Northern Gardener - September/October 2022

THE AUTHORITY ON NORTHERN GARDENING FOR

150

YEARS

Gardener Northern

A MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION

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Northern Gardener l January/February 2022

3

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 l VOLUME 150 l NUMBER 5

Table of Contents 20

25

Climate Change-Proof Your Garden

Pawpaw Pursuit

New techniques can help your plants weather the weather.

One man’s mission: to grow pawpaw fruit in the North.

BY JENNIFER RENSENBRINK

38

BY MEG COWDEN

Uncommon Shrubs Hardy to Zone 3

Pretty and perfectly suited for cold.

BY KATHY PURDY

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

11 Garden Vibes: Nice to Meet You, Gardeners.

By Cynthya Porter

28

12 Northern Natives: Compass Plant.

By Beth Stetenfeld

A Permaculture Designer’s Garden Laboratory

13 Kitchen Garden: The Delight of Dry Beans. By Samantha Johnson

BY SUSANNAH SHMURAK

14 Garden Solutions: Rabbit Defense.

By Laura Schwarz

From a lawn to a fruit forest, this yard has become an urban oasis.

32 The Replacements

15 Pollinators: Bee-ing Green.

By Rhonda Fleming Hayes

BY THERESA MIESELER

16

By Design: Choosing and Using Containers. By Diane McGann

If you think cilantro tastes like soap, try these herby alternatives.

35 Not All Bad

Yes, they are poisoners, but black walnut has many benefits and you can grow around its faults.

BY SUSAN M. BARBIERI

ABOUT THE COVER:

18 DIY: Growing Garlic.

By Eric Johnson 19 Plant to Pick: Easy Elegance® Oscar Peterson™ Rose. By Debbie Lonnee 44 Northern View: Buckwheat Experiment.

By Marlene Schoeneck

September harvest demonstrates continued diversity thanks to succession planting. Photo by Meg Cowden

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

With help from Hennepin Technical College horticulture program students, MSHS is tending a brand new garden plot at the Minnesota State Fair.

A NOTE FROM

The Director my neighbor is grieving. The city is taking away his old ash tree, and with it the shade that has blessed his abundant hosta collection. While I joyfully transplant some to my front shade garden, he stands in classic farmer pose – chin in hand, furrowed brow, wondering what on earth to do with this new-again space.

We felt the same at the retirement of long-time Northern Gardener editor Mary Schier. I’m not comparing her to a bugridden tree, but her retirement did leave a gaping hole in our landscape. Now, we too, are looking at how to replant that space.

That’s why I’m pleased to introduce Cynthya Porter as our new editor. Having spent much of her teenage years on a northern MN family farm, and too much of her adult time in her splendidly ambitious garden in Winona, she shares our passion and brings a fresh vision and hopefulness.

MSHS Staff Rick Juliusson, Executive Director

We were excited by Cynthya’s extensive experience in journalism, editing and marketing. You’ll see a few gentle changes in this, her first edition, and watch for more as she slowly plants new seeds among the old growth, bringing new richness and color to our already lush landscape.

We’re also excited about a return to the Minnesota State Fair. Our dahlia garden by the grandstand is back, plus we have a new garden space and gazebo next to the Horticulture Building.

Look for our page in the coupon book to get discounted gloves, and use your membership discount at the fair for fun products such as shirts, seeds and gizmos. Check out our new education displays, and use our photo booth to get your mug on the front of Northern Gardener, celebrating 150 years!

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

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

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

@mnhort

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

Northern Gardener Cynthya Porter, Editor Debbie Lonnee, Horticultural Editor Sarah Squires, Copy Editor Barbara Pederson, Designer Joe Luca, Newsstand Consultant

Copyright 2022 by MSHS. Printed in the USA on recycled paper. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reprinted without permission from MSHS. The information published in Northern Gardener reflects the experiences and opinions of the writers and is not necessarily endorsed by MSHS. Northern Gardener is a registered trademark of MSHS. (ISSN) 1529-8515. Northern Gardener is published bimonthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sept/ Oct, Nov/Dec) by the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, Minn., and additional post offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Northern Gardener, 1935 County Rd. B2 W., Suite 125, Roseville, MN 55113.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

MSHS Calendar

Tuesday, Sept. 20, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Location: GoToWebinar Instructor: Kaitlyn O'Connor, Plant Ecologist at ISG

Ready to ditch traditional rock and wood for living mulch? Learn how to use native plants to fill in spaces between plantings and create a green mulch with short, spreading groundcovers. Explore benefits, species selection, implementation and potential challenges.

Plant Your Garden, and Cook it, too!

Sunday, Sept. 11, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. $25 members, $30 nonmembers Location: GoToWebinar Instructors: Courtney Tchida, Community Outreach Manager at MSHS, and Beth Jones, Executive Chef at the U of M's Campus Club

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

Bee Lawns and Beyond

Cultivating a Deeper Land Relationship: (Regenerating Urban Land series)

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $5 members, $10 nonmembers Location: GoToWebinar Instructor: Russ Henry, owner of Minnehaha Falls Landscaping and founder of Bee Safe Minneapolis

Take this opportunity to learn strategies for cultivating a deeper connection with land in your circle of care. In this workshop, enjoy 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.

Bees need a little love right now and you can help. Explore the many ways you can support pollinator health in your lawn and landscape. Fruiting native trees and shrubs, pollinator patches, meadow restorations, and bee lawns with blooming plants that are walkable and filled with flowers to benefit people and pollinators.

Learn monarch butterflies’ must-haves, the best blooms for bumble bees and how to provide habitat for hummingbirds.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Tuesday, Sept. 13, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Members/nonmembers $20 Location: Gibbs Farm, 2097 Larpenteur Ave. W., St. Paul Instructor: Paula Westmoreland, Ecological Design Land School

Sustainable Landscape Design Basics Five sessions: Mondays Sept. 19, 26, Oct. 3, 10, 17; 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Deadline for registration: Sept. 5 Cost: $199 members, $209 nonmembers.

Location: Zoom Instructors: Julie Weisenhorn, UMN Extension Educator; Jim Calkins, Ph.D.

One of our most popular classes! This five-session workshop is your opportunity to learn the theory and basic principles of sustainable landscape design and avoid mistakes commonly made by novices and professionals alike. U of M educators created this comprehensive curriculum to help participants design an area on their own property, such as an entry garden or deck/patio bed.

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Living Mulch: Tips for an Eco-Smart Garden

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. $50 member/$55 nonmember Location: Lakewood Event Center Terrace, 3600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis Instructor: : Jenn Hovland, owner and principal designer of Fleur de Louise Flower Studio in Stillwater

Community Events State Show Minnesota Gladiolus Society Saturday, Sept. 3 - Sunday, Sept. 4, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Location: Honker Flats Greenhouses, 45313 240th Ave. NE, Middle River Join this way-up-north competition for spikes and arrangements. Everyone of any age is welcome to do arrangements with the gladiolus spikes provided, but bring your own props. Schedule: Gladiolus available free for arranging - 5 p.m. Friday the 2nd; judging - 11 a.m. Sat. the 3rd; free lunch available.

Contact: Lew and Tammy Wallace, honkerflats@honkerflats.com

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Rock Gardening North American Rock Garden Society, Minnesota Chapter Monday, Sept. 19, 7 - 8 p.m.

Location: First Presbyterian Church, 503 W. 6th St., Red Wing (Please enter through the doors on West Ave.) Rick Rodich of the MN Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society presents creative ways to add depth and dimension to a flat or mundane space. Learn about rock gardens and the plants that thrive in them.

Contact: Cindy Peterson, clp55066@yahoo.com

Hort members and friends love these make-and-take classes held on the terrace of the Lakewood Event Center.

This fall, floral designer Jenn Hovland will walk us through designing an autumn wreath, perfect for your front door or living room. We'll use fresh foliage and seasonal flowers that will dry in place to make a festive harvest wreath. The finished wreath is approx.

14 inches in diameter. Materials may vary. This class has plenty of room for creativity, and it's fun to get together with friends and make something for your home or as a gift.

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

Fall Bulb Sale Daffodil Society of Minnesota Saturday, Sept. 24 – Sunday, Sept. 25, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Location: Bachman's on Lyndale, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis Daffodils colors may include pink, orange, red, white and yellow. Come early for best bulb selection, many varieties sell out quickly. All are Minnesota hardy and hard to find varieties not found in garden centers.

Only $ 5 per bag or five bags for $20. Proceeds support DSM 501c3 educational activities.

Saturday, September 24, 10a.m. - 3p.m., Sunday September 25, 10a.m. - 3p.m. OR until bulbs are gone.

Website: www.daffodilmn.org/eventcal.htm Contact: Chris Vickery, 952-484-6896 or daffodilmn1@gmail.com Fall Judged Show and Plant Sale The North Star African Violet Council Saturday, October 1, 9 am - 4 p.m.

Sunday, October 2, 11 am - 3 p.m.

Location: Bachman's Floral, Gift and Garden, Heritage Room, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis There will be many beautiful African Violets on display for this two-day show and plant sale. The sale will include many varieties of African Violets as well as other plants from the gesneriad plant group. Members will be available to answer all your questions about growing violets and troubleshooting any issues you are confronting with your plants. There will be prizes and drawings, and you will be able to sign up on the spot to become a member of the club! Hope to see you at the show!

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nsavctc Contact: nsavctc@gmail.com Community Events continue on page 8 Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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YEARS OF PU

150 TIPS from 150 YEARS

BLISHING

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TI

PS

15

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TIPS FOR

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Planting a Seed

Growing a Gardener Make it fun.

I

n 1919, Irene Johnson of Blooming Prairie grew a garden to help the war effort, raise food for her family and earn a bit of money for clothes. The 15-year-old preserved 171 quarts of vegetables for her family and friends, as she explained in her article “Trying to Help Beat the High Cost of Living,” which ran in Minnesota Horticulturist in 1920.

Irene was one of more than 20,000 young people that year who participated in a hort society program to encourage gardening that ran for several years starting in 1918, during a war and a pandemic. The youths grew more than $365,000 worth of produce in 1919—about $6 million today.

Irene Johnson won a trip to Minneapolis when she was named a State Champion Gardener in 1918. Garden clubs competed against each other for prizes and bragging rights. Challenge your favorite young gardener to see whose seed will sprout first.

Choose kid-size veggies.

Sneak in science.

Teacher Jean Eastman wrote about teaching science concepts to 6- and 7-year-olds through the garden in 1975. Her class followed a marigold from bloom to seeds to new plant. An older child recorded how different plants responded to various light levels from windows.

Start outside.

Growing new gardeners and helping young people learn about gardening has been a mission of the society many times during its long history.

Eastman began garden-themed lessons with her class by taking them outside in September, collecting leaves, acorns, bottle caps and rocks, and categorizing them by whether they are living or non-living objects.

A 2014 article about the Gardenin-a-Box program the favorite vegetables for young growers were cherry tomatoes—fun to pick and eat in the garden.

Connect gardening, cooking and eating.

Whether it’s 1919 or 2022, young people are excited to garden when they enjoy the fruits of their labor.

In 1919, older gardeners taught canning principles to young ones.

Today, many school gardens incorporate cooking lessons and group picnics at the end of the season.

A B R I E F H I S T O R Y O F G A R D E N - I N - A - B OX

2008

2009

2013

Today

An MSHS board member finds a source for cedar. 2-by-2 foot wooden boxes are sold to master gardeners to test.

50 boxes and plants are distributed with all the plants grown by volunteers.

Fabric boxes have replaced wood and the program now distributes 300 boxes to a variety of schools and community gardens.

825 gardening kits grow in more than 190 sites around Minnesota.

Learn more about Garden-in-a-Box at northerngardener.org/giab 6

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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UPCOMING EVENTS

COMMUNITY EVENTS continued from page 5 Annual Meeting: The Botany of Halloween Minnesota Water Garden Society Sunday, Oct. 9, 2 - 4 p.m.

Location: Bachman's Garden Center, Heritage Room, 6010 Lyndale Ave., Minneapolis MWGS Annual meeting with a Guest Speaker, Stephen G Saupe, PhD professor of biology at College of St. Benedict/St. John's University.

Many plants are associated with our spookiest holiday. This presentation will describe the history of this holiday and especially focus on plants related to witchcraft and how the pumpkin became the quintessential symbol of Halloween.

Website: www.mwgs.org Contact: forslilly@aol.com or 612-803-7663 Chinese Cymbidiums Orchid Society of Minnesota Saturday, Oct. 15, 1 - 3 p.m.

Location: Bachman’s, Heritage Room, 6010 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis Our speaker is Dr. Kristen Uthus, owner of New World Orchids. Asian Cymbidiums (Chinese Cymbidiums) are considered miniatures among Cymbidiums and are often collected as much for the foliage as for the flowers. Kristen will cover the cultural requirements of these unique terrestrial orchids.

Website: http://www.orchidsocietyofminnesota.com Contact: orchidsocietyofminnesota@gmail.com Community Events continue on page 10

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

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

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

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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Inspiring Others “deep fried olives on a stick, tipsy pies I’d never heard of.” from the food court and an old-fashioned Bob and his wife, Trixie, now garden corn dog are my favorite state fair treats,” on their property in Eagan, where they’re says longtime hort society member and focused on converting their turf lawn volunteer Bob Newman. into a pollinator-friendly habitat through When he’s not scoping out the latest the Minnesota Lawn to Legumes grant dishes at the Great Minnesota Getprogram. Now they get most of their Together, Bob is slinging gardening vegetables from the Green Earth Growers advice and society CSA. “You get great memberships in vegetables without the Agriculture the interference Horticulture of rabbits, deer or building, squirrels,” he says. introducing The CSA also fairgoers to the frees up more many benefits of time to support joining the hort. their children and What inspires him grandchildren, to promote the who are growing society at events gardens on their across the state year own properties. Bob after year? “The says that starting smiles of Gardenlessons early in in-a-Box and the garden with Minnesota Green children is the key participants holding to sparking interest. up freshly harvested “A few years ago, vegetables,” he my 5-year-old says. “Prospective grandson came for My grandparents got members and a visit and told me donors need to that my flowers me interested by letting understand the out front needed me drive the big garden sense of belonging deadheading’” he that gardening laughs. tractor before I could programs instill in In addition to new gardeners,” he volunteering at reach all the controls.” says. hort society events – bob newman Bob grew up in and Garden-in-aa small farming Box distribution community in Nebraska, where he was days, Bob also likes to visit the society’s introduced to the benefits of growing 70+ Discount Partners. “It’s always food at an early age. “My grandparents fun to scope out the huge variety of got me interested by letting me drive the garden centers that provide a discount big garden tractor before I could reach all to members,” he says. “It also inspires the controls”, he laughs. “The fields were me when I’m talking to supporters and huge—rows and rows of potatoes, sweet gardeners for the hort at the Minnesota corn, beans, tomatoes and many things State Fair.”

“

Join or renew Society membership at the Minnesota State Fair and receive a market tote plus a special discount offer and a packet of 'Darki' parsley seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. northerngardener.org/mn-state-fair

“

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

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

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

LEGACY GIFTS FROM MEMBERS LIKE YOU HELP TO ENSURE THAT MSHS PROGRAMS INSPIRE GENERATIONS OF GARDENERS TO COME.

To make a legacy gift, call 651-643-3601 or email diane@northerngardener.org

Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

COMMUNITY EVENTS continued from page 8 Mushrooms: Delicious, Deadly & Fascinating Goodhue County Horticultural Society Monday, Oct. 17, 7 - 8 p.m.

Location: First Presbyterian Church, 503 W. 6th St., Red Wing (Please enter through the doors on West Ave.) Laura Teele, Goodhue County Extension Master Gardener, presents useful and fascinating information about mushrooms.

They provide medicines and food but also can wreak havoc. Sponsored by the Goodhue County Horticultural Society.

Contact: Cindy Peterson, clp55066@yahoo. com

Youth at the Harold Mezile YMCA ham it up with their new favorite vegetable, bok choy.

Getting Green at the YMCA harold mezile ymca wears its she teaches the kids how to prepare commitment to teaching the importance meals packed with fresh, homegrown of nutrition right on its… roof. A large, ingredients. Her Pak Choi wrap recipe is hard-to-miss greenhouse sits atop the a student favorite. north Minneapolis location - and it’s Cooking classes offered every other just one of three garden spaces created Friday expand beyond the youth to for more than 160 youth include seniors in enrolled in its programs. the community. The The Y is also home to a intergenerational flavor unique aquaponic setof these classes creates They are grateful up, growing greens and space for sharing flowers as well as outdoor for the soil, plants, meaningful recipes and planters for even more They are also seeds and resources stories. fruits and vegetables. growing together and With support from the from the Garden-in- learning about holistic hort society’s Garden-inhealing foods around a-Box program.” a-Box program, the YMCA the world.

–lyntrell dixson, has cultivated spaces and Lyntrell said one of garden program manager the greatest successes programs that encourage anyone to garden. of the program is Garden program watching participants manager Lyntrell Dixson strives to grow. From planting to harvesting, they improve the overall health and wellhave been excited to see and be part of being of her community through the process. In the future, the Y hopes nutrition. One of her main goals? To to grow their gardening spaces and inspire and introduce people to the increase learning capacity. They are farm-to-table approach. Starting with grateful for the soil, plants, seeds and making a “compost salad” and sowing resources from the Garden-in-a-Box seeds, her students learn a variety of program this year and look forward to gardening skills. Using fruits, vegetables expanding their gardens and reach into and herbs grown in the gardens, the community.

To learn more, visit northerngardener.org/community-programs.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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“

Fall Display and Sale African Violet Society of Minnesota Saturday, Oct. 22 - Sunday, Oct. 23, 8 a.m.

- 4 p.m. Location: NorthTown Mall, 398 Northtown Drive, Blaine There will be a display of show quality African Violets and other Gesneriads, as well as designs created with African Violets and/or African Violet blossoms. There will also be a huge sales area offering many varieties of African Violets and other Gesneriads, along with growing pots, supplies, and soilless mixes specifically designed for African Violets. You will want to come early for the best selections.

Contact: Randy G. Deutsch, rcjsch@prodigy. net To stay connected, visit us online at northerngardener.org or find us on Facebook at @mnhort.

Garden Vibes

Nice to Meet You, Gardeners during the interviews for the position of editor for Northern Gardener, the committee from the Minnesota Horticultural Society asked me how I would establish my credentials as a gardening authority with this very savvy gardening community. Good question. I thought about it for a minute. “I would just tell them how many things I’ve killed,” I said.

I mean, let’s face it – if you are a good gardener, you were almost certainly once a bad gardener who killed countless innocent plants by virtue of inexperience, bad luck or magical thinking. Take Shasta daisies for example. There are 69 cultivars of this sunny little flower at last count and I’m pretty sure I’ve killed them all.

“Oh, you like full sun and rich, fertile soil? How about this dry, acidic spot under my cedar tree? Good luck!”

It was practically dead before I got back in the house.

“And you are reliable to Zone 5, red hot poker? Well, I can practically see Zone 5 from my house, so you are going to have to suck it up.” No sucking up happened, of course – it rarely does - and I’ve had plenty of patches of bare earth that mocked me in silent punishment for subjecting plants to death by stupidity.

No matter how much I wanted that gorgeous dianthus or those hybrid coneflowers or the gaillardia – any kind - to work, well, they were only as good as the spot

I gave them, and all the pep talks in the world weren’t going to get them past the inhospitable conditions I’d put them in. Oh, and I definitely gave them pep talks because…well, I was desperate.

Sometimes, even when I was really trying, they just died. I finally broke up with foxgloves because three efforts left me foxgloveless by the second year. Heck, they didn’t even try to grow. I admit it – I was a little bitter. If plants could talk (wait, they can’t, right?), I’m pretty sure they would have said, “It’s not us, it’s you, dummy.” Good point. How can I be mad at a row of hollyhocks because I didn’t know better than to splash

water on their leaves and make them die of rust? What right do I have to resent six potted tomatoes for dying

because they were in the dripline of a garage that had a black walnut branch hanging over it? Achillea, astilbe, Dragon’s Blood Sedum, spiderwort – I’m sure there are plenty of plants that would have dug themselves up and escaped from my yard if they could have managed a trowel.

But being bad at it is eventually what makes you good at it, and my yard is looking an awful lot better than it was 20 years ago. Make no mistake – I still kill things, most recently a two-year-old stand of innocent garden phlox that put on a nice show last year and this year turned brown and died before my mystified eyes.

Ah yes. Gardening is a perpetual learning curve, and I don’t care who you are – there is always more to learn. Sure, there are advanced topics in horticulture, but what most of the gardeners – even master gardeners – I know need is a community of answers and inspiration. Northern Gardener with its parent, the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, is that community, and I am so happy to be here. How will I demonstrate my qualifications? By listening to so many pearls of wisdom in the thousands of nuances of gardening that can be found here and sharing as many of them as I can with you. One person can’t know everything, but all of us together? We just might.

Cynthya

Cynthya Porter, Editor editor@northerngardener.org Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

11

NORTHERN NATIVES

seeing a prairie or a meadow full of blooming compass plant (Silphium laciniatum) in mid- to late summer is an optimistic sight. Among the three species of Silphium native to Minnesota, compass plant (S. laciniatum) is easy to distinguish by its deeply divided, lobed foliage. The flower stalks are also among the tallest, reaching up to 12 feet.

The name compass plant comes from the orientation of the large (1- to 2-feet long) basal leaves in a north-south direction (their flat surfaces face east and west) to avoid the direct rays of the midday sun. The leaves also stand vertically, limiting their exposure to direct solar radiation. Another common name, gum plant, derives from the fact that the hardened sap of the plant can be chewed like gum.

Like many blooming plants in the aster family (Asteraceae), compass plant has special value to native bees, as noted by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Long-tongued bees — including bumblebees, miner bees, large leaf-cutting bees and others — are the primary pollinators of the flowers.

Other visitors include flies, wasps, butterflies and hummingbirds as well as other birds and wildlife, some of which eat its seeds in the fall. Compass plant is a host plant for the Silphium borer moth.

While often prevalent naturally in prairie settings, compass plant, even as a single plant in a garden, can provide a dramatic, bright focal point. It offers an attractive anchor and protector for other plants below it. Resembling a sunflower, compass plant is a long-lived, reliable plant with a deep tap root. It adapts well to native plant gardens and the backs of large borders. It’s easy care, drought tolerant and low maintenance.

Great companion plants include native plants in its natural habitat, such as butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa), purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea) and rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). Other good garden companions include drought-tolerant stonecrops (Sedum spp.) and complementary-colored plants such as globe thistle (Echinops ritro) and blue sage (Salvia azurea).

This tall prairie plant prefers full sun; dry to average, well-draining sandy or loamy soil and room to grow. In a garden, because of its deep taproot and preference for drier conditions, it’s a good choice for an open area, with shorter, shallower-rooted plants at its base. It’s also best in a flatter, non-sloped area of the garden or near a structure for support, as it can become top-heavy.

Compass plant may take 2 to 3 years to reach its full stature, partially because its early growth is directed toward its deep taproot. Once established, however, individual plants can live to 100 years. Established plants readily self-seed. To propagate, start with seeds or seedlings. Seeds can either be planted directly in the garden in fall or cold-stratified for planting in spring.

Bright yellow compass plant blooms waving in the wind in late summer and early autumn provide a dramatic show. An added benefit: They offer an excellent perching spot and nectar source for bees and butterflies.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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Compass Plant

At a Glance: Compass Plant Hardiness: USDA Zone 4.

Native Habitat: Prairies and open meadows, from New York to Louisiana, and west through South Dakota, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Size: 3 to 12 feet tall; 2 to 3 feet wide.

Site: Full sun, and moist to slightly dry conditions.

Prefers loamy or sandy soil for its deep, central taproot.

Propagation: Easiest propagation is from unstratified seed in fall or stratified seed in spring.

Cultivars and Other Species A member of the Asteraceae family. Other Silphium species native to Minnesota include S. integrifolium and S. perfoliatum.

—B.R.S.

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

KITCHEN GARDEN

The Delight of Dry Beans I’ve had good success with several dry bean varieties here in Zone 4a, but I’ve undoubtedly had best results with Hidatsa Shield Figure. They’re dry and ready to harvest in 90 days, plus they’re beautiful, productive and delicious.

Ireland Creek Annie is exquisitely pretty with lightning-fast maturity (75 days for dry beans). I didn’t find it to be as productive as some of the other varieties, but that may have just been my experience. Ireland Creek Annie is a bush variety, which is nice if your trellised garden space is at a premium.

This year I’m trying something new in my garden: Slippery Silks beans, which are a deep red with red pods. I’m excited to see how they perform for me — but they’re apparently the plant of choice for baby rabbits (!) so I’m not sure who’s going to harvest more: the rabbits or me.

Once you’ve carefully harvested your dry beans, it’s time to start imagining all the warm, hearty meals you’re going to enjoy throughout the fall and winter months. There are the obvious options like soups, stews and chili, and you definitely don’t want to overlook the classic simplicity of baked beans either.

Rice is a traditional companion to beans in a variety of dishes, and beans also pair well with meats. Three-bean

“

What’s better than enjoying something from your garden in the late fall or winter?”

salad is a beloved comfort dish, and beans are a staple ingredient in Mexican cuisine, so you’ll find them useful in burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, refried beans and more.

If your garden is also overflowing with herbs, don’t miss the chance to pair your beans with coriander, parsley, sage, rosemary, cumin, thyme or basil.

Onions and garlic, which may also be abundant in your garden, are also flavorful companions to beans.

What’s better than enjoying something from your garden in the late fall or winter? Dry beans are a delight in all seasons.

Samantha Johnson is the author of several books, including Garden DIY, (CompanionHouse Books, 2020). She lives on a former dairy farm in northern Wisconsin with a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Peaches and writes frequently about pets, gardening, and farm life. Visit her online portfolio at http:// samanthajohnson. contently.com

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by the end of summer, our kitchen gardens are inching toward their wellearned season of respite, but amidst the late harvests of winter squash and the last tomatoes, it’s also time to harvest dry beans.

Here’s the fun thing about dry beans: You plant them, you provide the trellising, you water and weed, but mostly you just leave the plants to themselves. They grow, they flower, they set fruit, and then you just sit back and wait while the bean pods grow and thicken. The seeds inside swell and mature and the pods start to dry, first to a leathery texture and then turning completely brittle. When the brittleness arrives, it’s time to harvest the dry beans.

Growing beans is easy, especially when compared to their temperamental garden companions (I’m looking at you, carrots), and as long as you’re providing good soil, regular water, and full sunshine, your beans should thrive.

Direct sow in 1-inch-deep holes after the last frost, and be sure to give pole bean varieties something to climb.

Here’s another fun thing about dry beans: the glorious assortment of colors and types! You could spend hours perusing catalogs and still not uncover all of the possibilities, but there’s one important caveat: You have to choose dry bean varieties that will mature within our growing season.

Take Mayflower, for instance, which is beautiful with a great provenance. Mayflower needs 100 days, which can be hard to come by here in the north.

Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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GARDEN SOLUTIONS

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Rabbit Defense

like most northern gardeners, I have a healthy population of rabbits living in my neighborhood. But until recently, I thought my garden was somehow immune to them. I’d occasionally spot a few nibbles on a stray leaf, but as long as I caged my trees and shrubs for the winter, the damage was minimal.

I’ve been brazenly growing uncaged vegetables for the past five years, oblivious to the impending attacks and frustrations to come.

This year, it started with our tender beet seedlings, which the rabbits mowed completely to the ground. Next, it was the green beans, which they decapitated just below the first set of leaves, so we had to replant those too. After losing a large section of lettuce, we finally stopped believing that we somehow had a magical garden sanctuary, impervious to furry foes. We needed a plan.

Fencing

I’ve never liked using protective fencing in the garden, mostly because it’s often ugly – but it also makes weeding and harvesting much more difficult. This year, with the bunnies pressing down on

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us, we decided to fortify our raised beds.

We encircled our replanted beans, beets and greens using 3-foot-tall chicken wire, carefully staking the bottom tight to the ground. It’s important to avoid leaving any gaps between the ground and the fencing. Some sources even recommend burying the bottom few inches to deter rabbits from trying to dig under it.

Rabbit fencing should be at least 1.5 to 2 feet tall during the growing season and around 3 feet tall during the winter.

The fencing material shouldn’t have gaps larger than an inch, which makes chicken wire and small-gauge hardware cloth ideal for rabbit protection.

When done properly, fencing is the most effective way to protect plants from rabbits. In gardens with particularly extreme rabbit pressure, I’ve seen gardeners use chicken wire to close the gap under the existing wooden privacy fence enclosing their entire back yards.

As long as they were careful to keep their gates closed, they successfully excluded these pests from their gardens.

Repellents

If fencing isn’t a good option for your

garden, there are several popular rabbit repellents on the market. Repellents try to deter bunny browsing via tastes or odors that the rabbits don’t like, such as blood, the urine of their predators, rotten eggs, garlic or hot peppers. (If someone sprayed these items on my salad, I would stay away too.)

The best time to spray rabbit repellents is at the very first sign of damage – or before any damage occurs at all – if you’ve had rabbit problems in the past. The majority of taste and odor repellents are contact-based, which means they will only protect the parts of the plants that they touch directly.

This means you’ll need to reapply as each plant produces new growth. Rain can wash these products away, so you’ll need to reapply after heavy showers or thorough sprinklings.

Deer-off, Liquid Fence and Plantskydd are three contact rabbit repellents that I’ve used with varying success. Based on what I’ve read, their effectiveness often depends on the regularity of reapplication as well as the availability of other desirable bunny food and the total rabbit population in the area. I’ve been using Plantskydd on my pole beans, which are planted in an area that is difficult to fence off, and I’ve been happy with the results so far.

There’s a new product this year called Repellex, which is sold as a systemic rabbit repellent. Repellex contains a hot pepper concentrate that plants can take up via their roots and then incorporate into the plant on a cellular level, supposedly requiring only one application per year. I’ve seen it in garden centers and it’s relatively expensive, so I haven’t tried it out yet.

But this might be the future of rabbit repellents, and I’m eager to see how well it works.

Horticulturist Laura Schwarz writes and gardens in Minneapolis.

POLLINATORS

Bee-ing Green

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RHONDA FLEMING HAYES

When we help one bee species, we help all the others too.”

i passed by the potted calendulas on my front porch the other day and froze in my tracks. Every flower was attended by an iridescent green bee, the bicolored green sweat bee. It was almost like the plant was wearing jewelry.

I see this member of the genus Agapostemon occasionally in the garden, but this was a real treat and it made me think more about how I can support this bee through its entire life cycle and see more of the tiny, beautiful creatures.

The green sweat bee may be misjudged with that name. They are closely related to those in the Halictid family but this bee is not attracted to human sweat. So when you see them in your garden, don’t sweat it, or swat it.

At around a half-inch long, they are similar in size to a honeybee, but all comparison stops there. A bright green metallic head and thorax and a striped abdomen makes them unique. Males have a black and yellow banded abdomen, while that of females is a paler to white striping. Once you notice one, I promise you’ll start seeing them around the garden from spring until October.

I warn you, though, they are fast-fliers, especially when I’m trying to

photograph them.

The green sweat bee can feed upon a wide variety of flowers but it does have a short tongue, limiting it to flower shapes with short nectar tubes. Despite this, there are still plenty of flowers for them to forage upon.

The calendulas were a big hit this year, but I more often find them on daisy-shaped flowers like coneflower, gaillardia, helenium, coreopsis, and aster. California poppies and pollen-rich sunflowers are favorites too.

Males spend their time cruising the flower beds looking for females seeking pollen. She’ll mix the pollen with a bit of nectar and form it into a ball, then leave it in each cell she builds for each of her eggs within her nest. That will feed them as they hatch and become larva prior to emerging as an adult.

They don't live in a social colony but they do nest communally. They will excavate deep burrows, often with finger-like side shoots, where they will raise generations of young in one year.

You may see the entrances to their nests; pencil-sized holes clustered together. Sometimes the females will share a common entrance with one

standing guard at the opening.

They need bare soil to make these nesting places, many prefer sandy soils, and better yet a southern slope.

As fall approaches some adult female bees will mate and re-enter the nest where they’ll overwinter before starting the whole cycle over the next year.

The green sweat bee isn’t a species of concern, but all bees struggle with habitat loss for food and nesting.

We gardeners are encouraged to use mulch for weed suppression, erosion prevention and moisture retention, but the 70% of native bees that nest in the ground beg to differ. Wood chips, rock and landscape fabric are barriers to nesting. Instead, try to use compost or shredded leaves that they can push through. Bare soil in other areas is best, perhaps a part of the yard that’s not used or can be left a little “wild”.

When we help one bee species, we help all the others too.

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

Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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BY DESIGN

Choosing and Using Containers containers are an integral part of landscape design. They might serve as a decorative vessel for living plants in the summer and evergreen boughs in the winter.

Filled with flowers or foliage, they will brighten up a front porch, soften the corners of a garage or provide color pops in the garden. They can also act as a design element, a screen to block unwanted views or an accent to set off a focal point.

Placement

Planters enhance a variety of locations.

If you’re planning just one or two containers, situate them next to the front door, your home’s focal point. Check out your garage if it faces the street.

Wouldn’t containers at the corners make it more attractive? Once the front of your home is accessorized, look to the garden. Pots are a great way to add color and interest to landscape beds.

They might herald the entrance to the garden, adjoin a seating area or just provide color to what is sometimes a sea of green. Or consider making your own privacy wall with a line of tall grasses or trellised vines perched between you and neighbors’ windows.

Style

Think of containers as a design element. Look for hues and materials that reflect or enhance the house style and color scheme. Picture boxwood in English-style containers outlining a formal entrance, tall cylindrical steel pots standing guard at a modern sleek home or wicker plant stands fronting a cape-cod style dwelling. You might want to emphasize a linear feature, such as a low wall, long table or flight of steps by using an evenly-spaced row of identical containers holding identical plants.

Large containers have more visual impact than smaller ones, so opt for big when you can. If you choose pint-sized pots, you might place them in a grouping or raise them up on a block.

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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Materials

Almost anything can be used as a vessel for plants so long as it has sufficient drainage holes. Classic terra-cotta pots are a popular choice; their soft earthy color works well with all flower hues. Glazed ceramic containers are another good choice. They offer bright colors and patterns, but are easily breakable. Be sure to empty the soil out of terra cotta and ceramic containers in late fall; moisture in the soil may cause them to crack if they remain filled over winter.

“

Almost anything can be used as a vessel for plants so long as it has sufficient drainage holes.”

or coffee filter at the bottom.

Think of containers as an accessory to your outdoor decorating scheme.

From holding spring bulbs to summer flowers to fall grasses to winter arrangements, find the best ones for your landscape. You’ll be able to enjoy them all year long.

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

Composites such as resins or fiberglass mixed with clay emulate natural materials and are a nice option. Lightweight and attractive, they usually don’t need to be emptied each fall.

Moisture-conserving and inexpensive, plastic containers are another ready choice. Stone and concrete planters are durable but heavy. Make sure you put them in the optimum spot on the first go-around; you won’t want to move them later. And remember to use your imagination - if you have an old watering can or antique pot around, could it be repurposed as a planter?

Planting

Once you’ve chosen your containers, fill them with a good-quality soil mix, but think twice about placing items in the bottom to reduce the amount of soil needed. The deeper the potting mix in the container, the more moisture retention it has. Also refrain from adding gravel or pot shards to the bottom of a pot; experts have discovered that this impedes rather than enhances proper drainage. Instead, to keep soil from drifting out through the drainage hole, put a paper towel, piece of newspaper Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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DIY

Growing Garlic growing your own garlic has a certain mystique to it. It has an exotic feel, perhaps because of garlic’s heady smell and taste (you either love it or hate it) and the lore of warding off evil spirits.

It’s high in nutrients and has been found to lower blood pressure. How could anything that pungent not have an impact on the body! The taste of homegrown garlic is richer and milder, I think, and couldn’t be easier to grow. It’s not really bothered by any pests and most of the magic happens secretly underground.

It’s largely a waiting game and, much like planting tulip bulbs in the fall, a little work now brings a wow next season.

Picking and planting

Northern gardeners need to buy bulbs suited for cold climates, which those in the grocery store typically are not.

Hardneck and softneck are the two main types. My experience is with hardneck varieties that produce a scape – a curly stem with a flower that can be harvested mid-season. Find bulbs at farmers markets and online.

Planting time is October or a week or two after the first killing frost. A few days before planting, break the garlic bulb up into cloves and allow them to air out. Garlic likes a well-drained soil that also retains moisture. Work your garden bed very well, eliminating any rocks or clumps of soil and adding compost. Plant the cloves pointy side up, two to three inches below the surface in rows six inches apart. Cover the bed with leaves or straw to help maintain a constant temperature. Roots will begin to form in the fall.

Harvesting

Mid to late July, or about two weeks after scapes curl, is harvest time. The tell-tale sign is the die back of the lower half. When about half the leaves are dry, it’s time to dig. I try not to stress about the timing. Too early and the bulbs will be small and too late the heads will start to break apart – neither are deal breakers. Gingerly dig with a garden fork or spade, taking care to not pierce the bulbs. Gently brush off as much soil as possible and place in a warm, dry place with good air circulation for about three weeks to a month. This will dry the head and prepare it for storage into the winter.

You can also eat it immediately and I encourage you to try at least one for the

fun of it. Save the biggest clove to start the growing process over again in the fall. Or if you can’t resist serving your biggest head to friends at a dinner party, purchase new bulbs and try a different variety or type. Hardneck varieties give you scapes to cook with, but the softneck varieties can be braided like you may have seen in photos. Whichever type you choose, growing your own garlic is vegetable garden magic.

Minneapolis-based Eric Johnson blogs at gardendrama.wordpress. com.

Keep the bulb and stem intact and gently remove the dirt, then lay them out to dry.

One day in spring, you’ll look down and notice shoots emerging, and your day will be made. Leave the mulch on the bed to help eliminate weeds or you can remove it if you prefer. Maintain consistent watering if it’s a dry spring.

If you grow hardneck garlic, scapes will appear in July. When they curl, harvest them and use to make pesto or simply sauté and eat. They’re delicious.

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Tending your bed

PLANT TO PICK

Rosa ‘AAC333’ Easy Elegance® Oscar Peterson™ Rose BEST GROWN in full sun and do a bit of fertilization in spring on this plant, stopping any applications by mid July or so.

AUTUMN brings bright orange, almost golf-ball sized rose hips – beautiful to look at and to even make rose hip jelly out of!

OSCAR PETERSON™ is very versatile in the landscape: Use it in foundation plantings, as a short, informal hedge or mix in with your perennial gardens.

for that bit of spring cleanup pruning.

Oscar Peterson is a great rose for all seasons and so easy to grow. It has been on the market a number of years and is readily available at local retailers. Enjoy!

BAILEY NURSERIES

why talk about hardy shrub roses in autumn? Two reasons: remontancy (reblooming) and beautiful hips formed in late season.

Seems like roses have fallen out of favor in recent years or received a bad rap due to insect problems or rosette disease. Many still think roses need weekly spray regimes of harsh chemicals, or that they need special overwintering techniques that are a lot of work.

But modern rose breeding has changed much of that, and while we can’t magically snap our fingers to deal with Japanese beetles, many of the other challenges in growing roses have been addressed and there are some easy-togrow types on the market.

Oscar Peterson™ is exactly that – an easy-to-grow, hardy and reblooming rose that develops sensational orange hips in autumn, a season of color that some of us just don’t think about.

Developed in Canada, this rose was named after the famous Canadian jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson.

It is part of Bailey Nurseries Easy Elegance® shrub rose program, and this plant is rock solid hardy into zone 3 (and also tolerates southern heat).

It blooms from early summer through fall with semi-double flowers that start out a shade of soft yellow cream turning to bright white with a contrasting center of golden yellow stamens. The flowers are arranged in sprays and the spent petals always fall cleanly from the plant.

If you like, deadhead the spent flowers after bloom and do this up until July.

After that, leave the spent blooms on for development of the fall hips.

The foliage is a dark, rich green and has excellent disease resistance. Its growth habit is upright, reaching 4 feet tall by 2 to 3 feet wide.

If you have any winter dieback (which is likely), it is as easy as pie in the spring to clean up dead stems, as the plant will grow from green stems and the crown.

So no special overwintering techniques are needed on this plant; just be prepared

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

Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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Climate changePROOF your garden

A changing climate means changing your gardening techniques Story and photos by Meg Cowden

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There’s no clearer reflection of the current state of the world and climate than our own backyards. As gardeners, we experience the leading edge of change, especially when we are intimately tuned into the garden’s pulse.

Day in and day out, the garden is adapting to the rapidly changing climate in the north. If it’s not early heat, it’s late frosts. If it’s not spring floods, it’s summer droughts. Often, it’s both – heat, followed by an unexpected hard frost. Flooding, followed

by a dearth of precipitation.

Pest pressure also seems to be intensifying; the insects are tuned into the changes in their environment and seem to be responding. Exploding weeds in my garden and those of friends appear to be doing their part to grab our attention too.

Despite and through it all, the garden perseveres. In doing so, it invites us to flourish and adapt right along with it.

How do we stay nimble? How do we grow gardens that are equipped to season the pounding erraticism?

Meg’s Favorite Late Fall Vegetables & Herbs Arugula Bunching onions Calendula Carrots Cilantro Kale Mustard Greens Radish Spinach

Left: When we prepare our late summer garden for those eventual hard frosts, we set the garden up as an extended harvest garden. Add in coldhardy flowers and color exudes from the space both above and below ground deep into autumn in cold climates. Trust me, it’s worth the extraordinary efforts in July and August and September when we are drowning in tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and squash.

Plant Early

The single best thing we all can do is start our growing season earlier, with the right seeds at the right time. I know from experience cold climate growers can add a month or more of harvests to their gardens just by tuning into the power of cold hardy vegetables in spring and fall.

Yes, row cover can stretch those harvests even more, but it is not necessary.

I routinely plant a succession of spring brassicas – uncovered – by the end of April. It usually aligns about two weeks

Unblemished cabbages mature early. Out of the garden by mid-June, they open a gap at a time when just about anything can be succession planted after them.

before our last frost, though some years it works out to be right around last frost - a metric only noted in hindsight.

When we plant part of our garden early, we set the stage for open space in July, the perfect time to plant more cold-hardy crops for fall. Carrots are top on my sowing list in a July garden gap, as are fall peas, daikon, watermelon radish, and loads of greens.

If early harvests weren’t enough reason, when we plant our cold crops early, the plants are nearly mature by the time the cabbage whites emerge and start laying eggs on our prized broccoli, cabbage and kale.

Prairies also demonstrate diversity of floral types, attracting, in turn, a diverse array of garden friends across the seasons.

The Power of Native Species

The most resilient garden I know of is a prairie. The beauty lies in its constant renewal and its deep and responsive seed bed. These are the plants that adapted on our landscape over millennia. They’ve weathered droughts and floods. They are equipped to weather the unpredictable and intense weather we continue to face.

If that wasn’t convincing enough, there is a social and environmental need for more native plantings. Skip the horticultural variations on coneflower and go Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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Climate Change-Proof Your Garden

for the straight species.

Seek out the nectar-rich pollinator magnets, those that maybe don’t have glamourous blooms to our eye but are powerhouses for pollinators.

Resetting with Joy

A former 50-foot-long raspberry bed was a downright harem for Japanese beetles so we ruthlessly pulled them all out in 2021 in favor of annual crops that are less prone to their defoliation from pests. We are working to cultivate more wild blackcap raspberries around our property instead.

The more diversity we add to our gardens, the smaller the losses when things go awry. Because every year something will go wrong. Do you lament the loss or rejoice in the opportunity to start over?

Gardening challenges got you down?

Try these solutions.

Flower Power

Just like the prairies, we should be adding as many different types of flowers to our vegetable gardens too.

From a few key native perennials to dozens of annuals, I dot our food garden with these insect landing pads.

The result? I garden alongside thousands of insects every single day, enriching our local ecosystem.

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Wait and See

Thanks to our planted prairies and diverse flowers around our property, our insect population is alive and well. And with that comes a lot of curiosity – new insect species are sighted daily.

Grasshopper nymphs hatched in what felt like Biblical proportions in 2021. After exhaustive research, I resigned our food garden to a potential onslaught of feasting, knowing I couldn’t take definitive action to reduce their numbers.

To my delight, doing nothing was the right thing to do. The garden and adjacent prairies can handle thousands of grasshopper nymphs and still thrive. It was a reminder that we are never in charge of our gardens. When we provide the space for diversity to thrive, however, balance will follow.

Got Wind?

Wind seems to be an increasingly common occurrence, and it’s no friend to a garden.

Compact plants are most adept at weathering strong winds.

In addition to bush beans, all cold hardy crops are also compact, lowgrowing plants – even more reason to plant a fall garden.

I admit I used to cling to my summer plantings. I committed to them being my sole summer adventure. Even when pest pressure descended, I tended to them as if nothing else could possibly grow there.

A troubled raspberry bed was providing a dwindling supply of summer fruit.

“

I admit I used to cling to my summer plantings.

I committed to them being my sole summer adventure. .”

–meg cowden

The Bean Dilemma

Outwit the hungry Japanese beetles by changing up your bean routine. Not only will this save you time and reduce the larvae that burrow into your soil to overwinter, it will also increase your yields by growing healthier plants.

We made the transition away from pole beans entirely, and only grow bush snap beans. I suspect the bush beans’ foliage are not as sweet to the Japanese beetles, as the beans are known to be less sweet.

For our pole bean fix, we grow exclusively dry beans. They also are not the very desirable for the beetles and make for a set-it-andforget-it planting. They return to provide wonderful late fall handwork and delicious winter meals, fresh from the garden.

Planting for the Polar Vortex

When adding perennials to our landscape, we now err on the side of the inevitable polar vortex. Instead of dreaming of a dripping peach that is firmly beyond our grasp in our chilly (4a) microclimate, we focus on zone 3 hardy fruits.

Because January 2019 taught us that despite many years of milder winters, those plunges can and will take perennial fruit out.

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Climate Change-Proof Your Garden Fast forward a decade, and when pest pressure or disease cuts a crop short, I reset the space with the next best thing, counting out my weeks to first frost and choosing my favorite foods to eat two months from now. It has been one of the most instrumental shifts for a changing climate.

I firmly believe we should embrace our now. And more than that, embrace our here. With native plants, a diverse vegetable seed stash, being zone-cautious with perennials, succession planting throughout summer, and letting go of pest-prone plants, your garden is nimble in every season.

This is the only moment, possibly the only space we have to cultivate, so choose plants that will show you how to gracefully thrive the unpredictable climate.

Cultivate Resilience

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Trial new varieties annually in your garden

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Keep records of frost dates, first flowers and emergence or arrival of pests

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Push your early season with cold-hardy veggies that mature before pests emerge

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Anchor your garden with native flowers, shrubs, and trees

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To thwart Japanese beetles, grow bush snap beans instead of pole beans and play with succession planting

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Plant compact veggie varieties that are better equipped to handle high winds

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Mulch all your vegetable beds with compost, clean straw, or leaf mold to conserve water and increase organic matter

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Observe before reacting. Identify insects before taking action

For every Gallon: 2 ounces Cease 1 ounce Molasses ½-1 ounce Fish and Seaweed emulsion 1-2 drops castille soap

A Healthy Microbiome

Gut health for our plants? Yes, please.

Supporting healthy plants means they are less likely to be infected with pest pressure or successfully colonized by fungal diseases.

After two years of intense fungal pressure on our tomatoes and all cucurbits (melons and cucumbers), we have applied our orchard cocktail of Cease (Bacillus subtilis), molasses, fish and seaweed emulsion, and castille soap to our tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and fruit trees. We reapply about once a week, or after a rain event. So far, it seems to be keeping the fungal pressure at bay this season.

Meg Cowden is a Minnesota-based author, speaker, blogger and founder of the Modern Garden Guild.

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PAWPAW

PURSUIT

One man’s mission: to grow pawpaw fruit in the North.

By Jennifer Rensenbrink

If you grew up in the southern or eastern United States, you are probably familiar with pawpaw trees (Asimina triloba). But if, like me, you grew up in the cold north, the sight and taste of pawpaws may be completely new. These fruits do not taste like they could possibly come from a cold climate, but some northern gardeners are finding success in their pawpaw pursuits.

Native to North America, pawpaws are a small understory tree that tends to form patches, spreading by root suckers. They produce the largest edible fruits of any native

North American tree, roughly the size and shape of mangos. The fruits ripen in the fall and have a sweet, banana custard-like taste. Pawpaws are the only member of their plant family — Annonaceae, a tropical fruit family — that thrive in temperate climates. These fruits were once an important food source for Indigenous people across what is now the southern and eastern half of the United States.

Pawpaws are not commonly grown in Minnesota, but one pawpaw enthusiast has at least 30 trees in his yard.

Richard Goerwitz of Northfield has been growing pawNorthern Gardener l September/October 2022

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Pawpaw Pursuit paws for over 20 years, saving seeds from his best trees, removing old or diseased trees, and starting new ones each year. Of his 30 trees, 15 to 20 reliably fruit each September.

Richard adores pawpaws and has made a consuming hobby out of experimenting with his trees. He’s tried grafting, starting them from seed, and taking cuttings from suckers.

Northfield is in USDA Zone 4B, and Richard’s goal is to select and propagate trees for cold hardiness and delicious fruit. He doubts whether pawpaws can consistently and successfully be made to reliably produce fruit in colder zones — but he enjoys trying.

JENNIFER RENSENBRINK

The Goerwitzs enjoy the challenge of growing pawpaws and they share their bounty with neighbors and friends.

Cold Climate Challenges

One of the challenges of growing pawpaws in cold climates is that they experience dieback most winters — harsh winters can kill young, small trees. Sometimes this happens in early spring when warm weather, which causes the tree to leaf out, is followed by a hard frost. Since bigger trees produce bigger fruit more reliably, getting a tree to survive long enough to bear fruit is part of what Richard finds so challenging and exciting about growing them.

Pawpaws — especially seed-grown trees such as the ones Richard prefers — vary significantly in appearance.

Some are tall and slender ornamental trees, while others are more shrublike.

This is partly because the trees thrive in both shady and sunny sites — the amount of sunlight the tree gets dictates its size and shape. Richard grows

his trees in a variety of sunlight situations from full sun to dappled shade.

He says the sun vs. shade question is just one of the many challenging aspects of growing pawpaws — the smaller saplings need protection from sun the first three to five years, but produce more fruit with full sun once they reach maturity.

Pawpaws bloom in the spring with dark red flowers that have a slightly fetid or yeasty aroma. Pawpaws are pollinated by flies or beetles, and Richard helps the insects along by hand-pollinating his pawpaws with a paintbrush, especially during cool springs when fewer insects are around. If your pawpaw tree is young, he recommends removing all flowers until it is at least 8-feet tall in order

“

Waiting for Harvest

Pawpaw fruits take a long time to ripen, which is another challenge in Minnesota’s brief growing season. Richard describes it as a “real

To eat a pawpaw fruit, cut it in half.

Use a spoon to carefully fish out the large black seeds, then scoop the flesh out with the spoon and eat it either by itself or over vanilla ice cream.”

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to promote strong, vigorous growth before you let it fruit.

The trees also have ornamental value, with large, simple leaves that turn yellow in the autumn. They tolerate tough conditions, such as being close to a black walnut tree, and are generally not browsed by deer. Richard has noticed only light damage from Japanese beetles, and they grow well in sun and shade. Winter dieback will be less severe if the tree has been watered well in the fall, especially if the weather is dry.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Pawpaw fruits take a long time to ripen, which is another challenge in Minnesota’s brief growing season. Richard describes it as a real nailbiter to get the fruit ripened before our first frost each fall.

nail-biter” to get the fruit ripened before our first frost each fall. Richard uses “growing degree units” (also called growing degree days) to determine how close he’ll get to success.

GDUs/GDDs are a way for scientists to measure how many days above 50 degrees F we have each growing season. Richard knows the exact number he needs to hit each year to get ripe fruit, and most years he barely gets enough. When I visited his Northfield yard in the third week of September, our warm summer and fall had paid off and harvest was in full swing.

Pawpaw fruits can neither be picked while under-ripe and set aside to ripen, nor do they keep well in the refrigerator. This is one reason why they aren’t seen in grocery stores or even farmers’ markets, especially in the Upper Midwest. There is also quite a bit of variability in flavor from tree to tree, another reason Richard is careful about selecting which trees to propagate.

When pawpaw season hits, Richard and his family eat most of the fruits as they ripen. The best way to know if the fruit is ready is to give the tree a shake; the ripe fruit falls to the ground. He also gives away many fresh pawpaws to his friends and neighbors.

To eat a pawpaw fruit, cut it in half. Use a spoon to carefully fish out the large black seeds, then scoop the flesh out with the spoon and eat it either by itself or over vanilla ice cream. Quick bread, pudding and jam recipes for pawpaw fruits may also be found online. Taste varies with ripeness. Like a banana, pawpaws get sweeter and more custard-like as they ripen. Which stage is best to eat them in? Whichever stage you prefer. The ones we tried tasted like a banana-flavored custard.

Growing from Seed

Seeds from pawpaw fruits can be saved and planted in the spring, something Richard enjoys doing every year. The seeds should not be allowed to dry out; rather they should be washed and stored in a damp paper towel inside a plastic bag in the refrigerator, then planted in deep pots in the spring. Because the plants have a deep taproot, take care with transplanting. Richard also gives away seedlings each year, all in the hopes of expanding the numbers of his hardiest plants.

One reason Richard has become so passionate about propagating his own pawpaws is that he’s not had

good luck with nursery-grown grafted pawpaws. In general, pawpaws that he’s started from seed or sucker have fared better; partly because he selects his best, hardiest trees — and the ones that provide the tastiest fruit — to propagate from. In warmer areas of the United States, pawpaw cultivars are grown more successfully.

Obscure for much of the 20th century, pawpaws are experiencing a renaissance moment thanks to the increasing interest in growing perennial edible fruits and vegetables in home gardens. There are a handful of commercial pawpaw growers in the South, including one grower that has a partnership with a brewery in North Carolina that makes a special pawpaw beer. In Ohio, an annual pawpaw festival draws visitors from all over the country.

Pawpaws tick a lot of boxes — native to North America, edible, perennial — and can survive just as well here as many other fruits that cold climate gardeners attempt. Are you ready to give pawpaws a try?

Jennifer Rensenbrink gardens in South Minneapolis and is scouting her yard to see where she might slip a pawpaw tree into a sunny spot.

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A Permaculture Designer’s Garden Laboratory A landscaped lawn became a fruit forest in one Brooklyn Center neighborhood

Story by Susannah Shmurak Photos by Laura Freund

When Laura Freund bought her home in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota in 2008, she eyed the conventionally-landscaped yard and saw an opportunity. A professional permaculture designer, Freund immediately set to work converting the grass lawn into a garden brimming with fruit and wildlife.

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Garden as Laboratory

Excited by the possibility of revisioning the traditional yard, Freund created a blank canvas to build upon by burying the turf grass in a foot-deep layer of wood chips she obtained from a local tree-trimming company.

As she planted trees and shrubs on top of the wood chips, she saw her yard as an experimental laboratory to better understand which perennial food plants would work in Minnesota’s challenging climate as well as in a residential-scale garden.

Left: Laura with an armload of harvested garlic scapes and ripe berries. Below: Daughter Ila enjoys a sweet snack of ripe currants from the garden.

Designing for Children Another top priority in designing her garden: Creating spaces where her children would feel a sense of belonging by being part of a space and fed from it. “Culturally we are

so far removed from growing and harvesting food and being in the world, we’re so indoors,” Laura says. She wanted to ensure her kids had a familiarity with plants and wildlife, and places to play and explore.

To that end, she incorporated numerous areas for children, including a tree house and swings, a hammock, chairs, and a picnic table. Paths lead kids through the space to encourage their interaction with plants, insects, and other animals. Shady spots with seating invite visitors to sit, contemplate, and observe.

When she began, she found the options for plants and groupings she’d been taught in school rather limited and wanted to expand her palette of possible choices. Viewing her garden as a place to play around with color, texture, flowers, insects, different conditions, she set out to explore how she could adapt permaculture ideas for an urban setting.

Trained to design much larger landscapes, Freund found that some of the permaculture principles she’d been taught in school just didn’t work for smaller yards. For example, permaculture designs typically include vines that climb up fruit trees, but she learned that strategy doesn’t work with the dwarf trees one needs to use in smaller urban lots. “It just kills the tree,” she says. Further, she points out, plantings in the city can’t be as wild as might be acceptable in more rural areas. By contrast, she says, “In urban and suburban settings, most people want to have a certain kind of order, and want neighbors to appreciate what they’ve done with their landscape.”

Once the layer of mulch was in place, Freund began adding fruit trees, then shrubs, and when the mulch had broken down a bit, perennials. With limited varieties available locally, she ordered plants from the West Coast to find out if they could survive Minnesota’s harsh winters. Over the ensuing years, she discovered that many could not and replaced her peach trees with paw paws and other plants more suited to her climate.

Thirteen years later, her yard boasts more than twenty-six types of fruiting trees, vines, and shrubs. As the season progresses honeyberries, juneberries, blueberries, cherries, currants, kiwis, grapes, apricots, pears, pawpaws, apples, and aronia ripen in different parts of the yard. Her front yard includes a productive strawberry patch and many edible flowers. Native plants and perennial vegetables such as walking onions, rhubarb, and purple asparagus grow throughout the property.

Over the years, she’s learned much about what works and what doesn’t. In addition to the insight she’s gained about plants suited to small-scale and cold climate permaculture, tending her own garden has given her a better sense of how much time a landscape like hers requires, so she advises her clients accordingly. “There’s an investment if you want a landscape like this,” she cautions.

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A Permaculture Designer’s Garden Laboratory

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

Neighborhood children come often to play in the yard, examining insects and harvesting snacks from the hundreds of edible plants.

Having an inviting space with a constantly changing menu of foods to harvest means her family is outside all the time once the weather warms. Her two daughters, Ila, age 9, and Nyomi, age 5, enjoy gardening as well and have areas dedicated to plants they want to grow. They enjoy planting and nibbling edible flowers like nasturtiums and columbine.

Thirteen years into her experiment, Freund’s food forest now has 87 fruiting shrubs, vines and trees as well as scores of edible perennials. One of the biggest challenges, she says, is keeping up with the summer harvest.”

Along with the plentiful fruit ripening throughout the summer, she makes the most of her other perennial plants. She grows culinary herbs such as oregano, chervil, and chives, as well as medicinal plants including valerian, meadowsweet, rosehips, and schizandra, and uses the leaves of her raspberry plants for tea. She also harvests the many nutritious wild plants in the garden like stinging nettle, dandelions, wild lettuce, purslane, cucumber weed, and lambsquarters. In addition to being edible and delicious, she says, these wild plants help her other plants thrive by shading the soil and holding in moisture.

Bearing Fruit

Thirteen years into her experiment, Freund’s food forest now has 87 fruiting shrubs, vines, and trees as well as scores of edible perennials. One of the biggest challenges, she says, is keeping up with the summer harvest. From mid-June to mid-July, she says that the garden gets pretty out of control while the family endeavors to harvest the superabundant strawberries, juneberries, and cherries. In fall, eating and preserving more than fifty pounds of pawpaws produced by her three thriving trees poses another challenge.

She’s given up the annual vegetable garden, which currently lies fallow as it’s “so much more labor-intensive” than the perennial food crops, and she can’t spare the time and energy for it. “It is so much more rewarding to have your blueberry bush or juneberry or currant give you a ton of food and you don’t really have to tend it at all. I prefer perennial vegetables way more,” she explains.

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Growing Community

While nourishing her family, Freund’s garden also nurtures her own well-being. Acutely aware of how modern modes of living tend to keep people indoors and separate from one another, Freund has thought a great deal about how gardens can bring people together. She notes that in our culture people tend to shy away from using their front yards because they feel too visible, leading to families secluded in their backyards. For her part, she remarks, “I don’t want to be isolated.”

Her garden has fostered a community that comes together around the food they produce. Every year, she trades her abundance of strawberries and cherries with neighbors who have eggs and venison to share, which has helped create more of a smaller community feel. Her daughters help take care of neighbors’ chickens, and everyone trades recipes along with fresh, homegrown food.

Laura’s daughters help take care of neighbors’ chickens, and everyone trades recipes along with fresh, homegrown food.

Permaculture’s emphasis on a gardens’ multiple functions reveals itself in her landscape as well. She has a compost, a clothesline, and a shrine to relatives that also serves as a spot to cure garlic in summer. She weaves low fences for pathways using dogwood, grapevines, and nettle stems and plans to use petals from her rose bushes to make fragrant beads. A small flock of chickens keeps the family supplied with eggs while teaching her daughters about animal care and providing entertainment.

Mindful of the interdependence of people, plants, and wildlife, in recent years Freund has added more native plants with special attention to providing food for pollinators. “Most fruiting trees, shrubs and vines,” she notes, “flower in the early spring, and we need to provide for the pollinators throughout the season.”

She aims to have her garden demonstrate that a residential yard can be aesthetically pleasing and environmentally positive while benefitting the people and animals that call it home. “I’m going towards a place where it looks like people are stewarding or interacting with this landscape,” she says, “a mutually beneficial space for all the creatures – humans, animals, insects – that use it.”

Susannah Shmurak gardens and writes in Northfield, Minnesota.

Her website, HealthyGreenSavvy.com, shares information about foraging, gardening, and medicinal plants.

“

The garden has fostered a community that comes together around the food we produce.”

– laura freund

As a permaculture designer, Freund has helped scores of people redesign their landscapes for food production and sustainability. The company she works for, Ecological Design, offers consultations as well as full-scale design and implementation.

Find out more on their website: https://www. ecologicaldesign.land/

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The Replacements If you think cilantro tastes like soap, try these herby alternatives.

Story and photos by Theresa Mieseler

Pepicha

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Why the love-hate for cilantro?

The essential oil from Coriandrum sativum has high concentrations of unsaturated aldehydes in it that are the source of its aroma as well as the conflicting reactions humans have to it.

These aldehydes are described as having a fatty, pungent odor, a floral, pungent odor, a pungent, spicy, floral odor or the odor of a wet dog. Researchers say there is a genetic variation in our olfactory receptors, which is why some people love cilantro and others do not.

When preparing food, I always enhance the flavor with herbs.

If cilantro is in the menu, guests get asked ahead of time about their preferences. Most like cilantro. If not, I move to step two, either omitting cilantro or replacing it with a different herb.

Fortunately, several plants share the essential oil and flavors of Coriandrum sativum.

(seeds) when temperatures get around 80°F. If you let the seeds drop, seedlings will emerge within about two weeks for another crop. In spring, seedlings again pop up as the soil warms and the cycle continues. Optimum growing conditions for cilantro are morning sun and afternoon shade.

Improved selections of cilantro are now available. ‘Dwarf Lemon’ (rareseeds.com) is compact and has a hint of lemon in its leaves. ‘Cruiser’ cilantro ( johnnyseeds.com) is a sturdy, large-leaved variety that is known for its bolt resistance, producing dark green leaves on its abundant stems.

“The more leaves the variety has at the base of the stems, the more likely it will be a slow-bolting type, says Conrad Richter, president of Richters Herbs. “And varieties with many basal leaves also correlate with smaller seed size, so that small-seeded varieties are less likely to bolt compared to the large-seeded varieties.”

Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) Cilantro is two herbs in one: the leaf and the fruit, which is called coriander and used as a spice. The citrus flavor that many people love of fresh cilantro is a great addition to foods such as guacamole, fresh salsa, salads, Thai food, fish tacos and cheese omelets. Drying is not recommended, but I have frozen the chopped leaves whole and made them into a paste with olive oil.

Whole or ground fruit are used in baking, chili sauces, pasta salads, seasoning mixtures, and pickling. The roots are sometimes used in Thai salads and relishes.

Grown and harvested as an annual, cilantro flowers and reseeds in the same growing season if several stems of seed pods are left to mature. As the plant grows, spindly, slender, less-flavorful leaves develop. The cilantro bolts and forms the fruit

Culantro (Eryngium foetidum) Culantro has an unusual, thistlelike appearance and growth habit, yet a pungent flavor to replace cilantro. It’s known as Ngo gai in Central America, and is popular in the Yucatan area of Mexico. In Minnesota, it does not tolerate freezing temperatures and is grown as an annual. Leaves are finely chopped and are extremely tasty. The leaves have nearly the same chemistry, fragrance, and kitchen use as cilantro and can be used interchangeably in recipes. The national dish of Panama is sancocho, (chicken soup), and would not be sancocho without culantro.

It is also used in stews, pastries, soups, and meat dishes. Use it in any recipe calling for cilantro. The prickles on the leaf edges disappear once it is chopped or cooked. It thrives in hot weather in partial sun. Seeds are available from Richters.

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The Replacements

Papalo (Porophyllum ruderale subsp. macrocephalum) Papalo is a robust, annual herb, growing to 3-feet tall with velvety, large leaves. The scalloped leaves are 1-to-2-inches long and wide. Touching the soft, light green leaves emits an odor similar to cilantro. The oil glands occur on the leaf and are scattered over its surface and they provide one of the strongest scents reported by botanists. Seeds collected in late summer are sowed early the following spring. The feathery seeds are similar to dandelion seeds and drift into the air and disperse. Papalo shares similar chemicals with cilantro but it is distinctly different and flavorful in salsas and tapenades. Some say the flavor is a cross between cilantro and cucumber. The fresh leaves are chopped and added to tacos, guacamole and carnitas, a Mexican pork dish. Use papalo fresh from the garden in the summer because the leaves do not dry well for storage. Seeds are available from Richters.

“

Pepicha (Poropyllum linaria) Pepicha, aka, chepiche, is an annual herb native to Oaxaca, Mexico. The flavor is similar to papalo but the plant growth is entirely different, with 1-to-1½-inch long, narrow, grasslike leaves. This unique upright plant is wispy and grows up to 3-feet tall. Flowerheads are small and inconspicuous. Enjoying a recent revival in modern Mexican cooking, the flavor of pepicha is similar to the citrus notes of cilantro but much more potent. Its flavor and aroma have hints of pine, citrus, and mint and it pairs well with egg and green salads, tabbouleh, and potato dishes.

Grown as an annual in the north, seeds can be direct sown when soil temps warm or started indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost. It usually reseeds year after year without being invasive. Seed is available from superseeds.com.

Papalo is a great substitute for cilantro. I have a friend who is a fantastic cook but despises cilantro. During one visit, we made tapenade and used papalo generously in it. It passed the test and she really enjoyed it.”

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Vietnamese Coriander (Persicaria odorata) Immigrants of Southeast Asia introduced this herb to the United States as rau ram, pronounced “zow zam.” It is an important ingredient in Vietnamese and Malay cuisines. The annual Vietnamese coriander grows like a ground cover in the Midwest and, thankfully, it is an annual or it would not be welcome in my garden as a perennial. In one season, it takes up a 3-foot area and produces plenty of cut herb for cooking.

The succulent leaves are spotted with purple blotches on linear, 2-inch-long leaves. As plants grow, the tips root in the soil and keep growing. The flavor has a spicy hint of lemon giving it a pleasant fragrance. Vietnamese coriander, also sometimes called Cambodian mint, is often used to replace peppermint in Southeast Asian dishes. It is commonly used to flavor fish soups, stews, meat dishes and green salads and it keeps its

Thai basil (Ocimum basilicum ‘Thai’) Also known as sweet Thai basil, its lovely, purple stems are spicy, sweet and citrus flavored and are great in salad dressings, teas and meat dishes. Flowers are pink to purple.

It’s a nice substitute for cilantro. When harvesting any basil, handle with care as the leaves bruise easily. A buying resource is johnnyseeds.com.

‘Siam Queen’ is an All-America Selections winner Thai basil that is grown from seed. It is known for its clove and licorice flavors and is also grown as an ornamental plant in the garden or in containers. Sow seeds directly in the garden after soil has warmed. It is late flowering on 2-foot-tall plants. It is available from parkseed.com.

These are relatively easy to grow and cultivate once you have procured them. Sow seeds directly in the garden as

flavor in the cooking process so is added early in recipes that are cooked. Though similar to cilantro, its flavor is considered to be much stronger and smokey, and the quantity can often be cut in half compared to the amount of cilantro that would be used. The advantage of growing this herb is that it thrives in hot temperatures and humidity in direct sun. Beware of over-fertilizing as it will product a lot of growth but a dulleddown flavor at the same time. Plants or seeds can be purchased to grow it. A plant source is thegrowers-exchange.com

early as mid-April. It loves cool weather and partial shade.

Combine these herbs with other herbs such as basil, marjoram, rosemary, mint, and dill that blend well with many foods. Experiment with them, and, as I always do, find a recipe, use it as a guide, and amend it to your liking!

Theresa Mieseler is the author of “Beyond Rosemary, Basil, and Thyme” (Shady Acres Herb Farm, 2019). Learn more at shadyacres.com.

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NOT ALL

BAD

Yes, they are poisoners, but black walnut has many benefits and you can grow around its faults.

By Susan M. Barbieri

“

It’s really a fascinating tree.”

– brandon miller assistant professor u of m department of horticultural science

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St. Paul homeowner Jim Willenbring has enjoyed success as a backyard vegetable gardener, with his south-facing raised bed and containers overflowing with beans, cucumbers, melons, garlic, onions and raspberries. But he has studiously avoided planting anything on the side of his property where, wedged into a 15-foot space between his home and his neighbor’s, there towers a massive black walnut tree that he estimates to be at least 80 years old.

“There’s nothing I can grow there,” says Jim, who tried and failed to grow tomatoes at a fair distance from the tree.

“I tried a few things early on when we got the house, but underneath it I’ve abandoned all gardening.”

Jim has mixed feelings about the black walnut tree, whose canopy extends across the entire roof of the house and provides welcome shade in the summer.

But as an avid gardener, he wants to fill the space underneath the tree with

something other than wood chips.

Black walnut trees produce a compound called juglone, which is found in all parts of the tree – from its finest roots to its nuts and leaves. The juglone is a survival mechanism, according to Julie Weisenhorn, University of Minnesota extension educator. Juglone-sensitive plants won’t thrive near a black walnut tree, which is the tree’s way of effectively reducing competition for nourishment.

Because juglone is most concentrated in the roots, removing the tree often won’t solve the problem, says Weisenhorn.

If you have a plant near a black walnut tree and you see wilting, it could be the juglone, says Brandon Miller, assistant professor in the U’s Department of Horticultural Science and a specialist in perennial plants. “The symptoms of juglone toxicity are wilting, the leaves start to yellow and brown, you get stunting, and eventually they die back.”

to shield it from extreme heat.

Resistant to insect damage and disease, it turns a beautiful golden yellow in the fall, and features deeply ridged bark once mature. It also tolerates alkaline soil and supports several species of moths and butterflies as well as attracting birds You can eat the fruits of black walnut, though they do not taste like commercial walnuts. Some people are even tapping black walnut for syrup, which Miller describes as having an almost smoky flavor.

“It’s really a fascinating tree,” he says.

But what to plant?

In Praise of Black Walnut

For home gardeners with a black walnut tree in their own or a neighboring yard, it’s essential to understand the characteristics of this tree both to avoid the heartbreak of watching certain plants wither and die and perhaps come to appreciate what the tree does have to offer.

A native of North America, found in the wild as far east as Massachusetts, as far south as Florida and Texas, black walnut grows in USDA Zones 4 through 9, making it both cold-hardy and heat-tolerant. The trees are often found near water, such as on the banks of a stream or river, says Miller, who has observed black walnut thriving in locations where other plants struggle.

Large trees such as the black walnut are important for carbon sequestration, erosion control and water runoff management, Weisenhorn says. Such a tree can result in energy savings, if it is planted on the correct side of the house

Miller’s first piece of advice to gardeners with black walnut is to follow a “right plant, right place” strategy. “Start off just by selecting plants that are thought to be or known to be tolerant of the juglone,” he says. (See sidebar) Some plants – tomatoes and potatoes in particular – are highly susceptible to juglone. Plant those far from the tree and its canopy. In addition, keep leaf litter away from susceptible plants and don’t use compost made from black walnut leaves on a vegetable garden.

“There is no perfect tree. Every tree comes with some baggage. But if we can use the principles of ‘right plant, right place’ and acknowledge the issues and also think about the positives, we can start coexisting with these plants in our landscape,” Miller says.

Weisenhorn and Miller advise homeowners to conduct research before planting near a black walnut tree. Because sources might conflict, consult several resources until you see some consistency and a consensus emerges.

“It can make an excellent shade tree, and you just have to work your garden around those limitations,” Miller says. “If you can do that research ahead of time, you can save yourself some headaches, some heartaches, and absolutely avoid the financial component of buying a bunch of plant material and having plants fail.”

That’s advice Jim Willenbring has been following carefully.

“I’ve learned now that it’s a good thing to do research on what vegetables grow well near the tree and what vegetables don’t,” he said. “There’s lots of pros and

cons with this tree. It is a beautiful shade tree for us, but you’ve got to take the bad with the good.”

Susan Barbieri is a St. Paul-based freelance writer.

WHAT TO PLANT NEAR A BLACK WALNUT TREE Spring Bulbs and Ephemerals Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) Giant crocus (Crocus vernus) Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii) Jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) ‘Spring Beauty’ crocus Perennials/Groundcovers Astilbe Bee balm (Monarda) Brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba) Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) Coral bells (Heuchera) Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum) Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina) Lungwort (Pulmonaria) Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) Purple Coneflower (Echinacea) Spiderwort (Tradescantia) Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa) Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) Annuals Hollyhock (self-seeding biennial) Morning glory New Guiney impatiens Petunias Tropical hibiscus Wax begonia Zinnia Source: “The Best Plants for 30 Tough Sites,” University of Minnesota Extension Service

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Uncommon Shrubs

Zone 3 HARDY TO

By Kathy Purdy

NO ONE LIKES TO FIND OUT THEY’RE NOT INVITED TO A PARTY THAT ALL THEIR FRIENDS ARE GOING TO. THAT’S HOW I FELT DECADES AGO WHEN RESEARCHING PLANTS FOR MY USDA ZONE 4 GARDEN. EVERY RESOURCE I FOUND SEEMED TO ONLY OFFER PLANTS HARDY TO ZONES 5-8. EVENTUALLY I LEARNED THERE WERE MANY PLANTS I COULD GROW—IT JUST TOOK SOME WORK TO FIND THEM. HOW MUCH MORE SO FOR GARDENERS IN ZONE 3? I CHALLENGED MYSELF TO SEE HOW MANY UNCOMMON, GARDEN-WORTHY SHRUBS I COULD FIND THAT WERE HARDY TO USDA ZONE 3. UNCOMMON BECAUSE—DON’T YOU LOVE IT WHEN GARDEN VISITORS WHIP THEIR HEAD AROUND AND ASK, “WHAT IS THAT PLANT?”

PROVEN WINNERS

B L A C K C H O K E B E R R Y Aronia melanocarpa) 6'h x 6'w is a native shrub with white flowers in spring, handsome dark green foliage, black berries that birds love, and excellent fall color. (More info at https://northerngardener.org/great-plants-for-northern-gardens-day-10-blackchokeberry/) ‘Viking’, a hybrid with European mountain ash, has been around for a while, and grows 3 to 6 feet tall. It will gradually expand by suckering to make bird-sheltering thickets.

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Aronia melanocarpa ‘UCONNAM012’ 14"h x from Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs (PW) 3'w takes that suckering tendency and runs with it. At only 8 to 14 inches tall, it’s meant to be a woody ground cover. Deer and rabbits may browse the white flowers but otherwise leave it alone. Birds and other wildlife enjoy the berries in fall and winter. Like all black chokeberries, it’s salt and drought tolerant, perfect for edging your driveway or the street. In its native habitat it thrives in swamps and moist thickets so will tolerate snow piled up on it as well.

PROVEN WINNERS

Ground Hug®

PROVEN WINNERS

L o w S c a p e M o u n d ® Aronia melanocarpa 2'h x ‘UCONNAM165’ (PW) does not sucker, but— 2'w as its name suggests—forms 1 to 2 foot tall mounds, perfect for edging a bed or providing contrast with ornamental grasses, especially in the fall when black chokeberry explodes with color.

Look for Low Scape Snowfire™ Aronia melanocarpa 4'h x ‘SMNAMPEM’ (PW) starting next year. It’s taller than 4'w Ground Hug® or Low Scape Mound®, growing 4 feet tall and wide. It’s covered with snowy-white flowers beloved by pollinators in spring and fire-red foliage in fall—an excellent native alternative to burning bush!

PROVEN WINNERS

Dwarf birch C e s k y G o l d ® Betula x plettkei 4'h x ‘Golden Treasure’ (PW) was made for cold climates, 3'w requiring cool summers, moist soil, and a blanket of snow in winter. The small leaves look like they were edged with pinking shears and retain their chartreuse color all season long in full sun. Definitely some cuteness factor going on here!

Planting it in front of a dark green or purple shrub will really make it pop, and the fine texture will contrast beautifully with most other plants in your border. Topping out at 4 feet, it’s not too big and not too small—just right!

HOW TO PLANT A SHRUB • When digging a hole, it should be wider than the rootball of the shrub, and only just as deep.

• The soil that comes from the hole (backfill) should not be amended. If you need more soil to completely fill the hole after you’ve placed the shrub, use garden compost.

• Before you place the shrub in the hole, fill that hole with water and let it drain.

• Place the shrub in the hole, fill the gaps with the soil, and water again.

• Use soil to make a little dam around the shrub that you can fill with an inch of water a week.

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Uncommon Shrubs Hardy to Zone 3

PROVEN WINNERS

A fruit-bearing shrub even more hardy than strawberries (USDA Zone 2), whose flowers can take 20°F and still produce fruit, and that fruit ripens at the same time as strawberries (or even a little before)—could there be such a thing? Yes, it’s called the h o n e y b e r r y or h a s k a p (Lonicera caerulea).

The berries look like elongated blueberries but have far higher levels of antioxidants and three times the amount of vitamin C than blueberries—truly a super fruit! The flavor is hard to describe—sort of like a cross between blueberry and raspberry, with maybe a hint of blackberry.

You need two different compatible varieties to cross pollinate for best fruit set. Some varieties are described as self-fruitful, but even these do better with pollination from a different variety. Wait for the berries to turn purple on the inside before harvesting. Berries color up on the outside long before they reach peak sweetness. Warning: The birds might clean you out if you don’t net them. (Dimensions vary depending on cultivar)

PROVEN WINNERS

Do you have a slope that’s too steep to mow and 2'h x a pain in the back to string-trim? Try blanketing it 5'w with S i b e r i a n C y p r e s s C e l t i c P r i d e ® Microbiota decussata ‘Prides’ (PW). This is a low-growing (1 to 3 foot tall) evergreen shrub similar to but more elegant than ground cover juniper. A bright green in summer, the shrub turns bronzy purple in winter. Hardy to USDA Zone 2 and tolerant of partial shade, its one non-negotiable requirement is well-drained soil—no standing water allowed. Easy enough to meet that requirement on a slope.

PROVEN WINNERS

And now for something completely different: 3'h x I c e b e r g A l l e y ® S a g e l e a f W i l l o w Salix candida 6'w ‘Jefberg’ (FE). The powdery silver foliage of this willow is unlike anything else hardy to USDA Zone 3. It makes a marvelous contrast to adjacent dark purple or green plants. The silver catkins have red stamens eventually revealing yellow pollen and just might be the first thing in the season that you cut for a vase. Like most willows, it does well in moist soil and is suitable for a rain garden. Read more about I c e b e r g A l l e y ® here: https://northerngardener.org/iceberg-alley-sageleaf-willow/

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

(Sorbaria sorbifolia) is neither 6'h x an ash nor a spirea, but it has wonderful, multi-colored 6'w foliage when it emerges in early spring. The leaves eventually turn all green, with fluffy spirea-like white flowers blooming in early summer. Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘Sem’ grows 4-6 feet tall and suckers. In a garden bed you will need to remove the suckers to control its size, but since it’s hardy to USDA Zone 2 (you read that right) grow it in a container and the suckers are contained. Or, grow it as a specimen in the lawn and mow those suckers down!

KATHY PURDY

Ash leaf spirea

PROVEN WINNERS

If ‘Sem’ sounds a little big for your garden, two much 3'h x smaller choices have recently entered the market.

4'w M r . M u s t a r d ® Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘SMNSSC’ (PW) is half the height of ‘Sem’ and has the same fabulous yellow, orange, red, pink, and lime green spring color and the same pretty white flowers. But--it still suckers, requiring some pruning to keep it in check. However, I’ve grown M A T C H A B A L L® Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘Levgreen’ (FE) 3'h x for two years and it has yet to sucker. (Fingers crossed.)

4'w It’s also not supposed to flower much, and so far it hasn’t flowered for me at all.

PROVEN WINNERS

There are plenty of flowers you can cut for bouquets 4'h x in the summer, but it gets more challenging in autumn.

4'w That’s where P r o u d B e r r y ® C o r a l B e r r y Symphoricarpos sp. ‘Sofie’ (PW) comes in. The pink berries deepen in color as the weather cools, and they’re great as cuts for a vase. The blue-green foliage complements the pink fruit beautifully. Plant this where you can see it from a window on blustery fall days, fronting it with a large patch of colchicums in the same color. And let your kids in on this secret: the berries are fun to squish between your fingers because they make a little pop! sound.

Zone 3 doesn’t have to mean boring or high maintenance—this selection of shrubs proves that. With this interesting list in hand, you won’t be left out of the party, ever.

Kathy Purdy gardens in upstate New York. She hosts an award-winning blog, coldclimategardening.com

Northern Gardener l September/October 2022

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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NORTHERN VIEW

Buckwheat Experiment

opened from racemes on the upper leaf axils. The plants continued to grow vigorously with no effort on my part. Soon they had engulfed the space between the vine crop rows.

I should have mowed them off, but they were such lovely plants, and then… the insects came! Every morning as I worked in the garden, I heard the buzz of bumblebees laden with buckwheat pollen.

Near the end of June, Other times, I was distracted by the the buckwheat was golden-splashed 6 to 8 inches tall, and forewings of the beginning to flower.” silver-spotted skipper, or the metallic green head and thorax of a species of Near the end of June, the buckwheat Agapostemon bee, both feeding on the was 6 to 8 inches tall, and beginning flowers’ nectar. I couldn’t bring myself to flower. Clusters of white blooms

“

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Minnesota State Horticultural Society

to cut down the plants.

By the beginning of July, the plants were huge and definitely overtaking the vining crops. I reluctantly cut and pulled to make room for their sprawling neighboring plants.

The buckwheat had been successful in shading out weeds, as the ground was essentially entirely clear under its canopy.

In that summer with long periods of drought, the buckwheat had also shaded the soil, keeping it cool and moist.

The nutrients that it harbored would return to the soil for the benefit of future garden plants.

I broke some of gardening’s sacred rules in not anticipating how big the mature buckwheat plants would be and in not mowing them off at a more reasonable size. Still, I am not sorry that my investigation went slightly off the rails and I serendipitously discovered the beauty of these plants in the midst of my garden. Whenever we learn something, it’s a successful experiment.

Parker’s Prairie-based Marlene Schoeneck is a master gardener in Ottertail County.

PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

being a science teacher for mostly middle school students, I am used to trial and error investigations — often more error than trial. Sometimes just flowing with the twists and turns of an investigation gone awry leads to the most interesting discoveries for me and my students. It is in this way that I approached growing buckwheat in my garden last summer.

For years, I wanted to try growing a cover crop, or “green manure,” in part of my home garden. My resistance to giving up the growing space prevented me from moving forward with the plan, even though the garden is large (approximately 50-by-70 feet). Then, during the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener course, another option emerged as the presenter discussed using cover crops as a living mulch between garden rows.

This seemed like a viable solution to my dilemma! Soon, I bought 3 pounds of buckwheat seed.

In late May, l sowed the buckwheat generously between my rows of vining crops: pumpkins, winter squash and melons. This would keep down weed growth in the wide expanse between the rows, and could later be mown off as the vine crops took over. As I was only growing the buckwheat as a shortterm cover crop, I didn’t worry about the mature size when I planted. This was a mistake! I also didn’t anticipate just how fascinated I would get with the growth of these plants.

Discount Partners

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

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

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

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

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

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