Flower Power

 

August 2023

Pickaway to Garden

Flower Power

By Paul J. Hang

We garden for flowers. Either because we like to look at and smell them or because they turn into something we like to eat. The Poet William Wordsworth asked, “How does the meadow flower its bloom unfold?” What causes a plant to flower?

In his book “Plant Science for Gardeners,” Robert Pavlis gives many of the requirements. First, a plant must reach a certain level of maturity. It must grow large enough. Second, the plant must be healthy and receive enough light. “Anything that prevents a plant from growing to its full potential may prevent flowering.” Even when all these criteria are met, plants need certain triggers to flower. Once we understand these we may understand why some of our plants aren’t producing flowers.

Plants sense the duration of darkness and so are able to measure time. Plants are in one of three categories: long night, short night or night neutral. Chrysanthemums are long night plants that need at least 12 hours of darkness for a length of time before they bloom. They bloom in the fall or can be “tricked” into blooming in a light controlled greenhouse. Poinsettias and Christmas cactus are other examples. Roses are night neutral. They begin to grow in the spring and when they are big enough they flower. Some only bloom for a few weeks while others bloom until frost. Bloom duration is controlled by genetics.

Fruit trees bloom in the spring when there are about 12 hours of darkness and 12 hours of light. This also happens in fall but they do not flower then because of a factor called vernalization. They need two things to bloom a long night and a period of cold. Plants requiring vernalization require a period of cold long enough and a temperature low enough. This varies from plant to plant. Many bulbs require vernalization and this can sometimes be accomplished in a refrigerator. Rainfall can also be a trigger event. Desert plants often do not bloom until a certain amount of rain has fallen.

We also know that the accumulation of heat, measured in growing degree days, must be reached for plants to bloom. The amount varies with each plant species. Plants’ ability to monitor darkness can be interrupted by light from street lights and home lighting and interfere with blooming. If your light level is high enough and it is the right wavelength, your Christmas cactus will be the coal in your stocking. There are many things that cause a plant to flower or not. Wordsworth’s fellow poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson sums it up:

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower—but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is.

Things to do in the garden:

August is Tree Check month. Water if we don’t get at least an inch of rain each week. Water at the base of the plant and do it in the morning. Water trees and shrubs planted in the past two years or if they look distressed. If you see lichen on your trees, rejoice it’s a sign of clean air.

You can still have a fall garden. Plant healthy looking broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage plants early in the month. Direct-seed beets, spinach, turnips, and snap peas mid-month. Other vegetables that grow well in cool weather but should be planted a little later are lettuce planted through August and September, carrots and radishes in September.  Count the days before the average frost (mid-October), veggies that have that many days to harvest can still be planted. Check the seed packet. Given our milder winters don’t be afraid to experiment. Keep the seeds and soil moist for best germination.

Harvest vegetables and herbs in the morning for best results. Dig potatoes if the vines have died. Harvest onions when the tops fall over and cure in the sun for a few days. The more you harvest the more you will get. Consider donating excess to the food pantry.

As plants die back or stop producing in the vegetable garden remove them so bad insects and disease don’t have a place to over- winter. Some landscape plants, such as coneflowers and those with hollow stems, also native ornamental grasses, can be left alone for insects and for seeds for wintering birds or for visual winter interest. Put the debris of healthy plants in the compost bin, diseased plants in the trash. Pull crabgrass and other weeds before they go to seed.

This is the time to renovate or build a new lawn. Do your research at ohioline.osu.edu. Start cuttings of coleus, begonias, geraniums and impatiens for growing indoors this winter. Move houseplants to a shady spot to prepare them to move indoors. Disbud and fertilize your dahlias for bigger blooms. Fertilize (side dress) peonies and roses with a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 or 12-12-12. Order garlic and spring flowering bulbs, plant biennials. Divide, transplant or give away perennials that are overgrown and plant new container grown ones. Add new mulch where needed. Pull weeds before they go to seed.

By the end of the month consider disbudding your tomato plants. Remove the growing tips of each branch and pinch out all the blossoms that bloom. It takes six weeks from blossom to fruit. This results in bigger tomatoes and prevents those marble size tomatoes that never reach the table. Experiment! Try this with melons and winter squash.

Consider picking tomatoes before they are completely ripe. They will ripen off the vine if they show a blush of green on an otherwise red, purple or yellow tomato. Totally ripe tomatoes still on the vine can burst with a glut of water from rain or the hose. They can be sampled by birds and mammals. Follow this advice and you will enjoy more and better tomatoes.

Monitor for pests. Check under the leaves. Use organic methods first. Remember, 97 percent of insects are either good or neutral. Use the digital method, in this digital age, to eliminate some bugs. The two-step stomp technique can be quite effective.  Or, just flick them into a cup of soapy water. No bug species has developed a resistance to these tactics.

Need gardening advice? Call the Gardening Helpline at the OSU Extension Office 474-7534. Other resources are ohioline.osu.edu and Buckeye Yard and Garden Line (bygl.osu.edu).