Winged Sumac, Rhus copallinum

Are you looking for a shrub or tree that adds beauty and year-round interest to your garden. Check out my Plant of the Month Winged Sumac. Winged Sumac is easy to grow, pest-free, and doesn’t need a lot of water. It is excellent for Florida native gardens. Use as either a privacy plant, backdrop shrub, or as a small tree, Winged Sumacs provides four-season appeal with its’ ethereal foliage that turns brilliant red in the Fall. It does spread easily, making stands of winged sumac, and is well suited for filling in scrub habitat. Beneficial for gopher tortoises, wildlife, attracting butterflies, native bees and other pollinators; Important food source for migratory birds,

You can get Winged Sumac at Quality Green Specialists in Deland.

Photo credit: Teresa Watkins

What to Do in Your Garden

October 2024

 Two hurricanes within two weeks at the beginning of the month is more than anyone should have to deal with in their lives. For most it means that instead of doing routine schedule of yard maintenance, there will be clean-up and recovery.  Additional items to check are in each garden section.

 Average temperatures High 85 Low 65

Average Rainfall 2.73 inches - This month will see over 10 - 15 inches in parts of Florida.

 

October plantings

 Vegetables: Beet, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, collards, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, onion, peas, potato, radicchio, radish, rhubarb, roquette, rutabaga, spinach, strawberry, Swiss chard and turnip

 Flowers: African daisy, alyssum, angelonia, ageratum, begonia, black-eyed Susan, blue daze, calendula, candytuft, celosia, chrysanthemums, cleome, coleus, cornflower, cosmos, dianthus, dusty miller, gaillardia, gazania, geraniums, gerbera, heliotrope, hollyhock, impatiens, larkspur, lobelia, nicotiana, pentas, petunia, salvia, snapdragon, sunflower, sweet pea, verbena and zinnia.

 Herbs: Anise, basil, bay laurel, borage, cardamom, chervil, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, garlic, lavender, lemon balm, lovage, mint, nasturtium, oregano, rosemary, sage, sweet marjoram, tarragon, thyme and water cress.

 Bulbs: African lily, agapanthus, amaryllis, anemone, bulbine, calla, crinum, day lily, gingers, gladiolus, pineapple lily, rain lily, society garlic, spider lilies, walking iris, watsonia. Refrigerate crocus, daffodils, hyacinth, narcissus, and tulips for forcing.

 Grasses: Lomandra Breeze, Miscanthus ‘Adagio’, Muhly Grass, Dwarf Fakahatchee, White Fountain Grass, Lemon Grass.

Lawn care

  •  Get help with any debris or branches near power/communication lines.

  • Watch for lifting roots that may interact with underground utilities or irrigation.

  • Check for leaning trees and hanging limbs, contact a professional arborist to assess.

  • Trees with trunks less than 4 inches in caliper can be easily stood and staked

  • Irrigation is key to success, treat these trees as if just planted and water accordingly

  • Wait until water levels percolate before fertilizing. It will be okay to wait until November for most fall chores.

  • Apply fungicide if your lawn gets fungus easily.

  • Get a soil test from your Extension office before fertilizing your lawn.

  • Do not use weed and feed products on your lawn at the same time.

  • Identify weeds and use a separate herbicide and separate fertilizer according to label.

  • October through spring is a good time to install sod.

  • Fill bare spots in lawns left from summer pests with sod or plugs.

  • Seeding time for bahiagrass is over; delay rye seedings until temperature highs are in the low to mid-70’s.

  • Chinch bugs and sod webworms can linger into Fall; control as needed

  • With the excessive rain, check to see if your turf needs watered at all.

  • Water turf only when it shows signs of moisture stress.

  • Use soil aeration in older, compacted, and poorly-drained soils to encourage better root growth.

  • Continue mowing to maintain proper turf height; keep mowing height the same year-round.

  • Sharpen & balance mower blades to give a smooth cut to leaf blades.

  • Change the oil and air filters of gas-powered equipment for Fall.

  • Use mulch or ornamental ground covers in areas where turf won’t grow.

 Vegetable and fruit tree care

  •  Apply fungicides preventively.

  • Check to make sure all vegetable plants are back in soil and not uprooted from winds.

  • Check trellises for broken attachments, straightening.

  • Harvest pumpkins this month. Look for dying leaves and vines, deep color, and hardened stem and rind.   

  • Use large transplants of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants to get a Fall crop.

  • Stake or trellis tall or vining crops to keep the edible portions off the ground.

  • Feed gardens every 3 to 4 weeks with a traditional fertilizer or use a slow-release product.

  • Tomatoes begin setting and holding their fruits early to mid-month.

  • Add flowers to vegetable gardens to attract pollinators.

  • Prevent spray damage to pollinators; apply sprays when they are not active.

  • Caterpillars are feeding on cucumbers, melons and tomatoes, control with a natural spray.

  • Begin plantings of cool season vegetables around mid-month.

  • Gardeners cramped for space can grow vegetables in containers.

  • Start seeds for transplants of broccoli, cauliflower, and similar vegetables in containers.

  • Add 3” to 4” mulch to the surface of the soil to conserve moisture and keep vegetables dirt free.

  • If you have mulch on landscape beds, apply only enough mulch to bring the depth to 3” – 4”.

  • Groom summer weary herb plantings and start new ones that prefer the cooler weather.

  • Most vegetables & herbs need moist soil; water when the surface begins to dry to the touch.

  • Fruit splitting on citrus trees is normal and may continue into the Fall.

  • Help prevent citrus fruit drop and splitting, water once or twice a week during dry weather.

  • Give citrus the final feeding of the year during early October.

  • Till new garden sites and enrich sandy soils with garden soil, organic matter and manure.

  • Remove offshoots from pineapple plants to start new beds.

  • Start papaya seedlings for late winter transplants.

  • Add strawberry plants to a garden or build a pyramid for planting.

  • Delay pruning all fruit plantings until mid to late winter.

  • Speed up the composting process by turning the piles monthly.

  • Harvest maturing chayote, cocoyam, dasheen, and gourds.

  • Dig in the soil to check sweet potato plantings; most have roots ready to harvest.

Landscape chores

  •  Straighten, upright, and stake if necessary any leaning small trees and shrubs.

  • If a large tree’s roots are more than halfway out of the ground, get a certified arborist assessment before keeping.

  • There is a difference between cutting off damaged and dangerous limbs correctly and pruning. Have a certified arborist cut back any damaged tree limbs.

  • Avoid pruning right after the storm. The plants need a chance to put on new growth and recover. When you see new growth, you can prune away any branches that remain dead or undesirable.

  • Check irrigation heads and lighting wires for damage.

  • Recycle small dead shrubs and branches in your Halloween landscape.

  • Major pruning time is over for azaleas, bougainvillea, camellias, gardenias, and poinsettias.

  • Pick up and dispose as much of the Spanish moss left in yard by hurricane winds

  • Shield poinsettias and holiday cactuses from nighttime light starting mid-month.

  • Most ornamental and shade trees do not need a special feeding

  • Palm diseases are prevalent; clean and sterilize pruners between palms.

  • Be smart and only remove the brown fronds and flower stems from palms.

  • Give hedges a final trimming.

  • Remove suckers and low limbs from trees.

  • Weeds are plentiful in ornamental plantings; hand pull or spot kill to prevent seeding.

  • Whiteflies and mealy bugs are major pest; systemic insecticides offer good control.

  • Drier weather lies ahead; water when the surface soil begins to dry.

  • Most established trees and shrubs can go a week or more between waterings.

  • Walk through yard to check for irrigation obstruction. Trim away limbs and weeds affecting the operation of sprinkler systems.

  • Check container plantings for plugged drainage holes; repotting may be needed.

  • Maintain mulch under trees and shrubs; make sure you can see the flare at the base of the plant and tree.

  • Determine tree needs and plant smaller growing wind resistant species.

  • Check tree and palm supports to make sure they are secure but not damaging the plants.

  • Add Fall plants to hanging baskets and container gardens.

  • Edge sidewalks and plant beds.

  • Replace soil in problem flower beds and planters.

  • Replant flower beds with cool season annuals and perennials; delay pansies until November.

  • Start Pansy and other winter annual seeds now for planting in November and December.

  • Divide perennial and bulb plantings.

  • Give water lilies and bog plants a monthly feeding.

 House & foliage plant care

  •  Order gift amaryllis to be delivered in December for Xmas.

  • Plants reduce pollutants and create a pleasing atmosphere when added to homes and offices.

  • Foliage plants are often a good buy at garden centers during Fall; replace declining plants.

  • Many foliage plants have grown too large for their containers; repot as needed.

  • Groom outdoor foliage plants and begin moving them to a warm location.

  • Most foliage plants need a bright light location but out of the direct sun.

  • Feed plants in bright light monthly; less often in low light.

  • Control insects on plants before moving them indoors.

  • Water holiday cactuses only when the surface soil dries

  • Begin forcing amaryllis and paper white narcissus for indoor displays and discontinue feedings.

  • Make sure indoor poinsettias, holiday cactuses and kalanchoes receive no nighttime light.

Grow Big and Grow Home

Photo credit: Teresa Watkins, Windmill Gardens, Holland, MI.

At a recent client consultation, my client was at her wit’s end trying to keep up with the weeding of her garden beds. I could feel her pain. It’s a major issue in the final dog days of summer. Torpedo grass had infiltrated her backyard beds and it was not going to get better or easier to get rid of the weeds. As she had only 7 to 8 plants and an oak tree in a 15’ x  6’ – 7’ space, my best advice was to carefully dig up the plants, preserving as much of the root ball as possible, and lay under another shaded area.  Then I would spray a non-selective herbicide throughout the bed around the tree.  In a week the herbicide would have done its job (always check product label), she could clear and level out the ground, check the plants’ root balls for any torpedograss rhizomes, and replant her shrubs, and mulch.  Determine where the invasive weed is coming from to keep it out of the yard. You could also solarize the bed but this late in the year, you would probably want to delay planting freeze-sensitive shrubs till early Spring.

One of the best ways to keep weeds out of your turf and garden beds is to make sure you start off with a clean slate. Make sure there are no weeds already existing in the ground.  The next way is to make sure your turf or garden bed is healthy with dense coverage and mulched correctly.  Competition and 2” – 3” of mulch can keep weed seeds from germinating or weeds taking over. Leaving large bare spots allows uninvited plants to grow.

 I saw clear examples of weedless beds at the Garden Communicators International 2024 Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Botanical gardens, private, and trial beds at Frederik Botanical Gardens, private home gardens, and Walters Gardens, showcased lush, abundant plants, with little to no weed issue. And it wasn’t that these gardens had people who pulled weeds 7 days a week. It helps to provide competition, maintain mulch levels, keeping an eye out to remove any new unwelcomed guests. It was also because they spaced the plants based on their mature size, and made sure there was good air circulation. This provides competition for nutrients, water, and sunlight. What is your biggest weed dilemma?  Do you hand pull or feel comfortable using herbicides?  

Photo credit: Teresa Watkins, Michigan State University Grand Ideas Gardens, Grand Rapids, MI.

Photo credit: Teresa Watkins, Walters Gardens, Zeeland MI.

Photo credit: Teresa Watkins, Gardens Crossing Retail Nursery, Zeeland MI.

Photo credit: Teresa Watkins, Walters Gardens, Zeeland MI.

I took over 2000 photographs while I was touring gardens. Check out a few of them at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park album on Facebook.

Fall starts September 22nd, what should you do this month to get your yard ready for Fall? Check out What To Do in Your Landscape for September.  My Plant of the Month is a beautiful flowering vine that has a flower color that will make you euphoric. I’ve added where you can buy the plant online.  I saw beautiful, lush outdoor rooms in Michigan that showcased tropicals. My Design Tips feature how you can create your very own space.  Landscape Malpractice this month is one of the most common mistakes and its just carelessness and ignorance on both landscapers and homeowners. It’s not 10pm, but do you know where your rain sensor is?

Want to travel to beautiful gardens around the world with me? Check out Art in Bloom Garden Tours. America’s oldest and most prestigious Philadelphia Flower Show and a visit to Longwood Gardens will be a wonderful Spring trip!

After attending a wonderful conference that was inspiring and educational, I’m ready to go for the Fall. Listen to Better Lawns and Gardens on Saturday mornings live on WFLA-Orlando and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

This is an incorrectly installed irrigation rain sensor that was installed years ago by a landscaper or irrigation company. It is located underneath 5 - yes FIVE - live oak trees and will never be able to receive rainfall. Since 1981, it’s been a Florida law (FS 373.62) that all automatic irrigation systems must have a working rain sensor that turns the system off when there has been enough rainfall. This technology (like all equipment) works correctly when it is located properly in a spot that is unobstructed and can receive rainfall easily and maintained on a regular basis. Most irrigation rain sensors cost less than $75 and will save thousands of gallons of water a year and hundreds of dollars for the homeowner. Every home with an automatic irrigation system, (no matter when the irrigation system was installed) is legally requited to have a rain sensor. If your landscaper doesn’t know if you have a working rain sensor on your irrigation system, that’s a red flag. They should be checking it regularly.

Teresa's Plant of the Month for September

I first laid eyes on the new Sun Parasol® Original XP Bluephoria™ Mandevilla at the Tropical Plant Industy Expo last January. It took my breath away. The colors of the bluish=purple flowering vine in the pot were striking. Recently, I received a Bluephoria from Costa Farms to trial. It’s loving the rain and blooming nicely. I immediately began to think of all the ways I could use this fabulous blue flower in my landscape designs: as the filler and spiller in containers, as a hanging basket, or as a trellised vine. It is not considered winter-hardy in Zones 8 and 9. But the color? This one deserves a blue ribbon!

Photo credit: Sun Parasol.

Teresa's Design Tip - Create an Intimate Outdoor Room

Outdoor room seating under a shade tree.

Would you like to have a place outside where you can entertain, have a cuppa tea in the morning, or comfortably sit and read? An outdoor room is a designated area in your yard with a self-styled floor, open but lush walls, and even a subliminal ceiling.

Whether you have full sun or full shade, you can create an outdoor room with a few details and of course, right plants, right place.

First, look for existing “walls” (aka tall shrubs, trees, or fences) already in your yard, that you can use visually to enclose your “room.” Comfortable sizes for your outdoor room depend on the number of people you would like to accommodate. For one or two persons, 8’ to 10’ area should be adequate, for five to six people, 15’ to 20’ will work. It can be rectangular, round, or square.

If you don’t have any walls, consider adding trellis panels, single paneled fences, vintage screen doors, or doors with windows, inexpensive china hutches, or garden workbenches, found at flea markets. Think about the area and available air circulation. Allowing the breeze to blow through will be appreciated in the summertime. If you would like to plant shrubs that will grow large, like camellia, native firebush, bamboo, or ligustrum and viburnums. Determine the size of mature plants for amount of plants to buy. Space them at half their mature width, so that they fill in nicely over two-three years. Install correctly so that your “walls” will be stable and withstand wind or can be put away before a storm.

Second, is your floor. This can be mulch, patio pavers, brick, pea gravel, or even an outdoor rug. Make sure it’s level. Mulch can be the least expensive material for the entire area. You can always install hardscape pavers or bricks later.

To simulate a ceiling, or to provide cover from sun or rain, a patio umbrella, shade sails, or awning. Place a real candle chandelier or  try a modern LED candle chandelier.

Add your favorite furniture, seating, coffee table, end tables, bar set, outdoor patio lamps,  garden tools to complete your setting.  Increase the size of your outdoor room by hanging a vintage mirror.

Now it’s time to enhance your room with more plants. Raise the roof by hanging baskets of glorious annuals or blooming vines, ferns. This can be done using strong shrub branches, tree limbs, metal hanging basket poles, or right from the trellis. Add more plants for color and pizzazz with containers, any style that fits your fancy or theme.

 Let your design style flow freely. Make it your own.

What To Do in Your Landscape for September

By Teresa Watkins

September 2024

 Average temperatures High 90 Low 72

Average rainfall 5.76 inches

Autumn arrives September 22nd, 2024

  September Plantings

 Vegetables: Early plantings include lima bean, snap bean, corn, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, southern pea, rhubarb, squash, and tomato; End of the month crops include arugula, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, celery, collard, endive, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, strawberry, and turnip.

 Flowers: Agapanthus, ageratum, angelonia, begonia, blue daze, butterfly weed, buttonbush, cat's whiskers, celosia, cleome, coleus, coreopsis, cosmos, firebush, garden mums, gaura, gazania, gerbera, goldenrod, gomphrena, heliotrope, impatiens, Jacobina, lantana, marigold, melampodium, New Guinea impatiens, nicotiana, pentas, periwinkle, plumbago, roses, salvia, sunflower, sweet alyssum, thyrallis, torenia, Turk’s cap, verbena, and zinnia.

 Herbs: Anise, basil, bay laurel, borage, chives, coriander, dill, lemon balm, lavender, Mexican tarragon, mint, parsley, rosemary, sage, sweet fennel, sweet marjoram, and thyme.

 Bulbs: African iris, agapanthus, amaryllis, blackberry lily, bulbine, calla lily, crinum, crocosmia, day lily, gladiolus, kaffir lily, narcissus, society garlic, spider lily, rain lilies and walking iris. Look for and purchase cool-season bulbs for refrigeration, including crocus, daffodils, crocus, hyacinths, muscari, and tulips.

 Fruit and Vegetable Care

 ·       Get a soil test of garden every year to find out what fertilizer nutrients to apply.

·       Clean used containers before planting.

·       Give large growing plants big containers to have room for good root growth.

·       Keep container-grown tomatoes uniformly moist to avoid blossom-end rot.

·       New to gardening? Start a garden journal and list names of seeds, the varieties, date planted, days to harvest, temperatures, and any weather conditions that might affect growth, i.e., extreme heat, lack of rain, storms.

·       Add vegetables and herbs to containers for patio and balcony gardens. 

·       All vegetables like a sunny site with at least 6 – 8 hours; leafy crops can often grow in filtered sun.

·       Remember the sun dips south Fall through Winter so note sites that may become shady.

·       Last year’s gardens may need an additional layer of organic compost or manure, like Black Kow.

·       Remove plastic covers from solarization treatments and plant without tilling.

·       Where nematodes are a problem, dig a large hole and fill it with organic amendments or potting soil before planting.

·       Keep new plantings and seedlings moist; water older plantings when the soil begins to dry.

·       Apply a first feeding two weeks after adding transplants or seed germination.

·       Continue with monthly feedings for in-ground plantings, every other week for containers.

·       Use slow-release fertilizer which may be the only feeding needed.

·       Add flowering plants to gardens to invite pollinators to visit.

·       Set tomatoes in the ground or in containers early and start training to a trellis.

·       Provide support for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and others from vegetables above.

·       Rejuvenate older herb gardens in late September by adding fresh plantings.

·       Check the garden daily to determine soil moisture of ground and check for pests.

·       Harvest herbs to encourage continued growth. .

·       Use mulches to conserve water, control weeds and keep soil off leafy crops.

·       Remove side shoots/pups to root from pineapple plants and increase your plantings.

·       Start seedlings of Fall cool season crops later in the month.

·       Begin citrus and avocado tree feedings toward the end of the month. For more specific information on fertilizing different size citrus trees: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS132

 Lawn Care

 ·       Get soil test analysis of turf areas before fertilizing.

·       If your lawn is susceptible to fungus and you have had excessive rains during past storms, apply a preventative fungicide according to the label.

·       Where grass won’t grow because of too much shade, consider use of an ornamental ground cover, like ajuga, Asiatic jasmine, ferns, liriope, mondo grass, or pachysandra,

·       Lawns with aggressive weeds need attention; dig out, resod or spot treat with herbicides, but if temperatures average above 85 degrees, wait until October to use an herbicide.

·       Most local ordinances restrict fertilization until October 1st.

·       To green up lawns, use an iron-only or minor nutrient application until October.

·       Once weeds or pest issues are taken care of, patch pest-damaged or weed areas with new sod, plugs, or seed.

·       Complete seeding of Bahia turf in early September.

·       Lawn caterpillars and chinch bugs can continue in to Fall; control when noted.

·       Several products are now available for nematode control by lawn care companies.

·       Fire ants are frequently found in lawns; spot treat mounds with bait, then treat the entire lawn.

·       Aerate hard to wet or compacted soils.

·       Continue mowings at recommended heights

·       Change mowing patterns on regular basis, overlapping rows so mower doesn’t create ruts.

·       Service lawn care equipment to have it ready for Fall.

 In the Landscape

 ·       Keep eye on trees and shrubs that may have been affected by the drought in Spring and Summer. Decline from 2024 drought may be an issue for next few years.

·       Make sure any shrubs and trees leaning from storm winds are straightened as soon as possible.

·       Note plant decline in landscapes, from excessive gutter drainage. Bury gutter and extend out into yard to prevent displacement of soil and mulch.

·       Prune away dead or declining plant portions affected by Summer weather or pests.

·       Weeds are plentiful; remove them before they flower and disperse seeds.

·       Renew mulches with only a light topping to keep 3” – 4” of mulch.

·       Clean and sharpen pruning equipment to make trimming easy with minimal plant damage.

·       Prune declining brown fronds only and flower stems from palms but leave the green fronds.

·       Sterilize pruners between plants when trimming palms with possible diseases.

·       Many plants have grown out of bounds; now is the time to do needed pruning.

·       Give poinsettias and hydrangeas a final pruning.

·       Check roses that have dead or declining stems and old flowers that need to be removed.

·       Expect caladiums and some ginger to start to decline and go dormant until Spring.

·       Replant declining flowers with warm season selections; delay planting the cool season types until end of November.

·       Avoid planting palms with prevalent disease problems.

·       Scale insects, mealy bugs and aphids have been active; control as needed.

·       Sooty mold grows on the excreta of insects; control both with a horticultural oil spray.

·       Check container plantings for plugged drainage holes; repot as needed.

·       Chrysanthemums make attractive Fall flowers, but they only last a few weeks in the heat.

·       Divide perennials and replant in the garden.

·       Now is the time to ensure poinsettias have 12 hours of complete darkness every night to encourage blooming in time for Christmas.

·       Plan for cool weather bulbs, i.e., tulips, hyacinth, daffodils, etc. and refrigerate bulbs for 16 weeks so they can be planted in the landscape two to three weeks ahead of when you would like them to bloom.

·       Add new trees, shrubs, and palms.

·       Feed palms with a slow-release fertilizer three to four times a year.

·       Begin late September shrub and perennial feedings for Fall where permitted.

·       Feed hanging baskets and orchids every other week.

·       Remove declining leaves and flowers from water lilies; give a monthly feeding.

 Houseplant Care

 ·       There is still time to revive foliage plants by moving them outdoors to a shady site.

·       Indoor orchids and bromeliads make good outdoor additions when they begin to decline.

·       Groom foliage plants growing outdoors for an improved appearance.

·       Control pests including scale, mealybugs, thrips and mites with natural sprays.

·       Gradually reduce feedings and watering of Christmas and holiday cactus.

·       Transplant foliage plants needing new containers before the cooler Fall weather.

·       Feed foliage plants monthly or use a slow-release fertilizer according to the label.

·       Replace declining plants with new selections for Fall.

·       Obtain amaryllis and paper white narcissus bulbs for Fall forcing.

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