28 April 2010

In The Garden With the Fluvanna Master Gardeners
By Irene C. Burke - Fluvanna Master Gardener
Fluvanna County Extension Office: 434.591.1950

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Each year the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) features the Perennial Plant of the Year. The winner must be suitable for a wide range of climate types, low maintenance, easily propagated, easily come(s) true from seed or vegetative propagation, and exhibit(s) multiple seasonal interest. The added bonus for this years selection is its native origins in central and eastern U.S. along with its adaptability to Virginias piedmont clay.

This year the PPA chose blue false (or wild) indigo (Baptisia australis). From my small survey of gardening friends and review of garden bulletin boards blue false indigo fulfills all the PPA promises.

Its blossoms are similar to sweet peas but instead of a vine, are held on a bushy clump of stalks resembling lupines. Colors range from pale blue to deep purple. At the bottom of each stem, buds bloom first, continuing until the last opens at the top. Hummingbirds, bumblebees and butterflies love them.

Baptisias pale green, spring leaves darken to a silvery blue by mid-summer. Though said to have no fragrance, some gardeners have noticed a delicate pineapple scent at dusk.

The flowers last about a month, late spring to early summer. Seeds looking like stout pea pods emerge in July. In autumn they blacken and rattle with the dry peas inside. So both bloom and pod will find an agreeable setting indoors in the hands of a creative flower arranger.

Children may use the clattering pods as a quirky toy. In the autumn, let them break open the pods after the amusement fades, then sow the seeds, pressing into the earth with but a half-inch cover of soil.

Show them also the source of the name blue wild indigo. Wearing gloves, slice a root and watch the ooze turn blue from its acquaintance with the air. Dab a piece of white cotton for full effect.

As a hardy native, Baptisia requires no fertilizer or pesticide treatments and needs no pruning, except the usual fall cleanup. Like all legumes, which peas are, it adds nitrogen to the soil. Set heavy feeding companions like delphiniums and dahlias alongside for this natural benefit.

From seed it is slow to establish, about 3 years before producing blooms but will flower after a year if bought in a three-gallon pot.

Blue false indigo needs full sun for heavy blooming and is drought tolerant once established, which means, unless there is a soaking rain, water deeply every 10 days to two weeks after planting until frost blackens the leaves.

Because it sends down a sturdy taproot, it is difficult to move; so select a site that is likely to remain permanent, preferably the back of the herbaceous border. Cuttings rather than division of an older plant, as well as spring seedlings are a better route to propagation.

It will flop if it gets too much water and too much shade. Give it at least 6 hours of direct afternoon sun with a neutral to slightly acidic soil pH of 6.5. Good drainage is essential; so a gentle slope will help with this dense clay. Or lighten the soil by thirds with compost and coarse sand. Windy, open locations will keep fungal diseases like powdery mildew at bay, though they cause negligible harm.

Not all American beauties are roses. Some come in hues the rose cannot offer like this wonderful blue wild indigo.

TIP OF THE WEEK

The out-of-place-plant a.k.a. weed is an opportunist. Therefore, when weeding have mulch ready to cover the bare spot or that weed will re-establish itself in the disturbed soil. It's like a party-crasher who slides into a vacant seat without anyone noticing.

21 April 2010

In The Garden With the Fluvanna Master Gardeners
By Irene C. Burke - Fluvanna Master Gardener
Fluvanna County Extension Office: 434.591.1950

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Except for the mighty American lawn, many green-growing groundcovers induce yawns and eye-rolls. The endless blankets of mulch, ivy, vinca and creeping junipers (Juniperus horzontalis) can be relentless across home and commercial terrain, whether urban, suburban or rural. Like turf-grass, groundcovers are easy to install, quick to take hold and even easier to maintain.

Consider keeping your comfortable green grass, but reduce the breadth and width, with softened edges, along the curves and hills, beside richly textured, vibrantly colored conifers.

Check out Microbiota decussata sometimes labeled Russian Arborvitae or Siberian Cypress. While it is a member of the same family as the arborvitae, it is not of the same genus and unlike the arborvitae this cypress is deer resistant.

Its lacey down-turned branches flow across the earth with slowly morphing hues from apple green in spring to deep pine by summer, with pink-shaded brown in autumn to a blushing bronze in winter. At maturity this supine cypress extends six feet, reaching barely a foot high.

Try golden creeping Juniperus horizontalis 'Mother Lode' instead of the more common grey-green Juniperus horizontalis 'Bar Harbor'. In the same chartreuse color-range look for Juniperus horizontalis 'Lime Glow'.

You thought all mugo pines were dark green? Pinus mugo 'Carsten's Wintergold' spreads its one-foot high lime-green foliage in spring and summer but redresses itself for autumn and winter in mellow yellow with a hint of orange.

Fluff-up lawn borders with prostrate Japanese plum yew, Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'Prostrata'. In spring, its green-glow tips gradually darken to a baby-spinach tone for summer.

Though a conifer, the recumbent larch, Larix decidua Pendula sheds its needles as temperatures decline; then renews itself each spring above its own lush mulch. Youve seen them staked to 3 or 4 feet, but for a ground cover, let these conifers sprawl. Theyll rise scarcely a foot.

I know junipers can be boring but Juniperus davurica 'Expansa Variegata' stands apart from its humdrum cousins. Pale lemon splotches grace the upward facing limbs from outer points to inner depths.

In the front of any border instead of planting creeping thyme or other ground-hugging perennial, set down a few Juniperus horizontalis Icee Blue 'Monber' P.P.# 9639. At a modest growth rate, they spread their limbs to nearly 8 feet but stand barely 4 inches high.

Tend each shrub with thorough watering for the first year. All are drought tolerant once established, deer resistant, too. Their slow to moderate gains will make less claim on your pruning chores, as well.

Unlike upright evergreens, with snow-cover these conifers are inaccessible to cold-weather deer browsing. Even when swept clean by winter winds, they remain unattractive to four-footed grazers.

If you cant tolerate the intervening bare spaces as these crawling conifers fill-in, plant spring flowering bulbs like narcissus. For May to August use Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro': the only daylily that deer seem to avoid. Choose other yellow-flowering perennials to both contrast and complement the greens and grays, the delicate gold and lemon tones of autumn.

While initial cost may seem daunting, the long-term expense diminishes rapidly, a most welcome outcome for any low-care groundcover.

Tip of the Week

Try Epsom salts, magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), in the bath after a hard day among the blooms and bushes, but dont use it in the garden. Get a soil test before applying any household chemical to the landscape. The claims of Epsom salts benefits along the garden path are not supported by science-based research.

14 April 2010

In The Garden With the Fluvanna Master Gardeners
By Irene C. Burke - Fluvanna Master Gardener
Fluvanna County Extension Office: 434.591.1950

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Today's spring bulbs form your template and tasks for next years blooms. Note well which ones emerged and how vigorously. Time to plan an additional plot or deepen and widen the original.

Mark the spots where blades rose without blooms, for thats where you will lift and separate the crowded bulbs (the most common reason for missing buds) as soon as the leaves have yellowed and withered.

Plastic flags flown from wire stakes or day-glo tape tied to metal, bamboo or other wooden poles will weather the elements until its time to raise and replant. Avoid day-glo spray-paint not good for your lungs and worse for this good earth.

Before you begin your lift-and-divide project, decide where you want to set the newly separated bulbs. Work that soil 6-8 inches deep to accommodate the larger bulbs. Its easier to do this now than deal with the drying, storing and subsequent planting in October.

Assemble your tools: clean flat or tarp, shovel, garden fork, curved garden trowel, hand-held garden rake about 2 feet long from handle to the tip of the tines, kneeling cushion of some sort and gloves that permit fine dexterity. For this task I prefer the more delicate hand-held garden rake to the thickened heavy garden claw.

Depending on your strength and soil density you may choose to begin with a shovel or a trowel. For the petite gardener, try the trowel, piercing the soil with the back of the blade facing the bulb foliage a shovel for larger plots and hardier hands. Ease the soil away from the bulb before you lift, making an open wedge for your garden fork or the hand-held garden rake.

Now youre ready to actually lift. Lower the rake or fork through the loosened soil searching for the soft resistance of the bulb. Raise the tool with your prize nestled in the curve, trying not to rip the roots or wound the bulb. Wounds are entry points for disease and pests.

Lay the clustered bulbs on the flat or tarp. Grasp two, one for each hand and gently loosen them from one another. No need to shake or sift soil, since you will replant straight away. Banish mushy, injured bulbs to the compost pile.

Settle-in those chosen to stay in their old bed, then transplant those destined for the other spot.

Use the Goldilocks method to tamp the soil around the bulbs, not too firm, not too light. Too light and the roots will dry out, too firm and the roots will smother in compacted soil.

Lift and relocate smaller, shallow-rooted bulbs like crocus, tte--tte daffodils, and grape hyacinth (Muscari) with the hand-held garden rake.

Mulch with a one-inch compost sandwich covered with 3 inches of shredded leaves, woodchips or bark. Of course, you could blanket with fresh sod to naturalize in the lawn.

Share your bounty but alert your gardening friends first, so they will be ready for the transplant moment, too. When they walk about their garden next year theyll be reminded of you and you will surely remember them as you tend the plants they have given you.

TIP OF THE WEEK

What a farmer does to her soil does not apply to what you should do to your landscape and garden. You do not need to work-in organic amendments every year. The best way to add organic matter is with compost in a layer beneath organic mulch or in the case of your vegetable patch, with a cover crop like alfalfa, buckwheat or clover.

1 April 2009

In The Garden With the Fluvanna Master Gardeners
By Irene C. Burke - Fluvanna Master Gardener
Fluvanna County Extension Office: 434.591.1950

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Last week we talked about harvesting and site selection for the herb garden. This week its containers and propagation.

Lets review a few key principles. Group plants with similar growth habits, pH, watering, and sun requirements. Never let roots sit in water.

Arrange perennial herbs like thyme, sage, oregano, lavender, winter savory and rosemary along the sunny southwest side of your home.

For morning sun, let basils, parsley, mints, cilantro, chives and tarragon share the gentle light; though, a collection of colorful basils should have a pot of its own. Isolate the aggressive mints in separate containers.

Given optimum conditions, all are vigorous growers. All thrive with a pH of 6.0 - 7.5.

Maintain a continuous lush appearance by inter-planting edible annuals, marigolds, Johnny-jump-ups and nasturtiums, with perennials. However, for easy cultivation keep the annuals apart from the perennials.

Select dwarf, compact and trailing varieties. Go for lavender and rosemary with mature sizes less than 18 inches.

Rosmarinus officinalis 'Irene' at a maximum height of 12 inches cascades gracefully. So use it in a window box or an elevated pot.

Lavandula angustifolia 'Nana' will reach about six inches high, a fragrant candidate for the middle of the container.

Potting soil should balance nutrients with good drainage. Use one part screened compost, one part garden topsoil, and one part perlite (for a lighter pot), or builders sand (for a heftier box). Remember to provide ample drainage holes.

Artificial or commercial mixes may add to the cost and require fertilizer. I have found that a inch layer of worm or screened compost applied monthly during the growing season is the least costly, most beneficial nourishment.

Whether your container is moveable or stationary, position it as close to its water source as possible. If a window box suits you, then outside the kitchen or on the deck or porch rails might be best, especially during the colder months.

Increase your herbs with cuttings, layering and divisions. Divide the herbs in the spring, being careful to maintain moisture and minimize root damage. Try bee balm, catnip, chives, mint, and oregano.

Cut sweet Woodruff, tansy and tarragon into sections and relocate in the same soil to a depth of one inch until rooted. Mist lightly then cover with a clear or translucent dome from a recyclable bottle, cut length-wise like a Quonset hut.

Lavender, oregano, sage, rosemary, and English thyme, root easily from cuttings. Thanks to a fellow Master Gardener, I have found success using one-inch cubes of floral foam to anchor and moisten stems as they establish roots. Cover each with a top vented, translucent recycled container.

Any herb stem that bends easily will increase with simple layering. Layerings successful propagation rate is highest because each plantlet taps into the reserves of the parent with no water stress or carbohydrate shortage. Secure the stem to the earth with landscape fabric pins and maintain an inch of moist soil.

The herbs await you. Are you and your friends ready for the abundant harvest sure to come?

Tip of the Week

It is said that an early spring snow is the poor man's fertilizer, returning nitrogen to the soil. Arthur Welser speculates that, "it breaks dormancy again, causing additional shoots to emerge from the crown of plants that had previously broken dormancy." There is no scientific data to support either. Regardless, the seeping water is beneficial.

29 April 2009

In The Garden With the Fluvanna Master Gardeners
By Irene C. Burke - Fluvanna Master Gardener
Fluvanna County Extension Office: 434.591.1950

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When is a fruit not a fruit? When its a vegetable. In Nix v. Hedden, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1893 declared tomatoes were vegetables. With this decision they set the precedent for accepting popular instead of scientific terms---for tax purposes. If most people say its a vegetable, then its a vegetable.

According to the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the Tomato is the most popular home garden and the second most consumed vegetable after potato in the world.

Anyone could tell you that the tomato is rewarding and encouraging, a blooming, luxurious smile in your garden.

Think of the tomato as a beautiful creature whose inner beauty matches her outer beauty. Shes luscious unadorned, sun-warmed and fresh, but just as delicious, sauced and spicy, and so easy to look after.

Tomato tactics

Pick out transplant seedlings that havent set fruit or been pollinated. Go for stocky, dark green, vigorous unblemished plants.

Leggy plants develop strength when some of that leg or stem is buried in an inch or two of soil, with the most robust leaves above ground.

To increase yields, pinch the young plants growth tips when it has between four and five leaves.

Experiment with pruning. Some pruned varieties will boost their yield, some will not. Write a note on the seed packet, indicating which variety benefits from pinch pruning.

Gently pinch with your fingers, never a sharp tool. Mulch lightly at transplanting or as seedlings emerge. Mulch more heavily as each plant thickens.

Choose determinate varieties for a big, one-week harvest, especially for tomatoes destined for canning and sauce, or set out successively maturing plants for weeks of returns.

Select indeterminate varieties for continuing crops, until a killing frost.

Tomatoes give a lot for a little space, 10 to 15 pounds or more per plant when staked or caged.

Space staked plants two feet apart in three-foot wide rows, with each leading stem lightly secured to its stake every eight inches.

Ready the embedded stake, a foot into the ground, when the plants are a few inches high.

Prune staked tomatoes to one or two main leaders, and wire-cage plants to three or four leaders.

Though the heavy foliage of a caged plant reduces sunscald, the plant and its cage will require more room especially for air circulation. However, caged tomatoes deliver on that extra space with a higher yield.

Curling tomato leaves are protesting uneven watering and temperatures above 85 F. Watering deeply, along with renewed mulch will uncurl the leaves.

Tomatoes diseases decoded

Alternaria Stem Canker/Crown Wilt (A)
Bacterial speck Pseudomonas (B)
Early Blight (EB) (As)
Fusarium Wilts Race 1(F)
Fusarium Wilt Race 1 and Race 2 (FF)
Root-knot Nematodes (N)
Septoria leaf spot (L)
Stemphylium Gray leaf spot (St)
Tobacco Mosaic Virus (T)
Verticilium wilt (V)

Virginias top tomatoes (days to maturity)

Better Boy (105) VFN
Big Beef (73) VFFNTA
Celebrity (70) VFFNT
Mountain Spring (65) VF
Plum Dandy (82) EB, V
Sweet 100 (65) VF

For more information see publications #426-418 (2004) and #426-480 (2000) at http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/ or request them from your local Virginia Extension Office.

Tip of the Week

Use natural or synthetic wine bottle corks at the bottom of a container as a shelf for a potted plant. Watered corks humidify the plant, preventing fragile roots from drowning. The pot-within-a-pot gives you more decorative options without scouring a fine outer pot with coarser materials like pebbles.