growing wisdom

The following guest post – on December gardening chores – is from Dave Epstein of Growing Wisdom, an online how-to video show for homeowners and horticulture pros. The information originally appeared in Dave’s December 2010 newsletter.

December gardening chores

By Dave Epstein

CLOSING THE GARDEN

This time of the year can be sad for many of us in the northern latitudes as winter slowly arrives.  I find myself looking at the yard for remaining signs of life and those hints of spring that will emerge in 12 long weeks.  This afternoon I was outside looking at my witch hazel and noticed it was full of buds.  It should open in February and looks to be a great show.

What I am doing now is moving hoses into the garage or basement, cleaning shovels and other tools and looking around for what has to be done before the hard part of winter sets in and seeing what can wait till spring.

Click here to go to Growing Wisdom and watch some gardening videos.

WINTER VEGETABLES

I am now into year two of winter gardening.  I have just covered my tunnels with row covers to protect against frost and one of them now has green house plastic to protect it even further.  I am looking forward to a mix of Asian greens, kale and collards for the next few weeks.  We used many of these for part of our meal at Thanksgiving.  I am also still planting some lettuce seeds and arugula under these tunnels for a late winter harvest.  The plants will germinate in the next few weeks and really take off in late January and early February.

Growing vegetables without heat all winter is a great way to keep your sanity through the cold months.  There are still a lot of unknowns with regard to this type of gardening, so experiment.  Check out some of the books by Elliot Coleman.  He is one of the pioneers in this field.

Click here for a video on winter gardening.

TIP OF THE SEASON

Make sure to use an antidesiccant on tender evergreens. During the coldest months, plants that retain their leaves still lose moisture. If they lose too much water over the winter, there can be significant dieback in the spring. If you decide to spray, do it on a day when temperatures are above freezing and winds are light. I typically spray early in the morning to ensure there’s enough time for the spray to dry.

Click here to see how I prepare broadleaf evergreens for winter.

Want to design some beautiful container gardens? Check out the latest how-to videos “How to Grow Tropicanna^® in Containers” and “Flower Carpet^® Roses in Containers” by Dave Epstein of Growing Wisdom.com.

You can go directly to the Growing Wisdom website, or you can see them on such other web sites as YouTube, 5min.com, mefeedia.com, www.metacafe.com, howcast.com, viddler.com and blinkx.com.

“In containers, you want a thriller, a filler and a spiller,” says Epstein in the Tropicanna cannas video. “And our Tropicannas, of course, are the thriller.” He then uses the rainbow-striped foliage of the original Tropicanna canna and the gold-striped leaves of Tropicanna Gold to create stunning container designs – even without flowers.

Those who do want flowers in their containers, however, can use Flower Carpet roses, says Epstein. “I can put one Flower Carpet rose in the container and eventually it will fill the entire container. And that’s one perfectly great choice …” Or, as he demonstrates, you can use Flower Carpet’s compact, low-growing roses as just one element – or even the centerpiece – of a great design.

In his canna container designs, he paired the original, rainbow-leaved Tropicanna cannas with small yellow zinnias and the green-and-gold-striped leaves of Tropicanna Gold (both as a vertical, showy background) with purple and yellow foliage and/or blooms like plum-black heuchera (coral bells), purple petunias and helichrysm petiolare 'Limelight.'

I also love this great container recipe using Tropicanna cannas featured in Garden Gate magazine's 2010 edition of its annual "Great Plant Combos" feature: Tropicanna canna original with caladium (large, hot-pink, heart-shaped leaves), Mexican sunflower (orange blooms) and coleus 'Buttercup' (subbing in, if you wish, Joseph's coat and/or flowering maple).

My personal favorite, however, is Tropicanna^® Black - and good news, gardeners! Huge supplies of this purple-black leaved favorite are now available for the 2011 gardening season. I chose to plant it in a container with Tropicanna gold and purple oranmental kale. (a combination that'll transition well into fall). Remember: that gold/lime/purple color combo just can't be beat!

Flower Carpet roses' unique, low-growing habit, meanwhile, is more ideally suited to container gardens than other easy-care shrub or landscape roses. Here are just a few design ideas. And don't forget to check out all the care and cultural information in Dave's videos!

Have a great container combination using roses or cannas? Post a comment, and share it with me!