Bugs and seeds are clues about next year's garden
By LAVERLE MCCANDLESS
Contributor
The question most often asked this past week was, “What are those clouds of flying insects?”
They are winged aphids looking for a place to hide out and hibernate through the winter and come back next spring and start all over to try and disrupt the gardeners intentions of having perfect plants. Yes, they are miserable flying in your face, hair, on your clothes and in general a big nuisance! They were all over for a few days. The cold weather will either catch them out in the open and do them under or they will have found a place to hide out.
I don't recall ever seeing this many at one time. Had to have been the up and down, cold to real warm weather we have had so they were able to hatch a new batch and haunt all gardeners with what is to come next gardening season.
Personally, I have very mixed feelings about the garden being put to rest for the winter. I already miss the veggies fresh from the garden.
“Dear common flower that grow'st beside the way, Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold.” James Russell Lowell's “To the Dandelion”
I don't miss the dandelion or the weeds but that's all a part of gardening. I have seen the dandelion seeds amongst other seeds floating or flying through the air looking for a place to land and start all over next spring to aggravate the gardener.
Let's look forward to something new coming out this fall and next year.
As always, the poinsettia growers are constantly growing new types of plants. Another new double flowered variety looks more like a rose or a camellia and is being promoted for cut flowers. There are many different colors from the original red to white, pink, peach, orange and cinnamon colors. “Red Fox Premium Ice Crystal” is billed as unique for its white-and-red bracts.
There's also a new, highly perfumed clematis flower on a vigorous vine, sometime growing up to 30 feet in a season.Clematis paniculata --sometimes sold as Clematis terniflora--is also called the “sweet autumn clematis” for Zone 4.
From late summer into October this plant bears small one to one and a half inch pure white flowers which are very profuse and so fragrant, the plants looks like it is covered with snow, with silvery seed heads in the fall. This clematis blooms on new wood so it can be pruned any time as needed.
This information came out in a November publication, a little late for this year. A few phone calls can be made to find out if this plant has reached our area.
All the new plants and seeds for next year have been a joy to read about and study. Just a few thoughts for those of you already thinking about next gardening season.
Comments and questions can be directed to LaVerle at (509) 455-7568 or laverle905@gmail.com.
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