Washington Gardener Magazine July 2021

JULY 2021 VOL. 16 NO. 5

WWW.WASHINGTONGARDENER.COM

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gardener

the magazine for gardening enthusiasts in the Mid-Atlantic region

Year of the Garden Bean Natural Pyrethrum vs.

Synthetic Pyrethrin

Washington Youth Garden Turns 50 The Height of Native Fashion: Seersucker Sedge Attracting Butterflies with Nectar Plants Vacation Care for Container Gardens

Carlyle House Historic Park Meet Carrie Engel of Valley View Farms

Fragrant Lilies

for the Summer Garden

DC-MD-VA Gardening Events Calendar Dealing with Tomato Hornworm Carolina Wrens

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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RESOURCESsourc

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

Online Marketplace for Native Plants

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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FEATURES and COLUMNS

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According to Audubon. org, the Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) usually “forages in pairs, actively exploring low tangles, foliage, bark of trunks and branches, and the ground.”

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Got a Garden Question?

Got a gardening question you need answered?

Send your questions to KathyJentz@gmail.com and use the subject line “Q&A.” Then look for your answered questions in upcoming issues.

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Remove lily flowers as soon as they wilt, so the plant does not waste energy on making seeds. However, wait until the late fall or early spring to cut back the dead flower stalks and pull off any leaves that have turned brown in late fall.

Garden beans are part of the legume family and are found around the world. They are a good source of fiber; antioxidants; and vitamins A, C, and K. Photo of the heirloom garden bean ‘Black Valentine’ is by Ferry-Morse for the Year of the Garden Bean National Garden Bureau.

BIRDwatch 21 Carolina Wren BOOKreviews 18-20 A Woman’s Garden, Cultural History of the Rose, Rebugging the Planet, Healthy Vegetable Garden DAYtrip 6 Carlyle House Historic Park EDIBLEharvest 14-15 Garden Beans GARDENbasics 20 Vacation Care for Container Gardens GOINGnative 17 Seersucker Sedge INSECTindex 22 Tomato Hornworm HORThappenings 12 Daylily Shows and Sales NEIGHBORnetwork 8-9 Carrie Engel, Valley View Farms NEWPLANTspotlight 11 Phlox Super Ka-Pow™ Fuchsia PLANTprofile 7 Lilies TIPStricks 10 Butterfly Nectar Plants, Natural Pyrethrum vs. Synthetic Pyrethrin

DEPARTMENTS

ADVERTISINGindex BLOGlinks EDITORletter GARDENcontest GARDENDCpodcasts LOCALevents MONTHLYtasklist NEXTissue READERreactions RESOURCESsources

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In our August issue: Sunflower Fields Horticultural Therapy and much more . . .

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Credits

EDITORletter

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 Jackie DiBartolomeo Amanda Cash Molly Cuddy Intern Cover price: $4.99 Back issues: $6.00 Subscription: $20.00

Your editor outside the Candy Kitchen at Rehoboth Beach, DE.

Staying Hydrated in the Summertime

I had my arm twisted a few weeks ago and joined a friend for a few days at the shore at a condo they had rented. It was right on the Rehoboth Beach, DE, boardwalk and the balcony directly faced the ocean. It was a great place to decompress for a few days, although I have to admit I was wondering about my container plantings and hoping everything was not fried to a crisp due to the unrelenting heat and lack of rain that week. The GardenBasics article by Melinda Myers on page 20 spells out several ways to ensure your plants don’t die while you are away.

For my many plants in pots, I contacted a member of the Silver Spring Timebank and redeemed some of my accumulated hours in exchange for her coming by a few times to water all the containers.

I also arranged with a fellow garden plot owner at my community garden to water my plot while I was away, if there was not enough rain during that period. In turn, I’ll be watering her plot while she travels at the end of summer.

Last month, we gave away the Hydro Wine watering system to a few lucky winners; those products are a great help in keeping larger containers watered, even when you are not out of town. Plus, it is fun to have the neighbors ask if you meant to leave those wine bottles inserted around your garden. ;-) My indoor plants were fine for the short period I was gone, but if I had been away any longer, I might have tried the old trick of putting them all in the shower together and filling the tub or base with a few inches of water.

This summer, keep your plants well-watered, but also remember to stay hydrated yourself while spending time in the garden!

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/gardendc/ • Washington Gardener is a womanowned business. We are proud to be members of: · GardenComm (GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators) · Green Montgomery · Green America Business Network Volume 16, Number 5 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 July 2021 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away a kit containing one 6-pack of Mosquito Dunks®, one bag of Mosquito Bits, 1 pint (concentrate) of Summit Year-Round Spray Oil, and one hose-end spray bottle of Summit Caterpillar & Webworm Control to one lucky winner.

To prevent mosquitoes from breeding in places where water collects (including ponds, bird baths, animal watering troughs, gutters, ditches, drainage pipes, and rain barrels), you can use a sustained-release mosquito control product such as Mosquito Dunks that contains BTI to kill mosquito larvae. BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) is a bacterium that kills mosquito larvae naturally before they can become disease-spreading adults.

To enter to win a 6-pack of Mosquito Dunks, bag of Mosquito Bits, pint (concentrate) of Summit Year-Round Spray Oil, and hose-end spray bottle of Summit Caterpillar & Webworm Control, send an email to WashingtonGardenerMagazine@gmail. com by 5:00pm on Saturday, July 31, with “Mosquito Bits-Dunks” 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 winners will be announced

by August 2. o

Your Ad Here

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.

Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR) is an easy program to participate in and really does not take any extra resources than what you may have in your garden. In normal times, about 35 million people wonder where their next meal will come from.

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.

That is all there is to it. Easy. Effective. Adaptable and Helpful.

READERreactions

Thoughts on Past Issues Thank you for featuring such a delightful review of my new book in the Washington Gardener June 2021 issue. I enjoyed reading your publication; the article on melons was interesting, gave me a totally new perspective, and I planted my melon seeds! Thought I had lost my chance. Wishing you a positive and productive season in your gardens.

All my best, ~ Susan Betz, Fresh Start Herbs I enjoyed the “Deer-Resistant Native Plants for the Northeast” article in the April 2021 issue. It has been a challenge growing plants outside of my fenced-in yard because of the deer. I will take any advice I can get on it and am going to take the advice of planting only plants that have fuzzy leaves around my mailbox this year. ~ Patty Bastianelli I so enjoyed looking at the photo contest winners in the February 2021 issue, especially Suzy McIntyre’s “A Springy Seat.” ~ Beth Py-Lieberman o

The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City Coming Soon!

By Kathy Jentz and Teresa Speight Published by Cool Springs Press/Quarto Homes Pre-order it today at: https://amzn.to/3yiLPKU JULY 2021

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DAYtrip

Carlyle House Historic Park

By Jackie DiBartolomeo

The Carlyle House, sitting right in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, is the perfect place for a staycation visit in the Washington, DC, area this summer.

This Georgian-style mansion and garden offer a glimpse back in time to what life was like for Scottish merchant and city founder John Carlyle, the builder and first owner of the house.

Listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. NOVA Parks acquired the house and grounds in 1970 and began a restoration project that lasted six years until the property was opened to the public, according to the NOVA Parks website.

Carlyle House is full of relics and replicas of the furniture, portraits, and clothing that would have been in the house during John Carlyle’s stay.

While the historic home is beautiful, Carlyle House has even more to offer.

Sitting in the back of the house is the Carlyle House garden, a small yet stunning ¾-acre area perfect for enjoying some shade from the sun, a picnic, or to just sit and relax. The garden is open even when the house itself is closed, providing a perfect time for a quiet visit.

The garden is designed in the 18thcentury style, featuring plant materials that would have been available to John 6

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Carlyle during his time at the house, according to the NOVA Parks website.

The garden is filled with benches, brick walkways, a cutting garden, and a gazebo.

Guided tours of the Carlyle House are available Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am–4pm, and Sundays from 12noon–4pm. o Jackie DiBartolomeo is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also a staff reporter with The Campus Trainer.

PLANTprofile

Lilies (Lilium sp.) are a perennial bulb that produce a dramatic flower on tall stems. There are many varieties of true lilies, from the Asiatic lily to the Longiflorum lily (aka Easter Lilies), Oriental lily, and all kinds of crosses between these three types. These include hybrids that are double, odorless, and pollen-free.

Most lilies are native to Asia and Europe, but three kinds of true lilies are native to the Northeastern United States: Wood Lily (Lilium philadelphicum), Canada Lily (Lilium canadense), and Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum).

Lilies are easy to grow and extremely rewarding. They make great cut flowers and combine well in garden beds with other perennial plants.

Plant lily bulbs as soon after you purchase them as possible in springtime for summer blooms. When you can’t plant your lily bulbs right away, store them in a cool, dark place such as the refrigerator. This will keep the shoots from emerging too soon.

Put the lily bulbs in the ground 6 inches deep and 12 inches apart. Place them gently into the soil without pressing on them, then cover the flower bulbs with soil. As soon as the summer bulbs have been planted, give them a thorough watering to encourage their roots to develop quickly.

Lilies also do well in containers as long as the pots are sufficiently deep and have good drainage. One benefit of growing lilies in pots is that they can be brought forward right when the flowers are about to open and then tucked away when out of bloom. Lilies in containers also require extra fertilizer and have to be watered frequently so they do not dry out.

After they flower, snip off the spent lily flowers, but leave most of the stems standing to allow the plants to collect energy and return for you year after year. o

Lilies

By Kathy Jentz

Kathy Jentz is the editor and founder of Washington Gardener.

JULY 2021

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NEIGHBORnwork

Carrie Engel Valley View Far�s

By Amanda Cash Carrie Engel is the retail greenhouse manager of Valley View Farms in Hunt Valley, Maryland. She is also a member of GardenComm, the association for garden communicators; a writer for the Valley Times; and a recurring featured guest on the “Sunday Gardener” for WBALTV. She received the 2020 Professional Achievement Award from the Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Greenhouse Association (MNGLA).

Tell us about you and your background.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up as the oldest of six kids in a very close-knit family. We moved around a lot when I was younger. We lived in Baltimore; Winter Park, FL; Bavaria, West Germany; and Tulsa, OK, before we settled in northern Baltimore County when I was 12. I attended Hereford High School. I had no early interest in horticulture. My passion was history and politics, until I got my first real job. I began work at Valley View Farms (VVF) while still in the 10th grade. I should say that it was horticulture that led me here, but it was the social atmosphere (boys and parties), making enough money to buy a car, and the fact that VVF was hiring when I turned 16.

What made you interested in horticulture in the first place?

Horticulture became important as I worked at Valley View. Punkey and Billy Foard spent hours with us, teaching us how to grow plants, everything you ever wanted to know about tomatoes, and how to provide good customer service. Smiling was important to Punkey; he would remind all of us that he was paying us to smile and work hard. I 8

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married young, and began working full-time at age 19. Valley View Farms had opened a satellite location in northwest Baltimore.

I worked springs there and learned about trees, shrubs, fertilizers, and other horticulture basics while working with wonderful, loyal customers.

What is a typical day like for you?

Many of our other managers, like me, have worked for decades at Valley View Farms.

I typically get to the store at 6:30am to help open up before our employees arrive.

Things changed a bit last year; our hours went from 7am–9pm to now 8am–7pm. I’ll walk through the greenhouse to see what orders we may need for the day. In the spring, our farm ships one to two trucks per day from Hydes, MD, to the store.

Other growers from around the area ship several times a week to keep our plant offerings fresh and healthy. Other department managers do the same, according to their needs. We spend the day watering and maintaining our plants, assisting gardeners with choices, sharing information, and generally providing customers with the products and services they have come to expect.

Tell us about some of your peers and predecessors whom you admire.

My training in horticulture was led by the two original owners of Valley View Farms.

Punkey and Billy loved to share their own knowledge and history with plants. Punkey attended college at Rutgers, Billy at Cornell.

Both men had degrees in agriculture, specializing in vegetable crops. Being newly employed in the Plant Department meant attending about 40 hours of classes, complete with tests, to be able to answer most

of the questions we’d get asked by customers. Billy often invited me to his vegetable garden to take photos and show me the methods he was using to get fantastic fruit production. I was able to share the information with my co-workers.

Others in the industry I’ve looked up to include Richard Simon of Bluemount Nursery; Martha Simon Pindale, an educator and professional gardener; Jim and Steve Hershfeld and Karen Sollett at Hillcrest Nursery; Susan Reimer, a writer at the Baltimore Sun; Marvin Miller, Chris Corwin, Jim Nau, and Anna Ball at Ball Seed; Kathy Miller and her family at Trail Nursery; and Vanessa Finney at MNLGA. My many co-workers over the years, including Peter Gilmore, John Miller, Jim Benner, Ken Ruhl, Tim McQuaid, Brian Brannan, Alan Thomson, Scott Carbone, Kathy Foard, and our store owner, Andy Foard, have allowed me continue learning and to put together learning opportunities for our customers.

I also learned from many people at the University of Maryland Extension; Jon Traunfeld, Dave Clemens, Wanda MacLachlan, Stanton Gill, and Russell Balge. And, last, but not least, two of my dearest friends whom I met through my job, Jan Gannon and Martha Meehan, who have inspired me with their enthusiasm and passion for plants. Jan is the embodiment of Mother Earth. She is a true steward of nature and her surroundings. Martha and her husband, Hugh, created a niche bonsai business that has prospered for more than four decades.

What is the most-fulfilling part of your profession?

The most-fulfilling part of my profession is aiding customers in their quest to create beautiful, functional spaces for gardens. I’m not a designer, but am a person who knows and loves plants. Now in my 50th year in garden center retailing, it’s the connection with people that has mattered. Assisting a retirement community with their gardens, helping a young couple with their first vegetable garden, seeing Mr. Bill’s dahlias winning blue ribbons at the Maryland State Fair, or giving a talk to a neighborhood group about gardening have been the experiences that I’ve loved the most.

Where do you see the horticultural industry in the next 10 years?

COVID-19 brought people and families together to garden. The exercise, fresh air, and lessons happened outside in the yard.

Those connections will help our industry going forward. The need to unplug and play in the dirt has brought tremendous benefits

NEIGHBORnwork to our society. The wild houseplant trend brought new folks to gardening as well.

Plants are being adopted by a whole new generation of people whom we have strived to reach for years. Online sales will continue to grow, but so will the need to walk through a garden center or public garden for inspiration and pure joy. It’s up to us to keep our public linked to the gardening world and show them that our industry is here to help them live healthy, fulfilling lives outside of their workspaces.

Do you like to garden for yourself? If so, what plants are your favorites to grow?

I enjoy gardening, but often kid around, saying that my garden will look better in the fall, because I just can’t get it all done during our busy spring seasons. Most of my gardening is done in containers, both inside and out. I grow a few vegetables, using Earthboxes. My front landscape is mostly shaded by larger oak and maple trees.

Ferns, hosta, and hellebores grow among oakleaf hydrangeas, osmanthus, and plum yews. About eight square planters line the front of my walk, growing trial plants from the National Gardening Association and annuals from our store. I love begonias, especially the I’conias from Dummen, and Bounce impatiens. I planned the landscape early on to provide greens and berries for winter and holiday decorating. Friends and family join in an almost-annual wreathmaking party in early December.

What else do you like to do?

I mentioned earlier that I have a large family. My five brothers and sisters and their spouses are near and dear to me, as are their children. We get together for birthdays, time at the beach, parties when my nieces or nephews are in town, and all sorts of other excuses to be together. My brother Charlie and I attend lots of Orioles games.

I enjoy road trips to anywhere, camping, spending time with my Alaskan malamute, and visiting gardens from Tucson to Maine.

I’ve been blessed to take “big” trips to Cape Town, South Africa; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Eastern Europe. In all cases, I was able to see beautiful, world-renowned gardens.

I love spending time with my friends and family; lucky for me, they have homes in Western Maryland, Southern Maryland, and here in Baltimore County, the Eastern Shore, and central PA. That’s a lot of daytripping!

Coastal Maine and the Canadian Maritimes are my favorite vacation destinations. I enjoy amateur photography, reading, playing bridge (thanks, Mom), puns, comedy, musicals, and just sitting and soaking in the scenery.

Can you describe what winning the 2020 Professional Achievement Award from the Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Greenhouse Association felt like and what personal meaning it has for you?

I was honored to receive the Professional Achievement Award. What a wonderful feeling it gave me! When I look at the previous recipients of the award, I am in awe.

Carville Akehurst, Ken Ruhl, Richard Simon, and so many of the mostly men who have preceded me are giants in Maryland’s horticulture community. I had gone to school with George Mayo, who was at every important industry meeting I had attended in the last few decades. Richard Simon had been the administrator of the Certified Professional Horticulturist test I had taken years ago. I was speechless…not a common occurrence. My family and close friends, co-workers, and Larry Hemming, president of the association, all gathered in our store greenhouse where I gleefully accepted the reward. What a great holiday gift!

The video that was put together for the event was especially moving. My sister Mary and MNLGA executive director Vanessa Finney joined forces in creating a beautiful tribute. Mary shared some of the words that many people had sent her. It was a humbling experience. I still haven’t thanked everyone for the award, but hope they all know how much it means to me.

Another person who helped me out was John Collins. Back in 1993, WBAL TV had come to Valley View Farms to do a few segments about spring and plants. That morphed into a two to three times a week appearance on the NBC affiliate. John, a meteorologist at the station, suggested we do a longer segment about gardening, which became “The Sunday Gardener.” I still appear every week for a live Q&A about gardening, but now we shoot individual programs for airing every week. Soon, we were established as gardening experts in our region. Valley View Farms built on that and created and produced 30-second commercials for many of our vendors to describe their products to gardening consumers. The on-air people at WBAL, from Liz O’Neill and Tony Pann in the very beginning, through Marilyn Getas, Dina Napoli, Lisa Robinson, and Theo Hayes, have all been very supportive. Currently, Ava Marie and Tony Pann partner with me on the Sunday Gardener since John’s retirement. Dan Joerres and his management team at WBAL have also worked with us over the years, and Don Horner has helped us through his direction through most of our time.

Through the years, I became Valley View Farms’ spokesperson, taking part in inter-

views on TV, radio, newspaper, and other media. I’m learning more about Zoom meetings, podcasts, YouTube, and lots of other ways to connect with people, especially as we navigate through COVID. Is there anything else about yourself that you want our readers to know?

I was lucky to be able to find a job at such a young age that has led to so many opportunities to meet people and make friends for life. Our industry has tremendous opportunities to grow and blossom in our workplaces. Most of my education and job growth has happened in Maryland and the ag industry. The MNLGA has several programs each year with tours and/or educational components. My favorite is Chesapeake Green, usually held in early February. The MANTS trade show, while not offering classes, is an education in and of itself as you walk down the aisles of this, one of America’s most-successful nursery shows. Vanessa Finney and her team deserve much of the credit for the success of both of these organizations. The University of Maryland works closely with MNLGA to provide many classes year-round to the industry. Maryland Master Gardeners are another offshoot of U of M Extension, educating gardeners in our area.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention The Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland.

The people in this group are amazing, having lifetimes of experiences that are so needed by a younger generation. I love these people; they are an aging group and would do well to have an influx of younger people to carry on their traditions and work in our communities.

GardenComm, formerly GWA, the Garden Writers Association, has also been important to my education. Thanks to the editor of this magazine, Kathy Jentz, our local region stays connected with one another for much-needed networking and communicating about our garden world. Cultivate ’21, an event from American Hort in Columbus, Ohio, is the one other event I try to attend annually, to check in with plant breeders, marketers, and other horticultural companies. A multi-track educational component is another excellent way to learn more.

My contact information is: carrie@valleyviewfarms.com carrieengel@comcast.net https://facebook.com/carrie.engel.1 www.valleyviewfarms.com. o Amanda Cash is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also interning at WBAL-TV11 in Baltimore, MD. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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TIPStricks

Where Does Natural Pyrethrum Come From?

Unless you enjoy getting bitten by mosquitoes, you’ve probably used insect repellent once or twice in your life.

While we use cans full of chemicals, flowers have their own natural way of preventing pests.

You may have heard of the common trick of planting chrysanthemums around your garden to deter pests.

Marigolds work, too. This is because these flowers are naturally are high in chemical compounds that insects don’t like.

A particular type of chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium, isn’t typically found in nurseries. Its flowers are very high in the natural compound pyrethrum. It can be used as both a natural pesticide on organic farms and an insect repellent for humans.

As such, it’s been called a “green pesticide” and researchers are looking at ways to make more of it.

The use of pyrethrum as an insecticide was a well-kept secret by ancient Persians, for the health of their crops, but its use is documented from around 400 BC. Japan was the leading producer of pyrethrum before World War II, and later, African countries began production.

Pyrethrum can repel insects like mosquitoes and ticks. It can be used in dog shampoos (if dosed just right), but not cat shampoos because it’s toxic to cats.

How can planting chrysanthemums around your garden protect it? Plants have glands, called trichomes, and some plants secrete a chemical compound from these glands, in this case, 10

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Natural Pyrethrum vs.

Synthetic Pyrethrin

Note that pyrethrum is the natural compound found in daisies, and Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium is the type of daisy that contains the most and is used commercially.

The compound can also be made in the lab and factories (referred to as synthetic). In this case, it is referred to as pyrethrin and often mixed with other chemicals to enhance their effects.

Permethrin is a synthetic compound based on the chemical structure of the natural pyrethrum. It is used to treat clothing, tents, and outdoor equipment, not skin.

Watch for these different spellings in the name when you make a purchase.

As always, read label directions before using any pesticide or bug spray.

This research was compiled by Susan Fisk, from research published in Crop Science, a journal of the Crop Science Society of America for the Sustainable, Secure Food blog at sustainable-securefood-blog.com. For more information, visit sciencesocieties.org. o

Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ photo credit: iVerde.com.

Chrysanthemums contain a natural insect repellent called pyrethrum. Researchers are studying ways to increase production of the flowerheads, which contain the most pyrethrum. Credit: Morguefile.

pyrethrum. It is not the most-pleasant scent.

In the case of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium, the highest concentration of pyrethrum is in its flowers, which are the focus of the harvest. Growers harvest the flowers at specific stages and dry the flowers. They then grind the flowers and extract the pyrethrum. From there, different products can be made, such as powders and liquids.

In its natural state, Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium doesn’t flower until its second year of growth. Researchers at the University of Minnesota recently published a paper about the work to breed a new type of pyrethrum that can flower in its first year. This would greatly increase the yield for growers.

They were also looking for varieties that grow more flowers and less of the leaves and stalks, which don’t contain as much pyrethrum. After their initial research using seeds collected from various sources, they will continue their studies and breeding in hopes of create a higher-yielding, first-year flower producer that makes more natural pyrethrum.

Attracting Butterflies with Nectar Plants

Nectar plants serve as magnets for butterflies. Nectar is the sweet, syrupy liquid produced by the nectary glands in flowers. Butterflies simply can’t resist it, and while a butterfly flutters happily from flower to flower, it also pollinates the flowers in your garden. The quantity of nectar in a flower varies from one plant species to another and even among varieties or cultivars of a single species.

Many species of summer-flowering perennials are good sources of nectar. These include plants like Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Purpletop Vervain (Verbena bonariensis), and Giant Hyssop (Agastache).

In some flowers, you can actually see the nectar, either in the center of the flower or on its outer surface. It may look like water, but touching it reveals its stickiness. In addition to its sugars, nectar also contains proteins and vitamins that most female butterflies need to produce their eggs. Many nectar plants that attract butterflies will also attract bumblebees and other bees.

Butterflies, however, have one advantage over the bees: a long proboscis that allows them to reach the nectar in tubular flowers that many bees and bumblebees can’t reach as well with their shorter tongues.

For more information about perennial plants that make good nectar sources, visit www.perennialpower.eu. o

GARDENnews

Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts • Lavender Simple Syrup Used Two Ways • Zinnia Plant Profile • Black-eyed Susan Cocktail See more Washington Gardener blog posts at: WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com o

July–August Garden To-Do List New Plant Spotlight

Photo courtesy of www.darwinperennials.com.

Phlox paniculata Super Ka-Pow™ Fuchsia Scientific Name: Phlox paniculata Common Name: Garden Phlox Hardiness Zone: 4b–9a Hardiness Degree: -30°F (-34°C) Blooming Season: Late spring, summer, late summer Plant Habit: Upright Characteristics: Attracts bees, attracts butterflies, deer-resistant, rabbit-resistant, low-maintenance, frost-tolerant Water: Water when the plant shows signs of wilting.

Fertilizer: Once a month with a garden-flower fertilizer.

Spacing: 18–20" (46–51cm) Height: 18–20" (46–51cm) Width: 16–18" (41–46cm) Exposure: Full sun The excellent branching characteristics of this Phlox series ensure an abundance of flowers throughout the Summer. Plant where they receive sun most of the day and good air movement.

The robust Phlox paniculata series features super-sized blooms, a supersized habit, and better branching than other leading paniculata series.

Others in the series include ‘Blue’, a pale pink with dark-pink center; ‘Coral’, a dark-peach flower; ‘Lavender’, a vibrant purple; ‘Pink’, with striking pink blooms; ‘Soft Pink’, a clear, soft pink color; and, ‘White’, a white flower with a blush-pink eye.

This series features vibrant colors, winter hardiness, and powdery mildew resistance.

For more information, see www. darwinperennials.com. o

• The heat of summer is here. Time to start doing chores during early morning or evening. Take a break during the hottest parts of the day.

• Prune Wisteria.

• If your pond water gets low from prolonged drought, top it off with tap water and add a dechlorinator according to package instructions.

• Cut back spent stalks on common daylilies.

• Pinch back any annuals that may be growing leggy.

• Divide and cut back Bearded Iris.

• Check your pond pump for any debris—clean it out every few weeks.

• Weed.

• Cut off bottom, yellowed foliage on tomato plants.

• Stake and tie up any tall-growing perennials, such as phlox or delphiniums.

• Wash out birdbaths weekly with diluted bleach solution.

• Water thoroughly, especially if you receive no rain for more than seven days.

• Take cuttings from azaleas, boxwoods, and camellias to start new plants.

• Check your local garden center for mid-summer bargains.

• Hand-pick Japanese Beetles or shake them off over a bucket of dishwater.

Early morning is a good time to catch them, while they are still drowsy.

• Re-pot the houseplants you’ve moved outdoors for the summer.

• Pick blueberries at a local pick-your-own farm or visit a local farmer’s market.

• Pinch back any straying strawberry runners.

• Deadhead perennials for a second flush of blooms later this summer.

• Thin out small trees and cut off any suckering branches growing from the bottom below the root flare.

• Inspect your garden for powdery mildew. If seen, prune back perennials to create needed circulation.

• Annuals are now hitting their peak. Keep them well-watered and add a little liquid fertilizer every few weeks to keep them going through September.

• Check your plants at night with a flashlight for any night-feeding insects like slugs.

• If you find slug damage, set out beer traps or Sluggo pellets.

• Pinch back mums so they grow bushier and won’t flower until autumn.

• Hold off on planting new trees and shrubs until the summer heat has passed.

• Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent insect entry into your home.

• Harvest regularly from your vegetable garden to prevent rot and waste.

• Put up a hammock or garden bench for enjoying your views.

• Turn compost pile.

• Check out gardening books from your local library to read on vacation.

• Check for any stagnant-water mosquito breeding grounds, especially your gutters. Dump out any water that sits stagnant for more than three days.

• Add Mosquito Dunks to any standing water in your yard, such as birdbaths, downspouts, plant saucers, and gutters.

• Gather roses to enjoy indoors—be sure to make the cut just above a five-leaf unit.

• Harvest onions when tops die back.

• Sow seeds of fall crops such as broccoli, turnips, cauliflower, etc., in late July. o JULY 2021

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HORThaenings

Daylily Exhibition at Meadowlark Gardens

By Jackie DiBartolomeo

On Saturday, June 26, the Northern Virginia Daylily Society held an exhibition and competition at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA. Since 2006, Meadowlark has hosted the competition, showing off dozens of daylilies for the public to vote on.

“It’s a way to see hundreds of daylily blooms all in one place and to see what the variety in the blooms can be,” said Janice Kennedy, a member of the Northern Virginia Daylily Society. Kennedy took home first place for her daylily called ‘Stop the Car’.

More than 120 votes were cast for the daylilies on display. It was a great turnout, especially since the event was not held in the Meadowlark Visitor’s Center the previous year, Kennedy said.

Out of the 200 daylilies on display, no two were completely alike. The entries included spider, double, and self daylilies. (In a self daylily, the petals and sepals are all the same shade of one color.)

The daylilies also ranged from miniatures to extra-large ones, which can be over 9 inches in diameter, said Kathleen Schloeder, Region 3 director of the Northern Virginia Daylily Society. Schloeder placed second for her daylily called ‘Ruby Spider’.

Meadowlark hopes to hold similar events in the future as things return to normalcy, said Jeff Hill, visitor service specialist at Meadowlark.

“It’s great of Meadowlark to allow us to hold it here because whenever we can do an event at a botanical garden, we get a lot of people who are interested in plants, and therefore, we can educate them about the daylily,” Schloeder said. o

Daylily Show at Brookside Gardens

By Molly Cuddy

The National Capital Daylily Club hosted their Daylily Exhibition at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, on Sunday, June 27.

Anyone visiting Brookside on the day of the show could come into the visitor center, view the entries, and vote on 12

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their favorite daylilies. Participants in voting could choose up to four of their favorite flowers. There were rows and rows of lilies to look at, with whimsical names such as ‘Mystic Pizza’ or ‘Baby Lemonade’.

There were 176 flowers entered and 111 of them received votes from the public, according to Kathleen Schloeder, director of Region 3 of the Daylily Society.

Schloeder took home first place with her ‘Ruby Spider’ lily, which received 52 votes.

‘Magnify the Lord’, grown by Carol and Gregg Savard, received second place.

The Savards have been growing lilies since 2000 and have grown more than 350 different varieties.

Juliet Blackford got third place for her daylily, ‘Wild Cherry Wine.’ Chris von Kohn received fourth place for ‘Dearest Mahogany’.

More than 100 visitors at Brookside looked at the daylilies and cast their votes, including Alison Miller, who is local to the area and visits Brookside with her family often. When she saw the sign for the exhibition, she decided to stop in. “The aroma actually brought us into the room.”

She was in awe of all the varieties of daylilies presented. “I don’t see how you can pick one winner… or even four!” o

Temporary Sculpture Exhibit at Ladew Gardens

By Amanda Cash

With summer officially here, there is no better place to spend the weekend than at Ladew Topiary Gardens in Harford County, MD. The garden encom-

passes 22 acres of award-winning gardens, a few “houses” to visit, and more than 100 topiaries. The gardens were designed and created by Harvey S. Ladew. Ladew Gardens were also named “One of the Top 5 Gardens in North America” by the Garden Club of America.

The plethora of gardens for visitors includes the Pink Garden, Keyhole Garden, Cottage Garden, Iris Garden, and many more.

Some iconic features of the gardens are the Great Bowl and the Hunt Scene at the main entrance.There is also the Manor House and Butterfly House for visitors to enjoy. The historic Manor House harbors Ladew’s “English antiques” and “equestrian-themed art” from the 18th century, according to Ladew’s website. The Butterfly House opened in 2014 and provides an indepth look at the life of a butterfly.

As Ladew celebrates their 50th year as a public garden, they have installed several beautiful bronze statues throughout the property that are available for purchase. The 21 statues were created by sculptor J. Clayton Bright and artist Anne Blackwell Thompson. The statues range from a dog kicking an imaginary soccer ball to a sneaky fox named Justin. The statues will remain in the gardens throughout the 2021 season.

Aside from strolling the gardens, there is also a mile-long nature walk. The Ladew Cafe is currently closed, but the Ladew Gift Shop is open to visitors.

For more information about the statues at Ladew, visit www.jclaytonbrightstudio.com. For information about Ladew, go to ladewgardens.com. o

TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS Classes, Events, and Plant Shows/Sales • Throughout July 2021 2021 Lotus & Water Lily Festival Explore virtual and live events as part of the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens annual festival. See https://www.nps. gov/keaq/planyourvisit/lotus-andwater-lily-festival.htm.

• Thursday, July 22, 12noon Containers for Pollinators: Summer to Fall Webinar Join Peg Bier, Merrifield Plant and Design Specialist, as she covers great plants that can be used in containers to welcome birds, bees, and butterflies to your deck or patio. She will discuss plants that will bloom into late fall, as well as methods to keep your plants looking fresh and bright until we are done using our outdoor space. Free.

Register at https://www.merrifieldgardencenter.com/online-classes/.

• Saturday, July 24, 10–11:30am Garden Tour and Ice Cream Tour the vibrant summer gardens at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA, with a Master Gardener docent. Finish at the Historic House lawn to enjoy delicious ices, served with toppings and garnishes. Fee: $15 per person.

Register online at www.fairfaxcounty. gov/parks/parktakes (code I7Q.APUT for 6/26; code I7Q.W9O0 for 7/24) or call 703-642-5173.

• Wednesday, July 28, 2pm Weeding in the Summer, Seeding for the Fall This webinar, hosted by Green America, will focus on mid-summer gardening: tending to the weeds without harmful chemicals and a second planting season to harvest crunchy veggies like broccoli and hearty kale later in the fall. Free. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/6616256690587/WN_ 4gT0EsgaQI2b-dyRqUngyw.

• Saturday, July 31, 11am Daylily Sale and Auction Hosted by the Free State Daylily Society. Held at McLean’s Nursery, 9010 Satyr Hill Road, Baltimore, MD. Details at www.freestatedaylilysociety.com.

• Sunday, August 1, 2–3:30pm 15th Annual Washington Gardener Photo Contest Show All 21 stunning winning photos in the 2021 Washington Gardener Garden Photo Contest were taken in DC-area gardens. Both inspirational and educational, this show represents the best of garden photography in the greater DC metropolitan region. The photo show reception is in the Meadowlark Visitor Center’s lobby at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA. The opening reception is open to the public and free to attend. You may also come by and view the photos any time during the normal Visitor Center hours (10am–7pm daily). The photo show runs through August 30.

and recommendations from the Office of the Mayor and the CDC. Details posted at https://tudorplace.org/support/spring-garden-party/.

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 August 5 for the August 2021 issue, for events taking place after August 15. o

• Thursday, August 5, 12noon Tantalizing Tomatoes (Online Cooking Demo) August and September are the time to enjoy tomatoes in the Mid-Atlantic.

Make the best of them during this week’s online cooking demonstration that highlights a new recipe from Danielle Cook, MS, nutritionist, and a visit to the garden of Adrienne Cook, gardening and cooking writer, where she’ll talk growing and harvesting tomatoes.

Free, no pre-registration required. See: https://www.usbg.gov/programs

Looking Ahead • Saturday, September 11, 10am–3pm and Sunday, September 12, 10am– 1pm FOBG Fall Plant Sale 2021 Select from a variety of perennials, shrubs, and trees, including many native plants. Proceeds benefit Brookside Gardens. Friends of Brookside Gardens (FOBG) members get a 10% discount and exclusive early admission. Rain or shine. Held at Brookside Gardens Visitor Center, Wheaton, MD. For full details, visit www. friendsofbrooksidegardens.org.

• Wednesday, September 22, 5:30– 8:30pm Tudor Place 29th Annual Garden Party Traditionally held on the last Wednesday in May, this year’s gala is scheduled for September due to health guidelines

GardenDC Podcast

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. The latest episodes include interviews with experts in water gardening, hydrangeas, peonies, and daylilies.

Become a listener-supporter today for as little as $0.99 per month! See https://anchor.fm/gardendc/support.

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

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EDIBLEharvt

There are many species of beans in cultivation around the world, yet it is the common garden bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, that takes on celebrity status as the National Garden Bureau’s vegetable focus for 2021.

One of the earliest cultivated plants, garden beans can trace their beginnings to Central and South America.

Vining or climbing beans were an original member of the “Three-Sisters”—a companion planting of the first domesticated crops of maize, winter squash, and climbing beans. These became the three main agricultural crops used for trade and food by Native North Americans.

Green beans were once referred to as string beans due to their long fibrous thread along the pod seams. The first stringless green bean was developed in 1894 by Calvin Keeney, who later became known as “Father of the stringless bean.” Breeders continue to breed this stringless trait into modern genetics. Other desirable traits include darkgreen succulent pods, good bean flavor, concentrated fruit set, stress tolerance, and disease resistance.

Basic Types of Garden Beans

Bean Varieties to Try

The common garden bean is anything but common! Green beans or “snap” beans, as they are also referred to, 14

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come in a variety of flavors; pod shapes; sizes; and a colorful palette including shades of green, purple, yellow, and speckled bicolors.

Bush beans are the workhorse of the garden and the mainstay of the kitchen.

Bush beans are compact and fit well into both small garden patches and patio containers fitted with cages Pole beans with their vining habits can be trained up poles, trellises, netting, or supportive structures such as a teepee. With proper support, pole beans can also be grown in containers.

Filet beans or Haricots Vert (French green beans) are distinguished by elegant, ultra-slim pods. Due to their delicate appearance, filet beans are gaining in popularity with foodies and chefs. Filet beans come in both bush and pole bean types.

Dried or shelling beans are grown for their edible seeds rather than edible pods. Pinto beans, kidney beans, and black beans fall into this category.

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Pole Beans • Seychelles: 7- to 9-foot vines produce multiple crops of 5–6" long stringless

pods with excellent flavor. Fast-growing and early-to-produce crisp, delicious pods. 2017 All-America Selections (AAS) Winner.

• Kentucky Blue: produces 6–8" dark green pods on 6-foot vines with outstanding ‘Blue Lake’ flavor. Can be harvested all season long. 1991 AAS Winner.

Bush Beans • Mascotte: a gourmet compact variety perfect for today’s small space gardens.

Produces long, slender pods that stay above the foliage for easy harvest.

2014 AAS Winner.

• Desperado: Heat and stress tolerance makes this an easy to grow and high yielder of long, straight, 5" dark-green pods.

Specialty Beans • Roma II: a Romano or Italian flat bean that produces an abundance of wide, flat, 5" long pods with a distinctive rich, intense, beany flavor. Bush type habit.

• Amethyst Purple: a French filet bush bean that produces beautiful violetpurple, long, slender stringless pods on compact plants suitable for containers and raised beds.

Bean ‘Valentino’ from Seminis. Year of the Garden Bean—National Garden Bureau.

Year of the Garden Bean

EDIBLEharvt • Gold Rush: the gold standard for yellow wax beans, it produces clusters of straight 5–6" long yellow pods. Pods hold well on the bush and are versatile in the kitchen.

Bean Growing Tips

• Beans are warm-weather vegetables and best planted after soil temperatures reach 70°F. • Avoid sowing too early in the season.

Cool wet soils can lead to rot.

• Beans thrive with at least eight hours of daily sun, moderate fertility, and welldrained soil.

• Beans have shallow roots; weed carefully to prevent damage to the root system.

• Mulch the soil around the bean plant; consistent moisture results in the highest quality harvests.

• Quick to mature, harvests can begin 50–60 days after sowing.

• Bush beans typically grow 12 to 24 inches tall and produce harvests for about three weeks.

• Succession sowing of bush beans every two to three weeks will produce delicious beans all season.

• Pole beans have a long harvest season, generally lasting about six to eight weeks.

• Harvest frequently to encourage pod production.

• Pole beans can quickly grow a lush privacy wall around porches or patios.

• Create a living fort or teepee with pole beans for a fun play space.

• Yellow wax beans lack chlorophyll and will retain their beautiful golden color when cooked.

• Purple beans contain anthocyanins (the purple pigment) that disappear when beans are cooked.

boiled, stir-fried, grilled, or baked. For the best eating experience, cooked green beans should still have a crisp texture and an appetizing bright-green color.

Green beans pair well with a variety of herbs, spices, and flavors. Parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme, a splash of lemon juice, or a pat of butter are popular additions to bean dishes. You can’t go wrong with the simple addition of garlic and onions. Some people swear that green beans cry out for bacon bits or a dollop of bacon grease added to the cooking pot.

Green beans are bred for eating fresh or processing/preserving. Some varieties are well-suited for both. Processed green beans are better able to retain their beautiful color and texture for canning, pickling, and freezing. If you look forward to giving jars of pickled green beans, a processing green bean will yield the best results. o This garden bean article, images, graphics, and fact sheet are provided as an educational service of the National Garden Bureau. See https://ngb.org/year-of-the-garden-bean/ for more information.

Bean ‘Mascotte’ from All America Selections and National Garden Bureau.

Bean Harvesting Tips

A good indication of when to harvest is to reference the days to maturity for the specific variety. Pick green beans when pods are young and tender, just before the seeds begin to swell. Beans will “snap” when you bend and break them.

If they are immature, they won’t snap.

Fresh, unwashed green beans should remain fresh for up to a week when stored in a reusable container or plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Versatile in culinary preparation, garden beans can be eaten raw, steamed, JULY 2021

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LOCALnews

Washington Youth Garden Celebrates 50 Years

By Molly Cuddy

The Washington Youth Garden (WYG) held their 50th anniversary celebration over Zoom on June 23.

The youth garden is a project of the Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) in which children learn about gardening, horticulture, and the environment. They host several activities for children of all ages, including their Green Ambassadors program, which is an internship for high school students.

The garden is on the grounds of the U.S. National Arboretum and is open to visitors as long as you follow a few rules, such as staying on the path and getting permission before picking any produce. WYG includes many different types of plants and produce. They use this produce for their programs, and also donate it to the Capital Area Food Bank.

There are sunflowers, honey bee hives, lots of vegetables and fruits, and even a sensory garden, where children can feel types of textured plants and even smell fragrant ones like peppermint.

In the anniversary presentation, WYG staff highlighted the community work they have done over the past 50 years, and how things have changed—and how they will continue to change in the future.

Brianne Studer, who is FONA’s director of programs and has worked there 16

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for the past four years, spoke about several accomplishments of the WYG. Her in-depth presentation focused on the important work the garden has done, and continues to do, for DC-area children.

WYG opened in 1971 as part of the Washington Youth Garden Council, as an initiative to teach children more about horticulture.

“Of the 30-some youth gardens that were started in the 1970s as part of the Washington Youth Garden Council, WYG is one of four that remains a garden,” said Studer.

In upcoming years, they plan to continue and expand their school garden support programs, including Science Program Reaching OUT (SPROUT) field trips, which invite schoolchildren from the DC-area to their garden, and summer programs, in which educators can learn the ins and outs of keeping up a school garden.

They also are striving to increase and improve food access. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, WYG knew how important it was to help the community get more fresh, healthy food. In past years, they had donated about 1,000 pounds of food per year. In 2020 alone, they distributed 4,000 pounds of food.

They plan to continue using this model of growing so DC communities continue to receive fresh, local produce.

To accomplish this goal more easily, WYG is also thinking about a redesign of their garden. “What we’re hoping to do is set up a plan now that helps set us up for success for the next 50 years,” Studer said.

Some of the focus areas for this redesign are new fences, more signs to describe plants, extra self-guided activities, and more.

The garden has affected many children, and even adults, throughout its 50 years. Participants from years and years ago still talk about their positive experiences.

“We’re still seeing ripples of the impact of the garden from the ’70s,” Studer said, “And it’s really exciting to think about the ripples of impact that we will see from the work we’ve been doing in the last 20 years, and that we will continue to see in the future.”

If you have a story about how the WYG has benefited or affected you, you can share your story at https://www. fona.org/wyg50/. o Molly Cuddy is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also a campus tour guide and will be a teaching assistant for a professional writing class next semester.

GOINGnative

Fashion Meets Gardening:

Seersucker Sedge

By Barry Glick

You can’t imagine how devastated I was upon learning that as of June 27, 2012, “Seersucker Thursday” in the United States Senate was to be discontinued.

And very soon overjoyed to learn that it was reinstated due to popular demand.

Whew!

If you’re not familiar with the fabric known as seersucker, I’ll share a little background with you. Seersucker is a cotton fabric that was developed during the British Colonial period in their warm-weather colonies like British India. It is woven to create a wrinkly, puckered effect that consequently keeps most of the fabric away from the skin, thus facilitating heat dissipation.

The most common pattern is a blueand-white vertical stripe.

Now, I have a feeling that with the preceding preamble, you may be under the impression that you’ve accidentally opened up a fashion magazine rather than a gardening publication? Bear with me: That brief foray into the world of fabric is about to attain some relevance momentarily; actually, in the next paragraph.

Carex plantaginea is definitely my favorite sedge. A sedge is a grass-like plant, but is not a true grass or member

of the Poaceae (grass) family. There are many native grass-like plants and they’re usually separated into three categories: grasses, rushes, and sedges.

There’s even a little rhyme to help you identify which category a plant falls into: Sedges have edges Rushes are round.

Grasses are hollow.

What have you found?

While many species of sedge are difficult to identify, Carex plantaginea is distinctly easy because it’s the widest of all the sedges and has unique “puckered” foliage similar to the texture of, yes, you guessed it—seersucker! In fact, the common name for Carex plantaginea is “Seersucker Sedge.” Here in West Virginia, we have well over 100 species of Carex. Many of them have great garden potential and I’ve been trialing and evaluating several species for a few years now.

This remarkable and useful plant takes up its residence in almost every state east of the Mississippi River and almost every province in Canada. It typically grows in moist, rich soil in deep shade to dappled sunlight. In a home garden setting, it can adapt to drier soils almost as well. Leaves attain widths of

1 inch and wider, and an average plant takes on a round form of about 12 inches in diameter.

I’ve found Carex plantaginea to be a versatile native substitute for the aggressive and overused Asian Liriope and Ophiopogon (lilyturf).

The caterpillars of several woodland butterflies feed on the foliage without causing any visible damage. The seeds are an excellent food source for woodland birds, including the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).

Carex plantaginea provides a bold, textural accent for shade gardens. Its striking, glossy, lime-green, almost chartreuse color brightens even the darkest shade. I mass them as groundcover around trees and stumps, and as a border along garden paths. They’re extremely effective in providing erosion control on moderate to steep banks and roadsides. Deer don’t seem to pay any attention to them during the growing season, but are kind enough to clean up the old foliage for you during the winter.

You’d be hard-pressed to find another plant with all these virtues and no drawbacks to play with in your garden.o Barry Glick, a transplanted Philadelphian, has been residing in Greenbrier County, WV, since 1972. His mountaintop garden and nursery is a mecca for gardeners from virtually every country in the world. He writes and lectures extensively about native plants and Hellebores, his two main specialties, and welcomes visitors with advance notice.

He can be reached at barry@sunfarm.com, www.sunfarm.com, or 304.497.2208..

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BOOKreviews

A Woman’s Garden: Grow Beautiful Plants and Make Useful Things Author: Tanya Anderson Publisher: Cool Springs Press/Quarto List Price: $24.99 Order Link: https://amzn.to/3ii5eFu Reviewer: Stacey Evers Isle of Man gardener, beekeeper, and Lovely Greens blogger Tanya Anderson starts A Woman’s Garden with the premise that women often feel “boxed in” and turn to growing plants for wellbeing. In doing so, Anderson says, they are responding creatively, relevantly, and resoundingly to the loss of plant diversity.

The type of garden that women immerse themselves in varies widely, depending on the gardener’s individual space and needs. But whether it’s “on a rooftop or in a suburban backyard, each of us can make gardening choices that support our values,” Anderson says.

The book introduces readers to eight gardeners and devotes 20–25 pages to their individual gardens: a kitchen garden, edible flowers, culinary herbs, plants for skin care, herbal medicine, herbs for the home, natural plant dyes, and a crafty garden.

Four, including Anderson’s own (skin care), are in the UK. The others are in the USA, Germany, and Canada. Most useful to Washington Gardener readers, given plant requirements in different climates, is the “herbs for the home” garden in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Gardener Ashlie Thomas shares her list of most-useful plants for making home-cleaning and laundry 18

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products, insecticide, and scented bouquets.

The book is chock-full of large, colorful photographs and easy-to-read tables that list preferred plants for each type of garden, as well as descriptions of their useful characteristics. Several projects are also featured, including a pallet strawberry planter, floral ice cubes, herbal bath fizzies, cold-sore balm, a kitchen spray, and pressed flower candles.

Anderson and her seven fellow gardeners provide a light, breezy look at a variety of gardens that will appeal to a gardener seeking to shake things up or wanting to learn more about a specific plant use. Also useful is the website URL or Instagram handle of each gardener, so readers can seamlessly go from their favorite garden in the book to following that plot in real time online.

A Woman’s Garden isn’t a gardening guide, and Anderson doesn’t intend for it to be one. In the introduction, she asks readers to consider it “more of an introduction to the possibilities of plants.” She wrote it during the first months of the pandemic, when participation in gardening soared.

“During the great pause, many of us discovered the joy of growing plants, and those of us who already had gardens found solace in them,” she writes at the end. “I hope that even as we head back into a new normality, we remember those quiet moments.” o Stacey Evers is an environmental educator at Belvedere ES in Falls Church, VA, and the director of Grow a Row FC, a community initiative supporting gardeners who grow food for donation.

By Any Other Name: A Cultural History of the Rose Author: Simon Morley Publisher: Oneworld Publications List Price: $35 Order Link: https://amzn.to/3hGI9gG Reviewer: Jackie DiBartolomeo Of the thousands of flowers in gardens across the world, perhaps none is more recognizable and iconic than the rose.

Roses are present at many of the major events in a human’s life: births, birthdays, weddings, funerals, and more.

But what makes the rose special and alluring enough to earn its place in our

society? By Any Other Name by Simon Morley explores the many facets that make the rose stand out from the rest.

Morley expertly crafts the story of the rose from its humble beginnings to its present reality.

The rose has excelled at capturing the hearts of humans and the attention of pollinators for centuries. As Morley explains, the rose, a beautiful visual stimulus, has adapted its shape, color, and scent to attract pollinators and send chemical signals. Through the attention the rose garners, it obtains what it desires: offspring. Morley’s explanation of this phenomenon of beauty is both accessible and easy to understand for even beginners to the rose.

Although Morley paints the rose in a fascinating way, he spends much more time on exploring the cultural and social significance of the rose, factors perhaps more important to understanding the flower than its own biology.

Morley points out the contradictions attributed to the rose throughout its years in the cultural sphere. Most are familiar with the rose as a symbol of love. That’s why it’s no wonder that in 2018, about 250 million roses were produced for Valentine’s Day in the U.S. alone, according to the Society of American Florists. Yet Morley explores the contradictions of roses even within love. It seems as though, over the

BOOKreviews years, the rose has represented two sides of the same coin: love and sexuality. The rose has teetered between being the symbol of purity and sexuality—virginity and physical gratification.

Morley also dares to explore the rose in today’s culture, and where the rose might be in the years to come. He discusses how the rose has taken on somewhat of a negative connotation in modern-day society, with some seeing it as a symbol of a type of femininity that is outdated. Many rose enthusiasts have now turned to wildscaping: letting roses grow in a wild environment instead of a tame one. This reflects the changing view in society of nature as something to be left alone instead of controlled.

If a reader does not have much knowledge of the rose in human history, they might wonder why one type of flower could hold enough information to warrant 250 pages. Yet Morley’s By Any Other Name remains interesting at every turn, presenting many lenses through which we view this flower that has maintained its place in the cultural zeitgeist for centuries.

Jackie DiBartolomeo is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also a staff reporter with The Campus Trainer.

Rebugging the Planet: The Remarkable Things that Insects (and Other Invertebrates) Do—And Why We Need to Love Them More Author: Vicki Hird Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing List Price: $17.95 Order Link: https://amzn.to/3icEdTW Reviewer: Amanda Cash When most people think of bugs, they think “Ew, gross!” However, British author and head of the Sustainable Farming Campaign for Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food and Farming, Vicki Hird, takes a different approach to the tiny creatures. In Rebugging the Planet, she shows readers how bugs are beneficial not only to nature but also to you.

She introduces the idea of “rebugging” as a combination of “rewilding” and citizens putting their ideas for policy change for the future to work.

The book’s chapters explain rebugging from a local to an international scale. Hird emphasizes the need for more education about bugs, more general research on bugs (not merely pest control), and bringing bugs into art and culture.

She also explains a variety of topics that have led to the decline of bugs, all types of pollution, industrial farming, and climate change.

Throughout the book, there are fascinating facts like, “Without pollinating bugs and other beasts, almost 90 percent of our flowering plants would die off.” The book is full of ways the public can rebug their lives by changing their diets; putting bugs into political discussions, the economy, and public policy changes; and rebugging their gardens.

This book is a must-read for those who enjoy learning about the tiny creatures, but also anyone interested in how even the smallest of creatures can change the world. Instead of pulling out a flyswatter and saying, “Shoo fly, don’t bother me,” now you can take a moment and realize all the benefits bugs have to offer. o Amanda Cash is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also interning at WBAL-TV11 in Baltimore, MD.

The Healthy Vegetable Garden: A Natural, Chemical-free Approach to Soil, Biodiversity and Managing Pests and Diseases Author: Sally Morgan Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing List Price: $29.95 Order Link: https://amzn.to/36Eu9gX Reviewer: Molly Cuddy The Healthy Vegetable Garden by Sally Morgan has every tip and trick you may need for the upkeep of your vegetable garden, especially when climate change affects gardens in the coming decades. With the Earth changing day by day, it’s important to know what to do to ensure we can still grow healthy veggies and other edibles in the garden.

Morgan is a British author and gardener, so keep in mind that some of her garden tips may not apply to our region’s gardens.

Morgan says her book is for anyone interested in gardening, no matter whether you’re a beginner or more advanced. She says her own garden is very diverse, meaning she doesn’t mind it to be a bit untidy, with weeds growing here or there. She also says this is how she keeps her garden healthy, because biodiversity allows gardens to thrive, even without fertilizers, weedkillers, etc. This book encourages such natural practices and tells you exactly how to make your garden more resilient.

The author goes in depth about the many important factors needed to have a flourishing garden with delicious vegetables. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect, such as soil, pests, predators, diseases, and of course, the plants themselves.

Morgan makes it easy to identify pests by providing plenty of pictures and descriptions. She also provides ways to get these pests out of your garden without harmful chemicals.

She shares the regions where these pests are found, so you know which ones could be popping up in your own garden.

Included are the predators that will be helpful for your garden by keeping away the pests. Morgan includes pictures and descriptions of these predators as well, so you can spot the differJULY 2021

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BOOKreviews

GARDENbasics

Vacation Care for Container Gardens

By Melinda Myers

ence between the beneficial insects and the harmful pests.

Of course, there is also plenty of content about which plants to grow.

Morgan helpfully tells which plants will attract predators, and which will be more likely to attract pests.

All in all, The Healthy Vegetable Garden is an extremely informative book. It is perfect for anyone looking to have a robust garden while keeping it all-natural and organic. Climate change is rapidly changing the planet’s weather patterns, but you can still keep your garden alive and thriving, if you follow this book closely. o Molly Cuddy is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also a campus tour guide and will be a teaching assistant for a professional writing class next semester.

Love Reading?

These books were reviewed by volunteer members of the Washington Gardener Reader Panel. To join the Washington Gardener Volunteer Reader Panel, send an email with your name and address to: KathyJentz@gmail. com. We look forward to having you be a vital part of our local publication and its gardening mission. o 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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Planning a few long weekends or a vacation may have you rethinking your garden plans, but don’t let time away from home stop you from growing flowers and vegetables in containers.

Irrigation systems with timers and self-watering pots are options to make container gardening and vacation care easier. You may, however, just be looking for ways Water or wine bottles can be used alone or combined with to adapt your existing container gardening care while commercial products to help on vacation. regulate the flow of water to Find a plant sitter and take time to provide needed container gardens while you plant care instructions. It can be difficult, but you may are away on vacation. Photo be able to convince the person stopping by to feed the courtesy of MelindaMyers. com. cat to water your plants. Move containers to a shady spot to extend the time between watering. Make sure the hose is handy. The easier the task, the more likely it will be done, and your plants will survive. Sweeten the deal by offering to share the harvest or return the favor when they leave town.

Create your own self-watering system with a 5-gallon bucket and strips of absorbent material like cotton fabric strips or rope to serve as wicks. Place the bucket among your containers. Run the fabric wick from the bucket into the drainage holes of your containers. As the soil dries, the water will move from the water-filled bucket into the container, moistening the soil. Use long wicks that reach and rest on the bottom of the bucket. Add a lid with holes for the wicks, to slow evaporation.

Use an individual setup to create a water reservoir for each container. Set each pot on its own enclosed water-filled container. Cut holes in the lid of the water-filled container and run wicks into the drainage holes of the pot.

Test whatever system you create before leaving on vacation to make sure everything is in place and working.

For short trips consider, using a wine bottle or 2-liter soda bottle. They can be used alone or combined with commercial products to help regulate the flow. Just punch a hole in the soil and insert a water-filled soda bottle. With the bottle cap in place, punch 10 holes in the bottom of the plastic bottle before filling with water and setting in the soil. Evaluate and test how many bottles you need per pot and how long they can sustain your plants.

Increase the watering-holding ability of your potting mix with a product like Wild Valley Farms’ wool pellets (wildvalleyfarms.com). This organic soil additive made from wool waste holds up to 20% of its weight in water. It releases water as needed, so you do not have to water as often.

Further reduce the need to water by growing more drought-tolerant plants.

Zinnias, lantana, sunflowers, and succulents look beautiful and tolerate drier soil conditions.

A beautiful and productive container garden does not have to stop you from enjoying a long weekend or vacation out of town. Make plans for your container gardens as you plan your next trip. o Melinda Myers has written numerous books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment television and radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Wild Valley Farms for her expertise to write this article. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.

BIRDwatch

Carolina Wren

By Cecily Nabors

What’s that small brown bird with the cocky attitude and the huge voice? It’s a Carolina Wren, Thryothorus ludovicianus, guaranteed to make knowledgeable gardeners smile. The largest of our Eastern wrens, the Carolina Wren is our only wren for all seasons. (Winter Wrens come down from the north in winter, House Wrens come up from the south in summer.) A Carolina Wren’s decurved bill and white eyebrow stripe make it easy to identify; the long, cocked tail seems to show off the cinnamon plumage the birds wear year-round.

Carolina Wrens are often hidden and hard to see, but their ringing voices betray their presence in open woodlands and our backyards. These birds get my vote for most decibels of voice per gram of bird, and they sing any time of year. Only the males sing, with the rhythm of their most-quoted melody being a loud, piercing tea-kettle, teakettle, tea-kettle. Besides the threenoted song, males also sing a two-noted churry, churry, churry. Females may respond in a chattery trill.

Since Carolina Wrens are with us all year, and mate for life, they constantly claim and defend their territories. Males countersing in challenge duets, blasting out songs from neighboring patches.

One will sing a phrase and then pause

while the other sings a phrase. Their trumpet-clear voices sound beautiful, but the listener knows the musicians are politely alternating a demand: “Stay out of my territory!” Wrens are also world-class scolders, fussing loudly at any threat to their nest sites.

They usually build a cup-shaped and/ or domed nest, often in a cavity. The pair build together, using bark shreds, grasses, leaves, pine needles, and a variety of other found materials. As if boldly declaring confidence against “the enemy,” they often decorate their nests with a strip of shed snakeskin. They may use a nest box, but are also known for tucking their nests into building crannies or ledges, flowerpots, or hanging baskets. The pair usually raises two broods a year; the female does the incubation, and the male brings her food. Both parents feed nestlings.

Insects and spiders make up the bulk of a Carolina Wren’s diet, with only about 5 percent being seeds and vegetable matter. As they flip through leaflitter with those long bills, they’ll pick

up the occasional snail or millipede, but their standard fare features most of our garden pests. It’s easy to love these perky little birds that help rid our gardens of cucumber and bean beetles, weevils, stink bugs, and caterpillars.

Wrens are intrepid investigators.

Because of their high metabolism rate, and possibly their own natural curiosity.

Wrens are always on the hunt: running or hopping, poking and probing, and trilling as they go. Once I watched an enthusiastic forager who kept on with that loud trill even as the bird entered a hollow log. The notes continued, muffled but undaunted, until the wren reappeared with a police-whistle blare.

Snowman Joe (see photo below) is an object of deep interest to the wrens that winter in our yard. How do such small birds make it through the northern winter? Like other birds, wrens fluff out their feathers to trap the warm air near their bodies. They seek shelter in evergreens or tree hollows, in narrow windless stream valleys, and sometimes in barns or sheds. Even with these strategies, though, Carolina Wrens are not very hardy. They find most of their food near the ground, so heavy snow and icy temperatures can be devastating.

Harsh winters can cause serious wren loss. This species is one that is really helped by our suet feeders, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Besides stocking well-filled feeders, you can lure wrens and their insecteating ways to your yard by finding a spot for a brush pile. While doing yard cleanup this fall, leave as much leaf litter as you can.

In addition, if you make a loose pile of sticks and branches with some access gaps, it will help wrens and other small birds find shelter from wind, weather, and hunting hawks.

Long may Carolina Wrens eat our bugs and fill our gardens with cheerful, exuberant song! o Cecily Nabors is a retired software manager who has been watching and counting birds for much of her life. She publishes the Good-Natured Observations blog at cecilynabors.com.

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INSECTindex

Tomato Hornworm

By Carol Allen This is the time of year when avid gardeners wish they had low-maintenance (whatever that is!) gardens. The heat has us sneaking out in the early hours to do what we must—harvesting, weeding, or watering—and beating a retreat when the sun starts to get high in the sky. In spite of the draining heat, one of the highlights of mid-summer is watching the pollinators visit our gardens, including the occasional hummingbird moth.

While we welcome the hummingbird moth, you may not be as happy to have a visit from one of its close relatives: the larvae of the five-spotted hawk moth, aka tomato hornworm. Most members of the family Sphingidae (hummingbird moths and sphinx moths) are night-flying moths and , because they are large moths, they have very large, hungry larvae. As a group, their larvae sport a fearsome-looking projection on their rear ends, but it is all for show. It is just one of nature’s devices allowing soft, defenseless creatures to look scarier than they are.

Fortunately, most members of that family feed on plants we do not consider as precious as our tomatoes. They are solitary, so their presence goes unnoticed. Sphinx moth larvae are typically host-specific feeders and if you see one off its host plant, it may be mature enough to go to ground and pupate.

Many of these species do pupate in the ground, so be considerate of their life cycle and don’t be too tidy in the garden. Fluffy skiffs of leaves at the base of plants and in the nooks and crannies 22

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of the garden can provide good sites for these dramatic creatures to pupate.

The Maryland Biodiversity Project lists 40 species of hawk moth as being found in the state. Most feed on trees, but some notable species feed on azaleas, and hydrangeas, and a very common one feeds on Virginia creeper. That makes keeping some of it around a very good idea.

It is the tomato hornworm that usually gets our blood pressure up. These sphinx moth caterpillars can be up to 4 inches long before they pupate and can be found not only on tomatoes, but also eggplant, peppers, and moonflowers.

They can be large in size, so they have a correspondingly big appetite and can defoliate plants rapidly. They are easy

enough to spot and hand-pick, then drown in a cup or jar of soapy water.

However, spare it if you see one with the white pupal cases of a parasite attached to it.

Two different parasitic wasps help control tomato hornworm; a species of Trichogramma and Cotesia congregata, a braconid wasp. These wasps go pretty much undetected in a garden because they are the size of a fruit fly. They do not harm humans and are not interested in anything other than hornworms.

If you find a tomato hornworm covered by little white pupal cases, let it be.

Those caterpillars stop feeding and soon die, and the parasitic wasps hatch to go on to find another hornworm to parasitize. Ideally you planted enough tomatoes to go around. o Carol Allen describes herself as a committable plant-a-holic. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the horticulture industry, with a special interest in plant pests and diseases; is a Licensed Pesticide Applicator in the state of Maryland; and is an ISACertified Arborist. She can be contacted at carolallen@erols.com.

Top photo, a tomato hornworm, larva of Five-spotted hawk moth, by Amanda Hill, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom photo, a tomato hornworm with parasitic wasp eggs by Max Wahrhaftig, CC 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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MARCH/APRIL 2005 • Landscape DIY vs. Pro • Prevent Gardener’s Back • Ladew Topiary Gardens • Cherry Trees

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MARCH/APRIL 2008 • Patio, Balcony, Rooftop Container Gardens • Our Favorite Garden Tools • Coral Bells (Heuchera)

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