Backyard Wisdom

Browse the Web

What do you do when the temperature tops 103 outside? Way too hot to work in the garden. Way too early for the fall bulb catalogs to start arriving.

Why not stroll through some gardens across the country and maybe from across the globe?

First, try a Google search on botanical gardens in Alabama. You will find links to a number of outstanding botanical gardens in Alabama both public and private. Most will outline the different smaller gardens that comprise the larger garden. Some have photo tours so you can take a virtual tour. Now that’s the way to take in a garden in this August heat.

Want to visit the garden in person? Most of these gardens’ Web sites will give you the low down on when they are open as well as what is in bloom and what classes are scheduled.

But don’t stop there. Try another search. This time enter “garden blogs” in your search engine.

You will be rewarded with links to gardeners across the country and world. Their writers share your passion for gardening and often have great information in their blog entries.

For example, an Ohio gardener is reviewing a number of tomato varieties this summer on her blog, This Garden is Illegal. She offers insight on ten varieties—including information on culture, taste and fruit size among others.

Here are a couple of more that I enjoy.

Concrete and Calendula
Greenfish Artist and Gardener
I like both of these blogs because of the photos they include with almost every post. It’s a great way to get ideas for new plants. It’s better than a catalog because you can see the plant growing in real life situations.
My advice—when it’s too hot to work in the garden, visit a garden or two online.

Making Fall Garden Plans

I know that I’m not the only gardener in the state who has lost shrubs and young trees to the extended heat and drought of this summer.

We lost at least six native azaleas and about the same number of Southern indica hybrid azaleas that were planted in March. All the azaleas were well-mulched and watered regularly, but they just could not make it through the extremes of the summer.

I have to wonder if they might have made it if they had been planted last fall. While the fall and winter were dry, the shrubs may have been able to put on enough root growth to survive this summer’s baking heat.

Spring fever gets hold of many of us, and we set out new shrubs in spring, sentencing the recent transplants to the trials of summer.

But fall is actually a much better time to plant shrubs and trees in Alabama. Fall planting give plants a chance to recover from transplanting. Also, while shrubs and trees may loose their leaves and appear to go dormant during the winter, there is plenty of activity below ground. Roots of most plants continue to grow and develop during the winter. These better developed root systems help the plants better survive the stresses of summer.

Research has also shown that trees and shrubs planted in the fall have a more rapid growth rate than those planted in the spring.

Now as the summer growing season is drawing to a close I am deciding what shrubs need to be planted this fall. I am considering Southern wax myrtle and American beautyberry. Both are fairly drought tolerant and are well-suited to the dappled shade under several pine trees on the edge of my yard. I also think these two species will be more deer resistant than the azaleas they will be replacing.

Preserving Summer’s Bounty

This weekend I have a date with my kitchen. It’s time to preserve some of the summer’s bounty from the vegetable garden.

We don’t have a vegetable garden at our house. My husband and I have grown weary of trying to keep the deer from the neighboring 450-acre government forest from eating any vegetable we plant. For the last several years, we have bought a share from one of the CSA farms in our area letting them raise our vegetables for us.

The summer has been exceptionally dry, but our CSA has kept us in peppers. So this weekend, I’m planning to dice up the last of these peppers and tuck them in the freezer for winter.

I like freezing peppers. Wash them. Chop them. Package them and then pop them in the freezer. No blanching required. No pressure cooker needed.

In a month or so, I expect I’ll be back in the kitchen when a friend drops off the usual bushel of apples. Those will become apple sauce and will be stored in the freezer as well.

I grew up helping my mama preserve the bounty of my daddy’s garden. Freezing, canning and jelly making were all part of the summer’s work in the kitchen.

With the growing interest in locally grown produce as well as raising your own vegetables, more people want to put up summer’s goodness for later.

This week on Backyard Wisdom Janet Johnson, a regional Extension food safety, talks with me about making jams and jellies with sugar substitutes as well as other safety issues about home-preserved foods.

There are more rules of freezing and canning than we have time to cover on Backyard Wisdom.

The Home Food Preservation Handbook is an excellent resource from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. There are a number of free publications also available from ACES.
The manufacturer of Ball canning jars also has excellent information on its Web site.

You can also contact your county Extension office for more information on food preservation or to purchase the Home Food Preservation Handbook.

Cooperative Extension Garden Information Line Now Open

Wondering how to conserve water and still care for your garden? Have problems with your tomatoes? Got bugs on your roses?

Master Gardeners are standing by the phones of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s Horticulture Information line to answer those and other questions from gardeners and home owners across the state. Master Gardeners provide answers based on current research and best practices under the supervision of Extension agents.

Alabama Master Gardener coordinator Kerry Smith says the toll-free help line is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will be available until early fall.

“Gardeners should make use of this excellent resource,” says Smith. “Volunteers who answer the phones provide answers and also point people to additional materials including Extension publications and other materials available both online and at the county Extension office.”

To reach the Horticulture Information line, dial 1-877-252-GROW (4769). Callers will be asked to select from one of four regional help lines.
Citizens in Baldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe and Washington counties are served by the Southwest Alabama information line.

Serving central and east Alabama, the Central Alabama helpline is assisting gardeners and homeowners in 13 counties. They include Cleburne, Clay, Talladega, Randolph, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Chambers, Autauga, Elmore, Lee, Russell, Macon and Montgomery counties.

The North Central Alabama help line serves Jefferson, Shelby, Chilton, Bibb, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Winston, Marion, Fayette, Lamar and Pickens counties.
The Northwest Alabama information line serves the Shoals and Tennessee Valley areas, including Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lawrence, Franklin and Colbert counties.

Smith says the regions were created by grouping counties who have similar soils and climate, making the service more tailored to the caller.

“We’re excited about this new service for Alabama and are even more thrilled with the tremendous support from Master Gardeners around the state.”