Hello my dear gardening friends,

Another strange week, up to 50oF and this is January! Then again we usually have a January thaw, or is this really our Indian Summer?? I hope that no one is even thinking of going on the lakes. On Clear Lake this past week we had open water – not surface water – but the actual lake.

Perhaps a little early for this one, forgive me, but I have had several questions with regard to Lilacs so here goes:

In regards to: “Why are my lilacs not blooming?”

A) There are many reasons as to why lilacs fail to bloom. The main one is that many people prune their lilacs in the fall which cuts off the coming spring blooms. There is only a window of 10 days after the last bloom, before the next year’s bloom starts to fall.

B) Lilacs hate fertilizer, if it is anywhere near your lilac bushes, you will get a great amount of very healthy, green foliage, but no blooms.

C) Make sure that if your lilacs are growing in grass, keep the grass cut short, but do not fertilize.

D) A dose of Epsom salts will work wonders. They replace the magnesium in the soil, and of course help to make blooms. How much? I like to sprinkle a cup of Epsom salts around anything that blooms, then just rake it lightly into the soil, it gets taken down when it either rains or when you water.

E) If you cut the blooms to bring inside – make sure that you remove all the leaves, leaving only the flowers on the end of the branch. You can cut just the leaves for foliage in a flower arrangement, but leaving the leaves on with the blooms, will cause everything to die very quickly.

F) It is a good idea to remove all those wretched little shoots that sprout up all through the lilac bush. You can actually re-plant them in another part of your garden if planted with willow tree branches, they will root quite readily.

I hope that this will solve some of your problem – the secret is to keep all the “goodies” away from your bushes, they do not like “junk food” as it were!! Treat them badly and they will reward you with lots of flowers, somewhat like Wisteria.

Q) Why are my African Violets (Saintpaula) not blooming?

A) There are five basic needs – steady warmth, careful watering, good light, high humidity and regular feeding. Keep the leaves off the window pane, especially in the winter. Remove dead flowers and damaged leaves immediately – do not leave on stalk. Remove side shoots on older plants as they develop. Keep the plant moderately root bound. It is essential to use a plastic pot when re-potting.

Temperature: Average warmth; not less that 60oF in the winter, avoid cold draughts and sudden changes in temperatures.

Light: Bright Light – ideally an east or south window in the winter and a west window in the summer. Always protect from strong sunlight. For winter blooming provide some artificial light at night, our days are so short. To grow entirely by artificial light use two 40W fluorescent tubes about 12 inches above the plants for 14 hours each day.

Water: Keep compost moist; but wait until the surface is dry before you water again. Use tepid water - if there is fluoride in the water, let it stand for 24 hours before you use it. Use a small watering can and push the spout below the leaves.

Air Humidity: High humidity is essential. Surround the pot with damp peat or place on a pebble tray. Mist very carefully with tepid water, if your plant is not flowering. Be sure to keep the misted plant away from sunshine.

Repotting: repot when necessary, in the spring.

Propagation: You can take leaf cuttings or sow seeds, but again in the spring.

Straw – Coloured Patches on leaves: Cause may be too much direct sun in the summer time. Place a sheer curtain in front of them for unless you do, leaf edges may turn yellow and holes develop.

Brown Spots on Leaves:
There are several possible reasons for the cause. Dry air is a frequent cause, so is too much sun and watering. Overfeeding can result in yellowing, make sure you follow the instructions, half the amount suggested is better.

Pale Green Leaves with Long Stalks or Leaves with Curled Edges:
The cause of this is that the plant has been chilled. Minimum temperatures should be 60oF although it will tolerate short periods of 50o to 60oF if the compost is fairly dry. Make sure to move the pots away from the window, or place a sheet of cardboard, between the plant and the window pane on really cold and frosty nights.

Limp Leaves and Center Crown Rotten:
Crown rot disease is caused by over watering and wide fluctuations in temperature. This is a difficult disease to control and it is infectious; the best plan is to remove and destroy the plant as soon as possible.

No Flowers:
There are many possible reasons for why this occurs. The most likely cause is insufficient light especially in the winter. Other possibilities are dry, cold air, too frequent repotting and failure to remove side shoots. Moving the pot to a new location can cause the plant to stop blooming for some time.

Moldy Leaves and Flowers:
Botrytis or powdery mildew disease may be the cause. Stop misting the leaves. Pick off and destroy diseased parts. Spray the plant with a systemic fungicide using tepid water and keep out of the sun until the spray deposited dries.

To help promote blooming try our old friend the Epsom salt treatment: Mix a cup of salts in a litre of water using this mixture about once a month. Dilute this mixture by mixing a tablespoon in a cup of warm water. Put the rest of the mixture on your plants – they will all benefit from a dose of magnesium.

I think that it is time for a little magic so I am going to tell you about Gnomes and their Gardens.

Being originally woodland folk, gnomes are natural gardeners and repay the tolerance humans show, by making their gardens flourish. Gardeners who suspect a gnome has moved in with them should observe certain rules of etiquette if they wish to avoid scaring their visitors away. Most important of all is not to mention your suspicions to anyone outside your household.

Gnomes do not mind too much if their gardener’s suspect their presence (as long as they are suitably discreet, respectful and accidentally – on – purpose leave the odd treat out) but if they start talking about it to their friends, the gnomes will immediately up sticks and move away. Also it is better not to complain at any unexpected mess in the garden shed (that is what keeps happening in my kitchen). Gnomes are not very tidy when it comes to borrowing our tools and are likely to be offended at complaints, given how much they do to keep the garden itself in order.

What gnomes appreciate are little gifts of food and drink when the giving is not made too obvious. They also like privacy, which means not having a glaring spotlight playing on your garden all night. It is not good for star watching either. Given these things, they will happily work away on your behalf, helping everything to grow, keeping the weeds and pests in order and making sure that the bindweed doesn’t strangle your carrots.

They are also very loyal in guarding the garden from intruders and will do everything to trip them up or otherwise scare them away. Rakes will mysteriously slide into just the spot where their foot is about to come down. Piles of flower pots will crash as they pass and bats will fly into their faces. They might even see worrying shadows move in the bushes and hear the growling of a non-existent German shepherd nearby. In theory a determined thief might ignore all these things and the gnomes would in the end be powerless to stop him/her, but burglars are rarely that brave. Most intruders are all too ready to believe that something horrible might happen to them at any moment.

Gnome methods of gardening are largely a matter of instinct. They don’t need to study books or hang on the words of some ancient master to learn the tricks of their trade (although they often do both anyway just because they enjoy it). Most gnomes simply have a natural instinct for what is needed to make a garden grow the way they want it to. The plants and soil talk to them directly in a way that we cannot begin to understand. It is similar to a kind of music striking on to a sixth sense that few humans possess in more than a tiny measure. A garden to a gnome is like a constant, slow changing symphony. Harebells really do chime, and so do all the other flowers and plants in the garden. Each has its own particular song that tells how happy it is. The aim of a gnome in his perfect garden is to create a unique symphony that is largely lost on humans because we can only enjoy the sight and scent of it, for our hearing is not acute enough.

Gnomes take as much pride in the tools of their trade as they do in their own children, well almost. A good fork is expected to last at least 100 years (this is indeed possible for I am using tools that my father-in-law purchased in the early 30’s and they are ready to work for another 50 years at least). When a gnome owns a tool for this length of time, it becomes part of him, should he be unfortunate enough to lose or break it – he goes into a decline and is unable to function for weeks. He has to work himself up to replacing it, for the blacksmith may live miles and miles away. His work is so long lasting that he serves a very wide area.

All in all losing a tool is a serious matter for gnomes. They will often borrow their human’s tools, but treat them as implements only, much as we do – purely a means to an end. That reminds me, did you clean, oil and put yours away in the fall? Their own tools have names like, Sodbuster, Worm Biter or Aphid Bane, and they get passed on as heirlooms with as much reverence as a Viking Sword.

They can of course talk to hedgehogs, snails, moles, insects and all the other creatures that one finds in a garden. Not with words as children like to imagine, but as clearly as the creatures talk to each other, if that makes sense to you. When a bee flies to a hive and performs the complicated song and dance that tells the others where to find a particularly succulent flower, a watching gnome will understand as clearly as any bee in the hive. When a chick has fallen out of its nest, gnomes will rush to help the parents in its rescue.

Plants are a gnome’s chief interest in the garden, but they look after all the creatures there too. Encouraging the helpful ones and discouraging the others. Gnomes are tirelessly helpful in such ways that all the smaller animals turn to them in need, some of the larger ones too. So keep your eyes open and you may see these busy people in your garden – I didn’t mention that they share your garden with the fairies!!!!!!!

How do I know that fairies live in your gardens?? Haven’t you seen the fairy rings? Alas we do know what this is: a soil borne fungi (Marasmius oreades) feed on organic matter and grass roots in the soil. The symptoms are: Two dark circles of lush grass form, with the area between containing only dead grass and moss. Light brown toadstools may appear in the fall on the outer ring of grass. Plants attacked are fine quality turf grasses, especially intensively managed lawns. To prevent this, remove as much organic matter and debris as possible when preparing the ground for a lawn, and try to keep the lawn as dry as possible.

Control: Apply a dilute solution of cresylic acid to the infected area and for at least 24 inches around the infection. Ask your gnomes for help too – it can’t hurt!

I quite enjoy this poem and as my birthday is coming soon, I thought that I would inflict it on you my dear friends.

Well my dears, I hope that you have enjoyed this little epilogue. Our winter is well on its way. Tonight I was outside at 5:30 pm and it was still light spring but winter is just around a large corner! Check your seed packages, for some seeds need to be planted very soon – I have brought my geraniums into the light and they are looking much happier.

Good gardening to us all – I bet that you have soil in your rugs too! Hats, gloves, sunscreen and remember to exercises before you venture outside to clean off that snow.

Lovingly, Beryl