Oranges may or may not be the most favored fruit by consumers but they certainly are the most widely planted fruit in the world. Filled with vitamins and refreshing to eat, oranges are easy to grow in the home garden. And best of all, they ripen at a time (late winter to early spring) when deciduous trees are just coming out of dormancy.

Thanks to continuous improvements in breeding, there are more varieties than ever to choose from. But which one(s) should you select? First decide whether your main priority is for eating or juicing--that makes a big difference. While you can eat any orange and squeeze juice out of all of them, certain varieties just lend themselves better to each category.

For eating, navel-type oranges such as Robertson, Washington, or Lane Late Navel oranges are easiest to peel. For juicing, nothing beats the Valencia and Midknight Valencia oranges. The Trovita is perhaps the best all-purpose and easiest to grow. If you are looking for distinct flavor and color, consider blood oranges like the Moro, Sanguinelli or Tarrocco. For something completely different you might want to try the Cara Cara Pink Navel orange or the fabled Shamouti orange.

Another way to help your decision-making is to consider ripening dates. The Cara Cara, Robertson and Washington Navel oranges ripen from winter to early spring. All of the Blood oranges ripen in spring, needing both cold nights to turn color and warm days for sugars to form. Then come the Trovita and Shamouti oranges in late spring and early summer. Both the Valencia and Midknight Valencia take about 15 months to ripen and are ready to harvest in summer. Finally, the Lane Late navel orange ripens late summer into fall. With a little planning you can harvest oranges almost year-round!

Like all citrus, oranges prefer full sun locations and soil that drains well. When planting, make sure to add an organic soil amendment such as Gardner & Bloome Harvest Supreme to your soil. If drainage is a problem, add sand to the mix as well. All oranges benefit from regular feedings. We recommend applying a good citrus fertilizer like Gro-Power Citrus Fertilizer every two months spring through fall. In the winter months, switch to a 0-10-10 fertilizer. This helps strengthen the plant against cold damage, while also helping to develop and sweeten the fruit.

Oranges not only taste good, they look good in the garden. Their bright, shiny green foliage makes a welcome addition to any garden. If you are short on space, consider purchasing an orange grown on dwarf rootstock--you can even plant those in a container.

Click to print this article.

As Henry David Thoreau wrote, "In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World."

We can choose to co-exist with the wildlife around us, enjoying their antics and quirky personalities, or we can run around in circles attempting to rid our properties of them. The latter is an exercise in futility; they preceded us, and they've learned how to best us at every turn.

Case in point, the squirrel: an aerialist extraordinaire, its large tail makes it the most recognized mammal on Earth. While the first gray squirrels can be traced back 50 million years via fossil remains found in North America, their name can be traced back to the ancient Greeks; Aristotle called them "skiouros" with "skia" meaning shade, and "oura" meaning tail. Thus the meaning "he who sits in the shadow of his tail" was recorded.

As they do not hibernate and can have a lifespan of 6 years (given little auto traffic and a reliable food source), feeding our furry friends not only aids the animals, it guarantees an endless source of entertainment. Tree seed is the most important element of their diet, including pine seeds, beech nuts, acorns and hazel nuts. They also thrive on flowers, berries, and shoots, which provide a year-round availability of food. Gray squirrels love maize and mixed squirrel food, but you'll also find them sharing the bird feeders you've set out for your avian visitors. Because of the communal nature of bird feeders, to prevent disease transmission, wash your feeders every two weeks or so, first emptying them, then scrubbing them clean with a weak bleach and water solution. Thoroughly rinse, and allow to dry before refilling.

Squirrels are most active during their mating season, in late winter. The ritual of the chase occurs through the trees at top speed, incorporating breathtaking acrobatics. They communicate using a series of chirps and tail gestures that denote everything from laughter to alarm.

If you've ever attempted to purchase a "squirrel-proof" bird feeder, you'll know that it doesn't exist. These wily creatures will not quit until they have out-baffled every baffle ever invented. There are numerous feeders made specifically for squirrels, but this gardener has found that making it too easy for them takes away too much of their pleasure. However, one very easy-to-make feeder that they will appreciate can be constructed as follows: take a piece of wood 2" by 2", about 2 1/2 feet in length, skew long nails into it at staggered intervals, and then impale an ear of corn on each nail. Pop an eye bolt into the top, hang it from a tree branch, and let the frivolity begin! (They might even stay out of the bird feeders for a few minutes.)

Click to print this article.

By Tamara Galbraith

So, the weekend comes, you've got a Gardening To-Do List as long as your arm...and the weather is miserable. Fortunately for gardeners, there's always a side project waiting--or an inside chore that needs doing. Here are ten ways to pass the time if you can't spend it outside gardening:

1. Clean your tools:
First, use a stiff brush to remove excess dirt, then scrub off rust with steel wool. Spray or wipe on a lubricating oil before storing in a dry area.

2. Clean your pots:
If you're like me, your garage and patio are littered with empty plant pots of varying sizes. Dump the excess dirt into the compost pile and rinse with water. If you suspect fungal disease was present in the pot, throw away the dirt, use a mild bleach solution to scrub the pot thoroughly with a stiff brush, and allow to air dry. Arrange and stack pots according to size, and store.

3. Tend to your houseplants:
Repot where necessary. Polish large leaved-plants with a soft cloth soaked in a mild solution of water and stale beer. If you want leaves to really shine, use a commercial plant-polishing product. However, waxes and oils tend to block plant pores and attract dust, so watch out for those.

4. Clean out old gardening products:
Determine which pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers, etc., are ready to be thrown out. (Most will last about two years.) Check with your local solid waste management authority, environmental agency, or health department to find out whether your community has a household hazardous waste collection program or a similar program for getting rid of unwanted, leftover pesticides. Whatever you do, please DON'T pour products--even organic ones--down the sink, into the toilet, or down a sewer or street drain. And don't re-use empty containers--just throw them away.

5. Go through your seeds:
Seeds more than two years old should probably be thrown away. If you're not sure, test their viability by folding a few seeds in a wet paper towel and laying the towel someplace warm for a few days, ensuring it remains damp. If the seeds germinate, they're obviously still ok. The best way to store seeds is in screw-lid jars or in zip-top plastic baggies.

6. Start a scrapbook:
Go through old gardening magazines and cut out favorite pictures, articles, growing tips, etc.; then organize them and paste in a scrapbook. This can actually be a winter-long project if you've got stacks and stacks of gardening magazines--as I do.

7. Learn something new:
Interested in trying bonsai but not sure where to start? Want to learn the basics of designing an attractive container arrangement? Get on the Internet and do some searching. There's a world of resources out there.

8. Pamper your orchids:
Got orchids? You should decrease the amount of water given to orchids (and all indoor plants, actually) during the winter months, but before you help them shut down for the season, make sure the sphagnum moss and other rooting medium is still fresh. Roots should be white or green and not brown and soggy. If you're getting root rot, change the moss out and trim off bad roots.

9. Start a garden journal:
Keeping records of what works and what doesn't is invaluable in gardening. Taking pictures of your landscape throughout the seasons is also helpful in determining how to tweak here and there.

10. Visit us:
Hop in the car and come visit us. Treat yourself to new houseplants or some new gardening tools. You've worked hard all summer and fall, so you deserve it!

Click to print this article.

One of the plants that we always look forward to after a long winter is the forsythia. This early blooming plant is a focal point of early spring, heralding the warming months with a brilliant display of golden yellow blooms. Forsythias bloom before they leaf out, and during full bloom the bare stems are completely covered from base to tips. In early spring, they become the focal point of the landscape, then blend in well with other plants when the rich green foliage emerges after blooming.

These deciduous shrubs are native to eastern Asia, where they have been used in Chinese medicine for their antiseptic effect in treating wounds. They are fast growing, with dwarf varieties reaching 4-5 ft high and almost as wide, while taller growing varieties can reach 8-10 ft high and half as wide. The plants have great structure with an upright arching growth habit that has a somewhat fountain-like effect.

Forsythias not only look great in the landscape, but their branches also are perfect for flower arrangements, thanks to the uniformity of blooms on the branches. They are frost-hardy and easy to grow in well-drained fertile soil. They grow best in a full sun location, so are often used as a living privacy fence after they have fully leafed out. The taller varieties make great individual specimens in the landscape, and can also be used for erosion control on slopes.

Most people prefer the somewhat wild natural look of forsythias, but they can be shaped with regular pruning. This is best done after they have finished blooming, because they flower on the prior year's growth (pruning either too late or too early interrupts the growth/blooming cycle). But no matter how you shape this hardy plant, it will reward you with years and years of spectacular color every spring!

Click to print this article.

by Tamara Galbraith

During the winter months, when more plants are indoors, gardeners need to be on the lookout for a couple of tough pests that, once settled in, can be hard to control.

Fungus gnats, the near-microscopic flying insects that feed and breed within damp organic matter in potting soil, can actually be a problem any time of year. These tiny flying pests can spread pathogens, chew on roots and be a general nuisance. Fungus gnats' favorite hangout is the fungus existing in moist, organic soil, so the best way to battle these bugs is by letting your houseplants dry in-between waterings. However, some overwintering houseplants--like those lovely amaryllis bulbs many of us were forcing during the holidays--like to remain somewhat moist. So...what to do?

A good drench of an indoor plant pest control product like Safer Insecticidal Soap on the soil is a good start, and a layer of sand on top of the potting soil will also help. The sand helps prevent the fungus gnats from reaching and subsequently laying eggs in the potting soil, but still allows moisture to reach the roots.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, spider mites can become a terrible problem for indoor plants when conditions are too dry, which is often the case during cold days when we have the heat on. If you notice a plant's leaves shriveling and dropping, or webbing in between stems and leaves, you've probably got a spider mite problem.

Again, a good pest control product will help. However, the humidity around the affected plant will need to be addressed to keep mites from returning:
• Keep plants away from the hot blast of furnace output vents.
• Spray sensitive indoor plants with water daily, if possible.
• Move all sensitive plants together and run a humidifier near them to keep air moisture levels high.

Click to print this article.

What's the difference between a plant fungus and a plant virus?

Answer:

The big difference is that most fungus problems can be controlled with fungicides, while viruses cannot. A fungus normally attacks the foliage, while a virus can attack every part of a plant--eventually killing it. Most fungus is transmitted through the air while most viruses are transmitted through the soil.

The most common types of fungus are leaf spots (red, brown, or black), mildew (white), and types of rust (orange and brown). Leaf spots normally affect both sides of leaves, mildew the top side, and rusts underneath. They are fairly easy to prevent and control with a fungicide.

Most viruses enter a plant through the roots. They are prevalent in poorly draining or over-watered soils that never dry out. Many viruses cause leaf wilt; you will see this in the individual leaves--or the whole plant may look sickly and drooping. The only solution when a virus is identified is to try to let the soil dry out. If you catch it early enough, some plants can recover. Unfortunately, by the time most people discover a virus problem, it's usually too late.

Click to print this article.