How to Design and Build Your Own Amazing Bocce Ball Court

Imagine when you have your next backyard BBQ or summer party and you see your family and friends enjoying a competitive game of the popular summer backyard game, bocce ball.  Yes, a pool and outdoor kitchen are great and look beautiful but to truly upgrade your outdoor living space, having a custom outdoor athletic court like … Read MoreHow to Design and Build Your Own Amazing Bocce Ball Court

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joe gardener Goes Live! by Susan Harris

For months I’d been dying to set my eyes on Joe Lamp’ls new website joegardener.com, hoping for a lot. It launched last week and at the risk of gushing, it includes everything a how-to-garden site should have and lots of stuff I didn’t think of. In Joe’s words to me on the phone recently, it’s a “hub for accurate information in the formats people want.”

Like all of us, Joe laments the loss of “gardening on TV – there’s nothing out there.” After Scripps Howard bought HGTV it concluded that advertising won’t support a real gardening show, so it offers backyard make-overs with lots of furniture and at least one fire pit.

In Joe’s words, “This lack of consistent, reliable sources for accurate, trusted and professionally produced garden-related media is a big problem…And people are turning to the Internet for that.”

Yet even on the web, Dave’s Garden, now owned by Internet Brands, is nothing more than customer reviews, with no editorial judgment in sight.

Joe sums up the problem:

Unfortunately, with a mind-numbing abundance of web-based content, overall, it is highly fragmented, inconsistent, often unreliable, unvetted and poor production quality.”

Exactly the complaint that drove me to start curating videos.

(So who exactly is Joe? In case you’re unfamiliar, he’s an author, host three national television shows over past 15-years, (including seven seasons of Growing a Greener World on PBS), contributor to morning shows, syndicated columnist, radio host, podcaster and I’m sure I’m leaving stuff out.)

I’ll go out on a limb and predict that joegardener.com will succeed where other endeavors have failed and even generate income. That’s because of his many loyal followers, his in-house media professionals, “a full-time social media person dedicated to keeping on top of promotion and an in-house SEO expert maximizing opportunities,” a backlog of resources and contacts, and more.

None of that would matter if he simply sold out to questionable advertisers, but I’m convinced he knows how to navigate those treacherous waters. Though his is a for-profit company, it’s not public, so he can stay on mission and not have to answer to shareholders.

And unlike the television format that allows for just 22 minutes of content, here he’ll have the freedom to provide in-depth gardening information.

And can I just add? He’s damn good on camera.

What’s on joegardener.com?

• Videos, because in Joe’s words “Demand for high-quality, how-to gardening videos are at an all-time high.” Boy, do I agree.
• Podcasts, which too are getting more popular every day. The 18-month production schedule for his podcasts includes interviews with experts like Jeff Gillman and Doug Tallamy.
• Articles, seasonally timed with new ones coming weekly.
• Webinars that are free and monthly on timely and topical subjects.
• And all of that being promoted via social media – the ones most used by gardeners

First, joegardener looks amazing!

Unlike far too many websites, its About pages, like this one,  actually give readers the info they’re looking for. (One of my pet peeves is About pages that simply repeat the mission statement.)

Of course with “social proof” like this, there’s no reason to hide your identity.

I love that Joe targets beginners with “no experience required” assurances, lots of the Basics, and a fun and inviting tone. (So different from the approach I ranted about in “The Wrong Way to Teach Eco-Friendly Gardening.”)

His approach seems to be working particularly well with millennials, who are so far the primary demographic visiting the site. “They’re coming to learn to grow food. They want utility,” says Joe.

But my top reason for recommending joegardener.com is what Joe has to say about the topics he covers. He teaches without talking down, pro-stewardship without being preachy. His advice is informed and evidence-based. I’ve agreed with every word I’ve read or heard so far on the site, so naturally I think he’s a very wise soul.

Just give a listen to “Five Steps to your Best Garden Ever” and see if you agree that it’s a far cry from instant gardening for the gullible.

joe gardener Goes Live! originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 29, 2017.

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Why It’s Important to Plant a Garden That Attracts Bees

We understand that many people are afraid of being stung by bees, but bees are very important to mother nature and how we live our everyday lives – that’s why it’s never a bad idea to consider plants that attract bees when you’re ready to plant your flower garden. I know what you’re thinking, “I … Read MoreWhy It’s Important to Plant a Garden That Attracts Bees

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Perfect Prairie Meadow? More like Field of Broken Dreams by Bob Hill

Queen of the Prairie

My lust for the perfect prairie meadow show – aided and abated, of course, with the need for a new septic system – began with the lacy-pink flowers of Queen-of-the-Prairie, or Filipendula rubra.

I had not seen The Native Queen in all her glory until purchasing our history-worn Hoosier farmhouse and six acres of weeds. I’m not even sure now if that American native was already presiding out back in our long-neglected field, or was an early purchase by a would-be nursery owner who had no idea what the hell he was doing.

I just remember Her crown of cotton-candy flowers, deep pink and fragrant, gracefully floating above five-foot stems that one normally non-salacious garden site described as “naked.”

Any way you phrase it, it was love at first sight.

Laugh, if you must, but much of the same literature also mentions that Native Americans used Queen-of-the-Prairie as a treatment for various heart problems and as an herbal aphrodisiac.

I also vaguely remember reading of our early settlers perched in covered wagons resolutely headed west across our prairies while being mesmerized by acres of the floating pink flowers.

They also learned – no doubt from our Native Americans – that other less erotic uses for Her Highness included a cure for gout, water retention, bladder and kidney ailments, and diarrhea.

I have long wondered precisely what kind of research went into such herbal cures, and how many native plants were required before the patient got it right.

Which pretty much brings our new septic system into the story.

It begins as previous residents of our house apparently tired of walking 50 feet out the back door in January to seek one-holer relief. Some indoor plumbing with outside filtration seemed required.

Aster novae-angliae

This was back in a time before the EPA, county health officials and perforated plastic drainage pipe. Their disposal problem was temporarily solved with a concrete, hand-poured septic tank and brittle clay tile over which I planted – in total ignorance – a significant quantity of ornamental trees.

That drainage system lasted a lot longer than we had a right to expect, but about five years ago its imminent demise became all too apparent to anyone with a nose. A new septic system was installed by a fine company owned by a guy whose crew included his two sons and his daughter.

They very carefully installed about 300 feet of new lateral lines out in our back meadow, and well away from any woody ornamentals. The field hadn’t been farmed for at least 75 years. Their trench work fully exposed perhaps a quarter acre of deep, rich soil to a guy with a lifetime-lust for a wildflower meadow.

By sheer coincidence I was then also working on a story about a Kentucky company called Roundstone Native Seed on Raider Hollow Road in Hart County Kentucky.

The company was started about 25 years ago by two men – a father and son – picking seeds from a field of Indian grass while carrying five-gallon buckets. It’s since grown into a company selling thousands of pounds of seeds and thousands of plugs for about 300 species of regionally adapted flowers, grasses and legumes across much of the Eastern United States.

Off to one side of their business was a small greenhouse. There was no Queen-of-the-Prairie, but I did find hundreds of other plugs:  Yarrow, milkweed, monarda, aster, rudbeckia, showy tickseed, partridge pea, coreopsis, prairie coneflower, boneset, and yes, Rattlesnake Master. I picked up what was possible in plugs, added a bunch of very fine seeds to the mix, and headed home to begin my meadow.

(L) Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) and wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). (R) Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) and fleabane (Erigeron species).

The soil was already bare. I carefully followed all instructions, twice killing emerging weeds with Roundup. I planted hundreds of plugs, purchased a hand-cranked seed spreader, diluted the seed with sand and, with joy in my heart, let em’ fly.

I watched it all grow like an anxious parent, mowed it all close to the ground the first year as directed, looked anxiously after the crop the second year, eager to spot the biennial and perennial wildflowers in full cry.

I could see the finished product in my mind; a blanket of low-maintenance color, the patterns shifting with the seasons, the ebb and flow of Mother Nature shopping for summer wear in Prada, a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Some wildflower meadow experts recommended an annual burning of the site to kill off unwanted annual weeds and, perhaps, run off the rodents. For three consecutive years my windows of opportunity were lost by persistent rain.

The wildflower literature all waxed poetic about success by the third and fourth years; neighbors lined up to peer at the wonder of it all; birds, bees and butterflies happily flitting and  flying about in nature’s glory. Better yet, generations of monarch butterflies would be calling home to Mexico to offer directions.

But it just ain’t happening. As I look out across my dream I see bursts of color amidst a vast landscape of, dare I say it, weeds. Save the ubiquitous Johnson grass, I don’t recognize most of it. I only know a few of my wildflowers. I’m mostly a woody plant guy lost in, well, the tall weeds.

I’m now thinking this is a case of willful ignorance meeting high expectations. God sows flowers and the devil sows weeds. All the  literature on the various growing-a-prairie-meadow websites promised that once a garden was established – like in about five years – it would be a perfect and enduring combination of nature, design, ecological greatness, environmental genius and the meaning of life.

Humbug. But I’m not giving up. What’s life without some bitter disappointment?  I do have a fine crop of thuggish, purple-top Ironweed, which tower in tribal triumph over my dismal, weedy wildflower patch.

I also have a couple of fine Queen-of-the-Prairie to sooth my soul. I have no idea where they came from, but they are doing very well out there in my dry, barren and very rocky parking lot, living large in a totally unprepared area among yucca and cactus where they come back every year.

And at least our septic system works.

Perfect Prairie Meadow? More like Field of Broken Dreams originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 28, 2017.

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Keep the cats inside by Elizabeth Licata

Not a good mix

This was to be a post touting the glorious weekend I had exploring the DC area with fellow garden bloggers. But, while I was away, I received news that a nest of birds we’d been hosting has possibly fallen prey to one of the many free-roaming/feral cats that plague our neighborhood. There are several of them—some obviously pets and some from the feral population—that regularly treat our courtyard garden as part of their territory. They’d like to get at the pond fish, but don’t want to risk immersion, and they are definitely after any and all birds. And, of course, they love to treat our garden as a great big litter box.

I have friends who insist on letting their cats out, asserting that they deserve this freedom and that bird casualties are part of the cycle of life. Many scientists disagree with this stance, including ornithologist Peter Marra, who states in a National Geographic interview, “Domestic cats are as much a part of the natural order as a cow, pig, or golden retriever. They are not a natural part of any ecosystem on the planet.” He recommends, “Owned cats need to be treated like pet dogs. They should be kept indoors, on a leash or in a catio. Unowned cats, which have no owner to take responsibility, pose a risk to biodiversity and human health, and live dangerous, unhealthy lives. They need to be removed from the environment and put up for adoption, placed in a sanctuary, or euthanized.” Read the whole interview here:

Those are fighting words to the large and vocal community of free-roaming-cat advocates, who have disputed every scientific study that’s come out so far, including this one, by Loss, Will, and Mara. A similar study in Canada finds that cats are the #1 killer of birds there (followed by window collisions).  And there are even studies examining why cat owners who allow their cats to roam deny any evidence that this causes harm.

It might be different in rural areas, where cats supply mouse control on farms, or fall prey themselves to animals like coyotes. That’s not the case in cities like Buffalo. There are plenty of other ways to control rodents and there are no superior predators. Dogs, are, quite rightly, subject to leash laws. I see no reason for people to let their cats roam freely in cities, none. As a cat owner whose cat has been happily indoors for 15 years,  I’m sick of being told it’s OK to do otherwise.

Keep the cats inside originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 27, 2017.

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The Garden Cruise, 2017

This comingJuly 16th will be the 10th year that Detroit Garden Works and Deborah Silver and Co have sponsored a tour of our landscapes and gardens to benefit The Greening of Detroit. The tour is a fund raiser for an organization behind which we put all of our weight. The Greening of Detroit? From their [...]

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How to Prepare Your Backyard for the Perfect Playground

One of the happiest days for your kids is when you decide to install a fun-filled outdoor playground.  Countless hours of running, swinging, climbing and becoming the go to spot for all the neighborhood kids (good luck by the way) can be had right in the comfort of your own backyard – but before any … Read MoreHow to Prepare Your Backyard for the Perfect Playground

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Testing Pollinator Plants at Penn State by Susan Harris

Connie Schmotzer is Principal Investigator for pollinator research.

Just in time for National Pollinator Week, my Garden Writers region planned a fabulous outing for members – to see the Penn State Trial Gardens near York, PA, especially their trials for pollinator plants. The goal is “to evaluate native species and their cultivars for attractiveness to pollinators and suitability for homeowner and agricultural use,” which is so great, exactly the information pollinator-friendly gardeners need.

The large Pollinator Trials Garden (above) was installed in 2011 by Lancaster County Master Gardeners, who planted 4,500 plugs of 86 species and cultivars – all natives to this region. We were told that’s because “a UC Davis study showed them to be four times more attractive to pollinators than nonnatives.”

Plants were chosen to provide a long season of flowering, with asters and goldenrods fueling the Monarch butterfly’s flight south. Early bloomers Packera aurea (Golden groundsell) and Zizia aurea (Golden Alexander) also play an important role, though they don’t show up as best-performers in the count of total visits.

The Xerces Society, one of the trial garden’s funders, requested research on plants that would attract beneficial insects (especially the ones that kill stinkbugs), as well as good nector plants Monarchs.

All the plants were watered twice after planting, and then never again.

Findings

First a caveat: the results were affected by the huge smorgasbord offered here, so results in average gardens may vary.

The best performers for the quantity and diversity of insects they attract are Mountain Mint and Stiff Goldenrod.

Best for butterflies is Joe Pye Weed, and planting a mix of Joe Pye varieties will provide blooms all season.

“There are no losers in this trial,” we were told, yet ‘Purple Dome’ might qualify as one because compared to the species aster, it proved to have no staying power in the garden.

Other potential losers: Butterfly weed doesn’t like clay, and Swamp milkweed is short-lived.

‘Zagreb’ coreopsis can’t compete with the species on the right.

Coverage Rates, too!

According to another hand-out, “Some plants in the trial were easy to care for, as they covered the plot and required minimal weeding. Other plants seeded into neighboring plots. These plants would be ideal for larger sites where additional plants are welcomed.” So they’re tracking coverage rates and level of spreading, findings that could help the legions of gardeners who’ve read Planting in a Post-Wild World and want to implement its wisdom.

Here again, Stiff Goldenrod came out on top, as winner in the “highest level of spreading” category.

More Trials

The traditional bread and butter of Penn State’s Trial Gardens are ornamental plants for clients like Proven Winners.

No one’s idea of a garden. This is research.

I was most interested in the perennial trials, where the best bloomers include ‘Rozanne’ geranium and ‘Violet’ achillea.

Open to the Public

Penn State’s Trial Gardens are open every day from dawn to dusk, from June 1 to August 31. Their top visitor days are the popular Summer Garden Experience on July 22 and Flower Trials Field Day on July 27.

GWA Region II

I wore my bumblebee shirt for the occasion.

Garden writers gather with Sinclair Adam (front row, right), director of Penn State’s Flower Trials.

Fly photo by Laura Russo. Group photo by GWA.

Testing Pollinator Plants at Penn State originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 23, 2017.

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At A Glance: Rob’s Pots

To follow is a very lengthy collection of photographs of Rob’s container plantings, but I think the numbers are justified, considering how beautiful the work is. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. French fountain planted with fernsgold sage, gold marjoram, and a glass float lavender and violas; lettuceWasabi coleus, pinched into a [...]

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Wildlife Encounters by Thomas Christopher

I’ve posted before on this blog about the attraction of wildlife tracking in the garden.  Garden wildlife, I noted then, reminds me of teenagers – the critters eat distressingly huge meals then typically leave without communicating about what they have been up to or what their plans are.   Reading the tracks is the only way to learn what the animals are doing (would that this worked with teenagers).

I had a notable encounter of this kind this past month.  Something was stomping the plants in my garden.   And for a change it wasn’t careless human visitors.

Over my many years as a horticulturist, I’ve grown accustomed to wildlife attacking my plants, though more often in the form of slugs, beetles and caterpillars nibbling holes in the leaves or even, as in the case of cutworms, decapitating whole seedlings.  On the whole, I find myself better able to tolerate mammalian invaders because, although their individual appetites are far greater, they are also easier to exclude.  A welded wire fence keeps the bunnies at bay.  (By the way, am I the only one who even as a child rooted for Mr. McGregor?  As far as I’m concerned, Peter Rabbit got off lightly.)  A solar-powered electric fence that administers mild shocks deters the deer very effectively, at least in my very rural neighborhood.

Whatever it was that was stomping my plants seemed to find the fence to be no impediment, however.  I was stumped (not stomped, fortunately) until my wife Suzanne found a trail of huge double-hooved tracks.  A quick look at my Peterson Field Guide to Animal Tracks revealed that we had acquired a garden moose.

We had seen moose on our property before.  Once, my wife had seen a bull moose with a big rack of antlers in our beaver pond, and on another occasion I had spotted what seemed to be a young male on our dirt road.  The tracks in the garden weren’t distinct enough to identify this visitor as anything other than an adult – almost 6 inches long, the footprints were big enough to blanket the whole heart of a lettuce or Napa cabbage.  Judging from the path it had followed, this moose seemed not to be eating in the garden, just stumbling around squishing things.

The visits continued — I assumed that the long-legged moose was stepping over the fence — until one night when our dog, who was sleeping by an open window, exploded with a fusillade of barks.  This, apparently the moose did not like, for the next morning we found the electric fence torn off its poles where the moose had, it seemed, exited at high speed.

It has not returned since.   I don’t miss the damage to our garden, though I do regret the sense of contact with the wild that the moose brought.  Now that the blackfly season has passed, I may take my tracking guide and make an expedition into the nearby swamp, to see if I can find evidence of the moose on his or her home ground.  I’ll try not to stomp any plants.

 

 

 

Wildlife Encounters originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 19, 2017.

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The Plantings At The Shop

No matter how many container plantings we do in a given year, planting the shop for the summer is a given planting. I put this close to home project off until the great majority of our clients are planted. Some might think that I take the winter to plan what I will do in the [...]

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Flingers, First Trip to DC? by Susan Harris

Martin Luther King Memorial along the Tidal Basin

Gardening get-togethers like the Garden Blogger Fling and Garden Writer events are the best possible ways to see great private gardens, and the Fling attendees coming to the Washington, D.C. area next weekend will see lots of them.

But like Elizabeth, when I visit a city that’s new to me for a gardening event, I often take time off from the private gardens to see the city. Be a tourist! For her it’s making time to see art museums and in D.C., maybe some of the other fabulous and free Smithsonian museums.

My own touristy adventures include taking a citywide tour in Seattle, being driven to some crazy-interesting places in Pittsburgh by a locally raised garden writer, and skipping a few gardens to watch the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco, just after marriage equality was declared by the Supreme Court.

Lincoln Memorial at dusk.

So for any Flingers visiting DC next week who’ve never seen seen DC’s amazing sights, here’s what I and the dozen other gardening locals I consulted with recommend you see here.

We seem to agree that the number one regret heard from DC visitors is not having allowed enough time in the Mall and Monuments area to see the iconic spots they’ve seen on TV and in movies all their lives. I’ve lived here 46 years, working near the famous sights (including in the Capitol building) and still get goosebumps every time I see them up close. Corny but true.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Visitors often miss the favorite memorial of local gardeners because it’s not on the Mall itself but along the Tidal Basin, close to the Jefferson and MLK Memorials. That’s of course the FDR Memorial, the only one in town designed by a landscape architect.  Nearby, visitors climb the stairs up the Lincoln Memorial, where so many important events in our history took place. They’re equally moved by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where family members can be seen taking impressions of the names on the wall. From there it’s a quick walk to the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, and the new African-American History and Culture Museum.

An easy walk to the north is the White House, which visitors love walking around, especially if they like the current occupant. (I visited the gardens or residence five times during the Obama years.)

Grand Reading Room in the Library of Congress.

Another easy walk from the Mall is eastward to the Capitol with its spanking new visitors center, and the Supreme Court and Library of Congress just across the street. They’re all special spots that bring up dozens of memories, I bet.

So with this unabashedly biased pitch for the attractions of the surprisingly beautiful city that I love so much, I wish this year’s Flingers a wonderful visit!

See the gardens and landscapes of the Mall/Monuments area in this post.

Photo credits: Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial,  Library of Congress (by Carol H. Highsmith) and MLK by Harvey Leifert. 

Flingers, First Trip to DC? originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 16, 2017.

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A Gardening Education: Alberta and Omer by Allen Bush

Photo courtesy of Joseph Hillenmeyer.

 

While I wait for my first social security check to arrive later this month, I have been thinking about two crucial mentors. Alberta Coleman and Omer Barber fostered my gardening career. They were as different as a peony and a prickly pear.

I volunteered to work with Alberta Coleman in the Vista program in 1973. Alberta founded Tenant Services, a non-profit in Lexington, KY, that advocated for the poor. She approached her job with perseverance and compassion. Clients came to Tenant Services because they had no money to pay rent; we had no money to pay their rent. We worked with the desperate poor to hold off evictions, helped them find jobs, and juggled their meager budgets. It was hard, frustrating work. Alberta made it seem as if there was no problem that couldn’t be solved.

I planted my first garden the year before I met Alberta—lots of tomatoes and green beans. There were a few flowers, too. I still love the blazing orange-red blooms of the hummingbird magnet, Tithonia rotundifolia, the Mexican sunflower. I was becoming a gardener.

Alberta Coleman with Barry Donaldson at Tenant Services, Lexington, KY, in the early 70s. Photo courtesy of One Parent Scholar House.

I talked about gardens to anyone who would listen. Alberta encouraged me to start a children’s gardening program.

I tried.

The parks department bureaucracy announced the day the program was to begin, after months of preparation, that they couldn’t transport kids to the garden site, a few miles outside of town.

Alberta told me to call the mayor’s office. I was called into the parks director’s office before the end of the day. The parks director, surrounded by his lieutenants, angrily called me “Mr. Big Shot” but arranged transportation for 12 kids. (He had to answer to the mayor, who trusted Alberta.) Then liability issues killed the deal a week later.

The program failed.

I was heartbroken. Alberta smiled and, in her calm manner, explained that failures happen—a gardening lesson I would absorb over and over.

I learned to overcome failure by understanding what Alberta Coleman taught me: There will be another garden, another season.

At the time, I didn’t know where my next garden would be. I was 22, but I had the garden bug. I wanted to be a gardener but lacked basic skills.

After a year, working with Alberta Coleman and her extraordinary small staff, and a half-dozen other Vista workers, I decided to apply for a job with Hillenmeyer’s Nursery in Lexington. They had an impressive operation—field-grown trees and shrubs, a beautiful retail store, and a large landscape business. Although the original flagship operation is gone, the Hillenmeyer family celebrated their 175^th anniversary in the nursery and landscape business in 2016.

Louie Hillenmeyer put me on a landscape truck with Omer Barber. Omer was old-school tough; he was also skilled and bright. Omer didn’t suffer fools, and there was no doubt in his mind: I was a fool. We drive off each morning to plant dogwoods, maples, oaks, and Taxus shrubs.

Hillenmeyer office in 1930s or 40s. Photo courtesy of Hillenmeyer family.

Omer expected the work to be done right, and he let me know when I didn’t deliver to his standards. His relentless attack on my intelligence was a daylong soliloquy on my Shit for Brains. I kept my mouth shut and learned lessons from the old curmudgeon.

Two months went by, and one Friday afternoon, an hour before we were to head back to the landscape yard to clock in, Omer surprised me and said, “Let’s grab a beer.”

We drove to see his buddy Roy “Shit Hauler” Martin. Roy was in the port-a-can business. We sat down on folding chairs, surrounded by Roy’s portable toilets. Omer told me to keep my mouth shut. Roy and Omer started bitching. Roy complained about what a miserable life it was to haul shit. Omer tried to convince Roy he had it easy. He told Roy, “You think you’ve got it bad, how would he like to work with a shit like this guy all day?”

Hillenmeyer Garden Center and warehouse. Photo courtesy of Hillenmeyer family.

Omer turned toward me and winked.

I suddenly imagined that Omer’s wink of an eye was an acknowledgement that maybe I was not so dumb or completely useless.

I began thinking that afternoon, at Roy “Shit Hauler” Martin’s, I might make it as a gardener.

A Gardening Education: Alberta and Omer originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 14, 2017.

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Ask not for whom the lily beetle tolls by Elizabeth Licata

Keeping calm and carrying on under the shadow of the lily beetle

Finally, they’re here. For at least 5 years, now, I have been hearing tales of destruction and dire prophecies from friends and garden visitors who live to the east and northeast of Buffalo. “Do you have the lily beetle yet? They’re everywhere in (Rochester/New England/Ithaca, etc.). I don’t grow lilies any more. They ate them all.”

Cringes of horror all around. I assured the visitors I had not seen this dire creature, but they assured me it would make its way west. And it has; indeed, I’ve read about infestations in Wisconsin and Seattle, so maybe it bypassed Buffalo at first as it swept across the country. Or maybe it took a while to find its way into the urban core.

I have not experienced any widespread devastation (yet), but everything I’ve read and heard is true. The red beetles nibble away at leaves and lay eggs, which grow into repellent black masses of goo that feed on the leaves’ undersides. They are gooey because they carry their excrement on their backs, apparently for protection. You can just wipe them all off, though. You can also pick off the red adults (quickly) and squish them or throw them into soapy water. This must be done every day. Had I thought about it in spring, I could have sprinkled some kind of anti-grub substance like diatomaceous earth as the lilies poke their heads up. (Haven’t seen anything definitive in the Garden Professors’ various sites.) In New England and parts of Canada, Tetrastichus setifer wasps have been released. They attack the larvae and lay eggs so that the next spring, more wasps are hatched, rather than beetles. Pretty neat, huh?

For now, I am pinching the adults off and wiping the leaves. The larvae drop into the soil and emerge as adults within a month, according to my reading. I have noticed my lilies in containers have little or no signs of beetle. Kind of makes sense; nothing can overwinter because I usually plant them in the spring or in fall with fresh soil and no leaf debris. So that’s one thing.

The other thing is that I do not have big stands of lilies. They are sprinkled throughout the perennial beds, most of their stalks purposely hidden by shrubs and other perennials. Casualties will not be missed, at least in terms of aesthetics.

So there you have it; if I can post lots of lily pics in a few weeks, we’ll know I’ve been at least partially successful—and next spring I will be taking preventative action, if that’s what works.

Ask not for whom the lily beetle tolls originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 13, 2017.

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A Plant Collection

The past 9 days have been a grueling blur. Once I establish a rhythm, I plant by instinct. I trust my first thought more than the thoughts that come later. I don’t really have time to second guess my decisions, so I don’t. I cannot imagine how my crews must feel. We have another couple [...]

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6 Tips to Plan the Perfect Summer BBQ Party

Everyone raise your hand if you love a good summer BBQ?  Come on, who doesn’t love spending a beautiful day outside with friends and family when the smell of burgers and hot dogs on the grill are in the air, the backyard games are in full effect, the drinks are flowing, and kids are playing in … Read More6 Tips to Plan the Perfect Summer BBQ Party

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Winning Writers and Gardeners at the American Hort Society by Susan Harris

Last night the American Horticultural Society held its annual awards gala at its headquarters (above, an estate formerly owned by the Geo. Washington family) along the Potomac in Alexandria, VA. I was there, along with two GardenRant award-winners and too many of my local plant-geek friends to name. The weather was to die and so was the whole event.

Awards were presented for books and for all-around awesomeness (the Great American Gardener awards).

Here’s a peek through some Achilleas to the Potomac River.

Now for some winners! Here’s our own Tom Christopher with Larry Weaner, co-authors of the award-winning Garden Revolution. On the far right is award-winner Allen Bush descending the stairs with Tom Fischer, editor of Timber Press. (He won the Garden Communicator Award.)

Book winners from left are Larry Weaner, Tom Christopher, Tom Fischer (accepting Joseph Tychonievich’s award for Rock  Gardening) and Marta McDowell, who won for All the President’s Gardens.

(Hey Joseph Tychonievich – we missed you!)

Above left are Amy Bolton, chair of the AHS board of directors, with their Interim Director Holly Shimizu (you saw a bit of her beach garden in this recent post). Marta McDowell on the right is the very picture of a happy winner.

Thanks to Allen Bush being named a Great American Gardener, I finally got to meet his lovely wife Rose. Aren’t they cute together?

Here’s Allen accepting the awards by spinning tales and daring to get a bit political.

The U.S. Botanic Garden was out in force to help celebrate their own Lee Coykendall, a Great American Gardener for her work educating kids. She’s here with USBG Director Ari Novy and Susan Pell, whose morphology tour/talks I’ve raved about in this post. (I knew the name of the fella on the left at some point but not this morning.) Devin Dotson, profiled here on the Rant, arrived a bit later.

Finally, a shaky-cam shot of us Ranters enjoying our mini-meet-up. I’ll see Allen again this summer in Buffalo (for Garden Writers) and maybe Tom, too. It’ll be fun to hang out with Elizabeth on her home turf.

Winning Writers and Gardeners at the American Hort Society originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 9, 2017.

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