Wayside Gardens

We’ve all seen it–one quick frost and all of your beautiful flowers and plants turn to green mush. Of course, the obvious answer is to bring them inside, but where do you put them? How much light do they need? How much water do they need? These things will all change when you move your plants to a different environment, and the shock of the change may be as damaging as the cold.

Here are a few ideas to help tender plants and gardeners survive the cold together:

1. First, make sure your plants are in loose, sandy soil or a potting mix, and your pot has holes in the bottom. If the moisture can’t drain off  your plant the roots will surely rot.
2. Next, Find a nice sunny spot in your home, preferably a south-facing window. Artificial light will work, but use florescent bulbs. The heat from incandescent bulbs will dry your plant out very quickly.
3. Make sure the temperature stays above 55 degrees Fahrenheit, anything lower than that and you might as well have left them to the elements. Also, don’t sit your container plants too close to cold windows.
4. Avoid drafty places near vents or frequently opened doors–your plants will dry out quickly. For most tender plants, the soil should be moist but not wet. Check your soil’s moisture daily.
5. If you have potted tuberous plants that grow from bulbs or rhizomes like caladiums, tulips or dahlias, you can store those pots inside in a dark cool place, like a closet or cabinet.

Happy Gardening!

 It will be October in less than a week, and many of you may have given up on your gardens for the winter. When most gardeners think of October, they think of raking leaves and cleaning out for the spring.

But, if you have a garden project you are just itching to finish, don’t wait. The horticulturists around here stress that fall is the best time to plant. This may not be safe for some of the colder parts of the USA, but for most of us, the weather is mild and the soil is willing. Actually, it’s even a little warm here in South Carolina today.

This is a great time to get those shrubs and trees in the ground. For most plants. as long as they are listed as hardy to your USDA hardiness zone, then you can plant them most any time of the year, unless the ground is frozen. Planting in the fall will allow more time for good strong roots to develop before spring. Your trees will perform better than if you wait until it warms up next year to plant them.

 One of the most interesting things that plants do in the fall is change colors – each year, millions of people flock to the Appalachian mountains to look at all the bright colors of deciduous foliage.

You can have a huge range of interesting fall foliage in your own garden. Japanese maples, apples, ginkgos, and all of the other deciduous trees will light up with reds, purples, and yellows until winter bring all of that foliage down into crispy rake-able piles.

There are a couple of real autumn beauties from Wayside Gardens this year. Ginkgo Autumn Gold is certainly an eye-catcher with its bright golden foliage that will make your whole yard glow. Another fall favorite is the Acer Palmatum ‘Tiger Rose’ with its multi-colored leaves of salmon, pink, orange, and green.

As gardeners we have an opportunity to be a little more in tune to the changes and happenings as the seasons change. Migrating birds, the coming and going of pesky insects, clouds of pollen, budding, blooming, and eventually, seeding are all things that pass under the nose of the ever-observant gardener. Watching nature can teach you so much about your own garden. One of the biggest questions we get is, “when do I plant this?” The answer for most shrubs, trees, bulbs, and perennials will almost always be: “in the fall.”

Wildflowers, trees, and shrubs all seed in the fall in nature- the summer is filled with fruit and blooms, but the seeds don’t hit the ground until fall. They spend the winter dormant and sprout up right on time in the spring. This works just as well with bulbs and bare-root plants shipped in the fall. They spend their dormant period searching the ground with their roots, slowly becoming established, and they will have a huge leap on any plants planted in the spring.

It is not necessary to plant in the fall, most plants will do just fine as long as the ground isn’t frozen, but the fall planting season is ideal for most varieties. You will have earlier blooms and more productive plants in the following spring and summer.

The September 3rd edition of the Wayside Gardens Gazette included a "Getting to Know You" survey. The very first question was a simple one, but it unleashed a lovely flood of fond memories and great gardening stories. The question: How did you first get interested in gardening? Many of the responses focused on family–mothers, fathers, grandparents, uncles, and aunts who made sure that the little ones got involved in gardening early on. Your friends at Wayside Gardens hope you'll enjoy these stories about how your fellow gardeners became gardeners.

Mothers
My mum was a great gardening and a Wayside shopper. She had saved a Wayside catalogue from 1959, which was the year she and my Dad bought a house, and she landscaped it herself with plants from Wayside. I looked through that catalogue for years, and when we finally bought a house, I was so pleased to find that Wayside was still there, ready to help me with my gardens.

I was 4 years old, and my Mom took me to a public rose garden. I have loved roses ever since, and started a garden when I was 6 years old. I am now 31.

Fathers
I helped my father plant the garden when I was 3 years old–many years ago! I grew up in rural Southwestern Michigan, a rich agricultural area. We always had a garden, and had fruit and vegetable growers all around us.

As a kid, I followed my Daddy around in his vegetable gardens. I guess gardening is in the genes.

Both my mother and my father had the proverbial "green thumb." Mom could grow anything indoors, and Dad did our garden (vegetable). Until I was seven years old, we worked in the garden and enjoyed the produce. Dad always told me that a garden is a sacred trust. I feel that way still!

I started following my Dad around his garden when I was old enough to walk, and this took off from there. I can't remember a time when flowers didn't stop me in my tracks.

Grandmothers
I lived in a big city, but my grandmother had a small garden. As a child, I loved to walk the little path through the garden and spent a lot of time playing there. I was delighted when the peonies bloomed in the spring, and attempted to plant some flowers and vegetables of my own. Since that time, I have always had some kind of garden, and keep a lot of houseplants. 

My great-grandmother and both of my grandmothers were passionate about their gardens. Great-grandma tended a vegetable garden and provided flowers for mass, during the spring and summer, well into her early nineties.

My grandmother gardened, and when I was little, I had my own flower boxes and little garden by my playhouse.

I remember when I was a child, my Gramma and Papa had a vegetable garden in their back yard. They were Swedish, so to go gardening, you put on your wooden shoes. I had my own pair at their house. They used to be my Dad's when he was a child. I was gardening with Gramma one time and pulled up a small carrot. She told me it wasn't ready, so I pushed it back in the ground, so it could continue to grow.

Grandfathers
I grew up around gardeners. My grandfathers both were avid gardeners, as were all my uncles. When I'd go visit them, every visit would start with a walk through their gardens and around their yards. I never knew most people visited inside until I was in my teens. When I first started going out with other people, I was stunned to see them ignore the yard and go right into the house. I used to wonder what was wrong with their yards and gardens that they were trying to hide.

My grandfather couldn't have a large garden in his little back yard at his home in Philadelphia, so he would come up to our house in the suburbs and plant a big garden in our back yard. Thus I became one of his right-hand granddaughters, and ultimately, the head gardener at my own home.

Whole Family
My grandmother was an avid gardener. I remember how beautiful her yard was and how much she enjoyed sharing her newest additions to her garden. My mother inherited the love of gardening, too, and has continued the tradition of sharing the joy of all things green. All 5 of her daughters are now also gardening gurus.

My grandmother was a gardener, my mother and all my aunts are gardeners, so it's in my DNA!

From the time I was a newborn (1950), my Granddaddy Sutherand had awesome flower gardens (always featuring the newest begonias), an asparagus patch, raspberry patch, and cherry tree. Grandma Hays kept vegetable gardens outlined by iris. Mother always had a small veggie garden, along with zinnias and marigolds. It never occurred to me that people didn't have gardens or wouldn't love gardening!

Use Mulch and Ground Covers

Planting ground-covers and using mulch to fill in your fall beds will make it more difficult for unwanted weeds to establish themselves, helping you to naturally maintain your garden. The ground-cover both smothers potential weeds, blocking out the light,
and helps your current plants by holding in moisture and maintaining a
constant temperature.

You will be working in your garden to remove all of your weeds before planting anything this fall anyway, why not plant something to take up space to help keep them from coming back.

Clean Up the Summers Growth Before Planting for Fall

Removing all of the excess plant material before planting new crops is essential for the success of your fall bulbs, flowers, and vegetables. Annual weeds can be removed with a hoe or by hand. Perennial weeds must be completely dug out to prevent future growth.