Add a Tropical Feel to Your Garden

While every garden has its staples; roses, hydrangeas, azaleas, assorted annuals, and other perrinials; I thought why not add a tropical touch to the garden.  Last year Ms. Janet and I added a few plants to give our garden a tropical feel. 

The first thing we added was a Rice Paper Plant that a fellow master gardener from Booneville gave us.  We got it late in the season, so it only grew to a height of about three feet.  This is a plant that can take the extreme Mississippi heat with no problem.  It likes most any soil, but will grow and multiply best in a rich, well-drained soil.  It likes the full sun, but will also grow in partial shade.  It can grow up to ten feet in height and has brownish-frosted green leaves that can grow up to 24-36 inches in width.  The flowers come on in late fall and are creamy white, fluffy balls.  I started with the one plant last year and this year I have half a dozen or so that came back.  It will die back to the ground in this area and come back in multiples next year.

The next addition we made last year was the Castor Bean Plant.  We planted three seeds and they came up and just sat there, then about June they started growing about a foot a week or it seems.  They grow to be about ten feet tall and have large reddish-purple leaves that have five to eleven lobes and can get up to three feet in length.  They look great as a specimen plant and even better planted in groups of three or more.  The flowers are formed in clusters and develop seed pods that contain three smooth seeds about one half inch long and are usually a mosaic of colors.  Plant three seeds this year and next year you will have fifty or more plants come back.  This plant is an annual, but comes back year after year from its own seed.  The down side to this plant is that the seeds are poisonous and are deadly.  If you grow this plant, you will want to teach your children about it.  We grow this plant and have taught our grandbabies that it is a pretty plant, but it is not to be eaten.  If you remove the flower clusters as they appear, no seeds will form making them a safer plant for children. 

Another great plant that has been around for years is the canna lily.  It comes in a variety of colors as well as several colors of foliage.  They can have green or purple or variegated foliage with flowers of red, yellow, or orange.   Canna lilies like moist soil and plenty of sunlight.  Plant the rhizomes at least six inches deep and mulch them to help retain moisture.  They will grow in partial shade, but not as tall as in full sun.  They need to be protected from the wind as they will break easily.  Depending on the amount of sunlight it gets, I have grown them to six to eight feet in height.  These plants look much better in groupings as opposed to being a specimen plant.

These are just a few of the plants that you can add to your landscape to give it that tropical  feeling.  Others are ferns, elephant ears, hostas, and calla lilies.  We have some of all of these in our garden.  Some grow in the sun and some need all shade, but all give that feeling of being on that little island far away.

Happy Gardening and Keep Digging in the Dirt

Lady Banks Rose

The Lady Banks Rose has been in bloom in my yard for a couple of weeks now and has been the topic of much discussion in the form of emails, phone calls, and numerous postings on facebook.  We have three of them in our yard and they have exploded with thousands of yellow blooms.  We have a forty foot pergola on one side of our home, with a Lady Banks Rose on each end of it and they have nearly met in the middle.  The third is a smaller one on an arbor that leads into a smaller garden area.

The Lady Banks Rose is a species rose and not a hybrid that was originally found in China.  There are two varieties, 1)Rosa banksiae normalis which is the natural wild form of the species and has a single style flower with five white petals and dates back to 1796.  This rose was introduced to Europe by William Kerr, who had been sent on a plant hunting expedition by Sir Joseph Banks who was the head of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain; thus the rose was named Lady Banks in honor of his wife.  2)Rosa banksiae lutea is the probably the most popular of the two species and has double yellow flowers with many petals.  It was introduced to Europe by J. D. Parks in 1824.  All Lady Banks Roses have a faint fragrance that is said to resemble that of a violet. 

The Lady Banks Rose is a thornless, vigorous grower and can easily take over an arbor, shed, fence, or even the side of your home in just a few short years.  This rose is not meant for a small spaces.  They are the first rose to bloom in early spring and will have hundreds or even thousands of blooms which provides one of the most breathtaking displays in the garden.  The bark of the Lady Banks has an exfoliating cinnamon brown color on the older canes.  This rose is an excellent backdrop for azaleas, dogwoods, and Japanese maples.  It is very drought tolerant once it is established and is most likely the most disease resistant rose grown.  This makes it a favorite for all rose growers, because it is basically maintenance free. 

Lady Banks Rose likes full sun and well drained soil.  When planting mix lots of organic matter with the exsisting soil.  Dig the planting hole a little deeper and at least twice the diameter of the planting pot.  Pour water in the bottom of the soil, backfill with some organic matter and plant the rose so that the soil line of the plant is about one inch above the soil line of the ground.  This will allow room for mulch without smothering the rose. Water regularly until it has become established, after that watering is not necessary except in extreme drought conditions.  Pruning the Lady Banks is not necessary, but if you must prune for whatever reason, do so within a two week window following the bloom cycle.  The Lady Banks Rose blooms on old wood or last year’s growth.

The Guinness Book of World Records has listed the largest of this species to be in Tombstone, Arizona.  It is said to cover 8000 square feet of area and the trunk of this rose has been measured to be 12 feet in circumference.

If you don’t have one, you might want to consider getting one, because they are beautiful and are a centerpiece of any garden.

If you have any questions or comments, send me an email at colorsbytim@hotmail.com or leave me a message at the Union County  Extension Office 662-534-1916.

Happy Gardening and keep digging in the dirt.

Sunday Lunch: Country Style

My father-in-law is a market farmer in a big way.  He grows taters, maters, corn, peas, watermelons, cantaloupes, sorghum, and a few other vegetables. 

A couple of months have passed since tater planting time this year and taters have been dug. They have been safely stored in the barn where we go and get them as we need them.  Ms. Janet and my grandson, J.T., picked a double mess of green beans that were growing in a 4’ x 8’ raised bed that we have in our back yard.  Ms. Janet snapped them and grabbed us some new taters out of the bucket, scraped them, and put them on to cook.  Later in the day the feast began, with a grand meal consisting of fresh green beans and new taters, fresh cucumbers from the back yard, also boiled fresh cabbage donated by my next door neighbor from his garden, hominy, fried bacon, and a pone of skillet cornbread bathed in real butter.  This cornbread was made from fresh cornmeal that my father-in-law makes every year.  Ms. Janet cut a fresh ambrosia cantaloupe (from somewhere in south Mississippi).  Are you hungry yet?  Well, if you’re not, you’re not from around here.  We also have plenty of home brewed Mississippi wine to drink (better known as sweet tea).  After a few minutes of laughter while Papaw Joe gave a rendition of some of his boyhood adventures, Ms. Dorothy made us some homemade skillet fried apple and peach pies.  These magnificent made from scratch delicacies were washed down with a pot of fresh ground and brewed coffee (from Dan Skinner’s High Point Coffee Roaster).

This meal was exceptional and made for a great lesson for my grandson.  He now has an idea where the food on the table comes from and how much better it tastes when you watch a seed grow into something that you can eat.  I recommend that you take your children and grandchildren and plant a little patch somewhere in your yard this year. You don’t need a big garden to teach them a big lesson.  Don’t forget to take them with you to the Farmer’s Market also and let them meet the farmers.  Why, I bet those farmers would love for you to bring them out to the farm for a tour.  It’ll be fun for them, not to mention they will get a bird’s eye view of what food looks like before the food companies get ahold of it.  The quality time and memories will last forever and I’ll bet they teach their kids some day and make their own memories too.

Folks, I believe I hear my recliner calling me, because after a meal like this, my eyes just can’t seem to stay open.

This article is written by Tim Burress, Union County Master Gardener and Farmer’s Market manager.  I live on top of Center Hill, just outside of New Albany with my adorable wife Ms. Janet along with all the flowers and some vegetables too.

   

Gardening with Tim (Union County Master Gardener)

Despite the cold temperatures, I believe that spring is at hand.  The forsythia has since bloomed and now would be the time to do any pruning that it may need.  I hope that you have already finished pruning your roses and started your spray program.

The daffodils, tulips, verbena, grape hyacinths, may night salvia, azaleas, dogwoods, and spirea are now in bloom and looking gorgeous. It is a treat to see everyone’s yard as I ramble about town. If you have not shopped for or ordered your summer bulbs, better get busy before the best ones are gone. Go ahead and get them bought now and put them in a cool place till time to plant.  I would not be in too big a hurry to plant, because the threat of a frost or even a freeze is still at hand.  Grandma used to say that you could plant your summer bulbs when the ground was warm enough to sit on when you went fishing.  The old timers also say that thunder in February means frost in April.  We did in fact have thunder on the 24^th day of February, so they say we have a chance of frost on the 24^th day of April.  I’m keeping track cause that was a new one on me this year. 

I would say that the old adage of planting your vegetables on or after Good Friday this year might just be a good bet.  Some vegetables should have already been planted.  They would be cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, lettuce, and greens.  Just keep an eye on the weather and be prepared to cover them in case of a frost or freeze.

Tender plants such as hydrangeas will need to be covered in case of a frost or freeze also.  A frost or freeze will not kill your rose bushes, but it might stunt them a bit.  If you have only a few you might consider covering them if the weather is threating, otherwise just keep a watch on them.  If they start to turn brown, just prune them back a little and they will make a comeback.  Roses are very hardy plants.

It is still not too late to use pre-emerge on your lawn to kill summer weeds.  Be sure and read the label and make sure that you use the correct one for your type of grass and be careful not to use on a windy day because it could drift into your flower beds and damage your flowers and shrubs.  The weed and feed combination products are not a favorite of mine.  After all you are trying to kill the weeds, not fertilize them.  You do not want to fertilize your lawn until it begins to green up.

If you have noticed those dreaded fire ant mounds popping up, it’s time to start treating them.  I recommend to first use a broadcast bait to treat the entire lawn and then treat the mounds a couple of days later. 

As with all fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides, please read and follow directions carefully. More is not better.  You should always wear protective clothing and a respirator when spraying and keep children and pets out of the spray area for 24 hours as a precaution.  Clean spray equipment and wash your clothes by themselves.

I noticed my first hummingbird today and it dawned on me to fill up the feeders.  We quickly boiled some sugar water and set it aside to cool.  I didn’t want the little one to do without, so I rushed into town to Fred’s and got some mix to put out for him until the good stuff that Ms. Janet makes got cool enough to put out there.  MS. Janet’s recipe is 6 cups of water and 3 cups of sugar brought to a boil and then cool.  The hummingbirds love it and we usually have lots of them over the summer.

If you have any questions please send me an email at colorsbytim@hotmail.com  or leave me a message at the Union County Extension Office at   662-534-1916.

Happy Gardening and keep digging in the dirt.

Roses (April Care and Maintenance) Tim Burress

April is here and you should have completed all of your heavy pruning.  Lime sulphur should have been sprayed and organics applied to the bushes and worked in.

Bushes should be leafing out and some are already starting to bud.  Lady Banks should be full of buds and by the end of April she should be in full bloom.

The first week of the month give each bush about three tablespoons of a rich nitrogen fertilizer and three tablespoons of Epsom salts.  Sprinkle this mixture around the drip line of the bush and work into the soil. Mid-April, I recommend that you give each bush another dose of fertilizer. The mixture that I use is mix one tablespoon of a good rose bloom food (Bloom Kote, Super Bloom), one tablespoon of Epsom salts, one tablespoon of fish emulsion, and one tablespoon  of chelated iron.  I mix these items in a gallon of water and pour them around the drip line of each rose.  The roses that I do this to are hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras.  The other roses in my landscape I give them about one half cup of triple 13.  The last week in April I repeat this same fertilizer program.  This formula is for large bushes and I cut this formula in half for mini roses and smaller new bushes.

April is also the time to get your roses on a regular spray program.  I spray all my roses every seven to ten days with a mixture of fungicide, insecticide, and miracle grow.  The only roses that I do not spray this often is knockout roses and I spray them at the beginning of the season and then once every six weeks.  The fungicides that I prefer are Compass, Daconil, Banner Maxx, and Mancozeb.  There are others on the market and Daconil is not a good choice after daytime temperatures reach 85 degrees on a daily basis. I add Malathion to this mix to control insects.  I also add a few drops of dish wash soap to the mix to make the chemicals stick to the bushes. I like to alternate the fungicides to help prevent fungi from building an immunity to them.  Keep a close watch when the buds start to show color and mist them with a hand spray bottle to control thrips and bud worms.  I use Malathion, but other insecticides will work also.  If you only have a few roses (a dozen or so) I recommend a product that is a soil drench, that you use about every six weeks.  That product is called Bayer Once and Done.  It is, however not cost effective if you have a large number of roses in your landscape.    

Sprayers are available in all sizes and styles.  I prefer the four to six gallon size that are on wheels or as a backpack and are battery powered.  These sprayers are available from Rosemania at 888-600-9665 and Rose Inc. at 918-455-7673.  Both of these companies have good reputations and have fairly quick delivery times.  These sprayers are on average $125.00 to 200.00 and are good investment if you have a large rose garden.

As always when using chemicals, especially when spraying, wear protective clothing and a respirator.  Please read the labels and follow the directions, more is not better.  If you have any questions, send me an email at colorsbytim@hotmail.com or give me a call at 662-316-0088.

Happy Gardening and Keep Digging in the Dirt.

Roses: Care and Maintenance

Roses can be high maintenance or they can be low maintenance. It just depends on what kind of roses you have and how many.
Late February and early March is when serious pruning is done. The general rule of thumb is about the time that Forsythia starts to bloom or Presidents Day.
I prune my hybrid teas back to about two feet high and make my cut just about an inch above an outward facing bud eye. I cut at an angle away from the bud eye so that water will run away from the bud eye instead of over it. Cut all dead canes back to the base of the bush. All canes that are smaller than a pencil in diameter should be removed from the center of the bush for better air circulation. This will help with control of black spot.
Climbing, running, and old garden roses should only have the dead wood cut out at this time. These roses bloom on last year’s growth, so any pruning to these bushes should be done within a two week period after they finish blooming. Even then I don’t recommend heavy pruning unless it is to contain a bush that has overgrown its spot.
Shrub, miniature, and carpet roses can be pruned at this time also. I like to cut the shrub back to about waist high or in the three foot range. Miniature and carpet roses usually get pruned no more than one third.
Now, you will need to gather all dead, diseased foliage and canes and dispose of it from your garden area help get rid of as much of the black spot fungi as possible. This is a good time to spray with lime sulfur to help control fungi that are hiding in the old mulch and top layer of soil. Be sure and spray all parts of the rose plant as well as the surrounding area. Do not put the pruned canes or the foliage from the roses in your compost pile. The fungi will infect your compost pile and render it useless to put back around your roses.
I spray my hybrid teas once a week with a good fungicide and all the others every two weeks with exception of the Knockout variety. Knockout roses for the most part do not need to be sprayed at all. I spray them about once a month just for good measure. The fungicides that I use are Daconil, Mancozeb, and Banner Maxx. I also like to rotate these chemicals to keep fungi from building up an immunity to them. If you only have a few roses that are susceptible to disease, you can use a product named “Once and Done” by Bayer. You mix it up and pour it around the base of the bush and you are done for about 45 to 60 days. If you have a lot of roses you need to break out the spray rig and get busy.
I like to give all my rose bushes a good dose of organic fertilizer this time of year. I use composted leaves, alfalfa meal, bone meal, cottonseed meal, fish emulsion, blood meal, and my favorite, worm castings. The organics are slow release and will better condition the soil for uptake by the plant.
This should get you through till April, when I plan to give you your next installment in rose care.

Roses (The Queen of Flowers)

Some of the most beautiful flowers grown in the landscape today are roses. There are some 25,000 to 30,000 different rose cultivars grown around the world today and are grown for a variety of reasons. Roses make gorgeous cut flowers that you can show off in your home, give to your sweetheart or friends, make arrangements, or even exhibit in a show. You can use them to anchor your landscape or compliment your pool, deck, or patio. Some roses can even be successfully grown in containers.
Roses are fun, but can also be serious work. Some require little care and others demand a lot of time and money. If you have very little time that you can spend in your garden, I would suggest that you plant shrub or Earth-kind roses. The most popular of these roses would be the knockout roses. Others would be some of the David Austin and Buck roses. These roses require only a few hours a month maintenance and are very disease and pest resistant. If you have two to five hours a week to spend in your garden for rose maintenance, then I would suggest the old garden and old tea roses. Old tea roses are the ones that have been around since the pre- 1900’s. These would be the roses that your Grandmother grew and could also be found in an old cemetery. These roses are also fairly disease and pest resistant, but do require deadheading and some pruning. If you have five to eight hours a week to spend on maintenance, then you can go for the hybrid teas. They are known as the “Queen of the Flower Garden” and will be the most fragrant of all roses. They produce long stems and large showy blooms. These are the flowers that will take the big prizes at exhibitions. They are great to cut and take in the house. When placed in an arrangement in the house their fragrance will fill a room for days. These roses also demand a lot of care – pruning, deadheading, fertilizing, and spraying for pests and diseases.
Roses are amazing flowers and I can go on and on about them. Ms. Janet and I have two hundred plus roses in our garden and we love them. They are a lot of hard work, but the rewards are great. I love to go out and cut several stems from different roses, sneak in the house, and watch Ms. Janet’s face light up when I hand them to her.
I think roses should be a part of every garden. If you are serious about growing roses, I recommend that you join a local rose society and learn all you can from them. Ms. Janet and I belong to two rose societies and we learn something new at every meeting. It is a good place to ask questions, because there are usually at least three to five Consulting Rosarians there and can give good solid answers to your questions. They usually have made most of the mistakes already and can guide you through most anything. There are several good reference books that you can purchase also. Take the time to go to a rose show, observe and ask plenty of questions. Rose people love for you to ask questions about their roses. When you buy roses, always purchase from a reputable source.
If you have any questions, email me at colorsbytim@hotmail.com