george bonnema
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistSeptember 20, 2022We have reached the fall equinox, which means we have equal day and night hours in a 24-hour period, with the night hours getting progressively longer. Poinsettia plants understand that means it is time to initiate their flower buds. Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 is the magic time frame for that to happen, and nature never fails in the diminished day length. So I am saying that if you have kept your…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistSeptember 13, 2022September is the time to get your lawn in shape for winter and the next growing season. If you are a “do it yourself” person, now is when to tackle perennial weeds like dandelions and similar broadleaf weeds. Those little seedlings are busy storing nutrients in their roots so next spring they can put on a spectacular growth spurt and impress with their robust energy. Spraying with a broadleaf…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistAugust 16, 2022It’s Monday and we are getting blessed with a very gentle rain; I just direct-seeded scallions, lettuce and radishes for a fall crop, and this is the perfect rain to get those seeds growing. After planting, I spread a very light covering of dried grass over the rows. This will shade the soil enough to help keep the soil moist while the seed germinates and the shade will also help mediate the…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistAugust 09, 2022Marvelous rain this weekend, and I am so very grateful! I’ve been able to water enough to keep my gardens producing quality produce, but that seems such a futile effort considering the size of the gardens coupled with heat … rain changes the whole picture! It is August, and if you have fern leaf peonies, you’ll notice they are turning yellow because they have finished their growing cycle for the…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistAugust 02, 2022Dwarf reblooming daylilies have finished their first and main flush of flowers for the summer. Some of those stalks have developed seed pods and others have just dried up. We want to encourage those daylilies to rebloom, which they will do, but cutting out the stems with seed pods will encourage them to develop new flowering stems sooner. The flower stalks that have dried up can usually be pulled…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJuly 26, 2022Well, this has not been my favorite year gardening! It seems like every pattern of weather was messed up, and the consequences were and are enough to make me wonder why I work so hard to “make it work.” Of course, my expectations belong to me, and what you see is what you see, not the picture in my mind of what I carefully envisioned and planned. I’m reminded of that so often when I’m working in…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 28, 2022The battle with the bugs continues. … I am seeing damage on the lower leaves of purple dome asters. The leaves are getting a speckled yellow color, and if you look on the underside of the leaf, you will notice very small gray-colored spots that look like little bits of ash dust. Those are the critters causing the damage. The bug is called a psyllid, and they suck the sap out of the leaf, causing…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 21, 2022I need to remind you that now is the time to prune lilacs, weigela, mock orange, and snowball viburnums. These are all spring-blooming plants, and cutting them back now gives the new growth time to mature and develop buds for next year’s flowers. I recommend pruning to eliminate the old stems to encourage new growth from the base of the shrub. When I looked at my potato crop last week, I noticed…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistApril 26, 2022Each year I tell you about a fantastic product call Systemic Rose Care. This is a granular product I apply to the soil at the base of a rose bush in the next week and just let the rain dissolve it. That product has the best formulation of rose fertilizer I have found, and the systemic part indicates that it contains an insecticide that is absorbed by the roots and moves systemically through the…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistMarch 22, 2022Last week I encouraged you to get started cleaning up and pruning your landscape. There are a few plants that I do not want you to prune now. This list includes all forms of lilacs, weigela, forsythia, spring-blooming spirea, mock orange, azaleas, and rhododendron. All of these shrubs have their flower buds formed in the buds of new growth, and any pruning now will remove potential flowers. For…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistMarch 15, 2022We are predicted to have a week of wonderful spring weather, and I am sure some of you really want to plant some seeds to get a head start for your vegetable garden. But I beg you to wait until early April. I don’t have a weather crystal ball, but I do have knowledge about starting seeds too early, resulting in spindly, weak plants you will have to “baby” to survive when you plant them in the…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistMarch 08, 2022My last “Know It and Grow It” column gave you some information about how our indoor plants respond to the photoperiod or lengthening days of early spring. After being nearly dormant for four months, they are eager to start active growth. If you have a plant that is getting too tall, now is when to do a little pruning to get back to where that plant will look balanced and proportioned. Often…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistFebruary 22, 2022January is behind us and that means we are closer to spring. That is good news. The days are getting longer and the sun gives more warmth. Plants notice that just as much as we do. So those wonderful houseguests are gearing up to put out some new growth. That means this is a good time to repot if they are growing out of proportion with their current pot. Generally we recommend moving to the next…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJanuary 18, 2022January … my least favorite month – cold, lots of cloudy days, short hours of daylight, nothing much to do except move snow and work on taxes. Well, maybe not the “nothing to do” part, because it is the perfect time to plan next year’s vegetable and/or flower garden. It is amazing that the day after Christmas, seed and nursery catalogs appear in my mailbox, and that continues for most of the…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistDecember 14, 2021Last week I gave you some tips for keeping holiday blooming plants happy. This week I want to talk about fresh flowers and flower arrangements. Fresh flowers have their own unique way of adding life, color and happiness to our living spaces. Handing your host a wrapped bunch of fresh flowers will nearly always bring an appreciative smile. So if that recipient is you, here’s where what you do will…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistDecember 07, 2021Blooming plants are wonderful gifts to brighten our homes for the holiday season. Knowing what makes them happy keeps the color show going. Poinsettias are the traditional favorite. Red is the natural color and all other colors and variations are mutations that have been “hybridized” to give us choices. The red color is actually a bract of red leaves that attract pollinators to the little yellow…
You must log in to continue reading. Log in or subscribe today.