George's Current Ramblings and Readlings

When to Pull the Flower Trigger

May 6th, 2025

   Now that we’re into May and usually past the point of killing frost, the big question on gardeners’ minds is exactly when is it “safe” to plant the summer flowers and vegetables?

Keep a cover handy in case a surprise frost comes along after planting the summer annuals.

   Those are the plants that will croak on frosty nights… things like zinnias, marigolds, and begonias in the flower garden and tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in the vegetable garden.

   You don’t want to plant those too soon and have your work and investment wiped out by a rogue cold night.

   On the other hand, most gardeners don’t want to give up time when their plants could be in the ground and on their way to peak beauty or a tasty harvest.

   Weather forecasts can help us decide at least a few days out, which is typically enough once we get to this point.

   What I do is wait until late April and then start looking at the 10-day forecast. If there’s nothing close to freezing overnight, I’ll go ahead and get an “early” start. If we’re looking at anything under 40 degrees, I’ll wait.

   That system usually works, but two things can still get you.

   One is that the weather forecast will be wrong.

   The other is that an unusually late frost will come along beyond the 10-day forecast.

   Knowing a few key climate-record stats also can help.

Get Those Trees in a Good Spot

April 22nd, 2025

   Trees are the most expensive plants in the landscape budget.

Trees add much to a landscape… if you get the right one in the right spot. This is a pink American dogwood in full bloom.

   They not only cost the most at purchase time, but pruning and other care can chew up some dollars over the years. And if you have to have one cut down? Well, let’s not think about that bill.

   Picking a tree is a decision you really don’t want to get wrong. It’s not like a $4 potted flower that’s only going to last one season.

   The next few weeks are some of the year’s best for adding new trees, which is something we really need for a variety of reasons (shade in our hotter summers, storing carbon, shelter for birds, food for pollinators, beauty for us, etc.)

   Unlike picking furniture, you can’t put whatever trees you like wherever you think they’ll look good. Put a tree in an ill-suited spot, and it’ll struggle, refuse to bloom, get diseased and/or croak.

   Homework is the answer. So take the time to ponder your choice, and consider the key factors before heading to the nursery.

   Illinois’ Morton Arboretum offers these five good pointers on getting the right tree in the right place:

   1.) Know your specific sites, especially the kind of light and heat each area gets.

   Heat reflected from nearby brick or stone buildings or even a sidewalk or driveway, for example, can make a site hotter than you think.

   A site that gets morning sun and afternoon shade is significantly different than a site that gets morning shade and afternoon sun.

   Species that aren’t sun- and heat-tolerant will do better in the first scenario, while the second scenario should be treated like a full-sun location.

Under-Rated, Under-Used Underdogs of the Plant World

April 8th, 2025

   Some plants are way over-used – even though they’re trouble-plagued – simply because they’re familiar.

The fall foliage of blackgum ‘Wildfire.’

   Others are way under-used – even though they’re virtually bullet-proof – simply because they’re not well known.

   The arrival of a new gardening season is a good time to do something about that imbalance… to opt for some of the underdogs that need a better PR agent. Consider these under-used plants in each of 12 different planting categories on your spring-planting radar:

   * Big tree: Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica). I especially like the ‘Wildfire’ variety of this Pennsylvania-native shade tree. The new leaves are red, and the whole tree turns a showy maroon-red color that rivals maples for fall interest. Will grow about 40 by 25 feet. Best in full sun.

   * Small tree: American fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus). The shaggy, white, confetti-like spring flowers make this one an unfamiliar head-turner, even though it’s a Pennsylvania native. Figure on about 18 feet tall and wide. Sun or part shade.

   * Evergreen tree: Weeping Alaska-cedar (Xanthocyparis nootkatensis). Emerald-green soft needles drip from the sagging branches to make an elegant specimen. Narrow grower at about 20 feet tall and 10 feet across. Sun or light shade.

   * Flowering shrub for sun: dwarf panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata). These summer-blooming hydrangeas aren’t as well known as classic June-blooming mophead hydrangeas. The panicle types have cone-shaped pink flowers that last for weeks from July into fall. And they do fine in sun or part shade.

   Check out varieties such as Fire Light Tidbit, Bobo, Little Quick Fire, and WorryFree Love-a-Lot. These grow three to five feet tall and wide.

How Many of These Top 10 Garden Foulups Will You Do This Year?

March 25th, 2025

   Not to insinuate that you’ve been lousing up your yard and garden, but from my travels over the years, it’s apparent that a lot of people are.

This is what happens when you’re not paying attention to ultimate plant sizes.

   I’ve seen some sorry stuff going on… plant-killing stuff, work-generating stuff, money-wasting stuff, and just plain trouble.

   Most of it is due to, as they say in the nuclear industry, “operator error.”

   But hey, it’s understandable. How many people learned anything at all about gardening in school? How many have ever had lessons in shrub-pruning? Is anybody born with an innate sense of when to spray for borers?

   Until you learn the fine art of yard-keeping, it’s basically a wing-it proposition. And that’s when the plant-killing, work-generating, money-wasting stuff happens.

   Maybe we can eliminate some of that this year by having a quick look at the top 10 things that go wrong in the landscape and how to sidestep them.

   1.) Planting too close. This is hands-down the most common goof, and it includes planting plants too close to one another as well as too close to the house.

   A local landscaper once told me that three-quarters of his work involves ripping out overgrown plantings and starting over. Save yourself work and expense later by spacing well – even if things look too far apart at first.

   Don’t go by how plants look now. Go by the “mature” sizes on the plant tags. If a shrub is going to grow to a spread of six feet, plant them six feet apart or at least three feet away from buildings or other objects. (A six-foot spread means the plant will grow three feet out from the center in all directions.)

   When in doubt, add some extra elbow room since plants never stop growing and can go beyond those plant-label listings. Think of the plant-tag sizes as “maintenance sizes,” and figure on trimming/pruning when they reach the space you’ve allotted.

   If the bare space bugs you early on, put in annuals or easy-to-move perennials between those young evergreens and shrubs.

2025 Philadelphia Flower Show: Reporter’s Notebook

March 11th, 2025

   I saw the 2025 “Gardens of Tomorrow” version of the Philadelphia Flower Show four times last week and gathered these assorted newsy tidbits and observations:

The animals are dining att the table in Jennifer Designs’ “Welcoming Wildlife Home” display.

The crowd favorite

   I’ve seen more than 30 Philadelphia Flower Shows now, and it seems that every show brings one particular crowd-pleasing display that everybody talks about.

   This year it was Jennifer Designs’ “Welcoming Wildlife Home” display, which most people were calling “the one with the animals at the table.”

   The animals were six oversized topiary wildlife creatures (squirrel, turtle, bee, etc.) made out of plant parts and enjoying dinner at a flower-covered table.

   The idea was to drive home the current hot trend of how gardens should be wildlife-friendly and helpful to the ecosystem.

   The playful display, which also won the show’s top award for florists, was surrounded by pollinator-friendly plantings.