Northern Gardener - July/August 2020

MINNESOTA’S HOMEGROWN GARDENING MAGAZINE

Gardener Northern

A MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION

FROM BLANK SLATE TO

Beautiful

JULY/AUGUST 2020

PRAIRIE

OVER LAKE PEPIN A TASTE OF FRANCE

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Glittering Plants

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U.S. $4.50 Can. $5.50 Display until August 31

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JULY/AUGUST 2020 l VOLUME 148 l NUMBER 4

Table of Contents 21

30

Potager Perfection

Prairie View

Try these heirloom wonders to give your garden a French flair.

BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON

With Lake Pepin in the distance, this prairie garden brings nature home.

BY TERRY YOCKEY

38 Natural Allies

Get your garden aligned with nature using the principles of permaculture.

BY THERESA ROONEY

40 24

The 411 on H₂0

Starting Over

Strategy, structure and color bring life to a new garden in an old landscape.

BY MELEAH MAYNARD

Understand how water nourishes your plants.

BY LEE REICH

IN EVERY ISSUE

34 Growing for Gold

Add some sparkle to your garden with these 12 glittering plants.

BY MICHELLE MERO RIEDEL

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3 Editor’s Note

17 DIY: Reviving a cement patio

4 MSHS News: Classes, calendar and more

18 Garden Solutions: Arborist wood chips

13 Plant to Pick: First Editions® Iceberg Alley™ sageleaf willow

19 Pollinators: All in this together

14 Northern Natives: Whorled milkweed 16

By Design: Eye-pleasing edible gardens

20 Kitchen Garden: Summertime joy: sunflowers 44 Northern View: My love affair with dahlias

ABOUT THE COVER: Bright annuals give personality to this Richfield garden.

Photo by Tracy Walsh

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ABOUT MSHS

Welcome

to the summer issue of northern gardener,

a publication of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society (MSHS). Each issue, we strive to engage, inform and inspire northern gardeners growing in USDA Zones 3, 4 and 5. You’ll find articles from experienced gardeners and experts from across our region, as well as information about upcoming classes and webinars, and links to online resources on our website, northerngardener.org.

Established in 1866, MSHS is a nonprofit, educational and charitable organization and one of the nation’s longest-running horticultural societies.

Our mission is to serve northern gardeners through education, encouragement and community.

If you’re new to MSHS, we invite you to learn more about our signature programs and member benefits on this page and online. If you have suggestions for classes or programs, or ideas for future issues of Northern Gardener, please contact us at info@northerngardener.org. We’re always glad to hear from our members and readers.

Become a Society Member Our members enjoy valuable gardening resources and support important community programs that bring plants to public green spaces and gardening education to underserved communities across the state.

Membership benefits include: Northern Gardener magazine: Get this awardwinning publication in your mailbox.

Free gardening webinars: Learn from gardening experts about everything from soil health to the basics of backyard chickens—all from your own computer!

Garden center discounts: Save on plants, seeds, tools and more at trusted greenhouses, wineries and specialty shops in the Upper Midwest.

Classes & events: Enjoy special member rates on educational workshops, special events and horticulture-focused travel tours around the globe.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF BENEFITS AND SIGN UP AT NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG/MEMBERSHIP.

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CULTIVATING

communities.

CREATING

green spaces.

ENCOURAGING

growth.

Donate Today MSHS is proud to support community programs throughout Minnesota that help bring gardening, food and activities to families and children.

To join us, visit northerngardener.org.

MINNESOTA GREEN promotes

grassroots efforts to cultivate public green spaces and create community.

GARDEN-IN-A-BOX brings vegetable garden kits to underserved children, giving our youngest gardeners the chance to experience the benefits (and joys!) of growing.

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Get in Touch Minnesota State Horticultural Society 1935 County Rd. B2 West, Suite 125 Roseville, MN 55113-1334 Phone: 651-643-3601 Email: info@northerngardener.org

@MNHORT

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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FACED WITH A BLANK SLATE, MARY SHANNON ADDED PATIOS, PATHS AND TREES FIRST.

MSHS Board of Directors Laura Wagner, Chair Joel Karsten, Vice Chair Del Hampton, Treasurer Mary Marrow, Secretary

At Large

Jennifer Ebeling Mike Heger Margaret Klis Debra Kvamme Renay Leone Judy MacManus

MSHS Staff

Lara Lau-Schommer, Acting Executive Director Lara Lau-Schommer, Community Outreach Director Becky Swee, Communications and Marketing Director Diane Duvall, Development Director Courtney Tchida, Community Outreach and Program Manager

Northern Gardener Magazine

Mary Lahr Schier, Editor Debbie Lonnee, Horticultural Editor Julie Jensen, Copy Editor Barbara Pederson, Design

Copyright 2020 by MSHS. Printed in the USA on recycled paper. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reprinted without permission from MSHS. The information published in Northern Gardener reflects the experiences and opinions of the writers and is not necessarily endorsed by MSHS. Northern Gardener is a registered trademark of MSHS. (ISSN) 1529-8515. Northern Gardener is published bimonthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/ Oct, Nov/Dec) by the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, Minn., and additional post offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northern Gardener, 1935 County Rd. B2 W., Suite 125, Roseville, MN 55113.

A NOTE FROM

The Editor

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CONTENT From TOthere, COME she added the perennials,

ave you ever heard of the big rocks theory? It comes from a story about a professor who filled a jar to the top with large rocks and asked his class if the jar was full.

They said yes, then he poured in some pebbles and asked if the jar was now full. They said yes, and then he poured in sand. The idea is that you should put the big, important things in first— whether that’s in your life or in your garden.

“

You may have noticed some extra personality and color in this issue of Northern Gardener, too.”

Mary Shannon, whose garden is profiled beginning on page 24, understands the big rocks theory. When faced with a blank slate of a yard, she added the most important things first—patios, paths, large trees and stones to give the garden structure and shape.

art objects and annuals that bring personality and color to the garden, elements that make it comfortable and welcoming. It’s a joyful space and we’re delighted to share it with you.

You may have noticed that there is some extra personality and color in this issue of Northern Gardener, too. As part of an on-going project to update communications with members, MSHS has been redesigning its website, email newsletters and the magazine.

While the look is different, we’re still putting the big rocks in first—great garden information from wonderful writers and photographers, useful education and outreach programs and a deep commitment to the gardening community in Minnesota.

Let us know what you think!

— Mary Lahr Schier, editor

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Summer Calendar Seed Saving 101 Tuesday, July 14, 6:30–8 p.m. $40 members, $45 nonmembers Location: Your computer.

Instructor: Zachary Paige is a seed saver and manages North Circle Seeds, a new Minnesota seed company growing regionally adapted, sustainably grown seeds with a circle of mainly Minnesota growers.

Minnesota Plant Spotlight Series

In this online forum, learn what to consider when planting a garden for seed saving. Which plants cross pollinate with what? Will a zucchini cross with a pumpkin? We will discuss vegetable species pollination and how to get high-quality seed that is true-to-type. We will also discuss seed cleaning including threshing, winnowing and storage methods.

Thursdays, May 14 to Sept. 10, 7–8 p.m.

Free Location: Your computer.

Instructor: Varied; series is a collaboration of MSHS, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, University of Minnesota Extension, Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association and Three Rivers Park District.

Calling all gardeners, landscapers and nature enthusiasts! This free weekly webinar series is for you. Join local horticulture experts for a closer look at plants that grow in Minnesota. Explore collections and gardens from your couch and learn about trees, perennials, edible plants, houseplants and more! Experts will share their unique perspectives, from ecological to commercial. Pick up tips and tricks for your own garden and gain a greater appreciation of the flora that makes Minnesota so beautiful.

Upcoming topics include: July 9: Bee Lawns Presenter: Mary Meyer, U of M Extension horticulturist and professor July 16: Pines for Minnesota Presenter: Pete Moe, director, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Aug. 6: Prairie Plants for Minnesota Presenter: Alan Branhagen, director of operations, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Sept. 3: Late-Season Perennials Presenter: Mike Heger, author, MSHS former board chair and retired nursery owner.

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Every Seed Has a Story Tuesday, Aug. 11, 6:30–8 p.m. $20 members; $25 nonmembers Location: Your computer.

Instructor: Ben Cohen, founder, Michigan Seed Library, and author of Saving our Seeds: The Practice & Philosophy (Small House, 2019) and From our Seeds and Their Keepers: A Collection of Stories (Create Space, 2018).

Heirloom seeds do more than produce beautiful plants and delicious fruits and vegetables. They are windows through which we can view the history, culture and stories of the many generations of growers who tended seeds long before us. Seeds are like time travelers, connecting us to our past while simultaneously carrying us into the future. Join us for this fun and informative presentation with author and seed saver Ben Cohen as he shares why the stories of our heirloom seeds are just as significant as the seeds themselves. Hear exciting tales of heritage fruits and vegetables that have traveled the world, influencing the countries and cultures they encountered along the way!

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Veggie Garden Pest Management Webinar

Community Events

Wednesday, July 8, 6:30–8 p.m.

Free for members; $5 for nonmembers Location: Your computer.

Instructor: Courtney Tchida, MSHS community outreach manager.

Anoka County Master Gardeners Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic Wednesdays, July 8–Aug. 19, 6–8 p.m.

Bunker Hills Activity Center, 550 Bunker Lake Blvd. N.W., Andover. anokamastergardeners.org/services.

Vegetable gardens can attract a wide array of pests. Learn how to manage them and minimize their impact on your harvest. Get the inside scoop on integrated pest management tools for everything from Japanese beetles and aphids to squash borers.

St. Louis County Master Gardeners Rain Gardens Jan Simmons, presenter (presented twice) Thursday, July 9, 6–7:15 p.m.

West Duluth Branch Library, 5830 Grand Ave., Duluth.

Monday, July 13, 6–7:15 p.m.

Mt. Royal Branch Library, 105 Mt. Royal Shopping Circle, Duluth. ellynwiens@gmail.com.

Andover Pollinator Awareness Project: Hemingson Prairie Tours Planting for the Future Saturday, July 18, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Hemingson Prairie, 17181 Bittersweet St. N.W., Andover.

Free guided tours at 10 a.m. and noon.

Register: hemingson-prairie-tour. eventbrite.com.

Home Composting Tuesday, Aug. 4, 6:30–8 p.m.

Free for members; $5 for nonmembers Location: Your computer.

Instructor: Ramsey County Master Gardeners.

Learn the benefits of and science behind home composting, including information on different composting methods, recommended compostable materials and common uses for your compost in the yard and garden. We’ll dig into the compost process, including dos and don’ts and how to maximize the health of your compost pile.

U of M West Central Research and Outreach Center: Horticulture Night Mark Seeley, presenter Thursday, July 30, 5–9 p.m.

West Central Research and Outreach Center, 46352 State Hwy. 329, Morris. ejordan@umn.edu.

St. Louis County Master Gardeners Dealing With Yard and Garden Pests Linda Harper and Catherine Winter, presenters (presented twice) Monday, Aug. 10, 6–7:15 p.m.

Mt. Royal Branch Library, 105 Mt. Royal Shopping Circle, Duluth.

Thursday, Aug. 13, 6–7:15 p.m.

West Duluth Branch Library, 5830 Grand Ave., Duluth. ellynwiens@gmail.com.

Orchid Society of Minnesota: A New Look at Intergeneric Phalaenopsis Saturday, Aug. 15, 1–3 p.m.

Alan Koch, presenter Bachman’s on Lyndale Heritage Room, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis. orchidsocietyofminnesota@gmail.com.

Minnesota Gladiolus Society Brown County Fair Show Saturday, Aug. 15, noon–9 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16, noon–9 p.m.

New Ulm Civic Center, 1212 N. Franklin St., New Ulm. Joy Clobes, 507-276-6698.

Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis Flower, Food and Foto Show Saturday, Aug. 22, 7 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Flower and vegetable entries accepted from 7–10:15 a.m.

Judging from 10:30–noon.

Open to the public from 12:30–4:30 p.m. and Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Oswald Center, 3675 Arboretum Dr., Chanhassen.

For more information, visit: gardenclubmpls.org/calendar/flowerfood-foto-show.

Minnesota Gladiolus Society State Gladiolus Show Saturday, Aug. 29, noon–9 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30, noon–9 p.m.

Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Horticulture Building, 1271 Underwood St., Falcon Heights.

Jim Butler, 651-780-1681.

SEE ALL EVENTS HAPPENING THIS SUMMER AT NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG/CALENDAR

Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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THIS SEASON IN THE GARDEN

Stay Cool with Cucumbers Hardy, easy to grow and a staple ingredient in a long list of refreshing summer recipes, cucumbers can be a gardener’s best friend. While you can always find them in your local grocery store, homegrown cucumbers are fun to grow and easy to add to salads, soups, smoothies and cocktails.

PICKLERS VS. SLICERS Pickling cucumbers are usually smaller than slicing varieties. Some pickling varieties are picked large and sliced or cubed to make pickles, while others are picked small and pickled whole. Both picklers and slicers are available in bush and vining (trailing) types. American and Asian cucumbers often have spines and scratchy leaves, while English cucumbers typically have smoother skin and are less bitter.

Cucumber Borage Lemonade This refreshing twist on lemonade uses borage flowers from the garden to enhance the beauty of this drink and add a sweet honey taste.

TIP Use a twisting action to remove a cucumber from the plant, and wear gloves and long sleeves when harvesting spiny varieties.

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

WHEN TO HARVEST

1½ cups sugar 7 cups water 1½ cups borage leaves and flowers 1 cup sliced cucumber 2 cups lemon juice (8-10 lemons)

Make the borage simple syrup.

In a large pitcher, stir together the syrup, 6 cups water and lemon juice.

Refrigerate until chilled. If desired, garnish with a ribbon of cucumber and borage flowers.

Making a batch of sweet pickles?

Harvest when the cucumbers are 1½ to 2½ inches long. For dill pickles, let them reach 3 to 4 inches in length before harvesting. Pick slicing cucumbers (American, English and Asian varieties) when they are firm and 6 to 10 inches long. Burpless cucumbers can be harvested when they are 10 to 12 inches long.

BORAGE SIMPLE SYRUP

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In a saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Over medium heat, stir until sugar is dissolved and bring to a boil. Add borage leaves and flowers and cucumber slices; stir. Reduce the heat, cover, and gently simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and steep for one hour; strain.

FOR MORE TIPS AND TRICKS, VISIT NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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Oso Easy Double Red® Rose: LUSH COLOR, LONG STEMS, ABUNDANT BLOOMS ALL SUMMER, DISEASE RESISTANT

2020

Before they reach your garden, our flowering shrubs undergo years of trials and testing for color, quantity of blooms, stem strength, foliage, and ability to thrive with ease. Only a few prove they’re worthy of the #1 plant brand.

provenwinners-shrubs.com Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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MSHS NEWS

State Fair Update we've been part of the minnesota state fair for more than 150 years, so

we are sad that we won’t be there in 2020 to sell our garden gloves and punny T-shirts due to the fair’s cancellation. We will miss seeing our members, partners, plant show participants, judges and friends at the fair. If you traditionally renew your membership at the fair (and we know many of you do!), we invite you to renew online anytime. The process is quick and easy. In honor of last year’s theme, we are bringing back our garden-to-glass recipes on social media, in the MSHS e-news and in Northern Gardener. Find them and more ways to use your homegrown produce, such as the watermelon salad on this page, at our new recipe collection online at northerngardener.org/recipes.

SPOTLIGHT

Save Your Seeds while we love seeing a surge in enthusiasm for gardening and growing fresh food, many seed companies struggled this spring to keep up with demand. To help bridge the gap, a group of Twin Cities gardeners decided to create new seed resources for local gardeners.

Stephanie Hankerson founded the St. Paul Seed Circle, a network of local seed savers who clean and package seeds. Dawn Lamm, founder of the Como Seed Library, has been saving and sharing seeds for years. When stay-at-home orders were put into effect and local businesses closed, Stephanie began filling Little Free Libraries, small public bookcases, with free seeds. She also started a blog, www.stephaniehankerson.com/blog, to share seed starting and gardening tips. By May 1, residents took home more than 4,500 seed packets from just eight library boxes in the Midway, Frogtown and Como neighborhoods of St. Paul.

Inspired by this effort, MSHS partnered with the St. Paul Seed Circle and Como Seed Library, West Side Seed Library and Duluth Communty Garden Program to launch a seed saving campaign and help secure locally adapted seeds for our region. And, you can help! Do you grow tomatoes? Have a diverse native wildflower garden? Love growing annual flowers? We’re looking for volunteers to grow and save seeds from their favorite crops. Look for upcoming webinars on seed saving techniques and inspiring stories, monthly Q&A sessions about how to save seeds from fruits, vegetables, native plants and flowers, and seed cleaning and packaging events this fall. We can’t wait to share this seed library with backyard and community garden growers!

Sweet & Spicy Watermelon Salad Growing watermelon this year? Try this refreshing recipe for a light summer salad with a kick. Serve with chicken or fish or as a sweet and savory dessert.

INGREDIENTS

1¹ ₂ teaspoons lime zest, from about 1 lime ¹ ₄ cup fresh lime juice, from about 3 limes 1 tablespoon sugar or honey Freshly ground pepper 3 cups watermelon, seeded, finely chopped 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced 1 mango, peeled and diced 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced 1 small red onion, finely chopped 8 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped (optional: use cilantro) ¹ ₂ teaspoon garlic salt DIRECTIONS

1. Stir together lime zest, lime juice, sugar (or honey); lightly salt and pepper.

2. Add the watermelon, cucumber, mango, jalapeno, onion and basil (or cilantro) and toss gently.

3. Chill the salsa until ready to serve.

4. Add the garlic salt just before serving.

TO LEARN MORE AND SIGN UP, VISIT NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG/MN-SEED-PROJECT

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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Experts trust the #1 brand in organic gardening Laura LeBoutillier grew up working in her parents’ garden center.

Since then, she and her husband Aaron have published hundreds of inspirational and educational gardening videos online for over 2.4 million loyal fans. Laura loves her garden and uses only the best products to ensure it looks beautiful. That’s why she trusts Espoma Organic® for her fertilizer and potting soil needs.

Espoma. A natural in the garden since 1929.

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l July/August 2020 Visit www.espoma.com/videoNorthern to seeGardener our inspirational videos.

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MSHS NEWS

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Heirloom Circle member: Terry Beitlich

Pollinator Plant Packs Whether you have a large yard or a single pot, you have the opportunity to create habitat for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other struggling pollinators. When you purchase MSHS Pollinator Paks™, available at garden centers across Minnesota, you receive plants that are known to attract pollinators and are ready for planting. Each Pak™ has six different plants, perfect for the pollinator species you’d like to attract—bees, butterflies or others. A portion of your purchase directly supports the MSHS community outreach programs, Garden-in-a-Box and Minnesota Green.

Thank you for protecting important pollinator populations and helping us grow gardeners.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF POLLINATOR PACKS ONLINE AT NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG.

Support Local and Save Check out our full list of 2020 Discount Partners on the back inside cover.

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talent, knowledge, time and financial support is Heirloom Circle member Terry Beitlich’s perfect recipe for philanthropy. “When you have passion for a nonprofit’s mission, these things are given freely and without obligation or expectation of return,” he says. “This is community engagement at its best.”

Terry was one of seven children growing up in southeastern Minnesota with a mother who was an avid gardener. “She grew a lot of our food in our large garden, which was stored in the fruit cellar, frozen, dried and canned. We lived on that garden all year long.” Terry says his mom did all of the work, so he didn't learn to garden until after he graduated from college and moved to the Twin Cities. “I had a friend who started giving me plants and I was hooked,” he says.

Terry worked in the accounting field, so gardening was an avocation for most of his life. When he decided on semi-retirement about 10 years ago, he started working at Linder’s Garden Center (now closed) and later at Wagners Garden Center. That’s when he says that gardening became a vocation. “I picked up a lot of knowledge from staff at the nursery and from our customers, many of whom are serious gardeners.”

About that same time, Terry started volunteering with MSHS because he wanted to get more involved as a member. “I really started caring about the work of the society when I volunteered at events like the spring home shows and the state fair.” Terry says that Garden-in-a-Box is essential to teaching the next generation how to garden. “I remember planting bean seeds and watching them grow in kindergarten class. I don’t know if schools have the resources to provide these kinds of programs anymore and that is where the society steps up.”

“

I remember planting bean seeds and watching them grow in kindergarten class.

I don’t know if schools have the resources to provide these kinds of programs anymore and that is where the society steps up.”

– TERRY BEITLICH

Now retired, Terry spends a lot of time in his garden growing tropicals, which he overwinters and donates to the Minnesota Zoo. He says retirement made him think about his legacy.

“When I made the decision to join the Heirloom Circle and include the society in my estate plan, I considered what has inspired me most in my lifetime. Gardening is something that I just feel passionate about. It’s an essential ingredient to a great life.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HEIRLOOM CIRCLE, CONTACT DIANE DUVALL AT DDUVALL@NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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RESOURCES

Try a Webinar to help you grow as a gardener, MSHS is now offering more digital classes than ever before. Anyone with access to a computer can connect with gardening pros from their home. We are bringing both local and out-ofstate experts in to share their favorite gardening tips. You can attend a webinar anywhere, anytime, using a compatible computer or mobile device and a reliable high-speed internet connection. Tips for getting started: 1.

1 Sign up for a webinar online at northerngardener.org; 24 hours before your class, look for an email with details about finalizing your registration and joining the webinar.

2.

2 When you join the live session, you will be prompted to test your audio. Or, you can choose to call in and listen to the webinar over the phone.

3.

3 Enjoy the webinar!

We hope you’ll join one of our upcoming online classes. Can’t make the scheduled time? Sign up anyway and we’ll send you a full recording afterward.

612-822-4769 5 3 5 3 N I CO L L E T AV E S O, M P L S tangletowngardens.com

the

absolute u r b a n g a r d e n c e n t e r e x p e r i e n c e .

MINNESOTA GROWN DIRECTORY Find garden centers, farmers markets, wineries, berry farms, and much more!

EXPLORE ALL OUR WEBINARS AT NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG.

minnesotagrown.com Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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MSHS NEWS

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Helping Gardeners Stay Safe to protect the health and safety of our gardening community, MSHS is finding creative ways to continue to offer our signature programs Garden-in-a-Box (GIAB) and Minnesota Green.

Relying on recommendations from medical authorities, we compiled healthy community gardening guidelines on our online resource hub and brainstormed new ways to continue providing plants and gardening materials safely.

We distributed more than 500 GIAB kits throughout Minnesota this spring, offering curbside pick-up for kit materials and staggered drive-through times to minimize social contact. To honor social distancing recommendations throughout the growing season, GIAB participants are finding ways to help our youngest gardeners grow safely. St. Paul Public Schools and Success Academy sent GIAB kits home with students’ families and are following up with online classes. Childcare centers are placing the boxes at least 6 feet apart so each child can safely tend their own box. All groups have access to free gardening webinars about seed starting, garden planning, vegetable gardening and more to help them grow.

Our Minnesota Green program brought plant materials to over 90 community gardens this season. Rather than picking out seeds in person, Minnesota Green participants ordered seed packets online this spring. MSHS mailed seed packets to 25 groups to help keep these public gardens green. Cancelled plant sales across the state have led to increased plant donations to this program.

Thanks to the flexibility and generosity of hundreds of program participants and donors, this season will bring gardening materials and education to many new gardeners in Minnesota.

“

Keeping a community garden open for gardeners in a time of crisis and uncertainty is one of the greatest services such a garden can offer to its community members.”

FOR HEALTHY COMMUNITY GARDENING RECOMMENDATIONS, VISIT NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG/ RESOURCE-HUB.

Sprinklers

Available at your local Independent Garden Center or Online Retailer 12

Professional Watering Tools used by Growers Worldwide

®

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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PLANT TO PICK

Debbie Lonnee

Iceberg Alley™ Sageleaf Willow soils but does not require them. It is best grown in a site that gets about six hours of direct sunlight daily. It has no major disease or pest issues. It is propagated via softwood cuttings and is protected by a plant trademark.

Pair it in the foundation planting with Hydrangea paniculata, which blooms in mid- to late summer, or with other shrubs with foliage colors that will contrast with the silver. It looks especially striking next to shrubs with red to purple foliage, such as the many ninebarks on the market.

Introduced in 2019, Iceberg Alley should be available in local garden centers this summer and fall.

Iceberg Alley™ produces catkins in spring.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BAILEY NURSERIES INC.

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any recent shrub introductions have offered northern gardeners colorful foliage to accent their gardens.

Whether it is the reds or purples of ninebark, the chartreuse of spirea or sumac, or a great variegated dogwood, foliage can brighten up our gardens all season long.

Until recently, we’ve not had shrubs with silver foliage. We have some great silver-leaved perennials, such as Artemisia (‘Silver Mound’ and ‘Valerie Finnis’) and Stachys (lambs ears), but not a woody shrub.

That has all changed with the introduction of a native willow cultivar called First Editions® Iceberg Alley™ (Salix candida ’Jefberg’). This gem of a shrub was discovered at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Botanical Garden in Canada.

Hardy to USDA Zone 2, it will work for all northern gardeners. The very textural foliage feels hairy and soft, and has a lovely silvery hue. As you can see in the photo, the leaf is longer than it is wide. The silver is apparent from the moment leaves emerge in spring through autumn, when they turn yellow (unfortunately not a spectacular yellow) and then eventually fall off.

Iceberg Ally is relatively small, so it will fit in urban yards and foundation plantings. You could even use it as a dramatic backdrop to your perennial garden. At maturity, it’s 3 to 5 feet tall, with a spread that is slightly larger than the height. It requires little pruning, unless you want to control the height or spread. If that’s the case, prune away, as it tolerates pruning well.

In spring, it produces a pretty silver catkin with red stamens that can be cut for decorations. Iceberg Alley is a male plant that produces pollen and nectar.

Researchers in Canada observed it to be a favorite of honeybees, bumblebees, syrphid flies and some butterflies.

As with most Salix, it tolerates moist

Debbie Lonnee works in the horticultural industry and gardens in South St. Paul.

Master Gardener VOLUnteer PrOGraM | HennePin COUnty

We’re still here for you.

Classes and events led by Hennepin County Master Gardener volunteers have been cancelled, but we’re still here to answer your gardening questions.

• Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for timely tips.

• Read blog posts, look for online classes and videos, and find useful diagnostic tools and resources on our website.

• Ask questions by phone or online.

We look forward to seeing you at our 2021 events! www.HennepinMasterGardeners.org Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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NORTHERN NATIVES

Beth Stetenfeld

Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata

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well as low-growing, colorful plants in a pollinator garden or rock garden.

Echinacea, Rudbeckia and other native, drought-tolerant plants are a few examples.

Whorled milkweed spreads by rhizomes, and under ideal conditions it

will naturalize and form colonies. Clumps increase rapidly by runners, but plants can be pulled easily. The plant is listed as rare or threatened in some parts of its range, and it’s likely to be more prevalent in areas with sandy or rocky soil.

Seeds can be sown outdoors for

BETH STETENFELD

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ost gardeners are aware that monarch butterflies benefit when we plant milkweed in our gardens. All species in the Asclepias genus are host plants for monarchs— they lay their eggs on the plants and the hatched caterpillars then feed on the milkweed.

Many are familiar with common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), butterflyweed (A. tuberosa) and swamp milkweed (A. incarnata). But other milkweed species are garden-worthy, too, including whorled milkweed (A. verticillata)—a beautiful plant with feathery foliage and small umbels of white, delicate flowers. Buds have touches of green and red.

In addition to being a host plant for monarch butterflies, whorled milkweed also attracts other butterflies, honeybees, bumblebees, hummingbirds and other pollinators. It blooms later in the season—generally, July through September in most of the Upper Midwest—making it a valuable nectar source and host plant when other plants have faded. While beneficial to pollinators, whorled milkweed is particularly toxic to mammals—a good thing for repelling rabbits and deer, but important to remember for placement in a garden visited by dogs, horses or other domesticated animals.

Drought-tolerant whorled milkweed will grow in regular soil, but it thrives in disturbed, dry, well-draining garden locations. In particular, it’s a good plant to use in an area of the garden where you are attempting to reduce nonnative invasive plants. It will hold the site until other plants have a chance to establish.

It’s also a fun plant to grow in pots because of its spiky stature.

In the wild, it often forms drifts or colonies in fields, prairies and woodland edges. Because it blooms later, it provides garden interest from late-spring emergence through early autumn. Good companion plants include those that bloom earlier as

At a Glance: Whorled Milkweed Hardiness: USDA Zone 3.

Native Habitat: Often found along woodland edges. Also upland prairies, sand and gravel prairies, openings in rocky upland forests, sandy savannas, limestone glades and river bluffs, pastures, grassy slopes and disturbed areas. Native throughout most of North America; in the United States, from Massachusetts west through Montana; south from Texas to Florida.

Size: 1 to 3 feet tall; 1 to 2 feet wide.

Site: Prefers sun to part shade and dry or draining conditions; will grow in most soil types, but prefers sandy or rocky soils.

Propagation: Easily propagated from seed; seeds may be sown immediately after collection or stored for cold-moist stratification. Sow seeds in fall or spring for best results. Can be grown from purchased plants.

Space or thin plants to about 1 to 2 feet apart.

Other Species: A member of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), Asclepias is a genus with more than 200 species across Africa, North America and South America. This species of milkweed is unique in that it has slender, needlelike leaves, resembling the foliage of common horsetail (Equisetum arvense). Unlike horsetail, whorled milkweed is toxic to mammals. —B.R.S.

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natural germination—scatter or plant 1/8 inch deep after the first autumn frost. Water once; then allow winter snow and rain to provide moisture until spring. Seeds naturally germinate 10 to 20 days after the danger of nighttime freezing has passed. Alternatively, seeds can be sown outdoors after the last spring frost or indoors in pots after coldmoist stratification. This plant can also be propagated by division or with purchased plants.

With its very narrow leaves, it’s hard to believe monarchs can find surface area to lay their eggs on such slender foliage, but they do. Look closely, and you’re likely to find eggs and caterpillars on this unique milkweed species.

Native-plant enthusiast Beth Stetenfeld is a garden blogger and writer, and a master naturalist volunteer and instructor.

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BY DESIGN

Diane McGann

Eye-Pleasing Edible Gardens

Start with Pattern Forget those long, straight rows of the typical rectangular vegetable garden, and choose another configuration. One possibility is a square garden divided into four equal parts with a decorative object, such as a birdbath, in the center.

Even if you keep the typical rectangular form, arrange the paths to form attractive shapes within the garden.

Reconfigure the Plants If you’re foregoing long rows, what do you do? One design technique is to plant crops close together in triangles, short rows or curving sections and juxtapose colors and textures for interest. Envision the maroon of Scarlet or Redbor kale next to green arugula silhouetted against

Mix vegetables and herbs with ornamental plants.

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blue sage. Beets, carrots, lettuces, leeks, onions and garlic are just a few of the vegetables that can be planted close together, and you can whittle out and harvest plants as they grow.

Add Flowers Incorporating edibles into a flower garden is an idea that has been around for centuries and is a common practice in Europe. Rhonda Fleming Hayes, a fellow Northern Gardener columnist and author, adopted this technique from her years of gardening in England and successfully mixes vegetables and flowers in raised beds just outside her kitchen door in Minneapolis (see Northern Gardener September/October 2018).

Rather than mixing flowers and vegetables in roughly equal numbers, you might opt to incorporate a few pockets of flowering ornamentals here and there in your vegetable garden.

Try punctuating that sea of green with touches of red, green’s complementary color, perhaps choosing scarlet phlox or salvia for your exclamation points.

Adding flowers to the mix offers another benefit. Ornamentals, particularly those in the daisy family, attract beneficial insects and pollinators, resulting in an even higher yield of vegetables.

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hile vegetable patches are often seen as the ugly ducklings of the horticultural world, you can turn your own edible garden into a swan by applying some of the design strategies used in ornamental gardening. Choosing colorful varieties, planting in patterns, interspersing flowers, creating crisp borders, introducing tall structures and planting tight edges all play a role in making the vegetable garden pleasing to the eye.

Create Tight Edges Pay attention to the edges of the paths through the edible garden as well as to the outside border. These lines are important because in a primarily green landscape, they’re what the eye notices most. They need to be tightly planted, pleasantly shaped and sharply edged.

The garden’s outside border is also important. Raised beds naturally create boundary lines, and even just edging the ground-level garden with boards will hold the soil in and create a crisp line. Grasses, shorter flowers and classic hedges such as boxwood will also work to create the defining line that sets off the garden. If it’s in your budget, fencing can make a handsome border, and the structure helps repel marauders.

Add Structure Arbors and obelisks not only add visual interest, but also give you a place to grow vertically. Scarlet runner beans, tomatoes, melons and cucumbers grow well on tall structures, leaving more ground space for those vegetables that don’t. You might also plant annual flower vines or clematis on an obelisk to create a colorful, eye-catching focal point. An entrance arbor can host either flowers or edibles, creating a touch of drama and warmth.

Choose Colorful Cultivars Legions of colorful edibles await your choosing. Shining-star reds and purples are found in kale, cabbage, basil, asparagus, millet and mustard greens, while bright yellows are represented by golden oregano, yellow chard and ginger. The blues include cabbage, kale and basil. Colorful peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and vibrant cauliflowers will complete the tapestry.

With a little planning, your edible garden can become food for the soul as well as the palate.

Diane McGann is a master gardener and an award-winning garden writer.

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DIY

Eric Johnson

Reviving a Cement Patio

Prepare the Cement Much like when you paint a surface, the concrete needs to be clean and free of crumbling bits. A stiff-bristled broom will dislodge any loose pieces of cement. Use a wire brush to clean up any especially rough areas. If the cement is very dirty, consider renting a power washer to clean it. If not, you can do what I did. Add a half cup of baking soda and a tablespoon of dishwashing soap to a gallon of water, stir well, pour on the concrete and scrub with a large, long-handled scrub brush, then rinse. If you have large cracks or holes that need to be repaired, you can mix a little of the resurfacer to the thickness of oatmeal and apply it as a patch. Allow at least six hours of drying time before resurfacing.

Mix the Resurfacer A 40-pound bag of concrete resurfacer will cover about 90 square feet at 1/8 inch and requires about 3½ quarts of water to mix. Gloves, preferably waterproof, are always necessary when working with concrete products. Mix the concrete resurfacer according to the directions on the package. I used

PHOTOS: ERIC JOHNSON

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s your cement patio looking a little shabby? Mine was, with chips, pits and stains. And, I was tired of the old pinkish-brick color. Overall, it looked worn and sad, but the cement blocks were still solid, so it seemed wasteful (and costly) to replace them. I researched alternatives and discovered concrete resurfacer, which is available in hardware stores. Along with some muscle, it can revive your cement patio whether it’s made of laid blocks or solid concrete.

To resurface a patio, you spread the resurfacing product on existing concrete, skim coating it with a large squeegee to apply a new, thin coat of cement. The process also works on driveways. Yes, there is some brawn involved, but no more than most gardeners can handle.

Here’s how to do it.

After refinishing, the patio is a sleek and inviting change from before (inset).

a 5-gallon pail and mixed it to the consistency of heavy cream using a clean garden spade. If you want to add a color, like the slate gray I used, mix the colorant, which is available in the concrete supplies area of the hardware store, into the water first. Wet the concrete before applying the resurfacer by lightly hosing it down. This helps the mixture adhere to the existing concrete. Sweep away any standing water or puddles.

Apply the Mixture Once you have a batch mixed, pour the pail of mix onto your concrete in a row about 12 inches wide and then begin to spread it with a long-handled squeegee, working back and forth until the mixture doesn’t seem to spread anymore and you have a smooth finish.

I thought that I wouldn’t know how thick to spread it, but the product seems to do the work of leveling for you. It will only spread out to a certain thickness, preventing you from applying a layer that is too thin. The mixture sets up in about 30 minutes. If the temperature rises above 90 degrees F the day you work, gently spray the

surface with water an hour after you finish spreading to slow the curing process. The concrete will be safe for foot traffic in six hours.

Applying a concrete sealer will help protect the finish from the elements by resisting stains and keeping the cement from absorbing moisture. It also gives the cement a nice sheen, depending upon the finish you choose. I went with a satin finish, which creates a slightly wet look. Follow the directions on the sealer, applying several light coats and allowing for the recommended drying time in between.

When properly applied, concrete resurfacer is long-lasting and durable.

Repeating the sealing process at least every three years will extend its life greatly. I can report that the result is sharp and helps to make an appealing hardscape, which is an important part of any great garden setting.

Minneapolis-based Eric Johnson is a garden writer and designer. He blogs at gardendrama.wordpress.com.

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GARDEN SOLUTIONS

Laura Schwarz

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ast fall, I used a sod cutter to turn a section of my front lawn into a new garden bed. I don’t have a truck (and I’m usually trying to save money), so I didn’t have an easy way to remove the cut sod from my yard.

I left it in a pile for a few days before coming up with an idea that seemed just crazy enough to work: I decided to flip over the sod and cover it with a layer of leaves and pine needle mulch, in the hope that the turf would die from lack of light and from being left uprooted and unwatered over winter.

Well, my plan didn’t work, and this spring I had turf grass coming up everywhere in my new garden bed. I figured I’d just pull it up as it emerged, but the new growth came directly from the tangle of weedy upside-down sod that I’d left beneath the mulch, which meant that the larger root systems were also still alive. I couldn’t bear the thought of digging it all up again, so I decided to double-down on the “mulching over the weeds” concept.

This time, I would work within the framework of scientific research that I’d read about over the past few years.

I’ve been following an online group called the “Garden Professors.” This group of university-employed educators (including one who advised me at the University of Minnesota) promotes gardening practices based in scientific research. Their website is a great place to relearn all of the things you think you know about gardening. They write a lot about how to kill large areas of weeds (and lawn) to start new garden beds.

Smother Method The Garden Professors do not recommend using cardboard or plastic sheet mulches because these disrupt air and water flow throughout the soil.

Rather, their research indicates that the best way to kill turf grass (specifically to prepare a new garden bed) is to mow it as closely to the ground as your mower allows and then cover it with a layer of

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arborist wood chips that is 12 inches deep. I decided to give this method a try.

Arborist wood chips are just what they sound like: the debris left after arborists cut down trees and brush and then chip them with a wood chipper.

The shredding is highly irregular, leaving you with large chunks of limbs and long sticks, mixed together with leaves and the usual finely shredded mulch you’re used to buying from the store. Because this mulch contains a diverse collection of materials and particle sizes, it supports a similarly diverse selection of soil microorganisms. Increased biological diversity leads to healthier soil that enhances the health of your trees, shrubs and perennials. Within a year, the chips will decompose to about half their initial depth. (Arborist wood chips are not recommended for annuals or vegetables.)

Aside from increasing soil organism diversity and smothering undesirable portions of lawns, arborist wood chips also retain moisture, moderate soil temperatures, control weeds and supply nutrients to nearby plants. However, for many gardeners (myself included), the most appealing characteristic of arborist wood chips is that they are usually available for free. I called an arborist who lives in my neighborhood and asked if he would be able to drop off some of his wood chips at my house.

I offered to pay him, but he declined, saying he usually has to pay to dispose of them at a yard-waste site. I don’t know if this is a normal service that arborists will provide for homeowners, but it is definitely worth asking an arborist if you know one!

Otherwise, municipalities and counties often supply free wood chips from their own arborist programs.

The city of Minneapolis and Ramsey County are just two examples of places where arborist wood chips are available for free at municipal yard-waste sites.

Something else I like about this situation is that arborist wood chips are a very

LAURA SCHWARZ

Arborist Wood Chips

The thick layer of wood chips will kill grass and weeds in about a year. You can plant after a few months.

sustainable type of mulch. Instead of purchasing mulch that ships in from far away (often in plastic bags that end up in landfills), you can use a local product that would otherwise be considered waste material. Since arborist wood chips break down slowly, they don’t need to be replaced as often as other mulches, making them even more economical.

I don’t know if my latest experiment will truly eliminate the lawn that I was too cheap to haul away, but at least it will benefit the long-term health of my gardens in the meantime. I’ll keep you posted on how it works out.

Horticulturist and writer Laura Schwarz lives in Minneapolis, where she works in garden design, installation and maintenance.

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POLLINATORS

Rhonda Fleming Hayes

All in This Together

Bees Doing Their Part As a longtime observer of pollinators, it reminds me of honeybees, and how they work together to keep the hive running.

These social insects can perhaps provide a lesson or two for these troubled times.

You may have heard the term worker bee; however, there are many distinctions among these vital hive members, whose jobs are assigned by age.

• 1-2 days: They are tasked with cleaning cells, including the one where they were born.

• 3-5 days: They feed the older larvae.

• 6-11 days: Then they have to feed the youngest larvae.

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s spring 2020 unfurled amid a global pandemic, I saw some of the first bees emerge in my neighbor’s yard. Every year, miner bees send up little mounds of donut-shaped dark soil as they excavate a cluster of underground nests. Even though they are labeled solitary bees, they still nest in groups—called aggregations— reminding us that we are better together.

That generation of bees will be gone by the time you read this column. And who knows how the fast-changing situation with Covid-19 will have evolved.

This isn’t my first self-isolation rodeo.

A little over 30 years ago, my six-monthold daughter developed a mysterious illness that decimated her immune system, leaving both red and white cell counts dangerously low. Not quite a “bubble child,” she needed to remain away from people, especially children, until she got better, if indeed she would.

For five months, we hung out together at home while my husband worked and traveled. The crack-of-dawn grocery trip became my routine, just as it is now.

Little by little, her numbers inched up until they hit normal. A welcome relief.

That time was lonely and scary, but in a different way than now. My heart aches for health-care and essential workers in the fray and for those without the family and resources needed to get through an extended quarantine. Global connection eases some of the isolation, though. A lot of us can distract ourselves with Netflix, silly memes and baking experiments. We can share our laughter and frustrations with the world. That wasn’t available during my first self-isolation. We are coming together for a common cause.

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• 12-17 days: They provide wax and build comb, carry food and tend to the dead.

• 18-21 days: At this point, worker bees have developed a stinger that enables them to guard and protect the hive entrance from intruders like wasps, bumblebees and, yes, humans.

• 22-45 days: Now they can go out on forage trips to collect pollen, nectar and water. They bring this back to the hive where there is more division of labor.

As foragers bring in nectar and pollen, some bees pack it into cells for feeding young or for the hive’s winter survival, others make honey, while others will fan the hive to reduce moisture. A select few attend to the queen, feeding and grooming her because she is unable to do this for herself since she has to lay 2,000

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As a longtime observer of pollinators, it reminds me of honeybees, and how they work together to keep the hive running.” eggs every day. Note that all of these endeavors so far are carried out by females.

Males or drones hang around the hive, eat honey and occasionally fan the hive if temperatures get too high.

Their very important job is to mate with unfertilized queens that will create new colonies. This adds diversity to the gene pool. As winter comes, they are dead weight and their “sisters” kick them out. When winter arrives, the entire colony will cluster around the queen and shiver to keep her and the hive warm.

A honeybee hive is often referred to as a super-organism, a community of synergistically interacting organisms, many individuals working within a selfsustaining social unit. Ant colonies are another example. It is said that altruism is what helps a colony survive and most super-organisms are highly successful.

During the pandemic, we all have jobs, some of us may have several.

Some jobs are heroic; some may seem mundane. But if we look at it through the eyes—all five of them—of a honeybee, we each have an important part to play, if only just staying at home. Because we are, indeed, all in this together.

Rhonda Fleming Hayes is the author of Pollinator Friendly Gardening (Voyageur Press, 2016).

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KITCHEN GARDEN

Samantha Johnson

Summertime Joy: Sunflowers

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he splendiferous sunflower might not be the first plant that comes to mind when you think of your kitchen garden. But these beauties deserve a place in your edible garden for both their flowers and their seeds. Sunflowers are hardy in the North; they’re easy to grow; and they make a bold and vibrant statement in the garden. On top of all that, they’re a fun novelty to use in the kitchen.

MARY LAHR SCHIER

Cooking with Sunflower Seeds If you love baked goods, then you’re in luck, because roasted sunflower kernels and sunflower oil work beautifully in breads, muffins, cakes and cookies. Oatmeal cookies are a particularly nice combination with sunflower kernels (and chocolate chips). The possibilities are unlimited when it comes to bread, and sunflower seeds make an excellent addition to your favorite muffin recipe.

Planting and Growing Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are Plant sunflower seeds outdoors an exceptionally nice pairing in when the soil has warmed breads and muffins. sufficiently in spring (ideally once And while you’re in the kitchen soil temperatures reach 50 to 60 baking, don’t forget about pie! degrees F), in well-drained soil, If you haven’t tasted a slice of approximately 1 inch deep, spaced sunflower pie, you’ve missed out 6 inches apart, in rows about 2 on a simply incredible treat that’s feet apart. Situate them in full reminiscent of pecan pie but is sun and keep them well-watered. packed with roasted sunflower After planting the seeds, you may Whether grown for food or beauty, sunflowers are a delight. kernels. wish to cover the area with some Roasted sunflower kernels type of screen if birds, squirrels or seeds are the kind you often see in also shine in salads, pairing other critters are troublesome in birdfeeders; this is the type from which well with many types of greens and your garden. sunflower oil is produced. other vegetables by providing a nice As your seedlings emerge and grow, It’s also important to note that there’s crunch and additional flavor. Or dress remember to thin appropriately based a distinction between sunflower seeds your favorite salad with sunflower oil on the type of sunflower. The best and sunflower kernels: the seed is the vinaigrette. Sunflower seeds and berries distance to space them will be listed hull (protective coating) that encloses are another splendid combination; try on the seed package. Proper spacing the meaty part (kernel). When snacking them together in oatmeal, with yogurt or is essential if your intent is to grow on sunflower seeds, it’s easy to simply baked into snack bars. sizeable sunflowers. spit out the pieces of hull and consume If you’re fond of peanut butter and are only the kernel, but for cooking you game to try a substitute, you can also try Sunflower Types need to work with kernels only. making your own homemade sunflower All sunflower varieties are beautiful in Post-harvest processing for butter for an interesting change of pace. their own way, and the multitude of roasted sunflower seeds for snacking Any way you look at it, sunflowers available colors and types makes it a involves soaking the seeds in salt offer an amazing return on your delight to ponder the possibilities for water, then drying and roasting them. investment. Just think: you can harvest your garden. But if you’re considering (See the video at https://youtu.be/ more than a thousand sunflower seeds sunflowers for use in the kitchen, it’s oumO0BIy7Z4 for instructions.) from a plant that grew from a single important to recognize the distinction Removing kernels for cooking typically seed and filled your garden with color between oilseed and confectionery involves pummeling the seeds (such and beauty. (also known as non-oilseed) varieties. as with an electric mixer), soaking Confectionery sunflowers produce them and then hand separating the Samantha Johnson is the author of striped seeds—the kind that contain hulls from the kernels. If you are several books, including Garden DIY, those delicious kernels that we use for growing the seeds for oil, you’ll need (CompanionHouse Books, 2020). She cooking and snacking. Oilseed sunflower an extraction machine as well. gardens in northern Wisconsin.

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Potager Perfection Try these heirloom wonders to give your garden a French flair.

Story by Samantha Johnson l Photos by Dan Johnson

I’ve never been to France, but please don’t tell my vegetable garden. My French heirloom vegetable varieties do just fine growing in a northern Wisconsin garden, far removed from the Eiffel Tower or the Champs Elysées. But even as my French vegetables nestle into the soil and soak up the Midwestern sun, I’m doing my best to replicate the style of a French kitchen garden.

When you’re fond of creating themed vegetable gardens (like I am), and you happen upon the idea of growing French vegetable varieties, then you begin populating your garden with these classic French vegetables, and it just naturally follows that you’ll want to create the ambiance of a French potager (“kitchen garden”) to further accentuate the theme.

At its essence, a potager’s purpose is to make practicality beautiful. It is a celebration of the entire gardening experience: focusing on vegetables and surrounding them with an assembly of herbs, flowers and fruits that continually delight the senses.

The elements of the ideal potager blend harmoniously through a combination of patterns and pathways, maximizing vertical space and ensuring that the placement of plants (including perennials) always allows for optimal conditions as the seasons progress. It’s an ever-changing and evolving oasis.

Let’s envision a perfect potager. It has herbs, of course, including French tarragon, nestled in small beds just inside the garden gate. Beloved French heirloom vegetables populate the larger beds, intermixing with strawberries and blueberries, bee balm and cosmos. Apple trees anchor the corners while reclaimed pavers or brick pathways guide you through the garden. Potted French marigolds provide bursts of color while clumps of coneflowers attract pollinators. Climbing French beans scale trellises and the fragrance of lilacs permeates the air. It’s a haven for bees and hummingbirds. Best of all, the potager is situated just steps from your kitchen door.

The stars of my French themed garden are heirloom vegetable varieties that have delighted gardeners for generations and continue to do so today.

Paris Market carrots

These charming little carrots embody everything we love about carrots, wrapped up in an adorable, round (almost heartshaped) package. Developed in France in the 1800s, they are an excellent choice if your soil isn’t conducive to growing larger carrots.

These petite (up to 2-inch) carrots make it easier to succeed with Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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Potager Perfection

this notoriously hard-to-grow vegetable.

Paris Market is just one of the many French heirloom carrot varieties. If you wish to explore others, be sure to check out Scarlet Nantes, Oxheart and Jaune du Doubs—a yellow variety.

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French Breakfast radishes

Parisian Pickling cucumbers

The name says it all—where it came from and what they’re used for—but I’ll also add this: it’s a cucumber that’s proven itself for over a century and is beloved for its quality. Originally known as Parisienne Cornichon de Bourbonne, it was historically recognized as the cucumber of choice for pickles in France.

And why not? It’s prolific, it matures quickly and it’s delicious.

If you like cornichons, these are the cucumbers to grow.

Rouge Vif d’Etampes pumpkins

Merveille des Quartre Saisons lettuce

French Breakfast radishes (right) mature in 25 days, making them a great crop to succession plant in late summer for a fall harvest.

Of all the vegetables that trace their heritage to France, the Rouge Vif d’Etampes pumpkin is among the most enchanting, and that’s partially due to the fairytale spirit of its common name: the Cinderella pumpkin. Its physical appearance (flat and ribbed) is reminiscent of the pumpkin that becomes Cinderella’s coach in illustrations. It’s a truly delightful pumpkin even without the fictional association. It was immensely popular in the French markets of the late 19th century and has found many contemporary fans in the United States as well. These 10-plus pound pumpkins are known for their suitability for pies, and their name translates to “bright red of Étampes”—a nod to its origin and its vibrant coloring.

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I would plant this butterhead lettuce for its name alone—it translates to “marvel (or wonder) of the four seasons” and I love that sentiment—but this heirloom lettuce variety has far more going for it than its beautiful name. Merveille des Quartre Saisons features green hearts framed by red-tinged (almost burgundy) leaves. It has good flavor and is a hardy variety that tolerates a wide range of temperatures (hence the “four seasons” part of its name).

I don’t typically reach for radishes at breakfast time, but that doesn’t matter because French Breakfast radishes are delicious at any time of the day. These lovely radishes are an eye-catching combination of red and white and reach about 2 inches in length. They’re lightning fast to mature (about 25 days) and are tasty raw or cooked. French Breakfast is versatile and traditional—a splendid variety.

Merveille des Quatre Saisons lettuce can tolerate a range of temperatures.

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Sometimes called the Cinderella pumpkin, Rouge Vif d’Etampes can be used for pies as well as magical carriages.

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Paths add beauty and practicality to potagerstyle gardens.

La Ratte potatoes

I turned to Google Translate in hopes that my meager knowledge of the French language was incorrect and that La Ratte didn’t mean what I suspected it meant. But as it turns out, La Ratte means exactly what I thought: “the rat.”

What I haven’t uncovered is why a potato of such glorious renown has a name like “the rat.” Because the truth is that La Ratte is a truly superlative variety with unparalleled flavor (it’s often described as nutty). La Ratte is a fingerling variety with a reputation as a premium gourmet potato—and nary a similarity to rats.

Boule D’Or melons

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May the beauty of a potager and the joy of these French heirlooms add a delightful French flair to your garden this season. C’est manifique!”

Ah, here’s a name that has a more attractive translation: Boule D’Or means “ball of gold.” (It’s also known as Golden Perfection.) This honeydew melon undoubtedly owes some of its lasting endurance to the fact that it’s prolific and hardy, not to mention beautiful and delicious. And it definitely resembles a ball of gold. While you’re planting melons, consider trying Petit Gris de Rennes, a grayish-green French cantaloupe melon that produces even in USDA Zone 3 and whose name means “little gray.”

Boule d’Or melons are prolific and hardy, perfect for a northern potager.

Herbs are essential in any potager, preferably located near the kitchen door for easy snipping.

Wisconsin-based Samantha Johnson is the author of several books, including Garden DIY, (CompanionHouse Books, 2020). Visit her online portfolio at http://samanthajohnson.contently.com.

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STARTING

OV E R

Strategy, structure and color bring life to a new garden in an old landscape.

Story by Meleah Maynard Photos by Tracy Walsh

When Mary Shannon moved to Minnesota in 2005, gardening was only a passing interest. But one day, while out for a walk in her Roseville neighborhood, she struck up a conversation with a neighbor who was working in her yard. The two hit it off and, before long, Mary was invited to join a local garden club and gardening increasingly became a passion.

In 2009, she bought a house with beautiful gardens on Ramsey County Road C. The owner had been living there for nearly 50 years, and the gardens were so lush and grand that at one point the owner had run a commercial nursery on her property. Mary moved in and spent the next three years devoting hundreds of hours to her gardens.

During the spring and summer, hardly a day passed without someone stopping by to comment on how wonderful everything looked.

She’d planned to work on the gardens for years. But in 2012, she met her now-husband, Bob Shannon, who had a home of his own in Richfield, where he

admits that the landscape boasted little more than a weedy lawn with an old wooden swing set and a broken-down trampoline. Starting over felt like a huge undertaking, but Bob assured Mary that her Roseville gardens had been stunning, and she could do it again.

So Mary began imagining what their yard could become. Rather than drawing a formal design, she used spray paint to outline where she wanted garden beds and the patio to be. Then, she researched landscaping companies and chose Andover-based Rock Solid Landscape & Irrigation to create the beds and install in-ground irrigation. “I couldn’t have done it all without the help of Jeff Davis, Rock Solid’s landscape manager,” Mary says. “From the beginning, he and his crew listened to my design ideas and made some great suggestions on ways to make my ideas go from good to great.

Since then, Jeff has become a great friend and, every season, he returns with a grin and asks, ‘What do you want to do this year?’ ” Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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Starting Over

One key design element Mary wanted for both her front and back yards was a layered look that included annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees, as well as lots of different colors, shapes and textures. “Bob is color blind, but he still enjoys bright colors, so I wanted to be sure the garden was colorful and always in bloom,” she says. But that goal was challenging before the garden matured the first year, so Mary put a few large, brightly colored exercise balls in the yard to add color. She and Bob planned to get rid of them eventually, but their grandchildren, especially the younger ones, love playing with them so much that they’ve now become part of the landscape.

After picking out several large rocks and boulders to use as accents and having Rock Solid’s team install them, Mary shopped for plants at local stores and garden centers to get the mix she wanted. She was also able to transplant some of her favorite perennials and shrubs from her Roseville garden, and friends shared plants and cuttings, too. “Large beds can sometimes feel unmoored in big yards,” she says, “but I solved that problem by strategically using evergreen trees, including pines, spruce and arborvitae, to add much-needed structure.”

When designing, Mary approaches each area the same way. She starts by

Mary brought these Turk’s Cap martagon lilies from her yard in Roseville.

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BOB SHANNON

A Designer’s Eye

Mary stands with her two gardening awards from the city of Richfield.

considering the size of the space, how rocks and boulders can be used, and how the structure and color of plants will play off of the colors of the rocks.

Next, she carefully combines plants to play up color, contrasts, textures, and varied heights and widths. “Then I just wait to see how things evolve,” she says, laughing. “Plants don’t always do what the label says, or I realize that something shorter or with a lighter leaf color would have been better, so I move things around a lot.”

Something for People and Wildlife Knowing they would enjoy a space to spend time with each other, as well as their children and grandchildren, Mary and Bob concentrated on the backyard before moving to the front. In addition to a cozy patio, they also had a small waterfall built. Next to the water feature, a charming red-and-white outbuilding does double duty as a garden shed for

Foliage texture, like that of lady’s mantle, is an important part of Mary’s design.

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Left: A wintergreen boulder is surrounded by red bee balm, trumpet lilies, coneflowers, ‘Silberlocke’ Korean fir, ‘Frosty Morn’ sedum and marigolds.

Below: Sunflowers, Dragon Wing® begonias, and ‘Karl Foerster’ grass line the stream bed.

Heuchera ‘Red Lightning’ contrasts with the boulders in Mary’s garden.

Hens and Chicks fill a succulent container.

TriTunia™ Pink Veined petunia Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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Starting Over

Mary and an office for Bob. Both enjoy sitting outside and watching the many birds, rabbits, squirrels and other creatures that their landscape attracts. Even on rainy days, they can still be outside in the rocking chairs on the shed’s covered porch. It’s also nice to gather around their small fire pit, which started out as wood-burning but was converted to gas a couple of years ago for convenience.

A statue of Buddha sits at the top of the waterfall, which is flanked by tall perennial grasses and sunflowers on one side and low-growing varieties of sedum, salvia and dianthus on the other. All along the back fence, a vast curving bed includes several different evergreen and deciduous trees to provide structure as well as privacy. Packed with tall red canna lilies, Asiatic lilies, echinacea, garlic chives, marigolds, salvia, hydrangeas and many other perennials and shrubs, including Tiger Eyes® sumac and a pussy willow, the backyard gardens attract a wide array of butterflies and many bees all season long.

Closer to the house, some of the same annuals and perennials can be found in Mary’s large vegetable garden, where sunflowers come up randomly and garlic chives go wild because pollinators love them so much. Knowing that rabbits will undoubtedly eat some of the vegetables, she always plants more than she needs, and she feels fine about that, considering that “rabbits and chipmunks have pretty

Pink yarrow grows next to the waterfall.

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much built condos under the shed by now,” she says.

Work on the front yard began with correcting the slope of the lawn, which was so low on the way toward the curb that Bob and Mary hit the grass with the car door as they got in and out. Preferring curves to straight edges, Mary again opted to create a large curving bed edged with rocks rather than a traditional retaining wall. A friend who works at Minneapolis’ Tangletown Gardens helped her choose plants for the bed and arrange them in a way that was both attractive and capable of offering some privacy for the front of the house. Some of the standouts are: ‘Mount Airy’, a hybrid fothergilla cultivar; a Korean fir (Abies koreana ‘Silberlocke’); and a Norway spruce known for producing cones at the end of new growth (Picea abies ‘Acrocona’).

Pink Gerbera daisy

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Left: Mary’s garden boasts ample seating areas.

Far left: ‘State Fair’ zinnias and Salvia farinacea ‘Blue Bedder’.

Bob thought everything turned out so beautifully, he entered Mary’s gardens in Richfield’s Beautiful Garden Tour in 2016.

She didn’t win that year, but in 2017 she won the Richfield in Bloom Award, and her garden was judged to be the “most improved” in Richfield. Then, in 2019, she was delighted when Tangletown Gardens asked to showcase her gardens as part of their annual tour. “This has all been so exciting for me,” Mary says. “I’ve learned so much, and I’m always envisioning the next thing I’ll do. This year, the whole vegetable garden will be reinvented and we’re doing a new addition off the back of the house so that’s going to change things.

There’s always something to do, and it’s really fun.”

Meleah Maynard is a writer and editor in Minneapolis.

Glass Magiscope art piece by Alberto Palma highlights Tiger Eyes® sumac.

Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora)

Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow Wild Berry’ Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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PRAIRIE VIEW

With Lake Pepin in the distance, this prairie garden brings nature home.

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Left: Gary and Jan Johnson have created a prairie garden as stunning as the view.

Right, from left: A spider web, monarch caterpillar and a monarch

Story and photos by Terry Yockey

O

ne of my favorite volunteer activities as a University of Minnesota Extension master gardener is working at the “Ask a Master Gardener” table at special events or at our local farmers’ market. You meet so many enthusiastic gardeners with challenging gardening questions and also some who just stop to chat and talk about plants.

At an Earth Day event a few summers ago, I met Gary and Jan Johnson. They stopped at our table and showed us beautiful photos of the native prairie plantings they had established around their home in the hills looking over Lake Pepin in Wisconsin.

Not being a shy person, I immediately asked if I could visit when the gardens were at peak bloom. Gary and Jan kindly consented and we exchanged email addresses.

I grow a few native prairie plants myself and knew that although natives bloom in spring, summer and fall, many of the flashier prairie plants bloom in midsummer within a few weeks of each other. Sure enough, in mid-July I got an email from the Johnsons telling me to come soon because their prairie garden was “looking good.” That was an understatement.

The view of Lake Pepin from their backyard alone was worth the drive, but when a friend and I got out to look at the plantings, we were stunned by the many giant swallowtails nectaring on the coneflowers and other prairie plants. There were so many we couldn’t get a good count. It almost felt like the garden was alive because they were feeding and fluttering and moving from flower to flower.

Twin Cities Transplants

Gary and Jan lived in both the Twin Cities and Pepin, Wis., for many years, traveling on the weekends from St. Paul to Pepin to work on their new house and gardens. In 2010, they moved to their Wisconsin home full-time.

The area around Pepin had always been their favorite autumn destination. They would eat at local restaurants and enjoy the beautiful fall foliage and views of the lake. One year on their annual trip, they noticed a “For Sale” sign just off the highway. Just for fun, they decided to find the property and check it out.

“It was love at first sight,” says Jan. “It was all about the view.”

Although they didn’t talk to the real estate agent right away, when they visited a second time and the “For Sale” sign was still up, they both decided it was meant to be.

Why Prairie?

“I wanted it to be a natural place,” Gary says of the 8-acre property, with 7 acres in woodland and the 1-acre prairie garden. “I’ve always liked the mystique of the prairie. I wanted to create what it might have looked like before settlement when it was an oak savanna. Some of the white oaks on the property are more than 150 years old. White oaks can only grow well in full sun so what is woodland now must once have been oak savanna before settlement.”

Jan notes that the decision to plant a prairie was a practical one, too. “We also didn’t want a lot of lawn to maintain,” she says.

A giant swallowtail nectars on coneflowers.

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Prairie View

After the house was built, Jan and Gary didn’t want to disturb the soil more than it had been disrupted during construction so they took a hands-on approach to establishing the prairie. Gary bought native prairie seed mixes and simply raked the soil and then scattered the seed by hand. “We did have a lot of weeds the first five years before the plants filled in,” he says.

One way he kept weeds from reseeding was by mowing all the plants when they were 6 inches tall before they could set seed. Every season, he bought more native prairie seeds and scattered them in the fall in any places where there were open areas.

“Autumn is a good time to plant most prairie plant seeds because they need a period of cold [stratification] to germinate,” Gary says. “Sometimes I even sow the seed over the snow.”

In recent years, he has collected seed from existing plants and thrown the seed between the grasses for added color as well as seeding in areas that needed more diversity. “I kick up a spot and expose the soil, throw the seeds down and then lightly tamp them down with my shoe,” he says.

In 2015, the Johnsons built a cedar greenhouse where they also grow seedlings from some of the harvested seeds.

“I think the secret to our success now is packing the area with prairie plants and not leaving room for weeds to encroach into the gardens,” Gary says. “In fact, now that the prairie gardens have filled in, they don’t need much weeding at all.”

Wildlife Trifecta

Bees, butterflies and birds all enjoy the buffet they find growing in the Johnsons’ native prairie gardens. Gary’s favorite pollinator plant is purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia), which is a big hit with all three. Small songbirds eat the seed heads, and bees and butterflies enjoy the nectar.

Some of the species of butterflies that have been sighted visiting the Johnsons’ prairie gardens are giant swallowtails, monarchs, skippers, painted ladies, red admirals, fritillaries and azures. Hummingbirds and songbirds are also frequent visitors. The hummingbirds prefer

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A stone pathway meanders through the prairie gardens Jan and Gary Johnson (inset) nurture.

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Rattlesnakemaster (Eryngium yuccifolium)

Gary’s Favorites Spring Blue flag (Iris versicolor) “Usually grows near wetlands, but with clay soil I can grow it in the prairie garden.”

White penstemon (Penstemon albidus) “Early bee pollinator plant blooming in late May and June.”

Pasque flower (Pulsatilla patens) “One of the first in the prairie and woodland. Lavender silky hairs on the stems and buds.”

Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) “Grows along the forest edge, rose purple or almost violet petals.”

Leadplant (Amorpha canescens)

Summer Rattlesnakemaster (Eryngium yuccifolium) “Unique, yuccalike leaves. Easy to propagate by spreading seed.”

Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) “Can grow 10 feet high, a monarch magnet.”

Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) “Small purplish flowers on long spikes. The roots have nitrogen-fixing bacteria.”

Tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris)

Bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) “A closed flower that only larger insects like bumblebees can enter.”

the many anise hyssop plants, cardinal flowers, catchflies and penstemons.

As soon as the seed heads ripen, red polls, goldfinches, chickadees and other small songbirds quickly begin stripping the seeds from the tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris), purple coneflower and other dried plants in the fall and winter gardens.

Unfortunately, the tall coreopsis grows to well over 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide, which, combined with its prolific self-seeding tendencies, makes it a bit of a garden thug. It has crowded out other plants Jan and Gary like. “It might be time to think about thinning some of the tall coreopsis out and replacing it with a less aggressive species,” says Gary.

In the spring, Gary uses a hand scythe and cuts all the prairie plants down to about 6 inches tall. That leaves some nesting and shelter materials for the bees and other pollinators, including the skipper butterflies that overwinter in native grasses like the little bluestem.

Prairie Inspiration

After visiting Gary and Jan’s Pepin prairie, I felt re-energized and determined to add more native plants to my own gardens. An amazing view and butterflies, bees, birds and beautiful blossoms—their Wisconsin prairie restoration has it all.

Red Wing-based Terry Yockey is a master gardener and longtime contributor to Northern Gardener.

Autumn Tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris) “Up to 8 feet tall, the yellow flowers sway with the passage of a breeze.”

Brown-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba) “Brilliant small yellow flower.

One of the late bloomers, late August to frost.”

Sky blue aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense) “Sky blue, daisylike flowers.”

Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) “My favorite prairie grass, it produces golden brown spikes up to 7 feet tall.”

—T.Y. Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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Growing for

GOLD ADD SOME SPARKLE TO YOUR GARDEN WITH THESE 12 GLITTERING PLANTS. Story and photos by Michelle Mero Riedel

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Left: Annual rudbeckia brings sunny shades to this combination with Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ and Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’.

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GOLD

is a color I frequently wear and introduce into many parts of my home décor. I have the same attitude for my outside garden, throwing splashes of gold’s plentiful cheerfulness here and there. You could say I’m a gold digger—not a person who marries for wealth, but one who appreciates this vital, natural color and has learned how to use it in garden landscapes.

Gold comes in many shades, from the mellow yellow of a sunrise to the harsh glow of the afternoon sun. Gold conveys a message of lightheartedness, elegance, prosperity and joy. It’s sometimes loud, so use this high-energy color sparingly. People are drawn to gold’s brightness, and so are pollinators, especially butterflies if nectar or pollen is present.

In the spring, I’m not afraid to add a splash of instant sunlight to my garden with yellow crocuses, daffodils and tulips. In the summer when I need a brassy border, I’ll plant a hedge of golden, short marigolds, zinnias or mini Asiatic lilies. If the gold flowers of Rudbeckia, for example, are too harsh in an area, I’ll pair it with soft, silver-gray foliage, such as lamb’s ear. Conversely, if I want to liven up an area, I’ll combine gold with a complementary color like purple or blue. ‘Big Blue’ sea holly (Eryngium zabelii ‘Big Blue’) is flawless with ‘Indian Summer’ black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta ‘Indian Summer’). As the season wears on, it’s increasingly important to introduce more yellow, especially in the fall. Golden color will easily blend with the warm autumn landscape.

Gold brightens up a shade garden with plants such as Japanese forest grass or the golden yellow Heuchera ‘Champagne’ PP27,567, a coralbell. And there’s a multitude of yellow hostas, which are my favorite, suitable for our planting zones.

Read on for a dozen winning, luminous gold flower and foliage plants worthy of every gardener’s praise.

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q Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry Eilers’ (sweet coneflower) This USDA Zone 4 hardy plant is a Missouri native and a favorite of mine because it blooms right up until the first frost. What distinguishes ‘Henry Eilers’ from others in the genus are its curved petals. If you can’t find R. subtomentosa, there are many golden black-eyed Susans (R. hirta) worth trying, such as perennials ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘Irish Eyes’, or the annual ‘Prairie Sun’. Some rudbeckias may need staking, but you can use surrounding plants to keep them effortlessly upright. ‘Henry Eilers’ likes full sun and grows 3 to 5 feet tall, blooming July through September.

w Argyranthemum frutescens ‘Golden Butterfly’ (Marguerite daisy) There are plants I purchase every year, and this annual is one of them. My favorite characteristic is the plant’s height—18 to 24 inches—which looks perfect in the back of my containers or as a centerpiece in the middle of the garden. With a solid flush of daisy flowers that bloom all season long in full to part sun even in the humid summer heat, this ‘Golden Butterfly’ is a show-stopping winner.

x Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens (greater yellow lady’s slipper) This plant stands in clusters, and I consider it royalty in my spring garden.

It features a deep yellow pouch with burgundy-striped, light-green, outward-spiraled petals. Hardy to zone 3, the plant’s noticeable green veins on its fine-haired green leaves provide a majestic background for the orchidlike flower.

And the foliage looks fantastic even after the plant blooms. As a bonus, this lady slipper is easy to grow and clumps double in size each year. It likes part shade and grows 12 to 18 inches tall.

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Growing for Gold

r Tagetes patula ‘Mission Giant Yellow’ (marigold) I once had a friend tell me that this plant doesn’t look like a marigold, but I considered that a compliment. I was looking for a mid-height (2 to 3 feet), pollinator-friendly annual with a large flower to add to my vegetable garden, and I found it. With 3-inch double blooms and nearly perfect foliage, it offers an abundance of long-lasting golden flowers for the garden or cut bouquets.

x Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ (Japanese forest grass or Hakone grass) This slow-growing, zone-4 hardy grass adds a warm quality to shade gardens. It also offers dramatic texture and a gold color like no other plant. It performs well whether you plant it solo or in a group. I recommend placing it in partsun for a bold, golden color. ‘All Gold’ is an unusual, new compact variety with a stronger vertical, less arching habit.

Plants grow 1 to 2 feet tall.

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four x Spiraea bumalda var. japonica ‘Goldflame’ (spirea) An improved version of ‘Gold Mound’ spirea, ‘Goldflame’ boasts yellow-gold foliage with russet stems on new growth. This zone 4 shrub has a summertime rosy pink flower as well as stupendous fall color. It’s a shorter, easy-care shrub compared to most spireas, which get up to 4 feet tall. I keep Goldflame mounded to about 30-by-30 inches.

six seven w Hosta ‘Pot of Gold’

Hostas are the queen of foliage, and ‘Pot of Gold’ is a stunning, luminescent addition for the garden border because of its 10-inch-tall stature. It maintains a solid yellow color all season in part shade.

Expect a tinge of green, especially in the stems, if you plant it in full shade. The plant’s beautiful lavender flower grows to 15 inches. Hardy to zone 2.

More Golden Favorites There are many more amazing golden plants to consider. Here are more of my favorites.

Perennials Alyssum compacta (Aurina saxitilis) Bleeding heart ‘Gold Heart’ (Dicentra spectabilis) Butterflyweed ‘Hello Yellow’ (Asclepias tuberosa) Columbine ‘Sunshine’ (Aquilegia x caerula) Coneflower ‘Mellow Yellows’ (Echinacea purpurea) Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’ (Coreopsis verticullata) Leopard’s Bane (Doronicum orientale)

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Primula vulgaris St. John’s Wort (Hypericum calycinum) Trollius ‘Earliest of All’ (Trollius x cultorum) Yarrow ‘Coronation Gold’ (Achillea)

Annuals Bidens ‘Goldilocks Rocks’ (Bidens ferulifolia) Celosia ‘Fresh Look Gold’ (Celosia plumosa) Cosmos ‘Cosmic Yellow’ (Cosmos sulphureus) Petunia ‘Supertunia Honey’ Sunflower ‘Teddy Bear’ (Helianthus annus) Zinnia ‘Canary Bird’ —M.M.R.

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q Inula orientalis

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This shaggy flowered plant’s spidery-long rays have an unusual presence on top of stiff upright stems decorated with blue-green foliage. At less than 14 inches tall, it’s the perfect plant for the front garden border. The foliage looks attractive all season. Bees and butterflies enjoy Inula, especially if it offers a flat landing.

Because it’s easy to grow from seed, I find myself adding more and more of these plants to my landscape. Hardy to zone 4, it grows well in part to full sun.

q Helenium autumnale ‘Helena Gold’ (Helen’s flower) This plant’s long-blooming, daisylike flowers are perfect for a sunny garden.

It’s deer and rabbit resistant, and it steals the show late in the season when color is waning. Helenium is wonderful in a vase with picture-perfect flowers that last longer than a week. You’ll thank yourself for adding it to the garden, and the honeybees will thank you, too. Hardy to zone 3, it grows 3 feet tall and enjoys full to part sun.

eleven w Vinca minor ‘Illumination’ (periwinkle) I’ve been buying periwinkle in the garden center annual section for years. This excellent trailing plant has brilliant gold leaves and green margins. When the season is over, you can plant it as an evergreen groundcover. It’s hardy to zone 3. The small, 1-inch purple-blue flowers bloom sporadically throughout summer in full to part sun.

x Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Sungold’ (gold thread cypress) This mounding, slow-growing, evergreen compact shrub is perfect for the mid or back garden border. I keep mine pruned to 4 feet high, and it’s a specimen plant in my front yard. ‘Sungold’ maintains its gold and light-green color in all four seasons, and its weeping texture coordinates well with other evergreens. Hardy to zone 4, it does best in part to full sun.

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twelve w Ligularia x hessei ‘Little Lantern’ PP16,026 (golden ray) This plant’s bold yellow clusters brighten the shade above toothed, heart-shaped foliage. ‘Little Lantern’ is a dwarf cultivar for the front garden border, growing to less than 2 feet tall. Most ligularias prefer moist soil and are easy to grow. The taller, comparable variety is L. stenocephalia ‘The Rocket’, which reaches 5 to 6 feet.

Hardy to zone 4.

Master gardener and photographer Michelle Mero Riedel gardens in Washington County and frequently contributes to Northern Gardener.

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ISTOCK.COM

NATURAL

ALLIES Permaculture is a term coined in the 1970s meaning permanent culture or permanent agriculture. To me, it’s The Theory of Everything. It’s a way of viewing the world (and our gardens) that helps us work with nature rather than struggle against it.

It’s organized around three central ethics—caring for the earth, caring for people and sharing fairly—and 12 principles to guide gardeners. I’ve used these principles as touchstones for years as I’ve changed how I garden and how I see my garden.

They may be helpful to you as well.

OBSERVE AND INTERACT By taking the time to observe your yard, you will find that many problems can be solved before they begin. I have lots of shade and dry, sandy soil.

Roses and Ligularia will not prosper here—at least, not without extensive labor and extra resources. Hardy geraniums, early spring bulbs and martagon lilies will do well—and bring in pollinators. Observing how sun, wind and water flow through your property will help you choose the easiest, most productive plants.

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Get your garden aligned with nature using the principles of permaculture.

By Theresa Rooney

CATCH AND STORE ENERGY I want to keep all the energy from my yard in my yard. Fall leaves? Those are sunlight given back to me to become mulch, compost or leaf mold—food for my plants. Years ago, I added a chain link fence (I prefer to think of it as a trellis) around the parts of my yard that were not enclosed.

This trellis captures the leaves and keeps them contained. It also captures leaves from my neighbor’s trees—more mulch for me! And because I am basically lazy and don’t rake my yard, my leaves don’t get blown onto my neighbors’ lawns, helping keep the neighbors happy. I use some leaves for mulch in new plantings or as a top dressing in containers to deter squirrels and help retain moisture, but most stay on the gardens and decompose.

OBTAIN A YIELD What’s your reward from gardening? Beauty?

Food? Helping pollinators? The yield I get from my garden will be snacks of berries or tomatoes or herbs, or a fragrance that welcomes me home, or even the hum of bees and the swishy grass sounds that captivate my hearing. Permaculture asks us to think about what we want back from our gardening efforts. What can you add to your garden to reward you more?

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Consider planting vegetables amidst your perennial flowers. Each year, the flower bed will change in appearance as you rotate the vegetables. The vegetables will probably produce more because they are right where they need to be for full sun and pollinators and may be hidden from pests. You will be able to amend those mini veggie gardens easily when needed.

ACCEPT NATURE’S FEEDBACK Most gardeners know the dangers of making radical changes quickly to just get it done. Patience is a garden virtue and a necessity. I added my vegetable garden near the back of the yard because it was the only sunny spot at the time. But I paid for my rash decision in having to haul water and not being able to see my vegetables when they were ripe, resulting in a smaller harvest.

USE SMALL, SLOW SOLUTIONS Sometimes I rush in when an idea excites me. I planted josta berries and gooseberries because they sounded interesting, then discovered I don’t like the taste. Luckily, the josta berries died, but the gooseberries have multiplied. I should have tried one of START SMALL WITH NEW IDEAS each first. It is easier to start small, see how that project works and then repeat and expand if you like it. This is something to think about anytime you are planning a big garden transformation. Could you do a small piece to make sure it’s what you really want?

MARY LAHR SCHIER

USE AND VALUE RESOURCES (AND SERVICES) Few of us realize how abundant our natural yards can be. Carefully planted and established, they can almost take care of themselves. I seldom use fertilizer in my yard. I may add a bit of compost here and there or add some soil sulfur to acidify soil for some plants, but that is all. I value the lushness of the yard and all it produces for me and for the animals, birds and insects that live or visit there.

Those creatures, too, add value to my yard. They help to control pests or leave droppings (from birds) as fertilizer. It may take some effort, but I try to see the joy in squirrels stirring my compost or cabbage loopers being baby bird food.

PRODUCE NO WASTE Reduce, reuse and recycle. We all know this phrase. Nature has been doing it forever, recycling everything into new plants and animals. Those stems you prune in late winter can become trellises for peas to climb. Drop deadheaded blooms next to the plant to decompose and feed the roots. Permaculture encourages gardeners to use in your yard what you have in your yard.

INTEGRATE RATHER THAN SEGREGATE Plants, like people, work better in communities.

Imagine a tree in the middle of a lawn. It looks fine.

Now imagine that tree surrounded by a few shrubs and some perennials and a groundcover. Now you have a statement, a community.

MIX FOOD AND FLOWERS This second yard looks more established, thought-out and attractive. The tree and plants complement the lawn. It all works together as a whole.

MARY LAHR SCHIER MARY LAHR SCHIER

DESIGN FROM PATTERNS TO DETAILS Nature is a great teacher of design, too. For example, when you decide to create a pathway, think of a leaf.

Picture the main vein; it is big, then smaller and smaller veins branch off. Create your paths like that too. The wider ones where you need to FOR PATHS, THINK OF LEAVES travel frequently and smaller ones where you seldom go, down to even a few steppingstones for those places you only venture into a few times a year. Consider nature also when you plant. I have used taller plants to shelter others from the winter winds or provide shade.

USE AND VALUE DIVERSITY All of us enjoy variety in some form. My yard has a variety of plants, but they are repeated so that there is also continuity. If you grow only roses, the Japanese beetles will feast. If you have only lawn, there will be little color and wildlife to enjoy. What can you add to your yard to make it more diverse, more colorful, more productive, more helpful to wildlife?

VALUE THE MARGINS Edges are magical. Where two different things meet, you will see amazing activities. Lawn and garden, tree and shrub, rose and clematis. Each one is good on its own, but when you add the other, you see synergy in the results. If you are adding garden beds or ponds, consider adding curves. The curves increase the amount of edge, giving you more chances for wonderful interactions.

CREATIVELY USE AND RESPOND TO CHANGE Nature changes and we respond. When Dutch elm disease took my huge elm, I mourned the loss of my serenity shade garden. Then I decided to enjoy the sun and plant fruit trees and shrubs. Now the yard is again a bit shady but different, and I love it. When iris borers took out my entire boulevard iris garden, I looked forward to planting natives and grasses that would work better in that tough spot. Don’t let the mosquitoes of stagnation live in your thoughts about your yard. Mourn your losses, but move on and find a new plant or opportunity to bring to your yard.

Gardening is therapeutic, it is healthy and it is fun. So drop the stress. Look at your garden, mimic nature, roll with the changes and relax. Nothing is ever permanent in the garden, but you can learn to enjoy each and every moment. Savor your yard’s nature and all it can share with you.

Theresa Rooney is a University of Minnesota Extension master gardener and author of Humane Critter Control (Cool Springs Press, 2017).

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The 411 on H20

Understanding how water nourishes your plants.

Story and photos by Lee Reich

My friend Mike gets a chuckle from the way I so consistently diagnose his plant troubles. “Too much water,” is my first diagnosis. And then, if Mike protests that he hardly ever waters the sickly houseplant in question, I respond, “Too little water.”

Water, too much or too little, is often the root of a plant’s problems whether in a pot or out in the garden. Understanding drainage and how it affects plants will ease your water woes.

Let’s start with soil’s three components. Ground rocks (minerals) account for half the volume of most soils. A small percentage of the volume is organic matter. The rest is pore space, which can fill with water and/or air. Water is needed to move nutrients into and through the plant, to cool it and to keep cells plumped up. Less obviously, air is needed because, like you and me, roots

40

need to breathe. Problems arise when too much or too little water occupies pore spaces—either extreme can cause the same symptoms.

High Water Table

Drainage problems in a garden could be the result of a permanent, high water table. You can solve this by lowering the water table by draining the water away to lower ground via open ditches or buried, perforated plastic pipes. A ditch that is a shovel’s width or two wide and 18 or so inches deep is sufficient for a home garden. You’ll need to slope the ditch about a half foot per 100 feet to keep the water flowing downhill.

Drainage tile does away with having to maneuver over and maintain ditches. While actual tile was used in the past, a perforated, plastic pipe buried in a trench at least 18 inches deep and

Testing Drainage

To measure drainage, remove the top and bottom from a straightsided coffee can. Dig a hole a few inches deep, sinking the can into the hole with its bottom edge pressed firmly into the soil at the bottom of the hole. Fill the can with water, let it drain, then fill it again, and measure how long it takes for the water level to drop. Anything slower than 1 inch per hour indicates a drainage problem.

—L.R.

sloping downhill to an outlet works best.

Cover the pipe with some fabric or paper to keep dirt out of the holes, then top it with a layer of gravel before backfilling. A screen at the outlet end of the pipe keeps out curious animals.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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SOIL PARTICLE SIZES & SOIL WATER

AGGREGATED CLAY SOIL

on water held in even smaller pores and thinner films on larger particles. When the soil dries down to a point where water, though present, is held too tightly for plants to draw it in, they wilt. Without more water, the plant hits a permanent wilting point and dies.

SAND

CLAY

You can also rescue plants from drowning by raising their roots above the water table, with raised beds or wide soil mounds. Raised beds work best for vegetables and flowers while mounds are more common for trees and shrubs.

Texture and Structure

A second cause of poor drainage relates to a soil’s texture and structure. Texture is the particle size distribution of the minerals: clay (smallest), silt (bigger) and sand (biggest). The proportion of these three sizes is the soil’s texture.

Structure is how those particles are aggregated into larger units.

Texture and structure influence water drainage because smaller particles have smaller pore spaces between them. The smallest pores can draw in water against the pull of gravity by capillary action— when water’s attraction to a material is stronger than gravity. The largest soil pores are too large for capillary action to hold them full of water, so gravity can

LEE REICH

Improving Soil V. H. ARLEIN

Larger particles = larger pores and better aeration

pull water down and out, drawing air into the pores.

Few soils are made up of only one size of particles, which is why soil is often described as sand, sandy clay, silty clay, etc.

Soils with about equal amounts of sand, silt and clay are classed as loams, which are further subdivided into clay loam or sandy loam.

Following heavy rain or watering, all soil pores fill with water and the soil becomes saturated, not a happy state for roots but usually a temporary one.

Once rain lets up, gravity drains water from large pores to bring the soil to field capacity. In this root-happy state, roots breathe freely the air held in large pores and have easy access to both thick films of water on soil particles and pockets of water in smaller pores, both held only weakly by capillary forces.

As roots drink up water, the remaining water becomes harder and harder to access because roots must pull against increasingly stronger capillary forces

Good soils have a range in particle and pore sizes so they hold an agreeable amount of air and water. If your soil does not, it’s possible to improve that situation by changing soil aggregation.

Aggregation is the clumping of small particles into larger units, with larger pores between them. So, a clay that might otherwise be too goopy from clinging tightly to so much capillary water becomes well-aerated when aggregated. Larger pores between aggregates (clumps of clay) give roots the air they need and smaller pores within aggregates hold needed water.

Garden activities, such as walking or driving on soil and digging or tilling excessively, can de-aggregate soils. If a soil is left alone, root growth, freezing and thawing, and the activity of micro- and macro-organisms, will, over time, aggregate it. Besides avoiding doing anything that would de-aggregate soil, a quick way to aggregate soil is to maintain plant cover and to regularly add organic materials such as compost, leaves and hay.

Lee Reich is the author of many gardening books, most recently The Ever Curious Gardener (New Society Publishers, 2018).

Raising the planting area is one way to correct poor drainage.

Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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Northern Gardener l July/August 2020

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NORTHERN VIEW

Gail Brown Hudson

My Love Affair with Dahlias

O

GAIL BROWN HUDSON

ne of the most intriguing So Many Dahlias flowers that we can grow Dahlias are divided into 14 in our region has got to groups ranging from singlebe the Dahlia. Members of the flowered dahlias that have one Minnesota Dahlia Society call ring of petals circling around their favorite flower “versatile.” I a central disc (very attractive think they should go much further to pollinators) to cactus, semiwith their endorsement. What cactus and pompon dahlias, about “flamboyant,” “dazzling” which are hefty spheres of petals. and “vibrant” or even “perfect” Water lily dahlias look like, well, to describe them? You cannot water lilies; anemone dahlias have beat the flower power of these a kind of floral pincushion in the startlingly dramatic plants, which middle; and collarette dahlias steal the garden show from midhave overlapping large petals that July until frost in a rainbow of surround a collar of smaller petals colors (all except blue). with a button disc in the center.

I first noticed these fascinating Some dahlias make a dramatic flowers five years ago during statement with deep mahogany to an extended stay in England. black foliage, providing a striking I dragged my sister with me contrast to the bright flowers. on a long journey via train and And then there are fimbriated or coach bus to the annual National laciniated dahlias on which the Dahlia Society Show at the Royal tips of the ray florets are split Horticultural Society garden at or notched two or more times, The dahlias are so perfectly formed they hardly look real at Wisley in southern England. I creating a fringe effect. Stunning! flower shows in England. walked into a giant white tent The removal of six trees with a straw floor and stared sentiment and value these flowers for because of emerald ash borers at the staggered displays of 1,000 or the way their showstopping qualities last year finally gave me the sunny more dahlias, single stems standing can rescue a flagging garden late in the conditions to try growing dahlias. erect in short green vases, all in a season.

I bought a half dozen tubers at the row. I was struck at how unreal they Dahlias were spotted in Mexico by Minnesota Dahlia Society’s spring sale looked—a bit brash and vulgar, even Spanish conquistadors in 1525. (Dahlia in 2019. like something made out of plastic—the pinnata is the national flower of Mexico.)

I was particularly charmed by the petal arrangement of these show flowers A source of food for the indigenous shorter collarettes I had planted. My was so perfect. Many of them looked like peoples, who ate the tubers, Aztecs also favorite was pink with a lighter pink plastic drinking straws that had been used the hollow, bamboolike stems of collar and a bushy yellow center. A bright cut off and tightly bound into a vibrantly the 10- to 20-foot-tall tree dahlias (Dahlia burgundy semi-cactus dahlia thrilled me colored ball. imperialis) to store and carry water. every time it bloomed. As long as you I was mystified by their obvious mass Several hundred years later, dahlias keep cutting flowers for bouquets, you appeal among the U.K.’s gardening caught the attention of Europeans keep getting more. I had fallen in love audience. Famous British garden again and, in 1791, they were named for with the perfect bloom! designer Gertrude Jekyll noted: “The Swedish botanist Andreas Dahl. dahlia’s first duty in life is to flaunt and Today, people around the world Gail Brown Hudson has a master’s degree to swagger and to carry gorgeous blooms enjoy 42 recognized species dahlias, in horticulture from the University of well above its leaves, and on no account plus several subspecies and more than Minnesota. She is an award-winning to hang its head.”

18,000 varieties, which can range in garden writer.

These flowers were definitely the height from a foot to more than 6 feet.

TO GROW DAHLIAS IN MINNESOTA, YOU swaggering kind! As I began to visit The flower size ranges from small (2 MUST DIG THE TUBERS EVERY FALL AFTER dozens and dozens of gardens during my inches) to extremely large blossoms (up A HARD FROST, CAREFULLY STORE THEM year in Britain, I spotted dahlias of all to 12 inches across). Flamboyant with a AND THEN REPLANT IN THE SPRING. SEE MINNESOTADAHLIASOCIETY.ORG FOR DETAILS. kinds and I began to understand Jekyll’s capital F!

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