Gardening with Sam: Colder weather sets in
I know our temperature is not turning cold yet, but we all know it will sooner or later – so please do not neglect your plants that are in pots. Prepare them for cold weather.
We all have ferns on the porch or in the yard. Most of the time we have them somewhere in the flower garden. For years I would cut back the ferns in the hanging pots to the top of the pots and put them under the house in the winter. I would keep them watered, even in the winter – but not as much water as in the summer months. You want just enough water so the root ball will stay alive.
The first day the sun came out in the spring, I would line them up along the side of the house and give them a strong watering with fertilizer for about twice a week.
If the temperature was to get down below freezing during winter, I would cover them with an old blanket so they would not freeze.
The only thing about doing this – cutting them down to the top of the pot for winter – is that you will have to wait all summer for them to get half the size they were when you cut them back.
To me, the best thing to do is carry the ferns to a section of your yard and dump them. Use the dirt, if there is any left, and then most of the time you will have little ferns pot up everywhere in your dirt pile.
For your pots, just buy new ones when they are first on the market, and you can watch them grow – this is a lot less trouble.
To me, the fun part of gardening is watching plants grow and bloom. It just makes you feel like “I did this,” and we all know water and a green thumb is the best thing in the world to have beautiful flowers and plants.
My Aunt Allie on my mother’s side of the family could grow anything. When she was planting, she would spit on the roots or seeds when she planted. I think that was where I got the idea to tell my mother, “It‘s OK to spit,” – of course, in the South you do not spit in public.
Here’s some advice on drying seeds: they have to be completely dry before putting them up for the next season. Sometimes we would put them in cheese cloth to be sure they were dry and air could get to them so they would not mold.
You want to plant bulbs now so they will have a freeze and and come up in the spring.
Take your mums out of their pots and plant them in ground. Loosen the ball of the dirt and spread it out before planting. Most of the time these do come back – so if they do, in the first two weeks of June you want to cut them back about halfway to keep the stems from being so tall. You can see if they are producing the heads or little green dots; if so, do not cut. You can just hold them with a wire form or a heavy string.
Enjoy your garden. Walk about it and see what is happening each day. It is a miracle every day.
