Sassafras Tree

The sassafras tree is a very interesting tree with its differently shaped leaves on each branch.These trees have yellowish blooms in the Spring and are of varying colors in the Fall.

Sassafras trees are native to North America, growing throughout the eastern woodlands regions of the U.S. and west to the Mississippi River valley. Mature sassafras trees are pyramid shaped and a few reach 60 feet in height. They are planted for ornamental purposes, and are common in landscaping designs that recreate natural settings using native plants.

The sassafras tree also has an aroma throughout the tree. In fact the roots of this tree were once used to make root beer but are no longer used because of government regulations.  Its aroma was also used in soaps at one time as well. I thought this was interesting to know. I believe the  roots of the sassafras were used to make root beer up until the 1960s.

Rose Garden Flowers

Roses

The rose is one of the most beautiful and elegant flowers in the garden. The bring so much color and beauty to the household landscape and are relatively easy to grow. There are many varieties of roses and we will talk about some of the easiest to grow roses.

Roses that are easy to grow

The Altissimo Rose[ad]

This rose is a single flowered climbing rose. It is a large flowered climber with a long season of bright cherry Red blooms each with a cluster of showy golden stamens. This rose has very little fragrance, but the flowers are large, up to 5 inches across. They appear in small clusters and repeat blooms in regular flushes throughout the season. This is a vigorous climber that reaches to about 10 feet in height. Grows well in zones 5-9

Ballerina Rose

The Ballerina rose is very easy to grow and has hundreds of small, single pink flowers. These flowers literally covers the entire bush. This rose has only a slight fragrance and grows to an average height of about 4 to 5 feet tall and wide. It can be planted on its own or will make a wanderful hedge. You can also prune to reduce the height.

Carefree Wonder Rose

This rose is a beautiful shrub rose that is tough and will require low maintenance. It is a disease resistant plant and will last many years. This rose is easy to prune and take care of. The plant will produce many small clusters of double blooms which cover the plant with many pink flowers. It is a lightly fragrant.

Marmalade Skies Rose

This beautiful rose has stunning tangerine-orange blooms and a backdrop of satiny green foliage. The Marmalade Skies is in nearly continuous bloom and each blossom carries a light fragrance that will quickly engulf the garden. This rose would be a great low border plant and is ideal as a cut flower as well.[ad]

Chrysanthemum

Football Mum

CHRYSANTHEMUM

This beautiful flower is a perennial and is a very popular flower. These plants are very easy to grow and are a very hardy flower. A little frost and cold weather will not hurt these plants. you can grow these flowers in most northern zones. Mums have many bright and cheerful colors that will bring any garden to life.

Growing Chrysanthemums

Mums can be started from seed but many people use cuttings to plant more mums. You can also divide and separate the established plant.
Mums prefer full sun and a rich well drained soil. Mix in compost and a little fertilizer in the bed just before planting. Mums have shallow roots and will need to be well watered. Pinch back the growth to give the plant a more bushy appearance.
It is a good idea to divide the clumps flowers every few years to promote growth and prevent overcrowding. The mum can grow well in pots and will provide its beautiful blooms come fall.

Pumpkins

BIG MAX PUMPKIN

Indoor PLants

Pumpkins are a great fall vegetable that many people use as decorations for the Halloween season. Many artist love to carve these large vegetables into a great looking masterpiece.

Pumpkins should only be grown if you have a great deal of space to grow these plants. Pumpkins will thrive in partial shade and some gardeners will plant pumpkins along with sweet corn. The corn will be gone before the pumpkin will start spreading out all over. If you want to get an extra large pumpkin remove all but one or two fruits from a vine.

PLANTING:

Plant pumpkins for Halloween around mid- June in the Kentucky region. If pumpkins are planted to early they may rot before Halloween. Seed pumpkins in hills 8 to 12 feet apart in each direction. Do not plant until all danger of frost is past.  Pumpkins are always a fun crop to raise. The kids like to find the great pumpkins and the adults like them for decoration. Harvest pumpkins whenever they are a deep, solid color and the rind has hardened. Try to pick the pumpkin before a hard freeze as this will injure the pumpkin. When you decide to pick the pumpkin leave a portion of the stem attached as this help preserve the pumpkin. If you cut the stem too short the top around the stem will decay and cause the pumpkin to rot more quickly. Enjoy this wonderful fall garden vegetable.

Green Beans

Green beans are the most popular beans in the home garden. The snap bean is highly popular. The lima bean is also popular. Green beans are very sensitive to cold temperatures and should not be planted until the danger of frost has past.

The bush type is the most popular among the snap bean variety because it matures earlier and takes up less space in the garden. Most varieties of snap beans will be ready for harvest in about 50 to 60 days from seeding. the snap beans reach their best stage of edible maturity when the seed within the pod is about one-third developed.

Pole type snap beans require stakes and trellis, a fence or some type of support. they also require a few more days to mature their pods and they continue to bear over a longer period than the bush bean. They require about 65 from seed to harvest.

Plant spacing

Plant the bush beans in rows of 24 to 30 inches apart. Plant the seeds 2 to 3 inches apart in the row and 1 to 11/2 inches deep in a well prepared seed bed. It will usually take about 1 pound of bush bean seed to plant about 100 feet or a row. Plant pole beans 4 to 6 inches apart in rows of 36 to 48 inches apart. You can have a continuous supply of beans by planting every 2 weeks up until mid August.

Fruit Trees

ELBERTA PEACH TREE

GOLDEN DELICIOUS APPLE

AMBROSIA PEAR TREE

A fruit tree comes in different shapes and sizes. Fruit trees can be bought in several different types such as a dwarf, semi dwarf, and a standard tree.

The Dwarf tree is small and is easily managed because of its low growth height. Pruning is easily completed as the tree is small and the limbs are more easily excessible. The fruit on the dwarf tree will be less do to its size but the fruit will be a normal size and if you have the space more trees can be planted.

Semi-dwarf is a medium sized tree which requires a growing area of about 15 feet in diameter. Semi-dwarfs can range in height from 10 to 16 feet and need pruning to keep the height down and the shape uniformed. This size tree will produce many fruit each season. On a few occasions the tree may have a season where it will only produce just a few. This is usually after a heavy producing season. Most of the fruit trees planted today are the semi-dwarf because they are a manageable size and usually produce a large crop.

Standard fruit trees are Large fruit trees that can grow to 25 to 30 feet or more. These trees will require more space and will be a much bigger job to prune and harvest the crop. This tree type will begin producing fruit in about 3 to 5 years. The standard fruit tree will produce many fruit each season.

Growing Cabbage

Cabbage is an easy plant to grow in the home garden. It is a hardy plant that grows well in cool conditions. Cabbage is one of the early season crops that  can withstand a moderate frost.  You can also plant cabbage in mid-summer and have some late season heads. If planting in mid-summer the heads will not develop until fall.

Make sure to fertilize the newly transplanted cabbage plants in the garden and add some nitrogen half way through the growing period. Always try to keep the soil moist as this will help to produce better heads.

Space plants 12 to 24 inches apart. The closer you plant together the smaller the heads will be.

CABBAGE TYPES:

Green Cabbage

Cheers (75 days to harvest; solid round heads; tolerant to black rot and thrips)

Early Jersey Wakefield (OP - 63 days; pointed heads; stands well; resists splitting)

King Cole (74 days; large; firm; extremely uniform heads)

Savoy Cabbage

Savoy King (85 days to harvest; dark, green color; very uniform)

Savoy Queen (88 days; 5 pounds; deep green color; good heat tolerance)

Red Cabbage

Red Meteor (75 days to harvest; firm; good for all seasons)

Ruby Ball (71 days; 4 pounds; slow to burst; resists both cold and heat)

Growing Strawberries

The strawberry is a delicious fruit that grows well in a lot of climates and conditions. This fruit is easy to grow and something that will be apart of your garden landscape for as long as you want it to be. Here is some information on the strawberry and how to make it grow.

There are two different types of strawberries; standard (June bearing) and ever-bearing. You will want to consider how you will use the berries in deciding which varieties you want to grow. The standard twill provide you with a large crop all at once for jams or freezing, and tend to be the better quality berries. The ever-bearing will produce throughout the summer for desserts and snacking. The culture is essentially the same for either. Different varieties are listed at the bottom of this page. Planting time is determined by your growing zone. In areas where the winters are severe (USDA zones 1-5), dormant plants should be purchased and set out in early spring, while temperatures are still cold. In mild winter areas, it is best to plant in the fall, giving you a crop the first spring. Flower buds should be kept picked off during the first month or so to allow the plant to establish itself and develop strength for a big crop.

IN THE GROUND

To grow strawberries in rows, prepare the soil by digging in composted manure or other organic matter (in heavy or wet soil, plant in 8-inch-high mounds or raised beds). If salinity is a problem where you garden (mostly in the Southwest), saturate the top 6 inches of soil with water three times before you plant, allowing it to drain between waterings. Then amend the soil with peat or garden compost (not manure, which is often salty).

If you buy bare-root plants, trim their roots back to about 6 inches and soak them for 30 minutes. Set out plants in a diamond pattern; space them 12 to 18 inches apart in rows 20 to 30 inches wide. Leave 18 inches between the rows for a path - you’ll need it for weeding and harvesting. Set plants in the soil with their roots spread out and down and their crowns just above ground level. Keep runners picked off the first year, but the second year let some grow to fill in for the mother plants you’ll remove the third or fourth year.

To grow strawberries in ground-coverstyle, space plants in rows as described above, but allow their runners to grow, root, and fill the gaps between the mother plants. When the bed is filled (matted), pinch off new runners - unless you need them in later years to replace the exhausted mother plants.

To discourage weeds and hold in moisture, mulch the soil with black plastic before planting. Plant strawberries through holes cut in the plastic, then mulch with a 3-inch layer of straw. Water with a soaker hose, drip irrigation, or flooding, or by overhead sprinkling.

Grown in good, healthy soil, disease-free strawberries can live and bear fruit for a long time; five years isn’t unusual in a home garden (most commercial fields replace their strawberries every year, though some wait two years).

A matted row 10 feet long and 20 inches wide should yield 5 to 10 quarts of strawberries a year.

Watermelon

Watermelon:                     SQUARE WATERMELON

Watermelons are a great summertime treat. Watermelons come in many different shapes and sizes. We will discuss several types here .

Watermelon is a tender, warm-season vegetable. Watermelons can be grown in all parts of the country, but the warmer temperatures and longer growing season of southern areas especially favor this vegetable. Gardeners in northern areas should choose early varieties and use transplants. Mulching with black plastic film also promotes earliness by warming the soil beneath the plastic. Floating row covers moderate temperatures around the young plants, providing some frost protection in unseasonable cold spells.

Seedless watermelons are self-sterile hybrids that develop normal-looking fruits but no fully developed seeds. The seeds for growing them are produced by crossing a normal diploid watermelon with one that has been changed genetically into the tetraploid state. The seeds from this cross produce plants that, when pollinated by normal plants, produce seedless melons.

When to Plant                                       SQUARE WATERMELONS

Plant after the soil is warm and when all danger of frost is past. Watermelons grow best on a sandy loam soil, although yields on clay soils can be increased significantly by mulching raised planting rows with black plastic film.

Beginning Gardener Book

Spacing & Depth

Watermelon vines require considerable space. Plant seed one inch deep in hills spaced 6 feet apart. Allow 7 to 10 feet between rows. After the seedlings are established, thin to the best three plants per hill. Plant single transplants 2 to 3 feet apart or double transplants 4 to 5 feet apart in the rows.

Start the seeds inside 3 weeks before they are to be set out in the garden. Plant 2 or 3 seeds in peat pellets, peat pots or cell packs and thin to the best one or two plants. For expensive seedless types, plant one seed to a pot or cell and discard those that do not germinate. Do not start too early - large watermelon seedlings transplant poorly. Growing transplants inside requires a warm temperature, ideally between 80 and 85°F. Place black plastic film over the row before planting. Use a starter fertilizer when transplanting. If you grow seedless melons, you must plant a standard seeded variety alongside. The seedless melon varieties do not have the fertile pollen necessary to pollinate and set the fruit.

Care

Watermelons should be kept free from weeds by shallow hoeing and cultivation. The plants have moderately deep roots and watering is seldom necessary unless the weather turns dry for a prolonged period. In cooler areas, experienced gardeners may find floating row covers, drip irrigation and black plastic mulch advantageous in producing a good crop in a short season.

Harvesting

Many home gardeners experience difficulty in determining when watermelons are ripe. Use a combination of the following indicators: (1) light green, curly tendrils on the stem near the point of attachment of the melon usually turn brown and dry; (2) the surface color of the fruit turns dull; (3) the skin becomes resistant to penetration by the thumbnail and is rough to the touch; and (4) the bottom of the melon (where it lies on the soil) turns from light green to a yellowish color. These indicators for choosing a ripe watermelon are much more reliable than “thumping” the melon with a knuckle. Many watermelons do not emit the proverbial “dull thud”when ripe. For these, the dull thud may indicate an over-ripe, mushy melon.

Varieties                                 SQUARE WATERMELON

Early (70 to 75 days to harvest)

Golden Crown (red flesh, green
skin; skin turns yellow when ripe)

Sugar Baby (red flesh, 6 to 10 pounds)

Yellow Baby (hybrid-yellow flesh, 6 to 10 pounds)

Yellow Doll (hybrid-yellow flesh, 6 to 10 pounds)

Main Season (80 to 85 days)

Charleston Gray (red, 20 to 25 pounds)

Crimson Sweet (red, 20 to 25 pounds)

Madera (hybrid-red, 14 to 22 pounds)

Parker (hybrid-red, 22 to 25 pounds)

Sangria (hybrid-red, 22 to 26 pounds)

Sunny’s Pride (hybrid-red, 20 to 22 pounds)

Sweet Favorite (hybrid-red, 20 pounds).

Seedless (all are triploid hybrids, 80 to 85 days)

Cotton Candy (red, 15 to 20 pounds)

Crimson Trio (red, 14 to 16 pounds)

Honey Heart (yellow flesh, 8 to 10 pounds)

Jack of Hearts (red, 14 to 18 pounds)

Nova (red, 15 to 17 pounds)

Queen of Hearts (red, 12 to 16 pounds)

Tiffany (red, 14 to 22 pounds).

Watermelon with yellow flesh

There are more than twelve hundred varieties of watermelon ranging in size from less than a pound, to more than two hundred pounds with flesh that is red, orange, yellow, or white. Several notable varieties are included here.

• Carolina Cross: This variety of watermelon produced the current world record watermelon weighing 262 pounds. It has green skin, red flesh and commonly produces fruit between 65 and 150 pounds. It takes about 90 days from planting to harvest.

• Yellow Crimson Watermelon: variety of watermelon that has a yellow colored flesh. This particular type of watermelon has been described as “sweeter” and more “honey” flavored than the more popular red flesh watermelon.

• Orangeglo: This variety has a very sweet
  orange pulp, and is a large oblong fruit weighing 9–14 kg (20-30 pounds). It has a light green rind with jagged dark green stripes. It takes about 90-100 days from planting to harvest.

• The Moon and Stars variety of watermelon has been around since 1926.The rind is purple/black and has many small yellow circles (stars) and one or two large yellow circles (moon). The melon weighs 9–23 kg (20-50 pounds). The flesh is pink or red and has brown seeds. The foliage is also spotted. The time from planting to harvest is about 90 days.

• Cream of Saskatchewan: This variety consists of small round fruits, around 25 cm (10 inches) in diameter. It has a quite thin, light green with dark green striped rind, with sweet white flesh and black seeds. It can grow well in cool climates.  These melons take 80–85 days from planting to harvest.

• Melitopolski: This variety has small round fruits roughly 28-30 cm (11-12 inches) in diameter. It is an early ripening variety that originated from the Volga River region of Russia, an area known for cultivation of watermelons. The Melitopolski watermelons are seen piled high by vendors in Moscow in summer. This variety takes around 95 days from planting to harvest.

• Densuke Watermelon: This variety has round fruit up to 25 lb (11 kg). The rind is black with no stripes or spots. It is only grown on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, where up to 10 000 watermelons are produced every year. In June 2008, one of the first harvested watermelons was sold at an auction for 650 000 yen (6300 USD), making the most expensive watermelon ever sold. The average selling price is generally around 25 000 yen (250 USD).

Summer Squash

One of my garden favorites is the summer squash. It is a rather easy plant to grow and produces many vegetables.

Summer squash (also known as vegetable or Italian marrow), is a
tender, warm-season vegetable that can be grown throughout the United States anytime during the warm, frost-free season.Summer squash differs from fall and winter squash in that it is selected to be harvested before the rind hardens and the fruit matures. It grows on bush-type plants that do not spread like the plants of fall and winter squash and pumpkin. A few healthy and well-maintained plants produce abundant yields.

Recommended Varieties

Summer squash appears in many different fruit shapes and colors:

Scallop or Patty Pan is round and flattened like a plate with scalloped edges, usually white but sometimes yellow or green.

CROOKNECK SQUASH

Constricted neck is thinner at the stem end than the blossom end, classified as either “crookneck” or “straightneck” depending on if the stem end is straight or bent, and is usually yellow.

Cylindrical to club-shaped Italian marrows, such as zucchini, cocozelle and caserta, are usually shades of green, but may be yellow or nearly white.

GOLD RUSH SQUASH

The varietal selection of summer squash has markedly changed in recent years and the number of
varieties offered has greatly expanded as the result of new interest, hybridization and introduction of disease resistance. The number of varieties is staggering. Recommended varieties of summer squash include:

Zucchini (Open Pollinated)

Black Zucchini (best known summer squash; greenish black

Black Beauty (slender, with slight ridges, dark black-green)

Cocozelle (dark green overlaid with light green stripes; long, very slender fruit)

Vegetable Marrow White Bush (creamy greenish color, oblong shape)

Zucchini (hybrid)

Aristocrat (All America Selection winner; waxy; medium green)

Chefini (AAS winner; glossy, medium dark green)

Classic (medium green; compact, open bush)

Elite (medium green; lustrous sheen; extra early; open plant)

Embassy (medium green, few spines, high yield)

President (dark green, light green flecks; upright plant)

Spineless Beauty (medium dark green;
spineless petioles)

Golden Zucchini (hybrid)

Gold Rush (AAS winner, deep gold color, superior fruit quality, a zucchini not a straightneck)

Yellow Crookneck

Early Yellow Summer Crookneck (classic open-pollinated crookneck; curved neck; warted; heavy yields) My favorite

Sundance (hybrid; early; bright yellow, smooth skin)

Yellow Straightneck

Early Prolific Straightneck (standard open-pollinated straightneck, light cream color, attractive straight fruit)

Goldbar (hybrid; golden yellow; upright, open plant)

Scallop

White Bush Scallop (old favorite Patty Pan type, very pale green when immature, very tender)

Peter Pan (hybrid, AAS winner, light green)

Scallopini (hybrid, AAS winner)

Sunburst (hybrid, bright yellow, green spot at the blossom end)

Other

Butter Blossom (an open-pollinated variety selected for its large, firm male blossoms; fruit may be harvested like summer squash, but remove female blossoms for largest supply of male blossoms)

Gourmet Globe (hybrid; globe-shaped; dark green, with light stripes; delicious)

Sun Drops (hybrid, creamy yellow, unique oval shape, may be harvested as baby with blossoms attached).

When to Plant

Plant anytime after the danger of frost has passed, from early spring until midsummer. Some gardeners have two main plantings - one for early summer harvest and another for late summer and fall harvest.

Spacing & Depth

Sow two or three seeds 24 to 36 inches apart for single-plant production, or four or five seeds in hills 48 inches apart. Cover one inch deep. When the plants are 2 to 3 inches tall, thin to one vigorous plant or no more than two or three plants per hill.

Care

Any well-drained garden soil produces excellent yields of summer squash. Certain mulches increase earliness and yields, because the roots are shallow.

Harvesting

Because summer squash develop very rapidly after pollination, they are often picked when they are too large and overmature. They should be harvested when small and tender for best quality. Most elongated varieties are picked when they are 2 inches or less in diameter and 6 to 8 inches long. Patty Pan types are harvested when they are 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Slightly larger fruit may be salvaged by hollowing out and using them for stuffing. These larger fruits may also be grated for baking in breads and other items. Do not allow summer squash to become large, hard and seedy because they sap strength from the plant that could better be used to produce more young fruit. Pick oversized squash with developed seeds and hard skin and throw them away. Go over the plants every 1 or 2 days. Squash grow rapidly; especially in hot weather and are usually ready to pick within 4 to 8 days after flowering.

Although summer squash has both male and female flowers, only the female flowers produce fruits. Because the fruits are harvested when still immature, they bruise and scratch easily. Handle with care and use immediately after picking. Be careful when picking summer squash, as the leafstalks and stems are prickly and can scratch and irritate unprotected hands and arms. Use a sharp knife or pruning shears to harvest and wear gloves if possible. Some gardeners also pick the open male and female blossoms before the fruits develop. Especially the female blossoms, with tiny fruit attached, are a delicacy when dipped in a batter and fried.

Common Problems

Cucumber beetlesattack seedlings, vines and both immature and mature fruits. They can be controlled with a suggested insecticide applied weekly either as a spray or dust. Be alert for an infestation of cucumber beetles in early September because these beetles can damage the mature fruits

Squash bugsattack vines as the fruit begin to set and increase in numbers through the late summer, when they can be quite damaging to maturing fruit. They hatch and travel in groups, which seem to travel in herds until they reach maturity. Using the proper insecticide when the numbers of this pest are still small minimizes damage.