All the Dirt on Gardening

Cool fall temperatures and rain have created an ideal time to divide cold-hardy bulbs, plant garlic, and take care of a few other enjoyable tasks outside. our Bluebells April 2014 For most gardeners, the word bulb includes bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes. Spring flowers such as iris, lily, crocus, amaryllis, scilla (bluebells, etc.), daffodils and narcissus, all benefit from being dug up, divided, and replanted every 3 to 5 years. You may have noticed that established clumps of bulbs have green shoots in the spring but flower only around the outer edge of the planting or produce no flowers at all. Rather than letting them die out from lack of attention, grab a shovel and dig the clumps by inserting a shovel around the circumference of the planting. Then, carefully insert the shovel beneath the clump and lift the bulbs out. Daffodil clumps can be two or three layers deep; iris rhizomes and roots are shallow. Place the entire clump of bulbs or corms onto a fla...

Every year around this time we plant a couple hundred garlic seeds to be harvested next summer. What you see on the kitchen counter in the photo is a combination of what's left of the garlic we harvested this summer plus the garlic we purchased from Keene Organics. After I pulled all the weeds, Jon harvested our compost to lay down a layer onto the raised garlic bed. Then, I separated the heads of garlic into their cloves or seeds and handed them off for him to plant. We decided to plant less this year - 150 instead of 200 and will know next year whether that is enough for us. Organic Gardening recommends that you soak the cloves for two hours in baking soda and liquid seaweed. We've never done that but you can follow the link to read about their method. Since we grew winter squash in the raised garlic bed this summer the soil will need some boost so we're going to fertilize a bit this year, although we usually do not bother. Both Keen Organics , Seeds from It...

Oklahoma Forestry Services invites avid hikers, casual walkers, nature lovers, families with strollers and seniors to take a walk in the Keystone Ancient Forest near Sand Springs from 8 am to 1 pm .  Foresters will lead the walk and share information about the forests and trees and how foresters work to keep forests healthy and thriving. The walk will take about 1 1/2 hours if participants stop at each educational station.  Sponsored by: Foresters and Natural Resource Professionals from the Society of American Foresters, Oklahoma Forestry Services, Oklahoma State University and City of Sand Springs Parks and Recreation Department! When:  Gates are open from   8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.    Where:  Keystone Ancient Forest, West of Sand Springs, OK ( From 209th West Avenue (Prue Road) and Highway 64 / 412 exit - Travel north along Prue Road approximately 2 miles. The entrance is directly across from the second cell phone tower and feature...

Black and Blue Salvia guaranitica This morning dozens of members of the Tulsa Perennial Club met at Grogg's Green Barn to embark on a tour of members' gardens. Several of their neighbors also volunteered  to let us tromp through their gardens to us so in all, we visited 10 beautiful gardens. It was 50-55 degrees all day and although the rain stopped by 10 am, it was too cold for me to linger anyplace. Here are a few of the scenes we enjoyed - Willow-leaf Sunflower - Helianthus salicifolius These are two photos from the front garden at the first home where the house sat on an acre with an above ground pool, seating areas and raised bed vegetable garden in the back. Here the homeowner was available to answer, "What's that plant?" One homeowner and club member explained that the sculpture was made from a tree that died in the backyard. Linda Outlaw allowed us to lunch on her back deck, tour her gardens and then gave a presentation o...

Clark Shilling speaking at Muskogee Garden Club 9:30 am Oct 16 Kiwanis Senior Center 119 Spaulding DR Information Susan Asquith 918-682-3688 Free and open to the public ------------------------------------------------------------- Among gardeners andnature-lovers , there has been a gradual migration from a just-plant-something philosophy to a plant-something-useful philosophy over the past ten years or more. It’s not that raising roses and lilies is frowned upon, it’s more that we are being urged to add a few herbs or vegetables, shrubs that make berries or put in more environmentally friendly native plant varieties. There is a free online course available at www.ecosystemgardening.com . The author Carole Sevilla-Brown defined the Five Pillars of Ecosystem Gardening: Sustainable Gardening, Water Conservation, Plant More Native Plants, Build Soil Health, and Remove Invasive Plants. Making the change is easy to do if it is done in small steps. For exampl...

Ruellia brittoniana Dwarf Mexican Petunia For the front of a summer and fall flower bed, I've found pink flowering dwarf Mexican Petunia,  Ruellia brittoniana.  Started from seed a couple of winters ago, ours bloom intermittently for several months. Those dark green leaves persist for several months Part of the reason ours bloom so little is that they are in too much shade. The plants grow a foot tall. They are cold hardy in zones 7 to 10 only. The plants are host food for the Common Buckeye butterfly caterpillars and the flowers are a nectar source for most local butterflies. Ball Seed has some interesting information about them. They call them Ruellia Southern Star Pink and also have pink and white flowering varieties. Outside Pride calls them Southern Star Ruellia and like many references suggests that they can become invasive. Mine have not moved an inch nor sprouted from seed anyplace other than where I placed them two years ago. The tall, purple flowe...