You’ve received a beautiful poinsettia for Christmas and you want to keep it looking nice as long as possible.  Or you’ve decorated a small Norfolk Island Pine instead of a big Christmas tree this year and want to keep it as a houseplant after the decorations come off.  What to do?

      Many gift plant pots come wrapped in colorful aluminum foil.  Remove the foil or punch holes in the bottom of it just below the drainage openings of the pot inside so water will drain out.  Place the plant on a saucer to protect your furniture.

      When you receive a gift plant, look it over carefully for pests that may spread to your other houseplants.  Poinsettias may have whiteflies which can be removed by a good washing using your kitchen sprayer or in the shower.

      According to Rachelle Kernen, Retail Manager at Pansies Nursery in Neenah, poinsettias should never be placed in the sun.  Bright but indirect light from a south or west window is best.  The soil should be kept moist but not dripping wet.  Nighttime temperatures of 60-65 degrees will keep the plant lasting longer.  They should not be subjected to drafts or sudden temperature changes.  When the red leaves dry up and fall off, poinsettias can be grown as green houseplants and even transplanted outdoors in spring. 

      Norfolk Island Pines are the lacy evergreen miniature Christmas trees in pots that are often sold already decorated.  It is an extremely tolerant plant that will survive in cool or warm temperatures, and light or dark locations, but branchlets will droop when light is limited.  The best growth is obtained in the sun with a temperature of about 65 degrees and soil kept moist.

      The soil of Christmas cactuses should be kept constantly moist.  They prefer sunshine and form flower buds at a 55 degree night temperature regardless of day length, or a night temperature of 63-65 degrees during short days.  Flower buds may drop if the temperature is too high or the light intensity is too low.

      Red and white chrysanthemums are popular this time of year.  They should have abundant moisture with good drainage and should be kept in full sun in order to develop their full color.  The flowers will last a long time if they are kept cool at night, but the plants are not worth keeping after the flowers die.

      Red, white and pink begonias are another holiday gift plant.  They should be kept in the full sun of a south window in winter, but moved to a shadier area in summer.  Begonias like a uniform water supply and thrive best with a minimum temperature of 60 degrees.  The plants will not flower if night temperatures are over 70 degrees during the short-day period of winter.  Begonias are good bedding plants that can be planted outdoors in spring.

      Don’t forget to care for your largest holiday plant – your Christmas tree.  Make sure to keep it well-watered so it doesn’t become a fire hazard.

      October is the time to plant tulips and other bulbs.  Then you wait, and wait, and wait, for April or May for them to bloom.  What if you didn’t have to wait that long?  What if you could have tulips and daffodils blooming in January or February and could enjoy them indoors?  Well, you can!

      Just about any bulb that you would normally plant outdoors in fall can be forced to bloom indoors by Valentines Day.

      The bulbs need a chilling period that simulates their underground winter home in cold soil.  The chilling period ranges from 12 – 20 weeks depending on the type of bulb.  You can find a timetable for chilling at www.bulb.com/spring/timetable.asp. The ideal temperature for chilling is 40 degrees but anything between 33 degrees and 50 degrees is fine.  A refrigerator is ideal except for one thing:  apples and other fruits that may be in the refrigerator emit ethylene gas which inhibits flowering.  A spare refrigerator or a cool, dark spot in your basement or garage will work.

      You can plant the bulbs in pots now and chill them right in the pots, or chill the bulbs in a paper bag and plant them after the chilling period.  Select a deep pot for tall varieties and a shallower pot for shorter varieties.  Make sure the pot has drainage holes.  A fine mesh screen or a coffee filter placed in the bottom of the pot will prevent the soil from washing out. 

      Use as many bulbs as can fit in the pot without touching for the most dramatic flower display.  Instead of planting the bulbs deep in the soil as you would outdoors, bulbs for forcing are planted just below the soil line so the bulb noses are showing.  Use either potting soil or a soilless potting mix.  Plant the bulbs pointy side up and water well.  Mark your calendar with the date when the bulbs will come out of chilling.

      Check the pots occasionally to make sure the soil has not dried out.  It should be slightly moist.  The bulbs are not completely dormant during this time – the root systems are developing so they are ready to explode with top growth when you bring them into the warmth.

      When it’s time to bring the pots out, place them in a warm sunny window.  The warmer the temperature, the shorter the flowering stems and the faster the bulbs will flower.  Expect flowers within two to three weeks.  To extend the bloom period, move the pots to a cool location at night and while you are away during the day.

      Most October yard and garden activities are enjoyable ones that ensure that next year’s gardening season will be a good one.

      This is the time to plant bulbs of tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths and other early spring flowering plants.  Plant bulbs 2 ½ times as deep as they are tall with the pointy side up.  Throw a little bone meal in the hole, cover with soil and water well.

      Water, water, water.  It is especially important to water evergreen plants right up until the ground freezes because they continue to transpire, or lose water, from their needles all through the winter.  Also water any perennial that still has green leaves, all young trees and fruit trees, and raspberries and strawberries.  Unless the weather pattern changes soon and dramatically, these plants are going to go into winter under drought stress and will have a hard time recovering in spring.

      October is the best time of the year to deal with two invasive plants.  Buckthorn should be cut as low as possible to the ground and the cut area should be painted with Brush-B-Gone.  In your lawn, creeping Charlie, or ground ivy, can be killed with one cup of borax mixed with two gallons of warm water sprayed over 1,000 square feet.  Plant energy is moving toward the roots this time of year and the Brush-B-Gone or borax will be taken into the roots where it will kill the plant.

      If you plan to overwinter geraniums in a dormant state, shake the soil from the roots and place them, leaves and all, in cardboard boxes or paper bags in a cool, dark part of your basement.  In spring, trim off any withered stems and shorten ones that are too tall before re-planting them in pots to go outdoors.

      As dry as the ground is this year, it is hard to pull up weeds, but if you remove perennial weeds now you will be very glad when spring comes.  I usually hold a hose in one hand and weed with the other, soaking around the roots while I pull up the weeds.

      Cut down any perennial plants that have turned brown and gone dormant, unless they have flower heads you want to keep for winter interest.  If there are bare spots in your mulch, now is a good time to replenish it.

      Don’t be in a hurry to rake your lawn.  Use a lawnmower or leaf shredder to shred the leaves and either leave them on the lawn, compost them, or use them for mulch.

      This is a good time to take a look at your landscape and make notes of changes you want to make for next year.  You may think you’ll remember your ideas but five or six months from now, trust me, you won’t.

      A plant needs dividing if it has outgrown its intended spot or is encroaching on other plants, if it has lost vigor and flowers have become smaller or have stopped appearing altogether, or if the middle of the plant dies while the plant continues growing in a circle around the dead center.

      The general rule is to divide spring and summer blooming perennials in late summer or fall, after bloom, and fall blooming perennials in spring, before bloom. 

      How to divide?  First, decide what to do with the extra plants produced from division.  Either plant them in a new spot, in which case you should prepare that spot before you start, give divisions away to friends, or compost them.

      Next, dig up the plant.  Decide how many sections you want to divide it into.  In general, the larger the sections, the more quickly they will recover from the shock of division.  However, if you want a lot of new plants and are willing to take care of them, many small pieces will work fine.  You may have to wait longer for the plants to reach blooming size if you cut the plants into small pieces.

      Take a look at the root area.  A trowel or your hands will easily separate loosely knit roots like those of coneflower or primula.  A sharp knife is best to separate the tougher roots of plants such as peonies, phlox or astilbes.  A quick downward chop with a spade may be necessary for big tough roots.  A heavy-crowned plant like daylily is best separated by inserting two garden forks back to back into the center of the plant and pulling them apart. 

      Once you have the plant divided, carefully pull out any weeds that are entangled in the roots and cut off any diseased or rotten areas. 

      Remove one-half to two-thirds of the plant’s foliage so that it can concentrate on getting its roots re-established rather than supporting top growth.

      Replant the divisions as soon as possible.  Don’t allow them to dry in the sun or wind.  It’s a good idea to throw a little compost into the hole before planting.  Plant at the same level the plants had been growing and water well.  If plants sink down after watering, lift them carefully to the proper level and tuck more soil under them. 

      A foliar feed of liquid seaweed or fish emulsion provides trace elements and speeds establishment of the plant.  Do not use a regular fertilizer. It will encourage top growth which isn’t what you want right now.

      Protect the plants from hot sun and wind until they are established and keep them well-watered until the ground freezes.  After it does, mulch the plants heavily to prevent shallow freezing and frost heaving.

      Lavender is one of the sweetest of herbs.  Besides being used in potpourris, perfumes and cooking, it is a lovely garden ornamental.

      We are about as far north as lavender can be grown but with a little care it does very well here.

      The most common type of lavender available in local nurseries is the English L. angustifolia.  The varieties you will most often find are ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead.’  ‘Hidcote’ is very fragrant with deep blue-purple flowers and small silver leaves.  ‘Munstead’ flowers a little earlier than ‘Hidcote’ and its fragrant blooms range from pale blue to deep violet.  Both grow to about 12 to 18 inches tall.  There are many other lavender varieties but you will struggle to grow them in our climate unless you can overwinter them in a greenhouse.

      Lavender grows best in average, slightly alkaline soil in full sun.  Good drainage is essential for survival.  Once, established, lavender can survive very dry conditions.  It is a great candidate for rock gardens.  Some compost and bone meal will help get the plants off to a good start but no future fertilizing is needed.

      Lavender dies back in winter and takes quite a while to green up in spring.  One year I was certain all my lavender plants were dead so I bought replacements.  A week later the leaves on the “dead” ones started to turn green and new leaves began to sprout.  So I was faced with the pleasant task of finding new spots for five baby lavender plants.

      Each spring, prune back the lavender plants hard, to about 1/3 of their height.  It seems drastic but this will encourage bushy growth and more bloom.  They respond very well to being shaped and plants that are not pruned have a tendency to fall open in the middle and sprawl.  In fall, cut off dried blooms and prune lightly to neaten up the plant if necessary.  Don’t cut into the woody stems in fall.  Cover with a light mulch over winter.

      Lavender flowers are easily dried.  Cut the stems on a sunny morning after the dew has dried.  Tie the stems in groups of ten or twenty and hang upside down for a week or two to dry. 

      The flowers can remain on the stems to scent a room or be stripped from the stems for potpourri or sachets.  A sachet placed in your pillowcase will ensure a good night’s sleep.  Place a sachet in your dryer (use only with unscented dryer sheets) to infuse your clothes with lavender’s clean scent.

      Lavender adds a sweet note to recipes.  A teaspoon of dried lavender or a tablespoon of fresh lavender can be added to any bread recipe.  Combine the same amount with sugar or lemon cookie dough for a special treat or add it to brownie mix for a sweet floral accent.

Homeowners often have questions about what they see in and on their trees and wonder if they should be worried.   

      Rotten areas on the bark are cause for concern.   A rule of thumb is that if 50% or more of a branch or trunk is rotted, its strength is dangerously compromised.  The branch or tree should be removed. 

      If there is only a small area of rot, use a sharp clean knife to remove the loose bark and scrape the rotted area back to clean wood.  Dipping the knife in a 10% bleach solution several times during the process will ensure that bacteria and disease is not spread into the wound.  Large cleaned areas can be painted with a 50/50 mix of white latex paint and mouthwash after the rotten wood is scraped away.  Eventually the tree will grow around the wound and it will close.

      Rotted areas have several causes.  One is insects burrowing in the wood.  Another is improper pruning which may have stripped away bark under a branch that was cut.  A common cause of rot just a few inches above the ground is from string trimmers hitting the trunk.

      Moss growing on a tree’s bark indicates that there are wet conditions which are ideal for rot.  While moss doesn’t always mean that your tree is rotted, it is a signal to look further. 

      Bracket fungus is a hard woody fungus that looks like a plate stuck into a tree.  It comes in many sizes, shapes and colors.  The part you see is the fruiting body of the fungus.  There is much more fungus under the bark.  Since bracket fungus likes to grow on rotting, weak wood, its presence almost always indicates a problem.

      You may find seedlings or small plants growing in the juncture of branches and the trunk.  The seedlings indicate that the branch union is wet all the time, an ideal condition for rot.  In addition, as the plants grow, their roots often creep under the bark, providing openings for disease to enter.

      Lichens grow on tree bark and are conglomerates of algae and fungi that won’t harm your tree.  In fact you should welcome their presence – they usually grow in areas with clean air and little pollution.    

      An insect called scale may be found on tree bark.  Actually they don’t look like insects at all, but like little hard bumps.  They have hard waxy shells, either reddish gray or brown, that protect the insect while it feeds off your tree.

      If you discover the scale before there are too many, scrape them off with your fingernail or with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol.  If the pests are numerous, spray the tree with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and insecticidal soap every three days for two weeks.

      Make it a habit to inspect your trees monthly so small problems don’t become big ones.

Fertilizer teas are easy to make and are as good for your garden’s health as the tea you drink is for yours. 

      Fertilizer teas are used when planting or transplanting or any time the plants appear to need a boost.  Some people use fertilizer teas every time they water.

      The only supplies needed are a five gallon bucket, water, a stick for stirring and the fertilizer.  Manure tea and compost tea are most commonly made.  Put a gallon of manure or compost in a five-gallon bucket and cover with water.  Wait at least three hours, or up to several days.  Stir or pour into another bucket once a day.  Scoop the water from the bucket and use it to water your plants.  You’ll be feeding the plants and your soil at the same time.  Add more water to the bucket and use the same manure or compost to make several batches of tea. 

      There is one concern with using manure tea.  Manure from non-organic farms may contain pesticides or antibiotic residues.  Fortunately there are other alternatives, and they are much more pleasant.

      As plants grow, they extract nutrients from the soil and store them in their stems and leaves.  Those nutrients can be harvested and returned to the soil by making and using tea.  Any weeds you pull can be made into tea and will have some benefit.  Use whole or chopped leaves and follow the same procedure as for manure tea although it probably isn’t worth using the same plants more than once.

      Some common plants that can be made into tea include alfalfa, chicory, comfrey, dandelion, German chamomile, stinging nettle, parsley and watercress.  Each plant provides different nutrients.  As an example, nettle provides vitamin A, C, K, four B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, phosphorus, potassium, boron, bromine, copper, iron, selenium and zinc.

      You can buy alfalfa meal, also called rabbit pellets, that when made into a tea provides many major and trace nutrients.  Alfalfa meal contains a growth stimulant that increases growth and yield when sprayed on a variety of crops.  Soak a few cups of alfalfa meal in five gallons of water.  Add a tablespoon of molasses to the tea to speed up microbial growth and provide even more nutrients.  Stir the mixture or pour it from one bucket to another every day.

      All the teas can be applied strained or unstrained.  Any sediment or slurry left over can be added to the compost pile.  If applying as a spray, strain the tea well through several layers of cheesecloth or a jelly bag so your sprayer doesn’t get clogged.

      As an alternative to using the tea for watering, it can be sprayed on the foliage, which is called foliar feeding.  Nutrients are immediately available to the plant rather than having to be absorbed by the roots and taken up into the plant.  Foliar feeding should be done in the early morning or late afternoon, never in the heat of the day.

You can still have a garden this year, although it may not turn out as you envisioned at the beginning of May.  Many local gardens have been flooded and some haven’t even been planted yet because of wet soils. 

      I planted my garden the first Saturday in June.  It was too wet to till and I couldn’t walk on the soil because my feet would have been sucked right in.  I laid several boards in a loop around the inside of the garden to walk on.  That way my weight is distributed more evenly and less of the soil is compacted.  I planted short rows in every direction wherever I could reach from the boards.  It’s going to be an odd looking garden this year!

      I was pleased to find that with the late planting and warmer temperatures, everything germinated within four days.  I was not pleased when the rain came again on the fifth day and drowned or washed out almost everything.

      The boards are still in place and I will try again.  Early July isn’t too late to plant beans, carrots and zucchini.  If you provide light shade, you can still plant peas, spinach, kohlrabi and lettuce.  An easy way to provide shade is to pound four tall wooden stakes into the ground in a square or rectangle and staple an old sheer curtain to the top of the stakes.  Any lightweight cloth will work.  If you are handy, you can rig something up with lattice boards to provide dappled shade.  An advantage to late planting is that the pests that normally plague your vegetables may have completed their life cycles and may not be a problem.  

      In my garden, many plants have reseeded themselves from last year, and I let them grow.  Even though they are not where I would have planted them, at least something is growing!

      Of course weeds are growing well.  I pull as many as I can reach from the boards but there are many that I can’t reach.  When the soil does eventually dry out, I will do a good weeding in those areas and then plant a green manure cover crop such as hairy vetch, clover or alfalfa.  In fall, this crop will be turned under to provide organic matter and nutrition in the soil for next year.  At least I will reap some benefit from the off year.

      Adding compost to soil helps it drain better.  Although I’ve always had a compost pile, this is the first year that I had a significant amount to spread on the garden.  I did so in early May, just before the deluge began.  I found that the parts of my garden where I tossed the most compost are the areas where I could plant the earliest.  And after three days with no rain when the top inches of the clay soil are as hard as concrete, the area with the compost is nice and soft.

      The question I’ve been asked most often since I became a Master Gardener is “Why won’t anything grow near my black walnut tree?”

      Black walnut trees release a chemical called juglone that can damage plants growing near them.  Leaves yellow and wilt and sometimes the entire plant dies.  Juglone is released from walnut trees through roots, through leaves that drop to the ground, through husks of nuts, and even from rain drops that drip through the tree.  If your neighbor has a black walnut and the squirrels use your yard for a burial ground, that may explain why your lilies-of-the-valley aren’t doing so well.

      Juglone is not very soluble in water so it doesn’t spread very far in soil.  The edge of the tree’s crown, called the dripline, often has the most juglone.  But the roots of a black walnut tree often reach twice as far as the dripline.  In general, the toxic zone around a mature walnut tree is within 50-60 feet of its trunk. 

      The good news is that there are some plants that are more tolerant of juglone than others.  These plants can be grown near black walnuts:  American arborvitae, ash, barberry, American beech, black birch ‘Heritage’, river birch, boxelder, Ohio buckeye, catalpa, black cherry, crabapple, daphne, flowering dogwood, elderberry, American elm, forsythia,  fringetree, hawthorn, hibiscus, hickory, honeylocust, hydrangea, lilac, many maples, ninebark, oaks, callery pear, eastern red cedar, privet, serviceberry, Norway spruce, sumac, some viburnums,  aster, astilbe, bee balm, begonia, calendula, clematis, coral bells, crocus, Virginia creeper, daffodils, Shasta daisies, daylilies, ferns, hardy geraniums, hollyhocks, hosta, morning glory, phlox, rudbeckia, sedum, sunflower, tulips, violets, wild grapes and yarrow.

      The following plants are very sensitive to juglone and should be grown away from black walnut trees:  tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant, rhubarb, asparagus, apple, pear, strawberry, domestic grape, pine, some birches, hackberry, silver maple, saucer magnolia, linden, pine, lilac, potentilla, azalea, rhododendron, lily, columbine, chrysanthemum, forget-me-not and lily of the valley.

      There are many websites with comprehensive lists of both juglone-tolerant and juglone-sensitive plants.  Search under “black walnuts juglone” if you have a question about a particular plant.

      Of course, the best way to prevent this problem is not to plant a black walnut tree in your yard, especially if it is a small lot where it can damage gardens and nearby landscape plants.  If you already have a black walnut tree on your property, grow the more sensitive plants away from the tree.  Do not use any part of the walnut tree as compost or mulch for other plants.  Cutting down the tree won’t solve the problem immediately either. The juglone will persist until the roots are dead and decomposed, which can take five or more years.

      Black walnuts aren’t the only trees that create juglone.  Butternut, English walnut, shagbark hickory, sugar maple, tree-of-heaven, hackberry, American sycamore, cottonwood, black cherry, red oak, black locust and American elm also produce juglone, but fortunately, in relatively small amounts.

      It’s planting time!  Finally we can set out flowers and plant vegetable seeds without too much worry about a frost destroying all our hard work.  Still, watch the forecast to make sure that the temps won’t be dropping.  I play it safe – if Tom Mahoney forecasts upper 30’s, I cover my plants.  It always seems to get a little colder at my house than promised by the forecast.

      Here are some tips to help you get the most for your money at the greenhouse.

      Make a list.  Write down which plants you want and how many of each.  If you don’t know how many you need, measure the flowerbed.  Most plants have a little tag in the pot telling you how big they will become and how far apart to set the plants in the soil.  You can easily calculate how many you need. 

      That little tag usually carries a wealth of other information.  Sometimes the Latin name of the plant is shown so you can be sure you are getting exactly what you want.  The tag also shows the conditions for optimal growth.  It will either say or have a symbol showing that the plant likes full sun, partial shade or full shade.  Sometimes it will tell whether the plant does best in moist or dry soil. 

      Pay attention to the expected height of the plant.  You’ll want to put taller plants in the back of a bed and shorter ones in the front.  If you have an island bed, taller plants go in the middle with shorter ones around the edges.

      Before buying bedding plants, look them over carefully.  They should be a healthy green color with no yellow or brown leaves or spots. 

      Don’t buy plants that are so tall and leggy that they look out of proportion to their pot.  They’ve been in that pot too long and should have been transplanted to a bigger one. 

      Pick up the plant in its pot.  It should feel heavy for its size.  If it feels too light, it is probably root bound, meaning that all you will find in the pot is circling roots and little or no soil.  This plant is on its way to death and won’t do well when you try to plant it.  If there are lots of roots growing out of the bottom of the container, skip buying that one as well.

      Finally, a safety tip for those doing new landscaping.  To avoid injury or death from digging into electric, gas or phone lines, call Diggers Hotline at 1-800-242-8511.  There is no charge for them to mark where the wires are with spray paint and flags.  But be careful – they only mark lines that are coming into your house.  They do not mark private wires such as those going to outbuildings, landscape lighting, ponds or invisible fences. 

      For future safety, when you lay private electrical wires in your yard, take a photo of the excavation and keep it where you can find it for future reference.