Moxie Gardener

Bushel basket mums pop up in the landscape and at the garden center every fall.  Soon after they take up residence in containers everywhere.

Commonly known as “cushion” mums, these potted explosions of bloom should be treated as annuals for seasonal color in the garden.  This variety of mums has been bred to bloom like crazy on short stems that work well displayed in the pots they grew in or massed in large containers.

Because they bloom late in the season, it is not recommended that you transplant fall-purchased, potted mums into the garden.  It is iffy that they’ll acclimate enough to survive winter.

Mums have been cultivated for two thousand years and are thought to originate in China with a common ancestor that was a golden yellow daisy-like flower.

Plant breeders have been busy and today mums are available in the full range of colors, except blue.  Their flowers can take one of nearly a dozen forms, including:  pastel daisy, fluffy quilled zinnias, dahlias, or “football” mums with large incurving petals.

The blooms on cushion mums last for weeks and as a cut flower they will last ten days to two weeks.

It’s not too late to plant spring bulbs.  Even here in Zone 4 we still have several weeks before the ground freezes.  That’s plenty of time for roots to form on spring blooming bulbs before freezing weather sets in and stops their growth until spring.

Plant spring flowering bulbs in areas that are sunny in spring and become shady when trees leaf out.  Tuck bulbs into your perennial border or beds to provide seasonal color.  The perennials will camouflage the yellowing leaves of spring bulbs until the foliage completely dies down.  Or you can plant annuals among the spring bulbs to fill out as the bulb’s foliage yellows and withers.

Don’t tie the leaves of spring bulbs into bundles, they need to be exposed to sunlight to manufacture energy for next years’ blooms.  Let the leaves grow for approximately eight weeks after flowering before cutting them down.  Cut off flower stems right after the flowers fade but leave the leaves to dry up in their own time.

Tulips should be planted in an area that doesn’t get watered often during summer.  Tulips don’t like wet feet while dormant in summer and excessive moisture in their bed will cause them to rot.

Choose plump and firm bulbs with no evidence of decay.  Bulbs should be planted at a depth that is twice their width.  Space the bulbs the same distance—a distance apart that is equal to twice their width. Make sure to plant the spring bulbs with their pointed end up.  Do not step on or overly tamp down the soil in the bulb bed or you can damage the growing tip of the bulbs.  Unless the soil is bone dry, it is not necessary to water after planting.

Deer love bulbs and the resulting growing plants in spring.  To keep them from eating the bulbs, cover the bulbs with screen mesh before back-filling their planting hole.  There seems to be little one can do, short of erecting a cage over the growing plants, to prevent deer from eating the tender growth of spring flowering bulbs.

Planting a few bulbs every year is a good way to amass a stunning display of spring bloom.  By paying attention to how well the various varieties of bulbs do in your garden, you can plant more of what works and not waste time or money planting more of the varieties that did not reliably produce blooms for you year after year.

A variety of inedible, decorative gourds.

For a stunning fall centerpiece that will look good and last for years, grow small, thick skinned inedible gourds.  Piled in a decorative bowl in the center of the table they evoke the spirit of fall with their warm colors and variety of shapes and sizes.

Inedible gourds are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, further classified as Cucurbita pepo.  They are the small, thick skinned gourds primarily used for decoration, rather than the large, thin skinned gourds used as containers and for other utilitarian purposes.

Gourds take a long time to reach maturity and should be started indoors several weeks before frost free weather.  Plant out when all danger of frost is past and the soil has warmed to at least 65 degrees.

Plant gourds in rich soil and water well throughout the growing season.  Gourds need a lot of room to spread out as they grow.  Space plants one to a hill in hills 4 to 5 feet apart and in rows at least 10 feet apart.  You can also train gourds to grow on a trellis.

During the growing season, periodically prune the vines to encourage formation of more fruit.  Side dress with fertilizer several times.  The large leaves of gourd vines discourage weeds and they are a good companion crop to pole beans, providing weed prevention and maintaining a moist soil which benefits the beans.

Harvest gourds when their surface is hard, preferably after the vines of the plant and the stems of the gourds have turned brown.  Carefully cut the gourds from the vines, do not pull or rip.  Handle the gourds with care to prevent bruising.

To dry and keep gourds successfully for several years wash each gourd in soapy water and rinse well.  Dip in a solution of 1/2 cup bleach to 2 quarts of water.  Dry with soft cloth and spread out to dry on a screen or a wood shelf covered in newspapers.  Inspect gourds regularly and turn them so they dry evenly.  If any gourds have signs of mold or decay, try cleaning them with the above bleach solution and if signs of decay remain, then discard.  The drying process should be done in a warm, dark place and will take 3 to 4 weeks for the gourds to dry completely.

If you have the garden space, growing gourds is an fun way to decorate for fall.  They last for many years once they are properly cured and dried, especially if you seal them with oil, wax or vanish.

Savoy cabbage

Savoy cabbage is more tender and tastes sweeter than other varieties of cabbage.  Savoy cabbages are thought to originate in “The Savoy,” an Alpine region straddling the border between France and Italy.

Savoy cabbage is classified as Brassica oleracea, and is a member of the Capitata group in the Cruciferous family, which encompasses the cole crops.  Their crinkled leaves distinguish them from other varieties of green and red cabbage.

Savoy cabbage has the same growing requirements as regular cabbage.  For late spring or early summer harvest, set out transplants in April to May.  For fall harvest set out transplants or direct seed in early July.  Heads will form and mature in cool fall weather.  Savoy cabbage does not store well; grow for consumption soon after harvesting.

All cabbages need a lot of space to form good-sized heads.  Plant 12 to 18 inches apart in rows 18 to 24 inches apart.  They like a fairly rich soil.  For near-perfect crop rotation and succession planting, put cabbages for fall harvest in the bed in which your early potatoes or spring peas were grown and already harvested.

Long thought of as a vegetable for poor people in cooler northern areas, savoy cabbage has a sweet flavor that will convert most people into cabbage lovers.  It works well raw in salads and cooked in soups and casseroles or simply sauteed as a side dish.

Savoy cabbage isn’t as readily available as regular smooth-leafed green cabbage.  All the more reason to grow it in your home garden.  For the sweetest cole slaw you’ve ever had, use savoy cabbage.  You’ll become a convert too.

Crab apple tree on public boulevard in my neighborhood

With their stunning buds and flowers, the interesting shapes of their growth patterns, fall leaf colors and fruit that matures in fall but oftentimes persists through winter, crab apples have been called the “jewel of the landscape.” 

Crab apples are planted in parks, on boulevards and in many other public places, as well as urban and suburban yards all over the world.  Their flamboyant display of spring blooms is often the reason.  The flowers bud out before the leaves unfurl, creating a jewel-like display on the branches.  The flowers then open, most often a different color than the buds, adding another dimension to the display.  Finally the leaves arrive, their delicate spring green contrasting nicely with the white, delicate pink, or even deep red flowers.

Crab apples can grow from 8 to 40 feet high, with most varieties averaging 15 to 25 feet in height.  Their growth habit varies with the variety but usually take one of the following shapes:  weeping (pendulous), rounded, spreading (horizontal), upright (columnar), vase-shaped, or pyramidal.  Coupled with their range of flower and fruit colors, a crab apple variety can be found to suit most any landscaping need.

With proper drainage crab apples are adaptable to any soil conditions, but they thrive in loam.  They are reliably hardy through Zone 4.  Crab apples are excellent pollinators for regular apple trees and branches of crab apples are sometimes grafted onto a standard eating apple for pollination purposes.

Plant balled and burlaped (B & B) or container potted crab apple trees in fall.  Plant bare root specimens in spring only.  Crab apples require little care except watering and a little fertilizer until midsummer.  Prune crab apples only to remove water sprouts (vigorous growth from branches), suckers (vigorous growth from roots), dead, diseased, damaged or crossing branches.  Prune in early June; pruning later in the year will reduce the number of flowers and fruits the following year.

Crab apples are crab apples if their fruit is 2 inches or less in diameter.  On many varieties the fruit stays on the trees until well into winter, with some varieties holding onto its fruit into the following spring and summer.  The fruit of crab apples can range in color from dark-reddish purple through reds, oranges, golden yellows, even a few green varieties.

The larger varieties can be spiced and canned or made into crab apple jelly or wine.  That’s an addition to the landscape worth its weight in gold.

Softneck garlic at supermarket

Garlic is perhaps the oldest plant cultivated by humans.  Clay models of garlic have been found in Egyptian tombs and dried garlic cloves were found in the tomb of King Tut.

Garlic is classified as Allium sativum with two sub-species:  Allium sativum var. sativum  (soft neck garlic), and Allium sativum var. ophioscorodon  (hard neck garlic).  The common name “garlic” is thought to derive from the old Gothic word “gaar” meaning “spear,” which probably refers to the flat, pointed, spear-shaped leaves.

In northern states plant garlic soon after the average date of your first fall frost.  In southern states, plant later in fall or in early spring.  Garlic grows best in soil that is well-loamed and neither hard clay nor sandy.  Improve soil with compost and manure ten days to two weeks prior to planting.

Garlic likes well-drained soil with its bulb above, and its roots dangling into, the water table.  Plant individual cloves of garlic 1 to 4 inches deep, planting deeper the further north you live.  Plant cloves 3 to 5 inches apart in rows 6 to 10 inches apart.  Take care to plant with the pointed end up.  Mulch with straw or hay up to 4 to 6 inches deep in northern areas, less in warmer, southern areas.

Garlic likes to grow roots in the cool fall weather, rest over winter and explode into growth in spring as soon as the weather warms.  Side dress with fertilizer every few weeks when growth begins in spring until you notice the bulb swelling, then stop.  If you continue to feed after the bulb begins to develop, the plant will put its energy into growing leaves and the bulbs will be of inferior size.

Garlic plants send up a curved stalk called a “scape” on which form tiny bulbets.  Cut these off the plants in May, generally about Memorial Day.  Shortly afterward the bulbs begin to swell.  This is the time to stop fertilizing the plants.

Garlic is usually ready to harvest beginning around the 4th of July.  Cut back on watering for two weeks prior to harvest—plants are easier to harvest and store better and longer if harvested from dry, rather than soggy, soil.  If Mother Nature provides an abundance of rain at this time, pull the mulch back from plants and allow the soil to dry.

The outer leaves will dry up and die when harvest time is near.  Harvest when the outer leaves have turned brown but the inner leaves are still green and growing.  Do not allow the inner leaves to die prior to harvesting or the skin of the garlic will fall off and reduce storage time and quality.

Handle garlic gently at harvest—don’t bang together or drop into collecting container.  Cure as you do onions:  spread out in shade at a temperature of around 72 degrees for a week or two until the skins become dry and papery.  Cover at night or if rain threatens.  Store garlic under conditions similar to winter squash:  about 55 degrees F. with low relative humidity.  Unlike squash, however, garlic prefers darkness in storage; place in clean clay pots and cover with a clay pot saucer.

Home grown garlic is far superior to supermarket garlic in taste and varieties available.  To prove it to yourself, grab some cloves of garlic from the bulb you bought at the supermarket and push a few into the soil at the edge of your garden, perhaps near the perennial herbs.  Next summer when you harvest it, you’ll notice your home-grown garlic is much better than the stuff you ate from the same supermarket clove of garlic.