at any stage, new shoots may get covered in gray mold, rot and fall off, young buds blacken and shrivel up, older buds and flowers get a gray mold, rot and fall off.  Peony foliage can get black and tan “bullseye” spots.  If the disease comes on early and affects shoots and buds, you are unlikely to get blooms.

If you have had trouble with this disease in the past you could use a preventative fungicide on the peony shoots as soon as they emerge in spring and keep up a spray schedule according to label directions.  Once the disease starts it cannot be cured that year.  However, the plants probably won’t die and may be fine the next season if the weather is different and you have practiced good clean up strategies.

Every year cut peony foliage down to the ground after the first frost and remove the stems to the compost pile, which should be a good distance from the peonies. This helps prevent disease spores from overwintering.  During a botrytis outbreak remove infected buds, flowers, and leaves and burn them or seal tightly in a plastic bag and discard.

A seedling peony 

Plant your peonies so each has plenty of room around it as a mature plant so that air circulation is good.  Overhead sprinkling systems can also contribute to conditions favorable to botrytis.

One last thing to mention, ants and peonies.  Peonies do not need ants to bloom and ants do not harm peonies. Peonies and ants can have a symbiotic relationship, the ants eat a sweet secretion from peonies and in turn defend the flowers from some pollen stealing or petal munching insects.  But peonies don’t really need ants and since ants don’t harm the peonies there is no reason to use pesticides to kill them.  To get ants off peonies you have cut for inside gently submerge the flowers in cold water for a few minutes.

Cost saving tip for container plantings- use houseplants

Do you need plants to fill outside containers but money is tight?  Consider using some houseplants you may already have.  And even if you have to buy some of the houseplants mentioned they can be brought inside this fall to decorate the inside of the house.  Many small starter houseplants are very inexpensive in summer and by fall you’ll have a much larger, showier houseplant that would have cost you much more.

Spider plants can be so much more than houseplants.  They can add texture and fill for container gardens.  Use them instead of the traditional “spike” in the center of a pot.  (Spider plants can also be planted in the shade directly in the ground, where they make an excellent ground cover, or used as accent plants. The white variegated varieties nicely light up dark areas and can substitute for more expensive plants). Spider plants can be treated as annuals and left to die in the winter or you can bring them inside before frost and save them for next year, enjoying them all winter long.

Some houseplants in a container outside

More choices for “spikes” or the center of container arrangements include small yuccas, asparagus ferns, small palms of various types, monstera and upright philodendrons, small scheffleras, small ficus, sansevieria (snake plant),  and of course any of the dracaena family, of which “spikes” are a part.

For fillers in containers there are many suitable houseplants besides the spider plant. Ferns, rex begonias, aglaonema, dieffenbachia, small peace lilies, cordyline, fittonia, Maranta species like prayer plants, calathea, peperomia’s, and pilea’s.  Pothos, Boston ivy, tradescanthia, setcreasea, Plectranthus (Swedish ivy), hoya, and philodendron can be used as the “spillers” in container gardens.

Containers of various tender succulents and sedums can be put together that are very attractive and suitable for drier areas such as under a porch roof.  Remember that all succulents aren’t suitable for full sun conditions outside.

Don’t be afraid to mix summer annuals and tender perennials with your houseplants for containers.  These can be discarded when the houseplants are returned inside in the fall.  

Make sure to match the houseplant with the light conditions the container is in. Many houseplants do better in partial or light shade outside.  Some plants kept inside also need a period of transition to outside light, keep them in shade for a week or two before moving to partial shade or sun.

Let your houseplants do double duty as container plants on your porch or patio this year.  They’ll love the summer vacation and return inside bigger and lusher as houseplants.

Tips for protecting seeds and small plants from animals

One of the biggest problems gardeners have early in the season is animals and birds eating seeds or damaging young plants.  Once everything is up and growing well the problem usually abates but it can be frustrating trying to protect seeds or seedlings in their youngest stages.

Keep branches pruned from roses, raspberries, barberry and other prickly plants and lay them over planted rows.  Remove them when plants are a few inches tall so that seedlings don’t tangle in them. This discourages cats and chickens from scratching in the beds.

Spun row cover can protect seeds or transplants while allowing air, water and light through.  It looks rather like the spun fabric softener sheets you put in the dryer. Row cover also provides a bit of added warmth and frost protection.  You can also use black or green plastic netting sold in rolls. You can purchase these in most garden centers.  These need to be raised above the soil or transplants.

To hold netting or row cover off the soil or plants you’ll need supports.  The supports should lift the cover just a little to keep it off emerging plants.  Ideas for supports are paper towel or other cardboard rolls, paint stirring sticks, Styrofoam blocks used in shipping boxes, small pop bottles, plastic cups, or pieces of PVC pipe.  Drape the row cover or netting over them and hold edges of them down with soil or small rocks.  You could also use sticks with something on top of them like a plastic cup, lid, or small can to keep the netting from sliding down on them.

You could also staple row cover or netting strips onto two boards placed on either side of the row that are about 6 inches high. Or you could bend wire such as wire coat hangers (if you can still find any) into hoops to support the covers.

Remove covers when plants are up and growing well.  Don’t let plants start growing through netting as it will eventually girdle the stems.  And it’s hard to remove the netting without damaging the plants once they grow into it.  

For longer term bird protection, like for strawberries, netting is the best.  It needs to be supported well above the top of the plants.  It also needs to be easy to move so you can harvest the berries.  You can make hoops of stiff wire to hold the netting off the plants.  Or put together a frame of light PVC pipe.  Attach the netting to it with plastic slip ties.  This lifts off easily if you don’t make it too long -you may have to make several shorter lengths.  For single plant protection you could save netting from fruit or vegetable purchases and re-cycle it.

Cats can dig up newly planted seed beds and even transplants. They can get in flowerpots and containers and dig up plants or smash them by laying on them.  To protect your seeds and plants use plastic forks pushed handle down into the soil and tines up, spaced among your plants or around seed beds.  You can also use sturdy sticks you have collected or short bamboo skewers, just space them every few inches through your bed or around a row to make it hard for a cat to walk there or find a spot to dig.

After the plants are larger and the soil settled you can usually remove the forks or sticks.  If cats continue to lay in pots and containers you may have to leave them.  Painting the forks black or green, (or buying that color) helps disguise them.

Another trick is to lay a piece of unpainted lattice in your bed and plant through the holes in it.  Pieces or wire fencing with 2 inch or larger squares can also be used.  You can cut out additional space if needed.   You can cover this lightly with mulch to hide it, but the plants will eventually cover it.  This works well to keep fall planted bulbs from being dug up by cats too.

Sometimes cats will lay on top of lattice or fencing. I make v shaped covers with cheap wire fencing that bends easily.  I plant seeds or a row of seedlings and then cover the rows with the v’s (turned upside down).  I leave the v’s in place and the plants grow up through them, in a few weeks you can’t see the fencing.  Of course, the fencing must have 2 inch or wider openings if you leave it.

In this cutting garden photo you can just see the fencing
the plants are growing through.  Soon it will be covered.

There are some commercial spray products that are designed to keep pets and birds away.  These do work fairly well but the drawback is that they often smell bad to humans too, and they can’t be used on food crops.

Things that don’t work to discourage animals and birds are red, cayenne or black pepper, dryer sheets, pieces of soap, or mothballs. Some of these may have a temporary effect, but birds actually like red pepper.  Mothballs are hazardous to your health and the health of soil and should never be used outside to discourage pests.  Since mothballs are a pesticide, using mothballs outside in a manner that’s not listed on the label is illegal.

Cost saving tip - Recycle potting medium (soil)

A common gardening question is can I re-use last year’s potting soil left in the containers this year?  The answer is yes, in most cases. Most purchased potting medium is generally composed of peat, perlite, and some other form of organic matter such as ground bark or coconut fiber.  Some will decompose enough that you will lose potting medium volume in your pots over time, so you may need at least some added materials to refill all the pots you used last year.

The easiest way to recycle your potting soil mixture is to remove it from the pots or containers and place it in a large bucket or maybe a wheelbarrow or garden cart. If a pot is large and you don’t want to empty it, you can just remove the top 8 inches of potting mix for renewal. The planting medium from several containers can be dumped into one mixing container and renewed at the same time.  Stir up the mixture, breaking up clumps and removing any leftover plant debris.

You’ll need to re-new the nutrient content of the mixture, because anything in it last year has probably been depleted.  The best way to do this is by mixing in some granular, slow release garden fertilizer found in all garden stores.  There are organic and inorganic fertilizers, but plants don’t care which type they receive, it’s the human caretaker who takes that stand.  For flowering or foliage containers select a fertilizer for flowers.  If you will be growing vegetables in containers select a vegetable fertilizer. 

Estimate how much potting mix you have and then mix in the proper amount of fertilizer granules by reading the label directions. Mix in the fertilizer thoroughly with a shovel or your hands. 

Note; If you use a slow release fertilizer in containers don’t use liquid fertilizers on the plants for at least two months, or the plants may get too much of a good thing.  Most directions on slow release fertilizers claim they are good for 3 months and that will cover most of the growing season.  Some heavily blooming plants may need a little supplementation at about 2 months, especially if they must be frequently watered, as this leaches out some of the minerals.

If you have good, finished compost on hand you can add some of that to your recycled planting medium.  Even 50% compost- 50% potting medium ratio could be used. Remember that compost is not fertilizer, and it’s not a good source of all the nutrients plants need, you still need fertilizer. New potting medium can be added if you don’t have enough for all your pots and blended into the old mix. You could add water retaining granules if you like, and any of that type of material in the old potting medium will still be good.

For pots and containers, it’s best not to use garden soil or manure with the recycled planting medium. This can bring diseases, or it can crust and harden.  Don’t add things like coffee grounds or eggshells either. Put them in the compost pile.

Moisten all potting mixtures before putting them back into containers. You may need to stir it well to get water into the bottom part of the mixture. The mixture should look and feel moist, but water should not seep through your fingers if you pick up a handful of the mix. If you put dry potting medium in a pot and then add water some of the mixture may float up and out of the pot.  The bottom layers of the pot may not get moistened and will suck water away from newly planted plant roots.

If you had disease problems in your container plants last year and intend to grow the same type of plants in the container this year you should probably discard all of the potting mixture and replace it with new. 

Talking about turtles

It’s that time of the year again when turtles seem to lose all sense and roam across roads like they were trying to commit suicide.  It isn’t the heat and it certainly isn’t the ponds drying up- at least not this year- that causes this seemingly random wandering.  It’s a mother turtle looking for just the right place to lay her eggs.  Most turtles do this, but the ones that are most common and most often seen are the painted turtle and the snapping turtle.

About this time every year mother turtles of all types get the urge to find a perfect spot for the eggs they’re carrying.  They’re looking for moist, loose soil in a sunny area, preferably not heavily covered with vegetation.  Each turtle must have some deep inborn idea of that perfect spot and off she goes to find it, slowly but surely.  She may go some distance from the pond or swamp she mated in, across hot expanses of asphalt and up and down steep roadside ditches.   Unfortunately, many of these quests for a nursery end in the turtle being squashed on the road. 

If the turtle finds a good spot, she digs a shallow hole and lays her off-white eggs, which vary in size from golf ball to large hen egg size, from oval to round and from thin and hard shelled to leathery shelled depending on the species of the female turtle.  She then pushes some loose soil over them and starts her long trek back to where she came from.  Many creatures love turtle eggs for dinner, particularly raccoons, which sometimes follow turtles and grab the eggs as they are laid.

If the nest remains undiscovered, the tiny turtles will hatch in 60-80 days and they too, will start a journey.  They will go looking for the perfect pond or swamp to live in.  Their instincts guide them toward water and once again many will perish as they cross the roads and are gobbled up by other critters.

Turtles are becoming increasingly scarce, with some species now endangered.   They take years to become sexually mature and few baby turtles make it through the first year.  As swamps and other wetland habitat is eliminated, turtle numbers have declined drastically.   If you can avoid hitting them on the road, please do so.   If you want to help them cross the road, move them in the direction they were traveling, even if it doesn’t seem like they are going the right way to you.  If you take them back to where they came from, they will just start the journey all over again.  Watch for your own safety on roads and don’t put your life in danger to rescue a turtle.

Be careful when handling snapping turtles.  Snappers are ugly looking and often covered with algae or mud.  They have long necks and may aggressively “snap” at anything they perceive as a threat. The large ones have jaws strong enough to break a finger or take it right off so use extreme care.   Picking them up by the tail may hurt them and they may be able to reach around and bite you. If you want to move them, dangle a piece of cloth or cardboard in front of their nose.  They will generally snap at this and when they latch on to the object they firmly hold on.  You can then drag or pull them off the road.  On the other side they’ll release the object they grabbed after a few minutes of quiet.

Snapping turtle

Snapping turtles won’t chase you and will leave you alone if you leave them alone.  While they are ugly, they are part of nature’s scheme and don’t deserve to be indiscriminately killed.  Tales of large snapping turtles attacking swimmers or eating all the fish in a pond are just that, tales.  While snappers have been known to eat an occasional baby duck, they really prefer fish and frogs.  The presence of snapping turtles in a pond or lake seldom impacts the number of game fish present.

Snappers can get quite large, although the common snapping turtle does not get as large as the alligator snapping turtle found in the southern states.  About 40 pounds and a shell 20” across would be a large common snapping turtle.  Some of these large turtles may be 50 or more years old.  Snapping turtles were a part of Native American diets and many people still consider them a delicacy.

Most turtles are protected from being harvested and sold in many states except for snapping turtles. The Spotted, Blandings, Wood, and Eastern Box turtles are protected completely by law and it is illegal to kill them or keep them as pets.  So, when you see these guys crossing the road don’t capture them for pets.

“Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light”

-Theodore Roethke -

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

May 21, 2019

Hi Gardeners

Spring is ever so slowly advancing here.  We got to 80 degrees on Sunday, but temps fell back to the 50’s as a high on Monday.  We may have had frost last night; I couldn’t be sure this morning.  I had covered everything that needed it just in case.  I had looked ahead at the weather and decided to move the plants off the porch this weekend.  I had also bought a few annuals at the greenhouse last week.  That shows you mother nature can make a fool out of even an old experienced gardener.

So, I am going to exercise that patience I spoke about just last week and hold off a bit longer before I plant those annuals- they are still being held on the deck- to make them easier to protect.  The May full moon has passed and usually we don’t get frost after that, but this weather has been crazy. I shouldn’t complain because some places actually had snow this past weekend and others had tornadoes.

My magnolia is in bloom and so is the redbud, flowering quince and the apple and cherry trees. My akebia will be in bloom soon. The tulips are in full bloom, but the daffodils are starting to fade. The first iris will be blooming soon. The sweet woodruff is in bloom. 

I hear baby birds in our big white pine, I think it’s robins but I’m not sure.  The birds are eating like – well- birds.  Birds eat a lot.  How we got the saying eating like a bird to denote a picky eater is beyond me.  I am constantly filling one feeder or the other, suet, seed, nectar or jelly.

My houseplants are wishing they could be outside.  How can I tell?  Lots of new growth and buds, but things are getting a bit lanky.  I am hoping to get them outside soon.  I enjoy them more outside I think because it’s easier to see the individual plants when they have more room.  One of the tropical hibiscus bloomed and I had to look at the flower from outside through the window because it’s buried in front of the others.  I also have a “holiday” cactus blooming again.

Mary Helen my “special” plant is going to go outside as soon as it’s warm enough.  I have two grow lights on her now and she makes me raise them every few days she grows so fast. It’s not just the power usage though, it’s the smell.  I guess modern cannabis plants smell stronger than the ones I remember growing on a windowsill in the 70’s.  After the timer turns out the lights on her in the evening a strong skunk smell drifts out of that room.

I’m going to plant sweet corn this weekend.  The ground seems warm enough and surely frost danger should be over by the time it germinates.  I have one large tomato plant to put out, an Early Girl with fruit already.  I hope to get more this weekend.  And the peppers and cucumbers will be planted too.

Its Memorial Day weekend coming up.  I hope all of you get to a greenhouse near you and indulge your plant obsession.

Vegetable gardens in containers

Growing your vegetables and fruits in the ground is the preferred way to grow them, if we are talking about outside growing. You’ll get the best production from plants in this way. (Raised beds built on the ground are basically a subset of in ground gardening, while raised beds with a floor and on legs are actually container gardening.)  If you can plant your vegetable garden in the ground, you should do so.  Poor soil can be improved and is rarely a reason to use containers for food gardening.

However, there are reasons that people might need to grow their veggies and small fruit in containers.  You may not be allowed to have a garden in the ground where you live, or you may be planning to move before harvest time.  You may not have soil to garden in, such as your only outdoor growing area is a roof top or paved area.  Soil that remains too wet through the growing season and that can’t be drained might be unsuitable for food gardening.  And sometimes soil has been heavily polluted and becomes unsuitable to grow food. In these cases, growing in containers is justified.

There are two reason why growing food in containers often fails to meet expectations; not having big enough containers and not growing the best varieties for containers.  Having unrealistic expectations is also a key part of dissatisfaction with container gardens.  Most vegetables and fruits grown in containers do not produce as well as those grown in the ground.  And the work involved really isn’t much different.

Food crops need room to grow and the containers you plant them in must be large enough for the type of plant you want to grow.  That can be much larger than many people expect.  Some crops require deep pots and others do better with shallower and wider pots.  The weight of the pot needs to be enough to keep large plants from toppling over in the wind.  The good news is that there are many inexpensive container options on the market now and many ways to repurpose objects to make plant containers.

The most critical part of the container is good drainage.  All containers must have drain holes.  You cannot substitute rocks or other things in the bottom of the pot, hoping to create a place for water to drain to. This almost always ends badly. When pots are outside a period of heavy rain will fill those rock spaces and there is no way to drain them. There are containers you can buy that have a water reservoir, but these usually have an overflow drain or a spigot to drain off excess water. 

A growing trend is to use “bags” for plant containers.  They are made of material that is coarsely woven and that allows for drainage and air circulation.  They come in many sizes and are generally cheaper than other types of containers. A draw back to the bags is that they can be hard to move if that is needed and some don’t last more than one season.

If the drainage holes for your container are on the bottom of the container, the container should be raised just a little bit off the surface the pot is sitting on, so the drainage holes aren’t blocked. Put something under the corners, a ½ inch off the surface is good.  Some pots are made with little “legs” and you won’t need to do this.  If you are drilling holes in a container put them on the pot sides, near the bottom, instead of on the bottom.  If water running out of the pots is a problem, you can use trays under the pots.

Defining pot sizes is hard to do.  When you buy pots you may see them listed by the gallons or by diameter.  One nursery’s gallon pot can be different from another’s gallon pot.  Even a 10” diameter pot can differ in how much soil it holds. And if you are repurposing something as a pot it can be even more confusing to guestimate equivalent sizes.  A rough guide is:

A 7-8” diameter pot at least 10” deep = 1 gallon pot

A 10” diameter pot at least 10” deep = a 3 gallon pot

12” diameter pot plus 12” or more deep = 5 gallon pot

16-17 “diameter pot plus 14” or more deep = 10 gallon pot

20-22” diameter pot plus 18” deep = 20 gallon pot

Measure diameter across the pot top. If you are unsure what size pot to use always go bigger.  Fill pots for veggies entirely with potting medium or soil.  Do not use rocks or other things on the bottom.  Vegetables and fruit seedlings should be planted in the pot that they will stay in until harvest, don’t transplant them into progressively bigger pots.  If you really messed up with picking the right pot size and the plant is in a much too small pot you can try carefully transplanting into a bigger pot.

Here are some suggested pot sizes for various plants and some good varieties;

Tomatoes- 5 gallon minimum, 10 gallon or larger containers are better, deep containers are best.  The tomatoes will need some kind of support, cages or stakes or set the containers by a rail or fence.  There are several tomato varieties developed for containers.  ‘Tasmanian Chocolate’, ‘Tidy Treats’, ‘Gold Nugget’ are some or try these determinant tomatoes, ‘Defiant’ and ‘Valley Girl’ that work well in containers and are disease resistant.

Don’t try to grow cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets.  It looks cute but they are a nightmare to keep healthy outside the greenhouse.  They will need almost constant watering and feeding.

Peppers and eggplant - 5 gallon pot minimum, deep containers are best.  Try ‘Patio Baby’ eggplant, ‘Hansel’ or ‘Gretel’ eggplants, ‘Eros’, ‘Cupid’ or ‘Lunchbox’ mini bell peppers.

Potato plants need deep pots, a 10 gallon pot minimum per plant.  Fingerling type potatoes are probably the best container potatoes, but any kind could be grown. To make the best use of container potato growing, fill the pot about 1/3 full, add your seed potato pieces and lightly cover them.  When the plants are 6 inches high fill the pot to about half full, the tops of the potatoes should be above the soil.  When the potatoes get above the top rim of the pot, finish filling it with soil to within 1” of the rim.  This encourages the plant to make potato tubers deep into the pot.

Leafy greens- shallow containers can be used, 6- 8 inches deep.  Surface area will determine how many plants per container, give each plant 2 square inches of space.

Root crops like carrots, onions and beets need deep containers, 12” or deeper, with a surface area of 3-4 inches per plant. Onions do not make big bulbs in pots.  It’s best to use onion sets and harvest them as green onions. If you want to try carrots in containers use varieties whose roots are ball shaped or short and stocky. Some carrots to try; ‘Danvers Half Long’, ‘Adelaide’ baby carrots, ‘Thumbelina Baby Ball’, ‘Atlas’. 

Broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower – even cabbage, can be grown in containers. Each plant needs a minimum 3 gallon pot.  Use miniature cabbage varieties in containers. Try ‘Aspabroc’ baby broccoli, ‘Alcosa’ baby savoy cabbage, ‘Katarina’ baby cabbage.

Cucumbers can be grown in pots with a trellis, against a fence or the container can be set up high where the vines can trail down.  Each plant needs a 3 gallon pot minimum. Try ‘Bush Pickle’ or ‘Salad Bush’.

Squash of bush types can be planted in 10 gallon pots, one plant per pot.  It’s probably better not to try growing vining type squash, melons and pumpkins in containers.  If you do, use mini varieties and trellis them.  Remember that some pumpkins and squash with mini fruits do not have mini vines, they are as big as other squash and pumpkin vines.  Try ‘Honeybaby’ winter squash, ‘One Ball’ summer squash or ‘Minnesota Midget’ cantaloupe.

Corn is very hard to grow successfully in containers.  You’ll need large containers, and smaller varieties of sweet corn.  There are one or two varieties developed for containers.  Corn has to be planted in clusters for pollination so plant 3-4 plants in a 20 gallon pot and preferably group several pots together.  You’ll probably get one ear of corn per plant, rarely two. Try ‘On Deck’ or ‘Early Sunglow’ corn.

Beans and peas are also difficult to grow well in containers.  It would be best to use a large container like a muck tub or half barrel with 3-4 plants per pot. (20 gallon or larger).  Peas and pole beans will need supports, maybe a teepee of poles.  Bush type beans would be simpler.

Strawberries can use shallower containers, about 8 inches deep.  They need about 6 square inches of surface per plant or a 1 gallon pot per plant.

Raspberries can be grown in 5 gallon pots, one plant per pot.

Blueberries can be grown in pots too.  Dwarf varieties could go in 10 gallon pots.  Full size plants need tubs of 20 gallon or larger.  Full size plants are better grown in raised beds.

Some dwarf fruit trees can be grown in containers.  Don’t try growing semi-dwarf or full-size fruit trees in containers for more than a year.  The containers for dwarf trees need to be quite large, 20 gallon tubs or larger.  For growing a small starter tree of a semi-dwarf or standard fruit tree for just a year or less, 5 or 10 gallon pots could be used. 

If it’s a fruit variety not hardy in your area, such as citrus in the north, plan how you will move those large containers inside in winter. Even hardy trees in containers may experience cold damage to the roots during winter.  You can insulate the pots in winter with straw or even bags of woodchips to help protect the roots.

It’s best to use a commercial potting medium in containers but you can fill them with garden soil mixed with compost in a pinch.  If the growing medium didn’t contain fertilizer you will need to add it.  You can use a general purpose garden fertilizer such as 5-10-5, or one formulated for the plant, like blueberry or tomato fertilizer.  Follow label directions carefully.  Do not use Epsom salts in containers.

With the exception of leaf lettuce and maybe other leafy greens your vegetables and fruits in containers need to be in full sun.  Full sun means at least 6 hours of sun per day, preferably mid-day sun. The greens may do fine in 4 hours of sun.

This type of raised bed could be considered a container also

You will need to carefully monitor watering your containers.  In hot, dry weather they may need watering every day.  If it’s cool and cloudy make sure you don’t overwater.  The surface of the soil should feel dry before you water, but the plants should not be wilting.  If you are going to be planting a lot of veggies in pots, you may want to invest in a soil moisture gauge.

If you can’t garden in the ground it is possible to grow some of your own food.  You may get a smaller harvest, but it will be a tasty one.

Vegetable and fruit garden planning chart

Are you planning your vegetable garden but don’t know how many plants you need?  Check out this link.

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/chart-of-how-many-vegetablefruits.html

Magnolias

The magnolias are blooming here and in many places in the country.  It may not be the same species of magnolia everywhere- there are over 200 species, but magnolias are a common garden tree around the world.  When most gardeners see magnolias, they want to grow them.  There’s something about these magnificent blooming trees that stirs the senses.  Maybe it’s because they are thought to be some of the earliest flowering plants and have been on the earth long before we humans, some 100 million years. 

Magnolias not only make excellent spring flowering trees; the larger species make good shade trees and their foliage is attractive all season.  The seeds they produce in late summer are eaten by many birds.

Saucer magnolia

Choosing magnolias

There are magnolias native to Asia, North, Central and South America, and the West Indies.  There are deciduous and evergreen types, tall and short types, and multi-stemmed types. 

Most magnolia flowers are large, and cup or saucer shaped but there are some with smaller star shaped flowers.  Flower size ranges from 3 inches to 14 inches in size. Flower colors range from deep purple to pink, white, and yellow. 

Sorting out the various species, subspecies, sub genera (Magnolia and Yulania) and so forth is a job for the botanist.  Magnolias have been hybridized in so many ways between so many species that gardeners have a vast assortment to choose from.  What’s most important is to pick a magnolia that’s hardy in your growing zone, some are hardy to growing zone 4, but many are only hardy to growing zone 7 or higher.

The most common species grown in gardens are Southern magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora), Saucer magnolias (Magnolia ×soulangiana), Star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) and their hybrids and hybrids with other species.  Some native species that have been used to hybridize with these or that are planted for native landscapes, are Cucumber tree (M. acuminata), yellow cucumber tree (M. a. subcordata),  Sweet bay (M. virginiana) and Bigleaf magnolia (M. macrophylla).  Many Asian species are used to make garden hybrids also.

When you see a magnolia in a nursery or garden that you like get someone to identify it for you so you can choose one for yourself.  Make sure it’s hardy in your area. The evergreen types are usually for zone 7 and above. Saucer and star magnolias are often hardy to zone 4 but check the cultivar.  Another thing to check is how early the variety blooms.  Some species and hybrids of species can be hardy, but their flowers are so early that they are usually killed by frost.

You’ll also want to make sure the adult size of the magnolia is suitable for your garden.  Some magnolias make huge 40 feet trees that cast a lot of shade and make growing grass under them hard. The roots of these large trees can damage driveways and walks.  But there are magnolias that make smaller trees more suitable for a garden accent.

 

Hybrid magnolia

Magnolias don’t like root disturbance and nursery specimens are often small compared to other trees.  Pick your site for the magnolia well so you won’t have to transplant it.  In some saucer type magnolias blooming begins when the trees are quite young and small, even at 3 feet tall, so you won’t have long to wait for blooms.  The southern types of magnolias, however, may take 10 years to bloom.  The planting site should be in full sun and in well drained soil.  The only magnolia that tolerates damp soil is Sweet bay (M. virginiana).

Magnolias prefer rich soil high in organic matter that is slightly acidic to neutral in pH.  They are adaptable though and many will grow in less suitable soils.  When young and getting established they should be watered regularly if it’s dry, but as they get older, they are fairly tolerant of dryness and will only need to be watered in severe drought.

Usually magnolias in good soil won’t need to be fertilized.  If leaves are yellowing or the plant doesn’t seem to be growing well have a soil test done to see if some nutrient is lacking and then fertilize with what’s needed.

Magnolias also don’t need much pruning and if pruning is needed to correct a problem or shape the tree do it right after flowering ends.  Avoid pruning that isn’t necessary.  Magnolias are usually deer resistant, but you might want to protect young trees with a circle of wire in winter.

More about magnolias

Magnolias existed before bees and they evolved to be pollinated by beetles.  Because of that they don’t have nectar, but their pollen is very rich in protein and fat and sought after by beetles. Most have a strong sweet smell to attract those beetles and flowers are large and sturdy to support them. Some magnolias do produce a sugary secretion that isn’t the same as nectar. 

Some deciduous magnolias have flowers that bloom before the leaves emerge, which makes the flowers even more prominent.  The flower buds are large and hairy and may be seen on the plant all winter.

What we see as a magnolia flower is actually a mixture of petals and similar looking sepals.  Depending on the species there can be from 5-17 or so these sepal-petals.  Magnolias prefer to be cross pollinated rather than self-pollinated so they are protogynous, which means when the flower opens it’s female stigma is ready to be pollinized but the pollen bearing anthers are immature.  As the stigma ages beyond the receptive stage or is pollinated, the anthers mature and release pollen.

Fertilized flowers produce a reddish cone like fruit with red kidney bean shaped seeds.  The seeds are mature in early autumn and if you rescue them from the birds you can start new magnolias from them.  Remember that the seed from hybrid plants may not produce plants like the parent.

The leaves of magnolias are oval, dark green and leathery with a waxy coating.  The margin is unbroken, and leaves are arranged alternately on the branch. The size of the leaves varies by species.  When young, magnolias have smooth gray or light brown bark.  As trees get older the bark develops scales.

In China the bark and flower buds of native magnolias are used in traditional medicines and are said to have anti- anxiety properties and are used to shrink tumor growths. In Japan magnolia leaves are sometimes used to wrap or serve food.

In late 2017, a bigleaf magnolia planted in 1828 on the south lawn of the Whitehouse by President Andrew Jackson had to be cut down.  This caused a public outcry, but the tree was long past it’s normal life span and dangerously rotted inside. The tree was featured on the $20 bill up to 1990.  Seedlings from the tree have growing in a greenhouse and will be used to replace it. 

There are other species of magnolias on the White House grounds. In March of 1962 some magnolias were being installed as part of the new rose garden President Kennedy wanted.  The underground cables that connected the White house and the Airforce Strategic Command were severed when the holes were dug, creating a temporary crisis. 

Magnolias can become a prominent part of your landscape too.  Just be sure to pick a magnolia that’s right for your location and 100 years later someone else may be enjoying it.

Mosquito control

It’s been wet over much of the United States this spring, there is standing water in many places, and that means a bumper crop of mosquitoes will soon be upon us.  Mosquitoes are annoying but they are also dangerous to your health and to that of pets and livestock.  No matter how you feel about natural ecosystems, which mosquitoes are a part of, you should try and control mosquitoes in your immediate environment.

If you are a gardener you may be wondering if you should be concerned about Zika virus, which can be contracted through the bite of a mosquito. In the south, yes you should.   In much of the northwest, midwest, and northeast the mosquitoes that carry Zika virus, Aedes aegypti and A. albopictus are not yet common.  There are concerns however, that other mosquitoes may eventually carry it.  And with a warming climate these mosquitos may eventually work northward.

But there are other viruses carried by mosquitoes such as chikungunya, dengue, West Nile Virus, and several other encephalitis producing diseases, even malaria and yellow fever to be wary of too.  Every state has some virus that can be carried by mosquitoes. West Nile cases occur every year across the US. Horses can be killed by WNV.  Your dogs can be killed by heartworms, which are carried by mosquitoes that are in most states. 

As our climate warms and international travel becomes more and more common, mosquito vectored diseases we never had here in the US could pop up. These diseases are all serious and can cause death. It’s very important to control mosquitoes in areas where people live.

As a gardener you should do all you can to prevent mosquitoes and to keep from being bitten by them.  This is not the time to trust your health to home remedies and mixes.  And it would be wise to support a mosquito control program in your county, even spraying with pesticides for adult mosquitoes. The risk of these pesticides causing harm is less than the risk of the mosquitoes causing it.

Controlling mosquitoes in the home environment

Mosquitoes need water to lay eggs and some mosquitoes can go from egg to larvae to adult in 3-4 days in the right weather.  Mosquito eggs turn into those swimming larvae known by many as wigglers.  They have a tube on their back end that they stick out of the water to get air, but you will also see them moving up and down in the water. 

Empty anything that holds standing water every few days to prevent mosquito breeding.  Empty pet bowls, livestock tanks, kiddie pools, plant saucers, bird baths and watering cans.  (Swimming pools that are chlorinated and filtered shouldn’t allow larvae to live.) Look for old tires, cans, and other junk that collects water and remove the junk or empty out the water.  Rainwater barrels should have screens or treat them with BT (see below). Clean gutters so that water doesn’t stand in them. Holes in stumps and trees can be filled with sand.

Keep long grass and brush trimmed around your home as adult mosquitoes rest there during the day.  That’s a good reason to maintain some kind of mowed space around a home, even if it’s not your manicured lawn.  Use window screens on your house and don’t raise your kids in a barn (teach them to keep the doors closed-LOL).

After a flood there may be low areas of standing water for days.  If drains can’t be dug to draw off the water, you could fill the spots with soil or sand or treat them with BT.

One way to kill wigglers is to put a thin layer of something oily on the water surface, which keeps them from breathing. You could use vegetable oil, but never engine oil.  This may hurt other wildlife though, so a better plan is to use BT products in the water.  This is sold as mosquito “doughnuts” as a granule or tiny tablets in many stores.

BT is a natural fungal disease of larvae/caterpillars. It won’t hurt you or other animals or even pollinators if it’s put in water.  (It may harm some other aquatic insect larvae such as dragonfly larvae.)  It won’t harm fish or frogs. Your dog or horse can drink the water without harm.  I strongly recommend gardeners use a form of BT in garden water features such as decorative ponds and reflecting pools.  Use it even if you have fish as they often don’t eat enough wigglers. 

Decorative ponds should be treated with BT
to control mosquitoes

If you have a water feature where the water is vigorously run through a filter or even just a fountain pump you may not need BT. But if a pump is on one end of a large pond or there are lots of potted plants that create “safe” areas of still water use the BT.

You can use BT in natural ponds, depressions that hold water and ditches that are on your property and that do not empty into public drains, lakes, rivers, or streams.  Most places prohibit treating water with anything if it runs into public drains or natural water sources.

Some things that do not work to control mosquitoes are ultrasonic devices and light traps.  Those bug lights may kill some mosquitoes, but they also draw more toward the light and if you are close, they may bite you before flying into the light.  Some traps using carbon dioxide and pheromones show promise but are expensive and each trap appeals to different species of the hundreds of mosquito species in the US.

Citronella candles don’t work either. Most studies find that burning a plain candle is just as effective as burning a citronella one.  Most citronella products you buy at the store are so diluted that they contain almost no active ingredient.  It is a waste of money to buy citronella oil or candles to burn unless you just like the smell.  No other products you burn to make smoke are any more effective.

Controlling mosquitoes on you

There are no plants that you can plant in a pot on the patio or in the garden that will keep mosquitoes away from you.  None. This is the worse kind of folklore because it can cause severe illness and death when people think this stuff is true. It should be illegal to allow ads that promote this, since it’s a matter of public health.  Some of the plants cited in these folk tales do have repellent properties if chemicals are extracted from them and applied to the skin, none work by simply being near them.

If you have no problem applying make-up, sunscreen, or using over the counter allergy medications you should have no problem using a good commercial mosquito repellant on your skin.  Deet is the most studied insecticide in the world and has been used for over 50 years.  It is a synthetic chemical product but if label directions are followed it is extremely safe, probably safer than some sunscreens.  Since mosquitoes can carry deadly diseases, keeping them from biting you is extremely important. 

To keep from getting bitten the CDC suggests using these products on your body and clothing. Products with DEET including Off!, Cutter, Sawyer, and Ultrathon brands.  DEET also repels ticks.

Some other recommended mosquito repellants are products with Picaridin, also known as KBR 3023, such as Bayrepel, and icaridin, Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus. Products with IR3535 such as Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus, (another formula), Expedition, and SkinSmart are also good.  Products with oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) or para-menthane-diol (PMD) such as Repel are fairly effective.

Interestingly one research project found that using Victoria’s Secret Bombshell perfume repelled mosquitoes.  The ingredients are secret, so we don’t know what causes the effect.  However, you would have to apply it all over your exposed skin and it’s expensive.

Along with repellent, wear long sleeves and pants when working in mosquito infested areas, especially at dawn and dusk and on cloudy days.  Some mosquitoes bite right through clothes so a repellent safe to use on clothing should be sprayed over clothing in high population areas.  There are nets you can wear over a hat that can protect your face from mosquitoes.

You may want to avoid floral scents on your body and clothes and drinking alcohol before going out to garden.  Research has indicated these things attract more mosquitoes. And here’s a funny fact I found out about mosquitoes- they are attracted to the smell of limburger cheese.  Scientists found that the cheese produces a bacterium very similar to that produced by dirty, sweaty human feet, so similar that it fools mosquitoes.  And since mosquitoes like the smell of dirty, sweaty feet it might be good to keep your feet cool and clean while gardening.  

If you are sitting on the porch resting after gardening one of the most effective and safe mosquito repellents is a simple box fan, with the air turned right on you.  Mosquitoes won’t fly into a strong “wind”.  This is very safe and effective when protecting infants from mosquitoes.

More information, references

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3059459/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15228722

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151029101456.htm

http://www.entsoc.org/press-releases/researchers-compare-natural-mosquito-repellents-deet

"If it's drama that you sigh for, plant a garden and you'll get it.  You will know the thrill of battle fighting foes that will beset it.  If you long for entertainment and for pageantry most glowing, plant a garden and this summer spend your time with green things growing."
-  Edward A. Guest, 

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