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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.
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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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  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  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  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!
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!
--Alex Wisdom
 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. 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.
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. Archives
February 2019
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