Poppies next spring

I saw beautiful poppies in gardens this spring and summer and would like to grow some of my own. When and how do you plant them?

There are several types of poppies; some are perennials, some are cool-season annuals. A few of them can be grown from seed sown in the fall, so start planning now to have a garden of poppies next year. Here’s a short list of the possibilities, according to the editors of the Southern Living Garden Book:

Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicaule) is a short-lived perennial with cup-shaped blooms of yellow, orange, salmon, pink, white or cream. Sow seeds or set out transplants in the fall.

Oriental poppy (P. orientale) has large, crinkled blooms in scarlet, orange, pink, salmon or white that grow from bushy clumps of foliage. The blooms may be black at the base. Plant dormant roots in the fall.

Shirley poppy, or Flanders Field poppy (P. rhoeas) is an annual poppy with single or double flowers in white, pink, salmon, red, scarlet, lilac or blue. Sow in the fall by mixing seeds with an equal amount of sand and broadcast it where you want them to grow. Note: The Southern Living Garden Book says this is a “notorious self-sower,” which is usually a gentle way to say it could take over your garden whether you want it to or not.

Alpine poppy (P. alpinum) is a perennial that grows better in fast-draining, gritty soil. It has smaller flowers (1 ½ to 2 inches in white, yellow, orange or salmon. It, too, self-sows freely. Sow seeds in fall or early spring.

To plant poppy seeds, prepare the soil in a bed in full sun and simply scatter the seeds on top, or barely cover the seeds. Water the ground carefully, and kept the area moist throughout the fall.

Garden events in Middle Tennessee

Sept. 5:WarnerParkNatureCenter hosts Hummingbird Happy Hour, 4 – 6 p.m. at the WarnerParkNatureCenter. Bird banding demonstrations and other kid-friendly activities are on the agenda. Free admission, but registration is required; call 352-6299. While you’re there, visit the NatureCenter’s vegetable, herb and flower garden. Info: http://www.nashville.gov/parks/nature/wpnc.

Sept. 15: Urban Chicken Appreciation Day at Shelby Bottoms Nature Center, 10 – 11 a.m., celebrates feathered backyard friends. Learn how to get started in backyard chicken keeping in a session led by Bonnie Bowles. Call (862-8539) or email (shelbybottomsnature@nashville.gov) to register.

Sept. 22 & 23: Many rare and unusual houseplants will be available at the Tennessee Gesneriad Society’s annual Flower Show and plant sale, which will be held at Cheekwood’s Botanic Hall. The event is open to the public 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Sunday. To learn more contact Julie Mavity-Hudson at Julie.mavity@gmail.com.

Sept. 29: Herb Society of Nashville’s Herb Day at Cheekwood’s Botanic Hall: “Cooking & Gardening with Native Plants.” 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; admission is $40 plus Cheekwood gate fee. To register: www.herbsocietynashville.org.

Garden seeds: How old is too old?

QUESTION: How long do seeds last? If a seed packet says “purchase by 12/11,” would the seeds still be good for this year?  I’m looking at sunflowers, green beans, and other summer vegetables.

Packed for 2011. Still good? Probably, if they’ve been kept dry and cool.

It’s probably a common experience among gardeners to find packets of last year’s seeds – or seeds from two or more years ago (opened or unopened) stashed in a forgotten corner. They look too good to throw away, but is it worth wasting time and space in the garden to plant them if they may not germinate?

The good news is that many seeds last beyond the “sell-by” or “packaged for” date that’s printed on the packet, especially if they’ve been kept in favorable conditions – dry and reasonably cool. Seeds of parsnips, onions and leeks are among those that will only be good for a year, but seeds of most of the common garden vegetables can last two, three, or some, even five years. Here’s a short list from vegetable researchers atOregonStateUniversity:

Two years: sweet corn, lettuce, parsley, peppers, chard.

Three years: Bush and pole beans, carrots, cucumbers, melons, peas, squashes, tomatoes.

Four years: radishes, turnips.

Seeds of annual flowers are generally good for 1 – 3 years, the researchers say; seeds of perennials can last 2 – 4 years.

You can test the viability of a packet of seeds by placing a few in a moist paper towel in a warm room for a few days to see if they germinate. Seed Savers Exchange provides detailed instructions here.

If you have seeds left at the end of the season, the best way to store them is in a sealed jar with something to absorb moisture (rice or powdered milk are two suggestions). Store the jar in the refrigerator or a cool area in the house, such as a basement.

Garden events

The Mid-South Chapter of the Lupus Foundation’s Down the Garden Path garden tour and plant sale May 19 and 20. Visit nine gardens in Belle Meade, Green Hills and Franklin. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.Saturday, noon– 6 p.m.Sunday. Tickets are $20 prior to the event, $25 on tour days, and proceeds benefit the Lupus Foundation of America, Mid-South chapter. www.lupusmidsouth.org.

Coming in June

Seeds of Hope self-guided garden tour, June 2. Six gardens in Belle Meade, Green Hills and Oak Hill, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tickets $25; proceeds benefit Monroe Harding programs for children. www.monroeharding.org.

The Nashville African Violet Club meets June 3 at 1:45 at the Green Hill Women’s Center, 10905 Lebanon Road in Mt. Juliet. E-mail Julie.mavity@gmail.com to learn more.

Gardens in Rugby, Tenn. will be open to visitors on June 9.

Plan a road trip on June 9 to Rugby, Tenn., for an all-day event at Historic Rugby Cumberland Plateau Gardens. The day begins at 9 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) with “Rugby Landscape Gardening From 1880 to 2012” by Rick Murphy, followed by  “Garden Design Sun to Shade” a workshop by Bob Washburn of Wolf River Valley Growers. Lunch, garden tours and a British Cream Tea round out the schedule. The cost is $40, and advance reservations are required. Proceeds benefit Historic Rugby. Information, 888-214-3400.

The Tennessee Gesneriad Society meets June 10 in Cheekwood’s Botanic Hall at2 p.m. Program is a Mini Show. Contact Julie at 615-364-8459 to learn more.

Perennial Plant Society monthly meeting at Cheekwood, June 19,7 p.m. in Botanic Hall. June meeting is potluck dinner and photos of members’ gardens.

Sweet surprise: sweet potato vines

QUESTION: The ornamental sweet potato vines I grew in large pots last summer produced potatoes – to my surprise! Can they be replanted to produce vines next year?

Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) ‘Blackie’

Yes! The sweet potatoes that are grown for their ornamental vines don’t have much taste, but U.T. Extension agent David Cook says you can save the tubers to produce the same foliage next year. Here’s how to do it:

If the potatoes haven’t already frozen (and by now, you may find that they have, unfortunately), dig them up and store them packed in straw in a dry, cool place. When the weather begins to get warm again, the tubers may begin to sprout. Cut them into sections just as you would cut a seed potato, with at last one “eye” per section. Allow them to dry for a few days, and plant them in the ground after the frost date has passed (mid-April here in Middle Tennessee).

Ornamental sweet potato vines come in a variety of fancy-leafed “flavors.” ‘Blackie’ is an easy-to-find favorite, with purplish-black, deeply lobed leaves. ‘Ace of spades’ has heart-shaped leaves. ‘Tri-color’ is variegated with green, white and pink foliage, and the variety called ‘Marguerite’ has golden-green leaves.

The vines grow fast, and are a striking addition as a “spiller” in a container, draping elegantly over the sides. I learned last summer that rabbits find the leaves tasty. If your garden has a resident rabbit (as mine does), you’ll find the vines will start to disappear, so be warned.

Don’t worry about the daffodils

It’s only January, and the daffodils in my yard are already coming up! How do I keep them from freezing?

Early risers: daffodils can survive winter.

It may seem too early for this unmistakable sign of spring, but it’s not unusual for the shoots of early daffodils to begin pushing up through the ground. In some places, they started coming up before Christmas. The best thing to do is: Nothing. In fact, there is nothing you can do. Spread some pine straw over the daffodil bed if it makes you feel better, but really, even that is an unnecessary step, says Anne Owen of the Middle Tennessee Daffodil Society.

We’re at the mercy of the weather fluctuations, but generally, a blast of cold weather won’t hurt the daffodils, Owen says. The worst that could happen is that the weather turns warm and stays warm enough for long enough that the daffodils bloom; then the flowers might succumb to a snap of extreme cold. If we get a freeze while only the leaves are up, they should survive without a problem.

Good reading

It’s a good time to sit down with a stack of seed catalogs (or a list of seed company URLs) and plan this year’s kitchen garden. Here are some of my favorites (where I indulge in a little wishful thinking):

Seed Savers’ Exchange (Unusual varieties not found at the big box store seed kiosks)

Seeds of Change (Seeds, supplies, and live plants, too)

Territorial Seed Company (Try out the online garden planner)

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (“Particularly suited to the Mid-Atlantic and similar regions”)

Renee’s Garden (Pretty as a cottage garden)

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (Recipes included!)

John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds (Straightforward, with tidy line drawings; more tips and entertaining reading at the website)

Brent & Becky’s Bulbs (One of the best sources for bulbs, say those in the know)

Burpee (for sheer volume, and all those luscious pictures!)

Seed saving at the end of summer

What is the best way to keep some of my garlic and seeds from the sunflowers to plant next year?  How do I store them? Do black eyed peas and green beans save well for next year? Seeds from bell peppers? I’ve never saved seeds before, so this is all new to me. – Anne-Marie

You know you’re a real gardener when you start thinking about saving seeds for next year. Congratulations! In most cases, seed-saving is ridiculously easy. Here are some guidelines:

Harvest sunflower seeds when the heads droop and the petals drop.

For garlic, if you’ve harvested and cured the bulbs properly, all you need to do is set some aside to plant this fall. Keep a few heads of garlic in a dry, cool place, and when the time comes (late September to mid-October is a good time to shoot for), break them apart and plant individual cloves in a prepared bed. They’ll get a good start in the ground this fall, and be ready to harvest early next
summer.

Sunflowers are also easy to harvest. When the back of the flower’s head turns yellow, cover it with a paper bag. This will keep the birds and squirrels from harvesting before you do, and as the seeds fall naturally, they will drop into the bag. You can also cut the flower off with about a foot of stem and hang the flower head upside-down in a paper bag in a warm, dry place. Shake the flower head every now and then to let the seeds fall into the bag. The important thing here is to keep things dry so the seeds don’t get moldy, and a paper bag allows the air to circulate. After they are completely dry, a canning jar makes a good seed-storage container.

Peas and beans can be left on the plant until they are dry, then harvested. Make sure they are
absolutely dry (I’ve dried them on a window screen “shelf” in the attic), then open them by hand and store the seeds in a jar. If frost threatens before you harvest, pull up the whole plant by the roots and hang it upside down in a dry place until the pods are dry.

For peppers, cut the bottom off a fully mature pepper and strip the seeds out of the center. Spread them to dry on a paper towel and allow them to dry in a cool location until the seeds are dry enough to break when folded.

You didn’t ask about saving seeds of tomatoes, but a lot of people do, so I’ll include it here. This is  one of the more labor intensive processes. Select a tomato that is completely ripe. Cut it in half crosswise, and squeeze out the jelly-like substance the holds the seeds. Place this into a small jar and add a little water, cover the jar loosely and place it in a warm location for about three days, stirring it once a day.

You’ll notice that a layer of fungus begins to form on the top of the mixture after a couple of days. This is a good sign, because the fungus eats away the gelatinous coat and produces substances that help control some diseases. After three days, fill the jar with warm water and let the contents settle, then begin pouring out the water, tomato pulp and immature seeds, which will have floated to the top (the good, viable seeds will settle at the bottom of the jar). Repeat the process until the water is almost clear and the bottom of the jar is lined with clean seeds, then strain the water off these seeds and spread them out onto paper towels or newspaper. Allow the seeds to dry completely before you store them.

After you’ve harvested, dried and packaged the seeds, be sure to label them carefully so you’ll know next year what you have.

The International Seed-Saving Institute (where I found most of this information) has a straightforward, non-flashy but excellent Web site that walks you through the process of saving seeds of the most common vegetables. Check it out at www.seedsave.org.

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Look in today’s Tennessean and at Tennessean.com to find suggestions for shrubs to use beside a front porch.

Click over to Turning Toward the Sun: A Garden Journal for an update on the rabbit situation.