Chrysanthemums in different colors. NC State Extension
Fall hasn’t even started and the garden centers are already filled with mums. Somehow I made that sound like a bad thing. Chrysanthemums look great in containers at the front door and planted in the garden too. They also last pretty long as cut flowers. And they’re not just a fall decoration, mums are a great addition to the garden for years.
Mums have deep-green, lobed foliage with soft gray undersides. They are available in a number of colors, from dark red and orange to lavender and pink to white. Mums bloom when nights start to get longer in late summer and fall. Some species and varieties can be used as low-growing groundcovers and others can grow to 5 feet tall. All are herbaceous perennials that can continue to bloom for years.
Mums prefer full sun to partial shade. They like slightly acidic, well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. Use slow-release fertilizer to ensure an even flow of nutrients throughout the season. Keep plants looking attractive and healthy and full of new blooms by dead heading. You may also choose to choose to cut of side buds on main shoots to create larger flowers.
Mums can be propagated by either division or cuttings. It is important to either divide and re-pot potted plants or transfer potted plants to larger containers to keep plants from becoming root bound. Chrysanthemums are relatively pest free, but spider mites can become a problem in hot, dry weather. Make sure plants receive water regularly in hot, dry weather.
One of the more popular flowering perennials grown in the landscapes of Florida and throughout the Southeast is the daylily. This blooming perennial traveled with many of the early settlers. They brought this plant for several reasons beyond the enjoyment of the bloom display, it was considered a source of food by including the petals and buds into the cooking of specific dishes.
The daylily is an easy to grow plant that requires less management than many of the other perennials grown in the garden settings of the landscape. Daylilies are linked to the lily family but are not actually in this family, Hemerocallis in Greek is Hemero for “day’ with Callis meaning “beauty”. The passion by many professional breeders and novice growers can be seen in the many selections and varieties in the plant industry today. This plant brings interest and joy to anyone that visits your landscape gardens.
Hemerocallis x ‘Mystic Red Dragon’. Photo Credit: J. Stephen Greer, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County
This clump forming plant can be grown in different soil types from sandy loam, clay to muck edges near wetlands. The location for best performance is sandy well drained soil with high amounts of organic matter. It has a moderate salt level tolerance lending itself as one perennial to consider in coastal settings. The best way to accomplish the levels of organic matter is to till the bed area for planting, add three to four inches of compost or well-rotted manure plus a ½ pound of 3:2:1 ratio fertilizer to a 100 square foot bed. The 3:2:1 is a Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium fertilizer recommendation. Till all of this into the previously tilled bed to a six-inch depth. This mix of sand or clay with organic matter at the six-inch soil depth places it where the roots will grow.
Daylilies multiply in several different ways from forming clumps of plants from a single plant over three to four years that can be divided into separate plants and replanted to expand the bed area for managing the color display of the original plant. Plant breeders cross pollinate between selected plants that have desirable characteristics. These characteristics may be ruffled outside edges on the petals, bright or daker petal color, a change in color from the outside portion of the flower petal to the throat area at the center of the bloom or even the height of the scape which is the stem that emerges from the leaf clusters near the base that supports the flower display.
Hemerocallis x ‘Oriental Impressions’. Photo Credit: J. Stephen Greer, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County
Daylilies can be purchased at many box stores in containers and easily transplanted in the garden. Another option is to visit local daylily nurseries as they often have more named variety options with many different flower colors available. Local nurseries usually grow plants in the ground so they will need to be dug and purchased as a bareroot. When planting bareroot daylilies look at the location where the leaves emerge near the base just above root area and plant one and a half to two feet apart. Make sure to plant no deeper than at that point of root and leaf growth area known as the crown. The crown must be above the soil level for quality growth.
After planting and watering in the plants be sure to mulch the bed with three to four inches of pinestraw or bark mulch. This manages weed growth and keeps soil moisture at consistent levels reducing stress to the plant. If periods of dry weather conditions occur watering the plants will be needed to keep the plants from stressing.
Houseplants can soften up the interior of your home and help clean the air. They can also supplement your holiday decorations and help create stunning focal points. To help determine what plants do best under certain conditions and to give pointers on plant care, this month’s Gardening in the Panhandle LIVE! was all about houseplants.
A spider plant on a coffee table. Photo Credit: University of Florida/IFAS
Environmental Conditions for Houseplants
Unless you live in a glass house, you’ll probably want to choose houseplants that do well in low light conditions. A guide for what light level different houseplants prefer can be found on the Gardening Solutions Light for Houseplants page. This page also provides useful tips on supplemental lighting.
Some houseplants are better at cleaning the air than others. A list of houseplants that do a good job improving indoor air quality can be found on the Gardening Solutions Houseplants That Clean the Air page.
The best way to determine if your houseplants need water is your own green thumb or whatever finger you choose to stick in the potting mix, but for some interesting information on outdoor soil moisture meters check out this informative publication on soil moisture sensors.
Houseplants need a good quality, well-drained potting mix to thrive. Tips on selecting a potting mix can be found on the Gardening Solutions Container Media page.
Houseplant Pests
One of the best ways to rid houseplants of insect pests is to set the plants outside for a few days and let the pests move on. For some information on pest control products in and around the home check out the publication Natural Products for Managing Landscape and Garden Pests in Florida.
Fungus gnats are mainly a nuisance, but some species can feed on living plant tissue. Darkwinged fungus gnats are known to feed on ferns, orchids, and geraniums.
Houseplant Propagation
One way to increase your houseplant population and save a few dollars is to propagate your own plants. The University of Florida/IFAS created the Plant Propagation Glossary to help with any propagation questions you may have.
Air layering is a propagation technique that not only allows the prospective plant to thrive from the nutrients of the mother plant, but it also saves space.
A moth orchid (Phalaenopsis spp.) outdoors. Photo Credit: University of Florida/IFAS
Specific Species Info
Orchids in the genus Phalaenopsis are easier to care for than other genera of orchids. The American Orchid Society provides some great tips on caring for orchids indoors. Some people choose to water their orchids with ice cubes. The Ohio State University has a publication that provides some more insight on watering Phalaenopsis orchids with ice cubes.
A lot of cacti do well indoors. A popular cactus during the holiday season is Christmas cactus. Christmas cactus have interesting foliage, but their blooms are what people want to see. Some tips on getting your Christmas cactus to bloom on time and general care information can be found in this Christmas Cactus Preparation fact sheet.
Have you ever wanted to grow fruit trees indoors or do you want some tips on bringing containerized fruit trees indoors for the winter? The Growing Fruit Crops in Containers publication provides some good tips on growing fruit trees indoors.
Unless you have a house with a lot of windows or a sunroom, plumeria don’t make the best houseplants. They need at least six hours of sunlight per day and need to be at least three years old to bloom. If you are interested in propagating plumeria, then check out this publication on propagating plumeria from cuttings.
It’s mid-February, cloudy, and cold. It’s time to get outside and take cuttings for fruit and nut tree grafting. The cuttings that are grafted onto other trees are called scions. The trees or saplings that the scions are grafted to are called rootstocks. Grafting should be done when plants start to show signs of new growth, but for best results, scion wood should be cut in February and early March.
Scion Selection
Straight and smooth wood with the diameter of a pencil should be selected for scions. Water sprouts that grow upright in the center of trees work well for scion wood. Scions should be cut to 12-18″ for storage. They should only need two to three buds each.
Scions ready for grafting. Photo Credit: Matt Lollar, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County
Scion Storage
Scions should be cut during the dormant season and refrigerated at 35-40°F until the time of grafting. If cuttings are taken in the field or far from home, then simply place them in a cooler with an ice pack until they can be refrigerated. Cuttings should be placed in a produce or zip top bag along with some damp paper towels or sphagnum moss.
Grafting
It is better to be late than early when it comes to grafting. Some years it’s still cold on Easter Sunday. Generally, mid-March to early April is a good time to graft in North Florida. Whip and tongue or bench grafting are most commonly used for fruit and nut trees. This type of graft is accomplished by cutting a diagonal cut across both the scion and the rootstock, followed by a vertical cut parallel to the grain of the wood. For more information on this type of graft please visit the Grafting Fruit Trees in the Home Orchard from the University of New Hampshire Extension.
A bench graft union. Photo Credit: Matt Lollar, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County
Achieving good bench graft unions takes skill and some practice. Some people have better success using a four-flap or banana graft technique. This type of graft is accomplished by stripping most of the bark and cambium layer from a 1.5″ section of the base of the scion and by folding the back and removing a 1.5″ section of wood from the top of the rootstock. A guide to this type of graft can be found on the Texas A&M factsheet “The Four-Flap Graft”.
Grafting is a gardening skill that can add a lot of diversity to a garden. With a little practice, patience, and knowledge any gardener can have success with grafting.
My obsession with plants started with the purchase of my first house in Waverly, Alabama in the late 90s. I bought a house with seven acres and of that about 1.5 acres was a fenced yard. The landscape was not very appealing, so I was on a mission to make it beautiful yet functional for my dogs. The only problem was, as a new homeowner, I had very little expendable income for my burgeoning plant habit. This dilemma forced me to be a resourceful gardener.
Shop the discount rack at garden centers
Many retail garden centers (especially mixed use stores with limited plant space) will discount plants simply because they are no longer flowering. Plants look perfectly healthy but are just not considered “retail ready” anymore, so rather than hold them over until they bloom again and appeal to most shoppers the stores tend to mark them down.
Plants are either growing or they are dead, so it is common to find some outgrowing their container and are getting “potbound” which means the root system is outgrowing the pot. Potbound plants are hard to keep watered without wilting and the solutions are to transition to a larger pot or plant in the ground. Most garden centers are not equipped to pot up overgrown plants to larger containers, so the easier solution is to sell them quickly. If you purchase a plant with circling roots be sure to trim the bottom and score (slice) the root ball to encourage roots to spread laterally.
Avoid plants that appear diseased (leaf spots, brown stems, mushy parts, rotting odor) or have active feeding insect activity.
Compliment other gardeners’ plants
When you get gardeners together, they inevitably start swapping plants. I really don’t have an explanation for this other that good old southern hospitality, but I’ve noticed over the years that when you express appreciation of plants to other people they tend to end up in your own yard. Ask if you can take a pinch (for cuttings) or offer to divide a clump of crowded perennials and you are on your way to a trunk full of plant babies.
I can’t recommend this for multiple safety reasons, but I have been known to photographs plants in my travels then strike up a conversation with a homeowner who insisted I take one home.
Experiment with basic propagation techniques
Grow flowers from seed. Either purchase seeds (usually under $2/pack) or collect seed heads from spent flowers in your own garden. After flowers fade, allow them to set seed then either crush and distribute in other parts of your garden or store in a cool, dry place until you can swap with friends.
Division – clumping perennials such as daylilies, cast iron plant, iris or liriope can be dug up and cut into smaller pieces with a shovel or machete. You only need to be sure to have buds on top and roots on the bottom to make a new plant. Other plants create offshoots that can be removed from the parent plant. Examples of these are agave, cycads, and yucca.
Cuttings – the list of plants that can be propagated from stem cuttings is endless but a few that are very easy are crape myrtle, hydrangea, and coleus.
