4 SPECTACULAR SPRING-BLOOMING TREES | EASY DIY POLLINATOR GARDEN
Gardener Northern
S PR I NG 2024
Hello Spring WHAT TO DO IN THE GARDEN NOW FRESH LOOK
Daffodils that Turn Heads
GARDEN GREENER
THE BASICS OF PERMACULTURE
+
Monster Blooms Morning Sun Garden Stunning Sesame U.S. $7.99 Can. $8.99
Display until May 31, 2024
®
SPRING
has arrived The garden is calling after a long winter, answer with annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs. Need inspiration and outdoor decor ideas? Let your imagination bloom in the season of possibility.
Contents S P R I N G 2024 / VO L U M E 1 5 2 / N U M B E R 1
53
24 44
48 Seasonal Guide
Garden Greener
Garden for Good
12 The Checklist
27 Pollinator Plants from Seed
24 Garden on Wheels
14 Exciting Euphorbias
29 Northern Native: Early Figwort
48 A Healing Haven
16 Ask an Expert
32 Permaculture Basics
Spotlight
What to do in the garden this spring. Edgy, evergreen and easy to grow.
Identifying and treating spring lawn problems.
17 Garden Plan
Plant a bulb- and perennial-rich morning sun garden.
18
Spring-Blooming Trees
Grow a buzzworthy garden on a budget. The native your pollinator garden needs.
Three ways to garden for the planet this year.
Kitchen Garden
44 Monster Blooms
Grow mind-blowingly massive annual and perennial flowers.
53 Daffodils that Turn Heads
38 Season-long Spinach
In Every Issue
Fence those berries in for big harvests and a tidy garden. There’s more to this old standby than meets the Popeye.
Spark your garden back to life during seasonal lulls.
22 The Bare Essentials
Timothy Haugen’s gardens reflect his journey living with cancer.
36 Raspberry Corral
Four of the best early-season stunners for our region.
20 Gardening During the Pause
Jamie Miller shares her bounty with neighbors via garden cart.
40 Stunning Sesame
From strawberries to lilacs, bareroot plants are an economical starting option.
Yes, you can grow this delicious, versatile plant in cold climates.
Orange, pink and green are the new yellow.
5 8 57 59 60
Editor’s Letter MSHS Classes Gardener’s Market Community Events Member Photo Club
ON THE COVER: Head-turning new daffodil varieties are joining traditional favorites like this small-cupped Narcissus ‘Firetail’. Full article on page 53. Photo by Gail Hudson.
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WINE & SPIRITS Weigela ®
TRIALED & TESTED FOR YOUR SUCCESS
Introducing Wine & Spirits weigela – an enchanting garden addition that captivates with crisp, white-green spring blossoms and striking, dark foliage. This robust yet elegant variety has undergone rigorous trials to guarantee it will consistently steal the spotlight in your garden, season after season. Look for Wine & Spirits weigela in the distinctive white Proven Winners® container at your local garden center, or learn more at ProvenWinnersColorChoice.com
SCAN TO LEARN MORE
CONTRIBUTORS / Spring 2024
Writers & Photographers
Magazine Team Rebecca Swee
Michelle Bruhn is the founder of Forks in the Dirt and co-author of Small-Scale Homesteading (Skyhorse Press, 2023). Connect with her at forksinthedirt.com.
Sarah Colburn is a freelance writer based in the Twin Cities.
Meg Cowden is a garden writer, speaker and author of Plant Grow Harvest Repeat (Timber Press, 2022) based in Orono, Minn. Instagram: @seedtofork
Gail Hudson is a horticulturist, Emmy® award-winning journalist, writer and video producer and avid gardener in Minneapolis.
Diane McGann is a University of Minnesota master gardener. She maintains perennial and shade gardens on 4 1/2 acres in Stillwater, Minn.
Michelle Mero Riedel is a professional photographer and University of Minnesota Extension master gardener in Washington County, Minn.
Josie Smith is a creative writer with a background in radio/television news. She enjoys storytelling through her own venture, bluehuesforyou.com.
Amy Kainz grows organic flowers and vegetables in central Minn., specializing in pollinator-friendly landscaping, edible flowers and customized garden layouts. Instagram: @milkweed.and.daisies
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Rose Daniels
Mary Lahr Schier is a longtime Minnesota garden writer. Her website is mynortherngarden.com.
Eric Johnson is a longtime contributor to Northern Gardener® magazine, blogger and lifelong gardener based in Roseville, Minn. gardendrama.com
SPRING 2024 / NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG
Creative Director Rose heads a creative studio that focuses on design and art direction for clients like Bon Appétit magazine and Lakewinds Food Co-op. She loves tending to her houseplant jungle. roseandcodesign.com
Debbie Lonnee
Beth Stetenfeld is a garden blogger and writer, native plant enthusiast and master naturalist volunteer and instructor. Tracy Walsh is a professional photographer. She has been photographing the plants, productions and people of Bailey Nurseries since 2015.
Editor in Chief Rebecca earned a B.A. in communications and photojournalism, wrote cutlines for National Geographic magazine and managed membership communications and marketing at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo before joining MSHS in 2017.
Horticultural Editor Debbie earned a B.S. in horticulture from the University of Minnesota and has spent the last 30 years at Bailey Nurseries. She collaborates with breeders around the world, bringing new plants to the company.
Susan Barbieri
Copy Editor Susan has been a features editor, copy editor and writer for a variety of publications, including the Star Tribune, Minnesota Monthly and the Pioneer Press. She has a large yard in St. Paul that she’s filling up a few plants at a time.
EDITOR’S LETTER
B
orn and raised in the heart of zone 4a, I know the bone-deep chill of an Upper Midwest winter. I ate my fair share of snow (never yellow), rolled countless snowballs into snowmen and, on the same hill where my mom and I planted impatiens each summer, I spent the other half of the year sledding on a Smurf saucer until my lips turned just as blue. Our hallmark, harsh winters make springtime that much sweeter. After months of snowstorms, I loved racing up that hill at the first hint of spring to catch a glimpse of brave snowdrops pushing through the slush. Spring is for fresh starts. Snowmelt gives way to greening grass—and if not, master gardener Diane McGann has some tips for that (page 16). Spring bulbs paint barren beds in a wash of earlyseason color. Keep an eye out for unique daffodils this season—Gail Hudson reveals new doubles, pinks and even green flowers bursting on scene (page 53). Committed to growing greener and adding native plants for pollinators this year? Meg Cowden makes a case for adding her favorite, early figwort (page 29). And if you’re trying to eat healthier in the new year, Michelle Bruhn serves up a tasty spread of spinach varieties to grow at home (page 38).
The start of a new growing season also feels like a perfect time to unveil a fresh, new look for Northern Gardener®. Same rock-solid growing tips and northern gardening ideas you’ve grown to trust since 1866, with special focus on seasonality, sustainability, education and community, all served up in four beautiful books thanks to new creative director Rose Daniels. Look for even more juicy garden photos, fun DIY projects and inspiring stories from our fellow northern gardeners. As always, every article on these pages is written and edited by your neighbors—experienced northern gardeners living and growing in USDA Hardiness Zones 3, 4 and 5. We create each issue for you, urban apartment dwellers to country landowners, food-growing fans to the ornamental obsessed and industry experts to young students. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or the greenest of green thumbs digging in for the first time this season, we hope to show (or remind) you why we endure the frigid winters. Trust us, when your frozen toes stop tingling you’ll see why gardening Up North makes it all worth it.
Rebecca Swee, Editor in Chief editor@northerngardener.org
NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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Gardener Northern
®
Editor in Chief Rebecca Swee Creative Director Rose Daniels Horticultural Editor Debbie Lonnee Copy Editor Susan Barbieri Newsstand Consultant JK Associates Advertising Sales Manager Betsy Pierre A PUBLICATION BY THE
A note from the MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY It all started with the apple. Back in 1866, we took on the challenge of growing this tasty fruit in our northern climate. Over time, we spread deep roots, championing not only fruit growing but also the many areas of horticulture in rural and urban Minnesota and beyond. The longest running horticultural society in the United States, we’re a trusted resource for thousands of northern gardeners. Serving all ages and skill levels across USDA Hardiness Zones 3, 4 and 5 (Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Michigan, Montana, Alaska, Canada and more), we offer cold-climate gardening resources to support our members, garden clubs, plant societies, program participants, the horticultural industry and anyone who wants to grow plants in our challenging northern climate and positively impact the environment. Deeply rooted in our mission to cultivate a healthy, diverse, sustainable community of northern gardeners, we publish Northern Gardener® magazine and grow cold-climate gardeners through educational classes, events and two signature community outreach programs, Garden-in-a-Box and Minnesota Green.
MSHS STAFF Lara Lau-Schommer Executive Director Rebecca Swee Communications + Marketing Director Carrie Lyons Education + Outreach Director Erik Bergstrom Membership + Marketing Manager Anna Marhefke Program + Marketing Coordinator Mary Ohm Office Manager + Volunteer Coordinator
MSHS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Don Smith, Chair Jill Rulli Vice, Chair Paul Markwardt, Treasurer Renay Leone, Secretary Gail Hudson Neil Imsdahl Judy MacManus Mary Hockenberry Meyer
Randy Nelson Lisa Philander Steve Poppe Robin Trott
ADVERTISE WITH US Contact Betsy Pierre at: Betsy.Pierre@Ewald.com 763-295-5620
Let’s grow!
Lara Lau-Schommer, Executive Director
COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAMS
generously supported by
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@mnhort
Copyright 2024 by MSHS. Printed in the USA on recycled paper with inks containing soy and/or vegetable oils. 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.
& Garden Expo Master Gardener Volunteer Program
Washington County
Washington County Master Gardener Volunteers
Garden Tour
Plant Sale & Garden Expo
White Bear Lake, Oakdale & Stillwater area Saturday, July 20, 2024 9 am - 4 pm
Saturday, May 18, 2024 • 10 am - 3 pm Washington County Fairgrounds, Building A • Diagnostic Clinic & Educational Displays, Garden Market. • Annuals and perennials, native and prairie plants, monarch and pollinator plants, rain garden plants, grasses, shade plants, heirloom tomatoes, herbs and vegetables!
• 7 Gardens owned and maintained by Washington County Master Gardeners. • Educational opportunities at each garden including Ask A Master Gardener. • Garden Market gift shop/books. Please see website for more information and to purchase tickets. Tickets available beginning March 15th. $15 pre-tour/$20 day-of. Under 12 free with paying adult.
www.washingtoncountymg.org
~ Cash, checks, and Credit Cards Accepted
Learn And Grow With Us
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Award Winning Garden Soils NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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UPCOMING WEBINAR
9 Steps to Biodiversity
MSHS CLASSES
WEBINARS & WORKSHOPS FOR GARDENERS
With a mission deeply rooted in education, the Minnesota State Horticultural Society offers a variety of popular online and in-person classes every month—all gardening related and led by trusted pros. From winter sowing to new gardening trends to making seasonal wreaths, find a session, grab a friend and get ready to grow. Webinar attendees receive a recording of the presentation, so you can sign up even if you are unable to attend live. Enrollment is limited; registration required. Refunds are not issued for nonattendance except by cancellation at least one week before class. To register, visit northerngardener.org/classes
Tuesday, April 2, 6:30-7:45 $5 members; $10 non-members Location: Your computer The need for biodiversity in our landscapes is more important than ever— researchers project that one million plants and animals are at risk of extinction, many within decades. You can help turn the tide as a steward of your landscape. Multiple Emmy® awardwinning storyteller, writer and horticulturist Gail Hudson will share nine simple changes you can make to turn your green space, big or small, into a biodiverse landscape teeming with life.
Watering Tools & Gardening Accessories
Available at your local Independent Garden Center or Online Retailer 8
SPRING 2024 / NORTHERNGARDENER.ORG
®
Professional Quality for Life www.dramm.com
The Best Kept Secrets in Gardening ARE AT OTTEN BROS.
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Alfalfa’s Secret
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Alfalfa’s Secret is a locally grown, all natural mulch and soil amendment that is safe for kids, pets and gardeners. Flower gardens, vegetable gardens, fruit patches, and especially tomatoes, can all benefit from Alfalfa’s Secret. The nutrients in Alfalfa’s Secret are released gradually, and will not quickly leach away as can happen with some commercial fertilizers. This will help to keep your plants healthy all season long.
Expires 6/30/24. In-stock items only. Not valid on previously purchased merchandise. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.
Plaisted Total Garden Blend off per bag of Plaisted $
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Total Garden Blend
Total Garden Blend is a soil-less blend for raised gardens. This remarkable blend consists of mostly peat, composted pine bark, organic yard compost, perlite, lime, and a slow release fertilizer. This combination provides amazing results in as little as 6 weeks-and there’s no mixing, just pour and plant. You’ll love its low maintenance features: minimal watering, no tilling and almost no weeding.
Expires 6/30/24. In-stock items only. Not valid on previously purchased merchandise. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.
Suståne® Concentrated Compost
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Suståne® Concentrated Compost provides the benefits of a nutrient rich compost in a concentrated dry form. Suståne Concentrated Compost is easy to apply and replenishes the soil with a rich supply of stabilized organic matter and essential nutrients required for quality growth. Suståne Concentrated Compost provides a combination of plant nutrients and organic substances derived from biologically stable aerobic compost.
of Cowsmo Compost
Cowsmo Compost is considered a soil amendment (not a fertilizer), which has a number of positive attributes when added to existing soil or when mixed with other ingredients to create a potting soil. Much like cow manure, compost adds organic matter and good bacteria which promote soil life, which in turn feed plants. Cowsmo does not smell and it does not have viable weed seeds because it has been composted properly.
Expires 6/30/24. In-stock items only. Not valid on previously purchased merchandise. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.
Wiggle Worm Soil Builder™ Pure Worm Castings Organic Fertilizer
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100% Organic. Wiggle Worm™ controls all aspects of the worm’s environment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year which eliminates all variables that could affect pureness. This level of control produces a pure, consistent product that can be used as a soil amendment and as a fertilizer. The nutrients and microbial activity of worm castings produce a “living soil” for plants to thrive in. As they are truly pure castings, you only need a small amount around your plants, vegetables, shrubs or grasses to see beautiful yields and growth. A half handful around the root zone of a transplant will produce up to 3-5 times the fruit and plant growth. A little goes a long way. OMRI Listed®.
Expires 6/30/24. In-stock items only. Not valid on previously purchased merchandise. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.
Otten Bros. Garden Center Expires 6/30/24. In-stock items only. Not valid on previously purchased merchandise. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts.
2350 West Wayzata Blvd., Long Lake, MN 55356 952-473-5425 www.ottenbros.com
Shop Our 2024 Discount Partners Members save at all participating locations. Not a member yet? Join today and start enjoying discounts at local garden centers and nurseries immediately. V I E W F U L L PA RT N E R L I ST A N D A M A P AT:
northerngardener.org/discount-partners
101 Market Otsego, MN Abrahamson Nurseries Scandia, MN All Seasons Garden Center Grand Forks, ND Bachman’s Multiple Locations Como Park Zoo and Conservatory St. Paul, MN Costa Farm and Greenhouse White Bear Lake, MN Countryside Lawn & Landscape Zumbrota, MN Dan and Jerry’s Greenhouse Monticello, MN Dolan’s Landscape Center Austin, MN Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply St. Paul, MN Farmington Greenhouse Farmington, MN Fiddles and Fronds Spring Park, MN
Flower Power Garden Center & Fred Holasek and Son Greenhouse Lester Prairie, MN Forest and Floral Garden Center Park Rapids, MN Garden Divas River Falls, WI Garden Expressions New Richmond, WI Hartman Garden Center & Landscaping Victoria, MN Heidi’s GrowHaus Corcoran, MN Home Sown Gardens Eagan, MN Hugo Feed Mill & Hardware Hugo, MN Jean’s - The Right Plant Place Perham, MN Kern Landscape Resources St. Paul, MN Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping Northfield, MN Landscape Alternatives, Inc. Shafer, MN
Lilydale Garden Center St. Paul, MN
Patio Town Multiple Locations
Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery Maple Grove, MN
RT Dock and Yard Inc DBA The Green Lake Nursery Spicer, MN
Miltona Greenhouses Parkers Prairie, MN Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Chaska, MN Mother Earth Gardens Minneapolis, MN Nagel Sod and Nursery Medford, MN Nature’s Garden World Fergus Falls, MN Nelson Nursery Zimmerman, MN Prairie Restorations, Inc. Princeton, MN Otten Bros. Garden Center & Landscaping Long Lake, MN Pahl’s Market Apple Valley, MN Paisley Gardens LLC Northfield, MN
Sargent’s Landscape Nursery Rochester, MN Sargent’s Nursery, Inc. Red Wing, MN Schulte’s Greenhouse and Nursery St. Michael, MN Seed Savers Exchange Decorah, IA South Cedar Garden Center Farmington, MN Spring At Last Greenhouse Duluth, MN Terra Garden Center Lakeville, MN The Garden By The Woods Chanhassen, MN NEW! Wild Birds Unlimited Maplewood Woodbury, MN Winter Greenhouse Winter, WI
In many cases, discount is 10% off purchase of select plants and merchandise. For all discounts and details, visit us online or pick up a list at our office or any in-person MSHS event. Find a copy of this list at all in-person MSHS events or call 651-643-3601 to request a mailed version.
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Interested in partnering with us? See the benefits at northerngardener.org/become-a-discount-partner
THIS SEASON IN THE GARDEN
Hello Spring!
PHOTO: REBECCA SWEE
We’ve waited months for this— now it’s finally grow time.
THE CHECKLIST
EXCITING EUPHORBIAS
From ‘Fire Sticks’ to flowering spurge
A bulb- and perennial-rich morning sun garden
GARDEN PLAN
STAR SPRING TREES
PG. 12
PG. 14
PG. 17
PG. 18
What to do in the garden now
Four stunning, springblooming specimens
NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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The Checklist W H AT T O D O T H I S S P R I N G I N T H E G A R D E N
March Buckle up for the rollercoaster that is March. Sweet as fuzzy pussy willow catkins, spring is here—but be ready for another freeze (or two). SHARPEN YOUR SHEARS
March is prime pruning season for fruit trees, hydrangeas and most other trees and shrubs. Without leaves, it’s easier to shape woody plants and spot the three D’s: dead, diseased or damaged branches. The exceptions? Prune lilacs, azaleas and any other shrubs with spring flowers after they bloom. STAY OFF THE GRASS
Try to avoid walking on lawn and garden beds and compacting the soil.
PLAN FOR GARDEN UPDATES
Sketch some new beds or existing ones you’d like to modify. Jot down new plants to try as well as favorites to repeat this year. Keep this plant list handy so you’re ready to hit the garden centers when the threat of frost has passed in May. START SEEDS
Sow arugula, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, lettuce, snapdragons, impatiens and zinnias indoors in early March and tomatoes toward the end of the month. Itching to get outside? Stockpile gallon milk jugs and try winter sowing outdoors. BUILD RAISED BEDS
Grab a drill and build your own garden boxes. Visit northerngardener.org/ raised-beds for instructions. FERTILIZE HOUSEPLANTS
Ease indoor plants out of dormancy with a half-strength shot of water-soluble plant food. Water in well.
Jumpstart spring Cut forsythia, magnolia, lilac, serviceberry and crabapple branches and drop them in a vase with water to encourage early flowering inside. For tips: northerngardener.org/forcing-branches
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April The wild ride of spring isn’t over yet—look for a mixed bag of warm sun, rain, sleet and, yes, even snow. START ANNUAL FLOWER SEEDS INDOORS
Try bachelor’s buttons, calendula, nasturtium and morning glories. FOLLOW THE FORECAST
Already set out a pansy bowl or cool-season vegetables? Cover or whisk them inside if temperatures threaten to drop below freezing. Make use of hoop houses and cold frames to protect tender plants in April.
Go for a walk in the woods Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and other dazzling spring ephemerals carpet our woodlands for a brief stint each spring. Get out in nature and increase your chances of catching their shortlived show.
START TRANSPLANTING
outdoor winter-sown seedlings into the ground. PLANT HARDY LILY BULBS
once you can work the ground. Mix compost and all-purpose fertilizer in the hole for added nutrients. APPLY PRE-EMERGENT CRABGRASS CONTROL
mid-month, according to the University of Minnesota, and push off that first mow until at least late April. Give turfgrass time to green and let the ground firm up.
DIVIDE OVERGROWN PERENNIALS
that bloom in late summer and fall—think hostas, rhubarb and sedum. If you notice the telltale donut growth pattern (a ring of green with a bare patch in the middle) as these perennials start to send up shoots, it’s time to split the plant.
STO R Y A N D P H OTO S REBECCA SWEE
TRACK THE WEATHER
so you can prepare for any late-season frosts. Be ready to protect your plants! START PLANTING ROOT CROPS
May As winter finally loosens its grip, it’s grow time. The season is short, so hit the ground running. May is a beautifully busy (and fun!) month for us northern gardeners. TIP A KEY TO HEALTHY, THRIVING GARDENS?
Nutrient-rich soil, and now is a perfect time to top garden beds with a 1- to 2-inch dusting of compost or composted manure.
like beets and potatoes. Wait to plant eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and other warmseason crops at the end of May. PICK ASPARAGUS
While waiting for rhubarb, harvest asparagus spears when they’re 7 to 9 inches tall. Rhubarb is ready for harvest in late May, when the stalks are at least a foot long.
An endangered rusty patched bumble bee queen visits the stamens of a quick-blooming tree peony.
VISIT YOUR LOCAL NURSERY
Stock up on annuals, and start creating deck, patio and front porch containers. PLACE TRELLISES, TOMATO CAGES AND PLANT HOOPS
for support before peonies start flopping and vines start vining.
Stop and savor the view Flower beds are coming alive, bursting with new blooms and buzzing with busy pollinators loading up on nectar and pollen. Look for late-May tree peony fireworks—this flower show is flashy but fleeting. Don’t get so busy sowing, cleaning and planting that you miss May’s magic.
When to clean your garden beds After several consecutive 50+ degree Fahrenheit days, you can start garden clean-up. Tempting as it may be, don’t tackle this task too early and risk compacting the soil and disturbing pollinators
overwintering in the soil, leaf litter and old plant stalks. After pollinators leave their hibernation hideouts behind, cut down dried flower stalks, pull weeds and compost garden debris, or try the “chop and drop” approach.
NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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PLANT PROFILE
Exciting
Euphorbias Edgy, evergreen and easy to grow— what’s not to love? BY GAIL HUDSON
I
n the tapestry of our gardens, it helps to have plants with architectural qualities—that is, strong, distinctive shape and leaves. These plants also might be evergreen, have interesting branch structure or an unusual bark color. In short, these plants singularly add dramatic impact. Architectural plants, which tend to be larger in size, provide the backbone that keeps a garden visually interesting and fun to look at. Euphorbia (ewe-FOR-bee-ah) or spurge fall into this category. This is the fourth largest genus of flowering species with more than 2,000 different species, 500 of which are succulents with thickened stems that retain water. Poinsettia is perhaps the most familiar euphorbia to gardeners. While most euphorbias can handle hot and dry zones—part of their Mediterranean heritage—a few are easyto-grow perennials for our cold region.
TOP OF PAGE: ‘Crown of Thorns’ euphorbia milii succulent. ABOVE: Poinsettia euphorbia | Photos by Gail Hudson
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Euphorbia polychroma
Cold-Hardy Euphorbias CUSHION SPURGE
Euphorbia polychroma, USDA Zone 4 A dramatic specimen plant for any border, it loves well-drained, dry soils in full to part sun. The ‘Bonfire’ variety grows in my yard and shows off all the best qualities cushion spurge has to offer. In spring, its bright, neon green bracts (flowers with no petals or sepals) bloom at the end of rich, maroon stems, which are exceptionally showy next to colorful tulips and blue or purple spring flowers. A little over a foot tall, the plant grows in a dome (or cushion) shape with oblong, medium green leaves that age to burgundy red by fall. SNOW-ON-THE-MOUNTAIN
Euphorbia marginata, zone 2 This stunning euphorbia has vivid, white-outlined, green leaves and chartreuse, flat, midsummer flower clusters atop single three-foot stems. (This is not the common Bishop’s Weed.) Snow-on-theMountain is native to the dry prairies of Minnesota and the Dakotas, so it thrives in well-drained, rocky soils. This plant is considered an annual that self-seeds, so it will remain in the garden from year to year. The best part? It can bloom from July all the way into October.
PLANT PROFILE Euphorbia myrsinites
Growing Tips No special care required. Cut the plant back by a third after flowering to prevent seeding. These plants have no serious insect or disease problems, plus their toxic milky sap makes them deer and rabbit resistant. Don’t forget to wear gloves when working with all euphorbias. Euphorbia corollata
Euphorbia marginata
Euphorbia tirucalli
CREEPING SPURGE
Euphorbia myrsinites, zone 4 This 8-inch tall succulent groundcover is “otherworldly”, according to one catalog. Waxed, silvery blue, evergreen leaves spiral around the stems, and classic star-shaped, yellow green euphorbia flowers within chartreuse to bright yellow bracts bloom at the end of each stem. Cut off the old stems at the base when the flowers more compact and to prevent re-seeding. While it prefers hot, dry sites in poor soils, it grows in almost any sunny area and looks great on dry walls and rock gardens. It can also be used as an edging plant along a garden bed or driveway.
Euphorbia Succulents
WHERE TO BUY COLD-HARDY EUPHORBIAS
CROWN OF THORNS
Euphorbia milii, zone 9 Last summer, I enjoyed a pot filled with crown of thorns on my front steps. This tropical, succulent shrub boasts bright green leaves, intensely red or yellow bracts and 1-inch spines along the stem. It’s an easy houseplant requiring good light in the winter, growing up to 3 feet tall.
FLOWERING SPURGE
Euphorbia corollata, zone 3 Nowhere near as showy but worth a mention is this native “baby’s breath.” It has a vase-like shape with numerous small, white flowers that attract birds and many insects, such as the endangered Karner Blue butterfly in Western Wisconsin. Amazingly, this plant will grow in nearly any soil, from loam to rocky.
‘FIRE STICKS’
Euphorbia tirucalli, zone 10 Another popular houseplant, this succulent's brilliant reddish-gold, pencil-sized branches resemble sea coral. With plenty of light and infrequent watering, it will grow up to 6 feet tall.
Bluestone Perennials bluestoneperennials.com Prairie Moon Nursery prairiemoon.com White Flower Farm whiteflowerfarm.com EUPHORBIA SUCCULENTS
Planet Desert planetdesert.com
NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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ASK THE EXPERT
Q A &
What’s wrong with my lawn?
Spring is here (or on its way) and we rejoice at that first sight of green peeping through the snow. Here is a short guide to identifying and treating spring lawn problems. GREY OR PINK ROUND SPOTS
This is likely due to snow mold fungus, a condition that occurs when heavy, wet snow covers the ground before it has frozen. The fungus is also found on north-facing lawns. Lightly raking the areas will allow them to dry out; lawns affected by snow mold often recover without chemical treatment. BROWN SPOTS
If you have dogs, first consider whether the spots are located where your furry friends tend to urinate. Dog urine burns are like fertilizer burns in that the damaged grass will recover, but it will take time. The first step is to lightly rake the area and water it thoroughly. Surrounding grass should fill in, but if the damaged area is widespread, you can also reseed once you’ve flushed any remaining urine out of the soil. Grubs can also cause brown spots. If this is the issue, wait until late May to early August to lay down a preventive insecticide application. A spring application will not be effective. Other fungal diseases could also be the cause. Visit extension.umn.edu and search for “grubs” or “lawn” and “patches” to see photos illustrating these conditions. RAISED GRASS TRAILS
You may have been visited by voles. These small rodents eat grubs and chew on tree and shrub roots. Rake up any dead grass and reseed if needed, but try to prevent future damage by practicing good yard sanitation and keeping your lawn clean and uncluttered. Trapping the voles or placing toxic baits in their paths are other options. Mowing your lawn at a 2 inch or 2½-inch height just before it snows will also help make your lawn less attractive to these critters.
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FEAR NOT, THE TURF DOCTOR IS IN. Diane McGann is a University of Minnesota Tree Care Adviser, master gardener and Ask Extension panelist.
BROWN STRIPS NEXT TO ROADS AND DRIVEWAYS
These dead lawn patches may be the result of road salt. When you see them in the spring, water thoroughly to leach the salt out of the soil. You may have to replace the strip with sod. Seeding won’t be effective because any salt remaining in the soil will keep it from growing. Salt sparingly in the future; very little is needed to melt ice. Consider salt substitutes, such as sand, so that you don’t have to repeat this process next year. BROADLEAF WEEDS
LEARN MORE Dandelions are surely a sign The University of of spring, and many bee lawn Minnesota is a great aficionados welcome anything resource for detailed green, be it weeds, grass or information on any flowers. If you’re opting for a of the concerns pure grass lawn, however, what described; see do you do about weeds? To extension.umn.edu avoid chemicals, dig out those and search for the you can and spot treat the problem that seems to others. To prevent crabgrass, be affecting your lawn. apply one of the many treatments available at your local nursery. The important factor is the timing. Michigan State University’s site (gddtracker.msu.edu) will help you pinpoint the exact time to lay down a preventer. Meanwhile, enjoy the melting snow and pops of green and think ahead to your gardening season. The small problems that affect our lawns are easily fixable. Soon you’ll be walking barefoot on that plush carpet, taking in the smells and sights of spring.
WEBINAR
Organic Lawn Care | April 16
Grow a lawn free of harsh chemicals—learn how at this Minnesota State Horticultural Society webinar. Register online: northerngardener.org/classes
GARDEN DESIGN
G ARDEN PLAN
MORNING SUN GARDEN Brighten up your yard with a mix of summer bulbs and bare-root perennials. S T O R Y A N D I L L U S T R AT I O N S A M Y K A I N Z
About the design Bask in a morning-sun-soaked garden, where summer bulb varieties and bare-root perennials take center stage! Embracing early spring invites us to explore the art of planting. True bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes and bare-root plants all flourish in welldrained, organically rich soil, perfect for early spring planting. Cultivate the earth now for a lush and vibrant summer ahead. PLANT LIST Gladiolus
Ligularia ‘Little Rocket’ Astilbe
32” 16”
Caladium
8” SOIL
2” 4” Hosta
Allium ‘Serendipity’
Daylily
Dahlia ‘Medium Size’
A. Ligularia ‘Little Rocket’—perennial B. Caladium ‘Red Flash’ – annual C. Hosta ‘Miss America’ – perennial D. Gladiolus ‘Rainbow Mix’ (red, pink, purple, yellow and orange) - annual E. Dahlia ‘Sandra’ (pink) and ‘Ball Maarn’ (peach) – annual F. Astilbe chinensis ‘Maggie Daley’ – perennial G. Hemerocallis ‘Autumn Red’, daylily – perennial H. Allium ‘Serendipity’ – perennial
TIP
All plants listed do well when planted in an area with morning sunlight.
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GARDEN DESIGN
Four Spectacular Spring-Blooming Trees Don’t sleep on these ornamental spring stunners. Early spring in the northern part of our country brings forth a burst of color and beauty as flowering trees begin to bloom. A welcome sight after a barren winter, the trees add life and fragrance to the landscape and serve as important sources of nectar for pollinators. Here are four of the best early spring flowering trees for our region.
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Magnolia
Magnolia stellata In early spring, look for a mass of white in local gardens. This snowy cloud announces the bloom of ‘Royal Star’ magnolia and, to me, it symbolizes the beginning of the gardening season. Most magnolia cultivars hardy to the north are small trees or shrubs ranging from 10 to 25 feet tall. ‘Royal Star,’ the earliest bloomer, stands 10 feet tall in my yard and wafts a pleasing fragrance. Before it blooms outside, I bring in branches to force so that I can experience an even earlier spring. For zone 3 gardeners, North Dakota State University has introduced a winter-hardy selection of Loebner magnolia that blooms reliably. Aptly named Spring Welcome®, the flower buds are pale pink and open to a bright white blossom. Other desirable zone 4 cultivars that bloom a bit later than ‘Royal Star’ are ‘Jane’, ‘Ann’, ‘Leonard Messel’ and ‘Merrill’.
STO RY A N D M AG N O L I A P H OTO D I A N E M C G A N N
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Cercis canadensis One of the earliest trees to flower, the eastern redbud is known for its vibrant, reddishpurple flowers that open before its heart-shaped leaves emerge. Redbud’s lengthy bloom time alone would justify purchasing; it typically holds onto its blossoms for nearly three weeks, twice as long as other spring bloomers. An added benefit is that the leaves often turn buttery yellow in the fall, contributing to the autumn display. Single-stem and multi-branched tree forms are available, both resulting in a horizontal-silhouetted crown that is unusual in the landscape. Eventually reaching about 25 feet in height and width, but with dwarf varieties available, this tree stands out.
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Plum
Prunus domestica Those lacy, white, flowering shrubs or small trees you see in natural areas in early spring are most likely American plum trees. They dot the landscape, introducing spring and offering a bounty of sweet and tart berries in late summer. In fall, the leaves explode in brilliant reds, oranges and yellows. If you would welcome a fruit tree to your yard, explore the multiple cultivated plum varieties available online and in local nurseries. Most plum cultivars require a second tree to act as a pollinator; if you are lucky enough to have wild plum trees nearby, they will act as a nectar source for your tree. Fairly small in stature with most varieties growing 10 to 15 feet tall, plum trees need full sun to thrive. Consult extension.umn.edu and search “stone fruits” for more information.
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GARDEN DESIGN
Redbud
Serviceberry
Amelanchier spp. Sometimes described as the perfect tree or shrub because of its four-season interest, serviceberries announce early spring with a froth of delicate white flowers and brightly-colored anthems. Colorful, edible fruit, silvery bark and brilliant autumn color complete the year-long display. There is a serviceberry to fit almost every setting and climate, with varieties available that are hardy from zones 2 to 8. Heights range from shoulder-high to 25 feet tall, and forms range from columnar to round. Fit one in a shady environment or opt for full sun if you’re looking for prolific fruit production. Several species of serviceberry are native to Minnesota; some of the most popular varieties include ‘Regent’, a drought tolerant shrub form that grows 6 to 8 feet tall, Standing Ovation™, an upright, pillar-shaped tree with striking fall color and ‘Autumn Brilliance’, 25-foot tall variety with a rounded form.
MULTI-ZONE FRIENDLY Thanks to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for bringing eastern redbuds to zone 4—they selected the hardiest varieties and developed the Minnesota Strain redbud. USDA Zone 3 gardeners are also able to enjoy this tree after the discovery of a hardy redbud called Northern Herald®.
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MORE BRIGHT OPTIONS If none of these strike your fancy, consider dogwoods or an early flowering crabapple, such as Siberian crabapple (Malus baccata). If your gardening zone has now officially changed to a higher number, you can also look to species previously only available to your southern neighbors. Flowering cherry trees are hardy to zone 5 and may soon become a welcome addition in many gardens. Whatever you choose, your spring-blooming tree will brighten your spirits and help chase away winter.
In late spring, serviceberry blossoms turn to sweet, edible fruits. NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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GARDEN DESIGN
Gardening During the Pause Spark your garden back to life during seasonal lulls.
STO R Y A N D P H OTO S S U S A N M . B A R B I E R I
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fter the snow melts and before our summer perennials truly take off, it seems like nothing much is happening in the garden. We might call this period The Pause. But a garden is highly personal, and one gardener’s yard might be in a lull while the neighbor’s is in full color. It’s the perennial dilemma: how to create a garden in which something is blooming at all times? Susan Hustings, owner of Highland Nursery in St. Paul, says the best way to ensure that something is always flowering in your yard is to visit your area nursery at various times from May through August to see what’s blooming during any period when your garden is devoid of color. “We find that a lot of people buy all spring perennials because that’s what’s blooming when they’re shopping, and that’s why there’s a lull later,” Susan says. “They bought in the spring and haven’t anticipated the next stage.” By making frequent trips to a nursery, you can get about 80 percent of the way to a yard in constant bloom, she says. The last 20 percent involves tweaking. Plants that you thought were going to be happy in a certain spot might not be, and you may need to move them so they can get more or less light.
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Bridge the gaps “When you have a void, go see what’s available. It’s really hard to do it from books. It’s best just visually seeing what’s out there during the hiatus and what you like,” Hustings says. And colors shown online or in books might not be accurate. There’s no good alternative to actually seeing the plant. “What they call red in a clematis is not what I call red,” she says. “And whites are not always white, there are all kinds of whites. If you want a white garden, sometimes the creams look dirty. So, you want to use the true whites or stick to the creams.” And don’t forget about perennials with standout foliage for texture and visual interest. Plants like silver mound and yellow hosta are a “wow” in the garden, she says. And planting annuals is a good strategy for achieving constant color. You could also consider throwing down some seeds if you’re the patient type. Susan is a big fan of zinnias. “The seeds come up within a week, and you can get them ranging in height from 8 inches up to 3 feet,” she says. “So you can have the color you want and you don’t have to do anything. Just throw them where you think you’re going to want some, and if you don’t like them pull them up. Zinnias are a good one for cottage gardens.”
This bright-blooming bunch will wake up a sleepy, mid-season garden (clockwise from top left): Asiatic lily, CheeseHead™ potentilla, Veronica, DAKOTA™ Burgundy penstemon, ‘Snow Dwarf’ mockorange, Early Start™ phlox, clematis, Fireside® ninebark
GARDEN DESIGN
EARLYSEASON COLOR SHADE
Astilbe Bleeding Heart Columbine Heuchera Jacob’s Ladder PART SUN
Bloom time matters Roxanne Stuhr of Green Space Design in Minneapolis says March to June color can be a bit tricky, but there are many plants that do well during that time. She adds that the timelines of plant bloom have moved due to climate change. “I’ve noticed things that are supposed to bloom in July and August opening up in June,” she says. “There are a number of long-blooming native plants that bloom in June and go until August, October.” Perennials generally have windows during which they bloom. For example, native baptisia blooms blue or white in June and goes through July. Iris versicolor, another native, blooms in the May-June time frame. “Lobelia usually blooms in July, but I’ve been noticing it starting a little earlier,” Roxanne says. “Verbena is another one–blooms in June and goes into October. Butterfly flower, I saw that blooming at the end of May last year. Prairie smoke, it will bloom in April but the show you get in June looks like this smoky flower waving at the top of this little tiny plant. It’s a beautiful plant. “Spiderwort starts blooming in May but it goes right through July, it’s this beautiful blue-purple flower. It’s gorgeous. Columbine will bloom in April but it goes into June.”
Anise hyssop Bellflower Evening primrose Larkspur Lupine Mallow Mockorange Ninebark (early varieties) Garden phlox (early varieties) Prairie smoke Spiderwort FULL SUN
Asiatic lily Baptisia Butterfly bush Dianthus Campanula Coreopsis Clematis Geranium Heliopsis Iceland poppy Iris Penstemon Potentilla Salvia Weigela (certain varieties) Veronica
Take the time to notice your garden’s particular cycles and add to it as you see fit. She incorporates annuals, mostly marigolds and petunias, on the periphery of her garden for color and practicality. The scent of marigolds helps keep the bunnies at bay. When you’re designing a garden, you want to think about the compatibility of colors, the color scheme you want, and the seasonality of the plants, she says. “When I have my salvia, which is not native, growing, it blooms beautifully but it’s very short-lived. Shortly thereafter, the anise hyssop, which has a similar flower and it’s native, takes off and it’s beautiful,” Roxanne says.
Define your dream She says it’s helpful to ask yourself a series of questions: What kind of bloom succession do you want in your garden? Do you want something blooming throughout springsummer or are you more interested in foliage? What are your goals? Do you want a seasonlong sense of interest? Is there a time when your garden is in a lull? To help answer these questions, “head to the nursery,” Roxanne says. “Hire a reputable designer to help guide you through that. Walk through your neighborhood and snap pictures—they have these great apps that tell you what you’re looking at—though they’re not always right.” Above all, Roxanne and Susan agree, take the time to notice your garden’s particular cycles and add to it as you see fit. And don’t forget to slow down and simply enjoy being in and nurturing your space. Perhaps that’s the best pause of all.
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GARDEN BASICS
The Bare Essentials Buying bare-root plants is an economical way to grow anything from strawberries to lilacs. S T O R Y A N D R O O T I L L U S T R AT I O N E R I C J O H N S O N
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was introduced to bare-root plants at an early age I found the same to be true for a bare-root Zestar!® apple while growing up on a farm in rural Minnesota. With tree I planted. Seven seasons passed before I harvested my no nursery or garden center nearby, seed catalogs were first apple, compared to five seasons with a ‘Honeycrisp’ I revered by our gardening family. And it wasn’t just the nurtured from container-grown stock. Of course, this was seeds we coveted. Bare-root trees, shrubs and perennial my personal experience and other variables were at play, flowers and vegetables were at our fingertips. We ordered but I generally noticed bare-root stock growing nearly as them in winter, planted in spring and grew our homestead’s readily as the container stock. Note: It’s important to plant mini-arboretum one plant at a time. bare-root stock the proper depth, just as it is when planting Bare-root plants have several advantages over plants sold container-grown stock. Look for a subtle marking on the in containers. As I experienced as a kid, bare-root stock trunk and be careful not to bury the graft below the ships easily, making plants available to soil level. anyone, anywhere. Because the stock Strawberries are a perfect plant to is so lightweight, it’s easier to handle grow from bare-root. Any new growth than a planted container. They also that appears before the last frost will tend to cost less. Some gardeners shy tolerate the freezing temps. If you’ve away from bare-roots, thinking they’re grown strawberries, you know they touchy to establish and slower to are prolific spreaders—in a couple come into their own than purchased years, you will have a thriving patch. container plants. While both points Rhubarb also takes off quickly and may be somewhat true, bare-root easily from bare-root stock. In a year, plants have a magical quality—you you can begin to slowly harvest a plant a dormant stick or stub in the few stalks of this nostalgic plant that ground, and when the green growth everyone should have in their garden. emerges, it’s an extra thrill. All in all, With perennial flowers and vegetables, they are worth incorporating into hold the stock and keep the crown at your garden. I’ve grown an apple tree, forsythia, soil level as you backfill. My first bare-root planting as an adult I’ve started growing bare-root, nonastilbe, many hosta varieties, gardener was a row of lilacs. Lilac shrubs hardy hybrid tea roses in containers. globe thistle, roses, coneflowers, I treat them as an annual specimen are readily available at local garden strawberries, horseradish and centers and nurseries, but I was a new plant—I don’t attempt to overwinter homeowner and planting bare-root stock them. Readily available at garden rhubarb from bare-root stock. allowed me to plant an affordable hedge centers in spring for not much money, of 12 shrubs. They took off quickly and lagged only a couple they grow quickly and flower abundantly with consistent years behind a container-grown lilac I planted as a showcase fertilizing throughout summer. I enjoy them for a season specimen in a neighboring garden bed. and then send them to the compost bin.
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How to plant Tips for planting and tending bare-root plants: PLANT EARLY
Bare-root plants arrive dormant, so you can plant them as soon as the ground is workable. Order from sources that deliver in April and then plant as soon as possible when they arrive. If plants arrive before you can dig in the ground, keep them lightly moist in a cool, dry location, such as a refrigerator, until you can get them in the ground. April is perfect planting time—bare-roots will wake up as the soil warms and new growth will pop when warmer temperatures arrive and danger of frost has passed. GIVE THEM A SOAK
All bare-root plants benefit from soaking in water for a few hours before planting (but no longer than 24 hours, which can starve the roots of oxygen). Dig the planting hole while they soak. GIVE THE ROOTS SPACE
Create a mound or cone at the base of the planting hole (see graphic below). Splay the roots over the mound and backfill the hole with the soil you removed, patting down gently as you go. WATER FREQUENTLY
Like all new plantings, bare-roots require consistent watering as they get established, especially during the first year. This is especially true for bare-root trees; it’s tough to give a newly planted tree too much water, especially if it’s in a well-drained location.
Visit Us!
Donahue’s Greenhouse retail store is open seasonally. If you are in the area, stop by and see our store and all of our varieties of clematis. Many are in full bloom late April and through May at the greenhouse. Check out our website for store hours. 420 SW 10th Street • PO Box 366 • Faribault, Minnesota 55021 507-334-8404 • Fax: 507-334-0485 • donahue@donahuesclematis.com
www.donahuesclematis.com
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Cochrane, WI • cowsmocompost.com • 608-626-2571 NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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GARDEN FOR GOOD
Garden on Wheels A Minnesota master gardener spreads joy in her neighborhood through a giving garden cart. STO RY J O S I E S M I T H P H O T O S T R A C Y WA L S H
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sed cupboard scraps. Crib ends. The music shelf from an old piano. Parts from a 1950s freezer crate. These are just some of the repurposed bits and pieces Jamie Miller curated to create her charming Giving Garden Cart, a sort of Little Free Library for her homegrown food and flowers. She added wheels, rolled it to the end of her driveway and started sharing the gifts of her garden: sunflowers, sweet peas, cucumbers, zinnias, herbs and more. “I think we ended up with about 75 bouquets [last summer] and over 100 pounds of beans, kale, peas and tomatoes, just giving them out to anybody who came by,” she says. Her Maple Grove, Minn., neighbors find an assortment of colorful tulips, blooming daffodils, wonderfully scented lilacs and vegetables of every kind tucked into jars and apple crates on the cart. Small gestures of kindness ripple far and fast—Jamie loves hearing from neighbors, who have now become friends, about how her bouquets have made muchloved gifts for baby showers, anniversaries and more. For her, gardening is an art, a source of solace, a path to mindfulness and a reminder to make time for giving freely to others.
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When she and her husband, Ben, first moved into their home 14 years ago, their yard didn’t include any desirable vegetation. Generous neighbors and family members shared plants to help get them started. Now, during the winter months, Jamie’s living room doubles as a greenhouse where she starts many of her seedlings. “A lot of kale, a lot of broccoli, pumpkins and loofahs. They grow like big cucumbers,” Jamie says. A former sales engineer, Jamie changed careers during the pandemic. Suddenly spending more time at home and reeling from the recent and devastating loss of both parents, she coped by channeling her energy into painting and other creative projects. She also enrolled in the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Volunteer program. As part of her certification, a requirement to complete a set number of volunteer hours sparked her motivation to build the cart as both a creative outlet and a vehicle for sharing the fruits of her labor and gardening education and inspiration. It won’t be long before the weather warms up and Jamie’s Giving Garden Cart is on full display in her neighborhood again, bursting with bouquets and overflowing baskets of deliciously ripe vegetables, just in time for another summer of giving.
5
ways to share a garden surplus
out to your local food shelf, shelters, 1 Reach churches, kitchens and other communitybased organizations to see if they accept perishable donations.
your gardening tools and a friend 2 Grab and help a neighbor plant a flower bed or vegetable garden.
fruit and vegetable trays and gift them 3 Prepare to busy families and neighbors in need. Chop up your extra lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes to create fresh, ready-to-go salads.
a garden surplus swap in 4 Organize your neighborhood. your own Giving Garden Cart! 5 Create Jamie can even help—reach her at
limestcreative.com for a made-to-order cart.
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OPENING MARCH 1!
an
Sc
®
m e! Stay updated on summer events at the farm! Tomato tasting, benefit concert, and more!
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Lillian Goldman Visitors Center Gift & Garden Store, Gardens, Trails & More
Visitors Center open March-October 10am to 5pm | 7 days a week 3074 N Winn Rd, Decorah, IA 52101 563.382.6104 · seedsavers.org/visit
SUSTAINABILITY + POSITIVE IMPACT
GARDEN GREENER
An abundant source of rich nectar, zinnia flowers attract bumble bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Grow Pollinator Plants from Seed Try this economical and fun way to grow a buzzworthy garden. Ready to attract and provide for pollinators this year? Consider growing more of the flowering plants they love—starting these plants from seed is inexpensive and fun. Then sit back and enjoy watching bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other visitors flock to your garden throughout the growing season. STO RY A N D P H OTO S B E T H ST E T E N F E L D
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GARDEN GREENER
Easy-to-Grow Pollinator Plants All plants listed here are easy to start from seed and prefer mostly to full sun. Notes about my experiences with them are included; your experiences may be somewhat different, depending on your indoor and outdoor conditions. 1. Zinnia Z. elegans
Start from seed indoors and this annual will bloom from June through the first hard frost. ‘State Fair Mix’ is tall (3 to 5 feet) with large, multicolored flowers (4 to 5 inches across). The height of this variety attracts even more bees, butterflies and hummingbirds than other zinnias. Cut flowers for arrangements and to encourage repeat blooming.
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2. Cosmos
2 6 3
Native to Mexico and Central America, this annual has many cultivars: ‘Goldfinger’ grows in the shape of a small shrub about 3 to 4 feet tall. All pollinators enjoy its flat, orange and yellow flowers that bloom from midsummer to the first freeze. Start seeds indoors in a sunny room or with grow lights, and then transplant seedlings outside after the last frost.
6. Hyacinth bean vine
Asclepias incarnata
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This beauty flowers late summer until frost. A perennial in zones 5-10, it might self seed even in colder zones and bloom in future years. Butterflies, bees and other pollinators frequent its fuzzy flowers. I started it from seed in pots in early spring, transplanting in the garden after the last spring frost. It reappears in my fenced bed every year even a decade later. Tithonia rotundifolia
3. Swamp milkweed This native perennial milkweed (zones 3-9) blooms mid- to late summer with a pleasant vanilla scent. It welcomes all pollinators and is a host plant for monarch caterpillars that nibble on its foliage, stems, buds and flowers. Scatter seeds in the garden in late autumn and add a light covering of soil. Or, try cold moist stratification indoors and transplant after danger of frost has passed.
Conoclinium coelestinum
5. Mexican sunflower
C. bipinnatus
Some years I start these seeds indoors, but they seem to be hardier and grow as tall and fast when tossed directly in the garden around the last spring frost. My favorite? ‘Sensation Mix’. All types of pollinators visit cosmos which, like zinnias, bloom from June through the first hard frost, and sometimes even after that. Regular cutting produces more blooms.
4. Blue mistflower
Lablab purpureus
7 7. Borage
Borago officinalis
While an annual, borage self-seeds reliably and often reappears in the garden for several years. A favorite of bees and flies, it blooms from early summer through the first frost. The foliage and flowers are not only beautiful but edible, too! Sow seeds directly in the garden in spring.
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Hummingbirds and other pollinators flit among pink/purple blooms that cover this vining plant mid-summer through the first freeze. This annual produces plentiful pods of large beans that can be harvested for planting the following year. Start in pots indoors and transplant outdoors in late spring. Plants grow fast, weaving around fencing, arbors and trellises.
GARDEN GREENER
NORTHERN NATIVE
Early Figwort: The Native Your Pollinator Garden Needs S TO R Y A N D P H OTO S M E G C O W D E N
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Understated and often overlooked, early figwort is a prairie powerhouse.
f you only shop for plants at garden centers, I doubt does with what appears to be an insignificant offering. you’ve been given the opportunity to add early I quickly understood why this plant isn’t a part of the figwort (Scrophularia lanceolata) to your landscape. horticulture circuit; topping out at 5 feet tall with ¼-inch I didn’t know about it until 2017, when I seeded a flowers, this is not a showy plant worthy of container space high-diversity native prairie seed mix from Prairie in a garden center. It’s tall, unorthodox and, frankly, wild— Moon Nursery in our front yard, converting a 1/3-acre slice in a good way. And that’s why I want you to plant it. of our front yard from turf to prairie. When I let it flower as our new prairie was taking root Also called lance-leaf figwort, this in its first year, I’d prepared myself for native not only germinated the first spring Figwort contains one of the a scale-tipping population to bloom after sowing, it wanted to flower. Because the following year. It never did. It did, most nectar-rich flowers of its square stem, I was able to broadly however, continue to appear, traveling identify it as “not a weed” and, against around the new prairie year after year, in the plant kingdom. This the recommendations of native seed even crossing the driveway and making unassuming and easily companies who prefer mowing to 4 inches itself at home in a new garden bed. the first year while establishing a new You’ll know when it’s in season. overlooked native is meant prairie, I encouraged it to complete its life Pollinators will be buzzing from dawn till for nearly every garden. cycle and show me who it was. dusk. Bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and Figwort’s minute inflorescence grossly wasps gratefully visit each flower, sipping understates its ecological stature. And that’s one of the deeply from these nectar powerhouses. I’ve watched early- reasons I adore this native, and certainly one of the season monarchs contentedly flutter from plant to plant, reasons it’s overlooked in the landscape. It refuses to wow savoring the nourishment of this understated perennial. us with noise; rather, it surprises us with how much good it The first season I witnessed its inflorescence changed me.
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GARDEN GREENER
All in the family Early figwort has a close relative: late figwort (Schrophularia marilandica). Aside from close inspections of the flowers, the only way to tell the two species apart is their timing. Early figwort, aptly named, flowers from May through early July. Late figwort picks up right after that, flowering until October. Figwort has deeply serrated, lanceolate leaves ranging from 3 to 8 inches long. The flowering stalk has an opposite branching pattern with tiny, 1/4 to 1/3-inch flower buds forming at the tips of short branches. Growing to a height of 5 feet, this plant is easy to spot in early June. And it’s a lot of plant for such tiny blossoms. It beckons me to meander through our prairie, admiring the diversity of insects it works hard to support.
Starting figwort from seed Like many of the best native perennial flowers, figwort requires a 60-day cold, wet stratification period to break dormancy. The easiest way to achieve this is to sow seeds directly outdoors in late fall or early winter on a prepared site of bare soil, free of weeds. A raised garden bed could make a great native seedling nursery for a season. When direct seeding figwort or other native seed mixes, soil contact is critical. Bare ground is recommended. And, for small-seeded flowers like figwort, light exposure is also needed to aid germination.
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You can mimic all of this indoors. Dampen some sand, vermiculite or sterile potting soil in a labeled container and place in your refrigerator. Date it so you know when it will be ready for planting in a tray. Another way to achieve a cold and wet stratification is to winter sow the seeds in plastic. This is the same as sowing directly into your garden, except you’ll know these are your figwort seedlings and can carefully transplant them exactly where you want them.
For me, figwort turned the idea of ecological value on its head. It deconstructed my preconceived notions of what a flower garden is. It opened my eyes to the diversity we cannot see when we only look for the showiest plants. Not only is this native comfortable with moderately wet feet, it can also tolerate (and even prefers)light shade. Now,you might be thinking what I once thought—this must get out of control quickly in the garden. If it did, I wouldn’t be writing about it. Early figwort reminded me that impact doesn’t have to be flashy to be effective. It taught me that I have so much more to learn from the inconspicuous teachers in my life.
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TOP LEFT TO BOTTOM RIGHT: 1. Dried figwort seed pods make the perfect addition to an august bouquet 2. It’s a juxtaposition of scale: fairy flowers top an oversized stem flush with large leaves. 3. Early figwort, faintly visible, flowers in a field of late-summer bloomers, supporting a diverse cohort of earlysummer native insects waiting for the main show of the season. 4. Figwort seed pods—small brown teardrops full of tiny black seeds— split in two when ripe.
WHERE TO SOURCE SEEDS Prairie Moon Nursery prairiemoon.com Prairie Future Seed Company prairiefutureseed.com
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GARDEN GREENER
PERMACULTURE BASICS S TO R Y A N D P H OTO S M I C H E L L E B R U H N
Make a difference—try incorporating these three permaculture ideas this year.
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magine growing more food and flowers and buying less compost, all while lowering water use, just by setting up your garden to mimic Mother Nature’s multitasking ways. Permaculture is defined as the harmonious integration of landscape and people, and a framework for creating self-sustaining agricultural ecosystems. This practice offers exciting and common-sense opportunities to take earthfriendly action in our own yards by cooperating with nature. We can be part of the climate solution one plant, compost pile and rain barrel at a time. The idea of permaculture has been around since the 1970s, when two Australians joined the concepts of “permanence” and “agriculture.” Since then, it’s evolved to include central ideas of earth care, human care and fair share, supported by a dozen principles. As you practice permaculture, you’ll start seeing your land and the things living on it as interconnected resources working together to sustain each other. You’ll notice how each plant, insect and raindrop serves multiple functions. In an undisturbed forest, this kind of system has slowly matured over hundreds of years.
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Today, we can help recreate nature’s selfsustaining systems by designing with existing resources to benefit the whole. Permaculture functions best as a wholesystems approach. To get started, we’re highlighting a few practices while also acknowledging that, as we cultivate better techniques, plants and soil, it is the relationships between these elements that make permaculture so powerful. Permaculture suggests that garden design flows from observing your yard and learning from it. Where is your yard sunniest, driest, windiest or wettest? As you dig into the following projects, consider how these elements would best fit into your space with your lifestyle and garden goals.
ABOVE: Garden-ready compost LEFT: Strawberries growing in a hügelkultur bed TOP RIGHT: Three styles of composting
PRINCIPLES OF PERMACULTURE + Observe and interact + Catch and store energy + Obtain a yield + Apply selfregulation and accept feedback + Use and value renewable resources and services + Produce no waste + Design from patterns and details + Integrate rather than segregate + Use small and slow solutions + Use and value diversity + Use edges and value the margins + Creatively use and respond to change
At its heart, permaculture is a commonsense way to invite sustainable gardening practices into our lives. It also puts us in the mindset to react to our ever-changing environment with adaptive, fun and imaginative solutions. It reminds us that everything—and everyone—is part of nature. Let’s get out there and harness our existing resources.
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Start with the soil In Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, author Toby Hemenway says to “start with the soil.” Composting is one of the best ways to continually build and refresh soil. It’s also one of the only ways to replenish trace elements like magnesium and copper, which plant roots pull out of the soil. But did you know there are many ways to compost? You can set up traditional compost piles in your yard. To keep composting indoors during winter in northern climates, you could vermicompost or add worms to a closed bin. Self-contained units make composting an option for those without much outdoor space. As we learn more about the soil food web, no-dig gardening is gaining popularity. This approach minimizes soil disturbance and composts in place. This can look like “chop and drop,” as you cut down non-diseased plant material and let it first act as mulch and then slowly decompose in the garden where it grew. Or try hügelkultur gardening, which uses organic materials found on your property to build soil health. Start with larger pieces of dead wood at the base, then branches. Top with layers of organic materials, same as what you’d add to a compost pile, but directly in the garden. This technique applies the permaculture principle of using the “available services” of insects and microorganisms already present, while skipping the step of hauling and turning compost.
COMMUNAL COMPOSTING If you can’t or don’t want to compost yourself, remember most cities also have yard waste dropoff sites and many have started “Organics Recycling” options.
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Collect water
As gardeners living through climate challenges, we understand the value of rainwater as a resource. There are ways to make the most of this resource and collect water that go beyond planting rain gardens. A smart place to store water is the soil, and we can do this by designing swales. Swales function best on sloping land. They’re made by digging shallow trenches and adding berms on the lower side to slow runoff and let water percolate down into the soil. This creates an underground lens of water as a reserve that deeper plant roots can access. Capturing water from rooftops in rain barrels is an easy way for smaller and flatter properties to collect moisture. Run water from gutters, down a spout and directly into a barrel for holding until needed. Place your barrel in an easy-access spot, and make sure to secure a Watering with rain filter to prevent debris water can from entering the barrel. help with Ample research nutrient uptake shows that chemicals from petroleum-based shingles leach within a safe range into the collected water. Rain barrel water is usually slightly acidic, which is excellent for nutrient uptake by plants. In general, harvested rainwater is best applied at the soil level. As an extra safety precaution, you can wait to harvest rainwatersoaked produce a full day after watering to benefit from the sun’s ultraviolet light disinfection of any possible contaminants. More information is available if you search “soak up the rain” on the EPA’s website.
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Plant perennial guilds Planting edible landscapes is a great way to add function, biodiversity and healthier plant communities to our gardens. Similar to companion planting, which places two plants near each other for mutual benefit, and interplanting, which mixes plants that won’t compete for resources, a plant guild features one large, central plant with a cast of supporting plants around and underneath it. Think of a guild as companion planting on a larger, perennial scale, much like the Three Sisters indigenous way of planting squash, corn and climbing beans together, but with perennial plants. Choosing perennial instead of annual edibles also helps the garden develop deeper soil food web relationships. Many cold-climate edible perennials make wonderful guild plant options, from herbs (chives, clary sage, horseradish, oregano, thyme) to vegetables (asparagus, perennial kale, ramps, rhubarb, sorrel, Egyptian walking onions) to fruits (blueberries, currants, grapes, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries). Fruit- and nut-producing trees add another layer of food and height to the landscape. A food forest might seem unattainable, but we can imitate nature’s way of growing by starting with a tree or two. Perennial groundcovers, herbs, shrubs, vines, dwarf and full-size trees can all be interplanted. A typical fruit tree guild will have a ring of bulbs at the outer drip line, with mulch-producing, insectary and nutrient-accumulating plants under the canopy. Specific plant selection would take into consideration resource sharing for root depth and nutrients needed. While these mini ecosystems take longer to mature and require more upfront planning, in the long run they’ll reduce the need for care, fertilizer and pest management. They’ll end up supporting themselves, a permaculture goal. By adding plant diversity, you’re also growing overall resilience.
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DIY
Companion planting guide Nutrient accumulators (yarrow, white clover)
Apple Tree Malus pumila
Insectary plants (anise hyssop, bee balm)
Grasssuppressing bulbs (daffodils)
Mulch plants (comfrey) Pest deterrants (garlic chives)
HOW IT WORKS
Plant garlic chives around the base of a single, central apple tree to deter rabbits from nibbling on the bark. Yarrow and clover, planted under the tree’s canopy, are nutrient accumulators, while comfrey acts as a living mulch. Anise hyssop and bee balm attract, feed and shelter beneficial insects. Daffodils planted along the tree’s outer drip line deter wildlife, suppress turfgrass spread and create a border between the lawn and guild planting.
Friends School NG one-third 2024.qxp_Friends Plant Sale 1/23/24 3:40 PM Page 1
Mothers Day weekend At the State Fair Grandstand FREE admission Volunteers shop Thursday FRIDAY, MAY 10 9:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. SATURDAY, MAY 11 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. SUNDAY, MAY 12 Remaining plants 1/3 off 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
LEFT TO RIGHT: 1. Interplanting and companion planting create beautiful gardens that require less gardener intervention. 2. Pears are fertilized by underplanted yarrow, comfrey and clover. 3. You’ll always harvest variety from companion planted gardens. 4. Letting plants go to seed is both beautiful and functional. 5. Hardy, native mulberries don’t require much pruning and rain fruit when you shake a ripe tree.
An MSHS ner Discount part selling Committed to ithout plants grown w des neonic pestici Photo by Michelle Mero Riedel
www.FriendsSchoolPlantSale.com
60-page catalog online—browse photos and make your shopping list. To get the catalog by mail, email catalog@friendsschoolplantsale.com by March 11.
W E B I NAR
NO-DIG + HÜGELKULTUR GARDENING Tuesday, April 9, 6:30-7:45 p.m. Presenter Michelle Bruhn shares ways to layer organic materials and create a hügelkultur bed and soil teeming with microorganisms ready to help your plants grow. northerngardener.org/classes
Hennepin County Master Gardener Volunteers Upcoming Events For more information: hennepinmastergardeners.org/events
Spring Plant Sale Saturday, May 18, 9am-2pm
Hopkins Pavilion, 11000 Excelsior Blvd., Hopkins, MN
Offering perennials, annuals, natives, vegetables, herbs & more! 20,000+ Plants—More than ever before! One of the largest plant sales in Hennepin County. Bring your wagon!
Learning Garden Tour Saturday, July 13, 8:30am-4:30pm Explore 10 inspiring gardens!
This year’s self-guided tour showcases 10 gardens around Minneapolis and Edina. Join us for inspiration, education, and garden-related shopping. Cost: $15 in advance; $20 day of tour. Discounts for groups of 10 or more. Children under 12 free with a paying adult. Tour held rain or shine.
Fully staffed by Master Gardener Volunteers ready to answer all your gardening questions. Free parking!
All proceeds support the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Volunteer – Hennepin County community programs.
To learn more: Hennepinmastergardeners.org/events/ spring-plant-sale/
To buy tickets & learn more: Hennepinmastergardeners.org/events/ learning-garden-tour/
MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEER PROGRAM | HENNEPIN COUNTY
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KITCHEN GARDEN
Raspberry Corral Fence those berries in for big harvests and a neat garden. STO RY A N D P H OTO S M A RY L A H R S C H I E R
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aspberries are the easiest, most prolific berry to grow in cold-climate gardens. Their only flaw is a tendency to ramble, pushing up suckers and new canes to create a thorny thicket. Hennepin County gardener Judith Anthony found a way to corral those rambunctious brambles—a clever fence and patio-stone system that contains the berries, makes them easy to pick and looks attractive.
Urban homesteader A University of Minnesota Extension master gardener, Judith has been gardening on her one-fifth of an acre lot in Crystal since 2016. She describes her style as “homestead” and “cottage.” She keeps Buff Orpington chickens for eggs and grows vegetables, fruits and mushrooms for eating and preserving. She turns herbs, fruits and flowers into teas, salves, liqueurs and cordials. As she was designing her garden, which covers both the front and back yards, Judith decided to place the raspberries where they would thrive but not take over. She found a sunny spot between her backyard fence and her driveway. The raspberry area is 14 feet long and just short of 9 feet wide. There is enough room for two rows of berry plants in 3-foot rows with one 3-foot path between them and 18-inchwide paths on the outside edges of each corral. The spacing allows Judith to reach in and harvest from both sides. There’s additional room near the corrals for her garbage and recycling cans. With help from her son-in-law, who is a carpenter, Judith set a total of eight 4-by-4-inch posts in cement to anchor the fence lines. Each of the four fence lines has four 2-by-2-inch boards set in the posts and attached with heavy-duty bolts. The boards were stained to protect the wood and decorative finials on top of the posts give them a finished look. To reduce plant spread, Judith laid inexpensive patio stones between and around the rows of berries. The stones also give her a comfortable place to stand while picking the berries.
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Growing tips Before planting the raspberries, Judith amended the soil with her homemade compost, which is rich in chicken litter, grass clippings and dried leaves. She chose ‘Heritage’, ‘Latham’ and ‘Killarney’ varieties for her raspberries, starting with six plants total. All are extremely cold-tolerant. She grows berries she can harvest in June and July because fall-harvest berries would conflict with the busiest season for harvesting and preserving. In fall or spring, Judith cuts the plants back to 12 to 18 inches high. When they start growing, she guides any wayward branches inside the fence lines. “The plants behave themselves,” she says, “but I have to discipline them a bit.” For many years, Judith lived in a townhouse and did most of her gardening in a community garden, where perennial plantings such as raspberries were not allowed. One of the joys of her current garden/homestead is the ability to weave care of the plants into her daily life, whether it’s pulling weeds, harvesting ripe vegetables or moving a stray raspberry cane into place. “I always dreamed of having a cottage,” she says. “There is a real pleasure in strolling out into your garden with a cup of coffee in the morning and seeing what’s happening.”
FRUITS FOR A SMALL YARD Judith’s urban landscape incorporates several kinds of fruits, which she uses in preserves, cordials and other edibles. In addition to raspberries, she has three ‘Mount Royal’ plum trees, a smaller plum variety which tolerates urban environments well, black currants (Ribes nigrum), blueberries (Vaccinium) and elderberries (Sambucus nigra).
Dealing with a raspberry pest A new pest may be ravaging raspberry plants that were formerly considered a surefire crop. First found in Minnesota in 2012, the spotted wing drosophila can damage or destroy home raspberry (and other soft fruit) crops. The insect has been found in most Minnesota counties, according to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The spotted wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) is a vinegar or fruit fly, measuring only 1/8 inch long. Adults have prominent red eyes and clear wings. Females lay eggs in developing fruit. Gardeners may not notice an infestation until they see the white larvae in fruit, sometimes after harvesting. The flies produce several generations over the summer,leading to worse infestations in fall-bearing raspberries. Vinegar traps may help you discover and control a small infestation. Fine netting can be used to keep the flies away from raspberry beds as well. For more information, visit extension.umd.edu and search for “spotted wing drosophila.”
Plants Selected for Your Success
In our Farm Fresh Selects® greenhouses we select only the finest performing plants. These Farm Fresh Selects® varieties are chosen by testing in trial gardens and selecting the varieties that will perform for you.
Scan for a list of retail locations or visit FarmFreshSelects.com
Spotted wing drosophila on a raspberry. Photo courtesy of Hannah Burrack, bugwood.org
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KITCHEN GARDEN
Season-long Spinach There’s more to this old standby than meets the Popeye.
STO RY A N D P H OTO S M I C H E L L E B R U H N
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trengthening our spinachgrowing skills saves us from buying those plastic bags of half-wilted greens shipped across the country. When we realize that produce loses around 30 percent of its nutritional value within days of harvesting, growing our own makes sense both to our personal health and the health of the planet. Plus, noshing on sweet spinach leaves is one of the joys of an early season garden. But if you’ve grown spinach, you’ve likely also felt frustrated by plants bolting—turning bitter and tough— after an early season heatwave. By starting seeds earlier and exploring different strains and species of what people around the world use as spinach,
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we can enjoy these slightly finicky, nutrient-packed greens in our gardens and salads all season long.
Starting your spinach Traditional spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is a cool-weather crop with an optimum growing temperature between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So, starting plants extra early will ensure that you’re harvesting baskets of spinach before the first heatwave hits. Or, try planting in the fall to overwinter. ‘Giant Winter’ spinach grows well this way. Spinach seeds germinate well in soil temperatures of 40 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. I usually record these soil temperatures in my (newly) USDA
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Zone 5a covered gardens by mid-March. Planted ½ inch deep, the seeds take a week or two to germinate, so remain patient. Once sprouted, seedlings are truly cold hardy, tolerating temperatures as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Plant up to nine seedlings per square foot if intensively planting or 6 inches apart for traditional spacing. Most plants grow 6 to 10 inches high. To prolong harvesting, keep the soil consistently moist and switch to a shade cloth when temperatures warm to over 80 degrees. Spinach prefers to do most of its growing in our (rapidly diminishing) shoulder seasons and simultaneously likes a lot of sun, making it a great choice for winter sowing. I also recommend starting seeds in late summer for a fall harvest.
Pick your favorite All varieties can be harvested as a cut-and-come-again green. Harvest often and in the morning. You can also blanch and freeze all varieties of spinach. I hope you’ll add a few more flavors of spinach to your spring garden this year. Space F1
Spinacia oleracea | 25 to 50 days
This variety boasts more resistance to downy mildew. It also matures quickly but holds off on bolting while staying sweet a little longer. Dark green, smooth leaves grow from an upright stem.
Bloomsdale
Spinacia oleracea | 40 to 50 days
This variety is a garden staple, and for good reason. It packs loads of fresh flavor in its big, crinkly leaves. This open-pollinated heirloom variety was bred from a single monoecious plant (most spinach is dioecious). The ‘Longstanding’ Bloomsdale variety holds off on bolting better than most and grows a little larger to 10 inches tall.
Caucasian Mountain Spinach
Malabar Spinach (Ceylon and Vine spinach)
Basella rubra (red stems) and alba (green stems) | 70 to 80 days
Malabar is a wonderful, warmseason alternative since it thrives in heat and humidity. The vines grow to 8 feet, making for gorgeous, edible trellises. The leaves, which taste like baby beet greens, are edible both raw and cooked, though typically used as a stir fry or soup ingredient. Start seeds inside four to six weeks before last frost, waiting to transplant until long after any chance of frost.
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Stretching the seasons
I love playing with growing under cover. Elliot Coleman introduced the concept of double coverage, and I’ve been using the technique on a much smaller scale than his market farm. I place winter sowing jugs inside my cold frames and low tunnels, effectively adding a second layer of plastic cover so I can get an even earlier start. Coleman estimates this practice moves your garden a thousand miles south.
New Zealand Spinach
Tetragonia tetragonioides | 55 to 70 days
New Zealand spinach is a unique, warmseason variety. While drought tolerant, it tastes best when harvested young This perennial (to after consistent watering. Harvesting zone 3) variety the tips often encourages new growth. produces tasty High oxalate content is reduced with shoots in early spring. Often described as cooking. Start seeds inside three to earthy flavored, the heart-shaped leaves four weeks prior to the last frost. Soak follow the typical pattern of being most seeds in water for 24 hours for better tender when smaller, with more mature germination. Transplant seedlings after leaves tasting best cooked or in pesto. chance of frost. If given full sun, established plants will vine from 6 to 9 feet long, making a Strawberry Spinach green, edible screen. The seeds should be (Strawberry Goosefoot, cold stratified. Note that growth is slow Indian Paint) the first year. Blitum capitatum | 40 days leaves Hablitzia tamnoides 45 to 55 days
Lamb’s Quarter’s (Wild Spinach, Goosefoot) Chenopodium album | 50 days
This sun-loving variety is cultivated in much of the world as an edible but seen as a weed in America. It is an aggressive plant, but a fun one to forage for salads as you weed. Harvest long before the plant reaches its 3-foot height. It also contains more vitamins and minerals than any cultivated spinach.
90 days seeds
This funky, native edible is usually the first harvest-ready green in my garden. The real bonus of growing these? The bright pink to red seed heads that give the plant its name. The ripe seeds are slightly sweet and juicy and really do look like berries. They’re a great addition to salads and one of my favorite in-the-garden snacks. As a native, beware, it wants to self-seed.
TOP TO BOTTOM: Strawberry spinach seeds. Bloomsdale spinach in the rain. Red Malabar spinach.
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KITCHEN GARDEN
Stunning Sesame Yes, you can grow delicious, versatile sesame seeds in cold climates. Backlit in the garden, it will have you gasping at such a marvelous specimen in the height of our growing season.
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ant to harvest the most flavorful seed from your flower garden this summer? Flower lovers, this one’s for you. And for you, vegetable gardeners looking for an uncommon edible plant to grow. Let’s not be confined by what type of grower we are. This is a plant for every garden and every gardener. That’s exactly why I’ve fallen in love with growing sesame, and I hope you do, too. I first learned about sesame from my friend Brie Arthur who gardens in North Carolina. She sows a beautiful direct-seeded bed that blooms into a gorgeous late spring and summer parade of colors, harvested for seeds and grains. When I saw her sesame in bloom, I immediately knew it was destined to become a mainstay of my food garden. I was mesmerized by its hood-like, foxglove vibes. I was ecstatic that one of the flowers in my food garden could also produce food—and a novel food, no less. And I was curious to understand how well it would grow here in USDA Zone 4. As it turns out, a wonderful small seed company in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, Fruition Seeds, sells sesame seeds adapted for cold climates. With their Black and Tan sesame seeds in hand, I embarked on my first attempt at growing sesame in Minnesota three years ago. And my garden has never been the same.
The seeds of antiquity Sesame heralds from sub-Saharan Africa and has been in cultivation for well over 4,000 years. It remains integral to many cultures, including India, southeast Asia and tropical Africa. Heat and drought can actually increase its productivity. Studies show it not only handles drought without crop losses, it produces amid monsoon season, too. Highly nutritious, sesame seeds can be made into a paste, oil or eaten whole. Can a seed crop be any more versatile? We owe a debt of gratitude to the enslaved people of African descent who carried sesame seeds on their harrowing passage across the Atlantic. Sesame was cultivated and introduced into our culture thanks to their seed stewardship and tending.
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Getting a head start
HOW TO Sow sesame in a 2-inch soil block or pots
inch deep. Be sure to use a seedling SOW atheat1/8mat for this tropical plant. Thin to one plant per cell. Consider keeping them on heat for a few weeks after germination and even after you pot them up a few weeks later. Pot up about four weeks from germination (or once several sets of true leaves have emerged) into a 3 or 4-inch pot.
Interplanting Sesame deserves a prominent home in the middle of a flower bed, anchoring the space with its spiky form. With consistent yet modest flowering, summer blooms dot each stalk throughout summer. Plant them at least 12 inches apart. By late August, this plant commands long pauses to marvel at the accumulating pods whose green seed capsules remain clasped shut as if in prayer until the seed is ripe. And if that weren’t enough, pause
To produce an enviable crop that will impress your dinner guests, give sesame a head start indoors. Any seed company will encourage you to sow them indoors four to six weeks before your last frost. Some go further and recommend transplanting under cover until nights are well above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Knowing this plant is a subtropical native that will protest cool soils, I disregard that advice—I don’t even try transplanting them into the garden until early June, when the heat arrives and soil temperatures hover in the 70s. A simple kitchen meat thermometer is all you need to probe your soil and know when the time is right. I’ve always wondered if I could sow them later and still get a decent crop. This plant is direct-seeded in warmer climates, but we just don’t have enough warmth in zones 4 and 5 in September or October for the plants to reach their full potential. It could be a fun winter sowing project, if that’s your preferred seed-starting method. In fact, I might give that a try this season to compare side-by-side with my indoorsowed seedlings. Gardeners are never done learning. By mid-May in zone 4a, I plant the seedlings in small newspaper pots. You could do the same in zone 5, or start one to two weeks later in zone 3 gardens and then plan to plant the second full week of June. Either way, this gives them more legroom during their month of waiting for the soil to warm. Pot-bound seedlings is a common issue for new gardeners who try indoor seed starting. When in doubt, take the time and space to plant your seedlings in larger pots.
to admire the maneuvering bees who land, creep inside, pollinate and eventually back out and carry on with their busy day. If your aesthetic tends toward the tidy, staking these plants once they start sending up stems will yield maximum vertical impact in your bed. I tend to be too busy succession planting and processing produce, so ours end up flopping over, giving a cottage garden vibe by early September. I have grown to love this little bit of disarray amid my rambling vegetables and flowers. Give seedlings space to sprawl. They send up multiple stems and need 18 inches between neighbors to account for their inevitable creeping.
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KITCHEN GARDEN
Sesame seeds mature about 90 days after transplant. The plant would happily continue to flower, but our seasons are short so they stop producing in September in zones 4 and 5.
Timing the harvest Just like the flowers, the seed capsules ripen from the bottom up. And, like other indeterminate plants, this happens over many weeks throughout the growing season. By early September, start looking for brown pods that have just started to crack open at the tip. Gently twist these off and, voila, you’ve just harvested your first sesame seeds. I usually pull a few pods early like that, but as the weather starts to cool off, regardless of maturity, I’ll simply cut the stalk in 12-inch lengths, invert each piece into a garbage bag and set in a cool dark closet until the capsules desiccate and the seeds fall out. If you think you love sesame seeds, you’re in for a delightful sensory awakening this fall. The flavor of homegrown toasted sesame seeds exposes store bought seeds’ long shelf life and staleness. Prepare to be blown away by what sesame really tastes like. FLOWERS TELL THE TALE
H OW TO In a dry skillet on TOAST medium heat, place a few teaspoons of your harvested seeds. Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Resist the urge to multitask as they overcook quickly. Note: Store untoasted seeds in glass jars and toast them immediately before using. They are great for carrot salads, stir fries, etc.
Pink blossoms yield black sesame seeds and white blooms produce white or tan sesame seeds.
Will you give sesame a try? Tag @mnhort and @seedtofork in your photos and posts on social media and use the hashtag #SesameInMN to be featured.
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MONSTER
BLOOMS STO RY A N D P H OTO S M I C H E L L E M E R O R I E D E L
Learn to grow mind-blowingly massive perennial and annual flowers.
Usually in horticulture, bigger is not better. When selecting new trees, shrubs and perennials, most gardeners tend to go for small or miniature sizes as they fit better into the landscape. But sometimes you just have to go big, especially when selecting back-of-the-border plants. And I don’t just mean plant size; I’m referring to massive flower size, so make some room. Why would you want an enormous bloom? Because your garden landscape sometimes needs a burst of color. Here are my top 10 monster flowers in order of bloom time.
MEET THE MONSTERS
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Iris ‘Cherished’
Tulip ‘Blue Spectacle’ Tulipa ‘Blue Spectacle’ Light: Sun to part shade Height: 16-20 inches Flower: 4 inches Hardiness zones: 3-8, perennial Similar monsters: T. ‘Double Sugar,’ ‘Annelinde,’ ‘Casablanca’ If you admire peonies, you’ll love these double, late-blooming beauties. This tulip’s petals last longer than most because they can handle some springtime heat. Their violet-purple color softens as they mature. For best results, plant them 7 inches deep in the fall, with many bulbs to a large hole. Then, in the late spring, watch these elegant tulips provide visual excitement.
2 Allium ‘Globemaster’ Allium giganteum ‘Globemaster’ Light: Full sun Height: 3-4 feet Flower: 8 inches Hardiness zones: 3-8, perennial Similar monsters: A. ‘Gladiator,’ ‘Ambassador,’ ‘His Excellency’ Alliums are popular for good reason. Their sturdy, thick stems can hold up an enormous ball of dense blooms, commonly called florets. Plant them toward the back garden border and give each bulb about 10 inches of room. Note that alliums are in the onion family, so furry critters are not attracted to them. I also recommend keeping the spent flower; although brown, it still looks great in a garden.
Iris germanica ‘Cherished’ Light: Sun to part shade Height: 3 feet Flower: 6 inches Hardiness zones: 4-9, perennial Similar monsters: I. ‘World Premiere,’ ‘Supreme Sultan,’ ‘Ambroisie’ These gorgeous rhizomes are easy to grow, and their ruffled display grows fuller every year. This hardy, bearded beauty blooms in late spring for several weeks, each stalk producing many massive blooms. After flowering, cut down the stem and leave the graceful foliage; it provides a nice backdrop behind other blooming perennials. Divide the plant every few years.
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Bright, bold monster blooms brighten every season.
Clematis ‘Kathleen Dunford’
Oriental Lily ‘Casa Blanca’
Clematis ‘Kathleen Dunford’ Light: Sun to part shade Height: 6-9 feet Flower: 6-8 inches Hardiness zones: 4-9, perennial vine Similar monsters: C. ‘Will Goodwin,’ ‘The President,’ ‘Nelly Moser’
Lilium orientalis ‘Casa Blanca’ Light: Sun to part shade Height: 3-4 feet Flower: 8 inches Hardiness zones: 4-8, perennial Similar monsters: L. ‘Red Morning,’ ‘Orange Spare,’ ‘Big Brother’
Every garden needs an easy-to-grow clematis. In early summer, ‘Kathleen Dunford’ will steal the show on any climbing structure. Blueishpurple flowers develop hints of pink as blooms mature. Don’t cut them down in the fall—they grow on the previous year’s stems.
Amazingly fragrant and pure wedding white, this Oriental lily is a big-bloomed superstar. Rigid, upright stems hold an abundance of trumpet-shaped flowers in midsummer. I like planting them in groups of three or more.
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Itoh Peony ‘Bartzella’ Peony intersectional Itoh ‘Bartzella’ Light: Sun to part shade Height: 24-36 inches Flower: 6-8 inches Hardiness zones: 3-9, perennial Similar monsters: P. ‘Border Charm,’ ‘Old World Dandy,’ ‘Julie Rose’ Thanks to sweetly scented, soft yellow blooms as wide as your hand, ‘Bartzella’ is a must-have. An early blooming summer stunner, this peony is a winner, literally. In 2006, it won the impressive Peony Society Gold Medal. Even when loaded with blooms, this shrub-like perennial might not need staking due to its tough, herbaceous stems. Be sure to plant the crown just below the soil surface.
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Daylily ‘Earth Jewels’ Hemerocallis ‘Earth Jewels’ Light: Sun to part shade Height: 4 feet Flower: 8-10 inches Hardiness zones: 3-8, perennial Similar monsters: D. ‘Firestorm,’ ‘Pink Super Spider,’ ‘Brooklyn’ Easy-to-grow daylilies are a good starting plant for novice gardeners. Add organic matter and mulch in the spring to encourage midsummer blooming in ‘Earth Jewels’. I adore this plant’s sweet peachy pink blooms, lime throat and dark pink eyes.
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Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant Wine’ Zinnia elegans ‘Benary’s Giant Wine’ Light: Full sun Height: 3-4 feet Flower: 5-6 inches Hardiness zones: 9-11, annual Similar monsters: Z. ‘Inca,’ ‘Park’s Big Red,’ ‘California Giants’ On a scale from one to 10, ‘Benary’s Giant Wine’ is a 12. I watched in awe as these zinnias branched tall and wide, loaded with colossal double flowers all summer long in my sunny garden. The Benary’s series comes in many colors.
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Rose Mallow ‘Starry Starry Night Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Starry Starry Night’ Light: full sun Height: 3-5 feet Flower: 8-9 inches Hardiness zones: 4-9, perennial Similar monsters: H. ‘Midnight Marvel,’ ‘Lady Baltimore,’ ‘Big Red’
This flower’s light pink with a red eye will wow your garden guests, so plant it close to the border. The plant’s blackburgundy foliage contrasts spectacularly while blooms appear in the late summer. Most flowers last one day, so deadhead regularly for the best show.
Big bloom tips With a little maintenance, these gigantic beauties will flourish during the growing season.
WATER To develop large, abundant flowers and lush foliage, these plants need plenty of water. Make sure soil is evenly moist before and during the blooming period.
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Dahlia ‘Café au Lait’ Dahlia pinnata ‘Café au Lait’ Light: Full sun Height: 3-4 feet Flower: 7-8 inches Hardiness zones: 7-11, annual Similar monsters: ‘Snowbound,’ ‘Penhill Watermelon,’ ‘Breakout’ Dahlias steal the late-summer garden spotlight. You’ll need to dig up the tubers in the fall and plant in the spring. This soft pink dahlia boasts fully double flowers. I like to cut and display some indoors in a vase.
FERTILIZE Extra nutrition feeds the roots and produces longer blooming plants. For perennials, replenish the soil with an all-purpose, slowrelease fertilizer. Mix it into the top 2 inches in the early spring or add a couple inches of organic matter. For annuals, an all-purpose, immediate-release fertilizer mixed into a watering can and poured at the base every two weeks will do the trick. You can also find specific fertilizers to boost flower production, but all-purpose works just as well and costs less. DEADHEAD Remove all faded flowers to encourage more abundant, longlasting blooms. Just cut or pinch the dying flower and its stem above the first set of leaves. Do this often and as early as possible. Don’t let brown flowers muddy your spectacular display.
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GARDEN FOR GOOD
At the heart of Timothy’s haven sits a handcrafted, wooden, open-air chapel.
A HEALING
HAVEN
Timothy Haugen’s gardens are a reflection of his journey of living with cancer.
T
imothy Haugen’s story is woven into every blossom, bloom and sculpture threading through the whimsical gardens and woodland of Haugen Haven. After moving to his folks’ property in Ham Lake, the former professional floral designer created a sanctuary where a canopy of trees rustles overhead and his calming, healing space fills with the songs of nature, the rhythmic pecking of a woodpecker, the trickle of water from the remains of an old fountain and the scurry of his favorite chipmunk. Timothy, who is living with stage four cancer, uses the land as his palette. An artist at heart, he began sculpting with polymer clay when he was just a kid. Today, his artistic vision fills an acre of ground he calls home. Playful mushroom sculptures made of cement stand many feet tall, nestled into their woodsy surroundings, as his newest creation, supersized, intricate creatures fashioned from painted chicken wire, highlight the wildlife that lives on the land. At the heart of Timothy’s haven sits a handcrafted, wooden, open-air chapel with meticulously planned arches soaring toward the sky. The chapel sits atop a tiered garden, an homage to the world around him.
His brother-in-law’s craftsmanship brought Timothy’s chapel design to life using reclaimed stained glass purchased secondhand online and transported from Iowa to his garden site. The 1920s church glass has a few holes he intended to patch, but then a bird filled one with a twig nest. “Organically, it became the best thing it could be,” he says. As the sunlight streams through, the old glass erupts with colorful light, which Timothy amplified near the top of the chapel with an oak branch sculpture adorned with crystals, stained glass birds from Ukraine, copper leaves, and beaded, jeweled acorns.
“I love seeing how the sun and light shifts,” he says. “I’m looking for moments of grace, how light hits a flower.” The garden fuels his internal flame; and, while he doesn’t consider himself a spiritual person, the chapel is his respite. “When you’re closer to death, you think about it,” he says. At the end of 2020, doctors told him his cancer was terminal. Now, he lives for his garden and the garden, in turn, lives for him.
S T O R Y S A R A H C O L B U R N P H O T O S T R A C Y WA L S H
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GARDEN FOR GOOD
Timothy doesn’t consider himself a gardener with traditional skills. He doesn’t have in-depth knowledge of plants or flowers or the latest trend in heirlooms. Instead, he plants what he likes and if it looks like it’s going to die, he moves it. “If something looks dead, don’t count it out. It’s a good lesson in life for me, too,” he says. The symbiotic relationship that exists between his health and his art is palpable. He chooses plants he enjoys, looking at their color, leaf structure and height. In January, he began coursework to further his knowledge and become a University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener. He often chooses native perennials, pollinator plants like coneflowers (Echinacea), milkweed (Asclepias), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), butterfly bush (Buddleja) and bee balm (Monarda). For added color, he planted some petunias, and when the critters ate them to the ground in a day, he thought of replacements they’d enjoy. A butterfly theme in the garden embraces the idea of changing, emerging and creating new life. A pyramid arbor tucked into the woods changes each year. He has planted it with wild cucumbers (Cucumis Anguria), clematis and, recently, morning glory (Ipomoea). “They look like they’re glowing from within,” he says of the morning glory. For him, the gardens are a way to repurpose materials. ”I want something to look like it has been here for eons,” he says. “It has a story behind it, it doesn’t have to be shiny, brand new.” In between chemotherapy treatments and infusions, Timothy creates. Though in the beginning he’d get tired, he says last summer nothing could stop him from achieving his vision. He often put in eight-hour days battling the oppressive heat and mosquitoes. Each rock, each sculpture, each plant, is thoughtfully placed for the wildlife there. Sculptural vessels are scattered throughout the grounds as an offering to nature, providing water for the bees and critters. In another corner of the garden, when Timothy resurrected a 150-yearold river rock and cement fountain that once graced his ancestral family farm, he thought about the racoon that lumbered by, using it to bathe and drink, and how he could design it for easier access. Before moving to his parent’s property in 2021, two years after diagnosis, Timothy lived in an apartment in
Minneapolis. After the death of George Floyd and the riots that followed, he craved nature and moved home to create. In fact, his first garden epiphany came while relaxing in a green hammock in his folks’ yard. He dreamed of a space to watch the birds. He cleaned out the construction materials accumulating behind the garage and planted hydrangeas and hostas and things grew from there, literally. He began to fill the area with coleus and ferns. For color, he planted impatiens, caladium, begonias and phlox. The gardens have flourished ever since he dreamed of that very first space from the cocoon of his hammock. He has created a multitude of spaces throughout the property, each one with a different conceptual focus. The centerpiece of his first garden is an imaginative, large-scale birdhouse. On the back, a wood-burned plaque reads “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow,” a quote by Audrey Hepburn. It’s a saying he feels in his bones. He used to dream of sitting under a willow tree overlooking an adjacent wetland, so he planted one. There, he has caught a glimpse of double rainbows after a gentle rain and has watched the sky briefly unravel into a crayon box of color at sunrise. “Fall is the best,” he says. “And sometimes in the winter, the sky fills with pink.” In the summer months, the area is alive with daisies (Bellis perennis) and milkweed. His gardens are open for scheduled tours. He hosted a co-worker’s wedding and his parents’ 40th anniversary vow renewal. As he readied the space for the events, Timothy followed the same design principles he did in his career. “I strive for perfection, in a way, but I almost have to let that go because it’s outside,” he says. “It’s nature and nature is not perfect.” Timothy sees life teeming around him—he appreciates it and finds ways to support it. From the birdbaths to rotting logs, Timothy is connected to the living creatures of the forested land and is beautifully aware of how his garden is a haven for them and for himself. “It’s a sense of calmness, a sense of peace, a sense of fitting in and belonging,” he says. “Everything else you’re feeling goes away for a while.”
“IT’S A SENSE OF CALMNESS, A SENSE OF PEACE, A SENSE OF FITTING IN AND BELONGING,” HE SAYS. “EVERYTHING ELSE YOU’RE FEELING GOES AWAY FOR A WHILE.”
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Haugen Haven is open for scheduled tours. Book by sending a message to @haugenhaven on Facebook or Instagram.
CLO C K W I SE F RO M TO P L E F T:
1. Birds nest in a cracked, 100-year-old stained-glass window. 2. Jurassic-like mushroom sculptures made of chicken wire and cement. 3. Nuthatches frequent these busy birdhouses. 4. Timothy pays attention to color and the natural surroundings when choosing plants for his garden. 5. Handcrafted signs of repurposed wood add whimsy. 6. Large-scale animal sculptures are nestled throughout the garden. 7. Reclaimed and found objects like this metal crane create a playful vibe. 8. One of the first gardens Timothy created is now home to countless woodland creatures.
TIMOTHY ’S TIPS
How to add garden interest Vary colors, textures and heights to add depth and visual interest. Cluster at least three plants of a single variety for greater visual impact and cohesiveness.
DIY
How to create a garden for wildlife
In 2023, the National Wildlife Federation recognized Haugen Haven as a Certified Wildlife Habitat®, meaning the plantings provide food, water and shelter for local wildlife. Consider these elements when creating a garden to support birds, insects and small animals.
Provide a variety of food sources, such as native plants, berries and seeds, nectar, foliage and twigs. Incorporate clean water for wildlife to drink and bathe in by adding a rain garden, pond or bird bath. Offer protection from weather and predators in the form of snags (dead trees), wooded areas, ground covers, rock piles or evergreens. Leave perennial stems standing over winter for insects.
Cultivate places for mating and raising young— think mature trees, fallen leaf debris, host plants for caterpillars, snags and meadow or prairie areas. Embrace sustainable practices—try capturing rain water, leaving leaves in garden beds, controlling exotic species, reducing lawn areas, adding native plants, composting and eliminating chemical pesticides and fertilizers.
Incorporate plants of various heights. Creating a tiered effect in a pot or garden bed encourages the eye to travel naturally from one plant to the next. Use plantings to soften the edges of garden boxes and other hardscape elements. Cascading or vining plants trail and spill over, helping concrete, brick and wood elements blend more seamlessly into natural areas. Weave in artwork for yearround interest. Whether created, repurposed or found, artistic elements add color and structure and provide unique focal points.
TOP LEFT: The centerpiece and heart of the garden, Timothy’s chapel glows in the setting sun. LEFT: He created a tabletop from the cross-section of a tree near his grandmother’s home and turned a downed tree on his property into the accompanying stools. Tiny, playful mushrooms made of chicken wire and cement are nestled near the base of a handcrafted pyramid arbor.
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STO RY A N D P H OTO S G A I L H U D S O N
DAFFODILS that turn
HEADS Orange, pink and green are the new yellow.
T
hrilling as it is to view “a crowd, a host of golden daffodils,” as described by 19th- century Romantic poet William Wordsworth, some daffodils you spot “fluttering and dancing in the breeze” this spring might not feature that hallmark yellow. Keep an eye out for orange to red and pink and maybe even green daffodils. You may spot some unique flower shapes, too—look for frothy doubles, swept-back outer petals (tepals) and split coronas (centers). The daffodils of 2024 are evolving beyond the traditional yellow or white varieties we all know and love. This playful urge for change began back in the 1800s,as gardeners began to experiment with this popular spring flower. Today, more than 26,000 new varieties have been officially recorded. And for 35 years, Michael Berrigan of Oakdale, Minn., has been doing his part to add to that number. “Daffodils have the most variety in floral form of any of our garden plants,” Michael says. “It’s always nice to see something bright and colorful in the early spring, especially in Minnesota.” Michael is one of only a dozen serious floral breeders across the U.S. who follow their passion to imagine and then create the newest daffodils under the sun.
TOP TO BOTTOM: ‘Sabine Hay,’ ‘Ball of Fire,’ ‘Super Hero USA’
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Poe daffodils; photo by Michael Berrigan. Planting bulbs near Ellsworth, Wisc. Packaged green daffodil bulbs. Green daffodil seedlings; photos by Michael Berrigan.
Labor of Loveliness On a two-acre, gently sloping field in Elsworth, Wis., this corporate scientist for 3M decompresses from his day job by growing 2,000 to 4,000 daffodil seedlings every year. His collection greatly expanded in 2010 after renowned Minnesota daffodil breeder Dave Karnstedt passed away and left behind thousands of bulbs. Michael, his daughter and another daffodil enthusiast rescued 1,000 seedlings, which Michael now uses to make crosses. He monitors the resulting flowers for four years. About 80 percent of them are rejected and composted. Of the remaining daffodils, Michael chooses his favorites. He has introduced 20 to 30 new varieties, such as ‘Myrna’s Sweet Max’ (2013) with white petals and a long pink cup and ‘Poe’ (2023) with white tepals and a cup edged in bright red. A special plant for Michael is the all-orange daffodil he named ‘Warren Jay Enger’ (2022) in memory of the farmer who initially rented the field to him. In the daffodil world, Michael says an orange variety is “rare, rare, rare.” In fact, he only knows of two breeders in the world who’ve registered one. “It’s a big flower, stands about knee high and is real bright,” he says. And he’s also trying to breed another rarity—a pink daffodil. “I want all pink, so all pink petals as well as a pink trumpet. There aren’t too many [of them],” Michael says. “The first one I ever saw was in 2003, and they told me I could have one bulb for a thousand dollars.”
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Keen on Green Green daffodils are another new frontier for breeders, and many are fragrant. ‘Emerald Kiss’ starts out greenish in color, fading to white as it ages. A California breeder produced ‘Green with Envy’ (2015), which has a deep, olive green cup surrounded by greenish yellow petals. Michael has several green seedlings in his greenhouse and hopes to use them in his daffodil breeding work. If you’re anxious to grow one yourself, watch for New Zealand-bred ‘Polar Hunter’ (2020), a daffodil Michael says has “a greenish cast and wonderful fragrance.” Michael’s main quest? To breed early-blooming daffodils with large, showy,and more precise flowers. He plans to continue planting in his Wisconsin field, where he produces “bulbs the size of [his] fists.” Hopefully, we’ll see the fruits of his labor soon.
New Daffodils It might be another decade before you can buy one of Michael’s newly registered daffodils—probably through a specialty catalog at first. But gardeners can find plenty of exciting new varieties available today (see resources). “There are just so many different kinds,” says Margaret Macneale, past president of the Minnesota Daffodil Society. She grows both new and historical varieties at her home in Golden Valley and says most daffodils available in our region are hardy to zone 3. A few new showstoppers in her garden? ‘Super Hero USA’ (2007) is striking with pure white petals, vivid peach centers and strong, tall stems. ‘Ball of Fire’ (2010) sports a flashy mix of small yellow and orange petals within a large double yellow flower. One of Margaret’s mid-season bloomers, ‘Drama Queen’ (2000), has a split corona, meaning the primrose pink cup is divided and lays almost flat. Margaret calls ‘Ginter’s Gem’ (2013) a “cute, sweet flower” with a soft yellow color, multiple flowers and pendulous habit. It will increase in number (naturalize) if conditions are right. Named after Margaret’s mother who showed competition daffodils for many years, the ‘Peggy Macneale’ (2002) is a large-cupped, white beauty with a pale green eye.
TOP: ‘Drama Queen’. BOTTOM: ‘Peggy Macneale’
Join The American Daffodil Society CONNECT with daffodil enthusiasts worldwide. RECEIVE quarterly issues of The Daffodil Journal. LEARN to grow daffodils unique to your growing zone. FIND sources of quality bulbs for shows and gardens. ACCESS our family of websites to explore more about daffodils. Friendships and mentoring are always in season at the American Daffodil Society! Annual Membership: Individual: $35 Household: $40 American Daffodil Society, Inc. ads_exec_dir@daffodilusa.org Visit our website at www.DaffodilUSA.org
NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Daffodil growing tips
The American Daffodil Society Photos, care tips, free digital library daffodilusa.org
Daffodils are an easy perennial spring flower to embrace and grow. Once you’ve found the right spot, planting them couldn’t be simpler. And they can be left in the ground to flower year after year. Here’s what you need to know. BUY HEALTHY BULBS
Purchase bulbs from reputable companies, preferably in your part of the country. That way, they’ll be much more likely to thrive in your conditions. For northern gardeners, bulbs that handle our frigid winter temperatures are best. If you’re buying locally, check to see that the bulb is firm with a papery protective skin, not soft or moldy. Avoid bulbs with signs of disease or damage.
PLANT IN THE RIGHT PLACE
Don’t plant at the bottom of a hill or slope. Look for good drainage in soil that crumbles easily, and don’t plant too deep. Bulb growers from sandy Holland recommend a planting depth of 6 inches, but Minnesota breeder PEONY PINK Michael Berrigan says that’s too deep for Minnesota’s heavier soils—the bulbs won’t multiply. Instead, cover the top of the bulb with 1 to 2 inches of soil.
Daffseek Database Searchable for specific variety details Daffseek.org Minnesota Daffodil Society Care tips, list of bulb suppliers for our northern climate, lateSeptember bulb sale. daffodilmn.org To buy unusual varieties: John Scheepers Bulbs Bantam, CT johnscheepers.com Esker Farm Daffodils Northern Ireland eskerfarmdaffodils.com Brent and Becky’s Bulbs Gloucester, VA brentandbeckysbulbs.com Quality Daffodils USA qdaffs.us
KNOW WHEN TO PLANT
Wait for the right conditions, Michael suggests. For our region, that means planting in late September to midOctober. He waits until the weather is cool, ideally 54 degrees Fahrenheit, to avoid Fusarium basal rot, a fungus at the base of the bulb, which can turn it to mush. The bulbs need to be watered and given time to root, preferably six weeks before the ground freezes. Covering the planting area with a bag of leaves or chopped straw helps. NO BLOOMS?
If your daffodils aren’t blooming, they’re likely planted too densely, too deep or too close to a tree that’s robbing them of sun and moisture. Daffodils need 4-6 hours of sun. Every six years, bulbs can be dug up after blooming, separated and then replanted immediately.
The Daffodil Society of Minnesota Invites You to Join Us! MEET local gardeners with a passion for daffodils.
LEARN to grow daffodils in cold climates. ACCESS to daffodils not found in stores. CONNECT with growers and hybridizers. FIND reliable daffodil bulb sources. RECEIVE periodic electronic newsletters. PARTICIPATE in our annual daffodil show on May 4-5, 2024, at Bachman's on Lyndale. All this for only $5 per year!
Join us at https://daffodilmn.org/join.htm The Daffodil Society of Minnesota, Inc. daffodilmn1@gmail.com Visit our website at: https://daffodilmn.org
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BULBS
NATIVE PLANTS
Native plants for shoreline restorations, rain gardens and infiltration basins as well as backyard butterfly, birdwatcher and pollinator gardens.
Thank you for nourishing the pollinators!
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MSHS offers a robust calendar of gardening-related events in the Upper Midwest. See upcoming plant sales below and full event list online: northerngardener.org/ community-events-calendar
SCHOOLS African Violet Society of Minnesota Friday, April 7, 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
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Soil and Sunshine Garden Club Friday, May 17 – Saturday, May 18 Anoka Area Gardener Club Saturday, May 18, 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. Dakota County Master Gardeners Saturday, May 18, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Stearns County Master Gardeners Saturday, May 18, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Garden Club of Ramsey County Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Ramsey County Master Gardeners Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Shoreview Community Garden Club Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m. until sold out. Daylily Society of Minnesota Sunday, June 2, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. NORTHERN GARDENER / SPRING 2024
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MEMBER PHOTO CLUB
Gaga for Garlic What a homegrown haul! A beaming Jeremy Gavard harvested armfuls of garlic from Dunning Community Garden in St. Paul this past July. Both Jeremy and this garden participate Minnesota Green, a signature community outreach program of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, which facilitates the donation of nursery plants to local green spaces. The result? Greener neighborhoods, fuller public gardens, stronger communities and food and flowers for all. northerngardener.org/minnesota-green
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Building memories
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Affiliated Member Jackie Flaherty’s favorite thing about her about her St. Paul, Minn., garden? “Forty-plus years of plant memories.” Her best advice to new gardeners? “Read antique/vintage gardening books. And a lot of them. It’s how I’ve learned everything I know.”
Every issue we will be sharing inspiring images from our members’ gardens. Tag your photos #mnhortmember for a chance to be featured! Not yet a member? Find out more at northerngardener.org/ membership
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