January Home, Yard, and Garden Calender

Rosie Lerner, Purdue Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist

HOME (Indoor plants and activities)

• Keep holiday poinsettias and other plants near a bright window. Water as top of soil becomes dry.
• Increase humidity around houseplants by grouping plants together, placing them on a pebble-water tray or running a humidifier.
• Check stored produce and tender flower bulbs and roots for rot, shriveling or excess moisture. Remove and discard damaged material.
• Repot houseplants as they outgrow current pots.

YARD (Lawns, woody ornamentals and fruits)

• Check young trees for rodent injury on lower trunks. Prevent injury with hardware cloth or protective collars.
• Keep road and sidewalk salt away from plants. Construct a screen of burlap, if necessary, to keep salt spray off plants.
• "Leaf" through nursery catalogs and make plans for landscape and home orchard additions. Order plants early for best selection.
• Early spring-flowering trees and shrubs, such as forsythia, crabapple, flowering quince, flowering dogwood and honeysuckle, can be forced for early indoor blooms by placing cut branches in water in a warm location.

GARDEN (Flowers, vegetables and small fruits)

• Send for seed catalogs for the garden.
• Sketch your garden plans on paper, including what to grow, spacing, arrangement and number of plants needed.
• Order seeds and plants as early as possible for best selection.
• Wood ashes from the fireplace can be spread in the garden, but don't overdo it. Wood ashes increase soil pH, and excess application can make some nutrients unavailable for plant uptake. Have soil tested to be certain of the pH before adding wood ash.

Upcoming Events - Beginner's Course in Commodity Marketing

Purdue Extension in Spencer and Perry Counties is offering a commodity marketing course for local producers.  The program, entitled “Beginner’s Course in Commodity Marketing” is geared toward any producer interested in learning more about grain marketing topics and strategies, regardless of experience.  The three-session course will feature Dr. Corinne Alexander, Purdue Agricultural Economics Specialist, who will cover topics including futures, options, basis, and hedging as well as basic grain marketing strategies.  A panel discussion by local grain buyers will also be included.  The course will be held on Wednesday evenings, February 1, 8, and 15 at the Perry County 4-H Fairgrounds in Tell City from 6:00-8:30 PM CST. 

The cost of the course is $30 per person which includes reference materials and a light supper each session.  Pre-registration is required and is due by January 27.  Registration forms are available online.  They can also be obtained by contacting Purdue Extension-Spencer County at (812) 649-6022 or nheld@purdue.edu. 

If You Tell the Bees, Will They Listen?

For thousands of years humans have taken advantage of what has been called the “food of the gods.” We’re talking about honey. Honey is a sugar-laden substance produced by a few species of bees as their food.

And somewhere in our history ancient humans got a taste of honey, and we have been eating it ever since.

Of course, bees don’t willingly share their food stores with humans – or other animals for that matter. So the first honey eaters had to resort to stealing from the bees. And such pilferage wasn’t a pleasant thing because, as Shakespeare wrote, bees are “armed in their stings.” <Read More>

How to Care for Your Amaryllis

Amaryllis is a popular holiday gift plant but may have the lucky recipient wondering about its proper care.

Amaryllis is a tender bulb that won’t survive outdoors even in the mildest of Indiana winters. But it can be grown indoors to provide a dramatic show of color during dreary winter months.

The showy flowers range from crimson, scarlet, rose, lavender, white or bi-colored combinations. Although each plant may produce only one cluster of 2-4 blooms, individual blossoms can reach up to 8 inches in diameter at their peak. The flowers are borne on a tall, stout stem about 2 feet tall. <Read More>