The impatient gardener: from straw to strawberries

Posted Mar 2, 2011 by Kim Franke-Folstad

Updated Mar 2, 2011 at 04:28 PM

I gave my three purple fountain grass plants their Friends of The Dirt-prescribed haircut last weekend.
Crew cut, that is.

After our cold winter, they looked like this.

They are now about 8-inches tall.

Thanks again for the tip on tying off the top of each plant before clipping. That made it so much easier.

What won’t be easy is waiting for them to grow back. I hope they recover faster than I did from the buzz cut I got last May! Water and fertilizer didn’t help me much, but maybe it will work for my fountain grass.

Speaking of instant gratification (because, really, that’s what this is all about—my impatience), I wanted to show off my first strawberry of the season.

Yes, seed people, I know there is even more pride involved when your homegrown plants bear fruit, but it isn’t so bad when you get them at Lowe’s one weekend and have a plump red berry a week later, either.

 

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Gnomeo, oh, no, Gnomeo

Posted Mar 1, 2011 by Kim Franke-Folstad

Updated Mar 1, 2011 at 05:15 PM

Lovers of gnomes and other garden decorations, beware: Don’t get sucked into thinking the new movie “Gnomeo & Juliet” has anything to offer you.
Except maybe a good nap.
At least, that’s the effect the animated retelling of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” had on me. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon. In a back row seat that didn’t recline.
The movie wasn’t my first choice, but animated films are so clever these days (I loved “Toy Story 3” and “Tangled” last year), I thought it would be funny. Or fun.
I was wrong.
There are a few lines aimed at adults, but this movie is truly meant for children. Very small children. Like, 6 or younger.
Not even my passion for gardening could keep me interested. Or a score by Elton John. Or James McAvoy voicing Gnomeo. (Sadly, this animated character looks nothing like the real-life actor.)
The only appealing part of the movie for me was a group of tiny bunnies, which – stay with me here – were not animated real bunnies, but animated stone bunnies. Those I would buy if someone decides to produce some “Gnomeo” merchandise.
And they might, because the movie is making money. It led the box office last weekend at $14.2 million – it’s third week in release.
Go figure. But don’t go to the movie—unless you’re talked into taking your favorite tot.

 

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The Spray-N-Grow challenge, Part II

Posted Feb 25, 2011 by Penny Carnathan

Updated Jun 28, 2011 at 09:07 AM

A few weeks ago, FODs Chip and Diane were putting in their regular order of Spray-N-Grow, a foliar spray Diane’s been using for 20 years to give her veggies a boost, when the Texas-based company mentioned the president would be in Clearwater for a Home Shopping Network blast of their product. Long story short, Chip and Diane were invited to film their testimonials.  I haven’t yet seen it, but let me just say, Diane did NOT like the way they did her makeup!

Diane wrangled a handful of 2-ounce sample bottles and she and Chip generously shared them with Kim, me, and a couple of other FODs. They wanted us to take the Spray-N-Grow challenge: Choose a group of the same plants, spray half, don’t spray the other half, see if you notice a difference.

I have a bed of six hollyhocks. Perfect. My “trial” is far from scientific – I didn’t take measurements or control for other variables, except that all six are in the same small bed, get the same water, and got the same dose of fertilizer last week. I took before and after photos. You be the judge.

I gave them the first spray Feb. 12. Here’s what one plant’s leaves looked like immediately after.

And here’s what the same plant looked like today (Feb. 25), six days after a second dose of Spray-N-Grow on Feb. 19. All the plants got a shot of Miracle Gro last weekend.

Spray-N-Grow has been around since 1982.  It says it contains 17 micronutrients not available in fertilizers. The ingredients include nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which are in all fertilizers and represented by the three numbers on fertilizer labels (Spray-N-Grow doesn’t claim to have cornered the market on these, by the way). It says Spray-N-Gro also has calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron and zinc chloride, and other unspecified minor elements.

I couldn’t find any independently published university studies of Spray-N-Grow, which is unusual for a product that’s been on the market for almost 30 years. There’s a 1996 trial by the University of Vietnam that reported good results, but it’s published by Spray-N-Grow. I also found a trial conducted by a paid consultant in New Zealand, also published by Spray-N-Grow.

The company cites extensive experiments by a university professor named A.E. Nightingale, but I found only one brief, oblique reference to his experience in a 1990 article in Texas Monthly magazine. The article’s about a Texan named Jim Martin who believed he’d developed a soil-cleansing product in the 1950s. The article touches on descendants of that product, one of which it says is Spray-N-Grow.

The lack of serious, independent trials makes me wary. But I try to keep an open mind. Universities can’t afford to test every product on the market, right? Spray-N-Grow relies on customer testimonials, and there are many. But there are also quite a few nay-sayers on garden forums.

You be the judge. Here’s my sprayed plants “before.” They’re the three plants to the left – the one to the right is part of the non-spray group.

Here’s the control (no Spray-N-Grow) group at the same time.

And here are those plants today.  No spray group here:

Spray group here:

My conclusion? Spray-N-Grow costs $11.95 for 8 ounces. Instructions call for mixing 2 tablespoons per gallon, so 8 ounces produces 32 quarts of spray. Being the cheapie that I am, I just as soon dig lots of good organic stuff into my dirt, sprinkle some slow-release fertilizer, and offer the occasional blast of Miracle-Gro. I do think I see a slight improvement in the sprayed hollyhocks, but I’ve seen much more dramatic results in sandy beds that I’ve amended with lots of compost and other organic stuff.

I’ll never say that what works for one gardener won’t work for others (OK, maybe I will). But I’ve seen Chip and Diane’s gorgeous vegetable garden, and I know they do a lot more than sprinkle seeds and spray Spray-N-Grow.

So, it’s no magic elixir. Just like those diets that promise weight loss with no effort, if you want to see results, you gotta do the work.

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Purple fountain grass looks like it belongs on ‘Green Acres’

Posted Feb 23, 2011 by Kim Franke-Folstad

Updated Feb 23, 2011 at 03:50 PM

No, those aren’t hay bales in my yard that need to be moved. And I don’t have any Cousin Its here for a visit.

Those three clumps of freaky frizz are purple fountain grass I planted last year. Clearly, they need a trim … but I had no idea how much.

I’ve been wandering over to where they sit for weeks now, running my fingers through them, trying to pull out the dead grass and see if there’s anything worth keeping in the tattered mess. I thought maybe the brown stuff would fall away and a batch of pretty purple grass within would be revealed.

No such luck.

You might remember, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved these plants when I put them in last year. They make a nice border on that side of my garden, and I like the way they move in the wind. So I have to keep them!

I did a little googling, and it turns out I’m supposed to clip each clump down to about 6 or 8 inches so it can come back fresh.

That certainly will make the pruning easier – no surgical skills required. But … well, you all know how I like big beautiful plants. I’m not loving the idea of cutting those babies down and waiting for them to get big again.

If you’ve seen it done another way, let me know before the weekend!

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Looking for a way to avoid that which we’re not supposed to do? Catch peak bloom at Bok Gardens

Posted Feb 17, 2011 by Penny Carnathan

Updated Jun 28, 2011 at 09:07 AM

During this in-between time, when we’re not supposed to plant or cut back (yeah, I’ve been doing both) here’s a good way to get your gardening fix while sitting on hands that do not enjoy being idle.

Bok Tower Gardens is approaching its peak bloom, says its director of horticulture, Nick Baker. Head over there this weekend or next and you should be amply rewarded.  Its 150-plus varieties of camellias (pictured above) are on their way down – they’ve got a couple weeks left. But lots of other plants are still heading to that vegetative glory that is seed pod.

Bok Tower, a National Historic Landmark, is in Lake Wales, about 60 miles east of Tampa. It’s in the same cold hardiness zone(s) – 9a and 9b – as those of us in the Tampa area. Somewhere in its 50 acres you should pick up good ideas for plants to try in your own garden. All of these photos, by the way, were provided by Bok Tower Gardens. I haven’t visited (yet) this spring because I’m too busy breaking all the rules in my own garden.

Blooms heading toward peak? Let’s start with red spike Bromeliad Aechmea gamosepala

Saucer magnolia, Magnolia x soulangeana is deciduous and blooms on a leaf-bare tree in spring. “This hybrid is the most commonly used magnolia tree in horticulture,” Nick says.

Tea olive Osmanthus fragrans is already blooming at Bok, and I’m jealous! This tree – and blooms – are neither beautiful nor homely, sort of non-descript. But the fragrance is absolutely intoxicating.  I bought a tea olive last spring, and it’s putting out all sorts of new growth, but I haven’t seen the first sign of buds.

Tea olive is a small tree that needs filtered sun or morning light only. Mine is in a huge pot under the eaves on the patio – right by the door to the garden, so I’ll be sure to be blown away when I step outside (if ever he blooms.)

It proved to be very cold hardy, by the way.

I can’t do azaleas in my full-sun, no-acid-soil (oh heck – let’s just say no soil!) yard, but I love to see them in flower.  Bok Gardens has lots of azaleas peaking now. This one is named for the garden’s founder, Edward Bok. Rhododendron mucronatum is a vigorous grower with pure white flowers, Nick says. It’s also called Edward Bok Azalea.

Bok Tower Gardens has lots more plants in bloom now, from annuals like hollyhocks and delphiniums to striking spring-flowering trees, including those gorgeous tabebuias. You can take a guided walking tour Monday through Saturday at noon and 2 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Picnic on the grounds, hear the carillion concerts at 1 and 3 p.m., and tour Pinewood Estate, a 20-room 1930s mansion. There’s plenty to make it worth the drive.

Admission is $10 for ages 13 and older; $3 for ages 5-12.

 

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