Category Archives: Gardening Tips

FEBRUARY: Getting the Greenhouse Ready

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It’s time to get your greenhouse ready for planting! Carlotta's Little Greenhouse

Start with cleaning the shelves using 1 part bleach mixed with 9 parts water.
Read eHow for tips on cleaning a small greenhouse:
http://www.ehow.com/small-greenhouse_care.html

Sterilize your trays & pots with this same bleach solution. Purchase or make your seedling mix (which is a soil-less mix), gather your plant labels & permanent markers and you’re ready to plant.

Read how to make your own soil-less seedling mix Organic Gardening website: http://organicgardening.about./seedstartingmix.htm

To calculate greenhouse planting start dates, check each seed packet and plant according to the instructions. Count back the weeks needed for seeds to grow and when you want them really for the garden club’s plant sale or to plant in your garden after the last frost.  Seeds typically need 8-12 weeks to grow. For example: AGC’s plant sale is May 11 2013, 12 weeks back from May 11th is February 16th, 8 weeks back is March 16th . Check your seed packets for start dates.

Below is a list of flowers you can start in your greenhouse in February: Petunias, Impatiens, Lobelia, Lupine, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, Salvia, Lavender, Scabies, Delphinium, Pansies, Shasta daisy, Forget-me-nots, Gaillardias, and Nasturtiums.

You can also start: Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, Beets, Lettuce, Cilantro and Spinach seeds. It is recommended for larger vegetable seeds, like beets, to soak them 12 to 24 hours before planting.

To begin: fill your sterilized trays with seedling mix, water the seedling mix thoroughly, and then let them sit until the next day to warm up.  On day two, plant your seeds, mark your trays/pots, then water them in.

Seeds need warmth to germinate. Check out Heirloom Seeds’ website showing seed germination/soil temperatures:
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/germination.html

You can provide warmth with heating mats (available at garden supply stores) which sit under your seed trays or you can warm your greenhouse with a portable heater.

Some seeds also need light to germinate, so place trays a few inches below a grow light or a florescent light, and keep the lights on 24 hours a day.

After the plants have developed several sets of true leaves, transplant them into sterilized pots with a good garden variety potting soil.  To avoid transplant shock water them in with a B1 solution; B1 is available at garden stores. Once plants are established in their new pots, fertilize them once a week with a 1/4-strength water-soluble fertilizer. During the rest of the time use plain water; keep the seedlings moist, but not wet. Keep plants under the lights, keep them warm and watch them grow!

By: Carlotta Lucas & Melody Jones

Winter Flowers

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Narcissus papyraceus, one of a few species known as “Paperwhites,” is a perennial bulbous plant native to the Mediterranean region (USDA zones 9-10). Paperwhites produce white flowers in bunches which are strongly fragrant and they are easy to force to bloom indoors for winter flowers.

Paperwhites only need three inches of room for their roots to grow, so shallow containers like glass vases and ceramic bowls are ideal containers.  It’s fun to scout around antique stores, second hand stores and garage sales for unusual planting containers to display these fragrant flowers indoors.  They make wonderful gifts, too.

The planting medium only needs to provide support for the plants and be suitable for the roots to grow through.  And because Paperwhites are usually discarded after flowering  the planting medium doesn’t need to supply any nutrients, so Paperwhites can be planted in soil, pebbles, tumbled beach glass, glass marbles or small gravel.

Plant Paperwhites bulbs with the top inch above the soil/pebble “soil” line. For a full display plant bulbs close together, almost touching. If planted in soil add just enough water to moisten the soil. If planted in pebbles, rocks or marbles, add enough water to just cover the bulbs bases. The goal here is to have the very bottom of the bulbs touching the water to encourage root growth, but not covering the entire bulb which can cause it to rot. Place the container in a sunny bright location and in a week or two roots will appear, after which the buds and blooms develop quickly. It is fun to watch the daily progress.

Paperwhites

Paperwhites

My friend gave me this large basket she was taking to Goodwill, so I lined it with a plastic trash bag, filled it with potting soil and planted 20 Paperwhites in it the first week of December.

Carlotta Lucas

Bird Feeders

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Don’t let disease foul your bird feeder…

CORVALLIS, Ore. – As you’re welcoming wild birds into your yard this winter, be sure to keep your bird feeder clean and keep an eye on the health of your feathered diners.

“Sick birds will either be found dead or perched, often with feathers in disarray, eyes squinted or wings held out,” said Dana Sanchez, a wildlife specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. “Healthy birds are alert and mobile, whereas sick birds stand out because they are neither of those.”

Birds can get salmonella from bird feeders. Other diseases can spread when birds congregate or land on infected perches, Sanchez said.

“If the sick bird is associated with your feeders, take down the feeders and clean them,” she said. “It is probably a good idea to keep the feeders down for two to three weeks, until the disease has had a chance to run its course in the local population. Allow the bird to recover on its own. Make sure children, pets and free-ranging cats cannot get to the bird.”

Sanchez offered these tips to make sure your feeders are clean and free of mold for backyard visitors.

  • Clean your feeders once a month during low-use times and up to once a week during high-use periods.
  • Scrape off bird droppings and rinse or wipe clean the perches with a solution of 1 part vinegar to 20 parts water.
  • Hang your feeders where the feed won’t get wet. If seed in a feeder has gotten wet and compacted, remove the feed and discard it. Then clean the feeder with warm water and a brush.
  • Dry the feeder before refilling with the fresh seed.
  • If your feeder’s location is likely to get wet often, only fill it with a one- to two-day supply of seed at a time.
  • Clean up under feeders regularly and prevent accumulation of feed beneath the feeders by moving them occasionally. Seed on the ground can attract other animals, such as rodents, that you would prefer to not have near your home.

For more information about feeds and feeder placement, check out the following publication from the OSU Extension Service:  http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/19664/ec1554.pdf

Author Denise Ruttan, OSU Extension Service
Source: Dana Sanchez, Wild Life Specialist OSU Extension Service

Mums the word!

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There are over 5,00 varies of mums, but only common garden varieties are usually found at local nurseries. Check online if you are looking for unusual ones, or ask your local nurseryman if they can order a specific variety for you.

Guide to chrysantheMUMS:
  • Select mums that match your hardiness zone. Mums are available in both tender and hardy perennials.
  • Plant mums in full sun, they need at least 6 hours daily.
  • Mums like well draining soil. Boost soil with compost and fertilize mums every 4-6 weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer during the growing season.

  • Never let mums wilt! Water often and do not let them dry out.
  • Watch for pest,  and treat plants with insecticidal soap, if needed.
  • Pinch spent blooms to encourage more blossoms and to keep plant bushy.
  • Mums bloom at different times during the season; there are early, mid, and late blooming varieties. Fall mums will continue blooming until a hard freeze.

~Carlotta

Plant a Tree

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Planting a tree in the fall while the soil is still warm and moist allows the tree to grow strong roots before winter freezing. Then, winter and spring rains provide the tree ample water for a healthy jump start in the spring. 

How to plant a tree:

  1. Visualize the tree full grown!  Then plant it where it has plenty of room to grow and where it gets at least six hours of sunlight,
  2. Dig a hole 3X bigger in diameter than the root ball and as deep as the container. Make a mound of soil in the center of the hole to support the roots.
  3. Grab the trunk near the root ball and pull it out of its container. Loosen the roots by pulling the tree’s main roots loose from the soil!
  4. Place the tree in the center of the hole. Do not fertilize now wait until spring.
  5. Set the tree’s crown 2″ above the soil line, point loosened roots outward & downward in the hole. Root placement is important, otherwise years later you could discover the roots are strangling the tree and causing crown rot!
  6. Fill the hole halfway with soil, then water a few minutes. Once the water

    example of  slit pipe

    is absorbed, fill the hole tampering as you go, water again thoroughly.

  7. Mulch around the tree, but do not allow the mulch to touch the trunk.
  8. Stake tree for stability and also protect its trunk from deer damage;a 6″ black corrugated-perforated drain pipe wrapped around the truck works well for this purpose.

 

ENJOY!… Carlotta Lucas

Planting for Birds

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Variety is the key to encouraging birds of all kinds. Providing a mixture of large trees, (deciduous and conifer); clumps of berry-laden shrubs; fruit trees; many kinds of flowers and grasses; weeds allowed to seed; insects to forage; fresh water; and a well stocked feeder will please a great variety of birds. (P.S. Remember, easy on the chemical sprays.)

Conifers

 Warning: Conifers are high risk for wild fire Conifers are “Prohibited Trees” in Ashland Oregon

Douglas Fir

Western Hemlock

Junipers

Pines

Spruce

Yews

Perennials

Aster

Bee Balm

Coreopsis

Columbine

Crocosmia Lucifer

Cardinal Flower

Bleeding Heart

Delphiniums

Sages/Salvias

Comfrey

Pensemons

Butterfly Bush

Garden Phlox

Globe Thistle

Goldenrod

Foxglove

Ornamental Grasses

Red Hot Poker

Coral Bells

Dianthus

Lupine

Cornflower

Yucca

Deciduous Trees

Birch

Dogwoods

Madrone

Russian Olive

Mountain Ash

Cherry

Filbert

Maples

Crabapple

Hawthorn

Sassafras

Oaks

Hickory

Walnut

Annuals

Marigolds

Calendula

Cosmos

Sunflowers

Zinnias

Petunias

Salvia

Phlox

Impatiens

Nicotiana

Fushias

Shrubs

Holly

Pyracantha

Viburnums

Lilac

Weigela

Blackberry

Mulberry

Snowberry

Oregon Grape

Wild Current

Honeysuckle

Cotoneaster

Sumac

Serviceberry

Flowering Quince

Barberry

Raspberry

Hackberry

Elderberry

Manzanita

Gooseberry

Buckbrush

Vines

Trumpet Honeysuckle

Virginia Creeper

Scarlet Runner Bean

Morning Glory

Trumpet Vine

Ground Covers

Kinnikinnik

Wintergreen

Partridgeberry

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Article from: Rogue Valley Grange Coop

Photo by: Carlotta Lucas