the magazine for gardening enthusiasts in the Mid-Atlantic region
WASHINGTON g a rdener
How and When to Repot Houseplants
Magically Fragrant Mock Orange Winterburn on Evergreens
Celebrating Tulip Time
Weeding Out Bad Bedstraws
Asiatic Lilies for Summer Drama
Parsnip, the Ancient Heirloom
Spring Native Plants
Garden Book Reviews and Contest
6 Tips for Transplanting
Encore Azaleas
Tulip Days
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.
RARE AND EXCEPTIONAL PLANTS FOR THE
Barry Glick
Sunshine Farm and Gardens
696 Glicks Road
Renick, WV 24966, USA Email: barry@sunfarm.com www.sunfarm.com
www.greenspring.org
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Green Spring Gardens
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.
‘Rosie the Riveter’ tulip was first crossed a decade ago and is known for its early, fast bloom. It has a delicate light-pink bud that blossoms into beautiful pink flowers. Photo courtesy of the Netherlands Embassy.
Got a Garden Question?
Send your questions to KathyJentz@gmail.com and use the subject line “Q&A.” Then look for your answered questions in upcoming
Bedstraw can cling to almost anything, including our WeedWatch columnist’s flannel shirt. Photo by Rick Borchelt.
Lilium asiatic ‘Yellow Baby’ photo courtesy of www.flowerbulbs.com.
Unpacking Plants
When people ask what my garden is like, I always say “a mess.” Truthfully, it is a collection of plants that might generously be called cottage-style, but more accurately falls under the now-trendy chaos garden style.
Part of that falls on my busy schedule and just not having enough hours in the day to get things properly planned and planted. The big factor, though, is that I receive many plants to trial and as samples, which means I’m often trying to stuff them in wherever I can in my small corner lot and any plans for coordinating a bed design go out the window.
Don’t get me wrong, I love receiving these plants from breeders and growers. It is like Christmas morning when a box marked “live plants—this end up” arrives on my doorstep. Sometimes I receive an email letting me know what is coming, but more often than not, it is a total surprise—which makes for some funny combinations and last-minute shuffling.
A little flexibility and ingenuity helps. One year, I bought all pastel pink and purple flowers for my annual containers and was sent bright, red-orange geraniums to try. I ran out to Dollar Tree and bought five hanging baskets, and the geraniums got their own container home far from the rest of my summer flowers. Garden lesson learned: Always have a plan B.
Sincerely,
Kathy Jentz, Editor/Publisher, Washington Gardener, KathyJentz@gmail.com
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Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher
Washington Gardener 826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910
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Volume 20, Number 2 ISSN 1555-8959
© 2025 Washington Gardener
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Reader Contest
For our April 2025 Washington Gardener Magazine Reader Contest, we are celebrating National Gardening Month by giving away a set of four new gardening books from Cool Springs Press/Quarto Publishing to one lucky winner. (Retail value: $100.)
The four garden books in the prize package are Go Forth and Forage by Whitney Johnson, Start with Soil by Juliet Sargeant, Plants with Superpowers by David Domoney, and Kitchen Garden Living by Bailey Van Tassel.
To enter to win the books, send an email by 5:00pm on April 30 to Washington GardenerMagazine@gmail.com with “Gardening Month” in the Subject line and in the body of the email. Tell us what your favorite article was in this issue and why. Please include your full name and mailing address. Winners will be announced and notified on/about May 1. Replies might be published. 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. READER
GardenDC Podcast
I enjoyed very much the GardenDC podcast episode (#234) about lilacs. Dr. DeBard was great. I learned a lot... I bought two lilacs plants in a box at Costco. They are ‘Beauty of Moscow’. I am not sure what will happen once I plant them, but now I am looking forward to the adventure.
~ Linda
Our 20th Anniversary
The DC-area has the BEST magazine with the Washington Gardener! Thank you for all your hard work and knowledge,
~ Nancy Burns
Thanks for 20 years of hard work and great gardening information!
~ Dawn Szelc o
by Cool Springs Press Order it today at: https://amzn.to/3IlYHYL
“Groundcover Revolution is must-have book for anyone who is interested in having less lawn, fewer weeds, and reduced mulching. The properties charts will save the reader time and money, the pictures provide inspiration, while the detailed plant portraits give the focused information needed for creating beautiful, functional landscapes.”
―C.L. Fornari, GardenLady.com
Ask the Expert
By Miri Talabac
Winterburn on Evergreen Shrubs and Trees
Q: My hollies, nandina, and cherry laurel have leaf damage this spring, with some leaves partially or entirely brown. Is this a disease outbreak?
A: Probably not, although some generalist infections (Botryosphaeria canker, for instance) can take advantage of plant stress and cause disease on a variety of species. The symptoms you’re seeing are probably winterburn instead.
Winterburn can be common for many evergreens, including camellia, mahonia, gardenia, Southern magnolia, and the shrubs you mentioned. Leaves lose moisture in winter (due to sun, wind, and dry air), and when the plant can’t rehydrate quickly enough, leaf and stem tissues (even dormant flower buds) can be damaged or killed. The soil probably became too dry, or moisture in the soil froze and became inaccessible to roots. Winterburn damage may not manifest until spring.
Prune out branches with noticeable dieback. Individual leaves with brown edges, or those that are entirely brown, will eventually fall off without intervention. Regrowth will help cover-up singed leaves or replace branches that died back. If you aren’t certain what is salvageable, wait to see if the branch leafs-out normally by late spring, and then prune off what remains bare.
Drought increases the risk of winterburn, and our region has been experiencing drought for about a year now. Both new and well-established plants should be monitored for watering needs to alleviate stress. To reduce the risk of winterburn in future years, make sure plants go into late fall and winter adequately hydrated if dry weather recurs, and check on their watering needs during winter mild spells if rain or snow has been light. Mulch helps to insulate shallow roots and prevent freezing, so moisture remains available to the plant for longer.
Aside from aesthetics, one consequence of winter injury is the greater risk of infection by opportunistic pathogens. Volutella light on boxwoods is one example, especially if those shrubs are also heavily pruned. Trimming off the damage can discourage disease spread by removing the wounds that are more vulnerable to infection. (Sharp pruning cuts with clean tools tend to seal off better than injuries from weather damage.)
Identifying Grass-like Lawn Weeds
Q: How do I identify grassy lawn weeds? I see some that are definitely growing faster and have a different shade of green.
A: It’s usually not easy, unless a particular species has a unique trait. Your description sounds like Roughstalk Bluegrass, but that’s just a guess. Grass identification relies on fine details to separate similar species, which may require magnification. Key features include the type of vernation, ligule, auricle, collar, and sheath. Growth habits will also narrow down an ID. Seed head features can be diagnostic, but you want to remove undesirable grasses before they get that mature and self-seed further.
Vernation refers to how the leaf emerges from the bud, whether rolledup or folded in half. The ligule (if present) is the structure at the base of the inside of the leaf where it joins the stem, which can vary in length and form (membranous or fringed/hairy). Auricles are a pair of claw-like projections from the leaf blade base that wrap around the stem; few lawn weeds have them, so their presence can be diagnostic. The collar region of the leaf is a band of paler tissue just behind the ligule, where nuances in its bowtie shape differ. The sheath of the leaf wraps around the stem, and how hairy or open it is (like a partially unzipped jacket) matters.
These technical distinctions are a primary reason why trying to ID grassy weeds from photos or their overall appearance is difficult. For help identifying a mystery grass, check out the two grass ID keys published by Ohio State (https://buckeyeturf.osu.edu/ TurfWeedID), which includes images of these features. Penn State’s CoolSeason Turfgrass Identification page also provides diagrams and descriptions for a few species of turfgrass, where the same structures are used to separate species.
Remember that lawns are often a mix of more than one species of turfgrass,
Winterburn on Camellia. Photo by Rachel Rhodes, UME.
so you might need to examine more than one grass plant to get a sense of the makeup of the lawn, especially if you didn’t seed or sod it yourself.
Growth habit is an easier trait to compare. Grasses can be clumping or running; runners can be stolons (aboveground creeping stems) or rhizomes (below-ground creeping stems). Digging up a grass you’re trying to ID and shaking or rinsing off the soil will help you find runners if they’re present.
Sometimes, the exact grass ID doesn’t matter for certain weeds, especially if they are cool-season perennials in a cool-season lawn. This is because few, if any, herbicides will selectively remove them without also harming the lawn. The only recourse, then, is to dig out the weeds or to kill them with nonselective herbicide, then replant with seed or sod. Roughstalk Bluegrass and Quackgrass are two examples of coolseason perennial weeds that are hard to eradicate in a fescue lawn unless you go to the laborious effort of manual removal or resort to using herbicide, which not all jurisdictions in Maryland allow. o
Miri Talabac is a Certified Professional Horticulturist who joined the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center in 2019 as a horticulture consultant. She is a graduate of UMCP with a focus in entomology. To ask a gardening or pest question, go to http:// extension.umd.edu/hgic and select “Ask Extension.” Digital photos can be attached.
By Skylar Drew and Madison Korman
On March 8, Washington Gardener Magazine joined hundreds of gardening community members at the 18th annual Rooting DC event in Washington, DC. What started in 2007 as an event with 150 gardeners has since bloomed into a forum for environmental well-being and food system solutions in the DC area.
Gardeners, herbalists, artists, and environmental organizations were some of the exhibitors in attendance. When attendees weren’t wading through the sea of exhibitors, they were able to sit in on lectures throughout the day, all of which were on a wide variety of agricultural topics. These workshops had interactive demonstrations, giveaways, and opportunities to ask experts questions.
Herbalist Holly Poole-Kavana from Little Red Bird Apothecary gave tips to a packed room on modern herbal medicine, including how to start teas, tinctures, and glycerites at home.
Maura McCasted from Ad Astra Farms, a peri-urban farm in Maryland, gave a lecture about winter food-growing tips. She covered the importance of understanding a region’s persephone period, ensuring that plants get the right amount of sunlight, and protecting plants from winter weather with cold frames and low tunnels.
Portia Bellamy from GrowFlo’s talk about urban gardening and growing food in small spaces highlighted endless possibilities for vertical gardening.
The United States Botanic Garden held a workshop about preserving seeds and their stories through the Heirloom Collards Project. Lola Bloom,
Amanda Helin, and Carrie Vaughn talked about the basics of preserving seeds and why it is important. At the end of the presentation, they handed out heirloom collard seeds.
Later, Josie St. Denis from Love & Carrots gave an in-depth presentation on tomatoes and the ins-and-outs of starting tomato seeds indoors, transplanting seedlings, and how to grow healthy tomatoes. Throughout the talk, she answered questions about how to troubleshoot issues that may arise when growing tomatoes in our shifting climate.
Veterans Compost held a workshop about backyard composting and how to adapt methods used by larger composting companies to get similar results in your own backyard by carefully selecting which waste goes into the compost to yield good-quality results.
The free event is free is typically held on a Saturday in early March each year. To learn more about Rooting DC and sign up to get notified of the next one, visit https://doee.dc.gov/service/rooting-dc. o
Skylar Drew is an intern with Washington Gardener this spring semester. She is a senior journalism major at the UMD College Park. She is from Bel Air, Maryland, where she watched her mom grow her garden.
Madison Korman is an intern this spring semester with Washington Gardener. She is a recent journalism graduate of UMD College Park. She has enjoyed gardening and cooking from a young age.
Roughstalk Bluegrass (Poa trivialis) has a yellow-green color in early spring. Photo by Miri Talabac.
Bad Bedstraws
By Rick Borchelt
You know a plant has a long and storied garden history when it has so many common names: cleavers, clivers, goosegrass, catchweed, stickyweed, sticky molly, robin-run-the-hedge, sticky willy, grip grass, whippysticks, and—in modern parlance anyway—Velcro plant. And that’s just in English!
You probably know it best as catchweed bedstraw, Galium aparine. While the jury isn’t entirely in about its origins, it’s pretty likely this is a plant native to the U.S., although it can be found nearly worldwide in temperate climates—Galium aparine is presumed native to Europe, Central North Africa, and Asia, and naturalized in Central and South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Whatever this plant’s actual origin, it makes itself right at home in Washington-area gardens.
Maryland also has some 20 other Galium species; some are introduced and some are native. All have a characteristic appearance: The leaves are arranged in whorls, usually of six or eight leaves, with inconspicuous terminal flowers followed by small, hard, round fruits. Most are small plants, about a foot or less tall.
Catchweed bedstraw has these whorls, as well, but by contrast, is a very large plant at maturity, up to 6 feet tall—or, rather, long, as we’ll discuss in
a moment. It’s an annual that germinates very early in the spring; by April, it’s well up and planning world domination. Now is the time to put bedstraw to bed before it sets seeds for next year.
The other identifying feature of Galium aparine is its stickiness to the touch. This sticky character comes not from gooey sap, but from a dense cover of fine barbed hairs on both the stems and leaves (and, eventually, the seeds).
These barbs latch onto practically anything they touch, whether they’re clambering up a chain link fence, scaling a rose bush, or cleaving to your flannel shirt when one of the neighborhood kids chucks it at you as a prank.
Catchweed bedstraw’s growth habit is what botanists call “procumbent”—the stems are very weak and can’t stand up on their own. Instead, these tenacious plants use their miniature barbed grappling hooks to haul themselves up on whatever is handy. Otherwise, they’d just sprawl across the ground.
Bedstraw is particularly noxious in the garden because it is so lush. It’s a fast grower, sometimes adding 2 or 3 inches a day during the height of spring,
and it makes a dense wall of green, completely choking whatever it uses for scaffolding.
There is a special hell reserved for weeds that also produce sticky seeds—seeds that embed themselves by the hundreds in that long coat of any golden retriever unlucky enough to chase a tennis ball into a mass of summer bedstraw.
The common name bedstraw comes from one of the more positive attributes of the plant, also owing to the tenacious hooks: It was the bedding filler of choice for medieval peasantry, who dried and stuffed it into mattresses and pillowcases. In this use, the barbs keep the mass of vegetation from being squashed into a flat mess.
The Latin name also points to another of the plant’s useful features. Galium is Dioscorides’ name for the plant and is related to the Greek word “gala,” meaning milk. The small white flowers of some species in this genus were added to milk to curdle it for cheesemaking. The species name aparine, in Greek, literally means clinging or grabbing, harkening back to this weed’s clingy reputation.
The roots of bedstraw have their uses in the dyer’s trade. With the right fixa-
The weak stems of catchweed bedstraw mean the plants flop over the ground unless they can hook onto a support.
The berries of bedstraw are also covered with small hooks. Photo credit: Rickjpelleg.
tive, they can yield a reasonably colorfast reddish dye. A species in the same family, madder, yields the red dye that gave British redcoats their distinctive garb. (British officers, though, had their uniforms colored with the intense red dye produced by much more expensive cochineal, derived from scale insects.)
While they wouldn’t be picked out of a botanical lineup by most gardeners, bedstraws are in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, along with ornamental gardenias and pentas, along with Cinchona, source of the antimalarial quinine.
Like true coffee, bedstraw seeds can be dried, ground, and steeped to make a rather pleasantly bitter coffee substitute without the caffeine kick—but be forewarned how tedious the task is of harvesting bedstraw berries. Foragers also collect the young stems, which when boiled make a palatable green. And geese find it irresistible, as the common name goosegrass suggests. Bedstraw control is actually pretty easy. Gardeners can pull it up without breaking a sweat, but because the stems are so weak, they often break off at the base. The plant then sprouts again from the roots and has to be re-pulled several times throughout the season. While the barbs are too small to break the skin or hurt when rubbed against an ankle or forearm, some people develop a rash when exposed to the leaves, so wearing gloves is a good precaution when banishing bedstraw. Compost bedstraw if you manage to pull it up before it sets fruit, otherwise burn or dispose of the plants away from the garden to prevent its resurgence next spring. o
Rick Borchelt is a botanist and science writer who gardens and writes about natural history at his home in College Park, MD. Reach him with questions about this column at rborchelt@gmail.com.
Bedstraw has found a Hyattsville chain link fence to scale. Photo by Rick Borchelt.
Make the Move: Transplanting Your Encore Azalea
Not happy with your Encore Azalea’s current location? Whether it’s struggling in too much shade, overcrowded, or in a spot with poor drainage, it’s time to make a move. Transplanting now gives your azaleas time to settle in before their next bloom season.
Follow these six steps for a smooth move.
1. Choose the Right Spot
Select a sunny or lightly shaded area with well-drained, acidic soil.
2. Prepare the New Home Dig a hole 1.5 times the size of the root ball and mix in organic matter.
3. Pre-Water & Dig Trenches
A few days before, dig a small trench around the plant and keep it wellwatered.
4. Careful Uprooting
Gently loosen roots, keeping as much soil attached as possible (use a tarp or sheet for easy transport!).
5. Replant with Care
Place at the same depth as before, leaving a bit of the root ball exposed.
6. Water & Mulch
Water immediately and mulch with pine bark or needles to protect roots as temperatures cool.
What to Avoid? Skip heavy pruning or fertilizing until after spring blooms fade. With proper care, your transplanted Encore Azalea will thrive in its new home, rewarding you with season after season of repeat blooms.
Need more azalea care tips? Visit https://encoreazalea.com/ for more expert advice. o
2025 Gold Medal Plant Winners Announced
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) has made its list of 2025 Gold Medal Plant winners available to the public through garden retailers. The Gold Medal Plant Program was created by PHS in 1979 to celebrate and showcase beautiful, easy-to-grow plant species that are ideal for home gardening. Here is the 2025 PHS Gold Medal Plants listing.
• Acer rubrum Redpointe® Tree
This red maple is native to North America. Redpointe possesses an improved branching habit and is great at enduring heat and drought.
• Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’ Tree
This apple serviceberry is an exceptional deciduous shrub or small tree with an upright spreading habit and round canopy. Its brilliant fall colors of red and orange leaves give it its cultivar name.
• Carex cherokeensis Perennial Cherokee sedge is a stately species with grass-like foliage that is nearly evergreen in the Mid-Atlantic region, making it a great alternative to common landscape groundcovers like Pachysandra terminalis and Liriope spicata
• Leucothoe axillaris ‘ReJoyce’ Shrub Coast leucothoe is a native evergreen shrub that provides four-season interest. This deer-resistant shrub is adaptable to a wide range of light exposures and is particularly shade tolerant. It’s an excellent plant for small space gardens too.
• Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’ Perennial
This beebalm is an attractive clumpforming perennial with masses of vibrant red flowers that grows well in well-drained, humus-rich soils. It’s great as a cut flower, too. ‘Gardenview Scarlet’ attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators. It is deer-resistant and selected for its resistance to powdery mildew.
• Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’ Perennial This rough goldenrod is one of the best goldenrods for home gardens. It has a relatively compact habit, and it attracts scores of pollinators when it is in bloom in late summer and fall. o
Growing Asiatic Lilies for Summer Drama
The Asiatic lily is growing in popularity. This exotic beauty was mostly used in bouquets, but it is now popping up more and more often in gardens. With its large trumpet-shaped flowers in a wide variety of colors, it is a real eyecatcher.
Of all the lilies, Asiatic ones are among the first to bloom in summer. They are incredibly strong and grow easily. Some will grow 12 inches tall, but others will reach the 59 inches mark. The choice of flower colors is massive: from creamy-white to dark-purple and from pale-pink to bright-orange. Multicolored or cheerfully speckled are also available—pratically works of art.
Most Asiatic lilies are not scented. New varieties are emerging all the time, sometimes even with double or pollenfree flowers.
Asiatic lilies are native to Asia and Europe and very hardy: They can tolerate frosts up to -25°C. Plant the bulbs in fall or spring when it is not freezing, in a spot that gets at least 6 hours of sunshine. The soil should be welldrained. Plant the bulbs twice as deep as they are tall (about 6 inches deep) with the tip facing up. Fill the planting hole with soil and gently tamp it down. Lilies like to keep their feet cool, so apply a layer of several inches of bark, leaves, or straw, for example (a mulch layer), or plant the bulbs in-between other plants. Water after planting. Here are some more tips for growing Asiatic lilies.
• Plant lavender or marigolds next to your lilies. Harmful insects don’t like the scent of lavender, and marigolds attract beneficial insects.
• Plant Asiatic lilies in pots or containers that allow excess water to drain out. The dwarf varieties are especially ideal for use in pots.
• Try cutting off a flower stem and putting it in a vase or as a gift it. A flower from your own garden—what could be better?
Find more information about flower bulbs at www.flowerbulbs.com. o
Photo courtesy of www.encoreazaalea.com.
New Plant Spotlight
Kangaroo Paws
Bush Gem Series® Anigozanthos
This annual plant (hardy to USDA Zones 10–11) has saturated colors and is perfect for adding Interest to many gardening styles and/or containers. Its unique velvety flowers emerge from long, rich-green stems. It has a naturally compact and bushy growth habit,
Plant in full- to part-sun. To encourage flowering, trim old stems and leaves back to the base. Water only when the top layer of soil has dried out, increasing watering as the plant reaches full bloom. Fertilizing isn’t generally necessary
Once established, it is droughthardy by nature, requiring minimal watering, making it an excellent lowmaintenance option for busy gardeners. It produces long-lasting flowers that not only add vibrant beauty to your garden but also have a twoweek vase life as a cut flower, offering long-lasting appeal indoors.
The Bush Gems collection is the most popular Kangaroo Paw in the market and can be found across Australia and around the world.
The Bush Gems Collection is the result of a collaborative breeding program between Angus Stewart and Ramm Botanicals, own in-house breeding program. This program started way back in the 1970’s and has evolved to include many new and interesting varieties.
Available wholesale from Peace Tree Farm. For more information, visit peacetreefarm.com. o
Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts
• Edible Native Plants
• Finally Feels Like Spring
• Spring Pruning Tips
• Lyreleaf Sage Plant Profile
See more Washington Gardener blog posts at WashingtonGardener.blogspot.com o
April–May Garden To-Do List
• If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening-off process.
• Start some more seeds—especially flowering annuals like impatiens, marigolds, nasturtium, and petunias.
• Do not set out seedlings or tender annuals until after Mother’s Day (traditional last frost-free date for our entire area).
• Water shrubs and trees deeply during any dry spells.
• Prune winter damage on evergreens.
• Make compost tea and use on seedlings.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Sharpen tools.
• Prune flowering shrubs, such as forsythia and azaleas, when they finish blooming.
• Repot and fertilize houseplants.
• Set aside a few hours each weekend for attending garden shows and tours. (You may have to do this virtually for the immediate future.)
• Weed by hand to avoid disturbing newly forming roots.
• Prepare your soil—add lime, compost, etc., as needed.
• Walk your garden and look for early signs of fungal disease.
• Divide perennials and herbs. Pot up extras to give away at plant swaps.
• Fertilize new growth.
• Plant and prune roses.
• Transplant small trees and shrubs.
• Buy or check on your stored summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot them and start to water to give them an early start on the season.
• Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of aged manure and compost.
• Buy an indoor plant to liven up your office space. Try an Orchid or African violet.
• Start/keep fertilizing your indoor plants.
• Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds and ornamental grasses.
• Mulch beds with a light hand.
• Feed birds and provide nesting materials (try pet hair), as well as houses, for the start of their family season.
• Sow beans and corn directly outdoors.
• Start carrots, turnips, and parsnips in well-draining beds or deep containers.
• Keep cutworms off newly planted edible seedlings by surrounding the seedlings with collars cut from a plastic bottle or cardboard tube.
• Pick peas often to encourage the plants to produce more.
• Ensure new seedlings do not dry out by installing a drip-irrigation system.
• Start herbs from seed or cuttings.
• Edge garden beds.
• Remove Ivy, Pachysandra, and other vine-like groundcover from under shrubs.
• Work in dry, not wet, soil to keep the ground from compacting.
• Hand-pick cabbage worms from broccoli and other cabbage-family plants.
• Put row covers over vulnerable crops—remove covers to allow for pollinating once they set flowers.
• Thin lettuce seedlings and plant more seeds in new rows. (You can eat the seedling greens you pull.)
• Plant a tree for Arbor Day or Earth Day. o
The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City is all about small-space gardening solutions!
By Kathy Jentz and Teresa Speight
Published by Cool Springs Press/Quarto Homes
Order it today at: https://amzn.to/3yiLPKU
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 on Spring Pruning Tips, the Buttercup Family, and Lilacs.
You can listen online at https:// washingtongardener.blogspot.com/ or on Spotify, Apple, etc o
Classes, Events, and Plant Shows/Sales
• April 26—May 3
Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic Garden Week
Regional member clubs will coordinate garden tours throughout the state of Virginia. Local events include tours through the gardens of Old Town Alexandria. Times and prices depend on location. See https://gcvirginia.org/historic-garden-week/.
• April 29–June 14
Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage
The tour focuses on different counties in Maryland each year. Check out the Queen Anne’s County tour on May 3 and the Prince George’s County tour on June 14. Tours run between 10am–5pm. Tickets are $40 beforehand; $45 the day of. See https://www.mhgp.org/.
• Saturday, April 26
Garden Fair & Plant Sale
Celebrate spring at the National Arboretum. Shop from thousands of plants, browse dozens of local vendors, and enjoy free family activities. FONA members get early admission to the Plant Sale. Details at FONA.org.
• Saturday, April 26, 10am–6pm and Sunday, April 27, 10am–5pm Leesburg Flower & Garden Festival
Transforming the streets of historic Downtown Leesburg, VA, the festival showcases flowers, plants, and landscaping along with the best of gardening and outdoor living products and services. The rooftop beer and wine garden, landscape display contest, three stages of entertainment, festival food, and Garden Patch children’s area mean there is something for everyone. The festival is open to the public, FREE, and the celebration goes on rain or shine.
• Sunday, April 27, 2pm
Rose IPM Talk
The Potomac Rose Society hosts an online presentation by Nan McKay titled “Rose IPM Throughout the Year.” Learn how to use natural enemies to combat rose pests. Register at https://potomacrose.org/event-6117863.
• Friday, May 9, 10am Ikebana Demonstration
Ikebana International Chapter #1 will host an Ikebana demonstration and luncheon at the Belle Haven Country Club, Alexandria, VA. The event begins with social time and ginza (sale of ceramics, glass, fashion, a silent auction, and raffle) at 10am, followed by a demonstration by Bruce Wilson, Seikyoju of the Saga Goryu School of Ikebana, at 11am and a seated luncheon at 12:30pm. Tickets may be purchased on the chapter’s website at www.iichapter1.com.
• Saturday, May 10, 9am—1pm
GardenMart Plant Sale
Silver Spring Garden Club’s annual plant sale fundraiser, GardenMart, is back again at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. Vegetables, herbs, annuals, and perennials. Rain or shine. Cash or check only. More details at www. silverspringgardenclub.com.
• May 10–11
Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s Mother’s Day House & Garden Tour: Check out 11 Capitol Hill homes during this two-day event. A refreshment break with treats from local vendors, in the lobby of 700 Constitution Avenue NE, WDC, is included. See details at https://chrs.org/.
Looking Ahead
• May 20, 2025
Second Annual
Reduce Your Lawn Day!
Register your pledge to reduce your turfgrass lawn and be automatically entered for a chance to win a prize package. See reduceyourlawnday.com.
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 May 5 for the May 2025 issue, for events taking place after May 15. o
Mock Orange
By Kathy Jentz
Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius) is a deciduous shrub with wonderfully fragrant white flowers in the spring and summer. The shrub is a terrific nectar source for butterflies and other pollinators.
Plant it in full sun for the best flowering. It prefers soils that are well-drained and slightly acidic to neutral. This shrub hates to sit in damp ground and usually only needs watering during periods of extended drought.
Fertilize it by spreading a layer of compost around the root zone in spring. A high-nitrogen fertilizer will encourage leafy growth at the expense of the flowers, so be careful not to spread any turf-grass fertilizers around the shrubs when fertilizing a nearby lawn.
The blooms on Mock Orange are most fragrant at night, so be sure to locate it where you can enjoy their wonderful scent.
Mock Orange produces flowers on new wood, so prune the shrub shortly after it finishes blooming each year. If it becomes overgrown, take out about a third of the older stems down to the ground. You can propagate it by taking cuttings in the summer.
It is a native to Europe and hardy to USDA Zones 4 to 8.
Mock Orange is disease- and deer-resistant.
It can grow to 10 feet tall and wide. Dwarf and compact cultivars are available, such as ‘Snowbelle’, which is about 4 feet high, and ‘Illuminati Sparks’, which grows to about 3 feet tall. o
Kathy Jentz is the editor of Washington Gardener
How and When to Repot Houseplants
Repotting scares a lot of people, and it’s true that, if you do it wrong, your plant could meet an untimely demise. Luckily, I’m here to help! With the right info at your disposal, you won’t end up with a dead plant to dispose of. Instead, your plant will be nice and happy in its new digs, ready to grow.
When to Repot
First, it’s important to know when to repot. Mainly, repotting is done when plants start getting, to put it scientifically, “superannoying to water.” If you have a plant that’s already dry when you swear you just watered it two days ago, chances are it’s time for a repot. Your plant’s soil is what holds the water, so if your plant is drinking too fast for you to keep up, it might need a bit of extra dirt to satiate its increasing demands. Think of the soil as your plant’s water bottle. As a plant gets bigger, it drinks more, so it needs a bigger water bottle to suit its needs. It’s like a water bottle for a toddler versus a water bottle for a full-grown adult. Your plant is growing up, and it’s getting thirstier.
Repotting can also serve as first aid for a plant that’s starting to seem a little bit less than happy. If a houseplant’s leaves start turning yellow or falling off, it’s generally one of two things: Either it’s eaten all the nutrients in its soil, or its roots have started to rot from overwatering. Luckily, repotting is the solution, either way.
Controversially, I also tend to repot plants I’ve recently bought, to make sure that they don’t have too much soil. Have you ever taken a plant out of its pot and had a huge chunk of soil fall off? That’s a plant with way too much soil, bound to be overwatered. Sometimes, the plants you buy are sold like that, especially if they’ve recently arrived at the plant store. String of Pearls are especially prone to this, and that’s why they tend to die of overwatering, turning into strings of mush.
At the greenhouses that produce houseplants, watering is down to a science, with sprinklers and timers. It’s safe to assume that most of us don’t live in fancy greenhouses like that, so, for our needs, it’s best that we repot strategically to avoid accidentally drowning our plants.
Picking a Pot Size
If your plant has yellow leaves, you might not be able to know the correct pot size until you check on the roots. Take the plant out of its pot.
By Savannah Scollar
Strange question, but does it smell funny? That’s a sign of root rot, meaning it’s time to move to a smaller pot. Pull gently at the bottom of the rootball. Do clumps of roots come off easily? That’s another sign of root rot. You’ll also want to try rubbing individual roots between your fingers. Do a few checks in different areas. If the roots are mushy, soft, or seem to be shedding like a snake, that’s root rot, too. On the other hand, even with yellow leaves, the roots of your plant could be totally intact. If the roots are sturdy and there are a lot of them, it’s time for new soil and a bigger pot.
Treating Root Rot
If your plant does have root rot, you’ll want to remove a good amount of the soil by swishing the roots around in a bin of water. You’ll want to remove any of those papery or mushy roots, too. After that, your plant can go in a new pot, ideally something transparent, and definitely not terra cotta (it dries too fast). In this situation, skip the soil. Choose sphagnum moss instead, and don’t pack it down too much. Keep it fluffy! The amount of moss should be about equal to the amount of roots, unless your plant is super-tiny. Then, you might want to add a bit extra to avoid things fully drying up.
Repotting Thirsty Plants
than if your plant had been in something solid-colored.
A clear pot doesn’t mean it can’t be stylish. They fit nicely inside decorative containers. You can use any plate or shallow dish as a repurposed saucer. Things that would normally react questionably to water, like wood, wicker, or metal, can be great options if you put a pot and saucer inside. Check the thrift store for cheap, eco-friendly options.
I hinted at it before, but be careful with terra cotta. Those pots are porous, meaning they dry super fast. If you’re not used to that type of pot, I would avoid it, but if it’s what you’ve had success with before, I would keep doing what’s been working for you. Consistency makes things much easier.
Filling the Pot
Now, skip the pebbles. You won’t need them at the bottom of the soil or at the top. At the top, they make it harder for air to reach the roots, so they should be used in moderation if you like the look of them. At the bottom of the pot, rocks don’t actually help with drainage like people think they do.
If your plant has a ton of roots or can’t seem to get enough to drink, you’ll want to pick out a pot that’s around 1 or 2 inches wider than what it’s currently in. It’s tempting to go even bigger, but don’t do it. If your pot’s too big, it’ll be far too easy to overwater. The soil won’t be very forgiving, holding too much water and drowning your plant before it can drink it all. That’s the thing that gives repotting a bad reputation. When people repot into something larger than what a plant needs, the plant becomes destined for a watery grave.
Choosing a Pot Type
It’s time to go shopping. Clear plastic pots are a fan favorite. They can be ordered online, since many shops don’t carry them. I know I carry the 2.5 inch and 4 inch sizes at my shop, Easy Little Plants, while Plants Alive in Silver Spring, MD, tends to have the larger clear pots on hand. With clear plastic pots, you can keep an easy eye on the root and soil situation. You can easily see if things are getting crowded or staying soggy. You can catch any problems a lot faster
There’s this mildly confusing scientific concept called a “perched water table” that explains why adding rocks to the bottom won’t change how much water stays in the soil. I’m more of a botany person than a physics person, so, unfortunately, I can’t quite describe what’s going on there. It’s just important to know that it’s a thing that exists, and it proves that rocks don’t help with drainage. If you’re worried about dirt coming out of the pot when you water your plant, you can place a piece of fine mesh, some tulle, an organza bag, or a coffee filter at the bottom. All those options truly rock!
When choosing soil, it’s best to pick something that’s close to what your plant was in before. That way, the water will be able to spread more easily between the new and old soil, making the moisture more consistent throughout and allowing all of the roots to get something to drink. This will also make it easier for you to keep your plant alive. You won’t have to deal with a new type of soil throwing off your watering game.
When it comes to specific soil brands, there’s no need to splurge. Just continued on page 16
Repotting, continued from page 14 pick something out at the hardware store and you’ll be good to grow.
Now, it’s time to get down to business. It’s important not to work with dry soil. Make sure your soil’s at least a little moist before you start your repotting adventure. This goes for the soil your plant’s been growing in, as well as the new soil you’ll be adding around it. If you work with soil that’s completely dry, you’ll end up with a lot of dust flying into the air. You don’t want to breathe all that in and start coughing, trust me.
I like to set the stage with a random plastic bin or tray. Repotting mats exist, but everyone’s got an empty container lying around the house somewhere. A bin or tray can serve the same purpose for free and make cleanup a lot easier. Dumping a bin is a lot easier than vacuuming and sweeping, so it’s worth the extra step of finding one and laying it down
To make sure your plant stays happy, you won’t want to remove too much of the roots. Just loosen them the tiniest bit. I do this by rolling the rootball (root and soil area) back and forth between my hands, like I’m trying to make a snake out of clay. Do this until you feel like things have loosened up a little. The plants aren’t too picky about how long you spend on this step. If some dirt falls off, that’s totally normal and nothing to worry about. If it doesn’t, that’s normal, too. Next, optionally, add whatever potential soil barrier you have lying around (mesh, etc.). Now, ready or not, put your plant in the pot. If you realize your houseplant needs a little bit of a booster seat, take it out and add some soil underneath. Just make sure you leave a little empty space at the top, so watering your plant won’t result in a waterfall overflowing onto the floor. We’re trying to bring a little nature indoors, but Niagara Falls is not what I’m going for in the living room.
Once the bottom of the pot is taken care of, fill in the sides with fresh soil, and you’ll be all set/ Give your plant a gentle watering (don’t drench it) and it’ll be happy to spread its roots.
With an empty pot left over, it’s absolutely necessary that I go buy a new plant to fill it in—and a few extra plants to keep it company—and some plants for the front yard—and a strawberry smoothie for me, as a treat (maybe even a large). o
Savannah Scollar opened Easy Little Plants (easylittleplants.com), a houseplant shop in Olney, MD, in July 2023. She loves doing research, teaching private workshops, decorating with houseplants, and arranging adorable terrariums
Parsnip, the Ancient Heirloom
Parsnips have been cultivated for their sweet roots since ancient times. The Romans frequently grew the vegetables. In fact, Emperor Tiberius adored parsnips and had them brought from France every year, where the colder climate allowed the roots to develop a sweeter flavor.
The British are particularly fond of parsnips. It was British colonists who introduced the vegetable into the New World in 1609.
Parsnips are native to Europe, but they have been introduced throughout the world, and because they are so hardy, they now grow wild having escaped from cultivated gardens in many areas. The parsnip requires a long growing season, but the distinctive sweet flavor of the root will only develop after a hard frost. Although the parsnip is grown in the southern part of the United States, it has become a favorite of coldclimate gardeners. Because it is one of the hardiest vegetables, it can overwinter easily with careful mulching.
Parsnip ‘Sugar Hollow Crown’ (pictured above) was introduced in 1850 and remains the most popular variety. The white, finegrained flesh is very sweet and tender. It is also an excellent storer.
When planting parsnips, remember that they take a very long time to germinate— around three weeks. Make sure you keep the soil well-weeded until they begin to grow. Parsnips require 130 days to mature if they are planted in the spring. That is a little over four months. When planted in July, parsnips require 156 days to mature. That is a little over five months, but parsnips become sweeter and sweeter when they are exposed to cold and frosts, so the best time to plant them is July.
In Zones 5–7, parsnips should be planted between July 1–10. In Zones 8–10, parsnips should be planted between October 1–10.
In Zones 8–10, it rarely gets cold enough to bring out the intense sweetness in parsnips, but if you treat the soil where the parsnips are going to be grown with lime before you plant the seeds, your parsnips will be plenty sweet enough.
In Zones 5–7, if you mulch heavily before
By Barbara Melera
the ground freezes solid, you can harvest parsnips throughout most of the winter. Parsnips can also tolerate being frozen solid in the ground. Many parsnip gardeners swear that the very sweetest parsnips are those that have been frozen solid and then dug up in the spring after the ground thaws. Parsnips are some of the hardiest vegetables grown. They can freeze solid without losing any of their sweet flavor or compromising their texture.
Parsnips do not like rich, fertile soil; they prefer average soil that is a loose loam. Parsnips are very slow to germinate (approximately three weeks). Direct-seed in early to mid-spring, planting the seeds 1 inch deep, 1 inch apart, in rows 18-24 inches apart. Thin the seedlings to 4-6 inches apart.
Parsnips are fairly easy to grow from seed when planted in late summer or early fall. Turn your garden soil, rake it smooth, and then take your finger and draw a line in the soil approximately 1 inch deep. Sprinkle the seed in the line and cover with soil. Soak the soil and keep it moist until germination occurs, which will happen in approximately 21+ days in the summer. Once the seedlings are 2 inches high, thin to 3–4 inches apart. Fertilize with a high phosphoruspotassium fertilizer every two weeks for six weeks (three applications).
When harvesting parsnips, dig—do not pull the roots after several hard frosts. The roots can be harvested throughout the winter if heavily mulched with straw.
Parsnips can be grown in containers at eight plants in a 14-inch container. Plant seeds 1 inch deep, and when the seedlings are 2 inches tall; thin leaving 4 inches between plants and 1 inch between the plant and the wall of the container. Make sure the soil remains constantly moist until germination occurs. Fertilize with a high phosphorus-potassium fertilizer once a week for 10 weeks. o
Barbara Melera is president of Harvesting History (www.harvesting-history.com), a company that sells horticultural and agricultural products, largely of the heirloom variety, along with garden tools and equipment.
Picking Up Where We Left Off: Spring Native Plants
By Barry Glick
Here are some spring native plants to add to last issue’s column about earlyspring native ephemerals.
On March 4, 1801, a great man took office as the third president of these here United States, and one of the honors bestowed on Thomas Jefferson was to name a great plant after him: Jeffersonia diphylla (pictured above). The commonly used name for Tommy’s plant is “Twinleaf” and you’ll see why instantly when you look at the unique leaf configuration on this very early-spring bloomer. The flowers are extremely ephemeral, so keep your eyes open for the quarter-sized, pure-white flowers because a hard rain will shatter them.
Camassia scilloides has a host of common names, such as Wild Hyacinth, Eastern Camas, and so on. This underappreciated plant grows from a small bulb and is very perennial, but also seeds around and is a great, earlyspring plant for naturalizing in just about any garden in partial to deep shade. The lavender-blue, star-shaped, slightly fragrant flowers are produced on curving 12- to 24-inch stems and make wonderful cut flowers.
Asarum canadense, commonly known as Wild Ginger, is an easy-to-spot
native. I’ve seen extensive colonies along the Greenbrier River Trail in West Virginia and many other places. In good rich soil, leaves can attain diameters of 12" or more. Curiously, 1" flowers are produced under the leaves and are pollinated by ants and other insects. The common name derives from the fact that the roots mimic the flavor of the tropical ginger of commerce—think Canada Dry, etc, In fact, you can get a little buzz if you chew the root and it’s a very acceptable substitute for the tropical ginger in Asian dishes, Uvularia grandiflora is a plant that you won’t forget when you see it. This brilliant specimen of early- to mid-spring splendor is a member of the Lily family. To stumble upon a hillside of brilliantyellow, pendulous flowers in motion with just the slightest breeze is a sight to behold.
When Carl Linnaeus created the International Code Of Botanical Nomenclature, the universal system for naming plants, in the 1700s, he incorporated some elements from the “Doctrine of Signatures.” This doctrine states, “herbs or animals have physical or behavioral traits that mirror the ailment they can successfully treat.” While there is really no merit to this statement
as far as most science dictates, it’s still a lofty notion and most of the plant names are still in modern use. Take Hepatica, for instance: a lovely springblooming native with icy-white flowers and leaves that resemble a human liver, hence the botanical name Hepatica, and the common name of Liver Leaf.
Where do you think the name Uvularia comes from? Here’s a clue and it’s not what the majority of people that I query think. If you’re old enough to remember the SNL Sketch of the 1970s, “It’ll behoove you to take care of your Uvula,” you’ll know. If you want a few laughs, check it out at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=pRoGEWj6ka4
Convallaria montana has a lovely common name, American Lily of the Valley. Actually, that common name could be interpreted as a misnomer to some degree, because this plant, with its solitary, erect stem of brightwhite, extremely fragrant flowers, can be found on shady, forested mountain highlands as well as in valleys. If it’s fortunate enough to be pollinated, those fragrant white flowers will produce attractive, glossy red berries that wildlife will find palatable and nutritious when the snow starts falling.
Well, kids, it’s been nice visiting with you and I hope that I’ve inspired you to go for a walk in the woods this spring and enjoy the fact that you are fortunate to live in one of the most botanically rich areas in the universe.
To find out more, I recommend the comprehensive volume Flora of West Virginia. It was last updated in 1976. It has 1,072 pages packed with all sorts of valuable information and line drawings of more than 2,600 species of plants and trees native to West Virginia and its surrounding states. You can find used copies on Amazon and eBay at very reasonable prices. It is well worth tracking down a copy. 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.
Where Are They Now? A Look Back at Past Profiles...
By Madison Korman
Over the past 20 years, Washington Gardener Magazine has published more than 100 profiles of area gardeners, horticultural professionals, and local green celebrities. We caught up with a few for this anniversary issue to share some updates about them.
Janet Draper
(originally profiled in November 2005)
For nearly 27 years, Janet Draper has been the driving force behind the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, between the Hirshhorn Museum and the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall. Now, as she prepares to retire, Draper is reflecting on a career that has shaped not only a beloved public space, but also generations of visitors who have found joy among its blooms.
“I’ve always said I’d retire when I wasn’t having fun anymore,” Draper said. “And how fortunate am I to actually do that, to say, it’s time, and I’m ready.”
Draper joined the Smithsonian Gardens after working at nurseries in the U.S. and estate gardens in Britain and Germany. When she arrived at Ripley, she found what she called a “1980s” landscape, with large blocks of annuals and little variety. She quickly got to work, transforming the space into a rich, mixed planting that now includes perennials, shrubs, bulbs, and carefully chosen annuals.
“I planted trees that were 6 feet tall; now they’re 20,” she said. “The garden has filled in. It’s pretty lush. And I’ve learned a lot along the way.”
Although part of a larger organization, Draper has long been the garden’s sole full-time caretaker. “Pretty much, I am the full staff,” she said. “I have two and a half volunteers who help me.”
After nearly three decades of 5am alarms and physically demanding labor, Draper said it’s simply time for rest. She doesn’t have firm postretirement plans, just the hope of “new opportunities, new adventures” and maybe even enjoying other people’s gardens without having to pull a single weed.
“I still love the Smithsonian. I’m still wildly crazy about plants,” she said, “but maybe it’s time to stand up and look at a garden instead of getting down in it.”
Kim
Lynch
(originally profiled in October 2020)
Kim Lynch’s impact on urban agriculture and food equity in Prince George’s County has grown tremendously over the years, but her dedication to fostering sustainable, community-driven food systems has remained constant. Through her leadership and collaborative work, she has played a vital role in strengthening local urban farming initiatives, improving access to fresh food, and promoting environmental conservation.
Lynch has served on the planning committee for the Prince George’s County Community Garden Summit since 2022, helping to shape an event that brings together gardeners, farmers, and food advocates to share knowledge and resources. She was also instrumental in launching the Urban Farm Incubator at Watkins Regional Park, working alongside key partners such as ECO City Farms, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District, The Capital Market, and the Food Equity Council.
Her commitment to food equity extends beyond planning initiatives. As a member of the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council and its Urban Farm Support Committee, she advocates for policies and programs that uplift local farmers and increase fresh food accessibility. She has also coordinated major community events, including the 2023 soilSHOP, a collaborative effort with The Capital Market; the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS-MD); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and the Prince George’s County Health Department to provide free soil testing and education on soil safety.
Lynch has worked closely with partners to distribute essential agricultural resources, organizing annual seedling and
seed giveaways with Prince George’s Soil Conservation District colleague Terry Hampton. She has partnered with M-NCPPC Parks to grow Ujamaa Seeds purchased by the district and is expanding efforts this spring with new collaborations involving Gwynn Park High School and the Town of Seat Pleasant.
Recognizing the importance of building community among urban farmers and growers, Lynch has planned and hosted several Bloomin’ PGC Open Mic Nights, fostering discussions on urban agriculture, soil health, and water conservation. She also serves on the Metro Washington Council of Governments Regional Agriculture Workgroup, ensuring that local efforts align with broader regional sustainability goals. Additionally, she contributes to the planning team for the Prince George’s County Envirothon, an annual competition that engages more than 100 students and their coaches in environmental education at the William S. Schmidt Outdoor Education Center.
Most recently, Lynch’s dedication was recognized with the 2024 Maryland Civil Rights Award from the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Maryland Civil Rights Advisory Committee. This honor reflects her unwavering commitment to equity, sustainability, and community empowerment in the agricultural space.
Through her leadership and hands-on involvement, Lynch continues to make a lasting impact on urban agriculture and food justice in Prince George’s County, ensuring that communities have the tools and support needed to grow a healthier, more resilient future. o
Madison Korman is an intern this spring semester with Washington Gardener. She is a recent journalism graduate of UMD College Park. She has enjoyed gardening and cooking from a young age.
Kim Rush Lynch
Bringing Healthy, Sustainable Food Practices to Prince George’s County, MD
By Nicole Noechel
Mythic Plants: Potions and Poisons from the Gardens of the Gods
Author: Ellen Zachos
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
List Price: $22.00
Order Links: https://amzn.to/4cAWC8A and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781523524396
Reviewer: Jim Dronenburg
This is not a gardening book. There are generic garden tidbits applicable to this region, but not many. This is, instead, a look at the Greek and Roman myths, and the plants that figure in them. How they were used (misused?) and what, if any, (any in this case meaning, usually, do-not-trythis-at-home) uses there are for the plants today. I grew up on these myths, even more than most people in my admittedly elderly generation, and I learned quite a lot, here. Authors I didn’t know (listed in the back of the book), details I didn’t have.
A word of caution here. The author cites, for completeness, both authors who were apparently right and those who were dead wrong. For example, Zachos quotes Pliny the Elder as saying that “only the seed of poison hemlock is poisonous.” (And she then says, in red, “This is not true! Do not eat poison hemlock!”) Gotta love it. Also a caution: How one prepares/uses a plant, and what part of it, makes a difference, and, several times in various ways, words to the effect of “the effective dose and the fatal dose are very similar.”
This book is very interesting and I recommend it, but I would not, if the author had not included these caveats. Every book for the curious must try also to protect the credulous/stupid.
Zachos also takes note of the troubles that arise from translations from Ancient Greek and other languages to modern English usage.
The book lists myths about plant origins, usages (Do you want to turn a man into a pig?), protection from same (Do you want to stay a man? Turn the pig back?), foods you did not know (possible identification of “lotus” in “lotus eaters”), supposed medical uses (impotence, priapism, helping to get pregnant, end pregnancy, bring on/help labor, acne—all sorts of ills). It is not by any means a complete “Ancient Materia Medica,” but it’s a fun breeze-through. And sometimes a detail slips through into modern gardening: where Cornelian-cherry will root readily, or that quinces, in Greece, have a long enough season to ripen and become soft and edible without cooking, where, here, they don’t.
Zachos’ tongue is often firmly in her cheek. Lots of pithy comments, but the one that had me howling was the second complete sentence on page 164. Buy this book and read it for yourself. o
Jim Dronenburg is a retired accountant who now gardens full-time in Knoxville, MD
The Healing Garden: Cultivate Your Garden to Treat, Feed, and Soothe
Author: Caroline Parker
Illustrator: Lucy Mora
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Order Link: https://amzn.to/3YFfMV0 and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781760764661
List Price: $34.95
Reviewer: Skylar Drew
The Healing Garden by Caroline Parker is a 215-page illustrated manual and recipe book detailing how to cultivate a personalized herb garden and benefit from its harvests. Parker’s plant profiles and recipes are each accompanied by a beautiful illustration by Lucy Mora, whose artistic style encourages you to explore the book’s contents further. Even if plants and herbal remedies aren’t up your alley, Mora’s mixed-medium masterpieces will have you flipping through to gaze at every page.
Many of the recipes are creative and complex, but Parker’s detailed tips about herb growing and harvesting are great for beginner gardeners and herbalists. From garlic honey to anise ice cream to rhubarb crumble with meadowsweet custard, there’s something in here for everyone.
If cooking, baking, or creating herbal tinctures seems too daunting at first, the “All about your herb garden” section breaks down how to grow an herb garden that serves you best. The book’s tips on bed preparation, composting, mulching, and containers for the indoor gardener are indepth, but not exhaustive. Its instructions on harvesting and drying follow the same style, explaining simply yet effectively how to collect seeds, roots, and berries from each herb. For tea lovers, there’s a section dedicated entirely to creating a potted tea herb garden.
If you’re crunched for time, all 48 herbs featured in this book are condensed into a chart in Chapter 5, outlining how to prepare and use each one in a few words.
The Healing Garden is part of a larger Illustrated garden book series that includes The Kitchen Garden by Lucy Mora and The Preserving Garden by Jo Turner.Herbalists of all experience levels and interests have something to gain from this book, which would make an excellent coffee table read or a gift for a plant-curious friend. o
Skylar Drew is an intern this spring semester with Washington Gardener. She is a senior journalism major at the UMD College Park. She is from Bel Air, Maryland, where she watched her mom grow her garden.
Herbs in Every Season: 48 Edible and Medicinal Herbs for the Kitchen, Garden, and Apothecary
Author: Bevin Cohen
Publisher: Timber Press
List Price: $24.99
Order Links: https://amzn.to/42pSLIk and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781643261966
Reviewer: Madison Korman
Herbs in Every Season explores how sea-
sonal rhythms shape our relationship with plants, weaving together tradition, cultivation, and healing. This thoughtfully structured guide introduces 48 herbs across the four seasons, giving readers not just names and uses, but also rich stories and practical knowledge that root each plant in cultural and medicinal context.
The book opens with a primer about herbal preparation, laying out techniques like distillation, extraction, and capsulemaking. It serves as an accessible entry point for anyone interested in creating their own remedies. From there, the seasonal journey begins with spring—a chapter centered on renewal and planning. It dives into the nuances of planting practices like scarification and stratification while introducing herbs like calendula, chickweed, and poplar. Calendula, in particular, stands out for its versatility. Its tangy, slightly bitter petals are edible, and when dried, can be transformed into oils, lotions, and balms.
Each herb in this section and throughout the book is approached holistically, with guidance about when to forage or cultivate, how to grow it, use it in the kitchen, and harness its apothecary value.
Summer, the season of abundance, focus es on garden design and foraging during long, fruitful days. Herbs like aloe vera, chamomile, lemon balm, and rose are featured, with recipes like a cooling aloe lotion. The tone celebrates the fullness of life in peak bloom, encouraging experimentation and engagement with nature’s offerings.
The autumn chapter shifts into reflection and preparation, highlighting techniques like propagation, stem-cutting, and seed saving. Chicory takes center stage with a colorful tea recipe, while other herbs like coriander, ginkgo, goldenrod, and oregano round out the palette of fall’s herbal gifts. This section feels grounded in transition,
harvesting not just plants but the knowledge and experiences of the growing season.
Finally, winter invites readers inward. It is a season of rest but not of inactivity. The chapter delves into drying and storing herbs, reviewing the year, and setting intentions for what is to come. Herbs like cayenne (featured in a warming joint liniment) cinnamon, fennel, and garlic remind us that even in stillness, healing and preparation are possible.
With its seasonal structure and vivid plant profiles Herbs in Every Season is more than a reference guide. Whether you are a seasoned herbalist or a curious beginner, this book offers the kind of wisdom that grows with you, season after season. o
Madison Korman is an intern this spring semester with Washington Gardener. She is a recent journalism graduate of UMD College Park. She has enjoyed gardening and cooking from a young age.
A Life in the Garden: Tales and Tips for Growing Food in Every Season
Author: Barbara Damrosch
Publisher: Timber Press
List Price: $40.00
Order Links: https://amzn.to/447aFAR and https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781643261812
Reviewer: Beth Py-Lieberman Barbara Damrosch holds hero status for me and a host of others. She’s been described as the “Julia Child of gardening” and a “human search engine” when it comes to cooking and gardening. She’s also an exquisite essayist and her column “A Cook’s Garden” had a faithful following for the 15 years it ran in the Washington Post before concluding in 2017.
Damrosch is the author of the indispensable 2008 classic, The Garden Primer, and with her husband Elliot Coleman, she brought out another chestnut in 2013: The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook Other books, along with her appearances with Coleman on The Learning Channel’s show “Gardening Naturally,” have contributed to her star power. The couple’s commercial market garden, Four Season Farm in Harborside, Maine, has become the gold standard for sustainable, organic food production. (In December of last year, a new generation of organic farmers Molly Friedland and Caleb Hawkins entered into a long-term lease to take over operations of the farm.)
Now, the octogenarian gardening icon has authored a new book, A Life in the Garden: Tales and Tips for Growing Food in Every
Season. Part memoir, part gardening primer, part photo archive and illustration manual, the volume’s nearly 400 pages are chock-full of memories and anecdotes, combined with tool recommendations, planting and harvesting tips, lessons in soil science, and smart advice for controlling pests.
We learn at the opening how Damrosch’s early fascination with farming took hold, despite growing up in the heart of New York City. It stemmed, she writes, from longanticipated summer treks that she and her sisters made by train, taking three days to reach “our own personal Garden of Eden” in Louisiana—her grandparents’ home.
“The land on which their house sat was a green paradise. Flower gardens exploded with color. Tall pecan trees yielded a huge harvest of the nuts that are essential to my cooking. Other trees, such as persimmons, grew fruits I’d neither seen nor tasted up north. And of course, there was a large vegetable garden.”
By the time she was 10, her mother and father would have their own Connecticut home, where they could dig out a patch for asparagus, and young Barbara began to nag her father for her own garden. She even took to digging up the lawn herself.
A black-and-white undated photograph depicts a diminutive Barbara, seemingly overpowered by the mattock she hoisted over her shoulder, helping her father plant pine trees.
“I’ve been hacking up lawns and planting gardens ever since,” she writes. o
Beth Py-Lieberman is the author of the 2023 book The Object at Hand: Intriguing and Inspiring Stories from the Smithsonian Collections. Until her retirement in December, Py-Lieberman served as senior museums editor at the award-winning Smithsonian magazine.
Celebrating Rosie the Riveter and More at Dutch Tulip Days
By Madison Korman
Dutch Tulip Days 2025 was recently held at the residence of Dutch Ambassador Birgitta Tazelaar and brought together guests for a four-day celebration filled with history, tributes, and tulips. With a strong turnout and a full schedule of awards, presentations, seminars, luncheons, and receptions, the event honored the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in a setting beautifully adorned with thousands of tulips.
From the moment guests stepped through the doors, the care and thought behind the event were clear. A grand staircase greeted visitors with a
dramatic display of red, white, and blue tulips, arranged alongside black-andwhite photographs of Dutch citizens celebrating their liberation. It was a striking and emotional tribute that set the tone for the rest of the experience. Each room in the residence offered a different layer of storytelling.
The dining room focused on Anne Frank, honoring her legacy with displays of quotes from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, a quiet but powerful reminder of endurance.
Just down the hall, the living room celebrated the spirit of Rosie the Riveter, the cultural icon who came to
symbolize the contributions of American women during the war. In this space, three women who embodied Rosie’s legacy were recognized. Velma Long, now 107, worked as a typist. Susan King, 101, assembled airplanes in Baltimore. June Robbins, 98, also helped in the war effort. In their honor, a tulip was named Tulipa ‘Rosie the Riveter’, a gesture that felt both fitting and deeply moving.
The tribute continued with a dedication ceremony from Robert Jenson, CEO of Bloomia, who unveiled a statue gifted by the Emma Scott Garden Club. The atmosphere turned celebratory as the musical duo Two for a Song performed wartime classics, bringing joy and a sense of connection to the women’s stories.
From the history embedded in every display to the vibrant tulips lining each room, Dutch Tulip Days was more than just an event. It was a living memorial, a celebration of strength, and a reminder of the beauty that can grow even from the most difficult moments in our shared past. o
Madison Korman is an intern this spring semester with Washington Gardener. She is a recent journalism graduate of UMD College Park. She has enjoyed gardening and cooking from a young age.
Women from Maryland and Virginia who worked as “Rosies” during World War II were in attendance.
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SPRING 2011
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