tel: 512 280-1192 Thursday, June 9, 2016
Nursery notes: we have beautiful agapanthas in bloom, along
with esperanzas & plumbago: all $9 99 (1 gal.) - $24.99 (3 gal).
Hibiscus: $14.99 - $24.99. 5 gallon loquats: $39.99. Passion-
vines and star jasmine: 3 gal, $34.99. Pride of Barbados $24.99
(3 gal). Mexican sugar maples 15 gal. $125. More details here:
maple for austin. Please drop by to say hello!🌷
Summer greens & melon salad: 'You think tomatoes do a lot
for a salad?' asks Lynne Rossetto Kasper in the intro to this recipe.
'Wait until you taste what cantaloupe or other melons can achieve.'
Recipe for this perfect summer salad here: Splendid Table🌷
Balancing space and stuff. When a designer sets out on a proj-
ect, one of their first tasks is to figure out a client's ideas in terms
of a 'space-to-stuff' ratio. 'Will the garden look like a scene from
a Tarzan movie, stuffed with plants and needing a machete to clear
the way? Or will it have a Zen-like feel, using a few well-chosen
elements?' A helpful article from the writers at Fine Gardening.🌷
Valerie Bugh: Did you know that there are 'assassin' bugs who
lurk in flowers and grab or entrap innocent bumblebees and butter-
flies as they go about their business? Or that honeybees were brought
to the U.S. by European settlers? We all learned so much at Val's
informal Sunday walk/ talk at Mueller on Sunday. Valerie Bugh 🌷
____________________________________________________
Central Texas Gardener: helpful hints on pruning. Tropical brom-
eliad is plant of the week; learn how to control fire ants the organic
way. On tour, Cuts of Color Flower Farm. They provide 'fresh-from-
the-field bundles of beautiful flowers to local florists. Saturday 4 p.m.
Sunday at 9 a.m. or on-line. KLRU . This is also a pledge drive week.
Scale, sooty mold,ants on eucalyptus (Bidgee: creative commons wikimedia)
There's a Fungus Among Us!
There's a Fungus Among Us!
by Chris Winslow
'At ease disease, there's a fungus among us…' perfectly describes
a host of plant disease problems that we are encountering after the
wettest May on record here in central Texas, with 15.8 inches being
the official tally from Austin's airport.
Too much moisture, cooler days, and cloudy weather have all com-
bined to bring out the plant pathogens.
From pictures sent to us, and samples that customers bring in to the
nursery daily, we are seeing many serious cases of black spot, pow-
dery mildew, sooty mold, root rot, brown batch, bacterial leaf spot,
early blight, and a few problems that we've never even seen before.
Luckily for us we have quite a few natural and organic remedies
for these plant problems. Please note: gardeners do not have to rely
on the harsh and strongly toxic chemicals sold at some of the larger
stores in the area that will poison us and our water supply. There
are many gentler, more organic options available.
1. Dusting wettable sulfur combats powdery mildew and black spot
on roses and vegetables. It also controls spider mites and thrips on
rose foliage and flowers.
2. Horticultural grade corn meal works well on lawn diseases. It’s
effective against take-all patch, grey spot, and brown patch.
3. Organicide 3-in-1 garden spray is a sesame seed and edible fish
oil based spray that controls powdery mildew and black spot on
roses and vegetables. It also controls soft-bodied insects like mites,
scales, mealy bugs and fungus gnats without harming butterflies
and bees.
4. Serenade lawn and garden spray uses the beneficial bacteria
Bacillus subtillis to combat plant disease on lawns, roses, vege-
table gardens, flowering plants, trees, and shrubs. We have found
it very effective to use for powdery mildew, rust, and grey mold.
5. Actinovate is another effective biological spray. The spores of
Streptomyces lydicus target summer patch, dollar spot, damping
off, and take-all patch in lawns and gardens.
6. Bush Doctor 'Force of Nature' is a new product from Fox Farms.
It controls mildew with cotton seed oil, garlic oil, and corn oil.
Using these products will help protect your lawn and garden with-
out harming the environment. Just that alone should make us feel
good. Happy Gardening everyone! 🌷
Please contact newsletter editor Darrel Mayers 🌷🌲 🌿 🌵 ☀️
with any ideas for articles or interesting links:
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: It's About Thyme And here for facebook
internationalrain@yahoo.com (hitting 'reply' to this email won't work)
Visit the website: It's About Thyme And here for facebook
