|
Vol. 3, No. 4 — April 15, 2007
In This Issue:
Final Frost Dates and Just WHEN to Plant
Magazine Excerpt: Early Spring Veggies
April To-Do List
Spotlight Special: Tomatoberry
Reader Contest: Passes to the Annapolis Secret Garden Tour
Local Gardening Events
Welcome to the
Washington Garden Enews!
This is the free sister publication of Washington Gardener magazine.
Both the magazine and enewsletter share the same mission and focus — helping Washington DC area gardens grow — but our content is different.
In this monthly enewsletter, we will:
address timely seasonal topics and projects; post local garden events; and, include a monthly reminder list of what you can be doing now in your garden.
Rest your mouse pointer on any enewsletter photo image here to see the full photo caption displayed. If this enewsletter does not display properly in your email browser, please click above on “Read This Issue Online” option.
We encourage you to subscribe to Washington Gardener magazine as well for in-depth articles, inspirational photos, and great garden resources for the Washington DC area gardener.
Without your support, we cannot continue publishing this enewsletter. Our magazine subscription information is at the bottom of this enewsletter.
If you know of any other gardeners in the greater Washington DC area, please forward this email to them so that they can subscribe to this free enewsletter as well using the form at the bottom of the enewsletter or by visiting www.WashingtonGardener.com.
If you are not interested in receiving future issues of the enewsletter, simply follow the Unsubscribe directions also at the bottom of this enewsletter.
The March/April 2007 Washington Gardener magazine is available now. If you subscribe by April 25, you can start your subscription with this issue. Single copies of this issue can be purchased directly from Washington Gardener. The issue is also on sale at area Borders and B. Dalton book stores. This issue's cover story is "Water Issues: Stormwater Management & Bayscaping." Also in this issue: dogwood selection and care guide; native plants for wet locations; a trip to the Franciscan Monastery; early spring vegetable growing tips and recipes; and, much, much more.
Final Frost Dates and Just WHEN to Plant
The urge to plant strikes about the same time the days start to lengthen and brighten in late winter. But if gardening teaches us anything, it is to be patient. We must wait not only until the air temperatures are well above freezing, but also until the ground has had a chance to warm up.
Supermarkets and hardware stores all over the region are already setting out impatiens, petunias, and marigolds tempting the home gardener to buy early. If you take their lure, you’ll most likely need to buy again after these early offerings succumb to frosts. Often, they are already quite damaged already before you purchase them as they sit in open parking lot trays during nightly freezes.
The latest below-freezing date in our area was recorded at 30 degrees on April 29, 1874. As we’ve witnessed these past few weeks, April can be a very cruel month. Frosts can and do occur well into May.
Once the air temps warm up, keep in mind that just because the days are no longer frigid, does not mean the soil is ready to receive your tender young transplants. It takes several days of consistent warmth and sunshine to heat up the earth.
Mother’s Day is the traditionally recognized date for the start of spring planting in the greater DC-area. If you want to wait a week or two after that date, there is no harm done. In fact, tomatoes, herbs, etc. need consistently warm soils to survive and thrive, so better to be late in your plantings than early.
If you are a risk-taker or are just impatient to start the season, you may want to chance it and plant earlier. Then you'll need to be ever watchful for frost warnings and prepared to give your new plants frost-blankets and protection at a moment's notice. If you plant in containers, pull them into a protected area such as a garage and porch and maybe throw a light sheet over them as well. Those of us with cold frames can start the season earlier. Don’t forget to crack open the glass during the day, lest you fry your plants!
What is safe to plant now? You can still put in pansies and violas for instant color as well as starting your vegetable seeds indoors. Lettuce greens and other cool season veggies can still be sown and harvested until the summer heat and humidity moves in. Now is also a great time to plant flowering shrubs, trees, and perennials. If you are looking at putting in a rose bush or two, you should get it in now so it has time to settle in before the growing season.
Happy Growing!
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington Gardener
P.S. On May 1 our annual subscription rate to Washington Gardener magazine will increase to $20 a year. Subscribe or renew today to lock in our current low $18 rate! To extend the savings, subscribe for two years at $36 or three years for $54.
Back To Top
Local Gardening Events
Here is a selection of upcoming events (April 15-May 15) in the greater DC area of interest to gardeners:
DC
Poetry in the Garden
April 19, 1:00-3:00pm
Tudor Place, 1644 31st St. between Q and R Streets in Georgetown, Washington, DC
Celebrate National Poetry Month at Tudor Place! Join local poets, Ellen Cole, Andrea Hoag, Eliza King, Claire McGoff, and Kathryn Williams for an afternoon of exhilarating poetry. After the reading seek inspiration for your own poetry by strolling through Tudor Place’s 5 ? acres of enchanting gardens.
Fee: $5 members ($7 nonmembers). Registration is required.
For more information: visit: www.tudorplace.org or call 202.965.0400, ext. 109.
Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild Annual Plant Sale
April 28, 9:30am-6:00pm and Sunday, April 29, 8:00am-3:00pm
Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery, 14th and Quincy Streets in the Brookland neighborhood of Northeast Washington, DC
Because the special requests are ever increasing, the offering grows larger each year. Favorite vendors will be back again. This year they are paying special attention to the rose offering. Comparison shopping indicates our prices are 20-30% less than nursery prices. Each rose receives TLC from time of receipt in bare root status until they are offered for sale.
Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: call 202.526.6800 or go to: www.myfranciscan.org.
Flower and Garden Photography
April 28, May 5, 12, and 19, 8:00-11:00am
United States Botanic Garden Conservatory, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, foot of the U.S. Capitol
he outdoor landscapes of the U.S. Botanic Garden and the new National Garden will be the setting for digital and film photographers to capture stunning photos of colorful flowers and plants. Improve your photographic skills and learn techniques that will lift your flower and garden images to a higher level. Emphasis is on composition, close-up techniques, and the use of basic photographic equipment to capture striking flower and garden images. This four-session workshop taught by photographer Joshua Taylor, Jr. includes in-the-field instruction, graphic handouts, shooting sessions with the instructor, and the last session will include a critique of participants’ photographs.
Fee: $150. Preregistration is required.
For more information: call 202.226.4082 or www.usbg.gov
MD and PA
Beltsville Garden Club's Spring Plant Sales
April 21 and May 12, 8:00am-12:00noon
High Point High School parking lot at 3601 Powder Mill Road, Beltsville, MD
The April sale will include perennials, shrubs, and trees. The May sale will include annuals, vegetables, and herbs in addition to perennials, shrubs and trees. Plants grown in the Beltsville Garden Clubs Greenhouse will also be available on these dates.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information, go to www.beltsvillegardenclub.org or call 301.937.1539.
Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage Tours
April 21-May 19, 10:00am-5:00pm
Six counties in the state of MD
Tours of historic homes and gardens from national registered landmarks to private estates. 2007 is the 70th anniversary of the pilgrimage and this year's includes 50 historic sites in six Maryland counties. Antique rose gardens, wildflower walks, farms, and archeological finds -- something for everyone. But tickets in advance at the Pilgrimage Headquarters in Towson, MD, or at the first stop of each tour.
Fee: $25 for each day's tour including tour book. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: www.mhgp.org or call 410.21.6933.
Silver Spring Garden Club's Garden Mart
May 12, 9:00am-3:00pm
Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton MD
The Silver Spring Garden Club's annual Garden Mart plant sale is for bargain-seekers and plant-lovers. Come early for best pick of annuals, perennials, shrubs, houseplants, wildflowers, and much more. This event is rain or shine.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.brooksidegardens.org
VA and WV
Friends of River Farm Plant Sale
April 21, 9:00am-6:00pm and April 22, 9:00am-3:00pm
George Washington’s River Farm, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA
Featuring hundreds of popular and unique garden plants from a variety of vendors. Additionally, the American Horticultural Society will be offering many plant selections that have low maintenance needs, multiple seasons of interest, wildlife benefits, and proven garden performance in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.ahs.org or call 703.768.5700, ext. 114.
Fairfax Home and Garden Tour during Historic Garden Week in Virginia
April 24, 10:00am-4:00pm
21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling, VA
8 sites: One of the highlights of the tour is the Smith home on North Fairfax Street with its large pond with fountain and waterfall originally designed in Oriental style by the late Lester Collins, renowned landscape architect, who designed the Hirshorn Sculpture Garden. Also recognized in the community is the renovated Victorian Cram home on East Jefferson Street with its multiple garden rooms.
Fee: $20 pre-tour sales; $25 day of tour; $15 single-site admission. Registration is required.
For more information: www.VAGardenweek.org or call 703.759.6573.
Heirloom Vegetable Gardening Project
May 5, 10:00am-12:00noon
21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling, VA
In recognition of the 2007 celebration of the founding of the Commonwealth and the County, The Heritage Farm Museum, Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, Temple Hall Farm, Ayrshire Farm, and the VA Master Gardener Program will present a year of heritage vegetable gardening. Five gardens; tons of fun! May 5 is the volunteer kickoff event. Prospective volunteers interested in working at the Heritage Farm Museum are invited. Please RSVP.
Fee: $5 adults/$3 children. Registration is required.
For more information: www.heritagefarmmuseum.org or call 571.258.3800.
Special Event: See Washington Gardener at the Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival
17th Annual Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival
April 21, 10:00am-6:00pm and April 22, 10:00am-5:00pm)
Historic Downtown Leesburg, VA
A downtown business district transformed into a garden oasis. With a back drop of historical buildings, the streets become garden paths with hidden treasures around every corner - a bubbling water fountain, a patio paved in stone, or an inviting bench just inside a swinging gate. More than 130 vendors selling garden plants and accessories plus a variety of food, entertainment, unique garden arts, and an entire area geared toward young children with exciting performances and activities. A new addition to this year’s festival will be guest speaker Andre Viette, host of "In the Garden with Andre Viette", a nationally syndicated gardening radio-show. Viette will be speaking on “Gardening with No Work” at 2:00pm Saturday at Dodonna Manor. The event will be held rain or shine. Washington Gardener
magazine's booth is in the Lightfoot Lot. Stop by to subscribe, renew, buy back issues, or just to say, "Hi."
Suggested admission is $3 per person, with ages 6 and under free. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: www.idalee.org or call 703.777.2420.
For even more area garden event notices than we can't possibly squeeze in here, become a member of our free online discussion group. To join the email list serv, just send an email to: WashingtonGardener-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
To submit an event for this listing, please contact: editor@washingtongardener.com and put "Event" in the email subject head.
Our next deadline is May 12 for the May 15 edition of this enewsletter featuring events from May 15-June 15.
Back To Top
Spotlight Special: Tomatoberry
"It's a fruit! It's a veggie! No, it's a Tomatoberry!
Tomatoberry is a grape tomato new to the market just this season. Bred by the Tokita Seed Company and sold exclusively through Johnny's Selected Seeds, the Tomatoberry has a unique strawberry shape and a deep red color. Each fruit weighs approximately 10-15 grams and averages 1" by 1" in size. Said to have a firm texture with excellent sweet flavor.
According to Johnny's Selected Seeds, the plant is a fairly vigorous indeterminate and depending on growing conditions will grow anywhere from five feet and up. It is high-yielding and ready to harvest in about 60 days. Seeds are sold in a variety of sized packets: mini or ten seeds ($4.25), 50 seeds ($17.50) -- all the way up to 25,000 seeds ($4,112.50).
Back To Top
Reader Contest
Washington Gardener is giving out several sets of two passes each (worth $50 per set) to the 8th annual Annapolis Secret Garden Tour. This tour takes place the afternoon of June 3 in historic downtown Annapolis, MD. Radio personality and national garden celebrity, Andre Viette, is the event’s featured speaker. Garden enthusiasts have a rare opportunity to visit 16 privately owned gardens in the neighborhood surrounding Annapolis’ City Hall including Duke of Gloucester, Charles, Conduit, Market & Green Streets. The unique gardens on this tour each demonstrate the personality and needs of the individual garden owners. The gardens range from a quiet patio retreat to a
flower filled alley bordered by small pristine gardens and public spaces, and from a formal 18th c garden to a riotous English garden brimming with perennials.
To enter our contest, send an email to editor@washingtongardener.com by May 7 with “Annapolis Secret” in the subject line. Include your full name and address in the email body. We will select the winners at random from among all the entries on May 8.
Back To Top
April To-Do List
Here is our combined garden task list for April 15-May 15 compiled from the previous April 2005 and April 2006 issues:
- Do not set out seedlings or tender annuals until after Mother's Day (traditional last frost date for our area).
- Build raised beds with leaf compost and soil.
- Water during dry spells.
- Prune winter damage on evergreens.
- Make compost tea and use on seedlings.
- Turn your compost pile
- Plant fruit trees.
- Sharpen tools.
- Prune flowering shrubs, such as forsythia, lilacs, and azaleas, when they finish blooming.
- Repot and fertilize houseplants.
- Set aside a few hours each weekend for attending garden shows and tours.
- Cut your Daffodils for indoor bouquets -- do not combine daffs with other flowers in one vase. They give off a toxic substance they may kill your other blooms off prematurely.
- Weed by hand to avoid disturbing newly forming roots.
- Soil preparation -- add lime, compost, etc. as needed.
- Walk your garden -- look for early signs of fungal disease.
- Divide perennials and herbs.
- Fertilize new growth.
- Plant and prune roses.
- Transplants small trees and shrubs.
- Buy or check on your store summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot them and start to water, if you want to give them an early start on the season.
- If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening off process.
- Start some more seeds -- especially try flowering annuals like impatiens and petunias.
- Prune fruit trees as their buds are swelling. Check for dead and diseased wood to prune out.
- Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
- Buy an indoor plant to liven up your office space. Try an orchid or African violet.
- Start fertilizing your indoor plants.
- Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds and ornamental grasses.
- Mulch beds with a light hand.
- Feed birds and provide nesting materials (try dryer lint) as well as houses for the start of their family season.
- Plant a tree for Arbor Day or Earth Day.
Have a wonderful 2007 growing season!
Back To Top
Magazine Excerpt: Early Spring Veggies by Cindy Brown
Spring has arrived. For many vegetable gardeners, the annual rush to produce the first ripe tomato has begun! They choose cultivars that promise early fruiting and buy silly contraptions to protect the tender seedlings from frost. It is time to plant tomato seeds indoors, but don’t hurry to place the transplants in the garden. Keep tomato seedlings inside until the soil has warmed to a balmy 65 degrees. So what should you do in your kitchen garden now? Expand your repertoire. Grow vegetables that thrive in cooler temperatures and don’t mind an occasional nip with light frost. Even though I too highly anticipate the first ripe tomato, I’ve learned to appreciate and actually crave some of the early spring produce.
Mention spring vegetables and most people think “peas” (Pisium sativum). Sowing pea seeds as early as the weather allows is vital. George Washington’s birthday is the traditional date for planting peas, but I usually wait until soil temps warm a bit more; mid-March till early April is ideal. Good drainage is crucial for early plantings. The longer the seeds sit in chilly, wet soil, the more likely they are to rot.
I’ve tried many types of peas including an heirloom purple-podded variety called ‘Blue Prussian.’ They would be good for pea soup — but forget eating them raw; too starchy. ‘Dwarf Grey Sugar’ and ‘Super Sugar Snap’ are reliable and delicious raw. I like growing peas with edible pods — snow peas and sugar snaps — because my space is limited. I want to produce as many edible parts as I can. If I throw away the pods, I cut my production in half. Shorter maturation time is another good reason for planting snow peas or sugar snap types. Our region’s spring temperatures are so variable; we can go from 50 degrees to 80 degrees in 60 seconds! Okay, maybe not that quickly, but almost. Snow peas and sugar snaps produce pods sooner than...
Read the rest of this article, including a sidebar column on Spring Seed Sources, in the March/April 2007 issue of Washington Gardener magazine.
Back To Top
Next Issue
The May 2007 issue of Washington Gardener Enews will cover Creating a Cutting Garden.
Subscribe to our magazine:
Send a check for $18.00 payable to Washington Gardener magazine to:
Washington Gardener, 826 Philadelphia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910
Or click on the PayPal link below to subscribe online using a secure credit card transaction.
Purchase Washington Gardener Gear:
Great gift idea! Show your pride in Washington DC and your gardening hobby with new Washington Gardener gear.
Items available include tote bags, organic cotton T-shirts, infant creepers, and much more. They make great holiday gifts.
Visit the Washington Gardener online store today.
Advertise:
Reach Your Customers: Are you a landscaper, nursery, or other business trying to
reach Washington DC area gardeners? Why throw away your money to advertise in other publications
that go to 1,000s of other readers that are not in your target market?
Get directly to your most interested potential customers by advertising in
Washington Gardener magazine or enewsletter. Contact advertising@washingtongardener.com for rates and details today.
Edited by Kathy Jentz
Contact: editor@washingtongardener.com or 301.588.6894.
©Washington Gardener 2007
Back To Top
|
