New England Gardener » Flowers

CLOUD OVER SUNFLOWERS

Amy Sinclair — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:11:39 +0000

Here Comes The Sun!

Ann posted this question about sunflowers and I’m posting because it’s a common problem with a popular annual.

Question:

I just planted outdoors two tall – about 12-14 “- sunflower seedlings I grew from seed. The next day i saw that one of them was knocked over near the ground, the stem almost severed. I watched for a couple days, and the leaves stayed green, so I thought it might be salvageable, but then, after a couple days, I saw that all the leaves were gone! The same thing has happened to me other years with sunflowers. Other plants, right next to it were not harmed, and the other sunflower I planted at the same time, also was not harmed.
Is there some critter – bird or squirrel, or ?, that’s especially fond of sunflowers?
And, how can I protect them?
I have several more that I want to plant outdoors.
thanks.

Ann,

Thanks for your question. I’ve grown quite a few sunflowers because of my involvement in a Children’s Garden in my town, so I can offer a few thoughts. First of all, sunflowers prefer to be directly sowed from seed rather than transplanted. You don’t have to give up on your transplants, just stick some seeds in at the same time. You can also germinate your seeds for a few days indoors to get a head start. Just wrap your seed in a damp (not soaked) paper towel and seal in a plastic zip lock bag. Maintain moisture and after a few days you should see a small root curling out of the seed. Pop in the ground and watch it grow.

Now, to your question about something eating your small seedlings. This could be cut worms, slugs or some other garden pest. Start by planting more seeds than you need. The critters won’t eat everything. You can also protect your shoots by cutting the bottom out of paper cups and putting them over the seedlings. When the plants are as tall as your hand remove cups and watch your sunflowers flourish. Don’t give up. There’s really nothing more delightful than watching a mammoth sunflower sway in a late summer breeze.

–Amy

It’s a Little Like Bird Watching

Tim Kelley — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:12:51 +0000

The fun of Bird watching is trying to find and identify as many birds and bird calls as possible. Many of us do the same thing with plants, shrubs, and trees. The difference is that birds are always bouncing and flying, trees and plants just sit there. So we have more time to examine the tree or shrub. Even though, with these pretty flowers just sitting there, I still have trouble identifying them. That’s why we have friends.. it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I am grateful to know plenty of gardening veterans who mentor me in my flora ways. Take this, April 12, 2010 Nashua NH photo, for example.. Very pretty, but what are they? Dolores Ahern of South Dennis Massachusetts, is one of my go to people for help identifying plants and trees. I am able to I.D, the pretty yellow and red on the left as a McCafe Tree, but Dolores had to help with the others.

This from Dolores:
Hi Tim,
The yellow flower appears to be Doronicum orientale or Leopard’s Bane.
The white flowering tree is probably flowering pear and the purple shrub is PJM rhododendron.
How far ahead do you estimate we are for seasonal bloom? A week? 2 weeks?
Everything is early down here. We have to watch out for a frost or we’ll lose stuff.
Hope all is well.
Dolores

Thanks Dolores, yes we are about 2 to 4 weeks ahead! The frost threat is most serious for our fruit farmers, we hope the apples are OK.
The Yellow Flower is submitted by Terry O’Neill of North Attleboro. Thank you Dolores and Terry.
Earth Day Week is here. I planted a tree. More on that in an Earth Day 2010 blog coming soon.
.
We have many requests to pass on information about gardening. It’s our pleasure.. here are a few..
Hi,
My name is Ashley from “Constructionmanagementdegree.org”. We wanted to let you know that we featured your blog in one of our recent articles on our own blog. (Top 100 Gardening Blogs), is linked below and could be a fun way to share this announcement with your readers.
(http://constructionmanagementdegree.org/blog/2010/top-100-gardening-blogs/)
Thanks again for your time, and keep up the good work!
Ashley Merusi
.
Hello,

I’m writing to let you know about my best-selling book, “Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies” if you think you might like to review it. It has been acclaimed by the best people in the horticulture world. Don’t be fooled by the title; Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies is a first-class resource for gardeners and professionals seeking to learn how to create and live with a sustainable landscape. To learn more, please visit http://www.owendell.com/Books/bookSLFD.html. To order your free book, just reply to this email; I’ll get a copy into the mail right away!

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Owen E. Dell, ASLA
Owen Dell & Associates
Landscape Architect . Educator . Author
P.O. Box 30433 . Santa Barbara, CA 93130
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owen@owendell.com
www.owendell.com

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’ve made an odd discovery. Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I’m convinced of the opposite.”

Bertrand Russell, philosopher,mathematician, and author
(1872-1970)

Bolt Cutters Used on Roses

Tim Kelley — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:40:28 +0000

Have you ever seen plants blossom so quickly? Record 2010 March rainfall, now record warmth in April is the recipe for the fastest spring blooming I have ever seen. That means most of us are likely behind on our garden chores.. OK almost all of us, how about show of hands by those who are up to date?

I am running around between work outs and bill paying with pruners, a rake, and a large barrel. My goal is to take a load a day to the Green Connection town compost pile just a mile from my house. Just about every plant, bush, and tree in the yard can use at least a little prune. Some growth needs a heavy prune. Sometimes my hand clippers just don’t cut it. Like with this rose bush. That’s why I break out the Bolt Cutters. These thick Hybrid Tea thorny canes clearly are suffering black rot. This is typical, and does not mean the rose is dead. I believe these were impacted by the salty wind of many Nor’Easters this winter. The roses on the other side of the house were not as badly rotted, and now have five leaf sprouts growing three inches in three days!
The best way to cut these canes back, is to make the cut below the black rot, just above any new budding leave or branch. You may cut the rose right at the ground, if it is healthy the root will send new shoots up very quickly. I used bolt cutters because this cane is so tough. You also want heavy duty leather garden gloves, these thorns are crazy sharp and grabby. A few other chores are listed below.

Other Chores include continuing the bed clean up. Remove sticks and leaves, pull weeds already taking hold, dead head any flowers dangling from last year’s bloom. Not only flowers, but also greens that have turned brown all need to be cut right down to the ground. One of the tougher pruning jobs is the ornamental grass. This looks great in the summer, but needs to be cut down to near the ground each fall or spring. One of these 50 Gallon Bins can hold three one foot diameter root cluster’s 7 foot tall reeds. It took a lot of pushing and shoving but I got them all in there. Any plant that you can grab a handful of with out it pulling back, should all be sent to the compost pile. You can wait until after the blooms have fallen to prune any shrubbery that is in bloom, or is going to bloom soon. Non bloomers like hew, boxwood, and privet should can be pruned now to any shape you want for summer. Most often, plants respond with more healthy growth after being cut back.

Please Help Us Identify..

Tim Kelley — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:42:26 +0000

Do you have an idea what is blooming here on Beth’s Mystery Tree.
Please post comment if you have a clue for us.

Flower Show Flower Show Flower Show

Ted McEnroe — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:10:08 +0000

Leslie got a chance to spend a little time wandering through the Boston Flower and Garden Show at its new home – the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.

The show runs through Sunday – for more information, go to www.thebostonflowershow.com, and watch her story here on the blog.

Purple First- Yellow Next- Is What’s in Bloom

Tim Kelley — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:28:36 +0000

Terry and Bonny O’Niell report a crocus bounty in North Attleboro Massachusetts, where temperatures are reaching for 70 degrees this week. Count down to Daffodils- 15 days, Forsythia about the same.

We do honor special requests, here are the latest..
Dear Tim:
The Flower Show is back, and better than ever, with a new production team and new location! Featuring the top thirty designers in the region and an array of speakers all reflecting the theme “A Feast for the Senses.” The flowers will be blooming at the World Trade Center Boston (WTCB) from Wed., March 24-Sun., March 28. Please read the attached material to learn all the detail.
Once again, we’d like to offer your weather team live-remotes inside the beautiful gardens at the WTCB. We also will be sending you and your colleagues boutonnieres to wear on camera as Boston welcomes this traditional rite of Spring.
Look forward to hearing from you. I’ll be in touch.
Best,
Susan
and this one from Maine..
From: Melissa [mailto:melissa@campbeechcliff.org]
Would you consider posting our event on your site? Camp Beech Cliff is a
nonprofit summer day camp on Mount Desert Island, Maine and we have been
selected as the charitable beneficiary of the 2010 Spring Bulb Tour, an
annual fundraising event. Please visit the the website,
www.springbulbtour.org and our own, www.campbeechcliff.org. Thank you!

Beauty and The Beast in our Trees

Tim Kelley — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:29:12 +0000

Scituate MA October 5, 2009

All the talk is of how this fall foliage season in as good as it gets here in New England. The cold wet summer of 2009 was torture for tomatoes and pumpkins, but good for a bounty of beauty in our hardwood Forest. This golden tree is always first to turn in our neighborhood. But not all trees are beautiful. Do you notice a red vine running up some trees around your home? The red vine may be pretty, but the tree it’s climbing may be doomed.

The red vine is one of the many invasive vines spreading throughout the northeast.

What’s wrong with this big barren tree in Norwell Massachusetts? Once thriving, I believe Birch, tree is now dead. The reason? Invasive vines choked it off.

Norwell MA October 5, 2009

Here in the NECN woodlands we have a nice looking hardwood near the southeast corner of our parking lot. This tree may be a birch too. from a distance it looks healthy.

Newton MA October 5, 2009

But check out the trunk.. how many different vines can we identify? It appears maybe some clematis and perhaps honeysuckle? Any experts in the house?

My dilemma is.. Do I let the tree choke to death by the grip of the invading vine.. or do I dress in my landscape outfit (instead of weatherman suit) and get to pulling the roots out from around the base of the tree in effort to save it’s life?

The tree is not my problem, the land in not owned by me or even NECN. It is Commercial Real Estate. We have a beautiful office park here in Newton Massachusetts, but these trees fall between the cracks. As observer of the vine, it appears to be my responsibility to save the tree.. and the one next to it, and the one next to it. A nice spruce is also getting overtaken just a few yards away. I will let you know which way I go. (I have spent hours and hours doing this around my yard, now I may have to go on the road with my invasive vine termination effort, anyone want to join me )

On a related note: The New England Wildflower Society is hosting a discussion on ‘Invasive ID, Ecology and Control’ in Framingham MA on Sunday October 18, 2009, see detail here.

Not Done Yet!

Leslie Gaydos — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:44:06 +0000

Just when I was ready to throw in the towel and call it a season, my garden is coming alive! The dahlias that I had given up on are full of buds! My rose bushes are suddenly ready to flower again…even the ones that had lost their leaves and looked half-dead.
One bush produced the sweetest smelling rose that I have ever had the pleasure to sniff last week. It was an amazing scent. And a late, but fast growing gourd vine has a couple of babies on it that are getting bigger by the day. After all the rain, the black spots, the bugs and the disappointment this season, I am pleasantly surprised. Go figure.

The dahlias typically bloom until the first hard frost. But, I had such bad results with so many of them this year, I didn’t expect them to ever come around. I’ve attached a photo of a beautiful orange dahlia that we picked this week and put in a vase. Better late than never.

I guess that I will try to get them in the ground earlier next year….or maybe start them inside. Like Amy, I am taking notes. I’ve also vowed to plot the plan of my flower garden this fall, so I remember what lives where next spring. ( I vow to do this every year and never seem to get it done.)

It was not a great summer in our garden. In fact, I’d call it one of the worst in recent memory. But there were a few highlights.

In early August, while searching for a pre-school backpack, my husband and I found some very nice healthy hosta plants on clearance at K-mart. There were many varieties, in gallon pots, all reduced to $1.50 each. It was a steal! After a few return trips, we had planted 75 new hosta in our gardens. They blend in so well, that I couldn’t tell you where we put even half of them at this point. I have had success with some hydrangeas for the first time this year. I wish I had planted more of them! And, my morning glory seed experiment worked too. Our fence is wrapped in vines with little purple flowers poking out here and there.

As we move into autumn, the sedum look beautiful. They are full of bees, and are slowing changing color. I am thankful that they have thrived this year. I’ll be busy picking flowers until the frost.
Let’s all hope for more sunny days in 2010!

Celebrate Your Garden’s Successes

Amy Sinclair — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:15:17 +0000

Blight, Black Rot,and Mildew all threatened to crash 2009’s garden party, but as I look around the community garden here in Maine, I see there are many more successes than failures. The corn has overcome its late start. The cukes and squashes are producing right on schedule. Lettuces are delicious and abundant. In other words, there’s more than enough to fill out a salad bowl.

As gardeners, we must learn from the farmer’s optimism and work with what Mother Nature has delivered. Yes, I did have to pull my blight-ridden tomatoes, but now I’m looking forward to a bumper crop of bush beans. After I yanked the tomatoes last week, I threw in some bush bean seeds and the seedlings burst from the soil yesterday, determined to deliver a crop before the frost hits.

Just Add Water Garden In Early May

Here in Maine, that’s a gamble. This variety, “Provider” from Johnny’s, takes 50 days to mature. That’s plenty of time for those of you on the Cape and in Connecticut, but Vermonters and Mainers have to keep their fingers crossed come late September.

Just Add Water Garden Mid August

I’m also harvesting loads of basil. Of note, I direct sowed basil seeds the same day I transplanted 7-week old seedlings from my house. Guess what? By mid-August I can’t even tell the difference in the plants. Note for next year: I’ll save the indoor greenhouse space for plants that really need the indoor growth time, like flowers.

No Maintenance Gardening

Amy Sinclair — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:28:13 +0000

Lovable Lulu

I don’t want to gloat, but those of us on vacation in early August really hit the weather jackpot this year! The last two weeks have been glorious.

Like many New Englanders, my family spends part of every summer at a small “camp.” If I were sensible, I’d forego gardening at a place where we spend just a few long weekends and a week in August, but I’m a gardener and I can’t relax without having at least a few plants to fuss over. That said, vacation home gardens must fend for themselves most of the time. Through trial and error, I’ve learned what plants are up to the challenge in our windy oceanfront location.

When it comes to perennials, Hostas, DayLilies, and Rudbeckia can’t be beat. I’ve also had very good luck with Astilbe and Delphiniums, but I put them in a spot where they’re guaranteed shade for at least a few hours a day. In fact, I don’t grow anything, besides a few ancient Rhubarbs, on the side of the house that gets sun all day long.

Lulu Will Grow Anywhere You Put Her, Even In An Old Shoe That Came In On The Tide

I’ve also found that certain annuals are the vacation home’s best friend. They have such a strong will to live, they’ll bloom under the kind of chronic neglect that would send us searching for antidepressants. My all time favorite annual is the fragrant, fern-like Marigold Lulu. It’s a prolific bloomer, sending up lemony mounds of small bright yellow flowers from June to mid-September. Cosmos is a close second, filling empty spaces toward the back of the garden with a reliable stream of pink and white blossoms. (Seashell Cosmos is a terrific variety, if you haven’t discovered it yet.) Snapdragons are great for structure and color, but their bloom time is more limited. WIth camp gardens, it makes sense to plan the garden’s big show for the period when you’ll be in residence. I don’t bother with spring bulbs or June stunners like Iris, Columbine or Lupine. I plant for an August garden.

Like many of you, we rent our cottage when we’re not using it to help cover expenses , and I’m not bashful about enlisting help from renters. There’ s a big sign on our frig that reads “Miss your garden? Howbout watering ours?” Not only have renters obliged, they’ve written notes, made suggestions, and even left a few artists renderings. OK, these were done by kids, but welcome nonetheless! So I’m curious, what are your all time favorite no maintenance plants? I’m always looking to fill the holes…