One of the 2021 All-America Selection Winners in the vegetable category is the Squash Goldilocks F1, a golden orange acorn squash that is both beautiful and delicious! This is a high yield variety that is disease resistance. The lovely nutting flavor makes this one "just right!"
Goldilocks F1 is best grown in the garden or a very large container. The plant is compact and bushy with overall height at maturity of 30 inches. Fruit size is about 4 inches X 4 inches, 1 pound. The flavor is described as sweet and nutty. One plant should yield as many as 10 or more fruits. Sown seeds will reach harvest in 85 days while transplants will shorten that to about 70 days. Plants spread to about 4-5 feet so space them accordingly. This variety is tolerates Powdery Mildew. Seeds are available through Osborne Quality Seeds https://www.osborneseed.com/ and Territorial Seed Company https://territorialseed.com/. Plant in full sun in well drained soil. Or start indoors three weeks before planting. AAS describes themselves as "An independent non-profit organization committed to bringing you award-winning flowers and vegetables." Their mission statement: "To promote new garden varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America." https://all-americaselections.org/product/squash-goldilocks/
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With this years plant sale canceled due to COVID, North Country Master Gardeners will once again put our energy into the Teaching and Display Gardens at the Spooner Ag Station. We will be starting seeds for many of the plants used in the gardens right here in our greenhouse at the Ag Station while other seeds will be started for us at Madison. We are excited to be getting started and are now in the planning and gathering process. The Seed Starting committee met on March 4th to lay the groundwork for this year's efforts. Links to the minutes and documents of their meeting can be found on the Members/Committees page. Some of the planning details outlined in the meeting minutes can be helpful for those of us who start our own seeds at home. Planning our gardens and planter pots ahead of time will help determine what seeds will be directly sown into the soil and which seeds need an indoor head start. Acquiring seeds and determining a timeline for when to start each type is important. Gathering pots, containers, seed starting mix and fertilizer, sterilizing pots, and preparing these ahead of seeding can save time and help insure success. The Display Garden theme this year for the All-American Selections is Diversity in the Garden. While we will not be competing in the AAS contest this year, we will be keeping this theme in mind while planning our garden beds. Members will adopt a garden space to transform so that by August we will be able to offer our Twilight Garden Tour, if not in real time, virtually as we did last year. Follow our progress on this blog. If you are a master gardener volunteer but are not on the committee, your help is always appreciated--check out the minutes for places you might fit in in the seed starting process. If you are not a master gardener volunteer but have been thinking about becoming one, this will give you some insight into what we do and how much fun we have! Display Gardens Layout Seed starting chart article by Pam Davies
This year Monarda is one of the 2021 National Garden Bureau’s featured plants, and a great choice for your garden too!
A Native Species, Monarda has a long medicinal herbal history that Native tribes taught early settlers to utilize. Bee Balm, Monarda’s common name, I am certain came to be due to its ability soothe bee stings, other medicinal uses included treating chills and fever all information shared with early settlers from Native Americans. This All America Selections winner in the annuals category, Celosia Kelos® Candela Pink, with its profusion of bright pink spikes will dazzle in containers or as dramatic interest in garden beds or bouquets both fresh and dried. Less dense and more delicate than other varieties of celosia , expect blooms of 10 to 15 inches, with an overall plant height of 25 to 30 incles. Blooms beginning in late spring and continuing well into fall make this plant ideal as a filler or tall background or boarder plant.
Plant in full to partial sun in well drained soil. Water as needed. This celosia can tolerate dry conditions and is heat, wind and rain tolerant, and deer resistent! Article by Pam Davies, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Regular pruning throughout the life of the tree promotes healthy growth, maintains the shape of the canopy, and reduces stress on the tree. Dead, diseased and damaged branches should normally be removed right away. One exception is Oak, which is susceptible to Oak Wilt disease, and best pruned while dormant.
Early spring is an ideal time to identify branches and limbs requiring removal. Some trees such as Maple may bleed sap, but this will self-seal and is not harmful. “Proper Tree Pruning” published by the WI Department of Natural Resources illustrates some key pruning basics. More resources: This All-America Selections winner in the annuals category hasn't got the most alluring name but the Zinnia Profusion Red Yellow Bicolor is an outstanding zinnia new for this year, 2021. The outstanding feature that wowed the judges was that as the growing season progresses the colors will morph from the red/yellow to apricot, salmon, and dusty rose.
Pollinator friendly, this variety can be grown in containers, hanging baskets or beds. Use them for groundcover, low edging or as a medium-height divider. Expect compact mounds of 8 to 14 inches in height. Plant in multiple clusters to get the full impact of the range of striking colors you can expect from this winner. Bloom size is about two and a half inches. Plant in full to partial sun. No deadheading or staking are necessary. Typical of zinnia, this variety is heat, wind and rain tolerant. If starting your own seeds, first flower will come at 60 days. Transplanted from seedlings, flowering will be at about 30 days. Article by Pam Davies, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer This is a repost of a Wisconsin Horticulture, Division of Extension article. The original article can be found at: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/2021/02/03/february-2021-bypassing-plant-pathogens-promoting-tree-and-shrub-health-through-proper-pruning Bypassing Plant Pathogens: Promoting Tree and Shrub Health Through Proper Pruning Posted on February 3, 2021 Pruning in the winter can reduce the risk of disease-causing organisms infecting trees and shrubs through pruning cuts. By Brian Hudelson, Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic Although it doesn’t seem like the optimal time to be gardening, February is actually a great time to be out pruning your trees and shrubs to make them more structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing.
Why prune now? Whenever you prune, you create wounds that potentially can serve as entry points for disease-causing fungi and bacteria. If you prune in the spring and summer (when it’s warmer and often wetter), these organisms are very active and more likely land on fresh pruning cuts and infect. When the weather is colder and drier (as it tends to be in February in Wisconsin), disease-causing organisms are much less active and the chances of them infecting though pruning cuts is much reduced. How do I go about pruning? Check out University of Wisconsin Garden Facts XHT1013 (Pruning Evergreens), XHT1014 (Pruning Deciduous Trees) and XHT1015 (Pruning Deciduous Shrubs) for pointers on how to prune. Prune only when it’s dry, and decontaminate pruning tools between cuts (or at a minimum between each tree or shrub) by treating them with 70% alcohol (e.g., rubbing alcohol right out of the bottle, spray disinfectants containing ~70% alcohol) or (in a pinch) 10% bleach. Decontaminating tools kills off disease-causing organisms that you might pick up as you prune. Once done pruning, if you’ve used bleach, be sure to thoroughly rinse your tools, and oil them to prevent them from rusting. By pruning regularly and taking a few simple precautions as you do, you will end up with trees that are beautiful, structurally sound and healthy.
Cost: $10 covers all four presentations The Spring Garden Seminar will be presented via You Tube Live. Attendees will receive the link the week prior to each presentation. All presentations are open to the public and we welcome both new and experienced gardeners. Registration at https://www.eauclaireareamastergardener.org/ Brought to you by Western Wisconsin Master Gardener Associations from the following counties: Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pierce and St. Croix The Ashland/Bayfield County Master Gardeners are hosting two virtual programs “Unsung Heroes of Nature” on February 11 from 6:30-8 pm and “How to Attract Pollinators to Your Home Gardens” on March 11 from 6:30-8 pm. You can find out more about each program and registration information by clicking on the links below. A program link and password will be provided the day before the program by Sarah DeGraff, UW-Extension Bayfield County.
Living here in northern Wisconsin, and being a gardener, I wanted to break the barriers to gardening that our harsh winters create. This year, I am experimenting with hydroponics. Hydroponics, in its simplest form, is growing plants by supplying all necessary nutrients in the plants’ water supply rather than through the soil.
Plants need water, nutrients, light, air, and structural support for the roots. There are two types of hydroponic systems: active and passive. I have had a passive system when our Master Gardener Kids in the Garden program repurposed plastic bottles that had a “wicking” material to draw up the liquid nutrients for the roots to access by simply suspending the plants in the inverted bottle top and placing the container in a sunny window. That works well in Summer, but not at all in Winter. There is simply not enough natural light for the plant to grow, given our shorter winter daylight hours. |
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