Northern Gardener - September/October 2021

6 T I P S F O R L AY E R I N G P L A N T S

Gardener Northern

A MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

EDIBLE

ART

GARDENER’S GUIDE TO

Nativars Fall in

Love

with Fall Bloom

U.S. $4.99 Can. $5.99 Display until October 31

3

WAYS TO PLANT NOW

Tulips

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 l VOLUME 149 l NUMBER 5

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Growing Dreams

A Gardener’s Guide to Nativars

Seeds and centuries of gardening knowledge feed a community at Dream of Wild Health farm.

BY MICHELLE BRUHN

TERRA NOVA NURSERIES

Table of Contents Which new cultivars of native plants appeal to gardeners and pollinators?

BY MARY LAHR SCHIER

28 Companion Planting

Neighbors join forces to create an abundant vegetable garden.

BY TERRY YOCKEY

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

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Fall in Love with Fall Bloom

Add a rich palette of cool-weather annuals and perennials for fall’s grand finale.

BY MICHELLE MERO RIEDEL

36 Edible Art

Add structure, beauty and food to your garden with espalier.

40 Ready for Spring?

BY MEG COWDEN

Winter is coming, so spend it dreaming of all the tulips you’ve planted.

BY JENN HOVLAND

12 Northern Natives: Zigzag goldenrod.

By Beth Stetenfeld 13 Kitchen Garden: Drying vegetables.

By Samantha Johnson 14 Garden Solutions: From shade to sun.

By Laura Schwarz 15 Pollinators: The next generation.

By Rhonda Fleming Hayes 16

By Design: Six tips for placing plants.

By Diane McGann 18 DIY: Stacked-stone garden accents.

By Eric Johnson 19 Plant to Pick: First Editions® Spot On™ spirea. By Debbie Lonnee 44 Northern View: Gardening as Self-Care.

By Laura Schwarz

ABOUT THE COVER: 'Hazan' apples grow well in northern climates. Photo by Dan Johnson

MSHS Board of Directors See you at the fair! Members who join or renew at the Society level will receive this oversized farmers' market bag.

A NOTE FROM

The Director

I

must be a step closer to being a true Minnesotan—all I can think about is the Minnesota State Fair! The Minnesota State Horticultural Society was founded at the fair in 1866, and we’ve been there ever since.

True, last year was a bit strange, but we found ways to continue our state fair traditions online ( just not as many footlong hot dogs). I hope you can come to the Agriculture/Horticulture Building when you are at the fair to visit and enjoy the many treats we have in store.

We’re near the apples, honey and craft brews. What will we have in 2021?

• Your favorite T-shirts, tanks and long-sleeved shirts with some new fun designs, including the winner of our T-shirt contest: “Long thyme, no see.” Plus, an array of gloves, visors, gardening tools and pollinatorthemed stickers. (Members, enjoy your 15 percent discount!)

• Free MSHS tote bags for new and renewing members at the Society level.

• A great lineup of speakers on the

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

MSHS Staff Rick Juliusson, Executive Director

Dirt Stage. I’ll be talking about the hort society's programs and strategic plan on Sunday, Aug. 29, and Saturday, Sept. 4, at 4 p.m.

• Our exciting new digital membership package for millennials and youngat-hearts who prefer to learn and connect online.

Don’t worry, if crowds and travel still aren’t your thing, we’re continuing some of our fair innovations from 2020.

You can enter the online photo contest, see the potted plant show winners on our website and follow the action on our blog, Facebook and Instagram (@mnhort).

But gee whiz, isn’t it exciting to be back together at the fair again?

651-643-3601 l info@northerngardener.org

Laura Wagner, Chair Mary Marrow, Vice Chair Del Hampton, Treasurer Renay Leone, Secretary Nan Eserkaln Mike Heger Debra Kvamme Judy MacManus Amee McDonald Mary Hockenberry Meyer Rhys Williams

— Rick Juliusson (he/him) Executive Director

@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 Joel Hoeger, Bookkeeper Betsy Pierre, Advertising Sales Manager

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

Copyright 2021 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.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

MSHS Calendar

Growing Dahlias – Part 3 Tuesday, Sept. 14, noon – 1 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Location: Grandstand Plaza, Minnesota State Fair Instructor: Del Hampton, Hennepin County master gardener

Landscape Design Basics Five sessions: Mondays, Sept. 20 – Oct. 18, 6 – 9 p.m.

Cost: $149 members; $159 nonmembers. Price includes 15 hours of instruction, a comprehensive course packet, lab materials and a set of basic landscape design tools.

Registration deadline: Sept. 13 Location: Your computer Instructors: Julie Wiesenhorn and Jim Calkins, University of Minnesota Extension

This five-session workshop is one of our most popular classes. You’ll learn the theory and basic principles of sustainable landscape design and how to avoid the mistakes that are commonly made by novices and professionals alike. The curriculum is comprehensive and has been developed to allow participants to use their own property as a class project by designing an entry garden, a deck or patio garden, or other landscape space.

Each workshop session will culminate in a hands-on, at-home assignment that will allow participants to put pencil to paper and apply the techniques learned to their personal landscape project in preparation for the next class and the next steps in the landscape design sequence. The workshop will also include time for personalized critiques of your ideas during the last four sessions as you develop your designs.

This in-person, hands-on workshop at the fairgrounds involves digging up tuber clumps and prepping them for overwintering. It’s the final part of an interactive course that steps you through a year in the life of a passionate dahlia grower and the installation of the new dahlia garden at the fair. Dahlia Del will share best practices for setting up, growing and caring for your dahlia tubers.

Part 1 focused on dahlia growing activities from January to June. Part 2 covered July through December and end-of-season dahlia care. Parts 1 and 2 are available for purchase at northerngardener.org.

Cultivating a Deeper Relationship with the Land Tuesday, Sept. 14, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Location: Your computer Instructor: Paula Westmoreland, agroecologist and permaculture designer, Ecological Design

Learn strategies to cultivate a deeper connection with land you steward. Paula 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.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Get Creative with Cool-Weather Containers Tuesday, Sept. 28, 7 – 8:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Location: Your computer Instructor: Michelle Mero Riedel, master gardener, professional photographer

Container designer Michelle Mero Riedel shows you how to reflect the rich texture of the fall season in your container combinations. Get creative adding seasonal favorites to your existing containers or start new ones by combining perennials, annuals and seasonal grasses.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Asters and Goldenrods: Autumn's Pollinator Banquet Tuesday, Sept. 21, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Location: Your computer Instructor: Heather Holm, biologist, pollinator conservationist and author

Asters are critical late-summer and fall forage for native bees, including many pollen-collecting specialists. Heather will explore the nutritional components of the nectar and pollen of asters and their fallblooming cousins, the goldenrods, and demonstrate the importance of these two groups of plants for native bees as well as migratory pollinating insects such as butterflies.

In addition to assisting with the native bee research projects, Heather informs and educates audiences nationwide, through her writing and many presentations, about the fascinating world of native pollinators and beneficial insects and the native plant communities that support them.

Putting the Garden to Bed Tuesday, Oct. 5, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $5 members, $10 nonmembers (free for GIAB members and Minnesota Green participants) Location: Your computer

This online class will include all the things you need to know to wrap up your garden for the season successfully.

We will cover how to finish the harvest, remove summer edibles and diseased plants and weeds, replenish soil nutrients (compost, cover crops, etc.), what to cut back, how to fertilize and mulch perennials, clean and store garden tools and supplies, and plan for next year.

See all upcoming classes and register at northerngardener.org/classes.

Community Events Yard and Garden Hotline Ramsey County Master Gardners Wednesdays and Saturdays, now through Sept. 29, noon – 1 p.m.

Connect with Ramsey County master gardeners online to get advice about your yard and garden. Master gardeners will be available to help identify plants, insects, and garden pests and diseases. Consultations are free.

Contact: facebook.com/ramseymastergardeners.

Carver-Scott Master Gardener Plant Sale Carver-Scott Master Gardeners Saturday, Aug. 28, 9 a.m. – noon Chaska Cub Foods, 200 Pioneer Tr., Chaska.

Perennial divisions from master gardeners’ yards, fresh produce, garden art and more.

Master gardeners will be available to answer questions. Proceeds benefit community gardening programs in Carver and Scott counties.

Contact: Mary, meliasen1@me.com.

Gladiolus Show at Honker Flats Gladiolus Festival Minnesota Gladiolus Society Friday, Sept. 3, 5 p.m., setup begins Saturday, Sept. 4, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 5, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Honker Flats Greenhouse, 45313-240th Ave. N.E., Middle River.

All are welcome to make arrangements with the gladiolus spikes provided at no charge.

Bring your own props. Free lunch available.

Contact: Lew and Tammy Wallace, 218-222-3484.

2021 Virtual Learning Garden Tour Hennepin County Master Gardeners Friday, Sept. 10, 3 p.m.

Join us for a virtual garden tour. This event features video tours of four home gardens of Hennepin County master gardeners as well as four educational sessions on pruning, planting trees, wise watering practice, and when and how to plant your spring bulbs. The videos will be released Sept. 10, but you can log on anytime after that.

Cost: $12. Links to registration available through the calendar listing on northerngardener.org.

Contact: Terry Straub, hcmg@umn.edu, 612-596-2130.

Minnesota Apples Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis Tuesday, Sept. 14, 7 – 8 p.m.

Lakewood Cemetery Garden Mausoleum and Reception Center, 3600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.

Peter Moe, director of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, will discuss the arboretum’s rich history and its contribution to the development of different types of apples, as well as current activities at the arboretum’s Apple House.

The Lakewood meeting site is tentative. For up-to-date meeting site information and the Zoom meeting link, visit gardenclubmpls.org/calendar/events.

Contact: Becky, bdelacruz463@gmail.com.

Community Events continue on page 10.

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

5

THIS SEASON IN THE GARDEN

TIPS & TRICKS FOR YOUR

fall garden Keep on Growing

FALL TIMELINE SEPTEMBER

If there’s one thing northern gardeners know, it’s how to make the most of a short growing season. Don’t rush to hang up your garden gloves at the first sight of aster blooms and yellowing leaves — you can still plant, harvest and garden your way right into winter.

Collect seeds from superstar annuals and perennials that shone in your garden this summer.

If any of your houseplants spent the summer outdoors, check them for bugs and start moving them back inside.

tips to extend the season

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Use cold frames, hoophouses and mini-greenhouses to protect seedlings and tender plants when temperatures start dropping.

Skip fall cleanup.

Leave stems and leaf litter in garden beds untouched for winter interest (and as habitat for overwintering insects).

Freeze tomatoes and other veggies for sauces, soups and winter stews.

Shred and freeze zucchini for bread and muffins.

Start seeds indoors and grow greens all winter, or create a hydroponic salad table. Look for our class on growing microgreens on our Youtube channel.

Fall is for planting. Add late-season veggies for fall harvesting (turnips planted in August are a sweet fall treat). Plant spring-blooming bulbs, such as snowdrops, for early spring color. Newly planted trees and shrubs thrive in cooler fall temperatures­—just be sure to give them a couple of weeks to get established before the ground freezes. Add evergreens, red and yellow twig dogwood, and ornamental grasses for winter color; winterberry, crabapples and viburnum provide colorful fruit for birds when food is scarce. Weave in fall-blooming perennials, such as asters, sedum and sweet autumn clematis, that will feed pollinators and light up your landscape when most other plants are fading away.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

For more seasonal gardening tips: northerngardener.org/ seasonal-guide

OCTOBER

1

dust off your trowel

6

Compost fading, leggy annuals and refresh container gardens with fall knockouts, such as ornamental kale and peppers, and purple fountain grass.

Harvest, chop and freeze parsley, chives and other herbs so you can add them to soups and stews this winter.

Or whip up batches of pesto and freeze in bags (visit northerngardener.org/recipes for ideas).

Keep up with watering and weeding. New trees and shrubs need water until the ground freezes. Fall weeding means fewer weed seeds next spring.

Nourish vegetable beds. Add shredded leaves and rough compost that hasn’t fully decomposed—your soil will be light, fluffy and ready for planting next May.

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MSHS NEWS

MEMBERSHIP

FUNDRAISING

New Digital Membership Offering

SUPPORT THE HORT WITH FALL BULBS

Young people have shown a surge of interest in growing food and gardening during the pandemic, and we are working hard to nurture that energy by launching an all-digital membership package designed by and for young gardeners (though, of course, all are welcome).

We believe this will help new gardeners succeed and energize the growth and impact of the hort society. It will feature curated content from Northern Gardener that is focused on practical, how-to information and the social and environmental issues on which gardeners can have a positive impact. A perfect gift for new gardeners, the digital membership package includes: • Quarterly digital zine with selected content from Northern Gardener magazine, our blog and Resource Hub; • Digital version of the annual Dig in! guide for new northern gardeners; • Discounts on MSHS workshops and webinars; • 15 percent discount on MSHS merchandise; and • Invitations to special member gatherings at breweries and other venues.

The cost of this digital membership level is $30 but we are offering a special discounted price of $20 to those who join during the Minnesota State Fair (Aug. 26 through Labor Day).

New digital members will be invited to join MSHS staff at a special brewery event in October to tell us what you think of the package. Not coming to the fair?

You can join online at northerngardener.org/membership.

Brent and Becky Heath’s Bloomin’ Bucks fundraiser is back with a variety of bulbs for your fall planting.

The Bloomin’ Bucks fundraiser enables you to beautify your garden and raise funds to support vibrant green communities and help our youngest gardeners learn how to grow their own food. How it works: 1. Visit bloominbucks.com.

2. Select the Minnesota State Horticultural Society.

3. Order bulbs, books and more; 25 percent of your total will be donated to MSHS programs.

4. Look for your items in the mail.

Last fall, our bulb fundraiser with Brent and Becky’s raised more funds than any other participating nonprofit.

Thanks for helping us grow.

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MSHS NEWS

PETITION UPDATE

“Gardening provides so many healthful benefits for the people that live in Minnesota. MSHS provides so many valuable resources to educate and support the people in our communities to grow food, interact with others and be in nature.” – Helen P., petition signer.

“

Many thanks to the more than 2,000 MSHS efforts also support community members and help to grow horticulture who signed the petition and reached out to their businesses in Minnesota— legislators to help restore significant!” state funding for MSHS this spring. Your voices – Terry F., Hastings, were heard and shared by Society member Executive Director Rick Juliusson in testimony before the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Use Committee. He talked about the society’s direct impact on today’s crucial challenges such as food security, the environment, physical and mental health, and gardening education.

“

This organization does so much good for Minnesota!”

I think that one of the most helpful programs to Minnesota communities is Garden-in-a-Box. So many communities don't have access to fresh vegetables nearby. This program teaches individuals and community groups how to start and maintain their own gardens.”

– Martha K., Eden Prairie, Society member

– Mary Jo C., Rochester

MSHS State Funding Restored; Thank You for Helping Many of you also included a donation to MSHS. Your gifts of support are helping us grow this year by doubling our webinar offerings, increasing our Gardenin-a-Box distribution by 33 percent, expanding our social media outreach and launching a digital membership offering designed by and for young gardeners to help nurture the next generation of gardeners. Thank you for your support!

“

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Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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MSHS NEWS

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Growing the Next Generation

Continued from page 5.

“this campaign you’ve got to expand your membership is an opportunity to pass on the joy of growing to the next generation,” says Todd Sicard, an MSHS member who was part of a team of Minnesota corporate volunteers sponsored by Hands On Twin Cities, who partnered with MSHS staff to develop the digital membership package and quarterly online publication designed for and with young gardeners, which is being launched this summer.

(See page 8 for details.)

Todd grew up on a 3-acre property in northern Anoka County, where his parents had a 20-by-20-foot vegetable garden. His earliest memories are eating peas and green beans fresh out of the garden. “I helped in the garden because my mom told me to,” he says. Still, that experience instilled an appreciation for the value of growing food, so when an opportunity arose to join a team helping MSHS develop a strategy to nurture a burgeoning interest in gardening in young people starting out, he jumped at the chance.

Todd is a strategist for a Minnesotabased health care company and sees a shared opportunity to provide vital resources to those in need between health care and gardening. His company is helping Minnesotans new to the health care system—both immigrant communities and young people starting out—navigate access to essential services.

“I like how the hort society is addressing inclusiveness in designing its education opportunities,” says Todd.

He and his wife are society members and donors. He says they love the beauty of Northern Gardener magazine.

“We always have it open for inspiration but new gardeners starting out need easy access to quick how-to’s when approaching gardening, so a quarterly digital publication is perfect for young people starting out,” he says.

Fall African Violet Show and Plant Sale North Star African Violet Council Saturday, Oct. 2, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Bachman’s on Lyndale Heritage Room, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis.

This is a judged African violet show with exhibits from members of the North Star African Violet Council. The plant sale will include all varieties of African violets and several varieties of other gesneriads.

Contact: NSAVCTC@gmail.com.

“

I like how the hort society is addressing inclusiveness in designing its education opportunities.”

– todd sicard

Todd and his wife are empty nesters living in South Minneapolis. They are paring down their gardening activities now and focusing on lawn and tree maintenance. Todd admits that he’s never been much of a flower gardener.

“I call all flowers ‘marigolds’ to keep it simple,” he says, jokingly.

They care deeply about addressing sustainable practices when growing, though. He’s pleased that the city of Minneapolis is planting trees in his neighborhood with that in mind. “They are planning for the climate we will have, not the one we remember,” he says. “I love how the hort society is reframing its work for what’s next, as well.”

to learn more, visit northerngardener.org/membership.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Seasonal Containers for Your Home’s Décor Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis Tuesday, Oct. 12, 7 – 8 p.m.

Lakewood Cemetery Garden Mausoleum and Reception Center, 3600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis.

Lynn Messman, owner of Gardens by Lynn, will discuss how to design seasonal flower containers for your home’s inside and outside décor.

The Lakewood meeting site is tentative.

For up-to-date meeting site information and the Zoom meeting link, visit gardenclubmpls.org/calendar/events.

Contact: Becky, bdelacruz463@gmail. com.

Dendrobium Moniliforme Orchid Society of Minnesota Saturday, Oct. 16, 1 – 3 p.m.

Bachman’s Garden Center, Heritage Room, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis.

Karen Uthus of New World Orchids will discuss the miniature Japanese orchid Dendrobium moniliforme. It is typically potted in moss and grows well over a large range of temperatures.

Contact: orchidsocietyofminnesota@gmail. com.

find a full list of community events at northerngardener.org/calendar.

MSHS NEWS

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Program Donations Help Grow Gardeners GARDEN-IN-A-BOX UPDATE Our signature community outreach program is growing. In 2021, Garden-in-a-Box expanded to reach all corners of the state, supporting returning participants and many new gardeners in greater Minnesota.

We couldn’t have met this growing need without the help of many garden centers and greenhouses across the state, including: Northland Landscape Nursery, Isanti; Schulte’s Greenhouse & Nursery, St. Michael; Green Lake Nursery, Spicer; Bloomers, Grand Rapids; Hill’s Country Greenhouse, Bemidji; All Season’s Garden Center, Grand Forks; Jean’s Right Plant Place, Perham; Souba’s Greenhouse & Garden Center, Owatonna; Super Fresh, Austin; Sargent’s on Second, Rochester; Sargent’s Nursery, Red Wing; Green Garden Place, Slayton; Holasek’s Flower Power Garden Center, Lester Prairie; and Redwood Falls Nursery, Redwood Falls; and Wagner Greenhouses, Minneapolis. Together, we’re inspiring and growing the next generation of gardeners.

Seed Gathering Time Participants in MN SEED, our native plant community science project, spent the summer inventorying native plants in rain gardens, prairies and woodland plantings across the Midwest and identifying all kinds of pollinators in the process.

Now, as summer fades to fall, we’re shifting our focus to seed collection, cleaning and swapping events. You’re invited to join us. For event dates and locations and to learn about native plant identification and our iNaturalist project, visit northerngardener.org/native-plantcommunity-science-project.

MINNESOTA GREEN UPDATE During the first half of 2021, Minnesota Green participants received more than 66,000 plants.

Community gardeners planted these annuals, perennials and shrubs in 225 public, school and church gardens managed by more than 118 different organizations in Minnesota.

Big thanks to 101 Market, Arden Hills Nursery, Cedarbrook Garden Center, Dundee Nursery, Green Barn Garden Center, Green Earth Growers, Hedberg Nursery, Hill’s Garden, Humble Pie Farms, K Squared Flowers, Medtronic, Minnesota Gardens, Friend’s School Plant Sale, Otten Brothers, Plant Place, Ramsey County Master Gardeners, Rush Creek Growers, Sargent’s (Red Wing), St. Edward the Confessor Church Plant Sale, Sunnyside Gardens, Thompson Farms, Tonkadale, Wagners and countless individuals for donating plants to all these gardens.

With support from a Capitol Region Watershed District grant, the MN SEED Project is helping local residents save seeds from native plants they are identifying and inventorying in 2021.

Then, these seeds can be shared and propagated to increase the biodiversity and populations of native plants in our region.

To learn more about community programs powered by your donations, visit northerngardener.org/community-programs.

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

11

NORTHERN NATIVES

BETH STETENFELD

Zigzag Goldenrod

zigzag goldenrod (solidago flexicaulis) is one of the few goldenrods that thrives in partial to full shade. Most sources agree that it will grow well in sun, too, if tended and watered regularly. This goldenrod is easy to identify by its large, broad, serrated lower leaves and its zigzag stems. Yellow flowers grow along a stem that is 2 to 6 inches long, and each flower is about one-half inch across with three to five petals.

It can be found throughout most of eastern North America, with a greater prevalence in deciduous woodlands, woodland edges and wooded uplands. (Note: Goldenrods do not cause hay fever, as traditionally thought.)

Like most goldenrods, this one is a pollinator magnet, attracting native bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths and other insects. In addition to providing nectar for pollinators, goldenrods are host plants to more than 100 species of caterpillars, including the larva of the goldenrod gall moth and the brown-hooded owlet moth.

Along with other goldenrods, it’s a particularly valuable nectar source for monarch butterflies as they migrate south in the fall. It tends to bloom from August through autumn frosts.

The many insects that feed on goldenrods are a food source to woodland songbirds and upland gamebirds. Be aware that deer and rabbits often browse on the foliage of zigzag goldenrod.

Zigzag goldenrod provides bright color to the shade garden.

The tall spires hover above shorter plants, providing a pleasant backdrop for other autumn-blooming plants, and the seed

12

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

spires can provide late autumn and winter interest after frost.

It has no serious insect or disease problems.

Good companion plants include others that bloom in late summer and fall, such as asters, sunflowers, ironweed, phlox and grasses. It’s also a great choice to take the stage after nearby midsummer bloomers are fading. Zigzag goldenrod is a reliable cut flower, with a 7- to 10-day vase life, for a bright autumn bouquet. And it dries well for winter displays.

While this goldenrod will tolerate total shade, it blooms more in partial or dappled shade, or sun. It tolerates all soil types but prefers well-drained sites. In a garden setting, it performs well in wildlife and natural settings, mass plantings, cottage gardens, perennial borders and low-maintenance plantings. It tolerates both lime and black walnut (Juglans nigra).

Zigzag goldenrod propagates well from division or seed.

Seeds do need a winter or cold period to germinate, so they should be sown in fall or winter, or refrigerated for artificial cold stratification.

This is a reliable plant for a shady or partially shaded area of the garden. If you have deer or rabbit visitors, consider surrounding zigzag goldenrod with alliums or other mammal-repellent plants present through the growing season. One of the later plants to emerge and flower, it will sport low-growing foliage through midsummer, and then reward you with larger displays and bright color from late summer through midautumn.

At a Glance: Zigzag Goldenrod Hardiness: USDA Zone 2.

Native Habitat: Solidago flexicaulis is native to North American rich woods with dappled shade, from Nova Scotia west to North Dakota, and from Georgia to Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Size: 1 to 4 feet tall; 1 to 3 feet wide.

Site: Performs well in partial shade and shade, with moderate moisture and well-drained soils. Established plants tolerate dry soil.

Propagation: Can be grown from seed or root division.

Spreads on its own from seed dispersal and extending rhizomes.

Cultivars and Other Species: Solidago flexicaulis is among 16 species of goldenrod native to Minnesota.

Others that tolerate shade or partial shade include early goldenrod (S. juncea), hairy goldenrod (S. hispida) and elm-leaved goldenrod (S. ulmifolia), among others.

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

KITCHEN GARDEN

Drying Vegetables

How to Dry

Sun drying isn’t recommended for vegetables. The humidity levels in the Upper Midwest are too high for outdoor drying. You can use an oven to dry foods but it takes longer and isn’t as efficient (or sometimes as effective) as drying in a food dehydrator. Electric food dehydrators come in a variety of sizes and price points, from about $50 to over $500. The advantage of a dehydrator is that it offers enough air flow and heat to safely and efficiently dry vegetables. Most come with a set of trays on which you place the sliced vegetables before inserting into the dehydrator.

To achieve the best success with your dried vegetables, keep in mind these tips: • Harvest the vegetables at the peak of maturity but not when they are overripe. You want the best flavor and the highest quality for the veggies you choose to dry.

• When you prepare your vegetables for drying, aim for pieces that are uniform in size. When all of the pieces are the same size, they’ll dry consistently. When they’re completely dry, the vegetables will be brittle.

• Carefully follow the specific steps for the particular vegetable you’re drying. Always research the appropriate times/temperatures for each vegetable (and find out if that vegetable needs to be blanched before it is dried). Follow any and all manufacturer’s instructions that come with your food dehydrator for food safety.

• After drying, follow recommendations for appropriate long-term storage of your dried vegetables so that you can enjoy them in the months to come!

• Dried vegetables work best as part of a soup or stew, rather than served on their own.

If canning isn’t your thing, try drying vegetables. With some time and effort, you can capture their fleeting flavor and enjoy it in the months to come.

ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

as short-season gardeners, we’re always looking for ways to extend the season and prolong the joy of the harvest. We can do this in the garden through season-extending techniques like row covers and succession planting, or we can do it in the kitchen with preservation techniques such as canning and freezing. Drying vegetables is another time-tested way to preserve the harvest.

For many people, there’s nothing better than fresh vegetables that go from garden to table in the span of an afternoon. But sometimes on a hazy August day when we’re surrounded by the bounty of the summertime garden, we can’t help but think of those cold January days when we can only dream of the magic of vegetables from the garden. And that’s why we end up preserving vegetables in some fashion.

All preservation methods have their pros and cons, and drying vegetables is no different. Properly dehydrated vegetables don’t require refrigeration or freezing and will keep for years. Another advantage of dehydrating is it concentrates flavors. But drying vegetables is a time-consuming process, requiring precise cutting and preparing of the vegetables.

Which veggies can you dry? Some of the best options for drying include corn, sweet potatoes, peppers, beans, zucchini, carrots, potatoes and snap peas. That’s not to say that you can’t dry other veggies, but the process may be more challenging.

Freeze Drying A new option for food preservation is freeze drying.

The equipment investment for freeze-dried vegetables is significantly higher—$2,000 and up—but if you’re drying vegetables on a large scale and want to invest in the tools, freeze drying is certainly something to consider.

Freeze-dried vegetables have a longer shelf life and retain their nutrients better than dehydrated foods. —B.S. Samantha Johnson is the author of several books, including Garden DIY, (CompanionHouse Books, 2020). Visit her online portfolio at http://samanthajohnson.contently.com.

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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GARDEN SOLUTIONS

MARY LAHR SCHIER

From Shade to Sun

your garden’s dependence on irrigation.

Or start a cutting garden filled with colorful blooms that attract butterflies and also make gorgeous bouquets! You may be able to move plants in your own garden that might not be getting enough light into the sunny spot.

Plant a New Tree

as soon as we moved into our house, I started working on the perfect little shade garden. I planted big blue hostas, variegated Solomon’s seal and three types of Epimedium. I carefully nestled Pulmonaria amidst vinca vines and Japanese painted ferns. Delicate dwarf astilbe and smooth Bergenia rounded out the ensemble, until I also got my hands on some Rodgersia and Mukdenia.

All was right with the tiny world of my new front yard.

Then, we lost the huge boulevard tree shading it all. It was an old elm with a huge decay pocket, so I understood why the city removed it. But post-removal, I watched in horror as my shade garden baked in the full sun.

Transitioning a garden from shade to sun can be intimidating—and it seems urgent when shade plants are suddenly exposed. But with a little patience, observation and imagination, this situation can become an opportunity.

LAURA SCHWARZ

Hot sun on a formerly shady garden means some plants need a new location.

Right: Geranium is a groundcover that can work in sun.

“shade-loving” really just means “shadetolerant,” and plants that are typically planted in shade can actually handle more sun than we’ve allowed them.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of the perennials in my new sun garden continued to thrive in the new light conditions. The Japanese painted ferns, bergenia, Epimedium, groundcover geraniums, vinca, Mukdenia, Jacob’s ladder and Solomon’s seal carried on without any fuss. The astilbes, Pulmonaria and Pachysandra tolerated the sun as long as I kept them watered well.

Unfortunately, the blue hostas and Rodgersia were truly unhappy with the increased light, and their leaves scorched after only a week or so.

As this happens, gardeners should decide their tolerance for increased watering and scorched leaves. Over time, plant stress will increase so you may need to move them back into the shade eventually.

Don’t Panic

Before you start frantically tearing up your gardens, wait a few weeks to see which plants can handle the change.

The plants will quickly show you, and you might be surprised. Sometimes

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Try Something New

The increased light in your gardens is a great opportunity to try something new.

Consider vegetables and herbs, a prairie planting or a rain garden to decrease

Of course, there’s no quick-fix for the loss of a full-grown shade tree, but planting a new tree (or trees!) will help assuage your frustrations and create hopeful visions of future shade gardens. Even if you might never see this new tree in its maturity, it’ll be fun to choose a new tree species, care for it and watch it grow. Consider planting one of Minnesota’s 53 native tree species and enhancing your yard’s support of native wildlife species.

Diversify the tree canopy in your neighborhood by planting a species that isn’t already nearby.

Although it can be tempting to plant the largest tree you can find in a nursery, I strongly encourage you to start with a smaller tree. Larger trees are more likely to experience transplant shock, which can slow their growth, stress them out and make them more susceptible to pathogens.

Check out www.treesaregood.org for excellent advice about choosing, planting and caring for new trees.

In the meantime, brace yourself for the next transition. In gardening, the next big change is inevitably just around the corner.

Horticulturist Laura Schwarz gardens and writes in Minneapolis.

POLLINATORS

they come padding bare-footed down the sidewalk every summer. I can see them out of the corner of my eye from the porch, then they disappear from view for a moment behind the shrubs out front where the milkweed grows.

The kids who live up and down our block know they don’t have to ask permission to look for monarch eggs or gather milkweed leaves in our yard.

Other times, they come over with their moms, babies and toddlers in tow. The kids deliver an excited tally of how many eggs or tiny caterpillars they just found. I tell them that I appreciate their young eyes because I didn’t see any earlier when I looked. A little bit later, they head back home, small hands clutching a fistful of broad green leaves.

I’m glad to be the grocery store for their very hungry caterpillars.

It’s a far cry from when my husband was paid to pull milkweed in the farm fields as a young boy. He doesn’t miss the irony that now his wife grows it on purpose—and in the front yard no less.

And even though I played with bugs as a child, all I remember about butterfly metamorphosis was a dry diagram in our science book charting the process from larva to adult.

The family next door has been raising monarchs for three years now, after being given a box of caterpillars from a friend. They reared those to adults and released them. The next year, they went looking for eggs on their own.

When asked what’s interesting about raising monarchs, Noe, 7, tells me she likes watching the caterpillars “get bigger and bigger, day by day.” Her older sister, Isla, 10, says she likes seeing them as babies first, “you see them as tiny things” and then “you get to see them get bigger and their stripes and colors evolve over time.”

The girls like the caterpillar stage best because they can hold them and interact with them. After some cajoling, 4-yearold Cody, the youngest, agrees that’s her favorite part, too.

As for the miraculous transformation when the adult butterfly emerges from

RHONDA FLEMING HAYES

The Next Generation

Left to right: Isla, Cody and Noe Guillaume pick milkweed leaves in the author’s garden.

the chrysalis, their supportive mom says they stand back and just observe.

The moment when they release them outside feels sacred, she says.

I could write a hundred columns about pollinator conservation and still not have the impact that this hands-on learning achieves. In my writing and talks, I mention how one pollinator-friendly garden won’t solve the problems pollinators face, but if you multiply that by a thousand, a million, it’s a start. The same goes for all of these young pollinator advocates across the country watching their caterpillars munch to maturity.

Progress seems slow with all wildlife conservation efforts. It’s hard to watch relentless habitat destruction and the effects of climate change. Yet I’m astonished at how people have embraced the pollinator movement, and how fast it’s become a popular tenet of gardening practice. It may be that it’s

easier to create change in your backyard for a bee or butterfly than an elephant in a far-off country. No matter. I feel confident that kids who raise monarchs at home will lead the way forward, and not just on pollinators.

And it’s not just adorable little kids I’m counting on. Recently a pair of lanky teenage boys skateboarded down the sidewalk and pulled up suddenly at my front steps. “Holy s***”, one shouted to his friend, “look at all those bees!”

He noticed me on the porch and asked, “What’s the name of that plant? I need to tell my mom, that’s so cool.”

As they say, the kids are all right.

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

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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BY DESIGN

6 Tips for Placing Plants how do we place shrubs and flowers so that they look their best? The July/August 2021 By Design column discussed eight options. Here are six more to consider.

Layer plants of different heights.

PHOTOS: DIANE MCGANN

layer and weave. No doubt you’ve heard the advice to place short plants at the front of a border, mid-sized ones behind them, and the tallest group in the background. This makes sense, but to avoid having the border look too contrived, consider mixing it up by placing the occasional lofty plant toward the front. If the garden bed is seen from all sides, tall plants can take pride of place in the middle and serve as background for short and yet shorter choices in front of them.

Vary the heights of the plants within your layers to avoid straight lines unless you’re aiming for a formal look. Uniform heights can create an unnatural stairstep effect. Overlap masses of plants so that they flow together and eliminate any open areas between groupings. Voids in the landscape draw the eye and detract from the picture you’re trying to create. repeat. A key principle of landscape design, repetition is achieved by Add interest with contrast in form and texture.

repeating the same color, form or texture throughout an area. You might choose the same plant or select different plants that are similar in color or form. Repetition unites a garden bed or border, and if you’re able to use it throughout your landscape, all the better.

Repeat key plants.

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contrast. While repetition is desirable, contrast is also key. Try to vary plant texture from one grouping to the next.

Think of astilbe’s tracery fronting large-leaved hostas. Contrast in form also pleases. Picture tall, spiky iris next to rounded coneflower. When

you’re wondering what to place next to something you’ve just installed, think of which plants would offer the most contrast in texture and form. You might try looking at your garden with partially closed eyes, squinting. This will help you see shapes and textures and aid you in making good garden companion choices. plan all-season bloom. I indulged myself this last year by ordering lots of early-blooming bulbs and found that I’ve added an additional month to my garden display. Late-blooming plants can provide the same result. One way

to achieve all-season bloom is to draft a simple spreadsheet, either on your computer or jotted down on a legal pad.

Write down the seasons, separating them into early and late, and list all of the plants you love that bloom in those seasons. Keep in mind the colorful foliage that is always present in your garden, and then fill in any gaps in your chart. Completing this exercise will help you see what you’ll have blooming at different times of the year, thus allowing you to seek out seasonal companion plants that will lead to marvelous color and texture combinations. choose foundation plants carefully.

The plants you place at the front of your home are the most visible of all.

Ideally, they’re a mix of conifers, shrubs and perennials. Repeat some of them for a unified look, and try to keep one foot of space between any plants and your house. Soften the hard edges of the home’s façade with taller, rounded shrubs or small trees, and accent the front door with containers or colorful plantings that will help guide visitors to the entrance. unite borders and backgrounds. Try using similar colors in some of your background vegetation and a few plants along the front of the bed. These will be separated by a middle layer offering varying hues. Think of tall yellow daisies in the background with ‘Angelina’ sedum in the foreground.

Red cannas and dark purple coralbells would work similarly. These front and back color reflections can help mesh the garden together.

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Design principles like these are guides when you’re asking yourself, “Just where should this go?” The choice is yours. Whatever you do and wherever you place your plants, your garden will be beautiful.

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

5353 Nicollet Ave S Mpls MN 55419 612-822-4769 www.tangletowngardens.com

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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DIY

Stacked-Stone Garden Accents

Stacked stones, like these Kasota stones, create a focal point.

A simple flagstone stack wall is easy to install.

Stacked brick accent wall­—no mortar necessary­—is decorative.

PHOTOS: ERIC JOHNSON

rocks and stones are nature’s sculpture, adding instant character and history to a space. They make interesting accent pieces and focal points in any garden. They can also be used to add structure.

These simple stone-stack walls couldn’t be more do-ityourself. They are the absolute easiest walls to construct. No mortar and no digging are needed. Once you arrange one in a garden bed, you will see how they instantly bring order to a space, guiding the eye where to look. They can also gently lead visitors down a desired path.

My examples use Kasota flagstone (a limestone), field rocks and brick pavers. If you can stack or pile it, you can use it to make an accent garden wall. To help with the weeds and volunteer seedlings that inevitably crop up along their edges, consider placing a layer of landscape fabric and then laying down mulch on which to arrange the stones.

I place walls at the back of a garden bed, as a backdrop, and also at the front of the border to edge the bed. The walls at the back of the bed are around 18 inches high and the walls at the front are 8 to 10 inches, but the heights can be adjusted to fit your space.

The base of the wall needs to be laid with the most solid, stable stones you have. Overall, the more evenly thick, flat and rectangular your stones are, the easier the wall will be to build. That said, any stones can work, just strive for a stable wall.

Place the entire first row of the wall and adjust it until you get the length you desire. If your wall has a curve, adjust the arc at this point. To give the appearance that the first row is slightly below the soil line, either dig the first row an inch or two into the soil or mulch around the edges. Build the next row by moving and adjusting stones until they solidly settle into place. This part of the process can be quite meditative.

Place as many rows as fit the space. If possible, lay the top row with stones that are thick and rectangular to give the effect of capstones finishing off the wall.

A field rock wall employs the same basic construction principles as the flagstone wall, with a little less order. It’s more of a piling effect. The bricks in the example are stacked in a pattern to create a decorative wall. Replicate the design in the photo or embrace your inner sculptor and create your own.

Flagstones, field stones and pavers are available at many garden centers. Facebook Marketplace is a wonderful resource for thrifty garden DIYers. You will be amazed what people are giving away or selling for very little.

Minneapolis-based Eric Johnson is a garden designer and writer. His website is gardendrama.wordpress.com.

A rock pile wall creates a more rustic look.

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PLANT TO PICK

First Editions® Spot On™ Spirea it blooms sporadically throughout name Spot On. Yanny has a wicked sense the summer. Another great of humor! feature of this plant In autumn, Spot On starts is that there is turning blazing shades of no need to red, orange and yellow. It is We do not deadhead typically praise truly a standout in the world it, as new of spirea for fall color. spirea for its growth Use Spot On as a single covers plant in your foundation fall color.” the planting, or, if you need a spent flowers as relatively short hedge that is informal, it grows. plant a row of them. It is propagated The leaf color via softwood cuttings but is protected on Spot On is a by a plant patent. You will find this rich green but is plant at your local garden center this Spot On™ spirea highlighted by some fall and next spring. unusual red coloration, which appears Debbie Lonnee works in the randomly. Yanny wanted horticulture industry and to name this plant ‘Dracula’s gardens in South St. Paul.

Drippings’, due to the red splotches, but in the end, he came up with the trade

“

Malmborg's

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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PHOTO COURTESY OF BAILEY NURSERY

in minnesota and across the upper Midwest, the genus Spiraea with all its different species and cultivars is a landscape workhorse.

While we wax poetic about its long summer blooms and spectacular spring flowers, tidy habit for small spaces and ease of growth, we do not typically praise Spiraea for its fall color.

First Editions® Spot On™ (Spiraea x fritschiana ‘Select J’ PPAF) is a new cultivar with many season-long attributes, but its fall color makes this shrub a standout in the landscape.

Woody plant breeder Mike Yanny of Menomonie Falls, Wis., developed Spot On™. It is an interspecific cross—meaning more than one species of the Spiraea genus were crossed to create the cultivar. The dominant species in this variety is fritschiana, a Korean spirea that is native to forests and rocky areas in Korea and China. This species is not used a lot in Minnesota landscapes, but it should be!

If you are looking for a low-maintenance shrub, this one is for you. I also think it will be popular with commercial landscapers because of its ease of care and good looks. It reaches a mature height of only 3 to 4 feet spreading up to 5 feet. It requires little pruning to maintain its rounded, spreading form. As with most spirea, it can tolerate full-sun sites but also can take a bit of shade. It is not fussy about soils but performs best in sites that are not too dry, too wet or poorly drained. There are no major disease or insect issues with Spot On. Spot On blooms in spring, with large, pretty, pink flowers that completely cover the plant. After its June bloom,

Growing Dreams Seeds and centuries of gardening knowledge feed a community at Dream of Wild Health farm.

Story by Michelle Bruhn l Photos by Molly Moe

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I

nspired by the people it serves and centuries of gardening knowledge, Dream of Wild Health (DWH) embodies working with nature.

One of the oldest, continually operating Native American nonprofits in the Twin Cities, Dream of Wild Health’s intertribal working and teaching farm brings together the best of seed saving, Earth-focused farming practices and youth development. In short, this farm is flourishing.

“We are working to repair the health of our relatives through food,” says Neely Snyder, St. Croix Ojibwe tribal member and executive director of Dream of Wild Health. “We believe food is medicine. This starts with our young ones, so they understand that nutrition is vital to our overall health.

“Our families wanted to reclaim their traditional relationship with the Earth, which is how the organization began,” Snyder says. “We are working to restore the health and well-being of our community through increased access to the foods that we grow.”

They’re living out this mission on their farm in Hugo, just north of the Twin Cities. The farm welcomes native youth and volunteers of all backgrounds to dig into the process of growing food with nature. Visitors are reminded that we are all part of nature, not separate from it; that we eat because of the gifts of the earth.

As gardeners, we recognize nature for the teacher it is. That practice of paying attention is at the heart of how DWH operates. Jessika Greendeer, a Ho-Chunk Nation tribal member and a Deer Clan member, has been Dream of Wild Health’s seed keeper and farm manager for three seasons. Greendeer instills the practice of treating seeds as relatives while listening to the land for where and what to plant.

This rich knowledge base also explains why many gardeners are paying closer

“ Page 20, top: Cover crops are grown to build the soil.

Page 20, bottom: The native tree and shrub plantings follow the lay of the land.

Above: Jessika Greendeer Left: Seedlings ready for planting Below: Harvesting an early crop of herbs

DWH is a nonprofit focused on teaching the next generation to respect the land and farm it well.”

attention to Indigenous farming and gardening practices.

Depending on when you visit the farm, you could see swaths of pollinator habitat (so many sunflowers!) in bloom, hear the insects at work, smell the lingering smoke of the morning prayer fire or feel ice-cold water up to your elbows as you help wash freshly harvested vegetables. This is like other small-scale farms—with a few distinct differences.

DWH is a nonprofit focused on teaching the next generation to respect the land and farm it well. Currently, it teaches these values through youth programs like Garden Warriors, Cora’s Kids, Youth Leaders and an onfarm internship.

Dream Beginnings

The organization began in 1986 as an Indigenous outreach program called Peta Wakan Tipi. The focus on foods and medicines emerged in 1998 in response to resident requests. A gift of an Indigenous seed keeper’s lifelong seed collection in 2000 created a tangible beginning point for the farming operation. DWH purchased its first 10 acres of farmland in 2004. The organization has farmed the land ever since, adding crops and volunteers along the way.

In 2020, DWH added 20 acres just down the road from the existing farm, Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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Growing Dreams

which provides space to grow more food, while apprenticing Indigenous farmers on-site. Plans for the newly acquired land include an orchard, a processing and packing building plus a space for the community to gather.

The greenhouse is where the season begins and where the harvests dry or cure. Fields nearest to the greenhouse are rotationally planted in market crops like Indigenous varieties of corn, squash, herbs and greens. A recently added moveable high tunnel extends the harvests. DWH grows with “regenerative farming practices” that often go beyond organic. These practices include leaving the land fallow in between cropping and growing cover crops to restore nutrients and balance to the soil. Another notable practice is having crews of volunteer gleaners harvest the last of crops and fruits, keeping the total farm waste down to only 20 pounds—astonishing, given that the average American wastes over 200 pounds of food per year.

Integral to the farm’s operations are the swaths of pollinator plantings.

You’ll also find medicinal herbs and dozens of berry bushes, plus fruit and nut trees interplanted amid the fields as a way to mitigate disease and increase pollination. With Greendeer’s leadership, the farmers have worked to regenerate not only the seed stock but the soils they grow in as well. She urges gardeners to think before they dig, saying, “Let your intuition guide you, and consider what your methods do to the Earth that provides for you.”

Saving Seeds and Knowledge

Seeds are seen as relatives to Indigenous growers, not commodities. But seeds were separated from their Native American families. Indigenous seed

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MICHELLE BRUHN

Beyond Organic

Page 22, top: A wide selection of Indigenous gourds and squashes grow in the gardens.

Page 22, bottom: Baby greens will be added to a salad mix.

Above: Kale thrives in the fall.

Left: Workers plant greens in spring.

Below: Sunflowers bloom in the pollinator habitat.

keepers, like Greendeer, have emerged over the last decade to find and regrow those ancestral seeds. Getting those seeds back into the hands of their original families is a process known as “Seed Rematriation.” She recommends that those interested in purchasing and growing Indigenous seeds buy from Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa.

For those ready to start saving their own seeds, Greendeer suggests starting with beans. “They’re one of the easiest and most rewarding seeds to save,” she says. To save bean seeds, wait until the pod dries in fall and harvest. There is a less than 1 percent chance that the seed will be cross-pollinated. This happens only when a native bee chews through a bean flower to access pollen. “Seeds tend to stay true to type,” she says, adding that after seven years of saving and regrowing a type of seed, the seed is considered your own variety. You could even rename it if you chose to.

PHOTOS, THIS PAGE: MICHELLE BRUHN

Sharing Local Flavor

As vegetable gardeners know, growing food is one thing, making it into dishes people love is another. Part of the mission of DWH is to bring Indigenous foods to their communities and the Twin Cities at large, and DWH has been part of a surge in interest in Indigenous foods and restaurants, supplying produce and working with local chefs. “Our vision for a healthier and stronger community means getting Indigenous foods into the mouths of our people,” says Snyder.

In addition to selling produce at the Midtown Farmers’ Market and the Four Sisters Farmers’ Market, DWH offers a food share program similar to community-supported agriculture shares. Sean Sherman, chef, DWH board member and author of The Sioux Chef ’s Indigenous Kitchen (University of Minnesota Press, 2017), purchases produce from Dream Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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Growing Dreams

GET INVOLVED!

PHOTOS, THIS PAGE: MICHELLE BRUHN

Visit dreamofwildhealth.org for more information on ways to increase your native plant and medicinal herb knowledge. You can also volunteer for Farm Fridays, a chance to work on the farm. —M.B.

of Wild Health for use in his recently opened Owamni restaurant. After switching to preparing meals for elders at the Minneapolis American Indian Center’s Gatherings Café during the pandemic, the cafe run by Chef Brian Yazzie is again open to the public.

DWH also offers volunteer and educational opportunities. Attending talks, classes and volunteer days at the farm has made me a better gardener. It is inspiring to see how food can be grown on a large scale without the use of chemicals. The relationships between the soil and the endemic plants and animals remain at the core of the farm’s operations as it continues to grow.

We can all benefit from cultivating a deeper respect for the soil and remembering that we are gardening as part of nature, not separate from it.

White Bear Lake-based Michelle Bruhn works as a local foods educator and writer, operating the website, forksinthedirt.com.

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Above left: Volunteers weed corn rows.

Above right: Cabbage and kale are robust crops in fall.

Right: Gleaners work in the fields, helping to reduce waste.

RESOURCES

Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987)

by Gilbert L. Wilson is a compilation of Hidatsa gardening techniques.

Braiding Sweetgrass (Milkweed Editions, 2013) by Robin Wall Kimmerer examines modern sustainability efforts through a traditional Indigenous lens. Kimmerer dives into how today’s botany is braided together with traditional teachings.

The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen (University of Minnesota Press, 2017)

by Sean Sherman with Beth Dooley was named one of the best cookbooks of 2017 by National Public Radio. —M.B.

A Gardener’s Guide to

BETH STETENFELD / INSET: TERRA NOVA NURSERIES

Nativars

Which new cultivars of native plants appeal to gardeners and pollinators?

Let’s look at the research.

There was a time when plants like false indigo, coneflower and certainly milkweed were considered “wildflowers,” confined to country meadows and the gardens of herbalists. No longer.

Nurseries and garden centers are filled with cultivated varieties of native plants to answer gardeners’ desires for small, colorful, well-behaved plants that help bees, birds and butterflies.

You can find false indigo (Baptisia) with yellow, brown and every shade of purple flowers. There are coneflowers (Echinacea) with double blooms that look more like carnations, and milkweed (Asclepias) cultivars that stay petite and stay put unlike their native ancestor. So many native cultivars have en-

By Mary Lahr Schier

Top: Echinacea ‘Fragrant Angel’ Left: E. purpurea

tered the market that they are often the only variety of native plants available at nurseries. Now, gardeners and researchers are asking how much a native plant can be changed and still perform the environmental functions that it does in the wild, such as providing food and nesting sites and being larval hosts for pollinators, birds and other wildlife.

The simple answer is: we don’t know. But as more research is done into the environmental functions of native cultivars, it’s clear some are better than others when it comes to attracting and serving pollinators. Few cultivars are as good as the native species at serving pollinators, though some are very close.

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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A Gardener’s Guide to Nativars

“You can never say an absolute blanket statement about these,” says Alan Branhagen, director of operations at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and author of two books on growing native plants in the Midwest.

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WALTERS GARDENS BETH STETENFELD

A few terms: native species are the plants that have developed in nature in an area over hundreds or thousands of years. Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a native species. Native cultivars (sometimes called nativars) are native plants that have been selected or bred for specific garden purposes, such as form, size, color or flower shape. A. tuberosa ‘Hello Yellow’ is a native cultivar. Cultivars that are “selections” were found in nature or in a garden and then are reproduced through cuttings, making them all genetically the same as the initial selection. But some selections carry the characteristic they were chosen for in their seeds. ‘Goldstrum’ rudbeckia, for example, is a seed strain that is more compact and floriferous than the native. Other native cultivars are hybrids created in a lab and reproduced through cuttings or tissue culture. Baptisias with bright yellow flowers or coneflowers with double-flowered blooms are hybrids.

Native cultivars don’t reliably function the same way native species do, which is the main concern with them. The Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware—the professional home of Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home (Workman, 2009)— studied pollinator use of woody plants, for example, and found that caterpillars didn’t care much if plants were shorter or had different blooms than the native species. But, if leaf color was changed from green to purple, they ate much less of the plant. Variegated leaves were eaten more than the green ones, which Branhagen speculates might be because variegated leaves have fewer of the nutrients caterpillars need than green leaves do.

“It’s complicated,” says Branhagen. For example, a study by Annie White of the University of Vermont compared pollinator preferences for 12 native species and a popular cultivar of each species. The study found that of the five cultivars that were selections, there was no significant difference between the species and the cultivar in pollinator preference. In one case, the cultivar was preferred over the species. Of the seven plant pairs where the cultivar was a hybrid, the species plant was preferred significantly over the cultivar in every case. White also found that the cultivars were also less likely to survive Vermont winters.

While some native plant proponents warn that nativars could cross-pollinate native species and change the genetic makeup of plants and seed, Branhagen sees the opposite happening in his own garden. “Over time, the nativars tend to die out and reseed and the new plants tend to look more like the native plant,” he says. “All the cultivars of black-eyed Susan revert to black-eyed Susan.”

Another concern with nativars is that many are sterile. They may have pollen for insects, as do nonnative plants such as spirea, catmint or sedum, but they offer no food for birds or

BETH STETENFELD

Species vs. Cultivar

Advice for Gardeners

Do some research. When adding a plant to your garden, find out whether it was a selection or a hybrid. Is it sterile or does it produce seed for birds? Often you can see if a plant is attractive to insects by how many are on it at the garden center.

Observe. Which plants in your own garden are attractive to pollinators? Plants that work on a research site may not work in your garden. Example: ‘Lemon Meringue’ baptisia was rated highly in the Mt. Cuba trials in Delaware for its pollinator function, but it’s been a dud with pollinators in my St. Paul garden.

Plant native species, too. Find a spot in your garden where native species plants will work, especially asters and goldenrods.

If you have space, create a meadow or dedicated area of native plants—you’ll be amazed at the insects and wildlife that use it.

Avoid double flowers. To create double flowers, hybridizers convert a plant’s stamens to petals. Stamens are where pollen is produced, so not having stamens makes the plant useless to pollinators.

Follow good pollinator practices. If helping pollinators is among your garden goals, do the basics. Leave plant debris up over winter as nesting sites. Don’t use pesticides. Replace some lawn with native trees, shrubs or perennials. Plant for bloom from April to October.

Gardening has always been a balancing act. Fruit trees sound wonderful, but do I want to prune and net them? A yard full of sun-loving plants is the dream of many shade gardeners. Balancing our ideas of what is beautiful with our desires to bring throngs of pollinators into our green space is a new challenge for many of us. Can nativars be part of the answer?

Let’s try some and find out.

Mary Lahr Schier is the editor of Northern Gardener.

Resource Which native trees, shrubs and perennials are used by the largest numbers of bees, butterflies, moths and other pollinators in your neighborhood? The National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder (nwf.org/nativeplantfinder) allows you to search by zip code. In much of Minnesota, willow (Salix) hosts more than 350 species of insects—the top plant in trees and shrubs—while goldenrod (Solidago) hosts nearly 100 species. —M.L.S.

Best

Research results from North Dakota State University (NDSU), the Mt. Cuba Center and the University of Vermont give these native cultivars high marks for attracting pollinators.

Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) NDSU: The only cultivar that performed even close to the native species was ‘Alma Potschke’. S. oblongifolium ‘October Skies’ performed as well as the species. ‘Dream of Beauty’ and ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ also scored highly.

Beebalm (Monarda spp.) NDSU: Native M. fistulosa and M. punctata attracted the most pollinators by far; of M. didyma cultivars, ‘Marshall’s Delight’ performed best.

Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) Mt. Cuba Center trials rated ‘Pica Bella’ the best of the hundreds of coneflower cultivars. Others highly rated for pollinator preference and garden use were ‘Fragrant Angel’, ‘Sensation Pink’, Kismet® Raspberry, ‘Glowing Dream’, Postman and ‘Santa Fe’.

Baptisia ‘Indigo Spires’

False indigo (Baptisia spp.) Top cultivars at NDSU: ‘American Goldfinch’, ‘Grape Taffy’ and ‘Indigo Spires’. Top cultivars at Mt. Cuba: ‘Screamin’ Yellow’, ‘Ivory Towers’, ‘Lemon Meringue’, ‘Purple Smoke’ and ‘Blue Towers’.

Joe-pye weed (Eutrochium) Branhagen recommends ‘Little Joe’ and ‘Gateway’ as shorter versions of this prairie plant that is a pollinator magnet.

‘Little Joe’ joepye weed

—M.L.S.

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MARY LAHR SCHIER

other wildlife. “Monarda didyma is not native to Minnesota but the hummingbirds don’t care,” says Branhagen. Generalist insects, such as many bees, are less affected by the loss of native species plants than specialist insects, which require specific plants to complete their lifecycle. Native plants most likely to help specialist insects include asters, goldenrods, golden Alexanders and wild geraniums.

With so many questions about nativars, more institutions are conducting research on the topic, including the University of Minnesota.

of the Native Cultivars

WALTERS GARDENS

Page 26, top: Native joe-pye weed (Eutrochium); center: Asclepias tuberosa ‘Hello Yellow’; bottom: Butterflyweed (A. tuberosa)

Companion Planting

Neighbors join forces to create an abundant vegetable garden.

Story and photos by Terry Yockey ‘3-Root Grex’ golden beet

IF NOT FOR SOME TOMATO THIEVES, Nancy Lizette Berlin might not have discovered the joys of gardening with her neighbors.

Nancy moved into her charming 1906 house in Red Wing in 2010. A retired botanist with the U.S. Forest Service,

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‘Black Krim’ tomatoes

she was always interested in native plants and growing vegetables, so she immediately started working on her new yard.

Nancy’s goals were to make her yard sustainable, pollinator-friendly and full of healthy food. She removed invasive

‘Musquee de Provence’ pumpkin vine

plants and added natives to the boulevard, front and back yards. She planted several fruit trees, including University of Minnesota releases Zestar!® and ‘Honeycrisp’ apples and a ‘Parker’ pear tree. Wild plums (Prunus americana) throughout the landscape attract a

Page 28, from left: Neighbors Ian Scheerer, Natasha Yates and Nancy Lizette Berlin in their shared garden Left: The productive vegetable garden occupies a tight space between two houses.

“

We loved Nancy’s idea to get rid of the thirsty grass between our homes and fence in the area with four raised beds to grow vegetables.”

– Natasha Yates

‘Aswad’ eggplant

multitude of bees when they are in full spring bloom and bear small, sweet fruits in mid- to late summer that Nancy makes into delicious jams and sauces.

She also installed a small raisedbed vegetable garden near her garage.

But she needed more space. A local community garden seemed to be the answer and she had plots there for several seasons with great results.

Surrounded by fencing so the deer and other wildlife couldn’t eat the produce, the gardens thrived. Nancy’s harvests were bountiful, until her heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables started disappearing just before she could pick them. The tomato thieves started her thinking.

The Neighbor Garden

She really did not have enough room for a big vegetable garden between her

Nasturtiums add color to the space.

house and the home next door where Natasha Yates and Ian Scheerer lived.

So, she approached them about having a “Neighbor Garden.” Half of the garden would be in her yard—and half the garden would be in theirs.

“We loved Nancy’s idea to get rid of the thirsty grass between our homes and fence in the area with four raised beds to grow vegetables,” says Natasha, whose earlier vegetable and herb garden became an “all-you-can-eat buffet” for local racoons and deer.

“We all like healthy food so the idea was a winner,” adds Nancy. “We worked together distributing compost into the cedar frames that we built together. My son, Nic, built the 6-foot-high cedar picket fence and along the base of the fence, I dug chicken wire 8 inches into the ground to keep the rabbits out. The bunnies had shown me what lengths

Wild plum (Prunus americana)

they would go to eat my beets!”

Not only does the new shared garden produce plentiful vegetables for the neighbors, but it is much more attractive than the plain turf and humdrum foundation plantings that the raised-bed garden replaced.

With the new garden and the other garden beds, Nancy also accomplished another of her original goals: Mowing now takes only about 20 minutes with her electric mower—if that.

Veggie Faves

The neighbors share all the produce from the garden and everyone picks their own on their own schedule. Although they rarely garden at the same time, one big perk of sharing the garden is that when one neighbor is gone, the other neighbor is usually there to water and weed.

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Companion Planting

Nancy offers seeds in her Little Free Library.

The neighbors seldom disagree about which vegetables to plant. Nancy has many favorites including ‘Black Krim’ heirloom tomatoes, ‘Musquee de Provence’ pumpkins, Japanese cucumbers and ‘Bull’s Blood’ beets. The only request for a change that Nancy remem-

“

One of the treasures of fall is not only the produce, but using recipes where most of the ingredients are from your garden.

The first pan of ratatouille signifies a fall festival to me and I can’t help but imagine the time when my ancestors grew all their food.”

MARY LAHR SCHIER

– Nancy Lizette Berlin

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‘Ruby Perfection’ red cabbage

bers since they installed the Neighbor Garden is when Natasha commented that there was maybe too much kale and not enough zucchini.

Nancy happily obliged and planted round zucchini (Cucurbita papa) that has tasty fruits on a manageable vine that

‘Trombetta’ squash

would not overrun their raised-bed garden. It was the neighborly thing to do.

Red Wing-based Terry Yockey is a University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener and longtime contributor to Northern Gardener.

Ratatouille – A Celebration of Everything from the Garden 3 tablespoons olive oil 4 cloves garlic 2 cups onion, chopped coarsely 1 bay leaf 1 eggplant, cubed 1½ teaspoon salt 1½ teaspoon basil 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon rosemary 1 teaspoon thyme Pinch of cayenne pepper Fresh ground pepper 1 medium zucchini, cubed 2 red peppers, in strips 4 cups tomatoes (Nancy likes ‘Black Krim’ tomatoes) Optional: add a little tomato paste if you like it thick.

Sauté onions and garlic in oil. Add eggplant, bay leaf, salt and herbs and cook for about 15 minutes until the eggplant is soft. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes, crushing tomatoes. Serve with baguette croutons and a spoonful of sour cream or Greek yogurt. Great with garden greens with garlic vinaigrette. —T.Y.

ANOTHER PART OF THE GARDEN IS THE AREA Nancy sets aside for the annual University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener seed trials. She is one of more than 120 master gardeners who blind-test five different vegetables, one herb and two different flower or ornamental varieties each season. The seeds can be heirloom, commonly grown or new varieties that haven’t Nancy starts some seeds been around using the winter-sowing that long. technique.

The trials are designed to give Minnesota gardeners specific information on which varieties do well in our climate, says Sue Schiess, chair of the seed-trial leadership team. “We can help save frustration and money by guiding gardeners toward varieties that really do well in Minnesota,” she says. “I don’t think you can get that information any place else.”

Each master gardener is sent a packet of seeds for each of the plants that they choose to test in their gardens. They are required to grow and monitor each variety, rating flowers on bloom color, size and fragrance and the vegetables and herbs on productivity and taste. All plants and seeds are also rated on germination rate, disease and insect tolerance, and growth rate.

“I always choose vegetables or flowers that I would eat anyway,” says Nancy. “I enjoy trying new varieties and have even found some new favorites!”

In 2016, Nancy tested a new patty pan squash, ‘Benning’s Green Tint’, that she liked better than any of the patty pan or zucchini squash she had grown before. “The taste and texture were excellent and you could let them go until they were about saladplate size and they were still delicious,” she says.

In 2019, Nancy evaluated seeds for early tomatoes, snap peas, golden beets, arugula, red cabbage and nasturtiums.

While not impressed with the golden beets (not sweet enough), Nancy enjoyed ‘Surrey’ arugula. It has a nice peppery taste and exceptionally quick turnaround time from seed to table in only 30 days.

In 2021, Nancy is testing three seed varieties, including a white cosmos, lacinato kale and delicata squash. About the only complaint Nancy has about her participation in the blind tests is that when she likes a vegetable or flower, she has to wait until the next year to find out what variety it is! —T.Y.

Testing Seeds with Minnesota Extension

FOR MORE INFORMATION Find results and other information on the Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Seed Trials at z.umn.edu/MNWinners, including a link to a spreadsheet with all the winners since the trials began in 1982.

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Fall in

Love with

Fall Bloom Add a rich palette of cool-weather annuals and perennials for fall’s grand finale.

Story and photos by Michelle Mero Riedel

Some gardeners start the spring season thinking of color—how to add heat-loving flower clusters of seasonal pink, purple and white to containers and the garden.

When the chilly temperatures of Septem-

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ber arrive, summer staples wane, hinting that the season is coming to a close. It’s the low sun in fall that signals the need for a deeper color palette of plants that love the cool temperatures and shorter days to

creatively extend the fall season.

Timing is Everything

You can save time and money by shopping in late April and May for fall

Page 32, clockwise from top left: ‘Smiley’ rudbeckia, ‘Wildberry’ coralbells, ‘Hameln’ fountain grass Below: ‘Purple Emperor’ sedum, Chili Chili ornamental pepper

bloomers. While searching for annuals, I pay close attention to plants that have fall tones and plant tags that provide a full range of information, especially about low temperatures. I purchase plants that can survive frost or even a hard freeze to extend the growing season. These warm- and cool-weather annuals allow me to enjoy bright containers from May to October.

In spring, I carefully allow space for each plant; in fall, I plant blooms close together, giving the containers a fuller look.

Plants usually cease growing when cool temperatures arrive. During the summer months, I’m fertilizing weekly, and in the fall, hardly at all. (OK, maybe just once!)

Since plants aren’t growing much in the fall, they won’t need plant food.

Around mid-September, I watch the nighttime low temperatures. Although our miraculous fall bloomers are frost hardy, temperatures in the low- to mid-20s F might require some protection. I wrap a lightweight sheet or blanket around my pots and plants in the evening, then remove it in the morning.

Spring, summer and especially fall is a good time to invest in showy, fall-blooming perennials, which come back every year. These plants help provide food and protection for pollinators, and they enhance a garden’s color and depth. Don’t forget to insert perennials into containers in the spring, especially those that bloom from late summer into fall.

Refreshing your containers for fall involves removing shabby plants and those that are not able to enjoy temperatures below freezing. You can update and energize your containers with fresh, new plants perfect for the autumn season.

WEBINAR:

Get Creative with Cool-Weather Containers For more fall blooming ideas, join Michelle’s webinar on Tuesday, Sept. 28, from 7-8:30 p.m. CT. The event is sponsored by local Twin Cities school districts and MSHS. See page 4 for details or northerngardener.org to register.

—Eds.

MORE FALL BLOOMS Here are some other frost-hardy plants to consider: Marigold Dahlia Petunia

Zinnia Nemesia Osteospermum

Salvia Dianthus Swiss Chard

Calendula Calibrachoa —M.M.R.

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Fall in Love with Fall Bloom ‘Coral Queen’ ornamental kale

Top 10 Fall Blooms

Here are 10 fall-friendly annuals and perennials that every gardener needs.

Most prefer full to part-sun sites.

Chrysanthemum Simply known as mums, these fall icons are at the top of most gardeners’ lists.

You can find annual versions, also called potted garden mums, in garden centers around Labor Day, and they last a few weeks. Mums provide a major burst of seasonal color. It’s crucial to buy mums at the right time to enjoy their full display. There are also hardy perennial mums that provide autumn color, year after year. Although not as showy as the annuals, they’re just as beautiful, and you can find them mid-to-late summer through fall at nurseries.

‘Red Rooster’ sedge

‘Para Pink’ chrysanthemum

Mum’s the Word Buying and growing annual, potted chrysanthemums requires a keen eye while shopping. Don’t shop for plants in bloom; instead, look for tightly closed flower buds. They will bloom longer, and you’ll get to enjoy every single flower. Place them in empty garden areas for temporary color or in a container. They prefer full sun but will bloom in partial shade, too. It’s best to remove them from their nursery pot and place them into a larger pot. Water them often, keeping soil consistently moist. Never allow potted mums to dry out. After blooming, remove the old flowers to encourage new blooms. —M.M.R..

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Celosia I purchase celosia in plant packs in spring for several garden areas. Come fall, garden centers sell them in 4-inch pots or larger. Either way, the textured plumes offer sunset colors including red, orange and yellow, as well as deep pink and purple. Each flower lasts for months.

Ornamental Kale and Cabbage Whether you grow them from seed, buy small transplants in the spring, or purchase them in the fall, you can’t go wrong adding kale and cabbage to your garden. In the early season, rabbits can be a problem, so I place kale and cabbage in tall, out-of-reach pots. These crispy, frilly edged plants spend most of the warm months in mono-color, but when the nightly temperatures drop, their center rosette blooms dramatically.

‘Henry Blue’ aster

‘Blue Blotch’ pansy

Black-eyed Susan Purchase black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) as an annual, biennial or perennial.

Their large blooms begin in midsummer and continue into the fall, stealing the show. They range in height from 12 to 36 inches, so they can fit into any garden area. Most cultivars have autumn petal colors that surround a dark center eye.

Ornamental Pepper You can purchase miniature pepper plants, known botanically as Capisicum, in spring or fall. The peppers are edible but very hot. Pepper shapes are long and thin or rounded, but they’re all petite and glossy, providing your garden with texture and interest. Their colors peak in the fall, but they do well all season in containers or the garden. My favorites are the multicolored varieties.

Grasses Cool fall breezes bring movement and texture to the garden, and grasses are the essence of autumn. Their long-lasting plumes retain their character even after a hard freeze. They’re low maintenance, too. I recommend buying grasses in the spring and enjoying them for five whole months.

Aster I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of perennial asters (Symphyotrichum spp.), as I can’t keep the deer and rabbits away from them. If my garden asters lose their blooms, I’ll purchase annual asters in the fall, adding them to containers placed away from the critters. Perennial asters come in short, medium and tall heights, and they’re a beauty for any garden area. Annual asters are usually petite, with vibrant colors of pink, purple, blue and white.

Sedum A classic perennial, sedums are a season-long staple. Some of my sedums drop seed, and those are the little beauties I’ll add to my containers. I don’t bother with green foliage sedums, as there are many dark chocolate, purple and burgundy varieties to plant. There are trailing, groundcover and upright varieties to pick from, and they contrast well with any plant.

Coralbell Coralbells (Heuchera) have many rich colors that express the essence of fall so don’t bother with green coralbells. Plant them individually in a container or in a garden grouping for an eye-catching display in part-sun sites. Their heartshaped or rounded leaves combine well with anything flowering. They are perfect for containers, as their roots are shallow and will remain happy from spring through frost.

Pansy Cheerful, cool-weather pansies mark the beginning and end of the growing season. Buy them now for a colorful display, and make sure there are plenty of blooms at the time of purchase. (This is one plant you want to see loaded with blooms.) When it comes to cold weather, the blue, yellow and white varieties are hardier than the red and orange.

They can handle temperatures down to the low 20s F. Professional photographer and U of M Extension master gardener Michelle Mero Riedel gardens in Washington County.

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edible

ART Add structure, beauty and food to your garden with espalier.

Story and photos by Meg Cowden

It’s living art. It’s edible.

It’s espalier.

A method of training trees and shrubs hailing from Europe, espalier (pronounced es-PAL-yay) blends art, science and food. The word loosely translates to “something on which to rest”— originally the trellis, though now the meaning has broadened to include the plant itself.

Espalier brings formality, structure and beauty to your landscape while producing food. It is, arguably, the most stunning way to cultivate fruit trees in your home landscape. But it’s more than that. Espalier saves space, growing an equivalent tree in a fraction of the square footage required for an open-grown tree. This is why espalier has always been a part of our home food gardens, in both urban and rural settings. I’d contend that espalier is the smartest way to grow fruit trees in urban settings.

Grown in only two planes—horizontally and vertically—espalier fruit drips from vines or branches that are

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shaped and tamed by an active pruntal branches extending laterally from ing hand, supported by a structure to the main trunk every 15 inches or so, lean on. Grown up starting 18 to 24 against a south, inches off east or west-facing the ground. foundation or used After five years Espalier brings formality, of training, you as a living fence or privacy hedge, eshave four horizonstructure and beauty to palier is a striking tal cordons, topyour landscape while garden statement. ping out around 8 Depending on feet high, a perfect producing food. It is, your aesthetic and height for harvestarguably, the most goals, espalier can ing. Even though create straight your tree may be stunning way to cultivate or curved lines. fully filled out fruit trees in your home We have always along the trellis, gravitated to the fruit may not have landscape.” crisp geometry of begun to grow just horizontal coryet. This is where dons, a training method where the the patience of the long-term relationtree is trained to a number of horizonship is key.

“

Left: Espalier apple and plum trees provide a productive garden divider.

Below: After the first year, you have a main leader and the first horizontal cordons on your espalier.

First Things First

If you like to take the scenic route with your garden adventures, espalier is for you. Espalier takes a few more years than open-grown fruit trees to bear fruit—we typically take our first harvest in year three and have full harvests by year six. The early years are focused on establishing the shape and filling out the trellis.

Before a tree is planted, set your site up to receive it. Because espalier succeeds through bending and training branches, establishing your desired structure the season before planting is a prescient strategy.

We have always built standalone structures, even when growing against a south-facing foundation. We use 4-by-4foot cedar posts and either rebar or high tensile wire for horizontal supports. We like 8-foot-square support structures for our apple trees, and 8-by-12-foot supports for apricots and pears, which are more vigorous. We install the four horizontal supports at this time, too, with the first one 18 to 24 inches from the ground and the top one 8 feet high.

Traditionally, apples and pears are the fruit of choice for espalier. We have successfully trained apricots and plums, too, and cherries and peaches could work if those are fruits you wish to add to your home garden.

While you can use a larger root stock such as semi-dwarf, which for apples would yield a tree about 10 to 15 feet tall, we opt for dwarf root stock. Dwarf root stock will mature to approximately 8 feet tall and wide, which makes for comfortable working conditions and little extra equipment to reach even the highest branches.

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Edible Art

Taking Shape

Starting with a bare-root tree appropriately sized for your site and the structure you installed, center the tree within the support system 12 inches away from your home’s foundation or in line with your standalone trellis system. Bravely snip the tree at the height you want to train your first horizontal branches. We start our cordons at 18 inches high, so our first cut occurs just below our lowest horizontal support structure.

Working on a dry, breezy day to give the plant time to heal, identify three leaf buds and, using sharp pruning shears, snip a clean, angled cut. The topmost bud becomes the new leader, and the next two lower ones the lowest horizontal cordons, one trained to the left and the other to the right.

Pruning cordon leaders keeps them growing vigorously.

After four years, the espalier has taken shape.

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Even though the bare-root tree arrives much taller, we still take this somewhat counterintuitive step. Trust me when I tell you, it’s not worth trying to salvage the leader and awaken dormant buds without topping your young tree.

Training for espalier begins at this lowest branch. Even if you need to remove 2 feet or more of height, it’s in the best interest of the espalier.

I know because we’ve lost an entire growing season to this vain attempt to encourage lower lateral buds to wake from dormancy without topping the leader. Currently, an espalier in its second year of training is one whole year ahead of a tree planted the same year because we made the initial cut to establish the lowest cordons on it but not the other one.

These are critical steps to creating your shape and structure, to bringing this art form to life in your garden.

This pruning will encourage the

Winter pruning promotes fruiting spurs.

second row of horizontal branches to grow, along with a new leader.

The focus of these early years is to establish your shape. With the roots as your foundation, the branches are the house you’re framing, and the eventual fruit the prized, finishing details of the edible art. Each summer you will tie down the young, pliable horizontal cordons to your trellis after they’ve put on a couple feet of growth.

You repeat this seemingly brutal pruning of the central leader in late winter until the tallest branches are established. For establishing horizontal cordons, winter prune 3 to 6 inches off the leader to encourage it to vigorously fill out the trellis. As difficult as it is to prune things you aren’t convinced you don’t need—and there’s a lesson here for our material lives as well—you are making room for the beauty of this art form to soar for many decades.

Let There Be Fruit

As you build the tree’s structure, you will concurrently start pruning for fruit.

Once the horizontal cordons hit their second or third year of growth, lateral buds emerge and also require a taming hand. The aim in this stage of pruning is to both maintain the shape and begin to encourage fruiting spurs.

Fruiting spurs are short branches along your cordon that will provide a home from which fruit will grow. This is the point of arrival you’ve been inching toward for the past several seasons.

A fruiting spur will produce for up to nine years.

We prune our fruiting spurs to about 2 inches from the horizontal cordon in late winter. This also must correlate to cutting the spur above three full buds.

Plum blossoms in spring are a fragrant promise of the fall harvest.

For apples and pears, fruiting buds set on 2-year-old wood (or older). In stone fruit, fruiting buds set on first-year wood. Not all 2-year-old apple or pear spurs will set fruiting buds right away.

Keep pruning the spurs and watch. This is an artform, inviting you to slow down and pay attention across the seasons.

In addition to pruning for fruiting spurs, maintaining espalier requires summer pruning. Prune out any growth sprouting from your horizontal cordons that exceeds 12 inches in length down to 2 inches above last year’s growth. We complete all summer pruning by mid-July.

The beauty of this method is that it is a slow road. Mistakes will be made, but the tree is forgiving. If I were to err on one side of pruning, I would favor a little extra rather than not enough, because the shape and structure is as pivotal for this artform as the fruit production.

Slowing down seems to be what is being asked of us these days. And I cannot think of a more enjoyable pastime for today’s frenetic pace of life than to slow down and enjoy the journey that is creating edible art in our home garden.

The harvest!

Stockings protect fruit from pests and diseases.

Meg Cowden gardens in Orono. Her book, Plant Grow Harvest Repeat: Grow a Bounty of Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers by Mastering the Art of Succession Planting, (Timber Press) will be released in March 2022. Follow her on Instagram at @seedtofork.

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“

READY FOR

Spring?

Autumn is a season followed immediately by the looking forward to spring.”

—Doug Larson, American columnist

Winter is coming, so spend it dreaming of all the tulips you’ve planted.

Story and photos by Jenn Hovland

While winter in Minnesota can be a beautiful season, it’s also long, and for most gardeners, spring sometimes feels far away. Autumn is the perfect time to look forward to spring by planting bulbs for a riot of brightly colored tulips in the ground and in containers.

Bulb Basics

Mid-September through October is the perfect time to plant tulips and other spring-blooming bulbs such as daffodils, crocus and allium. Technically, you can plant any time after the soil is cool (about 55 degrees F) until the ground freezes but the earlier, the better. Planting earlier in the autumn allows bulbs time to develop roots before the soil freezes. Setting roots causes a chemical change in the bulb that helps it to survive the cold weather. The chemical change works much like an antifreeze, giving bulbs a better chance to survive in the frozen ground.

All bulbs should be planted a minimum of three times deeper than their height.

For example, a tulip is approximately 2 inches tall, so its planting hole should be at least 6 inches deep. Plant bulbs pointy end up.

The Clump Method

The easiest and quickest way to plant tulips produces a natural-looking display.

To plant in a clump, dig a large hole, 6 to 8 inches deep and at least 10 inches in diameter. Then plant 7 to 12 tulip bulbs together in the same hole. Fewer than seven will look too sparse; more

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Florist’s Tip

To harvest tulips for use in a vase, cut the stems as long as possible.

Ideally, the flowers should be cut from the garden in the morning before the heat of the day. A flower bud showing color will open in the vase. Hydrate the cut flowers in a bucket of cool water with floral food before arranging them in a vase.

Unlike most cut flowers, tulips continue to grow and move toward the light even after being cut. Keep this in mind when arranging, and cut the stem slightly shorter than you want for a finished design.

Or, insert the tulips last, just before an event, so that the gracefully curved stem is flowing in the direction you want. Or, simply enjoy the quirkiness of a wandering tulip stem! —J.H.

Place bulbs 2 inches from container edge.

Here are two additional tips for this planting method. First, I fill the mesh bags that my tulip bulbs come packaged in with dry leaves to create leaf pillows.

When the soil starts to freeze, I cover the soil in the container with the leaf pillows. Second, throughout winter, I check to see that my containers have some snow cover. Occasionally, I shovel snow around the container to give it extra insulation.

Trench Planting

Spring trench planting

than 12 will look congested. Within the hole, the bulbs can be planted close together but not touching to avoid potential rotting. I would suggest planting three to five clumps in a small garden bed, more if the area is larger.

Planting in Containers

Timing is critical with tulips in containers. Plant them in September so the bulbs have plenty of time to set their root systems to survive the cold winter.

To create a tulip container for spring, choose a large frost-proof container. I used a galvanized container that is 24 inches round and 18 inches deep and has drainage holes. Layer an inch or so of small rock or pea gravel for extra drainage, then add 3 to 5 inches of potting soil (not garden soil) in the bottom of your container. Press down lightly

Leaf pillows add insulation.

to settle the soil. Plant the tulip bulbs pointy side up in a layer across the soil, just as you would with the clump method. Keep the bulbs about 2 inches away from the side of the container for insulation. While you can really pack tulips into this container, no bulbs should touch each other. Cover with additional soil, making sure to fill the 2-inch insulating layer between the outermost tulip bulbs and the side of the container.

As you add soil and work your way up to the top of the container, you could also make two additional layers of bulbs. Daffodils can be planted 4 inches above the tulips and crocus bulbs 2 to 3 inches deep. This is a bulb lasagna!

Don’t worry if a bulb is planted right over the top of one in the layer below.

They will all find their way to the surface next spring.

This method is a little extra work but is a great way to enjoy blooming tulips in the spring, and you don’t have to worry about displaying them in a container that cracks.

Using a shallow plastic growing pot with a wide diameter (often sold with the name “bulb pan”), place 1 to 2 inches of potting soil in the bottom of the container. Place the tulip bulbs close together but not touching. Cover the bulbs with potting soil to the top of the container. Then, submerge the entire pot into a hole in the ground 8 inches deep. Cover with garden soil and mulch well with leaf bags or straw.

In the spring, when you notice new growth and tulips coming up through the soil in other areas of the garden, dig up the potted tulips, slip the entire container into a decorative or terra cotta pot, and place it near your front door or anywhere you would like an extra pop of color. Water it regularly.

A quick tip for planting time: when submerging the containers into the ground, mark the edge of the container with a stake or bamboo cane so that you know where to dig in the spring to avoid damaging the tulips, which will be growing underground even if you can’t see the tips above soil level.

With a little planning ahead, you can spend your winter months looking forward to all the tulips you’ve planted!

Jenn Hovland is a lifelong gardener, certified floral designer and owner of Studio Louise Flowers in Stillwater. Jenn offers a hands-on workshop about gardening with tulips at her Flower Bar. Register online at studiolouiseflowers.com/the-flower-bar.

Northern Gardener l September/October 2021

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GARDENER’S MARKET

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LANDSCAPING

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Maintenance Restoration

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Re-Design Containers

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NURSERIES/GREENHOUSES

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

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GARDENER’S MARKET

NURSERIES/GREENHOUSES

PEONIES

ADVERTISER INDEX

Countryside Gardens Peony Farm

Bachman's .................. inside front cover Countryside Gardens........................... 43 Dramm Corporation.................................8 Egg/Plant Urban Farm Supply............ 42 Fireside Hearth & Home.........................9 Forest & Floral Garden Center........... 42 Gardens of Rice Creek......................... 43 Gertens ......................................................7 Heidi's Growhaus & Lifestyle Gardens.17 Home Sown Gardens........................... 42 Kelley and Kelley Nursery................... 42 and Greenhouse Kern Landscape Resources................ 42 Malmborg’s Garden Center.................. 19 Morning Sky Greenery......................... 42 Mother Earth Gardens.......................... 42 Nelson Nursery............................................42 Osmocote ....................................back cover Paisley Gardens...........................................42 Proven Winner Color Choice.................3 Sustane .......................inside back cover Tangletown Gardens............................. 17 Terrace Horticultural Books................ 42 Winter Greenhouse............................... 43

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NORTHERN VIEW

Gardening as Self-Care over the past few years, I’ve started seeing gardening as more than a hobby—it’s one of my most effective forms of self-care. Gardening is calming and centering. I usually work in my garden alone, which gives me time and space for reflection. I improve my strength and maintain my cardiovascular health while also receiving vitamin D from the sunshine. I create, attempt, problem solve, fail, learn, succeed. As my plants grow, my confidence grows alongside them, especially when I try something new and it actually turns out as I had hoped or intended. Along with tangible harvests of flowers and veggies, I cultivate patience, resourcefulness and imagination.

Working in my garden eases my mind and stimulates my senses. I feel sun and wind on my skin; I listen to bird songs and buzzing insects; I smell sweet flowers and pungent herbs. It’s liberating to turn my mind off and relax, losing track of everyday worries and anxieties as I focus on trimming, watering and weeding. Most days, I can reliably improve my mood by simply interacting with my plants. (And yes, I do talk to them!)

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Science Agrees!

I recently read a list of mental health wellness tips, published online by a New York psychologist. Her list of 25 actions we can take to improve our mental health included many that are easily accomplished through gardening.

These eight especially resonated with me.

Participating in a creative art (I’ve heard gardening referred to as “the slowest of the performing arts.”)

2 Spending time outside for at least 30 minutes each day 3 Being active for at least 30 minutes each day 4 Noticing the good in the world (flowers and butterflies and sunshine, oh my!)

5 Finding something tangible that you can control (and then controlling it) 6 Committing to a long-term project 7 Engaging in repetitive movements 8 Helping others 1

Tearing up a corner of your yard or planting a new vegetable garden can be a great workout, and exercise can improve your mental health in many ways (list item #3). The repetitive movements of weeding, raking, digging, mulching and watering can have calming effects on our bodies and minds. Research shows that repetitive movement can soothe humans, helping us remain steady under pressure. Participating in repetitive tasks can also relieve our brains of the worry and anxiety we might be regularly experiencing (#7).

Aside from physical exertion, you’ll also expend creative energy as you figure out how to arrange your plants

“

Working in my garden eases my mind and stimulates my senses."

in garden beds and container plantings.

Creativity helps us relieve and process emotions, especially feelings of stress or anguish (#1). Tending a garden can serve as a small exercise in control as we make decisions that produce immediate results. The ability to control something, no matter how minor, can empower and anchor us, especially during times of uncertainty (#5).

Since new plants need continued care over time as they establish and grow, gardening is always a long-term project, one that can distract us and focus our energy on the future instead of on any present-day stressors (#6).

In spite of my own reclusive gardening tendencies, gardening is inherently community-oriented. You can grow extra produce or cut flowers to share with your neighbors. Thinning and dividing your perennial gardens will inevitably lead to excess plants that you can give to other gardeners. People in your community will appreciate any and all beauty your garden provides, and it will bring them joy! Contributing to the well-being of others gives us a sense of agency when we might otherwise feel overwhelmed or powerless (#8).

I once heard someone say, “Gardening is the time to be your own best friend.” I wholeheartedly agree, and I feel lucky that my favorite hobby is so good for my overall well-being, too.

Minneapolis-based horticulturist Laura Schwarz is the Garden Solutions columnist for Northern Gardener.

Discount Partners

SAVE WITH OUR 2021 DISCOUNT PARTNERS!

Society and Affiliated members of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society receive a membership card and access to a long list of discounts with our trusted partners across the Upper Midwest. Find each partner’s unique discount offer, address and website online: northerngardener.org/discount-partners.

101 Market - Otsego Abrahamson Nurseries – Scandia, Stillwater MN & St. Croix Falls WI 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 Beier’s Greenhouse – Grand Rapids Beisswenger’s – New Brighton Blue Sky Flower Farm – offer online only Blue View Greenhouse, Rice Lake WI – NEW 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 Duluth Flower Farm, Duluth – NEW Dundee Nursery & Landscaping – Plymouth 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 and Floral Garden Center – Park Rapids Garden Divas – River Falls WI

Gordy’s Gift & Garden Center, Hermantown – NEW Green Lake Nursery – Spicer Green Space, LLC. True nature Design – Minneapolis Green Valley Greenhouse – Ramsey Hartman Garden Center & Landscaping – Victoria Hedberg Supply – Stillwater & Plymouth Heidi’s GrowHaus – Corcoran Home Sown Gardens – Eagan Hugo Feed Mill & Hardware – Hugo Jean’s The Right Plant Place – Perham Kelley & Kelley Nursery – Long Lake Kelly’s Cottage Garden – Park Rapids 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 and Garden Center – Zimmerman

Otten Bros Garden Center & Landscaping – Long Lake Pahl’s Market – Apple Valley Paisley Gardens – Northfield Patio Town – Brooklyn Park, Burnsville & Oakdale Pleasant View Gardens – Long Lake Sargent’s Nursery – Red Wing Schulte’s Greenhouse and Nursery – St. Michael Seed Savers Exchange – Decorah IA Seven Sisters Greenhouse – Prescott WI South Cedar Garden Center – Farmington Squire House Gardens – Afton Terra Garden Center – Lakeville Terrace Horticultural Books – St. Paul The Garden By The Woods – Chanhassen Wagner Garden Centers – Minneapolis & Hugo Walker Art Center – Minneapolis Winter Greenhouse – Winter WI

*Locations are in MN unless otherwise noted.

The Minnesota State Horticultural Society is a 501c3 nonprofit. We are thankful 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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