July 2006

Edible

Carrots may be dug and harvested any time after they reach a good bright orange color, which is the stage at which flavor develops. The best harvest period generally lasts for about three weeks (longer in cool fall weather), after which time the roots may crack, or the taste and appearance may decline. Make a few sowings of carrots at three-week intervals to extend the supply. If deprived of moisture, carrots can become woody and coarse. Too much moisture, however, will encourage foliage at the expense of the roots.

When melons develop fruit, it is important to keep them up off the ground, to reduce the chance of soil-borne diseases. Smaller varieties may be grown on trellises. Larger-fruited melons may be protected by placing a waterproof barrier under each fruit, such as asphalt roofing tiles available at home construction outlets.

For vegetable disease prevention purchase disease resistant varieties, use young healthy transplants and avoid overhead irrigation. Remove plant debris from the garden in the fall and destroy it (don’t compost) if you have had disease problems. If possible, practice a multi-year crop rotation, remembering that tomatoes are in the same family (Solanaceae or nightshade) as peppers, potatoes, and eggplants, so those plants should not be substituted in the rotation.

Ornamental

Watch for the Emerald Ash Borer. The borer is a ½ inch long and 1/8 inch wide metallic green beetle. It was first discovered in Michigan and was recently found in nearby Kane County. The borer emerges May-July and the female borer lays eggs between layers of bark of ash trees. As the adult emerges it will leave a very small, 1/8 inch diameter “D” shaped exit hole. The eggs will hatch in seven to ten days and the larvae will bore into the tree cutting off the movement of water and nutrients in the tree. Branches at the top of the tree will die back in the first year followed by continued branch death in subsequent years. The tree will usually be dead in three years. Treatments with insecticides are being studied.

Apply controls for grubs in the lawn now before damage occurs. It will take insecticides three weeks to kill the grubs. Use insecticides if you find more than 12 grubs per square foot or if you had grubs last year. Water the lawn prior to application and water the insecticide in. Remember adult beetles usually lay their eggs in turf that is in full sun and well watered. So if your neighbors do not water their lawns and you do, don’t be surprised if you have grubs. Eggs will usually start hatching in late July. Grubs will feed on the grass roots causing dead brown spots to appear in August and September.

Are you bored with the usual ho-hum plastic or terra cotta containers in your garden? Take a look around your attic, basement, garage, and yes, your alley! Dresser drawers, sinks, bath tubs, pots, pans, chairs, teapots, trunks, crates, cigar boxes, tires, wheel barrows, suit cases, barrels, buckets, baskets, tree trunks, cement blocks and troughs can all be used as beautiful plant containers. Three caveats: make drainage holes, use caution with metal containers—plant roots can become very hot in the sun—and don’t over-do it or your neighbors may think it’s a junkyard.

If you have a passion for purple, you can express that passion in the garden. Try planting lilacs, irises, hyacinth, forget-me-nots, columbines, campanulas, salvias, centaurea, purple coneflower, larkspur, baptisia, delphinium, asters, foxglove, speedwell, fan flower, bee balm, lady's mantle, balloon flower, dianthus, lupine, pulmonaria and purple fountain grass. You can also choose herbs- such as chives, catmint, lavender, hyssop, thyme, sage and allium (flowering onion) and vines such as wisteria, clematis, sweet potato vine, and morning glory. Many flowers are available in purple shades, such as roses, tulips, petunias, geraniums and pansies.

Choose low maintenance perennials like the following: Pincushion Flower , Coreopsis, Hardy Geranium, Daylily, Black-Eyed Susan, Speedwell, Salvia, Purple Coneflower, Yarrow, Globe Thistle, Hosta, Russian Sage, Meadow Rue, Cat mint, Hyssop, Aster, Butterfly Weed, Phlox, Peony, Balloon Flower, Stonecrop, Lady's Mantle, Virginia Bluebells and Lungwort. Choosing low maintenance perennials is working smart, not hard, which gives you more time to actually enjoy the garden!

When watering your garden, remember that plants under a heavy tree canopy may have water deflected away from them. They also are competing with the tree for water and nutrients so you may need to water and fertilize on a different schedule than with plants that have a full "sky" exposure.