2011 Newsletters

Susan Van Bakel
VAN BAKEL GREENHOUSE
Mount Albert Rd., just east of Woodbine

May 2011 Greenhouse Newsletter

Spring Hours – Mon. – Fri. 9:00 - 7:00, Sat. 9:00 - 6:00, Sun. 9:00 - 4:00

The 2011 gardening season is well under way! Although continuing cool temperatures and all the rain this past month hasn’t made it all that pleasant for gardeners, for plants it’s been amazing! Lush green and lasting spring flowers everywhere – exactly what the plant doctor ordered. It’s also time to plant annuals, so choosing and caring for annuals is the topic of our May Gardening Tips, below.

Also well under way are plans for our 3^rd annual Breast Cancer Fundraising event at the end of the month. (See right sidebar for details.). We’re pleased to yet again be able to contribute to an important cause while at the same time having loads of fun with friends, family, and customers. Watch for your FREE PLANT postcard coupon in the mail and bring it to exchange for this year’s give-a-way plant.

If you don’t have time to get your annuals in the ground, be sure to call ahead and book a visit from our garden planting / maintenance team.

Susan

Victoria Day, the traditional time for us all to officially declare the cold weather as history for another year, is just a few days away, and we’re geared up and ready for annuals planting. Lots of colour in all shapes and sizes are on hand for all your garden beds, hanging baskets and containers. Be sure to drop in over the long weekend to see all the new varieties we have for you this year!

See you soon! Susan Van Bakel

This Month’s Plant Feature –

Monarda didyma, aka Bee Balm.

For the breast cancer fundraising campaign this year, one of the many great new dwarf Bee Balm cultivars from the Agriculture Canada breeding program, is the featured plant. Monarda didyma ‘Grand Mum’, is a mid sized Bee Balm at around 16” tall, with large shaggy pink flowers on a compact plant that resembles a chrysanthemum in full bloom. All the Bee Balms are delightful, easy care plants with lots of bloom power, but these new compact hybrids make it possible to include them in smaller gardens as well. Others in the series are ‘Grand Parade’ and ‘Grand Marshall’ which are shorter plants in various shades of pink/mauve.

Monarda 'Grand Mum'. Monarda didyma is native to eastern North America, and was named for Nicolas Monardes, a 16^th century Spanish physician and botanist, who discovered Native Americans near Oswego NY steeping the leaves to make a healthful tea. (One of the plant’s many common names is Oswego Tea, and its leaves are one of the main ingredients in the popular Earl Grey tea blend. The flowers are edible too, and are a delightful addition to a salad, offering a fresh lightly minted taste and a colour surprise.). The flowers are hugely attractive to honey bees, which gave rise to the plant’s most often used common name – Bee Balm. Being a member of the large Mint family of plants, Monarda spreads through horizontal stems that run along just below the surface of the soil, but in these new “Grand” cultivars roots don’t appear to run very far and are much easier to control. While they grow best with adequate moisture, Monardas are drought tolerant once established, especially these new dwarf cultivars.

Tall short or in-between, pink mauve or red – Monarda didyma, in the many forms available today, are reliable perennials that belong in every garden – especially now that modern hybridizing has brought us virtually mildew free cultivars.

Monthly Gardening Tip –

Planting and Caring for Annuals in the Ground or in Containers.

So - here’s a strange question for you – when is an annual not an annual? When, botanically speaking, it is actually a tender perennial.

A true annual grows from seed, to plant, to flower, to seed, all in one growing season, and the plant completely dies with the onset of the dormant season – tops, roots, ‘n all. True annuals renew themselves from seed each year as brand new plants and don’t give a hoot about developing a lasting root system. A perennial plant on the other hand, also starts from seed of course, but rather than rushing into bloom, it first develops a strong root system capable of food storage, because the plant knows in its DNA that its destiny is to live and bloom for many years through periods of growth and dormancy. A perennial is also more attuned to its environment to detect signs of their oncoming dormancy period so they’ll have time to prepare for it.

It makes sense when you consider the genetically dictated different destinies of annuals and perennials, that perennials would have much larger and fleshier roots capable of withstanding difficulties. Why do we call some of these perennials “annuals” though? Because they are tender perennials native to warmer parts of the world and are simply not genetically designed to endure our climate’s ground freeze-up in the winter, so they die in the cold.

In fact, there are lots of these tender perennials on the marketplace today, routinely referred to as “annuals”. The popular Geranium is a good example – botanically speaking it’s actually a perennial plant, but is native to South Africa so isn’t cold hardy. There, it lives through that climate’s dormant season of parching dry heat by dropping leaves and going dormant, and has a food and water storage type of root system that, just like every perennial, is designed to keep the plant alive through a dormant season. The rain comes and the plant grows leaves again and goes on to bloom for another season - just like our cold hardy perennials rejuvenate themselves in spring for a new season of growth.

We’ve come to use the term “annual” then, to clearly state to all concerned that, for one reason or the other, the plant won’t survive longer than one growing season here in zone 4/5 Canada. The term “annual” as a botanical description of a plant, is mainly used only by botanists today.

True annuals have a completely different style of growth than tender perennials. An annual’s roots are fine, fibrous, and plentiful - designed for quick and immediate water and food absorption so they can quickly hop into gear on their main job - continuously pumping out tons of flowers to make lots of seed. This means that for annuals to perform well, they need plenty of
water and food consistently. Annuals concentrate ALL their energy on blooming and setting lots of seed, and don’t waste time developing food storage roots because they’re not geared at all to surviving dormant periods. Their fine fibrous roots simply aren’t designed for the long term and can die quickly if ever allowed to dry out.

Tender perennials on the other hand, first develop a larger fleshier root system and won’t start to bloom until adequate roots have been developed. This means they may be a bit slower coming into bloom, but can withstand periods of drought without permanent damage. While they may be a slower getting started into bloom, once they switch to their blooming phase they can be counted on to continue blooming even under some drought stress. Again, Geraniums are a good example – they are a great choice for hanging baskets and containers since they have the ability to store some reserves in their roots and don’t suffer so much if the container soil dries out a bit in-between waterings. Pushed too far though and blooming will stop as the perennial nature of the plant kicks into survival mode and conserves root stores. The plant detects that perhaps the dry dormant season has arrived which means time to stop blooming and concentrate on beefing up roots for dormancy survival. Some quick release fertilizer and a good watering will get them blooming again, although it may take a bit of time for it to shift back into active blooming gear.

If one way or the other, the plant dies with the onset of winter, why does all this matter to know, you ask? Hmmm - good question! When I began writing this piece, I was thinking that it would lead to some obvious differences in care, but as it turns out, much of the routine care of both true annuals and tender perennials is more or less the same, but for different reasons. In an annual you need to keep the shallow fibrous roots well fed and watered because they’re so fragile and will die if they dry out, and need a continuous supply of nutrients because they have no food storage ability. For a tender perennial, you need to keep it well watered and well fed so that its perennial nature doesn’t switch into root survival gear and take a rest from blooming to concentrate on root strengthening because of what they perceive as the onset of the dormant season. Once they shut down their bloom phase because they think it’s time to prepare for dormancy, it can sometimes be hard to get them blooming again.

In the end, care is the same for both groups. For good performance and continuous bloom, both annuals and tender perennials need consistently adequate moisture and good fertile soil when in the ground, or regular fertilizing with a water soluble quick release fertilizer if in a container.

When purchasing annuals, look for sturdy stem growth which is a clear sign of a well rooted plant. Whether it has blooms yet or not doesn’t matter – look for signs of a strong plant – the blooms will come.

Water them well once you get home, and if you don’t plan to get them in the ground right away, make sure they continue to be well watered and kept in bright light until planting day. They’ll need thorough watering every day while still in pots.

When planting, first water them, and the soil they’ll be planted in, well. Work in patches digging a few planting holes at a time, then remove plants from their pots, without tugging on stems. To stimulate new root growth, it’s good to tear or cut into a few of the bottom roots before putting them into their planting hole. Once in the ground firm soil around the roots pushing from the side – don’t put downward pressure on the roots themselves. They should end up at the same level as they were in the pot – don’t plant too deep.

After you have them all planted, mix up some quick release fertilizer or Bio-Desolve and water thoroughly. For the first week of their in-ground life, water at least once every two days. After that, water as necessary in your soil conditions to keep moisture within 4” of the surface of the soil. Water less frequently but deeply to encourage roots downwards. (It isn’t good for any type of plant for the surface of the soil to be constantly wet through frequent watering). The best way to water is with soaker hoses which will prevent excessive moisture on the foliage.

The way to measure how often to water your garden is with the finger test. Stick the full length of your finger into the soil. When the tip of your finger is starting to encounter dry soil, then it’s time to water. Water deeply with a soaker hose for long enough to have it percolate at least 10” down. This will be a different length of time for everyone depending on the soil conditions. Shallow watering actually does more harm than good to plants.

Depending on the condition of your soil, fertilize annuals once a month with quick release fertilizer or Bio-Desolve. If your soil is in good condition with lots of compost or other organic matter added annually, extra fertilizing might not be necessary depending on the plants you’ve chosen. (Click here for a good article on organic matter and keeping soil healthy)

Planting annuals in containers though is quite different. It is an artificial growing environment for the plants and they’ll need lots of your help to keep blooming. Always use fresh potting soil, not garden soil, and mix in some slow release fertilizer pellets. Plant your container and water thoroughly to settle the roots in. Don’t compact the soil as much as you would if planting into the garden – just a bit of firming and then let the watering settle the soil around the roots. Containers need lots of air pockets to hold the right amount of water and allow excess to drain off quickly. Nothing will kill a containerized plant quicker than too much water being held in because of too heavy soil or not enough drainage holes. Fertilize weekly with water soluble fertilizer, and deadhead (remove faded blooms) if necessary. There are so many “self cleaning” plants on the market today though that deadheading isn’t necessary if you choose the right plants.

A Last Note -
Trying to make sense of the limited space we have here at Van Bakel’s is a challenge, but we’ve yet again redesigned the layout to make room for the expanding plant selection and the growing pocket of other products we carry. This year we’re planning to have a new small sample garden at the front entrance to give you some fresh ideas for different plants that work well together in a garden design. Each time you drop in, take a peak and learn about some plants you’ve perhaps never considered!

Happy planting! Susan

Susan Van Bakel
Van Bakel Greenhouse
2592 Mt. Albert Rd., Queensville, ON, L0G 1R0Phone: 905 478-4442 www.VanBakelGreenhouse.ca