Bring your garden indoors with cut flowers
Q. Do you have any tips for cutting flowers from the garden to bring indoors?
A. When cutting flowers from the garden, it is important to avoid the possibility of transferring diseases and viruses from one plant to another. Always wipe the blade of your knife or scissors with an antibacterial wipe or with rubbing alcohol between cuts. Strip the bottom portion of the stem of any leaves to avoid leaves soaking in standing water. Be sure to get your flowers into water as soon as possible.
While store-bought bouquets usually come with a packet of floral preservative that prolongs the life of the flowers and encourages them to open, you can easily make your own. Fill a container, such as an empty milk jug or soda bottle, with one quart of lukewarm water, and add one teaspoon of white sugar. Then add one teaspoon of bleach - be sure to use regular unscented bleach, not a color-safe variety. Finally, add two teaspoons of lemon juice. Every few days, dump the old solution and replace with a new one. When changing solution, it is a good idea to recut your flower stems.
Store any leftover solution in a cool, dark area to use later.
Q. Why do mums that I add to my garden in the fall fail to survive our winters?
A. The difficulty you are experiencing is because the plants have spent the summer growing in containers, and thus have a compact root ball. While the plants can be transplanted into the soil without setback, there is not enough time for the roots to spread out into the surrounding soil. As a result, winter freezing, heaving and drying frequently lead to the plant's death. That's why mums purchased in the fall are usually considered annual, used for seasonal spots of color,
Your best chance with a potted hardy mum purchased in the fall is to plant it in the ground, mulch and water it well, and cut it back to 3 inches after the blooms are spent. After the ground freezes, cover with evergreen branches. In order to help increase the chance that the container plants get rooted into the garden, slightly loosen up the root system by cutting down the sides of the root ball, thus increasing the plants ability to grow out into the surrounding soil.
Next year, you may wish to add some chrysanthemums to your garden in the spring, so they have more time to establish.
Q. How late into the fall can I plant spring bulbs?
A. Spring bulbs can be planted as long as you can dig the soil. The optimal time to plant bulbs is early to mid-October. However, the earlier you get them into the ground, the better, since it gives the roots time to develop before the ground freezes. Make sure you plant the bulbs at the depth indicated in the directions in well-prepared soil that drains easily. If you have soil that contains a lot of clay, mix compost or peat moss with the soil. To help root development, mix some superphosphate into the soil beneath the bulb to stimulate root growth. You should be rewarded next spring with colorful cheery blooms after the gray days of winter.
To ensure that the bulbs in the garden look their best next year, try planting them in groups, rather than one here and there. Clumps of bulbs look much more natural and impressive. Also, use small bulbs, like crocus, at the edge of beds. Taller bulbs like daffodils and tulips look better toward the middle or back of the bed.
• Provided by Mary Boldan. Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines, open 9 a.m. to noon on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Call (847) 298-3502 or email Cookcountymg.com@gmail.com.