200 Tulip Tips. Bug Photography. What's Your Trees' Value?

Show Transcript

GB 200 TRANSCRIPT Tulip Saving, Bug Photos, Tree Values

Farmer Fred  0:00

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred is brought to you by Smart Pots, the original lightweight, long lasting fabric plant container. it's made in the USA. Visit SmartPots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's SmartPots.com/Fred. Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, you've come to the right spot.

Farmer Fred  0:31

Tulip growing is easy, in cold climates. In warmer climates, getting tulips to rebloom year after year is a challenge. Today, America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, has tips for warm climate tulip growers to get those gorgeous bulbs to rebloom. And, she has advice for ALL tulip growers about the steps to take to make sure your bulbs remain at maximum strength, whether they’re in the ground or not.  Entomologist, Master Rosarian and photographer Baldo Villegas has tips for taking pictures of garden bugs, so you can positively I.D. the good guys from the bad guys.  What are your full-grown trees worth? Arborist and Master Gardener Anne Fenkner has the way to help you figure that out.  We’re podcasting from Barking Dog Studios here in the beautiful Abutilon Jungle in Suburban Purgatory. It’s the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes. Let’s go!

Farmer Fred  1:41

We like to answer your garden questions here on the garden basics podcast a lot of ways to get your questions in. You can call us just like Mary did. Who's Mary? You'll find out in a second. There are several ways to get in touch with us. You can give us a call 916-292-8964, 916-292-8964. You can email the questions to Fred at farmerfred.com. Leave it at the Gardenbasics.net website, you can do it at speakpipe.com Where you don't need a phone. You incur no phone charges. You just yell at your computer and I magically hear your question. Go to speakpipe.com/gardenbasics. And of course, use social media, if you prefer: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can find those links in the podcast notes. And you can leave a question there as well. Debbie Flower is here. We love to have her here to answer our garden questions. And Debbie, Mary has a question about tulips.  Tulips for California gardeners can be rather tricky.

Debbie Flower  2:42

Yes. And parts of California are in USDA Zone nine B. That's what Mary said she lives in. So it's nine and above for sure, where tulips can be a challenge. There are a few, though, they're called species tulips, that grow just fine. In California, I have some in my yard. But the majority of the ones, the big Darwin tulips, are really colorful ones that bloom in spring will do that for us the year we buy them. But we have to take special care of them in order to bring them back the next year.

Farmer Fred  3:11

Well, let's hear Mary's question.

Mary in Sacramento  3:13

Hi, Fred. I'm Mary, calling from USDA Zone 9B. Quick question about tulip bulbs in containers. I had several containers in which I planted tulip bulbs. They did beautifully. Now they're done. But I want to use the containers for something else. Now, what do you recommend doing? Can I save the tulip bulbs? Should I pull them out of the containers? How should I store them? Etc. Thank you so much. Bye.

Farmer Fred  3:46

Thank you for calling us, Mary, with that question. I guess Debbie, first of all, we should explain the difference between an A and a B zone because the USDA divides all zones now into nine A or nine B, or a six a, six  b. B is warmer than A  by about five degrees as far as the lowest, the coldest temperature.

Debbie Flower  4:06

USDA zones only take into account the coldest, average coldest temperature for that area. And it spans about 20 degrees for one zone. And so the A zone is the cooler end of that and the B zone is the warmer end of that.

Farmer Fred  4:20

So Mary lives in a very moderate climate, she just like we were talking about, probably here in Northern California. Not that any nursery is paying me, but I always tell people just go buy  new tulip bulbs every year. it's a lot easier.

Debbie Flower  4:34

It is. A couple things need to happen in order for the tulips to be saved and be satisfactory for the bloom the next year. One is: tulips or bulbs have underground storage organs. And  they wither. Some of the food stored in that bulb underground gets used when the plant flowers. And so, the bulb - the storage organ - withers somewhat and so it needs to be restocked, and that is done by allowing the leafs on the  tulip to remain above ground after it's done blooming and let them photosynthesize. Take good care of them and make sure you get them some water, some nutrition and let it photosynthesize and make new plant food, which it will store in the bulb. And so you need to leave them growing until those leaves turn yellow. I know that's annoying with containers. That delays your ability to harvest and reuse the tulips and reuse the containers. But you can at least move them to somewhere where they're not an eyesore, then let it dry out and take the bulbs out. Yes, you can save the bulbs. Yes, you can reuse the containers. Brush off all the media. Store it in  peat moss, because peat moss has some anti fungal properties. So your bulbs won't mold. It can have a tiny bit of moisture but not be wet. Because the bulbs can rot. And then you're gonna have to put it in the refrigerator. Below 48 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal temperature for eight to 10 weeks. So I would say for 10 weeks. And that is to do with the process called vernalization. Vernalization is the forming of the flower. If the tulip is not exposed to 10 weeks of cold it will not form a flower. So you have to do that process and you don't want it anywhere near fruit. So if you're using your food refrigerator, you're going to have to separate the two. Bag them up, the fruit in particular, because fruit gives off a gas called ethylene, which is a ripening gas and it would cause the flower to abort in the tulip. So it's a little tricky, but it's doable. When they're done commercially, they have big walk-in coolers, they pot the tulips up, and then they stick them in the cooler. And let the already potted tulips get chilled that way. But we all don't have those facilities. So then after the 10 weeks, the tulips can come out of the refrigerator and be stored until you want to plant them again and grow them.

Farmer Fred  6:54

Where would you store them?

Debbie Flower  6:55

Well, you want to store them in a place that's not going to stimulate them to grow. So a cool dry place.

Farmer Fred  7:01

All right, under your bed with notes all over the house that you have tulip bulbs under the bed.

Debbie Flower  7:07

In your your wine cellar, right?

Farmer Fred  7:09

Yes. All right, let's talk a little bit about what you said about the unsightliness of the leaves. And this is true with any bulb. If they're  in the ground, you have to wait for the leaves to turn yellow, don't cut them off when they get ugly, you just have to do something with them and yet remain intact. I have heard people who like to gently bend the leaves down to ground level. So they're not so unsightly.

Debbie Flower  7:31

If they're a very vigorous bulb, that's fine. If they're a more finicky one, they're going to need their whole leaf to restock themselves. Usually, of course, the more finicky ones are the more expensive ones

Farmer Fred  7:43

Naturally. Of course. And when it comes to the containerized tulip bulbs, Well, Mary, I guess you could buy more containers. Because if you set those containers with the bulbs like you recommended, you know, behind the garage or whatever, you're still going to need containers. So maybe by second set of containers.

Debbie Flower  8:00

it delays her ability to use us containers because they do have to use those leaves until they're yellow .

Farmer Fred  8:06

do you have to water that tulip bulb as it's dying down, as the leaves are dying down?

Debbie Flower  8:10

Think of it as a living green plant. And you want it to be able to use  the green parts to make plant food. And water is needed for that. So yes, you need to water it.

Farmer Fred  8:21

Even though the leaves are dying back, you still need to water it...

Debbie Flower  8:24

so it can do something. This is a common problem with houseplants. Plants that dry out aren't watered frequently enough will look great. And then they'll get watered. Oh, somebody will notice they they are drying out they need water, they water them and then all of a sudden they drop things. They drop leaves or they drop flowers and they drop stems or whatever. And the reason is they can't do anything. If they don't have the water to be able to do it. Everything comes to the plant and water and everything travels away from the plant and water. It has to have water in order to do things.

Farmer Fred  8:54

So you need water for that underground storage system to...

Debbie Flower  8:57

store the plant to continue make food and then move that food to the underground storage system.

Farmer Fred  9:01

So I guess putting it behind the garage isn't a good idea if you want to see it.

Debbie Flower  9:06

Somewhere where you will see it.

Farmer Fred  9:07

Debbie Downer.

Debbie Flower  9:08

All right. unfortunate name I have isn't it?

Farmer Fred  9:13

Alright, so Mary, I like the idea of buying more pots.

Debbie Flower  9:18

Or you go to an estate sale or garage sale. You often find pots there.

Farmer Fred  9:22

Yep. All right. There you go, tulip bulbs. A challenge here in California, but for the rest of the country...do you even have to dig them out?

Debbie Flower  9:29

Oh, when I grew up in the east in New York In New Jersey, we didn't take them up here. They just stayed there. They were often planted by family  on grave sites. So you go in the spring and visit and there'd be a lovely flower. That's nice.

Farmer Fred  9:43

All right. Do you picnic there?

Debbie Flower  9:45

No.

Farmer Fred  9:46

They do in Chicago.

Debbie Flower  9:47

Do they?

Farmer Fred  9:48

Yes.

Debbie Flower  9:49

Maybe there don't have enough grassy areas in the city.

Farmer Fred  9:52

They did. I'd say I found that interesting. I thought it was kind of nice, actually, visiting my wife's relatives back in Chicago. And Uncle Ralph, first thing he says is, Let's go to the cemetery and visit grandma and grandpa.

Debbie Flower  10:04

Okay. All right. I taught plant ID in cemeteries because the trees were relatively well cared for they tend ed to be limbed up because they had to drive underneath them. And with equipment and such, but they were spread apart. They were a good specimens to teach from.

Farmer Fred  10:22

There you go, from tulips to cemeteries. We cover it all here on the Garden Basics podcast. Debbie Flower, thanks so much for your help on this.

Debbie Flower  10:29

Oh, my pleasure, Fred. Thank you.

Farmer Fred  10:35

I’m pretty picky about who I allow to advertise on this podcast. My criteria, though, is pretty simple: it has to be a product I like, a product I use, and a product I would buy again. Smart Pots checks all those boxes. Smart Pots is the oldest, and still the best, of all the fabric plant containers that you might find. Smart Pots are sold around the world and are proudly made, 100%, here in the USA. Smart Pots come in a wide array of sizes and colors, and can be reused year after year. Some models even have handles, to make them easier to move around the yard. Because the fabric breathes, Smart Pots are better suited than plastic pots, especially for hot environments.  That breathable fabric has other benefits, too. Water drainage issues? Not with Smart Pots. Roots that go round and round, chocking the rootball, like they do in plastic pots? Doesn’t happen with Smart Pots.  These benefits will help you get a bigger better plant than what you have gotten in the past with the same size plastic or other hard container.  Smart Pots are available at independent garden centers and select Ace and True Value hardware stores nationwide.  To find a store near you, or to buy online, visit smart pots dot com slash fred. And don’t forget that slash Fred part. On that page are details about how, for a limited time, you can get 10 percent off your Smart Pot order by using the coupon code, fred. f-r-e-d, at checkout from the Smart Pot Store. Visit smartpots.com slash fred for more information about the complete line of Smart pots lightweight, colorful, award winning fabric containers and don’t forget that special Farmer Fred 10 percent discount. Smart Pots - the original, award winning fabric planter. Go to smart pots dot com slash fred.

Farmer Fred  12:26

It's not just about planting trees. It's also about planning to plant trees. So how do you plan to plant a tree? We're talking with Master Gardener Anne Feckner, we're here at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center in Sacramento County. And she is a tree expert, she's also an arborist. And yeah, that's probably one of the last things people think about when they get a tree is, where am I going to put it? How's it going to get water? How am I going to take care of it? And these are all things that can be thought about before you even get the tree, including thinking about what trees are best.

Anne Fenkner  13:02

Oh, that's right, Fred. The right tree in the right place for the right reason, I really encourage people to think about this ahead of time. You know, we go to the nursery, and we kind of lose our minds a little bit. It's very exciting. There's everything there. And it all looks so good. And people tend to get excited and maybe  make on the spot decisions, and not really take into consideration the situation where the tree will be living for the next 60 or 80 or even longer, many years.

Farmer Fred  13:32

If it lives that long because of it is in the wrong place. It might have a shorter life,

Anne Fenkner  13:36

Wouldn't that be a shame, to lose all that money and time and energy in the planting process?

Farmer Fred  13:42

That's a very good point you're making: the value a tree adds to your overall home value.

Anne Fenkner  13:48

Yeah, there's a wonderful resource people can tap into it's called I tree. They go to itreetools.org, you can actually evaluate the environmental benefits in real dollars of what your trees contribute to your property, not just your own property. It could be where you work, your your place of religious worship, it could be your kids school, it's kind of fun. What you need to know is how to measure the diameter of the tree and what kind of tree it is. And then the location and the science, the algorithms will figure it all out. And it's pretty darn exciting. Have you done this at your house yet, Fred?

Farmer Fred  14:27

I'm going back in my brain to sixth grade, trying to figure out the diameter of a tree if you know the circumference. And I forget the formula.

Anne Fenkner  14:34

Oh, you know what the wonderful thing in life now, is, we have computers and it'll figure it out for us. So all you have to do is put a measuring tape around the tree at four foot four and a half feet diameter used to be called diameter breast height. It's now considered diameter standard height, but it's really where my clavicle is  four and a half feet off the ground. You measure the tree. If you need help to identify the tree, there's a guide there and it gives you different pictures and that sort of thing. And you identify again the the size of the tree, what type of tree it is, and where it's located. The information comes from years and years of research from the US Forest Service. And it's, it's absolutely, fun, and it's fabulous. And it's free. Triple F.

Farmer Fred  15:20

The website, again, is....

Anne Fenkner  15:23

Itreetools.org. And there's several different applications here. And  there's tools for designing your yard, or for you to design your landscape. There's tools for evaluating an entire city, but the one I encourage people to go to is "my tree". It's very easy. And you can identify the environmental value. And I'm talking about shading, stormwater holding, carbon storage. What is this tree doing? And what is the value of that to your home? Again, Itreetools.org.

Farmer Fred  15:56

The right plant in the right place is really especially true for trees in suburban purgatory. There are trees that were never meant to be planted in suburban purgatory, on lots that are 1/10 of an acre. There are too tall trees, messy trees, invasive trees, and the trees that are correct for where you live.

Anne Fenkner  16:17

That's right, Fred. But also kind of think back in time, you know, 40- 50-60 years ago, we didn't have the resources that we have today. Oh, my goodness, just think about even the box stores didn't exist back then. Where did people get their trees, they might have received a tree from a friend or maybe at the swap meet or they're lucky they had a nursery in their hometown. But mostly we select from the stock available. So people did  the best they could with the information they had at the time. The thing about it is, we we know more now, and we can do better now.

Farmer Fred  16:51

And everything we know is wrong, too. So that always helps. In hindsight, how many of the "best trees in the world" have turned out not be the best trees in the world? I can think of the Modesto ash, for one thing, for the Central Valley of California. That turned out to have a lot of problems.

Anne Fenkner  17:07

Perfect example, perfect example. Again, right tree in the right place for the right reason. And I would argue that most of the challenges come with selecting a tree that is not suitable for the space, not suitable for the soil, not suitable for the environment, including irrigation. These are all things to consider Fred.

Farmer Fred  17:29

Well, we can take a scenic bypass right here and talking about irrigation and the fact that many states, not just California, but a lot of the Southwest, some of the Midwest too, are facing drought. But you still want trees. Can you grow trees on limited water?

Anne Fenkner  17:44

Absolutely. In fact, in the city of Phoenix the mayor has just instituted an initiative to plant an additional million trees. She understands, as do all scientists, that trees are part of the answer to climate change and heat reduction.

Farmer Fred  18:01

I bet they're not coast redwoods.

Anne Fenkner  18:04

No! Right tree, right place, right situation, Fred? Yep. But  I'm really proud of the mayor and of other leaders and other communities taking bold action . In the city of Los Angeles, they are conducting an  inventory of all city trees, they've already completed the inventory of every park tree, and they are well into over 600,000. The number they think they have is about 1.2 million, maybe 1.5 million street trees, and they're halfway through counting them all. It's an exciting prospect. Because in understanding what you have, you can better manage it. You can't really manage anything if  you're not aware of the situation, right. And so in collecting data on every single street tree, they're also able to identify where they're lacking trees, there might be a pit where that tree is missing. Well, the city of Los Angeles has this fantastic program that they've pre-vetted local community groups in the neighborhoods to plant trees. So, as the inventory is being collected, it's being shared through city plants, who then deploys pre-vetted, qualified, citizen groups to plant trees. It's quick, it's a speedy effort. So there's no delay and the city of Los Angeles is really taking an aggressive, a serious, approach to increasing their canopy as a strategy for reducing heat.

Farmer Fred  19:31

That's Sacramento County Master Gardener and arborist Anne Fenkner. So how much does a tree add to the value of your home, in a real estate price perspective? Well, a tree in front of a house increases the home sales price by an average of $7,000 or more. And if that tree is part of a beautiful, well kept, landscape, it can increase your home value  six to 11%. For more information about how trees can increase the value of your home from a real estate perspective, w,e have a link in today's show notes called "What trees to add or cut down to increase property value". Look for it in the show notes.

Farmer Fred  20:13

"Read and follow all label directions". But how many of you have ever read through the pages and pages of instructions that come some of the most popular weed killers on the market? In the Friday, June 10th edition of the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, we highlight some of the most important passages in those instructions that you might have missed. Instructions that can help keep your desirable plants alive after you’ve applied the weed killer to others. And, we chat with Debbie Flower about the best way to kill weeds organically, with soil solarization. And now’s the time to do it.  It’s in the newsletter that goes beyond the basics, the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, Beyond the Basics newsletter, out Friday, June tenth. Find it via the link in today’s show notes, or visit our new website, Garden Basics dot net. There, you can find a link to the newsletter in the tabs on the top of the page. Also, you can listen to any of our previous editions of the podcast, as well as read an enhanced transcript of the podcast episode you are now listening to. That’s at Garden Basics dot net, where you can also link to the Garden Basics newsletter, Beyond the Basics. And it’s free. Look for it on Friday, June tenth. Take a deeper dive into gardening, with the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter. Find it at garden basics dot net.

Farmer Fred  21:41

We'd like to answer your garden questions here on the Garden Basics podcast. A lot of you like to send pictures of bugs that you can't recognize. As long as you tell me where you're from, and maybe take better pictures, (and we'll get into that) I can help you out, because I have contacts. I know people who know bugs, including this guy right here. If you're looking at your phone, you can see that it's Baldo Villegas, retired state entomologist, Master Rosarian. Are you now above Master Rosarian status? Aren't you like an "Emperor Rosarian?"

Baldo Villegas  22:11

No, I'm still a Master Rosarian. I do a lot of identification of insects from all over the world for people. And as long as they send me a picture, if it can be in focus, that'll be great. If they can give you an idea of how big the bug is. That's also nice.

Farmer Fred  22:30

What is the easiest way to do that?

Baldo Villegas  22:32

Put your finger right next to the bug. When your fingers are in the picture I can get an idea how big the bug is. Also tell me how common it is in your garden. I like to kind of get an idea if it's really a pest or not. Most of the insects that I see are not pests. They're innocent bystanders that just come to the roses or to the plants just to take a little drink of nectar or get a little bite of the pollen.

Farmer Fred  22:57

You know, speaking of taking a drink, Baldo likes to walk his acreage here, carrying a Mason jar full of alcohol.

Baldo Villegas  23:03

It's not full of alcohol.

Farmer Fred  23:05

Okay, half full of alcohol.

Baldo Villegas  23:07

And it's rubbing alcohol.

Farmer Fred  23:09

All right, all right. But this is a great way to get that picture of that bug. Capture it first. And then you can put that dime or your finger or whatever next to it, so other people can get an idea of just how big the bug is. So what tell me about your Mason jar of rubbing alcohol.

Baldo Villegas  23:29

I fill it a little, just a little bit of alcohol and then I go around in the mornings through my garden. I enjoy my garden every morning. And then I look for unusual stuff that might be flying by. Several years ago, I found a little tiny insect called a saw fly. It turned out to be a new pest for this area. And a lot of gardeners have a lot of problems with this. Saw fly is the common name, it's also called a rose slug. It skelotonizes the surface of the leaves and is very common in our area now, from Orangevale all the way into the foothills. And all the way into Oregon and Washington

Farmer Fred  24:11

And entomologists get really excited when they find something new.

Baldo Villegas  24:14

Yes, I first found that in this area in 2013. And since then he's become a major pest

Farmer Fred  24:22

Baldo is famous for all the bugs that he's discovered in the Sacramento area. Now we are in Baldo's Acres, and being a Master Rosarian, the last time I heard, Baldo, you had over 1000 roses. I think it's more than that.

Baldo Villegas  24:38

I have 1500 roses in the ground, and then over 1000 potted plants.

Farmer Fred  24:43

But the beauty of being in a rose garden of that size here at the end of April and early May. It's all in bloom. It's just gorgeous here.

Baldo Villegas  24:54

Yes. My garden is going to be in full bloom for next two weeks. So I'm going to be enjoying my garden every day.

Farmer Fred  25:05

All right, talk more about taking pictures of bugs that you need to get identified. So like you say, it's important that people send as much information as possible when they send that picture of the bug. Where they found the bug, maybe what season they found the bug, and  tell us about your garden, what you're growing, maybe the activity of that bug, does it fly a lot? Or is he just slowly crawling along? What is it doing? When you take a picture of a bug and especially if you've captured it in alcohol, and you can pose it, what items on a bug are you looking most at for a positive identification?

Baldo Villegas  25:36

The best thing to do is I get several of the insects because you might be seeing the immature stages of the insects. So it's also very important to get the adults because the adults are much easier to identify the nymphs or the immature stages of some of these insects, oftentimes are very difficult to identify by a lot of entomologists, but a few of them  can do it. I know a lot of the immature insects for this area, but you know, somebody sent me a picture from Connecticut or Massachusetts, and they show me a moth. I don't know what the heck that is. So what I do is,  I have friends who know friends, I send them to friends in that area, and they then identify it for me. And  then I get back to the person with the correct identification, and maybe if it's a pest, or a beneficial, or something that 's just passing by.

Farmer Fred  26:34

When you're looking at a bug or an adult bug, trying to identify it, are you looking at the number of legs, the antenna or what?

Baldo Villegas  26:42

All insects have six legs, antennae, the legs are in the thorax, yes, all insects will have that. But beetles will have the hardened wings, the first pair of wings kind of hardened. So you know that it is a beetle. Because of that, if you see a proboscis or the mouthparts are in the in the form of a syringe, then that's a true bug or aphids, anything that sucks will have those proboscis, which suck  the sap out of the plants. So you look for characteristics like that. Also, it's very important you look at the wings, the wings are the most important thing in insects. In fact, all of the orders of insects usually have some kind of name in the wings. Like coleopteran means harden wings, that means first pair of wings. Theroptera are the lace wings. And the wings are lacy, they call nerve wings. So you look for things like that.

Farmer Fred  27:49

So what is Hemiptera? What does Hemiptera mean?

Baldo Villegas  27:55

Hemiptera is for the true bugs. And hemi means half. Tera means wings, so half wings, and that's when they fold the wings, the first pair of wings, they look like half wings, you always see a little triangle in there, in a square just above where they fold the wings. And that's called a scutellum. So you look for this kind of character.

Farmer Fred  28:24

You come for the roses, stay for the bug talk. It's Baldo Villegas, retired state entomologist, Master Rosarian. Thanks for the photo tips, Baldo.

Baldo Villegas  28:33

Thank you. Thank you. Anytime, Fred.

Farmer Fred  28:38

Garden Basics With Farmer Fred comes out every Tuesday and Friday and is brought to you by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. Garden Basics is available wherever podcasts are handed out. For more information about the podcast, visit our website, GardenBasics dot net. That’s where you can find out about the free, Garden Basics newsletter, Beyond the Basics. And thank you so much for listening.

Fred Hoffman
Thanks for listening, subscribing and commenting on the “Garden Basics with Farmer Fred” podcast and the “Garden Basics/Beyond Basics” Newsletter