Extension Winter Garden Packet-4
Published: Dec. 10, 2007
NOTE TO EDITORS: This is the final installment of University of Illinois Extension's Winter Garden Packet. Thank you for your consideration. Bob Sampson
December 10, 2007
Source: Greg Stack (708) 720-7520 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Understanding Seed Catalogs
Although words in seed catalogs might seem unfamiliar, it is important to understand their meaning, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"It won't be long before your mailbox is filled with seed and plant catalogs of every description," said Greg Stack. "These messengers of good things to come arrive at a time when most of us are up to our ankles in snow and ready for the escape these publications offer.
"However, as you thumb through the pages you might run across words that are unfamiliar. These words translate to 'horticulture speak' and are put there to help you make decisions in buying the right seed or plant for your garden."
Knowing what these words means can add a lot to your horticultural knowledge and make you a better informed consumer, he added.
When shopping for perennials, the term "hardiness zone" will be encountered.
"The United States is broken up into 11 hardiness zones based upon the lowest average winter temperature for the area," he explained. "The zones range from zone 1--minus-50 degrees--to zone 11--plus-40 degrees.
"Knowing what zone you garden in and seeing what zone the plant is hardy to will help you pick plants that should survive the winter. When you see a perennial offered for sale, don't just look at the pretty picture, make sure it is at least hardy to your zone."
Somewhere in the plant's description you will find what zones the plant is hardy to. An example could be a butterfly bush (Buddleia) that is hardy to zone 5. If you live in zone 4, you might have trouble getting it to overwinter successfully.
"In that case, you might want to make another choice," said Stack.
Determinate and indeterminate are words often associated with tomatoes. They refer to how large the plants get and how they grow.
"Determinate types tend to stay more compact and bushy, do well in cages, and are well-suited for smaller space gardens," he said. "The indeterminate types tend to get tall and just keep getting taller over the summer. They usually require stacking to keep them off the ground. These are good for the gardener wanting tall, large plants to impress the neighbors."
Hybrid and open-pollinated are words that are used with both flowers and vegetables.
"Seeds of hybrid varieties are produced by the controlled crossing of known parent plants, resulting in varieties that exhibit the best characteristics of both parents," he said. "Often they are more vigorous, have better disease resistance, are more tolerant of adverse growing conditions, better tasting, and more uniform in habit. In short, they are the best that plant breeders and seed companies have to offer.
"These are well worth the extra money it costs for seed and plants. They can also be identified by an F1 accompanying the word 'hybrid.'"
Open-pollinated is often associated with heirloom or antique varieties of flowers and vegetables.
"They are not the result of controlled crosses. While they may not exhibit the best disease resistance or uniformity, they bring to the garden interesting plants that might have been stars in your grandmother's garden," Stack said. "They are well worth keeping and growing because of their flavor in the case of vegetables or fragrance in the case of flowers."
Days to harvest, usually shown in number of days, refers to the average number of days it usually takes after you set out transplants before you can expect your first harvest. This is highly variable and depends on growing conditions so take the number with a grain of salt.
"Don't always count on having red tomatoes at your Fourth of July picnic even though you counted back the right number of days and planted the plants on time," he said.
Annuals refer to plants that will die when temperatures start to get below freezing. These also need to be replanted year after year.
"But beware of the plant that acts like a perennial and fools some gardeners into thinking it is a true perennial," he warned. "Some annuals self-sow and drop seeds in the fall. The seed lies on the ground all winter and germinates in the spring, usually in the same location that the plant was in the previous season.
"This makes many people call them perennial when, in fact, they are not. This is not a bad thing though as many annual flowers like cosmos, cleome, and snapdragon will do this and provide an attractive 'natural' garden year after year."
Award winners are often designated by terms such as AAS (All America Selections), PPA (Perennial Plant Association winner), and Fluoreselect.
"This indicates that these varieties have been trialed for many years in trial gardens through the United States and have been shown to be outstanding performers. They are often worthy of a place in the garden," he said.
Disease tolerance and disease resistance are both good things but have different meanings.
"A plant listed as disease tolerant will probably get a disease common to the plant. It may not, however, be so bad as to warrant spraying and it usually does not affect appearance all that much," said Stack. "Disease resistance means the plant has been bred to resist common disease problems and will probably not get the disease.
"A common example is in roses. You will find roses listed as both disease resistant to black spot and those listed as disease tolerant to black spot."
Stack noted that it can be a terminology jungle within the seed catalogs.
"But don't let words stop you from enjoying your catalogs," he said.
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Source: Martha A. Smith (309) 836-3366 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Kids' Winter Gardening Activities
Winter gardening-type activities for children can make gardeners for life, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"Gardening activities in spring, summer, and fall are easy to do, but what do you do to keep that interest alive through the winter months?" asked Martha Smith. "You are forced indoors with a few houseplants. Well, there are many gardening-type activities you can do with your kids."
Smith offered a few ideas for indoor gardening projects involving your family, scout troop, or other youth group.
"Garbage gardening is a great way to show kids that many of the things we throw away have value," she said. "Plant parts that are normally thrown away are potentially beautiful houseplants."
Take the avocado. It needs light to germinate and there are two ways you can start it.
"Plants can be started by suspending the pit with toothpicks in a glass of water," she said. "Put the pointy side up and remember to change the water every couple of days while waiting for it to split and send out a root.
"The other way to start an avocado is to plant it in soil. Let the pit dry for a day and then peel off the dark, brown covering. Put the pit in a pot filled with potting soil, pointed end up. Leave about one-third of the pit showing. Keep the soil moist and a shoot should appear in about four to six weeks. Once the tree has started and is up to at least six inches, put another layer of soil in the pot to cover the pit."
Carrots, beets, rutabaga, and turnips are root crops with a leafy upper portion. Cut a one-inch section from the top of the vegetable and plant it in moist sand with only the upper or top part exposed. Keep the soil moist and small leaves will begin to appear in about 10 days.
"Citrus seeds like orange, lime, lemon, and grapefruit are easy to grow," Smith said. "Kids can look for seeds while they eat something that's good for them. Soak the seeds in water overnight. Plant them about one inch deep in a pot filled with potting soil. Put two to three seeds in each pot."
For kids who like a challenge, ginger is something to try. Look for fresh ginger roots that are showing signs of sprouting.
"You will notice little bumps that look like they are getting ready to burst," said Smith. "These are 'eyes.' Just like you plant potatoes, slice the ginger root so you have several 'eyes' on each piece. Plant them in a well-drained potting soil and keep the soil moist. It takes about three weeks for ginger to sprout."
Worm composting offers another interesting activity. Starting a worm bin indoors teaches kids the values of recycling and they also get to mess around with slimy worms.
"They also learn about the interdependence of plants and organisms as they turn vegetable scraps into valuable compost," she said.
If you have any budding artists around the house, why not let them loose on some inexpensive garden containers? Kid-safe, durable paints to dress up the containers are available at most craft stores.
"Why not plant up that old fish bowl or an old mayonnaise jar?" she said. "Carefully place some soil and plants inside a clean glass container. Cover the opening with clear plastic wrap. Watch as the plants and roots grow."
Feeding the birds, though not a true gardening project, is a fun activity.
"Pine cones coated with peanut butter and then rolled in birdseed make great bird feeders," said Smith. "Have the kids keep track of all the different types of birds that visit your backyard and what date each was first spotted."
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December 10, 2007
Source: David Robson (217) 782-6515 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
What to Do with the Christmas Tree?
Gardeners have several ways to make use of a Christmas tree after the holidays, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"It is always a melancholy time when the excitement of the holidays is over and the tree is taken down," said David Robson. "Most us hate to just throw out the tree that has provided so much enjoyment.
"The one thing you should NOT do with the old tree is to burn it in the fireplace. A dry tree will burn with intense heat and may buckle a steel fireplace, crack a flue in a brick chimney, or start a chimney fire. If anything, use the small twigs from the tree for kindling."
However, if you cut up the tree and allow the logs to season or age for a year, they can be used in the fireplace next winter.
"An old tradition dating to the Middle Ages is to move the tree outside and set it up for the animals, decorated with various kinds of food," he said. "Birds will appreciate strings of popcorn, dried cranberries, or apple slices. You can also decorate the tree with suet balls studded with seeds, or just plain seed balls."
During inclement weather, the tree can provide protection to animals who will roost in it or huddle under it as long as the storm persists.
"Birds such as cardinals and jays, which stay here all year, are much more likely to take up permanent residence in your yard if invited there for the winter," he noted. "If you are already providing for the animals, there are other ways the old tree can be put to good use."
In Illinois, where there is always the danger of alternate freezing and thawing, perennials such as chrysanthemum, hostas, and bulbs should be covered, not to keep them warm, but to keep them cold. For this reason, you should wait to mulch the garden until after the ground has frozen. The ideal mulch is light enough to permit air to penetrate, but substantial enough to shade the soil and keep it from thawing every time the sun shines on it.
"This is where the Christmas tree comes in," said Robson. "Branches from your tree can be cut up and laid over your perennial bed. Two layers of boughs, criss-crossed, should suffice. They admit air to the ground, but keep out the sun.
"If you have extensive perennial beds or strawberries, you might run out of branches from your own tree. But you can be sure there will be a ready supply as neighbors discard their trees."
After removing the branches from the Christmas trees, save the trunks. They make good beanpoles or tomato or dahlia stakes.
"More than likely, needles will fall off the boughs during the winter and spring months," he said. "You can rake them up next spring or use them as a base layer of mulch, removing only the woody stems."
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December 10, 2007
Source: Martha A. Smith (309) 836-3366 Contact: Bob Sampson Extension Communications Specialist Phone (217) 244-0225; rsampson@uiuc.edu
Bringing Spring Indoors--Early
One cure for the winter blahs is to bring an early touch of spring indoors, said a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.
"The winter blahs start to hit in late January and February. The days are gray and monotonous. We begin to long for the first signs of spring," said Martha Smith. "There is a way we can enjoy some of the flowers of spring now.
"Consider forcing tree and shrub branches into bloom. A pussy willow or forsythia branch in bloom can lift our spirits tremendously. You can also accomplish another task at the same time--pruning."
She recommended selectively removing branches for forcing from ones that need to be removed from the plant in order to thin it out.
"Early spring-flowering trees and shrubs form their flower buds in the fall before the plants go dormant," said Smith. "A cold period is needed for the buds to set and open properly. This is a minimum of eight weeks of temperatures below 40 degrees F. The later in the winter you cut the branches, the shorter the forcing time becomes."
Most spring-flowering shrubs such as spirea, pussy willow, forsythia, or honeysuckle are fairly easy to force and you could try them now. Lilacs, rhododendron, and flowering almond should not be cut until March. Flowering trees such as crabapple and dogwood can be more difficult to coax into bloom, but are worth the effort.
"Select healthy young branches with numerous flower buds," she said. "Flower buds are usually larger and plumper than foliar buds. Choose branches from crowded areas of the plant, since these should be pruned out anyway.
"Branches that are a minimum length of six to eight inches work well. Prune back to an outward bud, or all the way back to a branch. Don't leave a stub."
Branches benefit from a complete overnight soaking in lukewarm water, she added. A bathtub works well for this.
"The cut end should be either re-cut, shredded, or mashed for better water uptake," said Smith. "After soaking, place the branch in a vase with three inches of clean water. Normally, these flower buds open in the spring when temperatures warm up to 55 to 60 degrees F, so don't place them in an overly warm location."
The location should have temperatures that mimic springtime.
"A cool area that does not receive full sun is ideal," she said. "Check the water level, replacing with clean water as needed. When the buds begin to open, move to a sunny area and enjoy."
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