May edition of Garden Zone, produced by Extension Master Gardeners of Mecklenburg County

Welcome to Garden Zone, a monthly newsletter for anyone interested in gardening. It's produced by Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in Mecklenburg County. View in your browser May Garden Tasks Get ready to pinch, prune and weed! The start of May means more tasks in the garden. Here are some: 🌷Don't remove the leaves of spring blubs; instead, let them die-back naturally. This helps them manufacture enough food for next year's blooms. 🌷Have you already put mulch around your plants? Applying 1-3 inches can help plants conserve moisture during the heat and humidity we'll soon see in the Piedmont. 🌷By the end of May, pinch back perennials to delay flowering and encourage more compact growth and blooms. This may not be your favorite activity, but it will get you the results you want to see in your garden. 🌷Also pinch back the first flowers of summer annuals. Pinching off spent blooms will encourage more blooms later. 🌷Prune early flowering trees and shrubs (azaleas, forsythia, spiraea, etc.) as soon as the blooms have faded. Also prune deciduous vines (wisteria, Lady Banks roses) after flowering. 🌷Remember to water low (vs using an overhead sprinkler) on your plants or use drip irrigation. Gardening in a Changing Climate: Rainfall Extremes by EMG Alden Picard The North Carolina Climate Science Report finds that extreme rainfall events have increased in the recent past and will continue to increase in the future. Heavy rains from hurricanes and other weather systems will become both more frequent and more intense. Clear evidence of this trend was seen in 2018 when Hurricane Florence produced the heaviest rainfall event in North Carolina History. At the same time, severe droughts are also expected to become more intense across our state. So, what does this mean for gardeners, and how do we manage these extremes in our home landscape? Excessive rainfall can wreak havoc on your garden. Saturated soils can lead to deadly fungal root rot diseases like Armillaria. High humidity and warm temperatures promote the growth of bacterial and fungal pathogens like powdery mildew. Too much rainfall can lead to soil compaction, erosion, and runoff. Extreme rainfall can even leach nitrogen from your soil, and damage tender plants. The good news is there are many strategies and techniques available to mitigate these impacts. To improve drainage in your garden, elevate your crops. Create low areas between your rows to allow for drainage. Or consider using raised beds. Fill them with a soil medium that allows for adequate drainage and build them to at least 8” high. In general, the taller the better. Identify areas in your landscape that tend to stay wet or accumulate water when it rains. Consider installing a rain garden using plants that tolerate both periods of excess rain and drought. Use the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox when selecting plants. Here you can search for plants that will fit the exact conditions of your landscape: sun, water, soil, etcetera. Create a system to capture excess rainfall before it runs off and does damage. In general, one inch of rainfall on a 1,000 square foot roof will produce about 600 gallons of water. Rain barrels are not large enough. Consider using a cistern that will capture the majority of this water and then use it to irrigate your landscape during periods of drought. Our climate is changing. That’s the bottom line. We must plan for these changes now in order to create resilient landscapes in the future. Photo courtesy of NCSU Meet a Master Gardener! By EMG Amelia Russell Clare Johnston Cox, EMG class of ’22 and a twenty-year Charlotte resident, fulfilled a lifetime goal when she became an EMGV. Although she never considered herself a gardener, she reinvigorated and rejuvenated her grandmother’s garden after inheriting the house, and she realized her gardening potential and talent when people complimented her on the beauty that resulted from her efforts. That experience sparked her passion for gardening, and she has enjoyed the continual learning process and challenges that accompany gardening. Clare has enjoyed working on the initial training and mentoring teams and hopes that all new EMGs have received the best, most cohesive introduction to the program possible. Her background in visual arts and design is put to great use creating and updating handouts and slide presentations, and the problem-solving skills that she used in her career easily translate to her volunteer work. She is also happy to have been able to conduct research on the pervasion of invasive species at local garden shops. A tremendous fan of the EMG garden tours and nursery field trips, Clare looks forward to continuing to expand her horticulture knowledge with continuing education and hands-on experience. Her favorite things to plant are spider lilies, ginger lilies, iris, gardenia and herbs. She is drawn to plants with intoxicating scents and endeavors to have flowers blooming in her garden year-round. Photo courtesy of EMG Amelia Russell North Carolina Rhododendrons by EMG Rebecca Jones With its bodacious clusters of late spring flowers, one of the most admired evergreens of North Carolina is the rhododendron, in the heath family (Ericaceae). Native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan region, the name, Rhododendron, derives from Ancient Greek, (rhodon) rose and (dendron) tree. Revered as the national flower of Nepal, state flower of Washington, West Virginia and Nagaland, India, the rhododendron will be celebrated June 16 – 18, 2023 during the 76th North Carolina Rhododendron Festival in Bakersville, NC against the purple backdrop of “the world’s largest, naturally blooming Catawba rhododendron gardens atop Roan Mountain”. The most abundant, high-elevation NC natives are the Catawba/Purple Laurel rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense) and the Rosebay/Great Laurel rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) which blooms pinkish white “with an interesting habit of alternating a year of bloom with a year of growth”. Potential rhododendron growers, discouraged by the Charlotte region’s legendary high heat and humidity, take heart. Polar Night’s burgundy-wine clusters bloom in late summer. The Southgate series includes Splendor (magenta/light pink, speckled throats), Brandi (pink ruffles), Divine (pink buds open to white with purple flecks) and Radiance (deep lavender buds open to pinkish-purple). Plant in part/full shade. Zones 6-8. Rhododendrons require moist, well-drained, acid soil. With our notoriously dense clay, amend beds well with organic matter. Mark Weathington, Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum, recommends planting in dappled shade, “ a little bit high” with “the top third of the root mass above the soil line” and then well mulched. Water regularly and watch them thrive. Photos by EMG Rebecca Jones Grow something Fun on a Trellis by Intern Charlotte Ramirez If you live in Charlotte, the majority of us have under an acre of land. To optimize space, we decided to grow up and over with the help of trellis we made from cattle panels held in place with t-poles. Another benefit of growing on a trellis instead of along the ground is that you don’t have to bend and search under leaves to find hiding goodies. On a trellis, gravity usually helps them hang between the wires so you can easily walk through and pick what is ripe. We also added solar hanging lights for an enchanting, inviting appearance at night. One of my gardening goals was to try to make it as interesting as possible for my kids. A few of the things I’ve grown are not readily available in local grocery stores and they provide a WOW factor - plus they taste pretty good! Fruit: All of the melons! (may need to add support for the large melons) - Passion Fruit - Kiwi Veggies: Cucumber - Squash - Zucchini - Long Beans - Cucamelons - Winter Squash - Pumpkins (may need to add support for the large pumpkins) - Peas - Beans - Python Snakebeans - Summer Squash - Jelly Melon - Chayote Squash Household and Garden Uses: Lufa - Bird House Gourds Flowers: Snail Vine - Morning Glory - Black-Eyed Susan Vine Leafy Greens: Malabar Spinach Grow something different! Give a new veggie or fruit a try. You may be surprised by how many varieties are offered. Photos courtesy of Charlotte Ramirez Electrically charged signals between bees, insects, and flowers By EMG Gina Tadle Recent research has revealed that bees, some insects, and flowers also communicate through electric signals. Flowers can produce a weak electric field, which bees are able to sense using tiny hairs on their body. This electric field provides a signal to the bees, indicating which flowers have the most nectar available. When bees land on a flower, they can pick up a positive electric charge. As they move on to the next flower, they may transfer some of this charge to the new flower, which can help to attract more bees. Additionally, bees can use their electrically charged bodies to influence the distribution of pollen on the flowers they visit. Researchers have also found that flowers can adjust the strength of their electric signals based on the time of day, weather conditions, and the presence of other flowers nearby. This allows them to attract more bees and increase their chances of successful pollination. The electric signals between bees and flowers add a new layer of complexity to their already fascinating relationship. This discovery highlights the intricate ways in which different species can communicate and work together to ensure their survival. Understanding these electric signals could have important implications for agriculture and the preservation of biodiversity, as they may help us to better understand the complex interdependencies of different species in our ecosystems. Photo courtesy of EMG Gina Tadle Pruning Azaleas by EMG Jean Wilson What most of us have in our yards are Asian evergreen azaleas but there are also

Welcome to Garden Zone, a monthly newsletter for anyone interested in gardening. It's produced by Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in Mecklenburg County.

View in your browser

May Garden Tasks

Get ready to pinch, prune and weed! The start of May means more tasks in the garden. Here are some:

🌷Don't remove the leaves of spring blubs; instead, let them die-back naturally. This helps them manufacture enough food for next year's blooms.

🌷Have you already put mulch around your plants? Applying 1-3 inches can help plants conserve moisture during the heat and humidity we'll soon see in the Piedmont.

🌷By the end of May, pinch back perennials to delay flowering and encourage more compact growth and blooms. This may not be your favorite activity, but it will get you the results you want to see in your garden.

🌷Also pinch back the first flowers of summer annuals. Pinching off spent blooms will encourage more blooms later.

🌷Prune early flowering trees and shrubs (azaleas, forsythia, spiraea, etc.) as soon as the blooms have faded. Also prune deciduous vines (wisteria, Lady Banks roses) after flowering.

🌷Remember to water low (vs using an overhead sprinkler) on your plants or use drip irrigation.

Gardening in a Changing Climate: Rainfall Extremes by EMG Alden Picard

The North Carolina Climate Science Report finds that extreme rainfall events have increased in the recent past and will continue to increase in the future. Heavy rains from hurricanes and other weather systems will become both more frequent and more intense. Clear evidence of this trend was seen in 2018 when Hurricane Florence produced the heaviest rainfall event in North Carolina History. At the same time, severe droughts are also expected to become more intense across our state. So, what does this mean for gardeners, and how do we manage these extremes in our home landscape?

Excessive rainfall can wreak havoc on your garden. Saturated soils can lead to deadly fungal root rot diseases like Armillaria. High humidity and warm temperatures promote the growth of bacterial and fungal pathogens like powdery mildew. Too much rainfall can lead to soil compaction, erosion, and runoff. Extreme rainfall can even leach nitrogen from your soil, and damage tender plants. The good news is there are many strategies and techniques available to mitigate these impacts.

To improve drainage in your garden, elevate your crops. Create low areas between your rows to allow for drainage. Or consider using raised beds. Fill them with a soil medium that allows for adequate drainage and build them to at least 8” high. In general, the taller the better.

Identify areas in your landscape that tend to stay wet or accumulate water when it rains. Consider installing a rain garden using plants that tolerate both periods of excess rain and drought. Use the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox when selecting plants. Here you can search for plants that will fit the exact conditions of your landscape: sun, water, soil, etcetera.

Create a system to capture excess rainfall before it runs off and does damage. In general, one inch of rainfall on a 1,000 square foot roof will produce about 600 gallons of water. Rain barrels are not large enough. Consider using a cistern that will capture the majority of this water and then use it to irrigate your landscape during periods of drought.

Our climate is changing. That’s the bottom line. We must plan for these changes now in order to create resilient landscapes in the future.

Photo courtesy of NCSU

Meet a Master Gardener! By EMG Amelia Russell

Clare Johnston Cox, EMG class of ’22 and a twenty-year Charlotte resident, fulfilled a lifetime goal when she became an EMGV. Although she never considered herself a gardener, she reinvigorated and rejuvenated her grandmother’s garden after inheriting the house, and she realized her gardening potential and talent when people complimented her on the beauty that resulted from her efforts. That experience sparked her passion for gardening, and she has enjoyed the continual learning process and challenges that accompany gardening.

Clare has enjoyed working on the initial training and mentoring teams and hopes that all new EMGs have received the best, most cohesive introduction to the program possible. Her background in visual arts and design is put to great use creating and updating handouts and slide presentations, and the problem-solving skills that she used in her career easily translate to her volunteer work. She is also happy to have been able to conduct research on the pervasion of invasive species at local garden shops.

A tremendous fan of the EMG garden tours and nursery field trips, Clare looks forward to continuing to expand her horticulture knowledge with continuing education and hands-on experience. Her favorite things to plant are spider lilies, ginger lilies, iris, gardenia and herbs. She is drawn to plants with intoxicating scents and endeavors to have flowers blooming in her garden year-round.

Photo courtesy of EMG Amelia Russell

North Carolina Rhododendrons by EMG Rebecca Jones

With its bodacious clusters of late spring flowers, one of the most admired evergreens of North Carolina is the rhododendron, in the heath family (Ericaceae). Native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan region, the name, Rhododendron, derives from Ancient Greek, (rhodon) rose and (dendron) tree. Revered as the national flower of Nepal, state flower of Washington, West Virginia and Nagaland, India, the rhododendron will be celebrated June 16 – 18, 2023 during the 76th North Carolina Rhododendron Festival in Bakersville, NC against the purple backdrop of “the world’s largest, naturally blooming Catawba rhododendron gardens atop Roan Mountain”. The most abundant, high-elevation NC natives are the Catawba/Purple Laurel rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense) and the Rosebay/Great Laurel rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) which blooms pinkish white “with an interesting habit of alternating a year of bloom with a year of growth”. Potential rhododendron growers, discouraged by the Charlotte region’s legendary high heat and humidity, take heart. Polar Night’s burgundy-wine clusters bloom in late summer. The Southgate series includes Splendor (magenta/light pink, speckled throats), Brandi (pink ruffles), Divine (pink buds open to white with purple flecks) and Radiance (deep lavender buds open to pinkish-purple). Plant in part/full shade. Zones 6-8. Rhododendrons require moist, well-drained, acid soil. With our notoriously dense clay, amend beds well with organic matter. Mark Weathington, Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum, recommends planting in dappled shade, “ a little bit high” with “the top third of the root mass above the soil line” and then well mulched. Water regularly and watch them thrive.

Photos by EMG Rebecca Jones

Grow something Fun on a Trellis by Intern Charlotte Ramirez

If you live in Charlotte, the majority of us have under an acre of land. To optimize space, we decided to grow up and over with the help of trellis we made from cattle panels held in place with t-poles. Another benefit of growing on a trellis instead of along the ground is that you don’t have to bend and search under leaves to find hiding goodies. On a trellis, gravity usually helps them hang between the wires so you can easily walk through and pick what is ripe. We also added solar hanging lights for an enchanting, inviting appearance at night.

One of my gardening goals was to try to make it as interesting as possible for my kids. A few of the things I’ve grown are not readily available in local grocery stores and they provide a WOW factor - plus they taste pretty good!

Fruit: All of the melons! (may need to add support for the large melons) - Passion Fruit - Kiwi

Veggies: Cucumber - Squash - Zucchini - Long Beans - Cucamelons - Winter Squash - Pumpkins (may need to add support for the large pumpkins) - Peas - Beans - Python Snakebeans - Summer Squash - Jelly Melon - Chayote Squash

Household and Garden Uses: Lufa - Bird House Gourds

Flowers: Snail Vine - Morning Glory - Black-Eyed Susan Vine

Leafy Greens: Malabar Spinach

Grow something different! Give a new veggie or fruit a try. You may be surprised by how many varieties are offered.

Photos courtesy of Charlotte Ramirez

Electrically charged signals between bees, insects, and flowers By EMG Gina Tadle

Recent research has revealed that bees, some insects, and flowers also communicate through electric signals. Flowers can produce a weak electric field, which bees are able to sense using tiny hairs on their body. This electric field provides a signal to the bees, indicating which flowers have the most nectar available.

When bees land on a flower, they can pick up a positive electric charge. As they move on to the next flower, they may transfer some of this charge to the new flower, which can help to attract more bees. Additionally, bees can use their electrically charged bodies to influence the distribution of pollen on the flowers they visit.

Researchers have also found that flowers can adjust the strength of their electric signals based on the time of day, weather conditions, and the presence of other flowers nearby. This allows them to attract more bees and increase their chances of successful pollination.

The electric signals between bees and flowers add a new layer of complexity to their already fascinating relationship. This discovery highlights the intricate ways in which different species can communicate and work together to ensure their survival. Understanding these electric signals could have important implications for agriculture and the preservation of biodiversity, as they may help us to better understand the complex interdependencies of different species in our ecosystems.

Photo courtesy of EMG Gina Tadle

Pruning Azaleas by EMG Jean Wilson

What most of us have in our yards are Asian evergreen azaleas but there are also several species of deciduous native azaleas that generally have a more open shape, depending on how much sun they get. Neither of them usually need much, if any, pruning in order to look their best.

If one stem of a cluster of growing shoots gets too tall, cut it off at the base, leaving the surrounding shorter ones. If the whole plant gets too large for it’s space, you can cut both the evergreen and the native ones nearly to the ground, or at 1-3 feet and they will rejuvenate. The main thing to remember is to do it right after they bloom as they put out all their new growth and their bloom buds very early in the season.

Some people prefer a manicured look and prune their azaleas into tidy balls or ‘Lollypops’. You can’t do that with the native ones but you can with the Asian evergreen ones, just do it right after they bloom and then leave them alone. If you, or your lawn service, keep pruning on them, you will have very few blooms the next year.

Photos courtesy of EMG Jean Wilson

Creating Eden in Your Backyard by EMG Sylvia Hindman

Staring at the current yard that you want to turn into your dream garden, are you literally scratching your head and asking: How do I get started? What do I really want to create? Am I capable of doing this? Most of us are do-it-yourselfers and the mountains of information available can be daunting and is often contradictory. In this series, we will take garden design and break it down into common-sense steps that the home gardener can use to successfully create spaces that are beautiful, useful, and will make you proud of your accomplishments.

Years ago when garden guru, Allen Lacy, spoke at a conference, he explained that first and foremost we need to garden where we are - not somewhere else. We live in the hot and humid Piedmont with short, mild winters so with just a little planning, we can have something blooming or producing food all year-round. And, if we do not want look-alike yards, check what your neighbors are growing and then grow something different!

To get inspiration for your new space, visit parks and gardens and start to look through books or magazines to see what you are attracted to. Your phone will become your favorite garden tool as you take photos and build a file of ideas. Soon you will see a pattern develop to guide you through this fascinating process.

There are some basic principles that we will learn about: Form (style, function, theme) - Rhythm (scale, harmony, balance, repetition) - Contrast (texture, color, shape, height) - Bones (paths, structures, trees, objects). These are wonderful guidelines, but each of us will add our individual tweaks to create our very own Eden.

Photo courtesy of Unknown

Dwarf Coreopsis by EMG Parul Srivastava

Coreopsis Auriculata "Nana" or Dwarf Tickseed is a low growing perennial in the Aster family. Native to the South East United States, it blooms bright yellow flowers in spring and sporadically in summer. Naturalizing easily via underground stolons, it is a great choice as a ground-cover or a mulch-alternative in full sun to part-sun areas. This is a drought-tolerant, deer-resistant AND pollinator-friendly plant to boot! Birds will be feasting in your garden on Coreopsis seeds and will visit your feeders regularly. If you are contemplating a natural alternative to bird-feeders, plant Tickseed, Coneflowers, Rudbeckia and Sunflowers and you will enjoy the droves of birds that are attracted to your garden!

Photos courtesy of EMG Parul Srivastava

Versatility of Ferns by EMG Stacy Hodes

If you are looking for a plant that is great in shade, grows in those tough spots and is deer resistant, consider planting some ferns. Ferns come in a variety of shapes, colors and textures and there are over 9,000 species. They do well in shade mostly but there are varieties that can take the sun or grow well on slopes. Once established, they require little maintenance. Just keep the soil evenly moist and rich in organic matter and keep the pH slightly acidic (5.5 to 6.5). Consider mixing them with hostas, astilbe, impatiens, begonias, brunnera, coleus and other shade lovers. Their leaves are called fronds and, instead of seeds, they mostly reproduce through spores. Here are a few to consider:

Cinnamon Ferns (Osmunda cinnamomea) - These will survive the sun if they are grown in or near water. They get their name from the fronds that appear in the spring and quickly turn brown (like a cinnamon stick). Grows to 2-3 feet. Photo 1 by Lindley Ashline, NCSU CC BY-NC2.0

Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) - Hardy choice that can take the cold and is an evergreen. Good in woody areas, along stream beds and can help stabilize sloped areas. Grows to 2-3 feet. Photo 2 by Suzanned Cadwell, NCSU CC BY-NC 2.0

Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum) - Adaptable to many zones. Fronds are different from the traditional ferns and present in a circular pattern. These ferns go well with hydrangeas and hostas.They form expansive clumps. It spreads slowly through rhizomes and is deciduous. Grows 1-2 feet high. Photo 3 by Kerry Woods, NCSU CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Japanese Painted Ferns (Athyrium niponicum) - Forms small clumps. Striking colored fronds of green, red, purple and silver. Grows to 1-2 feet. Photo 4 by Robert E. Lyons, NCSU

Looking for a fern for the house, sunroom, front porch or even in the bathroom? Look no further than the Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata). Keep the soil moist and put it in a well lit area (indirect sunlight). Spores can be seen on the underside of the fronds. Photo 5 by Andrey Korzun CC BY 3.0

https://herbarium.ncsu.edu/common_ferns/index.html

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The Mecklenburg Extension Master Gardener Volunteer (EMGV) program operates under the Mecklenburg Center of the NC Cooperative Extension Service (NCCES), a part of NC State University and NC A&T State University.

NCCES is a part of Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation.

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity and prohibit discrimination and harassment regardless of age, color, disability, family and marital status, gender identify, genetic information, national origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation and veteran status. NC State, N.C. A&T, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.