http://statebystategardening.com/tn/blog_02_summary/ en dvtown@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-05-22T12:51:29+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/the_essential_salvias/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/the_essential_salvias/ If you were to ever visit my garden you would quickly notice that salvias are one of my favorite plants. There's a salvia of some kind in nearly every ornamental garden bed. It's easy to see to why I like them. Salvias are beautiful plants that bloom prolifically throughout the summer but it's not just their looks that I like. Salvias are wildlife resistant and are great for pollinators.   In our garden you will find several different types of salvias including both annuals and perennials. There are purple colored salvias like 'May Night' (Salvia nemorosa) or 'Caradonna'. There are blue salvias (Salvia farinacea) near our blue garden shed. Red salvias like Salvia coccinea (an annual) reseed themselves each year. Another red salvia that is usually an annual is pineapple sage (Salvia elegans), which came back this spring due to our extremely mild winter. There's even a shrub like salvia called Autumn sage (Salvia greggii). Autumn sage blooms briefly in the spring then comes along in the fall with a profusion of red blooms.     One of the best performing salvias in our garden is salvia 'Black and Blue' or Salvia gauranitica. 'Black and Blue' can grow fairly large, spreading 5 feet wide or more through its root system. It's a fairly easy salvia to spread around if you need it in new areas as it divides very easily! Like many other salvias it is well loved by hummingbirds because of the tube like flowers.   Salvias like many other perennials are very easy to propagate through stem tip cuttings or through division. Deer and rabbits generally leave salvias alone, but keep in mind that in order to decide they don't like something animals need to taste it first! 2012-05-22T11:51:29+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/when_you_plant_tomatoes_do_this/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/when_you_plant_tomatoes_do_this/ The frosts chances have almost passed for us here in Tennessee.  In fact we just had one this morning, but in just a few days we'll be able to safely plant outside in our gardens all the summer vegetables we desire!  Of course the most planted vegetable of all (really a fruit) has to be the tomato.  I'm going to share with you one secret of planting tomatoes that will make your plants much more healthy this year.  It's all in the planting.  This little technique has been around for a while but its so useful it really needs shared.  The secret to planting tomatoes is to plant as much of the stem under the soil as you can when you first plant it!  The tomato plant is excellent at creating roots along the stem.  Have you ever noticed that shaded areas of the tomato grow roots along the stems?  This ability is what gardener's put to use in developing plants that grow strong, healthy, and that are more water-wise.  When planting the tomatoes dig a hole as nearly deep as the tomato plant.  Then remove all the leaves from the plant except for the top two leaves.  Plant the tomato in the hole and fill in with soil so that the top two leaves remain above the soil's surface.  The tomato will grow roots all along the stem which gives it a larger root system much faster than simply planting the already established roots! Another way to do this is to dig a shallow trench as long as the tomato and lay the tomato plant horizontally in the trench.  The top leaves are left above the soil while the rest of the plant is covered.  This works great too but if you want to plant companion plants close to the tomato plant you may have to be careful not to cut into the tomato roots and stem.  I like the first method better but sometimes the soil isn't as easy to dig as deep as you need to get the tomato plant planted. This easy tomato trick really is an awesome way to plant tomatoes!   2012-04-12T12:11:43+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/the_benefits_of_beneficials/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/the_benefits_of_beneficials/ Beneficial insects are one of the greatest things you can attract to your garden.  It's really amazing the amount of work these small creatures do for us.  Obviously their intent is to help themselves but gardeners have a natural symbiotic relationship with beneficial insects that should be fostered whenever possible.   I'm sure everyone can easily think of one of the major benefits of insects - pollination!  Pollination of plants and flowers usually happens with the help of animals, insects, or the wind.  Insects aren't intentionally trying to insure that your plum trees cross pollinate, they just want something to eat!  When they visit the flowers they bring pollen from other trees which is what the flowers need to create a seed (and the fruit that surrounds it).  Attracting bees is very beneficial to your vegetable garden.  Vegetables like squash only produce male or female flowers on the plant and not flowers that contain both parts.  These plants are called monoecious and require help to pollinate.  Bees will be attracted to the flowers but to insure more pollinators, bring more flowers!  Planting bees friendly flowers in the garden attracts more pollinators to your plants which aids in pollinating your garden.   Other beneficial insects are great for pest control!  Spiders (although not technically an insect) do a wonderful job of policing the garden and reducing pest issues.  Lacewing and lady beetles larvae enjoy chowing down on aphids, mites, whiteflies, and other small pests.  There are even parasitic wasps that lay their eggs into hornworms.  When the eggs hatch the larvae destroy the hornworm caterpillar from the inside!  You may have seen this happen and not even realize it.  The caterpillar has white protrusions sticking out of its back.  I'm sure this isn't pleasant for the hornworm but it's good for the gardener who likes his or her tomato plants!   Here's a very popular predatory insect that is always welcome in my garden, the praying mantis!  These large insects love to eat any bugs in the garden.  Unfortunately that also includes the beneficials, but that's OK the bad bugs usually outnumber the good bugs which means plenty of food for my mantis friend.    How do you go about attracting these beneficial insects?  First off ditch the pesticides.  What you use on your garden to kill insects will effect the beneficials too.  Then begin planting companion plants that attract the good bugs in and around your garden.  Cosmos bipinnatus is extremely useful in attracting bugs like lacewings, hoveflies, bees, and parasitic wasps.  Many of the beneficial attractor plants are beautiful plants that gardeners might plant in their gardens anyway.  Plants like zinnias or achillea (yarrow) are great for bringing in the beneficials!    Integrating these plants is a great way to go and is a good first step to growing a safer more chemical free garden!  2012-03-26T11:44:13+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/hybrid_vs._heirloom_which_is_better/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/hybrid_vs._heirloom_which_is_better/ You may already have a preference for your vegetables but have you given any thought to the difference between the hybrids and the heirlooms?  What really is the difference?  And which is better?  It's largely a matter of personal opinion and taste but knowing the differences will help you make an informed decision.   Let's define our subjects. A hybrid is one plant variety that has been pollinated by different variety.  The two sets of genes combine to make a new variety that exhibits some of the traits of each of its parents.  Pretty simple!  Now take the heirloom plants.  They are typically plants that have been passed down through the years from gardener to gardener but there more to it than that.  They were at one time hybrids too, created by two parent plants.  Over the years these hybrids were planted, seeds were saved, then the seeds were planted again.  The genetic strain stabilized, which is fancy talk for saying you'll get the same produce each time you plant seeds from the hybrid.  Newly created hybrids will not have seeds that are stable. Should you plant a hybrid vegetable or plant from seed you might get what you had before but most likely you'll end up with something else.  It could be better, or perhaps not!    Now here is the question: Which is Better?  This is where personal taste comes into play, and not just the taste of the vegetables.  Modern hybrids have been bred for other features like disease or insect resistance.  A vegetable that is noticeably less appetizing to an insect will get crossed with others to create improved insect resistant varieties of the vegetable.  This is done with landscape plants as well and is a good way to help limit the amount of pesticides that are used in our environment.    Hybrids aren't typically bred for taste or appearance but are bred for tougher skins for transport, better disease resistance, and better insect resistance.  That doesn't mean they don't taste good although it is true that sometimes other positive attributes like flavor can suffer at the expense of other features.   Heirlooms normally aren't as disease or insect resistant as hybrids.  They may need babied more through the growing season. More monitoring and more care may be needed - but there is a payoff - the flavor and unique appearance of many heirlooms makes gardening both fun and delicious!  Heirlooms also have a leg up on hybrids in the seed saving area.  Hybrids are kind of like the box of chocolates from the movie Forest Gump, you never know what you're going to get!    I personally prefer heirlooms.  'Cherokee Purple' tomatoes and 'Brandywine' tomatoes are two of my favorite heirloom tomatoes but there are hundreds of heirloom plants available through various seed sources.  They are tougher to find in stores but if you enjoy growing from seed your options are nearly limitless!  2012-02-23T12:44:48+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/must_be_march_-_oh_wait/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/must_be_march_-_oh_wait/ It Must be March!  Oh wait, no it isn't but it sure feels like it doesn't it?  The weather has been unseasonably warm and the plants are responding accordingly, which may not be a good thing.  Don't get me wrong I love being able to get outside and do stuff in the garden but the effect on the trees is what concerns me.  Do you remember 2007?  It seemed very similar to this year.  Unseasonably mild temperatures, we thought that maybe winter was done early and so did the plants, but we were deceived! Winter had one more blast to give us in freezing temperatures and it did a number on our favorite garden specimens.  I'm hoping we don't have to go through that again this year.    The Japanese maples and crape myrtles suffered the most but all kinds of plants were fooled and received frost damage.  The warm temperatures caused the sap to flow which then froze in the trunks of the trees and caused splitting.  Splitting bark isn't a good thing!  At our house we lost several Japanese hollies that year.  I can't say I was disappointed as I probably would have removed them anyway in favor of something a little less holly-like!   Have you been around your garden and gaged what is coming up early?  I took a trip around the garden yesterday and found a few things.  They are probably coming up in your garden too. The crocus bulbs are sending up their foliage (picture on the right).       The daffodils are coming up too.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the daffodils actually bloom in early February.  The earliest I've had one bloom was in the middle of February and that daffodil bloomed back in 2009.   The Lenten Rose is already blooming and it's not even Ash Wednesday yet!     Even the tulips are sending up foliage.  I have a combination of Negrita and Shirley tulips that have done a great job for my garden over the years.  The secret (which is not so secret and applies to many bulb flowers) is to allow the foliage to die back naturally to absorb as much energy as possible for the following bloom cycle.  This is how their foliage looks now:     And here's what they will turn into when their blooming begins!     But then of course there are those winter bloomers that are showing off as expected like Winter Jasmine.  Although I have to admit the show isn't nearly as nice as last year but when in winter one should not be picky when it comes to blooms!           2012-01-24T13:15:41+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/january_in_the_garden/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/january_in_the_garden/ January is one of those funny months isn't it?  You long to see something growing outdoors, you're tired of winter, you're ready for spring, but there are still weeks to wait until spring weather arrives to stay.  Fortunately here in Tennessee we are blessed with mild winters and get that occasional nice warm winter day to get out and get our gardening fixes.  So what is going on in our January gardens to look at?  Believe it or not there's always something interesting to see!   The recent threat of snow dumped a whole dusting of snow on our plants!  It definitely wasn't the kind of snow fall that kids dream of that keeps them home from school, just a dusting, but it was enough to make the lamb's ear look a little more like a lamb - or at least white anyway!         Other colors can add some winter interest to the garden if you add the right plants.  Plants like nandina do a great job of provided both evergreen color and some bright red color from their berries.  The only downside is they tend to spread and have lots of little baby nandinas!       I like to leave oak leaf hydrangeas alone until spring so that we can enjoy the dried seed heads.  Once the weather changes I'll cut the hydrangeas back and pin any low lying branches into the soil to make a few more through layering.   If you like the winter interest provided by ornamental grasses here is a picture of the 'Shenandoah' switchgrass near my garden shed.  In a few weeks I'll cut the grasses back for the new growth to emerge.     Red twig dogwoods look pretty nice this time of year.  The bright red stems look especially good near evergreens, it's too bad I don't have more evergreens around to use as backdrops!  Red Twig dogwoods enjoy a good pruning of the older branches every couple years to renew the red shoots.  If you ever want more just stick a few hardwood cuttings in the soil during the fall and winter months and by mid-spring you'll have a rooted plant!                   One nice feature of my winter garden is the winter blooming jasmine.  Winter jasmine emerges in blooms anywhere between mid-January and March and usually well before the forsythias begin to bloom.  The timing of its blooming is largely dependent on how mild of a winter we have had.  This year the flowers are breaking in January while last year it bloomed in March.           Another winter blooming plant that graces the January garden is witch hazel. We have two of these native plants, their fragrance is nice but very faint.   There's a quick trip around my January garden.  Fairly soon it will be time to start sowing the seeds of the 2012 garden, are you ready yet?           2012-01-16T01:29:04+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/december_gardening/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/december_gardening/ Ah, December!  The cool crisp mornings (OK, down right frosty), the joyous holiday season (with the unfortunate season of shopping which has become unceremoniously intertwined), and of course the time when absolutely nothing grows (with the exception of everything you don't want to grow), so what is a gardener to do?  It may seem like nothing to but despair until spring but to those who are truly addicted to gardening there is always something!  It's time to plan, time to peruse catalogs, and time to get our gardening acts together for the next growing season.     While I'm writing this post I'm sure that mountains of gardening catalogs are finding their way to my Spring Hill, TN home through the U.S. Postal service.  Already two have arrived. One of which happens to be my favorite seed catalog for heirloom vegetables, Baker Creek.  The amazing array of vegetables they offer always spurs my overactive imagination. Which is good because I need a burst of energy this time of year. Let the list making commence!  While running through the catalogs I mark anything I want to try so I can go back and write a master ordering list for January.  I'll need to get some of the seeds started by February in order to get the earliest jump possible on the growing season.    December is also when I figure out what needs done for next year.  I try to think on what projects I did over the past year, what worked, what didn't, what I had time for, what I didn't, and how I could do it all better.  I plan and I scheme.  I think about where new gardens should go.  This is a great time to mark out those locations and get the area of the garden areas settled before planting season begins.  Whenever I start a new garden I like to use the layered garden approach which is also called Lasagna gardening or sheet composting.  I spread newspapers directly over the area then spread layers of organic material on top.  By spring the turf underneath is usually clear of unwanted vegetation and I can go ahead and plant all those new spiffy plants for 2012.  Leaves, grass clippings, and cardboard are great for use in sheet composting.   As part of my planning process I map out projects I want to get to.  "Map out"  sounds like I have some sort of detailed plans, planting arrangements, or blueprints put together, nope.  A simple list is good enough.  In the interest of full disclosure I never get it all done.  It's kind of a dream list.  If I could stop time I "might" be able to get it all complete!  The last several years I've had a garden fence on that list for my vegetable garden, one of these days I'll get a post hole dug!   December is also my bargain bulb time of year.  I seek out those discount racks and buy up those 75% off bulbs when I see them,  it's never too late to plant a bargain daffodil!  Some plants do need chill time to flower (tulips come to mind) so it's best to get them going as soon as possible or give them a little help with the refrigerator.  I'll drop my tulip bulbs in their holes this weekend and should end up with a nice array of spring flowers.    So while I'm racking my brain trying to think of what to get my wife this year for Christmas I'm also keeping busy planning the garden.  There's always something that can be done for the garden, even in December! 2011-12-08T15:50:04+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/the_end_of_the_growing_season_draws_near/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/the_end_of_the_growing_season_draws_near/ The days are speeding by for the garden and all of a sudden I have found myself staring at the mid-October garden thinking about all the things I need to get done.  It won't be very long at all before the weather report becomes downright frosty on a regular basis.  In fact the first frost warnings of the season greeted us yesterday morning on the local news.  That sent me into a garden panic.  I was out saving perennials, gathering vegetables, and covering plants that needed protection.  Maybe, just maybe, I can help them hang on a bit longer.  In a few weeks there won't be anything to worry about of course. The cold mornings will be enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee after walking my daughter to the bus stop.  Saving a bit of basil won't be an issue.  Nor will gathering cuttings of my pineapple sage that is blooming beautifully this fall.  What will matter are my preparations for spring, things like bulb planting and garden planning! But there is always something to do in the garden!  Over the next couple weeks I'll be putting most of the garden to bed for the winter. Here's a short list of what I will be working on before the end of the growing season: Finish gathering tomatoes!  the garden is full of little tomatoes in various stages of ripeness.  Green tomatoes can be fried up for that famous southern delicacy Fried Green Tomatoes or left to ripen in on the counter top.  They may not taste as great as one grown to maturity on the vine but they aren't from a store and I know where they've been! Gather my basil for a last minute batch of pesto! Clean out the dead stuff.  If it's ugly and serves no purpose like feeding the birds then it needs to go.  I leave anything with a bit of winter interest alone.  Plants like ornamental grasses, deciduous hollies, red twig dogwoods, and many others are great at providing something to enjoy over the winter.  I also leave perennial foliage until spring so that the dead foliage will provide another layer of frost protection for the root crown of the plants.  Gather seeds.  All kinds of perennials and annuals are producing seed for next year. If I want to let them self-sow I can leave them be but if I want to control where they go I need to gather seed! Dig up tender rooted perennials and bring in the house for winter.  I grow caladiums each year which just won't make it through our winters.  This year I planted them in a planter to transfer into garage when needed. Treat the soil of house plants that were outside for buds and bring them indoors. A dish soil mixture poured into the soil of my avocado and ornamental pepper plants should chase away any bugs that may be nesting in the soil.  By flooding the pot with water temporarily the bugs will have nowhere to go but out!   That short list could easily stretch quite a bit longer! Remember, there is always that "One More Thing Syndrome."  I suspect you have had the syndrome too.  If usually occurrs when I'm in the garden and I say "Let me get this one more thing done." That list grows ever longer!   2011-10-21T16:04:15+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/fall_blooms/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/fall_blooms/ This time of year is nothing short of spectacular for gardeners. The weather has cooled off, the cool breezes have returned, and of course the plants are putting on one final brilliant show of color before the close of the gardening season. What can you expect from your garden this fall?  Here's a look at some of the fall blooming flowers in my garden that maybe you'll want to plant in yours too!     Mums This time of year mums are everywhere. Chrysanthemums come in many different colors from white, to yellow, to red, and various shades in between. Many people buy them for their seasonal color and toss them out without realizing that they'll come back next year.  After their color has faded remove them from the pot and plant them in your garden and you'll be able to enjoy them for years.   Asters Asters are a little less popular than mums but are definitely not less deserving of recognition!  Asters perform just as well as mums and can add more unique colors to your fall palette.    Goldenrod Once you realize that goldenrod really doesn't cause your allergies you may find its appearance particularly striking when mixed together with those asters and mums.  Goldenrod tends to get tall but shorter cultivars are available.   Salvia Often you think of salvia as a great spring and summer bloomer but certain varieties love to wait until fall like Autumn sage (Salvia greggii) and Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans).     Spider Lily Add some spider lily bulbs this winter to enjoy next fall!  Spider lilies come up suddenly and bloom for several days then disappear about as quickly as they arrived. Then they will send up foliage to gather energy to produce next year's flowers.  I recently discovered one spider lily in my garden and I have no clue when or how it came to be in my garden!     Caryopteris My favorite fall blooming shrub is caryopteris.  This time of year it is covered in blue blooms that drive the pollinators wild. The main variety I have is called 'Longwood Blue' which I've planted into a curved hedge but I also have a variegated caryopteris called 'Snow Fairy'. "snow Fairy' hasn't bloomed yet but it was only planted this spring and may need a little more time to grow.   What fall blooms are you enjoying right now? 2011-09-26T12:19:49+00:00 http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/its_time_for_cuttings_for_fall/ http://statebystategardening.com/state.php/tn/blog_02/its_time_for_cuttings_for_fall/ This time of year always fills me with the urge to get outdoors and garden but at the same time my head is filled with all the things I need to get done.  While I'm actively thinking about the vegetable garden, the lawn, and all those other garden chores that need worked on during the fall season I also think about ways I can garden and save a few bucks next year.  Cuttings are one simple way I have a little fun and save money at the same time. Quite a few plants in the garden can be successfully overwintered indoors to plant outside again next year. I could go out and dig these plants up and place them into pots but cutting are much less work than that!  Plants like coleus, Persian shield, basil, and Pineapple sage are great picks to overwinter from cuttings.   The neat thing about these plants in particular is that they are extremely easy to root. Extremely easy...  Do I need to repeat myself?  Really, all you need to do is take your cutting with 2-3 nodes (the growing points where leaves form), stick them in a good potting soil with the top node above the soil, then water as needed.  Until the plant is rooted it is critical to keep the soil medium nice and moist, but not soggy.  Of course you could go the other method - the jar of water!  I've done that more than once (just see the coleus picture below). Going directly into soil is better in most cases since the roots grow in the environment they will be growing in without any need of future transplanting.  I've always found that the less roots have to be moved the better!     What plants do you plan on overwintering this year?     2011-09-13T00:21:09+00:00