Earthworks in New Ulm?

This morning 2 of our representatives (doesn't that make it sound professional) are attending the 'hearts beat back project' in New Ulm this morning. It is a Farmer's Market Promotion Program to expand the availability of fresh, locally grown fruits & vegetables. Yup, I'm all over that! Planning to add New Ulm Farmer's Market route on Thursdays for sure, possibly Saturdays. So would this meeting be a good time to tell them about all of breads and gooey rolls I plan to bring over?

New Dayliles at Earthworks

 August Frost above, so pretty. Large 6" near white blooms rimmed in gold. August Frost is a robust late heavily budded late bloomer.  This plant is 34" tall and a Tetraploid.

 Raspberry Suede above has rich raspberry red 5" blooms. This flower has thick velvety sunfast petals. Plant is not too large at 28," and it is a Tetraploid.

 Above is Summer Blush, and elegant but tough plant. Sweetly fragrant blooms are nearly 5" across, thick, ruffled & diamond dusted. Plant is a 29" tall Tetraploid. Flower is pale yellow with a well defined muted rose eye.

Yes, this one is also a daylily. Meet 'Siloam Peony Display.' This 18" plant produces and elegant display of large fully double fragrant flowers. Petals are very ruffled, peachy colored & diamond dusted. This plant is a re-bloomer, and is a Diploid.

What is 'diamond dusted?' Petals will have shimmer to them, just like they were sprinkled  with the dust of diamonds!
So what is Tetraploid & Diploid, and what does it matter?
Daylilies are one or the other. Diploid is the 'regular' daylily with 22 chromosomes. A Tetraploid has double the chromosomes - 44. Consequently, tets are larger plants that have thicker leaves & stems, large flowers are more robust then diploids. Diploids are also very good plants, and will have flowers that are more dainty but all are reliably hardy here in Minnesota. We will have all of these and about 100 others for sale this season.

Mums the word!



Fall is for garden Chrysanthemum! Above is the mum 'Quarterback.' The first 4 shown are are from the 'football series.'  Years ago, it was customary to wear a mum corsage to football games. Quarterback is a dusty rose color, 16" tall and 22" wide. These mums are perennials to zone 4, but often short lived. I have had some that are 8 years old already. Fall care of mums likely plays a determining factor in  whether they live or die.



 Homecoming mum

 Stadium Queen's orangey red incurved blooms are 6-7" across. The plant is 16" tall and 22" wide. This beauty blooms mid September.

Centerpiece is a gorgeous 'spider' mum with rich pink color. The plant is 24 x 24." and blooms early Sept.

Notice the quill type petals. 

 Mellow Moon is very hardy. Beautiful 5" cream colored flowers blooming in mid-September. Plants are 16" tall and 22" wide.

Brilliant sunny yellow gold 4" blooms. Plant is 20 x 20" and blooms early September.  

Mums are very shallow rooted plants, and need watering if rain is not adequate, 1-2" per week.

Mum plants that go into winter in drought conditions like last fall, have a greater chance of dying. Plant tips for mums:  plant early in the season so plant gets established. After Aug., only purchase plants that are least 1 gallon so you are transplanting a decent size root system. Use several inches of straw or bark mulch around crown of plant. Mulch will greatly help in reducing soil moisture loss. Mums should be planted in full sun and are great in bouquets. Not all mums are hardy to this zone. You will usually see non-hardy mums in big baskets for fall decorations. I say "why throw them away?' Buy perennials...even if they only last a few years, still a better value then a 2 month display. Earthworks will have all of these and many more available by mid-summer.

Behold, the tree trunk.

 Being a good caregiver to trees is so important. They offer us shade, clean the air and give us the sound of breeze. It takes so many years to grow a decent size tree, replacing one can take a very long time. Above, in my 'simple' drawing I have illustrated a few points about the tree. The space between the trunk and where the edge of the canopy is called the 'dripline.' This is where the rain drips off the tree (where did they come up with that?) In many cases the root zone will be twice that distance from the trunk. Realizing how far out the roots can go, might stop us from inadvertently destroying them with digging or frequent driving over the root zone area. This diagram would represent a mature tree.

 Why do roots come out of the ground? These are the lateral roots and they will grow towards the best conditions. In compacted soil, that may be cruising along the surface. Should these be buried up? No, just leave them. Could you? Yes, but do not bury more than a couple of inches or you could suffocate the roots.Eventually, they will likely move up in the soil again. Some types of trees and older trees are more likely to have exposed roots.

 A cut away of a real tree. Why did they do that anyway, poor thing! Good example of where the roots located.

 Where oh where am I to go to find adequate water and nutrients. I could almost cry for some of these poor trees. Let me see, sidewalk on one side, asphalt on the other. Obviously this tree is trying it's best by bringing so many roots to the surface. A tree in this situation would appreciate some extra water now and then.

 This poor tree above likely had a good portion of it's root system trimmed off to install this brick wall. The tree obviously looks older than the brick. The root system also 'anchors' the tree in place, remove half of it's anchors......watch out below. This tree will likely be the first on the block to blow over in a storm. Another problem is, they have removed 1/2 it's vascular system. That's like taking out 1/2 of our blood veins and expecting us to be okay. (to put it bluntly)

Another tree trunk no no. NEVER bury up tree trunks with a raised bed like this. The trunk, all the way down to the buttress, needs to be exposed to air. The buttress, is where the tree flares out at the bottom. Over time the trunk can rot at the crown due to the contact with wet soil. Although I don't sell trees, I love them. I have been trained as a "Woodland Advisor", a program instructed by the MN DNR and the U of M.
Watering trees: Often we plant them and walk away. Trees should be watered deeply every 7-10 days the first year, unless rain is adequate. Adequate is 1-2" per week. Trees that have been planted for 2, 3 or even 4 years still can use extra water if not enough rain. We are really in a drought right now, at least by St. Peter. If this continues, I would recommend watering all the trees you have in your yard asap in the spring. My favorite yard trees? Autumn Blaze Maple (Acer freemanii) and the Heritage River Birch (Betula nigra).

Bees.....I need them.....but not always.

I need them and I don't. The vegetable crops at Earthworks count on the bees for pollination. As the bee moves pollen from flower to flower, they become pollinated. Once the flower is pollinated, the flower begins to decline as the fruit forms behind it, either a tomato, cucumber or melon etc. These 'fruits,' yes - cucumbers, pumpkins etc are botanically speaking 'fruits' of the plant. They are technically the enlarged ovary of the plant. In cool, cloudy weather, bees are not as active and less flowers may get pollinated. Gardeners often wonder if plants 'cross' in the garden, and the answer is no. You may occasionally get an oddball plant however. In a controlled situation, hybridizers can manipulate pollen/fertilization. That is how hybrids are created. The flowers I grow for cut bouquets react the same as the flowers of vegetable crops. As soon as the bees visit and pollinate them, they decline. So because of an abundance of bees in the field, my window of time to pick my flowers is smaller. Need them for veggies, not for cut flowers. Bees are very important to our food supply. About 70% of all our field crops are bee pollinated.

Garden soil & the potted plant.

Good garden soil is comprised of 5% organic matter 45% minerals, and the rest is pore spaces for air and water, as shown in the diagram of the previous blog entry.  Garden soil should stay right there...in the garden. Here is why you shouldn't use it in a pot, basket or container. Soil has a complex capillary system that likely goes to China, maintained by earthworms mining the soil and soil dwelling insects. When you remove a shovelful of soil, you disconnect it from it's established capillary system. What you will have in a week or so is a substance that looks like soil, but feels like concrete. Your lovely geraniums will soon be stressed when the 50% of air spaces it needs are non existent. The best thing to use for containers is 'potting soil.' Try to buy a product that is not to light in weight, go for medium weight or blend it with some heavier products. Peat moss is usually a main ingredient in potting soil. Peat moss is an unusual product. It is good at 'holding' water, but once it dries out, it becomes impervious to water, and is difficult to re-wet. Ever watered a container that you knew was dry and the water just ran through? Yep, peat moss. If this occurs you almost need to weigh the container down in a pail of water or a wheelbarrow full of water to force it to soak up water. Strange stuff, so the lesson is:  try not to get a product that is mostly peat, and don't allow the containers to totally dry out. If you can't correct the drying out issue, get a different potting mix and add a few inches to your pots and mix it in. Watering containers, unlike watering garden beds, should be daily if needed. Pots in the shade may only need water once every other day. Unlike garden plants, potted plants cannot stretch their roots to find water, all they get is what you give them.

Watering....should be simple, right?

Watering the garden should be so simple even a kid can do it. However, watering is one of the garden tasks most likely to go wrong. Simply put - too much or not enough. Let's talk about seeds first.When they are first planted, they should be kept moist, not soaked until sprouted. Some seeds like beets and flowering sweet peas benefit from soaking overnight before planting. After seedlings emerge from the soil, they should be watered about 2-3 times a week until they are about 2 weeks old. Water using a breaker head on the garden hose or your thumb as my staff is showing above.

 When planting transplants in the garden, you can see how using one the 3 good methods is more beneficial to retaining the water then just smooth exposed soil. (click on above diagram to enlarge) Using mulch material can reduces water lost to evaporation by 90%. That, my friends, makes it so worth the time. Not only does it reduce the water loss, but because it retains it, the plant has a more continuous moisture available without being soaked daily. The straw mulch also reduces water splash back on the plant, reducing disease problems and keeping the fruits clean. The general rule on watering for most plants is 1-2" per week. Factor in rainfall. It is best applied in 2 applications in 7 days. Water seldom and deeply, make those roots look for water which increase the root base. A gentle sprinkle everyday encourages shallow roots system. If you water everyday, stop! I know I know, people love to water!

Above is a diagram of perfectly watered soil. In daily or overwatered soil, the 25% of air spaces, would also be filled with water. Plants need air, just like people. The top of the soil, the part we see, will always look dry first. That doesn't mean that 1" deep it is dry. Dig around before watering, to determine if the soil is dry beneath the surface. Excessive much water as fruits are ripening can also dilute the flavor of melon as they are 'sugaring up,' and also cause fruits to split like tomatoes.

Symptoms of overwatering shown above, soft yellowing tissue. Crunchy and yellow is usually dried out (opposite problem). Avoid getting foliage wet when watering. Always water at the base of plants. Disease can spread by water/rain running off one diseased plant and splashing on another. Of course they get wet when it rains, but if 50% of the water they get is from the gardener, than at least we are reducing the run-off issues by 50% with careful watering. It's not really complicated, like anything, just developing better habits!