Gardening

Get rid of this pretty but invasive weed before it's too late

It is time for mail call wherein I try and answer timely questions that may be of use to more than the inquirers. In short, one gardener's problem is probably another's.

Let's start with a photo a reader sent this week. To her it was the most beautiful bunch of miniature yellow snapdragon with an orange throat and she wanted to know what the variety was. Of course, this is the invasive weed "butter and eggs," or Linaria vulgaris. I have been after readers all season to Google the plant, learn what it looks like and then rid the property of them before they flowered. Now they are in flower and going to seed.

Forget peonies. If ever there was a plant that would make a great export crop, Linaria vulgaris is it. Of course, we would have to do something about the name. I harp about this weed. You can laugh, but this puppy is every bit as invasive as dandelions, only instead of lawns, it pops up in garden beds, along fence lines, almost any place where soil has been disturbed.

Yes, they are pretty. Still, pull them, at least break off the flowers and stop their spread. We have a few years left to do so.

From butter and eggs to garlic. Since much of Alaska lies in a hardiness zone of 4 or lower, garlic is planted in early spring up through mid-summer. Outside, in warmer climes, it is planted in the fall. This warm year may be the time to experiment and do a fall planting. If so, now is the time to order garlic bulbs; try Nichols Garden Nursery, Territorial Seed and Renee's Garden and keep your eyes open for them at local nurseries. All that, in response to a question about what type, hard-neck or soft-neck, is the best. Both will make it up here, but the hardier of the two in my opinion is the hard-neck type.

Next, this has been a great year for lilies. They have bloomed like crazy. The question I am getting is: When can they be divided?

The best time to divide lily bulbs, actually separate them, is three or four weeks after they finish blooming. Dig them with a pitch fork, shake off some of the soil and separate by hand. Personally, I like to leave at least a quarter of the bulb in the original spot so I have at least one nice clump next year. It takes several years before an individual bulb will divide enough to form a good one.

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How do you grow blueberries? Yes, they are a treasured fruit up here and there are plenty out in the wild. Still, at some time or another, most of us want them in our gardens.

You can buy container-grown blueberries. There are three problems with these. First, they need protection in the winter. Second, most are first-year plants and the flowers of first-year plants should be removed to ensure fruit the ensuing years. They often don't make the second year, however. And third, container-grown blueberry plants need to be pruned in the winter. Many try them in Alaska. Few succeed.

So, is it possible to grow the kind of plants that grow wild locally? Sure, if you know the tricks. First, get permission to dig them. Second, make darn sure you get as much of the surrounding soil as you can carry. This is because blueberries are very mycorrhizal. However, the fungi with which they partner is special to this family of plants and cannot be grown commercially. This means you have to have the soil from areas where they are growing well in order to have the fungi present in your yard or gardens. Since they have their own mycorrhizal fungi, forget giving them food or worrying about the proper acidic conditions. Instead, mulch with a mixture of compost and coffee grounds. This will provide the acidic conditions and support they mycorrhizal fungi as they do their work.

Finally, it has been a terrific summer for growing tomatoes. It has been so good that here in Southcentral Alaska we have even been able to able to grow them outdoors, sans greenhouse, and get fruit. Most unusual.

The question is: At what temperature do tomatoes need to be moved indoors to continue to set fruit? The answer is that when nights start staying around 50 to 55 degrees, the flowers made in the day won't set at night and will drop off.  Existing fruit will probably be OK, but if you want new fruit, you will have to move your plants indoors at night or start growing them in a greenhouse.

Jeff’s Alaska Garden Calendar

Harvest: You grow food to harvest. Do it! Don't let it rot on the vine. If you don't want it, then at least harvest it and take it to someone who does, like a food bank, soup kitchen, place of worship or a needy friend.

Radish, leaf lettuce: You can plant new crops now and harvest before the frost.

Pelargoniums, aka geraniums: These can be propagated from cuttings taken now and then stored this winter or grown indoors. Cuttings need to be exposed to air for 48 hours before being placed into damp sand or compost for rooting.

Cannabis: Stop pinching back plants if you want them to flower in a timely manner. Male plants do not contain THC and are usually thrown away. Instead, make a tea out of the roots and the soil around them and apply this to your female plants in order to put the microbes from the male plants' soil to good use.

Jeff Lowenfels

Jeff Lowenfels has written a weekly gardening column for the ADN for more than 45 years. His columns won the 2022 gold medal at the Garden Communicators International conference. He is the author of a series of books on organic gardening available at Amazon and elsewhere. He co-hosts the "Teaming With Microbes" podcast.

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