Gardening Granny's Gardening Pages

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

September 15, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

September 15, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter © Kim Willis

http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/country-living-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

Hi Gardeners

I am loving this weather. Today looks like it will be a nearly perfect day and I need to get this newsletter written so I can get outside and enjoy it. While we may narrowly have missed a frost earlier this week I think we have a good span of days ahead of us when we don’t have to worry.

Colchicum pops up in autumn.

It’s the second busiest time of year for me. It’s time to clean the chicken coops, make apple butter, re-pot plants that are coming in soon and starting moving plants back inside, collect seeds and dry flowers, clean up the vegetable garden and do some flower bed renovations.

My fall colchicums surprised me by popping up this week. They look like giant crocus. I had put a potted geranium on top of them without knowing and I saw one bloom peeking out from under the pot. When I moved the pot it took only a few days for the others to pop up. I still have hardy hibiscus, sweet autumn clematis, sedum and roses in bloom. The annuals are starting to look tired but some are still going strong.

The Maximillian sunflowers are also starting to bloom. They are pretty and welcome for their late color but the stems of these things are weird. The twist and curve and flop and never stand up nice and straight. The butterflies and bees like them and they are one of the last flowers to bloom but I am still tempted to rip them out. I am considering chopping that whole bed to the ground.

I am going to be changing my long bed in the center of the yard over to mostly shrubs, and similar things like peonies. It has been taken over by garden phlox and they have choked out everything. If anyone wants some phlox plants let me know and I’ll save some of the ones I’ll be digging out.

I have some watermelons that are almost ripe, we are still harvesting carrots and cabbage, the popcorn is drying down, the grapes are ripe and the apples almost there- I may pick some in a day or two. But the tomatoes are really fizzling out. I have some volunteer plants that have green fruit and remarkably the plants seem pretty healthy. If warm weather lingers we may get ripe fruit from them. I planted 4 kinds of lettuce a few weeks ago but the germination rate was sporadic. I am hoping more may germinate as the weather cools.

It’s time to order bulbs for spring planting

I just ordered my new spring flowering bulbs. I’m trying corydalis for the first time this spring. And I was so pleased by the Asiatic hybrid lily Olina Tango I planted last year – I posted pictures on this blog- that I ordered two new varieties in the same series, Graffiti Tango and Black Eye. I also ordered some new species lilies, some new tulips, more hyacinths, snowdrops, and a few other things. I even ordered two new hardy hibiscus, the companies know they are blooming about the time you think of fall bulbs and I always think – wow- I should have more of these. Now I will have more.

Plant crocus bulbs now for spring flowers.

Don’t wait too late to order those spring bulbs. The selection gets picked over and you want to receive the bulbs at the correct planting time. I have always found the selection to be much better from a mail order source than at local nurseries. The more you buy the cheaper bulbs usually get and bulbs do look best planted in groups or drifts. Yes its lots of work in the fall but it’s so worth it in the spring!

I try to order something new to try each year. There are so many bulbs you can buy besides the old favorites of crocus, tulips and daffodils. Some bulbs do well the spring after you plant them but then tend to fade away in the succeeding years- tulips are known for this- so make sure to replenish some of your favorites each year too. Heritage bulbs let you keep growing things that could be lost if gardeners forgot them, so try a few each year.

Check the blooming times of bulbs, usually listed as early, mid spring- and late spring. Make sure you have something blooming all through spring. Keep early blooming bulbs close to the house and paths so you get to see them. Also check the hardiness zones of bulbs- there are some that won’t survive Michigan winters.

There are bulbs that you plant in the fall that bloom in the summer too. Lilies are a good example, you can have lilies in bloom much of the summer if you choose varieties carefully. Lilies often do best when planted in the fall but some can be spring planted also. You can even get bulbs that bloom in the fall like saffron crocus and colchicums.

As you look at your flower beds this fall you may think there is no room for bulbs, but remember in the spring when the bulbs bloom most perennials are still quite small. Lift the leaves of hosta and plant bulbs under them. After the bulbs bloom and die down in early summer the emerging hosta leaves will cover the dying foliage. Ferns, daylilies and other plants can also hide dying bulb foliage as they grow; you just have to squeeze the bulbs in under them this fall.

Don’t hesitate to plant sun loving early flowering bulbs under deciduous trees. By the time the trees leaf out the bulbs will have bloomed and completed most of their growth cycle.

When you plant those spring bulbs use a ruler or a bulb planter with markings so you know you are planting them at the right depth. Bulb packages usually tell you how deep to plant the bulbs or any bulb catalog can give you the information. Use a slow release general purpose fertilizer mixed into the soil that you cover the bulbs with. Don’t use blood or bone meal in bulb holes. These actually attract animals to their smell, not repel them, and you will have critters digging up the bulbs.

Tulip 'Sunlover'.

Plant bulbs quite close together for the best spring display. Plant them in groups or randomly instead of rows, unless you are going for that formal look. Small bulbs like crocus can be almost touching, larger tulips and hyacinths can be about 2 inches apart.

Cover the planted bulbs with a layer of chopped leaves or straw to disguise it. If you are trimming roses or other thorny plants you might spread the trimmings over your bulb area. If you have digging animals like the neighbors cats or squirrels, you can cover the bulb planting site with netting or wire mesh. Remove it when the soil freezes and before the snow, so you won’t forget it in spring and impede the emerging bulb shoots. Bulbs planted among large perennials in the fall may go unnoticed by the bulb eaters.

It’s National Indoor Plant week

(I went to the dentist yesterday and one of the things I noticed about the office was that it had no plants, even though it had a nice sunny window in the waiting area. That’s just sad. If ever a spot could use some comfort from green plants it’s a dentist office.)

The third week of September is National Indoor plant week. As we get close to calendar fall it’s time to start thinking about houseplants again. If you don’t have plants in your home this year is the time to get some. Plants not only clean your air of toxins and provide oxygen but they improve your mood and mental health.

A spider plant thriving in a dark office.

People asked to rank which room felt the most welcoming or comfortable almost always chose a room with plants over the same room without plants. A office or home without plants just looks bare and harsh. Office workers report feeling happier and in a better mood when plants are brought into the office. Hospitals know that people feel less pain and heal faster when they have plants in their rooms or in areas they can visit.

Children love to have plants in a classroom and no one has to take them home over the weekend. Studies show that children overwhelmingly choose a room with plants over a similar room without plants. A school room without plants is like a teacher that never smiles.

If you smoke you need plants in your home. Plants remove the harmful particulates floating in the air from cigarette smoke. They will also remove particulates and harmful gases in the air from fireplaces, plastics, wood glues, treated carpets, cooking with Teflon pans and burning candles.

There are houseplants that will thrive under almost any conditions and under almost anyone’s care. A plant can be a tillisandria or air plant hanging from the curtain or cacti or a gorgeous orchid or a fluffy Boston fern. There are plants that need only the light from artificial sources like the florescent bulbs overhead. There are tiny plants that will fit under a desk lamp. Some plants can survive low humidity or low temperatures. And there are plants that will grow exuberantly in a sunny window. There is just no excuse not to have plants inside your home.

It’s time to do your research and find a plant for your home if you don’t have any. It’s time to learn how to care for a houseplant. If you choose the right plant for your home and lifestyle it’s care will be simple and easy. Resolve to add just one houseplant to your home and see if you don’t want another sometime soon.

Plants support all life on the planet. People cannot exist without plants, although they would do just fine without us. We are finding out that plants do more than we previously thought- they communicate with each other, feel pain, plan ahead, allocate resources, protect themselves and have sex. While we as animals cannot understand all the things plants are capable of and we don’t understand their “intelligence” there is no doubt that plants are fully functioning living creatures that have allowed us to share this planet.

If for no other reason we should have plants in our homes to remind us that it is they that control life on earth, not us.

Tender perennials you can save for next year

There are many plants that Michigan gardeners grow in their gardens and outdoor containers as annual plants that are really perennial plants in warmer climates. Some of our most common bedding plants that we treat as annuals fall into this category. If gardeners rescue these plants before a frost they can become attractive houseplants for the winter.

Bring in this abutilon and it will bloom all winter

Thrifty gardeners also know it’s economical to keep a few tender perennials over the winter so you don’t have to buy them again in the spring. Many of these tender perennials can be multiplied by cuttings to produce a whole new selection to use outdoors next spring or to share with friends. Some tender perennials that are over-wintered become large, attractive plants that would be impossible to obtain with one summers growth.

What can be saved

Some examples of tender perennials include: coleus, geraniums, diascia, fibrous rooted and cane type begonias, specialty and species petunias, sweet potato vines, polka dot plants, “spikes” (dracaenas), banana plants, lantana, lofos, aloes, agaves, Joseph’s coat (Alternathera ficoidea), fuchsia, poinsettia, some cacti and succulents, eucalyptus, Chinese hibiscus, abutilon, bougainvillea, mandevilla, gardenia, brugmansia, jasmine, palms, and any tropical plant used outside in containers. These plants need temperatures that stay above 55 degrees, bright light and moderate watering over winter.

If these plants are growing in the ground they should be dug up and carefully potted. If they are crammed into a container that is pretty full and lush it would be wise to separate the different plants and pot them separately. Plants that are in containers with true annuals can be removed and potted or the true annuals can be pulled out.

Michigan gardeners often grow some plants that aren’t quite winter hardy in our zone but will survive with some winter protection. Some of these plants go semi-dormant in winter, even when brought inside. They will begin growing again in the spring however, as the days lengthen.

Plants to let rest and go dormant but still protected inside include: rosemary, perennial reeds and grasses not hardy in your zone, lavenders not hardy in your zone, salvia Black and Blue and other perennial salvias, passionflowers, figs, olives, and any other marginally hardy perennials – within 1 or 2 planting zones from yours. Even tender roses, evergreens and deciduous trees can be wintered inside if you have the room. Bring these tender perennials into a cool, just above freezing place with bright light and water lightly, just enough to keep them from wilting. Trim back straggly ends and yellowed foliage.

Don’t forget that tender bulbs and tubers can also be saved for another year. Colocasia- (elephants ears and taro), Eucomis- (pineapple lilies), caladiums, calla lilies, rain lilies, lycoris, and tuberous begonias can be left in their pots and brought inside to store. They will generally stay blooming for a month or so but as the days shorten they should be encouraged to go dormant by keeping them in a cool area and letting them dry out a bit. When the foliage yellows trim it off and then store the pots in a cool, dim place. Keep the pots barely moist over winter. In March bring the pots into a warm, bright area and begin watering again.

Other tender bulbs like cannas, glads, dahlias, etc. can be dug after a light frost kills the foliage and stored dry, with foliage cut off, in peat moss, sand or vermiculites.

Other tips to overwintering tender perennials

If you are in doubt as to what treatment to give a perennial use these guidelines. Any plant that is hardy only to zone 9 should be treated as a tropical and kept warm and well lit. Plants that are hardy to zones 6-8 will probably benefit from a winter rest or dormancy, kept just above freezing and watered less frequently. There are exceptions and some plants kept in warmer conditions may grow and even bloom for you all winter.

Check the plants and the pots carefully before moving them inside so you don’t bring in small surprise guests like frogs and mice. Use a good, lightweight potting soil if you need to re-pot tender perennials you are bringing inside. It is a good idea to spray plants with an insecticide or use a systemic insecticide on them the day before you bring them inside. Some insects can become a big problem indoors if they hitch a ride inside. Do not fertilize any over wintering perennials until March.

Geranium First Yellow can be over wintered.

Instead of bringing whole plants inside you can sometimes take cuttings of plants and over winter small plants you start from them. It is better to start these plants outside in late summer, and then bring in the small pots before frost. However, if frost threatens and it seems to be too much work to bring a large plant inside, take a few cuttings and try your luck.

Don’t try to save too many tender perennials unless you have a big greenhouse. Just save the most expensive, rarest or your personal favorites. You can propagate cuttings from one or two plants for a new border of impatiens rather than trying to save the whole border. All plants need room and good light and the more you have, the more time you will spend caring for them. So don’t feel guilty if you have to leave a few plants outside to succumb to winter. Most plants can be replaced next spring from your local nursery or favorite mail order garden shop.

Renovating the lawn in fall

Fall is an excellent time to plant grass seed or lay sod for a new or improved lawn. With just a little attention to details you can have a new lawn next spring when the snow melts.

Grass germinates and grows well in the cooler, wetter fall weather. Grass needs about 6 weeks to grow before the ground freezes, but can survive frost and light snow without a problem. In Michigan that means you can plant grass seed or lay sod from early September to mid- October.

You may want to have a soil test done before you renovate a lawn, especially if you have been having lots of problems. Contact your local County Extension office or a large garden shop for information on how to take a sample and where to submit it. The results can take a couple weeks so allow plenty of time.

Prep work for a new lawn

If you want to totally renovate your lawn or you are starting a new lawn you will need to do some basic prep work. If you are working with subsoil left after new construction you’ll need to purchase some topsoil. About 6 inches of topsoil would be ideal but don’t use less than 3 inches. Smooth the topsoil down evenly over your subsoil and try to avoid making hollows or raised areas. Make sure any debris left from construction is removed.

If the area you are going to seed or sod is hard packed soil, till the soil to a depth of 6-8 inches, even if you intend to put down topsoil. You can work topsoil, compost or peat into the existing soil but do not mix sand into clay soil hoping to improve it. Instead you will create cement.

If you are going to totally renovate a lawn and there is existing vegetation in place you are going to need to remove it. The easiest way is to do this is to use glyposphate (one brand name is Round-Up®) according to label directions. Wait about a week and rake off the dead vegetation. Then till the soil to about 8 inches deep, rake and smooth. If you used the glyphosphate properly you should be able to seed within a week.

If you are against using chemicals you will have to remove the old sod and weeds by hand. Slice down with a sharp shovel about 4 inches then move the shovel sideways, cutting plant roots and lifting off sections of vegetation like removing pieces of carpet. Shake as much soil as you can off the sections you remove and throw them in a wheel barrow or cart to be removed to a compost pile somewhere. You may have to dig deeper to get out some large weeds.

When you have bare soil till it about 8 inches deep, rake it and smooth it. If you think your previous lawn problems were because of poor soil you may want to work in compost or add topsoil.

After your soil is bare and tilled by whatever method you choose and you have improved the texture of the soil by adding compost or topsoil if it was needed you need to add fertilizer. If you had a soil test follow the recommendations for improving the soil that should be given you. If you didn’t get a soil test work in some lawn fertilizer without any weed or grub control product added to it. Follow the label directions for the amount but in general it’s about 3 pounds for 1000 square feet.

Sometimes only parts of the lawn need repair. Remove any weed patches with glyphosphate or your shovel. Fill holes and level high or low spots then till the soil in the bare areas, you may have to till small areas by hand. Work in fertilizer, rake and smooth your planting areas.

Seeding a lawn

In Michigan the best grass seed to use is a variety of Kentucky Bluegrass. If the area you intend to seed is shady a mixture of various Fescue grass varieties would be better. Don’t use a seed mixture with a high percentage of annual or perennial rye in it. This will green up fast and is cheap, but the annual rye won’t be back next spring and the perennial rye will look coarse and unattractive. Grass seed is one of those things that usually are better the more it costs. Cheap mixtures rarely give good results.

Spread the seed evenly over the ground and don’t skimp. The package will tell you how much square footage it will cover. Measure your lawn and figure the square footage before shopping for seed so that you will know the proper amount to buy. If you have a large area to seed you may want to use a spreader.

Seed may be rolled with a roller to get it in contact with the soil, or lightly covered with topsoil or mulch. In small renovation spots you can lightly rake seed into the soil.

Laying Sod

Almost all sod sold in Michigan will be Kentucky Bluegrass and sod works best on sunny lawns. In some cases you can do the prep work to save money and then have professionals lay the sod. Some people may want to do all the work to save money. Keep sod in the shade and moist while you are waiting to lay it and try to lay it the same day you purchase it.

Carry sod rolls carefully to the new lawn site and unroll them where they are to lay, with the green side up of course. Keep the edges of the sod rolls together as closely as you can but do not overlap the edges. Sod is generally rolled with a lawn roller after it’s laid to get it in contact with the soil. You can cut sod with a sharp shovel or knife and fit pieces into odd shaped areas.

Care of new lawns

If you experience a lot of heavy rain in the fall that could wash seed away, you may want to apply a mulch of straw or other organic material, especially on a slope. Sod does not require mulch.

After planting your grass seed you will need to water it if fall doesn’t give you rain or snow. Until it is up and growing the soil surface should remain moist. That could mean watering every day. After the grass is up and growing it needs at least an inch of water a week. In sandy soil that drains quickly, 2 inches of water may be better.

Sod will need watering daily if it is warm and dry. You can cut back watering to an inch a week, in two or three applications, after the first two weeks if the weather is cool.

If the lawn grows more than 3 inches before winter you can cut it back to 3 inches, otherwise do not mow until spring. While it’s better to mulch tree leaves into an established lawn, keep fall leaves off new lawns by gentle raking so new seedlings won’t be smothered or sod dislodged by mulching mowers.

University of Michigan studies milkweed and monarchs

Way up north, in Emmet County Michigan, the University of Michigan has a biological research station. Emmet County was once the site of a major milkweed growing operation that produced milkweed “fluff” to stuff life jackets for WWII soldiers. At the U of M research station researchers Mark Hunter and Leslie Decker are growing 4 kinds of milkweed in 40 plastic boxes. In a separate area they are also hatching out and caring for monarch butterflies.

Monarch and milkweed

The researchers pump various levels of carbon dioxide into the plastic boxes with the milkweed plants, trying to stimulate the environment the plants may have as global warming continues. The researchers know that as the carbon dioxide levels in the boxes rise the levels of defensive chemicals the plants make to deter insect predation drops.

In nature Monarch butterfly caterpillars feed on milkweed almost exclusively. Monarchs have evolved to use the chemical toxins in milkweed called cardenolide toxins to keep predators from eating them and to kill parasites that might infect them. Some milkweed plants produce more toxins than others and it is known that female Monarch butterflies seek these out to lay their eggs, if they themselves are infected with parasites. This helps protect the next generation.

The researchers measured the toxins milkweed plants produced under different levels of CO2. Then they fed the milkweed to their hand reared Monarch babies and exposed them to a common caterpillar parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha and recorded the results. Milkweed plants exposed to carbon dioxide levels about double the current CO2 in our atmosphere produced fewer plant toxins. And milkweed caterpillars eating those low toxin plants were more likely to die from parasites than those caterpillars eating milkweed with high toxin levels.

The toxins that plants produce to defend themselves are the medicines we harvest to cure various human ailments. Researchers speculate that as the climate changes plants may produce fewer defense chemicals and that could affect the potency of plant based medicines. It may also be a reason contributing to the decline of Monarchs since they may not be able to harvest the toxins they need to defend themselves from predators.

Marijuana may help in organ transplants

Cannabis is surely one of the most helpful plants people can grow (if the government allows them to grow them) and now researchers have announced new findings about this miracle plant. Studies in animals found that THC, an active ingredient of marijuana, helped prevent organ transplant rejection. The study was published in the September 2015 issue of The Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

Researchers say the administration of THC delays or prevents the rejection of transplanted tissues, even when the donor and recipient were not close matches. Soon trials will begin on human patients and researchers say that THC may also help in other immune response related diseases.

More trees than we thought

Two years ago scientists thought that the global population of trees was probably about 400 billion, about 67 trees for every human. But pushed to do a better, more comprehensive study of the number of trees still on earth the scientists were surprised to find that their estimates of the tree population were woefully low.

Based on combined studies of satellite, aerial and ground counts of trees scientists now believe the tree population on earth stands at about 3.04 trillion trees or about 422 trees per person. While that seems wonderful scientists have to mention that tree cover has decreased to almost half of what it was before modern humans evolved. ( Maybe they are wrong there too?)

The areas with the most trees were the tropics, 43 %, and the northern sub-arctic boreal forests with 24%. The research study involved scientists from 15 countries and was led by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Study results were recently published in the journal Nature.

It’s a beautiful day to get outside and hug a tree.

Kim Willis

“He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero

Events, classes and other offerings

Please let me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other gardeners. These events are primarily in Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an event I’ll be glad to do it.

Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share? Post them here by emailing me.

An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/623997204362467/?fref=nf

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/875574275841637/

Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/

Here’s a link to classes being offered at Campbell’s Greenhouse, 4077 Burnside Road, North Branch. Now open.

http://campbellsgreenhouses.com/garden-center/classes-events/

Here’s a link to classes and events at Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/happening/calendar.asp?date=5/18/2015

Here’s a link to programs being offered at English Gardens, several locations in Michigan.

http://www.englishgardens.com/events

Here’s a link to classes at Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy and Shelby Twsp. MI, and now combined with Goldner Walsh in Pontiac MI.

http://tellys.com/system/files/Tellys_WinterSpringGuide_Web-2015.pdf

Here’s a link to classes and events at Bordines, Rochester Hills, Grand Blanc, Clarkston and Brighton locations

http://www.bordines.com/events/

Here’s a link to events at the Leslie Science and Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road Ann Arbor, Michigan | Phone 734-997-1553 |

http://www.lesliesnc.org/

Here’s a link to events at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Rd, Tipton, MI

http://hiddenlakegardens.msu.edu/events

Here’s a link to all the nature programs being offered at Seven Ponds Nature center in Dryden, Michigan. http://www.sevenponds.org/education/progs/springprograms/

Here’s a link to events and classes at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Mi

http://www.meijergardens.org/learn/ (888) 957-1580, (616) 957-1580

info@meijergardens.org

Exhibitors/demonstrators wanted

Seven Ponds Nature Center ( Dryden Mi.) Heritage Harvest Days, scheduled for September 19 and 20 is looking for additional artists and crafters who can demonstrate, display, and sell their work, especially that related to nature. All exhibitors receive free admission to the event, as well as free lunch on one day of the festival. Please contact the center at 810-796-3200 if you would like to set up a booth or exhibit this year.

Newsletter information

If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly notes. 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.

I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email address to me. KimWillis151@gmail.com

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

September 8, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

September 8, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter © Kim Willis

http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/country-living-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

Hi Gardeners

As I write this the rain has ended temporarily and the sun is trying to come out- which probably isn’t good since it may boost the storm potential that is due later today. A quick look at radar shows a big mass of rain and storms just crossing Lake Michigan and on its way here. We had almost an inch when I checked the rain gauge this morning and it has been raining for hours since then. I am a little sick of rain. There are supposed to be lingering showers tomorrow then we get a partly sunny day before rain returns on Friday.

First brugmansia flower

And I am so glad it will be cooler next week.

West Nile disease cases in humans are showing up in Michigan. The mosquitoes have been awful these past few weeks and they transmit the disease to humans so make sure to protect yourself when outside gardening. Dump out all the things in your yard that hold water to help keep mosquitoes from breeding.

The rain has caused many crop and garden problems. Hay farmers are having a hard time finding a window to cut and dry hay. This year’s wheat crop, harvested in late July, has a lot of vomitoxin problems. Vomitoxin is produced by a fungus on wheat and it does what the name suggests, makes humans and animals vomit when they eat the contaminated grain. It’s worse in wet weather and it can affect other grains so farmers are worrying about the corn crop which won’t be harvested for a while. Soybeans are suffering from a disease called white mold, caused by wet weather in many areas.

Brugmansia after a few days

Gardeners are experiencing tremendous disease problems on tomatoes. I am still getting some ripe tomatoes but the vines are dying quickly due to various fungal diseases. Late blight is the problem in some places but there are plenty of other fungal diseases this year too. Many people are also having troubles with cucumbers and squash this summer, usually due to fungal disease. Pepper plants struggled this year because of cool temps- now the hot weather has made some of them pick up growth but it’s probably too late to do any good.

Apple harvest has begun in Michigan with Gala apples and a few other early varieties. The apple crop looks good and apples are large in size this year. There was no peach crop to speak of this season in southeast Michigan, a small crop on the west side. Japanese beetles and spotted wing dropsilla, a fly like pest are affecting the crops of late raspberries. Grape harvest hasn’t begun in most of Michigan.

Inside shot of brugmansia

The brugmansia on my deck, variety Cypress Gardens, has finally begun blooming and I have been fascinated with the process. Once it began blooming flowers have opened every couple days. The flowers are white the first day and turn peach-pink the second day. They hang on the plant for several days and have a light sweet scent like a combination of lily and jasmine. A white bloom begins to open in the morning and is open by evening. The next day it is pink and remains pink. I thought the blooms would quickly drop like hibiscus but one has been there for 6 days.

The rain has made the flower beds look drab and droopy. The hardy hibiscus flowers are hanging like colorful rags and powdery mildew and rust are infecting plants. At least we haven’t had to do much watering. I am probably going to have to bail some water out of my little water feature before the fish flop over the sides.

Toad lilies are in bloom. I still have hostas in bloom along with sweet autumn clematis, hardy hibiscus, rose of Sharon, dahlias, canna, and a late flush of the hardy roses. My mums are starting to bloom. I stopped fertilizing the annuals, they are a bit bedraggled looking but still blooming. Goldenrod and asters are blooming on the roadsides.

The trees are starting to change color, especially the Maples. I have a bumper crop of acorns falling everywhere. Fall is on its way.

Have you ordered your fall bulbs?

It’s time to get those fall bulbs ordered, before the best things are gone. The catalogs have been out since spring. It’s often hard to get yourself motivated to think of planting this time of year but think how happy you will be in the spring when all your new beauties bloom. I like to try some new species of bulbs every year. Bulbs are great planted under your hosta foliage. In the spring they bloom before the hostas unfurl and then the hosta foliage covers the dying bulb foliage.

Besides the typical tulips, daffodils and other spring bloomers now is the time to buy and plant lilies, iris, and some wildflowers like trilliums. If you don’t have a catalog just go online to one of the many bulb companies. Try Brecks, McClure and Zimmerman, Old House Gardens, Van Bourgordien, Van Engelen and Dutch Gardens for good bulb prices and selections.

Seeds and fruits that could kill you

Last week I had a lot of information about seeds but I forgot something. Some seeds and fruits of common garden plants are not your friends. These plants have devised very effective ways to protect their babies from being destroyed by animals; they have made them poisonous with various chemicals. You won’t want to eat any of these. Here is a list of some of those well protected, poisonous seeds and/or fruit. This list may not include all poisonous seeds and fruits and certainly doesn’t cover all garden plants with poisonous parts. The list includes plants whose seeds or fruits are most likely to attract adventuresome eaters.

Black Locust- the beans from this tree are toxic.

Castor beans- a beautiful garden plant that has some of the most deadly poisons in the world. Ricin, which comes from castor beans, can kill an adult with a dose the size of a pin head. Castor oil is also made from those beans, which is used as a folk remedy laxative, and is also a not so friendly home remedy. If you grow the plants and have kids, vulnerable adults or pets make sure to cut the flowers off before they go to seed. The plant should not be eaten either.

Castor bean plant.

Daphne – a shrub with spring flowers that turn into poisonous black berries.

English Ivy- all parts of English ivy are poison but grown outside English Ivy can produce red berries that may be attractive to kids and pets but are quite poisonous. Grown inside as a house plant it rarely flowers to produce berries.

Horse chestnut- the nuts produced by these trees are covered with a spiny outer coat. While the “seed” inside may look like an edible chestnut it is poisonous and should not be eaten, even after cooking.

Jerusalem Cherry- this is generally grown as a houseplant that is loaded with small red berries. These berries are quite poisonous and the plants should be kept away from kids and pets.

Jimson weed- datura- This plant is sometimes grown as an ornamental for its beautiful white trumpet shaped flowers. It’s often called Angels trumpets or moonflower although both of those names are used for other plants too. The seeds of this plant are inside a thorny capsule. They are a potent hallucinogenic but can be deadly if too much is ingested. Other parts of the plant are also poisonous. Teenagers often hear of the plant and steal seed pods to get the seeds. They often end up in emergency rooms after ingesting them and some people have died from overdoses.

Lilies of the valley- these plants with their tiny white fragrant flowers produce a red berry that is poisonous. Other parts of the plant are also poisonous.

Mistletoe – this is usually purchased as a Christmas decoration but the white berries are very toxic – keep it away from kids and pets.

Morning glory- the Morning glory produces round papery seed pods full of hard black seeds. These seeds are hallucinogenic if ingested and too many could be fatal. This is another seed that is attractive to teens through word of mouth but can cause serious medical problems if ingested. Other parts of the plant are poisonous too.

Privet- this common hedge plant produces black berries that are poison.

Purple hyacinth bean – while bean suggests it might be edible the bean pods and seeds of this plant are poisonous even if cooked. Keep the pods cut off if you enjoy this plant as an ornamental.

Kidney beans- this may surprise you but raw kidney beans are quite poisonous. Cooking makes them safe to eat.

Oleander- this plant is sometimes grown in pots in the north for its pretty flowers but in the ground in the south. It has the common name of suicide plant because just a seed or two can cause death.

Pokeweed

Pokeweed – this common weed is striking with its tall reddish tinged foliage and clusters of purple-black berries. In late summer it’s one of the most requested plant identification subjects. The young shoots of the plant can be eaten in early spring if cooked in several changes of water. They are called poke-salad or poke greens. However the berries are poison- regardless if they are cooked or not. Mature plant parts are also poisonous. The berries are quite attractive to kids and even adults mistake them for elderberries or other edible fruit. They cause many cases of plant poisoning each year in the US. Pokeweed should not be grown where children, vulnerable adults and pets can find the berries.

Sweet peas- there are wild and cultivated varieties of sweet peas but they have one thing in common- the pods and beans are poisonous. Don’t confuse them with garden peas.

Yews- yews are a soft needled evergreen often found in home landscapes. All parts of the yew are poisonous and even a few mouthfuls of yew can kill a grown cow. Yews produce red fleshy berries with black seeds inside. While the red fleshy part is not poisonous – birds like them- swallowing just one or 2 of the small seeds inside could kill a child. Yews should not be planted in landscape used by children, vulnerable adults or pets and should be kept far away from livestock areas.

Gardeners may choose to grow some of these plants and others that are poisonous which is fine if they are aware of the plants toxicity and take steps to protect those that aren’t knowledgeable.

Preparing to bring in the houseplants and tropical plants

We may not be getting frost just yet but it’s time to start thinking about where and when you are going to bring the tender plants and tropicals back inside. If your plants liked their vacation outside they may have grown tremendously and the spot they occupied last winter may no longer suit them. Many gardeners will have purchased or grown new plants over the summer that need inside homes for winter. Some gardeners will have discovered that they can overwinter some plants they considered annuals inside and save money by not having to purchase them next year.

The first thing to do is survey the inside growing space you have. Know which windows face which direction so you can plan the right pair up with plants. Plants can be overwintered away from windows if you have brightly lit areas or are willing to provide supplemental light somewhere, such as in a basement. Even with windows some plants that require high light conditions may need supplemental lighting. The new compact fluorescent bulbs and LED lights make supplemental lighting affordable and are safer than older light bulbs.

Will you need new shelves, tables or plant stands? It’s time to shop for them or make them. Small ladders can be painted and make great multilevel stands in front of windows. Put up shelf brackets on the sides of windows and add shelves so several layers of plants can share the window. Some dedicated house plant growers know there is no need for curtains if you have enough plants.

You should also be checking over the plants. Do they need to be re-potted or are they in the ground and need to be potted? Potting is much easier and cleaner when done outside. Buy some lightweight potting medium instead of using garden soil to pot plants and they will be lighter, plus you will have fewer problems with insects and other pests being brought inside. If plants need to be dug up and potted do it now and leave the newly potted plants outside until frost or cold weather. They will adjust better to the pot if other conditions like light and humidity are the same as their previous location.

Plants may need to be pruned or shaped before being brought inside. It’s generally easier to do this outdoors. You may want to take cuttings of some larger plants and root them rather than bringing a large plant inside. Geraniums, coleus, various ivies and vining plants are often better preserved this way.

Check you plant containers for signs that mice, frogs or other critters haven’t taken up residence in them. Drainage holes that look like they have been enlarged are a tell-tale sign of mouse invasion. You won’t want to bring them inside, dump the pot and re-pot with clean soil, checking the rootball of the plant for hidden guests. Frogs and toads are often on the pots surface or lightly dug into the potting soil and can be hard to spot. They can also hide in the foliage.

Pests and disease problems should be dealt with outside. Once the plants are crowded together inside these things can quickly spread. Spray plants with insecticides outside, rather than polluting your air inside. You may want to use systemic insecticides if you notice scale or other insects. These are poured on the soil and taken up by the plant.

Know when to bring in your plants. Some plants can be covered up before a light frost and survive well into late fall outside. Others should be brought inside even before frost if the nights are getting very cool. And some plants will need no protection until very hard freezes or heavy snow is predicted.

Bring streptocarpus in early.

In general tropical plants need to come in first. When nights are regularly getting into the low 40’s bring them inside. This includes things like staghorn fern, African violets, streptocarpus, philodendrons, some bromeliads, orchids, sweet potato vines, Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas cacti, and other houseplants that prefer warm conditions.

Plants that should be brought in when a frost threatens include coleus, rex begonias, peace lilies, ficus, rubber plants, most jasmines, brugmansia, jade plants, kalanachoe, mandevilla, tropical pond lilies, ornamental peppers, aloe, gingers, Boston fern, other tropical ferns, palms, and Chinese hibiscus.

Plants that can be covered at night when frost is predicted and stay outside a bit longer include tuberous and cane begonias, poinsettias, geraniums, spider plants, Norfolk pines, citrus trees, rosemary, dracaenas, (spikes) polka dot plant, abutilon, hardy jasmine, gardenias and any semi-tender perennials you are going to overwinter such as plants not quite hardy in your zone. These should be brought in before a hard freeze. Some may not be killed but will go into dormancy and lose their foliage if left out too long. If you are in doubt bring it inside. Better safe than sorry.

You can cover most blooming true annuals before a frost and extend their garden stay but most annuals won’t do well when brought inside. Some tender perennials we use as annuals like petunias also fade quickly inside.

Potted mums for fall decorations- how to keep them another season

Fall means chrysanthemums in many areas of the country. Potted mums in blazing or soothing colors are outside the doors of every store. Gardeners buy them to pop into beds where annuals have fizzled or have been killed by frost. They are very affordable and create a vibrant look in the late fall garden. Potted mums are also one of the best plants for cleaning pollutants from indoor air, so they may be good indoor decorations too.

There is nothing wrong with using mums as annuals, and not worrying if they will survive the winter. They will continue blooming with proper care until a hard freeze or snowfall kills them. You can just leave them outside until then. Even if the tag says hardy mum, many of the mums you buy in full bloom in the fall would not survive winter and bloom next year if you plant them this fall. But there are some tricks that you can use that might help you save some of these mums to bloom again another year.

First keep the mums well-watered. They are often sold in small pots that dry out rapidly even in cool weather. Keep them in a sunny spot on the deck or in bright light inside. At this time don’t use fertilizer on the plants. They are primed to bloom by greenhouse techniques and the decreasing daylight and don’t really need it.

If you are putting them in a garden bed for color, simply sink the pot in the ground. You could plant the mums in the ground but you’ll actually have less success in getting them through the winter than if you follow the tip below. While you could dig them up and re-pot them for winter holding, it’s easier to just leave them in the pot.

If you do plant a mum in the ground when you buy it don’t trim back the dead foliage in late fall. Leave it until spring. Mums do best when the dead foliage is left to protect the crown over winter. Plant the potted mums into the ground as soon as you buy them if you want a good chance of them surviving winter.

When a hard freeze or good snowfall is predicted it’s time to rescue your potted mums. Bring them inside to a cool room with bright light. This can be a sunny window in an unheated room or under a grow light in the basement. Mums will even stay healthy at temperatures slightly below freezing if protected. The best temperature would be between 40 and 60 degrees F. Trim off any dead flowers. Many times the plants are still blooming vigorously when brought inside and that’s fine.

While inside you will probably need to water the mums less frequently. The pot should dry out slightly between watering but don’t let them wilt. If they do wilt, quickly water them and they may revive. Just don’t let this happen too often. Don’t fertilize the plants now.

Once blooming slows down or quits cut all of the mum stems back about one third of their length. If it’s quite cool the mums will enter a semi-dormant phase. The leaves will remain green but there won’t be much new growth. That’s a good way to keep them until about March. Even if the leaves brown a bit the plant is probably still alive. Sometimes the leaves and stems will turn entirely brown if they get really cold but if you look closely and see green near the base of stems the plant may recover. In this case cut the dead areas off to about 2 inches from the soil surface.

If you are keeping them a little on the warm side new growth will appear. Mums can get very lanky and ugly looking if this growth is allowed to grow unchecked. Instead pinch out the young tips of new growth after they have reached 2 inches or so. This will keep the plant compact and nice looking. You may need to do this more than once.

When March comes you can bring the mum into warmer conditions if you have a place. If the plant is exposed to natural light the lengthening daylight will cause the mum to come out of dormancy even if it’s still cool in its area. You can start fertilizing with a weak fertilizer solution for blooming plants. The plant will need water more often as it begins to grow.

Keep new growth pinched back to 2-3 inches and give the mum as much light as you can. As soon as temperatures moderate in the spring, the ground is thawed and no hard freezes are likely move the mum outside. In Michigan that’s probably around the beginning of May. You can plant it in the ground or re-pot it into a slightly larger pot. Use some slow release fertilizer for blooming plants, according to label directions, on the mums.

If you want a compact plant pinch off the tips of those stems until mid–June. After that quit pinching to let the flower buds form. Sometimes a saved mum planted in the ground in the spring will flower a lot earlier than other hardy mums because it had a bit of a head start. If the plant is in the ground leave it there the second winter, there’s a good chance it will return in the spring. Most mums will get larger and fuller with each passing season.

Mums are really better off planted in the ground in spring rather than being re-potted for a second winter inside. But if you re-potted the mum in the spring and want to keep it potted, follow the same procedures listed above.

There are hardy garden mums that will give you years of color. These hardy mums are best planted in the spring. You’ll find them being sold as small plants generally, but they grow rapidly through the summer and should bloom the first fall.

Finally- we’re studying marijuana botanically

Because of its illegal status marijuana has been little studied by mainstream botanists and researchers. It’s hard to collect grow or transport plants, much less keep them in labs because in many places such possession would be illegal and not supported by public funding. While the US is still dragging its heels with this extremely useful plant Canada is coming out of the dark ages. (Note marihuana and marijuana are both correct spellings.)

Jonathan Page, a University of British Columbia botanist and Sean Myles, a population geneticist at Dalhousie University conducted a major study of the evolutionary history and genetics of cannabis. The study looked at looked at the genotypes of 81 marijuana and 43 hemp samples. While marijuana and hemp are closely related hemp is generally grown for its oil and fiber and has little medicinal or recreational use.

The researchers found that most cannabis plants come from three species C. sativa, C. indica and C. ruderalis. Medicinal and recreational growers have long known of the 3 species and often assign specific attributes to “strains” of marijuana based on the percentages of each species genetic contribution to the strain. For example C.indica strains are said to give a more mellow high and C.sativa strains a more stimulating high. In places where recreational or medicinal marijuana is sold you’ll find sellers touting the advantages of named varieties of pot often based on the supposed genetics of the strain.

What the researchers found when they analyzed the genetics of various named strains was that the growers often didn’t have a good handle on the genetics of the plant and what species of cannabis contributed to it. Often growers said the strain was mostly derived from one cannabis species when actually it came from another. While there is no doubt that different strains may have different chemical components and effects on the body, the growers of those strains are often mistaken about the genetics.

Hemp is classified as Cannabis sativa, but the C. sativa grown for fiber and oil is vastly different genetically from the C. sativa strains grown for recreational use due to selective breeding. It’s extremely beneficial to learn the genetic differences between cannabis used for fiber and oil and that used for medicine and recreational use. Some medical uses are more beneficial when a particular strain of cannabis is used and researchers need to know the true genetics of those strains so treatments can be standardized. This study is helping botanists get a better picture of cannabis genetics.

Canada has the right attitude about cannabis. More than 80,000 acres of Canadian land is growing hemp for fiber and oil production, more than any other place in the world. Canada also licenses 25 medical cannabis growers to provide their more than 21,000 medical marijuana patients with quality, legal product.

Journal Reference: The Genetic Structure of Marijuana and Hemp. PLoS One, August 26, 2015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133292

Fall web worms

If you are noticing those huge webs of wiggling worms on the tips of branches on trees in your area, don’t be alarmed. The fall webworm is a native seasonal pest that doesn’t significantly harm trees even though they look pretty ugly. In Michigan we begin seeing the “tents” of fall webworm in late August. Even after a hard freeze kills the worms inside, or they have become pupae, the nests may hang in the trees until winter winds dislodge them.

Fall webworms are often confused with their spring cousins, the Eastern Tent Caterpillar. Fall webworms enclose leaves at the end of a branch with their white, web like tent. They feed inside the tent and enlarge it when all the leaves inside are eaten. Eastern tent caterpillars make their tents in the crotches of branches and they leave the tent to feed on leaves, returning to the tent for protection from weather. Eastern tent caterpillars appear in late spring and early summer, fall webworms late in the summer.

The nests of fall webworms are usually on the outside branches of a tree, where the branch extends over an open sunny area such as a road or lawn. This makes them very visible to concerned gardeners. Each nest contains a colony of small caterpillars, busily feeding on tree leaves. The caterpillars are either red headed or black headed. Black headed webworms are greenish, with two rows of black bumps on the sides. Red headed webworms are tan with orange or red bumps. Both are covered in long white hairs.

The adult fall webworm is a small white moth, occasionally marked with a few black spots. She lays her eggs on the underside of leaves, where they hatch and begin feeding. The young feed for about 6 weeks then drop to the ground to pupate and over-winter. Occasionally in Michigan’s southern counties there is enough warm weather in fall for the first generation to turn into moths and create a second generation. Levels of the pest are higher in some years too, with heavier populations every 5-7 years.

Fall webworm on walnut tree

Fall webworms prefer to feed on trees such as wild cherry, walnut, hickories and fruit trees but can feed on almost any tree. They seldom feed on willows and cottonwoods. When a tent or web is disturbed all the little caterpillars move in a peculiar synchronized jiggling movement. This may be their attempt to make a predator think something much larger is lurking within.

Controlling fall webworm

Since trees are near the end of their active cycle the loss of leaves from Fall Webworms doesn’t harm them much. If the nests offend you, you can use your garden hose to spray them out of the tree or use a stick to knock them down, and then smash the worms. Worms won’t crawl back up the tree when knocked to the ground. You can trim the tents out of the tree if doing so doesn’t harm the looks of the tree. Valuable ornamental trees can be treated with systemic pesticides early in summer. These go through the tree and kill the worms as they start to feed on leaves later in the year.

Pesticide sprays are not recommended as the collateral damage to the environment isn’t worth it, as trees are barely affected by the feeding of the Fall Webworm. Most pesticides do not effectively penetrate the webs; they would have to be torn open. Spraying foliage around the nests may kill the caterpillars when they enclose more leaves into the web. And burning the tents with a blowtorch is as dangerous to the tree and to you as it is to the worms.

Fall webworms have several natural enemies in Michigan including yellow jackets and paper wasps. If you tolerate these insects on your property then you may have fewer fall webworms. Birds also like to eat the worms, especially if you tear the web for them.

Boots, raincoats and umbrellas today. Add a sweater tomorrow.