by Kevin O’Toole, Artist and Horticulturist

Chrysanthemums, originally from the Orient, are now prized the world over for their colorful blooms in fall. The mum has been woven into Asian culture for hundreds if not thousands of years and has long been the national flower of Japan. In the United States mums first became widely available in the early part of the twentieth century.

They provide glorious color for the garden throughout autumn and are available in a wide range of colors, with many variations within each hue. The name chrysanthemum is derived from the Greek language and means “gold flower”. While many varieties are still in the yellow-gold range, red, orange, white, purple, and pink flowers are also common. And if the colors weren’t enough to choose from, the flowers come in many different shapes and sizes. By planting a variety of mums with early-, mid- and late-season bloom times you can have an outstanding array of colors and textures from the end of August into November. In addition, mums are long-lasting cut flowers.

Commercially available mums can be divided into two distinct groups, namely “forced mums” and garden (hardy) mums. Forced mums are sold in full bloom no matter what time of year it is. They typically have single daisy-like blooms or cushion-shaped flowers. Forced mums come in exotic shapes such as spider, with delicate long arching petals, or quill with long hollow petals in a spiked shape, or spoon with blooms made up of many petals shaped like long spoons. Garden or hardy mums are available at nurseries in late summer and fall, and usually begin to bloom toward the end of August and finish up with the first heavy frost. They come in a wide range of colors but reds, oranges and yellows are most common. Hardy mums commonly have single daisy-like blooms, cushion style, pom-pom or small button style blooms, and are rarely available in the delicate long-petaled blooms more typical of the forced mums.

Mums are photoperiodic. This means they will only begin to set buds and come into flower naturally during the fall when the number of daylight hours decrease and periods of darkness increase. Forced mums can be bought in full bloom at anytime during the year because they are grown under controlled conditions and have been forced into bloom by the grower.

Several months before they are ready to be brought to market the grower will begin to increase the number of hours per day that the plants are in total darkness. Through experience and a little luck, the grower is able to bring the entire mum crop into bloom at the precise time he needs to sell them. The mum varieties that are most often used in the floral industry require 1 to 2 more months of long nights than the hardy mums that we typically plant in our gardens in the mid-Atlantic region.

If left to their own devices in an outdoor environment, forced mums would not even have a chance to set buds before they would be killed back by the first heavy frost. Garden mums require only 1 to 2 months of long dark nights to set buds and bloom, so are perfectly able to put on an incredible floral display before the first killing frosts of winter arrive.

Several years ago Behnke Nurseries began offering Belgium mums, amazing garden mums resulting from years of hybridizing and research done by Dirk Peters. These are note-worthy plants for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that they are literally covered with hundreds or even thousands of blossoms at a time. Most garden mums have rather brittle stems, and it is not uncommon to break a stem or two during transport. Belgian mums have been breed for durability and have remarkably flexible stems, making them particularly easy to transport from the nursery. Look for many new varieties and colors that we are offering this fall.

Small mums or cuttings can be planted in early to late spring but will require a great deal of “pinching” and care to achieve the dense mounded form and high bud count that is typical of the mums found in early fall at Behnke’s. The new growth tip of each stem has to be pinched or clipped back several times during the growing season or they will surely become tall and leggy with much fewer blooms.

Plant mums in late summer and throughout the fall when the selection is at its best. If you are interested in overwintering your mums you should plant earlier rather than later, at least six to eight weeks before the first killing frost in your area, so they have a chance to develop a strong root system. If your only goal is to have a spectacular fall floral display in your garden, grow your mums as annuals. Plant them when they are in full bloom, and remove them when they die back after the first heavy frost. Choose a sunny location with adequate drainage — mums will not tolerate “wet feet.”

Heavy clay soils will need to be amended with a generous amount of compost, well-rotted manure, or peat moss. Plant them carefully. Remove them from their pots and gently score (or rake) the rootballs to free the roots. Place them in the ground, taking care to plant them no deeper than they were in their pots. Mums have surface roots and will suffocate if planted too deeply. Water with a transplant fertilizer, such as Bonide Plant Starter Solution ®, to stimulate root growth.

Most gardeners today suffer from a lack of space and dispose of garden mums once they have passed their peak bloom. However, if you have plenty of space, you might try to overwinter your mums. You can move them in the spring if they are taking up a prime color location. Garden mums will be content to pass the summer in a large vegetable garden or any sunny spot out of the way.

After they bloom, remove the faded blooms, but don’t cut the stems back. Don’t try to move them at that point, even if you don’t want them to stay where they are through the next growing season. Repeated freezing and thawing of the soil can heave plants out of the ground, exposing their roots to the elements. Newly-transplanted mums are especially vulnerable to heaving. Having well-established plants, or a layer of straw, pine boughs, or other springy material applied over the plants in late fall will help to minimize this problem. Lightweight mulching material will allow good air circulation, which is important.

When growth resumes in the spring, carefully clear away the mulch and remove any dead foliage. Now is the time to move them to a summer home, if necessary. Replant the clumps in good quality soil, which drains well -this is essential for healthy mums. We recommend a dose of transplant fertilizer to stimulate root growth.

Mums, being surface feeders, appreciate fertilizer applied as a top dressing. About the end of May, scratch a granular fertilizer for flowering plants (such as FlowerTone ®) into the soil around each plant. Apply granular plant food every four or five weeks till August or supplement with water-soluble fertilizer throughout the late spring and early summer to encourage branching and bud formation.

by Jim Dronenburg

     
This is the classic “do as I say, not as I do” article. When you know that you are going to the nursery to get a tree, a shrub, whatever, to fill a spot, consider preparing or amending the soil beforehand.

There’s a fair deal of work involved, and it’s a kindness to both you and the plant to get the grunt work out of the way. Then you can come home with your plants, and just pop them in.

Take it from one who’s learned the hard way. My whole patio and around one side of my house is filled— granted, some things are my house plants out for the summer, but most are larger, outside things I got in fits of acquisitiveitis, and have stood out there reproaching me ever since. Plays hob with your water bill, too.

In my own particular case, my soil is solid clay. To plant a tree, I need to dig a crater, lug in amendment stuff (compost, manure, sand if that is what the plant needs, peat moss ditto), and dig it in. Not according to the size the plant is, oh no! but to the size that the plant will grow to be.

Not that we want you to stop impulse buying! Impulse purchasers are our dearest friends, our bread and butter. But what seemed so easy a job when you bought the plant often turns out to be more work than you have time for upon return. And you usually will have forgotten something, peat, mulch, whatever. The plant will fare far better with us, where we will remember to water it daily, than with you for a week, which seems to be the period between available labor times for most people.

It helps to have a checklist. Will the plant need staking? Will it need peat? Compost? Do you have Plant Starter? (Note: Plant Starter is a weak fertilizer solution which essentially tells the plant, “Shut up, suck up water and put out roots.” It virtually eliminates transplant shock. There shouldn’t be much anyway, just popping a plant out of a nursery pot, but use it anyway, when you plant something and water it in. Once suffices. Where the stuff works wonders is where you have to dig something up by the roots, or separate things that came six-to-the-same-soil-ball; you hardly even see leaves drooping, and the plant usually thrives thereafter, even if you move it at a bad time of year. And, checklist or no, I tend to forget things.

So, if you have room, it is a Good Idea to keep an extra stash of plant starter (big bottles are cheaper), peat moss and fine pine mulch (as you have room) to dig into the soil & increase acidity, a bag of sand for those plants as need it, an extra bag of whatever-mulch-you-use-on-top. Lay in a supply of stakes of various sizes, especially some large, heavy stakes. If you have the space, get BIG bags of fertilizer. Put bag and all into a watertight container and use as needed. Keep a supply of twine for tying things up. I suppose you should keep a bag of compost, too, although I tend to use everything I get, on the spot… And keep some of the plastic pots that things came in. Over time they are quite useful, and if you cram things onto your windowsills as I do, you will find that the square pots perennials come in fit more tightly than round ones into a tray or into a cold frame.

And try to keep your storage organized, so that you don’t have to break your neck every time you want something. I said, this was “do as I say”…. For those that have no storage space, and many and many in the Metro area do not, I do apologize. But for those who do, you can save yourselves time and aggravation by being prepared.

Behnkes Gardening Tips – May 25th, 2008
By John Peter Thompson – Chariman Of The Board, Behnke Nurseries

The end of May means the beginning of summer in Maryland, and that means your garden faces an onslaught of pests and diseases. Many gardeners answer the call with weapons of mass destruction in quantities measured in pounds and gallons. Americans support the limitation of chemical application in farm fields, while at the same time reacting with carpet bombing when one bug is spotted at home.

When it comes to pesticides, I am a radical moderate. I first look to healthy plants to fight their own battles, and then try to find the smallest amount of the least harmful product to help me survive the summer. A healthy, unstressed plant is the best defense against disease and insects. The right soil, water and light conditions with the right amount of feeding at the correct time goes a long way towards sustainable and affordable gardening.

Many insects are out to get your favorite plants because the plant is in a place you want it to be but the location is not ideal. For example, azaleas planted in full summer sunlight on a southern exposure are an invitation for lace bug and repeated pesticide applications. Over feeding annuals with high nitrogen products on a tight schedule produces great deep green growth at phenomenal rates and your own herd of aphids.

Watch your planting site choices; feed when necessary not when convenient. Provide healthy soils, and remember you do not need a gallon to kill one insect. Look for bag worms on evergreens now and be prepared to pull them off by hand (they look like brown left-over Christmas ornaments on arborvitae, cedars and other evergreens) if a few and spray with a product which contains Bacillus thuringiensis.

Bt is a natural control agent though it is very time application sensitive. If this does not work, next week around June 6th or so, you can send in the heavy shock troops using the chemistry of acephates (Orthene) a toxic weapon which will take care of the problem. It will also take care of any beneficial insects and remove the song bird food supply for a while, so remember, moderation before reaction. Plant the right plant in the right place and save yourself some time and money.

As we move into spring, days are getting longer and warmer, and once again lawns in the Washington area are turning green and starting another season of growth. Behnke’s is offering a few simple tips to get your lawn off to a great start.

Lawn Fertilizer- Spring is not a good time to fertilize the lawn, for several reasons. Fall is the ideal time to apply lawn fertilizers, while fertilizers applied in spring will only encourage a burst of lush top growth that is more susceptible to disease and insect damage. Lawns fertilized in spring are also more susceptible to drought, because it encourages only top growth and not a healthy root system. Also, broadleaf weeds and crabgrass will thrive on an early spring fertilizer application.

Herbicides- As was noted in an earlier email tip, early spring, just as the forsythia are coming into bloom, is the ideal time to apply pre-emergents in order to control crabgrass. Broadleaf weeds are better controlled as they just begin to grow in early May.

Lime- Spring is an excellent time to apply lime, if your soil pH is too low. As always, it is important to have your soil tested through the cooperative extension service or with a simple pH test kit available at Behnke’s. Maintaining a soil pH of 6.0-7.0 will make soil nutrients more readily available for uptake by the grass, thus ensuring a healthier lawn. Most types of lime are fine for the lawn, but pellet lime may be easier to apply for the homeowner.

Seeding- Although fall is the best time to seed a lawn, early spring is a fine time to over seed thinning or bare spots in your lawn. Remove thatch and debris from the area to be seeded with a steel rake, disturbing the soil to ensure good contact with the grass seed, and apply seed at the recommended rate. New grass will need to be watered regularly until it becomes established.

Mowing- As your lawn begins to grow and requires cutting, it is important to remember not to cut it too short. Three inches is ideal for most lawns, although zoysia and Bermuda grass should be cut shorter, on the order of 1.5-2″. Leaving grass longer and mowing frequently will make for a much healthier lawn than cutting the lawn shorter and mowing less frequently. Taller lawns are more drought resistant, and the tall grass blades will discourage weed growth. You may also want to consider letting your grass clippings remain on the lawn. The clippings decompose very quickly and are an excellent source of nitrogen.

Annuals, in general, are plants that grow from seeds or cuttings, begin to bloom shortly afterwards, and set seed and eventually die, all in a single growing season. Annuals have many advantages for the home gardener. Most annuals are nearly always in bloom throughout the growing season, from late spring until the first frost in fall. Some are even marginally hardy and can survive later into fall and early winter in our area. In the gardening world annuals are unmatched for the shear variety of forms, colors, textures, and growth habits available. Annuals provide a quick, easy, and a relatively inexpensive method of introducing a great variety of interest in your home landscape.

Behnke Nurseries carries a huge selection of annuals in every imaginable variety, from packets of seed, to small transplants, to full grown hanging baskets and container gardens. For the garden designer, annuals provide ample variety, and make it possible to change your garden every year, or with the turn of the seasons.

Annuals are also some of the most adaptable and easiest to grow of all plants. There are many varieties to suit almost any situation you may have, from dry and sunny to moist and shady, and every condition in between. Most annuals can be used in massed plantings out in the garden, or in mixed plantings in containers and window boxes. Many annuals also make excellent cut flowers, because of their fast growth rate and ability to bloom almost continually. Annuals also make a great addition to the perennial border, providing consistent bloom and quickly filling spaces left by perennials that have gone dormant.

As has been said many times before, well prepared soil is the foundation on which healthy plants grow. In general, annuals will do best in a moist, well drained soil, rich in organic matter, but then again varieties are available to suit almost any situation. A slow-release fertilizer designed for annual plants, such as Osmocote, and a water soluble fertilizer, such as Jack’s Classic added to the weekly watering schedule will increase flower production and plant growth.

Behnke’s selection of annual seed and transplants is growing every day, and our expert staff is always here to help you find the perfect plant for your garden. Tender annuals can be planted outside after the last frost. The last frost in the District is around May 1st and could be as late as May 15th in the outlying suburbs. Our staff can provide particulars on the plants you choose.

Try to plant your annuals later during the day when it is cool, to reduce transplant shock. Prepare your planting bed or container, and level the soil surface. Thoroughly moisten the root ball of your annuals before planting. Carefully remove the plants from the pot, gently loosening any of the roots that have grown too densely in the container. Place the plant in a prepared hole, setting the root ball of the plant at the same level it was growing in the container. Gently firm the soil around the plant’s roots. Your plants will need to be watered often initially, ensuring that they are kept evenly moist until they are established. Water the plant’s roots, not the foliage (this only encourages foliar diseases). A two inch layer of organic mulch spread on the planting bed will discourage weed growth and preserve soil moisture.

Most annuals require little maintenance other than a consistent schedule of weeding, feeding, and watering. A light pruning every month or so during the growing season will encourage denser growth and increased bloom. Removing spent flowers will also help to increase flower production.