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Gardening
Monday, September 24, 2012
Gardening Free Container Garden Class by Tucson's Potted Garden Expert
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 9:00 AM
- The Contained Gardener
- Finishing Up a New Garden with Fernando
This Saturday learn how to start your own potted garden at your home or office. You can plan to start with flowers, herbs and/or vegetables with what you take away from this class. This is the first in the fall series of pot garden classes.
Potted Gardens 101 in the Desert
Learn about getting started with a potted garden in the desert the right way so that your efforts do not end up in the compost heap!
DATE: Saturday, September 29; 10-11 am
Call 579.9411 to register
Pre-registration is required due to seating limitations. Cost: FREE!
LOCATION for all classes: Pottery Blowout, 3840 E Grant (just west of Alvernon)
Sponsored by The Contained Gardener from Sonoran Gardens, Inc, Landscape Design and Construction
If you are unable to come, email Marylee to receive the schedule for upcoming classes.
Sign up for our Potted E-News today. Receive monthly potted garden information as well as SW Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Gardening Time To Fertilize Your Potted Citrus Trees
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 8:30 AM
If you have any citrus trees in pots, it is time to fertilzie them with a citrus fertilizer (I like Arizona Best.)
HOWEVER, and this is a big however, if you have planted annual flowers underneath the tree in the pot, be careful. Fertilizing it now with granular fertilizer may burn the roots of the annuals. If this is the case, then use a water based fertlizer instead.
- The Contained Gardener
- Potted Citrus Tree
Use approximately 1/2 cup of fertilzier per pot, scratch it in and water deeply. This fertilizing will also happily cause some new blooms on Mexican Lime Trees and many kumquats!
It is important to fertilize now so that new growth is encouraged well before the danger of frost is here.
Have a question? Email Marylee.
Sign up for our Potted E-News today. Receive monthly potted garden information as well as Southwest Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Gardening Harvesting Your Desert Lettuce
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Mon, Sep 10, 2012 at 8:30 AM
This was written about summer lettuce, but the information can be applied to winter lettuce too! Remember: This was all done in pots! The article below is reprinted with permission.
By David W. Mount
Master Gardener of the The University of Arizona, Pima County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program
1. Harvest the baby lettuce by removing either large 2-4 inch leaves or the entire plant after 2-3 weeks. Slobolt grows fastest, red lettuce in the mixes the slowest, and Jericho is also quite slow. I left one bunch of Jericho plants to grow larger for 4-5 weeks but they became bitter and were not edible (but they had also been attacked by leafhoppers). Red lettuce was harvested as small plants. None of the other plants bolted or were bitter.
2. Plant new seeds as soon as space becomes available.
3. Wash off soil in the sink and store in the refrigerator to freshen up
4. The favorite and most successful variety was Slobolt, which was also present in some of the mixes. The mixes had some other tasty varieties such as oak leaf and other Romaine types.
Have a question? Email Marylee.
Sign up for our Potted E-News today. Receive monthly potted garden information as well as Southwest Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Gardening Lettuce in Tucson? In the Summer? Read On!
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Tue, Sep 4, 2012 at 12:15 PM
I could not let this great article pass us by without sharing it with you, reprinted here with permission
Growing Summer Lettuce in Tucson
By David W. Mount
Master Gardener of the The University of Arizona, Pima County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program
- David Mount, Master Gardener
- Summer Lettuce in Window Boxes
In our home garden, we usually grow many varieties of lettuce planted at intervals during the winter months to assure a continuous supply. Compared to store-purchased lettuce, our garden lettuce is much more tender and fresh, and it was always difficult to make the switch to the store lettuce as the summer approached. This summer, I decided to try an experiment, and see if we could grow lettuce in the summer in Tucson, and I am pleased to report success. This project was not a lot of work to set up and maintain and it was nice to come home from vacation to our own fresh lettuce. Here are the steps that were followed.
1. I checked on the web to see if there are varieties of lettuce developed for summer planting, and discovered 2 sources — one was a “summer mix” and a “heatwave blend” from the Cook’s Garden, Pennsylvania and the second was two varieties from the Territorial Seed Company, Oregon — one was “Slobolt,” a delicious loose leaf lettuce and “Jericho”, a Romaine-type developed in Israel. I recommend trying all of these seeds, all of which can be purchased on the supplier web sites. The seeds were stored in a zip-lock bag in the fridge to keep a good germination rate.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Gardening Mum's the Word: Mums Have Reached the Nurseries
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 8:30 AM
If you have been out shopping this week for some new flowers, you will have seen the first batch of chrysanthemums in the centers. You certainly can use these as a burst of color for the fall, but I do not recommend them as a perennial for the long term in our desert pots.
I always like our pots to be full of color. Mums will have their bloom time and then be green. Dedicated gardeners may be able to get them to bloom again but I do not have the patience to wait, often a full year and then still no blooms (for me at least!)
Instead, watch for osteospremums as they will give you a much longer season. And if you really like chrysanthemums, use them in a small decorative pot for temporary color.
- The Contained Gardener
- Osteos in All Their Glory!
No matter what—have fun getting potted this fall!
For more pictures on potted gardens in the desert, visit the Sonoran Gardens website today.
Have a question? Email Marylee, Tucson's Potted Garden Expert.
Sign up for our Potted E-News today. Receive monthly potted garden information as well as SW Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Gardening Odd Numbers With a Little Twist
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Long walls and square pots can add to the linear look of a back yard wall.
We typically design in odd numbers—there is probably some psychological reason for this, but we know it works. These two pots just did not seem right against this wall. I added a third pot—round in shape—and twisted the squares to change the angles.
And here we are with three weeks of growth.
For more information on potted gardens in the desert, visit The Contained Gardener of Sonoran Gardens.
Have a question? Email Marylee
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Gardening Potted Gardens in the Desert Heat
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 9:00 AM
- The Contained Gardener
- Summer Potted Glory
Monsoon Season in the desert can be a challenge -
** Some of our summer flowers are already tired.
** We deal with the torrential, sporadic rains hitting our potted gardens.
** We hear about other gardeners around the country harvesting luscious tomatoes
We can make good use of afternoons with major cloud cover to give our plants some respite, add some fresh late summer flowers and to consider planting tomatoes for a fall harvest.
Watch for the forecast of high chances of monsoon activity for several days in a row. Hoping that our temperatures are below 100, plan to do some planting during this period.
Good plants to watch for are:
** Zinnias
** Osteospermums
** Pentas
** Angelonia
** Salvias
** Gallardia (Mexican Blanket)
** Coriopsis
In September, you can add petunias, snapdragons and some late season marigolds to this list!
Early girl tomatoes and other varieties that are 65 days or less to fruiting are your best bet.
Plant early in the morning, water deeply and if we do not receive the afternoon cloud cover, give the new plants a little shower of water to cool things off.
It would be a good idea to give your tomatoes some shade covering (draped over the tomato cages) on full sun days.
Now is the time to fill your pots with additional color that will carry you into November!
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
For those of you that are watching, you might have seen the announcement about the sale of The Contained Gardener to a locally owned company, Sonoran Gardens. After 14 years of carefully growing and nurturing my business, we have officially joined forces with Sonoran Gardens for Tucson's potted gardens. The well-trained, professional combined staff oversees every detail for each client, from initial to installation, and ongoing maintenance.
I am staying on with Sonoran Gardens through the transition and will make sure that our free potted garden classes continue with yours truly!!
Questions? Email Marylee!
If you would like to speak with someone directly, call 520.579.9411 or visit our combined website!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Gardening It's Raining, Is It Enough for Your Pots?
Posted by Marylee M. Pangman on Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 9:00 AM
We are having some nice monsoon rains and when we get enough, it feels great to turn off our irrigation system. However, when you have pots you need to think twice before you simply switch your system to off.
To skip a day of water to your flower pots, you must receive at least 1/2" of rain on the pots. If your pots are under a tree, a ramada, carport or patio, they are not getting rain. Keep that in mind before you decide how to proceed.
Also, remember that if your pots are accustomed to daily watering, that 1/2" of rain is only good for one day!!!
Be mindful and don't let your flowers dry out.
For more information on potted gardens in the desert, visit The Contained Gardener.
Have a question? Email Marylee.
Sign up for our Potted E-News today. Receive monthly potted garden information as well as SW Arizona freeze alerts, heat and wind advisories.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Chow / Gardening Dos Manos Farm Gets Bulldozed, But Owner Noel Patterson Is Far From Finished
Posted by Adam Borowitz on Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 2:20 PM
(Note: The above video was filmed before Dos Manos Farm's owner knew the operation would be taking a forced break for the summer.)
Dos Manos Farm, the local-agriculture project started earlier this year by local-food advocate and all around decent guy Noel Patterson, has been bulldozed. But Patterson is already looking at other opportunities that would allow him to continue his mission to make more local food available in and around Tucson.
Patterson said yesterday that the land he was farming at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona's Marana Heritage Farm was taken back by the City of Marana and that work has begun to turn it into a parking lot for nearby development. Patterson wanted to make it very clear that the action was expected and that the deal was amicable for all parties involved.
But Patterson - who is more dedicated to the local-food movement than just about anybody I've come across - is already looking at a variety of options that would allow him to continue on with Dos Manos Farm, albeit in a new location he hopes will be closer to Tucson. He's also wants to start offering workshops on everything from bee-keeping to raising chickens for meat and eggs.
The last of the produce from the first Dos Manos Farm will be available at the farmers' market this Saturday at Maynards Market and Kitchen. Patterson said he is relatively sure he will be back at the market before long with produce, honey and eggs from other projects he has going.
For those who want to keep up on what Patterson is up to - and if you're into the local-food movement, he's the guy to watch - you can keep up with him on Facebook over here.
Chow / Gardening Jared "Kitty Katt" McKinley and the Arid Land Homesteaders League
Posted by Adam Borowitz on Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 1:30 PM
Meet Jared McKinley. More accurately, meet Jared McKinley's alter ego Kitty Katt McKinley, which he uses when producing and promoting some of this city's more creative and memorable events through Powhaus Productions and his new company MEOWmeow Productions.
McKinley also happens to be an amazing gardener who has founded a new group called the Arid Land Homesteaders League. The organization's website is an excellent blend of good writing and an ever-growing selection of do-it-yourself food-production tips. You can read all about it right here.
When he's not in the garden or organizing parties - his underwear party hits Hotel Congress on Saturday, June 16 - he waits tables at Hub Restaurant and Ice Creamery and brews aerated compost tea for Merlin Organics. He took a moment this week to discuss the Arid Land Homesteaders League:
TW: Tell me a little about the Arid Land Homesteaders League. How is it different from your previous entity, Tucson Urban Gardener.
JM: This all started on accident. I am living in a rental. I am also fairly poor. I thought I was going to move until about a half a year ago when I decided to stay in this house. I started a garden, late in the season, and started writing about it. I am a writer, so it was natural. I revived this old blog I used to lazily maintain years ago when I was working for Dr. Andrew Weil. My writing on the subject started to really develop and the audience exploded. So that encouraged me to expand on the whole thing. The interest is very much there and so I am continuing to feed that interest.
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