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Garden The
Spade September 2019
Phalaenopsis Orchids Katie Kammler, MU Extension Field Specialist in Horticulture
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**In This Issue**
Phalaenopsis Orchids
Invasive Plants in
Missouri
Eye Catching Flower
Appeal
At a Glance:
Rosemary
Arrowwood
Viburnum
Cucumber Beetles
Anthracnose
“Reliable, Responsive and Relevant Information for the Missouri Gardener”
Orchids are interesting plants with thousands of naturally occurring species and
hybrids all over the world. If you would like to grow orchids in your home,
there are several species that are recommended based on their adaptability, ease
of growing, availability, and production of beautiful flowers. This article is
going to focus on phalaenopsis orchids but care techniques apply most.
Purchasing larger plants is advisable
because it can take up to five years for a
seedling to flower. Also select an orchid
based on the growing conditions in your
home as each type has different cultural
requirements.
Phalaenopsis orchid species is probably
the most common type of orchid
available. It is also known as a moth or
butterfly orchid. They have long
arching sprays of colorful flowers that
last for several months. They flower in the winter to early spring so they
brighten up the house in the dreary cold months. They are mass producers and
are reasonably priced. They are easy to grow and flower under most home
conditions.
In nature, phalaenopsis orchids grow on tree trunks and branches in the tropics.
Orchids are unique because most of them are epiphytes. They have thick, fleshy
roots that they use to attach themselves to trees or bark and to absorb water and
nutrients. They grow best in soilless mixtures that usually contain bark. They
need lots of aeration and drainage. These potting mixes are readily available.
Plastic or clay containers can be used so long as they have adequate drainage.
Since they naturally hang on tree bark, their roots do not like to stay in a
flowerpot. Don’t be concerned if the roots are out of the Continued to page 2
An equal opportunity/access/
affirmative action/pro-disabled
Various colors of Phalaenopsis
The Garden Spade
Phalaenopsis Orchids Katie Kammler, MU Extension Field Specialist in Horticulture
September 2019 · 2
pot and sprawl around the shelf. This is normal growth habit so do not cut them off.
Flower spikes initiate and grow out from the leaf axils. They also set multiple flower buds and the flowers
can last a month or longer with proper care. The spikes cane be quite tall and sometimes branch, further
extending the growing season.
Cultural Requirements
Orchids require a temperature similar to other houseplants
and must be protected from cold weather. Minimum night
temperatures of 55 degree and daytime temperatures of 70
to 80 degrees are ideal. Avoid placing plants near
windows during cold weather.
Light is the most important factor for flowering and
growth. Most orchids require partial shade and a southern
exposure is best for providing bright, filtered light.
Phalaenopsis do the best under low light conditions with
little or no direct sun.
Watering is one of the easiest ways to kill an orchid! They do not like to sit in a waterlogged pot. In general,
watering once a week and allowing orchids to dry slightly between waterings is the best practice for
maintaining a healthy plant. Water soluble orchid fertilizers are readily available and should be applied once
a month according to the rates recommended on the label. After flowering, reduce water and fertilizer
applications as the plants rest and resume when new leaf production starts. Humidity is also very important
to these types of orchids, 40 to 60%. Most of our homes do not have this kind of humidity so it must be
supplemented by misting.
Problems
Orchids are susceptible to a number of insect and disease problems. Common insect problems include scale,
mealybugs, spider mites, and thrips. Snails and slugs can also feed on the plants. Physically removing the
pests or chemicals sprays may help control light populations. Diseases include leaf spots, petal blight,
bacterial soft rot and many different viruses. Following the good care practices listed above will help keep
your orchids from becoming susceptible to problems.
Continued from page 1
To learn more about orchids, see website below:
Repotting Phalaenopsis and other Monopodial Orchids - Missouri Botanical Garden http://
www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice
-tips-resources/visual-guides/repotting-phalaenopsis-and-other-monopodial-orchid.aspx
Orchids: Problems - Missouri Botanical Garden https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/
Gardening/Gardening%20Help/Factsheets/Orchid%20Problems34.pdf
Top 10 Orchids for the Home - Missouri Botanical Garden https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/
gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/visual-guides/top-
10-orchids-for-the-home.aspx
Phalaenopsis Orchids, photo courtesy of Missouri
Botanical Garden
The Garden Spade
January Gardening Calendar
Donna Aufdenberg, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Outdoor Flowering Plants and Ornamentals
Spring blooming perennials can be divided now. Enhance the soil with compost and
peat moss before planting.
Avoid transplanting Japanese anemones, chrysanthemums and other late blooming
perennials.
Divide peonies now. Replant in a sunny site and avoid planting too deep.
Autumn is a good time to add manure, compost or leaf mold to garden soils for
increasing organic matter content
Monitor plants for spider mite activity. Hose off with a forceful spray of water.
Seasonal loss of inner needles on conifers is normal at this time.
Vegetable Gardening
Sowing seeds of radish, lettuce, spinach and other greens in cold frames will prolong
fall harvest.
Keep broccoli picked regularly to encourage additional productive side shoots.
Tie leaves around cauliflower heads when they are about the size of golf balls.
Pinch off any young tomatoes that are too small to ripen. This will channel energy
into ripening the remaining full size fruit.
Plan to set up high tunnels and low tunnels for winter planting.
Sow cool season cover crops in areas of the garden not being used.
Start gathering mulching materials for lasagna garden beds (compost layering).
Start cleaning up the garden as the month goes.
Fruits and Nuts
Pick pears before they are fully mature, store in a cool, dark, basement to ripen.
Bury or discard any spoiled fallen fruits.
Check all along peach tree trunks to just below soil line for masses caused by borers.
Probe holes with thin wire to puncture borers.
Cut out old shoots of raspberries and blackberries.
Lawns
Begin fall seeding or sodding of cool season grasses. Seedbeds should be raked,
dethatched, or core-aerified, fertilized and seeded. Keep newly planted lawn areas
moist, but not wet.
Cool season lawns are best fertilized in fall. Make up to 3 applications between now
and December.
Newly seeded lawns should not be cut until they are at least 2-3 inches tall.
Indoor Plants
Begin readying houseplants for winter indoors. Prune back excessive growth and
protruding roots. Check for pests and treat if necessary. Houseplants should be
brought indoors at least one month before heat is turned on.
Invasive Plants in Missouri
Autumn Olive
Bush Honeysuckle
Callery Pear
Canada Thistle
Chinese Yam
Common Reed
Crown Vetch
Common and Cut-leaved Teasel
Garlic Mustard
Heavenly Bamboo
Japanese Honeysuckle
Japanese Hop
Japanese Knotweed
Japanese Stiltgrass
Johnson Grass
Kudzu
Leafy Spurge
Multiflora Rose
Musk Thistle
Purple Loosestrife
Sericea Lespedeza
Spotted Knapweed
Wintercreeper
September 2019 · 3
September Gardening Calendar Donna Aufdenberg, MU Extension Field Specialist in Horticulture
The Garden Spade September 2019 · 4
Plants with Winter Interest Katie Kammler, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Eye-Catching Flower Appeal Donna Aufdenberg, MU Extension Field Specialist in Horticulture
I have been flower gardening for years - it is an obsession really. Every year that passes gives another
attempt to find that eye-catching appeal that I so dearly want to accomplish in my flower beds. It is not
enough just to grow the flowers that I like, but I want my beds to have a rhythm and flow much like flower
beds at a well-kept park or garden.
So what makes an eye-catching flower bed? Many different concepts come into play. One important
technique is to plant in mass. Experts say to start with six plants of one variety in an area. One or two
plants just does not create enough interest. If we go back to the concepts of landscape design, planting in
threes (9, 12, 15, 18, etc.) makes a good impact. We can use
mass to accentuate color or texture. Smaller bloom plants
require a greater number of plants whereas larger blooms
require fewer plants.
Repeat shapes, colors, and textures throughout landscape
beds. Our eyes tend to connect these components as one
scene instead of separate planted areas. Choose colors and
textures that stand out from
a distance. Even consider
group the plants in the
landscape beds by color.
Remember to utilize the
color wheel and consider
what colors complement
each other the best.
Combine annuals,
perennials, bulbs and flowering shrubs to expand your options, extend your
bloom season and diversify your plantings. Annuals can be utilized as
fillers while gardeners are waiting for perennials and shrubs to mature and
fill in. Shrubs can be anchors, backdrops or add structure to a flower bed.
Evergreens can offer fall and winter interest.
Remember the basics of landscape design. Diversify by choosing plants
of different heights, widths and growing habits. You need background
plants, mid-ground plants, fillers, trailers, and border plants. Do not forget
to add colorful flags or show-case plants as well as a focal point.
Create flow by planting a single variety of plant all through the planting.
Plant in a straight line or staggered planting throughout the bed.
Incorporate hardscapes, features and focal points into the landscape.
Stonework, walk-ways, and fencing work well to set off boundaries. Water
fountains, statuary, garden benches and gazing globes can add beauty,
fascination and intrigue.
Consider going vertical. A trellis, arbor or pergola can add artful lines
and décor while providing vines and other plants with Continued to page 7
Perennials Rudbeckia
Catmint (Nepeta)
Daffodil
Daylily
Echinacea
Fern
Hosta
Liatris
Monarda
Russian Sage
Sedum
Tulip
Yarrow
Great Selections for Mass Plantings
Annuals Begonia
Coleus
Cosmos
Dusty Miller
Geranium
Impatiens
Marigolds
Ornamental Peppers
Petunia
Salvia
Vinca
Zinnia
Examples of mass planting. Photos courtesy of Donna Aufdenberg (top and middle) and Kelly McGowan
(bottom).
The Garden Spade September 2019 · 5
At a Glance: Rosemary Donna Aufdenberg, MU Extension Field Specialist in Horticulture
Rosemary officinalis
Uses: Flavoring meats and vegetables
Type: Tender Perennial
Light: Full sun or bright light
Soil: Rich, well drained
Pests: No real pests; Biggest problem is
overwatering
How to use it: Use fresh or dried.
Strong flavor so use it sparingly. Tender
tips and foliage can be cut as needed throughout the growing
season. Longer stems can be harvested and used for skewers
for kabobs. Herbal vinegars and butters.
Comments: Grows well in pots. Does well outdoors during
the summer. Easy to propagate. There are several varieties on
the market, however, ‘Arp’ is reported to be hardiest.
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
1 pound small red or white potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut potatoes in half or quarters. Place in bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary. Toss well. Spread potatoes onto baking sheet in single layer. Roast in oven 45 minutes or until brown. Turn during baking time at least twice for even browning. Remove from the oven and serve.
Native Plant of the Month:
Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
Deciduous shrub or small tree; Southern Arrow Wood
Height: up to 15 feet tall
Flower: Large terminal clusters of white flowers
Bloom time: May to June
Comments: Great native for landscape uses, par tial
shade to full sun in well-drained soils. Blue-black fruit is
attractive to wildlife. There are 10 species of viburnum
native to Missouri.
Information sources: Missour i Wildflowers by Edgar
Denison
Top picture courtesy of Missouri Department of Conservation &
bottom picture from Missouri Botanical Garden
Rosemary, photo courtesy of Missouri
Botanical Garden
While the name implies they are a pest of cucumbers, they also feed on many other plants. Cucurbit
species are their favorite, including cucumber, cantaloupe, winter squash, pumpkin, gourds, summer
squash, and watermelon. They will also feed on beans, corn, peanuts, potatoes, and other crops and weed
species. Cucumber beetles are native to the US from Canada to Mexico. There are two types of cucumber
beetle: striped and spotted.
They are one of the biggest concerns in cucurbit
production because they can cause four types of
damage: seedling destruction, flower and foliage
damage, root feeding, and transmission of bacterial
wilt disease. They can be an early season pest, starting
with adults feeding on seedlings. They will feed on
newly emerged cotyledons and stems, even going
below ground level to feed on plants as they emerge.
Adults will lay eggs in the soil near the seedlings and
larvae will hatch and feed on the roots. Typically,
larvae damage to the roots is minor unless under dry conditions. The first generation of adults that feeds
on flowers and foliage emerge in early summer. The foliage damage is usually minor but heavy feeding
on the flowers can lead to poor fruit set. Another generation emerges later in the growing season.
The fourth kind of damage is the most severe and is why the threshold for cucumber beetles is very low.
They can carry and transmit bacterial wilt. Bacterial wilt can kill many plants in a field and drastically
reduce yield. Both stripped and spotted cucumber beetles have similar life cycles and both can carry the
bacterial wilt. They are not equal, however, when it comes to their rating as a pest on cucurbits. The
spotted cucumber beetle is a general
feeder and a pest in other crops as
well as cucurbits. It is not as serious
of a pest as the striped cucumber
beetle because the striped feeds
almost exclusively on cucurbits.
Bacterial wilt is transmitted through
feeding, typically starting on a single
leaf and spreading to the entire plant.
Bacterial wilt is a serious disease of
cucumber and muskmelon, then to a
lesser extent, pumpkin and squash.
Control measures are usually needed to keep ahead of cucumber beetle damage. Row covers provide a
barrier to keep out beetles. Just remember that bees are needed for pollination in most cucurbit crops so
barriers can only be used a short time unless bumblebees are introduced to low tunnel covers. Trap crops
can give some degree of control. Trap crops are where an insect feeds on a crop that is not used for
production and where they can be controlled by insecticides without spraying the desirable crop.
Insecticides are often necessary to control this pest.
The Garden Spade September 2019 · 6
Growing Winter Onions Rennie Phillips, Scott County Master Gardener
Cucumber Beetles Katie Kammler, MU Extension Field Specialist in Horticulture
Adult cucumber beetles appear in the field early and feed on young seedlings. They continue to feed on all parts of the plant throughout the season.
Cucumber beetles are one-quarter-inch-long beetles with either 12 spots (left picture) or three black stripes (right picture) on their abdomens. Both species can overwinter in Missouri and become active in April when daytime temperatures exceed 55 degrees F.
The Garden Spade
September 2019 · 7
Upcoming Events
September 2019
7-14 SEMO District Fair, Cape Girardeau, MO.
20-21 East Perry Community Fair, “The Best Little Fair in the Land”, Altenburg, MO.
17 Growing and Using Herbs at the Madison County Extension Office in Fredericktown. Fee: $5 Register by September 13 to 573-783-3303
October 2019
10 Introduction to Women Owning Woodlands Program at the Progress Spor ts Complex in Ste. Genevieve Community Center in Ste. Genevieve. For more information and registration, contact Sarah Havens, [email protected] or 573-458-6252
15 Introduction to Greenhouses and Hightunnels at the Madison County Extension Office in Fredericktown. Fee: $5 Register by calling 573-783-3303
Eye Catching Flower
Appeal Donna Aufdenberg, MU Extension Field
Specialist in Horticulture
Click on blue underlined link to be taken to a corresponding website...
vertical support.
Incorporate planters and containers into
landscaped areas. Containers can be used
to add “pops” of color here or there.
They can also be used in newly planted
areas where instant color is needed.
In bare or underdeveloped areas, utilize
groundcovers. They can also work
around stepping stones and at the edges
of beds. Creeping thyme, sweet
woodruff, wild ginger and low growing
sedums are good examples.
Plant pollinator attracting flowers.
Butterflies, moths and small pollinators
are full of activity in gardens and draw
the eye to the flowers. In planting
pollinator plants, you are providing
beauty as well as doing a good thing for
the environment.
Choose quality
transplants.
Problems can
follow you for
years if plants do
not have a good start. Buy early for best
selection.
Buying transplants can be expensive.
Consider sowing seeds in order to get
more plants with less cost but be careful
not to sow to thick. Seedlings too close
together become thin spindly plants that
never do well.
Keep an eye on maintenance. When
flowers are planted in mass, competition
for space, sunlight, moisture, and
nutrients are important to monitor.
Keeping fertility up will help keep
flowers performing their best.
Continued from page 4
The glory of gardening; hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.
~Alfred Austin
Garden Quote
The Garden Spade
Anthracnose
Kelly McGowan, MU Extension Field Specialist in Horticulture
Anthracnose is a common fungal disease that can affect many species
of plants including trees, shrubs, fruits, vegetables, and turfgrass. A
group of fungi including Colletotrichum sp., Kabatiella sp., Elsinoe and
Apiognomonia sp. causes anthracnose. It is most prevalent in years
with cool spring temperatures combined with overcast skies and plenty
of rain.
Anthracnose typically effects
the above ground portion of
plants and can be diagnosed by
the presence of dark, sunken
lesions on leaves, stems,
flowers and fruits. Symptoms
can vary from plant to plant.
Trees with heavy infection can
prematurely drop leaves and
sometimes become almost
completely defoliated. This
commonly occurs on Eastern
Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)
and American Sycamore
(Platanus occidentalis) which
often drops leaves in late
summer. Although alarming to
see excess leaf drop, this
condition rarely kills the tree.
Disease management can be
done by pruning out
symptomatic areas. Make sure
to disinfect pruning tools between cuts and between plants to prevent
contamination to new areas. Anthracnose overwinters on infected plant
material and spores can spread by wind and water. Cleaning and
disposing of lawn and garden debris at the end of the growing season
can be helpful. Avoid adding any type of diseased plant material to the
compost pile as many diseases can survive the composting process.
Fungicides can be applied to trees and shrubs before spring bud-break
and continued throughout the growing season. Early detection and
overall healthy plants are the best defense against anthracnose. Scout
your plants on a regular basis and contact your local MU Extension
office with any questions. Samples may also be submitted to the MU
Plant Diagnostic Clinic (there is a fee for this service) to confirm
diagnosis.
September 2019 · 8
Published monthly by University of
Missouri Extension Faculty for
individuals and families living state-
wide in Missouri. This newsletter is
provided by your local Extension
Specialists and Extension Councils.
Newsletter Editors:
Donna Aufdenberg
MU Extension Field Specialist in
Horticulture
Jackson, MO
573-243-3581
Katie Kammler
MU Extension Field Specialist in
Horticulture
Ste. Genevieve, MO
573-883-3548
Kelly McGowan
MU Extension Field Specialist in
Horticulture
Springfield, MO
417-874-2965
The Garden Spade
Each month there is a title picture
on the front cover of the newsletter.
This month: Liatris, Rudbeckia
and Rattlesnake Master
Anthracnose on ash leaves (photo credit: MU-Plant Diagnostic Clinic)
Anthracnose on black walnut (photo credit: Lorraine Graney, Bartlett Tree
Experts Bugwood.org)