know it and grow it
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJanuary 07, 2020In response to the problems we are encountering with our popular and reliable shade trees, it is important to make sure the new trees we plant are getting the best care we can give them. Young trees like linden and maple have smooth bark and are very prone to sunscald damage during the coldest part of winter. This problem usually affects the southwest side of the tree trunk and is the result of…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistOctober 08, 2019The inevitable frost is predicted for this week so that means if you want to savor the flavor of a few more tomatoes, you will want to pick as many as you have good intentions for. Fairly mature green tomatoes can be ripened off the vine by wrapping them individually in paper or putting several in a paper bag and storing them at room temperature. The enclosure captures the ethylene gas that…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistAugust 20, 2019Driving in the county on Saturday, I was surprised to see so much wild cucumber vine. It was growing on fences, through trees — especially evergreens — and along creek banks. I even saw it climbing up on corn stalks. Now that it has started blooming, the airy white flowers make it very visible. Yes, it is attractive but realizing its potential to become extremely invasive quickly takes away that…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJuly 30, 2019It seems that my sprayer has been in my hand for most of the summer. Wet is good to a certain extent and then it becomes an ongoing invitation to blight and fungus infections that are hard to control, and that is where I am right now … so the battle continues. I am seeing a lot of the lower leaves of fall-blooming purple dome asters turning yellow and dry. Most often this is the symptom of damage…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 25, 2019I have been appreciating the stunning foliage of my assortment of hosta varieties. To preserve that magnificent display, it is important to protect the plants from slug damage. Slugs feed at night, so you seldom see them, but you notice the damage they wreak … first just a few small holes, then more and more, until the leaves look pretty much “shot” up. Prevent the damage by applying slug bait at…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 18, 2019We are into the right temperature and moisture conditions for lots of fungus issues to attack our plants. For roses, black spot is a serious disease that shows up first as a black spot on the rose leaf. The leaf then turns yellow and falls off. This fungus normally starts on the lower leaves where the foliage is fuller, thus restricting air movement so the leaves stay wet longer when we have…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 11, 2019If you followed my advice for using systemic rose care for your shrub roses when I first wrote about it this year, the product should be reapplied three times per season at six-week intervals, and this is six weeks after that initial application, so give them another treatment. Most roses are at their most vigorous growth period right now, so they will reward you later with more and bigger blooms…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJune 04, 2019Driving back from Detroit last weekend, I saw several trees infected with tent caterpillar nests, and believe it or not, we have them in Rock County, too. So if you see that white webby mass in the crotch of a tree branch, they’ve found a place to call home. Usually they prefer apple, crabapple or plum trees as a food source. You don’t have to get real radical like cutting the branch out. Just…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistApril 16, 2019Last week I sent you outside to start your spring pruning ... and then it snowed. But we survived that, so today I’ll give you a couple of indoor garden tasks to do, and maybe that will give us more sun outdoors. If you are interested in starting your own pepper and tomato plants for your garden, now is the time to sow those seeds. We are probably six to eight weeks from the last frost (yea!!) so…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJuly 31, 2018I just seem to be giving you more things to do each time I write this, but maybe you pick the things you like to do or want to do like a menu ... at least I’m trying to keep you up to speed. So now we are into August, and last week I mentioned thinning or dividing bearded iris. August is also the month to move or divide peonies, both standard and fern leaf peonies. When you get to replanting the…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistJuly 17, 2018I trust that the planters you put together this spring are giving you the color you had hoped for. If you have a plant in that combination that has assumed a “take over” attitude, don’t be afraid to give it some discipline … with a pruning shears! Also, be sure to continue feeding to keep that energy and color coming. Removing the faded flowers (dead-heading) is another way to promote more…
By George Bonnema, Luverne gardening enthusiastOctober 02, 2017Now that we are into the month of October and frost is predicted next week, it is time to acclimate indoor plants that have been vacationing outdoors to their winter home indoors. Considering that they have had daylight flooding them from all sides and indoors they will have to adjust to what light comes through a window in addition to a much shorter day length, they have to make a big adjustment…
By George Bonnema, Luverne gardening enthusiastAugust 29, 2017For weed spray to be most effective, the weeds should be growing actively ... with all the rain we have had, the weeds ARE really growing actively. So, I’m saying that right now is a great time to attack creeping Charlie and any other broad leaf weed in your lawn. A fall application of spray will catch the weed seedlings as they germinate, giving you a clean sweep going into spring. Tough weeds…
By George Bonnema, Luverne gardening enthusiastAugust 22, 2017The Minnesota Northern Gardener magazine was in my mail box today, and there is an article about a new disease showing up in roses in the Midwest ... Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. The disease is rampant in southern states because of milder weather. Rose rosette disease (RRD) is caused by a virus which is carried by a microscopic mite. The tiny, wingless…
By George Bonnema, Luverne gardening enthusiastAugust 14, 2017Blessed is the only word that I can come up with to express how I feel about getting over 4 inches of rain in the last 7 days. I had just thrashed the seed out of my dead spinach plants, and that seed has germinated like too thick … I’ll have to thin it when normally I’m just happy to have a reasonable germination rate. We stopped at a garden market last weekend and they had little green apples…
By George Bonnema, Luverne HorticulturalistOctober 03, 2016Impatiens have been the best choice for an annual that will produce fantastic color in shaded areas. Now we may have to go for another option. Recently, I have noticed impatiens that have suddenly lost all of their leaves and are naked stalks. The cause is downy mildew. This fungus moved into our area a couple of years ago. It can attack the plants at any stage in the growing season and is aided…
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