November 24, 2020 Happy Thanksgiving

 Hi gardeners

It’s a cold and dreary day here. It is supposed to start snowing any time now. But when I walked to the mailbox, I saw a dandelion cheerfully blooming. The purple of a heuchera plant popped out at me from the dry brown oak leaves. The grass is still green, despite being snow covered this weekend, so all color isn’t gone yet.

I am thankful for the sunny light given off by my grow lights inside and the plants blooming away inside. I’m thankful for many things at this gloomy time of the year when we typically gather to give thanks. I have enough food, a warm house, and land outside to garden on. I have a husband and animal family to share the holiday with even though I shall miss the larger family gathering. And most of all I am thankful that no one close to me has contracted the deadly virus.

I hope all of you have things to be thankful for and that all of you remain safe and healthy. Have a great Thanksgiving even if you feast alone.  Better times will come.

 

This week the newsletter is just plant facts and trivia.

 

Plant Facts and Trivia

Apple trees cannot produce fruit unless there is another apple tree nearby. They are self-infertile even though each apple flower contains both male and female parts. And that nearby tree cannot be the same variety of apple either. If apple trees are related- and most apple trees are clones produced by grafting-their pollen cannot fertilize each other. So, you cannot plant two red delicious apple trees in your yard and expect apples if no other tree is nearby.

When you buy a certain variety of apple let’s say a Gala apple, you need to know what other variety of apple tree is a good pollinator for it. Most good fruit tree catalogs will give you suggestions. The Golden Delicious apple is considered to be a good pollinator for most types of trees.

If you don’t have room for two apple trees you may be able to plant just one if your neighbor has an apple tree, or if there are wild apples growing nearby. Some ornamental crabapples can also be pollinators.

 

Beans may be a favorite food of many people but remember beans can be poisonous if they are not cooked. Many types should be soaked in several changes of water before cooking also. Beans of the Phaseolus family which include black, red, pinto, navy, kidney and other common table beans contain toxins called phytohaemagglutinins which will give you vomiting, diarrhea, and severe stomach cramps.  Raw lima beans contain linamarin, another form of poison. Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans, Cicer arietinum, are also poisonous if eaten raw.

Beans must reach cooking temperatures of 212 degrees F (100 C) for 10-20 minutes to deactivate the poisons. You can slow cook them after that. Even “green” beans can be poisonous if eaten raw.

 

Castor bean is a name given to the plant Ricinus communis. Gardeners often grow the plant for its large, stately presence, beautiful foliage and odd spiky blooms. But castor bean flowers should never be allowed to turn into seedpods if you have children and pets. The seeds, or beans, are the source of one of the worlds most dangerous poisons, ricin. They are also pressed to produce castor oil.

Castor oil is used for various medicinal purposes and as a lubricant. It’s not dangerous when used in small amounts.  All parts of the plant do contain some toxins so care should be used when growing it. The plant is a perennial in warmer areas, but most gardeners will grow it as an annual.

 

Castor bean plant

Dill, Anethum graveolens is an herb that has uses for its seeds, flowers and leaves. It gives that unique taste to dill pickles. You can use a dill leaf, flower or some seeds to impart the flavor. Besides being used to flavor various types of pickles, dill is often used in potato recipes.

Dill has a long use as a medicinal plant to calm gas and nervous stomachs.  Seeds were given to children to chew on and dill tea or a few drops of dill oil were given to infants to soothe colic pains. Dill tea can be used for heartburn and chewing on dill seeds will freshen the breath.

The dill plant generally consists of a single, hollow stalk with scattered feathery leaves along it. The plant can grow to 3 feet tall or more in a great spot. Umbels (see below) of yellow flowers appear in early summer.  If you are unsure if you are growing dill you have only to crush a feathery leaf to smell - all parts of dill smell just like dill pickles!

 

Dill flowers

Euphorbia obesa is a succulent that looks rather like a green baseball. It’s round and has many segments with markings that could be imaginatively thought of as stitching. It makes a good houseplant for those who like succulents.

 

Euphorbia obesa

Ferns are vascular plants that don’t produce seeds or flowers. They reproduce by spores. Fern leaves that photosynthesize are called fronds or trophophyll, the leaves that are reproductive structures and  produce spores are called megaphyll. These leaves are usually not green. The stems are rhizomes. Ferns occur all over the world in a variety of ecosystems but are most numerous in tropical regions.

Ferns have little economic importance. A few are eaten as fronds emerge in spring. In some places the roots of ferns are eaten. Some are ornamental garden plants. Ferns are often portrayed in art and are used in magic rituals.

It has been found that ferns take up heavy metals from soil and air and research is being done on how best to use them for bioremediation.

 

Gympie gympie or suicide plant (Dendrocnide moroides) may not be familiar to Americans, but it is familiar to those in Australia and Indonesia. This plant is also called stinging tree. It’s a relative of stinging nettles.  Gympie is a small shrub, up to 16 feet high that grows in tropical forests. The plant has broad heart shaped leaves with a toothed edge. They also have small white to purplish flowers and juicy red or pink fruit that birds love.

All parts of the plant appear fuzzy because they are covered with tiny hairs that contain one of the most toxic venoms known. The hairs are like tiny needles that inject a toxin called moroidin into the skin if touched or brushed. While the pain is searing at first it rapidly gets worse.

The skin will redden and swell, the nose and eyes run, and breathing becomes difficult. The pain intensifies until it is almost unbearable, it’s said to be one of the most painful things a human can experience, and that pain can last for weeks, even months. The lymph nodes will also swell and cause pain. There is no antidote to the poison. Even if the leaves are dried and old when you touch them they will still cause great distress.

The pain of this plant is so intense that many people and animals that get stung commit suicide, hence the name suicide plant. Most people need hospitalization at least for a few days after contact with the gympie plant. It’s treated by applying diluted acid to the stung areas and using wax strips to pull out the fine hairs imbedded in the skin, then administering pain medications. This usually dulls but doesn’t remove the pain.

Not only is this plant dangerous if you touch it, but it can also harm you if you just stand near it for as little as 20 minutes. In this case you will get severe allergic type reactions with respiratory distress. Blood and pus will run from the nose, the throat becomes extremely sore and painful and extreme sinus pain occurs.  This is one bad plant.

 

Gympie gympie plant
Australian Geographic 

Hardy/half-hardy- this term refers to the cold tolerance of a perennial plant. If a plant is hardy in your planting zone it will survive the average winter temperatures. Half-hardy plants will survive some cold weather and light frosts but will die when temperatures go too low. Many of the garden plants we grow as annuals are actually half-hardy perennials in our growing zone. The petunia is an example.

Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) was the Asian answer to woad, see below. This shrubby plant has pinnately compound leaves of light green and pea like pink or purple flowers.  It is the leaves that produce a lovely blue dye. Indigo is naturalized over a large part of the subtropical world, but it has been in cultivation so long that its native range is unknown.

Indigo was introduced to Europe from India and its introduction did not make the woad growers happy. They spread rumors about the plant such as touching it made men infertile, to try and keep the plant from being cultivated.

Leaves have to be fermented before the plant mixture can be used for dye. The dyed material has to be exposed to the air for the blue color to appear, which to superstitious people smacked of magic. It took a long time before Europeans would accept indigo as a dye plant.

Indigo dye has largely been replaced by synthetic dyes but its an easy plant for people interested in natural dyes to grow. Its only hardy to zone 8 however. It can be grown as an annual in other places.

 

Jamaican Lady of the Night, Brunfelsia jamaicensis, is a wonderful flowering houseplant with beautifully scented white flowers. They put on quite a show and deserve to be placed where everyone can admire them. If you want ro know more about Jamaican Lady of the Night please click on the link below.   https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/jamaican-lady-of-night.html

 

Jamaican Lady of the Night

Kale is actually a cabbage that has been selected to have loose heads of dark green, reddish or purplish, generally frilly leaves. It’s a very nutritious green that has become very popular for salads.  It can also be baked to make kale chips. Gardeners can easily grow kale in the cooler periods of the year. There are also ornamental kales, grown for their fancy leaves sporting many colors that can provide color in the fall garden.

 

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) is an herb that tastes like a combination of celery and parsley. The leaves, roots and seeds are used for various culinary purposes, much the way celery is used. It’s native to Europe and Asia. The plant looks a lot like flat leaved parsley.

Lovage is an easy herb to grow and is hardy from zones 4-8.  It is perennial and can grow up to 6 feet high. Gardeners can start it from seeds as well as plants.

 

Mayapple is an excellent plant for northeastern gardeners who want a native shade garden. It’s a perennial, easy to grow plant.  For an article on Mayapples click on the link below https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/growing-mayapples-in-garden-if-youlike.html

 

Mayapple

Nigella -Nigella sativa is also called black cumin, black seed or kalonji. Its related to several ornamental nigella species, such as Love in a Mist. It’s native to Southwestern Asia, northern Africa and the Middle East. The leaves of the plant are narrow, and finely divided.  Flowers are small and blue or white. The plant produces a puffy seed pod filled with tiny black seeds similar to poppy seed.

Black seed has long been used as a condiment/spice in the cuisine of various countries. It has some traditional medicinal uses. But recently it seems that black seed, particularly black seed oil has become the snake oil of modern times. You can see ads claiming that it will cure all ailments, from cancer to aids and probably covid too. Of course, when something seems too good to be true it usually is. Most claims for black seed oil cures are false.

Medical studies are being done on the plant and its seeds and it may hold some promises as an antihistamine, immune system stimulant and contraceptive but no definitive proof has yet been declared. Some studies on cancer and diabetes management are also being done. What is known is that black seed can actually be harmful to some people.

Black seed can cause seizures, may cause excessive bleeding after surgery or injury, and may cause problems when mixed with many prescription medicines. It can cause constipation, stomach upset and vomiting. It often causes an allergic rash. Small amounts, as in spicing food, are probably harmless but do avoid large doses. Ask your pharmacist or doctor before you take black seed oil or preparations if you take prescription meds. Pregnant women should not consume it in medicinal doses.

 

Osteospermum or African daisies are often seen in garden stores in the spring. They have daisy like flowers in a range of colors from purple to yellow. However, these plants do not like hot weather and will stop blooming or even die back when it’s too warm. They may bloom again in fall if they survive. Keep them deadheaded to prolong bloom.  Osteospermum do not start easily from seed and are usually grown from cuttings.

 

Pinching is something most people know how to do when it comes to other humans. It’s done the same way to plants, taking off the tip of a stem. Removing the tip of a plant removes certain hormones that cause a plant to grow taller and allows other hormones responsible for side growth or width to dominate for a while. This helps make plants fuller and bushier.

 

Quinoa is an ancient small grain that home gardeners can grow. It’s related to spinach and amaranth and is native to the Andes Mountains in South America. This highly nutritious grain was called “chisaya mama” (“mother grain”) by the Incas. Quinoa is gluten free and can be substituted for rice in many recipes. The seed coating on quinoa grains contains bitter saponins and it should be washed several times before cooking.

Quinoa likes to grow in sandy, well drained soils in cool periods of the year, light frost will not hurt it.

 

Rosaceae is a family in the plant kingdom which contains roses as the name suggests, but it also is the family from which many of the fruits you eat come from. In the Rosacea family are apples, pears, quince, peaches, apricots, plums, strawberries, cherries, blackberries, raspberries and other fruits. Besides roses other ornamental plants in this family include spirea, potentilla, filipendula, geum, cotoneaster, ninebark, pyracanthas, aruncus,  and hawthorn.

 

Stenocereus eruca has the common name of creeping devil. This interesting succulent/cacti is rope shaped and sprawls along the ground. The stem is pale green and covered with nasty spines. As it elongates it grows roots along the bottom of the stem where it lays on the ground. The base of the plant dies as the plant proceeds forward, making it seem as if the plant is creeping along, which I guess it is.

S. eruca is native to Baja California area of Mexico, where it forms huge colonies in dry areas. The plant produces white or pink flowers occasionally. It has become a sought after houseplant but can be difficult to grow.

 

Creeping devil
Wikipedia

Tillandsia are also called air plants. They have few or no roots and do not need soil. Most grow in trees, rock crevices, gravel or sand. There are some 650 species, native to Mexico, Central and South America. They have become popular houseplants. Most have silverly looking, narrow, stiff leaves although there is variation in leaf color and plant size among species.  They are not winter hardy.

Tillandsia do flower occasionally. Flowers are typical bromeliad flowers clustered on a stem and are generally bright, vibrant colors. In many plants the foliage will also change color when the plant blooms. Tillandsia need to be pollinated by another plant of the same species to set seeds. After blooming the plant produces a few “pups”, (baby plants), and then the main plant dies.

Tillandsia have special cells on their leaves that allow them to absorb water from what falls on them or from the air. As houseplants they need to be sprayed or dipped in water from time to time. Use rainwater or distilled water on them. They can be placed in many locations, even clipped to drapes, because they don’t need or want soil. They do need good, strong light inside.

 

Umbel is the term for a flower type that consists of many tiny stems holding flowers joined near the base (called a bract), looking similar to tiny open umbrellas, upside down. Often these umbels are also in clusters joined near the base, forming a double umbel.  Queen Anne’s Lace and milkweed are common plants with this type of flower arrangement.

 

double umbel flower of dill

Valerian is another of the herb plants that once you get it in your garden you’ll probably always have it. It reseeds prolifically and is a perennial plant hardy to at least zone 5. It is a large plant, sometimes 6 feet in height and a couple feet wide. It has umbels (see above) of tiny white or pink flowers that are highly attractive to bees and hover flies.

Valerian is known for it’s sleep inducing properties, which are backed by science. The roots of valerian are dried and powdered for this purpose. It’s also used for menstrual and stomach cramps in herbal medicine. Valarian should not be combined with alcohol or other sedatives. The roots are also attractive to cats, just like catnip.

 

Valarian

Woad or Isatis tinctoria is a plant in the mustard family that was once extremely important to the textile industry. The dried and powdered leaves yielded a blue dye. The plant is native to Europe. It has the small yellow flowers typical of plants in the mustard family. Most dyes are now made with chemicals but people who prefer natural dyes still use this plant.

 

Xylem is the name for the tissues similar to animal veins in a plant that convey water from the roots to the very tips of the leaves. Usually xylem tissue is bundled with phloem tissue, which transports food from the leaves to all parts of the plant.

 

Yams and sweet potatoes are often confused. What most Americans call a yam is really a sweet potato. Yams are a starchy, bland tasting vegetable, generally with white flesh. They have a rough, thick, bark like brown skin. Most yams are grown in West Africa.

Sweet potatoes have a smoother, thin skin, usually red or orange, sometimes tan in color. The flesh can be shades of orange, white or purple, there are numerous varieties of sweet potato. And of course, they have a sweet taste. The orange “yams” you eat at Thanksgiving are sweet potatoes. The USDA now requires that the label say sweet potato as well as yam. North Carolina produces more than half of the sweet potatoes eaten in the US.

Sweet potatoes also make great ornamental plants, coming in a variety of foliage colors and shapes. They are a vining plant. Even the varieties grown for eating can make a nice outside container plant or houseplant. (They don’t survive cold weather outside.) At the end of the season you may find an edible tuber in your containers.

 

Ziziphus jujbe or Jujube is also called red date or Chinese date. It is native to Southern Asia. The plants are related to Buckthorn and grow as small trees or shrubs. They have gotten some interest lately as fruiting houseplants. There are 5 species and numerous cultivated varieties. They are hardy to 5 degrees F, that would be about zone 7 here.

Jujube produces fruits that look like tiny apples and they actually taste like sweet apples when eaten fresh.  As they mature, they dry and wrinkle and turn from greenish to various colors depending on variety, from tan to deep purple. There is a single pit inside, containing two seeds.

They are used like dates or raisins in cooking and eaten for snacks. Wine and jelly can be made from them. They are sometimes pounded into a paste and combined with chilies and other spices as a condiment. The candy called jujube once contained real jujube but is now artificially flavored.

Jujube is also used in traditional medicines. They are often used in flu remedies and are said to have anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, contraception, antioxidant, immunostimulant, and wound healing properties. If the leaves of jujube are chewed it prevents you from tasting sweetness for a short while.

Jujube makes an attractive container plant for indoor use. It has blade shaped leaves and a dense branching habit and can be pruned to remain smaller. It’s self-fertile so you can get fruit with one plant. It needs very bright light inside. It would be best to summer it outside.

 

Jujube
Toptropicals.com

 

In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year.     

-Cynthia Rylant

 

 

Kim Willis

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November 17, 2020 How do feel about your plants?

 Hi gardeners

It’s the kind of day where I just want to curl up and go back to bed. The wind is howling, it’s 32 degrees and gray outside. There’s a light coating of snow on the grass.

I’m sitting in my home office and the bird feeders outside the window are empty.  Birds keep landing and going away disappointed. I should go out there and fill those feeders. Maybe when it gets to 34 degrees.

Sunday we kept having small power outages- a minute or two- and power surges because of the high winds. I spent yesterday trying to get my plant light timers working right and I had to replace two bulbs that were ruined by the alternating power.

I think I have said this before but I can’t remember thirty years ago or so, having this many wind storms with 50-60 mile an hour gusts that go on for hours and hours. We had heavy rain for a while with it Sunday, so I guess we now know what being in a hurricane or tropical storm is like. It must be climate warming.

When I do take a walk outside, I notice that the petunias are still green. They aren’t blooming but they aren’t dead. Some lamium and the yucca are still green. There’s even a mum in a protected place blooming. I could harvest sage if I wanted, it’s still green. Even some of the roses still have green leaves.

I found a handful of bulbs I forgot to plant. I’ll be planting them tomorrow. There is still time to plant bulbs if the ground isn’t frozen. It’s better to plant them then to try and save the bulbs for next year. That just doesn’t work well. If you have bulbs left and the ground is frozen put them in the refrigerator for 6 weeks, then take them out and pot them in containers.

It’s a good time to prune oak trees if they need it as the insects that carry oak wilt are gone and the sap isn’t flowing in the trees. It’s also a good time to gather any seeds you might want to save- providing they are still on the plants.

Inside my house plants have fewer blooms now. I still have streptocarpus, fuchsia, hibiscus, geraniums, diascia and Thanksgiving cactus blooming. I am already ready for spring. A new year, a new start. I am beginning to plant shop for spring.

 Sowing flower seeds in the fall

You may think the planting season is over but there are some common garden flowers that drop their seeds in the fall. Those seeds need a period of cold to germinate and may need the freezing and thawing cycle to crack a hard seed coat and allow moisture in for germination. You may have some of the garden plants that require these conditions in your garden and they will self- seed for you if left alone. If you don’t have the plants and want them in your garden now may be the time, before the ground freezes solid, to sow some of those seeds.

Seeds that can be sown in the fall include: Bachelor's Button, Coreopsis, Cosmos, Echinacea, Flax, Larkspur, Moss Rose, Marigolds, Morning glory, Nasturtium, Pansy, Poppy, Strawflower, Sweet pea, Verbena and Zinnia.  Buy the seeds or collect dry seeds from friend’s plants. Some of these may also be planted in early spring.  Some wildflower and grass seed may also be suggested for fall planting. Check the label, plant description or a reference.  Chances are if nature drops the seed in late fall it likes fall planting.

Clear a spot in the garden of vegetation and loosen the soil. Sprinkle the seeds over the area. You may want to sprinkle them thickly as some will not germinate. You can thin in the spring. Very small seeds like poppy seed should not be covered but press them against the soil. Larger seeds like morning glory seed should have a loose layer of soil about a half inch thick placed over them. Don’t water the seeds. Nature should take care of that for you. 

You can apply a very thin layer of mulch such as pine needles or chopped straw but don’t use leaves or anything that mats over the seeds and don’t make the mulch deeper than a half inch. Make sure to mark the spots where you sow the seeds. Some may wait until warmer weather to emerge so don’t be in a big hurry in the spring to plant over them, thinking they didn’t sprout. If you have trouble with birds pecking at your seeds cover the area with netting.

It’s not too late to plant the seeds until the ground freezes solid.  After all nature will still be dropping them, even after the snow falls in some cases. 

 

Plant facts and trivia

Amaryllis- did you know that amaryllis bulbs need to be planted with one third of the bulb above ground? It takes 6-8 weeks for the bulb to produce a bloom stalk.

Bulbs for spring blooming flowers can be planted until the ground freezes. They do not store well until next year so get them planted.

Calendula flowers were once used to make butter a deeper yellow and they are fed to chickens to make their egg yolks a deeper yellow.

Daffodils are not eaten by deer. You can have flowers in early spring if you plant daffodils and narcissus.

Eggplants come in a number of colors besides purple including white, yellow, orange and pink. They all taste the same.

Flame violets are Episcia cupreata, a houseplant that is similar to an African violet with pretty leaves that have silvery veins. They have small tubular flame red flowers over a long period in the winter.

Gerbera daisies will bloom on and off all winter inside and make good houseplants. They do need a southern window or grow light.

Herbaceous plants are any plants that do not have a woody stem. If plants die back to the ground in winter, they are herbaceous.

Ice cubes should not be used to water orchids. Instead water them with about 2 tablespoons of warm water every few days.

Heel is the term for a bit of the main stem of a woody plant that is removed with a side shoot. Many woody plant cuttings start better if they have a heel attached.

Iresine are sometimes called Chicken Gizzards and are another plant with colorful foliage that you can grow inside. They come in various shades of red, purple and lime green with contrasting veins and are not hard to grow.

Jacobs Ladder or Polemonium caeruleum, are excellent perennial plants for the shady garden. There are now varieties with variegated foliage for color after the flowers fade. Flowers are generally shades of blue or white.

Kalanchoe is a family of plants with many interesting species, most of which are succulents. Some are hardy garden plants, but most are kept as houseplants in colder climates, where their shape and growing habits vary widely. Many of the species contain a cardiac poison, bufadienolide, so they should be kept where children and pets won’t eat them.

Kalanchoe 'Snowbunny"

Kalanchoe calandiva

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana

Lettuce comes in various leaf forms, romaine, head, bibb, tongue and loose leaf. Loose leaf and romaine lettuce can be grown indoors under a grow light in a box or large bowl for winter salads.

Mint can be grown in the garden without it aggressively taking over by planting it in containers that either sit above ground or that are buried in the ground, leaving a 3-inch collar above ground.

Nodes are the areas along a plant stem where new growth can occur. They can look like swollen areas or joints. Leaves, stems, or roots can grow from a node. It’s necessary for most cuttings to have 2 nodes for propagation, one to form roots and the other shoots.

Osmanthus or false holly has leaves that look just like the holly you see at Christmas, but it’s grown as a houseplant in colder areas. There’s a variety with white variegated leaves and one with almost black ones.

Pepper plants do not produce male or female pepper fruits and the lobes on a bell pepper do not signify it’s a male or female or its sweetness level. Pepper flowers have both male and female parts. Fruits do not have sexes; they are simply protecting seeds. The number of lobes has to do with growing conditions and the variety of pepper.

Queen’s Tears is a species of Billbergia, a bromeliad that is easy to grow indoors. It has straplike leaves and drooping clusters of red and purple flowers. It is hardy outside to 35 degrees F.

Queens Tears - Billbergia nutans

Radishes can be sliced thinly and fried like potatoes for an interesting side dish. They do not have many carbs or calories. Frying them with some bacon is particularly yummy.

Tendrils can be either modified leaves or stems. Their purpose is to curl around something and help a plant grow upward toward the light.

Umbrella plants or Schefflera arboricola are popular tree sized houseplants. The leaves consist of 5 leaflets joined together near the base (shaped like fingers and a palm). They are said to be poisonous to cats and dogs.

Violas have flowers that look like small pansies. There are hundreds of species of violas in the violet family, some are native plants. Many are hardy in the garden and reseed freely as well as living for many years.  Johnny Jump Up is a common name for a purple and yellow flowered viola. Violas are edible, add some flowers to a salad.

Winter Aconite or Eranthus hyemalis is another early spring blooming flower that deer won’t eat. It has bright yellow flowers.

Xylem is the tissue in plants that is part of a plant vein and it is the tissue that transports water through the plant.

Yucca plants are either hated by people or loved. There are outdoor species and species that can be grown indoors in colder climates. Most yucca have tough fibrous leaves that are sword shaped, and many can cut you like a sword if handled incorrectly. Some yuccas have beautiful spikes of flowers.

Zebra plants are a common houseplant, but they can be tricky to grow. They have green leaves with silver veins and if you are lucky, yellow spikes of flowers. Zebra plants need consistent soil moisture without being too wet and good humidity. They should be fertilized regularly. They like a warm, brightly lit room.

 

So how do you feel about your plants?

I love plants. I like growing a variety of plants just to see how they grow. I have favorite plants, plants that have sentimental value and I am slow to toss a plant if I think it could be saved. But I would like to think that I also treat my plants in a practical manner and don’t anthropomorphize them. Anthropomorphism means giving something inanimate or a plant or animal human traits or feelings/thoughts.

It worries me somewhat that many people now seem to be treating their plants as if they were pets or the equivalent of a family member. If a plant gets a spot on it’s leaves or worse a leaf turns yellow and falls off, they are nearly overcome with anxiety. They worry obsessively about whether their plant is growing correctly, posting pictures online to get people’s opinions on the growth habits of their plant.

When a garden store dumps dying plants in a dumpster you would think they just dumped some kittens in there from some of the comments online. People obsess about rescuing them and angrily berate the stores employees for their heartlessness. They risk arrest to climb into dumpsters to rescue sickly petunias and nearly dead philodendron plants.

People now name their plants, particularly houseplants. They refer to them as she or he. They talk about their plants “feelings” as in “my Shelly feels so sad because I had to move her from the window she likes the best.”

Now I have joked that vegans better watch out because that carrot they are munching feels pain and is alive and silently screaming. But even though we know that wounding a plant releases chemicals that warn other plants nearby that a predator is near, plants do not feel pain in the way an animal might. (But they are still alive when you eat them unless you cook them first.)

It always makes me chuckle when people talk about “abusing” plants or causing plants pain and then they turn around and tell someone to “divide” a plant by cutting it apart or cutting off pieces to propagate. You can save that poor plant, they state, if you cut it in pieces and drop the pieces in water. Maybe they think plants rationalize the “pain” like a human thinks about the pain of childbirth-it’s a necessary part of reproduction.

When I say, “if a plant is happy where it is it will bloom”, it’s a figure of speech, happy meaning that the plants needs are being met.  I don’t actually mean the plant feels happy. Without a brain plants cannot be happy or sad or have any emotions or feelings.

Plants can’t like or love you either. No plant is happy to see you come home from work. And plants do not grow because you talk sweetly to them, despite the myth that they do. Science has tested this and found it false in a controlled setting. What happens when a person talks to their plant is that they pay more attention to it and tend to care for it better. And speech causes vibrations in the air, which do seem to help plants. It’s not your words though that have the effect. Try cussing out one plant and sweet talking another, it won’t make a difference.

What about plants responding to music? Once again, it’s vibrations in the air that have effects on plant growth. In nature insects landing on a leaf or vibrating their wings near a flower, the wind blowing and animals passing by all produce vibrations in the air and these vibrations are somehow sensed by the plant. Different plants have different responses to those vibrations. The response is usually chemical- the plant produces chemicals triggered by the vibration.

We “hear” because the vibrations affect the eardrum in our ears and the brain transforms the vibrations into a “sound”. Plants do not have ear drums or brains. Certain types of music produce different vibrations, and therefore have different effects on plants. This explains why some music types seem to make plants grow better.  Science is still learning how we could manipulate plants with sound waves to produce certain growth characteristics we desire.

When I walk in my garden or the woods, I don’t worry that plants are gossiping about me or yelling at me to leave. Plants do have some ways to communicate, but it’s on a chemical level and only involves their own protection and needs.

Now I recognize plants are living things. In fact, they are the most important living thing on the planet, without them animals can’t exist. I try to avoid harming plants.  I nurture and protect many of them. I give them space in my home and pay for the water and electricity (lights) that helps them grow. (Yes, this is for my benefit. I’m the one that wants them to grow in the house.)

I may absent mindedly talk to my plants-but I don’t expect them to understand - or answer back. I may set some straggly plants in a “hospital space” before I decide to toss them, or I may just toss them.

But I wouldn’t risk climbing in a dumpster to rescue a bunch of straggly tomatoes. I wouldn’t run into a burning house to rescue a plant, even one that belonged to my grandmother. I would always choose a pet over a plant. There is some hesitation about whether I would choose having plants in my house or a husband- but luckily, I don’t have to choose.

None of my plants have names, other than scientific ones or common names for the whole species. I have a Christmas cactus, not Miss Suzy. When plants look really bad or I just don’t want them growing where they are, I may rip them out and toss them on the compost pile. I don’t try to find edible or medicinal uses for every plant in the landscape to justify keeping them. (Dear plant, I am going to let you stay there because someday I may want to eat you.) It’s simple, if I don’t want the plant there, it’s gone. I don’t care if you can choke it down and not get sick.

If I spent a lot of money on a plant, it may get more scrutiny if it has a yellow leaf or spots on a leaf. If it’s a crop plant I want to get a good crop from I may watch it carefully for disease and insect problems. Otherwise I am pretty blasé about leaf spots and yellow leaves. People get pimples and lose their hair, but they are still healthy.

Now I have more experience than many people about what is normal and what is not when it comes to plants. So, if you are a new plant owner and do have a plant that seems sickly it is ok to ask for an opinion and help. But don’t freak out over a yellow leaf tip or a falling leaf. (If it’s a potted plant, check your watering habits, that’s what causes at least 75% of plant problems.)

Your plant will be all right- or it will die. Plants do die- sometimes without us knowing why. They sometimes die because their life span is over. They sometimes die because you did something wrong. Throw it in the compost pile. Don’t feel sad or mad because you failed. Learn from the experience. And for goodness sake don’t worry about whether a plant is sad or unhappy, just worry about fulfilling its needs.

Taking the contrarian view point you could say that how society treats other living things evolves over time. 100 years ago, having a dog tied up outside to a doghouse was considered perfectly normal. Now it can get you in a lot of trouble in some places and it is considered by most of society to be inhumane.

Maybe in another 100 years we will have learned many more things about plants and society will condemn you for cutting flowers for a vase. I just don’t know what we will eat….

Quick and easy cream biscuits

On a cold fall day nothing tastes better for breakfast than biscuits and gravy.  I found this cream biscuit recipe and I love it.  It’s a small batch recipe and makes 6-9 biscuits depending on how you cut them.  This recipe has only 3 ingredients, although you can embellish it. 

The recipe uses self-rising flour, not all purpose flour.  You can find self-rising flour next to regular flour in the store.  You could also sub a baking mix like Bisquick but the taste is slightly different.  Use whipping cream, not milk, the fat content is important to the biscuits texture.

You’ll need

2 cups self-rising flour

1-1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (not milk)

1-3 teaspoons of sugar depending on your taste

Mix together the flour and sugar and then add the cream a little at a time mixing well until you have a stiff dough.

Pat the dough evenly into a greased 6x6 inch pan.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

 

Variations: brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle on finely chopped rosemary or add 1 cup of finely shredded cheddar cheese and about a ½ teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste) to dough. Or make the biscuits sweet ones by brushing on melted butter then sprinkling them with cinnamon sugar or adding orange zest and a teaspoon of orange juice to the dough, then brushing the tops with orange marmalade

  

“But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods…for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them.”

-L.M. Montgomery

 

 

Kim Willis

All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

 

 

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.

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.  Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com

 

 

November 10, 2020 succulents and pines

Hi gardeners

It may be abnormal, but I’ll take it. This beautiful warm sunny November weather that most of the country is experiencing is one of the few upsides to climate warming.

Don’t worry about your plants, they’ll be fine. I have a clematis blooming by my barn even though the leaves are rumpled and brown. Other people have told me about witch hazel and a few other shrubs blooming. Bulbs are coming up. But everything will compensate. Had this warmth happened in February we might be in trouble, but things still have time to enter normal dormancy.

The weather is expected to swing back to just slightly above normal November temperatures this week. But the weather service is projecting a warmer than normal winter through February. Don’t get too happy, because that could mean more ice storms instead of snow, or even more snow than normal, since warmer air holds more moisture.

Still I love checking off each day when we don’t get wintery weather.  It’s one day less of it. I love having the doors and windows open in November and sitting outside in the sun in shirtsleeves. It’s getting dark earlier and earlier, faster and faster, but that just means we’ll hit winter solstice soon and we’ll be back on the upward track.

All around me people are burning leaves. Don’t do that! It’s such a waste of nutrients. If you can’t stand the look of leaves on the lawn and in flower beds and have the ambition to rake them up, at least compost them. And the leaf blower has got to be the biggest environmental mistake any gardener could make. Using all that energy and polluting the air to blow leaves around is just stupid.

The inside plants are thriving. I had to water a little more this week because it’s warm. I never did get rid of my Hawaiian hibiscus and it has some huge white blooms this week. I have a Thanksgiving cactus in bloom this week too. All the regulars, the other hibiscus, fuchsia, streptocarpus, wax begonias, lemon, geraniums and the diascia I brought in are blooming too.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. My husband and brother are Viet Nam vets, as are many of my friends. I’d like to wish them and all vets a good day tomorrow and thank them for keeping our country free.

Of succulents and pine trees

One of the things that annoys me is when people talk about “pine” trees when they actually mean some other species of conifer plants. Pine tree is not the name for any tree with needles. Pines are one species of evergreen, cone bearing trees. But there are many other species, spruce and firs for example, and those species all have different needs, diseases and pests.

If you think calling all conifers pines annoys me, try talking to me about the Christmas trees in your yard. It’s not a Christmas tree unless you have lights and decorations on it. And the “Christmas” trees you buy for the holiday come from a variety of evergreen species.

If you have evergreens or conifer plants in your landscape at least know what plant family they belong to. I am putting an article under this one that will help you identify the evergreen trees in your yard. When you want to know something about a needled evergreen in your yard please use the correct name for it.

The newest plant fad is succulents. But what people don’t realize is that succulents is a name for a group of plant families/species that share similar characteristics, fleshy stems and leaves that store water. Many of those plant species do live in arid environments but some succulents actually live in rain forests.

Succulents is not a scientific name classification and there is some disagreement as to what plant species are succulents. Cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti. Sedums are succulents. Christmas and Thanksgiving cacti are succulents, but their native homes are in rain forests/jungles. Then there is the term semi-succulent, which can refer to plants such as African violets.

Aeonium family

Here’s a list of plant families that can be considered succulents or that have some succulent species; Aeonium, Agave, Aloe, Bryophyllum, Ceropegia, Crassula, Cotyledons, Euphorbia, Echeveria, Faucaria, Gasteria, Haworthia, Hoya, Kalanchoe, Graptopetalum, Kleinia, Orostachys, Pachyphytum, Pedilanthus, Peperomia, Sansevieria, Sedum, Sempervivum, Senico. There are other families.  I am not including cacti and forest cacti here.

When most people buy a succulent plant, it is labeled just that- succulent. So that is how they speak of it- as a succulent. It’s unfortunate that nurseries don’t properly label plants but when you buy a plant labeled succulent do the homework and find out just what species of plant you have.

When your “succulent” isn’t looking good and you want to ask for advice or you want to know how to propagate the plant, knowing what actual species you have is very helpful. Even knowing a common name is better than just calling it a succulent. The Jade plant is Crassula argentea or sometimes Crassula arborescens, for example.

Crassula family

While succulents do come from arid regions for the most part, there are still differences in what the many species need in regard to light, temperatures and other things. Some are cold hardy, some are not.  Some are prone to certain diseases, some are not.  So no, all succulents cannot be treated the same way.

I wish I could give you a condensed guide to identifying succulents as I did with the evergreens below. But there are so many families and so many species in those families that it would probably take a book. There are a lot of new succulents of various species coming on the market for houseplants and even I have trouble keeping up with identifying new species.

Here’s some sites that can help you ID what succulents you have.

https://plantsam.com/cacti-succulents/

https://thesucculenteclectic.com/identifying-types-of-succulents-pictures/

https://www.succulentguide.com/

 

Kalanchoe 'SnowBunny'

Identifying evergreens in the landscape

In this article we’ll skip plants that are evergreen but have broad leaves, such as holly and euonymus and concentrate on the needle leaved, woody evergreens.  And we will also leave out the few species of trees with needle like leaves that lose those leaves in the winter, such as bald cypress. 

First some terminology, without being too technical. “Evergreens” is a broad term for many species of needle leaved woody plants.  Most of these are also conifers-that is they reproduce using a cone. Yews and junipers are both woody evergreens with needle like leaves, but they produce fleshy berry-like cones with seeds inside. (It's a cone but it looks like a berry.) These evergreens should not be called Christmas trees unless they are actually being used for that purpose.

Here are some general identifying characteristics of different woody evergreen plants.  The main plant families are pine (Pinus), spruce (Picea), firs (Abies), Yew (Taxus), Juniper (Juniperus), and cedars (Thuja).

It is easy to identify some species within a plant family but in other cases even experts have a hard time identifying individual species, especially if they are not common ones. And in addition some common names suggest a family that the tree doesn’t really belong in.  So, don’t worry too much if you can’t identify what species of fir you have, just whether you have a pine or a fir.

Pines are some of the most common evergreen woodies. Pines always have needles in bundles.  A little papery sheath binds together anywhere from 2 to 5 needles. Pines have cones of various shapes; the shape as well as the number and length of the needles can help identify the species. Many cones of pines have a prickly point on the end of each scale on the cone. 

The Eastern White pine has long, soft blue green needles in clusters of 5.  The cones are also long and narrow, with a slight curve and are often covered in resin.

The red pine has 4-6-inch needles in bundles of 2 and the cones are stubby and often connected in pairs opposite each other on the stem. The bark of a young red pine trunk has a reddish color. 

Scotch or Scots pines have needles in bundles of 2, they are 2-3 inches long, slightly twisted, blue green in summer fading to dull green or yellow green in winter. The cones are short and point back toward the trunk. 

Scotch pine- notice the sheath bundling needles together

Austrian pines are an imported species that are sometimes hard to distinguish from red pines. They have needles in clusters of 2, slightly shorter than red pine needles and a duller green. The cones are about 3 inches long. The trees are a bit fuller and more shapely than red pine which is why they are often used in landscapes. 

The jack pine also has needles in bundles of 2 that are relatively short, less than 2 inches, and spread in a V. The cones are small and generally have a distinct curve and point toward the tip of the branch. These are the cones that need the heat of a fire to open them.  Jack pines often have odd growth habits such as leaning or distorted branches.  There are many other species of pines.

Spruces have short needles attached singly to the branch with a little stub that remains after the needle falls off.  That makes the branch feel quite rough with its numerous protrusions. Spruce needles are generally 4 sided with a blunt tip, surround the entire branch and are square looking when crosscut.  When crushed spruce needles have a pungent odor that can remind you of cat pee.

The Black spruce has short needles to 3/8-inch-long and small cones with a purplish tint. The White Spruce has slightly longer, blue-green needles with a waxy sheen, the cones are longer and light brown.

Blue Spruce or Colorado Blue spruce are some of the most frequently planted ornamental evergreens. Some have a very silver blue tint, especially when young, but the color can vary widely. The needles are long and sharp, somewhat longer than White Spruce and the smell especially sharp also.  Cones are also long.

The Norway spruce is a widely planted non-native ornamental with dark green slightly flattened, 1 ½ inch needles and long narrow cones.  A mature tree has a graceful weeping form. There are many other spruces, native and non-native, planted in landscapes.

Firs have single needles attached to the branch with little suction cup like bases.  When they fall off, they leave a slight pit on the branch, but the branch will feel smooth.  Fir needles often have one or two white lines on the back of the flattened needle.  Fir cones stand upright on the top of a branch; the cone scales fall away and leave a “core” protruding from the branch for a while.

Firs are the trees with the delightful smell associated with Christmas and are often sold for Christmas trees.  They are less frequent in the landscape than pines or spruces. 

The Balsam fir is probably the most common fir.  It has small purplish cones.  Also grown are White, Concolor, Grand, and Frasier firs.

The Douglas fir is not a true fir but is in a species of its own (Psuedotsuga menziesii).  It has flat, soft, single needles attached to the branch.  The needles narrow at the base and when they fall off they leave raised scar, but are not as prominent as the bumps on a spruce.  Douglas fir cones hang downward on the underside of branches and are unique because 3-pointed seed bracts protrude from each scale on the cone.  Douglas firs grow to be the second largest of our trees, second only to Sequoias.

The tree family Thuja is also called Cedar or Arborvitae and they are common landscape plants.  Northern White Cedar is our most common species.  However, what is confusing is that there is a southern tree family called White Cedar (Chamaecyparis) which looks very similar to  Thuja species.  Occasionally some species and cultivars of this family are sold as ornamentals although they aren’t very hardy in the north.

Northern White Cedar has flattened overlapping scale-like leaves.  On the underside of the leaves you can find tiny, raised spots called resin glands.  The trees have tiny cones in clusters near the branch tips.  Arborvitae comes in a variety of shapes, from the natural tree like form to upright dense windbreak forms and rounded globes that stay small.  It has a pleasant smell, reddish bark and wood that is hard and dense.

Arborvitae- Northern white cedar

Junipers are known for their prickliness.  Adding to the name confusion one species of Juniper has the common name of Eastern Redcedar.  It forms a tree shape and has overlapping rows of flattened scale like needles when mature but when the plant is young the needles are spiky and sharp.

Common juniper forms a more shrub-like sprawling form and the needles, arranged in whorls of 3, stay sharp and prickly.  The common identifying characteristic of Junipers besides their prickly needles is their blue, berry–like cones. These are used to flavor gin.

Yews have soft flat, dark green needles which are paler yellowish green on the bottom. Their identifying characteristic is that they have red berry-like cones. They are seldom found in the wild, but are common ornamentals here.  They tolerate shade and trimming.  However, yews are extremely poisonous to livestock and pets eating foliage or bark and children consuming the berries. Use care planting them in the landscape.

There you have it, a guide to the common landscape evergreens so you can identify what you have and have a better way to describe them to your gardening friends or look up their care and diagnose problems.

 Water gardens inside

If you are an enthusiastic pond gardener, you are probably sad when winter comes, and your water garden has to be shut down. But with a little imagination and work you can have a water feature indoors and continue to grow the water plants you love.

Wouldn’t you love to see tropical water lilies, calla lilies, water hyacinths, rushes and reeds, and numerous other water plants indoors all winter, maybe accompanied by the tinkle of a fountain? Most water plants you use outside in summer could be brought inside. You can over winter goldfish and koi inside too.

You can put the water feature in among other houseplants to make it look more natural. Many houseplants will be quite happy near a source of humidity like the water feature. Drift wood, or art objects might be used to disguise container edges and make it look more natural.

Size and location

You’ll want to make this inside water garden small, of course, since water is heavy and also very destructive if something like a leak should occur. Find a location to place your water feature where it won’t cause massive damage if it leaks. Even small amounts of water being splashed or dribbled constantly can ruin hardwood or carpeted floors. A place with a tile or cement floor would be ideal.

A 3 feet square water feature is on the large side for indoor water features. A small container or fountain 18 inches in diameter can be soothing and can support several small plants and even a few fish. Something that can sit on a sturdy table may be easier to care for than a floor-based water feature. If you are going for a larger surface area, consider making it a shallow water feature, to keep the weight and amount of water needed down.

You’ll need to fill the water garden and lugging buckets upstairs to fill it will probably call for a small container. Locating your water feature close to a water source is the easiest option. Also think about how you are going to drain this water feature should you need to. You may want a small pump that could pump water into a bucket or drain.

Also be sure your indoor water feature is safe from children and pets. They will be attracted to it. Dogs will drink from a water feature and may try to get into it. Cats will be attracted if fish are in the feature. Children could fall in and drown if the water feature is large enough, and children have drowned in 5-gallon mop buckets. This happens when they tip upside down into the bucket and can’t right themselves.

Younger children will want to play in the water feature, which could harm plants and things like fish if you include them. And if they tip it over or cause a leak a lot of damage to your home could occur. You may want to wait to have indoor water features until children are older.

Other things you may need

Almost all water features inside with plants will need to have grow lights suspended over them. Water plants usually need strong light to do well. You must do this very carefully as water and electricity do not mix. Cords should not touch water; water should not get in outlets. Lights should be suspended so that there is no way they can fall into the water. If you ever see a cord or bulb in the water DO NOT REACH INTO THE WATER to remove it, you could be electrocuted. Turn off the power first.

Water splashing on a hot bulb can cause it to explode. There are bulbs with “shields” if you think this may be a problem. Or just position bulbs so a splash is unlikely.

Indoor water gardens can raise the humidity in the home, which can be a good thing, since most homes are too dry in winter. But occasionally an indoor water feature can make an area too humid, causing mold to form and dank smells. Make sure to have a humidity meter near. Experts say a humidity level over 50% may cause mold to form. Using fans to disperse humidity over a larger area or a dehumidifier can correct this.

What kinds of containers can you use for inside water features?

You could use one of those preformed plastic ponds. But there are many things you could improvise with, including large pots (without drainage holes of course), small stock tanks and muck buckets, (check a farm store) and various heavy-duty plastic storage containers. Containers must have sturdy sides, or they will bow out when filled with water.

You could build a frame and use a pond liner. This is probably best done on a sturdy waterproof floor such as a cement basement floor. I once built a frame using bundles of newspaper in my basement. I covered it with a pond liner and used it to overwinter goldfish quite successfully. You could use an existing frame, such as a raised planting box, if you covered it with a liner.

If a frame has rough spots or gaps you are covering with a liner, make sure you add some cushioning between the frame and liner, like a foam pad or even layers of cardboard. This keeps the liner from being torn or worn away.

There are many clever things you can do with objects in your home to make them into water features. They could become funny conversation pieces or beautiful, inspiring décor. Use your imagination.

This water feature was made from a wringer washer 
for a display on recycling by Master Gardeners.

Putting fish in your water feature

Both koi and goldfish can be overwintered in your indoor water feature but make sure they have enough space for their size. Keeping fish inside will require an aerator and a filter. You won’t need heated water for koi or goldfish. If you decide to add a few tropical fish the water will need a heater.

It will require a lot more work to keep the water clean and smells down if you add fish to your water feature. You’ll have to feed very carefully and change the filter frequently. You may even have to change the water from time to time. But if you have fish in an outside pond already and are worried they might not make it through winter, bringing them inside could be the solution.

In short you can have a water garden inside during the winter, with a little imagination and care. Why not try something different this winter?

 Posting your land from hunting

If you live in the country or in a rural subdivision this is the time of year to consider posting your land against hunting. You may be fine with hunting but from a legal standpoint, it makes sense to post your land. If someone is hurt on your property- or hurts someone else or damages property- your legal rights are better protected if the land is posted against hunting and trespassing. If you want to hunt or give someone permission to hunt on your property you can still do so.

I’m not a lawyer and I’m not giving legal advice here. I’m most familiar with Michigan law but most states have similar laws on posting land and hunting regulations. While farmland and woods connected to farmland are automatically protected by law from trespassing, many hunters don’t know this. It’s best to post all property, even fenced property and crop land.

Legal no trespassing signs must be at least 50 square inches and have letters at least 1 inch high. The wording can vary from simply no trespassing to no hunting or trespassing. Be aware that is much harder to enforce and prosecute hunting violators if the sign doesn’t say no trespassing. There is no required color for the signs.

Your signs must be posted so that a person can see at least one sign as he or she approaches any point of entry into the property. That means that they will probably need to be every 15-20 feet apart on property boundaries. If access points have gates place no trespassing signs on the gates.  If you notice blinds, camps or other indications that people have been on your property post signs near that location too.

Signs should show above any tall weeds or crops, but not be above an average person’s standing eyesight. Be aware that nailing signs to trees can damage the trees, posts are better for holding signs.

It is illegal to post signs on other people’s property without their permission, no matter how tempted you are to add additional space to your buffer zone.  It is also illegal to remove posted signs unless they were wrongly posted on your land. You can legally remove blinds and camps from your property if you did not give permission for them to be there.

 

 “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

-Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

Kim Willis

All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

 

 

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.

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.  Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com