Tomato Experiment Continues

By pbarnett

My experiment with the Aerogarden and starting tomatoes continues. These plants were started March 1, and need to come out of the Aerogarden now, as they are against the lights and getting burned leaves. I have learned that I don’t need to start plants as early as I did. I am also contemplating getting an upgrade for the Aerogarden, which has three lights and a taller lightstand. There are two plants in the back that are much smaller, indicating that they did not get as much light as the other five. The varieties include: Cherokee Purple, Early Girl, Super Tasty, Brandy Boy, and Red October. (Click on photo to see larger image.)

Spring Is Here

By Ms Sherry

Solomon Seal

Pieris Japonica

Trillium

Hosta

The calendar states it as fact, and the garden verifies it. Spring is definitely here. The days are beginning to warm and, thanks to daylight savings time, are much longer. Gardeners are finding more and more reasons to wander around the yard – cleaning flower beds, admiring their first spring flowers, and just dawdling as they greet another season. I walked around yesterday to see what surprises would greet me. The trillium were up and in flower. This precious wildflower is one of the first spring bloomers. Happily at home in a woodland setting, trillium will gradually reproduce over time.

The hostas are beginning to sprout ever-so-slowly with their lush green leaves unwinding as the temperatures rise. The first of the Solomon Seal (Polygonatum) has come up. Like hosta, Solomon Seal also prefer the shade. It spreads by rhizomes and is welcome anywhere it decides to come up in my garden; it makes a beautiful combination with hosta, ferns, lenten roses, and others who also prefer shade.

One of my very favorite shrubs is Pieris Japonica. Pieris prefer to grow in the same conditions as azaleas and should be planted in the same manner – high in acid, well- drained but moist soil under the shade of pines or other high trees. They can take a little sun, but that would be morning only. My husband always says the glorious dangling clusters of little white flowers remind him of chandeliers.

It is time to pull out our serious gardening shoes and clothes; the time has come. We have survived another winter and the world and our gardens are our oysters.

I used THE SOUTHERN LIVING GARDENING BOOK as a resource for this blog.

 

Flowering Quince

By Ms Sherry

a flowering quince in full bloom

The flowering quince (chaenomeles) is just about the first thing to begin blooming in the garden each year; I have seen the quince in the photograph start to bloom in late January. This is an easy plant to grow; flowering quince doesn’t seem bothered by insects, diseases (except perhaps leaf spot in the summer), or deer. If it had one drawback, perhaps, that might be the thorns.  Flowering quince wants full sun and, like all plants, well-drained soil. It is neat to bring branches in the house and watch them bloom during late January. The branches loaded with blooms, additionally, make a glorious flower arrangement. The quince pictured here ( I don’t remember the cultivar) grows only about three feet tall and about five feet around. There are many, many cultivars of flowering quince available to the trade: some grow tall; others remain dwarf size. There is a wonderful assortment of colors, including coral, pink, red, white and, my most favorite, the one that sports pink and white and red blooms all on the same branch (‘Toyo Nishki’).

Flowering quince is a wonderful addition to your garden. It might almost be described as bullet-proof, a gardener’s favorite plant description. 

Camellias in the Snow

By Ms Sherry

East Central Alabama had a beautiful snow fall on Sunday morning March 1.  The garden virtually became a winter wonderland, almost seeming that a pastry chef came in and iced the leaves and flowers with a fluffy white frosting. How much damage was done to the daffodil, the pansy, and the camellia blossoms will probably become evident as the temperatures rise later this week. It was glorious while it lasted, which thank goodness was just briefly. But watching the snowflakes made for a wonderful winter diversion. Among the photos I took yesterday are these two of the camellias frosted with snowflakes.

“Crepe Murder”  (How to Ruin a Crepe Myrtle)

By Ms Sherry

This is really sad case of “crepe murder” ; note the beautiful peeling bark, however.

How anyone might think this is a good way to prune is beyond me

A huge crepe myrtle has fallen victim.

This is the worst—the tree never seemed to recover.

Oh my goodness—another landscape crew had been here.

This case of “crepe murder” stood at the corner of a many - storied building where its large size would have been an asset; I watched in horror as the lawn crew chopped it up.

Note the artificial growth pattern after “crepe murder”; instead of branches there are these sort of twiggy sprouts that grow up. The tree’s original shape has vanished.

A beauty!

Another beauty!

Glorious!

A wonderful specimen!

There is no tree that I know that has sustained more well-meaning damage by its owner than the crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemeria). Crepe myrtles come in all sizes from dwarf to 30 feet tall. Pick the right size for your spot, so that this glorious tree will never fall victim to “crepe murder.” What is “crepe murder”? That is pruning the graceful arching limbs into ugly stubs. This practice is carried out by home owners as well as landscaping crews. Not only does “crepe murder” destroy the tree’s natural shape, but it also forces the resulting branches to grow into spindly- looking sprouts that are really not strong enough to hold up the multitude of flowers the tree bears in the summer months. If your crepe myrtle needs a little trimming, remove the top two or three feet with a hand pruner. Pruning out the small inside branches (those about pencil size)  opens up the canopy highlighting the trunk. If you choose to prune your crepe myrtle, do so in late winter as crepe myrtles bloom on new wood and pruning them later than early spring will remove your summer flowers. Crossing or diseased branches should also be removed.  Limbing up a crepe myrtle at least 4 feet exposes the trunks.

To minimize diseases such as powdery mildew, it is important to choose myrtles that are disease-resistant and then plant the tree in the right place – lots of sun and lots of good air circulation.  And, yes, crepe myrtles grow best like most every plant we talk about in fertile, well-drained soil.

Crepe myrtles are a great four-season plant. Fall color is beautiful; the peeling winter bark is stunning; early spring brings lush green foliage and summer time brings the flowers in a wide variety of colors depending on the cultivar you choose. 

Please for the good of the garden, never commit “crepe murder.“