"Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."                                 
                                                                                       1 Corinthians 15:20 (NIV)
 

Creative Spring Bouquets

• Pick a dozen spring flowers of the same variety and color. Hold the stems together in one hand and then push a rubber band around the stems as close to the flower heads as possible to make a compact bouquet. Cut stems to desired length and place in a container with water. Display several bouquets together for a beautiful centerpiece.
• Daffodils release a sap that is harmful to other cut flowers, so avoid mixing them in arrangements with other spring flowers.
• Arrange long stemmed spring flowers with delicate stems (such as daffodils) in a vase fitted with chicken wire. Fill in between with other flowers or evergreen sprigs to set off the blooms.
• Cut branches from flowering shrubs and trees such as forsythia, quince, Japanese magnolias, pussy willow and fruit trees to force into flower indoors.

 Here are a few tips that will help get you prepared for the onset of the growing season.

Take Note

• Keep a garden journal to record your garden's progress through the season. Journals can have plenty of pages for notes, drawings, and dreams, pockets for saving seed packets and receipts, places to record plant purchases, and an address area for garden friends, nurseries and lawn services.
• Use watercolors or paint samples in your journal to remember colors from your garden.
• Press leaves and flowers collected from each season to preserve the memory of a favorite plant.

Spring Clean Your Garden 

• Add grass clippings and leaves to the compost pile but place diseased plant material or branches in the trash.
• Soil test your flowerbeds, garden and lawn, and add soil amendments as needed. Check with your local county cooperative extension service, or buy soil testing kits at the garden center.
• A top dressing of compost or sterilized manure can benefit perennials and roses. Avoid applying on plant crowns. For an extra boost add three to four tablespoons of triple super phosphate around perennials to help them develop lots of beautiful flowers.
• Prepare cages and staking materials for hollyhocks, peonies, tomatoes, sweet peas and other plants that require support.
• When cutting back tall ornamental grasses, wrap the clumps together with masking tape above the cutting height then cut with hedge shears. This makes for easy disposal and eliminates raking.
• Test the shape of a new flower bed by mowing the outline in your lawn.

Starting Seedlings

• Check seed packets to make sure seeds were packaged for the current growing season.
• Recycle nursery cell packs, and other wide flat containers like margarine tubs to start seedlings. Plastic pots retain moisture more consistently than clay.
• Sanitize containers by soaking them in a 10 % bleach solution for 20 minutes, air dry and poke drainage holes in the bottom.
• Use a soilless seed starting mix to fill the containers. Place seeds on the surface, then use a kitchen sieve to spread more mix on top to cover the seeds twice their diameter. Press seeds into the mix with a pestle or glass bottom.
• Spritz the surface with water from a spray bottle and cover with plastic wrap to keep the soil moisture constant until the seeds germinate. Check daily.
• Keep the seeds warm (65 - 75 degrees) by placing them on a seed heating pad or in a warm location.
• Once seeds germinate, remove the plastic and provide good air circulation to prevent fungal infection. Avoid overwatering.
• Turn the seedling daily to keep stems strong.
• Once the leaves develop, feed the seedlings weekly with a half-strength liquid fertilizer.
• Harden seedlings for transplanting. The first day place seedlings outside only in the morning hours, then increase sun exposure gradually each day for a week.

Tool Tips 

• While all your ideas are floating around in your head, take inventory of your gardening tools, equipment and materials and make sure you have what you need for your projects.
• Spray paint or wrap handles of garden tools with bright florescent bands of color so you can find them easily in the garden.
• A fanny pack or belt holster is ideal for keeping small tools like hand pruners ready when you need them.
• Carry a plastic 5 gallon bucket to hold tools, seeds, even your phone while you're out in the garden. Turn it upside down for a sturdy seat.
• Store and clean your metal garden tools by filling a 5 gallon bucket with dry sand and pour a half a gallon of mineral oil evenly over the top. Push your garden tools in. The sand acts as cleaner to keep debris off of the tools and the oil keeps water from damaging the metal.

Pest Prevention 

• Spray dormant oil, available at garden centers, on deciduous trees and shrubs to eliminate insect eggs and larva that lie waiting for the warmth and sunlight to become active. Follow label instructions.
• When planting tomatoes, wrap the base of each seedling with a piece of aluminum foil to discourage cutworms from chewing through the stem.
• Eliminate aphids, spider mites or mealy bugs with this homemade remedy. Combine 1 tablespoon dishwashing liquid with 1 cup vegetable oil. Then dilute 1 tablespoon of this concentrate in 1 cup of water and spray onto infected plants.

Prepare New Beds
Clear the planting area as soon as soil can be worked, removing sod or weeds and debris. Spread a 4-inch layer of compost or well-rotted manure and any amendments over soil, and cultivate it to a depth of 10 to 12 inches with a spading fork.

Plant
Plant bare-root trees, shrubs, and perennials such as hostas and daylilies by early spring. Choose a cool, cloudy day if possible. Transplant container-grown plants anytime during the growing season except midsummer; be sure to water them thoroughly. Sow seeds of cool-season flowers like sweet peas, poppies, and calendula, and vegetables such as lettuce, parsley, and spinach.

Fertilize
Apply balanced fertilizer (6-6-6 or 8-8-8), fish emulsion, or other soil amendments recommended by soil-test results around trees and shrubs when new growth appears. Spread high-acid fertilizer and pine-needle mulch around acid-loving shrubs like azaleas and camellias. Begin fertilizing perennials when active growth resumes.

Start a Compost Pile
Start a compost pile, or use a compost bin, if you don't have one already. Begin by collecting plant debris and leaves raked up from the garden. Chop these up first to speed decomposition. Add equal amounts "brown" (carbon-rich) materials like dried leaves and straw and "green" (nitrogen-rich) materials like grass clippings and weeds in even layers with water and a compost bioactivator. Turn regularly. Continue adding to the pile throughout the season for rich, homemade compost next spring.

Clean Bird Feeders and Baths
Disinfect the feeders by scrubbing with weak bleach solution (1/4 cup bleach: 2 gallons warm water). Rinse and dry the feeders thoroughly before refilling them.Scrub birdbaths with bleach solution, then rinse them thoroughly and refill, changing water weekly. Clean birdbaths and feeders regularly throughout the season.

For Summer Color

• For a continuous crop of beautiful color, plant gladiolus every two weeks after the last frost and into early summer.
• A natural for container gardens is the beautiful canna with its striking bloom colors and bold foliage. Select canna rhizomes that are crisp and firm and have a prominent bright eye.
• First time lily growers might want to start with the Asiatic varieties. Although not as fragrant, they've very durable and not as fussy as Oriental hybrids. Choose bulbs are firm and that they have plenty of fresh fleshy white roots.
• For lots of showy blooms throughout the summer and right up to cold weather, plant dahlias tubers. Some varieties boast blooms the size of dinner plates.

HAPPY GARDENING!

Are you going to heaven?

Webpage by Cheryl Wolverton