OVER THE GARDEN FENCE

MAY 24, 2003

The perfect combination of moisture and the abundance of sunny days has both plants and gardeners on the move. If we were ever to seek out an ideal time for enjoying our landscapes and gardens, this would be the time. Southwest Michigan soils are moist and easy to till. Current soil temperatures will encourage rooting of many plants and seeds. Air temperatures are making gardening a real joy. Best of all, gardening success is multiplied because of current ideal weather conditions.

With so many gardening options, where should we turn to first? Here are my suggestions.

First, let's talk about what should be done with our once-beautiful beds of tulips, crocus, daffodils, and hyacinths. After spring flowering bulbs have faded, snip off the dead flowers so they won't go to seed, but let the green foliage die back naturally, a process that takes several weeks. An exception to this rule is daffodils, which do not require dead heading even though many people choose to do so for aesthetic reasons.

Avoid the urge to "tidy-up" bulb plantings after blooming by tying up the leaves with string or rubber bands as some people suggest. The six week leaf die back time is a critical work period for leaves busy with photosynthesis, which is the process by which leaves combine chlorophyll and sunshine into the starches that recharge the bulb with food for the next year's bloom. The leaves must be free to soak up sunshine during this crucial period. Be sure to foliar feed bulb plantings during this time with Bloom Plus water soluble fertilizer.

If dying foliage seems unattractive, the best solution is camouflage. Next autumn, interplant bulbs with hosta or pansy plants. They will grow up and around fading bulb plants and disguise the dying foliage of the bulbs.

Remember that some bulbs such as tulips and hyacinths do not always come back strongly in subsequent years. If the variety you planted wasn't a variety marked "good for perennializing", then it's probably best to treat them as annuals and replant new bulbs in the fall.

I have found that tulip and hyacinth bulbs deteriorate quickly if left in flowerbeds where annual flowers are planted for summer beauty. The moisture levels necessary for marigolds, petunias, impatiens, and their friends is deadly for bulb plants. If your plans include summer annuals in bulb beds, dig up bulb plants when ripe, dry, cut off tops, put in onion bags, and hang in a well-ventilated garage or garden shed. They may then be replanted in the autumn.

Minor bulbs are usually planted where they can be left in the ground over the summer. Be sure to allow foliage on scilla, crocus, grape hyacinths, and other minor bulbs to ripen completely before cutting off.

The next question is, what about planting faded forced bulbs in the garden? Planting indoor forced bulbs, such as potted daffodils and crocuses, into the garden after they've faded is never a sure thing. Unlike bulbs planted in the ground during the fall planting season, forced bulbs that have bloomed and faded indoors have been through a pretty exhausting process and may or may not rebloom in the garden next year.

It is possible to replant some forced bulbs outdoors after they bloom indoors, but not all. For example, bulbs like crocuses and daffodils, which are good at naturalizing, generally do well planted outdoors after forcing. Just plant them out in the garden when they've finished flowering. Give them water and some Bulb Booster slow release bulb food. Then wait until the leaves brown and die back before chopping them off at ground level. No guarantees, but there's a good chance they'll bloom next spring.

Forced hyacinths may come back in the garden, but not with the same full, robust blooms that they had in the first year. This is also true of hyacinths planted in the garden. For these bulbs, it would be a matter of preference. If you don't mind the smaller blooms, fine; otherwise, replace them with new bulbs in the autumn. Again, timely fertilizer applications will prolong hyacinth bulb value.

Now, what about Easter lilies, everyone asks. In a nutshell, Easter lilies cannot be counted on to bloom again indoors, but they quite often do nicely if planted outdoors. What we call Easter lilies are actually Lilium Longiflorum. The potted Easter lily has been forced into bloom early, so it has been under stress. Should you try it outdoors? Yes! What's to lose? At least you'll have given them a chance.

Here's what to do. Once the Easter lily bloom has faded, remove the plant from its pot and plant it outdoors in a sunny protected location where the soil has good drainage. Plant it a little deeper than it was in the pot and water it well. A light feeding of Bulb Booster fertilizer is appropriate. Be sure to allow the foliage to die back fully. When established, the Easter lilies bloom in mid-summer, during its normal bloom period. Remember, it was originally forced into early bloom for Easter. Now it is living on its own clock. One other note; don't plant Easter lilies near other garden lilies as they may have picked up a virus during the forcing process.

Before planting your vegetable garden, spray Kill-Zall on all perennial weeds and grass, wait three days, rototill, then plant. Much better to kill pesky garden weeds now than fight with them all summer.

The "frost free" date for our area is past, so vegetable and annual flower plantings are top priority for most gardeners.

But wait! To realize the flowers and vegetable plantings of our dreams, there is pre-planting soil conditioning that should be done. Don't plant your bedding plants and seeds into unprepared soil. Flower and vegetable yields are multiplied greatly with proper soil conditioning. As needed, incorporate to the depth of four inches in planting beds; sphagnum peat moss, perlite, composted cow manure, ground limestone, clay soil conditioner, gypsum, and Plant Tone.

Don't know what soil conditioners your garden soil needs? Bring one or two soil samples to Wedel's Garden Center or to the local MSU Cooperative Extension Office for testing. Conditioning planting beds prior to planting annuals will help gardeners realize the abundant flowers and vegetables of their dreams.

This spring, be very choosy about the bedding plants you buy. Because of the inclimate weather, many displays of annuals are frosted, wind burned, and stunted. When selecting annual flowering bedding plants, look for young plants that are actively growing. These will root in the best. Tall, lanky plants never perform as well as short, stocky ones. Blooming petunias, marigolds, snapdragons, and many other bedding plants should have their flowers picked off at planting time to help encourage them to develop a strong root system which, in turn, will produce more blooms during the summer.

Even though April and May were cold, many insect and diseases continue to be active. Look for and take action to prevent further damage from these pests.

Pine sawfly larvae are merrily munching on Scotch, Mugho, and red pine trees. Severe defoliation can occur. If present, spray Spinosad or Pyrethrin to kill pine sawfly larvae.

Tent caterpillars are very active now on crab and cherry trees. Control tent caterpillars with Spinosad or Pyrethrin also.

Plants inclined to anthracnose and scab diseases are most likely to be infected because of the recent damp weather. To prevent further leaf infection and leaf drop, begin a spray program now. Sycamore, crab, oak, maple, mountain ash, serviceberry, rose bushes, and many others need to be sprayed now. Use Halt fungicide to help suppress anthracnose and scab leaf diseases.

Cancer worms are very active on many trees, including maple, crabapple, birch, beech, and linden. Cancer worms, also called inchworms, can be controlled with Spinosad or Permethrin.

Cutworms are becoming numerous in most gardens now. They make their presence known by eating the foliage of almost any plant and cutting off new transplants at soil level. Control cutworms with Bug-B-Gon granules sprinkled on the soil.

We don't have to look very far to see aphid damage on shrubs, trees, and perennials. Curled and deformed leaves on the ends of branches are the tell-tale signs. Control aphids on ornamental plants with Isotox, Orthene, or Pyrethrin.

If gypsy moth caterpillars are to be controlled with BT spray, it must be applied now. After this week, use Sevin or Pyrethrin to kill the caterpillars. Gypsy moth caterpillars can also be controlled with sticky band traps wrapped around the trunks of affected trees.

Strawberries are at various stages of bloom and fruit formation. To prevent gray mold, stem rot, and leaf spots, spray strawberries with Captan.

Spittlebugs are beginning to feed on pine trees, vegetables, and flower plants. Spittlebugs can be distinguished by the white foamy matter around the insect. Control spittlebugs with sprays of Pyrethrin.

Haven't had time to kill the weeds in your lawn? Don't despair. Weed-Out Trimec Lawn Weed Killer can be applied now with excellent results.

Has a confederate popped up in your garden or landscape that you can't identify? Uninvited plants in our garden and landscape at times disguise themselves as desirable plants.

If you have questions about any plant, bring samples to Wedel's for identification. Our plant experts will help you with cultivation or eradication suggestions.

George Wedel