Spring Flowers!

By Master Gardener Amy Weis

 

The greenhouses are starting to fill up at Richards Gardens 

With the Philadelphia Flower show and the snow (hopefully) ending the other week many people are starting to contemplate the flowers and plants they will be adding to their gardens this spring.  It may still be in the 30’s in the Lehigh Valley but the perennial and flower plant farmers in our area have been hard at work for the last several months; preparing and growing the plugs, bare rooted plants and seeds which will become full, bountiful and blooming plants by the time we purchase them in April or May.

We have a lot to choose from in the Lehigh Valley as we decide which plants to put in our gardens.  However, the plants we will eventually buy will fall into one of the following categories.

Woody plants are plants that have woody stems that persist above ground even through seasons that don't favor growth, due to low precipitation or temperatures. Woody plants include mainly trees and shrubs.

Annuals are plants that grow from seed to flower in one year and then die. Usually you buy annuals in the spring and know they will die in the fall.

Common annuals include marigolds, petunias, geraniums, impatiens, and zinnias.

Biennials are plants that require two years to complete their life cycle. First season growth results in a small rosette of leaves near the soil surface. During the second season's growth stem elongation, flowering and seed formation occur followed by the entire plant's death. Common biennials include foxglove, hollyhock, and pansies, black-eyed Susans and Queen Anne’s lace.

Perennials are plants that persist for many growing seasons. Generally the top portion of the plant dies back each winter and regrows the following spring from the same root system (e.g. Purple Coneflower). Many perennial plants keep their leaves year round. Common Pennsylvania perennials include peonies, sedum, asters, coreopsis and phlox.

When I begin my spring search for annuals and perennials, one of my first stops each year is the perennial nursery of the dynamic mother - daughter duo of Emma and Roxie Richards of Richards Gardens, off a quiet back road in Quakertown, Pa. Emma Richards has been growing and selling plants for 35 years, starting with field grown pansies in the 1970’s. Her farm has been in the family for many years belonging first to her grandfather, John Roth, in the latter part of the 19^th century. Emma and Roxie’s customers come from the entire tri-state area and include grandchildren of Emma’s original customers. Their only real form of marketing for thirty-five years has been word of mouth and it seems to have worked quite well.

The Richards, along with other perennial and plant farmers in the valley, are now in the process of putting out plugs and bare roots in their greenhouses and starting their potted seeds. The pictures below are of their greenhouses now. Look for the same greenhouse pots in a few weeks in this blog to see the plants you and others in the Valley may be buying come spring.

Learn to Grown Your Own: Every home gardener will find something of interest at Workshops for the Gardener!  Workshops for the Gardener is scheduled for Saturday, April 12^th from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the PPL Walbert Training Center.  The event kicks off with a lively discussion about growing the very best heirloom tomatoes with expert Steve Bogash, one of our own Penn State Extension Horticulture Educators. Choose from sessions on home garden topics taught by our Master Gardening volunteers. Topics include:  Growing Great Cut Flowers; Year-Round Garden Maintenance; Ticks, Mosquitoes, and West Nile Virus; Ten Plants That Changed the World; African Violets; and Shade Gardening.  For the final session, participants will have a chance  to choose a demonstration to observe and interact with the instructor. Demonstration topics include: Herb Gardening, Rain Barrels, and Garden Photography.  You can peruse the garden fair to find books, plants, jewelry, soaps and more for purchase.  The conference will also feature a silent auction to benefit the Master Gardener program. The conference costs $50 with lunch included.  To register online go to http://www.cvent.com/events/workshops-for-the-gardener/event-summary-c76210525d4e4b04b6d8a170ec0a8e84.aspx

References:

aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu  

Woody plants of Utah, Renee Van Buren

Herbaceous Perennial Production, A guide from Propagation to Marketing, Dr. Leonard Perry – University of Vermont

www.uky.edu/Ag/NewCrops/introsheets/nurserybiz.pdf

Long Winter on the Farm

By Master Gardener Marianne McNeil

This winter has been unusually cold with major snow storms causing difficulties for all of us. I am tired of hearing about the polar vortex and will rejoice this year when spring finally arrives. This cold and snowy winter was predicted in the Old Farmers Almanac! How has this unusually cold and snowy weather affected our local farmers?

In the winter, most farmers try to accomplish the tasks that they have little time for during the growing season.  They inspect and repair their farm equipment and tractors. They check their inventory and determine what needs to be ordered for the next season. This is the time when they do soil tests to determine if they need any additional fertilizers and nutrients applied. They also complete much of their paperwork during the winter months and plan on what crops to grow next year based on pricing. The difficult winter weather has certainly slowed our local farmers' progress on some of these tasks. Our local farmers have added snow removal to their list of chores. On some farms, drifting snow can make snow removal a daily chore!  

Local dairy farmers have no rest during the winter months. They still have to feed and care for their cows and milk them twice a day.  This is an especially hard winter for dairy farmers since roads must be cleared to get feed and to transport their milk to market. Any farmer that cares for cattle and livestock has also been experiencing difficulties with all this snow.

In the winter, farmers will also have to contend with some damage from ice storms to fruit trees and berry bushes.  Also, some crops are planted in the fall as a cover crop or some are perennial   like alfalfa. These plants may heave out of the ground when there are numerous freeze and thaw cycles in the winter. The plants may be damaged or die completely. This means less natural fertilizer or produce and added cost to the farmer.

This winter, trucks have deposited tons of rock salt on our roads and our soil.  Salt damage to plants can be a problem to both farmers and homeowners. Salt adsorbs water and causes dehydration at the roots of plants. Salt ions also combine with important nutrients in the soil that plants need, making them unavailable. Salt ions can also build up in the plant to toxic levels causing damage to buds, leaf tips and young twigs. Near roads, you might observe corn or soybean plants that are stunted with brown leaves. This is probably caused by salt damage. This damage may be present for several growing seasons after a snowy winter like this one. Penn State Extension recommends calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) as an alternative to rock salt to avoid plant damage.

It may seem that farmers have it easy in the long winter months, but they are still working hard to bring us the fresh food we love. They have to contend with snow removal, feeding livestock and possible plant damage. This snowy winter, their work has been more difficult just like ours, so let's hope that soon the snow shoveling will be over!


Sources:
Old Farmers Almanac:
http://m.almanac.com/weather/longrange

Winter Alfalfa Survival

http://extension.psu.edu/plants/crops/forages/management/winter-alfalfa-survival

Salt damage to plants:
http://extension.psu.edu/plants/green-industry/news/2013/damage-from-de-icers

Alternatives to salt for de-icing:
http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/water/discovery-watersheds/news/2014/sidewalk-salt-and-stormwater