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

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’

Most of Cleveland is in USDA zone 5 (for now), whereas here at the Garden we are considered zone 6 because of the lake. There are many times I wish I lived in zone 6 (or higher!).

In my own garden, my husband and I began uncovering our daylilies this past weekend. Much to our chagrin, several varieties appeared not to make it through our harsh winter/spring. I have little doubt that it’s due to the fact that we had extremely cold temps and not a lot of snow protecting the delicate roots throughout the season. It’s really sad to smell the decay of plants rotting when there are such high hopes for the upcoming growing season.

So, what are we going to do? Buy more daylilies, of course! This time, however, we’ll probably concentrate on varieties grown in the North.  There are daylily growers all over the U.S. that claim their plants will flourish everywhere.  We are finding that is not always the case. Besides, there are thousands of cultivars to choose from.  I’m confident we will find one or many that can withstand our winters. Stay tuned!

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod