It's time to prune roses -- maybe for you, anyway
And a tip for making mushrooms more nutritious
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Hi, guys!
It’s time to prune the roses, but since mine are covered in snow right now, the chore will have to wait.
If your weather conditions are cooperating, use sharp bypass-type pruners to remove dry, dead, damaged and weak stems, cutting them just above where they meet a lower adjacent cane.
Then, with a clearer view of the rest of the plant, move on to diseased stems, disinfecting your pruners between cuts by dipping or wiping them with a 90/10 solution of water/alcohol. If you’re lazy like me (or efficient, depending on how you look at it), just bring a can of Lysol or a similar product out there and spray pruner blades as you go.
Criss-crossed stems growing diagonally across straight ones should be next on the chopping block if they bother you. This depends on whether you like things nice and tidy or don’t care if the plant grows wild.
Thinning out canes from the center of the plant will open it up for better air circulation, which will translate into a healthier plant and less opportunity for mold and fungal diseases to take root, so to speak.
With the necessaries out of the way, stand back to ascertain the shrub’s shape and plan your next cuts, standing back periodically to re-evaluate. When pruning for shape and size, cut each cane 1/4-inch above a healthy bud. If you leave a larger portion of cane above the bud, it will die and look ugly. Nobody wants that.
While I wait out the weather, there’s not much I can do here. It’s still too early to start most seeds in my zone 7 region, so after trying my hand at indoor mushrooms and microgreens, I’ve moved on to miniature strawberries.
They’re not ready yet, but just seeing the container on my kitchen countertop every day is a pleasant reminder of things to come.
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: Thank you for your recent article about growing mushrooms, which I eat both because I love them and also for their nutrients, particularly vitamin D. I am interested in growing them myself but am under the impression that if mushrooms never have any light they won’t have any vitamin D. Is this true? —Tracy Judy, Highland, California
DEAR TRACY: Mushrooms can indeed be a good source of vitamin D, but as you suspect, the nutrient comes from sunlight exposure.
That’s why white button mushrooms, which are typically grown in the dark, have the lowest levels of vitamin D among mushrooms. Shiitakes and oyster mushrooms, grown in lighter conditions, have higher levels of the vitamin.
The good news is that studies have shown that exposing mushrooms to sunlight or UV lights for 20 minutes, even after they’re harvested, will increase their vitamin D content significantly.
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Prune summer-blooming shrubs before their buds form.
👏 Sunday shoutout
“I just needed to watch something grow,” writes Linda Santorello of Northport, NY, explaining why she is growing fennel, celery and escarole on her windowsill “from stems of the original veggies in water.”
If anyone else wants to give it a try, check out my article on growing vegetables from kitchen scraps.
Send in your photo, and you could be featured next (bonus points if you’re in the picture!)
📰This week in my Associated Press gardening column
I write a weekly gardening column for the AP, so you might have seen my byline in your local paper (or news website) — wherever in the world you happen to be. In case you miss it, I’ll post the most recent here every week.
THIS WEEK: Covering ground in the desert
LAST WEEK: Before you start seeds indoors, make sure they’re not duds
BEFORE THAT: For a winter gardening project with a gourmet touch, try growing microgreens
REVISITING: Black innovators who reshaped American gardening and farming
You can read all my AP gardening columns here.
📚📺🎵 Random things I enjoyed this week
📺 I finally got around to watching “When They See Us” on Netflix, about the Central Park Five, who were falsely accused of brutalizing the woman known as “the Central Park Jogger” in 1989. Just as news coverage of the event (and the proceedings that followed) gripped New York City and the nation (and probably the world) at the time, I can’t get this limited 4-episode series out of my mind.
📺 On a lighter note, I’m enjoying the return of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
🗨️ I’ve been presenting my program “Of Plants & Presidents: The White House Gardens Through the Years” in person around my home region and via Zoom elsewhere for Presidents’ Month. (If your club, group or organization would like to schedule a future presentation of this or another program — I have about a dozen — shoot me an email).
This newsletter is member-supported
This week’s newsletter was made possible by generous support from Elaine and Kathy Burrous. We wouldn’t be here without you — thank you so much!
I’m a freelance writer who juggles various gigs to piece together a living. I spend hours every week writing The Weekly Dirt, answering your questions and sharing advice to help you achieve the garden of your dreams. As much as I enjoy it, I have bills to pay so can’t afford to work for free. If you work for a paycheck, I’m sure you understand.
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📧 How’m I doing?
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so please send them along — as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.
Good morning Jessica
When pruning my rose bushes should I prune each cane? Like yours, mine too are buried in snow but after it melts I want to prune them. I’m just not sure if I should prune each cane or just the dead and diseased ones?
Richard Reinfrank