All the Dirt on Gardening

Borovetz Carson Greenhouses, 3020 North St between South Country Club and York Mon to Sat 10 to 6 and Sun 12 to 6    Information 918.682.4404 and 348.1270 Poinsettias are a universal symbol of the holidays in the US, appearing on cards, in arrangements and of course, live plants. Poinsettia  leaves or bracts come in red, white, pink and marbled. The flower is a tiny green center that is barely noticeable. When selecting live plants, look for bright, wilt-free leaves, and unbroken stems.  The tiny flowers should be mostly pollen-free. Buy wrapped Poinsettias on your way home from shopping since even brief exposure to cold can cause damage.  Pete Carson has opened sales of his Muskogee-raised Poinsettias at Borovetz Carson Greenhouses. In addition to a variety of leaf colors, he has four sizes  - Pixie is 4.5 inches with 1 plant.  - 6.5-inch pots have two plants - Eight-inch pots have 3 plants that make a taller display used for a hearth or stair steps. - H

Marigolds, or Tagetes, are one of the most cheerful plants that are easily grown from seed in the spring. Their ease and variety make them a good choice for children and family gardens. Since the plants die with the first freeze and return from seed each spring, this fall’s seeds can be collected to start indoors. The plants will drop their seeds in the garden now and come up next season. You can transplant the seedlings around your other flower beds and containers or just thin them out. Since they bloom all the way to our first hard freeze, Marigolds make a good cover for bulbs and daylilies that have faded for the season. Scientific experiments have recently disproved Marigold’s ability to repel garden pests so just plant them for their beauty.  Nutrient-rich Marigold flowers attract pollinators and can be used as a saffron substitute or to make tea. When you see Marigolds used as an ingredient in medicinal creams, it is the Calendula variety that is high in antioxidan

In the 1500s the large fruits of  Pawpaw trees fed Hernando DeSoto’s conquistadors during their expedition in the Mississippi Valley. A favorite food of American Indians at the time,  early settlers used the fruit to make jelly. The trees’ inner bark was used to make cloth and to string up fish. Pawpaw trees have a wide native range from New York and Ontario to Iowa and Texas.  The trees mature at 10 to 20 feet tall and wide with a round, upright pyramid form that requires no shaping. Pawpaws are cold hardy to zone 5 so they are quite happy in our zone 7 weather.  The pink flowers in the spring are very pretty and prolific. After pollination, yellow fruits form to ripen later in the summer and fall. The fruit is said to taste like bananas though ours is always eaten by wildlife long before we can harvest any. The leaves are large, light green ovals that turn lime green and then pale yellow in the fall, adding to November color in the garden.  Our first tree came fro

Fall is for asters and they are popping up in lawns at 2-inches tall and in gardens topping out at 10 feet tall. In between there are dozens of other Aster heights to chose from when deciding which ones to plant.  Aster Tataricus is large, with toothed leaves and hundreds of light blue flowers with yellow centers. This variety spreads, creating colonies and providing October-November nectar for hundreds of butterflies. In a sunny location, a cluster of Aster Tataricus can have 20 Monarch butterflies at a time, swaying in the breeze on the Asters’ strong stems while sunbathing and collecting strength to continue their voyage south.  For the most part the stems can stand without staking but when we have a big wind and rain storm they will fall over. Usually, we do not bother to stake them since the skippers, butterflies and bees cover the flower heads just as much. Even though the flowers are only an inch wide, the large clusters are a beautiful addition to flower beds