Timely Tips for Dividing Plants

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·Study the plant you wish to divide. Is it a good candidate for root division?Does it grow from the outside of its root clump? Does it make new bulbs? Does it make suckers?

·Figure out where you want to put the divisions and prepare ground, have pots and soil ready.

·Use shovel to dig around the plant to be removed. Use spading forks to lift and separate the clumps. With offshoots use clippers to cut umbilical root.Cut 1/3 tops off. For roots to be separated, wash off dirt enough to see where the eyes, plantlets are so each new division has new growth.

·Keep moist and plant soon in new location. Fertilize every other week until mid-summer then stop to let plant harden off for winter. Keep well weeded and mulched.

·For most plants late winter early spring is the optimum time to divide.For bulbs, primrose, iris, divide after bloom.For peonies fall is best.

·You can divide horse radish, rhubarb and French terragon

·Plants not easily divided: needled and non-needled evergreens (azalea, Rhodies, holly, laurel), many trees,blueberry,annuals, some perennials with single tap roots.

REFERENCE:

Secrets of Plant Propagation by Lewis Hill(a paperback)

Favorite Flowers of Tasha Tudor

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From: Tasha Tudor’s Garden Ashland Garden Club Book Club: January Reading

Green house: Orange Jasmine (Murryana exotica), Clivias, Canary Island Broom (Cytisus canariensis), Acacia, Primrose, pelargoniums, rosemary standards, camellias

Early Spring: Snow drops, crocus, scilla, chionodoxa

Forced Bulbs: Paper whites, ‘Tete-a-Tete’ narcissus, ‘Minnow’ narcissus, tulips, lily of the valley, not forsythia

Primrose: Auricula, Barnhaven, ‘Juliana’ hybrids, ‘Cowichan’

Daffodils/narcissus: ‘King Alfred’, ‘Cheerfulness’, ‘Tete a Tete’, ‘Minnow’, ‘Irish Moon’/ Narcissus poeticus ‘plena’

Tulips: ‘Beauty Queen’ (salmon colored), ‘Apricot Beauty’, ‘Peerless Pink’, ‘Elizabeth Arden’, ’Lafayette”, (blue), Mrs. John T. Scheepers’ (blue/yellow)

Peonies: ‘Festiva Maxima’, ‘Mother’s Chooice’, ‘Nick Shaylor’, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’

Roses: David Austin hybrids, ‘Heritage’, ‘Mary Webb’ (yellow), ‘Maiden’s Blush’, York and Lancaster, Konigin von Danemark’, Rosa canina

Misc: Bleeding Hearts, Crown Imperials, Mock Orange, Weigela, violas, Forget-,Me-Nots, Lilacs, Crab Apple Trees, Azaleas, English Bluebells, Rocket,

Summer:

Lupines, oxeye daisy, Dame’s Rocket, St. John’s wort, yellow clover, black eyed Susan and Echinacea, Wild strawberries, White valerian, lady’s mantle thalictrum, fragrant alyssum, cinnamon pinks, Nepeta, lamb’s ears, delphinium, lettuce poppy, cleomes, feverfew, hollyhocks, sweet peas, Shasta Daisy, iris, Sidalcea, white dragonhead (Phystegia)

Annuals: verbena, geranium (pelargoniums), pansies heliotrope, petunias,

Miniature Rose: ‘The Fairy’ (pink), ‘Rise and Shine’ (yellow)

Vines: clematis tangutica, honeysuckle, Clematis paniculata, wisteria

Lilies: Lilium regale, ‘Black Dragon’, oriental hybrids, Asiatic hybrids,

Raspberries: ‘Latham’, ‘September Gold’

Peaches: Elwyn Meader’s ‘Reliance

Fertilizing Roses

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When and How
By: Jill Barnard, American Rose Society

WHEN
Fertile established rose bushes immediately after pruning by incorporating organic amendments into the soil.

A.R.S. basic recipe, per bush:

·1 cup bone meal or superphosphate (0-20-0)

·1 cup cottonseed meal

·1/2 cup blood meal

·1/2 cup fish meal

·1/2 cup epsom salts (magnesium sulphate)

Water thoroughly first, then spread the ingredients evenly around the bush, under the drip-line (outer perimeter) of the bush. Scratch lightly into the top 1-2″ of soil and water well again. In warm climates with long growing seasons (January-February pruning and blooms through November-December), a second application is beneficial in early September for fall bloom cycles. About two to three weeks after spring pruning and adding organic amendments, new growth will appear. Chemical fertilizers, whether liquid or dry, can be applied at this time, and will provide an instant food source for this heavy feeding period. How often to apply is a subjective decision, based on the amount of time and devotion you have, but once a month should be the minimum.

HOW Often

How often you fertilize your roses is determined by your rose growing style. Are you a Casual Rose Grower, a Dedicated Rose Grower, or an Exhibitor? Read the American Rose Society’s full article for the details.

Read Article here: http://www.ars.org/pdfs/fertilizer_when_how.pdf

 

 

EPSOM SALT

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The following information is from www.epsomsaltcouncil.org

Epsom salt is also known by magnesium sulfate, a mineral plants need to survive and grow.

Feeding your lawn with it can increase the chlorophyll content and improve its ability to synthesize food leading to lush, healthy lawns.

For vibrant plants and vegetables- Plants suffer if they lack nutrients. By adding just a spoonful of epsom salt you can prevent weak stalks and yellow leaves. Sprinkling epsom salt around the base of a plant will lead to big healthy vegetables.

The council claims by sprinkling a few tablespoonfuls around your garden and garbage cans raccoons and woodchucks will stay away and not harm the animals.

The council recommends the following applications:

Houseplants:
·Mix one teaspoon per gallon of water and feed plants monthly.

Garden Startup:
·Sprinkle approximately one cup per 100 square feet. (10’x10’) and mix into soil before planting.

Peppers:
·Apply 1 tablespoon of Epsom salt with a gallon of water as a foliar spray at bloom time and again 10 days later.

Tomatoes:
·Apply one tablespoon per foot of height for each plant every two weeks.

Roses:
· Apply one teaspoon per foot of height for each plant every two weeks.
· Add a tablespoon of Epsom Salt to each hole at planting time.
· Spray with Epsom Salt solution weekly (1 TBSP per gallon of water) to help discourage pests.
· Soak unplanted bushes in 1/2 cup of Epsom Salt per gallon of water to help roots recover.

Evergreens, Azaleas, Rhododendrons
· Apply one tablespoon per nine square feet (3’x3’) over the root zone every 2-4 weeks.

Lawns
·Apply three pounds per 1250 square feet (25’x 50’) or dilute in water and apply with a sprayer. ·Apply six pounds per 2500 square feet (50’x 50’)
·Apply twelve pounds per 5000 square feet (50’x 100’)

Trees
·Apply two tablespoons per nine square feet (3’x 3’) over root zone every four months.

Do Not use on Sage!This herb is one of the few plants that doesn’t like Epsom Salt.

A.G.C. Book Club February 2011 Reading

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Down the Garden Path

Author: John Beverley Nichols (Sept. 9, 1898 Bristol, England – Sept. 15, 1983, London, England),

Beverly Nichols was an author, playwright, journalist, composer, and public speaker. Nichols wrote more than 60 books and plays, but he is now best remembered for his gardening books, the first of which was Down the Garden Path.

Down the Garden Path has stood the test of time. With 32 editions, it has been in print almost continuously since it was first published in 1932. This book is a semiautobiographical story of Nichols’ first bumbling efforts at transforming a neglected property into a garden. This was the first book of his trilogy about “Allways”, his Tudor thatched cottage in Glatton, Cambridgeshire. Nichols writes about his gardening obsessions, his failures, his successes, and his love of flowers. In among his gardening experiences is a cast of family, friends, and neighbors creating delightful memorable characters throughout the book. Nichol’s writing is very poetic, rich with creative language and wickedly humorous with a touch of irony. Down the Garden Path reminds us of why we garden!