Washington Gardener Magazine April 2021 by Kathy J

APRIL 2021 VOL. 16 NO. 2

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the magazine for gardening enthusiasts in the Mid-Atlantic region

What Happens to All Those Plastic Plant Pots? Petal Porches on Parade Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast

Why Do Soil Tests Not Include Nitrogen Levels? Meet the Chief Veggie Officer of Little Wild Things City Farm

Seed Swapping Carries On How to Grow Heirloom Corn Salad (Mache) Crystal Installation Shines Amidst Dark Year

Flowering Quince

Summer Creek Horticultural Soil Mixes HiDra2-Seed Starter MultiMix2–Raised Bed Mix Organic - Local – Sustainable – Pro Grade Most sustainable horticultural mixes available. Available at Mom’s, Direct & select ACE Hardware www.summercreekfarm.com - Thurmont, Maryland

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Need a Garden Club Speaker?

Washington Gardener Magazine’s staff and writers are available to speak to groups and garden clubs in the DC region and ONLINE! Call 240.603.1461 or email KathyJentz@gmail.com for available dates, rates, and topics.

Green Spring Gardens

www.greenspring.org

A “must visit” for everyone in the metropolitan Washington, DC, area. It’s a year-round goldmine of information and inspiration for the home gardener. It’s an outdoor classroom for children and their families to learn about plants and wildlife. It’s also a museum, a national historic site that offers glimpses into a long, rich history with colonial origins. Located at 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria, VA. Information: 703-642-5173.

RARE AND EXCEPTIONAL PLANTS FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GARDENER AND COLLECTOR Barry Glick Sunshine Farm and Gardens 696 Glicks Road Renick, WV 24966, USA Email: barry@sunfarm.com

www.sunfarm.com

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Izel Plants

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INSIDEcontents

FEATURES and COLUMNS

The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) sponsored an in-depth study of the production, use, disposal, and environmental impact of horticultural plastic containers. The research revealed that plastic pots significantly contribute to the proliferation of plastic pollution, with numerous adverse environmental effects. A more-sustainable product for growing, shipping, and selling plant material must be found.

Got a Garden Question?

Got a gardening question you need answered? Send your questions to KathyJentz@gmail.com and use the subject line “Q&A.” Then look for your answered questions in upcoming issues.

The healing powers of gardens and art converge in the display of hanging crystals at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. The “Facets of Hope” memorial commemorates those Montgomery County, MD, residents who have passed away from COVID-19 in the past year.

Little Wild Things Farm is the dream of founder Mary Ackley. Little Wild Things City Farm produces soil-grown microgreens, shoots, and edible flowers on less than a quarter acre in the heart of Washington, DC.

ASKtheexpert 21 Hollies with Yellow Berries, Soil Testing for Nitrogen, Starting Milkweeds from Seed, Filling Large Containers Without Waste BOOKreviews 18-19 Comic Book Guide to Growing Food, Mini Fruit Garden, Bee a Good Human, Naturalist’s Guide to Wildflowers DAYtrip 6 Facets of Hope at Brookside GARDENtours 17 Petal Porches on Parade GREENliving 20 Heathy Pots, Healthy Planet HORThappenings 12 Seed Exchange 2021 NEIGHBORnetwork 8-9 Mary Ackley, Little Wild Things NEWPLANTspotlight 11 Skye™ Daylilies PARTINGhumor 22 Periodical Repose PLANTprofile 7 Flowering Quince SPECIALfeature 14-16 Deer-Resistant Native Plants TIPStricks 10 Growing Corn Salad (Mache), Skin Exposure to Soil Microbes

DEPARTMENTS

ADVERTISINGindex BLOGlinks EDITORletter GARDENcontest GARDENDCpodcasts LOCALevents MONTHLYtasklist NEXTissue READERreactions RESOURCESsources

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In our May issue: Master Gardeners Demo Garden Native Plant Profiles and much more . . .

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EDITORletter

Credits Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher Washington Gardener 826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-588-6894 kathyjentz@gmail.com www.washingtongardener.com Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Proofreader Khloe Quill Intern Cover price: $4.99 Back issues: $6.00 Subscription: $20.00

Know Your Sources

Please check your sources. Lately, I have been running into many friends who are starting to garden for the first time. They share online articles with me with enthusiasm and I have to stop myself from voicing the frustration and sheer disappointment I feel that they are following garden advice from far outside our local region that is not applicable to us. They are starting seeds indoors far too early, planting tomatoes out in too-cold soils, and buying annual flowers that will not thrive in our hot and humid summers. Then there is the profusion of new kitchen table seed companies. I see these seeds being sold illegally on sites like eBay and Etsy without the proper testing and certification. These are in violation of the Federal Seed Act. Buyer beware! This is not a new issue, but the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated it greatly. People are shut in their homes and used to turning to internet searches for answers to any questions they might have. The problem with this over-reliance on keyword searches is that the best sources of information—those that are the most relevant to you—are often buried several pages deep, because others have paid for “top of search” placement or might get the most web traffic due to a sensationalistic headline or lots of comments and interactions with the posts precisely because the information is incorrect or misleading. The first thing I do when I read any garden advice online is to see who the author is—I check whether they are a professional communicator or general journalist. I see if I can find where they are writing from, if the post was sponsored, and if so, who is paying them. I check some of their previous articles to see what their specialty is and if those articles are correct and apply to our region. Of course, I want to toot our own horns here at Washington Gardener as the resource for hyper-local gardening in the Mid-Atlantic. We work hard to fact-check our content and to correct any errors immediately. I ask you to pass along our links and information to your new and veteran gardening friends. Happy gardening,

Kathy Jentz, Editor/Publisher, Washington Gardener, KathyJentz@gmail.com 4

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• Washington Gardener Blog: www.washingtongardener.blogspot.com • Washington Gardener Archives: http://issuu.com/washingtongardener • Washington Gardener Discussion Group: https://groups.google.com/g/ washingtongardener/ • Washington Gardener Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/WDCGardener • Washington Gardener Instagram: www.instagram.com/wdcgardener • Washington Gardener Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ WashingtonGardenerMagazine/ • Washington Gardener YouTube: www.youtube.com/ washingtongardenermagazine • Washington Gardener Store: www.amazon.com/shop/wdcgardener • Washington Gardener Podcast: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/ • Washington Gardener is a womanowned business. We are proud to be members of: · GardenComm (GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators) · Green America Magazine Leaders Network · Green America Business Network Volume 16, Number 2 ISSN 1555-8959 © 2021 Washington Gardener All rights reserved. Published monthly. No material may be reproduced without prior written permission. This magazine is purchased by the buyer with the understanding that the information presented is from various sources from which there can be no warranty or responsibility by the publisher as to legality, completeness, or technical accuracy. All uncredited photos in this issue are © Kathy Jentz.

READERcontt

Reader Contest

For our April 2021 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away two Succulent Studios subscription boxes (2 subscription boxes, 1 per winner for a total of 2 winners). Succulent Studios subscription boxes add a healthy burst of oxygen to your home. Inside each subscription box from Succulent Studiosn you will find two baby succulent plants in biodegradable pots using organic media and fertilizers from an organic farm in sunny California—happy and ready to grow. You can choose from 3-, 6-, or 12-month plans for $10 per month plus shipping. Available at https://succulent.studio/. To enter to win one of the Succulent Studios subscription boxes, send an email to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail.com by 5:00pm on Friday, April 30, with “Succulent Studios” in the subject line. In the body of the email, tell us what your favorite article was in this issue and why. Include your full name and mailing address. The winners will be announced by May 2. o

Your Ad Here

Are you trying to reach thousands of gardeners in the greater DC region/MidAtlantic area? Washington Gardener Magazine goes out in the middle of every month. Contact KathyJentz@gmail.com or call 301.588.6894 for ad rates (starting from $200). The ad deadline is the 5th of each month. Please submit your ad directly to: KathyJentz@gmail.com.

Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) is an easy program to participate in and really does not take any extra resources than what you may have in your garden. In normal times, about 35 million people wonder where their next meal will come from. Most of these are children. That’s where PAR steps in. PAR is such a simple program: It urges gardeners to Plant A Row (or a container) dedicated to feeding the hungry, and then take the harvest to someplace or someone that needs it. Once you have donated, send an email to KathyJentz@gmail.com with the total (in pounds and ounces) of what you gave. That is all there is to it. Easy. Effective. Adaptable and Helpful.

READERreactions

Thoughts about the March 2021 Issue and Recent Blog Posts I love coneflowers and have struggled with keeping the plants alive for more than a year or two. I garden on heavy clay in Harford County, MD. I am constantly trying to amend my soil and have learned from the many mistakes I have made. I am going to try some of the coneflowers listed as top performers [in the March 2021 issue] and see how they grow. ~ Patty Bastianelli, Churchville, MD My favorite article in the March 2021 issue of Washington Gardener was “What Can You Do to Protect Your Garden from the Brood X Cicadas?” It prompted me to order netting for the trees I planted last fall. Thanks for all you do! ~ Susan Loewy, Gaithersburg, MD I don’t know if it’s technically an article but the “What To Do This Month” feature is always my favorite. If only I followed through on all of it! Thanks for all your hard work! ~ Johanna Kearns, Washington DC Yucca is rather close to home for me. As it’s indigenous to the America’s, yucca root was a component of the Costa-Rican-style dishes that my mother made for us growing up. I’ve had yucca root every which way: fried, mashed, boiled; served with veggies, arroz con frijoles (rice with beans); and as a side dish to saucy and savory meat dishes. My family is from the eastern province of Costa Rica. When my mother came here as a child, a lot of her culture quickly became distant. The language was lost on her as her parents urged practicing English in the home. The traditions, festivities, and celebrations stayed back on the shores of Limon, Costa Rica. But the food came with her. The same good-old-home-cooking followed them to their new homes in New York City, Canada, and eventually Boston, MA.

Yucca is a vegetable that I grew up with and grew close to. And yet, I never knew the plant variety was so vast, adaptable, leafy, native to the U.S., and not nearly as intimidating to grow as many other plants and vegetables. When reading the article “Yucca Plant Profile” March 10, 2021 post on the Washington Gardener Blog, I felt transported back to the motherland—back to Costa Rica—back home. ~ Skye Sivone Ellis, Washington, DC o APRIL 2021

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DAYtrip

Crystal Installation Shines Amidst Dark Year By Khloe Quill

Visitors to Brookside Gardens, in Montgomery County, MD, are met with a dazzling array of flora upon arrival. One could wander through acres of plantings, footpaths, and fountains before ever getting bored. This year, a new installation has graced the gardens, bringing hope and silent reflection in a year of unrelenting hardship. The Facets of Hope memorial, on the wisteria arbor in the Rose Garden, is made up of glimmering glass crystals that honor those in Montgomery County who have lost their lives due to COVID19. “We know Brookside Gardens has always been a place for people to come and relax, regroup, and recharge. With 6

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COVID-19, that community need has been amplified, along with a growing understanding that gardens and green spaces are not a nicety; they are a necessity to our well-being,” said Stephanie Oberle, director of Brookside Gardens. From the memorial’s conception in February to its installation on March 20, the process took about seven weeks. The crystals are repurposed vintage lead glass sourced from vendors on Etsy and Ebay.

Brookside Gardens chose to repurpose existing pieces as an ongoing commitment to sustainable practices, a choice that resulted in a wide variety of crystals and gave Facets of Hope a diversity that adds to the beauty and interest of the installation. The wisteria arbor was chosen due to its walkability and popularity, ensuring the memorial was accessible for all visitors to the gardens. A motivating factor for the installation’s creation came from talks with visitors to Brookside Gardens that revealed the gardens were a place people came to process the collective trauma caused by COVID-19. After all, a sprawling outdoor space such as a public garden is one of the only places any of us were allowed to go to for the better parts of the last year. At least some of that trauma was caused by the loss of loved ones, the inability to connect with others, and general uncertainty about the future. “The installation is a way for all of us to acknowledge our loss, whether personally or collectively. By installing one strand of crystals for each person who was lost to COVID-19 gives a visual cue to the enormity of loss. It’s easy to read a number on a paper: 1,472. But what does that mean? When you see all the crystals suspended, you get a feeling of how big that number is,” said Oberle. New strands will be added through the duration of the exhibit, as needed to reflect the current total. At the conclusion of the exhibit, the crystals will be removed and repurposed elsewhere. The Facets of Hope will be on display through September 16, 2021. The grounds at Brookside Gardens are open daily from sunrise to sunset. o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD.

PLANTprofile

Flowering Quince By Kathy Jentz

Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) is one of the earliest blooming shrubs in spring. The blossom colors can be peachy-orange, red, pink, or white. Note that Flowering Quince is not the same plant as the larger, fruit-bearing quince tree (Cydonia oblonga). Flowering Quince is an Asian native and was once a very popular garden shrub, but had fallen into disfavor. In recent years, new cultivars, such as the ‘Double Take’ series, are bringing the plant back into fashion again. This shrub is not picky about soil type and is generally drought-tolerant once established. It is hardy to Zones 4 to 9 and prefers a full-sun location. It is a rose relative and has shiny, dark-green foliage that emerges once the blooms shed. This is a fairly tough plant. The only maintenance it needs is regular pruning to keep the size in check and the interior from turning into a messy thicket. It can reach 10 feet high and wide, although new dwarf forms are now available from local garden centers. A bit of a warning: Flowering Quince has sharp thorns, so be careful when working around it. This trait does make it a useful shrub for creating a security hedge or as a safe nesting spot for birds. If you get impatient waiting for spring, the branches are easily forced into bloom in late winter by cutting a few and placing them in a vase filled with room temperature water indoors. It is also a great plant to experiment with for bonsai or training into different forms. o Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener.

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NEIGHBORnwork a visit to Little Wild Things Farm to promote pandemic aid for small businesses. Read more about the founder of this unique small garden business. Q: Tell us about you and your background. Are you native to the DC region? A: I’m originally from Michigan and I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit. I studied civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan and also have a graduate degree in natural resources management from the University of Vermont. My parents instilled a sense of environmental stewardship in me from a young age and I have fond memories of helping my mom garden in our backyard as I was growing up. I moved to DC in 2008 to begin a career in the Foreign Service with the U.S. Agency for International Development. I spent almost 10 years living and working at our embassies overseas on environmental and agricultural projects in places like Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Afghanistan.

Mary Ackley Founder and Chief Veggie Officer Little Wild Things Farm By Khloe Quill Little Wild Things Farm is a less-than quarter acre farm in Washington, DC. This woman-owned business is a firstgeneration farm working to prove that farming is not only possible, but commercially viable and environmentally sustainable in an urban landscape. 8

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While they started off growing microgreens, shoots and edible flowers, they have expanded to include what they call a “Salad Share”: fresh greens delivered to your door through a quarterly subscription service. Recently, President Joe Biden paid

Q: What started your interest in urban farming? A: I started reading Joel Salatin’s work at Polyface Farm and became interested in the premise that sustainable agriculture is the most-productive form of agriculture—and therefore potentially the most-profitable. I applied for an apprenticeship at Polyface, but didn’t get selected. I then began thinking about starting my own farm closer to home and started looking at urban farming models. Q: How did you choose what to grow when you started Little Wild Things? A: I started with a limited selection of crops that grow relatively quickly (short Days to Maturity or DTM) and would sell well at markets and to restaurants. After the first season, I realized that it would take me far too long to learn to be an expert farmer if I continued to grow long-season crops, so I made the strategic decision to grow only microgreens and baby greens (these take only eight to 28 days to grow), so I would have more crop changes to learn each season. Sure enough, within one to two years, I became an expert in all

NEIGHBORnwork things micro and baby greens! This was probably one of the most-important strategic business decisions I’ve ever made. Q: What was the hardest part about starting a farm in the heart of DC? A: The cost of indoor production space was a difficult barrier to overcome. It took years of outgrowing temporary spaces along the way until we finally built the business up big enough to afford our current growing space in NE DC. Q: Tell us about some of your peers/ predecessors whom you admire. A: I admire Erin Benzakin at Floret Flowers; her flower farm and business skills are incredible. I also admire our very own Gail Taylor of DC at Three Part Harmony Farm; her produce is lovingly produced and always of the absolute highest quality. I learned a lot from Curtis Stone at Green City Acres, Jean Martin Fortier at Les Jardins de la Grelinette, and Joel Salatin at Polyface. I’m currently watching Planted Detroit, a relative newcomer to the field, that looks to be doing amazing things—and from my home state! I love what the folks at Farmers Friend are doing to advance small farm tools. Honestly, there are so many farms I’ve learned from, I could list dozens and dozens.

This year, I’m trying watermelon for the first time. Can’t wait. Q: What advice would you give to wannabe urban farmers in the area? A: Dive in and get experience wherever you can. You don’t need formal training to learn how to farm; I’m proof of that. My best advice is simple: Get started, keep going, and never give up. Q: What plants are your favorites to grow? Any tips? A: Winter squash of all kinds—I’m astonished every year at how a hardskinned squash can grow from a tender vine with nothing but sunlight, soil, and water. If we’re talking microgreens, my favorite is golden cabbage. It’s easy to grow and oh so sweet, versatile, and delicious. Also flowers; all the flowers! Q: What do you do when not working? A: I enjoy lifting weights, cycling, walking, running with my rescue farm dog Fennel, sewing, and cooking/entertainng for friends and family. I’m hoping for more of that last one as soon as we recover from the pandemic.

Q: Anything else you want to add or think would be of interest to our readers? A: Our Spring Salad Share is launching in just a few days on April 21. We’re now delivering fresh DC-grown salad greens and microgreens to doorsteps all over the greater Washington, DC, area. To learn more and sign up, visit www.littlewildthingsfarm.com/saladshare We donate one share for every 20 shares sold through the New Samaritan Baptist Church in our home neighborhood of Trindad in NE DC. Join us and help us spread the salad love. Q: How can our readers contact you? A: Follow us @littlewildthingsfarm on Instagram or Facebook at www.facebook.com/littlewildthingsfarm. Sign up for our newsletter, salad share, or shop the online store at www.littlewildthingsfarm.com. o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What do you think about the future of urban farming as a career path? A: I think we need to attract lots of new talent to the agricultural field, both urban and rural, and everything in between. We need to revolutionize the way we farm and we need the best and brightest of the next generation to get involved to make that happen. I believe we need to demonstrate that we can create profitable, thriving sustainable farming businesses to attract the best scientists, engineers, business leaders, and makers of all kinds back into agriculture and farming. This is at the heart of our mission at Little Wild Things. Q: Do you garden for yourself outside of Little Wild Things? If so, what’s something you’ve grown just for yourself? A: Absolutely! My favorites to grow are winter squash, dill, and lacinato kale. APRIL 2021

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TIPStricks

Are There Soil Microbes Under Your Fingernails?

Growing the Heirloom Corn Salad (Mache)

Corn Salad, which is also known as Mache, fetticus, lamb’s tongue, lamb’s lettuce, and a host of other names, is a little-known but delightful, tasty salad herb/green, according to Barbara Melera, president of Harvesting History (www.harvesting-history.com). The Latin name is Valerianello locusta var. olitoria and it is an essential ingredient in mesclun mixes. Its mild, sometimes nutty flavor is a pleasant balance to the stronger, bitter flavors of some of the other mesclun greens. If you have had a gourmet salad in a fancy restaurant, you almost certainly have eaten Mache. This herb is a European native that was introduced into the United States by the earliest settlers. Supposedly, stands of naturalized Mache still exist around the old stone foundations of 1600s homes in Maine. It became known as Corn Salad in Britain because the Brits use the term “corn” to refer to many grains, and it loves to grow wild in fields of grain. Mache does not like warm temperatures. It grows best when the daytime temperatures are below 75 degrees Fahrenheit. It can tolerate light frosts. In spring, seeds should be sown as soon as the soil can be worked. Plant a half-inch deep in rows 12 inches apart. Seeds should be sown thickly because germination is lower than with other greens. Cover with a half-inch of soil. Seedlings should be thinned to 6 inches. Mache takes about 75 days to mature in the fall. Mache is an excellent fall season crop, too. In our zones (6–7), seeds should be sown in September. If protected with mulch, the plants will survive the winter and it does very well in a coldframe. Harvest throughout the season by aggressively cutting leaves off or cutting the entire rosette. o 10

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According to the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Soils Matter Blog, if you’ve ever touched soil with your bare hands, you’ve come in contact with soil microbes. But that is, for the most part, a good thing—other than having to clean your hands! Gwynne Á. Mhuireach of University of Oregon and Gail Langellotto of Oregon State University are researching the potential health benefits and risks of direct soil microbe exposure. In garden soil, there are millions to billions of microorganisms, or microbes. They could be bacteria, fungi, viruses, and archaea. Baseline estimates suggest that there are tens of thousands of different soil microbes. Soil health and biodiversity are closely linked with human health. Some of the health-relevant roles played by soil have been well-investigated, such as the ability to: • produce nutritious food, • hold carbon, • lessen the effects of environmental pollutants, and • purify water. Other important functions, however, remain poorly characterized. Little is known about interactions between farmers or gardeners and soil microorganisms. They are both exposed to soil microbes while doing their work. Gardeners are more likely to cultivate the soil with their hands than most farmers. They are more likely to experience close and extended contact with microorganisms in the soil. However, we currently lack even the most-basic understanding of how much microbial transfer from soil to skin occurs, what types of microorganisms are transferred, or how long they persist. From a microbiological point of view, gardens are quite different from other types of greenspace. Gardens are interactive places where there is often intimate and extended human contact with the soil. In a garden, we dig our hands into the soil, aggressively pulling weeds or tenderly planting a new seedling. We may have soil (and microbes) under our fingernails for an extended period afterwards—hours or even days. Perhaps we also consume vegetables

Gardeners and small-scale farmers are more likely to be exposed to soil microbes when digging in the soil. Here, a red potato freshly harvested. Photo by SV Fisk.

directly as we harvest them. We might brush off an occasional bug or speck of dirt, but we don’t clean our garden veggies in the same meticulous manner as commercial producers. All of these interactions with soil and garden plants have the potential to influence our own microbiomes. But don’t get too concerned, because most of the microbes you might encounter in garden soil are more likely to be neutral in terms of health effects, rather than causing illness. Furthermore, emerging evidence suggests that exposure to soil microorganisms can help train the immune system. There is also a link to reduced inflammation, and even improved mental health. For example, the common soil bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae has been found to have positive impacts on stress tolerance and mental health. To determine the full impact of soil microbes on human health requires understanding the extent to which microbes transfer to human skin. Recent studies have shown that direct contact with soil and its associated microbiota can leave an imprint on the skin microbiome for at least 24 hours. This is even after washing and bathing! Skin contact with soil microbiota can also affect the human oral and gut microbiomes. Mhuireach and Langellotto’s research focuses on the ability of soil microbes to transfer to human skin during gardening activities and whether they can persist there for a long period of time. The researchers are hoping to characterize soil microbial communities in smallscale urban farms or gardens. Their work will increase our understanding of how many microbes are transferred, what types of microbes they are, and how long they persist. From this, gardeners and farmers will be able to make better health decisions, such as whether to wear gloves while performing cultivation activities and which hygiene practices are most effective at removing the imprint of the soil microbiome afterward. o

GARDENnews

Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts • 21 Gifts for Gardeners • Wild Violet Plant Profile • DIY: Violet Syrup • Introducing “Color Me Bloom” See more Washington Gardener blog posts at: WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com o

April–May Garden To-Do List

New Plant Spotlight

Skye™ Daylilies (Hemerocallis) This collection of continuously blooming daylilies adds easy-care, summer-long beauty to landscapes. • Big flowers with dramatically ruffled edges stand out from older daylily selections. • Blossoms are large and waxy, with a thick texture. • They are adaptable to a wide range of conditions, including sandy and clay soils. • Has deer- and rabbit-resistant foliage. • 12–18 inches tall and wide. • They are a great choices for mass plantings, in beds and borders, or to add texture to large containers. • Hardy to USDA Zones 4–11. • Requires full sun. There are several flowers in this series. Pictured at top is Blazing Skye™ and below is Titan Skye™. Also available are Saffron Skye™, Stormy Skye™, and Radiant Skye™. This herbaceous perennial is a Monrovia Exclusive. For more information, see http://Monrovia.com. o

Photos courtesy of Monrovia.

• If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening-off process. • Start some more seeds—especially flowering annuals like impatiens, marigolds, nasturtium, and petunias. • Do not set out seedlings or tender annuals until after Mother’s Day (traditional last frost-free date for our entire area). • Water shrubs and trees deeply during any dry spells. • Prune winter damage on evergreens. • Make compost tea and use on seedlings. • Turn your compost pile. • Sharpen tools. • Prune flowering shrubs, such as forsythia and azaleas, when they finish blooming. • Repot and fertilize houseplants. • Set aside a few hours each weekend for attending garden shows and tours. (You may have to do this virtually for the immediate future.) • Weed by hand to avoid disturbing newly forming roots. • Prepare your soil—add lime, compost, etc., as needed. • Walk your garden—look for early signs of fungal disease. • Divide perennials and herbs. Pot up extras to give away at plant swaps. • Fertilize new growth. • Plant and prune roses. • Transplant small trees and shrubs. • Buy or check on your stored summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot them and start to water to give them an early start on the season. • Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost. • Buy an indoor plant to liven up your office space. Try an Orchid or African violet. • Start/keep fertilizing your indoor plants. • Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds and ornamental grasses. • Mulch beds with a light hand. • Feed birds and provide nesting materials (try pet hair), as well as houses, for the start of their family season. • Sow beans and corn directly outdoors. • Start carrots, turnips, and parsnips in well-draining beds or deep containers. • Keep cutworms off newly planted edible seedlings by surrounding the seedlings with collars cut from a plastic bottle or cardboard tube. • Pick peas often to encourage the plants to produce more. • Ensure new seedlings do not dry out by installing a drip-irrigation system. • Start herbs from seed or cuttings. • Edge garden beds. • Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs. • Work in dry, not wet, soil to keep the ground from compacting. • Hand-pick cabbage worms from broccoli and other cabbage-family plants. • Put row covers over vulnerable crops—remove covers to allow for pollinating once they set flowers. • Thin lettuce seedlings and plant more seeds in new rows. (You can eat the seedling greens you pull.) • Plant a tree for Arbor Day or Earth Day. o APRIL 2021

WASHINGTON GARDENER

HORThaening

Seed Swapping Carries On

By Khloe Quill Washington Gardener hosted an inperson seed exchange on Saturday, April 3. It was the first in-person seed swapping event held by the magazine since the pandemic began. The seed exchange took place at Brookside Gardens’ visitor center in the main auditorium, which allowed generous spacing and physical distancing. The gardens themselves were packed full of people enjoying the outdoors and colorful plantings on a pleasant Easter weekend; inside, there were a number of rules to ensure the event remained as safe as possible. Before the event, Washington Gardener staff sent out a sign-up list that limited room access to 10 attendees at a time. Those with seeds to donate dropped off seeds in the morning before the starting time at noon and many seeds were also supplied by the magazine. The seed selecting sessions were restricted to 20 minute each, with a check-in list at the door and someone calling off names to ensure strict compliance. Everyone wore masks, and doors were kept open to allow fresh air to come in. “[I’ve been attending seed exchanges] just by Zoom. Plenty by Zoom. It’s very good and it’s nice if they record it, so you can review it again later,” said Joyce Stocker, who’s no stranger to seed swapping. She was most excited 12

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to find pepper seeds at this event because she hadn’t had much luck with them in the past and was ready to give them another try. Some of the other popular seeds included black-eyed Susan, winter squash, and calypso beans. In addition to seeds in labeled packets, the later timing of this year’s exchange allowed started seedling plants to be shared. Those were organized by the event volunteers neatly across the length of a row of tables in the back and got picked up quickly; among them were rare tomato plants and tropical houseplants. “I was totally not expecting to have this happen,” said Christina Hernandez, who only started coming to seed swaps last year right before the lockdown. “I’m excited to see whatever’s available!” Many of the Brookside Gardens visitors came up to ask about the event and received information about the magazine itself and how to find other seed swaps in the area. One particularly interested small child received a packet of tomato seeds in the spirit of spreading the love of growing. o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD.

TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS DC-Area Gardening Calendar ~ Upcoming Events Listing Classes and Webinars • April 17–24 Historic Garden Week in Virginia This year’s Historic Garden Week features more than 100 private and public gardens and landscapes throughout the Commonwealth. Each tour is designed to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience, with health and safety protocols in place. To purchase tickets, please visit our website: vagardenweek. org. • Monday, April 19, 7–8pm Orchid Workshop: Help! My Orchids have Bugs! The National Capital Orchid Society (NCOS) is hosting this free 60-minute workshop with speaker Sarah Hurdel. She will help you figure out what is eating your orchids—it can be tricky. Hurdel will share her tips for identifying and preventing common orchid pests, including advice for choosing a treatment. This workshop is good for all orchid growers, from beginner to moreexperienced. More details at www. ncos.us. Registration is required for this Zoom meeting: https://us02web. zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ sPiEIfJDTSmkjh61sQaMCQ. • Wednesday, April 21, 7–8pm Bloom and Grow: Learn how to Responsibly Feed & Fertilize Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in the garden for Earth Day. Learn how to feed, fertilize, and rejuvenate soil, whether it’s in a container, grow boxes, or raised beds. Soil is the foundation of garden success. Kathy Jentz will explain how to amend your soil and feed it for the season. Sponsored by Bloom Soil. Free. Register for free in advance online at homesteadgardens.com. • Thursday, April 22, 7pm Historic Gardens at Historic Sites April is Virginia Garden Month. Many historic house museums have recreated gardens on their grounds. How do sites choose what is appropriate for these gardens? Join Dean Norton, director of Horticulture at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, virtually for a presentation about historic house

gardens. For an added bonus, they are partnering with both The Tea and Spice Exchange & Firehook Bakery in Alexandria to offer a tea box to go. Tea boxes can be picked up at Carlyle House in Alexandria, VA. Fee: $5 per link via Zoom. Tea box: $30 per box. Tickets https://www.eventbrite.com/e/historicgardens-at-historic-sites-lecture-tickets144492233159. • Friday, April 23, 1:30–2:30pm Garden Talk: Gardening for Bees Bees are threatened by habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change. VA Extension Master Gardeners show you how to nurture bees, particularly honey bees, in your garden by growing a variety of plants that support them. Fee $12 per person. Register online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes (3F6.E98L) or call Green Spring Gardens at 703-642-5173.

The Washington Gardener Magazine’s Garden Book Club is free and open to all. We meet quarterly and will announce the details of each upcoming meeting about two months in advance.

Event Listing Updates See updated event listings on the Washington Gardener discussion list. Join by emailing WashingtonGardenersubscribe@googlegroups.com.

How to Submit Events To submit an event for this listing, email washingtongardenermagazine@gmail. com with “Event” in the subject line. Our next deadline is May 5 for the May 2021 issue, for events taking place after May 15. o

• Saturday, May 1, 8am–12noon Beltsville Garden Club Plant Sale Plants grown by local garden clubs (including the Burtonsville Garden Club) and volunteers for the James E. Duckworth School greenhouse) will be for sale. Note new location this year: Roosevelt Center Parking Lot, Centerway, Greenbelt, MD. Details at beltsvillegardenclub.org. • Saturday, May 8, 9am–1pm GardenMart Plant Sale Silver Spring Garden Club’s annual plant sale is back at Brookside Gardens. Offerings include veggies, herbs, annuals, and perennials. All attendees are required to mask. It is rain or shine. All plants are locally grown and all proceeds go to the Silver Spring Garden Club (https://www.silverspringgardenclub.com/); a portion will be donated to Brookside Gardens.

Garden Book Club • Thursday, April 29, 6:30–8pm For our next Garden Book Club selection, we will be reading The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly. You can order it new or used at our Amazon link: https://amzn.to/2MgFvRx. RSVP to washingtongardenermagazine (at) gmail.com to receive the Zoom link.

GardenDC Podcast

The GardenDC podcast is all about gardening in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic area. The program is hosted by Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, and features guest experts in local and national horticulture. The latest episode includes a talk with the owners of GardensPots all about Container Gardening Basics. You can become a listener-supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! See: https://anchor.fm/gardendc/ support. You can listen online at https:// anchor.fm/gardendc or at our blog: https://washingtongardener. blogspot.com/. We are available on Spotify, Apple, RadioPublic, Breaker, PocketCasts, Overcast, and Google Podcasts. o APRIL 2021

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SPECIALfeature White-tailed deer photo source: Wikimedia 0x010C.

Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast

By Ruth Rogers Clausen and Gregory D. Tepper The recent wave of interest in growing native plants to provide food and habitat for wildlife, from foraging birds to pollinating insects, is exciting. It has created an industry demand for attractive, gardenworthy plants that aren’t just aesthetically pleasing to us, but support critical ecology in turn. Plants that were once considered simple roadside wildflowers are now sought after as attractive and enviable additions to the garden plant palette. When we garden with native plants, we provide beauty for ourselves, we take pride in feeling a sense of place, and we also benefit wildlife—most importantly, our pollinators. Again, this is very exciting. Yet with all due consideration for pollinators and wildlife, there is one animal we must also consider differently as we garden in much of North America. That is the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Deer are considered by many to be the number-one obstacle to successful gardens. How many times have you heard, or experienced, “I can’t grow a nice garden because the deer seem to eat EVERYTHING!”? Deer affect the garden in several 14

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ways. One is by consuming plants, also known as herbivory or browsing. The second is when bucks (male deer) scrape young trees and shrubs to mark territory during mating season—this is known as buck rub, or rubbing. Third, deer sometimes knock down plant material to create a rounded resting or sleeping area, known as a bed, to which they retreat daily. Herbivory is probably the most widely experienced deer issue by gardeners, and this book aims to help gardeners make the best-informed decisions in choosing plants with that in mind. Deer are a highly adaptable, herbivorous species that thrives in a variety of habitats, including suburban developments and backyards. They have the ability to digest a variety of plant foods, from fruits, nuts, and leaves to grass, branches, soft bark, mushrooms, corn, alfalfa, and grass—oh, my! Deer are grazers that possess keen senses of smell and hearing, and will happily search out and devour so many of the plants that seem to be popular in gardens. There is, of course, an order of preference, so to deal effectively with deer,

you must learn which plants deer prefer not to eat. Let us be clear here and now: Very few plants are fully deer-proof, because deer preferences change as food supplies change. Interestingly, even if a plant contains compounds poisonous to deer, has a distasteful texture, or has highly aromatic foliage, there’s no guarantee that plant won’t become a deer food source if the animals are severely stressed. In the middle of summer when food is plentiful, deer will eat what smells and tastes most appealing. In winter, when food is most scarce, their need to feed far outweighs food supply, and hunger drastically outweighs preferences. That’s why in winter, you’ll find deer eating evergreen trees and shrubs, chewing off soft bark, and nipping dormant leaf and flower buds on deciduous shrubs they don’t usually bother in warmer seasons, when other options are plentiful. The denser the population of deer, the more “deer pressure” there is on the local environment and food sources available. Deer populations have increased dramatically in the past 30 years or so, mainly due to the loss of

SPECIALfeature habitat from development. Fewer wild spaces mean deer move elsewhere, and as long as there is a food source, no predators, enough cover, and no activity that controls their numbers, they increase. To deal effectively with deer, make a strategic plan. Options in this plan could entail the use of deer repellents and physically excluding deer from the garden with a fence, as well as planting deer-resistant plants. A deer fence, for many, is a major investment, and one that requires maintenance. Repellents and strategic planting are often much more feasible. The market for deer repellents has many offerings, some more effective than others, and each product has its pros and cons. Several are created from the urine of other animals. These are said to be marginally effective initially; unfortunately, their efficacy is short, because the scent fades over a twoweek period. These must also be reapplied after every rain event, and their smell during application is just plain unpleasant. Other products, both liquid concentrates and granular repellents, work by either taste or odor, and contain ingredients such as garlic, cayenne pepper, emulsified eggs, herbal oils, and spices like clove. Each has different guidelines for efficacy, as well as reapplication frequency. Some actually smell nice when they’re applied; others are just the opposite. Some can be applied directly to all plant parts, while the instructions for others say not to apply to flowering parts. With most, the product only smells when it is freshly applied; once it dries, the scent is generally undetectable by humans. Deer, however, with their powerful sense of smell, often sense these for two to three weeks, especially when the repellent has an ingredient that acts as a spreader or sticker. One product we found highly effective has emulsified eggs, rosemary oil, and mint oil. It smells pleasant when it’s applied, it dries quickly, and the eggs help it to stay put on foliage for up to 30 days, regardless of rainfall. Electronic devices represent another market in deer deterrents. One type is motion-activated and emits a high-fre-

More Tips for Discouraging Deer

1. Fido may be helpful! When dogs are present on a site and within a garden, their scent is left behind, and deer often avoid the area. 2. Plant drought-tolerant or xeric plants with spines or fibrous stems. Many drought-tolerant plants also have tough or fuzzy foliage deer do not like. 3. Avoid overwatering and fertilizer. The soft, lush growth of plants that have been overwatered and over-fertilized is more appealing to deer than the foliage of plants that have not. 4. Water with drip or soaker hoses close to the ground to avoid wetting leaves. Deer are thirsty, too, and drawn to plants with wet foliage. 5. Do not allow acorns, crabapples, or other tempting fruits to remain on the ground. These food sources will attract deer to your garden even if it is deer resistant. 6. Where possible, prune trees and large shrubs that may be browsed up to about 4 ft. high—deer cannot reach above 4 ft. 7. Elevate bird feeders beyond the reach of deer. 8. Raise plants in hanging baskets out of reach, and spray ground-level containers with repellent. 9. Plant deer-resistant native plants! 10. Avoid known deer favorites (also known as deer candy; see next page), which include a few natives. quency sound deer find uncomfortable when they approach. Another lures deer with an attractant scent and surprises them with a small electric charge to the nose when they get close enough. Others scare deer mechanically—an example is a motion-activated device that hooks up to a garden hose and startles them with a quick, strong burst of water. This gadget requires a constant water supply and is only effective over a limited range, but it’s reported to work well. Deer are creatures of habit, and once they learn these devices are nearby, they effectively stay away. With that said, it is up to you to research each repellent option and its effectiveness based upon your garden’s unique situation, but further reading about these options is readily available in gardening books, magazines, and online. Combined with deer-resistant plants, these repellents can be effective at keeping deer browsing to a minimum. It’s true that there are plenty of native plants deer do enjoy eating, but the selection that isn’t high on their gourmet list is extensive! Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast focuses on 75 native plants

that deer seldom browse, categorized by type: annuals and biennials; perennials; ferns; grasses; sedges; and shrubs. A brief introduction begins each plant type chapter. This is followed by plant entries, each arranged in alphabetical order by botanical name, followed by common name. It is prudent to remember that common names are not reliable for identification and purchasing purposes, since they often differ in different parts of the country—moreover, most plants have multiple common names. Botanical names, on the other hand, remain consistent worldwide, for the most part. To select a particular species from a plant catalog or list, it is critical to be able to refer to it by its botanical name. o This article is excerpted from the new book, Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast, by Ruth Rogers Clausen and Gregory D. Tepper. You can order it here: https:// amzn.to/32kSo1B. Tepper is currently a horticulturist at the Arboretum at Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill Cemeteries in Philadelphia, PA. Clausen is the author of a number of award-winning gardener books. She lives and gardens in Easton, MD. Minor edits have been made for house style. See more tips on the next page. APRIL 2021

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SPECIALfeature

Deer Candy: Native Plants Deer Prefer!

These are just a few of the native plants that will attract deer to your garden. Either avoid planting them or plan to protect them with physical barriers or routine repellent spraying. • Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) • Lady’s slipper (Cypripedium species) • Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) • Alumroot (Heuchera species) • Smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) • Juniper (Juniperus virginiana) • Lily (Lilium species) • Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) • Native crabapple (Malus coronaria) • Native phlox (Phlox species) • Native deciduous azalea (Rhododendron species) • Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) • Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) • Eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) • Trillium (Trillium species) A mixed planting of native perennials in flower. Photo by Gregory D. Tepper.

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Amsonia hubrichtii and Picea pungens ‘Glauca’ offer striking contrast in the fall. Photo by Ruth Rogers Clausen.

Common Features of Deer-Resistant Plants

Although there is no guarantee when it comes to deer browsing, plants are much less likely to be nibbled if they have any of the following: • Fuzzy leaves • Aromatic flowers • Tough, leathery, fibrous leaves • Spines or bristles • Aromatic leaves • Poisonous compounds

GARDENtours

Petal Porches on Parade

This year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival included a new way for local citizens to get involved while keeping safe during the pandemic. The “Petal Porch Parade” was created to help bring the spirit of the National Cherry Blossom Festival to the community. Residents, churches, and businesses decorated houses, yards, windows, and even docked boats. These Petal Porches bloomed across Washington, DC, as well as in neighborhoods in Maryland and Virginia, from March 20 to April 11. Here are a few of the inventively decorated landscapes. o

Photo above by Carol Allen. Photo below by Jan Rothman.

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BOOKreviews

The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food: Step-by-Step Vegetable Gardening for Everyone Author: Joseph Tychonievich Illustrator: Liz Anna Kozik Publisher: Ten Speed Press List price: $19.99 Order link: https://amzn.to/2Q5SNTc Reviewer: Khloe Quill When most people think of informational text they rarely also think “comic book,” yet one innovative author did so and brought a unique accessibility to the world of gardening texts. The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food is a wonderfully illustrated comic book rife with information and funny moments. I caught myself grinning at the dynamic between the main characters: Mia, a young tech worker, and George, a seasoned gardener. The “teaching moments” are examples of George helping Mia set up her very first garden. A lot of it is dialoguebased, but at the end of each chapter, there are wrap-ups that make it clear what the reader is supposed to take away from each section. There are also “Cheat Sheets” within the story. These are helpful infographics that are separate from the rest of the story and provide more-detailed information. One such section has links to websites where the reader can learn more about what zone they’re in and how to plant for their climate. Comic book art as a medium of delivering information may be off-putting to 18

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some readers, but I’m here to assure you that the information presented is based in fact and realistic constraints. George often tells Mia about a “rule number one” except that this “rule number one” seems to change each chapter. It’s a moment of humor in the book and a bit of a reflection on how the elements going into a new garden are all equally important. Mia, like many real-life beginners, wants to “go big or go home” and start a massive garden. The book kindly, but firmly, rejects this and gives good advice for starting off. My favorite “rule number one” is that you should start small when gardening. Then, if it’s fun, you expand. If it’s not fun, scale it back until you’re having fun again. The art in this book is vibrant, sweet, and easy to follow. I finished it in an hour or two, and even then, it was just because I was stopping to smile at the storyline and savor the artwork. I think this might be the best beginner’s guide to gardening I’ve ever read and it’s because of the illustrations. There’s something so inviting about learning new information through a story and for visual learners like myself, it’s easy to conceptualize the process when the authors literally draw it out for you. o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD.

Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden: Planting and Tending Small Fruit Trees and Berries in Gardens and Containers Author: Christy Wilhelmi Publisher: Cool Springs Press List Price: $27.99 Order Link: https://amzn.to/3mNXj4L Reviewer: Beth Py-Lieberman Imagine for a moment that you could wake up this morning and step outside your home into a magical wonderland where multi-fruited trees are growing plums, nectarines, peaches, and apricots. Nearby is a perfectly maintained grape arbor, the rich fruits dangling deliciously and invitingly. Strawberries, gorgeously plump and pest-free, are ripe for the picking. An exotic cactus thrives trellised and bearing the orb of a dragon fruit, with its bright-fuchsia

flesh ever so tasty. The branches of nearby trees droop with the weight of crisp apples, juicy citrus, plump pears, and delicious cherries. Pollinators are busy working their stations, making sure this wild abundance is productive. At ground level, the soil is well-fertilized, microbes are in place, and drip lines deliver precise amounts of moisture. Enter the world of the Los Angelesbased Christy Wilhelmi, whose garden knowledge supports a multimedia industry of resources for every level, including her attractive website GardenNerd.com; a blog; a newsletter; a YouTube channel; and books, such as her 400+ Tips for Organic Gardening Success and the recent Gardening for Geeks. Her latest is manifestly a rich environment for a full-on immersive geek-out. For those gardeners in search of a how-to manual, this volume will certainly satisfy. Within its richly illustrated pages are tips for creating a world that Wilhelmi aptly calls a “food forest.” The process starts with paper, pencil, and compass, and then employs her strategy of tallest to shortest: “Fruit trees make up the canopy and sub canopy layers above our heads. Plant cane berries, blueberries and currants as shrub layers or midnight plants and grow strawberries as a ground cover layer.” And with that, the reader is off and running, equipped with the tools to design, build, and operate a mini backyard or balcony orchard. Here you’ll be almost overwhelmed with tips and

BOOKreviews techniques for creating what can only be described as a wonderland dreamscape, but with Wilhelmi’s immersive knowledge, could actually be rendered into reality. The book is a one-stop shop—vertical gardening, arbor making, espalier building, tree grafting, soil prep, compost building, drainage designing, container gardening, pruning strategies, drip irrigation building, disease resistance techniques, pest control, feeding and fertilization, and finally harvesting. Whether you actually build your own orchard or simply read this book, the end result will surely be what Wilhelmi ultimately hopes that everyone should realize: The next time you bite into a crispy apple, you take the moment to appreciate and find new respect for the “tireless efforts of farmers who bring perfect produce to your table year after year.” o Beth Py-Lieberman is Smithsonian magazine’s museums editor. She gardens at home with visiting deer in Silver Spring, MD, and is the volunteer liaison for the Fenton Street Community Garden.

A Naturalist’s Book of Wildflowers: Celebrating 85 Native Plants of North America Author: Laura C. Martin Publisher: Countryman Press List Price: $22.95 Order Link: https://amzn.to/3dlC4nB Reviewer: Stacey Evers The timing couldn’t be better for the release of Laura C. Martin’s 26th book, A Naturalist’s Book of Wildflowers. Having been housebound by cold weather and socially deprived by the pandemic, Americans are pouring into parks and onto trails in record numbers. Throughout these public spaces, you can hear the refrain, “What’s that? What’s that?” as they stop and point at spring’s ephemeral blooms. While this book won’t answer every inquiry, it will help identify the mostcommon wildflowers across the continent and seasons. Charming watercolors dominate the pages as Martin, a lifelong wildflower enthusiast with a bachelor’s degree in botany and certification in botanical illustration, trains a combined scientific and artistic eye on her favorite flora.

The plants are organized by flower color, with each specimen given a fullpage illustration. Annotations provide identifying details, such as plant height, the size and texture of the flowers, length and shape of the leaves, and pollinators that might be attracted to each. The portraits are followed by entries explaining important gardening information: time of bloom, natural range and habitat, conservation status, medicinal uses, related species, and growing tips. To Martin, wildflowers are the mostbeautiful part of an ecosystem, but when curating this collection, she considered the plant’s cultural value as well as its aesthetics. The result is deeper context: You learn the origin of the plant’s name, hear about the folklore and superstitions attached to it, and discover how indigenous North Americans used it. Martin tells you, for instance, that the Kootenai and Flathead people valued bitterroot so much that they used it as currency and could buy a horse with a 50-pound bag of it. Some gardeners might object to a few of the included plants, like the prolific primrose (Oenothera) and even-moreaggressive bindweed (wild morning glory, Calystegia sepium), considered a noxious weed in 46 states. Martin indicates that these plants are included because they are so common, valued by wildlife, or have a story to tell. The last 40 pages of the 289-page book offer advice about gardening with wildflowers and how to cook, craft, and entertain children with them. The number of recipes and projects is suc-

cinct, but the spectrum is broad. This is in contrast to Martin’s previous books, which were narrowly focused but dove deep, such as Nature’s Art Box, The Jewish Gardening Cookbook, and Texas Gardening. To this end, A Naturalist’s Book of Wildflowers acts as a “best of” collection, alluding to some of the greatest hits in Martin’s previous books. Amusingly, in this back section, Martin includes small, monochromatic illustrations and brief descriptions of five common weeds (chickweed, chicory, dandelion, lamb’s quarter, and plantain) that can drive out native species. She provides recipes for turning them into syrups, teas, and salads, noting that “eliminating them from the ecosystem is actually beneficial.” o Stacey Evers is director of Grow a Row FC in Virginia and co-chair of the Fairfax Food Council’s Urban Ag Work Group.

Bee a Good Human: A Pollinator’s Guide to a Better Life Author: Ali Beckman Publisher: Indiana University Press/ Red Lightning Books List Price: $16.00 Link: https://amzn.to/3uUlrW0 Reviewer: Kathy Jentz This charming little book is illustrated with photos of actual insects (deceased from natural causes) and full of witty humor. The perfect gift for the pollinator lover in your life or anyone who needs a fresh perspective on life. o Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener Magazine. Note: These book reviews include links to Amazon.com for ordering them. Washington Gardener Magazine may receive a few cents from each order placed after you click on these links. APRIL 2021

WASHINGTON GARDENER

Photo courtesy of APLD.org.

GREENliving

What Happens to All Those Plastic Plant Pots? By Khloe Quill Plenty of gardeners, amateur or otherwise, are familiar with this scene: You go out, buy a plant, bring it back, and put it in your garden. That’s how we cultivate. The steps may vary, but few things beat taking a new seedling out of its flimsy plastic nursery pot and planting said seedling in the earth, where it belongs. Just one thing, though: the plastic pots from the nursery. What do you do with them? Recycle? Repurpose? Toss them in the garbage? What’s happening with the pots? That’s what a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Sustainability Committee asked three years ago, and it was the start of a movement that’s been growing ever since. The APLD is dedicated to advancing the profession of landscape design. In recent years, APLD has started a new sustainability initiative: Healthy Pots, Healthy Planet. It aims to reduce the use of non-recyclable plastic pots commonly found in the landscaping and gardening industries. “As an organization committed to stewardship of the land, the APLD is profoundly concerned about the green 20

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industry’s reliance on horticultural plastics,” says the Healthy Pots, Healthy Planet website page. While single-use pots are plastic, that doesn’t mean the solution is recycling. In fact, more than 95% of plastic pots end up in a landfill. Toni Bailey, principal of Gracefully Green, LLC, and a member of APLD, says there are a multitude of reasons this happens, and the effect on the environment is worse than we think. “You may think you are taking care of the waste by recycling the pots, but many of the pots can’t really be recycled because of the contamination and the inability of sorting machines to read the resin numbers. And the market for recycled plastic has collapsed because other countries no longer want to purchase our low-quality used plastic. At most, even the better resins can be recycled only once or twice,” Bailey said. The APLD published a white paper last July, “Plastic Pots and the Green Industry: Production, Use, Disposal, and Environmental Impacts,” a detailed explanation of the current situation backed by documented research. The white paper is online at www.apld.

org. The summary, though, is that the green industry (think wholesale nurseries, greenhouse growers, and general cultivation industries) is the driver for plastic plant pot production and use, and this production and use is damaging the environment. What can ordinary gardeners do about it today? Two things: Spread the word and get involved. The biggest problem the intiative faces now is getting people’s attention. “There is so much competing for our attention these days. I think when some hear about the campaign, they assume it’s a plastics ban. It’s not. We use plastics, too—it’s hard to match plastic’s durability and cost,” said Bailey. Healthy Pots, Healthy Planet’s goal is to find sustainable options without losing the durability and accessibility that plastic pots offer. It’s not the most-attractive topic out there—there are also pollinators and native plants, which are often easier to visualize and have immediate physical solutions—but those in the practice of cultivating and designing land should care about the environmental impact of the materials they use. While there is no widely accepted alternative yet, that’s what the Healthy Pots, Healthy Planet mission aims to discover. To learn more and sign up to help the cause, visit https://www.apld. org/healthy-pots-healthy-planet/ and follow instructions there. To reduce waste this season, try to reuse plastic pots or give them to someone who can. Consider repurposing salvaged materials for garden accents rather than buying new—when buying something new for your garden, keep in mind the ways that it will eventually be discarded. Often, when we think of landscaping, gardening, and other areas of horticulture, we think of the beauty surrounding it. “But landscape sustainability demands performance along with beauty,” said Bailey. o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD.

KNOWitall

Ask the Expert By Debra Ricigliano

Hollies with Yellow Berries Q: I have a mature holly that produces a large number of regular-sized, completely yellow berries in my yard. The tree is on my Virginia property in the southeast corner of Fairfax County. Perhaps a yellow-berried holly is something I haven’t encountered before? Or is this tree a genetic freak that has turned up among the many other seemingly normal wild hollies with red berries on my property? A: Hollies are beautiful evergreen trees that are an asset to many landscapes. The majority of hollies do have red berries, but there are a number of yellowberried varieties. ‘Goldie’ and ‘Canary’ are two that have been in the nursery trade for many years. However, there are other yellow-berried hollies introduced into the trade more recently. Fortunately, you have surrounding hollies that must bloom at the same time to sufficiently pollinate flowers so you can enjoy an abundance of both yellow and red berries.

can be an aggressive grower and perhaps not suitable for a smaller space. To further support monarchs, nectar plants are needed, too. Goldenrods and asters provide nectar in late summer to help prepare monarchs for their long migration flight to Mexico. Diversifying your garden by planting flowers that bloom at different times from spring into the fall will help support other butterflies and pollinators, too. Your garden should be in full sun with well-drained soil.

Starting Milkweed Plants from Seed

Filling a Large Container Without Wasting Soil

Q: My children are excited about growing a patch of milkweed to support the monarchs. I want to encourage their gardening enthusiasm, especially for native plants, and to also help butterflies. How do we begin a milkweed patch? A: Growing milkweed supplies the larvae of the monarch with food and shelter, and is referred to as a host plant. The three most-common native species of milkweed, of the 12 found in this area, are butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), and common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). Of the three, butterfly weed is the easiest to find at a plant nursery, but all three can be started from seed. Butterfly weed has bright-orange flowers in midsummer and is considered the most attractive to gardeners. Swamp milkweed is good for damp areas but can adapt to drier soil. Common milkweed is a spreader and

Yellow-berried holly photo by Ellen Nibali.

Q: The new container I purchased is very tall and deep. I plan to put plants in it and place it on my deck. It would take a full bag of potting mix to fill it. Is there a way I can use it without filling the entire container with potting mix? A: It depends on what you are planting in it. If the container will be planted with summer annuals or tropicals that are replaced each year, then an entire bag of potting mix is not necessary. The roots of these are fairly shallow. If you are planting a woody shrub or tree that will be in the container for a longer period of time, then you should fill the entire container. This is also true if you plan on planting vegetables like tomatoes, which have deeper roots. Don’t fill the bottom of the container with gravel or rocks. This makes the container very heavy and may interfere with water draining. Place an empty nursery pot upside down in the bottom and fill the rest of the container with potting mix.

Why Soil Tests Do Not Include Nitrogen Levels

Q: I was advised to submit soil to a soil testing lab before I renovated my lawn. I sent it to an out-of-state university soil-testing lab. I was disappointed with the results, because there wasn’t much information about the nitrogen level. I am confused about why that wasn’t included in the results. A: For the most part, testing soil nitrogen levels is not included in a basic soil test. Nitrogen (N) constantly changes in the soil due to the amount of rainfall, soil temperatures, soil makeup, microbial activity, and other factors. It converts back and forth between N that is available for root uptake to an inorganic form of N that is not available to plants. Therefore, an accurate level could not be included. A nitrogen application recommendation is provided, but is determined by the anticipated N needs of the crop selected on the soil test form that is submitted with your sample. o Debra Ricigliano is a Certified Professional Horticulturist, who has worked as a horticulture consultant for the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center since 1997. She is a graduate of the Institute of Applied Agriculture at UMCP. To ask a gardening or pest question, go to http://extension.umd.edu/ hgic and click on “Get Help.” Digital photos can be attached.

APRIL 2021

WASHINGTON GARDENER

PARTINGhumor

By Wendy Kiang-Spray I have so many Brood X cicada stories. Seventeen years ago, my adult daughter was only 5. As we waited at the school bus stop, we watched an enormous pile of cicadas near the end of their life stage, writhing in the gutter. There was a smell. It was not pleasant. In the skies, there was a loud, constant drone that lasted for weeks. One time, a headless cicada landed on my windshield while I was at a red light in Olney and hung tight for the drive all the way into Silver Spring. I also remember that throughout the season, each time I made the short walk from car to home or home to car, I gathered the top of my shirt tight lest a cicada make its directionless glide straight into my shirt’s neck hole as they are apt to do. I braced myself as if entering a pouring rainstorm and then ran. Let me state now, before readers start firing off the hate mail, that I don’t hate insects. I don’t want them in my house (or inside my shirt), and I may jump or exclaim if a large insect crawls across my gardening glove or a fast one surprises me while I’m working outside, but I don’t hate them. I have a live-andlet-live attitude toward them. I’m also a follower of the Cicada Crew Facebook page; the way Mike Raupp and the crew explain the Brood X Periodical Cicada is pure science and poetry. How can I not be amazed by Mother Nature’s design of these cicadas that emerge by the billions and then make babies that hide under ground for 17 years! When I’ve explained that to people recently, they thought I was spinning a fantastical tale. Call me melodramatic, but I believe we’re about 22

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to witness a miraculous phenomenon! And about Mike Raupp (who is one of those people I always refer to by both names): He doesn’t know me, but I know him. I love entomologists. They are generally the quirkiest and coolest in the bunch. A few years ago, when I knew I was going to see him at a Master Gardener event, I scoped him out all day and when I finally spied him, I ran up and breathlessly asked, “I am seeing lots of cicadas. Is there such a thing as an early emergence of Brood X?” He answered it was not Brood X. Phew. I got a selfie with him, said thanks, and calmed the heck down. See, I’ve been keeping track of this brood for years. When I learned this was the year, I started to get nervous. Did you read Carol Allen’s interview with Mike Raupp in last month’s issue of Washington Gardener? He explained that a female cicada has an ovipositor that deposits eggs in tree branches. She can lay up to 600 eggs in her lifespan! Six to 10 weeks later, the nymphs drop to the ground. Multiply that by billions and you understand that it will be raining nymphs. Miraculous as that may be, it filled me with panic. How will I be able to mulch or deadhead my perennials as billions of nymphs fall upon my head? How will I pick my strawberries and plant my sweet potatoes as headless cicadas are flying down my shirt? These questions had been nagging me for the past few months. I couldn’t see it happening. I decided the only solution was to take a break from my garden. A first-ever garden break! Hey, I’m tough in many ways,

Cicada nymphs photo by Michael J. Raupp, Ph.D,

Periodical Repose

but we’re all different. You may think I’m being a baby, but I bet you’re scared of some things that I’m not. I felt a bit of guilt, especially looking at my garden beds lying fallow, and my grow lights still dismantled in a storage box, instead of set up on the piano, shining on tomato and pepper seedlings. I felt a bit of shame, especially when I’ve been the guest on podcasts and speaking events and am asked, “What are you doing in the garden?” and have to answer, “I’m taking a break, because we’re having periodical cicadas and I’m scared.” If it’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s to be gentle with ourselves. I think insects are fine, and I know Brood X is harmless to me. I’m just point-blank scared of them, okay? And by the billions? I’m staying inside from mid-May through June. What’s another month and a half of quarantine? Just because I’m inside doesn’t mean I won’t be working on my garden, though. Through my windows, I see open spaces in my front garden and have wanted to incorporate more native perennials. What shall I plant? The stones outlining the raised beds are falling. Maybe I can explore a new garden design that involves less weed-whacking for my husband. Could I build a permanent trellis system in my side yard where I grow vining edible plants like luffa gourds? I’ve always wanted a birdhouse or feeder. Where could I incorporate one? The giant box of seed packs needs sorting and organizing. Maybe I can choose some seeds to start a tray of microgreens indoors. The garden notebook is full. What is the point of keeping notes if I never review them? Now might be the time. The more I add to my to-do list, the more I realize I’ll be busier than ever. Perhaps, by the time the cicadas are finished performing their every-17-year miracle, I will emerge with the ideas, energy, plans, and passion that may not have had a chance to germinate otherwise. It’s possible this period of repose will be very good for me and my garden. And plus, Mike Raupp says the dead cicadas can be composted at the end of all this. Win-win! o Wendy Kiang-Spray is a freelance writer and author of The Chinese Kitchen Garden. She gardens in Rockville, Maryland.

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MARCH/APRIL 2005 • Landscape DIY vs. Pro • Prevent Gardener’s Back • Ladew Topiary Gardens • Cherry Trees

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