Kathy Jentz and the GardenDC Podcast

As a long-time podcast listener I just assumed that listenership would be on the rise during the pandemic, but apparently just the opposite – though they’re now coming back.

I wonder if the downturn included podcasts about gardening, though, which is growing in popularity. Newbies gotta learn, and learn digitally.

One gardening podcaster who’s recently gotten my attention is my local friend Kathy Jentz, who launched her podcast GardenDC in March of this year. She’s the editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, so she covers whatever grows here in the Mid-Atlantic. The focus is hyperlocal.

So naturally I subscribed and was happy to discover that Kathy employs my favorite podcast format – interviews. Not co-hosts chatting it up, my least favorite format.

And the first episode – an interview with Barbara Bullock, long-time and now retired curator of the azalea collection at the National Arboretum – was SO good, so impressive, it’s worth a post all its own but for now, here’s my interview with Kathy about how the “pod” came about, and more.

A couple of years ago Kathy began “surveying” as many gardening podcasts as possible, which she found irritatingly difficult to do since the pod apps (especially Spotify and iTunes) don’t provide a category for gardening like they do for other topics. She had to search the key words.

That leads to Kathy’s first tip for new podcasters – put “garden” right there in the title and the description, so people can find you. “Keep it simple and searchable.”

(To make all gardening pods easier to find, Kathy said she’ll be suggesting to GardenComm that they create a gardening podcast directory, maybe free for members and at a yearly fee for nonmembers. Great idea!)

In her research Kathy found a podcast recording studio in DC that would have made podcasting easy-peasy, but their fees were out of sight.

Then she came upon the newest, hottest podcasting application – Anchor – and decided to take the plunge. It’s completely free, and distributes podcasts for you to the important places, including iTunes and Spotify especially. (Anchor is now owned by Spotify.) It provides editing software, curated music (30 interlude clips) and even promotes your podcast for you. Again, all free, no premium version to upgrade to!

Anchor earns money – or will eventually – by taking a percentage of their podcasters’ income from sponsors and listener supporters.

And sure enough, when we talked recently Kathy said she already had four actual listener supporters, each of whom pays .99, 4.99 or 9.99/mo. to support GardenDC. “It’s good to know people DO give to podcasters!” She figures that just 10 listeners at $5/month would compensate her for her time at least at minimum wage! Well, that’s a start.

So how much time DOES it take to create an episode? For GardenDC, Kathy records a 1-hour interview, all in one take, then spends another hour and a half to get the episode up, for a total of just 2.5 hours. “Editing is the worst!” Thankfully, she has 3 interns from the University of Maryland School of Journalism starting June 1, one of whom wants to edit. (Couldn’t we all use an intern or two?

In her search for interviewees Kathy can choose from the hoards of experts here in DC or not too far away in places like Philadelphia. Well, except maybe for government employees, who are difficult to book because their appearances require all sorts of approvals. At all levels of government.

Happy to report that with Anchor, technical requirements are minimal. “All you need is Anchor and an iphone.” She has a separate headset but no longer uses it. She also avoids professional cameras – “they’re a pain.” Podcasts recorded outside, however, would definitely need a professional microphone.

Kathy says she’s enjoying being the interviewer, not the expert, just “playing dumb and asking questions.” And she prefers a conversational tone, not a didactic one.

More podcasting tips from Kathy’s research and experience:

• Everyone stresses the importance of frequency and consistency. GardenDC episodes were originally posted every other week but since the cancellation all of her speaking events, she’s podcasting weekly.
• Also super-important are Apple podcast reviews.
• Expect listener numbers to spike only after a “good amount of content” has been posted. Typical advice is to record at least 10 episodes, delete the first one, then go public with the other 9. (Kathy admits to keeping that first episode, technical warts and all.)
• To find listeners it helps to first be a guest on OTHER people’s podcasts before launching your own. Kathy had done 7-10 guest segments.

Kathy being the ultimate networker, she of course discovered a collective of like-minded people – the Garden Podcaster Collective, many of whom are in the U.K.

There she read about a controversy in the podcasting world – whether transcripts should be provided. That’s fine for top podcasters but the ones with small audiences and income just can’t afford transcripts. “Transcribers are the ones making all the money,” Kathy told me. She cited one who charges $100/hour for transcripts, and it typically takes three hours to do one for a 1-hour episode.

That brings back memories of my first career as a “court reporter” providing transcripts for Congress, government meetings, and courts. With none of those events happening these days, I hope my former co-workers are finding gigs in the digital economy – maybe creating transcripts for podcasts. Hopefully, even for all those events on Zoom.

Kathy Jentz and the GardenDC Podcast originally appeared on GardenRant on May 28, 2020.

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Veggie/Pollinator Garden Combo Power Pack!

Well, here we are, enjoying our first pandemic. Most of us anyway. But even the flimsiest grasp of history informs us that bad times are a dime a dozen. The Universe is indeed infinite, and it has innumerable ways to stress us out, and when it isn’t, someone else is.

In previous such times, people rallied. During WWII, the Big One, people brought their pots and pans to be made into battleships, delivered their bacon grease to become bombs, and planted Victory Gardens so farmers could turn their plowshares into swords and fight overseas. This time around it seems people are more interested in Monday morning quarterbacking decision makers. Something about the present day and age that has everyone thinking they know more than the experts. Until they need a transplant. Or chemo. Then, suddenly, they’re all ears.

Anyway, despite the stupidity of our memed out and overly politicized times and how they have made caricatures of too many once open, complex, and critically thinking people, it seems that one constructive thing Americans are doing is planting more gardens. All my garden center contacts confirm this, adding that people seem most interested in starting vegetable gardens.

Vegetable gardens have a bad rap as being ugly. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way. Adding flowering plants for pollinators is a good first step to making a vegetable garden more productive and better-looking all at the same time.

 Makes sense. Vegetable gardening is commonly viewed as both an easy entry into gardening and a money saver. Neither, of course, is necessarily true, but with well-directed effort the average non-gardening homeowner can soon enjoy all the positive attributes of gardening—good  outdoors exercise, connection to the earth and it’s fascinating and affirming life processes, stress relief, and, of course, delicious, nutritious vegetables fresh from the garden.

So, yes, times of crisis are a fine time to transform that forlorn patch of turf into the fertile and productive mini-farm it has always wanted to become, but I’ll also argue that even in the best of times people should grow more of their own food. We have strayed too far from the simultaneously humbling and uplifting awareness that we depend on the planet, all of its plants and animals, and its intricate, fragile, and miraculously beautiful life cycles to provide us food, water, all the other necessities of life, and then some! The minute you start put seeds in furrows and start coaxing them to germinate, you are firmly, yet gently, reminded of this.

But vegetables can be hard to grow. Over many years, most food producing plants have been selected away from the original wild plants they once were and molded into plants that better meet the needs and desires of people–better flavor, greater production, longer storage, and some other things. Of course, there was a price to pay for this, which the plants themselves had to pay. They lost some of their natural defenses against pests and disease. This is why most of our modern vegetables sometimes require the use of pesticides.

Although there are some cheap, easily obtained, and reasonably safe home pesticides on the market, it is probably fair to say that most homeowners would rather not devote the time, expense, and effort to using them if they don’t absolutely have to. It’s probably also fair to say they when they do use them it is often unnecessary and sometimes unsafely. Fortunately, through good execution of gardening basics, most home gardeners can grow plenty of crops without pesticides and still achieve fresh, healthy, and bountiful harvests.

These gardening basics are pretty simple: improve soil by the addition of organic matter, choose vegetables that perform well in your region, select among those the most highly rated varieties for disease and pest resistance, maintain garden hygiene, fertilize when/if needed, and water when necessary. Oh, and one other thing. Something important that will really amp up one’s odds of success—include within the vegetable patch (or grow somewhere nearby) a variety of nectar and pollen producing flowers that will consistently bloom from May to October that will attract pollinators.

Apart from pollinating vegetable plants and ensuring a better harvest, certain types of pollinators will also perform another function that is just as important—pest  control. Although you’ll still enjoy them, butterflies and bees are of little to no use here. Nope. For pests, you need flies and wasps.

I know exactly what you’re thinking. Ack! Flies? They like garbage, they visit poop, and then land on your deviled eggs at picnics. And wasps? They sting. You are of course free to think and say these things, and you wouldn’t be completely wrong if you do, but you also wouldn’t be exactly right. And you definitely wouldn’t be seeing the bigger picture.

First, flies. The Order of flies (Diptera) is massive. Annoying and disgusting house flies make up but a tiny fraction of the approximately million species. The rest? Well, some of those are pollinators. They sup on nectar, and honestly could not care less about your poop or your picnics. Mostly, they just fly around doing their good deeds completely unnoticed because they’re often very small, mistaken for bees which they mimic, or both. And we have got to learn to appreciate them!

A hover fly.

A tomato hornworm bearing unmistakable evidence of having been parasitized.

As adults (and not unlike most adults in other species, including ours) they feed and mate. Feeding for them is to enjoy nectar in the flowers you provide. This is all well and good. As they visit flowers to feed they contribute some to better pollination which brings greater abundance to the land. But what we’re really interested in is their mating. for it leads to pest control. And a gruesome pest control at that.

What happens is the females get pregnant, and they’re angry about it. They start patrolling the landscape looking, I’m told, mostly for vegetable gardens. Like yours. Where your practically defenseless royal family, pale, sweet, inbred plants are haplessly trying to grow and produce tasty vegetables for you and your family. It is on these plants where those fat, hot, irritated, pregnant female flies with swollen feet find a plethora of soft bodied insects like aphids and caterpillars chewing their way through your crops, and, upon them she descends and brings hell with her as she lays her eggs under their soft, supple skin.  Then, the eggs hatch into pupae. Which, then, set about eating the pest alive from the inside until it dies. Which, in my opinion, is  a truly fitting end to anything that tries to eat anything from my garden, except, of course, for my kids. And maybe some friends. Possibly my wife.

Some wasps, like flies, feed on pollen and nectar and then lay their eggs in other insects, but some prefer a varied diet and will also feed outright on them. Most “garden-variety” wasps are very small, and, unless you’re looking for them, go virtually unseen. They won’t sting you. You shouldn’t fear them. Nor should you fear the larger wasps in the garden. Many are not even capable of stinging, and even those that can simply won’t while they are feeding. When it comes to food, they are pretty darned focused. Stings only happen when an unlucky person strays too near a nest or is dumb enough to walk around barefoot.

Here are ten steps to a beautiful and productive Vegetable/Pollinator Garden.

1. Choose a sunny, reasonably flat site (or make a flat site by terracing a slope).
2. Good soil preparation. Vegetables are heavy feeders. You’ll want more fertility than ornamental gardens, so work in some extra compost, mushroom compost, or composted manure.
3. Select the vegetables that grow well in your region, and, among those, the most highly rated varieties. Your local garden center is a good source for this information, as are your county extension agent, regional vegetable trial gardens often associated with universities, and All American Selections.
4. Select a mix of pollinator plants that will provide a continuous bloom from April or May to frost. Often, this is most easily achieved using annuals. You can buy these as plants or seeds. Again, check out your garden center, extension, and regional trials for the best varieties.
5. Keep the garden weeded by pulling or using a hoe. Mulching lightly with clean straw or pine straw can reduce the need to weed.
6. Water when the soil is drying out. Mulching can reduce the need to water.
7. Refrain from using pesticides unless absolutely necessary. We suggest consulting with your extension agent when you suspect a pest or disease. If spraying a pesticide is deemed necessary, choose the pesticide that causes the least damage to the environment and beneficial insects. Many times, your beneficial insect populations take a few days to catch up to your pests, but once they do they quickly clear up the problem.
8. Protect your vegetable garden from deer using fencing.
9. Raised beds make it easier to improve your soil, ensure better soil drainage, warm up your soil more quickly in the spring, and they make it a little easier on the gardener to plant, weed, and harvest.
10. Acquire other useful references. We recommend publications by your state’s university extension office, some nonprofits, garden centers, and nearby longtime gardeners. There are also many great books on vegetable gardening.

This blog in a slightly different version was previously published by the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

Veggie/Pollinator Garden Combo Power Pack! originally appeared on GardenRant on May 28, 2020.

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Gardening is Much in the News

Lately I’ve seen an uptick in gardening mentions in the news, and the one above has to be my favorite headline of all. Then the article begins:

Home gardening solves everything. This is the finding of a Princeton study published in that media hotbed Landscape and Urban Planning. The study’s press release notes that home gardening is “largely overlooked by policymakers.”

And the conclusion for planners?

[The researcher] points out that home gardening contributes to livable city and quality food initiatives. Why spend money on a rec center when some dirt and a trowel will do the trick? Plant on.

The “four key takeaways” in the study, as reported in Science Direct:

• Household gardening is associated with high-EWB [emotional well-being], which is similar to Biking and Walking.
• Vegetable gardening is associated with higher EWB than ornamental gardening.
• Household gardening is the only activity, in this study, where women and low-income participants report higher EWB than men and medium/high-income participants respectively.
• Gardening at home alone is no different from gardening with company. [So, gardening with others had no effect on the EWB results.]

So what about the veg-growing produces higher emotional well-being than growing ornamentals? The researchers surmise that “The additional importance of producing food or maintaining a connection to a larger identity, such as the identity linked to producing one’s own food, may play a role in the higher EWB scores for vegetable gardeners.” Okay.

And this is interesting – that unlike walking, biking and eating out, which were found to produce greater emotional well-being in men and higher-income people,”Gardening is an outlier activity in the sense that being low-income and female does not appear to lower one’s net affect scores while engaging in gardening, as is the case with other activities.”

Speaking of inclusivity, years ago I ranted about stock images of gardeners that perpetuated the myth in this country that gardeners are mostly old, white and female. But look what a recent search for “gardener” in Google Images yielded – a big improvement!

More Gardening Stories

Of course that Princeton study is from the Before Times. Now the pandemic shutdown has led to greater than usual coverage of gardening’s benefits. Like this article from Lincoln, Nebraska, “Experts say there are benefits to gardening during the COVID-19 crisis.”

Parks, too. “The need for parks: In a time of sickness, we all need to take a breath.”

The increase in actual gardening during the shutdown is getting lots of coverage, especially if they’re “victory gardens.”

As important as vegetable gardens are – now more than ever! – half the nongardeners I know have started planting things that can’t be eaten – trees, shrubs, and pollinator plants, mostly. So I’m curious whether our buying habits have changed, or if the media are just looking for a hook.

In other publishing news, with photo shoots impossible during the shutdown, Vogue Magazine put a single rose on its latest cover. They wrote that it represents “a symbol of “beauty, hope, and reawakening.”

Sure, why not? Especially now, with roses reaching their peak around here.

On the bad-news side, we’re seeing stories like these:

“Where Have 140 Million Dutch Tulips Gone? Crushed by the Coronavirus” in the New York Times.

And “Local florists left with inventory they can’t sell amid non-essential business shutdown.”

I’ll sign off now, having cleared my in-box of potential Rant posts with those stories. I’m staying safe and sane here in Maryland, and gardening my ass off.

Also, having fun riding my bike all over town visiting gardens and inviting the gardeners to contribute to a Virtual Spring Garden Tour – my latest project.

Gardening is Much in the News originally appeared on GardenRant on May 21, 2020.

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Is It Time For A Garden Makeover?

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https://unsplash.com/photos/-rl4m0icZo4

When it comes to anything to do with your home, you may get a little freaked out. After all, who wants to spend hours and hours working on their home when there’s rest to be had instead? Yet, this isn’t always the answer. Because, when you realize that you can totally transform your home in a matter of hours or days or weeks, it can be really exciting. And, not only that, but maybe you love the idea of creating the garden of your dreams too? When the weather is wonderful, much like it is right now, it’s the perfect time to get out into the garden. Not only will you want to enjoy it, but it’s nice to spruce things up and give your garden the makeover it deserves.

Tidy Everything Up

To begin with, you’ll want to make sure that you can clean everything up. When it comes to creating a garden makeover, you have to start with a blank canvas. So, if you have a lot of overgrown weeds, give the garden a spring clean. When it’s all cleared up, then you can get to work.

Spruce The Lawn

Next, you’re then going to want to make sure that you are able to shake the lawn up a little. If it’s looking sparse or a bit worse for wear, it’s a great idea to try and treat it. When it’s looking lush and green, it will make a world of difference.

Redesign The Landscape

And, if you’re really feeling like it, you should definitely consider redoing the landscaping too. Now, this can often seem like such a big job – but it will often be worth it. And it’s safe to say that you have the time to do it now anyway. Consider what kind of look you want to go for and source your supplies, from somewhere such as Edrich Lumber, Inc, then get to work. And, before you know it, your garden will have a completely new lease of life.

Add A Little Luxury

From here, you may even like the idea of making your garden look and feel a lot more luxurious. When that’s the case, it could be that you want to be able to invest in new furniture for the patio or someplace to sit. It’s nice to really invest in your garden when you know that you want to be able to use it more. So, if you know that you love your garden and you want it to be your little haven, spend a little more.

Grow Your Own

And finally, you may even want to consider growing your own vegetables too. When it comes to having a garden that you love, it’s important to put it all in place and bring it altogether. Being able to grow your own can just be perfect and something that you can do with your kids. They love to grow fruit and veg and be involved in the process. And it can be so lovely to eat your own produce too.

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Effective Termite Treatment

Pennsylvania…Home Sweet Home.  Roughly translated, Pennsylvania means “Penn’s Woods”.  It has been called home by William Penn, the Quakers, and many generations of Pennsylvanians since. The heavily wooded land that was given to William Penn by King Charles II was rich in hunting ground and farmland for the early settlers. Unfortunately, Penn’s Woods also came loaded with more. The soil was rich with subterranean termites.

Importance

Americans are known to go to great lengths to protect their homes. We hire alarm companies, place locks on all of our doors, install early fire detection, keep tree branches away from home, and take other safety precautions to make sure our homes are safe.

Termites cause about five billion dollars-worth of damage to homes in the United States every year.  Unfortunately, home owner’s insurance does not help to cover the cost of those repairs in most cases.

Subterranean Termites

Subterranean termites are a secretive pest that actually lives in the soil.  They randomly forage looking for wood that has fallen to the ground.  Once the wood hits the ground it’s game on!  Each termite colony is equipped with thousands of scouts.  24 hours a day, 7 days a week these scouts are charged with the task of finding new food sources.  Once they find a suitable source, they lay a pheromone trail connecting the colony to the food.

Termite Baiting

The colony has one primary task; gather enough food to feed its 60,000 – 1,000,000 members.  Since termites are basically blind (they can make out some light, but that’s it) and can’t use logic, they can’t tell the difference between a fallen log and your home.

Understanding the foraging behavior of the termite scouts was a key element in the development of termite baiting systems. These systems provide today’s homeowner with options when choosing how to prevent or solve their termite issues.

Termite control professionals can install a termite baiting system around your home. By strategically placing termite bait stations, the professional gives termite scouts something to look for, and when they find it, it’s game over!

How it Works

The stations are filled with a bait that is scientifically proven to be preferred by termites over real wood.  The active ingredient in the bait is an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR).  The IGR is designed to harden the shell of the young developing termites. Young termites need to molt (think of a snake shedding its skin) to reach maturity.

Worker termites share the food they gather with the entire colony, from the young termites to the Queen.  Once the IGR is consumed, the outer shell of the young termite hardens and they are unable to molt. The young termites die off because they can’t complete their maturation cycle. This breaks the natural life-cycle of the colony, eventually causing colony elimination.

 

Whether you install a termite baiting system to eliminate an ongoing termite problem, or as a way of preventing termite invasion, Tomlinson Bomberger’s termite baiting system will give you the peace of mind and protection you are looking for.  If you’d like to learn more about Tomlinson Bomberger’s termite baiting services, please contact us here.

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The Search Begins. Again and Again.

Bob Hill, one-time Garden Rant partner, has been scratching his head. Finding the right place for new plants often turns into a magical adventure—again.

Mid-May planting fever. Eight already full acres and an old golf cart from which to explore. Where to put what? Again. There is no path least taken. They’ve all been taken.

Again.

So, the search begins.

Again.

The easy one first. The Astilbe goes next to the Heuchera. Both are shade lovers with red flowers and will offer “Welcome home” kisses along the driveway.

The low-flowing Calamintha with the white flowers and funky smell? Sure. Plant in matching pots by the side door and walkway so you can squeeze the foliage and rub your fingers under your nose while walking past.

Yes.

Done.

The new lady on the block, Hosta ‘Empress Wu’, she who wants to preside over the garden in a six-foot flowing green robe. Let’s hold off on her. She gets a royal shaded throne all her own, hence to be loved and admired by her grateful subjects.

Hosta ‘Empress Wu’.

What’s this? The golf cart just hit 50 miles of circular site searching and still one task remains: The large, tropical firecracker plant with the absurd commercial Proven Winners name: Vermillionaire®.

Who thinks up that stuff?

With its screaming orange tubular flowers, Cuphea Vermillionaire® is promoted as a hummingbird magnet. I can just see them darting in and out; flying beaks with invisible wings performing delicate ballet.

The firecracker plant, Cuphea Vermillionaire.

I want to watch the hummers. I need to watch the hummers. This plant goes in a blue pot on a marble bench in bright sunlight just behind the tall anemone – not that the feisty hummers care about protection.

Or me.

But I can sit on another bench across the way and watch the flying circus. There’s more shade over there. A good place to think about the next planting.

 

Former Louisville Courier-Journal columnist Bob Hill wrote more than 4,000 columns and feature stories, about ten books and several angry letters to bill collectors in his 33 years at the paper. He and his wife, Janet, are former guides and caretakers of Hidden Hill Nursery and Garden in Utica, IN., a home-made, eight-acre arboretum, art mecca and source of enormous fun, whimsy, rare plants and peace for all who showed up. Bob’s academic honors include being the tallest kid in his class 12 years in a row. 

The Search Begins. Again and Again. originally appeared on GardenRant on May 21, 2020.

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Make Your Fingers Greener By Growing Vegetables

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If you have always loved the thought of having your own veggie patch in the garden, there has never been a better time to start growing. We are more conscious than ever of our carbon footprint and yearn to know where our food has come from. We don’t want the guilt of knowing that our tomatoes have come all the way from Portugal or that our cucumbers have taken a long jaunt from New Zealand.

Instead, why not set up your own little area out back and have a go at growing your own vegetables? You can have a go at growing whatever takes your fancy. You might be hesitant because you don’t know your daffodil from your daisy or your butternut from your crown, but follow this guide and you can make your fingers more green.

Where Will You Grow Them?

If you are blessed with a chunky-sized garden, you can plant some seeds straight into the ground. Consider creating some zones so you know what you’ll be planting and where. You might grow some potatoes, some cabbages, and some runner beans. Depending on the plant, you may need some sticks or posts to create support pyramids.

If you have a smaller area, consider creating a couple of raised beds. Or you might even want to use large pots or containers if you’re really short of space. You don’t need a huge amount of square footage to yield a decent crop.

Starting The Process

Seeds need to sprout in little pots. These tend to be plastic and small, and give just enough space to produce a seedling. Jiffy seed kits are great for the beginner as all you need to do is add some warm water to a seed tray to expand some Jiffy pellets, before planting a couple of seeds into each pot section and watching them grow. When they are large enough to handle without risking the integrity of the crop, you can put them into your larger pot, raised bed or vegetable trough.

This is the crucial phase for your vegetables. Pests can run rampant and destroy your crop before it’s had a chance. Check out The 3 Best Bug Zappers article and utilize a device that will kill any fly that may be keen to munch away on your seedlings.

Sowing Well

To sow your seeds, scattering is an approach that many novices take. However, for more uniformity in your planting, use the rows method. Carrots and onions appreciate their own designated space and don’t want to compete with another crop. They need their own space to grow into a fine specimen of a vegetable.

If you catch the vegetable growing bug, you will need to begin a crop rotation to ensure that your soil maintains its nutrients. Different vegetables should be grown every year with one in four years being fallow.

Edibles are a fantastic way to get into gardening. Even if you don’t have a horticultural bone in your body, you can have fun growing some vegetables and eating the crop that you have matured in your back garden.

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Keeping Your Garden Blooming In Quarantine

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Spring is in full blossom, and we are rolling towards the summer. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us are in lockdown or quarantine. With all unessential travel stopped, this year our summer vacation looks set to become a staycation. 

Spending more time at home means you have time to do all the jobs you are usually too busy for, this is especially true in our gardens. But, with many shops forced to close during the pandemic, how can we keep our gardens blooming so we can relax and enjoy the months ahead? 

If you are an avid gardener, chances are you have already done most of the prep work and are now in maintenance mode, trimming and replanting as your plants begin to come to life. However, if you haven’t had the time to get the garden of your dreams, it’s not too late to get green-fingered! 

Simple croton plus ‘Summer Sunset’ asiatic jasmine for an easy spiller.

Most of our local nurseries have adapted to the current situation, and either are operating under strict social distance measures or have taken their services online. This can be daunting to the avid gardener who sees their trip to a nursery as a rite of passage. Choosing plants is a dedicated job, we want to find the best and healthiest looking plants, right? 

Online shopping for plants is no different from online grocery shopping. The team at your local nursery put time and effort into ensuring you get the best of their products. With social media complaints are instant and public, so it does the company no favors to send you withered shrubbery. Calloway’s nursery says “We are working hard to ensure our customers can buy online, we are adding products daily. We also accept phone orders for curbside pick-up” Forward thinking businesses are making sure consumers can shop safely and efficiently. If you are worried about delivery services, then contact your local nursery and ask about a pick-up service. That way you can still check your plants before they arrive home. 

When buying online, you should also check the customer reviews on websites and check the social media feeds to see if there have been any issues. It pays to read the small print on the website too as there could be notes in the sellers’ policy that you weren’t expecting. Perhaps you didn’t realise you are buying young cuttings because the image used on the site was of a well-established plant.

If you do decide to have your plants delivered, don’t forget that courier companies are stretched at the moment. Make sure you allow a few extra days for your new plants to arrive. 

It is possible to keep your garden blooming during quarantine so do your research, speak to your local nursery and work out the safest way to buy all the things you need. Then sit back and relax in your beautiful surroundings. It’s a year to appreciate the little things. 

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At least we have Virtual Chelsea. And some stamps.

It’s legendary. It’s the largest in the world. And this year the Chelsea Flower Show is virtual, so possibly accessible to all of us! I say possibly because I’m still not entirely sure how it’ll work for us North Americans.

The Royal Horticulture Society, which puts on the show, announced that from May 18-23, it’ll “share videos and articles from regular Chelsea exhibitors on its website.”

Monday 18^th May will be Members’ day, showcasing exclusive RHS Chelsea content for RHS members only.

19th-23rd May: Each morning the show will kick off with a tour from one of the world’s leading garden designers, florists or gardening personalities of their own private gardens. Here they’ll be sharing their top design tips, favourite planting combinations and gardening trends with virtual visitors.

There will also be a daily School Gardening Club, providing a wealth of activities for families to get together, play, dig, grow plants and connect with nature.

Virtual visitors will get an insight into how some of the world’s best quality plants are grown, as a selection of UK growers will take visitors on exclusive behind-the-scenes tours of their award-winning nurseries.

Some of the spectacular plant displays that were due to fill the Great Pavilion, the jewel in RHS Chelsea’s crown, will be replicated virtually at home for the world to enjoy.

These leading growers will also host daily potting bench demonstrations, sharing specialist plant expertise, growing techniques and tips on how to keep plants happy and healthy.
Additionally, throughout the week, every lunchtime, RHS Advisors will be joined by a special guest for an interactive Q&A session.

I couldn’t find a schedule of events, but times may be challenging for people who live 5-8 time zones away. (10 a.m. in London is 5 a.m. in New York and 2 a.m. in LA.)

Scene from the 2019 Chelsea Flower Show. Credit: RHS/GEORGI MABEE

While interactive events may just be available May 18-23, I hope this feature that I’m most excited about will be online much longer: “Tours from well-known garden designers, florists and gardening personalities of their own private gardens as they share their top design tips, favourite planting combinations and gardening trends with virtual visitors.”

Fans will also be sharing photos of their own green spaces in various categories on social media with the hashtag #mychelseagarden – to win tickets to Chelsea 2021. Might be fun to peruse that hashtag on Instagram.

Another reason to buy stamps!

The dire straits of the USPS are a topic for another blog, but one smidgen of happy postal news is its announcement this week of 10 new stamps depicting American public gardens.

From the USPS website:

Each stamp features a photograph of a small but evocative area of one of ten gardens.  The gardens include: Biltmore Estate Gardens (NC); Brooklyn Botanic Garden (NY); Chicago Botanic Garden (IL); Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (ME); Dumbarton Oaks Garden (DC); the Huntington Botanical Gardens (CA); Alfred B. Maclay gardens State Park (FL); Norfolk Botanical Garden (VA); Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens (OH); and Winterthur Garden (DE).

Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps with photos taken by Allen Rokach between 1996 and 2014.”

The site says that “All the gardens featured on the 10 stamps are open to the public,” which presumably means they’re public gardens, not that they open right now. But we can definitely all buy the stamps and support the mission of the agency.

At least we have Virtual Chelsea. And some stamps. originally appeared on GardenRant on May 14, 2020.

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Lingering Springs, Bittersweet Memories and The Evolution of a Gardener

The latest in the on-going correspondence between Marianne Willburn & Scott Beuerlein.

__________________________________

May 14, 2020

Lovettsville, VA

Dear Scott,

My heart aches for you and your family coping with the loss of your mother.  In a normal year it would be emotionally draining, but right now, with the ability to have less than ten people at the funeral?  I am deeply sorry you have had to cope and grieve while normal life is upside down – I cannot imagine.  It was this time last year that we lost my father, and that was hard enough.

The arrival of spring has brought back a lot of that tension and sadness.   Memory adheres gently to seasons. For years I could not see pumpkins on porches and smell cinnamon in stores without experiencing waves of psychosomatic morning sickness brought on by having not one, but two, romantic Septembers. And now, Dad is messing with spring.

I have had words with him about it.  Proper out-loud words to the sky when I’m in the vegetable garden, which is one of the reasons we needed to live somewhere without visible neighbors. That and the outdoor restroom facilities.

I have wondered many times over the last year what Dad would think about my garden now. It is very young, but the last time he saw it, it was a newborn, and for the most part not to be seen. Dad never went in for ornamentals in the same way that he loved his vegetables and the natural world around him.  My guess is that he would have nodded gently, raised his eyebrows over some of my kaleidoscope combinations, and then pulled up a chair in the vegetable garden and asked for a beer.

Dad and I in the garden that fed our family during “the college years” in Iowa.

My very earliest memories of a purely ornamental garden and the high ambitions of its creator – a good family friend – are equally strong memories of the bemusement my father felt for such frivolous things.  I can still see the marble statues…hear the plans for an amphitheater being discussed with animated hands as mosquitos danced around us in the dusk…and I can still see my father shaking his head.

I must have been ten or eleven and no doubt more focused on one of the wonderful treats Mr. Willson had prepared for us indoors to care what an amphitheater was.  Now I routinely stand with gardeners in their Edens and discuss overreaching plans that are based in fantasy and a glass of red wine  –  including my own.

The only shot I have of Mr. Willson proudly standing in his California foothills garden.

He is gone now too, but I so wish I had had more time to see his garden and his marvelous plans with wiser eyes. I have an aloe pup (of a pup of a pup) he gave me that sits on my desk next to this picture.

Speaking of wiser eyes – or at least, eyes that are now wise enough to recognize how thoroughly un-wise they are – what a brilliant column on the evolution of gardeners in Horticulture this month!  No rebuttal from this quarter – you nailed that one.  Judging from my young adult children, and my own memories of being supple, invincible and insufferable, it is not only gardeners who go through this “I-know-everything-I’m-a-rock-star” phase.

The fermenters for one.  If I am lectured one more time at a party on the merits of lactobacillus by a bearded, gym-ripped Adonis with a koi tattoo on his calf, I may lose my carefully curated reputation as a well-behaved guest.  Or as you might say, ‘my shit.’

I get it dude.  You can pickle cabbage.  So can I. So can three-quarters of the population of Poland.  May I assume you’re also fostering a rare sourdough starter you brought back from a hostel in Bratislava last summer?

Whew.  That’s obviously been building up.

But as you say (much more wisely, gently, and 100x less arrogantly than I seem to be able to express), it’s payback. I cringe to think of the party-goers I have annoyed with my new gardening discoveries that read to them as ancient history.

And the ones I’m currently annoying for that matter. It’s all relative.  Until we leave this Earth with cherubims and seraphims at our heels, there is always someone older and wiser that wants to punch us in the mouth.

Perhaps all this confidence is as it should be. If in those earliest days of discovery, we were to come up against the enormity of all that we know right now that we don’t know, and not experience any wins that made us feel special…made us feel like we alone knew the answer…I think we’d most likely run scared, and turn our talents to ditch digging or politics.  I have never felt less able to call myself an expert on growing things than I do now, more than twenty-five years into growing things.

And I feel almost panicked over how little time there is to absorb all that I’m hungry to learn. I’m at it 24/7 and there still isn’t enough time. Life gets so complicated so quickly that dropping everything and offering my unpaid services to Keith Wiley or Fergus Garrett or Panayoti Kelaidis for a year in exchange for knowledge unbound requires that I fake my own death.

One view (amongst hundreds) of Keith Wiley’s garden at Wildside in Devon. Yes, I know we’re back to England and it’s a sore point with you, but when I see a garden like this I realize the enormity of what I have left to learn.

Don’t think I haven’t thought about it.  Why can’t we have two decades in our twenties?  One to try everything and one for keeps. Or is that what our thirties are supposed to be?

But enough of philosophy and supple young joints.

We too have had one of the most glorious springs in memory.  Long and lingering, it has allowed so many early bloomers such as epimedium, dicentra (I know, lamprocapnos, &$%@! taxonomists), claytonia, brunnera, trillium, mertensia, narcissus, leucojum, kerria etc. to hold those blooms for weeks – right up until the freezes we had that you sent from the Midwest.

Self-seeded and superb – Brunnera macrophylla

Even the sanguinaria held on longer than two days. After the freezes, the temps stayed cool and revived almost everything.  My newish ‘Rose Marie’ magnolia took a huge hit – both blossoms and leaves – as did ‘Jane’, but as Michael said, now they can boast of a tough childhood.

Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Multiplex’

One of the most surprising semi-casualties was a Rodgersia podophylla ‘Rotlaub’ I have grown for five years since I brought it back from Dancing Oaks Nursery in Oregon. It has weathered much in the way of crazy springs, flagged a little, but never been hit so hard by a cold snap.  As I thought of it as an early emerger, I was gobsmacked that it couldn’t pull itself together for a night. But when I went back to my records, I realized that the warm winter had gently made me think that we were later than we were, and with all the days blending together right now, who the hell knows what day of the week it is, much less where the rodgersia should be.

Still, lesson learned, filed away under ‘fail,’ and thankfully the plant has begun to re-sprout. I understand from a friend in Colorado that this is a normal state of affairs in a region that giveth and taketh away every May, but it’s hard to see such a gorgeous plant on its knees.   Again, this is where you cannot beat hard experience – and many years of it.

The Lord giveth….

And the Lord taketh away.

Meanwhile, in more resilient quarters, each spring I come back to epimedium and brunnera as two genera that are woefully underplanted by the general public.  It’s not their fault. For whatever reason neither is commonly sold.  It probably has much to do with how they present in 6” pots – not as much come hither as a greenhouse begonia. But so much ease, and so much to offer shade gardeners tired of staring at hosta. Unaffected by the freezes, and by most things really Except for Southern blight on the brunnera in the summer months – yep, that scourge is in my soil in places.

A little ‘Jack Frost’ brunnera in the midst of some blushing E. x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’

I share your enjoyment of ostrich ferns and try very hard not overuse them in my quest to conquer Japanese stilt grass.  They are overusing themselves I fear. Plant one, you have a hundred; and as you say, late freezes halt them only for seconds.  They have already shoved out a robust stand of Arisaema triphyllum and are heading for the A. ringens and A. consanguineum if I don’t pull out the shovel. And move the arisaema. Such beautiful Jurassic monsters.

Do you grow vegetables somewhere on that plot of yours?  The asparagus are coming in well this year and the kale is putting a little green in my juice every day.

Wait, that’s every week.  I’m forgetting.  It’s the wine I drink every day.  The wine.

Especially at the moment.

I have put off mentioning COVID-19 and the unbearable state of things until the end of this letter, and quite frankly, I am tempted to sign off and leave it there, the entire business is so upsetting. But in response to your question – should we build gardens for nursing homes and tend gardens for first responders during this pandemic – the answer is of course yes; but then, we should build gardens and help our struggling neighbors where we have the ability at every opportunity.

Though it seems like this will never end, it will.  The true question is, will we do these things when it is all over? Will the new Victory Gardeners keep gardening without a pandemic to worry them?  Will people still remember to bring a bouquet of tulips to a nurse’s door, or plant up a windowsill garden for an elderly friend when there are stores to be shopped and weekend recreating to be done.  Will I?

I hope so.  We are not judged so much I think by what we do when the emergency is obvious and push comes to shove, but what we do when the world stops shoving and we can quietly return to familiar routines. Your thoughts are laudable and wonderful however. Do not let my cynicism blight them.

As for your promise of you both joining me in the UK next year on a garden tour, you might want to ask yourself if you are truly safe in a country whose beloved horticultural institutions you’ve publicly disparaged.  I’m not saying I would rat out your identity, but then again, I’m not saying I wouldn’t. Of course I wouldn’t let them hurt Michele – she’s one of us.

Make sure Michele brings this picture tucked into her passport.  They may require proof.

As for me – do I want an Olympic level smart ass sitting in the back of the [exceptionally comfortable] coach, sipping red wine and throwing out occasional witticisms to the raucous laughter of all present? I sat through that once already remember.

What the hell.  But I’m telling you right now, I’ll have the microphone this time and I know how to use it.

My best to you both,

Marianne

P.S. We got a new puppy.  An Irish Wolfhound named Nessa. Mungo is currently seeking legal representation.

P.P.S.  Love your mossy walks.  LOVE them.

Lingering Springs, Bittersweet Memories and The Evolution of a Gardener originally appeared on GardenRant on May 14, 2020.

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Good Mosquito Treatment

Summer is right around the corner. Holidays, stay-cations, and grilling season are finally here! But some many people have these joyous occasions ruined by high numbers of mosquitoes. Not only are they a nuisance, but they can carry diseases. Dengue fever, Zika virus, malaria, and West Nile virus are all carried and spread by mosquitoes. Read on to discover the secrets to good mosquito treatment!

Mosquito Biology

There are just a few quick things you should know about mosquitoes that’ll help with understanding how effective mosquito treatment works.

The first thing is that mosquitoes are very sensitive to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. When something – person or animal – exhales, that’s a trigger for mosquitoes. It’s like blood in the water for a shark; they know a meal is nearby.

Next, you need to know that mosquitoes don’t fly very effectively. In fact, they’re really inefficient at flying. Once they sense CO2, they start to fly, but must rest frequently. Often, mosquitoes will stop to take several breaks on their way to feed. Each stop takes them gradually closer to the source of the CO2.

Lastly, you need to know that mosquitoes’ bodies don’t hold moisture well. They dry out very quickly and can die. So, when they take pitstops on their way to feed, they look for specific places. Areas that are cool, damp, dark, and out of direct sunlight or wind are ideal.

Breeding Sites

My wife and I tend to go camping for our vacations. Once at a campsite, I saw a knothole in a tree that couldn’t have held more than an ounce or two of standing water. And yes – there were mosquito larvae in there!

Identifying and trying to eliminate breeding sites for mosquitoes is the first line of defense. If you can stop mosquito breeding, you help limit the number of adults that can feed. Makes sense, right?

This is a huge part of what is called “Integrated Pest Management,” or “IPM.” IPM practices basically say “Find the source, eliminate that, and the problem is more manageable.” Again, lots of common sense happening here.

One of the first things a competent Mosquito Control expert should do is look for breeding sites. Some are obvious – pools, ponds, birdbaths, nearby creeks or retention ponds are all obvious. Some are less obvious – unused flower pots, sagging gutters, and low spots in the yard that pool water are all prime mosquito breeding sites. There are mosquitoes that even lay their eggs on dry ground that will later fill with water (like a puddle). And if it’s cold and dry, those eggs can lay dormant for months. They sit and wait for the right amount of moisture to hatch.

For features that are intended to remain (like ponds or birdbaths), there are other options. Many mosquito control experts use something called “insect growth regulators” or “IGR’s.”  These products are non-chemical. They have a hormone that is specific to and only impacts mosquitoes. This prevents larvae from reaching adulthood without harming fish or birds in landscape features.

Identifying and reducing/eliminating breeding sites is only part of the fight.

Mosquito Spraying

After identifying and treating/eliminating breeding sites, your mosquito control expert should spray. Think back to the “biology” lesson – places that are cool, damp, dark, out of sunlight and wind. You may be saying “I don’t have anywhere like that on my property.” You’d be wrong – your landscaping is the perfect hiding place! Pest control experts call these places “harborage areas.”

These are where your mosquito control expert should be spraying. Foundation plants, mulched areas, tree trunks and branches within about 10’-15’ of the ground can all be treated effectively. If you have more landscaping, that should be treated, too. Tree lines and brush growing under them also provide excellent harborage areas.

Many companies now use equipment that is a modified leaf blower. This allows them to apply a very small amount of control product in hard to reach places. Think about it – how do you spray under a leaf on a plant? This elegant solution uses the breeze generated by the blower to coat all the plant material. Now, the mosquitoes have no place to hide.

One Final Note

Keep one thing in mind as you are shopping for a mosquito control expert: it won’t be perfect. Pest control companies have an easier time keeping bugs out of your home; there are walls and a roof. The structure itself helps them with the control.

Your mosquito control expert is trying to do something else: keep a bug off something outside. I’m not sure when you last tried to keep a bug off something outside, but it’s a challenge. By using good IPM and eliminating breeding sites, then getting good control applications, you should get good results. But it won’t be perfect. You should still wear bugspray and long sleeves if you intend to be outside for long periods of time (if this is practical).

 

If you have questions about good mosquito treatment, or you’d like a quote for service at your home in Lancaster or Harrisburg, please contact us here.

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