I just can’t believe that we’ve come through August without the usual hot, dry weather like last year!
The fresh produce just keeps coming and the nice rains are resulting in sweet corn filling out to the very tip of the ear.
The asters and garden mums are ready now but remember that only the asters and Igloo mums are dependable to return year after year. You may ask “Why use garden mums instead of Igloo mums?” The answer is that right now, the Igloo only come in six different colors while garden mums come in almost an infinite number of shades of colors and many different flower forms too. Garden mums are useful to decorate porches and decks as they will brighten up any home.
The weather is good now for planting trees and shrubs and even dividing perennials such as hostas and daylilies. Just mow or cut the plants back to the ground, dig them up, divide them and then replant!
Again, just a reminder to use your Dayton dollars as the coupon will be good only through August 31st .
Our big annual fall sale will start on Friday, September 2nd as we will open our doors early at 7:30 a.m. Only garden club members can take advantage of the sale price through Labor Day but after Labor Day the sale is open to everyone. Anyone who is not a member of our garden club can sign up and can take advantage of the great sale prices the same day.
Mark your calendar for our fall festival on Saturday, September 17th as it’s fun for the entire family with music, animal shows, hay rides . . . .
I’ve got to go.
Tom
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Dayton "Dirt" - August 12, 2011
Mid-August is the time to finish ordering our perennial “starts” for planting next spring.
It’s amazing how every year more and more new varieties are available from the grower and breeders of this product. The breeder of plants are sometimes quite an odd bunch as they cross and recross plant varieties to come up with something novel.
I remember some years ago watching a National Geographic documentary on tulips and the story of the boom and then bust of the tulip bulb market in the Netherlands with a continuing story about the long quest for the elusive black tulip.
The breeder accomplished this feat of the black tulip and held a news conference to announce his creation. All the while, I’m thinking why anyone would want a black tulip as the flower would not be very showy and difficult to see from a distance!
Plant “finds” come from all over the world and must be tested before marketing as to whether the new plant will do well when exposed to factors such as local climate and soil conditions. For example, plants that are rated for our climatic zone 5 may very well tolerate our cold winters but may not do well in our hot, humid summers.
I remember talking to a young woman in a garden center in France about the French climate just southwest of Paris. Even though my French was rusty, I was able to communicate that I was jealous since normally that area of the country does not get nearly as cold as Ohio in winter and not nearly as hot in the summer. She just laughed but agreed that most of France is fortunate to have such agreeable weather with much of it due to the Gulf Stream current from North America!
Don’t worry, they’ll be plenty of new stuff for 2012.
Tom
It’s amazing how every year more and more new varieties are available from the grower and breeders of this product. The breeder of plants are sometimes quite an odd bunch as they cross and recross plant varieties to come up with something novel.
I remember some years ago watching a National Geographic documentary on tulips and the story of the boom and then bust of the tulip bulb market in the Netherlands with a continuing story about the long quest for the elusive black tulip.
The breeder accomplished this feat of the black tulip and held a news conference to announce his creation. All the while, I’m thinking why anyone would want a black tulip as the flower would not be very showy and difficult to see from a distance!
Plant “finds” come from all over the world and must be tested before marketing as to whether the new plant will do well when exposed to factors such as local climate and soil conditions. For example, plants that are rated for our climatic zone 5 may very well tolerate our cold winters but may not do well in our hot, humid summers.
I remember talking to a young woman in a garden center in France about the French climate just southwest of Paris. Even though my French was rusty, I was able to communicate that I was jealous since normally that area of the country does not get nearly as cold as Ohio in winter and not nearly as hot in the summer. She just laughed but agreed that most of France is fortunate to have such agreeable weather with much of it due to the Gulf Stream current from North America!
Don’t worry, they’ll be plenty of new stuff for 2012.
Tom
Dayton "Dirt" - August 19, 2011
With the blueberry crop done on our patch in Wolf Creek Gardens, we’ll e concentrating soon on developing more plantings of blueberries in the back field so that there will be plenty for a pick-your-own operation.
My favorites are still Bluecrop, Toro and Duke although I am very impressed with the variety Bluejay as it is a compact upright plant and just loaded with medium to large sweet berries about July 15th.
I like planting the blueberries in the early fall as they have time to root in before winter in order to get a head start in spring.
This week and next week is the time to kill out unwanted invaders from your lawn such as tall fescues, bent grasses and any others that must be killed with a non-selective herbicide such as Remuda or Round-up so that these weeds have time to die and deteriorate in order to re-seed the area in early to mid September.
Fall planting of trees and shrubs will soon start with the cooler temperatures and adequate moisture although the summer has been adequately moist for the most part.
Chrysanthemums may be showing color a little later this month as abnormally warm nights will cause a heat delay although we do have reliably hardy Igloo mums that seem to be budding up nicely.
Another problem that I have seen driving down the road are the bronzing of leaves of Azalea due to the sucking of the lacebug nymphs on the Azalea foliage.
Treatment is easy though with a spray of an insecticide containing acephate and then repeated in 10 days or the Bayer Rhododendron, Azalea and Camelia Insect & Disease Control works well too.
Mark your calendar for our annual Fall Festival on September 17th which is mainly a family event for all ages.
Remember to use your Dayton Dollars by August 31st as they expire after that date.
For those of you that are frequent shoppers, the points do add up!
Tom
My favorites are still Bluecrop, Toro and Duke although I am very impressed with the variety Bluejay as it is a compact upright plant and just loaded with medium to large sweet berries about July 15th.
I like planting the blueberries in the early fall as they have time to root in before winter in order to get a head start in spring.
This week and next week is the time to kill out unwanted invaders from your lawn such as tall fescues, bent grasses and any others that must be killed with a non-selective herbicide such as Remuda or Round-up so that these weeds have time to die and deteriorate in order to re-seed the area in early to mid September.
Fall planting of trees and shrubs will soon start with the cooler temperatures and adequate moisture although the summer has been adequately moist for the most part.
Chrysanthemums may be showing color a little later this month as abnormally warm nights will cause a heat delay although we do have reliably hardy Igloo mums that seem to be budding up nicely.
Another problem that I have seen driving down the road are the bronzing of leaves of Azalea due to the sucking of the lacebug nymphs on the Azalea foliage.
Treatment is easy though with a spray of an insecticide containing acephate and then repeated in 10 days or the Bayer Rhododendron, Azalea and Camelia Insect & Disease Control works well too.
Mark your calendar for our annual Fall Festival on September 17th which is mainly a family event for all ages.
Remember to use your Dayton Dollars by August 31st as they expire after that date.
For those of you that are frequent shoppers, the points do add up!
Tom
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Dayton "Dirt" - August 5, 2011
Even with the dog days of summer just beginning, the nursery is abuzz with activity getting ready for next spring.
The grading for our new movable roof greenhouse is underway so that we may produce high quality perennials all spring and summer long. The construction of this new greenhouse will allow another of our existing houses that we used for perennials now to be used for annual flowers that will be sold in May. The other addition to this greenhouse will be a rooting station that includes an automatic mist system to root flowers for our hanging baskets and pots.
Right now though, we have just completed the potting of about 1000 small clematis of 40 varieties that will develop roots this summer and fall in order that they can be sold in the spring with a healthy, vigorous root system.
Another project for next week is potting thousands of Daylilies, Hostas and German Iris. These plants, just like the clematis must develop roots in late summer and fall to make healthy, robust saleable plant in spring.
The Owl Barn farm market seems to be in full swing now with some Amish produce but mainly produce from the nearby Seiberling Farms. I want to repeat again that while much of our produce is grown organically, we cannot state that it is organic as the produce and farm would have to be inspected and certified by an organic farm inspector.
Outside the Owl Barn are two picnic tables with umbrellas for shade should you decide to relax at the summit of the hill overlooking the waterfall.
Happy Summer,
Tom
The grading for our new movable roof greenhouse is underway so that we may produce high quality perennials all spring and summer long. The construction of this new greenhouse will allow another of our existing houses that we used for perennials now to be used for annual flowers that will be sold in May. The other addition to this greenhouse will be a rooting station that includes an automatic mist system to root flowers for our hanging baskets and pots.
Right now though, we have just completed the potting of about 1000 small clematis of 40 varieties that will develop roots this summer and fall in order that they can be sold in the spring with a healthy, vigorous root system.
Another project for next week is potting thousands of Daylilies, Hostas and German Iris. These plants, just like the clematis must develop roots in late summer and fall to make healthy, robust saleable plant in spring.
The Owl Barn farm market seems to be in full swing now with some Amish produce but mainly produce from the nearby Seiberling Farms. I want to repeat again that while much of our produce is grown organically, we cannot state that it is organic as the produce and farm would have to be inspected and certified by an organic farm inspector.
Outside the Owl Barn are two picnic tables with umbrellas for shade should you decide to relax at the summit of the hill overlooking the waterfall.
Happy Summer,
Tom
Friday, July 29, 2011
Dayton "Dirt" - July 29, 2011
The weather, although a bit on the hot side, has been ideal for growing because of enough timely rain and warm nights.
I’ve noticed in the farmer’s fields that the soybeans and field corn seem to be making up for some of the lost time from the cold wet spring.
The nutsedge and crabgrass seems to be abundant in lawns with the ample moisture. The Ortho company does offer a crabgrass and nut grass or nutsedge killer that works as a post emergent to kill the unwanted invaders.
Spider mites are going to town with the extreme heat which they love. Unfortunately, some customers are coming into the nursery are using carbaryl or Sevin as an all purpose spray . Sevin will actually cause spider mite populations to explode as the mite’s predators are killed of with no effect on the mites themselves.
A control for mites is a drench or a spray of Bayer’s Tree & Shrub Insect Control which contains a miticide.
Lawn diseases are popping up too which include dollar spot, brown patch or rhyzoctonia and more rarely pythium which rots the crown of the grass. Almost all lawn diseases can be controlled by a broad spectrum fungicide by Bayer. However, pythium is a special case and can be controlled by a sprench with Agri-Fos which is mono and di-potassium salts of phosphorus acid.
In the Owl Barn market more and more produce is becoming available. I just picked 5 bushels of tomatoes from our early patch planted on April 28th. The early sweet corn ‘Ambrosia’ is still “in” while my favorite bicolor, ‘Temptation’ is not far behind.
Construction on our new perennial plant production house starts in two weeks and will be finished about Thanksgiving which right now doesn’t seem so far away.
Tom
I’ve noticed in the farmer’s fields that the soybeans and field corn seem to be making up for some of the lost time from the cold wet spring.
The nutsedge and crabgrass seems to be abundant in lawns with the ample moisture. The Ortho company does offer a crabgrass and nut grass or nutsedge killer that works as a post emergent to kill the unwanted invaders.
Spider mites are going to town with the extreme heat which they love. Unfortunately, some customers are coming into the nursery are using carbaryl or Sevin as an all purpose spray . Sevin will actually cause spider mite populations to explode as the mite’s predators are killed of with no effect on the mites themselves.
A control for mites is a drench or a spray of Bayer’s Tree & Shrub Insect Control which contains a miticide.
Lawn diseases are popping up too which include dollar spot, brown patch or rhyzoctonia and more rarely pythium which rots the crown of the grass. Almost all lawn diseases can be controlled by a broad spectrum fungicide by Bayer. However, pythium is a special case and can be controlled by a sprench with Agri-Fos which is mono and di-potassium salts of phosphorus acid.
In the Owl Barn market more and more produce is becoming available. I just picked 5 bushels of tomatoes from our early patch planted on April 28th. The early sweet corn ‘Ambrosia’ is still “in” while my favorite bicolor, ‘Temptation’ is not far behind.
Construction on our new perennial plant production house starts in two weeks and will be finished about Thanksgiving which right now doesn’t seem so far away.
Tom
Friday, July 22, 2011
Dayton "Dirt" - July 22, 2011
Last week’s Blueberry Festival and opening of the Owl Barn seemed to go smoothly except for the fact that we picked and sold all the blueberries that were ripe in the patch!
Sweet corn is always a big draw at a produce market but the cool, wet spring delayed planting and thus the harvest until today.
The Seiberling Farm is our source for much of the fresh produce in our market including sweet corn.
The farm is 125 acres of very productive land with almost 100 acres dedicated to sweet corn.
Some of the varieties we will be offering are Bodacious, Ambrosia and Temptation.
These newer varieties have a sugar enhancing gene which slows down the conversion of sugar to starch in the picked sweet corn ear.
It used to be that sweet corn had to be eaten quickly or it would have a flat, starchy flavor.
With the new varieties, freshly picked ears will still be sweet after 3-5 days if kept in the refrigerator.
The hot weather has made it rough on everyone including plants.
It’s no exception at the nursery as we’ve been watering in the middle of the day to cool them off.
The rain was welcome on Monday night although we did not need all of it at once.
It has been a strange year for weather indeed!
The nursery looks good and so does produce for the market!
See you soon.
Sweet corn is always a big draw at a produce market but the cool, wet spring delayed planting and thus the harvest until today.
The Seiberling Farm is our source for much of the fresh produce in our market including sweet corn.
The farm is 125 acres of very productive land with almost 100 acres dedicated to sweet corn.
Some of the varieties we will be offering are Bodacious, Ambrosia and Temptation.
These newer varieties have a sugar enhancing gene which slows down the conversion of sugar to starch in the picked sweet corn ear.
It used to be that sweet corn had to be eaten quickly or it would have a flat, starchy flavor.
With the new varieties, freshly picked ears will still be sweet after 3-5 days if kept in the refrigerator.
The hot weather has made it rough on everyone including plants.
It’s no exception at the nursery as we’ve been watering in the middle of the day to cool them off.
The rain was welcome on Monday night although we did not need all of it at once.
It has been a strange year for weather indeed!
The nursery looks good and so does produce for the market!
See you soon.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Dayton "Dirt" - July 9, 2011
As if there’s not enough to do already at the nursery, we’re building yet another greenhouse.
The greenhouse is one similar to the one we have now that we call the Cravo house as it is made by the Cravo Company from Ontario, Canada.
This greenhouse is different in that the movable roof allows for maximum ventilation and yet can be partially closed in summer to create 30% shading on any crop grown which keeps the from “baking” in the hot summer sun when black pots are above ground.
We expect the house to be finished in early November in order that perennials can be planted inside beginning in late February to be sold in late April through spring.
The Cravo with its ideal ventilation and shading will enable us to grow higher quality perennials than in an conventional greenhouse.
Another aspect of the Cravo house I do like is the ability to open the roof fully to let the rain come in when necessary.
The falling rain and general greater openess of the roof and sides will inhibit the prolification of spider mites and other insects as they sometimes can get out of control in a conventional greenhouse.
The never ending work is still continuing in the Wolf Creek Botanical Garden with the planting of some new trees and five gigantic Boursault and English Roseum Rhododendron.
The shade perennials are increasing along with the extension of one of the trails to the northeast toward Van Hyning Run.
Don’t forget about our Blueberry Festival on July 16th that will coincide with the season opening of the Owl Barn Market.
Its time for me to go. See you at the festival!
Tom
The greenhouse is one similar to the one we have now that we call the Cravo house as it is made by the Cravo Company from Ontario, Canada.
This greenhouse is different in that the movable roof allows for maximum ventilation and yet can be partially closed in summer to create 30% shading on any crop grown which keeps the from “baking” in the hot summer sun when black pots are above ground.
We expect the house to be finished in early November in order that perennials can be planted inside beginning in late February to be sold in late April through spring.
The Cravo with its ideal ventilation and shading will enable us to grow higher quality perennials than in an conventional greenhouse.
Another aspect of the Cravo house I do like is the ability to open the roof fully to let the rain come in when necessary.
The falling rain and general greater openess of the roof and sides will inhibit the prolification of spider mites and other insects as they sometimes can get out of control in a conventional greenhouse.
The never ending work is still continuing in the Wolf Creek Botanical Garden with the planting of some new trees and five gigantic Boursault and English Roseum Rhododendron.
The shade perennials are increasing along with the extension of one of the trails to the northeast toward Van Hyning Run.
Don’t forget about our Blueberry Festival on July 16th that will coincide with the season opening of the Owl Barn Market.
Its time for me to go. See you at the festival!
Tom
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