Introduction to bromeliad care: Tips from Paul Wingert

Text and photos by Sandie Parrott

Water. They must never dry out; too dry is worse than too wet. For types with overlapping leaf bases, keep the vase area full of water. Overflow a bit for the roots. Large plants can hold several gallons of water. For terrestrial types without a vase area: keep them evenly moist; they can tolerate some dryness.

Air. Air plants (Tillandsia) are named after a botanist that was afraid of water. Mist every couple of days or dunk and soak one hour, every other week. Air plants need good air circulation—use a fan indoors in the winter and hang them outside during the summer. If elevated, you don’t have to deal with sow bugs or other ground pests.

Light. In summer, bromeliads will do well where hosta plants grow well. Wingert also uses 40 percent shade cloth on his shade house. For winter, they need all the light they can get: a south, west, or east window, or better yet, a greenhouse.

Soil. For vase plants, Wingert makes his own mix of 1/3 perlite and lava rock, 1/3 cypress mulch and aged pine bark (fine), and 1/3 peat moss. For terrestrials like Cryptanthus, Dyckia, and Orthophytum, he uses a professional soilless mix.

Pots. Wingert uses plastic. They are lightweight and fit the pot rings in his shade house. Most bromeliads like to be pot-bound.

Fertilizer. This is a constant source of debate. Some experts do not fertilize. It is believed by some that if you want more flowers and don’t care about the foliage, it is alright to fertilize. If you decide to fertilize, use water soluble fertilizer added to water. Place some in the innermost cup of the plant and a little on the soil. Bromeliads cannot handle urea or copper; make sure fertilizer does not contain either one. Air plants (Tillandsia) need high nitrogen. Guzmanias, billbergias and vriesias prefer an orchid-type fertilizer; they will bloom much better. Neoregelias need a low nitrogen fertilizer, like a cactus fertilizer.

Pests. Not a lot of pest problems exist for bromeliads. Scale will create spotting but won’t kill the plant. Use insecticidal soap and scrub lightly. Rub them off if dead. Reapply the soap in two weeks if the infestation is bad. Mealy bug may appear on flower spikes, but it shouldn’t be a concern. Watch for chipmunks planting or spreading seeds in pots.

Foliage maintenance. It is natural for the lower leaves to brown and dry; just remove them. You can carefully trim brown tips with scissors.

Propagation. Plants form pups or offshoots after they bloom. Remove them when they are 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the mother plant. Sever as close to the mother plant as possible and plant separately.

Seeds and plants. Seeds can be collected from plants or purchased. Most serious growers use their own seed or obtain seeds at seed exchanges from other growers. The Bromeliad Society International has a list of companies selling plants and seeds; visit www.bsi.org.

To learn more or attend a Southeast Michigan Bromeliad Society event, visit their website: www.bromeliad.society.gardenwebs.net/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are additional photos from the Applewood feature in the May issue of Michigan Gardener. If you can’t find a copy of the print edition, click here to check out the May 2012 e-edition.

One of the two majestic burr oaks stands beside the rose garden, which also has many other perennials and annuals. (Photo: Sandie Parrott)

The branches of this sugar maple are allowed to grow down to the ground. “It is very happy with all the space, water, and fertile soil it needs,” said Program Coordinator Rebecca Stack. (Photo: Applewood Staff)

Above: Originally the caretaker for the farm and animals lived in the gate house, pictured in the 1930s. Below: It has housed the estate’s archives and now serves as intern housing. (Old photo: Applewood archives / New photo: Applewood staff)

The demonstration garden in the early 2000s. This used to be the farmland and is now utilized to show new plant varieties, plant combinations, herbs, and vegetables to the public. (Photo: Applewood staff)

This perennial hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Southern Belle’) is hardy to zone 4. It is cut back to 3 inches each fall. It comes up late in the spring, so having a permanent tag or stake in the ground is important so the plant won’t accidentally be dug up. (Photo: Ryan Garza)

This gorgeous bloom is peacock flower or Abyssinian gladiolus (Gladiolus callianthus ‘Murielae’). A member of the iris family, it blooms in late summer and is a fragrant, tender bulb that must be stored in winter or purchased yearly. (Photo: Sandie Parrott)

Above left: Rub the leaves of this popcorn cassia (Cassia didymobotrya) and it smells like buttered popcorn. This tropical must be treated as an annual and needs lots of water. It has yellow blooms for up to 6 months. Above right: This variegated fig tree bonsai started as a gift included in a planter from a co-worker when McCormack’s father died in 1991. She keeps it as a houseplant, but puts it outside in the summer. (Photo: Sandie Parrott)

Each year, McCormack’s backyard floods until about May. Yet her garden dries and bounces back the rest of the year. (Photo: Margot McCormack)

In 2008 McCormack worked on a Tournament of Roses parade float at the Burbank float barn. She volunteered for three days and had her camera at the ready because she heard HGTV would visit. Paul James graciously agreed to have his picture taken while there. (Photo: Margot McCormack)

“I bought this Japanese tree peony about 20 yrs ago. It adds one more blossom each year. It never fails that we will get a downpour when it looks its best, so it has a very short appearance. The flower petals are so delicate, like tissue paper. I am guessing it might be ‘Yachiyotsubaki’ tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Yachiyotsubaki’).” (Photo: Margot McCormack)

More stories about enthusiastic gardeners in the Westacres community:

Photos by Sandie Parrott
Mary Beth Ridenour’s trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is around 80 years old. It was moved from a previous home where it grew for many years.

Mary Beth Ridenour

Ridenour’s husband planted over 50 trees and conifers in the originally sparse yard. Just for fun, a red bird relaxes in the arms of this weeping Norway spruce.Dramatic conifers, trees, a bridge, and a giant 80-year-old trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) make up Ridenour’s garden. The vine was moved from a previous house. Concerning its care she said, “I just prune it a little, nothing else. It is just in the right spot—hummingbirds love it.”

In 1971, Ridenour moved into her house that was originally built in 1935. She lived two miles away, rode the Westacres bus and wanted to live in the neighborhood. She attended a meeting and found out a house was available. “No outside advertising was done back then; only word of mouth,” she remembered.

“It was Bill’s garden (her husband, now deceased). I never gardened until he died. There wasn’t a tree on the property when we moved in. Bill planted all of the trees, about 50. He also built the wooden bridge. I wish I had gardened sooner. I enjoy it now,” she enthused.

 

Margie and Mick Popovich

In 1986 Margie and family moved to Westacres to a house built in 1936. “My husband grew up on a farm and had his own ideas about where we should live. I went to school with kids from Westacres and always envied their lifestyle. When we looked at our house, the previous owner (the original resident) had an enormous garden, and the deal was done,” Margie recalled.

Husband Mick is the gardener. Margie claims Mick wears boots from May to October. “He is happiest when he is putzing outdoors. I love going out to the yard with a basket to pick my own vegetables. A basket of corn with basil and tomatoes, or flowers for the house, it just completes me. He does all of the vegetable gardening and I have never seen a prettier, more organized vegetable garden,” gushed Margie.

Margie and Mick Popovich’s garden and barn create a country view in a suburban setting. Mick built the greenhouse and incorporated windows he found in the trash along the road.Mick offers a tip for pests: “The only pest control I do is attracting wrens—they are tremendous insect eaters. We have several wren houses. I always look for them to return in the spring and love the way they sing. Crop rotation is also important. Besides that, a few bugs don’t bother me as much as chemicals do!”

Margie continued, “It isn’t unusual to be standing in the kitchen and hear, ‘Hi Margie and Mick,’ because neighbors are in the garden picking strawberries. We give a call when they are ripe: ‘Come when you like—just lock the gate.’ Kids come and go; I look out and see them picking berries and think life couldn’t get any better!”

This lovely vignette displays a birdbath, picturesque birdfeeder, and Margie’s favorite flower, black-eyed Susan.

Mary and Joe Fox

Mary Fox gardens for her family and also their CSA farm (Community Supported Agriculture). “My dream is to feed the community! I’m trying to encourage people to eat locally. I garden using organic practices. With demand increasing, I need more space. My neighbors are donating their backyards for me to farm (an original idea by the creators). My goal is to feed my 20 CSA members, sell lettuce, salad greens, herbs and edible flowers, with the surplus going to food banks,” explained Mary enthusiastically.

A section of the CSA farm (Community Supported Agriculture) owned by Mary and Joe Fox. Mary promotes eating locally-grown food.Joe Fox shows off one of his ISA Brown chickens.She continued, “My CSA shareholders also can purchase eggs from my pastured chickens. If West Bloomfield allows me to continue what I’m doing with gardening and chickens, it will be preserving the legacy of Westacres. It would take Westacres full circle from Depression era residents in 1936 to recession residents in 2011; quite a tribute for Westacres 75th anniversary.”

Photographs by Sandie Parrott
A monarch butterfly and sphinx moth on ‘Black Knight’ butterfly bush.Natives for butterfly host plants and caterpillar food

To provide places for butterflies to lay eggs as well as food for the emerging caterpillars, choose butterfly host plants. And remember that the caterpillars will be doing some major eating on your host plants—it’s part of the process!

Common name	Botanical name	Butterflies attracted
Aster	Aster	Pearl crescent
Cherry	Prunus	Red-spotted purple, tiger swallowtail, spring azure
Dogwood	Cornus	Spring azure
Elm	Ulmus americana	Comma, question mark, mourning cloak
False nettle	Boehmeria cylindrica	Red admiral, question mark, comma, Milbert’s tortoiseshell
Grasses, sedges	various	Alfalfa sulphur, Eastern tailed-blue
Hackberry	Celtis occidentalis	Question mark, comma, hackberry butterfly, tawny emperor, mourning cloak
Highbush blueberry	Vaccinium corymbosum	Brown elfin
Leadplant	Amorpha canescens	Dogface, silver-spotted skipper
Milkweed	Asclepias	Monarch, queen
Nettle	Urtica dioica	Red admiral, question mark, comma, Milbert’s tortoiseshell
Oak	Quercus	Banded hairstreak
Paw Paw	Asimina triloba	Zebra swallowtail
Sneezeweed	Helenium autumnale	Dainty sulphur
Spicebush	Lindera benzoin	Spicebush swallowtail, tiger swallowtail
Sundial lupine	Lupinus perennis	Karner blue, silvery blue
Swamp thistle	Cirsium muticum	Painted lady
Turtlehead	Chelone glabra	Baltimore, buckeye
Vetch	Vicia	Alfalfa sulphur, Eastern tailed-blue
Violet	Viola	Great spangled fritillary, meadow fritillary
Willow	Salix	Viceroy, mourning cloak

 

Nectar-producing plants for butterfly food

To encourage butterflies to continually visit your garden, choose a variety of nectar-producing plants (for butterfly food) that produce blooming flowers throughout the season. Butterflies are most active in mid to late summer, so make sure you have plenty of flowers in bloom at that time.

	Common name	Botanical name
Spring	Black-eyed Susan	Rudbeckia hirta
	Columbine	Aquilegia canadensis
	Nodding wild onion	Allium cernuum
	Spicebush	Lindera benzoin
	Wild geranium	Geranium maculatum
Midsummer	Bee balm	Monarda didyma
	Bergamot	Monarda fistulosa
	Black-eyed Susan	Rudbeckia hirta
	Blazing star, dense	Liatris spicata
	Blazing star, rough	Liatris aspera
	Butterfly weed	Asclepias tuberosa
	Buttonbush	Cephalanthus occidentalis
	Coreopsis, tall	Coreopsis tripteris
	Dogbane	Apocynum
	Fleabane	Erigeron
	Horsemint	Monarda punctata
	Meadowsweet	Spiraea alba
	Michigan lily	Lilium michiganense
	Milkweed, common	Asclepias syriaca
	Milkweed, swamp	Asclepias incarnata
	New Jersey tea	Ceanothus americanus
	Pearly everlasting	Anaphalis margaritacea
	Sunflower, giant	Helianthus giganteus
	Swamp thistle	Cirsium muticum
	Virginia mountain mint	Pycnanthemum virginianum
	Yarrow	Achillea millefolium
Late summer	Aster, flat-topped	Aster umbellatus
	Aster, heath	Aster ericoides
	Aster, smooth	Aster laevis
	Aster, New England	Aster novae-angliae
	Beggarticks	Bidens aristosa
	Boneset	Eupatorium perfoliatum
	Goldenrod, Ohio	Solidago ohioensis
	Goldenrod, rigid	Solidago rigida
	Goldenrod, showy	Solidago speciosa
	Ironweed, tall	Vernonia gigantea
	Joe-Pye weed	Eupatorium maculatum
	Sneezeweed	Helenium autumnale
	Steeplebush	Spiraea tomentosa

 

Charts courtesy of Suzan Campbell, Conservation Associate, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, and formerly from the Belle Isle Nature Center

Milkweed is a nectar source for many butterflies and hummingbirds as well as a larval food for monarchs (the caterpillars only eat milkweed).

Photographs by Steven NikkilaRoots and branches: The connection

When a tree or shrub has roots residing in several properties, differing treatment in one section of the root zone might affect the plant’s entire crown or just one section. In some species, water moves from a given root along a certain path in the trunk to serve a particular branch. Root and branch are usually on the same side of the tree. In such “ring porous” species*, what happens to a given root affects a given branch. In other species, water follows a zig-zag or spiral pattern, so what comes from one root may serve various branches all over the crown.

This post oak lost most of its roots on one side as the hill was cut away preparatory to building a retaining wall. (Arrows mark clipped root ends.) It will almost certainly lose limbs on this side. Extra water for remaining roots, an arborist’s care, and pruning to remove dead wood are in order.

* Including American elm, arborvitae, black locust, catalpa, cherry, false cypress, hackberry, hickory, honeylocust, Kentucky coffee tree, many oaks, mulberry, persimmon, sassafras, walnut, white ash, and yellowwood.

Even large roots can regenerate. These are the roots of a dwarf weeping beech. In two places you can see where the roots grew back from cut ends after the plant was dug from the field for sale. Bury a root, kill a tree? Nope!

There’s oft-repeated advice about grade changes: Don’t put more than four inches of soil over tree roots. You’ll find it in Extension bulletins and gardening books. What you won’t find included is the basis for the advice. After much searching, I found the source and can assure you that in most cases, it doesn’t apply to what gardeners do.

The caution is based on grade changes at construction sites—large scale alteration of the entire root zone, executed with heavy equipment to spread and pack fill soil to builders’ and pavers’ specifications. By contrast, gardeners raise beds of loose soil, using a wheelbarrow and cover only portions of root systems. I’ve done it, dozens of times, and watched both the beds and trees closely, some for as many as 30 years. I’ve also interviewed professors of horticulture who have done the same in demonstration areas and we agree that loose soil over part of a root system, always kept away from the tree’s trunk, is no problem.

The same may apply to loose soil added over an entire root system. A team of University of California pathologists and Extension researchers filled over trees’ root systems with ten inches of soil in a test plot, settling that soil only with watering. In part of the field, tubing meant to bring oxygen into the soil was installed. The trees were sweet cherries, a species known to be intolerant of low soil oxygen situations. Yet “…no visible injury occurred. …no differences in plant growth, health or appearance…”

Gardener, bare that root ball!

Burlap and twine often remain intact and relatively strong for several years in-ground, repelling water and causing serious constriction to trunk and roots. Wire may persist for decades, partially or completely girdling first the flare roots and eventually the plant’s trunk. 

So remove these impediments and killers at planting time. Set the balled-and-burlapped tree or shrub in the planting hole and then remove all twine, rope, wire and burlap from at least the top half of the ball.

For more, check:

Chapter 7, “Planting” of Principles and Practice of Planting Trees and Shrubs by Gary W. Watson and E. B. Himelick, or www.isa-arbor.com/education/onlineResources/cad/resources/educ_CAD_BBTrees_View.pdf

 

Here are various species’ root fans I collected one day while transplanting, to illustrate colors, branching patterns and response to previous root pruning (branched tips). Webbed and netted around the ends of every root fan in good soil are mycorrhizal fungi—helper fungi—as much as 8,000 inches of fungal thread for every inch of root. Roots and fungi fill the soil spaces like water fills a sponge, and absorb water from the surface as readily as a sponge.

This spruce root begins a fall growth spurt, as evident in its pale, starch-thickened tip. Roots have a longer growing season than a plant’s aerial parts. They have a period of rapid expansion right after leafy growth begins in spring, and another lesser spurt in fall as leaves drop. Yet they grow all year-round, whenever the soil is above 40 degrees F and below about 85 degrees F. Thus any given root can add more length each year than a branch can. So if you want a tree or shrub to be all it can be, start by gauging the branch growth rate. If a limb extends itself 12 inches per year, plan to loosen soil and remove competition each year in a ring two- to three-feet out from the branch tips.

Photos by Steven Nikkila
Mixed borders require a bit of extra planning and work but can provide four-season interest even in a small space. These gardens combine plants from three or more of the categories: trees, shrubs, dwarf conifers, perennials, bulbs, annuals and biennials. Here in a partly shaded spot, a black spruce tree, dwarf false cypresses, and a bench provide winter interest while perennials such as variegated brunnera (front, center), golden bleeding heart (Corydalis lutea, center, yellow flowers) and painted fern (Athyrium nipponicum ‘Pictum’) cover up bulbs, team with annual begonias and provide interest in other seasons.Mixed borders: A brief history

The term “mixed border” first came into use and such beds began to be planted in the early 1900’s when gardening broke free from large estates where labor-intensive, single season beds filled spaces labeled “Spring border,” “Summer parterre,” and “Fall cutting garden.” More people were gardening on smaller properties where a single area had to have longer interest. Those gardeners wanted a little of everything but with more organization than in the old cottage garden plot. During the world wars, there were few developments. Then during the 1950’s influential writers revived the term and since then some of the best designers in the world have been fine-tuning the mixed border style.

Advantages in a good mix

Those post-war designers were intrigued by the mixed border’s potential for four-season interest, flowers, and structural plants all in a small space.

Historically, herbaceous gardens were four-month wonders dominated by annuals, and could look very sad in the off-season. Adding perennials, some with bloom seasons beginning very early and others that didn’t flower until the very end of fall, stretched that four months of color to eight. Including evergreens and woody plants with fine form could round out the year.

The mixed border style answered other needs too. Woody plants purchased large could provide significant mass, which was an immediate relief and eventual balance between the garden and background buildings or scenery. This helped to satisfy the current age’s urge for instant gratification. Promoting equal use of all plants also meant that nurseries—producers of trees and shrubs—and greenhouse operations could grow together rather than compete. Developing into garden centers and riding a 50-year wave of gardening popularity, these businesses now make it possible to buy almost anything even as they stimulate demand with displays that feature “having it all” in one garden.

Photos by Steven Nikkila
Garden center businesses have thrived on the same goals that led to the rise of mixed borders like this: We want it all, now, even in a small space. Here in a long, narrow bed along an arborvitae hedge, variegated kiwi vine, lungwort (Pulmonaria), variegated obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana ‘Variegata’), ‘Chocolate’ Joe pye (Eupatorium maculatum ‘Chocolate’), big betony (Stachys macrantha), boxwood shrubs, red-violet small-flowered clematis on a metal sculpture, and oakleaf hydrangea bushes (H. quercifolia) provide year-round interest.Mixed beds for prolonged interest

“…early and late perennials have to be included when borders are designed for extended interest, but many people prefer to augment sparse displays of these with temporary or permanent plants from other groups—such as annuals, shrubs and bulbs. They then become mixed borders rather than herbaceous borders…”

—From The Complete Book of Gardening, edited by Michael Wright

 

Horseradish Crab Dip

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 can crabmeat, 7 ounces
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup grated horseradish

Mix all ingredients. Put them in a buttered baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for just 12 to 15 minutes. Wonderful on crackers!

 

Easy Horseradish Sauce

Blend together 3/4 cup of whipping cream, whipped stiff, 3 tablespoons well-drained horseradish, and 2 tablespoons mayonnaise. This is really good on ham. 

 

Another Horseradish Sauce 

Fold in 1/2 cup applesauce and 3 tablespoons grated horseradish to 1 cup whipped cream. This is nice with roast beef and fish.

 

Apple Pie Filling

• 5 large tart apples, peeled, pared, and sliced
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup white sugar & 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish, NOT the “prepared with vinegar” type

Mix together well and put into a 9-inch piecrust. Bake about an hour at 350 degrees or until golden brown. Serve warm. The horseradish will give the pie a lovely nutty flavor. This goes especially well with sharp cheddar cheese slices.

Photos by Sandie Parrott
Click copied a tapestry in her living room for this design that has yellow accents of yellow primrose (Oenothera lamarckiana), six-sided sedum (Sedum sexangulare), and dwarf golden Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata ‘Nana Aurescens’).Introduction to picking and salvaging: Ideas from Kathy Click

by Sandie Parrott

This terra cotta upside-down planter displays a bright ‘Bonfire’ begonia. Before hanging, Click recommends planting it upright and leaving for a few weeks until the roots take hold.There aren’t many garage sales, estate sales, or items set by the curb for trash day that Kathy Click’s car does not stop at. If it’s salvageable, it’s hers. This includes plants, garden ornaments, furniture, and containers, as well as items for her home.

Her latest find is usually her personal best. For example, a crystal chandelier. “The guy was carrying it out to the curb and I stopped him,” said Click. “He said he had the rest of the crystals in the house.” Turns out it is an antique chandelier from the 1800’s with all of the crystals intact. It now graces the entrance to the hair salon where she works as an independent hairdresser. Then there was an adorable white wooden bench that is stenciled with, “Take time to smell the flowers.”

Other items on the gathered list include a patio set, coffee table, three chairs, a table, and a treasure chest she plants. She had to buy some cushions, a very small price to pay for heavy aluminum furniture. Her car may slow or stop by an item on the side of the road, but only quality salvageable items are actually taken. Asked if she ever put anything “pickable” out with the trash, she said, “Not much. I usually give it to someone before I would ever throw anything away.”

The very compact (less than 6 feet) and long-flowering clematis ‘Little Duckling.’According to Kathy, the best times to find great pickable items: “Garage sales are everywhere in the summer, but start looking on Thursday before everything is gone. Of course, search on the scheduled garbage day. It doesn’t hurt to stop and look at something interesting. A great time is when a community has a special day when residents can put anything out for pickup—drive around early in the morning or, better yet, the night before.”

She also recommends you bring a friend to help lift larger items and a vehicle big enough for all the treasures!

 

Kathy Click’s gardening tips

by Sandie Parrott

To start a new garden where there is grass, Kathy Click begins by weed-whacking the grass—actually scalping the area. She then installs black plastic edging around the perimeter. “I like it because of the nice black edge and it is easy for the garden maintenance guys. Many people hate it, but it is cheap and easy for me,” said Click.

This shady path behind the deck includes maidenhair fern, hostas ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ and ‘Striptease,’ variegated Japanese knotweed (Fallopia), pencil boxwoods (Buxus ‘Graham Blandy’), perennial geranium, and a tree form pee gee hydrangea with white ball-shaped blooms.She then layers newspapers on the scalped grass, about ten sheets thick and overlapped. On top she adds a few inches of triple shredded mulch. After only 2 or 3 weeks she digs a hole and plants though the layers. “Most people say to wait longer, but this works for me.”

She sheepishly admitted, “I really don’t fertilize much. I use Osmocote in the spring and in pots, but that’s about it.” She also uses potting soil containing fertilizer and moisture-retaining crystals in her approximately 50 pots. Her garage is heated, so some go in the garage for the winter and some are treated as houseplants. 

She “garbage-picked” (as she calls it) a compost tumbler, but doesn’t use it much. “I use it off and on. I put leaves in it, but I recently decided that I’m really going to start using it more,” she vowed. She also recommends using shredded leaves as mulch; she gets them from the crew that maintains the condo property.