|
Vol. 3, No. 12 — December 15, 2007
In This Issue:
Gardening by the Rules
Magazine Excerpt: Native-Friendly Holiday Decor
December To-Do List
Spotlight Special: Great Garden Plants
Reader Contest: Brent and Becky's Bulb Collection
Local Gardening Events
Welcome to the
Washington Gardener 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 November/December 2007 Washington Gardener magazine is available now. If you subscribe by December 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 "Gardening with Children: Growing Little Gardeners" Also in this issue: crafting with native materials; the American Indian Museum's native landscape; Kid-Friendly Vegetables; Indoor Bulb Forcing Techniques; and, much, much more.
Gardening by the Rules
We are well into the first decade of the 21st Century and many of the old gardening rules we have lived by are being turned on their heads. New gardeners often hear conflicting and misleading advice. Here are five old rules we no longer need obey and five new to add to our collective garden rulebooks.
Old Rules to Break:
1. Turf is King – The green suburban lawn is no longer the ideal or the goal. Turfgrass is one of the most wasteful of our natural resources, not to mention high time-consuming to maintain by the owner. Today’s gardeners are looking at other groundcover choices including expanding shrub borders, installing edible beds, and hardscaping pathways.
2. Spray Away – Chemicals used to be the answer to all your garden’s ill, but along with killing grubs they were also taking a toll on your own health and that of the local environment. The key words today are diagnosis first, then exploration of chemical alternatives second. Living with some imperfection is very 21st Century.
3. Dig and Double-Dig – Just a few years ago, we were all urged to dig in that compost and fertilizer to really work it in. Researchers have shown that we are doing far more damage to the soil’s structure than any benefit. In addition, we are turning up new weed seeds that would otherwise be dormant. Stop digging and start layering on organic materials to decompose and work their own way in.
4. Fertilize Everything – Fertilizer spreaders are joining the VCR and transistor radio in scrap heaps. Most fertilizer applied on and around plants washes away and into our local streams. Today the word is to feed the soil, not the plants. Healthy soil promotes strong growth. Add your own home-made compost and organic mulch to your beds to provide nutrients.
5. Water Copiously – The oscillating sprinkler is another dinosaur headed for the junkyard. Good gardeners know to group their plants by their watering needs and to use drip irrigation not overhead sprinklers or hoses.
New Rules to Make:
1. Use Local Natives – Research plants that are local natives and naturally grow in your home’s ecosystem. If you have a shady, forested yard, choose plants native to that environment. If you have a wet area of your lawn, redesign it as a rain garden with moisture-lovers.
2. Attract Wildlife – Birds, bees, and other creatures can naturally pollinate and spread the fruits of your garden labor. Encourage bugs that prey on other insects and can act as pest managers for you.
3. Plant in Mass – Gardening is one area in your life you can go crazy with mass quantities and the more you use, the better it looks. A bed of 300 daffodils and a grouping of 100 daisies is feast for the eyes. Go ahead and indulge.
4. Beware of Mature-Sizes – Trees and shrubs can quickly eat up your gardening real estate. Think twice before buying those large-growth plants and exactly where you will plant them to avoid having to constantly prune them or worse still, kill them, when they overgrown they space you assign them.
5. Grow What You Love – So what if your neighbors find your plant choices old-fashioned, boring, or garish. Look at your garden through your own eyes and don't worry about what others think. It is yours and you make the rules – and don't ever let anyone ever tell you otherwise.
Happy Growing!
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington Gardener
P.S. Gift subscriptions to Washington Gardener magazine can arrive in time for Christmas delivery if you place your order by December 20. Go to www.washingtongardener.com's Subscribe page and scroll down to Gift Subscriptions for details.
Back To Top
Local Gardening Events
Here is a selection of upcoming events (December 16-January 15) in the greater DC area of interest to gardeners:
DC
A Midnight Clear
Now through January 6, 2008, 10:00am – 5:00pm
United States Botanic Garden Conservatory, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, foot of the U.S. Capitol
The U.S. Botanic Garden's ever-popular holiday exhibit “A Midnight Clear” centers around a winter landscape that begins outdoors on the Conservatory Terrace, where a model train garden, bigger and more dazzling this year, lures you to linger and explore. Next, you'll stroll under a spectacular suspension bridge that carries speeding model trains overhead. Indoors, a nature photography exhibit, 'Glorious Winter,' features the work of Roger Foley and Barbara Southworth. When you venture into the Garden Court, you'll find the National Mall in miniature -- including replicas of the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Castle, the Supreme Court building, and the USBG Conservatory itself -- all completely handcrafted from natural plant materials such as willow, acorns, leaves, and bark. All the train gardens
and structures are once again the work of renowned garden railway designer and landscape architect Paul G. Busse and his firm Applied Imagination of Alexandria, KY.
The Conservatory will have extended evening hours until 8 p.m. on selected Tuesday and Thursday evenings: December 18, 20, and 27. Live musical performances will be featured in the Garden Court on the evenings of December 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, and 27. No reservations are needed for these free performances.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: call 202.225.8333 or www.usbg.gov.
Gingerbread House Workshop
December 19, 4-5:30pm and December 28, 1:30-3:00pm
National Cathedral at the Greenhouse, NW, Washington, DC
Join us for a special hands-on children’s workshop! Children become history detectives, as they tour the historic mansion to explore the architecture of Tudor Place and how the holidays were celebrated in early Washington. After the tour, children will design and build their own gingerbread house to take home. Supplies included in the price. Ages 7+
Fee: $12 Members (per child); $15 Nonmembers (per child); Adult Chaperones are free. Pre-registration is required.
For more information: call 202.537.6263 or go to: www.cathedral.org.
Winter Landscapes
January 5-February 3, 10:00am-3:30pm
National Arboretum, National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, International Pavilion, Special Exhibits Wing, NE, Washington, DC
Viewing stones from the permanent collection will be exhibited with the traditional Friends of Winter – pine, bamboo, and prunus species such as flowering cherry, apricot, and plum.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: call 202.245.2726 or go to: www.usna.usda.gov.
MD and PA
From Garden to Canvas
December 8, 2007 – February 15, 2008
Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton MD
Paintings by Brookside Gardens Volunteers are on display in the Brookside Gardens Visitors Center.
Fee: $0/Free. Pre-registration is not required.
For more information: www.brooksidegardens.org
Washington Gardener Photo Contest 2008
January 1-19
Virtual/Online
This contest offers an opportunity for all photographers to present their best shots of gardens in the greater Washington, DC area. Contest entries will be judged on technical quality, composition, originality, and artistic merit. More than $500 in prizes will be awarded!
Entry Fee: $15 or $10 for Washington Gardener Magazine subscribers. Registration is required.
For more information, go to www.washingtongardener.com or call 301.588.6894.
Houseplants: Back to Basics
January 12, 1:00pm
Behnke Nurseries, 11300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD
There is no such thing as a houseplant, just a foliage plant longing to be outside. With good light and proper watering, you can transform a "green decoration" into a long-term accessory. Sean Henderson, Manager Houseplants, tells you how.
Fee: $0/Free. Pre-registration is required.
For more information: www.behnkes.com or call 301.937.1100.
VA and WV
Conservation Landscaping
January 5, 10:00am-12:00pm
Community Room, Chinn Park Regional Library, 13083 Chinn Park Drive, Prince William, VA
A Fauquier Extension Agent will teach environmentally friendly landscaping techniques that incorporate basic design tips, use of native plants and reducing turf area.
Fee: $0/Free. Pre-registration is required.
For more information, call 703.792.7747 or visit www.pwcgov.org.
Rock Outcrops of Shenandoah National Park: Recent Findings
January 10th, 7:30pm
Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria, VA
Shenandoah National Park is known for its distinctive rocky cliffs and peaks. Recent discoveries by biologists of the Division of Natural Heritage in the VA Dept. of Conservation and Recreation found that these scenic peaks harbor rare natural communities, some with flora and fauna endemic to the park. Featuring a presentation by Gary Fleming, DNH vegetation ecologist, as he shares the results of the biological inventory of rock outcrop sites. The National Park Service is currently writing a Rock Outcrop Management Plan to protect these fragile areas. Attend this talk, enjoy Gary's outstanding photography, and learn why these natural communities are worth protecting. Hosted by the Virginia Native Plant Society.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
Details at 703.534.8179 or www.vnps.org.
A Garden Odyssey - In Search of the World’s Most Creative Gardens
January 13, 1:30-3:30pm
Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria, VA
Imagine traveling, searching the world for the most exquisite gardens. Scott Scarfone, Landscape Designer and author, was given this opportunity. He traveled to England, Italy, Japan, Thailand, and California. Experience his amazing horticultural adventure and get ideas for your next garden vacation! His book, Professional Planting Design – an Architectural and Horticultural Approach for Creating Mixed Bed Plantings, will be available for sale.
Fee: $10. Registration is required.
Call 703.642.5173 to register. More details at www.greenspring.org.
Washington Gardener Special Events
3rd Annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange
January 26, 2008, 12:30-4:00pm
Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton MD
Save the Date! Save Your Seeds! This year, Washington Gardener Magazine partners with Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, to Celebrate National Seed Swap Day! Learn ~ Swap ~ Network.
Fee: $20 or $15 for Washington Gardener Magazine subscribers. Registration is required.
To register, go to: www.washingtongardener.com or call 301.588/6894.
2nd Annual Washington Gardener Philadelphia Flower Show Tour
March 5, Wednesday, 10:00am-10:00pm
Departing from and returning to downtown Silver Spring, MD
The Philadelphia Flower Show is the largest indoor flower show in the world. This year's theme is New Orleans Jazz. Enjoy the award-winning displays, hear a lecture, watch a demonstration, and shop the marketplace. Lunch is provided. Dinner is on your own. Surprises and prizes will be awarded along the journey. Wear comfortable walking shoes.
Fee: 90 ($5 discount for Washington Gardener magazine subscribers). Registration is required by March 1.
For more information: www.chevalsgardentours.com or call 703.395.1501.
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 January 12 for the January 15 edition of this enewsletter featuring events from December 16-January 15.
Back To Top
Spotlight Special: Great Garden Plants
Great Garden Plants, a new online plant source was launched on November 15, 2007. A solutions oriented, photographic-rich, on-line shopping site offering hundreds of great perennials, shrubs, and ground covers and featuring great garden design solutions for the home gardener. Actual photographs of garden designs using Great Garden Plants help both the novice and expert easily visualize the end result.
Great Garden Plants features new and exciting plants from around the world as well showcasing time-tested favorites. With the simple click of the mouse, gardeners will be able to choose a garden design that fits their landscape and the plants will express-ship fresh from the grower.
For a limited time Great Garden Plants is offering Washington Gardener readers a discount of 20% off site-wide. Use discount code GW8600. This offer expires on January 15, 2008.
Back To Top
Reader Contest
For our December 2007 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, we are giving away spring-blooming bulbs from our friends at Brent and Becky's Bulbs. You can still plant them up until the ground is frozen hard and unworkable, though they may be a bit shorter and later than they normally would if planted earlier. Or you can use these great bulbs as an opportunity to try your hand at indoor bulb forcing for wonderful, fragrant blooms to brighten up your late winter days. For complete instructions on indoor bulb forcing, see the “GardenBasics” column in our November/December 2007 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine.
The bulbs in our giveaway are 10 each of the following:
- Hyacinthus China Pink -- a sport of 'Delft Blue' is soft pink with coral stripes on the outside. Many tubular, slightly reflexed florets cover the 8"-10" stems making one large flowerhead; two linear leaves per stem; their rigid, uniform structure lends them for use in geometric designs; plant where the sweet, reminiscent fragrance of spring, can be enjoyed.
- Narcissus La Belle -- a precious little intermediate flower that gives a garden a bright spot and lots of color punch; great in pots; 6"-10"; late-mid spring.
- Tulipa Yellow Baby -- cute as a button; a real half-pint that is about half the size of the popular 'Monte Carlo'; sort compace and fully double; rich buttery yellow; superb in pots and windowboxes; early midseason; 8"-10"; spectacular with Hyacinthus 'Delft Blue'; early-mid spring.
To enter to win the Brent and Becky’s Bulb collection, send an email with "BandB Bulbs" in the subject line to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by December 30. In the body of the email include your full name and address. The bulb collection winner will be announced and notified on January 1.
Back To Top
December To-Do List
Here is our combined garden task list for December 15-January 15 compiled from the previous December 2005 and December 2006 issues of the Washington Gardener Enews:
- Keep watering your poinsettias and give them plenty of light. Ensure they are away from drafts and that the pots drain freely.
- Last chance to plant bulbs or if you have waited until the ground is frozen, pot them up for forcing indoors
- Gather holiday greens. Some, like holly and boxwood, benefit from being pruned by growing bushy.
- Feed birds and provide them with a fresh water source.
- Check houseplants and any plants you brought indoors for the winter, for insects.
- Provide some special protection to tender or early flowering plants such as Camellias.
- Stake newly planted large trees or shrubs to protect them from winter winds.
- Check any bulbs, corms, tubers and bare root plants in storage for rot or desiccation.
- Apply scale and dormant oil treatment to evergreens.
- Spread ashes from wood fires on your vegetable beds.
- Keep succulents and cacti on the dry side.
- Water your cut Christmas tree daily.
- Gently remove layers of snow from evergreens with a broom.
- Start organizing your pile of incoming garden catalogs.
- Keep an eye out for bark damage from rabbits and deer.
- Spray broadleaf evergreens with anti-desiccant to prevent dehydration.
- Use the branches from your Christmas tree as bedding mulch or as a wind-break.
- Keep watering newly planted trees and shrubs as needed.
- Cover strawberry beds with straw or pine needles.
- Prune stone fruit trees like cherries, plums, and peaches.
- Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
- Reduce fertilizing of indoor plants (except Cyclamen).
- Set up a humidifier for indoor plants or at least place them in pebble trays.
- Continue to rotate houseplants to promote even growth.
- Attend a local garden club meeting.
- Start new indoor plants from cuttings -- try an easy one such as violets.
- Check the plants under tall evergreens and under the eaves of the house to see that they have sufficient moisture.
- Weed. Weed. Weed.
- Pick a budding gardener on your gift list to give some inspirational garden books and magazines then watch them blossom.
- Store your fertilizer and seeds in rodent-proof containers.
- Do any filling and grading around your yard. The soil will settle during the winter months.
- Vent cold frames on sunny days.
- Avoid walking in frozen planting beds.
- Remove and destroy gypsy moth egg masses.
- Clean your gutters.
- Prune maples, dogwoods, birch, elm, and walnut -- if needed.
- Bonus Tip: Some alternatives to de-icing salts include sand, light gravel (grit), or non-clumping kitty litter. Using de-icing salts around driveways and sidewalks can harm your garden plants and turf.
Have a wonderful holiday season!
Back To Top
Magazine Excerpt: Native-Friendly Holiday Decor by Sylvan Kaufman
The approach of the holidays often inspires the urge to make wreaths, dried flower arrangements, and other decorations using natural materials. The garden has been laid to rest for the winter and a chill in the air makes indoor projects more appealing.
Some precautions should be taken to make your d?cor environmentally friendly. One popular plant for fall arrangements and wreaths is Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus). This vine from Asia grows over fence posts and up trees and, in fall, is covered in bright orange fruits that have a yellow papery outer shell. Although its fruits look beautiful in fall arrangements, the vine has a dark side to it. It is so aggressive that some people call it “the kudzu of the north.” The weight of the vines can break tree limbs and the vines can strangle young saplings. The vine has also displaced the native American bittersweet, which has larger clusters of fruits at the ends of the branches instead of all along the branches. Beware of catalogs that say they are selling American bittersweet,
because often what you get turns out to be the Asian species.
It is not a problem, though, to use bittersweet fruits in arrangements as long as you dispose of them properly after you are done with them. After all, the more fruits you bring into your house, the fewer will be left outside to spread. When you are done with your arrangement, put the fruits in a trash bag and send them off to the dump where they will never see the light of day. If you just throw them into your compost pile or back into the woods, the plant will spread into new areas.
Another pretty fruit to be cautious of are vines bearing clusters of small white fruits. These are likely to be the fruits of poison ivy vines...
Read the rest of this article and get more tips on using native plants to decorate naturally in the November/December 2007 issue of Washington Gardener magazine.
Back To Top
Next Issue
The January 15, 2008 issue of Washington Gardener Enews will share New Year's Resolutions for Your Garden
Subscribe to our magazine:
Send a check for $20.00 payable to Washington Gardener magazine to:
Washington Gardener, 826 Philadelphia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910
Or select 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
|
