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You are only an expert within 50 milesBy Richard C. Snell Barton County Extension Agent, agriculture Kansas You know the old story that when it comes to speakers, you have to be at least 50 miles from home to be an expert? In reality, when it comes to growing things, you probably aren't an expert if you are more than 50 miles from home because soils, weather and other factors change so much. Today, I will be talking about wheat variety selection and next week about planting date; and both of those can easily change in 50 miles, so realize this is geared for central Kansas. I am also going to address seed selection with these principles applying to all geographic areas. First, I would plant at least three varieties of wheat or a blend. The more wheat acres you have, the more varieties I would plant. If you have at least 1,000 acres of wheat, then five would be about right. If you only have 50 acres of wheat, I might do a blend or just one variety. Try to plant varieties with different weaknesses and characteristics so you can manage your risks. Take a look at Agri-Pro's RustBuster blends. Secondly, I would buy at least one new variety every year. I would not keep seed for more than 2 years out of certification. Wheat does not get better with age. Over the generations, smut and other diseases can creep in besides losing a bushel or two of yield every year. If you do save seed, have it cleaned and have it treated if it is in really dry or really wet soil conditions. What varieties would I be planting in our area? Here are my picks. First, either 2137 or Sante Fe. They are not genetically similar but seem to do well in the same years. 2137 can get stripe rust, so don't plant more than 33 percent of your acreage there. I would be planting either TAM 111 or TAM 112. Maybe not both, but one. Secondly, I would be looking at Fuller or PostRock. For the future, I like Art, Hawken, Armour and Spartan. Personally, I am ready to give up on both Jagger and Jagalene for disease reasons, but there are people in the sandy soils who still like Jagger. Some of those same people like Cutter. All of these need to be sprayed with a fungicide most years and, even then, I think their best days are in the past. I am also not a big fan of Overley, due to several flaws. We almost always have one of the Nebraska wheats like Wesley or Millennium do well, but the problem is you never know which one it will be. Ornamental plants for late season bloom While on a recent journey, I saw some small trees that were new to me and made me think about showy landscape plants and what might grow around here. I have to admit I am not a well-traveled person. I will also admit that, generally speaking, when it comes to horticulture, I am knowledgeable on most things but weak on landscaping and ornamentals. This leads me to my recent trip to North Carolina, where I saw many pinkish red to purple flowering small trees. They were everywhere. I had not really seen them before, that I could recall. Several of us had to ask. It was common crapemyrtle. The people that I talked to said we were on the edge of where you could grow them in terms of winter-hardiness. In town, where protected, they might do well. Out on the open prairie, probably not. I have more about this shrub down the page. We normally think of woody plants flowering in the spring or early summer, but there are some that flower later in the growing season. These can add color to summer landscapes. Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is a tall shrub that produces single or double flowers in the colors ranging from white to red, purple or violet or combinations, depending on the variety. Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) are dwarf to tall shrubs or trees. We actually have a few in our area. They are not reliably winter hardy in Kansas and often die back to the ground. Most of our recent winters have been mild and not severe enough in our area to kill back the crapemyrtle. The most winter hardy variety for us is Velma's Royal Delight. Most of ours are multi-stemmed short shrubs, 2-4 feet tall. Crapemyrtle flowers on new wood, so plants pruned (or killed) to the ground while dormant in late winter or early spring will bloom later the same year. Flower color varies from white, pink, purple to deep red on different plants. It is one of the favorites throughout the southern states, but is native to China and Korea. Caryopteris x clandonensis is known as bluebeard, blue-spirea, blue-mist shrub or caryopteris. It usually is found with blue flowers, but some cultivars have a bluish-violet to violet flower color. Plants are usually cut back in late winter or early spring. Flowers are borne on the current season's growth. Sweet Autumn clematis (Clematis paniculata or maximowicziana) is a vigorous vine with large masses of small, white flowers which have a wonderful fragrance. Be careful with this one; it can easily outgrow its bounds. It is a good idea to cut it back to the ground in early spring. Davidiana clematis (Clematis heracleifolia var. Davidiana) is a bush-type clematis with small but interesting violet blue flowers. Female plants bear interesting fluffy seed heads into the winter. This clematis needs to be cut back to the ground each year to help maintain the plant's shape. The PeeGee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata Grandiflora) is a somewhat coarse plant that develops large clusters of white flowers. It can be trained into a tree- like form. 9/15/08 Date: 9/11/08
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