All the Dirt on Gardening

Full-spectrum florescent bulbs keep seedlings and cuttings going In addition to planting seeds in the ground that need a cold period and planting more seeds in milk carton greenhouses outside, the garden shed remains heated with lights glowing to keep seedlings coming up, tender perennials hanging on and cuttings setting roots. Four-tiered light table keeps many many trays of seedlings growing. All of the coleus I grew from seed last winter in the shed were dug up and planted in pots. In the shed they are pinched back regularly and all the decent sized prunings are rooted to make more plants. I start seeds of hollyhock, salvia, cool weather vegetables such as kale and lettuce as well as others in the shed to have them ready for planting outside on or around April 15th. Hollyhocks are biennial and usually do not bloom the year they are seeded. I've found that growing them from seed in the shed, they do bloom their first year in the ground. The bakers rack sits und...

Starfish Clematis On Saturday, Feb 20th, the Flower Garden Nature Society is hosting Dan Long of Brushwood Nursery . His vine nursery in Athens Georgia features native vines but Clematis, too. The nursery's website has two sections: 1) for growers and 2) finished retail products. It looks like the grower side is just for a few of their hybrids. The Gardenvines website for gardeners still says Brushwood. At any rate, there are links to their various collection of Clematis, Passionflower vines, Climbing Roses, Honeysuckle and Jasmine, Dan Long Long's talks on the 20th will focus on Clematis and native vines for our gardens. The 10 am talk is titled "Clematis You Need/You Need Clematis" His 2 pm talk is titled "Social Climbers: Native Vines that Won't Kill Your Garden Party" $15 for both talks. For more information contact Gail Pianalto 479.361.2198 or Joyce Mendenhall 479.7265

Between hiking, wild-crafting expeditions, children on camping trips and a simple walk in the woods, it would help us all to know what is edible and what is not. Nandina, Heavenly Bamboo, berries are not recommended for human consumption Children and pets are especially attracted to berries they see in parks, back yards and in the wild. Curiosity and the impulse to try everything at least once, make the distance very short between a brightly colored berry and a mouth. To a certain extent, we can avoid all berries other than the ones from the market but not all wild berries are bad. When you can identify the good ones, berry hunting, picking and snacking can be fun. Plus, if your child or pet eats a berry outside you will know if it is a problem that needs immediate attention. The common plants that produce berries include: Yew, Hawthorn, Cotoneaster, several Viburnum varieties including Viburnum trilobum or American Cranberry, Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina), Autumn  Oli...

The horticulture newsletter from Kansas State University is available online for your information and entertainment at http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=764 Georgia Wildlife  Resources Division The January 19 2016 issue includes: * a video about flower bed design from Kansas Healthy Yards http://kansashealthyyards.org/index.php?option=com_allvideoshare&view=video&slg=flower-bed-design * a list of upcoming events (Grow Your Garden Center Business in 2016) * an article about fruit trees and frost * Dutch elm disease article * a how-to article on tree planting * a native plant feature on Pawpaw trees * bird feeding * how to grow your own fire wood and lots of links to more helpful tips Click over and learn something new. I couldn't find any way to subscribe so I will have to bookmark it some other way.

Winterberry Holly A recent blog post at Ecological Landscape Alliance posted a list of native shrubs to consider for our landscapes. The list includes: Blueberry, Serviceberry, Viburnum, Winterberry, Dogwood, Bayberry, Chokeberry, and more. Click over to the link to read about the plants and their many virtues. We are gradually adding more native shrubs and fruiting trees to our landscape but we have learned the hard way that native does not mean plant them and ignore them. They must be watered and weeded until they become established in your home landscape. BenjaminVogt's recent post on Houzz is about 15 native flowers for bees . His list includes Lead Plant, Boltonia or False Aster, Purple Prairie Clover, Black-eyed Susan, Wild Bergamot or Monarda, Golden Alexander, etc. The link above will take you to that fine post. Monarda fistulosa There's a new Native Plant Podcast that has just begun at http://www.nativeplantpodcast.com. It is from VA so will be f...

When starting seeds in the winter to make spring transplants, we count backwards. The last average annual frost date in zone 7 is April 15th. If I want transplants to put in the ground that weekend I count backwards 6 weeks to the beginning of March to start those seeds. However! Not every year is an average year. And, air temperature is not soil temperature. Consider the fact that tomato and pepper seeds must have bottom heat even if the temperature in your home is 70- degrees F. If the seedling pots are close to an outside window where the temperatures hover around 50 (a compromise between outside temp and inside temps) those seedlings will suffer greatly. When deciding the plant-out-date for your hard won little plants, check the soil temperature in your area. For Oklahomans, Mesonet is the go to resource. Here's the Mesonet Soil Temperature link http://www.mesonet.org/index.php/weather/category/soil_temperature All states provide this service. Check with your loc...

Cornell University Extension publishes a monthly gardening newsletter called Dutchess Dirt. Here's a link to the most recent issue . In this Jan 2016 newsletter the topics include: Why plants behave the way they do in fall, winter, spring and summer; why some vegetables fail to set fruit; terrariums with references to click; photos of some plants behaving strangely; and, upcoming events. I have subscribed for a couple of years and enjoy every issue. Subscribing is easy. HELP SPREAD THE DIRT! Please forward a copy to anyone you think might be interested. To be added or removed from our e-mail list, or submit upcoming gardening events, contact Nancy Halas at nh26@cornell.edu, www.ccedutchess.org.