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Decorate for the holidays with materials from your own backyard

By Theresa Friday

Many of us decorate our homes for the holidays and a great source for natural decorative material is your own backyard.

Greenery gathered from your own garden will be far fresher and more aromatic than any that you can buy. You may also have a variety of unusual greenery that would be difficult to find for purchase.

The best greenery for indoor decorations comes from cedar, ivy, pine and holly.  Pines, firs and cedars are especially good to use for indoor decoration since they dry out slowly and hold their needles best at warm interior temperatures. They may last for several weeks if properly treated and cared for.

Other greenery to consider includes arborvitae, ligustrum, pittosporum, podocarpus, viburnum, Leyland cypress, nandina and Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica).

When gathering live greenery from your shrubs and trees, remember that you are actually pruning the plants. Consider carefully which branches to cut and which ones to leave. Distribute the cuts evenly around the plant in order to preserve its natural form.

Use clean, sharp pruners to cut branches and immediately put the cut ends into water until ready to use.  Crushing the ends of woody stems allows them to take in more water.  And soaking the cuttings in water overnight allows the greenery to absorb the maximum amount of water. Commercial sprays are available that can be used to provide some fire resistance.

Never place fresh greenery near heat sources, such as space heaters, heater vents or sunny windows.  Keep greenery away from candles and fireplaces. If you use lights near your green arrangements, make sure that they stay cool, and if outside, that they are rated for exterior use.

Check your decorations every couple of days for freshness. If the greenery becomes dry, either replace or remove the dry portions. Make sure to discard dry greenery appropriately to prevent a fire hazard.

Also look for bright berries, decorative cones or pods. Attractive seed pods make great additions to dried arrangements. Look for magnolia and pine cones, sweet gum balls, tallow tree seeds, acorns, pecans (these can be glued into clusters with other nuts) and many others you can find in your yard.

The leafless branches of deciduous trees are excellent to use in dried arrangements. Try using branches of oak, sweet gum, crape myrtle and winged elm.

Be aware, however, that some popular plants used in holiday decorating can present poisoning hazards for small children or pets. Poisonous berries are found on holly plants, yews, mistletoe, ivy plants, Jerusalem cherry, and crown of thorns. The pearly white berries of mistletoe are particularly toxic. Keep all these plants out of the reach of children and curious pets.

When decorating this holiday season, be creative, and use what you have at hand. The items you can use are as common as the holly bushes in your front yard, or as simple as wild grasses, bare branches or clusters of berries. These materials are versatile, so use your imagination--create something beautiful out of your homegrown materials.

Watch for hitchhikers when you bring plants indoors

by Theresa Friday

Now that chilly weather has arrived in Northwest Florida, many cold-sensitive container plants need to be moved indoors for the winter.  Because conditions differ widely between the inside and the outside of your home, a gradual introduction to the indoors is best.  Sudden changes in temperature, light and humidity can be traumatic to plants, resulting in yellowed leaves, dieback, wilting, and even death.

You will need to bring your plants indoors before nighttime temperatures dip below 45 degrees F.  Many tropical plants will suffer damage at temperatures below 40 degrees F and a few at 50 degrees F.

When we bring in potted plants from the outside, we are always at risk of inviting in unwanted guests--like ants, termites and other pest insects. Soaking the pot in a tub of lukewarm water for about 15 minutes will force insects and other creatures out of the soil.  If snails, earthworms or insects burrowed in the soil, you might want to repot the plants, placing a piece of wire screening over the drainage hole to keep them out next year.

Also carefully examine the leaves, especially underneath, for signs of insect damage and insects themselves. The stems, nodes and joints should also be carefully examined as this is where insects like to hide. Use a magnifying glass to detect the presence of very tiny insects like spider mites or mealybugs.

There are a number of non-chemical methods to use if a pest problem exists. Spraying plants with a forceful stream of room temperature water will remove many of the smaller insects.  Washing plants every two weeks can also prevent pest problems by not allowing them to become established. This procedure also keeps plants dust free and healthier.

Using a mild soap solution to wash the plants is another way to control insects and clean the plant before moving indoors. Mix two tablespoons of liquid dish soap in a gallon of water and gently wash the bugs off the leaves of the plants with a soft cloth or sponge. It is important to use a very mild soap that does not contain anti-bacteria or degreaser ingredients.

For a light infestation of aphids or mealybugs, you can also use a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol to eliminate them. Lightly brush the bottom of the leaves where the insects are found. Be careful not to over apply or use too much rubbing alcohol on the swab, as this may burn the foliage.

To prevent shock when you bring houseplants indoors, expose plants gradually to reduced lighting.  Usually, if they've been in bright light and you move them into much lower light, expect some leaves to fall off.  However, new ones should form as the plants readapt to the lower light.  If they've been outside in high light, it's best to put them in similar light indoors like a south window or under plant lights on a timer for 16 hours a day.

Don't overwater!   Although our hot summer meant you probably had to water your container plants frequently, indoors they won't require as much water.  Let the soil surface get dry to the touch before watering.  Don't water during cloudy or rainy weather as plants won't get sufficient light indoors to dry out.

So move those plants indoors and help them continue to grow.

Grow a salad this winter by adding lettuce to your garden

By Theresa Friday

Cool days and chilly nights are just the kind of weather lettuce enjoys. Lettuce is a vegetable that is easy to grow and delicious.  Some lettuce varieties are also very attractive. So, whether you have a vegetable garden, flower garden or even a garden in containers on a balcony, try including some type of lettuce in your fall plantings.

According to Dan Gill, LSU AgCenter Horticulturist, lettuces were cultivated 3,000 years ago by the Babylonians and possibly earlier by the Chinese. Lettuce seeds were sealed in Egyptian tombs, and lettuces were served to Roman emperors. By 1865 seed companies offered 113 kinds to America's gardeners. Today lettuce is so popular that new and interesting varieties of lettuce appear in seed catalogs every year.

Although you may read about cultivating lettuce during the summer in northern states, our summer temperatures are too high for lettuce. Lettuce is a cool-season crop here along the Gulf Coast.

Garden lettuces can be divided into three classes based on growth habit- leaf or looseleaf types, semi-heading types such as butterhead and romaine and heading or crisphead types. Crisphead lettuces, such as the iceberg types, are more of a challenge to grow here, so it's recommended that you stay with the leaf and semi-heading cultivars.

Leaf lettuces are the most decorative, least demanding, and among the most heat-tolerant lettuces we can grow. Leaf lettuces are fast maturing and can be ready to begin harvesting just 40 days after planting. Harvesting is best done by cropping the plants regularly. When cropping, only the largest leaves are removed, which allows the plants to continue to grow and produce.

The butterhead lettuces have soft, tender leaves and relatively loose heads. Their fragile leaves make them difficult to ship and pricey at the supermarket. But these delicious butterheads are quite easy to grow. They can be harvested by cropping, or an entire plant may be harvested as the center leaves grow over and form a loose head.

Romaine lettuces are tall, upright and thick-leaved. Their thick midribs and sweet, juicy texture have made them especially prized for salads. The foliage can be red or green, smooth or ruffled.

Lettuce transplants of various types generally are available in area nurseries. You will find a much larger selection of cultivars available from seeds.

Plant lettuce seeds into well-prepared beds that have been amended by digging in a 2-inch layer of organic matter, such as compost, and an all-purpose granular fertilizer. Lettuce seeds need light to germinate, so they are simply pressed or lightly raked into the soil surface. Water frequently until they germinate, and once they come up thin the plants to the appropriate spacing. The average spacing is about 10 inches between plants.

For best quality, lettuce must be encouraged to grow rapidly. This is accomplished by keeping the plants well watered and fertilized. Water thoroughly during dry weather, and keep the plants mulched to prevent drought stress. Stress from drought, heat or low fertility encourages the lettuce to become bitter.

Even though lettuce is best grown here in the winter, hard freezes can damage the foliage. If temperatures in the mid-20s or lower are predicted, throw a layer of pine straw or sheets of fabric over the plants to prevent frost burn.

Looseleaf lettuce is best harvested by cropping. Butterhead can be harvested by cropping or cutting the entire plant, and romaine is best if the entire plant is harvested when ready. All lettuce should be harvested by early to mid-May, since high temperatures will cause the lettuce to become increasingly bitter and to bolt (send up a flower stalk).

Its beauty, ease of culture and delicious foliage make lettuce an excellent choice for any gardener.

Mexican tarragon is the marigold of the herb garden

by Theresa Friday

Tarragon is a perennial herb with a wonderful slight anise flavor.  It is also a beautiful ornamental landscape plant that rewards us with beautiful yellow flowers this time of year.

Cooks agree that tarragon has much more flavor when fresh. Unlike most of the other herbs, tarragon loses the potency of its flavor when dried. When using tarragon in cooked dishes, it is best to add it at the end, as heat tends to decrease its flavor. This may be one reason it is so frequently preserved in vinegar, which captures tarragon's essence and creates a tasty condiment that can be used in many sauces.

French tarragon is the classic variety.  Unfortunately, it does not grow well in the Gulf Coast's hot and humid summers.  So if you want to add a wonderful fresh tarragon flavor to your dishes, cooks and gardeners can substitute Mexican tarragon.

Mexican tarragon (Tagetes lucida) is native to Mexico and Guatemala and loves the heat and humidity, providing abundant leaves for cooking all summer. The flavor of Mexican tarragon is a bit spicier than that of French tarragon, having an accent of cinnamon in addition to the sweet licorice taste normally associated with tarragon. It can be used in the same manner as French tarragon, and gives whatever dish it is in an extra dimension of zest.

Mexican tarragon is also called Spanish tarragon or Mexican mint marigold. It is related to the marigolds we grow as summer annual bedding plants. This becomes apparent in late summer and fall when these plants burst into bloom with clusters of bright gold flowers. The pretty yellow flowers are a tasty and beautiful addition to fresh green salads.

Mexican tarragon is an attractive landscape ornamental.  It produces a delicate, understated small shrub that isn't gaudy or flashy. Use it in perennial borders where its shiny green leaves and little golden flowers make a polite, subtle statement.

Mexican tarragon is carefree, generally pest free and easy to grow.  This reliable perennial grows in sunny spots but will tolerate partial shade.  It prefers well drained soil and is fairly drought tolerant.  As with most herbs, Mexican tarragon does not like "wet feet." Water only when needed, preferably in the morning. The ideal watering method for herbs, in general, is drip irrigation. A drip irrigation system can be as simple as a soaker hose snaked under the mulch to a commercially installed one. Avoid feast or famine watering cycles, and strive for a consistent level of moisture for optimal growing performance.

In zone 8, this plant does go dormant with the first freeze but comes back reliably from its roots in the spring. The plants are generally about 3 feet tall, depending on how much you have harvested them and you can harvest the foliage all summer long.

It's best to harvest on a regular basis. The more often herb plants are cut, the better the plants thrive and produce. The best time of day to harvest herbs is early morning (oil content is at its highest), and the best time of the season is prior to blooming. Some experts believe that stress brings out the aroma and flavor of herbs, so do not over water or overfeed.

To preserve fresh tarragon that cannot be used in a few days, try freezing it. Simply put the stripped leaves in a freezer bag or container and freeze dry. You can also stretch the fresh life of tarragon 3-4 days by placing it in a jar of water in the refrigerator. Any fresh tarragon that cannot be used within one week of picking or purchasing should be frozen.