This past semester while interning at Washington Gardener, I got to plant and watch a variety of edibles grow. I’ve never grown an edible before, unless we count the basil plant I killed in my dorm a few semesters ago, so it was an incredibly exciting experience. I also got all of the seeds at the annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange. I’m not from the Mid-Atlantic region and had no idea what would grow, but everyone I talked to at the event helped me pick out which seeds I should plant!
I was able to grow and harvest red and green 'Salad Bowl' lettuce and 'Astro' arugula. We also planted peas, carrots, and radishes. Unfortunately, they weren’t ready for harvest before my last day of the term.
When the plants first started sprouting, we had to thin them out so they weren’t overcrowded. I had no idea that was something I needed to do and I felt so bad pulling up the baby sprouts (though I found out I could eat those sprouts too). A week later, though, the lettuce and arugula filled in all of the gaps and were growing huge!
After harvesting, I used the arugula on a chicken salad sandwich and it was amazing! Getting to eat the veggies I grew myself makes it taste even better in my opinion. I also used the lettuce to make a salad for my roommates and they loved it. We completely forgot to stop and take pictures of it!
I had a lot of fun getting to dabble in growing edible plants this semester and I feel a little hopeful that I can add a basil plant to my collection of houseplants now.
About the Author:
Jessica Harden is a junior journalism major minoring in law and society, with a concentration in criminal law, at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She is an intern this semester with Washington Gardener and is from San Antonio, TX.
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 12th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).
Bearded Iris (Iris ×
germanica) is a group of European hybrid iris also known as the German
Bearded Irises. They are considered to be a natural hybrid between Iris pallida and Iris variegata. There are thousands of
Bearded Iris cultivars available.
The cultivars come in every color and combination from pure
whites to pinks, browns, yellows, and almost jet black -- though the classic
Bearded Iris is a deep purple.
They are perennial plants that typically bloom in mid- to
late-spring. Note that some cultivars can
re-bloom in the fall.
Bearded Irises are hardy to USDA zones 3 to 9. They are
deer-resistant and drought-tolerant.
They prefer to grow in full sun with well-draining soils. If
they do not get enough sunlight, the flower stalks will stretch and flop over.
If they are in too much moisture, the roots will rot.
Do not apply a high nitrogen fertilizer as this encourages
leaf growth and can make the plant susceptible to bacterial rot.
They can be propagated by seed or by division. You will need
to divide them every 3-5 years, so they don’t become too crowded. The best time
to divide the plants is during the late summer or early fall. When you plant the
new divisions, be sure the soil level is just to the top of the rhizomes and
not burying them.
The foliage stays evergreen most of the year. In the fall,
you can trim back any brown or floppy leaves or fans. Clearing out this dead
foliage can prevent the dreaded iris borer from wintering over in the plants.
In addition to the typical tall varieties of Bearded Iris,
there are also miniature and dwarf versions. The smaller kinds typically bloom
earlier in the season then the larger ones.
Bearded Iris: You Can
Grow That!
The
video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine as part of our Plant
Profile series for Mid-Atlantic USA gardeners.
Video and editing by Jessica Harden
Audio and text by Kathy Jentz
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enjoy this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our
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Graham Gardner, author of Tiny and Wild, and Kathy Jentz, author of Groundcover Revolution, are going LIVE on YouTube on Friday, 5/19/23 at 12noon ET to discuss #NoMowMay and how both our books can offer more sustainable lawn alternatives.
In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with garden designer Linda Hostetler, about designing gardens for plant collectors. The plant profile is on Bletilla and we share what's going on in the garden as well as some upcoming local gardening events in the What's New segment. We close out withSean and Allison McManus of the Spoken Garden, who share the Last Word on why you should plant Liatris.
BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month!
Show Notes:
01:27 Meet Linda Hostetler, garden designer!
01:52 The “pot walk”
03:13 “So I learned to love nature as a kid.”
03:52 Fireflies, luna moths, and praying mantis.
05:30 “I bought a house full of ghosts…”
09:24 “Every property has a painting in it.”
11:23 What is The Plains?
17:13 Linda likes to bring her love for secrets, fantasy, and romance into her garden.
23:30 Hosta ‘Halcyon’
26:05 “... which is probably the most revealing and demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
27:30 For collections, Linda likes to keep everything simple to focus on the collector’s plants.
28:59 What does Linda use in her informal garden?
31:14 “I’m never satisfied with the garden, I’m always changing it around.”
31:40 Linda’s impatience when waiting for plants to flower.
32:48 The plants talk to Linda when she’s working in other people’s gardens.
34:50 When is non-plant material needed?
35:27 What’s the difference between “plant material” and plants?
37:14 What ornaments does Linda add for her clients?
40:30 West Coast-style containers aren’t as accepted here.
42:07 “31 years of marriage, I think I earned [a greenhouse.]”
48:25 “Mother Nature knows best,” and that’s how Linda learned to design.
49:48 “Just have fun, you can’t [go] wrong!”
51:54 Bletilla: this week’s Plant Profile!
53:36 Garden Updates: Carolina Allspice and Spirea are blooming! We are harvesting spinach, lettuce, and arugula!
54:03 Upcoming events: Bethesda Community Garden Club Plant Sale; White’s Nursery Spring Open House; Greater Brookland House and Garden Tour; Kathy’s talk for Brookside Gardens.
55:47 “Groundcover Revolution” by Kathy Jentz.
57:09 “The Urban Garden” by Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight
58:10 The Last Word on why you should plant Liatris from Sean and Allison McManus of the Spoken Garden.
If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening to:
~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 53: Superior Perennials with Karen Rexrode
Google Podcasts at this link (note that currently, this link will only work on Android devices.)
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 podcast platform plus share us on social media with #GardenDC, so other gardeners can find us too!
While clearing out our weedy asparagus patch last week, I came across this little nest and brown speckled egg. The only birds I have seen fly in or out of the community garden plot are the Goldfinches in the late summer that like our sunflowers and zinnias. There is also the Robin that follows me around as I weed and a Hawk that surveys the garden from up high on the utility lines for baby bunnies and other prey. A bit of research assured me that this egg did not belong to any of these regular visiting birds.
Cecily Nabors, our Washington Gardener Magazine bird columnist, thinks it may be a Cowbird. This makes me feel much better about the abandoned egg as cowbirds are known as "obligate brood parasites" -- meaning they lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species for the unsuspecting "adoptive" parents to raise and care for them.
This week we harvested lettuce, spinach, and arugula. We pulled a few carrots and they are still too tiny to even be eaten as "baby" carrots. The peas and radishes are also still weeks away from harvest stage.
I checked on the garlic and no scapes have formed yet -- though I expect that to happen any day now.
The few strawberry plants that I left on the edge of the renovated asparagus bed are in flower and I even saw a few fruits forming on them too.
The potato plants continue to increase exponentially and the thornless blackberry bush is absolutely covered in green fruits -- I need to remember to throw a cover over it soon so I can actually eat some this year and not lose all of them to the birds!
What are you growing in your edible garden this season?
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 12th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above (at the top, left on this blog).
Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea) has bright-green, glossy foliage that hugs the ground and stays evergreen in mild climates. In the spring, it sends up stems between a foot or two high that have black buds at the tip. These buds soon open to reveal golden-yellow, daisy-like flowers that last for several weeks.
The basal foliage spreads along the ground and forms a dense groundcover. It will naturalize in moist areas and self-sow around the garden, if you let it. To curtail that, get out your pruners and dead-head the flowers at the base once the blooms are finished, although part of this plant’s charms are the puffs of spent flowers and its seed heads.
While it prefers moist soils, it will tolerate drier conditions as well as occasional flooding.
Golden Ragwort is adaptable to many situations, making it a great groundcover for an area of the landscape that ranges in sun exposure. It looks good in a shady border or around the margins of a pond. It does equally well in a sunny or shady perennial bed, as long as it receives adequate moisture.
Divide golden ragwort in the spring. Other than that, it is maintenance-free. The flowers are attractive to bees and butterflies.
Like most aster family members, Golden Ragwort is deer- and rabbit-resistant. It is untroubled by most pests and is practically disease-free.
This profile was excerpted from Groundcover Revolution by Kathy Jentz.
Get a 30% discount when you order it today from Quarto.com and enter the code GARDENING30 at check out!
Golden Ragwort: You Can Grow That!
The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine as part of our Plant Profile series for Mid-Atlantic USA gardeners.
Video and editing by Jessica Harden
Audio and text by Kathy Jentz
➤ 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
“Playing in gardens among the sprites.
Wildflower days and dreamy nights.
Laughing sweet fae enchantingly free,
with the drumbeats we sing, to all blessed be.”
—Beltane Blessing
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I had a lot of fun getting to dabble in growing edible plants this semester and I feel a little hopeful that I can add a basil plant to my collection of houseplants now. 
