Hopkins CountyCooperative Extension Service75 Cornwall DriveMadisonville, KY 42431-8780 (270) 821-3650Fax: (270) 825-5011hopkins.ca.uky.edu

Hopkins CountyHorticulture Newsletter

Fall 2017Erika Wood, County Extension Agent for Horticulture

Cooperative Extension ServiceAgriculture and Natural ResourcesFamily and Consumer Sciences4-H Youth DevelopmentCommunity and Economic Development

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Chrysanthemum Care……………………………………………1Straw Bale Gardening…………………………………………….2Snakes: Venomous or Non-Venomous?……………….3Upcoming Events ………………………………………………….4

Chrysanthemum CareChrysanthemums (Dendranthema x gran-

diflora) otherwise known as “mums” for short, are a favorite for the fall season be-cause of their spectacular color display. These plants bloom in a wide range of col-ors including: red, orange, yellow, purple, pink, and white. The flowers vary greatly and are classified based on their shape and petal arrangement.

Mums are considered an herbaceous pe-rennial, but are often treated as a fall flow-ering annual. If you have chrysanthemums already established in a landscape or plan to keep them as a perennial, then here are some useful tips on Chrysanthemum care and maintenance:

• Plant mums in the spring (typically mid-May) after the danger of frost has passed. Mums planted in the fall will not always over-winter well. If you do plan to plant mums in the fall, then be sure to provide adequate mulch to help stabilize soil temperatures and protect the plant roots during the winter months.

• Chrysanthemums are heavy nutrient feeders and thus need to be fertilized in the spring and summer. Applications of 10-10-10 or 20-20-20 can be applied in the spring around mid-May and then again in mid-July.

• In order to prevent early blooming and keep plants well-shaped and bushy, pinch-ing is required. Pinching involves removing the tips of plant branches. Chrysanthemums in the landscape should be pinched twice during the growing season. The first pinch should occur around June 4 and the sec-ond around July 4. Pinching the plants twice will allow for blooming to begin in mid to late August. If plants are deadheaded, then they should continue to bloom throughout the fall.

PoinsettiasStraw Bale Gardening

Straw bale gardening.....wait....what?!!! Yes that was my initial reaction as well! I was first in-troduced to straw bale gardening last year while working at one of the area nursing homes as a PRN Occupational Therapist. I saw first-hand the impact that such a garden had on the patients at the facility and from that point on I was sold and knew that I wanted to have my own straw bale gar-den the following spring. The straw bale garden enabled patients in wheelchairs, as well as those with limited range of motion and strength in other extremities to fully participate in all aspects of gar-dening, while offering just enough of a challenge to meet the physical and cognitive demand re-quired from a therapy standpoint and the harvest reaped was second to none. The veggies that the patients grew in these straw bales were big in size and quality of taste! You see straw bale garden-ing does not require the usual tilling, weeding, and hoeing that the traditional garden requires, which was a huge plus in my book!

So this past spring I started the simple process of “treating my bales”. Simply stated, I followed a specific fertiliz-er regimen for 10 days that readied my bales for plant-ing. There are tons of recommended fertilizer treatments out there if you look online or in any straw bale gardening resources. The one I followed was the same regimen followed by the therapists managing the straw bale garden at the nursing home that had inspired me. They have been working that straw bale garden at the nurs-ing home for several years now and every year they have great crop return after using that fertiliz-er method for treating their bales. I have listed the treatment regimen used below in case any of you reading this article are intrigued enough to give it a try:

• Water everyday• Days 1,3, and 5 = 1/2 cup of 34-0-0 fertilizer• Days 7-9 = 1/2 cup of 34-0-0 fertilizer

• Day 10 = 1 cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer• Plant and enjoy! I found both of the fertilizers at Lowe’s (34-0-0

& 10-10-10). They come in big bags and the bags will go a long way. My mother-in-law and I actually shared our fertilizer bags as she was wanting to start her a straw bale garden too! So aside from watering the bales thoroughly everyday and treat-ing as the regimen states above, there is really nothing else to it. It really is that simple! After the 10th day of treatment I planted my desired plants and seeds directly into my bales. I did use a small amount of potting soil on the top of my bales just so that the plant leaves did not directly touch the tops of the treated bales and get burned up since the fertilizer is sitting so heavily on the tops of the bales for a bit after planting. It will all eventually wash down into the bales. Once the bales are planted I found it best to hook up a soaker hose to water the bales good. That frequency was depen-dent on how much rain we had of course. I planted a traditional garden as well as a straw bale garden this year and I can honestly say that the quality and the quantity of the harvest was very compa-rable between the two, with the straw bale garden being little to no maintenance after planting. I start-ed out with four straw bales for my first year, but I can easily see myself planting several more in the years to come. The ease of straw bale gardening is second to none in my opinion. Having a tradi-tional garden that requires time consuming tilling, weeding, and hoeing versus having a no mainte-nance (other than watering) straw bale garden…there really is no comparison. Give it a try and see for yourself! If you have any questions, feel free to message me at Areynolds79@hotmail.com or call or text 270-577-1422. I am still learning, but I am always happy to talk gardening with anyone!

By Amanda Halcomb, Master Gardener Volunteer

Have you ever had an unwanted visitor slith-ering in your garden bed and wondered if it could be venomous? Well here are some key characteristics to distinguish venomous from non-venomous snakes in Kentucky (if you re-ally wanted to take a closer look)!

Head Shape: Typically, venomous snakes in Kentucky will have a triangular or ‘spade-shaped head, whereas non-venomous snakes will have a more rounded head. It is import-ant to note that some non-venomous snakes, like watersnakes, will flatten their heads when threatened and so may be confused with ven-omous snakes.

Pupil Shape: In Kentucky, non-venomous snakes have a round eye pupil, whereas ven-omous snakes have egg-shaped or cat-like (elliptical) pupils.

Pit: Venomous snakes have a sensory area

Snakes: Venomous or Non-Venomous?

Plate it up! Kentucky

ProudRecipe

for the Fall Season!!

on each side of the head known as a pit that resembles a nostril. Non-venomous snakes do not have pits.

Tail: Rattlesnakes will usually have rattles on their tail tips, and young cottonmouths and copperheads have bright yellow or greenish yellow tails.

Scale Arrangement: The underside scales of a snake can be checked as to whether they are venomous or non-venomous. These ar-rangements can be seen on shed skin as well. The scales of a venomous snake’s tail are a single row from the anal plate, although the very tip of the tail may have two scale rows. Non-venomous snakes have two rows of scales from the anal plate to the end of the tail.

For more pictures and information on snakes, visit the Kentucky Snake Identification Website at: http://kysnakes.ca.uky.edu/

September 11th: Seed Saving Workshop September 19th: Pinterest Club September 27th: Fall Lunch Gardening Series: All About BulbsSeptember 30th: Fall Plant Swap at Farmers MarketOctober 9th-13th: 4-H Fall Break Camps October 31st: Fall Lunch Gardening Series: Calling All Chocolate LoversNovember 21st: Fall Lunch Gardening Series: Sustainable LivingNovember 22nd: Farm City Breakfast at Greater Lighthouse Pentecostal ChurchDecember 19th: Fall Lunch Gardening Series: Poinsettia and Christmas Cactus Care

For more information or to RSVP, call the Hopkins CountyCooperative Extension Office at 270-821-3650.

Upcoming Events

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Hopkins County Horticulture Hopkins County Farmers Market

Master Gardeners, Pennyroyal

Interested in becoming a MasterGardener volunteer or Farmers Market

vendor? For more information,contact the Hopkins Co. Extension

Office at 270-821-3650.

Hopkins County Farmers Marketis open until October!

10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesdays

7:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays