mailbox gardens

Mailbox Gardens Impart a Certain Charm to the Landscape A Small Mailbox Garden Can Make a Big Impact.

Photo © Joe Comperiati

You probably visit your mailbox more than any other part of the landscape. Instead of a humdrum trek to collect bills each day, why not turn your mailbox area into a destination site in your landscape? The guarantee of a regular gardener’s shadow improves the chances of a successful flower garden in this highly visible part of your property.

Increase Earthworms

When was the last time you saw an earthworm? Chances are, you didn’t think much about the sighting. If you were working in the flower garden, you may have disturbed some in the soil. If it was after a heavy rain, you saw them writhing on the sidewalk. If it was three days after that rain, you saw their desiccated carcasses, frozen in their last flight like the mummies of Pompeii.

Whether they make you feel squeamish or indifferent, earthworms are a vital part of a living, healthy soil. Consider life without earthworms: the soil would become flat, hardpan, as lifeless as the sphagnum moss in an artificial flower arrangement. The extinction of the earthworm could serve as the premise for an apocalyptic novel. To protect this lowly member of the annelid family, how can flower gardeners nurture the earthworm?  

Photo © flickr user Pfly

Stop using chemicals on plants and in the soil. Earthworms breathe through their skin and ingest soil, so broad-spectrum pesticides have a detrimental effect on their populations. If you aren’t ready to give up all of your garden chemicals yet, apply them only when pests are present and follow package directions.

lupine

Lupines are a member of the pea family, and like peas, the plants are capable of fixing nitrogen in the soil. If the growing conditions are right, lupine flowers are equally at home or on the side of the road.

Lupinus, Family Fabaceae

Common Name:

Blue Bonnet, which refers to the annual lupine.

Zone:

Zones 3-7

Size:

Lupines can grow up to five feet tall, with flower spikes as long as 18 inches long.

Exposure:

Full sun

Bloom Period:

Lupines bloom over a two-month period, which can range from May to July, depending on the variety and the growing zone.

The dense floral spikes of lupines may grace your flower garden in shades of purple, pink, red, white, and yellow. The foliage resembles palm leaves, with seven to ten leaflet segments each.

Although rainbow hybrid lupine seed mixes are the most popular commercially available lupine, the original blue strain is the hardiest. Over time, the blue lupines in a rainbow mix will persist and perennialize, while the less adaptable colors die out.

Lupines need neutral to slightly acidic soil, although they can grow in very acidic soil conditions. Lupines don’t need rich loam, but it’s important to grow the plants in very well-draining soil to avoid root rot. Sandy soil conditions and poor rocky soil promote the growth of the lupine’s deep tap root.

Starting lupines from seed is an economical way to get a showy flower garden the following season. The seed coat is tough, and seeds have a better germination rate if you nick the seed coat or soak them in water overnight. Plant them about ? inch deep outdoors, as they do not transplant well. Expect germination in 14-30 days.

flower garden 101

A Carefully Tended Flower Garden Is Worth the Effort of Weeding, Fertilizing, and Controlling Pests.

Photo © Jamie McIntosh

Installing a new flower garden requires considerable time, effort, and money. Most flower gardens don’t reach their full potential for two to three years, especially when perennial flowers are the focus. It’s true that flower gardens need more maintenance than lawns or mulched shrub areas, but it doesn’t take a special skill set to care for a thriving garden.

Soil

If you’ve amended and tilled your garden soil until it’s as fluffy as pancake mix, you’ve gotten your flowers off to a good start. Don’t be surprised if, the following season, the soil looks like the same hardpan you had before you started the garden. Earthworms and microbes feed on organic matter in the soil, and your flowers have been feeding on this matter too. Add new organic matter and mulch to your flowerbeds every year to nourish roots and moderate soil temperatures.

Water

There’s much to consider about watering your flowers: if, when, how, and how much. Too much water brings on rot, too little makes flowers wither and die. Overhead watering can encourage the spread of disease, and some watering systems deliver more water into the atmosphere than into the soil, where it’s needed. Follow plant tag watering suggestions, and consider updating your irrigation system if you’re tired of moving your oscillating sprinkler around your yard every other day.

Fertilizer

If those numbers on the fertilizer packaging have always been a mystery to you, it’s time to get in the know: The standard system represents the available amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, by percent, in that order. The reason the numbers don’t add up to 100% is that the packages also contain filler materials, like sand or limestone. In general nitrogen promotes foliage growth, phosphorus develops root systems, and potassium helps flower formation. Flowering plants need all three nutrients.

Insect Pests

Different flowers attract different insect pests, but you probably know that some insects are beneficial in the garden; don’t assume every creepy-crawly on your plants is there for a snack. Some insect pests are nocturnal or too tiny for detection, so look for clues in the damage they leave behind. Caterpillars chew leaves from the edges inward, while beetles leave holes in the middle of leaves. Look at pictures of aphids and whiteflies and learn to identify these pests that congregate in large groups.

Choose insect controls that yield the highest pest death rate with the least impact to the environment, including bees and other beneficials. You can choose from traps and barriers; sprays and powders; or biological controls like predatory insects and nematodes.

Weeds

Besides looking ugly, weeds cause other problems in the flower garden. Weeds usurp water and nutrients that your flowers need, and weeds provide a habitat for many garden insect pests. Control weeds early and often, both because small weeds are easier to kill than large ones, and because large weeds produce seeds for the next generation. You have three options for weed control in the flower bed: preventing them in the first place, spraying them, and using mechanical options like hand pulling or hoeing.

Diseases

If your flowers are in decline, it’s important to determine whether the culprit is an insect or a disease process. Spraying insecticide willy-nilly on a plant covered with rust fungus isn’t going to help. Practicing good plant culture, like proper plant spacing and watering techniques, goes a long way to reducing disease problems. Following recommended exposure guidelines also keeps flowers vigorous and able to resist disease.

If disease strikes you anyways, you can treat with fungicide or selective pruning techniques. In severe cases, sometimes it’s best to remove the plant and replace with a hardier cultivar.

biedermeier bouquet

Definition:

Named after a German style of interior decorating, the Biedermeier wedding bouquet is a round bouquet that features flowers of different colors and/or types arranged in concentric rings, with one flower type or color in each layer. The style became popular in Europe in the 1800’s, and it continues to be a traditional choice for formal weddings today.

This flower arrangement typically used in bridal bouquets, although the florist can create smaller, two-layered versions for the bridesmaids. The Biedermeier style also translates well into large wedding reception centerpieces, which can grow to any diameter or height to suit large spaces.

Florists can create the tight circles characteristic of the Biedermeier style from the center outward, placing the flowers in a bouquet holder with a foam cage for structure. Your florist may disguise the plastic handle of the bouquet holder using ribbon streamers. A hand-tied Biedermeier bouquet is also possible, using long-stemmed flowers of choice.

caterpillars

Butterflies are always welcome in the flower garden. We plant nectar-rich butterfly flowers, hang up butterfly decor in the garden, and snap photos of butterflies on our flowers, to look up in field guides later. However, when butterfly babies, i.e. garden caterpillars, show up in the garden, they’re likely to be on the receiving end of a spray can full of insect killer.

Some caterpillars turn into moths, others turn into butterflies. Some caterpillars are pests; others are butterflies-to-be. How can flower gardeners discern one caterpillar type from another? How can we accommodate controlled munching from butterfly babies while ridding our gardens of uninvited gluttons?

Signs of Caterpillar Activity

Although we’ve all seen caterpillars in the garden, there’s usually more activity going on than meets the eye. Many caterpillars sport camouflage that helps them blend in to their host plant, but some even look like bird droppings, making them easy to overlook. You don’t have to wait until your plants are completely defoliated to determine the presence of caterpillars at work. Look for:

Eggs:The best way to distinguish caterpillar eggs from other insect eggs is to watch a butterfly crawling around on a host plant. As she moves across the host plant, look for the tiny specks she leaves behind. They may be laid singly or in clusters, and colors vary from white to yellow to green or brown.Leaf Holes:Chewing insect pests like beetles usually leave holes in the middle of foliage, but caterpillars start at the leaf’s edge and work inward. Look for ragged or scalloped leaf edges.Frass:This is the fancy term for “caterpillar poop.” Frass looks like pepper grains, deposited on the foliage adjacent to actively feeding caterpillars.Garden Caterpillar Identification

Gardeners interested in attracting butterflies to the garden must know how to identify their larvae, or else risk decimating the next generation of butterflies with a round of pesticides. If you’re unfamiliar with the larval visitors in your landscape, you should consider purchasing a caterpillar field guide. A good guide for beginners is the Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America from the Peterson First Guides series, which isn’t comprehensive for North America but can certainly expand your knowledge beyond the tomato hornworm and the “pretty stripy one.” The illustrations of 120 caterpillars include the adult form, and the text includes information about habitat, host plants, and defense mechanisms.

Host Plants of Egg-Laying Butterflies

Fortunately for flower gardeners, caterpillars are very picky about what they eat. This can help you to identify the “good” caterpillars according to the plant they’re feeding on. You can also plant specific host plants to attract caterpillars that turn into butterflies. Find a place for these flowering host plants, and look for these caterpillars in action:

Butterfly Weed: MonarchCalifornia Lilac: California HairstreakDogwood: Spring AzureHollyhock: Painted Lady and Gray HairstreakLupine: Boisdulval’s BlueMallow: Painted Lady and SkippersSpicebush: Spicebush SwallowtailViolet: Great Spangled FritillaryCaterpillar Pest Control

Perhaps you have both the invited and uninvited species of caterpillars in your garden. How can you get rid of one without harming the other? Even organic caterpillar control methods, like Bacillus thuringiensis, are harmful to butterfly larvae.

The least toxic way to get rid of unwanted caterpillars is to handpick them. Wear gloves, not just for the “ick” factor, but to prevent stings or rashes. Drop the pests into a bucket of soapy water as you pluck.

For vegetable crops you want to protect from caterpillars, use floating row covers. This is a great way to protect part of a crop you don’t want to share, like fennel or parsley, while sacrificing the rest to a desirable caterpillar species that will later be fluttering around your flowers.