A DAY FOR TEXANS TO SHOW OUR PATRIOTIC PRIDE

 

BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH 

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses, row on row ...
                                                                                                             -- John McCrae 

 

Today, May 8, is V E Day (Victory in Europe), a time to publicly express our pride in, and support of, our military - past and present. Many Texas celebrations will last all weekend. I tried to find an official V E Day flower. But aside from scop John MCrae's wonderful poem that immortalizes red poppies, I couldn't.

Other flowers, pictured above, that might also work in a Texas patriotic display are, left to right - after red poppies - ALOE: healing; BLACK-EYED SUSAN: justice; NASTURTIUM: patriotism; ROSEMARY: remembrance; THYME: courage, strength; ZINNIA: thoughts of absent friends. (That fun patriotic poppy basket picture is actually a flag, available is from the Mad About Gardening website.

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Tip o' trowel to treats from Nature: l to r, 'out of sync' poinsettias,
prolific orange amaryllis and gorgeous yesterday-today-and-tomorrows! 

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good,  

sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do  

about it but carry an umbrella or choose to dance in the rain!  

- - Terri Guillemets

Have you ever danced in the rain? I have. It's fun . . . for a few seconds anyway.

For me the best part of gardening is our total inability to predict exactly how our carefully-tended (or totally ignored!) plantings will perform in any given coming season. I love it when plants march to their own drummer.

Take my Uncle Henry's poinsettias, for example. They're in pots on his Corpus Christi driveway. Earlier this year, he purchased a bunch of "bloomed-out" poinsettias to try his hand at producing the bright red leaves that are supposed to appear during fall's shorter days and longer nights. He cut them back, hoping for lush new green growth. Got that. But then, to his amazement, the new leaves started turning red!

Poinsettias producing red leaves during these longer days-shorter nights? Unheard of, but great fun!

BANNER YEAR FOR AMARYLLIS: Lots of readers reported exceptionally gorgeous amaryllis this past spring. Is it all the rain? Maybe. But amaryllis bulbs store two years' worth of blooms at one time. So spectacular (or no) blooms might be traced back two years. The main problem for gardeners is remembering back that far.

Reader Violet wrote her double orange* amaryllis (pictured center above) is multiplying faster than her other amaryllis. What should she feed it? Had to tell her the truth. I have never fed mine. I never even water them in summer, except what they might get from a sprinkler during extreme droughts.

However! If you MUST do something, sprinkle bulb food or bone meal (both available at independent nurseries) around the plants when it's going to rain. Let Mother Nature will soak it. Or, use bonemeal (caviar to squirrels) or any organic fertilizer with a high middle number. The three fertilizer bag numbers reflect the ratio of nitrogen (good green growth), phosphorus (which all blooming plants like, but especially bulbs), and potash (general health). This is simplifying a very complex process, of course.

Amaryllis not blooming? Could be . . . 

1. they were hit with lawn fertilizer (high nitrogen encourages green growth, not flowers).  

2. foliage was cut off after previous flowers died? Bad move. Bulbs need fading foliage to replenish the bulb for future growth.  

3. bulbs sunk too low? Raise them. Neck needs to be above ground. 

4. they're too crowded? Dig them up. Replant further apart. Or share. After blooming is best time. But actually you can do this anytime. That's how hardy they are.

(*Note: double orange is a generic description. Google 'double orange' amaryllis to see varieties of this color and type on the market. Violet's husband planted hers over 20 years ago from a group he ordered from a variety of catalogs.)

* SPEAKING OF MORE GORGEOUS THAN USUAL . . . seems many plants are really happy this year. Probably has to do with all the rain and the fairly mild winter. Check out the pictures at the top of the column. Like mine, and others around town, Patsy Teas' yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, pictured right above, was even more gorgeous than usual.

I thought she had it in a container and was impressed, given the size of the shrub. But, no, she said, it's in one of those all-too-common strips of soil left unpaved in an L-corner, often at the front door. A truly challenging growing site! Maybe this is a good plant to try!

But there's more . . . 

 

* PEGGY MARTIN CONTINUES TO BENEFIT  Pictured above are two Peggy Martin success stories sent in by readers. Left, Ed Holland's Peggy Martin blooming, to my amazement, in pure sand on West Galveston isle where it's getting full brunt of salt winds. At right, several years ago Beth Frohme gave this Peggy Martin, as a 3-gallon plant, to her daughter. Two years ago, the horses got loose and ate all the roses on THIS side of the fence. This is what has grown back!

I'd feel guilty for over-focusing on Peggy Martin roses except: 

   1. I love reporting what readers send in and  

   2. each sale of this rose benefits Katrina-destroyed botanical gardens. Details:  Our April 24, 2015, newsletter

* IS THIS A GREAT YEAR FOR GARDENIAS?  Too often gardenias (see below) have a problem here so if you know your specific variety and it's doing well, do share! I wish the Southwest Houston gardener who sent in the picture at left below knew the name of these two gorgeous ones. But these were passalong gifts from a friend who didn't know the name either. She reports the one on the left is so heavy with blooms, the branches are sagging. It gets more water than the one on the right. But notice both are on slopes so they're extremely well drained - one must for gardenias here.

* The unusual bloomer at right below is my Rosedown gardenia, the first and only gardenia I've ever had survive. This one is easily a decade old now. If you can't find this at your local nursery, the Pineywoods Environmental Center at Stephen F. Austin Mast Arboretum in Nacogdoches sells them. Unfortunately their next plant sale isn't until October, but area nurseries do carry them so please ask. If you've never visited Mast Arboretum, that makes a great field trip or day outing. They've brought so many beautiful plants into our gardens.

I

* Tip o' the trowel to Montgomery County Master Gardener Bob Dailey (center above). Bob was just named was just named Outstanding Master Gardener of the Year by the Texas Master Gardener Association  in the Extra Large Association category.

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POTPOURRI:

* If last week's column on DAYLILIES hit a chord with you, add this upcoming plant sales to the others listed:

Sat., May 23: Houston Area Daylily Society and Houston Hemerocallis Society Flower Show, 1-3pm, and Plant Sale, opens 10:30am, at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 4040 Watonga Ave., Houston, TX 77092. Free. Details. 281-332-2965, leslie.j.wong@gmail.com

For the latest updates on the big, free "For the Love of Daylilies" American Hemerocallis Society Region 6 Meeting here in Pearland, log onto http://www.lonestardaylilysociety.org/ or call Debbie Pike, 979-236-1478. In addition to a great daylily plant sale, attendees can enjoy garden tours, a flower show and more.

* I hope everyone saw Elizabeth White-Olsen and Glenn Olsen's great article in the Chronicle StarExplore Section: "Ten Ways to Save Monarch Butterflies."

Click on the title link for some great suggestions and - even better - some explanations of all the different butterflyweed/milkweed options we can, and should grow here. I heartedly echo their recommendations to join Monarch Watch, the North American Butterfly Association and the Houston-based Butterfly Enthusiasts of Southeast Texas
 

LET'S CLOSE WITH A REAL BANG!

 

 

 

* FOUND YOUR MOTHER'S DAY GIFT YET? How about a bromeliad? Some of the best selections in the state will be on display and for sale May 15-17 at the huge Bromeliad Society/Houston 44th Annual Show and Sale at Mercer Botanic Gardens 22306 Aldine Westfield, Humble. Hours and details: www.bromeliadsocietyhouston.org. 713-858-3047. Among the fabulous ones for sale will be, above left to right: Aechmea ampla, Neoregelia 'Mendoza,' x Neophytum 'Cosmic Blast' and Tillandsia hothii. And, below, l to r, Guzmania 'Noah,' Cryptanthus 'Thelma O'Reilly,' Dyckia 'Heaven and Hell' and Vriesea ospinae var. gruberii.

 

* Brenda's GROUP LECTURES include: "How to Reduce the Size of Your Front Lawn to Save Water Without Infuriating Your Neighbors," "Landscaping for Security," "10 Commandments of Lazy Gardening," and "What's Blooming in the Lazy Gardener's Garden." Details: lazygardener@sbcglobal.net. * Brenda's "LAZY GARDENER'S GUIDE" - a when-to-do-what in Greater Houston area gardens - is now available on CD only (pdf file). $20. Checks payable to Brenda B. Smith and mailed to: Lazy Gardener's Guide on CD, 14011 Greenranch Dr., Houston, TX 77039-2103.