Monday Thoughts: “When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.” ~ Minnie Aumonier

 

“When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.”  

~ Minnie Aumonier

Win the Daylily ‘Handwriting on the Wall’ from Three Shovels Farm in our May 2023 Washington Gardener Reader Contest

For our May 2023 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, we are giving away a Daylily ‘Handwriting on the Wall’ from Three Shovels Farm (value $18). 

  This beautiful daylily was created by renowned daylily breeder Karol Emmerich. It has 6-inch, triangular-shaped flowers that are peach with a wine-purple eye. Like watercolor paint, the purple color blends to lavender toward the yellow throat for a stunning display. A thin, purple picotee edge frames the blooms. It is a short plant, growing to about 24 inches high, and is a mid-season bloomer. Three Shovels Farm (https://threeshovelsfarm.com/) is a small, family-owned mail-order nursery in South Carolina that specializes in daylilies, Louisiana iris, Japanese iris, and Siberian iris.

  To enter, send an email to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail.com by 5:00pm on May 31 with “Daylily” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in this May 2023 issue and why. Please include your full name and mailing address. The winner will be announced and notified about June 1.

Watch #NoMowMay Discussion While GardenDC POdcast is on Break

#NoMowMay Discussion 

The GardenDC Podcast is on a short break. We encourage you to catch up with some of the past episodes that you may have missed or to re-listen to a past favorite.

You can also watch the No Mow May Discussion recording with Graham Gardner, author of Tiny and Wild (https://amzn.to/43eNdxU), and Kathy Jentz, author of Groundcover Revolution(https://amzn.to/3pOuoTw). The LIVE discussion was held on YouTube on Friday, 5/19/23. They discuss the pros and cons of the #NoMowMay movement and how both our books can offer more sustainable lawn alternatives.

You can watch it at the link above or at:

https://www.youtube.com/live/FU7e0ofgu7s?feature=share

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

Fenton Friday: Scapeshifters

It was a fairly dry week again, so mostly I've been weeding and watering at the plot.

I picked a few ripe strawberries and a handful of Peas pods this week. 

The Garlic scapes have formed (see pic above). This might be the latest they've ever done so. I cut them and plan to turn them into pesto.

The Spinach and Salad Greens are growing like gangbusters, so I plan to harvest those and bring them to a Memorial Day picnic to share.

I forgot to put a cover cloth on the Potato plants (to keep out the Colorado Potato Beetle coming soon), but I'll try to attend to that this week.

The loaded berries on the Blackberry plants are starting to darken, but I think are still several weeks away from fully ripening.

I'm leaving the bolted Arugula and Daikon Radish alone to form seedheads so I can harvest those for next winter's Seed Exchanges.

Next week, the new interns start and we'll be planting Tomatoes, Peppers, etc. and starting annual cutting flowers from seed. Speaking of which, right next to the plot number sign a cosmos plant has popped up. It is nice to see it reseeded there and I'll leave it in place as it is not sticking out too much into the front pathway.

How is your garden plot growing 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 12th 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).

May 2023 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine –Bearded Iris, Corn in Containers, the Eastern Phoebe, and much more…

The May 2023 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine is out.

Inside this issue:

·         Bearded Iris Plant Profile

·         A Visit to Pope Farm

·         Attracting the Eastern Phoebe

·         Meet Jeff Kushner of Plants Alive!

·         Growing Corn in Containers

·         Be Alert for the Allium Leaf Miner

·         Begonias Make a Comeback!

·         New Tulip Named in Honor of First Lady Jill Biden

·         Multifunctional Patch Offers Early Detection of Plant Diseases

·         Great Gardening Books Reviewed

·         Keep Plants Thriving Despite the Heat

·         DC-MD-VA Gardening Events Calendar

·         and much more…

 

Note that any submissions, event listings, and advertisements for the June 2023 issue are due by June 5.

 

>>  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: http://www.washingtongardener.com/index_files/subscribe.htm

Discuss "A Way to Garden" with the Washington Gardener Magazine Garden Book Club

For our next Garden Book Club selection, we will be discussing: 

A Way to Garden: A Hands-On Primer for Every Season by Margaret Roach 

NOTE: We will be discussing the 2019 updated edition.

You can order it new or used at our Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3qbBku3

or at our Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/a/79479/9781604698770

“A Way to Garden prods us toward that ineffable place where we feel we belong; it’s a guide to living both in and out of the garden.” —The New York Times Book Review

Our Summer 2023 club meeting will be on Thursday, August 10 from 6:30-8pm ET via Zoom. 

To join us, register here: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqf-GgrDouHNazm_h-eaAAxP2EDXkZ7EDg

The Washington Gardener Magazine's Garden Book Club meets quarterly via Zoom and is free and open to all. We will announce the details of each upcoming meeting about two months in advance. Please check back on this blog for schedule updates and announcements.

Want to read ahead? The next book club selections are

• Fall 2023 - Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers by Erica Hannickel
• Winter 2023/24 - American Roots by Nick McCullough, Allison McCullough, and Teresa Woodard

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Monday Thoughts: “There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” - Elizabeth Lawrence

“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” 

- Elizabeth Lawrence

GardenDC on Short Break

We hit two big milestones with the GardenDC Podcast recently. The first was publishing our 150th episode (in a little over three years since launching in March 2020!) and the other was surpassing 100,000 listens to our show. We are so grateful to all of our show's supporters, guests, helpers, followers, and listeners! We couldn't be more proud!!!

The GardenDC Podcast is on a short break. We encourage you to catch up with some of the past episodes that you may have missed or to re-listen to a past favorite.

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

The GardenDC podcast is available on -

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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.

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: Peas Popping

It was a fairly dry week again, so mostly I've been weeding and watering at the plot.

The Peas jumped into flower and formed pods this week. In the pic above you can see the Arugula behind it has definitely bolted, but I still picked a few leaves to add to my egg salad sandwich yesterday and they tasted fine.

Another plant that is flowering/bolting this week is the Daikon Radish. I suppose I should pull that whole row soon and let the Carrots next to them stay and grow a bit longer.

We had a couple of Strawberries ripen and the Garlic is starting to form scapes.

The rest of the Greens are growing very well and the Potato plants are looking really robust. That does make me think I should put a cover cloth on them soon, as I really fear the Colorado Potato Beetle coming in soon due to the warmer weather.

I did manage to somewhat cover the loaded Blackberry plants with a plastic mesh, but any determined creature could get under and grab the fruits, so as the ripen I just need to be more vigilant to pick them asap.

The risk of frost and freeze has passed, so I'll be planting the summer crops from seed and the tomato, pepper, and herb seedlings soon.

I also want to revamp the cutting flower beds. The Yarrow is already blooming, which looks nice at this stage and a BIG surprise today was seeing at least two Dahlia plants had popped up. These were tubers I had failed to dig and store last fall, but I was sure they had been killed by a early freeze, so I didn't bother! I'm happy to see them return and will look forward to seeing which flowers they produce.

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 12th 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).

Bletilla Plant Profile

Bletilla Plant Profile

Bletilla (Bletilla striata) is also known as Chinese ground orchid, Urn orchid, or Hyacinth orchid. This beautiful perennial plant is known for its pink, purple, or white flowers that resemble a Cattleya orchid. It is in fact a hardy terrestrial orchid.

It stays in bloom for several weeks in the garden and makes a great cut-flower. This is an easy-to-grow and low-maintenance plant. When not in bloom, the plant has elegant tall, accordion-pleated foliage to admire.

Bletilla prefers to be planted in well-draining soils amended with composted material. Give it a top dressing of shredded leaves in spring and fall. It likes consistent moisture but not to sit in wet ground. It does well in part shade out of the harsh afternoon sun.

It is hardy to USDA zones 5-8 and it is reported to be deer-resistant.

Bletilla forms clumps over time that can be divided and moved around the garden. Plant them shallowly (about one to three inches in depth). It is best to buy mature plants. If you purchase them from bare-root pseudobulbs, note that a new planting can take two to five years to bloom.

Bletilla: You Can Grow That!

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine as part of our Plant Profile series for Mid-Atlantic USA gardeners.

Video, audio, and text by Kathy Jentz

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Monday Thoughts: “Gardeners are stewards of plants, which makes them stewards of everything.” - Doug Tallamy

“Gardeners are stewards of plants, which makes them stewards of everything.” - Doug Tallamy

GardenDC Podcast Episode 150: Sourcing Native Plants

In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Amanda McClean and Claudio Vazquez, co-owners of Izel Plants about sourcing native plants. Izel Native Plants developed a unique model in horticulture by consolidating the inventories of several native plant nurseries in a user-friendly website. The plant profile is on Baptisia and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events in the What's New segment. We close out with HOMESTEADucation 

podcaster and author Angela Ferraro-Fanning, who shares the Last Word on Food Forest gardening.

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

See how at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

Show Notes will be available after 5/16/2023.

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 20: Native Plants, Diversity in the Garden, and Sunflowers
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-20-native.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 134: Carex for the Mid-Atlantic Region

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2023/01/gardendc-podcast-episode-134-carex-for.html

This episode is archived at: 

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/episodes/Sourcing-Native-Plants-e23qm14

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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.

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

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