Working with dahlias

Dahlias are among the most beautiful and most exotic residents of any garden. The large blooms of the dahlia are impossible to ignore, and they stand out in any garden in which they are planted. The sturdy, large blooms of the dahlia are available in a variety of colors, and in sizes ranging from as small as an inch to as large as a foot. In addition, the flowers themselves come in a variety of shapes. Some dahlia blooms are shaped like baseballs, while others curve back on themselves to where they nearly touch their stems. Dahlias are known as sun loving plants, and they definitely do better with sufficient sunlight. Gardeners recommend providing dahlias with at least a half day of sunlight every day. In addition, dahlias need enough water to thrive, and most varieties require from one to two inches of rain, from either rainfall or artificial watering, every week. In addition, dahlias need a good rich soil with plenty of organic material, a regular pruning schedule, a good insecticide to protect them from beetles and grasshoppers and possibly staking as the plants grow ever taller. In addition, dahlias should be fed with a quality low nitrogen fertilizer as needed. Dahlias are actually grown from a tuber, a bulb like structure, and dahlias are actually classified as bulb plants. It is best to plant dahlias near the beginning of June, and those dahlias will usually bloom around October. Dahlias can be planted earlier in the season as well, and those dahlias will provide late summer blossoms. Dahlias should be dug up after the first frost of the year. After being dug up, the dahlias should be divided and stored for the winter. Doing so will allow the gardener to replant the dahlia tuber the following year. Dahlias come in a great many varieties, but one of the most popular varieties is the David George. The David George variety of dahlia features a bloom of deep red color and medium size. Other popular dahlia varieties include the Bonaventure, featuring large bronze colored flowers, and the Allie Yellow, with features a tiny yellow bloom. In addition to staples like orchids and roses, dahlias are often seen at flower shows, and many gardeners grow dahlias purely for these competitions. A prize dahlia can certainly be the star of any flower show, due to their striking beauty and large size.

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Garden checklist for June

Hi, I haven't posted in awhile. Just too busy getting my garden in shape. Here is the checklist for June.

• Tomato, pepper and eggplant seedlings can be planted outside now in NJ.
• Continue planting warm weather crops such as vegetables, herbs and flowers.
• Mulch bedding and vegetable gardens to a 3 inch depth to maintain even moisture and to control weeds.
• Fertilize rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas immediately after flowering. Now is the time to prune these, if needed.
• Check plants for insects and control as needed. All insects are not necessarily harmful. check with your local agricultural extension for help in identification and control.
• Dig and divide spring perennials after flowering.
• If you move houseplants outdoors, be sure their containers have drainage holes.
• If spring rain is deficient, water new landscape plants to 1 inch per week.
• Check for black spot and powdery mildew on roses and treat accordingly.
• Japanese beetles can be picked by hand and drowned in soapy water.

Happy Gardening

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Have a cutting garden.

Make room for it somewhere, usually off to one side and surrounded by a fence. Here several kinds of flowers can grow in regimented fashion, like rows of vegetables, for abundant cut flowers for indoor and outdoor bouquets. Dahlias, tall, medium and dwarf, can hardly be surpassed for performance. Other easy to grow cut flowers are zinnias, marigolds, calendulas, blue saliva, nicotiana, larkspur, gladiolus, scabiosa, bachelor buttons, china asters and chrysanthemums.

It's time to Divide Chrysanthemums and discard old woody central parts. Protect pansies, phlox and other preferred rabbit food with dried blood or a commercial repellent. Disbud peonies for largest terminal bloom. Support peonies with grow-through types of supports. Wait at last two more weeks before setting out dahlias, tuberous begonias, caladiums.

Hummingbird Migration Maps

Hummingbird Migration Maps

Only 3 more weeks to Mother's day!

Sign up for the Eco Signup for a sweepstakes. One lucky winner will win 3 months of flowers for their Mon--or an important woman in your life. The first month's delivery will arrive for Mother's day.

Algae problem in your birdbath?

This really works! First clean your birdbath with equal parts of vinegar and water. Next pick about 5 0r 6 stems of lavender off you plant and tie together. Now float the bundle in the water. I find this will keep your birth bath clean about 2 weeks.

Keep after those weeds!

Knock down carpets of smaller ones with a hoe and make sure it's sharp, and it will do an impressive job. Otherwise, hand-pull individual ones. You can use boiling water on those stubborn ones between the cracks of your sidewalk. I have also zapped weeds in the cracks by filling a spray botle with white vinegar and a few drops of dish soap and hit the weeds. Just be sure that you do not hit grass or flowers. If the weeds isn't dead in a day, spray it again and that should do it in.

Why landscape your property?

Economic Benefits:

• Homes with attractive landscaping sell quicker-by as much as five to six weeks.
• Landscaping adds an average of 14.* percent to a home's value.
• Landscaping enhances property values, which add to the community's tax base
• As home improvements go, landscaping is an excellent investment. Recovery value at selling time can be 100-200 percent.

Environmental Benefits:

• Trees moderate urban "heat islands!" created by extensive paved areas. Lawns cool a home at the same rate as a one-ton air conditioner. Lawns also trap dust, absorb noise, and provide outdoor living areas for children and adults.
• One tree removes 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air every year and releases about 13 pounds of oxygen-enough for a family of four on a daily basis.
• Plants reduce noise pollution up to 50 percent.
• Plants control runoff and erosion. They allow soil to absorb water, returning it to aquifers, decrease runoff means less urban flooding.
• Lawns slow the spread of wildfires to homes.
• Plants provide food and habitat for wildlife, which contributes to biodiversity and a healthier environment.
• Landscaping creates green space for human rest, recreation and renewal.

Tips courtesy of the Ocean County Vocational Technical School Agriculture and Environmental Science Program and the NJ Nursery Landscape Association.

How can you disinfect your pot/cantainers without chlorine bleach

Here is a great tip on cleaning your plant containers, if you want to clean you containers organically instead of using chlorine bleach. Wash containers well in warm soapy water, then rinse them in 2 cups of white distilled vinegar diluted with 4-6 gallons of water and allow them to air-dry. The vinegar can kill pathogens in recycled containers.

Moving a shrub or tree?

Thinking of moving a shrub or small tree to a new location? Early spring is a great time to do this, while the plant is still formant (so it won't be traumatized). Just be sure the soil is workable before undertaking this project. Trim you evergreen hedge before it really starts growing for the year. Remove old stems at their bases. Shorten others that are too long. Shape so that the top of the plant, when viewed from the side is narrower than the base. This not only looks better but is easier to maintain.

Save your kitchen scraps?

Yes, Kitchen scraps are ideal for your composting. Instead of throwing away pounds of fruit and vegetable, coffee grinds plus filters, you can feed back the earth what chemicals are taking out. Just look at all the money you can save also. By shredding foods into smaller pieces, a faster decomposting will occur. And, remember those wet paper towels.

List of Things to do for March

• Fertilize perennials. Lime as soil test shows need.
• Prune roses when vegetative buds swell. Fertilize and lime as test shows need.
• Fend off hungry rabbits with dried blood, a commercial repellent or a mulch of prickly prunings.
• Plant dormant roses, lilies, perennial and biennial plants.
• Enjoy blooming snowdrops, squills, crocus, hellebores, primroses, heaths.
• Start seeds of tender vegetables needing 10 to 12 weeks before settling out.
• Plant hardy seeds marked "as early in the spring as the ground can be worked" as soon as a handful of soil from a spade's depth will crumble rather than making a soggy ball.
• Root cuttings of sweet potatoes on a sunny windowsill.
• Fertilize asparagus.
• Prune, repot, propagate as plants resume active growth.
• Begin fertilizing when active growth begins.
• Keep potted spring-flowering bulbs and cyclamen, cinerarias, calcerolarias where nights are cool, as low as 50 degrees.
• Begin a "rainy season" for cacti, watering once a week, to induce flowering.

It's time to get seeds planted indoors

Starting Your Seeds Think clean if you plan to raise your own garden plants from seed. The dreaded damping-off fungus disease lurks in containers that haven't been thoroughly disinfected and in used potting media. In you are using last year's flats and cell packs, wash them with hot water and some bleach. Be sure to buy sterilized seed started. Fill your containers to about a half-inch from the top, then moisten the mix. If using a community pot, sprinkle the seeds on top, spacing them evenly, then cover as directed on the seed packet and spray them with tepid water to bring the seeds into good contact with the medium. Cover the container with a clear cover. Keep the medium moist but not soggy. If you are planting in 1 inch cells, use one or two seeds per cell, then remove the weakest one after germination. If using 3 inch cells, sow three seeds per cell, keeping the strongest one. Follow the directions on the seed packet for light exposure and temperature. Tender seedlings can be set outdoors in the sun, then brought indoors at night. Before the seedlings are to be planted in the garden, harden them off, whether you grew them or they came from a nursery. A cold frame is the ideal place, where they are covered and protected at night. Prepare your garden beds using fertilizer as shown by a soil test, plus lime, to bring the pH to that mandated by the plant, and compost or peat moss for organic matter. Seeds marked to plant out as early in the spring as the ground can be worked can be planted when the soil is no longer soggy and won't clump when worked. Be sure that danger of frost is past. Don't rush the season, If plants are chilled, time is wasted before they regain their vigor.

Native Plants

Native Plants A native plant is one that was growing naturally in a particular area before humans introduced plants from other places. Native plants adapted to the soil, moisture and weather conditions of their growing sites and have a positive effect on the environment. Many make excellent garden plants. Once established, native plants are practically maintenance-free. They require little or no irrigation or fertilization. They have adapted to the change of seasons in their habitat and are resistant to most pests and diseases. Native species are rarely invasive and have root systems that help rainfall to soak into the soil and reduce runoff and erosion. They thrive in areas where they are suited because they are part of an ecosystem that includes other plants, animals and microorganisms. Birds, butterflies and insects depend on native plants for food and shelter. Purchase native plants from a nursery that sells nursery-propagated native plants. Do not dig them up in the wild. They are hard to transplant and also may be protected by law.

Soil testing

If you are going to sow seeds directly into the garden, have a soil test done first. Only sow when the ground can be worked and is warm enough. Spade the ground and work in compost when the soil is moist and crumbly. Then add an all-purpose fertilizer and correct the soil pH if necessary.

You still have time to have your soil tested by your county agricultural extension. Vegetables grow best in soil with pH of 6.0-6.5; grass in a pH of 6.0-7.0. Amend if needed.