FRUITFUL FUTURES
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Making the Best of It
Eek! Mice (or rabbits)! Not the animals but the damage they have wrought. The bark on virtually all my pear grafts of last year has been nibbled off enough to kill the grafts.
Once I calmed down, I realized that all was not lost. All the chewing was above ground level, leaving a small amount of intact bark still in place. The plants aren’t dead, just their portions above the chewing. The near-ground portions could be grafted again.
(Most fruit trees neither come true from seed nor root readily from cuttings, so are propagated by grafting a scion — a short length…
TRANSPLANT GROWING, A BETTER WAY
Snicker if You Will
I don’t know about your propagation space, but mine is getting overcrowded. Yes, now with a greenhouse, I’ve got more room than in the the past when I grew seedlings in windowsills or in my basement under lights. But my greenhouse is small, and with greenhouse beds home to fig trees and early spring lettuce, arugula, and other greenery, seedlings are relegated to a 12 by 2 foot shelf along the north wall.
I make the most of that shelf by “pricking out.” Snicker if you will at this Britishism, but pricking out is a way to get a lot of bang for your buck space-wise,…
SOUTHERN FRANCE, IN SCENT AND SIGHT
Heaven Scent Flower
I trace the origin of my present obsession with growing carnations – big, fat, fragrant carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) – to the movie, Jean de Florette, that I saw back in 1986. Not that I aspire to labor under the weight of hauling water long distances to care for my plants, as did Ugolin. And not that I’m hoping to get good money selling the cut flowers at a local market.
Actually, my only memories of the film are of the charming countryside of Provence, of Ugolin crouching over the plants and lavishing them with care, and of the pretty pink flowers. Come to think…
Monday, March 29, 2021, learn about FEARLESS PRUNING
Registration link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RfkO-_nJT8S-LximcfG24Q
BEE GLORY, GONE (FOR NOW)
Arnold's Promise?
I miss the bees. No, they’re not gone from here because of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), widely responsible for the loss of bees. Most years, they would have been here and perhaps gone on to greener pastures by now.
The bees come for my witchhazel, and the reason for their absence this year is because my witchhazel didn’t bloom. It usually blooms in late winter or very early spring. And it won’t bloom this season at all. The reason is because it bloomed last fall.
It’s not uncommon for an early spring bloomer such as witchhazel to jump the gun and bloom in fall.…
SWEET POSSIBILITIES
It's time to prune, and to help you, I’ll be holding a PRUNING WEBINAR on March 29, 7-8:30 EST. Learn the tools of the trade, how plants respond to pruning, details for pruning various plants, and enjoy a fun finale on an easy espalier. There’ll be time for questions also. Cost is $35 and you can register with Paypal or credit card here.
Choice Syrups
I’ve given up on maple syrup this year. The tree I tapped was too small to yield anything significant.
I’d almost given up on river birch syrup. I thought perhaps it was the timing — and, have since learned, that it is! Sap from any…
PEST PLANS
My Sweet, Corn
Spring is here this week, weatherwise, at least. Not to bring back bad memories, but with real spring just around the corner, now is a good time to revisit two or three of last year’s worst pest problems, and plan some sort of counteraction. Not that those memories are really that bad; the interaction of pests, plants, the environment, and my hopefully green thumb is always interesting.
The most serious pest problem last year, most serious because it affected one of my favorite vegetables, was a disease that devastated my later plantings of corn. Looking at the symptoms — …
FEARLESS PRUNING
FEARLESS PRUNING WORKSHOP/WEBINAR
A workshop/webinar to take the mystery out of pruning, so that lilac and rose bushes, apple trees, blueberry shrubs -- all trees and shrubs, in fact -- can be pruned to look their best and be in vibrant health. Fearlessly.
Topics will include:
•Why prune?
•Tools for pruning.
•How plants respond to various kinds and timing of pruning.
•Details for pruning flowering shrubs, trees, evergreens, and fruit plants.
•And a fun finale on creating an easy fruiting espalier. (Don’t know what espalier is? You’ll learn it at the webinar.)
And, of…
HOW ABOUT THOSE OLD SEED PACKETS?
It’s wasted effort to sprinkle dead seeds into furrows either in the garden or seed flats. Seeds are living, albeit dormant, embryonic plants which do not live forever.
When you buy a packet of seeds, you’re assured of their viability. Government standards set the minimum percentage of seeds that must germinate for each type of seed. The packing date and the germination percentage often are stamped on the packet. (The germination percentage must be indicated only if it is below standard.) I write the year on any seed packets on which the date is not stamped.
Your old, dog-eared seed packets…
