Marlys' Gardens ~ What's Happening ~ April 2007

The difference between a flower and a weed
is a judgment.

This is a place to focus on what's currently happening in the gardens. I want to share fun seasonal garden stories & events with you. Josh is going to archive the posting as seasons evolve. We hope you will embrace it with a fun-filled spirit.

April 2007

Month	Birthstone	Flower	Colour	Meaning
April	Diamond	Daisy or Sweet Pea	Pink or Purple	Blissful, Curious, Delicate, Departure, Lasting Pleasures, Playful, and Tenacious

Daisy - April Flower of the Month

Sweet Pea - April Flower of the Month

Wild Sweet Pea in Italy

SWEET PEA

Sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, a climbing or nonclimbing annual herb in the pea family, Leguminosae, is grown for its range of petal colors, fragrant flowers, and long-lasting qualities. It grows only in cool temperatures. A native of Italy, it was introduced into northern Europe about 1700 and developed genetically into strains or varieties after 1870. The original sweet pea was a climber. The nonclimbing variety was developed within recent years in California.

2007 Perennial Plant of the Year

I always think it's fun to find out which plants the 'industry' is promoting & giving awards to each year. Please keep in mind the information is not my personal opinion or recommendation. In fact, I am very skeptical of any plant that has roots in the mint family. It is true these plants are very easily grown & survive many adverse garden conditions including down right neglect. However, it is also true, members of the mint family freely self-seed & may spread by rhizomes.

If you've paid attention to other articles on this website, you know it is my recommendation to be ALERT for the key words; self-seeds freely & spreads by rhizomes. Be very, very careful with these plants as they have the potential to become INVASIVE MONSTERS in the garden. They grow like weeds and may become weeds.

Plants that freely self seed and / or spread by rhizomes quickly become, "Plants Out of Place"! And if you plant them, you may come to HATE them and wonder what on earth ever prompted you to plant such a horrible weed in your garden. Then remember in the back of your mind that industry & famous plant hybridizers that own business nurseries promotes plants to sell for profit not always pleasure.

Perennial Plant of the Year - How Is It Chosen?

“From time to time we receive the question, "How is the Perennial Plant of the Year selected?"

The selection process is quite simple – PPA members vote for the POY. In addition to their vote, each member nominates plants for future consideration. The Perennial Plant of the Year Committee reviews the nominated perennials and selects 3 to 4 plants to be placed on the ballot.

Customarily, a high percentage of returned ballots are received. The voting reflects the interest in the Plant of the Year© and the enjoyment and impact felt by the perennial market and consumers alike.”

Past Perennial of the Year - Winners Include

Lawn Clipping Removal
Clematis Division
Preparing for Emerald Ash Borer
IUS Extension Publications - revised & of interest
Gardening Guide
Family Gardening
Junior Master Gardeners
Reasons Why Peonies Fail to Bloom
Types of Strawberries
Upcoming Events

April Freeze - The Cold, The Wet, and The Ugly!

The Cold has really hit our garden hard. We are getting more calls on "what do I do about the frozen plants?" than any other, so we want to address this for your garden. The frost damage should now be obvious on your plants. Each plant variety is a little different, so we will address each differently.

a.. The Daylilies - The evergreen and the semi evergreen varieties were hit the hardest. The top foliage appears almost white on many of our plants, but the crown is green. We recommend that you cut back the foliage to the green tissue. Remove all dead and decayed plant material. Fertilize an additional application using a 10-10-10, a couple teaspoons around each plant. The blooms might be a bit later and smaller, but the plants should survive and look great again next year.

b.. The Hosta - The top foliage appears almost white and looks like frozen lettuce, but the crown is green. We recommend that you cut back the foliage to the green tissue. Remove all dead and decayed plant material. Fertilize an additional application using a 10-10-10, a couple teaspoons around each plant. The plants should sprout up new green foliage in 1-2 weeks.

c.. The Peony and Lilies - we do not have much damage to the plants, if you do cut back the foliage to the green tissue. Remove all dead and decayed plant material. Fertilize an additional application using a 10-10-10, a couple teaspoons around each plant. We feel that many of the early bloomers will lose bud set and bloom, the midseason and late should have full bloom and no impact. We also recommend that you start spraying with a general fungicide to prevent any infections.

d.. The Iris - We were in bloom on some of the early iris varieties, and that took a lot of damage. The tops have drooped, the flowers frozen. We recommend that you cut back the foliage to the green tissue. (Remember on iris to cut the foliage at an angle so that water cannot penetrate the leaf.) Remove all dead and decayed plant material. Fertilize an additional application using a 10-10-10, a couple teaspoons around each plant.=20

The Wet has hit many areas of the country hard. DO NOT ALLOW your plants to stand in water. Do what you can to get those areas draining. Standing water will kill peonies faster that anything. Lilies will just rot in standing water. After it dries out remember to add another application of fertilizer as the excessive moisture has leached most of what was applied earlier.=20

The Ugly blue iris that just seem to pop up every year is a constant question, "why did all my iris change colors?" Iris don't change colors. They should come back every year true to name and just what you like...what happens is this. If you allow the iris blooms to stay on the plant after the blooms are spent, many of these blooms have been pollinated by bees, the iris then sets seed, the seed drops to the ground and germinates. The seed grows into a new plant. When they bloom this cross is usually blue as it's the dominate color in iris. These new crosses are so prolific they will take over an iris bed. The easiest way to prevent this is to remove all spent blooms from the beds weekly. Remember that on iris you do not want to cut the bloom stalk, if you cut them it opens the plant to infection. You want to wait until the bloom stalk turns brown and then pull it from the plant, it should pop right out.

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What's Happening

April 2007

Daisy - April Flower of the Month

Oxeye Daisy

Shasta Daisy

Gerbera Daisy

Daisy - Bellis perennis