This is one of the easiest plants to look after as well as being one of the most spectacular. They don’t need dividing, in fact, they resent being moved or fussed with at all. The only thing I do is completely cut back the faded leaves in mid autumn, saving the wonderful big pepperpot seed heads. Fresh new leaves grow to about 6-8 inches high by winter, and they stay evergreen though the harshest weather. In fact, I think the foliage is at its best in winter, very attractive rimmed with frost.

Oriental poppies grow very easily from seed, and come in a range of beautiful colours. Check out the selection on eSeeds.com: ‘Pizzicato’ is a popular mix of pinks and oranges; ‘Coral Pink’ is a pretty soft pink that is easy to blend into a pastel colour scheme, and ‘Brilliant’ is the brightest, darkest true red imaginable. A definite showstopper in the early summer border

Easy to grow from seed, it flowers in the first year but really develops after a couple of seasons into a beautiful tall clump. Perfect for a screening ‘wall’ or ‘hedge’ in a garden where its height (up to six feet) is welcome without any heaviness or darkness. Sow seed in midsummer or very early spring and be patient as they take a long time to germinate. Then plant the small clumps directly out into the garden bed. They are disease resistant and even the slugs and snails won’t touch them. What more could you ask for? In my opinion, it is an almost perfect plant.

1. England: Celebrating the Oak

May 29 is oak apple day, which commemorates the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The oak apple was chosen to represent the oak that Charles II hid in after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester. Many of the customs that take place on this day have their origins in ancient rituals. Villagers from Great Wishford in Wiltshire carry armfuls of green oak, cut at dawn in nearby Grovely Forest, to Salisbury Cathedral. Here they dance in the Close, before entering the cathedral to make their claim of common rights to gather firewood in the forest. 

Despite the name, oak apples are not fruit. They are galls caused by insects. The true fruit of the oak is the oak corn, now called the acorn.

2. Canada: Apple Orchards:

Orchard owners don’t like dandelions because they believe they compete with fruit tree blossom for the attentions of all-important bee pollinators. But entomologists at the University of Western Ontario say that mowing them is an expensive waste of time. 

When they let the dandelions bloom under apple trees, they found that less than three percent of pollen collected by bees came from dandelion flowers, even when these outnumbered apple flowers by twenty-eight to one. If fruit growers follow the expert’s advice, orchards could be carpeted with gold under the apple blossom in spring.

3. USA: Passion Flowers:

Plant breeders at Cornell University in New York believe that Passiflora incarnata, a species of passion flower currently considered to be a weed in the south-eastern United States, could form the basis of a new fruit crop. Its seed pulp contains a tasty juice, but its weedy nature has deterred breeders from working with it in case it becomes a problem in the wild. 

The way forward, say the Cornell scientists, is to cross it with the commercial passion fruit, P. edulis, with the aim of generating a new range of useful and non-invasive hybrids.

Winter covers the ground everywhere north of Zone 8. Right now your next garden is still a dream. Begin now to make the dream real.

Start planning on paper. Then begin thinking about which seeds to start for the next garden’s flowers, herbs and vegetables indoors. Growing plants from seed is infinitely more satisfying than setting out plants you’ve purchased. Try it and see if you don’t agree.

Organize Your Supplies

You’ll need a plant light or a large, south-facing window; seed-starting pots and trays; seed-starting medium; plastic labels; a pencil or dibble; and a mister bottle. These are the basics. You can also get fancy with a light timer, a copper watering can with a rose attachment, wrought-iron stands, humidifiers, soil thermometers, and the like. But those are optional.

Light

I’ve had the best seedling results with a normal fluorescent shop light hung from chains in the basement. Or use a tabletop plant light with cool-white fluorescent tubes.The critical thing is to provide light close to the tops of the plants. By this, I mean 6 to 8 inches above the top leaves. As plants grow, lights have to move up, too. The other requirement is to leave the lights on 12 to 18 hours per day, then off at night. This simulates nature’s “day” and produces the best germination and early growth.

Later I use my shop lights to grow later-started seedlings, and all year round I grow blooming and green plants underneath. I always have a “green spot” to cheer my eye and my soul.

If you are using a large, south-facing window, get the plants right IN the window, as close as possible to the glass, and turn them daily. Plants grown with nature’s light may dry out faster and have the disadvantage of occasionally being a little spindly.

Seed-Starting Medium

Please use a sterile seed starting medium, available in bags so marked, for starting your seeds. Starting with sterile medium assures you of the best environment for seedlings. Also use new plastic or peat pots or trays. Please don’t use ones from before; there could be diseases present.

Temperature

To germinate, seeds need soil which is moist and ranging between 65 to 70 degrees F. Some like it warmer. This is the SOIL temperature I’m talking about. I like to put my seed trays up on the refrigerator until I see the first seedling popping through. This “bottom heat” is especially good for impatiens and pepper seeds.Once the seeds have germinated and they are under the lights, the AIR temperature should be 70 to 75 degrees F. during the day or cooler, and 60 to 65 degrees F. at night. This fluctuating temperature is very important to plant growth. First, it mimics nature. During the day when the lights are on, the small plants are producing food and new cells. The fluorescent light keeps them from getting too warm. When air temperatures are too high, the growth will be too fast, which makes the cell walls thinner and the plants weak. That’s why they often flop over and cause your heart to despair. But with cooler night temperatures and a cycle of dark, the plants have a normal rest cycle which strengthens their cell growth.

My house naturally fluctuates in temperature during the winter, as I’m sure yours does. At night, the thermostat is turned lower for the comfort of the humans and pets, and is perfect for plants as well.

Water

The key to watering seedlings is “evenly moist”. That means an equal amount of water all the way through the medium.Some people like to water from the bottom when plants are very small, allowing pots or trays to soak up water for an hour or so, then taking the water source away.You can also water from the top, using a very gentle stream. The best time to water is when the surface of the medium begins to lighten (indicating it is beginning to dry out). Water during the daylight cycle so leaves can dry off well before dark sets in. This will help prevent mildew problems.

Remember to check your seedlings daily and don’t let them dry out. But don’t let them stay too wet, either. When plants are very small, they don’t use as much water as they will later when their roots develop and grow.

Flowers to Start Indoors

Some annual flowers need a headstart indoors because they are either slow to germinate or slow-growing to the transplant stage.These annual seeds do best if started indoors: coleus, impatiens, flowering kale, lobelia, melampodium, pansy, petunia, pinks, verbena, and vinca (periwinkle).

        
Petunias, coleus, verbena, pansies

Likewise some perennials, if started early indoors, may bloom the first year in the garden. Another benefit of starting some perennials indoors is to set out a sturdy, started plant for best growth and performance.

Perennial seeds for indoor starting include columbine, delphinium, English daisy, moss verbena, ornamental fountain grass, pinks, salvia, veronica and viola.

Vegetables to Start Indoors

Eggplant, onion, and pepper seeds need some time (10 to 12 weeks) to develop indoors, and that’s why I’ve listed them first. Tomatoes also need a headstart, but please don’t start them until about March. Only 6 to 8 weeks are required for tomato plants growing indoors. Many people get impatient and start tomatoes too early, ending up with large, floppy, hungry plants which may not transplant as well as smaller ones do.

Herbs to Start Indoors

These herb seeds are good candidates for a bit of a headstart: catmint, catnip, clary, horehound, lavender, lemon balm, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and thyme.Soak parsley seed in room-temperature water for several hours before planting to give it a little boost.

Choosing Varieties

There are so many varieties of flowers and vegetables to choose from, it can be confusing. Here are some guidelines to refer to before you choose. Flowers: You’ll want to think about where you’ll be planting them as you select the variety. Check the height of the plant. For massed plantings, you may want to grow a single color for greatest impact. For vegetables, check the days to maturity/harvest. Some varieties are earlier than others and this can be an important factor in what you grow for food. And if a variety has been deemed an “All-America Winner” or a “Fleuroselect Winner”, you know already that it will perform well for you because it has been tested extensively and judged to be superior.

Ferry Morse Seed Company is an eSeeds Business Partner.

January is a good time to prune certain houseplants, particularly such vigorous growers as hibiscus and bougainvillea.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Chinese Hibiscus) is a beautiful and easy houseplant.

With the many indoor cultivars of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, if they are in a well-lit sunny window, they continue to send out the odd blossom even at this time of the year making the decision to prune a difficult task. However, the shrubby stems should be pruned back by at least two thirds by the end of the month. If it is a standard on a single stem, just the top bushy branches should be pruned. If you have to prune back into leafless branches, always prune directly above an outward facing dormant bud (as for roses outdoors).

Bougainvillea glabra and its many cultivars are often grown as houseplants which are put outside for the summer and brought indoors for the winter months, where they often lose most of their leaves. It is a rambunctious, thorny vine in nature and tends to form quite a dense mass which should also be pruned and thinned out this month. With most bougainvilleas, there are definite main branches which should be left unpruned; however, all the side shoots coming from them should be pruned back to within a couple of leaf buds from the main stem.

Pruning your woody houseplants at this time of year will encourage plenty of healthy new growth during the next six to eight weeks leading to great blooms later in the year.

Bougainvillea with a collection of other houseplants makes a great window display. Shown here are also a Calamondin orange (Citrofortunella mitis ‘Varieta’) at left; Crimson Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus) lower centre with the red flowers; and Rosette succulent (Aeonium arboraum ‘Atropurpureum’) at right.

ISRAEL: Healthy Plants…

The process of phytoremediation – a process by which plants absorb toxins and lock them up in their cells, thus reducing pollution – has recently been given a more attractive image. Formerly, plants used for such purposes looked uninteresting, or plain ugly, drab relatives of the cabbage, or that most uninspiring of houseplants, Chlorophytum. But it has now been discovered that water lilies are masters of phytoremediation. In Israel, they have been shown to absorb metal pollution to a maximum of 16% of their dry weight, trapping it in plant proteins called phytochelatins. The researchers who have identified the phytochelatin-producing gene propose to modify the genes of other plants with it, thus widening the scope for cleaning up contaminated sites. Could this be a politically attractive application of GM technology?

ENGLAND: Amazing Plants – 26 years!!

After a number of forestry trials, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is offering a range of different species of Christmas trees this year both at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place, the estate managed by Kew in west Sussex.

“Needlefast” Nordman fir (Abies nordmanniana) In recent years, this species has become increasingly popular due to its long needle retention after cutting. On mature trees needles can remain alive for 26 years. It is native to north-eastern Turkey and the adjacent Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, hence its other common name of Caucasian fir.

The common name of the plant is derived from the ancient belief that mistletoe was propagated from bird droppings. This belief was related to the then-accepted principle that life could spring spontaneously from dung. It was observed in ancient times that mistletoe would often appear on a branch or twig where birds had left droppings. “Mistel” is the Anglo-Saxon word for “dung,” and “tan” is the word for “twig”. So, mistletoe means “dung-on-a-twig”.

From the earliest times mistletoe has been one of the most magical, mysterious, and sacred plants of European folklore. It was considered a bestower of life and fertility; a protection against poison; and an aphrodisiac.

The mistletoe of the sacred oak was especially sacred to the ancient Celtic Druids. On the sixth night of the moon white-robed Druid priests would cut the oak mistletoe with a golden sickle. Two white bulls would be sacrificed amid prayers that the recipients of the mistletoe would prosper.

Later, the ritual of cutting the mistletoe from the oak came symbolize the emasculation of the old King by his successor. Mistletoe was long regarded as both a sexual symbol and the “soul” of the oak. It was gathered at both mid-summer and winter solstices, and the custom of using mistletoe to decorate houses at Christmas is a survival of the Druid and other pre-Christian traditions. (Mistletoe is still ceremonially plucked on mid-summer eve in some Celtic and Scandinavian countries.)

In the Middle Ages and later, branches of mistletoe were hung from ceilings to ward off evil spirits. In Europe they were placed over house and stable doors to prevent the entrance of witches. It was also believed that the oak mistletoe could extinguish fire. This was associated with an earlier belief that the mistletoe itself could come to the tree during a flash of lightning.

In parts of England and Wales farmers would give the Christmas bunch of mistletoe to the first cow that calved in the New Year. This was thought to bring good luck to the entire herd.

Kissing under the mistletoe is first found associated with the Greek festival of Saturnalia and later with primitive marriage rites. Mistletoe was believed to have the power of bestowing fertility, and the dung from which the mistletoe was thought to arise was also said to have “life-giving” power.

In Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce or warring spouses kiss and make-up.

In some parts of England the Christmas mistletoe is burned on the twelfth night lest all the boys and girls who have kissed under it never marry.

And for those who wish to observe the correct etiquette: a man should pluck a berry when he kisses a woman under the mistletoe, and when the last berry is gone, there should be no more kissing!

(B) Now the Scientific Facts: Warning – do not read this section if you are a romantic!

The mistletoe of literature (Viscum album) is distributed throughout the warmer parts of the Old World. It is most abundant on apple trees, poplars, willows, lindens, and hawthorns. Its North American counterpart ( Phoradendron serotinum) is parasitic on many species of deciduous trees of eastern North America. Another eastern North American species, the dwarf mistletoe ( Arceuthobium pusillum), is parasitic primarily on coniferous trees. The scientific name of the mistletoe family is Loranthaceae, which consists of about 20 genera.

Some people have sentimental whims about the myths of mistletoe, but this evergreen, parasitic plant is a common pest that reduces the vigor and even threatens the survival of many shade trees. Hosts of broadleaf mistletoe (Phoradendron macrophyllum ) include ash, alder, birch, box elder, cottonwood, locust, silver maple, and walnut. Another species of broadleaf mistletoe in California, P. villosum, infests only oaks. Dwarf mistletoes (Arceuthobium spp.) infest pines, firs, and other conifers in forests, but are rarely a problem in landscape plantings.

IDENTIFICATION:
Leafy mistletoes have green stems with thick leaves that are nearly oval in shape. Plants often develop a roundish form up to 2 feet or more in diameter. The small, sticky, whitish berries are produced from October to December. Evergreen clumps of mistletoe are readily observed on decidous trees in winter when leaves are off the trees.

LIFE CYCLE AND BIOLOGY:
Mistletoe plants are either female (produce berries) or male (produce only pollen). The berries of the female plant are small, sticky, and whitish; they are very attractive to robins and other birds. The birds feed on and digest the pulp of the berries, excreting the living seeds that stick tightly to any branches on which they land. In most cases, the initial infestation occurs on larger or older trees because birds prefer to perch in the tops of taller trees. A heavy buildup of mistletoe often occurs within an infested tree because birds are attracted to the berries, and may spend a good deal of time feeding on them. In addition, seeds may fall from mistletoe plants in the upper part of the tree, creating new infestations on the lower branches. The rapidity with which mistletoe spreads is directly related to the proximity and severity of established infestations, and newly planted trees can be quickly infested if they are growing near old, heavily infested trees.

After the mistletoe seed germinates, it grows through the bark and into the tree’s water-conducting tissues, where rootlike structures called haustoria develop. The haustoria gradually extend up and down within the branch as the mistletoe grows. Initially, the parasitic plant grows slowly; it may take years before the plant blooms and produces seed. Old, mature mistletoe plants may be several feet in diameter, and on some host species, large swollen areas develop on the infected branches where the mistletoe penetrates. If the visible portion of the mistletoe is removed, new plants often resprout from the haustoria.

DAMAGE:
Broadleaf mistletoe absorbs both water and mineral nutrients from its host trees. Healthy trees can tolerate a few mistletoe branch infections, but individual branches may be weakened or sometimes killed. Heavily infested trees may be reduced in vigor, stunted, or even killed, especially if they are stressed by other problems such as drought or disease.

MANAGEMENT:
In newly developed areas or in older established areas where trees are being replaced, the ideal method of controlling or preventing mistletoe is to plant trees believed to be resistant or moderately resistant to mistletoe. Avoid trees like Modesto ash, known to be especially susceptible to mistletoe infestation. Where many new trees are being planted, control mistletoe in any surrounding infected trees to reduce the infection of new trees.

For treatment of existing trees it is important to remove mistletoe before it produces seed and spreads to other limbs or trees. Mechanical control through pruning is the most effective method for removal. Growth regulators provide a degree of temporary control but repeated applications are required. Severely infested trees should be removed and replaced with less susceptible species to protect surrounding trees.

Mechanical Control:
The most effective way to control mistletoe and prevent its spread is to prune out infected branches, if possible, as soon as the parasite appears. Using thinning-type pruning cuts, remove infected branches at their point of origin or back to large lateral branches. Infected branches need to be cut at least one foot below the point of mistletoe attachment in order to completely remove embedded haustoria. Done properly, limb removal for mistletoe control can maintain or even improve tree structure. Severe heading (topping) is often used to remove heavy tree infestations; however, such pruning weakens a tree’s structure, and destroys its natural form. In some cases it is best to remove severely infested trees entirely because they are usually a source of mistletoe seed.

Mistletoes infecting a major branch or the trunk where it cannot be pruned may be controlled by cutting off the mistletoe flush with the limb or trunk. Then wrap the area with a few layers of wide, black polyethylene to exclude light. Use twine or tape to secure the plastic to the limb, but do not wrap it too tightly or the branch may be damaged. Broadleaf mistletoe requires light and will die within a couple of years without it. It may be necessary to repeat this treatment, especially if the wrapping becomes detached or if the mistletoe does not die. In some tree species callus tissue will form under the plastic, further weakening the limb. Additional problems with wrapping are the difficulty of wrapping to exclude light, heat damage to the limb, and providing a refuge for insects such as earwigs.

Simply cutting the mistletoe out of an infested tree each winter, even without wrapping, is better than doing nothing at all. Even though the parasite will grow back, its spread is reduced because broadleaf mistletoe must be several years old before it can bloom and produce seed.

Chemical Control:
The plant growth regulator ethephon (Monterey Florel brand) may be used as directed by the label to control mistletoe in dormant host trees. To be effective, the spray must thoroughly wet the mistletoe foliage. By treating when trees are dormant, the tree foliage will not get in the way of the treatment and the mistletoe clumps are more visible than when leaves are on the tree. Spraying provides only temporary control, especially on well-established infestations, by causing some of the mistletoe plant to fall off. The mistletoe will soon regrow at the same point, requiring retreatment.

Resistant Species:
Some tree species appear resistant to broadleaf mistletoe. Bradford flowering pear, Chinese pistache, crape myrtle, eucalyptus, ginkgo, golden rain tree, liquidambar, persimmon, sycamore, and conifers such as redwood and cedar are rarely infested. These or other resistant species should be considered when planting in infested areas, or when replacing infested trees.