All the Dirt on Gardening

On Sale, For Sale, Sale, Sale

2009-11-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

In addition to the fabulous plant sales available from mailorder sources in late November - Brent and Becky's, Touch of Nature, Colorblends, White Flower Farm, Wayside Gardens, Easy to Grow, Gardensoyvey, Sooner Plant Farm, Annie's, Bluestone Perennials and others, there are local plant sales in our area. Does your area have anything similar?

Pete Carson at Carson Borovetz Nursery in Muskogee OK has developed an enviable expertise at growing poinsettias and he re-opens his nursery to sell them during the holidays.

Connors State College Horticulture Dept. students raise Poinsettias as a fund raiser.

2009 Poinsettia Sale Connors State College Greenhouse, Warner Campus
December 1,4, 8, 11, from 10:00 to 4.
$8.00 each Colors: Prestige Traditional Red, Shimmer Surprise, and Marble Star
For more information or to place orders or to make arrangements for a plant pick up time call Debby Golden at the Agriculture Office 918.463.6265

It's time to order your seed potatoes for the Feb 14 planting! I used Ronninger's this year and found their customer service to be top notch.

Get ordering - many of the bulbs I shopped for yesterday were already sold out. And northern companies have suspended shipping until spring.

New Non-Technology Idea for Saving the Planet

2009-11-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

The Dirt is an online publication of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

The ideas in the blog entry below are not without controvery, but they are different from most. You can click on the link above to read the entire column. Here are some excerpts -

New Geoengineering Idea: Turning Deserts into Forests
11/20/2009 by asladirt

"Leonard Ornstein, a cell biologist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and Igor Aleinov and David Rind, two climate modellers at NASA, argue that foresting the Australian outback and Saharan Desert would solve climate change.

While numerous geoengineering schemes have been proposed to mitigate the adverse effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) build-up, many of the more ambitious ideas, including ocean-based aerosol sprayers, space mirrors, C02 air scrubbers, or artificial C02-capturing trees, have been examined and labeled cost-prohibitive or dangerous (see earlier post).

Others ideas will work, are much cheaper on a small-scale, but require significant investment and regulatory changes to scale up worldwide (see Steven Chu’s call for reflective cool roofs, and more on the idea of creating reflective crops). These researchers, however, argue that massive forestation in equatorial deserts provides the best, near-term route to complete control of greenhouse gas induced global warming, and would be cost-effective in comparison with carbon capture and storage (CCS) plans now receiving massive investment (see earlier post).

The scientists outlined their plan in a recent article in the Journal of Climatic Change. According to The Guardian (UK), the plan would involve planting fields of fast growing trees such as eucalyptus would cover the deserts of the Sahara and Australian outback, watered by seawater treated by a string of coastal desalination plants and channelled through a vast irrigation network. The new blanket of tree cover would bring its own weather system and rainfall, while soaking up carbon dioxide from the world’s atmosphere. The team's calculations suggest the forested deserts could draw down around 8bn tonnes of carbon a year, about the same as emitted from fossil fuels and deforestation today."

What do you think of this idea? Does it make sense to you? Would you support tax dollars being spent on such a hugs reforestation project?

Route 66 Endangered by Progress Again

2009-11-20T16:03:00.000-08:00

The Cultural Landscape Foundation alerted readers to yet another threat to Route 66. You can follow the link to the entire article but here are some excerpts - If this part of the natural world is something you care passionately about, there is contact information at the end for your emails and letters.

Route 66 Threatened by Proposed Biodiesel Facility
By Debra Martin
Published November 11, 2009

Running more than 2,000 miles, between Chicago and Los Angeles, historic Route 66 attracts tourists and car enthusiasts from all over the world.

....Today, in a rush to make Mohave County, Arizona the renewable energy capital of the United States, the local government has put several green economy projects on the fast track, including the construction of a biodiesel facility on a pristine stretch of historic Route 66.

....Called The Mother Road in John Steinbeck's book The Grapes of Wrath, Route 66 became a lifeline to a perceived better life.

Today, Route 66 organizations operate in several states and followers of Route 66 Americana exist throughout the world. The road continues to offer travelers a slower trip than the modern highway and many of the views and vistas that made it famous.

Last month, the Mohave County Commissioners voted in favor of moving ahead with the project, despite overwhelming opposition from residents and national organizations, including 801 petition signatures representing the majority of stakeholder residents, dozens of letters, and 68 speeches given by residents who will be most affected by the project.

With Route 66’s status as an international destination and with its listing in the National Register of Historic Places, the citizens of Valle Vista and surrounding communities northeast of Kingman, Arizona, are trying to find a way to save Route 66 from construction by Sun West Biofuels, LLC.

The precedence that construction of a manufacturing plant would establish for additional heavy manufacturing along the highway is worrisome to residents. The 20-mile stretch of Route 66 that serves as the sole transportation route for these affected communities is very scenic, yet has not been designated as a “scenic route” in the most recent General Plan for Mohave County.

Members of the community have actively participated in letter writing and petition campaigns with the hope of influencing their Commissioners and Board of Supervisors, and are currently raising funds for legal counsel. Individuals are encouraged to write letters of opposition to the biodiesel plant location on historic Route 66 to the following officials:
Mohave County Board of Supervisors
Supervisor Gary Watson, District 1
700 W. Beale Street
Kingman, AZ 86401
gary.watson@co.mohave.az.us

Mohave County Board of Supervisors
Supervisor Tom Stockwell, District 2
1130 Hancock Road
Bullhead City, AZ 86442
tom.sockwell@co.mohave.az.us

Mohave County Board of Supervisors
Supervisor Buster D. Johnson, District 3
2001 College Drive, Suite 90
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
buster.johnson@co.mohave.az.us

Debra Martin is an adult degree student at Prescott College in the field of Sustainable Community Design. She resides outside of Kingman, Arizona, off of Route 66.

Sansevieria - A Plant for Every Location

2009-11-19T05:12:00.000-08:00

Sansevieria is a wonderfully tolerant plant. You see them in hospitals, hotels, shopping malls, banks and homes.

Sansevieria trifasciata, known as Mother-In-Law Tongue or snake plant may be the most common one. It is recommended as an indoor air purifier, since it converts carbon dioxide to oxygen at night.

Sansevierias will put up with most conditions including low light, lack of water and lack of repotting. They will not survive soggy soil or temperatures much below 65-F.

And, they propagate easily. One leaf can be cut horizontally into 3-inch pieces and stuck into damp sand where they will grow into plants. Just notice which way the leaf was growing and put its edge right side up into the rooting mix.

Sanseveria or Sanseviera was named for Raimondo de Sangro, the prince of San Severo, Italy who lived 1710 to 1771. In its native Africa, Sansevieria trifasciata is said to be a favorite gourmet food of elephants. The medicinal uses include ulcers, parasites, earaches and toothaches (www.killerplants.com/plant-of-the-week/20051226.asp).

The International Sansevieria Society (www.sansevieria-international.org) website says there are 130 to 140 species and varieties, with 60 of those being Sansevieria trifasciata. Several other popular plants are Sansevieria hyacinthoides with the common name bowstring hemp. The plant family they belong to is agave (Agavaceae).

The species are divided into three categories: normal full size, medium size with wide leaves (Futura type) and dwarf bird’s-nest size (Hahnii type).

Tips for success with Sansevierias

- Provide well-drained soil. Pumice, lava or sand could be added to peat based potting soil. Bagged orchid soil also works well.
- Top the soil with small gravel or lava rock chips
- In the summer, water well and let the pot drain
- In the winter allow them to stay dry
- Minimum temperature is 10C or 50F
- Good light will produce a better looking plant. Dappled sunlight will keep the color pretty
- Plants spread by underground rhizomes or roots that will break a pot if left untended or planted in a shallow pot.

Half of the Snake Plants grown in Florida in 1930 were shipped to Europe. Now they are grown in Central America and the Caribbean Islands where production costs are lower.

The Cactus Mall (www.cactus-mall.com) provides links to several growers.
Take a look at some of the varieties at Stokes Tropicals (http://tiny.cc/ScE8k) -

Bantels Sensation - discovered by Gustav Bantel of St. Louis, MO and patented in 1948. Lime-green leaves marked with alternating white and dark green stripes.

Black Gold Extreme - Black-green tall, thin leaves with gold borders.

Futura – New variety with shorter, broader leaves, rosettes and, narrow yellow outer margin.

Twisted Sister has the characteristic yellow outer margin and striped leaves but instead of standing tall it twists.

The Hahnii varieties are called Bird’s Nest Sansievieria. Silver birdnest sansevieria has silver-green leaves and dark green margins. Sylvan Hahn patented silver Hahnii in 1953. Its growth habit is nearly identical to that of Hahnii’s vase-shaped rosette of leaves.

Black Star has the dark leaf and gold rim of Black Gold but compact growth.

Sansievieria cylindrica or African Spear, has a tall, stiff cylinder shaped leaves that look like spears and have sharp points that some gardeners snip off. The rosettes can grow up to 4 feet long by three-fourths of an inch wide.

African Spear comes from Angola, in Western Africa. An artist in Arkansas gave me a pup of her plant when I admired it. The mother plant was thriving at the back of the store, sitting on a dark staircase, growing in an old coffee pot filled with caked, dry dirt from the back yard.

Anyone can grow Sansievieria.

Oklahoma State University Extension in Muskogee is taking 25 names for a Fall 2010 Master Gardener series. Call 918-686-7200 to be added to the list.

Late November for Gardeners

2009-11-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

Zone 7 has officially hit winter - it was 40-F at 7:30 tonight.

The tropical plants are tucked away, most of the seeds and cuttings have been gathered. Of course there are still some flowers and vegetables hanging on and the garlic is coming up.

I got caught up in enthusiasm and ordered 5 varieties of fingerling potatoes from Ronniger Potato Farm. For years, I missed the window to order and get them here in time for our Feb 14 planting. But this year for some reason I hit the mark.

Veseys Seed has their new catalog online. Click here to take a look.

Pinetree Gardens fall bulb sale is on - here.

Touch of Nature's bulb sale is on - 100 tulips for $20 etc.

Tulsa Master Gardeners website has published its November to-do list. You can find it here.

So, what are you doing to prevent horticulture withdrawal? I'm poking around in the shed, reading seed catalogs and puttering.

Pandanus utilis - a Lily Called Screw Pine

2009-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

A Screw Pine is not a pine at all.
The common screw pine or Pandanus utilis (and lemurs) are native to Madagascar. They are actually monocots, related to palms, orchids and grass.

Iowa State University also says that each flower results in a drupe - a seed surrounded by flesh like an olive or a cherry.

Tropical Plants Online in Ft. Lauderdale FL, sells the plants and suggests that they be used as specimen plants since they grow so large - 25 feet tall.

Rare Seed Source sells the seeds. The plant is hardy in zone 9 - down to 26 degrees-F and can grow in full sun or light shade. Needs sandy soil for fast draining.

I wouldn't use someone else's photos so you must click over to this blog - Exploring The World's Tree Species tree blog. A couple of the Screw Pine photos are spectacular.

The tree's roots grow above the soil line.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Florida has a Pandanus Primer page devoted to Screw Pines.

Quoting from the Pandanus Primer -
"Sadly, many of the world's Pandanus are threatened in the wild. " ... "Pandanus is a remarkable genus of plants to which the modern world has not always been kind. It deserves better. So the next time you find yourself by Pandanus Lake, take a moment to appreciate the plants that lend their name to that lake. Pay your respects, make amends, or simply get to know these amazing plants."

The tree in my photos is at the Gaylord Resort in Grapevine Texas. My friend Anita and I drove to Dallas for a Master Gardener workshop at the Dallas Arboretum.

Friday the 13th Good Luck or Not?

2009-11-13T05:01:00.000-08:00

Are you superstitious about Friday the 13th? Do you plant or not plant? Prune or not prune your plants? Maybe it is time to make special days for gardeners on Friday the 13th. Fairy dances or flowers strewn or....

Many people consider Friday the 13th a lucky day so why do buildings avoid assigning a 13th floor number to the floor above 12? Isn't it kind of silly?

Corsinet offers several connections for your amusement.

FRIDAY THE 13 -

There is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13 guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.

There is a Biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.

A particularly bad Friday the 13 occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.

In ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13 was believed to be the devil.

Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.

It is traditionally believed that Eve tempted Adam with the apple on a Friday. Tradition also has it that the Flood in the Bible, the confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the death of Jesus Christ all took place on Friday.

Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, 13's association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.

FRIDAY THE 13 - how is fear of the number thirteen demonstrated?
More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13 floor.
Many airports skip the 13 gate.
Airplanes have no 13 aisle.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13 Street or a 13 Avenue

In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14 guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.

If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.

Have we outlived the significance of unlucky 13? How Stuff Works says the Friday the 13th fear is called paraskevidekatriaphobia.

What can be done to reverse the potential negative and turn the day around?

The Farmer's Almanac says to keep your fingers crossed all day. Maybe more practical for gardeners is another of their suggestions - wear your clothes inside out all day. Or how about carry an acorn in your pocket all day? There's an easy one for gardeners.

Tussie Mussie History and How-to

2009-11-12T04:20:00.000-08:00

Aromatherapy as it is practiced today, includes herbal extracts and oils placed in amulets, light plugs, on light bulbs, etc. In earlier times, herbs were scattered on floors in the spring when homes were cleaned of winter waste. And, in the Middle Ages herbs were thought to ward off disease.

A Tussie Mussie, a circular arrangement of flowers and herbs was carried in Victorian times. The herbs and a central rose were sniffed to help people get through the unpleasant street smells. Herbs such as rosemary, thyme and rue were often used for their spicy aromas.

Sara Sherwood of Muskogee purchased the Tussie Mussie in the photo at the Savannah GA home of Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts. Low lived from 1860 to 1927.

In England, judges carried them into court and today, judges in the highest court carry them six times a year. In France, the Tussie-Mussie was placed in a small, metal, hand-held vase with ring chain, making it easy to carry.

Other uses for Tussie-Mussies included courtship. Suitors gave their intended a message by selecting specific flowers. Dictionaries of flower meanings were developed from material found in mythology, lore and religious symbolism. Ladies and gentlemen who received a Tussie-Mussie researched the meaning behind the gift in 400 flower-meaning dictionaries of the time.

For example, a red rose is I love you but a yellow rose says my love has decreased now that I know you better.

The custom of assigning meaning to plants probably dates to prehistoric cultures. Archeologists think flowers found in ancient graves were arranged to signify messages.

Today, most brides and bridesmaids carry a Tussie-Mussie when they walk down the aisle.

According to Worldwidewords.org the first recorded use of the word tusmose was about 1440, then it became tuzzy muzzy. In 1629, John Parkinson wrote about Tussie-Mussie as a nosegay for sight and scent.

In 1818 flower talk was included in the education of young women. Madame Charlotte de la Tour wrote Le Language des Fleurs or the Language of Flowers that women studied. Victorian Bazaar has a history and meaning of flowers link here.

From when Queen Victoria ascended the thrown in 1837, until the end of the century, Tussie-Mussies were considered essential accessories.

Even today, Tussie-Mussies are lovely gifts for hospital visits or to give to friends and family for any occasion.

To make a Tussie-Mussie, start by choosing a message you want to send or by looking around for what plants you have. The final bouquet is usually 6-inches across.

The central flower does not have to be a rose. The flowers used to fill in around the central flower could be lavender, rosemary, ivy, mint, baby's breath, etc.

The herb and leaves wrapped around the outside could include scented geranium, lamb's ears or other large soft leaves.

To assemble a Tussie-Mussie, remove the lower leaves from each stem and use string, rubber band or floral tape to hold the arrangement together. Wrap the bouquet stems in paper towel and cover with foil or floral tape. Place the arrangement in a paper doily with a hole in the center. Ribbons can be added.

The Internet site www.languageofflowers.com lists hundreds of flowers and the sentiment they intend.

Rosemary is remembrance, ivy is fidelity, parsley is festivity, rose is love, basil is best wishes, red geranium is comfort and health, hydrangea is devotion, sage is wisdom, pine is loyalty, globe amaranth is unfading love, veronica is fidelity, bellflower is gratitude, English daisy is innocence, thrift is sympathy, lemon is faithfulness, marjoram is happiness, thyme is courage, and zinnia says I miss you.

Add to the significance of your talking bouquet by including a note with the meaning of the flowers.

November Sales, Powerful Pumpkins, Late Fall Gardening

2009-11-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

November has many beauties - pansies, mums, salvias, sedum, monk's hood, the last of the summer flowers like marigolds and zinnias. Add to that the fall colors, the holly berries, and the terrific weather. Such a wonderful season.

November is also loaded with sales by plant and bulb companies large and small. Here are a few that have arrived in my email inbox.

Sunshine Farm and Garden 4 goldenseal plants for $25 including shipping
Annie's Annuals - gift certificate sale - 15% off
White Flower Farm - 50 pastel tulips for $39
Brent and Becky's Bulbs - 25% off bulbs - Erythronium, Fritillaria, Gladiolus, Hermodactylus, Hyacinthoides, Hyacinthus, Ipheion, Dutch Iris
Blooming Bulb - 60% off fall planted bulbs
Holland Bulb Farm 50 to 75% off fall bulbs
Tulip World online sale of tulips
Old House Gardens has a few items on sale - only until Nov 12th though.

I checked a few other sites for sales - who are you ordering from right now while the sales are hot?

Powerful pumpkins! Science Daily describes the benefit of eating winter squash.
"Carotenoids, the family of yellow to red pigments responsible for the striking orange hues of pumpkins and the familiar red color of vine-ripe tomatoes, play an important role in human health by acting as sources of provitamin A or as protective antioxidants."

And, eat your dark green veggies, too.
"Vegetables in the cabbage family (such as kale, cauliflower, and broccoli) have long been known as especially good sources of dietary carotenoids. Recently, broccoli has emerged as the stand-out member of the species, providing more carotenoids to American consumers than any of its cabbage-family relatives."

We grow broccoli, winter squash, kale, Romaine, and other greens. As a result of the garden constantly popping with them, we eat more than we normally would. It's that waste not upbringing of poor kids.

The winter squash came out over the weekend and the garlic went in. The broccoli was harvested today, blanched, and popped into the freezer. Bags of green beans went in the freezer today, too.

There is actually one daffodil blooming today. Mostly though, each time I spy a cluster of daffodils popping up, I dig them, divide them and plant them all over the back yard at the base of the trees. It will give me something to look forward to when winter weather arrives.

Do You Grow Gingers?

2009-11-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

The variegated one is Dr. Moy. Gingers R US has a photo of the flower though they were not in bloom last week at the Dallas Arboretum.

I know the white flowering variety below is cold hardy. If you are growing gingers outside how to you keep them going over the winter?

White ginger, has the most beautiful scented blooms.

Which Plants to Protect from Upcoming Frost

2009-11-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

So far, fall, 2009, has been frost-free and we still have time to get vulnerable plants pulled indoors. Houseplants that vacationed outside over the summer definitely want to be inside by now. Cacti and succulents that are not native have to be protected, too.

Not everything will fit into the house, garage, shed or small greenhouse and choices have to be made. Select only healthy plants to save. Diseased plants should be trashed, not composted.

Prepare plants by removing dead leaves and spraying them with insecticidal soap (a few drops of dishwashing detergent mixed into a gallon of room temperature water). Pots of herbs need to be well cleaned before bringing them into the kitchen.

Transplant garden plants into pots, using fresh potting soil. Dig around and down to get the main roots. Slide the shovel at an angle under the plant. Lift the root ball and place it into a pot that already has potting soil in the bottom. Water and add more soil if necessary. Rinse off the leaves.

Discard inexpensive annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. If they were grown in pots, the entire contents of the pot can be poured onto the compost. On the other hand, if your flowerbed could use extra soil, pour the pot onto the bed and shake the soil away from the roots. Then, put the green waste in the compost.

Patio, porch, and deck plants such as Boston ferns are a challenge to keep attractive unless they can be brought into the house near southern windows with filtered light. The fronds will probably dry out and drop but keep the plants moist and warm.

Geraniums can be saved. Prune the branches, place the potted plant in a west window and feed it. Geraniums can also be stored any place that will not freeze. Just prune them back and water from time to time.

Heat-loving plants such as citrus trees must be inside the house or garage. If they have to spend the winter in a garage, put them where they will receive 4 hours of sunlight and wrap the pot in bubble wrap or slip it into a Styrofoam ice chest. Mist the leaves on sunny days.

Tropical plants such as mandevilla, yellow bells and angel’s trumpet can be dug and stored with a little soil around the roots. After digging, prune the roots and stems, put the plant in a plastic bucket in the garage for winter dormancy.

Tropical hibiscus should have sunlight to survive the winter. Cut back both the roots and stems by one-third to make the plant a more manageable size. Water once a month.

Gardenias need 4-hours of bright light and 75-degree temperatures. Let the soil become dry on the top two inches before watering. Hold off on fertilizing until February.

Bougainvilleas can be pruned and dug up to put into pots to bring inside. They never want wet soil so water sparingly. If it will be stored in a sunny, unheated garage, put it into a plastic bag of Styrofoam peanuts as insulation. Leave the bag open at the top; close it only when temperatures dip below freezing.

You must bring tropical ginger, weeping fig (Ficus) and philodendron into the house in order for them to survive. Begonias can be brought inside in their pots.

Herbs can be used all winter. Rosemary, oregano, lemongrass, parsley, basil and many others will continue to thrive inside. Chive plants can be dug and potted to bring in.

Peppers are tropical perennials and if you can give them enough heat and light to discourage insects, you will have large plants that will give you an early harvest next spring.

Any unripe peppers on the plants will continue to mature if they have a south facing window or 40-watt florescent lights and a warm place to grow.

Your Koi Pond in the Winter

2009-11-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

How do you take care of your koi pond over the freezing months? At 43 degrees the fish stop eating and begin to hibernate, huddled close together.

Most people here leave their koi in the pond, stop feeding and partially cover the water with an insulating cover.

But, other pond owners are investing in small heaters to use from January through April. These are installed in the filter system with the thermostat set to 50-degrees.

Definitely, prune back the plants, clean the filters and turn off the pumps. Cut back on feeding and switch to wheat germ based food. Keep the biological filters running.

If your koi pond is more than 18-inches deep, the fish will stay below until the freeze passes. You can pour warm water on the ice to thaw enough to allow oxygen to get in.

Will you drain your pond and bring the fish inside? What are you experienced koi pond owners doing to keep your koi pond healthy during the winter months?

Water Gardening Magazine has online tips that may help, too.

Sunday Night Tidbits

2009-11-01T22:41:00.000-08:00

Here's the Sweetspire Henry Garnet on our driveway. The October-November color is spectacular this year - must be all the rain - Henry Garnet does like to be wet.

Spacing Toronto - Understanding the Urban Landscape, has a Worldwide Wednesday feature where they send readers to interesting sites.

One in the Oct. 21 edition is a blog called Urlesque that can be congratulated for a post on the World's Coolest Bus Stops. Check it out and you may join me in wondering why they can't all be this fun.

In our town, the public transportation officials can't figure out how to increase ridership. There are no identified bus stops. Not even the bland kind with just a simple sign. Can you imagine the impact on ridership with creative, artistic bus stops like these?

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The Philippine Star online has a great October 31, column (in English) on Euphorbias by Kevin G. Belmonte. If you grow some of the 3,000 varieties, you'll be interested in his knowledgeable piece.

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Kate Copsey's show, "America's Home Grown Veggies" on Internet Radio Sandy Springs is a hoot. Scroll down the page and look through the archives of shows and enjoy listening to any or all of them on your computer while you work. Click on the cheerleader megaphone to listen.

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In 1933, three million men in the Civilian Conservation Corps planted trees, built parks and flood control projects. Monday at 9 there will be a program on tv about the CCC. Find out more at this PBS link.

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Donna Dawson has been operating tours for plant lovers since 1998. In 2010 destinations include Ecuador in January, Thailand in February, India in March, China in April and Chelsea in May.

Here's the link but you have to at least consider taking me along if you get to go.

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State-by-State Gardening, the magazine, now sends out a monthly email with gardening tips that I've found useful. The company publishes gardening magazines for Alabama, Arkansas, South and North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia.

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The Cultural Landscape Foundation site is another rich resource for people who think. Look at this link called Shaping the American Landscape.

"Organized under the theme, Shaping the American Landscape, this year's program spotlights great places designed by seminal and regionally influential landscape figures, which are threatened with change. These estate gardens, public plazas, institutional grounds, park systems, and cemetery designs have influenced our country's collective landscape legacy. With this latest Landslide effort, these landscapes vividly come alive, with stories of those pioneering individuals who created them and those championing their survival today."

Check it out.

Happy Halloween Dallas Arboretum Style

2009-10-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip to the Dallas Arboretum to see their fantastic fall displays. The weather was sunny and perfect for a stroll and lunch outside at the onsite DeGolyer Garden Café.

Have a goblin friendly celebration!

Pawpaw and Witch Hazel Trees

2009-10-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

Fall and winter are the ideal time to plant new trees and shrubs. Local garden centers and hardware stores have plenty in stock and some are even on sale.

Fruit trees have the romantic aura of picking your own apples, peaches and cherries, which, in reality, is quite nice. They require a spraying schedule, pruning, fruit thinning, a deer fence and water during droughts.

Homeowners can be disappointed by the reality of a garden-center recommended tree. The garden center staff tells you either how the tree performed in someone else’s growing conditions or what the grower said about the plant. Neither of these is necessarily a prediction of how the tree will grow in your soil.

Pine trees and their relatives can succeed in our area. They take a beating during ice storms and tend to hold snow after the surrounding trees have bounced back. Austrian pines and other non- native varieties will live beautiful, albeit short, lives in our summer heat.

Two trouble-free, native, shrubby trees to consider are Witch Hazel and Paw Paw.

Witch Hazel or Hamamelis vernalis and Hamamelis Virginia are hardy from zone 4 to 8.

Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma native, Vernalis or Vernal witch hazel can grow in part shade. Its fragrant, yellow and red-orange flowers are just what we need in February.

Common witch Hazel or Hamamelis virginiana is an Illinois and Arkansas native that grows 10-feet tall with late fall fragrant, yellow flowers. The witch hazel we use on our skin for rashes is distilled from the roots and bark of young stems.

Virginiana will form colonies in the understory of trees. The leaves turn a brilliant yellow in autumn, the leaves fall, and then the flowers appear.

After its discovery in Virginia in the 1700s, Hamamelis virginiana was immediately taken to the gardens of England where its winter flowers earned it the nickname Epiphany Tree. (Epiphany is the Christmas season in the church year.)

Witch Hazels can be allowed to grow as shrubs or be pruned to a single trunk to grow as trees.

The seeds that form after the flowers fall ripen the next summer. When the pods open, the seeds are ejected with a pop, leading the tree to gain another nickname, the Snapping Hazelnut.

Both are available from Pine Ridge Nursery in Arkansas (www.pineridgegardens.com and 479.293.4359) for under $20 each.

Pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba) grow to 10-feet tall in part-shade. They are valued for their edible fruit and fall color, as well as their appeal for wildlife gardeners. Zebra Striped Swallowtail butterflies raise their caterpillars on the leaves.

You need two varieties to grow fruit. Detailed growing information can be found at www.pawpaw.kysu.edu.

Raintree Nursery (www.raintreenursery.com) has several recommended varieties to ship now, including: NC-1, Sunflower, Taytwo, and Mitchell.

Neal Peterson (www.petersonpawpaws.com) developed new varieties including Shenandoah and Susquehanna. Blossom Nursery in Eureka Springs AR (www.blossomnursery.com) sells seeds and trees.

Kentucky Division of Forestry sells bundles of Pawpaw seedlings (800.866.0876 and www.forestry.ky.gov/seedling) $24 per bundle of ten. Order now for Feb 2010 delivery.

Other recommended varieties include: Overleese, Mary (Foos) Johnson, Jack’s Jumbo, Sweet Alice and Convis.

To plant trees identify the location of underground utility wires (call OKIE 1-800-522-6543). Look up to see if a 20-foot tree will become a problem for utility lines.

Dig a hole 18-inches wider than the diameter of the root ball and no deeper than the root ball.

Place the tree in the hole so the lowest branch points southwest. Straighten and backfill with soil. Build a watering moat around the outside of the planting hole. Fill the hole with water, using a slow flow. Fill the moat with 3 inches of mulch.

Moonflower Vines In Late October are Still Growing and Blooming

2009-10-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Despite the cooler nights and wet cloudy days, the Moonflower Vines are gorgeous. Mostly a gardener's treat because they are planted where no one else goes, they make me gasp every time I walk over there.

Ipomoea alba noctiflora syn. Calonyction aculeatum is a Morning Glory relative and may be blooming its heart out because of the cloudy days rather than in spite of them.
Morning Glories open during the day and Moon Flowers open in the evening and early morning, as well as on cloudy days.
Cold hardy only to zone 9, it won't survive the winter here in zone 7, but maybe some seeds will fall and keep this beauty coming back to climb all over everything in its path.

Look at the bud before it opens and those purple stems in this photo taken yesterday.

Have you tried Google for Gardeners yet?

Here's the link. Try it and let me know if you find what you are looking for. I have not.

I still find Dogpile.com to be the most efficient search engine, though I try every new one that comes along. And, Dogpile searches benefit our furry friends.

Wed, Oct 28 Michael Pollan "Botany of Desire" on Public TV

2009-10-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

"We don't give nearly enough credit to plants. They've been working on us, they've been using us for their own purposes." Those words are first thing out of Micael Pollan's mouth on the Public TV special this week.

That's a good start isn't it? Tune in!

And, in an article in the November/December/January 2009-2010 Organic Gardening, Pollan talks about organic food, Michelle Obama and the local food movement. The issue is on newsstands now.

Pollan sat down with Organic Gardening Managing Editor Therese Ciesinski.
A few quotes from the interview in Organic Gardening:
"organic is in danger of being co-opted" and that he's been on organic factory farms and "…if most organic consumers went to those places, they would feel they were getting ripped off."

First Lady Michelle Obama "She talks about organic, but she also talks about fresh. Basically, getting away from processed food is key. And if you're eating produce, and it's not organic, it's a big step up from eating processed food. All these partial steps are very important."

"Organic is in danger of being co-opted."

"I think we're going to see a lot of growth in alternative food chains, all of them, local and organic. I think pastured meat production is going to get a lot bigger. The importance of grass as a way to both provide healthy meat that people want and to sequester carbon in the soil will become better recognized. I can image in 5 years that there will be grass-fed beef in every supermarket."

Pollan on what's missing from our food syst...
"…What's missing from our food system is resiliency. We have efficiency, but resiliency is a different value, and you get resiliency through redundancy. So we need organic, we need local, we need pasture-based, and we probably need industrial as well."

Pollan on if he prefers local foods to organic food...
"No, I don't. I support local, because in my experience here in California, local is organ . . . But if I were a supermarket shopper I would, because you can't meet farmers face to face and you don't really know what they're doing, so to the extent people depend on the supermarket and are not interested in the farmers' market, we need organic. If people are willing to put in more time and like the farmers' market experience-because it is more than food that's on offer there— then local, definitely."

The transcript for the entire tv program is here at a PBS link.

Solanum Integrifolium or Solanum aethiopicum L. - How to Grow and Use Pumpkin on a Stick or Ornamental Eggplant

2009-10-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Fall decorations are popping up on porches and in front yards. Stacks of square hay bales, pumpkins, squash, corn and sugar cane stalks become fall symbols of the end of the harvest season.

Most of these grow too large for the average home garden. Pumpkins and squash can take up an entire city lot as they sprawl and make fruit.

One of the unique plants gardeners can grow for seasonal table arrangements is Pumpkin on a Stick, which grows upright and has 2-inch fruits. Introduced as “Scarlet Chinese an ornamental curiosity” by Vanderbilt University in 1879, they are still grown to amuse guests and decorating homes.

The Latin name is Solanum Integrifolium or Solanum aethiopicum L. Other names include: Pumpkin Tree, Pumpkin Bush, Hmong Eggplant, and Mock Tomato.

All Eggplants are in Solanaceae or nightshade family. Found in India, China and Africa, 2500 years ago, eggplant fruit was pea sized, orange and bitter. By the 1500s, German plantsmen had developed yellow and purple cultivars.

Today’s gardeners grow the round, purple-skin variety and the slender Asian varieties for eating. In hot climates the plants are perennial but here they suffer when temperatures drop to 50-degrees and die at first freeze.

Eggplant flowers are perfect, meaning they self-pollinate. Insects can cross-pollinate varieties though so if you want to save seeds, plant different varieties well apart from each other.

Whether you contain their size by planting them in pots or in the ground and let them grow 2 feet tall and wide, give Ornamental Eggplants sun and plenty of water. Bella Online calls them a spectacular fall floral because they embody the essence of fall and are exquisite in color and form.

The small blue-ish white flowers grow in clusters and attract butterflies and bees. Early in the season the fruit is green, then it turns red orange in the fall. The stems are dark purple and the leaves are serrated blue-green with purple veins and sharp spines.

Ornamental Eggplant is not an appropriate selection for a children’s garden. Other inedible flowers and leaves in the same plant (belladonna) family include: Potato, tomato, pepper, petunia, Angel’s Trumpet, and Datura.

Botanical Interests (www.botanicalinterests.com) recommends starting the seeds indoors 6 weeks before last frost (March 1 in zone 7). The seeds want 75 to 85 degree heat to sprout. Put the starter cells on a heat mat or on top of the water heater or refrigerator. Check them daily and remove them from the heat the minute they come up. Give them 12 hours of light from florescent bulbs to prevent weak stems

Our plants came from Moonshadow Herb Farm in Muskogee. Owner Sharon Owen bought the seeds online at www.onalee.com where they are called Ruffled Red (Red Ruffles).

In our garden the main problem was brown striped Colorado Potato Beetles. Once they were removed the plant resumed its leaf, flower and fruit production.

Watch for flea beetles, aphids and red spider mites. A little insecticidal soap spray will keep them under control. Or put a row cover on the plants until they flower.

To harvest the seeds, allow one of the fruits to become overripe on the plant.

Dry the fruit for decoration. Remove the leaves and hang the stems upside down. Use the fruit on the stem in a vase or cut them off for a fall wreath or centerpiece.

Many Internet sites say ornamental eggplant is used in Asian cuisine but I found nothing in Asian cooking sites to support that. However, when the roofers were here this week, one of them took a bite of a fruit and said it was sour enough to draw his mouth and had a hot aftertaste.

Two Saturdays Left To Walk the Trails at the OK Botanical Garden - Tulsa

2009-10-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

The Oklahoma Centennial Botanical Garden will be open Saturday October 24 and 31 from 10 to 1 for anyone who would like to stroll the paths and enjoy the fall scenery.

Here's a link to the map and driving directions.

It is free and open to the public. The park will close for the winter after these two dates.

Hot Lips Salvia Microphylla

2009-10-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

Loggee's Greenhouse is offering Hot Lips Salvia plants and if you have never grown it, take a look. The photo is from their site.

The first time we saw Hot Lips, it was blooming its head off last fall at the Tulsa Zoo. We had to have it. Blossom's Garden Center in Muskogee had the plants and we put in two.

This year's weather was somewhat un-summer-like. Other than July, we had rain, rain, and more rain.

So, our Hot Lips is just now doing its blooming best. But, it was about this time of year we saw them blooming beautifully at the zoo, too. So maybe fall is their time to shine.

Plant Delights says Hot Lips was discovered in Mexico and that they are hardy to our zone 7. "This wild selection of the Mexican Salvia microphylla was introduced by Richard Turner of California after the plant was shared with him by his maid, who brought it from her home in Mexico. The fast-growing, 30" tall x 6' wide clump is adorned with stunning bicolor flowers with red tips and white lips. When the nights warm in summer, the new flowers are all red with an occasional solid white one. As fall approaches, the flowers again will be bicolor red and white."

I agree that it is a must have.

My experience propagating Salvia is decent - 70% (but not consistent) success. So when I took cuttings of Hot Lips today, I took a bunch and put them into a rooting mix of sand, vermiculite, perlite and peat-based potting mix after dipping ends and leaf nodes in rooting hormone.

Territorial Seed sold out this year but I love what they said about Hot Lips.
"Salvia microphylla Pucker up! You'll fall all over yourself when this beauty smiles at you. In a head turning bicolor of snow white with a crimson kisser, and stretching 36 inches tall and wide, Hot Lips can't help but be noticed. It sneers at heat, drought, and even deer while blooming from mid summer through fall. Mingled with Black and Blue salvia the effect is dignified and patriotic. Hardy in zones 7 and up."

Now that I recall that they are deer resistant, I'll put them along the fence where the deer like to snoop for next summer's garden.

Brother and Sister Seeds Play Nice but Compete With Non-Siblings

2009-10-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

While horticulturists and farmers may have known for decades that seed saving is a great idea, scientists have added new research to confirm their experience. Plants grown from seed of the same parent plant, grow more cooperatively with each other.The story came out this week from The University of Delaware where scientists made a discovery about plants being able to read the chemicals in each others' roots.

Here's the October 18 UDaily article in full.

In 2007, Susan Dudley a McMaster University evolutionary plant ecologist said Sea Rocket plants could recognize their siblings. Those siblings did not send out roots into each others' territory to take water and nutrients. The National Science Foundation funded the research.

When positioned next to non-sibling plant seeds, the they send out roots to compete with neighbors.

Noting that "Plants have no visible sensory markers, and they can't run away from where they are planted" Harsh Bais, assistant professor of plant and soil sciences at the University of Delaware, worked to uncover why some compete and others do not. Bais and doctoral student Meredith Bierdrzycki worked together on the problem at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. (Photo from U Del)

Biedrzycki rotated more than 3,000 plants every day for seven consecutive days and documented the root patterns.

She said, "The research was very painstaking because Arabidopsis roots are nearly translucent when they are young and were also tangled when I removed them from plates, so measuring the roots took a great amount of patience."

So, no whining this winter about how many tomato seedling we are taking care of in the shed.

Their findings include:
Strangers planted next to each other are often shorter since energy is directed at root growth.
Noncompeting siblings have shallower roots.
Sibling plants allow their leaves to touch and intertwine compared to strangers that grow rigidly upright and avoid touching.

Bais said, "Often we'll put plants in the ground next to each other and when they don't do well, we blame the local garden center where we bought them or we attribute their failure to a pathogen. But maybe there's more to it than that."

Go Green and Learn Worm Composting at a Workshop in Muskogee Saturday morning

2009-10-15T07:37:00.001-07:00

Go Green Oklahoma reports that paper manufacturing is one of the most energy and resource intensive processes in our economy. Their website urges us to reduce our paper consumption.

The site has other go-green suggestions at their Make Every Day Earth Day link.

1. Plug printers and chargers into power strips and turn off the strips when not in use.

2. Waste less water. It is cycled through a chemical bath before it comes out your faucet.

3. Read product contents and choose the ones with less packaging and fewer chemicals.

4. Slow down on the highway. Avoid long drive-through lines where your car engine runs while you wait.

5. Choose locally grown food and compost what you don’t use.

6. Take re-usable bags to the store instead of getting oil-produced new ones on every trip. Keep them in your car.

7. Reduce paper use and recycle the rest.

8. Compost and worm compost. Each of us wastes 1.3 pounds of food scraps daily. Yard trimmings and food waste combined make up 25 to 30 percent of our nation’s waste.

In states from Minnesota to New Mexico and Oregon it is illegal to send easy-to-compost items to the dump with the trash. At http://tiny.cc/Y9xiX, All Business reports school, restaurant and grocery store green-waste success stories.

Start small.

The easy one is to never send plastic bags full of leaves and garden waste to the dump. Another easy one is to stop sending green food waste to the dump in plastic bags.

Make a leaf pile in a corner of the yard or pile them onto vegetable and flower beds where winter weather will decompose them into mulch and leaf mold. This will turn into a gold mine of microbes for your garden.

Leaf mold does not have many nutrients but when it is added to the soil, it makes the soil composition spongy so it will hold the moisture and air that are necessary for plant roots.

Leaf mulch on top of the soil prevents soil temperature fluctuations from damaging plant roots and stimulates microbial activity that reduces pests.

Try a worm compost bin.

Drill holes into a solid plastic storage container. Fill it with damp shredded paper and some non-meat food scraps. Add red wriggler worms and feed them. Every few months dump out the contents onto the garden. Separate out the worms and re-start the bin with fresh bedding and food. The remaining worm castings are gardener’s gold.

Friends of Honor Heights Park is sponsoring two speakers at a worm composting workshop, 9:00 Saturday morning in the Garden Education Room near the splash pad at the park. For more information contact Martha Stoodley 918.683.2373 and honorheightsfriends@gmail.com. Or go online to Oklahoma State University Fact Sheet Vermicomposting BAE-1742 at http://tiny.cc/45rPt

Start a compost bin or pile.

Compost is a cornerstone of soil fertility for gardeners who try to avoid chemicals.

A compost project can be as simple as making a pile that starts with twigs and fall garden cleanup leaves and plant stems. A structure can be built from panel wire or cinder blocks. Or, you can buy a compost bin from a garden supply or big box store.

Choose a spot in the shade and start the bottom of the pile with twigs you have cut with a pruner or lopper. Continue with layers of non-meat kitchen waste and yard waste. Adding water, alfalfa pellets and turning it will help, too. But if you have plenty of space and time to wait, you can skip those steps and just start another pile next year.

Oklahoma State University Fact Sheet BAE-1744 Backyard Composting in Oklahoma is available online at http://tiny.cc/yBsLE and from any local extension office.

Cure Common Plant Diseases Without Chemicals

2009-10-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Plants that are accustomed to cooler temperatures and breezes blowing, often grow a little mold on the top of the soil when we bring them indoors

Remove the moldy soil down to a half-inch, replace it with fresh soil and sprinkle the top with an easily available fungicide - ground cinnamon from the kitchen spice rack.

Here is a link to the Texas Aggie - Horticulture site with many indoor plants' light and water needs.

Also, you'll want to bookmark the Golden Harvest site here for more easy, inexpensive, chemical free plant fixes.
Here's a sample of what you'll find there.

Click on This Remedy To Treat This Problem
Apple Cider Vinegar Fungicide Leafspot, mildew & scab
Baking Soda Spray Anthracnose, early tomato blight, leaf blight and spots, powdery mildew & as a general fungicide
Chive Spray Prevention of apple scab and downy mildew on cucumber, pumpkin and zucchini.
Compost and Manure Teas Blights & general disease
Corn and Garlic Spray General fungus preventative
Couch Grass Rhizome Tea Mildew & fungus preventative
Elder Leaf Spray Blackspot & mildew
Garlic Fungicide Spray 1: Mildews & leaf spot
Garlic Fungicide Spray 2: Fungicide and Insect repellent
Horseradish Spray Brown rot in apples & general disease prevention
Hydrogen Peroxide Treatment General disease preventative and direct treatment
Milk Spray Different common mildews on cucumber, asters, tomato, squash and zinnia foliage. Also for mosaic disease control on cucumber, lettuce & tomato.

What are your home remedies? Do you use crushed bay leaves and hot pepper seeds on the soil? Do you make sprays out of commonly available items? Let us know.

2009-10-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

The longer nights are a signal to plants to move toward dormancy and a reminder to gardeners to prepare their tender plants to be brought inside.

Although there is no frost or freeze warning in our immediate future, if you have as many plants tucked under trees and in beds as I do, it will take a few days to get them all cleaned, sprayed and washed out.

Before bringing in plants that will join protected houseplants, be sure to spray them off with water to remove dust and bugs. Then, water them enough that water flows freely out of the pot. This flooding will remove salts from the soil.

Remove dead leaves, prune off spindly side branches and deadhead leggy branches to fit into the confines of your home space.

Clean the leaves and stems. Use insecticidal soap or put a few drops of dish soap into a gallon of room temperature water and drench the plant, letting it drip outside, in the bathtub or kitchen sink.

Hose off the pot and put it into a tub of water to rinse off the bottom.

Inside the house, plants need about one-fourth as much water as they needed outside in the heat, sun and wind. Let the top one-half inch of soil dry out before watering.

Hold off on re-potting until late winter unless the plant shows signs of stress, like dropping its leaves or turning yellow.

Re-potting into fresh soil will stimulate the plant's growth and you want it to rest over the winter and not take up too much space.

2009-10-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

The newest 5 inch rainfall brought a snake into the kitchen. I guess its outdoor home was unpleasantly wet, so it came in to dry off.

When I tried to steer it into a container it slithered under the refrigerator. The warmth from the motor probably dried it off, and there might have been a few small snacks available under there, too.

We left the door open between the kitchen and the garage and assume it went back outside when the rain stopped. We have no pets other than our compost worms, the birds and butterflies we feed and encourage, rabbits, snakes, lizards and similar country cousins.

We have a neighbor who isn't home much and as they continue to collect cats, we inherit them in our yard and on our cozy chairs. You don't have to actually go out of your way to adopt strays, they adopt you.
On another topic, if you find yourself confronting nonsense sometimes, science would like to reassure you that you are doing a good deed for your mental development.

The New York Times reports that uncanny, disorienting and even creepy experiences, lead to learning.

"Researchers have long known that people cling to their personal biases more tightly when feeling threatened. After thinking about their own inevitable death, they become more patriotic, more religious and less tolerant of outsiders, studies find. When insulted, they profess more loyalty to friends..."

It sort of reminds me of when cats fall off a table, they groom themselves as though they meant to fall.

"For another, studies have found that people in the grip of the uncanny tend to see patterns where none exist — becoming more prone to conspiracy theories, for example. The urge for order satisfies itself, it seems, regardless of the quality of the evidence.
Still, the new research supports what many experimental artists, habitual travelers and other novel seekers have always insisted: at least some of the time, disorientation begets creative thinking."

When you have the urge to tear out existing stuff - landscaping, sidewalks, fences - it's just your brain trying to grow so go with it and create something new.