Fresh Air Lover

37 Things that tell You're Addicted to Gardening

2012-01-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

Your neighbors recognize you in your pajamas, rubber clogs and a cup of coffee.
You grab other people's banana peels, coffee grinds, apple cores, etc. for your compost pile.
You have to wash your hair to get your fingernails clean.
All your neighbors come and ask you questions.
You know the temperature of your compost every day.
You buy a bigger truck so that you can haul more mulch.
You enjoy crushing Japanese beetles because you like the sound that it makes.
Your boss makes "taking care of the office plants" an official part of your job description.
Everything you touch turns to "fertilizer".
Your non-gardening spouse becomes conversant in botanical names.
You find yourself feeling leaves, flowers and trunks of trees wherever you go, even at funerals.
You dumpster-dive for discarded bulbs after commercial landscapers remove them to plant
annuals.
You plan vacation trips around the locations of botanical gardens, arboreta, historic gardens,
etc.
You sneak home a 7 foot Japanese Maple and wonder if your spouse will notice.
When considering your budget, plants are more important than groceries.
You always carry a shovel, bottled water and a plastic bag in your trunk as emergency
tools.
You appreciate your Master Gardener badge more than your jewelry.
You talk "dirt" at baseball practice.
You spend more time chopping your kitchen greens for the compost pile than for cooking.
You like the smell of horse manure better than Estee Lauder.
You rejoice in rain...even after 10 straight days of it.
You have pride in how bad your hands look.
You have a decorative compost container on your kitchen counter.
You can give away plants easily, but compost is another thing.
Soil test results actually mean something.
You understand what IPM means and are happy about it.
You'd rather go to a nursery to shop than a clothes store.
You know that Sevin is not a number.
You take every single person who enters your house on a "garden tour".
You look at your child's sandbox and see a raised bed.
You ask for tools for Christmas, Mother/Father's day, your birthday and any other occasion
you can think of.
You can't bear to thin seedlings and throw them away.
You scold total strangers who don't take care of their potted plants.
You know how many bags of fertilizer/potting soil,/mulch your car will hold.
You drive around the neighborhood hoping to score extra bags of leaves for your compost
pile.
Your preferred reading matter is seed catalogs.
And last but not least: You know that the four seasons are:
- Planning the Garden
- Preparing the Garden
- Gardening ~and~
- Preparing and Planning for the next Garden

Hummingbird – No wait – It’s a moth!

2011-12-27T16:04:00.000-08:00

I was outside this weekend and noticed what I thought was a hummingbird. It was early evening and I was surprised the “hummingbird” let me get so close. Upon further inspection, I saw that it was actually a large moth that looked like a hummingbird in its size, shape and movement. It also had a long proboscis that was fully extended and it was sipping nectar from flowers on our patio.

If it looks like a humming bird and acts like a hummingbird – but is a moth - it is correctly called a hummingbird moth.

These belong to a family of night flying moths called Sphingidae. They are of no real concern when moths but the species pictured here (tomato hornworms) can be devastating as caterpillars when they attack tomatoes and other garden plants.

Fire Blight Occurring On Pear Trees

2011-05-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

A bacterial disease called Fire Blight showing up on pear and apple trees. Fire Blight actually infects the tree during the bloom stage in early spring. The disease itself overwinters in cankers and starts growing in the spring. The bacteria will ooze from disease cankers and then is spread to blossoms or twigs by insects. Bees actually spread the bacteria from bloom to bloom and from tree to tree during the spring of the year.

On pear trees, the young twigs and branches die from the terminal end and appear to turn black as if they were burnt by a torch. The end of the affected branch may bend and resemble a shepherd’s crook.

On apple trees, the same symptoms occur except that the dying branch tips will turn a deep reddish brown color instead of a black color.

Not only will this disease show up on the terminal growth, but if it is allowed to remain on the tree, it can spread to the twigs and even later on to the fruit itself.

On the twigs, a canker often forms that girdles the twig at the base of an infected fruit spur. The infected twig will grow in a hooked form and may have a shiny or oily appearance in the summer. Milky or brown material may be seen oozing from the twig in hot, humid weather.

On the fruit, Fire Blight will first show up as a water-soaked area and later will produce an ooze. The fruit eventually turns brown, shrivels up, mummifies, and then turns black.

Fire Blight occurs more prevalently when we have moist conditions in the spring at the time our pear and apple trees are blooming. It requires a favorable environment when temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit and high humidity conditions are occurring.

Some pear tree varieties are more resistant to Fire Blight than others. Fruiting pear varieties that show good resistance to Fire Blight include Orient, Carrick, Waite, and Warren.
Ornamental pear varieties such as Bradford are also moderately resistant to Fire Blight but it can occur on them during favorable weather conditions in the spring. Bradford pears do not get typical Fire Blight symptoms. Infected Bradford Pear tree leaves turn a rust color and appear scorched and spotted. Portions of the leaf remain green.

Preventative sprays applying a material called streptomycin sulfate can be made in early spring at the time the trees begin to bloom to prevent infection. Streptomycin sulfate must be applied beginning at the time the tree has about 10% of the blooms open and sprays must be made at 5 day intervals (every two to three days during wet conditions) throughout the bloom stage until the blooms begin to shed off.

The best measure that you can take to prevent this problem from reoccurring on your pear and apple trees again next spring is to prune out the infected growth and get these infected branches away from your trees. Prune out affected branches at least 6 inches below the sign of infection. Dip your pruning shears in 70% isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or a 1 part bleach to 9 parts water solution to disinfect your pruning shears between each cut.

Avoid heavy nitrogen fertilization during the mid to late summer period around your pear and apple trees. Highly fertilized trees that are producing a lot of new growth late in the summer seem to be more susceptible to Fire Blight the following spring.

5 Natural Pest Repellents

2010-12-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

Ants: Sprinkle cinnamon, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, or baby powder in problem areas.

Cockroaches: Sprinkle equal parts of baking soda and confectioner's sugar in problem areas.

Mice: Place cotton dipped in peppermint oil near problem areas. Used kitty litter is another repellent.

Mosquitoes: Mix 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water and place on your deck or balcony. Dab lavender oil on your wrists and elbows.

Fleas: Small sachets of crushed mint placed around the home will discourage fleas. So will a potted sweet basil plant.

Book Review: Year ‘round gardening interest

2010-08-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

The Nonstop Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide to Smart Plant Choices and Four Season Designs by Stephanie Cohen and Jennifer Benner, Timber Press, 2010.

The Nonstop Garden: A Step-by-Step Guide
to Smart Plant Choices and Four Season Designs

As avid gardeners we are always hoping that our gardens will show year-round colorful interest. We experiment with non-natives, hope the weather conditions in Indiana don’t drown, burn, or freeze our plant selections, and critters don’t abuse our gardens by using them as their dinner table. Last year’s drought did some serious damage to my gardens, as with many of yours, which is requiring us to start over. I began looking for a book that would assist me in “doing it differently,” and I believe I found it with The Nonstop Garden. Note: In 2008 I reviewed another book by Stephanie Cohn titled The Perennial Gardener’s Design Primer. I found that book to be especially helpful to me, so I feel confident that one would not go wrong by following any recommendations she makes in The Nonstop Garden.

The Nonstop Garden consists of four chapters. Part One: The Nuts and Bolts explains the benefits of the nonstop garden along with easy design strategies. Part Two: The Main Attractions covers trees, shrubs, and perennials. Part Three: The Supporting Cast discusses bulbs, annuals, tropicals, edibles, and vines. Part Four: Finishing Touches offers suggestions on ornamentation, containers, structures, and seasonal beauty and interest.

Chapters two and three offer hundreds of winning plant entries that readers might choose for their gardens. The selections are headed by the plant’s common name with information on hardiness zones, peak seasons, plant conditions, and any problems the plant may likely face. The plants recommended are considered by Ms. Cohn and Ms. Benner to be top -notch, offering stunning beauty and minimal maintenance. The book has ten easy-tofollow garden designs interspersed throughout the book (e.g., winter, wildlife, native, woodland, cool-colored, wet sites, gold-colored, vibrant, scented and parking strips).

Another feature that I especially liked was the additional hot topic sections. “Recipes for Success”, “Perennial TLC”, “Establishing Climbers”, Battling Bugs”, “Getting Bulbs Off to a Good Start” are a few of the themes in which the authors offer personal insights and recommendations for successful gardening choices.

The book concludes with a peak performance chart of plants, a list of invasive plants, a hardiness zone chart, glossary, references and resources, and an index. Of course, the photographs are gorgeous and creative, the designs are well-thought-out and easy to envision and understand, and the witty, no-nonsense approach navigates readers throughout the book so you know experienced gardeners have shared with you their knowledge and creativity so you are fired up to create your own gorgeous garden. You soon learn that The Nonstop Garden is a very useful guide to gardening in all four seasons.

The authors advise that we “garden smarter, not harder” and “nonstop gardens are better gardens because they require less maintenance, provide continual beauty, allow more creativity, and encourage diversity.” This book is specific—a garden that it is beautiful and interesting all year long. I’m glad I bought it and look forward to applying their expertise to my gardens.

Does Garden Humor Exist?

2010-04-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

In searching the web, I have concluded that it comes in two flavors: almost funny and mildly humorous. There is also lots of repetition, cross-linking, and way too many sites that are no longer active, though the ones I found are 99% in very good taste, at least. So, I have done a bit of the ‘dirty work’ or the ‘digging’ for you. (Heh heh.)

One of the larger repositories of quips and quotes is the Garden Digest. At the center of the long scroll-down page of ‘jokes’ is a table with monthly gardening chores…do not be fooled…this is for where they live, Zone 9 in California. Otherwise, there are some good ones embedded here.

The next one is actually a list of humorous short articles, http://home.golden.net/ ~dhobson/ and several other ‘humor’ sites link to this one. It also has a table of many links, some of which could be interesting.

Probably the best find turned out to be a column that is published in several places, and the ones I read were enjoyable. This is not a list of jokes or stories, rather, pieces with a humorous slant and interesting observations about gardening, food, and foibles. In a piece about ‘locavores’, the author describes the ‘100-inch diet’ (rather than the 100-mile diet) and has many excellent exceptions: http://www.rakishwit.com/ is the starting point, and the particular article will be easily seen.

I plan to go back and read several more. The tagline is, The award-winning garden-variety humor column by John Hershey, "America's least knowledgeable gardening expert." So, Mr. John Hershey, you are my new go-to, humble, so-called non-expert.

The Flowering Dogwood

2010-03-10T02:18:00.000-08:00

The flowering dogwood (Cornus Florida L.) is Missouri's official tree. The tree is small in size, rarely growing over 40 feet in height or 18 inches in diameter. The dogwood sprouts tiny greenish-yellow flowers in clusters, with each flower surrounded by four white petals. In the fall, the upper part of the leaves turns scarlet or orange and bright red fruits grow on the tree.

Drought Tolerant Trees

2010-01-09T01:46:00.000-08:00

Common Name                                                                  Botanical Name
Bald cypress                                                                       Taxodium distichum
Bur oak                                                                              Quercus macrocarpa
Cabbage palm                                                                    Sabal palmetto
Chaste tree                                                                         Vitex angus-castus
Cherry laurel                                                                       Prunus caroliniana
Chestnut oak                                                                      Quercus prunus
Chinese pistache                                                                 Pistacia chinensis
Deodarcedar                                                                      Cedrus deodara
Ginkgo                                                                               Ginkgo biloba
Goldenrain tree                                                                   Koelreuteria paniculata
Hollies except Chinese & Japanese                                     Ilex spp. except I. cornuta & I. creneta
Honeylocust                                                                       Gleditzia triacanthos
Japanese zelkova                                                                Zelkova serrata
Japanses pakoda tree                                                         Sophora japonica
Lacebark elm                                                                     Ulmus parvifolia
Laurel oak                                                                         Quercus laurifolia
Live oak                                                                            Quercus virginiana
Loquat                                                                               Eriobotrya japonica
Needle palm                                                                      Rhapidophyllum hystrix
Pin oak                                                                             Quercus palustris
Pindo palm                                                                        Butea capitata
Redbud                                                                            Cercis canadensis
Shumard oak                                                                    Quercus shumardii
Smoke tree                                                                       Cotinus coggygria
Sweetgum                                                                         Liquidambar styraciflura
Sycamore                                                                         Platanus occidentalis
Tulip poplar                                                                       Liriodendron tulipifera
Washington hawthorne                                                      Crataegus phaenopyrum
Water oak                                                                        Quercus nigra
White ash                                                                         Fraxinus americans
White oak                                                                        Quercus alba
Windmill palm                                                                  Trachycarpus fortunei

How to Control Yellow Jackets

2009-12-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

One of the worst encounters that you can have with a stinging insect pest is when you venture too close to a yellow jacket nest around your home or landscape areas. These bee-like pests pack a punch when they sting and they are also very aggressive when they are disturbed.

A typical yellow jacket is about the same size as a honey bee – about ½ inch long – and they are mostly yellow in color with alternating yellow and black bands running across their abdomen. Honey bees are slightly larger than yellow jackets and are covered with small hairs which are absent on a yellow jacket. Yellow jackets can also sting multiple times whereas a honey bee can sting only once.

Most of the time, yellow jackets construct their nest underground and we find out where they are when we get buzzed or stung after coming too close to their nest site entrance. They typically dig a small hole at an angle as they tunnel underneath the soil surface or underneath mulch such as pine straw around trees and shrubbery.

As they tunnel and burrow underground, yellow jackets will build a paper nest constructed of layers of comb that is made from chewed up wood fiber. The colony grows and produces both workers and reproductive males. Mated queens will overwinter under brush piles, in hollow trees, or inside a building. Most other yellow jackets in the parent colony will die off when cold weather arrives in the winter.

Not all yellow jacket nests are underground. Some nests have also been discovered in hollow trees, behind wood siding and walls, and even in piles of trash and brush.

Yellow jackets feed on a wide range of food items including nectar in flowers and on decaying fruit. They will also feed on meat and have been known to feed on other insects and the flesh of dead animals. We tend to have more problems with yellow jackets in the late summer and early fall as their native food sources become less plentiful. They are often attracted to sweet carbonated beverages, meat, cake, fruit, and even ice cream at outdoor events and picnics.

The key to controlling yellow jackets is to locate the entrance to their nest. They are pretty sensitive to most of our insecticide products so any pesticide that is labeled for wasp and hornet control will work on yellow jackets. Knock down wasp and hornet sprays are safer to use in case they begin to fly out of the nest entrance when you decide to spray for them.

Another tip on control is to treat the entrance to the nest late in the evening, at night or early in the morning when the yellow jackets are in the nest and are not real active. Spray around the nest entrance and then get out of the area for a while. If you get enough insecticide around the entrance hole, yellow jackets that are inside the nest will eventually get the insecticide on them as they enter and leave the nest and they will die. This may take a day or two but it will work. Don’t hold a light on the entrance hole at night if you treat for them after dark because emerging yellow jackets can be attracted to the light and may sting you if you are holding the light on them.

Another trick that I have found that works for me when I treat for yellow jackets is to mix up an insecticide concentrate product in a gallon or two of water and pour the solution over the entrance hole and then just turn the bucket upside down over the hole and leave it there for a few days. Don’t hang around long if you try this – just dump out the insecticide mixture over the hole - turn down the bucket - and run.

Insecticide products that work on killing yellow jackets include products that contain permethrin, carbaryl, cyfluthrin, and bifenthrin as active ingredients.

Don’t use gasoline or diesel fuel to kill yellow jackets. This is not only dangerous but will also pollute the soil and possibly the ground water in the area.

Measures that can be taken to reduce yellow jacket problems outside are to keep food inside containers at picnics and keep trash cans securely closed to prevent yellow jackets from entering them. Also check open drink containers closely of you leave them out before you take a swig from them.

Yellow jacket traps are available in local stores and garden centers and can be placed in areas where outdoor events are going to be held a few days in advance of the event. The key in using these products is to place them in the area a few days before you are going to have the event so a reduction in the number of yellow jackets in the area will be achieved.

Finally, yellow jackets are notorious for coming to hummingbird feeders. A good remedy for this problem is to buy a hummingbird feeder that has a bee guard on it to prevent yellow jackets and bees from getting to the hummingbird mix. Also keep in mind that yellow jackets are attracted to yellow color so try to use a solid red colored feeder or paint over the yellow color with red paint.

Yellow jackets are creatures of habit like us and tend to pattern their flight paths to an easy source of food. You could try moving the hummingbird feeder to another spot for a few days and see if this stops the yellow jacket problems. Hanging a yellow jacket trap in the vicinity of the feeder can also help to attract them away from the feeders and aid in controlling them.

Gardening Websites that can Help you sit at home and Relax!

2009-10-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Internet offers many opportunities to learn! Check out some information sources that have popped up recently. Any of these sites may offer just what you are looking for.

Pollinator Partnership is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the animals and insects that pollinate North American ecosystems, farms and gardens. This group offers free downloadable guides to native plants written for specific regions. Simply go to Pollinator Partnership , enter your zip code, and access a free guide to the plants that will benefit our local pollinators.

Horticulture Magazine’s website has a recent article on the causes of hay fever. Although our famous goldenrod blooms in late summer at the same time hay fever symptoms appear, it is not the cause. If you have hay fever, look for the real culprit, ragweed, a regular resident of fence rows and road ditches in Indiana. Since ragweed is pollinated by the wind, its billions of pollen grains can relocate to other plants, our houses and our cars. According to the article, since goldenrod is much more lush and showy than ragweed, our eyes spot the goldenrod and decide to blame that for our discomfort. Those of us with this annual malady can learn to spot ragweed early in its growth cycle and remove it before it releases its pollen.

Is a composting bin something you’ve thought about buying? If you have considered trying out a compost plan, you might want to look at several units available from Kids Gardening. This site is currently offering some sale prices on compact composters and equipment. For example, its Envirocycle Rolling Composter is listed for $169 and a Dual Compost bin is also on sale.

The Third Gardening Season

2009-08-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Late summer and fall offer a third growing season for the home gardener, though both new and experienced gardeners often overlook the opportunity to extend the bounty of the home garden by. Spring gardening is marked by relief that winter is over, with the anticipation of warmer weather. Summer gardening brings its own joys, with longer days and the natural cycle of rain and sun that helps plants yield ripe, delicious fruits and vegetables. But with some planning, fall can provide just as much enjoyment as spring and summer, and you can extend the harvest well into the cooler months.

One of the benefits of continuing with a fall garden is that you have already worked and prepared the planting site and soil, so the hard part of preparing for planting normally done in the spring is over. The ground has been worked, weeds are under control, and fertilizer and mulch are already distributed. You may need to add a bit more nitrogen for later plantings of vegetables, but otherwise everything is in place, and you are working in a rhythm.

Fall vegetables are harvested in early September. The first leg of your fall garden can be part of your summer succession gardening plan. Succession gardening staggers the ripening date and harvest so you have a steady flow of fresh food, rather than an overwhelming flood of vegetables that sometimes go to waste. Good options for a late succession planting include an early-maturing variety of sweet corn and bush beans. The second leg of the fall crop consists of cool-season crops that grow well during cool fall days and withstand frost, such as turnips and parsnips.

Keep in mind that although days continue to be warm, nights are cool, which slows growth and maturation. When buying seed for fall planting, remember to check the average days to maturity. Select varieties with shorter maturation periods. Because we have warm days and cool nights during a typical autumn, some vegetables, such as sweet corn and cole crops, thrive, developing excellent levels of sugar and crispness.

The fall garden can include:

Root vegetables: beets, carrots, rutabaga, parsnips, turnips
Tender lettuces: bibb, endive, leaf lettuce
Hearty greens: collards, kale, mustard greens, spinach, and turnip greens
Cole crops: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage
Other vegetables: bush-type green beans, snow peas, sweet corn, kohlrabi

Gardeners who want a lengthy harvest can use polyethylene row covers in the fall to extend the harvest of frost-sensitive crops such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. The row cover traps heat and protects the plant from killing frosts but beware that on warm, sunny days the row cover must be ventilated to protect plants from excess heat.

Some plants, such as herbs, can be planted in containers and brought inside or moved to a protected area when there are hard frosts. You can use cold frames in much the same way, with the cover propped open during the day so the plants receive light, and closed at night. Using any combination of these methods can extend your gardening season by several weeks, well into the fall.

Pruning Hydrangea

2009-07-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Determining when to prune a hydrangea can be a little confusing sometimes as there are several different species and not all form flowers at the same time. The Bigleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea macrophylla (largely a spring blooming plant) and Oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia, develop their flower buds on the previous season's growth. Pruning should be done after flowering in the spring. Another note to remember about Bigleaf hydrangea is the flower buds can be damaged during cold, dry winters. This is why they sometimes don't bloom in the spring even though the plant looks pretty healthy.

Smooth hydrangea, Hydrangea arborescens, and Panicle hydrangea, Hydrangea paniculata, bloom in the summer. Flower buds are formed on new growth that season. Pruning can be done on these plants in late winter or early spring.

Deciduous Magnolias

2009-06-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

There are many deciduous magnolias, some of which are often called tulip trees for their tulip-like flowers in the spring. (Tulip or yellow poplar is also sometimes called a tulip tree.) Early flowering varieties can be prone to frost damage so select varieties that are as late blooming as possible. They are cold and heat tolerant.

Star magnolias, Magnolia stellatas, are deciduous magnolias that will bloom in early spring before they put out leaves. A problem can be if they are very early they may lose blooms to spring freezes. Kentucky recommended varieties include Centennial, Jane Platt, Roseum, Royal Star and Rubra. They are working to develop a yellow-blooming variety and have some that are yellow in the bud. They do get frozen out some years.

Loebner magnolias, Magnolia loebneri, are my favorite flower form. They are hybrids between Magnolia kobus and M. stellata. Flowers are white, fragrant , with 12-15 petals that open in April. Depending on the variety they will brow 15-25 feet tall. Varieties include Ballerina, Leonard Messel, Merrill and Spring Snow. Spring snow has rounded petals, Ballerina has 30 long, strappy petals.

Saucer Magnolias, Magnolia x soulangiana are precocious flowering trees that grow to 20-30 feet high and wide. Flowers are 5-10 inches in diameter and open in April. Lilliputin is a recommended variety.

Magnolia hybrids grow to 25-30 feet tall and wide. Varieties recommended include Ann, Betty, Butterfiles, Elizabeth, Galaxy, Godlfinch, Jane, Judy, Pinkie and more. Those with yellow tones to their flower buds include JonJon, Butterflies, Goldfinch, and Elizabeth.

Magnolias

2009-06-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

Southern magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora, are impressive evergreen trees with large glossy leaves with cinnamon brown pubescence on the undersided and big creamy white, lemony fragrant flowers. They do have a dense shade, roots near the surface and shed some of their thick leaves every year. I just chop the leaves of my tree with the lawnmower and it is not a problem. Don’t plant these trees near a sidewalk. They grow to 40-80 feet tall and 30-40 feet wide. Branches grow low on the tree. Red fruit in the fall are eaten by birds. They are hardy in zones 7-9 so we are on the edge of where they will grow well. I did see a small one growing up against a house in Pennsylvania, zone 6. It was somewhat in cold winters.

Little Gem is a dwarf form of southern magnolia great for smaller areas. It grows to 20’ tall and 10’ wide. Flowers are 2-3 inches across. Leaves are cinnamon-brown and pubescent underneath. It is hardy in zones 5-9 and flowers at an early age.

Sweetbay magnolia, Magnolia virginiana, is native to the Coastal Plain of southeastern US. It is a smaller evergreen tree, growing to 20 feet tall in the north. Flowers are 2-3 inches in diameter. Three to five inch long leaves are silvery on the underside. It grows in zones 9-5. Milton is a variety recommended for Kentucky.

Watering During Drought

2008-12-21T07:41:00.000-08:00

Keeping our landscape and garden plants alive this summer continues to be a common priority and concern with record heat and little rainfall; and to top that off, in some communities, water restrictions. The past few weeks have been especially challenging and more and more plants seem to be succumbing to the drought and heat stress. Brown lawns, scorched leaves, wilting and defoliation is a common site as you drive through many communities.

While it is difficult to give a "one size fits all" watering recommendation, most plants will require approximately 1 to 1 ½ inches of water per week. However, soil type, weather conditions and plant species play a role in the actual amount needed to keep plants growing or at least alive.

The best way to water is by thoroughly soaking the soil with the recommended amount of water in one application. This deep watering encourages deep root growth, which then helps plants to be more tolerant of the drought. Frequent shallow watering encourages shallow roots which will likely succumb to the heat and drying of the soil. Sandy soil and containerized plants will need more frequent irrigation.

A more recent scenario is landscapes with green lawns, while other landscape plants are suffering. The problem lies in the fact that each plant has different water needs, yet we water all of them along with the turfgrass. Most lawn grasses will respond quite favorably to irrigation that wets the soil to a depth of about 6 inches. However, this may not be deep enough for trees and some shrubs. Instead leaf scorch appears on the trees while the lawn and other plants seem to be just fine. While a little scorch is not terribly damaging to the plant, prolonged dryness can be devastating.

To ensure trees are getting the water they need, deep soaking (12 to 18 inches) is important. Methods for watering trees include: deep-root fork or needle, soaker hose, or soft spray wand. Apply water to locations under the dripline of the tree and beyond if possible. If you use a deep-root fork or needle, insert no deeper than 8 inches into the soil. Apply water at a slow enough rate to allow penetration rather than wasting water by runoff.

Believe it or not, another problem during drought periods is overwatering. Shrub and flower beds that are mulched should be monitored closely and allowed to dry a little in between waterings. If when a plant is showing signs of early wilt, water is applied, and it still doesn't respond, then it is possible the area is too wet. I ran into this problem in my own backyard just recently. I replenished the mulch in one bed and soaked it real good. A few days later a couple plants were wilting so I watered some more without checking the soil moisture. They did not respond and continued to decline. I finally poked around in the soil under the mulch and decided I had overwatered the area. So now I will wait for a while and check under the mulch before I water that area again.

Another tip to keep in mind is that next year's growth, including spring flowering and fruiting, will be determined by buds formed this summer and early fall. So even if your plants aren't showing symptoms of the heat and drought now, the damage may become apparent next season. That is why it is so important to water correctly now.

The ideal time to water is during the early morning hours. Maximum use of water is accomplished at this time of day and allows plant foliage to dry more quickly. Watering during the middle of the day when temperatures are high and wind is stronger wastes valuable water. Watering in the evening is more convenient and may coincide with lower water use demands, but can create an environment that disease organisms need to grow.

Year-end gardening chores

2008-12-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

Soil
Now is a good time to have your soil tested.

Perennials, Annuals & Bulbs
If you potted up some bulbs, such as hyacinths, daffodils or tulips, last September for winter forcing, keep an eye on them. Make sure they remain moist, and in the dark until they have established their root systems. It is possible that they have already filled their containers with roots and that the new top growth has begun. If this is so, bring them into the house and set them in a cool room, in indirect light. After a week or so, move them into bright light, and watch them go to town!

Check on any corms and tubers that you dug up, and stored this fall. Remove and discard any which show signs of disease or rot. Remove dead annuals from flowerbeds, dry and save seeds for next year.

Mulch your perennials to protect them from cold temperatures. This will also minimize soil loss from rain and snow.

Shrubs & Trees

Continue watering shrubs, trees, and especially evergreens (including broadleaved evergreens) until the soil freezes and cannot absorb more water. Plants need to go into winter with moisture around their roots. As long as the soil does not freeze and rainfall is less than adequate, continue watering these plants.

Pick bagworm cases from evergreens and destroy them. They contain eggs for a new generation of pests. Also, remove the silvery egg masses of tent caterpillars by hand.

If there is a sudden drop in the temperature, provide extra protection for your more tender flowering plants like camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, and daphne. You can provide temporary, emergency protection by driving in three or four stakes around the plant, and then simply covering the plant with some type of cloth, like burlap, a sheet, or an old blanket. Do not let this material come into direct contact with the leaves of the plant. Remove the cover completely, as soon as the weather moderates.

December is a good month to take cuttings of rhododendrons, azaleas, and other evergreen shrubs. Take the cuttings from the new tip growth, and keep in bright light, at about 70°F.

Fruit

Mulch your strawberry bed with clean wheat straw once plant growth has ceased after a week of 20 to 40ºF temperatures, but before temperatures plunge to 5 to 10ºF. Use a bale of straw for each 40 ft. row. Fluff the straw and spread it over the row in a loose cover about 3 inches deep. Cover the entire plant.

Pick up fallen fruits around your trees. By removing a food source, you discourage rodents from moving into your neighborhood. If you already have rodents, use a tree guard to keep them from gnawing on the bark. Make one with hardware cloth formed into a cylinder and forced into the ground around the tree.

The Lawn

Allow the grass to go into winter cut at the regular 2- to 2½-inch height. Keep all leaves and debris off your lawn during winter. Stay off frozen grass, you will damage it!

Houseplants

Sponge off plants with glossy leaves such as philodendrons, rubber plants, and palms, to allow them to breathe. Plants that have fuzzy, textured, or other non-glossy type leaves should be set in the sink and sprayed gently with room temperature water, until the dust is gone. Provide your houseplants with extra humidity by grouping plants together, or by setting the pots on leak-proof trays filled with moistened pebbles. If you successfully kept last years plants alive, and have been keeping them in 14 hours of darkness since September, your poinsettias and Christmas cactus should be ready to bring back into the living room by the first week of December.

With the proper care, these Christmas plants will remain beautiful for many weeks. Keep them on the cool side, 65-70°F during the day and 55-60°F at night. In addition, keep them in bright, natural light whenever possible; keep them away from heat sources; keep them out of drafts; water them when they become dry and never allow them to stand in water for more than an hour. Move your houseplants to the sunniest window of your home. South or west exposures are usually best. Low light results in poor growth and leaf drop. Too much fertilizer and water, and too little light are the main causes of poor houseplant performance in the winter.

Odds & Ends

Take care of our feathered friends! Keep your bird feeder filled, especially when there is snow on the ground.

Do not let your hose freeze and burst. Stretch it out with both ends open, to allow the water to drain completely. Coil it up and put it away. Cover your outdoor faucets to protect them from freezing.

Clean and oil your garden tools for winter storage. Restock any tools that have seen better days, while the prices are lower.

Winterize your lawn mower. Empty the fuel tank. Change the oil. Buy replacement belts, spark plug, and air filter as needed and store them where you will be able to find them in the spring. Sharpen the blade, tune the engine, and clean off soil and matted grass. Then store the mower in a dry area.

Check Azaleas for Caterpillars

2008-10-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

One of my neighbors brought some caterpillars by my house just this past week and wanted me to identify them for him. He said that they were eating the leaves off of his azaleas.

The caterpillars that he had were fairly large in size – about 2 inches long – with broken yellow stripes that ran down the length of their black colored bodies. The head and legs of the worms were red in color.

These are actually called azalea caterpillars. They occur now in the early fall period of the year and there is only one generation in the life cycle. They feed strictly on azaleas.

The adult moths are about 1 inch long and are brown in color. They have a wingspan of about 2 inches. As they fly around, they lay masses of 80 to 100 eggs on the underside of the leaves.

When these eggs hatch, the young caterpillars begin to eat the leaves and grow. They typically feed in clusters side by side unless they are disturbed. A unique behavior that they have is that when the worms are disturbed they will raise their head and posterior in unison.They can completely defoliate small azalea plants and partially defoliate larger azaleas if they are not controlled.

If you have azaleas growing in your home landscape, make sure that you check them for this pest. With all of the struggles that we have had this summer with the heat and dry weather, this is a pest that you don’t want to allow to strip the leaves off of your plants. It’s important to keep the leaves on your azaleas as long as you can this fall so the plants can make enough energy reserves for the root system to survive the cold winter months ahead.

Insecticide products labeled for azalea caterpillars include carbaryl (Sevin), bacillus thuringiensis (Thuricide, Biotrol, Dipel, etc.), and various pyrethrin products. Check the label on any insecticide product that you plan to buy and use and make sure leaf feeding caterpillars are listed on the label.

Small numbers of azalea caterpillars can be removed by hand and destroyed. Larger caterpillars must be sprayed directly to control them since they reduce their feeding as they near the pupae stage.

Don’t ignore your azaleas and allow azalea caterpillars to completely defoliate your plants this fall.

Sunflower headclipping weevil also attacks coneflowers

2008-08-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

Adult Haplorhynchites anaeus on
sunflower petals

This is a black weevil about 1.0 cm (1/3 inches) long with a long, curved snout and relatively soft wing covers. Diagnosis is most easily made by the distinctive form of the plant damage. Adults girdle flower peduncles and leaf petioles leaving partially severed flowers or leaves hanging on the plant. When severed flower heads are opened, they often reveal mating aggregations of adult weevils covered in pollen.

There is only one generation per year, the adults typically appearing on sunflowers as they approach reproductive stages in July. Weevils sometimes sever leaf petioles if flower buds are not yet available. Only females are thought to perform the clipping behavior. Weevils spend a lot of time and energy severing heads and this behavior may function to reduce its suitability for other flower-feeding insects that might otherwise compete with larvae for the resource. Weevil pairs can frequently be found mating and feeding on pollen within the severed heads while they remain hanging from the plant. Eggs are laid in the hanging head but are thought to hatch only after the head falls to the ground. Developing larvae feed on the decomposing tissues, eventually leaving the head to overwinter in the ground as mature larvae. Pupation and emergence of adults occurs the following summer.

This insect usually affects only a small proportion of plants within a field, typically within border rows, and rarely warrants treatment. However, in Kansas it has become sufficiently abundant in some years to cause appreciable yield losses. Treatment should be considered if 10% or more of flower heads have been clipped and adult weevils are still active within the field. Applications directed at sunflower moth will normally afford some control of head-clipping weevils. If treatment is necessary for head-clippers specifically, follow material recommendations for sunflower moth but target the backs of flower heads for coverage, rather than the flower faces.

Boxwood Fruit Capsule

2008-08-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

Boxwood (Buxus sp.) fruits consist of a threesectioned, horned capsule. Boxwood flowers lack petals and so flowering in early spring often goes unnoticed by humans (bees flock to them). The fruits that follow can also be missed, as their green color blends in with the foliage most of the season. And if the plants are pruned during the growing season, the fruits are likely removed with the trimmings so many gardeners never see the capsules. Most nursery stock is propagated by cuttings of specific cultivars rather than by seed.

Wildscape for deer resistant plants

2008-08-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

As their normal habitat and food sources are diminished, white-tailed deer become more of a nuisance in area yards. While a hungry deer will eat almost any plant, introduced species such as hibiscus become the meal of choice. Several deer deterrents from coyote urine to Irish Spring soap have been used to repel these nibblers, with limited success.

However, certain types of plants are somewhat deer resistant, and provide protection for more tasty varieties if planted as a barrier in front. Among these are plants with pungent foliage – the lantanas and salvias – as well as gray leafed species like Texas sage and santolina. Common shrubs such as Japanese yew, oleander, nandina, pomegranate, pineapple guava and yauopon holly also resist their snacking.

A thick planting of fragrant herbs – rosemary, thyme, oregano including Mexican oregano, garlic chives, Mexican mint marigold, and sweet marjoram among others help keep deer away from less resistant species. Wedelia, often used as a groundcover, is also not a deer favorite.

Larkspur, periwinkles, zinnias and marigolds are annuals listed in the deterrent group – but so are yuccas, and these seem to be especially targeted by white-tails. Some of the damage may not be from feeding however but from bucks rubbing the velvet from their antlers or marking their territory. Broken limbs and denuded bark on small trees indicate male deer have made night-time visit.

Local gardeners build wire cages around small trees they want to save. Cages may not be beautiful but they allow these babies to reach a size deer can’t harm.

Chinese okra

2008-08-07T00:55:00.000-07:00

Also known as loofa, loofah, loufa, sponge gourd, Chinese okra, luffa is actually a plant seed pod. Sponges from the sea are animals. The luffa plant is a member of the gourd family. It grows as a flowering annual vine. The most popular vegetable sponge species are the ridged luffa (Luffa acutangula) and the common luffa (Luffa cylindrical or Luffa aegytiaca).

Luffa flowers and fruits are soft and edible when you. They are eaten like squash or okra. The leaves and the stem of the vine are not edible, and when crushed they produce a bitter compound, the smell of this compound seems to repel insects and animals. Powdered luffa has also been used in Chinese herbal medicine.

Growing you own luffa is fun and rewarding. Once the plant is established, the vine is vigorous and can reach up to 6 meters (20 feet) in length. A strong supporting trellis is a must. Chain fence and lattice works great. It is an annual that requires a long growing season, so it is recommended that you start your seeds indoors.

Soak the seeds overnight for faster germination. Some direct sunlight is good but they produce more in full sun. Remember these plants are tropical in origin and are believed to have originated in southern Asia. Like its cousin the cucumber, luffa is sensitive to cold.

Don’t take the luffas off the vine before being mature and dry. The longer the skin stays on them, the darker they will become. Pick the fruit after the first frost kills the vine. When shaken, you should hear the rattle noise. Cut both ends to help getting the seeds out. In a healthy, mature luffa gourd, there can be 300 seeds. Keep them for next year.

The mature fruit can be made into luffa sponges, which can be used to take a shower as a washrag or back scrubber, as a filter, or as a kitchen potscrubber. Soak the luffa in a bucket full with bleach solution (1 cup of bleach to 10 cups of water) to remove the skin and lighten the color of the luffa. You can grind the luffa and add it as a scrub additive in soap making, and you can dye them any color you want. Soap infused luffas come in milk and honey, rosemary, lavender.

Veggies, Nematodes, Green manure and Fall

2008-07-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Hot though it may be, vegetable gardeners must start thinking about planting fall crops, especially tomatoes. In order for them to bear before first frost, transplants of both tomatoes and peppers should be set out about August 10th. Pumpkin and cabbage seed can be planted even earlier. Rather than pampering leftovers from the spring crop, it is better to pull up old, tired, heat-stressed plants and prepare beds for fall.

Moving tomatoes and peppers to a new location each season will help keep harmful micro-organisms and insects from building up in the soil. When old plants are pulled up, their roots should be examined for the presence of root knot nematodes. If these microscopic worms are present, roots will be knobby and swollen; usually infested plants will be stunted, yellowish and produce poorly if at all. If nematodes are found, all plants and roots should be removed from the beds that can be tilled and allowed to lie fallow until planting time. Summer sunshine helps kill nematodes; beds must remain dry for fallowing to work since moisture prolongs the worm’s life.

Because many tomato varieties are nematode resistant (look for “N” on the label) they have a chance to produce fruit before nematodes are able to invade. Unless the worms can be controlled, okra will not make a crop. A few commercial products are available to treat soil; some contain chitin, found in shrimp and crab shells. Vapam, a soil sterilant, is no longer available to home gardeners.

When no fall garden is desired, cereal rye (Elbon) can be used to control nematodes. If the sun does its work on empty soil until rye seeds are available in October the pesky worms will get a double whammy. Nematodes enter the rye’s roots as they grow, but become trapped there and can’t work their way back into the soil. Cereal rye also provides an attractive green covering for the winter garden.

In early to mid December this green manure can be shredded with a string trimmer or mowed and tilled back into the soil so the roots have a least a month to decompose before spring planting time. When cereal rye decomposes it releases organic acids and stimulates microorganisms in the soil which also help reduce nematodes.

If root knots are found and a fall garden is planned, it is important to look for nematode resistant varieties as well as those that set fruit in hot weather. Sunmaster, Heat Wave and Surefire are three that are recommended for heat tolerance. If a mixture of varieties is planted and a premature freeze hits, at least some of those that set fruit early will have had a chance to bear. If only a few tomato plants are needed they can be set out in large containers. Container tomatoes in a soil-less mix will not be targets for nematodes and can also be moved indoors if a freeze is expected.

Planting bluebonnet seed

2008-07-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

“Why didn’t I plant that?” is the lament of many gardeners when they see blossoms in their neighbor’s yard. To avoid that complaint next March when bluebonnets are in full splendor, plant their seeds this month. This cold season annual must germinate in late summer and early fall, develop a good root system and form rosettes that will shoot up flowering stems when the weather warms. Persons who had bluebonnets this year will find the seeds already sprouting where they fell to the ground.

Only 20 of 100 untreated seeds can be expected to germinate and they do so over a 30 day period but once a bed is established it will reseed for years. Rather than sowing wild seeds in a new area, however it is better to use commercial bluebonnet seed. These have been chemically treated, removing inhibitors in the seed coat that prevent it from taking up water to begin germination. Treated seeds germinate in 10 days rather than the months necessary for wild seeds to sprout and more of them will produce. An alternative is to use bluebonnet transplants when available.

Seeds should be sown in full sun in a well-drained area and barely covered with soil. They will not need fertilizer and should have water only when soil is dry to a depth of 1 inch. Seedlings should be protected from pill bugs and damping off fungi. Masses of one color provide maximum impact, rather than using a variety of colors. They can be interplanted with pansies or other annuals for winter long color. Longer blooming species will also help hide faded brown bluebonnet stalks as their seeds dry and produce next years seeds.

Most Texans know that the bluebonnet is the state flower but not everyone knows that five varieties are included:

1- Lupinus subcarnosus grows in deep sandy loam and is sometimes called the sandy loam bluebonnet. It doesn’t do well in clay soil. It is found from Leon County to LaSalle county and down to northern Hidalgo county. The plants leaflets are blunt, often notched, with silky undersides.

2- Lupinus texensis, the most famous species and the easiest to grow is seen in central Texas. Its leaflets are pointed and the flowering stalk is tipped in white.

3- Lupinus havardii, also known as the Big Bend or Chisos bluebonnet grows 3 feet tall. Found in the flats of the Big bend country, it usually has seven leaflets. This species is hard to grow outside the Big bend,

Lupinus havardii

4- Lupinus concinnus is only 2 – 7 inches tall with flowers of mixed lavenders, white and rose. Called the annual lupine, it is found in the Trans-Pecos region.

5- Lupinnus plattensis comes from the north into the dunes of the Texas Panhandle. It is the only perennial bluebonnet texas has, growing about 2 feet tall. It is also called dune or plains bluebonnet and the Nebraska lupine.

Regardless of species, Texans must plant bluebonnet seed in early fall to enjoy their beauty when spring comes.

Killing the Bindweed Monster

2008-07-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Bindweed snakes up the stems of precious roses; it swallows coreopsis and delphinium; it smothers lilies and dahlias. By summer’s end, it has overwhelmed whole shrubs. You can break bindweed off at the ground and unwind the yards of encircling vine, but it won’t die. In a week, the malicious vine is back again. Its roots live deep below flowerbeds, entwined with tree and shrub roots yards below the surface, and its highly aggressive talons spread out horizontally underground. Once it appears in one flowerbed, it will soon emerge in others. Digging the horrid bindweed out requires a backhoe, incidentally wiping out your trees and the rest of your garden.

Bindweed is a hydra-headed monster that returns every summer, enraging the tidy gardener. Winter doesn’t kill it; the nasty vine just hibernates. A relative of the morning glory family (convolvulus), this nonnative perennial even has small white morning-glory-like flowers! Its seeds arrive in soil on new plants and in compost. Spraying bindweed vines with Round-Up or its competitors usually demolishes the enshrouded plants but doesn’t do much damage to the bindweed itself. Well-established bindweed in a garden is enough to make one think about packing up and moving.

Here is a solution! It involves plastic bags, short plastic ties (or twine), and plant killer. This is the perfect use of those blue plastic bags that protect your newspaper or one of those ubiquitous tan plastic grocery bags. Take a plastic bag and place it over a single bindweed strand that is between six inches and a foot long—preferably before the vine produces flowers and makes seeds. Stick the spray can of Round-Up inside the bag and douse the vine’s leaves and stem thoroughly. Then tie the bag shut as close to the ground as you can.

The sun will heat the bag (darker colors and tighter bags work faster) cooking the bindweed in the poison, which will travel down to the roots, killing the vine. Next year: much less bindweed! Do the procedure again and again until you have conquered the monster completely.

If the space where bindweed is too crowded—such as inside a shrub where other stems are at risk—try cutting off the top of the bag, tying it at the bottom, and spraying down inside. Then tie off the top.

You may not fancy blue plastic bags spread around in your garden, but they beat having the hated vine smother your spirea, lilies, and butterfly bushes. (And you can remove the bags and smile with satisfaction over the rotted vine after about a month.)

Garden Checklist for July

2008-06-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

In spite of the heat, landscapes need attention in July and ready or not we must plan for the fall garden. Persons who grow their tomato, pepper and eggplants can sow seeds now for transplanting later. Fast maturing varieties are the ones to choose so they will produce before the first frost; seed packets tell the length of time til production. Also beds can be prepared for these seedlings as well as for vegetables to be planted in August and September.

Garden soil needs replenishing with organic matter, compost started early in the spring may be ready to use by now. It should smell “earthy” and contain no recognizable material other than a few live oak leaves. Plan to rotate crops this season. Vegetable family groups should not be planted in the same bed year after year because diseases begin to build up in the soil. If the garden area is too small for plant rotation it is better to let the garden lie fallow for a season

To give soul a rest and still have fall tomatoes container gardening may be the answer. Large tubs, plastic pots., half-barrels, anything that holds enough dirt can be planted with a tomato or two. Using a good, enriched potting soil also prevents nematodes. Another advantage: containers are movable, first to a sunny area for optimum production and later indoors for frost protection. Apartment dwellers often cultivate salad veggies and herbs in pots on a patio.

Add mulch to ornamental beds now to conserve moisture.
A drip irrigation hose placed under the mulch will water more efficiently than a hand held hose. Remember that spring flowering shrubs are forming flower buds and if they don’t get moisture, the quantity and quality of spring flowers will be reduced. Although Easter lilies are long past blooming, their unattractive stalks shouldn’t be cut down yet - they are providing nourishment for next year’s flowers. Even with faded foliage, the bulbs need water to bloom well in the spring.
Soaking hanging baskets in a tub of water every few days in addition to daily sprinkling will keep them attractive; they can be fertilized as long as they aren’t dry.
Seeds of annuals can be sown now for fall color, marigolds, zinnias, cosmos and periwinkles are all easy to grow, but beds must not be allowed to dry out as seeds germinate. Using transplants of these as well as petunias and ageratum when the worst of the heat is over will give the same results and save water.
Crowded spring and summer perennials such as day lily can be divided and transplanted to other sunny locations.
Bluebonnet seeds need to be ordered now so they will be ready to plant in August.

Do not forget rose beds. Adequate moisture and an application of nitrogen fertilizer in late July will help ensure both quantity and quality of fall blooms.

Physiological leaf curl in tomatoes

2008-06-11T01:15:00.000-07:00

When tomato plants grow vigorously in mild, spring weather, the top growth often exceeds the root development. When the first few days of warm, dry summer weather hit, the plant detects it has a problem and needs to increase root development. The plant tries to reduce its leaf area by rolling leaves. The leaves curl along the length of the leaf (leaflet) in an upward fashion. It is often accompanied by a thickening of the leaf giving it a leathery texture. Interestingly, leaf roll is worse on some varieties than others.

Though rolling usually occurs during the spring to summer shift period, it may also occur after a heavy cultivating or hoeing, a hard rain, or any sudden change in weather. Too much rain can saturate the soil and suffocate the roots. The damaged root system is less able to transport water, especially when warm temperatures and winds increase water use. Leaf roll is a temporary condition that goes away after a week or so when the plant acclimates, recovers from injury, or soil dries out.

Why do we need rain gardens?

2008-05-29T01:56:00.000-07:00

Many of our forests and other vegetated areas are developed into impervious surfaces like parking lots, roads and buildings. As plants are replaced with hard, compacted surfaces, the rainwater is unable to disperse energy and gradually soak into the ground. Instead this stormwater races across pavement picking up pollutants and sediment as it moves along curbs and ditches to storm drains; which empty directly into local waterbodies.

What is a rain garden?

2008-05-28T01:48:00.000-07:00

The Rain Garden

A garden shaped into a bowl-like depression in the ground to capture rainfall runoff from your rooftop and driveway and allow water to filter into the ground. The plants, mulch and soil in a rain garden combine natural processes to filter pollutants from runoff and break down in the soil over time.

The Six benefits of rain gardens

2008-05-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

Easy to design, install and maintain
Come in all shapes and color schemes
Provide aesthetic appeal while blending into landscape
Provide habitat for wildlife, butterflies and beneficial insects
Absorb nutrients and some heavy metals
Enhance infiltration, stabilize soil and minimize runoff to storm drains

What type of soil conditions are needed for a rain garden?

2008-05-26T01:59:00.000-07:00

Rain gardens are essentially a water infiltration device. Ideally the soil conditions for rain gardens should have high percentages of sand with some loam and/or clay content to support plant growth and encourage infiltration (see red circle in diagram below).

Rather than trying to change your soil conditions, consider working with how your soil drains and picking plants appropriate for that soil type.

Will rain gardens work without plants or just grass?

2008-05-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, just aerating the soil reduces soil compaction but do be sure to cover with some type of mulch. It will also work with just grass but you will need to mow it at 4 inches or at the highest setting. Using plants helps the rainwater to travel more efficiently through the soil to recharge groundwater. Native perennial root systems can extend 2 feet or more if the conditions are right! Turf root systems usually only grow 4-6 inches deep.

Rain Garden - The Suitable and Unsuitable plants

2008-05-24T02:16:00.000-07:00

Suitable Plants

Tolerate periods of saturated soil, yet also thrive under dry conditions
Most natives
Sustainable and low maintenance

Plants NOT suitable for a rain garden:

Trees (growth changes sun conditions and alters spacing available for other plants)
Heavy feeders (ex. Crape Myrtle)
Plants that do not like “wet feet” (ex. Asian Azalea cultivars)
Plants susceptible to root rot (ex. Flowering Dogwood)
Plants with aggressive root systems (ex. Willows)

Does a rain garden form a pond?

2008-05-23T04:38:00.000-07:00

No. Rain gardens are designed to allow a typical one-inch rainfall to soak into the ground within three days (Note: a wetland garden would allow water to pool longer than 3 days).

However, after a rain there will be water in your garden. It may even look flooded. THIS IS OKAY! There may be 6”-9” of standing water for up to three days. This ponding will allow for the stormwater to slowly infiltrate into the ground.

Are Rain Gardens a breeding ground for mosquitoes?

2008-05-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

Not if they are draining properly. Most mosquitoes need about a week to complete their entire lifecycle. Mosquitoes are more likely to lay eggs in bird baths, storm drains, corrugated pipe attached to downspouts and lawns than in a sunny rain garden. Also rain gardens attract dragonflies, which eat mosquitoes!

Is a rain garden expensive? And do I have to water it?

2008-05-21T04:41:00.000-07:00

It doesn’t have to be expensive. The main cost will be purchasing the plants (often these are already in the landscape or swap plants with your neighbor) and mulch.

Regarding watering, After planting, yes! First season, yes! In droughts, yes! In rain, no!

Step 1: Locating the Rain Garden - Quick steps to bulding a rain garden

2008-05-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

Observe your yard during a rainfall event. Determine where water begins flowing and where it is going. Rain gardens should ideally be located between the source of runoff (roofs and driveways) and the runoff destination (drains, streams, low spots, etc.). Be sure to consider the following:

IMPORTANT: Do not place rain garden uphill of homes, septic systems or wellheads!

Locate at least 10’ away and downslope of the house foundation, if crawlspace or basement (if home is on a slab locate downslope of foundation).
Locate 25’ away and downslope of a septic system drain field.
Locate 10’ away and downslope of a well head.
Avoid underground utility lines BEFORE you dig.
The best location for the garden will be in partial to full sun (at least 4 hrs of sunlight).

Step 2:Determine Drainage of Soils - Quick steps to bulding a rain garden

2008-05-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

Rain gardens work best when constructed in well-drained soils, but they can also be installed on sites with less permeable soils with more clay content. Determining how the soil drains will help determine the type of plants most likely to succeed in the rain garden.

Pick a few places and dig a one-ft-deep hole for the preliminary infiltration test; then fill with water a few times. Time how long it takes for the test pit to drain. If satisfied with drainage time, dig 2-3 more one-ft-deep holes in that area to get an average drain time. CAUTION: In floodplain areas, dig two-ft-deep holes where high water tables are probable (highest in winter). The table below summarizes what type of practice to use based on drain time.

Signs of an impermeable, compacted and/or wetland soil.

The site ponds water or remains saturated for over four days after a storm event.
Water poured in the dug hole is still there after four days, provided it hasn’t rained.
The soil shows signs of being a wetland soil within a foot of the surface. A wetland soil is often gray with ribbons or areas of brown color. It can also smell like rotten eggs.

Conduct drainage test at least twice at each hole! Also a good time to collect soil for testing to determine proper lime application.

Step 3: Size the Rain Garden-Quick steps to bulding a rain garden

2008-05-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

Determine how much impermeable area (roof top and driveway) will drain to the rain garden area. For example, if the back half of your house will drain to the rain garden site and there is only one downspout, the size of the house’s drainage area would be 1/2 the square footage of the house.

Determine rain garden ponding depth (the depth to which water will pond in the rain garden before overflowing; usually 3 or 6 inches); assume will capture first inch of rainfall.

For 3-inch ponding depth: Total Impervious Area/10 = Rain Garden Size in sq ft
For 6-inch ponding depth: Total Impervious Area/20 = Rain Garden Size in sq ft

EXAMPLE: A portion of a 60’ by 60’ house (4 downspouts total) and 500 sq ft of driveway runs off to the rain garden location. If homeowner prefers a 6” ponding depth and would like to capture 1 inch of rainfall, what size should the rain garden be?

Roof area = (60 x 60)/4 = 900 sq ft

Roof area plus driveway: 900 + 500 = 1400 sq ft
Divide square footage by 20: 1400/20 = 70 sq ft
A 5X14 or 7X10 foot garden design would be sufficient.

Step 4: Constructing the Rain Garden-Quick steps to bulding a rain garden

2008-05-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Consider how rainwater gets to your rain garden. Will the water sheet flow across the landscape from the downspout? Will the water be piped underground to daylight into the rain garden? Lay out the boundary of the garden to keep a shape. You can use a rope, spray paint or even flags to outline your shape. Keep in mind how you determined the infiltration time period in Step 2.

NOTE: Always determine where utility lines are located BEFORE you start to dig.

If present, remove and save sod for berm and weir
Remove any topsoil and set aside.
Dig to account for chosen ponding depth (3”, 6” or 9”).
Dig to account for 3” of mulch.

NOTE: Over 9 inches of ponding depth can be a safety hazard and your rain garden will look too deep.

Rough up 4”-6” of the bottom so it is not compacted and mix in topsoil you removed earlier. This will not only improve drainage but help plants survive.
This is a good time to apply lime if you took a soil test.

Forming the Berm and OverflowWeir

Your rain garden is designed to capture the first inch of rainfall. Rainfalls larger than 1” will cause the rain garden to overflow. Rain gardens should have distinct entrances and exits to prevent erosion.

Rain Garden Entrance

Establish a 1’-2’ grass strip or rock border along the upper edge of the rain garden to slow down the runoff water as it enters the rain garden. If piping downspouts to rain garden, make sure the pipe opens up into the rain garden and is not buried.

Rain Garden Exit

You will have lots of soil available from digging. Place extra soil on the downhill side of the rain garden to create a berm, an earthen dam or barrier that holds water inside. Most rain gardens have berms about 3” - 6” tall. Compact the soil slightly with your feet or shovel as you build the berm. Cover with turf grass sod, mulch, plants, or rocks.

You will need to design a weir or nature will do that for you. A weir is an area of the berm that allows water to gently pass over it. Typically weirs are a one-foot wide section of the berm and several inches lower than the rest of the berm. To properly size the weir, use the amount of impervious surface area (see table). Weirs can be covered with turf grass sod or rocks; additionally they can be made of wood. Make sure the weir is level and lower than the rest of the berm.

Adding Plants

Pick your plants based on how your soil drains so you are working with nature instead of against it.

Step 5: Water and Weed the Rain Garden-Quick steps to bulding a rain garden

2008-05-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

Make sure to water every 7-10 days without adequate rainfall (1” per week) until plants become established; usually takes the first year. Once established, plants should be watered in long periods of drought.

Fertilizers are typically not necessary.

Mulch annually. Un-mulched surfaces may develop into a hardpan, a condition in which the soil surface becomes cemented together, forming a hard, impervious layer. Mulch 2-3 inches of hardwood mulch after 1st frost in fall or last frost in spring otherwise the plants could be insulated too soon.

Weed regularly during plant establishment, as newly planted species may have a tough time competing with weeds. Once plants become established, less weeding will be required.

Pruning may be needed to let some of the other plants grow. In the winter, leave dormant plants standing and deadheads for bird food. Cut back in the spring.

Keep your garden healthy and clean. Rain gardens should be periodically cleared of dead vegetation and any debris that may collect. Replanting may be necessary over time. If a plant is not doing so well in one location of the garden, it may have to be moved to a wetter or dryer area.

Your garden may need a bit more maintenance than a lawn in the beginning, but in the long run it will be easier to care for and provide many added benefits!

Persimmon - No fruit?

2008-05-11T05:51:00.000-07:00

Female persimmon flower

Do you have a persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, tree that has never produced fruit? Perhaps, you have a male tree but no female tree in the vicinity. Or, perhaps you have a female tree, with no male tree in the vicinity. Persimmon flowers are primarily dioecious; that is, each sex is on a separate plant.

However, with persimmon trees, sometimes both sexes are present on the same tree. And, persimmons rely on bees to transfer pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers in order to produce fruit. Honeybees generally travel a mile from their colony; with perhaps a maximum of three miles.

Male persimmon flower

Persimmons bloom in late May and early June. At flowering, you can determine whether a particular tree is a male, female, or a little of both. The quickest and easiest way to determine the difference without differentiating between stamens and pistils, is that the female flowers (see pictures) have relatively large green leaf-like structures (calyx) above the flowers (which are still noticeable above the developing fruit a few weeks later from the female flowers). The leafy structures above the male flowers are much smaller and held tighter to the flower.

June bugs, grubs

2008-05-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

Insects that are emerging now spell trouble for local lawns. June bugs, also known as May or June beetles are coming out of the ground and are banging against porch windows and lights. Soon they will mate and become the parents of white grubs, (grubworms) that harm turf by feeding on roots and other underground plant parts. Some white grubs are the larvae of other species of beetle such as the southern masked chafer.

Bermudagrass, zoysia and St. Augustine are all affected by grubs. Damaged areas in lawns become yellowish and eventually turn brown. The whole grass plant can be pulled up, and where extensive damage occurs, entire sections of sod can be rolled up from the ground. Knowing the insect’s life cycle can help homeowners know when to look for grubs to prevent damage to their lawns.

Most grub producing insects take a year to complete their life cycle. The May beetle requires two years to develop but for beetles with one year cycles, the adults emerge from the soil and fly at night, usually after a hard rain or deep watering. Their flights may last for several weeks. Mating and egg laying occur during these times. Males, but no females, are attracted to lights and often sound like hail hitting windows and doors. After mating, females dig holes 2 to 5 inches in the soil and lay 30 to 40 eggs which hatch in about 2 weeks. The creamy white, curved larvae, or grubs, pass through three larval stages, or instars.

The first two instars last about 3 weeks, but the third instar actively feeds until cool weather. These do most of the turf damage because of their large size and voracious appetites. When cool weather arrives, grubs stop feeding so treatment during the winter is ineffective. The pupal state where the grub transforms into an adult beetle follows the third instar. This state lasts about 3 weeks during the spring.

The best time to check for grubs and to treat if necessary is five to six weeks after the heaviest June beetle flight. Optional treatment times for grubs are late June to early July. To check for grubs, examine several sites in the lawn taking soil samples about 4 inches across and at least 4 inches deep – deeper in sand soil. If over five grubs are found in a square foot total sample per 1000 sq ft., treatment may be justified. Don’t treat damaged turf “just in case” as the problem may be a fungus disease such as Take-all patch. Several insecticides are registered to use for grubs including diazinon and isofenphos (Oftenol*). Watering deeply the day before application will help chemicals penetrate better but don’t treat before a heavy rain is expected.

Non chemical controls include beneficial nematodes; (“Milky spore” has not proved effective for Texas grubs). Spiked sandals used for aerating turf have shown to reduce grub populations up to 50% in heavy infestations.

As the weather heats up and the air becomes drier, chinch bugs become active in lawns. These tiny insects, black with white wings, scurry through the turf, piercing and sucking nutrients out of the grass blades. As they move to grass surrounding areas on which they have already fed, irregular yellow spots become more noticeable. It may take a hands and knees examination to find them, but when they are present in large enough numbers to cause damage they aren’t hard to spot. They are often more numerous along the edges of cement sidewalks or driveways – places that are extra hot. They can also be floated out by placing a large open-ended coffee can in the ground at the edge of the damaged area and filling it with water. When chinch bugs are actually found is the time to control them with an approved insecticide. Only infested areas need treating, not the whole lawn. Never treat for anything “just in case”.

Visit the gardens at Longwood and Winterthur

2008-04-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

Pierre S. du Pont and his distant relative, Henry Francis du Pont, couldn’t have had more divergent views on what a proper garden should entail if they had tried. One favored rigid symmetry while the other preferred his gardens to look as if nature herself had created them. Both du Ponts created distinctive gardens.

Pierre S. du Pont, one time head of the du Pont Corporation, a man who helped found General Motors, and a man who is often lauded as being “the Father of the Modern Corporation,” sought to bring order and harmony to the garden at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He meticulously crafted alleys, vistas and wondrous waterworks throughout the gardens. Not satisfied with these creations, he then turned his attentions to building a sprawling conservatory, larger than any known before. Today, it is one of the largest private conservatories in the world.

Pierre S. du Pont had always been fascinated by water and by the play of water in fountains and in waterfalls. He designed many of the water features of the garden himself and delighted in dazzling his guests with their exuberant display. He was not above playing practical jokes with those water fountains on his unsuspecting guests.

In Longwood Gardens, the views command attention and usually the views are directed towards the fountains. In order to bring instant impact and framing, Mr. du Pont brought in mature specimens of trees and shrubs, often bringing regional and national attention to his gardens. Of course, this cost more money, but he felt it was worth it.

By the 1930s the garden was nearly complete, and Pierre S. du Pont began looking to the future. He felt the need to leave a public legacy. So he planned that Longwood Gardens would be provided for after his death so that others would be able to enjoy them as he had. He set up a preservation fund, and his vision has become a reality.

Today, one can stroll through the gardens and see the beauty that Pierre S. du Pont and his privileged guests once saw. Plants grow abundantly in the gardens and are tended to by 300 employees, 140 of whom are full-time. One can wander through the lush and exotic conservatory and imagine that one is lost in a period of time when Mr. du Pont himself might appear around the corner. He would undoubtedly be very happy to see the vast number of people enjoying his gardens: the garden enthusiasts, the joggers, the walkers, the photographers, and the families. That is, after all, is the desired legacy of any garden.

Henry Francis du Pont, a softly spoken man who inherited his love of nature and beauty from his mother, strove to plant gardens that looked as though they had always been there and had been formed by nature herself. The only exception in the early years was a golf course that he had built for himself and his friends.

The Winterthur Garden is situated in the rolling hills of the Brandywine Valley of northern Delaware. The gardens are mostly woodlands, divided into areas such as Azalea Woods, Quince Walk, March Bank, the Pinetum, Winterhazel Walk, Magnolia Bend, Oak Hill, Quarry Garden and Sycamore Hill. Most of these terms are self-explanatory. The Pinetum is full of pines and other evergreens. March Bank is so named because it is planted with bulbs that bloom in or about March. The gardens are filled with winding trails and roads that lead visitors at their leisure through the gardens.

Henry Francis du Pont spent every morning picking out the day’s china to match the flowers that were picked from the gardens as he felt those were important details and trusted them to no one else, not even his wife! Henry Francis du Pont also worked diligently to improve Holstein-Friesian breeding programs. He did such a good job that Mr. du Pont's cows broke records and his farms received accolades for several years.

Henry Francis du Pont, like his distant relative, Pierre S. du Pont, also made provisions to leave his house and gardens for prosperity. In the 1940s Henry Francis du Pont began the last major renovations on his home, having the kitchens, bathrooms and dressing rooms removed in preparations for the house to be turned into a museum. In the meantime, he had The Cottage built for his family to move into. Most of us would have gotten lost in this “cottage.” Still, they were downsizing, as the manor had 175 rooms.

Even though the day we visited was hot and miserable, there was still the occasional jogger, family group, business people and tour group winding through the trails, sitting on the trams or eating in the restaurant. And even in the shade of the woods, the plants beckon to the garden enthusiast. Once again a du Pont legacy has been realized.

Vegetable Seed Germination Success Related to Soil Temperature

2008-04-06T00:54:00.000-07:00

Those of you who are planting a vegetable garden this spring should be aware that the overall success of getting a good stand from planting your vegetable crop seed is directly related to soil temperature conditions.

I get questions around this time of the spring on when to plant certain vegetables in the garden. I always mention not to get in too big of a rush to plant if you are planting vegetable seed. Garden crops that can be started from transplants can be planted a little early as long as we don’t get a late frost but seed germination is directly dependent on soil temperature.

In this post, I wanted to give you some information on soil temperature conditions that are required for good seed germination when planting vegetable crop seed. The most important requirements for seed germination are heat and moisture. Germination temperatures for most warm season vegetables planted from seed should be constant at 70 to 80 degrees F. In the following chart, time to germination for vegetables from seed will double for each 10 degrees F. that the soil temperature drops below the ideal temperature listed.

Crop Soil Temp. Range Optimum Soil Temp. Days to Germination

Beans 60 – 85 F. 80 F. 7

Beets 50 – 85 F. 85 F. 5

Cabbage 45 – 95 F. 85 F. 4

Corn 60 – 95 F. 95 F. 3

Cucumber 75 – 95 F. 95 F. 3

Eggplant 40 – 80 F. 85 F. 5

Lettuce 40 – 80 F. 75 F. 2

Peppers 65 – 95 F. 85 F. 8

Radishes 45 – 90 F. 85 F. 3

Squash 70 – 95 F. 95 F. 9

Tomatoes 60 – 85 F. 85 F. 5

Plant your choices of the following "warm-season" or "frost-tender" crops: beans (snap, pole and lima), cantaloupe, corn (sweet), cucumbers, eggplant, okra, field peas, peppers, squash, tomatoes and watermelon.
Plant tall-growing crops such as okra, pole beans and corn on the north side of other vegetables to avoid shading. Plant two or more rows of corn for better pollination.
Make a second planting within two to three weeks of the first planting of snap beans, corn and squash.
Within three to four weeks of the first planting, plant more lima beans and corn. Remember: for better pollination, plant at least two or more rows.
Be sure to plant enough vegetables for canning and freezing.
Maintain mulch between rows.
Plant tender herbs.

Thin Fruit on Trees Before Summer Arrives

2008-04-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

All of you who have fruit trees growing in your lawn and landscape areas should make plans to thin some of the fruit that has been set on your trees this spring. It looks like we have moved past the time of getting a freeze pretty much by now and with very little cold weather occurring after fruit set most of our fruit trees are heavily loaded with too much fruit.

Often when we get some late spring freezes Mother Nature will do some fruit pruning for us but this spring most of the fruit that has been set has remained on our trees. If you don’t go ahead and knock off some of this extra fruit that has been set, your trees will be guaranteed to produce a lot of small knotty sized fruit that will be a big disappointment to you and your neighbors.

Fruit trees that are heavily loaded down with fruit will often times experience severe fruit drop during later periods of stress. This is nature’s way of saving the tree because it cannot support the heavy load of fruit and still survive especially if it turns hot and dry during the summer.

Thinning and spacing fruit apart on your tree limbs will also help in producing larger sized fruit that will be more appealing to harvest and eat later on as the fruit crop matures. By having fewer fruit on the tree, the tree can put more nutrients into growing larger sized fruit that will taste better and be more appealing to you and your friends.

Not only will thinning the fruit help in producing larger sized better quality fruit on your trees, it will also help in reducing limb breakage. It can improve tree vigor and also help in obtaining better insect and disease control during the summer months.

Keep the following guidelines in mind in order to properly thin the fruit on your fruit trees:

• Peaches & Nectarines - thin fruit 6 to 8 inches apart on the limb.

• Plums – thin fruit 3 to 4 inches apart on fruiting branches.

• Apples & Pears – thin fruit to leave only one fruit per fruiting cluster and space the fruit that you leave 6 to 8 inches apart.

Peaches and plums should be thinned first since they set fruit earlier than apples and pears.

Other fruit crops can also benefit from fruit thinning but it is often impractical to hand remove fruit on bushes and vines.

Fruit trees can be sprayed every 10 to 14 days during the summer growing period to control insects and diseases that may attack the fruit. If you are interested in spraying to control insects and diseases, look for sprays that are labeled as home fruit or home orchard sprays in nurseries and garden centers. Make sure to check the label on the product that you find to see if the fruit trees that you have are listed. Some examples of homeowner fruit tree spray products include Bonide 202 Fruit Tree Spray, Green Light Fruit Tree Spray, Fertilome Fruit Tree Spray, etc.

Make sure that if you decide to follow a spray program on your fruit trees that you read and follow all label directions on when and how to apply the product that you purchase.

Lawn chlorosis

2008-03-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

Yellow is a cheery color for flowers – but yellow grass, trees and shrubs, except for those that are supposed to be variegated, may be signs of poor cultural conditions. Yellowing of plants can indicate drainage problems and nitrogen deficiency, but in those cases lower leaves are affected first. Some diseases also cause yellow leaf veins, before the whole leaf turns, but in our alkaline soils the yellowing is usually from iron cholorosis.

Iron chlorois develops when green chlorophyll fails to deveope or is destroyed because a plant can’t take enough iron from the soil. Even though soil may contain plenty of iron it may be bound by as alkaline ph (beginning at 7.5) and isn’t available for plant use. Iron cholorosis usually appears first in young leaves, which will be light green, yellow or even white and often is seen between the leaf veins. St Augustine, beans, Chinese Tallow trees, peach trees and numerous other plants are affected.

Prevention of iron chlorosis includes treating soil so that iron becomes available. Regularly digging in large amounts of well rotted manure or other organic material helps acidify the soil as does adding compost plus 1 pound of powdered sulfur per 100 square feet of garden bed. Acid peat moss also can be used. However, acidity is hard to maintain when irrigation water is alkaline.

Horticulturalists recommend two types of product to increase usable iron in the soil – iron sulfates (copperas) and iron chelates. The latter are compounds that hold iron in a form available to plants and are longer acting than iron sulfate. Sequestran 138*, Ironite* (use the highest rate on the bag) and Ruffin* are examples of iron chelates.

Iron sulfate can be broadcast on lawns and banded 2 - 3 inches around flowers. For trees, it can be placed in 2 foot holes punched with a sharp tool at the drip line; holes should be 1 - 3 feet away from shrubs. . Iron chelates can be broadcast and worked into the soil for various plants including turf grass and trees. Chelates should be watered in well after application. Spray applications of both types of iron should be made when evaporation is minimal, in the late evening, during the season of active growth. Spray applications green up plants faster, but are not long lasting; a combination of spray/broadcast works best. Remember, iron products stain driveways, masonry and clothes.

Fertilize Wildlife Food Plots Again

2008-03-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

If you planted small grain crops last Fall in your wildlife food plots, go back and fertilize them now if you have not already applied a topdress fertilizer application to your food plot areas.

Most landowners and hunting club members do a pretty good job of planting and fertilizing food plot crops in the fall just prior to hunting season. Most will admit that their main priority for establishing food plots is to attract deer to the area for hunting.

Many hunters and landowners will also admit that they think that food plot crops will improve the health of the deer on their land. This is true, especially if the forage in these food plots is healthy and available to deer during the winter and early spring periods.

Cold weather has really reduced a lot of the green browse that deer feed on in the woods and you will find that they will graze heavier on food plot crops now until a lot of the natural browse returns in mid-spring and early summer.

In our area, we will be well into late March or April before our weather will again become favorable for natural vegetation in the woods to reemerge for deer to graze on. Until that time, deer will graze on anything green that they can find, especially small grain crops that have been planted for winter grazing in a wildlife food plot.

Rainfall during the winter has leached out most of the fertilizer nutrients that were applied back in the fall at planting time. With milder temperatures, most food plot crops will really take off and grow with a late winter fertilizer application.

Research that we have conducted here in our area on food plot crops has indicated that deer graze especially heavily on winter grazing crops in January, February, and March. That’s why it’s so important now to go back and fertilize and keep your food plot crops growing at a healthy and rapid pace.

Fertilizing now will also give these crops a boost and keep them growing well into early spring, just prior to the time that does will be giving birth to a new crop of fawns. Does need to be in a healthy growing condition in order to produce and nurse healthy fawns during the coming summer months.

Nitrogen is the key fertilizer nutrient that you should apply to your winter grazing food plot crops. In the absence of a soil sample, you should apply 40 to 50 lbs. of actual nitrogen per acre. Apply a total of about 150 lbs. of 34% nitrogen fertilizer per acre. This is the equivalent of about 3.5 lbs. per 1000 square feet of area.

You can apply a complete fertilizer such as 10-10-10 to your food plot areas if you have not been fertilizing these areas much in the past. If you are applying 10-10-10 fertilizer, apply 500 lbs. per acre or about 11.5 lbs. per 1000 square feet or area.

As a forest landowner and wildlife conservationist, don’t neglect this important practice of fertilizing your wildlife food plots now in late winter. You will be providing one of the most important and beneficial practices that you can accomplish in order to help the deer on your land receive the nutrition that they need, especially during this time when there is not much native browse in the woods for them to feed on.

The Essentials of Organic Gardening

2008-02-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

Organic growing involves

treating the soil as a future resource for future generations rather than for a short term usage,
providing plants with a balanced food supply by feeding the many soil creatures that live with compost, manures, and other organic materials,
reducing pollution of the environment by recycling garden and kitchen waste.
combating pests and diseases without using pesticides, and
creating a safe and pleasant environment in which to wok and play.

The soil should be managed in ways that develop and protect its structure, fertility, and also the millions of little tiny creatures for which it is home. Caring for the soil organically involves regular input of organic residues in the form of manure and plant remains (leaves, stems, roots, bark).

Mineral fertilizers should be regarded as a supplement to and not as replacement for recycling of nutrients through a compost heap. Liquid feeds should only be used on plants growing in a restricted environment such as a pot.

By using organic methods for our garden, allotment, lawn, and flower beds, as well as fruits, vegetables, herbs, everything can be grown free from pesticides in healthy soil away from toxic materials and bad chemicals with compost from recycled materials. Always remember that gardens are important spaces for our relaxation as well as providing a refuge for wildlife. Organic growing is safe for you, your family, and for the environment.

You can feed your soil with homemade compost and leaf mould, allowing for acceptable levels of pest damage, encouraging predatory beneficial insects, choosing disease-resistant plants, planting companion crops, rotating crops, and using insect traps to monitor and control insect populations.

Annuals Ideal for Containers

2008-02-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

Angelonia species - Angelonia (U)
Alternanthera - Alternanthera (C)
Arctotis species - African Daisy (C)
Bacopa species - Bacopa (C)
Begonia - Begonia Species (U)
Brachycome iberidifolia - Swan River Daisy (C)
Calibrachoa - Million Bells (C)
Coleus - Coleus (C) (U)
Diascia species - Twinspur (C)
Dichondra - Dichondra (C)
Dracena - Dracena Spike (U)
Dyssodia tenuiloba - Dahlberg Daisy (C)
Evolvulus 'Blue Daze' - Hawaiian Blue Eyes (C)
Ferns - Fern Species (U)
Fuchsia 'Gartermeister' & 'Mrs J D Fredrick' - Upright Fucshia (U)
Gazania 'Silverlight' - Treasure Flower (C)
Grasses - Grasses Species (U)
Helichrysum petiolare - Licorice Plant (C)
Herbs - All species (C) (U)
Ipomea batatas - Sweet Potato Vine (C)
Impatiens - Double Impatiens (U)
Ivy - Ivy (C)
Lantana species - Lantana (U)
Lobelia 'Royal Jewels' - Trailing Lobelia (C)
Lotus - Lotus Vine (C)
Lysmachia - Lysmachia (C)
Melampodium 'Medallion' (U)
Mercardonia - Mercardonia (C)
Nemesia - Nemesia (U)
Nierembergia repens - Nierembergia (C)
Oxalis - Oxalis (C)
Penta - Penta (U)
Perilla - Perilla (U)
Petunia integrifolia - Climbing Petunia (C)
Phormium species - New Zealand Flax (U)
Plecostachys serpyllifolia - Miniature Helichrysum (C)
Plectranthus argentatas - Plectranthus (U)
Salvia coccinea - Salvia (U)
Sanvitalia - Sanvitalia (C)
Scavoela species - Australian Fan Flower (C)
Solanum - Solanum Vine (C)
Tropaeolum nanum - Nasturtium (C)
Torenia - Torenia (C)
Verbena canadensis - Trailing Verbena (C)
Verbena - Trailing Verbena (C)
Verbena - Cut Leaf Verbena (C)
Zinnea linearis - Creeping Zinnea (C)

(C) = Cascading Plant

(U)=Upright Plant

Annual Flowers for the Landscape

2008-01-31T06:08:00.000-08:00

Many people are visiting nursery and garden centers right now trying to choose flowers to plant in their home landscape areas. Annual flowers are popular because they are easy to grow and bloom during the summer months, adding color to any landscape setting.

Annual flowers grow either during the summer or winter season, bloom, and eventually die when the weather changes from one season to the next. Summer annuals that are mentioned in this article are planted in the spring and grow through the summer months. They die off in the fall when colder weather arrives.

Most annuals will grow well in a variety of soil types as long as the soil holds moisture between rains and drains well during wet periods. Heavy clay soils can be amended with pine bark, perlite, and sand to improve drainage.

Fine pieces of pine bark work great to amend clay soils. Pine bark materials are typically sold in garden centers as soil conditioners. Another tip to remember is that annual flowers grow great in pine bark so if you use pine bark mini-nuggets as a mulch, just turn them under as you end the summer season and decide to plant cold hardy annuals for the winter months.

Be careful not to add too much sand to heavy clay soils. Too much sand can mix with clay when it’s wet and actually can form a hard compacted soil that has the properties of concrete. Use twice as much of an organic amendment such as pine bark in relation to sand if both are added to clay soil for drainage.

If you are planting in an area that is wet or has poor drainage, build up the area you want to plant by making raised beds. Start out by digging furrows along the sides of the bed and then add soil to the top of the bed. Keep adding topsoil and organic matter to the bed so that you make it higher than the surrounding area, which allows the excess water to seep out and run into the furrows around the edge of the bed area.

All annual flowers grow best at a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5. Most of native clay soils have a soil pH lower than this and can be improved by adding lime to the planting area. A soil test is the only accurate way to determine your lime and fertilizer needs. You can run a soil test through Soil, Plant, & Water Laboratory at a cost of $8.00 per sample and can have the results back in about one week.

Fertilizer is also very important when growing annual flowers. Heavy fertilizer amounts applied at planting time can easily burn tender roots of annual flowers. Our standard fertilizer recommendation for annual flowers in the absence of a soil test is to apply 1 lb. of 10-10-10 analysis fertilizer per 100 square feet of planting area and work it into the soil prior to planting. Another tip to remember is that 2 cups of fertilizer equals 1 pound.
Slow release fertilizers such as Osmocote work great when planting annual flowers. They can be applied directly to the planting hole when planting flower transplants without burning the root system and are a safe alternative to use when planting annual flowers. They are slightly more expensive than standard fertilizers but tend to release their nutrients over a longer period of time without burning the root system.

Stay away from using products such as cow manure in areas where you want to grow annual flowers. Animal manures can bring in plant disease organisms that can attack the tender roots of flowering annuals, eventually causing the plants to die.

If you want to establish annual flowers from seed, keep in mind that we can have problems with our heavy clay soils crusting over after it rains. This crusting can prevent some small annual flower seed from germinating. A neat planting trick you might want to try is to make you some furrows about 1.5 inches deep and fill the furrows with vermiculite. After filling the furrows, then plant the seed at the proper depth and spacing in the vermiculite that is recommended on the seed packet for planting. Cover the seed at the proper depth with the vermiculite and they will germinate well after a rain occurs.

After your flowers germinate and begin to grow, always apply a mulch around them to prevent weeds and help conserve moisture. Pine straw, pine bark, or slightly decomposed leaves are great mulching materials to use.

Keep the following suggestions in mind when trying to choose which annual flowers to plant in your home landscape areas.

Easy-To-Grow Annuals: Ageratum, California Poppy, Celosia, Coleus, Dahlia, Four-O-Clock, Marigold, Nasturtium, Petunia, Portulaca, Purple Fountain Grass, Sunflower, Verbena, Vinca, and Zinnia.
Annuals for Shade or Semi-Shade (*): Ageratum*, Alyssum, Balsam, Begonia, Browallia, Candytuft*, Coleus, Forget-Me-Not*, Impatiens, Lobellia*, Monkey Flower*, Nicotiana*, Salvia*, Torenia, Verbena*, and Viola*.

Annuals for Hot, Dry Locations: Creeping Zinnia, Four-O-Clock, Kochia, Portulaca, Snow-On-The-Mountain, Sunflower, Tithonia, Verbena, and Vinca.

Annuals for Poor Soils: Amaranthus, California Poppy, Candytuft, Celosia, Cleome, Four-O-Clock, Iceland Poppy, Kochia, Nasturtium, Portulaca, Purple Fountain Grass, Tithonia, Verbena, and Vinca.

Choose Warm Days to Kill Winter Weeds

2008-01-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

If your dormant brown lawn grass is spattered by a sea of green right now, you might want to go ahead and take care of those winter weeds that are thriving and waiting to seed out in early spring.

Most of the lawn weeds that we see now are winter annuals – these are weeds that germinate in the fall and grow through the winter and then produce seed in the spring and die. These seed lay dormant through the hot summer period and then germinate and begin to grow in the fall to start the cycle all over again. Killing winter weeds now can prevent them from going to seed and hopefully reduce the amount of winter weeds that you may have to contend with again next winter.

Most of the common winter annual weeds that we see now in many landscape areas include chickweed, henbit, annual bluegrass, corn speedwell, hairy bittercress, and a few others. All of these weeds reproduce from seed so eliminating them now before the seed are produced can help to reduce the amount of weeds that come back next winter.

Homeowners have a wide range of herbicide products to choose from to control winter weeds. The advantage of applying these herbicides now is that your prize warm season lawn grass is good and dormant and the herbicide products that you apply won’t injure your grass.

A few key points to mention in applying herbicides now to control winter lawn weeds are as follows:

Spray weeds when they are dry and not covered with dew – that will increase the uptake of the herbicide through the leaves of the plant. Don’t spray early in the morning when the dew is still on the leaves of your weeds.

Spray at least two to three hours before receiving rainfall. Most of the herbicides that you apply will provide acceptable control if the spray has time to dry on the leaves of the weeds that you are spraying before it starts to rain.

Spray on warm days when the daytime temperature is above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Pick a day when the temperature is 60+ degrees if you can to spray. Also be careful of spray drift and don’t spray when the wind is blowing and wind speed is greater than 5 mph.

Carefully read the label of the product that you plan to apply for weed control. Many herbicides that have active ingredients that can also be taken up by the plant root system will specify that you stay 3 feet away from shrubs and ground cover plants to prevent possible injury from the herbicide to your desirable landscape plants.

Products applied will be slower to work at this time of the year because of cooler soil and air temperatures. The weeds will still take up the herbicide but it may take three or four weeks for the weeds to die because of cooler temperatures, especially cool night temperatures.

DO NOT apply a Weed and Feed product to your lawn grass at this time of the year. Weed and Feed products contain a herbicide that kills weeds along with fertilizer that provides nutrients for the grass. It is way too early to fertilize your lawn grass at this time of the year – wait until your lawn grass completely greens up and emerges from winter dormancy before applying a Weed and Feed product (best to wait until early May to apply these products to your lawn.). We see injury on many lawns every spring that is caused from Weed and Feed products being applied too early as the grass is just emerging from winter dormancy. Uptake of actual fertilizer nutrients by warm season grass species does not occur until the soil temperature reaches 65 degrees F.

We also have a number of perennial weeds that are out there growing during this time of the year. Weeds such as dandelions, wild onions, and cudweed come to my mind right away. These weeds can also be controlled with postemergence herbicide applications made during the late winter period.

There are too many herbicides to use on lawns to even try and mention them in this article. My advice to you is to identify the weeds that you need to control and apply a herbicide product that will control them and is labeled to be used on the type of grass that you have in your lawn.

Freeze Protection and Freeze Damage

2008-01-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

Local gardeners have gotten spoiled after a winter without a freeze, but the past week has shown us that Mother Nature is still in charge. Although areas of the county close to the water weren’t affected, inland homeowners saw damage to some ornamentals and annual. For a short freeze, damage to established shrubbery will be cosmetic rather than fatal, but frozen annuals and vegetables may be ready to compost.

In addition to freezing, plants can be injured by desiccation which occurs when water is lost from leaves faster than it is replaced. The loss is greatest when a strong north wind blows in after a period of warm, sunny weather, especially when soil moisture is low. Thorough weekly watering in the absence of rain encourages roots to grow deep, an added protection from cold weather. If soil is dry, water well at least 48 hours before an expected freeze.

One popular procedure that is not recommended is washing frost off of plant leaves to protect them. Just as a frozen glass object will shatter if warm water touches it, so do frozen plant cells. Water in tissues between cells freezes at 32 degrees F. While the sugary substance inside cells doesn’t freeze as fast, they may rupture as ice crystals form between them and this fluid is drawn out through their cell walls. Even the sugary cell fluid may freeze in sudden and extreme cold as ice crystals form inside the cells and rupture them.

When water between cells begins to thaw rapidly, damaged cells may rupture as the water flows back into them. Sometimes this is seen when plants with heavier leaves are damaged following bright morning sunlight after a heavy freeze – or after the frost has been washed from leaves. Protecting with a light covering before the sun comes out may prevent this type of morning-after frost damage.

Plants that harden after the fall by repeated exposure to increasing coldness develop types of tissue that are less subject to freezing. Also a gradual loss of water makes hardened tissue drier, so fewer ice crystals form.

A freeze is not all bad. Often overgrown plants need cutting back and frozen branches encourage us to do it. Also, a change of species or design may improve the landscape. Spring is our chance to replace those plants we have grown tired of, but which, like some of our clothing, are still “too good to discard”. This is the time to plan for the spring garden, so different species can be chosen to replace those killed by the freeze.

Most plants will put out new leaves and others will sprout from the roots. Wait to cut back anything but the obviously dead. This are is still subject to a freeze until about the middle of February, so patience will pay off.

Exotic Plants

2008-01-06T06:25:00.000-08:00

What is an exotic plant?

It is any plant that has been introduced to an area where there are no natural controls for that plant. As a result, it can outcompete native species. Common examples of exotic plants include kudzu, wisteria, water hyacinth, and hydrilla.

Not all exotic plants need to be eliminated from your garden. Bradford pear, English ivy, periwinkles, and butterflybush are considered exotic plants.

Many gardeners become intrigued by some of the claims made about exotic plants. A case in point is the air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera). It is a beautiful, fast growing vine. Unfortunately, it is also an incredibly invasive plant in many areas of the south, including Florida. Although it is available for sale on the internet, avoid this plant!

Drought Condition and Grapevines

2007-12-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

Grapevines typically have an extensive root system when they reach maturity, if they have the benefit of being planted in a deep soil. Therefore, they are usually very tolerant of drought condition; however, crop quality and yield may suffer. New vineyards must have sufficient water for establishment, because unlike mature vines, new transplants are extremely vulnerable. The timing of water stress is greatest for grapevines in the late spring and early summer when rapid shoot growth and berry cell division occurs. Lack of water at this time can lead to poor berry set and small berries. The next most critical period is during berry cell expansion during the summer. This occurs before veraison (ripening). If water stress is severe during veraison small berry size and delayed maturity may result.

Efficiency of irrigation is important during drought conditions. Soil moisture should be monitored and water applied only when necessary. Included in this efficiency is the functionality of the irrigation system itself. The irrigation system should be in good condition and work properly for the best use of the irrigation water. In a case like this past year when winter precipitation has not been adequate, irrigate early in the season to fill the soil profile. Do not over irrigate, but make sure the soil moisture level is high enough going into the summer that the vines (and the crop) will not suffer.

Some cultural practices that may help in drought conditions are fertilize and prune to produce moderate growth and yields, reduce competitive weed growth in the vineyard, mow or remove cover crops, and thin heavy crops to moderate levels.

Christmas Cactus (Zygocactus)

2007-12-05T19:34:00.000-08:00

The holiday cacti family are the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesi), Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncate), and the Easter cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri). They all have the same cultural requirement. The culture of the Christmas cactus:

Temperature
The ideal growth occurs at temperatures between 70º and 80º F.

Light
The Christmas cactus grows best in light shade.

The secret of good flower bud production involves temperature and dark (photoperiod) control. To flower, plants need bright light, a night temperature of 55º - 65º F, and long nights. 13 hours or more of continuous darkness each day is required before flowering. Long nights should be started at September 15 and continue for eight weeks.

Water and Fertilizing
You need to water the soil (growing medium) when it’s dry to the touch. Fertilize plants monthly. Reduce fertilizer during the fall and early winter.

Growing Medium
The Christmas cactus flowers best when kept somewhat potbound. Repotting will become necessary after three to four years. The potting medium must be well-drained with good aeration. A good mix may contain peat moss or compost and one part of sharp sand or perlite.

Problems
A sudden change in temperature, light, or other environmental factors may cause buds dropping and failure to open. The major disease is root rot which can be prevented by avoiding excessive watering. Insects and related pests include mealybugs, soft brown scale, red spider mites, and aphids.

Drain & Protect Outdoor Pipes and Sprinkler Systems Now

2007-11-22T20:44:00.000-08:00

We’ve already had some frost in our area and cold weather will definitely be here for good before you know it. Now is the time that you should winterize your outdoor pipes and lawn sprinkler system before freezing weather arrives.

Freezing temperatures can cause water in exposed pipes to expand and cause pipes to burst. Any faucet or sprinkler head that is exposed to the cold can be affected. Unless water is turned on at the time, you may not realize the damage has occurred until you turn on your sprinklers next spring.

The following tips and information can be helpful to you in winterizing your pipes and sprinkler system elements.

Pipes should be well below this level when buried in the ground. Other irrigation components such as back-flow prevention valves are at ground level though and could be in danger.

If there are any exposed valves or pipes around your home, tape them up with an insulation wrap or at least use a good old sack to wrap around them. Most home improvement stores have many types of tape or wraps that you can use to keep pipes warm on cold, winter nights.

The tips of sprinkler heads can hold water. When it freezes, they can rupture. The whole sprinkler system holds water also, even when it is not being used. Don’t forget to drain the entire system. If you don’t drain it properly, your sprinkler system could be a geyser when you turn it on next spring.

Arrangements should have been made in the installation process to have a way to drain those lines that would hold water through a buried valve in a pit. If you bought a home with an installed irrigation system, find this drain valve. Some systems are equipped with automatic drain valves.

Also, don’t forget about your outside water hoses. Either leave the hoses hanging outside after your disconnect them from the faucet or disconnect, drain, and store hoses someplace with a constant temperature. This will prolong the life of your hoses.

If you leave hoses un-drained outside during the winter, don’t move or touch them during freezing weather. Frozen hoses are fragile and can break or split easily when you try and move them.

Those of you with private wells should check out your main water pump and tank. Usually a quarter-inch pipe connects to the pressure switch. If it’s metal, it likely won’t freeze. But if it’s plastic, it could freeze and burst. This could cause the water pump to fail or continue to run and cause some major winter repairs.

Hopefully these tips will help you think ahead and be prepared when freezing weather arrives. If these precautions mentioned above fail and a pipe does burst during the cold part of the winter, remember one thing – KNOW WHERE YOUR MAIN WATER CUTOFF IS.

Chlorosis of Pine Trees

2007-11-11T06:43:00.000-08:00

Pines in this part of the country often struggle on our high pH soils. Many species of pine require soils with a pH around 5.2 to 6.0. Many soils in Indiana are 7 or higher. When the pH is this high, the nutrients required for healthy green growth in pines are not available. The result is slowed growth and, more noticeably, a yellowing of the needles.

Pine chlorosis is often more prevalent, or more noticeable in late winter/early spring. While it is not certain why this is the case, it is likely one of two reasons: Soil is often saturated during this time due to rains or snow melt or the plant is preparing to grow. In saturated soils, there is not enough oxygen and the plant cannot take up the nutrients that is needs for normal growth. The new growth (still not visible to the naked eye) may be taking nitrogen from the older needles. This is common in many species, especially those that grow in “flushes” like pines do.

To avoid this problem, make sure that you plant species that are adapted to your soil (and other) conditions.

Annuals that Require Minimal Deheading

2007-10-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

Agapanthus
Agastache
Ageratum ‘Blue Horizon’
Angelonia
Bacopa
Begonia
Bidens
Bougainvillea
Browallia
Caladium
Calibrachoa (Million and Super Bells)
Canna
Cleome
Coleus
Colocasica
Cordyline
Cuphea
Dipladenia
Euphorbia ‘Diamond Frost’
Evolvulus
Ferns
Fuchsia
Gardenia
Gomphrena
Hibiscus
Impatien
Ipomoea ‘Potato Vine’
Lotus
Lysimachia ‘Creeping Jenny’
Melampodium
Moon Vine
Morning Glory
Niermbergia repens
Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental Oregano
Oxalis
Petunia integrifolia
Saliva spp.
Scaevola
Strobilanthes
Talinum
Tradescantia
Verbena bonariensis
Zinnia

Sometimes I love myself best alone

2007-10-08T02:34:00.000-07:00

It’s always the same. As soon as I heal inside and am ready to go out into the world of dating, several things happen that knock the reluctance back into me. This weekend, two very small and simple things happened. Two things that might seem like nothing to another person, but the sheer arrogance and audacity displayed in these events has annoyed me to the point where I’m just not interested in dealing with men right now.

Now, we all know about the special retard that misread my email and thought I was in love with him. He believed this so fiercely that he even emailed me lyrics to a fucking song like some kind of syphilis-deteriorated brained dumbass. This, I suppose, was the prelude.

Saturday morning I got up and was enjoying my morning coffee. I was deep into Food Network programming when the phone rings. It’s about 10 AM at this point. I look at my caller id and realize what number it is. I have seen this number about 100 times before and I got angry.

The backstory is this…I used to do the whole internet dating thing. Had an ad on the Salon personals and met lots of men. I gave my phone number out and talked to some of these guys before meeting up with them. I haven’t looked at the Salon personals in over a year. My story of irritation with all things with a penis revolves around two men in particular.

Scary Stalker #1 is married. After finding this out, I really had no interest in him. He seemed nice, but something told me there were things not right with him. He comes to Philly a lot, lives in Hoboken, and wanted to meet up. My gut told me not to. I mean, he was married. This was 3 fucking years ago.

This freak has been calling me ever since. We have never met. Let me repeat that. I first met him through the internet 3 years ago and we have never met. Yet, he seems to think it’s okay to call me repeatedly. He’s called me at work. He even got my new work number by looking up my company and calling the main switchboard. Fucking scary.

I’ve tried to blow him off. I’ve tried to be nice. I’ve ignored his calls and emails. I thought he would have given up by now. I mean, he never met me. He doesn’t know me. What is up with the constant calling? Seriously. It’s fucking scary. This man has called me over 10 times at my work number.

And he’s fucking married…..yeah, let’s not forget this.

Anyhow, after ignoring that call, I get settled down deeper in the couch and turn on a movie. I’m ready for a very lazy morning. Around 11:30 AM my phone rings again.

Backstory on Scary Stalker #2…um, met him online and gave him my number. Again…3 years ago. 3 FUCKING YEARS. 3 fucking years. After talking to him a few times, I just wasn’t feeling it. Mostly because he told me that he was seeing someone, but still wanted to talk to me. Story of my fucking life. The last time I spoke to him was over a year ago and I just went cold talking to him. I just didn’t feel anything. Cold. I never returned or answered any more of his calls.

And yet, there he was calling me. Why? That’s what I’m thinking. And he called again on Sunday too. Doesn’t ever leave a message. Just fucking calls. I HAVE NEVER MET HIM, WE WERE NEVER IN A RELATIONSHIP, I SPOKE TO HIM ON THE FUCKING PHONE A COUPLE OF TIMES. Fucking hell.

The fact that these two men could think of nothing better to do than call a woman they spoke with telephonically a few times years ago is kind of sad. But, it’s also the arrogance of these gestures that have left me thoroughly pissed. What did they expect me to do? Fall all over myself in ecstasy and adoration?

And here I am again….dreading dating and dealing with men who seem to think that we women are awestruck at your giving us a moments attention.

Fuck.

Plant Pansies Now for Winter-Long Color

2007-10-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Pansies are excellent plants to incorporate into your landscape to add color and beauty during the winter months. There are more than 300 pansy cultivars available for planting and they come in a wide array of colors. Some color suggestions include planting white, gold, and yellow colors with purple. Bright yellow or orange varieties go well with darker maroon and blue as well. Some pansies even offer pastel colors to choose from.

The planting time for pansies in our area is critical for success. The period between October 15 and November 1 is considered to be the ideal time to plant. Pansies that are planted too early and exposed to the heat will often appear yellow and the stems will stretch and be elongated. Early planted pansies tend to flower poorly and become more susceptible to disease.

Pansies also need a site that is well drained. They will not tolerate excessively wet soils. If wet conditions at the planting site may become an issue, you should plant your pansies on an elevated bed which not only improves drainage but also increases visibility of the flowers. Build the beds up about 6 to 12 inches higher than the surrounding grade or terrain.

Pansies prefer a soil pH in the range of 5.4 to 5.8. It may be advisable to take a soil sample where you want to plant your pansies to check the soil pH. Do not apply lime to the site unless the soil sample recommends it.

It is advisable to space your pansy plants about six, eight, or 10 inches apart between plants. The six inch spacing will result in a fuller appearing bed but the plants may become overcrowded and more susceptible to insect or disease problems. Once you put your plants in the ground, water them well and then apply a mulch such as pine straw or pine bark mini-nuggets around the plants being careful not to cover up the leaves of the plants or break the plants off.

Fertilize your plants when you plant them with a slow release fertilizer such as Osmocote. Follow the directions on how much to apply. Remember a slow release fertilizer will not burn the plant roots and is a safer way to fertilize at planting. If you want to use a standard fertilizer you can spread 2 cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed area and rake the fertilizer into the top 4 to 6 inches of the soil prior to planting. Apply liquid soluble plant fertilizer about once a month through the winter growing period.

Remove spent blossoms from plants throughout the growing season. This will encourage branching and improve flowering. Deadheading not only helps to prevent insect and disease problems but it also improves the visibility of flowers.

A Wonderful Book on Native Plants

2007-09-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Go Native! Gardening with Native Plants and Wildflowers in the Lower Midwest by Carolyn Harstad . Photographs by Carolyn Harstad and drawings by Jeanette Ming. I.U. Press, 1999.

The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies.-Gertrude Jekyll

Do you know what a “Zombie Zone” is? Do you know why we should use native plants and wildflowers? Are you interested in building a wildlife habitat for birds and butterflies? All of these questions and many more are answered within the fourteen chapters of Go Native!

Native plants include trees, shrubs, vines and soft-stemmed plants that grow and flourish on their own. When native plants are chosen, our maintenance is reduced, our heritage is preserved, and the ecosystem is supported. In this book the author, Carolyn Harstad, offers valuable information about native plants, specific recommendations, and examples of how to grow native plants.

Go Native! contains three parts for a total of fourteen chapters. Part One addresses why we use native plants and wildflowers, how to plan a native garden, and what plants to consider if you are building a new home. Part Two discusses native trees, shrubs, vines, groundcover, and ferns. Part Three offers information on prairies and meadows, wetlands, woodland gardens, wildlife, birds and butterflies, and invasive exotics, and it concludes with some of the author’s final thoughts. Parts Two and Three, which tells everything gardeners need to know about gardening with native plants and wildflowers in the Lower Midwest, begins with informative material and answers questions such as, Why should I choose native trees? How do I plant a bio-hedge? How can a vine enhance my garden?

Go Native! offers information on a number of native plants, including a drawing, plant requirements, propagation, and plant lore. The plant photography, also by the author, is grouped within two sections of the book and includes stunning snapshots of a variety of plants and settings where the author has captured them at their zenith. Go Native! also outlines 125 native plant drawings along with about 100 photographs.

Harstad is a Master Gardener and is one of the founders of two successful organizations— The Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society (1993) and the Indianapolis Hosta Society (1986). In 1990, she wrote the wildflower guidelines still used by 4-H members. Besides being a garden lecturer, nature photographer, certified landscape design critic, and a contributor to several gardening newsletters, Harstad has had a long-term love affair with native plants and wildflowers. Her book, Go Native! is reflective of her passion.

The more I read Go Native!, the more I wanted to learn about native plants and wildflowers. I was inspired and began mentally constructing an area in my yard that I could emphasize some facet of the book. I gave myself kudos for having already planted some native plants, and now better understand why the birds, bees, and butterflies seemed to be more abundant every year in my gardens. I am pleased to say that the information I learned from Go Native! will benefit me and my gardens for years. The book contains a plethora of information, and I place it on the top ten lists of summer reads.

Annuals that Require Minimal Deadheading

2007-08-28T06:34:00.000-07:00

Annuals Annual Vines

Agastache Cathedral Bell

Ageratum 'Blue Horizon Exotic Love

Angelonia Moon Vine

Bacopa Morning Glory

Begonia

Bidens

Bouganvillea

Browalia

Calibrachoa (Million Bells & Superbells)

Cleome

Coleus

Cuphea

Evolvulus

Fuschia

Gomphrena

Impatien

Lantana

Melampodium

Niermbergia repens

Ornamental Oregano

Petunia integrifolia

Salvia chemaedryoides

Salvia guaranitica

Salvia 'Indigo Spires'

Salvia 'Victoria Blue'

Scaevola

Talinum

Verbena bonariensis

Zinnia (Creeping Zinnia)

Cathedral Bells

Exotic Love

Moon Vine

Morning Glory

Cactus Garden

2007-08-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

You can plant cactus indoors in a container, or if the weather allows, you can plant outside as well. Cacti require a sandy, gravel soil with very good drainage. Some people are fascinated by cacti and they become a passionate hobby (it requires little care and patience). Others dismiss them as being not quite “real houseplants.”

Cacti can be very attractive and beautiful when they flower. For a container dish, use a “cactus compost” or make your own soil from sand, peat moss, your own compost, etc.. The cacti plants you want to use are Euphorbia submammilaris, rose pincushion (Mamilaria zeilmanniana), Cheiridopsis candidisima, Astrophyton ornatani, prickly pear (Optia).

You need to study every cacti to find what they like. The first step is to find the right container.

There are many kinds of cacti: desert cacti and forest cacti. Forest cacti have flattened leaf-like stems. They are the most popular type of cactus. To keep them flowering well each year, remember not to treat them like ordinary cacti.

Succulents vary enormously in their requirements. Some, such as Sempervivum are tough and frost-tolerant.

Some cacti and succulents make good focal points in plants. Cacti are very collectible and you can grow literally hundreds of them in a modest-sized home. A variety of cacti and succulents have culinary uses as well as medicinal uses. The tallest cactus is Pachycereus pringlei (19.2 m) and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana.

Succulent simply means a plant that has adapted to dry conditions and can retain moisture with minimal loss from its leaves. Cacti are succulents, but in all but a few primitive species, the leaves have become modified to spikes or hairs and the stem has taken over the function of leaves, being thick, fleshy, and with the ability to photosynthesize.

Hiroshima

2007-08-06T02:35:00.000-07:00

It was 62 years ago today we dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Approximately, 140,000 people died from this bomb in Hiroshima alone. Most of these people were civilians just going about their day.

3 days later, we dropped another atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Another 74,000 people dead. Mostly civilians.

In the years after, 160,000 people died from radiation poisoning.

Man is a disgusting creature.

We have no business being so righteous in this country.

Let’s hope nobody ever uses these types of bombs again. Although, I think that hoping for this might be a fool’s dream. I believe in my lifetime or my children’s that someone somewhere will be dumb and soulless enough to use nuclear weapons again.

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”—Albert Einstein

“Let me say only this much to the moral issue involved: Suppose Germany had developed two bombs before we had any bombs. And suppose Germany had dropped one bomb, say, on Rochester and the other on Buffalo, and then having run out of bombs she would have lost the war. Can anyone doubt that we would then have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a war crime, and that we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at Nuremberg and hanged them?”—Leo Szilard

”He knew he was beginning the process of annihilation of the species. It was not just a war crime; it was a crime against humanity.”—Peter Kuznick about Harry Truman

“The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan.”—Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet

“The use of [the atomic bombs] at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.”—Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to President Truman

It’s good to remember these things, so that they never happen again.

Fall is Good Time to Go after Fire Ants

2007-08-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

Fire ant colonies have been growing through the summer months and have reached their peak size now in the fall. Attacking those colonies in the fall will help prevent a fire ant explosion next spring as reproductives resume swarming and mating.

Fire ant baits are the most effective way to control fire ants and the fall is an excellent time to treat because they are more active now and are actively foraging for food. Fire ants are most active when the daytime temperatures are between 70 and 85 degrees F. Actively foraging fire ants will pick up bait and carry it back to their nest within the first hour or two after it is applied.

With the cooler fall weather, fire ants are not as deep in the ground. This factor makes it easier to kill them with other insecticide formulations as well such as mound drenches, granular and dust formulations, and aerosol contact products. To be effective treating with products like these you must get the insecticide to the queen and brood when they are near the soil surface.

In the fall you are also treating fire ant colonies that are very young. Even though fire ants mate all year long, most of the mating occurs in the spring. Fire ant queens then fly away after mating and establish new colonies. These colonies are well established but are still fairly small in the fall of the year.

With the dry weather that we have had, fire ant mounds are not as prominent as they would be if the ground contained more moisture but they are still there. So, how to you treat for fire ants effectively if you can’t really see the mounds right now?

Broadcasting a fire ant bait material is the best way to treat for them at this time. Always follow all label directions on any fire ant bait material and never apply a fire ant bait product in a spreader that has been used to apply fertilizer. Fertilizer can contaminate the smell of the bait and make it less effective. It is best to apply a fire ant bait material in a new spreader that that can be dedicated to applying fire ant bait only.

Individual mounds that you can see that may be close to your home walkway areas can be treated with contact insecticide products labeled for fire ants. Always apply the proper amount of the product as listed on the label and don’t over-apply any insecticide. Sometimes people figure that if a little works some a lot will work better. That is not the case with insecticides labeled for fire ants. Over application of insecticides leads to environmental problems that can eventually result in insecticides being cancelled and taken off of the market.

Finally, treating fire ants in the fall will work extremely well because fall is followed by winter. Extreme cold is tough on fire ants. That also makes fire ant baits even more effective in the fall. Baits take a longer time to work but as they begin to work they make the colonies weaker and less likely to survive the challenges of colder winter weather.

The following is a list of fire ant bait products. The trade name of the product is listed first with the active ingredient in parenthesis: Ascend (avermectin), Amdro (hydramethyinon), Award (fenoxycarb), Enforcer (abamectin B1), Extinguish (s-methoprene), Maxforce (fipronil), First Strike (hydromethylnon + s-methoprene), Distance, Spectracide (pyriproxyfen), and Justice, Eliminator (spinosad).

Typically fire ant bait products are applied at a rate of 2 to 5 tablespoons per mound or 1 to 1 ½ pounds per acre broadcast. Read the label for rates.

Treat fire ants now in the fall if you really want to make a difference in controlling fire ants in your lawn and landscape areas.

How to Attract Butterflies and Hummingbirds to Your Garden

2007-08-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

Butterflies are looking for two things when they are in your garden
1. Nectar
2. Host plants for the female to lay eggs and to feed the caterpillars

Hummingbirds are looking for nectar.

Butterflies

Nectar plants are plants that their flowers produce a sweet fluid. Many of our native butterflies prefer plants that have pink, red, purple, yellow or orange flowers. Most butterflies must land in order to get the nectar. They prefer plants that have clusters or short, tubular flowers, or flowers with large, flat petals. Butterflies are active from early spring through frost.

Host plants provide a place for the female to lay her eggs on the type of plant that the caterpillar can use as food. Always remember that if you don’t provide host plants, you will have few butterflies.
Butterflies love sun. Supply them with dirt to eat in order to obtain minerals. Provide a puddling place by filling a shallow pan with coarse sand.

Plants for butterfly gardens include asters, azalea, bee balm, blueberry, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, coneflower, goldenrod, impatiens, Joe Hayes weed, lilac, marigold, verbena, and yarrow

Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds also feed on flower nectar and many small insects. If you want to use a feeder, hang the feeder in a shaded area. The feeder should be cleaned every 3-5 days and should be filled with a solution of one part sugar to four parts water. The concentration of sugar should not exceed the natural concentration for the nectar. Don’t use honey. Keep it away from ants.

There are many different types of food that hummingbirds eat, including Turk’s Cap, red buckeye, and coral honeysuckle.

August Gardening Tips

2007-08-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Now is the time to decide on your garden plan for next year, since fall is the best time to plant or transplant most bulbs, perennials, shrubs, and trees. Place catalog orders now for fall planting.

Common pests:

(1) Spider mites thrive in hot, dry weather. They feed on plant juices, leaving webs on the underside of leaves and laying their eggs in the webs. The simplest control is to hose them off the foliage. For severe problems, spray with an approved chemical according to label directions.

(2) If your euonymus is dropping leaves, check the stems and undersides of the leaves for tiny, needle-like, white insects and a scattering of small, brown, shell-like shapes. This is euonymus scale (males are white; females brown).

Pull out and dispose of dead or dying plants to prevent a build-up of disease and insect problems. The longer they stay in the garden, the greater the chance for carrying over problems to next year.

Many plants look wilted on hot afternoons because their roots can't take up water fast enough to compensate for the water evaporating from the leaves. If there is enough soil moisture, they will recover by late afternoon. If they don't, water deeply first thing next morning.

If azaleas look yellowed or pale, check the soil pH -- they need acid soil because alkalinity locks up iron needed for green color. Get a soil test kit from any County library and get a soil analysis.

Preserve summer herbs by chopping them into an ice-cube tray; cover with water and freeze. Store the cubes in plastic bags in the freezer, and add them to dishes as you cook.

Let your favorite herbs in the garden self-sow for next year, or collect and save the seeds for spring planting.

For dried winter arrangements, bright yellow, orange, pink and blue flowers retain the best color. Red and purple flowers darken; white flowers usually turn buff or tan.

Hispanic Herbs - Organic gardening

2007-07-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

We should keep in mind that early gardeners in Mexico did not use chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. In our modern garden, we depend too much on those chemicals. Herbs and spices, which are derived from different parts of plants (bark, leaves, seeds, rhizomes, buds, stems, roots, and fruits) are used to preserve food and add flavor to soups and salads, pasta and vegetable dishes. Culinary Hispanic herbs, like many herbs, provide a unique aromatic quality to food and provide health-promoting properties. Herbs include Garlic, onions, herbs of the mint family, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley family, dill, fennel, cumin, coriander (cilantro), ginger, turmeric. In Mexico City, you can get roasted duck with pomegranate and thyme sauce, grilled chicken with oregano, beef with marjoram.

Grow herbs anywhere that gets 6-8 hours of sunlight. Herbs can be annuals (basil), biannual (parsley), and perennials (rosemary). Fertilize herbs at planting time with compost tea or diluted fish emulsion. Mulch herbs to prevent weeds, but sure to pull the mulch back around reseeders and herbs that you want to spread. Maintain most herbs on the dry side once established. Compost and manure make good fertilizers.

Pinch plants regularly for cooking and rooting (stem or root cutting). Keep an eye on insects; stomp and squish the first you see. Hang yellow sticky bars in the garden to monitor insect populations.

Growing Hispanic herbs is the same as growing any other type of herb. Use a good site—a good fertile soil and good healthy seedlings or a good source of seeds. Good drainage in the soil is a must. The pH range is 6.5 to 7.5).

Some culinary herbs include angelica, anise, basil, bay, borage, caraway, catnip, chervil, chives, cicely sweet, comfrey, coriander (cilantro), fennel, horehound, hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, lovage, marjoram, oregano, parsley, peppermint, sage, thyme, and tarragon.

5 steps to growing beautiful, healthy roses

2007-07-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

Roses are famous for their beauty, aroma, versatility, and popularity. There are a few things to remember before ordering or planting roses, like their height/spread, the growth rate, and their ornamental features.

Unfortunately, most roses are susceptible to many pests and diseases such as black spot, which is caused by a fungus. You should always choose disease-resistant roses. Powdery mildew, stem canker, and dieback are caused by various species of fungi. These fungi enter healthy canes through the tissue.

Roses are easy to grow. Here are the steps to growing beautiful, healthy roses.

Choose locally adapted varieties. Public rose gardens are good sources of rose information, as well as the American Rose Society.
Location. Most roses (like herbs) need a minimum of 6-8 hours of direct sun. Less sun means fewer blooms and more disease problems.
Water and mulch. Deep irrigation, especially during dry seasons, is a must. Mulch with compost or bark chips to conserve moisture and reduce weeds.
Prune and deadhead. Roses need annual pruning during dormancy to keep them healthy and vigorous. Remove the faded flowers (deadheading) by cutting stems back to the first growth with five leaflets.
Control insects and disease. Insects pests include Japanese beetles, aphids, and whiteflies.

Deep watering always promotes deep root systems that help the rose to survive droughts. As cold weather sets in, reduce watering.

Water and Mulch: The Best Defenses Against Summer Heat

2007-07-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

Savvy watering and mulching practices that start in the spring are the keys to survival for the summer garden. They produce sturdy, deep-rooted plants that can survive your August vacation.

Watering

The first principle of watering is to water deeply, but not frequently. Frequent, shallow watering encourages plant roots to grow just in the top few inches of soil. Shallow-rooted plants are at risk in hot weather when the top layer of soil dries out. This is true for lawns as well as garden plants.

How much to water. The rule of thumb is one inch of water per week. If natural rainfall provides enough water, great; if not, we must make up the difference. But don’t water more than once a week except in the hottest weather (container-grown plants, which dry out more quickly, may need daily watering at that time). To measure rainfall or sprinkler output, you can buy a rain gauge at a garden center, or make your own by marking off the inside of a can in inches and sinking it partway into the soil.

You can also tell when the garden needs water by poking your finger into the soil. If the top 3 inches are dry, it’s time to water. Your grass needs water if the blades curl and turn crisp and bluish in very hot weather.

Too much water is as bad as too little, because it drives air out of the soil, drowns roots, and promotes pathogens. For that reason I’m not a fan of automatic watering systems that come on whether or not water is needed. If you can ball up a handful of wet soil and it holds its shape without crumbling, the garden is too wet. Let it dry out before you water again.

When to water. The best time is early morning. The sun and soil are not yet hot enough to evaporate the moisture too quickly, and the foliage has time to dry off before dark. Darkness plus damp foliage is the perfect recipe for many fungus diseases.

The soaker hose. After trying various types of sprinklers, my favorite watering device is the soaker hose, buried under a layer of mulch and left in place through the growing season. If you fasten it down with sod nails (also known as anchoring pins), it will lay out for you obediently instead of trying to coil back into fetal position. A soaker hose drips water under extremely low pressure, at barely more than a trickle, so you have to run it for a good 4 hours to get deep watering.

A soaker hose will gently drip-water the garden.
It can be left in place all summer, anchored with sod nails.

Mulch

In nature, leaf litter and other decomposing plant and animal tissues protect and renew the soil. In the garden we use mulch for that purpose.

Mulch protects garden plants in three important ways:

It keeps down weeds.
It retains soil moisture.
It stabilizes soil temperature.

A fine organic mulch (such as dry fall leaves chopped up under the lawnmower, dried grass clippings or pine needles, or Virginia Fines shredded pine bark) provides two additional benefits:

It replenishes the organic content of the soil as it decomposes.
You don’t have to remove it in the spring to get rid of overwintering insects and funguses, which take up residence in coarser mulches that don’t break down into the soil. Just layer fresh mulch right on top.

Lay the mulch 2-3” deep, and 2-3” away from plant stems (damp mulch against stems will rot them).

Watering Tips for Hot Dry Weather

2007-07-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

As we enter the month of July experiencing hot dry weather conditions, we all need to conserve water as much as we can. Many of our lawn and landscape plants are suffering as we experience 100 degree days with little or no rainfall. Please consider the following tips to make sure that you are using what water you can apply to your plants in a wise and effective manner.

Many homeowners have hanging baskets on their porch and patio areas. Don’t forget to water these plants periodically as they also suffer greatly during hot dry weather periods.

Hanging baskets and container plants are actually more susceptible to heat and drying out than are many of our in-ground plants that we have in our landscape areas. Keep in mind that porous containers such as clay or wood dry out faster than plastic or glazed pots. Smaller baskets or containers will dry out faster than larger containers and containers that have large plants in them will dry out faster than containers that have small plants growing in them.

Ideally, baskets and containers should have 1 to 3 inches of space between the top of the container and the top of the potting soil mix. This space will help to hold water as it drains into the potting soil mix when you water your plants. Containers without this space will likely overflow quickly when you try and water them, making you think you have applied a sufficient amount of water for your plants when in reality you probably have not given your plants enough water to prevent them from wilting.

When watering container plants, water thoroughly until the water starts to run out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the container – then stop. Over-watering can cause root rot problems on container plants which can result in wilting and death of your plants.

One symptom that will clue you that your plants need watering are when they wilt and stay wilted late in the evening and early in the morning. Keep in mind that some herbaceous plants may wilt during the hottest part of the day to help keep them from losing water but if they remain wilted in late evening, they need water.
Other symptoms of lack of water include brown leaf tip margins, loss of color between the veins and leaves, and poor growth. Always check your container plants with you index finger and water when it is dry down as far as the first bend in your finger from the tip down. Most container plants probably need watering once a week but this can depend on the type of potting soil mix you have and how fast it dries out.

As far as conserving water and keeping your landscape trees and plants alive and healthy, applying 2 to 4 inches of mulch such as pine straw or pine bark around your plants can help to prevent water loss from evaporation. You can even take two sheets of newspaper and wet them, pull the mulch back, place the wet newspaper on the ground around your plants, and then cover the newspaper with the mulch to hide it and hold it in place. The newspaper will aid greatly in reducing water loss and evaporation and also will eventually decompose, adding organic matter back to the soil. Don’t make the newspaper any thicker than two sheets though or you can smother out the root system of your plants.

Most lawn grasses need about 1 inch of water per week to maintain growth and prevent drought stress. This means in the absence of rainfall you should apply about an inch of water per week to your lawn. Most lawn areas that contain clay will only absorb about ½ inch of water in a short period of time before runoff occurs. Therefore, you should try and water your lawn grass twice per week at two to three day intervals to apply the total one inch of water that your grass needs. Avoid watering lightly every day – this will cause your grass to develop a shallow root system and become more stressed in times when we are not receiving rainfall. Also, watering your grass every day can cause fungus disease problems that can kill your grass.

Water your plants between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. Don’t water on hot, windy afternoons or you will lose at least half of the water that you apply to evaporation.

Finally, don’t apply fertilizers during dry weather conditions. Fertilizers contain salts that will increase the drying effect on the area they are applied to if you are unable to water the fertilizer in after it is applied.

Watch Out for Asian Ambrosia Beetles

2007-06-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Asian Ambrosia Beetle is a borer that can attack a wide range of trees and woody landscape plants.

If you have a tree or shrub that comes under attack from Asian Ambrosia Beetle there will be no mistaking the damage. The Asian Ambrosia Beetle bores into the tree or shrub and as it tunnels in, the female Asian Ambrosia Beetle will produce long thin packed tubes of finely ground sawdust that often remain attached to the trunk of the tree or shrub until the wind or rain knocks them off.

The Asian Ambrosia Beetle entered the US around 1974 at Charleston, SC. Since then, they have become established and have been found to attack a wide range of trees and shrubs including pecan, peach, plum, cherry, persimmon, oak, elm, sweetgum, magnolia, fig, buckeye, and many others.

Adult Asian Ambrosia Beetles and larvae bore into the twigs, branches, or small trunks of woody host plants and excavate a system of tunnels in the wood and pith. As they tunnel, they also bring in a fungus that attacks the plant by clogging up the xylem tissue, eventually causing the plant to die.

Infestations are almost always identified by the toothpick-like spines of boring dust that protrude from the holes where the female Asian Ambrosia Beetles excavate their egg laying galleries. The strings or spines of boring dust may be up to 2 to 3 inches long but are fragile and are easily broken off by the wind or rain.

Asian Ambrosia beetles, unlike some of our other wood boring beetles, attack healthy plants instead of those in a weakened growing condition. It is almost impossible to save a plant once it has been infested with this pest.

The adult Asian Ambrosia Beetles are active year round but are most active during March and April. They mate, lay eggs, and rear their young in the galleries that are excavated in the wood. When mature, the female Asian Ambrosia Beetles leave the infested plants and fly to new host plants. The male beetles do not fly.

Infested plants should be removed and destroyed by burning if possible. Insecticide products currently labeled for wood boring beetles may be applied to surrounding trees in the area as a preventative spray if an infestation occurs in your yard. Up to four applications of a residual insecticide treatment may have to be applied every three to four weeks to stop an active infestation.

Your junk is funk

2007-05-31T02:17:00.000-07:00

Wow. Someone actually commented asking me where I was and I was only gone for a few days. I’m so touched. I mean, I know that some of you think I half-ass it here but it’s nice to know that some people like to come here.

I’ve been really tired this week. The lack of sleep last weekend coupled with my getting up at 4:30 AM everyday this week has kicked my ass. We started summer hours at work and I get every other Friday off if I come in earlier than usual. I have tomorrow off and I plan on doing nothing. Well, I’ll go for a run and then I’ll do nothing. Oh, and I’ll make bagels and bread and then I’ll do nothing.

I’m not sure if I know how to do nothing. Hmmm, I’ll try.

I went grocery shopping this evening. I had to stock up on the gluten free pasta and flour and shit. I really don’t think gluten free is going to be difficult. I’m making bagels and bread tomorrow, so I’ll let you know how they turn out. I’ll be using rice and flaxseed flour. I can’t use soy flour because I’m allergic to soy. I’ve actually become high maintenance. Weird.

Going gluten free is fucking expensive.

So, after getting all my groceries and a cat toy I got in line to check out. I start putting items up on the counter when I get this big whiff of funk. I look up to see an older lady in front of me. It’s coming from her. She’s fully dressed in a freezing grocery store and I can smell her ass funk.

I don’t understand ass funk. If one bathes regularly, one should easily avoid the funk and yet this is a common thing. I go into the bathroom at work and at least once a day my nostrils are offended by someone’s funky junk.

In light of the frequency in which I’m smelling another’s swamp ass, I’ve decided to explain how one can avoid the funk.

Get naked and get into the shower.
Lather up your hands (or if you have issues touching yourself, get a wash cloth and lather it up, and then go get therapy).
Prop your leg up onto the edge of the tub and use your fingers to spread your vaginal lips. Don’t use rub the washcloth over your temple and think you’re clean. You have to get in there.
Now, start rubbing around in there. Soap everything up. Oh, you like that….keep going baby…..it feels good doesn’t it…..now I want you to…..PAY ATTENTION!….I could smell you through your jeans, it was really bad.
Once finished washing your temple, tilt your pelvis toward the stream of water coming from your shower and rinse. If you have a detachable showerhead, you lucky bastards, use that.
Rinse your hands and/or washcloth and re-lather.
Spread your ass cheeks with one hand and then soap up your ass. Really get in there and scrub it good. Shit comes out of there, you know?
Once you feel you’ve cleaned enough, back your ass up to the water and spread those cheeks again and rinse. Don’t you feel refreshed?
Get out of the shower and dry off. Really, make sure you’re good and dry. Don’t put on panties right away. This will only make your shit stew and the funk will get back in your junk. Air your shit out.
Go on and enjoy life with a clean temple and ass.

I hope that what I just wrote wasn’t anything new to you all. And if it was, trust me that you will smell like roses and honey.

Now, I’m going to bed. Kisses and hugs and purple nurples to you all.

Oh, and chai tea is all goodness. Mmmmmmm……

Cool Season Gardening

2007-05-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

To me, it is a blessing to be able to garden al year, even through the cool season which I’m starting to like the best. It’s 50-60º not the 100-110º “heat attack.” You feel more comfortable. I know what you can grow during the rest of the season is not what you can grow in the cool season. One of the advantages of the cool season is we have few insects to deal with and no drought; plenty of rainwater.

The first question we need to ask is what can we grow and when. To start, you need to get the plot prepared, so you need to add compost to your garden. Spread the compost 3” high at the surface of the ground and work it into your garden soil. Always remember that a light, well-amended soil is easier for the roots to penetrate. It holds its nutrients better and drains well after rain.

After planting, use fish emulsion as a fertilizer.

Growing from seeds is the best, simply because of the low cost and greater diversity. Local nurseries don’t carry many winter seedlings, and the selections are very limited. Propagate your own seeds which will take care of your seedlings.

Using a site that is visited by the sun for a good 6-8 hours is needed. We all know that we cannot have a sunny day every day, but a bright light will be good. You soil needs to be fertile, and you need to be sure you have good drainage.

Expect Dead Branches on Trees from Cicadas

2007-05-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

What are these huge locusts that are flying around everywhere with the red eyes? What is that constant humming sound and buzz that we are hearing across the trees around our house? Are these large bugs poisonous or will they eat up everything growing around the house?

These are all calls and questions that I have been getting that began coming in around the third week of April.

Cicadas are flying, plant sucking insects. Adult cicadas grow as long as two inches with prominent wide-set eyes, short antennae, and clear wings held in a roof-like shape over their abdomen. The annual cicadas that we have that emerge every summer and sing in the trees are green with black eyes compared to these periodical cicadas that are more striking in color with vibrant red eyes and orange veins in their wings.

Most cicada species have multiple year life cycles, usually two to eight years. Most cicadas emerge every summer because the population is not synchronized. These are often called annual or dog day cicadas. In contrast, the periodical cicadas are synchronized so almost all of them mature into adults and emerge in the same year.

Periodical cicadas survive underground feeding on plant roots. If something happens to their habitat area such as trees being cut down or concrete being poured over the area they in inhabit and their food source is diminished they will not survive.

Cicadas are harmless to people. They don’t sting or bite. Any injury that you might perceive from handling one of them might be an accidental nibble which would feel like a pin prick. They are also not poisonous and are not known to transmit any diseases.

Adult cicadas emerge from the ground when the soil temperature exceeds 64 degrees F. They fly around and mate and the females begin laying eggs. The entire cycle usually last for about six weeks.

Adult cicadas emerge from the ground when the soil temperature exceeds 64 degrees F. They fly around and mate and the females begin laying eggs. The entire cycle usually last for about six weeks. During this time you can hear a constant buzz or hum across the forest as the cicadas attract each other for mating.

Periodical cicadas can cause injury to small trees and shrubs. The main injury that they cause is by slitting the bark on tender braches and laying their eggs in the slits. This damage is usually minimal and may not be noticed until the branch tips begin to die later into the summer. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae that drop to the ground starting the life cycle all over again.

The use of insecticides to control this insect would not be justified. The cost of applying the chemicals would far outweigh what you might save from spraying. The best advice that we can give is to try and tolerate them at this time because they are more of a nuisance than anything else.

Juts take a good look at them and marvel at the fact that they survive in the ground for so long before we actually see them.

Sooty Mold A Sign of Insect Infestation

2007-05-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

I often receive calls from homeowners asking about a black coating that they see on the leaves of their landscape plants. Many times these calls will involve plants such as crape myrtle, gardenias, azaleas, and several others.

The black substance that occurs on the leaves is actually called sooty mold and its presence indicates that you have or have had an insect infestation on the plant. Most sooty mold occurs on leaves that have previously been coated with waste material that was secreted by sucking insects such as aphids, scale, or whiteflies.

These insects all secrete a shiny waste material as they feed that we refer to as honeydew. This sticky substance falls on the surface of leaves usually below the point where the insects are feeding.

You have probably seen honeydew falling from the tops of trees during the summer months if you have been around trees where aphids are feeding in the tops on tender new growth. Pecans and oaks seem to be the most attractive to aphids during the summer but I have even seen aphids on pine trees feeding on new growth. Heavy aphid infestations cause this shiny honeydew waste material to fall from the trees like rain and it sticks to everything underneath the tree including leaves or even your car or truck.

Not only do aphids secrete honeydew, but whiteflies and scale can also produce this same waste material. Whiteflies tend to occur in large numbers on plants such as gardenias and privet. They also occur on vegetables in the garden including tomatoes, squash, eggplant, beans, peas, and others. A heavy whitefly infestation can cause sooty mold to develop on the leaves of the plants that they are feeding on.

Scale can occur on a wide range of plants. Most scale insects attach themselves to the stems of plants and feed beneath a protective covering that can be hard or mealy white and soft depending on the type of scale that is attacking the plant. They usually congregate most on the new tender growth or on growth from the previous season. As they feed and especially when they are in what we refer to as the crawler stage, they secrete honeydew just like aphids and whiteflies.

Sooty mold is actually a surface fungus that grows off the sugars that are found in the sticky honeydew that collects on the leaves. As its name implies, the sooty mold fungus is black in color and appears like smut on the leaves of the plant. If you rub the leaves with your finger, the sooty mold will rub off of the leaves with a little effort.

Heavy sooty mold that builds up on the leaves can reduce photosynthesis as it blocks the ability of sunlight to enter the leaves. Leaves that are heavily coated can sometimes turn yellow and die and fall off the plant, reducing the plants ability to produce food for adequate growth.

So, what do you if you have plants that are coated with sooty mold? One thing to try is to mix up a little dishwashing liquid in water (only a drop or two in a gallon of water) and spray the leaves of the plant. Let it stay on the leaves for about 3 or 4 minutes and then come back and spray the leaves with a high pressure stream of water from a water hose with a spray nozzle on it. Often this will work in removing heavy sooty mold deposits on leaves.

Be on the lookout for insects such as aphids and whiteflies and check the plants closely for any signs of scale. All of these insects are sucking insects that can usually be found on the new tender growth of plants. If you find an infestation, treat the plants with a labeled insecticide.

On landscape trees and shrubs, it is a good idea to use a systemic insecticide that will go into the plant and kill the insects as they feed. Examples of these types of products include Bayer Advanced Tree & Shrub Insect Control Landscape Formula or Protect & Feed, Ortho Max Tree & Shrub Insect Control, and other products that contain the active ingredient imidacloprid.

ooohhhhhhhhh yyyyyeeeessssss

2007-04-15T02:38:00.000-07:00

Friday night’s date was quite good. John and I had dinner at a small restuarant and I suggested we go back to my place for an after dinner drink. He agreed and when we got halfway to my apartment I told him that I’m pretty sure I’m going to need to have sex with him. He laughed and said, “You sure get to the point, don’t you?”

Once at my apartment, wine was forgotten and we had nasty, loud, rough, exquisite sex…..all night. I don’t even know how many orgasms I had. Seriously, it was like one long orgasm for 10 hours. He is a big fan of going down and I swear I almost died from pleasure. He also enjoyed several orgasms himself. I couldn’t believe how many times he kept, erm, rising to the occasion. It was lovely.

He left late Saturday morning because he had to work the rest of the weekend and wanted to catch a few hours sleep. I took a shower, changed my sheets, and slept for a few more hours as I was totally relaxed.

And guess who I dreamed about? The fucking Pilot. Why? I have amazing sex with a great guy and I dream about another man. I keep wondering what that means. My brain makes no sense sometimes.

Anyhow, John called me last night and today just to talk. He’s cooking dinner for me tomorrow night at his place. I haven’t been to his house yet, so this will be nice. He says he has a surprise for me. I wonder what it is. I can hardly wait until tomorrow night to find out.

Okay, Ill see you all later.

Brown Rot Fungus on Peaches & Plums

2007-04-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

Cool and damp conditions earlier in the spring cause the brown rot fungus to flourish and as we enter the summer season this disease shows up on peach and plum fruit as the trees are producing fruit.

The brown rot fungus is pretty easy to identify. It shows up on the fruit and begins as a small circular brown spot on the fruit surface. As the disease progresses, the spots enlarge and the skin of the fruit ruptures which allows the disease to produce a massive amount of light brown or tan spores. This brown fuzzy growth is what everyone sees right away and you can tell that something is attacking the fruit on the tree.

A fruit or home orchard spray containing the fungicide Captan is commonly used by many homeowners to control brown rot and other fruit diseases. Captan 50WP is a fungicide, which at the rate of 2 tablespoons per gallon of water can be applied to peaches and plums up to a week before harvest for brown rot control.

The brown rot fungus thrives on moisture and is always more of a problem during rainy weather in the spring. It can attack blooms during the bloom period and produces stem cankers on tree branches. As we enter the early months of summer, the disease is occurs on the fruit as it matures on the tree. The spores of the disease can be spread around by insects such as bees and wasp that track across the ripening fruit and fly from tree to tree.

The best advice in the early summer is to pick off and remove any fruit that you see that has the disease to keep the spores from being spread around to healthy fruit by insects. As the fruiting period ends, go back and check for mummified fruit that will hang on the tree after the tree begins to shed leaves in the fall. Make sure and remove any mummified fruit from your trees in the fall to keep the disease from overwintering on the mummies that can remain on the tree.

Finally, plan on pruning your trees around the end of February following the winter period and look for branches that may have cankers on the wood that you can prune out and remove from the tree. These cankers are the primary source of the brown rot fungus that overwinters on peach and plum trees so removing the cankered branches will definitely help reduce the incidence of the disease next spring. The brown rot cankers will cause splits in the bark and may have callused edges around the split. The cankers will also be a reddish brown color.

Debbie as a ninja

2007-04-11T02:24:00.000-07:00

For all of you who have been with me for a while, you may remember me mentioning that I want to be a ninja. Yeah, how cool am I?

Not a real ninja though. That’s ridiculous. I want to be a superhero cartoon kind of ninja. For some reason that isn’t as ridiculous as being a real ninja.

Anyhow, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought (well not that much though but enough to write this post) and these are some of the ideas I’ve come up with to make my ninja form different than other ninjas out there.

I went to this site and checked out all of the gear and shit they had there. They have swords, throwing stars, dragons, and kick ass uniforms. It’s awesome. But then I starting thinking that I could probably come up with a better uniform than what they offered. Something a bit more deadly and sneaky. And fashionable. I’m still a woman. Then I thought, how fucking incredible would it be to have a uniform made from materials that utilized the same chemical processes a chameleon has. Then I could be deadlier because I would just blend in with the scenery, but not just one kind….all fucking scenery. Like Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak except I wouldn’t be a wizard.

Wait, a ninja wizard would be fucking fierce. Instead of a sword I’d have a wand. Yeah, so cool.

Okay, I should focus. Just the ninja stuff for now.

I went ahead and bought the book, REAL Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book. They had so many ideas for how to make your uniforms and how to flip out in such a way that people wouldn’t come near you forever. But, I didn’t want to be that kind of ninja. I wanted to be the super sneaky kind that could chop off a head without anyone even knowing I was in the room, except for the faint smell of lavender. That would be a my calling card….lavender. I would be the lavender invisible ninja.

While ordering the book, I saw The Batman Handbook: The Ultimate Training Manual and thought, “Hell yeah.” What was I to do? Batman or Ninja? Ninja of course, but I felt I needed to give the Batman idea a chance and I ordered the book. I now think that my superhero lavender smelling camouflage ninja self could use sidekick. Someone way less cooler than me, but still able to deal with the amazing super ninja I’m going to be.

But then I saw The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead and I was like, “Ohhhhhh nooooo” cause you all know how I’m deeply afraid of zombies. Vampires, mummies, werewolves, demons, gremlins, Freddy, Jason….I piss from laughing at them. Zombies will make me shit myself. It’s because I really believe that out of all the possible horror movie things that could happen in real life, zombies are one of them. I can’t watch zombie movies because I get so scared I can’t sleep for days. I even have nightmares about them, which I’ve posted here. So, of course I had to buy this fucking book. I knew deep in my soul that this book would prove itself useful and one day those who laugh at my zombie fear will come running to me because I alone have the key to defeating the army of zombies created from a crazy virus that the monkeys brought here from the jungle we cut down. I don’t want to talk about zombies anymore cause I’m getting scared.

I felt that my quest to become a ninja was getting sidetracked and since I was confident I had what I needed to purchase my ninja goods, make my own uniforms (except the chameleon technology—can anyone help an aspiring ninja out), and hire a sidekick….I felt I needed something more. I needed a mentor or sage ninja to guide me in my journey.

I started listening to the podcast, Ask a Ninja, and I knew that I had found the one that would lead me down the right path.

Now, all of you can rest easily knowing that I’m on my way to be the coolest and fiercest ninja ever.
I have to think up a good ninja name.

And be happy that I will be able to protect myself when the zombies finally attack. Cause they’re going to.

Growing Herbs in South Carolina

2007-04-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

The word herb has many definitions, but practically speaking, herbs are plants that are grown for their medicinal, culinary, and aromatic use. Herbs are annual, biannuals, or perennials.

Many common herbs are from the Mediterranean region. They are adapted to

a lot of sun
well-drained soil
soil mixed with stones
climate with a dry summer

Since we have either a heavy clay soil, or sandy soil, we need to work to enhance and improve our soil. Raised bed for that sake has been my favorite since it improves the soil structure and the drainage.

Remember that most of the herbs prefer a sunny location (6-8 hours of direct sun). The fragrance oils, which accounts for herb flavors, are produced in the greatest quantity in the sun. The soil pH should be neutral or slightly acidic (pH 6 to pH 7). Soil has to contain moderate amounts of organic matter.

It is best to determine the amount of fertilizer and lime applications on the result of a soil test.

Annual herbs, such as basil, are primarily grown from seeds. Many herbs are drought-tolerant, but they need moisture to survive. Water herbs thoroughly.

Herbs I recommend for our area include bay laurel, borage, basil, catnip, chamomile, chives, cilantro (coriander), dill, fennel, lavender, lemon balm, lemon grass, lemon verbena, marjoram, Mexican tarragon, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, scented thyme, and winter savory.

Spring Fertilization Tips for Shrubs & Trees

2007-04-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

April has arrived and it is time to begin fertilizing your shrubs and trees in the home landscape. Plants and trees benefit greatly by supplying them with nutrients in the form of fertilizer during the spring and summer growing period. It’s important to remember that a little goes a long way when fertilizing and it is very easy to apply too much fertilizer at one time and burn the plant root system.

Another point to keep in mind is that many shrubs and trees benefit greatly by liming around them to increase the soil pH and reduce soil acidity. Increasing the soil pH can enhance the uptake of nutrients from fertilizer which improves plant growth and fertilizer efficiency.

The best way to accurately determine if you need to apply lime and what type and how much fertilizer you should apply to your landscape plants is to take a representative soil sample from areas around your shrubs and trees and have your soil analyzed.

In the absence of utilizing soil test results, I wanted to give some general fertilization guidelines for shrubs and trees in the home landscape. Keep in mind that established plants can be fertilized two to three times at 6 to 8 week intervals during the growing season for adequate growth and development. Young plants that are less than two years old may be fertilized more often – ex. every 4 to 6 weeks – during the growing season to produce more root and top growth.

Normally, it’s a good idea to plan to fertilize landscape plants when they begin to put out new growth. Fertilizing established plants during the months of April, June, & August or in April and again in July is a good game plan to follow. Young landscape plants can be fertilized every 6 weeks beginning in April and extending into early September.

Established trees are usually fertilized only once in early spring. Fertilization rates for trees are based on the estimated amount of canopy area that is found underneath the drip line of the tree.

When applying fertilizer, it’s important to evenly spread the fertilizer around the shrub or tree being careful not to apply the fertilizer at the base of the plant which can easily burn plant feeder roots. It’s best to apply the fertilizer in a circular area as far out as the drip line of the plant.

Fertilizers come in different grades and types. A standard granular fertilizer that has the analysis of 10-10-10 is adequate for most landscape plants. Fertilizers with grades such as 16-4-8, 12-4-8, 15-0-15, and others can also be used to fertilize shrubs and trees. Deciding on which one is best to use can only be determined from a soil sample analysis.

A general guideline on using 10-10-10 fertilizer is to apply one level tablespoon per foot height of plant. This is equivalent to two tablespoons per 10 square feet of area or 1 lb. which is two cups per 100 square feet of area. Apply this amount of fertilizer per application each time you fertilize.

On fertilizing ornamental trees in the landscape, apply 2 cups of 10-10-10 per 100 square feet of canopy area under the drip line of the tree. This rate is equivalent to two tablespoons per 10 square feet of area around young trees. Young trees that are less than three years old could be fertilized twice during the growing season – once in April and again in June. Be careful to stay about 12 inches away from the tree trunk with fertilizer on young trees to keep from burning the tree root system.

Another good option for fertilizing young plants and trees is to use a slow release fertilizer such as Osmocote. This fertilizer will release nutrients over an extended period to time and will not burn the roots of shrubs and trees. Follow label directions on how often to apply a slow release fertilizer to your plants in the home landscape.

Keep in mind that mulching and supplying water about once a week during the summer months if the weather turns dry will also greatly benefit the uptake of nutrients and the growth of your shrubs and trees.

Plant Combinations

2007-04-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

There are hundreds of species of flowering and foliage plants that grow well together. The types of flowers you grow will be determined, in a measure, by the amount of sunlight available. This will vary from one side of the house to another. Most flowers will thrive. A few require shade. It is possible to have flowers in the shade of trees, shrubs, or the house. Plants such as ferns, begonias, and many wildflowers have to be protected from the sun.

Very rapid growers like plume poppy and spreading Chinese lantern are best kept out of beds with other flowers. Plant so that cold weather flowers can be enjoyed from the warmth and comfort of the home.
Plants in the simply beautiful program aren’t just for garden beds and landscapes, they also make awesome accents for containers and patio planters. Your container can be moved to different sun/shade locations.

Examples:
1. poetry “white nemesia” with matrix orange clear pansy
2. lunared hibiscus, purple lady iresine, white pentunia
3. show crystals alyssium, ideal select whitefire dianthus, rose blotch pansy, white blotch pansy.

Simply the art of plant combination is the arrangement of the colors, shapes, sizes, and textures. All of these factors will add up to a complete and satisfying unit. The secret of opposite colors (blue and orange, yellow and purple, red and green) make good companions. Try similar colors with different shapes, height, and textures. Try trios of colors, such as violet, blue violet, and red violet.

You can always enhance your designs by making the most of contrast and harmony.

Gum Balls and Marbles

2007-04-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Each spring, collections of gum balls under foot are a hazard akin to standing on collections of over-sized marbles. One sweet gum ball tree (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) can produce prodigious numbers of one to two inch globeshaped, spiny fruits referred to as gum balls. Wind and critters scatter them. Uncollected, these long-lasting gum balls lodge themselves in lawns, gardens, and in and under shrubs.

Safety under foot and yard tidiness require that gum balls be collected and removed each spring. One way, if you live next door to a sweet gum tree and don’t have too many, is to hand collect, filling a container while inspecting your yard and garden. For larger numbers, try a leaf rake and a garbage can. When hand collecting or raking, be sure to walk the same area twice, once in each direction. Gum balls seem to multiply! An area empty of gum balls while walking one direction will seem full when walked again in the opposite direction.

One booth at the Indianapolis Flower and Patio Show does a brisk business selling a gum ball collecting tool, which is a long-handle attached to an oval cage made of wires spaced about half-inch apart. Raking the cage over gum balls causes the wires to spread and collect. A release gadget allows emptying the collected balls into a container.

What to do with collected gum balls? The hard, spiny exterior is attractive, so perhaps spray them with gold paint and place in a glass bowl for a holiday decoration. No gravel or small rocks on hand for drainage before filling a pot when planting annuals this summer? Try a handful of gum balls! The advantage is that, in the fall, you can throw the entire contains of the pot into the compost without having to search out the gravel or rocks. Short on mulch to place around a newly planted tree? Mulch with gum balls! Gum balls are long-lasting, the right color, and likely to keep human beings away from the tree. But beware of gum balls and playful puppies! Puppies have been known to swallow gum balls, resulting in a whopping vet bill.

Companion Plants for Containers

2007-04-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Plant marjoram, savory, thyme, rosemary, and culinary sage for a colorful, tasty combination. For flowers in a sunny location, try a light green sweet potato (ipomoea), pennisetum, coleus, agastache, and sunny yellow dahlias. Petunias, verbena, calibrachoa, and lobelia are also a great combination.

In Love with Lilacs: A Book Review

2007-04-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Lilacs for the Garden by Jennifer Bennett, Firefly Books, 2002.

Lilacs, because they are the flowers of reminiscence, encourages you to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine that wonderful fragrance every time you think of them. They are the plants you remember from your grandmother’s and grandfather’s gardens. And even though lilacs are not the shrub of fashion, they can be the perfect shrub for today’s discerning gardener. Planting lilacs now can offer you something in the years to come, and once winter’s door is closed, you can anticipate enjoying the perfume of lilacs at your door.

The lilac’s roots come from Asia, China, and Japan, which tells you they traveled a long way in which to get here. When lilacs arrived in England, they were named pipe trees because of their hollow stems. The common lilac came ashore in North America via the settlers and now, more than 250 years later, some of the original immigrants still grow on Mackinac Island. Most lilacs are shrubs, but a couple are smallish trees. The foliage varies from large and un-toothed to the lesser known species that are small, compound, and feathered. The florets are usually fragrant, four petal and small, but born in large clusters. Lilacs belong to the family Oleaceae, the olives; its best known cousins are forsythia, jasmine, ash, and privet. All lilacs belong to the genus Syringa and are attached to a Greek legend. Lilac flowers are edible (like roses, violas, daylilies and others), have been used medicinally in Egypt, and to make tea in China.

Lilacs for the Garden consists of seven chapters which includes history; planning, planting and pruning; placement in the landscape; a species list of the usual and unusual; exotic lilacs and lilac aid—answering “why it won’t bloom!” Of course there are pages of photographs, which illustrate various stages, colors, and shapes. Bennett’s book offers special interest inserts highlighting unique topics such as Greek legend, lilacs indoors, fragrance, fall color, foliage and other topics of appeal. All chapters discuss the many varieties and offer information specific to the chapter subtopics. For example, in Chapter Three, she has a section on “Bloom Time” where she discusses bloom time and then lists the bloom sequence for twenty-two varieties. A lot of Latin is used in Lilacs for the Garden, but she balances this with common names so reading is fairly easy. Chapters Four and Five offer the most extensive listings and information about lilacs. The book also offers a source listing for the United States and Canada.

Lilacs for the Garden is a compendium of essential information and an invaluable resource. I would encourage lilac lovers to consider reading and even add it to your gardening library. I believe you will find it to be most informative as well as enjoyable to read.

Perfumes in the Garden

2007-04-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

Wearing fine perfume used to be a key part of dressing up. Men as well as women were characterized by the scents they wore as much as their hair, clothes and speech. Although the practice of dabbing on perfumes faded in recent years as people became aware of allergies (and attracting insects in hot Midwestern summers), many women still wear perfume on special occasions. Moreover, everyday hygiene products for both women and men contain many perfume-like scents, and often candles are perfumed to add fragrance to a room.

Generally speaking, those scents come from flowers. Most flowers we buy for cut-flower arrangements—some aromatic, mainly not— come from large-scale farms in Bulgaria, Argentina, or Ecuador. Luckily, we can grow and enjoy many aromatic plants in our gardens.

Roses symbolize fragrance, among other things, but gardeners have learned to their sorrow that a large number do not have scents. For perfumes, damask rose is the central commercial contributor to fragrances but is generally raised in the Middle East. The recently developed roses for colder climates largely have little to no scent. Sadly, the much-beloved fairy roses and miniature container roses are in this group. But there are a few cold-adapted roses to take note of. Of the Rugosa roses (such as the Knock Outs), one yellow shrub called ‘Radsunny’ has a strong fragrance. Of the Canadian Parkland series, ‘Cuthbert Grant’ (red) and ‘Morder Sunrise’ (pink/yellow) stand out for their fragrance. Also, ‘Quadra,’ a Canadian Explorer climber, has a strong scent. We can certainly grow all these here. But if a particular rose is labeled as ‘faint fragrance’, that probably means you have to put your nose inside the flower head to smell anything at all!

Although we all think immediately of roses and lavender as sources for perfumed gardens, and flowers come to mind, several ordinary herbs, such as rosemary, basil, lemon mint, and mountain mint, add considerable fragrance to gardens. Many large herb gardens devote one section to these happily odiferous herbs. Among the many varieties of lavender, ‘Munstead’ is said to provide the most pleasant odor, and ‘Perfume’ is actually the name of a variety of basil.

While not all pleasantly perfumed flowers do well in Bloomington’s moist climate, we do fill our gardens with lilies, many of which have delightful fragrances. The strongest smelling are the late-blooming Orientals, in particular, ‘Stargazer’, ‘Starfighter’, ‘Red Hot Lily’, and ‘Shocking Lily’. Indeed, some people say these lilies are too powerful to have indoors. For more gentle fragrance, ‘Rosario’ is said to smell like candy; ‘Henry’s Surprise’ smells like cream; ‘Amarone,’ ‘Le Reve,’ ‘Elegant Lady, and ‘Black Beauty’ generate light pleasant aromas.

Several varieties of violets and verbena grow well here and smell good. Lemon verbena, for example, is commonly used in men’s toiletries. Clove pinks and spice shrub are other possibilities for Bloomington gardens. Jasmine, delightful as it is, won’t survive our winters unless brought indoors. And such other strongly scented flowers as passion flowers, ylang-ylang, and oleander don’t survive here.

But what does grow well all over the Midwest are magnolias and mock orange, and both smell wonderful in spring. I have a nowgiant ‘Minnesota Snowflake’ mock orange, and it blooms and blooms for a month or so, generating a lovely sweet fragrance all over my yard.

If you are fan of wonderful smells, perhaps you also collect decorative perfume bottles. Vintage glass perfume bottles are highly collectable, and on winter days, you can sniff the old bottles to remind you of spring’s flower scents!

Deer-Resistant Plants for Your Garden

2007-04-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

Interested in locating plants that deer do not favor? This website provides lists of plants by categories, such as trees, shrubs, perennials, or groundcovers, that may cause deer to lose interest in your yard.

This site rates a huge list of plants, using the following grading -

A = Rarely Damaged
B = Seldom Severely Damaged
C = Occasionally Severely Damaged
D = Frequently Severely Damaged

The site is searchable, allowing users to sort hundreds of plant names by rating given above, by type (annuals, perennials, etc.), or by common or Latin name, a feature that is a great time saver. A sample of plants rated as Rarely Damaged include ageratum, Allegheny spurge, American holly, angel’s trumpet, anise, hyssop, barberry, blue mist, and ajuga.

Another useful website for deer resistant plant suggestions is whiteflowerfarm.com. This site offers the caveat: “…there are no absolutely deer-proof plants. If the herd is large enough, and food is scarce enough, deer have been known to eat almost anything.” This site groups plants under these headings: deer resistant perennials for full to part sun, deer resistant perennials for full or part shade, and flower bulbs rarely damaged by deer. Bulbs listed as rarely damaged include allium, colchicum, Fritillaria imperialis (crown imperial), galanthus (snowdrop), hyacinthus, narcissus, and scilla (squill).

Selecting plants not usually favored combined with other methods for discouraging deer, such as owning a dog, spraying plants with commercially prepared or home prepared substances, installing motion-activated water or noise deterrents, or installing a deer fence, may provide some garden peace for the coming season.

Armadillos in the Yard

2007-03-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

Be on the lookout for armadillos in your yard. I have talked to several people recently who have had armadillo problems in their lawn and landscape areas. One client even told me that he saw 4 armadillos feeding in his yard at one time.

Regardless of whether you have one or four armadillos in the yard, the damage that they inflict is pretty much cut and dry. They dig shallow holes - and lot’s of them - about 1 to 3 inches deep and 3 to 5 inches wide. These holes are dug in search of their favorite food – white grubs, earthworms, and other soil inhabiting insects. In fact, 90% of an armadillo’s diet is made up of insects and their larvae. They have also been known to eat lizards, small snakes, and frogs as well as the eggs of these animals.

If you see an armadillo in your yard, you won’t have to wonder what you are looking at. He is pretty unique looking in the fact that he is covered with a coat of armor that is made up of 9 movable rings between the shoulder and hip areas. The head is small with a pig-like snout. Each foot will have three toes with long claws that are used for digging.

Armadillos are about the size of a possum – weighing 8 to 17 pounds. We tend to refer to them as a “possum on the half shell”.

They feed and create most of their damage at night. You may see one during the day but you are more likely to spot one late in the evening, at night, or even early in the morning.

Armadillos prefer dense shady cover in woodland sites. They also like to reside in areas next to streams and creeks. They will even burrow under rocks if they can.

Armadillos have poor eyesight but do have a keen sense of smell. They can run fairly fast and yes, they can swim pretty well and will swim across a creek or stream.

Armadillos have been known to keep people up at night by rubbing their shells against the house or other structures in their vicinity. If you keep hearing a strange noise outside the house at night and you are seeing freshly dug holes in your yard, get a flashlight and see if you can spot your resident armadillo.

People ask us what can be done to control these animals. There’s not much you can do to stop them other than to shoot them at night. Of course, safety and consideration of neighbors close by comes into play if shooting is the control option that you use. A safer method of control is to apply a lawn insecticide to the area where the digging is taking place and water the insecticide in to try and kill some of the insects in the soil.

As a matter of fact, if they are digging up an area in your yard, this may be a clue that you have a grub problem in the soil, especially if your grass is trying to decline or die in this area or your flowers in your flower bed seem to be in a serious state of decline.

September is an excellent time to apply a grub control material to kill white grubs in your lawns and flower beds. The theory behind treating your lawn and landscape areas for grubs is that by eliminating this armadillo food source, they will leave your lawn and move on to another area to feed.

An excellent lawn insecticide product currently in many garden centers that can be applied to lawn areas for white grubs is a product made by Bayer Advanced Lawn called “Season Long Grub Control”. This product is deadly on white grubs and can be applied and watered into the soil.

Several other lawn insecticide products are also available for homeowner use and most of them have to be watered into the soil after they are applied in order to control soil insects in a lawn or landscape area. Product examples include Sevin Lawn Insect Granules and Bayer Advanced 24 Hour Grub Killer Plus.

Trapping armadillos is also an option but they are very difficult to trap. They can be trapped using a 10X12X32-inch live or box type trap such as a hava-hart trap. The trap should be set along a pathway or fence. It should be open at both ends and have boards or wings on the front end to help guide the animal into the front of the trap. Overripe or fetid fruit or mealworms should be used as bait. Good luck on trapping them!

Be on the lookout for a possum on the half shell because an armadillo may decide to visit your yard in search of soil insects.

Armyworms Occurring in Hay Fields

2007-03-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

Armyworm infestations are showing up. Farmers, homeowners, and forest landowners with wildlife food plots should all be on the lookout for this insect pest that can quickly defoliate grass and other plants that they decide to feed on.

Most farmers that have been around a while know during the end of the summer and early fall periods to be on the lookout for this pest. If you are a livestock or hay producer, make sure to keep a check on your fields for armyworm infestations.

Homeowners also may not be aware that armyworms can infest your lawn and eat the grass down to the leaf stems before you recognize the problem. On bermudagrass, the worms will eat the blades of grass and just leave the midrib of the leaf sticking out, giving the grass a shredded appearance. So, be on the lookout for armyworms in your lawn grass.

Forest landowners who have wildlife food plots planted with any grass crop including millet, grain sorghum, corn, and small grains such as wheat, oats, and rye should keep a close eye on your food plot areas. Armyworms are not choosy and will attack a food plot just as quickly as they will a pasture or hay field. Landowners who do not regularly check food plots can lose an entire planting to armyworms, requiring more money and time spent to come back and re-plant.

Fall armyworms are migratory and move into our area from the south. They are known to over-winter in Florida and possibly in some areas of South Georgia and begin moving north as they emerge and feed in the spring and summer.

The adult moths are active at night and fly around laying eggs in clusters of 50 to several hundred on the back side of leaves. The eggs hatch in two to five days and the larval stages begin to feed on leaf tissue. Larvae feed for two to three weeks and then go into the ground and pupate. Adult moths reemerge 10 to 14 days later and start the life cycle all over again.

Fall armyworms can vary in color from green to brown but they all have one tell-tale characteristic that makes them easy to recognize. Looking at the head of the worm, all armyworms will have an upside down “Y” design etched into the head capsule.

Sevin is probably the most common insecticide that is being used for armyworm control. It also works well in just about all situations – on pastures, hay fields, lawns, and food plots. Farmers should check label directions closely for pre-harvest grazing and hay cutting restrictions after applying Sevin to your fields. Most Sevin labels require a 14 day waiting period for grazing or harvesting for hay after application.
Homeowners can apply liquid Sevin to your grass if you run into armyworms in your lawn. Sevin works well on armyworms but keep in mind that it will not kill them quickly. Armyworms have to feed and ingest Sevin before it will work because it is actually a stomach poison. However, worms will usually stop feeding soon after Sevin is applied and they usually die two to three days later. Sevin should be applied at least two to three hours before rainfall occurs and should dry on the leaves to give adequate control.

Farmers also have the option of using the insecticide “Lannate” for control of fall armyworms. Lannate is a restricted use product and can only be purchased and applied by a licensed pesticide applicator. It works quickly in killing armyworms and is highly toxic so farmers should make sure and wear protective equipment when applying this insecticide material to your fields. It also has a 7 day pre-harvest interval for grazing or 3 day waiting period for harvesting for hay following application.

Other insecticide products labeled for armyworm control in pastures and hay fields include Tracer, Mustang Max, Intrepid, Karate, Baythroid XL, and Dimilin. Always make sure and follow all label directions when applying any of these insecticides to your pastures and hay fields.

Armyworms are on the march and could remain a significant problem in our area until cooler weather arrives.

Weedy mallow plants

2007-03-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

Weedy mallow plants are found growing widely in California. All are from the family Malvaceae, which includes a number of desirable plants, most notably cotton, hibiscus, and okra. One species of this family (Althaea officinalis) is actually the original ingredient to make marshmallows.

That species is not found in California and although some of the wild mallow species can be eaten, mallows are less than desirable when found growing in crop fields, orchards, lawns, gardens, and landscapes.

These annuals begin growing with the first rains in the fall and quickly develop a deep taproot that becomes woody and makes the plant very difficult to remove by hand or even with tools. Fruit is sometimes described as looking like a tiny wheel of cheese, giving it the common name of cheeseweed. The most widespread of the weedy mallows in California are Malva neglecta (common mallow or cheeseweed), and M. parviflora (little mallow, which is also called cheeseweed).

Mallows are best controlled mechanically by hoeing or pulling out young plants. Young mallow can also be killed by cutting them off at the crown, but older plants may resprout from the crown. If there are a large number of plants, shallow mechanical cultivation may be used when the plants are young. Pull the plants from the ground or cut the tap root below the soil level. Mowing is not an effective method of control because the plants have viable buds on the stems below the height of the mower blade. Common mallow tends to have a more prostrate growth habit so that species is even less affected by mowing.

The Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

2007-03-07T01:56:00.000-08:00

Joel Poinsett, a South Carolinian and the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, introduced the poinsettia to the United States in 1825. Today, 70 million are sold nationwide every year. Plants are available with white, pink, peach, yellow, marbled bracts as well as the traditional red. The actual flower of the poinsettia is a small, yellow blossom in the center of the colorful bracts.

When you buy a poinsettia, consider these tips:

Look for a plant with mature colored bracts
Dark green foliage
Attractive from all sides, not only one or two sides
Durable plant with stiff stem

To help your poinsettias thrive in your home, always remember the word OWL.

Optimum temperature is very important. The daytime should not exceed 70º F nor drop below 50º F.
Water and fertilizer: requires moist soil, do not fertilize when it is in bloom.
Light: put your poinsettia in a bright location that receives 6 hours of bright, indirect sunlight.

Around April, the colorful bracts fade. Prune to about 8 inches. Eventually new growth will emerge from the nodes up and down the stem. Fertilize the plant every two to three weeks during the spring, summer, and fall. Use a complete fertilizer, such as 10-10-10.

In early June, transplant the poinsettia in a container 2-4 inches bigger than the original pot. Use a soil mix containing organic matter such as compost, leaf mold, and peat moss.

Since the poinsettia is a short-day plant, starting the first week of October, the plant must be kept in a totally dark environment for 14 continuous hours each night (for 8-10 weeks). The plant needs to receive 6-8 hours of bright sunlight daily. The plant will come into full bloom during November or December.

Insects: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2007-03-06T07:49:00.000-08:00

The insects that are pests, feeding on plants in your garden are bad, but that are good in one way in that they make a good meal for the good insects, known as the beneficial insects. Beneficials fall into two general categories:

1. Parasites: the immature stage of wasps and flies (found inside the pest insect)
2. Predators: a larger group than parasites, these seek and capture their prey. Common predators include ladybugs, immature lacewings, assassin bugs

Good farming practice is to know the beneficial insects, their life cycle, and how to attract them—what they like to dine on. To attract beneficials to your garden, you need to follow these steps:

provide food sources—many predators will feed on pollen and nectar
give shelter and protection
provide a source of water
don’t use any insecticides—avoid using insecticides while the pest is active

Several common houseplant pests include aphids, mealybugs, and mites. Aphids are small insects; they are usually green but may be pink, brown, black, or yellow. They such plant sap. The most commonly used natural enemy of mealybugs are Crypts (a ladybug group). Aphidius colemani is an amazing parasitic wasp that stings its aphid victims and lays it egg directly inside the aphid.

To control your garden insects, you need to first identify the insect that is attacking your plant, and then deal with the problem.

Good: ladybug
Bad: aphids, spider mites, mealybugs, cut worms, tomato worms
Ugly: leafhoppers

Annuals Ideal for Containers - The Uprights and the Cascaders

2007-02-22T06:05:00.000-08:00

KEY: (C) = Cascading Plant (U)=Upright Plant

Ageratum – Floss Flower (U)
Alternanthera – Alternanthera (C)
Anagallis – Blue Pimpernel (C)
Angelonia spp. – Angelonia (U)
Arctotis species –African Daisy (C)
Bacopa species – Bacopa (C)
Begonia – Begonia Species (U)
Brachycome iberidifolia – Swan River Daisy (C)
Browallia – Browallia (U)
Caladium – Caladium (U)
Calibrachoa – Millionbells (C)
Coleus – Coleus (C) (U)
Cosmos – Cosmos (U)
Diascia species – Twinspur (C)
Dichondra – Dichondra (C)
Dipladenia – Dipladenia (C)
Dracaena – Dracaena Spike (U)
Dyssodia tenuiloba – Dahlberg Daisy (C)
Evolvulus 'Blue Daze' – Hawaiian Blue Eyes (C)
Ferns – Fern Species (U)
Fuchsia – Fuchsia (U)
Gazania 'Silverlight' – Treasure Flower (C)
Gerbera – Gerber Daisy (U)
Grasses – Grasses Species (U)
Helichrysum petiolare – Licorice Plant (C)
Herbs – All species (C) (U)
Hibiscus – Hibiscus (U)
Impatiens –Double Impatiens (U)
Ipomoea batatas – Sweet Potato Vine (C)
Ivy – Ivy (C)
Lantana species – Lantana (U)
Lobelia – Trailing Lobelia (C)
Lotus – Lotus Vine (C)
Lysimachia – Lysimachia (C)
Mandevilla – Mandevilla (U)(C)
Melampodium – Melampodium (U)
Mercardonia – Mercardonia (C)
Nemesia – Nemesia (U)
Nierembergia repens – Nierembergia (C)
Osteospermum – Cape Daisy (U)
Oxalis – Oxalis (C)
Pelargonium – Geranium (U)
Penta – Penta (U)
Perilla – Perilla (U)
Petunia – Petunia (C)
Phormium species – New Zealand Flax (U)
Plectranthus argentatus – Plectranthus (U)
Plumbago – Plumbago (U)
Portulaca – Portulaca (C)
Salvia spp. – Salvia (U)
Sanvitalia – Sanvitalia (C)
Scaevola species – Australian Fan Flower (C)
Solanum – Solanum Vine (C)
Torenia – Torenia (C)
Tropaeolum nanum – Nasturtium (C)
Verbena spp. – Verbena (C)
Vinca major – Vinca Vine (C)
Zinnia spp. – Zinnia (C)

Choose Preemergence herbicides with as Little Nitrogen as Possible

2007-02-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

If a preemergence herbicide is justified on your lawn to control crabgrass now, most of those are available combined with fertilizer and you are forced to apply a fertilizer now. Look for a product with low nitrogen and be sure the majority of the nitrogen is a slow release N. Slow release sources include sulfur- or polymer-coated urea, urea formaldehyde, methylenediurea, dimethylenetriurea, or natural organic nitrogen. These are listed on the label as “slowly water soluble” or “water insoluble.

Applying too much fertilizer now will encourage too much growth and could lead to problems later this summer such as poor root growth and disease. Additionally, since spring rains play havoc with mowing schedules, nitrogen fertilization can further complicate your mowing schedule by causing grass plants to grow too fast.

Companion plants for containers

2007-02-11T07:03:00.000-08:00

Walnut Trees Not A Gold Mine in Georgia

2007-02-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

I have had calls in the past from excited landowners who have located a large black walnut tree on their land and are figuring on getting rich by selling the tree for specialty wood to make gun stocks and furniture. Most of them have heard about buyers paying high sums of money for quality walnut trees and they figure they can cash in on the tree or trees they have on their land. The key to the last statement is “quality” walnut trees and most of the black walnut trees that grow here in the south are poor in quality.

High quality black walnut trees in states such as Iowa can bring as much as $10,000 per tree. These trees have to be in near perfect condition. The wood of these black walnut trees is used for gun stocks and for making fine furniture.

Much of our Georgia’s black walnut however, is short and crooked with many branches and wood defects. Any sign of a defect and prices drop dramatically. It also takes an extremely large tree to produce the high quality walnut lumber that is desired. If you have an area of woods with 30 inch diameter walnut trees with few defects you may make a lot of money.

Besides the size and freedom from defects, the wood of the tree must have good color and luster to command really high prices. The super expensive trees in Iowa have dark chocolate brown colored heartwood with a silky luster. Unfortunately, our climate here in Georgia does not provide the conditions needed for this type of wood to develop. Water stress, cold temperatures, and tree genetics all are required for the best wood color and luster to develop. This combination of conditions is relatively common in Iowa but not in Georgia.

Most of the black walnut trees in Georgia have relatively light colored heartwood. The wood also lacks the high luster of wood from other regions. Part of this may be due to our growing conditions but genetics also plays an important role. The first settlers to our area harvested the large high quality black walnut trees leaving the crooked poorly growing trees behind. Over the course of several harvests most of the surviving trees were of inferior quality. These are the trees that were left to produce seed for future trees in our area.

Lumber buyers know that Georgia has a reputation for poor quality black walnut lumber. That makes them hesitant to spend time searching out high quality trees in Georgia. In the central part of the U.S., land owners have developed walnut plantations that produce very high quality defect free trees. It takes a lot of effort and expense to start a walnut plantation. The reward of harvesting these high quality trees is usually received by the children of the person who originally planted the trees to begin with.

Planting black walnut trees on your land is not a get rich quick scheme nor do finding black walnut trees on your land mean you have discovered a tree gold mine. Black walnut trees are interesting trees to look at especially with the tennis ball sized fruit they produce. They can also be a valuable food source for wildlife. Just don’t count on them to make you rich one day.

This is my life…..classic Debbie moment

2007-02-07T02:41:00.000-08:00

Last night, I came home to find my apartment a mess. I live alone and I’m a clean freak, as all of you already know. The only other living thing in my apartment is Stella Marie and I doubt she can do this much damage.

Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want to know what the mess was? Here’s what I saw….

I have radiator heat and every one of my radiator covers was removed. I have a small living room so in order to remove the radiator cover in there, you’d have to move my couch which is exactly what they did. I had a lamp on the radiator cover in the living room too. That was thrown on my couch. All of the other stuff was thrown on the floor.

That was just the living room.

I go into the bathroom, same mess. Oh, and they tipped over my trashcan so there were tissues and Q-tips all over the place (which I will blame on Stella Marie).

I go into the kitchen, same mess. Oh, and they shut the door to the closet which houses Stella’s litter box.

Can you feel me getting pissed?

I go into my office, same mess. Oh, and they pushed everything that was on my desk (all in neat and practical piles) over to one side of my desk. Some of the stuff fell on the floor.

At this point I’m ready to fuck someone up. I am really big on privacy and having someone rummaging around in my apartment was more upsetting than I can describe. It looks like someone was doing work in there. I start cussing my landlord out in my head. I know she didn’t leave a message on my cell or work number. I check my landline answering machine (yeah, I still have one of those and always will) and she leaves a message that there was an emergency with the heat and to let her know if the place wasn’t put back right.

Did I mention that my thermostat was set to 75 degrees!!!!!!!!!! I normally leave it at 63 because I get the heat from the apartment downstairs which is perfect. I was sweating my balls off, it was that hot. I get on the phone and call her. I tell her how pissed I am. How everything was thrown all over the place. How the sofa wasn’t even put back. How they shut the door so that my cat couldn’t get to her litter. I then tell her that she’s taking $25 off March’s rent for compensation for the fucking thermostat being set so high. She apologized profusely. I calm down.

I’m exhausted at this point. I’m worried about my sister. I’m getting ass-raped at work (that’s a ‘figure of speech’ for the people who take me literally all of the time) and I’m not sleeping that well. I didn’t need to come home to this shit.

And then, I go into my bedroom.

Yes, I find the same mess in there but my eyes immediately go to what’s sitting on top of my bookshelf. You see, my bedroom bookshelf sits right next to the radiator and houses all of my sex books. But, the books aren’t what gets my attention. Oh no, I don’t care if someone sees those. Sitting on top of my bookshelf, just where I left them, was my dildo and vibrator. I had cleaned them on Sunday night and left them there to dry.

I can’t even tell you how hard I giggled. Because that is a prime example of the way my life goes. Of course, they would be sitting out on the day my landlord and maintenance man are rummaging through my shit. Of course.

I hope you all enjoyed a little slice of my life.

Role of Plant Physiology in Agriculture

2007-01-30T01:19:00.000-08:00

The study of plants in their environment has yielded a large body of knowledge which provides aid to the science of conservation of natural resources. The responses of the plant to their environment are physiological in nature. Therefore, knowledge of plant physiology can help in improving management of crops. Some of the physiological aspects which have a direct bearing on crop management are mentioned below.

1. Knowledge of mineral nutrition of the plants and the soil enables a person to select a proper fertilizer.
2. Extensive photosynthesis in the crop due to more sunny days during the rabi season is responsible for better yield in rabi crop, as compared to the yield of crop in the kharif season.
3. The leaves should be removed from the plants grown in dry lands, to reduce the rate of transpiration.
4. Spacing between plants can be adjusted according to the plant canopy. Over-crowding should be avoided to facilitate proper respiration and photosynthesis.
5. The colour of beans and some other crops changes to darker r blue-green at the beginning of water stress. Similarly, the leaf angle of sorghum changes during water stress. These serve as a guide to irrigation.
6. Knowledge of transpiration rate of a crop helps in deciding the irrigation schedule and water requirement of crop.
7. Girdling is practised in certain fruit bearing plants to divert the translocating food material to the growing fruits for getting large sized fruits. Similarly, top portion of sugarcane is re- moved 15-20 days prior to harvesting, to increase the sugar content.
8. Knowledge of causes and mechanism of seed dormancy helps in getting another quick crop by removing the dormancy.

Translocation in Plants

2007-01-29T01:24:00.000-08:00

Translocation means the transportation of the materials within the plant. The raw material for the manufacture of food is absorbed through the roots and sent upwards to the leaves. The leaves manufacture food by the photosynthetic process and the prepared food material is then transported up, down and sideways to all parts of the plant.

A. Upward movement or nutrients

The translocation of the minerals is done largely through xylem tissues. The minerals enter into the xylem tissues of the root by an active process. (This process has been described in Booklet No. PSS-3.) Among the total substances translocated only one-third are minerals, the rest being organic substances like sugar, organic acids, organic nitrogenous materials, etc. Many think that the minerals move upwards because of the transpiration stream. Others feel that the accumulation rate in the leaves is different for different leaves. For example:

1. phosphorus collects in young leaves,

2. calcium and others collect in older leaves,

3. iron collect along leaf veins, and

4. cobalt collect in hydathodes (minute openings in the leaves for water discharge).

Some 'sorting' mechanism is involved in the transport of nutrients. It is also believed that some amount of nutrient is transferred to phloem and is regulated by cambium. Considerable amount of re-translocation of certain minerals from the older to younger leaves, reproductive parts, etc., according to the activities of various parts of the body, has been observed.

B. Translocation or sugars

The food is prepared in the leaf by means of photosynthesis (nine-tenth of which is carbohydrate). These food materials then have to be transported to the various parts of the plant body. This is achieved with the help of the specialized cells of phloem i.e., the I sieve tube elements. Like xylem, phloem also forms a network of ducts that extends to every part of the plant, bringing all living cells into close contact with the sugars synthesised in the leaves.

The nitrogenous compounds like amino acids and amides are translocated from older leavcs and flowers lo younger ones in the plant. The movement takes place primarily in the phloem.

Rates of translocation have been calculated for a variety of plants and have been found to vary considerably.

Table 1: Translocation rate in different part.

Sl. No.	plants	Rate in cm/hour
1	Sugarbeet	85-100
2	Willow	100
3	Sugarcane	270
4	Soybean	100
5	Pumpkin	40-60

C. Mechanism 0f translocation in phloem

A number of theories have been put forward to explain the mechanism of phloem transport, but none of them is fully satisfactory. We will deal here with the most acceptable one, i.e., the 'pressure flow hypothesis'.

Carbohydrate synthesized in leaf cells (source region) is transferred into the sieve tube element. The concentration of sugar thus increases in the sieve tube. This causes the movement of water in the sieve tube. At the 'sink' region (i.e., the storage organs and other parts of the plant body like fruits, roots etc.) sugar is removed from the phloem and utilized by the tissues of the sink. The pressure of the water at the source end and the sink end will obviously be different after the removal of sugar from the sink region. This difference in pressure causes a flow of solution from source to sink. The flow is maintained so long as sugar is being accumulated in the sieve tubes at the source end of the line and getting removed in the sink region. Water taken into the phloem transport system at the source end is withdrawn from the surrounding tissue and is resupplied through xylem.