Rick Durham, Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist, University of Kentucky
 

2000 All America Selections

Vegetables:
1. Cabbage F1 "Savoy Express" - This is a small-headed (less than 2 pounds) cabbage with waffle-like or crinkled leaves on compact plants. Plant transplants 12 inches apart and expect harvest in about 55 days. The plants reach a height of around 12 inches and could be used as a border for flower beds. The plants should do well in either the spring or fall garden. Watch out for cabbage loopers (white or yellow butterflies and green caterpillars) in both seasons and aphids especially in the fall garden.
2. Pea "Mr. Big" - This is an English or garden pea and has the largest pods (4-4.5 inches long) of any home variety. The large pods mean higher yields and the peas are easier to find, harvest and shell. The plants grow 2-3 feet tall with vertical support but will bush without support. Peas do best when grown during the cool weather of early spring so sow seeds in late February or March about 1-2 inches apart and cover with 1 inch of soil. Expect first harvest about 60 days after seed emergence. The good disease resistance exhibited by "Mr. Big" means the plants will likely produce peas for an extended period.
3. Pepper F1 "Blushing Beauty" - This pepper gets its name from the fact that as the fruits mature, they transform from a pale green, to pastel pink, to a deep rosy red. Gardeners may harvest the 4 inch fruit at any stage of development and will find them sweet and thick walled. The plants grow to about 2 feet tall and have multiple disease resistance including resistance to bacterial leaf spot. Plant them about 2 feet apart in the row and expect harvest around 75 days after transplanting. The small plant size also makes them well suited to container gardening.
4. Sweet Corn F1 "Indian Summer" - This sweet corn will have colored kernels much like the heirloom Indian corn that is available as popcorn and for decorations. However, unlike popcorn, "Indian Summer" has the sh2 genotype to ensure super sweet kernels when the ears are harvested fresh. Best results will be had when "Indian Summer" is planted at least 500 feet away from any other corn, or make sure there is at least 14 days between the maturity date of this and other varieties planted. The color of the kernels will intensify as the ear matures and should intensify even more once cooked. Because of the sh2 designation, the corn's kernels will shrivel once they mature and dry, making it less desirable for decorative purposes. However, "Indian Summer" promises to be a colorful and delicious conversation piece around the dinner table for the next several years.

Flowers:
1. Cosmos "Cosmic Orange" - While many cosmos have a leggy appearance, this is not true of "Cosmic Orange." The compact plants (less than 2 feet tall) will produce abundant 1 to 2 inch double to semi-double orange flowers from early summer to frost. These plants are also very hardy. They tend to do best in less fertile soils and tolerate heat and drought well. Expect flowering to begin about 3 months after sowing seed.
2. Dianthus F1 "Melody Pink" - When I think of dianthus, I think of the small biennial garden pinks that are often used as borders in flower gardens and put on a limited but spectacular show of color in late spring. Many varieties now flower for an extended time throughout the summer. "Melody Pink" is an exceptional variety that will flower quickly (about 80 days) from seeding. Since it is tolerant of cool weather, it can be planted before many other summer annuals. Compared to other dianthus, Melody Pink is tall (up to 24 inches), produces sprays of flowers for the garden or for cutting, and keeps on blooming, even in summer heat. The one inch, single pink flowers with fringed petals are produced in sprays on plants that are relatively pest free.
3. Sunflower "Soraya" - Sunflowers are great plants for attracting butterflies and bees during the summer and birds during the fall and winter. "Soraya" is a single-flowered variety with orange petals and brown centers. The 4-6 inch flowers are produced atop 5-6 feet plants. The flowers will last for 7 days when cut, but watch out for the pollen which can leave permanent stains when it contacts fabric. The plants will bloom 90-100 days after seeding-it is best to wait until the soil has warmed to above 60 degrees Fahrenheit for planting. Sunflowers generally tolerate heat and drought very well.
4. Tithonia "Fiesta del Sol" - This Mexican sunflower is considered dwarf, but still expect plant height to range from 2 to 3 feet. This is much more compact than the usual 5 to 6 feet of other Tithonia. The 2 inch daisy-like orange flowers will attract butterflies and hummingbirds but are fairly resistant to deer. The plants should flower about 80 days after planting and tolerate summer heat.
5. Vinca "Stardust Orchid" - This vinca (also called periwinkle) is a great plant for hot, dry conditions. Vincas in general do well in summer heat and will keep blooming throughout the summer. The 16 inch tall plants with glossy dark green foliage produce 1.5 inch single flowers that are orchid in color with a white, star-shaped center. Establishment is best from transplants and the plants are basically disease free as long as water is applied to the soil and not the plant.
 

Selecting healthy trees and shrubs for the home landscape.

With spring just around the corner, many people will be buying plants to place in their home landscape. The choices you make in buying plants may have a profound impact on the health and appearance of your landscape for many years.

• First, make sure that the plants you are selecting are suitable for your area. This is especially true in regard to winter hardiness. Most of Kentucky falls within the USDA hardiness zone 6 with a few areas in zone 5. Plants suited to these hardiness zones are able to tolerate winter temperatures down to about -10 or -15 degrees Fahrenheit. This is air temperature, not wind chills. Plants rated for a higher USDA hardiness zone, that is 7 or above, would likely show some winter damage when planted in Kentucky and might also fail to thrive in our climate. Plants rated for a lower USDA hardiness zone, say 4 or below, would survive Kentucky winters and for the most part should do fine in our climate. So for best results, select plants that are rated at USDA hardiness zone 5 or 6 or below.
• The second consideration is where you will place the plant in your landscape. Your home landscape is not uniform. There are sunny versus shady areas, areas that tend to stay wet and others that tend to stay dry. Consider these factors when selecting plants. When a plant that is suited to sun is planted in the shade, the growth tends to be more soft and succulent. This promotes greater problems with disease. Likewise, when plants that are better suited to dry conditions are placed in areas that stay moist, they may be prone to root borne diseases. Some particular areas in the landscape that may retain moisture include low lying areas, poorly drained sites, or areas involved in water runoff such as near gutter downspouts. If these areas stay wet for extended periods of time between rainfalls, choose plants that will be able to tolerate wet soils. Many times the plant label will indicate whether the plant is best suited to a particular environment. Pay attention to the label and plant accordingly.
• Finally, when you get to the nursery or garden center where you will buy your plants, pick out the healthiest, most robust plants that have no evidence of disease or insect damage. The potting medium should be moist, but not wet, and the roots should be well dispersed in the medium. Plants that have roots growing from the drainage holes or circling the top of the pot are less desirable. Many people choose to buy plants from a mail order company which is perfectly acceptable. However, realize that most woody plants purchased from mail order catalogs will be shipped dormant and bare root, that is, without any soil attached to the root system. Such plants may be smaller in size because of the expense of shipping. It is important to plant such material immediately upon arrival. Generally it is best to purchase one-year-old material from mail order companies since this material is more vigorous and will transplant better. The larger material that is offered is often composed of the less vigorous plants held over from previous years.

 

It's not too early to think about pest control in the home landscape. Remember that many of those problem pests are actually spending the winter on or near the plants they will infest during the next spring. One way of getting at these pest early is the use of horticultural or dormant oils.
    These oils are specially formulated products for pest control and differ from motor oil or vegetable oils used for cooking. Horticultural or dormant oil is a very good chemical that has minimal impact on the environment and usually has little effect on beneficial insects in the landscape. Dormant oils target overwintering pests such as scale and certain mites. The oil acts by suffocating the pests. One precaution with the use of horticultural or dormant oil it that it should not be applied during extreme temperatures. Avoid applying oil when the temperature will drop below freezing the day before or the day after application. Also, avoid application if the temperature will rise above 90 degrees Farhenheit. As will all chemicals, be sure to read and follow label directions when applying and make sure the plant you are treating is listed on the label.
 

Planting woody plants in compacted soils.

Many homeowners today are discouraged when it comes to their landscapes because many of the trees and shrubs they plant fail to thrive. If poor watering is not to blame, the issue may be compacted soil. Today more than ever, construction practices lead to severely compacted soils around new homesites. The use of heavy equipment is the main culprit. Machinery traffic over soil reduces its porosity, or open pore space between soil particles. This open space is important to plant health because water and air enter and move through the soil primarily through pores. When these pores collapse due to compaction, the soil becomes poorly drained and air can no longer circulate though the soil. Imagine if you were a plant root in such an environment. There would be little water to satisfy your thirst and no air to breathe. Yes, plant roots need air, especially oxygen, to carry out the basic biochemical processes of life.
    What can be done about compacted soils? One recommendation is called double digging or extra digging. If you are planting into compacted soils, it is a good idea to work the soil around the hole, not just dig a hole and insert the tree. How big an area needs to be worked? That depends on the size of the tree and degree of soil compaction. A minimum effort would be to dig a hole at least twice the diameter of the tree's root system and then work an additional area of soil that extends several feet around the hole. The hole should be dug deep enough to insert the plant's root system without twisting or breaking roots. Remember that the plant should be growing at approximately the same depth after planting as it was when growing in the nursery or container. This can be determined from a change in coloration on the trunk at soil level. The area around the hole should be worked to a depth of 8 to 12 inches using a shovel or tined instrument such as a pitchfork. This will reduce compaction and promote healthy root growth by opening up the soil to allow water and air movement. It is usually unnecessary to amend the soil with material such as peat moss or pine bark. Rather, use the same soil that was removed from the hole to back fill when planting the tree or shrub.

Finally, don't forget to keep the newly planted tree or shrub well watered for the next few years, and add two to three inches of mulch to the surface of the planting hole to reduce water loss and control weeds.

Germination of tomato seeds in the fruit.

There have been several reports of people slicing tomato fruit to find germinating seeds inside. This should not be a big concern although the germinating seeds may give the fruit an off flavor. Several types of fruit exhibit this phenomenon including tomato and citrus. In most species, seeds must be removed from the fruit and dried before they will germinate. During the drying process, natural inhibitors to germination present in the seed are broken down such that the seed will commence germination when conditions are favorable. However, occasionally seeds will germinate prior to drying. In some cases, like this tomato example, seeds germinate while enclosed in the fruit. This is called vivipary. Tomato varieties are being developed for longer shelf life. Prolonged storage of these fruit may increase the frequency of vivipary.