IN THIS ISSUE: - FALL IS FOR PLANTING - BUTTERFLY PERENNIALS - FALL SCHEDULE - HERB RECIPE

THE
 M a r t i n e t t e

Fall is for Planting!!!
The coming months are the very best time to install trees and shrubs in our area.  Aside from being a more pleasant time to work in the garden, the cooler weather also means lower water requirements and less transplant stress for plants.  This is a great time to get plants established so that when the next growing season starts, your young plants will have already begun developing a root system.  For the gardener, this translates to less watering and less plant loss.  Here are some tips for getting the most out of Fall in your garden.

Regardless of the season, your first step should always be to have a game plan.  Establishing a long term goal for your garden will help you to spend your time and money wisely.  Whether your Fall gardening budget is $50 or $5,000, having a long term goal will help you use your money to get your garden closer to where you want it to be.  Most do-it-yourselfers have no problem putting in the manual labor required to garden... it is the planning of a good garden that many people are unsure about.  We recommend that you take pictures of your space to bring to the garden center, or spend the money to have a professional come to your home and help establish goals.  At Purple Martin Nurseries, an on-site consultation costs $65, and to-scale landscape plans start at $200.  Spending money on good design will greatly impact the success of your garden, and it will give you a good sense of how much work and money will have to go into achieving the garden you want.

Once you have a long term goal for your garden, the next step is to create a list of individual tasks that will have to be completed in order to reach your goal.  The first tasks should always be any site work that needs doing (ie removal of trees, grading for drainage, etc).  A task like removing a tree can damage other plants and features of a garden, so they are best done before any planting, hardscaping, etc have been done.  After any site work is complete, we recommend that gardeners establish their bedlines.  Even if an area will not be planted immediately, having the beds in place and mulched means less lawn to care for, it gives the gardener a chance to get weeds under control before planting, and it reminds the gardener of the long term goal s/he is working towards. 

The next step is the fun part... planting!!  The top of the priority list should be any plants that exist in the garden and need to be transplanted.  Get a plant out of an unwanted location and into its permanent home ASAP.  Remember, the longer you wait to transplant a tree or shrub, the larger that plant becomes, the harder it will be to move, and the chances of the plant dying are greater.  Fall is a great time to transplant trees and shrubs, but remember, you must keep transplants watered regardless of the time of year.  When any transplanting is complete, it is time to head to the garden center.  The first plants to go into a garden should be those that will have the greatest long term impact on the property.  Shade trees, privacy hedges, and any other plants that attain large sizes should be the first planted.  Again, Fall is a great time of year for planting these larger plants, both for the health of the plant and for the mental health of the gardener.  After trees and large shrubs are planted, move on to mid-size shrubs and any large areas to be planted with groundcovers.  Fall is also an excellent time to get ground covers growing while there is not as much competition from weeds.  Lastly, plant accent plants... perennials, bulbs, and small shrubs that accent the garden, and install birdbaths and containers (see our article on containers in this newsletter).  Fall is a particularly good time to plant bulbs for the Spring.

The weather is so beautiful this time of year, and Fall gardening is a great excuse to get outside and enjoy your yard.  Use this time of year wisely... you and your garden will both benefit!!

Butterfly Perennials

Our area is loaded with butterflies in the late Summer and Fall.  Plant trees, shrubs, and perennials to attract butterflies, and they will come!  Some plants attract butterflies with their blooms, others are good larval food source, and some plants offer both.  There is no need to create a specific area of the landscape just for butterflies.  Instead, we recommend that gardeners intersperse butterfly attracting plants throughout the garden.  There are many butterfly attractors that are also workhorses in the landscape, such as lantana and rudbeckia, and some larval food sources such as the Myers lemon can be very handsome specimens.  So, why segregate them?

Consider butterfly and other wildlife attracting plants for use throughout the landscape, but remember, if a plant is a larval food source, that means caterpillars are going to eat the leaves.  This can mean an unsightly plant while the caterpillars are active, but, luckily, plants have evolved to snap back quickly from being a food source.  One great example is milkweed, host of the monarch caterpillar.  Monarch caterpillars will eat a large milkweed down to the stems in a matter of days.  Resist the temptation to remove the caterpillars... let them eat.  When they have finished, cut your milkweed back, and watch it flush back out in a week or so.  At Purple Martin Nurseries, we have often cut the same milkweed plants back three or four times in a growing season, and they are always loaded with color again in no time.

Once you have larval food sources in your garden, you need food (nectar) sources for adult butterflies.  This means flowers!!  Remember when planting to use different types of flowers to appeal to different butterflies.  In addition, remember that, just because a flower is attractive to the gardener, does not mean the flower is attractive to butterflies.  Some of the showiest flowers, such as impatiens and mandevilla, offer no food source for butterflies.  Other, less showy flowers like goldenrod are magnets for swarms of butterflies.  Use the list below to guide you in attracting butterflies to your garden.

Butterflies love...

Larval Food Sources

• Fennel:  Tall Tall stalks & lacy foliage makes this herb a standout
• Parsley:  Great cool weather herb... try mixing with pansies
• Milkweed:  You must have milkweed to attract monarchs!
• Myers Lemon:  Cold hardy and a great fruit producer
• Passion flower:  A beautiful native... gave Florida its name (full of flowers)

Butterfly Food Sources

• Rudbeckia:  One of the easiest perennials for constant color in North Florida
• Cupheas:  There are several cupheas that perform well in our area, with many sizes and bloom colors to choose from
• Pentas:  THE butterfly plant for our area.. fast, easy, and loaded with color
• Gallardia:  This beach wildflower needs little water and loves the sand
• Lantana:  Maybe the easiest and most commonly used butterfly attractor
• Salvias:  Salvias come in all colors and also attract hummingbirds

Fennel	Parsley	Milkweed	Myers Lemon
Passion Flower	Rudbeckia	Cuphea	Pentas

Gallardia		Lantana		Salvia

Fall Schedule

All classes begin at 10am and are free of charge.

Oct 13th:  Attend The Damayan Tour’s Autumn Splendor Garden Tour in Tallahassee, featuring guest speaker Jon Carloftis.  Also featured are the gardens of Purple Martin Nurseries owner Glen Campbell.  Tickets are available for purchase at Purple Martin Nurseries.

Oct 20th: Bulbs with Glen Campbell
Bulbs are some of the most loved garden plants, but they are often misunderstood in our area.  A good bulb planting should look as if nature intended it and should come up reliably year after year.  Purple Martin Nurseries owner Glen Campbell will give tips for succeeding with bulbs, and a special offer will be made only to attendees.

Oct 27th: 17th Annual St Marks Monarch Butterfly Festival
The migration of the monarch butterfly is one of the most miraculous and intriguing stories in nature.  Learn more about their amazing journey and about the lives of other North Florida butterflies and the plants that attract them.  There will be interesting programs, tours, and exhibits including a display and plant sale by Purple Martin Nurseries.  Registration required for tours. Call (850) 925-6121 for details.

November 3rd: Pruning with Ed Blissard
Still cutting your crape myrtles down to stumps every fall?  Wonder why your azaleas are healthy but never bloom?  Come to our pruning class with landscape designer Ed Blissard and learn how important good pruning is to trees and shrubs.  Come ready with questions and pictures of problem plants in your yard.  One attendee will win a new set of Falco pruners.

November 5th thru 10th: Customer Appreciation Week
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Purple Martin Nurseries is celebrating our First Annual Customer Appreciation Week!!! Come by for different fresh baked treats and cider, and take advantage of different specials all week long.

November 17th: Bird Gardening with Michelle Roberts
There are a vast number of bird species native to North Florida. Michelle Roberts will teach you how to attract birds to your garden with plants,  feeders, and water. Attendees will take home info on bird gardening, and there will be a special offer just for attendees.

December 1st: Celebrating the Season with Ed Blissard
People have decorated their homes and gardens for centuries with native greens and real fruit!! Come learn how to transform your home for the holidays using fresh cut greens, berries, fruit, and bulbs.  One attendee will get to take home a wreath created during the class.

Contain Yourself!!! (and your plants)

One of the easiest and most instantly gratifying Fall gardening projects has got to be adding a good container or pair of containers to your garden.  Containers should be viewed as a way to extend architecture into your garden.  Choose containers carefully... make sure you select something that is in keeping with (and enhances) the architectural style of your home.  Resist the temptation to buy tons of small pots.  Instead, choose one or two larger containers that you can more easily keep watered, pruned, and looking great.  Choose your container first, then decide what to plant in it.  The more ornate the detailing of the container, the more simple the planting should be.  Bring pictures and demensions of your area, and let us help you choose a container that will enhance your garden for years to come.

What Do I Do with All These Herbs I’m Growing???

The majority of culinary herbs grown in this area are evergreen; in fact, most herbs in our area do best in the cooler months.  Basil, however, is a warm weather annual, and come first frost your big beautiful basil shrubs (as they quickly become) will be reduced to a pile of black mush.  Before frost gets your basil, cut all the usable growth off it and make yourself some fresh pesto.  Here is a recipe for making pesto from scratch.  This is a great way to use up your basil at the end of the season.

Ingredients:  3 Cups Fresh Basil, loosely packed with large stems removed; 3 Tablespoons Pine Nuts, lightly toasted in the oven or a dry skillet; 2 Cloves Garlic, roughly chopped; 1/2 Cup Parmesan, freshly grated (you can also use asiago, dry jack, pecorino Romano, or another dry cheese); 1/2 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil; Salt, to taste

Preparation: Place the pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and pulse until mixture is finely ground.  Add about half of the olive oil and a handful of basil.  Process until the leaves are incorporated. With the food processor running, add more basil through the feed tube, a handful at a time, until all the basil is incorporated and the mixture is smooth.  Add more oil to obtain the desired consistency.  Stir in the parmesan cheese.  Add salt to taste.

1554 Crawfordville Hwy         Tues-Sat 9-6           Sun 11-5              926-8335

wild bird supplies • native plants • annuals • perennials • trees • shrubs • landscaping services

This newsletter originally published on October 9, 2007.

Written by :

mkwestmark