Wichita gardener’s almanac for Nov. 21

Oak mite relief — I heard from a Kansas City reader this week who said that she’d finally found relief from the itching of oak mites by remembering a remedy her mother told her about years ago for chigger bites: egg whites. Dee McClure emailed that she applied egg white to the area around her neck that had been bitten by the mites, and washed it off two hours later, following it up with cortisone cream. The egg whites took away the itching and the redness, McClure wrote. She wonders what it is about the whites that helps. “Mom would also use them on us teenagers to clear up pimples,” she said.

As for the oak leaf itch mites, which have been falling from oak trees on people for months and making them miserable, “we are praying for a frost to kill those buggers,” she said. Extension agent Matthew McKernan says he expects the mites to be a problem a little while longer until the weather gets colder.

Gardeners, put down your pruners — This is not the time of year to do any serious pruning of shrubs or ornamental grasses, K-State’s horticulture staff reminds us. As has been mentioned, overly tall rose canes should be trimmed to 36 inches and tied together to prevent them being whipped in the wind. Otherwise, light pruning and removal of dead wood from shrubs are all that should be done this time of year, Ward Upham of K-State writes in this week’s Horticulture 2015 newsletter. And ornamental grasses can keep their ornamental seedheads through winter, cut back in February or March to 6 to 8 inches to let new growth through, Cheryl Boyer of K-State says. Serious rejuvenation of shrubs and division of grasses should wait until spring.

Overgrown junipers should be removed, Upham says. Junipers can take only a light trimming if you want to keep their full shape, because they don’t break bud from within the plant, he says.

Winter houseplant care — Once houseplants come in for the winter, it can be trickier to take care of them. Their growth slows, and they don’t dry out like they do outdoors. In fact, “excess water fills air spaces within the soil, resulting in roots that receive less oxygen than they need,” Upham says. Water only when the soil is dry an inch deep, and be sure water runs out of the bottom of the pot to wash excess salt out of potting soil, he says.

Fertilization should be cut back, too. Apply half the amount for flowering plants and one-fourth the amount for foliage plants, he says.

South- or east-facing windows generally give plants the most light. Be sure they aren’t in the way of drafts from doors or heating ducts, Upham says. And give them some humidity, he advises, either from a humidifier or by often misting the plants or placing the pots atop water-filled trays of pebbles.

Digging cannas and other summer bulbs — Once frost has browned the foliage of cannas, gladioluses, caladiums, dahlias, tuberous begonias and calla lilies, it’s time to dig their bulbs and store them for the winter. “Allow them to dry for about a week in a shady, well-ventilated site such as a garage or tool shed,” Upham writes in Horticulture 2015. “Remove any excess soil and pack them in peat moss, vermiculite or perlite. Make sure the bulbs don’t touch so that if one decays, the rot doesn’t spread. Dusting them with fungicide before storage will help prevent them from rotting.

“Caladium should be stored between 50 and 60 degrees. The other bulbs mentioned should be stored near 40 degrees. Finding a good spot to store the bulbs may be difficult. Some people place them against a basement wall farthest from the furnace and insulate them so the wall keeps them cool.”

Garden events

Kansas Grown Indoor Winter Market — Many of the summer vendors of the Kansas Grown Farmers Market will be selling local food for Thanksgiving and beyond on Saturday inside the Extension Center at 21st and Ridge Road. Among the food items: dinner rolls, pies, meats, jams, jellies, produce and herbs. The market will be from 8 a.m. to noon.

Garden dedication/seed swap — Beautiful Day Cafe will dedicate its garden area from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The cafe is at 2516 E. Central. The public is invited to help flag areas marking where the fire pit, fountain, gazebo and pathways will be. There will be a blessing and a seed exchange. Echo Landscapes will have flower, vegetable and meadow-lawn seed to give away, and people who have seed to share also are welcome to bring it. The cafe is open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Illuminations — Botanica’s Christmas lights display will begin Friday and go nightly through Dec. 31. New this year: The light show in the children’s-garden meadow will move to a big screen. And the old bulbs in the lighted trees in the pond and the Margie Button fountain as well as the lights in the light show in the main meadow have been changed out for color-changing RGB LED lights. The new glassed-in pavilion, which will be lighted, and new restrooms on the way from the pavilion to the children’s garden also should be open by Friday. Hours for Illuminations are 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $8, $7 for members, $6 for ages 3 to 12; children under 3 get in free. Advance tickets can be purchased at Botanica or QuikTrip. More info: botanica.org.

Luminary Walk — Dyck Arboretum of the Plains in Hesston will have its Luminary Walk with candles and lights, roasted marshmallows at bonfires, entertainment, stories and refreshments from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday and Nov. 28 and Dec. 4 and 5. Admission is $5; $4 for members, seniors and college students; and $2 for ages 3 to 15. Children under 3 are free.

The performers’ schedule: Angel Feet dance troupe, 7 p.m. Friday; Dave Anderson on hammered dulcimer, 7 p.m. Nov. 28; McPherson Brass Quintet, 6 p.m. Dec. 4; and the Konza Ringers handbell ensemble, 7 p.m. Dec. 5.

The Arboretum gift shop selling the work of local artisans, books and arboretum merchandise will have a holiday open house from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday and Nov. 28.

Under the theme “ ’Tis the Season for Giving,” the arboretum is collecting donations of $1 or more to a selection of nonprofit organizations at the Luminary Walk. More info: dyckarboretum.org.

Annie Calovich

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Wichita gardener’s almanac for Nov. 21."