Early December in the Garden

I got a bit done in the garden over the weekend, as the temps on Saturday were pretty pleasant.  We'd had a tiny bit of rain Friday evening, though not enough to really do much.  I checked on the garden square I've been keeping sheltered under plastic.  The peas are struggling, but the parsley seems to be doing fairly well. I clipped a handful of it for the bunnies, who were delighted to munch on that in addition to their lettuce.

In the next raised square, I had set up a wind break on the north side.  The lettuce there is still not completely gone, though the cold nights have been hard on it.  But I am still able to harvest a few leaves along on most mornings for the bunnies, as well as carrot tops.

I also opened the greenhouse up for a bit to air out, and watered the plants inside.  Since it is only a single layer of plastic, and unheated, the plants inside are not kept that much warmer than outside, but it does make a difference.  The parsley, mint, and strawberries are doing best at this point.  The lettuce I'd planted in one large pot has shown no signs of growth yet. I watered everything, and sealed the greenhouse door back up before dark.

Leaf Mold

I'm looking forward to getting out tomorrow to finish raking leaves.  After raking them up into piles, I use my lawn blower/vac to grind them up into small pieces.  You could also use a mulching mower, and collect the shredded leaves into the mower bag. Then I bag them up in large trash bags, moistening them a bit as I go, poke a few holes in each bag, and tuck them away in an out-of-the-way spot in the back yard for the winter.  In about 6 months or so, those chopped leaves will have become leaf mold, an incredible soil conditioner for my garden.

Late Fall Gardening

Late November harvest of bell peppers

I know the posts have been fewer this month, but I've been busy actually doing all the things I described earlier.  That's a lot to do, and in much shorter days!  It's a real relief as I finish up each task, and can look around to see that I'm getting things buttoned down for the coming winter.

Now that we've had the time change from Daylight Savings Time, it's getting dark by the time I get home, so I have very little garden time except on the weekends.

Fall Garden Update

Sweet and hot peppers picked November 9th

This is a photo of today's harvest.  Even though it's November, and we've had several frosts, the sheet of heavy plastic I put over the pepper plants a few weeks ago has been enough to protect them from frost damage.  I use heavy transparent plastic, generally a painting tarp, and weight it down around the edges with bricks to keep the cold air out.

Favorite Flowers: Snapdragons

Lavender and white snapdragons

Allergy Index Scale: 1
Perennial, commonly sold as annual
Full sun, 10 inches - 4 feet

The snapdragon is a cool-weather plant, so now with the pleasant fall temperatures, my snapdragons are blooming profusely again.  Since they can tolerate some frost, I plant them early in the spring, generally a couple of weeks before the last spring frost date.  They bloom beautifully all spring and into the early summer.  Then I trim them back, water them well, and see little from them until fall, when most will resume flowering.

Snapdragons are available in a wide range of colors, just about everything but blue, as well as softly-shaded bi-colors.  They bloom along a flower spike, opening gradually from the bottom upwards.  They have a light fragrance, and attract butterflies.  Snapdragons come in various heights: dwarf ones that grow to about 10 inches, medium at about 18-24 inches, and tall that may reach 3-4 feet.  I generally prefer the dwarf snaps, as they fit better into my flowerbeds, don't require staking as do the taller ones, and come in the largest choice of colors.

Getting Ready for Winter

Peas, marigolds and parsley in late October

There are a number of things as a gardener that I do each year to get my garden ready for winter. Any hard work I do now, will save me even more work in the spring.

As flowers and vegetable plants die, I remove the dead plants, so they don't harbor insect pests or diseases over the winter.  Perennial stems I cut back to ground level. A few things that offer valuable food for local birds, such as coneflowers, I leave until spring. Healthy plant stems and leaves can be shredded or chopped and added to compost, but anything that may have had any disease or pest problems should be put in the trash. I also watch out for any kinds of seeds.  If your compost pile doesn't get hot enough, disease organisms, weeds, and seeds may not be killed during the composting process, and you'll just be multiplying these problems.

Favorite Flowers: Pansies

Allergy Index Scale:  1
Hardy Perennial, generally grown as annual, zone 4-8
Full sun, 6 - 9 inches

One of my favorite fall traditions is pansy planting time. Pansies are a classic fall and winter flower for the southern states, in planting zones six through nine. Mine bloom profusely all fall long, off and on in the winter, and then again throughout the spring.  They give me flowers at times when everything else is dormant.  Every winter I've seen them blooming cheerfully in the midst of snow.

Fall Planting, Part Two

Fall peas

The peas, lettuce, carrots and green beans I planted last month are coming along well, with warm sunny days, cool nights, and more rain to encourage them.  In a few weeks, as nights get colder, I'll have to consider covering them at night, but so far we've only had one night go below 50 degrees.  My tomatoes, sweet peppers and herbs, that struggled during the worst of the summer heat are perking up and looking better now. 

With the more reliably moderate weather, I have begun planting some of the fall flowers like pansies, asters and mums.  I am careful to get hardy mums, so that I can enjoy them more than one year.

Cool Nights

Last night the temperature here got down below 50 degrees for the first time this fall.  I'd seen the forecast a couple of days ahead, so I knew I'd need to take some action to protect my most tender house plants that have been summering outside.  I have quite a few plants that move outside for the summer, and in for the winter.  They tend to flourish with all the extra sunlight they get, so I am reluctant to bring them back inside any sooner than needed.  Some of them, such as the lemon tree, coleus and geraniums, I particularly try to protect from cold.

Fall Planting, Part One

Fall planting season is coming up.  Spring is often when folks think of planting, but for many plants, such as most grasses, trees, shrubs, and perennials, fall is actually the best time to plant.  This gives plants time to develop a much better root system before facing the heat and drought of summer. The weather is more moderate in the fall, yet the soil is still warm.  This is ideal for roots to grow without the demands of summer weather.  Then in the spring, the plant gets another moderate season for growth before the summer heat. Anything planted in the spring gets only one season, with cooler soil, to get established.

Favorite Flowers: Moss Rose

Allergy Index Scale: 2
Annual
Full sun, 4 - 6 inches 

Multi-colored moss rose

Portulaca, generally called moss rose, is a great low-growing plant for hot, sunny areas.  It blooms for much of the summer, with colorful flowers that may be red, orange, pink, yellow, or white, or occasionally variegated.   A single plant may spread up to two feet, so they can make a great ground cover. I like to use them in areas that are hard to reach with the garden hose, as they tolerate hot Kansas sun better than most flowers, and with less watering. They do well along that hot drive, in rock gardens, containers or tumbling over the edges of a hanging basket.

Planting Fall Crops

Earlier this evening, I was out planting some lettuce and radishes.  In the place of a withering cucumber vine, I put in a row of lettuce that I (and my bunnies) will enjoy later this fall. A couple of weeks ago I'd planted beets and bush beans to replace the sweet corn. Succession planting is where as one crop ends, you plant another, and enjoy fresh vegetables up until winter.

Easy Houseplants: Coleus

Allergy Index Scale: 1
Tender perennial
Shade, 6 inches - 3 feet

Coleus is grown for its foliage rather than flowers, and comes with a variety of colors, patterns and shapes of leaves. It is a good foliage plant for shady areas or an easy houseplant for sunny windows.

Coleus is easy to propagate, by rooting a cutting in water. Cut a piece of stem just below the leaves, and pinch off any leaves that would be underwater. Once roots are well formed, it's ready to plant. in a light, well-drained soil.  Do not plant outside until the temperature stays over 50 degrees.

Feeding Birds: Goldfinches

One colorful and delightful bird commonly seen at birdfeeders is the goldfinch. They are sociable little birds and spend much of the year in lively flocks, and are known for their acrobatics.  They prefer black oil sunflower seeds,  thistle, or niger.

Goldfinches will use about any kind of feeder: hopper, platform or hanging feeders, and are happy to eat the seed spilled below feeders. Some people have reported great success attracting them by offering thistle in sock-type mesh feeders. If you have trouble with other birds chasing goldfinches away to eat the seed, you can try an upside-down feeder, where the goldfinches will happily cling to get the seed.

Favorite Flowers: Purple Coneflower

Allergy Index Scale:  5
Perennial, zone 3
Full sun, 2-3 feet tall

One of the perennial flowers that most reliably handles the hot Kansas summers without pampering is the purple coneflower, or echinacea.  This native plant can handle the extremes of both winter and summer and keep going.

Originally their flowers were a rosy pink color, but they are also available now in white, yellow, orange, and red. They bloom in the summer and early fall. If you deadhead them during the summer, they will keep blooming for many weeks.  Leaving the seedheads at the end of season provides seeds that are attractive to native birds such as goldfinches.

Compost Weekend, part 2

Yesterday I told about emptying my tumbling composters, and spreading the compost.  Today I want to tell about refilling the composters to begin another batch.

Compost Weekend

This week my current batch of compost looked ready to go, so today I emptied out my tumbling composters, and spread the finished compost in my garden.  How do you know the composting process is complete?  When you can no longer recognize the original materials, and it just looks like nice dark, loose garden soil.

I put an inch or two thick layer of compost over the surface of selected flower and veggie beds.  Next time, I'll choose other beds, until hopefully every garden area will be so blessed over the course of the summer.

Summer Oasis

I just came inside a few minutes ago from walking my dog.  As I stepped inside the front gate, hot from the sultry evening, it was so refreshing to hear the sound of splashing water from the little fountain by the front porch, and to smell the jasmine in bloom.

Scorched Leaves

Recently I had someone ask about their plants' leaves being scorched by the hot weather.   That's an issue I'm dealing with as well, so I started reading up on it.  I'd noticed that it seems to happen mostly to plants more recently planted rather than mature ones, so I was not surprised to find out that it is generally an issue with plants that have inadequate root systems.  Many times it happens to plants that have not been in the ground long enough to establish a good root system, so in prolonged very hot weather, and with hot winds, the roots are simply unable to supply water to the foliage as fast as it is lost by transpiration from the leaves.  Other times it may happen to more mature plants that have not developed good root systems or have had damage to their roots, such as roots dehydrated by too little winter moisture, or stunted by compacted soil or poor drainage. Often the effects of a dry winter are seen in mid-summer when plants struggle with scorched leaves.

Feeding Birds: Baltimore Orioles

Oriole visiting the jelly feeder

Over the last couple of summers, I have really enjoyed the visits of Baltimore Orioles to my garden.  I first spotted them coming to my hummingbird feeders early last summer.  Before then, I hadn't even realized that they lived in this area, so I was delighted to spot these gorgeous birds.  After a bit of research, I started putting out grape jelly for them, which was a real hit.  I had found a bright orange feeder with spikes for slices of fruit and small cups to hold jelly, and the birds quickly began visiting it.

Enjoying the Harvest

Garden Fresh

I just finished a tasty little salad earlier; with fresh tomatoes, peppers, radishes, parsley and mint from my garden.  The cucumbers, feta cheese and olives were courtesy of Dillons.  But since most of the ingredients were from my garden, it was a great feeling to sit down to a meal of fresh stuff I'd grown, and had just picked minutes before.

I'm hoping to have even more variety coming in soon.  The green beans, cucumbers and cantaloupe vines are all blooming, and the sweet corn is growing fast.

Gardening in a Heat Wave

Moss rose thrives in hot summers

The high temperature here today was 107. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 106.  The forecast for the next week shows highs of 100 or above every day.  Well, that's summer in Kansas -- thank God for air conditioning!

Heat like this, especially over an extended period, is really hard on the garden (as well as people, animals, utilities budgets, etc.)  There are a few things a gardener can do to help their plants make it through this kind of weather.

Fertilizing

I'm waiting inside, doing some computer work, until it cools down a bit so that I can get out in the garden again.  I spent about 3 hours this morning before church time, getting some weeding and clean-up done, plus feeding my plants.  The last several years, I've used a range of fertilizers: primarily compost, supplemented with organic fertilizers.  Some you dig in as you plant; some you add to the watering can, and this morning I was using foliar feeding--fertilizer sprayed onto the leaves of the plants.

Got Weeds?

The weather has been so lovely recently; cool, often sunny, but enough rain so that everything outside is incredibly green and lush.  It's a great time to be outdoors, and I treasure my garden time.  So what do I spend my time doing?  Weeding!  I avoid using synthetic products on my lawn, like weed killers or weed and feed products, and so my yard gets lots of weeds.  Weed pollens tend to be a major allergy issue, so I need to eliminate them.  Result?  I spend a lot of time pulling weeds.

There are a few things I can do to try to prevent weeds in the first place. 

Spring Allergies

Spring is such a great time in the garden, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.  However, it's also a time when my allergies kick in, so there are things that I do to keep them from taking all the fun out of the season.

There are lots of suggestions out there of ways to prevent or lessen allergic reactions.  I've collected a lot of them from my allergist, books, articles and websites.  From these, I've found those that help me the most.  Which approaches are best for a particular person depends on exactly what things you are allergic to, and  how you are exposed to them--by inhaling, touching or ingesting the allergens. In gardening, allergens include pollen from plants, mold spores, and contact reactions from plant sap.

May showers

We had some good rain showers over the weekend, so the new rain barrel now has water to draw on.  I used some of it this evening for the container plants on the front porch.  It was great not to have to go clear around the house, and lug heavy watering cans so far.  I think it will prove to be a good investment for saving water and time.

Rain Barrels

I got my new rain barrel installed this evening; all ready for the possible rain showers later this week.  I already had two, but have been dreaming of getting several more.  I like to, as much as possible, use the chlorine-free rainwater for my garden, plus avoid the high summer water bills. 

My Current Composting System

Compost is one of the best things you can give your garden.  It improves the soil texture so that your plants can do their best, and helps provide some of the nutrients they need. Sure, you can buy it, but why not make your own?  Here is the composting system I currently use.

Pond Difficulties

Whew! Finally resolved an issue with my little backyard pond tonight.

Last Thursday evening when I went outside I found that the fountain in my pond was no longer spraying water. I assumed that meant that the pump in the filter had become clogged, as has happened a couple of times before, so despite the slight drizzle of rain, I cleaned it. When I plugged it back in, I was disappointed to find that it still did not spray out any water. Sometimes before when it didn't start immediately it did after a while.

April Showers

We may get the first April shower of the year tonight. Rain has been forecast for yesterday and today, but nothing has come down so far. We don't really need it after the big rains last week, but I planted things over the weekend that would probably do better with some moisture as they get established. I did a lot of weeding over the weekend, but I did plant out a few more flowers and veggies.

Spring Break

Last week was spring break. I'd looked forward to that for weeks, anticipating spending a great deal of time every day in the garden. We've had enough warm weather for a while that things were really growing. The reality? It rained every day until Friday. I was stuck in the house -- okay, so I love to read and had a lot of book time, which I enjoyed too. But by the weekend, the weeds were way ahead of me. I've pulled up four big garbage bags full of weeds, and am nowhere near done.

I did put out some of the hardier flowers already; snapdragons can handle cool weather, and of course the pansies are still going that I put out last fall. I planted a few perennials that had been hardening off for a while, and a couple of bushes to fill in some gaps where things didn't make it through last summer. I bought a few more annuals, but am either leaving them in their original pots or have put them in containers that can be moved into cover for a little longer. It's still a bit too early to put the more tender little guys out yet.

Trying Something New!

Last weekend a friend and I went to Dutch's Greenhouse to get a little fix of spring. We enjoyed wandering through looking at all the tiny seedlings, and just soaking in the incredible aroma of fresh growing things.

While there, I noticed some little plants getting a start, but not in the usual potting soil. I checked it closer, and it seemed to be brown styrofoam.

First Planting of the Year

We’ve had a lot of warm weather recently, which is encouraging the trees and bushes to start budding out. I hate to see that, as it’s far too early, and inevitably we’ll be having cold weather yet. Sunday I planted one of my raised veggie beds with peas and a row of lettuce. It’s early, yes, but I do this about every year, and I have never yet lost these early crops. They’re pretty hardy plants, plus if a really nasty cold spell comes in, I cover the bed. Since my raised beds are edged with concrete blocks, I fit low hoops of flexible PVC pipes over the bed, then cover it with a sheet of heavy clear plastic held down with bricks around the edges.

This coming weekend I plan to plant another bed with sugar snap peas, lettuce and a few radishes. I don’t care for radishes myself, but my neighbor does, and my bunnies sure do like the leaves.

Ongoing Winter Garden Work

Over the winter, I look forward to any moderately pleasant day on the weekend, so that I can get out and get a bit more done in the garden. I spent so much time in the fall scraping and painting on the garage that a lot of tasks to prepare the garden for the winter didn't get done. I still need to cut back the asparagus plants, and trim and clean out the iris bed.

I've begun getting out the things to start seeds indoors. Some things should be started 10 weeks before last frost date, which is mid-April here. I like to get plants started far enough ahead to put them out as soon as weather permits. Growing season is all too short!