Savvygardener.com

Sweet Onion Garden and Music Fest!

 
Visit Our Website
Previous Issues
Buyer's Guide  
Tell A Friend  

Bookstore  
Magazines 
Gardening Catalogs

Site Search
Contact Us
Submit A Tip

Feature Articles

~ Houseplant Care
~ When to Start
Seeds Indoors
~ Seed Starting Indoors
~ Vegetable Garden Calendar
~ Seed Starting Tomatoes

~

Shrub Pruning Calendar
~ Pruning Clematis 
~ Gardening in the Shade
~ Summer-Flowering Bulb Care
~ Drought-Tolerant Flowers for KC
~ Preparing for a Soil Test
~ Changing the pH of Your Soil
~ Growing Herbs
~ All About Composting
~ All About Mulch
~ Worm Composting
~ When to Harvest Vegetables
~ Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
~ Cold Frames & Hot Beds
~ When to Divide Perennials
~ Dividing Spring Blooming Perennials
~ Forcing Bulbs Indoors
~ Overseeding A Lawn
~ More...

Rose Tips
What's Hot... 
Turf Tips...
Winter Wisdom
Gardener's Glossary 

SavvyChat
~ On-Line Gardening Forum

Books We Love
Great Products
Web Resources
Event Calendar

Local Sponsors

~ Bradfield Industries
~ Earl May
~ Family Tree Nursery
~ The Kelly Gallery
~ Moncrief's Greenhouse
~ Missouri Organic Recycling
~ The Sweet Onion

 

Subscribe
Unsubscribe 
Address Change
Tell A Friend

Privacy Pledge

 

 

 

Click Here for Great Soil and Compost!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here for The Kelly Gallery!

 

 

 

 

Click Here for Bradfield Industries

 

 

 

 

 

Click Here for Moncrief's Greenhouse

 

 

Peony Festival 2002!

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 1, 2002

Delightfully Drippy...
Well it's Wednesday and it is a good day to be inside at the computer.  I would be rather taking a nap since I can't be in the garden but someone has got to write this editorial.  I love these lazy spring days.  Don't get me wrong, I prefer it to be sunny and warm but it is nice to have an occasional drippy day to get caught up on things I have been putting off.  I am sure Kevin would agree with me.  I tend to let the inside of the house become a bit unorganized.  It is too hard for me to think about cleaning and picking up inside when I could be cleaning up and planting outside.  It is easy for me to prioritize this time of the year.  Garden first, house second, laundry third.  Sometimes laundry has to be moved up the ladder especially when family members are complaining about not having anything to wear.  Life is full of tough decisions!

The Sweet Onion is gearing up for their 1st Annual Garden & Music Fest this Sunday May 5th from 12:30 - 5:00 PM.  This is a great time to visit The Sweet Onion and stock up on all of your spring planting needs.  There will be a lot of fun activities, live music, barbecue, and great giveaways so bring the whole family.  Kevin, the kids and I will be there for a while starting about 12:30.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Also on Sunday, tune in to WDAF 61 Country Radio at 7:00 AM and listen to yours truly as I join the Gard'n-Wise Guys for an hour of fun and informative garden talk.

Mark Saturday May 11th on your calendar for The Kelly Gallery's "Gardens In Bloom" party from 10 AM - 3 PM.  The Barn will be filled with new, affordable garden ornaments and home decorations.  The highlight of this party will be the fantastic gardens.  You've got to come walk the serene paths of The Kelly Gallery's gardens.  KCTV Channel 5 will be on location and we will be talking about the perfect gift for Mom so make sure you join us!

~ Shelly  

Showers For Flowers...
April has lived up to it's traditional billing and graced us with much needed showers.  Hopefully we will continue to get the inch of rain per week that our gardens need.  Unfortunately most years bring us long periods of dry, hot weather requiring diligent watering to keep our flowers looking their best.

If staying on top of watering isn't your idea of a good time you can always choose your flowers accordingly.  A drought-tolerant flower garden should include the following:

Annuals

Burning Bush, Kochia Gazania, Gazania
Creeping Zinnia, Sanvitalia Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia
Dusty Miller, Senecio Rose Moss, Portulaca
Four O'Clock, Mirabilis Salvia, Salvia farinacea

Perennials

Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia Iris, Iris
Blanket Flower, Gaillardia Sage, Salvia
Butterfly Flower, Asclepias Sedum
Gayfeather, Liatris Tickseed, Coreopsis

For a more complete list of drought-tolerant flowers that grow well in the Kansas City area click here.

Time For Tomatoes?
Before you get too eager about planting remember that tomatoes are a warm-loving crop and don't begin to develop roots or establish themselves until soil temperatures are a fairly consistent 55°F.  Tomatoes planted earlier may 'survive' but won't thrive until warmer weather develops.  Later planted tomatoes will catch up with earlier ones every time.  

Also, remember that tomato plants need to be young, short and stocky to transplant well.  Tall, overgrown, or plants with heavy blooms or fruit not only don't transplant well but research has shown they never reach the productivity of those transplanted from smaller plants.  The old technique of 'burying' part of the long stem below ground doesn't help much - if any.  It does prevent the plant from blowing or whipping in the wind but does not compensate for planting an overgrown plant.

Source

Ants In Your...
Not your pants, but your peonies!  If you have peonies you no doubt have noticed a proliferation of ants scurrying to and fro across the flower buds
(photo).   Those ants are the source of many "old gardener's tales" that have been handed down over the ages.  Here's the deal:  The ants are there because of the nectar-like substance secreted by the peony.  Chances are that the ants you see on your peonies are already living in your garden - the peonies just draw them out of the soil and make them more visible.  In other words, peonies are not increasing your local ant population (which creepily number in the hundreds of thousands or more).  Some say that the ants actually help peonies bloom.  Most experts disagree but since they do no harm it's best to just let them enjoy your peonies as much as you do.

 


Join the Discussion!
SavvyChat is Kansas City's
Best Gardening Forum!

See For Yourself!
(It's free!)

 

 

Sow, Sow, You Say...
Savvygardeners all across the metro will be out this weekend buying bedding plants, vegetable seedlings, and all manner of transplants for the garden.  Keep in mind that some plants actually prefer to have their seeds sown directly in the garden.

  • Among vegetables these include: beans, beets, carrots, celery, peas, squash, and turnips.
  • Among flowers: alyssum, aster, bachelor's button, cosmos, marigold, morning glory, sunflower, sweet pea, and zinnia.

Buy the seeds, read the directions, watch them grow!

Ugh, Slugs...
There's nothing quite as refreshing as the feeling of walking barefoot on a dew-covered lawn first thing in the morning. Nothing will ruin that feeling faster than stepping on a big ol' slimy slug.  Aesthetically these guys have no redeeming properties at all.  They can wreak havoc on your garden as well.  Young slugs will damage your plants by rasping away the surface of plant leaves for food.  These guys can eat 30 to 40 times their weight every day!  The adults chew holes in leaves and leave slime trails on your precious plants.  If you don't already have a favorite and effective way to control slugs try these tricks:

  • Slugs like the dark and damp.  Place a board over damp ground for a hiding place during the day. Check each morning and destroy any slugs that have gathered on the bottom of the board.
  • Slugs are attracted to and drown in shallow dishes containing beer. Set the top edges of the dish at ground level and cover loosely with a board so slugs can easily get into the mixture.
  • If you don't like the idea of killing slugs you can try physical barriers,  Slugs will not cross rough surfaces.   Sprinkle ashes or special slug barriers around the perimeter of the garden.   Stay on top of this method however.  If rain, wind, or anything else sweeps the barrier away you can count on the slugs exploiting the breach in your defenses.

 


Tell Your Friends About Savvygardener.com!

You Could Win A $50 Gift Certificate

Click Here For Details...

 

 

What's Hot On The Hotline...
It's time to get serious about planting.  The chance of a rogue frost is close to zero, soil temperatures are on the rise, and we're all just itchin' to get planting.  Just in time our Hotline experts weigh in on smart plant selection and purchasing in this week's What's Hot on the Hotline...

More Growin', More Mowin'...
Most of us have fallen into the habit of mowing the lawn every week.  This time of year however the grass is growing so fast that you probably need to mow it a bit more often.  Remember that you don't want to cut off more than 1/3 of the height of the grass in any single mowing.  In our yard that means mowing twice per week.  It won't last long and the extra investment in time will yield a healthier more durable lawn when the summer heat sets in.

Finally...
"If it's drama that you sigh for,
plant a garden and you'll get it
You will know the thrill of battle
fighting foes that will beset it
If you long for entertainment and
for pageantry most glowing,
Plant a garden and this summer spend
your time with green things growing."

~ Edward A. Guest, Plant a Garden

 

 

Click For Earl May Garden Centers

© 1999-2002 Savvygardener.com, Inc. All rights reserved.  If you wish to copy, transmit, or otherwise duplicate any of the material from our website please ask us first.  Thank you.o