Candytuft Plant Profile

 

Candytuft Plant Profile

Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) is an evergreen, woody perennial plant that is hardy to USDA Zones 4 -8. The sweet name refers to Candia, an old name for the Island of Crete, where it originated.

It grows in low mound shape. This plant is sometimes mistaken for the annual flower Alyssum.

Candytuft is a member of the Brassica family and it has a cabbage-like scent, making it fairly deer- and rabbit-resistant.

The lace-like flowers that appear in early spring. It can rebloom periodically throughout the summer and fall. The flowers are typically white, though some cultivars have a pink or purple tone. After the first flush of flowers is done, cut the plant back by a third to encourage renewed growth.

It prefers a sunny location with well-draining soils. It is a great choice for a stone wall, rock garden, or sidewalk edge. Candytuft also looks good spilling out of a container planting.

Candytuft is visited by many species of bees and butterflies. It can be started from softwood cutting or seed.

Candytuft: You Can Grow That!

 

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio, Photos, and Text by Kathy Jentz

Video and Editing by Hojung Ryu

 

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Monday Thoughts: “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” ~ Pablo Neruda

“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” 

~ Pablo Neruda

GardenDC Podcast Episode 99: Trilliums

In this episode, we talk Amy Highland, Mt. Cuba Center’s director of collections and conservation lead, all about Trilliums. The plant profile is on Candytuft and I share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events.

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! See how at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

Show Notes: 1:31 Meet Amy Highland from Mt. Cuba Center and learn all about trilliums! 2:19 “I was that kid that was too busy picking dandelions in the outfield to be bothered with tee-ball” — Amy 4:36 Mt. Cuba Center’s mission: motivate conservation action 5:26 Amy’s varying duties at Mt. Cuba 8:14 “My first time visiting Mt. Cuba, it was like a fairy garden.” — Kathy 10:02 Kathy’s favorite spot at Mt. Cuba 11:30 Amy dispels a rumor about the trilliums at Mt Cuba 12:29 Amy explains why they deadhead trilliums at Mt. Cuba 14:46 “It’s not something you can simply stick a shovel in the ground and divide a plant.” — Amy talks about transplanting trilliums 15:35 The lighting situation for trilliums 17:06 “Plant it now for tomorrow.” — Kathy says expect trilliums to flower after 7 years 18:44 Kathy and Amy talk about deer 19:26 Amy mentions why white-tailed deer are a threat to trilliums — “I am convinced that anything in the lily family is deer candy.” 20:14 Feral pigs eat trilliums! 22:59 How non-natives can potentially protect trilliums 26:54 What to consider before purchasing a trillium 27:48 Vocab word for the day: propagules 28:51 Kathy and Amy discuss ephemerals 32:29 Kathy mentions Stinking Benjamin — “Who’s Benjamin and why does he stink?” 33:22 Amy talks about how the botanical skin care industry is poaching trilliums 37:35 The color scale of trilliums at Mt. Cuba 40:08 What the home gardener can do to help with preservation 43:05 Companion plants for trilliums 45:27 How to contact Amy and learn about Mt. Cuba 46:13 Amy talks about what makes trilliums special 47:22 Learn about the Candytuft in this week’s Plant Profile! 48:55 Channel you inner artist with Let’s Make Art 51:01 What’s new in the garden: rain all week, peas popped up, and lily of the valley are tripling 51:45 News in the gardening world: trees at Arlington National Cemetery, Ladew Topiary Gardens 14th annual garden festival, Sandy Spring Museum garden tour, and more! 53:33 Look forward to “The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City” by Teri Speight and Kathy

To access the Let's Make Art 20% Discount Offer, Use Code: zen.ai/gardendc

If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 69: Garden Phlox

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/08/gardendc-podcast-episode-69-garden-phlox.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 98: Native Vines
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/04/gardendc-podcast-episode-98-native-vines.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 20: Native Plants, Diversity in the Garden, and Sunflowers
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-20-native.html
~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 50: Deer-Resistant Native Plants
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/03/gardendc-podcast-episode-50-deer.html

The episode is posted at: 

https://anchor.fm/gardendc/episodes/Trilliums-e1grgb9

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We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/message Note that we may use these messages on a future episode.

And be sure to leave us a 5-star review on your favorite platform so other gardeners can find us too!

Episode Credits:

Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Editing and Show Notes: Dorvall Bedford

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Fenton Friday: Pea Progress

 

It was a VERY wet week, so we don't have much to report -- other then to say the peas have shot up and I can breath a sigh of relief that they were not knocked back by the recent sub-freezing temps. 

We also re-stapled and reattached the hardware cloth (wire fencing) on the planting box surrounding the peas to protect them from the marauding bunnies. It was starting to come off and I knew without the pea shoots would not stand a chance against the ravenous rabbits!

Are you back in your edible garden yet? If so, what are you growing

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 in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 11th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.

Lungwort Plant Profile

Plant Profile: Lungwort 

Lungwort (Pulmonaria) is a terrific perennial plant for shade, but it can also take a good deal of sun.

The plant prefers wet, humus-y soil.  It is quite drought-tolerant once established -- as long as you keep it well mulched.

It awakens in early spring and has a long-lasting bloom. The flowers are purple, pink, and blue. They somewhat resemble our native Virginia Bluebell.

The foliage ranges from plain green to silver spotted to frosted almost totally silver. Its fuzzy leaves make it deer-resistant.

This is not a long-lived plant, so every 3-5 years, dig up the clumps in fall and divide them.

It is a small-ish plant so it does best situated in mass groupings or at the front of a border. Pair it with primrose, hosta, carex, and hellebores, which grow in similar shade to part sun situations.

Lungwort: You Can Grow That!

 

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio, Photos, and Text by Kathy Jentz

Video and Editing by Hojung Ryu

 

➤ If you enjoy this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our Youtube channel (thank you!)

➤Remember to TURN ON notifications to know when our new videos are out

➤ FIND Washington Gardener Magazine ONLINE

~ WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com

~ http://twitter.com/WDCGardener

~ https://www.instagram.com/wdcgardener/

~ Facebook.com/WashingtonGardenerMagazine

~ Podcast: GardenDC

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Tulips Days are Back in DC

 By Dorvall Bedford

After years of waiting, the Dutch Ambassador has finally brought back tulips to his residence and DC for this year’s #DutchTulipDays.

 

 Ambassador André Haspels

Wednesday, March 30, was Ambassador André Haspels' first Tulip Days event he hosted during his almost three years here in DC. He said at the event that he has been looking forward to hosting Tulip Days because everybody told him when he was first appointed ambassador to the United States that it was a big event in DC and the diplomatic circuit.

 

“It was a pity that we couldn’t organize it in my first and second year [due to COVID-19],” Haspel said. “But now I’m very happy that we can organize it in my third year here.”

 

This excitement was certainly displayed in the decorations at the Dutch Ambassador’s residence. If you were walking by the building you would immediately recognize it by all the tulips surrounding it. Tulips also led up the interior stairway to the second floor and covered almost every tabletop and window sill in the residence. They came in several different colors as well, including orange, pink, white, and purple. It was a beautiful design which Chief Florist Susanne Schrijvers expressed pride in.

 

Tulips line the staircase at the  the residence of the Dutch Ambassador to the United States.

“It’s always an honor to design with more than 15,000 tulips here in the embassy,” she said.

 

At the press event that I attended, Haspels made a few remarks and florist Schrijvers led a tour through the residence. Also part of the event was a presentation by Frank Cornelissen, Chief Commercial Officer of Floriade. He discussed the Floriade Expo 2022 exhibition beginning in the Netherlands this month.

 

The focus of this year’s Floriade exhibition is growing green cities since roughly 68% of the world’s population will be living in cities, according to Cornelissen. So as part of an effort to promote making cities more eco-friendly, other countries have participated in Floriade by building their own pavilions on-site made of sustainable materials. Notable examples include a pavilion made of a growing fungus and the Japanese pavilion with its traditional thatched roof.

 

Dr. Dwane Jones, Dean of CAUSES at the University of the District of Columbia, was also present at the press event and made himself available to attendees to discuss the urban agriculture and sustainability work of CAUSES as well as the Urban Greenhouse Challenge being done in collaboration with Wageningen University and Research.

 

After the remarks and presentations, Cornelissen discussed with me how residents here in DC can make their city more green. He mentioned that personal gardening could promote a healthier city and that he grows his own tomatoes on his balcony back in Amsterdam.

 

“Choose your plants wisely,” he said. “Try and find things that work well for insects, bees, and butterflies to help support those populations because they are crucial to our ecosystem.”

 

Haspels also provided ways of making DC a healthy community, such as walking or biking instead of driving, eating less meat, and using green energy like solar panels.

 

“Those are small things that you can do as an individual,” he said.

 

Haspels said that although he couldn’t invite everyone in DC inside his residence, he hopes people still enjoyed the flowers outside and took pictures.

You can view an album of additional photos from the event at - 

facebook.com/WashingtonGardenerMagazine.

Tulips at the Floral Library

And for even more tulip viewing, see the Floral Library on the National Mall (between the Tidal Basin and the Washington Monument), planted by the National Park Service. Additional nearby tulip-viewing spots include the Franciscan Monastery in Northeast Washington DC and Sherwood Gardens in Baltimore. See more about growing tulips locally at our Plant Profile.

About the Author:
Dorvall Bedford is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. He is a native of Frederick, MD.

Monday Thoughts: "Without doubt, without hesitation, I choose gardening over the gym. I can't stand going to the gym. It doesn't appeal to me at all. Give me gardening every time." ~ Mary Berry

"Without doubt, without hesitation, I choose gardening over the gym. I can't stand going to the gym. It doesn't appeal to me at all. Give me gardening every time."

~ Mary Berry

Book Signings and Events

Our new book, The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City, comes out on April 12! You can pre-order it now on Amazon. (This Amazon link is an affiliate link and Washington Gardener Magazine may earn a few pennies, if you click through on it.) You can also order it though BookShop to support independent book sellers.

Find us at the following events this spring to purchase and have us sign the book -- if you bought the book elsewhere, feel free to bring it along to any of these events to have it signed.

~ Friday-Saturday, April 8-9, AHS River Farm 2022 Spring Garden Market
Look for the Washington Gardener Magazine booth.

Kathy Jentz will be there during all sale hours on both days.

Free to attend. Note parking is $20 if you are not an AHS member.

More details: https://ahsgardening.org/about-river-farm/events-programs/spring-garden-market/

 

~ Sunday, April 10, Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, MD

"Small Space Gardening"

Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight will be there from 2-3pm giving a short talk on small space gardening, answering your questions, and signing books.

Free to attend.

More details: https://homesteadgardens.com/upcoming-event/small-space-gardening/

~  Thursday, April 14, Virtual Garden Chat from 6:30-7pm ET
Celebrate #NationalGardeningDay with Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight

Join us for a chance to win a free copy of The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City and to talk about all things gardening!

Free to attend.

Join us LIVE on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/washingtongardenermagazine

~ Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24, Leesburg  Flower and Garden Festival
Look for the Washington Gardener Magazine in booth #501.

Kathy Jentz will be there during all sale hours on both days.

Free to attend.

More details: https://www.leesburgva.gov/departments/parks-recreation/events/flower-garden-festival

 

~ Saturday, April 30, FONA Garden Fair & Plant Sale

Look for the Washington Gardener Magazine booth.

Kathy Jentz will be there during all sale hours.

Free to attend.

More details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fona-garden-fair-plant-sale-tickets-287984177427?aff=FONAweb

 

~ Saturday, May 14, Green Spring Garden Big Spring Plant Sale

Look for the Washington Gardener Magazine booth.

Kathy Jentz will be there during all sale hours.

Free to attend.

More details: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/green-spring

 

~ Monday, May 16 Silver Spring Garden Club Meeting at Brookside Gardens

Teri Speight will give a talk on her other new book, "“Black Flora: Profiles of Inspiring Black Flower Farmers + Florists”

Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight will be signing books before and after the talk.

Free to attend.

More details: https://www.silverspringgardenclub.com/

~ Sunday, May 22, 2-5pm 

Shepherd Park (DC) Garden Tour 

There are over 15 host sites that include a penthouse rooftop garden, two schools, two houses of worship,  and historic, English, and sculpture/art gardens to name a few!  The first 100 people who register for tickets to the 2022 SPCA Garden will receive a 15% off gift certificate from Renee's Garden. Tickets are free for 2022 SPCA Members and children under twelve and those folks can register here. If you're not an SPCA member or know someone who would like to attend, please purchase tickets using this link. 

Washington Gardener Magazine's own Kathy Jentz will be at the registration kiosk for the first hour selling and signing her new book*.  We also have vendor tables, and raffles for prizes from Bluestone Perennials and Gurneys!  

*Feel free to bring your copy of "The Urban Gardren" for signing, if you already purchased it elsewhere.

 

~ Saturday, May 28, Thanksgiving Farm in Adamstown, MD 

"A Book Talk & Signing: How to Garden When You Are Renting"

Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight will be there from 1-2pm (NOTE TIME CHANGE!) giving a short talk on small space gardening -- in particular those who are RENTING their garden space, answering your questions, and signing books.

Free to attend.

More details: https://www.thanksgivingfarmandgarden.com/

~ Sunday, June 5, Valley View Farms in Cockeysville/Hunt Valley (Baltimore), MD

"Q&A Book Party"

Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight will be there from 2-3pm answering your questions and signing books: "The Urban Garden" and "Black Flora."

Along with Kim Roman, author of "How to Garden Indoors & Grow Your Own Food Year Round: Ultimate Guide to Vertical, Container, and Hydroponic Gardening."

(Note these are Amazon affiliate links.)

Free to attend.

More details: http://www.valleyviewfarms.com/

  

~ Saturday, June 18, Patuxent Nursery in Bowie, MD

"Can't Fail Containers" Talk

Kathy Jentz will be there from 2-3:30pm giving a short talk on container gardening, answering your questions, and signing books. At the end of the container demonstration, one lucky winner will be selected to take home a mixed container planting.

Free to attend.

More details: https://patuxentnursery.com/event/kathy-jentz-container-gardening/