Down To Earth
By Gerlind Dubey (04/24/2009)

It’s A Jungle In There

As gardeners most of us are in a rush to get out there and play in the dirt. Rushing the season a bit has always been a fault of mine. So many seedlings are sprouting in my house that the Botanical Gardens has nothing on me. Further more I started them so early that now they need to be moved into bigger pots. The average planting date for our area (ZONE 5) is the last week in May and the first week in June meaning that most of my plants will have grown into a jungle. If you are like me and have tomato plants that have gotten a bit spindly, keep in mind that tomato plants can be planted deeper, because the plant will grow roots along the stem if it is covered in soil.

Peas are in the ground; if you are planning a vegetable garden peas can be planted now; peas like cooler temperatures, as a rule you can plant them 6 weeks before the average planting date. You can also plant Onion sets now; Onions are as hardy as they come. Frosts, freezing temperatures, and even snow will not kill them. It will only slow their growth until warmer weather returns. Cole crops such as Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower can be planted about 2-3 weeks before the average planting date. They can tolerate cold but not hard frosts.

Cattaraugus/Allegany Co-op celebrates Gardening Day…Novice as well as seasoned Gardeners will profit from the Master Gardeners of Cornell University Cooperative Extensions, FREE class to be held at Ellicottville Central School on Saturday April 25, 2009. Preregistration Is Required. For more information call Carrie at Busekist at716-699-2377 extension 125.

If flowers are your thing; first things first; put your initial energy into your dirt and do some prep work instead of going out and buying or digging plants. Have your soil checked for acidity levels at the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Master gardeners are on duty Mondays from 9 to noon to answer your gardening questions.

Living in Zone 5, I can honestly say that it is a wonder anything could survive our last harsh winter; however there are over 270 perennials that can grow and thrive in our zone. Perennials should be planted in early spring and mulched in the summer. Unlike summer blooming annual flowers that can succumb to our cold and frosty nights, established Perennials can be divided and or planted well before the average planting date for our area.

Depending on the areas you have chosen for your flower beds, make sure you create an interesting visual effect with different heights and textures. Around your house, you might want to have tall flowering plants of about 2 or three feet as a backdrop the house and graduate to middle height plants of 1 foot or so in the middle and the smaller 6” plants in the front.

Add some pizzazz to your garden by popping in orange flowers. The color orange adds warmth and spice to the garden and compliments other colors that you normally wouldn’t think of like purple and red and blue. Perennials with orange flowers are not quite as common as some other colors so annuals such as Mexican sunflowers, and the new variety of sun impatiens and clusters of marigolds will off set perennials such as red hot poker, Garden Phlox ‘Orange Perfection’ and Butterfly weed.

GET DOWN AND DIRTY