Summer Flowers

   

A well landscaped yard



Recently I visited my brother.  He had some of his yard professionally landscaped.  The ornamentals in his yard are a succession of blooms all summer long.  There are a few non blooming ornamentals.  During my visit there was a wonderful aroma from the Idaho state flower, the syringa.  The bushes were 5 to 6 feet tall and in full bloom.  I would recommend syringa for anybody who lives in a location that can grow them. 

Poppies in the corner garden

                                           

 One of my great nostalgic memories is going to my Grandparents house and seeing the big beautiful poppies like the ones in the picture.  They are short lived but very colorful.  I have a nice bed with both orange and mostly red flowers.  The flowers are four inches wide.  Bees love the poppies.

Dames rocket.  These grow wild along Ohio backroads

Along the back of the lawn are some perennials that have a selection of blooms throughout the spring and summer.  The first to flower to bloom are dames rocket (Hesperis), then Monarda and purple coneflowers (Echinacea), then the last is goldenrod.  There are some others that I don’t know if they are weeds or just someone else’s idea of a flower.  Either way, I just pulled a bunch of aster like weeds out. 

The corners of my back yard have different flowers with the most common being day lilies. There are daisies, poppies, some different irises a few hostas, and some catnip.



I have never looked this flower up to see what it is.


The one item I would change is to have more flowers in the front yard.  I have added some through the years.  The big addition is some azaleas in one bed and some daffodils and tulips.  I like roses but they struggle in the sandy soil, probably due to lack of moisture.  The big addition I have made is two beautiful lilacs to the side of the front yard.  They were a gift from a friend who had too much shade so they never bloomed.   

 

These are sure beautiful.  Notice the water droplets on the leaves.
I wish I knew the variety.
 Again, I haven't taken the time to look up the variety.



 

One of the weeds with a small white flower. 
I believe this to be a member of the mustard family. 
I haven't looked it up.



The hydrangeas are in the front yard.  Some flowers are bigger than my hand.  They get so heavy they fall over.  These flowers last for well over a month and are lightly grazed by deer .



For the most part all of my flowers are perennials and return with their beautiful foliage year in and year out.  The two items of maintenance are removing the old stems every year and trying to keep the weeds out.  Last year I removed the old stems by mowing over the whole perennial bed after the killing frost and the foliage had dried up.  This year I just did it by hand.   For weed control I use a Crabgrass Killer with Dimension that will last up to four months.  Last year I used Green Light’s Amaze.  I have been amazed at how effective both products have been.

The Garden Doc

Plant Diseases

July 18

There is some fungus among us.  The rainfall and sometimes excess moisture has brought on a plethora of diseases not often noticed in the landscape.  Common diseases on trees and ornamentals are apple scab on crabapple trees, Diplodia and Rhizosphaera needle cast on certain conifer trees, and powdery mildew on lilacs and many other species.  This year there has been somewhat severe outbreaks of anthracnose on maples, white oaks and especially sycamore trees.  Scientists have developed varieties of crab apples that are mostly immune to apple scab.  A few more trees die every year from Dutch elm disease.  If you live in an area where oak wilt is present, have your trees treated professionally with Alamo fungicide to protect those trees.  One treatment lasts up to three years.  Make sure you treat desired trees near infected trees.  The disease passes from tree to tree through underground root grafts.

Now that the vegetable garden is growing you will see either septoria leaf spot or early blight on tomatoes.  Septoria starts with small dark bordered white spots while early blight has circular brown spots with margins of yellow; both start on lower leaves where those leaves die and the disease progresses up the plant.  Early blight will also be a problem on potatoes.  If weather remains cool and damp for a period of time potatoes and tomatoes will be susceptible to late blight, the disease famous for the Irish potato famine where 1.5 million people died in the mid 1800’s.  Powdery mildew will affect onions causing the leaves to die early.  A cercospera leaf spot will affect carrots and beets.  Of all garden diseases, early and late blight on tomatoes is probably the most damaging.  Downy mildew and anthracnose occurs on vines crops and a few other crops.  Several other diseases are caused by virus, vectored by insects, and bacterial spot diseases caused by soil splashing up onto leaves.  My raspberries grow in a very wind protected area with barely enough sun.  The disease, Botrytis fruit rot is common on most soft fruits.

Several species of vegetables, especially tomatoes get blossom end rot.  This disease is a physiological disease caused by a lack of calcium in plants.  As the plants go through a very quick growth stage and start to fruit the roots cannot mine from the soil and transport enough calcium to keep up with the growing fruits needs.  When the plant gets more mature it generally overcomes this disease on its own.  This disease can be alleviated with the addition of a foliar calcium spray from a product like Green Light’s Blossom End Rot Spray.  It and other similar products contain soluble calcium. 

The most common ornamental disease that is treated is rose black spot on roses.  Roses also get powdery mildew.   

The three best things you can do to keep diseases away is to choose plant varieties that are resistant to common diseases, plant in areas with good air movement to keep plants dry, and water in the morning so plants will be wet for the shortest period of time.  In order for a disease to grow it needs a susceptible host, the proper environment to grow in, and the causal agent.  This is called the disease triangle.  The next best item you can do is spray a fungicide.  The most common all around fungicides and the fungicides that controls the most diseases contain chlorothalonil.  It was originally named Bravo but now comes in all types of professional and consumer formulations.  Chorothalonil is a protectant and will not stop existing diseases.  It must be applied every 7 days.  Other common organic fungicides are Neem oil and the elemental copper and sulfur fungicides.  The elemental fungicides work well but must be reapplied often and at heavy rates every 5 to 7 days.  There are some diseases they do not control.  Neem oil is a fair protectorant fungicide and can stop powdery mildew.  It should be applied every 14 days to protect vegetation and every 7 days when a disease exists until it is controlled.  Neem oil also leaves a pretty shine on the leaves and fruit.  There are some new fungicides on the market that can be used on some fruits and vegetables.  They not only protect but have the ability to burn out infections up to four days after the infection starts.  These fungicides have not made there way to many consumer products and are expensive. 

When treating edible fruits and vegetables, pay attention to the preharvest interval (PHI).  Neem oil can be used up to the day of harvest.  Others have various intervals between treating and harvesting of produce. 

My most favorite disease is a lawn disease called fairy ring. This scientist researched how to control it for several years.  It grows as an ever expanding circle of green or sometimes dead grass and under certain conditions produces a ring of mushrooms.  Fairy ring has several different causal fungi and is one of the least understood of all diseases.  Every year the disease just grows a little more and a little more until some circles become very large.  One scientist found one that he followed for several miles.

Best of luck with disease control.

The Garden Doc

Raspberries

July 7, 2011    

My wife and daughter just finished picking the first raspberries of the year.  I didn’t see if they came back from picking with red juice stains.  However, they are delicious.  (I snuck a few berries yesterday)  The berries are about three weeks later than last year due to a cool spring.  Five years ago when the raspberries were established five plants of five different varieties were chosen.  I chose based on four criteria; will they grow in a cold climate, berry size, berry flavor, and productivity.  All varieties were from Nourse Berry Farm.

My choice as the best variety is Jaclyn. It is outstanding and it spreads the easiest.  The canes are the tallest of my varieties.  It produces a very large sweet berry, moderate crop size and a spring and fall crop.  There are a few odd berries all through the summer.  It is a primocane beater, meaning it produces berries on the canes the fall the first year the canes emerge.  Most varieties produce primocanes the first year which do not bear, then the following year those canes produce berries.  That fall those canes die and during the year new primocanes grew.    

My second berry choice is a similar but with less yield, smaller berries, and shorter canes.  However, the berries are really good.  The variety may be heritage, but I forget.  Two other choices are just summer bearers and are not my favorites.  Those berries can be small and one spreads faster than it produces average size berries, but they taste good.  They are forgettable and will slowly get replaced with Jaclyn. 

Royalty is my only purple berry.  It was advertised as really sweet.  I didn’t find that to be true.  However it yields for the shortest period of time but is the heaviest bearer. Royalty also spreads less than other varieties which will cause it to be replaced by natural spread of the other varieties. The berries have fair flavor but when looking to make jam or jelly it is a great variety to bring up the berry volume fast to have good jam. 

The first berries were all planted in one single row.  The row is now two rows and I regularly remove primocanes that are growing outside the desired rows.  The berries are kept inside a crude wire structure to help the berries be upright.

Raspberries are a hardy plant but can have insect and disease problems.  My berries have not had significant insect problems or stem disease problems but have had diseases on the berries.  Spray as needed to control problems.  A good neem oil or neem with pyrethrins should work well.  Green Light Neem Oil Concentrate or Green Light Fruit Tree Spray are good choices.  The main problem my berries have had is fruit rot or gray mold, (Botrytis cinerea or soft rot (Ryhizopus and Mucor spp.).  Regular use of Fruit Tree Spray or Neem oil should stop or slow most disease.   Once it fruit rots get established it may be treated with a stronger non organic fungicide Daconil, which is generic or Fung-onil.  Both contain chlorothalonil which must be used weekly and has a pre-harvest interval which should be adhered to.  Neem oil and Fruit Tree Spray can be used the day before harvest. 

Here are some management practices.  They are published in Hort Mag.

1.      Remove dead canes. The presence of empty fruit stems identifies dead or dying canes, as does their yellowing foliage, and roughness of the bark. These canes should be cut low to the ground and removed. (Primocane-fruiting canes that have been left to bear a second year’s crop can be left and will produce a spring crop.) Raspberry canes are less thorny than blackberries, but a leather glove on at least one hand will make handling the canes easy and protect your fingers.

2.      Thin new canes. A vigorously growing raspberry patch will generate an excess of new canes. Some of these will appear at the edges of the patch, causing it to spread. But even within bounds, too many canes left one year will block the growth of canes the next. Good raspberry pruning anticipates not simply next year’s harvest but the harvest of the summer after. Thin the one-season-old canes, leaving the thickest and tallest ones spaced an average of six inches apart.

3.      Weed. With the pruning completed, use a hand hoe or other weeder to clean out grass and other weeds, being careful not to injure the raspberries’ shallow root system. 

4.      Mulch. The first ten feet of row have now been pruned and mulched. Several inches of free-draining wood chips will help the weeds from reappearing. Twin horizontal strings will support the fruit-heavy canes when they bear next summer.

Berries grow different in different environments.  Varieties that do well for me may not do well for you.  They will also grow different in different soil types.

We truly eat all the berries we want all year around.  We bottle them for use during the winter months. Eat lots of a true fruit of the Gods, raspberries.

The Garden Doc

How to live with or control mosquitoes

July 02

My wife hates to go outside because she attracts mosquitoes, when I don’t even know there are any around.  Several products are available to repel mosquitoes but how effective are they?  Whether or not they are effective is a good question.  A single test can cost millions.  Some of the tests have been made available to the CDC or EPA.  Test results sent to the EPA are to support registrations of products and may not be available for public  use.  The CDC, Center for Disease Control, has research results and does publish some data for the public.  Below is a summary of products and there relative effectiveness.

By far, DEET-containing products are the top performers and most will last from 2 to 6 hours with a single application. Picaridin is the second most effective product with performance in the 1-3 hour range. Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus are considered botanicals and are often labeled as being “green friendly” (whatever that means!). Cedar oil is employed as a scent to repel mosquitoes. The scant data available suggests that these products only last for 15 to 20 minutes after an application. This can be partially solved by finding a formulation that slowly releases the scent into the air.  There are bracelets or tags that hang on clothing that offer a slow release of one or a combination of the above scents. Citronella is listed on the EPA or CDC lists as a mosquito control product. And some of the new mint oils are also not on the list of effective actives.  A pretty good study, done two decades ago, used citronella candles surrounding test subjects.  The test people got bit as frequently as people some distance away, but with no candles nearby.  However, citronella candles seem to be so entrenched in our culture and used for ambiance with everyone thinking they control mosquitoes.  We will likely continue spending millions a year on the little lanterns and keep buying the oil. 

A unique item was found that supposedly gives off a magnetic or electrical field that keeps mosquitoes away from people.  You simply wear it around your neck and they leave you alone.  My suggestion is to make ankle bracelets incorporating the items so they don’t get my wife’s ankles and legs.  Do these items work?  I really can’t say, but I haven’t invested any money in this company.

Mosquito traps have improved and are recognized as being able to reduce mosquito bites when mosquito populations are medium to low.  The expensive ones that work use CO2, a tiny light and a suction fan to attract, pull in and then kill the mosquitoes.  A rather new method of controlling mosquito activity is modifying air movement! Mosquitoes are very weak flyers and don’t like to travel when air movement is in the 8 to 10 mph range or greater. Therefore, using outside ceiling or side fans in an area can greatly reduce mosquito flight and landing ability.  The fans must be turned to blow on the subjects.  

Our family had a wedding reception at our house last summer.  The weather had been very wet and we had a terrific mosquito problem.  My assignment was to make the yard mosquito free.  The methods I employed were four fold.  First, I used my Black Flag fogger which produces a fog that floats on the air.  Any mosquito will have a minute droplet impinge on their body and the small insecticide dose kills them. The fogger was positioned so the fog drifted across the yard and into the brush and trees around the yard.   Next I directly sprayed the vegetation for several feet around the yard and the lawn so mosquitoes that landed would pick up a lethal dose.  This works, because when resting, mosquitoes land on vegetation and get liquids from the surrounding vegetation.  Third, I made sure any mosquito breeding sites were eliminated or treated so my yard did not provide breeding sites.  Fourth, the day of the reception I treated the yard with a cedar oil product from Green Light, YardSafe Insect Repellant.  The aroma kept new mosquitoes from venturing in to attack our guests.  The cedar oil smell was faintly in the air and lasted throughout the afternoon and evening. No one would object to the pleasant smell.  The result was no mosquitoes at the party.

Do yourself a favor when you plan on going outside. Don’t eat bananas.  Eating bananas makes people attractive to mosquitoes.    They are also attracted to CO2 but we do have to breathe.

The Garden Doc