In The Zone

Our latest Washington Examiner article is now out. All about planting zones. I was only able to scratch the surface of that vast subject with this piece. You could easily fill a book about all the little micro-climates and zonal differences we have in our region. Just walking from one block to another in my neighborhood I can see vast differences. One block north, but facing south, a house always has February Gold daffodils blooming at least a week prior to mine. But then I go a few blocks south and the homes bordering Rock Creek Park seem to get frost earlier and more often than I do in a street-side property.

Read it online (Nov 17 edition - page 64) or grab the print version at street boxes around town today - the article is on R8 (Real Estate section - page 8).

The same piece is also in the Baltimore Examiner, which is posted here (see Nov 17 edition - page 106). You can of course get the print version in Balitmore and its surrounding counties also. The article is on R38 (Real Estate section - page 38).

Let It Rain

The newest Washington Gardener Enewsletter issue is now out and posted now to our archives. It is free and please pass the link along to your gardening friends. Note that the Enews is provided courtesy of Washington Gardener magazine and cannot continue without your magazine support via subscriptions and advertising.

This issue features rain barrels, a new plant intro from Heronswood (aka Burpee), local area garden events for the next 4 weeks, a November to-do tasks, a link to a new searchable map of area garden centers, and lists of "What's Blooming" in area gardens.

I enjoy putting this out and seeing the readership grow by the 100s. What I don't enjoy is the slow delivery time and glitches thanks to Zinester, our enewsletter host. They are free - so I can't complain too much. Though I find it pretty incredible that a test version I sent to myself at 10 pm does not arrive in my email inbox until 10 am the following day. It is supposed to be instantaneous! So much for 'testing' it. May add 'look for new hosting service' to my growing things-to-do list.

Acorn-head and Damn Proud of it!

We just got named Blogrankers' "Blog of the Week" in their weekly enewsletter. That is pretty unexpected and cool. If you scroll to the very bottom of this blog page, you'll see a little "blogrankers" button - click on that and you can vote for our blog in the ranking.

On another note, the acorn article I wrote for the Washington Examiner is still getting interest. On one neighbor wrote me, "I am collecting the acorn tops, which make great whistles! I distribute them in jobs skills and conflict resolution trainings I do with youth as a concrete way way of showing how 'nature calls!'" This is the first I'd ever heard of this use for acorns! So I did a google search and found this acorn whistle link. I've tried it a few times this morning - still can't get the hang of it. I think I need someone to demo it live for me. Apparently it is loud - so stand back from those attempting it.

You'd think I should be able to be able to do this "naturally" as I recently found out I'm an "Acorn-head." That is the (new?) name for those of us who live in downtown Silver Spring. Named after the acorn-shaped gazebo that dates back to the 1850s and is about three blocks from my house. (This picture is from http://www.silverspringdowntown.com/. I really need to get over there sometime and take my own pics of it.) I must say I like this name and plan to design a T-shirt to go with this new moniker and will wear it proudly. Now, I just have to find a company that can make acorn-shaped hats for us to also sport at Silver Spring gatherings.

What does this have to do with publishing a local gardening magazine? I ask myself this with every blog posting and find I'm starting to veer way outside my described blog goals. Okay, at least this one deals with publicizing our magazine (Blogrankers link and Examiner article) and is a story about local plant life (oak acorns) history, and parks.

My Job

Yesterday my younger niece, Lexi, who is age 3.5, informed me that her "job" is three-fold and in this specific order:

1. 1. to dance
2. 2. to play
3. 3. to pick flowers

Hmmm, it sounds pretty close to mine, but I'm thinking I need to reshuffle my priorites and work in a lot more dance and play!

Brookside Garden of Lights Contest

Win a Pass to the Brookside Garden of Lights

Tell Us: What’s your favorite indoor plant?
An indoor garden can give your home that extra touch of warmth and life so often lacking from many home spaces -- especially in the wintertime. Do you have a favorite indoor plant? If so, we’d like to hear about it. Describe your favorite indoor plant and email it to editor@washingtongardener.com. Include your first and last name, city and state, and an original digital photo. Deadline is December 3, 2006. Your entry may appear in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Washington Gardener magazine.

One entry will be chosen at random for a pass to the Brookside Garden of Lights in Wheaton, MD. The pass is good for one car or van full of people. It includes a 10% discount on merchandise at the Marylandica Gift Shop.

Press Darlings

Our latest Washington Examiner article is now out. All about bringing fall color to your home garden. Read it online (Nov 3 edition - page 58) or grab the print version at street boxes around town today - the article is on R2 (Real Estate section - page 2).
Pictured here are my 'Sheffield Pink' Mums, which are going gangbusters in my front bed right now. That brings me to their inaccurate name. They actually look just like peach-colored daisies. Why do the English call peach things pink?

We had a great time doing a garden spot for local NBC affiliate - WRC - Channel 4 yesterday. We demonstrated how to divide perennials which was our GardenBasics column topic in our Sept/Oct '06 issue. They also gave us a nice link and mention in their own blog. Here is an excerpt:

"You've nursed that plant the best you can, but what do you do when it gets too big for its space? Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener magazine, came to visit News4 today to teach us how to divide perennials in five easy steps..."

We hope to do Channel 4 again soon - just trying to figure out how to demo Lasagna Gardening in a live, camera-friendly way.

Going... Going...

We've donated three subscriptions to Washington Gardener magazine to one of our local public TV stations (MPT) for their online auction fund-raiser. You can bid now at http://auction.mpt.org/. We are under the Home & Garden category. Hoping this brings some attention to us with their link and we will get a few on-air mentions as well. Only 10 days to bid.

Nov/Dec 06 Issue Out

The Nov/Dec 06 issue is now out - in the mail to all subscribers and in local stores shortly. All new subscribers will start with this issues, unless otherwise requested.
This issue is packed full of great info for local gardeners. I'm especially pleased with this issue's Before/After piece and our interview with "Green Roof Guru" Ed Snodgrass. Our feature story is on pursuing a career in the Horticulture Industry and our list of green career resources is worth the cover price alone.

BEWARE!

Gardeners across the land, beware the lure of Mother Nature and her Green Man - lest you be turned into one yourself! Resist the urge to garden every day and night! Cast off the lust for flowers and foliage! Repent your fertilizing ways! You have been warned...

Happy Halloween!

Yes, that is me taking root and blooming in my brother's herb garden last weekend with a rather large monarch resting on one of my sturdy stems.

Pumpkin Memo

To: Silver Spring Squirrels and Their Friends
From: WashingtonGardener
Re: The Pumpkins on MY Porch

The pumpkins on my back porch are not for occasional snacking or tooth-sharpening. They are there for Halloween holiday decor. In the future, I'd appreciate if you left the carving to ME!

Worms! Why did it have to be worms?

Now comes word from the green industry enewsletter GMPRO greEn-MAIL (October 24, 2006 issue) that reported:

Worms may help disperse weed seed
Researchers at Ohio St. Univ. are studying the role earthworms play in the collection and dispersal of weed seed. One weed in particular, giant ragweed, may benefit from the behavior of earthworms and explain why the weed has been labeled one of the most stubborn weeds in Ohio to control. OSU weed scientist Emilie Regnier found that earthworms were collecting seed around their burrows. Although earthworms will collect other weed seeds, giant ragweed seed seems to be a favorite. Regnier said about two-thirds of ragweed seeds buried by earthworms are capable of producing viable seedlings. Earthworms previously have been known to disperse small weed seeds by ingesting them and then ejecting the seeds in their casts."

That's just great. Here I am encouraging these little gross things to take over my garden and now I find they are responsible for some of my weed problems! Oh yeah, and "casts"?! Just say "worm poop" and stop with the euphemisms.

Kinda like how much I detest Praying Mantids -- I've always found them to be evil, ugly things. I left them alone under the advice of those who said they were "beneficial" and ate "bad" insects. Well, newsflash they have no moral code about protecting your garden plants -- they eat EVERYTHING including beautiful Monarch Butterflies (I have piles of torn off wings to prove it) and Lady Bugs. They also dismember crickets alive one leg at a time. I hear the cricket screams in the shrubs. It is NOT pleasant. I yell at the Praying Mantis, "Just kill it already!" My neighbors have not yet reported me to the authorities, but I know they must wonder...

Okay, back to the worms. So now what do I do with this new finding? Leave them alone or do what I do to the white Japanese Beetle grubs when I come across them in my digging? Which is flick them in the pond for my goldfish or on the sidewalk for the birds to enjoy. Hmm, I'll leave the worms alone for now, but I'll be keeping one eye on them and watching for any suspicious weed seed dispersal.

Photo from: exploreventura.com/blog - no worms would come forward to cooperate with this worm expose story. It seems they only pose for photos if the story has a positive worm spin. Reminds me of certain politicians and celebrities.