Best Summer Garden Watering Practices

It has been too hot in Missouri to enjoy my favorite summer reading corner on my deck.

Every growing area has its own benefits and challenges. Trying to grow anything on the side of a Missouri limestone can be considered foolhardy, maybe even crazy. It certainly has its moments.

Trying to keep plants alive in Missouri's infamous summer has been a personal interest of mine. Not just because I want my plants to survive but because I have learned some hard lessons. Some of the preeminent ones are to be consistent and have patience. The following are some of my tried and true garden watering practices and why.

Best Summer Garden Watering Practices from Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts

In addition to stressing people and pets, Missouri weather temperatures over 90F for several consecutive days stresses plants. In those conditions, plants stop making nectar and pollen, eliminating any possibility of flowers and fruit and frustrating gardening friends aspiring to have perfect lawns. Luckily that’s not me.

I do, however, want my plants to pull through these punishing conditions. Just a decade or so ago, I could predict within days when the hot weather would hit and when I could expect it to start ebbing. No longer. With our climate rapidly changing, weather patterns have become erratic, further stressing plants and challenging their ability to adapt. I have tried to design a low maintenance garden but when it comes to watering, there's no work around. Plants need water to survive.

As we head into the traditional Missouri August dearth, here are 6 out of 12 watering practices to help plants survive:

Bluebird Gardens blackberries burning up in record 2016 hot summer temperatures.

Water in Morning

1.     Water only in the early mornings. Although it’s more comfortable to be outside in the evenings, watering at night can encourage fungus, which further stresses plants. Some can even kill a weakened plant.

I have watered at night, especially with sprinklers, when my blackberry bushes appeared to be literally burning up but, note to self - don’t make it a habit!

A watering can simulating rain is less effective than a deep watering wand.

Use an Underground Watering Wand

2.     Water with an underground wand; best $20 I have spent in a long time. Underground watering wands are available at most home and garden, and hardware stores.

The 2-foot wand inserted into the ground around plants delivers water at root level. If the tops burn up, the living roots may bring the plants back next year.

Purple coneflower starts sprouting from plants that have burned up in Missouri's record temperatures.

I have found a number of trees, especially dogwoods, and perennials I thought dead from record heat growing back in the next years. Mark the location of what appears to be a lost plant and then check the same spot next year.

The deep watering wand also comes in handy when I want to chase friends off my deck. Just kidding, checking to see if you were paying attention!

Water Potted Plants More

3.     Plants in pots need water at least twice, maybe three times a day. The tendency is to sprinkle water from a hose for a few seconds but that will only wet the top of leaves. In record hot temperatures, the trick is to get water to plant roots.

One way to make sure roots get watered is to add plastic bottles with holes buried deep into pots. I prefer the bottles with larger openings, makes it easier to get a hose to the bottle to quickly fill it up. I also have the regular 3/4 inch openings, I just use those as target practice as I aim the hose.

Fertilize Less

4.     Because we are watering so much more frequently, seriously dilute any fertilizer you add. Potted plants do benefit from being fertilized. As we water more frequently, we also wash out the fertilizer we have applied. 

Many potted plants have time release fertilizer in their soil. Those fertilizers also tend to get washed out as we repeatedly water.

Fertilizer exposed to roots will burn and too much fertilizer will stress plants. Potted plants can use enhancing so adding compost is one option.  I now also only add a pinch of fertilizer to a gallon milk jug full of water and make sure it is well mixed before applying. 

Water the Young Ones

5.    No one wants to make a choice between what plants to water, it's reminiscent of having to choose between one's children. However, if you have to choose between new and established plants, water the new ones.

New plants, including ones in pots, haven’t established themselves yet and roots exposed to crisp, dry hot soil will quickly kill them. New plant starts in pots in particular need to be kept moist until you can get them in the ground.

Some herbs, such as rosemary and most mints, seem to thrive in hot weather in my garden so I don't worry too much about keeping their soil moist.

Also make sure the water is getting to the roots. Top watering does little good if the roots aren't kept moist. I will wiggle a finger along a pot edge to make sure water is settling into the middle of the pot. Newly-planted plants will get the watering wand snuck in close to their roots.

More than one inch of welcome rain August 1 2016 at Bluebird Gardens.

Pray for Rain

6. Even with all of the garden watering tips here, the best water for plants is rain. I do keep a close eye on the weather forecast and try to only plant when new arrivals will get a good rain soaking once settled in.

Although I also soak newly-planted plants well with city water, there's no comparison with how plants respond to rain water compared to city water. I now collect rain water in barrels so I can keep watering with the better of the two choices.

Coming up next, more best watering practices to survive this hot summer.  What are you doing to help your plants through these record hot temperatures?

Charlotte

Picking Homegrown Peaches!

My first homegrown peaches - well, the first ones I beat the squirrels to getting!

Picking Homegrown Peaches

Aren't they beautiful?

I was so excited when I first spotted them several weeks ago, growing tucked under a full branch of peach tree leaves next to some of my bee hives. It's the first year for this particular compact peach tree but I have grown them in the past on other trees. Only squirrels have beat me to them and walking through my garden scolding squirrels out loud has done nothing but confirmed my neighbor's assessment of who is the crazy person in the neighborhood.

I would check the peaches every morning, gently peeking under the leaves and counting to make sure none were missing. Squirrels were also apparently checking because several would scurry off as I got close to the compact, dwarf Stark Brother's peach tree. These are grown in Louisiana, Missouri so they have quickly acclimated to my mid-Missouri hillside garden.

Knowing in the past squirrels have been more successful than I have been harvesting the fruit, I picked them just a tad from being perfectly ripe. 

How did I know to pick them?

One of the peaches had a bug spot, a sure sign the fruit was getting nicely ripe.

Not a good technique to use if you are a farmer but as a home gardener, it works for me. I also have a nice collection of paring knifes I can use to clean up that little spot.

Once inside, I added the three peaches to a brown bag with an apple to finish ripening.

My three little peaches in a brown bag with an apple to finish ripening, squirrel-free!

These three will once again be checked every day for ripeness.

So silly but it is such a feeling of accomplishment. Have you ever beat the squirrels to garden fare?

Charlotte

First Seeds Sale of Season

Spring seeds on sale at a local big box retailer. Score!

First Seeds of the Season on Sale

I wasn't at the store even looking for seeds but it was hard to miss the sign. Spring seeds were now mid-summer half price, the racks full of little envelopes with pictures of a wide variety of flowers and vegetables beckoning me to get closer.

Now I have a basket full of seed packs, some going back as far as the 1980s. I should clean them out but every time I shuffle through the packs, I can remember my mother giving them to me. Or a friend tucking one inside a book cover. Or maybe a find at an earlier seed packet sale, all promises of the garden I dream of planting, like this charming garden dreams throw.

I doubt most of those older seed packets will sprout but the good news is if you keep these spring 2016 seed packets in a cool, dry place, they should nicely sprout next year or longer. Most seeds have at least a 2-5 year life span as long as they are stored properly.

Although it's a little early to know how well some seed varieties are doing, I can never have too many zinnia and basil seeds. Zinnias are easy to grow, butterfly favorites and make wonderful cut flowers. Basil plants are even better than marigolds as bug deterrents so I now tend to drop a few seeds in pots with tomato plants to keep them from being bug-eaten.

Spring 2016 seeds are starting to go on sale mid-summer.

Check seed packet weight before buying and remember, you don't need to feed the whole country so only buy what you need. Then pick up a few more extra packs to give as birthday gifts and stocking stuffers.

Oh, who am I kidding, have fun. After all, the seeds ARE on sale!

Charlotte

Deterring Japanese Beetles

Japanese beetles on a Bluebird Gardens fruit tree will breed until mid-August, then disappear.

Deterring Japanese Beetles in Your Garden

In the category of non-welcome bugs, Japanese beetles are currently decimating gardens, turning edible plants and herb leaves into lace. When these invasive bugs were first spotted in Missouri, people were asking for traps to help catch them.

Pheromone traps have proven to be, for the most part, counter-productive. People tend to hang them like birdhouses when they should be located downwind, at the edge of the property, so pheromones aren’t attracting more Japanese beetles.

I still do the garden inspection early morning with a can of soapy water. Once I spot the beetles, I place the can under them and they fall in to drown.

A beekeeping friend has suggested making a spray out of their dead little beetle bodies but I haven’t tried that yet. 

After several years of catching Japanese beetles in soapy water, I have less beetles in my woods-surrounded garden. It may not work as well in developed areas with other nearby gardens but it is worth a try.

Charlotte

Deterring Deer in Your Garden

I tend to see deer in my garden more in winter than summer.

Deterring Deer In Your Garden

Deer in particular get a bad rap, especially since some have a taste for our gardens. Tulips and hostas seem to be a favorite treat, according to ladies I meet when I talk to clubs. I have tried all of the standard deer-repelling suggestions from placing soap and hair around garden beds to a fertilizer made from a Wisconsin sewer system.

My current technique is to keep deer at the edge of my woods-surrounded property with a salt block and periodic servings of corn. I don’t recommend that for more developed areas.

One husband sent me this email about a deer pen he built that did the trick:

“The most critical dimension is the width of 10 feet. Our pen is 65 feet long, but any length should actually work. The two long sides are made from cattle panels of ¼ inch wire mesh of 6 inches by 8 inches. Each panel is 48 inches tall and 16 feet long. These panels are attached to steel tee posts placed 5.5 feet apart to form two long sides that are 10 feet apart.

"I used 12 foot metal gates for the ends just because they were available. They hang over a little , but the deer don’t seem to mind. The 10 foot spacing side to side has so far never allowed a deer to jump in. If they did try it, they would probably crash into the side opposite to the side they had jumped. Also, we put 18 inch high chicken wire around the bottom of the ends and both sides. It is just tied on the ends so that after moving the gates I can use a tiller inside the pen. This keeps out the rabbits and turtles.

We have had this setup a long time. It took some labor and material to build it, but it has been worth it. Now we can raise green beans, okra, lettuce, etc. without having it eaten.”

Do you think this will work? Have you tried it?

Charlotte

Missouri's Wild Petunias

Wild petunias are a hardy, lovely Missouri native flower found blooming close to the ground.

Missouri's Wild Petunias

Not that Missouri's wild petunias grow close to the ground, that's where I seem to find them in bloom, after a mower has cut them down.

Missouri's wild petunia, scientifically known as Ruellia strepens, is a native perennial that returns each year from previous locations and from self-seeding. The flower was named for Jean de La Ruelle, a French herbalist 1474-1537. According to Edgar Denison, author of Missouri Wildflowers, strepens is Latin for "rustling," the sound of exploding seed capsules. 

Wild petunia buds growing in a soil pile soon to be moved to flower beds.

Missouri's wild  petunia blooms May through October, with each flower lasting only a day. It is followed by other blooms in quick succession.

Leaves are long and can be either smooth or fuzzy. Can you see them in the photo? The ones I have are fuzzy.

As the flowers fade, seeds form and eject themselves into the air, which explains the rustling.

There are few true blue garden flowers, either domesticated or wildflowers, so this lavender to lilac-blue color is a nice addition.

Wild Petunias Easy to Manage

Often lumped in with unwanted grasses and herbs misidentified as weeds, wild petunias add a pretty lavender through the summer season.

If you don't want them growing to their 3-feet height, pinch them back early spring and they will branch out and bloom at a lower height.

Wild Petunias Are Easy Care

Best of all, wild petunia is not fussy about where it grows; any soil is OK, full sun or part shade works; drought doesn't deter it, either. It is also safe from deer and rabbit munching.

The flowers benefit pollinators, including bumblebees.

Charlotte

 

More Growing Tomato Woes

Blossom end rot can be fixed with even watering. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

More Growing Tomato Woes

Summer is a time when local farms sometimes share their extra produce, assuming conditions have been good for growing. This year, record hot and humid conditions have made tomato growing challenging.

Proper Fertilizer

Tomato plants taller than their growers usually means tomato plants may be getting too much nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen encourages the green growth that spurs plants to unnatural heights.A balanced plant meal requires nitrogen for growth, phosphorous for moving energy through the plant, and potassium for stress tolerance.  Our Ozark soil can provide nitrogen but the other two fertilizer elements usually need a boost. 

Soil testing through a local University of Missouri Extension office will help determine what is missing. A test costs $15 and includes not only what is in your soil but what you need to do to amend it.

Even Watering

The other delicate part of raising tomatoes is watering. Blossom end rot, where the bottom of the tomato starts to decompose, is usually caused by calcium deficiency, Calcium is usually present in soil but without water, tomato plants can’t take it up from the soil.

The best way to prevent blossom end rot is to regularly and evenly water tomatoes,. This means watering them every day at the same time with the same amount of water.

Tomato roots in open ground can grow to 5 feet deep. Tomatoes even grown in containers prefer to be evenly moist so with temperatures, and humidity, either at record levels or varying widely, requires careful monitoring.

I have sunken plastic bottles with holes in pots keeping my tomatoes company so that I can better keep the roots moist.

I also use a paint stick propped into the side and moved over an inch to check how wet the soil is before I water.

Temperatures Over 86F

Another challenge to raising tomatoes is temperatures over 86F. Tomatoes go into survival mode at 86F and higher so the tomatoes will not ripen on the plant. If temperatures remain that hot, pick the tomatoes while still green and allow them ripen in your kitchen.

Remove Suckers'

One last tip, remember to remove suckers or the growth in between branches. That will keep your tomatoes focused on growing the fruit we all enjoy as the taste of summer.

Charlotte

Tomatoes Dropping Flowers

A Beefsteak tomato at Bluebird Gardens with blossom drop from record hot temperatures.

Tomatoes Dropping Flowers

When I dream of my summer garden, or see a summer garden quilt throw, I look for tomatoes first. If there is one vegetable that represents summer vegetable gardening, it's these wonderful fruits that add color, flavor and good antioxidants to our salads and other food.

Our local newspaper asked me to call someone about their tomatoes. The gentleman was polite on the phone but clearly frustrated. His 6-foot high tomatoes in barrels at a 7 Ph level where flowering but then the flowers were falling off. He said something similar had happened to his potatoes last year.

Several Possible Factors

There are several factors that cause tomatoes to drop their flowers, starting with the impact of record high temperatures. Tomatoes, like most flowering plants, go into survival mode if temperatures are above 90F for five or more days in a row. We just set record temperatures for June in Missouri so the record hot temperatures may be a leading culprit.

Plant survival mode means most systems are shut down, including pollen production. It’s why a plant may seem to die in hot weather and yet reappear the following year. As long as the roots can pull through, most plants will survive.

High Temperatures and High Humidity

Tied to temperature is high humidity. Humidity that is too high prevents pollen from sticking to the stigma once it is released. Without pollen, there are no pollinators and without pollinators, there are no flowers that produce tomatoes.

Leading tomato pollinators are native bees, especially bumble bees. These little hoodlums of the bee world literally shake the plant, releasing pollen all over the stigma and themselves. When high temperatures shut down pollen production, they also put bees out of business.

Next, two more factors that can impact successful tomato growing. Any guesses what they might be?

Charlotte

Pinching Chrysanthemums

This is what happens when I forget to pinch my mums earlier in the season, early flowering!

Pinching Chrysanthemums

July 4th is a mile marker for my chrysanthemums. It is the last time in the season that I pinch my mums back to make them bushy and delay fall blooming.

This year, I started pinching my mums back regularly every month or so. When temperatures in June became too hot to spend much time outside, I didn't pinch them so that several mum plants were actually blooming USA Independence Day weekend, several months ahead of the desired bloom time around Halloween.

Mums flower early when the plants are not regularly pinched back through July 4th weekend.

I tucked pinched-off mum branches into nearby soil to root new plants.

I usually prefer to plant low maintenance flowers but I don't mind having to pinch mums every few weeks. They are well worth the effort to add flowers when fall comes around.

Charlotte

Getting Deck Garden Ready for Summer

My little deck garden ready for a hot Missouri summer - sort of.

The official beginning of summer is my cue to make sure my little deck garden is ready for the growing season.

I have been growing herbs and favorite vegetables in pots for many years. Trying to grow anything on a Missouri limestone hill is enough of a challenge without teasing plants trying to find soil in hot weather conditions.

My herbs, mostly in the center, grow quite well in pots as long as caterpillars don't find them. I keep an orange tree, left, grown from seed for about 20 years as a butterfly smorgasboard. Last year, black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars denuded the tree late spring.

Cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, onions and tomatoes are in pots along the perimeter. I tend to end up with more tomatoes than planned because i keep finding volunteers. Not having the heart to kill them, I transplant  them to their own growing spots, including some of my pots full of flowers. At one time, tomatoes were grown as ornamental plants.

And yes, that's a banana tree in the corner, an office auction win. It's still a juvenile so I don't expect to see any fruit any time soon. It spends winters in my dining room, just in case.

Charlotte

Help Pollinators By Not Using Pesticides

Help Pollinators By Not Using Pesticides

Last but not least on how we can help pollinators, from bees to butterflies. we need to rethink how we use pesticides.

I saw my first Japanese beetle drowned in one of my bird baths earlier this week. Instead of using sprays toxic to bees and pheromone traps, which only attract more Japanese beetles, I use a coffee can with a few drops of dishwashing liquid in water to drown the bugs.

I will start knocking the bugs out of fruit trees early morning when the bugs are sluggish and hand pick all I can. 

Make Your Own Bug Spray

I also make my own spray, a few drops of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle full of water. When I need to discourage a bug from my plants, I use this combination. If I need to ramp it up, I add a few drops of hot sauce and apply using gloves so the hot sauce doesn’t get on my hands.

Pesticides As Exception

That doesn’t mean there aren’t situations where it is appropriate to use pesticides but please consider other options first. Home gardeners continue to be the leading misusers of pesticides, one of the major causes of the continued bee population struggle.

If you have to use pesticides, also please read product labels first. The Environmental Protection Agency has revised their product labels to make it clear when a product is dangerous to specific pollinators.

By helping pollinators, we are not only helping our ecosystems but ensuring our varied food supply.

Charlotte

Help Pollinators By Not Pulling Plants

Beards tongue plants have spread through one of my flower beds. Bumblebees love them!

How to Help Pollinators By Not Pulling Plants

Do you have plants taking over a garden corner in swaths? Leave them. Many pollinators, such as hummingbirds and bees, depend on large swaths of plants for nectar and pollen.

I know there’s a tendency to want to keep everything nice and neat but that doesn’t necessarily help pollinators. For example, turf grass takes out a potential source for cover and pollen for ground-nesters. Some 80% of all native bees make their homes in the ground.

If you know you have a nest in the ground, plan a flower bed around the nest to protect the pollinator home and minimize family members walking over it getting stung, You can use those extra plants that you want to thin out of another flower bed.

I am not saying you shouldn't think out flower beds; sometimes it's necessary. Just thin out flower beds later in the season when temperatures are more bearable and you have a better plan for where the extra plants will live.

Next, how to help pollinators by not using pesticides.

Charlotte

Help Pollinators by Properly Watering Garden

Water Plants Underground

Planting milkweed and other native plants is a popular way to help pollinators but our temperatures are too high for many plants. 

If you see milkweed and other natives you planted earlier dying in these hot temperatures, keep them watered with an underground wand. Surface watering usually evaporates in these hot temperatures so concentrate on getting the water underground. Deep watering will help keep roots alive and the plants may make a recovery next year.

Water Early Morning

I know it's tempting to water when it's cool in the evening but it is better to water early morning. That way plants get a good drink before the heat of the day and sun helps control any fungus that moist soil may attract.

Hot Temperatures Mean No Pollen

If you also see the plants stop flowering, that's a survival move. Plants will stop producing pollen when temperatures are higher than 90F for several days. Some people discard the plants because of the lack of flowers but if they make it through hot conditions, they may grow and bloom again next year.

Next, how to help pollinators such as butterflies, birds and bees by not pulling plants.

Charlotte

Help Pollinators By Providing Water

Missouri is setting new heat records this year, a time to be reminded there are ways to help pollinators that doesn't include planting. 

One of the most critical steps gardeners can take is to provide water sources. Pollinators, wildlife, pets - even gardeners - all need water, especially when temperatures are so punishing.

Provide Pollinators Water Sources

Whether it’s a plant saucer with rocks, a bird bath with rocks and sticks, or a tiny concrete swimming hole with safe landing spots, provide a clean, daily water source.

Birds will access water to drink, bathe and keep cool. Butterflies, bats, hummingbirds, moths and bees, both native and honeybees, also need water to stay cool and hydrated. Honeybees carry water back to the hive to share with her sisters.

How Much Water?

Water doesn't have to be deep. If provided in a shallow container, however, check the water level a couple of times a day. Temperatures over 90F quickly evaporate any water sources.

If providing water in bird baths, add rocks and sticks to give small flying pollinators like butterflies, moths and bees a safe place to land.

Next, a reminder on how, and why, to keep plants for pollinators also watered.

Charlotte

Memorial Plantings

Head stones and photos are not the only way to honor someone's memory.

Over the years, our family has had a number of trees planted in memory of loved ones passed. There's a plum tree blooming on Leavenworth in San Francisco with a placque in memory of my Aunt Lenore. Along Rolla's Acorn Trail, an oak tree was added in memory of a fellow City Councilmember who died while in office.

In my one-acre hillside garden, a number of plants bring back memories of loved ones; iris for my Mom, who had lovely iris flower beds in our farmhouse in southern Illinois. Miniature fruit trees among flower beds are in memory of my father, descendant from a long line of Hungarian farmers. He also added a fruit orchard on our southern Illinois property but I don't recall picking much fruit.

To some, visiting a grave is a way to honor those no longer with us. All I have to do is walk into my garden.

Mom, I miss you.

Charlotte

How to Pick Blackberries

There are so many fruits available in summer from cherries to watermelon. One of my favorites are so tempting, little dark berries at the tips of arching shrubs available in north America mid-summer. Little does one realize how thorny these plants can be!

Blackberries grow in almost all continents, a plant so flexible it has adopted to a wide range of climates. Regardless of where you are planning to pick them, make sure you are:

• Wearing a thick pair of pants to catch thorns before they hit skin.
• Boots if you're walking into a blackberry patch after a rain. Some plants grow shoots that can't be seen above soil but you sure can feel them when you step on them.
• Don't wear a long sleeve shirt, it will just get caught in thorns.
• Gloves are optional but if you do wear them, select a pair with good finger dexterity.

When picking, go slowly and focus on berries at the ends, away from thorns. Some berries look ripe but may not be so make sure you have good lighting on the plants.

Worth the effort?

You bet!

Charlotte

Thought for Today

There are a lot of ways to successfully garden but one of the basics is to have, and know how to have, good soil.

Soil is an amazing ecosystem with millions and millions of microbes. A teaspoon of soil has more micro-organisms than humans currently living on earth, each group of microorganisms with a specific contribution they make to the health of all.

A garden is only as successful as the soil in which a garden grows. Gives new meaning to this charming concrete garden sign, don't you think?

Charlotte

A Rose is a Rose is a…

"There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence."

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

And another quick thought, roses are not only beautiful but edible!

Charlotte

The new Bluebird Gardens

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Find out why our customers love us. And why we love what we do.

Thank you for all the love and support all these years.

Welcome to the new Bluebird Gardens.

Made just for you.

Give the Whole Plant, Not Just Flowers

I used to tell my husband instead of spending a fortune on cut flowers, please buy me a rose plant.

Better yet, let's go to a local nursery and pick one out together.

Once planted in right conditions, roses will bloom for years, providing a regular supply of cut flowers. Check with your local garden club or master gardener to find out what roses do best in your USDA growing zone.

Better yet, you may have native roses.

These are rosa setigera or "prairie rose," a Missouri wildflower often found along roadsides, fences and rights-of-way. I invited a start into my garden many years ago. They now grow in a garden corner and bloom for several weeks mid-spring.

Charlotte