Winter Houseplant care with new lighting info

Caring for houseplants during the winter months is vital to maintaining these beauties at their best! Winter conditions indoors require homeowners to change the way they manage the humidity (or lack of), watering, and placement of houseplants. Plants require the correct amount of light and water in order to live, which will vary greatly, depending on the type of plant you have.

Light can be measured in two simple ways: Quality is the color and brightness of the light, while quantity refers to the number of hours a plant receives light. There are a few options for light sources, but light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are both energy-efficient and last a long time. Additionally, LED plant lights emit only the red and blue light needed by plants, with little heat.

Light quality and quantity are important for houseplants as they impact color, size, shape, and flowering. A light meter can be purchased at your local garden center to tell you how much light your plant is receiving. 
How frequently you need to water your plant depends on several things [video]:

• The type and size of your plant's pot,

• The temperature and humidity level of your plant's room, 

• The type of medium in which your plant is growing.  Soil moisture probes are instruments that measure soil moisture. There are even some that send you a text message telling you that you need to water your plant. 

Here are some great tips for how to care for your sick plant.  Houseplants, just like other plants, often get sick due to under- or over-watering, over fertilizing, or lack of attention.

Enjoy the benefits of your houseplants all year long!

Let's Talk Pansies!

Pansies are colorful, hardy, and super easy to grow and we are one of the first flowers to wake up in the spring. Sometimes they poke their heads right up through the snow! Try planting them right over bulbs and watch them bloom, and the bulbs below will come right through, providing even more color in your spring garden. They look fantastic in flower beds and containers on patios and decks.

Propagation
Pansies grow from seeds, so can be planted directly in the ground. However, starting indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost in your area will achieve the earliest blooms. Their tiny seeds germinate slowly, usually in 10 to 20 days, but boy, are they worth the wait! As biennials, they self-sow. A biennial is a plant that requires all or part of 2 years to complete its life cycle. Read more, here: Annual, Biennial, Perennial, what's the difference?

Pansies come in almost every color including velvety black and spectacular blues! They like full to partial sun, and cool to warm weather. They aren’t fussy, and tolerate lots of soils, but wherever you put them, the planting medium should be freshly loosened and contain some organic material.

Pansies are members of the Violaceae family but they have bigger flowers than Johnny Jump-Ups (Viola tricolor) and Viola.

Troubles
Slugs are Pansies' most common issue. Use insecticides or fungicides exactly according to directions, and only when you know for sure what’s bugging them. For more info on diseases and pests, click here.

Care
Pansies need plenty of moisture and good drainage. When the weather gets hot, they often get leggy and benefit from deadheading. Trim spent blooms as often as you can because they will make more!

Size and Spacing
Pansies grow in a rounded shape, 4”’ to 8” tall and up to 12”wide. Typical spacing is 6” to 10”. They’re super friendly and don’t mind being close for a fuller look. Just keep your eye on them, since tighter planting can make them more susceptible to insects or disease. Check out more info from Iowa State University about sizes and types of pansies by clicking here.

Edible Flowers
If you're hungry, Pansies' lovely flowers and leaves are edible and can be used for decorating cakes, salads and other foods. They’re often used for making syrup and natural dyes. Check out this link for more information: A Consumer's Guide to Edible Flowers

Winter: The best time to ponder the bones of your yard & garden

Are you thinking of creating or converting to a backyard forest garden? Here's a bridge over a dry river rock bed that flows through a wildlife area - even in a small yard! 

With the leaves on deciduous plants gone, you can see where you need structure, where you could plant evergreens, and where you need to prune. Here are 10 suggestions. 

You also now have the time out from planting and harvesting when you can think about building structures, such as walkways, decks, raised beds, trellis/gazebos, or seating areas. Oh so much fun!!!

Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy has written a seminal book, Bringing Nature Home, on how to plan for the best ecosystem in your own yard. He has followed it with a second book, Nature's Best Hope, outlining how we can help grassroots conservation with native plants! While he is from the NE USA, his ideas are applicable here. This is the time..."one yard at a time!" 

Our winter sunshine is a plus in this, as you can get outside even in January and February to mess with lumber, edging or stepping stones (unless the snow hits). 

Go out and stare at your gardening space and draw a map of what is already there. 

Consider what you’d like to keep and what isn’t working. Refer to your garden journal for successes and failures.

Envision what you’d like to see there and draw it in on your map.

Dream on about your 2023 yard and garden!

Plant, animal, & earth-friendly deicers??? Yes!

While applying products to keep our walkways clear of snow and ice, it’s important to remember the plant life living nearby. Deicing products, primarily composed of salt, can injure plant material, but is there a safer product to use around desirable vegetation? What about around pets? What about the run-off in our rivers and watershed?

• Salts can cause injury to trees, lawns,  shrubs
• salt run-off can harm our ground water 
• they can corrode concrete 
• and even do bodily harm to humans if handled improperly. 
• And don’t forget about the poor little paws on your four-legged friends.

So you may be thinking salt is salt, right? No. Not all salt is not the same. Think table salts (Sodium chloride) and Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate). If you remember your days in chemistry (I don’t), salts are combinations of negatively charged anions and positively charged cations. Examples are sodium chloride (table salt), potassium chloride (used as a fertilizer) and magnesium chloride (the one you see trucks spraying on our roads). 

The most problematic element in these salts is chloride, a corrosive ion that damages metal and concrete. Chloride is also toxic to plants.

Salt damages plants by dehydrating plant tissues, causing burn, or by being toxic in high levels. While most plants have some tolerance to salt injury, repeated applications of deicing products during the winter can result in dieback or even death the following spring. Misapplications of deicers (i.e. dumping piles or using too much) can leach through the ground and into the water table or wash into the storm sewers, causing pollution. Before buying or using any product, read the label carefully and use only as directed.

A few of the salt products you might run into while shopping:

Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA): It has low corrosion potential, so it’s less damaging to cars, metals, sidewalks and plants. Notice it’s not a chloride product, the “salt” comes from the calcium-magnesium mix and the acetate replaces the chloride. Plus, it’s biodegradable! Its ice-melting properties are equivalent to traditional deicers, but the cost may be 20-30 times as expensive as sodium chloride products. These are often touted as “pet friendly”. 

Magnesium chloride: Commonly referred to as “mag chloride”. Applied as a brine, it’s the most common product used on our roadways before storms, because it lowers the freezing point of soon-to-arrive precipitation. It can melt ice down to -15° F, which is a nice benefit. If applied in moderate amounts, it’s relatively safe for plants and pets. It’s corrosion potential is low, as is it’s pollutant possibilities.

Potassium chloride: It’s expensive and not as widely used as a deicer because of rising costs of fertilizer. This works best when temperatures are above 15° F. Because it’s most commonly used as a fertilizer, it’s relatively safe to apply near plants.
Sodium chloride: It’s the most widely available and the cheapest. It doesn’t cause corrosion to concrete, and melts ice best when temperatures are in the 20s. It is the most damaging to plant material. If you use this product, use it sparingly and in small amounts!

Before using any de-icing product, clear away as much snow and ice with a shovel as possible. If heavy snow is predicted, then try to shovel more frequently. Remember, deicing products are not meant to melt all snow and ice, but rather aid you in your removal efforts. If you want to avoid adding chemicals to your landscape, then consider using sand or kitty litter. While they don’t melt snow, they can provide traction in slippery spots. Sand and kitty litter are also safe for pets and plants and can be swept up when the snow melts.

If you do use deicing products near vegetative areas, then

use caution with potential salt build up and consider a soil test in the spring.  If it’s an especially snowy year, you may consider leaching the areas next spring with clean water. Try not to scoop snow laced with deicing products directly on top of plants, especially if they are sensitive. If you have the opportunity, consider planting more salt-tolerant plants near walkways and driveways. Here's a great publication on plant tolerance to salts.

For more information about sustainable gardening, contact your local University of Idaho Extension Office. 

Indoor Herbs for Holiday Meals!

Do you love using fresh herbs in your culinary creations? Consider growing your herbs insideyour home where you can snip a fresh branch while you are cooking your meals! 

For an indoor culinary garden consider growing garlic, chives, basil, oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme. If you want to grow a tea garden you may want to plant spearmint, peppermint, lemon balm, lemon verbena, chamomile or catnip. It's not too late to start from seeds.

Be sure to choose a container that provides good drainage, and fill with one or more of your favorite herbs. Light is very important so place your herb garden in a sunny location that receives at least half a day of sun. New information about indoor lighting has made it easier for the home gardeners. For grow lights, those labeled "cool white" work well. "Warm white" and "Daylight" may also work. Lamps tailored to a plant's needs are also available. Be to water regularly. After the threat of frost passes, you can place your garden outdoors and enjoy fresh herbs all year round.

For more information on herb gardening in Idaho, the University of Idaho Extension provides this excellent resource: Idaho Green Thumb How-To's.

Your Christmas Tree - Before & After

A few tips for a great holiday celebration around your beautifully decorated tree. 

Maintaining a high moisture level in the tree is the single most important factor in reducing needle loss and keeping the tree fresh. This is accomplished primarily through the use of water-holding stands and keeping the water level in the stand above the base of the tree. 

• Use a tree stand with an adequate water-holding capacity. A tree stand should have a water basin that provides 1 quart of water per inch of stem diameter. For most Christmas trees, the stand should hold at least 1 gallon of water. A cut tree will absorb a surprising amount of water, particularly during the first week, so replenish the water daily. Check the stand daily to ensure the water level does not go below the base of the tree.

• 
  The tree stand should fit your tree. The ring must be large enough for the trunk of your tree to go through the hole. You don't want your tree flling over. Avoid whittling down the sides of the trunk to fit a stand. The outer layers of wood are the most efficient in taking up water and should not be removed.

• Cutting off a disk of wood about ¼" thick from the base of the trunk is all that is necessary before putting the tree in the stand. Make the cut perpendicular to the stem axis. Don't cut the trunk at an angle, or into a V-shape, which makes it more difficult to hold the tree in the stand and reduces the amount of water available to the tree. If the tree has been cut within the past 12 hours, it will not be necessary to recut the trunk. If the tree is to be stored for more than a couple of days before display, place its trunk in water and store it in a cool, protected area such as an unheated garage.
  

• Keep displayed trees away from sources of heat (fireplaces, heaters, heat vents, and direct sunlight). Lowering the room temperature will slow the drying process. Newer LED Christmas lights generate less heat. Always turn lights off when the tree is unattended. Displaying trees in water with the proper care is much more effective in reducing fire hazards than spraying trees with fire retardants. 

• The temperature of the water used to fill the stand is not important and does not affect water uptake. Drilling a hole in the base of the trunk does not improve water uptake.

• Additives, such as floral preservatives, commercial tree preservatives, molasses, sugar, bleach, soft drinks, aspirin, honey, and other concoctions in the water is not necessary. Clean water is best to maintain freshness.

• Monitor your tree for dryness. Run your fingers across the needles to determine whether they are dry and brittle. If the needles break easily or fall off in your hand, the tree is dry and should be removed. 

Christmas trees can be useful even after they are taken down. Trees can be placed in the yard to add greenery, treats, stringed cranberries, and act as a bird haven until spring.

Is this true...Chrysanthemums don't help Pollinators?

I read this on the internet and wondered "Is this True?"  I do love the Autumn Asters in my yard and the constant buzzing of pollinators around them - I, also, have several chrysanthemums planted that come back every year and when area nurseries bring out new colors, I'm so temped. So let's talk...

Some main points:

• Pollination is the process that takes place when pollen is moved between flowers for successful seed and food production and ensures that a plant or tree will produce mature fruit and a viable set of seeds that are capable of germination. What do birds and bees have to do with this? Birds, domestic honeybees, butterflies, and other insects and animals are responsible for the moving of the pollen among the flowers. Without the pollinators, there is no plant growth.

• Pollinators prefer some flowers over others, a concept known as Pollinator Syndromes. For example, because a butterfly has a long, slender mouth part (proboscis), they prefer flowers that are long and tube-like, also think hummingbirds. Some flies, on the other hand, have short, round mouth parts much like a sponge. For these pollinators and most bees, a wide-open flower is preferred. Or, for other pollinators, like moths, a flower that is open at night is preferred because that is when moths are active.

• 
  My primary goal is to create a backyard ecology that promotes all pollinators - bees, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects - with plants that sustain them - whether native or non-native throughout the flowering seasons. 

One of my go-to resources is Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy. He believes that "every homeowner can turn their yards into conservation corridors" that promote diversity with native plants as well as other cultivars that contribute to the food web. 

Some cultivars have been removed from evolutionary history with insects; humans have bred cultivars in labs and greenhouses to meet our aesthetic preferences. And sometimes, by selecting for traits that we deem impressive, like double or triple petals, we inadvertently produce plants that broadcast false advertising and eliminate access. Recent work has demonstrated how cultivars—even ones that look quite visually similar—can vary dramatically in the abundance and diversity of insects that they are able to support, so it’s important to choose carefully. References from Tufts Pollinator Initiative article are in the link below.

Echinacea choices - Tufts Pollinator Iniative

While cultivars are great for people, they are not always great for pollinators. According to Tufts Pollinator Initiative, native plants and their pollinators share a long evolutionary history, and many flowers have evolved particular traits that signal honest advertisements of a high quality food resources. For instance, the smell and color of wild geranium tell a bee that nectar and pollen awaits and the dark lines on the petals help them to quickly locate their meal. 

However, some pollinators are "generalists" that will feed on a variety of nectars and pollens.That explains why you'll see bees, butterflies and other insects flying around such non-natives as butterfly bush, catmint, lavender, sedum, salvia, Russian sage, mints, lantana, pentas, daisies, alyssum and zinnias. See Cornell Cooperative Extension list for more.

Although pollinators prefer natives, says Tallamy, "If their mouthparts work, they don't care if it's native or non-native."

My new favorite bush 
Caryopteris 'Blue Mist'

Potted greenhouse mums that we see everywhere this time of year are not bred for their pollen, nectar, or accessibility to pollinators. Most are bred to have multiple petals which reduce accessibility to pollinators. Some good features about these mums is that they are bushy and provide cover for a variety of  predators and parasites that naturally keep plant pests under control. Try an old fashioned Mum instead...or Autumn Asters...or Autumn Sedum!