The Gateway Gardener July/August 2014

Gateway Gardener

JULY/AUGUST 2014

THE

速

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

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Gateway Gardener THE

®

Your Guide to Enjoyable Gardening and Easy-Care Landscapes

July/August 2014

Volume 10, Number 6

Founded in 2005 by

Robert Weaver & Joyce Bruno

Publisher and Editor Robert Weaver Columnists

Barbara Perry Lawton Garden Book Author and Garden Writer Connie Alwood Master Gardener Ellen Barredo Certified Nursery Professional Diane Brueckman Rosarian Joyce Driemeyer Master Gardener Cindy Gilberg Landscape Design Mara Higdon Gateway Greening Glenn Kraemer Turf Horticulturist Steffie Littlefield Nursery Professional Printing: Breese Publishing, Breese, IL The Gateway Gardener® is published monthly 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.

A

From the Editor

s I have written before, my introduction to ornamental horticulture came via an earlier interest in natural history, and specifically, prairies. As a freelance writer in the 1990s, I was assigned to write an article on a fellow restoring 500 acres of prairie in northern Missouri. That experience sent me back to St. Louis to learn more about native plants, which let me to St. Louis Community College for a Field Botany class, which in turn started me toward a degree in Horticulture, completion of the St. Louis Master Gardener program, and ultimately the startup of this magazine. But it all began with the natives, which is why, from day one, despite being told years ago that “natives don’t sell well at retail,” I’ve always included a space for a native plant article in each issue.

Meyer. If you don’t know what a sport is, you can find out about them in Diane Brueckman’s column on page 8.

Cindy and I often run in the same circles, such as here at the 2012 Green Homes Festival. educational outreach.

In addition to our column, she had written regular columns for several other publications, and helped organize and participate in countless seminars, classes, symposiums, lectures and other programs to proselytize the value and benefits of gardening and landscaping with native plants. Well, it’s time we Native plants are much more recognized those efforts, so I popular now, thanks in no hope you’ll enjoy our tribute to small part to the writing and Cindy on page 6. educational efforts of our monthly columnist Cindy The ‘Pearly Gates’ rose on our Gilberg. I’m not boasting cover isn’t a native, but it has about The Gateway Gardener’s a St. Louis connection. It is a contribution to that spike in “sport” from the rose ‘America’, native popularity; it has only and was discovered right here been a fraction of Cindy’s in St. Louis by gardener Larry

On the Cover...

Everyone appreciates a good sport, and this is a great one! ‘Pearly Gates’ climbing rose is a sport of the great climber ‘America’.

For more on rose sports, see page 8. (Photo courtesy Weeks Roses).

July and August is when many native plants shine, especially tough, drought-resistant prairie plants. But it’s also harvest time in the vegetable garden. So look to our Cornucopia Corner on pages 12-13 for a list of fruits and vegetables you may find in your garden or at the farmers’ markets, plus Mara’s article on growing summer squash and Joyce’s tantalizing recipe for Caprese salad.

When asked about the weediness factor of some native plants, Cindy Gilberg is fond of replying, “Gardening is a VERB!” In other words, planting is only the beginning.

If we ever forget that, July and August remind us.

Good Gardening!

IN THIS ISSUE 4 A Day of Garden Inspiration 6 A Tribute to Our Own Missouri Native 8 Strange Occurrences in the Rose Garden 10 Emerald Ash Borer is Here!

12 Summer Squash 12 JT’s Fresh Ideas Caprese Salad 14 Upcoming Events

A Day of Garden Inspiration

T

Text by Steffie Littlefield, Photos by Robert Weaver

he 2014 St. Louis Garden Tour of private gardens sponsored by the Missouri Botanical Garden Members Board was a day made in heaven for gardeners.

The opportunity to visit 12 private gardens was embraced by young and old, novice and master. For a few hours we were off on a journey to explore and admire the creativity and talents of fellow St. Louisans.

This year’s selection of gardens varied from charming cottage gardens, secret fairy and shade gardens to multi-story boulder streams and waterfalls. Hosts were plant collectors, master gardeners, decorators and avid gardeners all intimately involved in the design and implementation of their landscape. The Yoga garden in

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eatured in a West County garden was an amazing collection of conifers. Especially well done was the integration of weeping conifers, gold-tipped and blue/silver- needled specimens to make this a landscape to enjoy all winter as well. Specimen trees like Cryptomeria, weeping purple beech, dawn redwood, parrotia and fringe trees were highlighted in each of the lovely landscapes. Along with these aristocrats of the garden it was encouraging to see natives like catalpa, bottlebrush buckeye, gray dogwoods and hawthorns maintained as part of the landscapes. Native plants were also incorporated into designs in impressive numbers, as with the undulating ocean of prairie dropseed grass, cascades of Callirhoe (winecups or purple poppy

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s a designer/horticulturist myself, I was impressed with the good diversity of plant material used in the different gardens. One of my new favorites was a real star in the Directors Garden on Tower Grove.

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mallow) and drifts creativity, dedication and resourcefulness of their owners but also of native ferns and their generosity. To open your garden to the public for even one columbines. day is a huge commitment and one that was appreciated by all the volunteers and St. Louis gardening community. This tour was he creators of these inspirational professionally and spiritually. gardens proved to be an adventurous lot,

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Steffie Littlefield is a horticulturist and garden designer at Garden Heights Nursery. She has degrees from St. Louis Community College at Meramec and Southeast Missouri State and is a member of Gateway Professional Horticultural Association and past president of the Horticulture Co-op of Metropolitan St. Louis.

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Naturally Natives A Tribute to Our Own Missouri Native

By Robert Weaver of Garden Heights Nursery and a longtime In the publishing business it’s understood industry associate of Cindy’s. “She and that readers generally don’t write when Doug brought many new varieties to St. they’re happy, only when they’re unhappy.

Louis and ignited a passion in visitors I suppose, then, it’s a good thing I don’t to experiment with new combinations of receive much correspondence from plants that would thrive for years to come.” readers. Only in one instance did the magazine provoke a significant response: Another industry associate and friend, a few years ago, due to space constraints, Ellen Barredo of Bowood Farms also I withheld Cindy Gilberg’s regular column noted Cindy’s influence. “Years ago, she on gardening with natives. Readers was the go-to perennial guru for all kinds quickly let me know that, hold whatever of perennial information when one needed else, Cindy’s column would be, and was help. At Gilberg Perennial Farms you thereafter, untouchable! And so it has could see the latest and greatest in handbeen until last month when Cindy allowed selected new introductions in perennials a stand-in from her co-worker at Shaw for our area as well as tried and true. I Nature Reserve, Scott Woodbury. And in always enjoyed the native department as this issue, we again give Cindy a break by turning the tables and she stocked natives when no other nursery carried them. But my writing ABOUT our readers’ favorite native expert. very favorite section at Gilberg’s was the herb department. Cindy I first met Cindy Gilberg in 2005, when we had just begun publishing had a full selection of culinary and aromatic herbs seldom found in The Gateway Gardener. I called on her at Gilberg Perennial Farms St Louis. When you walk around Bowood you can see a little bit of in Wildwood, a nursery she and her husband Doug had owned and Cindy in all of the plants.” managed for nearly three decades. It was immediately apparent this was an uncommon garden center. Their specialization in herbaceous Cindy has influenced the styles and plant palettes of many perennials, aquatic plants, herbs and native plants, highlighted by gardeners through the years, and has been a tireless advocate for the country surroundings and beautiful garden displays had given the green industry. She has organized countless workshops to Gilberg’s a reputation as a must-visit destination for gardeners in educate gardeners, especially about the relatively unknown (then) world of perennials. Nationally, she has served on the Board of the know.

Directors for the Perennial Plant Association, and was a driving “The unique country setting for display of these plants inspired force in organizing that group’s symposium when St. Louis hosted novice and experienced gardeners alike,” recalls Steffie Littlefield it in 2009. Locally she has been a board member and is a past president of the Horticulture Co-op of Greater St. Louis.

After she and Doug closed the garden center, she turned her focus to consulting, garden design, teaching and writing, especially as all those related to the promotion of native plants and native

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Tips and Resources for Growing and Landscaping with Sustainable Native Plants “In my early gardening days, Cindy was a legend, even in my city neighborhood. Budding urban gardeners would make the 40-minute trek west -- almost a pilgrimage -- to Gilberg Perennial Farms to see the wealth of innovative flowering and foliage plants that Cindy packed into her country place. She and her husband Doug were pioneers in the wave of popularity for perennials that crested some 20 years later. But early on, Cindy taught us cheerfully and patiently about gorgeous plants that come back year after year and supplement or take the place of fussy bedding annuals. Her plants would start out small but grow the second and third years to give us gorgeous specimens to divide and fill our gardens. Cindy may have singlehandedly changed the St. Louis landscape.“ --Becky Homan, retired Garden Editor, St. Louis PostDispatch gardening.

She started contributing monthly articles to The Gateway Gardener in 2007. About that same time, she began working part-time in the Horticulture Department at Shaw Nature Reserve, part of Missouri Botanical Garden. In 2010, she and her mother, Barbara Perry Lawton, co-authored a wonderful, informative book on the history and attractions of Shaw Nature Reserve (Missouri Botanical Garden’s Shaw Nature Reserve: 85 Years of Natural Wonders).

In 2009 she became involved with the Deer Creek Watershed Alliance as Project Horticulturist, and was recognized by that organization earlier this year with its Certificate of Excellence Award for her vast contributions toward their programs to promote rainscaping with native plants.

“Her move to the Shaw Nature Reserve brought with it a huge following of gardeners who were prime to shift their focus to native and rain garden plants,” says Steffie. “This natural progression certainly brought with it a revolutionary change in backyard gardening from high maintenance or invasive imports to an awareness of a JULY/AUGUST 2014

larger palette of indigenous plants.

She has always taught and consulted anyone who reached out for more information. It is safe to say that all gardeners, professional and amateur, in the metro area have been formally or informally her eager students, and our work and gardens are better for it.”

Cindy once visited my home when I was just establishing a dedicated native garden.

She brought with her a gift of native false aloe (Manfreda virginica). Some 8-9 nine years later, it continues to thrive in the garden and reminds me of her. It’s not the showiest plant in the garden; the flowers are relatively insignificant. But it’s a favorite among pollinating visitors nonetheless. And it’s a tough-as-nails little plant.

Thanks Cindy for being a friend and valuable contributor to The Gateway Gardener, and an advocate for native plants and gardening throughout the region.

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Many more friends and associates wished to salute Cindy’s influences. Please visit GatewayGardener.com for their comments and tributes.

The Gateway Gardener®

7

Strange Occurrences in the Rose Garden

By Diane Brueckman

W

to blackspot as well. One difficulty with both sports is they are not reliable, meaning they often revert back to the original color. All four of these roses are still grown today.

I have a ‘F.J. Grootendorst’ hybrid rugosa, introduced in 1918. It has tiny dark red blooms that look like tiny carnations. At the same time I bought ‘Pink Grootendorst’ also a hybrid rugosa introduced in 1928. Except for the flower color the plants are identical.

After 10 years in my garden, the pink plant has decided to turn red. I now have one red Grootendorst and one half pink and half red. I did not do anything about it when it started to revert back to red because it is an interesting conversation starter.

Weeks Roses

e think of new roses only coming along with the skill and expertise of the trained or amateur hybridizer, but roses will often mutate on their own.

These mutations are called sports. I had a reader call me and ask if something was seriously wrong with her rose because the bloom was a different color on one part of the bush. The plant was otherwise healthy with the exception of a little blackspot. This type of mutation is a more common occurrence than you might think.

As far back as the 1500s the ‘Apothecary’s ‘Pearly Gates’ Rose’, Rosa gallica officinalis, a solid pink rose, sported a striped rose, ‘Rosa Mundi’, the oldest striped rose on record. ‘Rosa Mundi’ blooms are white with pink and red stripes. No two petals are alike; otherwise the plants are alike. Another rose from the same Do not confuse a sport with a plant that has started to sucker. era is Rosa foetida, a bright yellow rose that sported a rose called Usually sucker blooms are a deep burgundy red because the sucker ‘Austrian Copper’ or Rosa foetida ‘Bicolor’. ‘Austrian Copper’, as is a shoot from the rootstock. In the case of the sucker, which only the name implies, has orange/scarlet petals with a yellow reverse. appears on a budded (grafted) plant, the canes and foliage are An interesting fact about the Rosa foetida roses is they helped bring different than the original plant. The canes are thinner, more whipyellow into the color palette of modern roses—and susceptibility like and the foliage will have seven leaflets to a leaf. The solution is to rip off the sucker at the base, which is below the bud union.

In the case of a sport, deadheading will often eliminate the sport entirely.

DESERT SHOW

When you page through rose catalogs today take note of the parentage of the roses. You will often see sports of various roses.

One such sport is ‘Pink Knock Out’, sport of ‘Knock Out’. Another plant that sported is ‘Iceberg’, which gave us ‘Pink Iceberg’. One sport I must mention is ‘Pearly Gates’, a soft pastel pearly pink. It is a sport of the climber ‘America’, a salmon/pink climber. ‘Pearly Gates’, a native of St. Louis, was discovered by Larry Meyer in

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his rose garden and introduced

by Weeks Roses.

One other type of sport you might see is when half of the bloom is one color and the other half is another, for instance the right half might be pink and the left half white. This occurs when only one half of a cell mutates.

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 Brueckman Diane <droseyacres@ egyptian.net>.

There are many, many more examples of sports in commerce and our roses may surprise us with a sport at any time. Today the rose producers test a rose for an extended period of time before introducing a sport into commerce to be sure that it is reliable and wouldn’t revert back to the original like ‘Rosa Mundi’ and ‘Austrian Copper’. Of course, there is no guarantee that it wouldn’t happen, but it is less likely.

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EmeralD Ash Borer is Here!

What’s a Homeowner to Do? few months later that the first confirmed siting came near Lake Wappapello. Subsequently the insect has found its way closer and closer to the St. Louis region, and just last month prior to going to the printer, we discovered authorities had confirmed the pest had been discovered in neighboring St. Charles County near Lake St. Louis.

many are aware, for example, of the publicity surrounding preemptive removal of the entire population of ash trees on the St. Louis Arch grounds. This has given rise to many questions from homeowners about what, if anything can be done to protect their own trees.

Adult emerald ash borer and value to their property. If Preventative treatment is trees are already in decline or available, either by the homeowner don’t offer value such as shading Emerald ash borer is a wood- or from tree professionals. But the home, then the value of the e first wrote about boring insect that invades and it can be costly, and must be treatment should be weighed, as emerald ash borer in quickly kills all types of native maintained on an annual or bi- well as the cost of removal and our March 2008 issue ash trees (white, blue, green, annual basis to continue efficacy. replacement. You can get help before the devastating insect and pumpkin). Much has been So experts recommend first that identifying ash trees, emerald ash had been reported in Missouri. reported in local media in recent homeowners evaluate their ash borer symptoms and treatment Unfortunately it was only a years about this threat, and trees to determine their condition options from the University of

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D-shaped exit hole Borer damage beneath bark Missouri Extension offices in for up to 2 years, and are Creve Coeur or Powder Valley applied either as a drench or as Conservation Nature Area. an injectable treatment. For a list of certified arborists in the If a decision is made to try St. Louis region, find the St. to protect your tree, then Louis Arborists Association homeowners can either do it membership directory at www. themselves, or hire an expert. StLouisArborists.com.

Over-the-counter products that include control of emerald ash For more on emerald ash borer borer on their label are either identification and treatment, mixed with water and applied including helpful videos on as a soil drench, or as a granular chemical application and other product. Both are applied possible actions, visit the directly to the soil each spring University of Missouri Extension around the trunk of the tree. site for their EAB Program at http://extension.missouri.edu/ Alternatively, professional treepests/EABhomeowners. applications can be effective

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The Cornucopia Corner your squash plants. You can either plant them 2 weeks after the last frost to get a head start on the season. In my experience, waiting a bit later in the summer to plant has deterred the everdisappointing squash vine borer, a pest that sucks the life out of your squash plant in one or two days and leaves it withering on the ground, lifeless.

(hopefully) the vine borer, and cucumber beetles. At bloom time, you should remove

By Mara Higdon the row cover to allow for pollination which you can let nature do naturally with bees and other beneficial insects/ birds or you can pollinate by hand, taking the pollen from the male and brushing it on the female blossoms using a small Plant your seeds in soil amended paint brush. with a couple shovelfuls of Packed with vitamin A and compost. Plant the seeds 8 C and a good dose of dietary inches apart and keep your rows fiber, summer squash are a fun 24 inches apart. Water them in and versatile plant to grow. well and check on them daily. Remember that the squash Patissons Strie Melange You can thin the seedlings to 3 blossoms are also edible. They feet apart once they appear. To should be harvested in the There are a wide variety of or other organic matter. Like prevent pests, cover your squash morning and kept cool. Stuff summer squash available for other cucurbits, they do tend row with row cover held up with a sautéed mix of couscous, gardeners to try. Don’t limit to be heavy feeders. But, the with metal or PVC hoops until herbs, and squash for a delicious yourself to zucchini! There plants themselves are generally the plants are ready to bloom. lunch or dinner! are yellow squash, patty pans, compact and easy to care for. This keeps out the squash bugs, round and oval squash, and The Tromboncino is the only the long necked Tromboncino. variety that benefits from a trellis Plant one plant per person so for the vines to crawl upon. You you’re not inundated at the end can even plant summer squash Caprese salad with of the season. in containers and they should do Fresh Mozzarella Squash grow best in full sun, fairly well.

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ummer is my favorite time of the year and nothing says summer to me like a homegrown tomato picked right out of the garden. I would love to put 20 tomato recipes in this issue, unfortunately I am limited to one. So I have decided to keep it simple and let the tomato speak for itself!

Jt

Please share some of your favorite recipes with us.

You can email us at info@gatewaygardener.com.

The Gateway Gardener®

JULY/AUGUST 2014

Tips for Growing, Buying and Cooking Fresh, Locally Sourced Food for Your Table Mara Higdon is the Program Director at Gateway Greening, Inc. They focus on community development through gardening throughout the St. Louis area. You can reach her at (314) 588-9600 x22 or by email at mara@gatewaygreening.org.

July/August Harvest

Here are some fruits and veggies you might find in the garden or your local farmers’ market this month:

Vegetables

Rhubarb Squash (summer) Sweet Corn Sweet Potatoes Tomatoes Turnips

Artichoke Beans Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Cucumbers Eggplant Garlic Herbs Horseradish Kohlrabi Leeks Lettuce Okra Onions Peas Peppers Popcorn Potatoes Pumpkins Radishes

Fruits

Apples Apricots Blackberries Blueberries Canteloupe Gooseberries Grapes (Wine) Nectarines Peaches Pears Plums Raspberries, red Strawberries Watermelon

DID YOU KNOW mums planted in August survive winter and return more reliably than those planted later in the fall?

We have THOUSANDS of Home-Grown Mums Available around August 15th!

D

aniel’s Farm

& Greenhouses

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

“We grow color for your home!”

JULY/AUGUST 2014

The Gateway Gardener®

13

Upcoming Events

Aug. 2nd 9am-Children’s Garden Club.

Butterfly Gardening.

FREE. Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House & Faust Historical Village. 15193 Olive Blvd., Chesterfield, MO. (636) 530-0076.

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 September issue is August 1st.

How to reach us: Mail: PO Box 220853, St. Louis, MO 63122 Phone: (314) 968-3740 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!

Fun for Kids July 5th and Aug. 2nd 11am-2pm—Hillermann’s First Saturdays for Kids. Bring the kids to play in the garden and enjoy a FREE activity. July: Make a Water Garden. Aug.: Plant Hairy’s Hair.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist. 636239-6729, Hillerman.com.

July 12th 9 am-Children’s Garden Club. Fun in the Garden. FREE. Chesterfield Valley Nursery, 16825 N. Outer Rd., Chesterfield. Hosted by St. Louis County Parks and Recreation.

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Classes, Lectures Events

and

Now through July 27th 9am-5pm—Desert Show: Plants of South Africa & Madagascar. This floral show will introduce Garden visitors to plants that occur in desert and arid regions of South Africa and Madagascar as well as a look at the people of the region and how they use indigenous plant species. Missouri Botanical Garden, Orthwein Floral Display Hall. Garden admission plus $5; free for Garden members.

Sponsorship provided by the Henry Shaw Cactus and Succulent Society.

July 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, Aug. 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th 10am-noon—Herbs & Heirlooms Tuesdays. Connect with some of the oldest friends of mankind: herbs.

Drop in to explore the culinary, sensory, beauty and uses for the herb featured each week. The first 100 participants will pot an herb to take home and receive a plant profile sheet with care tips and ways to use your new plant. In the Missouri Botanical Garden Herb Garden, weather permitting. Included with Garden Admission. No registration is required. For more information, visit www.mobot.org.

July 5th 10am—Growing Up—A Guide to Vines. Learn about the vines that will turn an ordinary garden into a showcase. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood.

FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

July 12th 10am—Refresh your Window Boxes and Containers. Learn about the hot summer delights that are dripping with color now and will continue to look good well into fall. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

2pm—Nature Connects: Art with

LEGO® Bricks - Meet the Artist.

Meet Sean Kenney, the creator of Nature Connects: Art with LEGO® Bricks. He will discuss his creative process and what it’s like to have the coolest job in the world! Sean will also serve as final judge for the LEGO® Brick Buildtanical Challenge.

Missouri Botanical Garden, Shoenberg Theater. Selected sculptures from the Challenge will be on display in the Ridgway Visitor Center from 10am to 4pm.

Included with Garden Admission.

No registration is required. For more information, visit www.mobot.org.

9am-3pm—Friends of the Garden Butterfly Festival. Springfield Botanical Gardens at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park, 2400 S. Scenic Ave., Springfield, Missouri.

Featuring Dr. Bill Roston Native Butterfly House and Springfield Sister Cities Fiesta with Mariachi Viva Xalisco and Special Guest Paco Padilla. Free. 417.891.1511.

11am—Wine Making, Bottling.

Harvey Jasper will teach this class on the actions needed for the bottling stage of wine making. Anyone is welcome to come learn this step and ask questions about wine making.

A handout outlining all the actions needed for each step in the wine making process will be available.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636239-6729, www.hillermann.com.

July 19th 11am—Cooking Class-The Sweet Side of Grilling. Join Leigh Sweet with Tasteful Affair Catering as she demonstrates grilled stone fruits with Missouri Wine Syrup, and grilled pineapple w/rum glaze and Bananas Foster. Samples and recipes of featured foods will be available. $5 class fee. Space is limited. Please contact Leigh at 314-488-4184 or tastefulaffair@gmail.com to sign up.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist. 636239-6729, hillermann.com.

9am-5pm—West County Daylily Club 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, Ridgway Visitor Center. Included with Garden admission. http://

westcountydaylilyclub.com.

10am—Maintaining Perennials and Rejuvenating Your Summer Garden. Learn aggressive pruning techniques that will help you achieve strong, more compact plants and many more blooms in your garden. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

July 24th 9am-5pm—Henry Shaw’s Birthday.

Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw’s 214th birthday celebration. Admission is free for all visitors. Missouri Botanical Garden.

July 26th 10am—Fairy Gardening, Mini Landscaping for Containers and Gardens. Learn about dollsize shrubs, plus the perennials, annuals and vines with teeny leaves and flowers. Learn the unique care tiny plants need along with mini-gardening deisgn tips and techniques. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood.

FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

5pm—5th Annual Field to Fork.

Benefitting Heartlands Conservancy.

Field to Fork celebrates all things local with a six-course meal that sources all of the ingredients locally the day of and a few days prior to the event. Enjoy the extensive culinary skills of all chefs in just one evening.

Bellecourt Manor in Belleville, IL. Reservations required. Tickets for HeartLands Conservancy members are $70 per person, $500 per table. Non-members $90 per person, $650 per table. To learn more about the event, the chefs and farms providing food, visit www.

HeartLandsConservancy.org/fieldto-fork or contact Kim O’Bryan at 618-566-4451 Ex. 10 or kim. obryan@heartlandsconservancy.org.

July 26 – 27th 9am-5pm—Metropolitan St. Louis African Violet Council Show and Sale. New cultivars and old favorites are shown by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization.

Missouri Botanical Garden. Show in the Beaumont Room; Sale in the

The Gateway Gardener®

JULY/AUGUST 2014

Missouri and Botanical Rooms in the Ridgway Visitor Center. Included with Garden admission.

Aug. 2nd 9am—Nursery Tour. Disover the hidden treasures at Sugar Creek, tour the nursery, see what’s in bloom, learn the newest selections and rare gems. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

9am-5pm—Missouri Botanical Garden Daylily Association Sale. Choose from a wide array of new cultivars and old favorites sold from the Missouri Botanical Garden’s displays. Experts from the West County Daylily Club will be on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Proceeds benefit the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Aug. 6th-10th Washington Town and Country Fair. Join Hillermann’s at their booth at the fair. Ask gardening and landscaping questions and check out the latest gardening items.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636239-6729, www.hillermann.com.

Aug. 9th 10am—Bee Friendly Pest and Disease Controls. Discover the natural choices available for controlling bugs and disease without harming bees and other life. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

Aug. 9th-10th 9am-5pm—Greater St. Louis Iris Society Sale. Choose from a wide array of new cultivars and old favorites sold from the Missouri Botanical Garden’s displays. Experts from the Greater St. Louis Iris Society will be on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization. Proceeds benefit the Missouri Botanical Garden. MBG RIdway Center.

August 12th 7-9pm—Tap Root Speakers Series.

Guest Speaker Mike Walsh, Forestry Program Manager, Forest ReLeaf Nursery. Learn about trees, your landscapes and get expert advice from local tree experts. Sponsored by The Missouri Community Forestry Council. $10. Schlafly Bottleworks Crown Room in Maplewood. Call 636-970-3000 to pre-register or

JULY/AUGUST 2014

register at the door.

Aug. 16th 10am—Best New Perennials, Shrubs and Vines. Hear about the exciting new creations that have the garden world amazed, awed and just plain star struck. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 9653070.

Aug. 21st 6:30pm—Friends of the Garden “A Love Song for all Life.” Springfield Art Museum, 1111 E. Brookside Dr., Springfield, Missouri, a fundraiser concert presented by solo flautist Bettine Clemen and guitarist Richard Patterson. $45 each, includes a wine reception. 417.891.1511.

August 23rd 10am—Best Fall Gardening Tips. Discover which varieties are flowering along with the garden practices that will produce the longest-blooming, heaviest producing plants and more. Sugar Creek Gardens, 1011 Woodlawn Rd., Kirkwood. FREE. Call (314) 965-3070.

Aug. 23rd-24th Washington County Home Grown Farm Tour (2 days) and Field Dinner (Sat. only). This free self-guided tour features 10 venues within the county. Spend the day in the country tasting wine as you stroll among the vines that produced it, petting farm animals, watching bison roam or enjoying a gourmet field dinner featuring products from the farms you’ve just visited! Proceeds from the dinner support an annual agricultural scholarship. (Reservations required, limited seating). Proceeds benefit the Washington County Farm Tour Scholarship Fund. For more information visit www. homegrownfarmtour.com or call Debby Bust at (573) 438-8555 to make reservations.

Aug. 30th 11am—Cooking Class - Back to Grill. Join Leigh Sweet with Tasteful Affair Catering as she demonstrates making chicken quesadillas, shrimp and veggie skewers, portabella sandwiches, plus, s’more packets.

Samples and recipes of featured foods will be available. $5.00 class fee. Space is limited. Please contact Leigh at 314-488-4184 or tastefulaffair@gmail.com to sign up.

Hillermann Nursery & Florist, 636239-6729, www.hillermann.com.

Aug. 30-Sept 1st 10am-8pm Fri. & Sat., 10am5pm Sun.—Japanese Festival.

Annual Japanese Festival presents taiko drumming, bon odori festival dancing, martial arts, candlelight walks in the Japanese Garden and more. Doors open at 9 a.m. $15 adults (ages 13 and over), $5 children (3 to 12), $5 members. Buy tickets in advance online at www.mobot. org. Regular admission rates to the Children’s Garden apply. Missouri Botanical Garden.

Sept. 5th 4-8pm—Fall Wildflower Sale and Open House. Stroll through the Whitmire Wildflower Garden and gain inspiration for your home landscape, then purchase native plants at the Wildflower Sale.

Experts on hand to assist with your questions. Shaw Nature Reserve, Gray Summit, MO. $3 nonmembers, FREE for MBG members.

(636) 451-3512.

We invite you to spend a day in Washington County

Explore the wines & the local flavors at the

Home Grown Farm Tour & Field Dinner August 23, 2014

www.edg-clif.com

Aug. 24th Noon-5pm—Orchid Society of Greater St. Louis Annual Orchid Auction. New cultivars and old favorites are auctioned by the area’s top growers, who are on hand to give plant care advice and share information about their organization.

Silent auction and attendance prizes. Missouri Botanical Garden, Beaumont Room, Ridgway Visitor Center. Entry included with Garden admission. osogsl.org.

The Gateway Gardener®

15

Get a Bountiful Bouquet from your vegetable garden!

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