Yesterday, the USDA released a revised "Plant Hardiness Zone Map." It is GIS based and considered more accurate because of increased reliability of data and a longer time frame of data used. Other factors were also considered in determining the appropriate zone layout.
Here is a link to the interactive map. You can enter your zip code and get a quick return on your zone. Although I was hoping for a warmer zone 5 (only so I could plant a Granny Smith applie tree), my zip now shows as zone 4b.
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/
Enjoy!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Butterfly Garden?
As I was planning to plan my 2012 garden, I was really only thinking of vegetables. But I came across this post on the University of Minnesota Extension website regarding butterfly gardening.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/DG6711e.html
And non-vegetable gardens deserve as much planning as vegetable gardens. Although I feel that by producing vegetables, I am providing for my family. However, there is an aesthetic property to having a beautiful yard that will provide season-long enjoyment for me and my family. I bet the neighbors will be thankful for a nice plot of flowers, too.
My past leanings have been for perennials. I think that was mostly driven my my frugal nature. But in the Extension's publication, I learned that butterflies mostly want nectar and that since annuals tend to bloom for long stretches of the summer, they can provide well for them. There is also a need for perennials, as they can provide variation over many seasons. Additionally, a divers planting can provide a flower bed that is more resistant to any single environmental problem.
As I continue on my planning journey, I will be considering placement of a butterfly garden.
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/DG6711e.html
And non-vegetable gardens deserve as much planning as vegetable gardens. Although I feel that by producing vegetables, I am providing for my family. However, there is an aesthetic property to having a beautiful yard that will provide season-long enjoyment for me and my family. I bet the neighbors will be thankful for a nice plot of flowers, too.
My past leanings have been for perennials. I think that was mostly driven my my frugal nature. But in the Extension's publication, I learned that butterflies mostly want nectar and that since annuals tend to bloom for long stretches of the summer, they can provide well for them. There is also a need for perennials, as they can provide variation over many seasons. Additionally, a divers planting can provide a flower bed that is more resistant to any single environmental problem.
As I continue on my planning journey, I will be considering placement of a butterfly garden.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Planning to Plan
Okay, so it's only January 1st. But based on my past procrastination, I think it's not too early to get planning for the upcoming growing season. Yes, it is upcoming and time to plant seeds indoors will be here before I know it!
So, before I plant seeds, I need to reflect on past growing seasons - what worked and did not work - as well as what I want to try. Without this reflection and planning, my gardening probably will revert back to the haphazard nature of times past. I'd like to avoid as much of that as possible! Also, by planning, I feel better equipped to purchase seeds and plants. If I can start seeds for something I want in my garden, I can be sure of getting the variety I want, while hopefully saving a few pennies.
Since my planning is a process, I will be posting more information as I go through it! For now, I will be perusing the seed catalogs I have already received in the mail!
Happy gardening, already!
So, before I plant seeds, I need to reflect on past growing seasons - what worked and did not work - as well as what I want to try. Without this reflection and planning, my gardening probably will revert back to the haphazard nature of times past. I'd like to avoid as much of that as possible! Also, by planning, I feel better equipped to purchase seeds and plants. If I can start seeds for something I want in my garden, I can be sure of getting the variety I want, while hopefully saving a few pennies.
Since my planning is a process, I will be posting more information as I go through it! For now, I will be perusing the seed catalogs I have already received in the mail!
Happy gardening, already!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Poinsettias
Here is a quick post regarding poinsettias. Take a look at this University of Illinois Extension site - it's loaded with information on poinsettias!
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/index.cfm
Take this new knowledge and enjoy the season!!
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/index.cfm
Take this new knowledge and enjoy the season!!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Rhubarb, Raspberries and Edible Landscaping
Spring is such a great time of year. To me, it's miraculous how things revive after the long, dormant winter. The first flowers sprout, hostas return, asparagus comes up, and my favorite - rhubarb - comes back to life!
As I find out more about "edible landscaping," I realize that I have been thinking about this long before I was aware it was a new method of landscape design I've thought a lot in recent year about making my garden and yard spaces more about plants that produce food, than for mere aesthetically pleasing plants. And I've always coveted my neighbors rhubarb for both it's beauty and tastiness! (Please forgive me!)
I'm starting my fourth growing season in my current location and I am slowly learning how things grow in my yard. With this knowledge, I am able to plan and move things around as I attempt to make it all customized to my and my family's wants and needs.
When I came home with my girls after 5:00 yesterday afternoon, I went inside to start dinner and my girls went out to play. Before long, they came back inside and excitedly told me that some plants were missing. I did not know what they were talking about, so they took me outside to show me. To my joy, a friend had apparently come during the day and removed three of my red-twig dogwood bushes for her daughter. (Or there really was a bush thief!) This has freed up space for either rhubarb or raspberries in these high-sun locations.
Luckily, I have both fairly readily available as transplants from friends or to move from other spaces in my garden. A friend of mine has given me harvested rhubarb for the past three or four seasons. I always appreciate that! And now I have space that is open and ready for a transplant.
But I also have one or two pots of yellow raspberries that need to be put into the ground. They have wintered over twice in the pots. I am unsure of if it is two pots, because they have evidently made runners and are creating their own patch, despite being in a fairly shady area. According to a publication by the University of Minnesota Extension (http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1108.html), red and yellow raspberries are the only ones that spread and create a patch. Black and most purple raspberries, by nature of the way they grow, do not spread as readily.. Raspberries should be planted in a full-sun, well-drained area that has good air circulation. This makes my newly-available spot seem ideal. This spot is at the top of a retention wall in full sun. It will have air circulation on all sides, as well as be in sun for most of the day.
So, what about rhubarb in this spot? I will have other spaces open, at least eventually. But I could plant rhubarb here and then plant the raspberries closer to others that I have. But from what I have read, it might be better to separate the patches of raspberries, to promote diversity and keep diseased plants, if it develops, from taking out all my raspberries.
But to be ready for my eventual rhubarb planting, I want to understand the best place for it. Where ever it is planted, it will be pretty! But I want to give it the best possible chance to thrive. I had a couple of questions this spring about rhubarb bolting already. Usually, the bloom stalks develop a little later in the season. Also, I have had a question on fertilization of rhubarb. All of this has lead me to ask a few more-knowledgeable people about rhubarb, as well as consult the Extension's flyer on rhubarb. This flyer can be found at http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1260.html. (Interestingly, this flyer addresses growing sorrel, as well. This is yet another plant I can add to my edible landscaping plan!)
In this flyer, it states that rhubarb should be grown in full sun in a well-drained location. So, it has similar needs as raspberries. Additionally, rhubarb can benefit from incorporating commercial fertilizer or compost into the soil before planting. Additional fertilization should happen annually in the spring.
Now, I just need to figure out how much rhubarb to plant!
As I find out more about "edible landscaping," I realize that I have been thinking about this long before I was aware it was a new method of landscape design I've thought a lot in recent year about making my garden and yard spaces more about plants that produce food, than for mere aesthetically pleasing plants. And I've always coveted my neighbors rhubarb for both it's beauty and tastiness! (Please forgive me!)
I'm starting my fourth growing season in my current location and I am slowly learning how things grow in my yard. With this knowledge, I am able to plan and move things around as I attempt to make it all customized to my and my family's wants and needs.
When I came home with my girls after 5:00 yesterday afternoon, I went inside to start dinner and my girls went out to play. Before long, they came back inside and excitedly told me that some plants were missing. I did not know what they were talking about, so they took me outside to show me. To my joy, a friend had apparently come during the day and removed three of my red-twig dogwood bushes for her daughter. (Or there really was a bush thief!) This has freed up space for either rhubarb or raspberries in these high-sun locations.
Luckily, I have both fairly readily available as transplants from friends or to move from other spaces in my garden. A friend of mine has given me harvested rhubarb for the past three or four seasons. I always appreciate that! And now I have space that is open and ready for a transplant.
But I also have one or two pots of yellow raspberries that need to be put into the ground. They have wintered over twice in the pots. I am unsure of if it is two pots, because they have evidently made runners and are creating their own patch, despite being in a fairly shady area. According to a publication by the University of Minnesota Extension (http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1108.html), red and yellow raspberries are the only ones that spread and create a patch. Black and most purple raspberries, by nature of the way they grow, do not spread as readily.. Raspberries should be planted in a full-sun, well-drained area that has good air circulation. This makes my newly-available spot seem ideal. This spot is at the top of a retention wall in full sun. It will have air circulation on all sides, as well as be in sun for most of the day.
So, what about rhubarb in this spot? I will have other spaces open, at least eventually. But I could plant rhubarb here and then plant the raspberries closer to others that I have. But from what I have read, it might be better to separate the patches of raspberries, to promote diversity and keep diseased plants, if it develops, from taking out all my raspberries.
But to be ready for my eventual rhubarb planting, I want to understand the best place for it. Where ever it is planted, it will be pretty! But I want to give it the best possible chance to thrive. I had a couple of questions this spring about rhubarb bolting already. Usually, the bloom stalks develop a little later in the season. Also, I have had a question on fertilization of rhubarb. All of this has lead me to ask a few more-knowledgeable people about rhubarb, as well as consult the Extension's flyer on rhubarb. This flyer can be found at http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1260.html. (Interestingly, this flyer addresses growing sorrel, as well. This is yet another plant I can add to my edible landscaping plan!)
In this flyer, it states that rhubarb should be grown in full sun in a well-drained location. So, it has similar needs as raspberries. Additionally, rhubarb can benefit from incorporating commercial fertilizer or compost into the soil before planting. Additional fertilization should happen annually in the spring.
Now, I just need to figure out how much rhubarb to plant!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Compost Junkie
I have to come to grips with this - I just love composting. It's amazing to me how it adds up. My gallon bucket fills up within two days. And during the winter, when the compost bin in the yard only piles up and doesn't decompose, it builds into a mountain!
Anymore, I have a hard time throwing anything away that can be composted. When I was at work today, I put a banana peel in my laptop bag to bring home for the bin. It also makes me wonder where all the compostable trash from the cafeteria goes.
When I was in grade school, we had a gym teacher who was also a farmer. The cafeteria ladies saved him all the food waste for his hogs. I wonder if there is any sorting of the trash here...
There are many benefits to composting. Obviously, there is a reduction in waste going to the landfill. The result of composting is a rich soil that provides natural nutrition when added to flower and vegetable beds. The EPA has a good list of benefits at http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/composting/benefits.htm.
Also, the University of Minnesota has a good article about basic composting at http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG3899.html.
Back to my issue - I need to remember to take the banana peel from my bag before it decomposes there.
Anymore, I have a hard time throwing anything away that can be composted. When I was at work today, I put a banana peel in my laptop bag to bring home for the bin. It also makes me wonder where all the compostable trash from the cafeteria goes.
When I was in grade school, we had a gym teacher who was also a farmer. The cafeteria ladies saved him all the food waste for his hogs. I wonder if there is any sorting of the trash here...
There are many benefits to composting. Obviously, there is a reduction in waste going to the landfill. The result of composting is a rich soil that provides natural nutrition when added to flower and vegetable beds. The EPA has a good list of benefits at http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/rrr/composting/benefits.htm.
Also, the University of Minnesota has a good article about basic composting at http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG3899.html.
Back to my issue - I need to remember to take the banana peel from my bag before it decomposes there.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Receding Snow
I have been recently considering how the snow cover affects our lawn, perennials and gardens. Sometimes the tough winters for us are those that are cold and have lots of snow. But do the greater depths of snow really equate to a "hard" winter?
In my core course for Master Gardening last year, I read some factual information as to what I had already observed. A deep cover of snow acts as a significant insulation for the ground and plants. I am in the process of looking for a factual representation of this. Common thought on this is that ten inches of new "fluffy" snow equals roughly six inches of fiberglass insulation. A food of snow can allow the ground to retain 32-degree temperatures.
No wonder my strawberry plants look good!
In my observations, I have seen how green the grass is when it emerges from the snow cover. But where we make paths through the yard, and therefore the insulation is less, the grass is less green.
The above is a picture of our backyard, showing the footpath we keep clear for walking to the bus, skating, and church. You can clearly see the brown that was the main path. For most of the winter, it was covered with a couple of inches of packed snow and ice.
Spring has sprung! Now, if it would just hurry up to planting time!
In my core course for Master Gardening last year, I read some factual information as to what I had already observed. A deep cover of snow acts as a significant insulation for the ground and plants. I am in the process of looking for a factual representation of this. Common thought on this is that ten inches of new "fluffy" snow equals roughly six inches of fiberglass insulation. A food of snow can allow the ground to retain 32-degree temperatures.
No wonder my strawberry plants look good!
In my observations, I have seen how green the grass is when it emerges from the snow cover. But where we make paths through the yard, and therefore the insulation is less, the grass is less green.
Spring has sprung! Now, if it would just hurry up to planting time!
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