MINNESOTA’S HOMEGROWN GARDENING MAGAZINE
Gardener Northern
A MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
A WORLD Under Glass
Created on 2-20-02 at 11:26:01 by SYMBOLOGY, INC. Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55369 763-315-8080
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 l VOLUME 148 l NUMBER 6
Table of Contents 24
28
Winter is for the Birds
Best Apps for Curious Gardeners
A gardener’s guide to creating a bird-friendly landscape for the cold months. BY SUSAN DAVIS PRICE
A master gardener puts identification apps to the test. BY MARY KAY HAAS
30 A World Under Glass
New conservatory preserves, shares Southern Hemisphere plants. BY MARGE HOLS
IN EVERY ISSUE 3 Editor’s Note 4 MSHS News: Classes, calendar and more
20
Escape Artist
Duluth gardener creates a calm garden that fits into, and with, the surrounding wild woods. BY KELSEY ROSETH
34 Elegant and Easy
Succulents offer gardeners solace during the indoor season. BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON
12 Garden Solutions: Best flowering annuals of 2020 By Laura Schwarz 14 Plant to Pick: Yellow waxbells By Debbie Lonnee 15 By Design: Design rules, part 2 By Diane McGann 16 Northern Natives: Highbush cranberry By Beth Stetenfeld 17 Kitchen Garden: Blueberry bliss By Samantha Johnson 18 Pollinators: Winter reading By Rhonda Fleming Hayes
38
40
Elder Wisdom
Do This, Not That!
19 DIY: Illuminated garden orb By Eric Johnson
BY JENNIFER RENSENBRINK
44 Northern View: My feathered friend By Jennifer Rensenbrink
Glean healthful, tasty flowers and berries from your own elderberry bushes. BY SUSANNAH SHMURAK
When growing prairie plants on the boulevard.
ABOUT THE COVER: Burbidgea scheizocheila, a dwarf ginger from the U of M Conservatory. Photo by Tracy Walsh
ABOUT MSHS
Welcome
twelve years ago, I retired from international development to become
a farmer, stay-at-home dad and writer. We bought a 5-acre farm on Vancouver Island, read every Farmers’ Almanac we could and took every workshop in town. (My wife and I had our first date-night at a lecture on Backyard Poultry Health Management.) During those seven years of growing, preserving and selling vegetables, fruit, flowers, eggs and buffalo meat, I learned more than just how to farm. I learned to trust and listen to the land. I learned the value of local food security, seed saving, soil and water management, and pollinators. I became part of an integrated community of suppliers and consumers taking care of each other. There are days when I long to be back on my farm, putting in an hour of weeding before sunrise, then cooking a home-grown breakfast for my boys. But we have important and exciting work to do here. MSHS is uniquely poised where gardening intersects with key societal issues like racial justice, climate change, food security and sovereignty, and building community. I look forward to continuing and growing the MSHS 154-year legacy of vision and leadership. Together, we will support a new generation of northern growers, connecting the horticultural community to serve the pressing needs of our community in creative and collaborative ways. I would love to hear about your connection and vision for MSHS. Please join me for a small-group virtual “Tea Time.” Visit our website, northerngardener.org, to sign up. — Rick Juliusson Executive Director
CULTIVATING
communities. CREATING
green spaces. ENCOURAGING
growth.
Donate Today Support our two signature programs bringing gardening and healthy food to families and children throughout Minnesota. To join us, visit northerngardener.org.
MINNESOTA GREEN promotes grassroots efforts to cultivate public green spaces and create community.
Become a Society Member Our members enjoy valuable gardening resources and support important community programs that bring plants to public green spaces and gardening education to underserved communities across the state. Membership benefits include: Northern Gardener magazine Free gardening webinars Garden center discounts Classes & events see the full list of benefits and sign up at northerngardener.org/membership.
GARDEN-IN-A-BOX brings vegetable garden kits to underserved children, giving our youngest gardeners the chance to experience the benefits (and joys!) of growing.
Get in Touch Minnesota State Horticultural Society 1935 County Rd. B2 West, Suite 125 Roseville, MN 55113-1334 Phone: (651) 643-3601 Website: northerngardener.org Email: info@northerngardener.org
@MNHORT
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Minnesota State Horticultural Society
Welcome cedar waxwings and other birds to your yard with berry-bearing shrubs.
Laura Wagner, Chair Joel Karsten, Vice Chair Del Hampton, Treasurer Mary Marrow, Secretary Jennifer Ebeling Mike Heger Debra Kvamme Renay Leone Judy MacManus Mary Hockenberry Meyer Rhys Williams
MSHS Staff Rick Juliusson, Executive Director Lara Lau-Schommer, Community Outreach Director Becky Swee, Communications and Marketing Director Diane Duvall, Development Director Courtney Tchida, Community Outreach and Program Manager Betsy Pierre, Advertising Sales Manager
Northern Gardener Magazine Mary Lahr Schier, Editor Debbie Lonnee, Horticultural Editor Julie Jensen, Copy Editor Barbara Pederson, Designer
Copyright 2020 by MSHS. Printed in the USA on recycled paper. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reprinted without permission from MSHS. The information published in Northern Gardener reflects the experiences and opinions of the writers and is not necessarily endorsed by MSHS. Northern Gardener is a registered trademark of MSHS. (ISSN) 1529-8515. Northern Gardener is published bimonthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/ Oct, Nov/Dec) by the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, Minn., and additional post offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northern Gardener, 1935 County Rd. B2 W., Suite 125, Roseville, MN 55113.
© TRAVIS BONOVSKY
MSHS Board of Directors
A NOTE FROM
The Editor
I
CONTENT TO COME grand opening in March 2020, houses a
try not to mourn the end of the gardening season. To be honest, most years I am looking forward to the first snow, the chance to clean up the tools, store all the containers in the basement and, for a few months, not think about voracious and clever rabbits or plant choices I have come to regret. This year is different, as we all know, and pulling the tomatoes and watching the leaves fall evoked more melancholy than usual. It may be a long winter. For gardeners, that means planning, reading, observing nature and caring for houseplants. This is what keeps us sane come January. This issue offers ideas for all of those activities. Susan Davis Price (with wonderful help from photographers Krista Menzel and Travis Bonovsky) offers tips for drawing birds to your yard in winter. The right plants, along with a water source and shelter, can make even the most urban yard a bird sanctuary. The article begins on page 24. Marge Hols (with beautiful photography by Tracy Walsh) gives us a tour of the new conservatory at the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences in St. Paul. The conservatory, which was set to have its
fascinating collection of plants from the Southern Hemisphere. When possible, you'll want to visit it in person—for now, enjoy Marge's story and Tracy's photos beginning on page 30. Elsewhere in this issue, you may find inspiration in the secluded space a Duluth gardener created (page 20) or a writer's adventures (and misadventures) planting a prairie garden on her boulevard (page 40). Finally, check out the gift suggestions from MSHS on page 7 for ideas for all the gardeners in your life. As we face down winter and the pandemic, keep your hopes up. As British writer Gertrude Jekyll noted, gardening teaches "patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." Let's all hope and trust that next spring will bring us a more "normal" season in the garden. — Mary Lahr Schier, editor
Northern Gardener l November/December 2020
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