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A Tip Of The Hat
Goes To... |
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Jean Truitt was first in with the correct answer to September's trivia question. "What plant protein is the only plant protein to contain all 8 essential amino acids?" The answer is, "soy."
We had several readers respond with the answer, "quinoa" which is also correct. Quinoa is a pseudocereal much less common here than soy. It can be prepared much like rice and can be made into a gluten-free flour for baking.
Congratulations, Jean, for being first with A correct answer!
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| Mark Your Calendar |
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November 20th
5:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Ladies Night Out
More details in next month's Wedel's News!
As more seminars are confirmed, topics and times will be posted at:
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"Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."
- Elizabeth Lawrence |
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Our new store hours are
9:00 - 7:00
Monday - Saturday.
To Do In October
Clean up your vegetable garden and perennial beds.
Plant cover crop in your vegetable garden.
Use George's Recipe around perennials.
Core areate your lawn and apply clay soil conditioner.
Lower mower deck.
Clean bird feeders.
Make sure bird bath heaters are in good working order.
Treat plants you are bringing in for the season.
Control broadleaf weeds in your lawn with Fertilome
Weed Free Zone.
School Fund Raising
Time is Here.
Let Wedel's help raise money for your class projects with Wedel's Bloomin' Bucks.
We're looking for Info!
What seminars would YOU like to see Wedel's offer? Now, and any time, is the time to let us know what you'd be interested in. Drop us a line at: wedelsgarden@wedels.comand let us know what topics we should cover in a Wedel's Seminar.
Stay up to date! Visit Wedel's blog for timely and important information as well as our weekly ads. The address is: www.wedels.blogspot.com. |
| Did You Know? |
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1. In England, the dandelion has been declared an endangered wildflower!
2. When you eat a fig, you are eating a flower, not a fruit!
3. Gardening activities increase bone density in women over 50, helping to prevent osteoporosis. |
| Pretty Garden? |
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If you have a garden, a feeding station or bird pictures that you are proud of, send them to us. We'll share your pictures with our readers. Send pictures to:
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Just for Grins... 
Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.
- Doug Larson |
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Dawn's Favorites |
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Dawn Ferrell, one of the experts in our Annuals and Perennials department, thoroughly enjoys gardening. No surprise there, right? Dawn has a lot of favorites and when it comes to spring flowering bulbs, here are two of them.
 Dawn suggests pairing Ollioules tulips with Lady Derby hyacinths. The Ollioules tulips grow to a height of 22" and feature bright and light pink, two-toned petals. As the blossoms unfold it is difficult to tell the difference between the pinks but over 2 or 3 days the dark pink emerges contrasting beautifully with the light pink.
 The Lady Derby hyacinth grows to 10" tall and have petals that are light pink with a small red stripe. Both the tulips and hyacinths bloom in mid-season and look great when planted together either in their own bed or among other contrasting/ complimenting spring flowering bulbs.
Come into Wedel's for other ideas and suggestions for making your spring garden a spectacle of color! |
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Imagine...
by Shari Nielsen |
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Ahhh! The dog days of summer, Indian Summer, beautiful long, lazy autumn afternoons... Imagine your comfortable new patio chair and a cool drink. Close your eyes and listen to the rushing stream. It looks completely natural and is nearly maintenance-free.
Want to see what I'm talking about? Check out the new pondless waterfall and stream at the front door of our store.
You say, "What is a pondless waterfall?" Basically, the name says it all. It's a waterfall and stream for the person who isn't quite sure about getting into a full-fledged pond.
Maybe you just don't have room for a pond or travel a lot and think taking care of fish might be a little too much responsibility. The cost will be less compared to a waterfall with a pond. Also, some folks have concerns about liability and maintenance.
Wedel's wants to turn your dream garden into a reality so come on in and have a look. There's always something new and exciting going on at Wedels! |
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October
Shopping
List
It is always nice to have what you need, when you need it, right? Here's a list of items that you can pick up on your next trip to Wedel's so that when it is time (and that time is coming soon) you will be able to do your projects without having to make several trips for your supplies.
- Repellex Mole and Gopher Repellant
- Repellex Deer and Rabbit Repellant
- Rose cones
- Rose collars
- Wildflower seeds
- Leaf bags
- Cloud Cover
- Burlap & stakes
- Scotts Super Turf Builder Winterguard
- Espoma Tree Tone, Plant Tone, etc.
Check the shed or your garage to see what you have on hand and to know what you need. This list will get you well on your way to having a good inventory for all of your fall projects. If you have everything on the list, stop in anyway. We always enjoy chatting wtih our green thumb friends. | |
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| Volume 2, Number 7 October, 2009 |
The Greatest
Show On Earth
by George Wedel |
 Your spring flowering garden can be planted now. Garden soils have cooled down to accomodate the planting of daffodils, tulips, grape hyacinths, scilla, allium, crocus, hyacinths and a host of minor bulb plants including chiondoxa, species crocus, snowdrops, alliums tall and short, anemonies, iris reticulata and many more. Fall planted spring flowering bulbs are so easy to plant and so rewarding in almost any garden. The beautiful, fresh blooms will be enjoyed next spring and for years to come.
Some of the lesser known spring blooming bulbs include:
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Narcissus Tete a Tete featured at Wedel's along with other popular miniature daffodils including February Gold, Pipit, Jenny, Suzy, Jetfire, Minnow and Rip VanWinkle.
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Chiondoxa, or glory-of-the-snow, is one of the first flowers to bloom each spring. Each stem of the chiondoxa has gentle blue flowers, each with a tiny white center.
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Iris Reticulata is another early bloomer. This miniature iris grows to about six inches and features blue or yellow flowers, creating a butterfly effect in the early spring garden, even blooming between drifts of snow.
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Some mid-season flowering bulbs include Scilla Siberica. These species grow four to six inches tall and produce an abundance of blue, star-shaped flowers. They reproduce by seed so scilla will eventually cover a large area.
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There are many crocus cultivars including five colors of the giant-flowering crocus and eleven varieties of dwarf early blooming botanical crocus. Sturdy, low-growing crocus offer many design possibilities.
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Narcissus Thalia is a great snow-white, multi-flowering daffodil. This cultivar grows ten to twelve inches high and flowers in mid-season. Medium height Thalia narcissus maked a nice combination with blue grape hyacinths or scilla. Thalia will return every year to grace any garden spot.
At one time, they were counted among the lesser-known bulb flowers but not any longer! Alliums are now one of southwest Michigan's favoite bloomers. Catching everyone's attention with quarter size to golf ball size to softball size blooms on strong, slender stems 12" to 3 1/2 ' tall, alliums have become real show-stoppers. A few of the 25 named varieties of alliums Wedel's is now selling are Globemaster, Lucy Ball, Giganteum, Gladiator, Atropurpurea and Azureum.
For a spring garden that blooms for months on end, be sure to select flower bulbs that will bloom at different times of the season - not all at once. Check with the flower bulb experts at Wedel's for bloom times. Next spring, enjoy the "greatest show on earth" when Dutch flower bulbs planted in your garden this autumn begin to bloom. Oh, what a sight it will be!
Are there perennials in your garden that have overgrown their allotted space? There is still time to dig up, divide the clumps and replant them. When replanting perennials, be sure to work into the root zone composted cow manure, Plant Tone, Bio Tone, sphagnum peat moss and bone meal.
It's time to remove most vegetables from the garden. After the last potatoes have been dug, tomatoes picked and pumpkins taken to cover, I recommend going over the garden with a rotary mower to shred the vines. Next, rototill in any compost that is ready along with composted cow manure, gypsum and lime, if needed. After rototilling, overseed the vegetable garden with field rye. The field rye will protect the soil all winter and, when worked into the soil next spring, will increase the organic content of the soil.
Experienced plant specialists know that October is the best time of year to fertilize valuable deciduous shade trees, shrubs and evergreens. A feeding of Tree Tone with trace minerals now will not only encourage more growth next year but will also help your plants to stay healthy. If your established trees are an asset to your landscape, be sure to fertilize every October. Remember, trees are much easier to keep healthy than to replace!
Timely lawn projects: As the tree leaves fall on lawns, be sure to remove them quickly or pulverize them with a mulching lawn mower before they smother grass and cause bare spots. Michigan State University research shows that tree leaves, when chopped fine, may be left on the lawn. Sharpening the mower blades will help to grind the leaves finer. Take care that the pulverized leaves do not cover the grass blades entirely. Now is the time to apply Scotts fall lawn fertilizer to strengthen roots now and provide quicker green up in the spring.
Want a weed-free lawn next spring? If so, kill perennial and bi-annual broadleaf weeds now. One spray of Weed Free Zone broadleaf weed killer in October will assure you of a dandelion-free lawn next spring.
Before reseeding thin areas in your lawn, check for white grubs that feed on grass roots. If found, apply Dylox 24 Hour Grub Control, water in, then wait five days and sow grass seed.
Few flowers give so much for so little effort as spring flowering bulbs. Be sure to visit Wedel's spring flowering bulb department. You'll be "wowed" with over 300 varieties; southwest Michigan's largest selection. |
Q. How do I pick a field guide?
A. One of the reasons I've been a birder my whole life is the portability of the hobby. It doesn't take anything that needs to be strapped to the car roof or towed on a trailer; it can be done wherever you happen to find yourself, all you need is some clothing that doesn't attract attention (dark earth tones), a pair of binoculars and a field guide. It's a hobby that I could easily take with me as a business traveler in a previous lifetime. That brings us to the point of this column - field guides.
Before I tell all the good things about my favorite field guide let me be clear. If there was only one good field guide there wouldn't be so many options on store shelves. Some people prefer photos, others prefer drawings. Some people like guides that cover a limited piece of geography, others want all the birds of North America or even the world in one book.There are field guides out there for everybody and many people have more than one. You see not all guides are equally good on every bird.
 My favorite guide is the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America and its companion the Peterson Guide to Birds of Western North America. The reason for this is I very seldom need to take more than one field guide with me. A field guide that covers a smaller area frequently requires more than one book. Books that cover the whole continent confuse my simple mind by showing me a bird only seen in Oregon when I'm birding the U.P. I find the Peterson guides to be a reasonable compromise.
The other and perhaps more important reason for my preference for Peterson are the arrows. The arrows point to the key field marks for every bird. Warblers, Sparrows and finch are large families of birds who have very similar coloration. So instead of me having to note the subtle difference, this guide alerts me to the key distinguishing features by pointing an arrow at it. It makes identification much quicker and surer.
Remember this is just one guy's opinion so take a look at all available field guides before settling on one. The point is the guide has to work for you; it's a very personal thing.
Q. Where is the best place near here to watch hawks? Do we have anything like Hawk Ridge at Duluth, Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania or the Golden Gate in California?
A. Why yes we do, Detroit. The Detroit River just to the south of Detroit is a great place to watch raptors in the fall migration. I picked a random day in early October to use as an example, in this case October 4th, 2008:
Today's Total (Season Total)
Turkey Vulture 8,953 (14,321)
Osprey 0 (126)
Bald Eagle 4 (107)
Northern Harrier 9 (204)
Sharp-shinned Hawk 91 (3,341)
Cooper's Hawk 13 (229)
Northern Goshawk 1 (2)
Red-shouldered Hawk 3 (12)
Broad-winged Hawk 13 (321,746)
Swainson's Hawk 0 (4)
Red-tailed Hawk 79 (332)
Rough-legged Hawk 0 (1)
Golden Eagle 0 (0)
American Kestrel 38 (720)
Merlin 0 (19)
Peregrine Falcon 0 (24)
Total 9,204 (341,187)
 Why do raptors pass by in such large numbers in some places? It's because all raptors use thermals or updrafts to gain altitude for migrating. In the case of Detroit the raptors from northern Canada head south until they run into Lake Erie. There are no thermals over bodies of water so all the birds all travel in a southwesterly direction along the north shore until they can get around the lake between Detroit and Toledo.
All hawk watching sites are created by similar situations. So you don't have to travel a great distance to see large numbers of hawks moving past; it's as close as southeast Michigan.
Q. Isn't there a place near Battle Creek to see Sandhill Cranes in large numbers?
 A. The place you're thinking of is Baker Sanctuary just to the east of Battle Creek. In 2008 The official USFWS count of Greater Sandhill Cranes at Baker Sanctuary counted 7,292. This is the second highest number ever seen there. In 2007, the Greater Sandhill Crane population stood at 35,945. Michigan's 16,707 cranes counted in 2007 comprised nearly half of this total and nearly half of the state's population was counted at Baker Sanctuary.
The best news is in October the preserve is open to public viewing. In the hours just before sunset thousands of cranes fly in from all directions and land. It's an amazing site (I would use the word awesome but that's overused these days). Not many people in the world have this kind of opportunity to see one of nature's wonders and it's FREE.
Crane Viewing at Kiwanis Youth Area (adjacent to Baker Sanctuary)
Oct 3-4, Sat-Sun, 4-7 pm
Oct 10-11, Cranefest
Oct 17-18, Sat-Sun, 4-7 pm
Oct 24-25, Sat-Sun, 4-7 pm
Directions:
Take I-94 E.
Take exit 108 for I-69 N (toward Lansing).
Take exit 42 for N Dr (first exit on I-69).
Turn left at end of ramp on to N Dr.
Take the 2nd right onto 15 1/2 Mile Rd (Turkeyville on corner).
Slight right at 15 Mile Rd
Watch for signs on your right. |
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Express Yourself
by Trish Keller, Floral Designer
 October!! What a fun time to express your outdoor decorating style. A ho-hum, plain front or side door can be decorated with a nice fall wreath or a swag over the door. Berries, vines, wheat, gourds, moss, silk flowers or maybe a fall bow - it's all here at Wedel's Floral Shop.
How about a bale of straw with pumpkins and fall hardy mums to give your entry the ambiance to welcome people as they arrive at your home? Maybe a picket fence or rough-cut cedar fence can be perked up with fall bows and dried honeysuckle vine draped throughout. Whether it's around pillars on the porch or cornstalks at the mailbox, it's so festive. It makes me in the mood for a bonfire!
It's that time of the year. Wedel's has wood for your fireplace, too. Last, but not least, don't forget Jack-O-Lanterns. This is the month to bring them out, along with witches, ghosts and goblins, too! Come and see what we have for you at Wedel's Floral and Garden Center.
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The Harvest Continues
 Wedel's Victory Garden continues to yield a bountiful harvest of fresh, delicious produce. Marilyn Breu has been keeping us updated on its week-by-week progress. The first 10 Kinnebeck potatoes were dug on September 10 and 11.13 pounds of potatoes were dug from the last plant on September 30. One potato weighed 2.04 pounds! Marilyn brought in our third watermelon on September 15. It weighed in at 13.59 pounds. She harvested, on the same day, more zucchini, summer squash, green beans, yellow bell peppers (one of which measured 6.5 inches long) and a 3 3/8" Spanish radish.
There are lots of peppers yet to be picked. One small Carmen pepper plant has a dozen peppers on it yet, however they are still green. They are red, when mature. Carmen peppers are excellent for grilling as are many of the vegetables in our garden. Still growing are zucchini, summer squash, and there are even blossoms on the green bean plants. Will they mature?  That's a good question and the answer is, it depends on the weather but with the forecast calling for cool temperatures for several more days reaching as low as 40 degrees, there is the chance they won't. Some of the produce should have ripened a month ago but the cool summer prevented it.
The butternut squash is done as are the tomatoes and watermelon. The last of the potatoes were dug this week; radishes and carrots have been pulled and the leeks and onions will be pulled by the end of this week.
Wedel's first Victory Garden has to be deemed a success and a great deal of fun. We are already making plans for next year's garden, deciding how best to rotate the crops, build on our successes and learn from what didn't quite go as planned. We hope your garden was a source for some good food and fun for the whole family! |
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Saturday Mornings
Birdwatch 8:07
with host Roger Taylor answering all of your birding questions
Call in at 382-4280 or 800-742-6590.
Over the Garden Fence 9:07
with host Andy Wedel answering all of your landscape and gardening questions
Call in at 382-4280 or 800-742-6590.
Visit our web site at www.wedels.com for archives of previous Birdwatch and Over the Garden Fence programs! |
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Note from the Editor
Fall, autumn, October. A time to look back. A time to look forward. A time of peace, tranquility and planning. We can, for the most part, rely on October. We look back on the past summer and assess our successes and our failures. The early blooms of our spring flowering bulbs were beautiful in all of their colors and sizes and shapes. They were an assurance that winter was packing its bags and would soon be heading south, making room for even more spectacular colors, sizes and shapes in our landscapes.
Summer followed spring and brought with it all the promises and challenges that summer always brings. Too much water, at times, and too little, at times. Too cool, at times, and too hot, at times. There is always work to be done in summer. Mowing, watering, feeding, weeding, trimming, digging, planting, mowing, watering... If we aren't quite as diligent as we could be it becomes obvious, to us at least, and we notice a ragged look to our lawn or a few weeds among the tomatoes or the petunias drooping a little in our hanging baskets. Maybe failure is too strong a word to use. Maybe it is more a matter of simply finding ways to make next summer even more successful.
As sure as summer followed spring, spring will follow winter. October is a time to look forward to snowdrops poking through the snow followed by crocus, hyacinths, tulips and so many more signs of the new year coming to life. October is the time to tuck in some more bulbs here and there for an even more wonderful and encouraging display. If our landscaping plans include adding more shade, color or interest to our yards, October is the time to plant that tree we've been considering or those shrubs that will enhance the value and appearance of our outdoor living area.
We can rely on October to provide time to plan. There are still opportunities for gardening and landscaping activities but the pace is slower. With a sharp pencil and a new pad of paper we can sketch out next year's vegetable garden. There is time to make a list of the projects we wanted to do this year but just didn't have the time to get to.
We enjoyed, because of our efforts, the colors and scents of spring and summer. Now October allows us to relax and to enjoy the colors and scents of autumn. Soon, trees will be ablaze with hues that rival the prettiest perennial gardens and will compliment the earthy shades of brown the ornamental grasses will offer.
There is nothing like the scent of lilacs, but that's a spring scent. October offers its own misty scents that conjure images of apples, cider, donuts, pumpkins, candle wax and football games; the scent of bonfires, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Who doesn't remember the smell of the pumpkin patch when it is time to find the perfect pumpkin for carving? The same patch we returned to on Halloween night, in eager anticipation. Maybe this is the year I'll stay awake and finally meet the Great Pumpkin! I hope you do, too.
Ready for another trivia question? This month's question is: What is the only apple native to North America? The first reader to respond with the correct answer will win a $15.00 Wedel's gift certificate. The gift certificate must be picked up here at the garden center and remember, you are eligible to win once every 90 days. Good luck and have fun!
"I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy,
but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope and is always thrilling."
- May Sarton | |
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