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Vol. 3, No. 7 — July 15, 2007
In This Issue:
Cultivating a Fragrance Garden
Magazine Excerpt: Geraniums Galore
July To-Do List
Spotlight Special: Climbing Hydrangea Firefly
Reader Contest: Global Worming Worm Tea
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.
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The July/August 2007 Washington Gardener magazine is available now. If you subscribe by August 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, Barnes and Noble, and B. Dalton book stores plus many independent stores like the USNA's Arbor House. This issue's cover story is "Groundcover Alternatives to Turfgrass Lawns." Also in this issue: hardy geranium selection and care guide; native groundcovers; a trip to the William Paca House & Garden; edible lawns; and, much, much more.
Cultivating a Fragrance Garden
When we design our gardens we base our plant choices first of zone, bloom season, bloom color, and the eventual mature size. Secondarily we may consider if the plant has any fall/winter-seasonal interest, its foliage color, and whether it has any pest/deer resistance. Fragrance comes in dead last as a deciding factor and that is unfortunate.
The fragrant garden is one that enlivens all of our senses. Evoking memories and making new ones, a fragrant garden can transform you to another world is just a few seconds. A flower without a scent is an empty experience.
Fragrance is a very personal thing. Some plant scents may be heaven to you and hell to others. Smell first, before you buy. Just because a plant is known for its strong odor does not mean it is one you will enjoy. Marigolds and mums are flowers that often offend the nose, though they have their place in the garden too.
Place your favorite fragrant plants in locations where you will encounter them frequently such as by the entrance you use most to your home, near your sunroom, along garden pathways, in hanging plants on your porch, and outside your bedroom window.
Think also about when a plant is fragrant – both in season and time of day. Many scented flowers bloom in evening and are perfect for those who work all day outside the home. These include columbine, flowering tobacco, honeysuckle, evening primrose, and climbing hydrangea.
Lastly, examine how different plant scents intermingle. One flower may perfume a whole garden, while another may need experiencing by directly smelling it up close. From a pine tree to sage, you will want to situate your plants where their smell is experienced to best advantage.
Here is a partial lists of plants to lend fragrance to your garden:
- Basil
- Bee balm
- Bronze fennel
- Climbing hydrangea
- Daffodil
- Evening primrose
- Flowering tobacco
- Fothergilla
- Gardenia
- Heliotrope
- Hyacinth
- Hyssop
- Lavender
- Lemon balm
- Lilac
- Lily-of-the-valley
- Mint
- Nasturtium
- Peony
- Plantain lily (Hosta plantaginea)
- Rose
- Sage
- Sweet autumn clematis
- Sweet alyssum
- Sweetbox
- Sweet mockorange
- Sweet pea
- Sweet woodruff
- Viburnum
- Winter daphne
- Wisteria
- Witchhazel
For inspiration and more ideas, visit the fragrance gardens locally at Brookside Gardens, the US Botanic Garden, and the Norfolk Botanical Garden..
Happy Growing!
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington Gardener
P.S. As of May 1, our annual subscription rate to Washington Gardener magazine increased to $20. Subscribe or renew for multiple years to save 10%, subscribe/renew for two years at $36 or three years for $54.
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Local Gardening Events
Here is a selection of upcoming events (July 15-August 15) in the greater DC area of interest to gardeners:
DC
Green Industry Professional Field Day and Trade Show
July 19, 7:30am-2:45pm
Campus of American University, NW, Washington, DC
Come and learn through hands-on demonstrations in an outdoor setting. Field Day sessions will be in four subject areas: Trees, Landscape Design/Architecture, Turf, and Landscape Maintenance. You are welcome to attend sessions in any one or all four areas. The Trade Show will feature industry exhibitors for all the latest equipment. See new plant introductions and participate in landscape design discussions.
Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: call 703.250.1368 or go to: www.greenindustryseminar.org.
Botanical Illustration: Mendel's Peas on Paper
July 21, 10:30am-5:00pm
National Museum of Health and Medicine, Walter Reed Campus, 6900 Georgia Avenue, NW, Building 54, Washington, DC
Explore the delicate beauty of some of Gregor Mendel's most important experimental subjects through the basics of botanical illustration. Join
Elizabeth Lockett, collections manager of the museum's Human Developmental Anatomy Center and scientific illustrator, who will provide an introduction to the history and techniques involved in botanical illustration. All levels welcome. For ages 13 to adult. Please bring a bag lunch. Supplies are included in the registration fee.
Fee: $25. Preregistration is required.
For more information: call 202.782.2673 or go to: www.nmhm.washingtondc.museum.
Patterns in Nature: Photographs by Amy Lamb
Now through September 9, 10:00am-5:00pm
United States Botanic Garden Conservatory, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, foot of the U.S. Capitol
Local artist Amy Lamb is well-known for her over-sized color close-ups of flowers, leaves, and other plant parts. In this exhibit dramatic images of the elegant and precise patterns found in plants draw in the viewer to reveal universal patterns. Small scientific drawings accompanying Lamb’s large, vivid photographs offer further comparison of patterns. Thus, a calla lily's spiral shape reminds us of twisting DNA strands, and a fern's branching evokes rivers and streams -- or even veins in the human body.
Fee: $65 at the door. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: call 202.226.4082 or www.usbg.gov
MD and PA
Cactus and Succulent Show and Sale
August 4, 9:00am-5:00pm and August 5, 9:00am-4:00pm
Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton MD
This is an opportunity to see more than 150 different species of unusual cacti and succulents on display, and many are for sale. Growing information will be available.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.brooksidegardens.org
Purple Loosestrife Removal Workday
August 7, 8:00am-12:00noon
Near Centennial Park, Howard County, MD
Sue Muller of Howard County Parks and Rec and Kerrie Kyde of Maryland DNR, are organizing a purple loosestrife removal workday in Howard County near Centennial Park (location and directions will go to individual respondents). They will be cutting and bagging the bloom stalks and using spading forks and shovels (and fingers and teeth) to pull rootstocks up around a stormwater management pond on County land. People should bring lunch or snacks, water, gloves, a hat and sunscreen, any digging tools they think might be useful, and be prepared to sing fieldhand work songs in the hot sun.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is required.
Send an email to RSVP and for details to KKyde@dnr.state.md.us or call 410.260.8534.
Master Gardeners' Demonstration Garden at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
August 10, 3:00pm-12:00midnight, August 11-August 18, 9:00am-12:00midnight
Montgomery County Agricultural Center, corner of Poplar and Hickory Avenues, Gaithersburg, MD
Come visit the newly designed Master Gardener's demonstration garden. The purpose of the demonstration garden is to educate and inform visitors about safe, effective, and sustainable horticultural practices that build healthy gardens and landscapes. The garden showcases a variety of native ornamental plants, vegetables, grasses, and small trees that can be grown successfully in Montgomery County while requiring less use of fertilizers and chemicals. This year, the theme for the fair is "Country Fun in the City Sun" and the master gardeners are highlighting its vegetable garden and demonstrating water conservation using rain barrels.
Fee to enter Fairgrounds: Adults $7/person, Children 2-7 $3/person, Under 2 Free. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: www.mcagfair.com or call 301.926.3100.
VA and WV
Art League School Art Exhibit
June 29-September 3
River Farm, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA
oil paintings by Sara Linda Poly, an instructor at the Art League School in Alexandria, and her students will be on display in the main house at River Farm. The exhibit will feature plein air pieces done at River Farm and the surrounding area.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information, call 703.768.5700 or visit www.ahs.org.
Daylily & Wine Festival
July 21, 9:00am-6:00pm and July 22, 12:00noon-5:00pm;
Andre Viette Farm & Nursery, Rt 608, Fishersville, VA
Enjoy all day long, both days, artists and crafters booths, wine tastings, food booths, activities in the Children’s Tent, horticulture and culinary seminars, walk the beautiful flower gardens, then just sit, relax and listen to live music. Come enjoy a fun and relaxing weekend in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Fun and hospitality at its best at the Crossroads of the Shenandoah Valley: Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County, Virginia.
Fee: $17 per adult at the gate. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: www.viette.com or call 540.943.2315.
Using Native Plants in Your Landscape Design
August 3, 1:30-3:00pm
4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA
Enhance your garden and the environment with native plants. Discover the wonderful native trees, shrubs, and perennials that are available today. Brenda Skarphol, staff horticulturalist, introduces species suitable for wet, dry, sunny and shady habitats and entices you with their beauty in the garden. Dress appropriately for a walk through several gardens including the Native Plant Garden.
Fee: $11. Preregistration is required.
For more information: www.greenspring.org or call 703.642.5173.
Special Event: Kenilworth Gardens Annual Waterlily Festival
Kenilworth Gardens Annual Waterlily Festival
July 21, 10:00am-2:00pm
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, corner of Anacostia Avenue and Douglas Street, SE, Washington, DC
Enjoy the gardens and sample Asian arts between garden workshops. View the entries of the garden photo contest.
Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, will have a table in the displays section. There will be ranger-led tours of the gardens and wetlands. The greenhouse will be open and there is a hands-on Lotus Craft Show.
Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: www.nps.gov or call 202.426.6905.
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 August 12 for the August 15 edition of this enewsletter featuring events from July 15-August 15.
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Spotlight Special: Climbing Hydrangea Firefly
Climbing Hydrangea Firefly (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris 'Firefly') is a new introduction discovered by Dan Benarcik in New England. (Dan is a horticulturist at Chanticleer in Wayne, PA, and was formerly Plant Collections Manager at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD.)
Rare variegated foliage on a climbing vine for scaling trees, scrambling along fences, covering the garden floor, or even pruning into shrub form. Use to best advantage in climbing a single tall tree or covering an unsightly fence.
Each bright green leaf is neatly outlined in yellow, as summer progresses the gold margin turns to chartreuse. The fragrant, giant lacecap blooms of creamy-white cover the vine for many weeks. It is deciduous, but in winter the leaf loss reveals peeling cinnamon-brown bark.
Takes a year or two to establish in your garden, then Firefly will grow about two feet a year, creating long-lasting vertical color -- eventually reaching 25' high by 3-4' wide.
Hardy in zones 4-7. It flowers in late spring/early summer and thrives in sun/part shade. No pruning is necessary.
It is available in Park Seed's Fall 2007 catalog and is being produced for the reatil trade by plant wholesaler Spring Meadows.
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Reader Contest
Washington Gardener we are giving out five bottles of concentrated Global Worming Worm Tea. You have 5 chances to win! This locally made brew is not for human consumption! Instead, it is a natural fertilizer for your garden. This “tea” is made from sifting distilled water through highly nutritious worm castings. A great tool for the organic gardener.
To enter our contest, send an email to editor@washingtongardener.com before August 1 with “Worm Tea” in the subject line. Include your full name and address in the email body. We will select the winner at random from among all the entries on August 1.
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July To-Do List
Here is our combined garden task list for July 15-August 15 compiled from the previous July 2005 and July 2006 issues:
- The heat of summer is here, time to start doing chores during early morning or evening. Take a break during the hottest parts of the day.
- Prune Wisteria.
- If your pond water gets low from prolonged drought, top it off with tap water and add a dechlorinator according to package instructions.
- Cut back spent common Daylily stalks.
- Pinch back any annuals that may be growing leggy.
- Divide and cut back bearded iris.
- Check your pond pump for debris and clean it out every few weeks.
- Weed.
- Cut off bottom, yellowed foilage on tomato plants.
- Stake and tie-up any tall-growing perennials such as phlox or delphiniums.
- Wash out birdbaths weekly with diluted bleach solution.
- Water thoroughly especially if you receive no rain for more than 5-7 days.
- Take cuttings from azaleas, boxwoods, and camellias to start new plants to share.
- Check your local garden center for mid-summer bargains.
- Hand pick Japanese Beetles or shake a branch over a bucket of dishwater. Early morning is a good time to catch them while they are still drowsy.
- Repot the houseplants you've moved outdoors for the summer.
- Pick blueberries at a local pick-your-own farm or visit a local farmer's market.
- Pinch back any straying strawberry runners.
- Deadhead perennials for a second flush of blooms later this summer.
- Thin out small trees and cut off any suckering branches growing from the bottom root ball.
- Inspect your garden for powdery mildew. If seen, prune back perennials to create needed circulation.
- Annuals are now hitting their peak. Keep them well-watered and add a little liquid fertilizer every few weeks to keep them going through September.
- Check your plants at night with a flashlight for any night-feeding insects like slugs. If you find slug damage, set out beer traps or Sluggo.
- Pinch back mums so they grow bushier and won't flower until autumn.
- Holding off on planting new trees and shrubs until the summer heat is past.
- Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent insect entry into your home.
- Harvest regularly from your vegetable garden to prevent rot and waste.
- Put up a hammock or a garden bench to enjoy your views.
- Turn compost pile.
- Check out gardening books from your local library to read on vacation.
- Check for mosquito breeding grounds. Dump out any water that sits stagnant for more than three days.
- Add Mosquito Dunks to any standing water in your yard such as birdbath, downspouts, plant saucers, and gutters.
- Gather roses to enjoy indoors and make sure to make the cut just above a five-leaf unit.
Have a wonderful 2007 growing season!
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Magazine Excerpt: Geraniums Galore by Kate Tyndall
My gardening life substantially improved when I discovered hardy geraniums. They are the worker bees of flowering plants and can be used to weave areas of the garden together or step forward to take a starring role.
These are not the flamboyant South Africans with their showy blooms and felted leaves that have traditionally been served up to generations of mothers by their spouses and offspring on Mother’s Day, but a large tribe of flowering perennials. The Mother’s Day geranium is a member of the Pelargonium genus, though both the pelargoniums (annuals) and true geraniums are branches of the same family, Geraniaceae.
As a lover of plants with handsome foliage, the hardy geraniums (commonly known as cranesbills for their beaked seedheads) have delighted me with their cut leaf form and chameleon’s way with color. As the weather turns cooler in the fall, the leaves of many geranium species will flush with tints of red, purple, and orange. These handsome plants flowering is just icing on the cake for me, but if bloom is the raison d’etre for your gardening efforts, perennial geraniums will delight you. Many of them have an extraordinarily long flowering time, and some are repeat bloomers.
Geraniums are not garden prima donnas. They thrive in all but boggy soils...
Read the rest of this article including how to rid your property of this thug in the July/August 2007 issue of Washington Gardener magazine.
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Next Issue
The August 15, 2007 issue of Washington Gardener Enews will look at Crape Myrtles
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Edited by Kathy Jentz
Contact: editor@washingtongardener.com or 301.588.6894.
©Washington Gardener 2007
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