Hopkins County Horticulture Newsletter Hopkins County ...

Hopkins CountyCooperative Extension Service75 Cornwall DriveMadisonville, KY 42431-8780 (270) 821-3650Fax: (270) 825-5011hopkins.ca.uky.edu

Hopkins CountyHorticulture Newsletter

Winter 2016

Erika Lyons, County Extension Agent for Horticulture

Cooperative Extension ServiceAgriculture and Natural ResourcesFamily and Consumer Sciences4-H Youth DevelopmentCommunity and Economic Development

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Thanksgiving and Christmas CactiWhat’s the difference?

Thanksgiving and Christmas Cacti are popular fall and winter houseplants that are well known for their colorful tubular flowers. The flowers come in a wide range of colors including: red, rose, pink, purple, lavender, orange, peach, white, and yellow. Many people will often mistakenly identify Christmas and Thanks-giving cacti or may not even know that there is actually a difference between the two plants. The best way to distinguish between the two cacti is by their flat-tened stem segments known as phylloclades. Thanksgiving cacti (Schlumbergera truncata) have pointed/saw-toothed edges on their phylloclades, whereas the toothed edges on Christmas cacti (Schlumbergera bridgesii) are more round-ed. If grown under normal conditions, both cacti will usually flower around the holiday based on their name. Thanksgiving cacti will typically bloom around Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti will bloom around Christmas.

Fun Holiday Cactus Facts!

• Did you know that holiday cacti are not your typ-ical cactus? They originate from the rain forests of Brazil and grow as epiphytes in tree branches. • There is another holiday cactus known as the Eas-ter Cactus (Rhipsalidopsis gaertneri) that produces star-shaped flowers in the spring and comes in a va-riety of colors including red, orange, pink, and white.

Pink Thanksgiving CactusSchlumbergera truncata

True Christmas CactusSchlumbergera bridgesii

IN THIS ISSUE:

Thanksgiving and Christmas Cacti………………………1Poinsettia Care…………………………………………………………2When Should I Prune?……………………………………………3Upcoming Events ……………………………………………………4

Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are sub-tropical plants originating from Mexico and Cen-tral America, but are used as a popular indoor plant in the U.S. during the Christmas season. Poinsettias are known for their colorful floral bracts, which are actually just modified leaves. The true flowers on poinsettias are the small clus-ters of yellow blooms (cyanthia) in the center of the colorful bracts. Poinsettia bracts come in a wide range of colors including red, white, pink, peach, etc. and may also come in variegated, mar-bled, or speckled forms with varying bract shapes.

In order to keep your poinsettia happy and healthy this holiday season, follow these helpful tips:

• Sunlight: Place your poinsettia in bright, indi-rect light for at least six hours a day. Putting poin-settias in too much direct sunlight may cause the color on the bracts to fade.

• Temperatures: Keep temperatures between 65-70° F. Do not let temperatures go above 70° F or below 50° F. Avoid placing poinsettias near drafts, air currents, or excessive hear or dry air.

• Watering: Poinsettias do best in moist soil conditions so it is important to water them thor-oughly when the surface of the soil feels dry to the touch.

• Fertilizing: Poinsettias will not need to be fertilized when in bloom. After bloom, a well-bal-anced fertilizer (10-10-10) can be applied every two to three weeks during the spring, summer, and fall.

• Pruning: During the spring, once the bracts have faded in color, prune the poinsettia back to about eight inches. The plant will appear bare but will develop new growth.

• Keeping Outdoors: Poinsettias may be placed outside once the night temperatures are warmer (above 50° F).

• Repotting: In early to mid June, plants can be transplanted into a larger container about 2 to 4 inches bigger than the original container.

• Forcing to Bloom (next season): Poinsettias are a photoperiod, short-day plant, meaning it re-quires longer periods of darkness (longer nights) to bloom. In order to force your poinsettia to re-bloom, you will need to keep the plant in com-plete darkness for 14 continuous hours each night starting on October 1st and continue for eight to 10 weeks. The best way to keep the plant in dark-ness is either by covering it up with a large box or moving it into a dark room or closet. Make sure the plant still receives about six to eight hours of bright, indirect light each day. If all goes well, then the poinsettia should bloom in November or December.

Poinsettias

Pruning trees and shrubs can often feel like a very tedious task, and if not done properly or correctly, may cause harm to the plants. Knowing the right time of the year to prune can be useful in promoting healthy growth and preventing any unwanted damage to the trees and shrubs. Here are some helpful tips on when the best times are to prune trees and shrubs:

Flowering Trees• For ornamental trees that flower before June

1, prune immediately after flowering. Some exam-ples of these trees include – redbuds, flowering dogwoods, magnolias, crabapples, etc.

• For trees that flower after June 1, prune in winter or spring before any new growth begins. Some examples of these trees include – sour-woods, goldenrain trees, and other late-flowering trees.

Shade Trees• Pruning can be done in the early spring be-

fore the plants leaf out. • For trees such as birch, yellowwood, elm, pine,

spruce, fir, and maple, excessive bleeding may oc-cur if pruned in the spring. The bleeding will not harm the tree, but it may cause an unsightly mess. Pruning these trees while in full leaf (June) may reduce bleeding.

Redbud (Cercis canadensis) in bloom

When Should I Prune?Shrubs

• Shrubs that flower before June should be pruned during or immediately after flowering. Some examples include – barberries, forsythias, honeysuckles, azaleas, rhododendrons, vibur-nums, etc.

• Shrubs that flower after June first should be pruned in the winter or spring before new growth begins. Some examples include – butterfly bush, clematis, rose of sharon, oakleaf hydrangea, crape myrtle, hybrid tea rose, etc.

Certain shrubs may be pruned lightly before or after flowering to often increase flowering or fruit production. Some examples include: glossy abelia, red twig dogwood, cotoneaster (cranberry, spreading, and multiflora), wiegela, etc.

For more information on pruning, stop by the extension office and pick up the pub-lications, HO-45: Pruning Landscape Trees and HO-59: Pruning Landscape Shrubs.

Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syria-cus) in bloom

December 1: Fall Gardening Series: Indoor Plants, 5:30 p.m.December 6: Grain and Pesticide Training, McLean Co. Extension OfficeDecember 8: Master Gardener Christmas Potluck BrunchJanuary 9: Boosting Your Brain Power Class, 10:00 a.m.January 9-10: Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Conference, LexingtonFebruary 1: Social Media Class, 1:00 p.m.March 1: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Training, UKREC PrincetonMarch 2: Mediterranean Cuisine Comes to You Class, 1:30 p.m.

For more information or to RSVP, call the Hopkins CountyCooperative Extension Office at 270-821-3650.

Upcoming Events

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Hopkins County Horticulture Hopkins County Farmers Market

Master Gardeners, Pennyroyal

Theodore Klein

2017 Pennyroyal Master Gardeners

Calendar Award Plants

Julia Brown In memory of

Stop by the Hopkins CountyCooperative Extension Office and pick

up a copy of the 2017 PennyroyalMaster Gardeners calendar!

Interested in becoming a MasterGardener volunteer or Farmers Market vendor? For more information, contact the Hopkins County Extension Office

at 270-821-3650.

Please Note ~ If schools are closed due to inclement weather, all meetings and activities scheduled for that

day will be canceled as well.