I used to think that annuals were wasted money. Annuals only last one season so why even bother? I preferred perennials since they could come back year after year reliably without much work. Eventually annuals began to “grow” on me as I realized their ornamental value is really very high impact.  They grow fast and either bloom or produce massive amounts of cool foliage in one season. (Many annuals are actually perennials but can’t survive frost.) I’ve developed a routine for the annuals now and plant the same one’s year after year. Not always in the same place or the same way but I’ve fallen into a comfort zone with these five favorites.

• Coleus – There are all kinds of coleus now including some that do well in the sun. I prefer the reddish colored ones for maximum effect but there are many varieties of these that could add some color to your garden. A recent favorite ‘Rustic Orange’ boasts a color scheme that appears like a painting in the garden.
• Sunflowers – Who doesn’t like a sunflower? They grow fast and tall and the colors vary from deep reds to bright yellows. Velvet Queen is usually what I plant. Aside from looking very cool while they stand tall in the garden they are great for feeding pollinators while in flower and feeding the  birds when seed is produced. A high impact annual!
• Zinnia – There are few plants as easy to grow as a zinnia. Hummingbirds love them and so do butterflies. Buy one pack of seeds and expect a full garden of flowers by mid-summer. Deadheading helps to keep them blooming but at the end of the season you can let them go to seed so that you can save the seeds for next year.
• Moonflower – This night bloomer is too cool not to plant! It’s best planted from seed directly in place. It doesn’t really take off with growth until the heat of summer really gets going but once it does it produces massive 6 inch white  blooms in the evenings. The scent is awesome too!
• Sweet Potato Vine – This is another easy care and low-maintenance annual for the garden. It’s related to the moonflowers and morning glories but doesn’t set flower. I use it as a ground cover but more compact forms make excellent additions to potting arrangements.  Buy yourself one or two of these plants then propagate a few more by snipping the stem off underneath a node and dropping it into a jar of water. Within 4-5 days you’ll have roots and a new plant!

I was going to try to stick to 5 annuals for this post but I’ll sneak in a couple others worth mentioning: Persian Shield and annual verbenas.  I always plant the sunflowers, zinnias, and moonflowers from seed which keeps my annual planting cost at  a minimum.  Coleus, sweet potato vine, and Persian Shield all propagate easily in water which will help you get the maximum impact from your purchases – besides plant propagation is just really fun!

If you’re like me you’re more than ready for a beautiful sunny day to get outdoors and work in the garden. Those days have been few and far between so far this year but spring is coming! It could be quicker but it will get here.  This time of year I find myself very busy with garden preparation.

Once I finally get to work in the garden here is what I do to get my garden ready:

1. I cut back dead foliage of perennials and ornamental grasses. I usually leave the foliage on through the winter to help protect the crown of the plant. The extra layers of foliage provide  a buffer from the cold temperatures. The ornamental grasses can be cut back to 4-6 inches depending on the size of the plant (The picture to the right is Miscanthus sinensis or Zebra grass). Use the old foliage in your compost bin or as a layer of straw mulch in the vegetable garden. Just be sure there aren’t any unwanted seed heads left or you may end up with switchgrass and tomatoes.
2. I build new raised beds. Every year I seem to put together a new raised bed or two. A simple raised bed can be pieced together using non-pressure treated lumber (ideally cedar). Don’t make them any wider than 3-4 feet so that I can reach the middle for weeding and harvesting. (I mentioned raised beds in my last post but they are so great for your vegetable garden that they are worth a second mention!)
3. I’ve already planted a few seeds in the garden at this point. Spinach, chard, and sugar snap peas were planted over a week ago.  Very soon I’ll plant lettuce, radishes and beets.
4. I’ll mulch planting beds. I picked up a few bales of pine straw to use on some beds. Pine straw is light, easy to spread, and cheap! I’ll still use hardwood mulch on several areas but the pine straw will help me reduce my budget just a little and I  like the look.
5. I’m still planning new things and starting new planting beds. My most recent bed was planted with cuttings from my Russian sage. Sometimes they will root just by sticking a piece of the stem into the ground – things don’t get much easier than that! I planted a slope with the cuttings in the hopes that the area won’t need to be mowed in the future.  I’m also planning two new beds outside of the vegetable garden for blueberry plants.
6. Which brings me to number six! Now is a great time to plant dormant plants.  Fruit trees and blueberry bushes are on my agenda but many other shrubs and trees can also be planted now.

What have you done in your garden to get ready for spring?

I know what you’re thinking, “He’s talking about gardening in spring? It’s still February!” Well with me that’s a given but if you have any interest in getting a good organized start to your 2010 gardening season you will start thinking about it too! Winter isn’t just a time to hole up in our homes staying close to the fire with a cup of tea and waiting for the relief that comes with the spring sun. Winter is the perfect time to plan ahead and get an idea of what you want to accomplish in the garden. What exactly do you need to do to get ready? Here are a few ideas that I tackle during this time of the year:

1. Figure out what I want to grow whether vegetables, flowers, or both – everything works better when you plan it out.
2. Once I know what I’m going to grow I have to figure out what to buy. Do you buy seeds or do you buy plants? Should you order through a catalog or buy from a local store? Figuring out what to buy can be tricky because when I peruse the 15 or more plant and seed catalogs I receive every year I end up with a list of more seeds to buy than I have money in the bank! The catalogs can entice you with their pictures but it’s important to take everything in the catalog with a grain of salt.  Some companies Photoshop their flowers and vegetables to make them look much better than they should. Which brings me to my next point…
3. Do some research! If you don’t know the details about a seed or a plant figure out a few things before you buy. What growing conditions does it need? Is it determinate or indeterminate? (especially important when you are determining to buy indeterminate tomatoes! To put it simply, determinate are bush types and indeterminate keep growing like a vine, it’s a little more technical than that but that’s a good guideline to use.) What kind of yield can be expected? How do they taste? What kind of soil conditions will help the vegetable thrive?  Some of the best resources are the heads of fellow gardeners so don’t be afraid to ask those who garden their opinions (or check out their blogs – sorry, shameless plug). Trust me, they are always happy to talk gardening!
4. Find out when to plant the plants.  There are a couple things you need to know to determine when to put your plants out. If you are planting seeds find out your last frost date and could back the recommended days to start a plant (the package usually says something like “sow seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before last frost.” The last frost date is different depending on where you live and is never a guarantee but just a guideline.
5. Some plants such as spinach, sugar snap peas, chard, lettuce, radishes, and others can withstand some frost and planting can begin much earlier than the last frost date. Here in Tennessee many of those vegetables I just listed can be planted this month! Just keep in mind that germination rates will improve as the soil warms.
6. Get your supplies and your budget ready.  Figure in allowances for mulches, watering, compost, fertilizers (I like the organic stuff), pest deterrents and anything else you might need.
7. Build your raised beds. Raised beds are an essential element of my garden. There are all kinds of benefits to gardening in raised beds that range from improved soil to easier access for elderly or handicap gardeners.

There you have a short list of things to think about before gardening this spring. How do you plan out your spring gardening?

Nandina Berries

The Christmas and holiday season is fast upon us and we’ve been assailed at every media outlet available about “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday.”  Wouldn’t it be nice to have some cheap, low-cost gift ideas that the gardener in your life will enjoy?  Imagine being able to put together a thoughtful and useful gift for just a  few dollars! So today I’ll give you three ideas that may help you make the most of your money, at least for the gardener.

Make Something:

It’s a whole lot easier to spend money than to make something for someone else and that’s exactly why it means more when you do create a gift. Gardeners enjoy all kinds of handmade items to put or use in the garden like birdhouses, birdfeeders, plant labels, signs, or hypertufa (I know someone reading this just said hyper what? That will have to be saved for a future post!). For a garden club meeting this weekend where we will be exchanging gifts I’m putting together a small plant propagation chamber made from a storage container and a few small pots all for less than $15.  Hopefully someone using the propagator will be able to add some extra value to the present through free plants later! I may stick a few hardwood cuttings in with the present. Gardeners always love free plants.  You could even go with something more seasonal and make a wreath from the evergreen plants and plants with berries in your garden. Nandinas (see picture above) and pyracantha have bright berries that are perfect for decorative holiday arrangements. Hollies, Leyland cypress, and cedar are easily available in many areas for more low cost Christmas decorating.

Gather Something:

Collect seeds from your favorite vegetables and flowers to give as a gift pack or stocking stuffer. You can get creative with the packaging and decorate envelopes or make your own paper packet out of gift paper. A fellow garden blogger and author (you have to get one of her books someday if you haven’t already!) Nancy Ondra showed me on her blog (Hayefield) how to put together seed packets just by folding paper – no glue, scissors, staples or tape required. I added one little thing to her idea and used wrapping paper instead to give the seeds a Christmas flavor. If you don’t have any seeds from your garden still available gather up some leftover seeds from your collection and repackage them into the variety pack.  Seeds remain easily viable for a couple years if kept cool and dry and very few people use all their seeds every year (my collection seems to grow faster than my garden!).  Giving a child a gift of a garden through seeds is not only fun but educational!

Think Food:

This should go without saying but when the Holidays come, who doesn’t think of food? Why not give someone some of your preserved vegetable crop from the summer harvests. Tomato sauce, pickles, relishes, and jams from the garden that haven’t been processed in a factory far across the country are the perfect thing to satisfy anyone who misses fresh food from the garden during the winter. This summer we bought a box of peaches from our local extension service. They were delicious but we couldn’t finish them so what we couldn’t eat became peach preserves. We’ll give them as gifts to various people this Christmas.

I hope you can put some of these ideas to use this year for your holiday gifts. If not remember them for next year when you are harvesting thousands of cucumbers and tomatoes and don’t know what to do with them or when your zinnias and marigolds have gone wild with flowers and seeds. A little planning ahead and a little creative thinking can save you a few dollars later.  After all, it’s the “thought that counts!”

November is here which usually means a slow down of sorts for most gardeners and lawn aficionados. We start to think of turkeys and holiday decorations and begin to put the garden beds to sleep for the winter. But what should and shouldn’t you do during the fall to wind down the garden? Here are five things that hopefully will help you organize your fall garden tasks!

Love those leaves. Leaves are one of the best and, at the same time, most underused resources for the garden. As I drive through town every fall, I see plastic bags filled with leaves and yard waste. I suppose bagging leaves is slightly better than burning them (which is a sin as far as I’m concerned) but it is a significant waste of a great resource. If you have ever gone hiking or been in a forest for even a few minutes you have no doubt noted the dark, rich and loamy soil that abounds in the woods. That’s all because of the leaves that drop each fall. They get broken down by microbes and earthworms and turned into the perfect soil for nearly anything. Don’t waste the leaves, use them! Collect them and use them as mulch in your garden, chop them up using your lawnmower or weedeater and spread them over your beds. They will break down over the winter and add a richness to your soil that you as a gardener will love. And your plants won’t think it’s half bad either!

Again, don’t waste those leaves. Compost them! If you have too many leaves to cover your raised beds say “Hello compost bin!” Whether it’s made from a simple piece of chicken wire, pallets screwed together (like mine), or a fancy store bought composter-supreme, leaves are a great thing to add to your kitchen scraps.

Baby your mower. It’s been there for you all growing season. It starts with the pull of a string (OK maybe not the first time around) and has kept your lawn looking neat and clean all year; surely you can take a few minutes to give it a treat! Sharpen the blades, run out the gas, and change the oil and your mower will be a very happy little machine in the spring.

Harvest Those Fall Veggies! If you planted a fall vegetable crop of lettuce, spinach, kale or other leafy greens, continue to harvest them as you need. Spinach and kale can be kept growing indefinitely since it can handle the cold once established. If you’re trying to keep a few vegetables going a little longer consider make a cloche out of an old soft drink bottle. Just clean the bottle, cut the bottom out, and “pop” it over the vegetable you hope to protect. The cloche may need removed on sunny days otherwise you may end up cooking your vegetables in the garden and not in the kitchen.

Plant trees! Fall is a great time to plant trees and shrubs which will continue growing roots as long as the soil stays warm enough. Soils stay warm much longer than the air does which allows newly plant trees to grow great root systems and be ready to flush out new growth in the spring.

Enjoy that great fall weather! Sunny days in the fall are some of the most magical days in the garden. Continue weeding the cool season weeds as they appear (chickweed is my cool season nemesis) and observe what is changing in your garden. Many plants offer fall and winter interest and you can fit them in where the summer annuals fade.

As I read back over this list I realized that I’ve gone over my self-allotted five things for fall. It’s not that I can’t count, rather it’s the fact that fall is such a great time to garden!