Alliums or ‘ornamental onions’ come in all sizes and colors—from giant globe-shaped purple spheres to delicate yellow sprays. The best part is that deer, squirrels, voles and rabbits find them foul-tasting. Here are some awe-inspiring alliums to add to your garden this year.

Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ makes a dramatic mass in late spring.
(Foreground is waning Narcissus triandrus ‘Stint’.)

Alliums (aka “ornamental onions”) comprise a marvelous group of plants in the lily family always underutilized by gardeners. From Allium aflatunense to Allium zebdanense (literally from A to Z), most don’t have common names but there is an allium for all. Allium’s various forms from bodacious and big to shade-loving delicacies make them valued by gardeners in any venue. The giant globe-shaped flowering types are whimsical and fun while the shade-loving species are delicate and sublime. Their flowers’ colors range from lavenders and purples to pink, yellow, blue, burgundy and white. As they are in the same genus as the culinary onion, they contain the same properties that make them unpalatable to garden pests like deer, squirrels and voles.

Allium christophii.


Allium schubertii.


Allium giganteum


Allium atropurpureum.

For fabulous spherical flower forms in late spring to early summer there are four violet-hued classics: from volleyball-sized Allium schubertii to softball-sized Allium giganteum and A. christophii to baseball-sized Allium aflatunense. Hybrids between these sport an intermediate set of flowers in all sizes in between. King of the group is the aptly named Allium giganteum whose lilac-purple flowers tower atop a 4-foot, yet sturdy, stem (flowers are white in the cultivar ‘White Giant’). Next in height is the Allium aflatunense: usually represented by the cultivar ‘Purple Sensation’. This allium grows to about 30 inches tall and the flowers are a gorgeous violet-purple. Both these dramatic alliums bring early season flower height to any border. Allium christophii grows to about 20 inches and the flowers are unique silvery-lavender that is simply spectacular. It is low enough and open enough that it actually looks great mixing and mingling with neighboring flowers or foliage of the season. Allium schubertii must be seen to be believed with its huge, open explosion of flowers no more than 2 feet tall. It can gracefully burst through neighboring flowers and foliage as well. Let the flowers of all these go to seed in the garden as the seed heads retain the marvelous form of the flowers and dry beautifully. I have witnessed them tactfully spray painted to enliven the color of a garden well into summer. Dried and used indoors they are everlasting.

Another foursome of alliums blooming at the same time (late spring into early summer) offer a cool range of colors on plants that grow from 12 to 24 inches tall for the most part. They can be grown beneath the above but also as complements to popular peonies or Siberian iris. The smallest is the Allium roseum with lovely pink umbels reaching 12 to18 inches. Next in the 1- to 2-foot range is Allium atropurpureum whose flower is best described as a deep burgundy—suitable for a “black” border and a lively contrast with the rest. In the same height range is the true-blue-flowering Allium caeruleum, which often attracts early butterflies and makes a great choice for a blue or blue-and-yellow border. Tallest of this bunch is the Allium nigrum (18 to 30 inches) with silvery off-white flowers—each floret containing a green stripe down the petal. I have seen it in beautiful contrast planted with Allium atropurpureum.

Two alliums bloom in yellow on no more than 1-foot-high stems but they are very different from each other. In late spring the sparkling yellow Allium moly boasts golf-ball-sized bright yellow flowers in an up-facing umbel. The other yellow-bloomer is Allium flavum whose flower is more of a firework explosion of mostly pendulous florets but it doesn’t bloom until later, near midsummer.

If you have a shade garden there are also some alliums that will work for you and mingle in well with other moist woodland wildflowers and traditional shade plants like hostas. These are all short with roughly golf-ball-sized flower clusters. First is the native Allium tricoccum aka wild leeks, which are mainly grown for their broad and lovely ephemeral leaves that emerge in early spring. The greenish-white flowers are hardly noticed on naked stems in midsummer after the leaves have long gone and produce neat black seeds that burst from each flower’s capsule. Allium triquetrum also does best in at least partial shade and blooms in late spring. It has drooping, bell-flared flowers of white with a light blue stripe down each petal. My absolute favorite is the hard-to-find but worthwhile Allium zebdanense with pristine white pendant flowers on stems so fine the flowers always tremble in the slightest breeze. Delightful nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) also thrives in open shade and is valued for its late summer bloom of nodding pink flowers. Allium cernuum will also grow in full sun in moist soils and is the “stinking onion” namesake flower of Chicago though the plant, like all alliums, must be crushed to release the oniony aroma.

Allium zebdanense.

The foliage of Allium tricoccum.

When you thought all the alliums were done flowering there is another hurrah starting around Labor Day when two lovely alliums bloom: prairie onion (Allium stellatum) and garlic chives (Allium tuberosum). Allium stellatum prefers full sun and has numerous 2-foot stems topped by 3-inch balls of rosy pink flowers that are always a star of the fall garden. I like to plant it with blazingstars (Liatris scariosa) and early flowering asters like Aster laevis. Garlic chives are a magnificent herb but really ornamental for its late-season white flower umbels that attract hoards of beneficial insects including bees and butterflies to a garden. Garlic chives are a profuse self-sower so I always deadhead all the flowers to prevent seeding. The allium finale is the diminutive but delightful Allium thunbergii ‘Ozawa’ with lavender pink flowers atop 1-foot-high stems in October or later.

Allium tuberosum attracts a wealth of beneficial insects and butterflies (Viceroy shown here).

I left out some actual edible onions (Allium cepa), scallions (Allium fistulosum), chives (Allium schoenoprasumf) and garlic (Allium sativum). The first two are best left to edible landscapes but chives make a nice late-spring bloomer as long as you deadhead them to prevent seeding. Some garlic varieties have spectacular growth forms in elegant spirals and should be considered for ornamental use too.

All in all the alliums A to Z are a beautiful garden addition most notably for their architectural spherical flower heads that create a contrasting dimension in any garden.

(From State-by-State Gardening March/April 2012. Photography by Alan Branhagen.)

Houseplants bring life to our homes and offices, but sometimes they outgrow their welcome. Those with woody stems, such as dracaenas, corn plants and scheffleras, can become too tall and lose their shape or threaten the ceiling. Instead of tossing them out and buying new plants or giving them to a friend with taller ceilings, try air layering. This easy propagation technique will not only rejuvenate your plants — it will reward you with new plants for your efforts.

Air layering can be done any time of year. To begin, select a section of the stem where you want the original plant to begin anew. With a knife, cut a slit through the thin bark about 1/8 of an inch deep and 1 inch in length. Girdle the stem to the same depth at the top and bottom of the slit, and peel off the thin bark to expose the light green tissue.

Squeeze the excess water out of a moistened handful of long-fiber sphagnum moss, and pack it around the exposed plant tissue. Next, cover the peat with a layer of clear plastic kitchen wrap, and secure it at the top and bottom with twist ties or tape. The clear plastic will allow you to see the roots as they form. In a few weeks, after healthy white roots have grown to several inches in length, remove the plastic and peat, and cut the new plant off of the main stem. Put the new plant in a quality potting mix, and keep it well watered until it is established. Some people prefer to cover their new plant with a clear plastic bag for a few weeks to maintain high humidity and reduce stress, speeding its growth.

On the original plant, trim the remaining stump to expose a clean cut with no exposed tissue shreds that can become infected. This is a great time to repot and fertilize the original plant. The original plant will begin to grow a new top when its dormant buds break. Air layering can be performed as many times as necessary during the life of a houseplant. but only one layering procedure should be attempted at a time.

	The first step in air layering an overgrown houseplant is to remove the outer layer of tissue.
	Next, moist long-fiber sphagnum is packed against the cut to retain moisture and humidity, critical for proper rooting.
	After several weeks, the new roots can be seen through the clear plastic wrap. When they are several inches long, the top of the plant is ready to be removed.
	After several weeks, gently remove the plastic and peat to expose the newly formed roots.
	The old top has become a new plant, and the original plant will grow a new top at a friendlier height.

(From State-by-State Gardening October 2005. Photos by Dr. Martin Stone.)

Meadow rue (Thalictrum x ‘Splendide’) looks dainty but actually grows well in difficult positions,
especially soggy garden beds.

Midwestern gardeners have a narrow gap between the cold of winter and heat of summer. But, because of the fickleness of spring weather, there is often a significant gap between the peak of spring bloom (bulbs, roses and early perennials) and the maturity of summer flowers (annuals and summer perennials, such as echinaceas and daylilies). This gap usually becomes apparent throughout late May and early June, when many people’s gardens are green and growing, but with few flowers. During this time, the temperatures are in a comfortable range for gardening, but nothing’s blooming in many Midwestern gardens. Fortunately, there are some easy-to-grow perennials that can help your garden maintain color throughout this green gap.

Cherry bellflower (Campanula punctata ‘Cherry Bells’) is a great understory plant for growing beneath shrubs and adding another layer of color to garden beds.

Perennial foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora) is more subtly colored and easier to grow than biennial varieties.

False betony (Stachys officinalis) flowers heavily throughout late spring and will rebloom in summer if cut back after the first flush of bloom.

I’ve always been amazed by the cherry bellflower (Campanula punctata ‘Cherry Bells’, USDA Zones 5 to 7). In a genus of blue and purple flowers, this one is a maverick. Its large (2 to 3 inch) flowers are soft pink with heavy mauve spotting. The spots are most dense along the veins and at the heart of the flower, creating the impression of dark stripes down the center of each petal. The soft tones of ‘Cherry Bells’ look their best in a partially shaded situation. Bright afternoon fades its color and scorches its foliage. Overall, the plant is a moderate spreader, to 18 inches high and 30 inches wide. It grows best in soils that are moist but not soggy. Rabbits will browse on bellflower foliage, but deer generally leave them alone. Their flowers are highly attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

Like the cherry bellflower, golden perennial foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora, USDA Zones 3 to 8) challenges preconceptions of its genus. It is subtler than the more common biennial species, with spires of soft gold and green flowers. In the species form, flower spikes reach heights of 24 to 30 inches. ‘Carillion’ is a dwarf form that rarely reaches more than 18 inches. Perennial foxglove will stop blooming when the nighttime temperatures are regularly above 80 F, but it often reblooms in fall. In cool climates, it will bloom throughout the summer. Perennial foxglove tolerates full sun, but the flowers last longest with some afternoon shade. A filtered light situation will emphasize its subtle coloration. Perennial foxglove grows best in a moist but not wet soil, in which case it will self-sow lightly. Foxgloves contain alkaloids, which are toxic to humans if eaten, so avoid planting them in edible gardens. The alkaloids in their foliage protect them from rabbits, deer and other browsers. Like many tubular flowers, foxgloves attract hummingbirds.

False betony (Stachys officinalis, USDA Zones 4 to 8) produces masses of vibrant lavender-pink flower heads on a full, but compact plant. It has frequently been planted in European gardens and is becoming popular throughout the United States for its bright color and heavy flowering. ‘Hummelo’ is a selection chosen for stronger color, with more of a purple tint than the standard species. For lighter color, try ‘Pink Cotton Candy’, a selection with pastel pink blooms. All of the false betonies grow approximately 18 to 24 inches high and 30 inches wide. They bloom heavily in full sun and should be sheared back after flowering to promote rebloom. The full habit of false betonies makes them excellent companions for roses, as they bring in color and help hide the leggy stems which ruin many rose gardens. False betonies will flower most heavily in rich soils with moderate moisture. Because their foliage is bumpy and rough, rabbits and deer avoid them. Their nectar-rich flowers attract bees, butterflies and occasionally hummingbirds.

Among the many new perennials recently being adopted in American gardens, ‘Splendide’ meadow rue (Thalictrum x ‘Splendide’, USDA Zones 3 to 8) is one of the most spectacular. Plants in our damp garden at the nursery reached 7 feet tall, with hundreds of light pink flowers on wiry stems. Each flower is only ¼ inch across, with five lavender petals around a puff of tiny gold stamens, but a single plant produces hundreds of blooms. Unlike many meadow rues, whose flowers last for only a few days, ‘Splendide’ puts on a flower show that can last for more than a month. The delicate sea-green foliage of ‘Splendide’ makes the plant an asset even when flowering is done. Because of its light, airy habit, plant this meadow rue near shrubs that will support it as flowers age and stalks become heavier. Otherwise, some staking may be necessary. Meadow rue grows best in damp, even soggy conditions. With enough water, meadow rue will tolerate full sun, but likes afternoon shade. It’s fantastic in rain gardens or for adding a bit of spectacle amongst shrubs that have already finished blooming. Deer tend to avoid meadow rue and our resident rabbit population hasn’t bothered the ones growing in our garden at the nursery. Meadow rue is somewhat attractive to butterflies.

Midwestern gardeners are continually battling winter cold and summer heat. Cherry bellflower, perennial foxglove, false betony and ‘Splendide’ meadow rue bloom in the short window of opportunity between extremes. Rather than stumbling through a green gap between spring and summer flowers, plant these four perennials and transform your garden into a constant pageant of ever-changing bloom.

What can produce a mild sedative effect, relieve cramps and gas and produce antibacterial and antiviral properties, according to modern research? Lemon balm.
 

A DOSE OF LEMON BALM A DAY...

No new discovery, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) was noted by the 16th century physician Paracelsus as healing patients at death’s door. The Roman scholar Pliny, another believer in the effects of lemon balm, thought it prevented infection in open wounds, a function clinically proven today for all balsamic oils. Over the years, lemon balm has been used as a remedy for a myriad of ailments: bloating, gout, mood disorders, bronchial inflammation, high blood pressure, palpitations, vomiting, toothaches, earaches and headaches.
 

IN THE KITCHEN

Although not very flavorful when cooked, its lemony scent makes it perfect for teas, hot or cold. According to botanical.com, “John Hussey, of [London], who lived to the age of 116, breakfasted for 50 years on balm tea sweetened with honey.” To make a tea, tear or crush about 1 teaspoon of leaves to release the aromatic properties, then pour hot water over them. Steep for 10 minutes and strain.

In addition to teas, lemon balm can be used as a garnish to decorate green salads, fruit salads, drinks, chicken molds, etc. Another decorative (and sweet smelling) use for lemon balm is as greenery in flower arrangements and potpourris to brighten and freshen the kitchen or any room of the home.

EASY AS LEMON PIE

Southern Herb Growing by Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay calls lemon balm “one of the easiest herbs to grow.” It can be started from seeds, cuttings or divisions. If weeds are pulled and dead stalks are cut, lemon balm will thrive in any soil type, but it especially enjoys rich soil. In the event of stressful conditions, such as a too hot/cold or to too wet/dry environment, simply cut it to the ground, and it will quickly recover. While the top of the plant dies down in winter, the root is perennial.

Lemon balm, chives and winter onions look great planted together (Photo by Jim Long.)

ORIGIN & DESCRIPTION

The genus Melissa is native to Europe, Central Asia and North America, but lemon balm is specifically native to Southern Europe. The name “balm” comes from the Greek language, meaning bee, due to the insects’ attraction to the plant.

Lemon balm’s rootstock is short with a square, branching stem (both characteristic of the mint family) that grows 1 to 2 feet high. When the heart-shaped leaves are rubbed or bruised, they emit the fragrance lemon balm is so famous for. White or yellow flowers are found in loose, small bunches produced from the axils of the leaves, and bloom from June to October.

WORDS OF WISDOM

As long ago as the 1600s and earlier, respected names were proclaiming the benefits of lemon balm. The famous English author John Evelyn said, “Balm is sovereign for the brain, strengthening the memory and powerfully chasing away melancholy.” In 1696, the London Dispensary wrote, “An essence of balm, given in Canary wine, every morning will renew youth, strengthen the brain, relieve languishing nature and prevent baldness.” While it may not be a cure for baldness, many other medicinal uses and benefits have been clinically proven. Have you had your lemon balm today?

LEMON BALM LOWDOWN

Melissa officinalis (Photo by Jessie Heaven Lotz.)

• Botanical Name: Melissa officinalis

• Other common names: balm mint, bee balm, blue balm, cure-all, garden balm, honey plant, sweet balm, sweet Mary

• Family: Labiatae (Mint)

• Daily dosage: 8 to 10 grams (about 2 teaspoons)

• Medicinal uses: bloating, gout, mood disorders, bronchial inflammation, high blood pressure, palpitations, vomiting, toothaches, earaches, headaches, cramps, gas and prevention of infection

• Cultivated for over 2,000 years

• Herbaceous perennial

• One of the easiest herbs to grow

• No known drug interactions

• No known harmful effects for pregnant or breastfeeding women

REFERENCES:

Southern Herb Growing
Madalene Hill and Gwen Barclay with Jean Hardy

The Big Book of Herbs: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference to Herbs of Flavor and Fragrance
Arthur O. Tucker and Thomas Debaggio

The Herb Society of America New Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses
Deni Bown

botanical.com

pdrhealth.com
 

(From Alabama Gardener Volume IV Issue VI.)

As with any plants/herbs with purported "medicinal" uses, please check with your physician before ingesting or applying any herbal remedy, poultice, tea, etc.  This article is only intended to educate and entertain our readers.  We are not medical professionals and cannot recommend the use of herbs for medicinal or cosmetic purposes.

Potting soils are not all the same. It pays (literally) to pay attention to the contents.

It was a heartbreaking moment in August when I finally gave up on my container vegetables. In previous years I’d had a bounteous harvest of tomatoes, herbs and greens, but last year everything that didn’t rot was either stunted or sick.

The reason was obvious: The potting mix was as dense as a damp brick. The tomatoes had scarcely developed beyond the 4-inch root balls they had started with; new roots simply couldn’t find their way out. Water could not drain away and air could not penetrate the packed particles to reach the roots, inviting rot and fungal diseases. I had filled all the containers in the spring with new potting mix I had bought hastily on sale, and I’d chosen badly.

Potting mix isn’t at the top of our minds when we plan containers. We’d rather think about the plants. Just as in the ground, though, if we don’t get the soil right, the plants won’t thrive. The principle holds for both indoor and outdoor gardening.

But what is a potting mix, exactly? How is it different from garden soil?

And how can you make sure you get a good one?

What you put in a pot needs to be substantial enough to anchor the plant’s roots and support the weight of the stem, branches and leaves. It needs to absorb water to supply the plant’s needs, but it also needs to be extra porous so surplus water can drain away — especially outdoors, where it rains. The mix needs to have large particles that don’t fit together too tightly, leaving spaces where air can filter in and roots can reach out.

In earlier times, gardeners filled pots with their own mixtures of compost or manure and garden soil, according to Mark Highland, president of Organic Mechanics in Modena, Penn., which makes organic compost-based potting soils.

That changed in the 1950s when commercial growers switched to mixes based on sphagnum peat moss harvested from bogs. Peat held water well and could be heated and sterilized to stave off disease problems in greenhouses. To make the fine, dense peat more porous, it was mixed with bits of vermiculite, a fibrous mineral, and perlite, little pellets of clay heated until they pop like popcorn. The mixture had few nutrients, but that was fine with growers; they preferred synthetic fertilizers, which could be carefully measured and controlled. And the mix was consistent and reliable from batch to batch.

Peat-based mixes were soon marketed to gardeners and became the standard for container growing. Today, most potting mixes are still variations on the formula.

They’re called “mixes” or “growing media” rather than “soil” because they don’t contain mineral matter — the clay and sand that make up the bulk of garden soil. That’s much too dense for containers, where water can be trapped and drainage is so crucial. If you see a bag labeled “potting soil” with a cheap price, it’s a red flag; the bag is likely to contain heavy topsoil, often little better than construction debris, perhaps mixed with plastic foam pellets that can easily be mistaken for perlite.

This can be tricky, though. Organic Mechanics products, which contain no mineral matter, are nonetheless labeled “potting soil.” They are compost-based, rather than peat-based, part of a new wave of products that is moving away from the 1950s formula.

Even Scotts, the nation’s largest producer of garden products, is using less peat and more composted bark, landscape waste, agricultural byproducts and coir, a fiber derived from coconut shells.

Coir has a remarkable ability to absorb water. Dry, it can be packed in lightweight bricks that are compact and cheap to ship from the tropics. Wet, it swells to about three times its dry volume. Yet even water-filled particles of coir remain discrete, leaving spaces for air. “It’s a good balance,” says Kayeon Jeong, Scotts’ senior scientist for growing media.

One reason to use less peat is controversy over whether it is sustainable. Environmentalists say the peat harvest strips bogs and destroys natural ecosystems; Canadian peat producers say they replant as fast as they harvest; and scientists have reached no consensus.

There can also be problems with supply. Eastern hurricanes greatly disrupted the peat harvest this last year. But potting mix producers are also concerned about the fuel and emissions costs of trucking around the materials as well as the bags of finished potting mix. The trend is to make potting mixes locally from local materials.

Scotts makes potting mixes in 29 different manufacturing plants around the country, supplementing peat with coir and whatever is available locally — landscape waste and pine bark in the Midwest, rice hulls in the South and in California. The mixes are carefully tested to make sure they will all perform consistently no matter where you buy them, Jeong says.

Consistency is a big issue in potting mixes. Plants trapped in pots have few defenses against poor conditions or disease, and we gardeners don’t like surprises. That’s a big reason to choose a good commercial mix rather than using your own compost.

Organic Mechanics potting soil is also made in local facilities (around here it comes from Midwest Trading in West Chicago). The major ingredients are commercially made compost, which is much less likely to carry pathogens or weed seeds than home compost; worm castings for nutrients; coir to hold water; and ground bark particles to keep the mix porous, Highland says.

But it’s not sterile. Part of the philosophy of Organic Mechanics is to create a more natural environment in the pot, with plenty of beneficial bacteria, nematodes and other microorganisms, much like the ones that make good garden soil. “The beneficial biology, if it’s there, can outcompete many disease organisms,” Highland says. In a sterile mix, the plant has fewer defenses.

The one time you do want a sterile environment is when you’re starting seeds. Tiny sprouts are nearly defenseless against fungal diseases, so it’s always best to buy a sterile soilless seed-starting mix.

You can find potting mix for every purpose: outdoors, indoors, orchids (big bark chunks), African violets (mostly peat, for the acidity), cacti (almost gravel). Scotts’ Expand ’n Gro is mostly coir and comes in a dry, compacted form — easy to tote home, where you add water to fluff it up. Some garden centers, such as Pesche’s in Des Plaines and Chalet in Wilmette, sell proprietary mixes made to their specifications from mostly local ingredients.

Some mixes have polymer crystals that are supposed to hold water (though tests have shown they don’t do plants much good), and many have chemical fertilizers designed to release nutrients slowly over the six to nine months of a growing season.

I’m starting all over with my pots this year — again. I’ll be taking a close look at some of the peat-free mixes; maybe I’ll buy one bag first and test a mix for drainage before I commit. But I won’t look for bargains, remembering what it cost me in the long run last year. This time, I’ll be a careful shopper.

(From Chicagoland Gardening Volume XVIII Issue II. Photo © Ping Han - Fotolia.com)

Two neighboring gardeners differ in their attitudes towards design and plants, but find a lot of common ground across the backyard fence.

Here’s my pet theory. All of us gardeners fall into one of two camps: plant lovers or design doyennes. The former waxes eloquent in Latin nomenclature, often with anthropomorphic plant references while using words such as “cultural requirements” and “fastigiated branching.” The design doyennes look for the big picture in the garden and are less concerned with individual plants. They use words like “garden rooms,” “plant vignettes” and “holistic space.”

Can a plant lover and design doyenne co-exist? To test this theory, I visited with Carolyn Ulrich and Kris Barker. Ulrich is Chicagoland Gardening’s editor and a self-confessed plantophile. Barker is an accomplished landscape architect, with garden designs commissioned by prominent clients across the nation. They happen to be next-door neighbors.

This is their story. Call it Plant Geek meets Design Chic.

Biennial foxgloves grown from seed thrive beneath the ‘William Baffin’.

Ulrich and Barker live side-by-side in matching Victorian homes, sandwiched between tall condominium complexes. Their Hyde Park houses are almost mirror images, built in 1887, with similar brick garages facing the rear alley. Their lot sizes are the same. Their gardens — very different.

Ulrich has lived in her house since the 1970s. She raised her children here and, despite being a farm girl from Kansas, claims to have known very little about gardening as a new homeowner. She started with a few pansies and plopped a magnolia tree at the sidewalk entrance.

Today, Ulrich’s garden is a standout on the street. “People walk out of their way to see her garden,” compliments Barker. A white picket fence barely contains the bounty — tumbling mounds of roses, self-seeding larkspur, daylilies, grasses and native plants. The magnolia tree, now gracefully mature, shades the straight sidewalk lined with potted plants of every sort. As a garden writer and editor, Ulrich receives plants from all over to try out. Her garden is the safe haven for refugee plants, the no-kill shelter for stray flora. “I can’t turn down a plant,” she admits.

Barker’s garden exhibits restrained elegance. Her front walk makes a deliberate zig and a zag across a carefully scribed circle of lawn. The geometry of the lawn plane is emphasized by structural elements such as thoughtfully placed white-flowering crabapples and yellow-twig dogwood shrubs. A maple tree is pragmatically sited to block the view of the next-door high rise. A mix of ground covers and massed groupings of perennials soften the borders of the property and surround the lawn. “Our houses are so square,” Barker explains, noting that the zigzag walkway and circular lawn complement the home’s architecture and offer visitors an interesting stroll through the garden.

Is it nature or nurture that propelled these two gardeners on different personal garden pathways? A bit of both, it seems. Barker, a California native, moved to Chicago with her husband in in 2003, the same year she received her master’s in landscape architecture. She had graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1996 and worked in the Los Angeles area for seven years before coming here. She credits her love of gardening to her outdoorsy father and her sense of design to her grandmother’s Pasadena home and garden. This era of design gurus Garrett Eckbo and Dan Kiley influenced many Los Angeles gardens, and Barker’s grandmother’s garden, professionally designed, reflected the contemporary style. Barker recalls feeling a “strong sense of how powerful design can be” while in her grandmother’s elegant fountain-splashed patio.

Back in Kansas, Ulrich and her parents took sightseeing drives through the countryside comparing nearby farms. “It’s what you did on Sunday afternoons in Kansas,” she recalls. “You’d drive around and look at the fields.” As a child, she absorbed her father’s comments on acres of neighbors’ crops: whether the rains had been good, if earlier planting had been warranted, whether the wheat was ripe for harvest. She remembers her father gazing at a field and saying simply, “I like to see things grow.” It has become her mantra, too.

Because of their professions, both women visit a lot of gardens. What first strikes them upon entering a new garden? “What I respond to is an organization,” says Barker. “Is there order or chaos?”

Ulrich’s first garden focus is on “Plants, of course!” But, after years of garden walks, tours and visits, it does take something a little unusual to catch her eye. “If it’s just thousands of fibrous begonias…snore,” she says.

Ulrich’s front yard offers a plant-a-palooza where she squeezes in every plant that comes her way.

On a sizzling hot day last July, we toured Barker and Ulrich’s gardens. It seems a little bit of each other’s philosophy is rubbing off. At Barker’s garden, Ulrich enthused over the sidewalk border of cotoneaster, a reliable but often overused plant. “I’ve learned that there are no boring plants, only boring ways to use them,” Ulrich says. The cotoneaster border holds up well under urban conditions and adds texture throughout the seasons.

Barker reviews Ulrich’s garden and nods approvingly. Even though there’s a lot going on here, Ulrich’s use of evergreens and roses and repetition of chartreuse colors unify the design and bring “order to chaos,” according to Barker. “I found you do need some lawn to give the eye a rest,” agrees Ulrich, the flower lover, who says her borders creep ever inward from the fence as she adds more plants.

Barker envies Ulrich’s fence, noting that it adds structure and charm to the garden. Ulrich, like Barker, is keen to add more evergreens to her garden to provide unity and winter interest.

The whole winter-interest thing was an eye-opener for Barker, the California girl. She recalls picking up a book with the ubiquitous title, “The Four Season Garden,” and thinking, “Really? You have to think about this?” Plants do rest in January and February in California but generally provide evergreen foliage, Barker says.

“Plant design is the hardest thing I do,” she observes. This, even though she “started as a plant geek.” After receiving her fine arts undergraduate degree — that design sensibility again — she began studying horticulture with visions of owning a nursery and breeding plants. Her role as a landscape architect often involves structural and engineering issues. Yet, “Finding the right plant is so important in landscape design,” Barker says. “Interior designers can specify exactly the couch they want — size, fabric, proportions. But landscape designers are always searching; does the right plant exist? For example, you can imagine the perfect sculptural tree in a certain spot, but can you find that tree you are envisioning in a nursery somewhere?” Our Chicagoland winters have definitely made her a better plant designer, she asserts.

On the other hand, Ulrich confesses that hardscaping — patios, paths, structural elements and the like — sometimes leaves her cold. When she first started reading about gardens, “I would skip the chapters on hardscaping because they were boring.”

These attitudes also influence how each approaches garden maintenance. Ulrich is a putterer, enjoying evenings watering her plants while she dreams of new flowers. So enjoyable does she make the task look that Barker’s 9-year-old daughter, Ava, often skips over to help Ulrich with her weeding, although, like most kids, she avoids the task at home.

Ulrich will dig up huge plants — a monstrous hosta for example — and move them if they aren’t working out. Barker says, “When I edit, I throw things out.” She prefers to let plants fill in empty spaces so there’s less need to weed.

Deeply shaded backyards pose special maintenance issues for these neighbors. The shade encourages a rampant spread of violets in Ulrich’s yard and interferes with the grass. As could be expected, she plans to plant her way out of the dilemma by switching in more shade-lovers.

 
When Barker designed her garden, she boldly sketched out an angled brick walkway with a semicircular lawn, then filled the perimeter with subtly related colors, textures and three white-flowering crabapples. Low-growing cotoneaster and catmint soften the angles. Design is often in the details. The round canopy of the red porch umbrella echoes circular shapes of the birdbath and lawn. Together they help to offset the linear architecture of the house.

“I just keep adding hardscape,” Barker laughs. Indeed, her backyard is a designer’s dream of exquisite entertaining and sitting areas. A stone patio embraced by a low sitting wall greets guests at the base of the back door steps. This connects via a paved walkway to the rear of the yard where Barker has sited another seating area next to the garage. This back patio takes advantage of the setting sun, and also allows family and guests to enjoy the view towards the house.

All gardeners dream, and how would Barker and Ulrich improve their gardens if time and money were no object? “I would love a big arbor across the back,” says Kris. “I want to keep adding and editing.”

“If I had my druthers, I’d have an orchard,” counters Ulrich. “I think we need more locally grown food.” Asked if she would consider a space-saving espalier of apples, Ulrich demurs, noting that her home is too much of a farmhouse and might not be suited for that style. “Wait, did you say the “s” word?” asks Barker. That’s “s” for style — something Ulrich and Barker each has in her own way.

Growing Cattleya Orchids

Cattleya trianaei albescens ‘Buga’ Photo by Scott Wilson.

To many people, the beautiful Cattleya is what they think of when the word “orchid” is mentioned — and with good reason. The flowers of the cattleya orchid are large, showy and colorful. Because of their popularity for use in corsages, cattleyas are commonly known as “the corsage orchid.” Named for the English horticulturist William Cattley (1788-1835), Cattleya is among the easiest of the orchid genera to grow. Cattleyas and are available in an extensive color palette, as well as an array of size and form; although contrary to popular belief, there are no black flowering species.

Cattleyas grow naturally from near Central Mexico to Brazil and have been found on several islands in the Caribbean Sea, particularly Trinidad. Approximately 65 species have been found. A few natural hybrids exist, and there are many thousands of “man-made” hybrids.

Water

‘Pink Leopard’ cattleya  (C. Lulu x C. Penny Kuroda)
Photo by Elena Gaillard.

The single, most important element of growing cattleya orchids (and just about all houseplants) is proper watering. Cattleyas are epiphytes (a plant that grows on another plant but does not obtain nutrients from it). In nature, cattleyas grow on trees, not in the ground, so the roots dry out soon after watering. To imitate this natural occurrence, let your cattleyas dry out a bit between waterings.

Everyone is equipped with a good moisture meter right on your hand. It is called a finger. The best way to determine if a cattleya needs watering is to stick your finger in the potting media and feel to find out if it is dry. After a while, you will easily be able to determine if your plant needs water just by picking up the pot and feeling its weight. A dry pot is much lighter than a wet pot. A good rule for watering cattleyas is, “When in doubt, don’t.” Wait a day or so and check the moisture again.

When the time comes to water a cattleya, place it in the sink, and let water run through the pot freely. Do not use water that has been through a water softener, because it will seriously damage the roots. Also, do not use water below 50 F; it will thermally shock the plant.

The ideal way to water a cattleya orchid is to collect water in a container the day before and let it sit overnight. This not only eliminates the possibility of temperature shock, it also allows some of the chemicals in municipal water to evaporate. Rainwater works well for watering cattleyas and all other houseplants.

Humidity

Native to tropical Central and South America, Cattleya is commonly known as “the corsage orchid” in the U.S. for its popularity in decorative adornments. Photo by Dave Holder

Cattleyas like 50 to 80 percent relative humidity. The average house with central heating but no humidifier may get down to 15 percent humidity in winter. The solution is to place a shallow container of small stones and water under your orchid. Do not let the water level in the container rise high enough to get into the bottom of the orchid pot, as this excess water will rot the roots of your plant.

Misting in the morning can also be useful for raising the relative humidity. Don’t mist at night, as this practice will encourage fungal and bacterial infections. A small relative humidity meter can be purchased for about $10. Both you and your cattleya will be happier with improved relative humidity.

Good, gentle air movement contributes to disease prevention. A small 4-inch fan, available at most electronic supply houses, will provide excellent air flow. Get a light dimmer to slow the fan down and to reduce the noise.

Fertilizer

I recommend a 30-10-10 water-soluble fertilizer for cattleyas potted in bark. The reason for the high nitrogen is because the little microbes in the bark are also using nitrogen. If your orchid is potted in an inert material that does not rot, use a balanced fertilizer like 20-20-20. I recommend using the fertilizer at one-half the strength listed on the package. Fertilize every other time you water your orchid.

This is probably the most important rule in growing orchids (and all other plants, too). Never fertilize a dry plant with a water-soluble product. Fertilizing a dry plant can cause serious root damage and even kill your cattleya, especially if the fertilizer is applied full strength. A good rule of orchid culture is to fertilize your plant the day after it has been watered with tap or rain water.

Cattleya walkeriana tipo ‘Sensação’/ ‘Tentação’ Photo by Scott Wilson.

Repotting

Repotting is only necessary when the plant has outgrown its pot or if the potting medium has decomposed. If the cattleya is potted in bark, it will usually take two to three years to break down. It is important to renew the bark occasionally, because rotted bark forms a muck that will hold too much water and rot the roots of your plant. When buying bark to repot a cattleya orchid in, make sure it says “Orchid Bark” or “Orchid Mix” on the container. Most garden shops have a suitable orchid bark mix. The bark used for mulching azaleas will not work with orchids, because it has not had the resins steamed from it.

I have recently been using, with great success, a mix recommended by a local commercial orchid grower. It consists of three parts cypress mulch and one part perlite. This mix will supposedly last up to four years.

Bifoliate (two or more leaves on a growth) cattleyas should be repotted only when the roots are actively growing. This usually occurs in spring, right after flowering. Look for green root tips coming from the base of the plant. Unifoliate (only one leaf on a growth) cattleyas may be repotted anytime.

Temperature

Ideal night temperatures are 55 to 60 F and day temperatures, 70 to 85 F. Cattleyas can tolerate a day temperature near 100 F if adequate humidity and air movement are provided. However, new growth will likely be somewhat spindly and flowering may suffer. Likewise, cattleyas can tolerate low temperatures down to near freezing, but growth and flowering will be adversely affected. Almost all tropical plants (especially orchids) benefit from a 10 to 15 degree drop in temperature from day to night.

Light

Cattleya percivaliana ‘Remolache’ Photo by Scott Wilson.

Adequate light for cattleyas is the second most important aspect of their culture (after watering). Here, in the Southern U.S. on a sunny day, we get about 10,000 foot-candles of light. In the rainforest, cattleyas live halfway up trees where they get from 3,000 to 5,000 foot-candles a day. I use 50 percent shade cloth on my greenhouse to reduce the light intensity for my cattleyas. Shade cloth is a loosely woven plastic material that is usually black but may be white or green in color. Ideally, the shade cloth should be suspended 6 inches to 1 foot below the glass or plastic covering on the greenhouse. When growing cattleyas indoors, place them near an east or west window. Place a sheer curtain between south-facing windows and your cattleya orchid.

A friend who is into photography can assist you in measuring and adjusting light with a light meter. Fairly inexpensive light meters can also be purchased. It is quite possible to grow cattleyas successfully under artificial lights. The American Orchid Society (AOS) has an excellent book and video on the subject. Growing plants under lights has never been easier than it is now. A timer that will turn lights on at dawn and off at dark can be found in most hardware stores.

Cattleyas and most other orchids are photoperiodic, which means they respond to night length in order to flower. Therefore, a cattleya orchid will grow but never flower if too much light shines on it at night. A good rule to remember is, “If one can see to read newsprint at night, the cattleya is getting too much light.”

In summary, the conditions above are considered ideal. Cattleyas will tolerate a fair amount of deviation from ideal. Some of the finest, prize-winning cattleyas I have ever seen were grown under lights in a basement that was always 70 F. So, go ahead; you, too, can grow cattleya orchids!

Anyone considering growing cattleyas or any other orchids will find it beneficial to join both your local orchid society and the American Orchid Society (AOS). Visit www.orchidweb.org for information about all affiliated local orchid societies and a cornucopia of orchid culture information.

(From State-by-State Gardening July/August 2005.)

Dynamite® crapemyrtle

As I skimmed through some of the State-by-State Gardening Midwest magazines, it occurred to me that readers in Northern states, for example in Zones 6 and 5 and in even especially warm spots in Zone 4, can, if done properly, grow crepemyrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). I have a test plot in Ft. Atkinson, Wis., and have had crapemyrtle surviving, growing and flowering the last three years. The first year the plants grew but did not bloom. They are located on the south side of a wooden deck, which is on the south side of a sizeable house, but it is definitely a warm spot in the overall landscape. The last three years, about late July or early August, the plants flowered profusely until late September when cool weather shuts them down. This amounts to six to eight weeks of flowers with little maintenance.

Crapemyrtle, Lagerstroemia indica, cultivars have long been acknowledged as a major contributor of summer color in the South. Crapemyrtle in full bloom rival the flower show of any other landscape plant. Cultivars range in size from only 3 to 4 feet tall to tree forms, to 20 feet or more. Some cultivars have brilliant fall foliage colors and the new ‘Whit’ cultivars have dramatic wine, wine-red or purple new growth, adding significant color before the blooms.

But, crapemyrtle are typically considered cold hardy only in Zones 7 and higher. With a gradual cool down in fall, tops can survive 0 to minus 5 F. When winter arrives early and abruptly, tops may be damaged at temperature in the 20s F. When severe temperatures damage tops, all is not lost because the roots remain undamaged and when the soil warms in spring, the plants make a rapid recovery. Of the eight ‘Whit’ cultivars, Pink Velour® appears to be most tolerant to cold and requires the least amount of heat to trigger flowering in summer, but Dynamite® is only a few steps behind.

But, crapemyrtle have a desirable attribute shared by only a few other woody plants — they flower on new growth. In addition, new cultivars such as Red Rocket®, Pink Velour®, Burgundy Cotton® and Rhapsody in Pink® have spectacular red-wine or purple new foliage. As a result, even in Midwest areas such as Zones 6 and mid- portions of Zone 5, an early summer foliage show and mid- to late-summer flower show can be dramatic.

Even the new foliage of crapemyrtle can add color to a landscape. This is Burgundy Cotton®’s new growth.

In Northern areas, treat crapemyrtle as a hardy perennial and follow these steps:

• Locate crapemyrtle in full sun. A hot location gives best results.

• Plant crapemyrtle in the heat of summer when soil is warmest and root establishment is rapid. Do not plant late in the season after the soil has cooled. Getting the plant well established is key to survival.

• After a few hard freezes in the fall, remove all stems a few inches above the soil line; place a disc of ground cover fabric at least 5 feet in diameter over the area and mulch. In more severe climates, heavier mulch is beneficial. Mulch before soil freezes to keep the root-crown area warmer.

• In spring, as soon as all chance of frost has passed, remove mulch and fabric and allow soil to warm. Do not mulch during the growing season as bare soil heats faster than soil under mulch.

• After a few seasons, instead of three to five stems, 10 or more may emerge. In this case, more is not better. Select the strongest five to eight stems and remove the others. This provides larger flower clusters and a greater flower show.

• Crapemyrtle like it hot, so a location with reflected heat and light is desirable for this plant.

• Almost any soil will do, but keep in mind flowering is on new growth, so more growth typically equals more flowers.

• In most of Zone 6, flowering typically begins late July but not until early August further north.

• Fertilize crapemyrtle moderately to heavily once in spring, but not in fall.

• Water during dry periods, but crapemyrtle are tough and will survive even when neglected.

This not-yet-named crapemyrtle seedling was planted in a yard in Ft. Atkinson, Wis.
It is responding well so far, even after surviving minus 22 F in the winter.

Currently successful plantings of these new ‘Whit’ crapemyrtle are located in such diverse locations as Kansas City, Kan., Chicago, Philadelphia and Newport, R.I. Many climate and cultural factors are involved in tolerance of crapemyrtle to cold; therefore, precise performance predictions cannot be assured. However, testimonials from nurserymen, landscapers and gardeners as well as personal observations prompted me to share this information. As one nurseryman in northern Maryland said to me, “Two large Dynamite® in front of our office survived the roughest winter we have had in years, no dieback at all, while other cultivars were severely damaged or killed to the ground. You need to promote this plant more.”

(Photos courtesy of Andy Whitcomb.)

Many species of non-native invasive plants, insects and animals plague the Midwest. Why should gardeners care? Here is what you need to know.

Tartarian honeysuckle.

Chestnut blight in the early 1900s. Dutch elm disease in the mid-1900s. Emerald ash borer in the early 2000s. Asian longhorned beetle has been discovered in five states with the most recent find in Ohio. The list of invasive species goes on and grows.

I don’t remember when the first two devastating invasive species hit the news but my dad tells me stories of giant elm trees in front of their house being removed. Unfortunately, today, I am living in the time when scientists suggest that we might be looking at possibly the most damaging invasive pest of our time, worse than any of the above — the Asian longhorned beetle.

An invasive species is one that grows outside of its native or normal range, spreads rapidly in unwanted areas and flourishes to the detriment of other species. They are often human-introduced. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines an invasive species as a non-native species (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health. While gardeners tend to focus on invasive plants and plant pests, there are other invasive species such as zebra mussels and other animals of which we should be aware.

Why Care About Invasives?

Garlic mustard in its second year in bloom — note the tall white flowers in the background.


Amur honeysuckle fruit.

Many people don’t tend to give thought to invasive species until they are directly affected by them. For instance, woodland owners are quite aware of honeysuckle and garlic mustard problems, but most gardeners don’t deal with these in their home landscape. However, I have seen both of these species creep into landscapes unnoticed. Today, we are seeing two extremely damaging species in particular taking out our urban forest, emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle. My goal is to get the word out and raise public awareness regarding invasive species.

According to Kathy Smith, Ohio State University Extension forestry specialist, we are seeing non-native plants invading forests with the potential to drastically change the forest ecosystem. Many of these species are not as nutritionally valuable to animals as the native plants. The loss of species to these invaders will also change the products that these forests produce.

Smith goes on to say, “While there have been non-native species in the past, none have seemed to move in with the aggressiveness that this current cadre seem to do. On the insect side, 12 percent of Ohio’s forests are ash and will be lost to emerald ash borer. While 50 percent of Ohio’s forests were American chestnut at one time (and lost to chestnut blight), there was not the invasive plant aspect that makes this almost a one-two punch.”

For example, when the forest canopy opens up due to dead and dying trees, the possibility for seeds from invasive species such as Ailanthus sp., honeysuckle and autumn olive to get a foothold increases. Without a management plan for these species, they end up outcompeting the native tree and shrub species in the forest ecosystem. This leads to a changing forest for our wildlife species and impacts the forest products that can be harvested along with many of the other intrinsic values we depend on the forests to provide.

Economic Impacts of Invasives

Amy Stone, emerald ash borer outreach specialist for OSUE, points out that the ecological and economic impacts from invasive species such as emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle are enormous. The long-term impact, including the management of invasive plants that often come in after trees die can be a long battle that includes increasing costs each year. The individual cost to homeowners to remove dead trees in the urban landscape as well as replace them is high.

Invasive species can be quite costly, both in their impact and removal. A University of Wyoming study noted a $200 million impact in the Great Lakes region by invasive species brought in on ships. These losses are to commercial fishing, sport fishing and the area’s water supply. As of 2008, total state and federal costs for Asian longhorned beetle eradication alone added up to around $373 million.

What Can Gardeners Do?

As gardeners and people who care for the environment, we need to get everyone thinking about invasive species and their influence. Be on the lookout for anything unusual, odd, different, or problem-causing. The sooner an invasive species is discovered in an area, the lower the potential for economic and environmental impact. Eradication efforts can begin at an early stage rather than after the species has become entrenched in the area.

Share invasive species information with friends, family and others. Moving firewood is one of the easiest methods of moving emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle in an area. Don’t take firewood when you go camping. Purchase it locally. Point out garlic mustard to your friends while hiking through a natural area. Get involved in invasive species plant eradication efforts in your state.

Learn all you can on the topic of invasive species and spread the word quickly! An educated public that can recognize the importance of reporting unusual or unfamiliar insects or other pest activity is critical to early detection. Become “invasive” yourself by telling others — get all eyes on the ground and in the trees monitoring for any potential invasive pests. We are only going to see more instances of invasive species in the future; take action to protect our natural environment.

Asian longhorned beetle exit holes in the bark of a tree. Inset: Adult Asian longhorned beetle.

Asian Longhorned Beetle

The Asian longhorned beetle has been pegged by scientists as potentially the most damaging pest in the United States. It was first discovered in Chicago and has since been eradicated there. However, there are outbreaks in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and most recently Ohio. This beetle has a wide taste for trees (primarily maple but also elm, hackberry, horsechestnut, London planetree, poplars and willow) and kills them completely.

The adult beetle is approximately 1 to 1½ inches long with a shiny black body and distinctive spots and long antennae banded with black and white coloration. The larvae are also quite large and create a dime-sized exit hole in the trunk of the tree.

The beetle spends most of its life as a larva inside the tree, feeding on tissue directly beneath the bark when it first hatches. Eventually it begins to burrow deep into the tree, feeding on woody tissue. It pupates inside the tree and emerges as an adult in July and August. The adults feed on twigs, mate and lay eggs. They tend to lay eggs on the same tree every year until the tree dies.

Be on the lookout in your neighborhood, parks and natural areas for trees with:

• Shallow depressions in the bark where the beetle lays the eggs

• Dime-sized exit holes where the adult beetle emerges

• Sawdust-like material, called frass, on the ground and branches

• Dead branches and canopy dieback

• Also watch for the adult beetles as they can be seen on trees, branches, walls, outdoor furniture, cars and sidewalks.

• Go to beetlebusters.info for photos, details, and who to contact in your state if you suspect the Asian longhorned beetle in trees.

(From State-by-State Gardening January/February 2012. Photos courtesy of Pamela J. Bennett.)   

Combining ornamental grasses can give your landscape a very naturalized look. Pictured from front
are Mexican feather grass, purple fountain grass, lavender, the pink-beige tufted oriental fountain grass
and miscanthus. The deep burgundy spiked blades in the right foreground belong to the annual
‘Baby Bronze’ New Zealand flax. (Photo by Saxon Holt.)

Whether you’re planning a new landscape or rejuvenating an established one, ornamental grasses can add surprising pizzazz. They are dynamic, versatile and carefree in ways that few other plants can match. Widely known as the stars of autumn with their showy, long-lasting plumes, they can provide almost year-round interest. These grasses not only bring structure to the landscape, but sound and movement as well. Ornamental grasses are enjoying a wave of popularity as today’s gardeners discover their many outstanding qualities. So, if you are looking for a plant that can hold its own in any landscape, ornamental grasses are well worth considering.

LOW MAINTENANCE WITH SUCCESS

Ornamental grasses usually perform unfailingly. Many are native to U.S. soils, so they need no special treatment. Remarkably resilient and able to tolerate Virginia’s hot and often dry summers to the point of drought, once established they require a minimal amount of care. Easy to grow, they need little pruning during the growing season and have virtually no disease or pest problems. Even deer tend to avoid them. Not surprisingly then, they are a top choice among homeowners with a penchant for low maintenance landscapes.

Nothing brightens up a lightly shaded border like golden hakone grass. Here, from bottom right it is interplanted with bright blue forget-me-nots and the silvery leaves of lamb’s ears. Beyond the second clump of hakone grass is purple ‘Nimbus’ geranium. (Photo by Saxon Holt.)

Besides being dependable, grasses are amazingly versatile and will fit seamlessly into either a naturalized or a more manicured design. Ornamental grasses add structure and drama to borders and beds and come in a host of shapes, from columnar to mounding; sizes, from towering to diminutive; and many different textures. A breeze can set their flowing forms swaying, filling the garden with a soft rustling sound.

Ornamental grasses, including grass-like plants, can be annuals or perennials. They grow either in a neat clump, or, as is the case with ribbongrass and many bamboos, by underground stems, often spreading aggressively and becoming invasive. The majority of ornamental grasses are sun lovers, but others, such as sedges and Hakone grass, work best in a moist, shady spot.

QUICK GROWERS

Ornamental grasses can be fast growers. They can shoot up much like Jack’s beanstalk in the spring, reaching their full height in mere weeks. They add volume and depth to the summer garden with their dense foliage in greens and blues, reds and burgundies, and stunning variegated patterns, providing a backdrop to other perennials and long blooming annuals. In fall, they are ready to take center stage when summer-blooming flowers are on the wane. Their spectacular flower stalks yield to dramatic, feathery plumes and seedpods in muted reds and pinks, beiges and whites, that seem to shimmer in the bright sun. When cold temperatures arrive, they age gracefully to various shades of blended yellows, tans, beiges and browns.

Fountain grass in full bloom lends a light and airy accent that not only enhances the other colors
and textures in this garden bed but also draws the eye through it.
(Photo courtesy of Hidden Lane Landscaping, Herndon, VA.)

EYE CANDY

If you want to add eye-popping color to your perennial garden, try bright red Japanese blood grass. It makes a bold statement when contrasted with the silvery green ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia, behind and right, and the white flowered gaura, directly behind. (Photo by Saxon Holt.)

By providing privacy for this lakeside patio, serving as a backdrop for lower growing plants and hiding a timber wall, miscanthus does triple duty in this landscape. (Photo courtesy of Hidden Lane Landscaping.)

Regardless of the season, ornamental grasses have great curb appeal. They can be used to provide a contrast of color, an accent or focal point, or a backdrop for other plants in the garden. Try Japanese blood grass to add stunning color to a border. Small, clump-forming grasses, such as dwarf fountain grass, can provide garden accents. Larger types, like miscanthus or pampas, can work either as an accent plant or provide structure for lower growing plants in a flowerbed.

DOING DOUBLE DUTY

Ornamental grasses can take on other duties as well. When planted en masse or combined with evergreens, tall grasses, like miscanthus and feather reed grass, can create privacy, screen out undesirable views or shape a special nook in the garden. They will readily soften a fence or a vertical wall of your home, helping it blend into the surrounding landscape. At the front of a border, lower growing grasses, such as blue fescue, can provide a flowing bridge between shrubs and perennials and a lawn beyond. Low growing grasses also look great lining a pathway.

TOUGH ENOUGH FOR ANY AREA

Grasses thrive in difficult areas such as steep slopes or poor soils. Try low growing blue moor grass or oriental fountain grass instead of lawn grasses for a practical and attractive ground cover. Those with limited space could experiment with one dramatic accent grass or mass smaller ones with interesting leaves, flowers or seed heads instead.

If you like to plant in pots, planters and window boxes, ornamental grasses offer many options for sun or shade. This is the place to try annual grasses, such as purple fountain grass or the beautiful (but invasive) golden bamboo. And if you want to dress up a water garden, turn to grasses such as horsetail or umbrella plant.

So if you haven’t incorporated ornamental grasses into your landscape, what are you waiting for? Surely there’s at least one that will work perfectly for you.

A closer look at the fountain grass (Photo courtesy of Hidden Lane Landscaping.)

(From Virginia Gardener Volume 2005 Issue May.)

Gardens are magical places. They’re even more magical when you invite fairy-folk to visit. With an old chair, a basket (or chicken wire) and a few flowering plants, you can make a charming focal point for your garden that fairies can’t resist.

Fill the basket with a high quality potting mix amended with organic matter, and plant it with foliage, flowers and herbs.

Materials Needed:

•  A wooden chair
•  Chicken wire or a premade wire basket frame lined with coco fiber (or similar)
•  Potting soil
•  Sphagnum moss
•  Primer, outdoor paint and brushes (or spray-on primer and paint)
•  Staple gun
•  Optional: Small, weatherproof garden ornaments, such as mushrooms, birds or fairies

How to Make a Fairy Chair

1. Any wooden chair will do. Use an old one you already have, or buy one at a thrift store or yard sale.

2. Sand the chair, and wash it with mild soap and water. Let it dry completely.

3. Apply two coats of primer to the chair, letting each coat dry completely.

4. Apply outdoor paint, and allow it to dry completely. Apply a sealant for extra protection.

5. When the chair is dry, cut an opening in the seat. This is where you’ll put a wire basket filled with plants. You can use a premade wire basket that comes with a liner or make your own (see next step).

6. To make your own basket, cut two pieces of chicken wire 12 inches larger than the hole in the seat of the chair. Staple the wire securely around the edges of the opening. Press down on the extra wire to form a pocket for planting.

7. If you’re making your own basket, line it with sphagnum moss that has been soaked in water. Otherwise, place a pre-made basket with a liner into the opening.

8. Move the chair to a sunny or shady spot in your garden, depending on the plants you’re using.

9. Fill the basket with a high quality potting mix amended with organic matter, and plant it with foliage, flowers and herbs. Add small garden ornaments, if desired.

10. Optional: Plant vining plants around the chair legs. Good choices include morning glory, moonflower, black-eyed Susan and ivy.

Be creative with colors, both for your chair and your flowers. Choose plants that will spill or trail over the sides of your basket.

Plants For Your Fairy Chair:

Bleeding heart: Heart-shaped flowers attract romantic fairies.

Pansies: Fairies make love potions with these.

Thyme: This herb welcomes fairies and is said to enhance your ability to see them.

Miniature roses: For rich perfume.

Shamrocks: Four-leafed clovers can break fairy spells.

Lobelia: Attracts winged fairies.

Rosemary: Deters harmful fairies.

Snapdragons: Invites tiny dragons to protect your garden.

Violets: Beloved by the Fairy Queen.

Daisies: Lures fairies.

Angelica: For fairies that bring good luck.

Bluebells, lily-of-the-valley and foxgloves: Fairies ring the bell-shaped blooms.

Lamb’s ear: Soft leaves make downy fairy beds.

Tips: When possible, use native plants — they’re adapted to your area, so they’ll need less care.

To add color and movement, add plants that draw butterflies around your chair. Try zinnia, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, marigold, purple coneflower and oregano. For caterpillars, plant dill, parsley and fennel.

How to Maintain Your Chair, In Case the Fairies Forget:

Water your basket regularly, as you would any container. Fertilize as directed by the manufacturer. When your plants get too big, prune or replace them, as needed. Protect your chair in the winter or replant next spring.

Turn your fairy chair into a miniature scene with small garden ornaments, such as fairies,
gnomes or mushrooms. Shells, rocks and crystals can also be used.

(Photos courtesy of Lynn Coulter.)

There always seems to be a catch to that perfect piece of property. The views of the rolling countryside may be breathtaking, the sparkling clear creek at the back of the property might be picturesque — but, unfortunately, part of the property is so steep that it requires rappelling gear just to mow the lawn. What does a gardener do when there is an area that is “un-doable?”

STEEP SLOPE SOLUTIONS

This waterfall placement takes advantage of a steep slope and is an elegant solution to solving drainage problems.

First, it depends on the severity of the slope. Steep slopes are defined as areas of land that rise greater than 20 percent in angle. That’s 2 feet of elevation change in 10 feet of walking. In other words, if you are winded by the time you walk to the top of the hill — that’s a steep slope. Depending upon the soil type, slopes that are less than 20 percent are usually more stable and easier to maintain.

Steep slopes can cause some major problems in the landscape. In addition to being incredibly difficult to mow, they often cause one of the greatest real estate losses by the erosion of topsoil. Sand grain by sand grain, the wonderful garden soil that was once at the top of the hill is now lying at the bottom. Gravity happens. Erosion problems can become so severe in some areas that large gullies can form, which is exactly how the Grand Canyon was born. These gullies can continue to spread in size with each major rainfall as torrents of water wash through the gulch. If unchecked, severe erosion problems have been known to undermine the foundations of houses. So, it is best to take care of these severely eroded areas as soon as possible. Water naturally follows the lowest and easiest course, so it is best to retain or even create permanent drainage channels on a steep slope. Large permanent structures, such as boulders and stones or even constructed check dams, can be placed into gullies to prevent further erosion.

Nature’s solution: Planting the slope. Nature solves erosion problems with vegetation in even the steepest mountainous terrains. Trees and shrubs form a tight network of roots and stems that not only bind the soil particles together but also act to slow the force of rushing water down a hillside. Turfgrass on steep slopes can help to bind the soil with a network of roots but does not perform a very good job of slowing water runoff. Heavy rains can wash away turfgrass, root and all. Taller growing grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and trees do a much better job of slowing runoff. In the world of erosion, bigger is always better.

SUNNY SLOPES

If you ever wanted a wildflower garden, converting a steep, sloping lawn area to an open, sunny meadow is a good solution. Apply an herbicide to the existing turfgrass or other undesirable vegetation. The next step is to lightly till the soil to provide a loose seed bed. Drought tolerant wildflower mixes are readily available in large quantities from seed companies and should be lightly sown. It is a good idea to stabilize the soil until the wildflowers are up and growing. This can be done by spreading a light layer of fresh hay on the slope (the hay particles bind together and break the force of raindrops) or by securing an open plastic netting across the slope. The wildflowers can grow through the netting, and it will eventually decompose. Once established, the sunny flowering perennials and re-seeding annuals will secure the slope for years to come. Other drought and sun tolerant plants useful for slope stabilization include prostrate junipers, ivies, Rugosa roses and sedums. Use an erosion fabric and mulches that bind (such as pine needles) to prevent weeds from occurring on planted slopes.

SHADY SLOPES

Shrubs and trees help to stabilize loose soils.
 

Terracing is a time-honored and beautiful solution for a difficult slope.

Even with the fibrous roots of shade trees, erosive areas can still form on woodland slopes. Shade tolerant shrubs could certainly be used, but ground covers can create a more compelling woodland image. Low-growing vines, ferns and other perennials that carpet the earth will allow more of the woody trunks and stems to be appreciated. Partridgeberry vine, wood fern, mayapple, trillium, Jack-in-the-pulpit, woodland phlox and Indian pink are just a few of the shady perennial possibilities that will not only provide great beauty but can also help to stabilize soil. Even a thick carpet of fallen leaves acts just like a sponge and absorbs rainwater before erosion can occur.

Human solution: Changing the slope. Our agricultural forefathers knew a thing or two about farming a steep hillside. To make it productive (and through much effort), they would terrace the slope. Terraces reduce erosion by breaking a long hillside slope into shorter, more even steps. It provides for permanent architectural interest and creates more usable opportunities for gardens.

Many materials may be used for creating terraces. Treated wood, brick, rocks, concrete blocks and other masonry materials can be used to form walls. They can vary considerably in cost, durability and effort of construction — depending upon the materials used and the size of the area to be terraced. Masonry and stone cost considerably more than wood materials but more than make up for it in longevity.

Terraces are created by using a cut and fill method. Soil is removed to create a flat area, and this soil is used to fill a low area. It is recommended that do-it-yourselfers limit their wall heights to just 1 or 2 feet high, as there is a tremendous pressure of water and soil behind a wall. It takes equipment, expertise and proper drainage to successfully construct retaining walls, and a landscape architect should always be consulted for proper materials and methods. Always check with local ordinances and building codes when considering a retaining wall or terrace.

Steep slopes can present challenges and creative opportunities in the home landscape. Whether you use nature’s solutions or human’s solutions, thoughtful planning and execution can result in an attractive and workable landscape for a difficult area.

(From State-by-State Gardening May 2005. Photos by Peter Gallagher.)

This 6-by-6-inch post was stained black and the elegant finial was found at a national retail chain for less than $10.

Plant a colorful mailbox garden to welcome visitors. Here’s how.

It might be the first thing visitors see — and your postal carrier is very familiar with it — it’s your mailbox. Is it as beautiful as your garden? Here are some tips to plant a garden at your mailbox.

Think about it. It is front and center. Yet most people, even great gardeners, completely neglect their mailboxes. With just a little bit of thought and work, you can greatly improve it.

First, consider what is elevating the mailbox to regulation height. If it isn’t brick or stone, ask yourself if the post is even in the right place. If not, there is no reason you shouldn’t move it, so long as your local Postmaster approves the change.

After placement, think about the post’s dimensions. Mailboxes are commonly mounted on a 4-by-4-inch wooden post. A 6-by-6-inch post costs little more and yet has a more satisfying visual weight. Just staining the post to harmonize with the mailbox in color can improve things a lot. Can your mailbox use a new coat of paint, or is it too old, cracked, rusty or dented to ever look good? There are mailboxes made to suit any style or budget. You can also buy new brass or silver numbers and screw them into the post.

A simple trick to personalize your mailbox is to find a cast iron or a wooden finial as your crowning touch for the post. You can select from a wide range of ornaments — everything from birds to squirrels or obelisks. The fun part is finding one that expresses your own interests and your style. The hard part is finding a way to mount it.

Next, obtain chicken wire to staple to the post, to encourage hardy climbers. If you choose chicken wire, try to disguise it by painting it the color of the post before stapling.

Finally, choose relatively low-maintenance plants to surround your new, improved garden accent. Our plan includes drought-tolerant plants to reduce the amount of supplemental water needed. We also chose an evergreen hedge to discourage grass or weeds from encroaching and ensure year-round interest. Roses, hydrangeas and echinaceas provide seasonal color. Cleome and nasturtiums do the same and also reseed in bare spots to deter weeds.

 
‘Limelight’ hydrangea is extremely drought tolerant.

Buxus ‘Green Velvet’ frames the garden to prevent weeds from jumping into the garden and also provide winter interest.

Cleome adds height and drama.

(From State-by-State Gardening January/February 2012. Photography By Karen Atkins.)

Last year, 2011, was a bad year to be a tree.

Tornadoes, borers, diseases, monsoon-like rains and a pre-Halloween snow storm tag-teamed to blow down, rot out and crack apart untold thousands of landscape trees throughout the East and Midwest.

That puts many a tree-less homeowner in the market for replacements this spring.

Two bright sides:
1. This is a great opportunity to increase diversity and plant better-performing species, and
2. We shouldn’t have to worry about any mulch shortage for awhile.

Future storm-related tree trouble can be reduced greatly by better selection, better siting and especially better planting and care practices.

Most of the trees that tore down power lines and fell on houses and streets were bad choices in the first place.

Huge trees aren’t good ideas in small spaces. They’re especially not good ideas in those skinny 3- and 4-foot tree lawns between sidewalks and roads. Besides the concrete and asphalt damage done by growing roots, these trees pose future threats because targets are so close.

Take a look up and out before you replant. Picture your tree as it grows to mature size — not how it looks now. If power lines are above, plant farther away so the mature canopy won’t grow into the lines or topple them should the tree ever fall. Better yet, go with a short species that stays under the height of power lines.

If your yard is just small — especially out front — keep the tree in scale with the space.

Small spaces near walks or roads are best for small trees, such as this pink crabapple.

Some good under 25-foot possibilities for a sunny small space include: crabapple (Malus spp.), crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia spp.), Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata), snowbell (Styrax japonica), stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia), any of the “Little Girl” series of dwarf magnolias, Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica), paperbark maple (Acer griseum) or seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides).

Some good choices for a shadier small space include: Kousa, Rutgers hybrid or Cornelian cherry dogwoods (Cornus spp.), redbud (Cercis canadensis), sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.) and American fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus).

A second lesson we learned in 2011 is that not all trees are equally strong. Some species are much more prone to cracking apart in wind and snow load than others. Fast-growing species tend to be the weakest-wooded, and many of those were, in fact, some of the first to fail. Most notorious of the fall-aparters is the ‘Bradford’ pear — a widely planted, white-flowering tree that becomes especially brittle after 12 to 15 years.

Other species prone to breakage are willow (Salix spp.), poplar (Populus spp.), elm (Ulmus spp.), white pine (Pinus strobus), silver and Norway maples (Acer saccharinum and platanoides) and sometimes ash (Fraxinus spp.), hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) and honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos).

On the other hand, some species are strong-wooded and sturdily attached. Among the best of the “muscle trees” are ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia), crabapple (Malus spp.), dogwood (Cornus spp.), birch (Betula spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), hornbeam (Carpinus spp.), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.) and most evergreens.

No matter what you plant, pay attention to the planting site, then pick species that are happy in that kind of spot. Is it hot and sunny? Crabapples and oaks would make more sense than redbuds and dogwoods. Is it damp? River birch and sweetbay magnolia would deal with that much better than firs and beech. Is the soil clayish or compacted? Japanese tree lilacs and ginkgos would tolerate that better than stewartias or flowering cherries.

In other words, do site-specific homework.

The final piece of the safety puzzle is keeping trees healthy. At planting, get the depth right. You should be able to see the base of the trunk slightly flare out just above grade. Otherwise, you may be planting too deeply, which can rot roots and weaken trees prematurely.

Remember, a healthy tree in a happy spot is much less likely to fail than a stressed one.

Korean stewartia is not only a small and strong-limbed tree, it’s beautiful in more than one season.

Once in the ground, these steps will lessen tree failure:

• Don’t overfertilize. Most trees need far less fertilizer than people assume. Overdoing it can lead to too-fast growth which can increase the odds of failure.

• Prune properly. Good cuts thin out the canopy and reduce the “sail effect” that otherwise increases the wind’s blow-down force. Bad cuts can create weak, excess new growth or wrongly distribute too much weight to the branch ends, which makes a tree more prone to blowing over.

• Keep mulch off the bark. About 3 to 4 inches of wood mulch over the roots is fine, but mulch on the trunk can rot the bark and kill a tree.

• Don’t cut roots or scalp exposed ones with your lawn mower. Avoid using herbicides around roots, too.

• Water deeply once a week in a drought.

• Call a certified arborist to have a tree’s health assessed if you notice: a tree leaning; the growth of flat, shelf-like fungal growths on the trunk or roots; dying branches; leaves smaller than they used to be, and any signs of cracking, peeling bark or decay.

Two good sources for more tree-care information are the Arbor Day Foundation at www.arborday.org and the International Society of Arboriculture at www.treesaregood.org.

For help picking the right tree for the right spot, the University of Illinois has an excellent online tool that lets you plug in traits and then kicks out a list of possibilities. It’s at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/treeselector.

Photo Credit: George Weigel.

Now is the time to think about all those new garden beds you want to add in 2012. Here is a step-by-step primer on how to construct a raised bed the right way — from the ground up.

The simple, cruel fact of ornamental gardening is that even when we do every other facet right, failure is all too common if our soil is bad. Improving our soil from the very start is an absolute must — especially when starting a new bed.

Fortunately, if you follow the basics, creating a well-made raised bed is fairly easy. A one-time tilling will break up compacted soil and the incorporation of organic matter into your soil at the same time will provide an important component of long-term good soil structure: beneficial microbial life.

Your choice of amendments (based on the type of soil you have) is very important. For topsoil, choose soil similar to your own. Got clay? Buy a clay-based soil. Despite oft-repeated bad advice, do not add sand or gravel to “improve” drainage in clay soils! Some suppliers will make a custom mix of amendments. My default mix is three parts ordinary shredded topsoil, one part mushroom compost and one part pine fines. If the soil is particularly devoid of nutrients or for heavy feeding plants, I’ll sometimes go with more compost. For plants that need lean conditions, I’ll use less. Soil tests are a good idea and can address specific needs. You can also ask your county extension agents specific questions pertaining to soil test results.

The ideal is for your finished garden soil to mimic a good natural soil. From the subsoil to the surface, there should be a gradual increase in organic matter. You do not want a really great soil lying on top of a poor one. This creates an interface, which adversely affects the movement of water through the soil. There must be a seamless transition.

By creating above-grade beds of rich soil, you develop a site that accepts and holds moisture, drains nicely and is nutrient rich — that proverbial “rich, moist, well-drained soil” all the gardening books love so much.

 

Step 1

After marking a rough border for your new bed with paint or chalk, spray the existing turf or vegetation with a glyphosate-based, non-selective weed killer. Wait a week or more for the vegetation to die.

 

Step 2

Once the vegetation is dead or dying, till the bed as deeply as possible. Be sure to till only when the soil is dry enough to crumble into small, powdery fragments. Never till if the soil is sticky or clumping.

 

Step 3

Spread 2 to 3 inches of topsoil mixed with your amendments of choice over the bed. For this first round, you can be a bit stingy with the organic matter.

 

Step 4

If possible, avoid walking on the bed as you fully incorporate your soil mix with the existing soil by tilling. A good thorough tilling of old soil with new will prevent the creation of an interface, which can interfere with water movement in the soil.

 

Step 5

Repeat steps three and four until you reach the desired depth. As you add materials and your bed becomes deeper, you can gradually increase the ratio of amendments to soil. Ideally, the soil of a general purpose ornamental garden bed consists of about 7 percent organic matter. If you have more than 10 percent organic matter, you can start to have issues.

 

Step 6

After giving your bed a nice clean edge, give it a final grading.

 

Step 7

You’re ready to plant! Use boards to distribute your weight across a wider area while planting so you don’t compact your newly created loose, friable soil.

 

Step 8

Mulch with 2 to 3 inches of hardwood mulch, pine bark or pine straw.

 

Step 9

Water the entire bed thoroughly. The soil will settle some, but you will find that your raised bed of rich soil will hold moisture nicely, drain well, retain good soil structure and successfully host a wide variety of plants for many years to come.

(Photos courtesy of Scott Beuerlein.)

Delphiniums are an excellent choice for color in an indoor arrangement.

What could be more elegant than a beautiful flower arrangement in your home for you and your guests to admire? Become your own florist, and add artistic touches to your interior by making table centerpieces, entranceway wreaths and freshly cut arrangements to adorn a guest bedroom. Creating your own cutting garden is an excellent way to have access to the freshest flowers possible. In addition, it is less expensive than buying cut flowers at a florist or supermarket.
 

STUDY AND SKETCH

When designing your cutting garden, begin by deciding how large it will be, noting how much sunlight it will receive and whether there is an adequate water supply available nearby. Measure the area in your landscape that you would like to turn into the cutting garden and sketch it on paper. Cut flower gardens have traditionally been planted in strict rows, similar to a vegetable garden, but as homeowners have become increasingly wise to the aesthetic value of a well-designed landscape, the “rules” have changed. The modern cutting garden can be as simple as a cluster of containers or as intricate as an acre of formal flowerbeds. As you study garden books, magazines and Internet articles, draw plants into your sketch that catch your eye. Pay close attention to how large each mature plant will eventually grow, and place them in your garden plan accordingly.
 

SELECT FOR SUCCESS

Chrysanthemums have stunning blooms during the autumn months. Try these ‘Snowdrift’ mums for a splash of white in your bouquet.

Plant selection is the most crucial step in producing a successful cutting garden. Remember that the goal of this garden is to have convenient access to beautiful cut flowers and foliage that can be used in fresh and dried floral arrangements any time of the year. Keep the type of arrangements that you plan to create in mind as you begin choosing the species to plant. A variety of forms, including spire-shaped flowers (delphinium, larkspur), blooms with round features (marigold, rose) and those with an airy appearance (statice, gypsophilia), should be included. A great selection will provide you with the different flowers necessary to compose creative arrangements throughout the year.
 

SEASONAL OPTIONS

Spring is always an exciting time in the garden. Many plants that flower in spring are suitable as fresh cut flowers. Bulbs, such as tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, add wonderful color and scent to indoor arrangements. Summer provides a vast array of annuals, perennials and shrubs that can be used for fresh and dried arrangements. The list of summer flowering plants is endless, but a few of my favorites are celosia, coreopsis, phlox and sunflower.

Chrysanthemum, salvia, aster and lycoris all have stunning blooms during the autumn months. Winter may be a season of limitation in the landscape, but it does not have to damper your desire to provide beautiful decorations for the interior of your home. With a little imagination, holly berries, uniquely colored twigs, dried perennial seedheads and ornamental grasses can create unbelievable arrangements. Evergreen trees, shrubs and vines will provide year-round foliage.
 

CUTTING AND POSTHARVEST

Become your own florist by growing a variety of flowers in your own garden. You can produce the fresh material to make great bouquets like these.

Harvesting cut flowers is an easy and fun experience. Watering your plants well the day before you harvest will make the stems turgid, so they will last longer. Harvest early in the morning while the blooms are at their best, but make sure that they are dry of moisture from dew or rain. Cut each stem at an angle, leaving them as long as possible (you can always cut off more later). Select flowers that are just beginning to open to ensure that they stay fresh as long as possible. Place the cut stems in water as you harvest so that they will immediately begin water uptake. Store the harvest in a cool place until you are ready to create your floral artwork. Remove leaves below the water line to help keep the water fresh. Replace the water in your arrangements every other day.
 

EVERLASTING BEAUTY

To enjoy the bounty of your garden for years to come, plant varieties useful as everlasting flowers and foliage. Poppy seedpods, gomphrena, roses, lavender, dusty miller, solidago and ornamental grasses all make excellent dried specimens that hold their color and form well. They can also be dried very easily. Harvest small bundles (six to eight stems per bundle) early in the morning, and secure the stems with a rubber band. The rubber band will hold the stems in place even as they contract after losing moisture during the drying process. Hang the bundles upside down in a cool, dry place. Many species will dry in about two weeks, although roses and other large flowers may take a little longer. Once the blooms have dried, separate the bundles and make your creations. Wreaths, bouquets and garlands are all attractive arrangements for everlastings.

The most important aspect of a cutting garden is that it is enjoyed both inside and outside. Paths through your garden will ensure that your cut flower landscape is easily accessible and appreciated. Sitting areas are wonderful additions to any garden and will allow you a place to rest and imagine your future cut flower creations. Your guests will enjoy your cut flower garden as much as they do the beautiful arrangements you produce for your home.

(From State-by-State Gardening May 2005.)

If you drive through any small town across America, you will find either (or both) Mexican or a wide variety of Asian restaurants. Where burgers, pizza or fried chicken and mashed potatoes were once all that was available to choose from for supper, a huge variety of flavors have cropped up. Today, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Guatemalan and a vast array of other ethnic restaurants exist throughout the country.

Each of these ethnic foods has a unique set of flavors. Traditionally, herbs have always been used for seasoning these exotic dishes. In recipes where our grandmother used only a few basic herbs, such as sage, rosemary, thyme and maybe some horseradish, many foods of today rely on a completely new set of flavors.

CHANGING HABITS

Many new and exciting plants are being introduced to the marketplace that are of interest to the home gardener as well as the professional chef. Eating habits have changed in the last few decades. As a result, food fashions have changed, and restaurants have begun offering new flavors. Gardeners naturally want to grow these seasoning plants in their own gardens and are developing a taste for interesting, new flavors that include more than just the common European herbs.

HERBS TO TRY

Flavorful ethnic foods rely on herbs such as curry leaf, cilantro, kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, cumin, cardamom, a vast range of basil, fiery peppers and even species that will grow in a water garden.

As nurseries and garden centers follow trends, many offer the more unusual plants that their customers request. Ten years ago, many garden centers weren't offering herbs at all, and now almost all have a section dedicated to herbs, simply because their customers asked for those plants. Here are three exciting herbal plants that you might like to grow this coming summer season.

Green pepper basil (Ocimum selloi) has handsome dark green foliage, small lavender flowers and a distinct, peppery flavor — making it a mouth-watering ingredient in fresh salads.

• Green pepper basil (Ocimum selloi)

This very attractive and unusual herb was first collected a dozen or so years ago by Dr. Dennis Breedlove in Chiapas, Mexico. Records of its use dates back to the Aztecs, who used the plant for medicine and seasoning. Several characteristics make this basil unique. First, it has a robust fragrance, dark green shiny leaves, and it will withstand cooler temperatures than other basil species. It blooms continuously throughout the summer and fall with attractive lavender to purple flower spikes and, unlike other basils, the blooming and seed setting do not stop leaf production. (Most basil requires some pruning to keep desirable leaf production as well as keeping it from going to seed.)

Second, the flavor is a pleasant combination of both sweet bell pepper and spicy basil. It's delicious in a variety of dishes including corn soup and stir-fried dishes. As an added bonus, the plant is an attractive landscape or patio plant and holds up well in hot weather. From my growing experience of green pepper basil, it doesn't easily cross with other basil species. This is an added benefit, because I generally grow about eight varieties together in my herb bed. This is a very good addition for your summer herb garden!

Vietnamese cilantro (Polygonum odoratum) loves hot weather and will even grow in a partially submerged pot at the edge of a water garden. Use this herb as you would regular cilantro.

• Vietnamese cilantro (Polygonum odoratum)

Also known as Vietnamese coriander throughout the mainland of the United States, this plant is recognized by its Vietnamese name, rau ram, in Hawaii.

You either love cilantro, or you hate it. Admittedly, it's an acquired taste, but if you enjoy salsa and chips or any number of Asian or Mexican foods, cilantro is often an ingredient. This is an excellent and easy herb to grow.

Standard cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) is a cool-season herb. Vietnamese cilantro thrives May through September or longer, which is why this herb is so important. It loves Southern summers! The hotter and more humid the weather, the happier this plant becomes. The flavor has a lemon, coriander and curry taste and fragrance. In its native Vietnam, it grows in the marshes. Commercial crops grown for the restaurant trade are produced in low, hot, humid greenhouses.

Vietnamese cilantro requires full sun and lots of moisture. In fact, it will grow in a partially submerged pot at the edge of a water garden or in regular garden soil, if kept consistently damp.

One caution about eating this herb concerns harvest frequency. Keeping the plants trimmed regularly to promote new growth is key, as the youngest leaves and shoots have the best flavor. If you allow the plant to ramble unpruned, the flavor will be quite different and may not be as pleasant. Like most herbs, the more you harvest the plant, the better the flavor.

Use the leaves of this plant in the same way you use any other cilantro. I like to make a salsa of ripe peaches or mangoes, lime juice, a chopped jalapeño pepper, a bit of green onion and two or three leaves of Vietnamese cilantro, chopped. Mixed and served with chips, it's a great afternoon appetizer.

Fresh kaffir lime leaves (Citrus hystrix) are incredibly fragrant and used extensively in Thai recipes. They are considered the “bay leaves” of Asian cooking.

• Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix)

Kaffir lime is another interesting plant to grow. If you like to cook Asian cuisine, there is really no substitute for the flavor of this plant. Kaffir lime is a necessary ingredient in tom yum soup (hot and sour soup) and tom kha hai soup (chicken-coconut soup).

Grow this citrus as you would any dwarf orange or lemon. Plants are easily started from seed or cuttings. Be prepared for thorns like other citrus plants have. Easily grown in containers indoors or on the patio in summer, the desirable part of this plant is its shiny, dark green leaves.

In Thai dishes, one or two leaves are simply torn up and dropped into a dish as it cooks. In some recipes, the leaf is rolled up tight and sliced very thin and added to Thai salads. The leaves have a very pleasant lime fragrance and flavor. Give the plant full sun in summer and bring it indoors in winter.

If you are an adventurous cook and like experimenting with new flavors, you will enjoy these herbs. In addition to being excellent members of your garden, these herbs will no doubt become just as useful in the kitchen.

(From State-by-State Gardening April 2005. Photos by Jim Long.)

Just as they review their yearly financial statement, many gardeners do a plant assessment as they consider their gardens for the following year. This is no different than the trialing done at the Gardens at Ball Horticultural. The few new varieties that follow have been chosen from the broad range of annuals (plus one crossover perennial) that are available for the 2012 market.

Archangel Raspberry ¹

Angelonia

Need a plant that prefers high heat, high humidity and full sun and tolerates dry periods as long as it is well-rooted? Try angelonia!

Angelonia will tolerate a wide range of soils as long as it gets the heat it needs to attain perfection. That is why early spring plantings will just sit and wait until the weather warms up (especially at night) before they start growing. 

Archangel Raspberry
The Archangel series is new and is available in a number of separate colors. Plants grow up to 14 inches tall. My personal preference is Archangel Raspberry with rich, large raspberry-purple flowers on branching plants.

  Serena Waterfall Mix
The Serena™ series has been on the market for a number of years and I appreciate its consistent performance and long blooming period. Joining the series is Waterfall Mix which features blue and white selections growing from 14 to 16 inches tall.

Begonia Whopper ²

Begonia Whopper

Big-leaved begonia plants have been available for decades. From seed, however, the market all but fizzled in the late 1980s. It seemed that gardeners wanted more traditional bedding or dwarf varieties instead of larger ones. The latest in this class is the Whopper series, and it is the most vigorous of all the wax-leaved begonias. Available in both green and bronze-leaved selections, the Whopper plants grow from 24 to 30 inches tall by summer’s end and have shiny leaves with extended trusses of large 1½-inch flowers. My personal favorite is the Whopper Bronze Leaf Rose although Bronze Leaf Red is equally fine.

Coleus ‘Wasabi’  ³

Coleus ‘Wasabi’

As you probably assumed, the name was chosen for its lime-green foliage. But watch out! This plant is vigorous. I was told it was 18 to 28 inches tall. It ended up being 3 to 4 feet tall and dominated all the other plants in the mixed containers. No matter. I just moved it to the flowerbed to be an accent at the back of the border. With a mix of tall blue salvias and yellow rudbeckias for companions, the bed was striking.

If you want to have a little fun, place ‘Wasabi’ in the middle or back of a flower bed with vigorous, trailing petunias in front of it. Many petunia colors are available, but I prefer purple, lavender or blue.

Gaillardia ‘Arizona Apricot’  ⁴

Gaillardia ‘Arizona Apricot’

Okay, so this is the only variety in the listing that’s a perennial (hardy to Zones 5 to 9). However, many of the newer selections of gaillardias being introduced can be used as either an annual or perennial since they flower more quickly than the older varieties. Another reason I included this one is that gaillardias come in a range of colors although yellows, reds and bicolors have dominated the palette. ‘Arizona Apricot’ is unique, with its apricot petals highlighted at the tip with golden yellow. Flowers are 2½ to 3 inches across on plants up to 12 inches tall. Finally, it is also an All-America Selections (AAS) winner, which means it’s a superior garden plant.

Kale (Ornamental) ‘Glamour Red’ ⁵

Kale (Ornamental) ‘Glamour Red’

This is another of the All-America Selection award winners. It’s a wavy-leaved (not fringed or cut-leaf) plant growing from 10 to 12 inches tall with burgundy rose or red center leaves and deep green outer leaves.

Kale is a cool-season plant. If planted in our gardens in May, the plants stay green most of the summer and then color up in September for a bright display from fall into December. For this reason, gardeners purchase plants in the late summer for fall decoration with pumpkins and other seasonal accents.

Ipomoea ‘Sweet Caroline Raven’  ⁶

Ipomoea ‘Sweet Caroline Raven’

Sweet potato vine is one of gardening’s rare finds. A wonderful foliage plant, it works equally well as a ground cover or a mixed container plant, and it produces tubers (like a potato) during summer. Granted, eating the tuber doesn’t even register in our consciousness. However, as the plant is growing during the summer, remember you do have another option once you have finished enjoying the foliage.

‘Sweet Caroline Raven’ is valued for its rich, dark black foliage that shines in a sunny location, and you might occasionally spy a light purple tubular flower as well. Plants grow from 12 to 16 inches tall but spread from 3 to 5 feet. Their spread depends on how happy they are with their growing environment. The richer the soil, the greater the spread. Watch for mice and voles. They love to feast on the tubers, especially in late summer as the tubers mature.

Lantana Bandana Light Yellow ⁷

Lantana

Considered Southern favorites for their love of high heat and humidity, lantanas do surprisingly well in Chicago-area gardens. While they don’t like our cool spring nights, they will grow quickly once night temperatures warm up and if plants are grown in full-sun locations.

‘Lucky Lemon Glow’
I have written about other members of the Lucky series over the years. They are a compact strain, growing from 12 to 16 inches tall, depending on the site. The warmer and richer the location, the taller they will grow.

While this one is named Lucky Lemon Glow, I often called it “Eggs over Easy” as the summer progressed. The combination of yellow blooms in the center of the flower and white blossoms along the outside reminded me of a sunny-side-up breakfast. Just don’t eat the blooms.

Bandana Light Yellow
Bandana Light Yellow has light yellow flowers that are consistently displayed across the entire blossom. Try Bandana in front of a bed of red salvia or coral and salmon echinaceas. Plants grow from 12 to 16 inches tall and also prefer sun and warmth.

Marigold ‘Moonstruck Lemon Yellow’  ⁸

Marigold ‘Moonstruck Lemon Yellow’

Breeders of the African or American class of marigolds continue to add new introductions, making it one of the best annuals for the mid- and late-summer garden. The Moonstruck series was introduced several years ago but ‘Lemon Yellow’ is new for 2012. As its name suggests, it has a lemon-yellow flower color on plants growing from 14 to 16 inches tall. My personal preference has always been for these lighter yellow flowers rather than the traditional darker colors. I think they blend better in a mixed flower planting.

Petunia ‘Rhythm and Blues’ ⁹

Petunia ‘Rhythm and Blues’

I admired petunia ‘Rhythm and Blues’ when I saw it several years ago as it was being developed in California. While I had seen a number of bicolor petunias over the years, I was impressed with the uniformity of the blue center blooms highlighted with a prominent white edge on each 2 ½ to 3-inch flower. Plants grow from 12 to 14 inches tall.

I used ‘Rhythm and Blues’ in mixed containers with the golden-leaved helichrysum ‘Moonlight’, the euphorbia ‘Breathless White’ and yellow daisies.

Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Red’  ¹⁰

Salvia ‘Summer Jewel Red’

Another All-America Selections award winner, ‘Summer Jewel Red’, grows to 24 inches tall topped with 1-inch tubular red flowers on spikes that measure from 10 to 14 inches long. This is a wonderful plant to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Long-flowering, the plants bloom from June well into September.

Verbena Superbena Royale Peachy Keen ¹¹

Verbena Superbena Royale Peachy Keen

I have to admit that it’s the name that drew me in on this one. While the coral salmon flowers were massed across the crown of the plant within the hanging basket, the name of Peachy Keen made me smile. I smiled a lot more when the plant excelled in its performance. Plants grow from 6 to 10 inches tall and can spread from 14 to 20 inches in either a container or garden beds. Use this one in a mixed combination with dark rose, blue, or yellow flowers. One of my personal favorites was pairing it with a yellow-flowering calibrachoa in a hanging basket.

Viola ‘Shangri-La Marina’  ¹²

Viola ‘Shangri-La Marina’

Growing from 6 to 8 inches tall, this variety has light blue outer petals with a dark blue center and a white border between the two (this is what defines the color “marina” in most catalogs). It is another of the All-America Selections award winners and can be used for either spring or late summer/autumn gardens.

Photo Credits:
1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 - Ron Capek
4, 5, 10 - Photos courtesy of All-America Selections
9, 12 - Photo courtesy of Ball Horticultural
11 - Proven Winners

(From  Chicagoland Gardening Volume XVIII Issue I.)

When you buy the right tools you can make garden maintenance easier (and less painful). Here are a few must-have favorites.

Gardening isn’t all joy. Watching the garden evolve and change with the seasons is one of a gardener’s greatest pleasures but the pleasures also entail a lot of work. Therefore, the avid gardener is always searching for tools that will make maintenance easier.

Hori-Hori

The last time I misplaced my hori-hori (Japanese weeding knife), I thought I would go crazy. Before I discovered the hori-hori, I had always used a trowel but it’s comparable to that cliché, “Once they’ve seen Paris, you can’t keep them down on the farm.” A client, to whom I had sold one called me frantically a few days later. She and her husband had both been working in the same bed and he kept wanting to use her hori but she didn’t want to give it up. Now that they have two horis, there is peace in the family again.

A hori is sturdier and more ergonomic than a trowel. It doesn’t exacerbate the muscles or nerves in your wrist or elbow like a trowel does because it is basically a carbon steel blade that you stab into the soil, pull backward or forward to create the hole for a small plant or to dig out a weed, and then push in the opposite direction to move the soil back into the hole. The 6 ½-inch blade is serrated on one side and smooth on the other.

There are some stainless steel versions available but I love the carbon steel because it never rusts and never wears out. The only danger is losing it. That is why I spray paint the wooden handle red and why I stab it into the ground, instead of laying it down, when I need two hands for something else. I just can’t live without my hori.

Mini-Scythe

I love ornamental grasses but cutting them down in the early spring is quite a chore. I am not a fan of electric or battery operated tools so my ideal tool for this chore is a mini-scythe, also called a serrated blade sickle. This is another wonderful Japanese tool with a wood handle that should also be spray painted a bright color.

The very sharp, toothed blade is only 8 inches long but what a job it does. I just grab a large bunch of stems with my left hand and use the scythe to saw the stems as close to the ground as I can. The scythe is infinitely preferable to pruners, loppers, or scissors. I do suggest using a kneeling cushion so that you are not straining your back by bending over. It also enables you to get closer to the base of the plant.

Kneeling Cushion

You are not a wimp if you use a waterproof kneeling cushion. You have to take care of your body. A lot of weeding can be done while you sit or kneel comfortably on a cushion and swivel your body to weed.

Exercises

Gardening is good exercise but it needs to be smart exercise. Many of us do a lot of sitting during the winter and then complain bitterly about our aches and pains in the spring, the time of the majority of garden chores. I highly recommend a few exercises that you can do all year. One is knee bends, 10 every other day. Get used to kneeling rather than bending over. The other is standing toe touches, again 10 every other day. I know that I just said “don’t bend over,” but sometimes, we forget and other times there is no other way to reach a plant. The toe touches will stretch your hamstrings and your back.

Pruners

We can’t live without our pruners. Do not buy pruners without taking them out of the case and seeing how they feel in your hand. I have a very small hand. If the pruners are too large, they stress the nerves and muscles in my hand, a sure prelude to carpal tunnel syndrome. If the pruners are heavy, your hand will tire very quickly. I am not a fan of ratchet pruners; I would rather use loppers that allow you to use your larger arm muscles for leverage.

Pruning is a very repetitive motion and a carpal tunnel syndrome inducer even with the best of pruners. Try to alternate 15 minute periods of pruning with 15 minute periods of weeding.

I also highly recommend wearing a stiff wrist brace with a metal plate to prevent or alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome. I know that it has helped me immensely. The braces have several Velcro straps that can be adjusted.

Tubs

Tubs (such as Tubtrugs®) are not a “tool” but I love my bright purple, 10 ½-gallon plastic tub. I fill it with weeds and prunings. It is lightweight even when full so that I can comfortably carry it to the garage where I keep my recyclable waste bags or to the curb for seasonal green waste pickup. Before I discovered these tubs, I used tarps but the wind was always blowing the sides and ends up unless I anchored them with bricks — what a pain! The tubs are available in several bright colors and sizes.

Another tub holds a bag of leaf humus, which I use instead of potting soil. Then I can avail myself of a scoop to transfer the humus to containers when I am potting up bare root perennials or repotting a plug into a larger container or creating dynamic vignettes for my summer containers.

Good Gloves

Last but not least, I raise the issue of gardening gloves. I have to be able to feel the soil and the roots when I am potting and weeding. Instead of gardening gloves, I buy boxes of medical examining gloves for a season. They are latex and sprinkled inside with talc to ease putting them on. They do tear easily and they do make my hands sweat but they’re cheap and keep my hands clean. Before I discovered examining gloves, I could never get my hands really clean, and even worse, they were incredibly rough and painful. No amount of moisturizer could counteract the dirt in the skin crevices.

For pruning and digging, there is an infinite array of glove types. It’s just a matter of finding the ones that are comfortable for you and that won’t wear out too quickly.

Why would I want a large, green, basically flowerless plant? I have plenty of lawn, trees, bushes and shrubs,” my friend sputtered when I suggested hostas as her landscaping solution.

Like most new gardeners, she had dreams of profuse, lovely scented blooms everywhere. Later, realizing that gardens of Eden with bounteous blooms, need full-time gardeners, she wanted easier plantings.

Got a time, garden or landscape problem? Try hostas. Adaptable and tolerant hostas are virtually carefree, surviving long after lack of care or adverse weather has killed off other plants. Once established, they are very self-sufficient, thriving for years with minimal care.

Historic Hosta

Their botanical name is Hosta in the family Liliaceae and they are commonly called hosta, funkia or “plantain lilies” from Latin planta for “sole of the foot,” which the leaves resembled.

Medium-sized ‘Torchlight’ makes a big statement in your garden or a special pot on a patio table. Burgundy and lavender blooms intensify round, shiny-green leaves edged in white.

‘Golden Gate’ has very large and thick pointed, shiny golden foliage, beautifully paired with medium lavender flowers in early spring. Richard Jolly, a professional landscaper who owns Pine Forest Gardens and Landscaping in Tyrone, Georgia, chose it as his favorite large gold hosta for its ease of cultivation and its dramatic, long-lasting statement.

Today’s garden hostas were originally hybridized in China and Japan. In the early 1700s, they were discovered, described and stolen by Europeans, who typically ignored their origin and fought to “name” them. Thus, there are numerous inane names “honoring” men who had nothing to do with the plants, including “hosta” for Thomas Host, a grass expert.

Hostas grow in dense, leafy clumps with blossoms on stalks extending up to 3 feet from the foliage. Blooms are violet tints, lavender to purple tones and white, in funnels or trumpets, opening successively up a stem. Short-lived flowers appear in late spring to midfall and some are fragrant.

Easy Growing

Many gardeners get their first hosta as an orphan — a plant nobody wanted, an unappreciated gift or bedraggled markdown. After gardening a few years or moving to a yard with hostas, they begin to appreciate these often overlooked, easy-growing plants.

Hostas have become popular in the last century as growers searched for substantial, versatile plants. Even neophyte gardeners do well with hostas, enjoying their adaptability and having fun choosing among the many different types, huge variety and assorted hues.

Primarily grown for beautiful foliage, hostas can be focal points in your garden. Use a large, dramatic, unusual hosta singly for a strong accent. There are around 5,000 named cultivars and a wide array of leaf colors, shapes and textures.

Spread hostas apart to display separate species or plant them clumped together with tall plants for a merry melange. Use nice stone planters for shady patio or porch plantings. With thousands to choose from, sizes range from the new tiny miniatures, with thumbnail-dimensioned leaves to huge types, with serving-platter proportioned leaves, over 2 feet long.

Superb Shade Selection

The ultimate shade-tolerant plant, hostas are a hardy garden favorite for adding texture and diversity to shady areas. There are fewer blooms in shade, while colors are less washed out and more intense. Thus, foliage is important. Restful for eyes, the many tints, tones and hues of green intermingle, providing visual continuity.

Hostas’ foliage variations range from subtle to dramatic. Their green extends from deep, intense blue green to pale green tinged yellows and whites. Rare, except in new leaves and buds, beautiful spring or yellow green is common in hostas. Colors can be solid, splotched, spotted, striped, edged or bordered and leaves may be shiny-smooth to wrinkled, puckered, blunt or pointed and sword-shaped.

Some hostas are sun tolerant, but partial shade generally produces the showiest foliage. Listed for hardiness Zones 3 to 8, they tolerate more full sun in Northern zones without blistering, while full Southern summer sun blanches or burns them. During extreme hot weather, they may need watering to prevent scorching.

Hostas grow splendidly in almost complete shade and form masses of diverse, extraordinary foliage. Richard Jolly of Pine Forest Gardens and Landscaping in Tyrone, Georgia says, “Blue-hued varieties in particular need shade. Sun and heat can actually melt the wax coating that makes their leaves appear blue.”
 

Landscaping Backbone

Make hostas the backbone of your garden. Often used in landscaping public areas and parks, hostas are tough, durable, easy-care plants that grow nearly everywhere. Disease resistant, hardy and versatile, they are great in landscapes and don’t need fussing over.

“Plant hostas in irregular drifts to add variety, break up the landscape or connect disparate areas, buildings or other features,” continued Richard. “They are outstanding planted in groupings with flowers or bushes. They make excellent borders and you can use them in woodland settings, interspersed with native plants. “And,” he emphasized, “they are great for rock gardens.”

Hostas are connectors. They make a connection between lawn and larger-growing shrubbery and trees. Instead of a naked-looking tree base or skinny bush stems, hostas make a gentle connection, create a tie-in and giving a flow to the landscape. They are good foundation plantings, although they die back in winter.

Background Beauty

Once a boring “fill-in” plant, today’s hybridized hostas are an ever-expanding variety of choices. Hostas are exceptional ground covers and background plants. They can be strong anchor plants in gardens and are beautiful nestled in woodland settings.

They like mixed company and are superb planted among flowers, shrubs and trees. Plant hostas interspersed among spring bulbs. As the daffodils, tulips and hyacinths die back, the hostas grow up and camouflage withering vegetation. Sheltering and shading delicate woodland plants, hostas’ dense, heavy foliage helps reduce weed growth, while retaining soil moisture.

Get the Hosta Habit

Visit public gardens and plant nurseries to see various varieties of hostas and consult experts on recommendations suited to your yard and garden design. Select healthy, high-quality plants, and plant them anytime the ground isn’t frozen. Divide overgrown plants in the early spring or late summer.

Through crossbreeding, available varieties increase yearly. From sleek, ultra-modern to bounteous, overgrown cottage gardens, there are hostas to fit your yard and your personality. Choose a few hostas and start your collection. Too many hostas are never a problem. It’s hard to make a mistake with hostas. Just plant them, leave ’em alone and let ’em grow.

Which hosta is right for your garden?
Here are Richard Jolly's recommendations:

Mini:

Use hostas as potted plants, like this bright mini ‘Shiny Penny’. It is fascinating as new foliage is bright golden, becoming light green as leaves age.

‘Illicit Affair’: With a parent called ‘Cheating Heart’, it’s got to be unusual. A vigorous 6-inch tall mini, leaves start bright gold. Centers gradually turn lime green, then dark green with a gold second flush.

‘Pandora’s Box’: At 3 inches high and 9 inches wide, it is the smallest variegated. Great for rock gardens and containers, this striking, super miniature has blue-green leaves with pure white centers.

‘Shiny Penny’: Bright, golden new foliage changes to light green as leave age, creating contrast. Clumps 6 inches high by 18 inches wide are topped with 18 inch scapes of lavender blooms in mid-July.

 

Medium:

‘Night Before Christmas’: A must-have with deep, green wedge-shaped leaves, center striped in bright white. Midsummer lavender flowers top a 18-inch high, 24-inch wide clump.

‘Revolution’: Substantial 18-inch tall plant has dark green foliage with cream centers speckled in soft green. Revolutionary coloration on a loyalist with character.

‘Torchlight’: Burgundy petioles adorned with lavender blooms top a 14 by 24 inches wide clump of dark green, round leaves edged in white. Wonderful!

 

Maxi:

‘Stained Glass’: Ideal for shade gardens, bright gold foliage shines in shade. Long lasting and fragrant, it is the 2006 American Hosta Growers’ Hosta of the Year.

‘Krossa Regal’: Upright, growing 36 inches tall, its shiny, steel blue foliage is a dramatic statement or a great background for borders and flowers. Lavender blooms top 3 foot wide clumps.

‘Golden Gate’: A favorite, large gold and topped with violet-hued flowers in early spring. It has very large, thick, pointed shiny-gold leaves.

(From State-by-State Gardening May 2006.)

This is a My Monet weigela with an offshoot on it that is solid green. This part must be
pruned out as it will otherwise take over the plant. Photo: Nikky Witkowski

When are you supposed to prune lilacs? How about forsythia,
weigela, beautyberry and roses? The biggest question about
pruning is when to do it.

The most common question I’m asked about pruning is when to prune a plant. There are different ways or reasons, but the biggest mystery usually is the timing. There are three “times” of year I suggest: after flowering, in the spring and emergencies. You might say those are not “times,” but instances. Nonetheless, it is the easiest way to remember.

After Flowering

This is the first important time to prune. Granted, not all plants flower; therefore, it doesn’t always matter. However, the flowering plants are the ones that usually create the most questions about how to care for them. Consider spring-blooming plants such as dogwoods and magnolias. After they flower in the spring, prune them. If you pruned the plant right after winter breaks or the previous fall, you would prune out the flowers.

Plants are focused on flowering. Take the dogwoods for example: After flowering in the spring they take the summer to grow larger and store energy for the fall. In the fall they produce flower buds that will overwinter for the spring. Fall bloomers are similar, the cycle is just shifted. That is why they are to be pruned in late fall or early spring.

Keep in mind that you can not always say an entire species of a plant blooms at the same time. For example, not all roses or hydrangeas bloom in the spring. Those plants have varied bloom times depending on the exact cultivar of the plant. You either need to research the blooming time or wait until it flowers. Another exception is that continuously blooming plants are safe to prune any time of year.

Spring

The second time to prune is spring, for two reasons: You will know what winter damage there is on your plant and it’s the least stressful time of year. Certain plants are not very hardy and will have some damage in the spring, like roses. You want to follow the flowering suggestion and then perform further pruning in the spring if you had winter injury.

As mentioned, spring is the least stressful time of year to prune. The spring usually has plenty of rain and the temperatures are pleasant. These are two main growing conditions that affect whether the plant can recover from pruning. Try not to prune when it is above 80 F if you can help it, especially if it is above 90 F. You want the plant to be able to recover quickly from the pruning wounds by having adequate moisture and moderate temperatures.

This tree shows an emergency pruning need. It is hard to say if the death was from disease, drought or physical damage. Nonetheless, it is a danger to the nearby house and family vehicles. Photo: Nikky Witkowski

Emergencies

This is the last time to prune. “Emergencies” include times of physical damage, insect infestations or disease outbreaks. Quick action is needed and warrants the pruning even if flowering is lost. The other time of “emergency” can be if your plant has unusual growth or reversions. At the top of this page, look at the picture of the weigela that has a reversion on it. The normal plant has the multicolored foliage and stays about 2 feet tall. However, the green foliage can grow larger and crowd out the multicolored foliage, causing you to lose that feature of the plant.

Prune with Confidence

If you follow these three simple suggestions, you can prune your plants at the proper times. If you missed your chance to follow one, it typically won’t harm the plant, just the flowers. The only time pruning is discouraged is during the dead of winter, but emergencies can occur at all times of the year. Just remember these are suggestions that allow your plants to be beautiful and recover the quickest.

Bloom Time of Certain Plants

Spring:  Flowering Dogwood, Forsythia, Lilac, Magnolia, Redbud

Summer-Fall: Beautyberry, Butterfly Bush, Chrysanthemum, Cotoneaster, Red Twig Dogwood

*Varied: Annuals, Hydrangea, Rose, Spirea

* These plants either bloom continuously or the species has many different bloom times. For example, smooth hydrangeas bloom at one time whereas bigleaf hydrangeas bloom at another.

Spireas like Double Play Big Bang (left) and roses like Easy Elegance Champagne Wishes (right) often bloom repeatedly throughout the year. Their pruning times are considered “variable.” The Double Play Big Bang spirea blooms on new wood in the summer — grower Proven Winners suggests, “trim as needed to shape and deadhead after flowering to encourage repeat blooming.” Similarly, some roses bloom continuously and some cultivars and species of roses bloom at different times. You must research your roses’ bloom times. The pruning tips for Champagne Wishes at easyeleganceroses.com recommends removing dead or damaged canes and crossing or inward-growing canes in spring, before plants bloom, and deadheading all season. Left photo: Courtesy of Proven Winners Right photo: Courtesy of Baily Nurseries

(From State-by-State Gardening Jan/Feb 2012.)

This easy care container plant will provide year-round excitement to a shady corner of your yard. The star of the show will certainly be any one of the plants in the Helleborus Gold Collection, but this container features Cinnamon Snow, with its pink and burgundy tints. Should you want to continue with a flowering plant through the summer, you can gently remove the hellebore and place it in another container or in the ground; then add a pink, purple or white Torenia that will bloom continuously until a hard frost, when you can return your Lenten rose to the container for a seamless year-round event.

With its bright, electric green leaves, the ‘Florida Sunshine’ Illicium, is the plant that draws your eye to the container. Letting your eye drift downward, you can linger on the big, bold flowers of Cinnamon Snow. Next to it sits ‘Rosi Klose’ Bergenia with its shiny deep burgundy leaves (followed in spring with hyacinth-like pink blooms). From clockwise are Redstone Falls Heucherella, which will trail over the edge of the container as the season goes on and Blue Ridge Heucherella with gray green and burgundy veined leaves that echo its sister’s colors. Nearly stealing center stage is ‘Golden Ripple’ Hedera — its color is there to echo that of the Illicium, and its long, trailing stems soften the hardness of the glazed container. For height and texture, an autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora) is placed in the back along with nearly bare willow tree branches. Tucked in along the edge in front is ‘Kewensis’ Euonymus, and in the back ‘Evergold’ Carex adds more texture and color.

This container will provide a bright spot in your garden and require minimal care. At the time of planting, add 1/2 cup of Osmocote or other slow-release fertilizer; mulch with moss or small pine bark to retain moisture and to give a finished appearance; water in well. During the growing season, just ensure that the container gets adequate moisture but is not overwatered, and you will get several years of enjoyment before you might want to rearrange the plants or replace some. “Easy care” does not have to mean “less beauty” — enjoy your creation!

The Bender oak, estimated to be more than 250 years old, is an arboretum flagship tree.

Trees that are 100, 200 or even 300 years old require special management techniques. Here are some examples of trees that are getting the proper care and some tips on how you can cultivate and coddle your own veteran trees.

Walking among centuries-old trees — magnolia, cherry, Bender oak, European beech, katsura — Jason Lubar puts it simply. “We are a tree museum.” Rather than remove aging trees, Lubar and members of Urban Forestry Consulting Team focus on veteran tree preservation at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. They turn back the clock by regenerative pruning, propping and cultural practices.

Loss can make what remains more precious. In recent decades, storms have wreaked havoc on the arboretum’s older trees. Each mature tree standing is venerable and significant — environmentally, genetically, historically, sentimentally. The prominent gray-barked, upright Bender oak that welcomes arboretum visitors is thought to be 250 years old. All year round this flagship tree is most people’s first impressive, up-close-and-personal experience with the arboretum’s treasures. Strolling from the parking lot to the Widener Education Center, visitors walk under branches of its 90-foot-wide, deep green canopy.

Veteran trees are craggy, scarred, fissured giants who grab and hold our imagination. Their huge limbs give us places to hide and dream. Their split, pithy trunks are homes to insects and birds. They are history in themselves and for the people who’ve climbed their branches, played tag under their canopies and leaned against their hefty trunks and shared secrets.

Regenerating Veteran Trees

Steel cabling strung through the branches holds the Bender oak together.


Lightning rods of copper wire extend from a red oak top deep into the soil to capture and divert electricity from the tree into the ground.

Caring for them is different from young or even mature trees. “Veteran trees have complex systems. They’ve seen the slings and arrows of 100 to 300 years,” explains Lubar, ISA Board Certified Master Arborist and associate director of urban forestry at the Morris Arboretum. As survivors they deserve TLC — scientifically based, naturally derived TLC.

Europe with its history of old trees — some 800 to 1,000 years and aging — has developed the science and art of veteran tree care. The United States with its younger trees is just starting to become educated in preservation.

Centuries-old trees are consolidating their resources and energy; they’re getting smaller; they may die back, Lubar says. “We do cultural things to preserve the veteran trees, to maintain their vigor,” says Lubar. “The main thing is managing the leaves” — promoting as much growth as possible to photosynthesize, producing as much food as possible.

The regenerative techniques Lubar and his colleagues use for the arboretum’s living collection are helpful for any mature tree in our yards, woodlots or gardens.

Regenerative Pruning

One technique involves specialized pruning. “We turn back the clock by doing regenerative pruning,” Lubar says. To lessen stress and breakage, they reduce weight by removing large, long branches. They may make heading cuts to trigger interior canopy growth. A heading cut trims a branch back to a bud or a small branch.

Lubar and his team encourage and manage the growth of vibrant shoots, suckers and water sprouts to produce more leaf mass. “Now we let water sprouts grow,” he explains. “They will be the new canopy. They will keep the mature tree growing.” More leaves means more photosynthesis, hence more nutrients for the mother tree.

Above the sheep meadow, staff have propped heavy limbs of the magnificent splaying magnolia, using mostly through-bolts with red cedar timber. The red cedar, which resists rot, is taken from elsewhere in the arboretum. Lubar nods appreciatively toward a wide, deep furrow of rotting wood on a supported limb. “This is rich in biodiversity. Having old trees like this supports a
wide range of insects and grubs that birds
eat.” Lubar looks down. “Mulch under the canopy to reduce soil compaction,” he says. “The better you can make the soil around the old tree, the healthier it will be.”

Wildlife benefit from rotting branches. Birds eat the grubs and insects living in the decaying wood.

New from Old: Phoenix Tree

Across from the arboretum’s Widener Education Center, the aging cherry tree is considered a “Phoenix Tree.” A new tree — called a cambium column — grows from the declining mother trunk. This new tree uses the same roots and has the same genetic material as the mother tree. Another Phoenix rebirth occurs in a nearby linden. One partially broken limb touches the ground. Staff propped the limb to keep it connected to the mother tree. So far it’s forming a cambium column, a new tree with genetics identical to its mother.

The 90-foot-wide weeping European beech, pre-1909, puts out its progeny through layering, Lubar says. Layering involves the limbs dipping and rooting to form rings of new trees surrounding the decaying mother tree. New rooted trees will have the same genetic material as the mother tree.

Holding the Parts in Place

Morris Arboretum’s Associate Director of Urban Forestry Jason Lubar shows how a red cedar timber from elsewhere on the property has been cut and bolted to prop up a large magnolia branch.

The weeping European beech, pre-1909, puts out its progeny through layering branches that surround and grow into genetically identical trees.

Look up into the massive Bender oak on Compton Hill. There, regenerative TLC involves steel cable strung through the branches, attached to bolts, weaving throughout the crown. “The cabling is a supplemental support system helping to hold up the big limbs,” explains Lubar. “We also cut off the ends of larger limbs to relieve weight and trigger growth.”

Copper conductor is used as lightning protection. The lightning rod carries the electric charge to the ground where the energy is dispersed. The main conducting cable runs from the highest accessible point in the tree down the trunk and into the ground. A large or forked trunk requires two or more cables on opposite sides of the trunk as well as small connecting cables along major branches. Cables are grounded — placed some 10 feet deep in surrounding soil.

Regenerative Tree Care Techniques

• Leave the autumn leaves under the tree. Use a mulching mower to shred leaves or just allow fallen leaves to stay. Trees evolved in a forest setting where leaves naturally dropped and decomposed into nutrients.

• Mulch with organic matter — no more than 2 inches of shredded leaves or shredded bark — under the tree canopy for a healthier root system.

• Do not have mulch touching the trunk or covering above-ground roots. Mulch against a trunk or on top of roots can hold moisture and more, causing tree parts to rot.

• Trees need as many healthy roots as possible. Growing grass under the branch spread of an old tree undermines that. Digging to plant shrubs, perennials and annuals can damage tree roots, too.

• Consult an arborist trained in regenerative tree pruning. Correct care of veteran trees differs from young and mature tree care.

(From State-by-State Gardening January/February 2012. Photography By Charlotte Kidd.)

Ornamental gardens of this period were typically rectangular in shape. Outlined with box hedges,
the sections were filled with colorful annuals and perennials.

Romanticized in film and novels, the traditional plantation garden is often envisioned as a spacious ornamental landscape with sweeping lawn vistas and long allees of oak trees leading to an elegant manor. While this landscape may have been true in some cases, landscape historians report that this image is “gone with the wind,” as many plantations were really working farms and offered little time for maintaining vast ornamental gardens. As a matter of fact, most of these gardens were utilitarian and were used to produce food and medicine for the family and workers. So, how should the landscape appear today when one has a historic home from this period?

First of all, like the outbuildings and barns that once surrounded these homes, those days are long gone. Just as the generations of families have changed over time, so too have the uses of the landscape. Rarely are these properties used as working farms, but instead have become bed and breakfasts, are open for historic tours or, more generally, are used as private pleasure grounds. As people do not live in a museum, the landscape should also serve the current needs of residents. However, there are a few landscape principles that may be borrowed from the past to help make a historic home and its garden look “just right.”

AMERICA’S “FIRST NATIONAL STYLE”

As new wealth poured in from “King Cotton” and other economic crops in the early 1800s, affluent Americans began to search for a new architecture style that was simple yet elegant. American architects began to embrace the use of Greek building elements such as columns and pediments (a triangular gable on the front of a building) for capitol buildings, monuments and, later, homes. The use of Greek Revival elements rapidly spread throughout the country, as citizens wanted to become a part of America’s “first national architecture style.”

Ashland-Belle Helene (Ascension Parish, LA) displays a traditional architectural style with columns. ⁽¹⁾

This new style used a strong symmetry for all lines, buildings and features. Interestingly enough, although most Americans felt no love for the British, they continued to embrace the formal English garden. American ornamental garden designs from the period of 1820 to 1850 were often rectangular parterres that divided the garden into equal parts. These rectilinear garden beds were traditionally bordered in dwarf box (boxwood). Each section was planted with flowers, herbs and bulbs, and enclosed by a picket fence. In contrast to the small parterre gardens of towns and cities, plantation gardens were larger and included traditional European garden features such as formal avenues, bowling greens, terraces and elaborate box-bordered parterres. Curvilinear garden shapes did not become popular until after the 1850s.

So what does this fascinating garden history offer for today’s owners of historic Greek Revival structures (or those who would just like to add a little historic feel to their contemporary home)? Here are a few tips to keep the landscape features fitting to the period of design.
 

Trees and evergreen shrubs reinforced the long axial paths and divided garden rooms.

SHAPING THE LANDSCAPE

A central idea to organizing all exterior items in the early 1800s — including roads, outbuildings, walks, garden beds, lawn areas and trees — was the use of a strong axial line. Popularized in French and Italian landscapes, this long, linear feature typically created a dominant center line to the front door or middle of the great house (usually accomplished with a grand carriageway, an allee of trees or a walk).

This central line was framed by symmetrical landscapes on both sides, often rectangular in form. Porches, patio areas, garden beds, shrub borders and trees were oriented from this line to allow the house to be the organizing feature. Also introduced to landscapes of this period were amenities such as gazebos, pergolas, trellises, arbors and statuary, which were placed on or within these rectangular lines. Paths of gravel or crushed oyster shells helped to subdivide the larger landscape into smaller garden rooms.

EVERGREENS FIT THE FORMAT

Well featured in 17th and 18th century European landscapes, evergreens formed the backbone of the garden. Large evergreens, such as cypress, cedar and yew, were planted in symmetrical linear lines that created tall vertical walls to separate views and individual gardens. Smaller parterre gardens featured dwarf evergreen shrubs, such as box, planted along the edges of all hard landscape items such as brick walks. Camellia, gardenia, oleander and arborvitae were often used during that period to provide a strong evergreen format to all garden areas.

PLANT SELECTION

With established port towns along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the plants of Europe and Asia were well introduced to American markets by the 1800s. In addition to exhibiting wealth and prestige, obtaining these exotic species fortified the owner’s feeling of control over his land. The South’s mild climates and long growing season were suitable for newly introduced plants from China and Japan such as camellias, tea olive (sweet olive), banana shrub, crapemyrtle and wisteria. Additionally, local native plants were also used for shade and blossoms. Interestingly enough, many of our best garden plants today were common to that period and have truly stood the test of time.

The Greek Revival period of the early 1800s not only helped to define Southern gardens, but more importantly, provided a distinct identity for a young new nation. As generations come and go, the homes still stand as a testament to democracy and tradition. By using these few time-honored landscape techniques, this tradition will stand strong for generations to come.

Garden phlox, daffodils and other fragrant perennials were Colonial favorites.

The gardens were often enclosed by wooden or brick fences to keep animals out.

Photo Credits:
(1) Photo by Corey Balazowich. All other photos courtesy of Bob Brzuszek.

(From State-by-State Gardening April 2005.)

Every gardener has a special secret or method that they have learned from a family member, “The Farmer’s Almanac,” other books and worst of all, the Internet. Usually there is or was a kernel of truth in many of these secret/special methods, but they have since grown into legends, much like passing a piece of gossip along. You know the kind of gossip, “Joe likes Mary,” and a month later, “Joe ran away with Mary and became an astrologer and opened up tattoo parlor in South America.”

Some people have a natural distrust of science and others like to think that they can be in control of their universe. I know there will be naysayers but I’m a practical kind of gal that believes in fact not fiction. So here is a variety of the myths and legends in the garden.

Myth and legend — Marigolds repel insects and critters in the garden.

False — This began a long time ago when it was discovered that French dwarf marigolds exude a substance through their roots that repel certain types of nematodes. Those particular nematodes (which are microscopic) are normally found in the Southern regions of the United States. The legend has grown from that justification. Just because you don’t care for the fragrance of marigolds, doesn’t mean the deer, rabbits and groundhogs don’t like it either. In fact it’s one of their favorite foods! It also doesn’t repel mosquitoes.

Misaka® Itoh peony. Read more about this plant in our article “Sustainability: Right Plant, Right Place”. (Photo courtesy of Monrovia Nursery.)

Myth — Peonies attract ants and need them to open their buds.

False — While ants are noticeable on peony buds (because the buds are so large), they are actually attracted to the pollen inside the bud, as they are attracted to any other flower with pollen. Peonies do not need the ants to open their buds. Anywhere ants find food, they will be there so plant your peonies and don’t worry about ants. Just shake the flower before taking it in the house if you are worried about them.

Myth — Wooden mulch attracts termites.

False — Termites are fond of moist, SOLID wood, not shredded mulch. If you have found them in mulch around the home, you should have your home’s foundation checked for termites.

Legend — Filling a container with gravel, packing peanuts or a saucer bigger than the bottom of the container saves soil and other than the gravel, makes the container lighter.

False and True — It will make the container lighter but the plants will suffer because of it. Reducing the amount of soil in the container actually reduces the depth of the roots of plants. Less soil means shorter roots so as the plants try to grow; they actually run out of space. There is also less water available to the plants because there is less soil.

‘Prairifire’ crabapple has spectacular pinkish-red flowers and excellent disease resistance. See more on using this and other trees selected to help the Midwest gardener “Diversify Your Landscape.” (Photo courtesy of Christopher Starbuck.)

Myth and Legend — “Whacking” a tree trunk to make it flower.

False and True — “Whacking” a tree trunk on a flowering tree that hasn’t bloomed before can sometimes trigger blooming. It’s called going into shock! The problem with doing that is you damage the bark of the tree including the cambium, the vascular system of a tree. You also create an entry wound for insects and disease to take hold. If a disease or insect doesn’t kill the tree first, you may see a few years of abundant flowering before it declines. The tree is creating seeds in the flowers to make sure that it recreates itself. If a tree or shrub isn’t blooming and it is supposed to bloom, check the depth at which you planted it. You may have planted it too deep or too high or in the wrong location and that’s why it’s not blooming.

Legend — Covering cuts on branches with tar or paint to prevent weeping or insect damage.

False — It used to be thought that covering cuts on tree branches would protect against insect damage. What it does is seal in any possible disease allowing it run rampant. Trees in good health are able to naturally heal themselves on cuts, actually growing over the damage.

Myth — Spraying your houseplants with a mister is good for them.

False — It’s a great way to cause fungal problems on houseplants. Air circulation that would naturally dry off moisture is almost non-existent inside houses. Epiphytic plants will occasionally benefit from misting. If the plant needs humidity, place on top of stones in a saucer filled with water. And if a plant is dusty, simply take a damp rag and wipe off the dust on the leaves.

Myth — Have a pregnant woman sow seed to ensure a good crop because of her fertility.

False — This is just wrong on so many levels that I don’t know where to begin. While being pregnant is a joy, it can also be uncomfortable to say the least in the later stages of pregnancy so asking a pregnant woman to do this is likely to find you buried in the garden as compost! And if this was the case the Earth should have been overrun with plants thousands of years ago.

Topped crapemyrtle tree. 

Myth — Topping trees is good for them.

False — This is the worst possible thing you can do to a tree besides cutting it down for no good reason. In fact if you top a tree, you might as well cut it down because you’ve started the tree on the road to decline. Topping causes water sprouts which are branches that grow straight up, allows diseases to get an upper hand, ruins the natural growth habit of the tree and reduces the amount of photosynthesis because you have removed part of the tree!

Myth — Cutting off branches when you plant a new tree helps the roots take hold.

False — You only need to cut off a branch when planting a new tree if it is broken or crossed, otherwise just leave the tree alone. The roots are already the right size for the tree.

Burying the root flare encourages rot, rodent damage and ridicule. (Photo by Garry McDonald.)

Legend — Planting in mulch volcanoes keeps a tree from rotting.

False — Without a doubt this is one of the worst crimes against trees. No one knows for sure where it started or who did the dirty deed but it is a good way to kill a tree. By burying the root flare of a tree (where the tree trunk begins to flare out at soil level) you encourage rot, rodent damage and ridicule from your entire neighborhood. Always plant trees and shrubs at the same level they were in the container or in burlap.

Myth — Planting crops by the sun, the moon and the stars according to whether they are a root crop, a vegetable or a flower.

False — There is no scientific evidence that this works. If you like planting crops under a full moon go for it but don’t expect a crop any better than one planted in daylight.

Myth — Spraying human urine will keep animals away from the garden.

False — One thing is for sure that you don’t want to be downwind when spraying. Much like animals marking their territory, the deer are pretty sure that you aren’t a deer! It may deter them briefly and will dissipate rapidly. Do not be like the woman who had her husband urinate around the perimeter of their property. It is a good way to have him arrested for public indecency and disorderly conduct! Use one of the animal repellent sprays on the market and follow label directions. They work pretty well. Skip the liquid home remedies, they don’t last as long and they stink up your house!

Many trees do not need staking. (Photo by CD Kilpatrick.)

Legend — Always stake a newly planted tree.

False and True — You should only stake a tree if it is in an extremely windy spot. Once the tree is established you can remove the staking.

Legend — You should always amend the soil when planting trees and shrubs.

False — It used to be thought that amending soil when planting nursery stock would improve the viability of the plant. It is now known that when you amend the soil, the roots really never grow beyond that point. It is better to loosen the soil but put it back in the hole with the plant.

If you’re passionate about cars, you attend the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where you “See the cars today that the rest of the world will be talking about tomorrow.” To view upcoming trends in the clothing by American fashion designers, you make an appearance at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Bryant Park in New York City. One of the best places to discover new plants is the New Varieties Showcase at the Farwest Show in Portland, Ore. It is a wholesale-only trade show where green industry professionals like myself gather to see first-hand the plant stars ready to rock the U.S. I’m pleased to share with you a few of the new introductions that stood out and will be available soon through your local growers, landscapers and retailers.

Flutterby Grande Peach Cobbler Nectar bush ¹

“Best in Show” went to Flutterby Grande Peach Cobbler Nectar Bush (Buddleia x ‘Podaras #5’). It grows 4 to 6 feet tall and wide with bright pink, full-sized (14 to 16 inches long) inflorescences. The fragrant and prolific flowers mature to a peach-pink blend, blooming from early summer to frost on silvery-colored foliage. It is hardy to Zone 5.

The Flutterby series are distinctively unique in two ways. First of all, and perhaps most importantly, the series are sterile, which means you do not have to worry about them becoming invasive. Secondly, this Buddleia series actually contains four groups that accommodate any size landscape or container; Flow are short and spreading like a ground cover; Petite are dwarf and upright; Flutterby are compact and upright; and Grande are full sized.

Street Keeper honeylocust ¹

Street Keeper honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos ‘Draves’ ) was named “Best Tree.” Honeylocust are known as good urban-tolerant trees, but this cultivar gives you a tight narrow form that is about half as wide as other cultivars. It is hardy to Zone 4 and matures to around 45 feet in height by 20 feet in width. Its foliage is deep green, turning yellow in the fall. The mother tree is practically seedless.

Little Rascal improved holly ¹

Little Rascal improved holly (Ilex x meserveae ‘Monnieves’ PAF) was chosen “Best Shrub.” It is a slow-growing, upright, compact holly reaching just 4 feet in height, making it great for today’s smaller foundation plantings or containers. Additionally, its dark, spiny evergreen foliage matures to a burgundy red in the autumn, it is hardy to Zone 5, and what I like most is that it is deer resistant.

‘Blonde Ambition’ blue grama grass ¹

“Best Perennial or Grass” at the show was ‘Blonde Ambition’ blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’ PAF). This is so unlike most grasses you know! Big, showy chartreuse flowers are suspended horizontally on 2½-to 3-foot stems and eventually mature to long-lasting blonde seed heads. This fast grower produces neat 18- to 24-inch high by 10- to 12-inch wide blue-green clumps. It prefers full sun, well-drained soils and is hardy to Zone 4. This drought-tolerant variety is perfect for xeriscaping. It can be used in a mixed border, mass plantings, rock gardens or containers.

Bountiful Blue blueberry ¹

Bountiful Blue blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum ‘FLX-2’ PAF) gobbled up the “Best Edible” category. Because of its ornamental qualities you can incorporate it right into the landscape versus placing it in the “garden.” It has pink to purple-blue new growth, white flowers, bluish summer foliage which turns purple in the fall. Of course berry set will be more abundant if planted with another blueberry and it prefers acidic soil. It will get approximately 3 to 4 feet tall and wide and is hardy to Zone 6.

‘Georgie Red’ monkey flower ¹

‘Georgie Red’ monkey flower (Mimulus aurantiacus ‘Georgie Red’ PAF) was voted “Best Annual or Tender Perennial.” It features large, deep-red blooms with an orange edge that flowers from April through the fall. It will get 24 to 36 inches tall and 18 to 36 inches wide. It too is drought tolerant and needs minimal water. It will also attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your yard.

Misaka Itoh Peony has 8-inch diameter flowers that appear orange when first opening — rare among intersectional hybrids. ²

Itoh Peony

A few other show-stopping plants hardy in Zones 5 and 6 included Misaka Itoh peony (Paeonia x ‘Smith Opus 1’ PAF). The name translates to “beautiful blossom.” It boasts 8-inch, mildly fragrant flowers that are a rare orange-amber upon opening before fading to a peachy-yellow with prominent dark-red central flares.

A hybrid between an herbaceous and a tree peony, Itoh peonies were first bred by Tioichi Itoh in the 1940s. They were slow to multiply and far too expensive to bring to market, so they weren’t widely known to the gardening public. In 2004, they were successfully reproduced via tissue culture and introduced by Monrovia Growers. They are hardy to Zone 4.

In fact, in 2010 Keiko (Adored) peony took the “Best in Show” honor. It has large, clear pink, semi-double to double flowers with mounding, dark green foliage approximately 24 to 30 inches tall. ‘Bartzella’, which was an absolute smoker in the 2009 showcase, has large, 6- to 8-inch double yellow flowers with a spicy scent and can have up to 50 blooms in a single season.

‘Viking’ bellflower. ²

Bellflowers

I’m fond of bellflowers so Campanula ‘Viking’  immediately caught my eye — especially since it does not spread by rhizomes (like its parent) and the seeds are sterile so it is non-invasive. It is short and compact reaching 18 inches high and creating a 2-foot-wide clump. It has large lavender, tubular, bell shaped flowers, which are lightly fragrant. They attract butterflies and hummingbirds and also make good cut flowers. Plant ‘Viking’ in a sunny location in moist, well-drained soils.

Weeping Extraordinaire. ²

Weeping Cherry

Weeping Extraordinaire (Prunus ‘Extrazam’) is a weeping cherry with large, double, light-pink blooms set off by glossy, hunter green foliage with coppery new growth. Flowers appear full and fluffy due to their extra petal count and serration. Leaves turn burgundy in the autumn and hold on for an extended period. A vigorous tree, it will grow to 15 to 20 feet tall and wide.

Icy Drift. ²

Spreading Rose

I’m all about low maintenance, so I find Icy Drift rose (Rosa ‘Meipicdevoj’ PAF) pretty appealing. Drift roses are a cross between full-sized ground cover roses and miniatures. They inherited the best traits from each parent, creating a tough rose with a low, spreading habit and re-blooming nature. This one has pure white double blooms, which can brighten up a hillside, create a border or fill in just about any area.

Little Lime hydrangea. ²

Dwarf Hydrangea

Lastly, it’s hard to resist Little Lime (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Jane’ PAF) from Proven Winners. It is a dwarf of the popular ‘Limelight’, growing 3 to 5 feet high but with the same lime-green flowers that turn pink and burgundy in the autumn. It will grow in sun or part shade.

For more information on the 51 new plants featured in this year’s New Varieties Showcase at the Farwest Show, visit www.farwestshow.com/vnvs.

PHOTO CREDITS
1: Photos courtesy of the Oregon Association of Nurserymen
2: Photos courtesy of Pam Bennett, OSU Extension

(From State-by-State Gardening January/February 2012.)

Note how this Tillandsia ionantha, a Guatemalan species, is blushing bright
red while in the blooming stage, quite common for many varieties.

Mention the genus Tillandsia to most gardeners, and you get a puzzled look. No, I’m not talking about the eight-legged spider (that the mere mention of its name invokes fear). I said, “Tillandsia,” not tarantula. These plants don’t bite! Even though Tillandsia, the largest genus of the bromeliad family of plants, has several species that resemble the ominous tarantula, rest assured that no harm will come to you by owning these unique plants. Most gardeners and consumers know them by their common name, air plants, and they are not aware of the many variations in size and form, as well as the diverse geographical distribution of these plants.

Tillandsia ionantha is generally the most recognizable species by the general public because it is frequently sold attached to figurines in various chain stores. It is a delightful miniature plant that reaches a height of about 4 inches and grows in dense masses in Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. Characterized by its cluster of silvery rosette leaves that blush a vivid red when beginning to bloom, it produces a tubular purple flower.

CHARACTERISTICS

Lacking a root system, Tillandsia duratii, native to parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil, improvises by using its modified twisting and contorting leaves and stem to secure itself to a host.

About now you’re probably asking, “What’s so unique about tillandsias?” Well, I’m glad you asked! Tillandsias are indigenous to the southernmost parts of the United States and to South and Central America. They are epiphytes, meaning that they grow nonparasitically upon another surface, deriving their nutrients and water from rain, air, and dust. Varieties can be found growing on trees, rocks, cacti, cliffs and other hosts. The ability to survive without a functional root system contributes to the diversity of these plants. Unlike terrestrial plants, which derive their nutrients and water through their root system, the leaves of Tillandsia have specialized cells called scales or trichomes that allow water and nutrients to be taken in. These trichomes give the plant its silvery-gray, somewhat ashy appearance.

As the plant dries out, the trichomes open to absorb moisture and nutrients. When sufficient hydration has been achieved, the cells close to retain the moisture. The concentration of trichomes on the surface of a plant’s leaf is a good indication of whether the plant is native to a sunny and dry or a humid and shady environment. The sunnier and drier the environment, the greater the concentration of trichomes on the leaf’s surface and the grayer and stiffer the texture of the leaf. The dense concentration of trichomes allows the plant to absorb more moisture and to reflect the harsh effects of the sunlight. The roots of Tillandsia, in most cases, serve only to attach the plant to a host.

Species exist such as T. duratii, a native to Brazil, northern parts of Argentina and Bolivia, which lack a root system. The “duratii” uses modified leaves that twist and curve to secure itself to a host. There are in excess of 550 species of Tillandsia, and very few produce fragrance from their flower. T. duratii belongs to a select group, producing highly fragrant lavender blooms from the ends of its wheat-colored flower stalk.

Most Tillandsias, with a few exceptions, bloom only once in their lifetime. After blooming, “pups” form around the base or from the axil of the “mother” plant. They will eventually mature and complete their blooming cycle in one to several years, depending upon the species and the growing conditions. The quickest way to propagate them is by division. Once the offsets or pups mature somewhat, they may be removed to grow on their own. Attempting to propagate them from seed can be a lengthy (4 to 7 years) process but may prove rewarding to the individual who has the patience to endure.

The tubular-shaped violet petals seen on this Tillandsia kolbii, native to Guatemala,
are one of the most frequently seen blooms of this genus.

PLANT CARE

The common name, air plant, is somewhat of a misnomer. I’ve talked with many individuals whose plants died several months after acquiring them from a retail store, and the single most common factor for the plant’s demise is that they were not watered; with the second reason for decline being lack of adequate lighting. Tillandsias in their natural habitat are able to get all the necessities from the environment to survive, such as moisture, light, oxygen and nutrients, but when taken out of that environment, these elements need to be provided. In other words, when growing your plants indoors, they need more than just “air” to survive.

Water your plants and give them plenty of light and an occasional feeding. Simply misting is generally not a sufficient water supply to sustain them. Give your plants a good “dripping wet” watering at least once a week. Increase your watering frequency as conditions dictate. If you want to increase the bloom and offset (pups) production of your plants, then feed them monthly from March to October with a Bromeliad fertilizer (17-8-22). Other water-soluble fertilizers such as Rapid Grow and Miracle Grow can also be used at half strength.

Tillandsias will tolerate natural, bright indirect sunlight or artificial lighting. If fluorescent lighting is used, it should be located no more than 12 inches from the plants. If you have poor lighting conditions for plant growth in your home or office, there are a host of inexpensive, specially-designed plant lamps that will provide excellent lighting and are available from local retailers and nurseries. The appearance of your plants is the best indication of their particular needs. Generally, plants with soft, green to green gray leaves require high humidity, frequent watering and prefer shaded areas. Plants with stiff, gray to gray-white leaves require brighter light and less watering. All Tillandsias like good air circulation and should be allowed to dry out between waterings. A plant that is constantly wet cannot breathe and will suffocate to death.

Most Tillandsias thrive at temperatures found in most homes. Although many varieties can survive below or above the average range of temperatures, most are tolerable to temperatures ranging from about 50 F to about 90 F. Don’t be afraid to experiment by moving your plants to various growing areas within your home or office and note which location they grow best in. Tillandsias are relatively pest-free, since they do not require soil (the medium where many plant pests reside). The sanitary nature of these plants makes them an excellent choice for hospitals or other areas where a clean, healthy environment must be maintained.

MOUNTING AND DISPLAY

Three plants of Tillandsia streptophylla, native to Jamaica, Mexico and Belize, and four Tillandsia kolbii have been mounted using a hot glue gun to this man-made decorative aquarium structure.

Tillandsia enthusiasts love the unlimited possibilities afforded them for mounting and displaying their plants. Some truly unique arrangements combining Tillandsias with other plants can be achieved. A mount can be as simple as a plant hung by its roots from a piece of fishing line, or for the more adventurous, use a waterproof adhesive to attach plants to a host. Virtually any mount that can withstand frequent watering can be used, but I prefer mounts that have a rough surface like rocks, tree limbs, or driftwood. When these natural mounts cannot be found locally, excellent alternatives that will last a lifetime are those decorative structures made for use in aquariums. Goop, Liquid Nail or even a hot glue adhesive can be used for attaching plants by their roots to a mount. Non-copper wire or nylon fishing line may also be used to hold a plant in place until its natural rooting system takes hold of the substrate.

All can be purchased at most department, hardware and homebuilder stores. Avoid attaching plants by their leaves; they will become detached as the leaves begin to die and wither. When possible, orient plants on their mounts so that excess water will drain from the crevices of its leaves or bulbous base, and avoid attaching plants in the recesses of mounts where excess water cannot drain off. Although it is not necessary to mount your plants to appreciate their beauty, my growing experience has shown that mounted or attached plants outperform unattached plants in growth and hardiness, and mounting enhances their appearance. During seasons where the outdoor temperatures consistently remain above 40 F, plants may be placed out of direct sunlight, in the branches of trees, on patios or attached to other outdoor structures.

Even when not in bloom, the exquisite form of the Tillandsia plant foliage is a thing of beauty. Its bloom should be considered an added bonus for the successful grower of this remarkable and diverse collection of plants.

(From Virginia Gardener Volume III Issue III. Photos by Arthur Comer.)

Use this timeline to stay on track in the vegetable garden. But be prepared to make adjustments depending on the weather.

(From Chicagoland Gardening Volume XVII Issue I. Photos by Gerald Losik.)

Are you a garden expert, a weekend gardener or just a novice? Challenge your gardening knowledge by taking this short quiz — you may be surprised to see where you rank. Answers are posted at the end. Good luck!

Can you identify the following plant material?

1. This is what small tree used as a specimen plant in this landscape?

• Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
• Eastern redbud tree (Cercis canadensis)
• Tulip magnolia (Magnolia liliiflora)

 

2. This is the flower of what common houseplant?

• Wax Plant (Hoya carnosa)
• Lantana (Lantana montevidensis)
• Leek (Allium ampeloprasum)

 

3. This is what large evergreen shrub or small tree?

• Bay (Laurus nobilis)
• Ligustrum (Ligustrum sp.)
• Anise (Illicium sp.)

 

4. This is the flower of what herbaceous perennial?

• Cabbage rose (Rosa × centifolia)
• Azalea (Rhododendron roseum)
• Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa)

 

5. This is a must for your garden. What is it?

• Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata)
• Alpine Aster (Aster alpinus)
• 'Purple Robe' cup flower (Nierembergia caerulea)

 

Can you identify the following insect damage?

 

6. You may find this unique-looking caterpillar devouring your parsley. Can you identify it?

• Peacock butterfly larvae
• Black swallowtail butterfly larvae
• Monarch butterful larvae

 

7. What could cause all this damage to your junipers?

• Bagworms
• Soda imbalance
• Overwatering

 

8. This pest can turn a Hollywood juniper into an unsightly mess.

• Aphids
• Spider mites
• Mealybugs

 

Can you identify the following diseases that caused these symptoms?

 

9. This disease is becoming a big problem on petunias in the South.

• Late blight
• Erwinia tracheiphila infection
• Crown rot

 

10. You may notice these on your azaleas when the nights are cool.

• Ice formations
• Leaf gall
• Azalea fruit

 

11. Can you explain what caused the red spots on these leaves?

• Entomosporium leaf spot
• Paint splatter
• Human to plant measles crossover

 

Test your general knowledge

12. Is an Irish potato a swollen stem or root?

• Stem
• Root
• None of the above

13. If you start a new plant from a cutting, where are the roots typically produced on the cutting?

• Middle of stem
• At the soil line
• The leaf nodes

14. Apples and pears are produced on short, stubby side stems called this name?

• Stilettos
• Spurs
• Wedges

15. Is iron (Fe) considered a macronutrient or a micronutrient?

• Micronutrient
• Macronutrient
• Iron is not a nutrient

16. The bottom, older leaves of your plant are turning yellow. Is this an indication of a zinc deficiency or a nitrogen deficiency?

• Salt deficiency
• Zinc deficiency
• Nitrogen deficiency

17. Which two colors of the light spectrum have the greatest effect on plant growth?

• Blue and red
• Yellow and green
• Orange and red

18. At what temperature does a compost pile need to reach in order to kill most weed seeds and harmful organisms?

• 212° F
• 160° F
• 101° F

19. Is the green lacewing considered a pest or a beneficial insect?

• Beneficial insect
• Pest
• Not an extant species

20. Does the term pesticide only refer to a product that controls insects?

• The term "pesticide" should never be used
• Yes, it is specific to insect control
• No, it's a broad category

21. Where is the best place to store seeds after purchasing and opening them?

• In the ground
• Sealed plastic bag in a refrigerator
• Closed container of liquid fertilizer

22. Branch angles of less than X degrees from the main trunk result in a very high percentage of breakage.

• 30 degrees
• 90 degrees
• 15 degrees

23. When performing gradual rejuvenation on a deciduous shrub, how much of the shrub's growth should be removed the first year?

• All, cut to the ground
• One-third of oldest branches
• None, do not prune

24. What is the best way to keep soluble salts from building up in the soil of your indoor plants?

• Allow some water to drain through pot openings
• Add a small amount of table salt each month to acclimate plants
• Grow all plants hydroponically

25. When potting an amaryllis bulb, how much space should you allow between the bulb and the edge of the pot?

• 2-3 inches
• 0.5-1 inch
• 4+ inches

26. When planning your vegetable garden always locate the taller vegetables on the _____ side of the garden.

• North
• West
• East

27. How often should you have your vegetable garden soil tested?

• Every year
• Soil tests are a waste of time
• Every 3 years

28. How many different varieties of apples should be planted for adequate cross-pollination?

• 3+
• You only need one
• 5+

29. When is the best time of day to water your lawn?

• Midnight
• Early morning
• Noon

30. How long should supports of newly planted trees be left in place?

• One year
• Two years
• Landscaping trees need to be supported indefinitely

 

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Answers

1. This is an Eastern redbud tree (Cercis canadensis). It features heart-shaped green foliage with deep purple-pink flowers in early spring. Zone 4.

2. This is the flower of a wax plant (Hoya carnosa). This plant makes an excellent hanging basket for your home with little care.

3. This large evergreen shrub is known as anise (Illicium sp.) which prefers a moist, shady location. The leaves contain aromatic oils. Zones 4 to 7.

4. This is the flower of a tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa), a medium-sized, spreading deciduous shrub with exceptionally large flowers in the spring. Zones 4 to 9.

5. This is 'Purple Robe' cup flower (Nierembergia caerulea), an annual in parts of the south, but hardy in Zones 10 to 11. This plant features fine-textured foliage and bright blue flowers from late spring through fall.

6. This pest is one you can tolerate in your garden because it is the larvae of the beautiful black swallowtail butterfly. Just plant extra parsley for the parsley worm.

7. This pest, the bagworm, can cause extensive damage to junipers, arborvitae, cedar, and other evergreens. Pick off and destroy "bags". Spray with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) between May and mid-July.

8. When weather turns hot and dry, be on the look-out for spider mites which caused this discoloration.

9. This is crown rot on a petunia caused by Phytophthora nicotianae.

10. Azalea gall or leaf gall is a common spring disease of azaleas, rhododendrons, and camellias. Hand remove and discard galls or plant resistant varieties.

11. The red spots on this Indian hawthorn are caused by Entomosporium leaf spot. Avoid wetting foliage, especially late in the day.

12. An Irish potato is an enlarged portion of an underground stem. The eyes of a potato are actually the nodes on the stem. Each eye contains a cluster of buds.

13. At the nodes or areas where leaves and buds are attached.

14. Spurs.

15. Iron is essential to enzyme functions but is only needed in small amounts, so it is considered a micronutrient.

16. A nitrogen deficiency.

17. Blue light promotes leaf growth and red light combined with blue light encourages flowering in plants.

18. 160 F.

19. The green lacewing is considered a beneficial insect. Both larvae and winged adults eat large numbers of aphids, mealy bugs, cottony cushion scales, and other insect pests.

20. No. A pesticide is a broad category that includes fungicides, herbicides (weed killer), insecticides, and others.

21. Seeds should be stored in a sealed plastic bag and placed in a refrigerator.

22. 30 degrees

23. One-third of the oldest, unproductive branches should be removed during the first year.

24. When you water, allow some to drain through the pot openings to leach salts from the soil.

25. One-half to 1 inch when planted on center.

26. The north side so the taller vegetables won't shade the shorter ones.

27. Your soil should be tested at least once every three years.

28. At least three varieties.

29. Early morning when evaporation is minimized and the potential for disease activity is less.

30. All supports should be removed within one year after planting. It has been reported that growth is actually reduced if supports are left in place after one year.

(From State-by-State Gardening March 2005. Identification photos by Louise Roesser.)

With mild winters, beautiful beaches, majestic mountains and friendly people, who would turn down the chance to visit the South? Unfortunately, some botanical visitors have overstayed their welcome and set down roots. For the following species, things that started off as a garden trial have turned into a forest invasion. These imported ornamentals have escaped the backyard and are now out-competing many of our Southern plants. As landscapers and gardeners, beware: These species aren’t just pretty – they’re prolific.

1

Chinese Tallow Tree

Perhaps none other than Benjamin Franklin himself sowed the first seeds of a Chinese tallow tree (Sapiumsebiferum) in American soil. In 1772, he scribbled the following lines to a friend in Georgia: “I send also a few seeds of the Chinese tallow tree, which will I believe grow & thrive with you. 'Tis a most useful plant.” But even wise old Benjamin Franklin couldn’t foresee how well the Chinese tallow tree would, in fact, grow and thrive. Over 200 years later, this “most useful plant” is a noxious weed throughout much of the South.

With unique diamond-shaped leaves and beautiful multi-colored fall foliage, it’s no wonder the tallow tree was a popular ornamental. Unfortunately, a single tallow tree can produce thousands of wax-coated seeds each year, which has led to its quick spread throughout Southern forests where it out-competes and displaces native species. Once established, the Chinese tallow tree is difficult to control in large areas, but herbicides and chainsaws are effective on a small scale. For ornamental planting, our native sassafras (Sassafrasalbidum) has equally beautiful fall foliage.

Chinese Privet

First introduced in the 1800s as an ornamental hedge, various cultivars of Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) still frequent garden centers and nurseries. Nevertheless, it’s much easier to find privet along roadsides and in woodlands, since long ago this exotic shrub escaped cultivation to become a major pest.

Chinese privet grows quickly from both root suckers and seed, and that, along with its small, evergreen foliage, are good qualities for a hedge. Unfortunately, privet thickets are commonplace in bottomland forests, where they offer little nutritional value to native wildlife. On a small scale, both mechanical and chemical controls of Chinese privet are effective. If using mechanical means, like mowing or cutting, dig up roots to prevent resprouting. For native alternatives, waxmyrtle (Myrica cerifera) and yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) are good choices.

Japanese Honeysuckle

During my childhood, honeysuckle grew up and down a chain-link fence in my backyard. I pulled stamen after stamen through the cream-colored petals to taste those single drops of nectar. Although coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is indeed native, when most people say “honeysuckle” they mean its invasive relative, Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), the one that grew on my backyard fence.

Introduced in the early 1800s for dual purposes, Japanese honeysuckle provided a sweet-smelling fragrance for gardens and a fast-growing ground cover for hillsides. Like kudzu, Japanese honeysuckle was widely planted to prevent and alleviate erosion. However, the vine can literally choke the life out of native plants and leave behind a tangled mess instead. If you’re ever tempted to plant or propagate Japanese honeysuckle, remember our many beautiful native alternatives: coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) and crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), among others.

4 

Oriental Bittersweet

During the seasons of Thanksgiving or Christmas, you might find Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) hanging on one of your doors or windows. With lots of orange and red berry-like fruit produced in the fall, Oriental bittersweet is a twining vine that crafters frequently weave into Thanksgiving and Christmas wreaths. The berries also find favor among birds, which help spread this invasive species. Like Japanese honeysuckle, bittersweet can choke and smother native trees and shrubs, and you'll often find it draped up and down forest edges.

Although yet to spread to the Deep South, Oriental bittersweet is a major problem in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, especially in the mountains. Like many invasive species, bittersweet thrives in the full sunlight along roadsides, and each year it travels to new territory. To lessen its spread, be sure to check those wreaths before you buy them, and plant native alternatives like our native bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) or any natives mentioned above for Japanese honeysuckle.

Chinese Wisteria

Admittedly, Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is strikingly beautiful and fragrant, and it’s easy to understand why it was introduced in the 1800s as an ornamental. As one of the first signs of spring, the purple and often ubiquitous flowers of Chinese wisteria seem nearly at home in Southern forests, but beneath those flowers are thick, heavy vines that can weigh down native trees, breaking trunks and limbs.

If you have Chinese wisteria growing on an arbor, consider replacing it with American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens), which blooms later, in July and August, but has equally beautiful purple-white flowers. As with many invasive species, Chinese wisteria can persist and resist control, but repeated cuttings of a wisteria vine near the ground should eventually deplete energy stored in the roots.

Heavy vines can weigh down native trees, breaking trunks and limbs. ⁵

Photo Credits:
1-3 Photos courtesy of Stephen Bishop.
4 Photo by Leonora Enking. Inset photo by Esteve Conaway.
5 Photo by Hunter Desportes.

I used to consider my cutting garden a luxury. I think of it as a necessity now, as it has contributed so much to my quality of life. Reveling in my new ability to fill vases throughout my home, I assemble arrangements of blooms coordinated specifically to work with the colors in my interiors. It is wonderfully satisfying to bring fresh bouquets to friends, neighbors and my children’s teachers and coaches. And I no longer have the guilt of weakening the display in my perennial and rose gardens by cutting from them. A garden designed just for cutting is most successful if it is planned to maximize the variety and length of bloom time. Here is a guide to help you to get started.

1. Choose your site

The greatest number of repeat-flowering annuals and perennials prefer full sun. If the area that you have in mind is partially shaded, consider pruning the canopy to establish at least pockets of full sun. Remember that you will be able to harvest flowers at the best possible time if you can observe the garden’s growth daily. For this reason, situate it close to the house, or at least along a path you travel often. Although many flowers are drought tolerant, place the garden somewhere that your hose can easily reach.

2. Invest in raised beds, if you can

Often, lumber can be found at architectural salvage operations. Stain the lumber to coordinate with the colors on the exterior of your home. Customize the beds by drilling holes for unique finials. Just because the garden is functional doesn’t mean that it can’t be pretty.

3. Determine the colors you will enjoy most

Take inspiration from interior colors, or just select colors that you love.

4. Make a planting schedule, or copy mine

Photo © Jon Helgason istock.com/klikk. All other photos courtesy of Karen Atkins.

First Fall — Designate beds for daffodil and allium bulbs and peonies, where they won’t be disturbed. You can still sow annual seeds carefully around the remaining foliage after you have cut these spring flowers.

Every Fall — Plant new tulip bulbs (the “perennial” tulip is a myth.)

Every Early Spring — Sow sweet peas (provide climbing support with a tuteur or just a post covered with netting or chicken wire.) Plant dahlias 1 foot below ground a month before the last frost date. They will emerge earlier, giving you an extra month of blooms.

First Late Spring — Plant delphiniums and roses where there is plenty of drainage and in a bed deep enough to accommodate lots of rich, organic soil. Topdress beds with plenty of well-rotted manure as mulch. The compost will act as a slow-release fertilizer for these heavy feeders. Black-eyed Susans and coneflowers prefer an area with full sun that drains well. Don’t forget to include hydrangeas that grow on new and old wood. Some of my favorites are the original ‘Endless Summer’, ‘Endless Summer Blushing Bride’, ‘Pinky Winky’, and ‘Limelight’. Add shrubs for use in holiday and winter arrangements such as holly, boxwood and variegated boxwood.

Every Late Spring — Sow annual seeds such as nasturtiums, larkspur, cosmos, cleome, as many varieties of sunflowers as you can find and zinnias. Susan Banks, garden editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recommends this combination: ‘Queen Red Lime’ and ‘Queen Lime’ zinnias.

5. Don’t forget to cut often and enjoy.
   
   Adding a few tablespoons of sugar and one tablespoon of bleach to the vase water will prolong the life of your arrangements. Goodwill and the Salvation Army thrift stores are excellent sources for inexpensive vases that you can cheerfully give away.
    

Gardens are getting smaller and gardening time is getting shorter – that has been true for several years now and will probably continue to be true. But another prevailing trend is that container gardening is strong and getting stronger, not only because of time and space, but because containers offer quick satisfaction with minimal effort. You don't have to be trained in design to create stunning focal points for your garden; you just need to follow a few simple guidelines to set yourself up for success.

The first guideline is to start with a container that inspires you and will support the cast of characters that you will put into it. Next, use a quality potting mix, buy reliable plants that will survive their season and fertilize regularly, and of course, adequately water. Throughout this article you will see some plants repeated in containers, and that's because they have proven themselves over the years to survive nature's duress and still look stunning. So, let's take a look at some of them.

Exciting Tropicals

Plants that are commonly used indoors make exciting and lush containers when the night temperatures stay well above freezing. Leaf texture, shape and color dominate this type of planting but occasionally you will find exotic flowers that can be the center of attention.
 

 

Alocasia x amazonica – Zebra Plant

Asplenium nidus – Bird's Nest Fern

Eucomis  ‘Sparkling Burgundy’

Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ – Creeping Jenny

Muehlenbeckia – Creeping Wire Vine

Bletilla striata – Chinese Ground Orchid
 

Alocasia or Colocasia – Large Elephant Ears
Alocasia x amazonica – Zebra Plant
Cyperus albostriatus ‘Variegatus’ – Dwarf Papyrus
New Guinea Impatiens
Polypodium aureum ‘Blue Crisp Fern’ Grass
Ipomoea ‘Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Light Green’ – Sweet Potato Vine
 

Bromeliad
Asparagus meyeri – Foxtail Asparagus Fern

Versatile Caladiums

Caladiums, hostas and ferns make a great combination to start a container. Have fun adding other plants to make a colorful statement. Look for caladiums that have been bred to tolerate the sun to extend your placement options.
 

 

Hosta ‘Fire and Ice’ Caladium

Polypodium aureum ‘Blue Crisp Fern’

Lysimachia nummularia ’Aurea’ – Creeping Jenny
 

 

Large Alocasia or Colocasia – Upright Elephant Ears

Caladium, Fern, Ivy

Dragon Wing Begonia
 

Caladiums
Dragon Wing Begonia
Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ – Creeping Jenny
Lysimachia congestiflora
Hypoestes phyllostachya – Polka Dot Plant
Liriope muscari ‘Evergreen Giant’

Modern Settings

For a more modern setting, choose a large container with simple lines and a bold color. Add plants with big leaves, bright colors and unusual textures
 

 

Large Alocasia or Colocasia– Upright Elephant Ears

Cyperus papyrus ‘King Tut’

Coleus ColorBlaze LifeLime

Begonia Mandalay Mandarin

Lysimachia congestiflora
 

 

Equisetum hyemale – Horsetail reed

Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’  – Creeping Jenny
 

Hosta, Heuchera and Solomon’s Seal

Succulents

Succulents are perfect for those areas that get a lot of sun but not much water. Unusual containers can be the point of interest here with the plants adding texture. Window boxes, which are often very hard to access, are also ideal for succulents – seek out ones that cascade to soften the edge of the box.
 

Kalanchoe luciae - Flapjack
 

Kalanchoe tomentosa – Panda Plant

Echeveria ‘Black Prince’

Sempervivum ‘Red Rubin’

Sedum spurium ‘Voodoo’ and ‘Red Carpet’

Echeveria ‘Topsy Turvy’

 

Kalanchoe luciae - Flapjack

Sedum spurium ‘Voodoo’ and ‘Red Carpet’

Sedeveria hybrid

Sedum nussbaumerianum ‘Coppertone’

Succulents combine to create a lush, textured and easy-to-maintain container.

Coleus

Coleus now come in so many different colors, sizes and sun tolerance that they should be considered in every arrangement.
 

 

Coleus: Big Red Judy, Velvet Mocha, ‘Gay’s Delight’, Pink Chaos

Muehlenbeckia axillaris – Creeping Wire Vine

Rumex

Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’

 

Aucuba japonica – Gold Dust Plant

Carex testacea – Orange Sedge

Juniper chinensis ‘Torulosa’

Heuchera ‘Caramel’

Sedum ‘Angelina’

Sedum Lemon Coral

Metal mushrooms
 

 

Juniperus chinensis ‘Blue and Gold’

Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Lutea’

Nandina ‘Firepower’

Liriope muscari ‘Evergreen Giant’

Ivy, Pansies, Twigs


 

Pansies and More

Combining pansies with tall, textured plants increases the pansies’ impact in a pot. Don't be afraid to use any plant that is hardy to your area. A “pot in a pot” is also a great way to use plants that need different soil requirements, such as cold hardy sedums.

Pansies
Sedum ‘Tricolor’
Sedum ‘Blue Spruce’
Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’
Kales
 

 

Kale – lacinato

Parsley, Snapdragons, Pansies


 

 

Lettuce, Nasturtium, Chives





 

Snow is beautiful to look at and it insulates plants from the coldest temperatures, but take care when removing it. Shovel early, shovel often, and apply sodium chloride with a grain of you know what. ¹

Most of the harm from snow really comes from how we get rid of it. Time for a little rethink.

Who doesn’t love new snow? The white blanket softens the world and makes everything look new.

And it’s a good thing for the garden. Snow cover insulates the soil so it is less likely to thaw and then freeze again. Enveloping snow protects plant tissue from cold snaps and adds moisture when it melts in spring.

It’s true that a heavy, wet snow can bend or occasionally break tree branches (though most branches bowed by snow will snap back if left alone). And deep snow can hide the burrows of bark-chewing rodents. But most problems from snow actually come from the things we do to remove it.

The worst of these is salt. Common rock salt — sodium chloride — is cheap and ubiquitous, and many homeowners reflexively scatter salt whenever they shovel or even instead of shoveling. But salt can badly damage plants.

When salty water soaks into the soil, salt can accumulate to toxic levels in plants’ roots. Salt also dries out leaf tissue on contact, so the plant cells die of drought. If you see shrubs that are brown in spring on the side toward the road or sidewalk, salt is likely the culprit.

Salt spray from cars on busy roads can be thrown several feet. Salt on sidewalks or driveways can be tossed onto plants by a shovel or thrown far out into the yard by a snow blower. And salt scattered on concrete and asphalt is eventually washed off into the storm sewers to become a pollution problem.

The best way to protect your plants is by being thoughtful about how you deal with snow. Before the first snowfall, make a plan. Vow to use salt only if absolutely necessary and never as the first resort. Consider using a product based on calcium magnesium acetate, which causes less damage to plants than sodium chloride or calcium chloride, though it does not work well in very cold temperatures. Whatever you use, use as little as possible.

If you use a snow-removal service, talk with them about using salt only when necessary for safety. Some municipalities have tried spraying a less polluting deicer derived from beet juice, which has a high freezing point and dyes snow brown so it absorbs more sunlight and melts faster. But the beet juice de-icer is expensive and is not yet available in a form for use by homeowners.

Decide where you will deposit the snow you remove. If the snow won’t contain salt or another ice-melting product, dump it on a lawn or garden bed where it can soak into the soil, not on a sidewalk or driveway where it will melt and then refreeze as ice. If you use salt on your sidewalk or driveway, try to dump the salt-contaminated snow where it will not run off onto the lawn or plants when it melts.

Plan to shovel promptly. Shoveling twice is better than waiting until all the snow has fallen because it reduces the chance that the snow will get trampled down to a layer of ice that will tempt you to spread salt.

Trim evergreen ground covers such as ivy back to the sidewalk’s edge to make it easier to shovel and keep the plants from being torn up by a snow thrower.

To protect special evergreens that might be damaged by a heavy snowfall — such as arborvitaes with vertical branches that collect and hold snow and are easily broken — consider tying the branches loosely together with old panty hose or another flexible material.

If you have a small or young tree near the sidewalk or driveway, wrap wire cloth around its trunk to protect the bark from shovels and snow blowers (and burrowing rodents). Remove the protection in spring; if you leave it, the wire could girdle the tree.

Some gardeners wrap vulnerable shrubs in burlap to protect them against snow loads or salt. It’s hard to say which is less attractive: salt damage or burlap five months out of the year. The best alternative is to choose sturdy, hardy shrubs and site them where they are not at risk of damage.

Even if you don’t spread it yourself, salt remains a reality in Chicago winters. When a strip of parkway lawn along the street is patchy and weed-ridden, think of salt. Passing cars can throw salt-laden spray several feet and grass is more vulnerable than many weeds.

Some species have better tolerance than others, but no plant likes being sprayed with salt or having its roots in salt-soaked soil. Drought, compacted soil and other stresses will compound the harm. And since visible damage may not show up until summer, many gardeners don’t connect it with salt.

Along busy streets and driveways, it may be wiser to plant a fairly salt-resistant ground cover such as English ivy or liriope rather than grass. But don’t tuck bulbs such as daffodils into the ground cover because they are very sensitive to salt.

Among perennials, daylilies (Hemerocallis) and Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) are both quite salt-tolerant (one reason the combination is so ubiquitous in parking lot islands). Rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa) and yarrow (Achillea) also handle salt fairly well.

Perennial ornamental grasses such as feather reed grass (Calamagrostis acutifloria), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and bluestem (Andropogon) are good candidates for areas with salt spray if you don’t cut them back in fall. Most of the spray will cling to the dried top growth, which you will remove, and the salt with it, when you cut back the grasses in early spring.

On the other hand, broadleaf evergreens such as boxwood, which are not completely dormant even in winter, are certain to suffer from contact with salt. That’s one reason we see so much winter kill on boxwood hedges along sidewalks.

Salt Resisters

The Morton Arboretum lists relatively salt-tolerant trees and shrubs on its website. Remember, though, that salt tolerance is not the only thing that matters. Choose a plant that also has the right sun and soil requirements for your site.

Summersweet ‘Ruby Spice’ (Clethra alnifolia) ²

Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) ²

Deciduous Trees and Shrubs

• Apple serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora)

• Northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa)

• Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)

• Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster species)

• Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra)

• Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

Mugo pine ‘Tannenbaum’ (Pinus mugo) ²

Evergreen Trees and Shrubs

• Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis)

• Creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis)

• Mugo pine (Pinus mugo)

• Blue spruce (Picea pungens)

Find more at the arboretum’s website: mortonarb.org

Chinese juniper ‘Maneyi’ (Juniperus chinensis) ²

Photo Credits:
1. Photo copyright Micah Young - istockphoto.com/youngvet
2. Photos courtesy of Bailey Nurseries

(From Chicagoland Gardening Volume XVII Issue VI.)

Whether or not you believe in fairies, you can create a garden for these mythical creatures in a small space filled with shrub roses, foxgloves, pansies and dainty, adorable ‘fairy flowers.’ It is a perfect project for a children’s garden, too.

Some people argue that fairies are real creatures from the kingdom of the elementals. Some people don’t believe it for a second. But whether or not you actually expect small winged tiny people to populate your garden, you can create a miniature garden “for the fairies.”

This garden can be a small plot (as little 1 square foot if you like) filled with fairy-themed plants and sprinkled with miniature garden benches, tables and chairs, doors into “the Other World” and even houses or castles. You can also add fairy statues, or just hope real fairies will show up.

For a small fairy garden, you can place it within a large container or a hypertufa trough — which looks fabulous planted with an Irish moss (Sagina subulata) “lawn” and tiny sedum “shrubs.”

The fairy statues I chose were the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker, a children’s book illustrator born in London in 1895. I liked their antique quality. However, these (and other figurines available) were not meant to withstand the weather. To remedy this, I sprayed them with an outdoor polyurethane as a protective coating.

A round hypertufa trough makes a great place for a fairy garden — Irish moss serves as the lawn and sedum spills over the sides.

Although many garden centers and dozens of websites offer fairy garden figurines, furniture, gazebos, accessories, buildings, bridges and more, you can make many of these items yourself. Simple flat-fronted boulders can serve as a “castle” — and they look especially neat with a purchased fairy door (like the one I used, purchased from webstore Enchanted Gardens at www.miniature-gardens.com). You can also prop a fairy door at the base of a tree. You can make a fairy table from a flat river rock or small piece of flagstone then add miniature chairs around it. The tiny tea set I have was a garage sale find. The tiny toadstools were fashioned from Fimo Modeling Clay, an oven-hardening polymer clay available at craft stores (www.fimo.com). The toadstools form a “fairy ring,” and are secured in the ground with wooden dowels. In fact, many fairy items — benches, topiaries, toadstools, garden tools — can be molded from Fimo clay.

Choosing the fairy garden’s plants is the most fun of all. Dwarf conifers work well because they are suited to small-scale vignettes like bonsai. There are dozens you can try. A “lawn” of creeping thyme, blue star creeper (Isotoma fluviatillis, hardy in Zone 6) or any of the mosses or sedums is a must. Then create a stepping stone path with small smooth river rocks. Don’t forget to enclose the garden with “walls” of shrub roses (there are several with “fairy” names), foxgloves (which are supposed to be used by fairies as hats or gloves), boxwood, evergreens or a lush mix of annuals and perennials.

A fairy garden can be as small as a hypertufa trough or as expansive as you care to make it. It just requires a little imagination.

‘Day and Night’ snapdragon adds a dash of crimson.


Strawberry foxglove is supposed to be a favorite flower of fairies.

‘Fairy’ Plants for Sun or Part Sun

• Shrub Roses. Roses are a fairy garden staple. Several have “fairy” in their cultivar names. Try ‘The Fairy’, ‘Mystic Fairy’, ‘Fairy Queen’ and ‘Lovely Fairy’.

• Foxgloves. Tuck them near the roses where they will enjoy a little shade. Foxgloves are supposed to be used as hats or gloves by fairies. Try Strawberry foxgloves (Digitalis x mertonensis) and purple foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea).

• Rosemary. Sometimes called the “elf” plant (Rosmarinus officinalis).

• Thyme. ‘Elfin’ creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’ hardy to Zone 4) or other creeping thymes. Thyme allegedly increases your ability to see the wee ones.

• Irish Moss. Grows to make a little “lawn” strewn with tiny white flowers (Sagina subulata, hardy to Zone 4).

• Lavender. Fairies are said to make wine from the flowers (Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’).

• Snapdragons. Said to attract fairies (Antirrhinum majus).

• Pansies. Lore says these are used in fairy love potions (Viola x wittrockiana).

• And More. You can also add butterfly-attracting plants and scented plants like alyssum, daisies, cosmos, purple coneflower, salvia and scabiosa.

Sources: “Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up” by Ellen Dugan, www.gardenfairy.com and www.gardenchick.com/fairy_gardens.html.

Sources for Supplies

• efairies.com/garden.htm

• miniature-gardens.com

• gardenfairy.com/fairygarden/attract.htm

• twogreenthumbs.com

• gnomegarden.net

You can position and reposition the fairies as often as you like.

(From State-by-State Gardening November/December 2011. Photography By Michelle Byrne Walsh.)

Icelandic poppies are as tasty to rabbits as they are beautiful to people. ¹

Fans of perennial flowers admire both their longevity in the garden and their capabilities. Where they once planted a daylily, by division, they can have three or more clumps in a few years. Fans of annuals tout their quick results and their lengthy bloom period. Pop in your six-pack and, if it isn’t blooming already, it soon will be — and will bloom for months on end.

No wonder biennials are the Rodney Dangerfields of the flower world: they don’t bloom the year they are started, and they survive only one more season. It seems the worst of both worlds. Growing biennials from seed may appear more work than it is worth, but there are good reasons to try. There are even good reasons to treat some perennials as if they were biennials.

Longevity: Many biennials self-seed with abandon. You will have these plants for years to come, at no further effort, as long as you don’t accidentally weed out the seedlings. It is like having a perennial, albeit one that wanders about. These are the biennials I think of as “grandma’s garden plants,” classics that proliferate: sweet Williams, rose campion, forget-me-nots, honesty, dame’s rocket and foxgloves.

Timing: The best time to sow biennial seeds is at the slowest point in the gardening season — late summer. It is too hot to weed and the grass is hardly growing at all. Why not spend a morning sitting in the shade starting up pots of seeds? It’s warm and sunny enough that the propagators, soil cables and overhead lights needed in March are unnecessary. Timing isn’t critical; whenever it suits your schedule is fine.

Flower power: Biennials provide an unrivaled burst of bloom. Their first year’s energy was squirreled away and in the second year can power more blooms than any annual could produce at once. Since they are programmed to die afterwards, they hold nothing back (unlike a perennial). An additional bonus is that many bloom at a gap time, after the spring bulbs and shrubs are done, but before the big summer bash of bearded irises and roses.

Avoiding the heat: Growing cool weather-loving perennials like lupines, delphiniums and Icelandic poppies (also hardy annuals like pansies, love-in-a-mist and larkspur) as biennials enables you to finally enjoy many classic English garden flowers that are intolerant of the South’s heat and humidity.

Evading disease: Some plants are doomed to die an ugly death, and the ugliest I’ve ever seen is when hollyhocks succumb to rust. It is a given if they are grown as perennials — the only question is how long it will take. So avoid it: grit your teeth, pull out the hollyhocks after bloom and start a fresh batch in August. They are about as difficult to sprout as those bean seeds you started in kindergarten.

Getting Started

While everyone has their own seed starting techniques, most are based on springtime conditions. There are some challenges unique to summer like intensity of light, heat and potentially high pest populations.

Always keep in mind how strong the summer sun is. Clear covers and direct sun create ovens; keep seed trays out of direct sunlight at all times. Once the seedlings are well-established, morning or evening sun can be tolerated but even then remember this equation: black plastic pots plus wet soil plus direct sun equals steamed roots. I find a cold frame with its lid propped open to be an excellent spot for growing seedlings, as the lid diffuses sunlight. As a bonus, the cover also protects seedlings from sudden summer downpours.

Keep a close eye on moisture levels in the soil. On one hand, potting soils will dry out much faster in the summe heat. On the other hand, damping off can seemingly occur instantaneously at these temperatures. Sow seeds thinly!

There is no hard and fast date by which you must set plants out in the garden. Aim to get them in at least a few weeks before the typical first frost. The more time they have to establish a good root system, the more impressive next year’s performance. I plant mine as the worn-out summer annuals are pulled out (with compost and a little fertilizer added to refresh the soil).

When planting forget-me-nots, remember they will be with you forever, spreading throughout the garden. ²

Common Problems

It may seem trivial, but seeds can be difficult to find for sale in late summer. Plan ahead. Buy your seeds in the spring or hang onto your catalogs and order in summer. For many of the old-fashioned flowers, fellow gardeners can be your best source. Try plant and seed exchanges. If you’re desperate, you can always buy a few of a desired plant and save your own seeds for future seasons.

Germination woes are sometimes due to the heat. If I suspect this to be the case, I’ll bring the pots inside where they (like me) can enjoy the air-conditioning. Sometimes seeds did sprout but were promptly eaten. Keeping the seedlings off the ground will help; there are far fewer slugs and earwigs atop your patio table — think about that on your next picnic. Slug bait is also and option, and it also cuts down on the pill bugs and earwigs besieging tender seedlings.

Winter losses can be devastating for a few of these plants. It isn’t the cold, but rather the excessive moisture that does them in. My worst disaster came when a wet winter rotted all but two of over a hundred English daisy plants. While most biennials appreciate good drainage, English daisies demand it.

Wildlife can also do plants in; in my yard the problem is rabbits. They are very selective in their food choices. Take preventative measures if you notice a particular planting constantly being grazed upon. I find black bird netting easy to use and inconspicuous in the landscape. The netting also serves for those spots where squirrels insist upon digging. Living inside city limits, I thankfully have no deer to contend with but, for those who do, I suspect the same plants that the rabbits find tasty are in danger of being scarfed by deer.

Slugs also produce losses. Many plants safely survive the winter only to have their tender new shoots eaten off in the early spring. This occurs before you even realize that there is a problem. Moats of diatomaceous earth have never worked for me, but there are many other remedies to chose from both chemical (poison pellets) and organic (beer traps anyone?). Especially for delphiniums, it is important to start slug control efforts early in spring.

Finally, some biennials can be too successful. Left unchecked rose campion (for one) can soon crowd out all the other plants in your flowerbed. The solution is simple — deadhead all but a select few of prolific types before they set seed.

Plants for the Novice Seed Starter

Hollyhocks are short-lived perennials that perform better when treated as biennials. ³


The honesty (or money) plant is named for itsslender seed pouches that resemble coins. ⁴

These plants germinate and grow readily from seed with no special treatment required. Many are tough enough to direct sow in the garden. For the beginner, foxgloves and mulleins are best obtained as plants and allowed to self-sow for future years, as their seeds are dust-like and difficult to handle.

Forget-me-not (Myosotis) – A truer blue in flowers is not to be found. Having said that, I have seen them offered in pink — why would anyone even consider it? Only plant forget-me-nots if you deeply love them, for they will be with you forever. They will also find their way into every corner of your garden (and your neighbors’), whether you wish them to or not. I highly recommend pulling all but a few plants before they set seed.

Hollyhock (Alcea) – These are really short-lived perennials that perform best as biennials. View it as an opportunity to try a different color every year. They come in singles or doubles with whites, pinks, yellows, reds and even a black variety that was purportedly grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. As previously mentioned, they are dirt easy plants to grow from seed.

Honesty (or money) plant (Lunaria annua) – I challenge you, at 10 paces, to distinguish honesty from dame’s rocket when both are in bloom — but just wait until the silvery seed disks that earned it the name money plant form. Needless to say, with these attractive seedpods, it looks interesting even after bloom. Purple and white.

Rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) – The fuzzy silvery gray leaves of rose campion bear a remarkable similarity to a young lamb’s ear plant and are quite attractive. The most common flower color is an assertive bright pink or magenta. Should that clash too much with your other flowers, there are white and pale pink strains available. In all my years of growing this, I have yet to encounter any problems with diseases, insects or herbivores. Bulletproof.

Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) – Hands down, this is the plant I recommend that the horticulturally-challenged grow; it is foolproof. It survives the coldest winters, never rots out and, best of all, the rabbits and slugs leave it alone. Generally seeds are found as a mixture of whites, pinks and bulls-eye forms, but oh-so-trendy strains of near black like ‘Sooty’ are also readily available. Some individual plants may survive multiple years, but they never look as good subsequently.

Plants for the Experienced Seed Starter

English daisies are cold-hardy biennials that do well as edging plants. ⁵


Stocks grow best in cooler climates. The best way to raise them in warm temperatures is as biennials. ⁶

English daisy (Bellis perennis) – At only 4 to 6 inches tall (blooms and all), English daisies make great edging plants. They come in whites, pinks and bi-colors. While quite cold-hardy, they are prone to rotting out in clay soils over wet winters. Excellent drainage is a must.

Icelandic poppy (Papaver nudicaule) – Gorgeous but extremely tasty — Peter Rabbit and his kin regularly taunt me by eating just the flower buds off this plant. Netting is the appropriate response. Bright whites, glowing yellows and extreme oranges are most common, but tone-downed shades like the ‘Meadow Pastels’ are also available.

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) – An herb that has become popular in the flower garden, I initially grew parsley as a larval food for swallowtail butterflies. The caterpillars never showed, but I’ve kept it because it makes a handsome green edging plant in its first year. Because I enjoy its foliage, this is one biennial I start in the spring. It gets gangly in its second year, but the yellow flowers are very popular with bees and butterflies.

Stock (Matthiola) – Famed for their fragrance, these flowers come as both singles and doubles in tasteful pastel shades. There are undoubtedly more annual than biennial forms in the catalogs; read the fine print. As both dislike the heat, a Southerner’s only shot at stock is to grow the biennials. Even then, they are touchy to overwinter. Consider this one a gamble.

Wallflower (Erysimum) – Due to a liking for alkaline soils, this is one spring flower that can be tucked up against masonry. It also enjoys a well-drained situation. I find wallflowers to be an acquired taste — nice for a change, but when mine didn’t self-seed, I didn’t bother growing them again. Some individual plants may persist for years (in my experience, especially when they clash with their neighbors).

Photo Credits:
1 © Nancy Nehring - istockphoto.com/NNehring
2 © Heather Nye - istockphoto.com/han3617 
3 © Richard Goerg - istockphoto.com/wwingwwing 
4 © David Hughes - istockphoto.com/gardendata 
5 © Christopher O Driscoll - istockphoto.com/chrisboy2004
6 © Richard Loader - istockphoto.com/AtWaG 

I am counting the days until spring. I watch the weather forecast like I am watching the lottery numbers being read, hoping the meteorologist is going to give me some good news.

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Once the holidays are over, gardeners start dreaming about the beauty that lies beneath the surface of the soil, knowing there are bulbs under there just waiting for the right minute to bust out. Those first blooms of the season give us great joy, as they announce the end of winter.

Personally, I am impatient and can’t wait to see those blooms, so I have no choice but to cheat the system when the days of winter refuse to disappear. This cheating is called “forcing” bulbs. (Forcing is the act of tricking the bulbs into thinking it is spring because they are in the warmth of your house.)

There are several ways we can force bulbs, and I have tried them all. The best part is, it is relatively easy so even the most novice gardener can successfully grow these beautiful spring flowers indoors.

Brrrr!

The first thing you should do, (after purchasing bulbs, of course) is make them shiver! By this I mean, your bulbs need to think they were underground for the winter, so you will need to keep them below 40 degrees for 15 to 17 weeks. You can chill them outdoors, in a cool garage, or some folks like to keep them in the fridge. If you are like me and don’t plan that far ahead, you can get around this chilling time by purchasing paper whites or amaryllis, neither of which requires this cooling off period.

 
Amaryllis (left) and paper whites (right) may be forced without a chill period. 2,3

Putting Some Roots Down

After the bulbs get their chill on, they are ready to plant. Tulips and daffodils seem to do best if planted in soil. You can fill any type of pot with a mixture of equal parts peat moss, potting soil, sand and vermiculite or perlite, then plant the bulbs a couple of inches deep.

Hyacinths, crocus and narcissi can be grown in pebbles, decorative rocks, aquarium rock, or special vases and really do not require any additional nutrients. When forcing these, put a layer of the decorative pebbles (about 2 inches deep works really well) in a shallow dish, and nestle the bulbs down into the rocks, the point of the bulb facing up. One more thing. Do not be afraid of putting the bulbs close together. Once they bloom, you will be glad you did, because not only is the color more impressive, the plants can get tall and leggy and if they are planted closely they will support one another.

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Time for a Drink

Water the bulbs that are planted in the soil like you are watering a houseplant, being careful not to overwater, as the bulbs can rot. The bulbs rooted in vases or rocks should have water touching the bottom of the bulb, and not any deeper. You do not want the root systems on forced bulbs to dry out.

Soakin’ Up Some Rays

Now all you need is a good sunbeam. Heat is what is going to wake up the bulbs and get them to bloom. Move your pot to a sunny window to get the plants warmed up, and they will take off. You may want to give the container a little turn occasionally to make sure the flowers are all getting the same amount of sunlight.

Patience

Now the hard part … the waiting. Get out your flip flops, and pretend spring is springing! In a few short weeks, your house will be full of colorful blooms and intoxicating fragrance. This scent is something we tend to miss when these gorgeous bloomers are planted outdoors.

After the bulbs have bloomed and are spent, you can replant them outside. You will need to let the bulbs die back just like you would if they had bloomed naturally. They will get scraggly and once you see the leaves turning brown, cut them back and plant them outdoors.

And lastly, don’t try to “re-fool” them. The bulb will not let you force them a second time. Maybe all of that showing off wears them out.

Photo Credits:
1-3 Photos courtesy of the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center.
4 Photo courtesy of Stacey Mollus.
 

(photo copyright istockphoto.com/johnnyscriv)

This winter, I’ve been thinking about how plants add meaning to our lives. I’m not thinking about our food plants, our medicinal plants or even plants that house us and clothe our bodies. Obviously, plants preserve and sustain our lives, and a study of even one economic plant is a fascinating pursuit. Rather, I am considering the plants that add sentimental value to life.

One of my earliest memories is in my maternal grandfather’s vegetable garden. He was known throughout the community as the best vegetable gardener at a time when most families cultivated a vegetable garden. He grew a large and abundant garden and shared freely with friends and family — this may have been why he was considered the best gardener in the area.

My little brother and I spent endless hours in that garden helping our mother and grandparents. I’m not sure how much help we were, but I remember pulling carrots out of long rows, picking lots of beans and strawberries and learning how vegetables grow. Carrots were such a visual reward as they emerged as large orange fingers from the soft loamy soil of the creek side. We were always allowed to run to the creek, where we washed clean and ate this treat. One of my prized Kodak images features my brother and I sitting on a rock wall with three dishpans full of strawberries picked from that plentiful garden. We have strawberry-stained shirts and smiles. The season of vegetable gardening is forever linked in my memory to my grandfather.

Florist flowers also have a strong place in my memory. My paternal grandmother started a florist business in the late 1950s. By the time I was old enough to sit in a cardboard box, I was at the florist with my mother, who helped make corsages for Mother’s Day and other events. The smell of carnation flowers mingles with my visual memories of tall gladiolus in cool buckets of water. My mother always reminds me that her senior prom corsage was a very large and special Cattleya orchid that my grandmother made for her. Florist shops and the fragrance of flowers transport me back to that sweet early time.

Woodlands and fields were my playground and the place where I learned the names of wildflowers and trees. I played with plants like tulip poplar leaves, which closely resemble the shape of slices of bread, and ox-eye daisy petals, which resemble rice when picked from the disc. My maternal grandmother was a wildflower gardener and prided herself in her native plants garden. She took me to peer under wild ginger’s mottled heart-shaped leaves to see “little brown jugs,” and I never visited without hearing an account of what was flowering in the garden. Wildflowers are locked in my memory representing my grandmother.

Cultivated garden flowers also imprint my memory. The two that represent the strongest memory are both linked to my florist grandmother who had no place and no time to grow wildflowers or a vegetable garden. Instead, she planted a bright strip of a flower garden against the front-porch railing that included parrot tulips in the spring and green zinnias in the summer. Both flowers were exquisite and equally spectacular in their season. The flowers and this grandmother never leave my memory.

  ‘February Gold’ narcissus      (photo courtesy of Clara A. Curtis.)

Today in my own garden, I am waiting to see the first flowers of ‘February Gold’ narcissus. I inherited a planting of this early blooming heirloom daffodil when we bought our home in 1990. Located at the base of a Southern-facing, dry stacked stone retaining wall, the bulbs are the first harbinger of spring in my garden and mark our youngest daughter’s birthday annually. Born in late February, she has never celebrated without ‘February Gold’ narcissus surrounding her cake, decorating a vase by her bedside or featured in her birthday dinner table arrangement. One of the oldest narcissus in cultivation (1923) and easily naturalized, this daffodil is now in my daughter’s memory list of plants.

What’s in your garden that is making memories today? Surround yourself and your family with plants and flowers in celebration and in making memories.

In an entrance to the garden via the house, an arbor is adorned with huge blue clematis in the summer.

Carol Farrington’s garden in Paducah, KY, is a study in light and shade, peaceful monochrome greens and rioting colors. Some of the design inspiration came from nature’s random intervention, but it was the eye and hand of the gardener who translated those interventions into a garden that offers peace and serenity but, at the same time, is filled with interest in every season.

When Carol Farrington began the garden, the large lot was filled with mature trees that created almost total shade. Grass refused to flourish, so she eradicated the few traces of it that snaked through the filtered sunny spots and concentrated on a velvet lawn of moss. Large stretches of lawn still undulate under the soft green cloak punctuated with beds, borders, specimen plants, stone walkways and a creek bank at the garden’s edge.

Farrington filled the areas close to the house with beds of shade-loving plants. From the deck, the front entrance or the side entrance, dense plantings welcome a closer inspection and offer relief from the expanses of shady moss. Vertical plumes of pink, white and red astilbe are massed in one large bed bordered with mounds of hosta. Variegated Solomon’s seal erupts all over the yard in early spring, the cream and jade foliage holding out until a final brilliant burst of yellow ends the cycle in fall. Hydrangea dots a large area where the shade gives way to more sunlight. Mopheads predominate, but there are also some lace caps and doubles. Toad lilies (Tricyrtis) are a relatively new addition to the shady beds and add both color and fragrance in October when little else is blooming.

Hosta blooms open up at the astilbe’s finale, keeping the interest going.

In March, when many of these photographs were taken, the garden was bursting with potential, with many of the stalwart performers still awaiting warmer days before starting their season. But even in the chill of early spring, the garden was a haven for walking, sitting and viewing. Garden paths, arbors, sitting areas and sculpture are beautifully arranged into an integrated totality that is actually more easily appreciated before the masses of plant material begin competing. In one long stretch, early forsythia, some yellow narcissus and masses of blue vinca are already awake and blooming. In much of the garden it is moss, the bare skeletons of the deciduous trees, and the many conifers that fill in the bones of the hardscaping. Intricate walkways of flat, irregularly shaped stones give sure footing on damp days.

The deck overlooking the backyard offers an expansive view of the garden.

In summer, the sunny aspect of the garden becomes apparent. When the loss of several large trees created an area of bright sunlight in what had been a totally shaded garden, Farrington trumped nature once again and installed curving beds of architectural stone that hold seven truckloads of potting soil and an unbelievable riot of perennials and bulbs. Here, the plants she couldn’t grow before dazzle visitors and passersby. Asters, Oriental and Asiatic lilies, goldenrod, angel trumpets (Brugmansia and Datura), flowering maples, veronica, stokesia, iris and daylilies are just some of the many perennials grown in the long curving beds and in matching half circle beds that connect two arbors that lead visitors into the garden. The arbors nearly burst with huge clematis flowers in summer.

In early spring, the flat pavers stand out and provide ample space for strolling.
A wrought-iron bench offers a place to sit and enjoy the beautiful garden.

While perennials, shrubs and trees make up the majority of the garden, Farrington also uses annuals for splashes of color, especially around the deck in the backyard. Containers of impatiens and begonias add punch to the calm green during summer hours.

The house has many windows, and Farrington has developed her garden with an eye to views from the inside out, as well as from the many vantage points outside. The garden divides easily into rooms with similar plantings and unique situations but, taken as a whole, the garden and house form a beautiful unit that shows the whole is much greater than the sum of the individual parts.

In summer huge masses of hosta, astilbe and boxwood weave the garden together seamlessly.

(From State-by-State Gardening June 2006. Photos by Anita Stamper.)

The Snow Fountains^® weeping cherry tree stands out in the ornamental crowd as it offers four seasons of beauty for year-round appeal. It also can be clipped, pruned, shaped, staked, bent and otherwise manipulated into a dozen or more forms. This is one small chameleon tree that you might not recognize from afar, but you will admire and desire it.

As defined in Webster’s Dictionary, the word “versatile” means “having many uses or applications.” In a landscape setting how many ways can one single plant be used? Realistically, most plants only have a few uses. But there is always an exception to every rule. Snow Fountains^® weeping cherry is like a chameleon and can take on more than a dozen different looks, one just right for your landscape. I think you’ll be surprised at the many faces of this early-spring-flowering beauty.

Many Propagation Methods

One of the reasons this tree can take on so many different shapes is that licensed wholesale growers can propagate it by a variety of propagation methods. It can be top grafted, bottom budded or duplicated by softwood cuttings.

Top grafting creates an umbrella look, which is likely how many homeowners are familiar with it. Snow Fountains^® is commonly top grafted, usually onto a cherry root understock and it can be grafted at any height. You can occasionally find it grafted on to Prunus serrula understock. Prunus serrula, also known as paperbark cherry, has cinnamon red, exfoliating bark which gives additional winter interest. Top-grafted trees can be a specimen or even grouped for more dramatic impact.

Bottom budding and softwood propagation will produce a more natural, fountain-like appearance. These two manners of propagation produce branching from the base of the tree (as opposed to top grafting where branches start at a designated height) and along the trunk. Tree height will be determined in part by how high it is originally staked.

According to Steve Maddox, garden center manager of Rice’s Nursery and Landscape in Canton, Ohio, he’s seen an increase in sales of the more free-flowing style. “My customers are using this form of Snow Fountains^® as an ornamental screen.”

More Than a One-Trick Pony

Snow Fountains^® is not limited to being just a tree. If bottom budded or cutting grown, and if you simply leave it unstaked when young, its branches will grow horizontally giving you a ground cover. Yep, ground cover!

Planted and left unstaked next to a retaining wall, it can gracefully cascade over the wall. What better way to break up a blah, blank wall than with a spray of snow?

If you have a flair for “funky,” try a Snow Fountains^® where the trunk has been bent and taped to a stake during the growing period. This technique produces a serpentine- or corkscrew-shaped trunk.

Easy to Espalier

Snow Fountains^® also is great as an espalier along a fence, trellis, building, arch, arbor or screen.

Creating an espalier is a challenge even a novice gardener can undertake. To try it yourself, you’ll need a young tree, either from a bottom bud or a softwood cutting, approximately 6 to 8 feet in height (ask your nursery or garden center about the propagation method). Plant your trees anytime as long as the ground isn’t frozen. Your support structure must be solid. Start by properly planting your tree as close as possible to the structure.

Choose young, flexible limbs, which are best bent in the spring and summer. Use soft twine or tying tape to hold branches in place. Ties must be firm, but not loose or too tight, leaving room for growth. Trim the trained lateral branches two to three times a year to keep a clean look.

For archways or arbors, depending on the size, you’ll plant one tree on either side of the structure or one at each corner. Tie the dominant limbs up each side or corner post. Prune any unnecessary lateral branches.

To create an espalier on a fence, plant one tree at each main post. Cut the central leader off at the top of the post. Select two or three branches on each side of the tree to run along each horizontal railing. Tie the limbs in place and prune any unused lateral branches.

For a wall or building espalier, choose only single branches for horizontal use. Fasten the limbs to the wall with nail clips. Or you can use regular nails and bend them at an angle and tie branches to them with string. Simply trim the ends of the limbs off at the desired width.

If you’re not the do-it-yourself type, no worries. There are wholesale nurseries, like Bountiful Farms of Woodburn, Oregon, who are offering Snow Fountains^® and other specialty trees in their “Patio Collection.” This series contains trees pre-formed in arches, umbrellas and 5- and 7-foot-screens. Bountiful Farms’ products are shipped from coast to coast and are available or can be ordered through your local independent retailer or landscaper.

Snow Fountains® is easily espaliered against a wall, split rail fence, trellis or arbor. It can add
a punch of bright white spring color, crisp summer green and a fall fiesta of colors to an
otherwise bland backdrop. When placed against a building it can also help your
energy efficiency by adding a cooling effect.
 

More Than a One-Season Wonder

Snow Fountains^® weeping cherry stands out in the ornamental crowd as it offers four seasons of beauty for year-round appeal. In early spring it provides a massing cascade of single, white blooms. Pedicels and flower centers are a deep maroon. The lightly fragrant flowers can develop a pinkish cast towards the end of the blooming cycle.

Crisp green, serrated leaves in summer will turn shades of orange, gold and red in the fall. Lastly its unique habit, no matter which style you’ve chosen, provides winter interest.

Kylee Hartwig Baumlee of the blog Our Little Acre said, “The Snow Fountains^® weeping cherry tree in my yard never fails to garner comments when it’s in bloom. I’ve found that it’s an easy tree to keep contained too, with some judicious pruning, if you need to. While it’s certainly beautiful when located where it can do its thing, it’s nice to know you can still enjoy having this if your space is smaller than ideal. Its weeping form is attractive all year.”

 
Imagine this gorgeous Snow Fountains® arbor in cedar boxes in your outdoor living room.

Just the Facts

Snow Fountains^® is smaller than other weeping cherries. Its mature height depends (in part) at what height it is grafted and how high a bottom bud or softwood cutting tree is staked. Regardless, in general, height ranges from 6 to 12 feet and spread of 6 to12 feet.

This moderately fast-growing tree has finely textured branches that provide a graceful, strongly weeping habit. Young stems are a smooth and shiny brown with creamy-white lenticels. It also has sparse, small, black fruit.

 Hardy to Zone 4, it prefers sun with a moist, well-drained, loamy soil. It is adaptable to a wide range of cultural conditions and is heat and drought tolerant.

Abundant cascades of snow white flowers adorn the pendulous branches of Snow Fountains® for an early profusion of color.

Snow Fountains® brings a cascade of fire to the autumn landscape with shades of red, orange and yellow.

(From State-by-State Gardening November/December 2011.)

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Some climbing rose growers cultivate Rosa ‘Dortmund’ for its winter interest
as well as flowers. The hips on this rose are bright orange and plentiful.

Climbing roses create a color impact like no other plant can. When these beauties are in full flower, the colors and fragrances are staggering. It is no wonder that climbing roses rank among the most popular of all of the vining type plants available today.

Climbers are particularly useful growing on arbors, fences, pillars, trellises and espaliered against walls or around windows. Some varieties are exceptionally robust and inclined to be rampant in growth. These more aggressive varieties require ample room and adequate support. When choosing a climbing rose for a small area, select a variety that is not apt to outgrow the location it is planted in.

Unique traits exist amongst each of the climbing rose choices available today. Many bloom profusely but only once a year. Others continue to produce an abundance of blossoms even after their peak has passed. Most climbing roses are extremely hardy.

Flowers of climbing roses may be single, semi-double or fully double and come in a fabulous array of colors and sizes. Climbing roses require full sun, but there are a few that will even flower in mottled sunlight (though not as much as if they were planted in more sun).

Thornless Lady Banks

Yellow Lady Banks (Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’) blooms in early spring for three or four weeks, and puts on a show that is well worth the annual anticipation.

One of the most spectacular climbing roses is Lady Banks. This spectacular rose performs very well in the Southeastern regions of the United States with little care. Although yellow (Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’) and white (R. banksiae ‘Alba Plena’) forms exist, the yellow flowering cultivar is the more beautiful of the two, if you ask me. Both are extremely disease resistant.

Yellow Lady Banks rose grows very large and can be trained up a tree or over a high wall or balcony for a dramatic impact in early spring. For three to four weeks, yellow Lady Banks is blanketed with slightly fragrant flowers. The thornless foliage is willowlike and attractive year round. In more Northern regions, the plant is semi-evergreen. Because it grows fast, it is best to plant Lady Banks in a spot where it will have plenty of room. Long shoots that are easy to train as well as being a thornless rose make Lady Banks queen of the spring garden.

Cut back Lady Banks after blooming to control plant size if necessary or desired. Just know that this plant flowers on second and third year wood, so prune it carefully. Although this rose prefers well-drained soil rich in organic matter, it will actually do quite well in poorer soil or locations with only six hours of sun. In addition to disease resistance, insect pests rarely bother Lady Banks. This plant’s gorgeous and spectacular display of double-clustered yellow blooms makes it well worth planting.

Brilliant Rosa ‘Don Juan’

‘Don Juan’ rose is one of the most popular climbers in our region. Its large, red velvet blooms make excellent cut flowers and it blooms continuously all summer. Excellent as a pillar rose, ‘Don Juan’ is also lovely growing on arbors or against a white fence.

One of the most popular roses in the South is ‘Don Juan’. Large, ruffled, red velvety double flowers cover this repeat blooming cultivar throughout summer. In addition, ‘Don Juan’ has a strong classic rose fragrance. The leathery green leaves are a stunning contrast to the dark red flowers.

Conveniently, ‘Don Juan’ blooms on old and new growth, and makes a nice cut flower. Growing at least 8 feet tall, ‘Don Juan’ is attractive when trained to grow up a pillar or fence. This rose is one of the most dramatic large flowering climbers in existence with brilliant red blooms measuring 4 to 5 inches across. Unfortunately, climbing ‘Don Juan’ is not as cold hardy as Lady Banks, so protect it from drying winter winds if possible. Should it freeze back, you may have to wait a year or so for it to recover and bloom again.

‘Dortmund’ Is Divine

‘Dortmund’ rose hips

Rosa ‘Dortmund’ is yet another of the more popular climbing roses. Though lacking the impact of semi- and fully double flowers, this single blooming cultivar has an innate charm. In addition, this rose will flower continuously throughout the summer.

‘Dortmund’ has medium-sized fragrant flowers that are bright red with a distinctive white eye. The flowers have overlapping petals with a ruffled appearance and occur in spectacular clusters

At least six hours of sunlight is necessary for ‘Dortmund’, although it is quite tolerant of shade as far as roses are concerned. Tolerant of poor soil, this rose is also very disease resistant.

In winter, the hips on this rose are bright orange and plentiful. The added bonus of the colorful hips makes this rose cultivar extra special. Be aware that this rose has sharp, thorns like hooks so don’t plant it in an area with a lot of foot traffic such as along a path. The ‘Dortmund’ rose will no doubt change the minds of gardeners who think they do not like single-flowered roses.

Think Pink With ‘New Dawn’

Climbing ‘New Dawn’ has soft pink flowers, a sweet fragrance and good disease resistance. This rose was introduced in 1930.

If you can only think pink, one of the best roses to consider for your garden is ‘New Dawn.’ The large, cup-shaped pink blossoms on long, thorny canes are also fragrant. Known as an everblooming type of rose, ‘New Dawn’ can grow up to 10 feet tall in a single season, making it extremely useful. This rose is also very disease resistant. Chances are your mother or grandmother grew ‘New Dawn’ since it was introduced in 1930.

Creating A Sight To Behold

Few sights are more beautiful than a climbing rose in full bloom rambling along in a cloud of color. Climbing roses are often key elements in an overall garden plan, and rightly so.

Before you invest the time and space for a climbing rose, it is important to begin with the best rose for your garden. A little research will go a long way when it comes to roses.

5 Helpful Tips

Five important factors to consider when you are selecting climbing roses for your garden:

1. Size: Don’t make the mistake of choosing the rose you like only to have it take gargantuan leaps onto your roof before you know it. Pruning plants to contain their size or keep them “in bounds” will require much more work than simply choosing the right variety for your location in the first place.

2. Disease Resistance: Start out with a healthy, disease-resistant variety. This is especially important if you are planning to grow your climber along a wall, which can reduce air circulation

3. Blooming Period: If you are planning a star attraction in a small garden, then consider a repeat bloomer. However, if you have the room, many of the once bloomers are so beautiful that they are well worth the investment.

4. Light Requirements: Most roses need full sun, but there are a few that will tolerate more shade. The wrong rose in the wrong spot will be a disappointment. It may just refuse to bloom.

5. Color and Fragrance: The most important decision is choosing a rose with traits that you will enjoy for many years to come.

(From State-by-State Gardening April 2005. Photos courtesy of The Antique Rose Emporium & Dia Bettencourt)

Leave ornamental grasses upright for attractive winter interest and as protective winter
habitat for small animals and birds.

The sky is clear. The sun is bright. The weather is ideal for pruning. You’ve found pruners, loppers, pruning saw, gloves, paper trash bags and string. Walking around the yard, you scan your garden, trees and shrubs. You’re puzzled. What DO you prune, and WHEN should you prune it?

Pruning is one of my favorite activities. After 15 years of professional gardening, I still pause, survey the landscape then decide what to do in the available hour or three. Here are some tips and thoughts.

Pruning Basics

Disinfect pruners, saw and lopper blades with isopropyl alcohol, chlorine bleach solution or a strong household disinfectant. Do this as often as possible to reduce the spread of diseases and insects to plants you're pruning.

Always wear gloves to protect fingers and reduce possibility of hand injury.

Keep a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, diluted chlorine bleach, or disinfectant handy to clean cutting blades between plants. Spray or pour disinfecting liquid on the blades to remove fungi, insect eggs, infected or infested plant debris. Clean blades will not spread a pest or disease from one plant or shrub to another.

Pruning stimulates growth. Before pruning live branches, ask yourself. “Do I want this shrub or tree to grow now?” Clipping off branch tips removes hormones that control growth below. The woody plant will respond in kind, elongating existing branches and activating new branches and buds below.

Invest in a topnotch pruning book with clear photos, explanations and instructions. I rely on my dog-eared, 1997 softcover edition of The Pruning Book by Lee Reich, (Taunton Press, 1999). Fortunately Taunton has reissued this practical and sturdy “How To.” Reich’s direct, clear writing style and the book’s photos and clean line drawings make this an excellent intro for the novice and a smart reference for those of us in training.

Helpful pages from pruning guru Reich's book, The Pruning Book (Taunton Press), are viewable on the web at Google Books.

Winter Snipping, Pruning and Sawing

Prune anytime to remove dead, dying and broken branches.

Clip off butterfly bush (Buddleia spp.) seed heads. Butterfly bush is considered an invasive plant because the seeds spread and sprout so successfully. Do not remove the branches till spring.

Cut dead perennial stems back to 4 to 6 inches. Remaining short stems allow leaves and snow to accumulate above the crown and protect it through winter’s freeze-and-thaw cycle.

Saw off watersprouts on trees. Watersprouts are errant, fast-growing, usually vertical shoots taking a right angle from a tree’s healthy scaffold branches. They divert energy from the tree’s overall growth. For crossing, errant or other unwanted branches, saw just outside the branch bark collar — the protective bulge where branch joins trunk. The branch bark collar will provide protective hormones for the cut to heal.

Formative Winter Pruning

Saw off crossing branches, suckers, branches at awkward angles and watersprouts when the tree or shrub is in winter dormancy (such as in January and February).

At the Morris Arboretum Horticulture Center, Louise Clarke is responsible for acres of meadows, woodlands and informal tree and shrub plantings. In late winter (January and February), in her position as Bloomfield Farm Section Leader she does “formative” pruning of young trees and shrubs.

Pruning a young woody plant with its mature form in mind usually involves thinning to remove excess, old or crossing branches at the trunk or at the soil line, said Clarke. Thinning opens the plant to more light, better air circulation and water penetration, she explained. Correct thinning involves squatting or sitting to reach into the shrub to saw or prune off dead, old, thick and crowded branches within 4 to 6 inches of the ground.

Prune Raspberries

In January, prune low to remove raspberry canes that have fruited. The fruited canes often hold some of last season's berries.

Winter is fine for pruning summer-bearing, red or yellow raspberries. Before they start growing in spring, cut to the ground any canes that have fruited. (Look for a few dried berries at the tip.) While plants are dormant, remove thin, diseased and broken canes. Canes produce best when not crowded. Good spacing is 6 inches between canes so remove canes too close to each other. The longer the canes, the more the fruit. They can reach 7 to 8 feet. Shorten only for your convenience — to fit on a trellis.

Resist Pruning These in Fall and Early Winter

Lacecap (and mophead) hydrangea flower clusters are beautiful alone, in winter's snow, or covered with ice. Prune to remove dead flower heads in early spring to encourage new summer bloom.


Wait until spring flowering to prune away winter-damaged hellebore leaves. Take advantage of the evergreen or semi-evergreen perennial foliage for winter color in your garden.

DO NOT PRUNE lavender or butterfly bush branches and stems till spring’s sign of viability — new green leaves.

DO NOT PRUNE ornamental grasses now. Enjoy the seed plumes and wavy stalks through winter. Cut back in spring after you see some green sprouts at the base.

DO NOT PRUNE evergreen or semi-evergreen perennials such as Helleborus spp., Heuchera spp., candytuft, Geranium ‘Biokova’, Dianthus spp. and common sage. Their foliage can be attractive until winter’s end. In spring, clip off dead leaves and tips.

DO NOT PRUNE ROSES NOW. DO NOT CUT long canes on climbing roses. Tie up canes though so they don’t whip around in winter wind. Hold the pruners until late February or March, when the forsythia blooms. Then consult an excellent pruning book, the Internet or videos for instructions.

DO NOT CUT BACK hydrangeas. Pruning or removing hydrangea branches may be removing the buds for next summer’s flowers. Unless you know your hydrangea blooms on new wood, only cut away dead stalks at the shrub’s base.

EVERYONE HAS TO EAT. Leave food for wildlife. Leave the viburnum, cotoneaster, ilex and hawthorn fruits on the plant. Keep the rose hips intact, as well as the ornamental grass and flower seed heads. Provide some protective habitat for wildlife. Birds, insects and small animals will nestle in clusters of dead branches and debris through winter.

Related Books
from the State-by-State Bookstore
 

	The Pruning Book by Lee Reich - $21.95 Here's the brand new edition of our award-winning reference book on pruning -- revised to include lots of additional information and enhanced illustrations. From humble houseplants to the most amazing exotics, author Lee Reich explains all the dos and don'ts of cutting back. So you'll always make the right cut the first time -- every time. Includes 250 colorful photos and 135 drawings. More Info | Buy Book
	Pruning Made Easy by Lewis Hill - $19.95 Are You Petrified of Pruning? Pruning is one of the best things you can do for your plants, if it's done the right way. Now renowned nurseryman and author Lewis Hill shows you how to shear without fear in Pruning Made Easy. More than 300 step-by-step illustrations demonstrate the proper techniques for pruning many varieties of plants including trees, shrubs, bushes, hedges, vines, and flowers. More Info | Buy Book
	The Pruning Answer Book by Lewis Hill & Penelope O'Sullivan - $14.95 Solutions to Every Problem You’ll Ever Face; Answers to Every Question You’ll Ever Ask When should you prune? How much should you remove? What’s the difference between pinching and heading back? How can you be sure that you’re not harming your plants? For all of your pruning questions, The Pruning Answer Book has the answers. More Info | Buy Book

When butterflies and bees are attracted to flowers it is a good sign for allergy sufferers. Flowers
pollinated by insects usually don’t distribute pollen through the air.

Let’s face it – it is almost impossible to avoid plants that cause allergies. For one thing, pollen can travel many miles in the wind. It is also unreasonable to expect our neighbors not to use certain plants in their landscapes just because we are allergic to them. However, with a little care it is possible to avoid heavy exposure to the pollens of allergenic plants and be able to enjoy our gardens most of the year.

What Is An Allergy?
An allergy is an abnormal reaction to a very small amount of a specific substance that is normally harmless to people who do not have the allergy.

The most common cause of allergies (affecting 10 to 20 percent of the population) is airborne plant pollen. Pollen grains are the small male reproductive bodies by which the female flowers are fertilized. Hay fever and asthma are mostly associated with plants.

Reactions such as hives, edema and shock seldom occur from ordinary exposure to plants. Poison ivy is the one exception. Just a brief contact with it can result in rashes that stimulate a delayed allergic reaction.

Allergy Explosion
Doctors in urban areas have reported an increase in allergy sufferers over the past few years. One reason for this increase has been the rise in the use of only male trees by city landscapers. Because female trees produce fruit, seed pods, flowers and so called “trash,” they have been replaced with male varieties.

The trouble is that the males are the ones producing the pollen.

When there are no female trees to trap that pollen the problem becomes even greater. You can help yourself and other allergy suffers by encouraging the use of female plants in public landscapes and in your own yard.

The use of native, insect pollinated plants such as the purple coneflower shown here reduces the chances of allergies in your garden.


Flowering dogwoods like the one shown here are good trees to use in an allergy free landscape.

Identify Your Allergy
The first step in gardening with allergies is to identify the plants that cause problems. By knowing which plants you are allergic to you can plan your landscape and gardening activities to reduce the chances of exposure. Utilize plants throughout the landscape that do not cause problems for your allergies.

Allergies vary from one person to another, and different people might be affected by different plants. It is best not to buy too many of one plant until you have determined what is safe for you. If you discover that something is a problem for you, simply have it removed.

Learn to recognize those times when certain plants are having their pollen season and try to avoid outdoor activities. Tree pollens usually occur in February and March. Grass pollens are worse from late May to mid-August. Certain weeds produce more pollen in September or October.

The time of day that you garden can also make a difference in the amount of pollen you are exposed to. Warm, dry, windy days are the worst time to be in the garden. Cloudy, humid, overcast days are best. If you are an early morning gardener, wait until after 10 a.m. and check the daily pollen count on your local weather report.

Other Helpful Suggestions
If possible, replace grass lawns with ground covers or something that does not require constant mowing. Mowing stirs up dust and other airborne particles that can be irritating to allergy sufferers. If you cannot get rid of the lawn, try to get someone else to do the mowing for you or wear a protective mask.

Wear a scarf or hat while gardening. Not only will you be protected from the harmful rays of the sun, but also pollen will be less apt to stick to your hair. Shed your gardening clothes at the door and wash them immediately. Pollen that has clung to clothing outside can do just as much damage if brought inside.

Mildew and other spores can accumulate under piles of leaves, so keep them cleaned up. Since bark mulch can retain moisture and encourage molds to grow, use gravel or plant ground covers instead. If trees heavily shade your yard, consider thinning the branches to allow more light. Fresh air and sunshine will cut down on molds and spores.

Limit the use of pesticides in the garden. Not only can the chemicals cause allergic reactions, but beneficial pollinating insects are destroyed.

Goldenrod, shown here, is often blamed for allergies caused by ragweed shown in the inset photo.

Good News For Gardeners
For the most part, brightly colored, fragrant flowers are better for people who have allergies. Their pollen is large and because insects pollinate them, the pollen is seldom airborne.

A good sign as to whether a particular plant is going to be good for you is if you see a lot of bees and butterflies around it.

As with anything, there are exceptions to the rule. Some plants such as Russian olives and willows, while insect pollinated, do produce pollen in amounts large enough to cause allergic reactions. People with asthma should also avoid heavily scented flowers such as hyacinths, wisteria, freesias, carnations and jasmine. It’s not so much that scented plants are loaded with pollen, but the scent can trigger an allergy.

A Case Of Mistaken Identity
Sometimes, it’s not the obvious plant causing the allergic reaction. For example, when ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) pollen is disbursed, many people have a reaction, but since they don’t see the tiny flowers on the ragweed, they assume it’s the pollen from the larger flowered goldenrod (Solidago) that blooms at the same time.

Ragweed is pollinated by the wind. Because insects do not pollinate it, ragweed does not need visually attractive flower parts. One ragweed plant is capable of producing over a billion grains of pollen per season. Those suffering from allergies in September look for a flower to blame and goldenrod gets the rap because it is so visible and abundant. The pollen grains of goldenrod, as with all insect-pollinated flowers, are comparatively fat and sticky so that they will cling to visiting insects and be transferred to another flower. For someone to be affected by goldenrod pollen, they would have to stick their nose right into the flower!

If you have allergies, you don’t have to limit your gardening activities to viewing your plants through the window. There are many plants you can use that won’t contribute to your allergy symptoms.

What to Plant & What to Avoid
Some plant varieties are less allergy provoking than others. Here are some suggestions for what to plant and what to avoid for sneeze-free gardens.

(From Arkansas Gardener Volume VI Issue IV. Photos by Joyce Mendenhall.)

What is “well-drained” soil?

What can I plant if my soil isn’t “well drained?”

Can garden design come to my rescue?

The santolina or lavender cotton to the left of the daffodils died from saturated soil last winter. Plants that suffer from wet feet and do well in dry soils, such as lavender, santolina or artemisia, can be grown in planters, in raised beds or on berms.

Have you lost any silver-leafed lavenders or ‘Silver Brocade’ artemisia or had tulip bulbs or Ruta graveolens ‘Blue Beauty’ just die, often after only one winter? You may be wondering why. Many plants benefit from “well drained” or “evenly moist” soils.

According to Jacqueline Heriteau, editor of The American Horticultural Society Flower Finder, “Evenly moist soil can be found next to a running stream, or it can simply be well-drained soil with enough spongy humus in it to be water retentive. Boggy soil is consistently wet but not necessarily well drained.

Soil Texture

All our gardening successes come down to the microscopic size differences between soil particles because these determine water retention/ drainage and air availability. Ideally, soil is 50 percent solids, organic matter and mineral particles – sand, silt and clay – and 50 percent pore spaces that hold air and water.

You can add organic matter in the soil to improve its friability (the way the particles clump together with pore spaces for the air and water between them). Improved soil can absorb more water and reduce erosion and loss of topsoil.

The more soil that is oxygenated, the better roots can grow. When we walk or drive equipment over the soil, we are collapsing the oxygen pore spaces and compacting it.

Clay soils contain many tiny particles that stick together and retain moisture. Coarser sand particles allow water to drain more rapidly. “With too much water, plants will suffocate,” said Ralph Hall, a Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener. “With too little, plants will eventually die.”

The balance of air and water in good soil structure allows for optimal root growth.

With wet soil and not enough air, for instance, bulbs will start to rot and decompose during the winter. Organic matter can improve soil structure immediately, with continued benefit over the growing seasons. Best of all, you can add your own compost as well as composted leaf mulch into your planting beds by mixing them into the soil or using them as mulch. You will need to continue adding organic matter to your garden to improve and maintain your soil to its “well-drained” best. It’s never too late to improve the texture and structure of your garden soil.

Design a Stress-Free Garden

Yellow weeping willow is not a native, but it loves wet feet.

Good garden design should take soil drainage into account to keep your plants flourishing and beautiful. Stressed plants don’t thrive. By placing your plants in the best locations for their moisture requirements, you will reduce one stress that causes disease and pest problems as well as lowering plant maintenance.

Site your plants so that water lovers are in depressions or low spots of your garden. The soil on slopes is not necessarily well drained unless the soil has been amended with organic matter. The soil at the bottom of the slope will be wetter, so beware of mixing “wet feet” lovers with plants that prefer dry soils.

Native Trees And Shrubs For Moist Soil

Amelanchier, also known as shadblow, is a multi-stemmed tree that grows 10 to 25 feet tall. The smooth, gray bark, small refined leaves, reddish buds and white flowers that bloom in April to May contribute to its four-season interest. It has beautiful yellow to red fall color, and birds love its bluish-black berries. Grow it at the edge of woods or in a naturalistic setting with coarser ground covers such as hosta or pachysandra. Many gardeners are substituting Amelanchier arborea for flowering dogwood as an understory tree in a naturalistic setting. It is hardy in Zones 4 through 9.

‘Heritage’ river birch is a fast-growing variety of Betula nigra with creamy white, exfoliating bark. It is heat tolerant in Zones 5 through 9 and resists birch borer. It tolerates shade and needs an acid soil pH of 6.5 or less in order to thrive. Its roots seek water, so don’t plant birch trees near water mains or septic systems. ‘Heritage’ has a rosier bark than another native, the paper birch (Betula papyrifera), which looks beautiful against evergreens, in large areas and grows best in Zones 2 to 6.

White fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) is a multi-stemmed tree or shrub that is found along stream banks. Its fleecy, soft textured, fragrant white flowers bloom in May or June. It grows 12 to 20 feet tall and looks lovely as a specimen shrub. It is tolerant of air pollution and is hardy in Zones 3 through 9.

A Styer Award winner, ‘Blue Mist’ dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii ‘Blue Mist’) is a small shrub 3 feet tall that has blue-green summer foliage. With fragrant white flowers that look like bottlebrushes, it can be massed with azaleas and other rhododendrons in foundation plantings or used as an understory shrub. It is also pest and disease resistant and likes sandy loam and full sun for best bloom.

Sweetbay magnolia has lemon-scented, ivory flowers in May and June.

For a lemon-scented shrub that likes wet feet and tolerates shade, you can use sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana). Its fragrance, small scale and smooth, grayish white bark provide nice features for use near an entrance or patio. It blooms for six weeks in May to June, late enough to avoid the late frosts that can bedevil star magnolias. Sweetbay magnolia is hardy in Zones 5 to 9.

Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is a noble tree. Use it as a large specimen or in mixed stands with tulip poplars and sweet gums. Southern magnolia has a coarse texture that contrasts well with finer textured trees such as mugo pines or hemlocks. It can grow 60 to 80 feet high and 35 to 50 feet tall at full maturity. However, it grows about 12 inches a year, so it is considered a slow grower. Be sure to give it lots of space since its roots don’t necessarily stop at the drip line. It is hardy in Zones 7 through 9.

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) should be sited near streams or riverbanks, in cool, moist, acid, well-drained soil. It flowers best in full sun but will also grow in heavy shade. Mountain laurel has fibrous roots that don’t compete well with thirsty trees, so consider using it in large containers as well as in naturalistic settings. It is hardy in Zones 4 through 9.

You can increase the charm and survivability of your plants by growing them in the right locations.

(From Virginia Gardener Volume II Issue V. Photos by Jill Mulligan.)

Getting as many veggies into a raised bed—throughout the short Midwest growing season—is a quest for many gardeners. What goes where, when and why when stuffing raise beds with vegetables and herbs?

I set out to learn the best method of getting the most out of my two 4 foot by 8 foot wooden raised vegetable beds, and in my research I learned about companion, intercropping and succession planting. All of these ideas provide tricks to plant as many crops as possible that will grow from March through early winter. In talking to so many gardeners over the years, I know that you can cram a lot into a small raised bed. In the past I have planted herbs among my tomatoes to help keep down the weeds. But the real feat is creating a plan, getting the right timing of the crops and using effective trellising.

Therein lies the challenge: knowing what vegetables and herbs to plant, when, where and how.

Intercropping can be defined as planting fast-growing vegetables amidst slower-growing plants. It can also mean two compatible plants growing along side each other.

Companion planting is the art of planting vegetables that work together, either as insect deterrents, nitrogen fixators (such as beans), flavor enhancers or supports.

Successive planting can be defined as planting the same crop at different times to produce a supply throughout the season.

“The main idea for intensive vegetable beds is that plants should intermingle, you don’t want to plant in rows,” explains Tim Pollak, outdoor floriculturist at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Ill. “It should look like a patchwork quilt when it’s growing, with all of the spaces filled. Secondly, you’ll want to take advantage of the air space and sunshine above the beds—use trellises, poles or nearby fences to go upward.”

The second most important step to a productive, intensely planted raised bed, Pollak says, is to properly prepare the soil in early March. Till or spade in an amount of compost no more than one-quarter of the depth of the bed—for instance, 3 inches of compost in a bed that is 1 foot deep. Also add slow-release fertilizer according to package directions.

Pollak also notes that a little wintertime research on companion planting and succession planting will pay off later on. “Decide which vegetables you want to grow. Make a list. It might be mainly tomatoes or greens, or maybe you want a little of everything, including herbs. Then research their needs, timing, requirements and companions,” he says. “Whole books have been written on this subject. Plus, what works for one gardener might not work in your garden due to sunlight, soil or other microclimate factors.”

For example, there are good companions, such as anything from the mint family and tomatoes, and there are bad companions, such as fennel with a lot of different veggies, he notes. In addition, many herbs are very useful in an interplanting scheme. Basil and tomatoes are popular bedfellows.

Once you have chosen your desired vegetables, decide which vegetables can go vertical. Vining types of cucumbers, pole beans, squash, eggplant, tomatoes and peas can all climb up trellises, poles or even suspended netting. These vining plants take advantage of the unused vertical space, as well as add visual interest. A wall of blooming beans is pretty. Vertical plants, however, cast shadows—be aware of the shade patterns and site the trellises and poles accordingly. For example, in the summer a bit of shade might be good for lettuce, which is a cool-season crop, but bad for peppers, which need full sun.

Some plants, such as carrots, lettuce, mustards and greens, can be “relay planted” throughout the entire season, Pollak suggests. “You plant these every few weeks for successive crops. Tuck them into the planting where space allows.”

Michael Walkup, owner of Walkup Heritage Farms and Gardens in Crystal Lake, Ill., starts the season with beds of peas, radishes, beets, kale, arugula, spinach and chard. Then in the summer, his beds are changed over to the warm-season crops, including okra and beans. One of his favorite warm-weather threesomes is tomatoes, basil and parsley. “They all grow wonderfully together, and they enhance each other’s’ flavors,” he notes. “I also plant herb wormwood (Artimesia absinthium) around the perimeter of the bed to discourage insects.”

In late summer, Walkup starts his plants indoors for his fall vegetable beds, which he religiously plants on Labor Day. He raises kale, Brussels sprouts and cabbage as well as lettuce.

Like Walkup’s date with the garden on Labor Day, remember that timing is everything when it comes to intensive raised bed planting. Pollak says, “Make sure you stay on your planned course, even if things in the bed are still growing. You may need to generalize or make specific unbreakable appointments to keep the planting schedule on track. For instance, you might say, ‘On August 1 I am going to plant my fall greens,’ even though you might have to pull some of the green beans that are still going strong.”

And as you progress through your first year of intensely planted veggie beds, Pollak suggests keeping notes. “Write it all down so you’ll know what worked and what didn’t.”

As the snow flies, sit down with your vegetable books and seed catalogs and plan to cram.

If You Build It

Most experts recommend building boxed raised beds no wider than 4 feet—for example 4-by-8 ft. or 4-by-4 ft.--so that you can reach into the middle of the bed from both sides. Vegetable beds also need full sun, and the best soil you can obtain.

Two Solutions For Amendment-Weary Gardeners

It’s trite but true: You never appreciate what you have until it’s gone.  When I lived in Illinois I took soil for granted. With 12 feet or more of black dirt, if you wanted a garden all you did was bury a seed, add some water and step back before the plant hit you in the nose.

Then I moved to the Southern U.S., which arguably has the worst soil in the country. For most of us down here, that means clay. Red clay. And blue clay. And gray clay. Clay so pure you can dig it up and throw it on a potter’s wheel.

Containers and Raised Beds

With a lot of time, hard work and truckloads of amendments, clay can be turned into rich, friable soil. But if you want a garden right now, that means working above the ground in containers and raised beds.

Is there a difference between them? Superficially, containers are thought of as being small and raised beds as being large, but there’s a more fundamental difference. Containers have bottoms, and the contents are not in touch with the ground. Raised beds, on the other hand, do not have bottoms and, in effect, form a top layer to the natural soil. This has a great effect on how you raise plants in each of them.

On the face of it, nothing is simpler than container gardening. You merely fill a container – be it a terra-cotta flowerpot or a wooden half-barrel – with soil and set your seeds or plants in it.

But because they are raised up in the air, special conditions apply to containers. They dry out much more quickly than the surrounding ground, for instance, because they warm from the sides as well as the open top.

This means you have to water much more frequently – sometimes twice a day in the summer. As a result, nutrients leach out quickly. Which, in turn, means you have to add fertilizer more frequently.

Large containers such as these 20-gallon tubs make it easier to control moisture and nutrient levels.

A Big Solution

The larger the container and the fewer the plants in it, the less this is a problem. For instance, in the past I have grown tomatoes in 5-gallon buckets, and they required constant attention to moisture and nutrient levels. Recently, I started using 20-gallon tubs that cattle feed supplements come in. As a result, they hold moisture longer and require less fertilizer.

My English friend John Yeoman often goes in the opposite direction. He recycles empty milk jugs to create a wall of planters. To do this, he cuts the tops off at the shoulders then attaches the remaining pots to a lathing strip. A series of these strips covering an unsightly wall makes a beautiful floral display, or can be used for growing veggies with one plant in each pot. However, watering this is an almost constant affair.

Whether building a bed in situ or with sidewalls, a weed guard should be laid down first to deter perennial weeds from sprouting.


Contrary to popular belief, raised beds do not need sidewalls. Here, Barbara Elliott plants seedlings into an in situ bed raised 8 inches above ground level.


Containment materials range from the strictly utilitarian to the decorative, such as this native stone bed.

Container Benefits

One benefit of containers is that you can tailor the soil to the needs of the plants. For instance, acid-loving plants can have a mix that suits them without it affecting nearby plantings. Containers are also ideal for taming otherwise invasive plants because there’s no way for the roots to escape. For example, I have a large wooden planter growing sweet grass that keeps it from spreading beyond the borders I’ve set.

If you choose commercial containers, drainage is not a problem most times. However, if you build your own planter boxes or recycle buckets and tubs, drainage holes need to be added. The natural inclination is to drill them in the bottom, but the holes tend to clog up when you set such a container on the ground or a concrete patio.

A better bet is to drill the holes an inch or so up the sidewalls or incorporate short legs to raise the container slightly off the ground. Keep this in mind with commercial pots too. If the material won’t allow you to drill side holes, then put a layer of gravel or Styrofoam peanuts in the bottom before adding the soil mix.

Raised beds are a whole other ballpark. True, some of the same conditions apply. For instance, raised beds tend to warm up more quickly in the spring. And they do dry before the surrounding ground, albeit not as quickly as a similarly sized container.

By the same token, because they are nothing more than a hill of soil, raised beds have certain advantages that containers lack. For starters, the moisture and nutrients in the ground are available to the plants. Plus, even with heavy clay soils, there is more room for the roots to grow. This, in turn, breaks up the clay and softens it.

A perennial question is, “What should be used for the sidewalls?” The answer is whatever your aesthetic taste and pocketbook allow. Everything from boards to railway ties to bricks to cinderblock has been used. I have one bed flanking the porch that I built of native stone. And I’ve even seen beds made out of empty wine bottles buried neck-down to the shoulder.

In actuality, retaining walls aren’t needed at all. You can create an in situ bed by piling up the soil and amendments.

Roughly level the surface, wet down the bed and then use a hoe to gently slope the sides inwards. They’ll stay in place just fine, even through torrential downpours. Or you can fill the spaces between the beds with wood chips or decorative stones to help retain the beds.

Some people insist on tilling or plowing the ground before building a raised bed. Frankly, this is a lot of unnecessary work. By building the bed properly, you don’t have to work the ground at all.

Start by mowing any grass and weeds as close to the soil surface as possible. Mark off the dimensions of the bed with string and stakes or build your sidewalls. Then lay down a weed guard of newspaper, brown grocery bags or even old carpeting. This is important. If you skip this step, you’ll have a bed full of perennial weeds.

Newspaper should be laid very thick, at least seven layers. Grocery bags work with just one overlapping layer, but two laid perpendicular to each other are better. Either way, soak the paper well before laying it in place. Over time the paper will rot away, but by then the perennial weed seed will have mostly died.

Then fill the bed with the soil mix of your choice. Pile the soil at least 4 inches higher than you want the finished bed to be because it will settle, particularly if it’s heavy with compost or peat.

There is no size restriction on raised beds. But it’s a good idea to make them no wider than you can easily reach. For most people, 4 feet is the maximum since you can reach in 2 feet from either side to weed or do other work.

Sometimes small is better. I like to arrange a series of small raised beds for growing herbs and trailing veggies. Here again, sidewalls aren’t necessary.

I trial beans – as many as 10 varieties a year – in a group of in situ beds measuring only 5 feet long by 18 inches deep. At the same time, I have numerous herbs in mini-beds made by cutting rings from 55-gallon plastic barrels. Each of them is about a foot high.

Containers and raised beds let you grow flowers and vegetables no matter what the soil conditions may be.

So if your gardens are curtailed because of bad soil, give them a try.

(From State-by-State Gardening October 2004. Photos by Brook Elliott)

Which plants grew well this year? Which did poorly? Which now have diseases or insects? Now is the time to scout for insects and diseases in the landscape. End-of-the-year scouting is also a great excuse to enjoy a walk through the garden before cold weather sets in.

As gardeners, we never really want the gardening season to end, but we know that cold weather comes every year. However, the fall and early winter season is a wonderful time of year to meander throughout the yard assessing the landscape on how successful our yearly partnership was with nature. This is not only a time to add to your garden journal about your favorite plants and what varieties did well, but also to “scout” the landscape for potential pest and disease problems for next year.

Although you commonly hear about scouting during the season as the first step in integrated pest management, scouting can be equally important as the growing season winds down. Scouting can be as simple as looking closely at your lawn, flowers, shrubs and trees to see if pests or diseases are present. It can actually be easier as the leaves fall, revealing hidden culprits.

Write Right and Wrong

 

If you have not done so, record in your journal what problems occurred and most importantly the locations. Think about the pest or disease cycle of the organism and how the environment or other factors might have contributed to the issue. The “right plant in the right place” is a common adage in gardening for good reason. Did your lilac have powdery mildew because it is planted in a protected area with high humidity? Did your roses get overhead irrigation, which was conducive to black spot development? Were sun-loving plants stressed because they were planted in a shady area? Just like people, healthy plants are better able to both thwart and recover from pests and diseases.

Examine Trees and Shrubs

While scouting, look especially at trees and shrubs that appear weak and unhealthy, have sunken areas (cankers) on twigs or have branch dieback, which could indicate a pest problem. Examine plants closely for any signs of pests, especially the presence of egg masses and other indications of overwintering insects and sources of disease inoculum. A simple hand lens can help. One of my early gardening mentors used to say “prune when the knife is sharp.” Pruning out affected branches can often be an effective method to reduce pest populations.

In addition to fallen leaves, cane cankers on roses harbor the black spot fungus and should be pruned out and destroyed.

Some pest problems might easily be seen such as the cocoons of bagworms. Bagworms are very damaging to many species of trees and shrubs, including juniper, arborvitae, cedar, pine and spruce. Bagworm larvae feed on the foliage of the trees creating open areas of the canopy. The simplest way to manage bagworms is to harvest the bags. Be sure to discard the bags and do not just let them drop to the ground, or the larvae will just crawl back. When removal of bagworms is not feasible, record which plants need to be sprayed to control this devastating pest. Physical removal is also recommended for any gall or gall-like tissue found, such as the cedar-apple rust galls on junipers.

Bagworms

You might have to look closely to see some pests, or they can be missed. For example, populations of the tiny oystershell scale can be so copious that they totally encrust branches. Scale insects remove plant juices using their piercing-sucking mouthparts, causing twig and branch dieback. Pruning out infested branches might help, but make a note that spring spraying may be needed to control the vulnerable “crawler” stage on plants with heavy scale populations.

Oystershell scale

Time to Tidy

To suppress future disease problems, clean up landscape beds by removing and destroying diseased plant material. Rake and destroy diseased leaves from fruit trees and discard mummified fruit. This can reduce disease inoculum for next year’s garden.

Fallen leaves are usually the source of rose black spot infections, but do not underestimate the inoculum source from cane cankers. When scouting your roses, prune out any diseased canes. After leaf fall, tree limbs affected by fireblight can be difficult see. Give infected branches a spot of paint to indicate which ones need pruning during tree dormancy.

ID the Pest Perps

Correct identification of pests is important. Certain insect species require distinct control measures. You have all winter to learn about them in classes, on the Internet, in guide books or by taking samples to your local cooperative extension office. Most insects progress through a series of growth stages from egg to immature to adult and not all treatments or strategies are successful for all pests or pest life stages. By knowing a little bit about pests and their development, you can better develop pest control strategies.

End-of-the-year scouting is also a great excuse to enjoy one more walk through the garden before cold weather sets in and allows for reflection on the successes and failures of this year’s garden.

The cedar-apple rust fungus overwinters as a gall on juniper branches.

Write It Down

One of the most important tools in a gardener’s shed is the garden journal. It can be a small notebook, a bound diary or a digital recorder to gather your gardening thoughts and observations. Be sure to sketch out your vegetable garden, so you do not forget to rotate crops. Winter can be long and memories can be short. A gardening journal provides a resource to consult when planning changes to your garden, during plant selection and for developing pest control strategies for the coming year. Not only that, but it can be quite enjoyable reminiscing about past trials and tribulations experienced as an avid gardener.

(Photography by Douglas A. Spilker, Ph.D.)

Here are seven garden design tips to take your garden from drab to fab. Think about these tips as you dream about your spring garden makeover.

Is your garden leaving you feeling a little flat some days? Faced with the same space every day, over many years, it is easy to fall into a rut. But there are some tried and true ways to rejuvenate your outdoor rooms. Take these tips from an award-winning designer:

#1 Make it a Living Space

Gardens are for people. If there is no comfortable place to sit, it isn’t a garden, it’s a landscape. So, put benches everywhere. Yes, I do realize that gardeners don’t ever sit down in their gardens. But other people do, and even you might someday. Place tables for drinks and books within easy reach. Provide shade. If you can’t install a pergola to swamp with climbers, a single tree or canvas umbrella will do. Lay a permanent floor by ripping up grass. Several yards of pea gravel, delivered, should cost under $200. Once installed, this almost instant patio will allow you to keep your feet dry and save you from lifting the furniture every time you mow. Hang finish-protected artwork, mirrors or collections of garden tools to infuse the space with your personality. Add lighting to extend your days.

#2 Extend Bloom Time

I winced when I did it, but I ripped out my ‘Nikko Blue’ hydrangeas and replaced them with ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangeas. You see, the new variety blooms in the same color but on new and old wood and blooms for a longer period. This ensures I have blooms now June through November. The ‘Nikko Blue’ hydrangeas would often lose their blooms to a late frost and I would be taunted, daily, by a large green shrub for an entire summer. The plant industry has recently introduced repeat-blooming specimens that never before existed. Take advantage of re-blooming azaleas, irises, lilacs and wisterias. Be disciplined to plant spring bulbs and summer bulbs every year. You can plant dahlias a month before the last frost date if you plant them 1 foot below ground. This early start will give you another month of dahlias. Deadhead flowers throughout the season, and give “haircuts” to plants like salvia and catmint to encourage a second flush of color in fall.

#3 Add Texture

The surest way to identify an unsatisfying lack of texture is to take a black and white photo of your garden at its flowering peak. It is that very riot of color that has distracted you from seeing your problem. Stripped of the competition from flowers, the contrasting texture and habits of the foliage in your garden become most evident. Suddenly you can see an area is full of too many mounding plants, for example, and not enough spikes.

#4 Nothing Succeeds like Excess

I had a client who told me once, “For most people, less is more. For me, though, more is more.”

This is a very useful approach to a garden. Outdoors, a lot competes for your attention, not the least of which is the backdrop of the sky. When you want to plant a perennial—let’s say catmint, for example—don’t plant any fewer than three plants in a grouping. When fully established, your grouping should be no less than half your body size. This is not a rule or a law, and if it impinges on your creativity, you can ignore it. I will tell you that it does really work for me.

#5 Add Form

Contrast the abundance in your garden by introducing some straight lines, then allow plants to spill over them. Simply edging around a bed can accomplish this. Consider how you might introduce some geometry into your space by adding raised beds or trimming shrubs into cubes, balls or jaunty spirals. A small, flowering crabapple tree like ‘Lollizam’ naturally grows into a perfect 5-foot-wide ball. ‘Meyerii’ lilac standards do the same.

#6 Install a Focal Point

The cacophony of a flower garden begs for a counterweight. Drawing the eye to this visual exclamation point takes some thought and organization. It can be a specimen tree, an urn raised on a plinth, statuary, a bird house, a bench or an outbuilding. Even a patch of lawn can serve as a focal point, providing a place for the eye to rest in the midst of a sea of perennials. In formal gardens, the focal points are typically more effective centered within the garden itself or on key windows and doorways of the home. In a cottage garden, focal points placed asymmetrically might be more successful.

#7 Create a Feast for all of the Senses

Gardeners love to concentrate on sights, and I don’t just mean color. For example, I am not satisfied with spring until I see water droplets reliably forming on lady’s mantle. The sounds of birds singing, pea gravel underfoot and water are equally soothing. Smell is the sense most capable of arousing detailed, specific memories. And what would a garden be without lilacs, lavender, wisteria and roses? Each year, I plant rosemary close to where I park the car, so that I can rub it on my hands before driving anywhere. The feel of a scented geranium is so satisfying, and I can’t resist petting my boxwood hedges after a sharp trim. Walk through your garden and really think about what you might add or edit to stimulate your senses. Don’t forget to enjoy—allow yourself the time to breathe it all in.

       ‘Prairifire’ crabapple has spectacular pinkish-red flowers and excellent disease resistance.

Don’t just plant something because all your neighbors have that plant. Think about diversity, and think outside the box. Here are some underused plants that might be better choices than the old standbys.

Making better choices for trees and shrubs

Deciding which trees and shrubs to plant to create an aesthetically pleasing and functional landscape can be daunting. Too often, we tire of the quest for something different and end up planting what’s popular and readily available. Don’t give up! A little mental effort applied to plant selection can make your landscape infinitely more interesting than one mindlessly planted with generics. Also, increasing diversity reduces the risk of disastrous losses from pest outbreaks.

Following is a short list of trees and shrubs commonly planted for various purposes with possible alternatives. The author’s prejudices are readily evident. The alternatives tend to be less tidy-looking than the old standbys, but with some features that I find interesting or attractive.

Acer miyabei ‘Morton’.


Blackgum is a native with reddish new growth and eye-popping fall color.


Winterberry  


Black Hills spruce   


Betula nigra ‘Little King’  


Viburnum Cardinal Candy®

Flowering Tree

Cultivars of ornamental pear (Pyrus calleryana) are by far the most commonly planted flowering trees in Midwest landscapes. They are uniform in size and shape, spectacular in bloom and have beautiful glossy summer foliage. They are however, subject to fire blight and storm damage. They also produce viable seed, which is spread by birds to natural areas where seedlings shade out native species. There are many cultivars of crabapple that could be substituted for ornamental pear. While crabs are less symmetrical than the pears, they are equally as spectacular in bloom (and smell much better). Most produce attractive fruit, the seeds of which do not sprout in natural areas like those of Callery pears. Nearly all modern crab cultivars have excellent disease resistance. ‘Prairifire’ has a rounded form and grows to 20 feet with bright, pinkish-red flowers. ‘Adirondack’ is an upright cultivar, growing to 18 feet, with pure white flowers.

Shade Tree

Cultivars of red maple are commonly used as shade trees because they grow fast and have dependable red fall color. State Street™ (Acer miyabei ‘Morton’) is a fast growing, 40-foot, densely branched upright maple with a yellow fall color. It is heat tolerant and less subject to borer injury and problems due to high soil pH than red maple. If you think in the long term, consider our native swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor). While it might look a bit coarse for the first 10 years, this tree grows fairly fast, reaching 60 feet. It tolerates both wet soil and drought.

Colored Foliage

For some reason, many people are fascinated by plants with purple summer foliage. Purple leaf plum (Prunus cerasifera), is an old standby for summer purple. Unfortunately, it is short lived due to its susceptibility to winter injury, borers, tent caterpillars and many other problems. If you can switch to red, consider Red Rage™ blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica ‘Haymanred’) as an alternative. New growth is bright red in spring and the fall color is an incredibly intense red. Blackgum grows much better in wet soils than purple leaf plum.

Hedge

Boxwood is usually the first plant that most people think of for an evergreen hedge. How about inkberry (Ilex glabra)? A dwarf cultivar like ‘Shamrock’ grows about 4 feet tall with glossy, dark green leaves, creating an interesting texture. While it is less formal looking than boxwood, it can be maintained as a hedge with less pruning. It is also not prone to the fungal canker diseases that often cause dieback of boxwoods.

Evergreen Tree

Blue spruce is popular as an evergreen tree because people tend to like its bluish foliage and the tidy form. However, fungal needle blight diseases have decimated blue spruces during the past several abnormally wet years. Although Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca ‘Densata’) is somewhat slower growing, less blue and less pyramidal than blue spruce, it is more adaptable to the extremes in moisture and temperature that we face in the Midwest and it is also less prone to fungal needle blights.

Specimen Tree

Weeping mulberries are commonly planted to create landscape interest. After a few years, they usually look like strange, shaggy mops. Fox Valley^® birch (Betula nigra ‘Little King’) is a very dwarf (10 feet) river birch with a mounded form and stunning, exfoliating bark. This is a plant that will create interest in your landscape for many years with little maintenance.

Focal Point

With its tight, conical form and dense, deep green needles, Alberta spruce definitely catches the eye. If you want a different, but equally eye-catching look and have some room, consider weeping Nootka falsecypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’). This slow-growing evergreen eventually reaches 35 feet. It has rich, deep green foliage in flattened sprays that hang down gracefully from horizontal branches. It will grow in sun or part shade and is not plagued by mites as is Alberta spruce.

Flowering Shrub

With thousands of stunning plants to choose from, selecting flowering shrubs can be truly bewildering. Rose of Sharon is commonly planted because it is tough as nails and has large, profuse and cheery blooms in the heat of summer. Why not spread out seasonal interest by planting some viburnums. Cardinal Candy^® (Viburnum dilatatum ‘Henneke’ ) is a good example of a shrub for all seasons. It has creamy, white flowers in spring, attractive summer foliage, fairly good wine fall color and brilliant red fruit persisting into early winter.

We all have our favorite plants. Some of the plants suggested here might seem strange or inappropriate, but I happen to like them. The point of this article is to encourage you to broaden your plant palette. Go to gardens, take notes on plants that strike your fancy and do some homework. Don’t be afraid to try something different. Some of your choices might not work, but you will learn a lot from trying them.

(From State-by-State Gardening November/December 2011. Photos courtesy of Christopher Starbuck.)

The drawing above is a great example of a low-water-use planting covering a variety of plant sizes and textures.

Low-water-use gardening with grasses and succulents

As reported rainfall declines and the demand for water increases, it becomes time for gardeners to rethink their gardening style and move away from the manicured lawn and heavily watered and fertilized yards. Now, and in the future, we need to look to the low-water-use garden. This does not mean that a gardener has to sacrifice color and year-round interest, but to consider adding some different plants to the planting palette.

Plants from naturally dry regions have evolved to survive drought. The smaller a plant’s leaf, such as the grassy quills of Festuca ovina, the less water that is lost from the surface. Gray or silver foliage and other light-colored leaves reflect glare. The fleshy leaves of succulents not only store water, but often have waxy surfaces that retain moisture. Plants may develop spines to protect them from grazing animals. Many plants develop deep taproots to search for water at cooler levels, like the yucca family. Plants such as sedums and sempervivum grow in shallow soil with extensive fibrous root systems that gather moisture trapped by rocks.

Above is an example of a low-water-use garden with many contrasts – varying heights, shapes and textures of foliage, flowers, rocks and gravel and colors ranging from silvery blue to burgundy to accents of red, yellow-green to yellow to variegated stripes – all designed to provide year-round interest in the garden.

‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass is the most upright of the ornamental grasses. It’s very useful as a vertical accent.


Hesperaloe parviflora, red yucca, soars above a low grass known as the “moustache” plant because of its seed heads.

Tall plants to be used in back of garden

• Saccharum ravennae, ravenna grass, 10 to 12 feet, use for screen or focal point, good substitute for pampas grass (Cortaderia)

• Miscanthus sinensis, fountainlike habit, attractive plumes stay through winter, DR*

‘Variegatus’, vertical stripes, lights up a moonlit night

‘Gracillimus’, maiden grass, 6 to 8 feet, most drought tolerant

‘Morning Light’, 4 to 5 feet, long vertical stripes, fine blade, rust/bronze flower plumes

‘Purpurescens’, 3 to 4 feet, leaves turn reddish/bronze in fall

• Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, feather reed grass, 3 to 6 feet, upright habit, flowering stems 5 to 6 feet appear in summer, are attractive all winter, perennial of the year award winner

• Yucca species, bold, dramatic accent plant, most durable and maintenance-free of broadleaf evergreens available, DR*

Y. filamentosa ‘Adam’s Needle’, creamy white bell-shaped flowers on stalks 4 to 7 feet above stiff, lance-shaped spiky leaves

Y. gloriosa, mound lily yucca, 6 feet, softer than other yuccas, will not penetrate the skin, blue-green leaves contrast nicely with other green foliage

Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ is the most drought tolerant grass. Its feathery plumes stay attractive all winter.

From left: Carex comans, a sedge, mixes with a red-edged succulent and a silvery-blue yucca. Together they provide a nice contrast of colors and textures. All are low-water-use plants.

Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’, or purple fountain grass, has an arching habit with striking, long-lasting purple inflorescence


Foreground: Nasella tenuisimma, Mexican feather grass. Middleground: Purple fountain grass. Rear: Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’ with bands running across the leaf blade instead of along the edge as in most grasses. These grasses of various heights add interest to the garden with black-eyed Susan and other perennials.

• Yucca filamentosa ‘Golden Sword’ or ‘Color Guard’, 2-foot yellow leaves edged in dark green, coral winter color, DR*

• Muhlenbergia capillaris, 2 to 3 feet, ‘Regal Mist’ muhly grass has airy red/pink powder-puff inflorescences, pale, grayish green foliage, DR*

• Pennisetum alopecuroides, fountain grass, 2 to 4 feet, graceful “foxtail” flowers in late summer, delicate inflorescence and fine leaves contrast nicely with broad-leafed plants such as sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, DR*

‘Hameln’, dwarf variety, 12 to 25 inches

‘Moudry’, 2 to 3 feet, contrasting black awns on the seed heads

• Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’, 18 to 24 inches, upright clumping succulent perennial, grows well in difficult sites, attracts butterflies and pollinators/ bees, DR*

• Nasella tenuisimma, Mexican feather grass, fine texture, very adaptable/durable, DR*

• Eragrostis curvula, weeping love grass, low mounding, 18 to 24 inches, very drought tolerant, pretty in breezes

• Santolina chamaecyparissus, 1 to 2 feet, evergreen, aromatic mounding plant covered with yellow buttonlike flowers midsummer, stem used as moth repellent, softens the look of spiky plants, useful in rock gardens or as low hedge, DR*

• Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’, purple fountain grass, up to 4 feet, great burgundy color with reddish purple plumes, especially attractive when planted with silvery foliage plants like santolina and artemisia, must be treated as an annual but is fast growing, DR*

• Euphorbia characias wulfenii, dome-shaped succulent bush to 4 feet tall, clusters of yellow flowers, sap can be irritating to the skin, DR*

• Achillea millefolium ‘Moonshine’, yarrow, up to 2 feet, deep yellow flat-topped flower clusters attractive to butterflies, DR*

Low Growing Plants

• Festuca ovina ‘Glauca’, blue fescue, up to 12 inches, perennial grass, attractive tuft of metallic blue foliage, useful in rock gardens and as edging or accent plant, combine with penstemon, achillea (yarrow), DR*

Blue fescue ornamental grass grows in fine-textured clumps with a silvery-blue hue
that is best displayed against rough-textured boulders.

• Carex morrowii ‘Aureo-Variegata’, sedge, 1 foot, tufts of yellow striped grasslike foliage

• Imperata cylindrica ‘Red Baron’, Japanese blood grass, 1 to 2 feet, leaf tips are bright red

• Liriope muscari, monkey grass, forms clumps 1 to 2 feet with 6-inch violet flowers, low maintenance, will take shade, DR*

• Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, black mondo grass, nearly black grasslike leaves to 14 inches, striking when combined with chartreuse foliage of Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’, shade, DR*

• Sempervivum species, hen and chicks, 2 to 4 inches, evergreen succulent rosette, use in rock gardens, small spaces between rocks, in retaining walls, contrasts well with grasses, stone or gravel mulch, DR*

Shown here are various colors and sizes of Sempervivum, better known as hen
and chicks. Gravel acts as mulch and contrasts nicely with the plants.

• Sedum spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’, to 6 inches, trailing perennial, evergreen succulent leaves turn bronze in winter, DR*

• S. sieboldii, 4 inches high, spreads to 12 inches wide, blue-gray leaves with red edges, turns coppery red in fall, ‘Variegatum’ leaves have yellow/white markings, DR*

For examples of naturally drought-resistant plants, look to the deserts, prairies, seashore natives and Mediterranean climates – areas which usually have poor soil (you can save money by not fertilizing). Add rocks and boulders to your design – they are good contrasts to the architectural shapes of plants like yuccas and provide places to tuck in the smaller succulents, giving them some shade. Place them on a small slope for good drainage and to add visual interest.

Use gravel for a path and around plants as mulch. Gravel is useful as an interesting contrast to the plants, for water retention and for drainage. Most low water plants do not like “wet feet,” particularly in the winter. Water deeply as needed; do not water in small, frequent amounts as this encourages surface rooting. Use recycled water collected in a rain barrel or gray water (domestic water that has been used for bathing or laundry).

DR* - deer resistant plants

The Best Tools for the Vegetable Gardener
 

What tools are the ‘must haves’ for the serious gardener? Which tools might make good holiday gifts? Here are a few recommendations.

Illustrations from the book “The Vegetable Garden” by Ida Dandridge Bennett show how a wheel hoe was used in a large garden in the early 1900s.

In her 1909 book, “The Vegetable Garden,” Ida Dandridge Bennett of Coldwater, Mich., wrote, “…if the amateur gardener tries to get along with a hoe, a rake and a spade, he is sure to have long, tedious hours of hard work.” She also wrote that the hoe would be used most in a season and specifically promoted the use of a wheel hoe with several attachments, including “ploughs, rakes, cultivator-teeth, flat-hoes and seed sowers.” She claimed that with just her wheel hoe and its attachments, she could keep a three-quarter-acre vegetable garden in good shape all summer long.

Today, few gardeners know what a wheel hoe is and might not recognize one if they did see it in an antique store. Plus most gardeners do not have as large a vegetable garden as Bennett tended. Many of us choose to grow our vegetables in small raised beds which don’t require long, tedious hours of work or a wheel hoe with all its attachments to tend to them. We might still use a hoe, a rake and spade for initially preparing the vegetable garden for planting, but beyond that we often take care of the garden through the season with just a few good tools.

Hand Digging Hoes

A hand digging hoe and a good trowel are two basic tools for tending raised bed gardens.

If you look in my garden tool box, you’ll find a well-used hand digging hoe, often called a Dutch hand hoe or a Japanese hand digging hoe. It is sharp and I keep it sharp through the season by filing it with a regular file every few times that I use it. I primarily use it for weeding the raised beds, cutting the weeds off at or just below ground level, then gathering them up and dumping them in a nearby compost bin. One source for these hand digging hoes is Garden Tool Company, Ft. Collins, Colorado, www.gardentoolcompany.com, 1-800-830-4019. The hoe head is angled, so there is a right-handed version and a left-handed version.

Trowel

I also keep a trowel ready for planting tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other vegetables that aren’t generally started from seed sown directly in the garden. Finding a trowel that I love to use took a few years and some trial and error. In the process, I found out that cheap trowels often bend or break and are uncomfortable to use. I eventually found a trowel with a wooden handle that works well for me. Like many gardeners who have searched for years to find the perfect trowel, I keep a close eye on mine and rarely let others borrow it. There are many sources for good trowels, including garden centers that carry better tools.

Sharp Pruners, Knives, Gloves

My tool box also contains pruners and a sharp knife for harvesting those vegetables that aren’t easily pulled out of the ground or off the vine, a well-fitting pair of gardening gloves for weeding and a roll of green plastic plant tie ribbon to tie up my tomatoes. All of these are available at most garden stores.

Digging forks come in several sizes and are useful for digging up root crops, loosening the soil and turning compost.

Digging Fork

For some of the harder work of the garden, in addition to a hoe, a rake and a spade, I also have a digging fork. A fork is often better than a spade for breaking up the ground and is also a good tool for turning compost, if you choose to do that. Strictly speaking, turning compost over or mixing it up occasionally isn’t essential but it does speed up the composting process. Digging forks are also available at most garden centers.

Terrific Trug

A trug is ideal for carrying the harvest from the garden to the kitchen.

Once you have vegetables to harvest, you need a good basket for carrying the harvest from the garden to the kitchen. My favorite basket for this is actually a long shallow basket called a trug. The trug design lets you carry a lot of produce without worrying that the vegetables at the bottom are being crushed by the weight of those on top. Trugs were originally made from strips of curved wood, but my favorite trug for carrying my harvest is a plastic trug from The Walt Knicke Company, 978-887-3388, www.gardentalk.com. It’s easy to wash out between harvests.

I’m not sure what Ida Dandridge Bennett would think of my garden tool recommendations, which don’t include a wheel hoe and all of its attachments. I like to think that she would approve of the idea that a gardener can tend a small vegetable garden with a few well-made tools and in the process, harvest trugs full of vegetables — enough vegetables to eat right away, preserve for a winter’s day and share with others.

Make Them Last

How to care for garden tools that can be handed down to the next generation of gardeners:

• Buy the best tools you can afford.

• Clean them after every use.

• Store them in a dry location.

• Sharpen edges before they become dull.

(From State-by-State Gardening November/December 2011. Photos courtesy of Carol Michel.)

Groupings of variegated iris add contrast in this late summer display.
Placing a variegated tree or shrub in a shade garden visually lightens the space.

Exclamation Points in the Garden

When I designed the perennial border in the garden of our first home, it was a process of trial and error. All the books I studied told me I should first create an evergreen “backbone” to provide year-round interest, and plant so that something of interest was blooming each season. Before planting, I spent hours pouring over plant catalogs and sketching designs.

At the end of the first year I was disappointed. The garden looked flat. When plants weren’t blooming, it was just a green mass. I had followed all the “rules” of design, yet it didn’t appeal to me. I decided to put away the books and plant what looked right to me.

Following Your Instincts

I saw some beautiful variegated iris at the nursery and purchased enough to add three groupings of them in my border. Suddenly, the border popped. The iris acted like exclamation points in the garden. The green and white foliage of the iris drew my eye along the length of the perennial border, and the contrast of the variegation against the green of the other plants added depth to the planting.

I was so happy with the result that I decided to add more variegated foliage throughout the garden. I started with ‘Cabaret’ Miscanthus, an ornamental grass, in a bed across the yard. Its wide leaf with a broad white center stripe made a bold statement in my garden and visually tied the bed to my perennial border. I then added Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Mariesii Variegata’. Its variegated foliage and beautiful blue lacecap flowers provided much needed light in my shade garden.

Even the addition of common variegated liriope helped add interest to my garden. Since all these plants had similar green and white variegation, they lent repetition and cohesiveness to the garden. The same result could have been achieved using plants with yellow and green variegation such as ‘Brigela’ weigela, ‘Pretoria’ canna and variegated sweet flag (Acorus).

Uses For Variegated Plants

The uses of variegated plants are many. Variegated hydrangea, hosta, sweet flag and Vinca minor can be used to lighten up shady spots in the garden. The paler portions of the leaves catch and reflect any light back to your eyes. For this reason, these plants are great in “evening gardens” that are most often seen after the sun goes down. Place them along a deck or at the edge of woods. As the sunlight fades, the green portion of the leaf gradually blends into the deepening darkness of the night. The variegation, however, seems to float.

In a landscape design or even a container garden, variegated plants are often used as the center of attention or as a focal point. They show off best when contrasted against a dark background. Whether planted against a mostly green hedge, or a larger backdrop of deciduous trees, some background is needed to properly display variegated trees and shrubs.

Variegation in plants is defined as the normal green portion of the plant leaf being replaced by white, cream, yellow or occasionally other colors, which may be in the form of blotches or stripes. The variegations can occur on the edge of the leaves (marginate variegation) or in the center of the leaf (medio variegation). Variegated plants that have neat, regular leaf margins of white or gold tend to be the most popular and readily available in nurseries.

Try some of these variegated plants to create interest in your garden. Use them sparingly where your garden needs a lift. Remember that a little variegation goes a long way.

The variegated foliage of euonymus and ivy create a stunning focal point and tie into the variegated iris in the background of this garden.

This variegated dogwood creates a striking focal point as it stands out among the green foliage of other plants.

Organic elements, like the fresh greenery, sugar pinecones and sculptural Manzanita branch
seen here, combine with beautiful, earth-toned ornaments for an elegant, yet rustic feel.

How to Bring a Touch of the Garden to Your Holiday Decorations

As a garden and exterior designer, I can’t help but incorporate natural and outdoor elements when decorating for the holidays. And hey, if you think about it, the holiday season is the perfect time to bring the outdoors in. I mean, at what other time of year do we traditionally cut down real trees and put them in our living rooms?! So, as an expansion on this age-old tradition, try bringing some of your garden and the outdoors inside your home when decorating for the holidays this year. Here are some of my favorite techniques.

Naturally Festive

Using natural items and organic materials is one of the easiest ways to bring the outdoors in for the holidays. Besides the ubiquitous Christmas tree, fresh evergreen wreaths and garland are a great place to start, and they will give your decorations a natural grace and fill your home with wonderful aromas. But also keep in mind the potential of other items such as pinecones, dried or fresh vines and sculptural tree branches. These items can even be gathered right from your own garden (did someone say, “FREE”?) and used in combination with basic greenery … whether it is real or artificial.

Freshly Seasoned

As with any occasion, fresh flowers are also the perfect ingredients for your holiday décor. Especially with flowering bulbs such as narcissus and amaryllis, you can introduce a living, growing and natural element to your decorations. Plus, they last for weeks! These bulbs can easily be found at nurseries and garden centers around the holidays and potted in your favorite decorative containers, or you can buy them already planted, as well. Either way fresh, flowering bulbs will fill your holiday home with the colors, scents and liveliness of the garden.

Winter Wonderland

We all dream of the perfect white Christmas with freshly fallen snow blanketing the ground and the treetops. Well, regardless of the weather you can create your own white Christmas, and it is actually a great trick for bringing not just the feeling of the outdoors but also the feeling of being outdoors to your holiday decor. By recreating the illusion of fresh snow, you can conjure up a garden-inspired fantasy where the flakes just stopped falling! Simply sprinkle artificial snow on decorations, trees or table arrangements and let it pile up as it would naturally. If you’re afraid of avalanches … no problem: Use spray adhesive along with the artificial snow to add sparkle to items such as branches, pinecones and ornaments.

Here are a few additional tips:

1) Artificial snow is usually sold for use with miniature holiday villages, so look for it near the villages themselves.

2) Some artificial snow is nothing more than shredded plastic bags. Skip this and get the good stuff.

3) Finally, when decorating “let it snow” liberally for the best effect!

In From the Cold

Another great way to add a bit of the garden to your holiday décor is to bring some of your favorite decorative elements (such as a birdbath, statue or planter) in from the cold. For example, pile a bunch of colorful Christmas tree ornaments or naturally beautiful pinecones in a birdbath and place it next to your tree for an unexpected touch. Or, drape a statue with lush greenery and a big, festive bow for a dramatic holiday focal point. And, your smaller garden planters are perfect for potting up those narcissus and amaryllis bulbs. Even larger containers can be put to good use by filling them with fresh evergreens or interesting branches from the garden and grouping them around the Christmas tree, using them to dress up an entryway or placing them in an empty corner.

Happy Holidays!

Additional Photos
click on any photo to enlarge

Garden décor, such as this stone finial, can be decorated and brought inside for the holidays to add an unexpected outdoor touch to your décor. Here, fresh greenery, elegantly glittered pinecones and an earth-toned bow combine to create an elegant, understated focal point.

Garden statuary, such as this handsome bust, can be moved indoors during the holidays to create a dramatic and garden-inspired statement.

Establishing an outside influence doesn’t mean your decorations have to be traditional. Here, frosted trees and fresh poinsettias are planted in large, contemporary garden containers for a sleek, sophisticated approach to the holidays.

A variety of evergreens, sandblasted Manzanita branches and miniature pinecones lend an organic contrast to the shiny ornaments, mirrored obelisks and glass lamps in this tabletop arrangement.

On this staircase banister, huge sugar pinecones and pheasant feathers were used instead of traditional ornaments to decorate artificial garland. The result brings the outdoors into this holiday home in a dramatic and unexpected way.

A single narcissus bulb, lichen moss and an architectural branch bring a touch of the holidays and the outdoors to this powder room.

Live narcissus and fresh moss in a festive container bring a touch of the holidays and the outdoors to any room.

Live narcissus and English ivy in a festive container bring a touch of the holidays and the garden to this tabletop.

Evergreen trees potted in garden urns combine with vines, greenery and bright red berries to create a woodsy yet elegant mantle decoration.

Image: ARGARDWEB 12, 2011 (17)
Natural pinecones and fresh Spanish moss were used to add organic beauty to this stairway decoration.

Natural pinecones were combined with greenery and bright red berries to create this organically beautiful centerpiece.

Real pinecones, vines, greenery and moss topiaries were placed along with simple candlesticks and given a “fresh” blanketing of snow to give a garden-inspired grace to this large tabletop.

Pheasant feathers and butterfly ornaments used as a tree topper bring the feeling of the garden into this holiday décor.

(Photos courtesy of DK Design)

White House Chief Floral Designer Laura Dowling arranges a holiday bouquet in the Vermeil Room of the White House last December. (Official White House photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Is it a bit cheeky to think I can create bouquets like White House Chief of Floral Design Laura Dowling after hearing her speak once? Foolish, perhaps. Fun, certainly.

In early October, Dowling was delightfully inspiring as she talked about her New American Garden Style of Floral Arrangement at The American Horticulture Society’s headquarters at River Farm, Alexandria, Virginia. I’ve since been trying my hand at flower arranging—following Ms. Dowling’s approach—to make us feel as if we’re “in the garden” in a style that’s “soft, approachable…casual elegance using flowers from gardens, forests.”

For Christmas cheer, this centerpiece is of gathered materials—Camellias, Osmanthus sp., holly with red berries, pine needles, pine cones, bare branches and a decorative wrought iron piece.

With that in mind and pruners in hand, I visited friends’ gardens for plant material—holly, Osmanthus spp., pine boughs, pine cones, bare branches, camellias, roses, ornamental grass, seed pods and vines from around Philadelphia and suburbs. I also purchased my first glue gun and found a store clerk who shared tips for using it safely.

Let’s take a minute and compare notes. Dowling is an artist and floral designer extraordinaire. She was appointed White House Chief of Floral Design in early November 2009 at after a most friendly meeting with First Lady, Michele Obama.

I, on the other hand, was closest to the White House in the early 1970s, marching against the Vietnam War.

Dowling is French-inspired, having studied l’art du bouquet at L’Ecole des Fleurs, the French flower school in Paris. She shares “Secrets of the French Style” on her website, http://lauradowling.typepad.com/lart_du_bouquet/. Laura Dowling’s L’Art du Bouquet includes a blog, clever ideas such as “Spuds and Buds” for St. Patrick’s Day, wedding style, and a portfolio of gorgeous, sophisticated bouquets—classic yet contemporary chic with a touch of whimsy. Her shop, Interieurs et Fleurs, is in the D.C. area.

Moi? I spent four days in Paris—rather slept there after exciting, exhausting day trips to Versaille, Giverney, Chinon and Villandry. I have no shop. My not-so-up-to-date website features gardens I’ve designed and gardening tips. In short, no experience in flower arranging, though eager for opportunity and knowledge.

Dowling is an early riser—up at 6 a.m. She’s in her office between 8 and 9a.m. to check and water the White House flowers. Though she has staff, she still makes 50 to 100 designs each week. She leaves 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at 9 p.m. and works more at home. To that I can attest. She graciously emailed me at 8:49 p.m. on Thanksgiving eve.

“Flowers are essential to our sense of happiness and well-being,” she says. Her designs focus on concept and emotion through balance and composition. She draws on history and culture—Mayan blue and red for a Mexican State Dinner, lemon leaves forming a miniature recreation of historic architectural for a European dinner.

“Flowers set the mood of a place,” Ms. Dowling adds. As First Florist, she reflects the First Lady’s desire for a warm, welcoming, hospitable ambiance. She creates “quintessentially American” floral arrangements—thoughtful, modern, dynamic, surprising. One example is a “loosened, more relaxed version” of the White House bouquet.

Mums in Kabocha Squash. My Thanksgiving centerpiece featured a yellow spider mum surrounded by rosy dianthus with yellow and burgundy mums in a squat, green Kabocha squash.

The New American Gardening Floral Arrangement Design Elements

Dowling chooses a theme, a concept, “a starting point of view” with “a premium on creativity.” Romance. Holiday. Seasonal. Historical. Cultural. Event such as Earth Day.

My “starting point of view” is a Christmas centerpiece, a New Year’s bouquet.

She begins with a tight structure, usually round, created from wire works or natural materials. Her designs emerge “from the garden” through organic elements that anchor—clusters of berries, braided grasses, folded leaves, wild vines rolled into a shape.

To achieve the “natural feel as if the flowers are growing out of the vase,” she favors “organic containers” of dried fruits, woven grasses, folded leaves, tiny cabbages, flower buds, even cherry tomatoes, buckets covered with coffee beans, clusters of flower stems and more.

Dowling’s defining technique is “swirling greenery for underlying movement, crossing stems, layering of materials as in a field of stems, crossed and blowing.” This is her “new, more natural look, the feeling of being in the garden.”
 

My budget is tight, so I look to recycling supplies on hand. Deadline’s looming. I’ve three evenings to pull this together.

Following Dowling’s lead, I glue clusters of pine needles on red holiday paper covering a medium-sized terra-cotta pot. The look is more loose and floppy than tight. A colorful ribbon circling the pot’s rim becomes an anchor, a focal point. For the New Year’s bouquet, I tack long, wavy locust pods painted gold onto a tall, silver-colored metal flower vase.

She likes a “mix of unusual components—fruits, vegetables, flowers. The bouquet should contain wild elements to create emotional and poetic connection.” Hers have orange halves or cherry tomatoes or artichoke leaves or small cabbages. Her potato and onion wreath with flower buds celebrates St. Patrick’s Day as well as early autumn.

Flowers I can find—pink camellias and cherry red Knock Out™ roses for the Christmas bouquet; red Anthurium sp. from the florist for New Year’s bouquet. Vegetables and fruits? Not so much. Holiday cheeses in the fridge and wine in the pantry don’t count.

For the color element and combinations, Dowling draws inspiration from the book “A Scientific Approach to Color Design.” “Monochromatic is a good starting point,” she advises. Or “two complementary colors.” Or “what goes together in the garden.”

The “Couture,” the finishing touch, ties the bouquet together. “Dancing branches and twining vines”—Virginia creeper, variegated ivy, curly willow, olive branches—also bring flow, lithe, abandon.

I’m leaving momentarily to find Virginia creeper and buy three white tapers—a bit of fire to brighten and heat up the New Year.

Happy Holidays!