by: Kay D. Childs, North Country Master Gardener Volunteer Listen...Close your eyes and listen to Spring!
Since April, our weather has been a bit abnormal with measurable snowfalls and extreme temperature fluctuations. With yet another lesson in patience learned, however, spring is now in full swing, albeit it is mid-May. While Mother Nature still has more shades of green than Crayola, the sounds of Spring are just as provocative and alluring. I have several favorites to share with you...Last evening at dusk driving by a wetland, the peepers were deafening...the high-pitched chirping chattery noises, created by these very small brown frogs, practically drown out the car radio. And an early morning attention getter is the first call of the loon on Golden Pond, an official signal the maestro was ready for the daily symphony to begin. Soon thereafter the sandhill cranes were soaring overhead in search of the perfect nesting shoreline, sending their screeching, snorting, bugling calls over the airwaves. The geese, not to be outdone, are patrolling the shoreline as well, honking boisterously challenging any approaching waddling, quacking ducks looking for a territory to call home.
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The North Country Master Gardener Plant Sale will be on May 19. This is the culmination of many weeks of volunteer effort starting with seed acquisition in the middle of the winter.
Peppers are started ahead of the tomatoes because of a typically little longer germination period and a little slower rate of growth. The tomatoes were started on April 10 as part of a learning opportunity for the new class of Master Gardener Volunteers. With the seedlings up and wanting actual sunlight, they are relocated into the Spooner Ag Research Greenhouse. There were earlier starts for native plants. The greenhouse tends to overflowing so some plants were transferred to friendly volunteer homes and greenhouses. Volunteers visited the greenhouse each day to maintain a watering schedule for the six weeks between planting and the sale. As the weather warms and the plants put on growth, the daily watering expands to twice a day. As the seedlings grow they eventually need to be transplanted into larger pots. Finally, the temperatures are warming, the sun is out, and the seedlings are on their way. May 19th will be the Annual Plant Sale 8am until sold out! Heirloom Tomatoes and Pepper Plants and new for this year 6 Pack Pollinator Garden The following plants will be in the six pack. Wild Lupine Lupinus perennis Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata Blazing Star Liatris Liatris spicata Butterfly Weed Asclepias tuberosa Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta New England Asters Aster novae-angliae (In some references, it will be listed as Symphyotrichum) Swamp Milkweed During Twilight Garden Tour of 2017 a question came up from some of the attendees, "Where do you find Swamp Milkweed?" That was the start of our inspiration to offer a Pollinator Garden Six Pack. As we get excited to start planting and creating our gardens we have to remember patience is key. Year one of your Pollinator Garden is going to require regular weeding and watering. Your plants will take root and begin to thrive. Year two again will be a year of patience, weeding and watering. Year three and beyond will bring you joy, beauty and a banquet for pollinators.
See you at the plant sale to pick up your Pollinator Six Pack! The Power of Yellow and Orange in the Garden This year at our Plant Sale we will be offering a Pollinator Garden Six Pack for $12.00. We have shared in past posts the importance of our pollinators and giving them a banquet to feast on. We shared the power of purple in the garden and today we will look at yellow and orange. Orange is a not a color for the faint of heart. It demands attention, as if shouting out, “Hey, look at me! Take notice!” Pam Roy shares the following quote in her article Bright colors add boldness to your garden and attracts pollinators. I think that is a win, win!
Butterfly Weed Black-eyed susan Both of the above will be available in our Pollinator Six Pack. Power of Purple
Did you know purple flowers attract pollinators. Read the following from Jason Griffin, Associate Professor of Nursery Crops and Director of K-State Research and Extension's John C. Pair Horticultural Center in Wichita. www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/feb11/purplehorticult20811.html Jason Griffin, associate professor of nursery crops and director of K-State Research and Extension's John C. Pair Horticultural Center in Wichita, says the importance of the color purple in plants is measured not only in ecological and evolutionary impact, but also by its pleasing appearance. "From a human perspective, we love purple plants," he said. "Purple is one of the most popular flower colors, yet one of the rarest colors in fruit and foliage." A great amount of research has investigated the synthesis of purple and how to manipulate it, Griffin said. The color is highly desirable in flowering landscape plants. Purple foliage plants, despite their rarity, are extremely popular. The green leaves of autumn give way to red, orange and yellow. However, a few lucky species will turn a shade of purple, which is rare in the fall color palette. "Purple is both rare yet highly sought after by consumers and landscape professionals alike," he said. The color purple also functions as a guide for pollinators. Flowers of many species have purple stripes on their petals, which are called nectar guides. These guides clearly lead toward the reproductive structure, or center, of the flower, increasing the chances for pollination, according to Griffin. Purple seed, pods and other forms of fruit then influence the reproductive cycle. The color purple will attract herbivores, which consume the seed and deposit it elsewhere. After reading just a few fun facts about the power of purple. I bet you are ready to add some purple in your garden. This year our Plant Sale will feature our Pollinator Six Pack. In that six pack you will find three purple plants. Lupine, Liatris and Asters. Lupine Lupinus perennis Lupine's dense spires of bright flowers signal the coming of spring. Lupine is the only food plant for the larvae of the endangered Karner Blue butterfly. Blazing Star Liatris Liatris spicata The Blazing Star is one of the most spectacular and majestic of the prairie plants. Liatris blooms from mid to late summer. New England Aster Aster novae-angliae The New England Aster is one of the tallest and most magnificent of the fall asters. It serves as an important late season source of nectar. |
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