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Table of Contents
1) Editor's Comments:Wow, we've now been publishing this newsletter for almost 1-1/2 years. Over that time, our subscriber base has really grown. In fact, we think that only about 10% of our subscribers were with us last June. What does that mean? We've had some pretty good material that most of you haven't even seen. Well, Rex is a big Mum fan, and we thought we'd share with you some good information on Chrysanthemums. We've also included more on annuals, more in our continuing Easy Gardening series, and more. As always, if you do have questions, suggestions or ideas, do not hesitate to drop us a note. Tom Krueger Rex Gregor 2) Chrysanthemums:
Mums come in numerous varieties in colors ranging 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 However, use of the term "HARDY" with Mums is obsolete with most gardeners and growers because many of the new cultivars will vary due to weather and cultural conditions.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 seed. 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. We 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. Keep the soil moist down to about four to six inches. We 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. You may want to try and 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 that always needs to be dealt with in our gardens and for mums. It is extremely important to keep mums clean of weeds. Again, because of their shallow root system it's not practical to hoe around the roots. It is best to remove the weeds by hand, or you may consider using 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. We have often heard mum growers complain 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. Keep these tips in mind and you'll enjoy your mums even more. *** 10% savings until June 26, 2003 *** Enter the Store and Click on the Sale Link The discount will not show up in your shopping cart -- we will take care of it for you before finalization of your order. (No other discounts apply.) 3) Humor for Today:More than anything, a young man from the city wanted to be a cowboy. Eventually he found a rancher who took pity on him and gave the lad a chance. "This," he said, showing him a rope, "is a lariat. We use it to catch cows." "I see," said the man, trying to seem knowledgeable as he examined the lariat. "And what do you use for bait?" 4) Annuals: Mulch, Feeding & More
You can tell this is happening by looking at the lower leaves of the annuals. If they start to turn a paler green, the plants need a shot of nitrogen. Consider side dressing the plants with a nitrogen rich fertilizer - go a bit beyond the leaf cover of the plant. Be certain not to get any on the plant. You may want to do this every two to three weeks until the leafs regain their deep color. Even if your annual plants may not be suffering from a lack of nitrogen, you might consider giving them a little when the buds start to show a little color (before they bloom). This will help to give more color to the blooms and to prolong those same blooms. Speaking of the blooms, don't forget to trim the blooms before the seed pods form. In fact, consider plucking once the blooms wither past their peak. The result - your annual will try even harder to produce seed which means even more blooms to enjoy. Another term we've heard is "disbudding." This is the practice of removing all the buds along one stem except for the one at the very end. The effect is to try and grow a very large flower rather than a number of smaller versions. Disbudding forces more of the plant's energy to that single bloom. 5) Easy Gardening: Annuals Next Year Like Magic
Granted, this goes against our tip of increasing your annual's blooms, but that doesn't mean that you can't let the seed form later in the season. And remember, some annuals are better than others at seeding themselves. Here is a short list of annuals to consider: Ageratum, Babies' Breath, Bells-of-Ireland, Candytuft, Cosmos, Marigold, Mignonette, Petunia, Portulaca (Moss Rose). Also, Coreopsis and California Poppy are included, but they flower better when planted in a heavy clay soil or light sandy soil, rather than in rich soil with humus. And remember, by doing this you'll be saving money next year. Click Image for Our Palm
Tree Gallery 6) Quote for Today:"The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that
in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old." 7) Reader Mailbag: Sabal PalmA reader was looking for more information about the Sabal Palm. Here was our reply: The Sabal Palm is also known as the cabbage palm and cabbage palmetto. Because of its beauty and versatility the "Sabal Palm" has made Florida the Palm State. It is a large robust palm that will grow to 50 feet and often up to 70 feet. The young Sabal palms will take up to ten years before they will begin to form the crown. The small trees will significantly grow faster by providing regular watering and feeding when the trees are smaller. Florida is one of the few states where the environment is suitable to raise this variety of palm which are native to the Bahamas. This palm is most often used as an ornamental or street tree in residential areas. It is very salt tolerant and can be grown on the beach or directly along the water's edge of bays and inlets. This palm has a very low maintenance cost and is a drought resistant palm, which makes it almost perfect for the environment in Florida. Frankly, only a few growers in the United States harvest Sabal seeds. The actual seed are generally only suitable for planting for a year or so before they lose their germination ability. It is important that you obtain fresh seed for best results. It is a common practice for many nurseries to only offer started plants and then only after the plant is two or more years old. Unfortunately, these palms do not transplant well until the root system is fully developed -- thus these palms are quite expensive when bought as started palms. The nice thing is, Sabal palm seeds are really quite inexpensive if you plan to plant them directly where you want them to grow. This palm is hardy in USDA Zones 8 to 10 which includes Florida. We offer our Sabal Palmentto seeds in packages of 10 seeds per package at $2.60. The best time to purchase the seeds is late summer to assure receiving fresh seed. The seeds may be planted at any time within the first year to assure a good germination result. Rest assured, we do a germination test before the seeds are offered for sale. We know you'd really enjoy the Sabal Palm. 8) The Space Race:
In order to solve the problem they hired a consulting firm and spent over $12 million to find a solution. The consultant developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, would write upside down, underwater, as well as on any surface including crystal. They reported it would write at any temperature from below freezing to over 300 degrees. The Russians used a pencil. 9) Subscribe/UnsubscribeThis newsletter, the Green Thumb Times, is sent out only to those who have requested a FREE subscription by signing up at http://rexseedco.com or specifically asked to be added, or are a valued customer of Rex's Seedco. PRIVACY: Your email address is held in the strictest of privacy. It is never traded or sold to anyone else. To subscribe to The Green Thumb Times Click Here or send email to subscribegtt@goalsmint.com To unsubscribe Click Here or send email to unsubscribegtt@goalsmint.com Tom Krueger, Editor and Publisher Rex Gregor, Contributing Editor Please feel free to forward The Green Thumb Times to a friend. Rex’s Seedco has searched the world for quality
growers of garden seeds. Many of these farmers bring together ancient
wisdom and modern science so people everywhere may have good health
and enjoyment in life. We are dedicated to providing the best wherever
they are found.
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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.
Have you placed a mulch around your annuals to help cut down on the
weeding? It sure does the trick; and those weeds that come through
are easy to pluck. But there is a downside to using a mulch around
annuals - you can be pulling nitrogen from the soil as the mulch decomposes.
As we look further at easier gardening, don't overlook planting annuals
that volunteer to come back next year. But wait, if they are annuals,
how do they come back? Simple, the plants take it upon themselves to
leave behind seeds.
When NASA started launching astronauts into space, they found that
pens would not work at zero gravity. (The ink would not flow down to
the writing surface.)