Awesome Annuals for the Garden

Angelonia Serenita Mix courtesy of National Garden Bureau

If you have a flower garden, chances are you grow a few annuals. For a while perennials were the fashionable family and annuals were almost forgotten. At least they were forgotten in conversation and garden articles, but to keep a garden in bloom from spring into fall annuals are essential. Each perennial will bloom for its three or four week period, but an annual will bloom all summer.

It is no wonder that some of our favorite plants are annuals: marigolds, zinnias, nasturtiums, cosmos, lobelia, lantana and verbena and calendula as well as vining plants like sweet peas and morning glories. These plants are all familiar, and yet there are new forms and colors almost every year.

Recently I visited LaSalle’s Florist in Whately and saw that the beautiful bright blue lobelia that I love is also available in a raspberry pink, white, and a pale, delicate blue.  How to choose?

Renee’s Garden Seeds are sold locally and this company is especially known for its sweet peas. ‘April in Paris’ is a modern sweet pea but old fashioned fragrance has been wed to the large creamy yellow flowers, while ‘Color Palette Cupid’ is a mixture of pale pastel flowers borne on short vining stems that make it perfect for a container. Among the 27 varieties are “Royal Wedding’ an antique white sweet pea, and the pink and red ‘Painted Lady’ which was the first named sweet pea cultivar.

I love zinnias. There are short Tom Thumb zinnias with neat little blossoms, and tall shaggy ‘Raggedy Ann’ zinnias, both in a paintbox full of colors. There are also two unique zinnias ‘Green Envy’ which provides the pale green flower that flower arrangers love, and “Polar Bear’ a white zinnia. White is a very unusual color for zinnias and marigolds.

Three of the newer annuals, at least new to me, are the calibrachoa or million bells, angelonias and gomphrenas. Most familiar may be the calibrachoas which have been very popular for hanging baskets and containers because of the interesting colors of the flowers and their graceful habit. Proven Winners has a whole garden full of color in their Superbells series. Among others there is a trailing white, trailing deep blue and a trailing rose. I particularly like ‘Blackberry Punch’ with rich purple/magenta petals around a golden heart.  You will find a large array of Superbells, and millions bells plants in local garden centers and they are great container plants.

Last year I grew angelonia for the first time, but it will not be the last time. I grew a fragrant purple variety, but it also comes in pink and white. It is sometimes called a summer snapdragon, but the flowers are smaller on a one to two foot spire and the bloom period is much longer. No deadheading required. It looks delicate, but loves hot sunny locations, attracts butterflies and is drought tolerant.

I also grew gomphrena or globe amaranth last year. This is another easy annual with clover-like flowers, actually bracts surrounding insignificant flowers , that attracts butterflies and is also drought tolerant once it is established. It can grow to 24 inches and is available in pink, purple and a bright red. It blooms all summer and then dries well for autumnal flower arrangements.

Petunias are a standard summer annual that have been hybridized in wonderful new ways. There are double flowers, and stripey flowers and flowers that are ‘self-cleaning; which means they don’t have to be deadheaded to remain in bloom. ‘Wave’ and ‘Supertunia’ are petunias that are self-cleaning which makes them especially useful for locations where they can’t easily be deadheaded, or for gardeners who really don’t understand deadheading

All blooming annuals need full sun. I find I am paying attention to whether a plant is drought tolerant because I cannot water my ornamental gardens. Since I have a well, the water is too precious during a dry period to spend it on flowers, although I water my vegetables as well as I can.

If you use containers for your annual plantings, as many do, you must remember to water them regularly. Containers dry out very quickly. Terra cotta pots dry out most quickly, but even plastic and resin containers dry out because the plants are always breathing and lose moisture through their respiration, not to mention hot summer breezes blowing across the container. Don’t forget a regular fertilizing schedule to keep them nourished.

As suitable as they are for containers, alone or in combination with other plants, annuals also have an important place in the flower border. They can even be used as a border. Low growing zinnias, marigolds, gomphrena or petunias can provide a wonderfully floriferous edging.

Annuals can also be used among perennials and shrubs for color. Tall cosmos are really wonderful in the garden, and have plenty of blossoms to spare for cutting.

Some people have room to plant a couple of rows of annuals to be used specifically for cutting and bouquet making. This way they don’t have to worry about denuding the garden in order to have flowers for the house, or to for gifts.

As many of you know, impatiens plants have been struck by a persistent downy mildew fungus, and will be hard to find at garden centers. Other annuals that can take their place in the shade include New Guinea impatiens, Sunpatiens, torenia, angelonia, and ivy geraniums,

Between the Rows  May 4, 2012

My Essential Garden Tools

My essential tools

When faced with the array of garden tools at the garden center, a new gardener can be forgiven for being confused and unsure of how to decide what is needed. There are all manner of shovels and rakes, trowels, cultivators, and weeders, as well as grass clippers, pruning shears and loppers. Where to begin? How much of an investment will be required?

In fact, very few tools are absolutely necessary, as any experienced gardener who finds herself using the same handful of tools, will tell you. Over the years I have accumulated a number of tools, some of which are very useful, but are rarely called into action. The tools I use most often are a heavy duty red handled trowel that has inch measurements on the blade; a Korean hand hoe; a cultivator claw; a Cobrahead weeder; and a pruning shears. The Korean hand hoe (or plow) is my very favorite, useful for digging, cultivating, weeding, and making furrows. I’ve gotten many of my tools from a wonderful local company, OESCO in Conway. They do mail order, too.

What this collection of favorites tells you about my garden technique is that I like to work on my hands and knees. I even usually wash my floors on my hands and knees. I have a regular spade and a short handled garden spade which are necessary when breaking sod or turning over a garden bed, or digging out a perennial for division, but after that rough work is done I am on my knees.

Other gardeners like to do as much as possible standing up. One day I was talking to Ev Hatch, an experienced farmer and gardener, and he said his favorite tool was the hoe. A hoe is a basic tool and like all basic tools it comes in a variety of forms. The Johnny’s Selected Seeds catalog shows several types. The hoe that I have used most successfully is what Johnny’s calls a stirrup hoe.

One thing my five favorite tools have in common is that they are all very sturdy and of good quality. A first time gardener may wince at the cost of a $20 trowel, but mine has served me well for some years. It is possible to buy less expensive tools, and they may last for long enough for the gardener to learn how he works, and what he likes or dislikes in a hand tool.

One drawback to many hand tools is that they have green or wooden handles. This makes them very easy to lose in the garden. In earlier years my husband ran over a number of my tools with the lawn mower turning them into fascinating little sculptures, and doing the mower no good at all. I have one friend who always wraps his tool handles with orange tape. He says this has saved him a lot of money over the years. I like my red handled tools, but I painted the wooden handle of my Korean hoe yellow, about as bright as orange..

Of course, over the course of a few years, a collection of garden tools can grow substantially. Sometimes you find you need a special tool, like a dandelion digger which is very efficient for digging out dandelions and other weeds. Sometimes you are given a tool as a gift, or can’t resist a good tool at a tag sale. And sometimes you inherit tools and these can be very special because they bring not only utility, but fond memories.

I confess that when I was at a garden talk recently I bought a little bright red shrub rake which has a short and narrow fan of teeth. I love all things red, but it is also similar to the little rakes that the Blossom Brigade uses on the Bridge of Flowers. Maybe if I have a rake like theirs, I will also acquire some of their skill and discipline.

Because I have roses growing in grass, shrubs and small trees I have a small array of tools to handle some special chores. I have grass clippers to trim the grass around the roses which is a big job. Good quality clippers help make it go more easily. I have my Felco #8 pruner which is all I need for pruning the roses. I have even learned how to sharpen them with a file.

Other pruning tasks in my garden take only long handled loppers and my small saw which was (amazingly) bought at the Museum of Modern Art in New York many years ago.

Once you have your tools, you need to organize them. I hang my spades and rakes on the wall of my little garden shed, and keep my hand tools in a trug, a wooden basket made for tool carrying. This tool-filled trug lives right by our main door, where it is always handy. I am ready for the real start of the growing season.

Today the Greenfield Farmers Market Season begins, too. The Farmers Market on Court Square will open at 8 am and close at 12:30. Cooks and gardeners will be able to find fresh greens, cheese, bread, honey, maple syrup and vegetable starts and perennial plants. There will be the music of Co-op Jazz from 10 til noon! For full details about the Farmers Market check their website http://greenfieldfarmersmarket.com. Farmers Markets in Ashfield, Bernardston, Charlemont, Conway and Shelburne Falls will be starting soon.

Between the Rows  April 27, 2013

John Sendelbach

John Sendelbach outside his studio gallery

John Sendelbach is a man of many parts. Most recently some people have come to know him as the winner of the commission to create “Brookie” a graceful ten foot silver sculpture of a brook trout. It will be made of cutlery, reminding us of our industrial history, as well as the natural beauties of the river. This sculpture will be placed at the entry to Greenfield on Deerfield Street later this year.

Some know Sendelbach because of the stone fountain on the Bridge of Flowers, This beautiful work was the result of an amazing collaboration between Paul Forth, stone mason, and Julie Petty, then co-chair of the Bridge of Flowers committee, and himself.

Still others know him because of the stone walls and pergolas he designed and built in their private gardens, and others for the elegant metal wall sculptures that hang on their walls.

It is clear to me that all these parts reflect his sense of design and beauty in the home as well as in the landscape. But his training began when he attended Cornell University and majored in floriculture and ornamental horticulture.

He then came to the University of Massachusetts and worked toward a landscape architecture and regional planning degree. There he met Chris Baxter and the two formed Whirlwind Fine Garden Design, designing and building residential landscapes.

That business still exists, but after a visit to the Paradise City Arts Festival Sendelbach said his world changed. “I had never seen anything like that. The art world was off my radar. I saw beautiful metal and stone objects. While I had dabbled art, something suddenly clicked. I thought I could make art to sell.”

It is art he has been making ever since. “Because I was a landscape person, that is where I went with my art. I had already been building garden structures like pergolas and working with wood and stone, but since garden art has to be durable I focused on metal and stone,” he said.

John Sendelbach’s studi0

The Metal Stone Arts Gallery  in Shelburne Falls is where Sendlebach does some of his work turning old bicycle rims and washing machine drums into art. Visitors to the gallery sometimes place a special commission, and sometimes they ask for a bit of metal repair. Sendelbach can do it all.

The natural world certainly influences his art. The large stylized stone salamander and newt sculptures he created in Amherst parks make use of the spiral. He said “I think the spiral is a compelling form. People walk it, like a labyrinth. It’s a good way of getting people to engage with the art.”

When I look at some of the humorous sculptures around Sendelbach’s gallery I realize how very timid I have been about employing art in my own garden.  At the same time I recognize the truth of Sendelbach’s statement that “art is a way to bring the human element into the garden, humanity expressed through sculpture.”

He also says, “Art is a critical element in the garden. It provides a focal point for the eye, or for a stroll which may be a point of discovery as you come around a corner.”

Some of Sendelbach’s garden sculptures are functional like his unusual birdbaths, but I was taken by a little stone creature that I immediately named Joy. I could imagine coming around a corner and surprising him in his ecstatic dance, an ode to sun and flower. This little creature expresses just how I feel in the garden, rising from my knees to twirl in the sun.

Sendelbach has found his own joy in his gallery, a joy that goes beyond the satisfying work. “My experience at the shop has been a transition into the community. I’ve never had this experience before . . Art has led me to community.”

John Sendelbach’s ‘Footloose’ – or Joy

No matter how simply we begin our gardens, an element of design is always present. Will be plant a round posy patch? Will we put a row of evergreen shrubs against our house foundation? Will we underplant the trees along our property line with spring blooming perennials?  All these decisions involve questions of form, and color and function, whether we are thinking in terms of design or not.

In addition, there are elements that we usually think of as design elements while they are also functional elements. Walkways, stone walls, patios and pergolas are all design elements that can make our gardens more welcoming and hospitable.

Between the Rows  April 20, 2013

Spring Chores in the Garden

It is time to begin spring chores. But exactly how do we know when spring is beginning? A tough question. The only sure answer is that it did not begin on March 20 this year when the temperature was 16 degrees at 7 in the morning and remained cold and cloudy all day.

It was a very different story last year when the snowdrops were in full bloom and my first temperature record was 54 degrees with sun. The first day of spring 2012 led us into several warm days that had me planting lettuce, radishes and beets in the Early Garden in front of the house. I also started working in the main fenced garden, but this year I hadn’t even tried trudging through the snow to the main garden until April 7^th..

As far as I can tell from my records the last frost last year was April 6. Amazing. There were cold and chilly days after that, to be sure, but my temperature readings, usually taken around 7 a.m., do not go below 30 and I do not note frost. Actually all of us can remember what an early spring we had with a fair amount of rain.

So how do we try to figure out a planting schedule based on estimated number of weeks from last frost?  Memorial Day weekend seems too timid, but this year I am starting to feel timid again.

What spring chores can we do? I finally got out and did some clean-up raking, because the snow had melted on the south slope in front of the house. However, I know spring raking and clean up is well begun in the lower elevations.

The calendar says seeds can be started in Heath, and I do have a few seedlings sprouted. I bought more peat pots, and more seeds are being planted, parsley, basil, and broccolini.  At the same time, I am hoping that I can plant peas in the ground within a week or two. Last year at this time I was planting seeds and seedlings in the Front Garden, and in the main garden. I did not trust the warm weather and covered all plantings with floating row covers. They protected tender seedling from the cold and from the rabbits that have been such a problem.

A walk in the main garden on Wednesday showed me that the melting snow is sending little streams of water here and there, occasionally making a little waterfall into a mole hole. There will be no planting here for a while.

It’s time to get out the pruners to thin out red and black raspberry canes.  My husband just took the loppers and a saw to do a major pruning of the Sargent crabapple. It is now much more horizontal and architectural. I still have to do some of the finer pruning. Sargent crabs love to be pruned.

Any perennials that were left to provide winter interest or food for the birds can be cut back in preparation for the new growth. I am always surprised at how early and how quickly perennials grow in the spring. This is a time when I can also start thinking about which perennials can be divided  and shared with the Bridge of Flowers plant sale in May.

To make sure I am not forgetting some of the obvious garden tasks that can be done in this early season I have been reviewing  the Week by Week Vegetable Gardener’s Handbook written by Ron Kujawski and Jennifer Kujawski.  Ron was an Extension Educator at the University of Massachusetts for 25 years and I know I can always look to him for good advice and information.

The Kujawski’s Handbook is useful not only because it gives you practical information about every aspect of vegetable gardening from soil building, starting seedlings, container plantings and controlling insects, and on through the harvest, the book is arranged like a three year garden journal so you can put in your own weather and planting records that will help you with your own garden planning.

Father and daughter Kujawski give tips about “petting” vegetable seedlings to help them be sturdier, the value of vinegar and clove oil to kill weeds, how to handle squash borers,  and a whole list of trouble-shooting to handle plant symptoms.

They also describe a slightly different technique of sheet composting. In the fall they dig a foot deep trench, fill it with six inches of kitchen waste (vegetable matter only) and then top it with soil. It will rot over the winter and in the spring you will have a rich fertile planting bed.

This is a technique that I have also heard referred to as ‘trench’ composting. One friend told me she essentially used this method, but she dug large round holes, and filled them halfway with kitchen waste, then soil. She marked each hole with a stake and planted her squash and pumpkins there in the spring.

Please let me know how far have you gotten with your spring chores. Once spring takes hold, the race is on.

Between the Rows  April 6,2013

Hydrangea – A Beautiful Blooming Shrub

Hydrangea in full bloom

My life with hydrangeas did not begin well. When I moved to Grinnell Street in 1971 several tortured and overgrown white hydrangeas grew in front of the porch. I don’t know what kind they were but they did not please me. I cut them down, and ultimately planted three dwarf apple trees in the narrow space between the sidewalk and the porch. This was probably not a good idea, but we moved to Maine in 1974 so the problem was not mine, and the new owner did remove those trees.

It was not until about 15 years ago that I noticed and fell in love with the virburnams with their early spring lacecap blossoms. I did plant a viburnam, or highbush cranberry, to get bigger lacecap blossoms, but I also saw that some hydrangeas had airier blossoms than those on the dense mopheads.

Then, while visiting Nasami Farm one day I saw a very airy hydrangea there named Mothlight,  and because it was hardy to Zone 3, I bought it and planted it in my new Lawn Bed. I soon realized that I made the mistake that so many gardeners make and did not picture my Mothlight as a mature plant.

Mothlight is planted on the east side of the Lawn Bed and only about 6 feet away from the west side of the bed where I planted a weeping birch. It seemed like a lot of space at the time, but it is not. I am happy to say they are both doing very well, but the weeping birch is weeping towards the east, and I had not envisioned the Mothlight achieving a height of over eight feet.

Hydrangea “Mothlight”

Mothlight blossoms are not lacecaps, but they are more airy than mopheads. It is the stature of the shrub itself that I had not planned for. Fortunately the Mothlight hydrangea belongs to the Hydrangea paniculata family. The word paniculata refers to the shape of the blossom which is kind of cone shaped. One trait of this group of hydrangeas is their tolerance of pruning. They can be pruned in the fall or the spring. They are the only hydrangeas that can be pruned into a tree shape.

So I have pruned the ‘backside’ of Mothlight to keep it somewhat out of the way of the weeping birch and so they march on together.

Needless to say, these hydrangeas do not need to be pruned every year, especially when they are young. Dead or crossing branches can be taken out at any time. Much of the pruning I have done on Mothlight is to control the size and shape.

I have also planted other hydrangeas. After coming to the realization of how big and dense the shrubs can be, I planted three at the eastern edge of the lawn where I imagined they would form a hedge and would eliminate another bit of lawn. Two of them, Quick Fire and Limelight also belong to the hardy paniculata family. Limelight blooms in a shade of pale green in summer, turning to pink in the fall. Quick Fire buds open white then change to a gentle pink and then to a deep pink in the fall. It blooms a full month earlier than Limelight so a very long season of bloom is promised for the planned hedge.

The third member of the hedge is our native hydrangea, H. quercifolia, or the oakleaf hydrangea. The leaves are indeed large and oakleaf shaped. They will turn beautiful shades of orange, red and burgundy in the fall. Unlike the paniculatas, the oakleaf hydrangea can only be pruned before August, before the shrub sets its buds for the following year. This is what is meant by a shrub that blooms on ‘old wood.’ Because the bush will still be blooming, not every blooming branch should be cut back at the same time.

The mophead hydrangeas, H. macrophylla, is a more tender family that includes the pink or blue Endless Summer series. They bloom on old wood, and like the oakleaf hydrangea must be pruned before August.

Hydrangea macrophylla normalis is the lacecap hydrangea and also blooms in shades of pink and blue as well as white.

The final family of hydrangeas is the H. arborescens which includes the popular, low growing white Annabelle. Invincibelle is the deep pink form of Annabelle.

Hydrangeas can take some afternoon shade, but here in Heath I do not need to worry about their getting too hot. Choose a spot where there will be plenty of room to grow and spread. They need the sun to thrive and bloom. They need to be well watered, especially in the first year or two. At the same time, they cannot be planted where they will have wet feet. The soil must drain well.

Do not plant hydrangea too deeply. Dig a generous hole. Loosen the roots after taking it out of the pot and set it on the bottom of the planting hole so that it is just at soil level. Mix compost to the soil that is returned to the planting hole. Water well.

Fertilizing should be done in the spring and in July. Do not fertilize any later in the year. I spread compost and composted manure around my hydrangeas.

Hydrangeas have become very popular and your garden center is likely to have many varieties and you are sure to find one that will suit.

Between the Rows   April 6, 2013

Kiss My Aster by Amanda Thomsen

Kiss My Aster by Amanda Thomsen

With snow on the ground in Heath it is hard to believe that spring is here and gardening season has begun. I have seedlings planted and sitting on my new heat mat in the guest room, but not a shoot in sight. Yet.

Since this spring is somewhat delayed there is still time to think about planting a small vegetable garden, even if you have never had one before. Or maybe you wish you had a flowery place to sit outside. 0r maybe you wish you had shade and a cool place to relax. The wild and witty Amanda Thomsen of the famous Kiss My Aster blog has just given us Kiss My Aster: A Graphic Guide to Creating a Fantastic Yard Totally Tailored to You. This book for the beginning gardener with it jolly cartoon-ish illustrations will help you sort out what kind of gardener you might be to garden design.

Thomsen has real insight into the mind and psyche of the new gardener. You can tell because on Page 14 she asks, “Overwhelmed? Don’t be. You’re just reading a book. Wait until you’re knee deep in quick set concrete before you freak out.” Does that tell you what kind of gardener she is?

For all her smart aleck frivolity and word play, Thomsen walks you through figuring out what can grow in your area, including taking a camera tour through your neighborhood to see what other people are growing This tour will give you inspiration and information Then you can show the photos of the plants you like to the people at the garden center, get them identified and buy them. She is full of slick tips like this.

Kiss My Aster is helpful to the gardener when she is planning to make her yard more beautiful and/or needs more information about starting a vegetable garden. In either case Thomsen gives brief information about individual plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals for sun or shade. Herbs, too.

Thomsen doesn’t think you necessarily have to read this book from beginning to end. She even encourages you to look here and there. “To create the privacy of a hermit, turn to What Neighbors? Page 75” or “For a new and improved be, border or berm, turn to Soil Yourself page 62” or “Got a problem? Consult Weeds Happen page 154.” She includes a sustainability quiz. You get the idea.

Amanda Thomsen is great fun, but she gives good information and advice. She doesn’t think you have to do everything yourself. She is happy to suggest getting in some temporary help to do heavy jobs. She pays attention to the limits of resources, human and natural. She is even willing to hire a professional gardener or a garden coach. Sometimes the garden coach can be a good friend, or a good friend who knows a good gardener. That’s my additional advice.

When I have talked to people about starting a garden, or wanting to ‘do something’ with their yard, I always start out by asking what they want. Do they want a vegetable garden? Keep the first one small, I always say. Think about what you like to eat and plant that. Dig in compost before planting. And then I tell them they can get good compost locally from Martin’s Farm or Bear Path Farm. They don’t have to wait until they have made their own.

If they want to do something with their yard I ask what they like to do in their yard? Or what would they like to do? Do they want a patio where they can barbecue and visit with friends? Do they want a privacy barrier between them and their neighbor? Do they want flowers but don’t know a daisy from a phlox?

After identifying what they want in their yard, patio, vine covered fence, or a flower garden, I usually ask how much time they have to garden. Couples with children at home usually have less time than couples whose children are grown, although they may have responsibilities to older parents. What are your family responsibilities? Community responsibilities?

After you consider your desires and your constraints, it is time to begin. I recently came across a quote from the avant-garde composer. John Cage (1912-1992). He said “Begin anywhere.”  I liked that. We might hesitate, but begin. What’s the worst that can happen? Change is the nature of a garden. It will change itself. Or you can make changes. Either way, change in the garden is inevitable. Begin and learn. Begin and embrace change.

Between the Rows  March 30, 2013

Bringing Nature Home at the Master Gardener’s Spring Symposium

Dr. Douglas Tallamy

Dr. Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, was the keynote speaker at the Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners Spring Symposium last week. His talk focused on the need for more insects to make our gardens – and the world – healthier and more ecologically balanced. “A mere 1 % [of all insects] interact with humans in negative ways. The other 99 % pollinate plants, return the nutrients tied up in dead plants and animals to the soil, keep populations of insect herbivores in check, aerate and enrich the soil, and as I keep stressing, provide food either directly or indirectly for most other animals,” Tallamy writes in his book and illustrated in his talk.

Bringing Nature Home

His enlightening talk covered a lot of ground, but two ideas made a particular impression on me. The first was the idea of the environmental carrying capacity of our local landscape, and ultimately of the whole earth. The term carrying capacity refers to the amount of resources needed to sustain a certain population. It is easy to understand that a given population of insects, or birds or whatever, will decline when the food they require decreases.

So, what happens when, for example, the emerald ash borer, which is a threat inMassachusettsright now, were to kill all the ash trees? Forty-four insect species rely on the ash tree to survive. No ash trees; no more 44 insect species. And that means reduced food for the creatures who depend on those insects so their populations will decline as well. Insects are the very bottom of the food chain and we usually do not consider how important they are to the wildlife that we enjoy. At least, that is true for me.

Tallamy said many people ask him why insects can’t eat some other tree or plant? He explains that over thousands of years plants and insects have evolved together. The insects’ digestive systems have adapted/evolved to digest the particular chemicals in a plant’s foliage. They cannot immediately adapt to a new plant. That is one of the reasons that invasive plants can take over. The food web of insects, birds and wildlife cannot keep the invading plants in check.

The second idea Tallamy put forth is that not all native plants are equal. Some plants support many more species of wildlife than others. This was an eye opener for me. I have been talking about the benefits of native plants for a long time, but this idea never occurred to me. As you might expect, trees are the most productive in having what it takes to support many insects and birds. Trees are big. But even here, some trees are more productive than others. In his book, and on his website, www.bringingnaturehome.net, Tallamy lists the 22 of the best woody plants beginning with oaks that support 534 species, down to the chestnut which supports 125 species. Black cherries, maples and willows are also highly productive.

If we don’t have the room to plant an oak or two, we might be able to fit in a crabapple or some blueberries. We can plant asters, morning glories and lupines in our ornamental gardens. We can not only marvel at and admire the lupine meadows that some people in our area have cultivated, we can thank them for supporting 33 species of wildlife.

Those lupine meadows also remind up that birds and other pollinators need clumps of productive native plants. Their eyesight is not always good so they need big clumps of a useful plant to catch their attention. Tallamy pointed out that 80% of our food crops are pollinated by animals. It is clear that supporting that wildlife is very important in our area where there is a growing number of farms.

Lately I have been talking about the benefits of reducing the size of our lawns. Tallamy said that 92% of landscape-able land is lawn, lawn which is a monoculture that does not support wildlife. He suggested that if we reduced the amount of lawn in theUnited Statesby half we would have 20 million acres that could be put to native trees and other native plants. This would certainly increase the carrying capacity of our neighborhoods and our nation.

Suburban yards can play an enormous part in restoring the health of our ecosystem. A whole neighborhood that includes a substantial number of native trees, shrubs and other plants can make a significant impact.

I am so grateful to the Western Massachusetts Gardeners for bringing us this excellent program that included Ellen Sousa of Spencer and the author of The Green Garden, as well as workshops on making compost, hypertufa containers and bentwood trellises that not only make our gardens healthful and productive, but beautiful as well.

Their Spring Symposium is their big educational effort of the year, and there are two more Symposia coming up on April 6 in Holyokeand April 13 in Lenox. Check their website http://www.wmassmastergardeners.org/ for complete details. However, they hold soil testing events, phone and email hotlines where you can get your questions answered, and lots of question answers right on the website. They even have a speakers bureau that can send a speaker to your club, or class, or other organization. If this is of interest to you send an email to toigraham@charter.net for more information.

Now I am wondering how many of us will find a place to plant an oak. Or a crabapple.

Between  the Rows -  March 23, 2013

Small Flowering Trees for the Garden

Sargent crabapple May 26

“I’m not old enough to have shrubs!” a friend wailed at me one day while we were looking at her garden and she was trying to figure out how to make it more manageable. Well, small blooming trees may be the answer for those of us who are getting older. We might realize that a mixed border that includes small trees and shrubs will demand less work.

The ornamental small blooming tree I have in my garden is a Sargent crab. It was a gift from a friend more than 15 years ago. Any cultivar name it might have had is gone and forgotten. I planted it in the center of our Sunken Garden, where three 5 foot stone walls are what remains of a large barn that was hit by lightning and burned down in 1990.

My idea was that the tree would be the centerpiece of a garden with flower borders edging the stone walls. Those borders are also gone due to a changing water table that has made the Sunken Garden wet, even squishy at the south end, well into June. Now the Sunken Garden is mostly a rough lawn except for the Sargent crab which is about 12 feet high with an equal spread, a magnificent billow of blossom in May.

The books will say that the Sargent crab needs a moist, well drained site in full sun. Mine has full sun, and the soil is more than moist all spring, and yet it thrives. The tiny red buds appear, then open into white flowers along each branch before the foliage appears. Tiny red fruits appear in late summer and last into the fall, much appreciated by the birds.

Witch Hazel – Hamamelis

A neighbor has an amazing witch hazel, Hamamelis ‘Arnold’s Promise, that produces its twirly golden blooms long before forsythia comes into bloom. I remember being mystified by how this sunny plant could be fragrantly blooming in a garden where nothing else was flowering.

Since first becoming aware of witch hazels I have found other varieties, most of which will reach a height between 12 and 15 feet. Witch hazels prefer a moist well drained soil and they tolerate some shade but flower better if given full sun. Two other cultivars are ‘Diane’ which is considered the best red flowering form, and ‘Jelena’ which is very popular because it has coppery flowers, a spreading habit and good red-orange fall color.

Another early spring bloomer is Cercis canadensis or redbud. When we took the train to New Orleans a couple of years ago in April we saw this understory tree blooming in a wonderful shade of dark pink in the woodlands we passed. It is listed as hardy to Zone 4, but I never saw it used very much in our part of the world until a few years ago. The deep pink, pea-like flowers bloom before the foliage appears and the effect is of a lovely airiness.

As an understory tree it tolerates shade, but does fine in the sun, and prefers moist, well drained soil. Like witch hazels, this tree is a native and supports our local foodweb.

Chionanthus virginicus, Fringe tree, is another native tree with creamy white panicles of flowers that blooms in May. It will grow to ten or twelve feet with an equal spread. In the fall there are small fruits that attract the birds.

Fothergilla on the Bridge of Flowers

Though fothergilla is a shrub that grows to a height of six to eight feet and has graceful spreading branches. I confused it with chionanthus for years. I don’t know why. The only thing they have is common is airy white flowers. Chionanthus has graceful panicles and fothergilla has smaller unusual blossoms that have been compared to bottle brushes. I can tell you that the fothergilla on the Bridge of Flowers always attracts a lot of attention because it is not well known, and people like learning about an easy to grow, interesting plant. The foliage is colorful and showy in the fall.

Kousa dogwood

I love our native dogwood, but Cornus florida has been a victim of the fungal disease anthracnose. It is no longer recommended for gardens. But when one door closes, another opens. Cornus kousa is an Asian dogwood, but it does not have serious disease or insect problems in our country. I would not really call it a small tree. It will reach a height of 25 feet with almost the same spread. It is magnificent in the garden but it is a specimen tree that needs room.

The Kousa dogwood’s flowers are actually creamy bracts which make for a long period of bloom. They look similar to those of our native dogwood, but the tree blooms in June when it is fully leafed out. It does attract bees and butterflies and produces fruit in the fall that appeals to the birds.

Whether you are young or old(er), blooming trees can add a wonderful dimension to even a small garden. It can be the anchor to an early spring plantscape surrounded by early bulbs or perennials like brunnera or epimediums. Do you have blooming trees in your landscape?

Between the Rows   March 16, 2013

Lawn Gone! by Pam Penick

Lawn Gone by Pam Penick

Lawn Gone: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard by Pam Penick  (Ten Speed Press $19.99) will get you thinking about how to reduce or remove your lawn, not only because there are more sustainable alternatives, but because there are so many beautiful alternatives.

A greensward of fine turf is a pleasant thing, but it is a lot of work! And, in the end, not all that interesting or useful. How much more pleasant are paved walkways and a patio, perhaps with sweet smelling thyme between the pavers, where you can sit with friends. How much more pleasant and calming is a burbling fountain or fish pond. How much more pleasant is it to look at native wildflowers growing in the shade rather than patchy grass that does not thrive there.

Pam Penick is the award winning blogger who lives inAustin,Texas where she is very familiar with the problems of drought, and Lawn Gone is full of water-wise plants and designs. Yet these days all of us are interested in water-wise plants because you don’t have to live inTexas to suffer through periods of drought that turn lawns brown unless they are kept well watered. But concern about water usage is just one element that makes Lawn Gone so useful.

There are many reasons for wanting to reduce a lawn. Some of us are getting older and the work of maintaining a beautiful lawn becomes more onerous. My husband is certainly tired of spending hours every Saturday mowing the lawn. Some of us worry about the uses of herbicides and pesticides and the dangers of runoff after rain. Some of us want to support the local food web by having plants that attract pollinators.

Whatever your reason, Penick has practical advice and instructions about ways to create beautiful spaces without a lawn. Groundcovers are an easy answer. These range from the familiar foamflower, Tiarella cordifolia, to ferns, and plants like hostas that don’t always come to mind as a groundcover.

In fact, many perennials and small shrubs cover the ground and add great interest when planted over a generous area. While visiting in Boston last week, my husband and I took a walk and looked at a lot of urban yards. One large front yard struck me as particularly interesting because even at this time of the year, when the snow is just melted, it was easy to imagine how lovely it will be soon when the rhododendrons and azaleas are in bloom and the ground is covered with plants like the low and mysterious (as in I have no idea what it is) variegated plant that was a hint of the greenery to come. This yard shaded by a large tree would not be hospitable to a lawn, but they had used the shade to create a beautiful natural woodland garden. I cannot believe there will not be spring bloomers very soon.

Some of Penick’s chapter titles will tempt you to imagine a new yard of your own. For example: Ponds, pavilions, playspaces and other fun features and Designing and installing your hardscape, immediately set my mind buzzing. Other chapters indicate the sticky issues that gardeners may have to deal with like working with skeptical neighbors or homeowner’s association regulations or city codes.

She also explains ways to eradicate lawn, and gives you the names of grass substitutes in the sedge and carex families,

Because we have a large-ish country garden, with a too large country lawn, usually referred to as the flowery mead, my husband was very happy to see me reading Lawn Gone! He dreams of the day our lawn will be gone. I have to point out to him that we have already put some of Penick’s suggestions into practice.

We now have the 13×30 foot piazza and welcome platform (hardscaping) in front of half the house. The steep bank that was so hard to mow at the other end of the house is now the floriferous Daylily Bank. Daylilies are a fabulous groundcover.

Daylilies on August 1 after bloomin all of July

Adjacent to the Daylily Bank I have been planting the Rose Bank with hardy Knock Out roses, rugosas and tough roses from friends’ gardens. At the eastern end of the front lawn I have been planting barren strawberry and tiarella as ground covers. I’ve also found that common thyme is an aggressive spreader in the lawn and makes a good ground cover that only needs mowing a couple of times a year. I admit my efforts at lawn reduction are slow and limited, but I am continuing.

I do want to point out that removing a lawn for a low maintenance landscape does NOT mean a no maintenance landscape. I have a friend who planted hostas as a groundcover but learned that every spring she still has to weed out the maple seedlings that are such a curse in her neighborhood.

Part of the reason for living in an area likeFranklinCountyis its natural, and cultivated, beauties. We want to be outside socializing or relaxing in solitude. We don’t want to be a slave to a lawn. In this book filled with beautiful photographs Pam Penick gives us numerous ways to achieve the goal of a sustainable, low maintenance yard. ###

Between the Rows  March 9, 2013

Plant Hunters – John Bartram and Chinese Wilson

Photo courtesy of Arnold Arboretum © President and Fellows of Harvard College. Arnold Arboretum Archives.

Where do the plants in our garden come from? How did plants get from the heights of the Himalayan mountains, or the Appalachian mountains, to our gardens?

It would be hard to count the number of plants in our gardens that were first seen by the intrepid explorers of the last three centuries. John Bartram (1699-1777) of Philadelphia was possibly the first American botanist and plant hunter.

Bartram was a farmer with little formal education, but he was always interested in medicine and medicinal plants. In addition to his regular farm crops he began keeping a garden of plants that he found interesting. From that modest beginning he created a nursery and went on plant hunting trips first in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, later he went on to Virginia and the uncharted Appalachian mountains. Later still he traveled in Florida. Everywhere he went he collected seeds, nuts and cones that he could send to Peter Collinson, a wealthy British merchant, the man who introduced beautiful American plants to the nobility who were in the process of improving their estates. Our American natives were England’s desired exotics.

The business Bartram and Collinson embarked upon was amazingly successful in part because with Collinson’s advice Bartram devised a way of shipping seeds across the ocean so that they would still be viable when they arrived. One of the problems Bartram had was that he did not know the names of the interesting plants he was passing along, because he had no botanical education. The two men worked out a system so that Collinson could identify the seeds and thus request more of specific varieties from Bartram.

It is amazing to me that while his botanical education was limited at first, he ultimately became expert in shipping seeds and even plants, and learned Carl Linnaeus’ new binomial naming system, becoming a great proponent of that system.

The British fell in love with native plants like magnolias, azaleas, mountain laurel, and rhododendrons as well as sugar maples, viburnums and sumacs which gave them beautiful autumn color. They planted these on a mammoth scale, sometimes creating whole forests.

In 1765 Bartram sent King George III a box of his most special seeds. It was received with such pleasure that Bartram was named the King’s Botanist, a title he treasured.

Of course, this was a time when relations between the colonies and England were becoming strained by events like the passing of the Stamp Act which put a tax on paper, used for everything from newspapers, and legal documents to playing cards. It was fortunate for Bartram that Americans were becoming wealthy enough to think about their own gardens, giving Bartram a new market.

Bartram’s two sons, William and John Jr., continued to maintain the garden their father had created, and the business, sending plants and seeds around the world. Some of the plants named in the family’s honor include Amelanchier bartramiana and Commersonia bartramia. Amelanchier is our familiar shadblow or serviceberry tree, while the Commersonia is an Australian tree.

Bartram’s Garden remains a fascinating public garden to this day.

Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930) later known as Chinese Wilson, was British and as a young man he worked in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. In 1898 James Vetch of the Vetch and Sons nursery asked Kew for a likely young man to send to China to find and bring back plants for the nursery. Wilson was recommend and chosen. For his first trip to China his assignment was to find and bring home seeds of the dove tree, Davidia involucrata. On his way to China he stopped at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston with a letter of introduction to Director Charles Sprague Sargent to learn the best ways to ship plants and seeds safely.

That meeting was the beginning of a long relationship with Sargent and the Arnold Arboretum. Sargent insisted that Wilson carry with him a large format field camera. The Arboretum now owns thousands of the photographs Wilson took in China.

On that first trip he did acquire seeds of the dove tree first, but continued on for two years collecting hundreds of species of plants, as well as hundreds of herbarium samples which he brought back to England in 1902.

He continued to work for Vetch and made a second trip to China under their auspices. In 1906 he made his third trip to China under the auspices of the Arnold Arboretum. It was on this trip that there was a landslide that crushed his leg. He made a splint out of his camera tripod and was carried for three days to a hospital. He recovered, but ever after had a limp that he called his lily limp because the Lilium regale, the Easter lily, was his great find on that trip.

By his own count Wilson brought back 25 rose species from China. This is particular interest to rose gardeners today because native Chinese roses have the ever blooming. gene.

He made a fourth trip for the Arboretum and later, in 1914 he began a study of Japanese plants including conifers, Kurume azaleas and Japanese cherries.

Wilson went on other travels, but in 1927, after Sargent’s death, he became Keeper of the Arnold Arboretum. His career was cut short when he and his wife were killed in an automobile accident in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Without plant hunters like these over the centuries, and continuing today, the flowers and plants available to us would be greatly limited. We are fortunate to be able to reap the benefits of their adventure and their passion.

Between the Rows  February 23, 2013