Connecticut Garden Journal: Recent Episodes
Connecticut Public Radio
Connecticut Garden Journal is a weekly program hosted by horticulturalist Charlie Nardozzi. Each week, Charlie focuses on a topic relevant to both new and experienced gardeners, including pruning lilac bushes, growing blight-free tomatoes, groundcovers, sunflowers, bulbs, pests, and more. Learn more about Charlie at gardeningwithcharlie.com.
With the changing season, it’s time to close the garden down. Before the cold weather hits, drain and bring in outdoors hoses, clean and sharpen garden tools and start protecting plants for winter.
Wrap young trees with plastic or wire fencing to about 2 feet up the trunk and a few inches below the ground, to protect the young bark from rodents and rabbits.
Erect A-frame, snow barriers for shrubs planted near the house to avoid damage from falling snow and ice. And cover tender perennials, such as lavender, with wood chips in late November.
Unfortunately, it's also time for me to say goodbye. After a 10-year-run, this is my last Connecticut Garden Journal post. I've enjoyed being part of Connecticut Public and appreciate all the people that made this show happen. Thanks to John Dankosky and Catie Talarski for believing in me 10 years ago to start the show. And to Tim Rasmussen for having me host a series of gardening TV shows during Covid where we won a Regional Emmy. And, of course to all the people behind the scenes, such as Cat Pastor and Robyn Doyon-Aiken, who made the show happen each week.
And special thanks to you listeners. For all the emails, questions and comments and greetings I received in person at garden club meetings, flower shows and garden conferences. It's been great connecting with such avid gardeners over the years.
So for now, I'll hang up my garden tools, clean off my boots and close the garden shed. You may not be hearing me live anymore on the radio, but the past shows live on at Connecticut Public. Until we meet again, I'll be seeing you in the garden.
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It's hard to think about winter with such warm, fall weather, but spring flowering bulbs need to be planted soon. If you want to enjoy your spring flowering tulips, daffodils, crocus and other bulbs a little earlier in spring or if you don’t have a garden, consider forcing them in containers.
You can plant two different ways. Either plant all one type of bulb in a pot for a big splash, or layer different bulbs in the container for a more extended flower show. First, select a container at least 10 inches in diameter. The bigger the pot, the more bulbs you can plant and the bigger the show. Fill it with potting soil. Then plant your bulbs 2 times their diameter deep.
For layering bulbs select bulb types or varieties that mature at different times. For example, plant large, late flowering varieties of daffodils on the bottom, mid season tulips in the middle and early season crocus on top. Plant the bulbs at the correct depth and fill in potting soil on top of them before adding the next layer.
Water your pots well and place in a dark, cool room, basement or garage that doesn't freeze for 14 weeks. This will allow your bulbs to grow roots and get the winter chill they need. Come late February you can start moving them into a sunny, warm room to grow. Take all the pots out at once or stagger them to extend the flower show. When finished flowering, grow them as houseplants until the leaves yellow, then plant them in the ground for next year.
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With our warm fall, we're still enjoying fresh tomatoes, peppers, greens, and zucchini from the garden. But it's also time to start thinking about planting garlic and shallots. These two alliums are easy to grow. Unlike other veggies, you plant garlic and shallots in the fall for an early summer harvest.
There are two main types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Hardneck varieties, such as 'Romanian Red' and 'German Extra Hardy', form a flower stalk or scape in spring that can be harvested and eaten. We make a mean pesto from garlic scapes. Even if you don't like eating the scape, it still should be removed to get larger garlic bulbs. Softneck varieties, such as 'New York White' and 'Inchelium Red', have soft leaves that are good for braiding. They last longer in storage than hardneck types.
Plant garlic cloves 3- to 5-weeks before the ground freezes. Planting too early stimulates them to grow this fall, so wait until late October or early November to plant this year. The night before planting, break apart the bulbs into cloves. Leave them overnight to callous on the bottom, basal plate for best rooting. The next day plant, on compost amended raised beds, spacing the cloves pointy side up, 6 inches apart and a few inches below the soil deep. Water well and cover with straw or hay for winter protection.
Shallots are another allium that can be fall planted. These small onions have a delicate, milder flavor than regular onions and are favorites in French cooking. Plant 'Dutch Yellow' and 'French Red' shallot varieties the same way you plant garlic.
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As the days shorten and weather cools, somewhat, it's time for some fall garden chores. One of the rules that's changed is around perennial flower garden cleanup.
Traditionally, we'd cut back and remove the dying foliage of perennial flowers such as daylilies, peonies, echinacea and rudbeckia. While the look of a cleaned garden might be appealing, it's not the best for the ecology around your yard. The seed heads of many perennials, such as echinacea, rudbeckia and salvia, are important bird food. Also, beneficial insects and pollinators overwinter in the dead stems and leaves and will be ready to emerge in spring to help our plants. The one exception I'd make is if the flowers were heavily diseased. Then it makes sense to remove them from the garden.
You might be noticing some spring flowering shrubs, such as forsythia, lilac and weigela, blooming again! This is unusual, but can happen with weather stress and warm falls. This year many shrubs lost their leaves early due to fungal blight diseases. That, combined with the warm autumn, has tricked the plants into blooming. This won't harm the shrubs, but you'll have fewer flowers in spring.
Other tasks for fall include chopping and dropping healthy vegetable and annual flower plants once they go by, instead of removing them. But remove diseased plants such as tomatoes. Add chopped leaves, grass clippings or straw to bare beds to protect the soil in winter. Leave asparagus ferns until early winter and add lime to asparagus beds to raised the pH to around 7 based on a soil test.
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October is spring bulb planting time. While the tulips, daffodils, and crocus head the list of popular bulbs to plant later this month, don't forget some of the more unusual bulbs such as the alliums.
Allium or flowering onion plants range in sizes from 5 inches to 4 feet tall. The tall varieties make a statement in the garden rising about the foliage of perennials such as daylilies. The smaller growing bulbs are great in front of the border or as rock garden plants. Alliums are trouble free. They come back consistently each year and deer, rabbit and mice don't seem to bother the bulbs or flowers. Many bloom in late spring and early summer after the daffodils and tulips finish.
For a big flower show nothing beats the tall, large, purple flowered types such as 'Gladiator'. A large white flowered version is 'Mount Everest'. 'Purple Sensation' is a little shorter and smaller flowered, but it multiplies readily over time. Some shorter alliums add more color. The drumstick alliums have red and green colored blooms. Allium caeruleum has blue colored flowers and Allium moly is a short, yellow flowered type.
Whatever varieties you choose, plant later this month in a full sun location on well-drained soil. Plant in groups or pop some of the tall, large flowered types in among the perennials for a surprise effect. After they're finished blooming consider leaving the seed heads. They're interesting to look at and add a different texture to your plantings. You can cut them for use as indoor flower arrangements.
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As the temperatures dip, it's time bring some of your favorite herbs indoors. Some of the best herbs to move inside to grow and cook with include parsley, rosemary, geraniums, chives, thyme and oregano.
The advantage of bringing a mature, potted herb plant indoors is it will continue to send out shoots and leaves into November. If you grow it under grow lights, it will continue into winter.
First, harden off your herbs in a cooler, outdoor location with less light for about one week. Spray insecticidal soap or Neem oil to kill hitch hiking insects. Bring the plants indoors to grow in a sunny window away from cold drafts and reduce watering.
Annual herbs, such as basil, can also come indoors, but unless you have grow lights, the leaf production will quickly slow down. It's best to enjoy this herb for a month or so before composting it. Parsley is a good indoor herb, but will form flowers in spring. Compost this plant once flower stalks form. Chives will benefit from periodic cutting of their shoots and will continue to send up new shoots in fall and in spring. Scented geraniums, rosemary, thyme and oregano are perennials and easy to grow in a sunny window. If you don't have room for your big pots, take cuttings from the mother plant to root. Take a 4- to 6-inch long cutting. Remove the bottom leaves and dip the cut end in a rooting hormone powder. Stick it in a pot filled with moistened potting soil. Place in a bright area out of the sun. Check after a month or so for roots.
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Fall is for asters. Asters are reliable native plants that give us color in our autumn gardens. But there are other natives that are equally as beautiful and trouble-free. One of the best is boltonia.
Boltonia, or false aster, is related to asters. It features plants that grow 5- to 6- feet tall with white, pink or lavender colored flowers. Like asters, they flower in full or part sun in August and September.
While asters are clumping plants that slowly enlarge over time, Boltonia is a rhizomatous plant that spreads by underground roots. This makes boltonia a favorite meadow, slope and cottage garden plant. The species version, Boltonia asteroides, is the most aggressive spreader and care should be given where it's plant. This species type is best planted in meadows or wild areas.
For perennial flower gardens, select some of the less aggressive varieties. 'Snowmound' is a white flowered type that is more compact only growing 3- to 4- feet tall. 'Pink Beauty' is a pink colored version and 'Jim Crockett' has lavender colored blooms on 2 -foot tall plants.
Boltonia likes well-drained soils on the dry side and does well in clay. It is drought tolerant, once established, but will also thrive in wetter soils as well. Divide plants every 3- to 4- years in spring.
Boltonia is a pollinator favorite often visited by butterflies, bees and other insects. It has few problems. In part shade areas it may need staking to not flop and sometimes can get powdery mildew. But otherwise it's deer and rabbit proof and a delightful fall flower for your garden.
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If you're looking for some color this fall in your perennial flower garden, certainly mums are always a nice addition. But here is a carefree, native perennial to grow for fall color and food for the pollinators.
Helenium has the unfortunate common name of sneezeweed because it blooms when ragweed is flowering. It's the ragweed that causes the allergic reactions, not Helenium. This hardy, aster-family perennial grows in the wild in meadowy, damp areas. But it will shine in your full sun, flower garden as well. It grows 3- to 5-feet tall with hat-shaped, small flowers in yellow, orange or burgundy colored clusters that cover the plant when in full bloom. We grow the Mariachi series variety 'Salsa' for the colorful red flowers and long bloom period. There also is a dwarf selection named 'Short N Sassy'.
Because of its penchant for moist soil, Helenium is tolerant of seasonal flooding and makes a good rain garden plant. Helenium is also not a favorite of deer, rabbits or woodchucks because of the bitter tasting foliage.
Plant tall varieties of Helenium in the back of the flower garden to compliment other fall bloomers such as Joe Pye weed, boltonia and tall rudbeckia. Grow shorter Helenium varieties to compliment asters and sedums. Helenium is also a favorite of butterflies and pollinators, so mix it into your pollinator garden as well.
Helenium is a clumping perennial, so is well behaved, not spreading quickly. However, after 3- to 4-years the clump gets large and will benefit from dividing. Divide Helenium in spring making smaller, new plants to grow in other parts of your yard.
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It's apple and pear season and time to start harvesting. Actually some varieties are already ripe, but most will be harvested this month. If you're growing apples or pears in your yard, going to a pick your own orchard or just foraging for wild trees, it's good to know when to harvest. If you harvest too early the flavor isn't great. If you wait too long, the texture can be mealy or mushy. Pears are unusual because they should be picked when ripe, but still hard, to finish ripening indoors.
Here's some tips to harvest apples and pears. First, try to remember the variety you're growing. There are early, mid and late season varieties that will naturally ripen at different times. This will help you know when to start checking. Check the background color of the fruit. Many varieties will turn red in fall, but it's the background coloring that you need to check. When it goes from a green to more yellow, the fruit is probably ripe.
Of course, if there are fruit on the ground, that's a sign of ripeness. Also, gently lift the fruit so its horizontal. Twist and give it a slight tug. If the fruit comes off easily, go head and pick. Fruits on the outside of the tree canopy will ripen sooner than those in the center of the tree, so don't feel like you have to pick them all at a once.
Finally, if you have lots of fruits, pick one and cut it in half. If the seeds inside are brown, then it's ripe. If they are still light colored, wait.
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If you've had a rough year battling Japanese beetles, now is the time to control them. Many gardeners are familiar with Japanese beetle adults that cause damage to many flowers, vegetables and fruits.
While there are chemical controls for these and other ground dwelling beetles, there are effective ecologically friendly controls as well. Remember only 1 per cent of the insects in your yard are ones that will cause significant damage to your plants.
One of the best controls attacks the Japanese beetle not when it's an adult, but at the c-shaped, cream colored grub or larval stage in the soil. It's at this stage that it's most vulnerable. If you can kill the grubs, you'll have fewer adults next year. There are a few products that are safe for the environment and effective.
Beneficial nematodes are microscopic, worm-like creatures that parasitize or prey on the grubs. Spray the nematodes now on the lawn and soil areas where the adults were feeding this summer. That's where most of the larvae are located. Water the area well and keep the soil moist for a number of days so the nematodes can travel to prey on the grubs. The nematodes don't overwinter so need to be sprayed annually in early or late summer.
The other product in milky spore powder. This is a bacteria that has been used since the 1940s to control Japanese beetle grubs and it only attacks this type of grub. This powder or granule works best in areas with high concentrations of grubs, such as 10 to 12 grubs per square foot. With fewer grubs, it is not as effective.
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One of the trends I've noticed in our region is longer and warmer falls. This is an opportunity to garden more and now is the time to start planting quick maturing, cool weather loving veggies.
The easiest veggie to grow for a fall harvest is greens. Spinach, lettuce, arugula, escarole, kale and Swiss chard can all be sown now from seed or purchased as seedlings from local nurseries. These veggies have a few advantages. You can start eating them while they're small so you don't have to wait for them to mature. They love the cooler temperatures in September and October. And they can hold well in the garden when the shorter days slow the grow of all plants.
Look for fall or winter adapted varieties to grow, such as 'Winter Giant' spinach, 'Winter Density' lettuce, and 'Winter Bor' kale. They all can take a frost and keep on growing.
Prepare a raised bed in full sun by removing old plants that have finished producing such as squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. Amend the soil with fresh compost and sow seeds or transplants into the soil. You can also start seedlings in pots on a porch and transplant the seedlings in 2 to 3 weeks. Seedlings are more likely to survive than seeds. Cover the whole bed with micro-mesh or a floating row cover to keep pests away and keep the bed warm. Check under the cover regularly to make sure slugs and other critters haven't snuck inside. Harvest when leaves are large enough to eat. Pick the outer leaves so more new leaves will grow from the center.
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The hot, wet summer has been particularly good for growing melons. Cantaloups, honeydews and watermelons all seem to be enjoying the heat and humidity, more than I am.
Once the melon fruits form and start to grow big, the question always comes up about when to harvest the fruits. So, let's talk about harvesting melons.
The easiest melons to know when to harvest are the muskmelons or cantaloups. These are the netted melons. When the skin netting turns brown and the fruit easily slips off the vine when gently lifted, you can harvest. They also will have a sweet smell. Cantaloups are unique in that you can harvest a little earlier than when fully ripe and they will continue to ripen indoors.
Honeydew melons tend to have a smooth skin. There are many types of honeydews, but most do not continue to ripen after harvest. So, you need to wait until the fruits are fully mature to pick. Signs of a mature honeydew melon include a sweet smell and a change in skin color.
Watermelons are another melon that doesn't continue to ripen after harvest and it can be hard to know when they're fully ripe. The old folklore method is to thump the fruit with your thumb and listen for a hollow sound. That technique takes practice. A more reliable method is to look at the tendril or curlycue closest to the watermelon fruit. When it has dried up, check the watermelon belly. If it's turning a yellowish color, it's time to pick.
After harvest, store melons in the crisper drawer in your refrigerator if you won't be eating them soon.
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Late summer is often a time with little color from shrubs in our yard. That's why I love Rose of Sharon.
Rose of Sharon's name is misleading. It's neither from Sharon, Israel or a rose. It's in the mallow family haling from Asia and is the National Flower of Korea. It came to Europe in the 1600's and North America during the colonial era. Thomas Jefferson particularly loved this shrub. This deciduous, hibiscus-family shrub has beautiful, white, pink, red, lavender, blue or bi-colored flowers that bloom now until fall. The flowers are edible and used in making foods and tea.
These shrubs grow 7- to 12- feet tall and make a statement with tons of colorful blooms. The 'Chiffon' series features white, pink, blue, lavender, or red flowers. The ' Pillar' series grows 10 feet tall, but only 4 feet wide, making it a good choice for narrow, side yards. There are dwarf varieties, such as 'Lil Kim' , which grow only 3- to 4- feet tall, and 'Sugar Tip', which is also short with variegated foliage.
Rose of Sharon flowers best in full sun, but can take some afternoon shade. Grow plants in well-drained, fertile soil. Prune in late winter to keep the shrub short and remove errant branches. Rose of Sharon flowers off the new branches formed in spring. Some selections are grafted with a different variety as the rootstock. If your Rose of Sharon magically turns a different color one year, it may be the rootstock is growing and flowering. Rose of Sharon is drought tolerant and deer proof, but remove self sown seedlings in spring.
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There are few animal pests as clever as the raccoon. With their dextrose hands and feet, they can get into garbage cans, sealed compost bins and gardens with relative ease.
I avoided growing sweet corn for years because of raccoons. Then I thought I'd try popcorn. I figured popcorn doesn't have sweet kernels so the raccoons would leave it alone. That worked for a few years, then they found my patch. As usual, the night before I was ready to harvest they struck, munching only bits out of multiple ears and pulling down the stalks. I've seen similar raids on melons, beans and tree fruits!
So, what to do about raccoons. First of all, don't leave any standing water in your yard such as birdbaths and kiddie swimming pools. Raccoons love to clean their food before eating it.
Most fencing is not going to stop a nimble raccoon. They can scale even a tall wire fence. They can even use their hands to open up chicken wire fences cobbled together around a garden. The best fencing is wire cages with tops that completely cover the planting. Stake the cage down well. Of course, that won't work for my 6 foot tall corn stalks.
So, this year I bought a portable, solar, electric fence kit. By setting it up early around the corn patch, I hope to train the raccoons to stay out. It has a solar panel that charges the wires during the day and a battery to keep it charged at night. I just have to keep weeds and grass from touching the fence. Wish me luck!
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One type of perennial flower that I really love is shrub-like perennials. These are plants that quickly grow large in one season and even when they aren't flowering, put on quite a show. The one that's blooming right now is hardy hibiscus.
Hardy hibiscus grows in zones 4 to 9 and is different from the woody, tropical, shrub hibiscus. The hardy hibiscus is a perennial, but dies back to the ground each winter. That doesn't stop it from being a showpiece! The 8-inch diameter, colorful flowers appear on shrubs that can grow 3- to 6- feet tall. The colors range from pure white to deep red in the 'Luna' series. This series only grows 2- to 3- feet tall. There are varieties with burgundy colored leaves as well such as 'Midnight Marvel' and 'Evening Rose'. There are bi-colored varieties, such as the pink and red 'Perfect Storm', and even a light yellow colored variety called 'French Vanilla'.
For best flowering, plant in full sun on well-drained, moist soil. Add compost in spring once the plants emerge and keep plants well weeded. The plants die back to the ground in fall, but leave the stems into winter as beneficial insects sometimes overwinter in them. Cut back the stems in spring and be patient. The new shoots are often slow to emerge from the ground.
Hardy hibiscus has few pests, but the hibiscus sawfly can defoliate leaves in late spring. Check for these small caterpillars on the underside of the leaves and handpick them or spray with an organic product such as Spinosad, in the evening when bees aren't active.
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If you’re lucky, around mid-July, warm weather loving veggies are thriving. I recently returned from a trip to find our okra had grown a few feet while I was away.
Okra is a traditional Southern vegetable that should be grown in Northern gardens, too. Plant dwarf, quick maturing varieties now and harvest in 2 months. Dwarf varieties, such as 'Jambalaya' and 'Baby Bubba', only grow 3- to 4-feet tall and produce okra pods quickly in the summer heat. Try planting okra where lettuce or peas have gone by in your garden. The dwarf varieties are also great to grow in containers, too.
Okra is a vegetable that some people love and others hate. The pods have the best taste and texture harvested when they're less than 4 inches long. Young okra pods are more tender and have less of a “slimy” nature. Eat them in soups, stews, fried or sautéed. Okra is in the hibiscus family, so the flowers are edible and delicious stuffed, fried or used as a garnish.
Plant okra in full sun in the hottest spot of your yard on compost amended soil. Like the song by the duo Hot Tamale sings, “the okra don't grow if the water don't flow,” so keep the soil moist.
When harvesting, wear gloves and a long sleeve shirt as some gardeners can get a skin rash from the okra leaves. The pods are attached strongly to the woody stems so use a hand pruner to harvest them. Harvest every few days as the pods grow fast and furious in the heat. The more you harvest, the more pods you get.
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With our warming climate comes many challenges. But one advantage is the possibility of growing some plants that normally would not thrive in Connecticut. This is true of crepe myrtle. Known as the “lilac of the South,” crepe myrtle has traditionally been successfully grown in zone 7 and warmer climates. But now with new hybrid, sterile, varieties from the National Arboretum and warmer winters, we can grow crepe myrtles in zone 6, and even zone 5, which opens up the possibility in all of Connecticut.
Crepe myrtle varieties come as shrubs or small trees. Choose the right type for your yard to avoid drastic pruning. Some of the best shrub-like crepe myrtles include the 2 foot tall 'Chickasaw' with small purple colored flowers and the 6 foot tall 'Caddo' with bright pink flowers. For small trees, try varieties such as the 10 foot tall 'Tonto' with red flowers and 'Natchez' with pure white flowers on 20 foot tall trees.
Crepe myrtles flower best in full sun on well-drained soil. They bloom in midsummer on new spring growth. Prune in late winter to encourage more growth and flowering, reduce the plant size and improve the structure.
The midsummer flowers are a treat when few other large shrubs and trees are blooming. Also, the bark exfoliates creating an interesting tree for winter viewing.
Crepe myrtle are good city trees because they tolerate pollution. Crepe myrtle has few pest problems other than powdery mildew and fungal leaf diseases during our humid summers. If powdery mildew is an issue in your yard, try growing disease resistant varieties such as 'Caddo', 'Hopi' and 'Tonto'.
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I'm always looking for the most recent techniques to help protect our plants from deer and other critters. Deer browsing our shrubs, vegetables, and flowers is a constant source of angst for home owners. Fencing deer out of your yard is often not practical for a suburban homeowner, so repellent sprays are really the next best option.
Recent research at the Connecticut Agricultural Research Station, reported by Connecticut Gardener magazine, highlights the best repellents. Essential oil based repellents, containing oils such as mint, thyme or pepper, often evaporate quickly. Odor based sprays, such as those containing rotten eggs or blood meal, are more effective, but eventually wash off plants after about 5 weeks. In their research, the best deer repellent sprays were fat based. Fat based sprays don't smell bad to humans, don't need reapplying after rains and gave plants months of protection.
Fat-based repellent sprays were discovered in Austria when farmers noticed that deer avoided plants that had raw sheep’s wool hanging on them. Raw sheep's wool has lanolin-based fats that repel deer. Lanolin is a byproduct of wool processing and is safe for people, wildlife and the environment. While their research showed three months of protection from lanolin-based sprays, these commercial products, such as Trico, are very expensive.
A less expensive home remedy alternative that proved as effective as lanolin-based sprays is milk fat. Mixing Half & Half with equal parts water in a sprayer worked as well as the lanolin sprays.
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The warm, wet spring and now summery weather has encouraged our summer squash and zucchini to thrive. But we're not the only ones enjoying these plants. Squash bugs are here and laying eggs on the undersides of summer squash, winter squash, and melon plants. You may not see much damage yet from the squash bugs, but if allowed to thrive, your squash patch will be a mess come August.
Squash bugs are brown or grey colored with a shield shape on their back. They emerge in spring after overwintering under dead leaves, rocks, wood, and other garden debris and start laying copper colored eggs in organized clusters on the leaf undersides. The eggs hatch into miniature squash bug babies that continue to feed on leaves and flowers. The population usually explodes come August when it's too late to really control them.
So, let’s do a little prevention now. Companion planting seems to help. Research from Iowa State University showed that interplanting nasturtiums among your squash deterred egg laying. The nasturtiums emit a fragrance that masks the squash so the squash bugs can't find the squash plants. Grow the trialing type of nasturtiums to have a good mass of plants. You can also check the undersides of the leaves every other day for egg clusters and squish them. You can also cut them out with a scissors if squishing isn't your thing. Finding and squishing the adults is good also.
The organic spray, Spinosad, can be used to kill the adults and young. Spray when the squash aren't flowering and in the evening to prevent harm to pollinating insects.
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We're potentially going to have an abundance of tree fruits this summer. With the mild winter and spring and the right about of sun and moisture, our cherries, plums, pears, apples and peaches have set lots of fruit. While I'm excited about the potential fruit glut, I also know that trees might be too enthusiastic. Too many fruits can lead to the branches breaking from the weight and the fruits being small and not as flavorful. That's why I'm thinning some fruits from my trees.
Thinning is removing some young fruits so the remaining ones thrive. Nature does a good job by doing something called the June drop. That's when trees naturally drop some of their excess fruit on their own. However, you still may need to hand thin fruits now.
Some fruit trees are okay with a big crop. Mature cherries can handle the load. But plums, peaches, apricots, apples, pears and all young trees can stand a little help.
Thin plums to 4- to 6- inches apart. Peaches, apricots and nectarines should be thinned to 8 inches apart. Apples and pears set fruits in clusters so remove all but one of the fruit in the cluster and make sure the clusters are at least 6 inches apart. For dwarf trees or young trees be more aggressive. We have a few 3 year old peach trees that are loaded with fruit. I may leave 6 or 8 peaches on each tree since they're too young to support the weight of all those fruits. The sooner you thin the better so the remaining fruits will plump up nicely.
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If you've ever been to a Japanese restaurant, chances are you've seen or eaten edamame. Edamame is a selection of soybeans that are harvested young when the green seeds fill out the pod similar to peas. You eat the seeds and the flavor is buttery and delicious. You can buy frozen edamame at grocery stores, but the flavor of fresh edamame is better.
If you can grow bush beans, you can grow edamame. Edamame thrives in warm soil so now is a great time to plant. We grow ours on a raised beds amended with compost. Edamame is a legume so it fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere into a food it can use. The soil should be well drained and loose since cold, heavy soils can cause the seeds to rot.
'Envy' is a quick maturing variety, but my go to variety is 'Midori Giant'. This variety has large pods with 3 seeds per pod. Space plants about 4- to 6-inches apart. Watch for slugs when the plants are young. Control them by hand picking the mollusks or spreading an organic bait that contains iron phosphate.
Harvest when the pods fill out and are plump, but before the pods turn yellow. We often just steam the pods in salty water and eat them as a snack. But they're also great cooked with other vegetables, in potato salads, and as a topping on summer salads.
We companion plant kale between our edamame rows, so that once the edamame is harvested we chop down the plants and leave them as mulch around the kale. The kale thrives as a fall veggie.
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Now that the lilacs and other spring flowering shrubs have finished flowering, it's time to prune. Many gardeners delay pruning until later in summer, or even next spring, but that's wrong. Pruning late will remove the flower buds for next year's show. After spring flowering shrubs, such as lilacs, forsythia, rhododendrons, weigela, nineback and bridal wreath spirea have finished blooming, you have about 4- to 6-weeks to prune before flowers form for next year.
These shrubs don't have to be pruned every year unless they're growing too large. Then you have a few options. You can remove some of the new growth down to a height you want. If you don't take off too much new growth, the plants will still flower next year. Doing this pruning yearly is a good way to keep a tall and wide growing shrub, such as lilac, from getting too large. Of course, if planted in a yard or location where it can grow to its maximum size, your shrubs will be magnificent when in flower.
The other method is to severely prune the shrub to reduce the size and lower where the flowers are forming. This drastic cutting, sometimes to only a few feet tall, will result in no flowers for a few years until the shrub recovers, but will create a smaller, more manageable plant. Another way of approaching a tall lilac, for example, is to prune one third of the stems each year for 3 years. This will stimulate new shoots or suckers to grow that will eventually flower while reducing the height and still getting some flowers each year.
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With summer here, it's time to experiment with some unusual, warm weather loving vegetables. One unique veggie I've tried growing for a few years now is peanuts. These nuts taste even better than store bought ones when grown in your garden.
Peanuts are commonly grow in warmer climates, such as the Southeast, where well-drained soil, heat and humidity provide the perfect conditions for these ground nuts. But peanuts are native to South America and can grow in a variety of climates, including New England, with a little coaxing.
Peanuts are legumes and have a unique way of making nuts. The bushy, pea-like plants have small yellow flowers that are easy to miss. These flowers get pollinated and form a peg or stem that drills into the soil around the plant. It's at the end of this peg in the soil where the peanut forms.
Peanuts need at least 100 days of warmth, sun and moisture to form a crop. Look for quicker maturing varieties, such as 'Tennessee Red Valencia' and 'Schronce's Black' Spanish type, to grow. Plant in full sun on loose soil, amended with compost and organic fertilizer. Plant now hoping that by late August you'll get peanuts forming before the night time temperatures dip into the 40Fs and peanuts stop growing.
I've grown peanuts on an elevated raised bed to enhance the warmth and protect the nuts from mice. It worked, but last summer was cloudy and cool so I only got a handful of peanuts. This year I'm trying again in a new, unheated greenhouse where I hope the extra warmth will lead to extra peanuts.
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Most vegetable gardeners are familiar with the benefits of growing veggies vertically. Certainly we know peas and pole beans love to climb. Tall varieties of peas, such as 'Tall Telephone' and 'Sugar Snap', climb up a trellis or fence with ease. Pole beans like to wrap around a pole or support as they grow.
But there are other veggies that can also be grown vertically to save space and reduce disease and insect damage. Some summer squash, zucchini and winter squash varieties can be trained to grow up. Old summer squash varieties, such as 'Yellow Crookneck', and new zucchini varieties, such as 'Incredible Escalator', can be attached with Velcro brand plant ties to a fence and trained to stay off the ground. This gives you better yields on cleaner fruits. Even small-sized, winter squash varieties, such as 'Delicata' and 'Climbing Honey Nut' butternut, can also be grown this way. You can even construct a hog wire fence tunnel to grow heavier, vining, winter squash beauties.
The vining Italian summer squash, 'Trombocino', is one of my personal favorites. This vine grows quickly up a fence, covering it with squash leaves. Come mid summer the fruits form and can grow very long. But they're best eaten when less than 3 feet long. The long, thin, neck is seedless and ends with a bulb on the bottom. It has dense flesh and a nutty flavor.
If you want to try some exotic fruits, bitter melon or squash is an Indian vegetable I grow. It produces warty, green skinned fruits with a slight bitter flavor. It also grows quickly up a fence or trellis.
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As the weather warms, I'm starting to think about basil. It's a bit early to plant basil, but it is a good time to shop for plants and seeds of some of the more unusual basil varieties.
While we all know and love 'Genovese' basil, there are many other flavors to basil. One of our favorites is 'Thai' basil. The thicker leaves hold up well at high heat in Asian recipes and it has a sweet, anise-like flavor. The plant has attractive purple leaf veins and flowers, too. A cross between 'Genovese' and 'Thai' basil is 'Christmas' basil. This plant has the ornamental qualities of 'Thai' basil with a holiday scent of pine and fruity spices. 'Lemon' basil and 'Lime' basil have smaller leaves with a strong citrus smell. 'Holy' basil is also know as Tulsi. It's used in Indian cooking and medicines. It has a strong, spicy taste.
For color in the basil patch, 'Cardinal' basil hales from Israel and has showy, large, red flowers. 'Dark Opal' and 'Purple' basil have deeper colored leaves with a strong, clove-like flavor.
All basils grow best in full sun on well-drained, compost amended soil or in containers. Wait until the soil really warms, maybe until Memorial Day, to plant these exotic basils. There's no rush because basil loves hot weather. Keep the plants well watered. Unless you're growing basil for the ornamental flowers, snip off the blooms when they form to send more energy into leaf production. To harvest, strip off branches of basil leaves back to the main trunk or stem. This encourages more new branch growth with bigger leaves.
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One of the recent trends to help pollinators thrive is called “No Mow May.” The idea is to not mow your lawn in May and let the weeds, which may be wildflowers, too, sprout up and bloom. This will provide pollinators with the pollen and nectar they need. Since lawns make up 40 million acres of our landscape, this could really make a difference.
Although I want to help pollinators, too, I'm not a big proponent of “No Mow May.” Certainly May is a busy month for pollinators and they need all the help they can get. While many lawns have non-grass weeds in them, those weeds may not have the best flowers for pollinators.
Also, what happens after May 31st? If everyone goes back to mowing their lawns as they usually do, all that potential pollinator food is lost.
For an everlasting, positive benefit to our pollinators I would rather see homeowners dedicate a patch of their yard to wildflowers. It may be a small area on the side yard or in the back yard that doesn't get used much anyway. Ideally, it would be in full sun to grow the most variety of pollinator plants. Prepare this area like a garden bed, and seed pollinator friendly annuals, biennials and perennials. Once established, your pollinator garden should thrive on its own and only need a mowing in late fall to prevent woody plants from invading.
Also, over seed your lawn with white clover and mow at least 3 inches tall to not cut off the clover flowers. This will provide another great source of food for pollinators.
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With all the bulbs and spring ephemerals blooming right now, it's hard to think of flowers for late summer. But now is the time to plan for that quieter period when fewer flowers are blooming.
One of the most versatile flowers to grow for summer and fall color is the dahlia. Dahlias hail from the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala. Europeans brought them to that continent and eventually they found their way to North America. Dahlias are hardy in zones 7 and above. Although they might overwinter in warmer parts of the state, its still good to dig and store them each winter.
While you can grow dahlias from seed, for immediate satisfaction, purchase tubers. Plant in early- to mid-May in most parts of the state once the soil temperatures reach 60 degrees. Plant dahlias in full sun on well-drained soil. They do like a consistently cool, moist soil so add compost and keep a hose handy for watering. Plant 4- to 6-inches deep and lay the tuber flat with the growth point or “eye” facing upward. Either stake and tie the plants as they grow or plant them close to other tall perennials, such as peonies and baptisia, and let the dahlias use them for support. Pinch the plant when it's 1 foot tall to promote bushiness and more flowers.
Select varieties based on their color and flower shape. The flower sizes can be 2- to 10-inches in diameter and the shapes include cactus, pom pom, peony, orchid and singles. I particularly like the purple and bi-color flower varieties and ones, such as 'Mystic Illusion', with dark purple foliage color.
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On April 22nd we'll be celebrating the 54th annual Earth Day. While it's great to participate in Earth Day activities, why not make some changes to how we garden to support life on this planet better. I have some suggestions.
Gardeners use a lot of plastic pots. Most of these plastic pots cannot be recycled and end up in the landfill. Instead of throwing out the pots, reuse them. As long as the pots are not broken, clean them well in spring with a 10% bleach solution for planting. For larger pots you don't need, ask your local garden center if they can reuse or recycle the pots. The less new plastic we purchase and use, the better for the planet.
Create a mini meadow in your yard. Many gardeners want to help pollinators, but don't have the space or desire to turn their whole lawn into a pollinator garden. A solution is to find a small patch of your yard that isn't used much and create a mini meadow.
Create a seed bed as you would for a vegetable garden, and plant wildflower seeds now. You'll grow a colorful mix of annuals and perennials that pollinators will love. Mow the meadow once in late fall.
Reduce the use of all pesticides by using row covers, micro mesh covers, traps, and companion planting in your gardens. Even organic pesticides can cause harm to beneficial insects.
Share your knowledge and time with some community gardening projects. Schools, churches, and libraries are some of the places that have gardens where you can help others grow food and flowers for all to enjoy.
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Many gardeners grow Brassica family veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and kale. I also like to experiment with two other Brassicas: kohlrabi and rapini.
Kohlrabi looks a bit like a space satellite. It's low growing and forms an edible, handball sized, swollen stem near the soil surface. That's the part you eat. It was discovered in the 16th century and is popular in Europe. The classic varieties, such as 'Quickstar', are green. I like growing the purple colored, 'Kohlibri' and the white skinned, 'Beas'. There are some varieties, such as 'Superschmelz', that can grow 14 inches across. That's a lot of kohlrabi to eat! The flavor of kohlrabi is like a slightly sweet turnip and I eat it raw in dips or roast it with root crops. Plant now and stagger your plantings or you'll get lots of kohlrabi all maturing at once. Once harvested the plant is destroyed.
Another unusual Brassica is broccoli raab or rapini. This leafy vegetable hails from the Mediterranean region and from China. The name means “little turnip” in Italian. Like kohlrabi, it's related to turnips, but has a small, broccoli-like head and the leaves and small stems are cooked and eaten as well. The flavor can be slightly bitter, and very robust. I like it steamed, roasted, grilled and sauteed. It's great with pasta or with potatoes.
Rapini grows best in cool temperatures, so now is the time to start growing it. It only takes 45 days after seeding to harvest the young plants. Thin plants to 8 inches apart and harvest before the flowers bolt for the mildest flavor.
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I've just about finished my winter pruning. Blueberries, crabapples, apples and other fruit trees are done. Now it's time to start on my hydrangeas.
Pruning hydrangeas can be confusing to home gardeners because when you prune varies depending on the type of hydrangea you're growing. That's the first step. Try to remember, or look into your garden notes, the name of your hydrangea. Don't worry if you can't find it, though. Another method to determine what hydrangea you have is when it blooms. If your hydrangea blooms in late spring or early summer, it's most likely a Hydrangea macrophylla or big leaf, often blue, hydrangea, an oakleaf hydrangea or a climbing hydrangea. These bloom from flower buds set last summer and fall. The time to prune them is after flowering this summer. If you prune too late in summer or fall you can remove flower buds for next year.
Generally, these types of hydrangeas don't need lots of pruning. Prune to deadhead and remove dead, diseased and broken branches and crossing branches. If you have a repeat blooming blue or pink big leaf hydrangea, such as the 'Endless Summer' types, prune those after the first flush of flowers.
If your hydrangeas bloom in mid summer to fall, you probably have Hydrangea arborescens or Hydrangea paniculata. The arborescens and panicle hydrangeas have big white, often turning to burgundy color, blooms that can last into winter. These hydrangeas bloom on new growth from this spring, so to stimulate more new growth, prune now. You can prune these hydrangeas to a basic skeleton structure of main branches and they still will flower.
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One of the benefits of speaking at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show last month was having time to listen to other speakers. One, in particular, caught my attention. Adam Wheeler from Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden spoke about deer proofing your garden.
Adam has been trying to thwart deer for years both at the nursery and home. He mentioned the usual deterrents, such as a 7 foot tall fence, electric fence and repellent sprays. He also has used fishing line strung at 1 and 3 foot heights in paths the deer use to enter the nursery. This seems to have confused the deer so they don't challenge the line and move on.
The most interesting part of his talk was the shrubs and trees deer seem to avoid. Of course, if deer are hungry enough they'll eat anything. But there are some plants they seem to avoid. Certainly, plants with fuzzy leaves, such as lambs ears, plants with thorns, such as barberry, and plants with an aroma such as mint, are less desirable. He mentioned shrubs, such as witch hazel, beauty berry, boxwood, lindera and butterfly bush as also relatively safe. One technique he's had success with is mixing highly desirable plants, such as hosta and yews, with plants deer don't like. This seems to confuse them and the don't munch on them. One deer proof plant I didn't know about is the Japanese plum yew. Generally, yew (Taxus) is like candy for deer. But the Japanese plum yew (Cephalotaxus) has avoided major damage. It looks like the other yews and grows 2- to 6-feet tall and wide.
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One of the joys of growing your own vegetables is fresh garden peas. Fresh peas are rarely found in grocery stores, so it's best to grow your own. Luckily, growing peas is easy, if you follow a few guidelines.
It's best to sow peas in the ground while it's still cool. They like to mature early to avoid the summer heat. Once the ground has dried out and temperatures are above freezing, sow pea seeds in two rows separated by a trellis or fence. We grow ours in raised beds. The soil dries out and warms up faster so we get better seed germination.
Another consideration is varieties. Garden peas are either shelling types, such as 'Tall Telephone', snow peas, such as 'Oregon Giant', and snap peas, such as 'Sugar Snap'. The big revolution in peas is different colored types. You can now plant yellow podded or purple podded snow peas, such as 'Golden Sweet' and 'Royal Snow'. And you can plant golden snap peas, such as 'Honey Snap II' and purple types, such as 'Royal Snap'. This adds a whole new color range to these tasty treats.
Before seeding, soak seeds in warm water overnight to hasten germination. The killer of pea seeds is cold, heavy soil, so the faster the germination, the better. Consider planting lettuce or other greens around the pea rows. Peas are legumes and fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form other plants can use. The lettuce benefits from being a pea companion. After harvest, chop up the plants, add compost and sow a fall crop such as kale, carrots and Swiss chard.
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One of the best perennial flowers for blooming from mid-summer to fall is the tall garden phlox. Phlox paniculata and other tall species have colorful blooms, and depending on the selections, are great pollinator plants. However, they can be plagued with powdery mildew disease during our humid summers.
The solution is variety selection. Mt. Cuba Center is a Delaware public garden that has been trialing various perennial flower varieties in their zone 6 to 7 gardens for years. One trial they did a few years ago was on the tall garden phlox varieties. Mt. Cuba uncovered some of the best phlox varieties for home gardeners.
Phlox 'Jeana' is hands down the best lavender-pink flower colored variety. It produces tons of flowers from July to mid-September, on a 3- to 5-foot tall plants that are drought tolerant, grow in part shade and are powdery mildew resistant. An added bonus is 'Jeana' had the most butterflies of any phlox variety in the trial.
The top rated phlox that is not lavender-pink flowered was 'Glamour Girl'. It has coral-pink flowers on 3 foot tall plants that bloom July through August. It's a vigorous grower with lush foliage and little powdery mildew. If you like white flowers, try 'Delta Snow'. This paniculata type has white flowers with a pink center. It is one of the best varieties for powdery mildew resistance.
Finally, for a phlox from a different species, try the lavender colored Phlox amplifolia. It's unique for its 2 foot height, ability to grow in dry soils and its proclivity to spread by underground rhizomes making it a great meadow plant.
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We love to grow zinnias. This Mexican, annual flower creates loads of color from mid summer to fall and is a magnet for pollinating bees and butterflies.
There are many types of zinnias. Most fall in the Zinnia elegans species. They range from a few feet tall to 5 feet tall. We like the old fashioned 'State Fair Mix' and 'Benary Giants' for big, gaudy, colorful flowers. If powdery mildew is an issue in your garden try the 'Oklahoma Series'. If you're looking for shorter zinnias, check out the 'Profusion' and 'Zahara Series'. These have white, pink, red and yellow selections on 1 foot tall, mounding plants that flower all summer. They're great in the front of a border or in containers.
Zinnias come in different flower shapes as well. The cactus flowered zinnia has long, curved and twisted petals, like a chrysanthemum, on 3 foot tall plants. The newer 'Queeny Series' features a mix of colors, such as orange and lime or red and lime, with 3 inch diameter flowers. The blooms are semi double and make great cut flowers.
If you're looking for a more wild zinnia, try the Zinnia haageana species. Known as the Mexican zinnia, this 2 foot tall plant produces small, colorful, double blooms. 'Persian Carpet' and 'Jazzy Mix' are favorites for us.
Start zinnia seeds indoors about 1 month before transplanting into the garden to get a jump on the season. Don't rush to transplant as they like the warmth. Give them plenty of room to grow, especially the large flowered types. You can top them when small to induce bushier growth.
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Growing a pollinator garden has become very popular. But many gardeners don't have room for yet another garden. Another way to approach supporting pollinators is to find places in existing gardens to grow plants they love. One neglected group of plants for pollinators is ground covers.
Growing ground covers between trees, shrubs and perennials not only creates a more natural look and adds color, but also provides a source of pollen and nectar for these essential creatures.
Here's some ground covers to tuck between your plants. Wild and alpine strawberries are favorite pollinator friendly ground covers. We have them planted throughout a winding border filled with shrubs and perennials. They bloom in spring and then, off and on, all summer and we get some berries, too. Rock soapwort, or Saponaria, is perfect for a sunny flower garden. It grows 4- to 8-inches tall, tolerates dry soil and has fragrant, pink and white flowers in early summer. Strawberries and soapwort are deer resistant.
We love growing the perennial geranium as a ground cover. It grows 1 foot tall, and slowly spreads to fill in part shade areas between large perennials and shrubs. The pink flowers bloom on and off all summer. Clover is a great groundcover for areas between shrubs , trees and tough perennials. The white flowers are favorites of pollinators and they bloom all summer. For a more colorful treat, try growing the purple leafed variety Altropurpureum. It stays 4 inches tall and has purple leaves with green edging. It's less vigorous than the green leafed versions but still flowers and adds a splash of color to your garden.
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Have you noticed? The days are getting longer and the sun is getting stronger. Spring is coming! I'm getting ready to start a whole variety of vegetables and flowers for transplanting into the garden this spring.
But we don't have to wait to enjoy all those tasty veggies. With the longer days and stronger sun, we can start growing vegetables indoors in a sunny window. The keys are full sun, warmth and the right greens.
While the days are longer, it's important that where you grow your greens gets as much sun as possible. That means at least 4 hours a day. If you don't have that amount of sun, try using grow lights to supplement your light. Also, place the seedings in a warm room with few cold drafts. I place a clear plastic cover over my grow light set up to keep the air warm and humid. You'll also want to use a heating pad under the seedlings to get them to grow fast.
The best greens to grow indoors now are ones that can take lower light levels and cool temperatures. Mache, spinach, arugula, mustards and winter lettuces are the best bets. Mache and arugula are quick germinating and mature greens with a mild taste, if not stressed. Mustards are fast growing with a little bite.
Grow greens in a tray or large pots. Sow seeds and keep the soil moist. Thin and harvest when the greens are young, or let them grow larger for a bigger yield. By harvesting just outer leaves, many of these greens will continue yielding right into spring.
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We know about GMO foods. Commodity crops, such as corn, rice and wheat, and some vegetables and fruits, such as squashes and pineapples, are genetically modified. But these varieties are available only to commercial growers. Now we have a GMO tomato that's available for home gardeners to grow.
Recent news reports discuss a new, 'Purple' cherry tomato developed by the Norfolk Plant Science Group in England. They've worked for 20 years to move the purple gene trait from snapdragons into a cherry tomato. The result is a purple tomato with high levels of anthocyanin, an anti-cancer and anti-inflammation compound. These anthocyanins are in some tomato fruits already, but at low levels. 'Purple' tomato increases the levels and the potential health benefits. While many like the idea of the health benefits of nutrient dense vegetables, there are concerns about what happens in the environment when these plants are grown such as the controversy around GMO corn harming butterflies and pollinators.
This GMO Purple tomato is making headlines, but it's also good to remember that traditional breeding can also create healthier varieties of edibles. The 'Indigo Rose' purple tomato that I've grown has been bred to have more anthocyanins in the fruit as well. In fact, the whole Indigo series of tomatoes has more than 50 varieties with this benefit that have all been bred traditionally.
Trying to introduce a GMO tomato variety to home gardeners may be tough due to public perception of GMOs being bad for the environment and our health. But Norfolk Plant Sciences hopes to change the conversation. We'll see if it gets accepted.
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Houseplants can be fun and fulfilling to grow. You always should grow the right houseplant for your room, but another fun way to choose houseplants is to select them based on Zodiac signs. Zodiac signs can correspond to your personality traits. For example, if your Zodiac sign is Aries you may have a lot of fire and like to stay active and busy. Then perhaps a snake plant or ZZ plant, that requires little care, is best for you?
If your Zodiac sign is Taurus, you may find yourself to be hard working, tenacious and see things through. Maybe you should try a more difficult houseplant that requires extra care, such as a fiddle leaf fig or orchid.
Capricorns tend to be very practical, serious people. That's why growing herbs and edibles indoors in a sunny window or under lights would suit this sign perfectly. The Pisces sign symbolizes intuition and luck. The money plant is an easy to grow houseplant loaded with good fortune and prosperity symbolism.
Some plants equate to Zodiac signs because of their names. Peace lilies resonate with Libra which is ruled by the love planet, Venus. Sagittarius, ruled by Jupiter, is known for big, grand gestures. Why not grow a big, grand houseplant such as Monstera or rubber tree? Cancer is ruled by the moon which a closely associated with fertility. Why not a houseplant that reproduces easily such as a spider plant?
You could go on and on looking for plants that associate with a zodiac sign. It's a fun way to get friends interested in houseplants and the symbolism they hold.
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Succulents can make great houseplants depending on your space and light levels. Many gardeners love picking up some of these small plants in winter to add some greenery to their indoors. But it does matter which succulents you grow, and where you grow them, in your home.
For high light windows that get at least 3 to 4 hours of direct sun a day in winter or if you have a grow light, light-loving succulents are best. Echeverias, sedums, cacti and sempervivums or hens and chicks, all love the bright light.
For darker areas that may only get an hour or so of direct light, but still is a brightly lit room, try Haworthia, aloe, snake plant, ZZ plant and jade plants. They can tolerate the lower light levels and not get leggy.
The other consideration is space. Many succulents can be purchased in small, 2-inch diameter pots, but they can grow big over time. Consider places in your home where you can grow larger succulents or grow some that stay small such as Haworthia. I've seen very large aloe, jade and agave plants in homes that are striking as long as they have room and sun.
Succulents are best watered once the soil is dry. Slowly pour water into the pot so it drains out the bottom. Or place pots in a basin with a few inches of water and the soil will naturally soak up the water.
Some succulents grow small pups or baby plants next to the mother plant. Create more succulents by separating the babies from the mother and potting them in their own containers.
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As I finish touring India, I'm reminded of the power of urban gardens. India is the most populated country in the world and it's impressive how they garden in such a crowded place.
We also can garden in small spaces in our towns and cities, but there can be challenges. Here's a few tips for urban gardening.
Urban settings can have poor or even contaminated soils. It's best to do a soil test to make sure the soil is safe to grow in. Building raised beds and adding organic matter and topsoil can help plants grow better. Consider trying straw bale gardening and community gardens as well. Of course, containers are sometimes the best option for a small gardening space and don't forget using hanging baskets, railing planters and vertical trellises to grow plants.
Try to locate your beds and containers where they'll get the most sun. That may change throughout the summer due to shade from nearby buildings and trees, so move containers as needed and grow plants adapted to low light in shady spots. Also, place gardens close to a water source and check local zoning ordinances about building gardens in your yard.
Because you have limited space, select flowers and edibles you really like. For a big bang for your efforts grow edibles such as cherry tomatoes, greens, zucchini, bush beans and cucumbers and annual flowers such as impatiens, zinnias, geraniums and petunias.
Plan for animal pests such as cats, dogs, raccoons and mice. Fence the raised beds, add screening for bird and squirrel protection and use animal repellents.
Learn more about the benefits of urban gardening at the Connecticut Horticultural Societies' Zoom talk at cthort.org.
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One way to get a gardening fix in the middle of winter is to grow mushrooms. Gourmet mushrooms are hard to find in the wild and often very expensive in grocery stores. An easy way to have gourmet mushrooms is to grow them indoors with mushroom kits purchased online. Growers have expanded the varieties available. There are now oyster mushrooms, lion's mane, wine cap and shiitake mushrooms you can grow in the comfort of your home while the winter rages outdoors.
Probably the easiest mushroom kits to try indoors are the lion's mane and oyster mushrooms. Kits feature blue, pink, or golden varieties of oyster mushrooms. Once you’ve received the mushroom box with inoculated spawn inside, place it in a humid, cool room and mist the medium in the plastic bag to keep it moist, but not wet. Within a few weeks, mushrooms magically appear. Harvest when they're fully formed. If you keep the kit moist you should get another flush of growth within 2 months.
Shiitake mushrooms grow a little differently. Make slits in the clear plastic bag holding the medium and mist inside the bag to keep it moist, but not wet. Place it in a warm room with indirect light. After a few weeks the shiitake mushrooms will start forming. Harvest when the cap is domed by gently twisting and pulling the mushrooms. After the first harvest, soak the medium in water overnight. Let it dry out for another night, then place it back in the plastic bag to rest for 2 weeks. It should start sprouting mushrooms for a second round, soon after that.
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One of my favorite winter activities is perusing print catalogs and websites for new varieties to try this coming year. I have my favorites, but I'm always on the lookout for something new. So, after looking at a few of my favorite companies I have my 2024 list of new vegetables to grow. Here we go!
From Johnny's Seeds in Maine comes two new tomato varieties. 'Harvest Moon' is a hybrid, beefsteak-type with yellow skin and flesh and a stunning bright red interior. It grows on a compact indeterminate plant so doesn't grow too large. 'Magic Bullet' is an open pollinated, grape-shaped, snacking tomato with colorful green, yellow, pink and indigo fruits!
High Mowing in Vermont features 'Honeynut' butternut squash. This open pollinated variety produces 1 pound, sweet tasting fruits that are perfect for individual servings. The plant is also powdery mildew resistant. They also have 'Turkish Delight' hybrid eggplant. It has jet black skin on an elongated shape that sets fruits without pollination.
From California comes Renee's Garden's 'Bronze Torch' grape tomato. The red fruits have golden streaks and are 2- to-3 inches long, tasty, and last long after harvest. Here's a turnip that you might like. 'Pastel Duo' baby turnips are white and pink turnips that don't need peeling. Harvest when they're walnut size for a mild flavor and use in salads or sautées.
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Happy New Year. January is time to go through all my old seeds, see what I need to replace and try some new varieties. This year let's keep our seed purchases local. There are vegetable and flower seed houses based in Connecticut offering a nice variety of seed to purchase.
NE Seed in East Hartford has been around since 1987, but the family goes back many generations. They offer a wide variety of veggie seeds, including a nice selection of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, and organic seed. They're geared towards larger sized growers and sell seed on line by the half ounce.
John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds in Bantam also offers a wide variety of veggies and flowers and are more geared to the small scale, home gardener. I particularly like their salad greens with many unusual selections such as dandelion greens and mache. They sell seed packets on-line.
Chas Hart Seed has been selling seed wholesale since 1892 in Wethersfield. You mostly see their seeds on seed racks around the state. But they also offer seeds on-line in their catalog and sell seed by the quarter ounce. If you're looking for lots of classic varieties, this company is the place to go.
Finally, Select Seeds in Union, Connecticut is all about flowers. They offer annual and perennial organic seeds and themed seed collections such as for pollinators, edible gardens, fragrance and containers. They sell seed in packets online and in stores.
Although not all the seed offered in these catalogs is grown and sourced in New England, but purchasing seed from these companies supports the local economy.
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After the holidays, many gardeners wonder what to do with the holiday plants they purchased or received. Many of those plants can have a second life indoors and outdoors. Let's go through the list.
Poinsettias aren't hardy outdoors during our winters, but they do hold their bract colors throughout spring. The best use for poinsettias is as a houseplant this winter to add a little color indoors and then pair them with spring annual flowers, such as violas, pansies; and perennials, such as heuchera and bleeding heart, outdoors in the garden. As long as it doesn't frost, you can create a colorful spring scape using your poinsettias. Once summer comes and they start growing new green leaves, it's time to compost them. Check out Connecticut Gardener Magazine for more ideas on using poinsettias.
For holiday cactus, find a bright, cool, room indoors for them to grow. In spring, hang holiday cactus plants in small trees, such as crabapples, as they would grow in Nature to give them a taste of the humidity and light.
Amaryllis are perennial bulbs and are easy to bring back again for a repeat bloom next year. Remove the flower stalks, once spent, and leave the leaves growing your amaryllis in a sunny window. In early summer move the potted amaryllis outdoors to a part shade location with other low growing perennials. The green leaves provide a perfect backdrop to more colorful annuals and perennials. Come fall, move it into a dark, cool room, stop watering, remove the leaves and let it stay dormant for a few months before it starts growing again.
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With the holidays upon us, many gardeners have free time from their jobs and gardening outdoors. It's a good time of year to see how ecologically oriented your yard is.
Ecological or regenerative gardening focuses on the whole yard, including the soil, to create a habitat that's good for birds, wildlife and humans. The first step is to realize there's life happening in your garden even in the dead of winter. Winter birds, chipmunks and mice are searching for seeds to eat. Insects are settled into their winter homes in leaf layers and in erect, pithy, plant stems. As long as the soil is thawed, microbes are breaking down organic matter creating food.
With this in mind, there are some simple things to do to encourage all this activity. Leave leaves in the yard and garden for creatures to overwinter and to protect plant roots. Any amount of leaves over a 1-foot-thick layer should be removed and composted into leaf mold. Plant native flowers, trees and shrubs that produce an abundance of seeds, berries and fruits for wildlife. (It’s easy to research native plant nurseries). Make sure there are places to nest, overwinter and hide such as brush piles and dense evergreen shrubs and trees. Consider creating a water feature. This will help animals in winter as long as it stays thawed and create habitat for salamanders, frogs and other water lovers adding diversity to your yard.
An ecologically oriented landscape may not look as neat and tidy as we're used to, but it's good to garden in tune with Nature.
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Many gardeners have already selected and decorated their holiday tree for the season. But if you're still planning on getting a tree, consider this alternative; a living holiday tree.
Living holiday trees are ones you'll plant in your yard once the holidays are over. It's a great tradition where you can grow a forest of holiday trees over time. Garden centers offer lots of options for a containerized, living holiday tree in pots, including smaller sized trees for tabletops. Here are some options.
Blue spruce has bright blue, sharp needles on stiff branches that are great for hanging ornaments. If the needles are too sharp for you, try the softer, but green needled, Serbian and Norway spruce trees. Dwarf Alberta spruce has beautiful green needles, but they're tightly pruned. They're fine for wrapping lights and tinsel on the tree but harder to hang ornaments. For fragrance nothing beats a balsam fir tree. You can even find juniper shrubs and white pine trees in small sizes for your home.
Once you have your tree, leave it outdoors. One week before bringing it in, move the tree to a protected, unheated shed or garage. Once you bring it inside, place it in a bucket to catch water, and place it in a bright, cool room for only one week. If you leave it indoors too long, the tree might break dormancy.
After the holidays, plant it outdoors in a full sun location where it will have room to grow for years. Keep it watered and protected from drying winds this winter with anti-desiccant sprays or wraps of burlap.
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The USDA plant hardiness zone map splits the country into 11 zones, with a and b half zones, based on average winter minimum temperatures over the past 30 years. Although not the last word on plant hardiness and survival, the map has been a touchstone for gardeners to compare plants and determine which are best for their area.
The USDA Hardiness zone map was last updated in 2012 and now they have a new 2023 version. As you might expect with global warming, the hardiness zones have shifted. In 2012 there was a significant area of Northwest Connecticut in zone 5 (winter minimum temperatures between minus 10 and 20). That area is gone. Most of Connecticut is firmly established in hardiness zone 6 (winter minimums of zero to minus 10) with a large area along the Long Island Sound in hardiness zone 7. In general across the country, there has been a one half zone shift towards warmer winters.
While the winter minimum temperatures might be warming, that doesn't mean we won't get winter cold snaps that will plunge the temperatures well below those minimums. The zones are based on averages, not isolated events. Plants can be killed if the temperatures in winter dip too low for a period of time, regardless of what the map says.
So, the recommendation is to grow plants well established in our hardiness zone and, if you're testing marginally hardy plants based on the map, plant them in micro climate areas such as near the house, garage, or the shelter of other trees and shrubs where they are protected from the cold.
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I was poking around my basement the other day and found my amaryllis bulbs. I stored them down there a few months ago to go dormant. Now it's time to move them into a sunny, cool room.
Amaryllis bulbs are native to the southern hemisphere. They normally bloom in spring and early summer in those climes, which means winter here. While the classic amaryllis has either a large sized, red or white flower, there are many variations in nature and for us to grow.
'Beautiful Emotion' is a salmon colored dwarf variety. 'Bright Nymph' is a red and white, double flowered selection and I recently purchased 'Sumatra' for its spider-like, red flowers.
Whatever variety you choose, bring them home and pot them in a container one size larger than the bulb. Amaryllis like to be root bound. Grow them in a sunny window in a warm room. Rotate the pot periodically so the flower stalk doesn't lean. Use wooden chop sticks to keep tall varieties from flopping over. For bulbs already potted up, place the plastic container in a larger decorative container. Just make sure the drainage holes are open. Keep the soil moist, but let it dry out a bit between waterings.
The bigger the amaryllis bulb, the more flower stalks and flowers you'll get. It's not unusual to have 3 flower stalks with 4 to 6 flowers on each stalk. Cut back the stalks once they finish flowering and grow the plant indoors until spring when it can be moved outdoors. Water and fertilize regularly remembering to give the bulb a rest next fall to stimulate flowering.
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I hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving break. This time of year it's nice to do some indoor craft and gardening projects. One of my favorites is decorating with indoor succulents.
Succulent plants have become very popular for their low maintenance and interesting shaped and colored leaves. They don't require much water, especially in winter, but do need a brightly lit room to grow well and not get leggy.
There are many ways to decorate with succulents. You can pot up a single, dramatic succulent such as an aloe vera or jade plant as a centerpiece for the holidays.
Another method is to purchase many small succulents in 1 or 2 inch diameter pots and group them together in a shallow decorative container. The advantage of these small plants is they're easy to work with, less expensive and fun to mix and match for their colors and shapes. Use an 8 or 10 inch diameter container and plant small versions of different types of cactus, echeverias, milk trees, sedums and hens and chicks. You can even plant some cascading succulents such as string of pearls for the edge. Some gardeners love containers with all the same types of succulent, while others like to mix and match different colored and shaped plants.
Plant in cactus mix potting soil in a container with a drainage hole. Water well at first, then let the pot dry out completely between waterings. Decorate the planting with rocks, pebbles and even moss. Pack the plants together. Even though they will eventually need replanting as they grow, these indoor succulent containers will look great for the holidays.
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After the cold weather that ended our growing season, it's predictably warmed up again. This temperature fluctuation is our new norm, so we should be ready to act when we have a window of opportunity. That's why I'm building some new, raised beds this week.
Raised bed gardening is a great way to maximize your veggie and flower yields, contain gardens in a small space and define the garden so kids and pets don't run through it. While you can use lots of different materials to make raised beds including, stone, brick, cinder block, metal and composite wood, I like using rough cut spruce or hemlock. They hold up for a good 10 years in my garden and are much cheaper than cedar.
Build the beds at least 10 inches tall and no more than 4 feet wide. You'll avoid walking on the soil and compressing it and have a high enough bed to get good soil water drainage and plant growth. I like using metal, raised bed, corners. These corners come with 1 or 2 inch diameter slots and at different heights. Simply cut the wood to length, slide the boards into the slots and screw them tight. When the wood eventually rots, just replace individual boards without having to redo the whole bed. I also line the bottom with ¼ inch mesh hardware cloth to prevent mice and voles from tunneling into the bed.
Build the beds now but don't fill them with soil yet. That's better done in spring. And don't just think of veggies when planting. I've seen some beautiful perennial and annual flower raised beds, too.
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Many gardeners love the look and feel of a wildflower meadow. Plus, many of us are trying to reduce the amount of lawn we mow and create places for pollinators to thrive. Wildflower meadows are a perfect solution.
Fall is a great time to sow wildflowers. When planted after a few frosts, that would be mid to end of November in most parts of Connecticut, the soil is cool enough that wildflower seeds stay dormant in the ground. In spring they germinate when the light and moisture conditions are right and you get a jump on your wildflower meadow planting.
First, purchase wildflower mixes adapted to New England. These can be a mix of annuals and biennials for quick color and some perennials for long term meadow plantings. Or you can buy specialty mixes with just natives or pollinator friendly plants.
Prepare the site in a full sun area on well-drained soil. It's best to till, or hand dig a small site, 2 to 3 weeks before planting your wildflower seeds. Remove weeds and perennial grasses that will compete with your wildflowers for water and nutrients. Sow the seed mix with a hand or drop spreader following the rates on the bag. Mix 8 parts sand to one part seed for better spreading. Sow one half of the seed in one direction and the second half in the perpendicular direction to get good coverage.
Finally, walk across your wildflower patch to compress the soil so the seed has good soil contact.
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Our dahlias and cannas have been tremendous this year with the warm fall weather. But frost has finally put them to rest. Now it's time to dig and store them for winter because dahlias and canna lilies aren't hardy in our climate.
To store them, cut the foliage to ground level. Then carefully dig up the entire clump of dahlia and canna lilies to inspect them before storing. Gently knock off the soil around the tubers, remove damaged tubers and label each variety. Let the clumps dry in a dark, cool, airy place, such as an unheated garage or shed, for a few days. Then wash off more soil before storing them.
Some gardeners like to divide clumps in fall, but I'd rather wait until spring. Dahlias and canna tubers have eyes that sprout into new shoots. Not all tubers will have eyes. In fall it may be hard to tell where the eyes are, but by spring they will start swelling like on a potato. Then you'll know which tubers to keep.
I store dahlia and canna tubers in cardboard boxes. I fill my boxes with wet wood chips to keep the tubers moist, but with good airflow. Other gardeners use slightly moist peat moss or vermiculite as well. Place the boxes in a cool, dark basement or garage where the temperatures stay between 35 and 50 degrees. Check periodically in winter. If the tubers have shriveled or dried out, mist them. If the tubers have started to rot, dry them out. By spring you should have plenty of tubers to plant and share with friends and family.
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Halloween is almost here and it's time to get those jack-o'-lanterns ready to go. While carving an orange field pumpkin is the method of choice for many gardeners, you can also decorate other fruits to create a spooky, Halloween appearance.
The first jack-o’-lantern wasn't a pumpkin at all. In Ireland, kids would carve turnips and put candles in them to scare away the evil spirits on All Hallows Eve, especially Stingy Jack. Legend has it that Jack's spirit would wander the streets at night finding his way with only a candle. Kids would create their own versions of scary carved turnips to keep Jack at bay. Once Irish immigrants came to North America, they brought the same tradition but used the native pumpkins instead of turnips.
You can create your own version of a scary turnip or pumpkin by following a few tips. Like the Irish kids, use what fruits are available to you. Many farmers now grow a variety of winter squash and pumpkins, so consider decorating a blue hubbard squash, a red or white flat, wheel-like Cinderella squash or a warty skinned pumpkin.
Then, using a dry erase marker, draw a design you can carve or paint on your squash. When carving, cut from the back of the pumpkins, remove the insides saving the seed for roasting and make a flat spot for a candle. You can also use flashing LED lights for a wild experience. After carving, rub petroleum jelly on the cuts so the pumpkin lasts longer.
Don't toss those squashes after Halloween. Many have tasty flesh for baking and cooking.
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It's been a rough year in my orchard. A late freeze in winter killed some blossoms before they even opened and a late May frost zapped those that did open. But surprisingly, one fruit tree did fine. That's my American persimmon.
Most gardeners know persimmons as that Asian fruit in specialty grocery stores. Although most Asian types aren't hardy here, the American persimmon are and they're worth growing. Persimmon trees grow 20 feet-tall with large, avocado-like leaves. You only need one tree to get fruit. The tree has a nice shape and beautiful yellow, fall foliage color. But it's the fruit that I love.
American persimmon fruits are about the size of a small donut. They grow slowly all summer and by now should be turning their characteristic orange color. But don't eat them yet. American persimmons are very astringent if you eat them when they're still firm. It's best to harvest when they're fully colored, bring them indoors and let them slowly soften over many days. When the fruits are mushy ripe, dive in. The custardy fruits have a sweet, citrus/mango flavor with a hint of cinnamon. I love eating them fresh, but you can also bake and cook with them. I even freeze some to add to winter fruit shakes. You can also leave the fruits on the tree into late fall. Once the golden leaves drop, the orange fruits give a spooky appearance and are great for wildlife to enjoy.
The classic variety for New England is 'Meader', bred by New Hampshire horticulturist, Elwyn Meader. But others worth trying include 'Mohler', 'Prok' and 'John Rick'.
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With the cold weather coming soon, you might want to save some favorite annual flowers. It's a shame to let a nice flowering plant die and there are ways to take what we usually think of as an annual and turn it into a perennial.
Pelargonium geraniums, fuchsias, coleus and begonias are just some of the flowers we often grow as annuals that can be overwintered to grow again next year. While the temptation is to dig up a large plant or bring a big container filled with flowers indoors for winter, for most of us, that's not very practical. We don't have the space to save large annual flowers, so our solution is to take cuttings.
Many of these annual flowers are easy to propagate by taking a small cutting and rooting it in a container. You get to save a prized variety and save space at the same time. Now is the time to take cuttings. Cut back 4- to 6-inches from the tip of a stem, remove any flowers and cut just below a set of leaves. Remove the lower leaves. Dip the cut end in some rooting hormone powder that's readily available at garden centers and stick the cutting in a pot filled with moisten potting soil. Place the cutting in a bright room, out of direct sunlight, until rooted. It usually takes a number of weeks to root. Then place the cutting in a sunny window for winter. Take multiple cuttings of each plant to insure you get some that survive. You can always share the extras with friends and family in spring.
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As you walk around garden centers this time of year, you can't help noticing all the gourds on display. There are two different types of gourds. The small, warty, soft shelled gourds are mostly used for decorations and will start rotting after a few months, especially if they're touched by frost. The larger, hard shelled gourds are the cool ones. These can be dried to form a hard shell that can last for years. I grew a bottle gourd for my step son when he was younger and we kept that gourd for a good 10 years until we finally composted it.
When exploring hard shelled gourds to use as decorations or crafts, look for different shapes. Many hard shelled gourds are named after their usage such as dipper gourd, spoon gourd, bottle gourd, basket gourd, sponge gourd, and birdhouse gourd. Some are even used to make musical instruments.
Once you find a hard shelled gourd that's mature, then wash off the gourd skin with soapy water. To dry it, place the gourd in a warm, well-ventilated, dark room. The skin should dry within 1 week, while the insides of the gourd may take several months. Check them daily for rotting. When you can shake the gourd and you hear the seeds rattle around inside, it’s dry. Then carve out holes and make a birdhouse, cut the gourd to make a spoon, basket or dipper or even peel the skin, wash out the insides, dry it and make a luffa sponge. These hard shelled gourds are utilitarian and can just be displayed for their beauty.
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We normally think of earthworms as good for the soil. But not all earthworms are the same. Earthworms originally came from Europe with the colonists. Now there are worms from other parts of the globe that are harmful to our forest and garden soils.
The Asian jumping worm or snake worm is native to parts of Japan that have mostly evergreen and oak trees. Our thinner leafed maple leaves are a great food for jumping worms. Jumping worms eat organic matter at a faster rate and they reproduce and spread quicker than regular worms. Once in a forest you'll notice the understory is gone. The jumping worms eat the organic matter, seeds and kill seedlings, reducing any rejuvenation of the trees.
In the garden, you'll know you have jumping worms if you see grape nut sized soil particles on the surface. You can also drench the soil with a solution of 1 gallon water, 1/3 cup crushed, yellow, mustard seeds. The worms will rise to the surface. Jumping worms wiggle vigorously and have a milky band that goes all around their bodies. European earthworms don't have the band circling their bodies.
To prevent their spread, knock off the soil on new plants before planting, especially ones you receive from friends' gardens. This insures no eggs, cocoons or worms will be present. Handpick jumping worms placing them in a plastic bag on a driveway to bake.
Researchers are working on other controls such as beneficial nematodes, fungus, biochar and tea tree seed meal. Check theConnecticut Agricultural Research Station website for more information.
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Our hydrangeas are putting on quite a show. Whether it be the blue or pink flowered Hydrangea macrophylla or the white to burgundy colored Hydrangea paniculata, hydrangeas are beautiful right now. But we all know what's coming soon weather-wise, so let's talk about cutting hydrangeas for the table and drying them for winter.
When cutting hydrangeas for the table, wait until the flowers are fully opened. Cut the stems in the morning when it's cool, just below a set of leaves. Remove the leaves and plunge the cut stems in water immediately. The sap that hydrangea stems exude can inhibit water uptake, so the sooner you get the stems in water, the better. Cut the bottom of the stems again once indoors and slit the sides about 2 inches up from the bottom to increase water absorption. Recut the stems and change the water regularly for the longest life indoors.
To dry hydrangea flowers for winter, select sturdy stems and cut the flowers with 12- to 18-inches of stem attached. Cut the flowers when they're in the color range you like. For panicle hydrangeas, simply place the cut stems and flowers in a dry vase or a vase with some water, in a cool, brightly lit room out of direct sun. Let the water evaporate and they will naturally dry. For the more colorful blue and pink hydrangeas, use silica crystals to dry the flowers and preserve the bright colors. Select smaller sized flowers that will easily fit in a deep plastic basin. Carefully cover the flowers with silica and in 4 days or so, they should be dried.
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Many gardeners are starting to think about fall garden cleanup. But there are some new ideas about cleaning the flower and vegetable gardens in the fall. To garden more ecologically friendly, we're learning what not to do come Autumn.
Many pollinators and beneficial insects are getting ready for winter in the flower garden. They will tunnel into hollow stemmed flowers, such as zinnias and echinacea, tuck under fallen leaves, and burrow next to clumping plants. The traditional knowledge was to cut back and clean up these annual and perennial flower gardens to remove weeds and diseased leaves. Now, the thinking is different. It's recommended to leave the plant debris until spring. After a series of 50F days in spring, then clean up after the insects have moved on. If you must do some cleanup, cut back plants no shorter than 15 inches to not disturb the overwintering insects. If you have lots of deciduous leaves on your beds, then yes, remove some, but leave a thin layer for the insects. Leaving plant debris and leaves also helps feed plants in spring and prevent weeds from growing.
If your plants are not diseased or insect-infested in the veggie garden, cut back the foliage into small pieces to the ground with a manual hedge trimmer. This chop-and-drop method leaves organic materials on the soil, protecting the microbes in winter and preventing erosion. In beds with diseased plants, cut those off at the soil line and remove them. Then, add a layer of chopped leaves, hay, or straw to protect the soil.
For more from Connecticut Garden Journal, visit ctpublic.org/ctgardenjournal.
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Even though the weather has been more summer-like, it is September, and the natural rhythms continue. One of those rhythms is birds are getting ready to either migrate or spend the winter here. To help our feathered friends, plant shrubs that produce berries that birds love and need for energy and survival.
While birds will eat many different berries this time of year, including from invasive shrubs, such as Japanese honeysuckle and buckthorn, it's best to plant native shrubs with higher-quality berries. Research has shown that while the calorie content of native and exotic berries is about the same, the fat content differs dramatically. Berries from invasives have only have about 2 percent fat, while native berries can have up to 48 percent fat. This is important for energy to migrate or survive a cold winter.
Some of the best native berry plants are in the dogwood and viburnum families. Grey dogwood, red osier dogwood, and silky dogwood are some of the shrub dogwood species that produce good quality berries for birds and are easy to grow. Bush dogwoods can tolerate part sun and moist soil conditions and grow into large wildlife shrubs. Nannyberry, American high bush cranberry, and black haw are some of the best native viburnums for birds. They also grow in full or part sun and tolerate different types of soil. Other native shrubs for berry production include aronia, winterberry and spicebush.
Make sure you plant these natives in groups where they will thrive and can grow large. Along a forest edge or mixed with other shrubs in a border is best.
For more from Connecticut Garden Journal visit ctpublic.org/ctgardenjournal
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Late summer is sunflower time. With our cloudy, rainy summer, our sunflowers have taken their time to grow large and flower. But now they are in their glory.
Many gardeners think of the large headed, 10 foot tall 'Russian Mammoth' sunflowers when they think of this plant. But there are so many different selections now with smaller sized flowers, multi-stemmed plants and different flower petal colors. 'Italian White' has pure white petals, 'Velvet Queen' has red colored petals, 'Ruby Eclipse' has bicolored red and cream blooms, 'Limoncello' has light yellow petals and 'Autumn Beauty' is a mix of many of these colors. These selections grow 4- to 5-feet tall and produce tons of flowers. There are even 2 foot tall dwarfs, such as 'Teddy Bear', with double yellow petals that hardly look like a sunflower.
Sunflowers not only add color to the late summer garden, the seeds are edible. Cover heads with brown paper bags once the petals drop and you notice bird activity around your plants. When the seeds start dropping in the bag, cut the head and let it dry in a warm, airy location. Remove the seeds and roast for a snack. The large headed varieties are best for snacking, but leave some for the birds, too!
For another treat, harvest unopened sunflower heads, steam them and eat them whole like artichokes. You'll be amazed at the sunflower/artichoke flavor of the flower buds.
Grow sunflowers in spring in full sun on well drained soil. Grow in clumps so they support each other and don't flop and you can enjoy the color show even more.
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When I think of flowering bulbs I usually think of spring bloomers such as tulips and daffodils. But I'm reminded of another group of fall flowering bulbs that add a blast color to the late summer garden.
Let's start with fall flowering crocus and colchicum. These two bulbs look similar to the spring flowering versions, but bloom now. Fall crocus is also known as saffron crocus. The orange stigmas in the flowers are edible. You can see why saffron is so expensive when you realize how many crocus blooms you need to get this spice. Colchicum is a bright pink flowering, autumn bulb that is large. 'Waterlily' is a double petaled selection that really puts on a show.
Another great fall bulb is the crocosmia. 'Lucifer' is the most common variety with its bright red colored blooms. But there are yellow colored selections as well. Crocosmia are in the same family as freesia and gladiolus so the leaves will look familiar. The flower forms later than glads and the small, brightly colored blooms flower on arching, long stems. It looks great mixed with other fall blooming perennials.
Finally, lycoris or naked ladies is an unusual fall bloomer. It grows foliage in late spring then dies back in summer. By fall, single stems emerge from the soil with bright pink, trumpet-shaped blooms. It's also called magic lily for that reason.
Plant these bulbs in spring. All are hardy to zone 5 and come back reliably when grown in full sun on well-drained soil. Even deer don't bother them.
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The veggie harvest is coming in fast and furious right now. It's important to stay on top of the harvest or else, your small veggies can turn into unruly monsters that don't taste so great either. So, here's a simple guide of when to harvest some of the most popular veggies.
Our bush and pole beans are producing tons. It's best to harvest these on the young side as the beans are more tender. When in doubt, pick. For dried beans, wait until the pods have turned brown before harvesting.
Summer squash and zucchini can grow into boats, if left unchecked. We harvest our summer squashes with the flower still attached. They're small and delicious at that size and we avoid having to deal with the zucchini bowling pins. The one exception is if we want to stuff out zucchinis. Then we let them grow a little bigger.
Harvest tomatoes when they turn the color of that variety, They, of course, continue ripening indoors. Harvest sweet peppers once they turn, red, orange, yellow or purple for the sweetest flavor. Harvest winter squash after they turn their mature color and the skin is tough enough that if you press your thumbnail gently on it, it doesn't break.
Harvest onions when about 1/3rd of the tops start flopping over. Dry them in a warm, airy location for storage. Harvest potatoes when the tops start to yellow and dry those in a warm, airy place, too.
Finally, harvest basil by cutting off whole stems instead of individual leaves. This will encourage more stem growth and bigger leaves.
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One of the stars of the perennial flower garden is phlox. Phlox paniculata and Phlox maculata are the two most common tall, garden phlox species. They feature plants that grow 2- to 5-feet tall, grow best in full sun and like well-drained, moist soil. You can grow them in part shade, too, but they won't flower as well and are more susceptible to diseases. Tall garden phlox are clump forming perennials and you can divide them in spring.
One of the biggest concerns with growing phlox is powdery mildew. This fungus can attack the plant's leaves turning them yellow and white and making a mess of your phlox plants. The easiest solution is to grow powdery mildew resistant varieties. 'David' is the classic white. 'Shortwood' is a rosy-pink colored variety that grows 3 feet tall. 'Goldmine' is a bright magenta colored flowers and 'Candy Store' comes in a range of bright colors.
If you do have a favorite garden phlox variety that gets mildew each year, you can reduce the damage. Space plants further apart so they don't touch each other. This allows for better airflow, drier leaves and less disease. Reduce overhead watering for the same reason.
There are also some preventive sprays. Horticultural oil and a baking soda solution create an environment on the leaf surface the fungal spores don't like so won't grow. These sprays only work on healthy leaves and won't stop an infection that's already started. For the baking soda, mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap in 1 gallon of water. Spray early and often, especially after a rain.
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The tomato crop is ripening and lots of gardeners are enjoying cherry tomatoes, sauce tomatoes and big, fat juicy slicers. But for some, all is not tomato sandwiches and smiles. Various conditions and insects can cause tomato fruit damage. I've talked about tomato hornworms and blight before and you can check out those topics on my website. Today, I want to talk about other problems.
Tomato skins with cracking, splitting or long scars, are usually caused by genetics or weather. Heirlooms are more susceptible than many hybrids. Also, wet or dry weather will stress the skins and cause splitting. Try growing different varieties and try mulching. The same is true for rotting at the end of some fruits. Blossom end rot is caused by a calcium deficiency in the skin due to fluctuating soil moisture conditions. Elongated sauce tomatoes are most susceptible. Keep the soil mulched to prevent this problem.
Green tops or shoulders on ripening tomatoes is usually a genetic trait often found in heirlooms or is caused by too much sun and heat. If you really love that heirloom variety, just cut off the green top and eat it. Otherwise, try different varieties or shade your plants in the afternoon to keep them cool.
If your tomatoes have cloudy spots on the skin and those areas are hard, it could be damage from stink bugs. These bugs pierce the skin to feed, causing this reaction. Control stink bugs by hand picking them or spraying pyrethrum spray in the evening after the bees have all gone home.
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While flower gardens are exploding with color, another place to look for some color in mid-summer is with shrubs. Here are some summer bloomers that can compliment all the other flowers in your garden.
Summer sweet or Clethra alnifolia is a versatile, deciduous, native shrub. It grows in full sun to part shade up to 6 feet tall in a range of soils. It has few pests and even deer and rabbits don't seem interested. The best part is it flowers in July with spikes of white, fragrant blooms. Grow it near a deck or patio and you'll be enjoying the scent, and the butterflies and hummingbirds, with breakfast and dinner. There is a pink flowering version called 'Ruby Spice' and a 2 foot dwarf named 'Crystalina'. Summer sweet also has attractive, yellow, fall foliage.
Caryopteris or Bluebeard' grows 2- to 3-feet tall and produces dark blue flowers in late summer that butterflies and pollinators love. The foliage has a pleasant scent and the flowers continue until frost. Grow Bluebird on well-drained soil in full sun. In zone 5, it may dieback in winter, but simply give it a hard pruning in spring and it will send up new growth and still flower.
Cotoneaster isn't known for its summer flowers, but its fall berries and foliage color. This hardy shrub grows 1- to 3-feet tall and up to 6 feet wide. The red berries are stunning in late summer and fall. Plant in full sun on well drained soil for best berry production. Cotoneaster is also tolerant of wind and salt spray.
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It's berry season. We lost many berries to a late frost, but our blueberries and grapes look fabulous. So, I'm hyper focused on protecting them from our main culprit; birds. We've tried a number of ways to keep birds off our berries.
At first, we tried hanging reflective objects, including holographic tape, in the berry patch. A breeze moves the objects and the light bounces off them scaring the birds. We also tried scary eye balloons that mimic a hawk's eye. They both worked to a certain extent, but the birds eventually got used to them.
There aren't many repellent sprays available, but one I tried with some success is a home remedy, trialed by the University of Massachusetts Extension. It consists of 4 packets of grape flavored Koolaid in a gallon of water. Spray this solution on ripening berries; the birds don't like the flavor and leave them alone. Simply wash the Koolaid off before you eat the berries. You do have to reapply the spray after it rains.
The best solution, though, has always been netting. I found just laying the net over bushes and plants isn't enough. As long as large birds, such as cardinals, bluejays or crows can sit on the netting and poke at berries through it, you'll lose a good share of your crop. That's what happened last year with our grapes. So, this year we bought 8 foot tall, plastic coated, metal posts, put a tennis ball on top of each and draped netting over the posts and plants to create a cage. So far, it's working like a charm.
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The recent spate of hot weather has really pushed along many of our vegetables and flowers. Cool loving plants such as peas, lettuce, spinach, viola and primroses are wrapping it up and the heat lovers, such as tomatoes, squash, melons, zinnias, basil and verbena, are taking over.
As the cool season annuals fade, I'm a big proponent of succession planting. Succession planting means whenever there's an open space in your vegetable or flower gardens, pop in something else to grow. This saves space, increases the amount of veggies and flowers you have, and it's good for the soil to have plants growing on it all summer.
Here are some succession examples that work well. After your peas, lettuce, spinach and radishes are finished in early summer, there's still time to plant bush beans, carrots, beets, summer squash and basil in that area. It's best to grow the basil and squash from transplants, if you can still find some at local nurseries.
A nice annual flower succession is after pansies, violas, spring bulbs and primroses finish, plant calendula and dill from seed and geraniums and petunias from transplants. Garden centers may still have many of these annuals this time of year and even if they're long and leggy, they respond well to pruning and fertilizing.
If you're growing beans, carrots and beets in the garden area, as soon as you're finished in late summer harvest them. And then plant a crop of spinach, radishes, arugula and lettuce in August and September. In one bed you can have 3 different plantings giving you food and flowers all summer and saving space.
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While I don't mind the scratches and scrapes I get working in our yard, I don't like the itchy rash I get from poison ivy.
Poison ivy is a tall vine that climbs dead or living trees and shrubs. The chemical that causes the rash, urushiol, is present in all parts of poison ivy plant. Even in winter if you damage a stem or root, you can get a rash. Some people are severely allergic to urushiol, so shouldn't work around the plant.
Although poison ivy is a vigorous grower and likes the edge of forests, partly sunny areas and even can creep on the ground. It's a native plant and not considered invasive. In fact, poison ivy has some good attributes. Many insects and animals feed on the leaves, the tall vines create a wind buffer at the edge of a forest, and the white berries are a bird food source. So, if you have poison ivy on your property that's not causing harm, leave it.
First identify the vine. The stems have hairy, aerial roots that attach to trees. The plant has 3 leaflet leaves with jagged edges. The young leaves can be red, while older leaves are green. If you must remove it, be diligent. Poison ivy will regrow from roots left in the ground. If mowed down continually, it will adapt by growing as a creeper with smaller leaves. And never burn poison ivy.
Wear protective clothes, gloves and boots, and dig out the root system. For thick vines, repeatedly paint a specific herbicide on the cut stump. Wash clothes and yourself well after working.
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There are some insects in our vegetable garden that reproduce fast. One of them is the squash bug. This garden pest overwinters under rocks, in weeds and under debris around the garden. In June they lay copper colored eggs on the undersides of summer squash, zucchini, winter squash and melon plant's leaves. The eggs hatch in about 10 days into small versions of the adult, grey, squash bug.
The grey youngsters feast on the squash leaves, flowers and even young fruits, causing damage for 4 to 6 weeks. In Connecticut there's usually just one generation a year, but the populations do overlap. It's important to control this pest now before their numbers soar.
While many gardeners will reach for an insecticide to stop the damage, there are other options. Planting nasturtium flowers around the squashes has proven to reduce egg laying because the adults can't detect the squash plants due to the scent the nasturtiums. You do need large nasturtium plants for this to be effective.
Also, crush the copper colored eggs laid in groups on the underside of the leaves. I find if I keep up with the egg laying, I have fewer squash bugs by the time the plant's fruit. You can also lay boards or rolled up newspaper around the squash plants in the evening and look for the young squash bugs in the morning. They like the dark, cool, conditions, but can move fast.
If you must resort to insecticidal sprays, apply them in the early morning or late evening when most of the bees aren't in the garden. The sprays are less toxic to bees when dried.
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When I say earwigs, some people still think of the old, folkloric myth that earwigs can crawl into your ear and eat your brains. Although they like dark, moist places, sorry, they aren't that aggressive or interested in us. Earwigs are beneficial to the garden and are more complex than you think.
Earwigs look more formidable than they are. They can climb up your flowers or veggies and feed on the foliage, but they're also likely to eat insects, dead plants and table scraps, too. The pincers look daunting, but they're mostly used as defense against attacks from other insects.
Earwigs fill a great role in the garden as a predator of aphids and other small insects. They eat live and dead plant materials, too. Earwigs love dark, damp places and often are found under boards, branches and logs. They feed at night, so you may not see them. If you suspect earwigs are eating your plants, simply roll up a few sheets of a newspaper, add a little oil in the middle and sprinkle some water on it. Then place the newspaper under plants or in a shady spot in the garden. In the morning, open up the paper and see if the earwigs decided to spend the night inside. Simply dump out the earwigs in another location away from your plants.
Earwigs can fly and are social insects. They lay eggs and keep them warm until they hatch like birds. They will feed and foster their brood until the youngsters have molted a few times and are ready to face the world by themselves.
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It's strawberry season. Taking the kids or grandkids to a pick-your-own strawberry farm is great, but what's even more fun is growing strawberries yourself. Strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow and there are types for every garden.
The June bearing strawberry varieties, such as 'Jewel' and 'Sparkle', produce an abundance of fruits now, then are finished for the season. They're great for freezing and making jams. They produce an abundance of runners and can also be used as a ground cover. Day neutral strawberry varieties produce strawberries in smaller batches all summer. These varieties, such as 'Evie2' and 'Seascape', are bushy plants that don't send out many runners. They're great in smaller space gardens and containers. Alpine or wild strawberries come in small sized, red, white and yellow colored fruiting varieties. These bunching plants stay small, don't run and produce fruit all summer. They're great container and ground cover plants.
All strawberries love full sun, but alpine strawberries also grow nicely in part shade under a tree or around low growing flowers. Plant strawberries now for next year's harvest. Pinch off flowers of June bearing varieties the first year to let the plant get established. Pinch off flowers of day neutral and alpine types until July 1, then let some flowers set for a late harvest.
Protect strawberries from birds with netting and harvest once the berries are full colored for best flavor. June bearing types have runners that create a mat of plants. For best production next year, thin rows, in late summer, to 1 foot diameter and space plants 1 foot apart.
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The plant known as the “king of the herbs” hales from India and has been cultivated for more than 5000 years. It's in the mint family and now is grown around the globe. Yes, it's basil.
While many of us of Italian descent think of basil as the Genovese, large leafed type, there are many more varieties and tastes of this herb. ‘Sweet Dani’ is a lemon flavored variety. There’s also a ‘Lime’ flavored basil. ‘Siam Queen’ is a good anise-flavored Thai basil variety. To prevent disease problems, 'Prospero' is a new Genovese variety that is fusarium wilt and downy mildew resistant.
Growing basil is easy, if you remember a few qualities of this plant. Basil doesn't like it cold. Now that the soil and air has warmed consistently, it's a good time to buy some transplants of basil or sow some seeds. Also, basil produces best if you keep harvesting it. When picking basil leaves, remove whole stems, versus just individual leaves. This will encourage the plant to keep making large leaves that are easiest for picking and using in the kitchen.
Grow basil in full sun, on well-drained, fertile soil. Basil likes some compost when planted to keep it growing strong. Keep the plants well watered and mulched to keep weeds away.
While it's best to pinch off the flowers as they form to encourage more leaf growth, plant extra basil plants and let those go to flower. Basil is an excellent plant to attract bees, pollinators, and butterflies to your garden. Plus, some varieties, such as Thai basil, have colorful, purple flower stems and blossoms.
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If you're looking for a mid- to- end of summer splash in your flower garden, grow dahlias. This tuber starts out slowly in our cool spring soils, but picks up speed in summer. By August, whether you grow the small, low growing types or the large dinner plate dahlias, they all put on quite a flower show.
Dahlias are not hardy in our cool Connecticut soils, so they need to be replanted each year. Wait until the soil warms to plant. Dahlias thrive in full sun on fertile, well-drained soils.
The key to where you plant dahlias lies in which types you grow. Dahlia varieties come in a range of colors and can be low growing, or up to 5 feet tall. There are more than 20 different dahlia flower shapes with the most common being the pom-pom, water lily, cactus, and decorative ones. The larger types benefit from staking or caging to keep them upright. They have tender stalks that are susceptible to flopping and even breaking during summer storms.
Dahlias make great cut flowers. Pick them in the morning, place the stem in 2 inches of very hot water and allow it to cool for an hour. They’ll last for up to one week.
In fall, after frost has blackened the stems, cut them back and dig up the tubers to over- winter indoors. Clean off the soil, and store them in a dark, cool basement in slightly moistened sand or peat moss. Check periodically in winter to see if the tubers are drying out or rotting. Mist with water or dry them out depending on the situation.
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Often gardeners are in a dilemma about what ground cover to grow around perennials and under trees and shrubs in a shady area. I've got two solutions.
Sweet woodruff (Galium oderatum) is a perfect ground cover for full to part shade. It has fragrant, lance-shaped, bright green leaves all summer and dainty white flowers in spring. It's easy to grow and adapts to a wide range of soil types and moisture conditions. Not only that, it's deer and rabbit proof.
Sweet woodruff spreads quickly, especially in average to wet soil. The underground rhizomes allow this perennial to creep fast, so it can become too aggressive in some yards. Weeding and withholding water will slow its spread, but with some rains it will come right back.
Another shade ground cover is lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis). It's not a true lily, but in the asparagus family. It has large, dark green leaves and fragrant white or pink flowers in spring. It's a perennial that will slowly spread by underground rhizomes to fill an area. It thrives in shady spots and forms a dense carpet of greenery choking out weeds and other plants.
The key with keeping these aggressive ground covers in bounds is planting them in the right places. We plant lily of the valley between a porch and our house foundation so it can only spread in one direction. It's much easier to weed out of unwanted areas this way. Another option is to plant near a deep edging, walkway or other solid border. This will prevent the spread, or at least make it easier to control.
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I'm all about making gardening easier and more rewarding. One the best ways to accomplish both goals is to grow plants in raised beds. Many gardeners are familiar with raised vegetable beds, but you can also plant annual and perennial flowers, herbs, berry bushes and even small trees in raised beds.
Raised beds are perfect for poor quality soil, and sandy and clay soils. By raising the beds up, you'll build healthier soil, plant closer together, plant earlier in spring, reduce waterlogged beds and not compact the soil. Beds should be at least 8 inches tall, not more than 3- to 4-feet wide and as long as you like. I like 8 foot long beds because the wood doesn't warp. Two inch diameter wooden beds are best for longevity. The most rot resistant wood is cedar, but for less expensive wood, try hemlock or spruce, They can last more than 10 years before rotting. Avoid pressure treated woods. You can also use stone, brick or metal to build your beds.
Find a location that's perfect for the plants you'll grow. For vegetables and sun loving flowers, build a bed where it will get 6- to 8-hours of direct sun a day. For shade loving veggies and flowers, 3 to 4 hours of sun is fine. Build the bed close to a water source and somewhere where you'll walk by it every day to remember to water, weed, harvest and care for the bed.
You'll produce more flowers and food in a smaller space that is less likely to get run over by kids or dogs because it's raised up.
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When I was growing up near my Italian grandfather's farm in Waterbury, me and my cousins would often wander the field edges looking for wild blackberries. We would come home with scratches on our arms, purple juice stains on our clothes and smiles on our faces. They were that good.
Now, we don't have to work so hard to get delicious blackberries. With modern varieties, blackberries are disease free, produce fruit in summer and fall and some have thornless canes. To make life easier, start with purchasing thornless varieties. 'Chester' is a zone 5 variety with good flavor. 'Triple Crown' is a semi-erect variety, hardy to zone 6. 'Prime Ark Freedom' combines summer and fall fruiting with thornless canes. For colder areas, try the summer fruiting, thorny variety 'Illini Hardy'.
Plant blackberries in full to part sun, 3 to 4 feet apart in rows spaced 2 feet apart. Soak the roots and plant in compost amended soil. If you have clay soil, raise the beds by bringing in additional compost and topsoil. Mulch with wood chips to keep weeds away and preserve the soil moisture. Most blackberries will need support so the canes don't flop. Run a 5 foot high wire between two metal or wooden stakes at the ends of the row.
Prune blackberries after they've fruited in summer to remove old canes. In early summer, prune the shoots back by 1 foot to force side branching and more fruiting. For fall bearing varieties, you can also mow down the whole row in fall after fruiting. You'll lose the next summer's crop, but you'll have a bigger fall crop.
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Everyone knows the orange tawny daylilies growing on the roadsides or in meadows. They seem to be everywhere in early summer, but their show is brief. Also, many gardeners have some hand me down and some older varieties, such as 'Stella D' Oro' and 'Lemon Lily', in their gardens. But if you're just growing these older varieties you're missing out on some newer daylily types with better flowering habits.
Hemerocallis or daylilies are tough perennials that can grow in a variety of different soils and in part to full sun. New varieties have higher bud counts on sturdier scapes, rebloom more consistently, and have a wider range of colors with thicker petals that hold up better during summer rains. Many of these new varieties have at least two colors on the petals and picotee, ruffled edges. Some new varieties that are good replacements for existing varieties include 'Buttered Popcorn' instead of 'Hyperion'. Both have large yellow flowers, but 'Buttered Popcorn' produces more flowers, longer into the summer and reblooms. 'Going Bananas' is a good replacement for 'Happy Returns'. It reblooms more consistently throughout the hot summer from July until frost with larger flowers. 'Bright Sunset' is a good replacement for 'Frans Hals' because it has bigger flowers with a fragrance. Plus, there are new varieties, such as 'Siloam Peony Display', that have apricot colored, double flowers that really look like small peony blooms.
Give these new varieties a try but don't necessarily throw out the old types. They still have beauty and if all else fails, remember daylily flowers are edible and delicious in salads or stuffed like squash blossoms.
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I have to admit, when I first started vegetable gardening I wasn't a big beet fan. Beets were not a regular vegetable in my Italian-American household growing up, so they became an acquired taste over the years. Now I love them, especially roasted with other root crops.
Beets have large seeds that are easy to plant and grow quickly in cool soils. The seeds are actually dried fruits, so you can get 2 to 3 seedlings per seed. Thin seedlings to get a good root crop. Plus, the greens are delicious in salads or sautés.
Beets aren't just those red ball-shaped roots in grocery stores. There are cylindrical-shaped varieties, red and white striped varieties such as 'Chioggia', and 'Mini beets' with small roots. If you don't like the staining of the juice from red beets, try growing yellow or white varieties.
Broadcast beets seeds now on raised beds in composted amended soil. Thin the seedlings to 4 inches apart. Remember to save the thinnings for eating. Harvest the roots starting when they are golf ball sized. If left too long in the ground the roots can become woody. We grow 'Lutz Winter Keeper' because it's a long season beet that doesn't get woody when large. If you love beet greens, try 'Bulls Blood' for its red leaves.
Also, don't just think of beets as a spring plant. Sow seeds again in August for a fall harvest. Beets, like many vegetables, get sweeter with cool weather in fall and can take a frost. Cover beets with a row cover and you can harvest them right into the holidays.
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Most times it's better to work with nature than against it. Take shade for example. I often field questions for what to plant in a mossy, shady spot under trees. My answer is moss.
We are blessed in New England with mostly cool, moist, weather conditions. As we all know, moss grows well in those conditions covering the ground, rocks, stone walls and old tree stumps. So, why work against Mother Nature? Moss makes a perfect no mow ground cover, spreads on its own and looks beautiful 12 months of the year.
Start in a mostly shaded area with a little dappled light, slightly acidic well-drained soil, and good moisture. There's a wide variety of moss types. Sheet or carpet moss is fast growing spreading along the ground and over rocks creating a lawn of moss. Tree moss grows taller at 4- to 6-inches high. Cushion moss likes sandy soil and fern moss grows well on wet slopes. Check with local garden centers or online for the best moss choices.
Once planted, keep it well watered and it will start spreading. For those with more patience, you can try to spread the native mosses yourself. Make a moss milkshake by taking a small handful of native moss, 1 cup of buttermilk and enough water to make a slurry. Blend it up and “paint” this mixture on rocks and branches in the forest and even clay pots and bricks. Water the moss mixture regularly and move the pots and bricks into a shady spot until established. Not everyone has success with moss milkshakes, but it might be fun to try.
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Even though it's still too early to plant tomatoes, it's not too early to make plans for supporting those plants.
If you're growing the dwarf, patio tomatoes, then little support is needed as these plants only grow a few feet tall. But for determinate varieties, such as 'Celebrity', and indeterminate varieties, such as most heirloom tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, you'll need a hefty support structure. Large tomato plants will flop down, making the leaves more susceptible to diseases and fruits more likely to rot or be eaten by animals.
One traditional method is to stake the plants. This works fine on determinate varieties that stand less than 4 feet tall. But you'll need to remove suckers and use Velcro brand plant ties to attach the main stem to the stake to keep the plants manageable. For larger indeterminate varieties that can grow 6 feet tall and very bushy, a cage or a trellis system is best.
Commercial tomato cages usually aren't large and strong enough to support these big varieties. It's best to make a wire cage from 6 foot tall deer fencing, use a sturdy 7 foot tall stake attached to help hold the cage upright, and stake the cage with tent stakes. This makes it less likely the cage will topple over in a storm.
You can also create a teepee system with A-frame supports on either side of the row, a horizontal pole attached across anchored to the A-frames and string hung down from the horizontal pole attached to the tomato branches keeping them vertical. You can use as many strings as you need.
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Blue hydrangeas can be stunning in Connecticut, especially along the shore. That's because Hydrangea macrophylla or the big leafed hydrangea that turns blue, is native to coastal Japan where it thrives even in windy, salty air. But not all gardeners are thrilled with the blue hydrangeas in their yard. The plants can flower sporadically, get big and unruly and can be confusing to prune.
But there are options beyond the traditional 'Endless Summer' lines and 'Nikko Blue' varieties. I recently went to a garden talk where I learned about some cool, new varieties.
If size is an issue with your Hydrangea macrophylla bushes try 'Wedding Gown' and 'Wee Bit Giddy'. These varieties only reach 2- to 3-feet tall and wide making them perfect for a small space garden. They also are good repeat bloomers.
Mountain hydrangeas or Hydrangea serrata are becoming more popular in cooler, hilly locations. These are native to the mountains in Korea so are tougher plants, but still can give you large, blue flowers. Most have a lacecap type flower. 'Tuff Stuff' only grows 2- to 3-feet tall and wide. To get the best flowering try a cross between the mountain hydrangea and big leaved hydrangeas. 'Let's Dance Can Do' grow 3- to 4- feet tall, is hardy to zone 4 and produces flowers all along its stem all summer.
Most big leafed hydrangeas are hardy in zones 5 to 9, grow best in part shade to full sun on well-drained fertile soil. Prune to shape and reduce height after the first flush of flowers. Add sulfur to lower the pH and get a deeper blue color.
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If you're looking for a perennial flower that will break your heart, try delphiniums. These beauties grow large and tall, loaded with beautiful white, pink, blue or purple flowers and are stunning in your garden. However, delphiniums can be fickle, lasting only a few years in the garden before succumbing to root disease, insects or just a tough Connecticut winter. But if you’re willing to accept that this love affair won't last forever, then delphiniums are certainly worth growing.
Look for hybrid delphiniums that feature shorter and stronger flower stalks and tougher plants. The New Millennium Mix series features bushy and vigorous plants with colorful flower stalks reaching to 3- to 4-feet tall. They tolerate diseases and hot, humid weather better than other delphiniums. 'Guardian Blue' has 4-foot-tall flower stalks with an amazing, electric blue colored, double flowers. The 'Connecticut Yankee' delphinium is a shorter, bushier heritage variety that only grows 2 plus feet tall with single, satiny colored blooms in shade of pink, blue and purple.
Plant delphiniums in a protected spot with full sun and well drained soil. Fertilize in spring with a balanced, organic product. Stake tall varieties with garden ties to support and prevent them snapping during a summer storm. To avoid powdery mildew and other diseases, grow tolerant varieties such as 'Galahad' and 'King Arthur.' After flowering remove the flower stalks and the plant may send up a second round of flowers later in summer.
Don't be disappointed if your delphiniums fail to return after 3 years or so. They're known as short-lived perennials no matter how much care you give them.
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It's hard to think about mid summer vegetables when it's still cold and brown outside, but if you want to try some unusual eggplant varieties in your garden this year, now is the time to start seeds indoors.
While eggplants are considered a quintessential Italian dish in many homes (my mom used to make a mean eggplant parm), it actually hales from India and China. In that part of the world, Asian eggplants are not just dark purple, but white, green and even orange skinned. These Asian eggplants tend to have more tender skin and sweeter flavor than the European, large teardrop types.
I like 'Asian Delight' and 'Ping Tung Long' for their long, narrow, light purple colored fruits. 'Bride' has a similar shape with white skin and purple streaks. For Thai cooking, try the green skinned, golf ball shaped 'Kermit' which is great in soups or 'Korean Red' with its orange colored skin. Some hybrids, such as 'Fairy Tale', are short and narrow fitting perfectly on a grilling skewer.
Start your eggplant seeds now under lights. I plant two seeds per 2-inch pot filled with moistened germinating mix soil. I also use a heating pad under the pots to hasten germination.
Once the eggplants have true leaves remove the weaker seedling from the pot. Transplant the remaining plant once the height of the seedling is 3 times the diameter of the pot or about 6 inches tall. Keep the seedlings well watered and fertilized.
Transplant seedlings once the soil is warm, about a week or so after planting tomatoes. Protect young plants from cold snaps with a floating row cover.
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St. Patrick's Day is here. This Irish celebration often features parades, green hats and clothes and lots of green beer. Irish plants are also highlighted, beyond the green-dyed carnations. So, consider a gift of an Irish plant for a loved one.
Say St. Patrick's Day plants, and everyone thinks of the shamrock. But the symbolic shamrock is most likely a European native clover (Trifolium repens). If you can find a 4 leafed version you're a lucky person because the odds are 1 in 10,000. The shamrock you see in stores is actually a common wood sorrel or oxalis.
Bells of Ireland is another classic Irish plant but it's native to North Africa. This self sowing annual features 2- to 3-feet tall flower spikes with white, fragrant flowers and a green calyx in early summer and makes a great cut flower.
For truly native Irish plants try Irish moss and Fairy Thimbles. Irish moss loves cool, shady locations for it to spread and cover rocks and the soil between stone pathways. The vibrant green color shines this time of year but it needs very well-drained soil. Fairy Thimbles are commonly known as foxgloves. The true species (Digitalis purpurea) flowers the second year after planting with colorful flower stalks.
Finally, if you want to get a big dose of Irish flowers join me on my Garden Tour of Ireland from June 2nd to 11th 2023. We'll be visiting large botanical gardens, small private gardens and lots of wild landscapes. Check out my website for more information.
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The forsythia shrubs may not be blooming yet, but they're coming soon. Forsythias are one of the first flowering shrubs of spring. Their bright golden colored flowers brighten up the late winter, dreary landscape. Most gardeners know forsythia as a sprawling deciduous shrubs that can get out of control easily. When I was growing up we had a forsythia hedge of shrubs between our house and my uncle's house. Every few years years we had to severely cut it back after flowering to keep it in bounds.
But newer varieties of forsythia are shorter, with a more tame growth habit and have flower buds that are winter hardy. Look for 'Northern Sun' and 'Meadowlark' for large forsythia shrubs that have hardy flower buds. For dwarf varieties, try 'Sugar Baby' that gets 2- to 3-feet tall and 'Minigold' that grows less than 2 feet tall. There is even a white forsythia called Abeliophyllum that's native to Korea but grows 3- to 6-feet tall in zones 5 to 9. Dwarf varieties are great in the flower garden while the taller varieties are best in a shrub border or as an informal hedge.
Forsythia grows best in full sun on well-drained soils. Large forsythia varieties sucker freely and can spread easily, so plant them where they can sprawl. Prune after flowering. Shrubs can be pruned back severely and will still grow and flower next year.
For a late winter treat, prune off some branches with fat flower buds now, place them in a vase in a warm, sunny room and watch your early show of forced forsythia flowers bloom indoors.
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With garden season coming soon, I'm in full swing, planning mode. I'm sketching out what veggies are going where in my garden. It's certainly a good idea to rotate plant families not growing the same plants in the same location every year. But also it's good to think about companion plants. These would be plants that are mutually beneficial by sharing nutrients or warding off pests. Here's some good examples.
You can reduce the amount of fertilizer you need in your garden by growing veggies that help each other grow. Some good examples are planting peas in the middle of a raised bed on a trellis and planting lettuce on each side of the trellis. Another idea is to plant a row of kale in between two rows of bush beans. Peas and beans are legumes that fix nitrogen in the air into a form plants can use. They will share that nitrogen fertilizer with nearby plants so your kale and lettuce will benefit.
For pests, plant herbs and flowers that will confuse insects so they don't lay as many eggs on your plants. A good example is planting nasturtiums next to summer squash or zucchini. The nasturtium flowers emit a scent that confuses squash bugs and they can't find your squash plants. Make sure the nasturtiums are well established before planting the squash. Another example is planting Genovese basil plants around tomatoes. The basil emits a scent that confuses tomato hornworms and they don't lay as many eggs on your tomatoes.
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We're all itching to plant in the garden, but it's way too early. What we can do, however, is work on our garden design. You don't have to be a professional designer to do a simple design. Here's some tips.
On a piece of paper sketch out the structures, natural features, walkways and other permanent fixtures around the garden area. Indicate the amount of light the bed area gets. To build fertile beds, try no-dig gardening. Place layers of newspaper, or a piece of corrugated cardboard, over the area and then bring in a 6- to 8-inch thick mix of topsoil and compost to cover it.
Instead of starting your design with specific flowers, do a bubble diagram. On that piece of paper, draw bubbles where different types of garden would work such as a full sun perennial garden, a shade garden, an edible garden, pollinator garden, some shrubs.... This will help you imagine what the whole area will look like when planted.
Then choose plants that are hardy in your area, are adapted to your sun conditions and whose ultimate sizes will fit in the location and with each other. Try to select a range of plants that will flower at different times to give you summer long color. Mix in some annual plants for continuous color. Don't get too caught up with matching colors. Grow what you like. You can always move plants later.
For more garden design ideas, come to theConnecticut Flower and Garden Show at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford February 23-26. I'll be giving a talk on No-Dig Gardening on Saturday, February 25.
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There is no more romantic and fragrant annual flower than the sweet pea. While this delightful, vining flower needs to grow and bloom in cool weather, ironically modern sweet pea varieties begin with a monk in Sicily, Italy in the 1600's named 'Cupani.' In fact, you can still purchase this variety to grow in your garden.
The best fragrant varieties of sweet peas have sensuous names such as ‘Old Spice Mix,’ ‘April in Paris’ and ‘Perfume Delight’. A vase of these varieties as cut flowers will perfume the whole house.
Sweet peas grow and flower best with cool temperatures so plant them in the garden after all danger of a hard freeze is past, around the same time you'd plant edible garden peas. Most varieties climb, so erect a sturdy trellis or use a garden fence to hold them up. There are some dwarf varieties as well such as 'Color Palette Cupid' and 'Electric Blue'. These are great in containers and you can plant container varieties earlier since you can protect them during cold spring weather.
When sowing sweet pea seeds, to quicken germination, nick the seed coat with a nail file and soak peas overnight before planting the next morning. You can even start seeds indoors, under lights, a month before planting to really get a jump start on the season.
Sweet peas grow quickly on well-drained, fertile soil. Enjoy the flowers in the garden or as cut blooms indoors. Cut flowers when there are at least 2 unopened blooms on a stem. They should last 4 to 5 days in a vase of warm water.
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Yes, it's almost time for the big February holiday, Valentine's Day. While everyone knows cut flowers and chocolates are the go-to gifts for Valentine's Day, for the gardener in your life, you might want to consider something different this year.
I fell in love with the Sweetheart Hoya a number of years ago. There are green versions that are common, but look for the variegated version that's a plant, not just a cutting. This hoya has large leaves shaped like a heart. If you just get the cutting version it will stay alive, but not really grow much. If you grow the plant version, it turns into a sun loving houseplant you'll have for years.
Although they're everywhere, I think moth orchids are a great Valentine's Day flower. First of all, if you place the plant in a bright, indirect lit room or window and literally do nothing, the bloom stalk will still last weeks and may months before fading. For the same price as some cut roses, it's worth the extra flowering time. With a little care you can turn this one time gift into an all the time houseplant that blooms every year.
If you really want to give cut flowers, consider giving calla lilies instead of roses. Calla lilies flowers are really leaf-like curved bracts so they last longer than other flowers when cut. They come in a wide range of colors and are stunning. Stand the stems in 2 inches of water to hydrate for 2 hours once home. Then recut the bottoms of the stems at an angle underwater for longer vase life.
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With real winter temperatures seeping through our windows and doors it's good to remember that spring is only a month or so away! That means it's time to look for some new, interesting perennial flowers for our gardens. Each year nurseries and breeders introduce new colors and versions of popular perennial flowers such as echinacea and salvia. But I like looking for something that is truly unique. Here's some of my picks.
Agastache or anise hyssop is a zone 5 perennial with colorful spikes of flowers and a nice fragrance. The 'Meant to Be™' series adds a little something more. The 2- to 3- foot tall and wide plants have flowers and calyx that hold their color into fall. The raspberry and peach varieties are particularly stunning.
'Bit O Honey' heliopsis is a false sunflower that adds a bright spark to the garden. The 2-foot tall plant has 3-inch diameter, golden, semi-double flowers. The real drawing card is the white leaves with dark green veins.
Veronica 'Ever After' features 14-inch tall plants loaded with purple flower spikes that flower longer than most Veronica varieties. There's a white flowered version as well.
For shade gardens nothing beats astilbe. 'Dark Side of the Moon' not only has bright purple blooms that stand 2- to 3-feet tall but also has black colored foliage, too.
For a new species of iris, try Iris amphiflora 'Ming Treasure'. Hailing from China, this 4 foot tall and wide clumping iris producing masses of large, 4- to 5-inch diameter blue flowers with a yellow crest. It's stunning but only hardy in zones 6 and warmer.
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Sitting around the dining room table surrounded by houseplants in the dead of winter is a satisfying feeling. We even have some of our geraniums blooming in the sunny, South-facing window.
But upon closer inspection things aren't all well in the houseplant jungle. We're not the only ones appreciating the greenery this time of year.
I see little black flies flying around my houseplants. These are most likely fungus gnats. Although they look ominous, they generally don't harm our houseplants. The larval form is mostly interested in feeding on the potting soil's organic matter. They hatch into adult black flies that lay eggs in the potting soil and the cycle continues. They can be annoying though. To control them, repot the houseplant with fresh potting soil, cover the potting soil with a layer of sand to dry out the eggs or use an organic, yellow sticky trap in the pot to catch and kill the adults.
I also notice some white, cushiony growth on the backside of some fig leaves. This is most likely mealybugs. They suck the plant juices from leaves causing them to yellow and they drip a sweet, sticky honeydew substance on rugs and furniture. Control this pest by dabbing individual insects with a cotton swab doused in rubbing alcohol.
I even have spied some green and black aphids on the new growth of our herbs. These soft-bodied insects also suck plant juices and drop honeydew. They're simple to control. Move the infected plants to a warm garage or basement and spray with insecticidal soap or Neem oil. This usually stops aphids in their tracks.
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January is houseplant season in our home. With more time indoors due to the weather, garden geeks can't help but fuss over their houseplants. We're no different. We're evaluating, tossing and shopping for new houseplants right through the winter.
The houseplant craze has spurred the creation of some great new versions of some classic houseplants. We all know philodendrons. This vining plant is one your mother or grandmother probably grew. It has dark green, heart shaped leaves. They're known for their low maintenance. There are some interesting new versions of this common houseplant. The Princess series features gold and green, white and green and even pink and green leaf variegations that makes them shine in a darker location. There is even a version that has black leaves as well. And there are philodendrons that don't cascade. Clumping forms, such as 'Prince of Orange' and 'Caramel', feature larger, elongated leaves that start out orange, or caramel, colored then fade to green. Tortum is a spiky leafed philodendron that looks more like a fern.
Snake plants or Sansevieria thrive in low light and have low water needs. This tall, spiky plant comes in newer versions. 'Whale's Fin' looks like a twisting, spotted whale's tail as it grows. 'Samurai' is a small snake plant with two thick, fleshy leaves edged in red. It looks like a succulent. There are even versions that have thin, straight leaves that look like pencils.
The beauty of these new versions of old classic houseplants is while they look and grow differently, they still have the low maintenance qualities that made them so popular in the first place.
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Usually I spend part of the holidays making out my seed order for the season. But with lots of guests this year, I've fallen behind. Even though I have some favorite tomato varieties, I'm always on the lookout for new, improved ones to try. Here's what I've found so far for 2023.
While most of the interesting new tomato varieties are small fruited, this one beefsteak size variety sounds really interesting. 'Captain Lucky' is an organic heirloom variety with green flesh and yellow, pink and red streaks in the center. It has a nice, dense, flavorful texture that's not too watery and silky smooth.
For smaller fruited varieties, 'Mochi' hybrid cherry tomato seems to be a winner. The red fruits don't burst in your mouth like other cherry tomato varieties but instead have a gum drop-like texture. The fruits are sweet and flavorful and grow on a dwarf indeterminate sized plants that produce all summer, yet never get too big.
'Queen of the Night' is an heirloom cherry tomato from Germany. It has crimson and orange colored fruits with a rich, sweet flavor. It's another indeterminate plant but only tops out at 5 feet tall, making it more manageable in the garden and in a container.
'Two Tasty' hybrid cherry tomato has fruits with a unique, bicolor red and purple colored skin. The flavor is sweet and complex, rivaling 'Sun Gold'. It was the best tasting new tomato variety in the Burpee trials last year.
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Come January, many gardener's attention turns to indoor plants. One group I've struggled with for years is citrus. But my wife and I seem to have figured out what we need to do to make indoor citrus survive.
Dwarf plants, such as 'Meyer' lemon, 'Persian' lime, 'Calamondin' oranges and kumquats, are best for their small size and fruits. Purchase nursery grown plants. We do have one seed grown citrus from a friend's 30 year old orange tree. But usually seed-grown citrus take many years to flower and fruit and some never do. My cousin in Watertown has two seed grown lemon trees that are huge, but never have flowered or fruited.
Find a bright spot in your home where your citrus will get some direct morning light with temperatures around 65 to 70 degrees. Pot up the citrus in a clay or ceramic pot so the soil stays evenly moist and slowly dries out. Water enough so it drains out of the bottom of the pot. We water our plants in the shower to also clean their leaves. In dry homes, especially with wood stoves, use a humidifier to keep the air moist or group plants together.
Fertilize monthly from March to September. We keep our citrus indoors year round, but some people like to move them outdoors in summer. Once the air temperatures are consistently above 55 degrees, move the citrus outdoors, bringing them inside at night for the first week.
Even if your citrus doesn't form fruit, the fragrant flowers that bloom on and off all year are a good enough reason to grow these plants indoors.
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As the holidays wind down you may be wondering what to do with your live holiday tree, wreath and boughs. Certainly leaving them in your yard for wildlife to enjoy is an option. You can even add some peanut butter and birdseed to make it more attractive. Another good use is to cut boughs and cover tender perennials, such as lavender, in your garden. The boughs collect snow which insulates the plants. If you have a chipper, chop up the tree and use the mulch in your yard.
In fact, many municipalities in Connecticut collect live holiday trees in early January and chip them up for city landscaping projects. Check with your town about the dates and details. You do have to make sure all ornaments, lights, tinsel and other materials are taken off the tree.
Animals, besides the birds, can really enjoy the trees as well. Many farms in Connecticut welcome donations of live trees. Goats, alpacas and even pigs like to mulch on the needles and branches. Check with the farm first before hauling your tree to their location.
Live Christmas trees can even be good for fish. Break a hole in the ice of your pond and drop the tree into the water. It will provide shelter and protection for the fish all winter.
If you live along the shore, holiday trees can be placed on the sand dunes and eventually get buried in the dunes. This helps hold the dunes in place during storms and provides habitat for small creatures. Of course, only do this on land you own and with guidance from local officials.
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Many gardeners are also avid bird feeders. Overwintering birds often rely on a constant source of food from bird feeders. It's important to keep the feeders well stocked and clean throughout the winter and spring months.
Feeding birds can also be a fun DIY project, especially with kids or grandkids. Here's a few DIY bird feeders you can easily create over the holidays. These feeders don't replace traditional bird feeding, but they are a lot of fun.
The first is a classic is the pine cone peanut butter bird feeder. Collect opened pine cones from around your yard. Tie twine to the bottom of the cone and smear creamy or chunky peanut butter on the opened, pine cone scales. Then roll the cones in bird seed and hang them in a protected spot where it can be seen from the house.
A similar bird feeder uses bread. Make some toast and using a cookie cutter make the bread into fun shapes such as snowmen and hearts. Attach twine to hang them, smear the peanut butter and roll it in bird seed. You can also freeze your creations and bring them out periodically throughout the winter.
For wood peckers and other birds that like branches, cut a 1- to 2-foot long branch that's about 2 inches in diameter. Drill 1-inch deep holes into the branch and pack the holes with suet or peanut butter and bird feed. Attach an eye hook to the top and hang it in the trees.
These DIY bird feeders are great ways to get kids interested in the natural world and create fun childhood memories.
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Preserving our landscapes by planting native plants is important for bird and insect life and overall ecosystem health. What most gardeners don't know is that now is a good time to sow the seeds of wild plants. It might sound counterintuitive to sow seeds in December outdoors, but that's exactly what wild plants such as Joe Pye weed, bee balm, and asters need.
It may be too late to collect wild, native plant seeds, but there are places to purchase the seed. The Wild Seed Project in Maine has sowing instructions and sells small packets of more than 75 native plant species. Go towildseedproject.net for more.
By sowing seeds in early winter we're mimicking nature. Wild plants drop seed in fall and that seed overwinters through the cold, ice, snow and wet conditions until it germinates in spring. We can do the same thing. Using 4-inch diameter plastic pots filled with compost amended potting soil, sow the seeds thickly on the surface and cover with coarse sand. Add plant markers. Cover the large seeds with a thicker layer of sand than small seeds. Create a nursery collecting all the pots together in a protected, shady spot. Elevate the pots on bricks, rocks or boards and lay 1/4-inch mesh hardware cloth over the pots to keep rodents away. Secure the hardware cloth with rocks or bricks to keep it in place.
Then just leave the pots all winter. Come spring each seed will germinate when it should. You'll grow out the wildflowers in the pots all summer and divide and transplant them next fall.
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We love to decorate our home with flowers for the holidays. But if you want to add fragrance, try the paperwhite narcissus. I first have to warn you, not all people love the sweet fragrance of paperwhites. I find them alluring, but my wife says they stink. So, check it out with your housemate before growing a bunch of flowers indoors.
Paperwhite narcissus are a type of daffodil that doesn't need a long chilling period to bloom. Purchased online or from a garden center, simply pot them up and in 3- to 4-weeks, they will be blooming their heads off. Traditional varieties, such as 'Ziva' are white, but there are variations. 'Inbal' is a white flowering type that blooms faster. 'Ariel' is white and grows a little shorter. 'Grand Soleil D'or' is a golden petaled narcissus, but it takes 5- to 6- weeks to bloom.
Once purchased, either place them in a deep glass or ceramic bowl with at least 2 inches of crushed stone on the bottom or pot them with potting soil. If using a decorative bowl, keep enough water in the bottom for the bulbs to grow. Don't let the water level rise above the roots or the bulb will rot. The one downside of the bowl is it's hard to support the sometimes floppy flower stems. That's why I like using potting soil where you can place sticks or supports in the pot to keep everything upright.
Place in a brightly lit, warm room and enjoy the show and fragrance. After flowering simply compost the bulbs since they probably won't flower again for you.
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One of the brightest flowers of the holiday season is the amaryllis. This Southern Hemisphere native bulb comes in a variety of colors from pure white to the deepest burgundy, with single or double petals and in different sizes. Everyone loves amaryllis flowers, but some budding gardeners don't like the messiness of potting it up and remembering to water it.
Well, bulb breeders to the rescue. One of the newest innovations in amaryllis growing is the waxed bulb. Dutch breeders found that if they cut the bulb roots and coated the whole bulb with wax, it would preserve the bulb well. They also found that when placed in a warm, brightly lit room, the bulb would still grow and flower, even without soil and a pot. You can purchase bulbs with colorful, and even glittery, wax on them.
These waxed amaryllis bulbs have become very popular for those “black thumbs” in the family. Literally, all you have to do is place the bulb in a bright, warm room and it will start growing and eventually flower. The bulbs come with a metal pedestal embedded in the wax, so the plant doesn't fall over.
After flowering, simply compost the bulb, wax and all. It's a great way to introduce flowers to a novice grower and keep the house neat and tidy over the holidays.
If you want to try to save the bulb and grow it out, after flowering remove the wax and pot the bulb in a small container filled with moisten potting soil. It should grow some roots and maybe flower again for you next year.
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This Thanksgiving season is a good time to mend fences. I'm not talking just about relations with family and friends, but literally, fixing your garden fences. The weather is cool, the ground hasn't frozen yet and it's a good time to assess not only fences, but other garden tools and features to see if they need fixing, removing or replacing.
Let's start with the fence. We have a 7-foot-tall wire fence around the main part of our garden for deer control. It's worked well except for the occasional errant deer that tries to jump the fence every few years. That means it's been bent and broken in places. We've been cutting and mending that fence so the deer stay on “their side” of the garden. This is true for wooden and plastic mesh fences as well.
Hoses and nozzles always seem to leak for us after a few years. First of all, drain them of water well and store the hoses in a dry, protected spot in winter. This will reduce cracking and breaking of the hose and couplings. Check the nozzles and, if they leak at the point of contact with the hose, get a new O-ring rubber washer to fit in the nozzle. Clean the nozzle as well.
Take a good look at your cutting tools such as hand pruners, hedge trimmers and loopers. Clean and sharpen the blades now and oil the movable parts. Finally, do an assessment of what needs replacing such as grow lights, plant markers and plant stakes and do a little shopping now since you're already in the holiday spirit.
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When I was a boy growing up in Waterbury, each November my mom would send me “into the woods” of my grandfather's farm to gather branches of mountain laurel. Mom had a brick planter box as part of our front porch and she liked to decorate it for the holidays. Mountain laurel was perfect because this broadleaf evergreen shrub grows in abundance in Connecticut and lasts into winter. It got me thinking about decorating outdoor containers for winter.
Broadleaf evergreens are a good place to start. Kalmia, or mountain laurel, Pieris, evergreen holly and rhododendrons all make nice evergreens to fill an outdoor container. Try not to cut the flower buds of the rhodis, though, so you'll still get flowers in spring. Evergreen boughs, such as spruce, pine and cedar, are nice green backdrops as well.
To add splashes of color include some berry plants. Some shrubs and trees with nice berries are winterberry holly, red or yellow crabapples, beauty berry or callicarpa and cotoneaster. You can add color with branches, too. Red and yellow twigged dogwoods, paperbark maple and red barked Japanese maples all add brightness and texture to compliment the evergreens.
Once you gather the branches, take a large plastic container filled with potting soil and decorate the container. Recut and place tall branches in the center with smaller and cascading branches along the edge. Don't be surprised if the birds find your creation and help themselves to some berries over winter. Place the container out of the wind and within view of your windows so you can see the beauty you've created from inside the house.
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Fall is a great time to harvest root crops. But if you have lots of carrots, beets, parsnips, potatoes and other roots, consider storing them indoors so you can enjoy them into winter.
The first step is to know the storage needs of your roots. Root crops generally like a cold, damp place in winter. Ideally it would be a room that stays between freezing and 40 degrees and has moderate humidity. Root crops are prone to shriveling in dry homes. You can store most roots (except beets) for a few months in the refrigerator if you wrap them in a damp paper towel and store in a crisper. But for long term storage, a basement or unheated garage that stays above freezing, is best.
Once you find the best location, prep your roots. For carrots, beets and parsnips, clean and cut off the greens to one half inch of the top. Only store undamaged roots. Use a cardboard or wooden box and add a 4-inch thick layer of sawdust or slightly moistened peat moist to the bottom. Lay out the roots not touching and cover with 2- to 3-inches of material. Keep layering until you fill the box. If freezing is a concern add some insulating materials around the box to keep it warm. Your roots should last 3 to 5 months.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes are easier. Let them cure after harvest in a warm, well-ventilated room, for a week or so. Store them away from onions in a cool basement or garage and, depending on the variety, they will last for 5 plus months.
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With all the warm, fall weather we've been having, getting out in the garden is a pleasure. One of the fall tasks we can do is a soil test.
A soil test is an inexpensive way to get a snapshot of soil nutrients in your garden, the pH and organic matter content. While you can purchase simple home test kits, I like to use the pros to sample my soil. TheUniversity of Connecticut Soil Lab in Storrs will test home garden soils for $15/per sample. Their analysis will test levels of phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium and other nutrients as well as pH. Based on the results they will give you recommendations for ways to remedy anything that's out of whack.
While doing a soil test can happen anytime the ground isn't frozen, fall is best because you'll get a more accurate reading and you'll have plenty of time to add sulfur, limestone or nutrients. These will slowly breakdown over winter and be ready for your plants next spring.
Download the forms and instructions online. Take a different soil sample for different types of landscape areas. For example, take separate samples for a blueberry patch, vegetable garden, lawn area or tree section. In the vegetable or flower garden wait one month after spreading compost or manure to take a sample so not to skew the results. Follow instructions as to how deep to dig for each sample and randomly take 10 samples in the same garden. Mix the samples together and take 1 cup to send it to the lab. You can mail or drop off the samples.
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So, you bought more pumpkins and winter squash for carving and decorating than you have willing hands to help. Now you're wondering what to do with those extra pumpkins and gourds Why not make planters out of them?
This is a simple way to add to your Halloween decorations and have a planter for the holidays! You can make planters out of large or small pumpkins and gourds. Simply cut off the top, hollow out the center (saving the pumpkin seeds for roasting) and fill the squash with potting soil.
Now the fun begins. Check out local garden centers and farm stores for left over annual flowers, herbs or veggie transplants to plant or dig some from your own garden. You can also use succulents and small houseplants, too. Decide on your hair style. We use scallion transplants I found at a local garden center to create mohawk look. We also found some calibrochoa trailing plants for a floppy hair style. Finally, we bought some small flowering cabbages for a crew cut, flat top look. You can combine these plants with some scary face painting as well. Once the fall freeze causes the pumpkins to soften, move the whole creation into the compost pile.
For a more elegant look, use smaller gourds and mini pumpkins and place one small succulent or houseplant, such as sedum, echeveria and aloe, in each. Keep them in a cool, sunny room indoors in November and use them to decorate the Thanksgiving table. Once the gourds and mini-pumpkins start to soften, transfer the houseplants into plastic pots for your indoor winter garden.
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With the leaves dropping and the weather still warm, it's a perfect time to start fall garden cleanup. This time honored process has undergone some recommended changes over the last few years. Let me explain.
First, if the flowers are still blooming and veggies and herbs producing, leave them. Enjoy every last moment of this year's garden before frost takes it all away. In annual flower and vegetable gardens, cut to the ground and remove any diseased or insect damaged plants. If the plants were mostly healthy this summer, consider trying the No-Dig Gardening method of chopping the foliage and dropping it right on the soil. This will protect the garden soil from erosion, keep the soil microbes healthy and be less work.
In the perennial flower garden, the current recommendation is to leave the plants until spring. Cleaning up the dead plants now removes beneficial insects and pollinators that overwinter in the leaf and stem material. In spring, after a week of 50 degree days, you can clean it all up.
Add arborist's wood chips to the perennial flower beds that have open areas and around shrubs and trees. A 3- to 4-inch thick layer of arborists' wood chips keeps weeds away, breaks down to feed the soil and is better than shredded mulch because it doesn't block air and water transfer. Check with your local arborists to get a load of chips.
Top dress lawns with a 1/4-inch thick layer of compost and reseed bare spots to create a thicker, lusher lawn with fewer weeds and help the lawns stay green during a drought.
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Now is the time to plant tulips, daffodils, crocus, hyacinths and all types of bulbs for a spring flower display. While many gardeners like planting similar bulbs together in groups, if you only have a small yard or area for planting, there's another technique you can use.
Layering is planting different bulbs together in a large hole. If done properly, you can have many types of bulbs blooming in succession in spring. The key is bulb selection.
Bulb packaging in garden centers often lists the bloom times of the various bulbs. Select a number of different bulbs and mix and match early, mid and late spring flowering times so something new is blooming every week or so. Start with the large sized bulbs such as hyacinths and daffodils. Those will be planted deepest in your hole. Then look for medium-sized bulbs such as tulips and alliums. Those will be on top of the large bulbs. Finally, select small bulbs such as crocus, scilla and chionodoxa. These are planted on top.
To plant, dig a good sized hole about 8 inches deep and wide enough to fit your bulbs. Plant so the bulbs are almost touching in well-drained soil. Lay the largest bulbs 6 inches deep and cover with soil. Layer the medium-sized bulbs 4 inches deep and again cover those with soil. Finally, layer the small bulbs on top of the medium bulbs only 1- to 2-inches deep. Cover it all with soil and water well.
In spring, depending on your selections you'll have waves of crocus, daffodils, alliums and tulips blooming giving you weeks of bulb joy.
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I recently visited a garden center in Massachusetts and was amazed at the variety of pumpkins. No longer are there just large, medium or small pumpkins. Now there are pumpkins with different skin colors, shapes and interesting abnormalities. Let's look at some options.
Pumpkins for carving haven't changed much over the years with orange, yellow and white skinned versions. But for Halloween displays, the options are much broader.
Mini-pumpkins are only 2 pounds and fit in the palm of your hand. They've become popular for small displays and accents. While there's orange, white and yellow skinned versions, I like the 'Lil Pump-Ke-Mon' pumpkins with orange, white and green stripes on the skin.
Flat pumpkins look like a flat tire version of regular pumpkin. 'Flat Stacker' is a white variety that weighs 15 pounds. 'Rouge Vif D'Etampes' is a French heirloom with red-orange skin. It makes an excellent eating pumpkin once you're done with the decorating. 'Long Island Cheese' is a 10 pound, tan skinned beauty with a tasty, deep orange flesh. And 'Jarrahdale' is a blue skinned flat pumpkin that's also great for eating.
For something really spooky try some of the warty pumpkins. 'Knucklehead' is a 12 pound, orange pumpkin loaded with warts. 'Warty Goblin' is a smaller orange pumpkin with lighter colored warts that give it a sinister appearance. 'Marina Di Chioggia' is an Italian heirloom that's flat, warty and blue skinned. The flesh also makes a great ravioli filling.
Once you have your spooky pumpkins, remember to protect them from a hard frost. Many can be stored and eaten like winter squashes for the holidays.
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Fall is upon us and before we get ready to give up on the herb garden, consider overwintering some herb plants.
Now is the time to start moving some of those herbs indoors. Not only will you save the plants, but also you'll have some fresh herbs in winter. Some herbs are better adapted to the move than others. I find chives, mint, parsley, oregano, thyme and rosemary all can be moved indoors successfully. While basil, cilantro and dill are better left for planting anew next spring.
The key is to start preparing these herbs now for the move. Pot small plants into containers if they aren't growing there already. Cut back plants and move the pots to a part shade location such as a porch. This will help simulate the lower light levels indoors. After a week or so, move the plants indoors, but quarantine them. Watch for any hitchhiking insects, such as aphids and mealybugs. Spray those plants outdoors with Neem oil and insecticidal soap. Once cleaned up, bring them back in.
Grow your herbs in a sunny window away from cold drafts. Mediterranean herbs, such as rosemary, thyme and oregano, love a well-drained soil that dries out between waterings and lots of sun and air movement.
Parsley, mint and chives are okay with a little less sun and need a more consistently moist soil. But don't overwater, especially in the depths of winter.
As new growth emerges in fall and again in late winter, snip it for cooking. Parsley may end up naturally dying by spring, but your other herbs should survive to move back outdoors with warmer weather.
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Fall is a great time of year to build better soil in your garden. Soil is the soul of your garden. It's loaded with billions of microbes that help your plants take up water and nutrients and keep them healthy. By amending the soil with local, organic materials, you'll be feeding the microbes for a healthier garden.
But not all microbes are alike. In annual garden soils, bacteria dominates and it likes easy to break down organic materials such as untreated grass clippings, chopped leaves, compost, hay and straw. Make sure your beds are covered with these materials going into winter. Not only do these materials slowly break down to feed the microbes in fall and spring, but they protect your soil from wind and rain erosion. Don't work the organic materials into the soil. That will only destroy the microbial networks that have been created. In spring, simply move aside whatever materials are left, add a thin layer of compost and plant.
For perennial flowers, trees and shrubs, these soils are more fungi dominated and, like the forest, they like slow to break down organic materials such as bark and wood chips. Add a 3- to 4-inch thick layer of arborist's wood chips around these plants. Ask your local arborist to deliver some chips from a nearby job site or check out getchipdrop.com to sign up for a delivery. Often it's free. The chips let air and water easily flow through it.
Based on a soil test, you can also add lime and any nutrients your soil seems deficient in now. This will give the nutrients time to break down before spring.
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September is a great time of year to plant perennial flowers. Most gardeners shy away from fall planting because they worry the plants won't survive winter. But if you plant in September, your perennials will have plenty of time to put down their roots before the cold.
Another advantage to fall planting is nurseries and garden centers are offering sales to move their stock. You can even find public gardens holding plant sales to raise money and offer some rare and unique plants. One such plant sale is happening at theHollister House Public Garden in Washington on the September 11th. Check it out. You can get inspired by their display gardens while picking up some unusual plants.
Once you get your plants home, don't delay in planting. The sooner they're in the ground, the faster they'll get established. Find the right location with proper sun or shade and well-drained soil for your new babies. Remember a garden that's shaded in September, may be in full sun in June, so plant based on the other perennials in that bed.
Plant in groups of 3, 5 or 7 for the best display. It's okay to cut off blooms or yellowing leaves. The plant is probably going dormant this time of year anyway. Take a photo, mark or draw on a map where you planted the newbies because in spring, you may forget. For perennials that might be a little tender for our climate, mulch with a 3- to 4-inch thick layer of wood chips in November to protect the roots and prevent frost heaves from unearthing the new plant. Don't be surprised if your new plants are a little slow to emerge next spring, but just for the first year.
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People often wonder why we grow potatoes. After all, they're plentiful year round in grocery stores. But there's something very elemental about potatoes. They grow easily from little seedling potatoes that yield an abundance of new potatoes. They are a treat to harvest, especially with kids. And I think they taste better.
One question I often get is when do I harvest my potatoes. You can start harvesting when they flower. Yes, some varieties of potatoes flower in midsummer with attractive purple colored, star-shaped blooms. You'll mostly harvest small sized, new potatoes. Of course, if you harvest too many you'll have fewer potatoes in fall.
In late summer, the potato plant starts dying back, and that's you can harvest them completely. If you see mice and vole activity you might want to harvest sooner than later.
On a dry day, gently dig around the base of the row or potato plant with a shovel or iron fork to unearth your spuds. Try not to damage the potatoes when harvesting or they won't last long in storage. Bring the potatoes into a warm, airy room, garage or barn with no direct sunlight. Place them on racks or a dry surface and let them dry for a few weeks. This toughens the skin so they last longer in storage. Brush off the soil and protect them from light with a covering or they might turn green. Green tinged potatoes are still okay to eat, they just won't taste as good. Store in a dark, basement or room where the temperatures stay around 40°F. They should last into winter.
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My mom always loved flowers but in her later years she really couldn't garden much anymore. So, when she was still living at home, my brother planted a Rose of Sharon shrub in the front lawn just outside her kitchen window. Mom spent a lot of time in the kitchen and even though it wasn't the best spot for the Rose of Sharon, she loved seeing the late summer blooms.
Rose of Sharon is in the hibiscus family as you would guess from the brightly colored, trumpet-shaped flowers. It's a hardy shrub in our landscape. Most varieties grow 8- to 12-feet tall, so watch where you plant it. The Chiffon series is a newer type that offers semi-double flowers in colors such as blue, pink, white, rose and lavender. There are dwarf varieties such as 'Lil Kim' with white flowers and a red eye. And 'Sugar Tips' that has variegated leaves and double pink blooms.
Rose of Sharon is not a fussy plant. It grows in full sun or part shade on average soils. It tolerates heat and humidity and once established it's drought tolerant. It will flower into September.
Rose of Sharon has a graceful vase shape and looks great planted with other deciduous shrubs in a border or hedge, at the back of a perennial flower garden or as a specimen plant in the yard. It doesn't require regular pruning, but it can grow 2 feet a year. If you need to reduce its size, prune in late winter or early spring. Deadhead spent flowers to keep your Rose of Sharon from setting seeds and spreading.
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As students are getting ready to head back to school, it has me thinking of gardening with kids. Many schools have integrated gardens into their classroom curriculums with great success. Research has shown that kids who garden at school learn to appreciate nature more, eat more fresh vegetables at school and at home, score higher in science achievement tests, learn to work better with other kids and generally enjoy being in school more.
While the benefits of school gardens are many, there is often a hesitation from teachers and administrators to start a program. This is understandable, especially if the teachers aren't gardeners themselves. But there are lots of resources available to help with the basics of gardening, lessons planning and finding volunteers. The Connecticut School Gardens Resource Center offers classes and information, Connecticut Master Gardeners can be a volunteer resource, and kidsgardening.org offers lesson plans.
There are some tips for starting out with a school garden program. First, get the administration, other teachers, parents, and facilities and maintenance staff on board. Including them from the beginning will help alleviate some future problems. Start small with a raised bed or some containers. Find a safe and convenient location, such as a courtyard, in full sun with a water source nearby. Work with the kids, volunteers and parents on what to grow. This fall, if you're ready, plant garlic, shallots and spring flowering bulbs in October.
Finally, be patient and realistic with your time. Take it step by step. Once you have a plan and program, you'll see the kids, and plants, will thrive in the garden.
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Whether it's a cantaloupe, honeydew or watermelon, there's something about the sun warmed, sweet, juicy taste of a melon.
All of these melons grow well in our Connecticut gardens, but we do need to know when to harvest. Some melons are easy to spot when ripe and others take practice.
Probably the easiest melon to grow and know when it's ripe are musk melons or cantaloupes. Watch the netting on the cantaloupe skin. When it turns light brown give the fruit a gentle tug. If it slips off the vine, it's ripe. Also, check for the sweet, melon fragrance by sniffing the end of the fruit.
Honeydew melons are little more complicated. They don't slip off the vine and usually don't have a strong aroma. Harvest honeydews when the skin color changes to a yellow color and the blossom end has a little give to it when pressed.
Watermelons are probably the most confusing to know when to harvest. Like honeydews, they don't slip off the vine or have an aroma. The best clue is when the small, curly-cue vine that's closest to the fruit turns brown. You can also check the bottom of the melon to see if it's turned yellow. Some gardeners thump their watermelons and listen for the right sound when its ripe.
Melons ripen best with sunny, hot, dry weather, Cut back on watering as melons get large for best flavor. Protect ripening fruits from birds and mice with metal cages.
Visit ctpublic.org/ConnecticutGardenJournal for more gardening tips.
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It's August and in many perennial flower gardens, the color show has waned. Maybe the rudbeckias and echinaceas are still going strong, but many flower gardens can benefit from a pop of color from some late summer and fall bloomers.
While the traditional asters and sedums will provide some color, if you're looking for a big splash, nothing beats the hardy hibiscus. Unlike the tropical hibiscus, this perennial dies back to the ground each winter and is hardy in Connecticut. It produces dinner-plate sized, white, pink, bi-colored or burgundy colored blossoms from late summer into September. Most plants grow about 3- to 5-feet tall and wide and they make a statement in your garden.
Monk's hood or Aconitum is an impressive, tall, upright perennial that thrives in part shade. The hood-like flowers come in white, pink, or purple colors and the plant loves the cool, moist weather of fall. Just make sure animals or kids don't eat the leaves or flowers because they are poisonous.
Another tall, late-blooming perennial is Rudbeckia Hortensis 'Golden Glow' or the privy plant. Originally grown to hide the outhouse on farms, this rudbeckia grows 6- to 7-feet tall and can spread. The bright yellow, double petaled flowers bloom right into fall and make a nice cut flower.
For something a little lower growing, try the Montauk daisy. Originally from Japan, this perennial daisy has naturalized on Montauk, Long Island, hence the name. It only grows 1- to 2-feet tall with bright white, daisy flowers that bloom from fall to frost. It adds a splash of brightness, contrasting well with fall mums.
Visit ctpublic.org/ConnecticutGardenJournal for more gardening tips.
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It's berry season. Whether you're growing your own or harvesting berries at a pick your own farm, knowing when to harvest the berries is key to getting the tastiest, sweetest fruits. So, let's talk about harvesting some popular and unusual berries.
First of all, become familiar with the type of berry and variety. Some berries mature to different colors making it important to know what to look for in the berry patch. For example, raspberry fruits can be red, yellow, purple or black, depending on the type.
Strawberries are mostly finished producing, so let's start with raspberries. When picking, wait until the color is solid across the whole berry and the fruits come off the plant with just a gentle tug.
Blueberries are producing right now as well. You'd think it's easy to know when to pick a blueberry, but many people harvest too soon. Wait until the berry is blue all around to harvest. However, I've found that even if you pick a little early, it's okay. We leave blueberries at room temperatures for a day after harvest and I swear they get sweeter.
Blackberries are a bit easier to tell when ripe. They should be black, of course, but they should also come off the plant with a gentle tug. If they resist, check again tomorrow.
Wait until elderberries are plump and black, and then harvest the whole umbel with scissors for making juice, jelly and wine. Currants can be red, white, pink or black. I cup my hand under a group of berries and gently tickle them with my fingers. Ripe berries drop off easily.
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As the nights become cooler in late July and August, powdery mildew disease starts making its appearance on many vegetables flowers, trees and shrubs.
This fungal disease thrives when humidity goes up and temperatures cool in late summer. There are a number of different fungi that cause the disease. It can attack plants such as lilacs, crabapples, bee balm, phlox, tomatoes, squash, zinnias, and many other plants. Beside the white, powdery growth on the leaves, powdery mildew can also cause leaf rolling or deforming and yellowing or greying of the leaves.
While powdery mildew disease usually doesn't kill plants, it can reduce production of vegetables and be unsightly in a garden. Luckily, there are many ways to reduce the infection. First, you can move to a drier climate (just kidding). But better would be to space plants further apart to increase air flow and cause the leaves to dry out, clean up infected plants well and grow resistant varieties. Some good powdery mildew resistant varieties include 'Marshall's Delight' bee balm, 'Volcano' and 'Candy Store' phlox, 'Butterbaby' butternut squash, 'Purple Dome' aster and 'Indian Summer' crabapple.
Start looking for diseased leaves now as it gets started. Pick, remove and destroy the leaves. If you need to spray to control powdery mildew, select organic pesticides and spray now before the diseases starts spreading quickly. Bio Neem oil, Bacillus subtilis (Serenade) and sulphur sprays all will reduce the spread, but not kill established disease. Even a baking soda mixture can help. I've sprayed a 1 tablespoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of liquid soap and 1 gallon of water mixture to prevent the disease.
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Each year the Perennial Plant Association chooses a perennial plant of the year to highlight and encourage gardeners to grow. This year they chose a beauty. Little bluestem grass is a hardy, clumping grass native to the prairies that has visual interest from summer through winter. Unlike other ornamental grasses where the show really starts in fall, little bluestem has attractive blue gray, spiky leaves all summer that turn an orange-red color in autumn. It produces white, dainty flowers and seed heads for winter interest and is a good source of food for birds as well. The leaves also can host native butterfly larvae. Depending on the selection, little bluestem can grow 2- to 4-feet tall. Varieties best adapted to Connecticut include ''Standing Ovation' and 'The Blues'.
Little bluestem grows well when paired with a variety of perennial flowers. Grow it next to asters, cat mint, lamb's ears and butterfly weed. You can also grow little bluestem in large groups. Plant them where you can enjoy the plants and seed heads in winter from indoors.
Little bluestem grows best in full sun. Once established, it can resist drought and grow in less than perfect soils. It also tolerates heat and humidity well. It does like well-drained soils. Too much moisture and fertilizer and a lack of sunlight can cause the flower stalks to flop over.
This ornamental grass needs little maintenance to keep looking good. Let the seed heads and leaves persist over winter for the beneficial insects and for an added visual appeal. Cut back the plant in spring after a series of 50 degree days.
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There's nothing like the taste of home grown cantaloupes and other melons from your garden. The warm summer weather is perfect for melon growing, but now also is a time when problems can arise. So, let's do a little melon troubleshooting.
Melons like heat, well-drained soil, water and fertility. Ideally, grow on raised beds amended with compost. Once they start vining, add a small handful of an organic granular fertilizer, such as 5-5-5, around the plants to keep growing strong all summer. Run a soaker hose in the melon patch to insure the soil stays consistently moist, especially during our summer droughts. Use a timer so you don't have to remember to turn the water on and off.
Like all cucurbits, melon plants have male and female flowers and need bees to pollinate the flowers to form fruit. If you notice fruits rotting and falling off when they're small, it may be due to poor pollination. You can help by pollinating the flowers yourself. In the morning, go into the melon patch with a cotton swab. Swish the swab in an opened male flower, one with a straight stem behind the flower. Then swish it in an opened female flower, one with a small fruit behind the flower. Voila, you've pollinated the melon flower.
Cucumber beetles can cause damage to young plants and spread disease. Control beetles by placing yellow sticky cards around the melon patch. Squash bugs love to feed on the leaves. Squish the copper colored, squash bug eggs that are laid in groups on the undersides of the leaves. Check the leaves every few days.
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Gardeners are very interested in creating pollinator gardens to support all the insects and creatures that help pollinate our food plants and flowers. But the first order of business is to know who's a pollinator.
The poster child for pollinators is the honey bee. This European, native insect lives in groups in hives and is used commercially to pollinate a variety of plants from almonds to apples. Bumble bees are also popular, hive forming pollinators mostly because they're easy to identify. But there are many native bees, such as squash bees, digger bees, and leaf cutter bees, that are solitary insects and can be very efficient pollinators. Mason bees lay eggs in holes in logs, wood and even masonry. You can even encourage mason bees in your yard by hanging mason bee houses for them to nest. They're very efficient pollinators. It only takes two mason bees to pollinate a whole apple tree. The only downside of mason bees is, unlike honey bees who can forage for pollen for miles, mason bees tend to stay only 100 yards from their nest.
Small flies may seem like a nuisance at summer picnics and outdoor activities, but many are pollinators. Tachinid and syrphid flies look similar to wasps and bees, but are non stinging. They can pollinate a range of flowers and vegetables and some control pest insects, such as aphids and scale, as well.
Beetles are not usually thought of as pollinators, but some, such as scarab and soldier beetles, will pollinate magnolia, sweet shrub, and spirea. Even hummingbirds, with their long tongues, are good pollinators of tube shaped flowers.
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Potatoes and eggplants are fun vegetables to grow in Connecticut gardens, but as they start putting on growth you may notice someone else is interested in your plants. Adult potato beetles are large black and tan striped beetles that are active now, laying yellowish-orange eggs on the undersides of leaves. Potatoes and eggplants are their favorite plants to attack, but you'll see the beetles on other night shades such as tomatoes, peppers and petunias, too.
The eggs hatch into small, reddish, soft bodied larvae that start feeding. It's this stage that does most of the damage. While potatoes can lose up to 1/3 of their foliage and still produce a good crop, eggplants and other night shades can be seriously damaged by these beetles.
Luckily, there are a number of things you can do. The simplest control is to check the leaf bottoms every few days for the eggs and crush them. This will stop the potato beetles in their tracks. You can also hand crush the larvae, but wear gloves. It will get messy. Adult beetles are hard to kill with sprays, but the larvae are susceptible to an organic Bacillus thuriengensis or Bt spray, specially formulated for potato beetles. Spray in the evening on just the infected plants, when the larvae are still small, to be most effective.
There are some fun home remedies you can try like using a shop vac to suck the larvae off the plants and planting tansy or catmint around potatoes as companion plants to mask the scent of the potato from the adult beetles. Rotating crops every year helps as well.
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When the peonies and Siberian irises are blooming you may notice another perennial flower making a statement. Baptisia, or false indigo, is a hardy native perennial that features colorful, pea-like flowers on a large, flowing plant.
The traditional species of Baptisia australis features a blue colored flower. But there are newer varieties and other species that have purple, yellow, red and pink colored blooms. Baptisia alba features white flowers. Check out the 'Decadence' series of baptisias for some of these unusual colored varieties.
Baptisia is what I like to call a “shrub-like” perennial. It grows quickly in spring into a 3- to 4-foot tall perennial in a classic vase-shape. It may need support to keep it from flopping over as it gets larger. The pea-like leaves and flowers give away its legume background. Baptisia fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere for food and helps other plants grow, too. It has a taproot, so once established, it's a tough plant to move.
Plant baptisia near other spring bloomers, but remember its size. It will eventually spread over time into a large clump. After the flowers finish in early summer, you can deadhead baptisia and enjoy the dark green foliage. It makes a perfect backdrop for lower growing summer annuals and perennials such as profusion zinnias, salvias, and coreopsis. You can also leave the seedpods to dry on the plant. They form a rattle shape with seeds inside. In fact, historically they were used as a child's toy. Baptisias are generally free of damage from animals, insects and diseases. Come fall, baptisia will die back to the ground.
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There's nothing like fresh sweet corn for a summer dinner. Sweet corn is a great home garden vegetable to grow, if you have room. But even if you don't, varieties such as 'On Deck', can fit in containers. With new and unusual varieties available, it may be time to grow a sweet corn patch this summer.
We're all familiar with white, bi-color and yellow sweet corns and with the newer supersweet varieties such as 'Ambrosia' and 'Peaches and Cream'. Now there are sweet corn varieties in different colors. 'Ruby Queen' is a red kerneled corn that can be eaten when it's bluish-red as a sweet corn, or allowed to mature to a dried corn. It grows 7 feet tall, does best with another supersweet variety close by, and has decorative red tassels. 'Hopi Blue' grows 5 feet tall, can be harvested when young as a blue sweet corn, or allowed to dry to make blue tortillas.
Don't plant sweet corn too early. Wait until the soil has warmed and plant in blocks of 4 short rows per each variety, spaced 2 feet apart. Separate the blocks of varieties with 4 foot wide rows to reduce the chances of cross pollination.
Corn is in the grass family and grows fast. Plant in full sun on fertile soil. Add compost at planting time and an organic fertilizer, such as 5-5-5, when the plants are knee high. Hill the rows when plants are small to keep the stalks from flopping over during a storm. Mulch to keep the soil moist and use electric fencing to keep raccoons out.
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On one of my Garden Tours to England, I became entranced by their cottage gardens. Cottage gardens are known for their abundance of flowers, shrubs, trees, vines and edibles all grown together in what I call “organized chaos”. But there's a plan to this chaos.
Here's a few design ideas when planting a traditional English cottage garden. First, start with the structure of the garden. Cottage gardens often have “rooms” separated by hedges or fences where different colored flowers and themes can be created. Winding pathways also are used to give even a small garden a larger sense of size. Structures and sitting areas are incorporated so you can have places to work, rest and enjoy.
Traditional English Cottage gardens feature pastel colored flowers such as salvias, delphiniums, dianthus and foxgloves. Plant your flowers in groups of 3, 5, or 7 for splashes of color. Mix annuals, biennials and perennials for color from spring to fall. Add fragrance plants such as lavenders, lilies and roses. In shady cottage garden, focus more on leaf texture and color to create a dramatic effect. Add shrubs and small trees for structure in your garden, emphasizing natives such as viburnums, dogwoods and elderberry.
Most importantly allow plants to grow into each other as they overlap flowering times. Prune and thin in spring so plants aren't overwhelmed. The summer effect should be a riot of color and texture mimicking a wild garden.
To learn more about cottage gardening join me at the Stonington Garden Tour on June 10th and 11th. I'll be giving a talk on cottage gardens on that Saturday at 1pm.
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Many gardeners are either downsizing from their large vegetable gardens or have limited space to grow food. A good way to maximize your space is to grow vertically.
There are a number of climbing vegetables beyond the traditional pole beans and peas, that thrive during our hot summers and offer some interesting and unusual fruits.
Many gardeners love pole beans, but this Asian variety is really unique. The 'Red Noodle' yard-long bean climbs on a teepee or trellis producing beans that can grow a yard long, but are best picked when they're about 1-foot long. The beans are thin, burgundy colored and featured in many Asian recipes. It only takes a small handful of beans to make a meal.
I love spinach, but once the weather turns hot, our spinach bolts. There is an alternative. 'Malabar' spinach is a heat loving, climbing spinach that has red veins and stems. It looks fabulous on a trellis. The leaves have a spinach-like texture and may not taste exactly like spinach. They are best used cooked in recipes that require greens.
We all know cucumbers love the summer heat, but here's an unusual vining cucumber family plant that is fun to look at and eat. Cucamelons grow like regular cucumbers up a trellis or support. The plant has small leaves and small fruits. The cucamelon fruits are about the size of a large grape and are striped like a watermelon. Their flavor and texture is tangy and crisp. It's a fun plant to grow for kids and grandkids. Eat cucamelons fresh in salads, pickled or even dropped into your favorite cocktail.
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Whether it be from kids, pets or wildlife, many times our gardens need protection. There's nothing worse than to plant a garden only to have soccer balls knock down plants, dogs dig up the bed or wild animals eat your plants. The key to protecting your plants is often a good fence.
Depending on the perpetrator, the fence can be short or tall, sturdy or delicate. For young kids and small dogs, a 2- to 3-foot tall fence should be enough to keep them from bounding into the garden. A fence made from chicken wire, wood or netting can all work. For larger dogs that are interested in digging, a stronger, wire or wooden fence would work better. For animals, such as woodchucks or rabbits, a 4-foot tall wire fence is best as long as you curve the bottom foot to an “L” shape lying it flat on the ground covered in mulch. This will discourage tunneling under the fence. For woodchucks that climb, don't attach the top of the fence to posts and the woodchuck's weight will bend the fence, dropping them back down to the ground outside your garden.
Fencing may not work for cats that like to climb. Consider placing branches with thorns, such as roses and brambles, on newly planted gardens to discourage cats from using your bed as a litter box.
Good climbers, such as squirrels, won't be thwarted by a fence. Cover prized plants with a floating row cover before they discover them or use smell-based repellent sprays. Just be sure to repeat the sprays as the plant grows.
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“Then we have the irises, rising beautiful and cool on their tall stalks, like blown glass, like pastel water momentarily frozen in a splash. . .” This Margaret Atwood quote depicts the beauty of this spring flower. Irises come in many types. Bearded iris are most common with large, colorful blooms. The clump-forming, Siberian iris has smaller, blue, pink, yellow or white flowers. Japanese iris flowers resemble colorful butterflies floating on the breeze.
Whatever iris you choose to grow, it's important to find the right spot. Select a full sun location on well-drained soil, although Japanese iris grow well in wetter soils. Siberian iris are a little more forgiving of shade, but they will flower better in sun. Well drained soil is key. If you have clay soil either amend it heavily with compost or create a raised bed for good soil water drainage.
Plant bearded iris so the tops of the rhizomes are at the soil line. Don't bury them. Plant Siberian and Japanese iris as you would any perennial. Over time the iris plant will get overcrowded and stop flowering. Divide clumps in summer, removing any diseased or damaged rhizomes, replanting the rest in fresh soil. The clump forming irises, such as the Siberian iris, form a dead area in the center of the clump when overcrowded. Divide in summer removing the dead area and splitting up and replanting the live growth.
Enjoy your iris flowers in gardens matched with other spring beauties such as peonies, salvia and geraniums. Cut flowers for arranging indoors as the first flowers on the stalk begin to open.
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With the rising price of flowers, you might need a different plan for a Mother's Day gift this year. Certainly, you should never skimp on your mom, but even she will appreciate a thoughtful, practical and a little less expensive gift.
When my mom was alive we would make an annual trek to a local greenhouse in Watertown so she could buy her geraniums for her flower boxes and containers. Whether it be a geranium, impatiens, petunia or coleus, a way to save a little money would be to grow your own for mom. By purchasing one plant, you can make many by taking cuttings. Here's how.
Select a branch and cut just below a set of leaves about 6 inches for the tip. Remove all but the top leaves. Dip the cutting in rooting hormone powder and stick it in a container filled with moisten potting soil. Place the pot out of direct sun, but in a bright place, keep watered and in a few weeks it will root and start growing.
Another money saver is making your own flower bouquets. Feature spring flowering daffodils and tulips from your yard mixed with native ferns, wildflowers, a sprig from a flowering apple tree or any other plants that strike your fancy. Mom will appreciate the creativity.
Finally, help mom plant a small, raised bed vegetable garden. A simple 4- by 8-raised bed is plenty of room to grow a bevy of veggies. Fill the bed with soil and compost and work with her to plant her favorite greens, herbs and salad veggies. She'll think of you daily while enjoying those free veggies!
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We've all seen the high price of veggies in grocery stores. That might make you think twice about purchasing a specialty vegetable like asparagus.
So, why not grow your own and have it every year regardless of inflation and shortages. Select varieties adapted to our region. 'Millenium' is a Canadian variety that features all-male plants, good production and the ability to grow in a wide range of soils. 'Purple Passion' is a fun, purple colored heirloom variety. Purchase crowns locally or through catalogs. Find a full sun location on well-drained soil. Dig a trench 1 foot deep and plant the spider-like crowns 1 foot apart in the trench. Ten crowns is probably plenty for a small family. Backfill with native soil to just cover the top of the crowns. As the ferns grow, continue backfilling until you fill the trench.
For the first two years you'll just be weeding and watering. By year three you can harvest for 4 to 6 weeks, cutting just the spears that are pencil width or larger. After that, the production can go on for years, as long as you add compost and organic fertilizer each spring and keep the bed weeded.
For fun, grow white asparagus. This is a gourmet treat in many restaurants and although it looks like a different variety, it's just blanched asparagus. Cover part of your asparagus bed with black plastic and let the spears grow up into it. The plastic blocks the light and turns the spears white, tender and milder tasting.
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Sometimes the simplest vegetables are the best. Snap beans are one of the easiest vegetables to grow and most rewarding. Many of us first grew beans in biology class in elementary school in cups sitting in the class window. The seeds are large, the plants reliable and the fruits tasty.
While snap beans are easy to grow and delicious to eat, there is one group that's even more satisfying.
I love growing French filet beans. These varieties have been bred to grow slender, long beans that don't get stringy and tough, even when mature. Of course, the key is to keep picking them when young (about 4 inches long) when they have the best flavor. These are fresh eating beans and don't can or freeze well. Steamed, sautéed in butter and topped with lemon and parmesan cheese or simply eaten raw, French filet beans melt in your mouth. Some varieties I've grown include 'Nickel', 'Maxibel' and 'Tavera'. 'Velour' is a purple colored French filet variety and 'French Gold' is a pole bean version featuring yellow beans.
Grow beans on raised beds in well-drained soil. Go light on adding compost and fertilizer. Beans are legumes and can fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form of fertilizer they can use. Grow lettuce and other greens around the beans to take advantage of this fertilizer production. Wait until the soil has warmed to plant, to about the time you'd plant tomatoes. Bush beans mature quickly and also fade quickly. So plant in short rows in succession every 2 weeks into early August. This way, you'll have a constant supply of fresh beans to eat.
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Easter is here and for those celebrating, flowers are often part of the festivities. The Easter lily is probably the best known Easter flower. I remember going to church as a boy in Waterbury and having the whole building perfumed with the dozens of Easter lilies on the alter.
The Easter lily is a type of summer blooming trumpet lily that's native to Japan. They're forced into bloom early in greenhouses for the spring holiday. After World War II the West Coast from Vancouver to Long Beach, California took over being the center of Easter lily bulb production. Today a small group of growers are left on the Oregon/California border and that region is known as the Easter Lily Capital of the World.
When purchasing Easter lilies, look for ones with green leaves all the way to the bottom of the plant and 5 or more flower buds. Once home, remove the cellophane wrapper, water when dry and place it in a cool room with bright light. In spring, plant it outdoors and it will bloom next year in summer.
For something different, consider gifting other plants this holiday. Asiatic lilies have brightly colored flowers and are great garden plants. They just don't have the same heady fragrance as Easter lilies. Calla lilies are often found in garden centers this time of year. Many have attractive speckled leaves. Their colorful flowers are actually bracts, similar to poinsettias, that last a long time so this plant will be beautiful indoors for weeks. Plant this annual flower outdoors in early summer in a part-sun location and it should keep flowering until fall.
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Most gardeners think of Asian greens as Chinese cabbage or bok choy (or pak choi). But these traditional veggies have gotten a face lift with new colorful and different sized varieties for salads and cooking.
Asian greens are fast maturing, have beautiful leaves, are easy to grow and are tasty in many foods beyond traditional Asian recipes. Asian greens are often in those baby greens salad mixes we buy.
Some new varieties include 'Rosie' bok choy. It has strawberry colored leaves that can be harvested in 20 days as a baby green or allowed to mature into a full sized, bok choy in 45 days. Tat Soi has dark green colored, spoon shaped leaves. 'Red Cloud' is a burgundy leaf selection that adds color and a little peppery flavor to salads. 'Tokyo Bekana' is a non-heading Chinese cabbage with blonde colored leaves that are ready to eat in 18 days as baby greens. These are fast maturing greens.
Asian greens like cool soil and air temperatures. Sow seeds now indoors to transplant as seedlings into the garden at the end of this month. Once the soil warms and dries, sow seeds of Asian greens in the garden. The combination will give you a longer season of greens as the transplants will yield sooner than the seeded plants. Harvest individual leaves for salads and leave some plants to mature. To ward off flea beetles, plant radishes close by a week or two before planting the Asian greens. The flea beetles will flock to the radish greens where you can spray them with diatomaceous earth.
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Ahhh, I know it's spring when pussy willows start showing up. The stems with gray, fuzzy, catkins are fun to cut and collect for arrangements in the home. Pussy willows are native to our Northern climate and are actually important for pollinators as well. Their early blooming, fuzzy, catkins give way to flowers which are loaded pollen and nectar for emerging bees and insects. By the way, the word catkin comes from the Dutch word for kitten, because they look similar to the tail of a cat.
Like many willows, pussy willows root easily. In fact, we often put some water in a vase of cut pussy willow stems and watch as the roots emerge and the plant grows in the vase. Once the roots are at least a few inches long, you can pot up the pussy willow stems. Keep them in sun and keep the soil moist. By May, plant them in their permanent spot. Pussy willows like full sun and wet soils that have some drainage. They grow into large shrubs and benefit from severe pruning every few years to promote more new growth, which leads to better pussy willows and catkins that are easier to reach.
While gray is the color of our native pussy willow catkins, there are other colored types, such as black and pink. The Asian black pussy willow produces black catkins on plants that are a little more tender than our native. The pink pussy willows are from Asia or Europe and provide a cool color contrast to the black and gray ones. All of these are good for pollinators and grow under similar conditions as our native into large shrubs in the yard.
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As spring is officially here, lots of gardeners are thinking about planting. If you're interested in adding native plants to your landscape, bolster plantings along stream banks, create a pollinator garden or add some edibles to your yard. Consider the Connecticut Conservation District's annual spring plant sales.
The conservation districts help educate the public on the ways to preserve and revive our local ecosystems. They hold workshops for the public and offer support to municipalities, farmers and residents along coastal waterways, helping revitalize these areas. One of the ways of preserving and reviving ecosystems is to plant more native plants. Native plants attract pollinators, provide food for birds, are an integral part of the forest, riparian and meadow ecosystems, and can be attractive additions to your garden. To encourage residents to plant more natives, the conservation districts have an annual spring plant sale where you can purchase many of these native plants at a discount. It's a good way to add natives to your yard for any project, without breaking the bank.
You'll need to order your plants on-line before the end of March. You can pick them up the end of April, depending on the district. Go toconservect.org to find your conservation district. They will have links to plant sales with online order forms and details.
So, plant more native plants for a healthier yard, community and state. It's a small way to make a difference in our yard by repairing damaged ecosystems overrun with exotic invasives and support bees, butterflies, birds and many other creatures on our land.
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With the warmer weather many of us want to plant something and often garden peas come to mind. Peas are a good choice because they germinate in cool soils and need cool air temperatures to produce their best. However, mid-March is a little premature. It's best to wait until early April in warmer parts of the state or late April everywhere else.
That doesn't mean you can't get started. There are basically three types of peas; shelling peas, snap peas, and snow peas. With shelling or English peas, just eat the peas. Eat the pod and all with snap peas, and harvest snow peas while they're still flat. You can also eat them pod and all.
I've grown many varieties over the years beyond the common ones. 'Golden Sweet' is a yellow podded snow pea with beautiful pink flowers. 'Royal Snow' is a purple podded version. There are peas that stay only one foot tall ('Sugar Ann'), ones that grow 8 feet tall ('Tall Telephone') and a variety that has mostly tendrils. These tendril peas are good for growing indoors as microgreens where you eat the leaves and tendrils while they're still young.
Plant peas on raised beds with fertile soil but don't add much compost or fertilizer. Soak seeds in a bowl the night before planting to hasten germination. Place a trellis in the middle of the bed and sow peas in rows on either side. Cover the seeds with row covers if cold, wet weather comes so they don't rot. Keep well watered and weeded and you'll be eating peas in a few months.
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With St. Patrick's Day coming up soon, many people will be touting green clothes, green hats and drinking green beer. Those traditions are fun but, as a horticulturist, the one tradition I don't enjoy are the green carnations. I generally love all flowers, but a white carnation dyed in green just doesn't cut it for me. If you want to give a flower for St. Patty's Day, I have some better options.
The shamrock is the symbolic flower of St Patrick's Day. The original Irish shamrock is thought to have been a clover. It's not the best gift plant. Luckily, florist shops and garden centers are filled with oxalis this time of year. Oxalis grows from a small bulb and has stems with three leaflet leaves and a dainty little flower. There are green varieties, purple varieties and even one called 'Iron Cross' with a red center edged in green. Oxalis can be grown as a houseplant now, and used later in your outdoor container or garden. If oxalis gets leggy or insect-infested simply cutback all the foliage to the soil and it will regrow.
Mini roses are a great gift, especially ones with yellow or white flowers. They contrast beautifully with all the green around. Select varieties that stay only 1- to 2-feet tall and grow them as houseplants now and outdoor plants for years.
Perhaps a true Irish gardener would love some seeds of Bells of Ireland. This annual flower grows stalks with green blooms in summer. Bells of Ireland likes cool weather, self sows, is a great cut flower and would be appreciated all summer long.
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As I cook the last of my frozen sweet peppers from last summer, I'm thinking about this year's crop. I love growing peppers. I've experimented over the years with different varieties and have found a few that grow really well for me.
For sweet peppers I lean towards the bull's horn type. These Italian frying peppers grow easily and produce abundantly. And they turn their mature color, such as red, yellow, orange, faster than bell peppers. This is a treat because even though I like any pepper, I love mature sweet peppers. My two favorite varieties are the red 'Carmen' and the yellow 'Escamillo'. They produce reliably each year. I don't always find transplants in local greenhouses, so I start my own seedlings indoors each April.
I've also grown a variety of hot peppers. These varieties are great because unless you're a hot pepper fanatic, just a plant or two will produce enough to keep your meals spicy all summer and fall. 'Padrone' hot pepper is a variety I first tasted at a restaurant in Barcelona on one of my garden tours. It was grilled with a bit of olive oil and salt. With a pitcher of sangria, those peppers didn't last long. Another keeper is 'Thai Hot'. I grow this attractive, pepper plant mostly to process the mature red fruits for winter. Some peppers get tossed in freezer bags whole and others are dried slowly in the oven and used as crushed hot pepper flakes in my pastas and soups. The stored peppers last frozen or dried about 6 to 8 months indoors. There's nothing like the taste of your own veggies in winter in your meals.
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They're baaack. At least some of them. I recently returned from speaking at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle. It was a blast speaking in front of a live audience again, and with masking and vaccination requirements, it felt pretty safe. Next up, I'll be speaking at the Connecticut Flower & Garden Show at the convention center in Hartford on Saturday. I'll be talking about creating a pollinator garden and selling my books. Stop by if you can.
Indoor flower shows are truly a North American phenomenon and I missed them last year due to Covid. They're a blast of spring during our long, cold, snowy and icy winters. Indoor flower shows have display gardens with hundreds of bulbs, shrubs and flowers forced into bloom in greenhouses in winter and transported to the venue in time for the show. These landscapes feature pergolas, waterfalls, ponds and walls, greenhouses and other structures meant to inspire your imagination. The recreated gardens fill the air with the scents, sounds and sights of spring. But there's more. Many shows bring in top notch gardeners from around the region speaking on topics including vegetable gardening, container gardening, native plants and landscape design. Plus, there are vendors selling gardening products, seeds, plants and crafts.
Not all of our regional flower shows are back, though. The Boston Flower & Garden Show is still on hiatus because they can't find a new venue. The Philadelphia Flower Show will be conducted outdoors in June at FDR Park. But the Connecticut Flower & Garden Show is happening right now and the Rhode Island Flower Show runs April 7th to 10th. Check them out.
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It's getting to be indoor seed starting seed time. It's nice starting your own vegetables and flowers indoors from seed. You can grow many more plants for less cost and get to choose from a wider range of varieties. Even if you're not an indoor seed starter, at some point you're probably going to be buying potting soil. That's where soil mixes can become confusing.
There are seed starting or germinating mixes, transplant mixes, potting mixes, mixes with fertilizer, organic mixes, mixes for specialty plants.... it can be mind boggling. Let me try to help.
When starting seedlings indoors, get a seed starting mix. This is the usual peat-based mix, but it’s been more finely milled so the small seeds can germinate better. When transplanting seedlings into larger pots indoors, use an organic transplanting mix. This has more bulk in the mix and some compost, which helps keep the plant growing strong. For container plants in summer, a good potting mix should be fine.
If the plants are perennial, buy a product with compost, or even some bark, in the mix. That will help reduce potting soil compaction over time.
Peat moss is often the key ingredient in many mixes. There is concern about peat moss because the peat is mined, destroying the bogs. While bogs can be restored, it can take years to bring them back. An alternative is coir. Coir is a bi-product of the coconut industry. It's made from milled, coconut husks and is often found in many soil mixes. It absorbs and drains water better than peat moss and is a recycled product.
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Valentine's Day is almost upon us and the flower of this special day is roses. It's estimated 250 million roses are grown for Valentine's Day. While it's great to receive cut flower roses, perhaps getting the whole plant might be a better gift.
There may not be full-sized rose plants in garden centers yet, but there are miniature roses. Mini roses are regular rose plants, just bred to be smaller. They're easier to grow than hybrid roses and hardier because they're grown on their own rootstock.
Miniature roses grow best in full sun on well-drained, compost amended soil. Some don't actually stay very mini. Climbing varieties can reach 7-feet tall, but still have the small flowers. There are trailers that can ramble and then there are bush mini roses that stay around 1- to 2-feet tall.
When purchasing a mini rose at a florist or garden center, read the description to know what type of mini rose you're getting. 'Lemon Drop' is a nice, bush yellow variety. 'Sugar Plum' reaches 18- inches tall with lavender colored flower and a sweet fragrance. 'Hot N Sassy' has dazzling red flowers with a yellow center, growing up to 3- feet tall.
Once you have purchased your miniature rose plant for your sweetie, keep it in full sun indoors until spring. Don't overwater. Come spring, find a full sun location to plant the rose in your garden or in a container. Remember the ultimate size is small, so plant it with other low growing flowers.
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Winter is a good time of year to plan some new gardens. One area that always puzzles gardeners is shade. Finding the right perennial flowers to grow in the shade can be challenging. That's mostly because all shade isn't created equal.
The first step is to determine the type of shade you have. Part shade means that at some point there is sun on that area during the day. It could be a few hours in the morning or afternoon. Dappled shade usually refers to light filtered through tree leaves so the light is dappled on the flowers beneath. Deep shade is where no direct light reaches. This is often under an evergreen tree or on the north side of a house. Of course, there are varying degrees to all these designations. We had a house where the north side didn't receive any direct light. But there was enough indirect light and open space around it that we still grew ferns and hostas.
Another factor is moisture. If the area has sandy or rocky soil, you should select plants good for dry shade. These include euphorbia, brunnera, lamium, hardy geranium and epimedium. These will thrive under the dry conditions. If your area has wet soils, choose plants that are adapted such as Soloman's seal, ferns, astilbe, cardinal flower and great blue lobelia.
Don't grow perennial flowers under a low hanging, evergreen tree such as spruce. For limbed up, large deciduous trees, such as oaks, plant away from the trunk so the flowers have fewer large roots to compete with and more light to grow.
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When I talk about begonias, most gardeners think of the wax begonias, ubiquitous in garden centers in spring. These are great bedding plants for shady spots in our yard. They're good in the ground and in containers.
But there are many other begonias and can be great houseplants. These also flower, but some of the best houseplant types have attractive and interesting leaves.
Angel wings begonias get their common name from the shape of their leaves. This is a cane stemmed begonia, meaning that it can grow large outdoors in a warm, humid area. As a houseplant, the stems are easily pruned and the plant kept in bounds. The leaves can often have silver markings and the plant produces beautifully contrasting, colorful red, pink or white flowers.
Another indoor begonia that I love are the Rex begonias. These plants are grown mostly for the unique foliage. Some have red or pink variegated leaves with serrated edges. Others have green leaves that swirl on top of themselves giving the impression of a spiral of foliage. The plant stays a manageable 1 foot tall, can be pruned, but doesn't have impressive flowers.
Grow these indoor begonias in a room with bright, indirect light. Keep the soil moist, but well drained. Too much water can cause the stems to rot. They like 70°F temperatures during the day with cooler nights. In winter it's important they have humidity. Place a humidifier in the room or place the plants on a pebble tray filled to the top of the pebbles with water. Don't mist the leaves or they may rot.
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This time of year I start getting itchy to plant something. It's too early to repot houseplants and certainly too early to start seeds, like tomatoes, indoors. But there are some veggies that can be started this early.
Onions are a lot easier to grow from seed than you think. I started growing onions from seed indoors under grow lights a number of years ago because I noticed my local garden center only had a few varieties to buy. By growing your own transplants from seed you can explore odd-shaped Italian heirlooms, giant, sweet onions and onions good for pickling.
I love growing red onions. Newer varieties are sweeter than white or yellow onions and some, such as 'Redwing', last long in storage. We're still eating red onion bulbs I harvested last summer! If you're looking for a conversation piece in an onion, try 'Kelsae Giant'. This northern onion can grow to 15 pounds and still retain its sweetness.
Bunching onions, where you eat the tops and all, are a great way to get an early crop of onions in our area. They come with white or red coloring and you can even grow some in a sunny window for an early spring, indoor harvest. 'Pearl' is a small, white, pickling onion variety that produces quickly from a spring planting.
When purchasing onion seed look for long or day neutral varieties. These are best adapted to our climate. Start seeds indoors under grow lights 2- to 3-months before planting in the garden. Trim the tops, if they get leggy. Don't worry about overcrowding because onions transplant well even with small roots.
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Indoor succulent houseplants are very popular. You see them arranged in small pots as centerpieces or growing by themselves in shallow bowls. They're easy houseplants because most are slow growing, shallow rooted and don't require regular watering. But they do need a brightly lit room.
Probably the two most popular succulents are aloe and jade. Aloe vera is a well-known succulent for the skin soothing gel that's inside the leaves. We like having one around for those occasional burns I get while cooking. Aloe vera can grow fast into a large plant that will flop over. That's why we've moved onto other species of Aloe that stay smaller in the pot such as Aloe saponaria.
Jade is a popular houseplant and well-known succulent. The fleshy leaves and stems are good clues to not water this baby too much. Jade is a slow growing succulent but can live for decades. My sister-in-law had one that was over 30 years old and it looked like a tree! They're easy to propagate by taking a short cutting, letting it callous over for 5 days, dipping it in rooting hormone powder and growing it in a small pot.
Some easy to grow succulents are truly unique. My non-gardener brother had an African Milk Tree given to him. This euphorbia family plant grows straight up 6- to 8-feet tall with thorns. In Africa it's used as a living animal fence and hedge. But when you prune it, arms form along the trunk giving it a saguaro look. My brother barely cared for this plant in his dimly lit home and it still thrived.
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New Years is usually a time I reserve for leafing through the stacks of seed catalogs I have been receiving since November. I'm always looking for some unusual or improved vegetable varieties to grow. Being in the horticultural media, I often receive trial samples of plants from growers to try out. Last year we got a few winners that I really liked in the garden.
If you're a small space gardener and you're trying to pack in as many plants as you can on a deck, patio or balcony, try 'Bauer' lettuce. This All America Selections (AAS) winner is an oak leaf type lettuce that's packed with leaves and it only grows 8 inches wide. It's perfect for containers, hanging baskets and railing planters. If you like hot peppers, but never seem to have the room, try another AAS winner, 'Pot-a-Peno' jalapeno pepper. We trialed this one last year and every time I passed it, it was setting more fruit. It consistently gave us just enough fruit to spice up a pizza. Another trial variety was a unique basil. 'Everleaf Thai Towers' grows 2- to 3-feet tall, but only 1 foot wide. It's an attractive plant in our herb/flower garden and produces an abundance of leaves. Although smaller than traditional Genovese basil leaves, this Thai basil has that strong anise taste. Plus, it was slow to flower.
We like growing a variety of different colored eggplant. That's why I like 'Icicle' eggplant. These thin, long fruits are produced in abundance on sturdy plants. I love white eggplant for the mild textured skin and versatile uses in the kitchen.
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The holidays are still upon us and you might be thinking of a nice garden gift to give someone when you get together. Instead of the traditional cut flowers, consider a moth orchid.
Moth orchids or Phalenopsis, are one the easiest orchids to grow indoors. There are hundreds of varieties that grace garden centers, home centers, florists and grocery stores. Once in flower, as long as you do some basic care, the flower stalks can be in bloom for months, far surpassing the life of a cut flower.
You can help your flower gift recipient with a few tips on growing moth orchids. They like a bright room, out of direct sun with temperatures around 70 degrees F. They already are potted in an orchid mix, but if you repot them make sure you use a bark based mix. It's similar to how they grow in the wilds of Asia, where they're native, clinging to the bark on trees.
Keep the mix slightly moist in winter. Overwatering leads to flowers prematurely dropping. Add water only when the exposed roots turn silvery white. Use a pot with good water drainage holes. Moth orchids don't do well in standing water. Fertilize with a weak solution of liquid fertilizer once a month in winter and once a week in spring and summer.
After flowering, some gardeners give up on their moth orchids and compost it. But they're easy to keep blooming. Let the orchid rest until fall, then move it into a cool room that has a 15 degree difference in night and day temperatures. That will stimulate more flower stalks to grow.
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It happens every year. You invite friends and family over for the holidays and invariably, someone brings you a holiday plant as a gift. Now, you may know what to do with poinsettias, holiday cactus and amaryllis, but what about those unusual plants that are sometimes given? Let me walk you through their care.
Florists and garden centers are stocking more unusual holiday plants. Some are actually plants you can keep and plant outdoors in spring while others are more finicky. Florist azaleas and hydrangeas are forced into bloom this time of year and look stunning on a holiday table. But these varieties often are meant for warmer climates, so they will have to remain as houseplants or composted after the holiday. You can move them outdoors in summer and then back indoors in fall. They may even flower again in late winter.
You'll have better luck with hellebores, lemon cypress and rosemary. We all know hellebores and growers are now forcing some early blooming varieties for the holidays. Once finished flowering, simply grow it as a houseplant until it's warm enough to plant outside. The same is true of lemon cypress. This small evergreen has chartreuse colored foliage with a lemon scent when rubbed. It's hardy to zone 7, so will survive in warmer parts of the state, growing 10 feet tall and a few feet wide. Rosemary is a popular potted plant. Keep yours in a sunny window, adding water only as needed. Place it where air circulates well, but is out of cold drafts. Harvest shoots for cooking. Once warm outdoors, move it to a sunny, location.
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Hopefully you've been able to purchase a live holiday tree this year. Many know of national Christmas tree shortages due to supply chain issues. But there are also local growers who still have trees, so check around. You can also use a balled and burlap tree that's planted after the holiday.
Once you have your live holiday tree home, caring for it makes a difference. The first step is to recut the base of the tree and place it in warm water in a garage or shed. This will help hydrate the needles. Then move it indoors and keep the water basin filled. The tree will suck up lots of water the first few days so check the level daily. Cover the water with plastic so pets don't drink from it.
If you're decorating a rooted tree that will be planted later, dig the hole now before the ground freezes and keep the plant in a cool garage or shed until one week before the holiday. Then move it indoors into a large basin and keep the ball moist. A cool room is best so the tree doesn't come out of dormancy with the warm indoor temperatures. My brother used to place his tree in an unheated sunroom, where it stayed cool, but you could see the tree through glass doors. As soon as the holiday is over, move the tree back into a cool garage or shed for a week, then plant outdoors. Consider protecting the foliage by driving four stakes around the tree and wrapping burlap around the stakes to block the cold winds.
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We're right in the thick decorating and gift wrapping for the holidays. Many love to grow holiday plants to brighten the season. The most common are amaryllis, poinsettia and Christmas cactus. But if you're looking for a different holiday plant to add color and cheer to your holiday table, I have a few ideas.
Kalanchoe is a houseplant that packs a big flower punch with clusters of bright yellow, orange, white or red flowers. Like poinsettias, professional growers force this plant into bloom for the holidays by exposing it to dark conditions a few months ago. We should enjoy their work. Kalanchoe has succulent leaves and usually the plants are small, so they make a great table centerpiece paired with other succulents such as echeveria and sedum. Use a little moss and a few sprigs of dried flowers for an added touch. You can continue to grow kalanchoe after the holidays by placing it in a sunny window and keeping it away from cold drafts. It should continue flowering into summer.
Cyclamen is a common houseplant and outdoor plant depending on the species. This is another plant you'll see adorning garden centers around the holidays. The bright white, red or pink flowers rise above beautiful green and silver leaves making this another good choice for a table. I can almost see a few tiny gnomes hiding under the foliage. As a houseplant it grows best in humid and bright light conditions. Water it infrequently, but thoroughly. Cut back the whole plant if it looks ratty or has spider mites. It will regrow from tiny tubers in the soil.
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The sudden temperature dip has got us scrambling to finish up our winter plant protection projects. We got lulled into a false sense of eternal fall by warm weather in early November, but now we've got to get going.
Our young trees are the first plants to protect. We add tree wrap around the trunks to keep rabbits, mice and voles from munching on the tender bark. This also prevents the bark from splitting due to sun scald. That's when the winter sun heats up the bark on the south side of the trunk on a cold day and when the sun sets the temperatures plummet causing the bark to split and crack. You can also paint the trunk with a diluted, white latex paint to reduce this heating effect. Of course, for any trees and shrubs that deer like, we erect plastic or metal cages around them.
For tender roses, such as hybrid teas, we bury the base of the plant with a 1-foot deep pile of wood chips. In spring we simply prune out dead growth and the new growth arises from the protected crown of the plant. You can also use rose cones to protect your rose babies.
Also, if you have broadleaf evergreens, such as rhododendron, pieris and mountain laurel, in a windy, exposed area, consider driving 4 stakes around the shrubs and wrapping burlap around the stakes. This will cut the biting cold winds that cause the evergreen leaves to dry out and die in winter. Try not to allow the burlap to touch the leaves or it will wick moisture away from the plant.
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It's like clockwork in our house. Once the days shorten and get cooler our holiday cactus start blooming. Depending on the plant, we have cactus blooming until spring. That's because holiday cactus aren't just one type of plant. There are Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus and Easter cactus, all blooming at different times. When shopping you can tell them apart. Besides the flowering times, the Thanksgiving cactus has jagged, pointy leaves or modified stems. Christmas cactus has more rounded leaves and Easter cactus has bristles emerging from their leaves.
Unlike desert cactus, these epiphytes grow in humid jungles and like water. But water only once the leaves start to wilt and shrivel and let them dry out between waterings. To stimulate flowering, in fall place your holiday cactus in a cool 50 to 60 degree, bright room for 1 to 2 months. A protected porch or spare bedroom is ideal. Also, place them where they won't get any artificial light at night. Flower initiation is stimulated by 12 hours of continuous darkness.
Watch for insects on your holiday cactus as well. Fungus gnats enjoy the organic material in your potting mix. A simple solution is to repot the cactus after flowering with fresh soil. Clean the pot with a 10% bleach solution. Aphids will attack new growth but can be remedied with sprays of insecticidal soap. Mealy bugs look like puffs of cotton but can cause damage to your plant. I dab individual mealy bugs with rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab to kill them.
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Thanksgiving Day is almost upon us. It will be good to gather safely with friends and family again to celebrate. To make the meal more festive consider decorating your table with plants. You can use a variety of living plants and cuttings to make a centerpiece or smaller place settings to accentuate the holiday. Here's some ideas.
For live plants, select a houseplant that dazzles with color. Some good choices include croton, moth orchid, Chinese evergreen and flamingo flower. These houseplants burst with the colors of the season and can be used as permanent houseplants in your home. Dress up the centerpiece with a glazed or unusual pot or simply by wrapping an attractive piece of fabric around the pot and drainage tray.
You can also create a stunning flower arrangement to highlight the table. Use seasonal flowers from your garden and landscape such as ornamental grasses, dried hydrangeas, juniper berries and mountain laurel cuttings to create a fall centerpiece. Consider mixing in edibles such as small squash, pumpkins and kale leaves. Seed pods offer fun accents. Look for any remaining milkweed pods, lunaria or money plant pods and holly berries.
For smaller settings, try little pots of succulents such as echeveria, semperviren, and sedum. These come with colorful leaves and make great houseplants after the holiday. Small pots of Rex begonias, mini roses and kalanchoe also brightens up the holiday table.
So, enjoy Thanksgiving, being grateful for the people and plants in our lives.
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As the colder weather settles in, many gardeners wonder what to do with annual plants that are still alive. One of the tougher annuals is the geranium.
Geraniums or Pelargoniums are mostly grown as potted plants because of their penchant for flowering non-stop all summer and fall. If you have a variety you particularly love you can easily overwinter it indoors. Here's how.
The first way is simple. Bring the potted geranium indoors to a sunny, South facing window and grow it there all winter. Before you bring it in, cut back the foliage to 1/3rd and spray with insecticidal soap and Neem oil. This will kill any hitch hiking insects. Quarantine the plant for a few weeks indoors to check for any insects you missed.
Of course, the plant has to be small enough to fit in the window. If not, consider taking 4- to 6-inch long cuttings. Remove all but the top leaves, dip the cut end in rooting hormone powder and stick the cutting in a pot filled with moistened potting soil. In a few weeks they will root and last all winter indoors.
If you don't have room in your house for plants in a window, you can overwinter geraniums in the basement. Cut back the tops and cover the plant with a paper bag, and place in a cool, dark basement. Or remove the plant from its pot, remove all the soil and place the bare rooted geranium upside down in a paper bag. Check monthly and mist if it's drying out. It will stay dormant until spring, then start growing.
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We all know the famous holiday song, “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” It harkens back to a time when chestnuts grew in abundance in our forests from Georgia to Maine. Unfortunately, the chestnut blight wiped out most of the trees about 100 years ago, but we still can grow versions of the American chestnut in our yards.
The American Chestnut Foundation has been working to develop blight resistant hybrids. They've been crossing American chestnuts with the more blight resistant Chinese chestnuts with good success. In fact, some of these hybrids, such as 'Dunstan', are available for sale. There's even been genetic engineering work done on American chestnut trees to introduce a gene to thwart the blight. But those trees haven't been approved for sale yet.
Hybrid chestnut trees grow into statuesque 30- to 50-foot tall specimens in the landscape. They start producing nuts in about 5 years and produce best with two different varieties. While the tree nuts are great for roasting on your open fire and making breads and other baked goods, these trees are fantastic wildlife plants. They supply food, shelter and homes for a whole host of insects, birds and mammals.
Plant chestnut trees on well-drained, moist soil in full sun. Plant trees 25 feet apart and protect the young trees from mice and rabbits chewing the bark and deer nibbling the tops. The trees are moderately fast growers. Under ideal conditions they may take up to 15 years to fully mature. So, think of chestnuts as an investment in your kids or grandkids future, while making your yard a more environmentally-friendly place.
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More and more researchers are finding our soil is a dynamic, diverse place loaded with microbes. It's estimated one teaspoon of healthy soil can hold more than a billion microorganisms. That's amazing! These bacteria, fungi, protozoa and other creatures are living and thriving for themselves, and working to help our plants grow.
Probably most common of these soil microbes is mycorrhizae fungus. This fungus forms a symbiotic relationship with plant roots helping the flow of water and nutrients to the plant. The plants exude sugars and other substances that help the soil biome stay healthy and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere into the soil, reducing the impact of global warming.
We mostly don't see these microbes, but mycorrhizae forms extensive tiny roots or hyphae throughout the ground connecting plants to each other. You may see this hyphae if you dig a little in a healthy forest soil. Not only does hyphae share water and nutrients between plants it helps plants communicate with each other concerning pest attacks and young plants in need. This all creates a healthy ecosystem where plants and creatures thrive.
We can use this same soil magic in our gardens by following a few steps. First, avoid tilling the soil. Tilling destroys many microbes and the soil will be slow to recover. Feed your soil with bioactive compost. This means compost that's loaded with microbes to help your plants grow. While you'll see mycorrhizae as an additive in soil mix bags, it's unclear if this really helps our plants. But given the choice, why not try using it. It certainly won't hurt the plants.
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Halloween is coming up fast and one of the traditions around this holiday is pumpkin carving. It's fun to take the kids or grandkids out to a local pumpkin patch, select a few prized fruits and bring them home for carving. You certainly can decorate the pumpkins in other ways such as painting or “dressing them up”. But carving is the way to go for many families and I have some tips for making your carved creation last longer into fall.
When selecting a pumpkin from a field or farm stand, look for one with the stem still attached and no obvious nicks or cuts. Make sure at least one side is smooth and even for good carving. Wipe the skin of the pumpkin with a 10 percent bleach solution to kill any fungus and bacteria.
The usual way to carve a pumpkin is to cut a hole in the top to clean out the insides. Instead, I suggest you cut a hole in the back of the pumpkin. This will help maintain the structure of the fruit so it's less likely to collapse before the big night. Remove the guts and save the seeds for roasting. Then carve your masterpiece making the scariest face possible. Because you don't have a hole in the top for the smoke to rise through, use battery powered tea lights to illuminate the face.
The final trick is to take Vaseline or beeswax and rub it on all the cut surfaces. This will help slow the desiccation of the fruit and allow it to last longer into fall.
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October is a great time to plant shrubs, trees and vines. The air and soil temperatures are still warm so plant roots continue to grow and there's great sales at many local garden centers. One of my favorite vines is the climbing hydrangea.
If you have a partly shaded North or East side of a house, garage or barn, consider growing a climbing hydrangea. Hydrangea petiolaris will flower in part shade and provide year round interest. The glossy green leaves make a great visual screen. In early summer, white, lacy, umbels of flowers emerge that are showy, good for drying and great for bees. In fall, the leaves turn a bright yellow color and in winter the cinnamon colored bark contrasts beautifully with the winter's snow.
Climbing hydrangea grows slowly and needs support. Plant it now in well-drained, moist, fertile soil. After 3 years it will really start growing and flowering. Climbing hydrangea can grow to 50 feet tall and survive for decades. It's also a heavy vine that needs support. Even though it has clinging roots on the stems that attach to any surface, you'll want to erect a strong trellis instead of letting it climb up your siding. Over time the foliage and clinging roots can cause siding to rot and require you to remove the vine to fix it. You can also grow climbing hydrangea up an old, large stump or dead tree letting to sprawl.
There are just a few varieties of climbing hydrangea. 'Firefly' has a variegated yellow and green leaf making it even more interesting in summer.
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We don't grow corn. After watching our neighbor spend hours erecting barriers in his garden to unsuccessfully keep the raccoons out of his sweet corn patch, I'd rather let the local farmers do the hard work. But this doesn't mean I don't grow any corn. We do grow popcorn.
I've found over the years that raccoons aren't interested in popcorn. It's certainly not as sweet as sweet corn, so maybe that's why they stay away. Whatever the reason, we grow a nice crop each year experimenting with different colors and varieties. We're harvesting popcorn right now. One of the nice traits of popcorn is that you can leave it on the stalk into fall when you have the time to harvest. There's no rush. Once the corn husks and plants begin to brown, harvest anytime.
I like the traditional yellow popcorn varieties such as 'Robust', but also grow 'Strawberry' popcorn and 'Dakota' black popcorn. Strawberry and black popcorn have colored kernels that pop to a pure white color with little flecks of the kernel color. The flavor is subtly different as well and it sure beats store bought popcorn. Once dry, we store it in glass jars in a dark pantry and it lasts for months. We even give away ears of popcorn to family and friends stuffing ears into their Christmas stockings. It's easy and fun to rub off the kernels from the cob and pop up a batch.
Popcorn is also prolific. A small 5- by 8- foot patch is plenty for our own eating and sharing. So give popcorn a try next spring.
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October is garlic planting time, but there are other onion family plants that can be sown in fall as well. Come the mid- to- end of October consider planting shallots and walking onions.
You probably have heard of shallots and perhaps used them in French recipes. The French love shallots for their sweet, mild, onion flavor. Shallots come in a few different types. The red skinned and pink fleshed, torpedo-shaped shallot is called the French shallot. The Dutch shallot features a round, small, onion shape with tan-colored skin and white flesh. Dutch shallots store a long time indoors. These two types of shallots are probably the most popular. The French Gray shallot isn't as pretty to look at as the other types, but has a stronger flavor and is a favorite in many recipes. Plant shallots the same way and time as you would plant garlic. You'll have an early crop to harvest in spring. I always plant again in spring for a fall crop.
Walking or Egyptian onions are an oddity. This perennial onion sends up tender shoots in spring. I love them as green onions because they emerge so early. By summer the shoots form top sets of bulbs that get so heavy they bend the stem to the ground. Wherever the top set onion lands, it roots. Hence the name, walking onion. The onion bulbs can be eaten, too, but they are pretty small. Although it's cool to have a perennial onion, watch where you plant it. It can spread and take over. I seem to be constantly pulling out errant plants in our garden.
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If this summer has taught me anything about current weather trends for gardening, I should expect more extreme, summer weather events in the future. It seems we bounced from hot and dry weather to humid conditions with torrential rains all summer long.
One way to help mitigate the problem of torrential rains is to build a rain garden. Rain gardens are sunken areas in your lawn, planted with perennials and shrubs that can take occasional flooding.
The concept is simple. Find, or construct, a low spot in your lawn where water can naturally drain during summer rain storms. You can also direct the water there with rain spouts or furrows in the lawn. By concentrating excess water in a rain garden and letting it naturally filter into the soil without running off, you'll avoid overwhelming municipal sewage systems. Also, you're keeping this precious water resource in your yard where it can help trees, shrubs and plants grow.
It's best to select native plants that can tolerate some flooding, and are hardy and suited to your sun conditions. Some good examples of natives for Connecticut include swamp milkweed, astilbe, summer sweet, silky dogwood, Joe Pye weed, winterberry holly, red chokeberry, aster and rudbeckia. There are so many plants options that you can still create a beautiful rain garden in your yard that has color from spring until fall. There are lots of resources available on-line, such as the University of Connecticut's Rain Garden Design Guide and App, to help you construct a rain garden. And Fall is a great time to tackle this project.
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It's apple season and we've all heard the story of Johnny Appleseed. According to folklore, he wandered the Midwest in the early 1800's planting apple seeds. He was eccentric, often walking barefoot and wearing a burlap sack.
While the folklore is mostly true, I thought I'd elaborate. Johnny Appleseed was born John Chapman in Massachusetts. He wasn't just an errant, wandering apple seed planter. He grew up growing apples and planting the seeds had as much to do about his love for apples, as acquiring land.
Back in the 1800's, frontier law allowed settlers to claim to any track of land that had signs of permanent development. This included apple orchards. So, Johnny would wander in unsettled regions, create an apple tree nursery on the land and sell mature trees to settlers who moved in.
The apples he planted weren't for fresh eating, but for making hard cider. That was the drink of choice in the 1800's. Unfortunately, many of those original trees were cut down during prohibition or died out because the apples were small, gnarly and not tasty. However you can still buy a descendent of Johnny's trees at specialty nurseries.
Johnny Appleseed was a character. He was a follower of the Swedenbourg religion and as a vegetarian, never wanted to harm plants or animals. So he never used grafting to make new trees. Since he planted so many seeds, he personally created a huge, genetic diversity of apple varieties. Some were the forebears of modern varieties such as 'Delicious'.
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Every September I break out the hot water bath pot and start canning tomatoes. This is something I remember my mom doing every year and it always seemed she'd choose the hottest, most humid days to can her tomatoes. I still can in honor of Angela, but also because I love the taste of canned tomatoes in winter sauces and soups. I've changed mom's recipe to make it a little easier. I can tomatoes sliced in quarters with the skin on. I find I can break down the tomato skins quickly in a blender just before using them in winter. I can a mix of pints and quarts for various recipes. I still drop a large basil leaf in the jar and really pack the tomatoes into the jar just like mom. The hot water bath method is simple. Check websites, such as the University of Connecticut Extension Service, for up-to-date canning information.
Another way to preserve the harvest is drying. We mostly dry herbs, although with a dehydrator you can also dry many vegetables including tomatoes. Collect herb stems and hang them upside down in an airy, shaded room. They'll dry well and can be stored in glass jars for 6 months.
We also freeze much of our bounty. I like making a fruit shake almost every morning year round. So, we freeze lots of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, currants and honey berries for my shakes. But we also freeze tomatoes, sweet corn and leeks for winter use.
So, consider preserving some of your harvest so you cook with home-grown produce in January.
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Asian pears have become popular for their pear-like flavor with an apple-like texture. This pear was developed in China, but spread to Japan and Korea and now is grown around the world. We love the crispness of the fruit and the delicious, sweet, pear flavor.
We grow a few different varieties of Asian pears. 'Twentieth Century' has a yellow skin, soft flesh and mild flavor. We really like the brown-skinned varieties, such as 'Shinsui'. This is an early maturing brown, skinned variety that is very productive. If fire blight disease is a problem on your pear and apple trees try resistant varieties such as 'Shinko'.
Grow Asian pears as you would European pear varieties. They like full sun on well-drained, loamy soil. I found ours grow okay in clay soil as long as the soil doesn't stay too wet in spring and we plant in raised beds to promote better water drainage.
The trees can grow to 30 feet tall in a pyramidal shape, but ours are staying a more manageable 15 feet. Asian pears need two different varieties for cross pollination, but you can also get pollination from European or ornamental pear trees.
Fire blight may be an issue on some varieties and there's always aphids and psyllids that can cause problems on the leaves. These insects are controlled by lady bugs and insecticidal soap sprays. My biggest problems are squirrels and birds eating the ripening fruits. Baffles around the tree trunks helps deter squirrels, while netting keeps birds away. Usually we get so many pears that we don't mind sharing some with the wildlife.
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I have a great fall perennial for you. It produces an abundance of white or pink, daisy-like flowers in later summer and autumn, it's deer resistant, spreads by seed or rhizomes so fills in an area quickly, tolerates wet soils and is a fantastic pollinator plant. Interested? It's Boltonia.
To most gardeners, Boltonia looks like an aster. In fact, its common name is false aster. Boltonia grows 3- to 5-feet tall and wide, and flowers more profusely than asters. White varieties, such as 'Snowbank', literally look like snow has fallen on the plant because of the hundreds of flowers when in bloom. Pink flowering varieties, such as ' Pink Beauty', offer the same flower show, but in a different color.
Like aster, Boltonia is tough, hardy and versatile. It grows well in part to full sun, is drought tolerant, but also thrives in wet areas in your yard. It grows in most types of soils including clay, spreads well as a wildflower, is a great pollinator plant and is deer resistant.
Because Boltonia can spread, plant it where it will have room to roam. Mix Boltonia with asters, Helenium, Joe Pye weed, turtlehead, and other late summer bloomers in your garden or wildflower area. If planted in the shade, it may get leggy. Support the plants with stakes or top the young plant when it's 1-foot tall to promote bushier growth.
Divide Boltonia every few years to keep it in bounds in the garden and make new plants to give away. Other than that, it's a carefree, colorful addition to your fall flower bouquet.
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I first ate kerala or bitter melon, when I went to India in the early 1990's. I remember eating bitter tasting vegetables when I was in the Peace Corps in Thailand, so I wasn't too surprised by the flavor. What I really liked was how local villagers cooked it. Roasted, stuffed, steamed or sautéed it added a depth of flavor that I love.
I've grown kerala in our garden for years. This year I've grown it in our unheated greenhouse and it has taken off! Instead of waiting for fall to harvest, I've been munching on kerala for weeks already and there are few pests.
Kerala is a member of the cucumber family. It has warty or smooth skinned fruits. It's also a strong, vining plant, so grow it on a fence or trellis in full sun on well-drained, fertile soil. Pinch long vines to hastening fruit production and keep the plant in bounds.
Even if you aren't a fan of the large, cucumber-sized fruits, the vines are attractive with lobed leaves and pretty yellow flowers. Fruits grow quickly in the heat. I try to keep on top of the harvest by picking fruit on the young side.
No one else in our household likes the bitter flavor, so it's a special treat that I grow for myself. My usual way of eating them is sautéing kerala in a pan with sweet onions, sweet peppers and maybe garlic. I love the combination of slightly bitter and sweet flavors. The key to controlling the bitterness is to cut unpeeled fruits in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
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It happens every spring. I look where the hardy hibiscus is supposed to be growing and I see nothing. The bulbs are blooming, the spring perennials are flowering, but no signs of our hibiscus. Instead of panicking, I've learned to be patient. I know hardy hibiscus takes its time in spring.
While hardy hibiscus is late to emerge, it makes up for lost time in July and August. With the hot, humid weather, the plant explodes into growth reaching 3- to 5-feet tall and they start flowering. I'm not talking about dainty black eyed Susan type flowers, I'm talking 8-to 10-inch diameter, round discs of color. The flower show goes on for weeks and I guarantee you that visitors to your garden will be amazed.
Hardy hibiscus is related to the tropical hibiscus shrub you may have seen in warmer climates such as Florida and Texas. But, it's hardy to zone 5. It grows into a large perennial, flowers in colors ranging from white to deep burgundy and some varieties such as 'Kopper King' have burgundy colored foliage, too. The 'Luna' series has large flowers in white, red or pink depending on the selection. It's a great late summer flower to add pop to your flower garden.
Hardy hibiscus grows best on well-drained, moist soil. It likes moisture, so keep it well watered if you have a summer drought. It flowers best in full sun. Come fall the plant dies back to the ground with a frost. It's a low maintenance perennial only requiring compost in spring for fertilizer. Insects, diseases and animals seem to leave it alone.
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When I suggest growing mint to a gardener, they sometimes go running. Mint has a bad reputation of spreading, sprawling and generally trying to take over the world. But not all mints are created equal when it comes to plant growth. Certainly, peppermint, lemon mint, spearmint and their off shoots, such as chocolate mint (it smells like chocolate but doesn't smell like it), will spread quickly and readily in a garden. But more unusual mints such as ginger mint, banana mint and pineapple aren't as aggressive.
Another way to grow mint is as a ground cover. We have fruit trees in our lawn with mulch rings around them. But instead of spreading mulch around the trees, we plant mint. The mint grows well creating a nice ground cover that we can use in drinks and cooking. Even if it gets into the lawn, I don't care. I like the mint fragrance when I mow over it. Mint also flowers and is a favorite of beneficial insects and pollinating bees and butterflies.
In the garden the best way to grow an aggressive peppermint or spearmint is by leaving it in the container and burying the pot in the soil. The pot acts as a natural barrier. Of course, over time the mint will spread out of the pot, but it's easier to keep tame.
Mint is also a good container plant on your deck or patio. In fall, simply cut it back and bring it indoors for winter. Placed in a sunny window, it'll resprout and give you fresh mint fragrance and taste all winter long.
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They're back!!! Every year at this time I start searching for the tomato hornworm. It's not hard to see the damage. These caterpillars of the hawk moth start out small on the tops of tomato plants. As they eat, they grow and turn into 4 to 6-inch long monsters! Well, maybe they aren't that scary, but they can cause lots of damage on leaves and fruits.
Once you start seeing some munching of the leaves, start looking for the caterpillars. I look for the dark green, droppings as a sign of their arrival. When you find the droppings on lower leaves, look up. Chances are there's a tomato hornworm right there. Although they're big, their colors camouflage them perfectly among the tomato leaves. Every morning we go hornworm hunting dropping them into a pail of soapy water. You can also feed them to chickens.
If you still can't seem to find the hornworms doing the damage, try going out at night with a black light. The tomato hornworm caterpillars will glow and become very evident.
For big patches of tomatoes you might have to resort to Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt spray. This bacteria kills larvae in the moth/caterpillar families including hornworms. Coat both sides of the leaves with spray and in a few days they'll start dying. Be careful not to spray other plants as Bt will kill all caterpillars, even good ones. If you find tomato hornworms with white protrusions on their back, leave them. That's the cocoon or pupa stage of a braconid wasp that is parasitizing your hornworm. These a good guys in your garden.
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Our zucchini and summer squash are cranking out fruits everyday now. The winter squash and melons are vining and life is good in the vegetable garden. But, this false sense of security won't last long. Unless you're diligent, squash pests, such as squash borers and bugs, will attack without any advanced notice.
You'll know you have squash vine borers by the the vine suddenly wilting mid day, even if the soil is moist. Check at the crown of the squash plant. You'll probably see tunneling and frass right near the soil line. That's from the squash vine borer larvae that tunnels into the stem causing it to wilt and eventually die. To control this caterpillar, with a sharp knife slit along the stem until you find the larvae and remove it. Bury the slit stem in soil and hopefully it will reroot. To prevent these attacks in the future, grow butternut squash, which vine borers don't like, or cover the squash plants with a row cover to prevent the adult fly from laying eggs. Remove the cover when flowering for pollination.
Squash bugs start as small grey insects running around the leaves. They quickly can attack, leaves, flowers and fruits if left unchecked. Start by checking the undersides of melon, zucchini and winter squash leaves looking for copper colored eggs laid in groups between the leaf veins. Squish or cut they out and destroy them. If you check every few days you'll keep the population under control. If not, you can try organic sprays, but squash bugs will be hard to stop once their numbers swell.
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It's poppy season. Poppies are bright, cheery flowers that grace gardens from spring until fall. While there are some early blooming poppies, such as the red Flanders poppy and the Oriental poppy, it's the seed grown, summer poppies that I love best. These include the California poppies and bread seed poppies.
Seed grown poppies germinate in spring and flower starting in early summer. California poppies, in particular, will set more seed and flower a second and maybe third time during the growing season. While California poppies are known for their golden colored flowers, there are variations that feature white, pink and red flowers. I like the natural crosses that occur in our garden with many color variations.
Speaking of variations, nothing beats the bread seed poppy. While California poppies are low growing with silver foliage, bread seed poppies stand 2- to 3- feet tall with beautiful flower buds, blooms and seed pods. Like California poppies, the plants self sow readily so once you start them, you'll have them poppies forever. We have single and double flowered poppies in colors such as light pink, crimson and lavender. Some look like pom-poms they are so fluffy. The individual flowers don't last long, especially with rainy and windy weather, but the flower buds keep coming for weeks. Plus, once the flowers pass, the seed pods are ornamental too, making get cut flowers. Collect seed of either of these poppies in summer and sow them where you like in spring. Thin seedlings and self sown poppies to 6 inches apart for best flowering and enjoy the flower show.
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