Don’t let overly-enthusiastic pink oxalis (clover, sorrel) turn you off all the other great ones!
One leaf is for hope, and one is for faith, And one is for love, you know,
And God put another in for luck, –
If you search, you will find where they grow.
— “Four-Leaf Clover“ by Ella Higginson (1862-1940) poet laureate of Washington State (193)
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! MAY GOOD LUCK INVADE YOUR GARDENS ALL YEAR LONG
(PS. Big Al tried to warn us!)
BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH
It has always amazed me how many folks dislikeOxalis debilis, the (admittedly very enthusiastic) pink clover that colors (some say coats) our lawns, gardens, fields, etc. this time of year.
Ironically, nursery and grocery stores are full of white blooming “clover” — aka oxalis/sorrel — to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! True, our common enthusiastic pink is easier to control in containers, especially for patios, balconies and other small space gardens. But, pre-Harvey, I had lots of in-garden, perfectly polite purple-leafed, white-flowered (St. Patrick’s clover) and fancier pink oxalis in my gardens and (get this!) yes, I have found 4-leaf clovers among them.
Earth brags some 800+ different varieties of oxalis. Except for Prolific Pinks, all of mine have grown in clusters, thriving with zero care in shade/part shade .
Prolific Pinks (my name for them) produce green leaves in winter, flower in spring then gradually disappear below ground until winter rolls around. Others stayed cute almost year-round, disappearing for only a short period in winter.
Oxalis owes its “lucky” spotlight to St. Patrick who, it’s said, used common three-leafed ones as a Holy Trinity metaphor. With such a connection already established. finding a rare four-leafed one became extra special, a sign of good luck to come. (Like obscure facts? Four-leaf clover’s gene is ‘recessive’ and must appear on all four chromosomes, a rare occurrence — tho not as rare as storytellers would have you believe.) Who else would tell you these things?
“In the Spring a young man’s fancy
lightly turns to … sprinklers?
–“Locksley Hall“ (with apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809–1892)
Many experts say fall is best time to install a sprinkler system. But we Greater Houston Area gardeners often march to our own drummers.
With the coming El Nino, predictions are we’ll have a hotter-than-usual summer. Oh, joy. Given this prediction, it seems like a good time to re-print “THE 7 DEADLY SPRINKLER SYSTEM SINS” that Harris County Extension horticulturists Robert (Skip) Richter shared with our readers several years ago.
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(Note: Some of Skip’s “Sins” apply equally to sprinklers used with hoses!)
“THE 7 DEADLY SPRINKLER SYSTEM SINS”
By ROBERT (SKIP) RICHTER
Harris County Extension Horticulturist
- Poor Design – Uneven distribution of water – too many heads in a zone for the water supply and pressure, or wrong type of heads, or heads too far apart for proper overlap, etc.
- No Rain Switch – Stops system from running in the rain and for a few days afterward. This may save millions of gallons of water.
3. Improper Pressure – Too high – mist drifts off target. Too low – poor coverage.
- Irrigation Head Problems – Misaligned heads, leaky, broken, mismatched, clogged heads or heads that can’t pop up/spray properly due to grass or other vegetation.
- Overapplication – To get one half to one inch of irrigation in the ground, break up watering cycles with soaking time between each watering.
- Watering Too Little, Too Often – Frequent, shallow wetting promotes a shallow root system and more disease problems.
- Scheduling Irrigation Controller by Calendar Rather Than Plant Needs. Ignore that ol’ saw: “Water an inch a week.” Turfgrass needs more water in summer than in winter. Use the evapotranspiration data (texaset.tamu.edu).
May through August our turf needs about 1″ per week if it is totally unstressed from other factors. A typical Houston area lawn can survive with a half inch of water a week.
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NOTE: Have more questions about specific plants? Harris County Master Gardeners will be dispensing great advice at these HCMG events:
MON. MAR. 20: Garden-Open Garden Day & Plant Sale, 8:30-11am. Genoa Friendship Gardens, 1210 Genoa Red Bluff Rd. Free.
WED-THURS. APR. 1–13: Southeast Tomato Online Store. hcmga.tamu.edu/plant-sales
MON. APR. 10: Tips for Great Lawns Houston Community College 10:00 am
– 11:30 am. hccs.edu/community-learning-workshops
MON. APR. 17: Garden-Open Garden Day. 8:30a.m. – 11:00a.m. Genoa Friendship Gardens, 1210 Genoa Red Bluff Road, Free.
TUES. APR. 18: Tips for Great Lawns Harris County Public Library Facebook Live, 11-noon. facebook.com/harriscountypl/live
(Check calendar below for more great events)
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POTPOURRI
IN OUR SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE BELOW, MARYANN
READAL of the Texas Thyme Unit, Herb Society of America, takes a look at the great relationship between pollinators and herbs. And gives you a peek at some especially-attracting herbs available at the:
SAT, MAR 25: HERB FESTIVAL AT THE WYNNE HOME.
Texas Thyme Unit, Herb Society of America. 8am-2pm.
1428 11th St., Huntsville. texasthymeunit.org; 936-891-5024. (Inventory download pdf)
* * *
DISCOUNTED rain barrels and compost bins are available from the City of Houston’s GREEN BUILDING RESOURCE CENTER
IN LAST WEEK’S ISSUE, Jana Pirtle’s title should have read she is Horticulture Manager of Friends of Mercer Botanic Gardens Northside growing operation (not of Mercer Botanic Gardens).
BIG AL GETS LAST LAUGH! ED J. in
Spring emailed me in February “...it’s crazy to believe an alligator can predict weather!” — as Big Al did” (“more cold ahead”) — in the “Feb 2 newsletter.“
Hope you haven’t put your plumerias out yet, Ed!
Pollinators Love Herbs!
By MARYANN READAL
THE HERB SOCIETY OF AMERICA TEXAS THYME UNIT
I have discovered that pollinators love herbs, which gives me even more reason to include these versatile plants in my garden. If you also want to attract pollinators to your garden, consider planting herbs this spring.
GENOVESE BASIL, Ocimum basilicum ‘Genovese,’ is a culinary annual herb in our summer gardens. However, Wild Magic basil, Ocimum basilicum ‘Wild Magic’ and African Blue (pictured) basil, Ocimum kilimandscharicum x basilicum are two basils that will bring color, flowers, and
pollinators to your garden. (Maryann Readal photo) Basils thrive in Houston’s heat and humidity and are truly “King” of summer herbs, for us and bees.
SAGES are must-have herbs in the garden because of their usefulness in cooking. The ornamental sages (called salvias) are great for the garden because native bees and hummingbirds flock to their tubular flowers. Salvia ‘Phyllis Fancy’ (file photo) and Salvia ‘Mystic Spires Blue’ are two that they love.
Hummingbirds cannot resist the dark purple flowers of Friendship Sage,Salvia ‘Amistad.’ The culinary and ornamental salvias are perennials in our area, bloom all summer, and are also easy to grow.
LEMON BALM Melissa officinalis, is another herb for us and for the pollinators. The bright green leaves make a calming tea and can be used in any dish that calls for lemon. The Greeks used lemon balm to attract bees to their
hives. Still today, bees love the tiny white flowers that bloom in spring. This perennial herb also makes a good front-of-the-border plant.
CALENDULA Calendula officinalis is another must for the spring garden. The cheery orange and yellow flowers will brighten your garden in early spring. The bright petals contain healing properties and can be added to salads and spreads. Bees flock to these early spring flowers.
PARSLEY (Petroselium crispum), (center of photo) adds green to our winter and spring gardens. It is a host plant for the black swallowtail butterfly, too! Parsley is full of vitamins C, A, and iron and should be used more in our cooking.
EDITOR’S NOTE: These herb varieties and many other that do well in our area will be in the spotlight along with Herb Society members with lots of advice at the
FRI.-SAT., MAR. 17-18: HERB SOCIETY OF AMERICA PIONEER UNIT PLANT AND GIFT SALE, 8am-5pm Fri., 8am-3pm Sat.
Round Top Festival Institute, 248 Jaster Rd, Round Top.
herbsocietypioneer.org/, 832-867-9617
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NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS # 230
The Environmental Working Groups (EWG) guide to healthy eating has just been released for 2023. Yet again, strawberries top EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. 22 different pesticides were detected on a single strawberry sample! See the full list of fruits and vegetables we recommend you buy organic, when possible, because they are less likely to have traces of pesticides.
On the flip side they found the top 15 vegetables with the least amount of pesticides called the Clean 15.
Another research paper on the dangers of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Round Up, was published last year. It is well known that one of the breakdown products of glyphosate called AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid), which is often found on food, is known to cause breast cancer, thyroid dysfunction, birth defects, fatty liver disease, endocrine disruption and more.
Researchers at the University of California can add one more item to the list of health problems caused by consuming foods with glyphosate (Round Up) on them. Glyphosate was found to cause greater epigenetic age acceleration.
Environmental Health Perspectives, April 2022
Conventionally grown food which is full of toxic chemicals (see article above), commonly has glyphosate on them. Genetically engineered food has the highest levels of glyphosate. More reasons to grow one’s own food organically or at least purchase organic food whenever possible.
I have often reported that using municipal water that has been fluoridated hurts the growth of many species of plants as well as microbes in the soil. It weakens the plants immune system making it more susceptible to insects and disease.
I read this week that they are now over 20 studies since 2017 showing fluoride significantly lowers the IQ of children. The Fluoride Action Network (FAN) has filed a lawsuit against the EPA to get fluoride removed form our water systems.
Fluoride is a waste product from the production of aluminum (Al) and the production of phosphate for artificial fertilizers. The EPA by allowing it to be put in our water supplies, has saved these companies many tens of billions of dollars in disposal costs. It is not known as The Enhanced Profit Agency for nothing.
Hence another benefit of using an organic fertilizer is one is not contributing to the production of fluoride.
Nature regularly uses fire in our forest and prairies to maintain the health of our ecosystems. When fire occurs every few years it is very beneficial for many reasons. However, researchers have discovered that when natural systems are not allowed to be burned regularly, the fuel load builds up and eventually burns extremely hot hence instead of being beneficial it causes harm.
Researchers from the University of California Riverside have found that microbial life in the 2018 fires in California was destroyed and the mass of the microbes dropped by 50-80 percent after the fires. Journal Molecular Ecology, 2022
We know that plant health and growth is directly tied to microbial activity. This another study that shows God knew what he was doing and Smokey The Bear was wrong.
Plants with higher levels of the element silicon (Si) in their tissues have less disease and pest issues than those with out the silicon. So how does a gardener build up available silicon in our soils? Hence, let us work backwards.
Most plants absorb their silicon in the form of orthosilicic acid whose formula is Si(OH)4. Microbes produce this form of silicon by breaking apart silicon compounds such as calcium silicate (CaSiO3), magnesium silicate (MgSiO3), and potassium silicate (K2SiO3). These minerals are commonly found in the breakdown or weathering of igneous rocks like granite and basalt. If the weathering continues long enough clay soils may be formed hence some clays are high in these minerals.
Hence, products like Re-mineralizer (a mix of granite, basalt and greensand) provides these silicates as do some clays. Silicon can compose form 0.1 to 10% of a plants dry weight so obviously it is very important. Now what are the benefits of increased silicon in our plants? From the Acres USA classroom:
it binds with other elements increasing their availability like copper, manganese, zinc, and boron.
it helps reduce phosphorus leaching makes it more available to plants it reduces the plant uptake of toxic elements like aluminum and sodium silicon increases a plants height, stem diameter, root length, and root activity
it increases the strength of stems
it increases photosynthetic activity (efficiency)
it reduces leaf evaporation/transpiration losses (helps plants be more drought tolerant)
it increases antioxidant enzymes in plants
increases a plants resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses silicon helps the plants cells become tougher and less attractive to chewing insects
it is used in the production of some root exudates required by some species like rice, wheat, and sorghum
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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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