Greetings!
 Hip. Hip. Hoo-flippin'-ray! Warm, sunny weather is finally here!
Granted, this weekend is supposed to be rainy, but I plan to run out between the raindrops and prune my roses and start the garden cleanup in earnest.
I used that insane warm spell last Sunday to sweep out and scrub down my back screened porch. Maybe we can have lunch out there this weekend?
I'm enjoying every moment of this spring weather. I have plans to purchase a colorful chaise lawn chair for my back yard. If I'm lucky, I may even get a chance to sit in it.
Yours in busy spring gardening  Veronica Lorson Fowler |
That Dripping Sound Could
Possibly Be My Nose
I don't usually have allergies, but the past couple weeks my nose has been drippy and felt like someone jammed black pepper up it. Surely, I thought, it's too early for spring allergies?
So I went online and found a good, sound article on spring allergies. It told me, yes, this time of year there are some early tree pollens and molds unleashed as the snow melts and spring winds kick up. (The Claritin recommended really seems to be helping.)
 And since I tend to be more itchy and sneezy when I come in from a session outdoors, I plan to follow the advice of one web article and try a nasal rinse with salt water. Disgusting, I know, but probably less disgusting than going around snorting! |
Advertisement
New Forms of Heucherella
 These two new hybrids, Heucherella 'Redstone Falls' and Heucherella 'Yellowstone Falls' represent an exciting new plant form in heucherellas! The trailing habit makes these vigorous, heat- and humidity- tolerant plants useful as  a colorful groundcover. Or mix it up and use them spilling over the edge of a container. Both of these new exciting forms of Heucherella can be purchased from In The Country Garden & Gifts. Order 'Redstone Falls' or 'Yellowstone Falls' by clicking on their names or images and get them in time to plant in May.
|
| -
Tulips Are Not Perennials
 It's a common misperception that tulips and hyacinths are true perennials--that is, that they'll come back year after year for many years.
Some spring-bloooming bulbs, such as daffodils, do come back for years. Crocuses, scilla, little grape hyacinths (muscari), and others even multiply and spread.
But tulips and the big Dutch hyacinths come on strong their first year. Then they're weaker, smaller, and more rangy-looking the second year and tend to peter out almost completely by the third year.
So when I'm cleaning out my garden in the spring, and I find a few ragged tulip leaves, I just yank them out. Sorry to say, they're done.
|
|
When To Prune Roses?
In Iowa, I like to wait to prune roses until they've sent out a good number of those little red shoots that turn into stems and leaves.
My thinking is that if you prune too early, you can't really see what's alive after winter's ravages and what's not. And if you prune too late, it's a mess and invites disease.
 Pruning is an art, and pruning roses is definitely an art. It also helps if you know what type of rose you're working with.
But for the most part, in Iowa, as long as you're not dealing with a climbing rose, the pruning is pretty basic.
Click here for our hints on "Pruning Roses in Iowa in Five Easy Steps."
|
|
Garden Quote
"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden."
---- Garden writer Ruth Stout |
|
|
|
|
Garden To-Do List
Click here for a printable version of April garden tasks.
Click here for a month-by-month listing of "What to Plant When in Iowa."
Click here for a "Lawn Care Schedule for Iowa."
 Rake leaves out of flower beds and cut back any perennials left standing. Toss the old stuff in the compost heap. (Please tell me you have one, right?)
Edge beds, walks, and drives as desired.
Time to prune most large trees, small trees, evergreens, and shrubs.
Start seeds indoors now of annuals that you should start 6-8 weeks before the last average frost date. These include marigolds, globe amaranth, sweet alyssum, and flowering tobacco. (The last average frost date is early May in southern Iowa, mid-May for the rest of the state.)
Now is the time to plant directly in the ground seeds of fast-germinating cool-season vegetables, such as radishes, spinaches, and lettuces.
Plant bareroot trees, shrubs, tree, roses, vines, and perennials.
Prevent diseases and insects on fruit trees by spraying with horticultural oil, also called dormant oil. Do so when there is little wind and temperatures are in the 40s.
The bright yellow forsythia will be blooming soon. When it does, that means its time to sprinkle any preemergent herbicide (kills weed seeds, such as Preen) on flower beds, if you choose to use it. It's also the time to apply a preemergent to your lawns. Or save time with a weed and feed combo!
How's your mower? If you didn't get it tuned up last fall and the blade sharpened, do it yourself now or take it in before the spring rush.
|
Garden Events
Friday, April 8 Tovah Martin/Terrarium Workshop The Des Moines Botanical Center 2 p.m. Noted author and photographer will give a workshop based on her new book, "The New Terrarium." $25-$30. Reception for Martin following at 6:00 with a lecture on garden stewardship at 7:00. Saturday, April 9
Bubble-scape Workshops In the Country Garden and Gifts, Independence
Come for workshops using a nifty bubble-like hanging terrariums. 10:30 am: Bubblescaping with succulents. 1:30 p.m. Bubblescaping with air plants.
Thursday, April 14
Lecture: What's New for 2011
7 p.m. Marcia Leeper, editor of Garden Gate Magazine, will speak at the Evening Star Federated Garden Club's meeting. Open to the public. Johnson Lions Club, Merle Hay Road and NW 64th Place. For info: 515- 278-0939.
Click here for more garden related events.
Have a garden event or events that you'd like featured in The Iowa Gardener? Click here and send us your information. |
|
