Full Tilt Springtime

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at the UT Gardens Spring Plant Sale last Saturday! It was a pleasure to meet our fellow gardeners, readers, and listeners of the radio show.

April is the biggest gardening month here in the Tennessee Valley. If you have not already planted cool season crops like lettuce or mustard, the window for success is rapidly closing. Your best bet is fast maturing greens, such as mizuna or arugula, and heat tolerant lettuces. Jericho, Anuenue and most romaine varieties are heat tolerant cultivars. Another good one is Black Seeded Simpson, a local favorite since the 19th Century.

You can also plant beans, potatoes, onion sets or plants, scallions, beets, radishes, carrots and cabbage plants with success. Broccoli and cauliflower may or may not produce a crop if planted this late.

Even though tomato and pepper plants have appeared in the garden centers, hold off until at least May 1 to plant. We will still have some cold nights that can set these plants back if they are not protected. You have plenty of time to obtain a crop even if you wait.

It is still a bit early for cucumbers and squash. Plants in cold soil have more disease and pest problems. Wait until after Mothers Day to plant these veggies.

Here's a great idea for growing lettuce, which does not need a lot of root space. Slap a coat of white primer on a citrus crate. These little crates were full of mandarin oranges or clementines when we bought them. I saved a bunch (we love citrus in the winter) and we planted them with an assortment of smallish lettuces. The result is shown in the photo. If you'd like one of these, Sweet Pea in Bearden is carrying them. Besides interesting plants, Sweet Pea stocks a wide selection of high-quality garden art and accessories.

For those who would like to purchase our hardy orchids, they are available at the following local independent garden centers:

Stanley's Greenhouse
Ellenburg's Landscaping
Mayo Garden Centers in Powell, Bearden and Farragut
Sweet Pea, on Carr Street in Bearden

Hardy orchids will be available until mid-May.

Please support your local, family-owned garden centers this season. Not only will your dollars remain in the area, you will get better plants, better advice and an overall better value than you will find at any big box retailer.

New Radio Frequency and More

Beginning with this morning's broadcast, "Garden Talk" has a new radio frequency. We are on 850 AM, WKVL, "The Voice of Knoxville," at 8:00 AM every Saturday to take your calls. My co-hosts are Andy Pulte (The Garden Guy) and Dr. Sue Hamilton, Director of UT Gardens.

Our Plant of the Week this week is Chinese Hardy Ground Orchid, Bletilla striata. This is an under-appreciated plant in the Tennessee Valley region, but it blooms and grows as reliably as daffodils. Unlike their tropical cousins, these orchids from temperate Asia are hardy as far north as Zone 5. Magenta blooms have an interesting ruffled lip and a light fragrance reminiscent of hyacinths.

Contact me for information on where to obtain plants.

Set container-grown plants in full sun to partial shade in any well-drained garden soil suitable for perennial flowers. Amend heavy clay soil with organic matter to improve aeration and retain moisture. They grow very well in containers, also.

Plants should receive irrigation if rainfall is insufficient, up until the time the blooms fade. After blooming, they can get along with less water. Plants in full sun may develop brown leaf tips if water stressed during the hottest part of summer. This does not appear to harm them.

Feed a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer once a season, in spring as the leaves unfurl. Plants grown in containers should be fertilized with a liquid product monthly.

When foliage dies back and the ground is cold, usually after Thanksgiving, mulch the plants with three or four inches of autumn leaves or pine needles. This is not absolutely necessary, but it helps to prevent early spring emergence. New growth that appears too early can be damaged by a late frost, making the leaves less attractive. The plants usually recover and bloom normally.

Still Time for Cool Season Veggies

You still have time to plant carrots, scallions and radishes for early summer harvest. Leafy greens, especially heat tolerant ones like Romaine lettuce, can also be planted now.

We have likely had our last frost of the year, although we are not completely out of the woods. We have had frost in May, but only rarely. Go ahead and transplant tomatoes, but wait another couple of weeks before transplanting peppers, cucumbers or other heat-loving crops.

Hosta Society Sale

The local Hosta Society is having their annual sale tomorrow, May 5, in the UT Gardens parking lot from noon until 4 PM. Find many varieties of hosta, as well as ferns and other shade lovers, on sale from members. Rain or shine.