Vol. 14, No.1 January/February 2010 University of Illinois Extension, Pike County Horticulture Newsletter Pike County 1301 E. Washington St. Pittsfield, IL 62363 Phone: (217) 285-5543 Fax: (217) 285-5735 If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in any program we offer, please contact University of Illinois Extension, Pike County at 217-285-5543. Articles in This Issue: Looking for Email Addresses .............................. 1 Upcoming Events ................................................. 1 Other Upcoming Extension Activities ................. 2 You Can’t Text a Tomato .................................... 2 Predicting A Plant’s Winter Survivability ........... 3 Roach Control in Home ...................................... 4 New Plants for 2010 ........................................... 4 Propagating House Plants................................... 5 Miniature Roses Make Nice Valentine’s Gifts.... 6 Extending Life of Fresh Flowers ........................ 6 Timely Landscaping Activities ............................ 7 The Master Gardener’s Plot ................................ 8 The Language of Flowers ................................... 9 Looking for Email Addresses If you would like to receive your “Down To Earth” horticulture newsletter via email, please email cwestfal@illinois.edu with your address. And, if you are not interested in receiving this newsletter, please let us know and we can discontinue mailing it to you. We really appreciate your help! Upcoming Events Winter 2010 Horticulture Telenets Offered They all begin at 1:00 p.m. Please call our office at (217) 285-5543 by the deadline for each session. ideal conditions. They can also provide multi-season interest, even in the winter months. Specific ferns and growing conditions will be discussed during this hourplus program. Deadline to register: February 19, 2010. The Elusive Morel March 9 at 1:00 p.m.. This program will cover the basics of mushroom classification and identification, with an emphasis on the various species of morels and the non-morel look-alikes. Tips for hunting the morel mushroom will be discussed, as well as safety in the woods and hunting etiquette—making this program especially useful to the novice morel hunter. Deadline to register: March 5, 2010. A Gardener’s Guide to Plant Propagation March 23 at 1:00 p.m. Propagation simply means to reproduce or make new plants. There are many ways to “make more plants.” This session will focus on a variety of propagation techniques and try to take away some of the mystery so that you succeed. Soon, you may have more plants than you thought possible. Deadline to register: March 19, 2010. Registration Details: Each session is $5. Handout materials will be in color. Advance registration is needed one week before the program you attend. If you would like a CD of the program, please add an additional $2. The 2010 Spring session will include: Ferns in the Landscape Vegetable Gardening in Small Yard Spaces – April 13 Don’t Fear the Shade Garden – April 27 The Bountiful Flower Garden – May 11 February 23 at 1:00 p.m. Many garden-worthy ferns can thrive under less-than- Watch the next newsletter for more details! Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter 2 Other Upcoming Extension Activities You Can’t Text a Tomato All workshops and classes listed will be held at University of Illinois Extension, Pike County, 1301 E. Washington St., Pittsfield, Illinois (we are located in the Pike County Farm Bureau building.) Please call us at (217) 285-5543 for more information or to register. Sandra Mason, U of I Horticulture & Environment Educator Food or Supplements? What’s the Answer? – February 9 at 1:30 p.m. What is a dietary supplement? Should you take a supplement? Will a supplement interact with your prescription medication? Answers to these questions and more will be presented at the local leader lesson “Supplements or Food”. 15-Hour Food Service Sanitation Manager’s Class Starts Monday, February 22 from 5:15 – 9:15 p.m. The class will be held four Monday’s . Cost for the four classes is $50 plus the cost of a handbook for $25. Deadline to register is February 15. Held at University of Illinois Extension Office.’ Pike County 4-H Extension Foundation Taters To Go Fund Raiser – February 26 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Individuals and businesses can order a baked potato along with a variety of toppings for $4 and a bowl of chili for $2. Pre ordering is recommended by 4:30 p.m. on February 25. Dine-in is available. 5-Hour Food Service Sanitation Manager’s Refresher Course – Will be held March 17 from 1:00 – 6:30 p.m. Deadline to register is March 12. The class will be held at University of Illinois Extension Office. The class fee is $25. Pastry & Pies Workshop – March 30 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Workshop is $10 which will cover supplies and handouts. Call us at 285-5543 to reserve a spot for you. Advanced Breadmaking – April 13 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. If you have participated in the breadmaking workshop in the past or are an occasional bread baker, this workshop is for you. $10 will cover the cost of supplies and handouts. Call and reserve your seat now by calling us at 285-5543. As we look to a new year, talk show banter revolves around change; what changes we have seen over the last decade and conjecture as to what changes we will see during the next years. Of course much of it revolves around technology. I'm at the age where I drag one foot in the old and stick a toe in the new which is summed up in the look on kids' faces when I reminisce about the time before internet and iPods. The same look I gave my grandmother when she talked about the time before electricity and indoor toilets. You can't text a tomato or unfriend an onion. As much as I enjoy new fangled contraptions, I find great comfort in knowing gardening hasn't changed all that much over the years. We still plant seeds. (Although some of us do buy transplants when we are feeling really wild.) Plants grow by using air, water, nutrients and energy from the sun to make their own food. We take advantage of their food making ability by eating the fruits of their labor. I enjoy reading old garden books. Much of the advice in the old books mirrors the advice of the new books. "Plant tomatoes after frost." "Don't plant seeds too deep." And of course both the old and the new include lots of discussion about manure. One garden book I enjoy reading is A-B-C of Vegetable Gardening by Eben Rexford published in 1916, a part of Harper's AB-C series including A-B-C of Housekeeping, A-B-C of Correct Speech, A-B-C of Good Form and others. Evidently they had "Dummy" series back then too. Popular vegetables to grow in 1916 were pretty much the same as today: asparagus, beans, cucumbers, radish, squash, rhubarb, tomatoes and potatoes. Of carrots Rexford said, "Comparatively few persons give this plant a place in their gardens, but it richly deserves a place there because of its value as an article of food as well as because of its health-giving qualities." Even in 1916 carrots were considered healthy. Interestingly broccoli and sweet potatoes were not mentioned. Despite all the similarities between the old and new gardening books, some things have changed including our tastes. Rexford's 1916 book states, "The currant is one of the garden's indispensables. It furnishes us with fruit of just the right degree of tart acidity… and who Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter does not get a deal of enjoyment out of a green currant pie?" I'd venture to say most of us have never experienced that enjoyment. Much can be learned about gardening influences through cookbooks such as The Everyday Cookbook and Encyclopedia of Practical Recipes by Miss E. Neil published in 1892. It includes not commonly seen recipes for pickled mushrooms and calves' feet jelly. The book also details home care tips such as how to clean corsets and rid homes of vermin. In 1892 the mosquito repellent recipe states "Rub exposed parts with kerosene. The odor is not noticed after a few minutes, and children especially are much relieved by its use." And we think our mosquito repellants stink. The 1892 Everyday Cookbook includes recipes for treating everything from dog bites to drunkenness. One caught my attention entitled "to restore from stroke of lightening." For this affliction the book suggests, "Shower with cold water for two hours; if the patient does not show signs of life, put salt in the water, and continue to shower an hour longer." At least no one can say they didn't try. The 1892 cookbook also lays out some life recipes. "Laugh heartily, laugh often…let the gladness of your hearts bubble up once in a while, and overflow in a glad, mirthful laugh." Let's follow this recipe for our new year. Predicting a Plant's Winter Survivability Sandra Mason, U of I Horticulture & Environment Educator Once we settle into our winter survivability our thoughts pass to whether our landscape plants will survive. One of the first questions to ask in winter plant survival is what is the plant's hardiness zone rating. The National Arbor Day Foundation in 2004 revised the1999 United States Department of Agriculture plant hardiness map. It may seem counter to our winter but The Arbor Day map lists several areas in a warmer zone. USDA lists much of our area as zone 5b with an average annual minimum temperature of -10 to -15 degrees F. National Arbor Day lists us as zone 5 at -10 to -20 degrees F or zone 6 at 0 to -10 degrees F. The smaller the number the more cold hardy a plant's rating. To find your zone just go to the website and type in your zip code. http://www.arborday.org/media/zones.cfm 3 However cold hardiness maps are only indicators. How well an individual plant will survive depends on additional factors such as the overall health of the plant, plant maintenance techniques, planting site, plant maturity and what stage of growth it's in when cold hits. Healthy plants will survive cold temperature better than plants entering winter in poor health. Some diseases may actually predispose plants to winter injury. Plants weakened by drought or root rot are more prone to cold injury. Generally more mature plants will survive cold stress better than newly established plants. A deep snow cover helps plants to survive severely cold temperatures and may help to keep them dormant if we get a winter warming. Snow is one of the best plant insulators. (See there is something good about snow.) Hardiness is also affected by the return of warm temperature. A few days of warm weather in mid to late winter can reduce plant cold hardiness significantly especially in trees and shrubs. Once cold hardiness is lost from late winter warming, the plant cannot return to the same level of hardiness. If mild winter temperatures continue, then damage is not likely. However should severe cold temperatures return the plant may be damaged. Gradually colder temperatures are less stressful on plants than a sharp drop in temperature. If severe cold temperatures hit when a plant is not quite dormant in the fall or if it's coming out of dormancy in the spring, the plant may not survive down to the -10 degrees its rating declares. Just like my feet and hands are consistently icebergs, not all plant parts are equally winter hardy. Cold temperature which destroys peach blossoms may do very little, if any harm to the peach tree. Our late spring frosts often damage the magnolia and peach blossoms but the plants continue to thrive. Also flower buds are more cold hardy than the open flowers. For example dormant blueberry flower buds can tolerate minus 20 degrees F whereas the open flower buds can be damaged at 28 degrees F. Hardiness zone ratings don't take into account microclimates. Your backyard may have a slightly different microclimate than your neighbor's. Areas with south facing brick walls, courtyards, areas near concrete parking lots, or near bodies of water may be warmer. Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter We won't know for sure the extent of plant damage until spring. Don't be too anxious to pronounce a plant dead. Many times twigs may die but enough of the plant remains to resprout. Once the snow melts be on the look out for plant roots that have been frost heaved out of the soil. Rather than squishing roots back down, just place some mulch or soil over the roots as soon as possible. Much of gardening is experimental. An old garden adage is "You have to kill a plant at least three times before you can consider it not hardy." And a dead plant is a shopping opportunity. Roach Control in the Home 4 your local Extension office may also be needed. Spray the insecticide into cracks and crevices along baseboards and around cabinets, appliances and pipes where they enter the apartment. Since the cockroaches are hungry and have few places to hide, thanks to your sanitation and caulking, the insecticide will be much more effective. Make sure to read and follow the directions on the label. Keep insecticide applications away from pets and children. Improper control of cockroaches is usually due to any or all of the above procedures not being followed. In an apartment building, the refusal of one tenant to fully cooperate in a control program may result in his apartment being a source of re-infestation for the entire building. David Robson, U of I Horticulture Educator Cockroach control is a problem that requires more than one approach. Sanitation, caulking and insecticide use are the important parts of good roach control. German cockroaches are the most common roaches that are indoor pests. The adults are small, about an inch long, tan, with long antennae and legs. They have two dark stripes on the back between the head and wings. These roaches live primarily in the kitchen, dining room and any other area where food is prepared or served. Without proper sanitation practices, such as storing food in insect-proof containers, washing dirty dishes, keeping floors and counters clean of crumbs of food and not leaving pet food out overnight, the roaches will have a steady supply of food easily available to them, and their numbers will increase despite insecticide use. Caulking cracks and crevices, particularly in food preparation areas, removes hiding places for the roaches—making them more likely to crawl into an area that has been sprayed with insecticide. Caulking these cracks and crevices also eliminates places where food might collect in hard-to-clean areas. If you live in an apartment, caulk around water and drain pipes where they come into the apartment in order to reduce the entrance of roaches from other apartments. Since it is almost impossible to starve a roach to death, monthly use of an insecticide recommended by New Plants for 2010 Sandra Mason, U of I Horticulture & Environment Educator News flash from the underground groundhog news, "Punxsutawney Phil is sick of winter". I'll bet even Phil is dreaming of gardens. One of my great joys is drooling over plant catalogs. I can revisit with my favorite plant friends and imagine how I might use new plant acquaintances. All America Selections announces nine new varieties that earned the AAS award for 2010. The All America Selections, a not-for-profit organization of seed developers and producers, helps to entice gardeners to try new cultivars. Winners are tested at trial gardens across North America including the Hartley Gardens at University of Illinois Arboretum. Each winner has superior qualities or traits that distinguish them from similar varieties in side by side trials. 2010 winners include a perennial flower, annual flowers and a vegetable. The past few years we have seen a multitude of purple coneflower cultivars. 'PowWow Wild Berry' purple coneflower differs from all others for flower color, branching and plant size. The deep rose-purple 3 to 4 inch flowers retain their bright color as they age. With the additional branching and numerous flowers 'PowWow Wild Berry' makes quite a flower show as a perennial in a sunny garden. 'Mesa Yellow' gaillardia is the first hybrid blanket flower with a mounded plant habit and prolific flowering. I've always liked blanket flowers but the Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter 5 old cultivars had that "bad hair day" look. Breeders called in the hairdresser to get 'Mesa Yellow'. The 3inch daisy-like flowers offer a color show throughout the summer on neat, mounded plants. As an annual flower 'Mesa Yellow' reaches 20 to 22 inches tall in a full sun garden. They are adaptable to smaller space gardens or cascading over containers. 'Mesa Yellow' plants are wind and rain resistant unlike most blanket flowers. 'Mesa Yellow' blooms two to three weeks earlier than comparison blanket flowers. Propagating House Plants I know it's hard to believe we need one more marigold, but they are tough annual flowers with a myriad of sizes and colors. 'Moonsong Deep Orange' marigold is a true Illini orange. The double flowers are 2.5 to 3.5 inches for an eye-popping show. The vigorous 12-15 inches tall plants are heat and drought tolerant and easy to grow from seed. Seed propagation is of secondary importance due to unreliability of the end product. The most common means of reproducing houseplants is by means of cuttings. A cutting, by definition, is any detached part that will not only produce the missing tissue, but will finally result in a new plant. Of the various types and methods of making cuttings, probably the most widely used are the stem and leaf types. 'Twinny Peach' is a snapdragon without the snap. As a double or butterfly flower form it lacks the jaws or joints to snap. The large open flowers of 'Twinny Peach' are winners with their color blend of peach, yellow and light orange tones. No other snapdragon offers this range of colors. It's a knockout matched with blue flowers or purple foliage plants. In the full sun garden, 'Twinny Peach' will produce abundant flower spikes with plenty to cut for fresh bouquets. I've always thought zinnias have been underestimated as tough annual flowers. The old cultivars did have a nasty habit of getting fungal leaf diseases, but there are several new cultivars that combine a zinnia's durability with disease resistance. 'Zahara Starlight Rose' zinnia offers a new rose and white bicolored flower as well as resistance to fungal leaf spot and powdery mildew. As a zinnia it is heat and drought tolerant and easy to grow in sunny gardens. At 12 to 14 inches tall and wide it's perfect for landscapes and containers. Other colors in the 'Zahara' zinnia series were also 2010 winners including 'Double Zahara Fire' and 'Double Zahara Cherry'. One vegetable won a 2010 AAS designation. In a taste test against comparisons, 'Shiny Boy' watermelon won overwhelmingly for its sweet tropical flavor and crisp texture. The red fleshed melon with dark seeds weighs in at about 20 pounds. 'Endurio Sky Blue Martien' viola is also a winner with its mounding plants covered in flowers. Thanks to AAS for information and pictures. Check out past winners at http://www.all-americaselections.org/ David Robson, U of I Horticulture Educator As a science, propagation of houseplants is relatively new; as an art, it is quite ancient. The most economical way to replace a houseplant in the past was to buy it from a florist or garden center. However, today, with the influx of plastics, new rooting material and a little common sense, it has become possible to propagate almost any plant. It is important to select plants that are healthy and vigorously growing. Plants grown under high fertility conditions appear to develop roots twice as fast as those grown under poor nutritional conditions. The optimum length of stem cuttings varies between 3 and 4 inches. Cuts are best made just below a node, the slight swelling in the stem where leaves originate. After the cuttings have been prepared, they may be handled in one of several ways. Cuttings can be placed in a container filled with sand, vermiculite or perlite—with the latter two the most recommended. The rooting media is slightly packed around the plant and then well watered. Plastic bags filled with sphagnum moss are also used. The cutting is placed in the moist peat, and the bag tied securely to prevent water from evaporating. A final means of preparing cuttings is to place the entire cutting in a clear plastic bag with moist peat and secure the bag. The result is a miniature greenhouse. Cuttings should be kept at 70 degrees F to insure rapid development of roots. Avoid placing plants in direct sunlight, as plants are capable of wilting. An increase in the humidity level has shown an increase in the production of roots. If the humidity level is low, place plants near a humidifier, near a vaporizer or in the bathroom. Rooting hormones are available for plants that appear difficult to root. Do not root cuttings in water if possible. Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter Plants with roots established in water often die when transplanted to a soil mixture. Evidence indicates the roots rot due to the presence of microorganisms and the abundance of air. Transplant plants as soon as two or three good roots appear. It is advisable to transplant a little of the rooting medium to avoid shock. Miniature Roses Make Nice Valentine’s Day Gifts Sandra Mason, U of I Horticulture & Environment Educator Roses share a colorful history with people. They have been symbols of love, beauty, war, states and nations. Roses were in such high demand during the seventeenth century that royalty considered roses or rose water as legal tender. Roses were also an important symbol in meetings. If a rose was hung from the ceiling at a meeting, all those present were vowed to secrecy. 6 in containers, borders, rock gardens, and other small spaces. Plus your sweetie can remember you and your thoughtfulness for years to come. Once you get your mini home, make sure it is well watered. If the soil is really dry, soak the pot for about an hour in a dish of warm water. Tiny miniature roses are often marketed in tiny miniature pots. They are definitely going for the cute factor. For the rose it's like us wearing shoes two sizes too small. It's best to repot the roses into 4 or 6 inch pots with drain holes. These pots can then be set into a decorative pot. Soilless mixes are good potting mixes since they retain moisture well but also drain well. Roses are sun loving plants so indoors they will need a south or west window. Supplemental lighting will keep them blooming longer. A combination of cool white and warm white fluorescent bulbs about three inches from the plant work well. Even a desk halogen light will help. Light should be kept on 14-18 hours a day. Garden cultivation of roses began some 5,000 years ago, probably in China. Roses have been grown not only for their beauty but for cosmetics, fragrances, medicines and for making rosaries. Indoor temperature for roses is pretty much what we like. They are best at low 70's during the day and low to mid 60's at night. Roses do appreciate some extra humidity indoors. They can be placed on shallow dishes of wet pebbles. Roses have their own day of celebration – Valentine's Day. Roses and chocolate tantalize all your senses. Valentine's Day not only brings out bunches of long stemmed red roses but also pots of miniature roses. Miniature roses should be kept evenly moist, but not soggy. Just feel the soil to test for dryness. If the roses dry out too much, the lifetime of existing flowers will be reduced and any flower buds may fail to open. Miniature roses are indeed miniature with miniature flowers, leaves, thorns and plants. Miniatures range in height from 3 inches to 18 inches. Flowers are about the size of a quarter. Most are continuous bloomers and very adaptable in sunny gardens. Unfortunately most have little or no fragrance due to their lineage from a single dwarf China rose called 'Rouletii'. "Cinderella" and "Sweet Fairy" are among the more popular ones that do have fragrance. Miniatures were very popular with Chinese gardeners long before they became popular in the United States just after World War II. Spider mites can be a problem. The pot and soil can be covered with a plastic bag and the plant given a warm shower. Insecticidal soap is also effective against any of the soft bodied insects. Miniature roses make nice gifts. They can be grown indoors this winter than transplanted outdoors once frost is unlikely. Most miniatures are very winter hardy. Few miniatures are grafted. So even if the top dies back or gets eaten by rabbits, the plants will send up new stems. Miniature roses are excellent outdoors For more info on roses http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/roses Extending Life of Fresh Flowers David Robson, U of I Horticulture Educator Flowers are a favorite way to say "You are special" or just to perk up any room in the house. However, once cut, flowers start to fade. There are some techniques for extending the beauty of fresh flowers Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter 7 When you get ready to place the flowers in a container, re-cut the stems under water. This allows a fresh cut to absorb the warm water and limits air bubbles in the stem. Some professionals will recommend cutting stems at an angle to help absorb water. A fresh cut, clean container and fresh water are more important. little warm weather ignites our spring cleaning genes and our passions to make this year better than last garden season. This is the year we will finally trim the tree that hits us in the face every time we mow or rejuvenate that ugly mess of a privet hedge. If your "honey do" list needs some entries, here are tips of what to do now in the landscape. Strip off all leaves that will be under water. This is a must. Leaves harbor many of the bacteria that cause stems to plug and flowers to wilt faster. Take care not to break the stem. Tree/Shrubs Prune trees and summer flowering shrubs while still dormant. Many shrubs can be reduced in size by using renewal or heading back methods. Sterilize tools in between each cut with ten percent bleach when pruning diseased plants. Summer flowering shrubs bloom on new wood after mid June. Renewal pruning method is the removal of the oldest stems leaving the younger stems to develop. Wait to prune lilacs and forsythia after they bloom. If needed, rejuvenate shrubs such as Anthony Waterer spirea, honeysuckle, redtwig dogwood and privet by cutting stems down to 4 to 6 inches. Transplant or plant trees and shrubs. Plants preferring spring transplant over fall include most oak, birch, baldcypress, dogwood and magnolia. Inspect trees with a past history of tent caterpillar. Look for dark brown or gray egg masses that encircle the twig. Destroy by pruning or scratching off with thumbnail. Scout for bagworm bags on evergreens especially spruce, juniper, and arborvitae. Bagworms often start in the tops of trees so remember to look up. Remove and destroy bags now. Each bag could produce hundreds of caterpillars. Sprays are ineffective until mid to late June. Apply dormant oil spray to euonymus to control the insect euonymus scale. Dormant oil sprays will also give partial control of pine needle scale. Temperatures should be above freezing for 24 hours after spraying. Some scale species such as oystershell scale are not controlled by dormant oil sprays. Get Place stems in a clean, sanitized container or vase with a warm water preservative solution. Vases can be sterilized with a 10 percent bleach solution. The bleach will kill the bacteria that cause the water to turn murky, smelly and ultimately reduce the life of the flowers. It is always a good idea to make sure all containers are rinsed with a bleach solution after being used to display flowers. Rinse with warm water afterwards to remove the bleach. Use a commercially prepared preservative available at most florist shops. The floral preservative makes the water more acidic, which inhibits the evil bacterial growth. If none is available, you can add some clear carbonated soda to the water. The best way to make sure flowers last is to change the water daily or at least every other day in the container. Every third or fourth day, re-cut the stems to expose fresh water carrying tissues. Keep flowers out of direct sunlight. Sunlight can encourage bacterial growth. Also, keep flowers away from apples, which will cause them to mature and turn brown quickly. Once the flowers start fading and wilting, remove them from the container and throw them away. Timely Landscaping Activities Sandra Mason, U of I Horticulture & Environment Educator Listen carefully and you can hear the gentle hum of pruners and rakes in movement. A couple days of warm weather and the tremors begin in many gardeners' hands. Tremors that aren't registered on the Richter scale, but on the pickup scale - the number of twig piles strategically located throughout the yard. A Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter accurate identification of insect to determine control program. 8 General Scout late March and into April for winter annual weeds such as henbit, chickweed and creeping speedwell. Remove before flowering or seed set. Order seeds and garden plants. Harvest finished compost from compost pile to use in planting holes. Sharpen tools for less strenuous gardening. Flowers Clean up any plant debris that wasn't removed last fall. Cut back ornamental grasses to 4-6 inches before growth starts. The cool season grasses such a Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis acutiflora) green up quickly in spring so don't wait. The popular Miscanthus cultivars are warm season grasses so a little more time is available to prune them. “I’m sorry.... The chickens have cut way back on their egg laying...” E-mail message from local organic farmer Late March – early April gradually pull back mulch from roses. Be on the look-out for rabbit damage on newly emerging perennials and spring bulbs. Fencing or inverted wire mesh baskets provide the only complete protection. Repellants may give some control. The Master Gardener’s Plot Wait until broadleaf weeds are actively growing before treating with postemergence herbicides. Get lawn mower ready. Sharpen blades, change oil and clean air filter. Wait until late April to early May for first fertilizer application. I don’t just want to “cut way back”, I don’t want to produce anything. I certainly don’t want to plan for next summer. I need to decide how to plant next summer’s garden to minimize the spread of soil borne plant diseases, but I don’t want to. To suggest I could clean last summer’s dirt off my gardening tools makes me want to say “Not I!” to the little red hen. I can’t even get excited looking at packets of seeds. So if there are no eggs available, I understand. Rake up any twigs and debris. Wait until April to apply crabgrass control otherwise a second application may be necessary to control late season crabgrass seed germination. Establish lawns by sod throughout season as long as adequate water is available. Establish or renovate turf by seed. Prepare soil properly and get good seed to soil contact. Select turf mixes and blends appropriate to the site and to maintenance practices. Southern Illinois – March; Central Illinois – March15-April 15; Northern Illinois – April. Lawns by Duane Lanchester, Pike County Master Gardener I can identify with those hens. This is the season to huddle in a warm coop, ruffle up your feathers, and decline to produce. Go girls! But I still want to eat. I don’t expect fresh localgrown lettuce. I know the local winter squash is gone from the market. There may still be some root crops in local fields and gardens, but they are frozen in the ground. What does the gardener/cook do now? She/he looks in the pantry or the freezer to see what’s left. And what does the garden writer do in the middle of the winter doldrums? Well, I went back to my literary larder, the notes which I kept for future columns. I found a lot of information about the death of cedar trees. (Was that from last summer, or two years ago?) I found Professor Phil Nixon’s comments on the use of Listerine as a mosquito deterrent. (He Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter thinks it would probably work briefly, but DEET is better.) I found an article from a Seattle newspaper about the best apples to raise in the Pacific Northwest. (I’ll erase all those notes - if I can find the energy.) I did find my evaluation of my experiment in “natural” planting of my tomato and pepper plants. Nature doesn’t start a new crop by sweeping away all remnants of the old crop. So instead of cleaning my garden last spring, I just planted in holes scraped in the debris that had over-wintered on top of my garden. It wasn’t a success. The tomatoes did okay, but the peppers had trouble peeking above the debris to see the sun and had barely produced before first frost. But no experiment is ever conclusive. I had a poor pepper crop but it may not have been because of the planting conditions. Instead of buying the best plants available, I bought plants available from my favorite nursery. Good for personal relationships: not good for producing plentiful peppers. Back in my idea file I found an article I had already used that says the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources feeds birds mostly black-oil sunflower and cardinal mixes. (Cardinal mix is sunflower, safflower and peanuts.) It also said if you want to avoid the mess of sunflower seed hulls, try feeding shelled sunflower seeds. I did, and using shelled sunflower seeds eliminated a lot of the mess under our feeders, but not all of it. Birdies, in addition to being mean, are naturally messy. But I love to see them at our feeders. The snow-cover this winter has made our feeders especially popular. When we first moved to our mini-farm we tried feeding the birds suet in those little screen feeders. It took us a long time to find suet in our grocery store: and then it took a long time for the fat-eating birds to discover our feeder. So two years ago we tried a faux-suet recipe which attracted more birds and more different kinds of birds. I shared the recipe in this column, and then repeated it for last winter. But this winter the birds liked it so much - which pleases me inordinately - that I’m repeating it again in hopes you’ll finally try it. 9 1. One pound of lard, (Do not try to substitute vegetable oil.) and one cup of peanut butter melted together over low heat. 2. Half a cup of flour, half a cup of cornmeal, and one cup of sugar mixed together and added to lard mixture. 3. Enough bread crumbs to absorb all the liquid. This might take quite a lot; perhaps half a loaf. (You can substitute other bread-like things: old doughnuts, leftover pancakes, stale buns, etc.) 4. An apple or other fruit chopped in small pieces and if you really love those birdies, half a cup of pecans. 5. Pour it all into a 9 x5 inch bread pan and keep it in the refrigerator. When you need a slice to put in your suet feed, just slice it off the end. It doesn’t make neat slices like butter, but it is easy to load into your feeder because it is malleable - and greasy. While still looking in my idea file… oh, here’s a recipe for preparing a Mexican delicacy from Prickly pears. I filed it after I discovered Prickly pear grows well in Pike County and before I found out Pike County Prickly pears are not like Mexican Prickly pears. And here’s a recipe for making your own insecticidal soap....and..... The Language of Flowers Sandra Mason, U of I Horticulture & Environment Educator Ever wonder why red roses are the symbol of Valentine’s Day? Why not white or yellow? The reason lies in the language of flowers. This does not include the language we use after the bunnies have eaten the flowers. It's the delicate, subtle meanings given to flowers in order elicit emotion in the receiver. The language of flowers also known as floriography has been around for centuries. Writings of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Chinese all included flower and plant symbolism. Meanings were probably passed orally through a largely illiterate audience. Pike County Down To Earth Newsletter The 1800's seemed to have been the heyday of flower symbolism. Intimate emotions could be conveyed with flowers. Emotions that the delicate sensibilities of the time were not dared to be uttered aloud. During Victorian times many small colorful handbooks were produced to guide the giver and givee as to the meanings. Unfortunately depending on the culture and the author, not all of the books agreed on meanings. Even today different cultures assign different messages to the same flower. One would only hope that each party was literally on the same page when it came to the interpretations. For instance hyacinth can mean games, play or forgive me. I guess this is the perfect flower for a man to give to a woman. It pretty well covers all the bases and he probably needs to be forgiven for something. Also how the flowers were presented and the condition of the flowers was also important. It didn't take a genius to figure out that wilted flowers wasn't a good thing. Or it could have just meant a slow messenger. Flower symbolism had a few inherent problems. If the flowers were given upside down then the meaning was the opposite of the traditional meaning. Just how the ribbon was tied had meaning. Tied to the left, the flower symbolism was in reference to the giver. If it was tied to the right, the symbolism was about the givee. Flower symbolism was not for the unobservant. Flowers were also used to answer "yes" or "no" questions. A "yes" answer was signified if the flowers were handed over with the right hand, if they were handed over with the left hand the answer was "no". Handing over flowers is just like spending time at an auction, don't scratch your nose; you never know how someone might interpret it. The following is a lovely discussion of the language of flowers from: Collier's Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social Information and Treasury of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge, (actually I just really like the title of the book) compiled by Nugent Robinson. P.F. Collier, 1882 "Flowers have a language of their own, and it is this bright particular language that we would teach our readers. How charmingly a young gentleman can speak to a young lady, and with what eloquent silence in this delightful language. How delicately she can respond, the beautiful little flowers telling her tale in 10 perfumed words." We all could use a bit of eloquent silence and perfumed words these days. Today flowers are still an important part of our weddings, funerals, holidays and ceremonies although we may not know their true meaning. Wedding bouquets often include ivy that symbolizes fidelity. If you are looking for new ways of saying I love you, consider a bouquet of these. Red chrysanthemums and heliotrope - I love you Forget-me-nots - true love Red tulips - perfect love Red rose - desire and love Cedar - I live for thee Coreopsis - love at first sight Phlox - our hearts are united. On the other hand, the language of a new BMW is always clear. The articles in this newsletter have been provided for you by University of Illinois Extension, Pike County office. Jennifer Mowen, County Extension Director Newsletter Compiled and Designed by Cheryl Westfall, Office Support Associate If you have any questions or comments regarding the issue of “Down To Earth”, please contact University of Illinois Extension, Pike County, at (217) 285-5543. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences United States Department of Agriculture • Local Extension Councils Cooperating University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.