Poinsettia pointers
- On November 21, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Indoor Gardening
0
There are close to 200 varieties of poinsettias on the market today and though they’re only sold during the holidays, they consistently rank as the top-selling flowering, potted plant in the country. That’s kind of an amazing statistic when you consider that poinsettias were in no way related to Thanksgiving or Christmas before the 1920s.
The poinsettia is actually native to southern Mexico and Central America where the warm climate encourages the plant to grow as a shrub, sometimes as tall as 10 feet. It was Joel Roberts Poinsett, an amateur botanist and U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 1825 to 1829, who introduced the poinsettia to America. Taken, no doubt, by the plant’s rich, red blooms (which are not flowers but leaves, known as “bracts”) he had a few of them sent back to his home in South Carolina. There, in his hothouses, he propagated the plant and sent some to friends and to botanical gardens. By 1833, the first “poinsettias” were for sale in local nurseries.
Read More»FAQ: Tomatoes aren’t flowering, why?
- On October 06, 2009
- By Meleah
- In FAQ
- 0
Q: I’ve got tomato plants with a lot of leaves but very few flowers and tomatoes. Why is that?
A: If otherwise healthy tomato plants aren’t flowering, it’s probably because they’ve been overdosed on nitrogen. Rather than using a balanced fertilizer, which you can recognize because ratios for all three nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, will be the same as in 10-10-10, switch to one with a lower first number. Five is probably good. Or you can just amend your soil well with composted matter like compost and then continue to top off your tomatoes with compost all season. In the meantime, though, you’ll need to wait until the excess nitrogen gets used up, which won’t take long in a container. Heavy rains will move the process along faster.
Preserving Summer’s Bounty
- On September 18, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Veggies
- 0
All summer, boxes of veggies have been coming into our house each week from the CSA we belong to and I’ve struggled to find ways to prepare them all before they go to waste. Now that fall is approaching, that bounty is sure to grow even bigger as everything gets harvested before winter. If you’re in this same boat, or are expecting a bounty from your own garden, I hope this column will come in handy as you look for ways to preserve veggies and herbs.
Of course, canning always comes to mind when you think of preserving fresh produce for winter. But, to be honest, I don’t have it in me to can. I’m just not that ambitious. If you are not as lazy as I am, however, you might want to check out the website of the National Center for Home Food Preservation: (uga.edu/nchfp). There you’ll find all kinds of information on canning and just about every other preservation method you can think of.
Read More»Eco-Friendly Lawns
- On August 14, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Turf Grass
- 0
In the past I’ve aired my worries about the herbicide 2, 4-D, which is found in many lawn care products (and used by services that spray and then leave those little “Keep-Off-The-Grass-Until-Dry” signs). While it’s true, the FDA has deemed the product safe, studies have shown the chemical may pose some cancer risk, particularly for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (even when dry for a period of time). That’s why many countries have banned its use, and even the local lawn care companies I called (You’ve seen their trucks. You know their names.) told me that they were “trying to phase it out” even though it does an excellent job of killing certain, annoying weeds. I know many people, me included, don’t like the look of a dead, brown lawn. But if these studies are correct, there may be a heavy price to pay for golf-course green.
Read More»FAQ: Removing stakes from trees
- On August 12, 2009
- By Meleah
- In FAQ
- 0
Q: When should I remove the stakes from newly planted trees?
A: This question comes up a lot and, no wonder. There is a lot of debate on this subject. Some experts say young trees should be staked for their first year. Others say no, arguing that staking keeps trees from developing the strong root system they need by not allowing them to move freely in the wind. I come down somewhere in the middle of this debate. If a young tree seems fine without staked, don’t use them. But if you buy a tree that’s really tall for its root ball (as I did this spring, a bare root nannyberry), I would use stakes to support it until you feel it can stand alone safely — no more than one year. I would also recommend staking if you’re planting in a sandy area.
FAQ: When is the best time to plant trees?
- On July 27, 2009
- By Meleah
- In FAQ
- 0
Q: Is it true that it’s best to plant trees in the fall?
A: That is true for most trees. The soil is already warm by that time and once the tree loses its leaves the new root system will not have to work so hard to provide nutrients for them as it gets used to its new home. There are a few trees, though, that should be planted in the spring because they just seem to struggle more when they’re planted in the fall and the reasons for this don’t seem to be fully understood. Those trees are: hawthorn, magnolia, birch and many oaks.
