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Edition 3.04 Plant Depot Garden News January 27th, 2005

Kellogg

 

San Juan Capistrano
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JANUARY


Fertilize!

Remember to spray all stone fruits and citrus with 0-10-10 liquid fertilizer. This will help promote flowers and fruit on your trees before the warm season begins.

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Quotation of the Week:

"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am thankful that thorns have roses."
— Alphonse Karr

The Basic Categories of Roses

floribunda

Hybrid teas are the most popular garden roses. They usually produce one flower per stem, on plants from 2-6 feet high. Grandifloras are bigger and taller, sometimes 8-10 feet high. Floribundas produce quantities of flowers in clusters on bushy plants usually shorter than hybrid teas. Polyanthas have smaller flowers than floribundas, carried in larger bunches on many canes.

rose

Climbing roses come in several types. Some, such as climbing sports (mutations exactly like the parent except for growth habit) of hybrid teas, are everblooming. Many old-fashioned climbing types bloom mainly in spring. Climbing roses send up long bendy canes that usually don’t end with a flower bud like standard roses; most of the flowers occur on side shoots that spring from the canes. Some types of climbers can be used as ground covers, and some can be grown as large free-standing shrubs, but most need support such as a fence or an arbor.

rosebud

Pillar roses are similar to climbing roses. They have tall canes that are less bendy than those of climbing roses. They can be trained straight up a post or pillar or the corner of your house and will bloom all the way from the ground to the tops of their canes.

Miniature roses are natural dwarf versions of all the above types of rose. The only difference is that their canes, stems, flowers, and leaves are scaled down in size.

There are other types of roses, including many fine old-fashioned varieties (although hybrid teas are still the local favorite): floribundas, climbers, and old-fashioned roses and modern shrub roses (those with a more graceful shape than the stiff hybrid tea rose bush) are disease resistant and easy to grow.

Pruning Deciduous Fruit Trees

tree shapes

All deciduous fruit trees need to be pruned at least once a year for good shape and to bear fruit. The time to do major pruning is during the winter. The rule of thumb with pruning deciduous fruit trees is to prune while the trees are dormant, after the leaves have fallen to the ground but before new buds have swelled.

Each type of fruit tree needs to be pruned differently, so it's important to know which kind of tree you're pruning and how to prune it properly. For example, apples bear their fruit on spurs that bear again and again, sometimes for as long as twenty years. If you whack off all the spurs you'll have no fruit. However, peaches and nectarines bear their fruit on one-year-old wood. By pruning them hard, you encourage new growth to replenish fruiting wood.

The best shape also differs among types. Apple and pear trees, for instance, do best with a central trunk, with shorter branches at the top, longer ones on the bottom. Peaches and plums do best with an open-center shape (kind of like a bowl).

No two trees, even of the same type, can be pruned exactly alike; basic guidelines will apply differently according to the placement of their branches, their age, and their overall vigor. If you're not an expert, follow a pruning manual (one that contains charts) that applies to your climate and type of tree.

When you buy a fruit tree, ask us for the best pruning method to use for that tree. Pruning a young tree properly to start with will save you a lot of time and effort later.

If you are dealing with a large old tree that has been neglected for some time, keep in mind that it may require several years of pruning to bring it back to where it should be.

Your primary goal is to open the tree so that sunlight can penetrate inside of the foliage during the fruiting season and to shorten the taller limbs to bring the fruit production down to a more manageable height. It is safest to call a professional to do the high work and any large branch removal for you. They have the experience and equipment needed.

Remember after pruning deciduous fruit trees to clean up the ground under the tree and follow up immediately with dormant spray.

Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Soup

What You'll Need:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 cup sweet potato, peeled & cut in 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cans (14-1/2 ounce) chicken broth
  • 1 can (15 ounce) pumpkin
  • 1 cup low-fat milk
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Step by Step:

Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Add onion, saute 3 minutes.

Stir in flour, curry powder, cumin, nutmeg and garlic; saute for 1 minute.

Add sweet potato, salt, broth and pumpkin, bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; simmer partially covered for 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool for 10 minutes.

Place half of pumpkin mixture in a blender or food processor; process until smooth.

Pour pureed soup into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining pumpkin mixture.

Return soup to pan; stir in milk.

Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring often (do not boil).

Remove from heat; stir in lime juice.

Yield: 6 servings

Thanks to our Newsletter partners

Kellogg Garden Products
 
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