Now's
the time the second gardening season begins. The days are cooler and the soil
is warm, perfect conditions to plant a second crop of cool weather vegetables.
Most cool weather crops don't need a full day of sunlight in order to grow. The
spot in your garden that didn't have enough light to grow tomatoes, will do
just fine for spinach, lettuce or arugula.
Make the most of your space by
planting some Packman broccoli or Bloomsdale spinach along the edge of your perennial garden.
Potted petunias and other flowering annuals starting to look tired? Plant some
colorful Bright Lights Swiss Chard or Red Winter Kale seed or starts of Early
Snowball cauliflower, in their place. Don't have room in the garden? Cool
weather crops are shallow-rooted so it's easy to plant seeds or starts in a
container on the patio.
Take advantage of the cool fall temperatures to try
some Asian greens such as Mizuna or Bok Choy. Asian greens add unusual shapes,
textures and spicy flavors to salads. More choices to plant now include basil,
cilantro, chives, dill, lavender, cabbage, beets, radishes and peas. These cool
weather crops will do fine and you can harvest fresh greens well into winter.
For short maturing greens consider Chef's Medley Mesclun lettuce, Matador
spinach, Rocket Salad arugula. All of these greens will be ready in less than
30 days.
Radishes such as French Breakfast and Cherry Belle can be planted now
and will be ready to harvest in less than a month.
Planting greens in the fall
should include refreshing the garden soil with some compost or peat moss. Add
some fertilizer to the row as you plant.
Keep a frost cloth handy for those
nights when cooler temperatures threaten your crop. This will help extend your
"greens" garden well into late fall. There's nothing like a dinner
salad picked from your own garden. It's
fresh and you know exactly what's in it.
www.theflowerbin.net
www.theflowerbin.net
Monday, August 29, 2016
Monday, August 22, 2016
Colorado Dahlia Society Show
On
Saturday August 27th and Sunday August 28th, the Colorado
Dahlia Society will hold its annual show at The Flower Bin, 1805 Nelson Road,
Longmont, Colorado. The show is free and open to the public. You don't have to
be a member of the Colorado Dahlia Society to show your dahlias. You do have to
register your entries by 9:00 AM Saturday morning, August 27th. Each dahlia
must include two leaves along with the blossom, in order to be accepted into
the judging.
Very few plants offer as many colors and forms as dahlias do.
For ongoing fall color,
dahlias are a great choice. Dahlias will bloom from late summer to first frost
and can be grown in containers on the patio or in the garden. According to the
American Dahlia Association, dahlias originated in Central America where they
were called Acocotli and Cocoxochitl by the ancient Aztecs. Spanish explorers
brought the plants back to Europe and it
was a staff member at the Royal Gardens in Madrid, Spain who named the plant
after Swedish botanist Andreas Dahl.
Dahl considered the flower a vegetable. The first varieties with large,
double flowers were bred in Belgium in the early 1800’s.
Now there are hundreds
of varieties to choose from.
Dahlia flowers range in size from less than 2" in diameter
to over 8". There are nineteen forms of Dahlia flower types, from ball to semi-cactus.
Come to the Colorado
Dahlia Society show,
The show runs Saturday August 27th and Sunday August 28th.
See the wide variety of
dahlias you can grow in your own garden.
Talk to other dahlia growers and learn more
about planting, growing and showing dahlias.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Plant Speedwell for Fall color
Veronica
is one of those perennials that should have a place in everyone's garden. Also
known as speedwell and garden speedwell, Veronica is an easy to care for,
low-maintenance perennial that will provide color to your garden all season
long. Speedwell plants fall into two categories. The bushy, low-growing ground
covers which grow anywhere from an inch to a foot high and the tall spike type
which can reach three to four feet tall and bloom through the season. This blog
will focus on the more common, tall, upright speedwell. The color range for
speedwell is blue, white, purple and pink.
Veronica offers some of the bluest color blooms you'll find. When in flower, they will reach about 3' tall. Speedwell tends to stay in place, and is typically non-invasive. It looks good with other perennials such as Black Eyed Susan. Speedwell will tolerate some shade but flowers best in full sun. Once you've selected the site, planting your speedwell should include improving the existing soil. Speedwell like well-amended soil, so plan to incorporate compost, peat moss into the planting site before you plant your speedwell. Adding root stimulator at planting time helps ensure your new plants will get off to a good start. Fall is a great time to plant Veronica. The cooler days and warm soil temperatures allow the plant time to get established before winter. Planting in the fall means earlier flowering next season. Another benefit of planting speedwell in your garden? It's a great way to attract pollinators. For a low maintenance, fast growing perennial, choose Veronica. It is versatile and dependable and will bring color to your perennial garden for many seasons to come.
Veronica offers some of the bluest color blooms you'll find. When in flower, they will reach about 3' tall. Speedwell tends to stay in place, and is typically non-invasive. It looks good with other perennials such as Black Eyed Susan. Speedwell will tolerate some shade but flowers best in full sun. Once you've selected the site, planting your speedwell should include improving the existing soil. Speedwell like well-amended soil, so plan to incorporate compost, peat moss into the planting site before you plant your speedwell. Adding root stimulator at planting time helps ensure your new plants will get off to a good start. Fall is a great time to plant Veronica. The cooler days and warm soil temperatures allow the plant time to get established before winter. Planting in the fall means earlier flowering next season. Another benefit of planting speedwell in your garden? It's a great way to attract pollinators. For a low maintenance, fast growing perennial, choose Veronica. It is versatile and dependable and will bring color to your perennial garden for many seasons to come.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Daylilies are the ideal perennial for your garden.
If
you're looking for a very reliable plant to add color to your perennial garden,
Daylilies are what you're looking for. Daylilies belong to the Hemerocallis
family and they thrive here in Zone 5. The daylily's botanical name
Hemerocallis, means "beauty for a day" and it's true the individual
daylily flowers open in the morning and are often done blooming by
nightfall.
The good news is, each flower
stem (called a scape) has multiple flower buds, so the plant stays in bloom for
several weeks. You may also choose varieties that bloom early, mid-season and
late, giving you color throughout the growing season. Your daylilies will grow
and flower best when planted in full sun. Daylilies like well-drained soils, so
amend the planting site soil with a mixture of compost and peat moss. Add some
Bone Meal to the planting site and set your new daylily in the ground at the
same level it was in the pot. Space your daylily plants 12" to 18' apart,
so there will be plenty of room to grow. Fertilize daylilies every 3-4 weeks
during the growing season, using an 11-15-11 fertilizer. Besides watering and
monthly feeding during the growing season, daylilies don't require much
maintenance, other than to cut back the flower stalks once they are done
blooming. Plan to divide daylilies every 4 to 5 years. You'll know it's time to
divide them if they don't bloom as well as they used to and the plants look
overcrowded. Fall is a really good time
to divide daylilies. Once replanted, they have all fall to re-establish. Use a
garden fork to dig up each clump, than divide them and replant. Daylilies are
very reliable, low maintenance plants that will provide color to your garden
for many seasons. They are the ideal perennial for your garden because they are
available in a rainbow of colors and they thrive with little care. Popular daylilies include:
'Bela Lugosi',
'Early Snow',
'Little Grapette',
'Pardon Me',
Pizza Crust'
'Stella De'Oro',
'Strawberry Candy',
'When My Sweetheart Returns'
Monday, August 1, 2016
A look back at The Great Pumpkin Contest
Sadly, The Flower Bin has announced that we will not be hosting the Great Pumpkin Contest.
The Great Pumpkin Contest was always
a highlight of the season. Each year, on a Saturday in early October,
contestants and spectators alike would converge on The Flower Bin to
participate and witness the annual Great Pumpkin Contest.
Sometimes pumpkins would
arrive in the back of station wagons and sometimes on pallets in the back of
pickups. Sometimes, contestants would move their own pumpkins on
a cart or
wagon.
Often it took a forklift to pickup the pumpkin and move it to the
staging area.
No matter. Each pumpkin was carefully registered, measured and
documented.
Lining up the pumpkins in the staging area gave everyone a chance
to look at each entrant.
Usually the contest started with the smallest pumpkin
and progressed to the largest.
Emcee and Flower Bin owner Don Weakland would
signal that he was ready to begin.
Each pumpkin was placed on the digital scale
and carefully weighed. The weight was recorded on each pumpkin and the contest
proceeded until every pumpkin had been weighed. There were many "oohs and
aahs" from the audience as each pumpkin was presented.
Once the weigh in
was complete, it was time to hand out the awards.
One by one, each contestant
was called to come up and receive their certificate.
Top three winners in
Children's division and
Adult division received ribbons in addition to
certificates.
There were pictures taken and monetary prizes awarded for the
biggest pumpkins.
The weather was generally good for each of the contests and
people enjoyed gathering and discussing pumpkins and gardening in general.
After the contest, the big winner was left on display for all to visit and
enjoy.
We thank everyone for their support for and participation in the Great
Pumpkin Contests we've held over the years.
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