Blossom's Pre-Order

This is such a cool idea for veggie gardeners to know about.

For the second year, Blossom's Garden Center in Muskogee is offering an opportunity to pre-order veggie starts so you don't have to drive around from one garden center to another looking for what you want.

You let them know now what you want and they have it for you to pay for and pick up when they open mid-April.

The order deadline is in two weeks - March 1 - so click over and take a look.

Here's the email from owners Matthew and Lora Weatherbee -

We promised you an email when we opened up our vegetable plant booking this year. Customers seemed very happy with this service last year. Simply go to our website and let us know what vegetable plants you want and we will save them for you for pickup in April. It's a great way to guarantee that you'll get the varieties you want. No payment now. You can pay for the plants when you pick them up in April.

We have not raised our prices. They are the same as last year.

If you have friends that are gardeners, please pass on this information to them. Booking deadline is March 1, 2010.

Here is a link to our website: www.blossomsgc.com
Thanks, Matthew & Lora Blossom's Garden Center, Muskogee OK

I'm collecting eggshells that are just cracked open on the top to use at a volunteer appreciation lunch as place setting planters. The event is sponsored by Rotary and Muskogee Nonprofit Resource Center. Jessica and Rebecca at MNRC are the artistic types so they will decorate. I'll plant. Should be cute - we need over 100 eggshell planters but we have until Earth Day to get it done.

Hot Lips Salvia Microphylla

Loggee's Greenhouse is offering Hot Lips Salvia plants and if you have never grown it, take a look. The photo is from their site.

The first time we saw Hot Lips, it was blooming its head off last fall at the Tulsa Zoo. We had to have it. Blossom's Garden Center in Muskogee had the plants and we put in two.

This year's weather was somewhat un-summer-like. Other than July, we had rain, rain, and more rain.

So, our Hot Lips is just now doing its blooming best. But, it was about this time of year we saw them blooming beautifully at the zoo, too. So maybe fall is their time to shine.

Plant Delights says Hot Lips was discovered in Mexico and that they are hardy to our zone 7. "This wild selection of the Mexican Salvia microphylla was introduced by Richard Turner of California after the plant was shared with him by his maid, who brought it from her home in Mexico. The fast-growing, 30" tall x 6' wide clump is adorned with stunning bicolor flowers with red tips and white lips. When the nights warm in summer, the new flowers are all red with an occasional solid white one. As fall approaches, the flowers again will be bicolor red and white."

I agree that it is a must have.

My experience propagating Salvia is decent - 70% (but not consistent) success. So when I took cuttings of Hot Lips today, I took a bunch and put them into a rooting mix of sand, vermiculite, perlite and peat-based potting mix after dipping ends and leaf nodes in rooting hormone.

Territorial Seed sold out this year but I love what they said about Hot Lips.
"Salvia microphylla Pucker up! You'll fall all over yourself when this beauty smiles at you. In a head turning bicolor of snow white with a crimson kisser, and stretching 36 inches tall and wide, Hot Lips can't help but be noticed. It sneers at heat, drought, and even deer while blooming from mid summer through fall. Mingled with Black and Blue salvia the effect is dignified and patriotic. Hardy in zones 7 and up."

Now that I recall that they are deer resistant, I'll put them along the fence where the deer like to snoop for next summer's garden.

28th Day of Rain With Lots of Pink

Tomatoes and peppers are turning their backs on the cloudy, rainy weather, yellowing their leaves and refusing to make blossoms.

Lots of the other plants are thriving.

Take a look at the poppy, snow peas and the greens. We are having cooked greens or salad every day from the abundance. And, the snow peas gave us our second bowlful of pre-dinner, tasty snacks last night and they are blooming mightily. I take cuttings every year of my Dicliptera suberecta and grow them in the shed over the winter. From spring to first freeze, they produce tubes of red orange flowers that the hummingbirds and butterflies find irresistible in the heat of the summer.

Suberecta is possibly hardy here but I haven't taken a chance on putting it in the ground without taking cuttings for next year. I bought my original plant from Bustani Plant Farm and they are hardy on that hot side of Oklahoma - we are in very different climates from each other.

This pink tropical Dicliptera is one I traded with Jerry Gustafson. He grows this one from cuttings so now we both have both varieties.

This sweet miniature rose was a gift at a 2007 garden writer's conference. Most of the time when I receive trial plants I do not write about them until they thrive in my garden. This one we can say is a terrific performer. It is next to the driveway with questionable care and still manages to bloom its heart out from May to October. Quite a performance.

This morning it was raining again, of course but I couldn't resist showing you the view from my desk. Last year at Blossom's Garden Center in Muskogee they had these Clematis and we put them on a trellis we had bought there the year before.

You can see that the hammocks are up in the woods in the background but ..... .

They are only to look at and dream of using until the weather changes.

Blossoms at Blossom's

Muskogee area gardeners know it must be spring because Blossoms Garden Center is open for the season.

Owners Lora Durkee and Matthew Weatherbee said they have more plants than ever before.

We have the coolest coleus called Electric Lime, Matthew said. We have geraniums in red, pink, white and coral, Endless Summer and Blushing Bride Hydrangeas, six different lavender varieties, plus 20 colors of Million Bells.

Million Bells (Calibrachoa hybrid), members of the potato family that look like tiny petunias, bloom all summer. Blossoms has stocked an amazing array of colors in 4.5 inch pots including: Dark blue, tangerine, red, gold with red eye, dreamsicle, hot pink, apricot punch, etc.

Also, if you missed out last year, they have 100 cold hardy banana trees (Musa basjoo Japanese Fiber Banana). This plant takes Oklahoma winters in stride and returns the following summer in a larger clump that grows even taller than the year before. As it matures, it will top out at 15 feet tall. (It will die back to the ground if it is not protected.)

A small collection of hardy and tropical succulents is at the back of the main greenhouse. There are only six plants of each variety. Examples include: Hardy Duncecap (Orostachys iwarenge) with lavender gray rosettes will survive to 5 degrees below. Pumila Kalanchoe is frost sensitive and prefers part shade. Also called Flower Dust Plant, it has dusty rose flowers in the spring.

Not to be missed for this year’s salvia collection is Hot Lips (Salvia microphylla Hot Lips). Red flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds and it is drought tolerant after established. Grows 2.5 feet tall and up to 4-feet wide. It is supposed to be a perennial in our zone 7 but since it native to Mexico it may be an annual here.

Part shade is considered three to six hours of sunlight a day. For those areas around trees and buildings, consider planting perennials such as Heuchera with hostas, Jet Black Wonder elephant ears and ferns.

Also called Alum Root and Coral Bells, Heuchera is a very popular foliage plant with tall spires of small flowers.

Blossoms has six varieties this year. Palace Purple Heuchera (1991 Plant of the Year) has deep purple leaves that fade to bronze in the heat of the summer. Stormy Seas, considered the best variety for mass plantings, has ruffled maroon-purple leaves. Lemon Chiffon is new this year with yellow spring leaves, chartreuse leaves in summer, and small, light coral pink colored flowers.

Palace Purple Heuchera

Look for annual blanket flowers in the Torch series. Gaillardia pulchella Torch series was Flower of the Year in 2008. Deer do not like them. Pulchella has drought tolerance, mildew resistance and some cold hardiness. Make 2-foot-wide mounds. Annual blanket flowers like full sun, a little water and reward gardeners with butterflies and hummingbirds.

Gallardia pulchella Torch Yellow

Speaking of butterflies, plant lots of Pentas and lantanas to bring them to your gardens. Add some sweet potato vine, Shasta Daisies, Cardinal Flowers and Big Red Judy sun Coleus and you will have a colorful bed.

Our prices this year are the same as last year or lower, Lora said. The giant hanging ferns are less expensive. We over wintered 100 and that's all we will have this year in that size.


Every patio pot and hanging planter gets a scoop of slow release Osmocote fertilizer before it goes out the door. Customers can also purchase Miracle Grow and Osmocote at the store.


Potting soil is available in three sizes and three brands, including Miracle Grow.

They have flats of many of your favorites and can order what you need to fill beds with Osteospermum, Wave Petunias, Asters, Lobelia, Verbena and others.

Cloudy and Warm Weather Tempts Eager Gardeners to Jump Into Spring

The snow peas I put in two weeks ago on a 70 degree sunny day have taken quite a beating from the past 3 nights of 20 degrees.
Today, we have clouds and wind and 60. Oh, what a tease Mother Nature is.This bunny has been hunkered down between the daffodils for days now. Part of me wants to run him off because they eat so much of the plants we put out. Another part of me wants to take him a blanket against the freezing nights.

From today through Sunday Garden Deva is having an annual sale. I can't afford her great stuff even on sale but it is wonderful to look at. Here's a link for your viewing and purchasing pleasure.

Our friend Pat Gwin was in the Tulsa World today. Gwin is the Cherokee Nation natural resources supervisor. He grows Trail of Tears plants and gives the seeds he harvests to Cherokees so the strains will live on.

This weekend you can go to the Wichita Garden Show and Texas Daffodil Society Southern Regional Show, Dallas Arboretum, 8617 Garland Road. Contact Rod Armstrong, 972-517-2218, rla1944@verizon.net.

A much anticipated event in Muskogee is the opening of Blossoms Garden Center on April 1. They are hosting Muskogee Garden Club members and guests on March 19 at 6:00. Owner, Matthew Weatherbee will give a talk, Top Five Solutions for Top Five Garden Problems.

Marilyn Stewart (Marilyn@wildthingsnursery.com) sent out
Wild Things' schedule.
April 4th Norman Farmer’s Market 8:00-12:00
April 11 Herb Day in Brookside 9:00 to 4:00 41 and Peoria Tulsa
April 18 Sand Springs Herbal Affair 9 - 5:00 April 25
Jenks Herb N Plant Festival 9:00 - 5 :00

Also on April 4, Sharon Owen will hold an open house at Moonshadow Herb Farm in Muskogee. Contact Sharon at Moonshads@aol.com

Spring is rapidly approaching. My garden shed is stuffed with plants that want to come out!
What's doing in your garden?

Enabling Garden Planted

It is amazing what a small group of committed individuals can do to create beauty.

A little pocket park was created years ago when Okmulgee St. was extended into Chandler Road in Muskogee OK.

The park was planted with tulips by Lela Robison and her son's Boy Scout troop. Robison's family worked with Muskogee Parks and Recreation Dept. on the funding so raised beds with irrigation would be put in place.

Muskogee Garden Club voted to invest $1,000 in new plants and ten volunteers came out this Saturday to put them into the beds. In addition to the purchased plants and mulch, Blossom's Garden Center donated flats of annuals to brighten the park until the perennials get established.

The Enabling Garden is meant to be enjoyed by everyone but especially by the elderly, children and anyone in a wheelchair.


Robison's family, Muskogee Parks and Recreation Department and Muskogee Garden Club hope to bring more features to the garden in the years ahead but this is a great start.

If you are in the Muskogee area, bring a picnic and the family over to enjoy this new attraction.

Grow Tropical Plants in Temperate Climates

If you fell in love with lush plants during a tropical vacation or just want a new look, you will appreciate knowing that tropical plants love northeast Oklahoma summers.

Popular tropical plants include: Coleus, poinsettia, pentas, geranium, elephant ears, banana palm, tapioca, caladium, calla lily, African daisy and sweet potato vine. Gardeners love them for their rich leaf and flower colors.

Tropical plants thrive in the heat and humidity we have in July, August and September when many of the plants we enjoy in the spring and early summer are exhausted.

Every spring, flats of the more common tropicals fly off the shelves at home improvement stores and garden centers but few gardeners take home some of the more unusual tropical plants.

This week, a truck pulled into Blossom's Garden Center on Hancock Road to deliver 750 tropical plants from a Florida grower. Lora and Matthew Weatherbee are betting that local gardeners are ready grow a wider variety of plants with flowers in hot pinks, lush vines with vivid blue flowers and huge oleanders with sprays of pink flowers.

"We have gallon sizes at $5.99 for patient gardeners and 3-gallon trellised plants for those who want instant gratification," Lora said.

The view when you drive into the parking lot will remind you of a tropical destination you have visited or seen on television — plants with white, soft pink, hot pink, red, yellow, blue, gold and crimson flowers are lined up to be appreciated and taken home.

To use these plants effectively there are several ways to go. You can put one in a planter, add a few to an established perennial shrub border to convert an existing bed or start a new bed.

Perfect places also include poolside, near the hot tub or kiddies pool, the front porch or back door where you can see them often.

These plants will thrive until fall temperatures go down to 40-degrees so they will be beautiful for around five-months. Then, you can put them in pots that to be brought in for the winter, take cuttings to grow indoors, dig up the root ball and protect them over the cold months or treat them as annuals and replace them next year.

Here are some tropical plants to consider for your summer and fall garden

Star Jasmine — White flowers on vines with dark green shiny leaves. Sweet scent thrives in moist soil in full sun. Plant in window box, hanging basket or in an established shrub border where they can climb.Easy to over winter in the house.

Ixora coccinea or Jungle Geranium — Clusters, 2.5 inches wide, of gold or coral flowers on bushy shrub related to Gardenias and Coffee plant. Enjoys moist, acid soil.

Duranta or Skyflower — Deep blue flowers on trailing or climbing vine. Dainty leaf and flowers, graceful, arching 6-inch sprays of color. Use as specimen plant or in the border. Train to a form with a single trunk or let it flounce over an edge or at the feet of other plants. Full sun, well-drained soil, and monthly fertilizer. Good winter houseplant.

Allemande or Golden Trumpet — Yellow flowers on fast growing vine. Climbs but does not twine so has to be tied in place and trained. Combine with plumbago, lantana for striking color. Full sun, well-drained soil. Over winter indoors. Milky sap can irritate sensitive skin when pruning.

Mandevilla or Diplandenia — Light pink flowers, hot pink flowers and one with variegated leaves and pink flowers. Vines grow best cascading from an arbor, fence or tree. Sun, water, compost and fertilizer make them grow best. Diplandenia can also be pruned into bush form.

Chilean Fire Bush or Embothrium coccineum — Protect this small upright tree from the wind and enjoy the show of red-orange clusters of tubular flowers favored by hummingbirds. Hardy to 10-degrees. Slow growth for the first two years, then grows to 20-feet. Deep well drained soil.

Pandorea, Bower Vine, Jasmine — Woody stemmed, bushy vine with fragrant pink flowers. Moist but well drained soil. Prefers hot sun but part shade will work. Tolerates dry after being established. Take cuttings or save the seed for next year.

Tropical hibiscus tree, Braided hibiscus tree, Hibiscus bush form Thrives in humid hot weather. Grow in an established border or containers. Use two to frame an entry. Full sun, rich moist soil. Fertilize monthly with high potassium product. In winter, use as houseplant or protect roots in garage.

Oleander — Tough shrub with 5-inch long leaves and clusters of pink flowers. Thrives on heat so great for concrete patio, sidewalks, pools and driveways. Wants to dry out between watering.Blooms on new growth so remove seed pods and prune both to shape and to keep it blooming. Sap can irritate sensitive skin. Cold hardy to 35 degrees.

Passionflower — Large flowers in blue, purple or red on vigorous, climbing vine. All attract butterflies. Grow fast on fence, tree, trellis or arbor. Full sun or part shade will make them happy to bloom until freezing weather.

"For the price of a flat of marigolds, you can have a traffic-stopping Mandevilla or other tropical plant," Matthew said. "They can make you feel as though you are on vacation all summer."

Cactus, Blossoms, Herb Festivals and Butterfly Gardens, Oh My

CHAOS CACTUS NURSERY came to Muskogee today for the Azalea festival.

One of the very cool hand made items they brought was the frog home. Terri Mann and Bill Keeth's booth was swarmed with people when we were there. We bought wonderful succulents and hand made pots for great prices.

They will be at all the various herb festivals around the area. Don't miss them at the 19th Annual Herbal Affair & Festival, Saturday, April 19, 2008 / 9 am to 4 pm, Downtown Triangle, 2nd and Main, Sand Springs, Oklahoma. I can't go because I'll be at Muskogee's Earth Day celebration promoting vermicomposting.

Click on this link to read my article about them from Sept 2007. Or, contact Terri and Bill at Chaos Cactus Nursery in Sand Springs 918.241.3252 and email puppyfoots@hughes.net

BLOSSOM'S GARDEN CENTER

I was at Blossom's Garden Center yesterday and took a few photos to cheer us up through this weekend of freezing nights.

I'm growing a bunch of plants to make a native butterfly garden at Honor Heights Park. The details haven't been worked out yet, but I'm thinking that if I grow the plants and donate them the Parks Department will come through with a sunny spot.

The plants for caterpillar food include: Parsley, Asclepias, dill, fennel. The plants I'm growing for adult butterfly nectar include Bishop's Lace and Scented Nicotiana.

What's happening where you grow?

National Gardening Association, Whizbang Garden Cart, Tapioca Plant, Barley Straw Planter for Ponds

The National Gardening Association has an email newsletter they send out to subscribers in each of the gardening regions.

Today's issue had two items of interest.

The Whizbang Garden Cart has its own blog online.
And that blog leads readers to another blog of a farmer who built a Whizbang for his farm.
Does everyone have a blog?

The Whizbang is an old fashioned item that is still available for sale. Herrick Kimball wrote a book about how to build your own. The book is around $15. Kimball says it costs $150 to $200 to build your own cart and his blog is full of home spun conversation and photographs.

Oh, and he is having a contest with prizes - just build a cart and send him a photo.

The other item of interest is a barley straw pond planter that cleans the pond. The hidden plastic insert keeps the plant in tact while it floats in the pond. It is distributed by Summit Chemical whose primary products are mosquito chemicals for ponds.


Photo: Another wonderfully successful plant this year is the Tapioca Plant from Blossom's Garden Center. The pink stems and large, variegated leaves make it an eye catching addition. It is reputed to take full sun but this one grew 5-feet tall in a pot just under the branches of an oak tree. PlantAnswers.com a service of Texas Extension, Texas A & M, says about this beauty:
"Tapioca is one of the common names of Manihot esculenta 'Variegata' as is cassada, cassava, manioc, yuca, mandioca, shushu, muk shue, cassave, maniok, tapioka, imanoka, maniba, kasaba, katela boodin."
Photo: This little pond was $12 at Lowe's. It holds 9-gallons of water, 3-goldfish and 4 plants. The weather is cool enough now that the fish will be safe outside and the water will not get too hot. When cold weather arrives the fish will come indoors.

There is still time to plant and great weather to be outside.

End-of-Season Sales, Mulching a Path, Bluestone Perennials, Caterpillars

Blossom's Garden Center is having their end-of-the season sale Thursday - tomorrow. Go grab some bargains to complete your garden.

As the beds in the back yard have grown and the shrubs have expanded, it was becoming a challenge to get in between things. Three weeks ago my garden column was on covering a patch of weeds with newspaper and then topping it with mulch. The photo on the left is the end result. One less slice of the back yard has to be mowed.






Bluestone Perennials website has an easy to use online catalog where you can browse their half-off everything sale.



The front of the bed in the photo is lined with Nepeta Walker's Low from Bluestone.This year I ordered several dozen plants from Bluestone - for my garden and for a few friends. One type of plant arrived looking less than desirable and they replaced it. Everything from them has taken root and thrived so far. So, I'm impressed.

Here's the progress report on the tiny Spicebush Butterfly Caterpillar found on what else? the Spicebush. In the first photo I put up he was brown, tiny. Now, look at it. Six more leaves have chew lines and are folded over. Inside each damaged leaf there is a pencil line of a tiny, brown caterpillar.



If the rains stops and we get some sun, the tomatoes and blackberries will have a chance to ripen. In the meantime, the snow pea vines are producing a month later than usual - a great bonus for the rainy weather.