GardenDC Podcast Episode 303: Modern Cottage Gardening

In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Pamela Hubbard, author of The Contemporary Cottage Garden*. The plant profile is on Ghost Pipes 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 the Last Word on "One Big Night" from Christy Page of GreenPrints.

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

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 154: Townhouse Gardening

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2023/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-154-townhouse.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 66: Small-Space Gardening

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-66-small-space.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 113: Gardening with Children

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-113-gardening.html

Show Notes will be posted after 10/21/2026.

This episode is archived at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ghh2BDYxVZxjnJPL7qSmB?si=5eBdb11cTRSVRRyY2ryVEA

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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

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*You can order Pamela's book at https://amzn.to/4jMqxjJ

This link is to our Amazon affiliate account and we may earn a few pennies from these sales, but it wil not impact your purchase price.

Fenton Friday: October Blue Skies

After a rainy weekend, this week's weather was one of those glorious fall stretches of mild temperatures and pure blue skies. Here is a picture a took of the tall Jerusalem Artichokes (aka Sunchokes) in bloom in our Pollinator Garden strip.

I picked lots of Dahlias and gave away several small bouquets of them.

I harvested the last of the spring-sown 'Short 'n Sweet' Carrots too -- one of which was rather comically large! (See pic at right.)

The Fall Peas are all up and doing well -- and so is the Field Pea cover crop we sowed in last week. The Lettuces and Cilantro are all coming along well also, but we are stull waiting on the Parsley to show up (that is to be expected as it takes a long time for them to germinate and appear).

I'm leaving the Okra up for another week or two as I want to collect the last pods for seed saving.

We pulled the Tomato vines and planted in their place fours rows of seeds: 'French Breakfast' Radish, 'Cosmic Purple' Carrots, ' King Henry' Violas, and 'Swiss Giant' Pansy. I don't have high hopes for the latter two, but we'll see what happens.

The Basil is still doing well, so I have yet to pull it out. In a few weeks, we'll get the Garlic planted in its place.

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). 

Win a Vegetable Garden Deck in our October 2026 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest

For our October 2026 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, we are giving away a Vegetable Garden Deck by Adams Media (Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3VAxw5u, value $19). 

   Packed with essential information to help you grow your favorite vegetables and herbs, this deck is a great refresh for anyone looking to start their summer garden. Each of the 50 cards provides easy-to-understand insights about planting times, watering requirements, and harvesting guidelines, plus gorgeous photos—all contained in a convenient box made to withstand the great outdoors! Both expert and beginner gardeners are sure to find something useful while leafing through these cards.

   To enter to win the grow bags, send an email by 5:00pm on October 31 to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail.com with “Vegetable Garden Deck” in the Subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in our October 2026 issue and why. Please include your full name and mailing address. Winners will be announced and notified on/about November 1. Replies might be published. 

Pitcher Plant Profile

Pitcher Plant Profile

Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia spp.) is a carnivorous perennial plant that looks like a tall tube with a hood over the top. The flowers emerge in spring on a slender stem and last for two to three weeks.

There are about eight species of pitcher plants and they can hybridize easily to create hundreds of complex hybrids, backcrosses, and cultivars.

They come in a variety of colors and patterns ranging from white with spots to streaky yellows to deep veiny maroons.

Pitcher plants are native to the United States from southern Alabama, through Florida and Georgia, to the coastal plains of southern Virginia and the Carolinas. They are hardy to USDA Zones 5 to 9.

They can grow to 3–4 feet tall and have a clumping habit.

They prefer to grow in full sun. They are a true bog plant, so require moist soil that never dries out entirely, but that is also well-draining. The ideal soil mix is a blend of sphagnum peat moss and sand or perlite at a 2-to-1 ratio.

Do not use any fertilizer and avoid chlorinated water as well.

After their winter dormancy when the pitchers die back, you can repot and divide the large rhizomes to create more plants from each growth point.

Pitcher Plant: You Can Grow That!

 

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio, Video, Photos, and Text by Kathy Jentz

Editing by Jackson Wantman

 

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

~ Devil’s Trumpet Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2026/08/devils-trumpet-datura-spp-plant-profile.html

~ Jewels of Opar Plant Profile

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

~ Monkey Balls Plant Profile

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

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Monday Thoughts: “I mean, what’s not to love about flowers?” ~ Robin Hammer

“I mean, what’s not to love about flowers?” ~ Robin Hammer

October 2026 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine: Blue Mist Shrub, Eastern Towhee, Saffron, Beetles, and much more…

 

The October 2026 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine is out.

It is posted and archived online at:https://issuu.com/washingtongardener/docs/washington_gardener_magazine_october_2026

Inside this issue:

• Falling for Blue Mist Shrub
• Eastern Towhee: Drink Your Tea!  
• Meet the Beetles
• Vanessa Shields and the ‘Native Hut Journal’
• Lessons Learned from a First-Time Native Garden
• Tulips: the Ultimate Spring Classic
• Garden Book Reviews
• Grow Your Own Luxury Spice: Saffron
• DIY: Mosaic Stepping Stone
• A Taste of the UMD Fig Trials
• Win a Vegetable Garden Deck
• New Little Bluestem Grass
• and much more…

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

>>  Subscribe to Washington Gardener Magazine today to have the monthly digital 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

GardenDC Podcast Episode 302: Greenhouse Revival

In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Leslie F. Halleck, author of Home Greenhouse Revival*. The plant profile is on Cigar Flower (Cuphea ignea) 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 the Last Word on "Growing Points" from Christy Page of GreenPrints.

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

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 83: Greenhouses for Home Gardeners

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/11/gardendc-podcast-episode-83-greenhouses.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 256: Perennial Secrets with Matt Mattus

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2025/09/gardendc-podcast-episode-256-perennial.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 59: Gardening with Tropical Plants

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/05/gardendc-podcast-episode-59-gardening.html

Show Notes will be posted after 10/15/2026.

This episode is archived at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/54hYp3kjvPng4Vu2AoiIAZ?si=1lfgwZMiTHygwoLQ4T8X6g

The GardenDC podcast is also available on -

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gardendc/id1502631179
• Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc
• RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/gardendc-G2ql5V
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• Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/5587897
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• Headliner: https://play.headliner.app/podcast/37086
• Himalaya: https://www.himalaya.com/courses/gardendc-1747568
• Ivy: https://ivy.fm/podcast/gardendc-940013
• Listen Notes: https://lnns.co/VIfcBjWRnw6
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• TuneIn: http://tun.in/pj7Sb
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• YouTube: https://youtube.com/washingtongardenermagazine

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

PIN THIS FOR LATER!

*You can order Leslie's book at https://amzn.to/4jDK3yR

This link is to our Amazon affiliate account and we may earn a few pennies from these sales, but it wil not impact your purchase price. 

Fenton Friday: Fall Soil Test

After a period of fall-like rainy, cool weather, we are 85+ degrees again today. It is likely the last day in the 80s for the rest of the year, but my Eggplant decided to set new flowers in any case (see pic above). I hope the bees enjot that bloom as I'll be yanking the plant and the neighboring Peppers and Okra very soon. 

Because of the heat, I threw a row cover over the 'Mesclun Sweet Salad Mix' and neighboring greens and Cilantro.

I picked more Okra, Cucamelons, Beans, and Tomatoes.

I still haven't pulled the Basil plants yet to make one last big batch of pesto to store for winter, but will do so soon.

The Blackberry has a few fruits and new flowers on it, but the forecast says low below 50 next week, so I don't expect much more from it.

In the Pollinator Strip, the flowers on the Jerusalem Artichoke are starting to open and get quite top heavy. I tied a bunch of them back as they were leaning out into the sidewalk.

Thanks to Just Good Soil for sending a soil kit to try out. I submitted a sample from our community garden plot and here are the results:

Raw Soil Data

A closer look at your soil, results are provided in parts per million (ppm).

Nutrient	Your Results	Optimal Range	Rating
pH	6.25	5.8-7.0	Optimal
Total Nitrogen (N)	8.22	32.0-60.0	Low
Nitrate (NO3-N)	4.02	-	-
Ammonium (NH4-N)	4.19	-	-
Phosphorus (P)	20.13	8.0-20.0	High
Potassium (K)	32.2	38.0-80.0	Low
Sulfur (S)	8.51	7.0-22.0	Optimal
Calcium (Ca)	673.37	80.0-320.0	High
Magnesium (Mg)	119.58	27.0-70.0	High
Sodium (Na)	15.37	0.5-30.0	Optimal
Iron (Fe)	3.14	3.0-10.0	Optimal
Manganese (Mn)	12.24	4.0-10.0	High
Zinc (Zn)	0.24	0.1-0.25	Optimal
Copper (Cu)	0.08	0.06-0.3	Optimal
Boron (B)	0.15	0.2-0.6	Low

I was surprised at the low Nitrogen (N), but maybe doing this in a bed, where I had just pulled the squash vines, the results makes sense as the soil was likely very depleted over the growing season. The Potassiumm (K) is also low. Overall a good report though. Following their recommendations, I am adding a fertilizer high in N and K, but low in Phosphorous (P) as I am quite high in that. In that same bed, we also planted a cover crop of Field Peas in order to further "fix" Nitrogen in the soil over this winter.

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).