What is Composting?

What is composting? The Environmental Protection Agency says composting is the aerobic decomposition of organic materials (food scraps, yard waste) into nutrient-rich soil amendments that build soil health and reduce waste. It requires a mix of “browns” (carbon-rich) and “greens” (nitrogen-rich), moisture, and air, and can take 8-12 weeks or over a year to break down, depending on the method used.

How To Get Started

Pick an area in your yard, at least four foot square, preferably shady and dry. Begin to layer in what they call “greens” and “browns.” Greens are grass clippings, fresh leaves (from pruning, not from diseased plants or insect-infested plants), fresh food scraps (not meats as they can attract rodents), and not pet waste, etc. They break down to release nitrogen.

Browns are dried leaves, broken up twigs, cardboard, straw. They break down to release carbon. The best mix is three parts carbons (browns) to one part nitrogen (greens).

How to Care For Your Compost

About once a week take a pitchfork and turn the patch over to aerate it.  Water it about once a week if we haven’t had any rain.  Turning it over will help speed it up.  You’ll begin to see your first bit of compost in a few months.

Compost improves soil health by adding organic matter, so mix it well in the top 3 or 4 inches of soil around garden plants.  You can mix about 1 part compost to 3 to 4 parts potting soil for your indoor plants

Your Garden and Mother Nature Will Be Happy!

Not only will making your own compost help your garden, but it will also the environment. Mother Nature will thank you!

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How Rachel Carson’s Book, “Silent Spring” Led to Change

Senator Gaylord Nelson was a senator from Wisconsin who was interested in conservation.  He was inspired by Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring.:  He was also inspired by an oil spill on the Santa Barbara River in January, 1969, a fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, and the activism of the 1960s and ’70s.  The fire on the Cuyahoga River was caused by industrial oil and debris in the water.

How Earth Day Came to Be

Nelson championed a nationwide “teach-in” focused on environmental issues. His tireless efforts in association with activist Dennis Hayes led to the celebration of the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. About 20 million Americans attended rallies, events, and took part in demonstrations. This nationwide outpouring of support led to  important environmental legislation to include the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, the passage of the Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act.

Up until the passage of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, companies faced little or no consequences for polluting the environment. After these two laws were passed, companies faced serious consequences for acts of pollution.

How You and I Can Help

Now Earth Day is a day for us to remember and think of things to do about Global warming, recycling, plastic pollution, and many other ways to take care of our planet.

What can we do to help?  We can recycle, clean up our community, advocate and support environmental laws, plant more pollinator friendly plants (did you know that over 1/3 of our food requires pollination and 75% of our flowers require pollination), and, whenever possible, buy local (food grown in other places requires massive amounts of fossil fuels to ship).

The Important Bottom Line

Let’s take care of our planet.  It’s the only one we’ve got.

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M​ay Freeze, Really?

Six years ago, we had a frost on May 10th. I had forgotten to check the long-range forecast before moving them out. So, a couple of days later, when I watched the weather forecast, I was running around the yard throwing sheets over everything and dragging in what I could. I don’t want to do that again!

W​hen To Put Plants Outside

Aim for nights staying above 60 degrees, if possible. Yes, temperatures dropping into the 50’s won’t kill a plant native to the tropics (and 95% of the plants we grow as houseplants are native to the tropics)​, but it can stress them. As you move them out, put even your sun-lovers (like citrus and succulents) into part-shade. Even if they have been in a sunny window indoors, direct overhead beating sun can burn or scorch the foliage. After a week or so you can inch them into more sun. Shade loving plants can go under a porch or the heavier shade from mature trees in the yard.

Y​our Plants Are Outside! Now What?

Once you’ve moved them all out for the summer,​ remember to keep them fed. Summer is their time of active growth.​ Also​, remember that watering needs will change outside. The temperatures are warmer​, the light is brighter​, and the plants are actively growing so​ they will dry out faster. Do keep an eye on the weather so you don’t mistakenly water when you come home from work, after we had a mid-day shower.

When you first move them outside, it is a good time to prune most houseplants since they’re going to be entering a phase of active summer growth.

T​he Really Important Thing!

Last, and most important, occasion​ally sit on your deck, porch, or patio and ENJOY!

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Let’s Talk Hoyas

Hoyas are native to tropical areas of Asia, Australia, and Polynesia — areas that are warm and humid. It is a distant relative of the vinca vine and the Butterfly Weed. Most Hoyas are epiphytic vines. An epiphyte is a plant that grows on other plants; it is NOT a parasite, however, that sends its roots into other plants and steals their water and nutrients. Epiphytes use the host plant to lift it up where the light and air circulation are better. It gets its water from air humidity and tropical rain, and its nutrients from decaying organic debris that washes over it.

A Hoya’s nickname is Wax Plant because its leaves are thick and waxy. The foliage is very attractive, often with pretty variegated leaves, and wide varieties also have attractive flowers. They can either be grown in a pot and trellised up a pole or grown in a hanging basket and allowed to cascade.

How to Care For Your Hoya

They prefer very bright indirect light or good dappled light or they can take some direct sun before 10:00 AM or after 2:00 PM. You’ll want to pot them in cactus soil.

You can find them in most greenhouses in the cactus section, but they are NOT a cactus. They do like to dry out almost completely between waterings, but they don’t want to stay dry for several days. You can feed Hoyas a balanced fertilizer (20-20-20) during the growing season (mid-February through October), but they do suggest a couple of doses of a blooming plant fertilizer during the summer.

Give a Hoya a try. You’ll love them!

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Wait On These Veggies

I’d wait another 3 weeks (in the Richmond area…a bit later further north) before planting corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, and melons. Before I plant them, I’d still go online and double-check the long-range forecast. I’ll never ever forget that frost we had just six years ago on May 10th!

Remember that root crops should never be started indoors. They do not transplant well and should be direct-sown in the garden. Follow the directions on the back of the package. They will tell you how far apart to space, etc.

Plant These Veggies Now

You could have started spinach, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc., indoors last month so now would be the time to transplant outside. If not, you still have time to direct-sow — just remember to still follow the directions on the seed packet for spacing.

Loosen the soil first about 10 inches down for root crops and about eight inches down for kale, spinach, broccoli, etc. Water well after planting and side-dress with a vegetable fertilizer.  Do keep an ear tuned to the weather forecasts. Even early spring veggies should be protected from temperatures below freezing with row covers or something else (I’ve used sheets successfully in the past).

How to Check Foliage for Pests

Now you will want to start checking the foliage about once a week for certain early-springs pests. Cabbage worms are the worst so keep tabs on all your cabbage family members — cabbage, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. Also, keep a watch on the rest of the veggies for regular pests like aphids. Early detection is the best way to keep things under control.

The Most Important Thing

The most important thing you can do is enjoy that first bite you take of your home-grown veggies!

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Biblical Reference to Lilies

We also have an excerpt from the Bible that says, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” This is how lilies became part of our current Easter traditions. Have you treated yourself to some Easter Lilies, or did someone else treat you? Here’s how to care for them.

How to Care For Easter Lilies

An Easter lily is a bulb and, what’s more, it is winter hardy here in zone 7. Wait until it has finished blooming, then plant it outside. While it is inside, care for it by placing it in a bright spot, but no direct sun between 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM. If the pot is wrapped in foil, either remove it or poke holes in the bottom so it can drain well. Water when the top of the soil is dry 1/3 to 1/2 the way down, but never let it go bone dry.

Planting Easter Lilies After They Bloom

When it finishes blooming, cut back the old flower stalk. Plant your lily outside around the end of April in a spot with dappled sun. Get a bulb fertilizer (like Espoma’s Bulb-tone) and feed according to the label directions. It should bloom for you every year with those beautiful, fragrant white flowers.

Easter Lilies Are Toxic for Kitties

Do remember, however, that lilies are highly toxic to kitties, so keep them away.

Visit the Great Big Greenhouse for Your Spring Planting Needs

For more expert information about Easter Lilies and other flowers, stop by the Great Big Greenhouse and speak with one of our Garden Center experts.

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History of Spring Celebrations

The Spring Equinox has been recognized for centuries.  In Egypt, they recognized the longer days and celebrated with great excitement, as it meant time to plant.  The Babylonians celebrated the god Markuk, believed to defeat the forces of chaos each year.  The Mayans celebrated the god Kukulcan, who they believed caused the rebirth of the earth, and the Germans. associated it with the fertility goddess, Ostara. In England, at Stonehenge, hundreds of people gather at dawn just to watch the sun rise on the first day of spring.

What you can do to celebrate is plant early-blooming flowers that can take frost, if we get it — like hellebores, violas, and pansies — or plant cool-weather-loving veggies like spinach, broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, or cauliflower.

Choose Your Spring Plantings Carefully

However, just because Friday was the first official day of spring, do be sure NOT to plant veggies and flowers that cannot take frost, however, because our last frost day is technically around April 15.  We have had frost as late as  May 10th, so choose your spring plants carefully!

My Experience

I remember 2020s unexpected late frost.  At about eleven o’clock that night, I was running around the yard in my pajamas and slippers covering what plants I could cover and bringing all my houseplants (which I had just moved outside) back inside.  Now, before I plant non-frost hardy plants I look look-up up the long-range forecast.

If you need help with knowing what you can plant know, give us a call.

Happy Spring!

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There’s No What?

Believe it or not, technically, there is no such thing as a shamrock! Mind Blown! The word “shamrock” comes from the Irish word seamróg, meaning young clover. While there’s no definitive botanical classification for the shamrock, it’s widely believed to be a species of clover, most often Trifolium dubium or Trifolium repens. It is native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa.

When you buy a shamrock in a pot, you are most likely buying an Oxalis variety. It is native to every continent. Since the one sold in pots is Oxalis, here’s how to care for it.

How to Care for Your “Shamrock”

Oxalis need very bright light, but no direct sun between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. It could scorch the foliage. Allow the soil to dry out about a third of the way down between waterings.  Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer (20-20-20).

In fall the foliage will begin to wilt and die back. STOP fertilizing and stop watering. After the leaves and stems have died back, they can be trimmed back. Move the pot to a spot that is dark and dry for a couple of months. It can take it cooler, but do keep well above freezing.

After it’s rest period, move the pot back to it’s much brighter spot and begin watering. This signals the underground roots that it’s time to begin growing again.

Let’s All Celebrate!

Whether you call them Shamrocks, Oxalis, or clover, let’s capture their spirit and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, a day everyone gets to be Irish.

Enjoy!

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Ants

How many times have I stepped on ants on the sidewalk? How many times did I try to get rid of them in the yard? I believed they were pests. Now, I know differently. Yes, it’s a bit annoying when I find them around the cat food dish in the kitchen or when I have to brush one off my arm during a cookout. But did you know that ants eat the larvae of harmful insects, like aphids and mealybugs? They also aerate the soil better than earthworms do. And when they take food into their nests, they introduce organic matter into the soil. And they do not eat plants. They may go after the “honeydew” or sap secreted by the flowers, but they don’t bother the plant. So now, I do put something down to repel them from the kitchen or brush them off when one crawls up my arm, but I no longer worry about any nests I find in the corner of the yard.

Roly-Polies

I also used to believe that the Roly-Polies living in the flower pots on my deck were bothering the roots. They’re not. They’re living on decaying organic debris in the soil and breaking it down. They accelerate the release of composting nutrients and return them to the soil. An interesting fact—they aren’t insects! They are crustaceans—related to lobsters and crabs!

Snakes

And I was afraid of snakes. Now I know that while I might not want to share my deck with one, they do us several favors. First of all, I shudder to think of how many rats and mice we’d have destroying our houses and gardens if snakes didn’t keep them under control.  And one thing I didn’t realize: they also eat crickets, cockroaches, mealworms, and grubs, among other insects.

Bats

Finally—bats. Yeah, they do look a little bit creepy fluttering around overhead, but did you know what ONE bat can eat over 4,000 insects a night? And because their echolocation (their method of hearing) is so highly evolved, the chances of them actually getting caught in your hair is slim to none! Now I’m more inclined to invite a bat to hang around and bring some more of his mosquito eating friends with him.
As for the snake (I call him Freddie) that lives in the woods behind my house, I’m more than happy to have him on the deck at night as long as he keeps rats and mice away.

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Among the gardening tasks for late winter/early spring, pruning your roses is near the top of the list. The first thing I do is put on my gardening gloves. Do you really want to prune a rose without protection? Trust me, you don’t.

Now is the Best Time for Pruning Your Roses

You want to prune roses now because if you prune them once they start putting out new growth, you can cut off new flowering growth. And you don’t want to prune them at summer’s end because that can stimulate new growth going into fall or winter when they otherwise wouldn’t be growing. And because pruning stimulates new growth, and roses bloom on new growth, pruning right now will give your roses a “push” in the right direction.

How to Prune Your Roses Step by Step

The first thing to do is remove any dead, diseased, or dying canes.  Then remove any larger canes that are rubbing each other as that can cause damage to either or both of them. If there are a lot of smaller canes bunched together, thin them out to help the air circulation.  Last, you can trim the entire bush back by about a third.

Cut canes at a 45° angle just above an outward-facing bud.  That allows the cut end to dry out before insects can move in.

Now would also be a good time to apply a dormant oil.  Apply when temperatures are going to be over 40 degrees for at least 24 hours. Dormant oils can help to control insect pests like aphids, mealy bugs, thrips, and whitefly.

Last but certainly not least, one of the best times you can feed your rose, (the first time of the season) is right after it’s been pruned since pruning stimulates new growth and roses bloom on new growth.

Your Rose Bushes Will Say “Thank You”!

By caring for your roses now, your rose bushes will thank you by providing more blooms to brighten your yard and spirit.

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