Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.
“When should I plant bulbs for spring blooms here in Kentucky?” Question from Karen of Cannon, Kentucky
Answer: Late September to early November is the best time to plant fall bulbs for spring in Kentucky. Just don’t wait until the soil surface freezes over. It always helps to amend beds before planting bulbs. It makes the soils easier to work. Also, be sure to have a planting knife or bulb planter on hand for fast planting.
For best bulb performance, amend your planting soil with Black Gold Garden Compost Blend and bonemeal. Both products will ensure that your bulbs will bloom and grow well. It is also essential to plant different bulbs at the correct recommended depths. If you plant bulbs too deeply or shallowly, they will not perform as well and may not even emerge, especially small bulbs. Just follow the package instructions.
“Where can I buy Campari tomato seeds for plants?” Question from Rena of Morehead City, North Carolina
Answer: The seed for commercially available Campari tomatoes is generally difficult to find (click here for a possible source), but there are many comparable well-branched, tasty, cocktail tomatoes that taste even better. ‘Mountain Magic’ is one to try that rivals Campari. Another is one of my personal favorites, the Italian heirloom ‘Principe Borghese‘. Its large stems of delicious fruits look like those of Campari, taste great, are ideal for salads, and even make perfect sun-dried tomatoes.
From there, I encourage you to watch the video below about growing tomatoes from seed to harvest.
How Do I Organically Feed My Vegetable Garden Soil for Fall?
“I’m getting ready to prep my raised beds for the fall crop. What is best to amend the soil with since I do not use chemical fertilizers?” Question from Randal of Chiply, Florida.
Answer: There are lots of things that you can do to feed your soil for fall and winter crops. Here are some of easy options.
Feed Your Soil
Your garden is as good as its soil. For success, liberally feed it with organic matter, such as Black Gold Earthworm Castings, Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, and Garden Compost Blend, especially if your soil is rich in clay or sandy. Add at least 3 inches of the amendment to the soil surface, and till it to a depth of at least 8 inches. Tilling in amendments will increase water-holding capacity and aeration for better root growth. Use the amendment application formula below to determine the amount you will need.
Amendment Application Formula
([area to cover] ft2 x [depth in inches desired] x 0.0031 = ___ yd3).
Example: If you wanted to cover a 20 square foot area with 2 inches of compost, the result would be: 20 ft2 x 2 inches of compost x 0.0031 = 2.48 yd3.
Vegetables perform better with regular fertilization, especially heavy feeders like tomatoes. In fact, most veggies will deplete the soil of nutrients over time, so replenishment is necessary. There are many organic vegetable fertilizers on the market. Alfalfa, blood, bone, feather, fish, kelp, and shrimp meals are all common natural components of non-chemical fertilizers. Earthworm castings are also a good source of nitrogen and beneficial microbes. Adding mycorrhizae to the soil is also useful because it helps plants take up water and nutrients better. Black Gold Natural & Organic Ultra Coir is another of our organic-rich amendments that also contains our proprietary blend of endomycorrhizae. We recommend that you research top-rated organic fertilizers to find the best for your needs.
Rotate Your Crops with Legumes
Vegetables, especially tomatoes, should be rotated on a three-year cycle–tomato one year and other vegetables the next two years. Legumes, like beans and peas, are excellent rotation crops because they naturally fortify soils with nitrogen. For more rotation tips, I encourage you to read Spring to Fall Vegetable Rotation: Planting for Non-stop Garden Produce. It will provide all of the information you need to effectively rotate your crops, whether container- or garden-grown.
I hope that all of this information helps! We have many more articles about gardening in Florida, click here to view them.
When is the Best Time to Plant Lettuce in California?
“When generally is the best month to start lettuce planting [in California]?” Question from Rebekah of Clovis, California
Answer: Lettuce is a cool-season crop, which means that it thrives in cool weather and can even take a light frost but not hard freezes. When the weather becomes hot, most lettuce varieties quickly become bitter-tasting and set seed (bolt).
Based on the Clovis climate summary, your weather remains cool enough for lettuce from October through to April or May. Within this time, you should be able to grow more than one crop. Just be sure to grow it in fertile soil and keep the beds well irrigated during dry weather. We recommend drip irrigation for dry California climates. (Click here to learn about adding drip irrigation to raised beds.) If you anticipate an unexpected frost, cover your plants with frost cloth.
Clovis, California Climate Summary
I encourage you to watch the following video about the 10 best lettuce varieties and how to grow them from seed.
“My roses have lots of hollow and brown holes in their leaves. What is causing the damage, and how do I stop it?” Question from Pam of Massachusetts
Answer: It’s so lovely when questions come with images–especially when photos make for easy identification. Your roses are suffering from the larvae of rose sawflies, also called rose slugs, though they are not true slugs at all. The sawfly larvae eat along the leaf surfaces from the back–leaving brownish spots and blotches of dead tissue that eventually falls away, leaving open holes. If there are only a few of the pests present, the damage will be minor, but at high populations, they can defoliate plants, making rose bushes look unsightly and weakening them. There are several methods for managing rose sawflies.
How to Manage Rose Sawflies
Image of an adult Bristly Rose Sawfly. (Image by Beatriz Moisset)Image of Bristly Rose Sawfly larvae. (Image by Beatriz Moisset)
Rose sawflies are black, winged insects that emerge in early spring. After mating, they lay elongated clusters of eggs within cuts they create along rose stems. Within a couple of weeks, gardeners will begin to see the damage caused by the small, green, caterpillar-like larvae that have emerged. Once they are large enough, the larvae will drop down to the ground and pupate in the soil. There are several types. One of the most aggressive is the bristly rose sawfly (Cladius difformis), which can produce lots of generations in a season.
It’s best to catch these pests early on, so you can stop them in their tracks before they do a lot of damage. If you have experienced them in the past, it helps to look for egg masses in mid-spring and remove them. Look on the backs of leaves as soon as you begin to see telltale damage. The larvae can be easily smashed on sight or treated with OMRI Listed BT, Neem oil, or insecticidal soap. Remove and kill all the larvae you can find, and be sure to keep any sprays away from the flowers to keep pollinators from being harmed.
Once you have rose sawflies, keep a lookout for more and manage them as you see them. If you remain diligent, you will be able to stop them or keep populations down.
“Lynda of West Warwick, Rhode Island writes, “Every year I get white mold on the leaves of various plants in my vegetable garden. I don’t use any fertilizer or pesticide, other than an organic compost in the soil. Is there something I could or should be doing?” Answer: The disease is powdery mildew, and it’s one of the most common fungal diseases of garden flowers and vegetables.
Why Are My Tomatoes Wilting and Showing Black Spots?
“I’m having trouble identifying the disease(s) that is affecting my ‘Black Krim’ tomato plant (and now may have possibly spread to the ‘Rutgers’). In late June I noticed significant leaf curl of some vines of the ‘Black Krim’. June was a dry month, so I thought it might be physiological, but watering did not seem to help. By early July, rains had returned and the leaf curl did not go away. I then started seeing healthy lower leaves turning grey-black in just days, often starting at the outside edge of the leaves. Most recently, however, I’ve starting seeing leaves covered in black spots with possibly light-grey centers (these are leaves 18-24” above ground). Petioles have similar elongated grey/black spots and some fruit stems (that produced no fruit) have turned completely black. Some leaf lesions are larger and could be the small spots merging. The main stem is not solid green and shows some grey-black coloration. There seems to be no correlation between the vines that exhibit wilt and the vines that have spots. I removed the wilted vines. Some had small dark markings on the interior of the stem while some looked healthy. So far, the fruit, which is still green, has not shown any spotting or discoloration.
The leaves do not turn yellow and brown, like you see with alternaria and septoria. Plus, it this just doesn’t look like the normal problems I get on my tomato plants every year. I’m thinking Stemphyllium or possibly TSWV (or both?), but neither seems to fit those symptoms entirely. I’ve looked at the lesions under a macroscope and no fruiting bodies of fungi are apparent. Plus, the lesions don’t have any mold-like fuzziness. The scattered small lesions and the wilting point towards TSWV, but no spotting/discoloration of the fruit is apparent (even on infected stems) and the leaf lesions don’t seem to show circular rings.
I’ve been using B. subtillus spray since transplanting, and liquid copper sulfate spray more recently. Neither seems to be having much effect. This plant was also treated with Trichoderma harzianum strain T-22 to prevent Fusarium wilt (a problem I’ve had in previous years). I realize that plants don’t all exhibit the same symptoms to the same diseases every time. It’s also possible that both diseases are at work here. Any thoughts you have here would be greatly appreciated.” Question from S Saving of Kansas City, Missouri.
Answer: Nothing is worse than experiencing debilitating tomato diseases when all a gardener wants is a successful crop. Unless a gardener plants the most disease-resistant tomato hybrids and has the most aerated raised beds and dry weather, diseases are to be anticipated–especially those of the fungal and bacterial flavor. You’re asking about at least two at once, so I will piece away at your question in an orderly fashion, starting with the photos that you shared of leaves and stems showing signs of black spotting and sootiness.
Black Spots on Tomato Leaves
When black spots like these do not cause leaves to turn yellow and die (or senesce) it usually indicates a surface mold rather than a systemic one. Your spots do not appear to be caused by grey leaf spot of tomato (Stemphylium spp.) or tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Bacterial speck was another pathogen that I considered, but the small, black spots caused by this disease should have a yellow halo. The specks also do not tend to form clusters on leaves like yours.
It looks more like a light infection of sooty mold or related surface fungi. Sooty mold tends to take hold in the presence of sucking insects and the honeydew they produce. Have you observed any aphids, leafhoppers, whiteflies, mites, or the like, on your tomatoes? Even a small population can encourage sooty mold. Moreover, the fruiting bodies can be difficult to see with so little of the disease on leaves, even under a macroscope. Spraying and dry weather conditions will also discourage the development of fruiting bodies and mold spread.
Sooty mold is easily treated. Mix one teaspoon of gentle detergent to 1 gallon of warm water. Dip a clean cloth or sponge into the mixture and wipe down infected leaves and stems. The black mold should come off. Let me know if this is what you observe.
Tomato Leaf Curl
Without seeing a photo, it is difficult to determine what could have caused the significant leaf curl, wilt, and death on your tomatoes. It is certainly not tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) because this disease causes leaves to turn yellow and contort over a longer period of time. Herbicide damage and dramatic temperature changes can cause leaf curling and fast necrosis. Herbicide damage is the most common cause. It can appear on old or new growth, depending on what tissues came in contact with an herbicide (click here to see an image of glyphosate drift on tomato.) Broad mites (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) are sucking insects that can cause leaf curl and death of tomato foliage when populations are high. The sucking insects also create honeydew, which can encourage sooty mold.
To determine whether mites are present, do the white paper test. Take a clean piece of white paper, hold it beneath the leaves, then tap the leaves onto the paper. If you have mites, lots of tiny specs will fall, and eventually, they will start crawling around. These are spider mites. Spraying the tops and bottoms of leaves with insecticidal soap and wiping them down will remove spider mites quickly. Multiple applications will be required.
Disease Resistant Tomatoes
Just for future reference, here are some tasty tomatoes with excellent disease resistance. They may not have the allure of unique heirlooms like ‘Black Krim’, but they are tough and tasty.
‘Galahad’ (F3, GLS, LB, N, TSWV): The new, 2020 All-America Selections Winner ‘Galahad’ is a big, red, slicing tomato with excellent flavor that resists five diseases!
‘Granadero’ (F2, PM, TMV, V, N, TSWV): Sauce tomato lovers should try this super disease-resistant paste tomato with uniform, red, well-flavored fruits. It is also an AAS award winner.
‘Mountain Merit‘ (F3, LB, N, TSWV, V): Lots of large, red tomatoes with good, sweet flavor are produced on this compact bush tomato.
‘Toronjina’ (F2, LM, TMV): Highly disease-resistant plants produce lots of sweet and tart, orange cherry tomatoes on shorter indeterminate vines.
‘Sakura‘ (F2, LM, TMV, N): Red cherry tomatoes are produced early and in abundance on this long-vined, highly disease-resistant tomato.
Please follow up! I would like to know if any of these potential assessments are correct. For a more definitive analysis, send some of your diseased leaves to your local extension agent. (Click here to learn more.)
A bouquet of summer dahlias and China asters will beautify any vase.
It’s always nice when the prettiest summer flowers can be cut and brought indoors for long-lasting arrangements. Aside from beauty and long vase life, several criteria make a flower suited to cutting. Long-stemmed, showy flowers of all sizes in unique and brilliant colors make the cut (pun intended). I also like heavy bloomers, so there are enough flowers to share with the bees and butterflies. Fragrance is another bonus.
My list contains a mix of flowering shrubs, perennials, and annuals that are most prevalent in the garden from mid to late summer. Some will flower until frost. When planting a garden with future cutting in mind, choose flowers that combine well in colors that please you.
Get Your Vases Ready
Match your flowers to your favorite vases and dot the house with them. (Image by Jessie Keith)
If you love cut flowers enough to grow them, you are likely an avid vase collector like me. My collection includes vases of all colors and sizes. (Click here to read my article about miniature flower arranging (many mini vases are shown).) It’s always good to have several large, medium, and small vases in various colors to show off your prized blooms. Just remember that colorful vases can compete with colorful arrangements. It’s better to choose flowers in monochromatic or neutral color schemes for multicolored vases. Neutral vases will best show off an extravagant collection of pretty flowers.
My Eight Favorite Summer Cut Flowers
All eight flowers are sun-lovers that grow best in fertile soil. Before planting, it helps to amend garden beds with Black Gold® Natural & Organic Flower and Vegetable Soil. Be sure to feed plants with a fertilizer formulated to encourage flowering to ensure full flowering.
China Asters
Pink and violet China asters should be a cutting garden staple.
Here’s a long-lasting cut flower that should gain newfound popularity. Few gardeners grow old-fashioned China asters (Callistephus chinensis) these days, but they are elegant, easy annuals that make fantastic arrangments. The Chrysanthemum-like blooms can be ruffled and double or starry and cactus-like, and their stems are long. Unlike Chrysanthemums, they come in shades of violet-blue and purple as well as pink, red, yellow, and white. The seed-grown annuals are a cinch to start in spring. Tower Custom Mix has ruffly blooms in many colors and long stems. ‘Starlight Light Pink‘, with its pale-pink quilled flowers, is also a good choice and has a very long vase-life. Caveats: these annuals cannot withstand drought and high heat.
Dahlias
Dahlias come in so many colors, shapes, and sizes, everyone loves them. (Image by Jessie Keith)
There is so much variation in dahlia flowers–from size to shape to color. The best for cutting must be long-stemmed, so plants should be 2-feet tall or more. My favorites have extra-large waterlily or cactus-type flowers reaching 6 to 12 inches across, but I also love the little guys with tiny pincushion blooms. Dahlias come in all colors of the rainbow except blue. Each year I try something new from one of my favorite sellers, Swan Island Dahlias. The 6 to 8 inch, soft orange blooms of ‘Honeymoon‘ caught my eye this year. Before planting dahlias, amend the soil with Black Gold Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, which also comes in handy for packing the tuberous roots for winter storage. (Click here to watch a video all about dahlias.)
Coneflowers
Here is my 2020 display of Cheyenne Spirit Mix coneflowers with my pink bigleaf hydrangeas in the background. It has been quite a spectacular season. (Image by Jessie Keith)
Fresh coneflowers last for up to a week in a vase, sometimes longer. There are so many different varieties (Echinacea hybrids) available in so many colors; it is hard to know what to pick. One of my favorite reds is Echinacea Cheyenne Spirit Mix, which comes in warm shades of red, orange, and yellow. My advice is to choose those with good hardiness that bloom for a long period and are reliably perennial. They are easy as pie to grow. Plant them in full sun and well-drained, amended soil, and you should be set. Always expect some seedlings the following year that you can move around or share with friends.
Gladiolus
Gladiolus flowers are so colorful and cheerful!
Gladiolus (Gladiolus hybrids, Zones 8-10) are inexpensive and very rewarding. They are sold in spring as packaged bulbs (actually corms) that must be planted after frost. Plant each just 3 inches down and cover. Add a little peat moss and bulb food at planting time to help ensure success. By summer, each bulb will send up spikes of brilliant flowers that are long-lasting when cut. After blooming, they will not flower again, so it is good to plant many. Gladiolus are tender but can be grown in colder zones as long as the corms are dug in fall and stored in a cool, dry place over winter. Try the unusual varieties ‘Fringed Coral Lace‘, with its frilled coral flowers, and ‘Passos‘, which has white blooms splashed with plum purple. Both look lovely together.
Bigleaf Hydrangeas
Let’s Dance® Rhythmic Blue® has bluest flower clusters. (Image by Proven Winners)
Any hydrangea flower is good for cutting, but bigleafs (Hydrangea macrophylla, Zones 5-11) are very pretty and come in shades of blue, pink, purple, red, and white. Mine is bubblegum pink and flowers throughout the summer. It’s an old variety that was in my yard when I purchased my 1926 home, so I don’t know its name. There are lots of new spectacular varieties on the market, if you have space for a bushy shrub in your landscape or garden. Let’s Dance®Rhythmic Blue®is a reblooming bigleaf with large purplish-blue flower clusters that impress, and it just reaches 4 feet high.
Rudbeckia
Indian Summer gloriosa daisy has huge blooms.
Otherwise known as black-eyed-Susans, Rudbeckia are cut-flower staples. They bloom over a long period, last forever when cut, and there are many kinds. Most are hardy perennials, while others, such as gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) are short-lived perennials.
Gloriosas are some of the best for arranging because there are so many varieties. A classic that I have grown for over 25 years is ‘Indian Summer’, which has dark-eyed gold daisies that reach a whopping 6 to 9 inches across. The award-winner may even self-sow a little. Henry Eilers’ sweet coneflowers (Rudbeckiasubtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’), with their matchstick yellow petals, are also pretty when cut.
Sunflowers
A sunflower glows against a background of red dahlias.
You cannot go wrong with annual sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). They are toss-the-seeds-in-the-ground-and-grow annuals that never disappoint. The heavy-flowering ‘Italian White’ is one of my favorites because its smaller ivory sunflowers are so unusual. This year I also grew the award-winning ‘Soraya‘, which has orange petals and brown centers. Another benefit is that the flowers produce little pollen, which can be surprisingly messy on a table or tablecloth. If you want to really grow sunflowers like the pros plant those in the Pro Cut Series, which have no pollen and bloom profusely. Expect sunflowers to continue flowering into late summer or early fall; be sure to let a few flowers to go to seed to naturally feed the birds. (Click here to watch a video about growing perfect sunflowers.)
Zinnias
Heat-loving zinnias are one of the best annual cut flowers of summer.
You cannot have a cutting garden without tall zinnias (Zinnia elegans). The upright annuals come in lots of vivid colors. My favorites have ragged, cactus-like blooms that stand out in arrangements, among others. The many colorful zinnia blends from Renee’s Garden Seeds are all excellent. (Raggedy Anne Mix can’t be beaten.) They come in color combos to suit almost anyone and bloom nonstop, with deadheading.
Zinnias are easy to start from seed. Just clear out some good ground in late spring, sprinkle the seeds, cover them lightly with peat moss, and keep them moist. They should sprout in no time for an instant cutting garden.
Flower Cutting and Arranging Technique
I am so glad to have this section covered by a video, generously created by the award-winning floral designer, Jennie Love of Love n’ Fresh Flowers. Please watch it for a very simply how-to for creating the perfect summer bouquet. Then make the most of your cut flowers until the last bloom has been taken by frost.
“I have lots of fresh herbs in my garden. What is the best way to dry and store them?” Question from Anne of Bloomington, Indiana
Answer: It’s an excellent question. Some herbs are best stored and used dry while others taste best when frozen. That is because some herbs do not retain their full flavor when dried. Here are some methods of preservation for different herbs. (Click here for an overview about how to grow different herbs.)
Freezing Herbs
Basil, chives, cilantro, dill, and parsley are all herbs that retail their best flavor when frozen. For basil, chives, cilantro, and parsley, I like to macerate them canola or olive oil and freeze them in containers. Labeled lidded ice cube trays are a great option (click here for a good lidded tray). That way, the herbs can be used cube by cube for cooking. It is also a great way to store garlic. Reusable freezer squeeze tubes are another option for later use from freezer to fridge. Fresh dill and parsley stems are easily stored in freezer bags and broken up in the bag after freezing for later use.
Drying Herbs
Stems or oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, and bay leaves retain their flavors beautifully when dried. Dill can also be dried. Here are three great methods for drying them.
1. Hanging Herbs
Gather bundles of six stems for quick drying (larger bundles dry more slowly and may develop mold). Hang them upside down in a cool, dry, shaded spot (the sun will bleach leaves and reduce flavor). After a couple of days, the leaves should be crisp, dry, and ready for storage.
2. Dehydrating Herbs
Food dehydrators provide the fastest drying method for herbs, but not everyone owns one. If you do, space the stems apart on dehydrator racks and let them dry until crisp or leathery. The time needed depends on the machine and the herb drying. Check your herbs every couple of hours to assess dryness. Once dry, slide your fingers down each stem to separate the leaves. Then store them.
3. Oven Drying Herbs
Oven drying speeds the process without the need for a dehydrator. Preheat the oven to 140°F. Space the leafy stems apart on a pan lined with parchment paper and place the tray in the oven until leaves are crisp. It often takes an hour or two, but fleshier herbs may need more time.
Store dried herbs in a cool, dark place in labeled tins or glass jars. I like to add tiny packets of silica desiccant for better long-term preservation.
I hope that this helps. Happy herb harvest and preservation!
“Hello, I have fescue grass, but I also have Bermuda weeds growing within. Last year I had the area dug up, Round-Up sprayed, new sod put in. Now the Bermuda weed is back. How do I get rid of it? Some suggested I put St. Augustine grass plugs, and it will rid the weeds, but I have heard it turns brown in the winter. Any suggestions would be appreciated.” Question from Cliff Pearce of Riverside, California
Answer: When planted side-by-side, Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon, Zones 7-10) will always win over fescue (Festuca spp., Zones 3-9). Fescues are finer, less aggressive grasses relative to Bermudagrass, which is a tough, broad-bladed grass that can quickly grow out of control without maintenance. Even worse, Bermudagrass roots can grow to a depth of 6 feet or more, so it is hard to kill. Clearly, the Round-Up (glyphosate) did not kill it to the root.
How to Kill Bermuda Grass
From what I have gathered, there are three good ways to kill this grass: smother it, solarize it, or use a strong selective herbicide. It would be easy to solarize in the hot California sun. To do this, mow the area low and then simply cover it with an impermeable layer of thick clear plastic. Use landscape pins to hold it down. Keep it in place for four weeks or more, until the grass below has died. In theory, this method will kill it to the root. (Click here for more details.)
If you would prefer using a selective herbicide, consult with a local lawn specialist. Mighty potent herbicides are needed to kill Bermudagrass, and you don’t want to handle them yourself.
Your Lawncare Options
Really kill the Bermudagrass, and replant once more with fescue. If you took this route, I recommend patching the area with a fresh piece of healthy fescue sod for the best results. Black Gold Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss is a great amendment to apply for better grass seed or sod establishment.
Replant with tougher lawn grass. Consider a lawn of the drought-tolerant ‘UC Verde’® Buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides), a University of California introduction specially bred for many southern California climates. I believe that in Southern California, it will remain green with good care. It is low-growing, native, Waterwise, and attractive. St. Augustine grass is also tough, but it is susceptible to fungal diseases and does turn brown in winter.
Accept that keeping a monoculture lawn is a headache and tolerate the Bermudagrass. If you are a diehard lawn person, then ignore me here, but my lawn is full of clover, mixed grasses, and even violets, and I’m fine with my imperfect lawn, as long as it is well-cut and tidy. The bees also like it better.
