July 16, 2023
July is National Ice Cream Month and July 16th is National Ice Cream Day. Thomas Jefferson is credited with the first ice cream recipe, read the cold, hard facts here.
Blueberry Honeycomb No-Churn Ice Cream Recipe
Linda Alexander, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2008
More on the buzz coming soon: Our next honey blog will the about the construction of honeycomb.
Every so often one reads something that Is just so honest and truthful that its almost a shock. That recently happened.
For some reason an interview with a tourist information official from Nebraska seemed to jump off the page. He said—“To be honest it’s not for everyone”. Oh my thatis a wonderful thing. One expects technicolor sunsets—incredibly happy couples eating amazing food laughing children at the theme park—but not this time—“To be honest its not for everyone”
That should make anyone want to head for Nebraska—now. Because you would know what to expect—a perfectly nice place where you might have to make an effort to have a great time.
And then it seemed the absolutely perfect motto for the Pollinator garden at Raincatchers.
It’s a wonderful area but people who work there—well they have to work at it. The butterflies and bees and birds—obviously appreciate it but they keep quiet—no rounds of applause or words of thanks.
Often it is said that native and adapted plants are “low maintenance –but work is required and it is repetitive –deadheading trimming weeding—necessary but it can be hard too and somehow—never quite “finished” And without a doubt not at all glamorous.
So—it’s clear now right?? Come and work in the pollinator area you get to see insects and birds and lovely plants—yes it is work and it might not be spectacular—but isn’t that the whole point of a garden.
It’s a wonderful experience but you have to work at it. It may not be for everyone —-but—maybe its for you!! You will always be welcome! And just like Nebraska—the rewards are there with just a little effort!
Susan Thornbury, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2008
During the hot summer days, we work early at Raincatcher’s. Monday morning and Tuesdays you will find Master Gardeners in the garden early-even before 8am.
Beginning this month, dallasgardenbuzz.com will introduce a new idea which allows the natural world to speak to us as seasons change and our gardens evolve. Once each month, we hope to share with our readers the joy of using seasonal gifts from the garden in floral displays, arrangements and more.
Look for fresh and innovative ways of gathering unusual combinations of flowers, herbs, branches and other natural ingredients to display in your home. Let creations from your garden bring happiness to a friend, neighbor or family member. Embrace a mindset of filling your life with beautiful gifts from the garden every month of the year.
To start, we’ll begin with a quintessential summer flower – zinnias! Offering one of the most colorful palates found in the garden, zinnias bold and bright blooms range from white to orange, pink, yellow, purple and red. We’ve chosen to combine our blooms with another plant that is thriving in the Dallas heat – basil.
With dozens of varieties to consider, two types currently growing in the garden were the perfect complement to our monthly arrangement. Basil ‘Wild Magic’ is a robust grower with purple/violet flowers and dark green leaves with purple margins. For leaves with an even deeper purple presence, ‘Red Rubin’ also adds an aromatic touch to arrangements.
If a compact, tight arrangement seems a little too crowded, consider going in a different direction. Give each zinnia space to breath while making its own individual statement. A flower show judge might suggest that a more open design reflects the natural habit of flowers growing in the garden. In this type of arrangement, there’s plenty of room for “a butterfly to move from bloom to bloom”.
And finally, for a moment of simplicity, use individual blooms as illustrated in this arrangement. A collection of vintage ceramic vegetable vases sitting under an oil painting of our house needs only a delicate touch to enhance its beauty. The soft tones of puffy little salmon zinnias are the right choice!
Our promise to you is that all of our displays will feature botanical material growing in the home garden. In other words, these are not flower shop creations. We want you to be inspired and encouraged to appreciate the simple elegance of using gifts from your garden to bring a touch of beauty and charm to everyday life.
Linda Alexander, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2008
Tomatoes, I owe you an apology. All is forgiven. We had some rain and a mild beginning to the summer. You behaved reasonably under those circumstances and gave us an abundance of delicious fruit. I’m sorry for all the negative things I’ve said about you. I have called you names. I have described you as difficult. I have suggested to beginning gardeners that they avoid you and try peppers instead.
Our biggest problem with you this year was that certain bushy tailed scoundrels found you irresistible even when you were green. That was not your fault. Never fear, we are planning our squirrel defense strategies for next year.
Now our high temperatures are in the triple digits and you have developed blight and begun providing food and shelter to stink bugs. You held out as long as could be expected and for this I thank you.
Tomatoes, despite the pain of previous seasons, I am grateful for what I have learned from you-mostly patience.
Beverly Allen, Dallas County Master Gardener, Class of 2018
Tomatoes are the Jerkiest Plants
Tomatoes Will Break Your Heart
Squirrel photo by Don Heaberlin and stink bug photo by Diane Washam
As humans, we live in an information age where advancing technology continues
to take us to new horizons. Amazingly, for as long as honeybees have been on the
planet, their highly effective way of communicating has remained the same.
Survival in the world of honeybees is dependent upon good communication. Let’s
look at how the concept of ‘moving in the right direction’ plays a major role in the
process.
An Australian zoologist named Karl van Frisch (1886-1982) measured aspects of
honeybees’ dances by artificially manipulating forage sources. He described two
types: the round dance and the waggle (or figure-eight) dance. Scout bees
returning from foraging flights immediately attract the attention of other bees
which huddle close to monitor the scout’s movements in the darkness.
A short Q & A will provide a better understanding of these astonishing dances and
how bees use them to share precise information with the hive.
Why do bees dance?
To communicate the location of food. Foraging is a highly organized operation.
When a forager bee finds a particularly good source of nectar, she returns to the
hive and directs others to the source. Specific instructions for the location are
communicated through the patterns of the dance.
How do bees learn to dance?
Bees need “tutors”. In order to learn the dances correctly, they must follow other
experienced dancers. The concept of social learning ultimately shapes honeybee signaling giving them the ability to use a complex form of spatial referential
communication.
What is learned from the dances?
In a strangely mysterious way, dancing communicates the direction, distance and
quality of a resource to nestmates by encoding celestial cues, retinal optic flow
and relative food value into motion and sound within the nest. If you thought it
was just a colony of bees buzzing around in the hive, it is scientific fact that these
curious movements (bee language) are used to manage the work of the hive.
“Busy as a bee” is truly something to be admired.
How is the waggle dance explained?
Outgoing forager bees gather in a specific part of the hive to watch returning
foragers perform the dance. The dancer walks across the comb in the pattern of a
figure eight, waggling her abdomen back and forth as she moves through the
straight portion of the pattern. The direction she faces while waggling charts an
angle in relation to the sun. Other foragers use this information to help navigate
their way to the source. The more she waggles, the better the foraging in this
area. Also, the longer the dance, the farther the distance from the hive.
What determines how much the scouter bee moves her abdomen?
The fervor with which she vibrates her abdomen during the dance, the greater
the richness of the forage source.
Linda Alexander, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2008
June 20, 2023
It’s tomato time at Raincatcher’s garden of Midway Hills. Over 84 pounds were donated and the plants are loaded down with more fruit to harvest this week. It looks to be a very good harvest and we wanted to share the story of our 2023 tomatoes.
Thirty tomato plants, determinate and indeterminate varieties, were started from seeds in January 2023 and put into the ground and in raised beds in early April. This was later than is recommended but the nighttime temperatures were too low in March. It is often difficult in Dallas to get the necessary time for a good crop to mature in between the last frost and the onset of temperatures above 92 degrees.
Prior to planting we amended the beds with compost and MicroLife Multi-purpose fertilizer. After two weeks, Tomato-tone fertilizer was applied and that schedule has continued. The lower leaves are trimmed up off the ground to help prevent fungal disease.
Our team decided that with our hot weather it would be best not to prune the suckers (new growth in the areas between the main stem and branches). Instead we allowed them to stay in place and protect the developing fruit from sunscald. There are many different opinions about this practice but it might be that those advocating for drastic removal of suckers live in areas with less extreme weather.
Harvest before they are ripe, but after color appears. Squirrels keep a keen eye on the ripening tomatoes and early on they ate on the larger varieties before we could take them off the vine. To combat that, tomatoes are harvested at the first sign of color change and ripened indoors. When ripe, fruit is then weighed and donated to the North Dallas Shared Ministries Food Pantry.
The indeterminate varieties, such as Celebrity, Cherokee Carbon, Early Girl, Juliet, and Sweet 100, are towering over 6 feet in the air in a fenced garden area and in tall, raised beds with supports.
The determinate varieties are producing abundantly as well in raised beds. The variety, Patio Choice Yellow (AAS), has impressed our team with its prolific crop, disease resistance, and sweetness.
While we are enjoying this season of abundance, we are aware that the blooms here in North Texas will soon slow to a crawl, due to the lack of cooler weather in the early morning. In general nighttime temperatures over 75 degrees will cause the plants to stop setting fruit. We are quickly approaching that season.
There are two ideas of thought about what to do –
2. Pull up the plants when the blooms stop coming and prepare to start new tomato plants in July for a fall harvest before the first frost. Smaller varieties with shorter days to maturity are recommended for fall due to the risk of an early frost.
Our dedicated and determined gardeners frequent Raincatcher’s most days, but our scheduled work times are Monday and Tuesday mornings.
Please leave a comment below if you have a favorite tomato variety for our area or tomato wisdom to share.
Starla Willis with input from Beverly Allen, Dallas County Master Gardeners
June 15, 2023
Everyone loves nature right—but then not squirrels or rabbits. Not the plants you were told were lovely natives but turn out to be so very successful that you have to carefully and quickly remove them from the neighbor’s yards. And then we can’t even think about nature films—way too often seem to feature chasing and catching and biting—oh no—a bridge too far.
Well,there is an answer its totally natural contains almost no violence and stars—BUTTERFLIES. What is best is they are pipevine swallowtails—beautiful large and showy—and actually are here.
The whole amazing life cycle can happen in your yard right before your eyes amazing really doesn’t quite cover it—and its not hard and doesn’t involve massive expense.
What to get started? Of course. Here’s how plant white veined pipe vine. It’s a ground cover type plant that loves shade or semi shade—but seems very adaptable seeding itself into sunnier areas too—but plant your starter plants in a shady place—think about this—put them where you will see them often—and put them in front of any shrubs or tall plants. Ask around—your friends may be willing to share. Its best to transplant small plants. Now natural processes take time be patient and let your plants grow and thrive.
Now exactly how the lovely black butterfly with blue markings finds your plants—they smell them I believe but they also seem to be looking for them. Eggs are laid in clusters starting in late spring and early summer. Actually we live in an area that can have two full generations—more about that in a minute.
So the butterfly lays eggs and they hatch into tiny larvae—but they don’t stay tiny long the eating of the pipevine is—well I know the word amazing is being used a lot—but sometimes—you will see its totally indicated.
When the larvae have reached there final size—which is big they leave and seem to head for a high place to form a chrysalis—first they find the place—try to leave them alone they know what they want—you don’t!. They then become completely still and form a J this also lasts awhile. However when the time is right the larvae turns into a chrysalis so fast that its hard to believe—honestly about 5 minutes. The chrysalis has to harden but the change is incredibly fast. Now one thing about pipevine—it is toxic—now not to you planting or tending but when the larvae eat it they become very toxic to birds reptiles—things that might ordinarily eat it—you get the idea of this if you pick a leaf—it smells really nasty. I mention this because you actually get to see way more of these larvae actually form their chrysalis instead of being carried away by wasps or birds—just the way nature should be right?
Now the only part that may be unpleasant it the fact that the larvae eat masses of pipevine—your beautiful patch can look truly ratty when they finish—But wait there’s more! The pipevine knows very well that it will be eaten and is prepared. Underground the vine has a storage unit—very like a small sweet potato that helps the vine survive very well when all the leaves have been eaten—very very soon—it has grown back as strong as before and is ready for the next wave of larvae. That is nature at its best.
In picture above, the creatures were relocated to a better patch of pipevine. The larvae are totally harmless just be careful not to hurt them; they will not hurt you.
If you are very fortunate you will see the butterfly come out of the chrysalis dry its wings and fly away.
It just doesn’t make any sense not to plant pipe vine.
Susan Thornbury, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2008
June 12, 2023
I’m kind of obsessed with pepper plants lately. This is the second year in a row we have loaded Raincatcher’s courtyard beds with pepper plants and I have 27 pepper plants growing in containers at my house.
I think my obsession started when Jim Dempsey grew the Emerald Fire Jalapeno for our plant sale several years ago. The award winning Emerald Fire Jalapeno has become my absolute favorite pepper plant. It produces an abundance of jumbo sized, glossy green jalapenos that are longer, wider and thicker than standard jalapenos. It turns a beautiful red color if left on the plant. Because of the large size of the fruit, it is great for stuffing and grilling as well as pickling and salsa making.
Pepper plants need full sun and plenty of water during the hottest part of the summer. They do well with a well balanced fertilizer (5-10-10) every few weeks for the best production. So if you have space in your vegetable garden or a have a large container, you might want to consider growing this jalapeno.
Jackie James, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 1993
Note: Start jalapeños as seeds in January or as transplants after that threat of frost has passed.
June 5, 2023
14 Fascinating Facts About Ladybugs
(These are excerpts from a story by Rosemary Mosco and orginially published on mentalfloss.com and updated for 2023)
One of the most common European Ladybugs is the seven-spot ladybug, and its seven marks reminded people of the Virgin Mary’s seven sorrows. Germans even call these insects Marienkäfers, or Mary’s beetles.
Ladybugs are not bugs – they are beetles. They are part of Coleonptera, the beetle order.
In parts of England, and for reasons that are unclear, the ladybug is a bishop. Nowadays, most people in England use the word ladybird, perhaps because these insects are able flyers.
In several languages, the portly, spotted ladybug is affectionately known as a little cow. French people sometimes use the term vache à Dieu, which means “cow of God”.
You’ve probably seen red ladybugs with black spots – but members of the ladybug family come in a wide range of hues, from ashy gray to dull brown to metallic blue. Their patterns vary, too; some have stripes, some have squiggles, and some have no pattern at all.
To avoid being eaten, ladybug species with bright colors are walking billboards that say, “Don’t eat me, I’ll make you sick!” And that is because…
A lot of ladybugs produce toxins that make them distasteful to birds and other would-be predators. These noxious substances are linked to a ladybug’s color, the brighter the ladybug, the stronger the toxins. Don’t panic: Ladybugs won’t harm you unless you eat many pounds of them!
Ladybug moms lay clusters of eggs on a plant, but not all of those eggs are destined to hatch. Some of them lack embryos. They’re a tasty gift from the mother ladybug; the newly hatched larvae will gooble them up.
What hatches out of those ladybug eggs is a long, spiny larva that looks a little like an alligator. Though ladybug larvae may be intimidating, they’re not harmful to humans. They crawl around, feeding and growing, until they’re ready to turn into something even weirder…
Once the larvae find a nice spot in the garden, they turn into an alien-looking pupa. Protected by a hard covering, the ladybug then makes an incredible transformation from larva to adult, bursting out of its old skin.
When a ladybug takes flight, it lifts up its protective, hard covered wings, that are not suitable for flight, and slides out another pair of wings that are light weight, slender and perfect for flight.
They enter a state of rest and cuddle together in groups, often in logs or under leaves. Some even find comfort in our homes, the harlequin ladybug enjoys the warmth that is provided.
They are a natural form of pest control. They’re favorite foods are some of our worst plant pests: aphids, scale bugs, and mealybugs. A single ladybug can eat 5000 aphids across its lifetime.
People have introduced non-native ladybugs to combat agricultural pests, and in some cases they’ve hitchhiked on imported goods. The results have not always been beneficial as they push out the native species and introduce a deadly fungal parasite.
After devouring the aphids on nearby crops, such as soybeans, if vineyards are nearby, the ladybugs take up residence in bunches of grapes. When ladybugs become frightened during harvesting, they squirt out a smelly defensive liquid fluid. The resulting wine has a particular stinky flavor that has been likened to peanuts or asparagus.
There are additional sources on the use of beneficial insects at:
www.aggies-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/problem-solver
Jon Maxwell, Dallas County Master Gardener
June 3, 2023
If African Blue Basil could speak it might first suggest introducing you to the “parentals”. In this case, that would be a good idea. The African parent is a perennial shrub from forests of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
In 1983, African Blue basil was first seen by a nurseryman named Peter Borchard, owner of Companion Plants in Athens, Ohio. He noticed it growing in the path between beds of the two presumed parents, East African basil and ‘Dark Opal’. Borchard dug the hybrid out and brought it into the greenhouse hoping to save seed. No seed formed leaving Borchard with the task of growing more plants from cuttings. Shortly thereafter, African Blue Basil (Ocimum gratissimum) entered the market.
African Blue basil is now identified as a hybrid plant in the Lamiaceae family made
by crossing East African camphor basil and a varietal of purple sweet basil called
‘Dark Opal Basil’. Its strong camphor scent was inherited from the East African
basil used to breed the plant. Though some people may find the camphor odor
and taste too strong to use in the kitchen, others embrace its culinary uses.
While doing morning chores in the garden, the dark purple leaves of African basil
tempt me to experience their crisp, semi-chewy and woodsy flavor with notes of
menthol, musk and cloves. With a refreshing and earthy taste filling my mouth,it’s time to move out of the way and give the honeybees time to forage for nectar.
Before planting in the garden, familiarize yourself with its specific characteristics.
African Blue basil is a rare, aromatic, perennial shrub that can grow up to five feet
tall in some gardens. Plants produce abundant flowers that are pink with a dark
purple base, making it attractive to bees and beneficial wasps. African blue is one
of the few basils that is sterile, meaning it will not produce seeds. Fortunately,
this unique trait allows the plant to stay in bloom for a longer season. As with
other basils, African Blue does best in well-draining soil amended with compost.
Plants thrive in full sun and will form rounded mounds.
Suggestions for cooking with African Blue basil offer a wide range of possibilities.
While best suited as a fresh flavoring or garnish, the leaves may also be used in
pesto’s, chimichurri sauce, salad dressing and dips or sprinkled over soups, tossed
into salads or layered over bruschetta. Also, try it mixed into pasta, spread over
sandwiches, used as a pizza topping or for elevating desserts.
Along with the leaves, African Blue basil flowers are edible and can be used as a garnish in soups, salads and grain bowls.
They can also be incorporated into
cocktails, floated on sparkling beverages or stirred into teas. African Blue basil
pairs well with parsley, cardamom, ginger ale, champagne, green beans,
tomatoes, potatoes, lentils, rice, and feta cheese. For best quality and flavor, use the leaves and flowers shortly after harvesting.
Linda Alexander, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2008
DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ 