Chrysanthemums or "mums" are an asset to any perennial garden. They provide quiet foliage all through the growing season and then set bloom right when most everything else is finished. From gold to pink to white and maroon, there is a color for every planting scheme. Don’t limit yourself to just the pompon cushion variety either...
To see other videos in our Plant Profile series., go to: ~ Japanese Anemones - click here ~ Asters - click here ~ Toad Lily - click here ~ Pink Muhly Grass - click here ~ Phalaenopsis or Moth Orchids - click here
I missed checking in last week with a Fenton Friday post as I was at the Turning a New Leaf Conference in Herndon, VA. It was such a nice day at the meeting, that a garden writer friend and I took our lunch break outside the hotel. Little did I know that it would be once of our last chances to do so this year. The arctic front has moved down to our region and several cloudy/rainy days are now followed by frigid temps tonight. This is likely the end of the growing season for the most part.
We dug up some 'Icicle' radishes and 'Purple Top' turnips a few days ago. I saw that my garlic had sent up some green shoots and piked a few last zinnia blooms.
The broccoli under the row cover had grown a bit, but it appears that slugs had snuck under the protective blanket and did some serious damage to the foliage. I applied some organic Sluggo-Plus pellets yesterday and hope that takes care of them.
How is your vegetable garden growing this week?
About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)
UPDATED: Because the 11/25 and 12/10 classes were so popular, we have added a third (final) class on 12/27 from 6-7:30pm - see details and registration at:
We are offering a bit of holiday stress relief -- join us for a Succulents with Sparkle Terrarium Class. Take a creative break this holiday season at the Catylator Makerspace in the basement level of the World Building in downtown Silver Spring, MD. We will be making a glass terrarium with succulents and adding a touch of sparkle to it. All materials are included as well as care instructions to keep your succulent happy and thriving. No prior gardening experience required -- beginners welcome! (Must be 10 years old and over to attend.)
Light snacks will be served.
Catylator Makerspace is located in the iconic World Building in downtown Silver Spring Md at 8121 Georgia Ave, Suite LL1. It's a 10 minute (0.4 mi) walk from the Silver Spring Metro stop on the Red Line. Parking is available in the county garage on Fenton and Silver Spring Avenue (free on weekends).
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Click Here to visit the Brown Paper Tickets event page.
Heat up your autumn with these little balls of fire! Ornamental
peppers make great container and foundation plants. They really are three-season plants, but fall is when they put on their best show. The peppers come
in a range of colors from white to orange/red to purple to black -- often with
multiple hues on the same plant. The plants are short and compact. The foliage
is also colorful. Look for plants with almost black leaves or ones with bright variegation that contrast with the fruits.
They need full sun for best coloration, but will do alright
in part sun. They are not very fussy plants. Pinch back any new growth in order to encourage branching and
fullness. Keep the soil evenly moist. You can also bring them indoors as a houseplant once the night temperatures
dip -- placing them in a sunny window through winter and then back outside once the last frost has past.
I like to cut a branch for use in dried flower arrangements or in a seasonal wreath. I also string some using floral wire to make a holiday garland. When working with them, be sure to wear eye protection and gloves when handling the fruit so you don't feel the heat from these potent plants.
Ornamental Peppers are deer-resistant. Nor will squirrels or
rabbits touch them, but birds may give them a try. And yes, they are technically
edible, but you really wouldn’t want to consume them as they are very hot and not bred for
flavor, and therefore are not very tasty. Also, as they are grown as ornamental plants
they made have had pesticides applied to them by the grower.
My favorite varieties to grow are 'Black Pearl', "Sangria', and 'Calico' -- and new ones are being bred and introduced all the time. It is fun to try a few new ones out every year in my garden.
Ornamental Peppers: You can grow that!
To see other videos in our Plant Profile series, go to: ~ Japanese Anemones - click here ~ Asters - click here ~ Toad Lily- click here ~ Pink Muhly Grass - click here ~ Phalaenopsis or Moth Orchids - click here
It is a myth that all orchids are necessarily hard-to- grow,
expensive, and are only safe in the hands of experienced gardeners. The most
commonly available orchids are the Phalaenopsis or Moth Orchids. These
so-called “grocery store” orchids are tolerant of the conditions inside most
homes and make ideal “beginner” plants for first-time orchid growers. They are
also quite inexpensive now due to cloning or tissue-culture reproduction, which
has really brought down the prices of these plants in the last decade.
They have long-lasting blooms, often going for several
months. The height of their natural bloom season is from November through
March, but you will find them for purchase forced into bloom at all times of
the year.
Phalaenopsis orchids need lots of air movement, even
moisture, and several hours of indirect (but bright) sunlight each day. Avoid
direct sunlight, which is too harsh for them.
They prefer temperatures no lower than 60 and not much
higher than 85 degrees. They dislike sudden temperature changes. Cold
temperatures will cause the leaves to turn yellow and drop. If this occurs,
remove the yellow foliage and continue caring for the plant normally.
Water them when dry and allow the soil to dry out between
watering. The plant uses more water when
it is in flower. However, it does store moisture in its canes, and can
withstand short dry periods. Add a weak solution of liquid orchid fertilizer to
the water, but cut that back during its blooming time.
And whatever you do, don’t add ice! Despite what the
marketers tell you, these tropical plants do not appreciate freezing cold water
on their root zones.
Repot them every year or two in a slightly larger pot and
use a potting mix specifically formulated for orchids. Your orchids will also
appreciate a “summer vacation” outside in a lightly shaded spot, just remember
to bring them inside before a frost.
To see other videos in our Plant Profile series., go to: ~ Japanese Anemones - click here ~ Asters - click here ~ Toad Lily- click here ~ Pink Muhly Grass - click here
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/.
Muhly Grass is a tough, native, ornamental grass that is topped in late summer and fall with fluffy plumes of cotton-candy pink. It is airy and beautiful. You cannot resist brushing your hands through it as you walk by.
It grows to about 3 feet high and wide. PinkMuhly makes a great border or edge plant. It combines well with the pink-flowering forms of Echinacea, Sedum ‘Autimn Joy,’ and other ornamental grasses.
It is native to the southern United States and Mexico. The genus (Muhlenbergia) contains over 150 species, but only a few are commercially available.
It prefers full sun (6-8 hours), but can tolerate part-sun. It grow best in well-drained soils, so place it on a slope and amend clay soil well with compost for best results. This grass can tolerate drought conditions, high heat, humidity, and nutrient-poor soils.
PinkMuhly is disease -and pest-resistant. The only maintenance needed is to prune it back to about one foot high in late winter/very early spring.
There is a white version called 'White Cloud' that is equally as stunning and traffic-stopping.
This is the fourth video in series of plant profile videos aimed specifically at the Mid-Atlantic home gardener. See the other videos in this series: ~ Japanese Anemones - click here ~ Asters - click here ~ Toad Lily- click here
We had another frost/freeze scare this week and someone still came out unscathed. I check the basil and last few pepper plants and they show no signs of slowing down. That may change very soon and this may be one of the last Fenton Friday posts for the year.
In the plot, the 'Cherry Bell' radish seeds are up and the broccoli and turnips are chugging along. The plot to the right of mine (#17) was weed-whacked down to the ground again, which was too bad as there was some slowly swiss chard and other things still going strong, despite the absentee plot owner.
The interns and I also stopped by the Ft. Totten community garden run by the Neighborhood Farm Initiative. Photos from our visit are at left here. It is a really nice set-up on National Park Service land right near the Ft. Totten metro.
One precocious young man showed us all around the garden and gave us all hot pink zinnia flowers. He definitely has the gift of gab and made a terrific tour guide and spokesperson for the garden.
The plots are very large -- 25x25. There is a shared tool shed with gas-powered wood chipper and tillers. One plot had an elaborate low-tunnel system set-up. They have a trench compost section (along with regular compost bins) and also running water with drip irrigation to most plots. I am so envious of that last feature!
One thing I definitely did not envy is the tremendous deer pressure this garden experiences. They have a tall deer fence, but the deer still manage to get in occasionally. When I left the garden to walk to the metro, a herd of 12 deer surrounded me and came within a few feet of me and other commuters using the busy path. The next morning I found out one of those deer was killed on the nearby train tracks and caused a major delay during the morning rush hour on the Red line.I hope that the park service acts fast to contain this herd before many more incidents like this happen.
How is your edible garden growing this week?
About Fenton Friday:
Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 6th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.)
Washington Gardener Magazine hosted a Spooky Succulents Class on Friday, October 13, 2017, at the Catylator Makerspace in the "haunted basement" of the World Building in downtown Silver Spring, MD. This video shares a bit about what a makerspace is and also how the succulent creations turned out.
We plan on hosting another Succulent Class on Thanksgiving weekend at the Catylator Makerspace. Stay tuned for more details on that soon.
For our October 2017 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, we are giving away one prize package of 100 bulbs in Colorblends Tulip Blend Purdy (pictured above)—a happy-go-lucky blend of deep-purple, poppy-red, and golden-yellow tulips for a bright splash of color in midseason (prize value: $34). Colorblends is known for its expertise in creating reliably successful pre-blended tulip mixtures that combine two, three, or more varieties.. Colorblends takes tulips to a whole new level, with spring displays that literally stop traffic.
Colorblends is a third-generation American wholesaler of flower bulbs with deep roots in Holland. They are part of Schipper & Company, a wholesale bulb firm founded in the Netherlands in 1912 and based in Connecticut since 1947. Colorblends.com sells direct to landscape professionals and home gardeners from coast to coast.
To enter to win the package of 100 bulbs, send an email to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on October 30 with “Color-blends” in the subject line. In the body of the email, tell us what your favorite article was in the October 2017 issue and why. Be sure to include your full name and mailing address. The winner will be announced and notified on November 1.
UPDATE:
Our winner, chosen at random from among the many submitted entries is Mary Alice O’Halloran of Silver Spring, MD. Congratulations and enjoy, Mary Alice!
We had a frost scare earlier this week, but we made it through unscathed. A good thing too, as I was so busy getting the October issue of Washington Gardener Magazine out that I took no precautions. Zero. Zilch. At that point, I didn't care what lived or died. I was ready to sack the whole plot and start all over, if need be. Have you ever gotten to that point in the season? Well, I got over it. Because the weather actually warmed up, I went out and put a row cover on the Broccoli seedlings and I cut down all the Cotton plants and harvested the heads to make into a wreath. (I'll share the wreath results once I finish it.) I then planted 16 cloves off Garlic.
With the interns, we pulled out the last of the 'Roxanne' and 'French Breakfast' Radishes and put in seeds for 'Cherry Belle' in their place.
While I was digging the spot for the Garlic, I turned up one Potato (pictured here). That was a surprise as I did not plant any this year, but I had in previous years. Potatoes are the plant that just keeps on giving -- no matter how deep I dig and how well we think we sift the soil, you always miss something. In this case, it is a welcome discovery. One small potato won't make much of a meal, but I can add it in with something else and happily eat it knowing there is likely more next year where this one came from...
