Picture Sharing

'Thundercloud' Flowering Plum

Love looking at beautiful flowers, plants, and gardens? Have I got a treat for you! I take literally hundreds of photos when I got to visits in both public and private gardens, yet I can only use a select few in the magazine, enewsletter, and on this blog. I think that is a shame, as many of the photos I do not use are full of awesome planting ideas and combinations. So I post them in albums to the Washington Gardener Magazine's Facebook page at facebook.com/washingtongardenermagazine.

Yes, you have to register and be a Facebook member to view them, but after testing out several photo-sharing sites and randomly polling fellow area gardeners, this is the easiest and most used service. It also allows you to share the albums and photos on your own Facebook page, "like" them, comment on them, and, if you see yourself in any of them, tag yourself.

Another way I'm sharing garden photos is on Pinterest. I'm there at pinterest.com/WDCgardener. (BTW, if you are not on Pinterest yet and need an invite, just give me a shout.) I have several boards there. One of them is just for favorite plants I've photographed growing in my own garden. Another is of Washington Gardener Magazine's covers. Not all the covers are up yet, but I'm slowly adding back issues as I can and I hope you will "pin" a few of your favorite issues to one of your own boards.

When you get a few minutes on a rainy day, I hope you'll stop by and visit the Facebook albums and Pinterest boards and share some of your own garden photos as well!

Fenton Friday: Pea Crazy!

I'm back in plot #16 at the Fenton Street Community Garden. This is the start of the growing season as just had mulch delivery though our cistern is not filled with water yet. I spent a few days clearing off the straw, adding compost to my beds, and weeding. It is now pristine.

A few days ago, I put Sugarsnap Peas 'Sugar Ann' and another unknown variety in cups with water. I meant to do it only overnight, but my schedule got away from me and I did not get them planted until today. See the image here of the soaked peas starting to sprout.

I also pre-soaked a few varieties of Sweet Peas including an early multiflora mix and 'Black Knight' both from Landreth Seed Company and 'Blue Ripple' from Thompson & Morgan. I mixed all the sweet peas seeds in one cup together so I'd have a random color mix.

Then I lined up supports all along the length of a 18-ft long bed. I planted the sugar peas on the south-facing sides of the supports and the sweet peas on the north-facing sides. I'm not sure I did the correct thing with facing them that way, but we'll see how it goes. My hope is that one side will shade the other as they grow and I'll either have a bumper crop of edible sugarsnap peas or cut-flower sweet peas -- or, weather-permitting, both!

Is it Time to Plant?

A few days ago, someone posted to a local garden discussion list ready to plant their tomatoes out now since it is so unseasonably warm out right now. Here was my reply:

According to a web chat with climate experts and phenologists* last week, while our winters are starting later and ending earlier, our last average frost dates are NOT moving. They have stayed consistent despite the other calendar date shifts. That means we have a longer growing season overall, but our summer annuals will still get zapped by late frosts if put out too early.

What you can do now is plant shrubs, trees, and perennials. You can divide and move established perennials. You can start seeds indoors for peppers, tomatoes, herbs, etc. You can plant cool-season annual flowers and vegetables out now including peas, alyssum, broccoli, radish, etc. You can clean-out and prep your garden beds. You can take soil tests and add amendments as needed.

There is no shortage of garden tasks to be done right now! Save your warm-season annual flowers and vegetables until all threat of frost has passed.


*Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate.

Video Wednesday: A Visit to the National Agricultural Library

Last month, Washington Gardener Magazine hosted a special visit to the USDA's National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, MD. This video shares a few of the special collection highlights.

Hardening Off Your Seedlings ~ Washington Gardener Enews ~ March 2012

Open publication - Free publishing - More D.C.

Washington Gardener Enews ~ March 2012

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

~ Hardening Off Your Seedlings

~ Magazine Excerpt: Heaths and Heathers

~ Mid-Atlantic Garden To-Do List for March-April

~ Reader Contest: Win Six Trillium cuneatum Plants from Sunshine Farm & Gardens

~ Washington Gardener's Recent Blog Post Highlights

~ Spotlights Special: Native Baptisia Shorter Hybrid

~ Top Local Garden Events Calendar for March-April

~ Washington Gardener Magazine Back Issue Sale!

and much more...

Growing Fruit Trees in the Mid-Atlantic

I'll be talking about "Growing Fruit Trees in the Mid-Atlantic" at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA, on Saturday, March 17 at 10am. This is an expanded talk from what some of you may have seen at RootingDC or elsewhere.

To sign up, go here or just come a few minutes early and register on-site.

A Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day BURSTING Forth

Wow, what a difference from last year's mid-March Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day in my Zone 7 DC/MD border garden. This year's mild winter and record high temps have sent shock-waves through my garden. It looks more like our usual mid-April right now. It might actually be easier to list what is NOT in bloom. Here are a few pics of what is in bloom now from my ornamental plum tree to my tiny scilla bulbs. Hope Mother Nature leaves me some blooms to carry on for the rest of spring...

Video Wednesday: Philadelphia Flower Show 2012

Experience the recent Philadelphia Flower Show 2012. First, dive in the ocean, then join a beach party, next design your own Hawaiian short, finally stroke an exotic bird.

Washington Home and Garden Show

Washington Gardener Magazine will be at booth #1421 at this weekend's Washington Home and Garden Show. The sho runs Friday, March 9 through Sunday, March 11 at the DC Convention Center.

See me, Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener Magazine's Editor at 6pm Friday and again 3pm on Saturday for "Urban and Small Space Gardening" talk on the main stage. Whether your yard is 10-acres in the suburbs or a postage-stamp sized in the city, you have the challenge of using your garden space and resources (time, energy, fund) as efficiently as possible. Learn tips and tricks for getting the most out of your space and thinking outside-the-box for creative solutions to common landscape challenges.

Video Wednesday: Seed Packet Decoding

Linna Ferguson of www.foodscaper.com speaks about Seed Package Information at the Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchange 2012 in Fairfax County, VA.

Lewis Ginter Orchid Show Winners

Our February 2012 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest winners are:
~ Judy Thomas
~ Madeline Caliendo
~ Judith Daniel
~ Janet Benini

Janet said, "My favorite orchid is the purple paleopsis that I've had for 6 or 7 years. This year it has THREE spikes with a total of 16 blossoms (so far). It's in a window with a plant light above and a humidifier nearby and seems to be very happy!  Thanks for the great work you do. I always look forward to receiving my Washington Gardener."


Judy T. noted, "Naming my favorite orchid is like naming my favorite child, near impossible. But I will share an orchid that I find fascinating, that I have never seen except in photographs: the ugly, Warty Hammer Orchid: it has an impossibly cool pollen-delivery method. I learned about it though John Alcock's An Enthusiasm for Orchids' Sex and Deception in Plant Evolution 2006, Oxford University Press."

They each receive two passes (valued at $44) to Orchids Galore! at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA. Orchids Galore! running from March 10 - April 22. Hundreds of orchids will dazzle the senses with color, fragrance and beauty throughout the Garden’s Conservatory. Discover how orchids traveled from native habitats to become a popular fixture in many homes, including tales of plant explorers who traveled far and wide to collect these enchanting plants. Learn about current issues related to conservation and saving wild orchids threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and over-collection.