"Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?"

A friend who is interested in setting up a greenhouse has asked for tips and suggestions, so this blog will be Part I of the Greenhouse Trilogy...A greenhouse is a gardener's fantasy; a place where they can play mad scientist and control the climate. Imagine being able to grow anything, anywhere, anytime!

Fight The Blight...

Have you ever grown tomatoes that end up looking like this? 

Well, my friend, you may have had blight. 

Either early or late, blight is a highly contagious fungus; a strain of which caused the Irish potato famine. Spores are often present in soil, and it is believed that commercially-grown garden center plants have spread the fungus to our own backyards. Part of the problem is that big-box retailers do not have employees who are trained to spot plant diseases and pathogens.

What You Should Know

                                          Train yourself to spot unhealthy plants.

Signs of blight include: 

       - white, powdery spores

       - large, olive-green or brown lesions on the leaves

       - brown or open lesions on stems

**A single open lesion on one plant can produce hundreds of thousands of contagious spores. Fungicides can help protect unaffected plants, but nothing can cure blight once it breaks out except, perhaps, a hot, sunny day.**

What To Do With An Infected Plant

Pull the plant, seal it in a Ziplock style bag, and throw it away or burn it. Be careful! Remember, you do not want spores flying all over the place. Do not compost the plant, unless you want all your plants to become infected. 

How To Help Prevent Blight

• When purchasing plants, select wilt and nematode resistant varieties.

• Choose different varieties that mature at different times. A good thing to know is that the earlier the plant matures, the more susceptible it is to early blight.

• Do not plant tomatoes and potatoes close together.

• Rotate your planting spot on a yearly basis. 

• When watering, only water at the plant's base and do it early in the day so that any moisture that does get on the plant will be quickly dried by the sun.  

• Use a staking system. Staking encourages air movement, reducing moisture on the foliage and helps prevent root rot.

• Mulch

• Remove the bottom branches, especially if they touch the ground. Remember, the spores are in the soil. Cut them with a pair of scissors or garden shears. Trim right at the plant's stem. 

• Monitor the lower leaves for early blight and the top foliage for late blight. Late blight is fast and aggressive.

• Remove all plant debris from the garden in the fall. Blight can overwinter on plant tissue.

• Make sure to thoroughly wash your hands and/or gloves after touching infected plants.

Hopefully, with these tips, your next batch of tomatoes will be healthy, nutritious, and above all, delicious!

No Big Mystery...

In the last few years we have heard about heirloom vegetables, but what do we really know about them other than that they came from old seeds? Are there advantages to planting heirloom vs. commercial seeds and plants?

Happy Birthday To You...

176 years ago today, Michigan was admitted as the United State's 26th state. Happy Birthday to the state that is my home! Today's blog is all about Michigan.

"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you."

Ironton Ferry

Fortune 500 Michigan Based Companies
General Motors
Ford Motor Co,
Dow Chemical
Chrysler Group

Whirlpool
Kellog








                                                   

Apple Blossom
Michigan's State Flow

Dwarf Lake Iris
Michigan's State Wildlower

Shop for Michigan Products:
http://michigan-made.com/shop/

http://www.michigania.com/

http://www.spoon.com/

Fun Fact: Michigan's shoreline is 3,288 miles long with 1,056 miles being inland shorelines

View of Lake Charlevoix from the top of Avalanche Overlook, Boyne City

Michigan is home to 53 award-winning wineries,

http://www.bowersharbor.com

awesome botanical gardens,

www.meijergardens.org

and orchards and farmers' markets abound!

Top 10 Lists...Pt. 4 Plants for Cheap People

I love a bargain. If you love a lot of bang for your buck, these plants are right up your alley. You can find these flats of these plants at your local garden center for a fair enough price (even less at your local farmer's market) that you won't feel bad about pitching them at the end of the season.

Top 10 Sun Plants For Cheap People

Ageratum

Begonia

Celosia

Marigold

Nicotiana

Petunia

Portaluca

Verbena

Vinca

Zinnia

 

Top 10 Lists...Pt. 3 Houseplants For Lazy People

Do you constantly forget to water your plants? Are you clueless about fertilizer?

Top 10 Lists...Pt. 2

Got Bare Spots? Nothing can make your garden or landscape look worse than ugly bare spots. Fortunately, there are many varieties of ground cover to turn those eyesores into beauties. Ground covers are also excellent for planting on slopes and for erosion control.

Top 10 Ground Covers

English Ivy

Mazus

Lysimachia

Sweet Potato Vine

Ajuga

Ceratostigma

Setcreasea

 

Sedum

Vinca Major

Lamium

Top 10 Lists...Pt. 1

Top 10 Plants For Forgetful People

These plants are extremely forgiving and drought tolerant

Begonia-Bronze Mix

Portaluca

Euphorbia-Breathless Varieties

Melampodium

Vinca-Periwinkle Varieties

Scaevola

Penta

Lantana

    

Helenium

Purslane

Baby It's Cold Outside...

Brrrr...17 degrees here in Mid-Michigan today...Are you as ready as I am for Spring? Unfortunately, we still have a few months to go, but there is a way to have a little bit of springtime in the winter.

I See, You See, We See....A Teepee??

Today we have another gardening project for the kids. Of course, you will have to build the structure, but they can plant and care for the seeds, as well as have all the fun inside when it is fully grown

"Teach Your Children Well..." More Kid-Friendly Gardening Projects

Some of my best childhood memories involve dirt. I don't know what it is, but kids love dirt! Here are some great dirty-for-a-purpose projects:

The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out...

The other day I was thinking about how those of us who garden do something for the greater good every time we put a plant into the ground.

"I Think I Shall Never See A Thing As Lovely As A Tree"

So now that you have your list of fast-growing trees, let's discuss how to plant and care for them. 

Let's Talk About Trees

Trees, wonderful trees...where would we be without them? Did you know that trees benefit not only the environment, but your wallet as well? Air conditioning a home costs less when it is shaded by trees, and heating costs decrease when a home has windbreak. If you are selling your home, trees add to your curb appeal and continue to add value as they mature. But who has the time to wait 20 years to reap the benefits of their trees? Good news...you don't have to!

Protect Your Four-Legged Friends

Anybody who owns a pet knows that their four-legged friends have a natural curiosity about all things.... especially the things they shouldn't. Animals love to investigate the different plants in your garden too. However, many plant species are highly poisonous if ingested. If you plan to let your furry friends roam your garden, here is a short list of what NOT to plant:  Azalea/Rhododendron, Castor Bean, Chrysanthemum, Cyclamen, English Ivy, Klanchoe, Oleander, Narcissus Bulbs, Lilies, and Schefflera. To find out more about plants that are harmful to pets and the symptoms of plant poisoning, visit  http://www.aspca.org 

Happy Planting!

Build A Better Four-Season Bee Garden

The saying goes, "If you build it, they will come." If you build a bee garden they will come, and they will bring their friends, the butterflies.

A good bee garden consists of plants that offer plenty of both pollen and nectar. For this reason, many ornamentals such as impatiens, petunias, and begonias are not desirable in a bee-friendly garden; they offer little to no nourishment for bees. The best bee gardens will combine many varieties of traditional bedding plants and wildflowers with different bloom times.

**denotes Native Wildflowers (Michigan). For a list of native plants for your area, visit: http://www.enature.com/native_invasive/

Late Winter-Spring   (Bumblebees prefer to forage during cool weather)
                                         

Trillium

Rosemary
Cowslip
Crocus
Daffodil                          
**Trout Lily                      
**Turk's Cap Lily
Genista
Dicentra
Native Bluebells
**Trillium






Spring-Summer  (All bees are foraging now so they can raise their larvae. Plant plenty of spring-summer bloomers to help ensure colony survival.)
                                 
                                    Forget-Me-Not

Comfrey

 Foxglove                                                  
 Chives                                                  
 Honeysuckle
 Thyme
 **Comfrey
 Campanula
 Columbine
 Allium
 **Swamp Milkweed
 **Marsh Marigold



Summer-Autumn (Feeds late developing colonies and newly developed worker bees)

Red Hot Poker

Golden Rod
Cornflower
Red Hot Poker
**Blue Vervain
**Cardinal Flower
Veronica                              
Scabious
Snapdragon
**Lobiela
**Spotted Joe Pye-Weed
Hollyhock
Bergenia
Nasturtium


Autumn-Winter (Ensures the survival of late foragers. After the bees have pollinated these plants, many of them grow berries which provides food and shelter for winter birds.)

Ivy
Mint
Oregano
Viburnum
Common Heather
Golden Rod
Asters

Viburnum

Be sure to plant in groups. Large splashes of color make it easier for the bee to locate the plants. Large groups also help conserve the bee's energy, encouraging more nectar and pollen to be returned to the colony. Also, be sure to plant plants with several different shapes of flowers; different types of bees are attracted to different types of flowers.

When you help save the bees, you help save the planet!

Bees Part II: Why Do We Want Bees In Our Gardens?

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” — Albert Einstein.

Since we have already discussed pollination, it is wise to assume that it is one of the main and most obvious reasons why we want bees in our garden. Have you ever had flowers pop up in places where you didn't plant them? Thank a bee. While we love to ooh and aah over the beautiful myriad of colors in our gardens, those colors were meant to attract pollinating insects who spread the flowers' seeds. 


In addition to helping the flowers, bees help other mammals and birds by increasing the number of plants and flowers they use as habitats.


Next:  Building a bee-friendly garden