Quick & Easy Tips

frost on the zinnia

Written on September 15, 2011 at 11:48 am , by Denny Schrock

The official low temperature this morning was 41 degrees F in Des Moines, but the frost on the narrowleaf zinnias, at left, prooves that it was colder in my yard. My home is in a frost pocket, despite its location at the top of a hill. Every time the weather forecast calls for “scattered frost”, it’s a sure bet that ice crystals will develop on exposed plants.

Last night I prepared for the cold by moving container gardens under the deck canopy, onto the front porch, or into the garage. I also pulled out the floating row covers to protect tomatoes, peppers, and some of the more cold-sensitive bedding plants, such as coleus. But Christo-draping the yard with fabric can only go so far. Inevitably, some annuals remain unprotected.

I may have salvaged some of the uncovered flowers by watering them early this morning before sunrise. After melting the ice out of the hose, I sprayed water on the icy plants to melt the frost. If the ice crystals were only on the surface of the blooms, this may be enough to rescue the frosty flowers. I hope so. I’d like to get another month of color from them. Mid-September is simply too early to call it quits on the gardening season, don’t you agree?

color on display

Written on August 12, 2011 at 10:01 am , by Denny Schrock

Last week I visited the Gardens at Ball in West Chicago, IL, and spent the day photographing hundreds of gorgeous annual flowers, perennials, and shrubs. The gardens are open to the public, and definitely worth a visit to get ideas on how to combine plants for beautiful displays and to see side-by-side comparisons of flower varieties.

mountains of mulch

Written on April 1, 2011 at 10:29 am , by Denny Schrock

Last weekend I found a bargain on bagged hardwood mulch that I couldn’t resist. The pile you see at left is only a small portion of the 300 bags that I purchased and spread throughout the perennial beds in my yard. (For those of you who are wondering, that’s a bit over 22 cubic yards of mulch.)

It had been several years since I applied the original wood chip mulch on most beds, and I had two large new beds that never got mulched at all last year. So I was delighted to find such a good deal. The mulch will help keep weeds down, conserve moisture, and keep blooms clean. I find that if I spread it about 2 inches deep throughout the beds, the perennials and bulbs come up through the mulch just fine. This time of year, as the perennials are just starting to poke through the ground, and the early spring bulbs are beginning to bloom, is a great time to spread the mulch. I don’t need to be extremely cautious in spreading the mulch around individual plants; broadcast application works quite well.

To illustrate my point, take a look at these crocuses and irises that I shot in my garden after spreading the mulch. My only regret is that I didn’t buy another 100 bags of mulch, which would have been enough to mulch all of the beds in my yard!

It’s Cold Outside!

Written on February 1, 2011 at 4:39 pm , by Justin W. Hancock

Here’s a snapshot I just took of the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden. We’re having a bit of a snowstorm (it’s tough to catch it with my camera) — the windchill is below zero and the winds are gusting at more than 30 miles per hour.

That’s colder than I want it to be if I’m going to be outside..but what about plants? Happily, they can take it for the most part. If you’re growing plants that are reliably hardy for your area (see the Zone map) and your weather conditions aren’t too far from normal, you shouldn’t need to do anything special to protect them.

If you have special evergreens, though, some gardeners like to give them an extra layer of safety by wrapping them in burlap. This can help in a couple of ways: First, it gives the evergreen leaves or needles some shield from fierce winter winds. They lose less moisture and stand up better to winter. The second wrapping evergreen plants can help is that it protects them from the sun. On warm, sunny days the leaves may start to thaw — and if the temperature suddenly drops at night, they freeze again and can be damaged. Wrapping helps keep them cool all winter long.

gearing up for groundcovers

Written on September 30, 2010 at 10:03 am , by Denny Schrock

Spider plants are one of my favorite groundcovers. The variegated form looks great as an underplanting around roses or lining the edge of a perennial bed. Although you can purchase spider plants at garden centers or nurseries that stock indoor plants, you can also propagate all that you need by rooting the “babies” at this time of year and carrying them through the winter as houseplants.

With an average first freeze date of October 12 here in Des Moines, it’s time to snip the spiders and start some new plants for next year. I simply stick 3 or 4 of the plantlets into a 4-inch pot filled with potting soil, moisten, and keep watered well until roots form. In just a few weeks I’ll have 40 or 50 rooted plants. For more on how to start plants from cuttings follow this link.

Other tender plants that I root at this time of year include coleus and Mexican sage (Salvia leucantha). Like spider plants, rooted coleus overwinter well as houseplants. The Mexican sage needs brighter light, so it stays in the greenhouse over winter.

This year I’m also starting several flats of Elfin thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Minus’), a wonderful low creeper that tolerates some foot traffic. I’ll plant it as an edging around some new beds that I started this year. I guess that you could say that October 1st marks the beginning of the winter gardening season, moving from an outdoor emphasis to indoors, or if you’re lucky, into the greenhouse.

Fall Color

Written on September 29, 2010 at 6:42 am , by Justin W. Hancock

The greens outside aren’t as green as they used to be. Fall is in the air and that means trees and shrubs are preparing to put on their fall show. How does your yard look in autumn? If you’ve been wanting to put on more of a show, here are some tips.

Shop in fall. Visit your local garden center or nursery as trees and shrubs are putting on their fall finery; that will give you a chance to see the colors the plants develop (and which plants tend to be brightest).

Create a backdrop. One way to highlight bright colors, especially yellows and oranges, is to plant them in front of evergreens. Rich dark greens, like many pines and spruces, are particularly nice, but you can also create some eye-popping fall combos by dropping your favorite fall shrubs in front of silvery-blue plants like blue spruce.

Think about berries. Fall color can come from fruits, as well as foliage. You can’t help but notice some plants such as beautyberry (Callicarpa) when their brightly colored berries take center stage in the garden.

Plant fall flowers. There’s a whole world of great fall perennials beyond mums and asters. Add cheer to your landscape with brightly colored goldenrod (Solidago), toad lily (Tricyrtis), and more!

By the way: Interested in why/how tree leaves turn color in fall? Check out this story!