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What To Do With Those Easter Lilies??

Greetings Everyone,
It has been a busy time around here the past week or so.  The Gardens are showing their wares and everything is growing in leaps and bounds.. I was astounded to see the my Angelic plants have now reached almost 6 inches tall.  Angelica is one of the very first Herbs to pop upin the Spring gardens and when it does it just takes off.  Its full growth height when in full season is close to 6 feet tall with outstanding large white flowering heads.. quite the show and such a beneficial plant.
The indoor gardens in the greenhouse room are just loving life as well and after the Ostara, Easter Holidays is filled with the scent of sweet smelling Lilies & Hyacinth.  Both of these beautiful plants are usually given or purchased as a token of celebration of the awakening of Spring.  A tradition here each year.
Hyacinth & the commonly called Easter Lily are both wonderful additions to the outdoor gardens..
The majority of all the plants that make their appearance at this time of year have been green house grown, forced to bloom at a specific time but can make lovely additions to your gardens for years to come.
Hyacinth, grown from bulbs can be transplanted into the outdoor garden after the plants flowers have been spent.
For this beauty to re bloom in the garden around this time next year simply cut back all the foliage after the plants flower has expired.  Allow the plant to sit with in its original pot and in early to late fall the bulbs can be transplanted into the outdoor garden.
You want to make sure that you dig a hole the depth of the pot that it was originally in and add just a bit of organic compost to the soil.  Place the Bulbs & Roots in the earth making sure that the eye of the bulb is facing upward, and cover over with soil.  They will bring a show of color and scent to the early Spring Garden next year.

The Easter Lily, Latin name Lilium longiflorum is a bit different.  This native plants to Japan are one's that are forced to bloom outside its normal blooming cycle.  This type of Lily is one that usually blooms in the Summer months of June and July.  The white trumpets of sweet flowers are stunning in an all white garden.
The best part of receiving or purchasing one of these beauties for the Easter & Ostara Holidays is that with a little special care you may be able to get a second showing this year of this stunning plant.
When the blooms of your plant have faded and are spent, cut the plant back to just about two inches above the soil level of the pot it arrived in.  Continue to water indoors until all danger of frost is gone and transplant into the outdoor garden.
Dig a hole in the garden in a partial to full sun location, the size  and a little bit deeper then the pot it was in and add a little organic compost to amend the soil.  Water well and cover over.
You will begin to see new growth in a few weeks.  Most Easter Lilies will give you a second show around June-July.  The Easter Lily is a perennial plant and will come back year after year in the summer months.  They are also known to multiple so as time goes on the one plant will turn into many.  If you continue to add these to the same section of the garden each Spring you will have a beautiful bed of these white showy lilies every Summer and be able to enjoy their intoxicating scent once more!

Dividing and Transplanting Plants in the Spring

Lets Divide those plants...

For the most part Spring is the best time to divide plants in the garden.  At this time of year the plants are in the strong growing stage and will be easier to work with and transplant to their new location.  It also is a less stressful time to do dividing as well.

Most perennials do best when divided at this time of year,  however there are some that prefer to be divided in the Early Fall. 

The beautiful long living Peony is one as well as Iris & Poppies, basically any plant the comes to flower in the Spring should not be divided at this time.  You should wait till late Summer or early Fall to do so.

So How do you know when your plant needs to be divided?  This is really not as hard as you may think.  Rule of Thumb is most Perennials will need dividing in their second or third growing season in the garden, 2-3 years. 

You can also tell if a plant is ready by the way it grows.  Day Lilly will begin to grow in large clumps, sometimes out growing the area they are in.  Plants will also start to grow in circles.  This is where the inner section of the plant will have no growth and will have an outer ring of growth looking much like a band instead of a mound of plant.  If your plants have gotten to this point it is critical to divide and transplant at once.  Plants is this shape and form are really suffering and if not tended to by the next growing season you will most likely loose the entire plant.

Mosses & Ferns as well as Thyme will simply look as if they have died and will produce little greenery when they are in the critical stage. 

Watching your garden for these signs will allow you the comfort of knowing when its time to get to dividing.

So how do we divide?

This is also an easy thing to do and all that is need is a spade shovel and a sharp sturdy knife.

Once you have selected the plant or plants that need to be divided the next step is to decide where they will be placed before you start the dividing process.

Select an area in the garden to place then or have pots filled with garden dirt ready if you will be giving the plants away.  You do not want to leave the roots of the plants exposed to the air or sun for any prolonged period of time as this can cause the plant to go into shock.

Once this has been decided ready their new home in the bed to which they will be going. 

To do this you want to have the holes dug for them.  The holes should be double the size of the plant roots and deep enough to cover over all.  Have a source of water ready as well as they will need a drink when they arrive at their new home.

To divide the plant you will need to use the spade shovel to dig around the full mound of the plant.  Try not to get to close to the plant as the root system may be damaged by the digging,  a good choice is about 2-3 inches outward of the plants base.

With you spade in hand break through the soil in a circular movement around the plant.  This will loosen the dirt around the plant.  Once you have broken through the earth you can now go over the whole area and with a good push of the spade with your foot up root the entire plant.  Digging deep enough will get the spade under the root system of the plant with out harming it.

Once your plant has come out easy from the ground you will have a clear view of the roots.

Some plants only need to be divided in half, while others you can divide in thirds.

With a sharp knife cut through the center of the plant straight through the root system.  Move your plant to its new location and place in the hole, add a good drink of water and back fill with garden dirt.

Y ou do want to make sure that your transplanted plants get a little TLC for the first few weeks in their new location.  Water daily..  this allows the roots to develop in their new location.  After a few weeks your plant will be happy, thriving and growing...
The plant can now benefit from its transplant and dividing and you get the benefit of having more beautiful Perennials to enjoy!
Tomorrow... Planting Seeds in Early Spring

Its Time to think Spring Clean Up for the Gardens

Now that Spring has official arrived it is time to prepare the gardens for the new growing season.
Here at  Enchanted Witchery Herbals its a time of excitement as we known when clean up begins its always a surprise as to what we will find beneath the blanket of natural Fall debris that is covering over the beds.
In the Fall we choose to allow for a certain amount of falling leaves to remain on the gardens and blanket the planting beds.  This gives a good ground covering for the Herbs and Perennials from the harsh Winters that we can have here in the North East, plus giving added benefits of extra organic matter as the leaves and debris break down providing essential nutrients to the soil.
During the Spring clean up the top layer of debris is removed and placed in the compost bin and the new baby plants are revealed.  We also get to see those sneaky weeds that have managed to find their way in while no one was watching.

Lemon Thyme

This is the best time to get in a good weeding habit.  Clear out all the weeds that have found their way into your garden beds by pulling up the roots by hand.  The ground is perfect for this right now as it is still very moist from the Spring thaw.
Do not try to take the quick way out of this, tilling will do nothing more then turn those roots under ground and in a few short weeks you will see the weeds popping up all over again, most times more then what were there to begin with.  So yes, manually weeding is always best to keep your garden clean from weeds that can strangle and take away valuable nutrients from your plants.

Lady's Mantle & Chamomile

Once you have weeded out the beds it is time to assess what you  now have.  Most Perennials and Herbs will multiply under the winter blanket.  Depending on the amount of  multiplication and the  time the plant has been in your garden will determine whether or not the plant should be divided.
One of the wonderful benefits of growing herbs & perennials is that  you will always have a bounty to use in additional planting beds or to share with others by dividing.
It is important that you do this or the plants can grow weak and will no longer produce as they should.
For most plants dividing is done every two to three years. With this cycle and if you have been growing your gardens for a few years dividing will be done every year on different plants keeping the bounty coming.

Spring is the best time to divide as the plants are healthy and in a strong growing cycle.  When dividing plants in the Spring it allows for the plant to have sufficient time to establish its rooting system before the hot days of summer arrive.  The early in the Spring the better.
As soon as we see that the babies are poking up through the leaves its time to divide.
This year we have gotten very lucky as the weather here was almost mild through out the winter season,  very little snow and ice and temperatures really not all that bad.
We have been out in the gardens for about two weeks now cleaning and dividing.. but I do caution... those new baby plants need to be mothered a bit.
Make sure for the first couple of weeks after dividing and transplanting to a new section that you provide them with plenty of water.  If rain comes along to help all the better, but do not let them struggle to obtain water.

Another watch for baby plants.. frost!  We have been blessed here to have some days that reached into the high 70's giving many of the plants the signal of a false start.  This past we we were fooled and three nights there were frost alerts for the area.  This means its time to get out the heavy plastic and burlap and cover over the newbies of the garden.  So yes mothering and paying close attention to weather conditions will insure that your garden grows as it should reaping all the benefits from what we sow.
Tomorrow... The proper way to divide and transplant in the Spring!