On this week’s “Gardening in
Georgia, trails manager Hank Bruno of Callaway Gardens gives
host Walter Reeves some tips on properly planting an azalea.

The show airs on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. on Georgia Public Television. It
will be rebroadcast at noon on Saturday, Oct. 13.

Bruno adds lots of organic matter to a well-dug area 5 feet
across. Taking the azalea from its pot, he shoves his hand up
through the center of the root ball and shakes loose nearly half
of the pine bark media.

This allows him to spread the roots widely in the planting hole
and forces them to adapt to their new home. After mulching the
surrounding soil, he waters the area thoroughly.

Saving Seeds

In another segment, Reeves shows how to properly save the seeds
of blooming plants for next spring. In the fall, nothing is left
of many plants’ blossoms but their seed heads.

Reeves separates the seeds from the chaff, places them into
individual envelopes and labels them. Then he puts all of his
seed envelopes into a pint jar.

To keep the air dry in the jar, he puts 2 tablespoons of dry milk
powder in a piece of tissue and wraps a rubber band around it. He
drops this packet into the jar and twists the lid on tightly.

Then he places the jar full of seeds in the refrigerator crisper
drawer. This will keep seeds dry and cool during the winter.
They’ll be ready to be planted in April.

Fall Bloomers

Finally, Katherine Hayden of Callaway Gardens shows Reeves many
plants that produce fall blossoms, including:

• Eye-catching yellow flowers on large cassia plants.




• Mexican sage, “Bengal Tiger” canna, artemisia, pineapple
  sage, Salvia guaranitica and chrysanthemums (sage and salvia are
  favorites of hummingbirds and pollinator insects).




• Two new plants: the ornamental potato “Ace of Spades” and
  variegated St. Augustine grass.

“Gardening in Georgia” airs each Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. It’s
rebroadcast every Saturday at noon. The show’s Web site provides
further information.

The show is produced especially for Georgia gardeners by the UGA
College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and GPTV.