Friday, January 23, 2015

Dayton "Dirt" - January 23, 2015


With winter marching along, the warmer weather has given a reprieve to the array of perennials, trees and shrubs in winter storage that makes it easier on the root system which was not the case last winter.

The geranium cuttings taken just before Christmas have now all been transplanted into hanging baskets and various size pots.  The stock geraniums have grown almost exponentially so that now they are ready for another trim so that the resultant cuttings will be transplanted into a 6½” pot.  Finally yet two more trims are due on these large geraniums in order to fill a 6 pack tray with plants for sale in early and mid May.

Now too is the time for my review of new fungicides and insecticides for rotating with older chemistry to control “bugs” and diseases. Many of the new products are not harmful to beneficial insects that are useful to control the problem ones.  Then too, the new chemistry is more readily broken down by sunlight and has a “caution” on the label instead of the “danger” as with the older formulas in which a very small dose absorbed through the skin or ingested could spell death for the applicator.

Last Saturday when temperatures were above 40º F, another application of deer repellent was applied to the rhododendron-azalea garden as tracks in the snow were evidence that the deer were indeed checking out the plants.  Hopefully temperatures this winter will not drop below -10º F as this is the borderline temperature that will be enough to kill the azalea flower buds not covered by snow. So many evergreen azaleas are nestled in front of the larger rhododendron that a mass of red, white, purple and pink blossoms will blanket the garden along with the sprays of color from dogwoods and redbuds in a variety of at least 10 different cultivars.

Tom

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