February 2021 issue of Washington Gardener Magazine

FEBRUARY 2021 VOL. 15 NO. 12

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the magazine for gardening enthusiasts in the Mid-Atlantic region

Comfrey – A True Super Plant!

New Hardy Begonia Series Introduced

UN Extends Year of Plant Health 6 Houseplants that Thrive in Low Light A Virtual Seed Swap Day What to Do in the Garden this Month Wintersweet Plant Profile Smithsonian’s Botanical Illustrator Big Changes for University of Maryland’s Big “M”

21 Award-winning Garden Photos

Summer Creek Horticultural Soil Mixes HiDra2-Seed Starter MultiMix2–Raised Bed Mix Organic - Local – Sustainable – Pro Grade Most sustainable horticultural mixes available.

Available at Mom’s, Direct & select ACE Hardware www.summercreekfarm.com - Thurmont, Maryland

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Need a Garden Club Speaker?

Washington Gardener Magazine’s staff and writers are available to speak to groups and garden clubs in the DC region and ONLINE! Call 240.603.1461 or email KathyJentz@gmail.com for available dates, rates, and topics.

Green Spring Gardens

www.greenspring.org

A “must visit” for everyone in the metropolitan Washington, DC, area. It’s a year-round goldmine of information and inspiration for the home gardener. It’s an outdoor classroom for children and their families to learn about plants and wildlife. It’s also a museum, a national historic site that offers glimpses into a long, rich history with colonial origins.

Located at 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria, VA. Information: 703-642-5173.

RARE AND EXCEPTIONAL PLANTS FOR THE DISCRIMINATING GARDENER AND COLLECTOR Barry Glick Sunshine Farm and Gardens 696 Glicks Road Renick, WV 24966, USA Email: barry@sunfarm.com

www.sunfarm.com

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Izel Plants

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Ask Maryland’s Garden Experts extension.umd.edu/hgic

We offer cost effective options to cover a lot of ground, including containerized plants and retail-elusive plugs. Easily find the species that are best suited to your specific needs, from popular ones to those that are rare and hard to find.

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INSIDEcontents

FEATURES and COLUMNS

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While the new “M” at the University of Maryland is being installed, the old one remains in place so the campus will never be M-less.

Pictured here is the M traffic circle at Campus Drive and Regents Drive during construction, circa 1970. Photo courtesy of University Archives.

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Win a pair of Digz Garden Gloves.

See contest details on page 5.

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Comfrey is wonderfully easy to grow and incredibly vigorous. The plants can be grown in full sun or partial shade.

A powder made of dried Comfrey leaves is an excellent, highstrength fertilizer and can be applied several weeks before the planting season begins.

Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) is a vigorous grower that provides beauty to the winter garden when most other plants are still dormant.

Site it near an entrance where you can enjoy the flowers’ sight and scent coming and going from inside during the cold season.

BOOKreviews 7-9 Resilience, Backyard Farming, Homesteading, Rosa DAYtrip 6 UMD’s Big “M” GREENliving 23 Virtual Seed Swap Day NEIGHBORnetwork 14-15 Alice Tangerini NEWPLANTspotlight 11 Begonia Lunar Lights™ Series PLANTprofile 12 Wintersweet PHOTOcontest 16-22 2021 Winners TIPStricks 10 Year of Plant Health, Low-Light Houseplants, Comfrey

DEPARTMENTS

ADVERTISINGindex BLOGlinks EDITORletter GARDENcontest GARDENDCpodcasts LOCALevents MONTHLYtasklist NEXTissue READERreactions RESOURCESsources

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In our March issue: Skunk Cabbages Coming Cicada Brood X Growing Mushrooms and much more . . .

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Got a gardening question you need answered? Send your questions to KathyJentz@gmail. com and use the subject line “Q&A.” Please also include your first name, last initial, and what city and state you are writing from.

Then look for your answered questions in upcoming issues.

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EDITORletter

Credits Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher Washington Gardener 826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-588-6894 kathyjentz@gmail.com www.washingtongardener.com Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Proofreader Khloe Quill Interns Cover price: $4.99 Back issues: $6.00 Subscription: $20.00

Politics and Gardening

German writer Thomas Mann famously said, “Everything is politics.”

Up until this last election cycle, I would have disagreed with him and argued that gardening is the one area that we can keep free of partisan issues. Many of us turn to the garden to get away from such concerns and to find some inner peace. Yet, I find political issues coming up recently in the gardening world in a myriad of surprising ways.

In Washington Gardener Magazine, I have always strived to follow my professional journalism training and to stay neutral. No matter who occupied the White House, we still covered what went on in the gardens and grounds. However, I found that any mention of those 18 acres of lands invited blowback from both sides of the political spectrum.

Does it have to be this way? It is such a divisive world now that it seems any mention of a topic as previously neutral as discussing ways of fencing deer out of one’s gardens can erupt into an online flame war. Maybe we can all take a breather and go out to pull a few weeds before we participate in such volatile threads.

Then there is the matter of whether the political beliefs of those we purchase gardening products from is our business to know or not. If you knew the owners of a seed company donated to a certain presidential campaign, would you stop buying from them? What if the owners of a famous plant nursery published a catalog featuring conspiracy theories on its cover—would that matter to you? Or is the temptation of rare plants enough to make you hold your nose and order?

I don’t have all the answers and I think all of us have to make those decisions based on our own belief systems. Meanwhile, I will spend some time this month starting seedlings and tuning out politics for my own sanity and self-care.

Happy gardening,

Kathy Jentz, Editor/Publisher, Washington Gardener, KathyJentz@gmail.com 4

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• Washington Gardener Blog: www.washingtongardener.blogspot.com • Washington Gardener Archives: http://issuu.com/washingtongardener • Washington Gardener Discussion Group: https://groups.google.com/g/ washingtongardener/ • Washington Gardener Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/WDCGardener • Washington Gardener Instagram: www.instagram.com/wdcgardener • Washington Gardener Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ WashingtonGardenerMagazine/ • Washington Gardener YouTube: www.youtube.com/ washingtongardenermagazine • Washington Gardener Store: www.amazon.com/shop/wdcgardener • Washington Gardener Podcast: https://anchor.fm/kathy-jentz/ • Washington Gardener is a womanowned business. We are proud to be members of: · GardenComm (GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators) · Green America Magazine Leaders Network · Green America Business Network Volume 15, Number 12 ISSN 1555-8959 © 2021 Washington Gardener All rights reserved. Published monthly.

No material may be reproduced without prior written permission. This magazine is purchased by the buyer with the understanding that the information presented is from various sources from which there can be no warranty or responsibility by the publisher as to legality, completeness, or technical accuracy.

All uncredited photos in this issue are © Kathy Jentz.

READERcontt

Reader Contest

For our February 2021 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away five pairs of Digz Gardening Gloves (retail value of $5 and up each).

Gardening can be tough on your hands. Luckily, Digz Gardening Gloves are here for anyone with a passion for plants. This incredible line of gardening gear makes sure your digits stay safe while you get to work in the soil (or even making your next crafting masterpiece). The gloves are available in a variety of colors and hand-drawn patterns, and also have touchscreen-compatible fingertips in case you need to snap a pic in the flower beds. Adjustable wrist strap creates a more secure fit and prevents dirt and debris from getting inside the gloves. Washable and durable.

To enter to win a pair of Digz Gardening Gloves, send an email to WashingtonG ardenerMagazine@gmail.com by 5:00pm on Sunday, February 28, with “Digz Gardening Gloves” in the subject line. In the body of the email, tell us what your favorite article was in this issue and why. Include your full name and mailing address.

The winner will be announced by March 2. o

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Are you trying to reach thousands of gardeners in the greater DC region/MidAtlantic area? Washington Gardener Magazine goes out in the middle of every month. Contact KathyJentz@gmail.com or call 301.588.6894 for ad rates (starting from $200). The ad deadline is the 5th of each month. Please submit your ad directly to: KathyJentz@gmail.com.

READERreactions

Our Readers React to the January 2021 Issue How I appreciate the article “Broad Beech Fern” by Barry Glick. I love ferns and combine them with hostas and native plants on the west side of my lot. I am always interested in hearing about how ferns tolerate local conditions (although I know Glick’s nursery is in mountainous West Virginia), and am particularly interested in relatively tough plants, tolerant of heat and periodic light drought, that are able to spread to cover the ground but are relatively easy to control. Broad beech fern sounds like it will fit the bill. ~ Mary Schwegler, Annandale, VA Although I enjoyed many articles in the January issue, I enjoyed learning more about the Northern Flicker the most. I try to make my garden as bird-friendly as possible for a wide variety of birds and the information in the article gave me some ideas to attract more Northern Flickers. They are such a beautiful bird and so fun to watch in the garden and the woods behind our house. ~ Janet Senft, Silver Spring, MD I really enjoyed reading about Vanessa Pierre. She really seems to have figured “it” out. I wish her great success in continuing her mission. It’s important. ~ Alison Mrohs, Henniker NH o

Classified Ad Help Wanted

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Most of these are children. That’s where PAR steps in.

PAR is such a simple program: It urges gardeners to Plant A Row (or a container) dedicated to feeding the hungry, and then take the harvest to someplace or someone that needs it. Once you have donated, send an email to KathyJentz@gmail.com with the total (in pounds and ounces) of what you gave.

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Full time estate manager/gardener position available immediately. Located in Potomac MD. Year-round position with benefits.

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DAYtrip

Botanical Backdrop for Generations of College Students Gets a Redesign

By Khloe Quill The old “M.” Photo courtesy of carmichaellibrary on Flickr.

The University of Maryland’s Big “M” is making big changes. Also known as the M Circle, this emblem of school pride and hotspot for grad photos has remained in one spot since it was created in 1976. That is, of course, until plans for the Purple Line demanded the famous floral photo backdrop be moved.

In case you missed it, the Purple Line is a light rail system that will enable travel between Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, including five stops on or near campus. The addition of this line is expected to shorten that commute, which currently takes two hours by bus, into a 15–20 minute ride.

The Purple Line will also go directly through the University of Maryland’s main campus, and in doing so, cross through the M circle. That’s why the university and those in charge of the Purple Line construction had to come up with a new permanent home for the iconic insignia.

According to sources within Facilities Management, the new M, located just outside the Mitchell Building, falls under the responsibility of the Purple Line until construction of the railway is complete. University landscapers and facilities management can still plant in it, but it would seem the group as whole had little say in the construction of the new M shape itself, which is why those 6

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used to seeing the old design may notice some cosmetic differences in the resulting one.

“In an effort to create a bicentennial landmark and eliminate an eyesore, the physical plant is planning to plant red and white petunias in the traffic circle on Campus Drive,” says an archived article of UMD’s newspaper, The Diamondback. The issue, printed in March of 1976, goes into further detail about the iconic “M.” The landscapers at the time called the traffic circle “barren.” They went on to discuss planting a variety of trees, plans that included evergreens, specifically so the traffic circle would stay beautiful even in the cold season.

Although landscapers started off with tulips, a variety of other flowers have graced the inner beds of the M throughout the years. In a Maryland Today article from 2020, the flowers were listed as yellow pansies in the fall and red begonias in the summer. In that same article, UMD horticulturist R. Scott Rupert said lining up the plants so they fill the M-shaped space just right is a “meticulous task.”

The earlier petunia choices were too delicate for the changing weather conditions, so the Facilities Management came up with a sturdy annual flower solution that fell in line with the changing seasons and university color scheme: Pansies are planted in the fall

because they can withstand the colder weather and bloom again in the spring.

Begonias are planted later in the spring because they can withstand the summer’s heat and humidity.

“It’s an iconic landmark that is the first thing everyone sees coming in through the main entrance,” says University of Maryland graduate John Wink ’88. “Arguably the best choice if you needed a single picture to help an alumni identify the campus. It was always presented well and always wellmaintained.”

While the exact amount of flowers was not mentioned in the article from the 1970s, an article from 2017 interviewing one university landscaper said that thousands of blooms were used in each planting cycle: 1,000 pansies and 1,000 begonias per season.

On rare occasions, the Big M has gone completely flower-less. One such incident occurred in 2016, when a fungal infection caused landscapers to opt out of the typical arrangement and instead fill the emblem with red mulch— a fix that lasted the entire school year.

Irrigation lines supply water to the blooms of the old M, and lucky for the maintenance crew, that hasn’t changed.

It’s only natural to put that much effort into maintaining a botanical feat that, at times, takes four to five workers and an entire day of work to complete.

The classes of both 1986 and 1987 contributed lights to shine on the M Circle at night. New lights, as well as some uplighting, are now installed around the second M. A more-recent graduate, Jessica Thwaite ’17, said she’s pleased to hear the Purple Line and M can coexist.

“I guess because Campus Drive was under construction for more than half of the time I went to the university, I’m not super-bothered by the idea of things being moved around. I like the idea of accessibility the Purple Line brings to campus.”

While partisan politics may be dividing our nation, it is lucky for all involved that the flowers don’t pay any mind to the slight shift to the left. o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD.

BOOKreviews

Resilience: Connecting with Nature in a Time of Crisis

By Melanie Choukas-Bradley Publisher: Changemakers Books List price: $9.95 Order link: https://amzn.to/2MWaDXm Reviewer: Jamie Moore This book is part of a series of short books by experts in various fields to foster development of practical, emotional, and spiritual skills. Such skills are important tools for building resilience in the face of the current pandemic. Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a naturalist, certified forest therapy guide, and award-winning writer living in Washington, DC. In this book, she describes ways we can connect with nature close to our homes to help alleviate feelings of anxiety and panic triggered by our current crisis.

Choukas-Bradley begins by explaining why building a connection with nature is important: Multiple scientific studies have shown various health benefits from spending time in nature.

The body of the book discusses practical steps you can take to connect with nature near your home. First, establish a “wild home,” or a place you can visit on a regular basis. Through observing daily and seasonal changes, you become more familiar with nature’s moods and rhythms, and can delight in small changes you start to notice.

In modern times, we have experi-

enced separation from nature, which has led to increased feelings of anxiety.

Choukas-Bradley describes nature immersion as a type of mindfulness practice. She discusses forest bathing (“shinrin-yoku”), a form of nature immersion that was developed during the 1980s in Japan. People experiencing emotional stress were encouraged to visit forests and quietly take in natural wonders. This practice has been very successful and has spread around the world.

In addition to practicing forest bathing, you can bring other mindfulness practices outside (such as meditation, yoga, or tai chi).

Another way to build connection with nature is to become a backyard naturalist. Choukas-Bradley encourages readers to go outside and observe, use their senses, learn from field guides or apps, record observations in journals, and consider participating in a citizen science project. However, she cautions not to get too caught up in identifying everything—it is much more important to just experience nature. It is also beneficial for children to spend time and play in nature.

Gardening and foraging have been a useful way to connect with nature in past times of crisis, such as the Victory Gardens of WWII. Gardens can function as places of refuge, with their beauty, serenity, and peacefulness bringing a sense of rejuvenation.

Our current crisis can transform our relationship with and understanding of nature for the better. Many people have more time now to connect with nature.

A healthy planet goes hand in hand with human health.

Resilience effectively instructs readers about how to “develop new ways of seeing and being in the world.” Through a stronger relationship with the natural world, we can build resilience and find strength to weather difficult times. I enjoyed this book so much, I also read her book about Sugarloaf Mountain, and I plan to read Choukas-Bradley’s other books in the future. o Jamie Moore gardens in Frederick County, MD. In addition to gardening, she loves to read; cook with local and seasonal produce; hike; and spend time with her husband, three children, and four cats.

Backyard Farming: From Raising Chickens to Growing Veggies, the Beginner’s Guide to Running a SelfSustaining Farm Publisher: Adams Media List price: $17.99 Order link: https://amzn.to/2MUiVyV Reviewer: Khloe Quill There’s no time like the end-of-times to start living a self-sustaining life. If March of last year isn’t a motivator to start cultivating at least some amount of your own food sources, I don’t know what will be. Personally, I started food gardening this summer and sort of failed. If you’re like me, I suggest Backyard Farming.

The book covers every question you might have when starting your own farm, whatever size it may be. I expected it to be scary. Anytime I look up a how-to guide on the internet, it feels like some expert is screaming at me through the screen using terminology I don’t understand. Also, I have to wade through three pages of ads and someone’s life story to get to the part I need.

With Backyard Farming, it’s just a matter of flipping to the chapter about the subject I’m interested in.

Reading this book feels like talking to your dad who somehow just knows these things. Chapter Three, entitled “Thing You’ll Need and Things You Won’t Need,” is an absolute necessity if you’re a stress-spender like me.

Walking into the lawn & garden section of a store is far easier when someone is telling you not to buy the latest wildly FEBRUARY 2021

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BOOKreviews expensive rake-shovel-drill-fertilizer combo and instead go with a simple trowel.

Also offered in the 200-some pages of this book are solutions for those of us with much less land than your typical farmer. Things like planting in a grid, procuring trellises for vine plants to take advantage of vertical space, and even animal husbandry in close quarters.

One thing I found particularly engaging was the connection to gardening history woven into tutorials. While planning your own garden, you get a sense for why this book is suggesting you do things a certain way: because it’s been working for centuries! Knowing why you’re doing something is delightful, especially for novices with a million questions, but even still, for veterans who would probably find it fascinating to learn the history of what they already know intuitively.

There’s a comprehensive list of the most-popular garden vegetables and how to plant them. This takes some of the unknown out of the equation by basically telling you what kind of things to be planting and how you should be planting them. For example, the book recommends planting sweet corn with squash and beans. “The beans will provide nitrogen for the corn, the corn will provide stalks for the beans to climb up, and the squash will create living mulch, covering the ground to keep weeds from sprouting.”

The best part about this book is that it made it all seem possible. Every obstacle or moment of confusion is met and given a solution somewhere in these pages. Backyard Farming is a must-have entry-level book for those looking to produce their own food, or even those who just want to get better at gardening. I highly recommend it.

I’ve already begun using what I learned to start composting in my backyard! o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD. Note: These book reviews include links to Amazon.com for ordering them. Washington Gardener Magazine may receive a few cents from each order placed after you click on these links.

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The Backyard Homesteader: How to Save Water, Keep Bees, Eat from Your Garden, and Live a More Sustainable Life

By Alison Candlin Publisher: Gibbs Smith List Price: $30.00 Order Link: https://amzn.to/2N3kWZA Reviewer: Erica H. Smith Three groups of people might find this book helpful or intriguing: those who have recently purchased a piece of land and want to use it to increase their self-sufficiency in various ways; those who intend to do this in the future; and those who just like reading about other people getting into homesteading. The last group probably prefers personal narratives about the ups and downs of the do-it-yourself approach, but a how-to book can still be fun to browse through. I have no intention of ever keeping pigs, but still found the descriptions of how to build a pigsty and where to locate it on your property kind of fascinating.

The subtitle of The Backyard Homesteader is “How to Save Water, Keep Bees, Eat from Your Garden, and Live a More Sustainable Life,” but that’s far from all it covers. A partial list of the contents includes: how to plan and get started, including clearing land, working soil, and putting up fences and greenhouses; how to establish and maintain a garden of vegetables and fruit, including descriptions of many crops along with their pests and diseases; how to keep pigs, goats, chickens and other poultry, and bees; how to gather food from the wild; how

to preserve your produce; and how to conserve water and energy around the home. The author sensibly advises that you don’t embark on all these projects simultaneously, but should you want to take them all on, the basic information you’ll need is here.

Homesteading is not the same as farming. The idea is not producing beyond your own needs and selling the excess, but rather limiting what you need to bring in from the outside to keep yourself going. It’s a holistic approach, hence the information about solar panels, rain barrels, and energyefficient appliances side-by-side with gardening and keeping livestock. You can certainly pick and choose which aspects of this lifestyle to take on, though despite the author’s assurance that you can produce a surprising amount in a tiny backyard, the projects described here are meant for what looks like real acreage. If you have a typical small suburban lot and want to do some gardening on it, get a gardening book; if you want to keep a few chickens or a beehive, there are resources to help that are more specific. This book is for people with ambitions, even if they intend to take years over realizing them.

If you’re in that category, though, The Backyard Homesteader should be genuinely valuable. I can only speak with experience to the gardening sections of the book, and I believe they could be used as a guide to successfully start and maintain a productive large garden (including the all-important food preservation aspect). The advice about soil is a bit old-fashioned (evidence now shows that turning your soil over every year can have detrimental effects on garden health) and the author’s experience seems to be geared to colder climates (in this region we are just fine growing eggplants without a greenhouse), but she does repeatedly advise contacting your local Extension office for regionally-specific information. Points for that! The seasonal tasks calendar can be adapted to most U.S. climates; “early spring” might mean February to May, depending on where you live, but the jobs are more or less the same.

There’s lots of information about growing many kinds of edible plants. I

BOOKreviews found the organization a bit odd, especially how a bunch of unrelated vegetables (artichokes, asparagus, celery, leeks, onions, garlic, winter and summer squash, okra, spinach, and corn) ends up under “Other Vegetable Crops” and thus have their cultivation and pests discussed together. But that’s why books have indexes.

Also, I really want a greenhouse now.

And a couple of goats. But this book makes the work and space requirements for those clear, so I will stick with my garden and just look at the pretty photos. Should you have room to take on new projects, however, you’d do well to consult this practical handbook. o Erica H. Smith is a Montgomery County Master Gardener whose volunteer activities include the MG Demonstration Garden, the Grow It Eat It program, and speaking engagements on food-growing topics. She is the author of several novels; visit her website at ericahsmith.wordpress.com.

Rosa: The Story of the Rose Author: Peter E. Kukielski Publisher: Yale University Press List Price: $22.99 Order Link: https://amzn.to/3qlKRtP Reviewer: Beth Py-Lieberman “Alex, I’ll take ‘The Subject is Roses’ for $400.” And that, my dear gardening friends, is the “Double Jeopardy” round for this book. If you are looking to submerge your consciousness into the subject of roses from the botanical, the medicinal, the pleasurable, the ceremonial, the historical, and the symbolical, this lushly illustrated compendium is for you.

Peter E. Kukielski is the horticulturist extraordinaire who famously curated the award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden from 2006 to 2014. He is the summa cum laude of this queen of the flower and its deep history and lore.

And this book—heavy to hold in your lap, with its thick, rich pages, gorgeously produced by Yale University Press—is a coffee-table keeper.

A linear reader exploring this book from page one to its conclusion is treated to a spectacular timeline of rose history. If only the mind were able and willing to retain it all; its contents

touched the roses in his garden and they turned into gold. Aphrodite got pricked by their thorns and her blood turned white roses into red. Pliny the Elder left instructions for how to force roses to flower early. And guess what the War of the Roses was all about.

“Jeopardy” fans would do well to immerse their minds here. And yes, I did find an episode in the game’s online archives from July 15, 2011. For $2,000, Mark the champion locked it up with his correct answer. “It’s the anatomical name for a rose’s soft sometimes edible, floral cup.” Buy this book, and you’ll be the “Jeopardy” rose scholar and champion. o

would certainly bring huge wins to any trivia contest qualifier. This book could hold its own against any Britannica.

To call it encyclopedic, however, would diminish it.

Here we are with the different families of rose; now we journey into the ancient lore; this is what the Greeks, Romans, the Persians, the Hindus, the Buddhists said about it; here’s something Elizabethan, so ponder this elegant line of Shakespearean sonnet . . . . until finally we emerge in the modern-day quandary of chemical fertilizers and the latest practices for growing these splendors in the coming era of global climate change.

I started to go from beginning to end until my mind was overcome. Aristotle, on the subject of the rose in 350 BCE, asserted, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” But the ancient philosopher could have been talking about this book.

So I started to play a game. I would close the book on my lap. Now close my eyes, and then I’d flip through its pages to randomly land my finger for a rose finding.

Here is a sampling of my many results: It takes four tons of petals to produce half an ounce of rose attar.

There are 46 different species of plants decorating the Taj Mahal, of which the rose is one. The Greek philosopher Epicurus had a private rose garden just outside Athens. The province of Faristan in northern Persia is the birthplace of the cultivated rose. King Midas

Beth Py-Lieberman is Smithsonian magazine’s museums editor. She gardens at home with visiting deer in Silver Spring, MD, and is the volunteer liaison for the Fenton Street Community Garden.

GardenDC Podcast Episode Highlights

The GardenDC podcast is all about gardening in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic area. The program is hosted by Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, and features guest experts in local and national horticulture.

You can become a listener-supporter for as little as $0.99 per month! We will give you a thank you shout-out on the next episode. See how at: https:// anchor.fm/kathy-jentz/support.

You can listen online at https:// anchor.fm/kathy-jentz/ or at our blog: https://washingtongardener. blogspot.com/. We are available on Spotify, Apple, RadioPublic, Breaker, PocketCasts, Overcast, and Google Podcasts. o FEBRUARY 2021

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Super Plant: Comfrey

Comfrey is a stunningly showy cottage garden plant that is an exceptional pollinator plant, a real medicinal plant with legitimate healing qualities, an excellent compost activator, a superior mulch, an effective soil aerator for heavy clay soils, a superb green manure, and a nutrition booster for seedlings, writes Barbara Melera of Harvesting-History. com. These are not recently discovered attributes of this magnificent plant.

They have been known and practiced with great success for millennia.

Perhaps Comfrey’s most-significant qualities are related to what the plant does for garden soil. The fat roots aerate heavy clay soils, breaking them up into much more-amenable loam. When added to a new compost pile containing lots of dried brown horticultural material, the Comfrey leaves act as a bioactivator, balancing the carbon-tonitrogen ratio and thus speeding up decomposition. A tea made of crushed Comfrey leaves, with sufficient water added to liquefy it, poured over the compost pile, hastens composting. The tea acts in the same way as chewing food, and the resulting pre-digestion nourishes beneficial microorganisms in the compost pile causing them to work faster and more efficiently. The result is that the finished compost will have a significantly higher nutrient content.

Comfrey is not one of the richest sources of soil’s major nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK), but these nutrients in Comfrey are more easily and effectively available to plants that have been fertilized with a Comfrey fertilizer. Animal manures can burn plants and their root systems when added to newly planted seedlings and during the growing season, but Comfrey green manure can be added throughout the growing season. Comfrey manure is also a rich source of calcium and manganese. o

Photo credit: www.melindamyers.com.

The United Nations (UN) declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health.

This sent a powerful message to the world: Plants are life.

Sadly, the COVID-19 crisis changed a lot of 2020—and the UN gave an extension to International Year of Plant Health into 2021. That’s how important plant health is, according to the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Soils Matter Blog (soilsmatter.wordpress. com). Plants make almost all the oxygen we breathe and give us 80 percent of the food we eat. Plants clothe and shelter us. They sustain our livestock.

They also provide habitat for wildlife, form the base of nature’s food chains, and help biodiversity to flourish.

In addition, agricultural trade in plants and plant products has become crucial for human survival and economic growth in many rural areas. It is worth nearly $1.7 trillion annually. Over the past decade, its growth has almost tripled.

The International Year of Plant Health promotes the value of our precious plant resources and the need to safeguard them against destructive invasive pests. Protecting plants helps the UN to meet many of its sustainable development goals. These include reducing hunger, poverty, and threats to the environment.

Today, our life-sustaining plants face an ever-growing threat: invasive pests. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, these pests destroy up to 40 percent of food crops worldwide. They cause $220 billion in trade losses annually. They can also throw ecosystems out of balance and devastate biodiversity. As we know, invasive pests can spread through global agricultural trade. This pest pressure constantly increases. o

Photo credit: Harvesting-History.com

Photo credit: USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

UN Extends International Year of Plant Health

Low-Light, Low-Maintenance Houseplants

Don’t let a lack of brightly lit windows stop you from gardening indoors.

Include some low-maintenance, lowlight houseplants and maintenance strategies to boost your success.

According to garden expert Melinda Myers, low-maintenance gardening starts with proper plant selection.

Match the plant to the growing conditions and your gardening style. Here are a few selections to try.

• ZZ Plant is a favorite low-light, lowmaintenance plant. You will see it in hotels and shopping malls where light and care are often limited. Avoid overwatering that can lead to root rot and death of this plant.

• Peace Lily is another popular low-light plant found in a variety of public places.

It requires moist soil to thrive, making it the perfect plant for those who tend to overwater.

• Pothos and Philodendron are traditional low-light favorites. New cultivars provide a fresh look to these indoor beauties.

• The name says it all: Cast Iron Plant is tough and tolerant of low light and benign neglect. Individual long, strappy leaves sprout from the ground to create a mass of greenery. This growth habit has made it a popular groundcover in milder climates. Variegated varieties with splashed leaves or striping can be difficult to find but add to its beauty.

• New varieties of Chinese Evergreen have found their way into many garden centers. Their green leaves may have silver or red highlights.

Low-light indoor plants allow you to add greenery where you once thought it was not possible. Their added beauty will help lift your spirits, reduce stress, and increase focus while improving your indoor air quality. o

GARDENnews

Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts • Meet the New Intern: Khloe Quill • Photo Sales and Reprint Permission • DIY: Metal Flower See more Washington Gardener blog posts at: WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com o

February-March Garden To-do List

New Plant Spotlight

Begonia Lunar Lights™ ‘Sterling Moon’ The Lunar Lights™ Series of begonias is made up of plants with large, palmate-shaped leaves in a wide array of patterns.

Beginning in May, sprays of delicate, bright-colored salmon-pink flowers rise above the foliage on strong stems and continue their performance until frost.

Perennial from Zone 7–9, these beauties produce generous clumps that increase in size over time. For those of you who live in colder regions, Lunar Lights™ Begonias also make magnificent container plants for the deck or patio.

The first in this new begonia series, ‘Sterling Moon’, which was bred and selected by Ozzie Johnson of Atlanta, GA, has puckered, forest-green leaves that are frosted with silver and mintgreen flecking, leaving an unforgettable memory of a moonlit stroll on a steamy summer evening.

Johnson’s breeding goal was to have at least Zone 7 hardy plants with attractive, textured leaves and strikingly colored, large flowers. An ideal selection to mix in a part-shade perennial border.

For more information, see http:// plantsnouveau.com. o

Photos courtesy of Plants Nouveau.

• Cut some branches (Forsythia, Quince, Bittersweet, Redbud, Willow, etc.) for forcing indoors.

• Put out suet for birds.

• Keep birdfeeders filled and provide a source of water.

• Check outside plants and trees for animal (deer) damage.

• Mist indoor plants and set up pebble trays to increase humidity.

• Rejuvenate Holly bushes and Boxwood with a hard pruning.

• Plan landscape design projects.

• Check evergreens for signs of desiccation.

• Start seeds of cool-season vegetables and flowers.

• Keep ice-melting chemicals away from garden beds. Use coarse sand instead.

• Prune any dead or diseased wood off trees and shrubs.

• Fertilize trees, shrubs, and evergreens.

• Prune roses.

• Begin tilling beds (when the earth is dry enough to work, but not muddy) and work in compost.

• Plant or transplant trees or shrubs, including berries, roses, and evergreens.

• Apply pre-emergent weed control such as corn gluten.

• Protect tender plants by covering them with some type of cloth material, if an unusually cold day/night is in the forecast. Be sure to uncover when it warms up.

• Weed.

• Trim ornamental grasses such as Liriope, Mondo, and Pampas.

• Divide overgrown or crowded perennials such as Daylilies and Shasta Daisies.

• Scan houseplants for insect activity.

• Dust house plants with a slightly damp cloth.

• Clear perennial beds of any dead plant parts and debris.

• Clean and organize the garden shed.

• Clean, sharpen, and oil tools, if not already done last fall.

• Walk your yard to check for heaving plants and bulbs, then place them back in the ground as needed. Cover with more mulch to prevent further heaving.

• Apply dormant oil spray to ornamentals and fruit trees before dormancy breaks.

• Check and tune up power equipment (mowers and trimmers).

• Build garden furniture.

• Spread new gravel on paths.

• Mulch bare areas.

• Design new beds and gardens.

• Pick up new gardening books and magazines for inspiration.

• Start seedlings indoors under grow lights. Some good choices to start early are Peppers, Artichokes, Onions, Beets, Turnips, Cabbage, Kale, and Leeks.

• Put up trellises and teepees for Peas and Beans to climb on.

• Direct-sow early, cool-season crops as soon as ground soil can be worked.

Good choices are Peas, Lettuces, Mustards, Onion sets, Kale, and Cabbages.

• Start or turn your compost pile.

• Do an annual soil test and amend soils as recommended.

• Check for snow damage. Gently brush off snow weight, if you must, but it’s better to let snow melt on its own. o FEBRUARY 2021

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PLANTprofile

Wintersweet

By Kathy Jentz

Fragrant Wintersweet or simply Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) is a pleasantly scented shrub that blooms in mid-winter through February. Its delicate flowers emerge along the stems before the foliage unfurls. The blooms are translucent and waxy. Ice and snow don’t faze them.

Wintersweet does best in full to part-sun. It prefers moist, but well-draining soils. It is drought-tolerant once established.

The shrub does not need fertilizing, although it appreciates a bit of shredded leaf mulch around its root zone in the late fall.

It puts out multi-stemmed growth in a rough vase shape from 6–12 feet tall and wide. It can get a bit leggy, so a hard pruning to rejuvenate it and remove the old stems is recommended after the bloom cycle is complete.

Wintersweet is originally from China, It does support pollinators, and birds will feast on its non-showy fruits. The shrub can take a few years until you see the first blossoms. To propagate it, take a softwood cutting or collect the seeds from those fruits. It may also self-seed. Note that the seedlings are often the straight species, which blooms earlier in the cold season. o Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener.

‘Luteus’

‘Grandiflorus’

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FEBRUARY 2021

TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS DC-Area Gardening Calendar ~ Upcoming Events Listing Classes and Webinars • Thursday, February 18, 4pm Flowers and Plants Introductions for the New Growing Season Interested in how new plants evolve and make it to the garden centers each spring? Follow the path: hybridization, environmental suitability, and test gardens. Then be introduced to the “Stars for Spring 2021!” Speaker: Kathy Jentz, Editor, Washington Gardener Magazine.

Fee: $10, Register at: https://www.paypal.com/ donate?hosted_button_ id=L4L7AZ6RG55QQ. Hosted by the National Capital Area Garden Clubs, District IV. The presentation will be via Zoom and available on demand for 10 days afterward.

• Friday, February 19, 9:30am GreenScapes Symposium Leveraging native plants to restore the environment. Keynote by Doug Tallamy.

Register at activemontgomery.org.

• Saturday, February 20, 9:30am 17th Annual EcoSavvy Symposium —Virtual Program Join in from the comfort of your own home or office. In this year’s symposium, “Integrating Storm Water Management in Landscape Design,” Dr. Laurie Fox, horticulture associate at Virginia Tech Hampton Roads Agricultural Research & Extension Center, and Christine Horner, water quality engineer for the Town of Vienna, will present innovative techniques to capture, store, and redirect rainwater on your property.

This program will be offered virtually with an emailed link. Fee: $26. Register online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/ parktakes (code ITG.QARB).

• Sunday, February 21, 2–3:30pm Roses in the Paintings of the Masters February is for lovers! This month, the Potomac Rose Society will be joined by fine artist and 30+ year veteran of the National Gallery of Art, Lisa Farrell, to learn all about roses as symbols of love. Free and open to the public.

To register and get the Zoom link, go to: https://www.potomacrose.org/ event-4084314.

• February 24–27 MOFFA x Rooting DC 2021 This year’s conference will merge two winter urban gardening conferences to present one incredible virtual event: Rooting DC and the Maryland Organic Food & Farming Association (MOFFA).

Presentations will take place over weeknights from February 24–26 and all day on February 27. Free. See details and register at RootingDC.org.

• Thursday, February 25, 12n Out of This World Design: The New Garden at Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum Guest speaker Patrick Cullina is an award-winning horticulturist, landscape designer, photographer, lecturer, and organizational consultant. Discover the new landscape he designed for Smithsonian’s National Museum of Air & Space. Free. Details and registration at https://gardens.si.edu.

• Thursday, February 25, 6:30pm Garden Book Club Meeting Discuss “A Gentle Plea for Chaos” with Washington Gardener Magazine’s Garden Book Club via Zoom. Order your copy now at our Amazon link: https:// amzn.to/2WOdS4m, then RSVP and see the event details at: https://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2020/12/ discuss-gentle-plea-for-chaos-with.html.

• Friday, February 26, 10–11:30am Spring Lawn Care Learn what you can do now to improve and manage your lawn to make it a more environmentally friendly, less resource-intensive part of your home garden. Presented by the Northern Virginia Master Gardeners. Free via Zoom.

Register at https://mgnv.org/events/.

• Saturday, March 6, 11:30am Online Q&A: Plant (Health)care for the Home Grower Calling all houseplant enthusiasts!

Have a plant you love, but it has some health issues? Have you tried to grow a certain plant in your home, but can’t quite get it to thrive? Join Chelsea McKinley, Plant Health Care Specialist, U.S. Botanic Garden, for this lively, one-hour Q&A where she’ll answer your

plant care questions. Held online. Free.

Pre-registration required at www.USBG. gov/OnlinePrograms.

• Saturday March 20, 9:30am–3pm 34th Annual Lahr Symposium The program will be virtual this year and includes presentations on the ecology and impact of invasive species, explaining how the entomological world impacts and reflects sustainability efforts in the urban landscape, and the many ways native plants and ecosystem-based design bring beauty and ecological benefits to the home garden and wider world. Hosted by the U.S. National Arboretum virtually. Registration required, $75 ($60 for FONA members). See www.usna.usda.gov.

Seed Exchanges Our in-person Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchanges will take place on Saturday, March 27, at Green Spring Gardens in Fairfax County, VA, and on Saturday, April 3, at Brookside Gardens in Montgomery County, MD. The event registration links will be posted in early March.

We expect our in-person events to have several changes for safety during the pandemic. First, there will only be advance registrations and none at the doors. Next, we may change the format to eliminate the speaking sessions and instead, schedule swapping groups in staggered shifts. Finally, because the events are later in the growing season, we will encourage swappers to bring not only seeds and plant cuttings, but started seedlings as well. These details will evolve as local COVID-19 rules evolve.

Event Listing Updates See updated event listings on the Washington Gardener discussion list.

Join by emailing WashingtonGardenersubscribe@googlegroups.com.

How to Submit Events To submit an event for this listing, email washingtongardenermagazine@gmail. com with “Event” in the subject line.

Our next deadline is March 5 for the March 2021 issue, for events taking place after March 15. o FEBRUARY 2021

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NEIGHBORnetwork

Alice Tangerini, Botanical Illustrator

Alice Tangerini is one of the Smithsonian’s acclaimed scientific illustrators, and has contributed to plant science for more than 48 years at the National Museum of Natural History. She has created hundreds of illustrations from more than 1,000 different plant species from all over the world.

Tell us about you and your background. Are you native to the DC region?

Yes, I am a native, born in Takoma Park, MD; living in Washington, DC, until I was two years old. Then my family moved to Kensington, MD, where I lived for 23 years. In public school, my favorite subject was always art. I would draw pictures in my notebooks and use friends’ pets as subjects for my sketches. After a couple of years at Montgomery Junior College, I transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University and graduated in 1972 with a B.F.A. degree.

Now, I have been living on Capitol Hill in DC since 1987, where I am two miles from my office at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).

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What started your interest in illustrating botanicals?

Although I was always interested in drawing nature subjects, my favorites for years were horses and dogs. At the suggestion of a neighbor, I applied for my first job as a summer contract illustrator working for a botanist at NMNH while I was attending Montgomery Junior College in Rockville, MD. For my job interview, I showed my portfolio of horse and dog drawings to the botanist, Dr. Smith, who asked if I had drawn any plants. I pointed to the grass under the horses’ hooves as an example and Dr. Smith just smiled and said, “I’ll give you a try,” and that is how my career began.

How do you choose the subjects that you illustrate?

My subjects while working in the Department of Botany are always chosen for me by the scientists. My work requests are for illustrations mainly for botanical journals and include drawing a new plant species, or drawing for a monograph (a study of species within a specific group), or illustrating a flora (plants from a specific geographic

region). The subject material can range from microscopic algae up to large trees. In our herbarium of 5 million pressed plants ,each plant or part of one must fit onto a 12 x 16 herbarium sheet, so I may only see parts of any specimen, depending on what the botanist collected.

What plant did you find to be the hardest to depict and why?

The most-difficult group of plants or the most-challenging are the Asteraceae (Composite) family. They have heads of tiny disk flowers which, in drying, are likely to fall out of the heads and scatter all over a work surface. They are difficult to reconstruct for an illustration because their three-dimensional appearance is erased in the pressing process. The other groups include the Euphorbiaceae, they also have very small male and female flowers with specific characters that may take several specimens to dissect. The other group is Poaceae (grasses), which have tiny reduced flowers in an inflorescence of sometimes hundreds. They require searching under a microscope for the best flower or seed to draw.

Tell us about some of your peers/predecessors that you admire.

When I first came to Botany, there were drawings by a previous contract illustrator, Florence Lambeth, whose intricate and delicate linework in her botanicals amazed me. I would try to copy her inked lines to teach myself the techniques of representing my plant subjects, using a variety of methods of inking to show structure and form. I was also introduced to the work of Frederick Walpole, whose framed artwork hung in some offices and in the Botany Library.

His ink lines were formed by using brushes stripped down to a few hairs, enabling him to show incredibly minute details of hairs and other structures on a plant. His drawing of a pinecone manifested his ability to imply dimension in a conical object with his brush technique.

What do you think about the future of botanical illustration as a career?

Traditional botanical illustration is currently not a burgeoning field for illustrators. The scientific community is experiencing a growing interest in the field

NEIGHBORnetwork the comment from one (she had worked at a garden center) that “I have never seen so many invasive species in such a small yard!”

What plants are your favorites?

I like the herbs that can overwinter—the savory, marjoram, oregano, and thyme, can weather some winter days and still be visibly growing.

Photo and illustration courtesy of Smithsonian Institute.

of molecular geonomics—the study of plants at the gene level. By using new lab techniques and programs designed to produce visible results for publications, the field is showing a new way to classify the plant kingdom. Botanical drawings of specimens are not required for these methods, and even my work projects are changing in that sense.

Floras make use of digital photographs in their publications and that is replacing the traditional black-and-white botanical drawings. The use of contract illustrators has dropped for these specific projects as digital methods for displaying these results are designed for use by general researchers.

I have advised some of my interns to look for work in nature centers, zoologi-

cal parks, and other areas serving a more public and general audience.

Do you garden for yourself?

My gardening is limited to an area in my small backyard, which is 15 x 35 feet, much of which is brick pathways. I do best growing herbs and tomato plants.

An experiment with a pumpkin squash resulted in my entire yard being covered by one plant.

What advice would you give to beginner gardeners in our area?

Start with small plants that are hardy.

Invite your botanically informed office peers to look at your garden and tell you what to remove and what is diseased beyond salvation. One amusing visit by botanists to my home elicited

What do you do when not working?

I love walking around the Capitol Hill neighborhood, taking stock of other people’s gardens and yards to see what they grow. Visiting the National Arboretum is very relaxing. The U.S. Botanical Gardens and the adjoining Bartholdi Gardens, when open, are another walkable area to explore.

I am also a member of professional organizations that sponsor activities and meetings that I can attend (although now virtually), including the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI), The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA), The Botanical Art Society of the National Capital Region (BASNCR), and the Botanical Society of Washington (BSW).

I also do some outside illustration, mostly for exhibits or other societies, that allow me to experiment with media that I do not use for my job.

Anything else you want to add or think would be of interest to our magazine readers about yourself or your work?

I would like to add that my artwork for NMNH is a combination of traditional pen and ink techniques combined with digital manipulation of the scanned ink drawing. As you may have noticed, much of the publication media relies on illustrations produced using graphic software, so I am one of several illustrators who are using both methods. My color work is now digital, although it usually begins with traditional sketches in ink or graphite.

How can our readers contact you and/ or see your work?

My work can be viewed on our Botany website at https://collections.nmnh. si.edu/search/botany/. Most of the work is the black-and-white line illustration. o This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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15th Annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners

PHOTOcontt

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15TH ANNUAL PHOTO CONTEST DETAILS

Here are the 21 winners in the Washington Gardener Magazine 15th Annual Photo Contest. More than 220 photos were submitted in this year’s contest from 25 entrants. This year, we added some additional Honorable Mention slots because our expert judge had a Herculean task in narrrowing the images down to the best of the best! It was great to see several first-time entrants place highly. Many of these photos come from the photographers’ own home gardens, while the majority of the rest of the images were taken at public gardens in our region.

Congratulations to the 2021 DC Garden Photo Contest winners and thank you to all who entered.

WHERE TO SEE THE PHOTOS AT THEIR FULL QUALITY Winning images will be displayed during the Washington Gardener Seed Exchanges and appear in a local photo exhibit from August 1–30 at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA. Should COVID-19 protocols permit it, everyone is invited to join us at the Opening Reception, from 2–3:30pm on Sunday, August 1.

THANK YOU TO OUR JUDGE Elizabeth Olson, certified photography judge with the Maryland Association of Agricultural Fairs & Shows (MAAFS).

THANK YOU TO OUR 2021 PRIZE SPONSORS • Capital Photography Center, LLC • Fiskars Tools Additional prizes supplied by Washington Gardener Magazine

WASHINGTON GARDENER

Grand Prize Winner (on the cover)

Janet Sifers “Raindrops on a Tulip” Location: Neighbor’s garden in Oak Hill, VA Close-up of a tulip petal. Taken using an iPhone 8 in natural light.

Janet is an amateur photographer with more than 20 years’ experience.

FEBRUARY 2021

PHOTOcontt

Images of insects, birds, frogs, domestic pets, wild animals, etc., in a private or public garden setting.

First Place

Lilian Cerdeira “Carolina Chickadee on Redbud” Location: Meadowside Nature Center, Rockville, MD A Carolina Chickadee rests on a flowering native Redbud Tree. Photo taken in mid-April using a Canon 7d Mark II, Sigma Contemporary lens 150600 mm, natural lighting, 1/500 sec. f/6.3 324 mm ISO 125. Lilian is an amateur photographer with 30+ years’ experience.

Second Place

Karin Melinda Reber “Black Beauty” Location: Kensington Park Library Literary Garden, Kensington, MD “This Black Swallowtail butterfly had just emerged from its chrysalis, which allowed me to take a close look at a creature that is usually too fast and fluttery to study in depth.

I was blown away by the detail and pattern of each individual scale on its papery wings.”

Taken with a Google Pixel 3 XL ƒ/1.8 1/385 4.44 mm ISO53 with a Moment 25 mm 10x Macro Lens. Karin is an amateur photographer with 10 years’ experience.

Third Place

Eva Lanyi “Togetherness” Location: Huntley Meadows Park, Alexandria, VA Green-winged teals during migration.

Taken with a Nikon D500 with 200500 mm lens. ISO 2000; 500 mm, f 9; 1/1600. Eva is an amateur photographer with eight years’ experience.

FEBRUARY 2021

15th Annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners

Garden Creatures Category

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15th Annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners

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Garden Vignettes Category Groupings of plants in beds or containers, unusual color or texture combinations, garden focal points, and still scenes.

First Place

Teresa K. Hughes “Wooden Clogs” Location: A private residence in Lewes, DE Wooden clogs under a window at a private residence serve as planters. Taken using a Nikon D810 f/16 55 mm 1/60 sec 125 ISO. Teresa is an amateur photographer with 12 years of experience.

Second Place

Claire Jones “Fall Grasses” Location: Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA Taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ300. Claire is an amateur photographer with many years of experience.

WASHINGTON GARDENER

Third Place

Georgette Grossman “The Resting Bench” Location: Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA One of the paths leading to flower beds at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. Taken using a Fuji X-T3 Fuji XF 18-135 mm lens f/8.0, 1/20 sec, ISO 200; tripod in natural lighting.

Georgette is an amateur photographer with 15 years’ experience.

FEBRUARY 2021

PHOTOcontt

Tight close-up or macro image of a single flower, plant parts, leaves, fruits, etc.

First Place

Leslie Landerkin “Leaning In” Location: Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens in Washington, DC Two lotus pods at the end of the season. One pod is leaning in toward the plant leaf. Taken using a Nikon D850 with a 70 mm-200 mm lens, 1/100 second at f4.5 in natural light in late August 2020. No filters. Leslie is an amateur photographer with seven years’ experience.

Second Place

Mike Whalen, Fairfax Station, VA “Red Dogwood Flowers“ Location: Photographer’s home garden in Fairfax Station, VA Taken in April. The Dogwood hybrid is called ‘Cherokee Chief’. The blue sky blended nicely with the red flowers in the background. Taken using a Sony A7rIII , 100-400 mm ISO 250; 256 mm; f/11; 1/400 sec. Mike is an amateur photographer with 14 years’ experience.

Third Place

Georgette Grossman “Pink Dahlia” Location: Dunn Loring, VA Close-up of a beautiful dahlia from the photographer’s husband’s garden. Taken using a Fuji X-T3 Zeiss Touit, 50 mm f/16, 1/5 sec, ISO 200; tripod in natural light. Georgette is an amateur photographer with 15 years’ experience.

FEBRUARY 2021

15th Annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners

Small Wonders Category

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15th Annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners

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Garden Views Category Beautiful, dramatic, or unusual perspectives of a garden landscape, including wide shots showing the setting.

First Place

Howard Clark “Sunday in the Park” Location: Children’s Lake in Boiling Springs, PA A sunny day at a lake with flower pots, trees, and geese. Taken using a Canon 24-105 mm lens. Howard is a professional photographer with 57 years’ experience.

Second Place

Janet Sifers “Snowy Path at Sunrise” Location: Franklin Pond near Oak Hill, VA Winter view at the pond. Taken using an iPhone 8, 1/500 sec at f/1.8, 3.99 mm, ISO 20. Janet is an amateur photographer with 10 years of experience.

Third Place

Teresa K. Hughes “The Bridge” Location: Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD Taken in early October using a Nikon D3000, f/6.3 20 mm 1/60 sec 200 ISO. Teresa is an amateur photographer with 12 years of experience.

WASHINGTON GARDENER

FEBRUARY 2021

PHOTOcontt

Jeanne Markowski “Japanese Maple Silhouette” Location: Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD An autumn scene. Taken using a Canon 6D Mark II, Canon lens EF 24-105 mm, morning daylight, 50 mm, f8.0. Jeanne is an amateur photographer with seven years’ experience.

Honorable Mention Garden Views

Bob Friedman “View from the Columns” Location: National Arboretum in Washington, DC Taken using a Fuji X-T4. Bob is an amateur photographer with 70 years’ experience.

Honorable Mention Garden Creatures

Karin Melinda Reber “Green-Eyed Girl” Location: Arlington, VA “I just adore this cat. We call her Free Solo because she is the most agile climber I have ever seen, and is often atop even the slimmest of tree branches. I caught this sweet green-eyed girl in one of her rare moments of rest on the ground, basking in the cool foliage of my neighbors front garden.” Taken with a Google Pixel 4 XL ƒ/1.73 1/335 4.38 mm ISO52. Karin is an amateur photographer with 10 years’ experience.

Honorable Mention Garden Creatures

Lilian Cerdeira “Dragonfly with Obedient Plant” Location: Patuxent Research Refuge, North Tract, Laurel, MD Taken in early September using a Canon 7d Mark II, Sigma Contemporary lens, 150-600 mm, natural lighting, 1/500 sec. f/5.6 361 mm ISO 250. Lilian is an amateur photographer with 30+ years’ experience.

FEBRUARY 2021

15th Annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners

Honorable Mention Garden Views

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15th Annual Washington Gardener Magazine Photo Contest Winners

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Honorable Mention Small Wonders

Kim Keller “Sunflower” Location: McKee Beshers Wildlife Management Area in Poolesville, MD A single sunflower casts morning dew caught in a spider web as it moves in the wind. Taken with a Canon EOS 800D, Tamron 18-400 mm lens, f. 6.3, 1/640 sec, ISO 800. Kim is an amateur photographer with 15 years’ experience.

Honorable Mention Small Wonders

Georgette Grossman “Afternoon Lunch” Location: Dunn Loring, VA A chive flower hosts a visiting Hoverfly. Taken using a Fuji X-T3 Zeiss Touit 50 mm f/2.8, 1/1400 sec, ISO 320; tripod in natural lighting.

Georgette is an amateur photographer with 15 years’ experience.

Honorable Mention Garden Vignettes

Suzy McIntire “Trumpet Your Entry” Location: Alexandria, VA Trumpet vine around a garden gate. Taken with a Fuji X-E3, XF18-55 mm F2.8-4. Suzy is an amateur photographer with five years’ experience.

WASHINGTON GARDENER

Honorable Mention Garden Vignettes

Suzy McIntire “A Springy Seat” Location: Lucketts, VA A garden bench planted with succulents. Taken with a Fuji X-E3, XF18-55 mm F2.8-4. Suzy is an amateur photographer with five years’ experience.

FEBRUARY 2021

GREENliving

ADVERTISINGindex

A Virtual Seed Swap Day

By Khloe Quill A day invented specifically to remedy the loneliness of the gardening community has found itself online this year and in spite of everything, the camaraderie of its in-person years transcended screens and once more brought together a community united in its selflessness and passion for growing.

Seed Swap Day, first organized by Kathy Jentz in 2006, marked its 15th year on Saturday, January 30. The day occurs annually on the final Saturday in January and exists to celebrate the coming of spring through the exchange of seeds to be planted in soon-to-thaw gardens.

The 2021 gathering was held online over Zoom and broadcast to Facebook Live, and the recording can be found on Washington Gardener‘s Youtube page at https://youtu.be/gAuxwndjpUU. The two-hour event hosted a plethora of guest speakers, from Master Gardeners to overseers of seed libraries, all of whom offered various ideas for celebrating Seed Swap Day during the pandemic.

Mary Milan described the organization of her own virtual seed swap in Ogden, Utah. Participants in the Ogden Seed Swap submit their names, desired seeds, and contact information, which Milan then enters into a spreadsheet. During their own virtual event, participants will have access to this sheet and can reach out to contacts whose seeds they’re after.

“All the swapping will be done by the people who list and the people who request,” she said.

Charlene Beach said the seed library in Idaho where she works is now doing curbside pickup for seeds in their collection. Beach hopes to have another seed swap day in the spring and include not only seeds, but seedlings as well.

Maureen Farmer from Connecticut is conducting her seed swap by mail, an innovative and honor-based system at a time when much of our interaction takes place digitally.

Jean Vose, from Maine, has moved her seed swap to the fall in the hopes circumstances for in-person gatherings may have changed by then.

Alternatives to typical close-quarters seed swaps that kept the intimate nature of such gatherings included hosting distanced outdoor events, scheduling smaller groups to come at specific times so no one group interacts with another, and even creating little “seed libraries” on the corner of your own street.

Of course, etiquette remains across platforms: Only take what you need, leave some for others, contribute in some way. It can be with books, tools, or anything else that will add to the day’s events. Luckily for any newbies out there, it’s pretty easy to get involved in the community.

“Gardeners are the most generous people on the planet,” Jentz said. This sentiment was echoed emphatically by the other speakers.

“Bring your seeds if you’ve got seeds.

If you don’t, come anyway and find out what it’s all about,” said Vose.

Midway through the event, Mike “The Seed Man” Lizotte joined the call to talk about the seed industry. Lizotte is part of American Meadows, one of the most-respected online retailers of seeds in North America. He and the other speakers offered great insights for those new to the scene and veteran gardeners alike, answering questions pulled from Facebook Live so those in attendance could seek advice in real time.

The event ended with a giveaway from American Meadows: a signed copy of Mini Meadows and a quarter-pound of Eastern wildflower seed mix. The winner was Monica Zhang.

For a comprehensive list of seed swaps this year, see SeedSwapDay. com. o Khloe Quill is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this semester with Washington Gardener. She is a native of Frederick, MD.

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BACK TO OUR ROOTS: LEVERAGING NATIVE PL ANTS TO RESTORE THE ENVIRONMENT FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2021 *LIVE ZOOM EVENT

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9:30 A .M. TO 4:00 P.M. ET

Years of rapid urbanization have fragmented natural habitats with manicured lawns and barren over-development leading to significant declines in biodiversity. How can you reverse this alarming trend? Join us for a fascinating day of innovative presentations that dig deep into how native plants can restore natural ecosystems in a range of landscapes, from backyards and public gardens to urban and commercial projects.

SEMINAR TOPICS Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard Doug Tallamy, Professor & Chair, Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware The Pollinator Victory Garden: Winning the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening Kim Eierman, Author & Founder, EcoBeneficial LLC Selecting & Sourcing Native Plants for Diverse Landscape Needs Claudio Vazquez, co-owner of Izel Plants Evidence-based Design in Landscape Architecture and Planning for a more Sustainable Future Emily McCoy, PLA, ASLA, SITES AP: Associate Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, North Carolina State University & Landscape Architect at Design Workshop

REGISTER ONLINE ActiveMONTGOMERY.org (Course #87621) or call 301-962-1470 STANDARD FEE: $55 per person *Registration includes link to watch recordings of each session after the event.

Silver Spring Civic Building 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring, MD BrooksideGreen.org | 301-962-1451 *This will be offered as a series of live online lectures using Zoom with audience Q&A incorporated into the program.

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WASHINGTON GARDENER

FEBRUARY 2021