Video Wednesday: Assembling Longwood's Poinsettia Baskets

The gigantic poinsettia baskets that grace the Orangery during A Longwood Gardens Christmas never fail to add "The WOW Factor." Watch a little of the behind-the-scenes action as the volunteers assemble a basket.

Indoor Bulbs: You Can Grow That!

How to Get Spring Blooms in the Dead of Winter
By Kathy Jentz

Didn’t get all your bulbs planted before the ground froze? Don’t discard them! Instead pot them up for indoor forcing and enjoy an early springtime in the depths of winter.

If you were a good little gardener and got all your bulbs in the ground on time, there are still a few bulbs hanging around unsold at local area garden centers and on major markdown sales on the web and through mail order, snap them up now at these bargain basement prices and consider yourself a savvy customer. Next year, when you place your bulb orders, add a few extra to your quantities to set aside specifically for forcing.

Never forced bulbs before? Nothing to it. Here are the basics and a few extra tips I've learned from past experiments:
1. Bulb Selection. You don't need to buy any specific variety or kinds. You can just select a few bulbs from those that you would buy for outside plantings. After they are done livening up your winter home, you can plant them outside after the last frost so that they will return annually with your other bulbs. One note of caution, indoor bulbs can sometimes give off potent smells. Some people love them, some don't -- paperwhites and hyacinth are especially notoriously in the love/hate category. Experiment a bit, and you'll soon learn which scents are to your tastes and which are just too overpowering for inside your home.
2. Timing. Keep in mind that bulbs bloom within three-four weeks of removal from cold storage, which lasts about 12-16 weeks. So if you want blooms for a specific occasion, you need to work about 16-20 weeks in advance for planting time.

3. Bulb Planting. Regular bulbs should be planted in soil, but at a shallower depth than you would outside. The top of the bulb should be even with the soil line and have about 2" of soil below for root development. The container should have drainage holes. Because it will be inside your house and no one likes a leaky mess on their furniture, I recommended lining the bottom of the pot with scrap landscape fabric and placing the pot on a good-sized saucer filled with a layer pebbles. Place the bulbs pointy side up and with the "flat" side towards the outside of the pot and as tight together as you like. Crowding them actually makes a nicer visual effect than spacing them far apart. Tight quarters also helps the foliage from growing out too much and flopping over. Water the newly planted bulbs well. Place the pots in plastic newspaper sleeves to maintain a moist environment.

4. Cold Storage/Removal for Flowering. Place the potted-up bulbs in cold storage for about 12 weeks. Cold storage should be roughly 40-50 degrees and without light. Storage areas might include your basement, garage, or the crisper drawer in your refrigerator. Different bulbs have different cold cycle times but most are between 12-16 weeks. (Tulips need the most time at a full 16 weeks.) Mark your calendars so that you don't forget about them. When you first remove them from storage, place them in indirect light and away from a heat source to prevent “legginess.” After two weeks, when they have sprouted and are several inches high, move them to a sunny, warm window. Once a flowerhead or bud starts to develop, you can then move it to your desired location with indirect sunlight to prolong the bloom life. Keep them watered regularly as soon as you remove them from cold storage. Enjoy!

Author:
Kathy Jentz is Editor of Washington Gardener Magazine. This winter she is forcing two dozen apricot tulips as holiday gifts for friends --- shhhh!
   Washington Gardener Magazine, is the only gardening publication published specifically for the local metro area — zones 6-7 — Washington DC and its suburbs. The magazine is written entirely by local area gardeners. They have real-world knowledge and practical advice with the same problems you experience in your own gardens. They share their thoughts on what to plant in deep shade, how to cover bare spots, which annuals work best throughout the humid DC summers, and much more. If you are a DC area gardener, you’ll love Washington Gardener magazine!

The magazine is published four times per year with a cover price of $4.99. To subscribe to the magazine: Send a check/money order for $20.00 payable to “Washington Gardener” Magazine to: Washington Gardener, 826 Philadelphia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 OR to pay via Paypal/credit card click on the “subscribe” link at www.WashingtonGardener.com.

Washington Gardener Magazine also makes a great gift for the gardeners and new home owners in your life!

All who are involved with You Can Grow That! (YCGT!) believe that plants and gardening enhance our quality of life. We want people to be successful with what they grow and to become more aware of the many gifts that horticulture brings. Find out more at http://www.youcangrowthat.com/.

Buy Local Special for Small Business Saturday

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I'm running this subscription special through December 5 in gratitude for all my online friends, followers, fans, and frequent commenters.

Print out the coupon above, fill it out and mail it in with your check/money order to get 10% off a year's subscription to Washington Gardener Magazine. It is a local garden magazine for the greater Washington, DC region. By local gardeners, for local gardeners. All about what grows in zones 6-7. Independent, woman-owned. It is also a certified Green Business.

Please tell all your local gardening friends to Buy Local this Small Business Saturday!

Garden Task Procrastination Epidemic

For our November 2013 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, we asked “What Garden Task You Always Procrastinate On and Why?”

We received a tremendous response and I have grouped the dreaded chores below. It seems that no aspect of gardening is immune to being put off to another day. Even the most devoted gardeners I know seem to find one chore that they loathe and ignore from weeks on end. For me, it is cleaning out the beds in early spring. I think that it is more the cold than anything that makes me out it off.

We selected one of the submitted entries at random to the Washington Gardener Local Gardening Task Calendar. Each month includes a list of what to do in the garden for local DC-MD-VA and Mid-Atlantic gardeners, along with a gorgeous photo of a seasonal flower from a local DC-area public gardens’ collection. The calendar winner of our hot-off-the-press 2014 Local Gardening Task Calendar is Ellen McBarnette of Washington, DC. Congratulations, Ellen, we hope the task calendar hopes curb your procrastination in 2014!

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If you did not win a calendar, you can order one for yourself and as gifts for your favorite local gardeners by going to: http://www.cafepress.com/washgardener. (Note that you can select the calendar to start with whatever month you choose.)

What Garden Task You Always Procrastinate On and Why:

PRUNING

UGH... pruning the three azaleas in front of my front bay window! Since these three rarely get to flower due to their being located outside my deer exclosure and therefore constantly de-budded, they do need to be trimmed back every year to keep the scraggly branches below the window area. So, constant, tight-space, maintenance, and NO FLOWERS!!!! (Thanks! Love the mag!)

~ Alison Regan

I procrastinate on pruning because I always forget when I'm supposed to prune the different types of bushes.
~ Mary Lane Renninger

The garden task I most procrastinate in doing is trimming the bigger bushes.  Of course, a good reason they are bigger is because I keep putting off the shaping and trimming.  But it’s so much work to do it right - clip, eyeball it, clip again.   The best ones are those that need minimal clipping, like the nandinas.  But those spireas are a challenge to keep in their space.  And in order to keep them blooming, I need to trim them 2 or 3 times/ season.  Ugh!
~ Alberta Mikulka

WEEDING

Another year has passed, and my resolution to eliminate the horrible oriental bittersweet in my woods is still unfulfilled. In the spring and fall, I am too busy planting, in the summer it is too hot and the ground too hard, and now it is too cold. I should knuckle under and hire someone!
~ Margaret Fisher

Weeding, because it's tedious work.
~ Sylvia Midgett

PLANTING

What I most procrastinate on: Planting! I buy plants at a sale because they’re cool and of course don’t have a clue where I’m going to put them. So they sit under the maple tree in the front yard until I figure it out. Also: spraying plants to keep the deer away. Just nasty!

~ Sherry Marshall

I always procrastinate on planting my bulbs in the fall. I keep thinking we'll get one more warmish day... and then I end up out there planting on a not-so-warm day.
~ Anastasia MacDonald

The task I procrastinate on the most is planting!  Sometimes I find something irresistible at the nursery, and buy it without a specific place in mind for it.  Things that I buy for a particular spot generally get planted promptly, but I suffer from terrible gardener's indecision for the others.  (The plants sometimes suffer too, as they wait and wait to get in the ground.)  This can get to be a sizeable problem, since I'm a sucker for anything new and different at the nursery.  This fall, I have an absolute goal:  My garden club is going on a great 4-day garden and nursery tour next spring, and I will not allow myself to sign up for it unless everything--everything--that's still in a pot has a home.   Because I'm bound to find a few more irresistible things on the trip.

~ Lucy Goszkowski

I always procrastinate planting fall bulbs. Why? First I want to make sure the ground is cold, and second, something in me is reluctant to give up on the chance that there will be more balmy days to come.
~ Anne Hardman

In my pursuit of the eternal summer and the warm season's harvest, I put off replacing my summer garden for my fall one til it's all too clear that if I wait any longer, it'll be too late to plant even that. Strange thing is: I enjoy my fall garden every bit as much as my summer one! 

~ Sue Gleason

I procrastinate on starting seedlings. I don't have much space for starting them in my house, and don't have any special lights set up.  This makes me think I shouldn't bother....and then in late March when you can smell the earth warming up the urge is too great, and I start a few seedlings, wishing I'd done so earlier.

~ Alexandria Lippincott

SEEDLING CARE

I shrink from the odious task of thinning my baby plants.  I know it needs to be done, but I feel just awful cutting their little heads off. After all, I brought them into this world. But then, .........I just shake it off and do the deed!

~ Arlene M.

Thinning seed babies because I want to try and save them and pot them separately to make more plants.

~ Nancy L. OConnor

RAKING

Raking leaves is the task I procrastinate.   I claim I'm not procrastinating, that I am using the leaves to keep my garden from freezing.  

~ Annie Shaw

I leave fallen leaves everywhere -- flower beds, open spaces, driveways, anywhere they land. Why? Perhaps because I think they should stay there, right where nature put them. I'd mulch them but my mower's broken (this year's excuse). Usually I wait till I'm ashamed to have the neighborhood's messiest front yard. Maybe I'll leave the back yard leaves where they are this year. 

~ Carol Jaka

When you live in an old neighborhood with lots of trees, especially oaks, doing something with the leaves becomes almost a full time job. Raking, blowing, composting - whatever is your "pleasure."  In addition, the real procrastination comes from blowing leaves off an almost flat roof (tar and gravel).  You have to climb up a 20' ladder, haul up the blower and electric cord.  In addition to that you need one or two mulch bags to gather up all of the fallen branches from the trees. Then you have to blow out the leaves from the gutters and be careful that you don't clog up the downspouts. Of course then what do you do with the leaves that came off the roof. Using the word procrastination is a very mild way of putting this situation.

~ George Graine

DEER PROOFING

About my yuckiest garden task…We have a terrible deer problem at my house.  Fencing the property is not an option because of its layout, so I have to use deer netting for those plants that really need protection – mostly azaleas, hydrangeas and mountain laurel. The job I procrastinate most on in my garden is checking and moving netting when a plant has grown through it. It has to be done three or four times a year, and for plants closest to the house I do pretty well. But the plants farther out in the garden get neglected, and then it takes a really long time to cut away the netting and put new netting up. I hate standing there and cutting for the long time that it takes to disentangle lots of new growth – aaargh!

~ Shirlie Pinkham

COMPOSTING

Turning the compost heap. Reason for procrastination: I find those great big grubs that live in there intimidating...

~ Ellen McBarnette

CLEANING

The task I often procrastinate about is clearing old desiccated plant material - particularly tomato vines - at the end of the season in my community garden plot.  I've even tried to excuse it by telling myself the old vines provide good bird habitat.
~ Linette Lander

EDGING

I always procrastinate on edging my garden.  I see all the landscaper companies around making everything look "just so" and I think it is a matter of pride that my garden definitely has a home-done look, until I finally finish it off and clear the edges.  

~ Patty Friedman

POND MAINTENANCE

I always seem to put off the garden pond maintenance for fall. After all, you have to wait until the lilies stop blooming, right? Then I find myself climbing into frigid cold water up to my unmentionables to pull up the lilies and prune them, then drop them back. While I'm in there I also prune the iris and any other plants. I check on the fish (which I do daily, just not from on top of them), and finish up by cleaning out my skimmer filter and basket. If I've been smart enough, I brought a towel, otherwise I'm shivering on the patio while I remove my pond sneakers. Maybe next year I'll do better. :-\
~ Howard Gorinson

What garden task do YOU procrastinate on?

Video Wednesday: How to Save Seeds Before Winter

How to Save Seeds Before Winter

In this video, Kathy Jentz, Editor/Publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine, demonstrates how to save seeds before winter. I hope you are saving and carefully labeling your seeds for our upcoming Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchanges this coming January/February! 

You can also view this video at MonkeySee.com or directly at: http://knowlera.vo.llnwd.net/o18/data/clip12080-Save-Seeds-Before-Winter.

Win a 2014 Local Gardening Task Calendar

For our November 2013 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away a hot-off-the-press 2014 Local Gardening Task Calendar.
   Each month includes a list of what to do in the garden for local DC-MD-VA and Mid-Atlantic gardeners, along with a gorgeous photo of a seasonal flower from a local DC-area public gardens’ collection.
   You can order one for yourself and as gifts for your favorite local gardeners by going to: http://www.cafepress.com/washgardener. (Note that you can select the calendar to start with whatever month you choose.)
   To enter to win a Local Gardening Task Calendar, send an email to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on November 27 with “Garden Calendar” in the subject line and tell us: What Garden Task You Always Procrastinate On and Why. In the body of the email, please also include your full name and mailing address. The calendar winner will be announced and notified on December 1.

See below for a sample calendar page for December. Click on the image to see it at full-size.

Video Wednesday: The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive Story

At today's second annual Trees Matter Symposium hosted by Montgomery County Parks they shared the story of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. David Milarch, co-founder of the archive, was unable to attend in person due to health issues, but chimed in via remote connection. The topic of collecting DNA and cloning ancient tree materials is fascinating. It will be interesting to see how his project develops over the next 20 years.

Gifts from the Garden ~ Washington Gardener Enews ~ November 2013

The Washington Gardener Enews ~ November 2013 issue has been sent to all current Washington Gardener Magazine subscribers.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

~ Gifts from the Garden

~ Top Local Garden Events Calendar for November-December

~ Magazine Excerpt: Getting to the Root of Growing Great Carrots

~ Mid-Atlantic Garden To-Do List for November-December
~ Reader Contest: Win a Local Gardening Task Calendar

~ Mum’s The Word

~ Washington Gardener's Recent Blog Post Highlights
~ New Plant Spotlight: Clematis ‘Sweet Summer Love’

~ What NOT To Do in the Garden Now

~ Washington Gardener Magazine Back Issue Sale!

and much more... 

You can access it as well as all of the other Washington Gardener Enews back issues online now and anytime in the future at http://issuu.com/washingtongardener/docs/. 

Gazebo Gazing on Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

For this month's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day share, I decided to take a walk around the plantings at the base of my gazebo to see what was flowering there. The gazebo is in part-shade and generally is a little more protected from the elements than the rest of the garden. Here are the four blooming plants I found:

Nippon Daisy

Toad Lily

Encore Azalea

Annual Salvia

Elsewhere in the garden, we got zapped by a wintry freeze this week. I have lost some summer annuals, but others hang on -- including some wave petunias, begonias, sunflowers, nicotiana, and even a few zinnias. I will probably clear them all out this weekend though as we have also had very little rain and I don't think it is worth continuing to water them at this point in the season.

What is blooming in YOUR garden today?

Video Wednesday: Maryland Farm & Harvest

 

A new series is debuting on Maryland Public Television this coming week all about agriculture, farms, and local growing in the state. Here is a preview clip from the series. It will air 7pm on Tuesdays and then repeat over the weekend on MPT and MPT2.

I'm really looking forward to episode #2 which will feature: "A 5th-generation Kent County grain farm family grows radishes to help clean up the bay. Women farmers network to market their products. Heirloom tomatoes grown and sold locally." Also, episode #5 caught my eye for a segment on "the big business of plant nurseries." I hope that in future episodes they explore more of the states' Eastern Shore wholesale nurseries that supply so much of the East Coast's ornamental plants.

Washington Gardener Magazine Book Club 2014 Selections

With the success of our first full year of the Washington Gardener Magazine Book Club, we are announcing our 2014 selections and schedule so that you can get a head start on obtaining the books and reading them.

For our first 2014 selection, we will be reading: Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart.

I am reserving a meeting room at a DC Library in early February. (We will move the location around to various DC library locations near public transit for each meeting pending library staff approvals, the location will be confirmed to you when you RSVP.)

The room allows food and drink and you may bring your dinner and/or snacks to share.

The book club meetings are FREE and open to anyone who would like to attend.

Please RSVP to "WG Book Club" at WashingtonGardener@rcn.com. I will be limiting attendance to 20. If you need to cancel, let me know ASAP so we can give your spot to someone else, should we have a wait-list.

In case you like to read ahead, the other book club selections for 2014 are:

~ American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn by Ted Steinberg

~ Into the Garden with Charles by Clyde PhillipWachsberger
~ The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

I will announce the date for the next book club meetings after each previous meeting. We will meet roughly once each quarter.

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