Washington Gardener Enews ~ March 2013 ~ No-Stress Gardening

ENEWSLETTER

MARCH 2013

Welcome to the Washington Gardener Enewsletter!

This enewsletter is the sister publication of Washington Gardener Magazine. Both the print magazine and online enewsletter share the same mission and focus — helping DC-MD-VA region gardens grow — but our content is different. In this monthly enewsletter, we address timely seasonal topics and projects; post local garden events; and, a monthly list of what you can be doing now in your garden. We encourage you to subscribe to Washington Gardener Magazine as well for indepth articles, inspirational photos, and great garden resources for the Washington DC area gardener.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This enewsletter is only sent out as a PDF via email to current subscribers. Without your support, we cannot continue publishing this enewsletter nor Washington Gardener Magazine! Our magazine subscription information is on page 9 of this enewsletter. If you know of any other gardeners in the greater Washington, DC-area, please forward this issue to them so that they can subscribe to our print magazine using the form on page 9 of this enewsletter. You can also connect with Washington Gardener online at: • Washington Gardener Blog: www.washingtongardener.blogspot.com • Washington Gardener Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/WDCGardener • Washington Gardener Pinterest boards: http://pinterest.com/wdcgardener/ • Washington Gardener Discussion Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WashingtonGardener/ • Washington Gardener Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/washingtongardenermagazine • Washington Gardener Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/WDCGardener • Washington Gardener Web Site: www.washingtongardener.com Sincerely, Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher Washington Gardener Magazine

Reader Contest

In Our Next Issue... Great Garden Soil Smithsonian Gardens Garden Tour Season Wrap-Up Dealing with Weeds Lawn Renewal If your business would like to reach area gardeners, be sure to contact us by March 25 so you can be part of the next issue of our growing publication! To subscribe, see the page 9 of this newsletter for a form to mail in or go to www. washingtongardener.com/ index_files/subscribe.htm and use our PayPal credit card link.

For our March 2013 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away several pairs of tickets to the Washington Home & Garden Show (www.washingtonhomeandgardenshow.com) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. The show runs from Friday, March 22 to Sunday, March 24. Tickets are $12 each at the door or $9 if ordered in advance online. The Washington Home & Garden Show is better than ever with more diverse exhibits, more categories, and more presentations on our fabulous stage! The show offers a unique and broad selection of home improvement-related businesses. You’ll enjoy various entertaining features and special guest speakers including local master gardeners. Get ideas, investigate new products, gather information and meet the professionals to help you make your next remodeling, renovation, or decorating project a breeze! To find out more, visit their web site: www.washingtonhomeandgardenshow.com. To enter to win one of pairs of show tickets, send an email with “WHGShow” in the subject line to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on Wednesday, March 20. In the body of the email please include your full name, email, and mailing address. The ticket winners will be announced and notified by Thursday, March 21.

Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts • Garden 2012 Flashback Video • Winter Aconite: You Can Grow That! • RootingDC 2013 Wrap-Up • Bishop’s Garden Progress • Second Nature Book Club Selection See more Washington Gardener Blog posts at WashingtonGardener.Blogspot.com.

March Garden To-Do List

Spotlight Special Under the Sea Coleus

Hort Couture recently introduced 3 new plants in the “Under The Sea” coleus collection — adding to the 8 introduced in 2012. Why the series name? “Each leaflet has a secondary subleaf,” said Jim Monroe, CEO of Hort Couture. “What you get is this almost crustacean-type effect.” The new plants in the collection include: • ‘Electric Coral’: Upright, mounding thriller with lobed leaves of red, chartreuse, and green. • ‘King Crab’ (pictured): huge red leaves with tiny subsets of leaves that resemble “pinchers.” • ‘Lion Fish’: Fine, fish-like leaves in a deep purple are a great accent in mixed containers. Coleus are grown as summer annuals in our region, but can be wintered over as cuttings or houseplants. This collection does well in sun or shade. Coleus require consistent watering for best growth. They do not need much fertilizer. Keep pinched back for full, bushy growth. Learn more about Hort Couture online at www.hortcoutureplants.com.

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Here is our comprehensive garden task list for gardens in the greater DC metro region for March 16-April 15. Your additions to this list are most welcome: • Avoid walking on and compacting wet soil in the garden. • Prune grapevines. • Put up trellises and teepees for peas, climbing beans, etc. • Plant peas, potatoes, beets, turnips, radish, cabbage, mustard greens, onion sets, carrots, and kale. • Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles. • Get a soil test. • Soil preparation -- add lime, compost, etc. as needed. • Mulch beds with a light hand. • Start or update your garden journals. • Clean out any old debris from last season from your growing beds. • Turn your compost pile. • Repot root-bound houseplants and start fertilizing them. • Clean leaves and debris from your water garden. • Do not be alarmed if your pond turns green from algae bloom, this is natural until your water plants fill the surface area. Add a barley ball to combat it for now. • Cut back ornamental grasses. • Water during dry spells. • Cut your Daffodils for indoor bouquets, but do not combine daffs with other flowers in one vase. They give off a toxic substance they may kill your other blooms off prematurely. • Weed by hand to avoid disturbing newly forming roots. • Walk your garden -- look for early signs of fungal disease. • Divide perennials and herbs. • Fertilize new growth. • Plant and prune roses. • Transplants small trees and shrubs. • Buy or check on your stored summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot them and start to water, if you want to give them an early start on the season. • If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening off process. • Start some more seeds -- try flowering annuals like impatiens and petunias. • Prune fruit trees as their buds are swelling. Check for dead and diseased wood to prune out. Cut a few branches for indoor forcing, if desired. • 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. • Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds. • Feed birds and provide nesting materials (try dryer lint) as well as houses for the start of their family season. • Plant a tree for Arbor Day. Arbor Day comes on different dates in different states. In our area it is the first Wednesday in April for Maryland. Virginia has it on the second Friday in April, and DC has it on the last Friday in April. In addition, many local groups and towns have their own celebrations. • Read a good gardening book or magazine. • Cut some branches (forsythia, quince, bittersweet, redbud, willow, etc.) for forcing into bloom and enjoying indoors. • Have a wonderful 2013 growing season!

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No-Stress Gardening:

Why I Stopped Worrying and Learned To Love the Weeds by Kathy Jentz

You can always tell a new gardener by their anxiety level. They want weed-free beds instantly full of flowers and bountiful tomato plants. Old hands at gardening know that flowers are over-rated, tomatoes may fall to blight, and that gardening is about the experience, not the end-results. Gardening is not about perfection. Bugs eat leaves. Squirrels and birds peck and take bites from fruits and veggies. Your neighbor’s kids come by and grab a handful of flower leaving de-headed stalks. So what? New flowers, leaves, fruits, and veggies will replace those you’ve lost and life goes on. That is the great thing about gardening. It teaches us the cycle of life and also patience. If it doesn’t happen for you this season, there is always the next one to look forward to. And each season has something unique and beautiful about it. Even I, a professed Winter-hater, am grateful for the slowing down of outdoor chores so I can concentrate on seed catalogs, catching up on garden reading, and planning for the next year’s garden. Not only that, but gardening teaches us to be “in the moment.” You experience just what is in front of you when you are planting, pruning, or weeding. Your mind has the clarity that a Zen monk would envy. Gardening has a rhythm all its own. You cannot rush a seed to sprout or a flower to form, it will do it in its own good time. Next time you stress over a plant that is not growing fast enough for your yearning, remember the old garden adage: first year, sleep; second year, creep; third year, leap. As many veteran gardeners can tell you, soon enough your pots and beds will be overflowing and you’ll be spending your gardening time dividing, moving, and removing plants, rather than rushing them to fill in. Finally, gardening is about sharing. All those plants you will soon be dividing can be given to neighbors, friends, family, and new gardeners at the office. Eventually, your tomato crop will come and you’ll have sacks to give out to anyone you meet. You’ll wonder why you ever stressed and next year, garden anxiety will a distant memory. This article originally appeared on The DC Ladies Blog at http://thedcladies.com/. Kathy does not stress over garden perfection. She is the editor of Washington Gardener Magazine (www.WashingtonGardener.com) and a long-time DC area gardening enthusiast. Kathy can be reached at wgardenermag@aol.com and welcomes your gardening questions.

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TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS DC-Area Gardening Calendar ~ Upcoming Events ~ March 16-April 15, 2013 • Sunday, March 17, 2:00-4:00pm Preparing Roses for Show! Potomac Rose Society March Meeting and Rose Growing Program. Top exhibitor and hybridizer John Smith will demonstrate how to prepare a rose for maximum impact in home or show display. Bring your questions for one of the nation’s most knowledgeable rosarians. Franciscan Monastery, 1400 Quincy St NE, Washington, DC 20017. Open to all. Free. • Sunday, March 17, 1:30-3pm Beatrix Farrand: Her Legacy at Green Spring Born into the privileged society of the “Gilded Age,” Beatrix Farrand became one of America’s most important 20th century landscape architects. Historic house coordinator Debbie Waugh explores Farrand’s fascinating life and legacy and traces her association with Green Spring’s last private owners and the garden she designed for them. Code: 290 182 1801 Fee: $10 Register on-line at www.fairfaxcounty. gov/parks/greenspring or call Green Spring Gardens at 703-642-5173. Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria , VA. www. greenspring.org. • Monday, March 18, 8pm I Have Elephants in My Garden, So What’s Your Problem? Don’t start whining about moles, voles or even deer in your garden. Be glad you don’t have elephants and cats that weigh over 300 pounds! The Silver Spring Garden Club hosts this talk by Marie Mims Butler, Landscape Coordinator for the 53-acre, beautifully landscaped zoo in Norfolk, VA. This event is FREE and open to the public. Directions at www.brooksidegardens.com. • Wednesday, March 20, 7:30-9:00 pm Spring Vegetable Gardening Join the Takoma Horticultural Club at the Historic Takoma headquarters, 7328 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park, MD. Erica Smith will speak about growing vegetables in often-unpredictable spring weather, some plants and varieties for spring and summer that may be new to 6

experienced growers, and what gardeners can do to make it all happen. Erica is the lead vegetable gardener for the Montgomery County Master Gardener’s Derwood Demonstration Garden, and runs the University of Maryland Extension’s Grow It, Eat It blog. Please bring a snack to share. Wear a recycled name tag and save a tree. More details and information on the club at www. TakomaHort.org. • Wednesday, March 20, 1:30pm Celebrating Women’s History Month: A Look at the History of The Woman’s Land Army of America during World War I and World War II Elaine Weiss will speak about her book, Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army of America in the Great War, which covers the story of women across the nation who organized to work on farms during World War I. Anne Effland, a Senior Researcher for USDA’s Economic Research Service, will speak to the resurgence of the Women’s Land Army movement during World War II and the role of USDA’s Extension Service in recruiting and supporting the women who volunteered. Held at the National Agricultural Library (NAL), Main Reading Room, 10301 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD. Free. ID required. Questions: Contact Lynn Stanko at lynn.stanko@ars. usda.gov. • Thursday, March 21, 12noon-1:30pm Cooking Demonstration: Shoots of Spring Slender, tender asparagus stalks and the pale-to-pink stalks of rhubarb are appearing in the garden in the next weeks. Join the Cook Sisters for great ways to use these harbingers of spring. FREE: No pre-registration required. Location: Conservatory Garden Court, U.S. Botanic Garden, 245 First Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. Details at www.usbg.gov. • Saturday, March 23, 9:00am-3:00pm 27th Annual Lahr Native Plant Symposium and Plant Sale The symposium returns to the National Arboretum after two years in Beltsville.

Complete details and registration information will be available February 1, 2013 at www.usna.usda.gov. United States National Arboretum 3501 New York Avenue, NE Washington, DC. • Saturday, March 23, 10am-3 pm Growing Community Gardens A gathering for Prince George’s County gardeners to build community, learn from each other, and gain gardening skills. Held at the University of Maryland Center for Educational Partnership, 6200 Sheridan St., Riverdale, MD 20737. All workshops taught by Prince George’s County Master Gardeners: Workshop 1: Weed ID and control taught by Kelley Oklesson & Joe Mudd Workshop 2: Composting in your plot taught by Edi Butler Workshop 3: Season extension taught by Jennifer Fairfax Fee: $10 per person. Register at http:/ /2ndannualgrowingcommunitygardens. eventbrite.com/ by March 16. Contact Christie Balch at cbalch@umd.edu for more information. • Wednesday, March 27, 8am-4pm Shenandoah Valley Plant Symposium Be inspired by nationally renowned plant experts Dan Heims, Peter Hatch, Pam Baggett, and Bryce Lane. They will be presenting their favorite ideas and solutions for all your planting problems. It will be just what the doctor (or horticulturist in this case) ordered as winter ends and the spring planting season begins. This event offers something for everyone from the novice home gardener to experienced horticulturist. The proceeds will supplement the horticulture program’s budget to provide more for the community. Presented by Waynesboro Parks and Recreation Department at Best Western Inn & Suites Conference Center, Waynesboro, VA. Find out more at http://www.waynesboro.va.us. • Saturday, March 30, 10am Carnivorous (and some non-carnivorous) Plants for the Bog Garden Mike SzeSze, owner, Carnivorous Plant Nursery, Derwood, MD, will discuss the many different types of carnivo-

TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS DC-Area Gardening Calendar ~ Upcoming Events ~ March 16-April 15, 2013 rous plants — sundews, Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, as well as a few noncarnivorous bog plants — their habitats and ecology, and easy steps for growing them at home. PVC Rock Garden Society’s meeting. Held at the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave. McLean, VA 22101. Details at: www.pvcnargs.org. • Tuesday, April 2, 10 -11am Guided Garden Tours Historic & Growing: Understanding the Tudor Place Landscape Immerse yourself in the lore of centuries-old trees, heirloom plants and flowers, and shapely English boxwood on a guided walk across 5.5 acres and two centuries of landscape design. Tudor Place reflects both its Federalperiod origins and changes in land use over time; see first-hand how orchards, vegetable patches and stables made way for lawns, rose beds, and the lovely garden “rooms” of this urban estate, as four owners over six generations cared for and embellished the landscape. Advance registration encouraged but not required. Held at Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, 1644 31st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007. Details at www.tudorplace.org. • Wednesday, April 3, 6:00-7:30PM Second Nature Book Club Meeting Washington Gardener Magazine’s Book Club spring selection is Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education by Michael Pollan. The room allows food and drink and you may bring your dinner and/or snacks to share. The book club meetings are FREE and open to anyone who would like to attend. Please RSVP to “WG Book Club” at WashingtonGardener@rcn.com at the Shaw Library at 1630 7th Stm NW, WDC near the Shaw Metro stop. • Saturday, April 6, 9:00am-4:00pm Native Plant Sale at Rust Sanctuary Native plants are beautiful and grow better because they are adapted for our weather conditions and soils; they also provide greater benefit to our native wildlife because plants and animals evolved together. Hill House Farm and

Native Nursery (www.hillhousenativeplants.com) and Nature-By-Design (www.nature-by-design.com) will be selling plants. To see plants each nursery carries or to place orders ahead of time (all nursery stock is not present), visit their websites. Rust Sanctuary is located at 802 Childrens Center Road, Leesburg, VA. Directions to Rust Sanctuary: http://goo.gl/maps/kVvkz Direct link to event: http://www. loudounwildlife.org/Calendar_April. htm#nativeplantsale. • April 6 and 7 4th Annual Loudoun County Master Gardener Gardening Symposium Held at Ida Lee Recreation Center in Leesburg, VA. Registration is $45 for one day and $70 for both days, a boxed lunch is included. Register online at www.loudouncountymastergardeners. org. • April 6 and 7 Grassroots Herbal & Holistic Wellness Program 4/6 9am-5pm Herbal Gardening, Garden Walk, Medicine Making Part 1 with Molly Meehan 4/7 9am-3pm Botany, Wild Foraging and Plant Identification with Matt Cohen of Matt’s Habitats Learn how to identify flowering plants & shrubs using Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Learn more about botany including major plant groups (mosses, ferns, grasses, herbaceous perennials, woody shrubs, trees, and vines) and talk about life cycles (annuals, biennials, and perennials, pollination, seed dispersal, and other seasonal changes). We’ll use some sample plants to illustrate different flower structures, leaf shapes, and leaf arrangements. This will lead into Newcomb’s plant keying system. Later we’ll go outside and identify plants in the field. Once you learn the basics of Newcomb’s, you will be able to build their identification skills of plants in the wild on their own. Next will be a guided walk to learn about edible plants and which we will gather to make a salad and/or tea. Centro Ashé Farm in Bryans Road, MD. For more information visit: www.centroashe.org.

• Saturday, April 6, 10am-12pm Backyard Chicken Basics If you’re considering getting starting with backyard poultry or want to fine tune your current flock, this is the workshop for you. You’ll get an overview of how to care for chickens, learn about relevant local laws, and meet and interact with Arcadia’s laying hens. For an additional fee, bring your kids for separate chicken and egg activities! Family-friendly! Fee: $30. Arcadia Farm, 9000 Richmond Highway. Alexandria, VA 22309; 571-384-8845; info@arcadiafood.org.

SAVE THE DATE: • Saturday, May 18, 9am-3pm Spring Garden Day More than 40 vendors of rare and unusual plants descend on Green Springs Gardens to fill your spring gardening needs! Friends of Green Spring (FROGS) receive 10% off plants in the Garden Gate Plant Shop. Don’t miss this exciting tradition. Free Admission! Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria , VA. www. greenspring.org. Still More Event Listings See even more event listings on the Washington Gardener Yahoo discussion list. Join the list at http://groups.yahoo. com/group/WashingtonGardener/. Event Listing Submissions To submit an event for this listing, please contact: Wgardenermag@aol. com and put “Event” in the email subject head. Our next deadline is April 12 for the April 15 edition of this enewsletter featuring events taking place April 16-May 15.

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

MAY/JUNE 2007 • Roses: Easy Care Tips • Native Roses & Heirloom Roses • Edible Flowers • How to Plant a Bare-root Rose

MAY/JUNE 2005 • Stunning Plant Combinations • Turning Clay into Rich Soil • Wild Garlic • Strawberries

JULY/AUGUST 2007 • Groundcovers: Alternatives to Turfgrass • How to Pinch, Prune, & Dead-head •William Paca House & Gardens • Hardy Geraniums

JULY/AUGUST 2005 • Water Gardens • Poison Ivy • Disguising a Sloping Yard • Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2007 • Succulents: Hardy to our Region • Drought-tolerant Natives • Southern Vegetables • Seed Saving Savvy Tips

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 • Container Gardens • Clematis Vines • Sponge Gardening/Rain Gardens • 5 Insect Enemies of Gardeners

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 • Gardening with Children • Indoor Bulb Forcing Basics • National Museum of the American Indian • Versatile Viburnums

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005 • Backyard Bird Habitats • Hellebores • Building a Coldframe • Bulb Planting Basics

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 • Dealing with Deer • Our Favorite Garden Tools • Indoor Bulb Forcing Basics • Delightful Daffodils

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006 • Garden Decor Principles • Primroses • Tasty Heirloom Veggies • U.S. Botanic Garden

MARCH/APRIL 2008 • Patio, Balcony, Rooftop Container Gardens • Our Favorite Garden Tools • Coral Bells (Heucheras)

MARCH/APRIL 2006 • Top 10 Small Trees and Large Shrubs • Azaleas • Figs, Berries, & Persimmons • Basic Pruning Principles MAY/JUNE 2006 • Using Native Plants in Your Landscape • Crabgrass • Peppers • Secret Sources for Free Plants JULY/AUGUST 2006 • Hydrangeas • Theme Gardens • Agave • Find Garden Space by Growing Up SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006 • Shade Gardening • Hosta Care Guide • Fig-growing Tips and Recipes NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006 • Horticultural Careers • Juniper Care Guide • Winter Squash Growing Tips and Recipes • Layer/Lasagna Gardening JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007 • Indoor Gardening • Daphne Care Guide • Asparagus Growing Tips and Recipes • Houseplant Propagation MARCH/APRIL 2007 • Stormwater Management • Dogwood Selection & Care Guide • Early Spring Vegetable Growing Tips • Franciscan Monastery Bulb Gardens

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MAY/JUNE 2008 — ALMOST SOLD OUT! • Growing Great Tomatoes • Glamorous Gladiolus • 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) • The 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, and 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 Gorgeous Winter Color MARCH/APRIL 2009 • 40+ Free and Low-cost Local Garden Tips • Spring Edibles Planting Guide for the Mid-Atlantic • Testing Your Soil for a Fresh Start • Redbud Tree Selection and Care • Best Local Viewing Spots for Virginia Bluebells

MAY/JUNE 2009 • Top 12+ Easy Summer Annuals for DC Heat • Salad Table Project • Grow and Enjoy Eggplant • How to Chuck a Woodchuck from Your Garden SUMMER 2009 • Grow Grapes in the Mid-Atlantic • Passionflowers • Mulching Basics • What’s Bugging Your Tomatoes • 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 • Dwarf 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

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Coming Soon!

Washington Gardener Magazine’s DayTrip columns compiled into one handy publication — available soon in both paper and e-book versions. Great gift idea!

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Are you trying to reach thousands of gardeners in the greater DC region/Mid-Atlantic area? Washington Gardener Enews goes out on the 15th of every month and is a free sister publication to Washington Gardener magazine. Contact wgardenermag@aol.com or call 301.588-6894 for ad rates. The ad deadline is the 10th of each month. Please submit your ad directly to: wgardenermag@aol.com.

In Our Next Issue... Great Garden Soil Smithsonian Gardens

Garden Tour Season Wrap-Up Dealing with Weeds Lawn Renewal

If your business would like to reach area gardeners, be sure to contact us by March 25 so you can be part of the next issue of our growing publication! oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Be sure you are subscribed!

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

Send a check or money order for $20.00 payable to Washington Gardener magazine to: Washington Gardener 826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910

Magazine Excerpt: How to Make Seed Tape

As you age in the garden, you start to appreciate your gardening ancestors and look to their wisdom for tools to help you out. Seed tape is one of those things I never bothered with until trying to work with tiny carrot and lettuce seeds on a windy day — lost tiny brown jewels against the dark soil! Seed tape can also save wear on your back and the needless chore of “thinning.” With seed tape, you can have seeds perfectly spaced apart. You can make seed tape indoors and months in advance of needing it, making it a perfect snow day task. Seed tape making is also a great craft for the whole family. Children can help measure and mix, while you handle the delicate seed placement part of the operation. Making your own seed tape has one further advantage — saving money! Not only do you conserve wasted seed, but have you ever looked at how expensive pre-made seed tape is in garden catalogs? You can make seed tape quite easily from supplies you already have in the house.

You Will Need:

~ Toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, or newspaper (black-and-white, plain newsprint pages) cut into 1 inch strips ~ Flour ~ Water ~ Food coloring ... Want to learn the steps for making your own seed tape? Read the rest of this GardenBasics column in the Spring 2012 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine. See how to subscribe below and how to order back issues at left (on page 8 of this issue).

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