Hi gardeners
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| Garden at Suncrest, Lapeer Mi |
It feels like I might be in Florida waiting for the
hurricane here today. We’ve had rain,
then sun and the winds have been strong, up to about 30 MPH. We have a chance for severe weather later
this evening too. The rain was welcome,
but I don’t like the wind.
The crocosmia is finally blooming. If I am lucky the moonflower vine will bloom
before frost too. The garden is still
colorful here, mums are starting to bloom, and my tropical hibiscus are finally
blooming in profusion. Ligularia, penta,
cannas, dahlias, Venus hosta, buddleia, Rose of Sharon, hardy hibiscus, Black
eyed Susan, coneflowers, lavender, pineapple lilies, salvias and Black
snakeroot are some of the perennials in bloom now. Of course, the annuals are also still
blooming.
The lovely woodland tobacco (Only the Lonely) is
scenting the evening air. They come up
from seed every year and I never know where they will pop up. The plants get huge so I try to move them to where
they won’t smother other things and will show off nicely. I see some small plants are still starting
up. This year I am going to pot one and
see if it will bloom inside.
My marihuana harvest will begin soon. In fact, I am
drying a little now. I don’t know a lot
about pot growing so as I learn and have successes or failures, I’ll share the
information. I found out it wasn’t
bothered by Japanese beetles. It grew
very well outside in a sunny sheltered spot, like a weed – LOL- and got over 8
feet high. I put it out after the summer
equinox. I know it should be harvested
before a frost, but you want the buds as mature as possible so it’s a fine line
to walk.
I grew my pot in a kind of laid-back manner. I used rose fertilizer on it, not some exotic
mixture. Once outside it didn’t require
much care other than watering. We’ll see how it turned out. I may not grow
marihuana inside again, and maybe I won’t grow it outside either. But it was fun to try- I like interesting plants. If my “medicine” proves to be very good I
might be tempted to try again.
I hope everyone had a lovely end of the summer
holiday. Now it’s time to prepare for
winter while enjoying the fall season.
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| Crocosmia |
The
month ahead- September
This month the various Farmers Almanacs come out for
2020. (There’s the Old Farmer’s Almanac and Farmer’s Almanac plus sometimes
you’ll find others.) And every year the same thing happens on social media,
everyone starts writing that the “Almanac” predicts a bitterly cold and snowy
“bad” winter. Why is that? The Almanac can’t be predicting a bad winter
every year. And different areas of the
country will have different weather each year.
The “Almanacs” always break down the country into “areas” to predict
weather so it’s unlikely the whole country will be predicted to have a harsh
winter.
People love to be scared it seems and long hard
winters are scary. And people often do
not look at the date on an article they pass along. They see “Farmer’s Almanac predicts a
harsh winter” and immediately pass it along, not checking to see if it was
the winter of 2016 or this winter that is being predicted or whether it was for
their area. Bad news is interesting, I guess.
For most of Michigan the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the
one I use, predicts a mild and wet winter. It said warm and wet last winter too,
but it was wetter in the spring- early summer not winter. So, are the Farmers almanacs accurate? I have compared in other years and I have
found these monthly forecasts, generally done in sets of a few days, are
greatly inaccurate. Since it’s a 50-50
chance of a better or worse than average winter or summer it stands to reason
they would get that right sometimes.
Looking at my records I found that January 2019 was
probably colder than average, not what was predicted in the Old Farmer’s
Almanac, as was February. March was
close to what FA predicted. April was colder and wetter than predicted. They got May spot on but their prediction for
June 2019 was way off. July and August were drier than predicted.
The National Weather Service says that no one can
predict what the daily weather will be more than about a week in advance,
secret formulas or not. So, take all those weather predictions with a grain of
salt and stop reading all those breathless “it’s going to be a long hard
winter” stories.
The Harvest moon occurs this month on September 14th.
It’s called the Harvest moon because farmers often used the light of this
month’s full moon to complete their harvest.
Moon perigee is the 27th and apogee is the 13th.
The autumn equinox, the start of fall is September 23rd.
We’ll be down to 12 hours of daylight then, give or take 8 minutes, depending
on where you are. On this day the sun
sets exactly due west and rises due east of your home. Go outside and position a marker or note it
on a landmark and you will always know the true directions around your home.
September in my area is when the hummingbirds and
orioles generally leave along with some other songbirds, for their winter
hibernation areas. Many hawks will also
be migrating south, they fly at night, so the flocks are rarely seen. Some say woodchucks go into hibernation this
month but here if it’s warm they will be out feeding through October.
The birth flower for September is the aster or in
some places, the morning glory. Asters
are said to symbolize powerful love and morning glories just affection so
choose the flower you give this month accordingly. The September birthstone is sapphire.
September is Hispanic Heritage Month, National
Chicken month, Honey month, Classical Music month, National Preparedness month,
and International Square-Dancing month.
Besides Labor Day (2nd) holidays in
September include Grandparents day the 10th (who honors us
grandparents anyway?) Patriots day on the 11th, the 13th
is National Peanut day, the 14th is Pet Memorial Day, the 19th
is National POW-MIA day, 21st is International Peace Day, the 26th
is Native American Day and the 28th is both Good Neighbor Day and
Ask a Stupid Question day.
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| Dahlia |
Gardening
in September- it’s a good month for planting
If you are a gardener in
planting zones 7 and lower September is a season of change. A few perennials may still be coming into
bloom and the annuals may be blooming until a frost hits them, although they
generally start to look a little tired.
But one can tell garden bloom season is winding down. Don’t be ashamed to admit that is sometimes a
relief. But don’t stop gardening in September, give it one more month at least.
This is a good month to
prepare new garden beds, mulch and do some planting and transplanting. It’s easier to work when it’s cool. Plants
establish quickly in cool wet weather also.
New beds can be dug, the soil tested and anything that needs correcting
can be worked on so it’s ready for spring planting.
Changes are always
happening in the garden. Many years ago,
the only sunny spot I had for flowers was in the center of the yard to the east
of the house and a small strip near the path to the barn. I put in a long bed in the center of the yard
for things like roses, lilies, phlox, coneflowers, poppies, iris and some
shrubs. Today that bed is beginning to
be shaded by a young oak tree we decided to let grow. It is regularly decimated by deer since its
farther from the house. I have decided
to leave the peonies, hydrangea, false indigo, snowball bush and the huge euonymus
on one end but move out all the other perennials and mow between the shrubs.
I now have sunny areas in
front of the house and a bit closer in the yard on the east. As soon as it gets a bit wetter- hopefully it
will- I’ll be digging and moving the perennials to those areas. Once you get some cooler, wetter weather it’s
a good time to move perennials and trees and shrubs if you need to. If it
doesn’t get wet, deep water the things you want to move before you dig them,
keep them moist and replant immediately.
Then keep them watered until the ground freezes if it stays dry.
You can buy and plant
shrubs and trees now too. Some bareroot and potted perennials are available for
fall planting. Remember to water if it’s
a dry fall. And of course, you’ll want to get those spring blooming bulbs
planted. Most bulbs do best if you wait
until the ground has cooled a bit, closer to the end of the month for most
places. If you haven’t ordered those bulbs, by all means do it now. You’ll regret not having those cheery early
spring flowers. If you force bulbs such
as paperwhite narcissus or like to give amaryllis bulbs for Christmas, it’s
time to order those bulbs too.
It’s also a good month to
plant grass seed if you need to. The roots get a good chance to establish
before it gets to cold. If you are a
person that wants a perfect lawn, September is the month that experts recommend
you fertilize the lawn. You may need to
start mowing again if you haven’t had to mow recently.
Stop fertilizing anything
in the ground other than grass. You want
growth to slow down and harden off before winter. If you have annuals in
containers you can keep up the regular fertilization schedule until they are
killed by frost. Don’t prune most shrubs
and roses now because it may encourage soft new growth that will winter kill.
Those in zone 7b and above
may want to start a fall vegetable garden now, but it’s getting late for most
other zones. You might still be able to
plant things like leaf lettuce, beets and radishes. If you have growing tunnels or a greenhouse
other fall crops may still be planted.
For most gardeners in planting zones 7 and lower it’s time to start
cleaning up the vegetable garden. As
crops are harvested or killed by frost remove the plants to the compost
pile. Add manure and compost to the
veggie beds for next year.
Buy straw to cover
strawberries and to use in the doghouse or chicken coop. Check out the garden stores for bargains on
mulch, stone, soil and other bagged items they don’t want to carry through
winter. If you have a place to store
them, you’ll have a head start on spring. Or you can use the cool weather to
spread mulch. You may want to have some
row covers or old sheets handy for covering some plants through those first
early frosts, so they can continue to bloom through Indian summer.
You many want to collect
seeds of some garden plants now, if the pods have ripened. Make sure seeds are thoroughly dried before
storage. If you haven’t harvested herbs
like sage and rosemary now is the time to do it. Wait until the dew has dried on plants before
cutting them to dry.
Start thinking about moving
houseplants inside and if you want to save any of the tender perennials like
geraniums, in the garden. Houseplants
vary in how much cold will affect them, but all will need to be brought in
before the first frost. Don’t wait until
the last minute, keep an eye on the weather and if you have a lot of plants to
move inside do it in stages. If you need
to repot houseplants or treat them with pesticides do it now.
Choosing
what tender perennials to save and how to do it
Did you know that many
plants that gardeners think of as annuals are actually frost tender perennials? If you bring them inside for winter, you can
save them for another year. Some will
even bloom through the winter inside in the right conditions.
You may also have some
perennials that aren’t quite hardy in your planting zone but are hardy one or
two zones south. If a heavy mulch hasn’t
worked in the past you may want to consider wintering them inside too. This is a bit trickier in many cases, because
these plants do appreciate some chilling.
But it doesn’t hurt to try if you like the plant and want to save it for
another year.
Look at the lists below and
if you decide to take some of those plants inside prepare them for the inside
by potting them up now in September, if they aren’t in pots. Leave them outside in the same light
conditions them were in, and make sure to keep the pots watered if the weather
is dry, until it’s time to bring them inside.
Coleus, impatiens, fibrous
rooted and cane type begonias, sweet potato vines, polka dot plants, “spikes” (dracaenas),
lantana, lofos, aloes, agaves, Joseph’s coat( Alternathera ficoidea),
fuchsia, eucalyptus, Chinese hibiscus, abutilon, bougainvillea,
mandevilla, diplodenia, and any tropical plants used outside in containers
are considered frost tender. They need
to be brought inside before a frost.
Inside they need bright light and temps between 55-75 degrees F.
There are so many new succulents
on the market and many aren’t winter hardy. If the succulents you have are only
hardy to zone 8 or no hardiness zone is known bring them inside before the
first frost. If you have doubts bring them inside, especially in planting zones
lower than 7.
Bananas and figs vary in hardiness depending on
variety. If they are not hardy in your
zone bring them inside in pots before the first frost. Citrus and pomegranate trees should also be
brought inside before a frost.
Florist mums and azaleas probably aren’t winter
hardy. Bring them inside before frost if
you want to save them. The mums you buy
potted in fall may be labeled as hardy mums but unless you plant them in the
ground in September, they probably won’t survive winter in zones 6 and lower. Even
if planted they tend to die in that first winter. They can be brought inside
and wintered in a cool, about 50-degree F, bright place. Prune them back to about 3 inches after
blooms fade. Plant outside in the spring
and they may survive the next winter outside as they acclimate.
Miniature roses can be hardy to zone 5 if planted in
the ground well before fall. If you
think they aren’t hardy or want them in containers let them stay outside
through the first cold weather, until they lose their leaves. Then bring them inside to a cool place, 35-40
degrees and try to keep them dormant until March. The stems should remain green, but no leaves
should appear. In March put them in a
sunny, warmer place and let them start growing.
Don’t put back outside until after the last frost. If you have a heated, lighted greenhouse the
roses could thrive and bloom all winter.
Geraniums (pelargoniums) and
diascia will survive light frosts but bring them inside before a heavy frost or
freeze. They do best inside in bright
light and cool conditions, temps 50- 65 degrees F are good. They can bloom all
winter in this situation. Potted
geraniums in a cooler spot inside, below 40 degrees, can lose their leaves and
look pretty ratty in winter but recover nicely in spring.
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| Geranium |
Rosemary, perennial reeds
and grasses not hardy to your zone, lavenders, gingers, perennial salvias,
jasmines, gardenias and some succulents not hardy to your zone, require some
cold to remain healthy and bloom. Research the hardiness zone of the plants. If
the plants are hardy to zone 7, they will require some cold. Leave them outside until the ground freezes, and
temperatures are in the 20’s.
These plants may lose some
leaves, redden or turn purplish but that’s fine. Some may even go dormant and look dead. In November or December, depending on your
weather, bring them inside to a place that’s cool, but lighted. Ideally, they
would be in a place between 30-40 degrees F until March, when temperatures can
be warmer. This could be an unheated
porch or garage with good light. You’ll need to water them sparingly until
spring.
Bulbs like canna, dahlia, crocosmia, glads, tuberose,
Colocasia- (elephants ears and taro),
Eucomis- (pineapple lilies), calla, caladiums and others can be left
until the foliage is dead, but brought in before the ground freezes, (if they
aren’t hardy in your planting zone). The
bulbs or tubers cannot freeze if you want to save them. You can dig them and
store them in damp wood shavings or if they were potted, leave them in the pots
and bring pots inside. They should be
stored at temps around 40 degrees F.
(I have brought cannas inside in pots before the
first frost and put them in a bright unheated room where they continued to
bloom until January. They then went into
a dormancy period until spring.)
Just because they could overwinter inside doesn’t
mean you have to bring them inside. Don’t
feel guilty if you let geraniums, wax begonias, coleus and other bedding plants
die because you don’t have room inside. Don’t bring every tender perennial inside
if you have a lot of the same variety, bring in one or two and make cuttings in
spring if you want more. Most of these
plants need strong light to continue blooming inside.
Some tender perennials might live inside if you had a
greenhouse or high intensity lighting but aren’t practical to bring inside. I am thinking about petunias and things like
tomatoes and peppers. They just won’t do
well in ordinary household conditions and are easy to replace in spring.
As a child I brought marigolds and zinnias inside
because they always looked so pretty just before a frost. They died shortly after being brought inside
of course. True annuals might last a few weeks inside, but they will die quickly.
They aren’t meant to live more than the one growing season. It’s best to just let them go.
Predicting that first frost
Predicting the first frost is important for gardeners. You need to know when to complete
your harvest and bring those houseplants back inside. The first frost brings
changes to the garden and the first freeze will generally end the season. For
the majority of gardeners in the country there is an end to the gardening
season. Those of you in planting zone 8 and higher may not see a frost or
freeze although it sometimes sneaks in.
As mentioned in the article above,
weather can’t be accurately predicted more than a week or so in advance. But we can take the weather of previous years
into account and produce a sort of statistical average to give us an indication
of when to start looking for weather that will lead to the first frost or
freeze. Many times, your county
Extension office will have information compiled about the average first and
last frost dates.
Michigan gardeners can use the link below for charts
and information on the first and last frost dates.
Here’s some info for Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Kentucky
New York
Virginia
North Carolina
Minnesota
For other states use this https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.
Or try putting “first and last frost date” and your
state name in a search box in your browser.
Remember the first and last frost dates are averages,
and you must monitor the weather carefully.
Usually the dates for your area are given by percentages, there is a 10%
chance the first frost will happen around September 20 in your area for
example. That means you should pay
attention to the local weather forecast around that time. You should be very careful to monitor weather
when you get to that 90 % probability date.
Frost will happen when the nights are clear and calm,
and temperatures get down to 35-36 degrees F. and the dewpoint is 32 degrees or
less. Get used to checking the dewpoint when checking the weather in the fall. Low
dew points mean extra caution. Frost is
when ice forms on any surface. It is dew
that condenses on objects that freezes.
Frost can occur when the air temperature is above
freezing if the dew point is at 32 degrees or less. The dew point is a measure of when moisture
will condense out of the air and form dew or frost on objects that are as cool
or cooler than the air. Drier air has a lower dew point.
In the fall the soil still retains some warmth and
close to the ground temperatures may remain above freezing. Things above
ground, cars, roofs, your plants will be slightly colder than the air
temperature and when the dew point is 32 degrees F and the air temperature 35
degrees or so, the dew becomes frost. The surface of the objects with frost on
them was 32 degrees even if the air was not.
Temperature often fall lower than predicted too. If I see temperatures are 38F at sundown but
that’s the predicted low, I know that in the hours just before sunrise the
temperatures are pretty likely to drop to freezing or lower. That’s when
temperatures are generally the lowest. So, when the forecast calls for clear skies,
no wind, low dew point and air temperatures 38 degrees or lower be very
pro-active. Cover your plants or move
them inside.
Cloudy, rainy and windy nights may prevent frost from
forming if temps hover just around freezing but if temperatures drop lower than
32 degrees F plants may still be harmed. A hard frost or freeze happens when
temperatures get down to 28 degrees and stay there for a least a few hours. You don’t have to have a frost before you get
a freeze. Sometimes the gardens first
frost is actually a hard freeze.
Low areas often get frost or freezes first as cold
air flows downhill just like water. Wet
areas and areas close to water may escape frosts a bit longer as water and wet
soil tend to hold onto a little heat.
You need to be familiar with your property as your garden may get frost
before a neighbor’s does.
Covering plants before a light frost may save them
and is worth a try if the frost is early and more warm weather is probably
coming. It may allow you to get a harvest in or see some late blooming plant
bloom. But covering plants later in the
season and when temps drop into the 20’s probably won’t help.
Some tropical plants are very sensitive to cold and
need to be brought inside even if there isn’t going to be a frost if
temperatures fall into the 40’s at night.
It’s a good idea to bring in all houseplants when temps start falling
into the 40’s several nights in a row.
Conversely there are plants you may want to
overwinter that really need to be left out until a good cold spell. These plants need to have a chill period to
set flowers for the next season, and/or to go dormant for storage. Many times, these are perennials that are not
zone hardy in your area but still need some winter. For example, you live in planting zone 5 and
you have a plant like rosemary or a jasmine that is only hardy to zone 7. If it’s in a pot you can leave it outside until
temperatures are forecast to go into the teens.
Then bring the pot into a place just above or at freezing for the rest
of the winter.
There are many perennials, trees and shrubs that do
not like being brought inside for winter.
They need a cold dormancy to be healthy. If it’s hardy in your planting
zone don’t bring it inside for winter.
In practice tender annuals die at first frost, some
hardy annuals continue to bloom until a freeze.
Most perennials survive until a freeze.
Some like mums may even bloom through several freezes. But eventually all but the evergreens will go
dormant or die.
Choosing the right apple
Its fall and apples are
showing up at the farm markets. Do you like tart crisp apples or sweet soft
ones? All apples can be eaten or cooked of course, but some apples are better
for some purposes than others. There are
many varieties of apples grown commercially and the guide below will help you
choose from the 18 top varieties to get the best apple for your purposes.
There are many other
varieties of apples, including some heritage apples, but the guide would be far
too long and confusing if all were listed. Taste is subjective of course, but
an attempt has been made to define the taste also.
Apple varieties are listed
in alphabetical order. The color of
apples can vary with growing conditions to some extent. Some of the earliest apples on the market
will probably be Gingergold, Paulared, Lodi, McIntosh, and Gala. My favorite HoneyCrisp is also pretty early.
Braeburn - red-yellow-
green apple- sweet, crisp for cooking or eating.
Cortland- greenish yellow,
blushed with red apple - sweet- good for cooking.
Empire- red and yellow,
sweet-tart- crisp- good for eating and cooking.
Fugi- yellowish with red
blush, juicy, sweet-tart- best for eating.
Gala- early red apple with
yellow stripes, soft, sweet- good for eating or cooking.
Ginger Gold- yellow,
round, medium sized, early apple, sweet-tart, best for eating.
Golden Delicious- bright
yellow, oblong, sweet gingery taste, good for cooking and cider as well as
fresh eating.
Ida Red - red with a touch
of yellow, tart, firm, juicy eating apple.
Honeycrisp- red and gold
apple, juicy but firm, sweet- best for fresh eating.
Jonagold- yellow with a
red blush, sweet, firm and juicy, good for eating or cooking.
Jonamac - red and green,
rich spicy taste good for eating and cider.
Jonathan - mostly red -
crisp, spicy and tart - good for eating and cooking, cider.
McIntosh - yellow and red,
very white flesh, juicy, crisp, tart, eating, baking, cider.
Mutsu- red-yellow- sweet
yet spicy, good eating or cooking
 |
Homegrown Delicious apples |
Northern Spy- red and
yellow- mildly sweet, juicy good for cooking
Paula Red- yellow blushed
red, Michigan’s earliest apple, sweet-tart- eating or cooking
Red Delicious- bright red,
oblong shape - sweet, crisp, best for eating
Rome- mostly red, mildly
tart and juicy, good for eating or cooking.
“-here
and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks
of a beauty who has seen one season too many."
- Oliver Wendell
Holmes
Kim Willis
And So On….
Find Michigan garden events/classes
here:
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is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)
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I write this because I
love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my
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