Anne Jaeger
Good news growing from the thawed tundra. There’s now even more evidence that Mother Nature protects herself from disaster. It’s surprising how many plants made it through the freeze. Here’s what I’ve got from my garden case file:
Dormant Dahlias Not Dead
*I’m happy to report that the dahlia tubers look fine. Dug some up this morning and they aren’t mushy or soggy in the least. The root system still looks like a nice healthy potato and not nipped by cold. In colder climates people are forced to dig up their dahlia tubers (roots) every single year or lose them completely. We’re pretty lucky in that respect, it’s not necessary here. We loose more dahlia roots to wet than cold, but we had a cold like no other and I worried sick about those tubers. So, as long as your dahlia tubers are in a well drained spot outside, it appears all is well.
Hummingbirds Still Humming.
*They lived! Just before the cold snap I was bragging about three Anna’s hummingbirds winging it up outside my conservatory window. When the weather hit 20 degrees, I was forced to change the feeders every hour. The sugar water feeders froze that quickly. I thought I was nuts until I learned that Jan McNeilan (head of the Oregon Master Gardener program) and many of you were forced to do it too.
Changing the feeders was a full time job. So, I finally trudged through the snow and ice to get a heat lamp with a clamp from the hardware store and plugged it in above the feeders. The man behind the counter asks “You tryin’ to thaw out some water pipes?” “Nope.” He tilted his head to the side and squinted at me “You workin’ on some kinda project in this weather?” “Nope?” This time he leaned in close to my face “You mind me askin’ why you’re buying a heat lamp for?” I was wondering when he’d ask that. I replied with impunity “I’m trying to keep my hummingbirds alive.” I heard him mumbling “Lady, you are something else” as the hardware door swung shut behind me. Anyway, the heat lamp cost about $12 and it worked! What fun it was to see the little guys “sun” themselves under the heat lamp for warmth and feed anytime they wanted. Heck, let the pipes freeze, I’ve got hummingbirds.
Amaryllis is not a place in Texas.
*This Cybister amaryllis is my new favorite winter plant. What an amazing, exotic indoor wonder this time of year. You’re probably familiar with the huge bulbs and flowers of the amaryllis (Hippeastrum) that bloom around Christmas. Well, these are a little bit different. Cybisters are just as easy to grow and I found a great mail order source: (www.johnscheepers.com) The bulbs are enormous and it’s the best quality and selection of Cybister amaryllis I’ve found.
If you’d like to get that spent amaryllis to bloom again next year, let me give you some help. Take the flower tops off the stem, water with regular houseplant fertilizer until July. Then, around the fourth of July, stop watering it completely until October. (Here’s a little trick to prevent you from watering it accidentally; turn the entire pot onto its side.) In October, cut the old leaves off and start watering again.
New Meaning to Porta Potting
“Your Northwest Garden with Anne Jaeger” airs at 7 p.m. Saturdays on KGW (8). Contact Anne via her Web site, www.gardengal.tv
