I’ve seen a spring burst of traffic Saturday mornings that tells me a lot of you are coming for the show schedules so I spent this Sunday afternoon updating things.

• Denny Mckeown has been added to the schedules now that he is settled in at WUBE.
• Mike Nowak’s show on WGN has moved to Sundays 1-3 Eastern. Still lots of great shows archived, check our Garden Audio Downloads page.
• San Diego’s 1360 KLSD has switched formats to all sports following the failure of mostly Air America programming. The “Garden Compass” show is still on other stations. I’ve added new live links for Saturday and Sunday morning and recent shows can be streamed from their site. Check your time zone’s schedule.
• North Georgia’s “Home Grown” show moved their home page and I updated the play link.
• Andre Viette’s show has been shortened to 2 hours on WSBA
• I Added Ron Wilson’s Website and the 10-12 Eastern WTVN broadcast
• Updated Ralph Snodmith’s Website Link, His show has been on the air for 35 years now!
• Updated Farmer Fred’s Links
• Superior Gardening has vanished from Kansas City KSSZ without a trace. Maybe I’ll track that one down again later…
• Paul Parent’s Sunday program has been shortened from the grueling 4 hours and now can be heard 6-9 AM Eastern
• Added Wiggly Podcast to the audio downloads. An entertaining podcast from some Britsh Gardeners and Worm farmers.
• Garden with Ease on the Palmdale Water District site is now “High Desert Gardener” They have a nifty quicktime player in the old time radio graphic.
• Added Larry Meiller Garden Talk to the audio downloads.1,226 shows are available for streaming, a very nice searchable collection. And if you are a WPR member there are 52 weeks of the show available for download.
• Sundays South Texas Gardening Show with Jerry Parsons is now in the same time slot as it is Saturday, 1-3 PM Eastern
• Nick Federoff’s schedule bounces around. His show could popup anytime on the weekend, but you can catch him midweek now.
• Wednesday 1-3 Eastern. Federoffs weekly podcast is also now on the audio downloads page.

Hopefully that brings all the existing shows on the schedule up to date. Next weekend I’ll be looking for new shows to add. If you know of other garden talk shows that have internet audio, please let me know with a comment and I’ll include them.

Start with High Quality Seed that will Thrive in Your Location

It used to be most wildflower plantings were doomed to failure simply by the poor quality of available seed mixes. The seed quality has vastly improved but it is important to get a blend of native perennials and annuals that will thrive in your region. Yes, annuals are generally included in the mix to assure some bloom during the first season of growth. As when buying plants, consider the sun/shade wet/dry factors as well as your climate.

Site Prep

Choosing a site for your wildflowers is the first bit of critical thinking in the process. Large field plantings of several acres don’t require much more thought about location, but if your wildflower planting is to be a smaller area, you will want to find a semi-natural looking spot. Some ideas may include a free flowing area against a fence or along a woods. Some will take a small strip of lawn between a driveway and lot line and give it over to a natural wildflower planting. The best performing wildflower mixes require a sunny location and good drainage (no standing water after a rain). Access to a hose can also be a plus.

If your area is large enough, you may want to mow a curving path through the meadow so you can observe your thriving meadow up close.

Soil Prep

In most cases, using your existing soil just as it is will be the best method. Think of all the adaptable roadside wildflowers you see. They have evolved for your native soils. If you see a variety of weeds or grass already growing in the area, your wildflower seed will do just fine. Otherwise you will need to find why things aren’t growing on that site and either address it with amendments or pronounce the soil sterile and move on to another site.

Dig out whatever is growing there, turn the soil over, (turn over no deeper than necessary) and rake it flat, taking care to remove all the old grass roots. Some grasses will creep back in, but the object will be to have more flowers than grasses in the end. Unless you are doing a prairie meadow that includes certain native grasses, but that is a completely different subject. A few rocks and unevenness is no problem for wildflowers.

Taking a little extra time in spring to eradicate the new weeds before planting can give your meadow off to a cleaner start. After you’ve cleared an area and done basic site prep, encourage weed growth, watering if it is dry for a couple weeks. Then kill the seedlings with roundup, by covering, or whatever your favorite method. But do not turn the soil over again disturbing fresh seeds. Now you have an acceptably low amount of weeds to sow your seed in. The trade off is delay and more work, later bloom, more watering when you sow later in the season, but this will give you meadow the best start.

When to Plant

Wildflowers can be planted in many seasons depending on your climate. Hotter climates may need to avoid summer planting and areas with a killing frost will be limited to warmer seasons. Consider what time will give the young seedlings the longest period of moderate temperatures and adequate moisture. For example, in Florida, fall is often best, and California wildflowers are best planted in fall so they are growing during the early spring greening. Colder climates plant in fall or spring. They can be sown after killing frost has set in to germinate the following spring. Since soil prep may leave the area open to erosion, sloped areas are best planted in the spring to avoid washouts. Fall is a nice time to plant often because the weather is more cooperative. No working around heavy rains and unpredictable temperature swings. No worrying about timing, when the soil temp is right in the spring the seed will germinate.

But for sheer convenience, and gardening being “top of the mind”, spring is a more common time to plant the wildflower meadow. Not only is it important to wait till danger of frost has passed, but you should also get the seed down quickly after soil preparation. Every moment after turning the soil, those weeds seeds that were turned up are getting a jump on your flowers! Seed it the same day you prep. Give your new seedlings a chance to compete with the existing weed seeds.

Obviously if you are planting late summer in a cold climate, you may get little benefit from annuals in the mix, and may need to add some annual the next season.

How much Seed?

You can follow the suggested rate on the seed package, or if you want a more dense bloom, increase it by 2 or 3 times. There is a limit to benefits of denser seeding, with growth being inhibited. Make sure you know the square footage before you run out to buy your seed.

Wildflower Sowing Tips

• Choose a non-windy day.
• Split the seed into two batches
• mix with roughly 10 parts light sand
• Sow over the whole area with the first batch
• Then Sow again over the whole area
• The light colored sand will help you avoid missing areas and bare spots.

Maintaining the Wildflower Meadow

Yes, there will still be occasional chores to keep the wildflower meadow performing well. Keep an eye out for those invasive plants, undesired grasses and the inevitable tree and shrub seedlings. Pull those weeds and even thin out the annual flowers if they get going strong enough to choke out the next seasons desired perennials. Fertilizing is not necessary, but you can give a boost with a low nitrogen fertilizer. You don’t want to encourage grass growth with a high nitrogen lawn fertilizer.

Wildflower Seeds, Midwest Mix	Wildflower Seeds, All-Perennial Mix 1/2 oz. covers 125 sq. feet.
Wildflower Seeds, Bird and Butterfly Mix	Wildflower Seeds, All-Perennial Mix packet

Crane’s Bill

The perennial species of geranium have the common name of Cranes Bill, though I only know this from books and catalogs. Gardeners I know just call them by their cultivar name, or geranium, or ground cover geranium or perennial geranium or…pretty blue flowers. the name Crane’s Bill comes from the shape of the seed pod. And yes, just to cover all the name bases…annual geraniums are actually pelargonium with the common name of geranium. This plant was discovered in Somerset England 1989 by Donald and Rozanne Waterer. Two blue hardy Geraniums grew as neighbors in their garden, Geramium himalayense, normally flowering in early June and Geranium wallichianum ‘Buxton’s Variety’, which usually starts in late July or August. Yet the insects had a chance one summer to cross pollinate the 2 and Rozanne collected and planted the resulting seeds. The best of the lot the next year were the long blooming verdant plant that was named Rozanne.

Plant it This Year!

Not only is this plant great for a summer blooming groundcover, but it will perform well in containers like for patio pots, window boxes and hanging baskets. It can handle the heat better than other geranium, but will still do best if water as needed in summer heat…and especially in containers that may dry out. Moist organic soils will promote spread. Tolerates summer heat better when given ample moisture and partial shade. Plants can be sheared to 3″ to rejuvenate. Rarely needs division.

• USDA Zones 5 to 8
• 20 to 24 inches tall and 24 to 28 inches wide
• Full Sun/Part Shade Intense afternoon sun should be avoided in warmer zones
• Prefers moist, well-drained soil
• Groundcover, specimen or container plant
• Nice with Shasta Daisies, Meadow Sage, and short grasses
• Very long flowering period

Geranium ’Rozanne’

The biggest recent advancement in irrigation is the programmability of reasonably priced controllers. There is also a greater selection of specialized emitters, sprinklers, drip heads, and sensors that affect the controller program according to moisture, rain, freeze and flow.

These kinds of equipment upgrades, along with tweaking the system for effectiveness and inspecting for integrity and leaks can yield a great improvement in the health of your lawn and landscape and possibly reduce your water bill.

It’s possible the water bill savings alone won’t justify the upfront expense. But when you also consider savings in your landscape maintenance it will begin to make sense. A healthy lawn and landscape not only looks better and adds value, but it is also less expensive to maintain with fewer treatments, renovations and replacements.

“Here We Go Again!
As of 12/13/07
Denny’s Changing Radio Stations.

Stay Tuned for More Information to Be Announced Soon!”

I was searching Denny’s name after reading yet another trade publication hyping microinjection for putting fertilizers and pesticides directly into trees. I remember Denny Mckeown ranting against the practice years ago, saying things like, “If a landscaper or arborist wants to drill holes into your tree to make it better…well does that sound like a good idea?” I really haven’t heard any negative opinions on this lately, so I’m wondering “Has equipment has improved since those days, or have we gotten better at it, or are microinjections still a sign of an arborist’s ignorance?”

The latest attention given microinjection comes with it’s ability to fight the Emerald Ash Borer. Microinjection is basically tapping or pre-drilling and inserting small chemical feeders into a tree’s trunk. This needs to be done at a correct depth and at a time when the xylum fluids are flowing so the chemical is distributed throughout the tree.

I will say this best left for a trained applicator to perform, and only if it really is the best option available. Given the right chemical, the right quantity and injected at the right depth at the right time, promoters of the technique claim long lasting harm to the tree is no concern.

I do wonder if Denny has eased up his criticism of the technique though.