Backyard Gardener J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4 V O L U S I S A C O U N T Y E X T E N S I O N

IN THIS

ISSUE

Cold Protection of

Ornamental

Plants… Page 1

Snags—Home to

Many… Page 3

Salt Bush…

Page 4

Find It…

Page 5

Pseudo… Page 6

Can You Name

This… Page 6

Calendar of Pub-

lic Events…

Page 7

Cold Protection

of Ornamental Plants Joe Sewards

UF/IFAS Extension, Volusia County

Urban Horticulture Agent

Winter is here! It arrived, officially, on

December 22nd.! Some folks have already

seen some of their more tender plants ei-

ther damaged or killed outright, by the

near-freezing temperatures of late. While

unfortunate, annuals such as coleus, impa-

tiens, petunias and others, are just not able

to withstand freezing temperatures for any

length of time without protection. Even

with protection, they might still succumb.

Some subtropical plants can harden or

acclimate to withstand freezing tempera-

ture and can withstand temperatures well

below freezing.

The freezes we have seen recently are

called advective freezes. Cold air moves

in and temperatures drop suddenly and

last for more than a couple of hours. In

addition, it has been windy which can in-

crease radiant heat loss. Plant protection

during advective freezes is difficult.

Plants that are adapted to the central Flor-

ida climate can survive and recover, even

though they may suffer some damage.

The ability of plant to adapt is affected by

temperature fluctuations and day lengths

prior to a freeze. A gradual decrease in

temperature over a period of time in-

creases a plant’s ability to withstand a

freeze. A sudden decrease in temperature

usually results in more damage. Short pe-

riods of warm weather can de-acclimate

some plants and increase freeze damage.

Cold injury can occur to the entire plant

or to plant parts such as fruits, bud or

leaves. Plant size, location in the land-

scape, maturity, and weather conditions

prior to the freeze. Plants growing in con-

tainers are more likely to be damaged than

plants in the ground. Plants in bright sun

are will often suffer more damage than

plants that are close to the house or are

otherwise protected in some way. In win-

ter, notice that turf will often be brown

where it is sunny but, in the same lawn, it

will

Cold injury can occur to the entire plant

or to plant parts such as fruits, bud or

leaves. Plant size, location in the land-

scape, maturity, and weather conditions

prior to the freeze. Plants growing in con-

tainers are more likely to be damaged than

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educa-

tional information, and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race,

creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions, or affiliations. U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A&M University Cooperative

Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is

an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services only to individuals and

institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation,

marital status, national origin, political opinions, or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,

University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A&M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners

Cooperating.

Continued on Page 2

Protecting a raised vegetable garden from cold temps

2

plants in the ground. Plants in bright sun are will of-

ten suffer more damage than plants that are close to

the house or are otherwise protected in some way. In

winter, notice that turf will often be brown where it is

sunny but, in the same lawn, it will remain somewhat

greener where it is shady. If your plants are healthy,

stress-free or otherwise undamaged, they will re-

cover, even if they suffer foliar damage.

To give your plants the best chance to survive freez-

ing temperatures in the future, here are some things

you can do:

Plant tender plants near the house. The microcli-

mate near the house is often a little warmer and is

protected from winds compared to open locations.

Tender plants near the house are also easier to cover.

Improve soil drainage.

Poorly drained soils typically

result in shallow root systems

which are more likely to be

damaged by freezing tempera-

tures. Remember, dead roots mean a dead plant. Per-

ennial plants and even some sub-tropical plants can

suffer total death of the tops but, if they have healthy

roots, they have a good chance of recovering.

Don’t’ prune plants late in the growing season.

Plants will often respond to late fall pruning by trying

to grow back. New growth has no cold resistance.

Plants must have a chance to harden-off growth BE-

FORE freezing temperatures. Don’t prune plants until

AFTER they are completely dormant.

Make sure landscape plants are adequately watered

prior to a freeze. Don’t run out and automatically wa-

ter arbitrarily though. If it rained recently, that is a

good thing. Plants aren’t growing this time of year

(nor should they be) and a moist soil (not wet) will

hold heat and help the plant withstand winter desicca-

tion better.

Covering Plants

Lots of folks will cover plants during freezing tem-

peratures. This is only necessary for plants that are

not adapted to our climate here, specifically, plants

that are adapted to more southerly climates. It is un-

necessary and can even be harmful, to cover native

plants and others that are adapted to our climate. If

you do cover plants, limit it to tender plants.

When you cover, be willing to un-cover as well! Wait

until the temperature has raised enough to melt the

frost or ice. Remove the cover

during the day and be willing to

recover at night, before the sun

goes down. The reason for this

is that, if you leave plants cov-

ered during the day, the tem-

peratures under the cover

(particularly if it is plastic) can

raise enough to break dormancy in the plants. The

minute this happens, all cold hardiness is lost and the

plants can be even more susceptible to cold damage.

Allow them to be exposed to the cooler temperatures

during the day (as long as it isn’t freezing tempera-

tures) and recover in the late afternoon/early evening.

When covering, you are trapping ground heat that is

given off at night thus reducing freeze damage. If you

cover with plastic, it is best not to let it touch the foli-

age of the plant(s). Make a ―tent‖ of sorts using

wooden stakes or something like that and drape the

plastic over them. Make sure all covers touch the

ground in order to capture the most ground heat.

What to do during a Freeze

Some ornamental plants can be protected during a

freeze by sprinkling the plants with water. This keeps

the leaf surface at 32 degrees. Sprinkling must begin

as temperatures reach freezing and continue until

thawing is completed. Limit this to valuable plants in

the landscape and to some fruiting plants. Native

plants don’t require this. Besides we don’t want to

waste water. Water must be evenly distributed and a

firm film of water maintained over the leaf surface.

What to do After a Freeze

Keep the soil moist. This doesn’t mean to run out and

turn on the sprinkler. Check the soil. If it is moist,

fine. If it is dry, water. This will help plants withstand

the dry, cold winds and sunny conditions. Don’t

prune for a while. Foliage that is obviously dead can

be removed but, any further pruning should wait until

new growth starts to appear. This way you will be

able to distinguish what has actually been killed by

freezing temperatures. Also, by waiting, you won’t

encourage the plants to start growing again. Besides,

we may still have more freezing temperatures before

it is all said and done. Don’t panic! Gardening is

about successes, failures and most of all, learning! If

you lost some plants, you learned something. If you

didn’t lose plants you learned something. Either way,

you learned!!

3

Snags—Home to Many Snags… considered by

many to just be an eye-

sore. What are snags?

Snags are dead or dy-

ing trees that are still

standing. So what is

the big deal? What

many people fail to

realize is the positive impact on the environment that

snags provide. They provide a home for large popu-

lations of valuable animal life.

No Place Like Home

Snags are bird friendly. Many snags hold aeries of

Osprey. There were a number of them in my

neighborhood until some strong winds took down the

snags. It is also common to see other hawks perched

in snags. This provides a place from which they can

scan the ground for small mammals, snakes and other

pray. In their efforts to feed themselves and their off-

spring they help control the number of what we hu-

mans consider pests. Woodpeckers find insects in the

holes and cracks of the old tree and they flourish with

a good supply of food. Woodpeckers also make nest

holes in the dead wood and some species only use

their nest for one season. After the nest is abandoned

it is possible that an owl may use it to raise young.

The cycle continues.

Snags are also insect friendly. Many species of in-

sects live in dead trees. The snag again provides

housing and food. It may not be clear to some that

insects are important but they are as experience gar-

deners and hungry birds know. The snag is also a

place for insects to nest. Honey bees use cavity in

trees to build nest and we know how important honey

bees are for pollination… Also of great importance

are the solitary bees and wasps that use the snag as a

nest box. The cycle continues.

Solitary Bees and Wasps

When people think of bees and wasps honey bees,

bumble bees, yellow jackets and paper wasps usually

come to mind. These insects live in colonies. Be-

cause they live in colonies and have their brood to

take care of they are defensive of their home… the

nest. It is necessary to take care around the nests.

Solitary bees and wasps, however, do not live in a

colony and once an egg is laid it is abandoned to the

whims of nature and the environment. For this reason

solitary bees and wasps are not defensive and will

only sting if threatened, harassed or attacked. Soli-

tary bees and wasps are not a danger to have around

the yard. Indeed they will provide some good ser-

vices.

Why would you want wasps in your garden? They

predate and parasitize other insects many of which

are harmful to the garden plants. Keep an eye out in

your garden and you will see wasps carrying small

caterpillars they have hunted to feed their larvae.

Wasp larvae eat meat though the adults eat nectar.

Mud daubers feed their brood spiders. Break open a

mud dauber nest and you will see paralyzed spiders

along with the larvae. May solitary wasps next in the

small holes in snags.

There are 320 species of bees in Florida. Aside from

honey bees and bumble bees they are solitary in na-

ture. About 70 percent of the species nest in the

ground (leave them some undisturbed area to nest).

The other 30 percent will next in locations such as

snags. ;Bees, of course, are good pollinators so hav-

ing a lot of them in your yard is a good thing.

Artificial Snags

There is a way you can make an artificial snag for

your yard. It will not do all the good things a real

snag does but it will provide a nesting place for soli-

tary bees and wasps. Easy to make… inexpensive (or

free)… no maintenance required, unobtrusive. The

requirements are flexible and design is up to your

imagination.

A basic version is

pieces of 2x6 un-

treated lumber. Hole

are drilled into the

edges of the board and

run almost all the way

through. Into these

holes the solitary bees

and wasps will nest. Just hang the board outside and

leave the rest up to nature. Do not hang from rope,

string or wire as the bees and wasps don’t care for

nests that are moving.

How To

Making a pollinator nest only requires some basic

wood working skills. ……...Continued on Page 4

4

Salt-Bush

As you drive along the highway in the fall, surely

you’ve seen those splashes of white standing out

among all the green of the pines and cabbage palms –

it’s the Salt-Bush, or Groundsel tree, or Silverling or

Sea Myrtle, native to Florida. Its true name, given it

by Linnaeus, is Baccharis halimifolia, Baccharis they

say in honor of the Greek God Bacchus, as its roots

are fragrant, and halimifolia, a Latin name to mean

the leaves of Halimus, the Saltbush, but the true Salt-

bush is in a different plant order and family and is

common to the deserts. It is of the family Amaranta-

ceae and the genus Atriplex. Our Salt-bush is in the

Sunflower/daisy family of the Asteraceae, and the

order Asterales, and it is

the only Eastern species

in the family that grows

into a tree (though not a

huge tree, growing on

average 10-12 feet).

Our Salt-bush likes it

wet. It is found in

coastal plains, in Flor-

ida, Texas, and up as far as Massachusetts, (zones 5-

10). Formerly just growing along the coast, it has

now moved inland and thrives in disturbed areas,

such as along roads and highways where it fills in and

helps to control erosion. It has good tolerance to

brackish water and salt. The Salt-bush is perennial

but deciduous, though it may keep its leaves in

warmer environments. Normally it leafs out in the

spring, with somewhat pointy leaves of a beautiful

greenish grey, and flowers in fall, August through

September. It is dioecious, meaning male and female

are on different plants. The flowers of the female are

a true white while the male blooms are more of a

slight honey color. The seeds are poisonous. The

Salt-bush is deer resistant, has no serious pests, and

attracts butterflies as well.

You may think to plant a Salt-bush or Groundsel or

Sea Myrtle or Silverling, and if you can forgive its

weedy nature, you would do well. I for one appreci-

ate its grand display of snowy blooms that break into

the monotony of green as I drive along. It’s as if an

artist’s brush dipped into just the right color and, with

flourishes, finished a masterpiece-- a thing of beauty,

and joy forever. Rebecca Turner

Snags… continued from page 3

All that is necessary is to drill come holes and cut

some boards to the desired length. Scrap lumber may

be used just make sure it is not pressure treated. The

following are basic guidelines…

1. Use untreated lumber. 2X6 is a good size.

Log pieces may also be used.

2. Drill holes into the wide dimension (6‖). Do

not drill all the way through. You want holes

about 5 ½ inches deep. Holes 3‖ to 8‖ deep

are good range.

3. Make different sized holes. Good sizes are

1/8‖, 3/16‖ and 3/8‖ diameter

4. Multiple boards may be glued together using

water proof wood glue.

5. Boards may be hung horizontally or vertically

but not with the holes facing up.

6. Mount the board(s) so they will not swing.

That is, do not hang by wire or string.

7. Mounting in shade is better than full sun.

8. Most activity will be in the spring and early

summer but they may be left up all year.

There is a wealth of

information on the

internet about bee nests

also called bee boxes.

Here are some good

links…

Pollinator Partner-

ship... http://www.pollinator.org/ Lots of great

information you can use to help our pollinators.

They have planting guides for many types of habit

in the U.S. and other resources.

US Fish and Wildlife Pollinator site... http://

www.fws.gov/po llinators/PollinatorPages/

YourHelp.html#bee this page has video of how

to make a bee box/nest. This is the site that got

me started with bee boxes.

Native Buzz web page of the UF Honey Bee Re-

search and Extension Laboratory... http://

www.ufnativebuzz.com... this is PHD candidate

Jason Graham's citizen research project site.

Even if you do not wish to take part in the re-

search the site has very useful and informative

information.

Go ahead… help the environment and build a snag.

Ed Williams

Karan A. Rawlins, University of

Georgia, Bugwood.org

5

Find It Looking for gardening or gardening related information? Check out this list for a lot of useful information.

Need plant or insect photos for a presentation or article… Forestry Images has royalty free photos… all

you need to do is sign up (free) and give credit about the photographer… http://www.forestryimages.org/

Integrated pest management… get rid of bugs with the least use of chemicals… http://ipm.ifas.ufl.edu/

National Gardening Association… Site has a lot of how to articles… http://www.garden.org/

Organic gardening catch your fancy… Plenty of information if organic gardening is your interest…

http://www.onthegreenfarms.com/

Save water…. Select plants that are Florida friendly and do not use a lot of water… St. Johns Water Man-

agement District… http://publicserver2.sjrwmd.com/waterwise/search.jsp

Invasive plants… who needs them… check out Florida Exotic Plant Pest Council… http://

www.fleppc.org/list/list.htm

Chickens… want to raise chickens to enhance your garden… check out this forum which is free to join…

has tutorials as well as the forum… http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/

Hydroponics… Info from IFAS… quite a few videos available…. http://vfd.ifas.ufl.edu/suwanneevalley/

hydroponicgreenhouse/building_a_floating_hydroponic_garden.shtml

The listing of a web site is for information purposes only and does not imply approval or recommendation of a

product or service.

Master Gardener Program Vision Statement

To be the most trusted resource for horticultural education in Florida

Master Gardener Program Mission Statement

To assist extension agents in providing research based horticultural

education to Florida residents

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6

Pseudo

A lot of things aren’t what they seem and ―pseudo‖ is

a word that describes this. The Greeks created the

word to mean something similar to the real thing but

is not - something fake, false, something that pretends

to be something else, something illusory, or an im-

postor, or an ―imposteur‖ as expressed so well by the

French. In the world of academics, the word is as

pervasive as popcorn at a movie. In every branch of

study the word is thrown about, from anthropology to

zoology and everything in between. Even in mineral-

ogy where you think things couldn’t be more stable,

there are pseudo rocks; of course we needn’t wonder

at this, since we have all heard of fake diamonds.

Scientific experiments are overladen with pseudo re-

sults caused by uncontrolled controls and variables

and pseudo randomness. And botany and experimen-

tal research in botany is a plethora of more of the

same.

Yes, prehistoric men (women and children) ate, and

people today still eat pseudo cereals of the Cheno-

podium or goosefoot family, which grow worldwide.

We can buy quinoa the grocery store, or if feeling

spry, go out and gather and eat the Chenopodium al-

bum L. that is found in Florida and called pigweed.

There are pseudo taproots, such as the one a Jatropha

produces if the cutting is grown in a tube, and the Ba-

nana tree has a pseudo stem – a false one that sur-

rounds the growing point. There are also the pseudo

bulbs of the sympodial Orchid. The list is as vast as

the stars - and what about the False Aralia and all the

other ―false‖ plants? What about the clones and hy-

brids?

In some plants, ―pseudo‖ may refer to a genetic de-

fect, such as the pollen grains in the anthers not being

properly developed and the plant not having fertiliz-

ing capability. Or, it may be that their falseness has-

n’t to do with genetic defect but with the way they

grow. The pseudo annuals are perennials in disguise.

They behave as annuals. During the growing season

they produce an annual shoot and rhizomes or tubers,

―hibernacles‖. In the fall these die back, but in

Spring, these hibernacles produce new plants, along

with those that emerge from seed. As for the clones,

they are real but then again they are forgeries with

stolen identities. The hybrids, if not natural, are man-

made, created to increase genetic diversity, to pro-

mote pest resistance or to increase adaptability to an

environment. In hybrid experiments, there are cross-

ings and backcrossings of select hybrids, producing

heterosis, a hybrid showing either better or worse

traits than the average traits of the parents. As you

would suspect in an article like this, there are also

pseudo crossings and pseudo backcrossings and

pseudo replications of these, culminating, of course,

in morphs and pseudomorphs, for good or ill.

So, go ahead and plant your False Aralia, False Hea-

thers and Jasmines and pseudo annuals with abandon.

There’ll be plenty more where those came from.

Then relax, go to a movie that’s not real and eat hy-

brid popcorn. Rebecca Turner (pseudonym)

Can You Name This?Can You Name This?Can You Name This?

Garberia and Long Tailed Skipper

7

For more details Master Gardeners should check the VMS calendar.

The general public may contact the Volusia County Agricultural Center.

January & February Calendar of Public Events

Volusia County Agricultural Center

3151 E. New York Ave. (S.R. 44),

Deland, FL 32724 At the Volusia County Fair Grounds

West Volusia… 386-822-5778

Daytona Beach… 386-257-6012

New Smyrna Beach… 386-423-3368

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EVENT DATE LOCATION

Welcome to Florida; gardening is different here (1 CEU) 1/2/14 Debary Hall Historic Site

Speaker needed: Native Plants or anything else 1/10/14 Karen Van Dusen

Sugar Mill Garden Q&A 1/15/14 Sugar Mill Garden

Square Foot Gardening (1 CEU) 1/16/14 Ormond Beach Regional Library

Plant Familiarization (1 CEU) 1/16/14 Debary Hall Historic Site

Growing Potatoes in the home garden - Cost: $5 (2 CEUs) 1/18/14 Agricultural Center Auditorium

Orchids (1 CEU) 1/30/14 Debary Hall Historic Site

The Spring Vegetable Garden - Cost: $5 (2 CEUs) 2/15/14 Agricultural Center Auditorium

Sugar Mill Garden Q&A 2/19/14 Sugar Mill Garden

Day Lilies (1 CEU) 2/20/14 Debary Hall Historic Site

Hydroponics (1 CEU) 2/27/14 Debary Hall Historic Site

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