Ironstone Vineyards Blog

In March, I will be attending the National Convention of the American Daffodil Society in Murphy's California.  The meetings and daffodil show will be held at Ironstone Vineyards.  Their groundskeeper, if that is what  is title would be, is Larry Ringland and he has started a blog about the gardens at Ironstone.  Take a moment to check it our and get a spring fix. I find it quite interesting that he and I chose the same background for our blogs.  Must be a gardener thing.

The New Ice Age

Where I live is known geographically as the line across Indiana where the glacier stopped many millions of years ago.  I grew up a few miles north on flat farmland that still yields an annual crop of large rocks, which is why my mom and her mom before her, who lived even further north, were avid practitioners of the American landscaping feature known as the rock garden.  Arrange a group of rocks ranging from two to five feet in diameter into an irregular geometric shape (island) out in the lawn, fill with extra field soil and the stuff from the chicken shed or sheep yard and voila! Ready to plant garden.  At my home where the glaciers stopped and started to melt, we have big ravines, but no big rocks.  I had to import mine from the family farm.  They are gorgeous, big gems of various shades, mostly granite of some sort with flecks of quartz that sparkle in the sun.

This winter has me thinking about glaciers and how they form.  They form in areas with precipitation that don't warm up enough for the accumulated snow to melt.  Hmmmm.  Kind of like my house right now.

The kids always wanted the kind of snow that would pile up so high you couldn't open your doors.  Ha Ha!  They are off in apartments of their own now and have to shovel their own walks.  Ha Ha!

We are used to decent amounts of snow, but one accumulation manages to melt almost completely before the next one hits.  We could actually date our snow and pond ice samples right now.  And the 15 day forecast has only one day with a night time temperature above freezing.  That will put us into the first of March.  When the thaw does start, it will be a mucky mess for quite some time, so I'm anticipating a late planting season this year.
 

In the meantime, it is always nice to have something green around.  The easiest plant, and most appreciated by cats, is winter wheat.  Fill a pot with potting mix, put down a thick layer of wheat, water well and in less than a week you have a little lawn ready to mow.  I always plant up containers with either wheat, which has fatter blades, or shady lawn mix, for Easter decorating.  An Easter basket with real grass is way cooler than with the fake plastic stuff.  Started about two weeks before Easter, it should be mature enough for a cutting on Easter morning.  That fresh, green smell is so wonderful, even more uplifting than the candy scattered throughout the green grass.  And it feels good too.  People can't seem to keep from running their hands across the flat top when it is freshly cut.

Starting Seeds

The first time I ever taught a Master Gardener class, my topic was annuals and perennials.  This was a three-hour session as part of the basic certification, and I had so much information to share that I wondered if three hours was really enough.  This was back before Powerpoints, so I had my trays of slides, and my three page outline handout that covered everything from what they are, their culture, soil prep, basic maintenance, design and of course starting from seeds.  We may have needed a whole semester.

I came prepared with example plants, various potting media, tools, supplies, real soil vs. potting soil, various fertilizers and my homemade seed starting stand.  Of course we started seeds which was more difficult than I thought it would be with a group of thirty adults.  Gardening does not come naturally to many people. 

Needless to say, I have modified the program greatly since then.  The seed starting aspect of the class was eliminated.  The reality of seed starting must be learned through experience.  Every year you hopefully remember the mistakes from the previous year.  Here are some of the mistakes that I have made and learned from.

1.  Starting seeds too early doesn't make spring come any earlier. 

2.  Only plant what you need.

3.  Thin those seedlings out and keep only what you need.

4.  Investing in a heating mat is a really good idea.  I only start one tray worth of seedlings at a time.  That should be sufficient for most home gardeners.  The tray only stays on the mat until you have good germination.

5. The shipping charges on mail order seeds often times encourage you to buy more than you need.

6.  Do a germination test on saved seeds when you get the urge to start seeds.  Then you'll know if you should get new seeds and you'll satisfy that farmer gene.

7.  Use professional grade seed starting mix.  I use Redi-earth Plug and Seedling Mix.  It has a wetting agent that keeps the mix from floating away, starter fertilizer and a excellent drainage.  You can most likely get some mix from a local greenhouse grower.  In any event, use a product labeled for seed starting, not general potting mix and definitely not potting soil.

8.  Don't waste your time with Jiffy 7s.  They sure are cute, but they take up too much space for one or two seeds.  Plug trays are much more effective if you want individual plants.  For some reason, plants do better with a restricted root zone.  Those are Jiffys on the left in the photo.

9.  Label! Label! Label!  You will never be able to tell the difference between the twenty different types of tomatoes that you started, and you'll end up giving all of the Sungolds to your neighbor.

10.  Run a fan in the room with your seedlings.  The air circulation helps to toughen them up, but it doesn't mean that they are hardened off and ready to go out doors on the first nice day.

This is only a portion of my advice on starting seeds.  I could go on for three hours, but I need to go shovel some more show.  For a very comprehensive page about seed starting go to this University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension site.

The Witch Hazels are Blooming!

Hot off the presses.  Heavy snow is falling right now, but the witch hazels are blooming.  Hamamelis intermedia 'Aphrodite' is definitely in bloom now.  A quick check in my nursery stock revealed that Pallida, Superba, and Girard's Purple are also in bloom.  It was too cold to check for fragrance.  I did make the trek back into the woods to check on native Hamamelis for bloom.  None was found, but it may still be a bit early for them.  It was a nice walk anyway.  If you are in the market for witch hazel, I do have four to choose from.  They are nice size plants in 5 gallon pots and they are blooming!

 

Hamamelis intermedia 'Aphrodite'

  

Hamamelis intermedia 'Girard's Purple'

  

Hamamelis intermedia 'Pallida'

Hamamelis mollis 'Superba' looks suspiciously like the 'Aphrodite', but they have their labels.

An Eye for Epiphytes

The Master Gardener program through the Cooperative Extension Service is a wonderful thing.  Programing through local organizations bring the beauty and science of horticulture right to our hometowns in living color.  Such was the case last night when my county association hosted Russ Vernon of New Vision Orchids as our program for the evening.  What a delight during the dead of winter!

Russ, a horticulture graduate of Ohio State University, began his love of orchids at age 12.  He very easily conveyed orchid culture to our group and repotted a couple of specimens as a demonstration.  It is always so great when speakers bring visual aids, and Russ had a nice assortment of them.  One, of course, came home with me even though I had to bum a few dollars from my friend Judy to make the purchase.

This is Oncidium 'Mackenzie Mountain Jans Gem' HCC/AOS from New Vision Orchids.

One of the most important things that we learned from Russ is that orchids need a ten degree difference in temperature for a two to three week period to induce blooming.  Many people have a plant with lots of foliage, but no blooms are set because they stay in a consistent indoor temp of 65 - 70 degrees day and night.  So to get the blooms to set, either set back your thermostat at night or set up an environment that will have a ten degree range.

My friend Diane has no trouble with orchids and getting them to rebloom.  She has them in the house across from a west facing window.  They keep the house cool during the winter, but the orchids get warmer temps in the afternoon when the western sun warms their area.  In the summer, she does not run her air conditioning, but instead leaves the windows open.  So the ten degree phenomenon happens naturally.

The second really important issue that we learned is about watering with an ice cube.  Listen up!  It is NOT a good watering method.  The water does not move evenly and completely through the potting mix.  Even though some orchid distributors list this as a watering technique on their label, do not do it.  Remember, they need for you to keep buying orchids to stay in business.  Proper watering is done with distilled water once every 7 - 11 days.  The water should be allowed to run through the medium and drain out.  If the water that drains out is tan colored, it could be an indication of mineral build up which means you need to replace the potting mix.

Speaking of minerals, Russ very simply explained the interaction of plants and minerals.  Plants do need minerals for healthy growth, but the issue is having the minerals available in the right pH environment for the roots to be able to take them up.  So it is important to know the pH range needed by a particular plant.  The pH of the water can be adjusted or you can use mineral free water.  Using water with minerals, and not adjusting the pH for the plant results in accumulated minerals in the potting mix which is probably like never washing your hands.  EEEWWW! So do a little research about your houseplants to find out what they need to thrive.

I can't begin to share all of the information that we learned.  If there are any orchid collections near where you live, you should go visit.  Russ is involved with the Wheeler Orchid Collection and Species Bank at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.  He said that a good time to visit is late March and into April then again in November.  Another excellent resource is the American Orchid Society.  You do need to be a member to access some of their resources, but that will be money well spent.

By the way, the other wonderful thing about the Master Gardener program is "Helping Others Grow" which is the point in sharing this information with you about orchids.  If even one of you quits putting ice cubes on your potted plants as a watering technique, progress has been made.

Chamaecyparis Answer

Two posts ago under 'You're Never too Smart to Learn" I posted a photo of some Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Mops' shrubs that were displaying different shades of the chartreuse coloring they are grown for.  The question was why so much variation in the color given that they are healthy and well established.  In a winter landscape the answer might not be so obvious, but look closely and you will notice a tree adjacent to the specimens that are a dull green color.  Shade!  The tree is south of those shrubs and has grown to a size that casts a sufficient amount of shade to affect the plants coloration.  This is an important consideration when siting plants in the landscape.  The Chamaecyparis are perfectly fine growing in the amount of shade cast by the tree, but they just won't color up like the ones in a full sun site.

So take a look around the whole site as you plan the landscape and keep in mind that plants do grow.  We plan to pull out the Chamaecyparis and move them to a new location.  They have actually out grown the space that they are in anyway.  They were just so cute when they were little one-gallon plants!  Did that tag say 5' x 5'?