Dayton "Dirt" - August 9, 2013

This past week has been nothing but rush, rush and rush with the potting of Cool Wave Pansies, Daylilies, Hosta, German Iris and sundry perennials all for next spring sales. The German Iris do need a little more prep work in that they must soak in a 10% bleach solution for about 20 minutes and then left to dry in the sun for 1 day before they are potted. The bleach solution kills bacteria that cause the thick rhizomes to rot. The iris will be placed for winter storage in the same overwintering hut as the creeping phlox. This hut has roll up sides for maximum ventilation and will let the winter sun shine on the plants in which many fungal problems in storage are burned off by the winter sun. Early last spring, we had problems with some of our roses dying back after coming out of winter storage due to downy mildew. After speaking to well known rosarian Peter Schneider of Mantua, Ohio, I was intrigued by his solution of getting rid of downy mildew: spray the plants with water of a temperature of 140ºF! It seems the mildew organism likes cool damp weather and cannot survive a splash of the somewhat hot water. The Seiberling sweet corn is going well in the market and I must say that the white corn Chuck Seiberling gave me to try was even sweeter than the yellow or bicolor varieties! I asked him the name of the cultivar; however, he stated that it only had a number instead of a name. Seiberling’s Sweet White might be a fitting name. The Bloom-a-Thon azaleas that we may introduce in a limited quantity next year, were blooming their heads off until we cut all the flowers off earlier this week! The lavender, white, pink and red flowers are massive with pronounced ruffles that seem too heavy for the young plants. Bloom-a-Thon is rated to be winter hardy to climatic zone 5 and is a repeat bloomer very similar to the Encore brand of azalea. The new Igloo mums will be ready soon as well as our Kickin series of hardy asters and the new hardy cool wave pansies. Don’t forget to use your Dayton Dollars as they expire at the end of this month. Happy gardening, Tom