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Cooperative Extension Service Franklin County 101 Lakeview Court Frankfort, KY 40601-8750 (502) 695-9035 Fax: (502) 695-9309 franklin.ca.uky.edu
What your gardening friends
really want for Christmas By Capital Area Extension Master Gardeners,
Susan Harkins and Paula Mullins
It’s that time of year, and you’re in luck if a
gardener is on your gift list. Passionate
gardeners are probably the easiest people to
please. If you’re close, you might already know
that they’re searching for a specific orchid or
drooling over a new set of shiny loppers. On
the other hand, if you not sure, we’re here to
help.
Closer to the holidays, you can purchase
traditional holiday plants most anywhere.
Amaryllis, paperwhites, and holiday cacti will
show up everywhere and they’re affordable.
Not all gardeners are keen on house plants
though; if they don’t have any, skip this one
and read on.
Tools are personal, but a gardener can always
use a new set of good hand pruners, a hori hori
knife, or a good pruning saw. A gardener can
never have too many pairs of gardening
shears, and they come in all sizes. If your
gardening friend tends to lose tools (I know I
do), a utility tool apron, such as the one by
Keen, would be high on their list. It should have
lots of pockets in different widths and lengths to
corral all those new tools.
A vase or planter might be just the ticket. Like
tools, a gardener can never have too many. For
that reason, make sure it’s spectacular or
unusual in some way. They probably have tons
of normal vases and planters already.
As odd as it might sound, you might hook up
with a local farmer and purchase compost to be
delivered in early spring. Then, help your
gardening friend spread it—this is as important
as the purchase.
If your gardener is a little older, consider a new
gardening cart to replace their awkward
wheelbarrow. Garden carts are durable, easy
to handle, and they come in more than one
size! An easy-to-handle, flexible, gardening
hose of at least 100 feet would be great.
They’re lightweight and easy to move.
For the reader, consider a subscriptions to a
gardening magazine. There are several to
choose from: Fine Gardening, Country
Gardens, Garden Gate, Horticulture, Gardens
WHAT’S INSIDE THIS MONTH…
What Your Gardening Friends Want ..……..….1-2
November Gardening Calendar ……….……....3-4
Cauliflower Casserole ……….………….………...4
Fall Color from Shrubs …………………...……5-6
Tomato Production in KY ……...………………....7
Everything But Daffys ...….............................…..8
Sourwood Tree …………………………………….9
Winterizing Roses ………...……………………..10
Thanksgiving Closing …………………………...10
Pumpkin Production in KY …………………...…11
Compliant Procedure ………….………………...12
Illustrated, Birds and Bloom, Mother Earth
News, Herb Quarterly, and don't forget
Kentucky Gardener. Or, you might consider a
number of gardening books: Gardening for the
Birds, by Thomas G. Barnes;
Kentucky’s Last Great Places
by Thomas G. Barnes, Plant
Life of Kentucky by Ronald L.
Jones, Trees & Shrubs of
Kentucky by Mary E.
Wharton and Roger W.
Barbour, Edible Wild Plants
by John Kallas, PhD;
Wildflowers and Ferns of
Kentucky by Thomas G.
Barnes and S. Wilson
Francis; Bringing Nature
Home by Douglas W.
Tallamy; The Living
Landscape by Rick Darke
and Doug Tallamy; and many
more.
A small pop-up greenhouse would be a certain
winner, especially if you offer to help put it
together! They come in a variety of sizes and
prices. Make sure your friend has space for it
before you make the purchase.
If you’re feeling especially generous, a potter’s
table would be a huge surprise and a certain hit!
Before you purchase anything, size up their
surroundings: Do they really have room for
one? If it needs to stay outside, purchase
something durable, such as resin, teak,
stainless steel. They come in lots of sizes with
different amenities, so you’ll have lots of
choices.
Most gardeners love nature in general, so
anything in that vein is a good bet. A
membership to a nearby private garden or
arboretum will be well-received. In our area, we
have Yew Dell Gardens and the Waterfront
Botanical Gardens, both in Louisville. The
Arboretum in Lexington is public, so a
membership isn’t necessary. However, if your
gardening friend has everything already, you
might consider a donation in their name. A
pretty water feature is always nice, especially if
you help with (or pay for) installation. Garden
art is iffy—it’s personal, but if
you know the gardener well,
you can probably pull it off.
Kentucky license plate bird
houses can be purchased at
the Anderson County Circuit
Court; you can get a
butterfly, dragonfly, cardinal,
and more.
If you still can’t decide,
consider a gift card. At Wild
Birds Unlimited, they might
use a gift card to purchase a
squirrel-proof bird feeder
that really works. A card to a
local nursery (such as Glen
Young Garden Center and
Springhouse in Nicholasville, Carbajal’s Garden
and Landscaping in Lawrenceburg, and Wilson
Nurseries in Frankfort) or even a box store
(such as Lowe’s) might be used to purchase
seed packets, tools, mulch, bulbs, nursery
plants, and so on. For the native plant lovers,
consider a gift card to a nursery that specializes
in native plants, such as Ironweed Native Plant
Nursery in Columbia Kentucky or Dropseed
Native Plant Nursery in Goshen. For the
gardener who loves to watch seeds germinate,
consider a gift certificate to Burpees, Johnny’s
Selected Seeds, Baker Heirloom, Prairie Moon,
Select Seeds, Renee’s Garden, or Roundstone.
You might not have to spend any money at all.
A hand-made coupon and a sincere promise to
return in the spring and help your gardening
friend put in a new bed, spread mulch, or just
clean up the winter mess would be a gift from
the heart that your gardening friend will never
forget. I think I’m adding this one to my own list!
(Continued from Pg. 1, What your gardening
friends really want for Christmas)
Left to right: Folding pruning saw, garden
trowel, soil knife (hori hori knife), and bypass
pruners.
November Gardening Calendar
Ornamentals
Continue watering evergreens until the
ground freezes. Soils must not be dry
when winter arrives.
Now is the ideal time to plant trees and
shrubs. Before digging the hole, prepare
the site by loosening the soil well beyond
the drip line of each plant. Plant trees and
shrubs at the depth they grew in the
nursery and not deeper. Remove all wires,
ropes and non-biodegradable materials
from roots before back filling. Apply a 2-3
inch mulch layer, but stay several inches
away from the trunk. Keep the soil moist,
not wet, to the depth of the roots.
Newly planted broad-leaf evergreens such
as azaleas, boxwood and hollies benefit
from a burlap screen for winter wind
protection. Set screen stakes in place
before the ground freezes.
Now is a good time to observe and choose
nursery stock based on fall foliage interest.
Plant tulips now.
Mums can be cut back to within several
inches of the ground once flowering ends.
After the ground freezes, apply a 2 to 3
inch layer of loose mulch such as pine
needles, straw or leaves.
Mulch flower and bulb beds after the
ground freezes, to prevent injury to plants
from frost heaving.
Roses should be winterized after a heavy
frost. Place a 6 to 10-inch deep layer of
mulch over each plant. Top soil works best.
Prune sparingly, just enough to shorten
overly long canes. Climbers should not be
pruned at this time.
Take steps to prevent garden pools from
freezing solid in winter. Covering pools
with an insulating material or floating a
stock tank water heater in the pond will
lessen the chance of ice damage.
Covering garden pools with bird netting will
prevent leaves from fouling the water.
Oxygen depletion from rotting organic
matter can cause winter kill of pond fish.
Vegetables
Fall tilling the vegetable garden exposes
many insect pests to winter cold, reducing
their numbers in next year's garden.
Any unused, finished compost is best tilled
under to improve garden soils.
To prevent insects or diseases from
overwintering in the garden, remove and
compost all plant debris.
Overcrowded or unproductive rhubarb
plants can be divided now.
Root crops such as carrots, radishes,
turnips and Jerusalem artichokes store well
outdoors in the ground. Just before the
ground freezes, bury these crops under a
deep layer of leaves or straw. Harvest as
needed during winter by pulling back this
protective mulch.
For Thanksgiving, weave a holiday wreath
of garlic, onions, chili peppers and herbs. It
will make a gourmet gift for a lucky friend.
Fruits
Keep mulches pulled back several inches
from the base of fruit trees to prevent bark
injury from hungry mice and other rodents.
Fallen, spoiled or mummified fruits should
be cleaned up from the garden and
destroyed by burying.
A dilute whitewash made from equal parts
interior white latex paint and water applied
to the southwest side of young fruit trees
will prevent winter sun scald injury.
Commercial tree guards or protective
collars made of 18-inch high hardware
cloth will prevent trunk injury to fruit trees
from gnawing rabbits and rodents.
Mulch strawberries for winter with straw.
This should be done after several nights
near 20 degrees, but before temperatures
drop into the teens. Apply straw loosely,
but thick enough to hide plants from view.
Miscellaneous
Now is a good time to
collect soil samples to
test for pH and
nutritional levels.
Roll up and store
garden hoses on a
warm, sunny day. It's
hard to get a cold hose
to coil into a tight loop.
To prevent injury to
turf grasses, keep
leaves raked up off of
the lawn.
Continue mowing lawn
grasses as long as
they keep growing.
A final fall application of fertilizer
can be applied to bluegrass and
fescue lawns now.
Clean house gutters of leaves and fallen
debris before cold wet weather sets in.
Set up bird feeders. Birds appreciate a
source of unfrozen drinking water during
the winter.
Be sure to shut off and drain any outdoor
water pipes or irrigation systems that may
freeze during cold weather.
For cyclamen to bloom well indoors, they
need cool temperatures in the 50-60
degree range, bright light, evenly moist
soils, and regular fertilization.
Reduce or eliminate fertilizing of
houseplants until spring.
Gardening Calendar supplied by the staff
of the William T. Kemper Center for Home
Gardening located at the Missouri
Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri.
(Continued from Pg. 3, November Gardening
Calendar)
Fall Color from Shrubs
By: David Trinklein, University of Missouri,
Integrated Pest Management
While trees command most of our attention when it comes to fall foliage color, their more diminutive relatives should not be overlooked. In the home landscape as well as in the wild, woody shrubs also provide fall color to enhance outdoor living are as well as add beauty to the season. At a time when many summer flowers are in a state of decline, colorful shrubs can extend garden enjoyment. Shrubs that provide fall color are not restricted to those planted in home landscapes. Many occur in nature and can be enjoyed as outdoor enthusiasts search for colorful fall scenes. Indeed, early autumn excursions are made more enjoyable by the bright red leaves of native sumacs such as fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) and smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) often can be seen growing along roadsides. These two species also are suitable for the home landscape and will provide good fall color additional to interest at other times as well. Perhaps a bit more decorative, cut-leaf staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina 'Laciniata') is another useful sumac selected from a native sumac species. Capable of growing to a height of about 20 feet, it boasts large, deeply divided leaves that turn from a beautiful orange to a fiery red in the fall. It must be given room, however, since it
tends to spread via root suckers to form a clump. Like other sumacs, it is durable and tolerates poor soil along with dry, sunny exposures. Tiger-eyes sumac (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') is yet another selection of staghorn sumac. It boasts chartreuse green foliage in the spring, yellow foliage during the summer and fiery orange foliage
in the fall. Shorter than cut-leaf staghorn sumac, it grows to a height of only about six feet. One of the most attractive and best-known shrubs for fall color is dwarf burning bush euonymus (Euonymus alatus 'Compactus'). The species is considered by some to be invasive, especially when planted in more rural settings. When
planted in urban areas, 'Compactus' is much less so. Additionally, sterile 'Compactus' cultivars recently have been developed and currently are being evaluated for horticultural merit. Somewhat smaller in size than the species, 'Compactus' is considered to be more suitable for the home landscape. It prefers full sun to part-sun/shade and bears leaves that turn crimson red in fall. One of the lesser-known shrubs that provides good reddish-purple fall color is oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). In addition to attractive fall foliage color, this hydrangea produces white flowers in early summer that turn pinkish purple by mid-summer and brown in the fall. This is possible because the showy appendages of the flowers are long-lived bracts and not petals. While it can tolerate some sun, oakleaf hydrangea may fade and color prematurely when heat stressed. Dozens of useful cultivars of the species have been selected and are available to the
staghorn sumac
public. One of the best is 'Snowflake' which produces huge eight-inch panicles that often bend down the shrub's branches because of their abundance. A group of shrubs that also exhibit modest fall color while being good landscape specimens are the viburnums. They include American cranberry bush (Viburnum trilobum), Korean spice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) and several other related species in the Viburnum genus. Most will develop red or reddish-purple fall foliage color. Additionally, they bear attractive (and often fragrant) flowers in the spring. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii.) is a common landscape shrub that also carries with it the reputation of being invasive, especially in eastern states. Crimson pigmy barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea Nana')is a dwarf form of the species which develops far fewer fruits and is considered much less of a threat to become invasive. As its common name implies, it has deep burgundy foliage the entire growing season that turns crimson red in fall. Call them large shrubs or small trees, dogwoods are another group of woody plants that develop attractive reddish-purple fall leaf color. The shrubby types, such as silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)
or red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) are good choices for landscape use, given the proper setting. They grow from between six to ten feet in height and almost as wide. Where space is available, they make durable, low-maintenance shrubs that add beauty to the landscape. The red osier dogwood, commonly called red twig dogwood, also is grown for the reddish color of its bark which provides color throughout the winter. While most of the shrubs mentioned thus far have red or reddish-purple fall foliage color, there are shrubs that provide other colors as well. Forsythia (Forsythia spp.) is noted for its bright yellow flowers borne in early spring. Most, however, produce yellow-green foliage color in fall. Additionally, a bright yellow leaf color is produced in fall by common witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). This woody species develops into a large shrub or, at times, a small tree. In addition to yellow-colored fall leaves, this plant sometimes produces yellow flowers after its leaves have fallen. A native species, witch-hazel is not readily available in commerce, but worthy as a landscape addition, should one be found. Colorful shrubs provide a special "finishing touch" to the landscape. No matter what your taste might be, you are sure to find a shrub that can accommodate it. Additional to those mentioned above, cotoneaster, aronia, some of the spireas and a few species of shrub-type rose are worthy of investigation. The enjoyment of fall foliage color is one of nature's treats. Perhaps its fleeting appearance is one reason annual spectacle so highly anticipated. Shrubs, no matter how colorful, do not provide the visual impact of large trees. However, they do add another dimension to the landscape. Thus, occasionally when looking up to admire fall tree color, take time to look down and enjoy the color some of our woody shrubs provide. common witch-hazel
(Continued from Pg. 5, Fall Colors from
Shrubs)
Native Plant Highlight:
Sourwood Tree (Oxydendrum
arboreum)
By: Dr. Thomas Barnes, UK Extension Forestry
Faculty
Wow is a word that describes the scarlet fall
color of the sourwood tree. Better than the
best maple tree by far. Scarlet and I mean
scarlet red. This widely under-utilized tree in
the landscape has tons of appeal. It is quite
showy and in the spring. The leaves come
out with bronze tips, summer is complete with
sprays of white flowers dripping downward in
contrast to the bright green leaves, and in fall
they turn spectacular color with the grayish
seed pods providing contrast. They are a
small tree and to get a good growth form in
the garden, only purchase a container
product, not balled. Their maximum height
reaches about 30' and they can be rather
slow growing in the landscape. They need
well-drained acidic soil high in organic matter
and they don't like competition. They do not
like high pH soils or heavy clay soils and can't
tolerate much pollution. So mulch them in
well with pine straw and keep the base free
from competing plants. They should be
planted in part-shade and during extended
drought periods watering is a necessity.
When considering where to place this small
tree, think about someplace where it will have
maximum visual impact in the fall. One of the
best attributes of the species is that the
honey made from the flowers is supposedly
the best you can get. Many folks don't
appreciate it for a landscape plant because it
usually has a crooked stem, but I think it just
makes this tree all the more appealing.
Winterizing Roses
Winter is coming and it is time to put your rose
garden to bed! Winterizing roses is an
important maintenance practice to ensure
healthy growth from year to year. There are
several things you can do to make sure your
roses survive before the cold winds blow.
First, choose the most winter hardy roses to
plant. Next, make sure your roses are healthy
and not under stress as they go into winter.
Reduce stress on roses going into the dormant
season by irrigating adequately in late autumn
and discontinuing nitrogen application in late
summer or early autumn. Don’t cut spent
flowers after October 1, this will discourage new
growth and allow the plant to harden off before
winter.
Hybrid Teas, grandifloras, and
floribundas should be protected
from winter ravages after two hard
frosts or night temperatures
reaching the lower 20s for several
nights in a row. This is usually
around late November and early
December.
For Hybrid Teas, cut the canes
back to 8 to 12 inches tall.
Grandifloras and floribundas may
be left 18 to 24 inches tall. Remove any dead,
damaged and diseased canes. Remove dead
and fallen leaves and other plant debris around
the plants.
Next, mound good quality mulch, such as wood
chips, sawdust, shredded hardwood, or pine
bark, about 8 to 12 inches over the rose canes.
You may also cover the mounds with straw,
tree boughs, or some similar material to hold
the mulch in place. Some gardeners prefer to
construct wire mesh cylinders to surround each
plant, which they fill with mulch. Still others use
rose cones, or baskets with bottoms cut out, or
burlap to wrap the plants.
When severe winter weather conditions have
subsided, which is typically mid-March, remove
most of the mulch from around the plants. You
may leave a 2-inch layer of mulch in the bed.
Prune off any dead canes or tips. Inspect for
insects and diseases and treat for these pests if
needed. Then fertilize, and your roses should
be off to a good start for the growing season!
Knockout Roses need no special winter care.
You can trim back any damaged stems in mid-
March.
For more information on roses and their care,
click on http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/
id118/id118.pdf .
Franklin County 101 Lakeview Court Frankfort, KY 40601-8750 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
NONPROFIT ORG
US POSTAGE PAID
FRANKFORT, KY
PERMIT 10090
Adam Leonberger
County Extension Agent for Horticulture Education
Tired of the paper clutter? Call the
Extension Office at (502) 695-9035 to receive the
newsletter by email.
COMPLAINT PROCEDURE
Any employee who believes they have been discriminated against may seek
resolution through a variety of paths. Discrimination may be reported to the
Jenny Cocanougher, Director for District 4 - Ft. Harrod/Bluegrass at
859-257-7478 or supervisor. To initiate a complaint at the college level,
contact Tim West in the Business Office at 859-257-3879. At the University
level, Terry Allen and Patty Bender in the UK Office of Institutional Equity
and Equal Opportunity (859-257-8927) may be contacted. Additionally,
employee or clientele complaints involving any research or extension
sponsored program or activity may be directed to the USDA, Director Office
of Civil Rights, Room 326-W Whitten Bldg., 14th & Independence Ave. SW,
Washington DC 20250-9410 (202-720-5964).