Not Forget Me Nots

Not Forget Me Nots

I was walking through my garden when I spotted a little dash of blue.

Spotting the first of several patches of Blue boneset in bloom at Bluebird Gardens.

The tell-tale sign of what I found was there, the tiny blue flowers that look like tiny puff balls with spiky hair. These are not forget-me-nots, which is how I first identified them many, many years ago, but a blue boneset, also called wild ageratum and more commonly referred to as a mist flower.

Fall-Blooming Missouri Wildflower

This native Missouri wildflower is part of the daisy family and blooms July through October. The usually grow along ditches, lakes, streams and any moist low areas according to Edgar Denison, Missouri Wildflowers.

Under cultivation, it spreads rapidly with an interwoven mass of roots and can be highly aggressive. One of the advantages of gardening on a limestone hillside is that some aggressive plants have a hard time of it. This little patch of Wild ageratum has been in the same spot for years with little expansion.

If I would make a note of it, I could trim them in summer next year and they would grow into more of a bush shape but I like being surprised finding them growing as they will.

Wild ageratum at Bluebird Gardens, one of the last flowers to bloom before season's end.

Favorite Pollinator Plant

According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, butterflies, skippers, and bees are strongly attracted to the flowers. Other insects eat the foliage. Not many mammals eat this plant because of its bitter taste.

End of the Season

Wild ageratums are the last flowers to bloom in my garden. Since I mis-identified them to begin with, I still think of them as forget me nots and my reminder to take notes about what went well in this year's garden so I can get better prepared for next year.

Charlotte

Last Scented Pink Rose

The last scented tea rose for the season from my garden.

Last Scented Pink Rose

This little scented tea rose has been in my garden for at least a decade. It's nothing impressive, you would probably walk by the plant if you were visiting my garden.

I, however, have her planted close to the walkway so that when the plant blooms, one does not miss the scent of the sweet, old-fashioned rose. These flowers remind me of David Austen roses although I don't have any proof of the pedigree. I tend to buy plants on sale and this one didn't have a tag when I brought it home.

The last rose of the season was waiting for me when I returned home late September. It was a lovely gift, not a bug mark or black spot on the leaves, the flower in perfect bud form.

I carefully cut the stem above a 5-leaf node and brought it inside to keep me company in my den. By morning, the bud was open but the flower was too heavy for the stem.

I clipped the drooping flower head to an orchid support with a clip to hold it up.

Taking a tip from my moth orchids, I borrowed a stick and clipped the flower to the stick so I can enjoy not only the flower, but the scent as well.

No orchid pins? Use those little hair clip pins, they are made the same way and in similar sizes, available at any hair supplies section. They are sold on little cardboard slips, usually six on each cardboard piece.

This would work well for a number of droopy flowers, especially peonies. Clip the rod to the back of the flower so that it is not obvious the flower is clipped. I left it longer in the pictures so you can see how it works.

Scented tea rose keeps my little potted orchid in my den company.

Don't they look like they are getting along quite nicely?

Charlotte

University of Missouri Extension Fruit Growing Guides

University of Missouri Extension Fruit Growing Guides

I clearly remember keeping the Fruit Experiment Station representative two hours after the scheduled end of our master gardener class. We had a lot of questions about how to raise a variety of fruit in Missouri's growing conditions, and the speaker seemed quite happy to entertain our questions, and stories.

Some time after that class, I was at my local University of Missouri Extension office and found a nice variety of pamphlets on growing fruit in Missouri: from blueberries to raspberries, the paper pamphlets were available for a nominal fee, varying from 50 cents to $2. 

You bet I took them all, they are part of my winter reading assignment to make sure I am following the best practices in my garden. I still dream of the day when I can step out into my garden and pick a variety of my own fruit. I have had good luck with my semi-dwarf pear tree, only 30 years after I first planted it. I had given up on seeing any fruit until wasps moved into some of my birdhouses and started pollinating the blooms. So exciting to finally see pears on that tree!

My compact peaches and nectarines have borne fruit within the first couple of years, but I don't always beat the squirrels to the fruit.

I have blueberries, raspberries and blackberries planted as well but haven't seen fruit yet. I have added wood chips to mulch the blueberries and blackberries to acidify their soil. I need to have a chat with my raspberry patch, the plants have literally taken over one of my raised beds. I wouldn't mind so much if they had fruited but not so far.

Maybe next year.

Charlotte

September Garden Chores

If you don't store your terra cotta pots, they will end up peeling off like this one or worse, broken.

September Garden Chores

Welcome, fall, a season when gardeners try to get a head start on next year. At least I do!

The following are my September garden chores, in no particular order:

1.     Get plants ready to bring inside. Trim off extra growth to reshape your plants into a manageable inside size. Spray with dishwashing liquid drops in water to remove hitchhikers. Determine good lighting spots inside your house for the plant needs.

2.     Plant trees. Make sure to check how big the tree will get when mature and select an appropriate location for that size. I have a compact apple tree I need to move because the tree is now growing in front of a bay window. Guess the root grafting didn’t quite take! Also dig the hole at least twice the size of the root ball, it does make a difference.

3.   Plant garlic. Get garlic bulbs at local garden centers or clean out your refrigerator crisper. Divide the garlic bulbs and get them planted before the first frost. You should have garlic for cooking next year.

4.   Harvest your bounty. It has been a late season for my tomatoes, onions and peppers this year but there is still time to harvest and store for winter. I freeze some of my bounty in plastic bags for soup-making later.

5. Weed and mulch your garden beds. If you weed now, you can remove plants with seeds and hopefully reduce next year’s weeds. Compost those plants after removing seed heads. Mulch your garden bed: hay, cardboard, grass clippings, non-treated wood chips all work well to amend your soil.

6. Make note of what you grew where. The general rule of thumb is to not plant the same thing in the same spot for more than 2 years in a row.

7. Wash, clean and store pots. You don’t want to harbor bugs or diseases so wash out plant pots before storing. It’s also a nice way to get a head start on spring planting.

8. Stop fertilizing roses. Trim them and mulch.

9. Cut and freeze herbs so you will have them for use this winter.

What garden chores do you like to do in September?

Charlotte

Why Leaves Change Color

Why Leaves Change Color

Having grown up in South America on the Equator, where the “seasons” are rain or shine, I can still remember the delight of seeing my first fall in North America. We were visiting friends the Midwest.  It was the peak of fall colors, the farm countryside covered in peachy sugar maples, red dogwoods, yellow hickories and orange brown oaks. Until we moved back years later, I thought trees in North America were different colors all year around.

Tree leaves, such as these red dogwood tree leaves, do have different colors. We just don’t see them until a change in light and temperature triggers the decline of green chlorophyll to let colors shine through.

Why Leaves Change Color

Leaves are fascinating solar-powered factories that produce most of the food trees need. Leaves contain chlorophyll, which absorbs sunlight and turns carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch.

Hidden in those leaves are yellow to orange pigments, which also give carrots and pumpkins their color. 

In fall, changes in daylight and temperature signal trees to stop producing food. Chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible.

In fall, trees in my garden turn a variety of colors. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

How Leaves Turn

As leaves undergo other chemical changes, additional colors appear, such as red anthocyanin pigments. Those pigments give leaves their reddish to purplish colors, while sugar maples show peach and orange. All these colors are due to the mixing of varying amounts of chlorophyll residue and other leaf pigments.

Temperature, light, and water supply have an influence on the degree and duration of fall color. Low temperatures above freezing will favor trees producing anthocyanin. Early frost will weaken the brilliant red color. Rainy and overcast days sometimes increase fall color intensity.

Rainy days can also mark the immediate end of fall colors when wind blows leaves off.

Charlotte