Wednesday Lagniappe: Green Flowers?

I borrowed an electronic copy of this book from a public library, just for fun.  I was interested to see if the book could convince me that green flowers were worthwhile in the ornamental garden (this former Jersey girl likes her bright colors).  I realized, after reading it, that I do have some plants with green flowers already, that I enjoy: a hellebore (Christmas rose) and two euphorbias (spurges).  I guess I was biased against green flowers because so much else in the garden is green already, but green flowers can be unexpected, a surprise as you meander down your garden paths.  This book, with its lovely photographs of green flowers, convinced me that they have a place in my garden.
Happy gardening!

Pitcher Plant Update

As promised, here is an update of pitcher plant progress.  The plants are reveling in their new home.  The mahogany-red blossoms are the Sarracenia leucophylla, the lime-green pitchers are from S. flava (they had their flower buds trimmed off for packing and shipping).  The reddish one in the center, back, seems to be one that is different from what I ordered (it does not match the two varieties), but it is welcome to make its home with us.

Happy gardening!

A Native Virginia Cactus? Yep...

Say "Hello" the the eastern prickly pear cactus, Opuntia humifusa, a Virginia native.  When I was and child and later, a college student (eons ago), I visited the Pinelands of New Jersey, home to low-bush blueberries, dwarf conifers, and terrestrial orchids.  And cacti.  I remember thinking "what the heck is a cactus doing in New Jersey?" Aren't cacti denizens of dusty, arid regions of the American southwest?  I first thought that this could not be a cactus.  Until I touched it.  The tiny spines embedded in my fingers screamed "cacti!"  But how did a cactus get there?

According to the Flora of Virginia (2012) (Crowder, [ed]), there are 1800 species and 125-30 genera of cacti all over the United States, including eastern and northern states.  They might be more diverse in the southwestern US, but we have 'em too.  The prickly pear pictured above was started from one pad, given to me by a friend (thanks CJ!).  I potted it up last summer and let it overwinter in my house, where is very kindly produced a yellow bloom in February.  At the end of April, I planted it outdoors in a combination of almost equal parts of sand and pea gravel, with a small amount of garden soil, in bright sun.  So far, the cactus has taken off, showing signs of new growth- you can clearly see it is not just one pad anymore.  The only caveat to planting these cacti in your native Virginia garden is this:  watch out for the spines!  The spines are reddish and almost too small to see, but you can get them embedded in your skin easily, even just by brushing against the plant.  If you do, you need to go inside, and pull these fine, reddish, hair-like spines out with a tweezer.  Though they are small, they quickly become irritating.  Always wear heavy gloves when dealing with this plant (the spines can go right through thin garden gloves). You can see in the photo a little garden cloth (wire) fencing I have around the plant?  This is a reminder to protect me (and inquisitive dogs) from contact.

Happy gardening!

Cold Snap? Take Cover!

We are expecting a bit of a cold snap here in central Virginia over the next few days (maybe a low of 39) and, sacre bleu!  I have just planted my tomatoes and eggplants!  What to do?  Well, it was seeming to me to be a bit late to plant these vegetables, but they, eggplants especially, do not like nighttime temperatures below 50.  So, I whipped out my handy, inexpensive. plastic row tunnels (see left photo) and covered up the tomato seedlings. These pre-made tunnels are thick sheet plastic, with half-circle hoops built in.  They are easy to use and simple to fold up and store.  Each tunnel was under $20 and I can use them for many seasons.  But I only had two of them. The other photo (on the right) shows two more beds, the eggplants under a floating row cover (right side of photo) and more tomatoes covered in a double layer of whatever saved plastic I had around (left side of the photo)(plastic from a furniture purchase, scavenged shipping material...).  I had purchased some bendable hoops last year (also reusable) and, voila, my hacked thermal covers for my plants.  I do occasionally purchase something for the garden, but also like to make do with found materials.

If you do put up covers, make sure to take them off when outdoor temps approach 80 degrees. As is the case in central VA, we might be chilly the next few nights, but Thursday it is expected to hit 90 degrees!

Happy gardening!

Wednesday Lagnaippe: Post- Apple Tree Pruning or The Green Monster

Fruit trees need yearly, extensive pruning, much more pruning than other types of trees.  If you fail to do this pruning, your tree quickly gets out of hand.  This past winter I did some pretty extensive pruning on my apple, peach and pear trees.  They really needed it.  Branches had shot up so high, it was difficult to impossible to harvest some of the fruit.  I also could not spray these hard to reach branches with kaolin clay protectant and organic fungicides, so the fruit above rotted and spread disease down to lower branches.

How to fruit trees respond to extensive pruning? Exuberantly!  The two photos above are of my apple tree:  it almost looks like the branches and main trunk are covered with green fur, the new sprouts are so dense.  So, gotta' get back up on the ladder and remove these new, non-productive, growths.  And, if you did your fruit tree pruning last winter, you do too!

Happy gardening!

Baby Bug Eaters

Wonder what the plant "pitchered" above is?  It is a Sarracenia, or pitcher plant.  This species is native to North America and I have been lusting after it for years.  So, why haven't I grown one before?  Though not hugely difficult, pitcher plants require highly specialized circumstances in which to grow.  These plants thrive in sun-drenched bogs with low pH and NO nitrogen.  In fact, the easiest way to kill this plant is to give it fertilizer!  Let me explain...

Pitcher plants evolved in acidic, low nutrient, boggy situations.  Unlike a pond, a bog is not always filled with water, but it is always moist.  So, it needs some drainage, but not a lot.  All plants need nitrogen and the pitcher plant is no exception, but acidic bogs have little to no nitrogen.  So, like Venus flytraps (also native to the US) the pitcher plant is carnivorous.  No, it does not have a hinged, mouth-like trap that snaps.  Instead, after the plant flowers (the photo above is of its flower bud- and a very exotic looking flower it is: go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sarracenia_alata_flowers.jpg   for some photos)

-it sends up a hollow tube, filled with a digestive enzyme and downward pointing hairs.  Bugs, attracted by some nectar, fly into the tube, but cannot get out: those downward hairs act like lances to them. So, they drop down further and further into the pitcher, seeking a way out. Finally exhausted, the bugs fall into the enzyme and are slowly consumed by the plant, becoming its main source of nitrogen.

Building the bog bed was not difficult,  First, clear an area, making it level.  Line it with small opening garden cloth (wire fencing) to keep voles out.  Then, build your sides- I used landscaping rock.  You need to measure the area for a butyl pond liner, or you can use 4-6 ml plastic sheeting, enough to overlap the top of he wall.  Poke holes every foot or so in the base of the liner (you need some drainage) and line the bottom with sand. Then add a 1:3 mix of sand an peat moss, both wetted (it can take a while to get peat moss wet, so do not plant immediately).  I then placed a soaker hose over the top (and I did bury one in the bed itself, with the end above the bed, incorporated into the wall for later watering) and set to drip for 8 hours or overnight.  When the peat is thoroughly wetted (dig a little and you will see if it is), you are set to plant!  First, adjust the edges of the liner, covering them with whatever material you used to make the bog walls.

I bought my plants from a nursery in Stanardsville, VA that specializes in carnivorous plants and does some retail business:

http://www.pitcherplant.com/

Retail orders must be $100 at least, but this is not hard to do!  I planted two varieties, S. flava and S. leucophylla.  Watch this space for future updates and photos!

If you don't want to plant your own or don't have the room,  Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden has some great varieties, in bloom today (May 5) for the next few weeks!  At: http://www.lewisginter.org/

Happy gardening!

Yard and Garden Sustainability

      On April 17, I went to the Sustainability and Nature Symposium at the University of Richmond. There I heard two leaders in the field, Dr. Doug Tallamy, author of "Bringing Nature Home" :  http://bringingnaturehome.net/  and Richard Louv. author of several books, including "Last Child in the Woods" http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child/   I have reviewed Tallamy's book in this blog, but this talk made me re-visit the power of his ideas.

     Tallamy answers the big questions: Is this planet in trouble? Yes.  Can we do something about it?  Yes. Can we depend on government to do the right thing?  No.  Can we, as individuals, do enough to make a difference? Yes.

     I will deal with these questions one by one. First the doom and gloom.  You have probably heard that we are in the midst of a mass extinction.  Species are vanishing at an alarming rate and it is due to our actions.  The planet is heating, weather getting more extreme.  But, as Tallamy and Louv both pointed out, doom and gloom does not motivate people.  Now for the second question about the role of government: the top ten priorities of the government, both legislative and executive branches and both political parties, do not include the environment, turning around habitat destruction and saving species.  But we really are enmeshed in a web of life and require other species for our food, to clean water and air (thank you plants!) and for satisfying our souls.

     The next question: Can we, as individuals, do enough to make a difference?  Tallamy says Yes! 

     And that is very good news.

     Tallamy's basic idea is that we have radically transformed our landscape so it no longer has the ability to sustain much life, or, in other words, we have reduced the carrying capacity of the land.  The most obvious example is an urban environment of concrete, asphalt, glass and steel.  Though pockets of life exist in these environments (some birds and squirrels in parks, rats, pigeons and cockroaches outside of parks), these areas are as good as a dessert to most animals.  A less obvious example is suburban settings.  On the 'burbs, we have lush lawns and specimen plantings that are green and green is good, right?  Not so fast.

      Here are two photos, one is of my front yard when we moved in, the other of it today, April 19, 2013.  The first is basically a dessert to many animals, except for the large pine tree, which offers a home to many birds and squirrels.  But grass provides little cover or nourishment to many creatures, while it takes many inputs: water, fertilizer, and herbicides.  The second photo is my yard today.  It is a much more inviting place, to creatures and to people.  Reading Tallamy, I realize I have made some mistakes, relying too much on non-native plants.  But I did some things right, using some native plants like American beautyberry, columbine, franklinia, native passion flower, and muscadine grape.  When we moved in we had dogwoods and Virginia creeper.  But I also have my share of non-natives, that offer little to native creatures. My big project is to inventory all the plants in my yard and slowly replace the ones less conducive to creatures with native plants that will provide shelter and food.  I will not get rid of all non-natives, but will establish a better balance, more natives than not.  If we all do this, or even a significant percent, we can create habitat and wildlife corridors in our neighborhoods.

     Check out Tallamy's website for a cool chart, listing, in rank order, plants and their utility to caterpillars.  Why caterpillars?  Well, remember the food web: birds and other animals eat the caterpillars, and in turn are consumed by creatures higher on the food chain.  This list is at: http://bringingnaturehome.net/news/what-should-i-plant
Next time: The words of Richard Louv. Happy gardening!