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September 24, 2003 |
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Lovin' This Weather...
Fall has arrived - and what a fall
it has turned out to be! For all of you who have planted grass
the weather has been on your side. For those of you who have not
yet planted, do it now! The cooler
nights and warm days are perfect for grass seed germination.
Just make sure you are keeping
your grass seed moist as
there's not a sign of rain until later
next week. You'll have to get out
and move that hose around. Laborious work that will pay off big
next spring.
I have been
busy once again working in someone else's garden. Last year at
the Westwood View Elementary Auction,
Gayle Purdy, a Westwood View parent purchased a day of my
services. So last Saturday, being a perfect gardening day, my
daughter Morgan and I headed over to Gayle's for some fall
clean-up, landscaping ideas and tips. What a blast the two of us
had! Morgan, only twelve, has an eye
for design so I let her play a bit with different plant types and
textures. She had some great ideas and I am really proud that she
is getting the hang of this gardening thing. She is definitely
going to be better at designing than at laboring. She has never
been too fond of labor, be it any kind. I enjoy both aspects but
must admit that laboring in the dirt is my favorite! Sounds like
we make a pretty good gardening pair!
Tune in
Sunday morning from 7-9 AM to AM 980 KMBZ to listen to me and my
buddies John Bruntzel and Jan Olson of the
Gard'N-Wise Guys. We will be answering all of your gardening
questions and I am sure that you will be able to count on a joke
or two! It will be fun so don't forget to tune in!
~
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
Make Green Tomatoes See Red...
When it gets as cool as it has been lately the green tomatoes
still on your vines just aren't going to ripen there
(photo). And what's
worse, if a rogue frost descends on them it's game over. Here
are two approaches to getting them to ripen out of harms way:
- Remove
the whole plant, roots and all, and hang it upside-down in a
cool, dark area indoors or in a garage. At temperatures in the
60's those tomatoes should ripen nicely. Just pull them off
the vine as they are individually ready.
- If the
above method is a bit messy for you try picking the green
tomatoes and individually wrapping them in newspaper. Place
them in a paper bag or cardboard box and store in a cool, dark
place. Keep an eye on them periodically. When they start to
redden up unwrap them and let them finish ripening at room
temperature. Hint - If you're in a hurry place an apple in
the bag with the wrapped tomatoes.
Tasty red
tomatoes won't be far away!
Chilly Change In The Air...
This time of year it's not unusual for overnight temperatures to
dip into the 40's. Brrr! There's 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. Cross your fingers!
Dig This...
Fall is the preferred time to plant many trees and shrubs.
Warm soil, moderate air temperatures and autumn rains all help a
tree adjust to its new environment and set down roots with a
minimum of stress and shock. If you are transplanting
deciduous trees and shrubs, wait until their leaves have
dropped or at least changed color. Evergreens and conifers,
however, benefit from early planting in fall. In either case
watering (1 inch weekly until the ground is frozen) and mulching
the root zone are crucial to success.
Only 90 Shopping Days Until
Christmas...
Christmas is still a way off but if you are planning on
displaying home-grown poinsettias it's time to start planning.
Poinsettias are short-day plants and must be tricked into
blooming for Christmas. Follow these steps:
- Find a
dark, cool (around 55 degrees) place where the plant will be
kept at "night". It must be absolutely dark as even short
exposure to a light bulb will throw the process out of kilter.
- Place
the poinsettia in this dark place at 5 Pm and leave it there
until 8 AM the following day.
- Between
8 AM and 5 PM place it in a sunny window where temperatures
will remain near 70 degrees.
- Do this
for 11 weeks, watering and fertilizing as usual.
With care
and patience you should have healthy, blooming poinsettias for
the holidays.
What's Hot On The Hotline...
Forcing bulbs indoors is a great
wintertime treat. What better way to bring the joy of
spring into the gray of winter? Which bulbs are best? How
to get started? Find out in this
week's
What's Hot On the Hotline...
Wet Or Dry? Here's Why...
Even Savvygardeners sometimes wonder which is more effective:
liquid or dry lawn products? Both have their place in turf
management, and either can be used interchangeably depending on
the product, equipment, and expertise. Broadleaf herbicides, for
instance, are often more effective and less expensive when
applied in a spray vs. those that are applied in a "weed and
feed" granular formulation. But to increase the efficacy of the
"weed and feed", be sure to follow label instructions which
generally states that it must be applied to wet or dew-covered
turf. Also, most gardeners prefer to spray fungicides for best
coverage.
However,
the opposite is true with fertilizers. Nitrogen sprayed to turf
can cause burn at higher rates or during warm weather, may
volatilize before the turf can use it, and only one form of water
soluble fertilizer (urea, 46-0-0) is widely available. Granular
fertilizer products are often superior because they are available
in a wide variety of formulations of N-P-K and in many slow
release forms, both of which are untrue for soluble or sprayable
fertilizers.
There are
few general differences between dry vs. liquid applications of
preemergence herbicides or insecticides. So the bottom line is
if we had to choose, we’d spray broadleaf herbicides and
fungicides, while using granular-style fertilizers.
Source
Finally... "Gardening requires
lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration" ~
Lou Erickson, Writer |
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