Lilac – Page 16 – The Garden Lady

October 19, 2009October 18, 2009

Echinacea – The Purple Coneflower

Every year one of the best plant conferences on the East Coast is the Perennial Plant Conference held in the fall at Swarthmore College. This conference is co-sponsored by Chanticleer Garden, Longwood Gardens, The Hardy Plant Society/Mid Atlantic Group, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College.Â (If you haven’t visited Chanticleer, Longwood Gardens and The Scott Arboretum, you should. Each garden is fantastic in its own right.)

This year on October 16th a group of friends and this Garden Lady joined what looked like a sell out crowd for this 2009’s excellent, informative conference. I hope to be writing about what some of the excellent speakers had to say in future posts.

Right now I want to talk about one of my favorite features at the conference and that is what is called the Promising Plant Forum. Five people who are either from top nurseries or who work at top gardens give a 7 minute presentation of 3 of their favorite choices for best new plant or underused excellent plant for your garden.

It was interesting that of the 15 plants recommended, 4 were Echinacea plants. Echinacea which are commonly called purple coneflowers are native to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. Echinacea are generally long lived plants that have large, showy flower heads and are in bloom from early to late summer.

Continue reading “Echinacea – The Purple Coneflower”

October 12, 2009October 8, 2009

Burning Bush

TheGardenLady received this question from Patty:

What can I do to make my burning bush turn red?

The Burning Bush Euonymus is also known as Winged Euonymus or Spindle Tree.

If your burning bush is in enough sun, it will turn color in the fall when the weather is cool enough. Your burning bush should have been planted in soil that has good drainage; it does not like to be in excessively wet sites. For optimal fall foliage it likes full sun. If it is in partial shade it won’t have the brilliant red color. In shade the leaves might be more pinkish. The burning bushes start turning red in late summer to late fall. So if your bush grows in full sun you might still have your red bush. Full sun means that sun shines on your bush for a minimum of 6 hours each day. The Euonymus are just beginning to turn color in my area.

October 7, 2009October 1, 2009

Getting Poinsettias to Turn Red

Poinsettia flowers, after blooming by Martin LaBar

TheGardenLady received this question from John:

I have a Poinsettia that I kept outside in a 12″pot from last Christmas. The plant has gotten pretty big and nice green color with no pruning. What can I do to this Pointsettia to get it to turn red?Â Or am I too late?

You may be just a little late in starting to acclimate the Poinsettia to enable the bracts (those are the leaves that look like petals ) on your Poinsettia to turn red by December and to get flowers. Even if you start now and are lucky, the plant may not have the red bracts and flowers until Valentine’s day. Since having a healthy plant is part of the battle, it is worth, at least once, to try to convince the plant to give you the color you want even if you start late. If you don’t have success this year and the plant continues to be healthy and has no insect infestation, don’t toss the plant, but try again next year. Try starting the regimen a little earlier to see if you can do it.

It takes some effort and pampering to make the plant get those red bracts and bloom a second time – something that nurseries do in light and temperature controlled greenhouses where they have the needed equipment and a crew to do the work; but some people have had success in the home.

Continue reading “Getting Poinsettias to Turn Red”

October 5, 2009September 30, 2009

Saving a Sick Peace Lily

TheGardenLady received a question from Billie on her postÂ “Caring for Sick Peace Lilies”.

I have a peace lily that has sympathetic value.Â And it looks awful. I have not moved it. It has been in same spot since april. The leaves are wilting and just hanging over the edge of pot and the leaves are starting to turn brown. It has been like this a couple months. I tried watering it, putting it outside under ashade tree and fertilized it. I recently re-potted it. But thats not helping. I dont know what to do. Please help

Peace Lilies, Spathiphyllum, like well-drained soils that are relatively acidic and like warm temperatures.Â (see here) You should be fertilizing the Peace Lily plant regularly during the growing season to maintain a dark green foliage color.Usually the Peace Lily is a plant that is resistant to most problems. However, occasionally mites, scales, and/or mealy bugs may be a problem. So check your plant leaves. If you have properly cared for your Peace Lily and have ruled out any insect problems, a last try is to repot the plant in new soil. Try one of those brands of potting soils that have slow release fertilizer. (see here)

One problem for plants kept in pots is that there is so little soil in the pots that the soil might not be able to do its job after a while. For example salts can build up in the soil from the fertilizers that were used over the years. (see here)Â Fertilizers are salts and if you do not water thoroughly, salts can become concentrated in the soil in pots. High soil-salt concentrations are toxic to roots and can kill a plant. Peace Lilies are one plant that cannot tolerate any salt build up.

Continue reading “Saving a Sick Peace Lily”

September 30, 2009September 26, 2009

Acid Tolerant Ornamental Grasses

TheGardenLady received this question from Donell.

I live in MI and have removed 3 of 6 evergreen trees between my neighbor’s house and mine. I would like to plant something between the 3 that are left to have a little more privacy – are there any acid tolerant ornamental grasses that could be used?

By removing half of the evergreen trees you have opened up the area for more sun. Most grasses like light and at least 6 hours of sun (see here) . Michigan has some interesting grasses that should grow nicely for you (see here)Â and since landscapers are recommending grasses for high interest but low maintenance you might find some that will work for you (see here).

Many ornamental grasses tend to be tolerant of a wide range of soil types and prefer a pH between 5 and 7. So have your soil tested to see if you can grow the grasses you like.

September 28, 2009September 26, 2009

Japanese Peace Lily – Flowering Issues

TheGardenLady received this question from Cecilia.

I have had a Japanese Peace Lily for about 2-3 years. It was flowering when I bought it and it seems to be thriving as it has grown a fair bit but it has not flowered since.Â Â What can I do?

There can be a number of reasons that your Japanese Peace Lily, Spathipyllum has not flowered since you bought it (see here). I hope the plants are healthy.Â Always check to see there are no insects or slugs on them. They need brighter light than most houses have but they don’t want sun shining on them. Spathiphyllums are tropical plants that grow in shade under tall trees; but in the house where the environment is not identical to their native habitat, they need much more light. You might want to try using grow lights. They like to be misted. Mist the leaves with soft water and keep the plant on a tray of pebbles filled with water that is not touching the plant. They should be watered only when the top 3 inches of soil is really dry and the plant feels light weight. But be sure you don’t over water the plant. Don’t water too frequently. They want to be rootbound. Do not be too quick to repot them and never move them to a pot more than 2 inches larger diameter than the old one. And for best results they need temperatures between 65 and 90 degrees F.

When you bought the plant, the plants might have come from its native habitat. Or the nursery might have gotten plants that were forced to enable it to bloom. You can go back to the nursery where you bought it and ask some questions about it and complain. Or if the plant is healthy, no spider web looking things on the plants which might be spider mites, you might just enjoy it for its foliage.

One of the challenges of raising plants is trying to emulate the plants native habitat. If you can duplicate its native environment, the plant will do what it was created to do – have flowers. But this is difficult to do especially in the home. Homes can be dry or darker than the outdoors. That is why people like to have green houses where they can try to create the environment of the plants. But even green houses can be challenging.

September 25, 2009September 23, 2009

Why Grass Might be Difficult to Grow

TheGardenLady received this question on a post about acidic soil from Todd.

My yard had many oak trees in it. I have stopped letting leaves sit so I can start a decent yard.Â Could this be the reason grass is so difficult to grow?

If you want grass to grow on a lawn, it is good that you stop letting leaves sit on the grass. Grass loves sun. Even the so called shade grass doesn’t like a blanket of leaves covering because all grass needs light. And grass is a heavy feeder. Some kinds of grass need more fertilizer than others.

Grass really doesn’t like to have competition from tree roots.

You wrote that your yard HAD many oak trees in it. What does that mean? Did you chop the trees down? If you still have oak trees in your yard, know that oak trees are also heavy feeders. Their roots want the nutrients and the water to feed the trees. Tree roots are like pancakes- spread out. 90% of tree roots are in the top 3 feet of soil and 50-75% of feeder roots are in the top 1 foot of soil.

Continue reading “Why Grass Might be Difficult to Grow”

September 23, 2009September 22, 2009

Determining Your Hardiness Temperature Zone

TheGardenLady received this question from August.

I live in Mount Laurel, NJ.Â I see many garden care articles related to zone. What zone am I in?

Depending on the hardiness temperature zone map you use, Mount Laurel, New Jersey is either in hardiness temperature zone 6b which has a low in the winter of -5 degrees or is in the warmer zone 7 which has a low in the winter of 0 degrees.Â I believe Mt. Laurel is zone 7 as reported in the Arbor Day Foundation site,Â where you can type in your zip code and your hardiness temperature zone will be shown. The United States National Arboretum site lists Mt. Laurel, NJ in the lower zone 6b.

Anyone who wants to check out their plant hardiness temperature zones should google up the Arbor Day Foundation website or the United States National Arboretum website. Both websites have lots of other information besides your hardiness zone. For example, check out the information on any tree you might want to plant on the Arbor Day Foundation website or the United States National Arboretum has a Gardening Question & Answer section.

Continue reading “Determining Your Hardiness Temperature Zone”

September 21, 2009September 20, 2009

Toxic Sweet Peas – Lathyrus Odoratus

TheGardenLady received a question on her post about sweet peas that asked whether sweet peas are edible.

Sweet peas, Lathyrus odoratus, are the lovely flowers that English gardeners have been raising since Victorian times and call the Queen of Annuals (see here).Â Sweet peas are NOT edible! They are TOXIC. A website definition of toxic is something that is capable of causing injury or death, especially by chemical means; they are poisonous. An excellent, comprehensive list of toxic plants is the one from the University of California at Davis that tells you which plants are dangerous (see here). Refer to this list when you are concerned about plant toxicity. Note that the list tells you the level of toxicity of a plant.

LuktÃ¤rt (Sweet Pea), Lathyrus odoratus by Peter Karlsson

Do not confuse the fragrant, colorful and charming ornamental flowers Lathyrus odoratus that are toxic with edible peas Pisum sativum that may be classified as garden peas (English peas), snap peas and snow peas (sugar peas). One eats the shoots and pods of the edible peas. Edible peas have been raised and eaten in Europe since prehistoric times.

September 16, 2009

Autumn is ideal for Encore Azalea planting

The following is an update from EncoreÂ® Azalea.

Gardeners know fall is a great time of year to plant trees, shrubs, and flowering bulbs.Â But did you know autumn is an ideal time for Encore Azalea planting, too?

Planting Encore Azaleas in the garden before winter’s frost gives gardeners double benefits. First, you’ll enjoy their vibrant blooms until first frost and then Encore Azaleas will enjoy a period of dormancy to become established before next spring’s arrival.

Even after the fall blooms fade away on Encore Azaleas, the evergreen foliage provides a beautiful backdrop for the winter garden with lush, year-round hues of green. During the dormant period, the branches may stop growing; but underneath the soil, the roots are developing a healthy support system – fortifying the Encore Azalea to produce beautiful new growth the following spring.

When planting Encore Azaleas, remember that Encore Azaleas tolerate more sunlight than traditional azaleas.

Unlike traditional azaleas, Encore Azaleas perform best in sun to partial shade, preferably afternoon shade. Encore Azaleas must receive 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day for optimal blooms.

Encore Azaleas will also tolerate full sun, but care must be taken to prevent damage from exposure to drought or other heat-related conditions. To find a retailer near you, please visit www.EncoreAzalea.com.

Happy gardening,

From your friends at EncoreÂ® Azalea