The 'Shrooms' are Coming!

     If you're a fan of fungi, you're in luck!  Our recent rains (as in many days of downpours!) may trigger an interesting crop of mushrooms throughout much of Colorado, including in your lawn and landscape.  They're already popping up in my yard.

     Colorado is home to dozens of types of mushrooms.  I find them fascinating and often comical, but these odd "fruiting structures" of fungi need to be taken seriously, especially where kids and pets are concerned.


"When in doubt, throw them out!"

     There are a lot of wild mushrooms in Colorado that are both edible and delicious.... but there are a few that can be deadly.  Many of Colorado's wild 'shrooms fall somewhere in between.  They can easily make adults, children and pets very sick.  Unless you're absolutely sure that a wild mushroom is edible.... meaning its been examined by a fungi expert.... don't eat it!  And don't leave it around for kids or pets to find.  Just pluck it up with a plastic bag and get rid of it.  You don't need to spray with fungicides or other chemicals.  Most of the thread-like body of the fungi are underground.  The mushroom itself is just the fruit.









A teachable moment

     With adult supervision, mushrooms can make for a fun little scientific experiment.  One of the ways that fungi experts identify a mushroom is by its "spore print."   You can make one yourself.  Simply pick the cap off of a mushroom as it is close to being fully  open.  Remove enough of the stem so the cap will sit flat, then set the cap onto a piece of clean white paper. 



The cap on the right was left for just a few hours. 

 

Heavier spore prints from caps left on longer

  
    Within a few hours, the underside of the mushroom will begin to release its fungal spores.... the dust-like powdery little wonders that serve as the mushroom's "seeds."  The spores will settle onto the paper and create a beautiful print that duplicates the pattern of the mushroom's "gills," the fan-like structure on the underside of the cap.  They can be quite lovely!

     The longer the mushroom is left in place (as in a few days rather than a few hours), the heavier the spore print will be, 'til the gill pattern disappears altogether.  It's kinda fun!

Just be careful

     I'm not trying to lecture.  I'm just saying "heads up!" while the mushrooms are beginning  to appear, seemingly overnight.  They're likely to be popping up in your yard, in parks and open spaces and along hiking trails.  Kids and pets are always full of surprises.  Don't let nibbling on a new and curious thing like a mushroom be one of them. 

    

Do your trees have leaf scorch?

     I'm seeing it just about everywhere I look:  leaf scorch... where the outer margins of a tree's leaves turn brittle and crumble when touched.  I'm seeing it at the big box stores.  I'm seeing it at the gym.  I'm seeing it in lots of parks and median strips.  And most of it could have been prevented if the trees had been better cared for.



A textbook example of leaf scorch

    Leaf scorch is common when a tree's roots have been damaged and can't deliver enough water once the heat of summer sets in.  The roots' ability to supply the needed moisture is limited because many of the roots dried up and died over the winter. Come summer, the roots system can't take in enough water.  The end of the "supply line" is the  outer-most edges of the leaves, and they pay the price.



Winter watering

     The leaf scorch damage we're seeing now could easily have been caused last winter.  "Winter watering" is one of my favorite soapbox topics.  A lot of gardeners and homeowners just don't fully appreciate how important winter watering can be for keeping our plants healthy.  Back in my Master Gardener days, "winter drought" was easily one of the most common problems that would prompt homeowners to call the Master Gardener helpline in July and August, when the temperatures climb into the 90's and above. Most of the time, the callers had no idea that the damage began months earlier.



Good care now could save this tree


     Our trees and shrubs are dormant during the winter, but they're not completely shut down.  If we don't have a good, wet soaking snow at least once a month in the winter, it's up to us to keep the roots of our trees and shrubs (and even our lawns) healthy. We need to drag out the hoses or the buckets on a warm morning and put down an inch or so of water to make up for what Mother Nature isn't delivering.

     Winter drought  is one of the most common causes of root damage, but other things can kill the roots, too.  Watering too much or too little, especially on younger trees, can destroy roots and eventually show up as leaf scorch.  Again, the roots are damaged and can't perform their job.  Construction like trenching, use of heavy equipment over the roots and paving can create problems, too.


So what's the answer?


Too late for any T.L.C.

     If you're seeing leaf scorch on your trees, there's no way to repair the leaves that have already been damaged.  But regardless of what caused the damage, the "answer" is pretty basic:  give the tree or shrub the best and most appropriate care you can now.  Don't try to over-compensate with excessive watering or fertilization.  That's not the answer, and could actually make matters worse.

     The staff at Tagawa's can offer lots of advice on what "best and most appropriate care" means, given your particular plants and growing conditions.  We encourage you to take a few pictures of the tree or shrub and bring them into our nursery experts for detailed advice.

     Leaf scorch doesn't have to happen.  Even when we start out the gardening season with watering restrictions as we did this year, good basic care is still possible.  The folks at Tagawa's will be happy to show you how.








 


    

Tagawa's Salutes Red Hawk Ridge Artists

     There's plenty of talent at Red Hawk Ridge Elementary school just north of Tagawa Gardens.  The mural just outside our front entrance is proof!

     Before they broke for the summer, Miss Rose's 5th grade art class at Red Hawk put in a lot of time, planning and hard work to create the mural at Tagawa's.   More than 100 students were involved in all aspects of the project, including the choice of a theme.

     And that theme is a perfect greeting for our guests as they enter Tagawa's:  "Plants give us...."   As the mural says, plants give us joy, beauty and health and so many other good things.

     The young artists sketched out drawings to illustrate their theme and then did all of the painting themselves.

 


   We salute the students and Miss Rose, their enterprising teacher!  Take note of the colorful mural when you visit Tagawa's, and know that there's a very talented bunch of young gardeners, environmentalists and artists who made it possible.

    
    

      

A Look at Plants to Come

     You know the "Hardy Boy" line of plants.... the folks with the "Red Hot Pots?"  They're a favorite here at Tagawa's.  Not just because it's been a Front Range family-owned business for decades, like Tagawa Gardens.   And not just because they offer top-of-the-line, locally-grown plants.... about 300-million every year.  And not just because they have some of the nicest people you could ever meet, which they do.  But for all of these reasons, and more!

So what's new from Hardy Boy for 2014? 

     Glad you asked!  Welby Gardens, the retail side of Hardy Boy, held their annual flower trials this past week.   People from the "green industry," growers, landscapers and greenhouse folks from independent garden centers like Tagawa's, were invited to judge more than 600 plants.  Each of us was allowed to vote for out ten favorites.  (The results are still pending....)

     The dozen or so folks from Tagawa's who attended the Welby Trials had a hard time picking their very favorite plant.  There were so many!  But I did manage to get most of the Tagawa crew to take on this challenge:  "If you could take home just one plant, which one would it be?"

     Their choices are included here.  See what you think!



Welby Gardens Trials

Begonia "Solenia Orange"

 

Rudbeckia "Gold Rush"

Geranium "Lavender Rose"

Euphorbia "Star Dust:

Celosia "Intenz"

Petunia "Rose and Shine"

Geranium "Dynamo Salmon"

Angelonia "Archangel"

Lobelia "Bella Oceana"



Begonia "L.A.X."

Our expert production staff at Tagawa's will be comparing notes over the next few months to decide which plants our customers might love the most! 
 

Help Parker Celebrate the Bees!

     I'm a beekeeper, so around my house, whenever I mention "the girls," people know I'm talking about the honey bees.  So consider this your formal invitation to come by O'Brien Park in downtown Parker for the annual "Honey Festival."  We'll celebrate "the girls."  I'll have drawings to give away beautiful bee-friendly perennials from Tagawa's.  And you just might learn something you didn't know about these remarkable insects.

For example.....?

     Okay.  For example:  honey bees are funny!  They make me laugh.  I have a large flat plastic saucer with a couple of bricks in it on my deck where the girls can come for water.  (Water is important for them all year long, but especially during hot weather.)

     If they miss the brick and plop down into the water, it's fun to lift them up with the tip of my finger.  Their fuzzy little bodies are soaked, and they all but shake like a wet dog.  I set them down to dry and we both go our separate ways.  Done carefully, no stings.  No fear.  No drowned bee.

"The Girls" need our help

     The honey bees are in trouble, and planting bee-friendly plants is one way we can help.  Come by the Tagawa table at the Parker Honey Festival on Sunday (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and enter to win a plant that will give The Girls a nice place to visit.  You, too, may discover what wonderful, and funny, little creatures they are!

All the details are at the Honey Fest website:
      
                                  http://www.ourparkercolorado.com/honey-festival-parker-co/

"Deadheading" means what??

     Okay, so I'm a little slow with my planting.  Actually, it's not so much that I'm slow.   I just keep buying more beautiful pots of this and that every time I walk through Tagawa's.  But it's a good obsession, right?

     Still, the "to-be-planted" assortment of perennials on my deck is no excuse to neglect my mid-summer chores.   Specifically:  deadheading.

Deadheading defined

    It's not as brutal as it sounds.  Deadheading simply means that as the flowers on annuals or perennials begin to fade (and well before they've actually crashed!), we need to snip off those spent blossoms.  Mother Nature has programed the plants to  make seed.  By cutting off the flowers before the seed production begins, you can "trick" the plant into thinking that it hasn't actually accomplished its mission.  The plant's only choice?  To make more flowers!

     The exception, of course, is if the seeds are what you want.  For example, the main point of growing dill (other than attracting butterflies) is to harvest the seed.  But with most plants,  it's the flowers that we work so hard for.

A bonus!

     Deadheading can also help keep plants healthy.  Certain petunias can get leggy in mid-summer.  Consider removing not only the fading flowers, but cutting back a few inches of stem as well.  It will help petunias and other plants look full and vigorous rather than tired and strung out. 

     Flowers like geraniums that bloom at the end of a separate stem are one of the easiest annuals to deadhead.  Just carefully reach down to the bottom of that leafless stem and snap it off.  Cutting just below the geranium blossom and leaving the flower stem will give you a plant with a lot of little sticks pointing out, but no new flowers at the ends of those dried stems.  It doesn't actually hurt the plant, but its not going to help its appearance, either.

Maybe a "haircut" is called for.

      Annuals and perennials that grow so tall they don't stand upright anymore may need more than deadheading.  They may be trying to tell you that they need a good haircut, so listen to them!  Get out some sharp scissors or pruning shears and cut them back to give them another chance to grow and show-off what they can do. 

     If you don't know how a particular plant should be deadheaded or cut back, bring in a sample in a sealed plastic bag.  The fine folks at Tagawa's will be happy to identify the plant, and offer some great advice on how to revive it for another round of flowers.

"Plant Select" Salute to Tagawa's

     Here at Tagawa's, we're not exactly "drum roll" kind of people.  But I did want to let you know that Tagawa's has received a big gold star from the folks at Plant Select.  We've been recognized as the "Plant Select Organization of the Year."    (Listen closely and you can hear me discretely tooting our horn in the distance....)

"Sonoran Sunset" hyssop

     Plant Select is a terrific program run jointly by Colorado State University, Denver Botanic Gardens and members of the "green industry," i.e., independent greenhouses and growers like Tagawa's,  The very demanding experts with Plant Select test dozens of plants to determine which ones are especially suited to our climate's tough demands.  Only the best of the best actually makes it as a Plant Select winner. 

     Tagawa's has a first-rate Plant Select section in our perennials and nursery departments.    We're die-hard fans of the programs and the plants it promotes.  I grow many of the plants in my own garden, and happily label myself a Plant Select cheerleader. Go team!

    Ginger, Tagawa's Perennials Supervisor, sits on the Plant Select Marketing committee and routinely voices her own enthusiasm for the program every chance she gets.  Hats off to her and everyone in her department!

     If you have any doubts about a drought-tolerant garden being big, bold and beautiful, jump over to their website:   www.plantselect.org   You'll find pictures of more than one-hundred plants that have made it to their winner's list.  And be sure to check out their section on garden designs, too.  Great plant combinations and ideas from a great program!

"Snow Angel" coral bells

      

"Narbonne" blue flax