Cooperative Extension Service Franklin County 101 Lakeview Court Frankfort, KY 40601-8750 (502) 695-9035 Fax: (502) 695-9309 franklin.ca.uky.edu

What your gardening friends

really want for Christmas By Capital Area Extension Master Gardeners,

Susan Harkins and Paula Mullins

It’s that time of year, and you’re in luck if a

gardener is on your gift list. Passionate

gardeners are probably the easiest people to

please. If you’re close, you might already know

that they’re searching for a specific orchid or

drooling over a new set of shiny loppers. On

the other hand, if you not sure, we’re here to

help.

Closer to the holidays, you can purchase

traditional holiday plants most anywhere.

Amaryllis, paperwhites, and holiday cacti will

show up everywhere and they’re affordable.

Not all gardeners are keen on house plants

though; if they don’t have any, skip this one

and read on.

Tools are personal, but a gardener can always

use a new set of good hand pruners, a hori hori

knife, or a good pruning saw. A gardener can

never have too many pairs of gardening

shears, and they come in all sizes. If your

gardening friend tends to lose tools (I know I

do), a utility tool apron, such as the one by

Keen, would be high on their list. It should have

lots of pockets in different widths and lengths to

corral all those new tools.

A vase or planter might be just the ticket. Like

tools, a gardener can never have too many. For

that reason, make sure it’s spectacular or

unusual in some way. They probably have tons

of normal vases and planters already.

As odd as it might sound, you might hook up

with a local farmer and purchase compost to be

delivered in early spring. Then, help your

gardening friend spread it—this is as important

as the purchase.

If your gardener is a little older, consider a new

gardening cart to replace their awkward

wheelbarrow. Garden carts are durable, easy

to handle, and they come in more than one

size! An easy-to-handle, flexible, gardening

hose of at least 100 feet would be great.

They’re lightweight and easy to move.

For the reader, consider a subscriptions to a

gardening magazine. There are several to

choose from: Fine Gardening, Country

Gardens, Garden Gate, Horticulture, Gardens

WHAT’S INSIDE THIS MONTH…

What Your Gardening Friends Want ..……..….1-2

November Gardening Calendar ……….……....3-4

Cauliflower Casserole ……….………….………...4

Fall Color from Shrubs …………………...……5-6

Tomato Production in KY ……...………………....7

Everything But Daffys ...….............................…..8

Sourwood Tree …………………………………….9

Winterizing Roses ………...……………………..10

Thanksgiving Closing …………………………...10

Pumpkin Production in KY …………………...…11

Compliant Procedure ………….………………...12

Illustrated, Birds and Bloom, Mother Earth

News, Herb Quarterly, and don't forget

Kentucky Gardener. Or, you might consider a

number of gardening books: Gardening for the

Birds, by Thomas G. Barnes;

Kentucky’s Last Great Places

by Thomas G. Barnes, Plant

Life of Kentucky by Ronald L.

Jones, Trees & Shrubs of

Kentucky by Mary E.

Wharton and Roger W.

Barbour, Edible Wild Plants

by John Kallas, PhD;

Wildflowers and Ferns of

Kentucky by Thomas G.

Barnes and S. Wilson

Francis; Bringing Nature

Home by Douglas W.

Tallamy; The Living

Landscape by Rick Darke

and Doug Tallamy; and many

more.

A small pop-up greenhouse would be a certain

winner, especially if you offer to help put it

together! They come in a variety of sizes and

prices. Make sure your friend has space for it

before you make the purchase.

If you’re feeling especially generous, a potter’s

table would be a huge surprise and a certain hit!

Before you purchase anything, size up their

surroundings: Do they really have room for

one? If it needs to stay outside, purchase

something durable, such as resin, teak,

stainless steel. They come in lots of sizes with

different amenities, so you’ll have lots of

choices.

Most gardeners love nature in general, so

anything in that vein is a good bet. A

membership to a nearby private garden or

arboretum will be well-received. In our area, we

have Yew Dell Gardens and the Waterfront

Botanical Gardens, both in Louisville. The

Arboretum in Lexington is public, so a

membership isn’t necessary. However, if your

gardening friend has everything already, you

might consider a donation in their name. A

pretty water feature is always nice, especially if

you help with (or pay for) installation. Garden

art is iffy—it’s personal, but if

you know the gardener well,

you can probably pull it off.

Kentucky license plate bird

houses can be purchased at

the Anderson County Circuit

Court; you can get a

butterfly, dragonfly, cardinal,

and more.

If you still can’t decide,

consider a gift card. At Wild

Birds Unlimited, they might

use a gift card to purchase a

squirrel-proof bird feeder

that really works. A card to a

local nursery (such as Glen

Young Garden Center and

Springhouse in Nicholasville, Carbajal’s Garden

and Landscaping in Lawrenceburg, and Wilson

Nurseries in Frankfort) or even a box store

(such as Lowe’s) might be used to purchase

seed packets, tools, mulch, bulbs, nursery

plants, and so on. For the native plant lovers,

consider a gift card to a nursery that specializes

in native plants, such as Ironweed Native Plant

Nursery in Columbia Kentucky or Dropseed

Native Plant Nursery in Goshen. For the

gardener who loves to watch seeds germinate,

consider a gift certificate to Burpees, Johnny’s

Selected Seeds, Baker Heirloom, Prairie Moon,

Select Seeds, Renee’s Garden, or Roundstone.

You might not have to spend any money at all.

A hand-made coupon and a sincere promise to

return in the spring and help your gardening

friend put in a new bed, spread mulch, or just

clean up the winter mess would be a gift from

the heart that your gardening friend will never

forget. I think I’m adding this one to my own list!

(Continued from Pg. 1, What your gardening

friends really want for Christmas)

Left to right: Folding pruning saw, garden

trowel, soil knife (hori hori knife), and bypass

pruners.

November Gardening Calendar

Ornamentals

Continue watering evergreens until the

ground freezes. Soils must not be dry

when winter arrives.

Now is the ideal time to plant trees and

shrubs. Before digging the hole, prepare

the site by loosening the soil well beyond

the drip line of each plant. Plant trees and

shrubs at the depth they grew in the

nursery and not deeper. Remove all wires,

ropes and non-biodegradable materials

from roots before back filling. Apply a 2-3

inch mulch layer, but stay several inches

away from the trunk. Keep the soil moist,

not wet, to the depth of the roots.

Newly planted broad-leaf evergreens such

as azaleas, boxwood and hollies benefit

from a burlap screen for winter wind

protection. Set screen stakes in place

before the ground freezes.

Now is a good time to observe and choose

nursery stock based on fall foliage interest.

Plant tulips now.

Mums can be cut back to within several

inches of the ground once flowering ends.

After the ground freezes, apply a 2 to 3

inch layer of loose mulch such as pine

needles, straw or leaves.

Mulch flower and bulb beds after the

ground freezes, to prevent injury to plants

from frost heaving.

Roses should be winterized after a heavy

frost. Place a 6 to 10-inch deep layer of

mulch over each plant. Top soil works best.

Prune sparingly, just enough to shorten

overly long canes. Climbers should not be

pruned at this time.

Take steps to prevent garden pools from

freezing solid in winter. Covering pools

with an insulating material or floating a

stock tank water heater in the pond will

lessen the chance of ice damage.

Covering garden pools with bird netting will

prevent leaves from fouling the water.

Oxygen depletion from rotting organic

matter can cause winter kill of pond fish.

Vegetables

Fall tilling the vegetable garden exposes

many insect pests to winter cold, reducing

their numbers in next year's garden.

Any unused, finished compost is best tilled

under to improve garden soils.

To prevent insects or diseases from

overwintering in the garden, remove and

compost all plant debris.

Overcrowded or unproductive rhubarb

plants can be divided now.

Root crops such as carrots, radishes,

turnips and Jerusalem artichokes store well

outdoors in the ground. Just before the

ground freezes, bury these crops under a

deep layer of leaves or straw. Harvest as

needed during winter by pulling back this

protective mulch.

For Thanksgiving, weave a holiday wreath

of garlic, onions, chili peppers and herbs. It

will make a gourmet gift for a lucky friend.

Fruits

Keep mulches pulled back several inches

from the base of fruit trees to prevent bark

injury from hungry mice and other rodents.

Fallen, spoiled or mummified fruits should

be cleaned up from the garden and

destroyed by burying.

A dilute whitewash made from equal parts

interior white latex paint and water applied

to the southwest side of young fruit trees

will prevent winter sun scald injury.

Commercial tree guards or protective

collars made of 18-inch high hardware

cloth will prevent trunk injury to fruit trees

from gnawing rabbits and rodents.

Mulch strawberries for winter with straw.

This should be done after several nights

near 20 degrees, but before temperatures

drop into the teens. Apply straw loosely,

but thick enough to hide plants from view.

Miscellaneous

Now is a good time to

collect soil samples to

test for pH and

nutritional levels.

Roll up and store

garden hoses on a

warm, sunny day. It's

hard to get a cold hose

to coil into a tight loop.

To prevent injury to

turf grasses, keep

leaves raked up off of

the lawn.

Continue mowing lawn

grasses as long as

they keep growing.

A final fall application of fertilizer

can be applied to bluegrass and

fescue lawns now.

Clean house gutters of leaves and fallen

debris before cold wet weather sets in.

Set up bird feeders. Birds appreciate a

source of unfrozen drinking water during

the winter.

Be sure to shut off and drain any outdoor

water pipes or irrigation systems that may

freeze during cold weather.

For cyclamen to bloom well indoors, they

need cool temperatures in the 50-60

degree range, bright light, evenly moist

soils, and regular fertilization.

Reduce or eliminate fertilizing of

houseplants until spring.

Gardening Calendar supplied by the staff

of the William T. Kemper Center for Home

Gardening located at the Missouri

Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri.

(Continued from Pg. 3, November Gardening

Calendar)

Fall Color from Shrubs

By: David Trinklein, University of Missouri,

Integrated Pest Management

While trees command most of our attention when it comes to fall foliage color, their more diminutive relatives should not be overlooked. In the home landscape as well as in the wild, woody shrubs also provide fall color to enhance outdoor living are as well as add beauty to the season. At a time when many summer flowers are in a state of decline, colorful shrubs can extend garden enjoyment. Shrubs that provide fall color are not restricted to those planted in home landscapes. Many occur in nature and can be enjoyed as outdoor enthusiasts search for colorful fall scenes. Indeed, early autumn excursions are made more enjoyable by the bright red leaves of native sumacs such as fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) and smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) often can be seen growing along roadsides. These two species also are suitable for the home landscape and will provide good fall color additional to interest at other times as well. Perhaps a bit more decorative, cut-leaf staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina 'Laciniata') is another useful sumac selected from a native sumac species. Capable of growing to a height of about 20 feet, it boasts large, deeply divided leaves that turn from a beautiful orange to a fiery red in the fall. It must be given room, however, since it

tends to spread via root suckers to form a clump. Like other sumacs, it is durable and tolerates poor soil along with dry, sunny exposures. Tiger-eyes sumac (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') is yet another selection of staghorn sumac. It boasts chartreuse green foliage in the spring, yellow foliage during the summer and fiery orange foliage

in the fall. Shorter than cut-leaf staghorn sumac, it grows to a height of only about six feet. One of the most attractive and best-known shrubs for fall color is dwarf burning bush euonymus (Euonymus alatus 'Compactus'). The species is considered by some to be invasive, especially when planted in more rural settings. When

planted in urban areas, 'Compactus' is much less so. Additionally, sterile 'Compactus' cultivars recently have been developed and currently are being evaluated for horticultural merit. Somewhat smaller in size than the species, 'Compactus' is considered to be more suitable for the home landscape. It prefers full sun to part-sun/shade and bears leaves that turn crimson red in fall. One of the lesser-known shrubs that provides good reddish-purple fall color is oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia). In addition to attractive fall foliage color, this hydrangea produces white flowers in early summer that turn pinkish purple by mid-summer and brown in the fall. This is possible because the showy appendages of the flowers are long-lived bracts and not petals. While it can tolerate some sun, oakleaf hydrangea may fade and color prematurely when heat stressed. Dozens of useful cultivars of the species have been selected and are available to the

staghorn sumac

public. One of the best is 'Snowflake' which produces huge eight-inch panicles that often bend down the shrub's branches because of their abundance. A group of shrubs that also exhibit modest fall color while being good landscape specimens are the viburnums. They include American cranberry bush (Viburnum trilobum), Korean spice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) and several other related species in the Viburnum genus. Most will develop red or reddish-purple fall foliage color. Additionally, they bear attractive (and often fragrant) flowers in the spring. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii.) is a common landscape shrub that also carries with it the reputation of being invasive, especially in eastern states. Crimson pigmy barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Atropurpurea Nana')is a dwarf form of the species which develops far fewer fruits and is considered much less of a threat to become invasive. As its common name implies, it has deep burgundy foliage the entire growing season that turns crimson red in fall. Call them large shrubs or small trees, dogwoods are another group of woody plants that develop attractive reddish-purple fall leaf color. The shrubby types, such as silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)

or red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) are good choices for landscape use, given the proper setting. They grow from between six to ten feet in height and almost as wide. Where space is available, they make durable, low-maintenance shrubs that add beauty to the landscape. The red osier dogwood, commonly called red twig dogwood, also is grown for the reddish color of its bark which provides color throughout the winter. While most of the shrubs mentioned thus far have red or reddish-purple fall foliage color, there are shrubs that provide other colors as well. Forsythia (Forsythia spp.) is noted for its bright yellow flowers borne in early spring. Most, however, produce yellow-green foliage color in fall. Additionally, a bright yellow leaf color is produced in fall by common witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). This woody species develops into a large shrub or, at times, a small tree. In addition to yellow-colored fall leaves, this plant sometimes produces yellow flowers after its leaves have fallen. A native species, witch-hazel is not readily available in commerce, but worthy as a landscape addition, should one be found. Colorful shrubs provide a special "finishing touch" to the landscape. No matter what your taste might be, you are sure to find a shrub that can accommodate it. Additional to those mentioned above, cotoneaster, aronia, some of the spireas and a few species of shrub-type rose are worthy of investigation. The enjoyment of fall foliage color is one of nature's treats. Perhaps its fleeting appearance is one reason annual spectacle so highly anticipated. Shrubs, no matter how colorful, do not provide the visual impact of large trees. However, they do add another dimension to the landscape. Thus, occasionally when looking up to admire fall tree color, take time to look down and enjoy the color some of our woody shrubs provide. common witch-hazel

(Continued from Pg. 5, Fall Colors from

Shrubs)

Native Plant Highlight:

Sourwood Tree (Oxydendrum

arboreum)

By: Dr. Thomas Barnes, UK Extension Forestry

Faculty

Wow is a word that describes the scarlet fall

color of the sourwood tree. Better than the

best maple tree by far. Scarlet and I mean

scarlet red. This widely under-utilized tree in

the landscape has tons of appeal. It is quite

showy and in the spring. The leaves come

out with bronze tips, summer is complete with

sprays of white flowers dripping downward in

contrast to the bright green leaves, and in fall

they turn spectacular color with the grayish

seed pods providing contrast. They are a

small tree and to get a good growth form in

the garden, only purchase a container

product, not balled. Their maximum height

reaches about 30' and they can be rather

slow growing in the landscape. They need

well-drained acidic soil high in organic matter

and they don't like competition. They do not

like high pH soils or heavy clay soils and can't

tolerate much pollution. So mulch them in

well with pine straw and keep the base free

from competing plants. They should be

planted in part-shade and during extended

drought periods watering is a necessity.

When considering where to place this small

tree, think about someplace where it will have

maximum visual impact in the fall. One of the

best attributes of the species is that the

honey made from the flowers is supposedly

the best you can get. Many folks don't

appreciate it for a landscape plant because it

usually has a crooked stem, but I think it just

makes this tree all the more appealing.

Winterizing Roses

Winter is coming and it is time to put your rose

garden to bed! Winterizing roses is an

important maintenance practice to ensure

healthy growth from year to year. There are

several things you can do to make sure your

roses survive before the cold winds blow.

First, choose the most winter hardy roses to

plant. Next, make sure your roses are healthy

and not under stress as they go into winter.

Reduce stress on roses going into the dormant

season by irrigating adequately in late autumn

and discontinuing nitrogen application in late

summer or early autumn. Don’t cut spent

flowers after October 1, this will discourage new

growth and allow the plant to harden off before

winter.

Hybrid Teas, grandifloras, and

floribundas should be protected

from winter ravages after two hard

frosts or night temperatures

reaching the lower 20s for several

nights in a row. This is usually

around late November and early

December.

For Hybrid Teas, cut the canes

back to 8 to 12 inches tall.

Grandifloras and floribundas may

be left 18 to 24 inches tall. Remove any dead,

damaged and diseased canes. Remove dead

and fallen leaves and other plant debris around

the plants.

Next, mound good quality mulch, such as wood

chips, sawdust, shredded hardwood, or pine

bark, about 8 to 12 inches over the rose canes.

You may also cover the mounds with straw,

tree boughs, or some similar material to hold

the mulch in place. Some gardeners prefer to

construct wire mesh cylinders to surround each

plant, which they fill with mulch. Still others use

rose cones, or baskets with bottoms cut out, or

burlap to wrap the plants.

When severe winter weather conditions have

subsided, which is typically mid-March, remove

most of the mulch from around the plants. You

may leave a 2-inch layer of mulch in the bed.

Prune off any dead canes or tips. Inspect for

insects and diseases and treat for these pests if

needed. Then fertilize, and your roses should

be off to a good start for the growing season!

Knockout Roses need no special winter care.

You can trim back any damaged stems in mid-

March.

For more information on roses and their care,

click on http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/

id118/id118.pdf .

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COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

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resolution through a variety of paths. Discrimination may be reported to the

Jenny Cocanougher, Director for District 4 - Ft. Harrod/Bluegrass at

859-257-7478 or supervisor. To initiate a complaint at the college level,

contact Tim West in the Business Office at 859-257-3879. At the University

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