Northern Gardener - July/August 2022

T R E E P L A N T I N G M I S TA K E S T O A V O I D

Gardener Northern

A MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION

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Northern Gardener l January/February 2022

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JULY/AUGUST 2022 l VOLUME 150 l NUMBER 4

Table of Contents 24

28

Hummingbird Bait

Wild and Whimsical

BY RHONDA FLEMING HAYES

BY JENNIFER RENSENBRINK

These tender salvias tempt birds and delight gardeners.

Inspired by nature, a suburban couple creates a landscape to love.

39 Come on In!

Planning and planting for wildlife will bring more life to your garden.

BY GAIL BROWN HUDSON

IN EVERY ISSUE 2 Director’s Note 4 MSHS News: Classes, calendar and more.

14 Pollinators: Two Vanessas.

By Rhonda Fleming Hayes

32 Edging with Hedging

Try these 11 shrubs for a classic look and formal style.

BY MARY H. MEYER

36 Growing Fruity Nightshades

These tomato relatives provide a sweet treat for northern gardeners.

BY COURTNEY TCHIDA

ABOUT THE COVER:

16 Northern Natives: Blue cardinal flower.

By Beth Stetenfeld 17 Plant to Pick: Triumph™ apple.

By Debbie Lonnee 18 Garden Solutions: Tree trouble.

By Laura Schwarz 20

By Design: Annual excitement.

By Diane McGann 22 Kitchen Garden: Overlooked oregano.

By Samantha Johnson 23 DIY: Build a berm.

By Eric Johnson 44 Northern View: Thank you, northern gardeners. By Mary Lahr Schier

Bee balm is part of a diverse garden, perfect for attracting bees and other wildlife. Photo by Gail Hudson

MSHS Board of Directors

MSHS will be back at the Minnesota State Fair in August.

Visit our booth in the Horticulture Building and the MSHS dahlia garden near the Grandstand.

Mary Hockenberry Meyer, Chair Mary Marrow, Vice Chair Paul Markwardt, Treasurer Renay Leone, Secretary Nan Eserkaln Judy MacManus Steve Poppe Laura Wagner Rhys Williams

A NOTE FROM

The Director for 150 years, MSHS publications have been educating, innovating and building community for us brave northern gardeners. The style, length and even the name of the publications have evolved, but the focus on quality information specifically for cold-climate gardeners is unwavering.

Like many of you, MSHS has faced rising costs recently, particularly for paper and shipping. Starting in 2023, Northern Gardener will evolve again, this time to a seasonal format. Moving to four print editions per year—plus a fifth digital winter supplement—will allow for us to adapt and still provide great quality without having to increase the magazine price. What you’ll see: • Increased length: Each quarterly issue will be larger than current issues and will include all the columns, features, ideas and tips you enjoy, plus a few new ones.

• Seasonal focus: Each edition will comprehensively cover one season.

MSHS Staff Rick Juliusson, Executive Director

Look for more timely to-dos to help you stay on track all year long.

• Environment: As many members and readers have requested, we will reduce our carbon footprint. Printing four times per year will use less paper and cover fewer shipping miles.

Friends, we know how much you love Northern Gardener and even with these enhancements, the change will be difficult. Our outgoing editor, Mary Schier, (see spotlight feature on page 12) has been hard at work planning 2023’s coverage, guided by the rich feedback we received from our spring reader survey.

Please continue sharing what you love and what more or different content you would like in this seasonal format. Visit our blog for more information about the change and how to provide your input: northerngardener.org/seasonalmagazine.

Growing, together, — Rick Juliusson Executive Director, Minnesota State Horticultural Society

MSHS community outreach programs generously supported by: 651-643-3601 l info@northerngardener.org

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

@mnhort

Lara Lau-Schommer, Education and Outreach Director Becky Swee, Communications and Marketing Director Diane Duvall, Development Director Courtney Tchida, Community Programs Director Ann Londrigan, Membership Associate Emma Krasky, Quaker Voluntary Service Fellow Betsy Pierre, Advertising Sales Manager

Northern Gardener Mary Lahr Schier, Editor Debbie Lonnee, Horticultural Editor Julie Jensen, Copy Editor Barbara Pederson, Designer Joe Luca, Newsstand Consultant

Copyright 2022 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.

UPCOMING EVENTS

MSHS Calendar

Veggie Garden Pest Management Tuesday, July 19, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers (free for Garden-in-a-Box members and community gardeners) Location: Your computer Instructor: Courtney Tchida, MSHS community programs director

Vegetable plants can attract a wide variety of pests. Learn how to manage them and minimize their impact on your harvest. You’ll learn about integrated pest management tools for everything from squash vine borers (pictured above) and flea beetles to cabbage loopers.

Working with Urban Soil: Regenerating Urban Land series Tuesday, Aug. 16, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $25 members, $32 nonmembers Location: Gibbs Farm, 2097 Larpenteur Ave. W., St. Paul Instructor: Paula Westmoreland, Ecological Design Land School

Healthy soil is alive with a diversity of organisms. A living soil delivers nutrients to plants, increases water-holding capacity, provides habitat and creates the conditions for growing nutrientdense foods and nectar-rich plants. In this workshop, we will discuss the soil ecosystem, the latest science in growing nutrient-dense foods, the challenges of urban soils, and ways to regenerate the land.

MSHS Calendar continues on page 6.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Saturday, Aug. 6, 10 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. $25 members, $30 nonmembers Location: Gibbs Farm, 2097 Larpenteur Ave. W., St. Paul Instructors: MSHS Judging and Exhibiting Committee

The MSHS Judging and Exhibiting Committee will present floral design basics in this fun, drop-in style workshop.

This workshop will offer a brief history of floral design and basic concepts of harmony, rhythm, balance and proportions. We’ll show that you don’t need to know all of the rules and principles of design to produce striking floral arrangements, and you don’t need to spend a fortune on expensive cut flowers. Instead, we will show you how to use common plants you may be growing, talk about seasonal availability and briefly discuss planning a cutting garden with plants that will bloom all season long.

Plant Your Garden, and Cook it, too!

Sunday, Aug. 7, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Location: The Good Acre, 1790 Larpenteur Ave. W., Falcon Heights Instructors: Courtney Tchida, MSHS community outreach manager, and Beth Jones, executive chef at the University of Minnesota Campus Club

If you’re starting a backyard garden from scratch or want to up your game with the one you already have, this class is for you! You’ll learn what to plant and how to use what you grow, and then we’ll head to the kitchen to create seasonal recipes based on produce available throughout the season so you can be sure to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables!) of your labor. Cost information available at northerngardener.org/classes.

Cultivating a Deeper Land Relationship: Regenerating Urban Land series Tuesday, Sept. 13, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $25 members, $32 nonmembers Location: Gibbs Farm, 2097 Larpenteur Ave. W., St. Paul Instructor: Paula Westmoreland, Ecological Design Land School

Take this opportunity to learn strategies to cultivate a deeper connection with land in your circle of care. In this workshop, we will share lessons, stories, assessment tools and practices to help you get to know the land more deeply, appreciate it, regenerate it and have fun in the process.

To register for classes, visit northerngardener.org/classes.

MARY LAHR SCHIER

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Community Events

MSHS CALENDAR continued from page 4

Celebrate Pollinator Week join us for these four online classes during Pollinator Week that will increase your knowledge and help the experts studying bees and other pollinators. Register for one or more at northerngardener.org and you will be sent a link to access the class.

Planting for Pollinators

Gardens and Quilts Tour Wednesday, July 6, 2 – 7:30 p.m.; rain date, July 7 Location: Milroy/Tracy Tour six country and town gardens featuring quilts from nine local artisans.

Cost: $15, includes pie and ice cream in the garden. Tickets available on the day of tour at Milroy City Park.

Contact: facebook.com/ tarcyareagardentour.

Tuesday, June 21, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Instructor: James Wolfin, Twin City Seed Co.

Learn the planting practices that benefit pollinators and the environment, including pocket plantings, trees and shrubs, bee lawns, pollinator meadows and more!

Seed Mixes and Ground Nesting Habitats Wednesday, June 22, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Instructor: Julia Brokaw, University of Minnesota

Learn how to support ground-nesting bees through gardening and habitat restoration.

Julia will talk about the emerging data showing how different seed mixes impact bee nesting habits.

Stem-Nesting Bee Ecology and Conservation Thursday, June 23, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Instructors: Colleen Satyshur and Thea Evans, University of Minnesota Bee Lab

This class is all about the bees that nest in dead plant stems and tunnels in wood, with recommendations for planting and managing landscapes to support their habitat needs.

MARY LAHR SCHIER

Pollinator Monitoring

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Bumble bee on Baptisia alba

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Friday, June 24, noon – 1 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Instructor: Elaine Evans, U of M Bee Lab

You can help! This class will cover some bee identification basics and where the most help is needed in monitoring and collecting data on them.

2022 Volunteer Learning Garden Tour Hennepin County Master Gardeners Saturday, July 9, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; rain or shine Location: South Minneapolis neighborhoods Cost: $15 in advance; $20 on the day of the tour. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Children under 12 free with a paying adult.

Contact: Mary Ellen Becker, mebbecker@ gmail.com.

2022 Garden Tour Northfield Garden Club Sunday, July 10, and Monday, July 11, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Location: Northfield Tour six beautiful Northfield gardens, each featuring a local artist. The tour includes the “Front-Yard Foodies” garden from the March/April 2022 Northern Gardener® magazine.

Cost: $10; visit club website for locations.

Contact: thenorthfieldgardenclub.org Community Events continue on page 11.

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Left: In the Steiner Garden, the straight line of a rustic fence gives structure to native plantings.

Right: Wild geranium is a beautiful, low-maintenance native.

NATIVES FOR SHADE No sun? No problem.

Try these natives for shade.

Ferns Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) and maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) Early bloomers Trillium, dog-tooth violet, hepatica and red baneberry

Native Plantings

Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), great for wet places

From its earliest days, MSHS has urged gardeners to use native plants for both beauty and food. Eloise Butler, founder of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden in Minneapolis, worried that as cities expanded many native plants and habitats would be lost. Here are some ways you can include native plantings in your landscape.

1

Choose native trees for durability. When choosing

landscape trees, scenic effect and durability should be your top priorities, Butler said. While native evergreens are admirable in winter, don’t plant too many; they give the landscape an overly somber look.

2

For winter, think native.

In 1954, Leon Snyder, University of Minnesota professor and the first director of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, argued that “the most satisfactory method of combatting Minnesota winters is to grow only those plants that can take our winters,” particularly shrubs such as nannyberry (Viburnum lentago), gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa) and winterberry (Ilex verticillata).

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

3

Show intention in native landscapes.

Lynn Steiner, longtime editor of Minnesota Horticulturist, later wrote several books on gardening with native plants. In prairie-style design, she advised Northern Gardener readers in 2010, avoid a too-wild look by showing intention with mowed paths, neat edges and formal, straight lines.

4

In small landscapes, use clumpforming grasses.

Wild ginger (Asarum canadensis) Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)

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Wildflowers from a can?

Ever wonder about growing wildflowers from seed? In 1993, Mary Meyer and D.B. White of the University of Minnesota reported on their experiments with wildflower mixtures grown from seed.

They work! But, after three seasons, the plants most likely to still be growing and flowering were those native to Minnesota. Tip: Check which seeds are in the mixture. Some may contain aggressive perennials, such as crown vetch or bird’s foot trefoil.

Little bluestem

Grasses are iconic flourishes in a small backyard native plants here. garden.

In small or more traditional yards, choose clumpers, such as little bluestem or prairie dropseed.

ELOISE BUTLER’S TOP MINNESOTA NATIVE PLANTS FOR ORNAMENTAL GARDENS

northerngardener.org/Eloise-list

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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

MASTER GARDENER SPOTLIGHT WASHINGTON COUNTY

Seeds Feeds Nourishes St. Louis Park

Giving Garden Thrives

To learn more about Seeds Feeds, visit seedsfeeds.org.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

“Volunteers never tire of seeing the reactions of youth tasting new vegetables, picking strawberries and raspberries, or ‘bug busting’ unwanted beetle visitors in soapy water,” Diane says. “Most importantly, volunteers never tire of knowing that their efforts are helping local neighbors who are facing food insecurities.”

To learn more about master gardener projects around the state, visit northerngardener.org/ blog.

ANN LONDRIGAN

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Kathy Louma partnered with Retail Construction Services, Inc. (RCS) to begin the RCS Giving Garden to support the local food shelf and teach a community about gardening.

DE

seeds feeds is making a difference in and season extension. Since its beginning, St. Louis Park. Motivated by personal the group has given away more than health challenges and her experience 72,000 pounds of food and taught more with food insecurity, founder Julie than 7,000 children, families and teachers Rapport started the organization a key gardening skills. decade ago. After overcoming those The group also has advocated to challenges, she vowed to support those include food security in St. Louis Park’s who wanted and needed a helping hand.

10-year comprehensive plan. The Using her education in complementary experiences Seeds Feeds creates stick and alternative medicine from the with participants. People have come University of Minnesota, she created up to Julie years after being part of the the organization, program to tell her how which is dedicated their lives have changed to growing food because of Seeds Feeds, We glean so much to nourish people, she says. community and “MSHS has helped us information from the earth. in so many ways, through the [MSHS] Seeds Feeds the Minnesota Green supports the donated-plants program resources and community in three and the Garden-in-a-Box classes offered, important ways: food projects we’ve started in security, education and schools and low-income which we share food justice advocacy. housing complexes,” through our The group has created Julie says. “We glean so 10 food bank gardens much information from outreach.” that, combined, the resources and classes –julie rapport, founder offered, which we share contain more than 80 varieties of crops. These gardens not only through our outreach.” In the future, nourish the community but also teach Seeds Feeds hopes to expand beyond those involved important gardening St. Louis Park to increase accessibility techniques, such as succession planting for many more.

RIE

Julie Rapport (right) and Mary Nieting pick up plants at MSHS.

M E

every spring the University of Minnesota Master Gardener volunteers in Washington County take a blank 6,000-square-foot Each year the RCS Giving Garden canvas known as the produces nearly RCS Giving Garden two tons of food in Lake Elmo and for donation to the create a bountiful, Stillwater-based educational Valley Outreach food shelf. community masterpiece. In partnership with Retail Construction Services (RCS) employees, visiting youth groups and the community-at-large, the garden produces close to two tons of food for donation to Valley Outreach food shelf in Stillwater, says Diane Knoll, co-lead of the project.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

COMMUNITY EVENTS continued from page 6

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Garden Tour Gardenair Garden Club Saturday, July 16, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Location: Lake City Tour 16 area gardens, including shade gardens, pollinator gardens and a Frenchinspired formal garden.

Cost: $10 on the day of the tour.

Contact: b.fuhrman@mchsi.com for ticket information.

Tour the Horticulture Display Garden and join us for hands-on gardening demonstrations and horticulture presentations. Keynote speaker: Mark Seeley, University of Minnesota climatologist.

Cost: Free.

Contact: Esther Jordan, ejordan@umn.edu.

Twin City Water Gardens Tour Minnesota Water Garden Society Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Location: Twin Cities and western Wisconsin Visit 10 water gardens, featuring aquatic plants, goldfish and Koi, tumbling water as well as beautiful perennial and annual gardens. Joining the tour this year are two gardens in western Wisconsin.

Cost: $15 in advance, $20 day of tour, $5 single site.

Contact: mwgs.org.

State Gladiolus Show Minnesota Gladiolus Society Saturday, Aug. 13, and Sunday, Aug. 14, 1 – 3 p.m.

Location: New Ulm Civic Center, 1212 N. Franklin St., New Ulm “Country Oldies” is the theme for interpretive arrangements, and you may want to dance when you see them.

Come after 5 p.m. on Aug. 12 to make arrangements. Spikes are provided free but bring your own props.

Contact: Joy Clobes, cjfxmn@gmail.com.

Community Events continue on page 15.

Annual Garden Tour Rochester Garden and Flower Club Saturday, July 16, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Location: RCTC SMART Gardens, 85130th Ave. S.E., Rochester Six beautiful gardens to enjoy!

Cost: $15, under 18 free, on day of the tour at RCTC SMART Gardens.

Contact: rgfc.org.

2022 Tour with the Masters Olmsted County Extension Master Gardeners Wednesday, July 20, 4 – 8:30 p.m.

Location: Southeast Rochester Tour five private gardens plus the pollinator garden at Graham Park.

Cost: $8 in advance, $10 the day of the tour.

Contact: Christine Schwartz, mnextolmsted@umn.edu.

Horticulture Night West Central Research and Outreach Center Thursday, July 28, 4 – 8 p.m.

Location: West Central Research and Outreach Center, 46352 State Hwy. 329, Morris

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Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

A Garden Editor’s Journey “i didn’t know botanical latin before Northern Gardener®,” says longtime editor, Mary Lahr Schier, joking that now she is almost fluent.

With this issue, Mary will be retiring as editor of Northern Gardener after 17 years. In that time, she’s also written a book for northern gardeners, created the My Northern Garden blog, managed the hort society’s Facebook page and blog, and you may have seen her volunteering at the MSHS booth at the Minnesota State Fair. Editing the magazine has been a privilege, she says.

“We have wonderful writers and a very engaged audience who really read and value this magazine,” she says. “I’ve never written for such an intelligent, literate audience.”

Surprisingly, Mary didn’t grow up gardening but she’s always loved cooking. “When you cook, you think about ingredients and that leads to growing food,” she says. Early gardening efforts included growing strawberries, asparagus, herbs and tomatoes. In 1999, she and her husband built a home on the edge of Northfield, which sparked her interest in ornamental gardening. “We didn’t want to be that house at the end of a cornfield without even a tree,” she says, so they hired a landscaper who helped them create a yard filled with native trees, shrubs and perennials that fit the setting.

A longtime newspaper and magazine writer, Mary began editing Northern Gardener in 2005, and that’s when her gardening really took off. The magazine provided much-needed, relevant information for cold-climate gardeners not available from other sources. “There’s a lot of USDA Zone 6 information out there, a bit for zone 5, less for zone 4,” she says.

“And, poor zone 3 just gets left out in the cold.” As editor, Mary says she

“

[I] wanted the magazine to help new gardeners succeed as well as portray a variety of garden approaches for more experienced hands.”

– mary lahr schier

On garden tours, Mary is the one behind the camera.

wanted the magazine to help new gardeners succeed as well as portray a variety of garden approaches for more experienced hands.

Now gardening on a small lot in St. Paul, Mary has planted her front yard with flowering trees, shrubs and perennials. Having a garden out front is

“a great way to meet your neighbors,” she says. Retirement means more time with family, traveling, an occasional blog post and volunteering, including for the hort society. “I look forward to continuing to support the mission of the hort,” she says. “Northern gardeners need this resource.”

Get your best garden tool. Join or renew today at northerngardener.org/membership.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

MSHS NEWS

MSHS News Your garden is probably starting to look very pretty about now. Grab your camera and take some images for the 2022 Great Gardening Contest. Each year, MSHS highlights beautiful photos taken by our members of their gardens, with the winning gardens featured in Northern Gardener® magazine.

The 2021 Public Garden winner was To enter, capture a photo of your garden Gethsemane Community Garden. in its best light and post your photos on Facebook or Instagram with hashtags #GreatGardeningContest2022 and #mnhort. Then, register online at northerngardner.org between July 5 and Aug. 5 to tell us about your garden. Winners in all three categories—container, home garden and public garden—will be featured in Northern Gardener magazine this fall.

Visit northerngardener.org/great-gardening-contest to learn more and watch our webinar How to Take Great Garden Photos with professional photographer Michelle Mero Riedel.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

#GreatGardeningContest2022

Volunteers Needed for State Fair MSHS will be back at the Minnesota State Fair in 2022, and we’re looking for volunteers to work at our booth in the Horticulture Building. Volunteers help MSHS staff sell memberships and merchandise as well as working at our educational display.

Volunteers get free admission to the fair and work a four-hour shift. We need several volunteers each shift, so sign up with friends and make a day of it.

To sign up, go to northerngardener.org/ volunteer. The fair runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 5.

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Northern Gardener l Ju;y/August 2022

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POLLINATORS

“

A red admiral butterfly alights on alliums.

Red admirals range from Mexico and Guatemala through the United States and into northern Canada.”

you might think we know everything about butterflies by now, but there are plenty of mysteries still to be solved.

After all, it was only in 1976 that we learned that monarchs overwinter in the fir forests of Mexico’s central highlands.

The monarch is now so celebrated and studied that you might be surprised to hear that there are other species of butterfly that migrate. Painted lady (Vanessa cardui) and red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly populations also migrate, but differently. And just as the monarch migration puzzled entomologists for ages, there are plenty of questions about the Vanessa migrations that persist today. Citizen scientists like you and me can help provide answers.

Painted Lady

Found in every continent but Australia and Antarctica, the painted lady is also known as the cosmopolitan because of its wide range. In North America, this global gadabout starts out in the deserts of the southwest United States and north-

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

ern Mexico. Its migration doesn’t follow gray with distinctive pale blue eyespots. a seasonal pattern, rather it’s thought to Here they are a common sight in be influenced by winds gardens and open fields. and rains, especially Adults are generalists; Painted lady on the heavy rains from they can be found necanise hyssop El Niño that create taring on thistle, aster, wildflower superironweed, milkweed, joeblooms. pye weed and blazing star.

Painted lady migraLarvae feed on a number tions are sporadic and of plants including thistle, huge—enough to be aster, mallow and holspotted on radar! This lyhock. The caterpillars enormous migration is build a silk tent that procalled an “irruption.” tects them while they eat.

Northern gardenThey also enjoy soybeans, ers may remember one happening in a preference that leads many farmers to September 2017 when our gardens were call them pests. filled with the fluttering butterflies as they made their way through. The jourRed Admiral ney from the southwest to Canada and Red admirals are Holarctic, meaning back takes six generations. they are found throughout the NorthAt 2 to almost 3 inches across, they ern Hemisphere. In North America, are not quite as large as monarchs. Their they range from Mexico and Guatemala orange color is defined with dark brown through the United States and into markings and white marks at the wingnorthern Canada. tips. The underside is black, brown and They raise two to three generations

RHONDA FLEMING HAYES

Two Vanessas

COMMUNITY EVENTS continued from page 11

YOU CAN HELP: Researchers are studying migration, territorial behavior, distribution patterns and overwintering of these two Vanessa species. They invite you to record your sightings and any other pertinent information on these two sites: vanessa.ent.iastate.edu and inaturalist.org/projects/vanessamigration-project.

—R.F.H.

or broods as they work their way north.

Some will hibernate over winter in either adult or pupal form, then emerge in spring. Some will migrate south in winter.

They have a striking appearance— black wings with orange-red bands in the middle of the forewing and along the edge of the hindwings. You might think the vermillion bands are associated with shoulder epaulets denoting the high rank of admiral, but the name is thought to be a variation of “admireable.” The wingtips have contrasting white spots. The underside is dark with some bits of red, white and pale blue.

The species ranges from 1½ to 2¼ inches, though individuals from the summer brood are a bit larger.

Red admirals reside in and along the edges of woods and near streams, gardens and open grassy areas. Adults will nectar on milkweed, clover and aster but prefer to feed on tree sap, rotting fruit and bird droppings. The caterpillars use nettles as their larval host plant, a good reason to leave some wild edges in the yard.

Males are known for their aggressive territorial behavior. They “perch and patrol” an area while looking for a mate. Any male intruders are given a swift sendoff.

Orchid Touring in Brazil Minnesota Water Garden Society Sunday, Aug. 14, 2 – 4 p.m.

Location: Bachman's on Lyndale, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis Presenter: Steve Gonzalez Contact: mwgs2020@gmail.com.

80th Anniversary Flower, Food and Foto Show Men's and Women's Garden Club of Minneapolis Saturday, Aug. 20, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 21, 10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Location: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 3675 Arboretum Dr., Chanhassen Anyone may enter any flower, vegetable or photo into the show. Entries will be accepted on Saturday, Aug. 20, 7 – 10:15 a.m. Photo entries must be submitted by Sunday, July 31.

Contact: gardenclubmpls.org.

Mini-Catts: Delightful Cattleyas in Miniature Orchid Society of Minnesota Saturday, Aug. 20, 1 – 3 p.m.

Location: Bachman’s on Lyndale, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis Presenter: Peter T. Lin, Diamond Orchids, on species and hybrid mini-orchids.

Contact: orchidsocietyofminnesota@ gmail.com.

Gladiolus Show Minnesota State Fair Saturday, Aug. 27, and Sunday, Aug. 28, 11:30 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Location: Horticulture Building, Minnesota State Fairgrounds Theme this year is “Gladiolus Names.”

Entries due on show tables by 9 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 27.

Contact: Jim Butler, thegladfan@comcast. net

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

Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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NORTHERN NATIVES

Blue Cardinal Flower

BETH STETENFELD

if consumed in large quantities, though it was once used for several pharmaceutical purposes by Indigenous Americans and early European settlers.

Great companion plants include natives, such as wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) and wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), that bloom earlier and those that bloom around the same time or later, such as turtleheads (Chelone spp.) and asters (Symphyotrichum spp.).

Blue cardinal flower is happiest in medium to moist conditions; it doesn’t tolerate drought well. But if you have a spot in the garden that’s regularly watered, by nature or by humans, it isn’t fussy. It’s a great plant near ponds, streams, waterfalls or other moist garden locations.

Blue cardinal flower will tolerate all types of soils, from sandy to clay, and it grows well in full sun to partial shade, or even in a woodland garden if it gets enough moisture.

There are several effective ways to propagate blue cardinal flower. It starts well from seed—either directly sown in the spring after all danger of frost, or started indoors several weeks before the last frost. The seeds need light to germinate, so they should be sown on the surface and not covered. Established plants also can be divided in midsummer before blooming— from rooted cuttings or with roots from a large clump.

Blue cardinal flower is a stunning bloomer: It can’t be ignored when at its peak in late summer. Its color, stature, form and attractiveness to butterflies and other pollinators makes it a special plant for late in the growing season. blue cardinal flower (lobelia siphilitica), also called great blue lobelia, can be a fussy plant to start, but once it finds a favorite spot, it will return reliably. Though it’s a short-lived perennial, it tends to spread and re-seed. The blue of this tall, stately plant’s blooms is unusual, with shades of lavender and sky blue. The blooms are long-lasting—often blooming for four to eight weeks during July through September.

A clumping plant, it has a large taproot and it forms winter foliage rosettes. In spring, its stems emerge from its ground-level crown. The tubular flower spikes form on single or multiple stalks containing many flowers, which bloom from bottom to top.

Because blue cardinal flower blooms later in the season, it is an important pollen and nectar source for insects, bees and hummingbirds. It’s recognized by pollination ecologists as attracting large numbers of native bees. Often when you observe the plant on a warm summer day, you’ll see many pollinators on each flower stalk. It’s also a host plant to several beneficial predator insects, including moth species.

In addition to the benefits to pollinators, blue cardinal flowers provide tall, showy structure in floral arrangements.

And they have a long vase life, often lasting for a week. In the garden, the plants form a dramatic backdrop and structure for other plants. Note: All parts of this plant are mildly toxic

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

At a Glance: Blue Cardinal Flower Hardiness: USDA Zone 3.

Native Habitat: Open, wet woods, meadows and wetlands. Native from Connecticut through eastern North Dakota and Colorado, and south from Georgia through Texas.

Size: 1 to 4 feet tall; 1 to 2 feet wide.

Site: Prefers moist, wet soil; very low tolerance for drought. If watered frequently, thrives in sun or partial shade, and in clay, loam or sandy soil.

Propagation: Propagates well from seed, division or separation.

Cultivars and Other Species A member of the Lobeliaceae family, L. siphilitica has two varieties, both of which are found in Minnesota: var. siphilitica, and var. ludoviciana.

—B.R.S.

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

PLANT TO PICK

Malus ‘MN80’ PP33,756 Triumph™ Apple

DYLAN VAN BOXTEL, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

do you like to grow your own apples, right in your backyard? Or perhaps pick strawberries in June, from the many pick-your-own farms here in Minnesota?

Have you bought Minnesota-grown blueberries at the farmers’ market?

If so, you’ve been the beneficiary of a wonderful fruit-breeding program at the University of Minnesota. Most Americans now know and eat the famous Minnesota-bred Honeycrisp apple, but the U has successfully hybridized plums, pears, blueberries, grapes and strawberries that are hardy for gardeners in USDA Zones 3 and 4.

A number of the most recent apple varieties developed by the U have been licensed only to orchardists and are unavailable for homeowner use. SweeTango®, for example, can be difficult to grow, which is why you can buy the fruit at an orchard or store but not the trees. The U does this to steer home-growers toward varieties with which they have the greatest chance of success.

Meet Triumph™. This new cultivar is one that you can plant in your backyard and have great success growing.

Triumph was created by crossing ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Liberty’ apples. The fruit is very attractive with occasional stem-bowl russeting, which Kansas State University describes as “a tan-colored, corky tissue on the surface of apples.” Caused by damage to epidermal (skin) cells, this cosmetic condition does not affect the taste or usability of the apple.

One great attribute of Triumph is that it has excellent resistance to apple scab, a fungal disease we battle each growing season.

The apple flavor is pleasantly tart and well balanced, with a firm texture. This is a wonderful apple to eat fresh. It’s not too big, either. A typical apple is about 2.8 to 3.2 inches in size, great for putting in the lunch bag. It keeps well and can be stored up to six months.

Triumph is a zone 4-hardy apple. When you go to buy the tree at the garden center, you may find it grafted or budded on a dwarf rootstock, which will keep the ultimate height of the tree shorter. Dwarf trees are easier to spray, harvest and prune.

Talk to your garden center experts about what rootstock you are getting and how big the tree will get.

Triumph ripens in midseason, which is late September in zone 4.

The timing is similar to Honeycrisp (perhaps just a week later).

Like other apples, the tree grows best when planted in full sun, with good air circulation. Apples need a cross-pollinator tree, so pick another variety; if your neighbor has an apple tree, you can plant just one in your yard. One variety that will not cross-pollinate with Triumph is ‘Golden Delicious’. Apple trees benefit from a spray regimen to keep insects and diseases at bay.

There are both organic and non-organic sprays available in the garden center.

Triumph has been licensed to nursery growers who can grow them, pot them and get them into your local garden centers.

While supply may be tight in 2022, you’ll see more Triumph trees available in 2023 and beyond.

For more information on the fruit-breeding program at the University of Minnesota, check out this website: arboretum. umn.edu/coldhardy.

Debbie Lonnee works in the horticulture industry and is the horticultural editor of Northern Gardener.

Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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GARDEN SOLUTIONS

Tree Trouble aside from their beauty, trees have much to offer humans— shade, temperature moderation, privacy, cleaner air, stormwater management and increased property value. Trees also serve as invaluable food sources and habitats for animals and insects.

I encourage gardeners and homeowners to plant new trees, but I’ve come across a lot of poorly planted, mistreated trees in gardens and landscapes. These are some of the most common mistakes made with new trees and how to avoid them.

longevity. During the first two weeks after planting, a new tree should be watered every day. Three to 12 weeks after planting, the tree will need water every two to three days. After the 12-week mark, oncea-week waterings are sufficient for most trees, and this watering should continue into the second and third years as possible.

To water well, place a hose at the tree’s base and run it on a low trickle, keeping the water on for about 30 minutes at each watering.

Or, try a Treegator® bag, a product that zips around a tree’s trunk and, after you’ve filled it with the hose, slowly releases many gallons of water. This low-and-slow method of watering sends water seeping deep into the ground, and the tree’s new roots will follow suit.

Watering bags, such as Treegator, help a tree settle in well.

Planting Too Deep

More often than not, new trees get planted too deep. Each tree has a root flare, a junction between the stem tissue and the root tissue.

If the root flare gets buried, the stem tissue will start to develop extra roots. These roots will cause stem compression as they mature, which can damage the young tree’s vascular tissue.

It’s easy to accidentally position a new tree’s root flare below ground because nurseries usually sell them already growing that way in containers. The best way to avoid planting a tree too deep is by buying bare-root trees, which don’t grow in containers at all. This makes it much simpler to identify the root flare and ensure it is positioned above the soil line at planting. Unfortunately, bare-root trees are only sold in the spring, so this solution isn’t always an option.

Finding the root flare in a containerized tree can be challenging, but there are many helpful online guides to planting trees correctly. Start with the International Society of Arboriculture’s Tree Owner’s Manual, found at treesaregood.org.

new trees. Mulch volcanoes occur when mulch is piled around a tree’s base, right up against the tree’s trunk. Aside from contributing to trees being buried too deep, mulch volcanoes can also soften tree trunks where the mulch touches them, increasing the likelihood of insect and fungal damage.

When applying mulch to a tree, do not pile it around the trunk; mulch should be near the base of the tree without touching it at all. Leave a gap of at least a few inches between the trunk and the mulch, and don’t pile mulch more than 2 to 5 inches deep.

Mulch Volcanoes

Not Watering Enough

The “mulch volcano” is another common mistake that can stress and damage

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Staking

MARY LAHR SCHIER

Staking newly planted trees often seems like a no-brainer: young trees rarely have straight trunks, and they’re quite flexible and wobbly. But staking can severely damage trees, especially when the rope is tied too tight around the trunk. A staking system left on for more than a few years can quickly strangle a fast-growing tree.

Proper planting techniques will stabilize a new tree and eliminate the need for any staking. While holding the tree’s trunk straight and upright, step firmly around its base, compacting the soil and preventing it from moving around. If you feel you must add a stake to keep the tree upright, use soft, wide rope, and keep it loose. Be sure to remove the stake and rope after the first year.

The consistency and amount of water each new tree receives is critical to its

Horticulturist Laura Schwarz writes and gardens in Minneapolis.

Join our circle of visionary gardeners.

Enjoy our 3-part pollinator webinar series for FREE when you join at the Society level or give a Society gift membership to a new gardener.

“

Offer ends July 31, 2022

As members and volunteers of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, we’ve seen the society grow and prosper.

We are making sure that growth continues by including the society in our will.”

–lee and jerry shannon, mshs lifetime and heirloom circle members

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Extensive Selection of Midwestern Native Perennials, Trees and Shrubs

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Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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BY DESIGN

Annual Excitement PHOTOS: DIANE MCGANN

annual flowers add pizzazz to a garden. While perennials are the mainstay of most flower garden designs, including mine, annual plants provide instant, season-long color and interest to what can be an occasional sea of non-blooming perennials.

Hollyhock is biennial, but seeds enough for blooms year after year.

Cleome is a tall annual that may set seed for the next year.

Many cultivars of annual plants offer deeper, more intense color than perennials have. And, there are many more varieties available from which to choose. Incorporating annuals rather than relying solely on perennials allows us to change our garden palette from year to year, maybe seeking soft pastels one season and brilliant reds and oranges the next. Each year brings new and improved annual varieties.

Adding annuals can extend the season of bloom, a real plus for northern gardeners. Begin the season with frost-tolerant pansies and violas, which can be planted up to six weeks before the last frost date, and end it with snapdragons, Dusty Miller, dianthus, alyssum and flowering cabbage and kale, all of which hang in there until a severe frost arrives.

The term “annual” is used because most of these plants only last one season. However, several annual flowers

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

“

The term “annual” is used because most of these plants only last one season."

set seed and reappear the next year, such as cleome, which springs up each year all over my yard. Other self-sowers include moss roses, poppies, annual candytuft, cosmos, nicotiana, tall verbena, larkspur, annual coreopsis and nasturtiums. To encourage seed-sowing and a repeat flower show next year, stop deadheading these plants in mid-August so that their seeds can develop and become hardy. You can also gather seeds at the end of the season and plant them the following spring. My yearly cache of colorful zinnias is born this way. Try

overwintering your favorite annuals indoors; enjoy the foliage and bloom during the cold months and then place them back outside in the spring.

While offering far more pluses than minuses, annuals do have a few downsides. They often require more care than perennials. Because their roots are shallow, they need regular watering, particularly if they’re growing in containers. Regular fertilization, usually not necessary with perennials, is required to keep the bloom coming. And because they are so floriferous, you’ll usually

that over the gardening season you can brighten any spot where color is needed. As perennial blossoms fade, a container of colorful annuals will fill the gap. This trick, used by many gardeners who open their spaces to garden tours, can ensure every spot in your garden looks great.

While most annuals are sold in May and June, you may still find some in nurseries this time of year, which can be an inexpensive way to add late-season color or brighten up a less-than-stellar spot in the garden.

A mix of foliage annuals, such as sedum, Dusty Miller and coleus, add texture and color to this large container.

Blooms of petunias and calibrachoa bring flower power.

Another benefit: the container is on wheels and can move to spots where you need color.

as coleus and some begonia cultivars.

Once home, if you're tucking annuals into a garden bed, make sure they’re in spots where they won’t be hidden later by emerging perennials.

Don’t forget to plant some of your annuals in movable containers, so

Diane McGann is a Stillwater-based master gardener and writer.

Supplies

Family Owned Business Growing for Over 120 Years: need to remove spent blossoms.

Before you head to the nursery to pick out your annuals, analyze your landscape to see where you want to place them, and decide if you need sun and/or shade plants. What colors would brighten up your garden and complement the surrounding plants?

Opt for a few varieties in a limited palette, rather than buying one of everything. This will make your yard look more harmonious and unified. Do seek out a variety of textures, and don’t forget the stunning foliage annuals, such

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Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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KITCHEN GARDEN

Overlooked Oregano

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

ISTOCK

oregano doesn’t get the attention it deserves. In the garden, it tends to get overshadowed by dill (so tall), and mint (so invasive) and even basil (so vivid). In the kitchen, it gets assigned to pizza duty but tends to be underused elsewhere. In its own unobtrusive way, oregano is a valuable and versatile herb, and if it’s not yet in your herb garden, it definitely should be.

There’s lots to love about oregano (Origanum vulgare), but let’s start with the beauty of this herb. Its muted coloring is delicate and gentle with softly curved leaves and cheerful purple flowers. In Greek, oregano means “joy of the mountains,” which seems fitting for this pleasant little plant.

It isn’t hard to grow, either. Like many other herbs, oregano is happy in full sun with well-drained soil, and it doesn’t require excessive watering.

Oregano propagates easily via seed, division or stem cuttings, and it’s a perennial in USDA Zone 4 (most of the time, anyway). It is related to mint and can be aggressive in some gardens.

Oregano’s adaptability and potential for aggressiveness makes it a good candidate for growing in containers.

If your oregano gets leggy, just trim it back; this will encourage the plant to fill out.

It’s no secret that oregano has a deep and long-standing connection to Italian cuisine, tomato sauce in particular.

For example, in a 1967 episode of The Andy Griffith Show, Andy is invited to eat spaghetti at three different homes in a single evening. As the evening progresses, each host reveals that they have a secret ingredient for perfect spaghetti. Of course, in each case the not-so-secret ingredient is oregano. But even as we acknowledge the importance and significance of oregano in pizza and pasta dishes, let’s not overlook its other culinary uses.

Oregano and lemon are a dynamic duo and work well together in any number of recipes. Oregano-lemon

Aromatic oregano is a must-have for Italian dishes.

chicken is a splendid and flavorful dish, but if chicken isn’t your preferred choice, you can try the combination on pork tenderloin, or make a lemonoregano rub and grill some steaks. Also delicious: oregano added to a hearty beef stew.

“

There’s lots to love about oregano. Its muted coloring is delicate and gentle with softly curved leaves and cheerful purple flowers.

In Greek, oregano means “joy of the mountains,” which seems fitting for this pleasant little plant.”

In addition to lemon-oregano marinades, you can also whip up a lemon-oregano vinaigrette and toss it over your favorite salad greens.

Oregano is widely added to soups of all types, imparting its distinctive flavor to elevate even the most humdrum of soups.

Thirsty? Why not try oregano tea? It’s especially delicious with honey. And if you’d like a bit of dessert to go with your tea, try baking up an oregano cake, again with lemon, honey or both!

Once you’ve grown oregano and discovered its array of uses in the kitchen, you may want to experiment with growing different types of oregano.

True oregano goes by many names, including Greek oregano or Italian oregano. A lovely gold-leaved variety is commonly called golden oregano.

Marjoram (Origanum majorana) is related but has a sweeter taste than true oregano. Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens) is a member of the Verbena family. While its flavor resembles true oregano with a lemon undertone, the plants are unrelated.

If you have room in your garden (or plenty of containers), why not try them all?

Wisconsin-based Samantha Johnson is the author of several books, including Garden DIY, (CompanionHouse Books, 2020).

DIY

Build a Berm

Berm Basics

The first goal in creating a berm is to make sure it will support itself without danger of avalanching. It seems unlikely, but a 3-foot-tall pile of dirt can erode quickly if it is too steep.

A gradual rise will also make a more hospitable environment for plantings, allowing rain and supplemental water to soak in rather than running off.

It also gives a more natural look, as if Mother Nature, rather than a gardener, placed it there.

Two formulas appeared in my research: make the berm four to six times as long as it is wide and build it at a 5:1 ratio (five times as wide as it is tall). A long, thin berm with a meandering curve has a look and feel that folds well into the landscape and the 5:1 ratio also helps prevent erosion and make a hospitable planting space.

Shaping the berm was easy because the professionals we hired to dig

A gradual slope is key to a successful berm.

ERIC JOHNSON

it was a house in my south Minneapolis neighborhood that turned me on to the benefits of berms.

The front yard faced the sound wall that runs along I-35W. The wood wall isn’t the worst view, but I imagine the owner built the berm to block it. The berm’s heightened plantings of sumac, ornamental grasses and coneflowers covered the unsightly wall and helped define the space, making it a more private front yard. Ornamental grasses in a front yard border also muffle traffic noise and help block some of the inevitable street dirt from making it to the house.

My hands-on experience with building a berm came more recently when we installed an above-ground pool at our cabin. We wanted to excavate down 2 feet to help the pool visually recede into the landscape.

To further mask the pool and to have something to do with all the dirt the excavation would produce, I thought … berm! It didn’t seem to be too complicated an idea, but there are some engineering basics to follow.

the hole for the pool dumped the excavated dirt into a meandering lima bean shape that curved around the crater. I flattened it to the 5:1 ratio with a shovel. In my city garden, when I dug two small ponds by hand in my backyard, I used the dirt to build a small berm in a corner of the yard that had a limestone base from an old driveway. The berm gave me planting depth I didn’t have previously.

Creating a berm is more cost-effective when excess soil comes along at no cost, but having dirt hauled in is another option. Once the dirt is roughly placed, you can get down and dirty with a wheelbarrow and shovel to create your berm. A garden hose is helpful to plan the shape, giving it a natural curve. Flattening the top of the berm will help with planting. I

also incorporated numerous plateaus throughout the berm for plantings.

Once it is shaped, you can fill your berm as you wish. The plants on the berm around our pool are doing terrifically. It’s a full-sun location and the raised-bed effect seems to heat up the soil in a way the plants love. Every plant has a plateau with a slight divot to help with rainwater collection. I have never had such prolific roses, daylilies and coneflowers.

Twin Cities-based Eric Johnson blogs at gardendrama.wordpress. com.

Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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Hummingbird

These tender salvias tempt birds and delight gardeners.

Story and photos by Rhonda Fleming Hayes

Last summer, walking along my driveway, I noticed a broken piece of ‘Skyscraper’ salvia on the ground. I grabbed it en route to the compost bag, but then felt the strangest sensation. The stem was vibrating in my hand. I looked down and there was a hummingbird, nose-deep in the fiery orange blooms.

I wish I could have wrangled the phone from my back pocket for a picture while this determined little bird continued to forage upon the flowers, completely oblivious to my presence.

What a sight! It eventually zoomed away, as hummingbirds do. However, the memory sticks with me, that fragile fleeting connection with such a wondrous creature.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

The salvia was from one of the taller types that include Salvia guaranitica and its cultivars. I grow this group of salvias specifically to attract hummingbirds, a surefire way to see plenty all season long. I stopped using feeders several years ago because it was hard to keep them clean and filled with fresh sugar solution. And, plants do the work just as well, especially these salvias with brightly colored blooms that are a siren song for birds and gardeners, too.

So Many Salvias

First, let’s sort them out from some of the other 900 species of Salvia. They are not the ubiquitous bright red bed-

ding plants, the short version of Salvia splendens, you see planted en masse at malls and municipal centers.

They are not the blue upright, clump-forming perennial like Salvia nemerosa ‘East Friesland’ or its hybrid Salvia x sylvestris ‘May Night’, a stalwart of perennial borders throughout the Midwest.

Salvia guaranitica and its hybrid cultivars are tender perennials, sometimes known as sub shrubs because of their bushy, upright habit. (Some northern gardeners refer to them as “expensive annuals” since they are usually only hardy to USDA Zones 8-10.) When grown as a perennial in other regions, they can reach 5 feet. As an annual,

TRAVIS BONOVSKY

BAIT

they grow to 2 to 4 feet. The tubers can be lifted at season’s end and stored much like dahlias. You can also root cuttings as a strategy for overwintering. The extra work is worth it for such beautiful plants.

Their large tubular, two-lipped flowers come in shades of cobalt blue, light blue, purple, maroon, red, orange, peachy pink or deep pink depending upon the variety. The flowers are encased in distinctive calyxes of contrasting shades along the arching stems.

Bloom time is long, varying from May to October, according to variety and location.

They are sometimes called anise-scented sage or anise sage, although to me the foliage smells more of sage than anise. This fragrance makes them less attractive to deer.

Tender perennial salvias grow best in average, well-drained soil. Full sun is optimal, but some varieties can handle light shade for part of the day.

Regular watering will produce the best results although they can tolerate dry periods once established.

Container-grown plants will need consistent water.

After growing many different varieties for two decades, I prefer to plant them in containers. They seem to do better with the warmer soil. I think containers are also the best showcase for their spraylike growth habit.

Containers also make it easier to place them where you are most likely to see hummingbirds.

Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Bloom’: A more robust version of ‘Black and Blue’, it has larger leaves, blacker stems and bigger blooms. Grows 3-4 feet tall.

Beautiful for bouquets as a cut flower.

Salvia ‘Amistad’: Tall trusses loaded with deep purple flowers set off by black calyxes, it’s known as friendship sage. I’ve grown it in an extra-large container in the hottest spot on my patio with great success. It was easily 4 feet tall and just as wide! Keep it watered well for the best results.

Salvia guaranitica and its hybrid cultivars are tender perennials, sometimes known as sub shrubs because of their bushy, upright habit.

‘Black and Bloom’ salvia

A few favorites:

BILL JOHNSON

Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’: This classic was the gateway plant to my tender salvia obsession. This plant taught me that hummingbirds love colors other than red. Cobalt flowers on black stems and calyxes add dramatic true-blue color to the sunny border.

Fresh green foliage, ovate leaves with a crinkle texture. Can reach 3-4 feet tall.

Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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Hummingbird Bait

Salvia ‘Skyscraper Orange’: The name is confusing since this smaller salvia grows less than 2 feet tall. However, it makes up for shorter stature with greater bloom quantity. The color is best described as an orange-y red.

Keep this on your porch so you can easily observe the steady hummingbird traffic.

A bumblebee robs nectar from ‘Ember’s Wish’ salvia.

Pollinator Synergy The architecture of salvia flowers is perfect for the shape and mechanism of a hummingbird’s tongue. So long it curls up into its mouth, a hummingbird’s tongue is almost like a motorized mop for collecting nectar, moving in and out of the tubular flower 15-20 times a second. Surprisingly, that sugar simply fuels the hummingbirds’ real search for food—the spiders and other small insects that make up most of their diet.

Bees are also attracted to this type of salvia, but they may take a shortcut to the goods. Bees often punch a hole in the base of the flower closest to the source of nectar. This practice is called “nectar robbing.”

—R.F.H.

‘Skyscraper Orange’ salvia

‘Amante’ salvia

Salvia splendens x darcyi ‘Roman Red’: Another compact salvia at under 3 feet. With intense red flowers on wine-colored calyxes, it summoned hummingbirds to my porch entry all summer long. Its arching growth habit will remind you of fireworks. Some salvias have brittle stems that break easily, and that is the only drawback to this one. Avoid placing containers in windy spots or where people (or dogs) brush by frequently.

Salvia ‘Amante’: Like ‘Amistad’ but with deep pink flowers. I planted this one in the ground (ran out of other spots, wouldn’t you know) where it got a bit of afternoon shade. It grew tall, probably 4 feet, but didn’t bloom as profusely as I’d hoped. The color was so pretty, I’m ready to give it another chance in a different situation.

Salvia hybrid ‘Wendy’s Wish’: This salvia is one of several in the Wish series, a patented plant that is connected to a Make-A-Wish charity in Australia.

It grew happily in my front border, but I didn’t care for the magenta color. I much prefer ‘Ember’s Wish’, with its peachy pink flowers.

BILL JOHNSON

Salvia hybrid Vibe® Salvia x jamensis ‘Ignition Purple’ PP27788: You’ll see this one from a distance; the profuse flowers are an electric shade of purple.

It grows less than 2 feet tall but has a powerful presence. Cut it back after the flowers start to fade and watch it bloom all over again.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Next to try on my list is the Bodacious® series of salvias. They promise prolific, earlier blooms. ‘Hummingbird Falls’ has a growth habit that looks like it would be great in a hanging basket. Just perfect for bringing hummingbirds up close for better observation.

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

Smaller ‘Ignition Purple’ is in the front container, backed by ‘Black and Blue’ and ‘Indigo Spires’.

‘Black and Blue’ salvia lines a sidewalk.

One Not to Plant It’s tempting to plant pineapple sage (Salvia elegans), with its lipstick red flowers.

Unfortunately, it requires a lengthy growing season before it blooms, sometimes as late as October, missing the window for hummingbirds in the North as they fly through on their return migration.

Grow it for the yummy pineapple scent instead.

—R.F.H.

Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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Wild and Whimsical Inspired by nature, a suburban couple creates a landscape to love.

Story and photos by Jennifer Rensenbrink

A whirligig is one of the whimsical elements in the native garden of George and Bernice Watson.

“It was a blank slate,”

says George Watson of his Lakeville yard in 1987. George and his wife, Bernice, had just moved into a new house on a redeveloped farm in a suburban neighborhood where an area of young forest had been cleared. Over the years, they have slowly expanded both house and garden areas, creating a welcoming space complete with a shrub-flanked sidewalk, comfortable chairs and pots of cheerful annuals—and that’s just the front yard.

A small, contained wildflower garden in the front hints at the larger, wilder spaces in the deep backyard. George and Bernice weren’t always native plant enthusiasts, but a trip to Finland in the 1990s inspired them to add gooseberry bushes.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Then, a 2001 visit to Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota turned out to be transformational. As he hiked near Lake Kabetogama, photographing wildflowers, George decided he wanted to reproduce the inspirational vistas that he was seeing in his own suburban yard.

When George got back from Voyageurs, he and Bernice started attending Wild Ones meetings, and not just in Lakeville. They attended all the Twin Cities-area chapter meetings, from St. Croix to Eden Prairie. George obtained a list of plants for their area, the eastern broadleaf forest province. He also took careful inventory of plants in some of the undisturbed patches of forest near Lakeville. He frequented

Big Woods State Park in Nerstrand—one of the only patches of old growth forest in the southern half of Minnesota—for inspiration, too.

George has a knack for rescuing plants and being in the right place at the right time. He once got word that a woman who lived nearby was moving and wanted someone to take care of her yellow lady’s slippers. He went to her house right away with a pickup truck and came home with a load of yellow lady’s slippers and round-lobed hepaticas. The lady’s slippers had once

been rescued during a highway construction project in northern Minnesota, and George considers himself to be their current caretaker. Their numbers have doubled since he added them to his garden.

Thanks to his now-extensive knowledge of native plants, George also knows how to take advantage of serendipity when a new plant appears. Blue vervain, wood anemone and common boneset have all appeared in his garden, likely spread by birds, and he tends them with care.

Clockwise: Honeysuckle bloom; an arbor covered with honeysuckle leads to the vegetable garden; whimsical touches include rainboots filled with a golden sedum.

Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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Wild and Whimsical

A dry creek moves water through the yard into three ponds.

Below: Begonias and creeping Jenny fill a container.

down to the nature preserve, natural microclimates exist where snow and cold temperatures tend to persist, and George takes note so that he can take advantage of them all, including the placement of a firepit and seating in one of the coolest areas of his yard, perfect on warm summer nights.

Another of his projects that takes advantage of this slope is a dry creek bed that empties into three progressively lower ponds starting along the north side of the house. George has named his dry creek bed Matson’s Ford, in honor of his birthplace in Pennsylvania.

The home’s gutters empty into a rain barrel, which overflows (along with the sump pump) into the dry creek bed. The water then flows gently downhill past sculptures of frogs and a great blue heron to three different small holding ponds, each one spilling into the next, connected by the creek bed. “It doesn’t take much rain for the water to start flowing,” says George.

Adding Whimsy

Wild Visitors

Wildlife is both a constant joy and a constant challenge for George and Bernice. Their yard borders Foxborough Conservation Area, so plenty of deer, rabbits and turkeys make the rounds through their neighborhood daily. Their solution? Deerproof fencing around the perennials and trees that need protecting. The fencing then becomes a spot to attach their many plant labels, complete with the botanical names for each plant.

Because the backyard is a long, gradual slope from the house

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

In addition to gardening, George also loves working with wood— after a storm in 1997 damaged their small porch and deck, he saw an opportunity to expand outdoor seating areas. The home now boasts a large front porch and an extensive deck that overlooks the backyard. George and Bernice enjoy three meals a day outside in the summer in one of three seating areas, including a bistro area on a private patio under the deck. George has also built duck houses, arbors, gates and a Victorian-style birdhouse. Wood ducks and hooded mergansers use the duck houses every year.

Screech owls have also used the boxes during the winter.

Small, whimsical sculptures abound throughout George and Bernice’s wildflower garden—they pick up whirligigs, bird baths and other metal and ceramic sculptures at art fairs and garage sales to add to their collection. George has also tried his hand at sculpture with a striking great blue heron that perches, poised above the dry creek bed.

Near the bottom of the sloped backyard is a tidy vegetable garden bordered by 12-foot sunflowers. The Watsons grow tomatoes, pumpkins, decorative gourds, asparagus and more. Leaving no opportunity for whimsy aside, the fenced garden features a beautiful asymmetrical gate overgrown by a honeysuckle vine.

George and Bernice also grow four different types of apples: Zestar!®, ‘Honeycrisp’, Haralred® and one heritage apple, ‘Arkansas Black’, which George describes as a “great keeper.” They love to make applesauce each fall with their harvest. They also grow several other varieties of fruit, including elderberries and ‘Seckel’ pears.

There is plenty of shade to be found along the edges of George and Bernice’s yard from over 40 trees, many of which are native to the area, including white pine, tamarack, ironwood, pagoda dogwood, and even a ‘Thomas’ black walnut. Nearly all of the younger trees on the property are carefully fenced to protect them from deer. The trees also provide privacy and define

the property lines. Shade-loving native plants Jack-in-the-pulpit, Solomon’s seal and zigzag goldenrod mingle with hostas under the trees. Ramps also grow throughout the yard in the shade of these trees, tended by the Watsons who carefully harvest only the leaves each year.

Containers of simple annuals, such as impatiens, grace corners, steps, porches and tables all around the house and walkways. There are many places to sit—a bench here, a firepit with log chairs there—everything built with care and consideration of place by George.

Clockwise: Gourds climb a trellis; George calls his dry creek Matson’s Ford after his hometown; flowers on a leatherwood tree resemble hops; and the native garden shines in midsummer.

Meeting Challenges

Last year was a challenging one for George and Bernice’s garden—from drought to unusually high numbers of deer thanks to a nearby construction project. They lost many plants. But George says one of the joys of natives is seeing what will come back next year, and where. The Watsons’ yard is a beautiful example of incorporating native plants and wildflower areas into a suburban yard, without it feeling overgrown or too wild.

Large mowed-turf pathways make getting around the yard easy, while the deer-proof fences help define spaces. The Watsons have created a space that feels welcoming, whimsical, relaxing and still manages to support a large amount of wildlife. They can sit on their deck and see an astounding variety of birds, and in the same day harvest vegetables and fruits from their gardens. They’ve created a beautiful and effective way to control runoff from heavy rains and take full advantage of some challenging gardening situations.

A full-fledged native plant enthusiast, George advises new native-plant lovers to plant trees and shrubs first. If you want to save money, you can plant many herbaceous native plants from seed, but it’s better to do so in the fall, since many of them require cold stratification. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, join a native plant garden club, such as Wild Ones. You will find a wealth of information that is specific to your region and enthusiastic new friends—like George and Bernice—to help you along.

Jennifer Rensenbrink grows native plants, vegetables and fruit in south Minneapolis. Follow her gardening adventures on Instagram @jenniferrensenbrink.

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EDGING WITH HEDGING Try these 11 shrubs for a classic look and formal style.

Story and photos by Mary H. Meyer

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Hedges are a classic garden element; their historically crisp edges communicate a gardener’s care, commitment and human intervention in the landscape. Are hedges out of place or too much work for a 21st century garden? Not at all, and for a variety of reasons, both aesthetic and environmental.

Because they are densely planted and filled with leaves, hedges improve air quality, assist in carbon sequestration, mitigate noise, cool and insulate soil, reduce wind damage, capture rainfall and reduce runoff, recent research suggests.

They also provide nesting and food for wildlife. For humans, hedges provide privacy, aid in security and block unwanted views. Specific hedges, such as orange cotoneaster (Cotoneaster franchetii), have been cited as having “super powers” that “can trap up to 20 percent more emissions than other hedges tested” because of their dense structure and rough hairy leaves, according to recent research.

Happily for gardeners, new hedge cultivars offer a wide diversity of plants, including shorter hedge options and those that that require minimal pruning or labor.

73 hedges to select the best one for your garden or simply enjoy the formal architectural lines and beauty of the collection. Started in 1967, many hedges in the collection have survived decades of rigorous Midwestern winters and still thrive here.

Hedges are one landscape element that usually indicates strong human intervention, their straight lines often providing relief for our eyes. Do you subconsciously relax when you see a hedge? Do you consciously (or unconsciously) think, ahhhh, a cared-for and neat garden—this is a good place in which to relax? If so, you might want to prune a hedge in your garden. But today there is no need to do that unless it’s a labor of love. An unpruned hedge can be your low-maintenance option if you choose the right plants for your site.

‘Regent’ serviceberry

R Here are 11 hedges for northern landscapes. If you don’t see one of your favorites, check out the hedge collection at the arboretum, or look online in the new hedge e-book available at pressbooks. umn.edu/hedges, which tells the history of the Arb’s hedge collection with information on all 73 hedges grown there.

Gardeners should first consider the function of a hedge and the specifics of their site: sun, shade and soil type, along with moisture requirements. Next, consider the ultimate size, in height and width, of the mature hedge you want. If you select carefully, pruning can be optional, depending on your site and the age of the plants you start with.

Northern gardeners have a treasure in Minnesota, with one of only two hedge collections in the United States at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska. You can walk through

Limoncello™ barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘BailErin’) unpruned grows to 3-4 feet in height and width with showy chartreuse foliage edged in red, which emerges bright yellow in spring. The glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and turn shades of yellow, orange and red in the fall.

It’s rarely eaten by deer. Barberry has become invasive in many states, including Minnesota. However, Limoncello™ has not been invasive and is legal in Minnesota.

BAILEY NURSERY

Choosing a Hedge

‘Regent’ serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Regent’) is a shorter (4-6 feet) form of this tough North American native small tree. It provides four seasons of interest: white flowers in early spring, edible berries in early summer, attractive fall foliage, and interesting bark or branch structure in winter. The blueberry-like fruit is edible by humans and beloved by songbirds.

Limoncello™ barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘BailErin’) Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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Edging with Hedging Boxwood (Buxus microphylla) is the ultimate classic hedge and one of the few broad-leaved evergreens that can be grown in the North. To protect it from winter wind and sun, a northern or eastern exposure with snow cover is best. Glencoe and Chicagoland Green™ work well here. I have a boxwood knot that is almost 20 years old, and although I do need to prune it once a year in late June, it creates a lovely, formal entryway to my home.

Boxwood (Buxus microphylla)

Globe peashrub (Caragana frutex ‘Globosa’)

Globe peashrub (Caragana frutex ‘Globosa’) is one of the oldest plants in the arb hedge collection and was grown on site as early as 1954! Although native to Asia, this hardy plant has attractive yellow spring flowers and grows to only 3 feet tall. A member of the bean family, the plant’s roots fix nitrogen and make it available to neighboring plants. It’s a good substitute for boxwood or barberry.

Cotoneaster

MARY LAHR SCHIER

Cotoneaster is a dense plant with numerous small leaves. Growing to 10 feet when not pruned, the small, glossy, green summer foliage turns a brilliant red in fall. Delicate pink flowers bloom along the length of branches in spring and leave behind small, round, black fruit.

Leatherwood (Dirca palustris)

Leatherwood (Dirca palustris) is native to Minnesota and states east of the Mississippi River. Without pruning, plants will grow to 10 feet. It boasts yellow foliage in spring and fall, likes wet sites and can grow in shade. This is an underused native plant that can add diversity to your landscape.

Snow White™ mockorange (Philadelphus ‘Snowwhite Fantasy’ PP13,774) grows to 5-6 feet in height, shorter than the species which is known for its showy, fragrant flowers that remind us of orange blossoms. The showy flowers come in spring and often again later in the summer.

You’ll have few pest issues with this plant.

Snow White mockorange (Philadelphus)

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Black Hills spruce (Picea x albertiana)

Black Hills spruce (Picea x albertiana) grows 20-40 feet in height. This large tree needs full sun and good drainage and can tolerate dry sites. The attractive, dark blue-green foliage easily shears for a hedge and has attractive cones.

Dappled willow (Salix integra ‘Hakuro Nishiki’) is a showstopper hedge. Its new spring foliage starts bright white with highlights of pink, green and yellow, then changes to all green in summer. Stems turn red in fall, providing excellent winter interest. Early spring flowers attract pollinators.

Arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) is one of many attractive native viburnums, with white summer flowers, glossy attractive summer foliage and blue berries in fall. More than one plant of this species will assure the best fruit set, which birds and wildlife love. Blue Muffin™ has glossy foliage and large clusters of blue berries.

Willow (Salix)

‘Wareana’ American arborvitae

PROVEN WINNERS

‘Wareana’ American arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Wareana’) is denser and more rounded than the species. A tough evergreen with mature plants that are often several feet wider than they are tall, these plants can grow to 15 feet tall if not pruned. It has few pests, but may be eaten by deer.

Blue Muffin™ arrowwood viburnum

Mary H. Meyer is professor emeritus, University of Minnesota Department of Horticultural Science, and chair of the MSHS Board of Directors.

HEIGHT AND WIDTH

BOTANICAL NAME

COMMON NAME

COMMENTS

Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Regent’

Regent servicebery

4' x 4'

Early spring white flowers

Berberis thunbergii ‘BailErin’ Limoncello™

Lemoncello barberry

2' x 2'

Very showy red-yellow foliage

Buxus microphylla var. koreana

Korean boxwood

1½' x 3'

Short; broad-leaved evergreen

Buxus sempervirens MLA

Boxwood

1½' x 3'

Broad-leafed evergreen; may show winter burn

Buxus ‘Glencoe’ Chicagoland Green™

Chicagoland Green boxwood

10" x 2'

Broad-leafed evergreen; may show winter burn

Caragana frutex ‘Globosa’

Globe peashrub

2½' x 3'

Attractive, glossy foliage, may be irregular in growth

Cotoneaster acutifolius

Peking cotoneaster

5' x 5'

Colorful glossy foliage

Cotoneaster lucidus

Hedge cotoneaster

2½' x 2½'

Colorful glossy foliage

Dirca palustris

Leatherwood

5' x 6'

Tough native named for leathery bark

Philadelphus ‘Snowwhite Fantasy’ Snow White™ Snow White mockorange

3' x 2'

Fragrant spring flowers

Picea × albertiana

Black Hills spruce

4' x 3'

Evergreen bluegreen foliage

Salix integra ‘Hakuro-nishiki’

Dappled willow

4' x 5'

Variegated colorful foliage changes with seasons

Thuja occidentalis ‘Wareana’

Wareana American arborvitae

6' x 7-10'

Can be trained to large hedge, formal or informal

Viburnum dentatum

Arrowwood viburnum

3½' x 5'

Hardy native with fruit for birds

Viburnum dentatum ‘Christom’ Blue Muffin®

Arrowwood viburnum

3½' x 3'

Blue berries in fall Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

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These tomato relatives provide a sweet treat for northern gardeners.

By Courtney Tchida

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Ground cherries are nature’s candy, complete with the wrapper. A member of the nightshade family, ground cherries look like a small tomatillo, which also has a papery husk. The taste is sweet, nutty and fruity with hints of pineapple and tomato.

Ground cherries are easy to grow and delicious, cooked or raw. If you have children in your home or garden, plant ground cherries and you may grow a gardener as well as the fruit!

ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

GROWING FRUIT Y NIGHTSHADES

Try Them All

FOREST AND KIM STARR/CREATIVE COMMONS

Ground cherries come in several sizes. From left, Giant, Goldenberry and Aunt Molly’s

COURTNEY TCHIDA

Over the years, I’ve tried growing all the varieties I could find. The popular cultivated varieties of ground cherries (Physalis sp.) are native to Central and South America. There are a couple of species that are recognized as native to Minnesota, including Virginia ground cherry (Physalis virginiana) and the clammy ground cherry (Physalis heterophylla).

Most ground cherry plants grow 2 to 3 feet tall, with a variety of habits.

P. pubescens, often listed under the variety Goldie, and P. grisea Pineapple are upright whereas P. pruinosa Aunt Molly’s tends to be sprawling in its habit. Small yellow flowers turn into husked fruits. As they ripen, the husks dry out and become more translucent, showing the golden fruit inside. The ripe fruits will drop to the ground to be foraged and harvested.

The ‘Pineapple’ variety is my favorite for its flavor and productivity.

Physalis peruviana, called goldenberry or cape gooseberry, is the exception to the forage rule in that the ripe fruits stay attached to the plants and must be plucked off. Goldenberry is slightly bigger than the other ground cherries. For larger fruits, try Uvilla from True Love Seeds or Giant ground cherries. These fruits can be as big as 1 inch across and have a passion fruit taste that is out of this world. The plants also tend to be larger, getting 3 to 5 feet tall in a season. They also benefit from a longer growing season so starting them indoors in early March and planting them outside in late May or early June is ideal for a September or October harvest.

Reconsider the Wonderberry

Ground cherries are not the only fruity nightshades to try. After watching a documentary called “The Fruit Hunters,” I discovered Otricoli orange berries (Solanum nigrum), tiny fruits that pack a powerful tomato acid punch, and Litchi tomato berries (Solanum sisymbriifolium) that resemble ground cherries except that every part of the plant, except the red berries, is covered in spikes.

Unfortunately, the berries have little flavor. Litchi berries, however, are a great trap crop for Colorado potato beetles. The pests seem to flock to them over potatoes or eggplant. Other duds included garden huckleberries (Solanum melanocerasum), which

After watching a documentary called “The Fruit Hunters,” I discovered Otricoli orange berries, tiny fruits that pack a powerful tomato acid punch, and Litchi tomato berries that resemble ground cherries except that every part of the plant, except the red berries, is covered in spikes.”

–courtney tchida Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

ISTOCKPHOTO

“

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COURTNEY TCHIDA

Growing Fruity Nightshades

Wonderberries

were tasteless, and Pepino melons (Solanum muricatum), which never got ripe enough to taste like much of anything.

The treasure in this hunt was the sunberry or wonderberry (Solanum burbankii), which was developed by Luther Burbank in the early 1900s when he hybridized two nightshade family members, the African stubble-berry (Solanum guinense) and the little downy nightshade (Solanum villosum). The result is a plant that resembles weedy nightshades and

whose introduction was tarnished by the comparison to its weedy, poisonous cousins.

Over 100 years later, I think it’s time to reconsider the wonderberry, as it truly is a wonder, especially in our short seasons. The plants grow to be around 2 feet tall and produce prolifically after about 60 days. In 2019, I harvested the first fruits on June 19. The small fruits start out green and turn black and shiny as they ripen. When ripe, the raw fruits have a lovely melon flavor. In cobblers, muffins and other baked goods, their flavor shines like a wild blueberry. The indeterminate plants will keep flowering and setting fruit until a hard frost knocks them out, outproducing blueberry bushes many times over.

The only pest damage I’ve seen on the wonderberries is the result of nightshade flea beetles (Epitrix sp.) taking little bites out of the leaves, giving them a lacy look. This seems to have no effect on the resulting prolific yield of the plants.

Courtney Tchida is the community programs director for MSHS and a longtime vegetable gardener in St. Paul.

Ground Cherry Chai Preserves

MARY LAHR SCHIER

Ingredients: 1 cup of ground cherries ½ cup cane sugar ½ cup water 1 chai tea bag

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Instructions: 1. Remove the husks from the ground cherries, rinse and let dry.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

3. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and add the tea bag. Steep for 5 minutes, then remove the tea bag.

4. Add the ground cherries to the tea-infused syrup and bring back to a simmer. Cook on low heat for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally until a thick consistency is reached.

5. Transfer to a clean jar and let cool completely before refrigerating. Will keep for at least one month in the refrigerator.

6. Serve on toast, pancakes, waffles or on crackers with a soft cheese.

This recipe originally appeared on the website, cheeseandchampagne.com.

—C.T.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Growing Tips Ground cherries grow best in full sun and well-drained soil. Their planting schedule is similar to tomatoes. Start the seeds inside six weeks before the last frost and plant the seedlings outside two weeks after the last frost—typically late May or early June. They will reseed if fruits are left behind from the previous year. Unlike tomatoes, reseeded ground cherry plants can produce fruits abundantly. They typically start producing fruits in mid-August and produce continually until there is a hard frost.

Before a hard frost, you can collect unripe ground cherries and let them sit for a long time in a brown paper bag, ripening slowly during the winter months.

They are very easy to save seeds from and the pulpy, tomato-like seeds seem to benefit from fermenting.

Up until a few years ago, I would have said that ground cherries are pest-resistant, aside from the stray Colorado potato beetle. However, starting in 2020, mine were attacked by the three-lined potato beetle (Lema daturaphila). Their bright orange eggs hatch into orange larva that will devour the leaves of ground cherries. When the attacks began in early June, I smooshed the adults, larva and eggs, and my ground cherries recovered and still produced bountifully.

Ground cherries also seem to be susceptible to tomato and tobacco mosaic viruses. If you see mottled, malformed leaves, remove and destroy those plants immediately.

—C.T.

COME ON IN!

Planting a variety of species will make your garden more attractive to wildlife.

Below: Flat headed flowers, like this dahlia, offer better landing pads for pollinators.

Planning and planting for wildlife will bring more life to your garden.

Story and photos by Gail Brown Hudson

NO MATTER WHAT SIZE GARDEN YOU HAVE—from a window box or collec-

tion of containers on your patio to a large landscape—your green space can be a haven for insects, birds and other animals. The key is to plant a biodiverse garden, one that supports your local environment in many ways, is filled with different plant species, draws many kinds of wildlife and, in essence, overflows with life. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

Here are eight steps to encourage more biodiversity right outside your door.

1: INCREASE PLANT DIVERSITY

Garden designers often recommend massing no more than five to seven kinds of plants in a bed. It’s a rule of thumb they use to help create a more coherent landscape design. But to increase the diversity of insects, birds and animals your garden supports, it may help to plant a wider range of species—both native and nonnative—of all shapes, colors, sizes and even fragrances, along with trees and shrubs that flower and fruit throughout the year.

While our prime gardening season in the North is June through August, the “shoulder seasons” of early spring and late fall to early winter are import-

1 ant, too. Early spring bloomers and semi-evergreens, such as rhododendrons, produce sustenance for hungry bees and pollinators as soon as the snow melts. Fall flowers that go to seed provide food for birds and other wildlife at the other end of the season.

South Minneapolis gardener Nancy Riestenberg was surprised at the intense attractiveness of some volunteer sunflowers (Helianthus annus) growing in her boulevard garden bed. “They’re like a café for the birds and the bees and the butterflies, slinging hash from the beginning of their blooming into

winter,” she says.

“I’ve seen bumblebees on there and various other bees that I don’t know how to identify.”

Attract our fastest feathered friend, the hummingbird, with columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) in early spring. Songbirds gobble up the fruits of a serviceberry in June and a crabapple in late summer.

Sparrows and finches cluster on purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) and snakeroot (Actaea racemosa) in the fall.

A seasonal approach to your garden’s palette of plants keeps birds happy all summer long.

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Come on In!

2

3

4 2: ADD UMBELS BUT RESIST DOUBLES

Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf recommends using a combination of flower shapes, such as daisylike flowers, globe-shaped flowers, spikes, spires and so on. This not only adds landscape interest, but the variety is excellent for pollinators. A shape that gardeners may forget to include is the umbel—a cluster of tiny flowers on several short stalks that spread from a common point, like the ribs of an umbrella. Think of joe-pye weed (Eutrochium spp.) or a yarrow flower (Achillea filipendula). Insects don’t need special long noses to get the nectar, which makes these plants major butterfly and pollinator magnets.

Double and semi-double flowers bred to produce extra petals are generally sterile or nearly sterile (the plant won’t cross with itself or is incapable of setting seed) and contain no nectar.

However, a 2013 study published in the

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Annals of Botany also showed sterile flowers grouped with fertile flowers may enhance the latter’s attractiveness to bees and other pollinators. Think of them as signposts to insects that food is nearby.

3: ADD SNAGS

Snags—dead trees or piles of branches—provide prime habitat for birds and insects. Place them in a hidden spot or give them an artistic flair.

Building the ultimate raised vege-

RESOURCES Successful Wildflower Meadows, University of Vermont Extension, uvm.edu, search for wildflowers.

Annual Flowers that Attract Pollinators, U of M Extension, extension.umn.edu, search for annual flowers.

Best Plants to Attract Butterflies, National Wildlife Federation, nwf.org, search for butterflies.

—G.B.H.

table bed out of a mound of rotting wood and compostable items, called a “hügelkultur,” is an option that lasts several decades. This permaculture technique becomes a veritable food bonanza for beneficial fungi, bacteria, insects, worms and microbial growth that produces nutrients your plants can use.

4: ADD ANIMAL SHELTER

A line of shrubs, a hedge or row of trees can do many things for a landscape. It can define the space and create garden rooms. For birds and small animals, it offers shelter from storms, the cold and predators, and a nesting site. By paying attention to these green edges of your landscape and garden, you can create important transition areas that will make these creatures feel safer during a visit to your green space.

5

6 5: POCKET MEADOW PLUSES

Have a boulevard in front of your house? A 5-by-10-foot meadow plot can supercharge a garden with wildlife and be extremely valuable habitat for everything from bees, moths and butterflies to birds, bats and small mammals.

A full-sun location that’s already been cultivated is best—although a lawn works, too—and the area should not have any weeds or weed seeds. Rocky or sandy soil makes the best site for wildflowers. For a neater look and faster results, purchase small wildflower plugs (transplants) instead of starting seeds, and group like plants together.

Meadow plants to look for include birdfoot violet (Viola pedata), clover, smooth aster, black-eyed Susan, butterfly weed, showy goldenrod, tufted hair grass, bee balm, blue wild indigo (Baptisia australis), coneflower and switchgrass. You can also buy a seed mix from a reputable supplier.

7

8

6: USE ANNUALS THAT ATTRACT POLLINATORS

8: ADD COLOR AND MOVEMENT WITH BUTTERFLIES

A four-year University of Minnesota Extension study of more than 30 varieties of annual flowers found nine annuals that are exceptionally attractive to pollinators. Their list includes the giant ‘Lemon Queen’ sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the sagelike flowers of Summer Jewel™ Pink salvia (Salvia coccinea), the prolific blooming Showstar® butter daisy (Melampodium paludosum) and Envy zinnia with its 2to 3-inch flowers.

Nothing is more fun to see than a butterfly flitting through your garden! If you want the colorful adults to visit, include the plants the larvae can feed on. Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya), pictured above, is like an airport for monarchs with many places to land along a dramatic spike of flowers.

7: JUST ADD WATER

Water is a magnet for wildlife. Even a shallow tray of water about an inch deep helps many creatures, from birds to dragonflies to frogs, thrive. During last year’s dry summer, I noticed that a simple plastic saucer filled with water was popular for all sorts of creatures.

All in all, a biodiverse landscape is guaranteed to make your gardening efforts more satisfying. Implement any or all of the above tips, and you will deepen your connection to the natural world!

Gail Brown Hudson has a Master’s degree in horticulture from the University of Minnesota. She is an Emmy® award-winning journalist, writer and video producer, as well as an avid gardener in Minneapolis.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

GARDENER’S MARKET

NATIVE PLANTS

NURSERIES/GREENHOUSES

NURSERIES/GREENHOUSES

Visit us this Summer!

Beautiful Gardens

Native plants for shoreline restorations, rain gardens and infiltration basins as well as backyard butterfly, birdwatcher and pollinator gardens.

Thank you for nourishing the pollinators!

Gardens of Rice Creek RARE PLANT NURSERY

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44804 East Highway 28 Morris, MN 56267 Phone: 320-795-6234 Fax: 320-795-6234 Email: info@morningskygreenery.com Visit us @ morningskygreenery.com

NURSERIES/GREENHOUSES

Kelley & Kelley offers unusual annuals, perennials, herbs, topiaries, and clay pots, all in a delightful country setting.

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Saturdays 9am ― 4pm April 23 ― October 15, 2022

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GardensofRiceCreek.com

CELEBRATING

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KELLEY & KELLEY Nursery and Greenhouse

2325 Watertown Rd. Long Lake, MN kelleyandkelleynursery.com 952-473-7337

Sven

"The Place To Go For Things That Grow" Since 1963 1 mile south of St. Michael, MN, on Cty. Rd. 19 Phone: 763-497-3747

www.schultesgreenhouse.com

PERENNIALS

Vast selection of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals.

Friendly, knowledgeable staff.

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www.knechts.net

Discover Knecht’s, You’ll Be Amazed!

800-924-5015 1601 Hwy 19 West in Northfield

Trees, Shrubs & Fruits

14 labeled display gardens Perennials you’ve only seen in catalogs 250+ varieties of hostas Over 1,300 perennial cultivars (20,000+plants) ...and the people who know how to grow them.

Great Perennial Selection

Winter Greenhouse W7041 Olmstead Rd, Winter WI - 715-200-5430 Open April 28th - October 15th

www.wintergreenhouse.com

ADVERTISER INDEX Bachman’s ...............inside front cover Dramm Corporation ...........................13 Egg/Plant Urban Farm Supply.........42 Endless Summer® Hydrangeas......... 3 Gardens of Rice Creek...................... 43 Gertens................................................... 5 Heidi’s Growhaus & Lifestyle Gardens..............................................19 Hiawatha Supply ..................................11 Home Sown Gardens...............................42 Horta Culture at Squire House Gardens................................42 Jean’s - The Right Plant Place......... 43 Kelley & Kelley Nursery and Greenhouse...................................... 43 Kern Landscape Resources.............42 Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping.43 Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery..........21 Minnesota Waterscapes...................42 Morning Sky Greenery...................... 43 Mother Earth Gardens.......................42 Osmocote .............outside back cover Paisley Gardens..................................42 Proven Winners Color Choice ...........7 Schulte’s Greenhouse & Nursery... 43 Sustane.....................inside back cover Sylva ....................................................... 9 Terrace Horticultural Books.............42 Wimmer’s Yardware...........................42 Winter Greenhouse............................ 43 Washington County Master Gardeners.............................15

for advertising information contact: betsy pierre, mshs ad sales manager at 763-295-5420 / betsy@pierreproductions.com Northern Gardener l July/August 2022

43

NORTHERN VIEW

Thank You, Northern Gardeners It’s been well over a decade, but I still This is my 103rd issue as editor of remember the unexpected and dethis magazine, and my last. I wanted to lightful warmth of Malcolm Burleigh’s use this space to say thank you to all greenhouse in St. Paul. It filled much those who have shared their knowledge of his backyard, and on a cool but and love of gardening with readers and sunny April day, it felt like summer. me over the years. As you can imagA chemist turned amateur cactus ine, I’ve learned a lot about gardening breeder, Malcolm had hundreds of having read all 103 issues cover-to-covspecimens lined up on the tables, each er, more than once. I’ve learned a lot labeled and carefully about soil (it’s what really tended. Like so many matters), plants (they are gardeners, he was pasmore forgiving than you sionate about soil and imagine), garden design Mostly, I’ve very patient. When you (think repetition) and learned about are growing cacti, he told our crazy climate. me, you’re in it for the Mostly, I’ve learned gardeners, long haul. about gardeners, especialespecially the Editing this magazine ly the hardy, persistent has many perks, but visithardy, persistent ones we have in the ing gardens and meeting North. They are resourceones we have the delightful people ful. Whether devising behind them is the one I low tunnels to protect in the North. have enjoyed most over vegetable seedlings or They are the past 17 years. People setting up double lines like Meleah Maynard, who of fencing to keep out resourceful. ” once wrote this column, relentless deer, they’re and who grew vegetables in determined to grow. They horse troughs along a city sidewalk beare intelligent. As a writer, one of the fore anyone else did. Or Noel Frank, who joys of editing this magazine is its litwas determined to bring prairies back to erate readership. You appreciate words southern Minnesota and was slowly con- and accuracy, and when we mess up, verting 175 acres of his family’s land to you let us know. You also know your prairie. Or Frans Officer, whose passion stuff about plants and, consequently, for martagon lilies led him into breeding I’ve become an almost fluent speaker these very hardy northern plants and of botanical Latin. Northern gardeners selling or giving away hundreds as he did are creative—finding ways to evoke so. My garden was prettier for his work. gardens of Japan or England or France Or Barb Webb, who wanted to build a or our native prairies in urban, subgreenhouse and figured out a way to do urban and rural spaces. They are also it on a budget and then happily shared generous—freely sharing ideas and her successes and struggles with readers techniques, opening up their gardens of this magazine. There are dozens to tours and visitors, gently pointing more—committed, smart gardeners, out that maybe that snow-on-theeach with a passion for plants and a mountain you picked up might be a generous spirit. little bit aggressive.

“

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Finally, northern gardeners are in it for the long haul. Like most young gardeners, my first efforts resulted in many dead plants and some frustration. But encouraged by books, magazines and fellow gardeners, I hung in there and learned what grew best in each garden I’ve grown. While not all the information on the internet and social media is accurate, I love the enthusiasm among northern gardeners who share their experiences there.

I cannot end this without saying a huge thank you to the board, volunteers and staff of the hort society for all of their support over the years, and their understanding of what a unique publication Northern Gardener is. Special thanks go to the people who work directly on the magazine: our columnists, feature writers and photographers, who put so much of themselves into their work; Becky Swee, the hort society’s communications guru; Betsy Pierre, who manages advertising with zeal; Joe Luca, who has put the magazine on newsstands from Montreal to Montana; our knockout designer Barbara Pederson, who always makes the magazine look stunning; and the world’s best copy editor and my longtime partner in crime, Julie Jensen.

Thank you all.

What are my retirement plans?

Nothing major—more travel, more volunteer work, more reading, more time in the garden. I may even write a bit. Like gardeners, writers never really retire. We’re in it for the long haul.

Mary Lahr Schier has edited Northern Gardener magazine since 2005.

Discount Partners

SAVE WITH OUR 2022 DISCOUNT PARTNERS Society and affiliated members of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society receive a membership card and access to discounts with our trusted partners across the Upper Midwest. Find each partner’s unique discount offer—and a NEW map of participating locations—online at northerngardener.org/discount-partners.

101 Market – Otsego Abrahamson Nurseries – Scandia, Stillwater & St. Croix Falls, WI All Seasons Garden Center, Grand Forks, ND NEW Anoka-Ramsey Farm & Garden – Ramsey Arden Hills Nursery – Shoreview Axdahl’s Garden Farm & Greenhouse – Stillwater Bachman’s – Apple Valley, Eden Prairie, Fridley, Maplewood, Minneapolis & Plymouth Backyard Wedding Sites – Minneapolis NEW Beisswenger’s – New Brighton Cedar Brook Garden Center – New Prague Como Park Zoo & Conservatory – St. Paul Costa Farm & Greenhouse – White Bear Lake Countryside Lawn & Landscape – Zumbrota Dan & Jerry’s Greenhouse – Monticello Dolan’s Landscape Center – Austin Dragonfly Gardens – Amery, WI NEW Drummers Garden Center & Floral – Mankato NEW Duluth Flower Farm – Duluth NEW Ecological Design – Minneapolis EggPlant Urban Farm Supply – St. Paul Fair’s Nursery – Maple Grove Farmington Greenhouse – Farmington Fiddles & Fronds – Minneapolis Flower Power Garden Center & Fred Holasek & Son Greenhouse – Lester Prairie

Forest & Floral Garden Center – Park Rapids Friends School Plant Sale – Falcon Heights Garden Divas – River Falls, WI Garden Expressions – New Richmond, WI NEW Gordy’s Gift & Garden – Hermantown NEW Green Lake Nursery – Spicer Green Space, LLC – Minneapolis Green Valley Greenhouse – Ramsey Hartman Garden Center & Landscaping – Victoria Heidi’s GrowHaus – Corcoran Hiawatha Supply – Minneapolis NEW Home Sown Gardens – Eagan Hugo Feed Mill & Hardware – Hugo Jean’s The Right Plant Place – Perham Kelley & Kelley Nursery – Long Lake Kern Landscape Resources – St. Paul Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping – Northfield Landscape Alternatives – Shafer Lilydale Garden Center – Lilydale Living Sculpture Trees – Sunfish Lake Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery – Maple Grove Mickman Brothers – Ham Lake Minnesota Landscape Arboretum – Chaska Mother Earth Gardens – two Minneapolis locations Nagel Sod & Nursery – Medford Nature’s Garden World – Fergus Falls Nelson Nursery – Zimmerman

Otten Bros. Garden Center & Landscaping – Long Lake Pahl’s Market – Apple Valley Paisley Gardens – Northfield Patio Town – Brooklyn Park, Burnsville & Oakdale Prairie Moon Nursery – Winona (offer online only) NEW Sargent’s Nursery – Red Wing Sargent’s Landscape Nursery – two Rochester locations Schulte’s Greenhouse & Nursery – St. Michael Seed Savers Exchange – Decorah, IA South Cedar Garden Center – Farmington Spring At Last Garden Center – Duluth NEW Terra Garden Center – Lakeville Terrace Horticultural Books -–St. Paul (offer online only) The Garden By The Woods – Chanhassen VIP Floral & Garden Center – Slayton NEW Wagner Garden Centers – Minneapolis & Hugo Winter Greenhouse – Winter WI Wolcyn Tree Farms & Nursery – Cambridge NEW Zywiec Landscape & Garden – Cottage Grove NEW *Locations are in MN unless otherwise noted

The Minnesota State Horticultural Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit. We are grateful for our Discount Partners and members—your support powers our mission to deliver valuable programs, education and resources to northern gardeners of all skill levels and backgrounds.

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