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Nature’s Way Resources owner John Ferguson, “The Lazy Gardener” Brenda Beust Smith and Pablo Hernandez welcome your feedback and are so grateful to the many horticulturists who contribute their expertise

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‘We are lucky here in Houston. . .

don’t have to worry much about

freeze damage to our roses…’

–— Donald Burger, Houston Rose Society (pictured: Burger garden)

BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH 

ESTABLISHED ROSES should have no problems with the current temperature drops, especially with welcome rains. So says Houston’s well-known attorney/rosarian DONALD BURGER. His highly-regarded, spot-on online gardening advice has, for decades, helped Houston Rose Society become the nation’s largest rose society! Still, even tough roses could use a helping hand now. (Note: His advice column is neatly tucked into his broad-based website.)

Donald recommends adding “…about three inches of mulch to rose beds in winter on most roses.” Exception: grafted roses, most of which are not growing on their own roots. Almost all hybrid teas and floribundas are grafted. Miniature and (antique) old garden roses are seldom grafted. How to tell?

Donald explains: “On a grafted rose there will be a bud union near ground level where the graft was made. It looks like a scar that bulges out. That graft union must be protected. Pile the mulch up around the bud union high enough to cover the bud union by about three inches. That is in addition to the extra mulch you have spread over the beds in general.

When temperatures warm back up, pull mulch away from the bud union until the next freeze. He warns: “You may have to repeat this cycle several times over winter. Do not simply leave the bud union covered.” (More on watering, pruning and ”outside Texas, etc., chores” not needed here!)

January is our best rose planting month. Save pruning for Valentine’s Day! Don’t cut blooms off now, let petals “heel over.” This is, however, the best month to PLANT roses here!

HOUSTON ROSE SOCIETY’S KAREN GERLACH kindly shared two roses she’d recommend if you could only plant one or two: l to r, Old Blush & Cinco de Mayo!

Now, Karen’s tips on … POST FREEZE GARDEN INSPECTIONS

• Check all your plants for signs of frostbite, this will appear as brown or blackened leaves. I recommend focusing on identifying “mushy” areas which should be removed to prevent further rot.
• Prune Damaged Areas: After we are sure there will be NO MORE FREEZES, you can trim dead plant material back to the healthy/live tissue. Be careful not to remove too much, plants need some leaves to photosynthesize. The dead, unsightly material will help protect the rest of the plant if we get another freeze. We also don’t want to stimulate new plant growth which is more tender if another freeze occurs.
• Watering: Water plants thoroughly to help them recover, especially if the freeze was followed by dry conditions. The rain prior to this freeze should benefit your plants so be careful not overwater, especially with the rain in the forecast. Some folks like to add liquid Seaweed supplements or other nutritional products. Avoid stimulating new growth with high nitrogen fertilizers as we are still in Winter. New growth is tender and very susceptible to further freezes.
• Protection from Further Cold: If frost recurs, protect your plants with frost covers and mulch around the base of plants to retain heat. For perennials, the key is to insulate the plant base and roots so they can bounce back in the spring. 

OUR SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE BELOW focuses on how steadily growing use of adaptable native flowers/plants has triggered a growing interest in wild seed collection. Tough as seeds may be, mishandling can contribute to species decline. In our SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE, Houston Botanic Garden‘s LYNDSEY A. WARE makes clear how important it is to correctly handle collected wildflower seed.

WILDFLOWER LOVERS’ LICENSE PLATES!

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin plates feature spring bloomers Texas bluebonnet, pink evening primrose, Indian blanket and Indian paintbrush. Proceeds support native plants and restoration/creation of healthy landscapes efforts. The Wildflower Center receives $22 of the $30 fee. wildflower.org/donate/licenseplate

(Top right, Collene Sweeney illustrations).

• Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Conservation License Plates include (along native wildlife) beautiful bluebonnet plates (above). Order today – no need to wait till vehicle registration renewal is due, as the cost will be pro-rated. Best of all, $22 of the $30 goes directly to help fund conservation efforts right here in Texas. conservationplate.org.
• TEMPORARILY STOPPED “GARDENING”? Don’t stop reading your area’s independent nurserymen’s newsletters. They know your area better than anyone and may have area-specific winter tips. Before you buy fertilizers, especially for edibles, read John’s column below!
• ATTN. GARDEN/PLANT GROUPS — In wake of Hurricane Beryl, Nature’s Way Resources offers free guided tours of NWR’s extensive nursery/soil/mulch facilities for garden clubs, plant societies and other plant-oriented, organized groups. As usual, NWR’s now-expanded meeting site is free to above groups. Reservations a must for both.

Brenda Beust Smith’s column is based on her 40+ years as the Houston Chronicle’s “Lazy Gardener” column — lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com Brenda’s column focuses ONLY on the Greater Houston Area

Spotlighting

HOUSTON BOTANIC GARDEN

 BECOME A RESPONSIBLE NATIVE SEED HUNTER!

COLLECTING & PROPAGATING PLANTS IN TEXAS’ COASTAL PRAIRIE REGION

BY LYNDSEY A. WARE

Houston Botanic Garden

Harris County Master Gardener

Texas Gulf Coast region once beamed with native plant species that held land together, mitigated flooding, and filtered an intricate bayou-to-bay system. Less than one percent of coastal prairie exists today, making the rising trend of planting natives all the more beneficial. 

It’s still far less common to find native plants at local nurseries than non-native ornamentals. Collecting native seeds and growing out plugs for yards that dare to walk on the wild side could really up the ante on creating a more sustainable Houston. 

Simple starter steps to become a responsible seed hunter include:

• Learn the plants and collection times! Native Prairie Association of Texas and Coastal Prairie Conservancy‘s seed collecting events are excellent for getting to know plants and life cycles. Fact sheets and field guides help as does observing them throughout growth stages in their natural habitat.
• Research, and abide by, ethics, laws, and regulations.Identify land owners and get appropriate permissions. Obtain permits through TPWD Wildlife Diversity Permits: Scientific Plant Research or get owner/steward permission from landowner(s)/stewards.
• Know the species status. Don’t collect rare species already being propagated and planted by agencies.
• Collect ethically, remove no more than 25% of a plant’s seed bank.
• Gather materials: Paper bags, waterproof markers, paperclips, etc. to close bags, sanitized clippers,(buckets if collecting in wetlands)
• Dress accordingly for field (or ditch, or abandoned parking lot etc.) with bags labeled for plant species, date & time, and location. 
• Collect and process seed before storing in cool, dry place.
• Sowing at best propagation time, environment, and method.
• Label native seed. Propagate grasses in aluminum pans. More vulnerable species may need seed trays and 4” pots. Some aquatic species can be propagated in tubs of water while others prefer to move slowly into such depths.
• Once germinated and established (usually after a few months), transplant seedlings to a preferred environment. This isn’t hard to do with natives – they’re built for our clay gumbo soil and various wetland systems. 

Happy Seed Hunting!

John’s Corner

NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD

OF SOIL AND PLANTS # 313

Subject: organic gardening

 Over the holidays I had a chance to get caught up on reading some of my horticultural journals. I read and looked at hundreds of articles. Moving to a new home in the country this past year and planting hundreds of trees, I was way behind in my reading.

Researchers are finding information and better performance using organic products and methods compared to artificial fertilizers and toxic chemicals. Things that most organic gardeners have known for 30 or more years. So, let’s get started.

In the journal HortScience (2024) researchers found that organic fertilizers and plant biostimulants (humic acid in this case) gave better results (total yield, fruit weight, increased nutrition, etc.) on growing strawberries compared to toxic chemicals and artificial fertilizers.  

As most gardeners are aware, the mining of peat causes a lot of environmental damage. In this paper the researchers were looking at using composted cattle manure as a replacement for peat. They found that seedling diameter and height were significantly increased using composted cattle manure in place of peat to grow lettuce from seed. HortScience (2024)

Another paper in the journal HortScience (2024) was looking at how organic matter in the soil affects the growth of citrus. In the test plots with higher amounts of organic matter from compost, there was increased nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) uptake. In this study they found that 3% organic matter by weight gave the best results for citrus.

There was very little about the type of compost used except it was mentioned in passing that it was from plant material. As discussed before the holidays there is a huge difference in products called compost depending on feedstocks and processing methods.

Another study published in the journal HortScience (2024) found that biostimulants can be used to promote plant growth and increase nutrient availability. This study was on Petunia plants and how they respond to humic and fulmic acids on petunias grown in soilless media.

They looked at low and optimal fertilizer rates in the media. They compared fertilized media without biostimulants and media with both fertilizers and biostimulants with different amounts of treatments and frequency of treatments.

The plants with both fertilizer and biostimulants had more nutrients in their tissue, the plants were 32% larger and had five more flowers per plant. The treatments also reduced the time required to start flowering.

Another study published in the journal HortScience (2024) by researchers at the University of Florida was on strawberry production and biostimulants and seaweed extracts. They found the application of both biostimulants, and seaweed extracts consistently resulted in a significant increase in whole-season marketability and total strawberry fruit yield.

Biostimulants by themselves showed little effect, however compared to no biostimulants the plants with biostimulants had increased number of crowns, higher soil respiration, and better root system architecture. This would suggest that treated plants would be more resistant to environmental stress.

When both were used results were over 20% greater than using seaweed alone, indicating a strong synergistic effect.

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