Make plans now to join Melinda on her famous Garden Walks at Boerner Botanical Gardens in 2013! Download the schedule here.
Nationally renowned garden expert Melinda Myers helps everyday gardeners find success and ease in the garden through her Melinda’s Garden Moments radio segments. Melinda shares “must have” tips that hold the key to gardening success, learned through her more than 30 years of horticulture experience. Listeners from across the country find her gardener friendly, practical approach to gardening both refreshing and informative! On this page, Melinda shares some more extensive garden tips, which expand on the information provided in her one-minute radio segments.
New tips are added throughout each month, providing timely step-by-step tips on what you need to do next in your garden! Visit Melinda’s website www.melindamyers.com for more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and answers to your questions.
Add a bit of color and nutrition to your meals with home grown sweet potatoes.
Wait for the soil to warm to start planting this heat-loving vegetable. Plant slips, those are the sprouts from the tuberous roots, 4 inches deep and 12 inches apart. Those gardening in cooler regions and areas with a shorter growing season may want to use raised beds, floating row covers, and black mulch to warm the soil and speed growth.
Harvest young leaves to use in soups and stews or steamed and served with fish, okra, and chili peppers.
The tuberous roots are ready to harvest in 90 to 110 days. Carefully dig the tuberous roots before the first frost or when the tuberous roots are full size.
Once dug, cure the tuberous roots in an 80 degree F location with high humidity. Once cured, you can store your sweet potatoes in a cool, 65 degree F location for up to 5 months.
A bit more information: Don’t discard those sweet potatoes that sprout in storage. Make it a fun gardening activity for the family. Plant the sprouting sweet potato in a container of well-drained potting mix. Grow your new plant in a sunny window and water as needed. Sweet potatoes make a great indoor plant or take cuttings and start new plants for your garden.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
There’s a new tool to help us grow healthy, productive, and beautiful landscapes. All natural plant strengtheners, like JAZ spray, immunize plants against environmental stresses such as heat and drought, while building the plant’s natural defenses against insects and diseases.
Researchers discovered when some plants are stressed they produce certain molecules that help them better tolerate environmental stresses. They isolated the molecules and applied them to other plants. This improved the treated plants own natural defenses, much like immunizations do for us.
These products are not fertilizers that provide nutrients nor pesticides that kill the insects and diseases. These natural products improve plant health and resilience by strengthening their resistance.
This tool can help us deal with gardening challenges we can’t control. It also increases gardening success when busy schedules or lack of experience get in the way of providing ideal care.
A bit more information: Proper soil preparation, plant selection, and care are critical in growing beautiful, productive and healthy plants. As gardeners know, healthy plants are better able to tolerate environmental stress as well as insect and disease attacks. Monitor your plants’ health throughout the growing season. Uncovering problems early may be the difference between a little clean up and the need to treat. And, if treatment is needed, look for the most eco-friendly products available.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Memorial Day is a traditional planting weekend for many of us. Whether you are just getting started, changing out your seasonal displays or finishing up, consider adding sunflowers to your landscape.
These cheery plants are easy to plant and fun to watch grow. All you need are seeds and a bit of garden space or a large container located in a sunny spot in the yard.
Purchase the sunflower variety you desire. Grow Paul Bunyan or Mammoth if you want giant plants, or Elf and Teddy Bear for much shorter plants or use varieties with unique color like Starburst Lemon Arora, Peach Passion, Bashful or Shamrock shake.
Plant seeds in warm soil about 1 to 2 inches deep and keep the soil moist until the seeds sprout. Once the plants get growing, water thoroughly and as needed. Established plants are drought tolerant though you’ll get the best eating seeds when properly watered.
A bit more information: The common and botanical name for sunflower relate to the flower’s appearance and tendency to track the sun, a phenomenon known as heliotropism. It’s easy to see that the circle of bright yellow petals (really ray flowers) resemble the sun. The botanical name Helianthus comes from helios meaning sun and anthos for flower.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Memorial Day weekend may prompt visions of the red poppy known as Flanders or corn poppy. This beautiful flower inspired the poem In Flanders Field and is now the symbol of the American Legion.
You may want to add this colorful annual to your garden. The beautiful red flowers were once used as dye and for coloring red inks. The flowers appear in summer and attract bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies to the garden. Plus, the deer tend to leave these plants alone.
Plant seeds directly in the garden in fall or early spring. Allow the plants to set seed. If the seeds drop on bare soil and are left undisturbed seedlings will appear each year in your garden.
Grow these plants in full sun or light shade. They tolerate a wide range of soils. Just make sure the soil is moist and well-drained. Mature plants will grow 12 to 30 inches in height and look good in natural, informal, or formal gardens.
A bit more information: The Flander poppy’s close relative, oriental poppy, is a popular garden plant and cut flower. Grow it in full sun or partial shade in well-drained soil. Enjoy the late spring to early summer bloom. And don’t worry when the foliage disappears after the flowering. This is normal and you can partner it with a later blooming perennial to cover the void that’s left in your garden.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Early planting and unseasonably cool wet springs can cause bean and corn seeds to fail to sprout or fully develop. These seeds either rotted or were damaged by corn seed maggot.
This maggot feeds on germinating seeds, preventing the seed from sprouting or causing deformed seedlings that never fully develop. Avoid this problem by waiting until the soil warms before planting these crops. Quick germinating seeds are less susceptible to this damage.
Speed up germination by covering new plantings with row cover fabrics such as ReeMay, Grass-Fast and Harvest Guard. These products help trap heat around your new plantings, keeping them warmer while allowing air, light and water through.
You can replant failed plantings or make your first planting when the soil dries and both the air and soil are warm. Your patience will be rewarded with faster seed germination and faster growing plants.
A bit more information: Make late and second plantings of these and other short season crops to increase your garden’s productivity. Check the packet for the number of days from planting to harvest. Then make sure there are enough days left in your season by counting the number of days to the average first fall frost.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Add a little zip to your garden and meals by planting herbs.
Annuals like parsley and basil can be used as yearly additions and accents in the vegetable and flower garden. I like to use parsley and alyssum as an edge around my own garden. The alyssum provides a wonderful fragrance and the parsley is a nice flavorful contrast.
Consider using sage, chives, oregano, and other perennials as permanent members of your edible and ornamental gardens. Tuck perennial herbs and vegetables in the corner or end of your annual gardens safe from the tiller or spade when mixing them with annual plantings. Or better yet mix them with perennial flowers. Their texture and color make an attractive and edible addition to any flower garden.
Most herbs prefer full sun and well-drained soils. Harvest them as needed throughout the growing season. This will keep the plants looking good and provide you a steady supply of flavor.
A bit more information: Be careful when adding mint and other aggressive plants to any garden. I like to plant these hard-to-handle plants in a container on my patio or balcony. You can sink the container into the ground to reduce the need for watering. The container slows down the vigorous mint and makes it easier to keep under control in the landscape.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Give your tired perennial garden a boost without a total renovation. Topdressing your garden with compost every year or two provides most if not all the nutrients your perennials need.
Pull back the mulch if needed. Then spread an inch of compost over the soil surface. You can buy a quality compost or make your own.
Leave the compost on the surface or lightly mix it into the soil. The earthworms, ground beetles, and other organisms will take it from there – moving the compost into the soil and around the plant roots where it is needed.
Or, do a bit of vertical mulching. Use an auger bit on your cordless drill. Simply drill holes into the soil between plants. Then fill the holes with compost. This gets the compost closer to the plant roots and soil organisms that will help mix it into and improve the soil.
Soil preparation and repair will help transform your garden.
A bit more information: Apply a plant strengthener such as JAZ spray to increase plant vigor and their natural ability to tolerate environmental stresses, insect attacks, and disease problems. These natural products aren’t fertilizers or pesticides. They can be applied to established plants at the beginning of the season to boost their ability to deal with stress or as soon as problems arise.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Don’t let standing water, seasonal flooding, and poorly drained soils stop you from growing a beautiful landscape. Try one of these strategies to manage the excess water and create a healthy environment for your landscape plants.
Raise the plants above the water. Create berms and raised beds so the plant roots are growing above the seasonal standing water.
Create a traditional French drain in areas subject to flooding. These gravel filled trenches capture excess water and hold it below the soil surface so it can gradually seep into the ground below.
Or create a rain garden. They’re designed to capture runoff from roofs and hard surfaces that occurs after a rainstorm or water that naturally collects in low spots in the yard. They direct rainwater into the ground instead of the storm sewers.
And always call 811 before digging in. This free utility locating service can save you money and even your life.
A bit more information: For areas with damp soil select plants tolerant of moist or wet soils. These include plants such as dogwoods, chokeberry, elderberry, swamp milkweed, turtlehead, Ligularia, marsh marigold, Japanese and Siberian iris, sedges, and rushes. Make sure the plants are hardy to your area and tolerate the light and other growing conditions in that part of your landscape. For more plant suggestions, review lists of garden plants for your region.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Mother’s Day and flowers go hand-in-hand and this is especially true of the carnation.
The fragrant, beautiful, and long-lasting carnation has long been a part of many Mother’s Day celebrations. This tradition dates back to the early 1900’s, when Anna Jarvis, gave away 500 white carnations to honor her recently deceased mother. Each mother attending Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia received a flower. A few years later the official Mother’s Day holiday was established and many churches and families continued the carnation tradition.
Anna selected carnation because of their symbolism of love. Give light red carnations to someone you admire and dark red ones to convey love and affection. Share a white flower to signify purity or for a bit of luck and pink to show your gratitude.
And if you want the tradition to continue throughout the growing season, add a few annual, biennial or perennial carnations to your garden or containers.
A bit more information: Add some greenery and spring flowers from your garden to give your carnations a bit of homegrown beauty. Hosta leaves, evergreen boughs and ferns make nice green backdrops. Then add some color with Bleeding heart, hyacinths, tulips and branches of spring flowering shrubs.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Try a Native American tradition of planting corn, squash and beans - the three sisters’ method - together in your garden this year.
The Native Americans believed that corn, squash and beans were special gifts from the Great Spirit. Each of the crops was protected by the spirit of one of the three sisters. These sisters loved and needed each other just like the plants.
Plant the crops in raised areas called “hills” three feet apart. Each hill contains corn and beans. Every few hills contain squash.
Mixing crops like this, called interplanting, reduces the risk of insect and disease problems and increases the production.
Plant several seeds of corn in each hill. Plant the pole beans and squash once the corn is 4 to 6 inches tall.
The corn provides support for the pole beans. The beans take nitrogen from the air to feed the plants and the squash forms a living mulch.
A bit more information: If space is limited, try planting just a couple of hills and use bush type squash. You won't be harvesting much sweet corn, but you will have plenty of beans, squash, and memories to share at the end of the season.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Frame up a bit of living art to brighten a wall, soften a hard surface or add a focal point to your outdoor living space.
Owners of Distinctive Gardens converted a picture frame into a bit of living art. This small, easy to construct green wall will fit in any landscape, large or small.
Start with a shadow box or other deep display box or picture frame. Drill some holes in the bottom for drainage and on top for watering. Then fill with a well drained potting or succulent mix, depending on the plants you will be growing. Incorporate a slow release fertilizer at planting. Cover the potting mix with a piece of weed barrier to hold the soil in place.
Cut x’s into the fabric where succulents, sedums and other small scale plants will be placed. Anchor the weed barrier in place with the frame or staples.
Hang your living artwork in the proper amount of sunlight for the plants. Water thoroughly as needed.
A bit more information: Make it an edible piece of art. Try growing colorful greens in your picture frame. Harvest the outer leaves when they are 4 to 6 inches long to keep the plants producing. Use heat tolerant varieties and reseed as needed.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Don’t let limited space stop you from growing your own apples. Give the new Urban Columnar Apples a try.
Whether grown in the ground or a large container, this is a great way to bring the beauty and flavor of apples right to your backdoor.
The urban columnar apples grow 8 to 10 feet tall, but less than 2 feet wide. The main stem is loaded with short branches and lots of fruiting spurs. These healthy and disease resistant trees will start producing the first year as long as you have two varieties for pollination. Expect larger harvests as the trees mature.
The flowers are either pink or white and the apples are red or green and sweet or tart. Include at least two varieties for fruit production.
Use the plants as an edible screen, tall hedge, vertical accent, or focal point in the landscape. Plant them in a sunny location and water thoroughly as needed.
A bit more information: These apples are hardy in zones 4 to 9.Those gardening in cold climates will need to provide extra winter protection for container-grown fruit. Insulate the roots from temperature extremes by surrounding them with bales of straw or moving them into an unheated garage. Added root insulation will be beneficial there as well. Water overwintering containers thoroughly whenever the soil is thawed and dry.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Papyrus has been an important crop throughout history used for food, shelter, fiber, and medicine. In more recent times it has been popular as both an indoor and outdoor plant.
Include a few papyrus plants in your water gardens, container plantings, or flowerbed. It makes a great vertical accent while adding fine texture and motion to plantings.
Grow plants in full sun or part shade. They need moist soil and tolerate wet conditions.
Hardy in zones 9 and 10 the straight species grows 5 to 8 feet tall in most gardens and up to 15 feet in its native environment. King Tut is a dwarf variety that only grows 3 to 5 feet tall and Baby Tut is shorter at 18 to 24 inches.
Grow these plants indoors in bright light, moist soil and high humidity. Many gardeners grow papyrus in a well-drained potting mix with the container resting in a saucer filled with water.
A bit more information: Start new plants for your garden from cuttings or divisions. Cut an 8 to 10 inch stem with leaves attached. Then place the cutting, leafy – yes leafy – side down in water. In a few weeks new growth will appear near the leaves. Divide mature plants into 2, 4 or 6 pieces and repot into a container slightly larger than the root ball or mix with other plants in a larger pot.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Celebrate Clean Air Month – Grow Some Air-Purifying Houseplants
Celebrate National Clean Air Month by growing a few houseplants to improve your indoor air quality.
NASA teamed up with PLANET (Professional Landcare Network, formerly ALCA) and found adding 15 to 18, 6 to 8 inch diameter container houseplants will improve the air quality in an 1800 square foot house. Keeping them healthy will increase their beauty and ability to cleanse the air.
Consider adding a bamboo palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii). Use this large houseplant to create a warm welcome for guests, dress up a blank wall or mix in with other houseplants for an impressive indoor garden.
This palm is an understory plant in Central America. It is hardy in zones 10 to 11 and adapted to the lower light conditions indoors. Grow it in a brightly lit location and keep the soil slightly moist.
Cut off fronds as they die, leaving the leafy stem covering intact. Once it is fully dried, remove to expose the attractive stems.
A bit more information: Start new plants by division. Remove suckers and offshoots that form at the base of the plant. Slide the bamboo palm out of its pot. Use a sharp knife or drywall saw to separate the offshoots from the main plant. Repot the parent plant and offshoots in a container slightly larger than the remaining root ball.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
We get your letters...
What an amazing weekend!
First of all, a very big THANK YOU to everyone who came out to Grafton and Mukwonago and waited in line amid cold, windy and rainy conditions for those Wisconsin Dells Season Opener Cards.
For me, it is a chance to meet / hang out with YOU the listener and give you goodies!
Second, got this letter from our 99.1 The Mix Contact Us forum, from the Dawson family of Port Washington and was truly surprised that my "simple gesture" warranted the following...
Question: Your Name:
Answer: Michelle
Question: Your City:
Answer: Port Washington
Comments:
Yesterday I took my parents to Grafton to wait for season opener cards. It was quite a cold morning. We arrived at 10 because in the past there have been huge lines. My mother is recovering from a recent open-heart surgery. She is a very petite older woman.
Van McNeil was interacting with people people in line and I asked him if it would be possible for my mom to going to the bank to warm up. He unexpectedly took my mom's hand and escorted her into the building. He was so kind to her and gave her a hug. He made sure she was warm and dry and took very good care of her.
My mom and dad are thrilled to be going to the Dells. Unknown to Van my dad just got out of The hospital last Friday after 4 1/2 weeks of being in. It's been a very rough couple of months for my parents and their health. My mother was just beaming about how nice Van was.
I wanted to thank you for the season opener cards which will allow my parents and my family to enjoy a vacation in Wisconsin this summer, and send a special thank you to Van for being so wonderful to my parents.
You're welcome and THANK YOU Michelle!
Just doing what I do because that's how my mama raised me!
Enjoy the Dells!
-Van
#everylistenermatters
Perennial Garden Renovations
Give your tired perennial garden a boost without a total renovation. Topdressing your garden with compost every year or two provides most if not all the nutrients your perennials need.
Pull back the mulch if needed. Then spread an inch of compost over the soil surface. You can buy a quality compost or make your own.
Leave the compost on the surface or lightly mix it into the soil. The earthworms, ground beetles, and other organisms will take it from there – moving the compost into the soil and around the plant roots where it is needed.
Or, do a bit of vertical mulching. Use an auger bit on your cordless drill. Simply drill holes into the soil between plants. Then fill the holes with compost. This gets the compost closer to the plant roots and soil organisms that will help mix it into and improve the soil.
Soil preparation and repair will help transform your garden.
A bit more information: Apply a plant strengthener such as JAZ spray to increase plant vigor and their natural ability to tolerate environmental stresses, insect attacks, and disease problems. These natural products aren't fertilizers or pesticides. They can be applied to established plants at the beginning of the season to boost their ability to deal with stress or as soon as problems arise.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Growing Banana Plants Indoors or Out
Add a bit of the tropics indoors or out with a banana plant.
The large leaves are great for screening views and creating a bit of privacy on a balcony, patio or in the yard. Add a wicker planter or chair and you have your own tropical get-away.
The fiber banana (Musa basjoo) is hardy in zones 5 to 11. It grows in full sun. It will die back to the ground and benefit from winter mulch in northern areas of its hardiness zone.
Less hardy and smaller, the blood banana (Musa acuminata 'Zebrina'), has large leaves with red markings on 6 to 8 foot plants. It's only hardy in zones 10 to 11, but can be overwintered as a houseplant or allowed to go dormant in other areas.
Combine these tropical beauties with palms, ginger and bird-of-paradise. Or add some hardy tropical look-alikes such as Japanese forest grass, large leaf hostas and trumpet vines.
A bit more information: Push the limits of your growing region with special wintering techniques developed by Dr. David Francko, author of Palms Won't Grow Here and Other Myths: Warm-Climate Plants for Cooler Areas. And for those in warmer regions check out Creating the Tropical Look.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Preserving the Asparagus Harvest
Preserve the flavor and nutrition of asparagus to enjoy year round.
This flavorful vegetable is low in calories and high in Vitamins A and C as well as fiber. Unfortunately, it is most readily available and at the best price in the spring.
Insure the best flavor with proper harvesting. Select young tender spears 8 to 10 inches tall. Wash, remove the ends, and then cut to fit the freezer bag or container.
Blanch the asparagus before freezing to lock in flavor, color and texture. Dip the asparagus into boiling water. You'll need a large pan with a lid. Blanch small spears for 2 minutes, medium spears for 3 minutes and large spears for 4 minutes.
Remove and immediately set the blanched spears in ice water for 5 minutes to cool. Drain and freeze.
And, if you don't have an asparagus patch, you may want to consider planting one this year.
A bit more information: May is National Asparagus Month. For tips on planting and harvesting asparagus listen to my audio tip. And check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation website for helpful tips and guidelines for preserving your harvest.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida)
Add a little color and flavor to your garden and salads with Mexican tarragon.
This subtle beauty is really a type of marigold, but the leaves and flowers have a tarragon fragrance and flavor.
Wait until after the danger of frost has passed to plant this zone 8 to 10 hardy plant. Grow it in full sun to part shade and well-drained soils. It is somewhat drought tolerant. Northern gardeners can treat it like an annual and those in the northern range of its hardiness zone may see it die back to the ground in a hard freeze. But don't worry its root hardy.
The yellow flowers appear in late summer and persist through fall. The 14 to 20 inch tall plants make a nice addition to herb gardens and flowerbeds.
Harvest the new growth to use fresh. Preserve the flavor by freezing the leaves or storing in vinegar. They tend to lose their flavor when dried.
A bit more information: You can find this plant listed under several common names including Mexican tarragon, Texas tarragon, pericon, and sweet mace. No matter the common name you can use the leaves and blossoms in soups, sauces and chicken dishes as well as salads. Some gardeners even seep it for tea. Visit Bonnie Plants for more information and gardeners ideas for growing and using this plant in the garden.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Year of the Watermelon
Year of the Watermelon
The National Garden Bureau has declared 2013 the Year of the Watermelon. Be part of the celebration and consider planting watermelon in this year's garden.
Don't let the sweet flavor deceive you – these are nutritious as well as delicious. High in Vitamin C, low in fat and calories - it is a great way to boost your energy. Plus, all parts are edible.
You can pickle the rind, eat the fleshy portion fresh or roast or grind the seeds for flavoring. In china they stir fry watermelon while the Russians often pickle it before eating. You may want to try some new ways of enjoying this tasty summer treat.
Grow watermelon in full sun and well-drained soils. Save space by growing these plants on a trellis or decorative obelisk. Just secure the heavy fruit to the support with a cloth or macramé sling. Or plant a few seeds in a container and let the vines wander over your balcony or trellis.
A bit more information: Try planting one of the large picnic-type watermelons that can weigh 15 to 50 pounds. These are sure to get everyone in the family excited about growing and eating this, the largest edible fruit in the United States. Or perhaps you want to try one of the icebox melons that is much smaller at 5 to 15 pounds and easier to squeeze into the fridge. And don't forget about those with unique colored rinds and flesh and of course those that lack seeds.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Clematis Stem Wilt
Clematis Stem Wilt
Your clematis looks beautiful until suddenly the stems and leaves start turning black. Though it looks bad your clematis will survive.
The fungus that causes this disease enters your plant through wounds and cracks in the stem near ground level. Fortunately new growth arising below this point will be disease free.
Reduce future problems by pruning out and destroying infested stems. Disinfect tools between cuts to reduce the risk of spreading this disease.
As new growth emerges from the soil carefully secure it to the support to reduce the risk of cracking and damage. Eliminating the entryways for the fungus will reduce the risk of disease.
In the future consider planting the crown of the clematis below the soil surface. This allows the plant to produce new shoots below the point of infection.
Try growing small flowered clematis that tend to resist this disease. Alpina, macropetala and the viticella types are a few to consider.
A bit more information: For a disease to occur you must have the causal organism (fungus, bacteria, virus) present, disease-promoting weather and susceptible plants. Remove one of these factors and you eliminate the disease. Keep this in mind when managing clematis stem wilt and other plant diseases in your garden.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
I'm a fan, are you?
Who doesn't LOVE a good Roller Coaster? Am I right?! I've been so very lucky to been have rasied in the Midwest, a stones throw away from Six Flags Great America, where I practicaly spent my summers as kid with my best bud Edgar!
Mom and dad would drop us off at open and pick us up at close. 10a-10p. Don't think I could handle that now. Heck, I could barley make it on one run of Batman The Ride Backwards!
Yes, that's right, for a limited time this season, (BTW... I tried to find out when from officials, they wouldn't budge, so get there soon!) Batman The Ride will be running BACKWARDS!!
MOBILE USERS: Click here to WATCH Van rides Batman: The Ride Backwards!
www.SixFlags.com
My Lucky Brewers Socks
I've been wearing these sock to the last few games I have attended at Miller Park and the crew always wins when I have them on. Do you think my socks lucky?
Matt Nathanson AND Plain White T's coming to Festa!
YES! That headline is correct...Matt Nathanson AND the Plain White T's will be performing at Festa Italiana, Saturday night, July 20th and I have the honor of being your ON STAGE HOST!!
I'm super stoked and looking forward to hanging with Platinum-selling singer-song writer Matt Nathanson, and Grammy-nominated Chicago-bred Plain White T's again!
Check out the videos from both groups last visit to The Mix Studios:
WATCH Matt Nathanson Interview and Performance.
WATCH Plain White T's Interview and Performance.
Watch for and Prevent Borers on Trees and Shrubs
Extreme heat and cold, droughts and floods can leave our plants stressed and more susceptible to damaging borers.
These insects are the immature stage of moths and beetles that feed under the bark and inside the stems of plants. Their feeding weakens and in some cases kills the plant.
Many borers are opportunists, attacking already stressed trees. We can't control the weather but we can help reduce stress on our plants. Start by growing plants suited to the climate and growing conditions in your landscape.
Mulch the area under and around the base of trees and shrubs. Organic mulches like wood chips keep the roots cool and moist and reduce competition from grass and weeds.
Be sure to water new plantings thoroughly and as needed the first few years. And do the same for established trees and shrubs during extended drought. This will keep them healthy and help ward off borers.
A bit more information: Incorporate trees and shrubs into perennial planting beds. You will create an attractive garden and better environment for the plants. Plus, planting beds as well as mulching will reduce the need for hand trimming and will keep weed whips and mowers away from the trunks of the trees. And don't pile soil or mulch over the stems of shrubs and the trunks of trees. These practices create entryways for pests and encourage disease problems.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Lawn Revival
If sparse, bare spots or lots of weeds describe your lawn, it is time for a little lawn revival.
Start by evaluating the current state of your lawn. If more than 60% is bare or filled with weeds, it is time to start over. Look at this as an opportunity to properly prepare the soil, select a more drought tolerant lawn or convert it into a no mow or low maintenance lawn or planting bed.
Overseed thin sparse lawns. Core aerate first or use a slit seeder to insure good seed-to-soil contact. For small bare spots use a lawn patch kit or make your own. Mix a handful of quality grass seed into a bucket of topsoil. Remove any dead grass and roughen the soil surface. Then sprinkle the commercial or homemade lawn patch over the prepared bare spot.
Keep the soil moist until the grass seed begins to grow.
A bit more information: Larger areas will benefit from the addition of organic matter into the top 6 inches of soil before sowing the grass seed or laying sod. Keep the soil moist until the sod has rooted into the soil below and the grass seed begins to grow. Consider overseeding the lawn to help create a more uniform appearance in the lawn. For more information, click here.
For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com
Researchers discovered when some plants are stressed they produce certain molecules that help them better tolerate environmental stresses. They isolated the molecules and applied them to other plants. This improved the treated plants own natural defenses, much like immunizations do for us.
Early planting and unseasonably cool wet springs can cause bean and corn seeds to fail to sprout or fully develop. These seeds either rotted or were damaged by corn seed maggot.
Annuals like parsley and basil can be used as yearly additions and accents in the vegetable and flower garden. I like to use parsley and alyssum as an edge around my own garden. The alyssum provides a wonderful fragrance and the parsley is a nice flavorful contrast.
The fragrant, beautiful, and long-lasting carnation has long been a part of many Mother’s Day celebrations. This tradition dates back to the early 1900’s, when Anna Jarvis, gave away 500 white carnations to honor her recently deceased mother. Each mother attending Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia received a flower. A few years later the official Mother’s Day holiday was established and many churches and families continued the carnation tradition.
Include a few papyrus plants in your water gardens, container plantings, or flowerbed. It makes a great vertical accent while adding fine texture and motion to plantings.
