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Dear Gardeners,
Here's a rebellious break from the usual question-and-answer format of
this column! With mixed emotions, I'm retiring as head gardener of the
“ In The Grow” column. I've enjoyed discussing topics from
hated weeds to beloved plants with you all for the last 18 years, but
I'm ready to move on to new pursuits.
By far, the most common question to this column is, “Why doesn't
my ____ bloom!” If your ______ doesn't bloom (it doesn't matter
what it is), it's because it 1) it needs more sun, 2) it needs less nitrogen
fertilizer, 3) you accidentally pruned the flower buds off, 4) the plant
is still too young or 5) the temperature messed everything up. When your
plant won't bloom, consider the possibilities. Has the site become shadier?
Are you fertilizing the surrounding lawn with nitrogen? Did spring begin
to warm up and then suddenly disappear for a few days? Remember to prune
right after flowering to avoid cutting off flower buds. Check on weather
records and know that an extremely mild winter doesn't provide the necessary
chilling period or, more likely, late cold snaps in the spring damaged
the flower buds
If your plants are not bearing fruit, there are several more possibilities.
First, determine if you have no flowers (see above), or you have flowers
but don't have fruit. If the latter is the case, you may have a dioecious
plant, which means you need both a male and female plant in order to produce
fruit. Hollies and bittersweet are the dioecious plants that most of you
ask about. Know that some plants require several years before bearing,
buds are susceptible to cold, bee activity may be reduced and many fruit
trees require pollination from another cultivar within the same species.
Fruits and nuts are trickier to grow than zucchini and daylilies! Arm
yourself with knowledge by visiting the Purdue University Consumer Horticulture
Web site.
I have learned that moles make you see red! Anytime moles were mentioned
in the column, I'd receive dozens of letters. Some would offer home remedies.
Others would just vent their anger. I've written about moles many times,
but I can sum it all up by recommending harpoon traps or a good dog! Most
of the other solutions are creative but not consistently effective.
I have tried to balance my answers between caring for our environment
(encouraging pesticide alternatives) to knowing the realities of growing
some crops and the need for a little help now and then. I encourage you
to select the right plants for your environment. You can significantly
reduce your use of pesticides by choosing plants that grow well here,
such as disease-resistant tomatoes and hardy shrub roses. When problems
arise, consider environmentally friendly alternatives first, such as handpicking
bagworms and Japanese beetles, spraying with insecticidal soap and practicing
good garden sanitation at the end of the growing season.
The frustrating part of a Q&A column is that don't always get a question
to initiate the answer I want to give! If one of you were to write and
say, “Dear Bev, Do you have any advice for your readers?”
I would answer with the following:
• Don't believe everything you hear or read. Double check “facts”
with a good reference book. If someone tries to sell you 50 perennials
for $100 and says every perennial will bloom all year long, start looking
the plants up in a reference book or on a university Extension Web site.
You'll learn the truth and be smarter and richer for it!
• Everything in print or on the Web isn't true. I always start with
the Purdue Web site information. If I need to explore further and want
to learn about plum curculio, for example, I search the Internet for “plum
curculio” and add the word “university” or “Extension.”
It leads me to other university sites and rules out many home gardening
myths that are often wrong and sometimes even dangerous (like hooking
the exhaust of a car to a mole tunnel or filling the tunnels with gasoline.
• Please, identify pests properly before you spray something on
them!
Rosie Lerner, Purdue Extension consumer horticulturist and my horticultural
editor for all these years, will take over the column. I will give her
the backlog of unanswered questions; so if you've written me and haven't
seen an answer, know that Rosie will have it.
This column is not done single-handedly. Here's a tip of the trowel to
Rosie, who has carefully perused every article, helped with tough questions
and invited me to successfully turn this column and her gardening column
into a book; to Purdue Extension specialists who have helped with tough
questions over the years; to Richard Biever, my editor at the Electric
Consumer who gathers your questions each month and sends them on to me,
then tops the column with a headline that often makes me groan but usually
makes me laugh; and my editors at the Purdue Department of Agricultural
Communication who have kindly fixed me up grammatically and never berated
me for a missed deadline.
The lion's share of credit goes to my readers, however. I have learned
from all of you. Advice I treasure includes, “I limbed up fruit
trees for years so I could mow under the trees. Now I can't reach the
fruit,” and, “If you see something is wrong with an evergreen,
it's too late to fix it.” Too true! I urge you to share advice and
plants with fellow gardeners. We can always learn something new. I have
expanded my own garden knowledge as I researched your questions.
I have been most encouraged by your unwavering optimism: 80-year-olds
asking about planting nut trees, those of you transplanting peonies from
100-year-old family farms and, my favorite, “I've been growing Brussels
sprouts for 20 years with dismal results…” Gardeners just
won't quit! We keep trying, and we keep learning. Our best qualities spill
over into our gardening habits. I know the senior citizen planting pecan
trees that won't bear for decades cares about future generations. The
gardener transplanting peonies has a strong sense of home and family.
The gardener planting his 21st crop of Brussels sprouts this spring won't
give up when life hands him other challenges.
Gardening is a wonderful pastime that keeps us connected to the earth
and to one another. Enjoy it for all it's worth! Give plants as housewarming
gifts. Thoroughly enjoy the ripe tomatoes of summer, the sweet gum leaves
in fall, and the incredible structure and detail of bearded iris in the
spring. Spend winter reading and visiting gardens to study the structure
of good landscape design.
Thanks for writing and reading and gardening! I'm hanging up my pen and
heading for my garden.
1-5-06
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