Featured Stories

By DEAN FOSDICK
For The Associated Press
Although poinsettias of all stripes and colors remain the best-selling holiday plant of choice, there are a number of good, winter-blooming options. Here are some elegant and carefree holiday houseplant suggestions:
—Amaryllis: These bulbous plants bear one or more lily-like flowers on a single, strong stem. They come in different sizes and colors and usually are sold in 6- or 8-inch pots. They also make gorgeous holiday bouquets when freshly cut. They are long-lasting and low maintenance. Some selections are fragrant.
—Christmas cactus: A sun-loving succulent that flowers during the holidays and makes a good foliage plant when tended minimally the rest of the year. They flower in red, white, pink and violet, and look good in containers or hanging baskets. Christmas cactus is a long-lived plant. Many are passed along from family member to family member through the generations.

By DEAN FOSDICK
For The Associated Press
Paul Bosland is a pepper plant breeder whose specialty adds zest and dazzle to the holidays.
So far, he’s introduced ornamental chile plants for Halloween (orange and black fruit), Thanksgiving (cream-colored pods that turn orange), Christmas (red and green), St. Patrick’s Day (green and orange) and Valentine’s Day (cream to pink to red).
In the works hybrid-wise for launch in 2009 are multicolored pepper varieties commemorating the Chinese New Year (burnished orange) and Cinco de Mayo (yellow to red).
The ornamental NuMex line developed by Bosland is built primarily around the ancient Capsicum pepper species, a shrub native to South and Central America that exhibits a wide range of desirable traits.

By Margaret Slaby
McClatchy Newspapers
FRESNO, Calif. — Yards always seem to be works in progress. For most people, that means adding a tree here, a shrub there. Or maybe transforming a once-drab patch of dirt into a splashy display of colorful flowers.
However, some home owners have chosen to shun the tradition of plant-based landscaping and use everyday items to add elements of surprise and whimsy to their yards.
Dolores and Stan Winter decided about five years ago to turn the back and side yards of their Clovis home into a whimsical world of birdhouses, steppingstones, statues and small displays on pedestals. Stan Winter, 76, says they began decorating their yard when they grew tired of looking at “a boring, wooden fence.”

By LEE REICH
For The Associated Press
Prickly pear cactus is edible and attractive, and worth growing if you want something offbeat or unique in the landscape, no matter where you live.
A lot of cactus species thrive indoors, but prickly pears are among the few that thrive outdoors even where temperatures are frigid and the climate is far from dry.
ONLY TWO REQUIREMENTS
Prickly pears — sometimes called opuntias, the genus to which they belong — are native only to the Americas. But over the centuries, they’ve been transplanted to many parts of the world. The plant’s present wide range is testimonial to its taste and appearance.

By Norman Winter
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
An old masterpiece may be tucked away in your potting shed or garage just waiting for you to bring it to life. This masterpiece is an empty piece of old pottery or even a concrete planter with a chip or two missing and moss or lichens growing on it.
I saw a cool-season container like this a year or two ago that took my breath away. The designer had carefully placed the plant material to create a living work of art.
The focal point of the container was an Etain viola, a fragrant delight that is easy to grow. Many gardeners find it acts as a short-lived perennial in the South, but it lasts years longer as you travel north.

From MU Extension:

BLUE SPRINGS – The growing season has come to an end and looking out the window, you might feel the need to clean up what the frost has left behind. On the other hand, some gardeners don’t bother with fall cleanup in their flower beds. “This is because they planned for their gardens to seamlessly transition into the cold months,” said a University of Missouri Extension horticulture specialist. “With a little extra preparation, your post-frost garden can also be an aesthetic asset with little-to-no work.”

If your garden is still evolving, now is a good time to begin thinking about the plants that you will set out next year. The pictures in the garden center in the spring only document the in-season attributes of the plants. “What is too often overlooked is that the dormant season attributes of those plants should play an equal role in your selection,” said Marlin Bates. “As you peruse garden magazines or observe your neighbors’ gardens this season, take note of plant material that looks good after the frost.”

By NANCY O’DONNELL
Albany Times Union
Which perennials should be cut back? Which can be divided now? What last, great acts of kindness can we offer our perennials before the snow flies?
Just so we are all on the same page, a perennial is a plant that returns every spring. There are three types of perennials, and here’s where the story gets interesting.
The most common perennial is herbaceous. These perennials die down to the ground and over winter by way of their roots. Examples include hosta, daisies, coneflowers, astilbes, veronica, daylilies and asters.
Herbaceous perennials are cut down to ground level every fall for a variety of reasons:

HELPING TERRA-COTTA POTS AGE WELL
By STEPHEN ORR
c.2008 New York Times News Service
Q: How can I extend the life of the terra-cotta pots on my terrace? I seem to lose more and more of them each winter.
A: As in the fable of the ant and the grasshopper, diligent preparation is the key. Of course, at the end of the season, you might just want to relax and give up on the garden that you’ve worked so hard on all summer. But a little attention would save you the time and money involved with replacing your clay containers every year.
After the hard frost kills your plants or sends them into dormancy, empty any of the pots that hold annuals and tropicals that won’t live through the winter. Retain any soil that you’d like to keep in a plastic container or a bin, and brush the pots clean (as well as any saucers). Store them upside down or stacked out of the elements so that they don’t accumulate snow, ice and water. For it is the expansion of ice — especially as it freezes and thaws — that forms hundreds of tiny cracks in your clay, just as fluctuating winter temperatures cause potholes in a road.

By Norman Winter
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
While you’re waiting for winter to arrive you face the decision on what to do with those tropical treasures you have in containers on the porch patio or deck.
First, check to see if your plants need to be repotted. Water the plant well so that the soil sticks together. Knock the plant gently out of the pot and inspect the root system. If you have a really tight root ball, you may need to repot to the next size container.
Repot the plants in a sterile soil mix available at any garden center or nursery. I prefer light mixes that have good water holding capacity. Many bargain potting soils can become heavy and hold too much water. Lighter soils may be a little more expensive, but they provide superior aeration, and water and nutrient holding capacity.

By LEE REICH
For The Associated Press
Mums may be a mainstay of the fall garden, but they’re not the only plant that thrives during the season’s cool, moist weather.
Plenty of flowers and vegetables breathe life into the garden this time of year. But you need both to plan and to exercise some restraint if you’re going to have a vibrant fall garden. In spring and early summer, force yourself to set aside some space in the garden for late season flowers and vegetables.
ANNUALS:
The perfect flower would bloom all season long and keep pumping out colorful flowers on into frosty weather. Annual flowers are the ones that offer the longest season of bloom, but by now many kinds show only remnants of their summer glory.

By DEAN FOSDICK
For The Associated Press

If it’s flower bulbs you want for that new cutting garden, then there’s more than tulips from which to choose.
There are bulbs that convey fragrance and others that provide ground cover, bulbs that blossom when snow’s on the ground and others that bloom into summer. And the good thing is that spring-flowering bulbs require minimal care once they’re established.
Some even “naturalize” after a year or two, or self-propagate if they’re in a place they like, adding still more color as the seasons come and go.
Here are some lesser known bulb varieties, bulbs new to the market, rare heirloom bulbs or bulbs that look promising for certain special characteristics:

By DEAN FOSDICK
For The Associated Press
Bulbs are nature’s answer to all those impatient gardeners trying to get a running start on spring. Plant them now, as temperatures cool but before the ground freezes hard, and the bulbs will provide a cheerful, colorful show before the last snows of winter melt away.
You’re in for a treat if you’re new to bulb gardening. Bloom colors are dazzling and their year-to-year staying power provides great value.
You can be forgiven if you’re unaware of a few bulb basics — starting with which end should go up when dropping them into the ground. For the record, it’s the pointed end. The side showing the stringy evidence of roots should face bottom. But not to worry. Bulbs are pretty forgiving.

By Joel M. Lerner
Special to The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Here’s the test: How do you feel when you see a large slope planted with English ivy?
If you gasp in horror, you’re in the vanguard of the native-plant movement. If you think, “How pretty,” you might be aesthetically correct. But, from a practical standpoint, you may want to reconsider.
The plants and animals that naturally exist in a place evolved together, adapted together and coexist for mutual benefit. Birds, insects and other animals help pollinate plants and distribute seeds. Plants provide food and shelter for the animals.

By Norman Winter
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Dwarf sunflowers make a good crop in both summer and fall, and these little beauties have become quite popular. One variety may have you seeing stars; it’s called Constellation.
Children love sunflowers, and growing them is a perfect way to interest kids in digging in the dirt. Dwarf plants, with their huge, colorful flowers, may interest you as well, and you’ll find a home for them in your flower garden.
Sunflowers, particularly dwarf types like Constellation, look good massed in single colors to the middle or back of the border. Tall companion plants like salvia Indigo Spires and the Mexican bush sage help give a cottage-garden look to sunflowers used in the fall garden.

By LEE REICH
For The Associated Press
As the poet Joyce Kilmer wrote, “only God can make a tree.” (“Probably because it’s so hard to figure out how to get the bark on,” added Woody Allen.) But for good growth once a tree is made, it is for us mortals to step in and plant correctly.
Fall is the best time of year to plant most trees. The ground is soft and moist, perfect for digging. Nurseries have freshly dug trees. And roots have time to establish themselves before stems begin growing next spring.

KINDS OF NURSERY STOCK
Nurseries offer trees three ways:
— “Bare root” trees are dug from fields as soon as their leaves drop, then the roots are packed in wet sawdust or other moist material. Transplant shock is minimized if the tree is small, spends minimum time out of the ground, and — of course — is planted correctly. These are the least expensive kinds of nursery trees, and, because they are easily shipped, are available in greatest variety.

By Tim Woodward
McClatchy Newspapers
BOISE, Idaho — Bodie Stout was tired of going to the trouble of raising a garden only to have freeloaders show up at harvest time and eat most of the produce. From raccoons and rabbits to deer and skunks, she had them all.
“It was frustrating,” she said. “I could never really harvest much of anything. By fall, almost everything would be nibbled on or gone completely. In a typical year, I’d end up with about 10 percent of what I’d grown.”
When a neighbor offered to give her a chain-link dog run that was no longer being used, an idea clicked.

By Norman Winter
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
The change in gardening seasons has given many gardeners a renewed enthusiasm for getting some dirt on their hands. One reason to celebrate the cool season is that it holds great promise for creating small perfume factories near outdoor areas where visitors gather or family frequents.
Plants such as the Citrona erysimum, nemesia, pansy, viola and sweet alyssum can be combined in artful displays that catch the eye with their vivid colors and capture the nose with their lovely fragrances.
The new Velocity Lemon Plum Picotee viola offers its own version of the complementary color scheme without even having a partner. One reason pansies and violas are so loved is for their colors, and another is for their delightful fragrances. Add Vanilla Sachet nemesia to the mix and you’ll come under the “spell of the smell.” Nemesia is related to the snapdragon and is planted in the same season.

By DEAN FOSDICK
For The Associated Press
Orange tomatoes. Purple broccoli.
Heeding dieticians’ message that a rainbow of colors offers balanced nutrition, plant breeders have begun bulking up some traditional fruit and vegetable selections with still more nutrients.
“Before, they were breeding for higher yields, stronger plants, produce easier to ship and more ornamental in appearance,” said Grace Romero, lead horticulturist with W. Atlee Burpee & Co., America’s largest home gardener seed company.
“Now they’re looking at improvements in flavor and smell in addition to more nutrients. Enriching the colors is attached to nutritive value.”

By Denny Boyles
McClatchy Newspapers

FRESNO, Calif. — Would you sell your lawn to the city to save water and cut your utility bill? Would you buy a house with no lawn or with only water-stingy native plants?
Both are possibilities as Fresno, Calif., officials look at ways to conserve water as the city grows. Those ideas, along with more traditional conservation methods, are part of an Urban Water Management Plan approved by the City Council last month.
The plan outlines conservation goals for the city and offers ideas to attain those goals — such as lawn buy-backs.
It doesn’t detail how some of those ideas would work. But the plan “shows us where we are, and where we’re headed,” said Garth Gaddy, Fresno’s assistant director of public utilities.

By Margaret Slaby
McClatchy Newspapers

FRESNO, Calif. — When Sandi Ollenberger moved into her home four years ago, the view from the kitchen window was of a 6-foot wooden fence.
“I thought, ’I have this window, and that fence is so boring, what can I do?’” she says.
What she did was create a piece of art to hang on the fence; she glued small chunks of colored glass and tile to an old, wood-framed window.
A yard window “I never really considered myself an artist, but I guess I am now,” says Ollenberger, who since then has made close to 60 pieces ranging in size from 18-by-21 inches to 45-by-30 inches. Some have designs painted on the glass. She’s glued recycled items such as buttons, beads and bottlecaps on others.