Growing Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum)

Hens and Chicks also called Houseleeks are cold hardy perennial broadleaf evergreen succulents. Hens and Chicks are extremely cold hardy to USDA Zone 3 (-40°F). They may suffer at those temps, but should bounce back. They are guaranteed hardy to Zone 4 (-30°F). Since these guys are succulents, they do not like wet soils. They need full sun, and require excellent drainage. If your soil is all clay, make sure the soil is away from standing water, like on top of a mound, or protected from rain. Another way to make drainage better is to add organic matter to the soil. Adding sand to clay does NOT equal better drainage. This will actually fill up even more pores in the soil, thus having even worse drainage than before. Add fertilizer, or compost to the soil will loosen up drainage. One other thing you can add to loosen up drainage is adding perlite. This is a fine pebble like material that is good at absorbing oxygen and helping soil to dry. I have experimented with Hens and Chicks indoors, and they do not require a dormant state every Winter. They can be grown as houseplants, or in tropical regions. I mix them with my other regular succulents.

NatureMan

Growing Rosemary

Rosemary is a popular herb. It is extremely aromatic, and is fabulous for cooking, or just for smelling! It's foliage is cooked into or on top of meats, fish, vegetables, soups.. It's flowers are crushed to make oil, and perdfumes. Rosemary is also used as a mini Christmas tree. It is sold at stores around Christmas time in a pyramid/Christmas tree shape. People can walk by and have a delightful holiday smell fill the room! Rosemary requires excelent drainage to survive. It willl survive areas with lots of rain, but is absolutly essential to have excellent drainage for it to thrive there in that rainy spot. Only water in the summer if potted, or in the desert in the ground. Otherwise, it should handle the summer heat. Rosemary needs full sun. It can take part shade, but won't perform its best. Rosemary is very finicky indoors. Winters (at least in Indiana) are very cloudy. Days on end can be cloudy here. Even in a full sun spot by the window, the Rosemary could die. Or even if you have sunny Winters an area not directly in a sunny window may die. Since it is cooler inside, it takes longer for traditional potting mix to dry, and any remaining moisture for more than a day or two will rot the plant. Make sure you water it only when the soil is completely gone dry, and is in the brightest window of your home. It can also be grown under grow lights as well. Rosemary is freeze tolerant to a certain degree. It is hardy between 15°F to 20°F. It will only briefly survive temps in the teens. There are cultivars that are hardy below 0°F. These cultivars include 'Arp', 'Alcalde', 'Madeline Hill', and 'Athens Blue Spire'. These varieites are hardy in USDA Zones: 6-11. They can survive zone 5 with protection from winter winds. I have had success growing 'Arp' Rosemary in my USDA Zone: 5b in Indianapolis. It survived temps into the negative single digits with minimal damage. However on January 31, 2019 the polar vortex brought temps to -13°F with strong winds over 30 mph. I had protected it with multiple layers of burlap, but got zapped by the cold anyways. I have a rooted cutting from that plant before it died. I am also ordering more 'Arp' Rosemary plants this Summer, and have a new plan for winter protection next winter. 🤞

Also really popular varieties are weeping. Several weeping varieties do exist, and are beautiful drooping over planters, or walls.

Where temps stay warmer than -10°F at all times, the cold hardy cultivars I mentioned above should succeed with minimal damage. If temps colder than -10°F are expected provide extreme protection by means of burlap, heat lamp, or a box or cold frame of somekind to protect from the wind. Or a much easier route will be to dig it up and bring it inside untill it warms up.

Good luck!

NatureMan

Spring Window-Box Planter

I made a Window-Box planter with Spring annuals. It consists of Pansies, Dusty Millers, and Weeping Rosemary. All are freeze tolerant. Pansies are the most cold tolerant annual I know of. Pansies are cold hardy to 10°F. They will die back around 0°F, but they come back from the roots if that cold is very brief. Dusty Miller is hardy to 10°F. It may survive near 0°F, but will die back and may come back from the roots. Rosemary is hardy between 15°F to 20°F. While some cultivars are known to survive sub-zero °F, but Weeping Rosemary has the same hardiness as traditional Rosemary. Here in Indy the temp is not going to get any lower than 20°F till next Fall. My last frost will be in about a month or so. I hope this inspires you all to make your own awesome spring planters! 🌿🌷🌸🌼🏵️

Indianapolis, IN
USDA Zone: 5b

'Edith Bogue' Southern Magnolia Update: 3/4/19

This is an update post to my 'Edith Bogue' Southern Magnolia tree I planted last summer. Here in Indianapolis, Indiana in USDA Zone 5b the coldest temperature this winter has dipped to -13°F with winds howling at the time, winds at that coldest temp was taken at nearly 30-40 mph. (Note: only humans detect wind chill, not plants) The strong winds along with those cold temps burned one side of the tree facing the wind. While the other side not facing the wind had virtually no winter damage at all. As long as the temps in the winter do not get colder than -20°F the tree will survive and send new sprouts in the Spring. So on my tree, many leaves have burned or partially burned, but many are still unaffected as well. For anyone who has a Southern Magnolia in a northern climate, do not dig up or discard your tree if you see lots of brown on the tree before the next growing season. The new growth will form in the spring and push off all the dead foliage. Always wait until spring to determine if your tree is dead. There is a big 20' tall by 10' to 15' wide ish 'Edith Bogue' Southern Magnolia outside a local nursery here in Indianapolis. It has been in the ground for well over a decade. The tree there has experienced temps down to -25°F with winds blowing more than 30 mph during that time in the winter of 2014. Every single leaf on the tree burned. It most certainly looked dead. It wasn't dead though, just about every branch survived and sprouted leaves. The new sprouts pushed off all the dead leaves. By the end of the following summer, you wouldn't have even known it was damaged by the cold. It has done this at least a few other cold winters as well when temps dipped below -10°F.

Today is March 4. Indianapolis last night tied the record for the coldest temperature for this date. The record was set back in 1871. The low last night dipped down to 2°F. Sub-freezing highs and lows will continue until this weekend when highs are going to get into the mid 50s. Signs point to REAL Spring staying after this week. This month has literally been "March comes in like a Lion, and out like a Lamb."

NatureMan