Fenton Friday: Hot Hot Hot

The heat and humidity was bad this week - we are baking just like most of the rest of the US and Europe! We did a bit of weeding and I'm watering almost daily. I plucked a few self-sown burgundy Celosias and Holy Basil plants from out of the plot's central pathway and put them in the cutting garden rows where we'd given up on the Butterfly Monardo (Bergamot Bouquet) and Verbena bonariensis 'Vanity'.

The rest of the cutting garden plants are humming right along, Those include: Zinnia 'Queeny Lemon Peach' [pictured here] and a pink-orange Zinnia mix, Celosia Flamma Orange, Hummingbird Nasturtiums Aloha Mix, and Cut Flower Marigolds Xochi Orange. We'll be cutting armfuls of all of them in a week or two. I also saw that the Gomphrena from last year had reseeded itself too and I may move that over to the cutting garden are also -- once things cool off a bit.

The Basil seedlings are looking great as are the Okra and Pumpkins.

I picked a few more Blackberries to eat.

The tomatoes and peppers are loading with flowers and fruits, but it will be a few weeks until they'll be ripening 

What are you growing and eating this week from your edible garden?

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.

Blazing Star Plant Profile

Blazing Star Plant Profile

Blazing Star (Liatris spicata) is a wildflower that is native to the Eastern United States.  It is also commonly known as Gayfeather. It is hardy to USDA zones 3 to 9.

It has a long blooming period from summer into early fall. The straight species has an upright wand of bright purple flowers. There are also cultivars that bloom in shades of pink and white.

Blazing Star is a terrific pollinator plant and in the fall birds eat the seeds. It is drought tolerant and deer resistant.

Blazing Star is low care. It needs to be planted in full sun and good draining soil for best performance. If placed in part sun, it can be floppy and need staking. If subjected to too wet soils, it can rot.

The corms (sometimes referred to as bulbs) are widely available by mail order or at your local garden center in the spring time. They can be planted right away for flowers that summer. If you start them from seed, it may take a few years before you see your first flowers. You can also purchase them as started plants in pots.

Though it is mostly known as a open meadow plant, it is does equally as well growing in the ground as in containers.

Blazing Star: You Can Grow That!

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine as part of our Plant Profile series for Mid-Atlantic USA gardeners.

 Audio, video, and text by Kathy Jentz

Editing by Jamie Oberg

 Footage shot at the Mt. Cuba Center

 

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July 2022 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine –Zinnias, Tomatillos, Mourning Doves, and much more…

 

The July 2022 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine is out. 

Inside this issue:

·         Zinnia Pizzazz, A Rewarding Annual Flower  

·         Welcoming Mourning Doves

·         Growing Tomatillos

·         Will My Pollinator Garden Attract Ticks?

·         How Leaf Mold Compost Benefits Urban Gardens

·         Great Gardening Books Reviewed

·         Rooting DC Recap

·         A Visit to the Well at Oxon Run

·         Meet the Roaming Stone Tool Sharpening Business

·         DC-MD-VA Gardening Events Calendar

and much more…

 

Note that any submissions, event listings, and advertisements for the August 2022 issue are due by August 5.

 

>>  Subscribe to Washington Gardener Magazine today to have the monthly publication sent to your inbox as a PDF several days before it is available online. You can use the PayPal (credit card) online order form here: http://www.washingtongardener.com/index_files/subscribe.htm

Monday Thoughts: "Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts." ~ Sigmund Freud

"Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts."

~ Sigmund Freud

Discuss "Garden Variety" with the Washington Gardener Magazine Garden Book Club

This post include links to Amazon.com and BookShop.org for ordering them. Washington Gardener Magazine may receive a few cents from each order placed after you click on these links.

For our next Garden Book Club selection, we will be reading Garden Variety by Christy Wilhelmi.

You can order it new or used at our Amazon link: https://amzn.to/31jvN8V

or at our Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/a/79479/9780063113480

Reviewer Beth Py-Lieberman wrote, "The tension between Lizzie and Jared kicks off the fast-moving romp of garden-variety tales and adventures in Christy Wilhelmi’s first novel. The award-winning garden guru, who is the founder of the online Gardennerd and the author of Gardening for Geeks, among other resource-rich videos and podcasts, had long envisioned the story of Lizzie, Jared, and the other gardeners at Vista Mar as a screenplay before her friends convinced her that she’d written a novel. For anyone who has ever tried to herd a bunch of garden nerds into a community of hummingbird harmony in the face of relentless summer heat, fast-growing weeds, cisterns run dry, veggie vandalism, and hot-tempered border disputes, Garden Variety makes for a hilariously good read."

 

Our Summer 2022 club meeting will be on Thursday, August 25 from 6:30-8pm ET via Zoom. To join us, register here: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlcuqprD4jEtBQCPV_EZL8MMC7hsSyUXFu 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The Washington Gardener Magazine's Garden Book Club meets quarterly via Zoom and is free and open to all. We will announce the details of each upcoming meeting about two months in advance. Please check back on this blog for schedule updates and announcements.

Want to read ahead? The next book club selections are:

• Fall 2022 - One Man's Garden by Henry Mitchell

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GardenDC Podcast Episode 111: Flower Combinations

In this episode, we talk with author Jenny Rose Carey all about flower combinations. The plant profile is on Rose Campion and we 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: 1:29 Meet Jenny Rose Carey, author of “The Ultimate Flower Gardener’s Guide” and avid flower gardener! 2:28 Jenny has left PHS and is currently freelance writing, speaking, and promoting her new book 4:21 She is writing about all the flowers she grows herself! 5:58 Creating microclimates for the flowers 6:51 “I want to grow everything.” — Jenny 8:20 Deliberate choice to make the book accessible with a low price point by making it a soft cover 9:45 Small space vs large space gardens 10:08 Container gardening 10:48 Flower color combinations are entirely personal and subjective 11:40 A “flower wish list” is helpful to make your garden exactly how you want 14:44 It won’t be instant gratification with your garden 16:37 “My eyes are bigger than my stomach.” — Jenny 17:36 Gardening is similar to cooking in many ways 19:24 Combining different flower shapes 22:22 Jenny discusses dividing her flower bed to make it look more full and natural 24:33 Don’t be afraid to move your flowers around in your garden 26:12 We are sometimes too controlling in our lives, but gardening requires you to let go and let nature do its thing! 28:05 The Mid-Atlantic area is great for growing a large variety of plants 29:10 Jenny loves combining pink flowers with white, purple, and blue flowers 30:11 Orange is popping up as a popular color and looks great with pink! 31:48 “People are gravitating towards cheerful.” — Kathy 33:00 Bringing flowers inside allows you to look at them closely and contemplate them 34:30 We’re currently experiencing what Jenny describes as “high summer” and one of the gaps between flowering seasons 36:40 Description of perennials, annuals (cool and warm season), and even biennials 40:00 Bridge the gap for when plants don’t bloom when they’re “supposed to” by going to the plant store and buying an already flowering plant! 41:55 Prepping for a garden visit 44:00 If there’s a plant that you don’t like or is too much work, get rid of it or move it in your garden 44:36 Combining plants with hybrid roses 47:42 Plants to join with Monarda 48:56 Very aggressive plants can be controlled by not giving them perfect conditions 49:25 Jenny’s favorite color combinations with chartreuse 50:34 White brightens up a lot of combos 51:46 We need more butter yellow flowers! 52:52 Get in contact with Jenny through Instagram and her website 53:56 Learn all about Rose Campion in this week’s plant profile! 55:39 New in the garden this week: carrot harvesting, thornless blackberries, last of the garlic, new bean seeds and an heirloom pumpkin, and recent rain has the home garden thriving 56:50 Local gardening events: U.S. Botanic Garden workshop on growing outdoor fruit trees, “Ask the Experts about Mandevilla” by the National Garden Bureau, Asian Inspired Virtual Floral Design, Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia doing virtual talk about invading pests

Jenny Rose Carey's books:

- The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Guide*

- Glorious Shade*

*Amazon affiliate link

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

GardenDC Podcast Episode 18 on Shade Gardening with Jenny Rose Carey
https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/07/gardendc-podcast-episode-18-shade.html

This episode is archived online at: 

https://anchor.fm/gardendc/episodes/Flower-Combinations-e1l66hk

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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: Tori Vandergriff

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Fenton Friday: Harvesting Carrots

This post contains affiliate links.

I had almost forgotten about the 'Tonda di Parigi' Carrots we planted back in mid-March! We dug up the last of the garlic this week and behind them was the row of carrots. After all the rains lately, they were very easy to pull out and clean. They are just as described on the seed pack--small, round, and packing a big flavor.

Once that bed was cleared, I planted an heirloom pumpkin in their place and 'Jambalaya' Okra seeds where the garlic we cleared out last week was located. If the pumpkin seedlings don't sprout soon, I'll put a cucumber or zucchini in their place.

Speaking of garlic, the annual Garlic Festival is back at the Takoma Park Farmers Market. We'll be back there sharing garlic samples and growing advice. Here is that event information.

The annual cutting garden flowers are growing quickly and the tomatoes are starting to produce lots of green fruits as are the peppers. Thanks to the black plastic netting moved over from the strawberries, I was able to eat a few more ripe blackberries that the birds were not able to get.

The beans have not sprouted at all yet, nor have the two perennial cutting garden flowers, so I plan to replace both of those soon with new seeds.

What are you growing and eating this week from your edible garden?

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.

Rose Campion Plant Profile

 

Rose Campion Plant Profile

Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria) is a favorite cottage garden perennial that has beautiful magenta flowers at the top of a tall stalk. The lower-leaves are a soft-textured, gray-green rosette mound that is attractive most of the year. Rose Campion also comes in a white-flowering version that is equally as lovely. 

It is short-lived and may not bloom during its first year. Rose Campion is hardy to USDA zones 4 through 8. It originates in the Mediterranean region and has naturalized to many other regions. It prefers dry, rocky hillsides in full sun, but can also grow well in normal garden conditions. It re-seeds itself prolifically unless you cut off the seedheads at the end of the growing season.

It is drought-tolerant and deer-resistant. The only maintenance needed is to cut back the finished flowers to encourage more flowering during the growing season.

Rose Campion is often mixed up with Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina) as they both have fuzzy, silver foliage, but the flowers are very different. Lamb’s Ear normally has a tall spike of purple flowers that bloom in succession up the stalk.

Rose Campion: You Can Grow That!

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine as part of our Plant Profile series for Mid-Atlantic USA gardeners.

 

Audio and text by Kathy Jentz

Video and editing by Jamie Oberg

 

➤ 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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