Yard & Garden

These bulbs should be planted in late September through early October when soil temperatures fall below 60 degrees. This allows  a root system adequate time to develop before the ground freezes. A well-drained soil is essential for the survival of bulbs.

Spring Flowering Bulbs

Did you realize some evergreen needles change color in the fall too, just like deciduous trees do? It's true and it often causes alarm in homeowners when their evergreen trees start to drop needles.

Although most conifer trees are considered to be "evergreen", their needles don't live forever. What makes them evergreen is that their leaves persist more than one year before falling. Since new needles are added every year, there is always an overlap between green needles and those that are due to fall. When trees are healthy, vigorous and putting on a good amount of new growth each year, needles being shed in fall are hidden in the interior of the tree and harder to see. However, if a tree has been under stress and only putting on small amounts of new growth each year, needles shed naturally in fall are easier to see.

Natural needle drop is beginning now on our conifers in eastern Nebraska, so watch for this interesting process in your landscape evergreens. This natural process happens in arborvitae and yew shrubs, too. 

Watch for Evergreen Natural Needle Drop

Harvest mature, green tomatoes when frost is imminent. The fruit should be solid, firm, and free of defects. Mature, green tomatoes are full-sized and have a greenish white skin color. Remove the stems, then clean and dry the fruit.

Individually wrap each fruit in a piece of newspaper and place in single layers in boxes or shelves. Store the tomatoes in a dark, cool (55-60 F degrees) location, such as a basement or cellar.

Inspect the tomatoes periodically during storage. Discard any soft or decaying fruit. When the tomatoes begin to color, remove the newspaper and place them at room temperature.

An alternate ripening method is to leave the green tomatoes on the vine and pull the entire plant and hang it upside down in a cool, dark location. (Obviously, this method can be a bit messy.) Harvest the tomatoes from the vine as they ripen.

Red ripe tomatoes produce ethylene gas, a natural gas which hastens the ripening of other nearby tomatoes. You can speed up the ripening of green tomatoes by storing them near a red tomato. To slow the ripening process, remove all red-ripe fruits from the storage area.

Bringing tomatoes into a warmer area, 65-70 F degrees, will also speed up the ripening process. Mature green tomatoes will ripen at this temperature in about two weeks.

Mature pumpkins should be uniformly colored across the entire fruit- orange, white, gray or blue- depending on the variety grown.  Look for the mature coloration indicated on the seed packet as a guide to ripeness.  Mature pumpkins have hard, shiny shells that can't be easily punctured by a fingernail.

Pumpkins will rot if harvested too young or if allowed to stay in the field once they are mature and exposed to freezing temperatures. But they can remain in the garden through a light, vine-killing frost. A light frost will not damage the pumpkins themselves. However, all mature pumpkins should be harvested before temperatures drop into the mid to low 20's. Green, immature pumpkins will not turn orange after a killing frost.

When harvesting pumpkins, handle them carefully to avoid cuts and bruises. Cut the pumpkins off the vine with a sharp knife or pair of lopping shears. Leave several inches of stem attached to each fruit. A pumpkin with a 3-5 inch stem or handle is more attractive. Also, pumpkins with stems are less likely to rot in storage. Do not carry pumpkins by their stems. The stems may not be able to support the weight of the pumpkins and may break off.

Cure Pumpkins to Lengthen Their Storage Life
After harvesting the pumpkins, cure them at a temperature of 80 to 85 degrees F and 80 percent relative humidity for 10 days. Simply set the pumpkins in a warm humid location, out of direct sun, for this length of time. Curing helps to harden their skins and heal any cuts and scratches.

After curing, store the pumpkins in a cool, dry place. Storage temperatures should be 50 to 55 degrees F. When storing pumpkins, place them in a single layer where they don't touch one another. Good air circulation helps to prevent moisture from forming on the surfaces of the fruit and retards the growth of decay fungi and bacteria. Placing the pumpkins in piles generates unwanted heat which may result in the rotting of some fruit. Promptly remove and discard any pumpkins that show signs of decay.

Pumpkins that are properly harvested, cured, and stored should be in excellent condition for Halloween painting or carving in October or cooking during the holidays.

For tips on preserving your garden produce, visit UNL Food Preservation.

Pumpkins: Spooky Good Eating!

Fall is a time for plants to replace the moisture reserves lost during our hot dry summer periods. But if dry conditions continue in fall little recovery is possible. Drought stressed trees are more susceptible to secondary attack by insect pests and disease problems, such as borers and cankers, which can cause tree death. Healthy trees, receiving adequate water, are much more resistant to pest problems.

One common symptom of drought stress is leaf scorch, a uniform yellowing or browning on leaf edges of broadleaf plants or the tips of evergreen needles. However, even trees that don’t exhibit leaf scorch are likely experiencing drought stress now.

And finally, trees and shrubs that are not fully hydrated going into winter are prone to winter desiccation, a common type of winter injury that occurs when the amount of water lost by plants exceeds the amount picked up by the roots.

Young or newly planted trees and shrubs are most susceptible to drought injury, because they have not yet established the extensive root system needed to draw moisture from the soil during dry conditions.

Fall Watering Improves Tree Health

5 Common Questions about Trees, Drought and Fall Watering

Do hedge apples really repel insects? They're available in grocery stores now, but do they work? And where does such a strange fruit come from? There are many uniquely curious plants and hedge apple is one.

Short story - Rumors are plentiful regarding the insect- and spider-repelling properties of these fruits and we see them for sale in grocery stores or farmers markets each fall. But despite many testimonials, there is no current research data showing the fruits actually have insect repelling effectiveness. Plus, some people can develop dermatitis if the milky sap contacts their skin.

More Hedge Apple history.