Breaking ground
I think everyone is holding their breath to see if a final cold snap occurs. My, what a difference a year makes; last year we didn’t have any cold weather after late March, and this year we have had one of the coldest Aprils in my memory. We were already having a late spring as it was, but the recent two weekends of cold weather have slowed things down considerably. There is still plenty of time to start planting warm season vegetables and flowers. Garden centers abound with options for both edibles and ornamentals.
Vegetable gardens, like flower gardens, are a bit slow this year. The wet February and the colder than normal temperatures had many gardeners planting later than normal. Some gardeners are getting an early harvest of lettuce, broccoli, peas, green onions, radishes, kale and Swiss chard, but others are still waiting. As you harvest and create space in the garden, replant with warm season vegetables. There is still plenty of time to plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash, which for some is their second planting! Watermelon and cantaloupe plants take up a lot of space, so consider trellising them to control the spread. Wait for the soil to warm up a bit before planting Southern peas and okra. Mulch and control weeds, fertilize, water and monitor for pests.
In early April the general consensus was that it was going to be a great year for big leaf hydrangeas, and then the two late cold snaps hit. In southern and central Arkansas, many plants made it through unscathed, while northern counties were hit hard. If your plants froze back to the ground, new growth should be sprouting, but no flowers for this season, unless you are growing the reblooming varieties.
If you had winter damage on trees or shrubs, give them a couple more weeks to show signs of life before pruning, unless you are certain there are dead branches. We did see some plants begin to leaf out only to be frozen back. A week or
more of warm weather should have them rebounding if there is life left. In rare instances we may have totally lost some lessthan-hardy plants, but there may need to be severe pruning to correct some damage. Loropetalum and figs were hard hit north of Clarksville, and gardenias were damaged in many parts of the state. There has been a wide range of damage to fruit crops. Early blueberries, peaches and pecans were damaged in many parts of the state, while later blueberries and blackberries appear fine. In the northern tier we are also seeing some winter damage to lawns. The low temperatures coupled with dry weather, and then late freezes during transition time all will add to the equation. Time will tell for many of our plants as to how much damage was done. Unfortunately for us, there is little we can do to alter that damage once it is done.
The cool weather hasn’t been all bad for our gardens. The spring bulbs lasted way longer than normal, and the pansies and violas are looking fabulous if they survived the winter. Continue to enjoy them for a while, but gradually begin to replace them with summer annuals. Visit garden centers to see what new plants are arriving daily. Try some of our new Arkansas Diamond selections — Vermillionaire Cuphea, Wasabi Coleus, Dragons Breath Celosia and Bouquet Purple Torenia. We are also seeing loads of tropicals appearing at our garden centers. They thrive in hot, humid weather which I am sure is just around the corner.
Now is the time to prune spring-blooming shrubs and trees if they need it. Pruning is done as soon after flowering as possible. Be selective in how you prune. Selective thinning or knowing the natural growth of a plant, results in a much more pleasing plant profile than the sheared “meatball” look. Now is also the time to fertilize trees and shrubs. Most of our woody plants only need one application of fertilizer per year.
Perennials are also up and growing well. If you had some early plants that got nipped back by cold, clean up any damaged foliage. Lightly fertilize once they have leafed out again. Peonies seem to be setting a copious amount of flowers. Before the blooms open up, consider using perennial stakes around them to prevent them from falling over after a rain.
Webs are appearing in many small trees around Arkansas. For a few weeks we will have the marching of the Eastern tent caterpillars. They look much worse than they really are, but they are a nuisance and can make a mess. The larvae gather at a fork in the tree and build a web or “tent.” They use the tent as their nightly lodging and emerge on non-rainy days to feed. The tent enlarges as the caterpillars eat. If you can reach the tents, pull them down on a cloudy day or at dusk when the caterpillars have gathered for the night, and destroy them. Luckily for us, they have a short life span and don’t have more than one generation a year, unlike their cousin the fall webworm, which will start appearing in a month or so and can produce several generations each season.
CALIBRACHOA
Calibrachoa is a kissing cousin to petunias, and a member of the Solanaceae or nightshade family, which includes tomatoes. Unlike some of the other annual flowers we have grown forever, Calibrachoa was introduced into the U.S. market in 1992, making it a relative newcomer. Native to Brazil, this plant hasn’t stopped, gaining in popularity each year.
The small flowering plants go by many of the series names: “Million Bells,” “Mini Bells,” “Superbells” and “Callie.” The biggest variation is in the color palette — they run the gamut from white, pink, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, green and more, sometimes with a contrasting eye, a star blazoned over the base color, streaks or splotches. Every year new color combinations appear on the market.
Calibrachoa usually grow better in containers than in the ground. For nonstop flowering fertilize every other week during the growing season and water when dry. They grow best in full sun with a minimum of six hours of sunlight a day needed for best blooming.
These plants are self-cleaning, dropping the spent flowers as they finish, so deadheading is not required. The plants vary in size and habit (some types are trailing, others have a bushier habit), flower type (single or double) and size from tiny ‘mini bells’ to larger 1 inch blooms.
In a milder winter, they can overwinter in central and southern Arkansas — but that didn’t happen this year.