All the Dirt on Gardening

Oh, what a glorious day in the garden. After being distracted for a week, there is quite a lot to do to catch up. On the east side of the house, a Monarch Butterfly chrysalis . Red Russian Kale is one of the few greens we actually enjoy eating. I don't like spinach and most greens are bitter tasting to one or both of us. But this kale is yummy just boiled in salted water. Red Giant Mustard is blazing hot like a radish if you eat it raw, but cooked like any other green, it is terrific. When I visited Anne Pinc in Tulsa, she had taken out some King Alfred daffodil bulbs that were in the wrong place. And, she gifted me with a bag of them. Online, Richard Wagner offered free Amaryllis belladonna bulbs that he was thinning out. So, I asked for a box of them. Take a look at these giants! We have a few of them in our garden. I'll put these in pots and grow them in the shed over the winter. Amaryllis Belladonna is from Africa but does reasonably well in zone 7.

You won't be able to make a cake with this member of the cocoa family, but you will enjoy a fast growing, unique tree in your yard. They will grow to 30 feet tall and the large leaves create a parasol of shade that can extend to 20 feet across. Firmiana simplex, Parasol Tree, has sweetly scented flowers followed by seed pods that can be used in dried flower arrangements. North Carolina State University has a photo of the tree in bloom. The seeds that follow will make little trees where they fall. Duke's site has a good photo of the seedpods. Lucky for us, we visited Christina Logan in Tulsa on a day she had a few seedlings to share. The Logan's have Parasol Trees along their driveway and in the back yard where they create a tropical look. The Dirt Doctor, Howard Garrett lists these common names for the Parasol Tree, Chinese Parasol Tree, Chinese Varnish-Tree, Phoenix-Tree, Bottle-Tree, and Chinese Bottle Tree. The bark is green and since the tree does not branch out like...

New tools, plants and garden books for 2010 include redesigned handles for spades, double hibiscus for the hedgerow and a dozen volumes on garden design. Each gardener can find something to enhance their library and shed. Here are a few that you may not have heard about. The Arnold Power Rake attaches to many walk-behind lawn mowers (requires tools and some mechanical ability). It dethatches, can help with fall leaf chopping, lawn scalping, and aerating. Cost $15 - $20 Available at Lowes and Amazon.com. Deep Drip Tree Watering Stakes will be helpful for fall tree planting. Watering should be deep enough to encourage the roots to sink down into the soil, below the hole. Deep Drip soakers look like heavy- plastic, giant, turkey-basters, with irrigation holes in the sides. Designed to work with either a garden hose or soaker, they are planted into the hole between the tree trunk and the drip line. Fertilizer added to the Deep Drip via the removable cap goes directly to the roots with wat...

I was dubious, doubtful, suspicious and dreaded a potential mess. But we took the leap and tried the Norpro Degradable Compost Bags. We put a bag into a lidded cheapie ice bucket from the local cheap stuff store. Then, put in the usual things: coffee grounds, eggshells, salad trimmings ... you know the things that could make the bottom of the bag fall out on the trip from the kitchen to the compost bin. No mishaps. The bag held together. This is not a paid commercial - we bought the bags. Do you use these or something else?

Todd Hudspeth is a garden designer in Tulsa so of course his garden is always full of delights. Click to see his garden blogspot, called Discover Eden . This is a Plumeria in his front yard garden space. Mostly they are grown in Hawaii and the sweet flowers are made into the leis that will be put around your neck as you deplane there in January. Also called Frangipani, they have to be taken inside and stored warm or stored dry in a basement over the winter in order to be grown as a perennial here. Keep the roots from freezing temps and replant in the spring. Master Gardener online says - Plumeria has many common names throughout the tropical world including: •Dead Man's Finger (Australia) •Jasmine de Cayenne (Brazil) •Pagoda Tree or Temple Tree (India) •Egg Flower (southern China) •Amapola (Venezuela) There are dozens of sources for the plants on the Internet.

With the subtitle, Grandma's Bag of Tricks, Sharon Lovejoy summarizes her latest book of ideas for child care workers, teacher, parents, grandparents, and, well, anyone who enjoys hanging around with children. There are 130 ideas for children of all ages. Chapters and a taste of their contents 1 Preparing Camp Granny - birthdays, stories, home made bubbles, 2 The Neighborhood Naturalist - explorer kit, bird watching, butterfly gardening 3 Kids in the Kitchen - recipes for critter cakes, fluffy clouds, salad party 4 Kitchen Garbage Garden - citrus trees, sprouting spuds, strawberry skirts 5 Kids in the Garden - recipes, bale planters, 6 Rainy Day Activities - puppet show, crafts, theatre, worm hotel, cards to make Outboxes on many pages have more suggestions - books to read, more activities to do together, bird words, nature facts, nutrition tips, crafts, Lovejoy's previous books are favorites, too - "Trowel & Error", "Sunflower Houses" and "Roots, S...

Oklahoma State University Dept. of Agriculture conducts field trials but we/I rarely find out about the presentations. Tonight I had the opportunity to go to one at the Bixby Vegetable Research Station. (Thanks to Sue Gray) We had the opportunity to walk through the beds and take a look at the varieties that they were testing. Pumpkins are planted in June and harvested in September. Equally interesting was the growers conversations I overheard among the growers. They talked about the varieties they grew and how few pumpkins were on the vines at the Research Station. But the star of the presentation was the windbreak of grain planted between the rows of pumpkins. Sorghum sudan haygrazer was planted to help prevent aphids and mildew problems with the pumpkin crop. The pumpkin seeds were planted June 21 and the haygrazer seeds were planted the next day. They used preemergent to help with weed control, insecticide and fungicide spray were applied every two weeks, 46-0-0 nitrogen was the fe...