Month: August 2016

SEPTEMBER GARDENING CALENDAR

Standard

IMG_0667

SEPTEMBER GARDENING CALENDAR

GENERAL

Harvest beans and other crops; remove blossoms from eggplant and peppers to ripen remaining fruits.  Cover sunflowers from birds, pinch tomato tips.  Lay down grass turf.  Watch for slugs and snails, cultivate to destroy grasshopper eggs.  Also, watch for corn earworms.

VEGETABLES

Cultivate or hoe around cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips and celery.  Keep late maturing cauliflower and broccoli well-watered.  Transplant out starts of endive the first week of September.  Plant garlic and shallots and over-wintering onion sets.  Direct seed outside: arugula, lettuce, radishes, cress, corn salad, chervil and kale.

If you plan to grow crops under tunnels or in a cold greenhouse over the winter, plant seed (early in the month) of crops for winter use: chervil, kale, spinach, lettuce, radishes, corn salad, and winter cress.  Later in the month, from the 20th to the first week of October, plant seeds of cabbage, cauliflower and other brassicas for transplanting out into tunnels in October.  Have winter cover ready by October 1.

Make beds for growing mushrooms.  Well-rotted horse manure is excellent for mushroom beds.

Gather ripe seeds of any vegetables (or flowers) you want to save seed from.

Watch outdoor temperatures and bring in house plants if frost threatens.

FLOWERS

Prepare beds for planting bulbs.  Sow seeds of bulbous flowers collected in summer.  Take cuttings of violets and pansies; plant cuttings out in early spring.  Transplant peonies and lilies.  Dig dahlias after killing frost.  Transplant pinks and carnations with root ball intact late in the month.  Late in the month, plant out perennials and biennials where they are to bloom.  Also, most perennials can be divided now and replanted where they are to bloom.

 

FRUIT

Gather ripe fruit from apples and pears.  Remove diseased fruits and “mummies”, rake up leaves under fruit trees and destroy them (to prevent apple scab).  Prepare equipment to make cider.  Finish budding apples.  Prepare beds for planting fruit trees, using well-rotted manure, digging down 18 inches.  Take cuttings or make layers of gooseberries, currants, honeysuckle, and other trees and shrubs.  Plant seeds of fruit trees: cherry, plum, apricot, apple, pear, etc.

Keep strawberries free of weeds and the soil moist.  If you plan to force strawberries in winter, now is the time to take them up and pot them.  Cut a root ball out with a knife, trim off dead leaves and runners and pot into 7 or 8 inch pots.  Place them in shade and water well.  Then plunge the pots in earth up to the rim.  Take them up and into frames or greenhouse before cold weather.

Protect ripening grapes from birds with netting or gauze; keep weeds away from plants.  If wasps are a problem, hang containers of sugar water to catch them.  Prepare to make wine if desired.

TREES, SHRUBS AND ROSES

Trim branches of evergreens and walnut trees, so wounds will heal before winter.  Keep weeds cleaned out from nursery beds and plantings of young trees.

 

A GARDEN FOR POLLINATORS

Standard

IMG_3323

A GARDEN FOR POLLINATORS

 

Some plants are pollinated by wind, others by water and some are even self-pollinating.  However, most flowering plants depend on bees, birds, flies, beetles, butterflies or other creatures to pollinate their flowers.  In recent years pollinators have declined in numbers worldwide, due to destruction of their native habitats or have had their numbers reduced by pesticide use.  We can help preserve and increase numbers of pollinators by creating safe, productive homes for them around our own homes, without pesticides and with less water.

The size of a pollinator garden can be based on the space available, but even a small plot or containerized garden can provide habitat for several species.  Imitate the natural native landscape as a guide to the design of your garden.  A sunny area with good drainage is best.  To provide nesting places, leave or add logs, tree stumps, rocks, and piles of branches.  Standing dead trees are excellent habitat for mason bees, woodpeckers and owls.  A spot of bare soil will help certain pollinator species: for butterflies, provide a moist, muddy depression so they can drink and feed on minerals in the soil.  A sprinkle of sea salt will provide even more minerals.

A garden planted with native plants is probably the best way to encourage all our pollinators.  Double or “improved” flowers with no pollen or nectar are of no use to them and non-native plants are less likely to offer food for young.   Since pollinators are present from early spring through late fall, try to plant a variety of plant types (shrubs, perennials and annuals) so you will have flowers all season.  Plant in groups of several plants of each species, as you would see in nature.  Planting a native wildflower mix will provide a good range of plant species and will provide color all season.

Bumblebees can tolerate cooler temperatures than other bees and appear early to feed on golden currant (Ribes aureum), service berries (Amelanchier alnifolia), and chokecherry (Prunus virginiana).   Bumblebees nest in abandoned rodent burrows, under logs, rocks, or even under grass clippings.  Most native bees prefer yellow, blue and purple flowers.  Green sweat bees and leaf-cutter bees prefer aster-like flowers such as sunflowers, gaillardia and coneflowers.  Orchard mason bees emerge early and are very efficient pollinators of fruit trees; native plants they prefer include penstemon, astragalus, chokecherry, and serviceberry.

Montana has 220 species of native butterflies.  It is a good idea to provide both nectar-rich flowers and plants for their eggs and larvae.  For example, the beautiful yellow and black two-tailed swallowtail butterfly lays its eggs on serviceberry leaves.  Branches, leaf litter, bark and rocks provide winter cover for butterfly eggs, larvae, or pupae.

 

Moths are also excellent pollinators.  You might have seen the striped sphinx moths appear around dusk to feed on evening primrose or honeysuckle.  Some other Montana native insect pollinators are flower beetles, hover flies and pollen wasps.  Pollen wasps have antennae with bulbs or “clubs” on the ends and do not bite humans; they live on pollen and make mud nests on twigs or rocks.

Hummingbirds are beautiful, tenacious creatures that transport pollen over long distances.  Three species of hummingbirds (rufous, black-chinned and calliope) migrate to Montana every season.  Hummingbirds prefer tubular-shaped flowers, such as native orange honeysuckle, monarda and penstemon, but will feed on many species that offer nectar.

 

 

 

Standard

AURICULA PRIMROSES

When we think of primroses, the first thing that comes to mind are the ‘Pacific Giant’ hybrid primroses we see in garden centers.  Actually hundreds of species of Primula are in existence, and some species have been brought into gardens and significantly developed.  The auricula primroses, members of the species P. auricula, have been grown in gardens since the 1500s.  They have evergreen leaves that curl around in a way that resembles the ear of a bear.  When first cultivated, they were called ‘Bear’s Ears’.  Charles l’Ecluse (known as Clusius) is the first person known to have grown auriculas in a garden.  This was after 1573; he grew two kinds.  The first auriculas grown in England are illustrated first left above, in a woodcut from Gerard’s Great Herbal of 1596.  By 1639, at least 15 different colors and even striped forms were grown.  Auriculas were a popular plant beginning in the early eighteenth century when keen collectors began to grow and exhibit them in competitions.  These growers were called ‘florists’.  Several specialized classes of auriculas came into existence over the following centuries.  Potted plants were (and still are) exhibited in flower on black painted shelves in a stage-like display.  The black background highlights the beautiful colors of the flowers.  Auriculas do have an extremely wide color range, much greater than practically every other kind of flower.  The second picture shows a tawny-colored auricula, a color popular in the 1600s.  Auriculas were extremely popular in the nineteenth century, but curiously, are not well-known today.

Auriculas are native to the Alps and prefer gritty, moist, well-drained soil with a good amount of humus.  They are tolerant of alkalinity and extremely winter hardy to USDA climate zone 3, or even zone 2 if covered with snow all winter.  This means they are perfectly suited to growing all over Montana.  They are shade plants, especially when grown at lower altitudes.  The individual plants are small, only about 8 to 12 inches tall when blooming.  The engraving third from left depicts a garden auricula from 1908.  A gardener must watch that vigorous neighboring plants do not overtake them.  Being evergreen, they grow rather slowly.  I found that a mulch of sharp grit, about the diameter of turkey grit, is excellent for them and will discourage slugs.  Auriculas thrive when grown organically and enjoy soil amendments such as bone meal, composted manure, kelp meal, wood ashes, and grit for excellent drainage.

The classes of exhibition auriculas are usually grown in pots and are smaller and less vigorous than garden auriculas.  The pots used to grow them are taller than average, as the plants have a long tap root.  Growers commonly use an organic soil potting mix with added grit, bone meal and wood ashes.  Grit is especially important for drainage, but also for itsmineral content.  Indeed, the flowers have a wonderful mineral-floral fragrance unlike any other.  The last picture above shows a double exhibition auricula.

Auriculas are available from specialist growers as plants or seed.  I grow mine from seed planted in a fine, fast-draining seedling mix, covered with glass and placed in a shaded cold frame.  I plant seeds in late fall or winter, so the seeds have a cold period before they sprout in the spring.  The plants are usually large enough to pot on by midsummer.  Mature plants are best divided  midsummer.  I would urge gardeners to try auriculas; they are beautiful and rewarding to grow.  If grown in the garden, they might be best appreciated in raised beds, where their delicate flowers can be observed.