Canada Geese and other wildlife utilize the sea pickle as an important food source, but did you know that when cattle graze a salt marsh, consuming the sea pickle plant adds salt and mineral content to satisfy nutrient requirements (courtesy: friendsofrachelcarsonnwr.org).
By John Green, Texas Certified Expert Gardener, Orange, TX
Spring officially begins (in the Northern hemisphere) on March 20th lasting through June 20th as noted by numerous publications, such as The Farmer’s Almanac, a personal favorite. While I’m not experienced at predicting weather patterns, it stands to reason (one gardener’s biased logic…perhaps) that spring has arrived ‘early’ for SETX this year! Several 30-day weather forecasting web sites tend to agree with my “unskilled” assessment but there will be a few intermittent days where nighttime temperatures are in the upper 30’s to mid-40’s. I’ve already stated planting vegetable beds with numerous vegetable varieties, though I’m waiting a bit longer before planting ‘sensitive’ plants and vegetables…so hold off on planting tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and warm weather crops which require warmer soil temperatures which are 55F or above for sowing okra, peas, and shell beans.
Every local gardener is dealing with the aftermath of winter storm Enzo in some way of another! Several readers have submitted gardening questions by email recently (over the past couple of weeks) relating to the extended sub-freezing temperatures or referencing past articles. My responses to the Readers’ questions may be helpful to other readers as well and are provided.
Relanada from Beaumont submitted two questions:
Question 1: What plum, peach, or cherry trees will perform well in SETX?
Answer: Plum varieties that will perform well in SETX: Santa Rosa (reddish-purple skin with yellow flesh), Ozark Premier (reddish skin with yellow flesh), and Methley (red-purple skin with red flesh) and Gulf Beauty (golden skin with yellow flesh) each variety has medium to large fruit and the ability to withstand heat. Peach varieties require chill hours but a few varieties which will grow well: Texstar (self-pollinating with red blush), Red Globe (large, dark red with yellow flesh), and Harvester (usually the 1st variety to ripen). True Cherry trees are not common in our area, since they require too many cold hours to produce fruit. There are tropical ‘cherry’ substitutes, such as Cherry of the Rio Grande (sweet, dark red wine colored fruit) which grows to a height of 15 feet or Barbados cherry (sweet fruit similar in taste to cherry-plum) but is not cold-tolerant requiring winter protection.
Question 2: What are the best strawberry plants to plant?
Answer: Spring-bearing strawberry varieties, such as “Chandler”, “Sequoia”, and “Douglas” are best suited for our climate. My advice is to avoid ever-bearing and day-neutral varieties since they enjoy ‘cooler’ spring temperatures. Growing strawberries is not difficult. Planning and site preparation are the keys to success.
Drew, who has lived in SETX for 50 years, stated that “he doesn’t recall winter temperatures in the teens before a few years ago”. He is losing citrus trees and had a couple trees that were hardy down to 30F…lost them! He found another variety of citrus tree hardy down to 25F…lost them too!
Question: How do you find a citrus tree that is hardy into the low teens? Do they exist?
Answer: Cold hardy citrus varieties do exist. Gardeners, the key to having cold hardy citrus survive is to ensure cold hardy varieties selected are well protected for at least three years, as they build resilience to our ever changing environment. There are numerous cold-hardy citrus trees which are resilient to sub-freezing winter temperatures (down a temperature of 10F) once established (which usually takes 3 years). Ichang (lemon), Tiwanica (lemon), Red (lime), Artic Frost (Satsuma) and Orange Frost (Satsuma) are varieties which will grow here. It is important to note that the root stock of citrus trees will also affect cold hardiness. Trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata) rootstock is known for its cold hardiness.
Katherine, a local reader, sent an image of ‘wilted’ Easter lilies that are planted in her flower bed.
Question: Should I remove all the Easter lilies leaves, the dead portion, or let it be?
Answer: After a hard freeze, plants will no longer appear the same as before the freeze. Most plants will lose turgidity (structure), then become floppy after which they will exhibit similar characteristics to plants which need watering. Damaged plants’ cellular structure changes and the foliage color changes quickly from a ‘waxy’ green sheen, dulling’ to darker green, then purplish before finally ending in a lifeless brownish gray. The process takes several days to complete. During the process, some plants appear to have a slimy texture. The decomposing material must be removed to prevent fungal infection and the spread of disease. Cut away ‘mushy’ material rather than ‘pulling’ the material from the plant to avoid further damage.
Ava, a reader from Seattle, WA enjoyed a recent article describing amending soil and asked the following:
Q1: What cover crops are Texas-friendly?
Answer: The answer is a bit tricky since Texas has a vast number of climate types with several growing zones within the state. This means we are fortunate to have numerous options available to us depending upon the geographic location within the state. For example, Sorghum can tolerate heat and drought, making it a good choice large amounts of biomass, but there are others such as buckwheat which thrives in hot areas, and is a good choice for ‘green’ manures. Crimson clover, which grows well in hot, humid locations can be used to help suppress weeds, fix nitrogen from air into the soil (reducing chemical fertilizer amendments), and is used for short rotations.
Q2: Do we have any high-salinity pioneer species?
Answer: Halophytic (salt-tolerant) pioneer species include saltgrass, sea pickle, and glasswort are but a few prevalent in SETX. These types of plants thrive in our marshland environments bordering mudflats and salt marshes.These salt tolerant pioneer plants such as glasswort (Salicornia spp.) and cord grass (Spartina spp.) thrive by attaching themselves to muddy marshland surfaces and are often the initial pioneer species to inhabit marshlands.
Q3: How does lupine do as a nitrogen fixer and biomass creator?
Answer: Lupines are members of the legume family, as are beans, peas, and peanuts. Native lupines affix nitrogen by way of a symbiotic relationship between soil microbes and the plants roots inside the small nodules attached to the plant’s roots. Lupines, like all plant material provide biomass.
Until next time fellow gardeners, let’s go out and grow ourselves a greener and more sustainable world, one plant at a time! Please send your gardening questions to: jongreene57@gmail.com
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