NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN FOR OCTOBER 10, 2009

NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN FOR OCTOBER 10, 2009

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PREPARATION FOR WINTER

BY GLADYS JEURINK

Different plants need different care to prep them for winter.

1. One is the “cup” Bromeliad. The plants have spent the summer on the East side of the house to protect them from the hot afternoon winds. Leaves have fallen in and spiders have made their home inside. The roots are only anchors as food comes from the cups, so I dump them and rinse out the cup with the hose and fill with fresh water and a weak water soluble fertilizer solution (1/4 to 1/2 strength). All the yellowed leaves can be removed. Quite often the plants want to tip so I put a mulch of small rocks around the base. Some have produced many babies during summer and for this I have a small saw to divide the plant if they do not break off easy.

2. The Camellia is a late winter bloomer that needs acid soil and a fair amount of shade. They also tend to grow tall and skinny so I pinch out the top to try to make it branch and sprinkle a few sulfur pellets on the soil to lower the pH. It also needs to be in a loose potting soil that is damp but not wet. After the buds are formed try not to move the plant as it may just drop all of them.

3. Azalea’s are small shrubs. Some are hardy but the florist type Azalea usually is not. The most common florist type is the Indian Azalea (Rhododendron simsii), hardy to zone 8-12. It is another plant liking acid soil so as I bring it in I scratch a tablespoon or so of sulfur granules (not dust) in the top of the soil. It also likes humidity so having several plants close to each other helps. To keep a Christmas gift in bloom requires that it be kept cool, moist but not wet, and brightly lit but not in direct sun. Too much sun or too little water will cut short the blooming season.

4. My Angel Trumpets are in 20 inch pots in an area protected from as much wind as possible as it tears the long (12 inches to 14 inches) trumpets. The plant blooms for a time, then takes a rest period when it grows and then blooms again. In a long summer one can get a number of bloom periods. They can be cut back and placed in a cool room for winter but that huge plant, plus the heavy pot are not easy to move around. The last few years I have taken cuttings with no flower buds and as small as practical. I have a yellow and a pink and may start several of each but usually they have little trouble rooting. I do use a rooting hormone. In the green house they grow very fast so I try to have them very small to start.

5. Peruvian Daffodils (Hymenocallis narcissiflora) are not hardy in Nebraska and must be dug before a frost. I cut the tops off, separate the loose soil, and put them in boxes of vermiculite in an unheated room in the basement. Bulbs need to be dry in winter to avoid root rot. They are also known as Isemene, or Spider Lilies. As you might have guessed they are natives of South America . They do well in florist bouquets so the growers plant bulbs spread out over a number of weeks as they bloom almost immediately after planting on stems about 24 inches long. The flowers are large (8 inches), white, with a large cup and 6 narrow petals (spider legs?). When planting, the nose is just at the soil surface. Mine grow in the very high shade of a cottonwood tree but not near the trunk. Bulbs need to be dry in winter to avoid root rot.

6. Another bulb to dig in the fall is the Giant Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalium thyrsoides). Books and catalogues say they grow 3 feet tall but mine usually get 5 to 6 feet tall with slender 24 inch leaves. There are no leaves on the flower stems that bloom from bottom up, starting at 2 1/2 feet until it reaches 6 feet. They are planted about 4 inches deep but in loose soil so are easy to dig. Some of you may have the short form (Ornithogalium nutans or Ornithogalium umbellatum) that can become invasive as they are hardy here. They have a single waxy white flower with a black center while the Giant has many clustered on the stem and take a week for all of them to open. Like the Isemene, the bulbs need to be in a cool, dry place in the winter.

7. Tuberoses (Polianthes tuberosa) are a native of Mexico and Texas and found in sandy areas and roadsides. They need a fairly long season before blooming so I put them in wet sphagnum peat moss in February or March to get them started. The white flowers are in a rosette on top of a 15 to 20 inch stem. Their outstanding characteristic is the intensely fragrant odor. One stem can fill an entire room. They divide into a group of small bulbs during summer. I generally plant them by clumps as the blooms are stronger.

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FALL PRUNING

BY GEORGE EDGAR

Butterfly Bush (Buddlia davidii) may be pruned this fall after it goes dormant, or I like to wait and see what winter kills and prune next spring. Then it can be cut way down or you can remove only the dead wood as they bloom on new wood. My Star Magnolia (Magnoliaceae stellata) bush already has big flower buds, so I only prune it after blooming in the spring. Magnolia trees and shrubs need very little pruning. The biggest problem with a Magnolia is protecting those flower buds over the cold winter. Drying out from the cold winds when the ground is frozen is also a problem for other shrubs that have already set their flower buds, and conifer trees that retain their needles. Spraying an anti-desiccant or an anti-transpirant like “Wilt Pruf” or “Wilt Stop” really helps. Do this about Thanksgiving time on a day when the temps are above 40 degrees F. when spraying and for 4 or 5 hours after. Repeat just after New Years Day and again after Valentines Day.

DO NOT APPLY A DRESSING SUCH AS TAR , PAINT, OR WOUND DRESSING TO ANY CUT SURFACE. Research has found that trees and shrubs do better when left to heal naturally.