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May is iris and peony time throughout our section. The real work has already been done on these two and the results indicate just how thorough we were. The main thing now is to provide plenty of water through the flowering season, to produce top quality bloom.
photo credit: Donnaphoto

Each iris plant should have a feeding of one cupful of balanced fertilizer but it should be kept well away from the plant. It will be wise to note the ones that should be divided after flowering and perhaps prepare the soil for planting in new locations.

Peonies are subject to aphid infestation and many times this is first noticed by the presence of ants. These ants live on the honey dew secretions from the aphids and quite often there are “farms” of aphids that are milked” regularly by ants. Aphids cause a blasting of the buds quickly on peonies. Regular spraying with a contact spray will control these critters.

Rose Time

Throughout our section roses are giving their first lush crop of blooms. The annual rose shows are usually staged beginning the second week in May.

In the garden the chief chores are regular spraying at ten day intervals with products to control blackspot, spraying to control aphids, watering. feeding and light pruning to control blooming and habit of growth.

Rock garden plants respond beautifully to feeding and watering this month. Divide and transplant violets and allow a spacing of about ten inches. As the perennials come into flower, keep the faded blooms cut back to encourage new growth and a second crop of flowers. Pinch the early set chrysanthemums is one of the highly recommended plant branching ideas, and feed lightly.

For those of you who enjoy gourds, May is the month to plant. These plants are among the novelty group and are most interesting. Be constantly on the alert for weeds… most of these have an uncanny way of getting established very early.

Investigate the new herbicides for control of weeds by chemical sprays; many hours of hard work can be saved by using them. Read and follow the directions carefully. There is still time to replant water lilies and other aquatic plants. And why not plant a few herbs for both seasoning and unusual foliage for arranging?

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Dishrag Gourds are also know as Luffah Sponge Gourds. They are one of the few gourds that can be eaten and are considered a special treat by many. I tried one once but the gourd in its mature stage interests me more. To me the gourd tasted somewhat like a cucumber.
photo credit: Valerie Everett

The gourd earned its name by being used as dishrags for dishes many years ago and as the sponges that are put on handles and used in showers and baths. I have even seen a craft recipe where the luffah gourds are cut into sections and covered with soap to make a specialty gift item.

The Luffah gourd is different than most gourds to grow. Its a very delicate gourd plant. It starts slowly and grows slowly, at least here in NW PA.

The first year I grew the Luffah I was disappointed. The plants looked sickly and stayed the same size. Summer was flying by the the Luffahs were not growing. I was about to write the adventure off as a flop but all of a sudden they took off.  They were all vine! Again disappointment set in. I just watered and fertilized them and pretty much ignored them.

One day I saw small gourds hiding under leaves. I was going to have a crop after all!

My first crop was small, 12 or so Luffah Gourds that were nine to 15 inches long.

It was now time to cure the gourds.

This was an adventure!

The yellow luffahs are more mature and the skin is tougher and I peeled the skin off.

The green luffahs had a softer skin and I read they needed to be soaked for four to five days in water and the skin would peel off leaving the sponge exposed. The sponges also stay  softer if they are harvested green.

I had no place to soak the gourds so they ended up in two buckets in the dining room. I had to put boards on top of the gourds to hold them under the water. Being rather pourous the gourds did not want to be submerged in water.  Day three, the gourds were getting rather slimy and discusting. I tried to shove one stubborn gourd under the water.

Suddenly it popped out of the water and acted like a rocket. It was airborn and headed 15 foot away into the livingroom where the family was. I was in shock and had no time to warn them.

To this day, I have not lived this down.

I just recently read online that others have removed the skins by freezing the gourd, putting the gourd in hot water for 15 minutes and some have cooked them. It’s really a “try a method” and see what works for you.

The Luffah Sponge Crop

I ended up with about nine luffah sponges. You need to bleach them, clean them and remove the seeds. It’s a crop that takes a lot of work but I continue to grow them. I now soak them in the greenhouse!

                                                                                                        photo credit: Valerie Everett

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