George's Current Ramblings and Readlings

The case for annuals

May 5th, 2010

Trial beds at Penn State's Trial Garden in Lancaster County.

   Yeah, annual flowers can get expensive, they take some watering, and they’re going to die at the end of the season – if the rabbits, deer and groundhogs don’t get them first.

   But I think they’re well worth the effort anyway. No other type of plant gives you this kind of color throughout the season.

   You don’t have to plant big masses of annuals to generate impact. Even a few small clusters spotted here and there can really brighten a yew-infested landscape.

   Annuals also are useful tucked among shrubs and perennials where they can coordinate color-wise or fill in with blooms when the shrubs and perennials are out of flower.

   The forecast is looking frost-free, so I’m planting now.

   We’ve never had such a great choice of annuals. Most of the newer varieties are light years ahead of grandma’s petunias. And most named varieties sold at independent garden centers are way better performers than the generic marigolds and zinnias sold at box stores. I think they’re worth paying the extra price. Better to plant a few really great performers than a lot of cheapie six-packs that never really thrive no matter what you do.

   If you’re an annuals fan, try to make it down to the annuals trials that Penn State conducts every summer at the Southeast Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Lancaster County. You’ll see the differences there.

   One ideal time to visit is during the annual field day in July, which features guided tours, seminars, a Q&A table and more. See last year’s plant-by-plant ratings by going to http://stores.trialgardenspsu.com/StoreFront.bok and hitting the “Results/Presentations” button in the top bar.

   Ten of my all-time favorite annuals are at https://georgeweigel.net/georges-favorite-plants-etc/top-10-shade-annuals, and profiles on 28 excellent annuals with photos are at https://georgeweigel.net/plant-of-the-week-profiles/annuals.

   For bedding use (i.e. where you want to plant clusters in the ground), here are some other annuals I like:

   In the sun

• Alyssum ‘Snow Princess,’ ‘Easter Bonnet.’
  

  Angelonia 'Serena Purple'

• Angelonia ‘Serena White,’ ‘Serena Purple,’ ‘AngelMist.’
• Blue salvia ‘Evolution,’ ‘Signum,’ ‘Rhea.’
• Celosia ‘Fresh Look,’ ‘New Look.’
• Marigold ‘Bonanza Bolero,’ ‘Safari Tangerine.’
• Petunia ‘Wave,’ ‘Tiny Tunia,’ ‘Supertunia,’ ‘Sanguna,’ ‘Plush,’ ‘Famous,’ ‘Suncatcher.’
• Rudbeckia ‘Tiger Eye Gold,’ ‘Prairie Sun.’
• Verbena ‘Tapien,’ ‘Temari,’ ‘Tukana,’ ‘Aztec.’
• Vinca ‘Cooler,’ ‘Cora,’ ‘Jaio,’ ‘Pacifica.’
• Zinnia ‘Profusion,’ ‘Zahara.’

   In the shade

• Begonia ‘Doublet,’ ‘Senator,’ ‘Ambassador,’ ‘Bada Boom.’
• Coleus (just about any)
• Impatiens ‘Accent,’ ‘Showstopper,’ ‘Dazzler,’ ‘Super Elfin,’ ‘Tempo,’ ‘Fiesta,’ ‘Fanfare.’

Rain and Trees

April 28th, 2010

Epimedium x rubrum after the rain...

   Sorry if you were planning to mulch, but Sunday and Monday’s rain was a good thing. The soil was getting sneaky dry for this time of year.

   April showers usually make it easy on us and our new plantings, but I already had to water my young veggie plants three times. Raised beds dry out especially fast.

   This surprising string of early and warm weather also dried things out faster than during a normal cool, rainy and overcast April. Before the rain, we were running about 3 inches behind in precipitation this year while running more than 5 degrees warmer in average temperature. Here in Hampden Twp., the rain gauge showed 1.5 inches.

   Call me wacko (my brother does), but I took the risk this past weekend to plant some annuals. I never plant this early because it’s not unusual to get frosts out of left field in early May. I could be wrong, but I’ve got a gut feeling we’re done with frost this spring – at least in the city and closer suburbs.

   My yard didn’t get frosted overnight Tuesday despite the warnings. And now the forecast is pointing back warmward again for the next 10 days.

   I’m sure the colder and more outlying areas of metro Harrisburg have had a few touches of frost this month, but according to the official weather data from Harrisburg International Airport, we haven’t had a killing frost since March 27. That would be extraordinarily early for a last frost date if we hang in there – which we probably won’t now that I’ve jinxed everything by planting some petunias, calibrachoa and impatiens.

   No problem with planting trees, though. This is a great time to get them in the ground. This Friday (April 30) isn’t Arbor Day by coincidence. Even if we get a few sub-freezing nights, that won’t bother a new tree.

   I get a lot of questions about what tree to plant. No wonder. It can be a costly decision – not only in terms of picking something likely to live but also in the case of the hefty cost to remove a mistake 20 or 30 years down the road.

   Picking something suitable for next to the patio is especially important because you don’t want a tree that pushes up your pavers, conks you on the head with falling nuts and fruits or drops leaves on a daily basis. Most people also want something that will give them good shade reasonably soon but without overly dominating the space.

   I did a column a few years ago in which I interviewed several tree experts and asked them for their favorite picks for patio trees. The picks included stewartia, Japanese tree lilac, redbud, hornbeam and paperbark maple. I like the Rutgers hybrid dogwoods in that setting. Read the whole piece here: https://georgeweigel.net/favorite-past-garden-columns/patio-trees.

   Some people look primarily at fall foliage in picking their trees, and some are interested in great bark. Practical folks favor species that are least likely to crack apart in storms (“muscle trees”). I’ve got past columns filed away on each on those at https://georgeweigel.net/category/favorite-past-garden-columns/trees-shrubs. You’ll also find a column there on how to properly plant a tree.

   Enjoy the beautiful days. If you’re a gambler, go plant some annuals. If you’re not, plant a tree. Just plant something.

Flower fatality, Plant a Row

April 21st, 2010

   I just ran across the first case of unfortunate premature bloomulation this week in the form of fried magnolia flowers.

   The main danger of early and extended warmth is what happens when the temperatures suddenly dip back to below their freezing norms. Some plants are more sensitive to that than others.

   Magnolias are apparently very sensitive. I saw a couple of southern magnolias this week with brown petals where big, pink ones should be in early May. That won’t happen this year. The flower buds were pushed too far along too soon, and when the overnight lows in some areas dipped a tad below freezing, it was bye-bye buds.

   This won’t harm the overall health of the tree. We’ll just have to wait until next spring for a new show.

   If you’ve started planting your vegetable garden or are making plans to do that shortly, don’t forget to set aside some space for the Plant a Row for the Hungry program.

   This wonderful idea creates a network of dropoff points where gardeners can take their surplus harvest, which is then distributed to agencies that feed the hungry in the Harrisburg area.

   Channels Food Rescue does the picking-up and dropping-off. Your job is to grow the stuff. It makes a difference. I just posted this year’s collection points at www.georgeweigel.net/plant-a-row-for-the-hungry.

Plants on Fast-Forward

April 15th, 2010

It seems like suddenly everything is blooming all at once.

   For a season that seemed like it was taking forever to get here, we’re suddenly pretty far along.

   The sustained warm spell has pushed blooms, bugs and plant growth at least a couple of weeks ahead of where we’d normally be. I’m seeing lilacs blooming already, buds nearing bloom on rhododendrons and even crape myrtles leafing out.

   That’s not a problem so long as Mother Nature doesn’t decide to do a sudden about-face and go way down below normal. A sub-freezing nosedive can do more harm to flower and fruiting buds when development is farther along than it ought to be.

   There’s really not a whole lot we can do about it if that happens. You can cover a few tender plants with floating row covers or light blankets, but you can’t blanket the whole yard.

   The Liquid Fence Co. last year debuted a supposed frost-protecting spray called FreezePruf that’s in a few stores. The claims say it can give you up to 9 degrees of protection. I tried it last fall when frosts were on the way, and I really didn’t notice any difference between how fast treated vs. untreated plants croaked.

   A better strategy is to wait just a little while longer to plant those frost-wimpy annuals and tender veggies like tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. I know it’s tempting when the days are sunny and in the 70s. It seems like we’re already having May.

   But I’ve seen the weather do enough wacky things that I don’t trust it at all. Maybe we’ll waste a chance to get a jump on the season, but I’m chicken enough to trade that for the odds that we’re at least one or two good frosts away from safety.

   If you’ve been sneezing like it’s May and seeing bugs and bees earlier than usual, you’re not imagining things. All of nature takes cues from the weather, and when that speeds up, so does insect development, bud formation, pollen drop and so on.

   There’s actually a science devoted to making those connections called “phenology.” If you’ve ever heard anyone talk about “growing degree days,” that’s a running measure of how far along in the season we are according to a current year’s weather.

   I did a column on this several years ago. It’s pretty fascinating stuff. Check it out here: https://georgeweigel.net/favorite-past-garden-columns/the-bug-bloom-connection.

   You’ll find that some of those supposed old wive’s tales about “planting corn when the oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear” really do have some basis in fact.

Frost Gambling

April 7th, 2010

Set out a tender perilla too soon and this is the frosty result.

   We’re getting spoiled by this extended warm spell, which is a nice payback for the cold winter and back-to-back February snow dumpings. But don’t get petunia fever. We’re probably not done with frost yet.

   In an average year, urban areas around Harrisburg are done with killing frost by April 20. The all-time latest killing-frost date is May 11. And areas out in the country and up in the hills north of the city have been frosted out as late as Memorial Day.

   I’ve seen temperatures nosedive around here as much as 60 degrees in one day’s time. Just because it’s 60s, 70s and near 80 now doesn’t mean it won’t be in the 20s a few weeks from now.

   Go ahead and plant trees, perennials, grasses, cool-season veggies and even a few of the cold-hardier annuals such as pansies, violas, dianthus, dusty miller and snapdragons. But I’m not gambling on the peppers, zinnias, marigolds and such until at least early May. That’s when I’ll check the forecast, and if it’s looking to stay above freezing in the 10-day outlook, I’ll take the leap then.