Hi Gardeners
Last nights rain passed us by. It’s been exactly a week since we had rain. I had to water the containers a few times, but this morning I was back out watering the rest of the garden. It doesn’t look like we have any rain coming for at least a few days.
I have been seeing monarch butterflies for the first time this week. Other butterflies have been around, but it takes the monarchs a while to get here. We have plenty of milkweed around for them and lots of flowers to visit too. One flower that all butterflies like is anise hyssop. I have lots of that, too much of that, and there are always butterflies and bees around it.
The rose of Sharon’s are in bloom and the buddleias are starting to bloom. Soon the hardy hibiscus will be blooming, and the snakeroot is getting buds too. The tropical hibiscus are blooming like crazy. Garden phlox, black eyed susan’s, echincea, mums, monarda and shasta daisies are blooming. There are still some sporadic daylily blooms, but the last oriental- Casa Blanca is almost done blooming. Dahlias, zinnias and cosmos are blooming.
My “daffodil” begonia finally bloomed. I am not impressed. It’s the first bloom, maybe others will be different. It’s much like any tuberous begonia bloom, except the inner petals are longer than the outer. Doesn’t look much like a daffodil to me though, of course it’s salmon color. I do like to try new things. The leaves of this plant are mottled, I fertilized it again and it’s looking better but I’m a bit worried about that.
The impatiens were doing well but it looks like they may have
downy mildew. They are going downhill fast. It’s a shame but there’s not much
one can do. I won’t be able to plant them next year though, because the fungus
overwinters.
Tonight is the best night for the Perseid meteor shower. Before dawn is the best time, but they fly all
night. Look directly up and they can be
in any direction. They will still be
pretty good tomorrow night too.
Knowing when to harvest melons
Melons includes cantaloupe, honeydews, watermelon and some
other varieties. Melons are one of the
harder things to judge when they are ready to harvest and an unripe melon just
doesn’t taste very good. Melons don’t continue to ripen after they
are picked. An overripe melon is
equally awful. As you grow melons year
after year you will get adept at recognizing ripeness but until then count on a
few mistakes.
Cantaloupe doesn’t develop the netting on the surface until late in development. They may look green and smooth at an earlier stage. Other melons may also change appearance as they mature. A few melons have been developed to change color when mature so they are easier to pick at the right time. Study the descriptions of melon varieties so you know what to expect and mark the variety in the garden. Garden experts get many questions about what type of melon is growing in another gardener’s garden each year as people try to figure out what the odd-looking fruits are.
Most melons develop a yellow spot when mature where the melon rests on the ground. This will turn tan or brown as the melon continues to age- melons with deep yellow verging to tan spots should be perfect. The tendril on the end opposite the stem should be dried up or absent.
Some melons will easily slide off the vine when mature but this isn’t a reliable test as some ripe melons will need to be pulled or cut off. If a melon begins to crack its generally ripe- on the verge of over ripeness, although excessive rain may cause some unripe melons to crack too. It’s ok to eat cracked melons if insects or animals haven’t beat you to it.
You can thump the melon, but it takes experience to recognize the hollow sound of a ripe melon. Smelling muskmelon, cantaloupe and honeydew can be a good test; a ripe melon can be smelled without cutting it. That’s the way chickens and other animals recognize ripe melons and extra interest in your melon patch means the melons are ripening.
Old-timers often use the plug test on watermelon. When you think a watermelon looks ripe take a pocketknife and cut a small plug out of the melon and examine it. Cut a bit off the end and taste it. If the melon isn’t ripe you can put the plug back in and wait a few days. The same plug won’t be a reliable indicator for a second test though.
Know what interior color your ripe melon should have also. Watermelons in particular can have a wide variety of flesh colors when ripe from white to deep red. If you cut open a watermelon and the flesh is yellow, it’s not because it isn’t ripe, although it might not be, it’s because that variety has yellow flesh. Some of the rarer types of melon may have flesh colors you don’t expect. If you have cut open a melon, a taste should let you know if it’s ripe. White seeds or lots of immature looking seeds are also a sign the melon isn’t ripe.
All melons in a patch or even on the same plant will not be ripe at the same time. Each melon must be judged on its own merits.
Don’t eat melons that aren’t ripe, or you will be very sorry on the porcelain throne. Unfortunately, you’ll need to compost these. An overripe melon won’t taste good, but won’t hurt you. If you want to save seeds from a melon, you want it very ripe, maybe too ripe for good taste.
Picking a melon always involves a bit of faith. Patience is your friend. When you hit it right your reward is sweet.
Late summer daylily care
Once daylilies quit
blooming they often start yellowing and looking unappealing in the garden
borders. There are some things gardeners can do now to make things look neater
and to improve the health of their daylily plants so they can return larger and
more vigorous next year.
First remove any old flower stems and seedpods. Next remove any yellowing leaves. If much of the plant is looking yellow and droopy cut the whole plant back by half. If you are dealing with the old-fashioned “ditch” lilies you can cut or mow them right to the ground.
It’s important to remember that there are some varieties of daylilies that keep blooming through the summer until frost. These should have yellow leaves removed if they have them but be careful not to remove buds and good foliage.
After cleaning up the day lilies give them some fertilizer. This will cause them to put out some new growth and allow them to add new roots and increase the clump size. You can use any flower fertilizer or even a lawn fertilizer without weed control. Immediate use, rather than slow release formulas are preferred for this application. It’s nitrogen the plants need now, so make sure the first number on the fertilizer container is higher than the others. Follow label directions for the amount to apply.
You can use compost, but since it takes a while for it to give the plants a nitrogen boost, fertilizer works better. Don’t use coffee grounds, despite internet lore their actual nitrogen content is very low, and they actually retard the growth of many plants. Blood meal might be a good organic option.
Since many other plants don’t need the nitrogen boost now you may want to carefully apply the fertilizer right around your daylilies. Water after fertilizing if conditions are dry. Keep the daylilies watered if it’s hot and dry through late summer and fall, until frost kills them.
Your daylilies should start developing new foliage soon. This is fine and won’t harm them going into winter. Some varieties of daylilies will die back to the ground after a hard frost, but some will remain green, at least in warmer zones.
Daylilies vary as to how often they should be divided. Some varieties are very vigorous and need dividing every 3-4 years. Others grow more slowly and can be left alone for longer periods. When clumps get very large and blooming slows down, that’s the year (or following spring) to divide them. Don’t make your divisions too small, each division should have 4 or more “fans” or leaf sets. This will get you blooms again quickly.
Daylilies are an important part of the perennial bed for many gardeners. A little care after blooming will keep them producing for you for many years.
Deadheading- should you do it?
As we gaze out over our gardens, we often notice that many plants are setting seed in August. The art of removing dying flowers before they make seed heads is affectionately called deadheading by gardeners. But should we remove seed heads to keep plants from expending energy setting seed or leave the seeds to feed the birds and make new plants?
Annual plants, those that complete their life cycle in one year or plants that are treated as annuals because they die if left outside in a northern winter, may continue blooming longer if flowers are removed as they fade. When annual plants set too many seed pods it signals to the plant that their job - reproducing the species- is done and they can quit blooming and die.
Some annuals have been selected over the years to keep blooming even if seed pods are not removed. Examples of these are petunias and marigolds. However, they look nicer if dead blooms are removed. Many other annuals, however, will bloom better and longer if deadheaded before they begin making seed pods.
Even if you want your annual flowers to bloom for a long time you can stop deadheading in September unless you are worried about the plant reseeding around the garden. The shorter, cooler days of autumn may promote a glorious “last chance to reproduce” flush of bloom, but after September annual plants usually slow down their blooming dramatically, even if not killed by frost. Let your plants set seed, especially those whose seed is loved by songbirds. This includes cosmos, sunflowers, zinnias, tithonia, and asters. When the seed heads are gone, and frost has hit the plants pull them all out.
Some perennial plants bloom longer if the dying flowers are removed and deadheading perennials keeps energy going to the plant’s roots and shoots, instead of nurturing seeds. But some perennials are not going to re-bloom regardless of whether you deadhead them. You may want to keep some plants deadheaded to prevent them from spreading seed throughout the garden. And of course many plants look neater if dead blooms are removed.
However, many of those perennial seed heads also feed songbirds and if you like birds around the garden you may want to leave seed pods on the plants beginning late in the season. Plants that provide good snacks for birds are echinacea, coreopsis, roses, gaillardia, heliopsis, poppies, perennial rudbeckia, shasta daisy, monarda, and ornamental grasses. Once the seeds are gone the seed pods can be removed to tidy things up, or plants cut back to the ground.
Some plants do benefit by prompt deadheading so that plant resources go to building a bigger and better plant. Unless you are trying to get seed to start new plants, tulips, iris, daylilies, hosta, Asiatic and oriental lilies and peonies are best deadheaded soon after blooms fade. Hybrid tea roses are also good candidates for deadheading while their hardier landscape rose cousins can be left to make rose hips.
If plants are not deadheaded many will spread around the garden. If having baby plants pop up everywhere doesn’t bother you then don’t deadhead. If you don’t like things out of place or feel some plants are too invasive then keep the blooms picked off those plants before they make seed. Some notorious self-seeders are hollyhocks, morning glories, larkspur, dame’s rocket, phlox, sunflowers, some poppies and yarrow.
If you want to save seed from the garden remember that seed from hybrid varieties of plants may not look anything like its parent. Also, you may need to enclose the seed pods of plants with a paper bag. (Don’t use plastic bags, it causes moldy seeds.) Otherwise the birds may beat you to them or they may be scattered and lost.
Deadheading does keep the garden looking nicer, but if a natural garden that feeds the birds and regenerates itself is the goal then let the seed pods stay on most garden plants. After August, deadheading does little to keep annuals blooming and for most perennials really doesn’t affect them one way or another. By the time most garden plants have turned brown and crispy from cold weather the seeds will be gone and they can be chopped down and composted if you must tidy up before winter.
Monarch mistakes
Raising monarchs in captivity has become a widespread hobby, with thousands of people collecting eggs from the wild or ordering butterflies or their chrysalises from commercial breeders to rear. These people are convinced they are helping the monarch population survive. But are they?
In the last few years several research studies say human
interference isn’t necessarily helping monarchs as a species. And studies
suggest that human rearing of the butterflies may actually harm the species as
a whole. But scientists are having a hard time convincing some people that a
more hands-off policy for monarchs might be better.
A study published two years ago, which found that monarchs
raised inside or even in cages outside, didn’t migrate well, raised the hackles
of hobby breeders. They complained that the study wasn’t a good one and that hand
raised, marked (tagged) butterflies were found in Mexico. However, a new
study, published this month has confirmed the conclusions, hand raised monarchs
don’t migrate well and they are also less vigorous than wild raised
butterflies. It’s a larger and more
comprehensive study, that addressed several issues in the first study that
hobby breeders objected to.
It’s still uncertain what allows butterflies that have never flown south or north to find their way back to a suitable place. It takes 2-3 generations of butterflies to make their way to the far northern areas of their range. One butterfly does not make the whole trip. Every year fewer butterflies return north, and as a whole, monarch populations are declining, as are the populations of many insect species. But the pretty orange and black butterflies plight somehow has captured the hearts of many people and they work hard to try and save them, even if some of the methods used aren’t scientifically sound.
Back to the new research. Scientists in this study raised the monarchs in a variety of conditions, in a greenhouse exposed to natural sunlight, outdoors and in a lab. The sourced the monarchs from wild collected eggs and commercially raised butterflies. Some were tagged and released in the fall, and indeed some found their way to Mexico. But most did not. Most of the human raised butterflies simply didn’t migrate or migrated a short distance. Studies found they had lost the ability to orientate themselves with true north, as they need to do to find their way to Mexico.
The reason for the failure to migrate successfully is still unclear. Many studies are ongoing to test theories. And other differences between wild monarchs and captive bred ones that can’t be explained yet were found. Captive raised butterflies have shorter, rounder forewings. They are also paler in color. These traits were found to be associated with less vigorous flying behavior.
Some people counter that maybe raising one generation inside and then releasing them to breed a generation in the wild would help. There is some indication however that some of these traits that contribute to less vigorous butterflies could be genetically passed along. In the wild butterflies that aren’t fit usually die before reproducing. Captivity protects butterflies that should be weeded out by natural selection.
Scientists don’t want people to stop raising monarchs completely. Raising a few for children to learn about them increases interest in conservation and insects in general. But the idea that collecting monarch eggs from the wild and raising them in cages is a good idea and helping conserve the species should be discouraged. Leave the eggs where you find them. Commercially raising large numbers of them for release is also useless for species preservation.
It is a good idea to increase habitat for butterflies and if you want to help that’s what you should do. Grow milkweed and lots of flowers that bloom in the late summer and fall, when the monarchs need them to feed on before they fly south. But don’t collect eggs or caterpillars, leave them alone. Let nature do her thing. That’s the way to help monarchs.
More reading
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200804190711.htm
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.1326
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.24.919027v1.full
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/29/14671
https://www.popsci.com/monarch-butterflies-winter-destinations-florida/
Instant pickles
Wash and thinly slice one or more cucumbers. Discard the first slice from both ends. Find a clean glass, stainless steel or plastic container that’s deep enough to hold your slices with an inch or two of space at the top. One with a lid is good, but you can cover a bowl with plastic wrap. Aluminum containers may make an off taste in pickles.
I use a half of a medium onion, thinly sliced, for each large cucumber I slice. You can skip the onion, or you can use thinly sliced or chopped peppers if you like. Mix these with your cucumber slices.
Mix up equal amounts of any kind of vinegar and water. Start with a cup of each and make more if you need it. Add a ½ teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. You can leave out the salt and sugar if you like or increase them. You can also add a sprinkling of dill seeds or a dill flower, although these pickles won’t have as much of a dill flavor as other dill pickles. You will want to experiment to find the right taste for you.
Pour your vinegar solution over the cucumber slices. Make sure the cucumbers and any other added vegetable are covered completely by the vinegar solution. You can mix more 50% vinegar, 50% water solution if needed.
Refrigerate these pickles until serving time, at least 2 hours should be allowed, 3-4 is better. After serving they can be covered and refrigerated for an additional day, but discard after 2 days.
Some people drain these instant pickles and use a salad dressing or sour cream on them. We eat them as is.
Refrigerator pickles
Do you have an excess of cucumbers right now? Just a little bit more work than the instant pickles above these refrigerator pickles are quick and easy but store a bit longer than instant pickles. They are great for those that don’t want the work associated with canning or making fermented pickles in a crock. They must be kept refrigerated though so don’t make too many jars unless you have a spare refrigerator and lots of pickle lovers
These pickles should not be kept too long, the USDA recommends no longer than a month. (I am going to be bad here and say I have kept them several months without a problem.) Label your jars with the date so you know when to discard them. Make sure the brine always covers the pickles. If you take some out to serve and they sit out a while discard them rather than returning them to the jar.
Do not reduce the vinegar to water ratio. A ratio of one-part vinegar to one part water is required for food safety, although you could add more vinegar.
Here’s how you do it. You’ll need clean, washed jars with tight fitting lids. Quart sized is good for pickles, but you could use pints. I save commercial pickle jars but if you have canning jars that’s great. You’ll also need a glass or stainless steel pot to heat the brine. Aluminum pots shouldn’t be used because they react with the vinegar and cause an off taste. I don’t know how the new copper pots would work but I would suggest avoiding them.
For each quart jar of dill pickles you will need:
Cucumbers, about 2 medium or 1 and ½ large
1 tablespoon pickling salt- or kosher salt, do not use
iodized salt
2 cups of white vinegar
2 cups of water
1 heaping teaspoon of dill seeds- or 3-4 dill flower heads
½ teaspoon of mustard seeds
Several peppercorns, black or mixed
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 grape leaf - optional, adds crispness
(About spices- they
can be adjusted to your taste. These amounts are what I use. You can leave one
or two out. Since these are refrigerator
pickles you could leave the salt out, but the pickles won’t taste as good. Do not use salt substitutes in pickles. You can use garlic powder, but it makes a
scummy layer on the jar bottom. Some people add a tablespoon of sugar, or things
like dried red pepper, celery seed or a slice of horse radish. Make one jar of
pickles first and taste it after 3 days and see if you like the spice mixture
then adjust if necessary. Pickles get
stronger in taste as they age.)
Wash your cucumbers well. They should be fresh, firm ones. It takes about 1 and a half large cukes or 2 medium ones to fill a quart. You do not want to pack the jars too tightly for pickles. Cut off the blossom end- if you can’t tell which end that is cut a slice off both ends and discard. The blossom end has enzymes that will cause the pickles to be mushy.
Cut the cucumbers into thin slices or spears, whichever you prefer. The pieces must be about an inch below the jar rim because they must be completely covered with the brine. Put them in the jar.
I put a grape leaf in each jar before the cuke pieces. Grape leaves help pickles crisp up. You can use any type of grape leaf, wild ones are fine, just don’t use any that are sprayed with pesticides or that come from close to a road, where they are often covered with pollutants in road dust. Wash them before placing them in the jars.
Heat the vinegar, water and spices in a pan until they come to a boil. Pour the hot brine over the cucumber pieces until they are completely covered. Make sure the spices go into the jar with the fluid. Put on the lid and tighten. If you have extra fluid save it in the refrigerator to add to your next batch or discard.
After the jars cool to room temperature put them in the refrigerator. Some jars may seal as they cool but these jars are not safe to store outside the refrigerator. Store these pickles refrigerated. They’ll keep for 1-2 months this way. You can taste the pickles right away, but they will be better if you let at least 3 days pass. The taste gets stronger as they age.
If you ever notice mold or a bad smell, discard those pickles at once.
You can make bread and butter and sweet pickles this way too. Just look up a recipe for them and use those spices and flavorings. There are more recipes for pickles in the canning page listed on the sidebar of this blog.
– Sylvia Plath
All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without
permission.
And So On….
Find
Michigan garden events/classes here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/
(This
is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)
Newsletter/blog information
If you have a comment or
opinion you’d like to share, send it to me or you can comment directly on the
blog. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly blog
if you email me. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite
and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t
match mine, but I do reserve the right to publish what I want. Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment