Garden Detective

The Conard-Pyle Co., known since 1925 as the "Star Roses growers," has unveiled it's new introductions for 2007.

The Rainbow Knock Out®
Low-maintenance RULES! That's why Knock Outs are my favorites. This compact, vigorous growing shrub by renown breeder William Radler, will bloom from spring until frost and resist disease.

Liv Tyler
Named for the beautiful actress whose father is the flamboyant front man for a certain legendary rock band, this incredibly fragrant Romantica® Hybrid Tea blooms in delicate coral-pink. Great for cutting.

Mother of Pearl™
A grandiflora that performs equally well in cooler climates and hot, humid zones. Exceptionally winter hardy and resistant to black spot, the MOP produces 3 to 3 1/2-inch mildly scented blooms.

Coral Drift®
Tight on space? The Drift® Series of Roses offers the most compact groundcover ever introduced by Conard-Pyle. Coral is the most rounded of the series; other colors include Ivory, Peach, Pink, Red and White.


Sweet Promise™
The Romantica® hybrid tea has Old World appeal and is ideal for cutting. Its 3 to 3 1/2-inch blooms boast 40-50 petals apiece and keep performing all season long.

1. If you haven't saved cell packs from last year's plants, you can purchase inexpensive ones at your local nursery. Alternately, you can start seeds in clean yogurt containers or even in egg cartons. Fill the container with a soil-less seed starting mix (never use garden soil, as it's too dense and can contain organisms that could lead to disease) and sow 3 or 4 seeds per cell. You can thin them later, applying 'survival of the fittest' methodology. Water thoroughly (taking care not to wash away the seeds) and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

2. Set in a warm, cozy spot, out of direct sunlight. The top of your refrigerator is ideal. Check moisture levels periodically and water as necessary. Keep an eye out for "damping off," an airborne fungal disease that thrives when seed trays are kept in cool, damp, dark locations. You'll recognize it by a characteristic white mold layer on the soil's surface. If this happens, scrape it off and allow 'soil' to dry completely between waterings. Some people swear by their home remedies to prevent the scourge. I haven't tried any of these personally, but that doesn't mean they don't work. Here are some of the most popular:
          Cinnamon powder has fungicidal properties. Sprinkle some on your seed trays.
          Mist seedlings and mediums with cool Chamomile tea.
          Combine 1 minced clove of garlic with 2 cups of water. Cover and allow it to steep for 24 hours. Strain and mist over seedlings.

3. When seedlings pop up, remove the plastic wrap and place containers in a bright, sunny location or under fluorescent lamps, where they'll be exposed to a good 14 hours of light daily.

4. After the last frost -- no sooner than tax day -- "harden off" your plants by placing them outdoors for increasingly longer periods. Pick a shady spot that's protected from the wind and start off with just a half hour the first day. Over the next 2 weeks or so, work up to about 8 hours of outdoor time per day. Be sure to continue watering throughout the hardening process. Your plants will be ready for transplanting in the garden after hardening as long as nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees. I usually wait until Mother's Day.

It's time to start seeds indoors for springtime planting. (Interested in swapping? click here.) Before getting to work, though, you should consider past successes and failures. Experts at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County say the only way to control certain diseases, like wilt in tomatoes and mosaic virus on cucumbers, is to stick to resistant varieties.

Vegetable specialists from Cornell University have prepared a list of suggested varieties for 2007 that perform well on Long Island. Recommendations for early tomatoes include Cascade, Sunrise, Early girl or Lemon Boy. For cucumbers, try Marketmore 76, Burpless Hypbrid ll, Orient Express, Spacemaster or Sweet Slice.

For the complete list of suggested vegetable varieties and heirlooms, consult the Nassau County CCE's Home Grounds fact sheet.

Just quickly want to let you know about a Web site that posts current sales and ever-elusive, never-available-when-you-need-'em discount codes for seeds, plants and garden supplies. For a listing of online deals, from nurseries and garden product catalogs and Web sites, visit GardenBargainsOnline.com.

One thing I've learned about gardeners is we all love to share. Sometimes, though, it can be difficult to find like-minded folks to share with -- or who'd like to reciprocate. So I've created the all-new official Garden Detective Long Island Seed Exchange.

Just a few rules to note before you get started:

1. Do not offer to buy or sell seeds. This is a trade, and as such, no money can be exchanged.

2. Nobody wants old seeds. Be sure to list seeds from last season only.

3. Please refrain from listing or requesting invasive species. They might be beautiful, but they're bad for the environment.

4. Sorry, out-of-towners, this seed exchange network is limited to residents of Long Island and the 5 boroughs of New York City.

5. Please use these all-caps tags in your subject line: WANTED and OFFERING. For example,"WANTED cherry tomato/OFFERING 25 gaillardia. (Be sure to indicate the number of seeds you are offering. Twenty-five is the suggested offering.) Use Latin botanical names, if available.

6. Next, in the COMMENTS section, enter your email address. PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR HOME ADDRESS OR PHONE NUMBER IN THIS FORUM. If there is anything special about your seeds (are they organic? Did their mother produce award-winning blooms?) be sure to mention that, too.

7. When an interested party has contacted you, privately arrange to send each other self-addressed stamped envelopes. Wrap your seeds in a piece of paper (never use plastic,) enclose in the envelope and ship. If your seeds are very large, be sure to mention that, as they will likely require extra postage and / or special handling to ensure they don't break through an ordinary envelope in transit. In such cases, a padded mailer would do the trick.

8. When you have made a successful trade, please post another message with COMPLETED in the subject field and your email address and original offering in the Comments section. I will periodically remove these, but in the meantime others will get to see that your seeds are no longer available.

9. This year, the exchange has been expanded to include divided perennials. These should be packed carefully either in small pots or with water-soaked paper towels surrounding the exposed roots. Put a plastic bag over the towel for good measure and secure it with a rubber band. Please DO NOT arrange to meet anyone in person.

10. Jessica Damiano will not be involved in any swaps you arrange and cannot mediate any unforeseen problems that might arise.. (However, she might participate in swaps from time to time.)

HAPPY SWAPPING!

Click HERE to get started.