Good gardening friend Paul Parent of the Paul Parent Garden Club (http://www.paulparent.com/) sends out a great newsletter every week with pertinent gardening topics. I encourage you to go to his website to sign up for his newsletter. Paul can also be heard every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 10 AM at his website or at WBACH (104.7 FM) every Sunday morning from 6 AM to 9 AM. Paul recently sent this article out called The Bugs Have Summer Have Arrived (I may occasionally add a few comments in italics) and here it is:
"After a quiet start to the bug side of the garden, it seems that all of a sudden they have all arrived to my yard and garden. The Japanese beetles have been here for 3 weeks now, but their numbers have escalated after all the rain we had last week. They are feeding on everything--flowering trees, roses, perennials and even a few houseplants that are spending the summer outside. Once the heat of the day fades, after supper is the best time to apply a product like Garden Eight from Bonide Lawn and Garden. Beneficial insects are also back home, and by the next morning the product will have dried on the plant, minimizing problems to them. Liquid concentrates are better than powdered products, less contact to the insect.
Garden Eight can also control the Colorado potato beetles in your garden that are feeding on potatoes, peppers, and even tomatoes. Look for a rounded hard shell beetle with stripes running from head to tail. All beetles eat their weight in foliage every day and lay eggs for help to clean out your plants.
The end of last week the tomato hornworms arrived in my garden. This is the biggest insect we have in our gardens--sometimes growing to 4 inches long and one inch thick, or as big as my index finger. This bug will eat not only the leaves of your tomato plants but will also chew on the tomatoes themselves. They get their name from the one-inch horn on their backsides. As big as they are, you would think they would be easy to find--but these caterpillars have the ability to change color, depending on the color of the foliage of your tomato plants. He is usually near the top of the plant where he has eaten all the foliage from the plant and left you only a stem. You will also find 1/8 inch droppings on the foliage below where a caterpillar fed (if there's any foliage left). I try to pick hornworms off the plant when possible and squash them into the ground with my shoe, returning them to the soil. If you can't stand squishing them, you can drop them in a bucket of soapy water. Two years ago, I picked 132 in one day off 30 plants. When I finished I sprayed the garden with Captain Jack Spinosad organic from Bonide Lawn and Garden. I wanted to make sure they were gone for good!
I have several pots of angel's trumpet about ready to bloom and the other day one of the plants had holes all over the foliage. The night before I saw no holes as I watered them. I could find nothing on the plant until Tuesday, when the culprit-- a grasshopper--showed his face. In the daisy perennial garden near the plants I noticed similar damage and found more of them. Now this is WAR! Out came the Garden Eight to control them and it worked. Don't give grasshoppers a chance or they will destroy your garden quickly.
In my flowering crabapples I noticed two tent caterpillar nests in the early stage of development. Tent caterpillars are a bit early but everything seem to be ahead of schedule this year. Captain Jack Spinosad takes care of them, it is organic and my trees are safe for a while again.
While I had the spinosad out I checked the cold crops like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and my wonderful Brussels sprouts for signs of loopers--and yes they were here. Good old Captain Jack has cleaned them up. There is nothing worse than finding the looper in a salad of fresh vegetables you just picked, eating his share of fresh broccoli.
I also found that my potted bay leaf had a bit of black and sticky powder on some of the leaves. Scale insects have arrived on the plant, so out came the All Season Oil to control them after I washed the plant with a bit of Dawn soap and water. Gardening is fun but can be a full time job at this time of the year. Enjoy!!! "
This is a very informative article and we thank Paul Parent for his advice. All the products he mentions are appropriate for garden use and sold right here at Skillin's. Let us know if we can help you through any gardening questions in what is turning out to be a great gardening season!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 31, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Skillin's Moisture Meter July 27, 2010
Hello again,
Well, I have been away from Skillin's Country on secret assignment for a few days. Our gardens did get much rain--a big storm last Wednesday night and another very good bunch of showers on early Sunday morning. All told 3" of rain has fallen into the Skillin's Country Rain Gauge in the last week.
New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two quality waterings per week. A "quality watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots.
(More detail about quality waterings: A steady rain of an which brings a half inch of rain or more qualifies as a quality watering. In lieu of rain a quality watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for at least 1 to 2 hours and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in. )
This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:
Quality rain (1).
Quality waterings required by you: (1).
I know, I know 3" of rain this past week and "you still want me to water!" And the ground looks somewhat moist in most places. BUT temperatures have been warm and yesterday and today have been breezy. Shallow and open planted areas like annual beds and vegetable gardens could use a good slow watering in the next couple of days if you have the chance. Some possible showers and thunder showers are forecast for Thursday--this could give annuals and vegetables the water they need. I did water some containers and annual plantings that spend most of the day in the blazing sun. They were starting to get dry. SO check out your garden; the ground is dry enough that any watering is not a bad thing.
2010 shrub and tree plantings? 2010 perennials? They will need water by the weekend unless Thursdays rain is REAL quality. I will update this posting Thursday or Friday if the rain appears to be a factor one way or the other! (Update: We got almost no rain on Thursday 7/29 and many areas are dry if you have not watered in the last few days. SO: over the next couple of days, make certain ALL 2010 plantings get a good quality watering including all container plantings. Most plants are large and have fairly intense watering needs at this point. So go get'em!)
If you have met the quality watering requirement for this past week, congratulations! If not, pay careful attention this coming week and beyond and make sure that your new plants get those required quality waterings!
Let us know if you have any watering questions!
Thanks,
Mike Skillin
Well, I have been away from Skillin's Country on secret assignment for a few days. Our gardens did get much rain--a big storm last Wednesday night and another very good bunch of showers on early Sunday morning. All told 3" of rain has fallen into the Skillin's Country Rain Gauge in the last week.
New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two quality waterings per week. A "quality watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots.
(More detail about quality waterings: A steady rain of an which brings a half inch of rain or more qualifies as a quality watering. In lieu of rain a quality watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for at least 1 to 2 hours and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in. )
This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:
Quality rain (1).
Quality waterings required by you: (1).
I know, I know 3" of rain this past week and "you still want me to water!" And the ground looks somewhat moist in most places. BUT temperatures have been warm and yesterday and today have been breezy. Shallow and open planted areas like annual beds and vegetable gardens could use a good slow watering in the next couple of days if you have the chance. Some possible showers and thunder showers are forecast for Thursday--this could give annuals and vegetables the water they need. I did water some containers and annual plantings that spend most of the day in the blazing sun. They were starting to get dry. SO check out your garden; the ground is dry enough that any watering is not a bad thing.
2010 shrub and tree plantings? 2010 perennials? They will need water by the weekend unless Thursdays rain is REAL quality. I will update this posting Thursday or Friday if the rain appears to be a factor one way or the other! (Update: We got almost no rain on Thursday 7/29 and many areas are dry if you have not watered in the last few days. SO: over the next couple of days, make certain ALL 2010 plantings get a good quality watering including all container plantings. Most plants are large and have fairly intense watering needs at this point. So go get'em!)
If you have met the quality watering requirement for this past week, congratulations! If not, pay careful attention this coming week and beyond and make sure that your new plants get those required quality waterings!
Let us know if you have any watering questions!
Thanks,
Mike Skillin
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
July Garden Talks 2010
The purpose of this post is to relay a few "quick hit" garden tips to you through the month of July. Some of these tips will be garden tasks I am doing myself (although I wish there were more of those. I am here at Skillin's so much, my own yard and garden falls quite behind!), some of these tips will be quick pieces of advice we are giving to customers, some will be quick links to good gardening advice we encounter on the internet.
Check back to this post often as we will update it often until we roll through July 2010!
July 20--We received the following email overnight from the State of Maine and it does contain some concerning news about Tomato Late Blight. From Ann Gibbs, the State Horticulturist: "We just got word this afternoon that late blight was found in Lincoln county. The disease was diagnosed by Bruce Watt at the UM Diagnostic lab on tomato plants from a home garden in Waldoboro. The plants were grown from seed and the home gardener did have late blight on both tomato and potato plants in 2009."
This almost asks more questions than it answers about the occurrence. It is hard to say whether the Waldoboro gardener was using soil or compost that may have had components of last year's plants in it. I would not be surprised if this was the case.
What should we do? Keep a close eye on our tomato plants for late blight. Keep our plants clean of yellow growth, trimmed of lots of excess green growth, water our plants well and slowly (not overhead). As a precaution it would not hurt to spray your plants with all natural Copper Fungicide or Serenade. Otherwise, at this point I think we will be just fine!
Click here for more info on Tomato Late Blight.
July 19--I was looking at some of my beautiful Echinacea Coneflowers yesterday and I noticed lots of small buds lower on the bud below some of my profuse flowers. I do like to leave gone by flower heads for the birds to munch on BUT if we get "with it" and prune those aging flowers that will spur some very good re bloom by the Coneflower. So decision made. Spent flowers to be pruned over the next couple of weeks and I will get more flowers to enjoy! THEN the second and third waves of flowers will be left to age for the birds to pick at the seed heads. Everyone--birds and I--will be happy!
July 14--Well what a nice rain we received last night. About .8" of rain landed in my rain gauge in the heart of Skillin's Country! All plant material will soak this up nicely! However conditions are dry enough that much of our material may need more quality water by the weekend! Especially shrubs and trees that are newly planted this year and containers and annuals that are in the hot hot sun. More rain is being talked about for the weekend--so stay tuned; but more watering by us could definitely be needed by the weekend!
July 13--Well we did receive some rain over the weekend. My rain gauge in the heart of Skillin's Country measured about .3"--not a lot of rain and not as much as some of us gardeners were hoping to get. More steady rain is forecast for Wednesday and that would be very good. Today is Tuesday and if you have TIME AND some container material or some larger 2010 plant material like shrubs and trees that have not had water for several days, it may be a good idea to give them a good quality watering today just in case tomorrow's rain does not add up to much. IF we do get a good rain tomorrow AND you do water today, do not fear most plants and soil are dry enough to handle quite a bit of water right now!
July 8--Jumpin' Joe Kubetz and Tim Bate our Nursery Manager talk raspberries in this great video posted at our Skillin's Twitter site. Check www.skillins.com/twitter often for quick Skillin's news and updates.
July 6--Real customer Martha was in the Falmouth store this evening. Her husband has been advised by his doctor to consume much less salt in his diet. So she was in to pick up some herb plants to use for food seasoning (instead of the salt). Martha was picking up rosemary, basil, oregano and lemon verbena. All great choices and I hope they work well for her and her husband!
July 2--Before coming to work I spent some much needed time on my 3 rose bushes. They have blossomed beautifully but now I have many spent stems of blossoms. I cut back the stems of the spent blossoms about halfway back down to a true set of leaves on the stem. I like to prune aggressively this time of year; the plant will respond quickly with some new growth and new flowers. Earlier this year I did put some Flower Tone around the base of each plant. I will probably wait another few weeks to do that again.
I also gave the plant a second spraying of a molasses based product called Vaccinate. In the past I have recommended spraying with Messenger to ward off disease and to increase the cell healthiness of plants prone to disease like roses, upright phlox and others. Well Messenger is not available anymore (worked great for me and many others!). But Vaccinate seems to be doing well as my roses and upright phlox are looking green, healthy and happy with no signs of mildew and leaf spot! We will see!
Check back to this post often as we will update it often until we roll through July 2010!
July 20--We received the following email overnight from the State of Maine and it does contain some concerning news about Tomato Late Blight. From Ann Gibbs, the State Horticulturist: "We just got word this afternoon that late blight was found in Lincoln county. The disease was diagnosed by Bruce Watt at the UM Diagnostic lab on tomato plants from a home garden in Waldoboro. The plants were grown from seed and the home gardener did have late blight on both tomato and potato plants in 2009."
This almost asks more questions than it answers about the occurrence. It is hard to say whether the Waldoboro gardener was using soil or compost that may have had components of last year's plants in it. I would not be surprised if this was the case.
What should we do? Keep a close eye on our tomato plants for late blight. Keep our plants clean of yellow growth, trimmed of lots of excess green growth, water our plants well and slowly (not overhead). As a precaution it would not hurt to spray your plants with all natural Copper Fungicide or Serenade. Otherwise, at this point I think we will be just fine!
Click here for more info on Tomato Late Blight.
July 19--I was looking at some of my beautiful Echinacea Coneflowers yesterday and I noticed lots of small buds lower on the bud below some of my profuse flowers. I do like to leave gone by flower heads for the birds to munch on BUT if we get "with it" and prune those aging flowers that will spur some very good re bloom by the Coneflower. So decision made. Spent flowers to be pruned over the next couple of weeks and I will get more flowers to enjoy! THEN the second and third waves of flowers will be left to age for the birds to pick at the seed heads. Everyone--birds and I--will be happy!
July 14--Well what a nice rain we received last night. About .8" of rain landed in my rain gauge in the heart of Skillin's Country! All plant material will soak this up nicely! However conditions are dry enough that much of our material may need more quality water by the weekend! Especially shrubs and trees that are newly planted this year and containers and annuals that are in the hot hot sun. More rain is being talked about for the weekend--so stay tuned; but more watering by us could definitely be needed by the weekend!
July 13--Well we did receive some rain over the weekend. My rain gauge in the heart of Skillin's Country measured about .3"--not a lot of rain and not as much as some of us gardeners were hoping to get. More steady rain is forecast for Wednesday and that would be very good. Today is Tuesday and if you have TIME AND some container material or some larger 2010 plant material like shrubs and trees that have not had water for several days, it may be a good idea to give them a good quality watering today just in case tomorrow's rain does not add up to much. IF we do get a good rain tomorrow AND you do water today, do not fear most plants and soil are dry enough to handle quite a bit of water right now!
July 8--Jumpin' Joe Kubetz and Tim Bate our Nursery Manager talk raspberries in this great video posted at our Skillin's Twitter site. Check www.skillins.com/twitter often for quick Skillin's news and updates.
July 6--Real customer Martha was in the Falmouth store this evening. Her husband has been advised by his doctor to consume much less salt in his diet. So she was in to pick up some herb plants to use for food seasoning (instead of the salt). Martha was picking up rosemary, basil, oregano and lemon verbena. All great choices and I hope they work well for her and her husband!
July 2--Before coming to work I spent some much needed time on my 3 rose bushes. They have blossomed beautifully but now I have many spent stems of blossoms. I cut back the stems of the spent blossoms about halfway back down to a true set of leaves on the stem. I like to prune aggressively this time of year; the plant will respond quickly with some new growth and new flowers. Earlier this year I did put some Flower Tone around the base of each plant. I will probably wait another few weeks to do that again.
I also gave the plant a second spraying of a molasses based product called Vaccinate. In the past I have recommended spraying with Messenger to ward off disease and to increase the cell healthiness of plants prone to disease like roses, upright phlox and others. Well Messenger is not available anymore (worked great for me and many others!). But Vaccinate seems to be doing well as my roses and upright phlox are looking green, healthy and happy with no signs of mildew and leaf spot! We will see!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Skillin's Moisture Meter July 16, 2010
Hello again,
Well since our last Skillin's Moisture Meter we did receive close to 1" of rain in the official rain gauge in the heart of Skillin's Country. Areas south of Portland received more--considerably more in some tropical York County areas. But much of this rain was torrential and featured much run off!
New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two quality waterings per week. A "quality watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots.
(More detail about quality waterings: A steady rain of an which brings a half inch of rain or more qualifies as a quality watering. In lieu of rain a quality watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for at least 20 to 30 minutes and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in. )
This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:
Quality rain (1).
Quality waterings required by you: (1).
This quality watering needs to take place over the next couple of days. I have noticed that container plantings in hot areas and annual plantings in sunny areas are already getting quite dry. Also shrubs and trees should get a slow quality watering within the next couple of days.
Hot dry weather is forecast for the next few days so ONE quality watering for each new plant is needed. More would probably be just fine!
If you have met the quality watering requirement for this past week, congratulations! If not, pay careful attention this coming week and beyond and make sure that your new plants get those required quality waterings!
Let us know if you have any watering questions!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 16, 2010
Well since our last Skillin's Moisture Meter we did receive close to 1" of rain in the official rain gauge in the heart of Skillin's Country. Areas south of Portland received more--considerably more in some tropical York County areas. But much of this rain was torrential and featured much run off!
New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two quality waterings per week. A "quality watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots.
(More detail about quality waterings: A steady rain of an which brings a half inch of rain or more qualifies as a quality watering. In lieu of rain a quality watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for at least 20 to 30 minutes and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in. )
This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:
Quality rain (1).
Quality waterings required by you: (1).
This quality watering needs to take place over the next couple of days. I have noticed that container plantings in hot areas and annual plantings in sunny areas are already getting quite dry. Also shrubs and trees should get a slow quality watering within the next couple of days.
Hot dry weather is forecast for the next few days so ONE quality watering for each new plant is needed. More would probably be just fine!
If you have met the quality watering requirement for this past week, congratulations! If not, pay careful attention this coming week and beyond and make sure that your new plants get those required quality waterings!
Let us know if you have any watering questions!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Melissa's Container Gardens--mid July report!
Melissa of Skillin's Falmouth has stopped in periodically here and then here to update us on her Container Gardening. Melissa has given out loads of great advice in teaching about container gardening and much follow up advice with so many customers.
Here is what Melissa wrote to me a couple of days ago:
"After looking at the posting from a couple of weeks ago I couldn't believe how much the garden has changed!
The tomato plants have gone from some flowers to many tomatoes!
Lettuce keeps going along, the beets are getting bigger by the day, green peppers are going crazy! I just love the way all the flowers I planted in the garden are producing some wonderful colors .
And talk about color - the "Pretty Much Picasso" superbells I planted are pretty much taking over the railing boxes! They are just stunning, and I highly recommend planting some - they especially look good when planted with some light pink bacopa and millionbells.
Oh and one of the best things I love about container gardening - NO WEEDING!
Happy container gardening
Melissa"
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 15, 2010
Here is what Melissa wrote to me a couple of days ago:
"After looking at the posting from a couple of weeks ago I couldn't believe how much the garden has changed!
The tomato plants have gone from some flowers to many tomatoes!
(Some nice tomatos well on their way!)
Lettuce keeps going along, the beets are getting bigger by the day, green peppers are going crazy! I just love the way all the flowers I planted in the garden are producing some wonderful colors .
(Melissa has done a great job growing and mixing vegetables and flowers; look at that lush lettuce at the bottom of the picture!)
And talk about color - the "Pretty Much Picasso" superbells I planted are pretty much taking over the railing boxes! They are just stunning, and I highly recommend planting some - they especially look good when planted with some light pink bacopa and millionbells.
(The Pretty Much Picasso in action!--it is a showstopper; we think it looks fantastic!)
Oh and one of the best things I love about container gardening - NO WEEDING!
Happy container gardening
Melissa"
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 15, 2010
Shrubs and Trees on Sale at Skillin's!
Hello again,
We have put the following shrubs and trees on sale at Skillin's! This is great quality plant material that will be great additions to your home and garden!:
*Trees are 30% off! (Tree hydrangeas are excluded)
*Lilacs are 30% off
*Fruit trees, raspberries, grapes and blueberries are 30% off. Save money and prepare to eat well!
*Rhododendrons are 30% off!
All sales are for in-stock items only and while supplies last! But we have some beautiful plants that need to find a good home!
We are open 8 AM to 6 PM during the week; 8 AM to 5 PM Saturdays and 9 AM to 5 PM on Sundays. Come to Skillin's and save!
Store directions and contact phone numbers can always be found at http://www.skillins.com/info.html!
We have put the following shrubs and trees on sale at Skillin's! This is great quality plant material that will be great additions to your home and garden!:
*Trees are 30% off! (Tree hydrangeas are excluded)
*Lilacs are 30% off
*Fruit trees, raspberries, grapes and blueberries are 30% off. Save money and prepare to eat well!
*Rhododendrons are 30% off!
All sales are for in-stock items only and while supplies last! But we have some beautiful plants that need to find a good home!
We are open 8 AM to 6 PM during the week; 8 AM to 5 PM Saturdays and 9 AM to 5 PM on Sundays. Come to Skillin's and save!
Store directions and contact phone numbers can always be found at http://www.skillins.com/info.html!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Skillin's Moisture Meter July 7, 2010
*It is VERY dry out there!
Quality waterings are needed! We have had no rain in the last week and nothing meaningful for rain is in the forecast right now.
New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two quality waterings per week. A steady rain of an hour or more qualifies as a quality watering. A "quality watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots. In lieu of rain a quality watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for at least 20 to 30 minutes and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in.
This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:
Quality rain (0).
Quality waterings required by you: (2).
If you have met the quality watering requirement for this past week, congratulations! If not, pay careful attention this coming week and beyond and make sure that your new plants get those required quality waterings!
Let us know if you have any watering questions!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 7, 2010
Quality waterings are needed! We have had no rain in the last week and nothing meaningful for rain is in the forecast right now.
New outdoor plantings (of vegetables, annuals, perennials, and certainly shrubs and trees) require 1 inch of water per week optimally spread out over at least two quality waterings per week. A steady rain of an hour or more qualifies as a quality watering. A "quality watering" is defined as a slow soaking of your plant's roots. In lieu of rain a quality watering can be accomplished by letting water run slowly out of a watering can or the end of your hose into each plant's root system or by having a soaker hose at work for several hours twice a week. In "non soaker hose situations", pause on your watering if the water starts to run off; let the water soak in and then begin to water again. Repeat this process several times and move onto the next plant. For larger trees and shrubs (and if you do not have a soaker hose) merely set a hose against the tree or shrub for at least 20 to 30 minutes and let the water almost trickle into the ground and down into the plant's root system. Again if there is runoff, pause and let the water soak in.
This Week's Moisture Meter Readings:
Quality rain (0).
Quality waterings required by you: (2).
If you have met the quality watering requirement for this past week, congratulations! If not, pay careful attention this coming week and beyond and make sure that your new plants get those required quality waterings!
Let us know if you have any watering questions!
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 7, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Hot Plants! We love Hot Plants! Hotter than the Temperature too!!
Hello again,
Yes folks it is warm out there but we have some plants that are even hotter than the temperatures. The following list of 10 plants are JUST A FEW hot performers that we feel you should consider for your home and garden. Many more choices await you at Skillin's in Brunswick, Cumberland and Falmouth. Now on with the 10 Hot Plants List:
Tim Bate, our Nursery buyer, is HOT about hydrangeas right now!
Here is what Tim wrote in a recent query from a customer about good shrub choices for right now:
"Hydrangeas are looking hot right now and will put on a long show this summer."
“Limelight” is loaded with buds right now. 'Limelight" is a paniculata hydrangea that has unique bright chartreuse blooms in mid-summer that hold bright and refreshing color right into autumn when the blooms change color to a rich deep pink. The autumn display of chartreuse and pink blooms on the same plant is breathtaking! The color makes a great addition to the garden and it blends wonderfully with all other colors. Use 'Limelight', either fresh or dried, in bouquets to make a unique floral design. This is an easy to grow plant with reliable flowering and flower color regardless of soil pH. The flower heads are of good size, ranging from 6 to 12 inches and are held upright on the shrub. The blooms are well distributed making a very nice plant and display. Hot? With the light this plant produces there is a lot of heat here!
(Hydrangea limelight early in flower)
“Quickfire” is flowering white now and will turn reddish pink in August. It is an early flowering hydrangea paniculata but with a long term flowering season. Very hardy as well. The picture below shows the Quickfire in the pink stage and very profuse! This plant is Quick to Fire the blooms and the petals burn brightly into the fall!
“Incrediball” is HUGE white flowers. It is an improved “Annabelle”-type Hydrangea, with large 8-10” round flowers. The Annabelle's have always been a favorite and this Incrediball is just a great example of white heat! Great balls of white fire!
Now we turn from hot hydrangeas to some smokin' perennial choices!
The day lily Hermerocallis" Rocket City" has caught my eye. I am not sure that the picture (picture copyright by Epibase) below does it justice but the fiery mass of flowers from Rocket City are just a show stopper for several weeks in the garden.
Speaking of daylillies, do you know what is a hot trend in daylillies right now? Rebloomers--daylillies that blossom in late June or July, can be deadheaded and that dead heading will force more flushes of color later in the summer and fall. Hot darn that sounds good! Check out this re blooming day lilly called "Hush Little Baby". Don't let the gentle name fool you; this plant will make you feel WARM all over!
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More perennials! Another hot favorite, the Liatris Gayfeather with it's "electric" purple plumes!
Yes folks it is warm out there but we have some plants that are even hotter than the temperatures. The following list of 10 plants are JUST A FEW hot performers that we feel you should consider for your home and garden. Many more choices await you at Skillin's in Brunswick, Cumberland and Falmouth. Now on with the 10 Hot Plants List:
Tim Bate, our Nursery buyer, is HOT about hydrangeas right now!
Here is what Tim wrote in a recent query from a customer about good shrub choices for right now:
"Hydrangeas are looking hot right now and will put on a long show this summer."
“Limelight” is loaded with buds right now. 'Limelight" is a paniculata hydrangea that has unique bright chartreuse blooms in mid-summer that hold bright and refreshing color right into autumn when the blooms change color to a rich deep pink. The autumn display of chartreuse and pink blooms on the same plant is breathtaking! The color makes a great addition to the garden and it blends wonderfully with all other colors. Use 'Limelight', either fresh or dried, in bouquets to make a unique floral design. This is an easy to grow plant with reliable flowering and flower color regardless of soil pH. The flower heads are of good size, ranging from 6 to 12 inches and are held upright on the shrub. The blooms are well distributed making a very nice plant and display. Hot? With the light this plant produces there is a lot of heat here!
“Quickfire” is flowering white now and will turn reddish pink in August. It is an early flowering hydrangea paniculata but with a long term flowering season. Very hardy as well. The picture below shows the Quickfire in the pink stage and very profuse! This plant is Quick to Fire the blooms and the petals burn brightly into the fall!
“Incrediball” is HUGE white flowers. It is an improved “Annabelle”-type Hydrangea, with large 8-10” round flowers. The Annabelle's have always been a favorite and this Incrediball is just a great example of white heat! Great balls of white fire!
Now we turn from hot hydrangeas to some smokin' perennial choices!
The day lily Hermerocallis" Rocket City" has caught my eye. I am not sure that the picture (picture copyright by Epibase) below does it justice but the fiery mass of flowers from Rocket City are just a show stopper for several weeks in the garden.
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(Hemerocallis Hush Little Baby, picture by White Flower Farm)
Two more of my absolute favorites: The Red Monarda or Bee Balm AND the Echinacea Coneflower. The hot attractions with these plants? LONG-term color--many, many weeks! Also these plants are among the best at attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to your yard. So these plants make your yard a hot place to hang out! They are hardy and viourous plants and are a definite Must Have for your yard!
(Red bee balm and purple coneflower--Mike's 2 favorites in the same picture!!) (Thank you http://www.finegardening.com/)
To round out our "10 Hot Plants" list we come to the world of annuals. Those who read my postings and emails KNOW that I love annuals. Their bright every day colors that last from Spring until well into the fall can't be beat!
#9 on our list and the first annual to mention is the Portulaca. Our Portulaca of choice is the Sundial Mix. Some like it hot, the portulaca loves it real hot and sunny! Turn up the heat with these beauties!
(Portulaca Sundial Mix, picture from Darylrice.com)
Last and never least is the Gazania. We sell mostly mixed colors of the Gazania. Check out this link for a live shot of our gazania selection (and more!). Gazania might be my favorite annual; I love the combustible combinations of reds, oranges, whites and yellows. On warm sunny days the blossoms open wide and the colors are brilliant. I usually plant a nice big pot of gazanias and the color show is non stop for months!
Folks, thanks for reading this blog. I hope we have given you some nice choices for some great hot color for your garden! And remember we have many many more choices right here at Skillin's!!
(Gazania Daybreak Mix from growonyou.com)
Mike Skillin
Skillin's Greenhouses
July 6, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Container Gardcen Update!
Earlier this year Melissa from Skillin's Falmouth wrote about her container gardening experiences while preparing to teach what would be a very popular April Container Edibles class. Here is Melissa's update!
Remember those sugar snap peas I had planted back in March/April? Well, I am now eating peas from those plants - and still getting peas from the Peas-N-A-Pot peas that were planted back in early February! They are very yummy!!
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I also have 2 plantings of celery, lettuce, 3 tomato plants (they are all flowering now) some herbs, green peppers and some flowers! I am finding using containers is making adjustments in the sun levels as the summer progresses easy to deal with. As the sun shifts in the sky I simple pick up whichever container that is affected and move it to a better location!
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I have been quite impressed with the success of my container garden so far. I have been getting all my salad greens from it for the past 2 months (I am on my second planting of lettuce!), and I have had 2 meals of snap peas and several from the Peas-N-A-Pot.
Happy container gardening!
Melissa
Remember those sugar snap peas I had planted back in March/April? Well, I am now eating peas from those plants - and still getting peas from the Peas-N-A-Pot peas that were planted back in early February! They are very yummy!!
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Sugar Snap Peas!
I also have 2 plantings of celery, lettuce, 3 tomato plants (they are all flowering now) some herbs, green peppers and some flowers! I am finding using containers is making adjustments in the sun levels as the summer progresses easy to deal with. As the sun shifts in the sky I simple pick up whichever container that is affected and move it to a better location!
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Melissa's Container Garden!
I have been quite impressed with the success of my container garden so far. I have been getting all my salad greens from it for the past 2 months (I am on my second planting of lettuce!), and I have had 2 meals of snap peas and several from the Peas-N-A-Pot.
Happy container gardening!
Melissa
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Terry Skillin on Channel 6's 207!
Hello again,
Click on the link below to view Terry Skillins' timely gardening appearance on WCSH Channel 6's "207". Great advice and great program!
http://bit.ly/cSRtTK
Click on the link below to view Terry Skillins' timely gardening appearance on WCSH Channel 6's "207". Great advice and great program!
http://bit.ly/cSRtTK
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