image from freeclipartof.com 

      Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Our day here in Dougherty is going to be very nice.  Temperatures return to near 70F(21C) with stronger winds and a high fire danger.

We will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a soup supper tonight in our Irish community of Dougherty.  One day a year, I am Becky O’Litterer.  Stay safe all of you. 

Australia family and friends have celebrated March 17th, they are into March 18th.They too will be having temperatures in the 70F( 21C).  Evelyn said there are times when she would call dad, and the temperatures were similar.  Today is one of them. Enjoy and stay safe.
​
What should a greenhouse grower talk about on St. Patrick’s Day but shamrocks and 4-leaf clovers.  This is enlightening.  
Shamrocks and Four-Leaf Clovers: What's the Difference?
Many of us remember hunting for that elusive “four-leaf clover” as children, and we’ve all seen that green shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day. That brings us to today’s garden musings. Let’s talk about what a shamrock really is—and what it isn’t!
The shamrock is a symbol that we commonly associate with St. Patrick’s Day and with Ireland. It can be seen all over St. Patrick’s Day decor, representing the rebirth of spring. Sometimes, the shamrock is depicted as a four-leaf clover, but this isn’t quite accurate. Traditionally, a shamrock is a three-leaf clover.
Why three leaves and not four? According to legend, St. Patrick used a three-leaf shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, with one leaf representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, respectively. More recently, the four-leaf clover has also come to represent the Holy Trinity, with the fourth leaf symbolizing God’s Grace.
In Ireland, the plants that are most often associated with the name “shamrock” are the suckling clover (Trifolium dubium) and the white clover (Trifolium repens). Both clovers are native to Europe but can be found throughout the world today. Their genus name, Trifolium, means “having three leaves”—an appropriate description!
White clover is thought to be one of the “true” shamrock plants.  Shamrock [refers to] any of several similar-appearing trifoliate plants—i.e., plants each of whose leaves is divided into three leaflets. Plants called shamrock include the wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) of the family Oxalidaceae, or any of various plants of the pea family (Fabaceae), including white clover (Trifolium repens), suckling clover (T. dubium), and black medic (Medicago lupulina). Wood sorrel is shipped from Ireland to other countries in great quantity for St. Patrick’s Day.
As kids, we would spend hours searching for that lucky four-leaf clover—and often come home empty-handed! A four-leaf clover isn’t a special variety of clover; it’s just an unusual mutation of a three-leaf clover, but it’s a “lucky” symbol because it’s so hard to find. In fact, your chances of finding a four-leaf clover are 1 in 10,000! That’s where the luck comes in, apparently. According to popular lore, if you do find a four-leaf clover, giving it to someone else doubles your luck.
Traditionally, four leaves were considered lucky because they reflected the shape of a cross and were thought to be magical or sacred. Eve supposedly took a four-leaf clover with her when she was banished from the Garden of Eden, too.
In the Middle Ages, it was believed that carrying a four-leaf clover would enable you to see fairies, recognize witches and evil spirits, and be protected from the evil eye. Even dreaming of clover was supposed to bring good luck.
Superstitions aside, clover is a valuable plant in many ways. Bees and other pollinators can’t resist their flowers (red clover is especially attractive to bumblebees), and the plants can be turned into the soil as green manure, too. Additionally, the roots host nitrogen-fixing bacteria that enrich the soil, and the plants are high-quality forage for many animals. The reasons to grow clover are endless!
In recent years, the idea of growing clover has been making a comeback. White clover (Trifolium repens) is well known for crowding out broadleaf weeds while growing harmoniously with grass. It will thrive in areas that drain poorly or are too shady for a conventional lawn, making it a great grass alternative.
As a legume, clovers have the ability to convert nitrogen into fertilizer using bacteria in their root system (a process called nitrogen fixation), practically eliminating the need for additional fertilization.
Despite today’s push for perfectly green lawns (which often involves a lot of chemicals), clover was not always viewed as a weed. The University of Minnesota Extension Service points out that, until relatively recently, it was standard practice to include clover seed in lawn seed mixes:
Until the 1950s, clover was included in lawn seed mixes, as it was regarded as a prestigious lawn plant. It may be considered an attractive, low-maintenance ground cover that is soft to walk on, mows well and will fill in thin spots in a yard.
Today, it seems clover is returning as a more eco-friendly lawn alternative. Since it is nitrogen-fixating, it can supply its own nutrients to poor soil. Overseeding clover seed into your existing lawn is an easy way to establish a clover lawn. For lawns, the most popular is the white clover because it is relatively low growing, tolerates close mowing, and outcompetes weeds.
The last piece of the shamrock puzzle is a houseplant that also goes by the name “shamrock.” It usually crops up in grocery stores and nurseries around St. Patrick’s Day. This plant is not related to clover (the “true” shamrock) but is in the same genus as wood sorrel (Oxalis).
Oxalis are native to many regions of the world, but they’re most numerous in the tropics, which is where the houseplant species come from. Depending on the species, they can have green or purple leaves and white or pink flowers, and some cultivars, such as ‘Irish Mist,’ have green leaves flecked with white. The whole plant is photophilic, meaning the leaves and flowers close up at night and open wide again in the morning.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/clover-shamrocks-and-oxalis-whats-difference
Till next time, Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer or Becky’s Greenhouse 

​ Illustrations by Jack Vaughan.

Good morning, a storm has passed and over with my 10:00PM we had the wind, we had the rain, but fortunately we kept our electricity.  Reports are coming from Franklin, Cerro Gordo and Worth County that they lost electricity.  At one point, it became very quiet after all the lightning, then I got nervous.  The rain came down then and I was glad that was all it was.  How was the storm for you?  Today the temperature is still warm at 42F(5C) That should be our high today. Back to our normal temperatures for this time of year.  Low tonight of 24F(-4C).  It is to be windy again WNW 30 MPH to 20 MPH.  It will be cloudy all day.  Stay safe, stay warm.
 
Australia family and friends for Sunday March 16 will be 74F(22C) with 90% of rain.  But I am sure they are thankful for the rain. One of their alerts is for Sheep Glazier warning, severe weather and Evelyn told me it was because of the amount of rain and the sheep are in open pastures with no shelter.    
 
I found this funny story about gardeners.  I thought you might enjoy it.  Have to see what the non-gardener said at the end that easier than gardening. 

A Gardening Romance in Bloom  By Pat Stone
 Is there such a thing as gardening romance? If you’ve heard me talk about my wife Becky, you know there is. Becky and I both love the human connection gardening brings, and we both love sharing stories.
Speaking of stories, I once met a woman who said she had a black thumb. She was a bit defensive about the whole thing and told me it was cheaper to buy produce at the market, and more lovely to buy cut flowers at the end cap of the grocery store. When I saw her again ten years later, she was growing the most prolific tomato garden I’ve ever seen, and even taught me a few tricks for keeping aphids at bay. I swear she even told me she hated tomatoes when we first crossed paths… I nodded off after that.
There is a certain kinship you form with other gardeners, so upon our second encounter we had plenty in common, and more of a yin and yang relationship rather than oil and water. That’s the feeling I get from today’s piece, The Joy of NonGardening. It’s a hilarious nod to exactly these types of exchanges that non-gardeners and gardeners have every day.
“What kind of mulch do you like?”
“Oh, gravel, I suppose. Noisy party, isn’t it? Let’s go somewhere.…”
But sometimes they end in gardening romance!
When you read this story, I think you’ll have both cringed and laughed equally like I did. But don’t worry, the author, Jeff Taylor, gives us a perfectly happy ending that will warm your gardening heart.
A Gardening Romance for the Ages
The following gardening romance story comes from The Weeder’s Reader: GreenPrints’s Greatest Stories. Gardening stories like these always warm my heart because I can’t think of anything better than connecting over a well-loved plot of soil.
What happens when a born gardener and a born nongardener meet.  By Jeff Taylor
Some people are born gardeners, and some are not. When representatives from these two groups meet, they slam together like magnets, for some reason. There’s instant rapport:
“What kind of mulch do you like?”
“Oh, gravel, I suppose. Noisy party, isn’t it? Let’s go somewhere.…”
Sometimes they marry. The born gardener brings seed catalogs on the honeymoon, and the born nongardener is told stories of the art of grubbing in the dirt to make vegetables. Far into the night, they discuss mulch and fertility. Like vampires, born gardeners recruit fieldhands by biting their necks.
A newly recruited fieldhand myself, I would soon discover that sweat, like tomatoes, also comes in quarts. Hitched up to a one-person mechanical plow, I began my education in vegetable manufacture. Right off, I learned that it was easy to concentrate, zen-like, on one thought only while turning a hectare of hardpan into clods. “This,” I thought, “is hard work.”
Slowly, our garden took shape. To my eye, it looked like loose dirt with expensive filth in it. But we worked an entire day to shape it, shoulder to shoulder. The next day, while the chiropractor worked on me from shoulder to shoulder, she planted. We spent that night discussing the little things that make a marriage, like surviving a coronary infarction and sharing the elephant liniment. The difficult part was over, she said. Now all we had to do was water and weed a few hours every day, and relentlessly kill every insect on earth.
Perhaps many great thinkers have enjoyed murdering slugs and bugs, but I was quite content to let them live.
“But they’re eating our chard,” Joy said. Which brought us to our first crisis of opinion: My wife had planted many beds of debatable vegetables. Frankly, I had expected only an acre of tomatoes and three or four good-sized corn trees. Eating our chard didn’t strike me as a capital crime; and anyway, I added with an airy laugh, chard should only be eaten during wartime or famine. And ditto for turnips, double ditto for squash, and definitely ditto squared for daikon radishes.
She asked me to elaborate.
“Well,” I said, “let’s start with chard. Its very name sounds like a term for the residue left in the waste treatment pipes of a paper mill. And it tastes exactly like it sounds.”
“Oh, come on,” she said.
“And turnips: Children are forced to eat them solely for the discipline and vitamins, swallowing forkfuls of backtalk and grey turnip casserole. But they taste no better, 30 years later. The gun has not been invented which, when pointed at me, would cause me to suck on a turnip.”
“Nonsense,” she said. “As for squash, they are merely for giving away to the needy or suckers. Or you can slice ’em up, dry them, and eventually use them in compost recipes. Their orange flesh is only edible if drenched in butter and fed to the dog.”
“Give me a break,” she said.
I’m happy to report that we didn’t have a fight right out in the middle of the garden. That sort of thing shows no class at all. We went inside first.
Born nongardeners should be advised that a day of reckoning comes, spread out over several weeks. This is called “The Harvest.” Fears of tomato and corn shortages prove baseless, for even a small garden in the hands of a born gardener will yield enough to feed West Bangladesh. We picked and pulled and shelled and peeled and dried and canned and blanched and froze from can’t see to can’t see, and still the garden upchucked more bounty. We laid in a lifetime supply of turnips and chard and squash and zucchini, enough to gag every growing child in Christendom, and still it came forth. Even Joy was concerned.
sketch of gardener following directions“You know what we plumb forgot? Eggplant. Next year we’ll have to …”
From my bed of pain and weariness, I looked up. My knuckles were swollen to the size of walnuts, and my body craved the solace of the grave. I had worked like a sharecropper’s horse, and so had Joy. Surely there was something else we could raise. Anything else would be easier than this.
“Let’s have children,” I said, innocently. “Lots of them.” ❖
Taken from By Jeff Taylor, published originally in 1990, in GreenPrints Issue #2. Till next time, this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected] 641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, or Becky’s Greenhouse 

image from garden design 

      ​Good morning, and another spring like day in Iowa.  The temperature at 8:45 AM is already at 59F(15C).  Unbelievable warm as a high of 76F(24C). As all of you know, we are having a Red Flag warning today from 1PM to 8 PM Powerful winds with record breaking temperatures expected to promote elevated fire danger during the day and severe weather during the evening.  Be safe. 
 
Australia family and friends today Saturday March 15 you will have it looks like a warm day of 85F(30C). that is 14 degrees above you daily high, and 90% humidity.  Stay cool, stay safe.
 
I have been asked if I have smoke bushes here, and I have ordered them.  They look like an awesome bush to have in your landscape.  Do you have one in your garden? 
Planting, Growing, and Pruning Smoke bush Plants  by Andy Wilcox
Dusky burgundy, fast-growing, and deer-resistant shrubs are hard to find. Whether you’re looking for a specimen plant or an entire hedge, smokebush (also called smoke bush) can fit the bill. From plant care to pruning, here’s our growing guide.
To answer the first question, smokebush (Cotinus) is the same plant as smoketree, and often written as “smoke bush.” This large, deciduous shrub can be trained as a small tree and grows 12 to 15 inches tall with an equal spread. New dwarf cultivars are available for smaller spaces. This genus is in the Anacardiaceae family, cousin to sumacs and cashews.
The original species plant, Cotinus coggygria, is less often grown today, as the purple-leaved cultivars are more desired in the landscape. The ‘Royal Purple’ cultivar is probably the most popular and easy to find. If you’ve seen a smokebush in a yard, that’s likely the one.
Smokebush shrubs are cold-hardy in USDA Zones 4 to 8, but the one in my yard regularly survives the Zone 3 temperatures I occasionally experience.
These shrubs get their name from the airy seed heads, which look like asparagus fronds and cover the top of the shrub in thin, wispy plumes of color. However, many gardeners enjoy the abundant, dark burgundy and purple foliage more. The shrubs sport thick, oblique to round leaves with prominent veining. Flowers appear in late spring, but the gorgeous seed heads remain for much of the summer.
Purple cultivars of smokebushes are well suited to provide contrasting colors. They work well as specimen plantings to show off yellows, bright greens, and blues. A dwarf blue spruce, some black-eyed Susans, a smokebush, and some ornamental grass planted together in a bed create a low-maintenance block of color and some visual screening for unwanted views.
Smokebushes make excellent screening plants or hedges for the warmer months when you will likely be out and about in the yard.
Amazingly, deer tend to leave smokebush alone for a rapidly growing (when pruned) deciduous shrub. Even new growth is rarely bothered, which is reason enough for many of us to plant it. See deer-resistant plants.
Smokebushes have a fibrous root system, making them easy to transplant and drought-tolerant once established. Many cultivars turn a brilliant scarlet orange or purple in autumn.
Planting
Smokebushes do best in full sun but will be alright in partial shade. Heavy shade will cause them to grow slowly, if at all, and purple cultivars may start to revert to green in an attempt to efficiently harvest the little light that reaches them. They need soil that is adequately drained–no ponding or wet spots. Most soil types are suitable, provided there is drainage, and these shrubs are not picky about soil pH.
Smokebushes can get quite large and take over a corner or gap in the yard. They often reach 15 feet high and nearly as wide if left to their own devices. However, as discussed below, heavy pruning is a good way to keep them manageable and encourage more dense foliage.
When to Plant Smokebush
Like many woody shrubs, smokebushes can be planted in spring or fall. Most of us buy them at the garden center in spring and plunk them into the ground shortly thereafter. If planting in autumn, try to get them in the ground as soon as the weather starts to cool and at least 6 weeks before the ground freezes so the roots can settle in.
How to Plant Smokebush
Smokebushes are typically purchased as containerized stock from a nursery or garden center, however they are also available bare-root. For containerized stock, wait to plant them until the last frosts have finished in spring. If it was on display indoors, remember to harden it off. Plant bare-root smoke bushes as soon as possible in spring while the shrub is still dormant.
To plant containerized smokebush:
Water thoroughly while your smokebush is still in the pot.
Dig the hole and prepare the site, removing stones, roots, turf, and weeds. The hole should have sloping sides similar to a bowl.
Squeeze the edges of the plastic nursery pot to work the plant free from its container. Rolling it around on the ground while pressing down to deform the side of the pot works well.
Trim any circling roots and score the edges of the rootball.
Test fit the plant in the hole. The soil level of the plant’s rootball should match or be slightly higher than the surrounding ground. Loosen the bottom of the hole with your trowel. Dig or fill in as necessary.
Replace the soil, applying light but firm pressure as you go to eliminate air pockets around the roots.
Water deeply. If the water just runs off, form a small wall of soil around the plant in a ring.
Add a layer of mulch but avoid piling it up around the stem.
Growing
Smokebushes’ only real need, once they are established, is a bit of pruning. They’re pretty much maintenance-free.
How to Grow Smokebush
Newly planted smokebushes need to be given water weekly for the first growing season unless sufficient rain has fallen. After that, they are pretty independent.
No fertilizer is required. Mulch around them to keep weeds and grass from growing up, as their multi-stemmed trunks make access with the string trimmer difficult and also hazardous to the shrub.
Pruning Smokebush
Smokebushes respond very vigorously to heavy pruning, which I discovered by accident. The one in my yard was overgrown, gangly, and unattractive. In a fit of frustration one day in early spring, I whacked it all the way to the ground and then mowed over the top of it. I figured it would die, and I’d never bother to dig it up. What I did not expect was the flush of rapid, healthy, new growth. Heavy pruning had turned this ugly plant into a beautiful full shrub with gorgeous purple foliage.
I don’t recommend mowing your smokebush as a way to rejuvenate it, but pruning it down to about 6-8 inches above the ground will cause a huge flush of new growth. Gardeners who want the foliage but aren’t as concerned about the flowers often do this frequently. Of note, heavy pruning will delay flowering for a year.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/plant/how-grow-and-care-smokebush-complete-gardeners-guide
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365 Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, or Becky’s Greenhouse  

image from morningchores.com 

      WOW another great spring like day.  Clear blue skies, we will have lots of sun.  March sun has more power than the Dec. sun.  Temperature at 8:30 AM is at 36F(2C) with a high of 68F(20C).  The normal high for this time of year is 46F(8C) so you can see how much warmer it is.  ENJOY, stay safe.
 
Australia family and friends for their March 14th Friday is 83F(28C).  It is feeling warmer than the weather app said. Stay cool, stay safe.  A question for you in Australia do you have maple trees?  Are they tapped like they are here in America?  Just wondering.  
 
I have never been around this process of tapping maple trees.   How about you?  I know a friend that used to go to Northeast Iowa to get some maple syrup and see this done.  I grew up in Northeast Iowa but never had the opportunity to see this.  How about you?  I think Floyd Co Conservation is doing something with this.  Maybe they have had it all ready.  Again, let us know.  Enjoy.
 
Tapping Trees, Health Benefits, and Maple Syrup Grades  by Catherine Boeckmann
Generally speaking, maple sugaring usually starts in late February or early March. How many maple trees does it take to make a gallon of syrup? How long does it take to fill a bucket with maple sap? What are maple syrup health benefits? Discover nature’s liquid gold!
The Old Farmer’s Almanac headquarters in New Hampshire is surrounded by maple trees. Wherever you look, there are sap buckets on those trees—at the local school, in neighbors’ woods, and along the road. If you drive by a “sugarhouse” and see steam billowing, they’re boiling the sap to produce maple syrup!
 How many maple trees does it take to make a gallon of syrup?
Would you believe it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup? Put a different way, it takes 40 parts maple sap to make 1 part maple syrup. The tree sap is mainly water, so much of the water gets boiled off.
As you can tell, that’s a lot of boiling off! This is why good-quality maple syrup isn’t cheap. Once you taste it, you’ll never go back to that corn syrup “maple-flavored” confection sold in grocery stores.
How long does it take to fill a bucket with maple sap?
Assuming you start with a healthy maple tree, one tap will produce 6 to 10 gallons of sap. How quickly the sap buckets fill is based on the weather and how the sap is flowing, but it usually takes about 2 to 3 days to fill a bucket. If it’s a nice warm day, the syrup will keep flowing at a steady drip.
When is maple syrup made?
Sugar’s sweet, but sap is sappier;
Cold nights make the farmers happier!
–The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1989
Maple trees are tapped when temperatures alternate between freezing and thawing. Nighttime temperatures must drop below freezing (in the 20s), and daytime temperatures must reach 40 to 50 degrees. Before winter, the maple trees store starch, which gets converted into sugar, in their trunks and roots. As spring nears, the sap thaws, and the sugar in the sap rises up the tree.
You need cold nights to make “sugarers” happy, so unseasonably warm winters aren’t good for the harvest. What happens when it’s not the right temperature? Well, some seasons are good, some aren’t. Agriculture’s not for wimps! We weather the ups and downs.
How do you tap a maple tree?
Do all trees produce sap? Yes, but it’s the sugar maple that has the highest content of sugar in the sap. Red maples can be tapped, too.
There are many ways to tap trees to allow the sap to run out freely. Here’s the most basic way:
Drill 2 to 3 inches into the south side of the tree at a convenient height, making a hole 3/8- to 5/8-inch in diameter (larger holes for larger trees). The hole should slant upward slightly.
Then, drive a metal sap spigot (available at hardware stores) into the hole, stopping short of the full distance of the hole.
Hang a bucket on the spigot to collect the sap.
The sap is clear and almost tasteless—and very low in sugar content. Boil the sap to evaporate the water, producing a liquid with the characteristic flavor and color of maple syrup and a sugar content of 60 percent.
Native Americans traditionally used maple syrup both as a food and as a medicine—and taught the age-old process of sugaring to the European colonists.
Maple syrup contains fewer calories and a higher concentration of minerals than honey. It’s an excellent source of manganese and a good source of zinc, which sweetens your antioxidant defenses, your heart, and your immune system. It may even have special benefits for men’s reproductive health.
Maple Syrup Colors and Grades
Now, if you’ve never tasted real maple syrup, there’s no way to describe its fresh, complex flavor with its hints of caramel. High-quality maple syrup is called “Grade A” and comes in four color classifications:
Golden, delicate taste
Amber, rich taste
Dark, robust taste
Very dark, strong taste
There used to be a “Grade B,” but this is now called “Grade A: Very dark, strong taste.” The Maple Syrup Industry decided to develop uniform standards, replacing three different grading systems (Canadian, USDA, Vermont) so that the collectives would all be on the same page, no matter the state or country.
Fun Fact: The color does not reflect quality; it reflects the taste of the maple syrup and, often, when the tree was sapped. In general, the sap is lighter earlier in the season when the sap is new, and it’s still cold outside with snow on the ground. As the season goes on, the sap gets cloudier, darker, stronger, and richer. However, the color also depends on temperatures, soil, snow, and other factors. One year in New Hampshire, we had a couple of warm spells, and the sap started to turn dark after only six sugaring sessions.
The color also has nothing to do with the cooking process. All syrup is cooked the same and even has the same thickness (though it may feel different on the tongue).
Many folks like the lighter golden-hued syrups, but my husband and I actually prefer the very dark color (traditionally called “cooking syrup”), even for topping pancakes and waffles. We find it bolder and just more substantial. For baking, this is also the best syrup because the authentic maple taste really comes through. this is also the best syrup because the authentic maple taste really comes through.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/making-maple-syrup-answering-common-questions
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer or Becky’s  Greenhouse

image from adamsfarm.com 

      ​I didn’t have a chance to write yesterday.  A semi delivering plant plugs was here at 7:00AM.  Got the boxes unloaded and grandson did the unpacking of them 50 plugs trays.  I am not going to tell you the number of plants because that will freak me out.  Larry and I had the annual grandkids here for their spring break and the weather was awesome.  They played outside all day for two days.  They did help with the greenhouse and a little with grandpa, so it was all good.
I am working as long as I can in the greenhouse.  Many hours, to get ready for these plants and for planting.  But I do enjoy it.  We have had 2 days of great spring weather.  Warm temperatures, mild wind, and full sun out.  23 degrees above normal.  You know, what I am thinking sometime this month we will have to have it colder to make the average come out for the month.  ENJOY while we have it.  Beautiful today and Thursday, storms on track for late Friday.  High 61F(16C) JUST ENJOY, stay safe.
 
Australia family and friends, for Thursday March 13th is warming up to 80F(27C) and will feel warmer than the actual temperature.  Stay cool, stay safe.
 
What Can You Grow in Deck Rail Planters?
Deck rail planters are great for decorative flowers and adding visual appeal to your home, but you can grow vegetables in them, too.
By Amanda MacArthur
I’ve always loved deck rail planters and window boxes. They’re kind of quaint, and they can bring some natural beauty to a space that’s usually ignored. It’s always nice to walk by a house and see lots of colorful flowers hanging over the railings of a front porch or balcony.
Don’t get me wrong; I really do love seeing all the flowers. But I also see those deck rail planters and think about all the vegetables and herbs that would fit perfectly in them. And we all know that a healthy rosemary plant is every bit as pretty as any daisy, right?
Growing vegetables in deck rail planters and window boxes
Deck rail planters are great for herbs. Most herbs don’t need deep soil to thrive, so they’re ideally suited for these set ups. But not all deck rail planters are shallow. You can get them in a variety of sizes. In fact, there is a wide range of colors, materials, styles, and sizes available. Some are recessed in the bottom to fit over your rail, while others have hooks so they can hang from the rail. There are single pots and rectangular boxes and all sorts of possibilities.
It’s easy to look just at the style and color and pick a planter, but it’s important to think about these other factors, as well. For instance, a black plastic planter will keep the soil warmer, which could be beneficial or not, depending on where you are. A wicker basket could offer plenty of drainage, which might be perfect for something like the aforementioned rosemary. The point is to match your plant with your planter. Which brings us to the original question: What vegetables can you grow in deck rail planters?
As it turns out, there are a lot of vegetables to choose from.
Leafy salad greens grow quickly and they’re easy to care for.
Radishes are perfect for deck rail planters. They grow quickly, don’t need a ton of space, and you can eat the greens as well as the root.
Strawberries can thrive in containers as long as they have a good sunny spot.
Hot peppers are easy to grow in containers and they’re such pretty vegetables that they can add some nice color and texture to your environment.
Sweet peppers, too, can grow well in containers. Just make sure to leave enough space for them to spread out a bit.
Spinach, like salad greens, can grow well in a planter, just be sure it doesn’t get overheated.
Green onions don’t need a lot of depth to grow, so as long as you don’t overplant them, these work very well in deck rail planters.
Cherry tomatoes can be prolific producers, they come in gorgeous yellow and red varieties, and they can be relatively low maintenance.
Garlic is a set-it-and-forget-it plant if ever there was one. And since you plant them in the late fall or early winter, you won’t be growing much of anything else in your planters at that time.
Swiss chard is colorful, nutritious, and easy to grow even in deck rail planters.
And if you’d still like more options, there are hybrid varieties of a number of different vegetables that are specially bred for containers. So while your options aren’t exactly limitless, you can go pretty darn far before you reach that limit.
Taken from https://foodgardening.mequoda.com/daily/container-gardening/what-can-you-grow-in-deck-rail-planters
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, or Becky’s Greenhouse 

image from Pinterest 

     I am writing this later in the day.  It is almost 6 PM but the sun is still high in the sky.  Two reasons as it is the time of year almost spring, and we just changed to Daylight savings time.  We had company today for spring break so didn’t get a chance to write this morning.  The grandkids had a great time, and it was almost 70 degrees out they played outside all day.  I worked in the greenhouse.  I had help taking down the south plastic wall to help with cooling the greenhouse down.  It was over 100 degrees today so opening it up helped with that.  Cleaning and planting are my plan for a while. Tonight, temperature will be mild 31F(-5C) Enjoy, stay warm, stay safe.
​
Australia family and friends which at this time of day they are having Tuesday March 11. Looks like they will have a mild day of 74F(22C) cloudy conditions will continue all day wind gusts are up to 21 mph.  Enjoy, stay cool, stay safe.

I have always seen these bulbs in the fall to plant.  I have never planted them.  How about you?  Snowdrop flowers in early spring, but the bulbs need to be planted in the fall.  Let us know if you have.

Planting, Growing, and Caring for Snowdrop Flowers  by Samantha Johnson
You must love a flower that goes through the trouble of blooming in late winter. Snowdrops are small bell-shaped white flowers that don’t mind snow! These early risers are deer-resistant and provide food to early pollinators. Learn how to plant and grow snowdrops—and we guarantee you’ll be delighted when the first flowers of the season appear.
About Snowdrops
Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are cold-hardy perennial bulbs that grow only 4 to 10 inches tall. They are known for their tiny six-segment, bell-shaped blossoms that gently tilt downward; the smaller inner petals have green markings. Each plant has a single small flower with two slender, grasslike leaves.
Members of the Amaryllidaceae family, snowdrops are native to eastern Europe and western Asia grasslands. However, they have been heavily naturalized in the U.K. and North America, and you can sometimes find them growing in the wild in the eastern U.S. They’re generally happiest in USDA Zones 3 to 8; they don’t enjoy extremely hot temperatures and are hardy to about –30°F.
Planted in the fall, snowdrops flower from January through March until most deciduous trees leaf out. They are a lovely choice for edging and can easily be worked into your garden’s landscape. These snow-white “drops” look almost magical when flowering in masses like tiny winter fairies. They seem to thrive and look incredibly charming under the dappled branches of deciduous trees.
Happily, snowdrops provide both nectar and pollen sources for bees and native pollinators at a time when many plants are dormant and food is scarce. Snowdrops are also deer-resistant.
Planting
If you’ve ever planted bulbs, planting snowdrops will be a breeze! They’re easy to grow and don’t require a lot of attention. They will flower in both full sun and part shade and enjoy dappled light.
When to Plant
If establishing a new planting of snowdrops in your garden, plant bulbs in the fall.
If you’re propagating by dividing an existing plant in your garden, do this in the spring right after the plant finishes blooming.
How to Plant
If planting bulbs, space them 3 inches apart and about 3 inches deep. Plant the bulbs with the pointy end up and the flat end down.
For a more natural look, you can plant groups of bulbs close together.
Luckily for gardeners, individual snowdrops begin to spread over time and form a little group. Snowdrops like to self-seed and form their new clumps.
Once you have an established, mature grouping of snowdrops, you can divide them to create new plants. Do this in the spring after they finish blooming.
To divide, simply use a hand trowel to deeply dig up the entire group of plants all the way down below the bulbs. You can then easily divide the clump into sections and replant as separate groups.
Planting snowdrops by seed isn’t recommended.
According to the PennState Extension, snowdrop bulbs benefit from stratification, which just means that they need to be exposed to some cold temperatures—below 20°F—in order to grow.
Because snowdrops bloom so early, they’re a smart option for planting under deciduous trees. The shade isn’t an issue because the snowdrops will be done blooming before the trees leaf out.
Snowdrops are tiny and can fit adorably into little spaces around your landscape—along paths, rocks, and stepping stones.
Growing
Like other early spring plants, snowdrop flowers are very hardy, quite easy to grow, and tend to propagate themselves. All you really need to do is make sure you supply them with their basic needs.
Snowdrops love a rich, loamy (or even clay) soil with lots of organic matter. It’s important for the soil to be somewhat loose at the time of planting.
Soil pH should be neutral or can lean slightly acidic or alkaline.
Choose a site with good natural drainage. You likely won’t need to water your snowdrops much because there is typically plenty of moisture already available to the plant in the spring.
Slightly moist soil is OK, but don’t let your snowdrops sit in too much water for too long.
Snowdrops prefer full sun. Some varieties can tolerate some partial shade better than others, but personally I have not found shade to be beneficial to my snowdrops.
The University of Wisconsin Extension recommends fertilizing in the spring. You can use a typical bulb fertilizer, and compost is always a good choice for general maintenance!
Snowdrops are said to naturalize and spread on their own (my snowdrops, grown in partial shade, have not done this, but I’m going to give them a good talking-to about upping their game).
There’s no need to cut back or prune this petite perennial.
Snowdrops are toxic and can be irritating to the skin, so you may want to wear gloves when handling the plants. Protect kids and pets, too!
Snowdrops don’t really require regular watering unless you’re growing them in a container.
Bees love snowdrops and their early blooming tendencies are a benefit to bees at a time of year when few flowers are available to them.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/plant/how-grow-snowdrops-complete-guide
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337   cell  641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse 

image from garden.org

      Good morning, it is snowing here in Dougherty at 11:00 AM and has been through the night.  It is very wet snow, so great for snowmen, and snowballs.  We might have 3 inches but it looks like we will get more.  The temperature is at 34F(1C) low tonight of 22F(-5C).  Stay warm, stay safe.
 
Australia family and friends at Sale, Victoria, Aust for their Saturday March 8 High of 81F(27C) with temperatures next week going up to 90F(32C).  They are still having summer like weather, but soon it will be fall for them.  Isn’t that unbelievable.  Stay cool, stay safe.
​
I am growing a new vegetable this year.  Collards, Flash and found this on the growing guides of the Farmer’s Almanac.  How many of you have grown this?
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Collard Greens  by Andy Wilcox
Leafy, large, and in charge, collard greens are an easy-to-grow staple in many gardens. This cold-hardy vegetable is a popular fall and winter crop, has many health benefits, and is a favorite, savory comfort food in the South. Learn how to plant, grow, and care for wonderful collards.
About Collards
Collards are one of the oldest members of the cabbage or Brassicaceae family, and they look prehistoric! Their species name is Brassica oleracea, the same as kale, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. Unlike some of their family, collards don’t form a head. Large leafy green foliage is the goal, and collard greens are a favorite in the American South, Africa, and South America.
Collards are a biennial in moderate climates and will return in spring to make a flower stalk and seed. However, they are usually grown as an annual. They are mildly cold hardy, and some varieties can survive freezing temperatures as low as 15 degrees.
A dark green leaf, you won’t be surprised to learn that collard greens are packed with nutrients. They’re an excellent source of Vitamin A and C as well as rich in iron, magnesium, calcium,  and potassium. They’re full of antioxidants and contain fiber to aid digestion and lower cholesterol.
Southern-style collards are commonly prepared by simmering with spices and smokey meat for a delicious meal loaded with flavor. If growing your own, wash them thoroughly after bringing them into the kitchen. The large leaves can gather grit and bugs and need a good cleaning. Plan ahead. Unlike wilting kale in your soup, collards are usually cooked for an hour or two.
Planting
Collards do best in fertile, well-draining soil. A pH of 6.0 to 7.0 is ideal. They are large plants and benefit from a healthy dose of compost worked into the soil before planting. Select a spot with partial to full sun, at least 4 to 5 hours daily. Leave enough space in your garden–these plants can get quite large.
When to Plant Collard Greens
In warm climates, collards do best when planted in the fall, as this allows them to mature during cooler weather. (They will bolt in the heat of summer!) Plus, collard greens taste even better when “kissed” by frost and will grow through snow. In cooler climates, collards can also be planted in early spring for a late spring or early summer crop.
Spring Planting:
Indoors, start the seeds about 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost spring date.
Outdoors, direct-sow seeds 2 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date.
Fall Planting:
Outdoors, direct-sow seeds 2 to 3 months before your first fall frost date.
Gardeners in warm climates with little or no frost can transplant collards outdoors in fall all the way through until spring.
How to Plant Collards
Collards may be started indoors and transplanted or direct seeded in the garden. Starting collards indoors is the method for spring planting, as the seeds will germinate slowly in cold soil. Direct seed in the summer for the fall harvest.
To Start Collards Indoors
Sow 2 seeds per cell in standard trays or use soil blocks.
Sow seeds about ¼ inch deep.
After germination, thin to one seedling per cell.
Snip the extras, don’t pull them, or you might damage the roots of the remaining plants.
Seeds germinate better at slightly warmer temperatures, about 75 degrees, but a cool windowsill is fine once sprouted. Once a set of true leaves has been established, they can be transplanted outside.
To Direct-Seed
Sow seeds ½ inch deep in groups of 3 to 4.
Space groups about 15 inches apart, in rows 2 feet apart.
Thin to one seedling per group once they have sprouted.
Growing
Collards are easy to grow and make a lush display in your garden. Follow these tips for large, healthy plants. Collards like fertile, nitrogen-rich soil to support all that green, leafy vegetation. Provide adequate compost and organic matter.
Keep soil moisture even, and don’t let them dry out. Collards will wilt if exposed to warm temperatures and dry soil.
Mulch between plants when they are young. Eventually, the collards will close the canopy and shade out the weeds. However, mulch helps to reduce weeding and maintain an even soil moisture when the plants are young.
Water in the morning. The plants will have water available during the hottest part of the day, and their leaves will dry out before cooler night temperatures, reducing foliar disease problems.
Water deeply. Frequent short waterings can encourage shallow roots. Check the soil moisture with your finger about 6 inches down after irrigating. It should be moist but not soggy.
Harvesting
Collards can provide months of harvesting opportunities, especially with succession planting. Even northern gardeners can enjoy extended harvests of tasty greens.
All green parts are edible. The leaves are most tender at 6- to 8-inch leaves long. Use scissors, pruners, or a knife. Start with the larger lower leaves and work up the stalk, leaving the smaller leaves alone to continue growing. 
Plants that are thinned can be eaten! Don’t toss them into the compost. Take them into the kitchen.
A light frost will enhance the flavor of collards. Keep harvesting until the hard freezes of winter finally kill the plant.
From https://www.almanac.com/plant/collards
Till next week, this is Becky’s Greenhouse, Larry, Becky Litterer, [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse

image from pinterest 

      GOOD MORNING.  Sun is out with clear blue sky.  The wind is very little.  It makes for a Good Morning.  This is when we appreciate days like this after the storm blizzard we had yesterday. 
Temperature at 8:45AM at 23 F(-5C) high today 42F(6C) but the exciting part is sun and some clouds today.  We might get some snow tomorrow.  But nothing like we had Tuesday/Wed with the snow and wind.  Continue to stay warm, stay safe.

Australia family and friends at Sale, Victoria, Australia is having clear conditions with wind gusts up to 17 MPH.  Their high temperature will be 77F(25C).  I do believe they would call that temperature enjoyable.  But don’t know for sure, so I will ask?  Stay cool, stay safe.

NOW you will be getting lots of notices on Facebook, your email, on the news that this weekend Saturday night we spring ahead.  Turning the clocks ahead for an hour.  For Larry and I this is always harder than the fall back in the fall.  Here are some ideas to help with that time change. 

How to Prepare for Daylight Saving Time by Catherine Boeckmann
Ready to “spring forward” on Sunday, March 9? Here are five tips to help make the impending Daylight-Saving Time change go more smoothly and to help your body adjust to the time change!
For most of us, the clocks change twice a year, “springing” forward 1 hour in March and “falling” back 1 hour in early November. See when Daylight Saving Time starts and ends this year.
Most Americans dislike this twice-yearly time reset. Earlier this year, the Senate passed legislation to make Daylight Saving Time permanent, perhaps as early as next year.
Our bodies run by an internal clock, not a manmade clock, so even a modest time adjustment can take some getting used to, especially when the days feel shorter and darker as cold weather arrives. Even one extra hour of darkness can feel significant to some who feel low-energy during the low-light seasons of autumn and winter.
Does a Time Reset Affect Our Health?
For most of us, the time change doesn’t affect our health. Some people are barely aware of their body’s adjustment and might feel a little tired and irritable.
But for other folks, it can be significant. Be respectful and realize that your experience is different from others, especially those with underlying health issues. See this article referencing studies about increased traffic fatalities, heart attack risk, and depression.
How Long Does It Take for Your Body to Adjust?
Our body’s own time-keeping machine regulates sleep and metabolism. So, a time shift disrupts our sleep and circadian rhythms. It takes circadian and sleep rhythms a little “lag time” to transition. The time change can affect sleeping and waking patterns for 5 to 7 days. So think about 1 week ahead.
5 Tips to Adjust to Time Changes
Many of these tips are great for any time of the year but pay special attention to days around the clock change.
1. Go to bed and get up at the same time.
Get at least 7 hours of sleep on the day(s) before and after the transition. Lack of sleep tells the body to store fat. While staying up later or changing your habits is tempting, it’s best to keep your bedtime consistent. The closer you stick to your normal routine, the faster your body will adjust to the change of time.
If you have a really tough time twice a year when the clocks change, start planning ahead. A few days in advance, gradually adjust sleep and wake times by shifting bedtime 15 to 20 minutes each night. This helps your body make gradual shifts and more slowly adjust.
2. Practice good habits before bedtime.
In the days after the time change, quit caffeinated beverages 4 to 6 hours before bedtime. Avoid alcohol in the evening. If you are exercising, avoid workouts within 4 hours of bedtime because raising your body’s core temperature can make it harder to fall asleep.
If you know you have a tough time with time changes, you need to avoid electronics near bedtime, at least for a few days afterward. Electronics’ high-intensity light hinders melatonin, a hormone that triggers sleepiness. Light stimulates your brain and makes sleep difficult in the same way sunlight does. Also, turn off the television and pick up a book. Take a warm—not hot—shower. Dim the lights. Relax.
3. Keep your dinnertime consistent. Eat more protein and less carbs.
On the days around the time change, eat at the same time or even eat a little early. To ease the transition, shift your mealtime forward 15 minutes for a few days in a row.
Our sleep cycle and our eating patterns affect each other. Don’t overeat. Also, if you find yourself feeling snack-y, eat a snack that is high in protein instead of carbohydrates. (This might seem like good everyday advice, but it’s even more important during time changes.)
Try fruit with peanut butter or cheese with crackers. Go shop for fish, nuts, and other sources of protein for dinner this week! Avoid the pasta and carb-loaded snacks!
4. Get more light!
Go outside and get exposure to morning sunlight on the Sunday after the time change to help regulate your internal clock. Having shorter daylight hours affects our mood and energy levels, decreasing serotonin. Make time to take a morning or early afternoon walk outside when the Sun is out. Try using a light therapy box or an alarm light that brightens as you wake up.
In the autumn and winter, it’s dark after work. Consider shifting any outdoor exercise to when you can get sunlight; can you get outside for some morning light, even if you need to bundle up?
5. Take a short cat nap.
Some folks may disagree, but if you’re starting to stack up sleepless hours, it’s safer and healthier for your body to give in to a short nap than to continue without sleep. Make it a short nap (no more than 20 minutes) to restore lost sleep hours; however, do NOT take long naps. It may help to go outside into the natural sunlight to cue your body and help retrain your inner clock.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/5-tips-help-your-body-adjust-time-change
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse 

image from Becky Litterer 

      WOW we are getting what the meteorologist predicted a winter storm.  We had rain till midnight then it turned into snow.  The wind was strong but now it has come up more.  The pictures you see is looking to the north in town.  We are thankful that we have electricity, and all the stoves are working well.  Hopefully you all are having that too.   Stay safe, stay warm 

Australia family and friends for March 6, is having 79F(26C) 7 degrees above normal.  Stay cool, stay safe

What are you doing today?  I usually make potato donuts during a blizzard, but there is a chance I will go out to the greenhouse this afternoon.  So, I put frozen sweet rolls out to raise. 
We were to get plant plugs today.  But the County isn’t going out to clear roads yet, so hopefully the delivery company will keep the plants in the warehouse till tomorrow. 
​
Here are some words of hope for March and gardening. 
March is a time of rebirth. Spring is upon us, the temperatures are warming, and our gardens are seeing the benefits. The month may start dark, cold and gloomy for most of us, but by the end of the month we should all be holding a seed of hope for Spring. You may even see tender shoots starting to poke up from the ground.  This will come.  Be safe all.
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty, Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse 

image from blowersbloomhope.com 

Here we go, today it is raining, it is warm at 41F(5C)  We are to get rain this afternoon, up to 2 inches.  We will see.  Also, tonight that moisture will turn to snow and that is at 100%.  Snowing yet in the morning and then the wind comes up to make it a blizzard warning. Wind warning from midnight tonight till 3:00 PM tomorrow.  All I am going to say is stay safe, stay warm.  Question for me will our plant plugs come tomorrow?  And hope they stay warm. 

Australia family and friends at Sale, are having March 5th a very hot day.  High today for them will be 89F(32C) again with humidity. This is 17 degrees above average high.  For them, stay cool, stay safe.

I enjoyed working in the greenhouse yesterday.  I planted pansies and violas.  I have been asked why I am still working, and this small bloom is the reason why.  I do so enjoy seeing how the plants grow and bloom. 
The plant you see is a viola, and it was blooming in the plug tray.  I hope you can see how small the plant is and see what it is doing. Blooming.  This is a plug of 288 so it is bigger of course than the plugs of 500.  That is the number of plants that are in a tray. 
I see so much in those blooms.  Hope of spring and new life.  Hope of the change from the winter season.  Hope that the enjoyment that little plant bloom will give to us all. 
I found some of these quotes and wanted to share them with you.  They say it is better than I can.

“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” – Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo beautifully connects love and flowers, illustrating that love adds depth and sweetness to life. Just as flowers thrive in sunlight and water, our lives flourish when nurtured with love and compassion. This quote serves as a reminder to prioritize love in our interactions and relationships.  When we cultivate love, we create an abundance of joy in our lives. By sharing love with one another, we can foster connections that blossom and enrich our experiences, ultimately bringing us closer together in this beautiful journey.

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.” – Walt Disney
Walt Disney’s words resonate deeply as they highlight the exceptional beauty of resilience. Flowers that flourish despite tough circumstances symbolize strength and courage. This quote inspires us to find value in our struggles and reminds us that challenges can lead to remarkable growth. As we face our adversities, let’s remember that our struggles can bring out our true beauty. We should embrace our journeys and learn to see the strength in our own blossoms just as we admire those of flowers.

“A garden is a friend you can visit anytime.” – Anon
This quote speaks to the comforting presence of flowers and gardens in our lives. Gardens provide solace and companionship, offering a space to reflect and recharge our spirits. A visit to a blossoming garden is a gentle reminder that nature is always there to support us. As we explore gardens filled with flowers, let’s take a moment to appreciate the respite they provide. Nature has a wonderful way of reminding us that we always have a friend in the flowers.
​
Flowers capture our attention with their beauty and remind us of the importance of growth, resilience, and love. Each quote provided offers a unique perspective on how flowers can inspire us in our daily lives. As we embrace the essence of flowers, we can learn to appreciate the simple joys around us and grow with hope. Let’s take these quotes to heart and allow them to inspire us to bloom wherever we are planted. By nourishing ourselves and our relationships, we can cultivate a garden filled with positivity and beauty. As we journey through life, may we find comfort and inspiration in the blooming flowers, celebrating every moment they represent. They remind us that, like them, we are capable of growth and beauty, even in challenging times.
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty, Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse