Hi Gardeners
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| Isn't the color of this tulip amazing? |
It’s so nice to have a spring day here,
sunny and mild. We have had so many chilly,
gray and drizzly days lately. The flowers
are just so perky and colorful, backlit by the sun. I have some new tulips in bloom, I don’t know
the variety name because they came in a mixed bunch, but I have put two
pictures on here of the gorgeous soft colors.
I do love tulips, the color and forms
they come in are so varied. But tulips
are something you have to work on and plant more of each year. Some will come
back for several years but many just disappear.
Tulips like beds where they are dry during the summer and most gardens
aren’t like that. So, every year you
tend to lose some, but if you plant some new ones each year, you’ll always have
tulips in spring.
And even getting them to come up the
first year after you plant them can be a challenge. I planted 100 tulips in the front beds last
fall and of those new ones I am finding only about 18, which is very
disappointing. They were nice, big,
healthy looking bulbs so I am thinking squirrels and other critters ate the
bulbs and caused the failure. I don’t
usually have that problem, but every year is different.
I took the netting away from one of the
front beds because everything is getting ready to bloom or blooming and there’s
no sense obstructing the view with stakes and netting. Hopefully those bad Bambi’s will keep their
mouths away. Usually by this time of
year they leave things alone but since they snacked on some daffodils a week
ago, I am crossing my fingers and hoping.
The fritillaria is in bloom, they aren’t
as tall as last year. This cold cool
weather seems to have everything a bit smaller and slower to bloom. My clove viburnum is in bloom, I much prefer
it to forsythia. There are the same
cheerful yellow flowers, very similar to forsythia, but the viburnum has that
delightful spicy clove smell that floats on the air and bees love the plant. Soon my magnolia and the redbud will be
blooming.
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| Here's another lovely tulip |
I can’t wait to start moving plants
outside. I have a few things moved out
but I’ll be putting more of the hardier things like the pots of summer bulbs,
geraniums and the jasmines out this week. Everything is easier to care for outside
and the plants love being out there as long as it isn’t too cold.
I have more orioles than I have ever
seen this year at the feeders. This year we have orchard orioles as well as the
Baltimore orioles. Orchard orioles are
darker, smaller and slimmer than Baltimore orioles, with more of a rusty orange
breast than the bright orange of the Baltimore.
They are going through a quart jar of grape jelly every few days.
Orioles will drink sugar nectar like
hummingbirds, but they have a hard time using hummingbird feeders. They need to
perch while drinking. I decided to put
together a nectar feeder for them. I dug out an old baby chick waterer and
filled it with sugar nectar. I used an
old perforated pizza pan to sit the chick feeder on and to which I attached
chains to hang the whole thing. Hummingbirds can use this too, although I still
have feeders up for them. I had a hummer
buzzing me as I hung the feeder, so it didn’t have any qualms using it.
I am posting a picture below, hopefully
next week I can get a picture with birds on it.
If you want to do something like this, you can buy the chick water base
at a hardware or feed store for just a couple dollars. They screw on to a quart jar, like a canning
jar. (Some places sell plastic jars for them too.) Mix up the sugar water the
way you do hummingbird nectar, 3 parts boiling water to 1 part sugar.
So much of the country is stormy and
wet this spring. Here’s hoping the rains will leave your area and the May sun
will shine on you too.
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| Homemade oriole nectar feeder |
Determining what kind of light conditions you have
When gardeners look at plant labels and
descriptions, they will hopefully see what light requirements a plant needs so
that they can plant it in the right spot.
But before you can choose plants for your landscape you have to know
what light conditions you have. You can find plants that will thrive in almost any
light conditions and it always works best if you choose the right plant for
those light conditions. In most yards there will be several types of light
conditions.
Gardeners should be aware that light
conditions may change through the seasons. The sun is at a different angle at
various times of the year and trees may lose leaves or gain them and this can
change the light conditions plants are in. It helps to observe your landscape
for a full year before deciding what light conditions you have. When deciding what light level you have observe
the light during the main part of the growing season in your area.
As trees grow, they may shade areas
further and further away from them and when planting perennials this should be considered. If you are planning to remove trees or remove
or build structures this should also be considered as it will modify light levels.
You’ll see plant light requirements
listed on plant labels as full sun, partial shade, and shade and sometimes
variations on those such as filtered shade, or light shade. Here’s how to
determine what you have.
Full sun is pretty obvious. There are no trees or buildings nearby to
shade the area and the area gets sunlight the whole time the sun is shining. In
general, if an area gets six or more hours of direct sunlight in the middle of
the day (3 hours before and 3 hours after noon) it’s also considered to be full
sun.
Full shade is also pretty obvious. In this case no direct sunlight gets to the
area during the growing season. It can
be under deciduous trees and when the leaves are not present in winter there
may be full sun. But for plants, the
light condition that counts are during the growing season.
There are some spring blooming plants
whose life cycle is short. They can be planted under deciduous trees where they
receive full sun before the trees leaf out and they go dormant before it gets
shady. These are called ephemeral plants.
Very dense shade will not allow many
plants to grow. Dense shade conditions are found under evergreens, many
deciduous trees and sometimes under overhangs and in the shade of large
buildings. Fortunately, most areas have some other degree of shade.
Light shade can mean that the tree
coverage is light, allowing brighter conditions, perhaps dappled or shifting
sunlight. It can also mean that at
certain times of the day the area gets a few hours of sun, usually in the
evening or early morning. The north side of buildings can be considered light shade
if there are no trees or overhangs to further block the sun.
Partial shade is when the area gets about
five hours of sun especially if part of that is around midday. The east or west
side of the home with no overhang or trees nearby is usually considered a partly
shaded location. In the far south many
plants thrive in partial shade that would require full sun in the north.
Here’s another way to determine shade
levels. Take a camera out to your shaded area several times during the
day. If you must use a flash to take a
picture every time of the day, then you have full shade. If at some points during the day your camera
could take a picture without a flash, you have partial shade. If you can take a
picture almost any time of the day without a flash, you have light shade.
Many things can modify shade
conditions. Reflected light from light
colored walls or fences or from water can provide more light to an area. Some plants will grow in shade but struggle
in dry shade competing with tree roots near the surface, a canopy of tree limbs
that shed water or a roof overhang. Dry
shade is difficult to keep plants growing in unless you supply extra water. Soil that is compacted, very acidic or
alkaline or very wet may also prove inhospitable to some plants regardless of
the light.
It’s wise to choose plants for the
light conditions you have and not buy plants hoping they will survive in light
conditions you have but that they don’t prefer. And sometimes light conditions change
drastically. A tree may fall, or a new
building may block the sun. Sometimes established plants will adjust to the new
conditions but many times you will need to move them, or they will die.
Hanging basket care
Almost every garden I know has at least
one hanging basket of flowers or foliage. Mine usually has several. As a young gardener many, many years ago I
knew hanging baskets as houseplants, like spider plants, and we often used macramé
hangers to display them. But somewhere
along the way hanging baskets became popular for outside plants and that trend doesn’t
seem to be fading.
The greenhouses are full of beautiful
hanging baskets of all types, sizes and light preferences. But as many gardeners can attest it isn’t
easy to keep those baskets of plants beautiful throughout the summer when they
are hung outside. I’ve learned a lot
about hanging baskets over time and I am going to share some tips here.
Right plant - right place
Choose wisely by matching the light
requirements of the plants in the basket with those at the site where you
intend to place them. A fuchsia plant
that’s popped into full sun will quickly dry up and die. A pleasing petunia basket will quit blooming
and get straggly if placed in the shade. Hanging baskets generally list the
plant names and requirements on a tag or label.
If they don’t, ask a knowledgeable salesperson what conditions the
plants prefer. Don’t buy a hanging
basket, no matter how beautiful, if you can’t give it the conditions it needs.
If a plant is listed as performing well
in sun or part sun, it generally needs about 6 hours of direct sun or filtered
sun all day. If it says shade or part
shade, then the plant prefers less than 6 hours of sunlight and that sunlight
is generally best if it comes in the early morning or late afternoon. Or place the plant where it is always lightly
shaded. Only a few plants will do well
in dense shade.
Wind can also be a factor when choosing
the right plants for a hanging basket.
Some plants are very susceptible to wind damage such as tuberous
begonias. They should be hung in a
protected spot. The stems are brittle
and break easily. These plants wouldn’t be a good choice where they might get
bumped or brushed frequently either.
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| Fuchsia |
Water - water -water
Hanging baskets require lots of
water. There are a lot of roots in those
full lush baskets and little soil.
Windy, warm days may require that you water the baskets twice a
day. Plan for watering before you hang
the pots. If you can’t access them
easily you either won’t water them enough or you will want to get rid of
them. There are pulley systems you can
buy or devise that allow you to lower the pots for easy watering and long
curved wands that you can attach to a hose to water baskets above your head.
Try not to let the plants wilt, even
though they may revive when watered, each time they wilt the plant is
stressed. Water baskets slowly with warm
water until water drips from the bottom of the pot. Hang your baskets so you
don’t have to worry where the excess water drips.
Try not to let the soil get so dry that
it shrinks away from the side of the pot, because the water you add then just
pours right through the pot, without much absorbing into the soil. If this happens take the pot down and soak it
in a large bucket of water that covers the pot. Push it into the water so the
top of the potting medium is covered and wait until the bubbles stop coming up.
Leave it for an hour and then remove it
and let it drain. The soil should have expanded to the pot sides again.
Does it help to add water absorbing
granules to planting medium or add a diaper to line the basket? Experts
disagree on the water absorbent granules, but some greenhouses do add
them. It’s almost impossible to add them
to a full planted basket. If you are planting the basket yourself, you can buy
the granules or use potting mixes that already have them. I used to promote the
“add a diaper to line the pot” method, but I no longer recommend it. Diapers do
hold a lot of water but in dry hot weather they can actually wick moisture away
from roots in the center of the pot.
If the hanging basket doesn’t drain
freely you could over water your hanging basket. Cool rainy weather and a
container that doesn’t drain well can be a problem. Plants that are over
watered generally have a swampy smell. They will wilt just like a dry plant
because the root system is rotting away.
If the soil feels very wet don’t water the plant. Empty all saucers or catch pots shortly after
you water your hanging baskets. These sources
of standing water also breed mosquitoes.
Feed, feed, feed
Nurseries and greenhouses feed their
hanging baskets a diluted plant fertilizer almost continuously. To keep your
basket blooming all summer you should feed them too. Use a flowering plant
fertilizer designed to be mixed with water at least once a week. Follow the label directions carefully and use
the directions for container plants. Do
not make the solution stronger than the label recommends or you may burn the
roots of your plants.
Many of these fertilizers say they can
be sprinkled on the leaves and the plants can absorb them. They may use foliar absorbtion to some extent,
but it is better to pour the fertilizer mixture on the soil. If you plant your hanging basket yourself or
repot it, you can add a granular slow release fertilizer formulated for
flowering plants and mix it into the potting mix. Follow the label directions for container
plants. This should feed the basket for about 3 months.
Promise to deadhead and protect
Keep dead flowers plucked off to
increase bloom. Trim off straggly and broken ends and generally keep the plant
tidy. Some plants will take a bloom
break when the weather gets very hot.
Sometimes trimming back the plant will
make it look better and increase the blooms.
Warning - not every plant can be trimmed back drastically to renew it.
This works with plants like petunias, impatiens, alyssum, lobelia and a few
other things. If you are going on
vacation for a week or two trim them back to about 6 inches and in a couple of
weeks you will have a bushy plant with renewed flowering. They must be kept
watered and fed during the transition too.
Don’t cut back plants like tuberous
begonias, fuchsia, and lantana. For some of the new and unusual plants in
hanging baskets, ask an experienced nursery person or your Extension office
garden hotline if they can be trimmed back for renewal.
If you will be gone for days in hot
weather take your baskets down and put them in a shady spot. Ask a neighbor to water them once a day. If you are gone a lot during hot weather, you
may want to reconsider using hanging baskets.
Even when you are home to water them you may want to take the baskets
down in a spell of intense heat and sun and put them on the ground in a lightly
shaded (for sun lovers) or shaded area (for shade/partial shade lovers). You will still need to water them, maybe more
than once a day but this may keep them from burning up.
If frost threatens cover your basket or
move it inside a garage or shed. You may
extend the beauty of your baskets for a month or so in the fall if you cover
them when frost is likely. A large old sheet may be needed to cover a large
basket. Make sure to remove the cover
shortly after sunrise the next morning.
If you take care of your hanging basket
you can enjoy it for the whole gardening season, but you must be diligent in
your care. Plants in a hanging basket can
die in just a few days in hot weather if you forget to water them. But if you like the look of hanging baskets it’s
worth the work.
Reasons for not using landscape rocks as mulch
They used to be more common- those
white stones people used as mulch in flowerbeds. There are also red volcanic stones and black
stones sold as mulch. It’s a good thing
that fad is waning and here’s why.
Stones don’t nourish the soil. Even the worse bark or wood chip mulch breaks
down and adds organic matter to the soil. Stones impede air flow to the soil
too and some soil compaction occurs with rock mulches. Yes, wood mulch must be
replaced more often than stones, but the soil microorganisms and your plants
will thank you for using wood chip mulch.
It’s hard to add plants or remove them
from rock mulched beds. That’s especially
true if you used landscape fabric under the rocks. Landscape fabric is not good for the soil,
especially if rocks weigh it down and block the small perforations in it.
Stones look nice when they are first
but down, but after a few months they usually don’t look so nice. Leaves, twigs, dead flowers and other litter
show up prominently among the rocks, especially white rocks. It’s very hard to get that litter out without
removing the stones, washing them and putting them back. Some people try using a leaf blower to blow
out the debris. But that’s using fossil
fuels and causing air pollution as well as noise pollution. Weeds are harder to pull out of rock mulches
too.
Stone is more expensive than wood chips
or other organic mulch. And it does need
to be replenished at times too. It can
work down into the soil beneath it. That’s
why many people put what is called landscape fabric beneath the stones, which
is bad for your soil as well as being another expense.
White landscape stone reflects light
and dark colored stones absorb heat, both things can be detrimental to plants.
Stones can become airborne projectiles
when hit by the lawn mower and inevitably some stones will make their way into
lawns and other areas. Children throw
them, pets scratch them out. It can be time consuming and difficult to get the
stones back to where you put them.
White stone mulch and some of the
colored stone mulches too, look glaringly unnatural. Modern gardens usually feature a more natural
look.
There are some limited areas where a
natural colored stone mulch can be effective such as in garden beds of alpine
type plants that like gravely soil or in dry desert areas where they are used
in place of grass. A small area of stone mulch around water features may help
prevent puddles, although wood chips can do that too. Stones can be used on paths but personally I
don’t like walking on rock mulch. And
you still have the problem of the rocks getting into lawns and other areas you
don’t want them in.
When you need mulch use something that’s
good for the soil, not stone mulch. Your
plants will be healthier.
Don’t plant your garden from the grocery store
I see posts all the time on social
media about people starting seeds they found in fruits and vegetables they bought
at the grocery store. While this is a
good project if you are just curious, don’t try to start your garden from seeds
(or plants) saved from things you bought to eat. The grocery is not a place to start a food
garden from, unless you buy seeds from a seed rack or the store has a
greenhouse selling starter plants.
When they cut open a tomato or pepper,
or a watermelon or apple, and see all the seeds inside, some people decide to
plant the seeds and grow their own. Why
buy seeds if you can rescue them from the trash? And if that tomato or apple was especially
delicious some people think they can duplicate it by growing the seeds from the
fruit. But if you do this you will
probably get plants, but not the results you expect.
Almost all fruits and vegetables you
find in the market- even the farmer’s market are from hybrid plants. Hybrid plants are a cross between two
purebred plants. When you cross two
purebred plants you can combine traits like taste and color with traits like
disease resistance. Crossing two
purebreds results in something called hybrid vigor, plants that grow better and
faster in many cases than the purebred strains.
Hybrids are not genetically modified in
the way most people think of GMO plants. Typically, GMO labeled plants are
those that have genes inserted by artificial means, but hybrids can occur
naturally when plants of different strains are planted near each other. Usually breeders plant rows of one type of
purebred plant next to rows of another type of purebred plant they want to
cross. The male pollen bearing parts are removed from one variety of plant so
that when seeds are produced it must be from a combination of the two
varieties.
Growers of produce for market (or home
gardeners) plant the hybrid seeds produced from that cross and get a fruit or
vegetable with superior qualities inherited from both parent plants. Plant breeders, through trial and error, know
what to expect when they cross those plants. It’s supposed to be an end
product; the fruit or vegetables grown from the seeds are meant to be
eaten. The seeds of that hybrid plant
are not meant to be saved for planting and here’s why.
Hybrid plants may have self- pollinated
or crossed with another hybrid or non- hybrid flower nearby to produce seeds.
The genes tucked into that seed are varied and can recombine in several ways
during sexual reproduction to produce all kinds of variations in the plants
that grow from them. Even seeds from the same fruit may not grow identical
plants. Some of the combinations may be
good but a great many of the plants will not be as vigorous, as tasty, or as
productive as the parent plant.
In short, when you save the seeds from
many fruits or vegetables you buy at the store and plant them you don’t know
what you will get but it most likely won’t be like the parent plant the seeds
came from. You cannot tell by looking at a seed what quality of plant it will
produce, you will have to wait until the plant is mature to find out what you
have. That tasty, pretty pepper you took the seeds from probably will not be
replicated from its seeds.
But what if you bought an heirloom
tomato fruit at the farmers market. Would you be able to grow the same type of
tomato from its seeds? Probably
not. Many heirlooms are also
hybrids. Even if they are what is known
as open-pollinated- (or purebred) they may have cross pollinated with another
variety of tomato nearby. Most growers
grow several types of tomatoes for market and don’t grow them far enough apart
to prevent cross pollination.
Some plants like apples, cannot
pollinate with the same variety of apple, so apple seeds can never give you the
same type of apple fruit as the one you saved the seed from. You will not get a Honeycrisp apple from
seeds of a Honeycrisp apple or McIntosh apples from a McIntosh apple seed. Apples are propagated from cuttings. If you want a Honeycrisp apple you must plant
a tree grown from a cutting. The seeds
of a Honeycrisp apple fruit may produce an apple that tastes good or not, but
it won’t be a Honeycrisp.
While some types of fruit- tart
cherries for instance, can be pollinated by the same variety of fruit and
technically produce the same fruit as the parent, most don’t. Many types of fruit will be pollinated by
another cultivar of that fruit and the seeds will not produce the same variety
as the parent. If you save the seeds of
these fruits and plant them you probably won’t get the same fruit; grapes,
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears, peaches, sweet cherries
and some citrus fruits.
 |
| You could plant these seeds but you probably won't get a melon like this |
Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons,
squash and pumpkins, are also plants that we eat the fruit of, and these plants
also do not produce the same fruits as the parent when grown from saved seed in
most cases. You might get avocado’s the
same as the parent if you grow a plant from the avocado pit. (But its doubtful you’ll ever harvest avocado
fruit from it.)
Plants that can self-pollinate and that
have been isolated from other fruit of the same variety might produce fruit
very close to the parent, but some genetic recombination occurs here too.
Furthermore, many fruit tree species
are grafted onto other rootstock. This
is often done to make the tree hardier and more disease resistant and to
control the mature size of the tree. A
fruit tree grown from seed may not be hardy enough for your area or may not
have any disease resistance.
Plant breeders do have to cross
different cultivars to get new cultivars. But they wait until the seeds
produced from the cross are planted and grow to maturity to evaluate them, then
they discard all the poor plants and take cuttings from the best plants to
produce new varieties. Or in the case of plants like tomatoes and peppers if
the cross produced tasty fruit and vigorous plants, they may repeat the cross
and sell the seeds. You could do the same, but it takes a lot of space and
time.
So, what about the potatoes, sweet
potatoes, garlic and onions from the supermarket? Can they be grown and produce new plants? The
answer here is yes, but again unless it’s just an experiment it’s not a good
plan.
If you plant a sprouting white potato you’ll
get potatoes exactly like the tuber you planted. But you run the risk of spreading potato
diseases that overwinter on untreated and untested tubers. Buying certified
disease-free seed potatoes is the best plan.
Some eating potatoes have also been treated with products to delay
sprouting and may never grow well.
Sweet potatoes can also be started from
tubers you buy in the grocery, here again you run the risk of disease, but it’s
less risky than white potatoes. Don’t start the sweet potatoes in water if you
want to try this, plant them in the soil.
Usually after several shoots have developed these are then separated and
used like cuttings. It’s easier to buy
cuttings, called “slips” for planting.
You can plant garlic cloves you buy in
the store, but most likely they are not a good variety for your area. Most garlic in stores is grown in California
or even other countries and they often don’t grow well when planted in other
areas. Research the right type of garlic
for your area and buy the right cloves to plant.
You can plant sprouting onions but it’s
kind of a useless endeavor. Usually
you’ll see several stems developing inside a soft sprouting onion bulb. Separate and plant them if you must, but like
garlic many won’t grow well in your growing conditions, unless they were grown
locally originally. Most won’t make a bulb, but will go right to seed, as
onions do in their second year. You could use them for green onions, I guess.
I have heard of people planting the cut
off root ends of green onions (scallions). Some of these do indeed grow new
shoots. (Most won’t.) They will never make onion bulbs though; most purchased
green onions are grown from seed and never produce a bulb. If you just like a snip of the greens for
salads maybe this is something you might do.
But it’s far easier to start some onion sets (small bulbs) or grow
onions from seed or tiny purchased plants.
I have also heard of people planting
the bottom of celery clumps to try and root them. If it works, the shoots that
grow will quickly go to seed without making much of a stalk. You could plant whole beets or turnips with
the roots and tops still attached and many would grow, but why? They were
probably harvested at the right stage to eat and will only go to seed if
replanted.
Other things people try to grow from
the grocery are ginger- it will grow but its tropical and takes a couple years
to make a new large tuber, spice seeds – most won’t grow because they are too
old or they have been irradiated so they can’t sprout, pineapple tops- they
sometimes grow but rarely make a new pineapple and are also tropical, and
various tropical fruits, which will need to be grown for several years and
overwintered inside if they are to have the remotest chance of producing fruit.
Dried beans might grow if they aren’t too old.
I have heard of people growing an unroasted coffee bean as a novelty
plant, once again it’s tropical.
Using the supermarket or the trash heap
to start your garden is not a good idea, unless you are desperate. It sounds clever and like a good way to
re-cycle, but you can recycle those bits and pieces in the compost pile just as
well. The seeds of fruits and vegetables
you bought at the grocery generally won’t give you the plants you are
expecting, even after lots of time and effort.
You’ll have far better luck with a garden if you buy seeds and plants
that are intended to be planted, not eaten.
All things seem possible in May.
Edwin Way Teale
Kim Willis
All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without
permission.
And So On….
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I write this because I
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