Hort Shorts
- Monarch butterflies live on nectar sipped from a wide variety of flowers, but their caterpillars feed solely on the leaves of the milkweed plant. Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, and swamp milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, are popular perennials that gardeners plant to attract female monarch butterflies to lay their eggs. The tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, which is an annual flower in most of North Carolina, is another good garden variety.
- Rain barrels are a great way to capture and conserve water for irrigation, but many creative solutions are available to the home gardener. Some other sources to explore are air conditioner condensation, water from the dehumidifier, water captured while waiting for the shower to warm, or water collected from hand dishwashing. For more information about water conservation in the garden, visit
http://ncbg.unc.edu/pages/96. - The Agronomic Division of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services provides free soil testing to any resident of North Carolina. The tests are either predictive, which estimates the nutrient requirements of the plants to be grown in the approaching season, or diagnostic, which identifies nutrient-related problems that happen during the growing season. For information on how to collect, package and submit samples, visit www.agr.state.nc.us/agronomi/sthome.htm, or call your local Cooperative Extension office. Find your county phone number at www.ces.ncsu.edu/index.php?page=countycenters.
- Tomato transplants that are tall or leggy will fare better in the garden when planted via the trench method. Remove all the bottom leaves of the potted plant. Dig a horizontal trench several inches deep, then lay the plant on its side and cover with soil, leaving only the top few leaves above the ground. The plant will develop new roots along the submerged stem, providing a sturdy foundation. An alternative solution is to dig a hole deep enough to sink the plant down to its top cluster of leaves.