October 29, 2019 spooky days

Hi Gardeners

When it’s nice outside this time of year as it was yesterday, I feel I need to savor every minute of it.  Already my mind is picturing snow swirling across hard frozen ground and scraping off ice from the car windshield. I think about gloomy grays day like today, only with cold biting winds and having to trudge through piles of slushy snow.

 

So, when it’s still sunny and mild- I’m out there. I’m going to soak up every ray I can and hoard it.  It’s not the prettiest fall we’ve ever had, color is sadly lacking this fall, but if the sky is blue and the sun has some warmth, I’ll take it. I even sat on the deck last night as it got dark and listened to frogs and killdeers calling. And surprise- there was a mosquito buzzing around still!  

Is fall as busy as spring for you?  It seems so to me. I keep finding one last thing I need to do before the hard cold sets in. This weekend I dug up the dahlias and planted the last of the bulbs I had purchased. I repotted a rhipsalis cacti in my kitchen window, which was a major undertaking.  And there is still lots to do.

We had some temps down in the 20’s late last week so Saturday I was out digging the dahlias. I had a neighbor ask if I was digging up that big beautiful yellow flower and I told her yes, dahlia bulbs had to be stored inside over winter. She was disappointed because she wanted to buy some but didn’t want to bother digging them up every year.  I explained they were reasonable in price and she didn’t have to dig them if she didn’t want to.  That made her happy.

I am too thrifty, (cheap) to do that, just let the summer bulbs die. In fact, as I was digging the dahlias in the front bed, I found 2 more geraniums that hadn’t been killed by the frost yet and dug them up and repotted them.  I then had to juggle things around in the windows to make room for them.

There are a few things still blooming outside. Petunias, snapdragons, some of the salvias and wax begonias are still blooming.  Toad lilies, one mum and the landscape roses are still in bloom.

While things may not be blooming too well outside anymore there is a lot blooming inside.  My Texas hibiscus is in bloom, along with the pink double hibiscus, Kona. The pomegranate is blooming. The gerbera daisy is still blooming as well as the geraniums, cane begonias, diplodenia, streptocarpus and penta. And two of my “Thanksgiving” cacti are in bloom already.

The deer have been up fairly close to the house again in my veggie garden and in one flower bed by the driveway. They ate every leaf off one hosta, but it’s so late in the season it doesn’t really matter. And there’s nothing left in the veggie garden- maybe they are eating weeds there. I had removed the electric wire for winter. I came out the door just after dark and saw their big white butts leaping over the fence.

In today's blog I’m covering a lot of shorter topics.

Pomegranate flowers 

Bulbs

If you haven’t bought your bulbs yet you are cutting it close.  You can plant until the ground freezes, but a few weeks of non- frozen ground help bulbs get established. So, buy those bulbs soon- there are lots of sales- or plant the ones you have that are sitting around waiting.

If you want to force bulbs like paper white narcissus or hyacinths you should be buying them now too, especially if you want them for Christmas.  Also, if you want Amaryllis for Christmas presents or to have in bloom for the holiday buy them now.  If you get them potted right away, you may get blooms by Christmas.  For more information on amaryllis here’s a link; https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/houseplants-amaryliss4-amaryllis-did.html

Fall rose care

Even in my zone 5 climate some roses are still blooming.  I have had landscape roses blooming at Thanksgiving.  It’s fine for roses to continue blooming through fall.  What you don’t want to do is prune roses now, if they are still green and/or blooming.  Pruning will sometimes encourage new growth which will soon die and may make the rose less likely to survive through winter or experience more die back.

Once leaves are gone from the rose plants and the ground is frozen you can then prune them back enough to fit into rose cones if you use them, but don’t do any more pruning than that. Also, if you mulch rose plants for winter protection you want to do it after the ground freezes.

Should you use rose cones?  Hybrid tea roses would probably be the only roses to really benefit from these. Any rose grown on its own roots, such as landscape roses, old fashioned shrub roses and many climbers doesn’t need the protection of a rose cone. 

Mounding soil over the graft union of many roses is also a pretty good way to protect them. Don’t dig the soil from around the rose, bring it from somewhere else. You might want to dump your summer containers around them.  Do the soil mounding just before you expect the ground to freeze.

Mow, don’t blow

Its convention, not necessity that keeps people raking and blowing leaves instead of leaving them alone as nature intends. Instead of thinking about leaves as being a beautiful, natural blanket of fertilizer and comfort for the plants and soil, there is a compulsion to uncover the grass by raking or blowing the leaves away. And what would happen if a flower bed collected a covering of leaves or a fence corner caused a pile up of blowing leaves?  Certainly not the disaster some people worry about.

 Nature is leaving you a valuable present right now. The falling leaves are full of valuable minerals and nutrients collected by the trees all summer. When you allow them to decompose where they fall, they return those nutrients to the soil while also providing an excellent helping of organic material to increase water retention and aeration of the soil.

Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. If leaves on the lawn bother you too much take your lawn mower and run through them, chopping them into small pieces and distributing them more evenly. (This works best when the leaves are dry.) The chopped pieces will soon disappear into the burrows of earthworms or by decay. If you mulch leaves into your lawn you don’t need to add a fall fertilizer to the lawn.

Piles of leaves or really thick layers laying on the lawn would harm the grass through winter but a light layer or chopped leaves will do more good than harm. If leaves still cover the lawn in the spring, bring out the mower and chop them up. 

Leaves are fine to leave in flower beds. I actually rake leaves off walks and decks into my beds. If the ground looks bare, I add some leaves. Bare ground is unnatural. Six inches of leaves are fine. You wouldn’t want to put deep mounds of leaves over most garden beds, but they could be mounded over certain less hardy plants for protection. If in spring, you think a mat of leaves is preventing plants from growing or keeping the soil too cold and wet you can gently remove any mats from around the plants. 

Leaving the leaves on the ground, on the lawn and in flower beds, provides a place for insects, frogs and toads and other critters to overwinter. They shelter seeds, keeping them moist through winter. Birds search among the leaves for those hidden critters and seeds. If you like helping nature, leave the leaves.

If you want to remove leaves from walks, gutters, decks and driveways, which don’t need fertilization or protecting, rake them up and dump them in the vegetable garden, or into a compost pile. Don’t waste a valuable resource by placing them in plastic bags and sending them to the landfill.

The leaf blower is a noisy, environmentally unfriendly machine. They use gas, emit fumes, and annoy neighbors while damaging your hearing.  Good gardeners don’t need leaf blowers or want them.

Stop thinking of leaves as messy and ugly. Thank nature for being so resourceful in recycling precious soil nutrients. Work with nature instead of against it. All it takes is a change of attitude. Sell your leaf blower and buy more plants.

Plant garlic now

Planting hardneck garlic is much like planting spring blooming bulbs, you do it in fall. October and early November before the ground freezes are good times to plant. Hardneck garlic is the best choice of garlic for gardeners in planting zones 3- 7.  People in higher gardening zones can plant softneck types.  Hardneck garlic has flowering scapes, which many people find delicious. 

Buy your garlic for planting from a nursery. The garlic in the grocery is usually a softneck variety and while the cloves sometimes grow your chances of getting a good harvest are slim. Garlic “bulbs” are a cluster of segments called cloves.  Carefully separate these just before you are ready to plant.

Plant garlic in a full sun area where the soil is well drained. Plant the cloves 2-3 inches deep and make sure the pointed end is up.  Space cloves about 4 inches apart.  Water after planting unless the soil is really wet. Then mulch the planted area with straw or chopped leaves, about 3 inches should do.

Your garlic won’t emerge until spring.  During fall and early winter, it will be growing roots and getting established. Make sure to keep garlic mulched as it grows because weed competition makes smaller scapes and cloves.

 

Garlic scapes

Drying Gourds

Gourds come in many sizes and colors and make wonderful fall decorations. You may have grown gourds in your garden, but if you didn’t, gourds are often found at farm markets in the fall. The small, colorful ones require little more than drying to turn them into decorations, but the larger plain ones can be painted and cut and turned into many craft items, including bird houses.

Gourds can have holes cut in them and small plastic containers set inside to hold flower arrangements, candy, candles, or small snacks. Make a child’s rattle by drilling a small hole and inserting small jingle bells or beads, then seal the hole with a bit of putty and paint over it. Children enjoy decorating gourds with paint and small glue on decorations such as macaroni shaped as letters, brightly colored beans and seeds and feathers. Your imagination can find many uses for gourds.

Pick your decorative gourds before a hard freeze. You can leave them in the garden until then; it is better for them to dry on the vine.  Light frosts are fine, they will continue to dry after them, but freezing may turn them black or mushy.

Let the gourds dry in a sunny location a few hours after picking. Then brush off all surface dirt. Mix a solution of 1-part household bleach to 3 parts water and use this solution to wet rags or paper towels and clean the gourds surface. Then allow to air dry. This helps prevent mold.  You could also use some of the handy “wet wipes” with bleach to clean the gourds.  

After cleaning dry the gourds in a warm, dark place with good air circulation, until you can hear the seeds rattle inside.  The drying process takes from 2-4 months depending on the gourd and the conditions of the drying area.  Unfortunately, you cannot hurry gourds by drying them in the oven or microwave.  

If you want the gourds for a fall display this year, they can dry where they are displayed if they are not subjected to freezing or moisture and aren’t piled too deeply.  If you have gourds layered in a basket for example, you may want to rotate them from time to time. Gourds that you intend to keep for a long time can be sprayed with craft sealing finishes, varnish or wax after they are thoroughly dry.

If you are using larger gourds for crafts wait until they are completely dry, and you can hear those seeds rattling before cutting them or painting them.  A drill with a small bit is good for starting holes. Gentle use of a saw or drill is required to keep the gourd from shattering.  If you are making a bird house or something with a large opening, shake the seeds out.

Gourds can be painted with any acrylic craft paint.  If they will be outside, they should be covered with a waterproof sealer after the paint dries. Gourds that are to be left in a natural color should be sprayed with a sealer also. If the bird houses are just decorations use black paint to fake a hole. If they are for actual use as bird houses research what size hole the bird species you want to attract likes and use that size hole.

Knowing When Nuts Are Ripe

There’s a lot of gleaning and harvesting to be done right now.  If nuts are something you have access to here are some tips to know when to harvest and how to store them.

Pecan and hickory nuts are nearly ripe when the outer husk turns brown and splits.  Gather the nuts and spread them in a thin layer in a warm dry place for about 2 weeks. Make sure that the nuts are protected from hungry animals. After 2 weeks, peel off the husk and crack the nutshell. Remove the meat from the shell. If the nut meat snaps easily the nut is ripe and dry enough to store.  Pecan and Hickory nuts can be stored in the shell or the meats can be removed and stored in dry clean containers. 

Walnuts, black or English, are nearly ready when the husk turns black.  Collect the nuts and store in a warm dry place for about a month. Remove the husks using gloves as they stain the hands. Crack open the nutshell and check the nut meat.  Ripe meats are firm and white.  Some people put the walnuts on a driveway and run over them with a car to remove the hulls and crack the shells. This will stain the driveway.  Others have used old washers that have a bucket of sand put in them with the nuts.  Agitating will then remove the husks. Never do this with your good washer!   

Almonds are seldom grown by homeowners, but they are ripe when the husk splits open and reveals the nut. Crack a shell and see if the nut meat snaps easily. If not let the nuts dry longer.

Nuts will stay fresh tasting longer if refrigerated or frozen.  Make sure containers are closed tightly as the nuts will pick up flavors of things stored near them.

Pumpkin stuff

When English settlers came to the New World, they found Native Americans growing a variety of pumpkins and squash. Pumpkins were easy to grow and stored well so they became a favorite of pioneers too.

Early pumpkins did not look like the smooth, bright orange fruits piled outside every store in the fall. They were flatter and heavily ridged. The color was more of a pinkish orange or red. If you look at the illustrations in an early copy of Cinderella, you can get an idea of what early pumpkins looked like.

Today most of the pumpkins you see in the fields are for fall decorations and Jack- O -Lanterns, although Americans still like their pumpkin pie. But the pumpkin in pumpkin pie usually looks more like squash when it’s in the field. Some winter squash and pumpkins are nearly identical genetically and identical in flavor.  So, farmers grow “squash” for commercial canning as “pumpkin” because they are easy to grow and process. You can still use your homegrown pumpkin for pie if you want.

Jack O’ Lantern and other decorative uses of pumpkins

Don’t settle for carving a scary face on a pumpkin; instead carve a scene or random shapes into the pumpkin. Use a drill to follow a pattern drawn on the pumpkin, instead of a knife. White pumpkins can be coated with glitter for a different look. Many people now make patterns in a pumpkin by simply peeling off the outer “orange” layer and exposing the white layer underneath.

After cleaning and carving, soak the pumpkin in a mix of 1 teaspoon of bleach to a gallon of water for a few minutes. Pat dry inside and out, or dry carefully with a hair dryer, and then coat your carving cuts with a thin layer of petroleum jelly.  

Some people opt to paint the pumpkin instead of carving it.  Most acrylic craft paints will work and are non-toxic. The pumpkin could be rinsed off after Halloween and used to make pie.

Black duct tape can be used to tape a face on the pumpkin. If you can’t find black duct tape you can color regular tape with black marker. Cut the tape into shapes that make a scary or happy face and apply to a dry pumpkin.  Note: electrical tape won’t stick to pumpkins.

Another alternative to carving a pumpkin is to pin things like buttons, felt shapes, flowers or seed pods to the pumpkin. You can still find straight pins in the sewing notions section of stores and toothpicks can even be used. 

Want a new, environmentally friendly and safe way to light up your Jack O’ Lantern? Use solar lights. Solar lights use no electricity, and are perfectly safe, they won’t start fires or burn anything and because there is no heat with the light the pumpkin stays fresh longer. They turn on automatically when it’s dark and most solar lights will last many hours after a sunny day and will even come on for a while after a not so sunny day. And they can be reused year after year.

The simple inexpensive stake type solar light used to light paths make an excellent pumpkin light. Or you can buy strands of tiny solar lights or solar flood lights that have a panel you place in the sun and the lights can be 6-10 feet away. Wind the string type lights around a glass jar you insert in the pumpkin or just stuff them inside.

A pumpkin can be hollowed out to hold a glass or metal container in which a mum or dry floral arrangement could be placed. It could also be filled with dry corn, beans or rice to hold things like cattails, turkey feathers and dried grasses. Inside as a table decoration, small green plants or other flowers could be inserted. Halloween candy or other treats can be served from a pumpkin lined with a plastic bowl.

 Other than decoration

Native Americans used every part of a pumpkin. They were hollowed out, dried and used to hold seeds and other foods, even to carry water.  Some were elaborately decorated. Pumpkins were used in soups and stews. The flesh of pumpkins was cut into strips and dried over open fires for storage.  Dried pumpkin could be pounded into a form of flour. Young green pumpkins were eaten like we eat zucchini. Seeds were dried and used for food and medicine. Pumpkin flowers were also eaten.  Even the leaves were used in some areas as a cooked green.

Pumpkins have seeds which make an excellent tasty and nutritious snack. Clean the seeds out of one or more pumpkins and try to remove as much of the orange “goop” as possible.  Place the seeds in a colander and wash with cold water. 

Drain and spread the seeds on a foil covered cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray the seeds with cooking spray or toss with a bit of olive oil, and salt to your taste. Put the cookie sheets in an oven set at 325 degrees and roast for about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and keep checking on them, don’t let them get too brown. After roasting they can be stored in sealed containers.

For spicy pumpkin seeds try this recipe.  Mix 1 ½ tablespoons butter, ½ teaspoon seasoned salt, 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder and 2 teaspoons of Worcester sauce in a bowl and toss the seeds in it before roasting.  It will coat 2-3 cups of seeds.

Garlic salt, red pepper, Parmesan cheese, and cinnamon are all good seasonings to try on pumpkin seeds. There are various flavored popcorn seasonings on the market, caramel, cheddar, ranch and so on, that can be sprinkled on the pumpkin seeds also.

To prepare raw pumpkin for use in a recipe: wash the outside of a pumpkin and clean out the seeds and “goop” inside. Cut the pumpkin in chunks. Scrape any stringy matter off.  Place the pumpkin chunks on their side and slice off the rind (skin).  Rinse well under running water.  Place the chunks in a pan and cover with water. Cover the pan and simmer until the pumpkin is soft. Drain in colander, and then mash the pumpkin smooth. Freeze what you don’t use.

Pumpkin fudge

Want to use some of that prepared pumpkin?  Here’s a recipe for pumpkin fudge.

        2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) evaporated Milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling) or pumpkin prepared as above

1+1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 - 11-oz. pkg. butterscotch flavored morsels

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the butter, evaporated milk, sugar, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and salt in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium heat. Boil, and stir constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in the marshmallows, butterscotch morsels, nuts and vanilla. Stir until the marshmallows melt and the mixture is well blended. Pour the fudge mix into a lightly buttered pan (9 x15) and refrigerate until firm.  Cut into bars. Makes about 48 bars.

Left over pumpkins can become great food for wildlife and livestock.  Chickens love pumpkins and placing a whole one in the coop is great for relieving boredom while providing a healthy treat. Cows, goats, sheep, pigs and even horses love pumpkins but introduce them in small amounts, so you don’t make the animals sick. 

Split a pumpkin in half and leave the halves near your bird feeder. Many birds enjoy the seeds as well as the flesh of the pumpkin.  I don’t like the idea some sites promote- using a pumpkin shell to hold birdseed, I think this makes moldy birdseed.  Deer love pumpkins and they can be used in bait piles.

If you have no animals to feed and no longer need harvest decorations, you can compost the pumpkins.  But be careful, if they still have seeds inside and you toss them in the flower bed, on the lawn or compost pile, you may get pumpkin vines growing there next year!

Remember to set the clock back 1 hour Sunday Night.

"...I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air."

-Nathaniel Hawthorne

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 love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. 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 know anyone 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

October 22, 2019, falling leaves and peony patter

Hi Gardeners

Sedum Autumn Joy and zinnias

After a scary night of howling wind and rain, the day has emerged partially sunny although it’s still quite windy out there. The oaks have now lost most of their leaves, I’ll be raking them into the flower beds and running the mower over the rest.  The maples are now coloring up beautifully.  Fall color seems slow this year.

Even though we have had some frosts and freezes there are still things blooming in my garden.  Petunias, snapdragons, some of the salvias and wax begonias shrug off the cold. The anemone is still blooming and so are the landscape roses. I rescued another geranium that was still blooming in the front bed.

Inside the pomegranate is blooming, some of the hibiscus are in bloom and a potted penta is still in bloom.  The red dipladenia is blooming and a yellow canna. The streptocarpus are in bloom and a “Thanksgiving”cacti is beginning to bloom. The geraniums I brought inside and the cane type begonias, as well as some fibrous ones, are blooming. I even have a gerbera daisy in bloom.

Some of the plants I brought inside are dropping leaves, the floor is looking a bit like the lawn outside.  But plants dropping leaves when moved inside is normal. They lose the leaves that are adjusted to high light levels outside and grow leaves more suitable for lower light levels.  And some plants got just enough chill and shortened daylight to trigger a normal response of leaf shedding before dormancy.

All of these plants will be fine.  In a few weeks they will all have adjusted to their new conditions. I am hoping for a bright cheerful late fall and winter but I have back up grow lights to help both me and the plants survive.

I was out planting bulbs this weekend. I still have some to plant. I know I’m crazy to plant more tulips, but I skipped planting them last year because of the deer and I knew unless I planted some this fall, I wouldn’t have many tulips next spring.  So, they went in, but close to the house and hopefully I’ll be able to protect them.

I participated in the ebird count this past Saturday. It bothers me that only myself and one other person represented my county in the count, although we have many known bird watching hotspots in this county. In neighboring Lapeer county only 4 people participated. If you are concerned about the loss of bird species, and like watching birds consider joining the next bird count, which happens around Christmas. 

Ebird, https://ebird.org/home is run through the Cornell lab of Ornithology. You can sign up to be a citizen scientist and help with the bird counts. The counts help science determine what is going on with bird populations. You don’t need to do anything fancy- you can observe your own bird feeder if you want. The site also has lots of information on birds and you can see what birds were counted in your county and state. People around the world participate.

Downy woodpeckers aren't all I see at my feeder.

Fall may not seem like the time to think about peonies, but since it’s the best time to plant them, I wrote an article about them this week.  Hopefully it will inspire you to buy one and quickly get it planted if you don’t have a peony in your garden.

Growing peonies

Peonies are the grand dames of the late spring garden.  In fact, what is a garden without a peony? If all goes well the peony in your garden may outlive you, it may even outlive your home.  I have seen peonies blooming where only piles of ruble remain to signify what was once a home. But these extremely long-lived plants do give gardeners some grief.  The usual complaint is failure to bloom, but if you plant them carefully in the right spot this is seldom a problem.

Peony species are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America.  While there is some disagreement about the number of species of peony, there are at least 33 species. Peonies come in three basic types, herbaceous, the most common garden peony which dies to the ground each year, tree peonies which have a woody structure that goes dormant in winter, and hybrids of the two, called Itoh hybrids. 

The most common garden peony, the herbaceous Paeonia lactiflora is native to northern China. It was brought to Europe in the mid 1700’s and turned into the many cultivars that now exist in peonies. Paeonia officinalis, is probably a natural hybrid of two other species.  It’s native to Southern France, Switzerland and Italy. It is the peony of herbal medicine and there are ornamental varieties. Another herbaceous peony sometimes found in gardens is the fern leaf peony Paeonia tenuifolia, which is native to Russia. 

Tree peonies Paeonia rockii , (synonym Paeonia suffruticosa), and Paeonia delavayi are native to China.  In Asia they are the peony most often found in gardens. They are often crossed, and many ornamental hybrids exist. A hybrid of the two was then bred to the herbaceous P. lactiflora to produce what is known as the Itoh hybrids. Itoh hybrids have leaves like tree peonies, and a strong upright structure but they lose their leaves and some branches, leaving a woody stem to go dormant.

Peonies have compound leaves, with 5 or more leaflets depending on species.  In the fern leaf peony, the leaves are finely divided.  Many peonies have reddish foliage in the spring. Others have red veins in the leaves. 

Herbaceous peonies send up a number of shoots from ground level.  The shoots live one season and die to the ground in the fall.  A mature plant can make quite a large clump, about 3 feet high and 3-4 feet wide.

Tree peonies have a branched structure with several main stems. They look more like a shrub than a tree. Leaves fall off in winter but most of the woody structure survives. In warmer places tree peonies can get 6 feet tall. Most will slowly grow to 4-5 feet tall and wide. Some tree peonies are grafted plants.  Itoh peonies have a branched structure but die back  somewhat over winter. They are generally shorter than tree peonies at around 3 feet high.

Peonies have thick roots that store food as well as fibrous roots. This makes peonies one of the plants that can be sold bareroot and in fact, most herbaceous peonies and many tree and Itoh peonies are sold this way.

Peonies produce flower buds on the ends of stems.  Flowers can range in size from the size of a quarter to 6 inches or so across. Flowers are often smaller in younger plants than they will be when the plant is mature.  They can be single, semi-double or double.  There is a mass of yellow stamens in the center of the flower.  Flowers may close in cloudy, wet weather.

Colors range from white through pinks, corals and reds in herbaceous types. In tree and Itoh peonies colors include the above plus yellow and purple shades. Most peonies are fragrant, but there are some that aren’t.

When choosing a type of peony to buy take into consideration the type of weather your climate typically has when peonies bloom in late spring-early summer. The large double flowered types can look like a soggy mess in wet weather and often end up laying on the ground unless staked.  The single flowered types handle wet weather better.

Peony flowers can produce seed pods with several “arms” filled with round black seeds about the size of a pea.  These seeds can and do produce new plants, either where they drop or when collected and planted in pots.  However, seed grown peonies seldom have flowers that look like the parent plant.  That’s ok since you can get some interesting plants- although it takes about 5 years before the seed grown plant will bloom.

Location

When you plant a peony make sure you place it where you won’t have to move it in a year or two.  Move them only when absolutely necessary. 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 again with numerous blooms. 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. If you do have to move a peony do it in the fall.

There are peonies that will grow from zone 4 to zone 9. They like a soil that’s around neutral in pH- about 7 but will adapt to slightly higher or lower pH.  They like well drained spots, peonies will not grow in wet spots.  And some protection from wind is good, such as in front of a fence or wall. 

Peonies prefer full sun.  Some will grow in partial shade, but they won’t bloom as well and fungal disease is more common on shaded plants.  Often as trees around them mature the peonies get more and more shade and stop blooming. Notice where the trees are when you plant and plan for the future shade the trees may provide.

Peonies are a plant that thrives without much fertilization. See care below.  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.

If the peonies are in the path of automatic overhead sprinklers, while they are in bloom particularly, they may be more susceptible to botrytis and other fungal disease.  And water on the blooms often ruins their looks. You may want to plant them where sprinklers can be turned off while they are in bloom or use drip irrigation.

Space the peonies about 6 feet apart. That seems like a lot when they are small, but is about right for mature plants, and remember, you don’t want to be moving them often. They need good air circulation so don’t crowd them. Peonies are often planted in back of mixed flower beds, but make sure larger perennials don’t shade and crowd them.

I’m going to be honest here and say that sometimes peonies don’t look that ornamental after bloom has faded. If they weren’t caged or staked herbaceous types may look floppy.  You can trim off dead blooms and seed pods, but you shouldn’t trim the plants foliage down until it yellows naturally in fall. Peonies need their foliage the whole season to make enough energy to set next year’s blooms. The only exception is if the foliage is infected with botrytis, see below.

The fact that peonies might not look as attractive as you would like later in the season may impact your site selection. That’s why peonies may be better planted in back of other flower beds or in other areas where attractive foliage in summer isn’t crucial. Tree and Itoh peonies are somewhat more attractive later in the season.

Planting – it’s crucial to get it right

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, when potted plants may be offered for sale.  Small potted plants are better than large blooming pots, if you have the choice. Larger plants greatly dislike transplanting.

Peonies planted too deeply will not bloom. Peonies have small red/pink bumps or “eyes” on the top of root clumps even when dormant. Look at your bare root clump carefully.  You should see those eyes or buds.  Dig the hole so that these buds will be just below the soil surface, only an inch or so underground.  If for some reason you see no buds the top of the root clump should be just below the soil surface, no more than 2 inches.

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.

After planting the peony in the fall water it, but then water again only if fall is very dry.  If you are planting in spring, water after planting or transplanting and water every few days if it doesn’t rain.  Even if the plant isn’t showing signs of leafing out, water if the soil gets dry.

What to expect after planting

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.

Expect to see a few stems of foliage the first year after you plant a herbaceous peony. Occasionally one will have a few blooms the second year, usually in the third year there will be some blooms. If the plant is in a good location, you should see it get larger and have more blooms each year.

Tree peonies are notoriously slow growers.  You may only see a few tiny leaves on the branches the first year.  Some plants won’t even leaf out.  Continue to water and care for them even if you think they are dead. (If there are no leaves the second year it probably is dead.) By the third year after planting, you may get a few small flowers.  Each year the plant should get larger and the flowers will become larger and more abundant as the plant ages. 

Itoh peonies fall somewhere between these two- expect some foliage the first spring after planting but slower growth than herbaceous peonies.  They do die back somewhat each year to the main woody stem parts.

 

Itoh peony 'Bartzella' https://www.dutchbulbs.com/

General care

While peonies don’t like a lot of fertilizer a light fertilization in fall can improve bloom.  After herbaceous peony foliage has been removed or tree and Itoh foliage has dropped, (you can remove tree and Itoh leaves after a frost), you can add a light layer of compost, or aged manure around the plant. Keep it from touching the stems of tree and Itoh peonies. You can also fertilize with a commercial fertilizer for blooming plants, according to label directions. 

Do not pile compost or mulch too deeply around peonies.  Remember they need those eyes to be near the soil surface to bloom well.  Experts say do not use wood-based or bark mulch around tree peonies as this might promote artillery fungus growth, a fatal disease.

Peonies are very hardy, even tree peonies.  In planting zones 4-9 they do not need winter mulching or wrapping to protect them.  In zones 2-3, if anyone is growing peonies there, they should be mulched with straw heavily for winter.

Do not prune tree and Itoh peonies unless they are dormant and it’s a very light pruning to remove crossing, broken or diseased branches. Dead branches can be removed when noticed. There may be some die back in Itoh and tree peonies over winter. Once other parts of the peony have sprouted leaves and you can tell what has died you can remove the dead areas.

Herbaceous peonies should not be cut back until the leaves have yellowed or turned red in fall.  Then cut them to the ground.  Take the stems to the compost pile, which should be a good distance from the peonies. This helps prevent disease spores from overwintering

Late in the fall, after a hard freeze, experts recommend removing any leaves that remain on tree and Itoh peonies.  Be very careful doing this because the buds for next years flowers will be right there at the tip of the branches and you don’t want to damage them.

Most herbaceous peonies will do best if they are staked or caged before buds get very large.  The nicest way to do this is to use one of the supports that look like a grate on legs-stems grow up through them and the grate is hidden. There are cages for peonies also and if they are in place as soon as sprouts show above ground the cage is usually hidden by foliage. These devices keep the stems from flopping when the heavy flowers get wet.  Tree and Itoh peonies usually do not need staking.

Peonies are not plants that need division to bloom.  In fact, one should avoid dividing or transplanting peonies. Every time a peony is moved or divided it can take several years to bloom again.

Peony problems

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.

During a botrytis outbreak remove infected buds, flowers, and leaves and burn them or seal tightly in a plastic bag and discard.

Peonies also get powdery mildew on occasion.  This looks like a white or gray powder on leaves. It usually happens after the peonies bloom.  While it makes the foliage look bad, it rarely kills the plant.  You can control it with any garden fungicide.

One last thing to mention, ants and peony flowers.  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.

Peonies as cut flowers- amazingly long lasting ones

Peonies are excellent cut flowers, lasting a week or more in a vase. Florists love using peonies in arrangements, but the growing season is short.  Alaska is now growing peonies for the florist market as their peonies open a month or so later than peonies grown in the lower states. But did you know florists can hold peony buds for up to 6 months before using them in an arrangement? 

Gardeners who want to extend the “bloom” time of their own peonies have two methods they can try.  For the first you’ll need an old-fashioned refrigerator, one that isn’t humidity controlled. Maybe that beer frig in the garage can work.

Cut the peony flowers as buds that are just beginning to split and show color. They should feel like a marshmallow when gently squeezed. When you are cutting peony flowers from the plant try to leave as much foliage behind as you can.  It doesn’t hurt the plant to lose all the flowers, but if more than a third of the foliage is removed the plant may not bloom well the following year.

 

Peony bud ready to be cut
Pixaby

Immediately place the cut stems in cold water. Lightly wrap the buds with tissue paper or a paper bag to help protect them from injury and place vase and all in the refrigerator.  Change the water in the vase each week. Temperatures should not be lower than 40 degrees. This method can keep buds at least a month, maybe longer.

When you want to use the peony flowers in an arrangement take some of the buds out of the refrigerator a few days before you need them. Keep them in water in a vase in a warm, light place and the buds should open up into beautiful, fresh looking flowers.

In the second method you can use any refrigerator.  Pick buds at the same marshmallow stage as above.  Remove all the leaves from the stems.  Wrap the peony bud stem and all in plastic wrap (not too tightly), making sure to seal the ends by twisting or taping. Lay the buds flat on a refrigerator shelf.  Make sure you dedicate a shelf to the buds; you don’t want to set things on them. Any buds that mold during storage should be discarded.

Wrapped like this the buds will last many weeks.  Some people have kept peonies cut in June until Thanksgiving. They may look wilted when you take them out to use. Cut a ¼ inch off the stems and place them in warm water in a lighted spot and they should rehydrate and open in a day or so.

There’s no guarantee that your peony buds will all survive storage but it’s a fun thing to try. Some peony types hold in storage better than others.  Experiment, maybe you can amaze guests at Thanksgiving with peonies from your own garden!

Herbal uses for peony

Yes, they are not only beautiful, but peonies have some uses in herbal medicine. Usually it is the root that is used in herbal preparations. In herbals you may see the term red peony and white peony. This refers to root color, not flower color. Different species have different colored roots.

Scientific studies have found peony root might be useful to help muscle cramps. It may also be helpful in arthritic complaints, RH, Osteo, and gout. Peonies contain a compound called paeoniflorin, which may help remove facial wrinkles and is used in some cosmetics.

In herbal medicine peony root is also used in “women’s complaints”, PMS, cramps, and to cause an abortion. Pregnant women should not use any peony product if they want to remain pregnant.

Peony is also used for epilepsy, migraines, to cause vomiting, and for liver problems in herbal medicine. It is also used in ointments to heal cracked skin and hemorrhoids.

Every garden needs some peonies.  This fall why not plant one?

Collecting and storing garden seeds

Frugal gardeners like to collect seeds and start their own plants. Sometimes it may be the only easy way to get some plants.  But if you want to be successful in harvesting and then growing the seeds you need to know certain things about collecting and storing seeds.

First determine what plants you want to save seeds from.  Many flowers and vegetables are hybrids.  When you save seeds from them you won’t get fruit or flowers that are identical to the parent plant.  And even if the plants in your garden were not hybrids, if you had several varieties, they may have cross pollinated, and once again the plants you grow from seed won’t be like the parents.

That may be fine with you.  Some people like to breed plants and to do that you need to collect seeds.  Others just want to see what they can grow with the seeds and are happy with any results.  As long as you realize that some seeds won’t produce plants identical to the parent you can collect seeds as you like.

Some seeds may be difficult to grow, with exacting needs for germination.  You may like a challenge and are able to research the needs and follow the steps to get the seed to germinate.  For other people knowing what plants are difficult to grow from seeds may mean they won’t want to collect seeds from that plant. 

Cleome seed pod splitting

Research any plant and what the seeds need for germination before you collect seed.  I can’t list all the germination needs of every garden plant’s or wildflower’s seeds but here are some plants that aren’t worthwhile to grow from seed or are hard to grow from seed. 

Roses- they do grow but almost always rose seed growing is a crap shoot, garden roses do not produce true to seed and most seeds won’t produce anything nice. You will wait years for them to bloom before you see what you have also. Unless you are attempting to breed roses don’t save the seeds.  Also don’t buy rose seeds online, that’s a scam. You won’t get blue roses or rainbow roses sometimes you won’t even get rose seeds but something else.

Glads, tulips, daffodils, crocus, calla and other bulb forming plants will start from seed but are better propagated by the bulblets that form on an older bulb. Begonias are better started from cuttings. Many hybrid lily seeds are infertile.  Most sedum and succulents are easier started from cuttings.

Apples, pears, peaches and many other fruits can be started from seed, but you usually won’t get a plant that has the same kind of fruit as the parent, especially in apples.  Since it can take many years for the plant to produce fruit, only to find it’s worthless, it’s better to buy fruit trees rather than plant seeds.  Many fruit trees aren’t hardy when grown on their own roots and need to be grafted on to hardy trees. 

Strawberries are best started from root divisions.  Carrots, beets, onions, cabbage, broccoli and other garden vegetables take two years to make seed, so most gardeners won’t find them. But even if you do these plants are better grown from seed you purchased, instead of saved.

Seeds that are easy to collect and grow

The seeds of many annual flowers and some perennials are fairly easy to collect and grow. You may not get the same flowers the parents produced, especially if the parents were hybrids but many older garden favorites are open pollinated and will be like the parents.  Easy to collect and grow are Amaranthus, bachelor’s buttons, calendula, cosmos, cleome, four o clocks, hollyhocks, marigolds, morning glories, nasturtium, nicotiana, strawflowers, snapdragon, statice, sunflowers, and zinnias.

Collection method

In most cases you want to collect the seed when the seed pod or fruit surrounding the seeds is fully ripe.  Since we eat some fruits before they are fully ripe, like cucumbers, you must know what a ripe fruit looks like for that plant and wait to harvest the seeds.  Corn should turn dry and hard on the stalk before saving seeds.  Melons should be mushy ripe and the seeds black or dark brown for watermelon before harvest.  

Peppers must be fully ripe- and they can be many colors when ripe- and soft.  Green peppers aren’t ripe enough to save the seed.  Most seed pods or seed heads turn brown and dry when the seeds are ready to harvest. The opening of pods means the seeds are ripe.

 

Milkweed pod

Collect seeds on a warm, sunny dry day if at all possible.  It’s best to collect most types of seed before a heavy frost or freeze but collection after that can still work for many seeds.  The trick in collecting seed pods and seedheads to get the seeds is to not let them split or otherwise disperse the seeds before you collect them, but still be mature.  Keep a close eye on ripening pods and seedheads.  On a warm day a closed pod in the morning may have shot off the seeds or dropped them on the ground by evening.

If seed pods and seedheads are almost dry and nearly ready to harvest you can cut them and put them in paper bags in a warm dry place to finish drying.  Or you can surround seed heads or pods with paper bags and tie them right on the living plant. Separate the varieties and species.  Label your bags!

Sometimes gardeners have a hard time distinguishing the actual seeds from the seed pods, or remnants of flowers and fruit. Put the ripe seed heads or pods in paper bags close and shake them. You may see loose seeds in the bottom. In most cases a ripe pod or seed head will split or otherwise open or drop its seeds, but in some cases even ripe pods must be opened. Some flowers like Echinacea, rudbeckia, zinnia and others with daisy like flowers will have a bit of dried petal attached to the seed. Even when dry some of these flower heads must be pulled apart to separate the seeds. 

Sometimes fruit needs to rot

In some cases, for seeds to be properly stored and then sprout, the fruit must first rot or ferment.  While you can cut open a very ripe tomato and extract the seeds for storage, it’s better to let the tomato turn to a rotting, fermenting mush before separating out the seeds, drying them and saving them. Germination rates will be higher.  Rotting fruit keeps seeds moist for a while. And chemicals caused by the decomposition process may be necessary in some cases to soften the seed coat. The most common garden plant that really needs fermentation is the tomato. 

Many seeds are prepared for germination in nature by passing through some animal’s digestion system. You can ferment or rot fruits in a nicer way though. Simply place a ripe fruit in an open container and let it sit for a while. You can cut the fruit in pieces if needed. Label the container if you have several varieties of something like tomatoes to ferment. You’ll want to put the containers somewhere where you don’t smell them and the flies they attract won’t bother you.  Make sure animals can’t eat them. 

Let the fruit rot until it’s a watery, smelly unrecognizable mass.  Then put the contents in a fine wire mesh strainer and gently rinse with clean water until clean seeds are left in the strainer. Spread the seeds on a piece of screen and let them dry in a warm, dark place until they look and feel thoroughly dry before storing. If you spread the seeds on newspaper or paper towels they often stick to the paper as they dry and can be hard to remove.

Storing seeds

When you do have the seeds separated from pods and fruit let them dry for a few more days in a warm dark location. Most seeds need to be thoroughly dry before storing, so they don’t mold or rot. Clean out pieces of stem, pod and other debris before storing. It’s best to place seeds in paper packages, even a twist of tissue or fold of newspaper, before placing them in sealed glass or plastic containers. This absorbs moisture. You can add a bit of powdered milk wrapped in tissue to each container to absorb moisture too. Once again- label containers, there’s nothing worse than forgetting what kinds of seeds you carefully saved.

After your seeds are packaged store the seeds of most common garden plants in the refrigerator crisper drawer or another cool dry dark spot.  Most plants grown in temperate climates, both annuals and perennials, need a period of cold dormancy before they germinate. Even if they don’t, they will store better in a cool location. 

Some tropical plant seeds may do better in warmer storage and some seeds may actually need freezing temperatures to properly prepare them for germination. A few types of seed need to be stored moist.  

Some plants need stratification to properly germinate. In nature stratification occurs when seeds lay in moist soil and are subjected to freezing and thawing. Then they are ready to quickly germinate when warmer conditions occur- the amount of warmth to get them sprouting will vary by species. The period that they need to be cold also varies. In most cases cold stratification is needed, but in a few plants the seeds must be stored in warm and moist conditions to get good germination.

Many common garden perennials need stratification. These include; Aconitum, Alchemilla, Asclepias (Milkweed), Baptisia, Bloodroot, Buddleia, Candytuft, Caryopteris, Chelone, Cimicifuga, Clematis, Chinese Lantern, Delphinium, Eremurus, Evening Primrose, Filipendula, Fuchsia, Gentians, Geranium species (Cranesbill Geranium), Helianthemum, Helianthus, Heliopsis, Helleborus, Heuchera, Hardy Hibiscus, Hypericum, Incarvillea (Hardy Gloxinia), Knautia, Lavender, Marsh Marigold, Mazus, Nepeta (Catmint), Penstemon, Persicaria, Phlox (all types), Platycodon, Primrose, (all types), Ranunculus, Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan, most types), Saponaria (Soapwort), Saxifrage, Scabiosa, Sedums, Sempervivums (Hen-and-Chicks), Sidalcea, St. John’s-Wort, Stokesia, Thalictrum, Tiarella, Tricyrtis (Toad-lily), Veronica, Violas, Violets, Virginia Bluebells.

Many wildflowers/natives that a gardener might want to establish also require cold stratification.  Check with experienced growers or it wouldn’t hurt to assume that most wildflowers that drop seed in late summer and fall would need stratification.

You can store the seeds of the above plants dry and cool for a while but before germination they will need to be stratified some way. Seeds that need cold stratification are best stored planted in pots and left outside, where they are subjected to normal weather. Or you can hold the pots in a refrigerator, watering occasionally for about 10 weeks. You can also plant the seeds where you want them to grow and mark the spots.

If you would like more information about seeds and the special germination needs of some plants, you can go to this page:

http://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/seeds-germination.html

Making your own apple juice

If all the talk about arsenic and other chemicals in apple juice scares you and apple juice is the favorite drink of your family you may want to consider making and canning some of your own apple juice. You may have apples in your own yard or have an orchard nearby.  And apples are a fall staple in farm markets.  Making your own apple juice will take a little time but it isn’t hard to do. 

Apple or cider can last a long time without refrigeration, but it may turn hard or alcoholic through fermentation.  And sometimes even refrigerated and pasteurized apple juice will spoil. Because few of us want to have alcohol in our children’s apple juice and we want to avoid food borne illness homemade apple juice should be canned or frozen. The canned product can sit in the cupboard and not take up freezer space. You’ll need a simple water bath canner, and some quart or pint jars with lids to can your own apple juice.  You’ll also need some cheesecloth, or an old clean pillowcase, or some large coffee filters and a colander or strainer.

You can make apple juice at any time of the year, but fall is ideal because apples are abundant, fresh and cheaper in the fall. The apples don’t need to be perfect; you’ll want to avoid wormy ones but lumpy, scabby ones are fine.  A mixture of apple varieties usually makes the best juice or cider. A small percentage of not quite ripe apples can be used but most apples used in juice should be fully ripe.

In some places you can buy organically grown apples if you aren’t growing your own.  (Wash these apples before use because they can be contaminated with things other than pesticides.) But conventionally grown apples are perfectly safe if washed before using. 

Using cider to make apple juice

There are two main ways to make apple juice. The easiest way is to start with cold pressed apple cider from a cider mill. This method gives you less control over the juice as you did not select the apples. It will also be more expensive. You may be able to find cider made from organic apples, but chances are the apples will be conventionally grown.  Cold pressed commercial cider will probably be pasteurized but you will still need to heat and can the final product for storage.

To make apple juice from cider simply let your cider sit in the refrigerator undisturbed for 2 days. Then carefully pour off the clearer fluid from the top of the jugs, leaving as much sediment as you can behind. Strain that clearer juice through a colander lined with cheese cloth or a coffee filter.  Each gallon of cider will give you about 3 quarts of strained juice.

Put your strained juice into a pan and bring to boiling.  Boil one minute. Then pour hot juice into sterilized jars to a 1/4 inch from the top, add lids and screw bands and process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes for pint or quart sized jars.

Making heat processed juice

If you want the most control over the apple juice contents or have an abundance of home raised apples to use this is a good method to make juice.  Cooking the apples a little makes them yield more juice and you won’t need a mechanical press. 

Wash the apples and then chop them in chunks. There is no need to peel or core them. In a large pot combine 1 cup of water for every 3 cups of chopped apples. Cover the pot and let the apples simmer for about 25 minutes or until they are soft. Pour off excess water. You will then need to mash or puree the apples. You can do that in the pot by hand or with an electric beater. Or you can put small amounts at a time in a food processor. 

Pour the apple puree through a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and collect the juice. If you have a lot of puree you can put it in an old thin pillowcase and suspend that over a collection pot. You can buy what is called a jelly bag for that purpose, but they aren’t very large.

Do not press or squeeze the puree through the strainer. Let it drip slowly for several hours. Take your collected juice and bring it to a boil, boil 1 minute, pour into sterilized canning jars to a 1/4 inch from the rim, add lids and process in a water bath canner for 5 minutes for both quarts and pints.

If you like sweetened apple juice, add sugar to your taste preferences at the stage where you boil the juice just prior to filling the jars.  A suggestion is a 1/2 cup sugar to every 3 cups of juice. Do not use artificial sweeteners as they will turn bitter during heating.

Freezing apple juice

After making apple juice in either method above it can be poured into freezer containers instead of canning jars and frozen. If your family likes a lot of apple juice this may not be the method for you as the juice will need a lot of freezer space. The frozen juice may separate a bit as it thaws but will just need to be stirred or shaken before use.

Uses for apple juice

Besides a refreshing, natural drink apple juice can be used to make gelatin, turned into jelly or used as a cooking fluid for meat such as pork, to lend a delightful taste. It can also be blended with more expensive juices.  Always refrigerate opened jars or defrosted containers of apple juice and use them within a week.

 “October is the opal month of the year. It is the month of glory, of ripeness. It is the picture-month.”

-Henry Ward Beecher

Kim Willis

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