United States Most Popular "Flowering Plant"

Horticulture Hotline 12/21/20

  Bill Lamson-Scribner 

 

Little did Joel Poinsett know that when he brought the first Poinsettia back from Mexico that it would become the United States most popular “flowering plant”.  Joel Poinsett, a South Carolinian, was the first ambassador to Mexico. There is a Historic Marker for him in Otranto, SC (an area in North Charleston).  In 1825 he introduced the Poinsettia to the United States.  These plant sales top over 70 million each year.  The dollar value is much greater.  If you ever have a chance to visit a whole sale nursery while the Poinsettia crop is being grown, it is a site you will not forget! 

 

How can you force the Poinsettia to “bloom” before next Christmas? I have bloom and flowering in quotes, because Poinsettias are mainly grown because of its colorful bracts, not flowers.

 

After Christmas in the Lowcountry, you can put the plants outdoors as long as the weather is not going to get too cold. In the early days of “The Garden Clinic”, Lowcountry radio legend Dan Moon used to boast how he kicked his Poinsettia off his back porch by his A/C and how it grew into a monster Poinsettia. Poinsettias do not like to be in direct sunlight, so place them in a protected area. Some people like the garage. Filtered light is good.

 

To force the bracts to change color beginning in early October, keep the plant in total darkness for 14 hours straight.  After the 14 hours of darkness, the plant must receive 6-8 hours of bright sunlight daily for 8-10 weeks.  Depending on the variety of Poinsettia you should see the bracts change color.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to place the plant in a dark room with a grow light and a timer. This way you don’t have to adjust your schedule to care for the plant.  My little secret is to support the local nurseries and buy new plants each year!

 

Unfortunately, this cool, wet weather is bringing out the Large Patch in our turf.  Be sure to treat the areas before it goes into dormancy.  Now is also a good time to apply horticulture oil or Neem Oil for over-wintering insects. Neem oil will control certain fungi too. Winter weeds are visible now. Control them now while they are young and actively growing. Your results will be much better. 

 

Judging from our sales at Possum’s, fleas seem to still be an issue for our pets, and the rats, roaches and mice are seeking shelter from the rain and cold. I’m sure you don’t want any uninvited guest for the holidays!

 

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

 

 

Gifts for the Gardener

Horticulture Hotline 12/14/20

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

Does it seem like your free time is spent doing maintenance yard work around the house?  You work long hours all week, and then on the weekend instead of spending time with your family, shopping, on the boat, on the golf course, hunting, etc., you are spending it pushing a lawn mower inhaling that blue smoke?  Give yourself a lawn care company for a year and enjoy your time off doing what you like to do.  You can still spend time in the yard doing specialty things; just get rid of the mowing, edging, control product applying and blowing.  Also consider hiring professionals to do other house maintenance (power washing, painting….). The gift of free time is awesome! 

 

Plan a trip to a local public garden (for example Magnolia Plantation, Middleton, Boone Hall, Drayton Hall, Charles Towne Landing, the many county parks – be sure to take in the Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park, or Hampton Park) and get ideas for your own landscape.  This also makes for a wonderful day with the family.  You can take a picnic lunch and make it a full day enjoying the beauty of the Lowcountry. Many of these parks you can buy a yearly pass for just a little more than a onetime visit and enjoy the park throughout the year. The gift of doing some social distancing in a place unique, ever changing and special to the Lowcountry is awesome!

 

If you would like to take a road trip, travel to Brookgreen Gardens by Myrtle Beach, or Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. You can also give a gardener a trip out of the area for a long-distance gardening adventure.  Calloway Gardens in Atlanta, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, The National Arboretum outside of Washington, D.C., The Redwoods in California or any other garden throughout the United States…. or anywhere in the world!

There are some awesome gardens out there! Check Covid-19 restrictions. The first time I used the ‘fine print’ in over 30 years of writing the Horticulture Hotline!

 

Give a gardener a gift certificate for a future Home and Garden Tour event.  There are great tour events throughout the year in areas all over the Lowcountry.  Kiawah, Seabrook, Daniel Island, City of Charleston, Summerville, Mount Pleasant all have different garden tours.  If you want to go on a road trip, Savannah and Beaufort also have garden tours. Seeing what other landscape ideas do well in the Lowcountry is awesome!  Check Covid-19 restrictions

 

Give your gardener a membership to one of the many clubs or societies in the Charleston area. The Rose Society, The Charleston Horticultural Society, The Native Plant Society, The Camellia Society, The Koi Fish Club and Daylily Society just to name a few.  I have attended many of these club’s lectures.  They are all very informative and are passionate about their interests, willing to help newcomers, and provide different community projects to improve the Lowcountry.  I have run into many old friends and have made many new friends at these meetings. Gaining knowledge about a topic you are interested in is awesome! Check Covid-19 restrictions

 

Books (different Universities sell very informative books at very good prices), quality hand tools (especially pruners and pruning saws), cuttings from your garden, a plant, tree, or bulbs, or something you have canned from your garden, all make awesome gifts!

 

A gift certificate to any of the local garden centers or nurseries makes an excellent choice for the garden enthusiast.   They are bound to find something they want and you don’t have to worry about whether they will like the gift. Now that’s awesome!

 

 

Winter Kill On Turf

Horticulture Hotline 12/07/20

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

Have you ever had winter kill? Several years have passed since the last major winter kill event. Let’s say 11 years. With fifty plus people moving here a day, that would mean that roughly 200,000 people have never experienced winter kill. Now is the time to prepare your grass for the wide variations in temperatures we have.

 

Preparing your lawn to avoid winter kill will also help with large patch / brown patch disease. Many of the cultural practices are the same. The rain, the shorter daylight hours and the cooler temperatures have large patch / brown patch exploding in yards of all types. Winter kill temperatures are not in the forecast; however, it is best to be proactive, so if and when the time comes, you are ready.

 

If you had winter kill in the past, you need to be sure to correct low and poorly drained areas, reduce thatch in the yard, increase air movement in low areas, keep your lawn hydrated and feed (with the right food for the winter). These same cultural practices will help with large patch / brown patch disease as well.

 

Mow your grass lower than normal (centipede 1.0 to 1.5 inches, St. Augustine 2.5 to 3.0 inches, zoysia will depend on whether it is fine blade or coarse blade). By mowing your grass lower, you will increase the air movement around the crown of the plant, so cold air will not settle at the crown of the plant and damage the grass. In Florida helicopters fly low over citrus groves that are in valleys to get the cold air out. Tall grass or thatch will insulate the crown of the plant like a goose down jacket, keeping the cold air near the crown where it can cause winter kill. Centipede lawns usually get winter kill the worst if temperatures plummet quickly. Tall grass will also stay wet longer. Wet grass favors the development of disease.

 

Fine blade Zoysia grass can grow very dense and get thatch. De-thatching, verticutting, using Bio Grounds Keeper, and regular topdressing with cotton burr compost should be part of your maintenance schedule.  

 

With the conditions so favorable for large patch / brown patch disease, an application of a systemic fungicide (Strobe, T-Methyl) is a good idea. This application is like us getting a flu shot. You want to get the flu shot or the fungicide out before you or your lawn get the disease.

 

Gift Certificates? Moles? Rats? Roaches? Fire ants? Putting in winter annual color? Preemergent herbicides? Transplanting shrubs or trees? A lot goes on this time of year in the landscape.

 

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.