Annapolis Outlaws Lawn Fertilizer

I was happy to see the email yesterday from Suzanne Klicks, University of Maryland, Central MD Research & Education Center, announcing the City of Annapolis had passed legislation that bans lawn fertilizer sale or use within the city limits and on city-owned property. They are particularly targeting anything with phosphorous in it. Organic fertilizers (compost) are allowed as is using fertilizer on brand new lawns, in garden beds, on trees/shrubs, and in greenhouses. This a great step, but reading through the details I see it really is just a case of the City of Annapolis having to legislate commonsense. Provisions of the new law include:
~ No person shall apply lawn fertilizer when the ground is frozen.
~ No person shall cause fertilizer to be applied to or run onto any impervious surface including parking lots, roadways, and sidewalks. If such application, occurs the fertilizer must be immediately contained and collected and either legally applied to turf or placed in an appropriate container.

You think?!? It is a sad day, my friends, when the city has to actually tell you these things and fines if you don't follow through.

Indoor Plant Pests in latest issue of Washington Gardener Enews

The Washington Gardener Enews

Vol. 4, No. 12 — December 15, 2008
is now sent and archived.





In This Issue:

Dealing with Whiteflies and Black Fungus Gnats
Magazine Excerpt: Clever Cones - Nature’s Seed Protectors
December To-Do List
Spotlight Special: Rhodies of the Year for 2009
Reader Contest: Brookside's Garden of Lights Passes
Local Gardening Events

Gift Subscriptions and Renewals

New Gift Subscriptions:

Get the gardeners in your life a gift subscription to Washington Gardener Magazine. We send your giftee the current issue and a personalized gift card -- just attach a note to your order letting us know what you would like it to say. For those at a loss for words, we usually just say "Happy Gardening!" and at this time of year we can add a "Happy Holidays!" You can fill out a gift subscription order online here or just send a check for $20 with your order details to: Washington Gardener Magazine, 826 Philadelphia Ave., Silver Spring MD 20910. As long as we get it before December 22, we can get it to your giftee by Christmas.





Renewal Gift Subscriptions:
If you gave a gift subscription to Washington Gardener Magazine last year and want to renew it, we will send your giftee a postcard alerting them of your renewal. To renew your gift for one year, just send a check for $20 with your order details to: Washington Gardener Magazine, 826 Philadelphia Ave., Silver Spring MD 20910. If you would like to renew the gift by credit card or Paypal, let us know and we can send you an online invoice. As long as we get it before December 22, we can get the postcard to your giftee by Christmas.

A Few Days Away

I'm here in Indiana for my grandmother's funeral. Not a planned trip and certainly not good timing - but when is it ever? My grandmother, Mamie, was 93 and passed in her sleep so I can be thankful for some blessings.

I'm actually typing this from the Francesville town library, one of those old Carnegie grant buildings -- now remodeled and outfitted with a bank of online computers -- just one old farmer and me typing away on a quiet Friday afternoon. You've got to love small towns.

I plan to be back home Sunday night and to get out the Washington Gardener Enews on schedule 12/15 and then pour myself back into working on the Jan-Feb 09 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine to get it off to print before the Christmas holidays.

Photo Contest Season Kicks Off

You have a few days off coming up and it is time to gather and reflect on all that happened in 2008. While sorting through, be sure to look at all the photos you took this year for eligible entries into our garden photo contest. The three main entry rules are:

- the shots must have been taken in the 2008 calendar year

- the shots must have been taken within 150-mile radius of the U.S. Capitol building

- the subject of the shots must be garden-related (i.e. plants, plant parts, garden fauna, garden tools, etc.)

The 3rd Annual Washington Gardener Photo Contest entry period runs from January 1-21, 2009.

The winners are announced at the Washington Gardener Seed Exchange on January 31, 2009 and then are published in the March/April 09 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine and are displayed at a local art show, PhotoSynthesis, this spring.

For a complete list of the 2009 contest rules, download the PDF linked here. A blank Word .doc entry form can be downloaded here.

Start collecting your photos for the 2009 contest. We look forward to seeing your wonderful work!

Forget All Your Troubles, Forget All Your Cares...

My brother, Ulli, again has a booth for his "Jentz Prints" antique print sales now until Wednesday, December 17 at the Downtown Holiday Market. It is in booth location #8.
I'll be helping out there on Mon-Fri from 10:30am to 12:00noon (or so). I'll have the November/December 08 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine for sale there and can also take subscription, renewals, and gift orders.
The holiday market is on the F Street sidewalk between 7th and 9th Streets, NW in front of the National Portrait Gallery. A festive atmosphere and live musical entertainment will accompany more than 50 local exhibitors and artisans selling a diverse array of goods and high-quality gift items, such as photography, jewelry, knits, paintings, cultural crafts, seasonal beverages, prepared foods, and more.

Anyone Speak Portuguese?

One of my many other hats is as President of the Silver Spring Garden Club. We are planning a trip to PORTUGAL next April. In anticipation of that trip, we have a meeting next Monday that will include a presentation by club member John Gordon of Belvedere Landscape Design on Portugal’s beautiful gardens. We will also provide full trip details and holiday treats.

If you are thinking of going on the Portugal trip with us (SSGC membership is NOT required to go, but at just $10 a year shouldn't break the bank ;-) or just want to see and hear about some stunning, sunny gardens on a chilly winter’s day, please plan on joining us. The meeting is free and open to the public.

WHEN: Monday, December 8 from 7:00-9:00PM

WHERE: Silver Spring Library’s Downstairs Main Meeting Room
8901 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
(The library is about 5 blocks north of the Silver Spring Metro and on several bus lines.)

Will I be going myself to Portugal? Well, first I need to renew my passport which expired last year, then I need to clear those dates, and raise the funds. Then purchasing a Portuguese phrase book will be next on my list. Let's just say, I WANT to go and if we get our 20 minimum, I'll seriously be considering it.

Ask the Expert

???

Got a gardening question you need answered?

Washington Gardener Magazine is starting a new column in the print publication with our Jan/Feb 2009 issue. Our garden Q&A will be answered by the experts at Maryland's Home and Garden Information Center -- in other words, the Master Gardeners and the folks who teach the Master Gardeners.

Send your question to washingtongardener@rcn.com use subject line "Q&A" and please include your first name and what city/state you are writing from. Then look for your answered questions in upcoming issues of Washington Gardener Magazine.

Schoolyard Greening Photo Reception

Last night was the Opening Reception for the showing of the DC School Garden Week Photo Contest 2008 winning images. Washington Gardener Magazine donated some prizes for the contest and helped judge again. This was the second year of the contest and a third is planned so if you are or know a school kid in DC, get start collecting those garden photos for 2009 entries.

Washington Gardener Magazine has our own annual Garden Photo Contest and while we do not have a separate children's category, anyone of any age is encouraged to enter. The entry form is being finalized and posted this week at our web site, so look out for that.

You can see all the DC School Garden Week Photo Contest winner's images linked online here. Though if you are in downtown DC and near the MLK Library anytime in December, stop by the 2nd Floor lobby for a bit to peruse the winners on display and the cases full of related schoolyard greening information.

Pictured here at top is Grand Prize winner Melissa Wood and at bottom are Julia Hiemstra and Emma Vicini sharing 3rd place. All three winners shown here are middle schoolers at Horace Mann. That school sure puts out some great photo and gardening talent. Of the 100 photo entries turned in this year, about a third came from Horace Mann. Can you guess that one energetic teacher might be behind that trend? I hope other DC school teachers, parents, and administrators get the gardening bug and join in the schoolyard greening programs as enthusiastically.

Sound the Acorn Alarm?

So first the WaPo prints a story about the lack of acorn crop this year, then today I got this in the CCAN Climate News enewsletter:

>>Have you heard the unbelievable news? Oak trees across most of Maryland have failed to produce a single acorn this year!! It's true! Some naturalists believe it could be global warming. It's the kind of ecological weirdness scientists say could be in store with more climate change.<<

C'mon now! This is just the kind of fear-mongering, quasi-scientific-based misinformation that critics of global warming will pounce on. When people write this things based on slim anecdotal evidence, it only invites more scorn and doubt on the green movement.

In my own backyard, the acorns have been quite abundant this fall, though smaller in size than the past few years. I've had so many that I had to go down to the hardware store and buy a new street-worthy broom to sweep them all up off my walks and driveway for the safety of those who walk there.

Last year and the year before, folks were yammering about the incredible acorn overload we had after a few years of light or no production. Nobody that I recall claimed it was global warming during those very unusual acorn boom years. It is just another of Mother Nature's mysterious cycles. Some years we have great tomatoes and bad melons, sometimes that reverses. Sometimes we know why (a cool, long spring) and other times we never will.

Free Shipping for Holiday Gifts

Thought I'd share this one-day-only offer from Cafepress.com. Our page of Washington Gardener gear is here. For free shipping, use coupon code: FEMHOL14.

Which reminds me to put on my marketing hat to say that Washington Gardener subscriptions make great gifts as well and they ALWAYS include shipping. To purchase a subscription for yourself or as a gift, go here.


Back to Cafepress.com for a moment, I'm always recommending them to friends who have school or family reunion shirts to make, but also to my artist friends as a great way to get their artwork out there and order some for themselves to wear. Here are a few Cafepress.com shops from friends and folks I'm involved with:
~ http://www.cafepress.com/gardenrant
~ http://www.cafepress.com/lovesexydc
~ http://www.cafepress.com/svhs20
~ http://shop.cafepress.com/arty4ever
Feel free to add your Cafepress.com shop address in the comments field here too.