Each month I'll publish newsletters and other timely gardening information.  You can also find my articles posted in the Articles and Video section of the site.

   Newsletter by Month:

   June - Bigger Blooms

   July - Planning Now for Spring

   August - Preparing for Fall Bloom

   September - Shade Loving Perennials

   October - Fall Bloom (DeltaStyle)

   November - Spring Success(DeltaStyle)

   December - Propagation (Delta Style)

Deadheading and Side Pruning (June 2007)

By: Charles Bankston, www.LearnToGarden.net
Monroe, Louisiana

Do you prefer big, stately blooms or do you prefer the smaller blooms in one large “spray”? What’s a “spray” you might ask? This is simply those plant stems that shoot up and produce multiple blooms (i.e. one stem with multiple blooms on top). For those that enjoy, rather, the stem with the single, large flower at the top can help with such productions by “side pruning” or often referred to as “finger pruning”.

When you see those new growth shoots appear, watch for the production of multiple blooms at the top of the stem. Typically they will show themselves with a central bud (the largest of the group) surrounded by smaller, side buds. Simply use one hand (thumb and finger) to pull back the emerging leaves being very careful not to break the tender shoots at the stem tops.

This should better expose the tiny side buds. Next, use your other thumb and finger to carefully snap the side bud out and away from the larger bud that will be left standing in the center. This will allow for all the plants (or stems’) energy to be transferred to the single bud rather than having to share its energy with three, four or more buds. The results are larger, statelier blooms. Keep in mind, especially if you’re the picky type, to side prune early in the bud’s life cycle otherwise you’ll have the big blooms, but will also have the scaring left behind from the side pruning. Doing this early on will limit scaring of the plant tissue and result in not only pretty blooms, but nice looking stems as well. In other words, it does little good to side prune when the central or center bud is about to open, because the energy has already been distributed to the spray of blooms instead of the one, central bud.

Now, to deadheading. For tidy and season-long color in the garden, deadheading or the act of cutting off spent blooms is critical. It also offers up the opportunity to inspect your plants as you walk through the garden clipping off the old blooms. At least, this is how I look at it—better to look at chores in the positive light, right? At any rate I’ll refer to this “chore” as deadheading.

For roses, you want to deadhead old or spent blooms at a particular location on the plant’s stem—this is important. Don’t cut where the stem is spindly or weak (i.e. near the top), but rather cut down closer to the ground where the stem reaches a pencil’s width or more. I’m not saying cut your rose canes at the ground. Rather, just ensure you’re cutting into plant wood or tissue that is strong (i.e. a pencil’s width or larger). You’ll also as a rule of thumb want to cut just above a five leaf set. For instance, on rose bushes you’ll find leaf sets along the stem that have typically three and five leave sets or leaflets. You’ll want to locate a leaf set with five leaves and then using sharp pruning clippers cut about a fourth of an inch above the intersection of the leaf set and the stem. Then, in the crease or connecting point of the adjoining leaf set and the stem you’ll find emerge new growth and a new stem, followed by blooms!

For those into the more technical aspect of what occurs, basically there is a chemical that is produced, a plant hormone that helps regulate the rose bloom growth cycles. Auxin, the hormone, is present in the top portion of the stem and when the cane or stem is cut, the Auxin travels to the (new) top of the stem to help promote more growth and ultimate plant survival. This hormone then produces more vegetation and thus more blooms while limiting lower stem growth. By the way, this is what occurs in any growing plant whether it is trees, vegetables or flowers. Haven’t you ever wondered why trees “bush out” when “topped”? Auxin is the answer. It limits lower stem vegetation or in the case of trees, trunk vegetation and keeps the vegetation at and near the top.

One other thing worth noting. When you make your cut, pivot or angle your pruning clippers so that the cut is just slightly off center (about 45 degrees) and sloping away from the leaflet or five leaf set on your roses. This is just another little trick that will help prevent fungal born diseases. For other plants and perennials, this very specific approach is not necessary. For instance, with perennial Salvia you can go about the garden with sheers lopping off the top section of the plant (by about a third) after the first big flush of bloom spikes. This sheering will then produce more bloom cycles as it does with roses, but the rigor in which you apply the technique is not as critical. Roses just like to be pampered!

For more information on this topic and others, visit www.perennialandrosegardening.net and look for video clips of the techniques mentioned.

Planning Now for Next Spring (July 2007)

By: Charles Bankston, www.LearnToGarden.net
Monroe, Louisiana

Have you ever walked out into your flower or perennial garden in the early spring and asked yourself, “Now where did I put that Coreopsis, or where is that new coneflower plant that I planted last summer?”? If you’re like me you do it quite often. Once you obtain more than a handful of plants and your yard or garden becomes a collection of perennials and other plants it becomes rather difficult to remember where everything is located. If you find yourself in this predicament I’ve found a useful, simple way to avoid this gardening dilemma.

One way is to document each plant in your garden with a simple map. But if you’re like me, your plant locations change frequently and it’s time consuming to maintain a map of plants. So, I elect for what I think is an easier, more realistic method.

Each spring and summer, I put an entry on my calendar—once for late spring and one entry for summer. This entry reminds me to make notes on garden plant locations and “to do” areas for next season. I have placed samples of my notes on my website, www.PerennialAndRoseGardening.net. Click on the “Garden Journal” section to see a sample of my notes beneath entry for July 8.

When the calendar reminds me that it’s time to make the more formal rounds in the garden with notebook and pen in hand I begin the simple process. I typically begin with a quick freehand drawing of the landscape on a sheet of blank paper that resembles an aerial view of our home and gardens. Be sure to draw in where fences, driveways and flower beds exist in your yard. Next, as I begin walking through the garden I take notice to things such as nonperforming plants, plants that I didn’t like, plants that were too high or too short for its location, too sunny or too shady, and even things like soil that needs amending, etc. When I find a section in the garden of which I want to make personal notes and not forget about I simply insert a letter of the alphabet into my landscape drawing in the spot that best correlates to that specific location in the landscape. Inserting a single letter rather than wordy phrases keeps your drawing less crowded and more organized and legible.

Then, on a second sheet of blank paper I list the letters that I used in the landscape drawing and write any associated notes beside the letter. Finally, the following spring all I have to do is retrieve my notes by looking at the letters associated to the drawing.

Doing this each year is a great way to remember where you planted things and also can help remind you of things you need to do to the garden come spring—things you may not otherwise have remembered. Below are some examples of entries I made this year for the upcoming spring of 2008: 
   

A – Soil needs built up more and needs more organic matter. Heavy clay—plants performance suffered.

B – Move rose bush to new location as it is receiving too much shade in this location and is not performing as it should. No issues with soil, so must be light requirements causing poor performance. (on this entry, it’s important, because this location is overgrown with vegetation from neighboring plants and shrubs that are causing lots of shade to this rose bush. In the spring, however, I wouldn’t be able to tell that it received too much shade because the shrubs and neighboring plants have no leaves (due to winter and pruning, etc.). This is an example of why one should do this when everything is in full bloom and in the midst of spring and summer).

C – Try adding something of color and height aside from Purple Indigo Spires in this location. On the right and/or left of Indigo Spires.

Get your loppers, shears and pruning clippers ready!  We’re going to prune.  This is a good time to prune your hybrid tea roses back down to about 3 or 4 feet.  I recommend even trimming off the new buds because they are going to be fairly small due to extreme daytime heating.  It’s your choice, but would you rather have good looking blooms in this heat or would you rather have awesome looking blooms in the fall?  Pruning all the bushes now will ensure a good fall flush of blooms in October—perfect weather for producing those huge blooms. 

I also recommend applying a slow-release fertilizer at this time for your roses and perennials.  This will prepare them for the fall months to come.  Once you’ve applied the fertilizer be sure to water it into the soil well, especially in areas seeing extreme heat.  Not doing so could burn the foliage or leaves on the plants.  Just make sure they are well hydrated before fertilizing and you should be fine.

Your other perennial plants and trees need to be pruned now as well, but make note of special considerations.  Not all varieties should be pruned—some of those include Azaleas, which are only to be pruned immediately after blooming.  If you prune Azaleas now you’ll remove the buds that have established themselves on the shrubs.  Wait until these guys bloom in the spring and then prune.  However, for the most part, other perennial shrubs, trees and plants can be pruned.  These include crepe myrtles, daisies, salvia, old garden roses, gaura, etc.

When trimming these types of plants with the exception of my hybrid tea roses I use my pruning shears.  This tool resembles a large pair of scissors and typically has fairly long handles on them.  The blades are usually anywhere from 6 – 12 inches long.  I prefer these when trimming plants with lots of bushy growth.  They can cover quite a bit of territory when used properly.  When shearing or trimming your plants simply use common sense.  For instance, on the Indigo Spires Salvia plants I usually cut only the top third or fourth of the plant—basically trimming only the spent blooms.  This will promote additional growth for the fall months.  Fertilizing after pruning will only help promote that new, lush growth that gardeners desire.

Once you’re done pruning, shearing and clipping I like to wet the plants to help lessen the injury to the plant caused by the shearing process.  And with all the heat they’re sure to enjoy the drink.

Heat Stress

Plants during this time of year especially in the south can experience heat stress.  You can spot this in your own garden fairly easily.  The leaves of the plants may be wrinkled or droopy even when you know their feet (i.e. soil) are moist.  In a nutshell this is caused by the plants transpiring more moisture than can be absorbed by the plant's roots.  This can be helped by misting the plants from overhead in the heat of the day, but be careful not to over water.  Over watering can cause even more transpiration loss by reducing the amount of air or oxygen in the soil. Over watered plants exhibit the same symptoms of under watered plants--drooping leaves.  So be mindful of the moisture content in the soil before watering with any significance.  Overhead misting will reduce the air temperature around the plants and reduce the moisture transpiration rate and thus help with the heat stressed plants caused by extreme temperatures.

Some other things that I try during times of extreme outdoor heat are to reduce or eliminate the rate of fertilizer I apply to the roses and perennials.  This allows them a short resting period and allows them to build up energy for the fall (at least that's what I would like to think).  They deserve it and they may even perform better for you in the fall by doing taking this approach. 

Above I mentioned overhead watering.  I know you’ll find recommendations against this in some gardening literature due to the risk of disease that comes with moisture.  However, I’ve found that if the heat is extreme the heat in and of itself will help reduce the survival rate of various fungi thus reducing the risk of blackspot and mildews, etc.  I also reduce the frequency of chemical applications for both disease and insects during this time.  With extreme heating chemical sprays can damage your plants.  Thus, I risk the occasional fungal disease and pest or insect during these summer months.  Once the temperatures begin to dip a little I suggest picking back up with your normal spray schedule for insect and disease control.

Watering
Make sure you are watering your plants infrequently, but thoroughly during the summer months.  Some people water their garden plants for just a few seconds each.  This doesn’t help, but only hurts by encouraging the development of shallow root systems.  When watering with a hose-end applicator I like to count to at least 10 before moving on to the next plant.  If you’re using an automated irrigation system make sure you’re watering for an extended period of time.  I water my perennial beds 3 times per week during the dog days of summer for a minimum of 30 minutes.  This ensures deep penetration of the water down to the deepest roots.  This should make for well established plants going into the fall blooming period.

In summary, now is the time to trim or prune your garden perennial plants and rose bushes.  Once this is complete give them a boost by fertilizing with a good all-around slow release fertilizer.  Continue watering well and begin your normal spray routines for insects and diseases once the outside air temperatures have cooled a bit.  You may experience some black spot or other fungal diseases, but that’s better than risking hurting the plants with chemicals during extreme heating.  A little work now will pay off in the fall with what every gardener wants—bigger and more abundant blooms.

As you plan for next spring it’s a good idea to go ahead and capture your thoughts on paper about what types of organic amendments (watch video) you want to apply to your garden beds and any other garden changes you wish to make.  Remember, organics produce vital micronutrients and minerals that are important for good plant and root development.  Organics break down by way of microbial action in the soil and external heat drives their activity.  So guess what?  With our extreme heat this activity is greater than somewhere much cooler.  Thus, we need to add organics to our soils more frequently than let’s say someone in Iowa or in the Northern Regions of the country.  It is advisable to add organics at minimum once every two years in our Southern Region.  Personally, I don’t think you could add too much.

Adding organics to your soil can be accomplished in a variety of ways including the incorporation of composted materials such as cotton seed or gin trash, manures, worm castings (droppings), pine bark, pine needles, or your own composted material.  In a recent Master Gardener class one of the instructors mentioned that a better bet would be the incorporation of humus.  Humus is the product of composted materials—materials that have been subjected to prolonged microbial decomposition.  Using this “after product” is less hurtful because you don’t risk burning your plants with rotting materials that are in the middle of the composting process.  The microbial activity produces heat, which can physically burn the plants.  Ensuring this process is completed (i.e. using humus) will ensure your plants are not harmed by "burning".  Some manures such as Chicken is notorious for its high ammonia content and its ability to burn tender plants.  Thus when using this type of manure, it is advisable to allow it to complete the composting process before subjecting plants to it.  You’ll also want to use much less of this form of manure than you’d use with other forms of animal manure.  Some refer to this as letting it “rest” prior to planting.  Other manures such as horse and cow are less likely to cause burning damage.  However, they too should be well composted.

Ensuring your organic content levels are accurate will also encourage a healthy environment for earthworms.  These guys are invaluable to you and your gardening success—they tunnel in and through the soil helping break down heavy or low quality soils.  They also help aerate it in the process.  Even better, their waste product or castings is a form of humus that supplies lots of key minerals and nutrients to plants.  If you have lots of earthworms in your garden you must be doing something right!  Keep it up!

Another chore you might consider now is giving your plants a little taste of an all purpose fertilizer.  Since we’re fairly late in the season and fall is fast approaching I prefer and recommend a liquid fertilizer with some type of organic material incorporated.  Dr. Ron Robbins of LSU Extension also advises against using one of the slow-release fertilizers such as Osmocote this late in the game as you don’t want to promote new plant growth into November and December when we get our first cold snaps.  Rather, the plants simply need a bit of a “pick me up” for the energy they’ll expend in the production of fall blooms.

Cool weather is just around the corner!  Let’s hope anyway.  For now, sit back, relax a bit and enjoy every opportunity you have in your garden with family and friends.


Fall Bloom in the Garden (October 2007 DeltaStyle)

By: Charles Bankston, www.LearnToGarden.net
Monroe, Louisiana

If I had to choose just one season as my favorite it would likely be spring, but rest assured fall would be a close second.  Not only does fall welcome the football season for our high school sports programs, but it also comes with cooler weather and gardens that are packed with color and bloom.  October is the prime month in our region for rose bloom production.  The cooler temperatures assist in cooling the air temperature around the rose blooms, which reduces the rate of growth of the roses.  This reduction in growth helps produce much larger blooms on the end of long stems.  I’m sure you’ve noticed how small the rose buds and blooms are during the heat of summer.  This is quite normal and is due to stress and the extreme heat of which the plants are subjected.  This is why rose gardeners lightly prune their plants in late August to early September.  This light pruning followed by a light organic fertilizer helps promote new growth, stems and blooms.  Roses typically take about 30-40 days to produce a new bloom from the time the stem was cut.  Thus, pruning in early September for instance sets the stage for beautiful rose bloom productions in mid to late October. 

Not only does this cooler weather help your roses look their best, but it also helps other flowering perennials look more vibrant and colorful as opposed to washed out as they often look in the heat of summer.  So, what plants put on an awesome show in my garden each fall?  They include Indigo Spires Salvia—a sprawling plant that spreads to near 3 feet and reaches a height of near 5 feet.  It has a type of whimsical appearance and sways with the wind.  As its name suggests it has magnificent spikes of deep or dark purple blooms atop of light green foliage.  Although often not referred to as “perennial” it has survived in my garden for over 3 years without needing replacement plants.  Indigo Spires works well for cutting too!  Another favorite of mine is Gaura.  It is native in Louisiana and Texas and is hardy to zones 6 through 9.  With light pruning in the spring and fall it produces blooms along tall, wiry looking stems that are often up to 1 inch across.  The flowers range from dark pink to near pure white.  Gaura performs best in full sun with well drained soil.  I never fertilize the Gaura as a soil that is too fertile will often generate lots of green leafy growth at the expense of flower production.  This is not true of all perennials, but has been the case in my garden with specific varieties of Gaura.  I learned this the hard way, so take it first hand from me.  Give it some loose, airy soil amended with organics, water well and you’ll be smothered in Gaura blooms.  One unique feature I’ve noticed in our Gaura blooms this year is that they close at night and evening and are open in the morning and daylight hours.  You can visit some of my other favorite selections at www.LearnToGarden.net.

Let’s discuss for a moment fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides.  This month I’ll stray away from any form of slow release fertilizer, since just prior to frost I do not want to generate a significant amount of green, lush growth on my plants.  I do, however, want to promote healthy, large blooms, so I will be applying forms of organic liquid fertilizers to help give the plants an added boost.  Some of the brands I use are Alaska Fish Emulsion and Mills Easy Feed (millsmix.com).  These are great products and will provide your plants with vital micronutrients they need for bloom production.  These products will also aid in preparing them for cooler, winter weather (what little winter we get in our area). 

What about insects and disease?  Fall is a time of disease in addition to the ever-tenacious insects.  I started in September and continue spraying for disease and insects especially on my hybrid tea rose varieties.  I know that hot weather and chemical sprays can scald or burn plants and thus why it is recommended to not spray them during the heat of summer—typically when temperatures are above 90 degrees.  However, things are cooling down enough now that we can begin spraying them again—especially those hybrid tea varieties.  My main problem right now consists of rose slugs or small larvae (i.e. worms) that are eating the buds just prior to opening.  I also have a small problem with thrips right now.  For both the worms and the thrips I give them a misting of Orthene or some other form of systemic insecticide--systemic meaning the chemical remains inside the plant’s vascular system for several days after spraying.  With this mechanism, when the worms later chew and ingest some of the plant they get a dose of the chemical and die as a result.  Other alternatives are contact insecticides.  For these to work, you must ensure you reach the critters directly with the solution.

In summary, fall is a time to sit back, relax and enjoy the blooms that you’ve worked so hard to support.  Given the weather is cooperative and you’ve prepared your garden for fall bloom by lightly pruning the various roses and perennial varieties you are sure to enjoy a garden full of bloom and color this fall season.  If you have a question or comment please drop me a line at growit@learntogarden.net.  I may include a selection of your inquires in next month’s column.

Happy Gardening!

The Keys to Spring Gardening Success (November 2007 DeltaStyle)

By: Charles Bankston, www.LearnToGarden.net
Monroe, Louisiana

Have you ever heard the old saying, “The best defense is a good offense”?  Or is it the other way around?  Either way the same holds true with you and your successes in the garden.  Chances are you have heard it not once but time and time again, but I bet you’ve never heard it used in the gardening context.  I’m here to tell you it certainly does apply—in every sense of the word to gardening, and there is no better time of year than fall to derive a good offensive plan and execute it.

Let’s start with one of the most dreaded garden enemies—weeds.  A weed is often simply defined as any plant that is “out of place” or “unwanted” in your landscape.  If you’re like me you probably have immaculate landscape beds that are weed free in the spring to early summer, because you’re out in the garden every day (or many times per day) removing anything that resembles a weed.   But then comes summer and before your eyes it happens—the weeds take over.   It doesn’t have to be that bad.  Help does exist in the form of herbicides.  Recently in my local master gardener program one of the guest speakers, a weed specialist, made several suggestions which I found intriguing.  For instance, the specialists indicated that one can use a product called Sedge Hammer, which can be purchased at most local nurseries, which will kill and help in the control of Nutsedge—a problem for ALL gardeners.   With Nutsedge you’ll likely do more harm than good by trying to pull them out of the ground.  Have you noticed that when you pull them the roots almost always stay put in the ground?  If any portion of the root is left in the ground it will likely produce many more in its place—not a good thing.  So is it really practical to try and pull them?  Not really.  These weeds are unfortunately more tenacious than I am, but not as tenacious as Sedge Hammer.  Just remember to read the label directions and follow them carefully.  Often if used according to the label directions you will also be able to use it around your other plants in the landscape.  The label should indicate which plants are tolerant of the Sedge Hammer product. 

Gardeners can use both post and pre emergent herbicides as a form of weed control.  As the prefix suggests, post emergent chemicals kill weeds once they are actively growing whereas pre-emergent herbicides keep new weeds from germinating.  The only drawback is that pre-emergent herbicides are not smart enough to distinguish between a “good” seed and a “bad” weed seed.  Thus, if you plan to apply a form of pre-emergent chemical to your lawn or landscape be sure to do so after your “good” seeds have sprouted.    There are many products on the market that are safe to apply directly over your bedding and perennial plants that will actually prevent annual weed seeds from germinating.  Although these products indicate they will last for up to 3 months it is advisable to reapply every 6-8 weeks in our area.  Most of these products are in granule form and can be broadcasted over the area to be treated and watered into the soil.  This will establish a barrier in the top few inches of the soil where seeds germinate. 

Before we discuss what you can do this month that will result in loads of color and bloom in your garden come early to late spring, I’d like to briefly mention a few plant selections that are in their prime this month in my landscape.  One is none other than the famous Angel Trumpet.  It comes in various colors including white, pink and yellow and carries a heavy, sweet scent in the late evening.  It reaches a height of near 10 feet and dies back to the ground in winter.   Other colorful selections for early fall include the continual blooms of the rose, perennial salvias and ornamental grasses.  If you haven’t considered these type grasses for your landscape I strongly suggest you reconsider.  In my opinion they are often overlooked in fall and winter landscapes in terms of color and added texture.

Let’s bring this month’s column to a close with a brief discussion on planning for next spring . . . Nannette Crawford, a fellow Master Gardener, recently made a couple of suggestions that I thought I’d pass along to you.  She suggested I make a trip to my local garden center and look for cool-season, flowering plant seeds such as Giant Larkspur, Bachelor Buttons, Poppies and other cool season varieties.  She then said to mix all these seeds together in a container or sack and broadcast them over my roughed-up garden beds on or after November 15 or after the weather has cooled significantly.  She assures me this will result in a garden of early color and bloom well in advance of most warm-season perennials and bedding plants.  In addition, these seed packets are very inexpensive and the payoff is grand, so purchase as many as possible.   This is definitely a case of the more the merrier.  Once they begin to germinate and develop in late fall, one can then (and only then) apply pre-emergent weed control granules such as Preen.  Finally, once these cool-season plants are done with their performance in late spring she suggests collecting the seeds from the dried pods and saving them for the seasons ahead.  If you store the seeds, try and keep them cool and dry.  The remnants of the plants can then be removed to make way for the warm-season plants.

In closing, I wish you a weed-free garden and landscape that’s full of color and bloom!  You can achieve this with a little upfront planning and by taking proactive measures.  Have a question, suggestion or comment?  Visit me on the web at www.LearnToGarden.net.  I may include a selection of your inquires in next month’s article.  Until then have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

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