We Are the Rock Stars! by Carol King

Here we are, dear gardeners, cruising along in our own little nerdy world, quietly gardening, getting dirty, sunburned, scabby, and muddy. Then our First Lady Michelle Obama puts a kitchen garden on the White House lawn, calling attention to our endeavors and EVERYONE wants a piece of us. Now don’t get me wrong; I am pleased that the First Lady is bringing a garden to the White House lawn. I love this project; it is a very appropriate, wonderful thing to do. But now we are ROCK STARS and the pressure is on. The expectation is that we have to look the part and that part has changed with this rock star status.

Reporters went to great lengths to photo her gardening attire and discuss her gardening outfits. “The first lady wore a blue t-shirt covered by a red windbreaker, black pants (with dirt!) and black velcro sneakers. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun” gushed the news report. They discussed the designer belt she wore around her waist and her low heeled boots. (High heels in the garden? Please.) She did have on cute clothes, looked very well put together and while she was dirty and actually working, I did not see a single piece of twine holding her pants up and I believe that she even had on make up!

My garden attire, on the other hand, is something like this: large, man’s, long sleeved white dress shirt from the thrift shop on 50% off day, paired with old shorts or pedal pushers that are held up with a safety pin or twine because the zipper is broken and the buttons are gone. I top off this outfit with one of a collection of straw cowboy hats that I got several years ago when some movie suddenly made them popular and I found them half priced at the overstock store. My look is complete with a pair of garden clogs often worn with socks. Mrs. Obama does not look like this.

So you see, dear gardener, it’s all over for us. As Rock Stars, we now have a responsibility to look the part. No more Oskosh overalls making our hips look too wide; no more lame baseball caps; throw out those rubber boots that used to be your son’s. Our First Lady has raised the bar! I don’t know about you, but I am headed to the Smith and Hawken Designer Garden Togs Outlet Store. I hear the paparazzi circling overhead, and I see a telephoto lens between the garden gates.

Why Write in a Gardening Blog

What is there about a gardening blog that motivates people to contribute their own thoughts and experiences?

I can’t tell you what might motivate other contributors, but for me I think it’s mostly the freedom to use my own style of writing, and to pass on some of my garden experiences (via my “trowel and error” method) to others who might find them useful. Also, I sometimes become curious about certain aspects of horticulture which pique my interest enough to make me dig out more information about them and share them with you.

Fortunately (for me), I don’t feel bound to present only “dry facts”. I like to color things up a bit and maybe add a little humor wherever possible. After all, gardening is all about being good humored, optimistic, and feeling rewarded when our efforts succeed, right? We need to give accurate information, but we can also personalize it. We can also feel free to tell an anecdote or two if we think it relevant, or if we think it might interest others.

Sharing experiences with fellow gardeners in our own area is also valuable. Colorado is a state where there are many micro-climates, even here along the Front Range and even just in Jefferson County. That makes for unique experiences. When we have success (or none) with something, it may be because of the special environment we have provided (intentionally or accidentally) for a particular species or cultivar of plant. Local weather conditions – and I do mean LOCAL – can also contribute to our success or lack of it. For instance, frequent high winds are a factor for those of us who are close to the foothills, more so than for gardeners living further east in more protected parts of the metro area. Precipitation amounts are sometimes highly localized as well. We need to share all of that information with others who might like to try something similar. “USDA zones 4, 5a, 5b, etc.” are only general guidelines, right?

By the way, for those of you that like to use references such as the “Sunset Western Garden Book”, note that our Jeffco area on their map zones ranges from “1A through 2B”, with corresponding hardiness ratings for the plants they describe in detail. Another interesting detail is that their zonal rating system for California spans all the way from 1A (higher mountains in the north) to 24 (southern coastal areas) – wow!

So – knowing the freedom that you have here – would more of you like to write for the “JeffcoGardener” blog? Contact carolleeking@msn.com if you would like to add your own comments and experiences here. She will fill you in on any details regarding your submissions to the blog.

Cheers,
Gardener Dave

Amazing Ivy by Gardener Dave

Boston Ivy



Are you an “Ivy Fan”? I am – up to a point. I use English Ivy (Hedera helix) as a groundcover for shade and semi-shade, and Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) as a wall climber/cover in sunnier areas. Ivies can be used to “soften” a bare wall behind other plantings and provide added cooling and humidity in our dry climate. They can help to alleviate scorching and discourage spider mite infestations in sunny walled areas.

Part of my fascination with ivy is its ability to cover large expanses of ground, walls or fences quite quickly. I also like the evergreen (depending on our winter) qualities of English Ivy, and I like the fall reddening of Boston Ivy. I am also fascinated with the clever means by which these ivies climb walls and other vertical surfaces.

There are many other “ivies” and climbing plants that use different means of attachment, such as tendrils which wind around any supporting structure (and itself) in order to reach and grow upwards. I am only detailing here the ivies with which I have had personal experience. I also have some Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) – also sold as Engleman’s Ivy – coming into my yard from a neighbor’s. It does turn red in the fall, and it is very hardy, but it can be extremely invasive, and it is susceptible to powdery mildew which can spoil the fall color. Of the three types, English Ivy is the only one that is “evergreen” here (* See “Cautions” below).

In 1865, Darwin wrote about ivy at length in his book The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. The following are some of my own observations: My English Ivy has little “rootlets” that grow sideways from the main stems and take advantage of any little spaces on brick or stone walls, fence slats (or almost anything) to wedge itself in. The “rootlets” also adhere to surfaces very tenaciously. My Boston Ivy has little “feet” or “hands” growing from the main stems (please excuse my not using botanic terms for these appendages). Each “foot” has several little separate sticky pads that can seemingly attach to ANY surface with an extremely strong glue-like bond. They even attach to undersurfaces such as eaves and patio ceilings!


English Ivy


Geckos are famed for their ability to walk on walls, thanks to nanoscopic hairs on their feet called “setae”. http//www.newscientist.com/article/dn14902-geckogrip-material-aims-to-be-the-end-of-glue.html Ivy uses another nano-scale trick to defy gravity. Several articles I have read lately describe an exuded form of “nano-sized [cementing] globules” that allow ivy to cling tightly to surfaces. Researchers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville have studied the process in depth, and say their tests reveal something like 19 different primary compounds in the ivy bonding process. I promise I won’t go into the chemical analysis of their research, but they report that millions or even billions of weak adhesion or hydrogen bonds (not bombs!) that the ivies produce, add up to make a very strong adhesion to climbing surfaces.

Researchers are also working on ways to counteract these forces with the goal of making paints that can protect surfaces from ivy damage. Also, researchers at University College Dublin in Ireland think that “…studying plants like ivy could uncover entirely novel nano-materials.” Perhaps new “miracle” adhesives?

Cautions: My ivies are not parasitic; they do not obtain nourishment from the trees, etc. that they climb on. But they will take advantage of any surface they can get their little “rootlets” into, “sticky pads” onto, or “tendrils” around. My ivies climb my brick house walls and fences and trees in my yard. They can also creep into windows and between (fairly tight) window panes. It looks “quaint” on a house wall and adds green interest to the overall landscape, but if you want to remove it, it can pose some problems. In our dry climate, the problem takes the form of leftover adhesions when you pull it off. A paint scraper or similar tool can help remove them, but they will never come off 100% unless the surface is vigorously sanded. Also, (*) English Ivy may winterburn in more-exposed areas, losing attractiveness and requiring some trimming back in Spring.

By way of interest – in moist climates, large overgrowths of ivy can bring down weakened tree branches, and its long-term decay against brick or stone walls can form humic acid which is capable of dissolving carbonate stone and some mortars. I seem to remember reading where some ivies are considered noxious weeds in moist climates, but in our area this should not be a problem with the three types I have mentioned.

Virginia Creeper

So – as I said earlier – I am an “Ivy Fan” up to a point. If you are willing to cut them back when you need to, they can be a nice green addition to your landscape. Don’t let them become too invasive, especially the Virginia Creeper or Engleman’s varieties. I have learned my lesson. Use them with this in mind and you will be happy with them. They are interesting, useful and decorative plants.

Cheers,
Gardener Dave

Sneaky Water Bandits or “The Great Rain Robbery” by Gardener Dave

How Much of This Will Get To Your Roots?

There are some subtle, perhaps even “insidious” natural forces at work “stealing” our water. When we hear reports of several inches or even feet of snow in our watershed areas, in the foothills, or (rarely) even on the plains near Denver, we really can’t assume that is the amount that will finally be available to us. Let’s look at these natural forces, and let’s ignore the water absorbed as it moves downslope to reservoirs. That part is very beneficial to trees, shrubs and other vegetation – I don’t consider that to be “stolen”. But, as an old English proverb says: “There’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip”.

1) Sublimation – This process turns snow directly into a gaseous state, bypassing the beneficial liquid water state entirely. I have no actual estimate of how much of our snow moisture is lost by this process, but it can be significant, and we certainly need all the moisture we can get. Have you ever noticed that sometimes snow can shrink a lot even before we get the warm Chinooks and sunshine? Some shrinking is from compaction, and some is because of sublimation.

Sublimation occurs at below-freezing temperatures. It is the same phenomenon used in the commercial freeze-drying process. It also explains why Grandma could hang her clothes out on the line in below-freezing temperatures and later retrieve them all nice and dry. Our very dry and many times fast-moving winter air also accelerates the sublimation process. In case you’re interested, this is also how “frost-free” freezers keep their walls and shelves free of frost and ice, by using a fan within the freezer compartment to circulate dry, cold air. Even ice cubes in open trays will sublime and get smaller if left unused for a long time.

To further illustrate the sublimation process by way of something that we may be more familiar with, frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) sublimes at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. That’s how our stage acts, plays and movies create all that spooky “fog”. The opposite of sublimation is “deposition”. Frost is an example of this. In frost deposition, water goes from a gaseous vapor directly to solid ice crystals.

2) Evaporation – We lose a lot of water by evaporation, especially from the surfaces of reservoirs, lakes and even streams. Again, our dry air and winds speed up this process. We are all familiar with this process, so I won’t belabor it here, except to give you an estimate of how much water can be lost. For arid regions, I have seen estimates of over 25% of the water, stored to be used for human purposes, can be lost to evaporation.

3) Virga – You may have said “Gee, look – it’s really raining heavily from that cloud”, only to find out that it never actually reaches the ground at all. And – you guessed it – our dry air also contributes to this effect.
Now, in my mind, virga qualifies as one of our Sneaky Water Bandits because if we see rain falling from the sky – it sure would be nice if it reached the ground and soaked into our lawn and gardens… oh well, maybe some other time!

The word virga is derived from Latin, meaning twig or branch (go figure that out), and a popular “backronym” (ever hear that word?) in meteorology is "Variable Intensity Rain Gradient Aloft”. (See, we learn something every day if we pay attention). Interestingly – one effect of virga can be pockets of cold air that descend rapidly, creating dry air called microbursts which can be extremely hazardous to aviation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virga
4) Run-off – When we see water running downhill we can all spot this one, right? But perhaps less-known is the fact that all the water that falls on our property doesn’t actually belong to us. According to Colorado Water Law, we can’t just use rain-barrels on our downspouts or a big catch basin to retain every possible drop. I may be selfish if I consider this run-off water “stolen” (from me), but if rain falls on my property – I’d like to keep it!

However – Colorado Water Law requires that precipitation fall to the ground, run off and into the river of the watershed where it fell. An individual may not capture and use water to which he/she does not have a right. Also… the reuse of household water (gray water) is regulated by Colorado State Board of Health Guidelines. Colorado Water Law allows each customer just one use of the water before it goes down the drain, through a wastewater treatment plant and back into the river for others to use. By law, Denver Water customers are not permitted to take their bath or laundry water (“gray water”) and dump it on their outdoor plants or garden. After this water is used once by Denver Water customers, it must return to the South Platte River where it will be used seven or eight more times before it gets to the state line (Nebraska).



Cheers,
Gardener Dave

The Rhyme of the “Ancient” Gardener

The Old Gardener courtesy Brooklyn Museum

The Rhyme of the "Ancient" Gardener

Spring is coming – Hey, Hooray!
Saw my first Robin yesterday

Time to round up tools from Fall,
sharpen spades and pruners all

Find trash cans for all the clean-up
of the plants that start their green-up

Can hardly wait till April’s here,
Its warmer days are coming near

Getting Spring tools fixed is easy
It’s the other things that make me queasy

Things like getting hips and knees
to bend, and squat, and work with ease

Something I call “The Gardener’s Curse”
Ground-Level Work – there’s nothing worse!

Now, if I had been a “Snowboard Nut”
I wouldn’t have been in my Winter “rut”

I’d be all loosy-goosy jointed,
my knees and hips be well-annointed

But I preferred to take my ease
all through the Winter’s chilly breeze

Thinking of Spring and warm sun-rays,
dreaming of weather’s better days

But even if it takes some weeks
to get my “bod” to tuned-up peaks

If the ski slopes had been my gym,
I could be healing a broken limb

And that would take much time to mend
No, I’d rather stretch and stoop and bend

I’ll take my pills and Ibuprofen
and thank the Lord that nothing’s broken!

Cheers,

Gardener Dave

Is There a Bright Spot Here? by Carol King

February is a miserable month for gardeners in Front Range Colorado. It’s 60 degrees one day and 37 the next. Most warm days are too windy to be outside and even if you can there’s not much to do. It’s too early to uncover anything, maybe a little watering if you’re lucky. Mostly I just sit around and growl. Even the chores to do in the February Garden are lame.

Things like:

Clean, sharpen, and inventory your tools. Do you think someone who treats their tools this way would do that?

Plan and draw out your vegetable garden plot. I’m sorry, I’m a plunker. I plunk it where I feel like it.

Order seeds early. Let’s see: sunflowers, peas, pole beans, carrots. There that’s done.

Pick off and destroy insect eggs. Oh, Please.

Grrrrrr, dear gardener, Grrrrrr

I will take the advice of one sage about February chores: “To recover, apply cups of hot chocolate and another good catalog.”

Don't Eat Like a Bird by Carol King

Did you know, dear gardener, that February is National Bird Feeding Month? Yes, and it has been since January, 1994, when Congress passed a resolution making it so. And did you know that 1/3 of the adult population feeds wild birds in their yards? I hope you will join me in celebrating this event by putting out a feeder or two for our feathered friends. Wild birds are a very important component to our natural environment and if we don’t do something, a quarter of the world's bird species will likely be extinct or critically endangered by the end of the century, according to a new study by U.S. researchers.

The Wild Bird Center asks us to consider that:
- A typical backyard bird doesn't weigh as much as two nickels.
- Birds spend most of their waking hours searching for food -- without the help of "hands" and "fingers".
- They may consume 15% of their body weight overnight just keeping warm enough to survive.
- Like mail carriers, they're outside in sleet, snow, wind and cold.

Birds eat ALL THE TIME.

Birds are very important in the ecosystem: they eat weed seeds and harmful insects. They help in the pollination of plants, spread seeds around, and help dispose of dead animal carcasses. They also have great entertainment value. Human activities and habits have destroyed many of their natural sources of food so by providing food, water and shelter, we are helping them to survive.
Birds not only help to keep our world safe from plagues of insects and but perhaps actual plagues themselves. There is speculation that the increase in Lyme disease is a direct result of the demise of the passenger pigeon. Passenger pigeons used to occur in flocks of hundreds of millions of birds. They ate acorns. Deer mice, which harbor Lyme disease bacteria, eat acorns. Ticks get the disease from mice and infect humans. The pigeons would have limited the number by not leaving enough acorns to support a large population of deer mice thus keeping Lyme disease in check. The pigeons are all gone and the deer mice are thriving and humans get Lyme disease. See how this all works?

Feed your birds, dear gardener. But don’t eat like one.

The Chinooks Shook or the Katabats Rat-a-tat-tat by Carol King

I suppose we should have been forewarned. After all the forecast included “winds that will make small objects into projectiles.” And did it ever! The wind roared through the spruces, and made the roof crack and pop all night. The wind chimes sounded like someone was furiously shaking them; it was a restless sleep. The next morning, I saw damage from every window: the bird feeder was torn up; Christmas ornaments were strewn all over the yard. Trash cans from who knows where lay in the street and the neighbor’s house had a huge tree lying on its roof. We must have seen fifty fences blown down as we went about our day. It was later reported that $2,000,000 damage was caused by this particular wind. Which got me to wondering…what the heck are these winds called “Chinooks” and why are they?
Scientifically, these winds are called katabatic winds. They blow all over the world where there are mountains. In the Rocky Mountains, these katabatic winds are called Chinooks, named after an Indian word meaning “snow eater.” This type of wind is first created in the Pacific where it gathers moisture and then climbs the western side of the Rockies, drops snow and cold on that side of the range. Once it crests the mountains, it has no more moisture and the wind zooms downward descending the eastern side of the mountains rapidly and increasing the temperature. Often during a Chinook, line of lenticular (lens shaped) clouds sits on top of the mountains while the hot wind comes down the mountain. These winds have been known to raise temperatures 50+ degrees in just a few minutes. With these particular Chinooks, we had record snowfalls and threat of avalanches on the Western slope followed by winds up to 111 mph and mild temperatures on the Eastern slope. At DIA, the temperature was 34 degrees on December 27, 58 degrees on December 29 and up to 63 degrees on January 2!
The katabatic winds in the European Alps are called Foehn ; Andes, the Puelche; Argentina, the Zonda and Pampero; India ,the Bhoot; Hawaii, the Kona; central Europe, the Mistral and Bora; Japan, Middle East, the Sharav; and many other names in other parts of the world. And of course, let’s not forget the Santa Ana in California.
Now this is all very interesting, but you are wondering, dear gardener, just what this has to do with the garden. Katabatic winds can wreak havoc in the garden and not just by blowing trees on your house.
• Soil moisture is lost, and the soil can blow away.
• Many trees, shrubs, and plants cannot survive the rapid temperature fluctuations; white birch does not thrive very well here because of these winds.
• Trees may wake up and begin to photosynthesize, losing moisture and dehydrating.
• The warm temperatures will sometimes trigger early sprouting. Those sprouts will then be killed in the next freeze.
• It can melt valuable snow pack which is a water source for our gardens later in the season.
• Chinooks can cause something called “Red Belt”, an area of dead or damaged trees and vegetation caused by the rapid dry out.
• Wood may split due to extreme dryness.
• It can cause avalanches by making large areas of snow unstable.

• The Chinook can create a perfect fire hazard because it dries so severely and the high winds spread fires rapidly.
• These winds can even cause wire fences to become electrified due to strong positive electrical charges. Cattle have been electrocuted in this way!

If that isn’t enough, consider how these winds affect people both psychologically and physically. Scientific journals have reported that highly strung people may begin to shake or fidget, susceptible people may get headaches, migraines, or suffer nervous disorders, while many people fell “better” others report increase feelings of depression. It has been known to cause strange attitudes and reactions in animals and people in the affected areas too. The University of Milan performed a study and their data suggested that the effects of warm katabatic winds in the Po Valley (Italy) can indeed be detected in the increase of car accidents. And this is more than just high profile vehicles being blown off the road.
I don’t know about you, dear gardener, but all I can say to this is “Yikes.” And as there is nothing to be done to stop them, the next time a Chinook is forecast,(and there will be many more this winter) I plan to get a good stiff drink, stay off the highways, stay away from wire fences and watch for unusually strange behavior in my husband.

New Year's Wishes by Carol King

A Star-forming cloud taken by NASA Space Telescope


My friend MJ sent me these wishes for the New Year. I loved them so I am passing them along to you, dear gardeners.


My Wish for You in 2009

*May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts.*
*May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills.*
*May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!*
*May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy*
*May the problems you had, forget your home address!*
*In simple words ............May 2009 be the best year of your life!!!*


* ** Happy New Year!!* And Happy Gardening!!*

“Harvesting” Tall Ornamental Grasses by Gardener Dave

In the last several years, ornamental grasses have become very popular in our area. Many of these grasses grow quite tall, to 5 feet and even much taller. They generally remain quite attractive during the winter in their dry state, unless the snow breaks them down. Then they become unattractive and messy. They can be cut down after they are dried, in the fall, winter or early spring. I leave the shorter varieties up, but I make it a practice to cut the taller ones before we have a heavy snow. My row of Miscanthus “Morning Light” clumps along our front steps has grown too large to leave up during the winter, even though they were planted over 3 feet away from the steps. Uncut, they would also take up room that I need to deposit snow shoveled from my steps.

Handling these long grasses once they are broken down and cut off can be very messy, and the individual dry blades are pesky to chase in a wind and pick up if not tightly bound together. I have found that the best way to handle these tall grasses is to cut them before snow comes.

Bundle them before cutting, using long (approx. 3-foot) plastic “Zip Ties”. These are available at the “Big Box” stores such as Home Depot and Lowe’s in packages of 10 or so. You can put two or more of these ties together end to end to make a tie of the length needed, placing them about halfway up the grass bundle. Tighten them gradually as you cut through the stalks – I prefer using an electric hedge trimmer for cutting at about 6 inches above the ground – and you will wind up with a tight, compact bundle.

The plastic ties can be removed and re-used if you want to tie the bundles with twine, etc. for disposal. Just insert the tip of a small flat screwdriver into the tie where the “zipper” locks, and it can be easily “unzipped” and removed. However, I prefer to leave a (shorter) plastic tie on the bundle for trash pickup, especially if your trash pickup will be several days in the future. The plastic tie can be easily re-tightened as the bundle dries, whereas cord or twine is not that easily re-tightened and may allow much of the dried grass to slip out when someone tries to pick it up.

I hope you find this “handling hint” useful. I have chased too many loose dry ornamental grass leaves in the wind to do the job any other way. I hope the snow has not yet broken your tall grasses down!

Cheers,
Gardener Dave

Yard Art Celebrating the Solstice by Carol King

DON’T GET FRESH WITH ME by Carol King

Picture courtesy of freephoto.com

Are you thinking of getting a fresh Christmas tree this year? It seems that there are tree lots on every street corner: The big boxes, the corner store, nurseries, garden centers; everywhere. So how on earth do we choose one? Here are a few simple steps that will ensure you get the freshest tree and keep it that way. When buying a fresh tree, check that the needles bend rather than break with gentle pressure; shake it carefully to look for needle loss; and check the cut end: it should be sticky with sap. If these conditions exist, buy your tree and take it home. First, make a new cut at the end of the trunk about an inch above the old one. Keep the cut end standing in water, whether you decorate the tree immediately or not. This allows a fresh route for water to travel into the trunk. Check the tree's water level frequently, and refill as necessary. Fresh evergreen trees can take up an amazing amount of water. If the water level drops below the trunk, a seal will form, preventing the tree from absorbing water. Keep your tree away from heat sources such as a heating duct or television set. A fresh tree that receives good care should remain in safe condition indoors for ten days to two weeks.

After the holidays, there are several options for your tree other than the landfill. Recycle your tree or mulch it in the garden. Most municipalities in the Denver area have recycling available. Contact your own city or county. Never burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace (the pitch content in the bark and needles can cause them to burst into flames from the intense heat).

Or do something whimsical: right after Christmas, move the tree outside and decorate it with popcorn, fresh cranberries, peanuts in the shell, pine cones with suet and birdseed; apples, rice cakes, dried corn bundles. Use natural string, ribbon and raffia for hanging. The birds will use this material for nesting in the spring, after the food is gone. In the spring, trim off the branches, mulch those in the garden and use the frame of the tree to create a bottle tree. Place colored bottles of all kinds on the stub ends of your tree. Put in a location to glisten in the sun and enjoy! Tradition says that bottle trees protect the home from evil spirits by trapping spirits inside the bottles, where they do no harm. With a little imagination, dear gardener, your tree can provide enjoyment all year: the traditional tree at Christmas; a home for birds to gather and feed, garden mulch and finally a wonderful piece of folk art created by your family.