Radio Show: Salt-tolerant and native plants

This week's show continued the discussion from today's newspaper column about salt-tolerant plants for both beach sites and Tallahassee gardens. Bill Kollar of Gardens, Inc., in Apalachicola, Fla., was my guest. Click on the following link to listen: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All/2009/08/27/Ms-Grow-It-All
Our show next week will begin at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Sept. 2, and the topic will be herbs for the fall and winter garden.

Choosing plants for both beach, town houses

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: We have a house in town and a house at St. Teresa, and we split our time between the two. To keep things as simple as possible, I’d like to use the same kinds of plants at both places. What is good for coastal property as well as the north side of Tallahassee?

A: Trying to maintain gardens at two homes is a big chore – I have my hands full with just one -- so you’re smart to try to use the same plants in both places.

One problem you’re likely to face is choosing a plant that would grow well in your Tallahassee garden but isn’t salt-tolerant, so it wouldn’t survive at St. Teresa. Another is drainage. Coastal plants love good drainage and a lot of Tallahassee yards are red clay, so you’ll probably need to amend the soil to improve drainage. Adding peat and compost will help.

I checked with Amanda Kollar, whom many readers probably remember from her days at Tallahassee Nurseries. She and her husband, Bill Kollar, now operate Gardens, Inc., in Apalachicola, which includes a design business and The Garden Shop in the historic Bowery District, so she’s well-versed in both coastal and Red Hills plants.

There are many plants that are native to both areas, she said, including yaupon holly, American beautyberry, magnolia, pine and wax myrtle.

She also recommends pittosporum, podocarpus and any of the junipers. Other favorite plants include white African irises and Sabal palms.

“For flowering shrubs, go with dwarf Indian hawthorne and Majestic Beauty Indian hawthorne, a gorgeous flowering pink that’s just as salt-tolerant as it can possibly be yet does well in clay soil,” Amanda said. “Most of the lantanas do beautifully down here, too. Gold-mound lantana is an especially good one.”

Her basic rule for landscaping: “Try to keep ‘introduced’ plants closer to the house, fence, driveway, or mailbox. Up close is where you’re going to plant anything that’s not native. As you move farther away from the house, use native plants.”

Internet Radio Show: Ms. Grow-It-All’s Internet radio show broadcasts live at 6:30 p.m. today [Thursday, Aug. 27] and we’ll continue the discussion with Bill Kollar about salt-tolerant plants and native plants. Go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All. Just cut and paste the link into your browser window. If you can’t join us live, you can download a podcast from my Web site.

Radio Show: Threats to trees

Frequent co-host Stan Rosenthal, University of Florida/Leon County forester, joined me this week for a discussion of threats to trees, including pests, diseases and lightning. Click on the following link to listen: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Ms_Grow-It-All/2009/08/19/Ms-Grow-It-All
Our show next week begins at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 27, and features a discussion about salt-tolerant and native plants, and plants suitable for the beach as well as the clay soil of Tallahassee, with landscape designer Bill Kollar of Gardens, Inc., in Apalachicola, Fla.

Divide daisies for better blooms

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: I have a problem with some daisy plants I bought two years ago. I have beautiful plants but very few blooms. The plants look like they need to be divided, as they have multiplied since being planted. When should I divide them and what to do to boost blooming? They are planted with plenty of sun in the morning and afternoon shade.

A: Dividing your plants should solve your problems. When plants get too crowded, they get a little shy and don’t show their blooming faces as much. Fall is the best time to divide your daisies.

As for other things you could do to boosts blooming, daisies need six to eight hours of sun a day. If they’re not getting that much, you might want to move them when you divide them and replant them in a location that gets more sun but still provides some relief from the blistering late-afternoon sun. Also, you probably already know to “dead-head,” or remove the spent blossoms, to keep the plant blooming for a longer period.

If you’re considering adding a fertilizer or supplement to promote bloom, get your soil tested first. Those “bloom-buster” products are heavy with phosphorous, and most soil in our area has an abundance of phosphorous.

Q: I have some three-year-old viburnum obovatum ‘Densa.’ When is the best time to transplant them here in Tallahassee?

A: The best time to transplant just about anything here in Tallahassee is fall or early winter. The temperatures are cooler so there’s less heat-stress on the plants and they have a chance to get their roots established before the next growing season.

Your plants, commonly called “small viburnum,” are wonderful evergreen additions to the landscape that get only about 5 feet tall and wide. They have white flowers in spring and summer and the foliage turns bronze/purple in fall. Plant them in a sunny to part-sun location in a well-drained location.

Internet Radio Show: Ms. Grow-It-All’s Internet radio show on the Free World Radio Network this week featured a conversation with occasional co-host Stan Rosenthal, University of Florida/Leon County forester, about tree pests. Go to my Web site at www.msgrowitall.com and click on the Blog Talk Radio link to listen.

Cutback perennials for continued blooms in fall

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: Some of the perennial flowers I planted in my garden, such as salvias, mums and black-eyed Susans, are starting to flop over and look pretty bedraggled. When I bought them, the tags said they would bloom summer to frost. What I have done wrong?

A: You’ve done nothing wrong, but there is one more step you need to do: Cut back your plants to rejuvenate new growth.

The tags don’t tell you that summer-blooming perennials usually grow vigorously during spring and early summer and then they get leggy and tired. To rejuvenate them, trim them back by a half to two-thirds.

If the stems are soft, you can pinch them back by hand. If the stems have become woody or the plant has become a sprawling mess, it probably would be easier to take hand-pruners or garden shears to the plant. It will look a little barren for a few days, but you’ll see new growth soon.

Q: I have a great crop of figs, but the birds are getting most of them. Someone suggested I buy netting and cover the tree, but the birds just peck through the webbing. Plus, the tree is so tall now, I can barely reach the fruit at the top. Do I have any chance of tasting a fig this year?

A: It sounds like you bought the netting sold in garden centers, which has an open weave – openings about an inch or so across -- and is great for creating net trellises for fruits and vegetables, but it’s not so great for protecting fruit. Go to a fabric store and ask for the netting used for little girls’ ballet costumes and princess outfits. It’s also used for lots of craft projects. It has a tighter weave but still lets rain and air through. It comes in lots of colors, too, if you want to amuse your neighbors.

You can also use the floating row covers that you use to protect your vegetables from frost. It’s a spun fabric-like material that lets rain and air through, but it also raises the temperature beneath it, so I don’t recommend using it in our summers.

If you live in the Tallahassee area, mark your calendar to prune your figs in December so you can reach the fruit easily next year.

Plant 'early' varieties of vegetables for fall crop

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: Is it too late to plant tomatoes in Tallahassee? How about lima beans?

A: No, it’s not too late to plant tomatoes for a second crop in the fall, but it’s a good idea to select “early” varieties. “Early” means they produce fruit in fewer days than most varieties, or earlier, and are generally used in early spring. But considering the gardening calendar in our area is a little different from the rest of the country, it works well for us in fall.

We usually have a freeze in late October, and then weeks go by before we have another one, so be prepared to protect your tomatoes during that period.

You can also plant cucumbers, squash and bush beans now. Unfortunately, lima beans take longer to mature than snap beans so I wouldn’t try to plant any this late.

Plant giveaway report: Jerry Patton reports his plant giveaway was a success, and he has a few plants left.

“More than 50 night-blooming cereus were taken (some took more that one plant); and, 21 century plants found a home. (Many said they'd like one of the latter, but just didn't have the space, etc.) Too, 17 crape myrtles were carted off -- all that were potted). As for the mystery plants, they too, fell into the hands of a gardener.

“I still have both night-blooming cereus and century plants. And, not unlike kittens, ‘all are available to a nice home.’ And, I must add, your readers are the nicest people. Great conversations were had by all.”

Thanks, Jerry. I agree. If you want some of his plants, be sure to call him at 850-878-1321 to make sure he’s home and to get directions to his home.