Everything has Popped

Everything has popped.  What a difference two weeks make.  Here it is the last days of May and this past week you would swear it was July or August.

 

I have Daylilies blooming.  Aztec Gold is early but not that early, it's not supposed to bloom till the end of June

 

The Hosta are up.

Almost fully out. 

Remember, I spaced them out last year?

 I think they will be good for a few

The bog garden is looking good, a bit on the dry side, not very boggy, but nothing is this spring.  I do think a few too many holes were punched in the plastic, but it is a bit moister than the rest of the garden.

In the lower part of the display gardens, I had lost just about all my Euphorbia (have no idea why), and the Saponaria (Bouncing Bet), which I love, were bouncing around a bit too much.  This year they were out.  Will have to find a new spot for them.  Anyway, I moved the Helenium (Helen's Flower, Sneezeweed, Swamp Sunflower) into the centre of this area around the second week in May.  Well since it hasn't rained here much the month of May, you can probably tell that they didn't like it.

 

But a nice coat of compost and a little rain this past day and they are smiling.

 

Now I have to get the Woolly Thyme path to smile.

 

Back at the Semps

So what do you do if you just can resist all those varieties of Semps out there, and you have amassed a collection.  Guilty.

You can make a wreath (may be I'll post a how to do some day), but to day we are going to do something different.

I am a 4-H leader for Gardening and Floraculture in our local club. The young lady I teach Floraculture to came to me with this idea she found on the Internet for making a picture out of Semps.  It didn't take us long to decide that this would be a good project. Even Lady thinks so.

My Father-in-Law throws nothing out.  He had this great frame that he basically made a shadow box for.  We used hardware cloth, 1/4" in size.

Marla's Dad made hers but they used 1" cloth (much better size), you learn as you go.  She filled her box from the back, adding soil first,

 Then adding a thin layer of sphagnum moss to hold the soil in.



Then screwing the 'frame' down to the shadow box.

Mine was made upside down, laying the moss down first on the hardware cloth.

Adding the potting soil, sliding the back on and screwing it down.

Now the fun part, we get to fill it with whatever we want.  Marla's frame is huge, she added semps, small sedums and some creeping thyme.

Surprisingly, you don't need a lot of material, you actually want the smaller pieces (chicks) and little sprigs of sedums and thyme.  Marla took hers home to her little greenhouse until she is ready to display it at our 4-H Achievement Day towards the end of July.  By then it should be looking quite good.

I had to cut out some of the hardware cloth so it gave me 1" squares for adding some of the semps.  I kept mine pure, semps only.  They will take a little while to root in, but I can't wait until it can be hung up (carefully of course).

Hmmm, I wonder if Papa has anymore frames lying around??

Out With the Old, In With the New

Can't really tell from the top picture that the front half of the bench collapsed last fall when I loaded it with just a few too many pots. 

 

 

After all, they are over 14 years old, made from the pickets of a fence and subjected to years of high humidity and watering.  It is surprising they lasted this long.  'Finally' said Andrew.  He knows my motto of trying to get the last tomato from the plant.  I will not throw anything out if it still has some life in it.  I had to admit it was a goner.  Andrew wanted metal benches.  "They won't rot."

 

Ok.  The bench was ordered.  Out came the old one.  You know it is rotten when you can practically break it apart with your bare hands.  The greenhouse always had a gravel floor from day one.  We had put a few large patio stones in a few years ago, but that was as far as it went.  Andrew's dad seemed to have this large stock pile of stones at his place (he throws nothing out) and with a few trips to the local building supplies, we put in the floor.

I have to admit, I am really liking it.  And even though I am busy outside, I was not putting a brand new bench on a brand new floor with walls looking like that.  

But it didn't take long to clean, and boy does it ever look better.

After all that, the realization that we ordered the bench 6" too long; What were we thinking??  Out came the dremil (great little invention) and the bolt cutters and everything fit perfect.

And it didn't take me long to fill it up.

I wonder how long the benches on the otherside will last?



Update on Sterilizing Soil

We purchased a new microwave.  

No I did not bust the other sterilizing soil.

So this time I went 4 minutes.

The temperature reached 198 F, just under the toxic level all the references say you want to stay away from.

I wrapped my little bundle in a bathroom towel and took its temperature every 10 min.

10 min   188 F

20 min   178 F

30 min  170 F

I'm starting to see a pattern.  I'll leave the little baby wrapped for the afternoon (at least 2 hours), then I'll unwrap and let it cool.

I'm seeding tonight so I will add to this post later on, the quality of the germination.  I'm itching to plant my tomatoes but I think I'll wait another week.

Seed Starting Time, Again

     Seed starting time again, that time of year comes around pretty quickly.  The days are getting milder, snow melting, the sun warmer and the bulbs are peeking up through the snow.

     I reuse soil all the time, mix in some old with some new and pot up plants I have divided in the garden.  But I won't reuse old soil for seeds and seedlings and I am even careful if I have a half used bag of potting soil left over from last year.  Up until a few years ago, you could purchase a fungicide called Damp-Off that you added to your water when watering in your seeds and watering your seedlings that prevented the damping off fungus that devastated your newly emerged seedlings.  That is no longer on the market and there is no equivalent product that can be used, not even organic (please tell me if you know). 

     There are antidotal remedies, hydrogen peroxide, chamomile tea (probably puts them to sleep), cinnamon (at least it makes the soil smell good) and powdered charcoal, that are 'supposed to' prevent the dampening off.  Water your seedlings from the bottom (good advice) and give them good air circulation (more good advice), but the best advice is to use good sterilized potting mix. Most mixes are pre sterilized, but what if you have leftover potting soil from last year.  But remember seed has become expensive.

     There are a few ways of sterilizing your soil, all involve cooking (technically).  Get out your measuring spoons and scales.  You can use a pressure cooker, steamer, oven (every reference says this will absolutely stink up your house) or your microwave. 

     I used the microwave method last year with really good results (at least no damping off) so I'll try it again.  This method is all over the Internet, it must have come from one source and I have not seen anybody saying it doesn't work.

     Add enough water to the soil so that when you squeeze the soil, a bit of water comes out. 

     Place 2 lbs of this mix in a Ziploc (or equivalent) bag, or deadicated microwaveable container and place it in the microwave with the top open.  Make sure it is stable.  The last thing you need is to clean potting soil out of the microwave.



     All references I found said to microwave for 2.5 minutes / 2 lb.  My scientific mind questioned this since everything I read referring to the oven method was to maintain the soil at 180 F for 30 minutes.  Even if you are microwaving, should not the soil temp hold at 30 min also?   Does it even reach that temperature? Soil temperatures should reach at least 180 F but not more than 190 F.  Many references refer to toxicity to the seeds if the soil goes above 200 F.

     I have a soil thermometer, very useful for checking the garden soil in the spring and extremely useful in this application.  After 2.5 minutes I resealed the bag with clothes pins and the thermometer and took a reading.

     The temperature of the soil only went to 160 F.  Time to do a few more experiments.  I microwaved a new batch (room temp) for 3 minutes.  It just barely reached 180 F.  One more time.  3.5 minutes brought the soil to 188 F but the soil temperature dropped below 180 within 7 minutes. 

     I'm going to use it anyway, because  I am quite confident in my soil mix and this was just extra insurance.  If I was at all concerned, I would buy a small bag just for seeding or do more experimenting to get it right.

     Next time I need this soil I may try 4 minutes and try to insulate the bag by wrapping it in a towel or something similar to keep the temperature up for a longer period.  Just a thought. 

Now a tip for seeding. 

Those containers that mushrooms come in, great seeding trays. 

All you need to do is poke a few holes in the bottom and they are recyclable too.

Happy Seeding!



Winter Hardy Cactus Varieties

     So this picture of cactus must have been taken in the southern US.  Right?  Wrong.  This was taken at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro NS.  Although not native to the region, there are no native species east of Ontario, they absolutely thrive here.  Around here winters can go 20 below Celsius.  No problem for these cactus.

     This is my last posting on cactus (maybe; for a while) and I want to highlight some cactus species that will grow here in our province and some I am currently growing.  I have given you the background on culture, propagation and care.  Now what varieties are available.



     Opuntia humifusa also known as O. compressa is a large Prickly Pear Cactus found in Southern Ontario near Lake Erie. it is an endangered species found only in 2 small locations near Point Pelee, Ontario. It is one of the most hardiest of all Prickly Pear Cactus.  For me though, I have yet to get it through the winter in my cactus bed.  Other people in the area have, and have had no problem.  It is one of the most prolific bloomers and grows quickly with very large pads.  The flowers are yellow to yellow gold.



      Opuntia macrorhiza is winter hardy to zone 3, keeping in mind good drainage.  It is the only Opuntia I have that is not native to Canada.  The plant is 6-12" in height about the same as O. humifusa.  It is native to the central and mid-west US through to the south.  It tends to be different from O. humifusa with thicker roots, more spines and those spines tend to be slightly curved (that does not make them any less lethal).  Most O. macrorhiza are yellow blooms.  This variety that I carry, O. macrorhiza v. macrorhiza has a red centre that radiates outward.  Clumps can spread out over 2 feet.

      Opuntia polyacantha probably have the largest collection of hybridized varieties available.  One of the most notable is 'Crystal Tide' which  are porcelain white with red stamens and yellow pollen, but may other varieties range from yellows to pinks to red and anything in between.  Some varieties are quite small where as some get to 3' in diameter.  O polyacantha is winter hardy to zone 3 yet curl up and look almost dead in the winter. It is native to central - western US coming up into southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is know as the Plains Prickly Pear and can be cold hardy to Zone 2.

     Opuntia fragilis; the Brittle Prickly Pear.  According to the literature, it is the most winter hardy of all the Opuntias, found as far north as the Artic Circle. They do not have large pads like the traditional prickly pear cactus but small 1-2" oval pads with spines that can be longer than the pad.  They are very abundant at producing new pads and it has, as the name suggests, the ability to propagate itself prolifically. You don't need tongs and a knife to separate these guys (well maybe the tongs).  The flowers are large and yellow with either creamy green or red centres.  They flower sporadically.   They are found from BC as far east as the Manitoba-Ontario border and down through the central US.

     Opuntia rutilans' pads are shaped like sausages, they can be about 4" long and up to 1.5" thick.  This is one of the few prickly pears that have very few spines, usually at the tips.  Flowers are deep pink with extra petals, 3" across.  Mine has yet to bloom.  I am patiently waiting.... It grows rather quickly and can become quite a good size in a short period of time.





     Escobaria vivipara also known as Pincushion Cactus, Beehive Cactus, Ball Cactus and probably quite a few other names.  It is found in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  It is a nice ball shape, holding its form through out the winter surviving winters at - 30 C.  Beautiful pink blooms are formed in June at the apex of the cactus.  It propagates itself  by producing babies around the base of the mother cactus.  These maybe detached, allowed to dry and then planted like the Opuntias.  The Escobaria in the picture above bloomed two years in a row and got to a diameter of 5".  The winter didn't kill it, someone drove over it with a car.  Who??  At least I had some babies in the Greenhouse.

     Another one I have are Echinocereus, Claret Cup Cactus.  No pictures at this time and no commentary, can't find them.  I know I took pictures and I was just researching them last month.  Can't find the notes.  I have wasted 2 days looking for them and I can't wait any longer to post this.  Echinocereus will be introduced at a later date.

They may be a bit shy.

 



Opuntia Culture

     Prickly Pears (Opuntia) are edible.  You can eat both the pad (nopales) and the fruit (tuna), although I haven't tried it.  A word of caution, remove the spines first. The Cactus are full of water, so considering where they grow, they are a very attractive food source to other animals,  hence the need for defence mechanisms of the spines. 

    Those spines are lethal, and it is not the large ones you need to look out for, but those small, tufted hairlike ones in clusters that are no more than a few millimeters in length..  Regular gardening gloves are not enough, they will go right through.  They will even go through several layers when leaning over the pots on a greenhouse bench.  Then you are back in the house looking for the tweezers.  There are some varieties that are spineless.

     The best way to work around them either when propagating or weeding around established plants in the garden is to use good old kitchen tongs and yuo do need to be careful.  Use your tongs to grab the weed, a small, long handled dandelion weeder to loosen it from the ground and gently pull, at least the soil mix is very loose.  Moving established plants requires a shovel (they have quite the root system) and good leather gloves.  Most varieties are quite tough and will not break off with out a lot of force.

Seedling selection

     Propagation is really easy.  They will produce viable seed.  I germinated mine with GA-3 but have hear that scarification also helps.  If you leave the seed pods on the plant for a year, they will drop and germinate much easier.  I have established quite a nice one from seed that resembles the O macrorhiza but the pads seem to be larger and the plant a bit more vigorous.  I also have one appears to have many more spines, much more like the O. polyacantha which gives it a more silvery look. 

     Propagation by pads is probably the the easiest and more reliable way to go.  Using your tongs to hold a pad, cut off the pad where it had joined to the other ones.  Allow the pad to lay out for a few days, even a week, they need to callus.  I have left them in the greenhouse in direct sunlight and they have been fine. After that pot them up in the soil mix suggested in the previous blog and they should root in within the month.

     I have said before that these cactus can take the cold: they can.  What they can't take is the wetness especially in the spring.  In the fall, make sure any debris from trees and other sources are removed from around the plants.  The Cactus will start to show signs of going dormant by starting to shrivel, they will also start to go from the pads being prostrate, to them lying on the ground..  This is a mechanism that allows them to overwinter.  In the spring, when the snow is gone they look pathetic.  But if they have not gone to mush or jelly, then they are usually fine.  Last winter with all that snow, a few of the pads turned black.  Those pads were dead and they needed to be removed.  The rest of the plant was find.  As the spring warmed, the pads went from being shriveled to filling with water and becoming prostrate again.

     Late spring, you started to see small knobs forming around the edge of the pads.  New pads were being formed.  At the first of the summer flower buds start, they don't look a lot different from the newly forming pads until they get a bit bigger.  Most of the cactus that do well here have yellow flowers, but reds, pinks, and salmons are available.  The flowers don't last long, they are a lot like peonies and poppies in that respect, but they are absolutely beautiful.

And just think what a great conversation starter when some one comes into your garden.