WE SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON PLANTS
~THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!
BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH
A friend mourns plant losses from our hot, dry summer. She knows it’s too soon to put up grave markers, but hoped to see at least some green shoots. Patience! Plants go dormant out of season as self-protection. Our recent cold spell probably reinforced the wisdom of staying underground. But if it never returns, maybe it’s just not pleasing your ‘genius loci“? This came to mind when I heard Dr. David Creech’s talk title this weekend at the 2023 Fall Native Plant Society of Texas Symposium, ironically on Dr. Creech’s home base, the Stephen
F. Austin Gardens in Nacogdoches. (Both pictured)
Patience! Took my Cassia cormybosa 5 years to come back after Harvey! SFA’s Director of Gardens Dr. Creech is sharing his “Lessons Learned from Forty Years of Native Plant Studies in the Pineywoods.” He generously agreed to share a few with our readers. Food for thought for this rainy weekend!
Do we need to broaden our definition of what is a native? Are we clinging to habitats, ecosystems and climates that no longer exist?
When we sort through what thrived, what survived and what died in the last three years of record extended heat, record droughts, record low temperatures, and record high temperatures there’s little doubt that
most natives survived or thrived. We can’t say that about many exotics that make up most of the Texas landscape world.
Moving urban dwellers to a landscape philosophy that leans to a backbone of proven performer natives will take a concerted effort that brings the nursery and landscape industry into the solution.
Dr. Creech’s first thought immediately brought to mind Alexander Pope’s (slightly-altered-translated) quote above. (Rough historical translation of “genius”: prevailing character or atmosphere of a place, the presiding god or spirit of a place.)
I like to think my garden has a‘genius loci,’ (maybe a guardian angel) since my plants can’t much depend on me. If I put one in the right sun/shade/drainage spot and it dies, I figure God doesn’t want that plant in my yard.
But no two yards are ever exactly alike in either nature’s plan or owner’s desires. Dr. Creech’s observation about “…clinging to habitats, ecosystems and climates that no longer exist” rings so true these days. Perhaps we also need to pay more attention to our property’s ‘genius loci“
More to the point, we spend a LOT of money on plants — probably a lot more so as we recoup from our previous hard winters and now extreme heat and drought. Maybe a good first step would to be more realistic about working with Nature and, in foundation plants at least, look to those that are living and thriving in harmony with OUR local nature (aka, natives).
Most of the time, this column is aimed at experienced gardeners looking to expand their horizons, or at least “really-want-to- know-more” lazy
gardeners. This particular column, however, is a little more tilted toward newcomers to our area or (at least) new-to-gardening in this area.
The rest of the nation may be starting to tuck gardens away for the winter season. But here, winter plantings for both beauty and bounty are just getting —
– or should have already been — started.
Nurseries are full of plants that will bloom and/or produce almost-immediate edible harvests throughout our so-called winters with deep cold spells. But they never last long enough for soil to actually freeze — just to kill some plants!
Heavy mulches and occasional covers will take care of most of our freezes, which in truth, are not nearly as hard on plants as our more frequent prolonged droughts and three-digit temperatures! Still, colder winters are here to stay, so we’re all on a new learning curve.
Serious Gardeners already have good stands started with beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, lettuce, kale, kohlrabi, mustard and other greens, radishes, spinach, turnips and winter squash, to name just a few. (It’s not too late — but shop local plant resources you trust for the right varieties for YOUR area.)
These need some cold, usually easily tolerate our fast freezes and become far less productive when temperatures start to rise in April.
With the exception of basil, most herbs are most productive here during the winter. And, if given a good winter start, many herbs will continue healthy and active longer, or even through, hot, dry summer months. Winter planting gives them a far stronger root system than if planted in March.
AH, BUT THERE IS A CATCH. Real key to success is selecting the right varieties for you specific area. As always, two great places to turn:
URBAN HARVEST – I don’t have words enough to emphasize how helpful joining Urban Harvest would be for every Greater Houston area gardener. See for yourself at: urbanharvest.org. UH PLANTING GUIDES
COUNTY AGRILIFE EXTENSION SERVICES/MASTER
GARDENER programs often bring in the Big Guns from Texas A&M. Definitely a win-win opportunity for all gardeners, but especially those trying to understand our unique subtropical climate.
Or . . . just browse through our calendar below. Take advantage of (often free) programs in your area.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to a winter vegetable/herb gardens.
It doesn’t matter if you’re growing on a balcony, patio, suburban landscape or big acreage. Too often weather isn’t conducive to getting outside to weed, water, etc. Maybe the solution is to bring plants closer to your back door:
I just pulled these (above and below pictures) off the internet. Google “unique garden ideas,” then click on Images. Just be sure to poke holes in the bottom of whatever you use to provide good drainage! If you’ve successfully utilized something something unusual not shown here, do share! Easy-move & protect
unconventional “pots” can be fun and practical when temps drop. Share yours with pictures? (lazygarderbrenda@gmail.com)
Brenda Beust Smith’s column is based on her 40+ years as
Houston Chronicle’s Lazy Gardener — Email: lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com Note: This column focuses ONLY on the Greater Houston area.
* BRENDA’S “LAZY GARDENER GUIDE” is no longer sold.
However, free pdf copies upon request at lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com
* * *
NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS # 263
Subject: carbon pollination plants sound black cumin ungi leather
I read an interesting statistic the other day on carbon and soil in the crop science newsletter. Modern agriculture has resulted in an estimated loss of 133 petagrams of carbon from our soils. A petagram is a trillion kilograms!
Carbon lost from the soil forms carbon dioxide a major greenhouse gas. The salt-based artificial fertilizers release nitrous oxides and ammonium to the atmosphere which are dozens of times worse than carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change.
As a species we need to quit destroying our soils and our health with toxic chemicals and use modern biologic methods to start building or regenerating our soil.
This means quit placing organic waste into landfills, and recycle it into compost
and mulches, to rebuild our soils organic matter.
A few months ago, I was listening to a local gardening radio show. There was a lot of issues with a lack of fruit-set due to a lack of pollination. Researchers in England have found that moths are more efficient at pollinating plants than the day-flying insects like bees and butterflies.
Outdoor floodlights, street lights, etc. are causing a loss of our moth pollinators along with our bats (that also pollinate) and some bat species are voracious eaters of mosquitos.
Hence, a couple ways gardeners can help is turn off outside lights when not outside using them and plant both host plants and night-blooming flowers for the moths. Leave snags for bat homes or add bat houses for the bats.
A research paper published in the journal Cell (2013) by scientists at the University of Tel Aviv have found that plants emit sound when they are stressed.
They discovered that each type of stress caused plants to emit different sounds. These sounds were in the 40-80 kilohertz region far outside of human hearing (20-20 kz).
Healthy plants only emitted one sound per hour while stressed or dehydrated plants emitted dozens of sounds per hour (Were they crying for help?). From the level and type of sound the researchers were able to identify the type and severity of the stress.
The plant we know as Black cumin (Nigella sativa) is known for its medical properties. The seeds have been used for thousands of years as a spice and condiment. The Bible mentions this plant as a “curative black seed.”
Several studies have now shown black cumin to be highly effective for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. The combination of vitamin-D and nigella sativa have been found to be “remarkably effective” for the prevention and treatment of viral infections. There are over 1,900 publications on the benefits of this plant.
We often talk about fungi in this column. However, this is on a novel use of fungi to produce synthetic leather, a vegan leather if you will. The leather is made from the threadlike hairs of the fungi that we call mycelium.
Researchers at Vrije University in Brussels have found a way to grow a fungal mat that floats on a liquid substrate. When thick enough they skim the fungal mat off and dry it (gently bake it), forming a leather like substance.
What I thought was cool was the fact if you tore the jacket, one could wake up the spores and the fungi would start growing again and heal the tear. Self- repairing clothing. Journal of Advanced Functional Materials (2023)
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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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