The History of the Shamrock by Carol King

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, the day when everyone in the world is Irish for a day! And the shamrock is the most recognized symbol of the Irish.

The Irish shamrock (spelled seamrog) is thought to be the white clover (Trifolium repens). What we consider to be a common lawn weed, is a native of Ireland. It has been symbolic of many things through the years. It was considered to be a sacred plant to the Druids of Ireland because its leaves formed a triad, and three is a mystical number in Celtic religion as well as many other religions. Supposedly, St. Patrick used it to illustrate the Holy Trinity to help convert Irish peoples to Christianity.

Growing Grapes for Wine? It's Time to Prune! by Donna Duffy

My neighbor, John Crawford, is a fourth generation vintner who has been growing grapes for about six years in Colorado, and making wine since 1979 using the private label “Crawford Castle. John was previously co-owner of Colorado’s oldest winery, Colorado Mountain Vineyards – now Colorado Cellars. Here's John's advice on pruning vines for maximum grape production. 

2013 Perennial Plant of the Year

Photo by Steve Still/ Perennial Plant Association

The 2013 Perennial Plant of the year has been announced. It is Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’ , a variegated Solomon's Seal.

Here a link to the whole article and past winners!

Garden Tasks to Prepare for Spring by Donna Duffy

Are these “warm” days giving you a case of early Spring Fever? Do you gaze out the window wishing you could get your hands in the soil? With the ground frozen, it’s still too early to get out and dig, but here are a handful of outdoor chores you can do to be prepared when Spring arrives.

1.    Add hardscape to your yard. Now is a great time to plan a walkway, add sculpture, or build garden structures. Design your own stepping stones; there are kits available to help you make them. Thumb through your old landscape and garden magazines for ideas.

Eighteen Catalogs and Counting by Carol King

Rain and snow this evening. A few snow showers overnight. You might ask “ What to do I do on a day like this?” I think it is a grand day to look at seed and plant catalogs and dream about spring. I have received eighteen so far. That’s right eighteen: surely January is National Send Out Seed Catalogs month.

With the snow blowing all around, it is a wonderful time to look at pictures of children sitting on giant pumpkins, dahlias as big as a basketballs, roses with names like ”Summer of Love” and “Sweetness”, and all manner of vegetables and flowers promising a wonderful garden. However, one must certainly be careful when reading the text of these catalogs. Gardening in Colorado is not for the faint of heart and most of these catalogs are from companies in exotic places like Wisconsin, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia; places that have actual rainfall and garden soil full of humus and natural compost. My experience tells me that certain words and phrases are to be watched out for. By paying attention to the descriptions, we can learn much about what truly is being said and whether a certain plant might have a chance here.

For instance, the phrase “plants are slow to emerge in spring” probably means you’ll forget you planted something in that spot and till it up. “Well draining soil is essential”; might not be a good choice for my clay garden. “Sends forth a heightened perfume; pungently scented”; better like the fragrance as this one will stink. “Patience is needed to germinate”, right; see the first phrase. Be very cautious when you see the word vigorous with any plant or seed as in “vigorous, self sows” or “spreads vigorously”, this will be all over the neighborhood within a couple of years. “Does best in acid soil”; means you’ll be making a weekly trip to Starbucks for coffee grounds if you are going to grow this one. “Best in moist conditions and humus rich soil”; yeah, right. “Can’t ship to: various states”; this one is on some state’s noxious weed list. “Prone to powdery mildew; water early in the day”; these will look horrible in August.

Read between the lines, dear gardener. Read between the lines!

Time for Winter Watering by Carol King

Photo courtesy CSU

The dry air, low precipitation,  and fluctuating temperatures that we have had thus far this  fall and winter in the Front Range of Colorado means we need to winter water!  There has been little or no snow cover to provide soil moisture. Trees, shrubs, perennials and lawns can be damaged if they do not receive supplemental water.

Lack of winter watering can cause injury or death to part of the plant's root system.  Weakened plants my also be subject to insect and disease problems.

Read the entire CSU fact sheet about winter watering here.

Dancing With Peppers: A Timelapse Video from Seed to Plant By Jim Rohling

It was around December 2011 when I read a blog article about gifts for the gardener who has everything. Well, I must admit, I have a lot of gardening stuff:  a greenhouse, 700 square feet of garden area, everything I need to start seeds, a plant sale to help support my habit, and most important of all, a wife who understands my passion. But, I didn’t have a timelapse camera. Guess what I got for Christmas!

During the first week of February, the time when I usually start my pepper seeds, I thought how cool it would be to capture the different stages of the pepper plants from germination to killing frost with my new camera. I started out taking 10 exposures a day when the first cotyledon (seed) leaves appeared. After about a week or so, I went to one exposure in the morning and one in the afternoon. I moved the plants to the greenhouse the first week of April and then to the garden at the end of May.
At the end of the season, I had three videos that needed to be combined. After discussing some options with another CMG, I downloaded moviemaking software and turned my videos into one.  It was a good video, but it still needed something more. The answer was music—the “right” music, of course.  My wife, early on, had said the peppers looked like they were dancing, so I titled the video “Dancing with Peppers”. Another CMG commented, “I didn’t think those little guys could move like that” (the secret? lots of rehearsals!).

Aspen Catkins in January! How Trees Know When to Leaf by Mary Small

Aspen Catkins Photo by Anna Wilson

How do trees know when to leaf out?  I’ve pondered this since I was recently sent a picture of aspen buds beginning to flower – in January!

Tree leafing and flowering is not completely understood and the process varies not only among species, but within species. Location’s important, too. A tree may leaf out earlier in the city than its relation in the mountains.  One growing on a warm southern exposure is more likely to leaf out earlier than the same species on a colder northern exposure. Trees originating in the southern part of their range often leaf out earlier than ones originating in the northern part.

Both cold and warm temperatures play a large role in leafing and in some species day length is involved, too. During early warm spells, day length is an additional layer of protection, keeping the tree from leafing too soon despite temperature signals. 

Teaming with Microbes, Book Review by Judy Huckaby

Teaming with Microbes, The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web (Revised Edition) by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. Timber Press, 2010.

Unseen, plants are as busy underground as above ground.  The authors of this book show that underground, the roots sweat (exudate) as a result of photosynthesis.   The rhizophere, the area around the sweating roots, attracts and feeds fungus and bacteria, which in turn are consumed by larger organisms, and on up the food chain. All of these organisms, fungus, bacteria and the critters that eat them and the critters that eat them, excrete wastes.  This is what is taken up by the roots as nutrients. All of this activity keeps nutrients from draining from the soil because the nutrients that plants need are bound up in the bodies of the soil life.  This is called nutrient immobilization.
An empty, ‘new’ garden becoming populated with plants favors bacteria.  As the plants age, more fungus appears.  It is interesting to note that the bacteria count in a sample of soil over time remains the same, but the fungus count becomes more abundant. 

Merry Christmas!

Denver Botanic Gardens photo by PRWEB

Happy Holidays from your Jefferson County Colorado Master Gardener team!

Spring Blooming Bulbs Leafing in December by Mary Small

Tulips Leafing in December Photo by Mary Small

Last time I checked the calendar it was December.  So why are some of my spring blooming bulbs leafing?  And what will happen to them following this recent cold snap?

Fortunately my plants (and maybe yours) don’t “think” it is spring! It seems that when fall weather is mild, some bulb plants send up a bit of green foliage. (Some bulb species produce green foliage whether or not the fall has been mild!) In most cases, leaves stay just a few inches above the soil  throughout the rest of the cold period. If the weather is really cold, foliage may freeze and turn yellow or brown and shrivel.  But generally new leaves appear in the spring followed by flowering.

Plants native to cooler climates have a mechanism to keep them from blooming or growing at the “wrong” time, called “chilling requirement”.  This is the number of hours a plant has to be exposed to temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees F before the plant can break dormancy.  Spring flowering bulbs, perennials and trees all have a chilling requirement, although it varies among plant species. Once a plant has met its chilling requirement, it “waits” until conditions are favorable for growth before leafing and flowering.  In our area, the chilling requirements can be met by around February.

Soil temperatures are one of the triggers that tell flowering bulbs that conditions are favorable and its “good to grow”. So we can help slow the progress of spring flowering by adding a mulch layer over the soil where bulbs are planted.  This helps keep soil temperatures cooler and slow the spring leaf and flower development.  If you haven’t applied mulch, go ahead and do it now.
Otherwise Mother Nature has things well in hand.  Enjoy your holidays!

Poinsettia Care by Carol King

Photo Lowes.com

With proper care, the poinsettias that decorate your home during the Christmas season can retain their beauty for many weeks.

Follow these steps for best results:

Photo CSU

• Choose plants with deep, dark green foliage and full, undamaged colored leaves, also called bracts. The actual flower is yellow and is located at the base of the bracts. Plants with tightly-closed flowers that have not yet shed pollen will last the longest in your home.

• Place plants in the sunniest part of the home to ensure proper growth. Avoid placing a poinsettia near cold drafts, radiators and heat vents. To keep the color of the bracts bright, maintain your poinsettia between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Cooler temperature prolongs bract color, but don't allow it to dip below 50 degrees.

• Water poinsettias thoroughly as needed. If your poinsettia is wrapped in a decorative foil, punch holes in the bottom of the foil to ensure proper drainage and removal of excess water.

Contrary to popular belief, the flowers and leaves of poinsettia plants aren't poisonous, nor are they edible.     Here’s a great web site for “All Things Poinsettia” .

(Poinsettia care information from Planttalk Colorado.)