Beech Tree News Network

Plant care has been on my mind in recent days. As H. Jackson Brown said, “Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_gardening.html). I researched the care of some specific plants, hoping to enjoy them longer, and found some helpful advice.

First, the garden mum is not only hardy but beautiful. I enjoy the fall color, and since my mums did not survive last winter, I want to replace them. The garden mums need full or partial sunlight and well-drained soil. Mums may be fertilized once a month until they bloom in the fall. To create a round-shaped plant, mums may be pinched off (a part of the stem and/or buds) until mid-summer. One source of information (http://www.wikihow.com/Plant-Mums) suggested three ways to help garden mums survive the cold of winter:
•    Place mulch made of straw or hardwood around the plants by 3 or 4 inches to protect their roots.
•    Pinch off the dead flowers.
•    Don't prune the stems. Mums with stems left intact have a better chance of surviving the winter.
The advice to pinch off the dead flowers was new information to me. I had done that to enhance the beauty of the plant, but not to help the plant survive the winter.

The second plant I wanted to learn about is the hydrangea. My daughter has a beautiful potted hydrangea and now wants to plant it in her yard. The hydrangea may eventually require a 4-feet-by-4-feet space, needs well-drained soil, and grows best when fertilized once or twice in the summer (but should not be fertilized after August). Since it may be planted in the early spring or late fall, my daughter should probably plant the hydrangea around October. An Internet site (http://hydrangeashydrangeas.com/planting_fert.html) provided two tips for planting hydrangeas:
•    Hydrangeas planted under a tree often fail to thrive.
•    The hydrangea should be placed in an area where it can get plenty of moisture. Supplemental moisture is especially important the first year or two and during droughts.
So, when planting a hydrangea, one consideration may be proximity to a water source.

Another plant I have come to appreciate is the amaryllis. I have a large container of these plants, and luckily, many of them bloomed last winter. In an eHow article (http://www.ehow.com/how_10062914_make-amarylis-rebloom.html), guidance about how to encourage an amaryllis to bloom was provided. In late September, stop feeding the plant and store it in a cool, dry place for ten weeks, such as an unheated porch, a garage or a basement. When a new bloom stalk emerges, begin watering the plant again, allowing the soil to dry between waterings. Blooming may take up to eight weeks. The plant should be moved to a south-facing window until it’s in full bloom, then moved to a lower-light, cooler location to preserve the bloom. These steps seem manageable.

I’ve always believed that getting the poinsettia to re-flower would be too difficult. I often keep my poinsettias through the spring and summer months; they usually make a very pretty pot of greenery for my deck. But, at the end of summer, I normally lose hope for them. This year, I have a beautiful poinsettia and have wondered whether I have the patience necessary to allow it to flower again. One website (http://www.freeplants.com/poinsettia-flowering.htm) provided some helpful information regarding the annual cycle of poinsettias.
•    When in bloom, poinsettias enjoy indirect sunlight for at least six hours each day, prefer to be slightly on the dry side in a 68-to-70-degrees-Fahrenheit climate, and should not be fertilized. After the plant has finished blooming, a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer may be applied weekly until early spring.
•    Once the nighttime temperatures stay above 55 degrees Fahrenheit, poinsettias may be put outdoors for the summer. The plant may be fertilized every two weeks during the summer. The time for pruning is late June through early July and again in mid-August, but not after the first of September.
•    As temperatures begin to cool, the poinsettia should again be brought indoors. Longer nights will cause a poinsettia to set buds and flower during November or December. To encourage the poinsettia to flower, the amount of light the plant receives each day must be controlled. The plant must be kept in total darkness for fourteen hours each night during the months of October, November and early December. During that same time the plant should also receive six to eight hours of bright sunlight each day. The plant may be covered with a large box overnight or moved to a closet. By strictly following the daylight and darkness schedule for eight to ten weeks, fertilizing the plant twice a month and with a little luck, the poinsettia will flower.
I would like to try this one year just to watch the plant go through the process. But, the strict daylight and darkness schedule may be too much for me.

The last plant is the Christmas cactus. I’ve had one or more of these plants for years, but my plants don’t bloom each year.  In the article “How to Make a Christmas Cactus Bloom” (home.howstuffworks.com/home-decor/seasonal/how-to-make-christmas-cactus-bloom.htm), the authors explained that these plants need: 13 or more hours of uninterrupted darkness each day beginning in September or October, a room temperature of 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit, water only when the top of the soil is dry, and humidity (for example, a glass of water next to the plant). Then about six weeks later, the plant will likely produce buds. Since I was unaware of these requirements, I am quite amazed that any of my Christmas cacti ever bloomed – even randomly.

Matthew 6:28 (NIV) says, “… See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.” American botanist Luther Burbank said, “Flowers…are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_gardening.html). And, flowers add great beauty to our surroundings – a reward for any care we may provide.