I hated it when Grandma would pinch my cheeks as a kid. But that was her way of showing affection. Well, you can show the same affection to your plants this time of year. 

All too often we buy beautiful flats of annuals and each plant has a solitary bloom. Don’t be afraid to pinch it off. Plants have a natural defense mechanism to redirect hormonal growth to the side shoots if the tips are broken off. This leaves you with bushier plants that can then be spaced farther apart. So hey, pinching plants lets you pinch your pennies as well!

Gardeners have been pinching their mums for years. But look around your garden for any plants that have a tendency to be leggy. Pinching can delay bloom times depending on how far along the buds have developed. Some gardeners use pinching as a strategy for rescheduling bloom times in their gardens.

Some folks just can’t bring themselves to pinch off all their beautiful annual blooms. After all, we waited all winter to get some color into our garden beds. Maybe you are afraid of damaging a favorite perennial by pinching it back. Then try experimenting with pinching half of the stems. This will allow the remaining blooms to follow their normal course and create a second wave of blooms from the pinched-back stems.

Gardening is all about trial and error. So, try pinching back your tomato plants when they get to the desired height. And if your favorite recipe calls for a pinch of basil or a pinch of parsley, don’t just arbitrarily remove an outer leaf. Rather, pinch back a center stem to force lateral, bushy growth. Before you know it, pinching will become second nature…like it was with Grandma.

Posted by Bob Rensel

Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Feuerhexe’ (Firewitch Cheddar Pink)

The German cultivar name of this long blooming perennial translates as “Firewitch.” I’m assuming the name is a tribute to its enchanting qualities and the blazing pink of its tiny frilled petals. The plants in the genus Dianthus are generally referred to as “pinks,” although they do bloom in many shades from ruby red to white. The name is actually derived from the old German word for Pentecost, which occurs about the same time the plants bloom in spring. "Cheddar" refers to the area in England where the plant (and the cheese) originated. As a group, they tend to be good plants for rock gardens and sandy well-drained sites in full sun. This particular variety keeps its fire under control with striking silvery blue foliage. Only 12 inches high, it can spread to form a tidy mound that may remain evergreen in mild winters. It was chosen as 2006 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association, which is also the source for much of my information about the plant. It is said to be resistant to browsing by deer as well. Although these are all stellar qualities in a garden flower, the thing that transports this plant to the realm of magic for me is its spicy, compelling scent of cloves. You’ll find it planted near the path as you walk through the Flower Show theme gardens at the northeast end of the the Garden.

Posted by Ann McCulloh

When we see plant pests here at the Garden, we always try to use biological or least toxic means of control. So, when we came upon these sawflies on one of our small pines in the Gateway Garden, we knew the best control measure would be insecticidal soap. Soap is essentially potassium salts of fatty acids. Soft insect skins cannot tolerate soapy water, so the insects usually die fairly quickly once sprayed.

It’s important to inspect your plants and trees regularly. Pests like sawflies blend in well on the tips of the pine branches, so you may not notice them until you see significant damage to the tips. Sawflies also tend to feed as a group and can therefore do unsightly damage pretty quickly. Sawflies are actually in the insect order Hymenoptera, which includes bees, wasps and ants. They don’t sting, but they can be locally problematic on a number of different pine trees. Late spring is the best time of year to control them - when the larvae are young, soap works really well.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

Pictured below: European Pine Sawfly

The "Right" Place for a Rose

Whoever said that life is a bed of roses was loony. They clearly never spent any time working in a rose garden. Roses are a high maintenance plant, period. They require lots of attention, fertilizer, water and weeding (do not get me started about weeding among roses, ouch).

I think roses are ideal in a lovely mixed planting of shrubs, herbaceous perennials and annuals. I like variety and roses become a lot easier to manage when mixed in among other garden plants. If you’re not careful, a bunch of roses in the same place could be a smorgasbord for all kinds of pests. Spread your roses throughout a garden and watch your pest problems diminish (do not read as “gone completely”).  So, there you go. Now it is out. You know the "right" place for roses in the garden.

Posted by Josh Steffen 

Even with our warmer than average temperatures this spring, I’ve seen the usual spring butterflies flitting around the garden, including: cabbage whites, red admirals, spring azures and mourning cloaks.

What are they feeding on this time of year and what can you plant to draw them in? The mourning cloaks actually do not feed on flower nectar like the other butterflies I mentioned. They tend to feed on sugary tree sap. I know some of you are already saying, "Why would I want to have cabbage white butterflies in my garden?"

Yes, I know they’ll eat some of your leafy vegetables, but seriously, are they really horrible pests? NO! And if you think they are, just spray the caterpillars with a little soapy water and that’ll take care of them. So, plant creeping phlox, Himalayan primrose (Primula denticulata) and Siberian bugloss (Brunnera sp.) and you’ll attract these lovely spring butterflies to your yard.

Primula denticulata

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

Whew! The season is getting away from us. The first spring flowers were delayed by somewhat cooler than normal early spring weather. Everything has made up for lost time in the last two weeks. It was hard to know where to point the camera for a while. This year I think there was a lot of overlap of early- and mid-spring blooming species. The large-flowered white trillium were right on schedule, however. They are just past their peak, but still gleaming in many corners of the Woodland Garden ravine. They were named Ohio’s official state wildflower in 1988, because they are found in all 88 counties.

The Garden is participating in a nationwide study called Project Budburst, which collects information on flower and leaf emergence dates all around the country. It’s a “citizen science” project, which means all kinds of people, especially school biology classes, are encouraged to record and contribute data for the study. The data will be useful in studying the impact of climate change on plant life.

Pictured above: Large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

Posted by Ann McCulloh

I’ve learned from experience that some plants will flop on me if not supported. It is disheartening to wake up in the morning after a stormy night to find the dahlias beaten down and broken. One year, my peonies came into bloom just before a rainstorm hit. At least I got to enjoy the blooms for a couple hours.

While we are glad to see growers develop plants with bigger and more prolific blooms, we also have to be prepared to support the added weight that the stems might not be able to bear in rain and windstorms.

Instead of using commercial stakes that might stand out in a landscape, let me suggest a natural look when staking. My favorite stake source is from the arrow wood Viburnum stems. I thin and cut these back every year. And as the common name indicates, these branches are long and straight.  Because of the opposite branching structure, they also provide a nice Y-support for caging in a plant that might want to flop. I circle my peonies with them, and they virtually disappear as the peonies grow into and through them. But they do the job.

As an added benefit, sometimes the stakes that I use from tree and shrub cuttings will leaf out themselves and might even flower. So, consider recycling the branches you prune in the spring and put them to work in your yard throughout the summer.

Posted by Bob Rensel 

This past weekend, I visited Cincinnati and it was around 86°. Not surprisingly, plants there are a bit ahead of the ones here in Northeast Ohio. Many of the daffodils were on their way out or had completely finished blooming. Unfortunately, I saw what many people do to their daffodil foliage - they tie it up and fold it over to make the plant look tidy and presumably to hurry dormancy.

Well, unless you actually want a weaker daffodil next spring, don’t tie up the foliage. Remember, the blades are still actively photosynthesizing and providing energy to the bulb and the roots for next year’s flower. By wadding up the leaves, you decrease the surface area that the sun reaches, thus eventually weakening your future flower. It really makes no sense to me. Is it really that horrible to let the foliage yellow on its own before cutting it off? Do the right thing for your daffodils - don’t tie them up and they’ll continue to provide you with years of pretty spring flowers.

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod

Narcissus ‘Kaydee’

This week has been heavenly. Everywhere you look, fragrant clouds of magnolia and cherry blossom are arranged against the bluest sky, with carpets of porcelain-cupped daffodils underneath. The Garden has a dozen different varieties of magnolia. We would plant even more, but around here, a perfect magnolia spring only comes along once every four or five years, if that. The blossoms of the Yulan magnolia (Magnolia denudata) pictured here are too often spoiled by frost.

Naturally, the contrarian in me seeks a counterpoint to all the prettiness. Call it a yearning for balance and moderation. Down in the streamside muck, literally, resides one of the strangest little plants around. The appearance alone is fascinating and a bit repellant to some. The unforgettable odor gives the plant its common name: Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). It’s a member of the Aroid family, which includes Jack-in-the Pulpit, Calla lily and the champion of all smelly plants, the Titan arum, or Corpse flower.

 

Skunk cabbage has been blooming (yes, there’s a flower under that hood), since March. It has the property of actually heating up enough to melt snow. The air around a blooming skunk cabbage can be 25 or 30 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature. This also helps to broadcast its pungent, animal scent to the insects which crowd in to pollinate it and warm themselves inside its shelter.

Another of this plant’s odd attributes is the ability to contract its roots, pulling it deeper into the mud. Over the years, the roots become extremely deep, protecting it from being washed out of its streamside habitat in flood season.

The plant causes painful burning of the mouth and throat when any part is chewed. Like many plants that are poisonous when consumed incautiously, it has been used medicinally and as a magic talisman. Like the rich mud where it grows, there’s more to Skunk Cabbage than meets the eye.

Posted by Ann McCulloh

Growing roses has been called a labor of love. For centuries, poets have written about suffering the thorns in order to enjoy the beauty and fragrance of the rose. Athletes have a more simple saying: “no pain, no gain.”

Let’s face it, roses are far from low maintenance plants. They are susceptible to a variety of insect and fungal problems. An especially cold winter can cause a lot of die-back, and humid or rainy summers bring on the inevitable black spot fungus. Yet, so many gardeners still find a place for this plant somewhere in their yard. Perhaps it is for sentimental reasons. Or maybe it is because the rose has such a long tradition in literature.   For whatever reason, start your roses off this time of year on the right foot with good structural pruning.

Now is the time to prune shrub roses into a nice v-shape. Follow the rules of pruning and first remove any dead, diseased or crossing canes. Then, select the outwardly branching canes that will form the v-shape and remove the other canes. Limb up the canes that remain so there is not a lot of growth low to the ground where fungal diseases can frequently take hold. Make your pruning cuts just above the buds on the cane in order to direct the new growth outward.  A lot of inward or congested branching leads to poor air circulation and potential fungal problems.

Don’t forget to sterilize those pruners as you move from shrub to shrub to prevent the spread of any diseases. I use rubbing alcohol. It also comes in handy when one of the thorns inevitable finds its way into my hand or arm. But, “no pain, no gain.” The reward will be there sometime around the end of May.

Posted by Bob Rensel