Pollinators

Good morning! It appears that research has shown polluted air affects the pollinators in that they cannot smell the plants they are trying to find! This may account for the bee die off, or Colony Collapse Disorder. This is not proven, but seems logical as the bees don't see well. They utilize the odor to find the plants.
You will notice many of these plants are in the category of wild flowers, or naturalized plants. They are very easy to grow since they don't require much care. If you've been reading my recent articles, most of them are good candidates for Xeriscapes and Rain Gardens.
I guess my point is that perhaps we should try to utilize this list of plants as we replace plantings in our gardens.


Vulnerable Plants-Monday, May 5, 2008 Washington Post
Written by Juliet Eilperin

Ozone pollution not only affects pollinators but also directly harms many plants and flowers, according to a recent report.

Vulnerable Plants

Gary M. Lovett of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and Timothy H. Tear of the Nature Conservancy listed a wide variety of East Coast vegetation that is considered vulnerable to air pollution in a paper titled "Effects of Atmospheric Deposition on Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States."

Tear said the effects of ozone on ecosystems "have been underestimated by society and conservation, as well." The list of vulnerable plants they found on National Park Service or Fish and Wildlife land includes:

· Evening primrose

· Huckleberry

· Loblolly pine

· Jack pine

· Pitch pine

· Table-mountain pine

· Monterey pine

· Jeffrey pine

· Red elderberry

· Blue elderberry

· Yellow poplar

· Tall milkweed

· Mugwort

· Virginia creeper

· Quaking aspen

· American sycamore

· Black cherry

· Choke cherry

· Ponderosa pine

· Thimbleberry

· Cutleaf coneflower

· Sassafras

· Goldenrod

· Speckled alder

· American hazelnut

· Sweet mock

· Spreading dogbane

· Yellow buckeye

THE WATER WISE GARDENER

I have written about Rain Gardens and Xeriscapes. I'd like to do a posting on "Water Wise Gardening". I'll bet all of you reading this blog have little methods that help YOU save water in, around or on your gardens. I'd LOVE to hear about them, so PLEASE write me here and tell me your ideas!
When I've collected a bunch, I'll share them with all of you! My idea is to combine the Rain Garden and Xeriscape ideas under the general title of "Water Wise Gardening". I'll put them into a Power Point Presentation and use it as a presentation for groups looking for something like that. What do you think?

MAY GARDENING CHORES

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MAY

Tulips should be dead-headed(remove spent flower)

The grass can be mowed when it reaches 3-4 inches (sorry, but
it IS that time again!)

Hold off mulching until the soil is warm, or you'll just keep
the cold in!

You can now plant lettuce, beans, corn and carrots right in the
soil.

Tomatoes can be planted when the lilacs bloom. You might sprinkle
a teaspoon of Epsom salts into the hole where they go to provide magnesium.

Marigolds, zinnias and even nasturtiums are good to plant in and around
your vegetables as well as the flower beds. They repel insects!

You can begin to plant gladiolas at 2 week intervals

You can fertilize any bulbs that are up.

Stake your peonies before they get too big. This applies to other tall growing plants. Get the stakes in the ground before they get too tall.

Cut back your tall perennials like bee balm and phlox to control their height.

Harvest rhubarb by grabbing it at the base of the stalk and pulling firmly away from the crown, twisting just a bit. Be sure to throw the leaves into the compost as they are poisonous!

You can prune your spring blooming shrubs just as soon as the flowers have faded.

Dead head your lilacs.

Don't forget to dead head your bulbs as well. Leave the foliage, but take out the spent flower heads.

Have you got Hosta's? Are there slugs chewing them? Try this solution, if you haven't already.
Combine 9 parts water to common household ammonia and spray it on the hosta just before dark. When the slugs hit this, they will dissolve!

Check the apple, cherry, and other fruit trees for nests of tent caterpillars. As soon as the tender, new leaves emerge, so will the caterpillars. Their destruction is just awful! Try blasting them with a strong stream of water from the hose. Bt will also work if you can get it up there. Maybe the use of a sprayer will be practical in this case. I also understand that the Praying Mantis is a big time enemy of tent caterpillars. Perhaps you should order some of those! They should be released into the affected tree at the same time the caterpillars emerge. If you place them before their dinner appears, they will find another yard to in which to chow down.

Plant Annuals no sooner than May 30th!

Any questions about May?

XERISCAPE PLANTS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE

The following is a list of plant materials well adapted for water-wise landscaping in New Hampshire.

Ornamental Grasses: Alopecurus pratensis, Foxtail grass, Zone 4 Deschampsia cespitosa, Tufted Hair Grass, Zones 4 & 5 Molina arundinacea, Purple Moor Grass, Zones 4 & 5 Phalaris arundinacea, Ribbon Grass, Zone 4

Trees and Shrubs: Acer negundo, Box elder Cotoneaster spp Crataegus spp., Hawthorn Juniperus spp, Junipers Kalmia latifolia, Mountain Laurel Prunus Americana, American plum Rosa Rugosa, Beach Rose Syringa spp, lilac

Perennial Flowers Achillea spp, Yarrow, Zone 3 Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly Weed, Zone 3 Baptisia australis, False Indigo, Zone 3 Coreopsis spp, Zone 3 Dianthus plumarius, Grass Pink, Cottage Pink, Zone 3 Echinacea purpurea, Purple Coneflower, Zone 3 Gypsophila paniculata, Baby's Breath, Zone 3 Hemerocallis spp, Daylily, Zones 3-4 Perovskia atriplicifolia, Russian Sage, Zone 5 Rudbeckia spp., Black-eyed Susan, Zones 3-4 Sedum spp., Stonecrop, Zones 3-4 Stachys spp, Lamb's Ears, Zone 4

Annual Flowers Cleome spinosa, Spiderflower Coreopsis tinctoria Euphorbia marginata, Snow-on-the-Mountain Gailardia pulchella, Blanket Flower Helianthus annus, Sunflower Portulaca grandiflora Tithonia rotundifolia, Mexican Sunflower Salvia farinacea, Blue Salvia

For Additional Information Please contact the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau at (603) 271-2513 or dwgbinfo@des.state.nh.us or visit our website at www.des.nh.gov/dwgb. All of the bureau’s fact sheets are on-line at www.des.nh.gov/dwg.htm. Xeriscape Council of New Mexico. Complete discussion of the seven principles of xeriscape www.xeriscapenm.com/Principles.html University of Vermont, Department of Plant and Soil Science. Detailed description of how to grow ornamental grasses. http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/articles/orngrass.html Wild Ones Natural Landscapers, Ltd. Discussion about landscaping with native plants. Though geared to the Midwest, has some useful information. www.for-wild.org/ References: _____; MIL-Handbook-1165, Water Conservation; US Dept. of Defense; 1997; pp 67-73. Vickers, Amy; Handbook of Water Use and Conservation; WaterPlow Press, Amherst, MA; 2001; pp 140-223. Note: This fact sheet is accurate as of January 2007. Statutory or regulatory changes, or the availability of additional information after this date may render this information inaccurate or incomplete.

XERISCAPING-MAINTAIN YOUR LANDSCAPE

Maintain your landscape
Low-maintenance is one of the benefits of xeriscape. It should help free you from many common garden chores. One of these is weeding. Keeping the weeds from growing up through the mulch may require some attention. When you begin your garden, be sure to pay some extra attention to it as the garden is becoming established. Thickening the layer of mulch will help. It is so much easier to pull out a single weed, than have a ton of them to deal with!
Turf areas should not be cut too short - taller grass is a natural self-mulch which shades the roots and helps retain moisture. Do not cut your grass any shorter than 3 inches. Also, to make your life easier, don't rake the clippings up, unless you forget to cut and have clumps of grass spread around the lawn. That will effectively kill the grass below it!
Also, in order to make your life a bit easier, so you don't have to cut too often, avoid over-fertilizing. If you over-fertilize, the grass needs more of everything. Don't bother. Instead save the money and go out to dinner!

XERISCAPE IRRIGATION

Irrigate
Water conservation is the goal with xeriscaping, so avoid over-watering at all costs. Soaker hoses and drip-irrigation systems offer the easiest and most efficient watering for xeriscapes because they deliver water directly to the base of the plant. This reduces moisture loss from evaporation. They also deliver the water at a slow rate which encourages root absorption and reduces pooling and erosion. In general, it's best to water deeply and less frequently.
If you haven't got the ability to use drip-irrigation systems, just lay your hose on the ground at the base of the plant, and turn the hose barely on. In other words create your won "trickle" system! Allow it to stay there for 10-15 minutes per plant. Remember, the water should BARELY be running. You want it to soak in without running off at all. This will take some running back and forth to the garden, but once the plants are established, you shouldn't need to do this but a couple of times during the summer and only at the DRIEST times.
My garden is strictly "on it's own". It's too far from a hose to even do this, so if the plants don't survive, I've learned something. I won't buy that kind of plant again.
When I plant, I water deeply and carefully. With the mulch on nice and thick, the plants should be absolutely fine.

MULCH ON XERISCAPE

Mulch
Cover the soil's surface around plants with a mulch, such as leaves, coarse compost, pine needles, wood chips, bark or gravel. Mulch helps retain soil moisture and temperature, prevent erosion and block out competing weeds. Organic mulch will slowly incorporate with the soil, and will need more applied, "top-dressed", from time to time. To be effective, mulch needs to be several inches thick. There should be no areas of bare soil.