Q/A column – for release June 14, 2009

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent 

 How Does Your Garden Grow?

Your local Extension office offers a column for local gardeners, and we depend on folks sending us questions.  This week we received very few questions -  maybe it’s because people are too busy working in their Florida Yard, keeping up with all the mowing for recent rain,  keeping the kids busy now that school is over or otherwise shopping to stimulate the economy.   Please send us some questions so we can continue to keep Okeechobee in the Green.

Saving  Easter Lilies

We had several lovely Easter Lilies that have since dropped their flowers and are now starting to turn yellow.  How can I resurrect them so that can bloom again next spring at the right time? ~ Lonnie

 

Thanks for your question, Lonnie.  The Easter lilies you bought earlier this spring probably were grown in a field in Pacific Northwest last fall,  dug and moved into a refrigerated room (40-60^o F ) for 6 weeks, than planted in pots and grown at 60-70 ^o F for another six weeks.   If you can match this kind of environmental conditions, you can probably regrow your lily, but it will be hard to do in Florida. If you don’t have a friend or relative up north that you can send them to, it may be better to just add them to your compost pile and plan to support your local florist again next spring.

It’s interesting to note that after Pearl Harbor, Easter Lily bulbs were no longer available from their native Japan.  So they were grown near Sebring, and were dug and shipped north in midwinter for cold treatment and forcing for seasonal crops.  However, this industry of the 1940s has been displaced by caladium bulb growers.

 

Gardening Guidelines

I know that this is not the right time to be planting a vegetable garden, but I’d love to gain a little more knowledge about the right ways to be growing food to supplement my paycheck. Any ideas on where I can get some good information? ~Bonnie

Bonnie - thank your for your question.  Our county Extension office has applied for a grant to conduct a series of workshops on growing vegetables in containers, but at  this time we have not head if the funding will come through in time for the fall gardening season.  You can also come ask any specific questions, or plan to attend the next meeting of the Okeechobee Garden Club, 6 PM on Monday June 22 at our Extension office.  The best reference is the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VH021), available on-line or at our office.  If you have access to a computer with a fast connection speed, here’s a neat place to view all kinds of videos on Florida Gardening and farming topics, the Florida Virtual Field day website: http://vfd.ifas.ufl.edu .  I especially like the nine presentations on organic vegetable gardening.

  

Instant Shade Tree

 I saw an ad in the Sunday Newspaper Magazine about a tree called the Royal Empress Tree.  The ad says it can grow 10 feet in a year and has huge leaves and  pretty purple flowers as well.  The mail-order price doesn’t seem too bad, but there must be a catch.  What can you tell me about this tree? ~Thomas

Thomas - thank your for your question.   Many people have responded to ads for this instant shade tree since it was first introduced into North America in the early 1800s as an ornamental and as a potential source of wood for carving and pulp.  The Princess-Tree (Paulownia tomentosa) has now escaped cultivation and is a weedy invader in many states throughout the southeastern US. Since it likes somewhat cooler temperatures, it has not been as much of a problem in Florida. They can grow to 50 feet in a few short years, and will drop a lot of leaves after the frost.  Messy pods with lots of seed will help spread it, and the tree can easily resprout from the stump if cut down.  It would require careful structural pruning to avoid the production of weakly attached limbs that can break in high winds.

If you want suggestions for suitable substitutes, please contact our Master Gardeners and discuss you site conditions.  I know we can suggest some better choices.

Send your garden question by fax (863-763-5901), email (okeenews@newszap.com) or just drop it off at the Okeechobee News office at (107 SW 17th St. suite D, Okeechobee, FL 34974).  The University of Florida - Okeechobee County Extension office will pick out questions that would be of greatest interest to local residents and publish brief answers in the Okeechobee News. Be sure to include your name and phone or email address in case we need more information  Clear digital photographs may also be submitted.  

More information is available on the award-winning Okeechobee web page, http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu. If you need additional information, please email the Extension office at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu or call us at 863-763-6469.  Local residents can stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee, and visit our Okeechobee County Master Gardeners from 1 to 3 PM on Tuesday afternoons.  Happy Flag Day and, Go Gators! 

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Trade  names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin.  Florida Cooperative Extension Service / IFAS / University of Florida.  Larry A.  Arrington, Dean. Last update: 06/11/2009.  This page is maintained by Dan Culbert