Weekly View » Going Green Gardening

Hot-Cold-Hot-Cold

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 14 May 2020 05:09:09 +0000

Did your Virus Victory Garden get frostbitten on May 9? Freezing temperatures overnight in Central Indiana set a new record for lows, and many people who got plant fever during the warm days of early May are now trudging back to the stores to buy replacement flowers and vegetables.
If you covered your plants with old bed sheets or other cloth coverings on May 8, many of your plants probably survived. If you removed the plastic sheeting over your plants early the next morning, you also probably managed to save many of the babies you so carefully planted. If your tomato and pepper plants survived with damage to just the lower leaves, pluck those off and your plants should be fine. The soil is still chilly, so there will be slow growth on these warmth-loving plants for a while.
Cool weather flowers and plants likely fared better in the cold snap, but the chill was deep and growth will be slowed. Be patient, as the weather is about to turn much warmer in the week ahead — projected highs will be in the upper 70s. The soil will begin to warm up as well, and new growth will be stimulated.
Your Virus Victory Garden could also do with a little bit of fertilizer when the weather warms up. Organic-minded gardeners will do well with fish emulsion fertilizer, which is heavy on the nitrogen and provides a rapid boost to plants. As someone who used fish emulsion faithfully for years, I can tell you it is a great fertilizer — except for the smell. Yes, it smells like fish and your neighborhood cats are going to come see you in droves. My dogs appreciated the extra exercise as they chased them up and over the fences (don’t worry — the cats were much faster than my fat mutts). There are formulations available that aren’t quite as smelly. In addition to fish emulsion, there are blends of fish and seaweed emulsions that aren’t quite as aromatic and more balanced. They are available at most decent-sized garden centers for $10-$12 a quart, to be mixed with water.
I discovered that earthworm castings are probably the best overall, slow-release fertilizers for soil feeding throughout the season. Castings are essentially earthworm manure, and have been used for a long time as soil enrichers. Applied a couple of times a year around flowers and vegetables, earthworm castings break down in the soil and feed the roots of plants. The years I used them around tomato plants, I got twice the yield I ever had before, and healthier plants all year long. A 10 lb. bag of earthworm castings can cost anywhere from $8-$15, and are available in larger garden centers. You can also use the castings in container plantings for extra growth and lovely blooms.
Garden fertilizers are also available for online purchase, though the cost of shipping large bags can cancel out savings on the product itself. If you are uncomfortable going into stores to shop, you can always call your favorite garden center and ask if they have them in stock before you go.
Now is also a good time to begin to mulch your garden. Mulch, whether decorative bark or the straw-and-cut-grass utilitarian covering under and between plants, helps keep weeds down and nutrients and water in the soil. If you have problems with slugs, rough bark and pine needles will help keep them off your plants — they avoid crawling over scratchy surfaces. I also avoid straw mulch under vegetables because I discovered that mice liked to make nests in the straw, which gave me a powerful startlement a few times when I went out to pull weeds!
Most nurseries and garden center are requiring face masks to shop during the pandemic. Please be considerate of your fellow gardeners and wear a face mask, observe physical distancing guidelines, and don’t touch anything unless you are going to buy it. Several local garden centers are offering curbside service.

Planting (or Giving) Flowers for Mother’s Day

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 07 May 2020 05:09:33 +0000

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10. So many traditions will be disrupted this year — no restaurant brunch, no big family gatherings, no special event to mark the occasion — but flowers can still be sent. In addition, you can plant some flowers at home to remember your mom, or plant some at her home to say how much you care. Here are some flowers that reflect the love we feel for our moms.
• Carnations have traditionally been used to honor Mother’s Day. In the language of flowers, carnations represent purity, faith, love, and charity. Dianthus, a variety of carnation, can be planted in sunny locations in Indiana gardens as a perennial.
• The showy Gerbera Daisy is a cheerful, bright flower that can also be planted in the garden or given in a bouquet. Gerbera Daisies represent happiness and cheer. They do well in a sunny garden spot and come in a variety of colors.
• Plant an azalea for mom this year. This colorful blooming bush represents love, and is best in a semi-shady border. The cut blooms can also be found in bouquets.
• Pink, white, or lilac-toned roses are associated with mother’s love, and can be found in many bouquets. Despite their reputation as a fussy plant to grow, certain new hybrids and varieties are far more disease resistant than they used to be. For fragrance and old-fashioned multi-petal beauty, try the David Austin English roses (available online) in a sunny spot in the yard.
Several spring-blooming plants are associated with Mother’s Day, including the tulip, bluebells, and the summer-blooming day lily. Planting them in fall ensures that next year you can honor Mom in your yard, or she can appreciate the planting you did in hers.
Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s Too Early to Plant, But You Can Plan Your Garden

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 05:09:40 +0000

It was a lovely Saturday, with no need for a jacket. I had to go to a big box hardware store recently and the place was so busy the line to get in snaked around the building. People leaving seemed to all have the same idea — they were hauling bags of garden soil and flats of plants. Unless these folks have a greenhouse or other means of protecting their purchases, I thought, they’re going to have some dead tomato babies tonight. That evening, temperatures plunged and the furnace kicked on.
The average last freeze date in Indianapolis is April 11-20, but it is still getting cold at night. Soil temperatures are still low, meaning all those cold-sensitive plants are going to suffer if they go into the ground. It’s just too early to start your Virus Victory Garden just yet. It isn’t too early to start planning, however.
The general rule is to wait until Mother’s Day (May 10) to plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, and other vegetables. The same goes for flowers, with the exception of pansies and other cold-tolerant pretties. You are better off amending soil, cleaning containers, getting dead leaves out of your gutters and hedges, and sharpening and cleaning your tools right now. If you are starting from scratch this year, call a professional to till the space and add amendments like compost and manure so that your beds will be ready next week. Putting clear plastic sheets over the soil will “solarize” it and help warm it up. Black plastic is best used to cut down weed growth, but doesn’t warm the soil as well.
If you were planning on waiting to the last minute to get gardening, be warned. Online gardening companies are being swamped with orders right now, and you might experience delays getting supplies and plant starts. You may also encounter delays getting someone to till the soil for you, as demand for services has increased.
If you are planning a Virus Victory garden, only plant what you know you and your family will eat. If you are the only person in the household who likes green peppers, for instance, only plant one or two for yourself. Ask yourself how likely it will be that you’ll really can or freeze all your homegrown produce when (or if) the shutdown is lifted this summer and your life goes back to “normal.”
Cool weather vegetables include cabbage, lettuce, spinach, collards, radish, and snap peas can be planted early, but keep an eye on those overnight temperatures. Indiana weather may still have surprises in store for us! If you must cover plants to protect them from frost, don’t use plastic — an old sheet tented over the plants is better and remove it first thing in the morning.
Resist the urge to buy lots of plants that will need to be brought in every night until mid-May. Big box retailers love the early bird gardeners because they make twice as much money from you as you trudge back to re-buy plants after all your hard work died on the vine, so to speak!

Cumberland First Baptist Church Hosts Wildlife Garden Workshop

Weekly View — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 06:09:59 +0000

CUMBERLAND — Cumberland First Baptist Church is hosting a wildlife garden workshop on Saturday, March 30, 10a.m.-noon with Nancy Tatum, Indiana Native Plant Society. This free workshop will show gardeners how to incorporate native plants into landscaping, avoid pesticide use, and certify yards as a wildlife habitat. The church is located at 116 S. Muessing St., Cumberland. E-mail outreach@cumberlandfbc.org to RSVP.
Cumberland First Baptist Church completed Phase III of their project to create a Native Prairie Space on the south lawn last October. An expert botanist from Keep Indianapolis Beautiful helped identify invasive plants for removal. Volunteers removed the invasives, tilled some new areas and planted some native plants. The group will continue with Phase IV as soon as weather permits. The focus will continue to be on removing invasive plants and intentional planting of native plants.
Native plants play an important role in sustaining life in our ecosystem. By adding even a few native plants to the landscape, it adds to the resources to support wildlife, helps stormwater safely percolate into the soil rather than running into rivers and streams, lessens the need to water and fertilize, honors Indiana’s rich natural heritage and can make gardening easier by using hardy native plants.

No Partridges in This Pear Tree

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 05:09:58 +0000

The strawberry season this year was disappointing, to say the least. Last year, I joked about having to play “Strawberry Twister” for weeks as I gathered thousands of red ripe strawberries every day from the overgrown patch in the back yard — this year, the berries were fewer and smaller and some strawberry plants simply up and died due to a strange winter and cold spring. The harvest was small, leaving me to figure out what to do to help things along in 2019.
However, the yard hasn’t exactly been fruitless. My pear tree, which I planted over five years ago, is loaded with small pears. This in spite the fact that I lost its twin in a windstorm last year. I was under the impression that pears needed two for cross pollination; the single pear seems to have not gotten that particular memo. Pyrus communis, the common pear, is an easy to grow tree that can produce a lot of fruit if planted in a sunny, well-drained location. However, it is prone to a variety of problems, not the least of which is fire blight, which attacks young leaves and can cause lots of damage.
The much-hated Bradford pear tree bears no fruit and is widely planted as a spring-blossoming ornamental. The flowers actually have a fishy smell and the trees themselves are invasive. They do, however, share one thing in common with the common pear — they are “weak-wooded,” meaning that a strong gust of wind can break them like a toothpick. At my grandfather’s orchard, he had a row of Bartlett and Bosc pears for a time, but replaced them with apples in the mid-70s when they became more trouble than they were worth after a couple of storms. This is often the case with pear trees in orchards, where every tree has to earn its keep, so to speak. The trees become less productive after 10 years or so, even in optimal conditions.
The other issue is that pears are a HEAVY fruit and weigh down branches. I’ve devised an improvised crutch to hold up the branches (see photo), but still the branches bend down. This is particularly annoying when I walk near the tree and get bonked on the head with hard little pears. The squirrels also seem to enjoy climbing up there and picking them, taking a few bites and throwing them to the ground.
Despite the issues, home-grown pears are good eating. I’ve got such a bumper crop I’ve toyed with the notion of getting a home cider mill and making my own perry, a pear hard cider. But that actually sounds like work, which I’m trying my hardest to avoid.
Instead, I think I’ll just sit under the tree and enjoy watching the sparrows and robins fly in and out of the branches. I’ve seen no partridges yet, but I hold out hope.

April (Snow) Showers Bring May Flowers?

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 05:09:10 +0000

Are you ready to put away the snow shovels for the garden spade? Yeah, we are, too.
“Snow is the poor man’s fertilizer” isn’t just an old gardening trope — there is actually science behind it! My grandfather the orchardsman loved to see snow on his cornfields all winter long, as he was convinced it made the corn sweeter. Grandpa knew his business deep in his bones, as scientific studies show that the white stuff does contribute to plant health. When snowflakes form, they absorb nitrates from the atmosphere and release nutrients when they hit the ground and melt. Studies suggest that a good cover of snow can contribute 5-10 lbs. of nitrates to an acre of soil. So you see, a late-season mini-blizzard can be a good thing down the road.
April is the month everyone gets antsy and plants too early, or realizes they should have started their seeds two weeks ago. The last average freeze date in Central Indiana is April 17(ish) but everyone knows it isn’t really safe to plant outdoors until Mother’s Day, or mid-May. April is best spent cleaning up what you forgot to do in March and making your plans for the months to come. Don’t be tempted by all the pretty plants set out at the big box stores on warm weekends — as soon as you buy them, we’ll get a cold snap and you’ll be back to replace them, sadder but wiser.
Lazy gardeners thinking about a few vegetables or flowers can look into grow bags at your friendly local garden supply store. Grow bags have been around for a long time, and are made of a tough fiber that allows air to circulate and water to drain. They come in a variety of sizes, from 1 gallon up to 20 gallons. Last year, I planted two 15 gallon bags with carrots and had a very nice harvest. The larger bags are great for potatoes, carrots, peanuts, and sweet potatoes. Shallow bags are available online at a variety of sites as well as your local stores — those are best for shallow-rooted plants, and perhaps cascading flowers. Most of the grow bags are not the prettiest things in the world, so trailing flowers and greenery will hide the black or brown bags. Another downside is you have to buy garden soil to put in them, and the big ones are hard to move once full. Empty them at the end of the season and put them in a dry place to prolong their lives.
An even more unattractive, but effective, lazy gardening tip is the topsoil/compost bag method. I’ve used this very effectively for years when I ran out of space in the Mother of All Gardens (MAG for short) and had just a few more plants I needed/wanted to grow. Take a 40 lb. bag of topsoil/garden soil, available at any big box store or garden center, and flop it down (see picture). Poke drainage holes in it, then flop it over again. Using your handy utility knife, cut an “X” in the middle large enough for the seedling you want to plant, and tuck the “v” parts under. Add fertilizer, dig a hole for your plant, and there you have it. No weeding is required — just remember to water it more during dry periods. At the end of the gardening season, you can roll the bag into your regular garden and slit it open to build up more soil.
Obviously, you won’t be able to grow deep-rooted plants in the bags, but for most herbs and flowers, this way works just fine. The downside is that the bags aren’t especially attractive, so hiding them from the fussy neighbors might be in order.

Gardens of 2018

Ethel Winslow — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 06:09:26 +0000

Desperate for winter to end, gardeners flock to shows like the upcoming Flower and Patio Show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Like fashion, movies, music, and hairstyles, there are trends in gardening. After a careful survey of every online catalog and fancy garden magazine, these are my take-aways for 2018:
• The color purple is everywhere this year. The more intense the better, purple flowers, vegetables and fruit are hot in 2018.
• Multi-use gardening incorporates ornamental plants with vegetable plants. Why should you hide your veggies in the back yard?
• Lots of water features this year key in on meditation and relaxation rather than multicolored lights and jets.
• It looks like 2018 will be another year of repurposed accessories, especially water features.
• The birds and bees. Gardens featuring plants that attract pollinators such as bees, or cover for butterflies, are growing in popularity.
• Pine trees are making a comeback. Pitch pines are native to Indiana and do well in poor soil.
• Hydrangeas of all colors, shapes and sizes are very popular this year. However, these somewhat fussy plants require a sheltered area, careful attention to soil pH, and patience.
• Shared gardening and mentoring programs. Newcomers to gardening are turning to the old hands and Master Gardeners for advice on growing, and depending less on online resources.
With the period of warmer weather in late February, crocus and other early-early bulbs have begun pushing out of the soil. If we get another bout of winter, the bulbs will be fine, but the flowers and foliage are done for.

Tulip Mania

Ed Myers — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 05:09:42 +0000

There was a short period of time (1636 – 1637) in Holland when a single tulip bulb sold for ten times the annual income of a skilled workman. In some instances, single bulbs were traded for twelve acres of land, four oxen, twelve fat sheep, 1,000 pounds of cheese or — believe it or not — two tons of butter.
As a result, tulip bulbs soon became a luxury item noted for their multicolored and intricate lines and flame-like streaks (caused by a mosiac virus). Toward the end of the craze, tulip traders could no longer find new buyers willing to pay the extraordinary high prices the bulbs were fetching. The demand for them collapsed and prices plummeted.
Ed Myers, an Advanced Master Gardener, is the Steward of the Benton House Historic Garden, 312 South Downey Avenue, where SILVER STANDARD (1750) a white tulip with vivid red veins and streaks can be seen.

Irvington Gardeners of Old . . .

Ed Myers — Thu, 05 May 2016 05:09:02 +0000

The flower beds of Irvington’s earliest gardeners where planted in stiff geometrical shapes including stars, crescents and triangles. For example, the bed in the front yard of Laura Giddings Julian’s (1839-84), home at 115 South Audubon Road, was in the shape of a huge star. It was the pride of the family and often times an attraction to cows which in early Irvington seemed to have “free passage” to roam.
The flower beds of Rachael Johnson (c 1827-99) and Martha Julian (1817-88), both wives of Irvington’s founders, were also geometric forms and were planted in many of the popular flowers of the day including geraniums, verbenas, cigar plants, touch-me-nots, fuchsias, heliotropes, and tuberoses.
Rachael’s husband, Irvington co-founder, Sylvester Johnson (1822-1915), once remarked “All my life I have had a fondness for gardening.” He was noted for his cultivation of fruit trees. strawberries, and grapes on the grounds of their home on the southwest corner of Audubon Road and East Washington. Besides his grape vines, Johnson grew pumpkins (if you want to believe a tall tale) about the size of a cow and weighing as much as a man). Outsized claims aside, many were large enough to take to the State Fair and often times displayed in the front windows of Irvington’s stores.
Jennie Forsyth Jefferies (1853-1932) came to Irvington from Trafalgar, Indiana, in the late 1880s and built her home at 5329 University Ave.. A tulip enthusiast, her garden contained 5,000 tulips and was on two occasions the grand prize winner in Indianapolis beautification contests. Her son-in-law, Robert Hall (1865-1942) also had a fondness for tulips in his garden at 129 South Downey Ave..
Mrs. Lulu Hughel (1868-1963), 5348 Ohmer Ave., was perhaps Irvington’s most enthusiastic, gardener. Hughel, who began “to dig in the dirt” after her children had grown, served as president of the first Irvington Garden Club which was organized on April 13, 1931 and also the president of the Garden Club of Indiana. In addition to 4,000 tulips and 250 cultivars of iris in her garden she favored “rockeries” or rock gardens and often times introduced alpine plants — dianthus, bellflowers, creeping phlox, etc. — suitable for these gardens to the state. Hughel’s garden often times received plant specimens from United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Bureau of Plant Industry which she evaluated for their performance. She was a proponent of “Victory or Liberty” gardens during World War II. Her efforts, along with that of others, lead to not only many home gardens but also gardens in large spaces around Irvington, including the old Butler University campus, nine and one-half acres extending from Fletcher to Hoyt Avenues between Irvington and Butler Avenues, and the 17 acres now occupied by Irvington Plaza.
Note: This article was researched by Steve Barnett, Executive Director of The Irvington Historical Society.

Ed Myers is an Advanced Master Gardener and a past president of the Irvington Garden Club and the Garfield Park Master Gardener Association. He is also the Steward of both the Benton House Historic and Kile Oak Habitat Gardens. He may be reached by EMyers3670@aol.com

Recycle Force Helps Environment, People, Community

Weekly View — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 05:09:58 +0000

RecycleForce, located in the Circle City Industrial Comples, 1125 Brookside Ave., Suite D12, is a 501(3) organization that provides comprehensive recycling services, plus workforce training to former incarcerated individuals to help rebuild their lives and provide an important service to the community, Founded in 2006, the program has grown from 2 workers recycling over half a million pounds of processed materials to 75 employees handling 6 million pounds every year.
While RecycleForce started by specializing in recycling electronic waste, it has expanded to offer recycling collection for a whole host of materials, including plastic, aluminum, paper and cardboard. Since its inception, RecycleForce has helped clean up the environment by processing a total of 11 million pounds of recyclable material.
Drop off recyclables at their location between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. The drive-thru is located in the roll up door on the far east end of the building.
To pay for the safe disposal of e-waste and to help fund their job training program, RecycleForce requests a $10 donation for the disposal of CRT televisions and monitors, and $20 for all refrigerant containing appliances. Because RecycleForce is a non-profit, your donations are tax deductible.
Call 317-532-1367 or visit www.recycleforce.org for more information on the materials RecycleForce will accept for recycling.