Alert! - Impatiens

Current news from plantsman Doug Green at Simple Gifts Farm (see sidebar for website):

 “Downy Mildew is currently wiping out Impatiens plantings and breeding work across North America and this article is intended to give home gardeners enough information to make informed decisions about this disease and the alternatives they have.”

 Here's the story -

http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/downy-mildew-impatiens.html

 I will miss all that color in the garden and in pots!

 

Garden Cleanup

Since the Halloween snow and a hard frost most of the garden is looking sad. I’ve been working steadily on cleanup. I think I’m doing better this year than usual. I want to make sure I don’t have a lot of cleanup to do in spring when it’s time for mulch.

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Canna tubers (above) have been dug up and stored.
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Autumn Joy blooms have been cut back. I usually leave the seed heads for the birds but the snow smashed them to the ground. Iris and hibiscus have been cut in the background.

Most of the mums are cut.

The annuals are gone.

The pile awaits delivery to the city’s compost site.

More to do before the garden is ready for fall compost but I’ve got a good start.

Monkeyface Plant

Solanum mammosum

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I was introduced to this strange looking plant as Monkeyface plant. It is a tropical plant native to South America. It can be grown as an annual here in zone 6 if started indoors.

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The poisonous fruit is solid and about 2 to 3 inches long. The nasty thorns are at least ¼ long. The stem here is about ½ inch thick. It is grown for its ornamental value. Here it is used in a floral arrangement.

(Arrangement by Mary Jane Risch Associate Master of Ichiyo Ikebana School)

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Solanum mammosum is also known as Nipple Fruit, Titi Fruit, Apple of Sodom, Cow’s Udder.  

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I think I like the Monkeyface name best.

More information from Electronic Flora of South Australia.

Vacation – Party Time for Weeds

A quick post before I leave for vacation. I have a feeling the weeds will spread enthusiastically while I’m away.

Bonus plants.

In May, I planted three Super Elfin Lipstick Impatiens in front of Coleus Mariposa. All the other impatiens in the picture are self-sown from last year’s plants. I’ve had impatiens self-sew before but never in such profusion. I should have divided them but never got around to it. This part of the garden gets morning sun and bright shade in the afternoon. Must be an ideal spot for germination.

I’ll be gone for a couple of weeks. I think a little R&R will do us good – and give my sciatica a rest too. I’ll be checking in and reading my favorite blogs while I’m gone.

Let the weeds be damned.

Progress in the Garden

It’s been a perfect week in the garden – 60 or 70 degrees and lots of sunshine. Area gardeners are digging with joy.

The bamboo bean tepee is waiting for the pole beans planted last weekend, radishes are in the two leaf stage, cucumbers, flower boxes, canna are planted.

Zinnia seeds are in the ground. The roses have been fed. Lettuce is peeping out of the soil in the flower box.

The Euonymus, Pieris japonica, PJM, and lilacs need to be trimmed. Daylily and Brunnera need to be moved. The ivy covered bank needs to be cut back. There are weeds to pull and hoeing to be done.

But, 47 coleus plants (top picture), tomatoes, a bunch of impatiens, dusty miller, marigolds and other annuals (below) are ready for planting.

I plan a big planting day tomorrow. Everything else will have to wait. I'm almost giddy with anticipation.

Dan Schantz Greenhouse

Miles of Mums. Loads of Lilies. A plethora of Pansies.







Twenty-five acres of greenhouse space stretched in front of us on a cold March morning in Zionsville, PA. I visited one of four greenhouses in the Lehigh Valley owned by Dan Schantz.



This is the birthplace of ‘Dan’s Favorite’ tomato I wrote about last summer.

The computerized and automated process is a marvel of modern technology. Temperature is monitored by computer system. An alarm sounds if the temperature gets too high or too low. Most of the watering is programmed using recycled water. Hanging baskets move slowly overhead to the watering nozzle.
But much is done by hand. The greenhouses employ hundreds of workers.

Thousands of lilies are checked - one by one. The lily buds are measured against a template. If the bud gets too large the plant is moved to a cooler location to slow the process. All the lilies must bloom simultaneously for Easter.


Each tiny tomato seed is placed by hand in a grid of starting mix.
Tomatoes flourish in various stages of growth, from newly planted seed trays to small plants in neat rows. It is all timed to be ready for shipment in April or May.

The plants from Dan’s wholesale operation are shipped to big box stores and garden centers up and down the east coast. Retail stores are located on Lehigh Street in Allentown and W. Union Boulevard in Bethlehem.

It runs like a well-oiled machine and I saw how Dan’s favorite tomato got its start.

Coleus Combinations

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I’ve raved about coleus before. The brilliant colors, variety of sizes, ease of growing and propagation make them one of my favorite annuals. I’ve mentioned coleus at least a dozen times in the last 5 years. Type coleus in the search box at the top of the page if you want more.

Well, here I go again.

I like to combine coleus of similar hues or combine them with similar colored impatiens to make a color splash. Sometimes an opposite color will give it some pop. I sometimes plant 3 or 5 of the same variety in the ground to create a bush-like display.

This year’s display in pots -

and in the ground.

The possibilities are endless. It’s fun to experiment with combinations each year.


Distinguishing variety names of coleus is difficult. Sometimes the same variety has different name at another grower. Even though most varieties do best with some shade, the varieties will look different depending on the amount of sun they get. For help sorting through the varieties see “Coleus Finder” and Rosy Dawn Gardens.

There are a few ways to propagate coleus. Next time I’ll share my method.

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Hot, Dry Summer

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It has been a hot, dry summer here in eastern Pennsylvania. Several years ago, in an effort to conserve water, I decided to water only new plants, vegetables, plants in pots and a few annuals. I’ve been lucky the last few years. Summer temperatures have been mostly mild and rain has been adequate.

This year we have had several heat waves (temperature above 90 degrees for at least three days). Rainfall was at least 28% below normal in August.

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It was hard to keep my resolve as I watched the astilbe dry up and fade away. The Sedums are fine as expected. Many plants survive (almost thrive) in the August heat without supplemental watering.

Annuals in the sun:

(Above) Snow on the Mountain (Euphorbia marginata) with a few cosmos sprinkled in.

Dusty Miller doesn’t seem to mind the heat or dry.

Snapdragons hide in the herb garden.

Cosmos and Cleome sometime look a little droopy in the hot afternoon sun but nod prettily every morning.

Perennials in the sun:

Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare).

Yellow Coneflower Rudbeckia ‘Autumn Sun’ and ‘Sweet Autumn’ Clematis
Mums are in bud.

Perennials in shade or part shade in the afternoon

Lily Turf (Liriope muscari) – one tough plant.

Lavender 'Grosso’ planted in 2004 seems to thrive on neglect
Japanese Blood Grass (Imperator cylindrical) in a sea of Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) and Mexican Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa Siskiyou) ground covers.


There are many more survivors. The plants that don’t make it will have to be replaced with a tougher plant. My garden is no place for sissies.

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Poppy Seeds

I blogged about the Heavenly Angels Poppies (Papaver paeoniflorum) here and here.

Last week I got some garden therapy and collected seeds.

I cut the tops off and let them fall into a shoe box. A little shake and the seeds spill out of the tiny openings at the top of the pod.

After I clean out the leaves, the seeds will be ready to share with friends. I’ll spread some in my garden in December - to fill the garden with brilliant color next June.

It's good to be back in the garden.

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