Almanac.com Gardening Blog

Apple Trees are a Delicious Investment

Doreen G. Howard — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:27:37 +0000

Have you thought about growing your own apples, pears, and Asian pears?

They’re easy, and super-dwarfing rootstock allows you to grow a tree in the smallest space. I mention pears and Asian pears, because they’re similar in culture to apples and also store well for long periods.

I have seven apple, two Asian pear and one pear tree in a 4-by-30-foot strip. My mini-orchard produces enough fruit to stow for eating fresh throughout the winter, some to dry and plenty to make into applesauce and pear jam.

The trick for a large bounty of luscious fruit in a small area is picking trees on the right rootstock. All fruit trees are grafted on to dwarfing or nematode-resistant or extra hardy roots from another cultivar, developed for their specific qualities.

I'm picking Pixie Crunch apples last September in my tiny orchard. Ten trees take up little space.

The grafting process can be complicated. The desired variety or cultivar is attached to the rootstock (cambium, xylem and phloem layers are matched) and the union is sealed with wax and tape and then planted in bed or large container to grow. I readily admit that I am all thumbs and cannot graft. Luckily, there are plenty of mail order nurseries that specialize in fruit trees on various rootstocks.

Le Nain Vert is a gentically dwarf pear tree that is barely five feet tall and tidy in spread. Fruit is firm and delicious!

After you pick your trees, they will arrive bare root, meaning the roots are not in dirt. They'll be shipped to you at the right time to plant, when the ground has thawed and warmed a bit. Soak the roots in a bucket of water overnight, at least, or up to three days, before planting. Dig a large hole so that roots can be spread. Position the tree so that the graft union (the bumpy spot on the trunk) is at least three inches above the soil line. Otherwise, the rootstock will grow and over take the grafted cultivar.

Organic care is easy. Look at my previous blog about how to do it.

This Wealthy apple tree, grafted on to M27 rootstock, is only four feet tall. It fits easily in a flower bed.

The right dwarf rootstock

Here is a rundown of the best rootstocks to seek when purchasing trees. There’s one for every climate, just as there are apple cultivars for everywhere. Even in the hottest climate a tasty apple like Anna will grow on the right rootstock.

Apples

Bud 9: 8 feet; very cold hardy; use in USDA Climate Zones 3 to 5.

M9: 8 to 10 feet; tolerant of wet soils; Zones 5 to 8; protect roots with snow cover in colder areas.

M27: 6 to 8 feet; requires extra moisture so irrigate often; Zones 5 to 8.

MM106: 10 to 12 feet; excellent for hot climates; Zone 8 to 10.

Pears, including Asian Pears

OHXF33: 10 to 16 feet; easily kept smaller with summer pruning; cold-hardy; precocious, bearing fruit after a year or two in the ground; Zones 4 to 8.

OHXF51: 8 to 12 feet; the best rootstock for hot, humid climates; Zones 6 to 9.

Quince: 4 to 10 feet; significantly dwarfs pear trees. Compatible only with Comic, Anjou and Seckel pears; best for hot, humid climates with clay soils; not cold-hardy; Zones 7 to 9.

Why Do People Dislike Black Tomatoes?

Doreen G. Howard — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:24:25 +0000

In the dead of winter when grocery stores offer flavorless, hard tomatoes at astronomical prices, I found a package of five large, luscious black tomatoes for 49 cents today.

They taste wonderful! Like the black tomatoes that come from my garden every summer, they’re full of nuances of merlot, salt and citrus, with robust, tangy firmness.

I’ve been growing various black varieties such as ‘Purple Calabash’, ‘Black Prince’ and ‘Black Krim’ for 20 years, ever since I tasted the first one at an heirloom tomato fair in Texas.

I couldn't believe my good luck in finding this package of five black tomatoes for 49 cents at the grocery store in February!

Nearly all black tomatoes come from the Crimean peninsula in the Ukraine, where they’ve been favorites of the locals for more than a century. Hot summers there built pigment and fruit sugars that turn flesh and skin dark shades of mahogany, chestnut, bronze and deep purple. That’s why black tomatoes do well in southern states with torrid summers. They taste good up North, too, but colors are paler.

I grew this 'Purple Calabash' tomato in Texas where the long days of sun and heat build the best colors. Northern-grown ones taste as good, but they aren't as vividly colored.

One summer, I grew enough ‘Southern Night’ determinate black tomatoes so that I was able to save over two pounds of seeds. I gave them to Dr. Jerry Parsons of Texas A&M University (TAMU) for trialing. The idea was to see how well black tomatoes grew in the Winter Garden area of South Texas, near the Mexican border, where commercial growers produce nearly 50 percent of the tomatoes found in stores and restaurants.

Jerry used the seed to plant two acres of the tomatoes at the TAMU trial fields in Uvalde, TX. After the crop was harvested (determinates bear all their fruit within a 2-4 week period), he invited two dozen commercial tomato growers to view and taste the black fruits. He wanted them to see the commercial value of a new crop.

All of the men invited loved the flavor. Some raved about it. But, everyone declined seeds, because they said they couldn’t sell a black tomato. The consumer would be put off by the green and black interior, thinking it was rotten, and the tomatoes were not consistent enough in size to pack easily in shipping cartons.

Obviously, the observations of those growers that June day in 1997 still hold true. I first saw the black tomatoes I bought today last August in stores. They were selling for $2.95 a five-pack. Now they’re almost being given away. Draw your own conclusions.

Black tomatoes possess a multitude of flavors, plus the usual tang of homegrown ones. They can be compared to fine wines in that their flavors are subtle, numerous and surprising, at times.

I think it’s sad that people do not experience the exquisite flavors inside black tomato varieties. We gardeners can. Order some seeds today and grow a plant or two in your garden. You’ll be delighted with the multi-layered flavor in each bite.

Valentine's gift from my garden and more strange plants

Doreen G. Howard — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:59:12 +0000

Yesterday, a small heart appeared in my hand. It’s a Russian Banana Fingerling potato that obviously forked and grew into a heart.

I was picking potatoes out of the storage bin to add to pot roast in the oven when I discovered this gem.

Last September when I dug up the potatoes I grew, there were so many (about 65 pounds) that I didn’t look at them carefully, other than to cull any with cuts or rot. I washed and dumped the potatoes into a huge cardboard box for storage in the garage.

By the way, in 2010 I tried storing potatoes in a root cellar made from a buried trash can, and everything (potatoes, carrots, beets, etc.) rotted. This year’s lazy approach (covered box in a dark corner of the garage) has worked perfectly. All the potatoes, carrots, beets and parsnips have remained in perfect condition. And, access is much easier.

The heart-shaped Russian Banana Fingerling I grew escaped the pot roast, but it now graces a centerpiece among red rose buds.

Another dye job.

Peacock blue, flamingo pink, copper and tangerine Echevera are the newest dyed plants to hit markets. Their fleshy succulent leaves are stained in surreal colors, but new growth will revert to the normal color. Euro Cactus is rushing them to stores this spring.

Look for dyed succulents at stores in a few weeks, as they are latest plant species to be dyed. Photo courtesy of Euro Cactus.

I think plant breeders have gone on strike and wholesale producers, in retaliation, have invested in vats of dye in order to offer consumers new plants. Either that or the dye craze is a cheap way to boost plant sales. Sorry, I needed to vent!

The real deal.

My friend plant breeder Dan Heims was in Germany attending the premier plant show in the world IPM Essen. He sent photos of interesting plants he’s encountered via Facebook. One totally dazzled me.

It’s called "Green Beauty" and bred by Olig Breeding in Korea—bred, not dyed. Soft bronze edges highlight the pastel green color of the blooms. It’s from Columbia Roses and will be available as a cut flower within weeks and as a plant later. Photo is courtesty of Dan Heims.

You Can Still Plant Tulips

Doreen G. Howard — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:35:13 +0000

I discovered a package of tulip bulbs on a garage shelf, behind a bag of soil sulfur, two weeks ago.

Evidently, the dozen ‘Mata Hari’ tulips hid when I planted over 150 other bulbs last October. I was looking forward to their ivory, edged with lipstick red, flowers along my garden path. At least, that was the plan.

After doing a little research, I came across a study about planting tulip bulbs on top of the ground and late in the season, done by Cornell University. Researchers found you can grow gorgeous tulips in only mulch, two inches being the optimum depth. They experimented with mulch layers up to six inches deep and determined the two-inch covering (renewed every autumn) produced the largest amount of flowers and the most vigorous plants.

I'm looking forward to seeing these 'Mata Hari' tulips in April, even though I planted them shortly after New Year's day. Photo courtesy of Breck's Bulbs.

How to Plant Tulips

According to the Cornell study (done over a six-year period), you should plant tulips this way:

Loosen soil if possible. If not, choose an area with soil full of organic matter.
Scratch in bulb fertilizer. If ground is totally frozen, scatter fertilizer sparely and over a larger range than normal.
Place bulbs on top of soil. Do not press them in, as this will damage bulb base where roots form.
Cover with two to four inches of aged mulch or finished compost. Go for the thicker layer if planting during winter like I did.
Renew mulch covering often to be sure there is at least a two-inch layer.

Use the link above to view the Cornell study and look at photos of tulips blooming over the six-year period. It’s interesting.

Alaska is killing my plants!

Doreen G. Howard — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:48:40 +0000

Buried under 25 feet of snow, coastal Alaska gobbled up the winter cold and snow we normally have in the northern tier of the country. Chalk it up to the Arctic Oscillation, a rare phenomenon that is killing my perennials and shrubs.

When the ground remains warm, as it has during this strange winter, and is suddenly covered by a heavy snow pack and sub-zero temperatures, plant roots suffer. Many die, especially when the thaw-freeze pattern is repeated.

We’ve had no snow this season until Jan. 12, when a blizzard dropped 8 inches and temperatures plunged below zero. Jan. 11, it was 59F and sunny, as it’s been most of the winter. Daffodils had been popping up in the previous weeks.

I planted a plethora of Echinacea last summer, thinking I’d have colorful workhorses in my perennial beds that would also draw pollinators and feed birds during the winter. Dan Heims,accomplished breeder and president of Terra Nova Nurseries, explained to me that in order for Echinacea to succeed in cold climates like mine (USDA Zone 4b), I had to deadhead ruthlessly the first year in the ground. I shouldn’t let plants blooms, but pinch off the buds as soon as I spotted them. Plants then spend their energy building extensive root systems to survive in the cold. I hope it worked!

I planted 26 different coneflowers last spring, including Pow Wow, with great hopes of a colorful display throughout the growing season. Photo courtesy of Ball Horticulture Co.

I also left dead chrysanthemum and aster foliage on plants. According to the Univ. of Iowa, the foliage blanket insulates plant roots. But…..it may have insulated them too well, and below zero temperatures probably damaged roots in warm soil.

And, I worry about shallow-rooted shrubs like blueberries. Hopefully, the foot of pine straw I mulched them with will keep root-kill to a minimum.

Rose canes are still green with intact leaves in mid-January due to the warm winter. With the sudden onslaught of snow and sub-zero temperatures, roots will probably die in the warm ground. The chrysanthemums won't make it either.

Roses are toast. Most canes were green and buds are plump when the storm hit. They’ll probably die and only the rootstock upon which they’re grafted will survive. Those on their own roots, like Therese Bugnet, may survive. We’ll see.

Let’s compare notes about what survives this strange winter. I’d love to hear what worked for you.

Potting Fruit for Fast Harvests

Doreen G. Howard — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:06:09 +0000

New Year’s Day, I used the last of the blueberries I froze in July and August from the four shrubs in my garden to make a blueberry-wild plum wine reduction to go over grilled duck breasts.

I need more shrubs! About a third of the berries are eaten (mostly by me) in the garden while picking. Another third is used fresh for tarts and fruit salads. The remainder is frozen for later use. Obviously, my frozen stash didn’t carry through the winter. I’m running out of ground, so I’m going to containers.

Why? Blueberries, cherries, figs and other small fruit shrubs produce faster in big tubs and pots, especially varieties like Top Hat blueberry, which was bred by the University of Michigan for small spaces and containers.

They’re easier to protect from birds and other critters, more disease resistant and easy to harvest. Potted berries can be picked when ripe by placing their container on a bed sheet or tarp and shaking the pot.

What could be simpler?

Top Hat is perfect on patios and decks, where it offers three-season interest. Gorgeous white bell flowers blanket plants in the spring, blue berries form during the summer and coppery fall foliage persists until the snow falls. Photo courtesty of Spring Hill Nursery.

Pink blueberries

In the last three years, I’ve received two pink blueberry varieties to test in my garden. One, Pink Lemonade has been in the ground for three summers and hasn’t bore fruit. A second shrub was planted in a large tub and flowered last spring! I expect to harvest my first pink blueberry this year. Because pink blueberries contain genetics from rabbit eye blueberries (a standard in the hot South), these pink berries can be planted in nearly every climate.

The same breeder also sent Pink Champagne, another pink variety last June. It, too, is in a large container. All the potted plants have grown vigorously and are larger than the one in the ground! I’m excited about sampling these new berries that is full of antioxidants and supposed to be sweeter than blue blueberries.

Pink Lemonade blueberries are loaded with the same antioxidants and vitamins as their blue cousins. Photo courtesty of Garden Media Group.

Sweet cherries for a pot

Spring Hill Nursery gave me a Carmine Jewel seedling last March to try. It was in a 2-inch pot, and I immediately potted up to a 6-inch one and kept it indoors until nights were above 25F. Then, the shrub went into a large tub. The plant is almost 4-feet tall now and wintering in my unheated garage.

I'm sure these cherries won't make it in the house, because I'll eat them in the garden! Photo courtesty of Spring Hill Nursery.

Carmine Jewel is self-fruitful and can be picked before it’s fully ripe to use as one would a sour cherry, for pies, etc. It’s a cold-hardy sour cherry, but it has super-high sugar content when allowed to turn deep red and soften. You get two types of cherries in one shrub.

Do you grow berries? What do you think about potting fruit? Please share your comment below!

Three mistakes I won't make in 2012

Doreen G. Howard — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:10:55 +0000

Benjamin Franklin once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I plead guilty!

Every year I do things in the garden the same way and then wonder why the results aren’t what I expected. The New Year has led me to analyze my mistakes and to embark on a new path.

Here are my three resolutions to regain horticultural sanity.

Limit the number of vegetable and flower seeds I start under lights.

At the end of February, I start sowing seeds under lights. I usually scatter the entire packet or a good amount of saved seeds, figuring that all will not germinate. Every seed does, and I thin ruthlessly. But, I’m still left with more seedlings that are transplanted into small pots or peat strips than I need.

For instance, I grow seven to ten tomato varieties and only need one sturdy transplant each. I end up with ten or 12, even after I give away transplants to neighbors and friends.

You can grow numerous kinds of vegetables and flower transplants in a small space under lights if you limit the number of each. Photo courtesy of Sheri Ann Richerson.

Homesteader guru Sheri Ann Richerson grows edibles under lights almost year-round, and I asked her what she did. She advised, “restraint!” This year, I’m sowing only six tomato, eggplant and pepper seeds per variety. A dozen will be the limit on annual flowers and no more than six of each perennial. I’ll still have plants to share and won’t feel guilty about those I compost or destroy by neglect.

Be preventative in weed control.

My biggest garden demon is quakegrass, also known as devil’s weed or witchgrass. It’s a cool-season perennial weed that spread rapidly by underground rhizomes. I’ve pulled up the grass and its runners endlessly in perennial, vegetable and fruit beds for years, just have new shoots pop up everywhere. Obviously, mechanical control doesn’t work. The same dilemma faced me when I lived in Texas, in the form of Bermuda grass that also spreads by underground rhizomes.

Quakegrass grows even in the winter under snow and crowds dormant perennials such as this bed of clematis and daylilies.

After extensive research, I learned that a “burn-down” herbicide, applied in early spring and again in late fall, will significantly thwart the spread of invasive perennial weeds, even those like thistles and dandelions which have deep taproots. Burn-down refers to organic chemicals that work their way throughout the weed’s taproot or rhizome system killing the entire system. Compounds like vinegar (acetic acid) in 20 percent or more concentration, clove and citrus oils do the job. And, you don’t pollute the soil or kill the valuable soil microbes that feed plants.

I’m using “Burn-Out” which is mostly acetic acid and “Nature’s Glory” in early March on my weeds. Two caveats, a second application three weeks later is needed for maximum control and it’s best to apply the herbicides with a paint brush or sponge so that surrounding plants are not killed. You’ll see results within three hours.

Plant earlier.

Because I live in a cold climate with about a 100-day growing season, I error on the side of caution and plant when weather is almost frost-free, about May 15. Many years, my cauliflower bolts, cabbage splits and tomatoes and peppers that require 80 days or more don’t ripen on the vine.

These 'Jimmy Nardello' and 'Mini Belle' peppers didn't make it to maturity before the first killing frost, because I planted them to late last year.

This year, I’m using floating row covers for salad greens, cauliflower, cabbage and carrots to trap daytime heat. That way I can direct seed and set out tiny transplants at the end of March, instead of waiting until May 1. I’m going to put out tomatoes, eggplant and pepper transplants early, too, the last week of April. I’ll wrap cages with row cover, mulch the soil with red plastic and place plastic milk jugs filled with hot water in the cages on nights that go below 40F.

Next week, I’ll cover a couple more things I’m doing different this year. Meanwhile, tell me what are your biggest problems and how you solved your garden dilemmas.

Poinsettia is an unlikely Christmas flower

Doreen G. Howard — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:07:05 +0000

Ruby, red poinsettias signaled Christmas to me as a child, especially growing up in balmy Southern California.

My Dad always gave my Mom a potted one, wrapped in shiny foil, a week or two before the holiday. And, my Aunt Dodo had a nine-foot-tall one growing next to her front door.

Bracts on it started turning pinkish around Halloween, then red, and remained ablaze until after Valentine’s Day.

After earning a degree in organic chemistry, which initiated my love of plants and growing them, it occurred to me that poinsettias were the most unlikely flower to symbolize Christmas.

They grow in warm climates, native to Mexico and Central America, and are pampered, delicate throw-away plants in most parts of this country.

The reason blazing red (and now pink, white, orange, plus combinations of these colors) poinsettias are the Christmas flower is an accidental discovery by Joel Poinsett, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in 1828 and aggressive marketing. An amateur botanist, Poinsett saw the red flowers when visiting the Mexican state of Taxco, shortly before he was thrown out of the country for trying to buy Texas from the Mexicans for a million dollars.

He shipped plants to South Carolina, as he left the country, where they were propagated and called “Mexican Fire Plant”. The plant was shared with botanical gardens and growers across the country. And, it was renamed for Poinsett. Paul Ecke in California began growing the plant in the tens of thousands for the Christmas season, when other flowers were scarce. The rest is history, and today, the Paul Ecke Ranch is still the largest commercial producer of poinsettias in the world.

Poison myth

Poinsettias are euphorbias, a plant family known for its white, milky latex sap, which can cause eye and skin irritation. Plants are not poisonous, as many think, but they are problematic for those with latex allergies and small animals. According to the Poison Control Information Center, the average person would have to eat 500 to 700 leaves to incur serious digestive problems.

The colored leaves, known as bracts, are not the poinsettia plant's flowers. They are the tiny yellow or orange buds in the center.

Caring for plants

Raised in greenhouses in cool temperatures (60 to 72 degrees) with high humidity and light intensity, it can be tricky to duplicate the ideal spot for poinsettias.

Place in front of a south or west-facing window, but don’t let leaves touch the cold glass.
Avoid spots near heating vents and doors. Cold drafts will cause leaves to drop.
Maintain temperatures that are comfortable to people. Be sure to lower the thermostat at night so that plants cool off.
Use a humidifier or place plants on a tray filled with pebbles and water.
Water when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch. If underwatered, plants wilt and shed leaves. Overwatering causes roots to die.

Breeders outdo themselves every year with new colors and forms of poinsettias. This one is a Super Mini, grown in a 2-inch pot, perfect for office desks and window sills. Photo courtesty of Greenhouse Growers.

Garden Talk: what's new, blue, and what I've seen lately

Doreen G. Howard — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:23:51 +0000

Even though gardening season is ending, new plants and ideas are popping up every day in press releases I receive, trade magazines and in the electronic media.

It’s like the gardening world has kicked into overdrive, even though spring planting is over six months away for some of us.

And, the first seed catalog for 2012 arrived during the first week of November!

According to trend experts, black and amber are the “must-have” colors for plants in 2012, and front-yard gardening will replace backyard displays. One press release suggested pairing low-growing AMBER Flower Carpet® roses with ‘Black Beauty’ heurchera in containers or as edging in larger flower beds.

Not the normal croton, 'Picasso's Paintbrush' will grow into a four-foot shrub to anchor flower gardens.

A new tropical that got my attention is ‘Picasso’s Paintbrush’ croton; it looks like a plant that had a bad hair day. Unlike a normal croton with wide leaves, these leaves are narrow with a stripe of autumn colors down the middle, and they’re curled. The plant can grow into a four-foot shrub in tropical climates or in a container that is brought indoors for the winter. I’ve grown a wide-leaf croton in a large pot for five years. It makes a gorgeous houseplant, vividly coloring gray winter days. I’ll be looking for ‘Picasso’s Paintbrush’ at big boxes and garden centers.

Glass Insect Eaters
During my October travels, I visited Missouri Botanical Garden and was dazzled by several blown glass displays by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. Among the displays of blue glass chandeliers, yellow arbor frieze and bobbing Walla Walla onions in the lotus pond, I spotted amber pitcher plants in a murky pond amongst water hyacinths and neem trees in the Climatron. That’s the garden’s award-winning conservatory.

The willowy carnivorous plants normally grow in boggy, humid areas of the world; these, executed in blown glass, were ethereal. They gave me the idea to include glass globes like Witch Balls in my tropical garden next season.

More blue flowers
Evidently numerous consumers love those blue orchids, which has prompted plant producers to dye other flower types. Blue anthurium and kalanchoes are on the market now and should be a big hit for the holidays. Both are created using the patented process of injecting blue dye into roots when flower buds are forming.

Called Princess Alexia Blue, this anthurium is from Rijnplant and is now on the market. Photo courtesy of Acres Online.

I’ve already made it known my dislike of blue orchids. How do you feel about the newest blue flowers?

Bittersweet End to the Gardening Season

Doreen G. Howard — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:50:55 +0000

The first snowflakes of the season are falling as I write this. We avoided the October blizzard that hit the Northeast, but snow reliably falls here in the Upper Great Lakes after just Halloween.

It’s a bittersweet ritual that means the outdoor gardening season is finished until next April. I ran around the yard earlier today, heeding the snow prediction, to harvest what tomatoes were left and cut flowers for indoor bouquets. I found a couple surprises, too.

More Blue Tomatoes!

As I dug through a huge thicket of half-dead tomato vines, I found about three dozen blue tomatoes, very unlike the ones I harvested this summer. These are larger, with blue and yellowskins and yellow flesh. I believe they are a variety named 'Helsing’s Junction'—one of the four blue tomato seed types Tom Wagner sent me last spring. Obviously, they require a very long growing season, much longer than our normal one of 110 days. The killing frosts and freezes were late this year; last week, it finally dipped into the high 20’s. This usually occurs around October 10.

Unlike the other blue tomatoes I grew this season, this straggler has yellow flesh and fruity flavor.

The nuanced, multi-layered flavors of this straggler are ethereal! Fruity peach notes, off-set with dashes of lemon and salt is as accurate as I can explain the taste. I’m saving seeds and will start plants earlier than other tomatoes next spring to get a jump on the growing season.

Green Spiders

In May, I received a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from one of my kids. There were several green spider chrysanthemums in the mix that were absolutely stunning. I rooted the stems and ended up with one sturdy plant, which I set out in a perennial border on July 4. I pinched the plant twice to force branching in the following three weeks. Due to late planting and small plant size, I thought no flowers would form this season. Wrong!

Amongst the other mums and frost-damaged petunias, I found nine stems loaded with buds that are beginning to open. And, they are spectacular. After I cut and put them in a vase of warm water, each flower opened and their green color appeared to deepen.

Warm water and a warm house forced the green spider mum buds open within an hour of cutting them outdoors.

I looked out the window a few minutes ago to see that wind gusts were bringing down what is left of the red leaves on the three Autumn Red maples in my yard and driving the snow. Tomorrow, I’ll rake the leaves and shred them with the lawn mower. They’ll be wonderful organic mulch for the veggie garden and flower beds, breaking down into organic nutrients under the snow to feed next year’s tomatoes and chrysanthemums.

Then, the snow can fly and pile up, while I plan next year’s garden.

Pumpkins and winter squash, warts, peanuts and all, are signs of Thanksgiving

Doreen G. Howard — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:23:26 +0000

Have you seen those warty pumpkins and gourds at farmers markets, orchards and garden centers?

The ones with growths that look like big zits or peanuts? I first saw ‘Knuckle Head’, a slightly warty orange pumpkin, last year at a local orchard that also sells pumpkins, gourds and corn shocks. Of course, I bought it, along with a half dozen bumpy gourds.

I quickly discovered that the pumpkin and gourds were genetically altered and patented by Siegers Seed. Saved seeds don’t come true, unfortunately.

'Knuckle Head' was the first warty pumpkin I encountered. Unfortunately, it's a hybrid, and seeds can't be saved.

During my vacation travels last month, I found a pink pumpkin that was wallpapered with huge peanuts! Not really. The growths or warts strongly resemble the shape and color of peanuts. It’s a 220-year-old heirloom, ‘Galeux d’Eysines’ from France.

The warts are created by the build-up of excess sugars in the flesh. In other words, the more peanuts, the tastier the flesh is. Needless-to-say, I’m making pumpkin bread, cheesecake and pie from it. And, I’m saving the seeds to grow next year.

See how to grow your own pumpkins.

'Galeux d'Eysines' is often called the peanut pumpkin for obvious reasons. The flesh makes tasty pies and other goodies.

Another heirloom pumpkin I love is muted blue-gray Jarrahdale from Australia. It’s ribbed and changes colors, from blue to musty peach, as it ages. The flesh is bright orange, dry and sweet. I’ve grown it for years, because it stores well and for its ghostly color.

'Jarrahdale', a ghostly pumpkin from Australia stores well for up to nine months.

I display pumpkins and other colorful winter squash, not only for Halloween, but through Thanksgiving. Our Pilgrim forefathers subsisted on these edibles during their harsh winters, thanks to the Narragansett Indians who gave them seeds, growing advice and easy recipes.

See how to clean and cook pumpkin.

The Pilgrims had gone hungry their first winter, turning up noses at the long-storing foods like pumpkin and squash. When summer came, the colonists planted the seeds given to them by their Native American neighbors. That’s why I pick my pumpkins carefully so that they enhance my Thanksgiving decorations and stay edible for future use.

By the way, the first Thanksgiving dinner really did include pumpkin pie. Pilgrim cooks hollowed out small pumpkins, filled them with sliced apples, sugar, spices and milk. After placing the stem cap back on the pumpkins, they were buried in hot ashes of the cooking fire and baked until tender.

See classic Thanksgiving recipes, including pumpkin pie!

Houseplants for black thumbs and travelers

Doreen G. Howard — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000

As the leaves turn gold, orange and red, it is natural to think of greenery indoors and houseplants to the replace a landscape that is quickly going dormant for winter.

My first instincts are to bring in potted plants and enjoy their vibrant flowers and foliage. That urge usually ends in dead plants, however.

I’m a skilled gardener, but my indoor space presents challenges such as lack of light and low humidity; and there is no one to water plants for long periods. Sometimes I’m gone up to a week on work-related trips, and my husband doesn’t know what a watering can is.

Discovered by experience and recommendation, here are a trio of indoor plants that brighten my home, clean the air and thrive with little attention.

Take a look.

These tiny ceramic stones provide everything moss needs to thrive indoors. Unusual and easy, Moss Rocks!™ are fun no-kill houseplants. Photo courtesy of Moss & Stone Gardens.

Moss Rocks!
Helen Yoest, a blogger in North Carolina, told me about a fabulous new look she had discovered: moss in small containers. Her friend David Spain has introduced the product line to garden centers this month. Moss Rocks! ™ are small to tiny ceramic containers designed to display and maintain Dicranum moss indoors in low light and humidity. I love mine and even have one on my desk by the computer.

My two-year-old anthurium thrives in a glass of water and my neglect.

Anthurium in water
This air-cleansing, tropical plant with spectacular, hardy flowers needs to be watered often. But, two years ago I found a brilliant-red flowered anthurium that was grown in a tall glass of water! I keep the glass two-thirds filled with water and add a drop or two of liquid fertilizer to the water I add every 10 to 14 days. The bottom three inches of the glass are filled with small pebbles to anchor roots. It sits next to my kitchen sink, in front of an east window, and flowers year-round. Easy and carefree!

Succulents
Due to their thick, water-filled leaves, these sun-lovers endure anything! You can forget to water them for two months, place them a low-light situations and never fertilize them, and they thrive. Little or no growth will take place (until they go outdoors to full sun), but they are still attractive air cleaners and perfect for miniature and fairy gardens. I made a diminutive gnome garden with a Senecio that resembles a well-branched tree, a couple of miniature props and plenty of pebbles.

A tiny Senecio mandraliseue 'Blue Chalk Sticks' found at a local nursery makes a great tree for my rocky gnome to lie under and watch the bees and frogs!

I’m off on another trip, visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Long Creek Herb Farm in the Ozarks this week. I’ll be sharing my experiences and photos with you in two weeks. Meanwhile, I won’t have to worry about my houseplants!

Plant breeders have the blues.

Doreen G. Howard — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Blue roses at $50 a stem, vivid blue geranium houseplants and more of those shocking (some say ugly) blue orchids are headed your way.

Plant breeders went crazy this year, trying to bring the impossible color of blue to flowers. Although some used plant material such as blue pansy genes, most breeders incorporated dyes and even blue crayons into plants to produce the blue blossoms.

Here’s a rundown on what you’ll see at florists, garden centers and big box stores in the near future.

APPLAUSE™ rose

Blue roses have been unattainable forever; they’ve been a symbol of love and mystery in literature from fairytales to Kipling’s poem “Blue Roses”. That’s because roses lack a plant pigment, delphindin, which makes flowers blue. Suntory Flowers worked almost two decades to develop a blue rose by inserting a gene for blue pigment from a pansy. APPLAUSE™ is now at florists and will be available as plants within a couple of years. Retailers in Japan are charging $50 a stem for the rose; prices at U.S. florists are similarly high.

Florists are now selling this blue rose. Look for plants in a couple of years. Courtesy of Suntory Flowers.

The rose looks lavender to me, like the Sterling Silver rose my aunt had in her garden in the 1960’s. I’m sure subsequent blue rose releases from Suntory will be truer in color.

Indigo Mystique orchid

Sister to Blue Mystique orchid, Indigio is a darker and deeper blue in color. Silver Vase Co., the U.S. licensed grower of these blue orchids, injects the roots of white phaleonopsis orchids with blue dye when the plant is budding. Blooms after the dyed ones, revert to white. That’s the downside of this plant which people either love or hate.

Indigo Mystique is a deeper blue than Blue Mystique, an earlier release from Silver Vase Co.

Blue Crayon Geranium

The truest blue of all, Blue Crayon, a pot pelagorium, was created by a backyard breeder in Eastern Europe. He crossed a white geranium with his child’s blue crayon! The cross was possible because crayons are made from organic, plant-based material that is molecularly and biologically quite similar to geraniums and other monocots, according to Israeli scientists. Or, so the story goes. GreenFuse Botanicals in California allegedly secured the exclusive global rights to distribute this stunning geranium.

Colored by a child's crayon, this very blue geranium would sell by the millions, if only! Courtesy of Acres Online.

I received this press release last April and put it in a file for future blogs. A number of blogs and gardening radio shows immediately reported the blue crayon break-through in breeding. Before I include anything in my blog, I verify it. It’s an old habit from 25 years as a newspaper and magazine editor. So, I contacted GreenFuse with a few questions. This is the reply I received from Steve Jones, owner of the company, about the blue geranium.

“Sorry for the confusion. That was reported in an industry publication (Growers Talk) on April Fools Day along with a couple of other breaking news stories. I am friends with the editor and got the privilege of being the brunt of his ‘story’. We had inquiries from around the world and it was fun.”

In other words, the blue crayon geranium is a hoax, much like the spaghetti tree the BBC reported on April 1, 1957!

Extreme gardening saves plenty of dollars

Doreen G. Howard — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Extreme couponers have nothing on me.

They may have their own television show and purchase $200 worth of groceries for $2, but I grow much of my family’s food for pennies. Plus, for no money, my yard is full of stunning flowers and a landscape that stops traffic.

After living through two deep recessions in the 1980’s, I became the ultimate extreme gardener. You can, too, in these times of financial turmoil. It’s easy to turn garbage into fertilizer, recycle yard refuse and reuse found items in the garden.

Big Money Savers

Compost your kitchen and yard waste for nutrients that make every plant thrive organically. Fertilizer is pricey, because it’s usually made from petroleum and synthetic chemical compounds. Organic fertilizers are a combination of kelp, fish and cotton meals, which are even more expensive. Simply layer fresh green waste with brown matter such as straw, dried lawn clippings and dead vegetation. Don’t use grass clippings from turf that has herbicides applied to it. Clippings retain herbicides for up to two years that kill plants. See this video on how to compost.

I have a composter at my kitchen back door so I can easily dump kitchen scraps, even when there's a foot of snow on the ground.

Autumn leaves are the best mulch and are free. After you rake them up into piles, run the lawn mower over them to shred the leaves. Apply to all beds, especially ones in the vegetable garden. Mulch shrubs and fruit bushes, too. A six-to-eight-inch layer is optimal. Not only do you have free mulch that looks good, but it decomposes slowly, adding nutrients to the soil. If you don’t have enough fallen leaves, ask neighbors for theirs. Grass clippings are also excellent mulch, breaking down like leaves do. Again, avoid clippings from turf treated with herbicides. See more about mulch and low-maintenance landscaping.

Gorgeous fall foliage is a pot of gold for gardeners.

Fireplace ashes are free fruit tree fertilizer. The potash in wood ash is used by trees for fruit production. Scatter ashes around the root zone area of each tree, and then add mulch. Blackberries, raspberries and grapes also benefit from ash applications. If you burn paper in the fireplace, avoid using ash from colored, slick paper and colored newsprint. Color inks contain heavy metals that could end up in the fruit.

Household garbage is free food for roses, rhododendrons, azaleas and acid-soil-loving perennials. Bury over-ripe bananas and their skins at the base of plants. Scratch into surrounding the soil coffee grounds and tea bags. Bananas are powerhouses of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, elements flowering plants crave. Coffee and tea acidify soil, promoting the uptake of more nutrients by plant roots.

Three Freebies

Let annual flowers, vegetables and herbs drop their seeds in beds. Next spring, they will sprout and grow into sturdy plants. Most will come true to variety, but hybrids won’t. You may find an interesting tomato, pumpkin or petunia in your garden!

When the first freeze comes, I let the marigolds dry up and drop their seeds. I open the peppers and spread their seeds, too. They'll sprout next spring and grow into free plants!

Hang those CD’s and DVD’s you get in the mail and ones you no longer use on fruit trees. The laser-etched surface on the disks projects prisms of sharp light that move constantly, spooking birds and squirrels that want to feast on ripening fruit.

Make instant pea fencing by gathering large twigs and small branches pruned from shrubs and trees. Big twigs make great plant props for gladiolas, iris and lilies, too.

Fall harvests are rewarding, labor-intensive and tricky

Doreen G. Howard — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:50:24 +0000

Harvest season for me started Labor Day.

I spent the entire day digging up Russian Banana fingerling, All Blue and Red Rose potatoes, plus picking Asian pears, apples, carrots and Brussels sprouts. It took three times as long to clean and store everything then it did to pick the huge harvest.

One of the greatest joys of edible gardening is being able to store, freeze, dry and even can excess crops for winter enjoyment. Call me old-fashioned, but I feel a deep kinship to my ancestors who came to this country, raised large families and fed them from either the home gardens of my Hungarian side of the family or the farm my Irish-Cherokee grandfather worked.

I feel I shouldn’t waste anything grown in my organic garden. So, after I share with neighbors and family and give large amounts to Plant a Row for the Hungry, I preserve the remaining vegetables and fruits.

I picked five Brussels sprouts stalks, and it took hours to cut, trim and blanch them all, but I have enough of the tasty vegetables for the entire winter in my freezer.

I blanched the sprouts to freeze, scrubbed carrots and potatoes for storage and dipped the fruit in a bath of water with a tablespoon of bleach to kill any lingering bacteria or fungi before refrigerating. Next, I picked all the ripe tomatoes in the garden, roasted them and made spaghetti sauce, which I froze in pint containers.

It was a long day’s work, but satisfying.

Failure is part of the process

Last year, I read about how to make an instant outdoor root cellar and wanted to try it, given that my basement has cement floors and is partially heated, like most modern homes. With my husband’s help, we constructed one. He dug a deep hole in which we set a new 32-gallon plastic trash can. In it, I layered damp sand and root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes and beets, finishing with a thick layer of damp sand. The top was attached and covered with two feet of shredded leaves and straw. It didn’t work. Moisture leaked into the can and iced the vegetables. Everything rotted when thawed.

Each heirloom potato variety has a different flavor, but they're all terrific!

This year, I set up an area in the basement, in the coldest and darkest area, with plastic bins lined with a layer of damp sand. Here I’m storing the potatoes and carrots. Onions, winter squash and a couple of pumpkins will be stored adjacent in a dry area when they are harvested. Apples go upstairs in an extra refrigerator, because they exude ethylene gas that makes other vegetables and fruits ripen rapidly and rot.

The apple crop was big, too, this year. When refrigerated, apples will remain tasty for up to six months.

I picked over two bushels of Asian pears, more than we could eat, give away and share with the hungry. The crisp, juicy fruits only keep about six weeks in the refrigerator. And, they must be stored in sealed bags to prevent dehydration. I hate to lose this exquisite fruit treat, so I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend to dry wedges of the pears into fruit crisps.

How do you preserve the extras from your garden? Are you a canner (I’m not!) or do you have unique methods of dealing with big harvests?