For many -- gardening, planting flowers, plants or vegetables or maintaining our yards and homes is an annual ritual – one that so many enjoy.

But different times of the year and weather conditions have a lot to say about what and when we’re doing all those things. It’s late April and a month into a mild spring. So, what should we be doing now?

Horticulturist Erica Jo. Shaffer was with us on The Spark Wednesday for her late April appearance.

Shaffer talked about the vegetable plants that can planted now,"you're almost getting late to get your what they call the cold crops in your vegetable garden. Your broccoli, cauliflower, even lettuce. You know, that kind of kohlrabi. You can get your carrot seeds planted, your pieces plan. It's way too early for beans. You might pull off tomatoes. There's a you know, if you want to cover them during the night to start, get them. But the cold soil on the roots is what knocks them down. So again, we get like get jumpy, we get impatient to start doing stuff and you don't really get too far ahead because the cold soil holds them. If you were to just wait a two more weeks, you'd be at the same spot."

Shaffer said it's a good time to prune summer shrubs and plants,"Shrubs and trees either bloom on the new wood that they make each year, or they bloom on the wood they made last year. Azaleas. Rhododendrons are last year. So if you were to, I mean, as they always are in bloom. But if you were to cut on azaleas right now, of course you cut all the flowers off and some things bloom on the wood they make this year. So you want as much new it as possible. That's going to be a roses. Your butterfly bushes. What else just jumped into my head? Spy Rose. There's just different things that are really going to respond well to being pruned back. Actually, like even halfway back."

What about dividing and replanting bulbs,"Tulips, you don't divide tulips. They usually only last for three years and then they just start sending up foliage and they're never going to flower again after that. So I kind of think like every three years I need to order more tulips. I don't even try. You can break the little top off of them where the flower was, So they're not trying to to create seeds that'll make them age faster. Daffodils, However, you can divide those for sure. And it's a great time of year to do that. You would you can cut the foliage halfway back, not all the way back because they need to get the sun energy so they can come back next year. But carefully with your shovel straight down, not at an angle. Go all the way around the clump, dig the whole clump up and then just pull the bulbs apart and then you can put them back in like groups of five or seven, right back in the same hole. Same. You do that now? Don't put it in your garage and let them dry out. We get in this kind of disconnect because the bulb companies send us bulbs in autumn. We should plant in autumn. But when you're dividing them out of your garden, you actually want to put them right back in your garden and let him finish aging and going back to sleep."

For many -- gardening, planting flowers, plants or vegetables or maintaining our yards and homes is an annual ritual – one that so many enjoy.
But different times of the year and weather conditions have a lot to say about what and when we’re doing all those things. It’s late April and a month into a mild spring. So, what should we be doing now?
Horticulturist Erica Jo. Shaffer was with us on The Spark Wednesday for her late April appearance.
Shaffer talked about the vegetable plants that can planted now,"you're almost getting late to get your what they call the cold crops in your vegetable garden. Your broccoli, cauliflower, even lettuce. You know, that kind of kohlrabi. You can get your carrot seeds planted, your pieces plan. It's way too early for beans. You might pull off tomatoes. There's a you know, if you want to cover them during the night to start, get them. But the cold soil on the roots is what knocks them down. So again, we get like get jumpy, we get impatient to start doing stuff and you don't really get too far ahead because the cold soil holds them. If you were to just wait a two more weeks, you'd be at the same spot."
Shaffer said it's a good time to prune summer shrubs and plants,"Shrubs and trees either bloom on the new wood that they make each year, or they bloom on the wood they made last year. Azaleas. Rhododendrons are last year. So if you were to, I mean, as they always are in bloom. But if you were to cut on azaleas right now, of course you cut all the flowers off and some things bloom on the wood they make this year. So you want as much new it as possible. That's going to be a roses. Your butterfly bushes. What else just jumped into my head? Spy Rose. There's just different things that are really going to respond well to being pruned back. Actually, like even halfway back."
What about dividing and replanting bulbs,"Tulips, you don't divide tulips. They usually only last for three years and then they just start sending up foliage and they're never going to flower again after that. So I kind of think like every three years I need to order more tulips. I don't even try. You can break the little top off of them where the flower was, So they're not trying to to create seeds that'll make them age faster. Daffodils, However, you can divide those for sure. And it's a great time of year to do that. You would you can cut the foliage halfway back, not all the way back because they need to get the sun energy so they can come back next year. But carefully with your shovel straight down, not at an angle. Go all the way around the clump, dig the whole clump up and then just pull the bulbs apart and then you can put them back in like groups of five or seven, right back in the same hole. Same. You do that now? Don't put it in your garage and let them dry out. We get in this kind of disconnect because the bulb companies send us bulbs in autumn. We should plant in autumn. But when you're dividing them out of your garden, you actually want to put them right back in your garden and let him finish aging and going back to sleep."

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from <a href="https://www.witf.org">WITF</a>, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

The Spark

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

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