In-house consultant



I am lucky to work at a school that also employs an expert horticulturalist as one of its biology teachers. He has a PhD in hortoculture from Cornell and prior to teaching, worked at the NY Botanical Gardens. Today I paid Ernie a visit with many questions.

1) My strawberry plants. As you know, I planted these about a month and a half ago and have yet to see an action--no greenery emerging from the crowns. He said these plants should have started to leaf out by now and likely my source of plants provided me with dead, not dormant, roots. Thanks a lot, Wal-mart (though I had an eerie suspicion about this even as I purchased the plants.) Since it is sort of late in the spring to plant crowns, he suggests buying starter plants (or bribing someone with a garden for their extra strawberry runners.) Off to the nursery this weekend, as I want to establish my strawberries this year to ensure a good yield of fruit next summer.

2) My peas. The peas that I started indoors and transplanted to the garden a couple weeks ago have begun to turn yellow. The cause? Since it is still mild in temperature, it's likely not the weather (peas need cool weather to thrive), according to Ernie. And I haven't noticed any spider mites or other bugs. Probably transplant shock, according to my consultant. The seeds that I sowed directly in the garden are growing well, bright green. Next year, he said, direct sow all seeds in the garden (which I couldn't do this year because we didn't have the raised boxes done yet.)

3) My newly planted herb seeds. A few days ago, I cleared my herb garden, again. Last year, I cleared the area and mulched the garden with four inches of mulch, knowing that I wasn't going to plant it at the time. But grass grew through the mulch and boy did it grow prolifically. In fact, I hyperbolize by saying there was more grass in my herb garden than in my yard. So I spent hours upon hours the other day de-grassing my garden bed. Laborous work, especially at seven months pregnant. But after ridding the garden of about 200 pounds of grass, weeds, and attached soil and mulch, I was ready to plant. First though, thinking I was so smart, I sprinkled Preen weed preventer in the garden bed, which prevents weeds from germinating (it does not kill existing weeds). And then I planted my rosemary, dill, chive, basil, lemon balm, parsley, mint and cilantro seeds.

I began worrying about the error in my ways shortly thereafter--what if the Preen prevents my herb seeds from germinating as well? Reading the Preen label carefully, it lists the weeds that it is supposed to prevent, and none of the herbs are on the list. However, it doesn't list any of the herbs among the plants to use this product around either. Ernie said, wait and see, but you may have to go by some starter plants if you want herbs in there this year (the Preen says that it will prevent germination for three months.) Boo.





4) My mystery plant. Remember the stranger that just appeared (and has overtaken) my border? The one that I thought might be coreopsis? Well, it is likely not coreopsis, but I may have my answer tomorrow. Ernie said he could probably identify it for me if I bring in a sample. I have a feeling I will be ripping it out this weekend, but I'm also curious as to what it is anyway. The fact that it has an herb-like smell and appears nowhere else on my property as a weed are two curious characteristics. I'll keep you posted.

 
5) Succulents. I recently read an article on succulents in Better Homes and Gardens and decided to start an indoor window box with these architecturally interesting plants. And Ernie has an extensive collection of succulents lining wth windows of our school hallways. He was generous enough to snap-off leaves for me, which will generate their own roots when I replant them at home. Here's what I snagged: Aloe ballyi, pachyphytum, crussula lycopodioides, crassula perfoliata, and haworthia (see pictures). Now I have to go buy a pretty little window box for my new babies!







Weeds and roses

I didn't make much headway this weekend on new landscaping because I devoted myself to the painful task of weeding. Since I haven't mulched yet this year—I'm waiting for the free mulch pile to return (I have a lot of square feet to cover)—I have weeds coming up everywhere. Three days of weeding and I only have one section left to do. By the time I finish the task this week, I'll probably have to start over! ARG!

But the weeding gives you time to survey each of your plants with thoughtful devotion. And I discovered that many of my roses are afflicted with blackspot, a common rose disease. Upon research, blackspot tends to thrive in wet, cool weather—we had 10 days of 50 degree rainy weather before our beautifully sunny week last week. I had to go buy a rose-specific pesticide at Home Depot today, which should nip it in the bud. (Pun. HA!)

And speaking of roses, I would have never guessed that my bushes would actually be in bloom for Memorial Day, but my red and pink mini roses are all flowering! My large roses bushes have several buds ready to pop in the next couple days. It's amazing what a week of sunny, warm weather will do for a garden.

Another high point of the weekend—my herb seeds are growing. Despite the herbicide I sprinkled in the garden, my dill, cilantro, basil, parsley, and chive seeds all germinated. I wonder how long it will take for them to actually be big enough to harvest for cooking?

Seedlings smushed :(

Cavan watering the seedlings
with her spray bottle.
She's such a good helper!

Limp and matted to the soil were how I discovered my  seedlings a couple mornings ago. Not all of them, but the tray that was three weeks old and doing so well. The tray that had successful germination in nearly each of the 36 soil pots. The tray that was growing all my favorite veggies (bibb lettuce, broccoli, spinach, and carrots). The tray that I really cared about. And to make matters worse, I think I am the cause.

Last Sunday was a beautiful day, albeit a bit breezy. About 60 degrees and sunny. What a treat for my baby seedlings, and outdoors they went. But perhaps they got a little too much fresh air because they all looked weak and floppy when I brought them in.

I hoped a little water would wake them up, but no such luck. I waited several days to see some rejuvenation, but this morning I plucked out my perished plants and reseeded the pots. Let's try this again. Apparently I must read up on "hardening off" my plants before attempting another outside adventure.

But wait! These were all plants that I was supposed to sow directly in the garden (but couldn't because my veggie beds aren't ready). How the heck would they survive spring rains and winds on their own if they couldn't even handle a few hours of a beautiful brisk breeze? Confounding.

But all is not a disappointment on the seedling front. A few of the members of that tray did tough it out and seem to be progressing. The peppers that I had given up on earlier in the week are finally show signs of sprouting (after three and a half weeks)! And same with my peas. My marigolds have just doubled their leaves, from two to four. My eggplants are growing strong. My herbs (basil, mint, cilantro, dill, parsley, chives, and lemon balm) are all sprouting, though I'm still waiting on signs of life from the rosemary. And my zinnias are already about two inches tall.

All this growth is so exciting, but I'm nervous for transplant time (only a couple weeks away). Letting my babies out into the wilderness to fend for themselves! I hope I have a success story to report.

The best gardening task for a two-year-old

Today I discovered the best gardening task for my two year old. My daughter, Cavan, decided (after a long afternoon of running errands) that she did not want to take a nap. Fantastic. The tedious job of filling hundreds of starter seed pots I had planned for the afternoon was on the verge of derailment (and I'm already weeks behind schedule for having blooms as soon as the cold weather breaks).

Cavan is not quite at the age where she can just occupy herself in the yard, and she still needs to be monitored loosely. So that meant she would be hovering in my work zone, begging for attention. Brainstorm: I set out my bag of soil and the rows of seed pots and asked her to fill them up with her little yellow trowel.  She loved it. Other than having a more-than-usual amount of stray soil all over our deck, she helped me accomplish a necessary task, and I got to spend quality time with her (while nurturing her baby green thumb).

But then, she wanted to put in the seeds too. Eek. This resulted in a no-nap meltdown. I barely have the dexterity to manage some of those teeny-tiny seeds, so relying on her fine motor skills would be begging for disaster. (By the way, portulaca seeds are about the size and consistency of dust, so I probably put about 500 seeds in each one-by-one pot).

But all in all, it think it was a successful pre-season planting day. I now have marigold, zinnia, portulaca, four-o'clocks, candy lily, and gaillardia flower seeds started, as well as my herbs for the season—rosemary, dill, cilantro, basil, mint, chives, lemon balm, and parsley. This is the first time I have diligently tried to grow from seeds. (It can't be that hard, right? Aren't plants designed to propagate via seeds?!) Oh yeah, and 12 begonia tubers. These are also a new experiment this year—I am hesitant to plant tubers or bulbs that require lifting and winter storage (that seems like a whole lot of maintenance), so more on this at the end of the season.