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Vol. 1, No. 12 ??” December 15, 2005
In This Issue:
Growing Orchids
Garden of Lights Contest
December To-Do List
What's Blooming
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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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.
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Remember Washington Gardener magazine makes a great holiday gift for the gardeners in your life! If we receive your gift order by December 21, we can still send it out a card and their first issue in time to arrive for Christmas.
We are busy now working on our January/February 2006 issue. The cover story on garden decor and antiques has some enchanting photos along with great design tips. Also in this issue is an interview with Daylily guru Andre Viette, a trip to the U.S. Botanic Garden, and a primer on Primula (primroses). We can't wait for you to read it!
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Growing Orchids
The easiest orchid variety to begin with are the Phalaenopsis. They can be easily found at your local garden center or at grocery stores and home improvement warehouses. They should be just coming into flower when purchased and will produce long-lasting floral displays.
Choose a north-facing window in your home for these orchids. You want to mimic their native jungle habitat. Phalaenopsis grow in warmth and humidity with roots exposed to collect natural rainwater. Place them in bright light but not direct sunlight to protect the leaves from burning, To create humidity, placing the plants on a saucer filled with water and gravel. Water twice a week by giving them a thorough soaking in your sink to ensure full drainage. Feed your Phalaenopsis at the same time with a fertilizer specific to orchids.
Pick one up to brighten your life this winter. Once you get hooked on orchids, I think you??™ll agree you can??™t stop at just one.
Orchid growing is such a huge subject that we'd be only able to barely scratch the surface of it here. For more information on orchids, we encourage you to visit:
Happy Growing!
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
Washington Gardener
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Local Gardening Events
Here is a selection of upcoming events in the DC area of interest to gardeners:
DC
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Applying Feng Shui to Gardening
January 10, 7:00-9:00pm
St. Monica??™s Episcopal Church 1340 Massachuseetts Ave SE, Washington, DC
The Capitol Hill Garden Club meets regularly on the second Tuesday of each month. This meeting is open to nonmembers.
Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is not required.
For more information: call 202.543.7539.
Bartholdi Park: A Gardener??™s Winter Wonderland
January 13, 12:00-1:00pm
United States Botanic Garden Conservatory, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, foot of the U.S. Capitol
Bartholdi Park is a beautiful example of a four-season garden. Wear a warm jacket, bring a camera and stroll through the garden with the man responsible for
making sure that winter is also a time to highlight the beauty of plants. USBG Gardener Supervisor,
Robert Pritchard will show you examples of plants to put in your home garden to create striking winter
interest.
Fee: $0/Free. Preregistration is required.
For more information: call 202.226.4082 or www.usbg.gov
Washington Gardener magazine's first annual Seed Exchange
January 28, 12:30-4:00pm
US National Arboretum, Admin. Building main auditorium, 3501 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
Washington Gardener magazine is holding its first ever "live" seed exchange in partnership with the U.S. National Arboretum. Expert speakers. Generous goodie bags for all attendees. Fabulous door prizes. Planting and growing tips. Save your seeds and save the date!
Fee: $15* ($12 FONA/WG) in advance; $20* ($16 FONA/WG) at the door. *FONA members and Washington Gardener subscribers receive a 20% discount. Registration is required.
For more information: call 202.245.2726 or www.usna.usda.gov
MD and PA
Carnation Topiary
December 16, 10:00-11:30am and repeated on December 17, 10:00-11:30am
Brookside Gardens, Visitor's Center, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton, MD
Carnations are sweet-scented and long-lasting cut flowers. Putting a new twist on a traditional style, we??™ll create a
simple but elegant topiary using red carnations in a sphere of floral foam. Perched atop vintage glassware, the arrangement will add color and sparkle to your holiday table.
The instructor is Stephanie Oberle of Brookside Gardens staff. All materials included.
Fee: $25. Registration is required.
For more information: 301.962.1400 or www.brooksidegardens.org.
Fresh Greens with a Candle Centerpiece Workshop
December 18, 12:00noon
Homestead Gardens, 743 W. Central Ave., Davidsonville, MD
Participants will be instructed by Kim Wasson, as they create their own fresh greens centerpiece. Fee includes supplies. Participants should wire cutters, scissors, and pruners.
Fee: $60 ($54 Homestead Garden Club members). Registration is required.
For more information: www.homesteadgardens.com or call: 410.798.5000.
Garden Gurus Radio Show
Saturdays, December 17, 24, and 31, 8:00??“9:30am
WMET1160am live broadcast from Behnke Nurseries' Beltsville, MD, and other area locations
The show features Larry Hurley and John Peter Thompson discussing topical gardening subjects, interviewing guests, and helping call-in listeners solve their gardening problems. Often includes listener contests with great prizes.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.behnkes.com or call 301.937.1100.
Potomac Chrysanthemum Society Meeting
January 11, 8:00-9:00pm
Twinbrook Library, Rockville, MD
The society meets on the second Wednesday of the month starting September through May.
Exact dates for 2006 are: 1/11, 2/08, 3/08. 4/12, and 5/10. In June and December they hold social meetings elsewhere. During the summer
months of June, July, and August they host teach-ins at various members' homes.
Fee: $0/Free. Registration is not required.
For more information, write to: cccunnick@hotmail.co.
VA and WV
Beginner Bird Walks
January 7, February 11, and March 11, 8:00-9:00am
Rust Sanctuary, Leesburg, VA
These one-hour Audubon Naturalist Society walks are for birdwatching beginners and are led by an experienced birder. Learn about what to look and listen for and
tips on identification. Bring your binoculars and field guide if you??™ve got them; if not, we??™ve got some to loan.
Fee: $0/free. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.audubonnaturalist.org or call 703.669.0000.
DC Big Flea Market
January 7, 9:00am-6:00pm, and January 8, 11:00am-5:00pm
Dulles Expo Center, Chantilly, VA
The"Antique Marketplace of the East." There is a plethora of garden items in this show including many dealers with architectural antique ironware fencing and gates, antique concrete, decoratives, stained glass, garden benches and furniture, etc.
Fee: $7. Registration is not required.
For more information: www.damorepromotions.com/chantilly_va.htm or call 757.441.5830 ext. 346.
Mid-Atlantic Horticulture Short Course (MAHSC)
January 30 ??“ February 2
Ramada Plaza Resort Oceanfront, 5700 Atlantic Ave., Virginia Beach, VA
The 2006 Mid-Atlantic Horticulture Short Course, presented by The Virginia Horticultural Foundation, is a comprehensive educational program with one, two, three and four-day tracks. Courses are specially designed by national and regional experts in the horticulture industry. Educational credits are given for many of the various horticulture disciplines. Workshops with hands-on training and all day in-depth sessions are available. Some of the sessions are held off site to enhance the learning environment.
Sylvia Hoehns Wright, a freelance communications specialist and Washington Gardener EcoSavvy columnist, is a featured speaker. Her topics include: A Garden Writer on Writing, The ABC's of PR Communications, and A Brand Name, You!
Fees range from $25-$295. Registration is required.
For more information: www.mahsc.org or call 757.523.4734.
To submit an event for this listing, please contact: editor@washingtongardener.com.
Our next deadline is January 12 for the January 15 edition of this enewsletter.
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What's Blooming
The lists keep getting shorter as we enter the dormant season, but still a few bits of color and interest out there. Here is what as in bloom the week of December 6:
Ursula Sukinik of North Bethesda, MD, has: Calicarpa and Ilex berries, grass and perennial seedheads like Echinacea, blackberry lily, sedum, etc.
In your editor's own garden in my Silver Spring/DC/Takoma Park border site we had the following still going strong until the latest snow: Alyssum, Beautyberry, lots of seedheads such as Black-eyed Susan and Echinacea, Lavender, Mums, Pansies, Rhododendron, and Snapdragons.
Sheryl Hovey of Oakton, VA, reports:
Nothing is blooming in my garden, sorry to say. I'd be interested in what others have blooming inside during the winter months.
Pictured here is some seasonal interest from the garden of Ursula's yard -- a Tulip Poplar in snow.
Let us know what is blooming in your garden during the week of January 2. Please include your name, city, state, and plant list. You may also send low-res digital images. Send to editor@washingtongardener.com by January 12 and we??™ll note it in our January 15 issue.
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Washingon Gardener Gear Holiday Special: Get $10 off orders of $50 or more until 12/19!
Use Coupon Code: HOL20 for T-shirts, totes, mugs, calendars, hats, mouse pads, and more!
December To-Do List
With the early winter snow and ice on the ground it is tough to garden outdoors. Here are some suggestions for indoor tasks and others for when the ground periodical
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Keep watering your poinsettias and give them plenty of light. Ensure it is away from drafts and that the pot drains 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 indoor Christmas tree daily.
Gently remove layers of snow from evergreens.
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.
Set up a humidifier for indoor plants or at least place 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.
Make a New Year's resolution about your garden.
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Garden of Lights Contest
We are a sponsor of Brookside Garden's "Garden of Lights" display in Wheaton, MD, and will be there in person on December 17 for a "Meet-and-Greet the Editor" event. Come by and try to stump us with your gardening questions! We'll also be selling current and back issues as well as regular and gift subscriptions so you can stock up for the holiday season.
We have one complimentary pass for a lucky Washington Gardener Enews reader to bring a car or van full of his or her friends and family to this unique area attraction. (No purchase necessary. Prize is a $15 value).
To win the pass, just send an email note by Monday 12/19 saying "Garden of Lights" in the subject line to: editor@washingtongardener.com. We'll pick one winner at random and notify them by email on Tuesday, 12/20.
We were able to preview the show a few weeks ago and can report it is a unique experience that gardeners especially will enjoy. Among the light displays are many kinds of flowers, trees, and shrubs. Garden creatures include those both real and mythical. The portrayal of weather phenomena was especially impressive. To find out more about the show, visit:
www.brooksidegardens.org.
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Next Issue
The January issue of Washington Gardener Enews will cover Volunteering at Historic Gardens.
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Edited by Kathy Jentz
Contact: editor@washingtongardener.com or 301.588.6894.
?©Washington Gardener 2005
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