Dayton "Dirt" - March 6, 2015

Even with the snow last Sunday, the much warmer temperatures are such a welcome relief. Even so, Old Man Winter still reminded us who is yet boss with the low temperatures this Friday morning.

 

Transplanting in the annual flower greenhouse is continuing at a feverish pace as delayed shipments of young plants and our own rooted cuttings are transplanted. Then next week another batch of unrooted perennial cuttings, Sun Harmony impatiens, ground covers and dahlias arrive. If all this isn’t enough, at least two thousand geranium cuttings have to be taken and then prepared to be stuck into 6 packs that will be placed on small rubber tubes through which hot water circulates in order to give the cuttings “bottom” heat so that they will form roots. Then at least 2 shipments of perennial plants must be potted this week along with about a thousand roses arriving. Oh what  fun t is trying to sandwich everything together while still plowing snow and conducting seminars!

 

This weeks seminar will be an informative talk on the growing and many uses of gourds by Marlene Bolea. My guest this week on Ready, Set, Grow on WAKR 1590 am will be Carol Zeh talking about warblers as they return from their winter quarters to Ohio. After Carol’s Warbler presentation on March 14th, we’ll finish up with the “What’s New for 2015" seminar on the first day of spring.

 

Let’s all cheer up as it looks as though the cold weather is on the run. Now it’s California’s turn for heavy snow in the mountains and a slow, steady rain for a couple of weeks to end the lousy drought!
 

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - February 27, 2015

Is there any relief from this bitter cold!  The days are not quite noticeably longer with the vernal equinox only about 3 weeks away and yet the month of February may end up being the coldest since 1875 surpassing the cold February’s of 1984 and 1978.  Only in 2011, moist weather streamed into Ohio from the Gulf of Mexico which resulted in one of the wettest years in memory.  The jet stream’s direction certainly does dictate the weather patterns everywhere so that now there is drought in California and most of the west, abnormally warm temperatures in Alaska and record cold over the eastern half of North America.

 Even so, spring is not far off and the nursery will indeed open sometime next week.  Except for in the production area, the greenhouse adjacent the store are empty and only will begin filling up during the last week of March with the Advent of Easter on April 5th.  Perennial plugs (small plants) were due to arrive this past week but were delayed due to the abnormally cold weather.  So too were a shipment of hydrangeas to grow on for Easter and Calla lillies along with small gerbera daisies.  Next week too is the arrival of roses to be potted and to be placed under heat with just enough warmth in order to keep the plants above 28º F to foster root growth.  All of the delays plus the scheduled shipments to plant are unfortunately going to create a log jam that will have to overcome one way or another.

All the “behind the scenes” work is a challenge almost every late winter and early spring.  For gardeners, or anyone having to do with agriculture, the weather does truly dictates the tune.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - February 20, 2015

With the Arctic weather this past week it makes one wonder if spring will ever arrive. The low temperatures of about -15º F have killed the flower buds of the evergreen azalea above the snow as -10º F is the limit at which the flower buds can survive although the shrub in the Gable and Girard hybrids can withstand temperatures of -20º to - 25º F.

Last Saturday’s Hydrangea seminar was surprisingly well attended with the beginning of frigid winds and drifting snow. This week’s seminar is with Michelle Riley of All About You Landscape Design that will enlighten everyone on the planning of the garden and/or landscape to be one of interest in all four seasons of the year.

A spider mite attack in a small corner of the annual flower production greenhouse has so far been successfully repelled with a traditional miticide. Now the trick is to wait the required 2 weeks for the residue to dissipate so that at least one species of a predatory mite can be released to keep them in check. Another mite then will start attacking thrip insects which are sure to follow. Then there as always fungus gnats flying around in which the larvae love various plant roots for their fodder and that will be killed with an insect growth regulator to be followed by a spray of a deadly bacteria; that is, deadly to them but not to the people or animals. Biological warfare occurs naturally in nature but is not as effective in keeping “bugs” under control in the greenhouse due to the controlled environment.

In the greenhouse, the beneficial organisms that prey on insects, spider mites and even disease just need a little help to do their jobs well. With the elimination of neonicotinoids, these beneficials are necessary in pest control in our greenhouses. Let’s keep our “eyes on the prize” as spring is not far away.

Dayton "Dirt" - February 13, 2015

Last week’s seminar on the relationship between insects and plants was quite informative.  Especially interesting was the mimicry and coloration that adult insects such as butterflies and their larva apply to fool birds and other predators to keep from becoming a meal.

The ice last weekend after Sunday night’s rain has made it difficult to get around the nursery especially to haul potting media and other supplies to the greenhouse.  An additional section of the production greenhouse was opened on Monday although how good it would have been to hold off for another week in order to wait out the new cold wave and thus the burning of natural additional gas.  On the nursery property is a gas well that sends its gas to the East Dominion Company line along Cleveland-Massillon Road.  Unfortunately there is a contract signed by the Popadich family, the former property owners, stating no natural gas can be pulled from the well for commercial purposes.

This summer, the boiler system of heating pipes will be expanded as these heated pipes tend to keep the heat down where the plants grow and results in better growth because of warmer roots and less heat near the roof to escape from the double layer of polyethylene plastic.

The next seminar on Hydrangeas will be this Saturday in the Owl Barn so that during this cold snap, the building will be as they say ‘warm as toast’ as the boiler system of the building is in the floor and like the plants in the greenhouse keeps the heat where the people are which is nearer the floor than toward the roof.  Let’s hope this is the last severe cold snap as now we’ve all had enough!

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - February 6, 2015

By the looks of the forecast the cold weather will come again starting February 13th. The only thing worse would be a too early a warm up that would push out growth on trees, shrubs and flower bulbs early only to have them “fried” when the next cold wave would come in as such was the case with the warm February of 1992. On a historical note, the family Bible of George Washington has his birth recorded on the fifth of February of 1731 although we were all taught in school that he was born on February 22, 1732!

The second bay of the greenhouse is just about ready to be opened as space is at a premium with all rooted cuttings of annual flowers ready to be shifted from small rooting cells to larger pots and hanging baskets. Then too will be the time to figure out the rotation of an insect control program that will ensure that the pests such as thrips, European two-spotted spider mites, whiteflies, aphids and so on to not develop resistance to the spray materials and in the rotation of  materials controlling the bugs without the use of neonicotinoides that may be harmful to our pollinator insect friends. No doubt the bugs are in the greenhouse now even though my careful scouting has not turned up anything; however, I know they’re somewhere in the greenhouse.

Tomorrow is our first seminar with Judy Semroc on the relationship of plants with insect pollinators. Then my hydrangea seminar follows on the 14th so that I’ll be refreshing my knowledge of this wonderful genus!

Let’s all hope for a slow, measured and gradual warm up starting in early March so that maybe, just maybe, spring will finally open up “normally”. Whatever normal is.

Tom

Dayton "Dirt" - January 30, 2015

One week from this coming Saturday will be our first winter program concerning the pollinators relationship within the natural world and ultimately us. The program is presented by Judy Semroc and as always will begin in the Owl Barn at 11 a.m. with refreshments served. Then on  February14th, I will present a detailed program on hydrangeas in which the genus is changing every year with the addition of more and more interesting varieties to embellish our gardens. No doubt the Hydrangea genus can be quite complicated but I’m hoping the seminar will reduce this genus to a manageable size so that all the gardeners have to do is fill out a checklist as it has to do with color, size, re-blooming and sun or shade needs of the plant’s attributes.

In the greenhouse,18,000 plus cuttings have just finished rooting followed by another shipment containing New Guinea impatiens. Next week too will be the shipment of young hydrangeas from Michigan to be used for forcing which is a term denotes the heating of the plants to push them ahead of their bloom schedule in order that they might be ready for sale for such holidays as Easter or Mother’s Day.

The recent snows have piled at least 3 feet of the white stuff along the sides of the overwintering houses giving the plants an extra insulated blanket which works to seal in ground heat keeping the plant’s root system warmer although still frozen. Soon it will be time to spray the weed infested hostas in storage with Roundup once temperatures in the daytime rise above freezing for at least a week to push the weeds into life that will ensure the material in translocated to the weed’s root  systems but not the root systems of the still asleep hostas.

Repair and maintenance continues on the various pieces of equipment and structures so that downtime from breakdowns might be minimized in the busy spring.

So much to do and so little time!

Tom

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