Recently in Flower Gardening Category

Hoaky, huh, but it's true.

When I started recycling a couple of years ago, I was amazed that more than half my daily garbage was reusable paper refuse.

When I then removed items that could be composted, I went from one of those hungamunga green garbage cans I could hardly wrestle down my driveway to a dainty one almost a third of that size - and my little toy kitchen raised bed garden started to have healthier plants, too.

Compost is nothing more than organic matter that's been allowed, and encouraged, to break down into humus or what gardeners call "black gold." Compost is how farmers return nutrients to the soil and make sure their ground is ready to grow specific crops

If you're gardening around here, you can get a soil test through University of Missouri Extension offices so you know what kind of amendments you need to add to your soil. Since we're lucky to have 2-4 inches of good top soil in this area, I figure anything I add to my hilly garden has to be good.

The first concern I hear about compost is smell. There are several ways to easily manage that:

1. Keep a plastic bag in a freezer bin and toss compost-bound materials in there. When the bag is full, take it out to the composter.

2. Get a self-enclosed composter. I like the ones that have a handle on the side so they can easily be turned. Closed composters keep wildlife out and manage odors. Or try the Dr. Stevie black bag composting technique, named after my youngest brother who one summer had a gold mine of composted leaves when he forgot he had bagged them the fall before and piled them behind his gardening shed.

 If you have wildlife or neighborhood pets,  don't expect them to respect plastic. My brother's cucumber-ravaging bunny rabbits chewed a hole in one of his black bags after we tossed watermelon rinds in
.
3. Use odors to tell you when you don't have the right combination of brown materials and green materials. If you have the right combination, the compost mixture should not smell. You basically need equal parts of brown leaves, grass clippings and kitchen scraps sprinkled with water and regularly mixed or tumbled.

Compost needs warm weather to work but I still drag my buckets of material to my composters through winter. Although nothing is breaking down when it's cold, the composters are all set when weather does start warming up.

You can compost a variety of things including egg shells; fruit and vegetable peels and related left overs, but not seeds. Well, go ahead and toss seeds into a composter when its warm. I'm guessing that's how the Jack In the Bean Stalk fairy tale story got started!

You can also compost straw, grass, leaves, dryer lint, hair and shredded newspaper.
 
Do not compost meat, poop or bones.

If you're just starting to compost, invest in a pair of kitchen chicken-cutting scissors.  Mine live in the drying rack in my sink so I can easily access them when I'm cooking.

I save organic leftovers in a bowl; when I'm through cooking, part of the clean up is to use the scissors to cut all organic matter into small pieces. It takes up less storage space that way, and decomposes faster

When compost turns black and crumbly, it's ready to add to your garden soil.

Once you get into a routine, I'll bet you'll be surprised at how much less you have in your garbage,  and how much better your garden is growing.
















Charlotte Ekker Wiggins shares gardening and beekeeping adventures from her limestone MO hill. Copyright 2012 all rights reserved.




 

Gardening catalogs are starting to show up in my mailbox.  They're a good reminder that one of the advantages of being a gardener is that you don't really have to grow up.
By that I mean you're encouraged to try new seeds and plants, and to test new techniques and toys - oops tools, I meant tools.

Unfortunately for gadget manufacturers, I'm not too drawn to newfangled gardening accessories, probably because gardening on a Missouri limestone hill means a pick ax is the main, and sometimes only, gardening tool that will work.

The following is my list of top things to try this year:

1. Composting. I like the tumbler-type plastic composters with a side handle for easy turning. I also have a table top Nature Mill composter in my garage. I collect compost material in a bag in my freezer, then move it outside when the bag is full. It's amazing to me how composting reduces the amount of garbage. Colleagues in my business office also have been kind enough to help save coffee grounds and fruit peelings. In return, I bring in fresh flowers for our coffee break room and amend my raised bed kitchen garden.

2. Start vegetable garden seeds a little earlier than end February. I'm still trying to decide how to protect lettuce seedlings in my deck pots, maybe plastic over the top will work.

3. Conserve water. I'm amazed at how much my rain barrels collect during rain storms; and then how happier my plants seem to be when watered with
rain water.

4. Use  soaker hoses to minimize water runoff; add a timer to your irrigation system so you don't forget to turn it off.

5. Make a concerted effort not to use pesticides. Today there are more earth-friendly and safe alternatives. take a little extra time to read labels and learn about non-traditional options like spraying plants with hot pepper-infused water. Being less critical of a less than perfect
flower also helps!

6. Create an inviting habitat for garden visitors by providing food, water and shelter for birds, butterflies and other pollinators like bees. Birds are natural predators, and pollinators will help your garden have more produce.

7. Mow less grass; expand flower beds.

8. Add fruit-bearing shrubs and compact fruit trees. They're not only pretty when in bloom but can provide you with fresh fruit.

9. Plant more low maintenance native flowers. Rolla area is in USDA zone 5B. Natives require less water and will adapt faster; some have long blooming seasons like black-eyed susans.

10. Don't toss out those green tomatoes you finally grew. Try ripening them by storing in a cool, dark place in a brown bag with an apple. They don't have as much flavor as vine-ripened
tomatoes but they are still better than winter, store bought ones!


Which one of these have you tried already?







Charlotte Ekker Wiggins is a master gardener sharing gardening adventures in and around her Missouri wildlife garden. 

Copyright 2012, all rights reserved.

If you've always wanted to head a community garden effort, there's an area group trying to get another community garden started.

The idea, as presented to a recent Phelps County Master Gardener meeting, is to establish a community garden manned by volunteers that would benefit both low income families and church pantries.

This is Rolla, Missouri's third, maybe fourth attempt to get a public space set aside to plant, and to share, locally-grown fruits and vegetables.

It's a great idea; now let's figure out how to make this one a success.
 
Take water, for example. Rolla's Veteran's Park off Highway 72 didn't fare so well without easy to access, on-site regular watering. Rain barrels and ponds will work only as well as their easy access. With record hot  summer temperatures, there's also no guarantee there will be uphill pond water left when water is needed most.
I'm assuming the pond would be uphill; gravity would help more easily get water to garden beds. Bottom line is there needs to be a constant and reliable source of water.

Another critical element is well-preparing soil prior to planting. There's a good reason why Rolla originally was almost called "Hardscrabble," we're lucky to have 2" of good top soil. Getting real soil, and amending it so that it can support a vegetable garden, could easily take a year before a seed should be planted. Soil elements need time to break down and season before they are ready to grow anything.

When I recently was in Maplewood, Missouri, I happened to visit a charming
community garden with a ready water source.

The garden was part of a neighborhood watch with regular meetings and planned events.

It was also
at the corner of a busy intersection, which reminded me that around here,
any successful community garden will require fencing to keep wildlife, and others, from plundering.

Successful community gardens also have manpower who benefit from the hard work. Groups like Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners can provide training on how to garden; Boy Scouts may periodically help on a specific project but the garden itself needs a dedicated group of nearby volunteers who will regularly visit, work, and learn, from the garden.

Earlier this summer, I visited St. James' Community Garden, right off the downtown area. What struck me, besides the charming arbors, was the long list of contributors. A good community garden needs someone organized o tend the garden and to get not only volunteers but donations as well.

My thanks to Master Gardener Laura Lackey, who did some research on community gardens. There's a national association that holds workshops and offers assistance: American Community Garden Association | 1777 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43203-2040 http://communitygarden.org/index.php\

So how about it - are you interested in pulling together Rolla's community garden?

Contact Bruce Wade, Fit Helps Coordinator,The Community Partnership (wk) 573-368-2849 (cell) 573-578-4912.

 

Charlotte Ekker Wiggin is a master gardener and writes about gardening in and around her Missouri wildlife garden. 

Copyright 2011, all rights reserved.

Twitter

 

This time of year, I pay particular attention to what is growing in other people's gardens.

With record hot temperatures, I'm looking for plants that can make it through Missouri's USDA Growing zone 5b-6 punishing summers so I can invite them into my hillside garden.

Not surprisingly, many of the hardier plants are Missouri native wildflowers, like purple coneflowers.

There are many new hybrid coneflower varieties but my favorites are still basic pink ones, which attract butterflies and once established, seem to bloom all summer. 

Nadine Moreland, St. James, said her purple coneflowers have never looked better than they do this year and she hasn't done a thing to them, it's  as if they love this hot weather!

Another personal favorite is pink phlox, the perennial mother plant to the wide range of phlox hybrids.

Years ago, a gardening friend told me not to bother buying different-colored phlox because unless I can keep phlox hybrids apart, they will revert back to the basic pink.

Since I've never been good at coraling plants -  I do periodically chase  strawberries that have slipped downhill - I've let pink phlox settle wherever they want to in my garden.

Not surprisingly, their idea of where they should grow is  much better than mine. They've become a staple for a variety of butterflies, honeybees and hummingbird moths.

Have you noticed the lovely large burgundy flowers at the corner of Business Loop 63 and University Drive in Rolla, Missouri?

Those are hardy hibiscus, cousins to the more common perennial Rose of Sharon bushes, and sometimes trees, seen around town.

What I like about Rose of Sharon is they start blooming before fall sets in and once established, use their long tap roots to keep hydrated.

Just be careful trying to dig one up. I would wait until after a good, soaking rain or the long root will break off.

Black-eyed Susans also manage to pull through hot weather with little effort, although the ones facing southwest in my garden needed a little water earlier this week.

Tomatoes usually do well for me in summer heat but this year, my tomatoes seem to be holding their breath at green.

Plants at 95F or higher go into survival mode and don't produce pollen or allow fruit to ripen.

In the spirit of Native American's "Three Sisters" gardening, I'm letting green beans grow around my tomatoes to try to keep parts of them shaded. Squash is moving under the tomatoes, hopefully shading tomato roots.

Annuals like marigolds, vinca, petunias and zinnias have for years done well in hot weather, although I did spot a patch around 18th Street that looked a bit wilted.

Even hardy plants can use a little helping water now and then.

Mrs. Emma Johnson, who used to live with her son and his family off Soest Road, years ago shared her "secret" to keeping her plants doing well through "hot spells."

Instead of fertilizing her plants once a month, she cut the dosage to one fourth of the original amount and fed her plants from the bottom every time she watered, which she said encouraged her plants to grow longer roots and thereby grow faster.

I use a similar watering principle every time I bring sale plants home.

Instead of immediately popping them into dry ground, I give them a little diluted, fertilizer cocktail and give them a week or so to recover before transplanting them into a garden spot I've saturated with a gallon or two of water.

That way, dry surrounding soil won't compete for water from the potted plant.

Jerry Baker, Master Gardener extraordinaire, has an interesting recipe for a garden tonic to use every three weeks all season long. Mix and apply with your hose sprayer:

1 can of beer,
1 cup of ammonia,
1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid,
1/2 cup of liquid lawn food, and
1/2 cup molasses or corn syrup.

At this early stage of a long hot summer, plants can use all the help they can get!












Charlotte is a Master Gardener writing her blog, and a weekly newspaper column, on a MO hill gardening to distraction.

If you've ever tried to grow foxgloves, Missouri Wildflowers Beard-Tongue will quickly become a favorite.

A hardy perennial that likes shade and semi-shady areas, Beard-Tongue will survive a lot of abuse and still come back the following year as hardy, and pretty, as ever.

Unlike foxgloves, Beard-Tongue is shallow-rooted and self-seeding, making it an easy wildflower to add to a garden.

My first Beard-Tongue plant came from a friend's house; she didn't remember what the plant was and I had a shady spot that needed greenery.

Now years later, part of my spring routine is taking a weeder and after a rain, digging Beard-Tongue plant starts out of my driveway and moving them back into flower beds.

The name comes from a middle lip that is hairy, an open invitation to pollinators like honeybees and butterflies.

Beard-Tongue also makes a nice cut flower. Check the flowers before bringing them inside, I usually find a hitchhiker or two!

Here's a wonderful way to get inspired fall 2011 for next year's gardening season.

Tim Moloney, University of Missouri landscaper, will be teaching 10 advanced landscape design classes in Rolla, Missouri.

The classes are sponsored by Phelps County Master Gardeners and Phelps County University of Missouri Extension.

To register, call or stop by Phelps County Extension at 200 North Main Street, Rolla, call 573-458-6260 or email Laura Faherty at fahertyl@missouri.edu.

Classes are $20 each or $135 for the series.

Deadline for registration is Wednesday, July 20.

Classes will be held at Ridgeview Christian Church, 806 Ridgeview Road, corner of S. Walker and Ridgeview past Walgreens, on Saturdays.

Here's a rundown of what the classes will cover:

Classes 1 & 2:

The rest of these same day classes can be taken individually:

Principles of Landscape Design (must take this two-part class together) August 20, 9 am - noon and 1 - 4 pm ($40) There are rules, or principles, that need to be followed when designing outdoor space. This course will take a fast paced and in-depth look at each of landscape design's six principles and show how to apply them to outdoor rooms.

Class 3: September 17, 9 am -noon. Learn a detailed, step-by-step process for better initial site analysis. Students will look closely at site issues such as drainage, slope and exposure, and how these ultimately affect design. Students will need to be prepared to conduct a site
analysis exercise where they will receive hands-on training in observing and recording information. Bring a 100' measuring tape, directional compass, pad and paper, and a pen or pencil.

Class 4: September 17, 1-4 pm. In afternoon, during Class 4, students will also learn skills necessary to convert site analysis measurements and sketches into working scale drawings and hands-on experience in drawing working landscape plans. Details will be given on landscape symbolism and how to effectively use a drawing to produce aesthetic landscapes. Bring engineering or architect's scale, ruler, eraser, lined paper for drawing, and a means to draw circles of different sizes (either templates or drafting compass).

Class 5: Low Maintenance Design - October 15, 9 am - noon  One of the most often requested requirements of landscape design is that it be low maintenance. Students will be given instruction on methods that can be taken at the design stage to help reduce overall maintenance without reducing aesthetics and function.

Class 6: Contemporary Landscape Design October 15, 1 - 4 pm  As time moves forward, landscape designers have built upon the experience and design styles of those who have come before. Students will take a detailed look at some of the more classic styles of landscape architecture; at how older styles influence what we now call contemporary design, and how to achieve these in a functionally aesthetic way.

Class 7: Patio Design and Installation November 19, 9 am - noon. Blurring lines between indoor and outdoor living is one of the key elements in contemporary landscape design. One of the ways in which we can accomplish this is by building outdoor rooms. This class takes a detailed look at specifically the floor of these rooms. We will examine design basics for size, shape and function. We will also look at materials and methods for solid patio construction.

Class 8: Retaining Wall Design and Installation: November 19, 1 - 4 pm A site is defined as a parcel of land suitable for development. With the aid of modern excavation practices and retaining wall construction, any parcel of land can be made suitable for development. With the materials available for retention today, we do not have to sacrifice aesthetics for
engineering. We will take a close look at situations requiring retaining walls, methods of construction, materials available for construction, and pros and cons to building each type of wall.

Class 9: Water Falls and Features - December 17, 9 am - noon  This class takes a close look at benefits, and pitfalls, to having various types of garden water features.

Class 10: Landscape Lighting - December 17, 1 - 4 pm Most of our adult lives are spent away from homes. Why allow our landscape investment be enjoyed mostly by others as they pass by during daylight hours? Adding lighting can change the way in which we view landscapes. Students will look closely at different types of lighting systems and how they can help increase the amount of time spent in outdoor spaces.

For more information about the classes, contact Marilyn Fox at foxmar@centurylink.net or 573-368-3007.









Charlotte is a Master Gardener writing her blog, and a weekly newspaper column, on a Missouri hill gardening to distraction.

Contact Charlotte at charlotte@bluebirdgardens.com.

If you enjoy watching hummingbirds, its easy to plant flowers that will bring them, and keep them, around your garden.

I have a number of deck pots full of plants specifically for hummingbirds, including various colors of salvia, which look like tiny hummingbirds, and petunias, all in a range of hummingbird favorite colors of red, pink and purple.

Don't these red salvia look like tiny hummers?

Hummingbirds are also very fond of single-blossom tropical hibiscus, which are native to hummingbirds summer grounds in Brazil. Since hummingbirds use their long tongues to lick, single blossoms are easier for them to access nectar.

There are also a number of Missouri wildflowers that I've personally seen attract hummingbirds,  including bee balm, columbine, purple coneflower and, I hear, indian paintbrush, something I have yet to successfully grow from seed but I'm still trying.

Hummingbirds also enjoy coral bells, fuchsia, honeysuckle,  russian sage, purple coneflowers and phlox.

If I had to choose only one flower to plant for hummingbirds,  it would be basic pink phlox. Once these perennials start blooming, they seem to maintain flowers the entire growing season, attracting a variety of not only hummingbirds but  a wide range of butterflies and hummer moths, often confused for baby hummingbirds.

If you don't have room for a lot of these plants, and still want to attract hummingbirds,  hang a hummingbird feeder from a tree tropical hibiscus.

There are a number of hummingbird feeders available on the market.

I recommend plastic ones so they don't break when raccoons take a drink, or two...

To make hummingbird sugar water, mix 1 part sugar to 4 parts water - no need to add red food coloring - and replace every few days, especially if the temperature is hot.  Don't wash hummingbird feeder with soap; use only hot water.

By offering both plants and sugar water, you are sure to attract these amazing birds into your garden!












Charlotte is a Master Gardener writing her blog, and a weekly newspaper column, on a MO hill gardening to distraction.

Nationwide figures are in.

According to US Department of Agriculture, beekeepers lost about 30 percent of their hives last winter.

Although there are a number of theories why honeybees are dying in record numbers - one out of every three fruit or vegetable we eat is courtesy of honeybee pollination - not having enough good pollen sources is sometimes mentioned as one of the factors.According to US Department of Agriculture, beekeepers lost about 1/3 of their hives last winter.

So last year, after getting my two honeybee hives settled in, I thought I would find a list of favorite honeybee plants and start adding them to my garden.

It wasn't that easy.

First, honeybees don't dart around. Once they find a pollen source, they farm one area and even share the location with other honeybees through a little dance. They may also  travel up to 1.5 to 2 miles to locate pollen, so to produce a certain flavored honey, honeybees have to be given access to 8,000 acres of just one crop.

Honeybees also have color preference.

They  prefer blue and yellow flowers, as opposed to hummingbirds and butterflies, who prefer flowers in the pink to purple range.

 That explains why dandelions are a favorite early, sometimes first spring honeybee pollen source, as well as fall's yellow wildflower goldenrod and my hummingbird feeders full of sugar water.

According to "The Hive and the Honey Bee" by Dadant and Sons, the following are favorite honeybee flowers:

Alfalfa; Asters; Basil; Blackberry; Button Bush; Catnip; Chickweed; Chicory; Red and White Clover; Coneflower; Dandelion; Goldenrod; Honeysuckle; Locust; Milkweed; (yikes) Poison Ivy and Poison Oak; Privet: Redbud; Sage;  Sumac; Thyme; Willow and Yellow Rocket.

In terms of fruits and vegetables, honeybees are also fond of Cantaloupe; Cucumber; Gourds: Melon; Pumpkin; Soybeans: Lima Beans; Squash. Apples; Apricot; Cherry; Peach; Plums and (photo) Pears.

I have to confess, when my garden was up for "inspection" last May before my two beehives arrived, I was very nervous. I knew not using pesticides over the years was good, but I couldn't imagine what else honeybees would need besides a good source of pollen.

Turns out a source of water is important, and honeybees don't particularly like clean water; they're attracted to water with a little taste to it, like leaves.

Honeybees also need a spot where hives are protected from weather elements but still have a clear flight path. The idea is to minimize cold winds getting into hive entrances; bee wings will freeze at certain temperatures.

So far, my honeybee hives seem to be doing well. May-July is the peak of honey-making, and one of my hives is doing exceptionally well.

The hive named after Mildred, my grandmother, has one super full of gorgeous yellow gold honey, a second super half full and I added a third one last weekend.

I wasn't sure how the bees would react to having two top, honeybee full floors, or supers,  moved to make room for a third one. Except for raising the noise level in the hive when I applied smoke to gently move them down into the hive, the process went smoothly.

The new super is designed to help bees produce easy-to-remove comb honey. I'm not sure I put them together correctly but that's part of the adventure!











Charlotte is a Master Gardener writing her blog, and a weekly newspaper column, on a MO hill Gardening to Distraction.
 

If there's one Missouri wildflower that says spring to me, it's wild columbines. Don't they look like old-fashioned granny's bonnets?

I first came close to columbines on a Colorado vacation to Estes Park. Hummingbirds were all over the flowers so I decided I needed to buy seeds and grow columbines in my garden.

A few years later, after several unsuccessful attempts to raise columbines by seed, a friend gave me a start of Missouri's wildflower version.

These lovely red flowers with yellow accents look almost ethereal in early morning sunshine.

Charlotte is a Master Gardener writing her blog, and a weekly newspaper column, about
Gardening to Distraction on a MO Hill.

Years ago, I first saw Blue-eyed Grass by the side of my gravel country road.

Thinking I needed new glasses, I went back a few days later trying to find the lovely blue flowers, only to come across clumps of what looked like grass.

Once I identified the flower in my Missouri Wildflowers book and understood it was actually a tiny iris, it was much easier to spot them.