This enewsletter is the free sister publication of Washington Gardener Magazine. Both the magazine and enewsletter share the same mission and focus — helping Washington DC area gardens grow — but our content is different. In this monthly enewsletter, we will: address timely seasonal topics and projects; post local garden events; and, include a monthly reminder list of what you can be doing now in your garden.
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The March/April 2009 Washington Gardener magazine is available now. If you subscribe by April 23, you can start your subscription with this issue. Single copies of this issue can be purchased directly from Washington Gardener. The issue is also on sale at area Borders, Barnes and Noble, and B. Dalton book stores plus many independent stores like the USNA's Arbor House.
This issue's cover story is "40+ Free and Low-Cost Local Garden Resources." It also includes our Spring Planting Guide for Edibles, stories on Soil Testing, Cutworms, Redbuds, Virginia Bluebells, and, much, much more.
How does the concept of FREE PLANTS sound to you in these economically troubled times? You probably know about plant multiplication by dividing overgrown old ones or starting new ones from seed, but have you ever attempted propagation by softwood cuttings? It is one of the easiest garden tasks you’ll undertake as well as the most rewarding. In a short time, you’ll have plants to fill out your beds and more to pass on to your gardening friends.
The best window in time for taking=2
0softwood cutting to create new shrubs and trees is mid-May to early June. You can try some earlier though and start now in planning which ones you’d like to propagate from your own garden as well as “shopping” in your friend’s gardens. (With their permission, of course!)
Recommended shrubs and trees for softwood cutting propagation are boxwood, azalea, lilac, euonymus, forsythia, weigela, barberry, viburnum, fig, roses, crabapple, quince, gardenia, camellia, flowering cherry, and hydrangea. You can also do this on “woody” perennials including geraniums, fuschias, dianthus, and chrysanthemums.
You are selecting this season’s growth from your woody plants. The new, green wood is best for this purpose. The plant material should be flexible though mature enough to snap when sharply bent.. Use a sharp, and sterilized pair of pruners or knife to take your cuttings. Consider what you are doing as “plant surgery” and use good cleanliness standards.
Before you start cutting, prepare the growing medium (sterile moist sand, vermiculite, or perlite) and your pots. You do not want the cuttings to dry out at all and you’ll want to work quickly. Be sure your container has a cover to reduce moisture loss. You can use a store-bought large seed-starting tray and dome. Alternatively, you can make your own out of recycled salad bar trays, just be sure to provide good drainage holes.
Cut a three-to-four inch length
from the growing tips of the plant. The cut should be made at a slight angle, just below a node. (A node is the point on a stem where a leaf emerges.) Next, keep the top few leaves, but prune away any flower buds and the lower leaves from the cutting. Dip the cut end into a rooting hormone such as Rootone® and bury it in the growing medium until at least one node is covered. (The nodes are where the new roots will emerge.) Water the rooting medium well. Then cover them.
Place the potted and covered cuttings in a bright, warm spot -- though out of direct sun. Within a few weeks the cutting will start to form roots.. Give it a tug periodically to check. When it has formed a well developed root system, remove the cover and transplant the cutting into a container by itself. Newly rooted cuttings should not be transplanted directly into the landscape. Grow the plant to a larger size before you transplant it to a permanent location and that will increase its chances for survival.
Happy Growing!
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher Washington Gardener
P.S. We hope to see you at many upcoming spring garden events. If you wll be at next weekend's Washington Home and Garden Show, see us in Booth #301.
Here is a selection of upcoming events (March 16-April 15) in the greater DC area of interest to gardeners:
DC
Native Plant Sale at the 23nd Annual Lahr Symposium
March 28, 9:00am-2:00pm
National Arboretum, outside the Administration Building, 3501 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
The annual Friends of the National Arboretum Native Plant Sale features a collection of local native plant nurseries offering an extensive selection of plants. Many experienced growers will be present to offer expert advice. Most vendors accept cash or checks only.
Fee: $0/Free Registration is not required.
For more information: call 202.245.2726 or go to: www.usna.usda.gov.
Urban Tree Care and Tree Giveaway Program
March 28, 1:00–2:30pm
Historical Society of Washington, Carnegie Library, 801 K Street NW, Washington, DC
A talk on urban tree care basics and the Casey=2
0Trees rebate program for DC residents is presented by Jim Woodworth, Casey Trees. Part of the monthly Urban Gardening Talk Series hosted by the Historical Society of Washington (HSW), DC Urban Gardeners, and Washington Gardener Magazine.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.rootingdc.org or call 202.638.1649.
Moving Toward Native
April 10, 12:00-1:00pm
United States Botanic Garden Conservatory, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, foot of the U.S. Capitol
How do we integrate native plants into the designed landscape? A new age of planting design is upon us with a need to reduce negative human impact on the environment. By using more native plants, we will decrease the need for watering, maintenance, and fertilizers, and increase the diversity of plants, animal habitat, and the return of bees, birds and butterflies. Sandra Clinton, President of Clinton and Associates, will discuss integrating native plants into the designed landscape followed by a description of her favorite native plants for the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Fee: SONG members: $5; Nonmembers: $10. Pre-registration is required.
For more information: call 202.225.8333 or www.usbg.gov.
MD and PA
Organic Gardening Series: Seed Starting
March 18, 6:30-9:00pm
Accokeek Foundation, 3400 Bryan Point Road Accokeek, MD
Why buy transp
lants when you can grow your plants from seeds? This class will provide you with the information you will need to grow your own seedlings and get a jump on the growing season. You will learn how to select the seeds, materials, and methods that will work best for you.
Fee: $30 for nonmembers; $25 for Accokeek Foundation members. Preregistration is required.
For more information: www.accokeek.org or call 301.283.2113.
Jazzing Up the Garden with Color and Contrast
March 20, 10:30-11:30am
Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton MD
This talk by Karen Bussolini, garden photographer and author, is for gardeners who, when confronted with a learned treatise on the color wheel, hear an inner voice insisting, "Gardening shouldn't be this hard." Plant combinations take thought, though; for a truly satisfying garden is a lot more than just a bunch of nice plants. Karen, who has photographed gardens all over the country, shows dozens of interesting plant combinations and explains how gardeners have used color, texture, gesture, repetition, light reflecting qualities, color echoes, and other properties. She presents a way of thinking about combining plants that anyone can use easily -- without angst or color wheel.
Fee: $0/Free. Pre-registration is required.
For more information, call 301.962.1400 or go to www.brooksidegardens.org.
Greenroofs20and Greenwalls
March 25, 7:30-9:00pm
Cafeteria of the James E. Duckworth School, 11201 Evans Trail, Beltsville, MD
Lisa E. Delplace will discuss current trends and innovations in greenroofs and greenwalls at the Beltsville Garden Club general meeting. She is a Principal and CEO of Oehme, van Sweden in Washington, DC. Her work increasingly focuses on roof terraces, green roofs, and vertical green screens for urban developments. Under her direction work continues at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, IL. She recently completed two US Embassy sites in Southeast Asia.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.beltsvillegardenclub.org or call 301.890.4733.
VA and WV
Conifers for Gardens
March 22, 1:30-3pm
Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA
With many evergreens to choose from and so little space in the garden; which ones do you choose? Richard Bitner, writer, author and instructor at Longwood Gardens introduces various genera of conifers, discusses using them in garden design, integrating them into borders and highlights the best cultivars for the area. Book signing.
Fee: $10. Pre-registration is required.
For more information: www.greenspring.org or call 703.642.5173.
Getting the Garden Ready for Spring March 28, 10:00-11:30am
ACTS Family Servi
ces Center, 3900 ACTS Lane, Dumfries, VA
The Prince William County Master Gardeners have been working with ACTS to establish an educational and functional landscape around their new Family Services Center using Best Management Practices as a guide. Learn what you need to do each spring to prepare a new or established landscape for the seasons to come.
Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is required.
For details: visit www.pwcgov.org or call 703.792.7747.
Spring Wild Flowers of the Potomac Valley Collection
April 5, 2:00-4:00pm
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Regional Park, 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court, Vienna, VA
See some of our region's most beautiful spring wild flowers in this internationally recognized conservation collection.
Fee: $5 for adults; $2.50 for children (17 and younger). Preregistration is required.
For details, call 703.255.3631 or visit www.nvrpa.org.
Special Event
PhotoSynthesis
March 27, 6:00-8:00pm
Adams Bank Lobby in the World Building, 8121 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD
You are invited to PhotoSynthesis, an exhibi
tion of the winning images from the third annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest. All 16 stunning photos were taken in DC-area gardens. Both inspirational and educational, this show represents the best of garden photography in the greater DC metropolitan region. After the opening reception, you may come by and view the photos any time during the normal bank lobby hours (M-F 9am-4pm, Sat 9am-12noon). The show runs through May 10.
Fee: $0/free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.washingtongardener.com or call 301.588.6894.
For even more area garden event notices than we can't possibly squeeze in here, become a member of our free online discussion group. To join the discussion group list serv, just send an email to: WashingtonGardener-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
To submit an event for this listing, please contact: Wgardenermag@aol.com and put "Event" in the email subject head. PLEASE NO ATTACHMENTS! Our next deadline is March 12 for the March 15 edition of this enewsletter featuring events from March 16-April15.
Diva-rellas are a new line of clumping, heat-tolerant; Baltimore, Wilmington, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia humidity-tolerant line of truly native Tiarellas (foamflowers). Giving each homeowner a little piece of easy ecology for their backyard. Foamflowers are food for honey bees, they preserve water because they are drought tolerant -- especially if they are bred with only East Coast native species, and they control erosion on hard to landscape areas. And let’s not forget their bounty of blooms in early spring, followed by handsome foliage all summer long, and often fiery-red or golden-amber winter colors.
Tiarella cordifolia is the eastern species of foamflower. This is actually a unique and hardy new introduction by famed plants-man Sinclair A. Adam, Jr. of Dunvegan Nursery, who is often referred to in horticultural circles as the "Pharaoh of Foamflowers." The name of the new selection is being
announced by Plants Nouveau, of Baltimore, MD, who will be facilitating the introduction of the new series.
According to Angela Treadwell Palmer, President of Plants Nouveau, "The Diva-rellas are all named after highly successful women who we feel are 'divas' in some way. The Latin meaning of 'tiarella' is 'tiara' -- describing the way these foamflowers bloom with a crown-like appearance. We thought this would be a great name for the series." Tiarella cordifolia 'FM Mooberry' is named for FM Mooberry from the Brandywine Conservancy. She famously discovered an introduced the mildew-free Phlox paniculata ‘David’ to the world.
Diva-rellas have already been named for Sherry Kitto, a plant scientist at the University of Delaware, and for "Perennial Diva" Stephanie Cohen, author of The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer.
This plant will be available to growers in late 2009. The recent Philadelphia Flower Show 2009 was the first time anyone had seen this plant except the breeder. It was featured in the Michael Petrie’s Handmade Gardens exhibit display, "The Painted Tree."
For our March 2009 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, we are giving away passes to the upcoming Go Green America Expo March 28-29, 2009 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, MD.
This brand new event is the first of its kind in Maryland. The expo focuses on the sustainability movement: promoting an environmentally responsible lifestyle for consumers and businesses throughout the country. It is their mission to showcase the services, products, technology, information, and educational resources available today which will enable us to create positive change. Exhibits and speakers include topics ranging from Green Building Principals to Organic Food to Eco Chic Fashions.
This prize package is a set of two passes worth $12 each for a total prize value of $24. We have several sets of prize packages to award so your odds of winning are very good!
To enter to win the Go Green America Expo passes,
send an email with "GGA Contest" in the subject line to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on March 23. In the body of the email include your full name and address. The pass winner will be announced and notified on March 24.
Washington Gardener Magazine has a blog at WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com. In it we discuss topics of interest to local gardeners and give a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at the magazine itself. You are invited to visit the blog regularly and to leave your thoughts in the comments sections provided there. We'd lov
e for you to link to us and let us know if you too have a local area garden blog. In this new Washington Gardener Enews column, we will link to recent blog posts of interest to highlight what you may have missed in the past month.
ISO Community Garden Plots, we are putting together a comprehensive list of DC-area community gardens as a local resource
Here is our comprehensive garden task list for gardens in the greater DC metro region for March 15-April 15. Your suggestions and additions to this list are most welcome:
Avoid walking on and compacting wet soil in the garden.
Prune grapevines.
Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles.
Get a soil test.
Soil preparation -- add lime, compost, etc. as needed.
Mulch beds with a light hand.
Repot root-bound houseplants and start fertilizing them.
Clean leaves and debris from your water garden.
Do not be alarmed if your pond turns green from algae bloom, this is natural until your water plants fill the surface area. Add a barley ball to combat it for now.
Cut back ornamental grasses.
Water during dry spells.
Cut your Daffodils for indoor bouquets, but do not combine daffs with other flowers in one vase. They give off a toxic substance they may kill your other blooms off prematurely.
Weed by hand to avoid disturbing the newly forming roots of other nearby plants.
Walk your garden -- look for early signs of fungal disease.
Divide perennials and herbs.
Fertilize new growth.
Plant and prune roses.
Transplants small trees and shrubs.
Buy or check on your stored summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot them and start to water, if you want to give=2
0them an early start on the season.
If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening off process.
Start some more seeds -- especially try flowering annuals like impatiens and petunias.
Prune fruit trees as their buds are swelling. Check for dead and diseased wood to prune out. Cut a few branches for indoor forcing, if desired.
Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
Buy an indoor plant to liven up your office space. Try an orchid or African violet.
Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds.
Direct Sow Early-Season Annuals including sweet peas, alyssum, Verbena bonairiensis, calendula, nigella, nicotiana, and viola.
Clip away brown, dried-out foliage on your hellebores to better see the blooms.
Feed birds and provide nesting materials (try dryer lint) as well as houses for the start of their family season.
Plant a tree for Arbor Day. Arbor Day comes on different dates in different states. In our area it is the first Wednesday in April for Maryland, Virginia has it on the second Friday in April, and DC has it on the last Friday in April. In addition, many local groups and towns have their own celebrations.
Mary Q. Contrary was concerned with how her garden grew, so should you.. Vegetables have many forms and growth habits. How big is your garden and what form fits your space? Do you have room to grow jumbo ‘January King’ cabbages or are ‘Alcosa’s’ compact heads perfect for the plot and your recipes? Articles on small-space gardening often suggest growing bush forms of ramblers like pumpkin, squash and cucumbers, but I would rather not limit my choices. I say, grow up, over, and around. There is no reason a vine has to stay earth-bound. Think outside the garden bed.
Maturation dates are critical; is the growing season long, cool, or hot enough to produce the edible part of the vegetable? I’ve grown Jicama; the emerald-green vine
blanketed an entire bed promising a great harvest. But looks can be deceiving, no crisp tuber developed. Fall frosts killed the vine before the tuber formed. Sowing seeds indoors gives gardeners a better shot at growing plants with long growing seasons; tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants immediately come to mind as examples. But what can we do to facilitate growing cool season crops like peas, favas, and broccoli? Occasionally, we enjoy long, mild springs, but most of the time, spring is shorter than our work commute. When the torrid heat hits, peas get tough, black aphids enrobe the favas, and harlequin bugs swarm the broccoli in June. It is best to pick spring crops which mature quickly. Once I got a clue, I switched English peas for sugar snap and snow peas; they tend to have shorter maturation dates. The same principle directs me to choose small-headed broccoli like ‘Small Miracle,’ ‘Early Dividend,’ and ‘Nuti-Bud.’ Fortunately for us, we have enough heat to grow southern favorites: okra, black-eyed peas, and limas. When choosing varieties, remember what Natalie Dupree, the great southern cook, serves at her summer buffets. I doubt that her cookbooks suggest watercress sandwiches for Fourth of July picnics.
It is also important to pick a variety to fit your soil type. If you have the holy grail of soils (i.e., moist, well-drained, and loamy) this isn’t as much of an issue. But most of us have to contend with something less than ideal. Short carrots,
like ‘Scarlet Nantes’ and ‘Danver Half-longs,’ are much easier to grow in clay soils. Long-rooted types fork and contort as they push through the clay. Choose varieties that will grow in what you have and gradually amend the soil with compost so eventually soil type won’t be as much of an issue.
Seek Out Proven Varieties: You should consider all these factors before buying vegetable seeds, but two others are critical if you want to be an organic gardener; pick disease resistant and pest resistant varieties. Our summers are so hot and humid; diseases multiply faster than the bunnies eating your lettuces. How can you tell if a variety is disease-resistant?...
Want to learn more about which varieties work best in our region and just when to plant them? Read the rest of this article in the March/April 2009 issue of Washington Gardener magazine.
The April 15, 2009 issue of Washington Gardener Enews will describe the wonderful Plant a Row for the Hungry program.
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Urban Tree Care and Tree Giveaway Program
PhotoSynthesis
