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starter house plants at Becky's Our weather is changing with warmer weather moving in till Tuesday, then maybe we will get rains. Temperature today will be 83F(28C) with sun and haze possible from the Canada wildfires. Stay cool, Stay safe.
Australià family and friends for Sunday June 1 will be 63F(17C) Looks like a nice fall day for them. Enjoy, stay warm, stay safe. I started this 2 days ago, maybe today I can post it. The gardeners are saying we need rain again. It looks like it is going to warm up which we need it to do. We had a busy day. I wish I had a dollar for every time I hear this. “Do you get rid of all of this?” My answer is I am open the whole month of June and I do get rid of most of the plants. If not in June, then the Franklin Co Fair in July and the Herb Fest at the end of July. We plant just for the fair, and they are planted now for fair. I tell them that the perennials are brought in, and some of the annuals, but all the rest is grown out of this greenhouse. I start in Feb., so I have been at this for a while. Planting, water, and moving to make more room for planting. Last night I got another order from Swift’s. I have rosemary, Borage, caraway, lavender, Leeks, lemon and orange balm. I had sold out of Blunt Mountain Mint, so got another flat. One of the gardeners of North Iowa garden club was so excited to get it. She uses it in floral arrangements, said the white flower on it is awesome. It is the perennial of the year 2025. I ordered more hens and chicks, and they are just huge coming out of Swifts greenhouse. We just started another display in the greenhouse. Houseplants starters. We put into small pots for growing and you can take them home to watch them grow. We have them starting at $4.00. For those of you that love house plants this is a very inexpensive way of getting house plants. When they have grown, then you can transplant them into bigger pots. We are planting more each day. I am very proud of the work from Natalie. She is a trooper when it comes to moving plants outside and making room for them, I have a space problem, I want 6 trays to fit into a space for 3. Ya, I know. Not possible, but I figured out a place to put them anyway. We have plants growing in the back of the greenhouse, but mostly everything is out or in the front of the greenhouse. With it getting warmer out, this will be good. I better quit writing so I can get this posted. 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
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image from gardentabs.com IT is WED. The sun was out early this morning, but now at noon it is overcast. It was warming up nicely inside the greenhouse, but now it is cooling down. As I was working with plants, I noticed how cold the soil is. The plants I were transplanting aren’t doing that well, and now I know why. High today 64F(17C) cloudy skies and maybe some rain. All the outside plants are wet, but I think I will start to water later today to stay ahead of it drying out. Natalie and I are moving out plants that haven’t been out. I will post pictures of what we are moving out. Stay safe.
Australia family and friends today May 29, Thursday weather for them are 64F(17C) Do you notice we are at the temperature? Unbelievable being in different hemispheres, different seasons and miles away. Sunny conditions expected with wind up to 13MPH. Enjoy your fall day. Stay safe. I found this chart online with what our soil temperatures should be for vegetables. Give it some thought about your vegetable gardening that you have done, and why the seeds aren’t coming up. I just looked it up and the soil temperature for Cerro Gordo Co, and Franklin Co is 60 degrees. Last week it was 51 degrees. Now you can plant more in your garden. Taken from a gardening site: The author is in first person. Not me. I see a lot of folks direct sowing seeds in their garden way too early. Yes, sometimes the seeds will survive and germinate when the soil temperature is right, but sometimes the seeds rot or get eaten by wildlife...so why not wait until garden conditions are right? I use an accurate meat thermometer to test soil temperature in the morning. Doing these 3 days in a row, I take an average and only sow seeds when the soil has reached optimal temperature: Green beans 60 degrees F. Beets 50 Cabbage 45 Carrot 45 Cauliflower 45 Chard 50 Corn 60 Cucumber 60 Eggplant 75 Lettuce 40 Parsnip 50 Peas 40 Pepper 65 Radish 45 Spinach 45 Squash (summer & winter) 70 Tomato 60 Turnup 60 Credit: Proverbs 31 homestead Hope this helps with your gardening planting. It proves that we have to be aware of the area around us and not looking at the calendar. 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 of Mountain mint perennial of the year 2025 WOW, it is Tuesday of the last week of May. Where did this spring planting season go? We are open today after being closed for Memorial Day. We traveled to Bellevue for Jacob Litterer’s graduation reception. He is Larry’s brother Jerry’s son. Our nephew. It was a good time seeing family and all their friends. Congratulations Jacob and good luck with your future.
The weather is cloudy today and cool with a high of 63F(17C) rain off and on but doesn’t look like much just a sprinkle or two. I will be watering for sure. Stay safe Australia family and friends have talked about very mild fall weekend for them. Today is Wed May 28 and they will have rainy conditions expected around 8AM, wind gusts up to 23 mph are making the temperature feel more like 43F(6C) stay warm, stay safe. I have written a 10-page newsletter about new annual plants. I will post one of them whenever I write this blog. Here is the first one. This is the 2025 perennial of the year. It is a mint plant in a container, or a control area as it will spread with the rhizomes. Pycnanthemum, Mountain Mint North American native with broad leaves, compact habit and a tantalizing aroma, also can be cultivated in the herb garden as a good backdrop for other plants. Well suited for a meadow garden or moist open weeks. Stunning when planted in large groups. Prefers sun. Tolerant of many soil types, drought tolerant 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 Good morning and what a great morning it is. I am open today at 1:00 till 6:00. Sunday May 25th
Important message: We are closed tomorrow Memorial Day, May 26. Larry and I must travel for a graduation reception of a great nephew, so we decided to close. Hope that doesn’t change your plans too much. We will be open the rest of the week Tuesday May 27 9-6, till Saturday May 31 9-6 Sunday June 1st 1-6 Thanks for understanding. Becky and Larry image from pinterest.com It is darn cold out, but it isn’t raining, and the wind isn’t blowing very much. High today is only 52F(11C) But starting tomorrow it looks like in the 60’s and then Wed in the 70’s. But it will be a colder and cloudy Memorial Day weekend. These kinds of temperatures I do remember for most Memorial Day. I can’t believe that it is Memorial Day weekend coming up. We will still have a whole week in May. All I can say is stay warm and stay safe.
Australia family and friends for their Thursday May 22, 2025 Their high is 61F(16C) with a 46% chance of rain. Stay dry, stay safe. Evelyn wrote that their Botanic gardens in Sale is having lots of events to commemorate Australia and New Zealand Botanic week. The tours and talks from local experts as well as horticulturists, landscape designers and ecologists who are part of the Melbourne and Cranbourne Botanic Garden. She spent one day looking at rare and endangered natives in their area. She with other members will join a team of experts for the day, working through setting some future goals for Sale’s Botanic Gardens. Sounds Exciting. Gardening from down under. We had over 2” of rain and it soaked in as there isn’t any ponding. Worth a lot to our farmers and their crops. Now it just has to warm up. I am wondering what the soil temperature is. I looked at the ISU soil temperature map and looks like 51 to 55 degrees. That isn’t warm up for your vine plants such as cucumbers, squash, pumpkins. I have been known to say wait till after June 1st to plant them. They don’t like cold nights, and that we have. The first round of bugs are gone after June 1st. I promise you plant from June 1st till the 15th of June, you will get cucumbers, squash, pumpkins. How did your garden plants take the wind? If you need more tomatoes or peppers or garden vegetables ours look great. Dark green with a heavy stock. I still have seed potatoes, onion sets, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Kohlrabi, celery, Collards. We have bulk garden seeds. One stop shopping for your vegetable gardening. Three deliveries from Swift Greenhouse with perennials: Here are the kinds we have: Alchemilla ( Lady’s Mantle) Alcea( Hollyhock) different colors Aquilegia( columbine) Different colors Aruncus( Goat’s Beard) Asclepias( Butterfly plant) Asters now you need to plant them now for that fall color Baptisia ( my favorite) Buddleia) Butterfly Bush) Campanula( Bell flower) Chelone( Turtlehead) Chrysanthemums ( fall mums) You plant them now, they will grow big and you will have blooming mums in the fall. They are wintered hardy for us, so they will come back. Clematis couple of kinds Coreopsis Delphinum Dianthus which are perennials many different kinds Dicentra( bleeding heart) in pink and in red Digitalis( Foxglove) Echinacea( coneflower) Gaillardia couple of kinds Lemon grass Herbs: Basil-Prospera red DMR Basil-lemon Basil mammoth Basil purple Ball Chives Chives garlic Fennel Smokey Bronze great host plant for the monarch butterfly, she will lay her eggs on this plant, and then you will see the little caterpillars Lemon Balm Lemon Verbena Greek Oregano Mother of thyme( creeping) Parsley curled Peppermint Spearmint Nepata, catmint Orange Balm Rosemary Thyme ( English) Thyme( French) Heuchera( coral Bells) nice large pots of these in several colors Hibiscus couple of colors Lavandula, Lavender Leucanthemum( Shasta Daisy) Liatris ( Blazing Star) Lily, dwarf hardy Lobelia( Cardinal Flower) Monarda( Bee Balm) Phlox subulate ( creeping phlox) Platycodon ( balloon flower) Prganathemum Blunt Mountain Mint, perennial plant of the year Roses, Miniature many colors Rhubarb Rudbeckia several kinds Salvia Sedum ( hen and chicks) Thymus Lemon Trollus Golden Queen Vines Passiflora(Passion vine) I think I will make up a quiz with the common names of perennials with their Latin Names but just don’t ask me to pronounce them. Next postings I will do the tomatoes and peppers, and the trees. Hope this helps you can research before you come. Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa 641-794-3337 cell 641-903-9365 [email protected] Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse WOW we got rain. But what we are missing is the heat. It is cold out. 52F(11C) with it feeling more like 48F. Colder tomorrow with clouds, so no sun for this greenhouse. Stay Warm. Stay safe.
Australia family and friends told us that they had frost the other night. Today, Wed May 21st they will 60F(16C) with another morning of frost. They too, stay warm, stay safe. We have Memorial Day planters ready for pickup. We have 4 sizes starting at $10.00. Planting gals will be making more. I was going to use Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to clean up the racks, move out more flowers, and unload the Swift order but I refused to do it in the rain I will be doing that Thursday and Friday. With the rain we have had, the plants are perking up and having great colors. I do have a range of vine plants from cucumbers, squash, watermelon on hand. You will remember me saying after June 1st for these. They don’t like the cold at night, and it is cold during the day now. I am cold, so going to call it the end. I will write more tomorrow. Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected] 641-794-3337 cell 641-903-9365 Facebook Becky Kerndt Litterer or Becky’s Greenhouse image from fastgrowingtrees.com It is a lovely morning. WHOOPS…I started this yesterday but didn’t get to post it. What a change! 46F(7C) but we have an east wind blowing which makes it feel like 39F. Cloudy skies, and rain coming this evening and rain all night long. They are predicting we would get around 2.5”
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AuthorHi! My name is Becky and I am a Master Gardener. I own Becky's Greenhouse in Dougherty, Iowa. Archives
December 2025
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