D and D's Plants and Things

09/12/2025

Cephalanthus in backyard.

05/29/2024

With Scandinavians in Indianapolis – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

05/29/2024

08/01/2023

Two stellar lunar events are happening this August, with a sturgeon supermoon happening on Aug. 1, and then a rare blue supermoon on Aug. 30.

09/05/2022

Maggie is looking for 😊 fun.

In the yard today … Maggie enjoys some sunshine in the yard, exploring around the fire pit and looking for trouble.

09/18/2019

It's almost fall and that means its time to plant peonies, poppies and iris. Also, don't forget to set your big bulbs like tulips about a foot deep regardless of what it says on the package. Central Indiana has a lot pof freezing and thawing of the ground and "heaving of new plants up out of it. That's why we don't mulch perennials and roses until Christmas when the ground should be fully frozen. Use well draining material like ground up corncobs or maple leaves (but not oak) and put a ring around it about 18-inches high. This will help hold it in place and costs nothing when made out of several layers of folded newspaper.

02/28/2019

Only three weeks till spring. Time to start peppers and any slow growing herbs like sage and thyme. Rosemary is easier to buy. In two weeks it will be ok to start tomatoes inside. They can be laid down horizontally under the garden soil if they get too tall or leggy. Flowers like impatiens and petunias can be started now too. The frost date here is around Mothers' Day. So after that it's safe to plant out all tender flowers and veg. Till then plant out cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprout plants since they can take a light frost.

12/20/2018

Don't be fooled by the weather. It will get really cold. Now is the time to mulch your roses and other perennials if the ground around them is frozen. Use old leaves or pine needles or something that drains well and breaks down. Straw is good too. Make a cage around the plant with chicken wire or folded newspaper (the long way) so that its about 18 inches tall (knee high). Then fill with your mulch. This should protect them until spring from the heaving of the soil we get in Indiana from alternate freezing and thawing. We keep the soil frozen and the roots are protected. And the roots are the most important part of the plant right now. If they are white they are healthy, but if they are brown and black they are rotten. Good winterizing!

09/24/2018

Only 3 weeks till frost date. Time to bring in the houseplants. Spray them off with a hose first so they are nice and clean.

08/28/2018

The heat is burning the plants. Make sure they have water and fertilizer until frost and they will keep growing.