AuthorLyn Chimera is a Master Gardener, consultant and lecturer. Archives
May 2022
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May 2022 Plant Sale5/15/2022
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May '22 Tips5/2/2022
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April 2022 Tips4/1/2022
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May 2022 Plant Sale3/31/2022 Dear Gardening Friends,
The annual Lessons from Nature Perennial and Native Plant Sale will be Saturday, May 21 from 9-2. Clients and those receiving these tips can come at 8 and avoid the crowds. The sale is located at my home at 170 Pine Street in E Aurora. Clients and those receiving these tips can come at 8 and avoid the crowds. Once again Ellen Foltz from Amanda’s Garden will bring her self propagated natives. Plants available will be listed in the May Garden Tips. Put the date on your calendar!
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Thoughts on Spring Improvements3/31/2022  Thoughts on Spring Improvements
By: Lyn Chimera Who doesn’t look forward to spring? It’s not just because it means the cold and snowy weather of winter is behind us. Spring’s reawakening is natures promise that life goes on. How wonderful it will be to see the first daffodils and crocus. Spring is the season for optimism. To me spring is almost like the New Year, time to make resolutions for improvement in my gardens. Lots of us are planning what to add, remove or change. There is so much in the news about pollinator, songbird, and insect decline along with climate change why not make improvements this spring that can help alleviate these problems. I recently attended the annual Ithaca Native Landscaping Symposium (via Zoom). The major focus of the Symposium was what the average homeowner can do to help support not just pollinators but other beneficial insects, birds, and nature in general. The number one thing you can do is stop using insecticides/pesticides. First, there is no insecticide that only kills the bad guys. Any insect that eats that pant or gathers its pollen or nectar will be affected. Since over 90% of the insects in our gardens are beneficial just the thought of killing all insects is counterproductive. Beneficial insects not only pollinate but help control harmful insects by eating or parasitizing them. Since I stopped using pesticides, at least 30 years ago, my gardens are a buzz with beneficials, and I have very little problem with the bad guys. When the Japanese beetles arrive, I knock them into soapy water and that really helps. Improving soil is the key to healthy plants. Chemical fertilizers, the ones you mix in water, may feed the plants but are harmful for the soil. People don’t realize it, but healthy soil is full of life from worms and bugs you can see to billions of microscopic creatures you can’t see. It’s the soil life, its decomposition and excrements, that provide nutrients for plants. Think about it…no one “feeds” the soil in the meadows and woods and those plants grow very well. So, what can you do? Add organic matter instead of chemical fertilizers. Compost is the best way to improve your soil’s nutrition and texture. Compost is filled with microbial life which will inoculate your soil. It’s easy to add a little to every planting hole. About 1/3 compost with 2/3 of the existing soil is a good ratio. Compost can also be used as a mulch. It’s not necessary to work it into the soil. Simply leave it on the top as a mulch would be and nature will take care of distributing the nutrients. Compost is the best thig to add to clay soil. In fact, there is nothing in your gardens that can’t be helped by using compost. When the plants are healthier, they are more resistant to insect and disease problems. You can make your own compost or purchase it bagged or by the yard from local nurseries. If purchasing bags read the ingredients and make sure it doesn’t contain topsoil or anything else as filler. When purchasing from a nursery ask about the ingredients. Compost should never be smelly. If it is, don’t buy it. Leaves are another excellent soil amendment. After a few years of using compost as mulch I now just use mulched leaves that I gather in the fall. It’s the best mulch and it’s FREE! Another important thing you can do to support nature is plant native plants. The connection between plants that evolved in our area to the beneficial insects, birds and animals that also evolved here is crucial for a productive habitat. Not only do native pants provide pollinators with the nectar they need they serve as host plants for the larva of beneficial insects including butterflies. Don’t think you have to rip out your nonnative plants and start over. If you need a plant for a spot or are replacing one that died, look for a native that’s right for that site. Here comes the tricky part. Most “natives” found in nurseries have been hybridized for color, size, or other features to please gardeners. Often, they no longer provide the food native insects and birds need because they are sterile. When buying a native look up the botanical name and ask for that. If there is a common name after the botanical name that means, it’s a cultivar. There are nurseries that sell the true species so ask for them. The more people request the true species the more nurseries will carry them. If you have trouble finding a plant, check online but always try local independent nurseries first. Happy Gardening!
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March 2022 Tips3/1/2022
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February 27th, 20222/27/2022  The Amazing Bumblebee
By Lyn Chimera Recently I was asked to compile some interesting information about bumblebees, in the genus Bombus, for an informational flyer Master Gardeners could use as a handout at various events like Plantasia (March, 16-20). They are such fascinating little critters I wanted to share some of what I learned. First of all, Bumblebees are large (about an inch) yellow and black flying insects native to the US. They have 4 wings. The two rear wings are smaller than the front wings and the wings beat at a rate of 130-240 beats per second. There are about 46 varieties of bumblebees in N America and over 250 known varieties worldwide. Bumblebees are our only native bee that lives in colonies. They prefer to live in cavities like dead trees and abandoned nests. Their favorite nesting site, however, is an abandoned rodent tunnel because it’s warm and already lined with fur. Sounds cozy to me. Their colonies range in number from 50 to 500. Bumblebees only live for one year. In the fall new queens are hatched and spend the winter in a protected area then start new colonies in the spring. Because the bumblebees don’t overwinter, they don’t need to store food. The nectar and pollen they gather goes to feed themselves and their young. As pollinators go bumblers are much more efficient than honeybees. This is due in part to their hairy bodies which spread the pollen more effectively. They also “buzz pollinate” which means they vibrate their bodies as they come in contact with a flower to cause even more pollen distribution. One of the most interesting facts about their pollination is they leave a scent marking on each flower they pollinate. This alerts other bumblers that the flower had been pollinated so go on to another. How efficient! The reason they are so favored by agriculture and nature is that they are generalists rather than specialists. Bumblers will gather from a variety of species at the same time. In addition, due to their built in “fur coat” they can fly and pollinate earlier in the spring and later in the fall than many other pollinating insects. They also have an amazing tongue that is often longer than a honeybee’s so they can get nectar from a wider variety of flowers. By the way their tongue is also their sense organ for taste and smell. Worker bumblebees have the job of gathering nectar for carbohydrates and pollen for protein. They are real workhorses flying a mile or further to gather food. The average worker carries 25% of their body weight in pollen and nectar. Some have been measured to carry 75% of their body weight. That would be like a 150 pound person carrying 37.5 lbs. or up to 122 lbs.! Now that’s impressive. I must admit I love watching bumblebees in my garden. They won’t sting unless threatened so are safe to watch form close up. Often you will find one in the early morning sleeping on a flower. Honeybees will do this as well. In my garden native turtle head (Chelone obliqua) is one of their favorite flowers. Because of the shape of the flower the bumbler has to wiggle its way into the petals to get to the pollen and nectar. Always entertaining to watch. What can you do to help protect bumblebees and basically all pollinators? Plant a variety of native and pollinator attracting flowers covering a span of seasons and encourage neighbors to do the same. Destruction of habitat is one of the contributing factors in the demise of bumblebees. Avoid using pesticides particularly the systematic ones that persist throughout the plant. These toxins effect the whole plant including the pollen and nectar and kill all insects including pollinators. Not using pesticides and herbicides is one of the best ways any home gardener can help the ecology. Never harm a bumblebee; they are our friends.
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February 2022 Tips2/3/2022
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Christmas Cactus1/3/2022  By: Lyn Chimera
Christmas cactus(Schlumbergera buckleyi)is a very popular gift plant during the holidays. It’s the gift that keeps on giving as it makes an easy to care for house plant that will give years of pleasure and beautiful blooms. This year I was given one at Thanksgiving which had more blooms and buds than I had ever seen. Usually there are 1 or maybe 2 blooms per stem but this one had up to FIVE! One bloom and the rest buds. After the first bloom flush faded there was a second flush but after that the remaining buds just dropped off. Obviously, this was an unusual Christmas cactus, so I decided to do a little research. What an amazingly interesting plant! Most of the plants sold in stores today are hybrids of S. russelliana and S. truncata. The hybrid type determines when it will bloom. There are over 200 cultivars of these plants which give a variety of flower colors. The other shocker was they aren’t desert cactus at all, originating in the rain forests of Brazil. They typically grow in trees like epiphytes. Who knew? Since they don’t naturally grow in arid conditions they do need to be watered, but not too much. The two most common varieties are Christmas and Thanksgiving cactus. Thanksgiving cactus is described as having leaves shaped like crab claws with two to four pointy serrated segments on each side (which mine has). The end of each segment is slightly concave. The leaves of Christmas cactus have a more rounded, scalloped edge with a slightly curved end. Both have similar flowers that mostly bloom from the end but sometimes from a leaf join. The flowers look like 2 flowers together one, coming out of the other. A fascinating and showy bloom. Christmas cactus blooms commonly come in pink or white while the Thanksgiving variety also includes red, peach, purple, or orange. Another surprise was these are not leaves at all but stem segments that are flattened and green to allow for photosynthesis. Caring for your Christmas/Thanksgiving cactus is easy. Water them when the top inch of soil in the container feels dry to the touch. Soak the soil until water runs through the pot’s drainage holes; wait a few minutes; and then discard any excess water that has accumulated in the drip pan beneath the pot. Overwatering can cause root rot which is indicated by leaves turning a pinkish hue. They prefer humid conditions which is understandable originating in a rain forest. Grouping them with other plants, pebble treys and misting all can be helpful in increasing humidity. Christmas cactus like light but not direct sunlight in the summer which should burn the stems whether the plant is indoors or out. These cacti thrive if put outdoors for the summer. A sunny spot with shelter from the direct afternoon sun is a good site. I keep mine on the screen porch where they get bright light. The other advantage of putting them outside is that the cooler temperatures in fall help encourage the blossoming response. This season they were outside until November, but it was a warm fall. When temps overnight get to mid-40s I bring them in during the warmest part of the day to avoid shock. My 1st Christmas cactus was from a cutting my mother gave me over 40 years ago. It blooms every year and gives me great pleasure. Now I’ll have one blooming for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you want to learn more including how to propagate (which is super easy) go to: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/schlumbergera-russelliana/
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January 2022 Tips1/3/2022
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