Indestructible Plants
On this day when I recited to Hiromi over breakfast a long list of things I want to accomplish today, the main thing I can think of doing right now is writing here some of the most memorable take-aways from a day spent at the John C. Pair Horticulture Center near Haysville, KS--in the Wichita area. The director of this research center associated with Kansas State University spoke to us in the morning in a very informative lecture and picture presentation on shrubs. In the afternoon we rambled about outdoors over the many acres of plantings designed to identify the varieties of plant material that are best suited to our challenging southern Great Plains environment.
Several quips and insights from Dr. Jason Griffin, the director, solidified in my mind what I have known for a long time about gardening in Kansas: "Kansas is where plants go to die." Our highest July temperatures are like the hottest US regions. Our coldest January temperatures are like the coldest US regions. In this transition zone, we have too much heat for northern plants and too much cold for southern plants. We have drought, in addition to temperature problems.
Dr. Griffin jokes with his colleagues from eastern states like Pennsylvania that they must have a really boring job because almost anything they plant at any time in any way, taking care of it in any way, or not taking care of it--and it all grows! Here, in seasons like the summer of 2012, when 100% of the state was in severe drought and much of it was in exceptional drought (the worst category on the scale), a great sorting out took place at the research center. He cited other events when fall temperatures dropped suddenly (November 2014 saw a drop from 69 degrees to 19 degrees--the first really hard freeze of the season, and plants were not fully dormant), or rose too high too early in the spring, and a hard freeze followed--after plants had already come out of dormancy. Such extremes further separate the tough plants from the others.
Since I am currently on a mission to identify indestructible landscape plants for our environment--the kind that could be planted at a rental property where it would be likely to be neglected by tenants, I was all ears during the presentation and the walk.
My to-do list is calling, and the plant list I compiled must wait for a later post.
Several quips and insights from Dr. Jason Griffin, the director, solidified in my mind what I have known for a long time about gardening in Kansas: "Kansas is where plants go to die." Our highest July temperatures are like the hottest US regions. Our coldest January temperatures are like the coldest US regions. In this transition zone, we have too much heat for northern plants and too much cold for southern plants. We have drought, in addition to temperature problems.
Dr. Griffin jokes with his colleagues from eastern states like Pennsylvania that they must have a really boring job because almost anything they plant at any time in any way, taking care of it in any way, or not taking care of it--and it all grows! Here, in seasons like the summer of 2012, when 100% of the state was in severe drought and much of it was in exceptional drought (the worst category on the scale), a great sorting out took place at the research center. He cited other events when fall temperatures dropped suddenly (November 2014 saw a drop from 69 degrees to 19 degrees--the first really hard freeze of the season, and plants were not fully dormant), or rose too high too early in the spring, and a hard freeze followed--after plants had already come out of dormancy. Such extremes further separate the tough plants from the others.
Since I am currently on a mission to identify indestructible landscape plants for our environment--the kind that could be planted at a rental property where it would be likely to be neglected by tenants, I was all ears during the presentation and the walk.
My to-do list is calling, and the plant list I compiled must wait for a later post.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
11:24 AM
4 Comments:
The only nice plants I know of to fit that bill are lilacs, lily of the valley, monkshood, wild roses. . . eagerly awaiting that post!!
By
Anonymous, at 10/18/2015
Anonymous, Do you live in Kansas? I've never seen monkshood grown here. I think it would be very destructible. Lilacs and old roses grow here with no irrigation, but I don't think Lily-of-the-Valley would do so.
By
Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 10/18/2015
Actually, we grew Lily-of-the-Valley at our Partridge place without irrigation, but they were sheltered on the north side of our house, and mulched with wood chips. We found burr oak trees to be very hardy. We dug the seedlings out of someone's yard, planted them, and watered them for the first year. After that we didn't water, even through drought, and they grew!
By
Rosina, at 10/20/2015
I think the location and treatment of your Lily-of-the-valley is key to their survival. Bur oak is a recommended oak for Kansas, and we also have a number of them along the south edge of our property. They were irrigated only at first, as your were. Thanks for your input.
By
Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 10/20/2015
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