It's Blueberry Week, but Watch Out for Birds | The Compleat Home Gardener
Plus, we'll share some poppy tips with you.
Marianne Binetti will be doing a “Colors of the Seasons” presentation on Zoom today, July 10th at 6pm. If you'd like to attend, email kirstena@kcwd90.com. Additionally, a “Container Gardening Tips and Tricks” community garden demo will be held at The Shark Garden in Burien on July 13th. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-class-dos-and-donts-of-container-gardening-with-marianne-benetti-tickets-933986186827?aff=oddtdtcreator (or come in person).
The second week of July is the time to protect blueberry plants from birds, prune dying perennials, and continue deadheading summer annuals and hanging baskets. In the vegetable garden, keep tomato plants constantly moist but avoid wetting the leaves, which can promote late blight and other fungal diseases. Keep an eye on weeds and hoe, pull or kill them before they flower and go to seed.
Q. What should I do after the poppies bloom? I have yellow California poppies (I think) that I'm growing, and they're no longer blooming and the leaves are turning yellow. They're also starting to spread to other areas. PG, Bonney Lake
A. Dead poppies can be cut back to ground level after flowering to clear up your garden. Pruning poppies after flowering will encourage them to bloom again next year. This is because small-flowered annual poppies form seed pods after flowering, and if you leave just one flower, the pod will ripen and burst, leaving hundreds of poppy seeds behind, releasing many tiny seeds around it. Wind and wildlife then scatter these seeds throughout your garden. You can enjoy reseeding annuals as a colorful addition to your landscape, or you can prune them before they go to seed, rake up the dead seed pods, and bury the germinated seeds under mulch 2 to 3 inches deep. California poppy seeds like to be exposed to sun and heat to ripen, so fresh mulch with the seeds buried now will prevent most germination in the spring.
Q. I have a large pink oriental poppy with black eyes. It is beautiful only for a few days when the stems grow and droop, and the petals fall in a blanket. The leaves of this perennial poppy also turn yellow and fall to the ground. So I tried to dig it up and move it to a more inconspicuous spot. And lo and behold, the messy poppy has reappeared in the same spot, in a new place. I feel as if I am haunted by a ghost. Any advice? P.S., Olympia
A. Oriental poppies have deep root systems, so if you try to remove the plant but miss one root, a new plant will grow, stronger than before. You can dig deep and sift through the soil to find all the roots, or cover the remaining roots with boulders or stepping stones to prevent the new shoots from getting any sunlight and allow them to rot. As for the leaves, feel free to cut off the dead leaves on your Oriental poppy. Even if you cut off the stem and leaves all the way to ground level, fresh new shoots will regrow. The giant flowers on this variety of poppy look like they are made of tissue paper. If you can't remove the plant, try enjoying them as cut flowers.
Tip: Harvest Oriental poppy flowers when the buds are just beginning to open. To seal the cutting, immerse the cutting in 12 inches of hot water for a few minutes. Then add cold water and leave overnight before using in an arrangement.
Q. How do I stop the birds from eating all my blueberries? They wait until the berries are ripe and then eat them all in one night! W., Email
A. Ripe blueberries are popular with birds, so you need to protect the berries while they are still green or unripe. A practical and efficient way is to put each blueberry bush in a mesh bag with a drawstring bottom that tightens around the base of the shrub. These bird and insect bags are sold at garden centers and online. You can also try Bird Flash Tape, a reflective, shiny, tape-like streamer sold in the Seed Rack section where Ed Hume Seeds are sold. The trick here is to tie the Flash Tape around the entire blueberry bush just before the berries ripen. That way, it will be a new and amazing sight to scare birds. Add a few plastic snakes (you can find them at the dollar store) and clip them to the top of the shrub. Now only the bravest birds will try to steal the berries.
Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of “Easy Answers for Great Gardens” and several other books. To request a book or answer your gardening question, send a letter to PO Box 872, Enumclaw, 98022. Please send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. This column is copyrighted by Marianne Binetti. For more gardening information, visit her website at www.binettigarden.com.
