Northern Gardener - Winter 2023

CABIN FEVER? 9 WAYS TO CURE IT

Gardener Northern

A MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY PUBLICATION

PLANTS

for ALL Seasons Winter Wonderland Containers How to Manage Houseplant Pests Grow These Unusual Trees Fern Fascination

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WINTER 2023

®

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Minneapolis | Apple Valley | Eden Prairie | Fridley | Maplewood | Plymouth

WINTER 2023 l VOLUME 151 l NUMBER 4

Table of Contents 44 8 SEASON’S END? There’s still a lot we can do in our gardens even as the calendar marches toward winter.

BY SAMANTHA JOHNSON

IN THIS ISSUE 2 Director’s Note

30

55

4 MSHS News: Classes and Calendar 10 Garden Plan: Winter Welcome

30 The Just-Right Garden

Precise plantings and meticulous care make this garden shine all year.

44 Healing History

Hmong gardeners and U researchers bring traditional herbs into modern medicine. BY MICHELLE BRUHN

BY GAIL BROWN HUDSON

36 Tropical

Minnesota

Pick your plants carefully to create an island feel in the North.

BY SUSAN M. BARBIERI

40 Fascinated

by Ferns

Native ferns evoke nostalgia, charm and cool.

BY RHONDA FLEMING HAYES

48 The Unusual Suspects

Choose less common trees to plant for the future. BY MARY LAHR SCHIER

52 Tulip Traffic Jam

Pollinators and people line up to see this colorful garden.

BY DIANE MCGANN

55 Plants for All Seasons

Break up early winter’s bleakness with these hardy, still-green perennials. BY GAIL BROWN HUDSON

12 Growing Together: Garden and Cemetery 14 Ask the Expert: Pine Needle Problems 15 Garden Solutions: Houseplant Pest Management 16 Garden Life: Winter Cure 18 DIY: On the Rocks 21 Plant Profile: More Coneflowers to Love 24 Garden Design: Side-by-Side Stunner 28 Kitchen Garden: All in the Family 60 Before & After: Downsizing the Garden

ABOUT THE COVER: Early or late, Tiarella offers interest. Photo by Gail Brown Hudson Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

1

Zongxee Lee in her greenhouse

MSHS Board of Directors

Mary Hockenberry Meyer, Chair Mary Marrow, Vice Chair Paul Markwardt, Treasurer Renay Leone, Secretary Nan Eserkaln Gail Brown Hudson Judy MacManus Randy Nelson Steve Poppe Jill Rulli Don Smith Robin Trott Rhys Williams

A NOTE FROM

The Director “each plant has a purpose,” says Zongxee Lee, whose herb garden is profiled beginning on page 44 in this issue. The same could be said of every garden. For Zongxee, her garden’s purpose is to bring healing herbs to Minnesota’s Hmong community. She’s working with University of Minnesota scientists to study these traditional herbs and discover what it is about them that promotes healing.

What’s the purpose of your garden?

In this issue, you’ll meet a host of gardeners with diverse and beautiful purposes. Wayne Johnson (page 48) is growing trees to show how many species can survive well in central Minnesota’s climate. Stephanie Rossow (page 52) is creating a showstopping display of tulips to delight her neighbors. John Larsen (page 30) is nurturing a garden that welcomes friends. And, four neighbors along busy Snelling Avenue (page 24) in St. Paul have planted a pollinator garden to inspire passersby and feed bees and butterflies.

Whatever the goals of your garden, we’re here to support you. Winter is the perfect time to study up on plants, techniques and ideas for northern gardening. Of course, this magazine is

full of ideas and our website offers more options.

• Our online Northern Gardener™ Resource Hub is filled with free articles, videos and webinars on everything from growing food to battling invasive insects.

• MSHS classes offer many options for learning about landscape design, gardening techniques and more.

• Turn to our webinar shop for indepth information on a variety of topics. Starting at only $8, classes are a great way to learn during the cold season.

• Check out northerngardener.org for continually updated information.

Whatever your winter holds, we hope you have a happy holiday season and great fun planning for next year’s garden.

Lara Lau-Schommer Executive Director P.S. Looking for a gift for your favorite gardener or gardener-to-be? Gift Society Membership and subscriptions are discounted through Nov. 28. Now is the best time to give the gift of gardening.

651-643-3601 l info@northerngardener.org

2

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

@mnhort

MSHS Staff

Lara Lau-Schommer, Executive Director Becky Swee, Communications and Marketing Director Mary Ohm, Office Manager and Volunteer Coordinator Erik Bergstrom, Membership and Marketing Manager Carrie Lyons, Education and Outreach Director Betsy Pierre, Advertising Sales Manager

Northern Gardener

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

Copyright 2023 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 quarterly (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) with an additional digital issue in January 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 Make-and-Take Crafting Carnivorous Terrariums

Ready to dust off your DIY skills? In this class, you’ll create your own glass carnivorous plant terrarium, complete with plants and decorations. You’ll have the opportunity to make something you can enjoy at home or give as a gift. All materials will be provided. Experienced presenter Derek Carwood of Greenwood Horticulture will guide you through all the steps to make your terrarium and then provide tips on how to care for it once you're home.

2024 Gardening Trends Tuesday, Dec. 5, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Cost: Free for members, $10 for nonmembers Location: Your computer Instructor: Mary Lahr Schier, longtime editor of Northern Gardener® magazine

From shrinking yards (and plants) to creating more resilient landscapes, garden trends in the 2020s reflect strong climate awareness, changing housing patterns and new generations embracing plants and gardening. They are also fun and colorful! As editor of Northern Gardener®, Mary has been watching garden trends for nearly 20 years. She’ll dig into the research, talk about new plants and techniques and reveal trends to watch for next year.

4

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

ISTOCK

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $60 members, $65 nonmembers Location: Bad Weather Brewing, 414 Seventh St. W., St. Paul Instructor: Derek Carwood, horticulturist and owner/operator of Greenwood Horticulture

Make-and-Take Evergreen Container Saturday, Nov. 11, 3 – 4:30 p.m Cost: $60 members, $65 nonmembers Location: Wagners Greenhouse, 6024 Penn Ave. S., Minneapolis Instructor: Wagners staff

Simple and attractive evergreen arrangements add beauty and color to your front door all winter. After a brief presentation, you will work with various greens, including red and white pine, cedar and balsam, to create an eye-catching evergreen container. Also included is red dogwood to add height and color to your container. Feel free to bring your own reusable decorations. Additional products available for purchase include berries, pinecones, pods, birch branches and colorful baubles for glitz and glam. Please bring your own gardening gloves and pruners.

Dark foliage plants and edible flowers are trending for 2024.

‘It’s Sow Easy’: Sowing Seeds Outdoors in Winter, Part 1 Tuesday, Jan. 16, 6:30 – 7:45 p.m.

Cost: $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers Location: Your computer Instructor: Michelle Mero Riedel, master gardener and writer/ photographer for Northern Gardener magazine. She has taught gardening classes to the community for over 20 years.

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Cost: $30 for members, $35 for nonmembers Location: Bad Weather Brewing, 414 Seventh St. W., St. Paul Instructor: Michelle Bruhn, local food advocate, regenerative gardener, writer, educator and farmers market manager

Learn how to use herbs and flowers from your garden to create healing salves. Make your own tins of salve to use yourself or give as handmade gifts this holiday season. Michelle, proprietor of Forks in the Dirt, will lead this fun, hands-on, DIY class. Choose from a variety of recipes and create three unique tins of salve to take home.

Choose from calendula, yarrow and comfrey-infused oils and many essential oils available for scenting. Learn how to dehydrate your own herbs and florals so you can replicate this in your own home.

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

MICHELLE MERO RIEDEL

DIY Herbal Salve Making

Michelle is excited to share her knowledge and experience sowing seeds outdoors in the winter and spring. This method of growing seeds uses recyclable containers to make minigreenhouses. The greenhouses are placed outside in the winter and spring months. Because nature controls the germination of winter-sown seeds, plants are hardier than plants grown indoors.

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Join today with $10 off any level for Minnesota State Horticultural Society members.

Members save 15% off at Garden Safari Gifts at Como.

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From nurturing healthy soil and propagating spring bulbs to designing floral displays and planning garden improvements— from the ground up, your membership grows flourishing gardens at Como.

Discount not available online.

Become a Como Friends Member

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For more information: comofriends.org/support/membership 651.487.8229 Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

5

UPCOMING EVENTS

Join our circle of visionary gardeners.

Community Events

MSHS Heirloom Circle AD

“

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

AppleHouse is Open Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Aug. 24 – Dec. 24, hours vary Location: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 7485 Rolling Acres Rd., Victoria Stock up on apples, treats, pumpkins and gourds at the AppleHouse, open through Dec. 24. Shop a variety of popular University of Minnesota apple introductions, including Honeycrisp, SweeTango and First Kiss.

Don’t miss the Holiday Boutique, opening in November. All proceeds support arboretum research and operations. The AppleHouse is located just west of the arboretum’s main entrance, off of Minnesota Hwy. 5.

Contact: arb.umn.edu/apple-house.

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 info@northerngardener.org Visit: northerngardener.org/ support/heirloom-circle/

6

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Plant Propagation: The Joy of Starting More Plants St. Anthony Park Garden Club Tuesday, Nov. 7, 7:30 – 8:45 p.m.

Location: St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall, 2323 Como Ave., St. Paul Propagating new plants for your own use or to share is exciting and satisfying. Plant breeder David Zlesak will share tips on starting plants from seed, cuttings, division and grafting. Special emphasis on ways to adapt propagation techniques to resources commonly available to the home gardener.

Contact: kare14will@gmail.com.

Growing Fruits in Minnesota Garden Club of Minneapolis Tuesday, Nov. 14, 7 – 8 p.m.

Location: St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church, 3450 Irving Ave. S., Minneapolis Join the Garden Club of Minneapolis (formerly Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis), along with Faith Appelquist, owner of Tree Quality, a local landscape design and tree evaluation company. Faith will discuss the joys and challenges of growing different fruits in our Minnesota climate.

Contact: gardenclubmpls.org.

Hydrangeas Goodhue County Horticultural Society Monday, Nov. 20, 7 – 8 p.m.

Location: First Presbyterian Church (enter through the doors on West Ave.), 503 West Sixth St., Red Wing Olmsted County Master Gardener Karin Merek not only grows many varieties of hydrangeas, she is also testing several varieties. Join us as Karin shares what she knows and has recently learned.

Contact: clp55066@yahoo.com.

New Plants and Perennials for 2024 Garden Club of Minneapolis Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, 7 – 8 p.m.

Join the Garden Club of Minneapolis (formerly Men’s and Women’s Garden Club of Minneapolis), along with fifth-generation,

family-owned, local garden center Bailey Nurseries, as they introduce exciting new plants and perennials we can expect to see in the new year. Free and open to the public.

Contact: gardenclubmpls.org.

visit northerngardener.org/community-events.

Correction The name of the co-author of The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen (University of Minnesota Press, 2017) was omitted from an article in the Fall 2023 issue of Northern Gardener.

Minnesota writer Beth Dooley was Sean Sherman’s co-author.

—Eds.

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Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

7

GARDEN CHECKLIST

SEASON’S END?

By Samantha Johnson Photos by Dan Johnson

There’s still a lot we can do in our gardens even as the calendar marches toward winter.

Finish

RAKING!

NOVEMBER n Finish raking.

Any lingering leaves? Remove them from turf areas before the snow flies, and pile them up as mulch in garden beds or add them to your compost pile.

n Use your dried herbs.

What better way to season your Thanksgiving dishes than with herbs that you grew and dried yourself?

n Harvest the last of the veggies.

Some of your fall veggie plantings may still be producing.

Keep harvesting chard, lettuce, kale and other cool-season greens as long as the weather allows.

n Prepare your snowblower.

We never know when that first blizzard will blow through. Be sure to complete the fall maintenance on your snowblower so it’s ready to go when you need it.

n Amend beds with compost.

Give the compost time to settle in and your beds will be ready to go in the spring.

n Put away garden décor.

This might include plant markers, rain gauges, weather vanes or anything you want to protect from heavy snow and the ravages of winter weather.

R

Once you’ve finished watering for the season, drain the water from your garden hoses before they freeze. Store hoses in a protected place until spring.

n Drain garden hoses.

n Prepare your Christmas cactus.

8

If you’d like your Christmas or Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera) to bloom for the holidays, make sure it’s getting the 14 hours of darkness required for blooming 6 to 8 weeks in advance. For more information, see northerngardener.org/ plant-profile-christmas-cactus.

Minnesota State Horticultural Society

I

DECEMBER n Work on your garden journal.

Record your experiences this year. What worked? What didn’t? Be specific in your notes.

n Make plans for 2024.

What will you change? What stays the same?

n Organize seeds.

Catalog your current inventory so you’ll know what you still need to buy and what you still need to order.

n Watch for seed catalogs in the mailbox.

They’ll start arriving this month, so get ready to daydream.

n Make time for mulching.

Finish tucking in your garden for winter by adding a layer of mulch.

n Don’t cut back all perennials.

It’s tempting to make the garden as tidy as possible, but if you leave some of the spent sunflowers and rudbeckia, the birds can munch on them during the winter.

n Fill your bird feeders.

If you love watching birds in the winter, fill those feeders and get ready for those gorgeous feathered visitors.

n Put tools and garden equipment away.

This is a good time to clean your items and make any necessary repairs—then your tools will be ready to go for spring!

n Protect rose bushes.

Depending on your hardiness zone and the type of rose you’re growing, you may need to take protective measures to safely overwinter your roses.

n Decorate for the holidays.

This is the time to use the holiday planters and other décor you’ve been saving!

Wisconsin-based Samantha Johnson is the author of several books, including Vegetable Gardening for Beginners: Learn to Grow Anything No Matter Where You Live (New Shoe Press, 2023).

WRAPPING TREES FOR WINTER

f you have young trees in your yard, you’ll want to protect them for winter. Eager critters, like voles and rabbits, love to chow down on the bark of young trees and can cause extensive damage or even kill a tree. By wrapping the trunks, you provide a layer of protection, giving your tree the best chance to survive winter unscathed.

Tree guards come in many different materials. Cloth is handy if you’re wrapping a tree with low branches. Plastic wrap is great for trees that don’t have low branches. Corrugated plastic is strong and protective, but it’s a little harder to maneuver when applying. Paper wrap is another option, as is mesh. Aluminum window screening can be effective too.

Hardware cloth can be used to build an enclosure around the tree. This works well for older, well-established trees with trunks that are too large for tree guards as well as shrubs that may be targets for gnawing, such as arborvitae.

Wrapping young trees also protects them from sunscald— cracks that form when bark warms and cools too quickly.

Choose tree guards that are white or light-colored. And remove them before the trees come out of dormancy. For more on protecting trees, see northerngardener.org/winterdamage.

—S.J. Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

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GARDEN PLAN

Winter Welcome

Create cold-weather cheer with a seasonal container. just because it’s snowy and cold doesn’t mean our container gardens need to be bare. Evergreen foliage, berries, pinecones, bare branches and dried flower stems can create lush displays in the dark days of winter.

Build a seasonal container, layer by layer, to cheer up your front door in winter.

Start with greens.

When you are designing a winter planter, consider the texture, shape and color of the evergreens being used. Try mixing dark green spruce tips with the softness of pine or a blue-gray cedar set against the bold leaf shape of magnolia, shiny deep green on one side and velvet brown on the other. Right from the start, you have a container full of interest.

Add secondary elements. Harvest or purchase dried flowers that hold their shape through winter, such as hydrangeas, Allium, sunflowers, Angelica, coneflowers and grasses. Experiment with different seed heads or blooms you have in your garden for an interesting twist.

Add more color and texture. Red or yellow twig dogwood branches or birch poles are great natural elements that add color to an otherwise primarily green display. Berries and pinecones can add texture and a little color, too.

You can find unusual dried elements, such as lotus or okra pods, in local shops. Even eucalyptus works because it dries in the container and is preserved in the cold weather.

“

Experiment with different seed heads or blooms you have in your garden for an interesting twist.”

10 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Finish it off. Metal spheres, wooden stars, holiday ornaments (use frostproof types) or ribbon bows will give the container a finished look. Gold, silver or red are traditional for the holidays, but any color you like, or one that suits the style and color of your home will work, too. Don’t be afraid to throw in a twist that makes the design yours.

In general, a few bold elements will create the greatest impact, especially for a container that is mostly viewed from far away. You can add more detail if it’s near a door and will be seen as people come and go.

While the front door is the typical spot for a colorful winter container, consider making a second one to place near the rear door, if that’s where you regularly enter. You deserve a day brightener, too.

Jenn Hovland is an avid gardener and owner/lead designer at Studio Louise Flowers in Stillwater. You can follow her garden and floral adventures on Instagram at @studiolouiseflowers.

Add more detail, such as seed pods and feathery elements, to containers that will be seen up close.

Frozen planters? Try these tips.

• If the planters are moveable, bring them indoors or into a heated garage for 24 to 48 hours to thaw before designing.

• Early in the season, it’s possible only the top layer of soil is frozen. If the container is made of resin, plastic, wood or metal, pour hot water into it to thaw the soil. Terra cotta or ceramic containers may shatter during the winter months with the extra moisture in the soil.

• A power drill with a masonry bit can be used to drill pilot holes into the frozen soil. Take care not to drill through the sides or bottom of the container.

—J.H.

Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

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GROWING TOGETHER

Garden and Cemetery

Lakewood’s future embraces nature, history, community. for more than 150 years, Lakewood Cemetery has been a parklike respite and landmark in the middle of Minneapolis. In 2023, the cemetery entered a new era after it earned official designation as a Level 2 arboretum from Arbnet’s Arboretum Accreditation Program, which sets international standards for arboretums.

The designation marks the cemetery’s commitment to cultivating green spaces for educational and scientific purposes. In Minnesota, only the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, which is a Level 4 arboretum, ranks higher. “Becoming an accredited arboretum validates an important aspect of our historic legacy and future vision,” says Chris Makowske, Lakewood president.

“The cemetery has always been an arboretum,” says Paul Aarestad, Lakewood’s director of building and grounds, who has worked there for 41 years. The 250-acre cemetery predates most parks in Minneapolis and was developed at a time when garden cemeteries provided an escape from crowded cities. Families would walk, picnic and enjoy nature there, as well as bury and erect memorials to loved ones at the cemetery.

Changing Times

Death rituals and customs are changing, says Aarestad, and many of the cemetery’s new activities and memorial options respond to that. For many decades, most people opted for embalming and burial after death. Now, 60 percent are cremated. While the need for cemetery plots has declined, families still want to have a place to honor their dead rather than have their ashes “end up on a shelf in someone’s house,” Aarestad says.

Lakewood added a mausoleum with niches for urns in 2012, and it’s developing additional options, such as burying ashes in a planting hole with a significant or sentimental plant in it. “Green”

12 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Nestled in trees, Lakewood's Memorial Chapel is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

burial options, in which bodies are buried but not embalmed, may be offered in the future. Grief rituals, such as an annual lantern-lighting event, quarterly tea ceremonies and regular musical and book events, help families heal and remember those who have died.

Comfort in Nature

“The cemetery of the future will be a garden,” Aarestad says. Lakewood has been divided into eight zones based on topography and plantings. The southwest corner of the cemetery features many maple trees, so Lakewood plans to add other trees and plants with fall color to create an attractive autumn landscape. An area surrounding Lakewood’s 10-acre pond already features many flowering crabapple trees as well as magnolias, tulip trees and large bulb plantings, making it the perfect springtime walk. A third area will showcase the history of the cemetery with Victorian era plants and design.

Lakewood’s historic greenhouse—one of the nation’s oldest and largest in a

cemetery—allows the cemetery to grow flowers for bouquets and memorials and also to fill dozens of planting beds and hundreds of containers each year.

With 4,000 trees of more than 150 species, supporting the city’s tree canopy and adapting to changes in climate and weather is another goal of the new arboretum. All of the cemetery’s ash trees had to be removed because of emerald ash borer; Aarestad and cemetery leaders are evaluating diverse tree species that may have more resistance to future pests and diseases. Oak wilt is on their radar, says Aarestad. USDA Zone 5-hardy trees, such as yellowwood (Cladrastis), Exclamation™ London plane tree (Platanus x acerifolia ‘Morton Circle’), bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), are among the possibilities given the cemetery’s location in the urban heat island.

Nurturing understory plantings is another effort linked to becoming an arboretum. New plantings of native, bird-friendly plants will be added to

Below, top: In this photo from the 1920s, workers design arrangements in the greenhouse.

Bottom: Mature trees shade many walkways.

“

The cemetery has always been an arboretum.”

create a transition zone between the cemetery and nearby Roberts Bird Sanctuary. A monthly birding outing, gardening classes (some sponsored by MSHS), driving and walking routes and signage to teach visitors about the cemetery’s history and plants make Lakewood more of a community resource and destination than ever before.

“Cemeteries can scare people off,” says Aarestad. “Our big effort is to be more inviting to the public.”

Mary Lahr Schier is a long-time Minnesota garden writer. Follow her on Instagram at @mynortherngarden_mary.

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ASK THE EXPERT

Pine Needle Problems

Acid soil isn’t causing plant problems.

“My neighbor’s pine tree has dropped a 3- to 4-inch layer of pine needles and branches on my garden bed. Now nothing will grow there.

Is the soil too acid?” —Anonymous pine needles can be a great mulch, but sometimes there can be too much of a good thing.

If plants are struggling, it’s not because the soil is becoming too acid. Pine trees grow best in a slightly acid soil (pH of 4.5 to 6.0) and pine needles have a pH level of about 3.5. For comparison, rain water is 5.6 pH and neutral soil is 7.0.

While the needles themselves are acidic, they do not have the ability to raise the acidity of the soil appreciably. As they are broken down by soil microbes, the pine needles lose their acidity. And, they are slow to decompose. Any change in soil pH would be slow and slight.

Roots and Light

So, why are your plants struggling? It could be that the roots of your neighbor’s tree have spread into your yard and are competing with plants for water and nutrients. A pine tree’s roots can extend two to three times the distance of its dripline. So, if the tree’s branches extend 6 or 8 feet from the trunk, the roots could be 18 to even 24 feet away. If the tree is large and casts a lot of shade on your garden, that’s another factor in poor plant growth.

The relatively thick layer of pine needles on your planting bed may also be preventing air and water from getting to the plant roots. Pine needles are often recommended as a mulch because they are free and plentiful. However, most university sources recommend a 2- to 3-inch layer at most.

What to Do?

Start by assessing how much light the area is getting and choose plants that can handle the shade you have. Dry shade plants, such as lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.), coralbells (Heuchera) or bleeding heart (Dicentra) may be your best options. Consider cleaning up the pine needles on the bed and refresh the soil with compost before planting anything else. Water new plants well and at the base to ensure they are getting the moisture they need. Any plantings should be done with the understanding that raking pine needles may be an annual task.

Mary Lahr Schier is a Minnesota garden writer. Follow her on Instagram at @mynortherngarden_mary.

14 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

GARDEN SOLUTIONS

Houseplant Pest Management Attention and prevention eases bug pressure. do you get bugs on your houseplants? It can be extra frustrating to deal with pests inside, where they have no natural predators.

Common houseplant pests include scales, mealybugs, spider mites, fungus gnats and aphids. The best ways to get rid of them vary. For example, with fungus gnats, the infestation may wear itself out if you let the soil dry out completely between waterings for a month or two. The lack of water disrupts the gnats’ habitat and life cycle.

Scales often require a combination of spraying with soapy water or neem oil and scraping off the waxy adults with your fingernail. It’s gross, but effective.

Just be sure to set the houseplant that you’re treating on a patio or driveway, away from other plants that pollinators might visit. Dead of winter? Set the houseplant on some newspaper in a well-ventilated area like a bathtub with the bathroom fan running.

Above: Mealybugs on Hoya carnosa Right: A healthy clivia

Integrated Pest Management

With integrated pest management, the goal is to use the least destructive method possible to get rid of the pest.

In most cases, you will not need to blast it with a heavy-duty pesticide. Disrupting the pest’s life cycle will often be enough, and the best way to start is by identifying the pest you have. Look at photos of common houseplant pests and take it from there.

What about natural ways to control houseplant pests? I am a big fan of insect predators in my vegetable garden but the prospect of letting a bunch of ladybugs or wasps loose inside my house is off-putting. I do try to co-exist with my household spiders, in hopes of some natural pest control, but there’s a limit to how much I can tolerate.

There are greenhouse products that can help with widespread infestations of houseplant pests—one example is BioBee, a company that produces parasitic and predatory insects that feed on most of our

least favorite houseplant pests, such as spider mites and white flies.

Preventing Pests

Prevention is truly the best way to avoid bugs on your houseplants. Choose bagged potting soil and amendments for your houseplants. The majority of my houseplant pest problems were eliminated when I stopped using homemade compost for my containers. When you see a pest or problem, isolate that plant from the others to prevent spread.

Secondly, mind your watering practices. Only purchase and use pots that have a drainage hole, and allow soil to dry out between waterings. Houseplants usually need less water during our cold winters, though they appreciate some indoor humidity. Feel the soil with your fingertips before watering. More houseplants are killed by overwatering than underwatering, and overwatering

can lead to rotten roots, which attract more pests.

Always keep the tags that come with a new houseplant, and inspect your plants every week. If one seems to be struggling, move it to a different spot in your house. I had a monstera in an east window that stayed alive, but never thrived or grew the characteristic large, split leaves. I moved it to a south window and, in a matter of weeks, it showed signs of being much happier—it is now sporting beautiful monstera leaves.

If you have a favorite plant infested with bugs, take a cutting from a healthy area to propagate, then throw out the rest of the plant and its soil.

Houseplants have many benefits.

Keeping them healthy and free of bugs is worth prioritizing.

Follow Jennifer Rensenbrink on Instagram at @jenniferrensenbrink.

Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

15

GARDEN LIFE

Winter Cure

9 ways to treat cabin fever. a long winter is not for sissies. If you are a veteran of northern winters, I bet you practice most of the tips below already. But if you are new to the tribe of hardy plants and hardy souls, here are some remedies to treat cabin fever.

Check the Box When at home, the arrival of postal mail can seem like the highlight of your day, so make sure something good shows up in your mailbox. (And, for those of you who never check your mail: Try it! You may find something fun.)

Subscribe to Northern Gardener, of course.

You will get gardening advice targeted to our challenging conditions all year. See the list for even more choices.

2

Retail Therapy Even better than mail delivery is a package brought to your doorstep.

A gardening book, new gloves, an upgraded hand pruner—all are great gifts for yourself.

DANIEL JO

HNS

ON

Your 3 Seeding Dreams “Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with the dream,” says author Josephine Nuese.

Poring over seed catalogs and obsessing over seed purchases is a time-honored way to while away the winter.

16 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

A cardinal and a finch share a feeder in winter.

a Social Life Chances are your favorite 4 Cultivate plant has a fan club, and joining brings you camara-

derie, a periodical, and possibly free plants or seeds. Local garden clubs are also fun and in person. Check out classes offered by the hort society to get out of the house.

Feed the Birds When you set up a bird feeder outside a window, you bring color, shape and movement back into the subdued, snowy landscape. You can’t watch birds without wanting to know more about them. My advice: Buy black oil sunflower seed. Hang the bird feeder where bird poop and seed shells below it won’t matter. Finally, if you live in bear country, remove bird feeders when bears are active, typically late March to early November.

5

ISTOCK.COM

1

Mood Boosters

Fill a Vase Inexpensive cut flowers are a more potent mood lifter than, well, chocolate. Buy some.

6

Force a Flower Unlike many blooming houseplants, a forced bulb changes almost every day, giving the gardener something to observe and nurture. Look for already started bulbs in vases or pots in the grocery store.

7

Books and Magazines • Gardens Illustrated magazine. It’s British, expensive and always arrives late, but is very inspiring.

• Growing Perennials in Cold Climates: Revised and Updated (University of Minnesota Press, 2011) by Mike Heger, Debbie Lonnee and John Whitman • The Prairie Winterscape: Creative Gardening for the Forgotten Season (Fifth House Publishers, 2003) by Barbara Kam • Bulb Forcing for Beginners and the Seriously Smitten (AAB Book Publishing Company, 2012) by Art Wolk • Plant Grow Harvest Repeat: Grow a Bounty of Vegetables and Fruits by Mastering the Art of Succession Planting (Timber Press, 2022) by Meg Cowden • Small-Scale Homesteading: A Sustainable Guide to Gardening, Keeping Chickens, Maple Sugaring, Preserving and More (Skyhorse Press, 2023)

by Michelle Bruhn and Stephanie Thurow • Visit coldclimategardening.com and choose Book Reviews from the Opinions menu for more suggestions.

Plant Societies • For a list of Minnesota garden clubs and plant societies, visit northerngardener.org and search for “garden clubs.”

• For a list of societies nationally, visit ahsgardening.org and look under Resources.

—K.P.

Get Outdoors Grab every chance you get this winter to get some sunshine. Don’t let cold be your excuse. Embrace the Norwegian saying: There is no bad weather–only bad clothing. Invest in whatever you need to get out there.

Treat yourself to the nearest botanical garden or park. The change of scenery will do you good.

8

9

Savor a Thaw We usually have a thaw at some point in winter.

Grab your secateurs and prune! On rare occasions, the thaw is so extensive that you can pull weeds. Actual gardening outside is a highly effective cabin fever cure.

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Find award-winning writer Kathy Purdy on Instagram, Facebook and coldclimategardening.com. She gardens on 10 acres in upstate New York.

Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

17

DIY

On the Rocks

Try a gravel garden for low-maintenance beds. when I first heard the term “gravel garden,” it created an image of a garden with gravel mulch or a xeriscape in the desert. Not quite.

A gravel garden consists of landscape beds containing thick layers of gravel over the soil to prevent weeds from growing. Often filled with drought-tolerant, pollinator-friendly native plants, these gardens can be a low-maintenance alternative to lawns and conventional garden beds.

Gravel gardens have been used at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wis., to reduce maintenance and inspire homeowners, says Jeff Epping, former director of horticulture at the garden and now an independent design consultant. “When we installed our first gravel garden, we had some explaining to do because visitors believed it was a typical rock garden,” he says. “Once people understood the purpose and design of the garden, they were enamored by it.”

After using gravel gardens at Olbrich, Epping decided to replace his front yard at home with a gravel garden. While neighbors were skeptical at first, they’ve since told Epping they love how the space was transformed into a sea of blooms and pollinators.

Getting Started

Installing a gravel garden requires work up-front, but you’re rewarded with years of beautiful plants and a healthy ecosystem.

Before beginning, choose the right site. The best areas have full sun and are away from mature trees. A high and dry spot is great.

To install a gravel garden, you must first remove the top 5 to 6 inches of soil at the edge of each bed to prevent the gravel from running off, though some gardeners remove much more soil, especially if there is a persistent weed problem.

The gravel layer needs to be 4 to 5 inches deep to prevent weeds from

18 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Jeff Epping’s gravel garden is filled with native plants.

“

establishing. Pea gravel that is a quarter-inch, three-sixteenths or threeeighths inch size is best for these beds.

Adding a 6-inch hard edging on the beds prevents weeds and holds in the gravel, says Andrew Bunting, who works for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and installed a gravel garden after seeing Epping’s garden. “You’ll get weeds along the edge if the gravel goes up against the grass,” says Bunting.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF EPPING, OLBRICH BOTANICAL GARDENS

I like to have a mix of broadleaf perennials and grasses. I also use plants that attract birds for their seeds or pollinators because of their flowers.”

In gravel gardens, plants need to be placed in the gravel layer. Roots will reach into the soil over time. A thick layer of gravel and careful maintenance in the beginning is the key to success.

»

The Plants

Deep-rooted prairie plants are good choices for gravel gardens, says Bunting. “I like to have a mix of broadleaf perennials and grasses,” he says. “I also use plants that attract birds for their seeds or pollinators because of their flowers.” Gravel gardens often resemble

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Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

19

DIY

BENJAMIN VOGT

Allium cernuum

meadows during summer, so planting densely is recommended. He also suggests starting small to keep the project a manageable size.

For plants, Epping recommends prairie dropseed (Sporobolus) and sideoats grama grass (Bouteloua) grasses. His favorite perennials include Coreopsis, Tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis) and nodding onion (Allium cernuum). For nonnatives, calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta) is great for pollinators and has long-lasting blooms.

To plant, pull back the gravel with your hands and stick the plant in the hole, then refill the hole with the gravel.

Make sure the roots are in the gravel, with some gravel between them and the soil (see photo, page 19). After planting, water frequently. After the first season, the roots of your plants will take hold in the soil below, and the plants should only need watering during dry periods.

Beyond the third season, the plants should be rooted enough to require no supplemental watering.

To Learn More Go to youtube.com and search for “gravel gardening webinar” to hear Andrew Bunting speak on gravel gardening.

—M.O.

20 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Ongoing Care

Once established, gravel gardens require little maintenance beyond cutting them down in the spring. Keep organic matter off of the garden to prevent creating niches for weed seeds to germinate. Use an electric leaf blower or rake to remove any trace of organic matter from the gravel surface in spring and fall.

In his garden, Epping typically cuts back the plants in late March or early April, depending on the weather. Because the stems of perennials are full of overwintering pollinators, he has a system to preserve the insects. “I cut the perennial stems into sections about

18 inches long, and as I take them out, I put everything on a tarp,” he says.

“Then I tuck it in behind other things in my garden and use it like a mulch to give insects time to release.” Removing any stem or leaf debris from the beds is crucial during this step.

If you want to garden without the hassle of weeds, watering and fertilizer, gravel gardens have you covered.

Matt Olson is a Wisconsin-based horticulturist who writes stories to help gardeners be successful in northern regions.

He can be reached at matt@mattolsonhorticulture.com.

PLANT PROFILE

More Coneflowers to Love

New introductions are compact, colorful and hardy. every november, i take a last look at my garden and think about changes for the next season. Always prominent among the wilting plants are the brittle seed heads of the coneflowers. Goldfinches and wrens flit around the stalks and peck at the seeds. It won’t hurt to add a few more!

This garden staple has become so popular for its multi-season interest that plant breeders are tantalizing gardeners with even more cultivars with specific characteristics. Now you can find Echinacea in more colors, compact sizes for containers, different flower forms and textures as well as hardier varieties.

Above: Colorific™ coneflower Left: Evolution™ Embers™ ‘Sparks’

MONROVIA/DOREEN WYNJA

If you’re looking for garden excitement, consider new cultivars of the well-loved native purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). The Evolution™ series is made up of five brightly colored blooms, including Colorific™ coneflower (Echinacea hybrid ‘Balevoeen’), offering more than one shade of pink on the same plant. Layers of petals surround a spiny green cone (echino means “spiny”).

Semi-double golden petals of Evolution™ Embers™ ‘Sparks’ coneflower (E. ‘Tneches’) are more uniform in color but vary in width.

The amazing variety Cheyenne Spirit is USDA Zone 3 hardy and comes in a rainbow of colors—purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, cream or white ray flowers with a brown cone. Plant seeds and it will flower the first year.

And if an intensely red or pink coneflower makes your heart sing, take a look at the vibrant orange-maturing-to-scarlet blooms on upright burgundy stems of Sombrero® ‘Sangrita’ coneflower (Echinacea x ‘Balsomanita’).

PowWow® Wild Berry is a robust plant with loads of fragrant, fade-resistant, deep purple-pink flowers; no deadheading required. It tolerates poor soil, heat, humidity and even drought once established.

GAIL BROWN HUDSON

Coneflower Color

Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

» 21

PLANT PROFILE

Two-Tone Charlies

Coneflower breeders have become particularly adept at producing eye-catching color combinations. ‘Pretty Parasols’ coneflower showcases pink petals dipped in white. You may salivate over ‘Sweet Sandia’, which looks like slices of watermelon with deep pink centers and light green edges.

My first two-tone was ‘Green Twister’ with pink petals swirling to a pistachio green on the tips. In full sun, it bursts with flowers on multi-branched stems.

Remove the spent flowers to continue the groovin’ from June to September.

MONROVIA/DOREEN WYNJA

Left: ‘Sweet Sandia’ Far left: ‘Green Twister’ Below: Kismet® ‘White’ Page 23: Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

White coneflowers add brightness to a border and there’s plenty to choose from. PowWow® White grows in a sturdy clump with clean white petals and ‘White Swan’ has slightly drooping creamy-colored petals. Both are hardy in zone 3 and bloom the best in late June to late July.

It’s common for white flowers to fade to brown quickly. But the flowers of Kismet® White (E. hybrid ‘Tnechkw’) are numerous and long-lasting. The compact plant produces a flush of blooms earlier than most coneflowers that continues all the way to first frost.

Kismet is fragrant, too.

Want to make a garden statement in the wilder part of your yard? Plant a great or giant brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia maxima). The flowers have prominent 4- to 6-inch-tall centers that look like brown beefeater hats, huge basal leaves of powder blue and stalks reaching up to 6 feet tall.

Rudbeckia hirta ‘Denver Daisy’ offers deep gold and rich mahogany blooms that are 3 to 4 inches wide on 30-inchtall plants. During the city of Denver’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2008, volunteers handed out free seed packets

22 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

PROVEN WINNERS

Go Big or Small

and it’s now planted all over the city.

Because of its smaller size, Summersong™ Firefinch™ coneflower can be tucked into any sunny spot when you’re short on space.

It’s 16 inches tall, and features blooms in shades of red, reddish orange to pinkish red. It not only tolerates drought, it’s fragrant and long-blooming, also.

—G.B.H.

MONROVIA/DOREEN WYNJA

MN LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM

The Beauty of White

‘Milkshake’ Cone-Fections™ is a white, double-flowered hybrid coneflower with a pompomlike center cone of pale yellow-green to white. They’re not as attractive to pollinators as single flowers. They bloom from June to August and make good cut flowers.

If you want to extend the season in your display of native purple coneflowers, add the zone 3-hardy pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida) to the mix.

This 3-by-2 foot native plant is strappy, with petals that hang straight down, adding an exclamation point to your perennial border. Many bee species and native pollinators are attracted to it, and finches go crazy for the seed heads during winter.

If you’d like to grow a sea of gold in your garden, try Rudbeckia fulgida, a native to the eastern United States all the way to the Midwest.

‘American Gold Rush’ was named 2023 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association. This showy variety is an interspecific cross with good resistance to Septoria leaf spot.

Deadheading extends the flowering season into October.

Gail Brown Hudson is a horticulturist, an Emmy® award-winning journalist, writer and video producer, as well as an avid gardener in Minneapolis.

Coneflower Care

Coneflowers grow best in full sun and well-drained soils. They like consistent moisture, but tolerate dry conditions, clay soil and urban environments after they are established.

Echinacea is tolerant of drought, heat, humidity and dry soil. Purple coneflower is short-lived (three years), but easily reseeds itself throughout the garden.

Divide plants every four to six years.

—G.B.H.

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23

GARDEN DESIGN

Side-by-Side Stunner

2 front yards + 4 neighbors = 1 grand garden.

ERIC JOHNSON

A whimsical arbor of sunflowers and Joe-pye weed escorts the mail carrier from house to house.

Below: A hummingbird feeds on 'Black and Blue' salvia.

24 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

The garden bursts with native plants, splendid perennials, showstopping annuals and a swath of zinnias that runs along much of the front. You might think it’s been there forever, but it’s only a few seasons old.

“Jill and I started with one raised veggie bed when we bought the house six years ago,” Alex says. “Then we did our backyard, and it just kept expanding.” In 2019, Alex and Anneka met at National Night Out and became fast friends; in winter 2021, they went through the training to become University of Minnesota Master Gardeners. Tanya had just moved in next door and was eager to change the yard from turf grass to a bird and pollinator haven. Alex and Anneka took on the project as part of their master gardener internship.

Armed with know-how and heaps of fortitude, the group removed sod, trucked in compost and dirt, started

plants from seed and bought more at the Friend’s School plant sale.

ALEX MEYER

if you’ve happened to take a summer drive along Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, a garden just north of Randolph Avenue may have caused you to slam on your brakes. It’s an attention-getter with a joyous explosion of color and texture spanning the front yards of two neighboring homes. It personifies what makes a neighborhood great—people coming together to make their corner of the world a better and lovelier place for everyone.

“We live in between a coffee shop and an ice cream store, so there’s lots of foot traffic on the sidewalk in front of our house all year long,” says Alex Meyer, who, along with her wife, Jill Hoeft, owns one of the garden homes. Tanya Lobao is next door and Anneka Munsell lives a block to the east. Together, the group planned, planted and now tends the garden; it’s a full-on team effort that sports a great communal spirit.

Garden Design continues on page 26

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Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

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GARDEN DESIGN

PHOTOS, THIS PAGE AND NEXT: ERIC JOHNSON

Continued from page 24

ALEX MEYER

Flowering Paradise

Clockwise, from top left: Groundcovers, including Irish moss, are favorites at the garden; Anneka at the center of the front border of zinnias she oversees; monarchs flock to Liatris.

26 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

A walk through the garden is an uplifting, five-sensory experience. It buzzes with bees and birds are ever present. Joe-pye weed, goats beard, coneflower, Rudbeckia and Baptisia mingle with phlox, sedum, lilies and many ornamental grasses. Annuals like sunflower, Verbena bonariensis, canna and petunia are peppered throughout.

An arch of sunflowers creates a whimsical arbor and tunnel for the mail carrier to pass through.

The massive bed of zinnias that spans much of the boulevard is what first catches your eye. “When the zinnias are blooming, people pull over and get out just to take pictures,” Alex says. The zinnia border is Anneka’s baby.

The front yard is only half the story;

Alex and Jill’s backyard is as splendid as the front. A formal courtyard at the center draws visitors in and invites a contemplative garden stroll. A mostly white palette is soothing and clean and establishes a calming sense of order in the space. Drifts of alyssum soften the edges of the brick path and fill the air with their honey scent. Fifty David Austin roses fill the courtyard garden and extend through the backyard.

The rose bed is underplanted with roughly 1,000 spring bulbs, including tulips, crocus, allium and snowdrops.

Hibiscus, many dahlias, poppies, Liatris, Monarda and Crocosmia wrap the space in fabulousness; it all has an easy casualness to it, though you know that much planning has been done to make it look so effortless and pleasing to the eye.

Left to right: Anneka, Jill and Alex in the backyard courtyard garden

The garden was a particular source of sanity during the years of the pandemic. “We became a COVID pod,” Anneka says. “The five of us, including my husband, hung out here.

The garden is so beautiful, and it was something calming in a world of crazy.

It’s great for anxiety.”

Public and Private

Because the front and back gardens are subtly divided into many garden rooms, the space feels expansive but also private. There is magic to how open it is to the public. There is no privacy fencing, and it just seems right that it’s so exposed to the back alley.

It’s reclaimed what is often a neglected space and elevates the alleyway to a proud part of the homestead.

A constant parade of passersby stops to admire the front and also ask questions. Those who are especially smitten often get a tour. “Two ladies who live in a condo nearby wanted to talk about every plant and which ones would work in the shade because they have a tiny, little bit of it,” Alex says.

“We walked the whole garden with them; it was lovely. I’m not a social person, but in my garden I can be.”

As much pleasure and solace as it gives them personally, the yard has the feel of community garden that brings the neighborhood together … and makes friends from strangers.

Eric Johnson is a longtime contributor to Northern Gardener.

Design Takeaways Focal points are key. The unexpected adds character and interest. “I love plants that have a wow factor,” Alex says. Her current favorite is sea hollies.

Glorious groundcovers. “Every dollar invested is worth it because it grows in places other plants can’t,” Alex says.

Change is constant. The garden is edited constantly, Alex says. “Unless it’s something with a giant taproot like false indigo, we’ve probably moved it at least once.”

Add white. “We love color, but we’re noticing more and more that we want white as well because it makes the colors stand out,” Alex says.

—E.J.

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27

KITCHEN GARDEN

All in the Family

Grex seeds boost resilience and flavor. seed saving for specific variations, like disease resistance or color, has been part of the human-plant connection for thousands of years. For decades, the goal has been creating uniform seeds, those that produce exactly what gardeners expect. But those seeds may not produce the most resilient plants in the face of more intense weather.

That’s where grex seed comes in. The term grex comes from Latin and means flock. It was first used in horticulture to describe varieties of orchids. “The idea of a grex of seeds can be explained like families,” says Dusty Hinz, of the Experimental Farm Network (EFN), a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit that is developing a collection of grex seeds suitable for home gardeners. “While hybrids are like twins, grexes are like when the whole family gets together to celebrate,” Hinz says.

If you’ve ever planted Glass Gem corn, you’ve planted grex seed. Glass Gem seeds come in a variety of colors, but the seed color does not determine the color of the kernels on each cob of corn you grow.

Hinz, who is from Minnesota, and his co-founder, Nathan Kleinman, were both urban farmers and seed savers.

They have a knack for finding unique yet forgotten seeds and nurturing them back to multifaceted lives. They comb the USDA Germplasm Research Information Network to find promising seed stock.

Breeding these forgotten seeds with rare seeds found on their world travels makes for endless opportunities to create stronger seeds, they say.

The pair work with established plant breeders and 40 growers across the country to test and develop new seeds.

They’ve amassed a collection of grex seeds suitable for home gardeners, as well as “breeders’ mixes” for those wanting to create their own grex seed.

Grexes in the Home Garden

My first experiment growing these seeds

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HOW A GREX HAPPENS The first year of a grex grow-out for creating a perennial crop for cold climates is naturally culled by weather. Perhaps 20 percent of plants will thrive after the first year, but up to 80 percent after the third. Seeds produce similar but not identical crops. “The third year is when the magic really happens with explosions of colors, shapes, textures and flavors,” says Nathan Kleinman. Growers work to stabilize the variations to predictable options.

Home gardeners may not see all the variations, but the diversity is in the plants.

—M.B.

Homesteaders Kaleidoscopic perennial kale, a grex plant

was in 2022 with EFN’s ‘Homesteaders Kaleidoscopic’ perennial kale grex.

The dozen seeds I planted produced a dramatic diversity in leaf colors from deep purples to greens, and shapes with some ruffled and some flat. The seeds themselves looked slightly different, but anyone could tell this kale was in

the same family and distinct from other standard varieties such as Darkibor and Scarlett. The plants also came back the next spring and produced beautifully with minimal mulching. A true, delicious perennial kale in a USDA Zone 4 garden is a huge step forward!

I also grew EFN’s Mrihani x Opal F4

SEED TYPES Seeds come in several types. Here’s what each name means.

Dusty Hines, left, and Nathan Kleinman with some of their grex seed packets

Open Pollinated Any plant that is pollinated naturally by the wind or pollinators. Seeds will produce true-to-type (stable) harvests the following year.

Heirloom Seeds that are open pollinated and have been grown and stable for at least 50 years.

Hybrid Two different plants’ pollen is crossed to produce exact replicas. Seeds saved and replanted from a hybrid will likely produce characteristics of one or both parents, but probably won’t match your previous harvest. Denoted with an “F1” on seed packets.

Cultivar A standardized variety bred for particular traits including uniformity, such as ‘Green Zebra’ tomato.

basil this year. I was impressed by the variations in color, form, fragrance, flavor plus downy mildew resistance from a single seed packet.

Growing grexes has evoked a new love of plants and reminded me that every seed has a story, or maybe even several stories.

Michelle Bruhn is founder of Forks in the Dirt and co-author of Small-Scale Homesteading (Skyhorse Press, 2023).

Connect with her at forksinthedirt.com.

Grex Seeds that have been crossed multiple times with similar plants.

They show genetic variations within a predictable range. Increased resiliency from a small sample of seeds.

Landrace Adapted to a region, from nonstandardized, genetically diverse, open pollinated seeds. These are grown to bring out possible genetic variations.

Note: A plant can be all of the following: landrace, grex and openpollinated. Heirlooms produce true to type so they can be a landrace and open pollinated but not a grex.

EXPERIMENTAL FARM NETWORK Support Experimental Farm Network, a nonprofit organization, by purchasing its seeds online at efnseeds.com or collaborate by joining as a researcher or grower.

University of Minnesota Press AD Lynde Greenhouse AD

Cole Burrell AD

—M.B. Northern Gardener l Winter 2023 29

GREAT GARDENS

The Just-Right Garden Precise plantings and meticulous care make this garden shine all year.

Clockwise: ‘Aglo’ rhododendrons (closeup) circle the foundation.

Yellow ladyslippers A metal crane perches in forest grass.

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“

I want everything to look just right … to look beautiful. And there’s nothing I don’t want to grow.”

Story and photos by Gail Brown Hudson

N

o matter the time of year, gardening is an integral part of John Larsen’s life. “There’s not much that I enjoy more than a garden walk,” says the Minneapolis architect. John and his husband, Mike Stewart, often head out of doors after dinner to “just check on things, appreciate things, and see what bugs are hanging out on what plants.”

The winter is not just a time for a well-deserved break, he says, but for planning, with his son, Jacob Louis, what comes next. The large corner lot on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis has been transformed since the family moved there in 2011.

“I want everything to look just right … to look beautiful,” says John. “And there’s nothing I don’t want to grow.”

Traditional with a Modern Twist

Today the garden is divided into rooms—a dahlia garden, an enclosed parterre-style vegetable garden, a shade garden, a fruit orchard, a central lawn and more. John prefers to grow 40 of something rather than a few. He and Jacob, who is earning his doctorate in botany, plant in drifts, in large squares and in rectangles. “It’s a lovely garden,” says St. Paul landscape architect Ron Beining, who designed the garden’s framework. “It takes hundreds and hundreds of hours to get it to look like this.”

“The bones of it is this kind of cloistered vegetable garden,” he says, “so that they could use the sun space in the yard.” A yew hedge hides the garden from view. On the west side of the lot, Beining added an S-shaped, low stone sitting wall that creates structure and leads to a fire pit.

JOHN LARSON

Above left: Dahlias face each other with a bee between.

Left, from left: John Larsen, Mike Stewart, Jacob Louis

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The Just-Right Garden

Starting Early

John makes certain the yard comes alive early. “I loved spring so much growing up [in St. Louis],” John says. “So, the springtime here is nuts—from the fruit trees to the rhododendrons to the redbuds.” Virginia bluebells, Scilla, merrybells (Ulvularia grandiflora), mayapples, trillium, bloodroot and yellow lady’s slippers (Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens) are just some of the first blooms along an evergreen-sheltered path.

John raises bees and provides early sources of nectar for them with maple flowers, apricot blossoms and Scilla siberica.

May brings a blossom explosion from multiple Aglo rhododendrons (Rhododendron x ‘Weston’s Aglo’); crabapples; ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Haralred’ and ‘Goodland’ apple trees; a ‘Brookcot’ apricot; ‘Parker’ and ‘Summercrisp’ pears; and ‘Contender’ peach trees. More than a dozen peonies give structure to the dappled shade garden.

By midsummer, lilies “carry the show,” John says. A Japanese variety of clematis called ‘Roguchi’ produces little purple bells most of the summer, and a lacey sweet pea vine winds itself around a picket fence enclosing the tomatoes.

Above, left to right: Dahlias and other annuals edge the front walk.

‘Londrina’ lily Ferns unfurl in the shade garden in spring.

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Foliage is King

“We designed much of the garden around green,” John says. “So black green, chartreuse green, blue green, silvery green, glossy green, soft green … and then the texture of the leaves.” A dark-leaved Ligularia is paired with ‘Sum and Substance’ hosta, for example. “It looks like a beautiful flowering garden to me when I see all of that,” he says.

The garden shed is a major focal point, a sort of “folly,” Beining says, for the south end of the garden. It has an airy glass and wood frame structure with double doors, topped with a swooping lead roof. Boxwood shrubs in tall urns finish off its classy look.

By fall, some 80 dahlias are the stars of the garden. Jacob puts tubers in trays to give them their start, then they’re planted against support stakes to begin the show in large beds near the front door.

Jacob, the family’s designated “plant whisperer,” rigorously deadheads to keep the blooms going, harvests vegetables daily, waters religiously and keeps his eye out for pests.

“Jacob is seeing stuff because he’s looking every day, and harvesting every day, which makes a big difference,” John says.

Winter Garden Bliss

While most of us gaze at our gardens from indoors, winter gives John a chance to “go nuts” creating his “Stonehenge of ice,” hundreds of glowing luminaries and ice shard shapes for outdoor gatherings in the yard around the bonfire.

He’s also busy thinking about next year and uses Autocad, which is design software for architects, to help him. “I plan our vegetable garden every year since it’s a parterre system,” he says, “and I just love how it looks.”

Gail Brown Hudson is a horticulturist, an Emmy® awardwinning journalist, writer and video producer, as well as an avid gardener in Minneapolis.

John’s shed is a centerpiece in the garden and is often used for events.

“

It’s a lovely garden.

It takes hundreds and hundreds of hours to get it to look like this.”

Next page: How to spruce up your garden for special events. R

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The Just-Right Garden

Get Your Garden Event-Ready Gardener John Larsen calls himself a “political and nonprofit junkie” who enjoys opening up his yard and garden for events. After hosting so many times, he’s got his garden preparations down to a science. It starts with the garden’s custom-designed shed. “We tidy that sucker up and put beverages and things out there,” he says. “It’s just fun for people to step into.”

Even in the winter, the cozy space contributes to the experience. John and his family once served hot cider to their guests in the tiny building and the cold temperatures created a “vapor cloud” of cider aroma for partygoers inside. “It was so magical,” says his son, Jacob.

Freshening Up For a fall fundraiser last year, John and Jacob spruced up the garden with rows of mums. They replaced summer plantings in large pots with fall-blooming annuals, picked their garden’s flowers and foliage to make fresh bouquets for the house, and dressed up the patio tables.

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Pretty Paths John pays particular attention to the plantings along the sidewalks in front of the house.

Guests walk through an array of dahlias in late summer, which is “a lovely experience,” John says.

Last year, his daughter’s wedding was in May to take full advantage of the garden in spring. To help with planning, John looked at photos from the year before to see what would be blooming and what could be added.

On the big day, dozens of lush, pink Aglo rhododendrons lined the front steps and walk, and blooming crabapple and fruit trees flanked the house and property.

Some 1,900 white, purple and yellow tulips in large beds along the public sidewalk and areas next to the front steps kept the bloom trail going. John and Jacob edged the tulips with annuals in a flattering combination of white vinca, pink and purple verbena, pink petunias and dark coleus. Begonias lined another walkway by the garage and carriage house where the bride would make her entrance during the ceremony.

JOHN LARSEN

“

Tomatoes are going to be messy, but we’re overly careful how we manage the staking.” They keep the tomatoes exactly 32 inches apart.

JOHN LARSEN

From left: Even the vegetable garden looks good for John’s events; tulips and other pastel flowers line the walk for a spring event; John Larsen and son Jacob plant new yew trees, just 10 days before a family wedding: sidewalk chalk art added to the wedding festivities.

Expect the Unexpected With garden events, plan for the unexpected, John says. A few weeks before the wedding, John and Jacob had to replace an entire hedge of tall Japanese yews (Taxus cuspidata ‘Capitata’) that had succumbed to wintertime rabbit damage in the backyard. They evenly sheared the tops of the fullgrown shrubs so they could be an attractive backdrop for the bridal couple as they stood to exchange their vows.

Veggie Drama The formal, parterre-style vegetable garden is meant to be seen. Square beds of reddishpurple and green cabbages, bright green lettuce and Swiss chard add lots of color and interest.

Neat paths cross the space. Even the tomatoes are thoughtfully planted. “Tomatoes are going to be messy,” John says, “but we’re overly careful how we manage the staking.” They keep the tomatoes exactly 32 inches apart.

Special Touches John’s husband, Mike, uses his precise mowing skills before any summer party, making patterns in the grass, such as concentric circles around the oak tree or diagonal lines.

For the wedding, John hired local chalk artist Ben Nalezny to draw flowering vines, hearts, rings and the initials of the happy couple on the front steps and sidewalk.

—G.B.H.

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Pick your plants carefully to create an island feel in the North.

By Susan M. Barbieri

Tropical

If you visit a nursery in July, you might spot a stunner of a shrub with gorgeous clusters of trumpet-shaped yellow flowers and glossy pointed leaves. You get your hopes up about adding this tropical temptress labeled “perennial” to your garden for yearafter-year enjoyment.

Alas, the lovely Brazilian allamanda bush (Allamanda cathartica) can’t tolerate sub-freezing temperatures and is an annual here, along with mandevilla and other South American beauties.

Lucky for us, there is a variety of tropical hibiscus, with plate-sized blossoms of pink, red, yellow and white, that can survive winter temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees F. And, believe it or not, you could also plant a hardy banana tree—and it’s a show-stopper.

It’s easy enough to achieve a tropical look in Minnesota gardens with annuals, bulbs and exotics that can overwinter as houseplants. But the dream of many northern gardeners is growing cold-hardy cultivars of our favorite tropical perennials. This is tricky business, says Neil Anderson, professor of horticulture at the University of Minnesota. Sometimes, new cultivars are released as USDA Zone 4 hardy, gardeners buy them, and the new progeny don’t survive. Some plants are rushed to market, Anderson says, without proper cold-hardiness testing. So, with many new plants, it’s buyer beware.

Cold-hardiness testing is a complex, drawn-out affair. “If they’re tropicals that are amenable to dying back to the ground every year, those are the ones that would survive,” Anderson

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PHOTO COURTESY OF WALTERS GARDENS

GARDEN DESIGN

Minnesota says. “Any other tropical or subtropical would be sensitive to even just chilling injury below 55 degrees air temperature.” To be a good candidate for cold-hardiness, the plant has to have an underground storage organ.

Hibiscus, for example, has a taproot.

In zone 4, root systems have to be able to tolerate soil temperatures of 14 degrees; in zone 3, they have to be able to withstand soil temperatures a few ticks lower than that. Frost extends about 6 feet deep, and even though soil temperature in the winter is always warmer than air temperature, our hardy herbaceous perennials survive because their underground portion—be it a crown, bulb or taproot—can tolerate that. But even our hardiest perennials can fail in a year without good insulating snow cover.

MICHELLE MERO RIEDEL

MICHELLE MERO RIEDEL

How Hardiness Testing Works

The University is working on developing gladioli with bulbs that can survive without being pulled for the winter.

Native to South Africa, gladiolus bulbs need good snow cover to survive here.

During the winter of 2022-23, with its deep snow, almost everything in the University’s gladiolus field survived.

“It was a first-ever,” Anderson says.

For cold-hardiness testing, researchers screen hundreds to thousands of seedlings or cuttings in outdoor trials to measure plant growth and Above left: Eucomis ‘Safari Adventure’ Above: Canna lilies are lovely but must be treated as annuals.

Left: Mandevilla flowers bring an air of the tropics to containers.

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Above: Yucca filamentosa ‘Excalibur’ is rated hardy to USDA Zone 5. It may need cover to overwinter successfully.

Right: Hibiscus ‘Airbrush Effect’

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PHOTO COURTESY OF WALTERS GARDENS

survival. “If there’s one or two out of a thousand that survive, we’ll intercross those two and try to generate some progeny and get some additional types that then might survive the winter,” Anderson says.

“Due to genetics, everything segregates. Winter hardiness is a trait that segregates just like anything else, so you can cross what looks like a hardy plant by another hardy plant, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get any hardy ones out of it,” he says.

And you need a good Minnesota “test winter” with lots of snow cover and below-zero air temperatures. If the plants survive three winters in several locations, then the plant exhibits the characteristic of stability—hardiness in multiple locations over multiple years.

Besides field testing, University researchers conduct lab testing using a programmable freezer. They take plants, rooted cuttings or seedlings and grow them one season before hardening them off by submitting them to fall’s cooler temperatures and shorter days. After mimicking natural conditions, the plants are stored in a walk-in cooler that’s just above freezing. The temperature is slowly dropped to minus 12 C (minus 10.4 F) and samples are checked along the way. Samples later are moved to the greenhouse and scored for hardiness once they’re subjected to normal temperatures.

“We have to have at least 50 percent survival at any test temperature in order to say that it’s hardy at that temperature,” says Anderson. “We call that an LT-50: lethal temperature at which we have 50 percent survival.”

Scientists: Killing plants so you don’t have to.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WALTERS GARDENS

Tropical Minnesota

You can create a tropical mood in your garden with imagination and attention to size, color and texture.

Think big: Create structure using ferns and large hosta varieties such as ‘Empress Wu’ or ‘Sum and Substance’. Edge a shade garden with purple or red coralbells. Never underestimate the visual impact of burgundy foliage.

In sunny spots, hardy hibiscus varieties with bronze foliage and giant blooms provide a tropical pop against finer green foliage and prolific July-August bloomers such as garden phlox and coneflowers.

Gladioli provide height, impact and old-fashioned charm. Sedum in various shades provide the exotic look of desert southwest succulents.

Pop in a few pots of mandevilla, vivid ti plants (Cordyline fruticosa), cannas, elephant ears and— bam!—you’ve got the tropics in Minnesota. Some of these temperature-sensitive plants can even be brought inside in the fall. So, break out the umbrella drinks, turn on some island music and plant a little paradise.

Tropical and Perennial

Hibiscus is hardy to minus 30 degrees. Native varieties of rose mallow thrive in wetlands and along riverbanks.

Slow to break dormancy, hibiscus is worth the wait for its giant late summer blooms.

Yucca. Two yucca varieties (Y. glauca and Y. baccata) are zone-4 hardy. Y. filamentosa is listed as zone-4 or zone-5 hardy so grow it in a protected site. The spiky blue-green leaves of yucca plants pair nicely with burgundy sedum for a southwest vibe.

Japanese Banana Tree (Musa basjoo) is sometimes listed as hardy to zone 5, though most cold-climate gardeners bring the plant indoors for the winter or store the bulb in a cool place. Plant it in full sun, and watch it grow to between 6 and 14 feet tall in a single season.

Giant hosta varieties that spread to 5 to 6 feet wide help create a jungle mood in your backyard. Among the largest varieties are ‘Empress Wu’, ‘Sum and Substance’, ‘Gentle Giant’, ‘T-Rex’ and ‘Blue Angel’.

It can take five Hosta ‘Empress Wu’ years for these varieties to reach their full size.

Ferns. Nothing says “rain forest” like ferns, but be careful which variety you plant. Ostrich ferns spread via underground runners and will take over your garden. Try the well-behaved maidenhair fern or Japanese painted fern instead. (Turn the page for more on native ferns.)

PHOTO COURTESY OF WALTERS GARDENS

How to Achieve a Tropical Look

Bulbs, Tubers and Rhizomes

Canna lily plants have showy red, pink, yellow, orange or cream flowers and wide leaves of green, bronze or variegated colors. Most grow up to 6 feet tall. The rhizomes can be dug up and stored for the winter, or you could try overwintering potted cannas as houseplants.

Pineapple lily (Eucomis) is a South African native that shows off olive green leaves with a hint of purple in early summer, then purple stalks send up starlike flower clusters that resemble the shape and texture of pineapples.

Gladiolus, also a South African native, is a must for the cottage or cutting garden. These tall stalks will need support as they grow.

Aztec lily (Sprekelia formosissima) is a nice addition to containers, raised beds or rock gardens. Aztec lily blooms deep red in early summer and may rebloom in late summer.

Calla lily (Zantedeschia) plants, with their classic trumpet-shaped flowers, like wet soil and will do well near a pond. Plant tubers in part shade after the danger of frost has passed.

Peruvian daffodil (Hymenocallis festalis) boasts huge clusters of flowers on thin stalks. Stake each plant to support them and to remind you where to pull the bulbs once they die back.

—S.M.B.

Susan Barbieri is a St. Paul freelance writer and new plant mom to a ‘Mocha Moon’ hardy hibiscus.

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NORTHERN NATIVES

Fascinated by Ferns

Story and photos by Rhonda Fleming Hayes

Native ferns evoke nostalgia, charm and cool.

V

enture through the vine-covered arch into Susan Warde’s garden in St. Anthony Park on a hot summer day and the temperature seems to drop 20 degrees. Is it all in your head? Partly it’s the high, dappled shade of tall trees overhead, the lush plantings, the glimmer of water from the birdbaths spotted throughout.

More so, it’s the many ferns growing among the flowers; they offer psychological AC to the visitor.

For Susan, who is a poet as well as a gardener, the appeal of ferns is both nostalgic and aesthetic. When she was a child, her parents’ cabin in upstate New York was perched atop a fern-covered hill. The scent of crushed ferns still evokes that time for her.

“I love their fantastic foliage,” she says, “often almost like fractals, and the way their fiddleheads unfurl so promisingly.” She also points to their ancient lineage, evolving millions of years before flowering plants. Ferns are one of the oldest living plant groups, pre-dating dinosaurs. They produced oxygen that paved the way for more life forms.

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KATHERINE WARDE

Not a Fern Garden

Susan’s fascination with ferns started in graduate school. A student of plant biology, she took a course in fern biology at the University of Minnesota biological field station at Lake Itasca with Herb Wagner, an authority on the systematics and evolution of ferns. “It was absolutely exhausting and one of the best times,” she says.

When Susan and her husband, Robert, bought their home, it had a foundation planting of ostrich ferns. It was a few years until she dared plant other ferns in the then-mostly-sunny yard. Over the years, the garden has gone through changes as trees have come and gone and hardscape has been added, with sun and shade switching places at times.

“I don’t have a ‘fern garden,’ ” she says. “They’re integrated everywhere especially in the back which has a rather woodland feel, but they’re abundant in the front, too. They can be small and subtle, tucked into little spaces, or tall and dramatic, making a statement.”

Refining her plant choices through the years, avoiding orange and red blooms, and opting for a palette of pinks and yellows sets a calm scene. Along with the ferns, deep beds filled with lilies, iris, astilbe, meadow rue, coralbells (Heuchera) and foam flower (Tiarella) occupy the shadier areas while brighter blooms of phlox, peonies and rudbeckia flourish in sunny pockets. Hydrangeas, hostas and Korean maples anchor these beds that surround a swoop of lawn.

Golden Japanese forest grass adds texture and contrast in strategic spots.

Left opposite: Ostrich fern can be a garden thug that requires management. Its early-season fronds are prized by foodies.

Top, right: Susan Warde in her garden Top, left: Japanese painted fern is Susan’s favorite.

Left: Cinnamon fern gets its name from the color of its fronds in spring.

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Fascinated by Ferns

Susan recommends employing ferns as a complement to plants with bolder foliage like hosta and iris. She adds that “ferns also supply a sort of visual relief to the generic leaves of coneflower, phlox and rudbeckia.”

Favorite Ferns

Out of over two dozen mostly native fern species she grows, Susan’s favorite is the Japanese painted fern. She especially loves the silvery ones. Coming in second is narrow-leaved spleenwort (Diplazium pycnocarpon) for its geometric aspect. And then she asks, “Who doesn’t love maidenhair fern?”

Susan doesn’t hesitate to move plants around her garden until they find their happy place, and the ferns are no exception. Ferns are easy to grow—some are too easy, like ostrich fern (a “thug”) and sensitive fern that she weeds out when they get too successful. Lots of baby Japanese ferns and bulblet ferns pop up everywhere on their own; she moves them to where she wants them. Others like lady fern, beech fern and maidenhair increase gradually. She divides narrow-leaved spleenwort every couple of years.

Some ferns do surprisingly well in part sun if they receive adequate water. She never fertilizes them. She admits to a few failures, mostly with native fern species that she feels probably weren’t suited to her particular garden conditions.

While she seeks out unusual and different species, she has found that pushing the zone hasn’t worked for her, so she sticks to proven USDA Zone 4 ferns.

Harking back to her plant biology background, she propagated one fern species from spores collected on a trip to Minnesota’s North Shore. She shook the spores of beech fern (Thelypteris phegopteris) into a small scrap of paper and took them home. She started them in moist potting soil in a container similar to a petri dish.

The result was all of these “adorable little ferns.”

To this day, when she and Robert go hiking on the North Shore, they look for ferns growing in their native habitat. When they do, Robert, who takes notes about their trips, will mention in them that it was a “good fern hike.”

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Above: Bulblet fern Below: Susan mixes ferns with other plants.

Here a beech fern blends with primrose.

Ferns to Grow

Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) Easy to grow, in sun to partial shade, medium to wet soil, reaches 4 feet tall. Will spread vigorously.

In early spring, the curled fronds or fiddleheads are prized by foodies. Provides cover for birds.

Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomeum) Known by its stiff cinnamon-colored fertile fronds (those with spores) that emerge in early spring turning a distinctive brown. Grows in partial to full shade, medium to wet soil. Grows 2-3 feet tall.

Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) Delicate fronds with black wiry stems give it a graceful, airy look. Hardy to zone 2. Grows in partial to full shade, medium to wet soil, compact size at 2 feet tall, spreads by rhizomes.

Bulblet fern (Cystopteris bulbifera) Unique because of the beadlike bulblets that grow on the undersides of the fronds. In its native habitat it grows in moist, shaded soil, often among rocks. It adapts well to similar conditions in the garden.

Narrow-leaved spleenwort (Diplazium pycnocarpon) Also known as glade fern. Erect habit with long arching fronds with 20-40 alternately arranged pinnae giving it a geometric appearance. Grows in medium soil, partial to full shade, 2-3 feet tall.

Narrow-leaved spleenwort

Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum) The only nonnative on this list. A small but mighty beauty, with foliage that ranges from silver to burgundy. Easy to grow in partial to full shade in moist soil. Other gorgeous cultivars are ‘Ghost’, ‘Burgundy Lace’ and ‘Branford Beauty’.

—R.F.H. Minneapolis-based Rhonda Fleming Hayes is a longtime contributor to Northern Gardener.

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DIGGING DEEPER

Healing History Hmong gardeners and U researchers bring traditional herbs into modern medicine.

Story and photos by Michelle Bruhn

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NATALIE HOIDAL, U OF MN EXTENSION EDUCATOR

Left to right: Zongxee Lee picks red malabar spinach; U of M researchers collect plant samples; Mayyia Lee starts seeds in her greenhouse.

A LUSH SLICE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA GROWS UNDER A HIGH TUNNEL in western Wisconsin. The Zooxis Conservatory & Botanical Garden, tended by Zongxee Lee and her family, grows more than 50 plants native to their homeland to nourish the surrounding Hmong population plus many neighbors.

The plant varieties include familiar names like lemongrass, sedum and amaranth as well as plants unfamiliar to most Midwesterners. “Each plant has a purpose,” Zongxee says. “Everything I grow here is edible and healing.”

Zongxee’s family is part of the Hmong migration that came to Minnesota after fleeing from the Vietnam War starting in 1975. Her mother, Mayyia, carried the herbs dug from their family gardens in Laos to the refugee camps of Thailand and then to the Midwest. Mayyia also runs Mhonpaj’s Garden, the first certified organic Hmong farm in the nation.

The Hmong diaspora in Minnesota—over 65,000 strong—is a vibrant part of the state’s cultural fabric. Zongxee’s family have continued gardening and farming, learning ways to grow the crops of their homeland here.

Caring for Plants Like Family

It takes extra care to get the tropical plants, most native to USDA Zone 9 or 10, to overwinter in zone 4. For those that overwinter inside the high tunnel, every fall Zongxee adds a thin layer of leaves or straw, then a cardboard layer and then a plastic

tarp to tuck them in. Removing the layers in spring is tricky with extreme temperature fluctuations, which are even more intense inside the high tunnel. She digs up, repots and brings many varieties into her home every winter to keep them alive.

She goes to these lengths because these plants are essentially a medical vault, a traditional way of healing, especially after childbirth.

A Research Connection

The collection caught the attention of researchers at the University of Minnesota Yang Lab of Plant Evolution, who are collaborating with the Lee family to identify, name and record these herbs so they can be shared for generations to come.

The herbs are often incorporated into the “chicken diet,” in which chicken is boiled with herbs and served with rice for three meals a day for 30 days to help healing after childbirth.

Zongxee learned about the diet when her mom gave her the herbs to cook after her first child was born. After her third child, Zongxee realized that she wanted to know and record the names of the herbs. As a registered nurse, she knew there was sound medicine in the herbs and she wanted to share it with others.

After years of research, Zongxee published the book, 30 Days of Purification in 2016 describing 32 of the traditional herbs and how to prepare the chicken diet.

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Healing History

Realizing the value of these herbs and this diet to post-partum mothers, Regions and M Health Fairview St. John’s hospitals in the Twin Cities offer them on their menus. But since hospitals need to know exactly what they are serving to patients, they’re currently using only a few of the herbs. The U’s study will provide the details needed to offer the full herbal regime included in the chicken diet in medical settings. In turn, this will expand the market for Hmong growers’ produce.

Identifying Plant DNA

In the Yang Lab, researchers compare DNA strands of the plants Zongxee is growing with others across the globe through a plant DNA database called GenBank.

DNA is extracted from a leaf and copies of specific parts of the DNA are made, using the same polymerase chain reaction that is used in tests for Covid-19, says Alexandra Crum, a Ph.D. candidate who works in the lab. “We then compare those sequences to other researchers’ work listed in the public GenBank database to figure out what species we have,” she says.

So far, researchers have matched 29 of 45 plants to their species. A few remain that are tied between two species and the rest are determined down to family or genus. For the plants they’ve yet to identify, they’ll observe flowering and determine species or genus.

Another goal of the university’s researchers is to create a compendium of the 45 Hmong herbs they’re identifying with how to grow and use them in herbal remedies Hmong families have passed down for generations. Displacement has taken a toll on some of the knowledge, but enough has been kept intact to rebuild.

“That this family was able to keep 50 different species of plants alive … through multiple migrations, and finally in Minnesota and Wisconsin in a completely different climate and context speaks to their tenacity and to just how important these plants are to their family,” says Natalie Hoidal, an extension educator at the University. “Hopefully it can be an inspiration to people who want to explore the plants that shaped their own family stories.”

Growing and Using Hmong Herbs Like all tropical plants, these herbs grow best with full sun and lots of water.

46 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Above left: The tips of Ntiv (flick) plant have the most potentcy.

Left: Lush rows of Hmab Ntsha Ntsuab (green Malabar spinach).

Zongxee describes nurturing the herbs across generations as “our secret weapon.”

“From being in the garden, to sharing harvests and preparing meals and teas, even passing down the information,” she says, “they’re all different kinds of self-care.”

Michelle Bruhn is founder of Forks in the Dirt and co-author of Small-Scale Homesteading (Skyhorse Press, 2023). Connect with her at forksinthedirt.com.

Hmab Ntsha Liab (Basella rubra): Also called red vein vine or red Malabar spinach.

Use: To increase iron and energy levels when sick. Eat the young shoots, leaves and stems.

Also used in the chicken diet. Roots are also boiled for tea.

Grow: Soak seeds overnight, start indoors under lights before planting in April or May. It will need a trellis. Save seeds for the next year.

Harvesting red duck feet, red dye plant and flick plant

“

That this family was able to keep 50 different species of plants alive … through multiple migrations, and finally in Minnesota and Wisconsin in a completely different climate and context speaks to their tenacity and to just how important these plants are to their family.”

Above left: Zongxee harvests in the greenhouse.

Left: More than 40 species of plants thrive in the large hoop house.

Below left: Large spikes of lemongrass and velvet plant

Ko Taw Os Liab (Artemisia lactiflora) Also called red duck feet or white mugwort.

Use: In the chicken diet and to help regulate menstrual flow and increase strength and energy.

Grow: Dig up and repot to bring indoors, then watch for regrowth in spring to propagate. Or cover with leaves or straw, cardboard, then plastic. Or mix seeds with damp peat moss and refrigerate for three weeks, germination in one to three months.

Nkaj Liab (Iresine diffusa) Also called red dye or bloodleaf.

Use: Leaves and stem used in the chicken diet. Helps prevent blood clots and promotes wound healing.

Grow: Best propagated via cuttings in fall for overwintering. Can also dig up and repot for indoors.

Resources Find more information on Facebook about Zooxis Conservatory & Botanical Garden and to order 30 Days of Purification: Common Hmong Postpartum Herbs Find Mhonpaj’s Garden on Facebook The Yang Lab, yangya.org —M.B.

Northern Gardener l Winter 2023 47

GREAT GARDENER

Choose less common trees to plant for the future.

The Unusual Suspects Story and photos by Mary Lahr Schier

WE LIVE IN AN ERA of instant gratification. Have a question? Ask Google.

Want dinner? Get it delivered. Wayne Johnson takes a different approach in nurturing his 2½-acre landscape in Alexandria, Minn.

When he wants to add a tree to his collection of 150 species and cultivars, he looks for a small one that will take years to grow to maturity. A smaller tree—he likes plugs or 1-gallon pots— will settle into his landscape easier, and if he needs to move it to an area with more sun or damper ground, it’s not difficult. “A tree that grows too fast often has a much shorter life span than one that grows a might slower,” says Wayne.

“Patience in the growth of trees is a virtue in my book.”

An Artful Landscape

trees endure the cold. He’s killed plenty of trees, too, but over years of experimenting, he’s learned which trees will survive in our brutal climate and how to build a resilient landscape.

Mix Native and Nonnative Trees

Because most new tree pests and diseases come from Europe or Asia, Wayne chooses some plants with nonnative ge-

WAYNE JOHNSON

Wayne and his wife, Bonnie Beresford, live near the shores of Lake Agnes in this resort community. While dense plantings of trees cover about half of the property, the couple are also daylily enthusiasts and their garden includes

more than 350 daylily cultivars, as well as dozens of shrubs, large perennial borders, annuals everywhere, garden art and three water features, all of which unfolds beautifully as you walk the grounds. “My mother wanted me to be an artist,” says Wayne, who is a retired accountant and avid fisherman. “My art is planting the yard.”

Wayne grew up on the property and bought the house and adjacent lots in the 1980s. He spent several years clearing buckthorn and junk trees from the property, eventually leaving only six oak trees standing. Using Michael Dirr’s classic Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Stipes Publishing, 1990) as a guide, he marked all of the trees that Dirr rated hardy for USDA Zone 5 or colder. At the time, Alexandria rode the border between zones 3 and 4, and as recently as three years ago, had several nights in a row of minus 40 degrees F. Yet, even some trees rated for zone 6 have survived. Wayne thinks the garden’s location near a lake (the water table is only 4 feet below ground, he says) helps

48 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Below left to right: Variegated Norway maple (Acer platanoides ‘Variegatum’); ‘Morris Blue’ Korean white pine; ‘Joe Witt’ Manchu striped maple leaf Right: Bonnie and Wayne in front of ‘Golden Candles’ white pine, a favorite tree

netics that are more likely to be resistant to new pests. A few favorites include the Meyer spruce (Picea meyeri), a species from Asia that is more disease-resistant than Colorado blue spruce; ‘Morris Blue’ Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis ‘Morris Blue’), a small conifer that handles urban conditions well; and the three-flowered maple (Acer triflorum), a native of China that grows only 15 feet tall and

has brilliant fall foliage. “It’s a beautiful maple,” Wayne says, “and any bug that comes from Europe or Asia, this one has seen. When [the bug or disease] comes to North America, this maple won’t die from it.”

His yard also includes many Minnesota native species to attract birds, such as serviceberry (a favorite of Bonnie’s, who grew up eating the ber-

ries in Canada), white oak (Quercus alba) and hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), as well as North American natives such as American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and Kentucky coffee tree (Gymno-

Northern Gardener l Winter 2023 49

Unusual Suspects

cladus dioicus), a slow-growing favorite.

Hickories, especially the shagbark (Carya ovata) or the shell bark (Carya laciniosa), will do well in the future, he says. He has three hickory species thriving in the yard.

Ponds and statuary bring color to the front yard.

Diversity, Diversity, Diversity

Since they have a large property, Wayne and Bonnie try to follow the recommendation of John Ball, a South Dakota State University forestry professor, who suggests that no more than 5 percent of trees in an area be from the same plant genus. Having a diverse tree canopy makes the landscape less likely to succumb to a single disease or pest, such as emerald ash borer or Dutch elm disease.

As more specialty nurseries have gone out of business, Wayne has turned to the internet to find new trees to try. He especially seeks out trees with taproots (oaks, beeches, conifers) because they tend to be stronger and more stable as young trees. As trees mature, they develop more complex root systems and don’t rely on the taproot as much. Wayne protects all his trees when they are young with chicken-wire cages to keep hungry rabbits and deer from destroying them.

Daylilies and other perennials fill the backyard perennial bed.

Beyond the Forest

While trees cover a large portion of the yard, shrubs, perennials, annuals and herbs make this yard a garden. Shady

RESOURCES FOR UNUSUAL TREES ForestFarm at Pacifica, forestfarm.com Conifer Kingdom, coniferkingdom.com Broken Arrow Nursery, brokenarrownursery.com —M.L.S.

50 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

MORE FAVORITE TREES

WAYNE JOHNSON

Balloon flowers, gladioli and coneflowers complement the daylilies in the garden.

areas feature the 100 varieties of hostas that the couple grows near perennials such as leopard plant (Ligularia) and redand-white baneberry (Actaea). Hydrangeas, St. John’s wort (a great substitute for Potentilla, Wayne says), smoke bush and other shrubs add structure and bring in the birds. Three fountains bring soothing sounds to the front and back yards.

Several sunny perennial beds bloom with Wayne’s beloved daylilies, as well as coneflowers, blazing stars, balloon flowers, daisies, phlox and other plants to bring color to three seasons.

Bonnie met Wayne in high school, then reconnected decades later. She is a retired veterinarian and pig farmer, with a doctorate in neuroscience. Her joy in the garden is flowers and herbs.

Each spring, the couple spends several days driving Bonnie’s pickup truck to nurseries around Minnesota, buying annual flowers. “When the truck is full, we go home,” she says. Some of the 50 containers and beds around the property overflow with bright petunias, zinnias,

calibrachoas and whatever annuals strike her fancy. Bonnie loves vines, such as cardinal vine and scarlet runner beans, as well as the dark foliage of ‘First Knight’ fountain grass (Pennisetum ‘First Knight’). A raisedbed herb garden Wayne built on their deck gives Bonnie easy access to herbs and greens for meals.

With so many plants, a division of labor is essential. Bonnie handles the annual plantings and watering.

Wayne weeds and mows. A thick layer of cedar chips helps keep the weeds down. Minimal fertilizer is needed because the soil is healthy.

Adjustment—moving plants, adding beds, creating new containers— is constant.

“It’s a work in progress,” Wayne says. “I’ve been here 40 years and I’m still looking for perfection.”

Mary Lahr Schier is a longtime Minnesota garden writer. Follow her on Instagram at @mynortherngarden_mary.

Limber pine (Pinus flexilis). A Rocky Mountain native, it has a large taproot, so is difficult to move.

Wayne likes the cultivar ‘Cesarini Blue’, which is upright and compact.

‘Golden Candles’ white pine (Pinus strobus ‘Golden Candles’) is a semidwarf cultivar of eastern white pine with lovely golden color; it’s Wayne’s favorite tree. ‘Mini Twist’ is a smaller white pine.

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) can grow very large but is a stately evergreen. It likes moist, well-drained soil and lots of sun.

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is a native maple that has not been over-planted as other maples have, Wayne says. A good sap producer.

Yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava) is hardy to zone 4. A large tree (60 feet tall) with a triangular canopy, it flowers in spring. This is not the Ohio buckeye.

American smoketree (Cotinus obovatus) is a cousin to the more common smoke bush (C. coggygria).

A North American native, it adapts to a variety of soil and tops out at less than 30 feet. Hardy to zone 4.

Merrill magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri ‘Merrill’) is the hardiest of the magnolias.

FAVORITE DAYLILIES

Wayne and Bonnie’s flower passion is for daylilies. To see more than 40 of Wayne’s tried-and-true favorites for northern gardeners, check out the video at northerngardener.org/ best-daylilies.

—M.L.S.

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51

GARDEN DESIGN

Tulip Traffic Jam Pollinators and people line up to see this colorful garden.

Story and photos by Diane McGann

Stephanie Rossow’s garden started as a humble vegetable plot 20 years ago. Now this corner lot in Roseville beckons visitors, both human and winged, and serves as an inspiration to other gardeners.

In spring, a breathtaking display of 2,100 tulips covers the front yard. In late summer, zinnias, coneflowers and other colorful plants fill the space. A trio of amiable black Labrador retrievers watch-

52 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

es over this botanical spectacle, their fenced side garden adorned with hardy hydrangeas and elegant bluebells—proof that pets and plants can coexist.

Stephanie’s journey to becoming a gardener extraordinaire started on a bicycle trip to Keukenhof Tulip Gardens in Holland. “I love nature,” Stephanie says. “Living in a big city is hard, so I have to be creative. I love colors and

shapes and everything that comes with them and the birds and insects that are attracted to them.”

Surprisingly, the tulips are perennial, having been planted 15 years ago.

An advocate for sustainable gardening practices, Stephanie helps her tulips thrive through a combination of thoughtful techniques. She diligently removes spent flower heads to channel

energy back into the bulbs and sprinkles bone meal over the plants every other year. Planting the bulbs at a depth of 6 to 8 inches guards against critter damage. She leaves late-season perennials up through winter to provide shelter for pollinators and enrichment for the soil.

In early spring, she carefully waits to mow down her plants until just before the tulips emerge. By leaving the debris in place, the plant residue acts as mulch and, eventually, compost for the tulips.

March of Blooms

Stephanie’s flower display is a showstopper. A field of tulips and a purple Baptisia hedge that acts as a bee magnet give way to indigo-colored and brilliant-white delphiniums, a legion of red bee balm, yellow coneflowers, statuesque sunflowers and, more recently, lavender obedient plants. The zinnias follow in late summer. Flowers are strewn in large swaths, and everywhere there is color, color, color.

To keep the color coming, Stephanie has ordered 1,500 perennializing tulips for a side garden. Because of the expense and weeding time required for

annuals (she spends about 14 hours a week in the garden in season), she is installing more perennials, but colorful annuals such as zinnias will always play a role. Stephanie is also adding more pollinator plants.

Occasionally, she will sit in a corner of the garden, enjoying the birds, bees and butterflies flitting from plant to plant.

“It’s a nice reason to spend a lot of time outside,” she says.

Every garden holds its challenges, and Stephanie’s is no exception. A stately red oak tree casts increasing shade, inspiring her to explore new plant species for this area. Guided by the principle of “right plant, right place,” Stephanie rearranges her floral companions until each finds its perfect niche. The recent addition of obedient plants, prompted by a chance discovery of a moist spot near a downspout, illustrates Stephanie’s adaptive approach.

Page 52: A sea of tulips in spring stops traffic in Stephanie Rossow’s Roseville neighborhood. She plants the tulip bulbs deep to keep critters from eating them.

Clockwise from left: Baptisia, coneflowers and zinnias provide color and bloom throughout the summer.

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Tulip Traffic Jam

Stephanie fills her yard with flowers.

Slowing Traffic

Stephanie’s bright garden attracts many viewers, especially in the spring, and not all are birds or bees. Someone left framed pictures of her tulips at the front door; occasionally, a plate of cookies will appear on the doorstep.

An unattractive cable box was recently installed on the property line, but Stephanie now sees its benefit. “When the tulips were in bloom this year, a young woman came, used the cable box as a backrest, and sat there for over an hour, reading her book,” Stephanie says.

A young couple who walks by the garden each day were so excited this spring that they were present, camera in hand, when the first tulips opened.

Bordered by a busy road, this landscape illustrates the mesmerizing and traffic-calming effect that gardens have, a phenomenon that has been noted elsewhere. Officials in one English village planted flowers beside a roadway to improve biodiversity but then noticed that motorists reduced their speeds when passing the flowers and that more wildlife visited the area. The city of Bayport, Minn., recently installed a median filled with flowers in the center of a busy highway. City officials say that they haven’t noticed slower traffic yet, but citizens tell them that they love the flowers.

Spreading the Joy

On my most recent visit to Stephanie’s yard, a man who had arranged his morning walk so that he could stroll by the garden confided that he had reduced the grass in his yard and is now planting more flowers as a result of viewing Stephanie’s landscape. What a testament to Stephanie’s efforts! A small vegetable patch that grew and changed to become a sea of living colors brings joy to all those who are lucky enough to view her creation.

Diane McGann is a garden writer and speaker, Washington County Master Gardener, Tree Care Advisor and University of Minnesota Ask Extension panelist.

54 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Boulevard Garden Design If you want to share flowers with your neighbors by planting on the boulevard or closer to the street, landscape horticulturist Jim Calkins advises that you first do a site analysis and then choose plants that fit the setting.

• Choose salt-tolerant plants to place near the road edge. Remember that traffic on busier streets may send salt spray further into the yard.

• Use short plants near the road and taller ones in the center of the yard.

• Plant in swaths and incorporate woody plants such as trees and shrubs.

They provide structure in the winter.

• Communicate with your neighbors. The yard needs to look planned and not just a ramshackle mix. Particularly with a prairie garden, include a lowgrowing groundcover or a high-quality turf near the road.

Plant Sources • Native plants – Prairie Moon Nursery, prairiemoon.com. Stephanie orders in winter for delivery in May. • Tulips – Brecks, brecks.com. Stephanie orders a multi-colored perennializing mix in bags of 100 bulbs.

• Annuals – Wildseed Farms, wildseedfarms.com. Stephanie buys seeds by the pound; they store well and are viable for a few years.

—D.M.

PLANT PROFILE

Plants for ALL Seasons Break up early winter’s bleakness with these hardy, still-green perennials.

Story and photos by Gail Brown Hudson

As northern gardeners, we do our best to extend our landscape’s appeal through months of cold and snow.

Interesting bark, evergreens and seed heads left over from summer and fall perennials add winter beauty. However, we don’t give a lot of attention to that in-between time during late fall and early spring—before the snow flies and right after it melts.

What do you see in your yard then?

Take a look around, and you may notice semi-evergreen perennials. From a botanist’s standpoint, these plants fall between evergreens such as conifers, which always have needles on their branches, and deciduous plants, which lose their leaves at the end of the season. Semi-evergreen plants hold their leaves through the winter and then, in early spring, replace their winter-ravaged leaves with new ones almost immediately.

You may know many of these plants well, and newer varieties offer interesting characteristics you’ll want for your garden.

Cold Color

Semi-evergreens are truly plants for all seasons. Their persistent foliage

Vinca greens up in spring.

brightens the brown landscape of fall. The leaves often darken, turning reddish or even purple when temperatures drop. In early April, hardy geraniums such as Rozanne® sport a fun pink, gold and green coloring. Variegated foliage can take on a pink tinge, such as with USDA Zone 3-hardy periwinkle (Vinca minor ‘Variegata’).

Semi-evergreen perennials also bring structure and form to the ear-

ly-spring and late-fall landscape. They can act as a foil or backdrop for other plants throughout the season.

But the biggest boost for your garden may be from semi-evergreens’ early blooms. These hardy, all-season plants are among the first to flower, making them super bee-friendly.

Here are some of my favorite semi-evergreens.

»

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Plants for All Seasons

The Perfect Perennial

Hellebore’s flower buds form during the previous summer and shoot up on spikes from an underground rhizome or underground stem when the snow melts. The traditionally drooping, buttercuplike flowers are early bloomers and make great companions to spring bulbs. Install these low-maintenance shade-lovers in a sweep in your garden.

The newest varieties are not your grandmother’s hellebores. Some sport speckled sepals (modified leaves that enclose the developing bud), which set off a soft yellow center. The Ice N’ Roses® Picotee hybrid (Helleborus x glandorfensis) from the Gold® hellebore series, is known for its perky, upward-facing flowers.

One of the most stunning varieties is the Wedding Party® series of double hellebore blossoms, which come in multiples of three in colors ranging from black to purple to pink. And for high drama, consider planting something from the Winter Jewel® series such as Black Diamond hellebore (Helleborus x hybridus ‘Black Diamond’), a dark purple beauty with dark green foliage.

Spread a light layer of manure or compost around hellebores in fall to get more flowers in the spring and give them plenty of water. And remember: hellebores contain toxins potentially harmful to pets and humans.

Wear gloves when handling them to prevent skin irritation.

Ice N’ Roses™ Picotee hellebore

‘Ivory Prince’

Ice N’ Roses™ Barolo®

Royal Heritage™

Better Bergenia

H

Care Tips

Semi-evergreens are among the toughest perennials around. Still, when they are exposed to temperatures at minus 30 degrees F (the minimum temperature for zone 3), they may die back considerably.

Sometimes snow flattens the leaves.

Simply remove the damaged foliage and add compost in spring, and new leaves will quickly emerge.

—G.B.H.

56 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

Bergenia ‘Red Beauty’ blooming in early May

Lucky for us, breeders here and in Europe have rediscovered tropical-looking Bergenia, an old-time favorite semi-evergreen perennial for zone 2. The bee-friendly flowers now range in color from white to pink to red, and bloom in dense panicles in April and May. Dragonfly™ ‘Sakura’ produces semi-double, rosy-pink flowers in spring and a visual punch in the fall when the thick 8-inch leaves transform from dark green to deep reddish purple. Dragonfly™ ‘Angel Kiss’ sprouts snow-white flowers that mature to blush in spring, with 15-inch-tall leaves that turn wine red in the cold.

Bergenia ‘Winter Glow’ handles zone-3 temps and boasts vivid magenta flowers. Leaves turn reddish bronze in the fall.

More Semi-evergreens

Sometimes called pigsqueak, Bergenia can be planted in sun to shade and thrives in a wide range of soils. It’s perfect for edging a garden border.

One of the earliest spring perennials to offer a source of nectar for hummingbirds is zone 3-hardy lungwort (Pulmonaria). New varieties have fun flower colors and leaf patterns, such as ‘High Contrast’, with its silvery green, wavy leaves edged with a green mottled pattern. ‘Blaues Meer’ lungwort (Pulmonaria angustifolia ‘Blaues Meer’) is recommended by the Chicago Botanical Garden for its dazzling and long-flowering blue flowers.

With adequate moisture, shade-loving and low-maintenance lungwort stays attractive throughout the summer. You can shear the foliage in midsummer for a flush of new growth.

Foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia) is another semi-evergreen star. ‘Sugar and Spice’ hits all the high notes with its heavy spring flush of flowers and deeply dissected shiny green leaves.

A new hardy geranium hit is Geranium pratense ‘Midnight Ghost’. Hardy to zone 4, it features white flowers with blush-pink veining, wine-red stems and plum-purple leaves.

Extremely reliable groundcovers, such as wild ginger, European wild ginger, ajuga and pachysandra, stay semi-evergreen all year long.

A semi-evergreen not seen in many gardens is Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides). Zone 3-hardy, it’s a pretty companion to wildflowers and does well on shady wooded slopes.

Don’t bemoan the gray and brown landscape of these shoulder seasons.

Try some perennials that look good all the time.

Bergenia buds

Bergenia ‘Winter Glow’

WALTERS GARDENS

Bud clusters hide under leaves.

Lungwort

Tiarella ‘Skeleton Key’

Wild geranium Ajuga

Gail Brown Hudson is a horticulturist, an Emmy® award-winning journalist, writer and video producer, as well as an avid gardener in Minneapolis.

Northern Gardener l Winter 2023

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58 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

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SAVE WITH OUR 2023 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 an online map of participating locations at northerngardener.org/discount-partners.

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The Minnesota State Horticultural Society is a 501c3 nonprofit. We are thankful for our Discount Partners and members. Your support powers our mission to deliver valuable programs, education and resources to northern gardeners of all skill levels and backgrounds.

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BEFORE & AFTER

Downsizing the Garden When it’s time, you’ll know it. this before and after article is not a show-and-tell of enhancements or additions to a yard or garden. It is about downsizing, simplifying and how our landscape changed from a water gardening focus to “just a yard.”

Our story: In the summer of 1979, I set up my first container water garden on our deck. A red hybrid hardy waterlily, Nymphaea ‘Attraction’, flowered July 7, and the waterlily became my favorite plant. In the following years, I added more containers to grow other varieties, never thinking of a “real” water garden.

As the number of containers increased, my husband, Dave, who likes to design and build, suggested he could dig a small water garden, 8-by-17 feet. That was in 1987. He added the second and biggest water garden just two years later. That happened after he moved an authentic Finnish log cabin from Lake Vermillion to our backyard and reassembled it in the fall of 1988. The following spring, he mentioned that the cabin should have a lake in its front yard. Little Vermillion was the largest water garden, measuring 15-by-28 feet and it became the centerpiece of our landscape. Other gardens were built and I filled them with waterlilies. When the digging frenzy ended in the mid-1990s, there were four in-ground water gardens, two preformed ones, spruce trees were moved in and perennial gardens made. And, I never gave up container water gardening.

For almost 30 years, we shared our gardens with others including garden clubs, senior groups, wedding parties, organizations and charitable tours. The biggest honor was hosting our youngest son’s wedding rehearsal dinner alongside the little lake in front of the log cabin.

Time Catches Up

For most of those years, the beauty and fun of water gardening outweighed the work of starting up all the water gardens in the spring and, then in the fall, preparing the ponds, plants and fish for the winter. As the years rolled along, the

60 Minnesota State Horticultural Society

BEFORE

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The biggest honor was hosting our youngest son’s wedding rehearsal dinner alongside the little lake in front of the log cabin.” a hydrangea for possible use in a future garden. The fish were sent to new homes.

When the work was completed, there was a simple flagstone pathway from the deck to the driveway with a small patio bump-out. The large boulders from around the pond accent the pathway and two small gardens next to the log cabin.

Grass replaces water, spruce trees and perennial gardens. I used the long winter to envision a new but simpler landscape.

It took eight men, with two pieces of heavy construction equipment, two and a half days to remove what had taken us decades to create. Downsizing was a difficult and emotional decision, but it was the right one. The following spring we replanted the perennials and hydrangea bush. The new look is simple and uncluttered and, for us, a peaceful place.

AFTER

seasonal work became more difficult and it took longer to complete. After the garden start-up was finished in the spring of 2016, we knew that was the last time.

We hired a landscape contractor in late spring to fill in two of the three remaining large water gardens, take out eight spruce trees, one preformed pond and the surrounding perennial gardens. (Dave had filled in the first pond in 2008 because the trees were shading the area). The start date was to be late August but rain delayed it to late October. In preparation, we dug divisions of some perennials and

Soni Forsman is a longtime contributor to Northern Gardener.

y a d i l Ho

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