August is the high point of Island summer, and the M.V. Agricultural Society’s Agricultural Fair (August 15, 16, 17, 18) is the high point of August. Deadlines loom for making serious floral and vegetable selections for Fair entries. Decent rainfall between now and entry-time would induce a good flush of fresh new growth.
If there are family and people visiting and being helpful, marking entries with “do not pick” signs and Day-Glo caution tape is not unreasonable! Take careful note to read the entry description and manner of display, to keep things straight-forward and uniform for judges. I once entered an entire truss of ‘Lemon Boy’ tomatoes, because it seemed so perfect. Stern note on entry tag: “Only three.” Which leads me to tomatoes…
Tomato department
I previously grew tomatoes from North Carolina State University’s (NCSU) “Mountain” series tomato-breeding program, with good results. The author of this exemplary breeding program is Randy Gardner, PhD. His output has transformed tomato growing for home and commercial growers alike, as this link describes: cfgrower.com/thoughts-on-heirloom-tomato-breeding/
This year I chose Mountain Merit and Mountain Magic. The seed is hybrid and expensive, but each strain has been selected to produce heirloom-type fruit and flavor with disease resistance, and without the prophylactic spraying and fumigation schedules heirlooms so often require.
Each pricey seed germinated, and I was able to share some plantlets too. In addition, these two were joined by three other heirloom tomato cultivars, Black Krim, Black Heirloom, and Oxheart Pink. All are doing well so far, fingers crossed, with the Mountain-series plants looking especially good.
Much of Dr. Gardner’s work concerns producing cultivars resistant to late blight. For many gardening here, that test, with the jury still out, is what happens to plants in the wake of conditions caused by passing tropical depressions: wet, warm, humid air masses.
Re-potting the orchid
Phalaenopsis orchids have become far more accessible and affordable in recent decades, good news for those who are entranced by these wonderful flowering plants. A visitor, who is a bit of a plant nerd, laughed when I inquired about repotting, “They’ve become so inexpensive, just throw them out when they look trashed.”
Being born thrifty makes that impossible, and irrespective of price, one forms a relationship with the floral friends in one’s life. And so, I recently undertook repotting an older phalaenopsis-friend that had become mousy looking. Orchidist David Geiger, for years the propagator at Heather Gardens, “held my hand” by telephone (as did a Horticulture (February 2001) from my archives). He reminded me that over time the bark chip medium breaks down and fails to keep the roots healthy and aerated, and then needs replacing.
The transparent plastic pot caused the plant to slip out easily; also making visible the mess of old roots that had gone dark and squishy. These transparent plastic pots are a great advance in orchid keeping: look for them when buying an orchid. The root color for healthy, well-watered plants is vibrant bright green. Healthy roots that would like some water are a silvery gray-green, but are still plump. Any roots that are shriveled, brown, or blackened have failed. When I had the orchid on the bench I removed as much as I could of that mass and then poked and repacked fresh medium into and around the plant’s base and healthy roots.
So far the results have been positive. New leaves that are smooth and lustrous are growing; I think I see two, minute nubs emerging between the leaves on the stem that may become new inflorescences.
In the garden: Routine maintenance
Much can be done to effect a visual, if not an actual, transformation of tired, high summer gardens. Grooming and deadheading are careful and painstaking, but once browned out foliage, flowers, and seedheads have been removed there is an immediate improvement. Many perennials flush new growth and flowers as a result. This is not including weeding; in good soil weeding is easy and done on an as-you-go basis.
Astilbe and alchemilla mollis brown out — deadhead and cut them back. The alchemilla will bring forth new foliage and flowers; the astilbe is done for the season, although the ferny masses of foliage make nicely mounded shapes. Some newer astilbe cultivars have reddish tinted foliage, which remains effective after flowering is finished.
Geraniums seem to flower forever, yet the plants themselves sprawl and continue to grow too; cut these back. ‘Rozanne’ is an acclaimed introduction, named Perennial Plant of the Year in 2008; there are others of that ilk, equally good garden plants, and long blooming. Contain the sprawl by cutting them back by one third to one half.
Nepeta, too, is a dependable, tough plant that by this point is beginning to look tired and ratty. Cut it back. Platycodon is a prodigious bloomer I cannot say enough good things about. However, once adorned with passé flower debris it does not look so great. Deadhead platycodon capsules and reap rebloom.
Gardens that contain buddleia must also contend with “the browns.” Most buddleia are heavy blooming shrubs, which makes them attractive to butterflies and pollinators. Every passé bloom spike turns brown. As noted above, this is painstaking work, but once done brings immense improvement. (For another day or two; then rinse, repeat.)
Tawny daylilies have finished flowering for the year. The stems of their flowers age grayish tan and pull easily once fully ripened. If it is in a front and center position, cut the tired foliage right down to four to six inches: new, fresh leaves follow and improve the looks of the planting. If not, just leave them and spare yourself the effort.
Newer Hemerocallis cultivars, the tetraploids and rebloomers, continue to throw new leaves while the older ones shrivel and collapse in the crown. They pull easily once fully ripened. It is a chore but is worth doing for better air circulation and appearance.
