Hi Gardeners
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| I'm loving these orange tulips I scattered through the garden |
I am hoping we get some rain this week. It is getting very
dry here, especially for spring. Last night we had thunder and lightning but
only a trace of rain. Our pond is the lowest I’ve ever seen it in the spring. I
had to water the pansies in containers.
I put a half orange by the jelly feeder, but I still haven’t
seen the orioles or the hummingbirds. I expect them to be here soon, however. I
am going to get some more hummer feeders set up this weekend. Many other birds
are already nesting.
In my garden I am already seeing the early daffodils fading,
some later double flowered ones are taking their place. I am actually getting
to see tulips open this year. My little
twinkle lights have successfully held the deer at bay. Hyacinths and
fritillaria are still in bloom, moss phlox is beginning to bloom and so is my
magnolia.
The redbud is starting to bloom, and I see apple blossoms
showing pink. I would prefer them to not bloom until after this weekend as we
have more frost coming but it is what it is. The clove currant is in bloom and
I can smell its vanilla spice deliciousness all over the yard.
As we inch closer to Mother’s Day, which seems to be a magical
day for planting to many people, be patient. Mother’s Day is early this year,
May 9th, and chances are good many areas will see frosts after that
date. Hold off on the tender annuals and vegetable plants or at least be
prepared to cover them or bring them inside when frost threatens.
I may shop for some annuals this weekend while the selection
is still good, but they will not be planted just yet. I’ll put them on a cart I
can pull inside the barn or next to my car so I can stick them inside at night
if I need to. The car is a good place to
keep plants from frost if you remember to take the plants out early in the
morning before the car gets too hot.
Also, it’s not time to put the houseplants outside yet, at
least in zone 6 and lower. I already saw someone in my area who had put some nice-looking
houseplants out on a sunny, open porch. Those plants will be toast soon. Houseplants
need to be acclimated in the shade when they are moved outside, and they should
not be moved out until nights are staying above 40 degrees at night.
Both yesterday and today the moon is considered to be full,
because the moons rising straddles the two days. It’s a super moon because moon perigee- the
closest point in a month to the earth, is also today. This will affect tides
and possibly the weather. Rain is more likely around perigee. This month’s full
moon is called the Pink Moon. It shouldn’t look pink, it’s nicknamed that
because of flowers in bloom at this time.
But it will look a little larger than usual.
Daffodil
warning
Daffodils are blooming in many yards right now and many
people will be picking them for indoor bouquets. Just remember that daffodils
and narcissus are poisonous and keep them away from children and pets. The
water in a vase of daffodils can also make pets or children sick.
Flowers in a vase that also contains daffodils will not last
as long as flowers without them. And it goes without saying that daffodil
flowers and all parts of the plant should not be eaten nor used as decorations
on edible items.
Stay out
of the garden when the soil is wet
One of the worse things a gardener can do to their soil is
to get in the garden when the soil is still wet. Farmers and experienced
gardeners know that working with wet soil can cause many problems. Wet soil,
particularly clay soils, compacts when it’s walked on, or driven on with
machines.
Compacted soil makes it difficult for plant roots to get oxygen
and water. Roots may stay too wet and rot because compacted soil doesn’t drain
well. Seeds may be unable to germinate properly.
Rototilling or plowing soil that’s still too wet destroys soil structure and can cause hard crusted soil instead of the desired loose soil texture. Large clods form and are difficult to break apart, making it difficult for seeds to sprout. The tiller itself compacts the soil just beneath the tine depth. And heavy wet soil may even ruin your tiller.
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| Soil compaction Credit Ohio AG Net |
A test to tell if your soil is ready to work is to take a fistful
of soil and squeeze it, then relax your hand. The soil should form a loose lump
when squeezed but when your hand is relaxed the lump should fall apart. If the
lump stays when your hand is relaxed, the soil is still too wet to work with.
How long your soil will stay too wet in spring or after
prolonged rain varies by the drainage in your garden area, the type of soil and
the weather. If you have a clay-based soil you may want to consider raised beds
so soil can be worked earlier in the spring. The soil dries out and warms up
faster in raised beds.
Adding lime or gypsum will not help wet soil dry out. Don’t
ruin your soil for several years by being impatient this spring. Stay out of
the garden when the soil is wet.
I was working in the vegetable garden Sunday- filling grow
bags is hard work- and I noticed all the bumblebees in the honeyberry plants on
the back fence. The plants are in bloom, they are members of the honeysuckle
family and reward the bees well for their tending. I got to wondering- what do
we need honeybees for when we have bumblebees?
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| Native bee on a nonnative flower |
Somehow keeping a hive of bees has become synonymous with
being environmentally friendly. The truth is keeping a beehive may be just the
opposite. Hives of domestic honeybees may actually harm native bees and cause
the decline of certain wild blooming plants. Yet people still boast that they
are keeping a hive of honeybees in the backyard because they care about the
environment.
Media concern about bees usually focuses on saving
honeybees, which are the not the species that needs saving. It’s our native
bees that are in drastic decline, not honeybees. There are around 4,000 species
of bees in the US and many of them are endangered. Honeybees are not endangered nor in decline
despite the concerns of many people.
While you hear all the tales of honeybees dying, mostly from
their human owners, in truth only a small portion of the honeybee population worldwide
dies each year. Meanwhile the native bees are dying out of human sight,
becoming critically endangered. Some of the decline, we now know, is linked to
non-native honeybees.
Research is beginning to turn from honeybees and their
problems to native bees. The newest research suggests we need to start recognizing
that all bees are not alike, and all bees do not function in the environment in
the same way. In many environments, honeybees are disruptive and impact native
plant communities negatively by competing with native bees and other pollinating
insects. We need much more research on native bees and money earmarked for conservation
and ecological research needs to stop being diverted to studying honeybees,
which are a domesticated animal.
Honeybees are generalist feeders, whereas many native bees
are specialists. In the natural environment native bee species and certain
species of plants developed a symbiotic relationship. The flowers needed
certain bees and the bees needed them. Over centuries the arrangement was fine
tuned and worked very well for both species.
Then honeybees arrived and began exploiting those plant species. While they collected the nectar and pollen the native bees needed to survive, they often weren’t as efficient in actually pollenating the plant, leading to a decline in both native bees and the native plant species.
Native bumblebee on native redbud
And honeybees can be more efficient than native bees in pollinating
aggressive nonnative plant species. Japanese knotweed is an example of that. Native
bees are less successful in pollinating Japanese Knotweed than honeybees.
Honeybees flock to the plant and beekeepers know they produce an especially
nice honey from it. But in the process honeybees are helping the plant survive
and spread because they are efficient pollinators of the plant. Dandelions,
Himalayan Blackberry and Autumn Olive are other invasive plants that honeybees
help spread.
Not all native bees are specialists, some like the bumblebees
are generalist feeders too. But when someone moves a hive of honeybees into the
environment the more aggressive honeybees hog the resources and leave the bumblebees
and other nonaggressive native bees working harder to survive- and sometimes failing.
(By the way honeybees are more aggressive to humans and animals than native
bees too.)
When resources are abundant, such in wild areas thriving with
diverse plant species, native bees and honeybees may be able to co-exist
peacefully, if the honeybees are kept to reasonable populations. But in less
diverse and less rich environments such as cities and suburbs with more
pavement and grass than flowers, native bees are often pushed out. That’s why a
beehive in the backyard is not a good conservation practice.
Let’s not forget that domestic honeybees are also responsible
for bringing diseases and pests to native bee populations. This area lacks a
lot of research, although it’s beginning to be produced. It is known that some
diseases are transmitted to native bees by honeybees and those diseases do have
a negative effect on native bee populations.
Honeybees are often brought in to pollinate food crops such
as almonds, strawberries, melons, cranberries and other fruit crops. They do
increase the production of fruit because they supplement native bees when a
large number of one plant species is blooming closely together at the same
time. Honeybee hives can be moved on trucks to these areas. That can be a
beneficial use of honeybees. But the beehives should not be left in the area
when the flowering period of the crop is done.
The problem with these moving truckloads of hives is what to
do with them when the crops don’t need their services. Bringing them somewhere
to overwhelm a natural ecosystem with thousands of foraging honeybees is a big
blow to the native bees in the area where the truck stops.
Researchers are also sounding the alarm about allowing beehives
on public land. Many beekeepers are now bringing their hives to public lands to
let their bees “harvest” the native flowers in the region. That’s where those
trucks of hives often decide to park after the crops are pollinated. This is
very harmful to the native bee population that existed in those areas for thousands
of years. The flowers are there because of native bees and they should be left
for them. No one should be able to place hives on public land.
You may have read some of my ideas on the vilification of
nonnative species. I am a believer that when nature is left alone, eventually a
diverse and working ecosystem develops whether that is with all native species
or a combination of native and nonnative species. I don’t think aggressive
efforts to remove nonnative species should be made, except in some unusual
cases.
But honeybees are not being left to fend for themselves in the ecosystem. They are livestock. Humans provide homes for them and feed them in times of scarcity. Most honeybees would not survive winter in the north without human help. Even with human help many don’t survive. But humans just buy more of them to replenish those lost. I wouldn’t hunt down and kill a feral honeybee colony. But I also won’t put up and tend a hive of them.
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| Honeybees are livestock |
If people want honey, they should provide for their bees
like chicken farmers provide for their chickens. Grow fields of flowers for
them, learn how to have a long season of blooming plants and find how many flowers
are needed to feed one hive. If they free range a little fine, but don’t keep
more hives than your flower fields can safely support. I wouldn’t turn my
chickens loose in a state park or in your farm field to feed themselves and I
don’t think you should do the same with your honeybees.
I strongly recommend people do not bring beehives to urban
and suburban areas so that the remaining native bees in those areas can
survive. Many native bees are happy with nonnative plants and gardens can be
little oases of survival for them. But if they must share with honeybees, they
will probably lose the race. If you have property in the country and are
willing to plant crops for your honeybees to forage on, put up your hives. You
can then consider yourself an environmentally friendly honeybee farmer.
Honeybees are not needed to help pollinate native plants,
but native bees are. Most of your fruits that need bee pollination can be
produced without honeybees too.
Despite alarmists, humanity is not doomed if bees disappear.
We certainly won’t disappear in four years as some silly memes from people who
skipped science class claim. We might miss some fruits and vegetables but the
foods that form the basis of human diets, corn, wheat, rice, potatoes and meat will
still be here, they don’t need bee pollination.
But it would certainly be a shame to lose native bees and
some of the native plants that depend on them. Some people would greatly miss
honey, although that’s not essential to the diet either. Losing bees would have
cascading effects on some plants and the insects and animals that depend on
those plants. But life would go on.
Our native bees are declining rapidly, and it just may be
linked to the increasing number of people who think putting a hive in the
backyard is somehow doing the environment a favor. Once again when man thinks
he is helping nature he often isn’t. If you want to help save the wild bees and
wildflowers, skip the honeybee hive.
More reading- references
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-problem-with-honey-bees/map.org/learn/honey-bees-compete-native-bees/
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ecs2.2885
https://e360.yale.edu/features/will-putting-honey-bees-on-public-lands-threaten-native-bees
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1023239221447
Dividing
perennials in spring
Early spring is an excellent time to divide and thin some
perennial plants. Plants recover from
transplanting much easier in cool, damp weather. Dividing your perennials is often necessary
to keep them healthy and blooming and keeps the flower beds from becoming a
tangled mess. You can start new beds or
give away the divisions.
Some species of plants need dividing more frequently than
others. A few species do better if
divided in the fall. And there are species of plants that you don’t divide
unless it’s the only way to get a new start of the plant and others you
shouldn’t divide at all. While there are
guidelines for the amount of time between dividing different species of plants
the gardener should always use their own judgement. In general, if the plant has numerous crowns,
(crowns look like individual plants), looks like it’s packed into its space and
has stopped blooming well, it’s probably time to divide it. You may want to divide and thin out some
species of plants if they are encroaching on other plants space.
You may not want to divide plants if they have grown little
since you planted them, even though as a species it may be common to have to
divide them frequently. Each plant in its unique environment has a different
growth pattern. Keeping records,
especially photo records, helps the gardener remember which plants looked
overcrowded the previous season and need to be divided.
You can do the division as soon as you see new growth or
even before if you know the location of the plant. It’s easier to work with
plants when the foliage is still small. Decide in advance if you are going to
keep and re-plant the divisions or compost them. Be prepared to either pot up divisions or
re-plant them in another garden bed soon after dividing them, the sooner the
better, if you want to keep the plants.
You’ll need a good spade and possibly a heavy-duty knife, to
dig and divide your perennials. First dig around the perennial clump and lift
the whole clump out on a tarp or piece of cardboard. Gently wash away most of
the soil with a garden hose if you have access.
Study the clump and decide where you can easily divide the
plants and how many divisions you could make. Usually, 2-3 crowns and root
sections are kept together. Sometimes you may want to divide the plant into
individual crowns and roots. You want a good healthy-looking clump for each new
plant.
You can sometimes separate the plants with your fingers,
gently pulling the clump apart. Other
times you may need to use a knife or even the shovel to divide the plants. Some
plants like ornamental grasses may need a saw to divide them.
Some roots and foliage may be damaged when divisions are
made. This is unfortunate but necessary in certain cases. Most perennials are pretty tough and recover
quickly, especially in early spring. In some species the center of the plant or
other portions may have dead areas. These should be cut out and discarded.
Keep your divisions moist and out of the direct sun until you re-plant them. After planting keep them watered unless it’s a wet season so they can quickly establish new roots. A little slow-release fertilizer mixed into the soil also helps. Do not use Epsom salts on new plants. Most divisions will bloom the same year, but smaller divisions may skip a season while they establish themselves.
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| These rudbeckia and beebalm could be divided |
Here’s a list of perennials that can be divided in early
spring and how often.
Aster 1-3 years
Astilbe – 3-5 years
Beebalm (Monarda) 1-3 years
Bellflower (Campanula) 3-5 years
Blanket Flower (Gaillardia) 3-5 years
Catmint (Nepeta) 3-5 years
Chrysanthemum (hardy mums) 1-3 years
Common Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa) 1-3 years
Coneflower (Echincea) 3-5 years
Coralbells (Heuchera) 1-3 years
Cornflower (Centaurea) 1-3 years
Cranesbill (Geranium) – may never need, divide infrequently.
Daylily (Hemerocallis) 3-5 years
Delphinium – 1-3 years
Dianthus/ Carnation - 1-3 years
Fernleaf Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia) 1-3 years
Foamflower (Tiarella) 1-3 years
Gay Feather (Liatris) 3-5 years
Goatsbeard (Aruncus) after many years
Gooseneck Loosestrife, Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia)
3-5 years
Hosta varieties vary- most never need dividing, and are
divided only when new plants are wanted, some can get very crowded in a few
years in a tight space and should be divided.
Heliopsis – more than 5 years or never
Japanese Anemone (Anemone x hybrida) 5 plus years
Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla) only for propagation and then
rarely
Lemon Balm 1-3 years
Lungwort (Pulmonaria), 5 years plus, may take a year
to recover.
Mallow (Malvia) 3-5 years
Meadow Rue (Thalictrum) after 5 plus years
Meadowsweet (Filipendula) more than 5 years or never
Mints of all types 1-3 years
Obedient Plant (Physostegia) 1-3 years
Oregano- 3-5 years
Painted Daisy (Tanacetum) 1-3 years
Penstemon 1-3 years
Phlox- upright (Phlox paniculata) 3-5 years
Rudbeckia 3-5 years
Sea Thrift (Armeria) 3-5 years
Sedums, tall upright species every 3-5 years, creeping
species every 1-3 years
Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum) 1-3 years
Speedwell (Veronica) 3-5 years
Spiderwort (Tradescantia) 1-3 years
Tickseed (Coreopsis) 1-3 years
Yarrow (Achillea) 1-3 years
What to divide in
fall
Here are some plants that do better if divided in the late
summer or fall. Bearded iris, every 3 -4
years, Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium), every 3-4 years, Creeping phlox 3-4
years, and Siberian Iris- infrequently, as needed.
Bulbs including lilies, tulips, daffodils, and so on are
divided in the fall. (Dig in fall,
separate bulbs and re-plant). Peonies
can be divided in the fall but only after many years, when they have reached large
clumps and it’s necessary only if you want to propagate them.
If a plant suckers - produces new plants from the roots a
short distance from the parent plant- those new plants can be dug in either the
spring or fall and transplanted. Some examples are lilac, trumpet vine and some
older roses. Sever the connecting roots
to the parent plant and move the young plant either when the leaves are still
small in the spring or after it goes dormant in the fall.
Don’t divide these
plants
Plants that shouldn’t be divided include anything with a
single, woody stem. Also, these plants
do not care for division: Baby's Breath (Gypsophila), Balloon Flower (Platycodon),
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias), Cimicifuga, Clematis, Evening Primrose (Oenothera
missourienis), False Indigo (Baptisia), Flax (Linum),
Gentian, Lavender, Lupine, Monkshood (Aconitum), roses, rosemary,
Russian Sage (Perovskia), garden sage and yucca.
It’s not hard to divide your perennials, although the first
time you do it you may be apprehensive.
It’s best for many plants to have regular dividing so grit your teeth
and get it done. If you can’t use the
additional plants, you can always give them away or use them to trade for other
plants.
-Harriet Prescott Spofford
Kim Willis
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And So On….
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