We were mostly skipped by the rains this weekend, so are still very dry. Thankfully the cistern has been filled so hand-watering is a lot easier now.
The plant is humming along much the same as last week, the only real difference is that the 'Yukon Gold' potato plants have popped out of their mound and are a bright green color (see above image) -- they look a lot different than the dark, almost-burgundy leaves of other potato varieties that I've grown.
While at the Leesburg Flower and Garden Fest last weekend, I bought some new asparagus starts ('Martha Washington' from Harvesting-History) to re-do that bed entirely as it is a weedy mess and the asparagus harvests I get right now are rather paltry. I'll also have to pull out the strawberries and yarrow that are interplanted there and find better spots for them. I hope to stay better on top of that bed in the future and not let it get quite so wild.
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).
PJM Rhododendron (Rhododendron
hybrid) is an evergreen shrub with bold flowers early in the spring season.
It will also flower again in the autumn, though not as prolifically as the
spring flush.
The clusters of flowers are in shades of pink and purple. It
grows to a large mound that is about 5 to 6 feet high and wide. It is hardy to
USDA zones 4 through 8.
In the winter time, the PJM’s foliage turns purple-bronze
which curl up into a tight cylinder during periods of freezing temperatures.
Its namesake is Peter John Mezitt, a Latvian immigrant who
settled in Boston and opened the Weston Nursery there in 1923. PJM is a cross
between the very hardy Rhododendron
dauricum var. sempervirens from
the Mongolian borderlands and the native
Rhododendron carolinianum
PJM is one of the easiest and hardiest of the rhododendrons
to grow in our region as it is both heat- and cold-tolerant. It likes filtered
shade or morning sun and acidic soils, amended with lots of organic materials such
as leaf mold and pine bark.
It is sterile and does not set seed. It can be propagated by
layering or cuttings.
PJM Rhododendron: 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
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In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Roger Davis, Longwood Gardens’ outdoor landscape manager, about their spring bulb color displays. The plant profile is on Spanish Bluebells 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 Core Aeration from Jeff L. Rugg, author of Greener View Gardening.
BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month!
Show Notes:
01:28 Meet Roger Davis, Longwood Gardens’ outdoor landscape manager.
02:01 “I grew up in the South so we have to have our vegetables.”
02:35 All about Davis’ home garden in PA.
03:26 “I think it’s important to nurture that next generation of people that love nature and love gardening.”
05:42 Beer garden for dads and fountain shows for kids, what more could you want!
06:10 Why did the founder of Longwood Gardens purchase the land?
08:41 When will the conservatory construction finish?
10:42 Hot and humid summers, adequate rainfall, and chilly winters!
12:42 “Our Christmas display is very popular.”
13:46 The Flower Walk, what is the planting timeline?
16:09 Color blocking on the Flower Walk: purple, pink, and what else?
17:43 Does Longwood Gardens save any of their annual flower bulbs?
20:44 Do they leave tulips up when they’re first dropping petals?
21:26 “[Daffodils] can cover ugly tulip foliage.”
22:55 “The squirrels were definitely busy.”
24:24 There are 80 different varieties of tulips on the Flower Walk.
24:57 What are Davis’ favorite tulips?
25:40 “There is nothing better than walking through the garden and getting the scent of something fragrant.”
29:22 “One of the fun parts of gardening to me is the experimenting.”
30:00 What to do for Dutch Hyacinths flopping over?
33:11 How does Longwood Gardens fulfill their bulb crop wishlist?
37:33 What are Davis’ favorite bulb gardens or displays?
40:26 Longwood Gardens treats their bulbs as annuals, how does this change how the bulbs are cared for?
42:57 How did Davis plan his design for Flower Garden Walk?
47:04 Spanish Bluebells: this week’s Plant Profile!
48:28 Garden updates: Lilacs, azaleas, and golden ragwort are blooming!
48:48 Upcoming events: Mount Vernon Plant Sale; Beltsville Garden Club Plant Sale; Chevy Chase Garden Club Garden Tour; Georgetown Garden Club Garden Tour; Silver Spring Garden Club Plant Sale.
50:18 “The Urban Garden” by Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight
51:17 “Groundcover Revolution” by Kathy Jentz.
52:40 The Last Word on Core Aeration from Jeff L. Rugg, author of “Greener View Gardening.”
If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy listening
to:
~ Colorful Foliage and Longwood's Chrysanthemum Festival
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!
It was another crazy weather week with summertime-like temps and barely any rain, so the thornless blackberry bush is covered in big white blooms and the strawberries are also flowering prolifically. The kale and broccoli from last fall have both bolted and I yanked them out. I think at this rate the garlic will form scapes in the next week or two!
We had to hand-water the seedlings and carried that water over from the rain barrel at my house as the cistern at the community garden was not open yet for the season.
We weeded a bit and thinned out the radishes, arugula, lettuce, and carrot seedlings. The spinach seedlings are now all up too.
The pea seedlings and the Swiss chard one are both still fairly small and don't need thinning. The potato plants have not emerged yet.
We picked a few more asparagus spears and cleaned/ate the thinnings mentioned above, except for the carrots as I read they are not good to eat them.
We created a short compost trench where I hope to plant tomatoes this summer or similar "heavy feeder" plants. We posted a TikTok video of that compost trench process. See: https://tiktok.com/t/ZTR3KtcNs/
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).
Grape hyacinths (Muscari
spp.) are among the first flower bulbs to bloom in the spring. They remain
attractive for a long period of time in the garden. They are beneficial to many
early bees and other pollinators.
The tight grouping of small, bell-shaped flowers held at the
top of a long, thin stem resembles a cluster of miniature grapes -- giving them
their common name. The flowers are usually in shades of blue, although some are
purple, pink, or white. They can also bloom in two colors with the margins of
the flowers often having a pretty white edging.
Grape Hyacinths are native to the Mediterranean and Central
Asia. There are about 40 different varieties. They can tolerate spring frosts
and are very easy to grow.
Plant the Muscari bulbs in the mid to late fall before the
ground freezes. The bulbs are small enough to go in the same planting holes
with larger spring-blooming bulbs such as Tulips and Daffodils to make
attractive combinations in both containers and in planting beds.
They usually grow to a height of 4 to 8 inches. They look
especially good planted in groupings of a dozen or more placed closely
together. Don’t hesitate to pluck a few to place in a vase as they make great
cut flowers too.
Unlike most other spring-blooming bulbs, the foliage emerges
in the fall and stays up all winter into spring. The Muscari bulbs multiply
over the years, so you can dig and divide them either in the spring after the
flowers have died back or in the fall once the foliage is fully up.
You can also buy Grape Hyacinths as pre-forced bulbs in pots
in the spring. Enjoy them indoors or plant them in the garden for instant gratification.
Grape Hyacinth: 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
In this episode of GardenDC: The Podcast about Mid-Atlantic Gardening, we talk with Dr. Sunil Dasgupta, host of the I Hate Politics Podcast, all about how politics impact gardening and vice versa. The plant profile is on PJM Rhododendrons 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 from Kim Stoddart, co-author of The Climate Change Garden*, on
Building Natural Resilience in the Garden.
BTW, YOU can become a listener supporter for as little as $0.99 per month!
Show Notes:
01:24 Meet Dr. Sunil Dasgupta, host of the “I Hate Politics Podcast.”
02:15 Dasgupta immigrated to the U.S. to go to grad school!
03:41 What does Dasgupta grow?
04:47 “Cilantro doesn’t love our summers, but everything loves to chew on it.”
06:39 Dasgupta is a political science professor at UMBC.
07:12 Why does a political science professor “hate” politics???
09:26 Politics looks dirty, disgusting, but why?
10:52 “I like to believe that conflict resolution should be renamed politics.”
13:46 Conflict avoidance (and political avoidance) doesn’t solve the problem.
14:32 Urban Adventure Squad: aims at outdoor education in Washington, DC
16:52 Urbanization requires more community gathering and green spaces.
19:45 How to combine gardening with schools.
20:51 “Lots of people want to garden.”
22:16 We can’t separate people from bees.
23:35 “We have built schools to be fortresses, not community places.”
25:09 Farm labor has dropped and most of it is imported in the U.S.
26:15 How much does it cost to rent an acre of land?
30:40 “We are a nation of laws.”
31:20 Do people living in HOAs in Maryland need to follow turfgrass laws?
34:32 If you gather enough people in your neighborhood that support local gardens, you can change the HOA rules.
37:14 HOAs cannot enforce every rule.
39:06 Maintaining the hellstrip (ugh)
44:13 Can we police our neighbors who use harmful chemicals?
47:21 Organize, print t-shirts, and go to county council meetings!
48:34 “We are dependent on gossip…”
51:20 HOAs are political.
55:32 We can already see the impact of climate change in home gardening.
57:25 PJM Rhododendron: This week’s Plant Profile!
59:11 Garden updates: Old fashioned lilacs, tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths are blooming! Seedlings are up at the community garden!
59:46 Upcoming events: Native Virginia Bluebells; Potomac Rose Society National Gallery of Art; Greener Grasses: Smart Choices for Better Landscapes; Seeking Champion Trees; Leesburg Flower and Garden Fest.
1:02:50 “Groundcover Revolution” by Kathy Jentz.
1:04:12 “The Urban Garden” by Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight
1:05:11 The Last Word from Kim Stoddard, co-author of “The Climate Change Garden*,” on building natural resilience in the garden.
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!
