Well
the first day of Fall is two days away! What a nice change
of weather to welcome the Autumnal Equinox. We did get some
rain today, though not much, and beggars cannot be choosy.
Fall is such a great time of the year. It ranks right up
there with spring. Spring brings new beginnings and Fall
brings closure to the summer. We are so lucky to experience
the change of four full seasons and although I am not a
"winter person" I fear I would miss the change from fall
to winter if I lived in a warmer climate. So for now, like a
good gardener, I will enjoy the fall that is given to us and
prepare myself for the winter which lies ahead.
Oops!
It was brought to my attention by Andrea Neumann (The
Sweet Onion) that last week's newsletter was published with
the wrong date. How could that have happened? I must
edit and re-edit the newsletter until I am tired of editing.
All I can say is that I am sorry for the oversight and I hope that
I did not confuse anyone as to what day it was. Perhaps I am
a better gardener than editor! |
~ Shelly |
Totally
Tulips (Part III) |
If you enjoy
the thought of continuously blooming tulips in your spring garden
you will need to round out the early and middle bloomers
(discussed in the previous two issues) with some of these later
blooming varieties:
- Single
Late Tulips incorporate the former Darwin, cottage, and
breeder tulips. Along with the Darwin hybrid tulips,
they are some of the tallest tulips. Flowers are
borne on stems up to 30 inches tall and available in a wide range of colors.
- Double
Late Tulips are often referred to as peony-flowered
tulips. The many-petaled flowers are borne on 12 to 20
inch stems. Plant double late tulips in protected
locations as the large flowers can be damaged by rain and
strong winds.
- Viridiflora
Tulips produce long-lasting flowers which have prominent
green markings on their petals. The unusual flower
characteristics make it a novelty item in the garden.
- Lily-flowering
Tulips have long pointed petals which arch outward, the
flowers somewhat resembling a lily. Flower colors
include white, pink, red, yellow, and purple. Several
varieties have petals edged or feathered in contrasting
colors. Plants grow to a height of 20 to 30 inches.
- Fringed
Tulips have flowers with elegant fringed petals. Many
varieties are mutants of single late tulips. Also known
as "crispa tulips."
- Rembrandt
Tulips produce striped or "broken" blooms. The
white, yellow, or red petals are striped with red, bronze, or
purple. These types were bought for huge sums during the
"tulip mania" in Holland in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. The unusual markings were actually
caused by a virus. Due to the virus, the original
Rembrandt tulips are no longer sold. However, there are several modern, virus-free Rembrandt tulips available.
- Multi-flowering
Tulips produce 3 to 7 blooms per stem. The main stem
of multi-flowering tulips branches into secondary stems.
Each secondary stem produces a flower. The flower on the
main stem is slightly larger than those on the secondary
stems. Many of the multi-flowering cultivars belong to
the single late tulip class. These tulips are 14- to
20-inch-tall plants which bloom late in the season.
Several varieties are multi-flowering Greigii tulips which are
8 to 12 inches tall and early blooming.
Next week, Species
Tulips...
Source
|
If
Everyone Eats It, No One Complains... |
We LOVE garlic! This year we're going to
plant some and see if we can grow something better than what we
usually buy at the grocery store. It seems like a good
investment - apparently planting a pound of cloves will result in
ten pounds of harvested bulbs.
Mid-September through mid-October is the best time for garlic
planting as it needs to be in the ground at least one month before the soil
freezes. Once planted, the bulbs will root and begin to sprout before
the onset of really cold
weather. Growth will continue into next season.
Start by planting the small
cloves that are divisions of the large bulb. The larger the clove,
the larger the size of the mature bulb at harvest. Do not divide
the bulb until immediately before planting. Although some people have had good luck planting the garlic
from the grocery store, seedstock from a nursery or via mail-order
is recommended.
Plant the cloves
(with their points up) three to five inches apart at a depth of
two to three inches. Add a light layer of mulch. Allow 18 to 30 inches
between rows or plant five inches apart in all directions if
you're using
raised beds. Next spring the garlic will push through the
soil and mulch. We'll wait until then to complete the
directions through harvest.
|
A
Dandy Time to Stop Dandelions... |
So,
all summer long you've been battling a few (or a few dozen)
dandelions for control of your lawn. Well, they say the best
way to control dandelions and other broad-leaf weeds is by
maintaining a lush, healthy turf. But you've still got to
knock out those pesky weeds that just won't go away and fall is a
great time to do it. Options are many but generally the most effective controls
result with a liquid broadleaf weed herbicide sprayed under these
conditions:
- The weeds are actively growing.
- Soil moisture is plentiful (never
in drought).
- Air temperatures are between 60 and 75 degrees F (never
above 80 degrees).
- Wind speeds are below 5 mph.
- The lawn will not receive moisture through rain or
irrigation for at least 24 hours.
- The lawn will not be mowed for several days before or after
the application.
- The person doing the applying reads and follows herbicide
label instructions carefully.
Source
|
Thinning
The Vines... |
With
nighttime temperatures getting seasonably cool it's time to take a
hard look at your tomato plants. It's a safe bet that any
blossoms or small fruit aren't going to amount to much.
While this may be obvious to you it's not well understood by the
plant. Ignorance is bliss and that not-too-smart tomato
plant will keep putting energy into its lost causes. Help it
out by removing blossoms and small fruit and thereby directing its
efforts into finishing the growth of more well established fruit.
Next week: How
to make those green tomatoes red...
|
It's
Not Nice To Fool Mother Nature... |
But
it sure is fun! Perusing the bulb catalogs one can't help but wish spring
would come sooner. Well, you can't rush the Vernal Equinox
but you can enjoy blooms from your spring flowering bulbs
while the snow is still flying. Just start the process of bulb
forcing now to get colorful and fragrant wintertime indoor
blooms. Everything you need to know is in "Forcing
Bulbs Indoors" in our Features section.
|
What's
Hot On the Hotline... |
The
folks that bring us the hotline each week want to make sure that
Savvygardeners are aware of another information resource - the InfoLine.
It's a joint service of all the Kansas City area county extension
offices and K-State and MU. Find out about this wonderful resource in this
week's Hotline...
|
The
Scoop On Mulching Trees... |
Based
on the mail we are receiving it sounds like a lot of new trees are
being planted this fall. Mulching is so important for new
trees but it's not as simple as dumping a bag of wood chips at the
base of tree. Here are some tips to help you avoid the most
common mistakes:
- Don't pile mulch around the trunk. This keeps the
trunk wet, which can allow diseases and insects to
invade. Keep the mulch at least 6 inches
from the trunk.
- Don't put on too little or too much. A 1-inch-deep
layer doesn't do the job. A settled depth of 3 to 5
inches gives you the full benefits of mulch, including good
weed control. Mulch depths of a foot or two are
excessive and may smother roots.
- Don't apply sour-smelling mulch. If it smells like
a litter box it's probably been stored on a waterlogged site.
The ammonia that builds in this situation can harm your
tree. Sour mulch is a rare occurrence, but your nose
will give you a clear warning of it.
- Don't use freshly chipped chips. While the chance of
disease transmission is small it's easy to go zero-risk by aging
chips for six weeks or more before using them
around your trees.
Source
|
A
Frosty Reception... |
It
sounds as if overnight temperatures will dip into the 40's this
weekend. Brrr! No frost on the horizon yet but keep in mind that our first frost is due in
mid-October. Remember that Mother Nature has her own agenda
and doesn't have much time for statistics and averages.
Surprise early frosts can be a problem if you're not prepared.
For those of
you new to Savvygardener.com we hope you will enjoy our timely
frost alerts. We send these e-mail alerts to all subscribers
when we believe an untimely frost is likely. Hopefully we
are still several weeks from our first frosty scare.
|
Finally... |
"If
there were nothing else to trouble us, the fate of the flowers
would make us sad."
~John
Lancaster Spalding, Bishop of Peoria, 1840-1916
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