Favorite Wildflowers Catalog

Aren't these lovely Missouri wildflowers photo? And they include growing suggestions, too!

Favorite Wildflowers Catalog

It's that time of year when I go through my old gardening catalogs and decide which ones I want to re-order. My garden is still snow-covered and we're actually hearing the term "bomb cyclone" in the forecast, it's enough to make me want to hide in the colorful gardening catalog pages.

One of my favorites - there is absolutely no doubt about this catalog, I have it hole punched and part of my gardening diary - my favorite gardening catalog and one of the best references for Missouri native plants and wildflowers is this particular catalog.

Just look at those wonderful pictures, don't they make you want to walk through that garden and plant everything on those pages?

I have most of the native plants already in my garden, some from starts from this nursery although I am waiting to finish preparing the appropriate planting beds for the ones I still don't have. I want to add rose verbena this year to several existing flower beds, just love the way those plants grow. And who doesn't love that lovely lavender color? 

The wildflowers have a little rating system with the stars that denotes good for formal locations.

This marvelous catalog is from Missouri Wildflowers Nursery in Jefferson City. The star rating system is handy for people who want native plants for more "formal" landscaping. That means they will behave in a flower bed as opposed to native plants that are downright unruly, in this rating system the one-star plants:

"One star plants are often desired for their wildlife or plant community value, but not for the front yard. They are usually tall. It takes serious creativity to find a place for them in a formal situation."

Our local chamber of commerce used to have a native wildflower garden at the entrance of the visitor center but ended up removing it after "unruly" plants started to grow. Visitors loved the native plant beds but the staff thought it looked messy.

Don't worry, I moved my share of native plants from there to my gardens.

The shrub section is even more colorful, look at all of the wonderful shrub varieties!

And speaking of finding the right place, I have a generous list of shrubs I want to add to my landscape if I can just find the best place to put them. At the head of my list, buttonbush, which is a wonderful bee pollen and nectar shrub.

Over the years I have been adding elderberries and they are doing well on my limestone hillside garden. 

So here's the next one I want to try to plant, buttonbush, a great plant for bee pollen and nectar.

And their handy price list and selection guide has a nice summary of best planting conditions along with the star rating system, all conveniently in one place so one can place the order and refer to the critical information.

My favorite is the little column at the right side of the left page which tells me what pollinators are attracted to each plant variety.

The detailed planting guide is a great reference, too, I check that before I plant any wildflowers.

In case you don't know where to start, this catalog also has suggested plant groupings for hummingbirds, bees, birds, butterflies, rain gardens, forest wildflowers, prairie plants and glade plantings. Each grouping of 10 plants covers about 25 square feet and can be ordered as seedlings.

The Missouri Wildflowers Nursery 2018 catalog will be available February 2018.

For those of you who visit the nursery, you can recycle your plastic pots there:

Missouri Wildflowers Nursery, 9814 Pleasant Hill Road, Jefferson City, Mo. You can reach them at mowildflrs@socket.net and by calling (573) 496-3492.

Tell Pamela I sent you!

Charlotte

2018 Gardening Calendar

If you don’t keep a garden diary, this is a good time to start. You can keep track of what worked well, and what didn’t, as well as other major garden changes, through a diary. I started mine in 1985 and included wildlife observations. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

2018 Gardening Calendar

To keep my major gardening chores organized, years ago I developed a gardening calendar associated with federal holidays to help me remember important milestones. This came in handy when I worked away from home full-time because it helped me get supplies and plan ahead for what I wanted to get done on those long weekends.

I live in USDA Hardiness Zone 5b, which is the US "belt." Here's my calendar for 2018:

Jan. 1 New Years:  Spray inside plants for hitchhiking bugs; remove dead branches. Mark garden catalogs for possible projects.

Jan. 15 Martin Luther King Day: Check plants wintering inside are getting enough sunlight; move them around and give watered down fertilizer. Mark gardening calendars for items to order. Check deck pots outside for moisture and add compost.

Feb. 14 Valentine's Day: Prune fruit trees. Clean and repair garden implements; wash flower pots; repair bird houses. Start looking for blooming crocus.

Feb. 19 President's Day: Plant onion sets, lettuce, spinach, radishes either in garden or in deck containers.

March 17 St. Patrick's Day: Plant potatoes, snow peas, Brussels sprouts and broccoli; start tomato and pepper seedlings.

March 20 Spring Equinox: Prune and compost roses. Add compost to raised garden beds. Plant more lettuce, spinach, radishes, onions.

April 1 Easter: Plant tree seedlings and native wildflowers. Update garden diary for bulbs I need to divide and move this fall; mark locations so can find them when it’s time to dig them up.

April 23 Earth Day: Plant last of my spinach, peas and lettuce. Cover garden with tulle to keep deer out. Start pinching mums back once a week.

May 13 Mother's Day: Last day of frost so everything can get moved outside. Leave delicate plants outside for a few hours for the first few days to get them used to outside conditions. Leave seedlings in containers outside for a few days before moving them permanently into the garden.

May 28 Memorial Day: Last day to plant anything from seed in garden including basil, pumpkins, cucumbers and zucchini. Compact fruit trees, bushes and perennials also get planted so they can benefit from June showers.

June 17 Father's Day: Last weekend to plant perennials.

July 4 Independence Day: Last day for planting beans. Last weekend for pinching back Mums so they bloom bushy this fall.

Sept. 3 Labor Day: Harvest fall crops; check for bugs; add compost, and start getting raised garden beds ready for winter.

Oct. 8 Columbus Day: Trim deck plants. Start moving them inside house for winter.

Oct. 31 Halloween: First fall hard frost. Add compost to raised bed gardens.

Keep track of the changes in your garden by taking photos from the same spots, especially if you have made major changes. Gardens change all on their own, too. (Photos by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Nov. 11 Veterans Day: Clean and store pots, garden tools; toss out torn gardening gloves; mark envelopes with saved seeds; update garden diary. If there's been a hard frost, good time to mulch plant beds so soil temperature doesn't fluctuate. Check for spring bulbs on sale.

Nov. 22 Thanksgiving: If ground is frozen, mulch garden beds.

Dec. 21 Winter Solstice: Water first year mums and pansies once a month through winter. Make sure winter birds have defrosted water to drink.

Dec. 25 Christmas: Make a note on who admires your Christmas cactus to give starts to next year.

Happy New Year!

Charlotte

Best Missouri Gardening Magazine

A sample of Missouri Gardener magazines, these are from my library, I use them for reference.

Best Missouri Gardening Magazine

If I had only one gardening and landscaping magazine I could order, it would be Missouri Gardener magazine. Besides what every gardener enjoys, beautiful photography, this bi-monthly publication offers a variety of information from region-specific tips to plant insect and disease identification and what I love, inspiration through features about other lovely and interesting gardens.

I first became aware of this magazine in a doctor's office. I had just leafed through another waiting room staple, Birds and Blooms Magazine and was wanting something with more substance when I saw a copy of Missouri Gardener. Not only could I enjoy beautiful photography but this publication had the details I was looking for, how to plant a rock garden, ward off pests, even a recipe to cook with cilantro. I have kept all of mine handy so I can access the different seasonal information when I am doing my garden planning, and some of the feature articles are just sheer inspiration.

Wondering about the USDA Hardiness zones? Missouri Gardener magazine explains the zones.

In the January-February 2017 edition, for example, there was a good article about the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Hardiness zones and what they mean. As someone who lives on a Missouri limestone hillside on the second highest point in the county, I was intrigued to discover USDA zone 5b dips down from Missouri's center to pull in where I live. Just looking at a map, I would never have guessed that my growing area had more in common with the northern part of the state.

There are a variety of herb uses including cooking with them, this article has tips and a recipe.

That same publication had an interesting article about one of my favorite herbs, Cilantro, including a pesto recipe I want to try. Now I have three recipes with cilantro to try, perfect reason to keep growing it!

Love large color photographs of plant pests and diseases, makes identification so much easier.

Pests can decimate the best plants so knowing how to identify them, and then what to do to discourage them, also comes in handy. Most other publications I have seen have tiny, maybe even black and white photos, which doesn't help when trying to identify tiny pests. 

Larger, color photographs are easier to help with pest identification and also the kind of damage one will see on the plant itself. If I can't see the bugs, the symptoms of the presence of the bugs will help me with a correct identification.

James Quinn, a University of Missouri Extension horticulture expert, offers tips for my area.

Throughout the glossy publication, beautiful photography as well as helpful hints. I live in the Central Region so my master gardener colleague James Quinn provides good gardening tips.

Fun to talk to gardening groups around the state and collect upcoming events for this calendar.

I would be remiss if I don't mention the upcoming calendar of events that is both in print and online. As the editor of that section, I spend a lot of time tracking down upcoming gardening-related activities that would be fun to attend. The deadline for this calendar is 4-6 months ahead of the publication date so if you don't see your favorite event listed, it's because the details were not available at publication time.

You don't live in Missouri? Good news, state-by-state gardening has similar publications for more than 21 other midwest and southern states. Cost for an annual subscription is $19.95. Did I mention the subscription includes a card for 10% off purchases from participating businesses?

There are some other perks. By subscribing, you will get monthly enewsletters with tips and updated information. There is an online State By State Gardening bookstore with a nice selection of state-specific reference books, hard to find at least for Missouri, and mogardener.com is an online forum where you can ask questions and get access to other articles, videos, recipes and more.

One of my feature articles in Missouri Gardener about a lovely forest garden in Newburg, Mo.

I am delighted to be a contributing writer but I would subscribe even if I wasn't associated with it, it's a good resource for timely local gardening and landscaping information.

Ready to subscribe?

Charlotte

Snowflowers

Autumn Sedum "Joy" covered in snow was the inspiration for my calling them snowflowers.

Snowflowers

You don't know about snowflowers? That's okay because they only "grow" in my hillside garden when it becomes magical after a good snow fall. 

If you've ever walked through a garden after a snow, you will see trees, shrubs and flower beds transformed by ice and snow hanging onto the remnants of blooming flowers and stems. I deliberately leave my flower stems uncut so birds can enjoy the seeds in winter. After seeing them covered in snow, I now say I leave them uncut so that I can also find more snowflowers.

A border of mums turns into a white snow-covered hedge of small snowflowers.

After a good snowfall, I like to walk through my garden and try to recall what plant is sitting under the blanket of snow. Sometimes it's easy to spot the original plant, like the Autumn Sedum "Joy" that transforms itself every season. In spring, it's low to the ground sprouting in the shape of rosettes. By summer, it's a 2-foot succulent plant with pink flowers. By fall, the pink flowers have dried and turned a burnt orange, providing the perfect landing spot for snow to stick and become white caps on the orange base.

These mint plants alter entirely once covered in a sprinkling of snow.

Sometimes I don't know what the original plant was, like these perennial mints that take on a whole new look once covered in snow. I know they are a mint because the stems are square and hollow but I haven't made much progress in terms of identifying what kind of mint.

I live in USDA's hardiness zone 5b, which is North America's gardening belt. We had a parched fall so the snowfall is a welcome sight to help replenish the water tables and hopefully end the fall drought.

One more snowflower, this one on still-green leaves of my white tree rose. Love the pop of green peeking out from under the white tops, the tree rose looks like it still has white flowers.

One of my white tree roses covered in snow. This one kept its leaves even after the first snowfall.

Snow changes my whole garden. I look forward the morning sunshine after a snowfall, the whole landscape changes.

The front of my garden covered in snow. When the sun shines, the garden is magical!

Another advantage of having a snowy garden, with snowflowers there is no watering or weeding required.

Charlotte

Winter Tomato Plant

Miriam, my 2017-2018 winter tomato plant, is starting to flower in one of my bay windows.

Winter Tomato Plant

Most people have tropical plants and some herbs growing inside over winter. I do as well but I also add one tomato plant to my indoor winter garden.

This year's winter tomato plant was literally a last minute planting. I found the little seedling growing in a flower bed where I had planted hyssop starts from a friend's garden so this wasn't even a tomato start from my garden.

Over the years, I have added a tomato plant to my inside garden to winter over with my other tropical plants. Some years this one tomato plant makes it through spring to spend a second year outside providing me delicious fruits. In their native habitat of Peru, tomatoes grow as perennials, living for many years to produce fruit without the plant dying off and having to be re-grown every year.

I was so busy with other things this year I forgot to set aside a tomato plant to winter over inside. Usually it's a plant that was sacrificed to feed tomato hornworms early summer so that by moving inside time in October, the tomato plant is starting to recover. I didn't have many hornworms this year so I didn't have to segregate a tomato plant from the rest.

When I recognized the seedling growing in a flower bed, I pulled the seedling out of the ground, brought it inside, plopped it into a six-inch pot with fresh potting soil and stuck it in a southwest inside window.

At Christmas, I noticed the first flowers on the now 2-foot high plant so it must be happy where I plopped it. Time to do a little pollinating!

How to Pollinate Inside Tomato Plant

The absence of pollinating insects can be a problem when growing indoor tomatoes so hand pollinating is helpful. In nature, bees and other pollinators move the pollen from one flower to the next, matchmakers in the plant's scheme to survive by producing fruit with seeds. Since I don't have tiny pollinators available, I will be doing the honors.

One way to help a winter tomato plant pollinate is to tap the stems lightly when flowers are in bloom to spread pollen. That's easy enough to do but not a reliable way to hand pollinate.

I have also used a cotton swab tapped into each flower to move the pollen around. That's a better way and ensures the pollen ends up where it needs to be.

Besides giving the plant watered down fertilizer every couple of weeks, I turn the plant daily so each side gets adequate sun and flower and fruit production is even.

Miriam is now staked to keep the plant upright.

The full Miriam, now about 3-foot tall and needing a taller stake to keep leaning into as she grows.

Miriam the tomato plant is keeping other tropicals company this winter season. A banana plant, right, and several tropical hibiscus plants give one of my reading nooks a nice garden flavor.

And yes, I have my chairs facing the windows instead of the inside of the room. That way I can sit and enjoy the view without having to turn the chairs. When friends visit, I turn them back into the room or we've been known to sit as the chairs are and enjoy the view together.

Miriam the tomato plant spends her days in this window with southeastern exposure. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Will this tomato plant have tomatoes?

With a little care, winter growing tomatoes will produce in about the same time as their outdoor counterparts so yes, I should have some tomatoes by March.

Charlotte

Christmas Cacti or Cactuses

One of my Christmas cactus currently in bloom, see the smooth edges of the leaves?

Christmas Cacti or Cactuses

Or should I say Christmas "cacti?" I have a tendency to call them "cactuses," too. Whatever you call them, these living plants from where I grew up in Brazil, north of Rio de Janeiro, are a favorite of a number of friends of mine. They like to compare photos, and tips, for keeping these South American plants happy and in bloom so here are a few photos of mine currently in bloom.

Christmas versus Thanksgiving Cactus

First, there are two kinds of Christmas cactus that often get confused. The original Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) is no longer available on the commercial market so if someone has a start from grandmother, most likely it is a true Christmas cactus. The leaves of the old-fashioned Christmas cactus are rounded.

By comparison, the Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) has pointed ends on the green fronds. They also tend to bloom earlier than the old-fashioned Christmas cactus, like this white version that was in bloom a month ago.

This is a Thanksgiving cactus, note the spikes on the green leaves.

There is a third popular cactus available commercially and that one blooms in spring so it's sold as an Easter cactus.

Cactus Care

These tropical plants prefer indirect southern exposure. They will tolerate low light, but perform best in bright, indirect light in the home. Brighter light is beneficial during the winter, but full summer sun can result in pale plants. If you have them outside in the summer, keep plants in a semi-shady location.

Christmas cacti prefer temperatures of 70 to 80 F for their April to September growing season.

According to Dr. David Trinklein, University of Missouri Extension, Christmas cacti do not grow well in a wet root environment. Christmas cacti tolerate under watering better than overwatering. Water only when the growing medium is dry to the touch. If you put a saucer under the pot to collect drainage water, empty it to keep excess water from wicking back into the pot. Failure to do so results in a soggy root environment, which is an open invitation to root rot.

Reduce watering from fall through spring. Only fertilize plants during their growth period of early spring through late summer. Use a regular fertilizer at one-quarter strength or a houseplant fertilizer according to label directions.

Keep Christmas cacti slightly pot-bound to induce prolific flowering. Repotting may be necessary every three years. Use a porous, well-drained potting mix. Commercial mixes made for epiphytes are good choices. Make regular peat-lite mixes into epiphytic mixes by adding perlite or sterile sharp sand to increase porosity.

How to Get Christmas Cacti to Rebloom

Reblooming Christmas cacti can be challenging, Trinklein said. The cacti are short-day plants. However, temperature affects their response to day length. In fact, Trinklein says, flowering will occur regardless of day length under cool night conditions (50-55 F).

Prolific flowering occurs when plants are exposed to cool nights with at least 13 hours of darkness. Reduce water to slightly stress the plant at this time to improve flowering. Expose holiday cacti to short days, cool nights and dry conditions in mid-October for full bloom during the holiday season.

Wish I could tell you I follow these rules but I don't. I leave the plants in the same window all year and sometimes forget to check on them to water. They are kept in the cool basement during summer with a southern exposure, which triggers their blooming by mid-November.

When the pots are in bloom, I bring them upstairs so I can enjoy them but keep them with the same southern exposure. Sudden changes in temperature, light or other factors, such as excessive drying of the growing medium, can cause Christmas cacti to drop unopened flower buds.

Poor flowering also happens when stray light interrupts the required long periods of darkness during short-day treatment. Interior home lights, streetlights and even car lights can disrupt the required dark period and cause disappointing flowering.

Christmas cacti are prone to root rot, another reason to water sparingly. Avoid overwatering and maintain strict sanitation. Remove common insect pests, which include mealybug and scale.

Another Thanksgiving cactus in bloom, this one looks red and white in bright light.

I started several Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti in hanging baskets. When a piece falls off because I over watered, I plant the piece back in the hanging basket and most of them easily root to start a new plant with very little care. This red Thanksgiving cactus in the hanging basket has some of the dead cactus pieces in the front, turned brown. 

If you have friends who admire your Christmas cactus, consider taking snips to make starts and get them rooted for next year gifts. Remember to label them so you know what color they are. It can take 3-4 years before a plant is mature enough to start blooming.

Newest Christmas Cactus Addition

One of my master gardener colleagues earlier this summer mentioned she had a Christmas cactus that needed a new home. Without knowing what color or size it was, I volunteered to adopt it. To my delight, the plant was huge. Another friend told me these can live for decades so I found a plant stand to better display the beauty of the plant and now I'm looking for a pot to cover the plastic one.

This is a very old Christmas cactus, I feel so lucky to now be the caretaker of this lovely plant.

I placed the plant in my southern exposure basement window, not expecting any blooms for this holiday. To my surprise, buds started within weeks of the plant settling in and now it's covered in blooms, just in time for Christmas.

Charlotte

Sheets Over Apricot Trees

Bed sheet covers a compact dwarf apricot tree.

Sheets Over Apricot Trees

Even though we had a mild winter last year, we also had a last hurrah of cold weather right after my compact dwarf apricot trees bloomed. As our climate continues to rapidly change, we can expect even more erratic weather patterns so knowing how to protect plants from radical temperature fluctuations will come in handy.

Freezing temperatures are not good news for any blooming plants and trees but anything below 27F means there will be no fruit later in the year.

Having missed several years of fruit because of late frosts, I have tested a number of combinations of items around the house to protect the fruit blooms during freezing weather. Last year, I tried bed sheets by themselves. This year, I combined bed sheets with the lightweight fleece blankets I use for furniture covers to keep cat hair off my chairs.

I first carefully draped the compact dwarf apricot trees with the fleece blanket, then draped them with the sheet I then tucked underneath and pinned closed with quilting pins.

Only once did I sneak outside at night to double check that the pins were holding the sheets closed. They were. That next morning, there were good signs that the combination of fleece and sheet was working.

Flowering apricot blooms peek out from under sheets covering a light fleece blanket.

Peeking out of the corner of the sheet, I saw the end of one of the tree branches still showing the lovely pink blooms of the apricot blossoms. It was day 3 of the 5 days of cold weather so we still had a couple of more days to go but that was encouraging to know they had made it this far.

Peeking under the sheet, the apricot flowers inside looked even better.

The combination of a sheet over the fleece blanket kept the apricot tree blooms protected!

By the time the low front had moved through, the flowers had pulled through safely and my bees were once again pollinating the apricot tree flowers.

The sheets by themselves are not enough but the combination of sheet wrapping around the lightweight fleece did work.

To recap then, winter jackets work, and so do bed sheets over lightweight fleece blankets.  Next, checking on using corn sacks as frost protection for compact dwarf fruit trees.

Charlotte

Rose Pruning

Inspiration to learn how to prune roses, it is relatively simple once you follow a few steps.

Rose Pruning

Ok, it’s that time! If you are one of those people who have wondered through the year when you should be pruning your roses, the time is now. I look for green stems by St. Patrick’s Day, a good way to remember what time of year roses should be pruned.

To prune roses, start with sharp trimmers cleaned with alcohol so you are not spreading last year’s diseases. I use old socks soaked in rubbing alcohol to wipe down my trimmers. I also make sure the trimmers have been sharpened so the cuts are clean; using dull trimmers will cause stem tissue damage to the plant and invite diseases as well as slow down growth.

Now pruning anything can be nerve-racking. The good thing to remember is that most plants, including roses, are forgiving so take a deep breath.

The second tip is to take your time.  When I first started pruning, I tied pieces of yarn and old bread ties where I was thinking of cutting. I would adjust the cutting plan before actually making the cut. If I made a cut and didn't like it, I would remind myself of tip number one.

After trying several different approaches, here is how I start. I first remove any and all dead stems, that usually gives a better view of what's left behind and what you should trim next. Go slowly; some branches that are dead may only be dormant. If in doubt, first scrape the branch gently with your fingernail to expose what's underneath. If it's green, that branch is still alive.

Some branches may be yellow green; that means it may be dying but it could rally with a little help so don’t give up on it just yet. Definitely mark that rose for a little extra soil conditioning and give each plant ¼ cup dried coffee grounds, half to one banana peel and 2 tablespoons Epsom salt mixed together. I also add crushed egg shells and dried orange peels when I have them. Feed once a month through the growing season.

You want to keep a shape that leaves air circulating through the center so remove branches that crisscross or are in-growing.

Now that the dead branches are gone, and then the criss-crossing ones have been removed, what is left is almost done.

Look for the pink nodes facing outwards, that's where you want to cut to encourage growth.

Look carefully at what is growing where. Find the pink nodes facing outwards, that’s where the plant will grow. Cut the branch 1/4 inch above the swollen bud at a 45 degree angle, that will encourage the branch to grow outward.

In general, also follow the following guidelines:

If you want your rose bush to be about the same size as it was last year, cut it down by half.

If you want a smaller shrub, prune to one third of its original size.

If you want something larger, prune to two thirds of its original size.

If this is your first year growing roses, prune much lighter at first; I usually wait until at least the second year before doing any pruning.

Charlotte

Fleece Coat Saving Blooms

My old fleece coat covered my compact dwarf peach blossoms during the last winter storm.

Fleece Coat Saving Blooms

If you pick up any gardening catalog, there are a number of fancy products to help protect plants from winter damage, from special coverings to water wands that deliver a mist to keep below freezing temperatures from damaging blooms.

Over the years, I have tried a number of options to protect my compact dwarf fruit trees from late winter freezing temperatures and this year was no exception. The week before spring, five days of below freezing temperatures threatened to nip all of my blooming fruit trees.

Without pause, I raided my closet and pulled out all of my extra winter coats to wrap around my small compact dwarf fruit trees. Most easily fit around the blooms without causing damage, and the extra large fleece jacket fit around the older of the three peach trees.

Peach blossoms were protected under my old fleece coat.

After five days of waiting to see how they would do, it was time to check inside the jacket.

Carefully unbuttoning the front, I peeked inside to find all of the peach blossoms were still intact, even still blooming. 

There may still be homegrown peaches to sample in my future this season, not to mention my best-dressed fruit trees.

Charlotte

Protecting Fruit Trees

Wrapping coats around flowering compact dwarf fruit trees helps protect blooms.

Protecting Fruit Trees Late Winter

Spring is literally only days away but winter is making one heck of a last hurrah this year. After several weeks of spring-like weather, five days of below freezing weather, including a hard frost have zapped my lovely blooming daffodils, hyacinths and possibly compact dwarf fruit trees.

Or maybe not.

After trying a number of different materials, I have found that wrapping my compact dwarf fruit trees in some of my winter jackets has successfully worked in keeping the flowers from getting nipped.

It's not the prettiest sight in the garden. Luckily I don't have neighbors close by or I would be a leading candidate to be reported to the lawn police. After all, who wants to be looking over to a neighbor's house to see shapes that look like strange creatures standing around.

My jackets are serving as compact dwarf tree covers during below zero temperatures.

I ran out of clothing so for my apricot trees, I used fleece blankets under dark honey bed sheets. 

Snow gathered on top of the sheets so I had to remove the snow to prevent the weight from damaging the flowers underneath. When I peeked, most seemed to still be okay but that was before the night with the hard freeze so we will have to see how they fare through those temperatures. It can take a couple of days before I will know wether this was enough protection through those temperatures.

Fleece blankets under bed sheets cover my flowering compact dwarf apricot trees.

Although this may not work, I couldn't sit back and not try. My compact dwarf fruit trees are small enough that I should be able to cover them if I can just get the right combination of warmth and lightness so that it doesn't damage the blooms.

Charlotte

Blooming Semi-Dwarf Pear Tree

The first blooms on my semi-dwarf Bartlett pear tree enticing my honeybees.

Blooming Semi-Dwarf Pear Tree

I almost cringed at the news, the forecaster called for temperatures to dip into the low 20s and snow.

It's been a record mild winter in Missouri this year, with spring a good 3 weeks earlier than previous years. Besides bees setting up house almost a month early, my compact dwarf fruit trees are also blooming early, not a good development when winter has not finished with us yet.

The biggest impact will be on my semi-dwarf Bartlett pear tree, planted next to my driveway in 1984. This tree had not produced fruit for so long I had actually forgotten I had planted it there until 30 years later when in 2010, I finally saw it in bloom.

What a sight. At first I thought it was snow. That's what one gets from looking out the window without glasses on. On closer inspection, and finding one's glasses, I realized my pear tree had finally found it's bloom.

Another close up of the clustered semi-dwarf flowering Bartlett pear tree blossoms.

The flowers of Bartlett pears are so pretty, reminiscent of small single roses.

That first year the pear tree bloomed, I had also cleaned out my birdhouses and found an increased number of small wasps nests. As I looked through dozens of pictures I took of the pear tree, I realized the pollination was courtesy of the wasps that had taken up residence in the birdhouses. I haven't looked at wasps the same since.

One of the pictures I took the first year my Bartlett pear tree bloomed thanks to visiting wasps.

We don't think of wasps as pollinators but they part of the family of insects, birds, bats and other insects and animals that form that fascinating family of pollinators. That was the same year I added honeybees to my garden later in the year. They have joined the wasps visiting the Bartlett pear tree in bloom as well.

Every year since, I wander through the flower beds checking out to see how soon my bees find the rest of the flowering compact dwarf fruit trees. I usually find at least one bee beats me to the flowers.

This is a semi-dwarf Bartlett pear tree full of flowers this year, even though its too early.

On this particular cloudy, overcast day, I didn't see any bees among the flowers but I still enjoyed looking at all of the white.

When one has waited 30 years to see a tree in bloom, one doesn't get tired of finally seeing flowers. And one does cringe at the thought that all of these beautiful possible pears will be gone if a freeze hits the area.

My beautifully-blooming Bartlett pear tree next to my driveway.

My other fruit trees are small enough that I can cover them in coats and sheets but this pear tree is too big to protect.

So every morning, I go outside and check to see if the blooms have made it, hoping that this year in spite of the late winter, I will still get pears later. That's excluding the battle with the squirrels.

Well, one battle at a time.

Charlotte

March Gardening Chores

Birdhouses undergoing repairs are drying in the sun before I put them back out in the garden. Repairing birdhouses are one of the many traditional March gardening chores I look forward to getting ready for spring.

March Gardening Chores

This is the month when I am ready to push my potted plants wintering inside out but in my heart I know it’s too early, our last frost day is supposed to be in May. 

This year, though, everything seems to be at least one month ahead of schedule. According to the USA National Phenology Network, spring IS a good 3 weeks ahead of schedule for mid-Missouri, a trend forecasted as our rapidly changing climate alters traditional weather patterns and seasons. Phenology is nature’s calendar – when dogwood’s bloom, when a robin builds a nest, when leaves turn color in the fall. These trends gardeners, beekeepers, farmers and others have followed for centuries are now followed by a network. The phenology network combines professionals and citizens collecting a variety of data to monitor signs in nature to better identify trends.

With this shift in what to expect, I have also adjusted a few of my traditional March gardening chores but not enough to take a chance on putting my inside plants outside for the season.

1. Check inside potted plants, trimming and shaping so they are ready to go outside. Prune limbs back at least a third, and remove any criss-crossing branches. I also start feeding them diluted fertilizer, a pinch per gallon of water so they can start growing again.

2. Prune outside roses. Remove dead branches first, then remove any dead canes down to the green.

3. Plant onion sets, lettuce, spinach, radishes; I start those in my pots so I can easily cover them if there’s an evening cold spell.

4. You can also plant broccoli and cauliflower, and I like having snow peas to harvest and individually freeze for later use. Snap peas also prefer cooler spring weather. At the rate we are going with record warm spring temperatures, we may have skipped a long cool spring period this year.

My compact pear tree off my deck is getting ready to bud almost a month earlier than in past years. Watching when trees bud is part of what scientists and citizens in the phenology network to do track nature’s seasonal trends. This year, they confirm spring is 3 weeks ahead of schedule in our part of the country. 

5. Plant potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day.  The trick to planting potato seeds is to cut seed potatoes and let them sit out for 2-3 days to first develop a callous before planting. If you immediately plant, the potato seed piece disintegrates before the potato start can develop roots. 

6. Start herbs, tomatoes, peppers and other seeds in starter pots you want to harden off later before planting outside.

7. There’s no more putting this one off, if you leave your garage door open, even for just a few minutes, birds will let you know they are shopping for real estate and they will not be waiting any longer. I usually make repairs – gluing is usually involved – then let that sit for a few days to dry before painting. I also let the paint dry for another few days before taking the birdhouses back out into the garden. 

8. Don’t trim your mums yet, leave the dry tops for late frost protection.

9. Mark where bulbs are popping up so you don’t do what I do and try to plant something there later. Oh, never mind, it’s like finding treasure.

10. Enjoy spring, it's the season of growth and renewal!

Charlotte

Apricot Trees in Bloom

My compact dwarf apricot tree in bloom almost a month earlier than usual.

Apricot Tree in Bloom

I have them all over my one-acre hillside gardens, compact dwarf fruit trees instead of ornamental ones. I have planted them for years in the middle of garden beds, in part for color, in other part for the fruit provided I can beat squirrels to it.

These trees provide regular-sized fruit on short stock so they are easy to pick. I have small paths that lead up to the trees for easy access.

I love the rich pink color of the compact apricot trees against the rich green of the vinca.

This year, the apricot trees are blooming earlier than usual by about 3 weeks. These two rich, dark pink, flower-covered trees lead to my small herb garden. One is shorter than the other courtesy of visiting deer that trimmed one tree shorter than the other one.

The blooms were particularly thick this year.

Compact dwarf apricot tree should be ready to set fruit this year.

As I was photographing the flowers, I wondered if my honeybees had paid a visit. A movement out of the corner of my eye answered the question as a pollen-ladden bee landed on a nearby flower.

One of my honeybees visits the compact dwarf apricot tree blossoms.

Hopefully this will be a good year for fruit yields from these trees courtesy of my bees.

Charlotte

2017 Year of the Daffodil

It's that time of year when I can pick handsfulls of daffodils to share with friends and family.

2017 is the Year of the Daffodil

Did you know that daffodil bulbs were introduced to North America by pioneer women who made the long ocean voyage from Europe to America to build a new future?

Those European settlers were quite creative with how they travelled. Given limited space for bringing personal goods, they sewed dormant daffodil bulbs into the hems of their skirts to plant at their new North American homes to remind them of the gardens they left behind.  The remnant ancestors of those bulbs still persist today in older gardens in the eastern half of the US, making them a part of our heritage for over 300 years!

Land surveyors at a federal agency where I used to work told me they also used to look for the yellow daffodil swaths as hints for old Missouri homesteads. Many Scottish Irish immigrants settled in Missouri as they were traveling west and their party hit some mishap - a broken axle, injured horse, sick child. Even those settlers carried with them a few bulbs as reminders of their original homes.

Daffodils are popular spring flowers where I live because they are also deer-proof. Daffodils belong to the Amaryllidaceae plant family. The official botanical genus name for Daffodils is narcissus, which comes from the Greek word ‘Narkissos’ and its base word ‘Narke’, meaning sleep or numbness, attributed to the sedative effect from the alkaloids in its plants. 

I have daffodils all over my one-acre limestone hillside, some gifts, others rescues from other gardens, few purchased. Although it's not always easy to dig holes, the bulbs do settle in and naturalize, even in the hardest limestone and sandstone hillsides.

This is a good time of year to mark where they are growing if you want to move them later. I prefer them scattered throughout the hillside so I can enjoy seeing them out of all of my windows.

And I can always find room for more. In my world, daffodils are "in" every year.

Charlotte

Winter Tomatoes

My winter tomato plant is nicely setting fruit in one of my living room windows. One of the challenges of growing tomatoes inside is the lack of insect pollinators but Howard appears to have had some visitors before I brought him inside. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Winter Tomatoes

Over the years, I have mentioned to friends that I grow tomatoes in winter. I know there are some skeptics so meet Howard, my tomato plant for this winter.

Howard is probably a Roma by the shape of the fruit. It’s a good guess because I tend not to worry about labeling my plants. I can tell one vegetable from another and, when it comes to tomatoes, I like them all. If I have to distinguish the variety, I vote for taste sampling.

Now Howard had a rough summer last year. Actually he wasn’t much of a tomato plant at all, if you count being a tomato plant as actually going to fruit. Howard was the tomato plant that had all leaves eaten off by tomato hornworms when the caterpillars discovered my deck garden plants.

Happens every year. The little tomato plant starts look beautiful for awhile, turning my corner deck garden into an amazing lush green wonderland. Then one morning, I find the telltale green pellets on the ground, a sure sign that caterpillars are gorging themselves on the tomato leaves.

Tornado hornworms turn into hummingbird moths.

Since those caterpillars turn into beautiful pollinating hummingbird moths, I don’t destroy the caterpillars. Instead, I carefully pick them off and move them to a tomato plant I set aside on the side of the deck. As long as I find all of the caterpillars, they leave the rest of my tomato plants to fruit in peace and peacefully finish their metamorphosis.

It was a good caterpillar crop so poor Howard ended up pretty nude by the end of the summer growing season. I almost forgot about him until October, when I bring my tropical plants inside. He was sitting behind one of the tropical hibiscus; I assumed he was spent. Instead, he was showing very healthy new growth so I cleaned him up and brought him inside as my one winter tomato plant.

Tomatoes are perennial plants in their native Peru. They are also heavy feeders, which means they need rich soil with healthy microorganisms to keep them alive and growing. To make sure they have nutrients they need, I added composted soil, Epsom salt and worm castings, giving them three different sources. I wasn’t sure the flowers would get pollinated but apparently a few did or I would not have fruit ripening.

Just as in our summer gardens, winter tomatoes also prefer even watering. To make sure Howard didn’t dry out, I added a plastic bottle with holes buried up to the bottle opening so that when I water, the soil gets more evenly soaked.

I keep trying, though, because more often than not, I have one tomato plant growing all winter and making it into spring next year. The longest growing tomato plant – so far – was one that grew for 4 years.

Howard tomato plants turning red, almost ready enough to pick!

With Howard in a pot sitting in a southern exposure window, I started getting ripe tomatoes by mid-January. They aren’t as sweet as summer-ripened tomatoes but they are better than any tomatoes I have purchased during winter.

Nice treat to enjoy in the middle of the non-growing, snowy season.

Charlotte

Recycled Pussy Willows

Pussy Willow buds are soft as cat fur and when in bloom are wonderful sources of pollen for bees.

Recycled Pussy Willows

I have always wanted to add these charming perennials to my garden but just never found them on sale. 

This sprig came from a cut down bush dropped off at our local recycling center, the branches still fresh and green. Worth a try to get them rooted, especially since now I have a place where I can put them safely away from curious cat paws looking for a new play toy.

Trimmed at an angle, the pussy willow branches are now in a pot hopefully rooting.

Many shrub branches can be started like this. Cut the branch about 8 inches long with a 45-degree clean angle cut and remove any greenery that will be under the soil.

I added a little root cutting stimulator, make a small hole in the damp potting soil and added the pussy willow branch. I added several in case not all of them take but I am told these plants are easy to root. Once I know they have started, I will move them into individual pots.

Pussy willows are one of the first flowering trees in late winter and early spring. Having more pollen sources in my garden for my bees will help them have more food sources at a time when little is available.

These can also be rooted in a jar of water but I had the extra potting soil available.

In another 4 weeks or so, I will peek to see if the roots have started.

Charlotte

Winter-Blooming Daffodils

These daffodils are blooming a good month earlier than they should be.

Winter-Blooming Daffodils

There really is no such thing, winter-blooming daffodils. There are species of daffodils that bloom early, in the past sometime mid-March, depending on weather. A good rain, even with cold temperatures, could coax greenery out of the ground long enough so that sunshine would bring a bud to the surface.

This year, traditional blooming patterns are kicking off the year even more unpredictably than they were last year. Hellebores, which usually start blooming mid-January were not setting bud until a month later. Daffodils, which don't bloom until mid-March, the beginning of spring, were nodding their bright yellow heads a month early, which inspired me to call them winter-blooming. That was also confusing because although mid-February, temperatures were in the 60s, breaking yet another record for the warmest recorded days.

Ok, I'm not loosing my mind. According to the National Phenology Network, "spring continues to arrive three or more weeks early – now making an appearance in Missouri, West Virginia, and the southern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Washington DC is 22 days early."

USA National Phenology Network has a simple mission: "We bring together citizen scientists, government agencies, non-profit groups, educators and students of all ages to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States."

Nature's Notebook, a citizens involvement program, is quantifying what gardeners and beekeepers have been doing for years, collecting observations and comparing notes. In the case of spring-time, they are suggesting this trend will continue:

"By mid-century, early springs and late-season freezes will likely become the new normal, which may result in more large-scale plant tissue damage and agricultural losses."

Let's hope we also will continue to have winter-blooming daffodils. Hard to think of spring without lovely yellow cheery daffodils.

Charlotte

Yellow Hellebores in Bloom

How about that, the mystery hellebores are yellow doubles!

Yellow Hellebores In Bloom

I picked up these wonderful perennial winter-blooming plants on sale a couple of years ago. Because they were on sale, I didn't know what they were in terms of color, I just knew they were hellebores and I wanted to add more to my hillside Missouri garden.

Hellebores are very interesting perennials. They bloom usually in the middle of cold midwest winters. their flowers the only blooms within miles. The flowers are actually leaves protecting the center stamens were the seed pods grow, usually appearing by late April.

This year, my established hellebores didn't start to bloom until mid-February, which is about a month later than in the past. The rest of my garden is also a bit off schedule. I have bulbs growing a good three weeks ahead of schedule with the exception of crocus, which in the past have bloomed on Valentine's Day, February 14. I have half a mind to give up trying to guess when something is going to be in bloom except that I have bees and I keep track of what's in bloom to track their food sources.

Although my hellebore plants were close to where they were picking up pollen substitute, my bees were not showing any interest in the budding flowers.

I am glad to finally find out what color these mystery hellebores on sale are. It's a nice surprise to know they are yellow double hellebores and will fit right into my spring landscape along with all of the other yellow daffodils and tulips.

That has a nice ring to it - spring.

Charlotte

Picking Up Injured Bird

Picking Up Injured Bird

Have you seen bird bodies in the middle of a road? I have, and when I can, I stop to pick them up in case they can recover. After this last experience, I will be paying more attention, and stopping more, if I can.

On this particular Saturday, I was headed to the grocery store when I saw a bird standing in the middle of my two-lane road trying to push another bird lying on its side. It reminded me of a video I saw online of a bird trying to push another injured bird up. It was an unusual enough sight that I pulled over to better observe what was going on.

When the standing bird saw my car, it flew off so I got out to check on the bird still on the ground. The bird lying wasn't moving but it was breathing. I didn't see any noticeable injuries but it didn't appear to be able to fly. On closer inspection, it was an Eastern Bluebird, probably hit by a passing car.

I love birds. I have more than 38 birdhouses scattered throughout my 1-acre Missouri hillside garden. Birds are not only fun to watch but they are natural insect predators helping to keep my little garden ecosystem balanced. One of the first species I found on this property were Eastern Bluebirds, which is why when the city asked me to help name my road, I suggested Bluebird - after a few other names were rejected. I was trying to keep the name honest to the area but they didn't think my first choice, "Lizard Ridge," would do much for the property resale value.

Wrapping the injured Eastern Bluebird in a towel I carry in my car, I took the bird home and gently inspected it for any injuries. It was breathing through an open beak so I placed it next to my little front porch waterfall in case it needed a drink.

I placed the Eastern Bluebird I found lying on the road near my front porch waterfall.

The Eastern Bluebird didn't move. Not knowing how long the Eastern Bluebird had been lying on the ground, I suspected the bird's body temperature might have been going down so I wrapped it back up to stay warm.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, "the Eastern Bluebird is a small thrush with a big, rounded head, large eye, plump body, and alert posture. The wings are long, but the tail and legs are fairly short. The bill is short and straight. Male Eastern Bluebirds are vivid, deep blue above and rusty or brick-red on the throat and breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and a subdued orange-brown breast."

The injured bird close up looked like a female Eastern Bluebird. Her coloring was muted, as opposed to the bright feathers of the male Eastern Bluebirds I see periodically in my garden.

My garden is a certified wildlife habitat. Over the years, I have nursed and released dozens of wild animals back into the wild, all with the full knowledge of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

After taking down one of my bird cages in the garage, I made a little nest of paper towels in an old plastic container, wrapped the Eastern Bluebird in fleece and hung the bird cage outside in a tree.

The injured Eastern Bluebird resting in a makeshift nest in a bird cage hanging from a tree.

At first the Eastern Bluebird lay in the make shift nest with her eyes closed. It was hard not to check on her every few minutes but I finally walked away so she could rest in peace.

Caged Eastern Bluebird started opening her eyes for a minute, then closing them.

Of course I didn't stay away, I kept going back to check on how she was doing and making sure she was tucked in and warm. 

About half an hour later, she was opening and closing her eyes but she was still not showing a lot of energy.

Her body temperature, however, was warmer so I tucked her in tightly again and forced myself inside to get a cup of tea.

This was a good sign, her eyes were open and bright, she may have just recovered.

After another half an hour, her eyes were fully open and bright so I decided to take her out to see if she could fly. 

Gently removing her from the fleece, I opened my hands and off she flew into a nearby tree.

Recovering Eastern Bluebird perches in a nearby tree in Bluebird Gardens.

She sat on a nearby tree branch for several minutes before moving on. I like to think she knew where to find the male Eastern Bluebird that was trying to nudge her when she was lying on the road.

As I watched her fly off, I thought about how bluebirds are a symbol of happiness and how her recovery made me very, very happy.

Charlotte

2017 Phelps County Master Gardener Core Course Registration Open

Print this form off and register for the spring 2017 core course to be a master gardener.

2017 Phelps County Master Gardener Core Course Registration Open

I can still remember how excited I was about getting ready to register for this first master gardener class.  It was not that long ago, although wanting to be a master gardener had been on my to do list for much longer.

What I enjoyed about these series of University of Missouri gardening courses was that they were Missouri-specific, had very practical applications and I could go home and apply the information in my own garden. 

My favorite class was the one on soils, an intricate world I knew was fundamental but never suspected was so fascinating. To this day when someone tells me something is not growing well I start looking first at how they are treating their soils.

The other aspect of these classes I enjoyed was getting to know my classmates. Some were attending classes as the foundation for businesses they had always wanted to pursue; others were tired of not getting anything to grow and wanted to cure their black thumbs, and yet even more wanted Missouri-specific recommendations on what varieties to grow. I'm not positive but I do believe our class still holds the record for keeping the Mountain Grove Fruit Experiment Station lecturer the longest after class discussing blueberry, strawberry and raspberry varieties to plant. 

Once these classes are completed, students volunteers for 30 hours in approved projects to become a certified master gardener, contributing back to their communities in a variety of ways from teaching to designing gardens.

The deadline to register for this spring 2017 class is Thursday, February 23. Cost is $150. Contact University of Missouri Phelps County Extension, 200 North Main, Rolla, Mo. (573) 458-6260.

Charlotte