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4 Gardening Tips from Merrifield Garden Center

https://www.nbcwashington.com/weather/stories/4-Gardening-Tips-From-Merrifield-Garden-Center-491295891.html

If you have a garden, here is some advice from Merrifield Garden Center for what you should be doing now:


August and September is the ideal time to divide irises and daylilies. These perennials can be easily separated into multiple plants and then replanted right away. Irises and daylilies should be planted immediately after dividing.


Many plant diseases cause only minor damage and can be left untreated. Bring samples to your local garden center or extension agent for diagnosis before applying pesticides. Most diseases require moderate temperatures and moisture to infect the plant. Many plant diseases have remained active this summer because of the frequent rain. Mildew and leaf spot diseases cause minimal harm to plant health and don’t require treatment.


Plants are an economical and effective solution to erosion problems. Landscape slopes with ground covers, trees and shrubs slow down and reduce runoff. Plants reduce the impact, slow the velocity and increase the infiltration of rain. Plants protect the soil from the wind and roots stabilize the soil.


American goldfinches are vegetarians and feed exclusively on seeds. Attract them to your garden with full birdseed feeders and these perennials: milkweed, coneflower and woodland sunflower. The males are bright yellow and black May through August, then molt and change to dull yellow/brown in the fall.


butterflies at your garden

Audrey Gillespie | Special to the Reporter-NewsUpdated 10 hours ago

I am so excited to see a few butterflies making their way to my new garden space. I am greedy for more.

If you, too, want to enjoy more of the ballerinas of the air this fall, you can.

This is just for instant gratification folks. I will let you know where to get information on butterfly gardening year-round at the end of the article.

So how do you entice those lovely butterflies to your property? It’s simple. Bring home flowering plants (now you know why I am so excited).

Before we get to the fun part, you do want to be sure you buy plants that have not been treated with a systemic insecticide. These work by being taken up by plant tissues, making the plant poisonous to insects. Butterflies are insects. You see the problem. Ask a trusted nursery professional for guidance. Organically grown plants are the very best option.

If you don’t want the effort of gardening in the ground, butterflies will be perfectly happy to visit your potted plants. More is certainly better.

There are some wonderful nectar-rich choices that also provide fall beauty for our area. Here are just a few.

Gregg’s Mistflower. Eupatonium greggi. The fuzzy lavender flower heads are a butterfly magnet. Butterfly Milkweed. Asclepius sp. These are blooming heavily now. They are both a host plant for Monarchs and a nectar source.Fall Aster. Aster oblongifolius. This plant is absolutely covered in lavender flowers for a full month in the fall. Frostweed. Verbesina virginica. This plant is not just a good buttefly plant, it puts on a wonderful show in the winter, when the stems exude water that freezes into fascinating shapes.Turk’s Cap. Maleviscus arboreus. The uniquely shaped red, pink, and white flowers enjoy the shade.Rock Rose. Pavonia lasiopetala. This native plant sports single pink blooms until frost. Chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemum spp. There are so many wonderful forms and colors to choose from. My favorite is ‘ Country Girl,’ that produces large, pink, daisy-like flowers.Henry Duelberg Salvia. Salvia farinacea ‘Henry Duelberg. Beautiful long spikes of dark purple/blue blooms are prolific on this native wonder.May Night Salvia. Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night ‘. The ground-hugging foliage shoots up fat spikes of luscious purple flowers. It blooms more prolifically in the spring, but is too beautiful to leave out.Lantana. Lantana spp. These keep going strong and keep attracting butterflies in the fall.

Both the Big Country Master Gardener Association and the Big Country chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Association can be reached at the Taylor County Extension Office, 325-672-6048 for more complete information on butterfly gardening. The book "Butterfly Gardening for Texas" is an excellent resource, written by Geyata Ajilvsgi. 

Don’t forget the upcoming BCMGA fall festival. You will love it. Get information by calling the above number or register online at https://squareup.com/store/bcmga.

Until next time, happy gardening!

Souce: http://www.reporternews.com/story/life/columnists/2017/09/17/attracting-butterflies-your-garden/667480001/

Gardening for Beginner

Why not start your first garden right now? The weather is still mild, there are chances of spring rains and it’s your best opportunity to get the warm weather crops planted, such as beans, cantaloupe, cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes, squash, okra and peppers. While the idea of growing food and flowers for the first time might seem overwhelming, the good news is there’s lots of help out there. Gardeners not only love growing plants, they’re also generous about sharing their knowledge, because that’s most likely how they got started. Learning from other’s mistakes can save you lots of time and help you avoid the “I just can’t garden!” tantrum you may feel like throwing after yet another plant bites the dust. Like anything else worth doing, successful gardening just requires a little preparation.

Suzi Fields of San Marcos is one of those growers who enjoys sharing her gardening tips and experience. “I’m all about trying to help people grow their own food,” she said recently. That was the motivation behind the blog she designed at ediblesanmarcos.wordpress.com which has many articles, guides and resources dedicated to helping Central Texas gardeners. Fields makes teas and personal care products for her company, Suzi’s Naturals, and grows many of the necessary ingredients in her home garden.

Fields recommends that beginning gardeners study their growing area before doing anything else. “The very first thing is to look at your garden and see where the sun and shade are,” she said. Also, be conscious of where to put walkways, Fields pointed out, as you want to make the garden fully accessible. Whenever possible, plant herbs and vegetables close to the house, so that they’re easier to harvest and use in cooking. Make sure you have a source of water nearby and that there are sunny areas available, as most food crops require six to eight hours of full sun a day to thrive.

A frequently heard piece of advice is to start small. First time gardeners “get discouraged if the garden’s too big,” Fields explained.


Pick a few things that you really like, such as tomatoes or peppers, and go from there. Four feet square would be large enough to accommodate several plants. As you gain confidence and your skill level increases, you can expand the garden in the next growing season.

Fields, along with other experienced gardeners, firmly believes in getting the soil tested before starting a new project in an unused area. She had hers done at Texas Plant and Soil Lab in Edinburg (texasplantandsoillab.com). Once you know what the soil needs, it’s time for the real fun: preparing the bed. Loosen the soil at least 6 to 10 inches deep with hand tools or with a tiller. Clear the planting area of weeds and mix in any necessary soil amendments. Keep in mind that most soils benefit from added compost, which improves drainage and water retention and also adds nutrition.

Except for those living in the Hill Country, Fields doesn’t recommend gardening in raised beds. They dry out, she said, and using cinder blocks or rocks to form the structure retains too much heat. If you must garden in a raised bed, make the frame from untreated wood or metal.

Some crops are best direct seeded, such as beans, cantaloupe, squash and okra. Others, such as peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and most herbs do best as transplants. Read up on what and when to plant and go from there. Most important–grow what you and your family enjoy eating.

Using organic products is not only a good idea when growing food, it also means your garden will be able to attract and keep pollinators like birds, bees, butterflies and other beneficial garden helpers around. These natural predators will feast on pests like aphids, mites, caterpillars and more.

Finally, maintaining a compost pile and using mulch are two of the best gardening habits you can practice. As mentioned earlier, compost helps the garden in several ways by adding nutrition and organic matter to the soil. And mulch, be it shredded cedar, leaves, straw or bark, is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to retain water and keep plants and soil cool in the summer heat. According to Fields, using anything less than four inches of mulch around established plants won’t work as well.

Referring to the advice related here and the gardening information on the Edible San Marcos blog, she said, “These are the small tips that can make a huge difference in your garden.” So, when it comes to growing things, start small and ‘grow’ large!

Source:

https://haysfreepress.com/2017/04/15/gardening-for-beginners/

Q & A about gardening

Q. I am thinking about getting a Ti plant. I saw on the web that they do best in zones 9a-11. Do you think it will grow and survive here in zone 8? I do not want to waste my time, money and effort if it is not worth it.
– Jennifer Lindauer, Virginia Beach
A. You can add a splash of the tropics to your patio or garden setting with this shrubby plant from Hawaii. Colors range from red to white, depending on the cultivar and sunlight exposure. It is a tropical plant, so you could plant it in the ground, but it would need to be dug up and moved indoors for the winter, so I suggest leaving it in a container to make the move easier. These plants can reach a height of 10 feet with a spread of 4 feet, so a three- to five-gallon container will not need repotting as often. You can fertilize them in early spring, but use a balanced product with all the numbers the same; a high nitrogen fertilizer will reduce the intensity of foliage color.

Tips for gardening


New comers to the Deep South from cooler parts of the country are truly shocked at just how hot it gets here during the summer.  The heat and humidity are oppressive not just during the day, but also during the sultry nights.  The high temperatures and humidity can last for months testing natives as well as the newcomer’s patience and air conditioning.
The summer heat is tough on plants too.  For your garden plants to survive, choose the toughest plants adapted to the southern zones.  Colorado blue spruce or Jersey blueberries belong in those states, not Mississippi.  Even so, your local plants might need some help to survive and prosper.  Following are some tips on keeping your garden in top shape through the summer with a minimum of time and effort.
1) Keep plants mulched.   
You probably already know of the many benefits of mulch. Keep the mulch replenished in the heat.  Use your old newspapers and grass clippings. Apply fresh grass clippings in a thin layer of and let dry for a few days before adding more.