The Gateway Gardener October 2019

Gateway Gardener

OCTOBER 2019

THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

Create A Living Birdfeeder

For Seeds, Fruits and Insects Birds Need

Seed Saving and Seed Sharing Native Fruits Taking Stock of the Rose Garden OCTOBER 2019

The Gateway Gardener™

FREE Courtesy of:

1

PROTECT YOUR ASH FROM BORERS! sh A ld ere, a r sh e !

Em rer i ouis Bo t. L S

Tree & Shrub Systemic Insect Drench

Infested ash trees near Ballwin

• Provides one full year of protection against listed insect pests, including flat-headed borers such as Emerald Ash Borer.

• Easy to apply as a soil drench around trees--no spraying necessary.

• Available in 16 oz., 32 oz., 1- and 2.5 gal. concentrate.

Look for these and other ferti-lome products at your favorite independent nurseries and garden centers.

For plant care and information on over 8,000 plants, visit www.fertilome.com 2

The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2019

Gateway Gardener THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

OCTOBER 2019

Volume 15, Number 8

Founded in 2005 by Joyce Bruno & Robert Weaver Publisher and Editor Robert Weaver Columnists Diane Brueckman Rosey Acres Joyce Driemeyer Master Gardener Abby Lapides Sugar Creek Gardens Steffie Littlefield Edg-Clif Winery Jennifer Schamber Greenscape Gardens Scott Woodbury Shaw Nature Reserve

Printing: Breese Publishing, Breese, IL The Gateway Gardener® is published 9 times/year by Double Dig Communications, Inc. to promote enjoyable, successful gardening and livable landscapes in the St. Louis greater metropolitan area. The magazine is distributed free to the public at designated garden centers, nurseries, garden gift shops, lawn equipment rental, repair and sales establishments, and other locations supporting sound gardening, lawn and landscaping practices.

Please send letters-to-the-editor, questions, event announcements, editorial suggestions and contributions, photos, advertising inquiries and materials, and any other correspondence to: The Gateway Gardener Magazine® PO Box 220853 St. Louis, MO 63122 Phone: (314) 968-3740

info@gatewaygardener.com www.gatewaygardener.com The Gateway Gardener® is printed on recycled newsprint using environmentally friendly soy-based ink, and is a member of the PurePower® renewable energy resources network.

OCTOBER 2019

S

From the Editor

everal years ago, I lost a few trees in a short span of time, exposing the shade garden that had sheltered beneath them. After watching plants scorch in their first summer under the sun, I decided to start over and turn the space into a sun-loving garden; and in particular, a bird garden. The bones of the garden consist of some evergreens to provide year-round cover, and several berry-producing shrubs including native serviceberry (spring), chokeberry (summer) and winterberry (winter).

Columbine in the spring and cardinal flower in the summer also bring in the hummingbirds.

The garden is adjacent to my “petite prairie” native garden, which offers up plentiful seed options, so I didn’t worry so much about that component, though some grasses, coneflowers and rudbeckia provide some seed source.

Central to the garden, though, is a “bubbler” that provides a small puddle for bathing and drinking. As you read Abby Lapides’ article on “Creating a Living Birdfeeder” (page 4), give serious consideration to adding a moving water element in addition to Abby’s other recommendations.

Nothing attracts birds to a garden better

than the sound of moving water.

Margy Terpstra and her husband Dan helped me build the bubbler, and helped create a video of the process, which you can find on our website at GatewayGardener.com. Margy is a talented birder, naturalist and photographer (she provided our cover picture as well as photos for Abby’s article), and she and Dan have created a wildlife oasis (Shady Oaks Sanctuary) at their Kirkwood home. You can learn more about it and enjoy beautiful pictures of birds and other wildlife by signing up for Margy’s blog, hummerhavenunltd.com/blog, or by attending a presentation she’ll be giving November 6th at the Sunset Hills Community Center (see our Upcoming Events calendar).

If the birds and other critters leave any leftover seeds (or if you can collect a few before they devour them) you might consider sharing them with other gardeners. There’s a new way to do so called “Seedbox,” a concept being promoted by Terry Winkelmann, founder of the Sustainable Backyard Network and Sustainable Backyard Tour, who writes about it on page 8.

And if they happen to come from your vegetable garden, Steffie Littlefield gives some suggestions on harvesting and processing them on page 10.

Scott Woodbury has harvesting on his mind, too, but his bounty comes not from our vegetable gardens, but from our native fruit trees and shrubs. Read about some of his favorite edibles and ideas for enjoying them on page 12.

Whether the harvest is for you or for the birds, may you have a bountiful one.

Good gardening!

On the Cover...

Sure it’s fun to watch birds line up at the feeders, but it’s even more exciting to see them find a meal in your garden. To learn the kinds of plants that will attract them, see page 4. (photo by Margy Terpstra)

The Gateway Gardener™

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Create a Living Birdfeeder 6 Taking Stock of the Rose Garden 8 Sharing Seeds 10 Seed Saving and Sharing 11 When It’s a Good Year for Plums 14 Upcoming Events

3

Creating a Living Birdfeeder Text by Abby Lapides, Photos by Margy Terpstra

F

rom the precocious cardinal to the charming chickadee backyard bird watching is an entertaining pastime-- and attracting birds to the yard can go well beyond a birdfeeder.

Enhancing your garden with the following plants will attract birds all year long.

Berries

The sweet treats on berryproducing shrubs are coveted by many songbirds. The vibrant purple berries on beautyberry are a fall-favorite snack. These showy shrubs are covered in bright berries starting early September and persist on the shrub until gobbled up by cardinals, woodpeckers, robins and other berry-loving birds.

Virginia creeper.

Seeds

Most flowering perennials and annuals try to produce seed, so planting a good mix of flowers will help attract birds to the yard. That being said, there are definitely certain seed producing powerhouse plants that the birds flock to, one of the best being coneflowers. Jeweltoned petals in a multitude of colors surround rusty-orange cones in summer. A pollinator An Eastern Wood-Pewee dines on a Virginia creeper berry. favorite as well, expect to see Beloved by humans and birds adorable little yellow and gray tons of wildlife—including the alike, blackberries bring many birds around these sweet fruits. I hummingbirds—around coneflowers while blooming. birds to the yard. The dark sweet prefer the smaller and thornless berries begin ripening early July ‘Babycakes’ Blackberry to After the beautiful blooms fade creating a delectable summer the larger traditional varieties. let the spent flowers go to seed. feast for birds. Attractive to the And-bonus! –‘Babycakes’ will A goldfinch favorite, you will migratory warblers, expect to see produce two crops in a season. see these bright yellow beauties It may be beneficial to net a sitting atop the cones as they eat blackberry shrub for yourself, the abundant seed. as usually—right before the The perfectly round flowers of berries are perfectly ripe—they blue globe thistle (Echinops) appear in summer attracting “mysteriously” disappear.

Other berry-producing plants to various pollinators to the attract birds include chokeberry, garden. Once finished with coralberry, holly, elderberry, this eye-catching and unique viburnum, serviceberry and show, seeds form, attracting chickadees and finches.

OCTOBER HARVEST • • • • •

October 1st-31st

Straw Maze Petting Zoo Fort Maze Swings & Slides Pony Express Train Hardy Mums $6.99 ea. or 10 for $60

1000s to Choose From!

FARM AND GREENHOUSES

www.danielsfarmandgreenhouse.com

4

Reservations Available for: Churches, Schools, Birthday Parties & Special Events Fall is for Planting! $5 OFF $50

Tree or Shrub Purchase Trees and shrubs only. Mums, roses, perennials excluded.

One per customer.

352 Jungermann Rd. St. Peters, MO 63376 (636)441-5048 Fall Hours: M-F 9-7, Sat 9-6, Sun 10-5

The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2019

American Goldfinches flock to enjoy seeds from Eastern blazing star.

Other excellent seed producing plants include pine, spruce, blazing star, zinnia, sunflower, millet, aster and black-eyed Susan.

Insects

As an animal lover there aren’t many animals that I detest, but as an avid vegetable gardener tomato hornworms are at the very top of my despised animal list. Attracted to tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, these leaf colored caterpillars create a lot of damage to the fruits while perfectly blending into the plant’s leaves. Luckily for us sharp-eyed songbirds spot these critters fairly easily.

Adding places to perch and a little birdseed to attract the birds to your vegetable area is enough to encourage the birds to act as sentry against hornworms and other vegetable garden pests.

A garden teaming with insects is a veritable songbird smorgasbord, particularly in summer when their chicks are screaming for that wriggling caterpillar. The long-blooming showy white and purple flowers on mallow resemble hollyhocks, but it’s what’s on the leaves that interest the birds. Mallow leaves host several different caterpillars, leaf miners and other insects that birds find Host plants for butterflies irresistible. are also excellent choices for Abby Lapides is owner and a speaker at Sugar Creek Gardens Nursery. She has degrees from the University of Missouri, and is a member of the Landscape and Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis.

You can reach her at (314) 965-3070.

A Magnolia Warbler finds much needed protein in a delicious—or at least nutritious—caterpillar. attracting songbirds. Examples include milkweed, pussy-toe, false indigo, dogwood, pawpaw and hollyhock.

and clematis are used as nest building materials as well. Also think about giving some seasonround coverage in the form While keeping your birds well of evergreen trees or shrubs. fed is important to attracting Remember to fill your birdbath them to the yard, other with fresh water and to keep the elements need to be considered. water thawed in winter.

Providing nesting materials and Use these tips to create a bird shelter will keep birds around watching mecca in your own longer. Milkweed fibers are backyard. used for nest construction and Photos by Margy Terpstra, their seed heads provide a soft https://hummerhavenunltd.com/ filling. Tall grasses, hollyhocks blog.

Autumn A B U N D A N T LY

G A R D E N H E I G H T S N U R S E RY 1605 Big Bend Blvd. St. Louis, 314-645-7333 www.gardenheights.com

OCTOBER 2019

The Gateway Gardener™

5

Taking Stock of the Rose Garden

by Diane Brueckman

O

ctober is a slow time in the rose garden. We are actively trying to encourage our roses to go into dormancy while enjoying the last of their beautiful blooms. What better time to reflect on our rose gardens, what worked for us, is there a plant we want to replace or can we do something to improve a beloved bush that is looking a bit peeked? Sometimes moving a bush that is being shaded by a tree that has grown too large for the rose garden is all that it takes to bring the plant back to prime condition.

Look at your existing roses and check them for disease. A rose that has been vigorous but has suddenly become weak may have crown gall. A crown gall is like a cancer on the rose. Scrape away the soil from the bud union and look for the spongy tumor. If the gall is not around the entire bud union you may be able to cut it off with a sharp knife and spray the area with a bleach solution to kill the bacteria that causes the growth. If the rose is not improved next season, you may want to consider replacing it.

Petal plucking instead of deadheading will keep your beds neat October is the end of the transplant window for roses. As long without encouraging new growth and taking the petals off the plant as the weather is warm and the soil temperature is at least 500 the is easier than raking up the spent petals after they fall. Leave the rose roots will continue to grow. However, you can’t depend on ovary on the stem to grow into a rose hip. When plants set seed weather. An early hard freeze could do your rose in. I would not (rose hips) it triggers a natural slow down for the season. The roses move a rose after the middle of October. After that, it is best to start to store energy instead of sending out new growth. wait until spring to move your rose. If you must move a rose at this time, I would put it in a pot and keep it in an unheated garage until Keeping the beds clean of old petals, fallen leaves and of course spring. This is a good time to remove a bush that has been under weeds goes a long way to having healthy roses next spring. When preforming, lack of bloom, a poor growth habit or just doesn’t fit cleaning up the beds try not to remove the old mulch. It is inevitable into your garden. You can prepare the new bed or clear a spot in that some mulch will be raked up with the other debris but leave as an old bed now for the transplanted rose or any replacement roses, much mulch as possible. What is now the top layer of mulch will be under the new mulch and will breakdown to compost adding to when the ground is frosty for a head start on spring. the soil. I like to apply my Chicken Soup for roses in November before I cover the roses. The Chicken Soup aids the breakdown of the old mulch giving the roses a great start in spring.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

After several frosts and the roses are not growing, it is time to prune them back. I prune fairly hard, a tall hybrid tea say 5’ will be cut back to 18”. Smaller plants get cut proportionately less. All of the spindly canes (diameter less than a pencil) are removed as well as canes that are crossing through the center of the plant. Ideally, a vigorous rose will have six or more healthy canes with no side shoots when you are finished. The hard pruning does two things.

First it makes covering the roses easier. Second it removes any Rose Rosette Disease carrying mites that may have landed on the bush. I strip all the leaves off the bushes after or as I prune them.

The final step is to spray the bushes with horticultural oil. This protects the roses from drying out and smothers disease spores and overwintering insect eggs that may be on the canes.

Houseplants are proven to:

• Remove toxins & purify the air • Enhance concentration and memory • Reduce stress and fatigue 1011 N. Woodlawn • Kirkwood, MO www.SugarCreekGardens.com 314-965-3070 MORE PARKING Now Available!

VOTED #1 BEST GARDEN CENTER! 6

When the ground is frosty, after several hard frosts it is time to cover. Apply 8 to 10 inches of mulch to the roses. I recommend covering any new or transplanted roses the first year, even those that are winter hardy.

Diane Brueckman is a retired rosarian with Missouri Botanical Garden, and currently owns Rosey Acres in Baldwin, Illinois. You can reach her at (618) 785-3011 or droseyacres@ egyptian.net.

The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2019

Invincibelle® Spirit II Hydrangea: $1 PER PLANT DONATED TO THE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION ®

2019

Before they reach your garden, our flowering shrubs undergo years of trials and testing for color, quantity of blooms, stem strength, foliage and ability to thrive with ease. Only a few prove they’re worthy of the #1 plant brand.

provenwinners-shrubs.com

OCTOBER 2019

The Gateway Gardener™

7

To Grow Community, Share a Seed

by Terry Winkelmann

T

hat’s the idea behind Seedbox, the latest project of the Sustainable Backyard Network, a St. Louis based non-profit dedicated to inspiring individuals, families, and communities to grow a greener world.

Named after the Missouri native flower, Ludwigia alternifolia, Seedbox is a way to share an abundance of seeds, seedlings or other plant materials with neighbors without having to make a date to meet or organize a swap. While the physical appearance of Seedbox can vary widely, the idea is similar to that of the “Little Free Libraries” often seen around town.

George Jacobs with the prototype Seedbox he designed and built.

The best time to plant a tree is FALL!

20% OFF One Tree or Shrub

Coupon Voids any Warranty. Must Take Plants at Time of Purchases.

The first experimental Seedbox was built by the project’s creator, Susan Pang, and the first prototype for which plans will be available was designed and built by George Jacobs of Greenscape Gardens in West St. Louis County where the first workshop on building and stocking Seedbox will be held on October 12th at 10 a.m. For event details go to www.greenscapegardens.com Crucial to the Seedbox concept is the online registry that will list the GPS location of the physical Seedbox and its contents. Individuals who build a Seedbox and stock it with seeds will register their location on the website, www. aseedbox.org, so that when someone in need of seeds checks in, they will

Bulbs in Stock NOW! 2701 Barrett Station Rd. St. Louis, MO 63021 www.kirkwoodgardens.com 314-966-4840 8

Kei and Susan Pang The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2019

Ebenezer Baldwin Bowles

Hillary Fitz

“Wisdom grows where true community is sown.” —Susan Pang

see who has what kind of seed to share in their area. The type of seed is not regulated, but native plants and annual vegetables are particularly encouraged. “As long as it’s food for someone,” says creator Susan Pang, a native gardener and longtime supporter of the Sustainable Backyard Network.

Experts led by Susan’s son, Jo Pang, from the St. Louis office of Slalom, a consulting firm focused on strategy, technology, and business, helped build the Seedbox website in a day-long hackathon held in late August.

Seedbox officially launched the weekend of Sept. 28/29 with a debut on Saturday at the Audubon Native Plant Expo at Schlafly Bottleworks and on Sunday at the Sustainable Shindig, a ticketed event held at the Wm. A. Kerr Foundation.

Look for additional workshops and seed-saving presentations to be held throughout the fall and winter.

The Seedbox is one of several projects under the umbrella of the Sustainable Backyard Network, whose primary event for the past decade has been the Sustainable Backyard Tour.

Terry Winkelmann

OCTOBER 2019

The Gateway Gardener™

d

un o R ‘ r Yea

OpenCome visit us

for ALL your seasonal needs!

✓Fall Plants & Flowers ✓Pumpkins and Mums ✓Holiday Decor & Gifts from Halloween through Christmas!

PlanthavenFarms.com 6703 Telegraph Rd. 314.846.0078

Sustainable Backyard Network

The Sustainable Backyard Tour is a free open-yards day, wherein residents throughout the metropolitan region show how they have incorporated sustainable strategies to grow food, support wildlife, manage stormwater, generate energy and conserve resources. The tour is held annually in June.

The Network encourages St. Louisans to examine the many ways they interact with the Earth and to adopt more holistic and sustainable practices in their homes and lives. For more information on the Sustainable Backyard Network visit www. sustainablebackyard. org or email Terry@ sustainablebackyard.org

O A K V I L L E

9

The Cornucopia Corner

Tips for Growing, Buying and Cooking Fresh, Locally Sourced Food for Your Table

Seed Saving: Sharing Your Love of Gardening!

By Steffie Littlefield

A

s I enjoy the harvest of vegetables from the garden in the fall I will save some seeds from unusual and tried and true plants to replant the following season. Seed saving involves selecting suitable plants from which to save seed, harvesting seeds at the right time and storing them properly over the winter. This can be trickier than expected, and with the increase in quickly spreading plant viruses one cannot be too careful. I often share seeds from unusual plants with visitors to EdgClif. Tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas are good choices for seed saving. They have flowers that are self-pollinating and seeds that require little or no special treatment before storage. My favorites to share are yard-long beans, malabar spinach, hyacinth 123rf.com bean vine, tomatillo and edimame.

Here are some common sense rules to follow: Only save or share seeds from healthy plants with entirely regular growth.

Pick the best ripe fruit or vegetable from the plant and collect the seed.

It is best to stick to heirloom plants and not try to save seed from new

ZICK’S GREAT OUTDOORS FALL IS FOR PLANTING!

Come pick up your fall color trees NOW! Very LARGE to small.

Just the right ones for you!

Don’t Miss Zick’s “Hallowed Walk” For Kids!

It’s FREE! (And kid-friendly of course) Oct. 6th-31st And shop one of the area’s best selections of Pumpkins, Corn Stalks, Straw, Gourds and More!

It’s time to start thinking EVERGREEN! Great selection of new trees and shrubs for privacy and winter green.

We are Easy to Find!

Open 7 days a week @ 16498 Clayton Rd. (Corner of Clayton/Strecker in Wildwood) 636-458-1445 “Like” Us on

We carry pine straw.

www.zicksgreatoutdoors.com 10

“Like” Us on

hybrids. Heirlooms will more likely reproduce a similar plant and fruit where the complicated process of creating a hybrid cannot be easily replicated.

Tomato seeds. Allow fruits to ripen fully and scoop out the seeds, along with the gel surrounding them, before you eat or cook the tomatoes. Put the seeds and gel in a glass jar with some water. Stir or swirl the mixture twice a day. The mixture will ferment and the seeds should sink to the bottom within five days. Pour off the liquid, rinse the seeds and spread them out to dry on paper towels.

Pepper seeds. Allow some fruits to stay on the plants until they become fully ripe and start to wrinkle. Remove the seeds from the peppers and spread them out to dry.

Peas and beans. Save peas and beans by allowing the pods to ripen on the plants until they are dry and starting to turn brown, with the seeds rattling inside. This may be as long as a month after you would normally harvest the peas or beans to eat. Strip the pods from the plants and spread them out to dry indoors. They should dry at least two weeks before shelling, or you can leave the seeds in the pods until planting time.

Generally you should wash and dry seed in the open air preferably on a screen so that rot does not set into the seed coat. To help prevent the spread of bacterial virus diseases into your garden try this bleach treatment: Make a solution with one part bleach (5.25% hypochlorite) and four parts water. Add a few drops of dish soap. Add seed to the solution and allow it to sit for one minute, stirring occasionally. Seed should be able to float freely so that all surfaces come in contact with the solution. Pour the solution through a thin mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Rinse the seed in cool running tap water for 5 minutes. At this point seed can be directly planted or dried completely on a screen, then stored. Direct planting is preferable.

Store your seed in paper envelopes with the date they were collected, name and description written on the envelope. Then keep the collection of envelopes in a sealed airtight container. Keep seeds dry and cool. A temperature between 32° and 41°F is ideal, so your refrigerator can be a good place to store seeds.

Steffie Littlefield is a St Louis area horticulturist and garden designer. She has degrees from St. Louis Community College at Meramec and Southeast Missouri State and is a member of Gateway Professional Horticultural Association, Missouri Botanical Garden Members Board and past president of the Horticulture Co-op of Metropolitan St. Louis. She is part-owner of Edg-Clif Winery, Potosi, MO. www.Edg-Clif. com.

The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2019

© 2019, The Scotts Company, LLC. All rights .reserved

Fall in love with your garden, all over again.

It’s time to revisit the garden with fall plantings. Don’t forget to nourish with Osmocote® Smart-Release® Plant Food. It will feed your plants essential nutrients consistently and continuously throughout the autumn season.

When perfection matters, why trust anything else?

OCTOBER 2019

The Gateway Gardener™

11

Naturally Natives When It’s a Good Year for Plums text and photos by Scott Woodbury themselves to the pawpaw When it’s a good year for edible (Asimina triloba) patch. The fruits in the garden, grazers show up, lips smacking. This scene was a mess of broken branch tips where the tasty year was no exception. It fruits grow. I’m glad I don’t happened to be a good year for have a pawpaw patch outside serviceberry, gooseberry, golden currant, elderberry, chokeberry, my bedroom window because raccoons are noisy creatures. persimmon, pawpaw and plums.

To begin with a box turtle Even so I managed to collect enough fruit for a batch or circled the goose plum (Prunus two of pawpaw ice cream. Jen munsoniana) grove, eating Sieradzki gave me a copy of the fallen plums that the yellow recipe from Andrew Moore’s jackets hadn’t yet found while I picked plums neatly off the tree. book, Pawpaw.

Keeping an eye to the ground, Thanks to this year’s unusual looking out for that little moving steady rains, serviceberry speed bump, I circled around the same grove thinking about the (Amelanchier arborea), gooseberry (Ribes missouriense), sour plum sauce I would soon be spooning over vanilla ice cream golden currant (Ribes odoratum) and black chokeberry (Aronia and pancakes. A few weeks later, I noticed that raccoons helped

Where the

'tis the season for all things fall

2832 Barrett Station Rd, Ballwin, MO 63021 www.greenscapegardens.com

12

BEST TREES BEGIN

88 Forrest Keeling Lane | Elsberry, MO 63343 | 800-FKN-2401 | forrestkeeling.com

The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2019

Tips and Resources for Growing and Landscaping with Sustainable Native Plants melanocarpa) produced abundant fruit. In early summer I was eating at a favorite restaurant where I noticed a row of sidewalk tables located squarely under a row of serviceberry trees. The chairs were full of customers and the trees full of robins and the purple stains on the sidewalk left me wondering about best street tree practices. On the way out we grabbed a handful of ripe berries to nibble on the Big fruit plums. walk to the car. Serviceberries are best eaten fresh off the tree.

Usually there are enough for birds and people to share. Not so for gooseberries and currants. The birds usually devour them before I get a chance to pick any. Cover them with bird netting while the fruits are plump but still green and then harvest the fruits when they ripen soft and dark. They both are sharply tart but with sugar make a nice jelly or try bottling them whole to serve later over shortcake. Black chokeberry is a prolific fruiter and makes a decent jam, though it has a slightly unpleasant after-taste.

Elderberry fruit is inedible raw, but ferments into a delicious wine, if you have the patience for this sort of thing. I’ve made three batches but had success only once. Elderberry flowers, on the other hand, are relatively easy to turn into cordial or syrup that can be added to ice-cold sparkling water or bubbly wine for a tasty summertime refresher. To learn how, check out the River Cottage Handbook #2 on preserves, by Pam Corbin.

Lastly my favorite, persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) pudding, which is really just a moist cake that is slow-baked in a steam bath. Persimmons must be harvested when they fall to the ground.

Any sooner and you will regret putting one to your lips. You don’t need to wait until frost, because some persimmons ripen in early September, well before frost, while others ripen in October after first frost. To learn how to make this mouth-watering dessert, check out Fields of Greens, a vegetarian cookbook by Annie Somerville.

I guarantee that if you have never eaten a baked persimmon concoction that you truly enjoyed, you will fall in love with this one. Bon appetit!

Horticulturist Scott Woodbury is the Curator of the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve in Gray Summit, MO, where he has worked with native plant propagation, design, and education for more than 20 years. He is also an advisor to the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s GrowNative! program.

A Foley’s food mill (left) makes short work of separating pulp from seeds and skins. Use it on fresh persimmons and pawpaw and freeze the pulp in one cup measures. It lasts frozen for three years. When processing plums, simmer the fruits in water for 10 minutes to soften, reserving the water and then run fruits through the food mill. I make the plum sauce by adding sugar to taste and some of the reserve water to get the right consistency, like applesauce. (Another type of press, a Mirro press, is pictured at right.)

science PROFESSIONAL HORTICULTURALISTS

UTILIZING AESTHETIC PRUNING TECHNIQUES AND PROPER PLANT PRACTICES GROUNDED IN RESEARCH + EDUCATION.

wallflowerdesign.biz

OCTOBER 2019

The Gateway Gardener™

13

Upcoming Events FUN FOR KIDS Oct. 5h 9am—Children’s Garden Club.

Halloween! St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Children’s Garden Club.

FREE. Sherwood’s Forest Nursery & Garden Center. 2651 Barrett Station Rd., Manchester, MO 63021.

Meetings, Classes, Entertainment and More Updates to this information are often posted on our online events calendar at GatewayGardener.com, so check there for the latest details.

Give us the details of your upcoming gardening, lawn or landscaping event and we’ll add it to our website and include it in our next issue. Deadline for printing in January/February issue is December 1st.

How to reach us: Mail: PO Box 220853, St. Louis, MO 63122 Email: info@gatewaygardener.com

GARDEN CLUBS AND PLANT SOCIETY MEETINGS Interested in Joining a Garden Club or Plant Society? We have meeting dates, locations and contact information on more than 50 area garden clubs on our website at www.GatewayGardener.com. Don’t have access to the internet? Just call us at (314) 968-3740, or write us at PO Box 220853, St. Louis, MO 63122, and we’ll get the information to you. So share your joy for gardening and join a garden club or favorite plant society today!

10am—First Saturday Kids. Bring the kids to play in the garden and enjoy an activity – Plant a pumpkin! $10 supply fee. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, call 636-239-6729 to RSVP, www.hillermann. com.

CLASSES, LECTURES AND EVENTS

Oct. 2nd 7pm—Restoring Nature’s Relationships at Home. Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, will explain why our yards and gardens are essential parts of the ecosystems that sustain us, and how we can use our residential landscapes to connect the isolated habitat fragments around us. Rolla Middle School Auditorium, Rolla, MO. Presented

by Missouri Wildflowers Nursery and Legends of Conservation. Tickets available at midmotix.com.

Oct. 3rd Taste of Franklin County. Benefits Foundations for Franklin County Inc. Experience fall fun, local restaurants, music and spirits from all over Franklin County. $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Buy tickets at http://www. foundations4franklincounty.org/. Tickets also available at Hillermann’s or Olivino in Washington. Call 636-239-6729 for information. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, www.hillermann.com.

FALL SALE

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE! 3-gallon up to 30-gallon size

Over 6,000 trees to choose from in 26 greenhouses

Oct. 4th-6th Best of Missouri Market. “First Look Friday” Oct. 4th, Noon-8pm. Enjoy an early chance to shop and dine at the Best of Missouri Market. Sat. and Sun. 9am5pm: Over 120 regional food producers and crafters offer fresh produce, baked goods, fresh and dried flowers, herbs, handcrafted items, baskets, wooden toys, custom jewelry and more. Live music and a Kids Corner with cow milking, pumpkin decorating and barnyard animals. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Outdoors under tents, rain or shine. $16 adults (ages 13 and up), $5 children (3 to 12), $8 members, no charge for member children. Buy tickets in advance online at www.mobot.org. Please note: No trams, free hours or early morning walking hours on signature event weekends. Visit www. mobot.org for more information.

Oct. 5th 9am-3:30pm—Sustainable Garden and Kitchen Seminar. Learn about key practical information and demonstrations on living a sustainable lifestyle in an urban setting. Learn how to save time by meal prepping, make delicious meals with summer produce, have the best lawn in the neighborhood and more. Other topics include vermicomposting, pollinator gardens, fermentation, understanding your soil for garden and lawn success and more. Hosted by MU Extension St. Louis County. Eliot Unitarian Chapel, 100 South Taylor Avenue, Kirkwood 63122. $75/ person includes lunch. Call 314-400-2115 to register.

9:30-10:30am—Growing Houseplants Indoors, A Beginner’s Guide. Learn the most popular varieties, along with what techniques are needed for these hardworking beauties. Light requirements, watering, fertilizing and pruning. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd.,

Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

Oct. 5th 10am—Concrete Leaf Workshop. You will choose a leaf of your choice to make into a beautiful concrete stone, birdbath, bowl, whatever you like. $35 supply fee.

Call 636-239-6729 to register. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, www.hillermann.com.

Oct. 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th Family Fall Days. Petting Zoo and Face Painter from 10am-1pm. Call 314-8460078 for more info. Planthaven Farms Garden Center, 6703 Telegraph Rd., Oakville.

Oct. 10th 1-4pm—Native Plant School: Woodland Restoration and Bush Honeysuckle Control. Explore the challenges of bush honeysuckle in large-scale areas. Learn best removal practices, forest thinning, reseeding/replanting with native plants, and long-term maintenance. Shaw Nature Reserve, Carriage House. $14 members, $17 non-members. Register online or call (314) 577-9526.

Oct. 10th & 17th 5-7pm—Girls Night Out Pumpkin Painting Party. Adults only. RSVP to 314-846-0078. Planthaven Farms Garden Center, 6703 Telegraph Rd., Oakville.

Oct. 12th 9:30-10:30am—Preparing Your Garden for Winter. Learn useful tips and techniques that will benefit your plants come spring, such as the important timing for pruning roses, shrubs and perennials to keep them in maximum blooming form.

Learn the varieties that should be cut back and covered, and the others that should be left alone. Mulching and composting, along with other garden care will be

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!

Oct 1 - Oct 13, 2019

Lowest price trees are discounted first. Not good on previous purchases or with any other offer. A few rare trees are not included in this sale.

Including: Thousands of Japanese Maples, Rare Conifers, Ginkgo, Beech, Dogwood, Redbud and other companion trees.

919 S. Farmingdale Rd, New Berlin, IL Five miles west of Springfield, IL 90 minutes from St Louis on I-55 OPEN 7 days Mon–Sat 10-6, Sun 12-5 www.davidsansjapanesemaples.com 14

The Gateway Gardener™ OCTOBER 2019

discussed. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

Oct. 12th 10am—Indoor Plant Propagation and Plant Care. Bring your questions and concerns regarding your plants and learn proper care for fall and winter after they have been moved indoors. Also learn how to propagate your plants. FREE class. Please call us at 636-239-6729.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-2396729, www.hillermann.com.

10am-2pm—Strut your Mutt. Bring your canine friends and enjoy fun activities and contests such as a costume contest, the biggest dog, the smallest dog and more.

Presented by and to benefit Franklin County Humane Society. Registration includes t-shirt and gifts. Register at https://fchsmo.networkforgood.com/ events/15828-strut-your-mutt or email larua@fchsmo.org or call 636-583-4300.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-2396729, www.hillermann.com.

Oct. 12th-13th 9am-5pm—Greater St. Louis Daffodil Society Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are sold by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Missouri Botanical Garden Beaumont Room. Free entrance with Garden admission.

Oct. 13th 12:30pm—How to Find an Owl in Your Neighborhood. Part of the Kress Farm Fall Speaker Series. Mark Glenshaw will give tips on owl identification and habits to help you find owls that visit or live in your neighborhood. Kress Farm Preserve, 5137 Glade Chapel Rd., Hillsboro, MO 63050.

Oct. 19th 9:30-10:30am—From Fall to Winter, Transitional Container Gardens.

Discover how to use evergreen perennials and shrubs, along with seasonal decorations, to have your pots looking great all the way till spring. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood.

FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

1pm—Pressed Flower Glass Art Make and Take. Make a pretty pressed flower wall hanging in a two sided glass frame.

The glass will be approximately 8” x 6.” $25.00 supply fee. Please call 636-2396729 to sign up. Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636-239-6729, www.hillermann. com.

Oct. 25th 6-10pm—Earth Dance Farmers Formal. Farm-festival attire…overalls optional! The 12th annual fundraiser supports EarthDance’s farm and garden apprenticeship program, helps them offer employment to neighborhood youth, donate produce and develop the organic farm school’s “campus”. Enjoy a locavore feast prepared by St. Louis’ most renowned chefs using fresh ingredients

OCTOBER 2019

grown by local farmers, local libations, live music, dancing and a silent and live auction. Union Station, 1820 Market St. Visit EarthDanceFarms.org/support/ farmers-formal/.

Oct. 26th 9:30-10:30am—Preparing Your Garden for Winter. Learn useful tips and techniques that will benefit your plants come spring, such as the important timing for pruning roses, shrubs and perennials to keep them in maximum blooming form.

Learn the varieties that should be cut back and covered, and the others that should be left alone. Mulching and composting, along with other garden care will be discussed. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

Oct. 27th-Nov. 3rd 9am-5pm—Tree Week. A week to celebrate the Missouri Botanical Garden’s tree collection, the horticulturists and arborists who care for it, and the season when trees and fall colors take center stage. Missouri Botanical Garden.

Nov. 2nd 8am-12:30pm—Fall Seminar for Gardeners. Variety of gardening classes to pick from. Registration is $10, vendors and snacks provided. Sponsored by Perry County Master Gardeners. Higher Education Center in Perryvill, MO. Call (573) 547-4504 for more info.

9:30-10:30am—Holiday Plants— Growing Tips for Colorful Displays.

Discover the most beautiful holiday plants, with the best colors and forms. In this session you’ll be inspired with fun and creative ways to use them in centerpieces and arrangements. You’ll learn proven tips for growing, making flowers last, and propagation. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070 for reservations.

10-11:30am—Guided Tour: Trees & Their Many Colors Explained. Learn the benefits, health care and classroom applications of trees on the campus at St. Louis Community College Meramec. On the tour, learn interesting facts, general information and fall color explained.

FREE. RSVP to mrenner@stlcc.edu. Rain or shine. Meet in Science West Building, Room 103 (SW103).

Nov. 6th Noon-1pm—Sustainable Naturescaping for Birds and Pollinators. Accomplished birder, photographer, naturalist and blogger Margy Terpstra will discuss how she and her husband Dan have turned their half-acre Kirkwood landscape into wildlife sanctuary by removing invasive plants and restoring habitat with Missouri native plants and attractive water features. Presented by the City of Sunset Hills and Sunset Hills Garden Club.

Sunset Hills Community Center 3915 S. Lindbergh Blvd., (314) 842-7265. To learn more about the Terpstras’ “Shady Oaks Sanctuary,” visit their website at HummerHavenUnltd.com.

The Gateway Gardener™

Looking for professional services, advice and materials for your garden, lawn and landscape?

The Landscape & Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis provides continuing education, enrichment and support to its members, preparing them to provide the metro community with the finest horticultural products and landscape services available.

Landscape Designers, Construction and Management

Turfgrass Care Arborists (Tree Care) Ecological Services

Growers and Wholesale Nurseries Florists

Retail Garden Centers And More Learn more about us and view our member directory at

www.StLouisLandscape.org

15

Top 10 Reasons to Topdress* with STA-Certified Compost this Fall 1. Supplies beneficial microorganisms 2. Encourages a healthy, more disease resistant lawn 3. Increases nutrients in your soil 4. Improves soil structure 5. Helps grow deep and strong roots 6. Reduces compaction in heavy clay soils 7. Aids in building a strong over-winter foundation 8. Improves water retention and drought resistance 9. Increases pore space for better water movement 10. Gives your neighbors LAWN ENVY VALLEY PARK, MO BELLEVILLE, IL ST. LOUIS, MO FLORISSANT, MO 5841 Mine Haul Rd 39 Old Elam Ave 560 Terminal Row 13060 County Park Rd 636.861.3344 618.233.2007 314.868.1612 314.355.0052

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO 11294 Schaefer Dr 314.423.9035

PACIFIC, MO 18900 Franklin Rd 636.271.3352

stlcompost.com STLComposting

*Best after lawn aeration