Plants on display at the office

After 2 container gardening classes, we have some beautiful pots filled with nice, blooming plants. We have some containers that go in the sun and some that go in the shade. Here's one of my favorite plants -- caladium. It's in a dirty pot, but don't mind that....


Our Calycanthus is blooming again, after the blooms were frozen off April 6-8. But they're back albeit with a few dead branches on the plant.


Also, come visit our office and you can browse our All-America Vegetable Demonstration Garden. Cilantro, Swiss chard, tomatoes, okra, peppers, and onions have been planted into raised beds. They are watered and fertilized through soaker hoses. The fence is around to prevent rabbits from eating the young plants. It may also serve to make it a bit more cumbersome for 2-legged creatures to steal from our garden. Come browse around when you're in the area.

Can't Remember the Freeze

By looking at some of the plants here at the office, you might never know there was a horrible freeze a month and a half ago.

Our 'Muskogee' crapemyrtle came through wonderfully well. Especially when you see and hear that many crape myrtles are dead to the ground.

The false blue indigo (Baptisia australis) and some sort of Rue (Thalictrum spp.) are blooming fine.

Here's some pics:

Crapemyrtle- Before pruning



Crapemyrtle -- After Pruning (except for one branch I couldn't reach)


False Blue Indigo


Rue spp.

Two Weeks Later....

After the freeze 2 weeks ago, plants still don't look great. But recovery is on the way. I'm posting some, hopefully, uplifting pictures today. But remember, you may see dieback still occurring on woody plants for a couple more months.

Green tissue under bark of butterflybush:



False blue indigo new growth



Carolina sweetshrub new leaves emerging where old ones were fried



Baldcypress putting out some new leaves

Frozen landscape plants

Tree and shrubs whose leaves and flowers have been burnt by the freeze will recover. According to Dr Bill Fountain, our UK Extension Specialist, woody plants will leaf out again. It may take a couple of months to really understand the extent of the damage to our plants but they will most likely not die.

Do NOT fertilize trees and shrubs now. Keep woody plants as un-stressed out as possible during this growing season. This means watering when we have a dry spell. After a couple months, freeze damaged trees and shrubs can be aesthetically pruned -- meaning, get rid of the ugly, dead stuff. I want to emphasize that we should still practice good pruning practices.

The bark of the crape myrtle (and our beautyberry) here at the office cracked and sloughed off with the cold temperatures. Crape myrtles are marginal here in Zone 6, so there may be a lot of dead limbs on your plant this year. Again, you'll have to wait to see what resprouts and at that point, make pruning cuts.

For Dr Fountain's entire opinion on this, click here.

Herbaceous perennials were hard hit as well. Check out our hostas here at the office.

For these plants, you will have to wait a good week to know exactly what is dead and what's alive. At that point, you might want to remove the dead leaves. Anything that remains green, I would keep since it will be photosynthesizing and making energy for the plant.

Good luck. Let me know how your plants recover from this historic freeze.

Fresh, local fruit will be hard to come by in 2007

We had spring for 5 weeks before the freeze hit. Then the freeze hit, recording temps of 18 degrees in some places. This deep, prolonged cold period really did a number on our tree fruit crops. The peach and apple crops will be very small in Kentucky for 2007. Some growers will resort to buying fruit to re-sell, but this freeze affected much of the eastern half of the US. So who knows who will have apples and peaches.

Local strawberries got hit fairly hard as well. Early bloomers, like the tasty Earliglow, lost their king blooms. King blooms are the most important bloom since they produce the biggest berries. Strawberries will continue to bloom, but yields will be much reduced and berries will be smaller.

Early blueberries probably are gone as well. We're unsure of exactly what will happen with the later crop, but no doubt, damage has occurred.

Please patronize our local growers this year. They will very much appreciate your support during a most difficult year.

What's Blooming Today

Mostly pictures today. Several things worthy of showing.

Weeping Redbud & Daphne 'Somerset'





Calycanthus in bloom








Lilac












Pawpaw blooms

Sourwoods for Everyone!

Well, maybe not everyone. I have a thing for sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) trees. I have been taking care of more than 20 seedlings since December 06. These seeds came off the tree in my yard at home. The seedlings have been growing in a south facing window in the house. This plant has been growing since mid-January 07.

As you can see, the plant is very small, maybe a half-inch tall. But we finally have 2 true leaves on it with a third on its way. The hairs on the leaves are very big for the size of the leaf. I had no idea it would be this hairy.

My intent is to prick the seedlings out and transplant them to a larger container by the end of March. I'll post more later as they grow.

For more information on sourwood trees, visit UConn's website.