You are the epitome of magic
Your thick stems arching up into the air at sharp angles … But your journey is always upward except when one of your stems takes a very deep bow …
your leaves are long and languid, sweetly supporting bouquets you present to the eye … I am somewhere among those leaves
— ‘TO A PAPERWHITE NARCISSUS’ by DAVID LEO STROIS,
Canadian-American poet ,
BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH
STILL IN EARLY SPRING, FOLKS, PAPERWHITES DON’T CARE!
Not enough garden color returning yet? Greg Grant suggests these gorgeous, fragrant, reliable bloomers that:
- Never need water.
- Never need fertilizer.
3. Never need pesticides.
- Never need dividing.
(Note: They even bloomed in snow in for me. You can often see blooming this time of year in vacant lots and fields)
When Greg Grant speaks on plants, smart gardeners know they better listen. He’s responsible for more of our now-favorite garden plants than I could possible list (a few greg-grant-introductions/), many through his long association with Stephen F. Austin University’s famous SFA gardens in Nacogdoches. Early bloomers will be everywhere during Greg’s Thurs., March 9, talk on “Making Scents of the Genus Narcissus“ at SFA’s Pineywoods Native Plant Center. Details: (936) 468-4129 or sfagardens@sfasu.edu.
Looking for early spring bloomers to wow your neighbors? Greg suggests tarzettas — the prolific, smaller-flowered narcissus also called paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta papyraceous). Especially impressive: fully-double form of ‘Ice Follies.’ Still confused? Greg recommends. “Scott Ogden’s Growing Bulbs in the South”
Pictured: clusters of white Big Momma’s paperwhites, and yellow daffodills, decorate an early spring yard and make a beautiful bouquet. Lower right, Jonquil Hill at SFA Gardens. All Greg Grant photos
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KNOW YOUR SNAKES! Tip o’ the trowel to Esther Melnik who posted on Houston Gardening website the useful Houston Chronicle web-look at common, harmless local snakes we should welcome in our yards. They save us $$$ by
controlling damaging termites, mice, rats and other destructive creatures. “11 NON VENOMOUS SNAKES YOU WANT IN YOUR BACK YARD“
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KNOW YOUR SNAKES! Tip o’ the trowel to Esther Melnik who posted on Houston Gardening website the useful Houston Chronicle web-look at common, harmless local snakes we should welcome in our yards. They save us $$$ by
controlling damaging termites, mice, rats and other destructive creatures. “11 NON VENOMOUS SNAKES YOU WANT IN YOUR BACK YARD“
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WATTA WEALTH OF LOCAL GARDENING KNOW-HOW!
Houston has many plant society websites maintained by Internationally-recognized horticulturists, experts in their specific floral field, many of whom contribute their skills and knowledge helping to beautify our local public sites.
Their websites list their sales and educational events in addition to a wealth of growing tips, new varieties best for us, etc.
I need your help to update this websites list. If I have wrong, or missing links to new groups, let me know: lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com.
GREATER HOUSTON AREA HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY / ORGANIZATION CONTACTS
Spring Branch AFRICAN VIOLET Society — orgsites.com/tx/sbavc Houston BEGONIA Society — absastro.tripod.com/branch.htm Houston BONSAI Society — houstonbonsai.com
BROMELIAD Society/Houston — bromeliadsocietyhouston.org Houston CACTUS & SUCCULENT Society — hcsstex.org Coushatta CAMELLIA Society — coushattacamelliasociety.com Houston CHRYSANTHEMUM Society — mums.org/chapters/tx.htm
Cypress Creek DAYLILY Club — cypresscreekdaylily.wixsite.com/ccdc
Houston HERMOCALLIS Society (DAYLILIES) — ofts.com/hhs/ Gulf Coast FERN Society — tgcfernsoc.org
HERB Society of America/South Texas Unit — herbsociety-stu.org American HIBISCUS Society/Lone Star Chapter — lonestarahs.org NATIVE PLANT Society of Texas chapters — npsot.org/wp/chapters/ International OLEANDER Society — oleander.org
Houston Area PALM Society — palms.org/houston Houston ORCHID Society — houstonorchidsociety.org PLUMERIA Society of America — theplumeriasociety.org Houston ROSE Society — houstonrose.org
Texas ROSE Rustlers (antique roses) — texasroserustlers.org
TREES for Houston — treesforhouston.org
GENERAL GARDENING GROUPS
Houston URBAN GARDENERS — houstonurbangardeners.org MASTER GARDENER program near you — mastergardener.tamu.edu URBAN HARVEST — urbanharvest.org
Houston has literally thousands of neighborhood garden clubs. To find one near you, log on: Houston Federation of Garden Clubs:
houstonfederationgardenclubs.org
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Brenda Beust Smith’s column in the LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER is based on her 40+ years as Houston Chronicle’s Lazy Gar,dener
Email: lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com
NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS # 228
As gardeners we often hear about and must deal with compaction. Compaction reduces oxygen entering the soil, reduces plant growth, reduces nutrient uptake, causes less water infiltration, leads to loss of soil life (microbial and larger organisms like earthworms and beetles), and leads to growth of pathogens to name a few issues.
Compaction occurs from two major causes, pressure (weight) and chemical cementation. When we drive on a soil or use heavy equipment, compaction from weight can occur in seconds but may take years for the soil to recover. Compaction from cementation occurs when salts (artificial fertilizer), carbonates (limestone), and other minerals re-crystalize and glue soil particles together.
For example – Minerals are formed from the chemicals in our municipal water supply that cement our soils and create hardpan which is a form of compaction. Two common ones are Fluorapatite Ca5(PO4)3Fl and Chlorapatite Ca5(PO4)3 Cl, (from Principles of Soil Chemistry, 4th Edition, Kim H. Tan).
If you notice in the chemical formulas above, we first notice our friend the phosphate ion (PO4) that is required for healthy soils and plants is locked up chemically. We next notice calcium (Ca) that all gardeners know is essential to having healthy plants is also locked up and unavailable. When these nutrients that are good guys are exposed to fluorine (Fl) as in the fluoride and chlorine (Cl) that are found in our water systems it often turns them into minerals that cement our soil particles together creating hardpan.
So, the more one waters with municipal water, the more often one will need to aerate and in general the more problems one will have. Additionally, nutrients required by plants like calcium, phosphorus and a few others become unavailable to plants, which weakens the plant leading to poor growth, and increased disease and insect problems.
Whether from pressure or cementation this diagram illustrates that after compaction there is less room for air and water to move into the soil.
As the chart below indicates, even a small increase in soil density (compaction) results in a huge decrease of water entering the soil that in science is referred to as permeability.
To prevent compaction there are several things a gardener can do:
1st. – use a good compost as it is full of beneficial microbes that fight disease, break up compaction and help plants absorb nutrients.
2nd – only use a good quality organic fertilizer (my favorite is Microlife) and re- mineralize one’s soil.
3rd – use a good quality aged (partially composted) native mulch. This will also provide food for microbes that will break up compaction and turn heavy clay into rich loam over time.
4th – water as little as possible with municipal water. If you must use it, one can filter out the chemicals that cause problems. There are hose end filters one can purchase to do this. Best is to use rainwater as that is what plants like best. As one’s soil gets healthier more of the rainwater infiltrates the soil and is stored till the plants need it. Rich organic soils are less susceptible to damage from municipal water.
5th – do not use toxic chemicals that kill soil life (herbicides, pesticide fungicides, etc.) or artificial fertilizers.
6th – do not use dyed mulch as it messes up soil biology, plant nutrition and may contain toxic chemicals.
7th – use mechanical aerators as little as possible and only in extreme cases. There is mounting evidence that the weight of the machines offsets the good they may do. By using compost and native mulch one feeds the microbes and earthworms that provide this service for free.
8th – wet soils are more susceptible to compaction hence do not mow or other activity when soils are wet.
9th – pay attention to the weather. Common evaporation can also cause dissolved minerals like salts to rise from the sub-soil as the water was removed and recrystallize creating hardpan compaction. We saw a lot of this occurring during the drought of 2011.
10th – repeated wetting and drying of the soil can also lead to destruction of soil health and end in some compaction. Hence, avoid bare ground and use a 3–4- inch layer of aged native mulch. If the soil is not mulched, even raindrops (or drops from sprinklers) can cause a thin layer of compaction to form at the soil surface preventing the air and water from entering the soil.
2nd – only use a good quality organic fertilizer (my favorite is Microlife) and re- mineralize one’s soil.
3rd – use a good quality aged (partially composted) native mulch. This will also provide food for microbes that will break up compaction and turn heavy clay into rich loam over time.
4th – water as little as possible with municipal water. If you must use it, one can filter out the chemicals that cause problems. There are hose end filters one
can purchase to do this. Best is to use rainwater as that is what plants like best. As one’s soil gets healthier more of the rainwater infiltrates the soil and is stored till the plants need it. Rich organic soils are less susceptible to damage from municipal water.
If we inspire you to attend any of these, please let them know you heard about it in . . . THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS NEWSLETTER! & please patronize our Newsletter & Calendar sponsors below!
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ABOUT US
BRENDA BEUST SMITH WE KNOW HER BEST AS THE LAZY GARDENER . . . but Brenda Beust Smith is also:
- a national award-winning writer & editor
- a nationally-published writer & photographer
- a national horticultural speaker
- a former Houston Chronicle reporter
When the Chronicle discontinued Brenda’s 45-year-old Lazy Gardener” print column — started in the early ’70s as a fun side-project to reporting, it then ranked as the longestrunning, continuously-published local newspaper column in the Greater Houston area. The name, she says, is not just fun, it’s true. Brenda’s gradual sideways step from reporter into gardening writing led first to an 18-year series of when-to-do-what Lazy Gardener Calendars, then to her Lazy Gardener’s Guide book which morphed into her Lazy Gardener’s Guide on CD, which she now emails free upon request. Brenda became a Harris County Master Gardener and, over the years, served on theboards of many Greater Houston area horticulture organizations. She hosted local radio and TV shows, most notably a 10+-year Lazy Gardener specialty shows on HoustonPBS (Ch. 8) and her call-in “EcoGardening” show on KPFT-FM. For over three decades, Brenda served as Assistant Production Manager of the GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA’S “BULLETIN” magazine. Although still an active broad-based freelance writer, Brenda’s main focus now is THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER with John Ferguson and Pablo Hernandez of Nature’s Way Resources. A native of New Orleans and graduate of St. Agnes Academy and the University of Houston, Brenda lives in Humble, TX, and is married to the retired Aldine High School Coach Bill Smith. They have one son, Blake. Regarding this newsletter, Brenda is the lead writer, originator of it and the daily inspiration for it. We so appreciate the way she has made gardening such a fun way to celebrate life together for such a long time.
JOHN FERGUSON John is a native Houstonian and has over 27 years of business experience. He owns Nature’s Way Resources, a composting company that specializes in high quality compost, mulch, and soil mixes. He holds a MS degree in Physics and Geology and is a licensed Soil Scientist in Texas. John has won many awards in horticulture and environmental issues. He represents the composting industry on the Houston-Galveston Area Council for solid waste. His personal garden has been featured in several horticultural books and “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine. His business has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal for the quality and value of their products. He is a member of the Physics Honor Society and many other professional societies. John is is the co-author of the book Organic Management for the Professional. For this newsletter, John contributes articles regularly and is responsible for publishing it.
PABLO HERNANDEZ Pablo Hernandez is the special projects coordinator for Nature’s Way Resources. His realm of responsibilities include: serving as a webmaster, IT support, technical problem solving/troubleshooting, metrics management and quality control. Pablo helps this newsletter happen from a technical support standpoint.
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