Cool Down Boosts Veggie Production

The cooler weather and half an inch of rain have conspired to give the late summer garden a boost in productivity. Suddenly, the okra plants are producing two or three pods at a time, rather than doling them out one by one. Beans that we were ready to pull up and compost have caught their second wind. I froze several pints last week, and am going out this morning to harvest more.

Likewise, the peppers are flush with blooms and new green fruits. Because they are growing on one of our walk-in coldframes this year, the peppers should continue to bear until Thanksgiving. If the ground remains warm, even a light frost should not stop their production.

If you don't have a coldframe, you can nevertheless extend the pepper season by at least a couple of weeks. When frost is predicted, uproot the plants, shake off most of the soil and place the roots in a bucket of water. Set the plant in a protected spot, such as a garage, and the fruits should continue to ripen normally for a while longer.

Bak choy, lettuce, mache, cilantro, scallions, chervil, spinach and radishes that I have planted in the last few weeks are all up and going strong. I intend to transplant bak choy this afternoon. The others will take a bit longer to get large enough. The radishes will stay in their container until they mature. I have finally learned to thin radishes as soon as they are about an inch tall, keeping them about two inches apart. When they are the size of a marble, pull every other one for salad, and let the remaining ones mature to golf-ball size.

Jerusalem artichokes are blooming along the roadside near our house. The plant is Helianthus tuberosus, a North American native that has been used as food for centuries. They are exceptionally easy to grow, to the point that they can become invasive if not restrained. A large raised bed is best, because the plants are confined. If you plant them where they can spread freely, be sure to harvest every single tuber each fall, or they can become hard to control. Also, cut the flowers before seeds form. Otherwise, self-sown seedlings can pop up all over the garden. They make beautiful cut flowers. The tubers can be prepared in a variety of ways, much like potatoes.

Dill stars in the herb garden at this time of year, with its bright yellow flowers that attract butterflies, and the savory leaves for potato salad and fish dishes. Basil plants can start to look worn out if you have harvested them regularly. It is time to consider removing them to make way for parsley, chervil and cilantro. Preserve the flavor of fresh basil by making pesto, basil butter, or flavored oil. Recipes for all these abound on the Internet. Mint is at its best at this time of year. Harvest the smaller leaves for the best flavor. Mint can be preserved as syrup. Make a simple syrup consisting of two parts water and one part sugar. Bring to a simmer, dissolving all the sugar, and remove from the heat. Add an ounce or two of mint leaves, crushed, to the warm syrup. Allow to cool overnight, then strain. Freeze the syrup in ice cube trays, then store the cubes in a zipper bag in the freezer. Use them to add summer flavor to winter fruit dishes, and to drizzle over ice cream or cake.

A Road Trip and the Late Spring Vegetable Harvest

After taking off the Memorial Day weekend, I am back online this week. The long weekend gave me a chance to get garden chores caught up. When you have a lot of container plants, as I do, repotting each year can take up an amazing amount of time.

Last Tuesday, I paid a visit to East Fork Nursery near Sevierville, TN. East Fork is a wholesale and retail nursery owned and operated by Vivian Abney. Accompanied by a friend, I made the trek from Knoxville in search of a Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) cultivar called 'Sekkan-sugi.' This variety has gold-tipped branches that I thought would look great in my backyard garden with the darker foliage of a Magnolia 'Little Gem' that I dote on. Unfortunately for me, Vivian's trees are too large to fit into my Toyota, so I will have to return later with a larger vehicle. Never one to pass up a beautiful plant when I see it, however, I had trouble choosing from Vivian's wide selection of beautifully grown, healthy conifers and azaleas.

Especially azaleas. Vivian is passionate about these flowering shrubs. She has a great selection of evergreen varieties, but the deciduous types abound in her offerings, and it was to these that I was drawn. Some sixteen species of azaleas are native to the eastern United States, and Vivian has them all. She seems especially fond of the flame azalea, Rhododendron calendulaceum, with its seemingly endless variations on orange, yellow or red-orange blooms. They take a long time to grow from seed, but the wait is worth it. Flame azalea in bloom is a late spring treat throughout the southern Appalachians. In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gregory's Bald is said to have the finest display to be found anywhere in the world.

Despite the allure of flame azalea, I left the nursery with a fine specimen of sweet azalea, Rhododendron arborescens. Pure white flowers with crimson stamens and pistils grace the dark green foliage. In bloom now, it follows the earlier species like piedmont azalea, R. canescens, and precedes the summer azalea, R. prunifolium. But the real attraction, as you might guess from the name, is the delicious fragrance, which the plant is not shy about producing. We had to roll down the car windows on the way home. With the azalea sitting in the back seat, the fragrance soon became too much of a good thing. Throughout the week, the plant has perfumed an entire corner of the garden. Several other deciduous azaleas are fragrant, but R. aborescens outdoes its cousins in this department. Like other azaleas, it thrives in moist, organic soil that is well-drained and not too fertile, with an acidic pH. Morning sun with afternoon shade suits them perfectly, although they will tolerate full sun with ample moisture. Adding pine bark to the growing bed helps with both pH and moisture retention. I look forward to enjoying this plant for years to come.

We observed many other great plants, from the weeping eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) 'Rapberry Twist' to miniature evergreens no bigger than a grapefruit. If you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary for that special spot in your garden, ask your local independent garden center if they can get if for you from East Fork Nursery. Or contact Vivian yourself:

East Fork Nursery
2769 Bethel Church Road
Sevierville, TN 37876
865-453-6108
eastfnursery@gmail.com

Veggies Maturing Now
With the unseasonable heat we have experienced recently, early spring crops like lettuce and spinach are showing signs of going to seed, if they haven't already done so. We have harvested all the broccoli, leeks and cabbage, storing the excess well-wrapped in the refrigerator. We will have coleslaw for summer barbecues, and leeks to make chilled vichysoisse for a more formal meal.

Potatoes are beginning to bloom, a sign that baby new potatoes lie waiting just beneath the crown of foliage. I recommend using your fingers to probe the soil gently if you want to steal a few. Digging with a tool can injure developing tubers, and reduce their storage life considerably. If you want potatoes for storage, wait until the foliage has almost completely died back, another month perhaps, before you dig. Shake off most of the soil, spread them out on newspapers or an old sheet, and allow the potatoes to cure in a cool, dry, shady spot for about a week, after which they should keep for months. Once cured, you can gather them into baskets to save space. Don't refrigerate potatoes, however, or they will become sweet-flavored, and don't store them in an airtight container. The tubers need to breathe.

I tend to associate early June with peas, and this year's crop has arrived right on time. We are growing a new (to us) cultivar from Burpee, 'Super Snappy.' The vines are short and almost free of tendrils, so the plants tend to lean on each other and need no trellis for support. This makes them a great choice for a small space garden like ours. Best of all, they produce sugar snap peas that are truly huge, at least twice the size of regular Sugar Snap, with excellent flavor. (See image above.) We are going to plant these again for a fall crop.

On Wednesday, June 5, I will be at a table at the UT Gardens Farmers Market. Visit the market for fresh local produce, honey, baked goods, natural cosmetics and much more, and stop by my table for help with your gardening questions, or just to say "Hi!" The market is open every Wednesday from 4:00 to 7:00 PM and is kid and pet friendly. Bring the family and enjoy the flavor of east Tennessee.

Spring Finally Here! (We Hope)

We have enjoyed a cool, late spring this year, and that has had multiple effects on gardeners. The bouts of light frost over the past several days have nipped at foliage, but mostly the effect has been to hold back emerging plants and seeds. If you have not put in your spring garden yet, it's now or never. This week is a great time to plant carrots, lettuce, radishes, scallions and spinach. All of these should mature a crop in the next 60 to 70 days, likely before night time temperatures warm enough to encourage bolting. But time is running out.

Old timers recommend waiting until after the dogwood blooms have fallen before planting tomato plants. Very likely, plants set out now will be just fine, but they will not begin growing again until the soil temperature reaches 60 degrees. Besides the dogwood blooms, you can look at the dandelions. When most of them have reached the puffball stage, the soil is warm enough. Another often used rule is to wait until after Mother's Day, which this year is May 12. You could always measure the soil temperature in your garden with a thermometer, but that would not be as much fun as following the traditions.

Our Plant of the Week on "Garden Talk" this morning was Japanese Solomon's seal, Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum.' It was chosen by the Perennial Plant Association as their 2013 Plant of the Year, a designation often given to garden subjects that perform reliably under a variety of conditions and climates. Japanese Solomon's seal certainly fills the bill, as it endures drought, wet, shade, sun and a variety of soil types and still performs without ever becoming invasive. The foliage looks great in the landscape along with ferns, hosta, hellebores and other shade lovers, and even the early shoots are decorative. Find plants at your local independent garden center. They are well-stocked now.

I mentioned the Citico Creek Wilderness in last week's post. Last Thursday, we took a day off from the garden and toured the margin of the wilderness via Citico Road (Forest Service Road 35.1). We accessed the road from Cherohala Skyway at the marked left turn for Indian Boundary campground. From there it is 27 miles, mostly along Citico Creek, to Vonore, TN. The best route is to take Smokey Branch road west from Citico Road, just before the turn to Citico Beach. Smokey Branch becomes White Plains Road before reaching the hamlet of Tariffville, where it intersects with State Route 360. Follow 360 north about 12 miles to Vonore, where you connect with US 411. Turn right on 411 to return to Knoxville. The richest forest cover is between Indian Boundary and the turn at Smokey Branch road. Several unimproved roads snake through the region, all accessible from Citico Road. Most are recommended for four-wheel drive vehicles only.

 From Indian Boundary campground to Double Camp campground, about four miles, the Citico Creek Wilderness area lies just to the east, where the Unicoi Mountains separate it from the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness. The latter lies partly in Tennessee and partly in North Carolina. Together, these tracts of rugged mountains harbor biological diversity almost unparalleled anywhere else in the temperate zone.

The photo above shows a typical wildflower and fern display in the lush temperate rainforest along Citico Road. You can see both purple and white phacaelia, five-finger maidenhair ferns and a few cranesbill geraniums. We observed numerous other wildflowers, including Trillium erectum, T. cuneatum and T. leuteum, with a T. grandiflorum here and there. On dry, sunny slopes, usually below a stand of pine trees, we observed fine stands of Viola pedata, birdfoot violet. On rocky slopes in partial sun, the bright red flowers of fire pink, Silene virginica (see image below), stood out like candles. Large, undisturbed stands of plants that require many years to mature, such as trilliums, demonstrate the extent to which the area remains largely unspoiled, despite logging in the previous century and the development of access roads.

Citico Creek is home to numerous fish species, including some rare ones, but it is best known for its trout fishing, being practiced in earnest by several folks that we passed along the way. The road has some big potholes, but we had no trouble negotiating it with a Toyota Corolla. There are multiple turnouts and campgrounds, offering plenty of opportunities to stop and take in the view or shoot some pictures. Camping is allowed in designated campgrounds only. Some are primitive and some have rest rooms and other amenities. There are also plenty of picnic tables. The wildflower show will continue for a couple more weeks, so why not visit this area and understand why it is worth preserving? The round trip from Knoxville is about 175 miles.

Redbuds - The "Perfect" Tree

Our Plant of the Week on "Garden Talk" this week is the eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis. After discussing this tree with co-host Dr. Sue Hamilton, Nancy Schneider (woody plant specialist at Stanley's Greenhouse) and UT horticulture student David Pease, I have concluded it must be the "perfect" small tree for the Tennessee Valley region.

 

Besides welcoming spring with its display of pink blossoms, the eastern redbud offers the gardener many advantages. It grows easily in most soils. Because it is a legume, it actually helps to build the soil underneath it, by fixing atmospheric nitrogen with the help of bacteria living on the roots. Although tent caterpillars sometimes find the tree tasty, they are generally easy to control. The redbud has few other insect pests. Older trees are susceptible to trunk canker, a fungal disease that eventually kills the tree, although many specimens endure for a long time before succumbing to this problem. Otherwise, redbuds are carefree.

Transplant redbud trees from late fall until early spring. Container grown specimens typically bloom the year they are transplanted. Set the plants slightly higher than the surrounding soil, in order to avoid covering the crown. Water in and mulch. Irrigate if rainfall is insufficient. After the first season, the tree will be much more drought tolerant. Fertilization is not needed and may reduce bloom. Adaptable to many soil types, the redbud does best in well-drained, moisture retentive soil with organic matter.

Redbud trees grow easily from seeds, which are borne in pods that look like small snow peas. As a result, many cultivars and selections exist. Some of these are:

• 'Alba' -- a white-flowered form (f. alba) that comes true from seeds, sometimes incorrectly sold as 'Texas White"
• 'Dwarf White' -- another white-flowered redbud, it remains under 10 feet tall
• 'Forest Pansy' -- with new foliage that is deep burgundy red, this variety blooms later than the wild type
• 'Silver Cloud' -- white leaf variegation on a tree that prefers light shade
• 'Pink Heartbreaker' -- a weeping form that does not need staking to remain upright
• 'Covey' -- a dwarf weeping form that grows upright only if staked; unstaked plants will sprawl and become a ground cover

Besides our native eastern redbud, other species are sometimes available in garden centers. These include the western, or California, redbud (C. occidentalis) and the Chinese redbud (C. chinensis). The California redbud forms a multi-stemmed shrub when grown in the Tennessee Valley and is more sensitive to trunk canker than the eastern species. Chinese redbud is resistant to trunk canker, but grows much larger than the North American species, about 40 feet.

Flowers of the redbuds are edible. Native Americans used redbud for medicinal purposes. The flowers can be fried in batter, or mixed with nuts and honey or chopped dried fruit. Flower buds may be pickled like capers, and the green seed pods can be used much like snow peas in sautes and stir-fries. Honeybees and other pollinators are attracted to redbuds, and the eastern redbud is the host plant for Henry's elfin butterfly (Callophyrus henrici).

Trees and Shrubs for Fall Color

We’ve now had the season’s first light frosts here in the Tennessee Valley, and many plants are showing signs of entering winter dormancy.  Indian Summer brought especially beautiful foliage to the valley this year, while strangely withholding the autumn show in the mountains. In many spots, it seemed as if the trees changed color one day, then dropped their leaves the next. The autumn color display is affected by many factors, including the previous season’s rainfall amounts, temperature and day length.  That explains the variation in peak days and color intensity from one year to the next.

Home gardeners can take advantage of genetics to help guarantee that the trees and shrubs on their property put on a maximum show every year. Numerous cultivars have been selected for the brilliance of their autumn foliage. Here are some suggestions to help make next year’s display memorable.

Foithergilla gardenii 'Mt. Airy'

Among fruit and nut trees, many growers would probably cite serviceberry (Amelanchier species and hybrids) as among those with beautiful fall foliage. The cultivar ‘Autumn Brilliance’ can be grown as a small tree or multi-stemmed shrub. In addition to the bright red foliage, it offers edible fruit in summer. For larger properties, it is hard to beat a hickory for bright yellow leaves in fall. Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) is prized also for the quality of its nuts and the ease of shelling them. Nut trees typically grow very large (>100 ft tall) and take about 7 years to begin bearing.

The old standbys for brilliant fall color are sugar maple, Acer saccharum and red, or “swamp” maple, A. rubrum. Both get quite large. A more compact possibility is Japanese maple, A. palmatum. Numerous cultivars, such as ‘Osakazuke,’ have been selected specifically for their fall display.  Good ones include ‘Seriyu,’ ‘Bloodgood,’ and ‘Fall’s Fire.’ A nice one with multiple colors is ‘Kagero.’ For something a little different with shining, golden yellow fall foliage, try one of the dwarf cultivars of Ginko biloba, such as ‘Jade Butterfly’ or ‘Chi Chi.’

Among native species, chokecherry, Aronia arbutifolia, produces white spring blooms, red fruits and bright orange-red foliage. Shrubby Fothergilla gardenii or dwarf fothergilla, seldom exceeds six feet in height. Cream-colored, honey-scented flowers in spring are followed in autumn by a bright, multicolor display. Hearts-a-bustin’ (Euonymus americana) adds the colors of its interesting fruits to a mixed border, as will American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). The latter’s fruit is edible, too. Blueberries (Vaccinium) turn various shades of coral, red and pink in the fall, depending upon the cultivar. Another colorful native plant is Arkansas bluestar (Amsonia hubrechtii). It is a perennial that grows to the size of a medium shrub, about three or four feet in diameter. In spring, tall stems are topped with pale blue flowers, and in fall the whole plant assumes a bright golden yellow color.

From the first hard freeze to the middle of February is the best time to plant any of these trees or shrubs. Local independent garden centers stock them, or can order them for you.