Bloomin' News - Oklahoma County Master Gardeners

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Catalogs Inspire Spring Color Considerations: For Plant Selections Now; Not for Footwear By Ann Larson ! I knew it: My New Year’s resolution to stop and smell the roses and stay in the moment, wouldn’t last past the arrival of my first garden catalog. ! Plants are my new shoes and garden catalogs my winter elixir. ! Don’t get me wrong: I still love shoes. In college at OSU, I got store credits from a high end shoe store for every pair I sold through a program the store initiated by creating a fashion board of sorts using one representative from each dormitory and sorority house. I had the good fortune of being one of its chosen. ! All I had to do was organize a Fashion Show once in a while and encourage my friends to mention my name to the shopkeepers when buying shoes. So many credits, so many shoes. I had shoes with spike heels, stacked heels, kitten heels, wedges, ankle straps, sling-backs, T-straps, no straps. You name it, I had it. And none of them necessarily ‘comfortable,’ as they tend to be now. I MGHOURS@GMAIL.COM couldn’t exactly compete with Imelda Marcos, but according to my late father, I came pretty darn close. ! He used to kid me incessantly about the stacks of shoe boxes tied together with string that he had to haul back and forth from home to college and back home again. That was before every student had a car and parents actually had to transport their darlings. But I don’t think he really minded. After all, he didn’t have to buy them! ! I had lots of shoes then, but that wasn’t always the way. ! As a child, I was never that interested in shoes. In a family with five children, we generally got three pairs of shoes a year: a new pair of school shoes each fall, a dressy pair each Easter, and a pair of tennis shoes for summer. I also shared a 1950s-size closet with two sisters, so nine 4 pairs of shoes pretty well filled up the floor space. I can’t remember when my love for shoes began. ! Nor do I know when my interest in gardening began or where I got my love of plants: a little bit from my parents, I suppose, who dabbled in their yard; and some from neighbors who took their yards more seriously. And of course, from the catalogs that began to arrive in my mailbox. ! Now I pour through those mail order temptresses with the same attention I used to devote to shoes. I envision new plants in my garden, much like I used to think about shoes. Where will they go? What will they go with? Are they simply background, an accessory or the focal point? Do I mix chartreuse leaves with emerald green, or throw in a little burgundy? Do I include colorful blossoms or let large, shapely leaves be the fashion statement? Do I mix yellow, blue and red, primary colors on the color wheel, like I was taught in art class, or black with orange, as an OSU fan, or keep things monochromatic? ! All these decisions help break up a dull, dreary winter day. But just think: no shoe boxes to transport! I think my Dad would approve. MASTERGARDENER@OKSTATE.EDU
Mother’s Dracaena Witnesses Exposé at Grandpa’s Nursery Thriving in an east window, this Dracaena Marginata seems to have suffered no lingering ill effects after the author’s most embarrassing moment. “I love Mama Em’s beautiful Dracaena Marginata, which seems to love its spot my office, a constant reminder of my most embarrassing moment ever.” Dalia Woodliff photo By Dalia Woodliff ! Sadly, I’m not very good with indoor plants - I have only a Norfolk Pine and Mama Em’s (my mother’s) Dracaena. After Mama Em died, I relocated her beloved Dracaena Marginata – a low maintenance plant with long pointed leaves which loves the eastern window – to my east-facing office. Every time I water it, I suppress a chuckle remembering a God Winks moment with Mama Em. ! Mother and I went to Grandpa’s Nursery to get her a plant she could not kill and we found a big Dracaena Marginata. Seeing the smile on her face, it was a done deal, and I carried the heavy pot to the pay table, setting it down on the counter as I extracted my checkbook from my purse. ! “Will you need some ID,” I asked Grandpa. “No Ma’am, no Ma’am, no Ma’am!” I looked at Mama Em who was laughing with one hand over her mouth and pointing to my chest. Bless my soul, my blouse had popped open, and I was in my glory. I finally realized why Grandpa’s eyes were beaming as he focused on my ‘headlights.’ ! Out of embarrassment, I have not been to Grandpa’s for a long time and I probably would wear a disguise, a mustache and beard with an oversized pullover, if I did. I do love Mama Em’s beautiful Dracaena Marginata, which seems to love its spot in my office, a constant reminder of my most embarrassing moment ever. Monday, April 2 Plant Sale Preparation Day, 9 to 4 Bring Donation Plants to Extension classrooms Tuesday, April 3 Plant Sale, Extension Auditorium, 9 to 2 Meet Soft Caress Mahonia By Jackie Pogue ! Meet Soft Caress Mahonia, which may be the evergreen answer for eastern foundations and dry, dappled shade. ! Soft Caress, as the name implies, is different from other Mahonias. Wayside Gardens mentions thread-like foliage with an Asian character and “citron-yellow blooms held upright in clusters of ‘candles.’ Lightly fragrant and very long-lasting, they give 'Soft Caress' an entirely new look.” ! Jimmy Turner, at the Dallas Arboretum, loves this shrub, which forms soft, textured mounds four feet high by three feet wide in part shade and even thrives in dry shade. ! Soft Caress Mahonia is evergreen, soft enough to ripple in the wind, good for light shade, partial sun or east sun, needs only moderate water after it’s established, blooms yellow and then makes frosty blue berries. ! According to Gardenality.com, they are deer, heat and insect resistant. I can just see a bank of them, with glossy abelia and red nandina, maybe some purple-black hollies. Then, let it snow, let it blow, let the hot sun beat down. Soft Caress is an all-purpose, evergreen landscape plant, perfect for mass plantings, large pots or specimen use. Soft Caress Mahonia offers evergreen beauty for shade or partial sun. After established, it will do well with little irrigation. It thrives without special soil additives or extra care. MGHOURS@GMAIL.COM 5 MASTERGARDENER@OKSTATE.EDU
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