Vegetable Plantings

This week I planted my tomatoes and wrapped in cloth to protect against winds, freeze and insects.  I fertilized with a water soluable mix.  I also planted banana peppers, eggplant, basil, and two types of beans (bush and a pinto type).  The onions got fertilizer.  I'm regularly harvesting green onions.  Everyday I'm picking some time of greens:  collards, cabbage, spinach, chard, beets and mixed greens.  The herbs are doing well, too.  Since we are not getting rain, I've set the drip for 30 minutes twice a week.

Spring flowers--but no Spring Rains

Where I have drip lines, I have beautiful spring flowers!  This week I installed drip lines to all the flower pots in anticipation of our next long trip.....plus no rain.  I have geraniums, impatiens, wave petunias and begonias in bloom.  The Texas Gold Columbine are beautiful and spreading everywhere.  A beautiful gold iris is in bloom.  To extend my enjoyment, I took a cutting into the house.  The oak leaves are being dumped heavily and we can't keep the sidewalk clean.  Periodically, Joe is collecting and using as mulch around the yard.  The weeds are picking up but the grass is still dormant.  I'm amazed at how much survived the freezes.  With this drought, I don't plan to replace many shrubs until we get consistent rain.

Vegetable Planting Schedule Off This Year

I'm taking a slow approach to planting my spring vegetable garden this year.  It's been cold and dry such that I'm going to wait until after March 15, even then I'll watch the 10 day forecast closely.  It's drizzling but no real rain today.  Hope tomorrow is better.

I have Tycoon and Valley Cat tomatoes potted up just for the day when it's warm enough.  I'm only planting one cherry tomato this year.  As always, I'll wrap in cloth to protect the young plants from wind, cold and insects.  I've also got banana peppers, egg plant and cucumbers just waiting in small pots.  Later I'll plant bush beans and a type of pinto bean.

Rainbow and Lowe's are having specials on flowers.  This week I bought a flat of impatiens for $.67 each.  Earlier in the week I bought red begonias for $1.00 a six pack.  On special I've purchased two Boston ferns,  two bulbine, two hanging baskets of impatiens, white petunias, white geraniums and red geraniums.  The bougainvillea are sprouting and I set out in a sunny spot.  Yesterday I started placing drip tubing around the deck in planters.  Joe drilled holes in the two copper pots and I filled with impatients or begonias.

First Signs of Spring in San Antonio

The first signs of Spring in south Texas area the blooms on red bud trees and mountain laurels.  Through most of the year, the red bud is a small tree that sticks to the background.....but it's the first to bloom in late winter.  Next is the beautiful Texas mountain laurel.  I think the purple blossoms smell like grape kool-aide.  Once you have a mountain laurel you will always have baby mountain laurels from the seed pods that drop to the ground later in the year.  Fortunately they are easy to pull out from the ground.

The average last freeze date in San Antonio is March 3.  Guess what, it got down to 26 degrees at our house on March 3....just like the average.  We seem to get a warm up to the mid 80s and then an arctic blast hits us again.  I'm definitely holding off on planting my spring garden.  But the winter veggies are still so bountiful.  This week I harvested the red cabbage and made the best German sweet and sourer slaw.  

Another Freeze

We had a freeze last night, February 27.  It got down to 31 degrees.  Another freeze is predicted next week, beyond our last average freeze date of March 2.  It's been a long winter...  We couldn't risk losing plants so we covered the most sensitive pots and other we brought into the garage.  So far we have not lost anything but someday we may get careless.  It would break my heart to lose a plant at this late state of the game.

Spring Gardening Chores

Spring Gardening Chores

By Joe and Susan Noonan, Bexar County Master Gardeners

It’s springtime and there are lots of gardening chores for April and May.   Consider replacing your turf this year with either hardscaping or drought tolerant ground covers. Always remember that in south Texas we are either in a drought, going into a drought or recovering from a drought.

Color

--Warm-season color includes trailing lantanas, cosmos, zinnias, firebush, copper plant, moss rose, purslane, Dahlberg daisy, purple fountain grass, bachelor buttons and pentas.  For shade areas choose from begonia, impatiens, caladiums, coleus and pentas.  Wait on periwinkles until late May.

--Mandevilla, bougainvilleas and hibiscus are great patio plants.  Let your bougainvillea get root-bound and stressed between watering for best blooms.

--Deadhead (pinch/cut off) spent flowers to encourage more bloom.

--Roses should be blooming with color.  Continue to fertilize them for continued blooming.

--Let your wildflowers go to seed before mowing.

--Seeds that may be sown directly in the warm soil include amaranthus, celosia, morning glory, sunflowers, and zinnias.

--Fertilize container plants and hanging baskets plants on a regular basis with a water soluble fertilizer product and be sure that a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote has been mixed into the potting medium at the label-recommended amount.

--Remove pansies, snapdragons, dianthus, calendulas, kale and other winter plants when they get ragged.

Ornamentals

--Plant caladium tubers after mid-April when the soil warms and night temperatures are above 60 F.  Caladiums prefer a loose, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter.  They thrive in shade with dappled light, and their colors of green-white, green-pink or green-red fit into almost any landscape.

--Firebush for sun and firespike for full shade are two of the best hummingbird plants.  Hibiscus, cigar plant, dwarf Chinese trumpet creeper, lantana, and firebush on the patio will bring hummingbirds in close for observation.

Shade Trees and Shrubs

--Do not prune oak trees now.    This is prime oak wilt season.  If you make any kind of wound from a trimmer or mower on an oak tree, paint it quickly with some type of latex paint.

--You can still plant new shrubs and trees in April if they are container-grown.  Use generous amounts of mulch on the surface over the roots and water as the soil dries, usually about once per week through the hot summer.

--In heavily shaded parts of the landscape where grass is difficult to maintain, choose one of the well-adapted ground covers such as English or Algerian ivy, Asian jasmine, or mondo grass.

--Prune pillar or climbing roses, wisteria and Carolina jasmine as soon as they have finished flowering.  Vigorous landscape shrubs will need frequent pruning.  These include eleagnus, pyracantha, ligustrum and photinia.  As spring flowering shrubs complete their blooming, do any necessary pruning.  Prune to retain the natural shape of the plant.

Turf Grass

--Proper mowing, efficient watering and good nutrition are the best way to minimize weeds in turf grass.  Spot apply liquid broad-leaf weed killers on warm days to eliminate henbit, chickweed, dandelions, clover and non-grassy weeds.  Read and follow label instructions.  Always read the labels on lawn products.  For example, Scott’s Bonus S Fertilizer should never be used under oak trees which can be a negative issue in our neighborhood.

--Fertilize your lawn after the second “real” mowing.  A “real” mowing is when you are cutting lawn grass and not winter weeds.  April 15, tax-filing day, is a good target.  Use a slow-release lawn fertilizer with a ratio of 3-1-2 or 4-1-2---Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) such as 15-5-10 or 19-5-9 or 20-5-10.

--Mow St. Augustine at 3 inches, Zoysia at 2 inches and Bermuda at 1.5 inches.  Mow when the grass is ⅓ higher than the recommended height.  Never cut off more than ⅓ the height of the blades of grass.

From www.thehillcountrygardener.com  Tom Harris, Ph.D.   See also www.plantanswers.com by Jerry Parsons, Ph.D.

Finding the Right Arborist

Finding the Right Arborist to Trim Your Live Oaks

by

Susan Noonan, Bexar County Master Gardener

Do not trim your live oak trees now.   Wait until July when the weather is hot and the beetle that carries the oak wilt virus is inactive.  The best months to trim live oak trees are during the heat of summer and deep winter.  Always paint cuts on branches larger than 1” with a latex paint.

Before you hire an arborist to trim your trees, do your homework.  Mark A. Peterson, a conservation project coordinator with the San Antonio Water System  wrote the following article, “Finding the Right Arborist” for the weekly SAWs newsletter published on January 20, 2014:

During my long tenure at the Texas Forest Service, people frequently asked for arborist

recommendations.  But as a public servant, I was-and still am-often reluctant to

provide references unless the individuals or companies have gone through an objective

training or screening process.  Still, I’m always happy to provide direction, especially

when it comes to selecting a professional arborist to care for your trees.  For starters,

you’ll want to ask a potential contractor if he practices tree topping.  If the answer is

yes, move on to another contractor.  If the answer is no, proceed by asking for:

1.  Proof of membership  with one of the professional arborist associations including

the American Society of Consulting Arborists, International Society of Arborists, or the

Tree Care Industry Association.

2.  Credentials from the International Society of Arboriculture, which demonstrates

professionalism and a desire to improve his or her knowledge of tree care.

3.  Certificate of insurance, including proof of liability for personal and property

damage, and worker’s compensation.  Phone the insurance company or agent to

ensure the policy is current.

4.  A written contract that fully explains the work to be done, on what day, and the price

per service performed.

Winter is the best time to prune your trees.  Make sure you have the best arborist for the

job.  

Late Winter Blooms

Late winter is actually the beginning of the spring flowers for south Texas.  Petunias planted in the fall, reach peak right now.  Geraniums are spectacular in March.  Inpatients love the cool night time temperatures.  I still need to pay attention to those last minute freezes....but I don't see anything in the forecast.  Diluted fertilizer every week or so encourages peak blooms.

As I pull out my winter veggies, I've been adding compost to the raised beds.  The broccoli and cabbage are at peak with the broccoli starting to flower.  I'm still serving chard, collards, salad greens, beets, carrots and spinach.  The onions are growing nicely and as I thin, I add the green onions to salads.   The onions should be fertilized every 2-3 weeks.

Anticipating spring weather, I've potted up Tycoon & cherry tomatoes and banana peppers, and set out seeds for cucumber, basil and chives.  Seeds are so much cheaper than six packs or individual pots.

Other gardening chores include cutting back shrubs and adding top dressing to the grass.  Last week I cut back my knock out roses.   I'm slowly working through my compost pile and adding this organic material to the beds.  The leaves are falling and the Monterrey oak is nearly bare.  The live oaks are just starting to drop so I expect a mess for the next few weeks.

If only we could get rain.  We have had less than two inches of rain since Thanksgiving.  All the storms seem to stay north and east.  It's getting very dry and I'm so afraid that we are in another year of terrible drought.

Warming Up

A few bulbs and annuals are blooming.  Soon wave petunias and geraniums will be at their peak.  It's sure different than last year when annuals were in full bloom.  We still had several freezes this week...but for the next 10 days there are warmer temperatures with highs in the upper 70s and no freezes.  That's all it took for me to set out my potted plants.  I fertilized with a water soluble fertilizer and hope to see many more blooms.

Yesterday I cut back my knock out roses by 2/3rds and fertilized.  Today I fertilized bulbs.  I'm optimistic that Spring is arriving here in south Texas.  The only gloom is the lack of rain.  We have not had a significant rainfall since Thanksgiving last year.  It just seems to drizzle and give us .08 rain according to my electronic rain gauge.  I'm glad we had drip in most of the yard.

Rodeo is on......so soon I will be potting up tomatoes.  I need to get at the compost pile and sift out to get the good stuff.  We've been slowly adding top dressing to the grass.  With our small yard, we are using bags purchased from Lowe's.

View from the Kitchen Window--Early February

WINTER!!--Another week of temperatures below freezing

Coldest January in Years

We are having the coldest January in years.  It seems that every week an Arctic  blast dips low into Texas and gives us freezing temperatures in the low 20s.  We will have to see what survives and comes back in March/April.  It could be an expensive replanting season.  Fortunately my winter vegetables are thriving.  I've been harvesting cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, carrots, beets, chard, and greens.  After I clear out a section of a raised bed, I add compost and a little all around yard fertilize and then seed another section.  I planted sweet peas with edible pods earlier in January.  Since I still have seeds leftover I'm continuing with the beets, greens and carrots.  After the next freeze this week, I planting more kolarobi. The onions are growing nicely and I continue to fertilize about every three weeks.  We have very little rain this month I have had to use drip 2X a week and do supplemental watering of the grass and shrubs.  

Grim, Freezing Weather

We are having the coldest weather in three years.  The temperatures fell to 26 degrees last night with the expectation to go down to 21 tonight.  We covered as many sensitive plants as possible last night and transferred all the container plants to the garage or shop.  Our hope is for the best but we expect the worst.  I may be replacing many plants this spring....sad.  I did water in deeply yesterday because this is suppose to blunt the effects of a freeze.  Many of are plants have a deep layer of mulch so I'm hoping the roots will survive.

February/March Gardening Chores

Late Winter Gardening Chores  submitted by Joe and Susan Noonan, Bexar County Master Gardeners

Check out the latest coupons and rebates from SAWs at their website www.saws.org.  A new WaterSaver coupons is available for replacing your irrigation  rain sensors.  Save on your landscaping materials and  water bills with these coupons!

Color

--Mid-February is rose pruning time (Valentine’s Day--remember?)  Leave 4-6 pencil-width stems arranged around an open center.  Reduce height to approximately 30 inches.  Begin your insecticide and fungicide weekly sprays.  Fertilize with rose food or slow-release lawn fertilizer.

--Fall-planted pansies, snapdragons, dianthus, stocks, alyssum and larkspur are spectacular in March.  Fertilize in February with a slow-release lawn fertilizer at the rate of 1 lb. per 10 square feet of bed area.

--March is a great geranium month.  Use them in morning sun locations.

--Leave the foliage on daffodils, Dutch iris and other low-chill bulbs until it turns brown.  The green leaves are replenishing the bulbs for next year’s blooms.

--Containerized plants can still be put in the landscape.  It is not too late to plant daylilies and irises if they are well rooted in containers.  

--Wildflowers will begin blooming in March.  Remember their seeds must be allowed to mature if you want new plants next year.  The spring months in South Central Texas are best known for their Indian paintbrush, mountain laurel, wine cup, pink evening primrose, prairie verbena, horsemint and bluebonnets.

--Plant hibiscus, bougainvillea, mandevilla and allemande vines in containers for tropical color in March.

--Impatiens, fibrous begonias and coleus are favorites for summer shade.  Plant after the last average freeze date in mid-March.

Shade Trees and Shrubs

--Prune trees and shrubs in February except red and live oaks.  Live and red oaks can be pruned after June when the risk of oak wilt disease spread is lower.  Paint all wounds on oak trees immediately to prevent oak wilt.

--Fertilize trees early in March if you missed the ideal time in February.  February is also a good month to plant trees and shrubs.  Fall and winter are better, but February still gives the root systems time to become established before the stress of summer sets in.

--Finish any pruning in March except for the early bloomers such as climbing roses, mountain laurel and ornamental fruits.  Prune them after they lose the major flush of blooms.

--Use oak leaves for mulch in the gardens or add them to the compost pile.  

--Remove browned tissues from Asian jasmine, liriope and mondograss.  Reshape lanky nandinas by pruning the tallest one-third of canes back to within 2 inches of the ground.  New shoots will fill in from beneath.

Turf Grass

--There is a lot to do for your lawn, but fertilizing is not one of them.  Wait until April or May.  Don’t use weed & feed products.  All that is growing now is the weeds and there is no need to fertilize them is there?  Grass is still dormant.  Don’t waste water and fertilizer.  You can, however, still aerate and top-dress.  Spring weather and fall fertilization determine when grass greens up in the spring, not excessive watering or spring fertilization.  We are still in a drought  so follow SAWs water restrictions!  

--”Scalp” the lawn in February to remove winter-killed stubble.  Set the mower down one or two notches.

--February is a good time to apply pre-emergent herbicides to prevent warm weather weeds.  Apply broadleaf killer on warm days to eliminate henbit, chickweed, dandelions, clover and non-grassy weeds.

--Tune up the lawnmower and be sure the blade is very sharp.  Remember that dull blades tear the grass, sharp ones cut it.

--Check out the automatic lawn sprinkler system for leaks, broken pipes or heads, or wasteful misting.

--In heavily shaded parts of the landscape where grass is difficult to maintain, choose one of the well adapted ground cover plants such as English or Algerian ivy, Asian jasmine, or mondograss.  March is a good month to plant drought-tolerant ground covers.

From The Hill Country Gardener, Tom Harris, PhD.  www.thehillcountrygardener.com

Oak Wilt Article

Oak Wilt Prevention

&

What To Do With All Those Oak Leaves

Don’t trim your live oak trees between mid-February and June when the beetles that carry oak wilt disease are most active.  Wait until the hot summer months to trim your oak trees.  The beetle that carries the oak wilt infection is not as active during the hottest and coldest months of the year.  Always remember to paint the oak tree cuts within 30 minutes with either a latex or pruning paint.  

What do you do with all those oak leaves that fall in March?  Don’t send them to the trash!  Consider these leaves as free mulch and as a source for your compost bin.  If you don’t have too many leaves on your lawn, just mow them next time you cut your  grass.  The leaves will quickly decompose to organic material to feed your lawn. You can also run your  mower over the leaves and use the chopped leaves you pick up in your bag attachment as mulch.   Another alternative is to vacuum up the leaves with your blower and use as mulch around shrubs and flower beds. .  If you run short on time,  just rake the leaves directly into the beds.  It may take a little longer to decompose, but you will still get all the benefits of mulch.  I’ve even stored chopped leaves in garbage bags for later use in the season.  If the leaves are just slightly moist in the bag, you will eventually have a nicely decomposed compost/mulch.  

Paperwhite Narcissus

Here it is early January and my paper white narcissus have been blooming for over a week.  They are just so sweet and peaceful looking out there in my barren yard.  We are expecting another freeze tonight so I covered the most sensitive plants and brought many of my container plants into the garage.  Every day I try to cut back perennials and shrubs so it's not an overwhelming task.  I did plant more beet and carrot seed this week.  I'm hoping to plant more lettuce greens and sweet peas yet this week.

Winter Veggies are Reaching Peak

Broccoli

 Cauliflower

Baby Carrots, Beets and Beet Greens--How did I ever get this far in life without eating beet greens?  I think they are my favorite green, even better than Swiss Chard.  I slice of the beets, toss with olive oil and roast at 425 for 15 minutes.  Then I add the beet greens, toss and roast another ten minutes.  Perfection!