http://statebystategardening.com/oh/blog_03_summary/ en gardengeek57@gmail.com Copyright 2011 2011-12-19T23:18:38+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/giving_pla/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/giving_pla/   Herbaceous peony It came as a shock to me when I first began gardening that not everyone can grow tulips and peonies. If you live in the south, most spring bulbs that we in the north take for granted, like tulips, daffodils, crocuses and such, just won't make it down there. But of course, they have things that we can't grow in the ground year round either. The problem with trying to grow tulips in the warmer climates is that these bulbs and plants need a period of cold weather - typically below 45°F - in order to flower. This is called vernalization. Bulbs can be pre-chilled and then planted, but southerners may not want to be bothered, just as many northerners may not want to dig up tender bulbs/corms/tubers in the fall, such as dahlias and gladiolus. Cold temperatures also affect warm climate plants in a similar way when it comes to producing blooms. Several years ago, I purchased some Amazon lily (Eucharis grandiflora) bulbs while on a visit to Florida. I was taken by their beautiful white blooms and large, shiny green leaves. I brought them home, potted them up, and they grew wonderfully. But they didn't bloom.   Amazon Lily Eucharis grandiflora The lush green foliage of my Amazon lilies made for a beautiful house plant, but I longed for those gorgeous flowers. Why wouldn't my plants bloom? Quite by accident, I discovered that this is one of several plants that need cooler night temperatures in order to produce flowers. One winter, I put the Amazon lily in a spare bedroom that we only heat to about 55-60°F. When spring came, I put the plant back in the living room and one day I walked in there and found several blooms had appeared! Christmas Cactus Schlumbergera x buckleyi Other plants that require this cooling off period in order to bloom are Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti, which are also responsive to the shorter daylight hours. Some orchids can be spurred to bloom by keeping them cool for a period of time as well. Sometimes it takes awhile for the lights to come on in my brain, but I had a thought a couple of weeks ago about this cool temperature thing. In all the years I've had jade plants, both common and variegated, I've never had a single one of them bloom. I didn't even realize that they were capable of producing beautiful flowers until I saw a large plant in full bloom last year at Planterra in Michigan. Jade Plant Crassula ovata So what I'm going to do is put my jade plants in the cooler bedroom for the winter, then bring them out when spring gets here. No, that isn't exactly how things would be in their native environment, but plants can be fooled and coerced in many ways. This won't hurt them and maybe, just maybe, they'll pop out blooms. Annuals, Bulbs, Weather 2011-12-19T22:18:38+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/keeping_azaleas_under_wraps/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/keeping_azaleas_under_wraps/ Azaleas are somewhat of an iffy sort here in Zone 5b, meaning they are supposed to survive our cold winters and bloom beautifully in the spring, but sometimes they do neither.  I've lost a couple of them to the cold and while the lone shrub we have now has made it through a couple of tough winters, it didn't always bloom much come spring. Knowing it is a marginal shrub for me, I've always mulched well, but there are other outside forces that conspire to bring it down from its potential glory. Freezing and thawing, drying cold winds, and scalding winter sun can do a number on trees and shrubs, so a little extra protection may be needed for some of them, including azaleas.   A couple of years ago, I decided to wrap the azalea in burlap. Our local Walmart had plenty of it in their fabric department for $2.49 a yard, so I bought 1½ yards, which was plenty to lay over the shrub and wrap it loosely.   I secured the burlap at the bottom with a hooked bungee cord, so the winds wouldn't blow it away. Other ways of keeping it in place are with ground staples or stakes.     There are other products made especially for covering plant, shrubs and small trees and I've used those, too. Either works well. Trees and Shrubs, Weather 2011-11-06T02:19:03+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/the_secret_of_hardy_mums/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/the_secret_of_hardy_mums/ I've said before that I love mums, but in the past the mums must not have loved me. I've bought them, planted them, and enjoyed their lovely blooms at a time of year when there isn't a great lot of color in the garden. Then spring comes, and they don't. I remember a few autumns ago when I bought a lot of the Prophet Series mums (by Yoder Brothers) and lost every single one of them. Ouch. I transferred my affections to asters, and while I do love them, they aren't mums. But I'm not a quitter, and I usually get what I want. And I. Want. Mums. 'Bolero' So I did some research. I can be taught, and I just knew there was some way to grow beautiful mums for more than one season. I have seen many people do it without even trying, so there must be some way for me to do it, too. I will say that I've had great success with certain types of mums. Those that are labeled as Dendranthema work well for me. They're usually more of a daisy-type mum and that's okay with me, because I like daisies very much and with them coming in all sorts of colors, that's just all the better. 'Clara Curtis' and 'Bolero' are two that fall into that category. And they spread quickly. 'Clara Curtis' Those Prophet Series mums are supposed to be fairly hardy, so why weren't they hardy for me? What was I doing wrong? I longed for their wide variation in colors and their volumes of blooms. One year I saw some Belgian mums for sale. What makes these different or special? I was in a Meijer store and overheard a woman asking the help about them. They mentioned that they were supposed to be a little hardier. So of course, I came home and checked them out online. Hardiness notwithstanding, these mums are known for their number of blooms. A cushion-type, they've got hundreds on one plant, though they're smaller in size. The stems are stronger, too. How many times have you broken a stem while planting mums? Belgian mums can take more abuse. I read too, that they can bloom in the spring as well. Trim off the spent blooms and then they'll bloom beautifully in the fall. No pinching back until the 4th of July for these either. I bought one. All I really cared about was the hardiness. It didn't survive.   'High Regards' But what about the mums I already have and the ones that I long to have? How to get them not to succumb to winter's icy grasp? Besides making sure the mums I'm buying are indeed hardy garden mums and not the florist mums (which are not hardy here in Zone 5), here's the thing: They need good drainage. Yep. That's it. It's the number one reason for mum failure. They like rich soil, but they'll grow okay in poor dirt. You can fertilize them for more blooms, but they'll bloom very well without it. They like sun or partial shade, but they'll bloom some in full shade, too. But wet feet? They hate that. This can be a bit tricky, I'm thinking, since they're relatively shallow-rooted. They like it moist right at the surface, but they don't like staying in a cold, wet hole during the winter. So last fall, I made sure I planted the mums my mom passed on to me in soil that I knew would drain well. Every single one of them returned this spring. A couple more tips: Don't prune them back. The dead stems and foliage will help protect them during the winter. Select and plant them in the spring. This will give them a better chance to become established. 'Red Dandy'     Perennials 2011-10-17T00:47:54+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/colchicums_the_other_autumn_crocus/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/colchicums_the_other_autumn_crocus/ Every season has its stars. While we love the plants that give us blooms and color all summer long, we look forward to those that have their place in the sun (or shade) for a brief time, too. In the fall, we have fall-blooming crocus (Crocus pulchellus and Crocus sativus, among others) , toad lilies (Tricyrtis sp.), and of course, mums and asters. A couple of years ago, I purchased several corms of Colchicum 'Waterlily' and planted them in four different locations. Often called Autumn Crocus or Meadow Saffron, they rise on naked stems from the soil during the last half of September here in zone 5b. Growing no taller than 6-8 inches, their giant blooms measure as large as six inches across and my 'Waterlily' blooms have a lavender-pink color that glows in the landscape. The blooms of this heirloom variety (1928) are multi-petaled and heavy and sometimes lay down on the ground because of the weight. They can last over a week in water as a cut flower. The foliage appears in the spring and gathers energy from the sun and soil to prepare for the fall blooms. After its brief appearance, they go dormant through summer until the blooms emerge in fall.   I planted three corms in each location and in just a couple of years, they have multiplied to form a nice little clump. Next summer, I'll dig them and divide the corms so that I have an even larger clump, which is what I wanted. Colchicums can be rather pricey as bulbs/corms go, so I'm glad they multiply so easily. Colchicums are best planted in mid-summer, when the corms are dormant, in a well-drained area. They're hardy to zones 5-8. Bulbs 2011-10-03T14:04:19+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/explode-o-pop_seeds/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/explode-o-pop_seeds/ David Letterman gives Explod-O-Pop® popcorn to members of The Late Show audience on occasion. That's fun. But not nearly as much fun as I'm having with the seeds I collected from the garden. Most of the seed pods are perfectly harmless. Just open them and scrape out the seeds. But there are some that should come with a warning label: WARNING: May cause eye injury. It is advisable to wear eye protection while handling these seed pods. It is also not recommended to handle these seed pods if you have a heart condition. They are unstable and may spontaneously explode, causing sudden startling to the handler. Proceed with caution and at your own risk. Balsam, also known as Touch-Me-Nots (Impatiens balsamina) Guess how they got that name? They're pretty cool, actually. Pick a pod, hold the ends between your thumb and index finger and squeeze. Whoa! It's like a little grenade went off in your hand. They're designed this way for a reason, of course. Let your plants go to seed and they'll spread far and wide in your garden - as far as their little launchers will toss them. They're annuals, but don't count on it. Unless you pull the plants or seeds before they start exploding, you'll have them again next year. I promise. Snow-On-the-Mountain (Euphorbia marginata). It's a beautiful plant and nothing in the name suggests what I'm about to reveal. The seed pods are a tripod, meaning they have three lobes, each one containing a round brown seed. (I just made that tripod thing up. They aren't really called that.) When you pick the seed pods off the plant and take them into the house, unless you want them all over the house, you must put a piece of paper or paper towel over them as they dry. Last fall, when I gathered these pods for the first time, I laid them out on a plate and went to bed. They were brown already, but I wanted to make sure they were good and dry before putting them in their bag for storage. When I woke up the next morning, there were seeds all over the kitchen! I blamed the cats. They just stared at me as if to say, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Yeah, that's what they always want me to believe. It turns out they really didn't have a clue and neither did I. I stood there, pondering the possibilities of how those seeds managed to get from here to there and then it happened, right before my eyes. SNAP! Oh, there goes another one. CRACKLE! Hey, that one hit me in the cheek! POP! Run for cover! As the pods dry, they shrink. When they shrink, they crack open and propel the seed AND the pod parts all over the place. These are annuals too, but don't try to tell them that. They're perennial wannabes and I've had them come up a good 20 feet away from where they were the year before.   There are other plants that also throw their seeds, but that's not the only way seeds get from one place to another for propagation by self-seeding. Some act as parachutes (milkweed and dandelions), others as helicopters (maple seeds). There are hitchhikers of two sorts: some are sticky on the outside and grab onto things (Chinese Forget-me-nots) and others travel inside birds after they eat them and they get 'deposited' elsewhere (several kinds of berried fruit). Fascinating stuff, these seeds.   Annuals 2011-09-17T03:35:04+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/the_summer_that_rain_forgot/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/oh/blog_03/the_summer_that_rain_forgot/ It’s been a rough summer. If you live in the Midwest, chances are you’ve had enough of the hot, dry weather and long for soothing rains and cool breezes. Some years are like that. My 96-year-old grandma has told us many times about the summer of 1934, when it was so hot and dry that the little chicks fell into the cracks in the yard and needed help getting out. 1936 brought more of the same. We like to whine about the weather and we moan about our sad-looking plants. August is not known for being the best time in the garden, but we can take advantage of these less-than-optimal conditions to assess what does work. As I walked around the garden this evening, I noticed one of my favorite plants, Tricyrtis sp. – more commonly known as Toad Lily – seems to be barreling into fall without missing a beat. I love this plant because it blooms in shade and it blooms in fall, when there isn’t a whole lot of color in either. Its blooms look like little orchids and in many species, they’re stacked up and down the stem. Lovely! Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is both blooming and setting seed and the monarchs are loving every minute of it. Plants in the Asclepias family are the lone host plant for the monarch caterpillars. This drought-tolerant plant scoffs at the weather we’ve had. I’ve got both the more common orange as well as the yellow cultivar ‘Hello Yellow’ and both are looking fine.   Several ornamental grasses are doing well, too. That’s likely because many of them are common to our area in their native forms. Take Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), for example. It doesn’t take much of anything for this one to thrive. I know, summer is wearing on you. Me, too. But I’m glad the entire garden isn’t unhappy with the hand we’ve been dealt. Walk around your own garden and take stock of those things that are doing well. Then grow more of them.     Perennials, Weather 2011-08-24T00:30:59+00:00