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Vol. 1, No. 1 ??” January 15, 2005
In This Issue:
Christmas Tree Recycling
Garden Catalog Shopping Tips
January To-Do List
Local Gardening Events
Welcome to the premiere issue of
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.
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.
Magazine subscription information is at the bottom of this enewsletter.
If you know of any other Washington DC area gardener, 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.
Garden Catalog Shopping
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When Winter??™s bleached sky and faded colors give you the ???blahs,??? open up a garden catalog to remind you of life in full bloom.
January is National Mailorder Gardening Month. ???No kidding!??? You??™re probably thinking ??“ ???have you seen my over-flowing mail box!?!??? Well, no. I haven??™t seen yours. But I have kept track of mine and counted 17 catalogs that arrived since January 1. I don??™t consider myself a huge mailorder shopper ??“ though I do my fair share!
If you didn??™t get a wide selection of gardening catalogs this year, you can go online to request some be sent to you. A good jumping off point is MailorderGardening.com.
What are the advantages of mailorder? According to the Mailorder Gardening Association, they are:
- Greater selection of products
- The convenience of armchair shopping
- Best guarantees in the business
- Plants and products directly to your door
I especially like that last bullet point. Getting that box of new plants or seeds delivered to your door is like opening a gift to me. What a great present to come home to after a long day at the office!
This year I??™m making two gardening resolutions that many of you may want to share:
1. Plan, plan, plan, and then plant.
2. Try something new every few weeks ??” a new cultivar, a new plant nursery, or new public garden to visit.
Mailorder garden catalogs can help with both resolutions. With a stack of catalogs, a warm lap blanket, and a hot beverage of your choice, you can spend some time dreaming about planting your 2005 garden. Winter is a great time to ???take stock" and think about what you??™d like to re-vamp or change.
"Garden catalogs show you new possibilities for your garden and also serve as helpful planning tools,??? says Camille Cimino, executive director of the Mailorder Gardening Association (MGA), which sponsors National Mailorder Gardening Month. ???Garden catalogs offer the widest possible variety of plants, seeds, bulbs, and gardening supplies ??” including the newest products not yet available in retail stores. Plus, mailorder catalogs and online websites offer useful tips and information to help you create a more beautiful garden."
Just how popular are mailorder garden products? The MGA estimates that in 2005, Americans will spend $3.07 billion on mailorder plants, bulbs, seeds, garden tools and garden supplies. If you're planning to order from a mailorder gardening catalog or gardening website, you're in good company. More than 24.0 million American households are expected to place orders with mailorder garden catalogs and websites this year, spending an average of $128 per household.
When I settle in to peruse this year??™s catalog offerings, I like to have a large scratchpad, Post-its, and pens nearby to sketch out garden bed ideas and keep track of what I want from each catalog. Here are some additional mailorder gardening suggestions:
- Choose plants appropriate to the DC area. That means Zones 6-7. Luckily for us, that is still a very broad range of plants. Most of what we cannot have in this area or tropicals ??” which if you must have a specimen you can attempt as a summer annual or try to keep in a heated greenhouse.
- Check out the helpful glossary of terms often included and read the descriptions carefully. If you don??™t know what an ???indeterminate??? tomato vine is, pick up the phone or go online and ask. Most garden catalogs have a very helpful, knowledgeable staff in their customer service departments.
- Order early to avoid "sold out" notices. I??™m still depressed over that corkscrew vine I wanted so badly last year. This time, I??™ve learned my lesson! Although procrastination does have a few benefits. If you buy online and sign-up for a company??™s mail list, in late Spring you??™ll often be sent sale and clearance price offers on overstocked items. These are great for filling in where a perennial has not come back or a new plant has just not flourished as you??™d hoped.
- Keep careful records of what you??™ve ordered and where you intend to place them in your garden. This will help you immensely in unpacking your plants several months from now. This also avoids the ???now where do I put this???? syndrome, as you stand mid-garden with new plant in hand.
When I do my actual ordering, it is online. That way I get a receipt in my email box, print it out, and can make notes on that as well.
Two extremely helpful online sites to visit before you place your orders are:
- Dave??™s Garden: The Garden Watchdog
This site has contact information for hundreds of mailorder gardening companies and reviews from fellow gardeners who have used these companies.
- Garden Web: Sources Forum
This site allows you to search on posts from other gardeners or to post your own query. Many use it to look for a specific plant source or to ask about a catalog they??™ve never ordered from before for other??™s opinions and experiences.
One last tip:
Many mailorder catalogs now offer ready-made planned garden beds. They??™ve done all the selecting for you and provide a handy plant placement map when you get your order. These are great not just for the beginning garden, but also for the seasoned one to use as a starting point for your own bedding plans. I highly recommend the planned gardens I??™ve personally tried from Jackson & Perkins ??” but there are many more out there to purchase and read about. Use them ready-made or as inspirations for your dream garden.
Happy Garden Shopping!
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington Gardener
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Local Gardening Events
Here is a selection of January events in the DC area of interest to
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DC
Orchids for the Novice
January 22, 12:30-4pm
Administration Building Auditorium, United States National Arboretum, 3501 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
Do you love orchids but are afraid to try growing them? Carol Allen of the National Capital Orchid Society will dispel your fears and explain how easy they really are during a one-hour, interactive lecture focused on the care and culture of these beautiful, exotic plants. A hands-on workshop follows as Carol demonstrates how to repot a variety of orchids and then guides you through the steps as you repot your own. Please identify the type of orchid you are bringing so that the necessary supplies are on hand. Fee: $25 (FONA $20); a minimum $5 material fee will be collected a
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orchid.
Registration required: www.usna.usda.gov
MD
Making a Garden
January 19, 7:30-9:00pm
Long Branch Library, 2nd Floor Meeting Room, 8800 Garland Avenue, Silver Spring, MD
Melissa Dankin of Green Springs in Virginia will be presenting a show-and-tell on "Making a Garden" to the Takoma Horticultural Club. Her talk will include such topics as creating beds, planting, composting, winter chores, and many others, including time for questions.
Free. Registration not required. Please bring refreshments to share.
For more information: contact Susan Harris at 301.270.5481 or harristakoma@erols.com. See also www.takomahort.org.
VA
Landscaping with Shade Plants
Sunday, January 30, 1:30-3pm
Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, VA
Donald Hyatt has tended a spectacular 50-year-old private garden at his family home near Washington D.C., where he has developed a beautiful landscape of rare rhododendrons, azaleas, and companion plants. Hyatt will share some thoughts on landscape design for the shade garden and recommend plants that have performed wonderfully in his garden.
Each year the Friends of Green Spring host the Winter Lecture Series. This well-subscribed series features slide talks by plant explorers, authors, garden designers, and others on the cutting edge of horticulture. After the lecture meet the speakers and enjoy refreshments in Green Spring's atrium.
Registration and a non-refundable payment of $9 per lecture payable to FROGS (Friends of Green Spring) required. Space is limited. Call 703.642.5173 to register.
For more information: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks
To submit an event for this listing, please contact: editor@washingtongardener.com.
Our next deadline is February 12 for the February 15 edition of this enewsetter.
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January To-Do List
It is the dead of winter and most gardeners tend to hibernate, but there are still many things that we can do this month to give our gardens a great start for 2005. Pick and choose from the fol
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nd do them as time, weather, and inclination allows.
- Prune any dead or diseased wood.
- Plant frost-tolerant trees.
- Cut off the flower stalk on your amaryllis once the flowers fade.
- Keep poinsettias in a well-lit area - out of direct sun - away from drafts.
- Buy a few new house plants.
- Fertilize your winter-blooming house plants ??“ such as Violets ??“ cut back on fertilizing all others.
- Give your house plants a quarter turn every few weeks.
- Build a compost bin.
- Repair your shed.
- Repair and paint your fences.
- Clean out your cold frame.
- Collect large plastic soda bottles to use as cloches.
- Clean and refill bird feeders.
- Wash and refill the birdbath or set out a shallow bowl of water in icy weather.
- Check on stored bulbs and seeds.
- Buy seeds and order plants (see Garden Catalog Shopping Tips story above).
- Prune summer bloomers such as hydrangeas, rose-of-sharon, crepe myrtles, and butterfly bushes.
- Till and add organic matter to annual/vegetable beds.
- Weed ??“ especially look for fast-growing vines such as honeysuckle, autumn clematis, bittersweet, wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy.
- Place a floating ball or a small plastic soda bottle filled two-thirds full with water and a tablespoon of salt in your pond to stop icing over especially if you have fish. When ice has formed, remove the ball or bottle by pouring hot water over the surface.
- Insulate outdoor container by wrapping round with bubble wrap or landscape fabric.
- Take a walk and look for deciduous woody ornamentals that create striking silhouettes during the shortest days of the year. Look for Harry Lauder??™s walking stick, corkscrew willow, and weeping cherry. They could be great additions for your own garden as well.
- Check that newly planted trees, shrubs, and perennials have not been heaved out of the ground due to freezing and thawing cycles.
- Take hardwood cuttings from willow and dogwood.
- Look for evidence of pest or fungal damage.
- Clean out your greenhouse and wash those windows.
- Set out your live potted evergreens from holiday decorating in a protected outdoor space.
- If we do get snow in the DC area, gently dislodge snow from trees and shrubs with a broom to prevent damage to branches.
- Start hardy herbs, onions, cabbage, pansies, and perennials.*
- Clean and tidy up pots and seed trays to a get good start in February.*
*More on starting plants from seed in our next issue.
Whether you use this as your own personal garden task list or just read it and snuggle in deeper into your most comfortable armchair, we??™re here just as a guide and not as another task master in your busy daily lives. Do as much as you like. Above all else: Enjoy your garden!
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Christmas Tree Recycling
You may have already disposed of your Christmas tree, evergreen swags, and wreaths, but if you haven't alread
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of the following methods for truly recycling your once living tree:
- Bird Feeder and Habitat: Prop your tree up along a fence to make a bird feeder and add color and excitement to the winter garden. Utilize orange slices, suet, seed, or peanut butter smeared on a pine cone. You can also string unsalted popcorn to attract the birds. This is especially lovely after a light frost or snow.
Birds come for the food and stay for the shelter in the trees branches.
- Mulch: Even if you don??™t have your own chipper, you can still skip the local yard waste center and make your own evergreen mulch. Use a good pair of pruners to cut the branches off and spread them on the ground as a "blanket" around your roses and tender perennials.
- Firewood: Use the trunk and thicker branches for kindling/firewood in your fireplace or patio Chimenea.
Pick one of these ideas or all three and remember to: reduce, reuse, recycle.
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Next Issue
The February issue of Washington Gardener Enews will cover Starting Seeds Indoors.
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