Roses in the Month of June

This is Chaenomeles speciosa or flowering Quince. This 6-foot tall, thorny shrub, a member of the Rose family, flowers for three weeks or so in Spring. When I brought this into the house and forced it into bloom the flowers were a delicate shade of pink - lovely!

If these formidable thorns could be pierced at one end to enable threading they would make great needles. My neighbor would take the fruits to the Amish who would make jam or jelly from them. They are said to have a tart flavor and taste best when cooked.

Chaenomeles is from the Greek words, chaino, to split; and meles, an apple. It seems to come from their mistaken belief that the fruit was split.

Better Pictures

Perhaps these pictures do better justice to the leaflets.

Can you identify me?

After 20 years I finally noticed the newly emerging leaves of this tree; they are so dainty for such a large tree. It is Quercus palustris aka Pin Oak.

Daffodils Change Colors!

This is Narcissus 'Einstein,' also shown in the second picture of the last posting. This picture is taken on April 15 whereas the first picture was taken 3 days later, on April 18th. I had to recheck my pictures because I was pretty sure Einstein's petals had been yellow only 3 days ago. Now they are a pristine white.

The name Narcissus comes from a mythological character named Narcissus. He fell in love with his beautiful self upon seeing his reflection for the first time in a pool. Unable to embrace his reflection/lover he pined away and the flower Narcissus grew where he died; the term narcissism also comes from this source.

Today's Muscari and Daffodils

Of Dogtooth Violets and Bloodroots

These began blooming today: The yellow flower is Erythronium americanum aka Dogtooth Violet or Trout Lily; the mottled foliage belongs to the Erythronium. The white flower is Bloodroot, aka Sanguinaria canadensis; the lobed leaves, upper right are Bloodroot's. It has a wonderfully bloody root - great for Halloween.

Today's Bulbs

These bulbs are blooming here today.

Bulb Clarification

The term "bulb" has been used generically here. But clarification is required lest I lead the reader astray.

Strictly speaking, a crocus is not a bulb but a corm - a compressed stem. It's similar to a bulb but has no scales. A nice visual can be seen at http://plantpropagation.com/corms.htm

However Galanthus is a true bulb or modified underground stem. A true bulb has scales attached at the basal plate.

Bulbs carry their own food within these underground stems and thus feeding them additional food is optional. Many give a sprinkling of bone meal or compost after the flowers have finished.

The true food they need is in the leaves that you must allow to die back naturally. Do not remove them until they have yellowed and will easily pull away when gently tugged. If flowering seems less than in previous years you probably need to lift and divide the bulbs or corms.

The word Crocus is the Greek name of saffron: Crocus sativus. Galanthus is from the Greek 'gala' for milk and 'anth' for flower referring to the white blooms.

Spring Bulbs.

Seems time to restart this blog since finally, after the long winter (not over yet - might still get snow) a smattering of bulbs have bloomed.

The Galanthus were first up, in mid-March.

Then the Crocus started to bloom during the first week of April. This is two weeks later than I've previously recorded their bloom. But it must have been tough to get through the heavy Easter snows.

The first week of April the crocus looked great but now are all gone:( They can take the cold so what happened? I wonder if the warmth, 73 degrees, of last Tuesday was too much for them? Or could it be that as I raked the oak leaves off of them I damaged them somehow?

These crocus usually bloom for at least three weeks and I miss them already and now have to wait for another year. Happily some daffodils are ready to pop!

MG Annuals in the Garden

Here are some pictures taken at the MG Garden on August 16, after the MG meeting. It looks great; thanks to all those who worked on it!

Pictures of the garden tour

Blooms

Week of August 27, 2007

Annuals: Allysum, Impatiens, Cosmos, Cleome, Angelonia, Salvia, NG Impatiens, Zinnias, Heliotrope

Perennials: Phlox, Rosa (but the Japanese Beetles get most), Veronica, Daylily (sporadic), Coreopsis, Gaura, Geranium (sporadic), Hydrangea, Knautia (sporadic, I cut it back), Verbena bonariensis, Kniphofia/torch lily (done mostly, one coming), Salvia, Rudbeckia, Sedum spectabiles, Perennial Ageratum, Hebe (or Heather?), Clematis.

Bulbs: Gladiolus (corm)

Seed Gathering Website

Wow - I missed a whole month of recording bloom times - go figure!

This post is about a great new (to me) website about saving seeds and since it 'tis the season I thought maybe somone would be interested. This sight gives pics of seed pods, seeds and seedlings. Even has wild flowers and weeds - invaluable!

http://theseedsite.co.uk

Blooming the week of July 29, 2007:
Annuals: Allysum, Hollyhock, Impatiens, Cosmos, Cleome, Angelonia, Salvia, NG Impatiens, Zinnias.
Perennials: Phlox, Balloon/Platycodon, Rosa (but the Japanese Beetles get most), Veronica, Daylily (mostly done), Coreopsis, Gaura, Geranium (mostly done), Hosta, Hydrangea, Knautia, Verbena bonariensis, Kniphofia/torch lily, Daisy, Salvia, Rudbeckia, White Obedience Plant, Kansas Gay Feather.
Bulbs: Gladiolus (corm)

Vermiculite

I finally went to Kraynak's and asked about the large-grain vermiculite that we were told about during propagation class. Someone said Kraynak's had it... t'aint so!

Kraynak's buyer showed me his stock of vermiculite: small bags that are available everywhere and huge bags probably only carried at nurseries.

However, they were both the small-size grains and when I said I would check again in the spring he said it was the only grain size/texture he had ever carried and would remain so.

If anyone knows where else to get the large-grain vermiculite please leave a comment or post to the blog with said source.

Perhaps I will try to contact the propagation presenter and see where he gets his. Let ya' know the outcome.

Blooming this week!

My original idea was to keep track of what blooms and when. Then I can know what to expect in following years and to use this journal to help when purchasing plants in the future. Thus I can fill in those areas and times when color is lacking.

In that vein, for the week of July 14, 2007:
Annuals: Allysum, Hollyhock, Impatiens, Cosmos, Cleome, Angelonia, Salvia, NG Impatiens
Perennials: Phlox, Balloon/platycodon, Rosa, Veronica, Daylily, Coreopsis, Geranium, Hosta, Hydrangea Knautia, Verbena Bonariensis, Kniphofia/torch lily, Daisy, Salvia.

I didn't list the different cultivars of each; if you want to know more about them then you must post to the blog or email me.

Rosa 'Heritage'

Blog Title Change

You may notice that the title of this blog has changed from Trumbull County, Ohio Master Gardener's Blog to Ohio Digs Gardening.
The change was made because I doubt I can speak for all of Trumbull's MGs. However I still want all MGs so inclined to contribute. I recognize that everyone is busy, busy, busy. But I don't want to let the blog die out because I think it could be made into a fabulous teaching tool.
So for now I will try to post more frequently (see previous post) and hope that something I say spurs discussion, learning, or even reflections upon gardening. So if you have ideas, comments, or especially problems - please post them or email me so we can respond as NEO MGs.

Summer's coming!

Summer's right around the corner! Do you have all your annuals, veggies and containers planted? Have you pruned those spring flowering shrubs so that next year's display will be even better? Have you weeded out all the bad guys? Spread that ton of mulch? Sprayed those roses? Edged those beds? Divided the fall bloomers?

Me either - yet. Ah, the gardening life...