Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants.
One of my favorite pots this season (see plant list below) with two of the three fertilizers that I'm applying and one of my trusty watering cans.
Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. Now, when there’s a pest problem in my garden, I run for a fertilizer rather than a pest control. In most cases, I find that strong plants do a better job of fending off insect and disease attacks than dusts or sprays.
When it comes to flower pots, my main reason for using fertilizer is to encourage lush growth and abundant flowering. I feed them regularly because it WORKS. At the start of the season I add a cup or two of our organic granular fertilizer to the planting mix. Then, just as soon as I have the pots planted up, I start weekly or bi-weekly feedings of liquid fertilizer and keep that up right into September.
I’ve used a variety of different liquid fertilizers on my flower pots, but for the past six years or so it’s been Plant Health Care. I put 2 heaping tablespoons (which is actually about the same as the 3 level tablespoons recommended on the label) into the bottom of one of my French Watering Cans and then fill it up with 3 gallons of water. Each of my big pots gets about a gallon of this liquid fertilizer, once every week or two.
This year, about once a month, I’m switching out a Plant Health Care feeding in favor of a Multi Bloom feeding. Though Plant Health Care is a non-burning, complete fertilizer and contains lots of organic goodies including seaweed extract, humic acids and beneficial bacteria, I am also a big fan of fish emulsion (especially when it’s been de-odorized as Multi Bloom has). I expect to see even greater vigor, with lush foliage as well as lots of flowers.
I would love to know what you feed your flower pots and how often you feed them. If you’re willing to reveal the key to your success, please leave a comment below. We’re always eager to learn about easier, more effective solutions!
P.S. Plants in the pot above are: Carex 'Coffee Twist', Helichrysum 'Icicles', Euphorbia 'Diamond Frost', Diascia 'Apricot' and 'Coral', Helichrysum 'Petite Licorice', Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister' and an apricot-colored verbena (I've lost the tag!).
Learn when and how to prune for abundant blooms and watch a how-to video.
This spring was the best I can remember for this wisteria, which has been in the ground for about five years. The cultivar, Wisteria floribunda 'Lawrence', was discovered in Canada, and it gets hardiness ratings of 4 or 5.
When it blooms, the vigorous wisteria vine is spectacular. But it doesn't always perform on cue. You can find all kinds of wisdom out there, but to my mind, the key is pruning. Once you've figured that out, you'll be rewarded in spring. In The Pruning Book (The Taunton Press), Lee Reich
recommends a combination of summer and winter pruning of side shoots. In midsummer, prune each
side shoot to about 6 inches long. This will trigger growth of new shoots. Go over each of these
branches again in late winter and shorten them to two or three buds.
In other words, identify a few primary branches. For instance, if you want to train the vine over an arch or along the edge of a porch, pick one vine. Then, edit all the redundant vines. It might seem harsh, but this vine is vigorous and will push you around if you don't assert yourself. After you've identified the primary branches, you can begin pruning the side shoots: once in midsummer; once in winter. The idea is to create lots of short spurs all along the main vines. Again, be assertive with your pruners.
The only thing missing from this photo is the scent, which is fairly light but distinctive.
Other things to know about wisteria:
Wisteria often needs three seasons in the same spot before it begins to bloom. Be patient.
Go local: Ask around to see what varieties perform best in your area. I've tried a few and Lawrence is the one that does best in my yard.
If you don't have a sunny spot, you can't have wisteria. Vines need plenty of sun and rich, well-drained soil. They’ll grow in a shady area, but they
will not flower.
Over-fertilization can cause lots of leaf growth at the expense of blooms. Better to top-dress with compost or composted manure.
For a detailed presentation on wisteria pruning, check out the video, below, featuring Alan Titchmarsh of the BBC.
It's never too late to prop up a flopped perennial. Just move in with a little support.
This aster (Aster oblongifolius 'October Skies') is a strong grower, but it tends to flop toward the end of the season. The grids provide good support.
Even if you're one of those super-organized gardeners who get all the flower supports in stalled before they're needed, chances are good that at some point during the summer you'll have a flopper or a leaner. That's when you move in with infrastructure: linking stakes, Y-stakes, string and plant ties. Flexible, discreet Y-Stakes are perfect for propping plants that have fallen into the path. By staking at an angle, you can allow the plant to lean gracefully instead of flopping. Linking Stakes can retain a clump that has started to splay, or corral a flopper that's tumbling on a neighbor. Again, with clever staking, you can make the whole thing look pretty natural. The key is to allow stems to arch and lean gracefully—too much and your plant will look like it's wearing a girdle.
Y-Stakes are almost invisible when installed carefully. This nicotiana (N. alata) still looks graceful and natural, but it's not falling into the lawn.
Linking stakes can be used in combination with other supports to stabilize extra large clumps. For instance, I have a big clump of hollyhocks, and it's too much work to stake each spike with a bamboo pole. Instead, I surround the clump with tall linking stakes and then create a web using string to provide infrastructure. For extra stability, I stake a few of the tallest flower spikes with bamboo poles.
Preventive Staking
When they're not being used, I hang my Linking Stakes from the top of the fence, behind the lilac hedge.
If you're smart, you'll identify the perennial floppers in your garden. You know the suspects. Peonies rise to the top of the list. But there are others: asters, solidago, helenium and cimicifuga benefit from preventive support. These perennials benefit from Grow-Through Grids or Grow-Through Supports. I like the grids for perennials that really need a lot of help, such as peonies. The supports are ideal when you just need to keep the clump from splaying; they're perfect for solidago and asters. These plants tend to grow beautifully in my garden, but then—just before showtime—they start flopping outward. The support rings keep the clump tidy without making it look trussed up.
It's tedious work, but the delphiniums look glorious when they bloom. Just make sure the stake is long enough to extend into the flower spike.
I like to grow tall plants, such as castor beans, kale and hollyhocks. In general, these big guys are fine—until you get a big storm. Once these have reached 4 feet or so, I like to move in with 5-foot bamboo poles and Velcro ties. If done carefully, the staking isn't really noticeable, and you'll rest easy knowing your plants will withstand high winds. I also have a weakness for delphiniums, possibly the most fussy perennial in my garden. Each spike gets lovingly supported with its own bamboo stake.
If you grow tomatoes in a cold or windy location, try this simple technique of wrapping your tomato cages with garden fabric.
Inside this cocoon of Garden Quilt fabric, are two very cozy 'Sun Gold' tomatoes.
Tomatoes are tropical vines that evolved in a climate about as different from Vermont as you can get. So here in the north, we need to do whatever we can to fool our tomato plants into thinking they’re not living on the 45th parallel.
I’ve developed a super-easy way to get my tomato plants off to an early start, yet keep them safely protected from cold spring temperatures and winds. I talked about this technique in an article about spring weather protection but I just took some photos to show you what it looks like.
You may already know from an earlier blog post about ladders vs. cages, that I’m a fan of our hinged tomato cages. The ones in these photos are all about 10 years old and still in perfect condition.
As an experiment, I wrapped only the north and west sides of this row. It's hard to see in the photo, but the plants on the far end that were almost completely enclosed, are at least 20 percent larger than the others in the same row.
The tomatoes went into the ground May 10. Nights were still in the 30s. I dug compost into the bed and then added a handful of
organic fertilizer to each of the planting holes. I put a tomato cage around the tomato as soon as it’s been planted. This helps me position the next plant in the row. Once all the plants are in the ground, I water them thoroughly using a watering can to make sure each plant receives a full gallon of water.
Now comes the wrapping. I use Garden Quilt fabric, which is a thicker and more durable version of the regular All Purpose fabric. In a windy location and cold climate like mine, I find it’s the best choice. If you’re in a slightly milder climate or a relatively protected area, the lighter fabric will work just fine.
Wrap the fabric around the outside of the cages, leaving at least 12” at the bottom so it can be secured to the ground with rocks or Earth Staples. Bunch up any extra fabric at the top and secure it to the cages with clothespins. I leave the top of this enclosure open for ventilation, but there’s enough extra fabric so if frost threatens, I can just pull the fabric over the top of the cages.
We had our last frost May 29. I had already put out most of my annuals, so I had to run around and cover lots of stuff. For the tomatoes, I just pulled up the extra fabric at the top of the cages and sealed them up. It took about 15 seconds.
The pictures here show what my tomatoes looked like on June 10, exactly one month after they went into the ground and about a week before I put away the fabric for the season. All the plants are flowering and most have already set fruit. When the fabric does come off, all the plants will get side-dressed with a cup of organic fertilizer. I also give them monthly drinks of All-Purpose Plant Health Care, which is immediately available to the plants and helps guard against stress.
If all goes well, I should be picking tomatoes (at least the cherries and early varieties) in my zone 4 garden by July 10.
-Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening
Last weekend we had temperatures in the 90s, so I removed the fabric entirely on June 13. By this time the plants were in flower and starting to set fruit. Other years I've left the fabric in place until the end of the month.
Under the cover of night, gardeners in L.A. and London are taking to the streets, turning traffic medians and empty lots into lush gardens.
This is me (a couple years ago) making a surprise delivery of plants to a local business.
Several years ago we ran a program here in Burlington, Vt., which we dubbed “Random Acts of Gardening”. Our staff planted up about 30 self-watering planters with a mix of flowers and vegetables, and then we drove around town, dropping them off at various homes and businesses.
It was a lot of fun driving around town, visiting places such as the local fire station and a favorite deli, leaving off pots of colorful plants.
It's great to read about similar, but much bigger efforts, happening in urban areas near and far. A recent article in the L.A. Times focused on a gardener named Scott, who has spent the past several years surreptitiously planting gardens on L.A. traffic medians. He does his gardening at night or very early in the morning to avoid being detected by the police or other city officials, though the article reveals that there are lots of city officials who admire and would like to meet these urban beautification experts, sometimes referred to as guerilla gardeners.
In fact, there’s a site called guerrillagardening.org that’s inspiring people in London, Berlin, Miami, San Francisco and elsewhere to take to the streets with plants. The site features stories and videos, and gets about 45,000 visitors a month!
The L.A. times article includes a neat recipe for making “seed bombs” by mixing wildflower seeds with clay and forming them into balls that can be planted on the run. In fact, the woman in the how-to slide show says she plants her seed bombs by making a hole with the 3” heel on her shoes and then just drops in a seed bomb.
If you’d like to start up a “random acts of gardening” project in your town, here’s a bumper sticker to help you spread the word!
If you know people who are using their love of gardening to beautify a public space, restore a natural area, feed the hungry or teach gardening skills, please consider nominating them for one of our Garden Crusader Awards.
Clematis use the stems of their leaves to climb. In order to get a good grip, they need something quite thin to grab onto.
This lattice forms the backdrop for the double border in our Vermont display gardens. There are several clematis plants at the base of the lattice, which is too thick for the leaf stems. We've added Nearly Invisible Netting to give the vines what they need to climb. By midsummer, the lattice panels are covered with blooming clematis.
Training clematis to grow up a trellis can be tricky. It seems that a lot of the trellises are too thick for the plants to grasp. You need something about a quarter inch or less. Clematis don't have tendrils or holdfasts (like ivy); they have twirling leaf stems that loop around any support that's small enough.
But what do you do when you have a beautiful trellis that's made with material that's just a bit too thick for clematis? The secret: Nearly Invisible Trellis Netting. Simply cut the plastic netting to a size that fits your trellis and attach it with a staple or twine. The netting blends in quickly and the vine gets the support it needs.
I've used it to get clematis to grow on picket fences, rustic cedar trellises, stockade fences, the sides of houses, tree trunks—even up the side and roof of my backyard greenhouse.
Ideally, you attach the netting before the clematis begins growing. However, there have been times when I've draped the netting over a vine that's already started growing vigorously. In short order, the netting is obscured by the now-secure vine. I prefer the Nearly Invisible Netting, but you can also use the Heavy-Duty Deer Fence.
A letter to the editor warns dog owners to cover their compost piles so their pets can't eat what's inside.
These are the four paws that "protect" my garden.
I'm in the office today, but I'll bet my dog is in the vegetable garden right now. And I doubt she's staying on the paths.
Unlike the family dogs that have patrolled my garden in the past, this one doesn't like paths. She'd also rather chase bees than rabbits and chipmunks. And dog food? It's just that: dog food. She prefers to wait for people food to pass through the kitchen and make its way into a garbage can or the compost pile.
A letter to the editor in our local paper this week, warns dog owners to cover their compost piles so their pets can't eat what's inside. The writer, a veterinarian, says he's treated a number of dogs who have taken sick after getting into some bad food from a compost pile.
Hopefully these pet owners weren't putting meat, fish and dairy products into their compost piles. That's never a good idea.
But I agree with his recommendation to keep your compost pile covered. There are actually a couple good reasons to do so. One is to keep your dog (or the neighbor's) from dumpster diving. Covering your compost or using an enclosed bin with a well-fitting lid, also helps retain moisture during the summer months to encourage faster decomposition. In areas with plentiful summer rainfall, keeping your compost covered will minimize the leaching of nutrients, too.
My favorite spring task involves a very sharp pair of red-handled pruning shears
Lilacs set their flower buds the year before they bloom.
When the first really fine spring days arrive, I’m eager to get out into the yard and start cleaning up the twigs and leaves strewn about the lawn, the fallen stems of last year’s perennials, and frost-heaved annuals. My favorite job isn’t at the end of a rake, though. It involves a very sharp pair of red-handled pruning shears.
The snipping feels decisive and the pile of woody debris on the ground looks productive and satisfying. Everything from poorly placed tree limbs and winter-damaged roses to gnarly, overgrown shrubs is fair game when I’m wearing my “Runs With Scissors” T-shirt.
Well, not quite everything. Knowing what to cut and when to cut it are part of the art and science of pruning. There’s more to it than simply wielding a pair of pruners, just as painting a masterpiece is more than owning a brush and palette of watercolors. For most people, the “when and how” of pruning flowering shrubs seems to be their undoing.
Shrubs fall into two general categories and knowing when to prune them lies in knowing to which group they belong. They either bloom on new wood (from the current year) or on old wood (from the previous year). Here’s how it works:
Shrubs that bloom on new wood usually flower in mid- to late summer. Prune these in late winter to increase the new growth and the number of flowers. Examples include butterfly bush (Buddleia), pee gee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata), summersweet (Clethra), cherry laurel, rose of sharon, photinia, gardenia, and roses.
Shrubs that bloom on old wood produce their flower buds the year before they bloom. These shrubs bloom in spring to early summer. The best time to prune this group is immediately after they bloom. Pruning them in the winter or early spring will remove the flower buds for that year. Examples include lilac (Syringa), azalea and rhododendron, broom (Cytisus), daphne, forsythia, fothergilla, spring-blooming or bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) and weigela.
The next step is deciding what to prune and what to leave. The goals in most cases are to establish and preserve the plant’s natural habit and to increase flowering potential. To achieve both goals, I cut stems either back to the ground or to another branch or main stem. Here’s what I remove in order of priority:
Dead wood. Cut it back to living wood, preferably to a healthy bud or branch that’s growing toward the outside of the shrub.
Poorly placed branches and stems. These may be crossing or rubbing on one another, growing out of the ground far from the original plant, sticking out into the driveway, or brushing the house. Either remove the stem entirely or cut it back to a branch that’s growing in the right direction.
To read more on this subject, check out the following articles:
Many people wonder if they can get Amaryllis bulbs to rebloom. The answer is yes and it's actually easier than you might think.
Amaryllis plants spending the summer outdoors.
“The flowers faded months ago, but I can’t bear to throw it out. I’d like to save it and see if I can get it to bloom again. What should I do?”
Blooming Amaryllis bulbs make spectacular holiday gifts and the recipients invariably want to keep the plants in hopes of a repeat performance and to honor the gift giver. It’s not really all that difficult to do because amaryllis are pretty forgiving plants. All they need to bloom again is a season in the garden to replenish the bulbs. Giving the bulbs a summer vacation of fresh air, sunshine, and moist, fertile soil is the best way to keep them healthy and to increase their size and flowering potential.
If the bulbs have been living on a windowsill all winter, it’s important to give them a slow transition to outdoor living. They need a couple weeks of protected exposure to the sun and wind to toughen up and prepare for life in the garden. For the first week, put the potted plants outdoors in a shady place out of the wind. If the night temperatures get too chilly, bring them indoors in the evening and set them back out in the morning. In the second week, introduce them to morning sun or full exposure on cloudy days. Continue to protect the foliage from hot midday and afternoon sun. Keep the soil in the pot barely moist during this transition time.
After the threat of frost has passed, choose a garden site with well-drained, fertile soil that gets four to six hours a day of morning sun and afternoon shade. Avoid hot, sunny areas. To encourage strong root and bulb growth, mix a slow-release bulb fertilizer or 5-10-10 garden fertilizer into the planting soil. Be sure to follow the recommended application rate.
Amaryllis are easy-care, flowering bulbs.
Tip the plant carefully out of its pot and gently unwind any circling roots. Set the plant into the garden soil so that the neck of the bulb is above ground. Backfill with the amended soil, firm it gently, and water thoroughly. Protect from slugs and snails.
During the summer, apply a liquid fertilizer every six weeks. Keep the soil moist, but not soggy. The goal is to keep the bulb growing vigorously. Strong foliage feeds the bulb and produces more flower stems and buds.
In late summer, usually by mid- to late August, stop watering and fertilizing the amaryllis plant. Let the foliage die back naturally, but protect it from freezing. In September—or if frost threatens—dig the bulb from the garden and plant it in a pot indoors. Let the soil in the pot dry out and the foliage die back. Store the bulb in a cool, dark and dry place for a minimum of two months.
About five to eight weeks before you want the amaryllis to flower again, resume watering—sparingly at first. Once you see sprouting, increase watering and place the pot in a cool place with bright, indirect light.
I used to do much more canning and freezing than I do now. With our household down to just two, we’re cooking smaller meals and don’t need to have as much food around.
But there are still quite a few garden crops that I squirrel away in my freezer or pantry, and one of those is parsley. I can chop and freeze a huge basket of fresh-picked parsley in about 15 minutes. With a half-dozen sessions like that throughout the summer, I can have plenty of frozen parsley to last right through fall, winter and spring.
When harvesting parsley, I pick stem and all, right to the base of the plant. This encourages strong re-growth and makes cleaning the leaves a snap. When you get to the kitchen, just grab all the stems like a bouquet and run the foliage under cold water (or if it’s really gritty, you can swish it through a basin of water). Then give the whole bunch a shake to remove most of the water. Pull off the leaves, leaving stems behind, and put them into a food processor. Pulse to chop the leaves medium-fine (not too much or you’ll create a paste) and then pack into zip-top freezer bags. Flatten the bags to about ½” thick, label them with the year and stack in your freezer.
Frozen parsley keeps its bright green color and fresh flavor for a year. With plenty on hand, I add it generously to most cooked vegetables, as well as in stews, soups, stir-fries, stuffings, dips and of course in tabouli. Here’s an easy tabouli recipe that can be made in about 15 minutes at any time of year. The only fresh produce required is scallions, and in a pinch I substitute some finely chopped red onion. If you’re chopping your parsley by hand (as opposed to in a food processor) you’ll want to double the amount you use in this recipe.
Anytime Tabouli
1 cup
bulgur
1½ cup
boiling water
1 tsp.
salt
¼ cup
lemon juice
¼ cup
olive oil
1 clove
garlic, pressed or minced
1 14 oz. can
diced tomatoes (or 2 cups fresh)
1½ cup
finely chopped parsley
3
scallions, chopped, with greens
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put bulgur in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over it. Let sit for about 20 minutes until most of the water is absorbed. Add all the other ingredients and refrigerate for about two hours to let the flavors meld.
So rather than planting just one parsley plant this year, put in a whole six-pack and enjoy fresh-tasting, homegrown, organic parsley all year.
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