Rodd's Seeds of Wisdom Horticultural tips and tricks from Rodd Moesel

Everybody was getting excited about spring after our big Christmas Eve storm and then we got punched again this last week with another round of snow and ice. Just as the sun rises each day we know that spring really will come and this year it will seem more special because of the winter weather we have experienced.

It is time to clean out those flowerbeds, take soil tests, prepare the soil and get ready to plant for a new season. It is time to start buying and planting the first vegetables and berries of spring. The weather warms across our state from south to north so the folks near the Red River can usually plant 7 to 14 days before the folks near the Kansas border. Remember we will frost and freeze many more times with our last average freeze usually around April 7^th or in a little over 2 months from now. Many cool season crops can be planted now and will tolerate our normal February and March weather.

Fresh asparagus is one of our most expensive vegetables and is a hardy perennial you can grow. Plant 3 to 5 crowns per person to harvest about 1 pound of edible stems or spears from each plant starting in year 2 for up to 15 years. Rhubarb is another hardy perennial grown from crowns. Plant 3 to 4 crowns per person if you like rhubarb. Spring bearing and everbearing varieties of bareroot strawberries are available at most nurseries and garden centers if you want to raise your own fresh strawberries for cobblers, pie, shortcake or just fresh, healthy snacks.

Onion sets and onion plants are available now to raise your own yellow, red or white onions. A good guideline is to plant ¼ quart of sets or 75 onion starter plants per person if you like fresh onions in your salads, on your hamburgers or sliced on the plate. Potatoes are one of the staple foods of many diets and now is the time to buy seed potatoes, cut them into 2 or 3 ounce slices with eyes or buds to plant in your garden.  There are many good varieties of white, red, yellow or gold Irish type potatoes so you can raise your own baked or mashed potatoes or cut your own French fries. Most folks plant about 6 to 8 pounds of seed potatoes per person.

The best time to sow seed for many cool season vegetables like carrots, swiss chard, kohlrabi, leaf lettuce, peas, spinach and turnips is from Valentines to Saint Patrick’s Day. February 14 to March 17^th are also good dates to transplant cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce plants.

You can raise all these crops in ground beds, raised beds and many folks are even raising some vegetables in large nursery cans or decorative containers on their patio or porch. Root Control, an Oklahoma company is having big success marketing their fabric tree bags in mail order catalogs and at garden centers for production of potatoes and vegetables on apartment patios and porches.

Use your imagination about where to garden but consider getting in on the fun to produce some of your own fresh, locally grown produce.

This weather feels much better than the arctic blast 10 days ago when we were flirting with zero lows. Imagine how cold it felt for your trees, shrubs and other plants who were stuck outside and couldn’t cuddle up with a blanket by the fire. I am certain we will see some plant damage from these extended cold temperatures.

Don’t get too anxious and start removing trees, shrubs or plants you suspect are damaged. Wait until spring to see what leafs out before taking action. They will be less likely to dehydrate and freeze if the soil is mulched and not real dry so water periodically throughout the winter to keep the soil slightly moist.

We are all spending more time inside with all this cold weather so this is a great time to really enjoy your houseplants. Add a few more plants to your collection to help clean up the inside air, produce oxygen and to provide some life, décor and excitement to your home. There are hundreds of nice plants that grow well indoors and the key issues for success usually are light, water and humidity.

Most house plants do better with more light but many like philodendron ivy, pothos ivy, spathiphyllum, dracaena, aglaonema and ficus will tolerate low light and although they will grow slow, stay attractive and interesting for long periods in lower light. The best light is good indirect light from an east window or set back slightly from south or west windows. Many plants will also perform well under 12 or more hours daily of good artificial light.

Many house plant “farmers” tend to overwater their plants. Most house plants are more tolerant of running dry than too wet.  A good rule of thumb is to keep the soil on the dry side, particularly during these colder and darker winter months.  Remember that the more light you’ve got ,the more water the plant will use for photosynthesis and the more often water will be needed.  House plants usually need water once a week or less.

Humidity is often the key to keeping your house plants really happy. In the winter we have very dry air and all but cactus or succulents will benefit from an occasional or even daily misting of the foliage with a light mist of water. You can make an inexpensive but effective plant humidifier by filling a saucer or tray with gravel or stones and pouring a little water to stand between the stones under your pots and evaporate around the plants.

Visit your local garden center or florist and try out a new houseplant or get one that brings back memories of your grandparents or travels.

Happy New Year! This is always a special time of year as we celebrate Christmas, close out one year and welcome the new year.

Although it is not the best weather to be outside working in the yard or garden, this is still an important time on the gardening calendar. Besides shoveling snow and feeding the birds, this is the season to be planning your garden activities for 2010. Many of the garden seed and supply catalogs are scheduled to arrive in the mail right here at the turn of the year and help get us excited about the upcoming spring season. After the messy weather of the last couple of weeks I suspect many of us are really looking forward to spring 2010.

Just like some folks get excited about new cars or pickups, gardeners get excited about new varieties of tomatoes, peppers, marigolds and petunias. We have programs like the All American Selections and Oklahoma Proven to introduce new plant varieties and highlight great performers you may want to try in your yard. Many experienced growers keep journals or notes of what plants performed well and what plants did not do well in prior years. Other folks just kind of remember what they liked or didn’t like. This is the season for resolutions and planning so take a little time to think about or look at your notes, if you have them, to see what has worked well you want to repeat and what has not worked well where you want to try something new. Look through the seed catalogs or your gardening e-mails and pick out some new vegetables, bulbs, perennials, colorful annuals, fruit trees, berries or shade trees you want to add to your yard this season.

Vegetable gardening had dropped in popularity before last year when new interest in vegetable gardening and local food production skyrocketed with concerns about the economy and food safety. This resulted in many new gardeners we hope will return and expand their gardening experiences in 2010. Tomatoes are by far the most popular home gardening vegetable plant and last year was not a very good tomato year because of an unusually wet year alternating with surges of hot weather. We look for a better harvest this year.

Life almost always goes better with a plan, so this is the season to think about whether to create a new flowerbed, start a vegetable garden, add a water garden, add an outdoor living area, plant some new shade trees for the backyard or develop a new landscape for the front yard. Enjoy your houseplants inside but have fun as you start planning for the joys of spring outside in your garden and the real end of winter’s cabin fever.

This is one of my favorite times of the year with Christmas trees, wreaths, lights, poinsettias and the spirit of Christmas all around us. This truly is a time to think about and savor special time with family and friends as we remember the Christ child and the real reason for the season.

If you still need to do some Christmas shopping for yourself or a gardening friend there are thousands of possibilities. You may want to consider actual plants, gift certificates from their favorite garden center for plants that may be out of season or if you aren’t sure what plants they want. Listen to what they like or think back to what they enjoy and consider gifts that match their interest in trees, perennials, vegetables, flower gardening or even hobby greenhouse or greenhouse supplies. Garden tools, gloves, pruning shears or loppers, water tools or drip irrigation systems are all nice gifts. You may want to select a piece of garden statuary, a garden bench, a hammock or yard furniture to help them relax and enjoy their garden and the great outdoors.

We are fortunate to have a very good Oklahoma Horticulture Society with quarterly newsletters, monthly lectures and they sponsor excellent garden tours and field trips. You might consider gifting a membership in the Hort Society or a special interest group like the Rose Society, Orchid Society, Daylily Society, Begonia or Iris groups or a similar gardening group that matches their interests. I know of several couples that have considered adding a water garden, new landscaping, a butterfly garden or vegetable garden. This might be the year to give a gift certificate to fulfill that dream or even a personal coupon and budget to build it yourself for your loved one.

If you get a living Christmas tree grown in a container or balled and burlapped you will want to move it outside fairly soon after Christmas and get it planted in the yard before it gets too dry and dehydrated which reduces its chance to get established and grow in your yard. You can enjoy your poinsettias for several more weeks or even moths if you will water and care for them. Keep them in good light and water thoroughly when the soil gets dry to the touch.

We enjoy the opportunity to visit with you throughout the year and appreciate your many questions, comments and feedback. Thanks for your time and attention this year as we learn together to feed our stomachs and our souls with plants. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season with family and friends and we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

As we remember the heroes of Pearl Harbor, today we turn our attention to the poinsettia, widely known as the Christmas flower. Although the Euphorbia pulcherrima has no direct tie to Jesus or the Christmas story and was only introduced to our country in 1825 it has become the floral symbol for the holidays in our country. Plant loving Joel Poinsett, who was our first ambassador to Mexico, discovered the colorful poinsettia growing wild in southern Mexico and sent starts back to his native South Carolina and growers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It has rapidly grown in popularity over the years to become the top selling potted plant in the United States even though all are sold in just a few weeks each year.

Breeding has produced longer lasting and ever more colorful bracts. The bright red, pink, white and multicolored bracts are modified leaves that have changed colors and draw our attention while the true flower at the center of these impressive bracts is really not very exciting. Today’s poinsettia plants and bracts will stay colorful for many weeks or even months when cared for properly.

Select poinsettias with dark green foliage in many varieties and colors from 3” pixie plants to 14” tubs and hanging baskets. The plants will hold up longer if the foliage is on the plant all the way down to the soil line. Choose plants with bracts that are completely colored without a lot of green or brown edges on the bracts. Choose a plant that looks full, balanced and attractive from all sides and is not drooping or wilting.

Poinsettias need a lot of air movement so be careful buying plants displayed or crowded together or displayed in plastic or paper sleeves pulled up around the plants. If you are transporting the plant outdoors in cool or cold temperatures below 50° that is the time to sleeve or box the plant to help extend its life.

When you get your poinsettias home they will do best with good indirect natural light for at least 6 hours daily. They will do great by windows but make sure the bracts and foliage are not actually touching cold windows. Do not place them in a drafty spot by open doors, windows, heaters or air registers. They do best with day temperatures of 60° to 70° and night temperatures of 55°. Extended high temperatures will shorten the life of the bracts so you might move them to a cooler room at night.

Watering is the most important part of caring for poinsettias. Check the soil daily and water when the soil feels dry. If you have the plant wrapped in foil or a plastic pot cover you should punch holes in the bottom to allow the water to drain into a saucer where you can dispose of extra water instead of allowing the plant to stand in water.  I hope you get to enjoy poinsettias as part of your Christmas celebrations.

There is a lot of fall gardening still to be done. This is a great time to plant pansies, ornamental kale and cabbage to produce color all winter. It is time to select and plant your spring flowering bulbs like daffodils, hyacinth, crocus and tulips. It is time to move in your tender plants or take cuttings of plants you want to save for next spring.

I am writing this column in Israel while on an Ag Trade Mission to visit greenhouse and vegetable production operations and to learn more about their crop production in the desert with really limited water resources. We have been fortunate to visit many biblical history sites and it has gotten me thinking about the plants of the bible. More than 120 species of plants are mentioned in the bible. Most of these species still grow in their wild state in the Holy Land and many are used in our Oklahoma gardens. Plants are first mentioned in the first chapter of the first book of the bible in Genesis 1:11, “And God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetations, plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind”.

We visited the Mount of Olives and the beautiful gardens of Gethsemene highlighted by gnarly old olive trees that were up to 4,000 years old. So they were very old even when Christ visited there 2009 years ago. At the Garden Tomb we saw wild roses, lilies, anemone, rose of sharon, mint, dill, coriander, mustard, provender (chick peas), leeks, onion and garlic that were mentioned in various bible verses and grow in Oklahoma.

At the Oasis where David visited at En-Gedi, we saw palms, tamarisk, oaks, cedar and fir trees, willows, poplar and sycamore trees, all mentioned in the bible.

We observed many edible fruits and berries mentioned in the bible including citron (goodly tree), mulberries, apples, walnuts, almonds, pistachio nuts and grapes. Other edible foods of the bible include figs, dates (palm trees), pomegranate, gourds and watermelons.

We saw many perseverant and determined Acacia trees as we drove across the deserts of southern Judea where Moses and the Israelites wandered for 40 years. Grain and bean crops are mentioned often in the bible including wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt. Cotton, reeds, cattails and papyrus were used in everyday life for making clothes shoes, paper, flutes, boats and homes as described in the bible.

A visit to the desert in the south of Israel helps you to appreciate how exciting it must have been for Christ and his disciples to come up out of the harsh, dry desert and arrive into the much greener “Promised Land” of Jerusalem.

Fall is for planting and there are many crops you can plant now. Plant hardy mums for color now and in future years. Plant pansies in a sunny spot for color all winter, even when there is snow on the ground.

Plant ornamental kale and cabbage to make a nice show with their unique colored foliage this fall and sometimes all winter if we don’t get too cold. Plant trees and shrubs to beautify your yard and help clean up the environment now and for decades or even centuries to come. Plant tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, crocus, dutch iris and other spring flowering bulbs to make a big flower show next spring. Many bulbs, particularly daffodils will naturalize to rebloom for years to come. Plant fescue or perennial rye grass seed to green up your winter lawn.

This is the season when everyone gets nervous about losing their annuals and tropicals for the season when we get our first hard freeze. We don’t lose all plants at the same time. Some tender plants will surrender when we drop to the mid thirty’s while other hardier plants or plants in protected micro climates may stay active down to the high twenty’s or even the low twenty’s before freezing out for the year.  We often get a nice Indian Summer of two to six weeks after a freeze or two so many folks try to protect their tomatoes, peppers, other vegetables or showy annuals and hardy mum flowers from the first couple of frosts.  You can cover tender plants with a fabric sheet or blanket or by buying some reemay fabric, using hot caps or wall-o-waters designed to give some extra temperature protection in the garden from these early sporadic freezes.

This is the season when lots of gardeners think about building a hobby greenhouse. There are kits available from under a thousand dollars to over twenty thousand dollars depending on the size, type of glazing, weight of the frame, whether designed for code or non code application and whether the frame is painted a special color. You can build your own wood or metal frame or buy one of these kits to assemble yourself or have installed by a professional crew. The most popular glazings are corrugated and twin wall greenhouse grade polycarbonate panels which have a ten year warranty and should last about twenty years. Fancier glazings include corrugated or twinwall acrylic panels and single layer or insulated glass. Greenhouse grade clear copolymer plastic films would be the least expensive glazing and are available in one and four year films.

Take time to enjoy your fall garden and remember fall is for planting.

When I was a youngster, years ago, the nursery industry organized a “Fall is for Planting” promotion. Most folks think of spring as the time to plant everything from vegetables to flowering annuals, shrubs, trees, wild flowers and perennials and indeed spring is a good time to plant most crops. The “Fall is for Planting” promotion never got enough funding to really get the word out to the public but the idea is a good one.

Fall is a very good time to plant fescue and rye grass seed, hardy mums, pansies, flowering kale and cabbage, and most of the spring flowering bulbs. Fall is a great time to plant container grown trees and shrubs. Many nurserymen think it is the very best season for planting trees and shrubs as the soil is still warm enough that the roots will still grow and root out into their new environment before the soil freezes. This helps the trees and shrubs get established this fall. Fall planted trees will usually take off much quicker next spring since they will have already rooted into their new soil home. As a result they handle the stress of their first summer better than spring planted trees.

The Oklahoma Nurserymen held their convention this last week and I can tell you that it has been years since this many nice trees and shrubs have been available and at these prices. The economy has slowed down new home and commercial construction and this has resulted in a large supply of nice trees and shrubs on the market. Depending on the size tree or shrub you are considering the nurserymen probably started that plant and committed time and resources to its production 1 ½ to 8 years ago, long before the economy slowed down.  It is always a good idea and a good investment to add trees and shrubs to your property. There has never been a better time to buy and plant trees and the oversupply has reduced prices and resulted in a great availability of just about any species and size tree you want to add to your property.

Take a look at your yard and decide if you need to add trees to your front or back yard to provide shade, save energy, create wind breaks, provide shelter for birds and wildlife, replace trees damaged in recent ice storms or just to beautify the neighborhood. Consider adding trees to your local school, church property or your neighborhood parks. While picking out your hardy mums, pansies, tulip and daffodil bulbs consider buying some trees and shrubs to add to your yard for long term impact because Fall really is for Planting.