Monday, October 18, 2021

Monday Thoughts: What is a weed? A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is a weed? A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson


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Saturday, October 16, 2021

GardenDC Podcast Episode 79: Boxwood


In this episode, we talk with Bennett Saunders, General Manager of Saunders Genetics LLC, all about boxwood from propagation tips to dealing with blight and leaf miner. The plant profile is on Hardy Begonia and I share what's going on locally and in my garden.

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! See how at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

The episode is posted at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/episodes/Episode-79---Boxwood-e18rqio

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

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NewGen Independence® along a walkway.
Photo courtesy of Saunders Brothers
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Friday, October 15, 2021

Fenton Friday Meets Bloom Day

I don't recall another time when my weekly Fenton Friday reports on our community garden overlapped with the 15th of the month aka Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, though I' m sure it must have... In any case, here is my combined post. 

The bloom that is putting on a terrific show right now in the garden plot is the Marigold 'Big Duck Yellow'. We started it from seed and it is just now really hitting its stride. The flowers are HUGE and the bumblebees are burying their heads into them. I had quite a struggle finding a few full blooms to cut as the bees were not letting me! It was an AAS winner in 2019. These plants is very sturdy and tall, so I am using it to divide the cherry tomatoes from another bed, as the indeterminate tomato plants would take over that whole side of the plot, if we let them.


We harvested the largest leaves from the 'Viroflay' Spinach today and picked some more cherry tomatoes. We also cut some branches off the Holy Basil aka Tulsi for the interns to sample. 

Last week's replacement seeding of 'Garden Party' radish mix and 'Shanghai Baby' Bok Choy are all up and doing great! Today, we thinned out the radish seedlings and can likely thin the bok choy next week.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

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Wednesday, October 13, 2021

White Wood Aster Plant Profile

White Wood Aster (Aster divaricatus also known as Eurybia divaricata) is a perennial that is hardy to zones 3 to 8 and native to the eastern United States.

The small, white flowers cover the plant in late summer into early fall. The daisy-like blooms are a pollinator favorite. It is the host plant for the caterpillars of the Pearl Crescent and Checkerspot Butterflies. The plant is also quite deer-resistant.

White Wood Aster grows in low mounds and is not picky about soil types. It is a tough plant and does well in part- to full shade.

This plant is very low-maintenance. To stop it from getting too leggy and flopping over, you can cut it back in late spring or early summer to about 6 inches high.

The selection ‘Eastern Star’ is a more compact plant and it received the highest ratings in a study of 119 asters by the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plant Evaluation Program.

It can form large, dense colonies spreading by underground rhizomes. White Wood Aster tends to also self-sow freely, so cut off the flowers after they bloom, if you want to limit that tendency.

White Wood Aster: You Can Grow That!

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio and Text by Kathy Jentz
Video and Editing by Melinda Thompson

Footage gathered at Green Spring Gardens and Brookside Gardens.

➤ If you enjoy this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our Youtube channel (thank you!)

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Monday, October 11, 2021

Monday Thoughts: My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece


"My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece."
~ Claude Monet
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Saturday, October 09, 2021

GardenDC Podcast Episode 78: Dumbarton Oaks

In this episode, we talk with Jonathan Kavalier, Director of Gardens and Grounds at Dumbarton Oaks, about the garden's past, present, and future as it hits its centennial mark. The plant profile is on Prickly Pear and I share what's going on locally and in my garden.


BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! See how at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

The episode is posted at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/episodes/Episode-78---Dumbarton-Oaks-e18h0s8

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

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Friday, October 08, 2021

Fenton Friday: Hits and Misses

Pak Choi

Some of the cool-season crops we direct-sowed a month ago were duds or washed away in one of the storms we had. Either way, we spent time this week replacing the seeds or adding seeds to partial rows.

The seedlings that are up and filing out nicely include the 'Viroflay' Spinach and 'Mesclun Mix' Lettuce. The ones that had partial success are the 'Bopak' Pak Choi (pictured) and Arugula. While complete o-shows were the 'Cherry Belle' Radish and Cilantro. I'm really surprised by those last two as they are usually so prolific and reliable.

In place of ' 'Cherry Belle' Radish, we planted 'Garden Party' a five color radish mix and to fill out the rest of the Pak Choi run, we added seeds of 'Shanghai Baby' Bok Choy. We'll give those a bit and see if we have better luck with them.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

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Wednesday, October 06, 2021

Hardy Begonia Plant Profile

Hardy Begonia (Begonia grandis) is a long-blooming garden perennial that is hardy to zones 6 to 9.

They bloom from mid-summer through early fall with delicate pink or white dangling flowers. You can deadhead the blooms to encourage continuous flowering.

The foliage is also attractive with large heart-shaped leaves that are a lovely red on their underside. If you can place the plants in an elevated spot, the sun reflecting through the veined leaves is quite attractive.

They thrive in part sun to full shade with rich, moist (but well-draining) soil. The plant is of Asian origin and is a good addition to any woodland garden.

Hardy Begonia grows to between 1 to 2 feet high. They perform well underneath shrubs and trees.

They will spread to form a small colony if allowed to self-sow. However, if you mulch or clean up around them in the fall, it will prevent them from reproducing.

Hardy Begonia dies back in winter and reemerges in spring from an underground tuber. You can spread a bit of compost on the soil surface in early spring when the plants are still dormant to give them some extra nutrition, they need little care otherwise.

Hardy Begonia: You Can Grow That!

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio and Text by Kathy Jentz
Video and Editing by Melinda Thompson

Footage gathered at Green Spring Gardens, Brookside Gardens, and Dumbarton Oaks.

➤ If you enjoy this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our Youtube channel (thank you!)

➤Remember to TURN ON notifications to know when our new videos are out

➤ FIND Washington Gardener Magazine ONLINE

~ WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com

~ http://twitter.com/WDCGardener

~ https://www.instagram.com/wdcgardener/

~ Facebook.com/WashingtonGardenerMagazine

~ Podcast: GardenDC

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Monday, October 04, 2021

Monday Thoughts: Almost every person, from childhood, has been touched by the untamed beauty of wildflowers.

Almost every person, from childhood,

has been touched by the untamed beauty of wildflowers.

- Lady Bird Johnson
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Saturday, October 02, 2021

GardenDC Podcast Episode 77: Goth Gardening

In this episode, we talk with Emily Suzanne Zobel, Mikaela Boley, and Rachel J. Rhodes of The Garden Thyme Podcast, all about Goth Gardens. The plant profile is on Turtlehead (Chelone) and I share what's going on locally and in my garden.


From left to right, Mikaela Boley, Emily Zobel, and Rachel Rhodes
Photo credit: Chase Potter 

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! See how at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

The episode is posted at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/episodes/Episode-77---Goth-Gardening-e182bh4

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

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Friday, October 01, 2021

Fenton Friday: Garden Theft

Despite the resident rabbits, our Mesclun lettuce mix (pictured here) is coming up nicely.

And a bit of good and bad news. The Zinnia 'Profusion' that we started from seed, did so well in the community garden plot, that I transplanted a section of it to my front street corner a few weeks ago to add some color and beauty to that spot. 

Fast forward to yesterday morning when I went out to water the transplants and someone had stole a group of them. Not just picking a few flowers -- but the whole plants! -- leaving behind tell-tale holes in the soil.

People can be such jerks. 

We've also had some plant and produce thefts in the community garden as well. I know that a few our zucchini and cucumbers went missing. Though, if anyone took some of the cherry tomatoes, I'd never notice.

How do you deal with theft in your garden?

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

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