image from mygardenandgreenhouse.com

     WOW it is hot and humid out this afternoon.  JUST like we were told it would be.  Clear, whisky clouds it had been overcast it wouldn’t be so warm.  But it is.  Now another round of storms tonight.  Stay safe, stay cool. 
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Which perennials to divide in fall versus spring  by Robin Sweetser
Even if budgets are tight, you can fill up any empty garden spaces by splitting up your perennial plants. You’re not being cruel. Perennials don’t grow or flower well when they get overcrowded and you’re doing them a favor by dividing them. See which perennials get divided in fall versus spring, plus how to divide your perennials.
Why Divide Perennial Plants?
Perennials are plants that grow back each year (versus annuals). Dividing or splitting your plant into multiple plants helps it perform better.   
When plants get too crowded they become weakened, their flowers get smaller, and some may stop blossoming altogether.
Annual vs. Perennial Plants: Everything You Should Know
If you noticed some of your perennials did not bloom well this summer, they might benefit from division so they have more space for roots to grow and can better absorb nutrients and water.
Splitting plants is also an effective way to keep spreading plants under control and manage their size.
When to Divide Perennials
Clump-forming plants like daisies, phlox, yarrow, feverfew, salvia, chives, daylilies, hostas, ornamental grass and many spring bloomers are easy to divide in the fall.
Leave the autumn flowering plants such as asters and chrysanthemums until spring and never divide a plant when it is in bloom. Also don’t divide single-stemmed or tap-rooted plants.
Which Common Perennials Are Divided in Fall Vs Spring
Allium, Fall
Aster, Spring
Astilbe, Spring or fall
Bee balm, Spring
Black-eyed Susan, Spring or fall
Catmint, Spring
Clematis, Spring
Columbine, Spring or late summer
Coral bells, Spring or fall
Daylily, Spring or after flowering in early fall
Delphinium, Spring
Echinacea, Spring or early fall
Goldenrod, Spring or fall
Hostas, Spring or fall
Iris-Siberian, Spring or early fall
Lily, Late summer/early fall
Mint, Spring or fall
Mum (Hardy), Spring
Peony, Early fall only.
Phlox, Spring or early fall
Hibiscus, Spring or fall
Sage (Salvia), Spring or fall
Shasta daisies, Spring or fall
Speedwell, Spring or early fall
Sunflower, Spring or fall
Yarrow, Spring or fall
Steps to Multiple by Dividing
1. Dig around the rootball of the plant with a sharp spade and lift the clump.
2. Pull clumb apart by hand if you can, otherwise pry apart with 2 garden forks placed back-to-back. If that doesn’t work, cut into pieces with a sharp knife, saw, or even an axe! My friend has an electric carving knife she uses just for this purpose. (It has never seen a turkey!) Make sure each section has a good amount of roots and some top growth. The soil around the rootball was dry and made it easy to pull the plant apart into many smaller sections.
3. Replant right away. If you have to wait, keep the divisions covered with wet newspaper or wet burlap to keep them from drying out or plant them temporarily in containers or a holding bed until you can get them into their new homes.
4. This is the time to enrich the planting holes with compost and any other needed amendments.
5. Plant the divisions at the same depth they were previously growing at. Too deep will smother the crown and too shallow will leave roots exposed to weather.
6. Water well to get them settled and keep watering until the ground freezes, especially if the rains don’t cooperate.
Some plants, like bee balm, Siberian iris or astilbe grow outward in a ring leaving a dead spot in the center. To renew them, dig up the whole clump, shake off as much soil as possible, and split the outer ring of healthy plants into smaller sections for replanting. Toss out the woody centers and any diseased or damaged parts of the plant.
Fall is a great time for strenuous garden activities like digging since the weather has cooled down and abundant autumn rainfall helps with the chore of watering. If you act soon there will still be time for roots to get settled in before the ground freezes.
If you can’t use all the new divisions, offer them up to your gardening friends or trade for a plant they have in overabundance. Some of my favorite plants have come from these kinds of swaps. Multiplying your plants by division is an easy way to get something for nothing but a bit of digging!
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/when-and-how-divide-perennials
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365

image from The Old Farmers Almanac 

​WOW here we are 25th of July….wasn’t it just the 4th of July, wasn’t it fair time at Franklin Co.  I am still watering 6 wagons of plants.  With the help of grandsons, we started again with the unplanting.  You always ask what we do with the extra plants, we unplant and compost them.  Not my favorite thing to do, but if I work a couple of hours each day at it, then it will get done.  I found that I go out at 6:30 and work my 2 hours out there early morning it is cooler and I can work outside and inside the greenhouse not too warm. 
I will be at the Herb fest in Greene on Sunday July 28th.  I will have perennials, some annuals, houseplants, succulents, and of course what herb plants I have.  Look for the 2 SNAP on TOOL awnings in the park.  I can remember my first herb fest and it was at the farm that the cruise boat would stop for lunch on the Shell Rock.  We are looking easily at 25 years ago.  I remember I had  lisianthus plants and not many gardeners knew what they were.  Now they are a great plant to grow for bouquets.  I must really look to get the starter plants for these and haven’t had them since.  I will continue to look for plugs so I can grow them for your gardens.
It sounds like it will be warm starting Saturday through next week.  I will be around Thursday and Friday and all next week if you are looking for anything to fill in your garden space.  I might be in the house working in the office, but I will come out when I see you drive up.  Give me a call or a text 641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365 to see if I have what you would like.  Of course, all on sale.  Trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals.  
Interesting article about humidity.  It's Not the Heat, It's the Humidity!
The uncomfortable weather of July is often due to humidity, not heat. Find out more about humidity and what it means to be humid!
In most of the Northern Hemisphere, July is the hottest month. But when folks grumble about feeling uncomfortable, they often say, “It’s not the heat; it’s the humidity.” Want to know if it’s going to be humid? Look up to the skies! Here’s how.
How Can You Tell That It’s Humid?
You can quickly judge moisture by glancing up.
A deep blue sky means dry air.
A light blue sky with a nearly white horizon means average humidity.
A sky that’s milky overhead is very humid. That’s the summertime norm in the Carolinas and the Gulf States.
Warm air can hold far more water than cold air. And the best measurement of the air’s dampness is dewpoint. That’s the temperature at which the current air mass, if cooled down, would not hold its moisture anymore, so its water changes from invisible gas to countless liquid droplets. It’s when fog forms and dew appears. When you breathe on a mirror, it fogs up because the cool glass has lowered your breath to its dewpoint.
What Is Humidity?
Let’s make sense of humidity. Bear with me.
Let’s say it’s early morning, the air is 68°F, and it’s holding all the water it can. This means that there’s fog outside or dew on the ground. Since this air is saturated at 68º, this air has a dewpoint of 68. Its relative humidity is 100%. The temperature and dewpoint are the same.
But six hours later at midday, the air is 95°F. This hot air is now capable of holding twice as much water, so the relative humidity is now 50%. Thanks to the increased temperature, the relative humidity has changed radically. Yet it’s the same air as before, moisture-wise. Its dewpoint is still 68°.
So, dewpoint is a much better gauge of air moisture than relative humidity. It’s the language spoken by meteorologists and weather nerds.
When Is Air Humid?
What’s important to know is that a dewpoint of 65ºF or higher means very humid air. A dewpoint in the low 60s is somewhat humid. A dewpoint in the 50s is pleasant. A dewpoint in the 40s feels wonderfully dry, like the air in Montana.
Here’s one more very cool fact: Air never cools below its dewpoint. So by looking up the current dewpoint, you instantly know the lowest the temperature can get to tonight. That’s assuming some new air mass isn’t marching in.
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/its-not-heat-its-humidity
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365

image from evertricks.com

GOOD morning, and what a lovely morning it is.  The low humidity and temperature are enjoyable.  I know it is going to change, this is Iowa, and it is July.  Hot and humid will come back.  Enjoy this while we have it.  I have the windows open, and the fresh air is awesome. 
We got back from the fair and unloaded. Now I need to do the next step which is composting the plants which isn’t my favorite so I will take my time to do that.  If you need some plants give me a call at 641-794-3337  or cell 641-903-9365 and I will let you know if we have it.  Email at [email protected]
We will be going to the Herb Fest in Greene on July 28th Sunday.  Looks like it might be a bit warm, but we will have the awnings set up so you can shop in the shade.  It is a great shopping experience for your gardening.
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I have been asked what plants to help clean the air.  I found this article about that.  I learned so much as what we know as outside plants can be grown as house plants.  AWESOME and I have some of them here. 
 Discover Air-Purifying Houseplants For Your Home by Robin Sweetser
Did you know that houseplants help purify the air in our homes? We’ve long known that indoor plants improve our mood and reduce stress levels, but improving air quality is an additional benefit! See the best air-purifying houseplants.
Today, Americans spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors, often in places with little or no ventilation. The air inside our super-insulated modern homes and offices is often unhealthy due to harmful chemicals called “volatile organic compounds” (VOCs), which can cause short- and long-term medical problems.
Plants, on the other hand, can absorb these airborne chemicals through their foliage, break them down in their root systems, and turn them into sugars, amino acids, and other useful “building blocks” of life.
Indoor pollutants come in two major varieties:
Particulates such as dust, mold spores, and pollen.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are gases released from paints, fabrics, wallpaper, carpeting, plastics, and solvents commonly found in most homes. Even household chemicals such as bleach, ammonia, detergents, furniture polish, carpet cleaners, and moth balls give off harmful gases.
Mechanical or electrostatic filters can be effective in trapping particulates, but airborne chemicals are difficult to eliminate entirely unless we remove the source.
What Do Plants Have to Do with Indoor Air?
Let’s review a basic bit of botany: plants absorb carbon dioxide (Co2) and release oxygen (O2), which is used by all humans and living beings to breathe. Outdoors, tree planting makes use of that concept to atone for the effects of air pollution. So, would indoor plants do the same with indoor air?
Back in 1989, a NASA Clean Air Study tested 19 different species of plants to see if they would be effective at cleaning the air. They found that in just 24 hours, up to 87% of the formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene was removed from the air by the leaves and roots of the plants, while oxygen was returned to the room. Bottom line: common, low-light houseplants absorbed toxins and helped purify the air!
…Or so we thought. A 2019 study by the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology concluded that the effect of indoor plants on indoor VOC levels has been a bit overblown. While they do purify the air, they do so at such a slow rate that it doesn’t make much of an impact in the end.
A study in India (2008) showed that workers in plant-filled office buildings had 24 percent fewer headaches, 52 percent less eye irritation, 34 percent fewer respiratory conditions, and a 12 percent higher lung capacity than workers in plantless environments.
An Australian study (2010) showed that ‘Janet Craig’ dracaena and the peace lily reduced negative moods (e.g., anger, anxiety, depression, stress) in office workers by 40 to 60 percent over 3 months.
We say: Every little bit helps! And, frankly, it’s not surprising that some houseplants purify the air.
Some of the best air-purifying houseplants are:
1. Spider Plants
Spider Plants (Chlorophytum comosum) are powerful air purifiers that are able to remove formaldehyde, a gas that is emitted by cigarette smoke, dry cleaning, synthetic carpeting, fingernail polish, and more. Spider plants also remove carbon monoxide, which you may find in rooms with fireplaces or stoves. Fortunately, spider plants are very easy to grow and maintain. Just keep it moist in a semi-sunny to a shady spot, and it will thrive.
2. Philodendrons
Philodendrons, one of the most popular houseplants, are also excellent air purifiers and remove formaldehyde gases from the air. Plus, they are practically bullet-proof plants with quick-growing trailing vines and pretty heart-shaped leaves. They can take full sun to shade if watered regularly. Heart-leaf, Philodendron selloum, and elephant ear philodendrons are the best air cleaners.
3. English Ivy
English Ivy (Hedera helix) is also a popular, hardy plant that is easy to grow. It removes most pollutants. Ivy doesn’t like high temperatures and prefers to stay cool. Keep moist and spray the leaves weekly to discourage spider mites.
A very effective air purifier that can take on benzene, as well as other compounds, English ivy tolerates fairly low light (although varieties with variegated leaves will lose their markings in too much shade).
4. Peace Lily
The Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum sp.) is a beautiful plant with a lovely white flower that thrives nicely in average indoor temperatures. Peace lilies are known to clean the air of alcohols, acetone, trichloroethylene, benzene, and formaldehyde. Keep moist in a semi-shady location.
5. Snake Plant
The Variegated Snake Plant (Sansevieria trivasciata), also called “Mother-in-Law’s Tongue,” is very easy to grow. Water heavily, then let it dry out before watering again. It can survive any location, from sun to shade.
Snake plant (this 35-year-old Mother-in-Law’s Tongue actually did come from a mother-in-law).
6. Bromeliads
Bromeliads win a gold star for cleaning up most pollutants. They release oxygen and remove air pollutants at night while you sleep! These pretty plants, with their bright flowers and green foliage, do best with bright, indirect sunlight or fluorescent office lighting. This drought-tolerant plant doesn’t need much maintenance, but it will get root rot if you over-water it or don’t provide good drainage.
NOTE:  I thought I should know what these are so this is what I found out.  Tillandsia which are the air plants.   
Bromeliads are a group of tropical plants with colorful and ornamental foliage and flowers.  They can be grown as houseplants or outdoors in warm climates. They are either terrestrial or epiphytic, meaning they can grow on the ground or on other plants.  Bromeliads are slow-growing and long-lived, and they rarely have diseases. There are many types of bromeliads, such as Aechmea, Ananas, Billbergia, Cryptanthus, Dyckia, Guzmania, Neoregelia, and Tillandsia.
7. Dracaena
Dracaena likes to be kept moist in a semi-sunny to a shady location. Warneck, Janet Craig, red-edged, and cornstalk dracaenas have been rated the highest in removing air pollutants. The Janet Craig is especially good at removing trichloroethylene; this is easy to grow and tolerates neglect; buy one for your office and keep one next to your computer desk at home. 
NOTE:  on the dracaena, which I knew one variety is what use as a thriller in our containers outside but can be grown as a house plant.
Is Dracaena Spike An Indoor Plant?
The beauty of growing the Dracaena indivisa is that you can grow them nearly anywhere. The plant can thrive in partial sun to bright shade, which means it can be placed both indoors and outdoors, where you want some natural color.
 Furthermore, dracaena spike plants don’t mind growing in containers as long as it’s the right size. As a general rule, you’ll want to have a pot that’s a few inches bigger than the plant’s root ball. Fill it up with a well-drained potting mix and it should stabilize in a few days. In regions where temperatures plummet in winter, the spiked dracaena can be brought indoors so it can survive the season. If this is the case then you won’t need to cut the foliage or do a hard prune.
8. Weeping Fig
Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) likes bright indirect light, high humidity, and warm temperatures. Water is when the top of the soil feels dry, and mist the top regularly.
9. Rubber Plants
Rubber plants (Ficus elastica) tolerate dim light and cool temperatures and remove air toxins from any indoor environment. This plant is especially good at removing formaldehyde, the most common toxin in the home. It grows slowly and tops out at about 10 feet tall indoors.
10. Areca palms
Areca palms (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens) are beautiful, easy plants that remove all indoor air toxins. They also humidify the air (a tall areca palm will add a quart of water a day to your home’s humidity). It is an especially good remover of toluene and xylene.
More Plants That Clean the Air
If you would rather have flowering plants, two that fared well in the testing were Chrysanthemums and Gerbera daisies. They are effective at removing VOCs and producing blossoms, too!
Chinese evergreens (Aglaonema) like warm temperatures and medium to low light conditions. Allow it to dry a bit between waterings. Keep out of drafts, which can cause the leaves to brown.
Reed or Bamboo Palms thrive in low light as long as they are kept evenly moist. An excellent all-around air purifier that will cleanse your home or office of benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene, these palms are very easy to maintain.
Other great air-purifying houseplants include Boston ferns, aloe vera, and bird of paradise.
No need to turn your home into a jungle, though: In a house with 8 to 9-foot high ceilings, only one or two plants per 100 square feet of floor space is beneficial. The roots and micro-organisms in the soil play as important a role as the leaves, so plants should be in 6- to 8-inch wide pots with the soil surface exposed to the air. Soaking up toxins seems to have no adverse effect on the plants studied. Research shows that they safely metabolize the compounds by breaking them down to harmless carbon, water, and salts.
We clean our homes of dirt, so why not clean the air—especially if it is as easy as adding a few more houseplants?
Taken from https://www.almanac.com/10-indoor-plants-clean-air
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected] 641-794-3337  641-903-9365 

image from Kaye P. 

​       This picture was taken of us at the Franklin Co Fair.  You can see it isn’t work all the time, we do get to spend time together.  Larry was on a break from volunteering at Grandpa’s Farm at the fair.     
      Here we are home again, after last week being at the Franklin Co Fair, Hampton, Iowa.  We would leave by 8 and get home at 10 that night.  Long days but it was fun.  We want to thank all that stopped and said hi.  The fair was good, but it is also good to be home again.  We could wish we had weather like this week, but we had lots of rain, lots of mud and then the humidity and the heat came at the weekend.  But it is July, and it is the fair. 
      We unloaded on Monday and Tuesday, so plants are back on the wagons or inside the greenhouse.  I watered all day yesterday. 
       Now I will need to clean up the racks with the plants.  I have one more event to go to Herb Fest in Greene on Sunday July 28th, last Sunday of July.  I will be taking perennials, succulent containers, and house plants.  I might get some little junk containers planted but we will see how that goes. 
    We still have trees and shrubs.  They are on sale at $15.00 off the trees which is 10 % and the shrubs are $5.00 and that is 10%.  I am back to working in the house office.  But if you come to look, I will come out.  I have camera up so I can see you drive up. 
    We have lilies that look good, and perennials too.   Some of the annuals are still looking good, if you need filler. They will be here till it is time for the cleanup.  Again thanks to all that stopped at the fair.  I love growing the plants, but love it even more when the plants bring so much joy to the gardeners. 
Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected] 641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365  beckysgreenhouse.com 

images from Becky's Greenhouse

Here I am getting ready for the Franklin Co fair.  In the picture, that is the 2nd load of plants we have taken down.  This is all the plants for the booth area, houseplants, succulents, succulent containers, air plants, carnivorous plants and more.  You always ask do you bring the plants down on the trailer rack?  No, we can’t they were bounced too much, blow off and not be plants when we get them down.  So, we load up in the trailer, and the unload them. 
First load was baskets for the general store, and ice cream parlor, and big decorative pots for Grandpa’s farm.  The rest being the perennials and all you see on the wagon trailer.  I had good help loading the first load with Nancy Johnson and her husband and of course Larry.  Unloading that first trailer full was Natalie and Dylan and of course Larry. Loading second trailer was Dylan and myself.  Second trailer full unloading was Natalie and Larry.  Now on Wed.  I will work on getting all of these plants displayed.  I will show pictures as I work and what we have during this week. 
This is our 26th year of being at the Franklin Co Fair.  What is scary about this, when we were loading up with Larry, I knew what he wanted me to do he didn’t have to ask. 
Please stop and say hi, enjoy the Franklin Co Fair and all there is to do.  Stay cool will be what we will need to do.  Stay safe.  Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell  641-903-9365 beckysgreenhouse.com 

This is my garden as of July 1st.  These are blooming for me.  

​Good morning and it is a lovely morning.  Very nice mild temperature with a little breeze.  It is going to change with rain coming in and a little more humidity.  For me working in the greenhouse is really nice.  I am working on getting things ready to bring to the fair.  Next week people….hard to believe. 
I am here at the greenhouse till Wed July 3rd.  Then closed for the long weekend and need to continue to work on planting things for the fair.  Next Monday we will start moving plants to the fair, another load on Tuesday and start to set up for Wed morning.  With rain in the forecast, it will help with my outside watering.  Just like you with the rain, it helps so we don’t have to water every day like last year.
I noticed that lilies are blooming in your gardens, day lilies are coming out in bloom.  What else is blooming in the perennials?  How about the gardens what have you been harvesting and enjoying?  Let me know, I am curious. 
Have a good week and stay safe with the rain and possible thunderstorms weather.  Till next time this is Becky Litterer, Becky’s Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa [email protected]  641-794-3337  cell 641-903-9365