First of all, don’t throw that seed away, especially if you purchased it this year.  Seed can still be viable for a period of time as long as it is kept in the proper conditions.  You will want to store it airtight, in a cold and dark location for best results.  Here are some rough guidelines on vegetable seed viability:

• One Year–onions, parsnips, and parsley

• Two Years–leeks, sweet corn, peppers, and okra

• Three Years–Chinese cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, celery, celeriac, spinach, beans, and peas

• Four Years–cabbage, Brussels sprouts, beets, Swiss chard, cauliflower, eggplant, turnips, chicory, fennel, mustard, kale, rutabaga, pumpkin, tomatoes, sorrel, watermelon, and squash

• Five Years–garden cress, cardoon, endive, muskmelon, collard greens, cucumber, and radishes

• Six Years–lettuces

Hopefully that will get you started.  Be sure to come back and check out our Weekend Project this week.  We will be showing you how to make a simple seed saver that you can use to keep your leftover seeds organized and transportable.

Zones can be confusing as many times people interchange the Western Gardening zones with the USDA planting zones.  These two zoning methods are very different from one another.  Here at Successful Gardens, we are using the USDA planting zones as a reference guide.  To make it easy for you to find your own planting zone, we have created a special page on the website, Hardiness Zone Map.  Just look on the map for the location that you live and see which color is referenced for your area.  Then reference the color to the key and you will then know which hardiness zone you are living in.

Knowing and understanding which gardening zone you are in is important.  This helps you to know which plants might grow in your area and which ones will have difficulty.  After all, it makes sense that you can’t plant an orange tree outside year round if you live in an arctic tundra.  We hope this will help you save some money by only buying plants for your zone.

Is there any special about planting a Rose of the Year?

Depending on which Rose of the Year you are looking for, will depend on what you are getting.  Most rose breeding/grower companies will name one of the introductions as their Rose of the Year.  However, if you were looking at one of the Rose of Year introductions from the UK then you would have one of the best of the best.  In North America you want to look for the distinction of an AARS (All American Rose Selection) winner.

AARS is a non-profit, industry-sponsored organization that has been testing roses for their qualities since 1938.  Roses, before they are named or introduced to the public, are tested for two years by rose judges in various public trial gardens throughout the United States. They are scored on 15 relevant characteristics, varying from growing habit of the plant, flower habit and color, to plants being disease resistant.

These scores or grades are collected and tabulated.  By having such a wide range of growing conditions will help in balancing regional characteristics. Once scores at gathered, the highest scoring roses receive the distinctive honor of being an AARS winner.  There is no set number of winners each year.  2010 had only one winner, Easy Does It, whereas 1948 had six winners.

Now this doesn’t mean that you need to ignore all of the other rose introductions, there are hundreds to enjoy. In fact that might be a lofty goal to have for your rose garden. As for my rose garden I am trying to establish a AARS birth garden: Planting all of the roses that received the AARS distinction from the years that members of my family were born.

Roses that you plant should have something that you find irresistible.  Some people are happy with one or two roses in their yards; others might want all the roses that they can possibly plant.

Which roses do you have planted in your garden?

Here  is the link for the All-American Rose Selection winners.

Here is the link for the Rose of the Year United Kingdom.

What do I do about the weeds in my lawn?

Your lawn can offer several different types of weeds that need to be controlled; do you know what kind of weeds you have growing in your lawn?

In the lawn there are two types of weeds that you want to control: Broadleaf weeds and grassy weeds. Broadleaf weeds, known as dicotyledons, would be like your clover, dandelion, mallow, etc whereas grassy weeds, monocotyledon,  would be like crabgrass, quack grass, nut grass, and other narrow bladed grasses that you don’t want to grow in your lawn.

Most advertising would have you think that you need to apply a weed and feed to your lawn in order to control most weeds.  However, for best results a weed and feed works best in the fall, about mid-September to late October, when all perennial weeds are out and are getting ready for winter.

Weed and Feeds, simplistically do two things: Kill broadleaf weeds that the chemical comes in contact with and then feeds the lawn.  Read the instructions to fully understand and know how to use these products.  You must have a wet lawn so that the weed killer will “stick” to the wet leaf of the weed and kill it.  Don’t water you lawn for 36-48 hours after applying the product. The weeds that this will kill are weeds that are already leafed out.  A Weed and Feed will not prevent weeds from sprouting unless it contains a pre-emergent chemical.

There are pre-emergent type of weed controls that when applied correctly will prevent weeds from growing.  However, they mostly will NOT kill already growing weeds.  Make sure that you again read, understand, and follow the label directions so that you will not miss-use the chemicals and then have problems where you have applied the chemicals.

Then you do have the liquid spray chemicals that you would mix up in a spray tank or connect to you hose and then apply the liquid mix to the weeds in your lawn.  This is the method I prefer to use in my lawn, because I can spot treat only in the areas that I need too.

Be careful when you use any type of chemicals on your lawn. Always read and follow the instructions.  Wind can carry the chemicals to plants nearby causing damage to them, be careful.  However, when used correctly, herbicides can offer you a nice reward with a beautiful weed free lawn.

Do you have a gardening question?  Ask us!  Leave a comment here or e-mail us your question @ info@successfulgardens.com .   We will answer your gardening question here in the Ask the Gardener column published each Monday, or in our monthly newsletter.  Happy Gardening!

What is the best way to build a seed germinating chamber?

Many gardeners have tried a lot of different methods in trying to get their seeds to germinate, but had little or no success.  The general failure might be attributed not to just one step, but maybe a combination of problems. But let’s start with the chamber first.

The size of the chamber needs to be large enough to hold as many trays that you are going to start your seeds in. Also you must consider the size of heat mat you are going to use…yes I said a heat mat.

You can build your chamber frame out of 2×2 lumber boards, creating a 2 level or shelf box:  Simply having 4 legs, two shelves with cross rungs or planks to hold your seed trays.  Sorry I don’t have building plans available, because rather than building it out of lumber, I purchased a stacking shelf unit from the hardware store.

You can cover the chamber frame or shelves with clear vinyl sheeting, purchased from a fabric store, draping the sheeting like a tent.  Place the heat mat on the second shelf, then the trays on the mat. Or you can purchase your seed trays with clear germinating domes from your local garden center. The dome sits on top of the seed tray creating your germination chamber without having to actually build one.

As you can see there are different ways to build your seed chambers.  However, keeping it simple is easier than you might think.