Washington Gardener Magazine September 2022

Barry Glick Farm Gardens Glicks WV 24966, USA barry@sunfarm.com

Need a Garden Club

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.

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A “must visit” for everyone in the met ropolitan 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., Alex andria, VA. Information: 703-642-5173. in Makeovers,

Green Spring Gardens

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Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher

Washington Gardener

826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-588-6894 kathyjentz@gmail.com www.washingtongardener.com

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Celebrating Public Gardens

Here’s to all the fabulous public gardens we have in our region! Many of them have been celebrating milestone anniversaries. Those include the Smithsonian Gardens, which marked its 50th year with a reception in the Haupt Garden, and the American Horticultural Society’s 100th benefit party this month. Dumbarton Oaks commemorated its 100th year in June. Ladew Topiary Garden observed its 50th in 2021. In addition, the U.S. Botanic Garden turned 200 in 2020 and Green Spring Gardens hit 50 that same year.

Other local public gardens have just been continuing on their missions of excel lence throughout the pandemic without the anniversary pomp and circumstance. Through all kinds of weather and changes in political leadership, the gardens are there to give us peace, solace, beauty, and exercise.

These healing spaces in our community are often taken for granted as part of the backdrop of our everyday lives, but it takes a great deal of planning and work to create and maintain these welcoming places. I appreciate all of the care and devotion the leaders and employees of these public gardens take in making them a source of public education and enjoyment.

Many of our public gardens include rare plant collections and art displays that truly make them outdoor museums. Some have community meeting spaces to hold life celebrations like weddings and wakes. Most have walking paths and accessible surfaces for exercising safely. All offer an abundance of beautiful flowers and foli age to soothe the stresses of modern existence.

Take some time in the coming weeks to visit a few public gardens near you. While there, thank their staff and consider volunteering. Most accept donations and also have booster or “friends” groups to join and support them.

Sincerely,

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

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Volume 17, Number 7 ISSN 1555-8959

© 2022 Washington Gardener

All rights reserved. Published monthly.

No material may be reproduced without prior writ ten permission. This magazine is purchased by the buyer with the understanding that the infor mation 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.

Your editor at the Smithsonian Gardens’ 50th anniversary celebration with Shelley Gas kins at right. Shelley takes care of the Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose Garden.

Reader Contest

For our September 2022 Washington Gar dener Reader Contest, we are giving away five pairs of passes to the Fall Maryland Home and Garden Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds (prize value: $18).

If your home-sweet-home is looking more like a haunted house, the Fall Maryland Home and Garden Show has the contrac tors, DIY experts, and home amenities to spruce up your space for the holidays. The show’s special guest is professional pumpkin sculptor and veteran of the Food Network’s Halloween Wars, Nancy Baker. She’ll be showing off incredible creations and sharing tips to make your jack-o-lantern the talk of the neighborhood. Hun dreds of exhibitors will be on hand, offering everything from a full remodel of your kitchen and bath to hot tubs and fire pits for your outdoor spaces.

The Fall Maryland Home & Garden Show runs from Friday, October 21, through Sunday, October 23. See more details online at www.mdhomeandgarden.com/fall/.

To enter to win a pair of passes to the Maryland Home & Garden Show, send an email to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail.com by 5:00pm on September 30 with “Maryland Home & Garden Show” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in this issue and why. Please also include your full name and mailing address. Winners will be announced and noti fied on October 1. o

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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.

Reader Feedback

My favorite article in the August 2022 issue is on Cannas. I didn’t realize they could be 10 ft tall. I may try leaving some to over-winter against my southfacing brick wall.

~ Jennifer Whalen, Silver Spring, MD

My favorite article in this month’s (August 2022) Washington Gardener is “Janet Crouch: Greening Your HOA” for its information about actually dealing with an HOA. I know several folks who have wanted to have something other than the traditional lawn in their front yards but were told that they could not do so.

~ Phyllis Downey, Pasadena, MD

I especially enjoyed the article on wild geraniums in the August 2022 issue As I am early on my journey toward replacing my invasive plants with natives, I’m soaking up as much infor mation as I can on native perennials.

~ Susan Loewy, Gaithersburg, MD

My favorite article in the July 2022 Washington Gardener Magazine was the article on the Mourning Doves. I have a pair that hang around the shade of my yard and I love to see and hear them. Their soft cooing is something I love to hear.

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 nor mal 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 some place 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.

By the way, we live in Two Rivers, a fairly new development in Odenton, MD, with both “Active 55” and multiage housing areas for a total of 2,000 homes when complete. We have the opportunity to garden in a fairly large community garden, which has been in operation for about four years, in both raised bed plots and in-ground plots. Some folks are starting trellised fruit trees and there are a number of beehives that are also installed and managed by the bee enthusiasts. Food is starting to be donated to a local food bank. The developers will be turn ing over the garden management to the HOA and the residents later this year, so then the garden also will be managed completely by the residents. Currently, a few residents are advisors to the developer who officially runs the garden.

~ Jane F. Nelson, Odenton, MD o

By Brandie Bland

On Wednesday, Sept. 7, Montgomery Parks and Casey Trees hosted their 11th annual Urban Tree Summit confer ence.

This year, the Urban Tree Summit was presented in a hybrid format: three in-person field sessions and virtual ses sions hosted on Whova. The in-person field sessions took place at Pope Farm Nursery in Gaithersburg, MD; Birchwood City Recreation Area in Oxon Hill, MD; and Spring Valley Park in Washington, DC. The summit started out with a brief welcome, followed by presentations throughout the day and ended with information on the field sessions the following day.

Colter Burkes, the event organizer and senior urban forester for Montgom ery Parks, said, “This is the second year we had a hybrid format and in-person sessions. This format has worked well to reach a wide audience of people who want different things from a confer ence.”

This year’s conference hosted a diverse group of arboriculture present ers who, according to Caseytrees.org, focused on “the health and welfare of trees in our increasingly developed landscapes.” The conference was a great opportunity for local citizens to meet with and learn from arborists, social scientists, environmental devel opers, and green energy-focused busi

nesses that are leading the way in tech nologies focused on ways to keep the urban environment and trees healthy and thriving.

Montgomery Parks prides itself on creating a consistent and well-rounded summit that “offers attendees a high quality learning experience and ways to connect with each other,” Burkes said. There were about 300 attendees at this year’s conference.

Montgomery Parks’ work to edu cate the community about tree health extends beyond their annual summit: The organization hosts events through out the year, including an Arbor Day celebration around April of every year. “We educate people on the importance of trees in communities…we also have kid tree-climbing events at various loca tions across Montgomery County, which allow kids to climb high in trees using ropes and saddles to experience what it is like to climb trees like our arborists do,” Burkes said.

Why Nature and the Internet Go Hand-in-Hand

Dr. Nadina Galle, an ecological engineer based in the Netherlands, explored ways to connect nature with the inter net—a concept that is foreign to many.

“Nearly everything has undergone a digital transformation except nature. Our relationship with nature has remained offline,” Galle said.

The idea of bridging the gap between

nature and the internet is what inspired Galle to find more than 100 ways to bring nature online. Galle condensed this broad web of ideas into a single phrase: “Internet of Nature” or IoN for short. The Internet of Nature uses ecol ogy and technology together in a restor ative way that respects nature, rather than exploiting or taking from nature. The Internet of Nature uses different forms of technology, like satellite imag ing, remote sensing, and virtual reality.

“What if trees could tell humans what they need,” Galle asked.

Soil Mania, a company in the Neth erlands that Galle works with, does exactly that. Soil Mania deploys the Internet of Nature to allow trees to tweet and tell humans what they need. For the last five years, Galle has worked on developing wireless underground sensors that, as she says, “plug into the Earth’s internet,” to understand what a tree needs and where. The sen sors measure things like soil moisture, pH, salinity, temperature, and oxygen levels. The Internet of Nature takes the information collected by the sensors and turns it into data for city tree care managers, who then translate it into rules. The rules work as a baseline for criteria for a tree’s needs, so that when a particular tree meets those criteria, like a certain oxygen level, the data is translated into a shareable tweet that humans can understand.

A birch tree named Bowie in Liver

pool, England, is already participating in Galle and Soil Mania’s project. Fol low the tree on Twitter @bowiethebirch to see what Bowie has been telling humans it needs lately.

Soil Mania and the City of Liverpool’s research shows that when technology is intertwined with nature in thoughtful ways, it can create a big impact.

Galle also highlighted the need for humans to prioritize spending more time in nature and enhance the con nection between human health and exposure to nature.

Nature Quant, a U.S. company based in Oregon, analyzes satellite imagery, Google Street imagery, databases for GIS and land classification, noise and air pollution, and infra-tree canopy datasets to create a score of how good the nature in an area is at combating health and heart disease, depression, and anxiety.

“These nature-deficient areas tend to coincide with areas of great socioeconomic need,” Galle said.

Currently, the White House is consid ering using Nature Quant’s technology to target federal investments in naturedeficient areas. The Arbor Day Founda tion uses Nature Quant’s technology to help the foundation reach its goal to plant 500 million trees in the next five years.

In January of this year, Galle worked with Nature Quant to release an app called “Nature Dose.” Nature Dose is a personalized nature tracker that can monitor how much time a person spends indoors and how much nature a person is exposed to on a given day.

“Nobody talked about 10,000 steps a day before Fitbit came along, and my hope is that in the same way the Fitbit has revolutionized how many steps peo ple are getting every day, Nature Dose will do the same with your exposure to nature,” Galle said. Nature Dose is available to download at the Apple App Store and from Google Play.

Tiny Forest: Reconnecting City Dwellers to Nature

Daan Bleichrodt, the chief tree planting officer at IVN Nature Education, talked about his personal tiny forest journey and his love of connecting children to nature. Bleichrodt has led the tiny forest movement since 2014. He grew up in a

small village in the Netherlands, where one of his fondest memories in nature was trying to save his favorite tree from being cut down.

“We wrote to the municipality and col lected autographs to try and stop the tree from being cut down, but despite our best efforts, the tree was still cut down,” Bleichrodt said.

Bleichrodt was first inspired to try to create his own tiny forest using the Miyawaki method after watching Shub hendu Sharma’s TED Talk about how to create a tiny forest. The Miyawaki method is named after Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist who sought to bring “chinju no mori” to the world. Chinju no mori are forests built for pro tection around sacred Shinto shrines, Bleichrodt said.

Bleichrodt defines a tiny forest as “a native dense forest the size of a tennis court.”

In 2015, Bleichrodt and Sharma built the first tiny forest in Zaandam, the Netherlands. Preparation for the tiny forest required extensive soil prepara tion and for three trees to be planted per square meter. The Netherlands’ first tiny forest faced a lot of speculation because it was the first of its kind in Europe.

“The first year after planting it, scien tists discovered 172 different species of animals,” Bleichrodt said.

The need for more tiny forests is prevalent now more than ever due to global warming: Research has shown these forests are 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than surrounding areas and help cool cities.

After speaking to a child in a local community who had never been to a forest and had to travel 10 minutes by bike to the nearest one, Bleichrodt was inspired to find a way to reconnect urban children with nature.

“Three out of four people (in my coun try) live in an urban context and they don’t go to nature that often,” Bleich rodt said.

Bleichrodt was inspired to create a program called Tiny Forest Rangers, which helps kids become forest rangers and learn what forest rangers do. Along with the Tiny Forest Rangers program, each tiny forest is also equipped with outdoor classrooms where teachers

from the community can hold outdoor class sessions that allow the children to be fully immersed in nature.

“By immersing children in nature at a young age, they grow up to be healthy, happy, and more creative adults,” Bleichrodt said.

A Cornell University study found that children who can see nature and green spaces from their home’s windows are better able to cope with negative life experiences compared to children who cannot. “Growing up in nature made me want to protect nature,” Bleichrodt said.

Over the last seven years, 260 tiny forests have been planted throughout the Netherlands and 17,285 Tiny For est Rangers have joined the program. Bleichrodt and IVN plan to plant 100 more tiny forests by 2026 and 100 tiny forests with outdoor working spaces. They aim to have a tiny forest in every European Union (EU) member state before 2026.

Visit IVN’s website (ivn.nl) to learn more about tiny forests or find out how to start your own tiny forest.

Boosting Tree Immunity for Disease Control

Dr. Glynn Percival, senior arboricultural research manager at the Bartlett Tree Research and Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Reading, U.K., dis cussed tree management and disease control.

Over the last five years, disease, climate change, and invasive species have threatened native tree popula tions—with some facing extinction soon.

“Trees are naturally susceptible to tree diseases, but the frequency and severity of the tree disease is due to cli mate change,” Dr. Percival said.

Due to the constant and rapid threat of disease, disease management is critical so it doesn’t spread to other tree genera. In the realm of disease control for trees, there are mainly two options: management or destruction and remov al, with the latter being a last resort.

Tree disease management relies on either organic material or synthetic materials like fungicides and insec ticides. Although synthetic materials like fungicides can be successful at saving diseased trees, they must be applied before a certain stage and used

Stephanie Fleming Going Beyond Behnke’s

When a beloved local garden center, Behnke Nurseries, closed a few years ago, gardeners throughout our region mourned the passing of a “cherished Washington-area institution” as Adrian Higgins in The Washington Post wrote. Yet, there is life beyond Behnke’s, as Stephanie Fleming, former Behnke Nurseries vice president and grand daughter of the founders, tells us.

What is your background and experi ence at Behnke Nurseries?

I grew up in the little brick house on the grounds of Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville, MD, with my mother, Sonja, and my brother, John Peter Thompson. Growing up in a retail garden center was so much fun. We had 12 acres of adventure between the ponds and could play pretty much anywhere we wanted.

When my mother remarried, we moved to western Howard County when I was about 14 years old. I got a job working for a local wholesale grower, Walnut Springs Nursery, and met my soon-to-be husband, Jon Fleming. We got married young—I was 19 and he was 21—and we decided to start our wholesale nursery immediately. At our nursery, Hillside Nursery, we grew

annuals, garden mums, pansies, and poinsettias for 28 years till we closed in 2007.

We decided to close Hillside in 2006, and I went back to work for Behnke Nurseries, helped with market ing and advertising, and eventually became the Christmas Shop buyer, which I loved doing.

Once we closed Behnke’s in 2019, I decided to keep the weekly newsletter going to provide information to help our customers find other locally owned gar den centers and see that there is life after Behnke’s. My daughter, Jaimie, came up with the name “Beyond Behnke’s.” Besides the email newslet ter that goes out weekly, I also have an online gift store and go to local craft and home shows. I have also become a sales consultant with a company called Norwex, which is all about creating safe havens in our homes by cleaning with out toxic chemicals.

What are your fondest memories of Behnke Nurseries?

I write a lot about “growing up Behnke,” as I call it. I loved everything about the place I called home for so many years. I loved being able to help with transplanting. When I was just a little

girl, I collected duck feathers and sold them to customers who only wanted to buy some plants. We had the best play ground with a large silver slide, see saws, and a killer merry-go-round (that we still managed to survive!). As I got older, I was able to be a cashier, which was a lot of fun, and then I helped my mother and Aunt Ele Behnke with the Christmas shop. There were always things to be priced, bows to be made, and customers to help. Being around our customers and seeing how happy our garden center made them made me appreciate retailing.

My more recent memories of the time after I came back to work would be the people. We had the very best people working for us and I am better for knowing each of them.

Can you describe Behnke Nurseries closing and the future site plans?

Behnke Nurseries closed in June 2019. The management team and the family worked together to have an exit plan, and I am very proud of how we did it. Our employees were informed a long time before we announced it to our customers, and I think it says a lot that most of them stayed till the very end. It has been a long three years since our last day of business, but finally, the structures came down this year. The new infrastructure is going in for the 7-Eleven located on the corner of Howard and US1. It is exciting that this local 7-Eleven will be relocating to the Behnke property. For so long, they were a few blocks away and the go-to place for our staff to get coffee and the best hot dogs!

Are you still in contact with former Behnke Nurseries employees?

Absolutely! We met once a month before COVID stopped everything, but slowly we started back up. We meet at a terrific local restaurant called Remington’s, within walking distance of Behnke’s. Also, a former employee from the 1970s started a private Behnke Alumni Facebook group where many share memories, photos, and updates about what is happening in everyone’s lives.

I am in touch weekly with Behnke’s favorite horticulturist, Larry Hurley, who

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

is (and has always been) my sounding board, plus he edits my weekly email. Larry Bristow, who was Behnke’s opera tions manager and lived with his family the longest in that little brick house on the Behnke property, is someone else that I am always in touch with. He created and maintains my Beyond Behnke’s website, plus explains the ins and outs of all things techy to me. (Anyone needing a good website really should contact Larry Bristow at Basic Website Designers.) I am also lucky that when folks ask me questions that I cannot answer, Carol Allen (The Orchid Lady) and Miri Talabac (Behnke’s for mer woody plant buyer) are always right there, giving me the facts.

Social media has made being in contact with my friends from Behnke’s so much easier. Along with phone calls and lunch dates, it is always nice to catch up with old friends.

Do you garden for yourself? If so, what do you like to grow?

For so long, while my husband and I had our wholesale nursery, we did not have the time to garden. We raised the plants for others. However, once I returned to Behnke’s and he retired, I started bringing home trees, shrubs, and perennials. Landscaping for the Flemings finally arrived. I was always an annual girl, but now I will say, peren nials also have a special place in my heart. My absolute favorite plants are African Violets and pansies.

What advice would you give beginner gardeners in the greater DC area?

First, start small and accept that some things will do okay and others won’t. The main thing, however, is to find a local garden center and explore what they offer. Talk to the staff and read the labels. Read articles like you will see here in the Washington Gardener Magazine or on Beyond Behnke’s website. Just keep trying. Keep a gar den journal about what works and what does not—what plants you love, and where you planted them. Join a garden club. Most of all, SHOP LOCAL. Support your local independent garden centers.

What do you do when not working?

I do not consider what I am doing now as working. I love to write, and I love

people, so Beyond Behnke’s brings me joy. Plus, going to the craft shows—I get to meet so many wonderful people, along with many of our customers who take the time to drive out and say hello. I also am having a blast selling Norwex products and learning the ins and outs of this business. When I am not doing these things, I see my mother, Sonja Behnke Festerling, each day and enjoy my grandchildren. I also enjoy reading and listening to audiobooks.

How can our readers contact you or find out more?

You can reach me at beyondbehnkes. com or my email, sfleming@behnkes. com. I would love for you to join our weekly Beyond Behnke’s email list, which you can enter from the front page of our website. o

sparingly because tree diseases can become immune to the fungicide.

Current work by the Bartlett Tree Research and Diagnostic Laboratory is focused on the science behind vac cinating trees, along with the induced resistance (IR) concept.

Tree vaccination—or the idea of inducing resistance—was discovered in the 20th century. Inducing resistance usually involves taking a healthy tree and exposing it to one that is diseased to promote disease resistance. The idea of induced resistance agents and plant protection technology has led to the creation of commercial IR agents commonly used by professionals and at-home gardeners, like Agri-Fos (potas sium phosphite). Induced resistance agents work by being applied at differ ent points of growth, depending on the type of IR agent being used. These IR agents can protect against diseases like scab and blight.

Percival has worked on the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth II stayed occasionally, and the back gar dens of Buckingham Palace.

Percival can be reached at gpercival@bartlett.com with any ques tions about tree health and disease.

Trees in Cities: Health and Economic Value

Kathleen Wolf, a research social sci entist at the University of Washington,

primarily focused on trees’ impact on human health, specifically concentrat ing on mental health. Wolf’s research examines the micro scale and experi ences people have in nature.

Wolf spends a lot of time doing “research to carefully collect and syn thesize peer-reviewed evidence con cerning urban trees and human health.”

“Having trees in our surroundings pro motes general wellness,” she said.

Wolf finds that people who spend 20 to 30 minutes day in nature feel less stress, while those who spend more than 30 minutes a day in nature expe rience a decrease in depression and blood pressure, and those who have one garden visit a week experience less depression. People who spend 120 minutes a week outside experience a high state of well-being .

“Having trees in our communities benefits people in all stages of the human life cycle—cradle to grave—the very earliest hours and days of our lives to the very end,” Wolf said.

Like other presenters, Wolf high lighted studies that show having some interaction with nature benefits children from as young as kindergarten to high school age. Studies find that students who experience nature have higher standardized test scores and gradua tion rates. In adulthood, interacting with nature helps reduce cardiovascular dis ease, obesity, and feelings of anger and frustration.

The link between health issues and lack of movement is a driving force for debt in the medical field as more people are diagnosed with chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses every day.

“If nature is a motivation for healthy lifestyles and can help diminish chronic diseases, there’s potential healthcare savings across society,” Wolf said.

Wolf suggests that everyone spend more time outside in nature, especially since studies are showing declines in mental health during the pandemic. o

Brandie Bland is a senior multi-platform journalism major in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an intern this fall with Washington Gardener.

Urban Tree Summit continued from page 7

TIPStricks

Eat Your Greens and Wash Them, Too

Urban gardens offer many benefits for individual health, communities, and ecosystems, according to the Soils Matters blog. They promote sustainable agriculture, reduce food transporta tion costs, and reduce water runoff. However, urban gardeners also face several challenges, one of which is dealing with contaminants like lead.

Lead is a neurotoxin that can damage multiple organ systems. “It is incredibly important to know if urban gardeners are being exposed to lead when they consume their produce,” says Sara Perl Egendorf, a researcher at Cornell University.

Egendorf is the lead author of a new study that shows washing lettuce grown in urban gardens can remove most lead contamination. The study was pub lished in the Journal of Environmental Quality, a publication of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.

Urban gardeners grow a wide variety of crops. This study focused on lettuce because predicting lead levels in leafy greens—like lettuce—can be tricky.

“Leafy greens often have intricate sur faces,” says Egendorf. These surfaces can trap lead-containing soil particles that may be hard to wash off. “We really didn’t know if washing lettuce could effectively remove contaminated soil.”

Egendorf and her colleagues grew lettuce in an urban community garden in Brooklyn, NY, and in a rural field site in Ithaca, NY, in soils containing either high or low levels of lead. The research ers tested different washing strategies: rinsing with tap water, soaking in water, soaking in vinegar, or soaking in a com mercial vegetable wash solution.

The conclusion? Washing effectively removed lead contamination from let tuce leaves. “All the wash methods we tested worked,” says Egendorf. “We also found that washing lettuce grown in low-lead soils was still important to reduce lead levels before consuming.” Some unwashed lettuce grown in lowlead soils had elevated lead levels. All unwashed lettuce grown in high-lead soils had lead levels above government standards. Washing reduced lead levels

to below these guidelines in all cases.

The study also showed that manage ment practices like mulching and using hoop houses, or small greenhouses, are effective at reducing lead contamina tion on lettuce by keeping contaminated particles away from the plants.

“Lettuce grown in bare soil can be contaminated with lead in different ways,” says Egendorf. The plants can absorb small amounts of lead through their roots. Soil particles contaminated with lead can splash onto the plants, during watering, for instance. Finally, lead particles from pollutants in the atmosphere can land on lettuce leaves. The good news is that much of this lead can be washed off. According to this study, 97% of lead from splashing and 91% from atmospheric deposition were washed off lettuce.

Mulching the soil around lettuce can prevent lead-contaminated soil particles from splashing. Hoop houses can pro tect plants from lead contaminants in the atmosphere or dust being blown by wind. Both practices reduce lead contamination of lettuce grown in urban gardens.

“We found that these management practices are effective at preventing soil splash and lead deposition on plants,” says Egendorf.

Combining effective management practices and washing gave the best results. For example, mulching alone reduced lead levels in unwashed let tuce by 76%. Washing alone reduced lead levels by a further 85%. Together, mulching and washing reduced lead lev els found on lettuce by almost 97%.

Reducing exposure to lead is of the utmost importance, says Egendorf. Children are especially at risk from lead exposure because lead can cause major harm to brain development. In adults, long-term exposure to lead can cause many issues, which include kid ney damage and a decline in cardiovas cular and nervous system health. Lead exposure has been shown to cause more than 400,000 premature deaths per year in the United States.

Egendorf and colleagues are sharing their findings with organizations, agen cies, and extension specialists to make sure they have access to strategies for safe and effective gardening. o

Planting Flower Bulbs: A Garden Party Idea

If you want to enjoy beautiful colors in the garden in spring, fall is the perfect time to plant flower bulbs. Why not undertake this fun activity with oth ers and plant your bulbs together with some fun company?

Planting flower bulbs yourself is fun! Why not make it a garden party with your partner, children, or friends? You will have fun together, and come the spring, you will enjoy beautiful flowers. During planting, you will discover that flower bulbs don’t exactly look like they will produce beautiful flowers later. But looks can be deceiving; those beautiful flowers will really appear. As a bonus, they will bring back memories of the planting party.

In addition to bringing you great joy, flower bulbs are excellent for biodiver sity. In early spring, not many flowers are available that provide pollen to feed insects like bees and butterflies.

Planting flower bulbs consists of sev eral steps.

1. Loosen the soil with a spade where you want to plant the flower bulbs. This makes the soil easier to work with.

2. If you are creating a new planting bed, it might be advisable to amend the soil with some organic fertilizer such as compost.

3. Dig a hole with a trowel or bulb planter and plant the flower bulbs in it with their points facing up and their roots facing down.

4. Make sure that the bulbs are planted at a depth three times the height of the bulb itself. (A daffodil bulb 2 inches tall should thus be planted at a depth of 6 inches.)

5. Fill the hole with the previously removed soil and tamp down the sur face gently.

6. Water immediately after planting if the soil is not already moist. This will ensure that the flower bulbs will start growing roots right away.

It’s good to know that you can’t really get it wrong. Even if you accidentally plant the flower bulbs upside down, they will still manage to find their way up to the light.

To learn more about flower bulbs, take a look at www.flowerbulbs.com o

New Plant Spotlight

Eutrochium fistulosum ‘Jo Jo’ PPAF

Kind Earth Growers is pleased to introduce Eutrochium fistulosum ‘Jo Jo’. It was found as a chance seed ling in Ottsville, PA, in 2017 among other Eutrochium fistulosum growing in our nursery seed plots.

This is a new Joe Pye Weed cultivar of Eutrochium that is characterized by its double flowers that are vibrant pink in color, its upright and relatively compact habit, and stems that are dark maroon in color at maturity. It is also sterile.

For more information, visit www. kindearthgrowers.com.

Plant Facts

Blooming Season: From 4–6 weeks in late summer in PA, Eco-region 64b

Plant type: Herbaceous perennial

Plant habit: Upright, relatively com pact

Height and Spread: An average of 35 47 inches (3 4 ft) in height as a mature plant when grown in the landscape. Spread is 35 inches in maturity.

Hardiness: Zones 4 to 8

Benefits: Great pollinator attractor with special value to honeybees Disease and Pests: No susceptibility or resistance to diseases or pests has been observed o

Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts

• Dianthus Plant Profile

• Cool Season Seedlings

• Crapemyrtles

• Environmentally Friendly Gardening

See more Washington Gardener blog posts at: WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com o

September–October Garden To-Do List

• Keep an eye out for the first frost date. In Zone 6, it is expected between September 30 and October 30. In Zone 7, it is predicted for between October 15 and November 15.

• Divide and transplant perennials—in particular, peonies and iris.

• Pick apples at a local pick-your-own farm or visit a local farmer’s market.

• Pot up rosemary and chives for over-wintering indoors.

• Take cuttings from coleus and begonias to propagate and overwinter indoors.

• Look out for poison ivy vines, which will turn crimson in the fall and be easy to distinguish from other vines.

• Check your local garden center for end-of-summer bargains.

• Put netting over your pond to prevent the accumulation of leaves and debris.

• Start feeding birds to get them in the habit for this winter.

• Attend a local garden club meeting or plant exchange.

• Pick mature tomatoes and peppers to ripen on your window sills.

• Turn your compost pile weekly and don’t let it dry out. Work compost into your planting beds.

• Remove undeveloped or shriveled fruit from fruit trees and compost them.

• Plant evergreens for winter interest.

• Plant garlic bulbs.

• Collect plant seeds for next year’s planting and for trading at the annual Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchanges.

• Plant hardy mums and fall season annuals.

• Fertilize your lawn and re-seed if needed.

• Dig up your Gladiolus, Canna, Caladiums, and other tender bulbs; cut off foliage; let dry for a week; and store for the winter.

• Transplant trees and shrubs.

• Harvest your herbs often and keep them trimmed back to encourage leafy growth.

• Bring in houseplants if you took them outdoors for the summer.

• If your conifers start shedding their needles or your spring bulb foliage starts peeking out of the ground, don’t worry. This is normal for our autumn cycle.

• Leave hummingbird feeders out until October 15.

• Start bulb plantings of early-spring bloomers at the end of the month.

• Watch your pumpkins/squash. Harvest them when their rinds are dull and hard.

• Divide ornamental grasses.

• Cut herbs and flowers for drying indoors.

• Plant strawberries in a site with good drainage for harvesting next spring.

• Look out for slug eggs grouped under sticks and stones—they are the size of BBs and pale in color.

• Plant cover crops in vegetable gardens and annual beds (for example, rye, clover, hairy vetch, and winter peas).

• Begin conditioning the Poinsettias and Christmas cacti to get them ready for the upcoming holiday season.

• Bring Amaryllis indoors before a hard freeze. Repot every other year at this time. Store in a cool, dark place and do not water until flower buds or leaves emerge.

• Your summer annuals will be reviving now with cooler temps and some rain. Cut back any ragged growth and give them some fertilizer. They should put on a good show until the first hard frost. o

Russian Sage

By Kathy Jentz

This woody perennial or “sub shrub” is not actually Russian. (It is native to the grassland areas of western China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.) It is a terrific filler plant for the garden border with its silvery-green foliage and bright violet-blue flower spikes that bloom from mid-summer into fall.

This sage is a close relative to Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) and when you brush by it, you’ll notice its strong herbal odor.

Russian Sage (Salvia yangii, previously known as Perovskia atriplicifolia) requires at least six hours of sun. It prefers a lean, rocky soil, but regular garden soil is fine. It doesn’t like heavy clay soil, however. It does best in garden situa tions with great drainage, such as along a retaining wall or curb.

Russian Sage is drought-tolerant, deer-proof, and seldom troubled by disease or pests.

Pollinators love it. Bees and hummingbirds are especially attracted to the small, tubular flowers that blossom in rows along its stems.

Don’t fertilize it—doing so will encourage leggy growth and this sage has a ten dency to spread wide and flop a bit. Plant it among other tall perennials for sup port and for an attractive contrast. Try it with ornamental grasses, tall sedums, and mums.

It is best planted in the spring, rather than in the fall. Leave it up in winter because the silhouettes of the white-ish stems are quite attractive, then cut the whole plant down to the ground in March.

Some commonly available cultivars to try include ‘Blue Spire’, ‘Filigran’, ‘Longin’, and a dwarf cultivar called ‘Little Spire’. o

Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener.

Classes, Events, and Plant Shows/Sales

• Saturday, September 24, 1–4pm

Uncommon Evergreen and Deciduous Azaleas Plant Sale

Conducted by the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Azalea Society of Ameri ca (NV-ASA). All sales will be outside the Kirkwood Presbyterian Church, 8336 Carrleigh Parkway, Springfield, VA. See details at www.nv-asa.org/sale.

• Saturday, September 24, 8–10am

Weed Wrangle at Tudor Place Historic House and Garden

Participate in the Weed Wrangle at Tudor Place to help remove invasive species from a historic house museum in the heart of Georgetown. Tudor Place was home to the Peter family from 1805 until 1983. The estate’s first owners were Martha Custis Peter and Thomas Peter. Martha Custis was born at Mount Vernon, the granddaughter of Martha Washington and step-grand daughter of George Washington. More info at TudorPlace.org.

• Saturday, October 1, 10am–2pm

USNA Fall Festival & Bulb Sale

Buy bags of flower bulbs, enjoy familyfriendly activities, and visit with local vendors. They’ll have wide varieties of tulips, irises, muscari, hyacinths, alliums, and more. Registration is pre ferred, but not required, at FONA.org.

• Saturday, October 1, 8am–3pm

Mt. Vernon Plant Sale

Shop for Plants Grown at Mount Vernon: The cooler fall weather makes it a great time to plant perennials, trees, and shrubs. In addition to heirloom plants, Mt. Vernon sells many plants native to our region that are beautiful and sup port the local insect, bird, and wildlife population. The exclusive General’s Choice line features plants propagated from seeds or cuttings collected from plants growing on George Washington’s estate. Details at https://www.mount vernon.org/plan-your-visit/calendar/ events/mount-vernon-historic-plant-andgarden-sale/.

• Thursday, October 6, 10:30 am

Managing Deer and Other Mammals in the Garden

Bambi may be cute, but he and his mother, cousins, and the rest of the herd are very hungry and would love to make a feast of your garden. This talk will cover proven and humane tactics for protecting your garden from deer, rabbits, squirrels, rats, groundhogs, and other creatures that are attracted to both edible and ornamental gardens. Speaker: Kathy Jentz, publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine and host of the GardenDC podcast. Register at https://ladewgardens.com/.

• Friday, October 7, 10–11:30am

Leave the Leaves! and Other Benefi cial Composting Practices

Fall is the perfect time to practice good composting and mulching practices for your trees and plant beds and to start a compost system to create black gold for your spring garden. Instead of raking leaves to the curb, allow fallen leaves to feed your trees, enrich the soil, and provide overwinter protection for roots and habitat for insects. Northern Vir ginia Extension Master Gardener Nina DeRosa discusses where to compost, what to compost and what not to com post, and how to manage your compost system. Free. Held via Zoom. Register at https://mgnv.org/.

• Saturday, October 8, 10am–3pm

U.S. Botanic Garden’s Fall Festival

A day of plant fun at their fall festival celebrating agriculture. Bring all of your senses to explore your connection to plants through food, music, and sci ence. Discover activities for all ages including cooking demonstrations, mak ing your own seed paper, opportunities to engage with the garden’s experts, and more. Held on the Terrace of the U.S. Botanic Garden (Rain Location: Conservatory). Free: No pre-registration required. This program is sponsored in part by the Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden. See https://www.usbg.gov/.

• Saturday, October 8, 9am–3:30pm

African Violet Sale

The Baltimore African Violet Club will be selling African violets and gesneriads (AV “cousins”), leaves, pots, and other

plant-related items. Held at the Joppa town Amish Market. Find out about this event or about joining the club at www. baltimoreafricanvioletclub.com.

• Thursday, October 20, 6:30–8pm

Getting Your Garden Ready for Winter Gardeners are often overwhelmed by the long to-do list of garden tasks. Learn what chores are essential and which you can safely skip as you pre pare your garden for winter while making a big difference to the suc cess of next year’s garden. Kathy Jentz shares her best cost-saving tips and teaches you how to “batten down the hatches” for winter’s worst weather. Held live online. Hosted by Brookside Gardens. Fee: $12 | FOBG $10. Reg ister for class #PBG0062 300001 at ActiveMONTGOMERY.org.

Looking Ahead

• Saturday, October 29, 9am–12pm

Garden Symposium: Urban Gardening and Design 101

Do you have a small space, but big garden dreams? In this half-day sym posium, turn your growing dreams into reality and learn how to build a gor geous and unique garden that showcas es your personal style, while still being functional and productive. Presenters Kathy Jentz and Teri Speight share tips and tricks from their new book, The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City, to bring style and practicality into your own garden. $62 per person. Code 52Y.ZVNK. Register online at www.fairfaxcounty. gov/parks/parktakes or call Green Spring Gardens at 703-642-5173.

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 October 5 for the October 2022 issue, for events taking place after October 15. o

Fall is the Time to Plant Great Shallots

deep,” meaning the depth of one onion set, shallot set, etc. However, I have found that this depth is too shallow. With a good 2 inches of soil on top of the set, a shallot set is much less likely to be spit out of the soil during the Mid-Atlantic winter’s many freeze-thaw cycles. Mulching with straw also helps prevent the sets from being spit out of the soil.

Shallot Set Planting Time

By Barbara Melera

Shallots are believed to have originated in the region of Palestine and Israel, specifically a port city now a part of Israel known as Ashkelon. It is a curi ous fact that the term, scallion, which we use to describe bunching onions, is a corruption of Ashkelon. The shallot’s scientific name, Allium cepa, describes a group of onion-like plants, including onions, walking onions, and multiplier onions. Years ago, shallots were called multiplier onions, but today that term is reserved for a special class of onions. Sometime during the 1600s, shallots were introduced into the United States and have been a part of American cui sine ever since.

The shallot sets called “Jermor Red” are botanically known as Allium cepa ‘Jermor’. These tasty bulbs were devel oped in France from shallots introduced from the Middle East in the 11th cen tury. They became increasingly popular during the 17th century and spread to the U.S. and throughout Europe. The Jermor Red shallot has been grown in the United States since the 1820s. The flesh is streaked with red and has a dis tinctive nutty flavor. Jermor’s soft flavor blends well with duck, squab, and other fowl with dark meat. The bulbs produce large green tops that are better than chives and more delicate than spring onions.

Shallots are sold as sets, but unlike onion sets, where each “set” is a baby onion and will produce a single mature onion, a shallot set can be a nearly

mature single shallot that will produce four to six mature shallots. From a single sack of eight shallots, you should expect to get 32 to 48 shallots.

Amending the Soil

Shallots benefit greatly from being planted in soil that has been amended with Rock Phosphate and Potash. You can dust the soil with both nutrients before turning it under to plant the shal lot sets or you can dust the soil with the nutrients after you have planted the shallot sets. I usually dust the soil after I have planted the shallot sets.

Shallots should be planted about 2 inches deep. The rule of thumb for planting garlic, onions, elephant garlic, and shallots is to plant them a “set

Shallots should be planted late in the fall. In USDA Hardiness Zones 4–6, shallots should be planted in late October through November and sometimes early December, depend ing on the autumn weather. What you want to achieve by planting the shal lot sets in the fall is having the shallot produce enough of a root structure to anchor it firmly in the soil and keep it firmly anchored through the winter frost heaves caused by the freeze-thaw cycles. In USDA Hardiness Zones 7–9, shallot sets should not be planted before December.

Plant your sets at least 6 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart. The shallot sets may produce a little bit of green growth during the fall, but this will die back when hit by repeated frosts.

Throughout the winter, if you have access to ashes from a fireplace or woodburning stove, dust the surface of the soil where you planted the shallots with the ashes. They love this. In late winter, before shoots appear, dust your shallot garden with some lime. This will

sweeten your shallots.

In the spring, each shallot set will begin to form a cluster of shallots and produce a grouping of small, onion-like green leaves. They are quite pretty and can make a lovely garden border if space is at a premium in your garden. Do not apply additional fertilizer in the spring and do not water once the shal lots themselves have begun to break the surface of the soil.

Shallot Harvesting

One of the many things I love about shallots is that they are very outspo ken, and when they are ready to be harvested, they let you know. Their top growth turns mostly brown and falls over. “Get us out of here!” they shout, as they emerge fully from the soil, splay ing themselves dramatically over the surface of the soil. When this happens, it is time to harvest. The shallot clusters are very easy to harvest—a trowel and your hand pulling the top growth of the cluster is all that you need.

Once all the shallots have been removed from the soil, they have to be dried. Pick a dry place that has good air circulation and is out of direct sunlight. The place does not have to be dark. Arrange the shallots in a single layer and knock off as much soil as possible. Depending on the outside weather, it will take two to three weeks for the shallots to cure.

Once the shallots have dried, you can store them, and the following advice is the most valuable of this article.

Shallots deteriorate very rapidly, last ing no more than one to two months unless you store them in the refrigera tor. If stored in the refrigerator, shallots last forever (well, not really, but for more than a year, anyway). I learned this lesson the hard way from losing several crops to rot, so I am sharing this garden wisdom with you. Stored shal lots last so much longer than onions or garlic. It is truly amazing.

Although shallots can be planted in late winter/early spring, it is much, much better to plant them in the fall. They are very hardy from Hardiness Zones 4 8. They are some of the most interesting plants you can grow, especially because they emerge from the soil when they are ready to be har vested.

Shallots are such a great vegetable to grow in your garden and so very ver satile. They can replace onions in any dish, and they are heavenly and crispy when fried. They outlast all the other root vegetables, which makes them much more economical. I hope you will try shallots this year. Once you do, they will become a permanent part of your garden repertoire o

Barbara Melera is the president of Harvest ing History (www.harvesting-history.com), a company founded in 2016 to provide horti cultural and agricultural products, largely of the heirloom variety, along with garden tools and equipment.

GardenDC Podcast

The GardenDC podcast is all about gardening in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic area. The pro gram is hosted by Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, and features guest experts in local and national horticulture. The lat est episodes include interviews with experts on Crapemyrtles, Japanese Maples, and Harvesting Vegetables. You can listen online at https:// washingtongardener.blogspot.com/ or on Spotify, Apple, etc o

The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City IS OUT NOW!

By Kathy Jentz and Teresa Speight

A Friend Indeed Staunch Supporters of Brookside Gardens

By Jaime Breeden

When you step out of the parking lot and off the arched, wooden bridge at the entrance of Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, what’s the first thing you notice? Are your eyes drawn to the dazzling, multicolored displays of flow ers that dot the 50-acre estate, or the picturesque views from the top of the tea garden’s walking path? Could it be that the architecture pulls you into the visitor center, or that the many, fluores cent flamingo cut-outs lead you to the conservatory? Or are you, like dozens of others, pulled into the gaggle of gar deners grouped at the garden’s south side terrace to bring home a little piece of Brookside’s beauty?

The Friends of Brookside Gardens (FOBG), a not-for-profit group dedicated to funding and assisting the garden’s facilities, held their annual plant sale Saturday, September 10, drawing in vis itors like bees to a meadow. The sale, featuring nearly 100 varieties of peren nials, shrubs, and evergreens, is one of

the main events in FOBG’s fundraising efforts. According to FOBG president and marketing committee chair Anne Roland, the organization brought in 1,370 plants, including perennials, shrubs, and evergreens. They sold about 95 percent of them. The rest were donated to Brookside Gardens for their plantings, as well as the Healing Garden at Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

“We’re really amazed at people’s interest in plants and planting,” Roland said. “It’s amazing how interested and committed people are to that.”

Brookside Gardens themselves have been around since 1969; in fact, the original conservatory, built a year before the opening, is still in use today. Stephanie Oberle, director of Brookside, described the grounds’ founding as a commitment to teach

and inspire aspiring gardeners in the community to start sowing their own seeds, which has sprouted into over a million visitors to the garden each year.

“I think we’re one of the most amaz ing spaces in Montgomery County. We’re open seven days a week, from sunrise to sunset, with no admission,” Oberle said. “That creates a very dif ferent atmosphere from some of some other public gardens, that have a fee and are only open 9 to 5.”

With nearly 1,000 members, the FOBG is no stranger to commitment, having thus far donated over $1.6 mil lion to Brookside Gardens since the booster organization’s establishment 26 years ago. Those funds don’t just go toward plant cuttings and water ing cans, either, FOBG also sponsors events on the garden’s grounds like Children’s Day, featuring parent and child yoga, as well as a “Drag Queen Story Hour” on the lawn outside the vis itor’s center, causing a fairly peaceful garden to become a hyperactive hive, abuzz with activity.

Despite the hustle and bustle of the annual plant sale, a few people found respite in the ruckus. Among them was FOBG’s 91-year-old founder, Joan O’Rourke.

“When we first started, we didn’t have a lot of people coming. I took the presidency for 12 years,” O’Rourke said, watching over the sale from her camping chair. “After that, I said, ‘Come on, please!’ And then I was able to get

people, you know, our organization has grown. Everybody has been wonderful.”

Although O’Rourke doesn’t run the organization any more, she’s still

Photo by Doug Wolters—TimePoints Photography.

involved in Brookside’s affairs, working in the garden’s new greenhouse and personally managing the FOBG’s annu al plant sale, where she hand-picks all the plants for it, knowing they’ll make for beautiful blooms and foliage in the next growing season.

“Everyone kept saying, ‘Why do you wanna do it in the fall?’ I said, ‘That’s because nobody else has [such an event] in the fall,’” she said with a smile. “Some plants in here, if you get them in the ground now, they’ll develop good roots over the winter and, come spring, they’ll start growing and be gor geous.”

Aside from the plant sale and event sponsorships, FOBG is active in promot ing the gardens in a myriad of ways. “They are very outspoken advocates for Brookside Gardens during the budget season,” Oberle said. “As an example, we are scheduled to build a new con servatory to replace our 53-year-old conservatory and FOBG has been advo cating for full funding for our conserva tory and other projects.”

On the horizon, in addition to its usual events, Brookside is featuring a more recent addition called “Strolls for Well-being,” which Oberle pitches as a way to bolster one’s mental health with self-reflection exercises and journal ing while walking the gardens for their physical health.

“This is a program that we offer based on a program that another public garden developed to encourage people to use the garden as a therapist to help them work through any kind of issues or concerns they might have.”

In the meantime, the Friends of Brookside Gardens will continue to organize, recruit, and raise funds for the park, and O’Rourke is looking to push the envelope in the years to come.

“Last year, we had a complete sell-off before lunch. This morning, every table was up. I mean, this place was loaded. And for next year, we’ll do it even bigger and better.” o

Jaime Breeden is a fourth-year journal ism student at the University of Maryland, College Park and an intern this fall session with Washington Gardener

Succulent Style: A Gardener’s Guide to Growing and Crafting with Succulents

Author: Julie Hillier

Publisher: Yellow Pear Press/Mango Publishing

List Price: $28.99

Order Links: https://amzn.to/3qMYUuq and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781642507850

Reviewer: Jaime Breeden

Succulent Style: A Gardener’s Guide to Growing and Crafting with Succulents details the process of styl ing, growing, and making crafts with various species of succulent plants. That order of operations may read like putting the cart before the horse, but that’s how the book is laid out. Where a more beginner-friendly guide may start with what a succulent is or how you go about keeping one alive long enough to turn into a wedding cake topper or birdhouse, the first thing this book chooses to dive into is in-depth artistic theory, as though your land scaper had a bachelor’s degree in fine art, but that’s no surprise considering the book’s author.

Julie Hillier has been in the business of succulent styling for roughly 20 years now, long enough to understand the ins and outs as well as anyone could. It makes sense to demonstrate design before all else when growing the suc culents is the easiest part for someone picking up this book.

That being said, if you’d never seen a succulent before, the growing section is likely to have the answers to all your questions, although for someone with

my experience level, some terminology required Googling, because the book assumes the reader has some level of experience with gardening generally in addition to an interest in succulents specifically.

The first chapter largely demon strates the sort of large-scale projects done by professional garden design ers, such as Jim Bishop’s one-acre garden with mosaic walkways and wide swathes of multi-specie plant beds for meters in all directions or Mike Pyle’s resort-like architectural style of working plants into personalized oases in more metropolitan locations.

The author details how best to plot different plants together, color coordi nate rocks, and design artificial creek beds with recycled materials. For me, it was a lot to take in, but it immediately captured my attention and sprouted ideas for how best to draw the eye from plant to plant, carving a little slice of horticultural heaven out of even the most arid land. A far cry from the multiseason, often-humid climate of our neck of the woods. Many of Hillier’s tips and tricks are also applicable to smaller, indoor ventures, going so far as to devise improvisational plant ers from common household objects. Miniature glass terrariums, hollowed out books, driftwood—she even shows the steps to turn spare rope into a hanging cradle and a self-contained ball of soil to hang within.

But what is there to do with the plant in that ball of soil? Well, the book’s final act details a surprising number of crafts you can make with your new succulents. Corsages, birdhouse deco rations, rings, dog collars, and Hillier’s own succulent wreaths, with step-bystep pictures detailing the whole pro cess and methods to prolong the life of your chosen creation. It is fascinating to read how many things you can make with some plants, wire, and tape. I could see a few people I know doing this sort of thing, had they the green thumb to grow these plants in the first place. But this book does seem like a good place to start.

Overall, Hillier’s Succulent Style: A Gardener’s Guide to Growing and Crafting with Succulents is a good primer for the succulent-curious and

the enthusiast to dig into a new style of gardening. It’s not the most begin ner-friendly; depending on your own comfort and experience level, you are likely to need some online research to pair with the book. But Hillier does a good job of stitching together all these artistic concepts and ideas to give any one with some time and soil enough inspiration to open a whole new world of cropportunities. o

Jaime Breeden is a fourth-year journal ism student at the University of Maryland, College Park and an intern this fall session with Washington Gardener.

100 Plants to Feed the Monarch: Create a Healthy Habitat to Sustain North America’s Most Beloved Butterfly

Authors: Eric Lee-Mäder, Stephanie Frischie, Emma Pelton, Sarina Jepsen, Stephanie McKnight, and Scott Hoffman Black

Publisher: Storey Publishing List Price: $16.95

Order Links: https://amzn.to/3dpGFbn and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781635862737

Reviewer: Brandie Bland

The monarch butterfly, North America’s most beloved insect, is a migratory species which is now facing extinction. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexip pus), easily identifiable by its beautiful orange wings, is endangered due to climate change and habitat loss.

If you are a monarch butterfly lover looking for more information about how your garden can join the conservation fight, you need to pick up a copy of the Xerces Society’s book, 100 Plants to Feed the Monarch.

This well-written and well-researched book provides an in-depth look at the monarch butterfly species and teaches gardeners of all skill levels how they can help the monarchs by growing plants they depend on for survival.

The book is split into two main sec tions: “North American Royalty” and “The Plants Monarchs Need.”

“North American Royalty” breaks down the lifecycle of the monarch as a species and covers how we can protect the species by creating safe habitats. “The Plants Monarchs Need” explores monarch habitats and plant life, and offers in-depth plant profiles of mon arch-friendly plantings that are heavy

on substance without becoming dense or overly academic.

The first plant profile highlights the only plant monarch caterpillars like to eat: milkweed. Milkweed gets its name from the milky latex fluid found in its leaves and stems. There are 75 milk weed species native to North America and this section of the book lists milk weeds by name (English and Latin), along with things like the type of soil moisture it needs, its bloom time, and how much sun exposure it requires.

For readers who may not have a green thumb, don’t fret: This book is easy to follow and tells you all you need to know about growing the plants mon archs need.

After milkweeds, the book takes readers along for a journey to learn about non-milkweed host plants, native wildflowers, and trees and shrubs that are helpful to monarchs. There is also a brief section that explains how the plants in this book help other pollina tors, which includes a guide to other sources to learn more about the mon arch and the plants it loves.

100 Plants to Feed the Monarch is a breezy, sturdy quick reference that you can toss into your favorite gar dening tote. It gets high marks for its easy-to-understand plant profiles and plenty of helpful reference photos and colorful graphics. If you like to read books with a more theoretical tilt, this may not be the book for you, but if you enjoy a straight to the point, hands-on reference, then look no further. This is a beginner-friendly book for both gar deners and monarch conservationists

alike—a great addition to any bookshelf. Whether you are worried about the monarch’s plight or an avid gardener making a planting plan for your back yard garden to join the conservation fight, 100 Plants to Feed the Monarch is a great resource that you’ll find your self reaching for over and over. o

Brandie Bland is a senior multi-platform journalism major in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an intern this fall with Washington Gardener.

Crinum: Unearthing the History and Cultivation of the World’s Biggest Bulb

Author: Augustus Jenkins Farmer III

Publisher: JenksFarmer.com

List Price: $25.00

Order Link: https://amzn.to/3Sh1Rz1 Reviewer: Jim Dronenburg

This book is not a serious review of the genus Crinum, suitable for in-depth study by a taxonomist. It is, however, an introduction to Crinums and their cul ture. It serves as a “Hey, look at this” wake-up call to those who have not heard of them before, or, having heard, have dismissed them as plants for the Deep South only.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Crinums come in tropical and temperate varieties, and the distinc tions are being blurred constantly by hybridization. One illustration, in Chapter 6, “Crinums for the Cold,” shows Crinums presently being grown up the Eastern Seaboard, New England, and even in Canada—granted, one dot just north of the St. Lawrence—but still, much colder than the DC Metro area. It all depends on the original species and its descendants in the hybrid popu lation. (If you want to remove all doubt, start with Crinum bulbispermum (Z6), C. xpowelli, and C. xpowelli album, and work from there.)

Your humble reviewer did not need this book’s message, having grown Crinums (and Amarcrinums, which are crosses between Crinum species and Amaryllis belladonna) for nearly 20 years, up near Harpers Ferry. But I’m recommending it as an introduction to these wonderful plants.

There are drawbacks. Crinums are honking huge bulbs, and as they

clump up, take a lot of space. However, this is outweighed by their virtues.

Established bulbs/clumps (some will clump up rapidly, some not) do take up a fair chunk of room. But the foliage is tropical, lasts all season until frost, and best of all, possesses an alkaloid (like all Amaryllis relatives) that makes them distasteful to most varmints (deer!). A mature clump will send up flowers, depending on the varieties you choose, from April (in SC; usually May up here) to November (barring frosts). The larger the clump, the more bulbs in it, the more flower stalks. Some Crinums leaf out as little as 2 feet tall; others grow, and bloom, up to four, and one or two may have flower stalks up to 5 feet tall. Established clumps are also quite drought-tolerant. They make an archi tectural statement, and flower in the pink/red/white range at present. They are best in sun; having said that, your reviewer grows them both there and in afternoon shade, and they do just fine.

There are also tropical Crinums, which are not for the faint of heart, because they can get huge. But that isn’t really the message here.

The back of the book gives a list of Crinum species and cultivars. It can’t

Book Reviews continue on page 20

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be all-inclusive, of course; hybridizers all over the country are working on Crinums and putting out new cultivars. But it’s a good start, tried-and-true plants, more/better probably than a beginner will need.

I don’t know if your personal library needs this book if you have a tiny prop erty. But if you have any sort of a yard, you should consider it. At the very least, march down to your local library and request it. They do listen. And then, prepare to be seduced by this plant, as I was 20 years ago. o

Jim Dronenburg is a retired accountant and now gardens full-time in Knoxville, MD.

Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America

Author: Jimmy W. Fike

Publisher: Indiana University Press/Red Lightning Books

List Price: $25.00’

Order Links: https://amzn.to/3UilGrs and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781684351718

Reviewer: Erica H. Smith

First of all, Edible Plants: A Photographic Survey of the Wild Edible Botanicals of North America is a gorgeous book: page after page of photographs of plants posed against a black background, silver-white with highlights in full color, worthy of pride of place on the coffee table. These are not just pretty illustrations, however.

Many of the species represented are ones we’d consider weeds. Okay, edible weeds. This book can be called a foraging guide, though it’s a bit heavy to carry into the field. The leaves or flowers or roots that author and artist Jimmy W. Fike has rendered in color are each plant’s edible parts, and each description includes traditional culinary or medicinal uses. These plants are either native to North America or widely naturalized; there’s no bullet point to say which, but you can usually tell from context in the writeup. Each entry gets a paragraph: a short biography that’s factual, not poetic, but between the bio and the photo, you feel you’ve grasped some of the plant’s deep essence.

If you want to become a forager, you probably need a guide with a lot more detail. Reviewing such a book, I’d

likely suggest perusing the introductory material and then looking at sections as they’re relevant to you—a particular plant, a particular season or type of environment—rather than reading from cover to cover. Fike’s survey lists the plants in alphabetical order by common name, not by region or month or any other practical arrangement. (There is a table of contents, but no index.) You could simply open it to a random page and learn, but paging straight through provides a striking sense of the range and breadth of common use ful plants. It makes you wonder at and feel protective of this continent’s native botany, but doesn’t stand in judgment over introduced flora. Nor will you feel judged if you’d rather look at the pho tos than trudge through the woods and fields to find your dinner.

This book would make a great gift for someone fascinated by nature, or who admires art and composition, or preferably both. The photos are almost otherworldly, but grounded in the world around us. I recommend taking a long, slow afternoon to gaze at them, and then go for a walk to find what’s grow ing between the cracks in the sidewalk in your neighborhood. o

Erica H. Smith is a Montgomery County Master Gardener whose volunteer activities include the MG Demonstration Garden, the Grow It Eat It program. She is the author of several novels; you can visit her website at ericahsmith.wordpress.com.

“Inspire. Connect. Grow.”

The National Garden Bureau is a nonprofit organization that exists to educate, inspire, and motivate people to increase the use of garden seed, plants, and products in homes, gardens, and workplaces by being the market ing arm of the gardening industry. Our members are experts in the field of horticulture and our information comes directly from these sources.

Find out more at https://ngb.org/

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Hot Weather and Wasps

By Carol Allen

There is a lot of chatter coming from Europe and Great Britain saying the abnormally hot weather has resulted in an increase in their wasp population. Is that so on this side of the Atlantic? Authorities say, not!

First, let’s look at what we are call ing a wasp. In the Mid-Atlantic states, we have several native species of tinywaisted, often black-and-yellow stinging insects.

A familiar ground nesting wasp is the Eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculi frons). Its relative, the bald-faced hor net (Dolichovespula maculata), is the one that creates the football-or-larger sized paper nests in trees or shrubs. Our native paper wasp (Polistes sp.) makes the small, honey-combed, openstyle nest in the eaves of our houses. All three of these common species are annual wasps with only an inseminated queen surviving the winter. Their nests will disintegrate naturally in the winter and not be used again.

In the spring, the queen emerges from hibernation and forms a small paper nest. She will start the hive with about 30–40 eggs; fewer in the case of paper wasps. The larvae hatch and within 18 20 days become the infertile female workers. The workers take over building the nest and tending of the larvae. The queen stays in the hive and lays more eggs.

Bald-faced hornets can reach popula

tions of several hundred before dying with the frost. Yellowjacket nests can have thousands of individuals by the end of the season. Paper wasps’ numbers peak at about 100. In each case, only the inseminated queens live through the winter by hibernating in a sheltered spot. They start the cycle over again in the spring

If the nests of these beneficial insects are out of the way, leave them be. The larvae are fed chewedup insects by the workers and those insects are usually the ones we consid er pests. These wasps are great friends of gardeners and an important part of the ecosystem. Toward the end of the season, workers start to feed on sugarbased substances and can become pests themselves. They will feed on ripening fruit and an open can of soda, so beware!

The workers of all three of these wasps can sting multiple times if agi tated. Yellowjackets and bald-faced hor nets are known for their aggression. Let professional exterminators remove a nest if it is too near where people walk or play. The venom will pack a wallop. If someone is stung and exhibits signs of difficulty with breathing, extreme swell ing, or muscle pain, get them to the emergency room as they may be experi encing a severe allergic reaction.

But back to our original thought: Will wasp populations increase with

the climate becoming warmer? Insect populations normally fluctuate over time. Some years, the combination of warm early spring weather and abun dant food may result in a population boom. Conversely, cold springs and a decrease in the insects that wasps feed on may result in smaller numbers. As favorable habitats diminish, wasps too will be less plentiful.

If our winter weather becomes warm er, will our common wasp hives not die in the fall? Or will sub-tropical wasps move north and find our region to their liking? One such wasp is more common in the south than here. That is Vespula squamosa, the Southern yellowjacket. Their nests do not always die in the winter and the wasp populations can rise into the several thousands. Yes, they have been found in this area. It is the stuff of nightmares! o

Carol Allen describes herself as a commit table plant-a-holic. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the horticulture indus try, with a special interest in plant pests and diseases; is a Licensed Pesticide Applicator in the state of Maryland; and is an ISACertified Arborist. She can be contacted at carolallen@erols.com.

Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) with a juicy earthworm. Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC. Photo by Katja Schulz. Flickr.com.

By Cecily Nabors

BLUE JAY

Noisy and bold, Blue Jays demand the limelight. Their apt scientific name, Cyanocitta cristata, means “blue bird with a crest.” These birds are instantly identifiable. Brilliant plumage plus a habit of announcing their entrance with a raucous call guarantee that attention will be paid.

The blue in their feathers is not a pig ment but a trick: Prismatic cells within the feathers scatter the light on the sur face, reflecting blue to our eyes. In low light, those bright-blue feathers gray into twilight hues.

Jays and crows are in the same family. Like other members of their family, male and female Blue Jays have the same plumage coloration. Shades of blue pre dominate, with black barring and white tips on wings and tails. The black bridle across the face and neck varies, and can make individuals recognizable.

In our Mid-Atlantic area, we see jays all year round, but many do migrate in loose flocks. However, Blue Jay migration is hard to predict and not well understood by scientists. Some individual birds have been shown to migrate one year but stay put the next.

Blue Jays like open woodlands and forest edges, so they’re quite at home in our well-treed suburban yards and parks. Jays often perform as an avian alarm system, warning of predators. Other birds take note when jays give

their harsh calls; perhaps a hawk or owl is nearby. Our smart jays use that advan tage: When they zoom into the feeder area, yelling “Jay, jay.” the other birds flee, giving the jays first dibs at the feast.

Blue Jays also frequently imitate hawks. When a Red-shouldered Hawk seems to be calling from an unlikely position, the searcher may then hear a “Jay jay!” call that feels like “Made you look!”

Is a Blue Jay always a loud mouth? No. They also make soft, melodious calls that sound like “wheedle dee.” And if you hear something like a squeaky pump-handle, look around for a nearby patch of telltale blue.

Blue Jays often mate for life, staying together throughout the year. Males and females build the nests together, usually in the crotch of a tree. The female incubates the eggs and broods the young; the male brings food. The young birds stay around the nest area and close by with their parents for much longer than most bird species; those big brains need time for training.

The young are fed insects and larvae, but adult Blue Jays eat mostly nuts and seeds. They come readily to feeders, and prefer tray feeders or hopper feeders on

a post rather than hanging feeders. They focus on peanuts, sunflower seeds, and suet, although with an omnivore’s atten tion to any target of opportunity. Blue Jays are reputed to eat eggs and nest lings of other birds, but little proof of that accusation has been shown in studies of jays’ stomach contents.

What studies do show is that Blue Jays are assiduous planters of oak trees. They love acorns and store food in cach es to eat later. The Cornell Lab of Orni thology reports that in one study, six jays wearing radio transmitters each cached 3,000–5,000 acorns one autumn. Sure ly they didn’t retrieve all of them. If you have an oak tree in your yard, you might have a Blue Jay to thank for it.

If you don’t have an oak tree and have space to plant one, don’t wait for a jay to do it. Doug Tallamy, chair of the Depart ment of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, says that oaks support more species than any other trees. Jays and oaks: a great team for biodiversity. Plus, planting oak trees will make acorns available for jays of the future.

Blue Jays have recovered well from their losses from West Nile virus. Their range stretches from the Atlantic west to the Rockies, and they’re extending north

and west. Bird counts show that the pop ulation is stable. That’s good news. We want to keep seeing and hearing these smart, feisty, beautiful birds. o

Cecily Nabors is a retired software manager who has been watching and counting birds for much of her life. She publishes the GoodNatured Observations blog at cecilynabors.com.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

MAY/JUNE 2007

• Roses: Easy Care Tips

• Native Roses & Heirloom Roses

• Edible Flowers

• How to Plant a Bare-root Rose

JULY/AUGUST 2007

• Groundcovers: Alternatives to Turfgrass

• How to Pinch, Prune, & Dead-head

• William Paca House & Gardens

• Hardy Geraniums

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007

• Succulents: Hardy to our Region

• Drought-Tolerant Natives

• Southern Vegetables

• Seed Saving Savvy Tips

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007

• Gardening with Children

• Indoor Bulb-Forcing Basics

• National Museum of the American Indian

• Versatile Viburnums

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008

• Dealing with Deer

• Our Favorite Garden Tools

• Delightful Daffodils

MARCH/APRIL 2008

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

• Patio, Balcony, Rooftop Container Gardens

• Our Favorite Garden Tools

• Coral Bells (Heuchera)

MAY/JUNE 2008

• Growing Great Tomatoes

• Glamorous Gladiolus

MARCH/APRIL

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MAY/JUNE 2006

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JULY/AUGUST 2006

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY

• Seed-Starting Basics

• Flavorful Fruiting Natives

JULY/AUGUST 2008

• Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses

• Edible Grasses to Graze On

• Slug and Snail Control

• Sage Advice: Sun-Loving Salvias

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008

• Autumn Edibles — What to Plant Now

• Beguiling Barrenworts (Epimediums)

• Best Time to Plant Spring-blooming Bulbs

• 14 Dry Shade Plants Too Good to Overlook

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008

• Outdoor Lighting Essentials

• How to Prune Fruiting Trees, Shrubs, Vines

• 5 Top Tips for Overwintering Tender Bulbs

• Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009

• Compost Happens: Nature’s Free Fertilizer

• Managing Stormwater with a Rain Garden

• Visiting Virginia’s State Arboretum

• Grow Winter Hazel for Winter Color

MARCH/APRIL 2009

• 40+ Free and Low-cost Local Garden Tips

• Spring Edibles Planting Guide

• Testing Your Soil for a Fresh Start

• Redbud Tree Selection and Care

• Best Viewing Spots for Virginia Bluebells

MAY/JUNE 2009

• Top Easy Summer Annuals for DC Heat

• Salad Table Project

• Grow and Enjoy Eggplant

• How to Chuck a Woodchuck

SUMMER 2009

• Grow Grapes in the Mid- Atlantic

• Passionflowers

• Mulching Basics

• Growing Hops

FALL 2009

• Apples

• How to Save Tomato Seeds

• Persimmons

WINTER 2009

• Battling Garden Thugs

• How to Start Seeds Indoors

• Red Twig Dogwoods

• Unusual Edibles to Grow in Our Region

SPRING 2010

• Community Gardens

• Building a Raised Bed

• Dwar f Iris

• Broccoli

SUMMER 2010

• Fragrance Gardens

• Watering Without Waste

• Lavender

• Potatoes

FALL 2010

• Vines and Climbers

• Battling Stink Bugs

• Russian Sage

• Garlic

WINTER 2010

• Paths and Walkways

• Edgeworthia

• Kohlrabi

SPRING 2011

• Cutting-Edge Gardens

• Final Frost Dates and When to Plant

• Bleeding Hearts

• Onions

SUMMER 2011

• Ornamental Edibles

• Urban Foraging

• Amsonia/Arkansas Blue Star

• Growing Corn in the Mid-Atlantic

FALL 2011

• Herb Gardens

• Toad Lilies

• Sweet Potatoes

• Cool Weather Cover Crops

WINTER 2011/EARLY SPRING 2012

• Green Roofs and Walls

• Heaths and Heathers

• Radishes

SPRING 2012

• Pollinator Gardens

• Brunnera: Perennial of the Year

• Growing Yacon

SUMMER 2012

• Tropical Gardens

• Captivating Canna

• Icebox Watermelons

SPRING 2013

• Great Garden Soil

• All About Asters

• Squash Vine Borer

SUMMER/FALL 2013

• Miniature/Faerie Gardens

• Beguiling Abelias

• Growing Great Carrots

MARCH/APRIL GARDENER PHILADELPHIA AVE., SILVER SPRING, MD 20910

WINTER/EARLY SPRING 2014

• Ferns for the Mid-Atlantic

• Chanticleer Gardens

• Beet Growing Basics