Dogwoods and Judas trees adorn the Carolina woodlands. The bright pink hues of the Judas trees mingled with the creamy white of the dogwoods add plenty of color to the budding leaves on many trees in the woodlands of Surry County. Highways and country roads are laced with dogwoods in peak of bloom. The Judas trees have passed their peak of blooms but still have some color. The dogwoods should continue almost until the end of April.
We may have a few more frost days remaining. Even though April 15 is supposed to be the last frost date, we know from experience that we can see frost all during the month of April, simply because of the fickleness of April’s weather. This may come as a shock but April is known for producing a few snows. They may not be huge snowfalls but enough to cover the ground. Don’t be fooled by the frost date of April 15, and do not set out any tomato or pepper plants. As a snow lover, we would like to see a mid-April snow to whiten up the landscape and generate some excitement.
Getting ferns and Christmas cactus ready for the move outside. They have been wintering over in the sunny living room since mid-October and we are preparing to move them outside to the porch where they will spend spring, summer, and mid-autumn. They will need a few scoops of cactus medium and a drink of Miracle-Gro liquid plant food before their move to the front porch. The secret of blooms on Christmas cactus is leaving them outside all spring and summer so that they will bloom inside the house in late November into December. The asparagus and panda ferns will be moved to a semi-sunny location on the deck. We like to keep them trimmed back to promote healthy growth all summer long. We use potting medium to keep containers filled.
Planting a container or hanging basket of Boston ferns. As we reach past mid-April, lush green Boston ferns are appearing in garden departments, hardwares, Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. You can purchase them in a large pot or hanging basket or in small containers that you can later transplant to a container or hanging basket. They will grow all summer long and can be moved to a sunny location inside the home during winter months.
Getting containers and hanging baskets for summer annuals. April is the time to clean up your pots, containers, and hanging baskets and get them ready to plant summer annuals. It’s also time to replace wires on the hanging baskets. They can be purchased at garden departments for about one dollar each. If some of your baskets or containers are cracked or worn out now is a great time to replace them.
Buying fine potting medium for pots, containers, and hanging baskets. You get what you pay for when you buy potting mediums for containers and pots. Some cheap bags or potting medium have no texture or organic ingredients and are only a dry mix of pellets, bark, saw dust, and chemicals that is already dried out before you place it in a container. Spend the extra money and purchase specially formulated medium that is designed for growing healthy flowers. A great mixture is one that has a fine texture with no lumps or clumps or hard pellets of fertilizers. Feel the medium before you buy it, and skip over it if you feel bark, chips, or lumps in it. Purchase a proven product that will provide long-lasting results usually sold in 25 pound bags special produced for growing flowers.
You can recycle potting medium and get great results. There are two great ways to recycle potting medium and one way is to pour old medium into a wheel-barrow and spread it in the garden plot and till it into the soil. Another way to recycle with great results is pour the old potting medium into the wheel barrow and finely break it up with a shovel or hoe and then add the same amount of new potting medium as well as several shovels of peat moss to the mixed potting mediums. Place the recycled mix in containers, pots, and hanging baskets and use a sprinkling can of water to moisten the recycled medium. Wait a half hour for water to soak into the medium before planting in the pots, baskets, or containers.
Starting a packet or two of tomato seed for may tomato plants. The April soil is too cool for setting out tomato plants for your main crop. You can sow a packet or two of tomato seed in small flower pots and transplant the seedlings to individual containers when they sprout two leaves, which will take two and a half weeks. Good varieties to start from seed are determinates like Early Girl, celebrity, Maryglobe, Rutgers and Homestead.
To start the seed, use two one-quart plastic containers filled with seed starter medium and allow a handful of medium to cover each container of seeds. Mix good starter with water until it is damp. Open one packet of seed and evenly place a seed on top of seed starting medium to cover the seed and tamp gently with fingers. Use a spray bottle of water to apply a mist of water over the planted seed. Label the container with the name and picture on the seed packet and tape it to the see container. Repeat the process with other packet of tomato see. Spray with a mist of water each day.
On warmer days, place containers outside; on cooler days keep containers inside in a sunny location. In about eight to ten days the seed will sprout two leaves and will be ready to transplant in individual pots or containers. Use the starting medium when transplanting to individual pots. Place pots in trays and mist each day with water. In cool weather, keep inside but on sunny, comfortable days, place outside in the sun. The plants should be ready to transplant to the garden row by the middle of month of May.
Two starting ingredients for early spring gardens. To jump start cool weather vegetable crops, add layers of peat moss in the bottom of furrows where you plant seeds or plants to help the soil absorb and retain moisture as well as improve soil texture. Place a layer if peat moss on top of seed or plants before hilling soil on each side of the furrows. Another ingredient that enriches soil and gives seed and plants a quick start is applying a layer of Black Kow composted cow manure on top of seeds and plants in the furrow before covering and hilling them up. A 3.5 cubic foot bale of peat moss costs about $11 or $12. Black Kow comes in 25 to 50 pound plastic bags and a 25 pound bag cost around $5. Both are totally organic which is a plus for any plant seed or flower.
A simple baked cherry pudding. To prepare this simple and easy dessert, melt two sticks of light margarine in a sauce pan. Pour half the margarine in at 13x9x2 inch baking pan or dish. Mix a box of white cake mix and a three ounce box of Jello instant vanilla pudding mix and spread over the margarine in baking pan or dish. Mix a can of Comstock cherry pie filling and a tablespoon of vanilla and pour over the cake mixture and drizzle other half of melted margarine over the cherries. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve with Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream.
Hoe-Hoe-Hoedown: “A Cure All Wife!” Patient: “Doctor, every night I go to bed, I think that someone is under my bed. I then get up and look and no one is there. Then I crawl under the bed and lie down and then it seems someone is on top of the bed. This goes on all night long. It is driving me crazy, and I can’t get over it Doctor, do you think you can help me?”
Doctor: “I think I can. All you have to do is visit me twice a week for the next two years and I think I can cure you. The visits will cost $100 an hour.”
Patient: “That’s an awful lot of money. I’ll have to talk this over with my wife and then let you know.”
The next week the patient phoned the doctor and said, “Doctor, I will not be back. My wife solved the problem-she sawed the legs off the bed!”
Money Does Talk: Doctor: “If I find it necessary to operate, will you have the money to pay for it?” Patient: “If I don’t have the money, would you find it necessary to operate?”
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Source: https://www.mtairynews.com