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EDITOR’S NOTE Details, Details
OUR FAVORITE THINGS Great Gardening Gear
TIME-SAVING TIPS Quick Picks
CONTAINER GARDENING Potted Shrubs
COMMUNITY GARDEN A Wild Community
PLANT PROFILES A Flash in the Dark
SMALL SPACES Up on the Roof
KIDS GARDEN The Magic Touch
KITCHEN GARDENING Raspberries
QUOTE OF THE SEASON Edith Wharton
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EDITORIAL edit@hortmag.com Community Leader Patty Dunning Editor Meghan Shinn CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS Meghan Shinn, Kelsea Daulton DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY Art Director Bethany Rainbolt Designer Claire Holten Managing Photographer Ric Deliantoni Photographer Al Parrish ADVERTISING advertising@hortmag.com VP, Sales Dave Davel Advertising Sales Michelle Kraemer, 888-457-2873 x13245 Advertising Sales Coordinator Connie Kostrzewa F+W MEDIA INC. Chairman & CEO David Nussbaum CFO James Ogle President David Blansfield SVP, Operations Phil Graham Chief Digital Officer, eMedia Chad Phelps Director, IT Jim Kuster Director of Finance Trent Miller Events Director Cory Smith Audience Development Paul Rolnick
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We’ve all heard the saying “the devil is in the details.” Sure, there’s truth to that, but I think you can find heaven in the details, too—especially when it comes to gardening. The little flourishes, the finishing touches, the carefully chosen colors, textures, patterns . . . these are the things that make our gardens personal and complete. This issue of Great Gardens includes lots of ideas for mastering some small details in your garden, that can take its design to another level. You’ll learn how to grow shrubs in containers for a compelling focal point or unique complement, plus you’ll discover some small varieties that will work particularly well. This issue also includes fresh takes on window boxes, plants that add eyecatching movement to your garden, tips on creating a fairy garden with kids, gold plants for shade and much more. Enjoy!
— Meghan Shinn :: E D I T O R
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Smaller Shrubs
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GREAT GARDENS
Try these little varieties in tight spaces, perennial beds and containers
S
by Meghan Shinn
hrubs are indispensable components of any garden, because they offer multi-season visual interest, value to wildlife, tolerance of difficult conditions and general low maintenance (all depending on species, of course). Some shrubs, particularly older varieties or straight species, simply grow too large for the small lots and gardens of today. Happily, breeders have cut many old-fashioned shrubs down to size, providing versatile plants that need no pruning to stay in place.
A pair of Creme Fraiche deutzia.
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GREAT GARDENS
spiraea Spiraea have long been popular, but they tend to grow too large, commanding too much space for the little interest they contribute beyond their early summer flowering. The Double Play series of spiraea, developed by Proven Winners, solves this problem with compact spiraea that lend interest in spring, summer and, in some cases, fall. For example, Double Play Gold bursts forth in spring with vivid chartreuse stems and foliage; these later turn a darker lime. It’s an improvement over other yellow-green selections because it resists scorching in full sun. It grows just 16 to 24 inches tall, making it easy to incorporate among perennials or site as a low, informal hedge along a path or around a bed. Oh, it serves up the pink flowers expected from spiraea, too.
deutzia Slender deutzia (Deutzia gracilis) has always been a stunner, with loose clusters of fragrant white flowers covering its arching stems—for
Photos this spread and previous page ©Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.
Top to bottom: Double Play Gold spiraea; Chardonnay Pearls deutzia.
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GREAT GARDENS
two weeks of the year. Otherwise it’s kind of a green blob, and a big one at that. The cultivar ‘Nikko’, however, changed this when it was introduced by the U.S. National Arboretum in the late 1980s. ‘Nikko’ is a dwarf, growing just two feet tall; it can spread to five feet, making it a nice shrubby groundcover. Its blooms are typical for the species, but its leaves turn a deep burgundy in the fall. Yuki Snowflake, introduced in 2013, is similar in size and leaf, but reportedly blooms more heavily than ‘Nikko’. Meanwhile, Chardonnay Pearls and Creme Fraiche are other new deutzias with summer-long interest owing to their leaves. The three-foot-tall Chardonnay Pearls boasts bright yellow-green foliage all season; Creme Fraiche has medium green leaves edged in white, on a two-foot frame.
weigela There are dozens and dozens of weigela from which to choose, with flowers of white, yellow, pink or red, and some of them—especially recent introductions—offer prolonged interest with their dark or variegated leaves. Wine & Roses weigela has enjoyed great popularity, owing to its dark purple foliage, which contrast beautifully with its pink flowers. Spilled Wine is a
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Above, left to right: Spilled Wine and My Monet weigela.
similar plant, but smaller. At under two feet tall and three feet wide, it’s at most half of the size of a typical weigela, recommending it for the front of the border. My Monet is also a dwarf, but with multicolored leaves of pink, green and white.
GREAT GARDENS
hydrangea There’s not much more impressive than a hydrangea in full bloom, be it a bigleaf (macrophylla) type or a panicle (paniculata) variety. Unfortunately the former tend to get very large, and since they set their flower buds in late summer, we have to leave their bare stems standing all winter, when they look something like a crashed Sputnik. New bigleaf varieties stay small, though, and some bloom on both old and new wood. Try Let’s Dance Rhapsody Blue for big, bright, reliable blossoms on a framework that stays under three feet. Little Quick Fire is a brand-new panicle variety with conical summer flowers from buds formed earlier in the same season. They open white but soon ignite into shades of pink. It can get relatively big—up to five feet—but that’s still small compared to the tree-like dimensions of older panicles. For year-round color in a tight space or container, try a dwarf arborvitae, which offers eye-catching texture, too. We like ‘Filip’s Magic Moment’ for its vividly colored new growth and its narrow shape. It will (slowly) get quite tall, but its slim silhouette makes it perfect for flanking a doorway or marking the corner of a garden. If you need something that stays short and round, try ‘Mr. Bowling Ball’ arborvitae instead. • Clockwise from left: Little Quick Fire hydrangea; Let’s Dance Rhapsody Blue hydrangea; ‘Filip’s Magic Moment’ arborvitae.
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To p a n d l e f t : © P r o v e n W i n n e r s C o l o r Choice Shrubs. Right: ©Meghan Shinn.
arborvitae
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breeze
summer
Add movement to your garden with plants that bend and sway by Meghan Shinn
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GREAT GARDENS
W
ind can be a problem in gardens in that it can dry out the soil, break delicate plants and, if fairly constant, stunt plants’ growth or produce deformed, leaning, lopsided shape. A garden open to frequent breezes presents a unique advantage, however. It’s the chance to add motion to the garden by incorporating flexible plants that can cope with wind in a very graceful way. Movement is an important garden element because it calls attention. The fluttering or swaying of leaves and stems catch the eye and cause one to focus in on that area of the garden. Certain plants add sound as they move, too. Flexible plants provide flexibility in placement. These tall but wispy plants can be placed toward the front of the bed or border without the fear that they’ll block views of smaller plants behind them. In fact, this placement adds mystery to the scene as one catches glimpses of other plants as the foreground plant moves, alternately blocking and revealing the view. Indeed, many plants that add motion to the garden are also lauded as “see-through” plants by garden designers.
choosing and using plants that sway The best choices will be tall, because they can be caught by the wind and they will give the biggest movement. Good options typically have tall, thin, flexible flowering stems extending from a low clump of foliage. This low growth gives the plant a sturdy base not affected by the wind. When adding movement to your garden with plants, use only one or two kinds in an area, especially when placing them in front of shorter plants. Otherwise they may compete for visual attention or make the garden look cluttered and tangled. If possible, leave your swaying plants standing through the fall and winter so they can continue to add interest and motion throughout those seasons. Turn the page for a few favorite plants for breezy spots.
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GREAT GARDENS
New York Ironweed
Beardstongue
Ornamental Grasses
Native to much of eastern North America, this species of ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) can grow up to seven feet tall. In gardens, a size of four to six feet is typical. It grows as a clump of stems lined with long, narrow leaves and topped with clusters of tiny, vivid purple flowers in late summer. Though the stems are thick and sturdy, they’ll sway in the wind. New York ironweed grows in moist thickets, marshes and streambanks in the wild, so allow it plenty of water. Full sun. USDA Zones 5–8.
The genus Penstemon includes dozens of species native to various parts of North America, as well as numerous selections bred for gardens. For the most part they’re drought-tolerant perennials, with many hailing from the western United States. Beardstongues, as they’re also called, form a basal rosette of leaves, from which rise tall, hollow stems bearing tubular flowers. Sizes vary, but tall species include P. palmeri (3 to 6 feet), P. parryi (3 to 4 feet) and P. spectabilis (4 to 5 feet.) Hardiness varies, too, but a penstemon can be found for nearly every zone. Good drainage is a must.
Ornamental grasses make up a huge category of garden plants, with species and cultivars to suit any site. Grasses are often lauded for their ease of care, fine texture, upright or mounded habit, fall color and winter interest. Add graceful motion to that list. Tall varieties are particularly useful in breezy spots where they can bend and rustle. Shown above, ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis ×acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), the 2014 Perennial Plant of the Year, is one option, or try a native like switch grass (Panicum virgatum).
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GREAT GARDENS
Lindheimer’s Beeblossom
Angel’s Fishing Rod
False Indigo
Also called white gaura and butterfly gaura, Gaura lindheimeri is a perennial wildflower native to prairies, pond edges and pinelands of Louisiana and Texas. It forms a basal rosette of foliage from which come tall, thin stems of delicate flowers. There are a number of named cultivars of this graceful perennial, including ‘Whirling Butterflies’, ‘Siskiyou Pink’, ‘The Bride’, ‘Pink Cloud’ and ‘Summer Breeze’, one of the tallest (four feet). Generally they all like lean soil, good drainage and sun and can take winters as cold as Zone 5 or 6.
If ever there was a plant with a perfectly descriptive common name, it’s the genus Dierama, also known as angel’s fishing rod and fairy wand flower. These grassy plants from South Africa bear bell-shaped pink flowers that dangle from stems as tall as four to five feet. Dieramas needs good drainage and full sun. Hardy to Zone 7. In colder areas, you can grow them in pots (they grow from bulb-like structures called corms), let them go dormant in fall and winter them in a cool, dry, indoor space.
Because of its substantial size and shape, false indigo (Baptisia australis) seems more like a shrub than a perennial—at least in summer, since by winter it has mostly died back to the ground. It’s bulky growth habit may make it a surprising choice for a breezy spot, too, but it really will move with the air, and its lovely, clean blue-green leaves will flutter. Its black seed pods make a rattling noise when shook. This eastern-US native takes full sun or part shade and puts up with drought once established. Zones 3–9. •
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GREAT GARDENS
good a
view
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GREAT GARDENS
Making the most of window boxes by Meghan Shinn
A
gardener’s home is not complete without window boxes. They add charm and color to any style of house, and unique plant combinations stress that a gardener lives within. Just a few simple guidelines will help you win at window boxes. First, whether you buy boxes or build your own, make sure they are rot resistant, that they have drainage holes and that they’ll stand up to the combined weight of soil, plants and water (same goes for their brackets). Use brackets slightly longer than the window box to leave some space between the box and the house, so that water won’t get trapped where they meet. Mount the brackets so the top of the box will sit a few inches below the window sill—especially important if your windows open outward. The best wood window boxes are made of treated redwood or cedar. They are sturdy and nice looking, but they can be costly. Fiberglass boxes hold up even better and look gorgeous. Plastic window boxes are the least expensive but can look it, too. Happily, you can always hide them with trailing plants. Containers dry out quickly, so you may need to water your window boxes every day, particularly in hot, dry or windy weather. Keep in mind that eaves and gutters may prevent rainfall from reaching your window boxes.
Peek-a-view. Mounding or trailing plants are popular choices for window boxes, but you can build a more dynamic display by including upright plants, too. Here the tall stems of the poppies add a vertical element to a mix of mounding violas and verbena, without obscuring the view from indoors.
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GREAT GARDENS
Draw the curtain. A climber, like this black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata) can create an outdoor curtain that provides shade to the interior. It’s paired with mounding purple geraniums. Intricate blooms or foliage and flowers that attract pollinators are also great choices for window boxes, which give a closeup view of nature.
See the long view. Window boxes can be changed up seasonally, but you can avoid this by planting a mix of plants that will bloom continually or successively. Here the blue and white lobelias will bloom through most of summer. If very hot weather slows them down, the pink impatiens will take over. In late summer and fall, the central sedum will come into bloom.
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GREAT GARDENS
Think outside the box. A shelf mounted below the window can hold many individual pots. Here the pots all contain geraniums for a uniform, simple look, but you could mix up the contents. This would allow you to grow plants that need different soil, fertilizer and moisture levels at the same window.
Take a cue. Take advantage of architectural details to show off your window boxes. It could be a deep sill that begs for a simple planter, such as this one of pink and orange monkey flower (Mimulus cvs.). Or your house may have decorative trim or colorful shutters that you could tie into your window boxes.
Window dressing. Whether the window is your only outdoor gardening space or you just want to maximize its use, you can use additional boxes plus hanging baskets supported by brackets or even shutters. Just be sure you can access the plants for maintenance from within the house or below the window. •
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GREAT GARDENS
TIME-SAVING TIPS •
Quick Picks Contain Your How to get the most out of Enthusiasm your fresh-cut flowers 5 low-effort ways to keep by Meghan Shinn potted plants happy all summer IF YOU HAVE AN ORNAMENTAL GARDEN, you most likely have
by Meghan a ready supply of materials for fresh Shinn arrangements to place in your own home or share with friends. (Add a cutting garden and vegetable plot to your and the options skyrocket, but most “typiCONTAINERS OF yard, PLANTS MAKE FABULOUS ADDITIONS TO cal” beds or borders will ,provide justaccents fine.) Homegrown, homemade IN-GROUND GARDENS providing and focal points. They bouquets are special because reflect the localbalconies, season andpatios they can also make a garden in andthey of themselves—on canother contain elements commonly seenbeinathe florist’s or landless space.not Plants in pots can lot of work, window. but they Follow these for easy, quick gathering don’t have to tips be. Just follow these easy tips.of bouquets that will last.
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GREAT GARDENS GARDENERS ON THE GO!
Carry several pails for different elements or keep each type bundled separately in one large pail. With the ingredients segregated, building your bouquet will be easier.
Cut flowers in the coolest times of the day— morning or evening. Cut the stems longer than you’ll need and place them immediately in a water pail. Just a few inches of water is fine; any deeper only adds weight.
Short on flowers, or hesitant to remove a lot from your garden scene? Pick just a few choice blossoms and frame them with large, interesting leaves. Think hostas, heucheras, ferns, elephant ears and the like.
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GREAT GARDENS
For long-lasting bouquets, trim the stems and remove any foliage that would be under water in the vase. Add floral preservative and change the water at least every other day. Make your own preservative: 2 Tbsp lemon juice + 1 Tbsp sugar + 1/4 tsp bleach + 1 qt water.
CONTAINER GARDENING
Potted Shrubs Shrubs and containers each offer delightful advantages. Why not bring them together? by Meghan Shinn GARDENERS HAVE taken heed to the many ben-
efits of various shrubs—their few maintenance needs, their multiple seasons of interest, the habitat and food they provide for birds, the food they provide for humans, their versatility in garden design. Breeders have developed smaller varieties of classic shrubs that fit into smaller spaces and need no pruning. These small varieties are also a natural fit for container gardening. Paired with the right shrub, a pot can create a long-lasting, even year-round focal point. It can make a simple but strong statement within a garden or mark transition points. If it’s not huge, it
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can be a movable detail. In a small garden, potted shrubs can act as dividers and privacy screens. In patios, courtyards or balconies, where all the plants are in pots, shrubs introduce diversity and scale and provide a natural backdrop for perennials and annuals. Pots expand the planting possibilities regardless of some local conditions, too. Want to try a shrub not hardy in your zone? Plant it in a pot that you can move under cover in winter. Itching to grow blueberries, camellias or other acid lovers, but you’re on alkaline soil? Try them in a pot of tailormade growing mix.
GREAT GARDENS
Considerations: plants and pots
When choosing a shrub to grow in a container, go for a species that’s naturally small or a variety that’s been selected for its compact habit. Alternatively, you could choose a shrub that will ultimately grow quite large if you plan to later transplant it to a permanent in-ground location. The container you choose should be two to three times the size of the pot in which you purchase the shrub. As for growing requirements, there are two key factors at which to look. The first is its winter hardiness. Choose something rated to two USDA zones colder than your own climate. If you’re in Zone 6, the shrub should be able to withstand winters in Zone 4. (Of course, you can always move more tender shrubs into a shed, garage or other cold but sheltered space for the winter.) The container should be frost-proof, so that it won’t crack or break as temperatures fluctuate. Unglazed terra-cotta typically breaks, but most other materials hold up. The second key consideration is the shrub’s moisture needs. Soil in containers dries out much more quickly than ground soil. You can choose a shrub that loves damp earth, but be prepared to water it perhaps twice a day. Even drought-tolerant potted shrubs will likely need to be watered two or
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GREAT GARDENS
three times a week in hot weather. (Always remember that “drought tolerant” is usually qualified by “once established.” Any new planting will require watching and watering in dry spells.) Make sure the container has several drainage holes.
Planting and care
If you’ve chosen a large container and shrub, their combined weight could be significant. Put the container in its final position before you add the soil and shrub. Use a well-draining soil that addresses any special requirements (like an acidic mix for rhodies and such). Set the shrub so that it sits at the same level as it did in its previous container. Water it in well, and top off the soil with mulch to conserve moisture. The soil will eventually become exhausted from the shrub drawing on it and from water washing through it. Rather than repot the shrub every year, you can top dress it—gently remove the top few inches of soil and replace it with fresh soil or compost. Repot the plant entirely every three years or so, at which point you may want to move it into a larger container, prune away some of the roots or shift it into the ground and start fresh with a different choice. •
COMMUNITY GARDEN SPOTLIGHT •
STRATHAM,
New Hampshire
A Wild Community Planting for animals and people by Kelsea Daulton A GARDEN SANCTUARY FOR WILDLIFE and
its admirers is in the works on the lands near the Great Bay of New Hampshire. A Community Wildlife Garden is being developed in Stratham along the Squamscott River, and it is due to officially launch on Earth Day 2015. The Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) is creating this as a place for all members of the community to enjoy. A wildlife garden is specifically designed to attract and protect several species of wildlife. In order for a garden to be considered wildlife friendly, it must be a habitat that provides four essentials: food, water, cover and a place to raise young. Rachel Stevens is the stewardship coordinator
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at the Great Bay NERR. The garden will be “aesthetically pleasing from a gardening perspective, but also provide food, cover and nesting opportunities for wildlife,” she says. The 1.6-acre garden is part of a 12-acre plot already being used as a wildlife-viewing platform overlooking a salt marsh and an osprey nest that was established in the early ’90s. The wildlife garden project focuses on community outreach because over 80 percent of land acres in New Hampshire is privately owned. “If we don’t let people know that [what they] do affects wildlife, we won’t do our job thoroughly,” Stevens explains. “It’s an opportunity to show how to create a wildlife-friendly, fun and beautiful backyard.” The educational elements of the garden will
GREAT GARDENS
The plan for the Community Wildlife Garden’s rain garden was finalized using ideas from landscape-design students at the University of New Hampshire.
accommodate people according to their interests. There will be group tours covering a variety of topics. There will undoubtedly be garden tours focusing on plants and school groups focusing on wildlife and phenology (the study of the life cycle of plants and animals and their relationship to changing seasons and climate). Stevens says the approach to education is casual and will include themed programs. The garden has been in the works since 2011. University of New Hampshire Professor John Hart’s landscape design students drew up individual plans for the site in 2012. The best ideas were selected to be used by a landscape architect. The design is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible, and it features trails, a rain garden, an arbor replicating Thoreau’s cabin and a pond and waterfall powered by the sun. The cabin, the exact dimensions of Thoreau’s, will be constructed of timber reclaimed from 18th-century houses.
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The inspiration for Thoreau’s cabin replica came from the legacy he left behind. “Thoreau was a real originator of the natural conservation movement in America,” says Stevens. Another defining feature of the garden is its “no-mow” lawn. Creeping thyme and other lowgrowing greens will be planted instead of traditional grass so the lawn won’t have to be continuously mowed. Grape vines will grow up the cabin to provide food for wildlife. Buttonbush and beach plums will provide nesting sites for birds, different species of milkweed will assist all stages of the Monarch butterfly’s life and strawberries and sunflowers will also be planted. The rain garden will feature cardinal flower, butterfly weed, inkberry, sweet pepperbush, American cranberry, red osier dogwoods, high- and low-bush blueberries, joe-pye weed and spicebush. To track the progress of the Community Wildlife Garden, follow their page on Facebook. •
GREAT GARDENS
PLANT PROFILES •
A Flash in the Dark Bright foliage for shaded spaces CITRONELLE CORAL BELLS (Heuchera ‘Citronelle’) offers bright yellow leaves that stand up to heat and humidity because it’s a hybrid of H. villosa, a Southeastern native. This variety grows just 12 inches tall and wide. Zones 4–9.
PerennialResource.com PerennialResource.com
Ball Horticultural PerennialResource.com
GOLDEN GLOW BUGLEWEED (Ajuga reptans ‘Golden Glow’), a new selection, has ground-covering leaves of pale green and yellow. Blue spring flowers are just a bonus. USDA Zones 3–9.
‘AUGUST MOON’ HOSTA can spread to nearly four feet wide, with thick leaves that hold their color all summer. With more sun, they’ll be bright gold; in deeper shade, they’ll verge on lime. Zones 3–9.
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BOWLES GOLDEN SEDGE (Carex elata ‘Bowles Golden’) is a small, upright ornamental grass for damp, shady spots. It will grow in shallow water or constantly wet soil. Zones 5–8.
GREAT GARDENS
SMALL SPACES
Up on the Roof A garden designer packs edibles and ornamentals into a poolside roof garden by Tracey Williams Waterfront Park Place is an 18-floor condominium building
in Louisville, Ky., overlooking the Ohio River. Several years ago I was challenged to create a garden for its sixth-floor outdoor pool deck. All residents would share the garden, which needed dining nooks and lounging areas, and it would be highly visible from the 12 floors above. The predominantly southwestern exposure offered gorgeous views but also fierce and unrelenting sunlight. Two small utility buildings created some
difficult angles and cried out for a vegetative covering to soften their stark concrete-block walls. The first thing a visitor sees is the wall of one of these utility buildings. I used four rows of wall-mounted planters to offer a greeting from a wide array of edibles and ornamentals. These narrow planters, filled with a green-roof growing medium and outfitted with drip irrigation lines, provide sharp drainage. The building’s residents are welcome to snip and enjoy the shallow-rooted fruits, herbs and
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vegetables that are also mixed into the wall planters each year. A narrow walkway leads past the shed to the lounging and dining area; this I edged with a switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ‘Heavy Metal’). In the space’s dining area, native and welladapted plants explode from massive interlocking planters that separate this deck from an adjoining private condominium and balcony. Yew (Taxus hicksii) forms a tall evergreen backdrop for the mix of perennials, herbs, vegetables and flowers.
Far left: Native shrubs fill movable planters by the pool. Left: Hicks’s yew backs a mix of tender and hardy perennials in one sitting area. Below: The walls of a utility shed serve as growing space for edible and ornamental plants.
Planters around the pool frame views of the city and river. Large square pots house native serviceberry shrubs (Amelanchier arborea), which offer early spring blooms and autumn fruit and colored foliage. Six large rectangular planters sit on wheels, making it easy to arrange and rearrange areas for the residents to sit and sun. Large, low-maintenance, colorful Itea ‘Henry’s Garnet’ and feather reed grass (Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’) fill these planters, with space leftover for annuals. In this urban, exposed environment, one can’t help but marvel at the resiliency of plants to survive. But one notices most of all the ability of a spot of green to attract visitors, human and otherwise. Mockingbirds venture above the six stories to steal a berry. The drip irrigation draws thirsty birds while delivering the moisture the plants need to bear the heat— just enough, no more. The scent of recently harvested herbs permeates the air; the grass plumes gracefully obscure the parking lot nearby. One can easily forget this is a garden up high. •
The Edible Roof
The rooftop containers at Waterfront Park Place aren’t merely ornamental—they also offer fresh eating to building residents, plus birds and beneficial insects. Shallow, narrow wall planters include strawberries, culinary sage, rosemary, salad burnet, thyme, parsley and many other herbs, plus a wide variety of lettuces and other seasonal greens. These plants’ shallow roots and appreciation for sharp drainage make them good candidates for green-wall systems. In larger containers, catmints, coneflowers and salvias serve up a feast to pollinating insects. Edibles cleverly disguise themselves as ornamentals in these mixed plantings. Broccoli, swiss chard, lacinato kale, cilantro, parsley and Asian greens make seasonal appearances, to the delight of the condo dwellers. —TW
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GREAT GARDENS
KIDS GARDENING
The Magic Touch A fairy garden is a great place for young gardeners to start by Meghan Shinn
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GREAT GARDENS
IN MY EXPERIENCE as a mother of two children,
now ages four and nearly two, I’ve found the best way to get them interested in anything is to play to their imaginations. Whether I’m herding them into shoes and coats, putting a new food on their plates, refereeing a “That’s mine!” moment or announcing that it’s clean-up time, a little “Hey, let’s pretend that...” really ups their focus and cooperation. I’ve found that it helps in the garden, too. Don’t get me wrong: my kids are excited about gardening without my encouragement. The magic of seeds, the beauty of flowers, the bumblebees and butterflies and inchworms—not to mention that certain allure of watering cans and hose nozzles— all of it appeals to young minds. The challenge in gardening with children isn’t getting them excited, but finding ways to harness that excitement and set them up for success so that their enthusiasm will remain. My approach: start small and use their imaginations. Fairy gardening perfectly fits the bill. A fairy garden is simply a garden in miniature. You can create one in the ground, but doing it in a container works especially well for kids. The container clearly defines the space as theirs, and it confines the project to a very manageable amount of space. You can also easily elevate the container by placing it on an outdoor table, plant stand, bench or wall—thereby bringing it closer to eyelevel for your little gardener. Finally, by working in a container you can provide the plants with good quality, well-draining potting mix and easily create new scenes by switching out plants seasonally or annually or even moving the container to sun or shade to suit different new plants. Look for a container that’s wide, because it will accommodate plants plus furniture and other accessories. It can be shallow, particularly if you’ll be growing annuals, which usually need only a six-inch depth. Make sure it has drainage holes. Small plants with small leaves and flowers work best for a fairy garden because they fit the scale. Pair them with tiny accessories and they take on the look of right-sized shrubs. Fairy, or miniature, gardening has become a true genre in recent years, with many garden centers devoting space to plants and fairy accoutrements. If your favorite nursery doesn’t stock mini plants, try using pieces of smallleaved groundcovers, annuals that you can shear back if needed and slow-growing alpine perennials.
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The container itself may limit the growth of the plants anyway. Cacti and other succulents grow very slowly and offer many shapes, colors and forms for great interest. You can buy fairy garden or dollhouse furniture, but you can also create your own from natural materials or repurpose items from the house. My four-year-old proudly came up with the idea to use a plastic bottle cap as a fairy kiddie pool. We made
a hut out of sticks and scraps of an old coir pot liner (opposite page). We’ve made another garden (above) using a kit by Fairy Gardening, Inc. that comes with container, drainage tray, soil mix and furniture. My kids love both the homemade stuff and the store-bought version. I’m told the fairies do, too. •
GREAT GARDENS
KITCHEN GARDENING •
Raspberries A juicy bite of summer by Kelsea Daulton NOTHING SAYS SUMMER like
a colorful bounty of berries. Raspberries can also be enjoyed throughout fall, depending on the plant variety. All verieties are self-fruiting perennials, though their individual canes are biennial. Raspberries are overwhelmingly associated with the color red, though they also occur in yellow, red, purple and black (also called blackcaps). Red and yellow berries are known to be the hardiest and sweetest, while blackcaps are the least resilient to disease. Purple raspberries, a hybrid of
black and red, fall in the middle of this scale. While there are several varieties, there are two main types with different fruitbearing habits and growing requirements. Summer-bearers yield one crop per year in the summertime; ever-bearers yield two crops per year, one in summer and one in fall. Most canes won’t bear fruit their first year, when they’re called primocanes. When they pro-
duce fruit the following year, they are known as floricanes. Each year new canes are produced from the crown and the bases of old canes. Red raspberries are able to grow new canes from the roots. The most well-known raspberries are red summer-bearing cultivars. The plants fruit around mid-June to mid-July. Ever-bearing varieties fruit in June or July on the lower flo-
Raspberry Sauce INGREDIENTS
1 pint raspberries 1 cup cold water ¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice 2 tablespoons cornstarch
DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk the cornstarch into the water until it is smooth. Add this to a saucepan along with the raspberries, orange juice and sugar. Bring to a boil. 2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the desired thickness is reached. 3. Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree it until smooth, then strain it through a fine sieve. Serve warm or cold on ice cream, shortcake or the dish of your choosing.
Raspberries provide vitamins A and C, minerals and ellagic acid, which has shown evidence of being a cancer-preventing compound.
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ricanes and from August to the first frost on the top of the primocanes. For ever-bearers, their first crop usually proves lower in both quality and quantity. They yield the best harvest when only allowed to bear fruit in the fall. Raspberries need one inch of water per week and should be planted in fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5 to thrive. Raspberries shouldn’t be planted in soil where bramble berries, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants or roses once grew because these plants can infect the soil with diseases that will attack raspberries. Remove all weeds the year before plant-
ing to get a jump on weed control. Mulches of straw, sawdust or like materials are useful in controlling weeds. Raspberry plants need six to eight hours of full sun and normally grow in USDA Zones 2 through 7. Plant early in the spring in hedgerows or use the hill system. The method of planting should depend on the plant variety. Prune summer-bearing red raspberries in the spring and right after harvest. During the spring pruning, remove any weak or diseased canes, plus any that produced fruit the previous year. Prune ever-bearing red raspberries once or twice a year,
following the same guidelines. Alternatively, cut all the canes of the ever-bearing types to the ground in early spring to make the plants fruit only in the fall. Prune black and purple raspberries three times a year: spring, summer and after harvest. Many different varieties are available. The recently introduced ‘Raspberry Shortcake’ is notable because it’s a thornless dwarf that can thrive in a large pot, making homegrown raspberries a possibility for those with limited gardening space. Learn more about planting and pruning raspberries in this instructional video. •
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GREAT GARDENS
The visible world is a
daily miracle, for those who
have eyes and ears. —EDITH WHARTON, AMERICAN WRITER (1862–1937)
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