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What Crazy Weather!
Greetings!
 Lesson learned this week: Last average frost dates are last
average frost dates for a reason.
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture calculates that the last average annual frost
date for northern Iowa is May 15. For southern Iowa it's May 10.
And
sure enough, we had plant-killing frosts last weekend. Like most people, I had
been lulled by the lovely recent warm weather into thinking I could push it a
little this year. I had a flat filled with peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and
more that I was planning to get into the ground Friday. Ha!
Any
newly planted trees, shrubs, spring-blooming bulbs, roses, and perennials were
fine. They're made to tolerate cold. So were any cool-season annuals, such as
pansies, lettuces, spinach, and snapdragons. It's the warm-season annuals, such as marigolds and impatiens that are natives of the
tropics and can't stand cold.
(Confused
about what to plant when? Click here for our nifty month-by-month
listing for Iowa.)
So
live and learn and take any losses in stride, right? It's yet another of
gardening's great lessons!
Happy chilly, damp gardening,
 Veronica Lorson Fowler |
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Much to Mulch
I'm a big believer in a good layer of mulch. It suppresses
weeds, minimizes watering, and prevents mud and disease pathogens in the soil
from splashing up on the plants.
I
like to mulch in late May, about the time the bulb foliage is starting to fade. (You can't remove it until it pulls away  easily but I cheat a bit and mulch
right over the stuff that's already browned.) The soil has warmed enough but I
am still beating many of the weeds and disease.
Click here to find the best mulch for different parts of your Iowa
garden with minimal costs.
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Plant Shopping Smarts
If you're like me, you're spending enough money on plants to
make you cringe a bit (but it's ooooh so worth it, right?). So spend your plant
dollars as wisely as possible.
Click here for my best plant shopping tips for Iowa. The most important one? Know
your USDA Zone and be
conservative in your plant selection. North of Highway 30, roughly, is Zone 4.
South is Zone 5. Read labels carefully and never push the zone. In fact, do
just the opposite. In Ames, according  to the USDA map, I'm in the northernmost
area of Zone 5, but I try to get only Zone 4 plants. The retailers who create
the labels tend to be optimistic--they're trying to sell plants, after all--and
so a plant that's labeled for Zone 5 is actually a bit of a risk for me. One
harsh winter and that plant is done for. |
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Plant Peppers
Have you noticed the high price of bell peppers? A freeze in
Florida months ago has jacked up the prices, and they're expected to stay high
for at least another month or so.
Me,
I bought nine bell pepper plants for about what I'd pay for two actual bell peppers. Not
only will my little plants supply me with fresh peppers throughout the summer  (I love them
and use them constantly), but I'll also chop and freeze them. Frozen peppers
aren't any good in salads, but they're almost indistinguishable from fresh when
sauteed in a soup or sauce.
Helpful
hint: Rabbits, cutworms, and more love newly planted pepper plants. Surround
and protect them with a gallon tin can, both ends cut out. Or use a one-gallon
or larger black plastic pot with the bottom cut out.
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Better Tomatoes
Tomatoes are--no surprise--the most popular garden veggie grown in America. But tomatoes are also one of the most disease-prone plants around.
Click here for Five Simple Steps to Healthier Tomatoes.
 The
least-known tip (Number 4) about growing tomatoes: Never plant them in the
same place as the previous year. Disease pathogens specific to tomatoes
overwinter in the soil and come back stronger than ever the following year.
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Garden Quote:
"Sunshine is delicious, rain is
refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such
thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."
-- John
Ruskin
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Your business will reach thousands of avid local gardeners with some of the most reasonable rates around. Click here for advertiser information, which includes a publishing schedule, or email us at info@theiowagardener.com. |
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Garden To-Do List
For a printable version of this list for May, click here.
 It's been cold this past
week, so don't rush to plant tender annuals, such as tomato plants, peppers,
basil, marigolds, impatiens, and petunia.
Plant gladiolus corms, canna rhizomes, and tuberous begonia
tubers now the soil is adequately warm.
Finish up planting of lettuces and spinach from seed.
You can continue to divide perennials that bloom in the summer or
fall now, as needed or desired. Hold off on dividing those that bloom in late
spring until either after they bloom or this fall.
Finish up pruning trees, shrubs, evergreens now as desired.
Continue to plant trees, shrubs, and roses now. However,
avoid planting bare-root roses and other bare-root plants after the middle of May.
Continue to plant perennial edibles that like cool weather,
such as rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, and asparagus.
Wait to plant the seeds of corn, squash, cucumbers, and
beans. They like warm soil. Plant these the last week of May in southern Iowa,
the first week of June in northern.
If you choose to use a preemergent weed killer, such as
Preen, in your beds and borders, now is the time to apply it. Organic versions are also available. Look for products that also fertilize.
Don't remove
the browning foliage of tulips and daffodils until it pulls away easily. The
plants need it to rejuvenate for next year.
Now is a great time to build a raised bed. Click here to find out how.
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Garden Events
Saturday, May 15Hubbard's Big Green Plant Sale9am-1pm in Hubbard Park. Hardin County Master Gardeners and Big Green.
Benefits go to beautify the town.
Saturday, May 15Downtown Des Moines Farmers Market8am-noon "Ask a Master Gardener" Free advice and
children's activities. Will be offered once a month. Saturday, May 15Evening Star Federated Garden Club Plant Sale8am-noon 5460 Merle Hay Road in front of Quiznos, Johnston. Assorted perennials, garden tools, and art will be priced to sell! Saturday, May 21
Florists to the Stars
Des Moines
Botanical Center
11am-2 pm. Celebrity florist Kimm Birkicht will present,
combined with a lunch and silent auction. $75 per person. Call 515-323-6265 or
email
ajordan@botanical
center.com
Saturday, May 22
Bulb to Blossom SaleCentral Gardens of North Iowa, Clear Lake 8am-noon. Perennials, handcrafted objects, children's
activities. Free admission. Click here for further listings of more garden events throughout the week and summer. |
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