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February
14, 2001
The Show
Must Go On...
We are glad to report that the Metropolitan Lawn & Garden
Show was a huge success for us! The weekend started off
somewhat rocky with the weather playing a huge role. The
Marsh house was among those without power first thing Friday
morning and that sent us into a mild panic considering it was the
first day of the show. It is funny how the absence of
electricity in the house really changes what goes on. Our
daughter Morgan thought that is was cool (no pun intended
considering we had no heat) that there was no electricity and
that school was canceled. The boys on the other hand were
concerned that they would not be able to watch their favorite TV
shows. When told that we did not have heat or electricity
our four-year-old Noah simply replied "You gotta be
kidding" and went back to bed. Once power was restored
things were back to normal and Kevin and I hurried to the
show. Some of our braver readers ventured out on
Friday. It was great getting to meet so many
Savvygardeners! Readers who have been reading
Savvygardener.com for months and brand new readers who will
receive their first newsletter this week! Anyway a big
thanks to all of you who stopped by and introduced
yourselves. Without all of your support there would be no
us!
I don't
think that I am going to talk about the weather this week in
hopes that all of this ickyness will go away. In all
seriousness I think that there is another chance of a snow/ice
mixture in the next couple of days... so if you are
planning that trip to Florida go now! Could I possibly stow
away in your suitcase?
~
Shelly
Read All
About It...
OK, there are a lot of new readers out there this week and we
want to devote this space to alerting them to our Feature
Articles. The newsletter you are reading now is
meant to deliver "timely tips" of about a paragraph or
two in length. Occasionally we publish more in-depth
articles on important gardening topics. They are indexed in
the left margin of this newsletter and on our website.
Savvygardeners
should pay particular attention to two articles right now:
We hope you
find these and all of our Feature
Articles useful. If there are topics we haven't yet
covered that you would like to see please contact
us.
Testing,
Testing, 1,2,3...
When
was the last time you had your garden soil tested?
Never? Shame on you! Soil testing is one of the most
important, and overlooked, things you can do to better understand
your garden. Fortunately it's not very difficult and
doesn't cost much either. Your county
extension service probably offers soil testing for a nominal
fee. If you decide to have your soil tested at the
extension office simply follow these guidelines for getting a
good sample for them to evaluate (note: soil should be dry or
nearly dry):
- In the
area you want tested take a garden trowel and plunge it at
least six inches into the soil.
- Rotate
the trowel 360 degrees creating a tapered column of
soil.
- Lift the
column of soil out of the ground and place it in a large
container.
- Repeat
the above for every 25 square feet in your garden.
- Thoroughly
combine the samples.
- Remove
rocks, grass, roots and other "non-soil"
debris.
- Put about
one pint of this soil in a clean container and mark it with an
identifying label.
- Take the
sample to your county
extension office for evaluation. It may take several weeks
before the results are available.
You may
want to have several soil tests performed - one for each
distinctly different garden on your property.
Potted
Presents...
Did your Valentine send you a pretty potted plant
today? Mine did! Depending on the plant and with
proper care you should be able to keep it healthy much longer
than cut flowers generally last. Here's some of the more
popular potted plants:
| Azalea |
3-4
weeks |
Exacum |
3-4
weeks |
| Calceolaria |
4-5
weeks |
Gloxinia |
2-8
weeks |
| Cineraria |
10-14
days |
Hydrangeas |
2-3
weeks |
| Cyclamen |
3-4
weeks |
Kalanchoes |
4-5
weeks |
|
Miniature
Roses 6-7 weeks |
Make sure
they get plenty of indirect light and of course water.
Source
Trim
Now, Butterflies Later...
Our butterfly bush rewards me and my family to great
gatherings of butterflies every summer. To make sure it's
in top shape I usually trim it back to about 12 inches this time
of year. This helps promote a well shaped bush with larger
flowers.
The Cold
Truth About Turf...
Our lawn sure looks different this winter compared to
last. It was so warm last winter that our lawn was really
green. All the super cold weather we've had since December
has some Savvygardeners wondering what the effect on their lawns
may be. Let's take a look at how your grass reacts to the
cold:
Absolute minimum temperatures can affect turfgrasses by
causing freezing of moisture within plant tissues. In response to
freezing conditions, turfgrass plants will localize ice formation
to spaces between cells to keep the cell contents from freezing
up. Sustained cold can overpower this defense and, if ice forms
within plant cells, death is imminent. Bad news. A second consequence of
winter cold that is more often a concern for turfgrasses is winter desiccation.
This comes from continual losses of water during winter
conditions and can be serious if dry and/or windy conditions
prevail.
While it
is true that we had conditions this winter to promote damage the presence of snow-cover served as an effective
insulator to both absolute cold and desiccation. Snow creates a
physical buffer to cold and temperatures can actually remain
above freezing under the snow due to turfgrass metabolic
activity. The bottom line for us is that the snowfalls which
accompanied the recent and sustained cold weather should a) minimize
any potential winter injury occurring in our turfgrasses and b)
help moisturize the soil and therefore help avoid further winter desiccation injury.
Source
Winter
Wisdom...
The Metropolitan Lawn and Garden Show was held at the
American Royal Complex last weekend but you can still look
forward to several more local gardening events. Find out
about some of them in this
week's Winter
Wisdom...
Housekeeping,
Houseplants...
Next time you're dusting the
furniture also consider dusting the plants. With the short days of
winter we need to make sure as much light as possible reaches our
houseplants. Simply wipe dust from
broad-leaf plants at regular intervals using a cloth dampened with clean
water.
Finally...
"Gardening
is a long road, with many detours and way stations, and here we
all are at one point or another. It's not a question of
superior or inferior taste, merely a question of which detour we
are on at the moment. Getting there (as they say) is not
important; the wandering about in the wilderness or in the olive
groves or in the bayous is the whole point." ~
Henry Mitchell, Gardening Is a Long Road, 1998 |
