January 2011 Dakota Gardener

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North Dakota State University Extension Service

Continued on page 6

At the risk of stating the obvious,our winters in North Dakota are

longalmost six months of the

year. So when it comes to land-

scaping our yard, it makes sense

to consider how our landscapes

look in winter.

Our shade trees have leaves

for only half the year. The rest of

the year we stare at bark. It makes

sense to consider the bark of a

tree as much as its flowers, fall

foliage, or any other ornamentalfeature.

That is why birch trees can be

so valuable here. Their bark can

add a wonderful touch to our land-

scapes all winter long. As for the

rest of the year, birches have lus-

trous green foliage in spring and

summer as well as bright yellow

foliage in fall. Nice!

Unfortunately, birch trees are

not easy to grow. We need to pro-

vide them with the right environ-

ment and then select the right type

of birch.

Keep in mind that all birches

hate the heat. They demand cool,

shaded soils to do well. As evi-

dence, when driving in the coun-

tryside you will never see a birch

Winter wonderstanding by itself in themiddle of a field. It cant

stand the heat. A birch

will die if grows in full

sun alone.

Birches are social

trees. They like to

be with one another.

They benefit from

being with one

another. One

birch will provide

shade for the soilof its neighbor and

its neighbor will

return the favor. The

healthiest birch stands are

found in cool, moist soils and in

groups of hundreds of birch trees.

A monthly newsletter for gardeners in North DakotaJanuary 2011 Vol. 4, No. 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Feature stories

Birch care and selection 1

Watermelons for Dakota 2

Red mulch for tomatoes 3

Hardy Buck roses 3

Prairie cherries released 4

Starting with strawberries 4

Blackberries for the north 8

Gardening tips for January 5

Written by:

Tom Kalb, Extension Horticulturist

e-mail: [email protected]

For previous issues, go to

www.dakotagardener.com


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Dakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota Gardener January 2011January 2011January 2011January 2011January 2011Page 2Page 2Page 2Page 2Page 2

Wanted: a watermelon for DakotaIts hard to grow watermelons in

North Dakota. Our growing sea-

son is so short. We can get snow

as late as June and as early as

September. Thats less than 90

days.

And if we are lucky enough to

get a melon to ripen, it will be so

late in the season we may need

to put on our winter coat to goharvest it. I always considered wa-termelons to be a summertimetreat, but here in North Dakota it

is hard to enjoy eating a home-

grown watermelon outdoors when

your teeth are chattering from the

cold, frosty weather.

For a few years, NDSU has

worked with a team of gardeners

to evaluate all kinds of watermel-

ons. We have yet to find a reli-able variety; about one-third of

our trials never get a single wa-

termelon to ripen before frost.

Last year we were especially

hopeful that we discovered a

great variety for our state. Sweet

Dakota Rose looked very prom-

ising. It reportedly had a fairly

large size (812 pounds), ma-

tured early (82 days), only had a

few seeds, and was very sweet.

Best of all, it was developed herein North Dakota. It must be

goodright?

We have bad news and good

news to report. First, the bad

news: only 24 of the 42 (57 per

cent) of gardeners who tested

Sweet Dakota Rose recom-

mended it. Overall it was rated low

(a score of only 4.95 on a scale

of 1 to 10 with 1 = poor and 10 =

excellent).

The good news is several gar-

deners absolutely loved it, some

thinking it was the best water-

melon they ever tasted.

All in all, our team of garden-

ers liked Sweet Dakota Rose as

much as Sugar Baby, which isconsidered the most reliable red-

flesh watermelon.

Jon Mueller, a commercial wa-

termelon grower in New Leipzig,

has grown watermelons for de-

cades. His favorite is Legacy

from Willhite Seed Company. He

shared a Legacy melon with me

and it was absolutely delicious. Ill

definitely give it a try in 2011. Jon

also likes Peddler, Starbrite,

and Pronto, among others.

More good news: a new vari-

ety is available this year that won

the prestigious All-America Selec-

tions Award, the highest award a

new variety can get. Shiny Boy

watermelon (shown at right) ma-

tures early (75 days from trans-

plant), has good size (16

pounds), tropical flavor, and a

deep red flesh. It is another vari-

ety worth a try, although its vigor-ous vines (12 feet long) might be-

come a problem in most gardens.

Even though Shiny Boy is an

award winner, we have to be cau-

tious. North Dakota has an ex-

treme climate and just because a

variety does well in America over-

all, doesnt mean it is suitable

here. The tropical flavor of Shiny

Boy is appealing and worth a try;

but to guarantee a taste of the

tropics, it may be wise to start the

plants indoors and use plastic

mulching to warm up the ground

in spring. A plastic row cover over

the top wouldnt be a bad idea,

either.

The most reliable watermelon

varieties for North Dakota areyellow-flesh types. We tested

Yellow Doll in 2010. It was rec-

ommended by 11 of 14 garden-

ers (79 per cent) and received a

rating of 5.75. I like Yellow Doll

and Yellow Baby, which are ex-

tremely similar, but there is some-

thing not right about eating a

watermelon with yellow flesh. A

deep red color is more appealing,

at least to me. Well test Shiny

Boy and other varieties in 2011.Let me know if you would like to

join our team of testers.


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consider using a quality mulch

developed specifically for tomatoproduction. There is a premium

mulch developed by the USDA

and Clemson University available

in major seed catalogs.

Dakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerJanuary 2011January 2011January 2011January 2011January 2011

Old hardy roses discoveredRoses look spectacular in the

garden, but they can be a lot of

work. First we have to manageblack spot and other diseases in

the summer, and then nobody

likes all of the work involved in

getting roses to survive our frigid

winters.

For years, the Morden Re-

search Station in Canada has re-

leased roses that survive our win-

ters with no or minimal protection.

These varieties, which include

Morden Centennial, Hope forHumanity, and Cuthbert Grant

are among the best roses for North

Dakota.

A new group of old roses from

Iowa is being discovered and

shows great promise, particularly

for gardeners in Zone 4. Bred by

the late Dr. Griffith Buck, these

roses are noted for their hardi-

ness, disease resistance, and

beauty.

In the 1950s, Dr. Buck took

strains of cold hardy roses and

combined them with hybrid teas.

He refused to protect them, let-

ting the cold Iowa winters kill the

less hardy plants. He also refused

to protect them from disease, and

the humid Iowa summers killed the

susceptible plants.

In the end, he developed

hardy, disease-resistant varieties

that have the beauty ofhybrid teas. Dr. Buck

has been

called the

Vincent Van Gogh of roses since

the fruits of his labor were not well

known until after his death. Sev-eral Buck rose varieties, including

Prairie Joy (shown) are sold in

catalogs today.

We will have over 60 Buck rose

varieties among a group of 140

hardy/semi-hardy varieties on dis-

play at the new Dragonfly Garden

at United Tribes Technical College

this summer. I hope you come to

see them when you visit Bismarck.

Does red mulch really work?If you are a serious tomato

grower, you may wish to consider

red mulch.

Sunlight reflected from red

mulch may increase tomato yields

between 1030% based on ex-

periments conducted in numer-

ous states including Minnesota,

Montana, and Pennsylvania.

The red mulch reflects a qual-

ity of light back to the tomato

plants that stimulates growth. This

leads to earlier harvests and

higher yields.

Soil warming is definitely a fac-

tor. Colored (red, blue, and black)

and clear mulches warm the soil,

which can lead to earlier yields.

Different plants respond differ-

ently to different colors. While thetomato family (tomato, potato,

pepper, and eggplant) respondwell to redmulch, cucurbits (cu-cumbers and melons) seem to

respond particularly well to blue

mulch.

The benefits of red mulch are

not assured, but seem to be morelikely to occur in areas with short-

growing seasons (this includes us

in the Dakotas!). Results vary

from year to year, from crop to

crop, and even from variety to

variety.

Studies have also shown that

different effects can occur with

different types of red mulch, so


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Back to basics: strawberriesThis is the time of the year whereyou hear a lot about exotic fruits

such as honeyberry, sea berry,

chokeberry, and even Canadian

cherries (see story above). These

fruits are fascinating and can pro-

vide us with new taste sensations.

In addition, catalogs will offer lots

of interesting heirloom fruits such

as gooseberry, elderberry, and

currant.

All of these fruits are interest-

ing, but many suffer from key

shortcomings such as low yields,

difficulties to harvest, thorny

canes, and bitter fruits.

If you want to grow fruits in

your backyard, why not start with

something easy? Strawberries are

hardy, productive, and delicious.

Many Junebearing varietiesare hardy to Zone 3. In order of

ripening, these include Annapo-

lis, Cavendish, Honeyoye, and

Sparkle. Recommended Zone 4

varieties, again listed in order of

ripening, include Earliglow,

Jewel, and Cabot. You can read

your catalogs to learn more of

these varieties; in general all are

productive and resist most dis-

eases.

Junebearing types are easy to

grow. Everbearing and day-

neutral varieties are short lived.

Fifty plants are enough for a

family of four. Space plants about

two feet apart. Choose an array

of varieties to spread your har-

vest from mid June into mid July.

Remove the flowers the first year

to help the plants focus on estab-

lishment instead of using all of

their energy to produce a few ber-

ries. The following year and for

several years thereafter, you will

have buckets of lip-smacking ber-

ries with minimal work.

The University of Saskatchewan

has introduced a series of dwarf

cherries that are easy to grow and

delicious. Two of these varietiesare approved for planting in the

USA today: SK Carmine Jewel

and SK Crimson Passion.

These Canadian cherries grow

only 6 to 8 feet tall and can be

trained into trees or shrubs (very

little to no suckering). They are

extremely hardy (Zone 2) and

show very few disease problems.

Plants are self-pollinating and

usually begin producing after twoto three years. Each plant can

produce 20 pounds of dark ma-

roon, quarter-sized cherries per

year.

Both varieties have been

tested at the NDSU Carrington

Research Extension Center and

look promising.

Kathy Wiederholt, the Fruit

Project Manager at the Center,

reports that SK Carmine Jewel is

exceptional for pies, cooking,

juice, wine, or flavoring for ice

cream or yogurt. The cherries are

juicier than sweet cherries and

have similar sugar levels, but ad-

ditional citric acid makes them

tarter. This variety is available

from St. Lawrence, Gurneys, andHenry Fields nurseries.

SK Crimson Passion has ex-

tremely high sugar content (brix

rating of 22 degrees), larger fruits

Prairie cherries

than SK Carmine Jewel and is ex-

cellent for eating fresh. I am not

aware of a source for this variety

yet.

More varieties in this Ro-

mance series of cherries, includ-

ing Romeo and Juliet, have been

released in Canada and hopefully

will be available to Americans

soon.


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Trees, shrubs, and fruits

Cranberrybush viburnum provides year-round color. Its fruits are very

tart in fall and the birds will not eat them until the fruits mellow over

winter (shown). This is a good thing since it keeps red color in our

landscape all winter plus it provides a source of food for birds in early

spring when natural food sources are at a premium.

Heavy loads of snow can damage shrubs and young trees. Gently broom

off the snow, using an upward motion.

Trees and shrubs have an economic value. If damaged by ice or acci-

dent, they are sometimes covered by homeowners insurance.

If you are buying a fruit tree, there are lots of good nurseries that serve

the nation. St. Lawrence Nurseries is unique in that it specializes inselling varieties for the far north, including Zone 3. Its selection of apple

varieties for the north is especially impressive.

Flowers and houseplants

Little gnats sometimes fly around your houseplants in winter. These

are fungus gnats, which prefer a humid environment. Let your plants

dry a bit between waterings and these gnats will be less of a nuisance.

A tip from the Marcy Pfliiger, President of the Prairie Rose Club, led me

to Chamblees Rose Nursery as an economical source of roses. Their

potted roses might be a little small when delivered in spring, but thebushes are healthy and establish easily. Chamblees offers many hardy

and semi-hardy roses that grow on their own roots (instead of being

grafted onto a wild rose). This is a nice feature because if the branches

die to the ground from a cold winter, the bushes will resprout and re-

main true to form. They have a good selection of fragrant David Austin

roses, including Graham Thomas (shown), one of the most popular

roses in the world.

Check flower bulbs that you have in storage. Toss out any soft, rotted

bulbs. Cool temperatures (4050 degrees) will reduce the likelihood of

bulbs prematurely sprouting.

Be careful about watering cacti and other succulent houseplants thistime of year. They do not actively grow now and dont need much water.

Water them only if you begin to see them shrivel a bit from dryness.

Amaryllis is a popular holiday flower. If your plant is done blooming, you

need to refill the bulb with energy so it can bloom next year. Cut off the

flower stalk. Fertilize the leafy plant (shown) with a balanced, soluble

fertilizer. Move the plant near a sunny window and keep it growing through

the summer.

Most houseplants do not actively grow in January. We typically do not

fertilize houseplants this time of year.

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Birch: Winter wow! (continued from Page 1)

Bronze birch borer is a common killer of birch trees. The borer attacks trees

under stress, creating raised tunnels (left) and destroying the veins of the tree,

leading to dying back of branches (right) and ultimately death.

Everyone loves the white bark

of birches. At one time one-third

of homes in many Midwest neigh-

borhoods had a birch standing in

the front yard. But we were tor-turingmany of these trees. They

were standing by themselves and

exposed to full sun and summer

heat. If we could somehow sense

the emotions of these trees, we

would hear them weeping in pain.

Although we cannot sense a

tree in pain, borers can. They pick

up these chemical signals of dis-

tress and bore inside into the

trees. They destroy its veins, pre-

venting water from travelling from

the roots to the rest of the tree.

The invaded tree slowly dies,

starting at its parched upper

branches. The bronze birch borer

has killed thousands of birches

over the years.

Please, dont torture a birch

tree. Keep birches out of the

harsh afternoon sun. A north or

east facing location is best. Keep

its soil cool with a natural bark

mulching. Understory plantings of

ground covers or low-growing

shrubs will keep the birch cool.Understory plants transpire water

into the air, keeping the environ-

ment around the tree more humid,

cool, and pleasant.

And pleasenever use rock

mulching around a birch. That is

pure cruelty! Rock mulches trap

heat and inflict deadly pain to trees

and shrubs. Birches cant take it.

From an aesthetic standpoint,

place your birch where you canappreciate its beauty, especially

in winter. The light color of its bark

will stand out even more with ev-

ergreen trees in the background.

Now that we have the right lo-

cation for the birch, we need to

select the best variety. Each type

of birch has its advantages and

shortcomings:

Pay attention to its species

name. Common names like white

birch and paper birch are used

widely, interchangeably, and

sometimes wrongly.

Lets start with European

white birch (Betula pendula).

This was by far the most popular

birch in the past because it has a

beautiful weeping habit and its

bark turns white at a very young

age. Some varieties have deeply

serrated, cutleaf foliage. Hardi-

ness is not a concern since this

birch is hardy to Zone 2.

Although this birch is verybeautiful, it cannot withstand heat

or drought. Proper location and

management are absolutely criti-

cal; otherwise, borers will destroy

the tree. Not right away, mind you.

These weeping birches will suffer

quietly for a decade until they fi-

nally give up and start to die back.

Paper birch (B. papyrifera) is

the best of the white-bark birches

for most home landscapes. It of-

fers much greater resistance to

the borer than European white

birch. Its bark is chalky white and

peels nicelymuch more com-

pared to European white birch. It

adapts well to different soils and

is superhardy (Zone 2).

If you want a white-bark birch,

Prairie Dream is highly recom-

mended by both North Dakota

State University (NDSU) and the

University of Minnesota. A selec-tion of NDSU, it tolerates the many

stresses of our climate and resists

bronze birch borer. Its bark is white

and peels like paperbeautiful in

winter (see photo on next page).

Its display of bright yellow foliage

in fall is a nice bonus, too. It grows

about 50 feet tall and opens up

to 40 feet wide as it matures.


7/8

Dakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerDakota GardenerJanuary 2011January 2011January 2011January 2011January 2011 Page 7Page 7Page 7Page 7Page 7

Paper Dream paper birch (top) is highly recommended. River birch (bottom) has

cinnamon-brown peeling bark. Both types resist borers.

Renaissance Reflection is

another fine variety and similar to

Prairie Dream in its resistance to

the borer as well as its attractive

bark and fall color. This variety is

noted for its fast growth (3 to 5

feet per year), and is narrower,more pyramidal in habit (60 feet

high and 25 feet wide). It is less

hardy than Prairie Dream, but

still reportedly hardy to Zone 3.

If you cant find Prairie Dream

or Renaissance Reflection birch

at your local nursery, ask them to

order it for you from a wholesale

source such as Baileys in St.

Paul.

Asian White Birch (B.

platyphylla) has an interesting his-

tory. After so many European

white birches died in front yards,

American scientists searched the

globe for a borer-resistant birch.

This led them to the mountains of

Japan where they collected birch

seeds. Seeds from this expedition

led to the discovery of a single

borer-resistant tree. This selec-

tion, called Whitespire, was re-

leased over 20 years ago by the

University of Wisconsin and

quickly became immensely popu-

lar in the Midwest. Its bark is pure

white but does not peel as much

as paper birch. The trueWhitespire continues to showresistance to the borer, but its

seedlings sometimes show sus-

ceptibility. Authentic Whitespire

trees are taken from cuttings and

known in the trade as Whitespire

Senior. These are very hard to

find today. Many large nurseries

in the Midwest use seedlings and

so be cautious. Whitespire is

hardy to Zone 4 and winter die-

back can be a problem in ourstate.

Two Asian white birch selec-

tions developed by NDSU are

gaining popularity:

Prairie Pinnacle is noted for

its very narrow, columnar habit. It

grow 30 feet tall and only 8 feet

wide. After several years, its bark

matures to a yellowish white color.

It shows tolerance to heat and

drought, making it less attractive

to borers. This birch tolerates al-

kaline soils, which are common in

our state. Prairie Pinnacle is

hardy to Zone 3.

Prairie Vision is a graceful

birch with an upright-oblong habit

(3545 feet tall by 3035 feet

wide). The bark is white with black-

ish markings. It is reportedly re-

sistant to bronze birch borers.

Keep in mind that resistance

is not the same as immunity.

Some researchers caution that al-

most all Asian white birch variet-

ies can suffer from borers if grown

under hot, stressful conditions.

The desire to grow birches,

even in hot locations, has led

many gardeners to plant river

Continued on back page


8/8

North Dakota State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability,

age, Vietnam Era Veterans status, sexual orientation, marital status, or public assistance status. Direct inquiries to the

Executive Director and Chief Diversity Officer, 202 Old Main, (701) 231-7708. Photo credits: The following are adaptedfrom photos made available under Creative Commons licenses specified by the photographer, all allowing for adaptation,

modification or building upon:winterberriesby Liz West, ; Shiny

Boy watermelon by All-America Selections; Red Tomato Mulch by Urban Farmer, ; Prairie Joy rose by Marilylie Soveran, ; Cherriesby soundingblue, ; Cranberry Hoarfrost by Peter Gorman, ;

Tiny fungus gnat by Brian Valentine, ; Graham Thomas by k

yamada, ; Amaryllis study 2 by Martin Brjesson, ; Bronze birch borer damage symptoms by Steven Katovich,

USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org; Prairie Dream birch by Dale Herman; Wet Red River Birch (Gaithersburg, MD)

by takomabibelot, ; WILD SINGLE BLACKBERRY w/STEM

by Giniger, ; other photos are from non-copyright sources.

birch (B. nigra). River birch is

more tolerant to drought than

white birches and are not at-

tacked by bronze birch borer.

River birch has a rich cinnamon-

brown bark that peels beautifully

(see page 7). Heritage is the

most popular variety as it grows

more vigorously and its bark islighter in color, almost salmon-

like, and very attractive.

River birches have a couple of

potential shortcomings in our

state. First, they are hardy only

to Zone 4. Second, they are sus-

ceptible to iron deficiencies in al-

Birch: Winter wow! (continued from Page 7)

kaline soils, leading to leaf yellow-

ing (chlorosis). Most of us have

neutral to alkaline soils, and thus

should stay away from river birch.

Among othe r no te worthy

birches is the hybrid birch Royal

Frost, which has burgundy-red

foliage that contrasts sharply with

its cinnamon-white bark. Its fall col-

ors range from orange to yellow

to red. This was created from a

cross between Crimson Frost

and Whitespire. As a hybrid, it

grows faster than Crimson Frost.

Its resistance to bronze birch

borer is not well known at this

time. Royal Frost is hardy to

Zone 4 at best.

Yellow birch (B.

alleghaniensis) is especially be-

loved for its golden fall foliage. Its

bark is brown to bronze, and

papery when mature. Yellow birch

tolerates cold weather and toler-

ates storms better than most

birches. This hardy (Zone 3/4)

birch is native from Newfoundland

to as west as Manitoba and needs

cool summer conditions. It would

be a nice choice in a natural land-

scape if given the right location.

A new series of blackberry variet-

ies from Arkansas have made it

possible for us to grow blackber-

ries in North Dakota.

Blackberry varieties bear fruit

on theirsecond-yearcanes. Our

problem here is that our winters

are so cold that the canes could

never live to the second year.

Researchers at the University

of Arkansas have released two

varieties that bear fruit on their

first-yearcanes: Prime Jan and

Prime Jim.

Blackberries for the northBetween these two varieties,

Prime Jan produces a slightly

sweeter berry. Prime Jim is known

for its vigorous, more erect canes.

These varieties are hardy to Zone

4.

Blackberries are notorious for

their thorns, and these Arkansas

varieties are definitely thorny. But

we dont have a choice--thornless

varieties cannot grow here.

On the positive side, these

varieties are very easy to manage.

After frost, we simply mow the

canes down to the ground. I would

keep the canes standing until late

March since the canes could

stand over winter and collect snow

to insulate the crowns.

New canes will emerge in

spring and the berries will ripen

from late June to frost. This

sounds easy and is worth a try if

you are a blackberry lover.

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January 2011 Dakota Gardener