Workshop: Garden Color for All Seasons

UGA Horticulture is offering the workshop "Garden Color for All Seasons in the Landscape" at its Griffin campus research garden. The workshop will teach how to select colorful annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees for year-round interest in your landscape, including landscape design tips, plant selection, and container gardening.

Each participant will have a hands-on experience creating his or her own colorful container garden to take home.

UGA horticulturists Bob Westerfield and Sherri Dorn will be the program speakers.

Date: Friday, October 2

Moving Houseplants Outside for the Summer

One great side-benefit of the advent of warmer weather is the ability to recover some indoor space by moving houseplants outside. What a gift it is to be able to move about the house without having to dodge the spiky branches of a lime tree or the sharp-edged leaves of a mature Dracaena!

UGA Extension Agent Frank Watson points out, though, that indoor plants need time to adjust to the brighter light outdoors. In his GA FACES article "Use care when moving houseplants outside for the spring, summer," he writes, "Moving a houseplant from a relatively dark home into very bright sunshine will cause severe leaf burn."

His recommendation to avoid this outcome, from which plants can take months to recover, is to move indoor plants to a shaded location before shifting plants that thrive in high-light levels into the bright sunshine. Some plants should be kept in the shade throughout the summer.

In Watson's article, Bodie Pennisi, a researcher on UGA's Griffin campus, provides this caution: “Keep in mind, each time a plant is moved around, it will experience an acclimatization period, and such changes may become evident.”

The article contains the recommendation to wait until plants have had a chance to adjust to their new surroundings before beginning to give them fertilizer at the rate recommended on the package (this will vary according to the brand and type of fertilizer chosen).

For the complete article, click on the linked title in the text above.

Caring for Holiday Plants, Through the Holidays and Beyond!

Variegated Poinsettia            PHOTO/Bodie Pennisi

When we see showy red poinsettias, many of us are instantly reminded of the winter holidays. Poinsettias, which now are available in a whole range of colors, are at their showy best at this time of year.

UGA/Forsyth County Program Assistant Heather Kolich points out, in a recent GA FACES article Poinsettias and Christmas Cactus Shine Even after the Tinsel and Lights Come Down , that the vibrant color can be maintained for months:

"With proper care, [poinsettias] can maintain their color for months. These plants need at least six hours of bright, indirect light every day; frequent watering; and a stable temperature between 65 and 70 degrees. When the colored leaves fade, cut the plant back to around 10 inches and move it to a larger pot."

For Christmas cactus, Kollich writes, "Sunny, south-facing windows are the best place for these plants.When blooms fade, pluck them off and give the plant a dose of houseplant fertilizer. In warm weather, holiday cacti can live outdoors in semi-shaded spots."

For the full article, including information about growing cyclamen, select the linked article title above. More detailed descriptions for selection and care of these holiday plants can be found through the Cobb Extension website.

From the homepage, select the tile for Agriculture and Natural Resources, then choose the tile for Cobb Extension Publications and Tips of the Month. On the publications page, scroll down to the section on PLANTS, then select the "Christmas Plants" publication.

This publication includes information on selection and care of both cut and live Christmas trees. The "Amaryllis" publication linked on that same page explains the care of the large amaryllis bulbs that also have become a large part of many homes' holiday decor..

Indoor Citrus for Gardeners Who Can't Wait for Spring

Key Lime flowers, in December.               Photo/Amy Whitney

For gardeners willing to risk potential scratches from long thorns, dwarf citrus trees grown in containers can be very rewarding. When the little trees are well-cared for, they tend to produce an abundance of sweet-smelling flowers that will, if pollinated, result in a lot of healthful, delicious fruit.

Illinois Cooperative Extension Education Specialist Sandra Mason provides a list of consistent indoor producers in the article "Add a tropical flair to your home with citrus": "Ones that bloom and fruit reliably indoors include Meyer lemon, Ponderosa lemon, Otaheite orange, Persian lime, calamondin orange and kumquats."

Although these all will bloom and fruit when grown outdoors year-round in warmer regions of the country, North Georgia is still a little too cold for most of these to survive the winter outside. Like in Illinois, gardeners in North Georgia who are tending citrus need to keep the trees indoors during the colder months.

Mason recommends keeping citrus outdoors in summer, and then moving the plants indoors when the temperatures outside get below 50 degrees F.  The plants will need to be placed near the sunniest windows, according to Mason, and humidity in their space will need to be kept fairly high.

The Mississippi State University publication "Growing Citrus in Containers in Mississippi" echoes Mason's recommendations and adds specific information on the best growing medium and fertilizers for citrus in containers.

For the growing medium, the MSU publication explains that "A good mixture is four to five parts ground pine bark and one part sand." Plants should be watered when moisture can no longer be detected "below the top inch or two of soil," and a slow-release fertilizer that contains the essential micronutrients iron, manganese, and zinc is recommended.

The MSU publication closes with this statement: "Mississippi gardeners can produce a limited amount of high quality citrus products by growing them in containers anywhere in the state. There are some challenges to this type of production, but the effort is worthwhile."

Ditto, for gardeners in Georgia!