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1) Editor's Comments:Sorry for the lateness of this week's issue - we had some technical difficulties we had to work through. This week we're starting a two-part series on chrysanthemums. Hope you'll find the information useful. Also, just so you know, over the next couple weeks Tom is changing web hosts for his domain. If you experience problems with a seed order page or any other page, just drop us a note and we'll try and get things fixed right away. As always, if you do have questions, suggestions or ideas, do not hesitate to drop us a note. Rex Gregor Tom Krueger 2) Chrysanthemums:
Mums come in numerous varieties with colors that range from white, yellow, pink, bronze, red, and assorted hues -- hundreds of cultivars and the choice is almost unlimited. However, use of the term "HARDY" with Mums is obsolete with most gardeners and growers because many of the new cultivars will vary due to weather and cultural conditions. The differences between annual, perennial, and florist's varieties may be misrepresented by unqualified people. ASK BEFORE YOU BUY. Almost all mums are started from cuttings or by root splitting. A few varieties are successfully started from seeds. The growing site for planting Mums should be well drained with plenty of sunlight --a minimum of four hours per day. The plants should be spaced 18 to 24 inches apart; however, some vigorous varieties will do best if you give them up to 36 inches of space. If you transplant your mums be sure not to plant them any deeper than they were planted before, or any deeper than in their starting container. Mums have a shallow root system and they prefer to be near the surface, so be careful not to disturb the roots in hoeing the plants. Mums are a thirsty and hungry plant. I recommend that you use a water soluble fertilizer to feed them - a 15-30-15 formula on a bi-weekly basis for about six weeks. You can stop fertilizing after the flower buds form in late July -- this is especially true if you intend to use the plant as a perennial. A problem with continued fertilizing is that the plant may become too tall and leggy and you may have unsightly dead leaves on the lower part of the stems. Properly watering garden mums is very important. If you have a summer where rainfall is plentiful be sure not to over water your mums. The plants will need to be watered when the top soil appears to become dry. Remember, they have a shallow root system and it is the top soil in your garden that will quickly dry out. I suggest you keep the soil moist down to about four to six inches. I prefer to use a sprinkler rather than hand watering - doing this mid-day so the foliage will dry before nightfall. Fortunately with mums you will not have any major problems with disease or insects. The most common problem, if you have any, will be with aphids. I suggest you try to catch a few Lady Bugs then release them next to your mum plants. Release the Lady Bugs in early evening since they do not fly at night and they will gorge themselves all night long on the aphids. As we all know, weeds are a common problem we always have to deal with in our gardens and for mums, it is extremely important to keep them clean of weeds. Again, because of their shallow root system it's not practical to hoe around the roots. It is best you remove the weeds by hand or you may use an organic mulch -- materials much as wood chips, shredded bark, peanut hulls or saw dust will work well for you. Another advantage of using mulch is it will also keep your soil moist. Do not use straw or hay as a mulch because grasshoppers may create problems for you. Pinching is another name for pruning - you "pinch" the tips of the very stem ends. Pinching makes your mum plant more compact and bushy - it causes more stems to grow from the leaf nodes. It will produce many more blooms when you pinch them back. The more you pinch, the more blooms you will receive. However, do not pinch after the first week in July because this may delay the blooming of the plant. I have often received complaints from mum growers after a rain storm that their absolutely beautiful mum, which had been loaded with blooms, was toppled over from the sheer weight of the blooms and the rain, and their prize mum was literally pounded into the ground. Here is a tip! Purchase some 1/4 inch round stakes and cut them to about three or four inches shorter than the mature plant -- sharpen one end and drive it along side the main stem of the mum. Simply tie the plant loosely to the stake. You do want to do this before the mum plant matures or before it blooms, because the new growth and blooms will hide the stake. You'll find that after that next deluge of rain, your prize mum plant will not topple over. Next week I will share with you some tips that I have learned over my 65 years of gardening. Rex 3) Humor for Today:Little Mary was attending a wedding for the first time. As she sat in the church, she watched the bride slowly approach the altar. Mary whispered to her mother, "Why is the bride dressed in white?" "Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life," her mother tried to explain, keeping it simple. The child thought about this for a moment, then said... "So why is the groom wearing black?" 4) Mouse Pain:
To do this, find the mouse settings in your control panel and change your "pointer speed" to "fast." |
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The
Garden Mum is one of the most exciting flowers that can be grown in
the home garden for late summer and fall beauty. They require a minimum
amount of care and will do very well under most adverse conditions.
When
you sit at your computer for an extended period of time does your arm
or hand get easily fatigued when using the mouse? If so, you might be
seeing the start of carpal tunnel syndrome. To help the situation a
bit, set your mouse to be more sensitive so you don't have to move your
arm and wrist as much while moving the pointer around the screen.
The
last time you were digging in your garden did you come across an abundance
of earthworms? If so, did it concern you? Don't let it worry you if
you found them - heck, let it worry you if you didn't find any.