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Gardening Calendar
We are all grateful that spring has arrived. After the summer and winter we
just had we can only improve! By now spring bulbs are blooming, azaleas and
dogwoods are in bloom and all is right with the world. However, some gardens may
have some damaged plants, whether from heat and drought, or ice and cold. One
saving grace is that the primary winter precipitation we had was snow and snow
is actually a good insulator of plants, plus it gives them a slow, steady supply
of water as it melts. Temperatures did get quite low in many areas, and
marginally hardy plants may have been nipped. Give plants the opportunity to
grow, and assess how much damage you have, and then prune. For spring blooming
plants in particular, give them the chance to bloom before pruning. Some
gardenias look a little burned, and big leaf hydrangeas may have been frozen
back in some yards. If all of your new growth begins at the ground level on
hydrangeas, you won’t have blooms unless you are growing the repeat bloomers
‘Endless Summer’ or ‘Blushing Bride.’ Gardenias may just have a little leaf burn
and flowers may be fine, but if the damage goes down the stem, remember they too
set their flower buds in the fall of the previous year, so blooming will be
impacted.
Everything was a little delayed this year because of weather. Camellias had
later blooms and many that did open were smaller than normal. Many daffodils
were shorter and later than normal, but we are starting to catch up. Spring
bulbs need at least six weeks of healthy green growth following flowering to set
a bloom for next year. If someone offers you daffodils or tulips that have
finished blooming, replant them immediately with the foliage attached. If plants
are dug up as soon as they finish blooming and then stored for fall planting,
you won’t get much next spring.
April is a great month for vegetable gardening. The early part of the month
allows you time to plant the cool season vegetables including broccoli, lettuce,
greens and onions. Corn and beans can begin going in the ground and by mid month
we can start on tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and squash. The interest in
vegetable gardening continues to grow each season. Whether you have a small
garden, an acre or simply some pots on the patio, you can grow fresh
vegetables. Vegetables need at least six hours of sunlight a day to produce
well. Fertilize at planting, mulch and water and you are off and running. If you
started an early season garden, you should be harvesting now. If you planted
really early and the plants went through those extreme temperatures, they may
“bolt” or go to seed a little earlier. If you see a flower spike emerging, their
season is over. You can’t cut it off and expect them to keep growing. Harvest
regardless of the size and eat them! Farmers markets will start opening up
around the state usually by late April or early May, so fresh vegetables,
whether home-grown or locally grown should soon be available.
Perennial plants should all be emerging now, and early season plants are
blooming. The hellebores have been amazing this year and should continue to
bloom this month. Bleeding hearts, foxgloves, and columbine are blooming and
peonies are loaded with buds. Hostas have leafed out and ferns have too.
Perennial plants that bloom in the summer or fall can be divided this month if
needed. Chrysanthemums and asters are two plants that are often grown as fall
annuals, but they are perennial plants. If you have them in your garden, divide
them now if you haven’t already done so and begin the pinching process. Mums in
particular should be pinched every three weeks to keep them full and bushy for a
better fall display. Fertilize all your perennials now with a slow release
fertilizer to get them off to a good season.
Winter annuals actually fared pretty well this season. We didn’t see a
copious amount of blooms during the coldest days of winter, but they bounced
back pretty well. Pansies, dianthus, violas and snapdragons are blooming nicely
now. They should last until June, but you may want to start thinning them out by
May to make way for summer bedding plants. If you need color, you can start
planting petunias, callibrachoa, diascia and geraniums. All of these plants can
take cool weather and will start to get established. Keep up with fertility to
keep them blooming well. Hold off on heat lovers like sweet potato vine, coleus
and lantana until later in the month or even in to May. Remember when planting
seasonal color, plant it where it can make the biggest impact in blocks of
color. Fertilization is important to keep them blooming well.
April is the month we can begin to move houseplants and any overwintered
tropical plants outdoors. Gradually expose them to full sun, and remember that
they will need more water outside than in. For tropical flowering plants, repot
them and cut the tops back by at least one-third to one-half . Fertilize them
at least monthly. These plants bloom on the new growth. If you don’t repot them
and prune them back, they won’t put on as much new growth and you won’t see as
many flowers. If you are like me and didn’t save them, new plants will be
arriving weekly at nurseries statewide. The biggest problem is deciding which
ones to buy!
More people garden in April than any other month of the year. Winter has
finally ended and hopefully, so have all the late frosts. While the temperatures
have warmed up, it is not miserably hot and many are ready to be outside again.
Make sure that you plan wisely what you will be planting and growing. Whatever
goes into the ground now has to be maintained in July, August, and September
too. If you are new to gardening, start small and build on your success.
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