Photo Contest Winners Announced

I still have a great deal to do post-Seed Exchange , but I did not want to keep you all in suspense any longer if you were not able to attend the awards ceremony last Saturday. Here, listed below, are our winners ofthe 2009 Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest.

The winning photos will be published in the March/April 2009 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine and will be on display at a local photo show. I have posted a few here, but these small, low-res versions hardly do them justice.

You are ALL invited to the photo show opening reception. It is in the early eve on Friday, March 27 at the World Building in downtown Silver Spring, MD (on Georgia Avenue near the DC border). Full details coming soon.

2009 Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners List

Grand Prize
Richard Paul Weiblinger
Image: Lillie6307

First Prize – Small Wonders
Ed Knepley
Image: Lotus Macro

Second Prize – Small Wonders
Maria Ramos
Image: Life in Green

Third Prize – Small Wonders
Nan McCoy
Image: Good Morning Glory

Honorable Mentions – Small Wonders
~ Ed Knepley
Image: “Say Ahhhh” Iris macro (pictured second from top)
~ Mario Ramos
Image: Simply White

First Prize – Garden Views
Dudley Warner
Image: Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens Lilypad Pool

Second Prize – Garden Views
Danielle Koontz
Image: Trees abstract Great Falls Nat Park

Third Prize – Garden Views
Mario Ramos
Image: Colors (pictured at bottom)

Honorable Mentions – Garden Views
~ Ray Lehr
Image: Fall Morning
~ Liesl Wiederkehr
Image: Fields of Gold

First Prize – Garden Creatures
William B. Folsom
Image: Meadowlark8

Second Prize – Garden Creatures
Richard Paul Weiblinger
Image: Butterfly9879 (pictured at top)

Third Prize – Garden Creatures
Grace Gary
Image: Frog in “Black” Pond

Honorable Mentions – Garden Creatures
~ Benjamin G. Sullivan
Image: Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly
~ Ray Lehr
Image: DragonFly

Seed Exchange FAQ

I have been getting a number of emails and phone calls about this Saturday's Washington Gardener Seed Exchange. I thought I'd put together the following FAQ. Feel free to pass it on to any fellow gardeners:

- Yes, you can still register. We have plenty of spaces open. The preregistration to have the forms mailed has ended, you can still fill out the registration form and bring it with payment to the event starting at 12:00noon on Saturday. The form is posted here:http://www.washingtongardener.com/index_files/SeedExchange09.pdf.

- No, you don't have to bring seeds. It is great though if you do bring them. You can bring unused seeds from purchased packs or seeds you gathered from your own garden. Carefully pack and label your seeds as best you can. The more information you can provide, the better. More details on seed packing and labeling are on the registration form.

- The event is at Brookside Gardens and parking should be plentiful for our event. It is near the Glenmont metro and the walk is not far, however it is not that nice a walk as you have to cross busy roads. We recommend a quick cab ride as no buses serve the park area.
Here is a link to directions and a map: http://www.mc-mncppc.org/Parks/brookside/planning.shtm
We will be in the Visitor Center in the Main Auditorium.
There is additional parking down the hill at the Conservatory.

- We recommend eating lunch before coming. We will be serving a healthy, light snack break mid-way through the event -- fruit, granola bars, etc. We have spring water - if you have a travel mug, bottle, or cup you like, please bring that to fill up. We will have some plastic/paper cups on hand, but are trying to keep this event as “green” as possible.

- We will have generic blank name tags -- if you have your own name tag from work or another event, by all means bring it. Again, we are trying to recycle and make this event eco-friendly. We may do prizes for the most creative name tags :-).

- When you get your goody bag at check-in, please make sure to label it with your name -- all the bags look alike and can get easily mixed up. Bringing a few sheets of those personalized address labels you get with charity mailings will come in handy for this and for labeling your seed packets, giving out your contact information to fellow gardeners, etc.

- If you are bringing seed catalogs for our give-away table, be sure to rip off the address labels and tear out any order insert with your personal information on it.

- We screen incoming seeds and do not accept any invasives listed in the "Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas" booklet from the National Park Service. See the listing at: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/toc.htm.

- Here is the updated event schedule as of 1/29/09*:
12:00-12:30 Registration and seed drop off to WG Staff & Volunteers

12:30-12:35 Introductory remarks and overview - Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener magazine
12:35-1:25 “What happened to growing things from seeds? The Forgotten Annuals” presented – Janet L. Draper, Horticulturist, Smithsonian Institution
1:30-2:00 “Seeds Timing – What to Start When” – Cindy Brown, Green Spring Gardens
2:00-2:30 Refreshment Break & Seed Swap Preview
2:30-3:00 Seed Show & Tell**

3:00-3:30 Seed Swap!

3:30-3:45 Garden Photo Contest Winners Presentation

3:45-4:00 Final Door Prizes and closing remarks - Kathy Jentz Washington Gardener magazine

*As with all live events, the schedule is subject to last minute change.

**Show & Tell participation is voluntary. We encourage you to introduce yourself, share some fun facts and background on the seeds you bring, or tell us about any local garden projects or groups that you are involved in.

How Cool is DC?

Ice cold! And these photos from this morning in my garden are proof. Seriously though, move over NY, step aside London, there is undoubtedly a new center of the universe that has taken main stage and it is located at 38.85 latitude and 77.04 longitude. Yes, Washington, DC has taken its rightful place

Adrian Loving had this to say in last Friday's WaPo Weekend section article asking local hipsters, "What are you looking forward to in D.C. night life in 2009?":

"... appreciate and establish D.C.'s own identity instead of always trying to always compare itself to Miami or L.A. or New York. We are beautiful and the hottest city in America right now!"

Can I get an "Amen!" to that?! Truly DC has grown far beyond the copycat wannabe of old and needs to start acting like the trendsetter and international focal point it now is.

Touring the National Agricultural Library

I arranged for 6 local garden clubs (about 50 individuals came) to tour the National Agricultural Library (NAL) last Saturday morning. A great way to spend a dull winter Saturday. Hey, it will never be on the DC tourist Top 10 list or anything, but it is definitely worth a few hours of your time to come and explore.

The NAL staff did a wonderful job showing us around. We started at the top floor for views to as far away as the Washington Monument and National Cathedral. Then a talk on one of the 19th C artists the USDA employed for their pomology collection. Afterwards, we split into five groups and circulated among stations around the building.

My group learned that this high tower out in the field is often used for Secret Service training exercises. We also were shown some rare items in the Special Collections by Susan Fugate. My favorite is a journal of the weekly "tramps" to local DC-area natural attractions in the early 20th C by Baltimore botanist, Charles C. Plitt, and his fellow teacher friends. They carefully recorded everything they observed on these treks. I think we should bring those "tramps" back.

We often take for granted what is right in our own backyards. It is paid for by YOUR tax dollars so definitely get by and take advantage. It is open M-F 8:30-4:00 (except Federal holidays). All you need do is show your ID. If you want to access the special collections, you'll need to make an appointment, but that is pretty easy to do as well.

Here is what some tour attendees had to say:

The tour was wonderful, especially seeing the originals and other rare items up on the 5th floor. - Dan

It was indeed a fabulous experience! Thanks, Kathy, for introducing us to this wonderful resource. - Taffy

Kathy, thank you so much for putting together the great trip to the National Agricultural Library today (Saturday). It is a treasure right here on our own back yard. The library staff and volunteers worked hard to get all the exhibits, handouts and logistics in place for us. I think anyone who missed this trip and is interested, might want to visit during the week during business hours. And Udupi Restaurant, where some of us had lunch [afterwards] is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in our area. - Carole

Oh, I know that you have heard it many times about the NAL tour..................WONDERFUL. A great way to spend a winter's day could have stayed for hours with the interesting NAL folks and the amazing material. Thanks a bunch. - Mike

That was truly a delight, and I knew nothing about it before. Wow, such a resource. Thank you. - Jeff

Radio Days

Mike McGrath at WTOP has been a great friend to Washington Gardener Magazine and our Seed Exchange. Today he has been giving great airtime to our upcoming event. Go here to read his brief write-up. His segment should re-air on Saturday too.

I also was interviewed about the current "Compost Happens" theme issue on WAMU's Metro Connection today and that should re-air on Saturday as well. It is archived at this link so you can listen to it anytime online at your leisure.

I'm spending today taking inventory of the sponsor donations for the Seed Exchange's goody bags and door prizes. Many of them have been so generous! They include these recent additions:

Goody Bags
150 Gardener Idea Books from Proven Winners
150 Honeybear seed packs from Johnny’s Select Seeds
150 Encore lettuce seed packs from Johnny’s Select Seeds
150 Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy seed packs from Thompson & Morgan

Door Prizes
T-shirts from Urban Solar Solutions
Cordless Electric Cultivator from Black & Decker
Buckets of potting soil and compost from Pogo Organics

Trudi Davidoff at Wintersown just emailed me and said: "I sent 150 envelopes, inside each is a brochure with info on how to clean tomato seeds, six packs of tomato seeds---everyone gets three reds, a green-when-ripe, a yellow, and a paper packet of seeds (labeled) that has been donated to WinterSown from an ability-impaired advocacy group, and a slip of paper with an address for anyone who wants to donate seeds to WinterSown." Aren't you just drooling right now?

I'll be glad to have my office and storage space back after the the 31st! :-)

Travel to Italy without the High Costs and Long Flight

I've been thinking about "staycations" lately and how much I really do enjoy sticking around home, kicking back, and maybe getting a few long postponed projects done like building that three-room birdhouse kit I have stashed in the utility closet. After all, I have no hotel bed is more comfortable or luxurious than my own. But everyone else in a while you do feel the wanderlust and need to get out and experience something fresh and new, that is where the daytrip comes in. We do a daytrip story in every issue of Washington Gardener Magazine and most everyone I've taken and vetted personally so I know they are worthwhile.

In addition, we occasionally host our own daytrips to area attractions. Something I want to expand on this year. First up this year is that we'll once again be going up to the Philadelphia Flower Show. The trip is organized by Cheval's Garden Tours and you can get the full details here. The theme of this year's event is Bella Italia and I was thinking that with this current economic climate that this is as close to Italy as I will get to for some time, so why not make the most of it? I'm going to treat this as my real European vacation this year. I'm going to bone up on my Italian phrases and while there dine on nothing but Italian treats. I'm not sure exactly how to "dress Italian" -- perhaps a Versace knock-off silk scarf will do. I also plan on listening to some Puccini to get in the mood. I hope you will consider joining us.

Welcome to the White House

Librarians rule. Period. I had time to kill last Tuesday afternoon between appointments and went into the MLK Library near Gallery Place to catch up on some reading. On my way out, a display of Inauguration-related books caught my eye and right up front was "White House Landscapes" by Barbara McEwan. How have we missed this resource in all our White House lawn and edible garden discussions? It is copyrighted 1992, but is still fresh and very relevant. She goes right up through the first Bush's administration and her research is spot on.

I grabbed it, checked it out, and perused it that night. Turns out Ms. McEwan lives in Virginia and thanks to some google-sleuthing by fellow garden writer, C.L. Fornari, I spoke to Barbara briefly by phone. She is 82 now and retired from garden writing and speaking. Which is too bad, as I'd have loved to tap her for some local talks. She was not aware of the movement to get the White House lawn to be organic and to add a real edible garden to the estate. "Oh, how intriguing," was her comment. She is online and I hope will respond to this post with her 2 cents on current White House landscape plans.

Some juicy bits from her book that may interest our new President as he decides what to do with the vast amount of White House lawn:

"Before he and Abigail moved to the yet unfinished White House in the new capital city of Washington, Adams demanded only one thing be accomplished by the time they arrived in the fall of 1800: He must have a vegetable garden to supply food for the coming winter. Landscaping was left to his friend and successor, Thomas Jefferson."

"...during Polk's and Taylor's tenures the President's Park was still under the experienced and capable hands of John Ousley and Jemmy Maher. (William Whalen was no longer working as a kitchen gardener by the time Polk arrived.) The two men continued the landscaping plans set forth under Andrew Jackson. Maher, the more enterprising, has his own nursery business to supplement his government income. This relegated Ousley to the role of secondary player in maintaining the grounds. Even had either been inclined to do more, a tight budget provided by Congress would have prevented any new major project. Ousley in effect was a general maintenance man, taking care of his flowers, vegetables, orangery, and lawn, providing the residents of the great house with food and visual enjoyment when it was wanted. The extent of his additional enterprise during this period was confined to selling lawn grass to a livery stable owner, whose employees cut it for hay. A farmer was then allowed to graze his sheep, again for a fee. With the money he received, Ousley bought gardening tools and supplies.

The overall design Maher had labored to produce was now evident. Shrubs were grouped, which made them easier to water and to fence against wandering sheep and horses. Trees, still on the small side and not too many, nonetheless helped provide the proper setting for the kind of small focal points of beauty Jefferson had so much appreciated. Flowers, particularly roses, played their part but never in competition with the house itself or the expanses of lawn."

"Mrs. Mellon [commissioned by the Kennedys for a garden outside the oval office] found herself confronted with much White House history in the process of the garden's construction. Surprises occurred when the old soil was replaced with new. As the area was dig to a depth of four inches, many relics of bygone years, such as pieces of pots from the old greenhouses and Civil War horseshoes, were recovered. The biggest surprise of all was a cable of undetermined significance in one corner of the plot. It was cut -- and the diggers were immediately surrounded by security guards. Unbeknownst to the crew or Mrs. Mellon, this cable was par of the hotline that set off the nation's military alert. (In the haste of installing it during World War II its location had not been accurately recorded.)"

Local Retail Friendly

We are proud to announce that Urban Solar Solutions in Hyattsville, MD (aka Edmonston, MD) is our newest local retailer carrying current issues of Washington Gardener Magazine. Ellen McBarnette's store is all about energy saving, green, and clean energy products. I've been running into Ellen's for years and local green and gardening events. I'm happy to be part of her newest venture in this way.

If you are a local DC-area retailer and are interested in having Washington Gardener for sale in your store, please do not hesitate to contact us at 301.588.6894 or wgardenermag (a) aol.com.

Washington Gardener Seed Exchange 2009 Registration Opens

The Fourth Annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange, hosted by Washington Gardener Magazine, takes place on January 31, 2009 at the Brookside Gardens visitor center in Wheaton, MD. Seed Exchange attendees trade seeds, exchange planting tips, hear expert speakers, and collect goody bags full of gardening treats.

Registrations are streaming in now and we expect a sell-out. We urge you to pre-register to guarantee yourself a spot.

The event also includes such “green” features as the garden book and catalog swap. Participants are encouraged to bring their gently used garden books and mailorder garden catalogs to trade with each other. Any leftover publications at the end of the swap are donated to the National Agriculture Library in Beltsville, MD.

The first annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange was held on January 26, 2006. After that event’s success, seed swaps in other cities across the nation have joined in celebrating National Seed Swap Day each year on the last Saturday in January.

Subscribers to Washington Gardener Magazine receive a $5 discount off the admission to the Washington Gardener Seed Exchange. The event is limited to 125 attendees and is expected to sell out. Registrations are encouraged to send in their registrations by January 26.

A PDF of the registration form is linked here. Please print it and fill it out, then mail it along with payment by January 26. If you cannot view or download the PDF, send an email to washingtongardener (a) rcn.com to have the form sent directly to you.

Caring for Cut Flowers

The Vol. 5, No. 1 ~ January 15, 2009 issue of the Washington Gardener Enews was sent out last night and is now archived online. Here are links to the contents:
In This Issue:

Caring for Cut Flowers

Magazine Excerpt: When a Dead Tree is a Good Tree

January To-Do List

Spotlight Special: Chrysogonum virginianum 'Quinn's Gold'

Reader Contest: Seed Exchange Passes

Local Gardening Events

NEW COLUMN: What's On the Blog

Blustery Bloom Day a Bust

The deep-freeze sweeping the continent has reached us here in the Mid-Atlantic and no blooms are to be found for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. Unlike last year's Jan 15 post, I have not a bloom in sight. Earlier this month I had one vinca minor flower pop open prematurely. That has long blown away though. What I do have are a lot of things about to bloom. *sigh* Here are some photos of bulb foliage popping out, winter jasmine buds, hellebore flowers emerging, and my window box pansies frozen for now. Depressingly, even indoors my paperwhites are over and my amaryllis and forced bulbs are still a few weeks away. I found one tiny white bloom on a begonia and some flower heads on the assorted coleus I'm forcing in the kitchen windows. I should really pinch back those coleus, yet right now do not have the heart to do so. I'm writing today for the Washington Gardener Enews about cut flower care. That does add a bright note of color at this drab time of year. I'll put a blog post link to that Enews story tomorrow.