summer blooms, balloon flowers

Hope that you all have put some pansies in the ground and have ordered your daffodils to be planted soon. While we are enjoying those wonderful pansy faces, we can still enjoy the remnants of fall color in the garden. Many of the leaves have finished their show and are now spread all over lawns and sidewalks, waiting to be raked. Others are still turning, extending the leaf changing season a little longer. The Japanese Maples, especially the dwarf ones, are like small explosions of color all over the yard. We often think of fall color only in terms of trees and their foliage but fall color can also occur close to the ground. One of my favorites to provide an extra burst of fall color is the balloon flower or Platycodon grandiflorus – which is a mouthful for such a delicate little perennial. This summer bloomer comes in a variety of sizes and colors, from a dwarf which grows only 8 inches tall (‘Misato Purple’) to ones that grow more than two feet tall. Balloon flowers will begin to bloom in early summer and will continue all summer if you keep the spent flowers pinched. The flowers first form a bud which resembles a balloon – reminding me of a small purse; the buds then open up to flowers that look like little stars. Although the most commonly seen color is a blue - purple, balloon flowers also come in pink. There is even a double-flowered one. I have had the tall blue ones, the pink ones, and the dwarf purple; the dwarf purple did best for me. My biggest problem was the creatures who ate the roots – possibly voles (who snacked on everything in my garden). Balloon flowers don’t seem to be troubled by insects or disease and I have had them for about five years lining the front of the border. They do like water during the growing season and will tolerate full sun but like most Southerners prefer some rest from the hot afternoon sun. Balloon flowers take a little longer to break their winter dormancy; if you are one of those folks who forget where you planted something you may want to mark their home in your garden. If you dig up one accidentally, just put it back. It is important to pinch the spent blooms from your balloon flowers to keep them blooming but don’t take the whole stem off. For me deadheading flowers in the garden is a very therapeutic task. It brings me up close and personal with the blooms and appeals to the neat freak in me who rejoices in a tidy garden.

In the fall the leaves of the balloon flowers take on a bright yellow hue (with a touch of orange), adding one last vibrant burst of color to the front of the flowerbed before dying back completely. Photos above show this charmer in summer and fall. Balloon flowers are one of the dearest perennials for the summer garden – they are not hard to find and will bring you much joy next summer (and next fall).

a fothergilla glows in the sunlight

Fall 2008 has been one of the best I can remember for fall color. As a Master Gardener I know that there is a scientific explanation involved in the color change in the leaves. For me, personally, the color change is one of nature’s greatest spectacles. A daily walk around the garden makes me think I am watching a work of art in progress as I see not only a range of colors – different reds, oranges, and yellows—but also variations in the colors themselves. Each day brings a new shade to a particular plant. Riding along the interstate this time of the year becomes a treat as the hillside resembles a painting with the colors of fall blending into each other. A neighborhood tree with vibrant oranges and yellows framed against a bright blue sky is a traffic stopper.  This brilliant fall show (and the knowledge that I will be soon be raking up all those wonderful leaves) makes me wish that the colors will never fade.

One of the plants that consistently provides a vivid show is the fothergilla. I purchased this wonderful deciduous shrub in the spring many, many years ago with no knowledge of the special treat that the fall would bring. In the spring there is a sweet smelling white flower that blooms before the leaves come out. Fothergillas enjoy protection from the afternoon sun in the hottest climate zones and like moist, acid soil; the mature one in my yard is probably about seven or eight feet tall and almost as round. (There is a smaller fothergilla ‘Mount Airy” which grows only to 3 to 5 feet high and around.)

What a treat to look out the window each morning to watch the fothergilla change colors. If you plant one, place it where you can get a front row seat for the fall spectacular!

During the fall we traditionally think of the usual seasonal colors of orange, bronze, and yellow. But let’s expand our horizons and think pink, bright pink to be more specific – the bright pink of the fruit of the American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana).  A gardener friend once described beautyberry fruit as the color of a cheap pink lipstick. Although that seemed to be a rather unkind remark, that description was on target.

Beautyberry is a deciduous woody ornamental shrub that will grow in full sun to part shade; it does require watering as I found out when mine died from not enough water. Other than requiring water during the growing season, beautyberry bushes seem to be fairly undemanding being untroubled by insects or diseases. Reaching about six feet in height and five feet around, it needs ample room in the landscape (as you can see from my photograph of a mature beautyberry). Beautyberry makes a nice plant for a woodland garden but it also makes a great border. (There is a lovely border of beautyberry bushes at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.) As the brightly colored fall berries and the summer blooms (little tiny purple flowers) appear on the current season’s growth, prune in late winter about the time you prune your butterfly bushes. Beautyberry bushes can be pruned like nandina, removing a third of the oldest canes;  the whole thing can even be cut to the ground – which is something I was never brave enough to do. Since much of the beauty from this shrub, however, comes from its arching branches, place it in a spot where you don’t need to take a pruner to keep it in bounds.

As you stroll the garden shop aisles, think pink! Bright pink in the garden provides just the right accent next to the wonderful shades of autumn. As I have said before, try it ‘n you’ll like it. 

(Some information to write this blog was obtained from THE SOUTHERN LIVING GARDEN BOOK)

an orange ginger in full bloom

a yellow ginger

Just a few weeks ago we talked about plants that provide fragrance in the garden–four o’clocks and angels trumpets. Another one to add to your list of must-haves for plants whose flowers have a heavenly scent is the ginger lily (hedychium). This carefree perennial spreads by underground rhizomes and can quickly form a sizable clump; in a few years you will have lots to share or to start a new spot in your landscape. I normally dig and divide in the spring. Make certain to plant them where you will have the opportunity to stop and smell the spike-like flower on a daily basis. Another positive for the ginger lily is that it blooms mid to late summer/early fall giving your garden, which by then may be empty of your summer annuals, a vibrant burst of color. Most of my gingers started blooming a few weeks ago. Ginger flowers grow on top of the long stems; the plants have very large deep green leaves. They prefer well-drained fertile soil and ample water during the summer. There are very large gingers that can grow 8 or more feet tall and dwarf ones which may get just a couple of feet high. Gingers come in all sorts of colors; the hummingbirds love them. Although they can handle full sun if their roots are shaded, gingers much prefer some light shade, especially from the afternoon sun. Gingers are tropicals and north of my zone 7A/8B some will probably not survive the winter. Some gingers are also less hardy in my climate zone. It is best to do a little research on the growing habits of a particular ginger before you add it to your garden. It is possible also to plant them in large pots but they will need additional winter protection if you do. Cut back the long stem at the first frost and mulch the roots well. The following summer the gingers will emerge from the ground, soon again delighting your senses of smell and sight.

A ginger in bloom reminds me of a trip to some far away tropical paradise; if you can’t make the trip in person, a ginger in your garden can still take you there. 

Each month our county Master Gardener program sponsors a noon time program with topics ranging from butterflies to recreational fishing ponds. Recently a local beekeeper spoke to us about his love affair with the world of bees. After listening to him talk (and sampling five different kinds of honey) I agreed with him that bees are absolutely amazing creatures. They live in a well-ordered world where everyone has a job. I am going to share some of the answers to the many questions we asked so that you too can get a peak into the life of a bee. By the way, our speaker has been keeping bees for more than twenty years. He has over 200 hives and, for excitement, he will come to your home and remove an unwanted swarm of bees who may have taken up residence in or about your property. Sometimes it is easy as cutting a limb off a tree and shaking the bees into a box (a hive). Other times, if the bees have made a home in parts of your house, he actually has to dismantle that part of your house (and put it back together).

Bees can be subject to mites so it is the keeper’s responsibilities to keep their environment clean and treat them with medicines to keep them healthy.
Yes, bees in fact do like some flowers more than others. One favorite is the flowers on blueberry bushes.

Our honeybees are similar to the killer bees and yet very different. Actually it is hard to tell them apart physically. Killer bees are smaller than our honeybees, but they are so dangerous because they are very aggressive and especially defensive of their home. So far, however, there are no killer bees in Alabama but they have been found in Florida. Honey bees will chase you a 100 yards whereas killer bees might chase you 10,000 yards. Our speaker told us the literature he has read says if you get chased to run. Do not swat at the bees as your movement will attract them.

The reason why bees may be disappearing is still somewhat of a mystery. There are multiple causes; possibly one reason is colony collapse disorder which is happening on migration routes. The bees are getting stressed and mixed in with other bees exposing them to illness. Of course pesticides can be a big cause–this is a build up, not an instant death. It is hard to find bees to study once they have died, because they often just disappear.

We do not have a native honeybee; they have been brought in by the Europeans.

There are lots of bees besides the honey bees. As a matter of fact there are 20,000 species of bees in the world.

Honey bees are very important to our food chain as they pollinate one/third of what we eat.  Bumble bees actually also do some pollinating (in addition to the honey bees).

There are beekeepers whose primary job is to raise queen bees. But bees themselves are very adept at raising their own queens. The queen bee takes care of the hives. She mates only one time but she can lay a half million eggs during her lifetime. After two to four years the queen bee leaves the hive and will be replaced with another queen bee. If the bees do not like a particular queen, they can also get rid of her. Queens are raised from worker eggs but nurse bees feed that particular egg royal jelly to make that bee into a queen. Royal jelly is a secretion (a white substance) that comes from the bee forehead. There is a chemical in the royal jelly that makes the queen very different from the other bees in growth. If something happens (bad weather, etc.), and she does not mate on the trip out of the hive she will never be able to mate—which will doom her hive. She will start laying eggs a few days later and she will lay mostly fertilized eggs which will make female worker bees; unfertilized eggs will become male drones. The only thing males drones do is mate with the queen. Bees can go through many stages in their lives; they can be nurse bees, guard bees, or housekeeper bees.

Bees normally travel, at the very most, 4 miles from their hive to seek out nectar; however they prefer to travel only about 2 miles and their bee hive is commonly within a mile of their journey. They return home after they gather pollen and nectar, making their trips multiple times during a day. A bee can travel 55,000 miles in its life time. How far they travel ultimately will depend on the distance between the hive and their nectar source. A bee that hatches in the summer may live only three to six weeks as it just works itself to death. A bee hatched in the fall will live until spring. In its lifetime a bee can make only one teaspoon of honey. Although bees may rest at night, they are always active.

A swarm of bees is a scary thing to behold. However our speaker told us that bees can be very docile; however, if they are hungry, that situation can change and they can get mean. The swarm is looking for shelter. A swarm can be a problem if it decides to move into parts of your house that are accessible. At that point the homeowner may need the skills of a professional beekeeper for removal. The level of protective clothing that the beekeeper dons will often depend on the mood of the bees.

Since our speaker has so many hives, he uses a centrifuge to spin the honey out of the combs. This seems to be the only job in beekeeping that is done with a machine–keeping bees is not easy work and involves a lot of manual labor. This fact does not seem to dissuade many folks from keeping bees as either a hobby or a business or both.

During our program we all gained a lot of appreciation for this small winged creature sipping at the flowers and trees in our gardens. No more will I take the bees buzzing in my garden for granted, but I will be grateful for their role in the cycle of life.

Four O’Clocks Sparkling in the Sun

One of the true delights of the garden can often be experienced just about dusk when the fragrance of the flowers that open in the very late afternoon permeates the air. Two flowers with delightful smells that come to mind are the angel’s trumpet (brugmansia) and the four o’clock (mirabilis). Just last night I had the wonderful pleasure of experiencing both. Four o’clocks come in a variety of colors from yellow to red and seem almost to be iridescent in the late afternoon sun. (You can almost guess how they got their name – the flowers open about 4 pm each day.)  They grow about three or four feet high and almost as wide. The beautiful trumpet shaped flowers smell heavenly. Four o’clocks die back with the first frost but they will reappear from the roots in the spring. They don’t seem to be troubled by pests or disease. If they have any drawback, it is the fact they can reseed prolifically from the hard black seeds they form – to the point where they can take over and become a pest themselves. But if you plant them in the right place (a part to full sun spot) where you are not concerned with how many you have, that one little drawback won’t be a problem. A friend gave me my first one years and years ago and I still have its grandchildren coming up in the most unlikely places. I simply pull them up if they appear where I don’t want them and enjoy the heavenly scent and the vibrant flowers where I do want them.

Another perennial with a delicious smell, the angel’s trumpet, begins to put on its show this time of the year.  This woody plant grows best in full sun to light shade (loving a respite from the afternoon summer sun). I have likened it to a 300 pound gorilla as it thrives on water and fertilizer enjoying a dose of water soluble fertilizer every two weeks or so. Although they love water, they must have good drainage and they thrive on rich soil. They will die back with the first frost when they should be heavily mulched. It is very easy to make more angel’s trumpets by simply rooting the stems. Angel’s trumpets can get huge, up to 8 feet or more high depending on which one you have and almost as big around. Their beautiful pendulous blossoms remind us of a horn (a trumpet). They come in an array of colors, with both double and single blooms,  and I can honestly tell you that in full bloom they will stop traffic. Datura is the annual angel’s trumpet and the blooms point up instead of hanging down. Angel’s trumpets will live in a very big pot but will need protection from the winter cold.

Like all plants, this one does have its negative – all parts of it are very poisonous. So if you have small children or puppies who like to taste everything, this is not the plant for you. Admire it in someone else’s garden. 

Enjoy the late summer night air and inhale deeply as the smells of summer can be as tantalizing as its colors.

Recently I appeared on a local TV station as a representative for our Master Gardener group. The interviewer asked me what we should do in the garden now. Just a few days earlier a friend had asked me to speak at her garden club about the same topic. One of my dearest friends, a rosarian, often said she looked forward to the first frost so she could rest and clean her house. But fall is not a time of rest for the garden or the gardener. Halloween decorations on the store shelves are just one indicator that the seasons are about to change. With the slight shift in the morning temperatures we know cooler but shorter days are around the corner. The following are just some of the tasks that can keep us busy in the yard right now. 

1. Transplant perennials and separate or move them (a grand time to make more of your favorites or share with friends)– especially spring blooming ones as well as those going into dormancy (like hosta).

2.  Get a soil test; obtain the test package through your local Extension Office. The results will give you the information on whether and how to amend your garden soil before the next planting season.

3.  November through February is the best time to plant new or to move existing woody ornamentals and trees. Plants can use all their energy to build a root system instead of putting on new growth.

4. November through February when plants are dormant is also the best time to do any major pruning; do not prune now as tender growth may get bitten during the first frost of the season.

5. Fill your garden with colorful early fall flowers, adding either perennials such as Mexican bush sage with its purple flowers or bright colored annuals such as mums. (Mums also are available as perennials.) You might even be able to replace tired summer annuals with fall annuals– there are many beautiful annuals which prefer spring and fall to do their blooming. Lobelia is one of those that comes to mind. Some stores may even have sales on plants at this time of the year.

6.  For container gardens, discard plants and store any container that does not winter over, washing and disinfecting it before you put it away. Compost only healthy plants.

7. Take cuttings of any annuals or perennials that you might want to save. If you can’t use them, share with friends. Collect seeds. My neighbor and gardening buddy had a collection of small jars and she visited my garden daily this time of the year to collect the seeds from bloomed out annuals.

8. Prepare tropicals that you want to save (but that can’t remain outside for the winter), for storage in the house, in a greenhouse, or a garage. Tropicals that are hardy in your area will need to be mulched well once we have had the first frost.

9.  Prepare your houseplants for re-entry; check to see if they need repotting; give them a good bath, and spray with an appropriate insecticide if necessary.

10.  Clean and sharpen your tools and provide some protection to them with a light spray of oil to the metal parts and a wipe of boiled linseed oil to the handles if unpainted.

11. Transplant any perennials from pots to the garden.

12. Harvest herbs either by drying or freezing; cut the rest down and compost; herbs do not thrive inside because lighting is usually not enough for them.

13.  Clean and keep bird feeder and hummingbird feeders full; also plan a bird bath as birds need access to water in the winter months.

14. Clean out your garden shed discarding in a safe and responsible manner chemicals that are no longer good. Certain natural chemicals degrade faster than others. If you are unsure how to dispose of a chemical call your local Extension Office or call the company; most usually have a toll-free number on the label.

15.  Cut back any diseased perennials but do not put them in your compost heap. Many like to leave the cone flower seed heads as the little birds like to snack there.

16.  Plant now to add winter color interest and texture to your garden. It is not too late to order daffodil and other spring flowering bulbs.

17. When leaves drop and annuals drift away, you have an excellent opportunity to study the bones of your garden in preparation for any changes you might like to make.

18. Make a compost pile. Add discarded healthy plants and all the leaves you are soon going to be raking.

19.  Rake and shred all those wonderful leaves which should start falling in just a matter of weeks. I mow mine with the lawnmower. One of my favorite fall activities is picking up pine straw off the street that others have thrown away.

20. Fall can be very dry; continue to water shrubs and trees, especially newly planted ones.

21. Enjoy the change of seasons; we are very lucky in Alabama to have four seasons to garden and to live where the temperature cooperates, allowing us to be outside just about all year. For those of you who wanted to rest, fall may not be the best time to do it.

(The hints that I give in this blog are appropriate to zone 7B-8A. For more specific information on your zone, please consult your local Extension Office.)

Blackberry Lily in Bloom

Blackberry Lily Seeds

The blackberry lily (Belamcanda) is a wonderful perennial for the garden both for its bloom and its seed pods.  Related to the iris, this plant seems just about bullet-proof – just be sure to give it some space as it likes to reproduce. However, it does so in a well-behaved way via rhizomes which do not spread quickly. Like just about everything else that we plant, blackberry lilies like good drainage; plant in part to full sun and water them during their growing season. The flowers appear in summer; each flower lasts for only one day but, as more continue to open, the garden will have blackberry lily blooms for weeks. When the blooms fade they are eventually replaced by seed pods which look just like blackberries when they split open. The seed bearing stems make great additions to flower arrangements, but I love the look in the flower beds. In my garden the seed pods have just started to appear within the last week or so, although the flowers bloomed weeks and weeks ago. Blackberry lilies look best planted in clumps or used as a border plant.

With their yellowish orange faces spotted with small red blotches, blackberry lilies make a cheerful addition to the garden. If you find someone who has them growing, ask them to share!

Cestrum

Turk’s cap hibiscus

With the first of September just around the corner, it seems a good time to assess how our gardens fared this summer. What annuals or vegetables performed well – what would we plant or not plant again? Did some of the plants wilt under the summer heat, or fail to flourish with the amount of water we were able to provide? Did the wildlife demolish the plantings? Did some plants just need more care than we felt we could give – for insect or disease problems? Did some reproduce so wildly that they just outgrew their welcome?  A garden journal is a real help for those of us with selective or poor memories. Unless we keep some sort of record, next summer may find us making the same mistakes we did this year; a journal can also help us repeat our successes. I make notes in my yearly calendar to use as a guide when the huge array of plant material becomes available next spring. My memory often goes blank when faced with rows and rows of gorgeous greenery and blooms.

I will surely buy the wonderful begonias, Super Olympia Rose with bright pink flowers and light green leaves, again next year; they did beautifully in the sun; profusion zinnias will be at the top of my list for 2009 as they just don’t know when to quit. Over the years I was the kid in the candy store trying every new annual (and often perennial, too) that came on the market. No more; over the years by trial and error I learned to plant the old faithful for summer color – begonias, impatiens, pentas, and zinnias. Another fine performer this year was Mexican heather, an annual with either tiny lavender or white flowers.

By this time of the season our container plants are getting very tired. They are leggy, unless we kept them pinched; they have become pot bound and are requiring copious amounts of water on a daily basis. One cure-all is to pull them all out and replant and enjoy this second crop of flowers until the first frost, which in East Central Alabama may not happen until mid-November. In our area it is way too early to fill our gardens with pansies and others who prefer cool days and cooler nights.

The deer sneaked in and stripped my potato vines of all their leaves. I have lost them to the deer two years running, so next year regardless of how tempting those beautiful chartreuse leaves are, I won’t choose them unless I can keep them out of harm’s way. There are so many plants that deer do not browse that it will simply be a matter of choosing one of them. My beautiful leucothoe (a subject of an earlier blog) died and it looks like my shady lady anise (the second one) is not long for this world. The hydrangeas, although they had survived an early spring cold snap, did not perform well at all. As a matter of fact only the rebloomers like ‘Vince Dooley’ and ‘Endless Summer’ actually bloomed this year. That seems to be the same story I heard from my gardener friends. Hydrangeas no longer make my yearly shopping list even though I love them dearly. (By the way it is almost past time to prune hydrangeas that bloom on old wood: mophead and oakleaf hydrangeas should be pruned soon after blooming; they begin to set their new flower buds from August through October.) If you pruned after that time in years past, it may be one reason why your hydrangeas did not bloom. The hosta did not have a banner year; leaves which should have been more than a foot in size only reached a couple of inches. Most of the ones in pots fared better than those in the ground. From what I read, this problem stemmed from the drought and heat of summer 2007.  Failures in the hosta department will not deter me from buying them again next year, but more will be planted in containers than in the ground as the container-grown ones did better.

Late summer has many stars in the garden. Two full sun beauties are cestrum and Turk’s cap hibiscus. The cestrums have been blooming for a while but are clearly stand outs now. Their tubular flowers are beloved by hummingbirds and butterflies alike. They can get large and may need pruning after flowering. Cestrums are considered to be tropicals, but my cestrum hybrid, pictured above, grows very nicely in my zone 7B-8A garden. Another wonderful bloomer right now is the Turk’s cap hibiscus with brilliant red flowers that the butterflies just love. Within days the garden will be full of bright yellow butterflies flitting through the hibiscus, a scene that defies description. The little creatures dart so quickly that it is hard to capture them in a photograph. Speaking of creatures, the garden is buzzing with hummingbirds; if you have a feeder, keep it clean and full of fresh solution so these small miracle can tank up good before flying south for the winter.

Although many of our plants may be weary after putting on their glorious summer show, many are still at their peak. Take stock now and go from there. There are always beds to be filled, containers to be planted, and blossoms to admire. Gardening can be full of frustration – plants that don’t bloom or don’t survive or don’t thrive; but on the whole gardening can also be the most rewarding activity that there is, as we experience the pleasures of watching living things grow.  Just as a gardener rejoices over the past season’s successes and moans the failures, a gardener can always look to the next season for more challenges and more delights. 

A Monarch butterfly grabs a snack.

An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail in the zinnias.

A Swallowtail enjoys the pentas.

It seems that the butterflies like my zinnias and pentas as much as I do. The two have not only beautified the garden but have also proved to be magnets for these winged beauties. Splashes of bright yellow constantly dart through the flowers. Perhaps, because we have had more rainfall this year; perhaps because of the color choices for my annuals (usually I choose a white color scheme; however, this year I went for bright) there appears to be many more butterflies in the landscape than in previous years. I made a point to plant lots of the same color flowers so the near sighted butterflies could not possibly miss my garden. Butterflies are drawn to bright flowers planted in masses. Choosing a tubular flower like the penta makes it easy for the butterflies to get their needed nectar; evidently zinnias are also a prime supplier of nectar also. The butterflies’ daily visits to the blossoms are a show that can’t be rivaled. Swallowtail butterflies hover over the profusion zinnias and the pentas flitting from one flower to another. A monarch butterfly has even been visiting. Both the zinnia and the penta are full sun plants, allowing the butterflies to absorb the sun’s warmth while they eat.

Pentas are sometimes referred to as Egyptian star clusters. They can have white, light purple, pink or red flowers. As I discovered last summer they do not like drought, wilting in the summer heat if they did not receive a daily watering in the big pots where they were planted. Pentas prefer good, well-drained soil, regular water, and regular doses of a water-soluble fertilizer such as Peters during the summer months. Don’t forget to deadhead the old flowers. Hummingbirds love the pentas as much as the butterflies do.

Profusion zinnias, although related to the common zinnias, are a hybrid zinnia and are not as susceptible to powdery mildew. They grow only about a foot tall and come in white, orange, or cherry red. Zinnias love the heat;  mine grown in pots are now requiring watering every day. My sister grows them every year but she uses them as bedding plants where she tells me they do not require as much water. When planted in the ground, too much water is their enemy, but in pots there does not ever seem to be enough water. (For those of you who have container plants, by this time of the growing season their roots have expanded as much as their size and they need lots of water.) 

When it comes to the combination of butterflies and flowers there are not enough words. And because a picture is worth a thousand words I have provided several. Enjoy them please;  I hope they inspire you to make your garden a haven for nature’s creatures. Whether butterfly or bird, they can bring so much joy.  For more information about attracting butterflies to your garden please refer to my earlier blog on that subject.

Pots of Profusion Zinnias in white and cherry red brave the sizzling temperatures better than I have.

Since I frequently refer to master gardeners, please let me mention who these wonderful folks are. Master Gardeners are volunteers who have been trained to supplement the non-commercial horticulture programs of Cooperative Extension Systems Universities. I am part of a Master Gardener program administered by the Calhoun County Office of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. (There are Extension System Offices all over the country!) To be certified as a Master Gardner (MG) one must successfully complete the Master Gardener training course and then complete a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service. After being certified, to remain active Master Gardeners must give 20 hours volunteer service yearly working on a variety of projects around our community. One of our objectives as a Master Gardener is to make horticultural information more available to local individuals and groups. MG is a terrific program – an opportunity to meet others who share a passion for gardening, to learn,  and to share our knowledge with others. We like to say that we beautify our county one project at a time.

Here in East Central Alabama with temperatures ranging in the mid-nineties and the heat index over 100 degrees, it is as hard to think about going outside now as it is in mid January when the temperatures are in the teens. Regardless of the time of the year, we can always use tips on how to garden smarter. I frequently turn to my fellow Master Gardeners for inspiration. 

• I think the tip about planning ahead and putting down about 4 - 6 inches of mulch where I plan to garden next year is a BIG help if the soil is hard or clay-like. Also, a good layer of newspaper under the mulch is wonderful insofar as holding moisture and keeping weed seed from germinating.
• Before I share this next tip, let me provide a disclaimer - I have no idea how long it will work, but temporarily it works fine.

If you should have a small hole in your hose when watering, a toothpick works great for sealing the hole. It appears that the toothpick swells when it gets wet and adapts to fit the hole. I don’t know where I saw this tip originally, but I am sure I didn’t dream it up on my own. However, I had occasion to use it and by golly, it worked just fine. Hope this helps someone, somewhere at sometime or the other.

• Wash or shake most or all of the soil off that came with your plants in the container from the nursery, before you plant them in the ground. I used to just take the plant out of the container rough up the roots if necessary a bit and plop them in the ground with whatever soil mixture the nursery had planted them in the container with. Then a couple of years ago I read an article written by Tony Avent, the owner of Plant Delights. I thought what he said made sense and I had seen myself some of the consequences of just going from the container from the nursery to the hole I prepared for my plant. I had for one reason or another redug up some plants and noticed the root ball area was sometimes dry and well didn’t look like what I thought a healthy space for the roots should look like compared to the immediate area around the root ball, the soil in the garden…..Another words my experience confirmed what Tony Avent had written in his article…... Anyways I started doing it the other way, washing and shaking most if not all the packing soil off the plants before planting and I noticed that they seemed to perform better overall…when you live with the plants for awhile you get a feel for when things are just peachy and when some plants are in first gear and just getting started and some are already in fourth gear and down the road…You know what I mean…I had this one drift of echinaceas a couple of years ago and a couple of the coneflowers I had planted were really far behind and I decided to dig’em up and see what was going on, maybe some root rot problems or whatever…When I dug them up I didn’t see any root rot or anything like that but again the area the original root balls were immediately in didn’t look right to me…I washed the old packing soil off the root balls replanted them in the same holes without any new amendments and after sometime I noticed they looked better and were starting to catch up with their neighbors…after that and after reading Tony’s article I never planted new plants the old usual way again…Do some plants just naturally grow faster and better than others even when they are the same cultivars, planted at the same time, and next to each other?...Of course…But unless I’m mighty mistaken overall plants planted without any of their container soil seem to do better for me that those that are planted with it…Give the roots of your plants a chance to grow in the soil you plant them in to begin with…..“plant roots need to be in contact with the soil in which they will be growing…not the mix that was used at the nursery” .....You’ll see the difference, I sure did…....If you’d like to read the article Tony Avent wrote here is the URL:
http://www.plantdelights.com/Tony/planting.html

• My tips are the same old ones—- MULCH, MULCH & COMPOST, COMPOST.
These two things have made a world of difference in my garden.

• From Urban Agent, Hayes Jackson, who works very closely with our MG program
• ~recycle broken concrete or brick and tile sections. they make great and inexpensive stepping stones, low retaining walls, and a wonderful material for small patio areas…...or even garden art.
~plant lime-loving plants like holly fern, hens and chicks, and agapanthus in broken concrete blocks or incorporate broken pieces into planting hole to maintain a higher pH in acidic soils.
~I often adorn new or small plants (especially perennials and bulbs) with 2 bamboo poles (in an inverted V and tied with twine or copper wire) to mark the plants, and to discourage pets and people from stepping on them. the simple natural design is appealing, easy and inexpensive.
~I use hostas to compliment my summer annual containers. the bold texture compliments many annuals such as impatiens, begonias and flowering sage. once I replace my summer annuals with winter pansies, I have a larger hosta plant ready for fall repotting or planting….when hostas are harder to find in the nurseries. in the deep south, many hosta varieties tend to perform better in above ground pots where rhizomes can receive a better winter chill.

• Well, one I have not been able to use lately is to put buckets under the eaves of the house when it rains heavily and catch the run off. (I barely remember rain. I put my buckets out this past weekend but they are still empty. )
• Another is to put used coffee filters over the drainage holes when filling pots. I compost them (we buy the brown ones that are made from recycled material) anyway so there are usually a few on top of the heap that I can get to readily.
• I have started wearing a short little apron with pockets to hold my clippers and a few other small things. I always need clippers no matter what I started out to do and hate to go back for them.
• I think a good tip is to weed continually instead of waiting until the weeds get out of control. Every time I go to the mailbox I pull a few weeds out of the bed. Seems to work for me. Also, the earlier the better for me in the yard. Not only is it cooler, there are less distractions (my daughter sleeps late!).

• Take an old mail box or a bird feeder, turn it into yard art with paint and trim and use it to store extra yard tool– snips, gloves, hand spade, etc. That way when you need something your tools are close at hand and protected from the elements.
• A couple of products that have helped me with some pesky problems have been Deer Stopper (ordered on the internet) and Permatil (found in Birmingham garden centers). After reading reviews I bought the deer repellant both in a spray and in a granular form. This product basically made of rotten eggs scented with rosemary has kept the local deer population from munching on some of my favorite plants.  Permatil is marketed as a vole bloc; Permatil resembles small pebbles. Use it generously around the plants which the voles often target as their next snack. Form a moat around the roots of a plant with the rocks. The thinking is that the voles do not like to crawl through the rocks to get to the root. Clothing can now be purchased with bug repellant and also with sun screen in the fabric – built in protection from the sun and insects. Years ago I ordered a baseball cap with netting attached to cover your face; it keeps gnats out of your mouth, nose and my ears.
• If you run out of room in the ground for a plant, put it in a container. With proper nutrition,  moisture, and enough space to accommodate growing roots, just about any plant can become a container plant. Container plants make great screen if you have meters or air- conditioner units that you want to hide but can’t disguise with a permanent planting.

• Best gardening tip I have right now is go to the local farmer’s market. You meet fellow master gardeners, meet the local farmers and meet old friends. You laugh, talk, gather lots of vegetables without alot of sweat and back breaking work. It’s fun, but go early.

• When you need gardening information, check the internet. There is a wealth of information out there.

In my home county of Calhoun (Alabama) and the city of Anniston, we are fortunate to have not one but two venues for purchasing local fruit and vegetables, one sponsored by the downtown association and the other by the local extension office. With so many recent warnings in the media lately about vegetables that might make us very sick, it seems to make more sense to buy locally – to buy from the growers you are bound to meet early in the morning, proudly selling their crops. Yesterday I ventured downtown to check out what was available this week. No need to worry about shipped in vegetables; everything was absolutely fresh and very inviting. Buyers and sellers often form relationships as the buyer returns year after year, week after week to purchase from a farmer they have begun to know as a friend. Yesterday morning at Buckner Market (held in a park), one could buy everything from sunflowers to soap. A huge kettle was turning out hot kettle corn. Two stands sold much desired Chilton County peaches, a delicacy in this part of the South. Tomatoes, both traditional and heirloom, dotted the tables. Fresh corn stacked almost a foot high was available as was okra (I even saw some purple okra). One vendor was grinding fresh corn meal on the spot.  Peppers, cucumbers, and fresh eggs were readily available. I met a friend shopping for blueberries to make a pie. Refrigerators could easily be full for the entire week.

In addition to lugging sacks full of fresh produce, people were visiting and meeting political candidates for various local and statewide elections. If your community has a farmers’ market, visit it often. If you do not have one, lobby with your local town council, chamber of commerce, or extension office to get one started. Not only will you eat healthier and cheaper, but your food source will likely also be safer too. Summer isn’t summer for me without tomato sandwiches (made with a genuine Calhoun County tomato), one of the true treats of the season. Try one. I guarantee it will only be the first of many!

The pink bossomed hibiscus is Disco Belle. I am not sure what the red one is called, but the blooms remind me of velvet.

Nothing says summer more beautifully than a hibiscus. A red (or a pink or a white) hibiscus in the garden will surely grab center stage. H. moscheutos, the perennial hibiscus, is truly a favorite in the Southern landscape and lends a tropical flair with its huge brightly colored, saucer shaped flowers. The blossoms can grow from six to ten inches across. The plants can get anywhere from 4 to 6 feet tall and about half that wide. They prefer full to part sun and do like to be watered in the growing season. Like just about all plants, they prefer organic, well drained, rich soil. Normally my hibiscus begins to bloom (in late June) just as the Japanese beetles appear and the beetles do love the blooms as much as I do. But this year there have been no beetles munching (yet), and the hibiscus are probably the most beautiful I can remember them.

I can remember the first time I saw a perennial hibiscus in a friend’s garden. The glorious blossoms took my breath away. It seemed that beautiful perennial should be a staple in my garden too. I recommend you make it a part of your garden as well.