Our Favorite Mid-Atlantic Trees and Why We Love Them

Corkscrew Sassafras Tree
by Ronald Springwater

Congratulations to Suzanne Ives Dunkley of Alexandria, VA, who won a signed copy of  City of Trees by Melanie Choukas-Bradley (Retail value: $28) in our June 2014 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest.

Washington, DC, boasts more than 300 species of trees from America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and City of Trees has been the authoritative guide for locating, identifying, and learning about them for more than 25 years.

We asked our readers to tell us their favorite trees and here are some of their responses:

“My favorite tree: gingko. I love its ancient history and rediscovery, its leaves and awkward spiky shape, and I especially love my gingko tree, which has two trunks because of early trauma - it's a survivor.”

- Erica Smith, Germantown, MD

“My favorite tree is the Eastern redbud.  I love this native tree's compact size, it's elegant sculptural form, and the beautiful fuchsia flowers in early Spring.  The flowers are edible too!”

- Madeline Caliendo, Washington, DC

“My favorite tree is the absolutely unique sassafras located in the National Arboretum on Mt. Hamilton where the azaleas are found (pictured above). It twists around itself to resemble a corkscrew.”

 - Ronald Springwater, Washington, DC

“Any day I am asked, I might choose a different "favorite" tree… I will say that today my favorite tree is a Sycamore tree - because of the beauty of the peeling bark, the stark whiteness of the trunk and the stately way the trees line certain watery passages such as the Potomac, particularly visibly in winter.  [But tomorrow, my favorite tree will be a Persimmon, because of the interesting "crocodile" blocky bark, the unusual form of the tree and the preference many birds seem to have for the tree - at least the one along my property line.]”
- Linette Lander, Takoma Park, MD

“Eight years ago the ancient white oak that stood guard over our backyard relinquished its post. It had stood for 100 years but finally laid itself down when its forked trunk did what forked trunks tend to do eventually: split down the middle. On that day, I realized that oak trees are my favorite, strong and constant, beautiful yet resilient. It had sheltered us from many Atlantic storms, such as the nor’easters that pummel us in the mid-atlantic from time to time, or the occasional wayward hurricane. It allowed hostas to flourish in its shade and songbirds to frolic in its canopy. Skinks and centipedes slid over its exposed roots while raccoons and black snakes lazed in its branches. The oak tree is a true microcosm of life. When it is gone, you realize there was none like it.”

-         Suzanne Ives Dunkley of Alexandria, VA

“My favorite tree (right now) is the Japanese threadleaf maple in my backyard, because it provides cover for the fledging bunnies who were born in its shadow.  I can see it from my basement door each morning and, often as not, a rabbit is resting beneath its umbrella like branches.  It also managed to collect forget-me-not volunteers at its root line, and they are far more welcoming than the plantain weeds that I never get around to pulling!  My yard has dozens of much larger trees, mostly natives, but this one, with its protective shape and showy colors (it's the gren type), is my current favorite.”

-         Elaine Dynes, Silver Spring, MD

-          

“My favorite tree is most definitely the Sweet Bay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)! I have mine planted in what can only be described as a raised, stone alter, so I can smell it from most of the rooms in my house. I first smelled and saw one, of all places, at the Cactoctin Zoo and it immediately went on 'the list'. It's fair to say that I will never live in a home without this tree nearby :).”

- Alison Mrohs, WDC region

“That is difficult to answer because I love many different trees for different reasons. For now I'll say the dogwood because its flower has always been a favorite of my mother's. Because of that it was probably one of the first flowers I could recognize and name as a child. I love how it lights up the woods in spring and how the vivid red berries feed the cardinals and squirrels in the fall.”

- Renay Lang, Leesburg, VA

What are YOUR favorite trees and why?

Fenton Friday: Turnip the Heat!

Turnip

This week at my community garden plot at the corner of Fenton and Rt. 410 in downtown Silver Spring, MD, the heat moved in. We had one wonderful overnight rain, but otherwise dry, windy, and hot. Surprisingly though my broccoli (which I meant to pull out weeks ago) is still producing nice little heads and my lettuce has yet to bolt. My sugarsnap peas though are looking pretty fried. The strawberry harvest has ended too.

'Danvers' Carrot

The 'Danvers' carrots and 'Purple Top" turnips are getting a nice size on them.I plucked a few early 'Sungold' tomatoes, sorry, no photo, too yummy to wait for a camera.

Lettuce mix

I harvested all the garlic as few days ago. Last fall, I cut way back on how many cloves I planted, but I still have over 20 heads and some of them are as big as baseballs. A few are puny though, guess I will eat those first and save one of the bug guys for planting again this fall. They are all now curing in my sunroom and the cats are taking turns chewing on the brown-tipped foliage.











 

Calendula

I'm terribly behind on all my gardening chores. I did manage to plant some green beans and a small cantaloupe. Maybe this weekend I will get a few hours to be able to get everything else in and the rest of the plot weeded and tidy.


How is your edible garden growing?

Win a Signed Copy of City of Trees by Melanie Choukas-Bradley

For our June 2014 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away a signed copy of City of Trees by Melanie Choukas-Bradley. (Retail value: $28.)
   Washington, DC, boasts more than 300 species of trees from America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and City of Trees has been the authoritative guide for locating, identifying, and learning about them for more than twenty-five years. The third edition is fully revised, updated, and expanded and includes an eloquent new foreword by the Washington Post’s garden editor, Adrian Higgins.
   To enter to win City of Trees, send an email to: WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on June 30 with “City of Trees” in the subject line and in the body of the email, please also include your full name and mailing address. Tell us: “Your favorite tree and why.” The book’s winner will be announced and notified by July 1.

Video Wednesday: Vote for Woodridge School Garden in WDC

Vote for Woodridge School Garden in the Guaranteed Rate Neighborhood Give Back Challenge here: http://tinyurl.com/l4ukq49

"The Woodridge Garden will directly improve science education, nutrition, and environmental awareness for over 500 preschool to 8th grade students. Their families will benefit as students develop interest in healthy food sources and cooking. The surrounding community will be an active partner, gaining a neighborhood garden and increased access to healthy foods."

Assessing the Winter Damage ~ Washington Gardener Enews ~ June 2014

The Washington Gardener Enews ~ June 2014 issue is now out. It is also posted and archived online at:  

http://issuu.com/washingtongardener/docs/wgenews-jun14/1

 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

• Back Issue Sale
• June-July To-Do List
• Magazine Excerpt: Profile of Patterson Clark
• Latest Blog Links
• Local Garden Events Listings
• Assessing the Winter Damage
• New ‘Ruby Fusion' Weigela
• Reader Contest to Win a copy of "City of Trees"

Subscribe to Washington Gardener Magazine today to have the monthly enewsletter sent to your inbox as a PDF several days before it is available online. 

Fenton Friday: Open Garden Potluck

 

You are invited to join us TOMORROW (Saturday, June 21 -- the eve of summer solstice) for an OPEN GARDEN POTLUCK from 5-7pm at the Fenton Street Community Garden at the corner of Fenton and Rt 410.

We will throw open wide the front gate for YOU, our garden neighbors, to come in and tour the gardens, ask us garden questions, see our fancy cistern, etc. Children are most welcome.

Please bring a dish to share. We have paperware and cutlery, soft drinks and ice, chips and salsa, and cookies.

As you likely know, parking is tight as we are on a dead-end strip, so please walk or bike over. If you must drive, there is a small public lot near the end of the 900 block of Philadelphia near the Lotus Cafe and also the public lot down Fenton next to the Greyhound and behind the World Building.

(It looks like the rain should stop well before 4pm, but just in case it is storming at 5pm, note that the Rain Date is Sunday, June 22 from 5-7pm.)

PS Bring a folding chair or camp chair, if you have one, as seating will be limited.

 

 

Video Wednesday: Agastache, a Native Plant with Bling

 

Stephanie Cohen, “The Perennial Diva,” spoke on "Native Plants with Bling" at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC, on May 9, 2014, National Public Gardens Day. This short video is on Agastache, a great plant for attracting pollinators to your garden and it is very appropriate that I'm finally getting a chance to edit and post this during National Pollinator Week.

Serviceberry Sauce Recipe

What is a Serviceberry?

It is the fruit of a small, native tree the Amelanchier canadensis, which grows wild from Maine to the Carolinas. It is also called Saskatoonberry, Juneberry, Shadberry, Shadbush, and many other names. Serviceberry is being used extensively now in native landscaping so you can find small groves it in many public areas. (As with all fruit gleaning, please be sure to get the property owners permission before picking any.)

   It is similar to a blueberry in size and flavor, but is much sweeter and has a small, edible seed inside each berry. The seed is reminiscent of an almond in flavor.

   The season to pick the berries is late May to mid June. They do not have to be fully blue to be ripe, so pick them when they are any shade from burgundy to purple. Do so quickly before the birds do so and before any signs of rust (orange powder) appear on the fruit, which happens in our area's high heat and humidity. 

   You can adapt most any blueberry recipe and substitute in serviceberry -- just drastically drop the amount of sugar or leave it out entirely.*

*Yes, that is right, NO sugar or sweeteners needed!

Use this Serviceberry Sauce by adding it to:

- yogurt

- vanilla ice cream

- cheesecake

- poundcake

- angel food cake

- graham crackers

- toast

- oatmeal

- pancakes

- waffles

- turkey

- pork

- tilapia

- any more suggestions?

Serviceberry Sauce Recipe
3 tbsp. cornstarch

1 cup water
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 quart fresh or frozen Serviceberries

Cook and stir constantly over medium heat until thickened.

You can add in 3 tbsp. of Grand Marnier, if desired.

Serve warm or cool. Can it in small jars or freeze for use later.

Pin this for later:

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Sample Plants

For this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day share, I thought I'd take a photo of one of the many sample plants that I get set to review as a professional garden communicator. This tropical hisbiscus bloom opened up today and it is 'Spin the Bottle' in the HibisKiss Viva plants collection from Floragem.

I get set a number of plants every year. Some are drop-dead gorgeous, like this one. In the last few years I have had some real traffic-stoppers (literally) and have enjoyed trialing many new echinacea, coreopsis, dozens of heuchera, etc.


Every year in Washington Gardener Magazine I share a "New Plants and Picks" spread and almost all of these choices come from the plants I've personally trialed and know work well for us in the Mid-Atlantic US. I also enjoy sharing new plant discoveries that I know are coming to market soon in the "Spotlight" column of the monthly Washington Gardener Enewsletter.

The only plant I think I have to say "enough!" to are all the bare-root roses. I do not want to sound ungrateful, but there IS a such thing as too much of a good thing. I just don't have one-inch left in my garden in a spot with the full sun that they need. Recently, I visited a convent in Washington, DC, while on the Brookland House and Garden Tour and I noticed they had a half-acre or so of clear, sun-filled space just crying out for planting. So I'll be taking any more I get down to donate there.

The majority of trial plants I receive are like the annual above. I have plenty of containers to stuff annuals and move around into available sun spots... and when those spots are gone, I start hanging and stacking them up on any wall or fence space that I can, so there is always room for more of them.

What is blooming in your garden today?

Fenton Friday: Is THAT my plot?

Have you ever had one of those "Is that MY garden!?!" moments? Well, I had one when arriving at my community garden plot this week. I rounded the corner and had to stop in my tracks to figure out which plot was mine. I was so disoriented! It seems our plots have gone from little scraggly rows of seedlings to booming jungles of green overnight. All the heavy rains we have gotten of late have definitely made the plots burst with activity.

The strawberries and peas have started to peter out. Lots of salad greens still and today I cut a handful of garlic scapes.

I also harvested several small heads of broccoli. I was supposed to have yanked that out a few weeks back and planted the tomatoes in that spot, but never got a chance to do so between my busy schedules and the daily rains. Procrastination pays though as this is the third harvest of broccoli I have gotten from the plants.

How is your edible garden growing?

Video Wednesday: Thinning Vegetable Plants in the Garden

Here is a new video I shot out at the community garden plot with Chris Mills, local realtor. I demonstrate how to thin out vegetable seedlings and what to do with the discards -- eat them!