Saturday, October 18, 2025

GardenDC Podcast Episode 260: Orchids of the First Ladies


In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with the Arthur Chadwick of Chadwick & Son Orchids, all about the First Ladies' Orchids. The plant profile is on Snake Plant 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 with the Last Word on the October Leafy Soirée by Christy Page of GreenPrints.


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

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter/subscriber at: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/subscribe

This episode is archived at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4mS2vLpKE5WTofsvIc06Nq?si=kexOF-4GQPWXWFgqsPum9w

Show Notes: 01:38 Introducing Arthur Chadwick of Chadwick & Son Orchids 04:30 The Legacy of Orchid Breeding 06:07 Orchid Boarding: A Unique Business Model 07:47 What’s the perfect climate for orchids? 09:26 With so much variety, not sure what to choose? 11:07 Watering Tips: How much and how often? 15:07 Orchid’s Fragrant History 16:00 Corsages and Cattleyas: Fashionable First Ladies 18:03 The First Ladies’ Orchids project 21:13 “I’m a big fern fan myself…” 23:45 Looking ahead to the 2026 Philadelphia Flower Show 26:24 The classic Cattleya look 30:34 First Ladies with namesake orchids 30:55 Florence Harding 32:00 Grace Coolidge 33:10 The Evolution of Orchid Breeding 34:13 Lou Henry Hoover 34:52 Some of Kathy and Arthur’s favorites 35:30 Betty Ford and Rosalind Carter 37:42 Barbara Bush 39:07 Hillary Clinton 40:13 Laura Bush 41:42 Michelle Obama 42:48 Melania Trump 44:24 How else do orchids get their names? 47:58 Find out more about Chadwick Orchids 50:36 Snake Plant Plant Profile 52:24 What’s new in the garden this week? 54:55 The Last Word with Christy Page 58:24 Support the Garden DC Podcast!

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/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!

Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Interview Edit and Show Notes: Cavit Ireland
Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany

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Friday, October 17, 2025

Fenton Friday: Cowpeas Coming


The Iron & Clay Cowpeas (pictured above) are producing like crazy now. Note that Cowpeas are also known as Southern Peas or Black-eyed Peas, but they are actually a Bean (legume). You can eat them green and also eat the foliage. It is used for animal foraging too. Cowpeas are named that because the cows love them! I'm harvesting them when the pods are almost dry on the vine, then I'm drying them on screens in my sunroom. Then I plan to shell them and save them in glass jars. After all the rabbit trouble we had with these all season long, I'm just happy to get anything from these plants!

I'm cutting Dahlias daily. We escaped the frost last week that others were touched by in our region, but temps are supposed to drop again this weekend -- so fingers crossed that the Dahlias and other plants hang on for a bit more. We will soon pull out the last of the Basil, Tomatoes and Peppers. I yanked out the last of the Zucchini vines and put in more Cover Crop seeds in their place.

The Radish, Lettuce mix, Cilantro, and Cauliflower seedlings are both doing well. We will need to thin the Radishes soon and can harvest Cilantro any day now.

What are you growing in your edible garden 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 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 14th 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).

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Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Autumn Daffodil Plant Profile

 

Autumn Daffodil Plant Profile

Autumn Daffodil (Sternbergia lutea) is also known as fall daffodil, winter daffodil, or yellow autumn crocus. Despite the bright-yellow color, it really does look more like a tall crocus, than a daffodil.

The Autumn Daffodil is an heirloom pass-along bulb that is experiencing a resurgence of popularity.

It is hardy to USDA zones 6 to 9. Autumn Daffodil is native to Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. It's also found in southern Europe.

It is related to Amaryllis and is deer-resistant and vole-proof.

When ordered from a bulb catalog, the bulbs will arrive in late summer or early autumn and should be planted right away.

After planting the bulbs, they may take a year or two to acclimate, but after that they should reliably bloom each fall and increase a bit every year.

It prefers well-drained soil and a mostly sunny location. It does best planted in a spot with a southern exposure and a bit of extra straw mulch in colder climates.

The foliage stays up all winter leaves and grows to about 10-inches tall.          

The bulbs can be lifted and divided before the leaves die down in late spring.

Autumn Daffodil: You Can Grow That!

 

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine.

Audio, Photos, and Text by Kathy Jentz

Video and Editing by Ellen Isaacson

 

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If you liked this video, we think you will like these other Plant Profiles:

~ Colchicum Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2022/10/colchicum-plant-profile.html

~ Daffodil Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2018/03/plant-profile-daffodils.html

~ Snowdrop Plant Profile

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2021/02/plant-profile-snowdrops-galanthus-sp.html

 

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Monday, October 13, 2025

Monday Thoughts: “Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature's son Swaying daisies, sing a lazy song, Beneath the sun." ~ The Beatles

“Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature's son Swaying daisies,  sing a lazy song, Beneath the sun." 

~ The Beatles

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Saturday, October 11, 2025

GardenDC Podcast Episode 259: From Garden to Farm with the Gardening Gays

In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with the Gardening Gays -- Kevin and Dragan, all about their transition from small garden to country farm. The plant profile is on Hairy Aster 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 with the Last Word on the Ghost Orchid by Christy Page of GreenPrints.

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

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 224: The Reformation of a Bad Naturalist

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2025/01/gardendc-podcast-episode-224.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 253: The Farm-to-Vase Movement

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2025/08/gardendc-podcast-episode-253-farm-to.html

~ GardenDC Podcast Episode 7: Chickens in the Garden

https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/04/gardendc-podcast-episode-7-chickens-in.html

BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter/subscriber at: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/gardendc/subscribe

This episode is archived at: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3xSP8Zg1ydgLDyn1vG0yKK?si=4XaMb4tnTR-XPQCHrqgQJA

Show Notes: 01:27 Introducing Kevin and Dragan 03:55 Transitioning from city to country living 09:58 Settling in King George, Virginia 13:23 Understanding King George’s growing conditions 17:48 Chronicling the Journey: The Gardening Gays 20:25 Learning from early mistakes 23:42 Connecting with followers and community 25:10 Reflecting on progress and growth 28:32 From townhouse to farm life 30:58 A day in the life on the farm 35:15 Building a farm store 36:55 Local demand and community support 38:03 Propagating plants and expanding 40:01 Orchard Management: Pest Control 46:01 Future plans for further expansion 50:50 Was it worth it? 53:35 Hairy Aster Plant Profile 54:59 What’s new in the garden this week? 57:36 The Last Word with Christy Page: Ghost Orchid 59:32 Support the Garden DC Podcast!

We welcome your questions and comments! You can leave a voice mail message for us at: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/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!

Episode Credits:
Host and Producer: Kathy Jentz
Interview Edit and Show Notes: Cavit Ireland
Music: Let the Sunshine by James Mulvany

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Friday, October 10, 2025

Fenton Friday: Forgotten Onion Harvest


Pictured above is our "forgotten" Onion harvest. Because I'm not personally a big onion fan, I had pretty much ignored them all winter. This week, I cleared the bed they were in and found these 3. (Do they remind anyone else of the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus or is that just me?) There were likely more, so after we get some good rain this weekend I may go back to check for some more. Back in May, we had planted a dozen 'Stuttgart' Yellow Onions. It was a bit late in the season to be doing so, but the onion sets were given to our community garden by HarvestShare to grow for suporting their food for the hungry programs. I have them curing now on an old screen in my sunroom and will donate them at our next harvest gathering session in a couple weeks.

I'm cutting Dahlias now almost daily. They are so happy now in October's cooler temps. There was a frost alert in the region last night, though I think we are still a few weeks away from it hitting us. 

We will soon pull out the last of the Tomatoes and Peppers, but for now they are still producing steadily -- as are the Cowpeas. The Zucchini are flowering, though no fruits are forming, so they will go next.

The Cover Crop seeds are up and so are the seeds for our recently planted Radishes and Lettuce mix. The Cilantro and Cauliflower seedlings are both doing well.

What are you growing in your edible garden 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 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 14th 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).

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Thursday, October 09, 2025

Win a copy of The Square Foot Gardening Planner in the October 2025 Washington Gardener Reader Contest

For our October 2025 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, we are giving away three copies of The Square Foot Gardening Planner from Cool Springs Press (value $23 each, Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4mKRC4W). 

   The Square Foot Gardening Planner: A 3-year Journal for Recording the Planning, Planting, and Care of Your Square Foot Garden is the one-and-only official planner of the Square Foot Gardening Foundation, filled with all the planning tools and data-tracking logs that generations of Square Foot Gardeners have been asking for. The intensive planting, prescribed spacing, and succession cropping used in the square foot gardening method mean a greater need to plan in advance and keep track of changes. This planner gives you all the tools you need to do just that. 

   To enter to win The Square Foot Gardening Planner, send an email by 5:00pm on Friday, October 31, to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail.com with “Square Foot Gardening Planner” in the Subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in the October 2025 Washington Gardener issue and why. Please include your full name and mailing address. Winners will be announced and notified on/about November 1. Content entry replies might be published. 

UPDATE:
Congratulations to our 3 reader contest winners:

Beth Py-Lieberman

Katherine Munchmeyer 

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