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Boost your skill

Catastrophe!

20/1/2018

1 Comment

 
Showing those photographs may be a retail cardinal sin, but our business plan is to improve everyone's skill set.  Our plants went through that cold snap just like yours did.  Even with a green house, a 200,000 btu heater, and blower fans, we couldn't keep up with the cold.  A lot was composted, but every photo above is of a plant that should bounce back. 
First cut out all of the mushy stems and leaves.  Leave any stem that still firm and greenish, and any leaves that are halfway decent looking.
After you cut the stems back, hopefully you should see some water or sap flowing out of the cut.  That usually means the plant is alive and trying to make new leaves.
The purple part is mushy and dead. Trim below that.
Only the leaves were damage on this plant, the stem seems to have survived intact.
After all the dead and damaged portions  have been removed, put the pot in a bright and warm area and lightly feed them.  They will really need the resources the fertilizer and sun provide to make new leaves. 
After that you should have have a sad looking plant that will grow back bushy and happy!

This applies to  outdoor plants too, but wait to do the trimming until mid February and wait to fertilize until the plant is actively growing.

If the plant is dead, this gives you a chance to try something new!  Keep in mind that these frost swings may be the new normal.  Last year we had a couple days of 0 degrees and one -3!  These are arctic temperatures, and they are lasting for hours at a time.  We didn't carry Indian Hawthorne in 2017 because of those cold snaps and we probably won't again this year.  Watch what doesn't come out of dormancy this spring, these will tell us how we need to adapt going forward.
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July To-Do List

5/7/2017

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Well, the Fourth is over. Time to clean up the firework debris and enjoy some garden time while is still enjoyable outside. Here are a few to-dos to make everything easier.

Cut back spring annuals

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A lot of the pretty mixed pots and hanging baskets from spring may be starting to look a little thread bare.  Root space is getting tight and there was that one week we forgot to water that one pot.  Now is a great time to cut back those spring annuals.  Cut out any dead stems and give the leggy stems a good whack.  Give the rest a little cut to make it all look symmetrical.  Apply a small does of Colorstar Fertilizer, water, and enjoy a lovely beverage on your porch!



Clean/Dust your porch light

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While your there, clean your porch lights and other outdoor lighting. We have a month before august hits and renders outdoor living impossible. Spending a few minutes cleaning your lighting will make your outdoor living area more welcoming during the last few cool nights of summer.  Not only will lighting highlight your plants in the evening so we can enjoy them, but a well kept yard and adequate lighting are the two most effective things that can be done to prevent crime in our neighborhoods!


Adjust your sprinkler system and watering habits

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The past few weeks we have seen some good rain, but that won’t last. It’s a great time to check your sprinkler system, drip hoses, timers and such for proper watering.  Place a cake pan in your yard and time your sprinkler to run as long as it takes to fill that up to one inch.  That’s how long your system needs to run PER WEEK!  We recommend twice a week, so half inch per run. Garden beds need about that much, but once a week is usually enough!  Specimen plantings that are not well suited to Oklahoma weather need to be dealt with as needed.  Potted plants most likely need to be watered once a day.  No matter what it is, morning is the best time to water.  Wet plants during warm nights are begging to be attacked by bugs, fungi, and viruses!

Re-apply compost

Redressing your beds and pots with a thin layer of compost will help retain moisture throughout the day, and replace organic material the plant has utilized during the spring.

Pinch bag worms

Pinch bag worms on evergreens before the infestation gets out of control.  Also, spray web worms in trees with a high pressure spray.  Once the webs are torn open, the birds will feast! It is very satisfying!

Add natives!

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If you have any dead spots or something isn't filling in the way you hoped, consider adding native plants. Most native plants are just now starting to bloom and will continue to thumb their noses(petals?) at the heat and drought! Not to mention the benefits of bringing in native wildlife.


Add a bird/bee bath

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You could also use those spots or add a bird/bee bath. Any bird bath will work, but add rocks. This will give bees and butterflies a spot to land and get a drink.


Don't worry about your tomatoes

It has been relatively cool, so tomatoes should still be producing.  But as temps climb over the mid 90’s, tomato pollen stops being viable.  This can be helped by shaking the plant early in the morning, before it gets too hot.  At a certain point, you will have flowers, but not fruit.  Don’t worry, keep the plant healthy with compost and water.  Once temperatures drop, production will return.

Relax!

Relax! There isn’t a whole lot that can be planted right now, so enjoy your spring labors and start planning for fall.
July 22nd is National Hammock Day! So go get one and relax!


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--Alex Wisdom
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Summer is the Time of the Natives

14/7/2016

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Pyhlla nodiflora, Frogfruit. A great shade ground cover with verbena like flowers
Ah, Summer.  The heat index was 105 degrees yesterday, today looks like it will rain enough to make tomorrow miserable, and the weekend doesn't look much better.  This means, for those of us that WANT to get out in the gardens, our plants may not be looking all that great.  Geraniums are yellowing, petunias are petunia-ing, and Periwinkles are... well, they are probably fine. 
Veronia lettermannii, Iron Butterfly
Gaillardia pulchella, Sundance Bi Color
Ratibida columnifera, Prairie Cone Flower in front of Blond Ambition Grama Grass
Native Bees enjoying some Route 66 Coreopsis.
But there is a class of plants that is, just now, beginning to look their best!  Of course these are the plants that were here before any of us were; native plants!  Natives will thrive in any condition Oklahoma can throw at us because they have spent countless ages adapting to our, eh hem, interesting weather patterns.  The best part is that most of them start blooming when our spring perennials and annuals are starting to fade. 
Little Henry Rudbeckia setting buds
Conoclinum coelestinum, Blue Mist Flower.
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Joe Pye Weed
Eupatorium fistulosum
Does best in a low lying, damp area but will grow well in almost any condition with at least partial sun.

4-5 feet tall, but we do have a 2 foot tall dwarf variety
2 feet wide
Blooms July to frost.
Pow Wow Wild Berry Cone Flower
Echinacea purpurea

Found variety of  the native Cone Flower that does not need deadheading.  Excellent as a showy specimen or planted in mass.  Does best in poor dry soil and full sun.

2-3 feet tall
1 foot wide
Blooms June to August
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El Reno Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula

This is my favorite grass. All grasses bloom, but this grass has one of the most obvious and "traditional" flowers.  It forms a nice clump of minty green leaves and flower stems with reddish blossoms that then form seeds that song birds flock to.  In Fall, the leaves and seed heads turn gold and remain that way through Winter.

2-3 feet tall
2 feet wide
 Prefers dry conditions.
These are just a few of the natives that are available. Slash Pine, Kentucky Coffee Tree, and Catalpas, Blue Grama Grass, Indian Steel Grass, even a Sugar Maple!  So, if your yard or garden usually look a little drab this time of year and you want some color or texture to tide you over until Pansy and Mum time, think about some native plants.  The are easy, sustainable, and better than organic because they rarely need ANYTHING applied to them to grow well.  In fact, fertilizers and compost can harm or disfigure natives like Rudbeckia, grasses and Cone Flower either by encouraging too much growth so that they flop over or just burn the leaves!  They will need regular, deep waterings in their first year, but soon they will need nothing except the occasional pruning or deadheading to keep them looking tidy.
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    Kathy and Alex have combined experience of over 25 years, and offer their expertise here.

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  • PWGC Home
  • Plant Inventory
    • Edible Plants
    • Trees & Shrubs
    • Perennials
    • Tropicals
    • Annuals
  • Events
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