Monday Thoughts: “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” ~ Alphonse Karr

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” 

~ Alphonse Karr

September 2026 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine: Wine Cups, Leeks, Honeyvine, and much more…

 

The September 2026 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine is out.

It is posted and archived online at: https://issuu.com/washingtongardener/docs/september_2026_washington_gardener_magazine

Inside this issue:

Serving up Nectar: Wine Cups

6 Exceptional Plant Picks for Mid-Atlantic Gardens

Invasive Threats

What to Do with Stacks of Plastic Plant Pots

Growing Leeks: An Ancient Plant

Dealing with Honeyvines

Garden Book Reviews

What You Can Grow to Support the Common Buckeye Butterfly

Lesser-known Spring Bulbs

Evergreen Plantings

5 Reasons to Plant a Tree this Fall

Two New Meadow Rue

and much more…

 

Note that any submissions, event listings, and advertisements for the October 2026 issue are due by September 15.

 

>>  Subscribe to Washington Gardener Magazine today to have the monthly publication sent to your inbox as a PDF several days before it is available online. You can use the PayPal (credit card) online order form here: https://www.washingtongardener.com/index_files/subscribe.htm

Fenton Friday: Harvest Time

 

Last week I was in Portland, OR, attending the GardenComm annual conference. The gardens there are enviable -- to say the least, but it is good to be home and take stock of the plot. We had some rain and moderate heat, so I was pleased to see the tomatoes are all finally ripening. I picked two cereal bags (I like to re-use them for harvesting in the garden) full of the 'Citrine', 'Sun Gold', 'Purple Tomato', and 'Fourth of July'. (The Purple Tomatoes are pictured above.)

I asked fellow community plot gardeners to harvest Okra while I was away, I think a few did, but I still came back to some past their prime. So I picked and composted those woody/long ones, then gathered any that looked decent.

The Cucamelon vine is also starting to be very productive and I gathered a handfull of those.

Elsewhere in the plot, the Basil plants have all gone to flower and I will not bother pinching them back any more. The Purple Pole Beans seem to have petered out and I think the 'Fairy Tale' Eggplant is done too. The 'Thriller' Squash has a few fruits still forming on the vine, so I'll leave that in for now.

Next week, the new Fall interns and I will be planting a lot of cool-season crops, so I'll need to clear out some areas for that.

Meanwhile, I'm gathering all the Dahlias, Zinnias, Gomphrena, etc. that I can from our plot and pollinator strip (and my home garden) for my Flower Arranging Talk/Demo at the DC State Fair this Sunday. It is FREE and open to all. Please join me at the Education Stage at 1:00pm for some fun playing with flowers! Then I'll be at the Main Stage judging the Flower Arranging Contest for even more flower fun!

What are you growing and harvesting in your garden this 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 15th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton"  into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).

Meet the New Fall 2026 Interns

This fall, I have taken on two editorial interns. Look for their author bylines in our upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine issues, our YouTube videos, GardenDC Podcast, and on this blog. As a first assignment, I asked them to write a short introduction to our readers so you can get to know them.

Hello everyone! My name is Jackson Wantman, and I am thrilled to be interning for the Washington Gardener this semester! A little bit about me: I am a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, and I also have a concentration in business management. I am originally from Needham, Massachusetts, which is just about 25 minutes south of Boston. I’ve always loved journalism and broadcasting, and I’m excited to bring that passion to this internship. My past journalism and writing experience is mostly in sports, as I’ve covered beats for one of our on-campus publications, WMUC Sports, calling games for student radio, and serving as the social media manager for the WMUC Sports social media pages. However, I’m very excited to branch out into this new field and produce so much different content for you all! Coming into this internship, I had no idea there were so many people passionate about gardening, and I’m grateful to be able to put those interests on display. You will see stories, profiles, videos, and more from me and the rest of the crew here, and I look forward to a fulfilling and fun semester!

Hi, my name is Jennifer Baxter and I am a sophomore journalism major at the University of Maryland (UMD) in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism! I hope to eventually minor in general business and voice in the near future. I am an active member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority at UMD, and on the side I try to act, write, and sing as much as possible. I have been a part of over eight choirs in my lifetime including the Maryland All State Choir in 2024. I am ecstatic to be interning for Washington Gardener Magazine this fall semester to learn more about the art of writing while also getting the opportunity to learn how to garden. On the UMD campus, I serve as social media director and a staff writer for Her Campus Maryland, a digital women’s magazine. I happily write the weekly newsletter writer for Stories Beneath the Shell, a digital on campus newspaper, and am the fundraising chair for the Society of Professional Journalists and a volunteer for Capital News Service as a camera and audio operator. Since 2023, I have created and continue to write my monthly column “Gen Z thru Jen B” for Stroll Ijamsville Magazine and am the self-published author of my poetry book, “Behind the Walls of a Beautiful Mind,” available on Amazon. In the little free time that I do have, I love to spend time with my friends and family whether it be while thrift shopping, record sifting, or relaxing at a coffee shop. On the opposite end of my interests, I enjoy going to the gym, playing basketball, and walking around my hometown neighborhood in Frederick, Maryland. I am honored to have the opportunity to walk our audience through a garden of book reviews, articles, and interviews this fall!

Monday Thoughts: “Summer's lease hath all too short a date...” ~ William Shakespeare

“Summer's lease hath all too short a date...” ~ William Shakespeare

GardenDC Podcast on Summer Break

GardenDC: The award-winning podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening and Beyond is taking a break for the end of summer and will be back soon with new episodes. While there is no new episode today, we recommend you re-listen to a past favorite or catch up on some that you might have missed. We also have the following suggestions of past episodes (listed below) that we think you will enjoy:

- GardenDC Podcast Episode 112: Summer Garden Refresh

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-112-summer.html

- GardenDC Podcast Episode 210: Fall Garden Prep

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2024/09/gardendc-podcast-episode-210-fall.html

- GardenDC Podcast Episode 212: Pumpkins and Squash

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2024/09/gardendc-podcast-episode-212-pumpkins.html

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! 

See how at: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/subscribe

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

And be sure to leave us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform plus share us on social media with #GardenDC, so other gardeners can find us too!

Fenton Friday: Zingy Zinnias and Citrine Success

 Ripe Tomato on Tomato 'Citrine' plant on July 20, 2026.

Guest Blog by Maya Hand

I had never gardened before this summer, beyond occasionally weeding with my mom when I was little! I grew up with my mom growing many herbs and flowering plants in our backyard. She had squash and zucchini some years, and she always had cherry tomatoes, which I enjoyed plucking and eating off the vine. She usually planted the tomato 'Super Sweet 100.'

 

On June 1, I transplanted tomato ‘Citrine’ and The Purple Tomato™ seedlings into the community garden plot on Fenton Street. I planted zinnia Zydeco™ Fire and zinnia ‘Crestar Fieldgrown Mix’ seeds in the pollinator strip.

 

There was a good deal of weekly weeding to do in the plot and pollinator strip throughout the summer. The main aggressors were morning glory vine, mulberry weed trees, yarrow, and crabgrass. The most ease I had pulling up the weeds was when using a Cobrahead weeder after a rain. The moisture that remained in the soil helped get the roots loose. There was one mulberry weed tree next to the Purple Tomato that persisted even though we kept it covered by a piece of old tile. I cut it back each week, along with uncovered side shoots.

 

I watered and weeded every Monday when fellow intern Koree, editor Kathy Jentz, and I went to the garden together. Kathy watered the plants during the rest of the time (except when rain did the watering for us). There were several Mondays when I added a bit of fish fertilizer to the water for the tomatoes.

 

The zinnia seeds were up by the end of the first week of June.

Zinnia seedlings on July 6, 2026.

On June 22, I added a tomato ‘Fourth of July’ seedling and an African marigold 'Lanna Lace' seedling to the same patch as the tomato 'Citrine' and The Purple Tomato™. I also top-dressed around the tomatoes with a mix of aged horse manure and coffee compost.

The first ripe 'Citrine' tomato appeared later that week -- these tomatoes are ready to eat when they turn a light golden yellow. By the end of June, the 'Citrine' tomato plant was continuing to produce fruit, and the Marigold had one flower and a few buds forming. Sometime in the second week of July, Kathy saw one 'Fourth of July' tomato ripening before it disappeared (likely eaten by a rodent). 

Since the zinnias had still not flowered by the last week of July, I thinned them out (removed several seedlings so they weren't crowding each other so much). The zinnias started blooming the following week! I regretfully forgot to take a photo of them in bloom.

We entered one flower from the 'Lanna Lace' marigold into the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in August, and it received a first place ribbon in one of the marigold categories. We also entered The Purple Tomato™ in the "Most Unusual Tomato" category, but they did not earn a ribbon, perhaps they were not fully ripe at that point.

Me with our first-place African Marigold 'Lanna Lace' flower,
at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, on August 18, 2026.

Of the tomato plants, the tomato 'Citrine' grew the largest and produced the most fruit. I did not see another 'Fourth of July' tomato after the one that disappeared. Though I only saw unripe tomatoes on The Purple Tomato™ plant, Kathy harvested some ripe ones when I was not at the plot. My last day at the garden was August 10. By then, I had tasted a few 'Citrine' tomatoes!

Tomato 'Citrine' and African Marigold 'Lanna Lace' on August 10, 2026.

Despite being told by two cooks in my life (my mom and stepdad) that I have a developed palate, I am unable to describe the flavor and texture of the 'Citrine' tomatoes in a way that is distinct from similar cherry tomatoes. I don’t have a very developed intra-vegetable palate!

I tried the nine varieties at our Tomato Taste at the FRESHFARM Silver Spring Market and liked 'Citrine' the best. (Note: Those tomatoes were from farms in the DMV, not us.) But I was too busy managing the table to pay close attention to the experience of eating each variety. I will say that I like the 'Citrine' tomatoes' combination of lightly sweet with a touch of sour, and there's that satisfying snap that all fresh cherry tomatoes have when you bite into them.

What are you growing and harvesting in your garden this week?

About the Author: Maya Hand was an intern with Washington Gardener Magazine this summer 2026 session.

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 15th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton"  into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).

Devil's Trumpet (Datura spp.) Plant Profile

Datura Plant Profile

Devil’s Trumpet (Datura spp.) is an herbaceous (non-woody) plant that is an annual in our region. It is hardy to USDA Zones 9-10. Some Datura are native to the southwestern United States and others originate in the Caribbean and Central America.  

The large, fragrant flowers bloom from mid-summer until frost. The plants tend to sprawl on the ground and can form a mound of 3-feet wide or more.

The plant is moth-pollinated. Datura wrightii is the host plant for the larvae of the Hawk moth (Sphingidae). It is a good choice for a nighttime or moon gardens.

It is often confused with Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia sp.). However, Brugmansia blooms points down, while Datura’s flowers face up or out. Also, Brugmansia’s fruit is smooth, while the Datura fruit or seed capsule is prickly. They are both members of the nightshade family and are considered poisonous in all parts, so are essentially deer-resistant, but should also be kept away from small children and pets—and handled with care.

The common name jimsonweed refers to Datura stramonium also known as Mad Apple or Thorn Apple amongst many other common names. It was used by indigenous peoples of the Americas as a hallucinogen and intoxicant.

Datura grows best in full sun and in well-draining soils. It is quite drought-tolerant once established. Apply an all-purpose fertilizer regularly to encourage continual blooming.

 To propagate Datura, sow the seeds indoors in February or directly outdoors after the last frost of spring. Collect the seed capsules before they open up, if you do not wish it to self-sow in future years.

 Datura: You Can Grow That!

 The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio, Photos, and Text by Kathy Jentz

Video and Editing by Koree Perry

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~ Podcast: GardenDC

If you liked this video, we think you will like these other Plant Profiles:

~Jewels of Opar Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2025/10/jewels-of-opar-plant-profile.html

~ Celosia Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/11/celosia-plant-profile.html

~ Monkey Balls Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/11/plant-profile-monkey-balls-gomphocarpus.html

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

Monday Thoughts: “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” ~  Henry David Thoreau

Tomato Taste Results: Sun Sugar's Sweet Victory

The rain held off and we had more than 200 people come to yesterday's Washington Gardener Magazine 16th Annual Tomato Taste at the FreshFarm Silver Spring Market. Here are the results of the ballots submitted.

1. Sun Sugar from Mock's Greenhouse   
2. Citrine from The Farm at Our House
3. Sun Gold from Ben's Produce
4. Cherokee Purple from Mock's Greenhouse   
5. Juliet from Quaker Valley Orchards  
6. Spiral Sweet Grape Tomato from Spiral Path Farm    
7. Beefsteak from The Farm at Our House        
8. San Marzano from Keep Step Farm
9. Purple Cherry from Mock's Greenhouse 

This year the top three tomatoes had the vast majority of votes -- those sweet cherry varieties are hard to beat! Last year's winner was 'Citrine' so not a big surprise that it ranked high again.  The rest of the pack were separated by just a few votes. This shows you that there were no real "losers" in this batch and that every tomato had its share of hard-core fans. Talking to folks, after they voted, they each insisted their chosen tomato was far superior to the others and I heard raves for each one of the 9 choices. (My personal faves were 'Juliet' and 'Beefsteak'.)

Big thanks to Chef Peter Andros of Gourmet & Gourmand who joined us this year and shared three delicious tomato recipe tastes.

Thank you also to Dimitri Olive Oil for the Balsamic Viniagrette and to Spring Gap Mountain Creamery  for the fresh Mozarella they donated for the prize package!

In addition to the tastings, many people stopped by to create colorful tomato art and to pick up the free tomato seeds, growing tips, stickers, and recipes that we gave out.

We gave out a gift bag full of gardening goodies, tomatoes, and market money to one of the tomato taste voters (and the balsamic vinegar plus mozarella!). Congratulations to Maxine Siegler (pictured above)!  

Most of the taste attendees were local, though we also had many who came quite a distance. About two-thirds live in Silver Spring. Another third live close by in Washington, DC or the neighboring towns of Takoma Park, Bethesda, etc. and the rest were from farther out spots in the region from Baltimote to Northern Virginia.  A few were from WAY far outside of the area, we even had votes from Albuquerque, New Mexico!

Thank you to all who came and participated. Thanks to the farmers for growing great tomatoes and to FreshFarm Markets staff for hosting us. Special thanks also to our interns (Koree and Maya) and volunteers (Laura, Nick, and Alexandra) for helping with all the tomato sample cutting, vote tallying, and helping greet all the tomato tasters in the short, but jam-packed two-hour event!

GardenDC Podcast Episode 300: Looking Back on 6+ Years of Garden Wisdom and Sharing

When we launched this podcast back in March 2020, our goal was simple: to help you grow your best garden in the unique Mid-Atlantic climate – but our listenership quickly grew worldwide and includes gardening enthusiasts from every part of the planet and growing zone. We couldn't have reached this milestone without you, our dedicated listeners. But most importantly, we wouldn't be here without the incredible wealth of knowledge shared by our past guest experts.

Over the last 300 episodes, we have hosted the brightest minds in horticulture. We’ve learned about native plants from local conservationists. We’ve discovered urban agriculture secrets from community leaders. Extension agents have saved our tomatoes from blight. Author experts have inspired us to redesign our shade gardens.

To every researcher, author, designer, and everyday dirt-under-the-fingernails gardener who has shared their time on this show: thank you. You are the heartbeat of the GardenDC community.

To celebrate, we are doing something special. I have asked some of our favorite past guests to share some nuggets of gardening wisdom with us. They’ve recorded growing tips and busted some garden myths and much more...  

Note that the GardenDC podcast is taking a short break and will be back soon with new episodes. 

If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 100: Behind the Scenes

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/04/gardendc-podcast-episode-100-behind.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 200: Secrets of a Gardening Podcast

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2024/06/gardendc-podcast-episode-200-secrets-of.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 250: Garden Hacks

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2025/08/gardendc-podcast-episode-250-garden.html

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! 

See how at: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/subscribe

Show Notes will be posted after 8/31/2026.

This episode is archived at:https://open.spotify.com/episode/3b1cihuXUD2n4HnNE4dspV?si=4lJITQgHQp66hLz6WEwXXg

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

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• Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc
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We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

And be sure to leave us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform plus share us on social media with #GardenDC, so other gardeners can find us too!

Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz

Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany