know_how

When Darlene Skari called me to ask if I would be the new Container Gardening Chairman, I thought, "what in the world can I do with that position?" As it turns out, a lot! The Container Gardening DVD is very informative as it is a 66 minute compilation of the program "Rebecca's Garden" from HGTV. One segment on color showed a formal garden with all the same color (cobalt blue in this case) containers; the impact was absolutely smashing. The Chester Garden Club obtained this DVD from our Video Library and made it their program for January 2008.

Another something I can implement are new ideas for old containers. Late last summer (thank heaven it was a long Fall), I took pictures of containers around Chinook and even Augusta while visiting with friends. As we get into springtime, these photos will be posted here. This should give us all some fresh ideas for this year's containers.

Now I want you to do something for me: "snap" gorgeous container gardening ideas and submit them to me by clicking on my name above. Please try to identify as many of the contents as possible. If we get a lot of them, I'll sort through them and put them on throughout these two years. If just a few, your pictures will be a sure thing for web site publication right away. Happy container gardening!

CLEAN AIR NATURALLY WITH HOUSE PLANTS -- Common houseplants can clean indoor air of toxins, gases and pollutants, especially during our long winters when we keep our homes shut up to save energy. Try these plants: spider plant, aloe vera, philodendron, peace lilly, schefflera, chinese evergreen, corn plant, peperonia, golden phothos and sansevieria. To be most effective, place the plants in an area where circulation is best. Avoid cold, drafty areas near doors or touching the window.

Starting new plants--propagating--is a fun and rewarding way to develop healthy plants with almost no cost. The method most often used is to take cuttings either from a stem or leaf. Wetting the stem, dip it into a growth hormone such a Rootone and shake the excess off. Insert the leaf or stem in rooting medium such as perlite or vermiculite and do not let it dry out. In a month or so it will form roots, creating a new plant.

Another way to propagate plants is through root division -- separating plants at the root zone. This is done when their growth slows or they become dormant. Use a sharp knife or trowel to divide, then repot in a suitable container with the proper drainage.

There are about 21 species and many cultivars of African violets. The leaves are deep green or variegated, fuzzy, oval or lance shaped. Clusters of single, semi-double or double, sometimes ruffled or fringed blossoms come in violet, blue, pink, white and sometimes bicolored.

The African violet prefers filtered sun with well-drained soil. Turn the plant weekly for even growth. Water when soil surface dries, avoiding foliage. Fertilize with each watering, dilute fertilizer to half its recommended use. Deadhead flower clusters at stem base.

The stem segments have rounded notches and rounded ends. Medium light and normal room temperatures at a partly-shaded window is best throughout spring, summer and fall. To bring the plant into bloom it must be kept out of bright light in the evening. If your cactus is in a bright window, move it to a dim corner in a cool room or pull the shade in the afternoon. It is a light-sensitive succulent that thrives in a "jungle" understory condition. These plants like shade and water to bloom. (I add 1 tsp. castor oil to one watering late in September.) Apply a high potassium, tomato-type fertilizer once every two weeks throughout the year. Depending on the light conditions, the plant may bloom in late fall and early spring.

Poinsettia
The "Crown of the Andes"

Did you know over 61 million poinsettia plants are purchased in the U.S. each year? When selecting a plant, look for dark green foilage down to the soil line, bracts [modified leaves] fully colored, no pollen showing on the flower clusters in the center of the bract, and plants displayed in an open uncrowded area [plants held in paper or plastic sleeves will deteriorate rapidly]. Note too, that extensive studies have shown that all parts of the poinsettia are NOT poisonous to humans or animals. A study at Ohio State Univ. showed that a 50 pound child who ate 500 bracts might have a slight tummy ache. The milky sap may cause skin irritation.

The Ponderosa Pine (Pinaceae Pinus ponderosa)

Pinus ponderosa, Western Yellow Pine, Bull, Black Jack, Western Red, Sierra Brownbark, Heavy, Western Pitch, Ponderosa Pine. Montana's state tree has a long list of names. This stately western Montana resident has figured heavily in the development of all the West. In what is now South Dakota, Lewis and Clark first observed the cones of the ponderosa pine which had floated that far on the currents of the Missouri River. Captain Lewis, particularly, took extensive notes on the tree as he passed through its habitat later during the journey west and back.

Pioneers used the pine's wood for the civilization they were building. Ponderosa timber served everywhere, from railroad ties and telegraph poles to mine bracing and homes. Only later did its long needles and attractive cones garner more scientific consideration.

In the spring of 1908, Helena's school children held a referendum on which tree best represented the state. The ponderosa easily outdistanced fir, larch, and cottonwood for the designation. It was not until 1949, however, that the Montana Legislature bestowed its blessing. The Montana Federation of Garden Clubs carried on a year-long campaign on behalf of the ponderosa. The state forester supported it as the "most typical" of all Montana trees and the best commercial timber... "king of the forest," he called it. The Legislature agreed. The beauty and value of the ponderosa pine makes it truly representative of Montana and worthy of its designation as the state tree.

Montana's lumbermen have harvested millions of board feet from public and private lands throughout the state. In a recent year, the value of ponderosa pine harvested from public land alone was more than four million dollars. A major source of timber, ponderosa pine forests are also important as wildlife habitat, for recreational use and for esthetic values.

Today the tree may be found in most parts of western Montana. Its range includes the entire West, from the plains to the Pacific Coast. On the average the tree reaches maturity when 60 to 125 feet tall (about 150 years old) and approximately 20 to 30 inches in diameter. The largest ponderosa pine on record live along the humid Pacific coast, where California naturalist John Muir once measured a giant, 220 feet tall and eight feet in diameter. Ponderosa pines grow straight and tall, sometimes more than two hundred feet. Within its extensive range, two varieties of the species currently are recognized: Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa (Pacific ponderosa pine) (typical) and var. scopulorum (Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine). Arizona pine (P. arizonica), sometimes classified as a variety of ponderosa pine, is presently recognized as a separate species.

Leaf: Evergreen, 5 to 10 inches long, with three (sometimes 2) tough, yellow-green needles per fascicle. When crushed, needles have a turpentine odor sometimes reminiscent of citrus.
Flower: Monoecious; males yellow-red, cylindrical, in clusters near ends of branches; females reddish at branch tips.
Fruit: Cones are ovoid, 3 to 6 inches long, sessile, red-brown in color, armed with a slender prickle. Maturing August to September.
Twig: Stout, orange in color, turning black. Buds often covered with resin.
Bark: Very dark (nearly black) on young trees, developing cinnamon-colored plates and deep furrows.
Form: A large tree with an irregular crown, eventually developing a flat top or short conical crown. Ponderosa pine self-prunes well and develops a clear bole.

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Our State Butterfly, The Mourning Cloak

The Mourning Cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa) was designated by the Legislature and Govenor Martz as Montana's State Butterfly in April 2001. The Montana Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. and fifth graders throughout the state chose the Mourning Cloak as it can be found in all 56 counties. It is capable of hibernating and surviving Montana's winters. The colors of rich brownish-maroon wings, trimmed with a creamy-yellow band on all four wings and bordered inwardly by brilliant blue spots are reflective of Montana's mountains, waving fields of yellow grain, and the blue lakes, rivers and skies. The underside of the wings are dark brown with lighter brown edges.

Mourning cloaks belong to one of the larger families of butterflies, the Nymphalidae. Members of the Nymphalidae are more commonly known as the "brush-footed butterflies" because the front pair of legs of these butterflies are small, hairy and "brushlike." The North American common name for this species, mourning cloak, refers to its resemblance to a traditional dark colored cloak worn when one was "in mourning."

Mourning cloaks often rest on dark tree bark where they are camouflaged and can bask in direct sunlight. This butterfly will open its wings and angle its body toward the sun to increase its body temperature prior to flight. Combined with its dark wing color, this enables the mourning cloak to absorb heat. Butterflies must be warm to fly so this is important to butterflies living in cold, mountainous areas, especially those that are active in early spring like the mourning cloak. Mourning cloaks are in flight mostly in the spring, late summer, and early fall.

Tree sap is one of their main sources of food. Sap starts to rise in spring, often seeping out of the bark in places where the tree has been damaged over the winter. In addition to searching for fresh tree sap, adult mourning cloak butterflies also seek out their mates in the spring. The butterflies die soon after mating, but they have spent as much as ten months as adults, a long life for a butterfly. Before they die, females lay their eggs in clusters of rings around twigs on a single tree or shrub. The eggs hatch into caterpillars, which can grow up to two inches long and are velvety black with raised white dots and a rows of red spots and spines down the middle of their backs. The caterpillars feed in groups on the leaves of deciduous trees, including the willow, elm, cottonwood, poplar, rose, birch, and mulberry trees. They eat and grow, shedding their skin several times, and eventually leave the plant they've been feeding on. Once it finds just the right spot, the caterpillar will form a spiky gray chrysalis so that it can undergo metamorphosis to become a butterfly. After about ten to fifteen days, depending on the temperature, a new generation of mourning cloak butterflies emerge from their chrysalises.

Compared to last year (2003), soil temperatures in my yard are 4 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher and soil moisture is about half of what it was a year ago. If you have similar conditions, go ahead and water your plants one or two inches a week to replenish soil moisture.

Instead of running the sprinklers every day, water the lawn only when it needs it or just give it a good soak once a week. If the grass springs back when you step on it, there's no need to water.

Use mulch (chunks of bark, peat moss or gravel) to cover bare ground in gardens and around trees (leave some room around the trunk) to slow evaporation.

Plant drought-resistant, native trees and plants. Learn the techniques of xeriscape planting.

Set lawn mower blades higher because longer grass means less evaporation and reduces stress on the grass during hot, dry periods.

For a more thorough examination of this subject, read Montana State University's publication entitled Yard and Garden Water Management. (Written by members of MSU's Extension Service.)