Plants of the week

10/20/11
Newsletter Topics

#1 - Tips of the Week

#4 - Disease of the Week

#7 - Why the 3-Step

#5 - More Apple Info

#2 - Plants of the Week

#8 - White Pine yellowing

#3 - Insects of the Week

#6 -Gourds

Plants of the Week

Taken from the B.Y.G.L. (Buckeye Yard and Garden Online) Newsletter
Contributing Authors: Pam Bennett, Joe Boggs, Cindy Meyer, Jim Chatfield, Erik Draper, Dave Dyke,
Gary Gao, David Goerig, Tim Malinich, Becky McCann, Bridget Meiring, Amy Stone and Curtis Young

ANNUAL - NASTURTIUM (Tropaeolum majus). Nasturtiums are grown by direct seeding in the garden in the spring, or an early summer seeding near perennials that have died down. As they grow they can be trained to a vine or pruned into a 1' tall by 2' wide garden delight. It is a garden delight because nasturtium flowers and foliage are not only nice to look at, but also eatable and good in salads.

Nasturtiums will grow in full sun and do alright in poor soils. Next season try throwing some nasturtium seed in your patio containers. The 2" across flowers have long spurs that attract hummingbirds and are available in orange, yellow, white, scarlet and bicolor. Expect some insect pressures on nasturtiums with the most serious pest being aphids.

PERENNIAL - ASTER (Aster spp.).
Aster is a genus containing over 600 species and cultivars of flowering plants. Plants are sun-loving and bear daisy-like flowers in late summer. Many garden centers are well stocked with asters in September and October. Aster dumosus 'Woods Light Blue' is a dwarf aster that only grows 12-18" tall, making it a nice, compact plant for the fall garden. Daisy-like flowers appear in September and last into late October. Flower colors in the 'Woods' series include blue and purple.

Aster novi-angliae 'Purple Dome,' a New England Aster, is a great compact aster growing 18-24" tall with abundant purple blooms in September. Another good cultivar is 'Alma Potshke,' which has stunning rose-pink flowers. The plant grows to 36-42" tall and should be cut back by half in early summer to promote more compact growth.

WOODY - GINKGO (Ginkgo biloba).
The yellow vivid fall color of ginkgo is just the beginning of this tree's gifts to the landscape. The fan shaped leaves are unique. This medium to large stately tree is wonderful in the landscape, providing you have the male version! Male cultivars such as 'Autumn Gold', 'Lakeview', and 'Princeton Sentry' are a popular few. Ginkgo trees grow to around 50-70' tall and are very adaptable to urban conditions and tough sites. They are used quite often as a street tree as they can take adverse growing conditions such as the strip between the street and sidewalk. The tree's golden yellow leaves tend to drop all of sudden when temperatures change and wind kicks up. These trees have relatively few problems making them a great choice in the landscape.

VEGETABLE - FLOWERING KALE (Brassica oleracea).
One of the best looking vegetables in the garden right now is flowering kale. It is so good looking that too often this plant finds itself in the flower garden and is never eaten at all. For this reason Dave Goerig suggested it be our vegetable of the week before Pam Bennett could choose it for the annual of the week. Regardless of where you plant it, flowering kale will perform for you. Flowering kale is in the Cruciferae family and classified into two groups: the Acephala (headless) group which is the flowering kale and the Capitata group which is the ornamental cabbage. Both groups are similar and are generally sold together or as a mixture.

Actually, this plant is a true biennial that is usually grown as an annual. It prefers full sun, well drained soils and is available in lots of different cultivars that offer every color with options of fringed, ruffled, serrated, and feathered foliage. With all this variety of color and texture utilizing kale clippings in green salads makes for a nice presentation. This plant is not happy in the summer heat so we suggest two direct sowings of seeds. Plant indoors in late winter, then set plants out in early spring for a late spring, early summer harvest. Direct sow seeds outdoors in mid-summer for fresh flowering kale gardens in late summer, and into the fall.