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Hi, guys!
🐣 Happy Easter to all who celebrate!
If you receive gift lilies, hyacinths, hydrangeas or tulips today, care for them as you would houseplants until further instruction (coming in my AP gardening column on Tuesday — keep an eye out for it or wait for the link in the next edition of The Weekly Dirt). And keep them away from cats — they’re toxic!
If you’ve got potted lilies, remove the yellow anther from the center of each flower. That will keep your tablecloth clean (those stains can be impossible to remove) and help the blooms last longer.
I texted my landscaper (who mows the lawn and helps with my spring cleanups) last week to remind him not to start service for the year until I call him. That will be after we’ve had five consecutive nights with sustained temperatures above 50 degrees, which won’t likely be for at least another month around here.
That’s because I left the leaves in my beds and borders last fall to provide shelter for overwintering pollinators and other beneficial insects, which, of course, don’t have calendars. Instead, they take their cues from the weather, and most — but not all — will consider the coast clear after five days of nonthreatening temps.
Cleaning up garden debris before those helpers wake up and get to work would be throwing them in the trash. Allowing them some extra time will ensure they’ll be around to provide pollination and pest-control duties this summer.
When last year’s perennials and ornamental grasses are finally cut down, I’ll still leave the leaves in the beds. As they decompose, they’ll add nutrients to the soil. Maybe I’ll add an inch or two of mulch over them, but this isn’t necessary.
Looking at spent perennials for another month is a small price to pay for a healthier and more productive garden.
As I prepare for the season, I’m taking inventory of my supplies and amendments and replacing broken tools and products that are running low. And as you take stock of your own gear, you might want to check out this roundup of some of my favorite things to use in the garden, kitchen and for growing cannabis.
I’ll be taking off next week but will be back on April 14.
There’s still time to enter the 2024 Weekly Dirt Poetry Contest. This year’s theme is Pollinators.
Entries must be a maximum of seven lines. Longer poems will not be considered.
Email your poem, along with your full name and complete mailing address (only your name and hometown will be published), to jessica@jessicadamiano.com with “Garden Poetry” in the subject line.
Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 7.
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: I have recently noticed a new weed in my garden and lawn. It gets tiny white flowers that reseed at a lightning pace. I saw many last summer, but they are out of control this year. My phone ID says they may be hairy bittercress. As I walk around my neighborhood, I see them everywhere.
I have tried pulling them out, but they are also filling in the lawn! I hate using harmful chemicals. Any suggestions? — Pat Gobler, Setauket, NY
DEAR PAT: It does, indeed, appear you are dealing with a hairy bittercress infestation -- and you’re not alone. I have it popping up in my garden this year, too. It is among the most common weeds to hitchhike in container plants brought home from the garden center and can spread from vegetable and flower beds to the lawn, as you’ve experienced.
The best way to control hairy bittercress is to pull, mow or weed-whack it before its seedpods mature and pop open, spewing seeds around the garden.
The good news is that the weed is a short-lived annual, dying soon after it releases its seeds. As long as you stop the process, it shouldn’t be a nuisance in the future—unless, of course, you bring more home.
Got a gardening question? Ask it here.
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Dig up and divide crowded or overgrown summer- and fall-blooming perennials when they come up (but don’t divide spring bloomers until fall).
👏 Sunday shoutout
Christine Morton of Herber Spring, Arkansas, writes, “I’m not sure how it works, but this bush has the best blooms in two colors.”
I agree, Christine! It’s beautiful! Sometimes one flowering shrub, such as your azalea, will put forth two different colors of flowers. Often, this is due to a genetic mutation or even a virus. Sometimes, it's because a hybridized (or rootstocked) plant reverts to one of its parents. But there’s no need to worry — just enjoy it.
And for those who had difficulty finding the bee in Edie Emeritz’s heath plant last week, some help:
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: Not all vegetables are annuals. Here are some that come back every year.
LAST WEEK: Exciting new fruit and vegetable varieties to grow this year
BEFORE THAT: Dreaming of summer peaches? Some gardening tips for growing them in many climates
ONE MORE: Covering ground in the desert
You can read all my AP gardening columns here.
📚📺🎵 Random things I enjoyed this week
🎙️ I was a featured guest on NPR’s Weekend Edition again last Sunday morning, this time talking about the plague of the Bradford pear! You can listen to the 3-minute segment by clicking on this image:
📺 This week’s first streaming recommendation is the truly delightful and poignant dramedy “Persian Version” on Netflix, which won two awards at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It follows a young Iranian-American woman, her cultural dilemmas and complicated family dynamics as she navigates an unplanned pregnancy, her father’s serious health issues and scorching disapproval from her mother.
📺 I also enjoyed “The Miracle Club,” starring Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith and Laura Linney, about three friends in Dublin who make a pilgrimage to Lourdes and bring their 40-year complicated history with them.
This newsletter runs on coffee
This week’s newsletter was made possible by the generous support of Sue Buhr, Rob, Mimi, Elizabeth Kohler, Carolyn Orlik, Linda Lovvorn, KDK, Kim Valente, Andy, @joevarikhouseplants, Dr. T., Evelyn and a few readers who wished to remain anonymous. Thank you so much—we wouldn’t be here without you!
I put a lot of time and effort into researching, writing and producing this newsletter every week, and I couldn’t do it without your support.
If you enjoy receiving The Weekly Dirt and value the information it contains, please consider “buying me a coffee!”
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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.