"There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder."
~ Alfred Austin
"There is no gardening without humility. Nature is constantly sending even its oldest scholars to the bottom of the class for some egregious blunder."
~ Alfred Austin
In this episode, we talk with Marianne Willburn, author of Tropical Plants and How to Love Them, about gardening with tropical plants. The plant profile is on strawberries and we share our upcoming events and local gardening news!
This week's weather was still fairly cool for this time of year and breezy with just a spot of rain, so I've had to water the plot a few times to keep the lettuce and turnip seedlings from drying out.
We had two crops from the radishes this week. The one shown above and a second one of the edible seed pods. I'll be sharing more about that second one in the next issue of Washington Gardener Magazine.
At the Silver Spring Garden Club's GardenMart sale last weekend. I bought a 'Sungold' tomato plant along with some 'Shishito' and sweet peppers, a few different basils, swiss chard, several herbs, and some unusual cutting-garden plants. I hope to get these planted up in the next week or so.
The strawberries are SOOOOO close to ripening. If nothing else gets me over to the plot regularly, it will be the anticipation of eating those first red berries of the season!
How is your edible garden growing?
About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.
In this episode, we talk with Hala Elbarmil, the Greenhouse and Gardens Coordinator at George Mason University, about grafting fruit trees. The plant profile is on Hardy Ferns and we share our upcoming events and local gardening news!
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This week's weather was up and down -- rain, winds, hot, and cold -- a little of everything.
I was pleased to see the fava bean plants have set flowers (see pic above) and the strawberries are setting lots of fruits.
All of the seedlings, except the carrots (no sign of them yet), are growing well and need another round of thinning soon.
We picked lettuces and radishes today. I also chase a fat rabbit out of the garden and into the nearby park. Call me "Mrs. McGregor," if you like, but that bunny is not getting plump on my produce!
Elsewhere in the plot, the potato plants put on a great growth and I am now letting the asparagus bolt.
The purple broccoli look like they may bolt any second too. So I may go back and cut the heads tomorrow to eat them then pull the plants to make way for all the seedlings I am buying at the Silver Spring Garden Club's GardenMart sale tomorrow. I already snagged a 'Sungold' tomato plant during set-up today and expect to pick up several more tomatoes and also basils, peppers, and maybe a few swiss chard plants too.
How is your edible garden growing?
About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.
Hardy Ferns, those ferns that are perennial to the Mid-Atlantic United States, come in a variety of green hues from the bright, yellow-green of Ostrich Fern to the dark blue-green of the Christmas Fern. Some ferns have dark stems like the Maidenhair Fern and others have rusty-brown parts like the Tassel Fern or Cinnamon Fern. The Japanese Painted Fern practically glows with its silvery highlights.
Ferns can have many garden uses from edging plants to groundcovers and even featured in containers.
They are deer-proof and have few pests. They thrive in consistently moist, well-draining soils with lightly dappled to full shade. Most ferns also appreciate a top-dressing of composted leaves.
Colonies of fern can spread and clumps expand over time. They are fairly easy to dig and divide in spring once the new growth has emerged. Speaking of the new growth, is there anything cuter than the newly emerging fiddleheads in early springtime?
Ferns are low-care. Some may die-back entirely in the winter time in our region, while others hold on to their fronds during the cold months. By late winter, you will want to cut them back though as they will look a bit ratty and tattered.
From the Lady Fern to the Royal Fern, there is sure to be one that works well in your garden. Once you start collecting ferns, you may find it hard to stop.
Hardy Ferns - You Can Grow That!
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What is a spring in the Mid-Atlantic without abundant azalea blooms? Masses of bright blossoms make for a wonderful sight after a long, cold winter. Sure, they can be over-used at times, but the reason we love them so much is because they are so successful and reliable in our gardens.
Azalea season runs from April through June with early-, mid-, and late-season blooming shrubs. (Though technically, with the new re-blooming varieties, the flowering season can extend through fall.) Be sure to re-visit some of these locations through-out the several weeks of bloom so you can enjoy the changing mix of colors as different varieties wax and wane.
A few years ago, Washington Gardener Magazine asked local azalea fans for their favorite bloom viewing spots in our region. “I’ve always enjoyed the ride along Prosperity Avenue between Little River Turnpike and Route 50 in Fairfax County, VA. Many homes have beautiful, mature azaleas,” said Rick Bauer, president of the Northern Virginia Chapter, Azalea Society of America.
“My first place vote will always go to the National Arboretum,” said Mike Welsh, retired city gardener for Takoma Park, MD. “It has everything: a great collection, many different forms and varieties, wonderful lay of the land for viewing, and a central location. By far, a fascinating lore and history. It gets better, year after year. All one needs do is to go and look at the faces of whose visiting and witness first-hand their expressed pleasure and their interaction with those beautiful azaleas.”
Mike’s professional gardening domain was Takoma Park, MD, which is well-known for its many beautiful azaleas, in both private and public gardens. The location is the former home of Benjamin Y. Morrison, the famed horticulturalist who was the founder and first director of the U. S. National Arboretum. Morrison is noted for cross-breeding different strains of azaleas to produce the Glenn Dale azaleas, which are prevalent today throughout the eastern United States. Morrison lived near Piney Branch Road and many of his Glenn Dale introductions can be seen throughout the city’s private home gardens and public parks.
Azaleas at the USNA bonsai collection. Photo courtesy of DCGardens.com |
Today is Amazon Prime Day, so I thought I'd again share the garden products I use almost every day. These are the tried-and-true w...