November 2010

Planters Punchlines
Men's Garden Club of Wethersfield
November/December 2010

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HOLIDAY PARTY TIME! (In lieu of Nov/Dec Meetings)

The annual club Holiday Party will be held on Monday December 6th, 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. @ the Solomon Welles House, in Wethersfield.

Catered Food, Drink, Fellowship, and
Entertainment by the Wethersfield High School Choraleers.

Spouses/guests are cordially invited. $15.00 per person ($30.00. per couple).

RSVP to President John Swingen at 529-5355 by Monday November 29.

WESTON ROSE GARDEN "WINTER OVER" Saturday November 27 @ 8:00 a.m.
The garden will be raked, weeded and covered with compost in preparation for the upcoming cold weather. All hands are welcome. BYO tools.

Compostable Matter By Jim Meehan

Over time two flowers have emerged in the American consciousness as the vegetative symbols of Christmas -- the Poinsettia and the Christmas cactus. And each one comes with its own apocryphal folk story.

"The legend of the poinsettia comes from Mexico. It tells of a girl named Maria and her little brother Pablo. They were very poor but always looked forward to the Christmas festival. Each year a large manger scene was set up in the village church, and the days before Christmas were filled with parades and parties. The two children loved Christmas but were always saddened because they had no money to buy presents. They especially wished that they could give something to the church for the Baby Jesus. But they had nothing. One Christmas Eve, Maria and Pablo set out for church to attend the service. On their way they picked some weeds growing along the roadside and decided to take them as their gift to the Baby Jesus in the manger scene. Of course they were teased by other children when they arrived with their gift, but they said nothing for they knew they had given what they could. Maria and Pablo began placing the green plants around the manger and miraculously, the green top leaves turned into bright red petals, and soon the manger was surrounded by beautiful star-like flowers and so we see them today." (theholidayspot.com) "Legend has it the Christmas Cactus dates back many years to the land now known as Bolivia and a Jesuit missionary, Father Jose, who labored endlessly to convert the natives there. He had come across the Andes Mountains from the city of Lim nearly a year before. But he felt the people of this village on the edge of the great jungle were still suspicious. He had cared for the sick and shown the natives how to improve their simple dwellings, which leaked dismally in the rainy season. Most important, he had attempted to teach them the story of the Bible, especially the life of Jesus, though much seemed to be beyond their comprehension. He had told them about the beautifully decorated altars in cities during holidays, yet here it was Christmas Eve and he was on his knees alone in from of his rude altar. Then he heard voices singing a familiar hymn he had taught his flock. He turned to see a procession of the village children carrying armfuls of blooming green branches (which we now know as the Christmas Cactus) that they had gathered in the jungle for the Christ Child. Father Jose joyfully gave thanks for this hopeful budding of Christianity." (santalives1.homestead.com)

Nice stories, but in reality nothing more than urban myths. For the real scoop on the one and only authentic Christmas plant just keep reading.

Robert and Brassica Oleracea were much in love, very married, and quite moneyless.
They were not dirt poor. They did have grass in their yard -- and flowers -- and vegetables. But Robert did not yet have the wherewithal to provide his bride of two years with even the most modest of engagement baubles. Nor did either of them sport a wedding band -- not out of disbelief or disdain, but rather financial necessity.

Brassica made light of this lack of finger ornamentation. She even gave Robert a tiny piece of bituminous, which she unearthed one day during her yard work telling him that this "diamond in the rough" (which she displayed in a small plastic case on one of their living room shelves) would one day turn itself the precious colorless crystalline stone that he so badly wished that she could have.

And she said that jewelry-less hands were actually a benefit to her, as she preferred nothing more then to spend her every waking hour submerged up to her wrists in soil, working the garden.

Indeed it was her heroic horticultural exertions that were responsible for their lush green lawn (the pride of their neighborhood), their flourishing perennial beds (equal to any professionally maintained botanical garden), and their vegetable crop (healthier and more productive than any farm, organic or pesticidal, in the area.) And he was her partner, devoting every available minute he had, assisting her in the yard -- and learning.

Of the three it was her edible plants of which Brassica was the most proud -- but also caused her the most frustration.

Proud because her tomatoes, carrots, squash, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and turnips were the largest and the tastiest that anyone who ever measured or ate had ever experienced.

Frustrated because, as satisfying as all of her work in the vegetable garden was, Brassica felt that, deep down, all she was doing was reiterating someone else's creations. What she really wanted was a species of her own -- something that she had neither the time nor the money to develop.

Which of course is where Robert got his idea. Unable, as usual, to afford anything of significance to give his wife for Christmas, he decided to crossbreed a prototype plant which Brassica could call her very own.

He began his work with furtive trips to the library followed by secret late-night experiments in the dark recesses of their unused cellar. And ended with an unnamed and virtually indescribable blending of a cabbage and a turnip

It was ugly -- vaguely threatening looking and, at first (and second and third) glance, utterly unappetizing. Your first impulse was to turn it over and over in your hand, looking for some sign as to what should be eaten and what should be discarded. From one angle it looked like one of the Russian Sputnik satellites from the 1950's. From another view it appeared to be an unpainted wooden croquet ball with tentacles.

And it seemed to have three distinct parts: a bulbous orb, tubular stems and undersized leaves - none of which looked as if they belonged with the other two, or (taken by themselves or in combination) could possibly be edible.

But time was up. It was Christmas morning and his strange gift had to be ready - ready or not.

She loved it.

With tears in her eyes she removed the tiny piece of bituminous from the shelf and replaced it with her oddly shaped present.

"This will be our new diamond in the rough," she said. "Our very own coal Robby."

And so began the legend of the Christmas Brassica oleracea.

Happy Holidays!

Fall Garden Clean Up By Margaret Hagen, UNH Cooperative Extension (theheartofnewengland.com)

This summer's cool, wet weather made it a difficult growing season for the vegetable garden. Between the weather and a resident woodchuck, what I got the most of was weeds! That means that clean-up will be especially important this fall to reduce next year's diseases and insect problems.

To keep yourself motivated, remember that sanitation is one of the most important steps you can take to insure that next year's garden will be healthy.

Plant disease agents such as bacteria, fungi and viruses all remain alive, though dormant, during the winter months. By recognizing the places where these organisms hide, gardeners can often destroy them and prevent disease outbreaks the following spring.

Many fungi spend the winter on or in old leaves, fruit and other garden refuse. These fungi often form spares or other reproductive structures that remain alive even after the host plant has died.

The fungus that causes scab on apple trees and flowering crabapples forms a thick-walIed overwintering structure, called a perithecium, in fallen leaves.

Other fungi such as Fusarium (causes wilting on plants) survive in refuse in the vegetative state or form small, spore-like structures called chlamydiospores.

Blackspot, one of the best-known rose diseases, overwinters on fallen leaves and twigs and re-infests healthy plants in the spring. And cucumber and squash vines, cabbages, and the dried remains of tomato and bean plants are also likely
to harbor fungi if left in the garden over the winter.

Insects, too, survive quite nicely in pIant debris over the winter months. Female moths of the common stalk borer lay their eggs in late summer on grass, weeds and plant refuse. A single female moth may lay up to 2,000 eggs, each of which will hatch into a borer the following spring. You won't notice it until healthy young plants begin looking sickly, or stems break off above ground.

A common problem in the flower garden is the iris borer, one of the most destructive insect pests of iris. Females lay their eggs on old iris leaves and other plant material in the fall. These eggs spend the winter on leaves and hatch in April or May. Cutting iris leaves back to a four-inch fan and removing other
garden refuse during the fall can save iris plants from serious damage next
season.

To avoid any or all of the above problems, plant debris should be carefully raked up and disposed of in the trash. Do not put refuse on your compost pile unless you know that it will reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes a fair amount of heat to kill these organisms, and you won't want to recycle them right back
into the garden.

Keep in mind that insects and plant pathogens can survive on weeds as well as on garden plants. Many weeds serve as alternate hosts for insects and fungi, helping them to complete their life cycle. Destruction of these weeds removes a source of future troubles. And if you get them before they go to seed, you can
cut down on next year's weed problem. Again, unless your compost pile reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit, you'll want to dispose of weeds with seed pods elsewhere.

While you're cleaning out the garden, take note of which varieties did well and which did not. That information is always helpful in January when it's time to order seed.

If you can fit it in before the end of September, turn the soil and plant a cover crop. It will cut down on erosion, promote soil microorganism activity and add organic matter to the soil in the spring. And think what a treat it will be next spring to look at a prepared garden plot rather than at last year's leftovers.

How To Grow Beautiful Tulips

This man was famous the world over for the Tulips that he grew. People used to come from all over just to admire them and to try and get the secret of how he grew them from him. He was very cagey and would say, "I just put the bulbs in and they come up like that all perfect."

Of course no one believed him, but no matter what ploy was used. no one could discover just what it was that turned ordinary bulbs into the most beautiful Tulip Blooms that anyone had ever grown. Whole fields of them identical and all perfect.

Well he had this friend (we all know friends like this one), who had decided that he would get the secret and make some money on the side. He got the Tulip Grower drunk on Home Made Wine and gradually turned the conversation around to Tulip Growing. You will know how trusting you are when you are drunk and the Tulip Grower was no exception!

He gradually relaxed and to the direct question, "How do you do it?" He replied... "I use Hamsters!" The Cunning Friend said, "Don't be daft, how can Hamsters make Ordinary Tulip Bulbs produce blooms like you can?"

The Tulip Grower said, On my other property I breed Hamsters - not just a few, but thousands. When they are adults I run over them with a steam roller and crush them into pulp. I then bulldoze the pulp into a machine which cans them into 7lb jam tins which I store in a big warehouse. At the start of the growing season I go out at night with lorry loads of the tins and open them and spread them all over the fields, I then get a tractor and plough and I plough it all into the ground and then the next day I plant the Tulip Bulbs and you have seen for yourself the results."

His friend said, "Well I suppose it works, but I don't see how!"

The Tulip Grower said, "Obvious, isn't it? I copied the idea from the Dutch, they are Tulips from Hamster Jam!"

Winter Gardening: Grow Food in Winter Without Heated Greenhouses by Ian Aldrich (Yankee Magazine)

For more than 30 years, Eliot Coleman of Harborside, Maine, has successfully grown food in winter without heated greenhouses. Think outside your zone. Each winter, his gardens head south, to Georgia, without moving an inch.

How?

For every layer of protection--a cold frame, for example--the growing environment shifts 500 miles. By doubling up, says Coleman, winter farmers never have to contend with frozen soil, not even when the mercury drops well below zero. "You might get a little surface freezing, but by 10 a.m. it will be unfrozen," he says. "The minute the sun comes out, all of a sudden it's 50 degrees in there. We've never had a day when we couldn't put seeds in the greenhouse beds."

Hoop Houses:

Coleman says you can find simple, inexpensive options out there to protect your plants. If you're already using a cold frame, he recommends getting six unused 2x4s and building an A-frame around the structure, then wrapping the new enclosure in greenhouse plastic.

No cold frame?

No problem. Coleman is also a big fan of "hoop houses," small enclosures made from semicircle-shaped strips of metal or plastic piping covered in plastic. "I've been doing this a long time, and I'm still like a little kid when I go in there and see what's happening," he says. "It's amazing that it just works."

Begin in August:

Coleman's winter planting begins in early August and extends through mid-September, a period he likes to refer to as a "second spring." "You have to get the plants established while the growing season still has something left to it," he says.

Spinach for Winter

For all would-be winter gardeners, Coleman suggests going with spinach, which can be harvested four times, growing well into February. "It keeps renewing itself," he says.

No Weeds, No Watering:

Unlike summer warmth, colder temperatures mean that pests and even weeds are nearly eliminated. Even better: Between November and February, says Coleman, gardeners don't have to water their plants. "The water table is higher," he says, "and because the sun is so low, there isn't much evaporation."

Baby Lettuce is Better:

It's true, says Coleman: Small really is better when it comes to winter gardening. Baby leaf greens are not only hardier, they're tastier. "A full-size lettuce will freeze two or three times and turn to mush," he says. "A three-inch-tall baby lettuce leaf will freeze and thaw all winter long and recover each day."

Salad Every Night:

Newbie winter gardeners can do just fine--and eat really well, too--with a simple 5-by-10-foot planting space. "With baby greens, if you plant them right--and you can put rows as close as two inches apart--you can have a salad every night all winter long."

Winter Interest Gardening www.wolcottgardentreasures.com

Even when frost has covered the ground and gray skies have pushed away the sun, your landscape doesn't have to be barren and void of color and texture! So take heart, and try some of these fantastic cold-weather favorites to keep up the visual interest in your space, despite our harsh New England winters.

ADDING COLOR:

Barberry, Crimson and Royal Burgundy varieties - both shrubs grow to 2-4' tall and 3-5' wide, and do extremely well in poor soil. Royal Burgundy will keep a more saturated red color, but the Crimson variety also stands out in the winter garden.

Dogwood- Red Twig, Yellow Twig and Ivory Halo varieties provide the ultimate in winter color. With bright red or bright yellow woody stalks that keep their saturated color all year, these Dogwood varieties will stand out like a beacon in your winter landscape! They're also extremely cold hardy and can stand up to even the poorest soil - just a winning plant, all-around.

Holly - a wintertime favorite, most holly bushes require a mate; that is, a male holly requires a famale counterpart, and vice-versa. However, we have a fantastic hybrid holly variety called Berryrific, which is both male and female, so you need not plant a mate. Whichever variety you select, with its dark, lustrous green foliage and bright red berries, holly is a traditional staple for your garden that will look great all year round and give you that punch of color you so desperately need in the winter.

ADDING TEXTURE & FORM

Diablo Common Ninebark is a great 5-8' tall by 6-9' wide tree with exfoliating (excessively peeling) bark that adds lots of texture and visual interest in the winter. Super hardy for the eastern landscape, it also boasts white to pink flowers in May and June over reddish purple deciduous foliage that turns bronze in autumn.

Harry Lauder's Walking Stick is an incredibly unique tree with twisting branches that adds interest to your landscape any time of year. While its yellow-brown catkin blooms demand your attention in the spring, it's not until the foliage has passed that its amazing contorted branches become fully evident. Mature, this tree will grow 8-10' tall and wide, and while it won't add much color, it's a true conversation piece simply by virtue of its form.

Moor Grass - ornamental grasses are always a good choice for adding lots of texture and height any time of year, but they're particularly nice in the winter, when most other plants lose their volume and thickness. The Skyracer variety of Moor Grass, in particular, will grow its head up to 8' above a 2' base of green summer foliage and will remain a real presence in the garden, even in winter.

Native Plants For Fall Color, Winter Interest TheBostonChannel.com

This weekend we take a look at some of the plants that are especially interesting for fall. Deb Strick at the Garden in the Woods in Framingham gave me a hand with the descriptions for many of these plants.

# Purple love grass (Eragrostis spectabilis) with great fall and winter interest this tough clumper grows to 6-8 inches and erupts in late summer and early fall into an evocative haze of misty purple seed heads turning into little tumbleweeds later in the season. Wide green leaves are tinged with red. Perfect for zones 4-9 in sun to part sun and moist to dry soil. Love ya!

# Bitter panic grass (Panicum amarum var amarum) Don't let the name fool you, this is a top native ornamental grasses. This graceful clump-forming plant grows to 3-4 feet in zones 2-9. Mixes well with countless perennials helps stabilize soil.

# New England aster (Aster Symp novae angliae'Roseus')-purple drama, and a rare plant, to boot this glorious addition to the fall landscape grows in zones 3-8 to a height of 3-4 feet. Pinch tips in early July for bushiness. One inch flowers crown these tall stems that will benefit from division every five years or so.

# Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) With time, this ground-hugging mat of everygreen foliage produces multiple red berries that last into winter. This is one of the few plants that is truly everygreen in our local woods. Best in a spot by itself like a shaded slope or tree base. It grows just to 2-4 inches in part sun to part to full shade in moist zone 3-7 locations. A favorite.

# Gayfeather 'Devil's Bite' (Liatris scariosa var. 'White Spires') This pure white form of liatris produces its ivory buttons on tall stems clothed in thin leaves. It is perfect for a sunny location whether moist or dry in zones 3-9 and grows to 2-4 feet. Try it against warm-toned fall blooms-stunning!

# Slender rosinweed (Silphium gracile) These yellow beauties are a tall standout for sunny spaces in the fall with moist to dry soil in zones 5-9. Very deserving of a primary place in the fall garden.

# Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) gets its name from the zigzag habit of the stems. This woodland edge species has September-blooming flowers born in small clusters along the stem in a wide range of sun to shade and moist to dry conditions in zones 3-9. Great for the beginner and the aficionado alike.

# Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) one of New England's premier native understory trees has a narrow habit and blueberry-like bell-shaped flowers in summer that are great for bees. This cousin of rhododendrons has some of the most brilliant red fall color shows of any plant and grows in sun to part sun in moist to dry one 4-9 conditions. A great favorite of New England Wild Flower Society staff and a must-have in the native garden.

# Half-high blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum 'Northblue') After the berries come some of fall's reddest foliage. Blueberries can tolerate zone 3-7 conditions and like moist to wet soil in sunny locations. This variety has a manageable size even for the small space gardener.

Horti-Culture Corner He Knows No Winter By Sudie Stuart Hager

He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,
For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,
He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds
From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.
When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,
He visualizes autumn's golden yields;
He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain
Precious moisture for his early grain;
He hears spring-heralds in the storm's ' turmoil_
He knows no winter, he who loves the soil.

The Parsnip By Ogden Nash

The parsnip, children, I repeat
Is simply an anemic beet.
Some people call the parsnip edible;
Myself, I find this claim incredible.

October 2010

Planters Punchlines
Men's Garden Club of Wethersfield
October 2010

Next Meeting - Monday October 25th @ 7:00 p.m.

Speaker T/B/A Mark Your Calendar: Holiday Party on Monday December 6th

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Compostable Matter
By Jim Meehan

Before Marsha and I vacationed in North Carolina I thought that "night gardening" was a tongue-in-cheek euphemism for sexual hanky-panky, like "watching the submarine races". Or, if it were really a horticultural activity, that it was something plantsman with overly demanding first shift jobs were forced to do by flashlight during those dark hours between dusk and dawn.

It is neither.

This September we rented a condominium at Emerald Isle -- a barrier island south of the Outer banks. Every morning at around 7:30 a.m., with the sun barely up, we walked over to an adjacent convenience market to get the daily newspaper. The grounds of the condo are landscaped with a mixture of southern perennials and annuals between the units, and a combination of prickly pear cactus and white trumpet-shaped flowers on squash-like vines along the sides of the driving area.

A few evenings into our getaway I noticed that these large white flowers were still wide-open, well after dark. Then, one day around 10:00 a.m., I noticed that they were completely closed up.

Marsha, who had observed all of this strange plant behavior days before, opined that they looked to be a form of Datura -- a shrubby annual plant that we had previously seen in New Mexico (along with the prickly pear cactus). It contains toxic or narcotic alkaloids and is used as a hallucinogen by some American Indian peoples.

The Carolina species was the dusk to dawn version of the plant -- sort of a "Deadly Nightshift".

When I got home I typed "white trumpet night flower" into Google.

"The Datura, or bush moon plant has six-inch or larger white trumpet flowers that open at night and remain open well into the following day."
(http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/landscaping/SpecGardening/night_gardening.htm)

Datura, it turns out, are a favorite of the "Night Gardening" movement -- the use of plants that either bloom exclusively at night, or are open during the day but do not release their scent until evening.

Meghan Ray explains it this way on mastergardenproducts.com.

"Since evening is such a popular time to be in the garden, it is worthwhile to ensure that the garden will be a special place at that time. As dusk comes on, however, the blues and purples that looked so interesting during the day become muddy. Vivid red accents on flowers, along with the greens of most foliage, now turn to shades of gray. What can we do?

"Buying fancy floodlights might help. But another solution is to carefully select plants for flowers and foliage that stand out in the half-light of dusk. This is the time of day when whites take on a luminous glow and pale yellows and pinks shimmer as they never do in bright sunshine.

"Patterned flowers and variegated foliage are also more visible in the evening, contributing subtle interest and texture. Some plants, scentless by day, wait until nightfall to release their perfumes into the air.

"Selecting plants with these qualities can make a garden come alive at night. It is not difficult to transform the night garden from something dull and gray into a haven of exotic perfumes and ghostly flowers. Add a few evening divas or fill the garden with them. Either way, the night garden will invite us in."

Her list of suggested plants include yellow hollyhock, Japanese anemone, Coreopsis "Moonbeam", and evening primrose - as well as the trip inducing/potentially fatal Datura (aka angel's trumpet).

Sounds like a plan to me.

Unfortunately "If you live in zone 9, these [Datura] are long-lived perennials, but if you are in zone 8 or lower and the roots should freeze, they will die. The best thing to do is over winter them in a sunny window or prune them back and store them in a cool, dark place such as a basement."

Wethersfield is in zone 5. However I found at least two sources that say they grow the plant as an annual in the northeast -- one of whom claims that Datura seeds that drop onto the ground (they are self-seeding) do not freeze over the winter and will in fact germinate in the subsequent spring.

Like all such fallen kernels, the Datura droppings will invariably become a part of the daily diet for any nearby squirrels. Neither grower commented on the side effects to these rapacious rodents. The cultural anthropologist Carlos Castaneda, who personally explored the mystical properties of Datura under the guidance of Yaqui Indian mystic Don Juan in the 1960's (when else?), contended that he was able to change into a crow and fly while under its influence.

I don't know about the squirrels at your house, but the ones at mine can already do that (and much, much more) on a simple diet of sunflower seeds. One can only imagine the feats these acrobatic plunderers would perform if they were totally stoned.

Still it might be worth it.

After all, what could be more rewarding to the hardcore horticulturalist than sitting in the midst of their narco victory garden all through the night, and blankly staring at the bristly round seedpod of a single Angel's trumpet blossom? And staring. And staring. And staring.

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Here is the complete list of suggested night garden plants from the above referenced mastergardenproducts.com article.

1. Alcea rugosa (yellow hollyhock)
2. Anemone x hybrida 'Whirlybirds' (Japanese anemone)
3. Brugmansia x candida (angel's trumpet)
4. Carex muskingumensis 'Ice Fountains' (palm sedge)
5. Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'
6. Cosmos bipinnatus 'Daydream'
7. Eremurus x Ruiter's hybrids (foxtail lily)
8. Euphorbia marginata (snow-on-the-mountain)
9. Ipomoea alba (moonflower)
10. Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' (lavender)
11. Lobularia maritima 'Pastel Carpet' (sweet alyssum)
12. Matthiola longipetala (evening scented stock)
13. Mirabilis jalapa 'Broken Colors' (four-o'-clock)
14. Nicotiana x sanderae (flowering tobacco)
15. Oenothera biennis (evening primrose)
16. Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Gulftide' (holly osmanthus)
17. Passiflora caerulea (passion flower)
18. Petunia 'Tidal Wave Silver'
19. Salvia argentea (silver sage)

Letters to the Editor

Last month's Planters Punchlines posed question - How much rain can I expect to collect in my rain barrel? Club member Stan Jakubaitis took on the challenge.

Given: 2,000 sq.feet with 1 inch of rainfall. Determine the gallons of rain water.
Since one gallon contains 231 cubic inches, the solution requires determining the total cubic inches of rainfall, and then dividing by 231.

2,000 ft sq x (144 in sq/ ft sq) x 1 inch x (1 gal/231 in cubed) = 1247 gallons

Horti-Culture Corner
An October Garden (Excerpt)
by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Broad-faced asters by my garden walk,
You are but coarse compared with roses:
More choice, more dear that rosebud which uncloses
Faint-scented, pinched, upon its stalk,
That least and last which cold winds balk;
A rose it is though least and last of all,
A rose to me though at the fall.

Halloween Themed Garden Plants --
Annuals, Perennials, Trees and Shrubs for October
Angela England (suite101.com)

Spooks, magic, ghouls, and black cats. October's All Hallow's Eve can be fun to celebrate in the garden with these Halloween named plants. All of these plants have Halloween themed names that can bring a bit of frightful fun into any garden!

Acer palmatum 'Purple Ghost', 'Red Spider', 'Bloodgood' and 'Sister Ghost' - Zones 5-8. These Japanese maples all have unusual names that are more than suitable for a Halloween themed garden. As an added bonus, all Japanese maples have brilliant fall color.

Aralia (Fatsia japonica) 'Spider's Web' - Zones 6-9. This fall-blooming plant is a large shrub or can be pruned into a small tree and has unique variegated foliage all season.

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia) 'Kobold (Goblin)' and 'Gold Goblin' - 'Goblin' and 'Gold Goblin' are both long-blooming perennial plants with bright flowers and drought tolerance.

Canna 'Lucifer' - A dwarf canna only 3-4' tall with bright red-orange flowers that contrast contrast against the broad green leaves.

Dianthus 'Bewitched' - Zones 3-8. A low-growing dianthus great for edging and containers, this dianthus has fringed, pink flowers with bright purple-red centers.

Eggplant 'Casper' - An unusual variety of eggplant, this plant produces fruit that is pale white instead of bright purple.

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) 'Witches Broom' - Zones 5-8. A great year-round shrub with ornamental winter berries, 'Witches Broom' features a dwarf stature of only 8" perfect for small borders.

Firethorn (Pyracantha angustifolia) 'Gnome' - Zones 5-9. Firethorn is a compact, deciduous shrub bright orange winter berries.

Geranium 'Tiny Monster' - Zone 4-8. Despite the name, this cranesbill isn't horrific in anyway, but the prolific pink flowers with magenta veining are beautiful additions to any garden.

Hosta 'Red October' - This hosta has medium green, lance-shaped leaves with bright red stems.

Hyssop (Agastache) 'Black Adder' - Zone 6-9. Dark purple flowers all summer and into fall are a favorite of butterflies.

Japanese Bitter Orange (Poncirus trifoliata) 'Flying Dragon' - Hardy to zone 5. Twisted branches and spiny stems make this ornamental tree an unusual addition to the Halloween themed garden and provide a unique winter silhouette.

Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium nipponicum) 'Ghost' and 'Ursula's Red' - Zones 3-8. Great for part to deep shade with consistantly moist soil. Japanese ferns naturalize well.

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) 'Graves' - Zones 5-11. The 'Graves' lavender makes a nice addition for a Halloween themed garden because of its name, but makes a great plant for any bed or border because the flowers of this herb are lighter purple than other lavender cultivars.

Oriental Lily (Lilium) 'Alchemy' - This trumpet lily is perfect for brewing up a Halloween themed garden with its large, creamy-orange colored flowers.

Pumpkin 'Casper' - Another white fruiting plant for the garden, this pumpkin has huge white pumpkins that are perfect for the Halloween themed garden!

Rosa 'Banshee' - An old garden rose with fabulous scented pink flowers. Some sports of this rose are prone to balling, but others bloom in a single fabulous flush each spring.

Heath, Spring Heath (Erica darleyen) 'Ghost Hills' - Light silvery-green foliage with cream-colored tipped foliage in the spring.

Tiarella 'Crow Feather', 'Skeleton Key' and 'Jeepers Creepers' - Zones 4-9. 'Crow Feather' has bright green foliage with dark red, almost black markings along the viens that resemble feathers.

'Jeepers Creepers' has bold winter foliage contrast with green, orange or reddish colored leaves and 'Skeleton Key', while less colorful, has fine cut foliage that is unusual for tiarella plants.

Creating a Halloween Garden
By Johann Erickson (buzzle.com)

Halloween is a fun time for kids and adults alike. If you want to create a Halloween garden that tends to be a little macabre, consider creating a Gothic garden.

Instantly transform your current garden into a Gothic garden by adding a few accessories, such as a moon dial and gargoyles. Place a few concrete urns along a garden path or driveway and create a gate by using a panel of wrought iron. Spooky metal-ware can be purchased at garden centers and novelty stores, as can screaming masks that appear to drip blood and CDs of ghostly voices. Use these things to create a chilling effect near your door. Add a resin coffin and a few tombstones to turn your garden into a graveyard.

Creepy creatures are a must for a Halloween Gothic garden. The perfect spooky creatures are bats. They will send chills up the spines of your visitors and they should be welcome in all gardens because they eat beneficial insects. In order to attract bats to our garden, grow plants that will attract night-flying insects. Remember to provide a roosting area for bats. You can make your own bat roost, or purchase one at your local garden center or online. Search the Internet for plans to make your own bat house. If you live in the South, don't prune cabbage palm. These make great roosts for bats.

Plants to grow to attract night-flying insects that bats will enjoy include cornflower, phlox, salvia, silene, spearmint and stock.

Toads love slugs and they will give your garden a warty appearance. Provide a water source where toads can lay eggs and raise their young. Also provide a toad house for shelter. A loose stack of rocks in a moist area is sufficient or prop an old flowerpot up on a rock or stick. Having toads in the garden is said to bring the homeowner good luck.

Your Gothic garden wouldn't be complete without a few resident spiders. These creatures are a great source of pest control. When you find them in your garden, leave them be. Don't kill them. Spider webs lend a spooky effect and are perfect for the Gothic garden.

Praying mantis is welcome in a Gothic garden. They are strictly carnivorous and will eat non-beneficial insects. Some garden centers and nurseries sell praying mantis eggs. Attach the egg cases to twigs and branches that are approximately one foot above the ground. It will take the eggs about eight weeks to hatch in warm weather. Each praying mantis egg case will produce about 200 insects, so you won't need many.

Snakes can be both a blessing and a deterrent. They consume rodents, which are good, but they also eat frogs and toads. Be sure any snake that takes up residence in your garden is of the non-poisonous variety. To attract snakes to your garden provide a rock, wood or rubble pile. It won't be long until at least one takes up residence.

Dragonflies are beautiful creatures. They cannot hurt humans, but they are frightening to some people. Dragonflies are beneficial insects that feed on mosquitoes. They also bring color to a garden. Attract dragonflies to your property by establishing a moving source of water. This could be as simple as installing a portable fountain. Place stakes in the yard so dragonflies will have a perch where they can rest. Remember, bug zappers will kill dragonflies and other beneficial insects, as will pesticides.

At one time ladybugs were considered to be both holy and magical creatures. People today associate ladybugs with good luck. They love to feast on aphids and other non-beneficial insects.
Like praying mantis, ladybugs can be purchased at garden centers and nurseries. They can be stored in the refrigerator when they aren't needed and released at any time. Ladybugs are always thirsty, so mist the garden with a fine spray before releasing them in the early evening.

Once you have completed your Gothic garden, you will see the dramatic impact that the accessories and creatures will make on your visitors. Your Halloween Gothic garden will be the talk of the neighborhood and people will flock to your yard to experience some real thrills and chills. Happy Halloween!

9 Garden Myths Demystified
Don't let these classic superstitions waste your time or harm your plants
by John C. Fech

I learned that you shouldn't believe every bit of gardening advice you hear in graduate school, thanks to my statistics professor, Walter Stroup, who loved to wear his "Walter Beer" hat during class. This weird-looking derby made from yarn and beer cans was a gift from one of his former students. During the first class, Stroup explained he always wore his Walter Beer hat when he fertilized his plants and wearing it was what caused them to grow so well. The purpose of his anecdote, I realized, was to impress upon his students the importance of questioning every claim and bit of advice.

We have all followed someone's gardening advice without knowing if it was based on sound information. As you maintain your garden, consider if your techniques are simply ideas passed down through the ages or smart practices based on solid science. Here are a few of my favorite myths and the truths we should all embrace.

Myth: If a plant is under stress, it should be fed
Truth: Fertilizing plants that are not nutrient deficient can lead to additional stress. Fertilizer is added to plants growing in poor soils and to plants that show symptoms of lacking a particular nutrient. Generally, when a plant is stressed, it's not from lack of food. Compacted soil, heat, salt spray, faulty planting, and improper placement are usually the culprits that stress plants. It is important to rule out other environmental conditions before deciding a plant is underfertilized.

When fed, stressed plants use up energy that is better spent on growing roots, walling off decay organisms, or defending against insects.

Myth: Cover newly pruned areas with varnish, tar, or paint
Truth: There really isn't a way to keep fungal organisms out of a new cut. In about half of the situations where these wound dressings are used, the tree's heartwood decays faster than it would have without the topical application. The paint or tar holds moisture near the new wound, which, unfortunately, helps the various fungal decay organisms grow. Instead, simply make a clean cut just outside the branch collar and leave it alone. If pruned properly, trees can take advantage of natural defense mechanisms to ward off most decay problems.

Myth: Organic pesticides are less toxic than synthetic ones
Truth: Misused pesticides can be harmful, regardless of whether they are considered natural or synthetic. Pyrethrum, for example, is made from chrysanthemums but is still toxic to people and pets when handled improperly. Whenever possible, it's best to select the least toxic control option available because, even if not lethal, many of these pesticides can cause serious health complications. Safe storage of these products can help prevent any harmful accidents. Read and follow all label directions, and remember that these products are tools, not miracle workers or silver bullets. Pesticides cannot correct mistakes made in plant selection, installation, or maintenance.

Myth: Newly planted trees need to be staked and guy-wired
Truth: Staking a tree can hinder its proper development. This practice was once a landscape industry standard, driven by a gardener's inner desire to do something good for the plant to help it grow. It's best to avoid staking unless the new tree is located in a windy or on a sloped site.

Allowing the tree to sway in the wind encourages the development of stronger stabilizing roots. If staked, the tree may become dependent on this support, preventing the root system from becoming strong and healthy. If it is truly necessary, tie the trunk loosely to the stake using fabrics such as T-shirts or bicycle inner tubes to avoid damaging the bark, and remove the support after one growing season.

Myth: Sunshine focused through water droplets will burn leaves
Truth: The diffused rays of the sun are not power_ful enough to cause burning. If it were the case that water droplets burned leaves, farmers would encounter huge losses after each daytime rainstorm. In fact, lawn care professionals often cool turf by spritzing water over the foliage during the hottest part of the day. In general, the best time to water most garden plants is early in the morning because of higher municipal water pressure, a lower evaporation rate, and the potential to reduce foliar diseases that often occur in overly moist situations. But if you are left with no other choice, watering midday will not harm your plants.

Myth: Add sand to loosen heavy, clay soil
Truth: The worst remedy for a clay soil is to add sand. This practice turns the clay soil into a rock-hard, mortarlike substance. Instead, use organic matter, like compost, to loosen heavy soils because it is light in composition and also improves nutrient quality. Sand can improve a clay soil, but it must be added until it constitutes most of the mineral composition of the soil. At that point, it's not really clay soil any longer; it is sandy soil.

Myth: When it comes to fertilizers and pesticides, if a little is good, twice is better
Truth: A precise measurement of these materials is crucial to the health of your garden. If you like to watch the Food Network, you've probably seen Emeril Lagasse "kick it up a notch" by adding a little more of a certain spice. This approach may be fine for cooking but not for gardening. Fertilizers can raise salt levels in the soil to toxic levels, burning the roots and stunting growth of your plants. Pesticides, when overused, can also have similar detrimental effects on plants by burning the leaves or raising toxicity levels in the soil. Garden products, both organic and synthetic, are extensively tested during research and development to provide safe and reliable results, so using the exact recommended dosage is the best practice. I recently witnessed an impatient gardener spray some cucumber beetles with a very concentrated solution of an insecticide; the bugs died but so did some of the cucumber vines.

Myth: When planting a tree or shrub, dig the hole twice as wide and twice as deep as the root-ball
Truth: A planting hole should be twice as wide as the root-ball but no deeper. By applying this planting principle, you will encourage the roots of a plant to grow out, which creates stability and allows the plant to readily find water and nutrients. A good way to make sure that the root-ball is at the right depth is to place the top roots so that they are parallel with the soil surface and then apply 2 inches of mulch over them. Think of it as a "planting area," instead of a "planting hole."

Don't add compost or potting soil when backfilling the planting area. Most roots prefer to grow in these amended soils instead of spreading out through the landscape.

Myth: Drought-tolerant plants don't need to be watered
Truth: All plants need to be watered to become established. Most "drought-tolerant" plants such as Russian sages (Perov_skia spp. and cvs., USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9) and black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia spp. and cvs., Zones 3-11) are those that can survive through an average summer without supplemental watering. These plants, however, are usually not drought tolerant in the first year, and regular watering and an application of mulch are good ideas. After that, you can pretty much allow them to fend for themselves, but even the toughest of plants will benefit from a monthly soaking.

Pumpkin History from hsgpurchasing.com

Pumpkins are believed to have originated in North America. Seeds from related plants have been found in Mexico dating back to 7000 to 5500 B.C.

References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was changed by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin."

Native American Indians used pumpkin as a staple in their diets centuries before the pilgrims landed. They also dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. Indians would also roast long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and eat them. When white settlers arrived, they saw the pumpkins grown by the Indians and pumpkin soon became a staple in their diets. As today, early settlers used them in a wide variety of recipes from desserts to stews and soups. The origin of pumpkin pie is thought to have occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and then filled it with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in the hot ashes of a dying fire.

September 2010

Planters Punchlines
Men's Garden Club of Wethersfield
September 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Garden Club Kicks off 2010-11 Season - Monday Sept. 27 @ 7:00 p.m. Pitkin Community Center

We are hoping to have Jere Gettle, owner of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., and new owner of Comstock, Ferre & Co. speak to the club. If this happens, the location may be changed to Comstock Ferre.

President John Swingen will notify you by email (for those who get the newsletter via email) or by phone (if you get the paper version) if there is a location change.

Compostable Matter By Jim Meehan

Today I am beginning a crusade on behalf of "Alcea rosea", the hollyhock. And I will not rest until every house in ye most auncient towne in Connecticut is adorned by this a tall Eurasian plant of the mallow family with the large showy flowers.

It all started in Santa Fe, New Mexico where our daughter-in-law and son live.

"Hollyhocks against an adobe wall may be Santa Fe's signature plant. Bees and butterflies love them and they come in a multitude of colors - pinks, reds, whites, almost black but never in blue. One garden writer describes hollyhocks as 'elegant in a wayward, random fashion.'" (santafebotanicalgarden.com)

I would simply say that you couldn't swing a dead javelina in Santa Fe without hitting one of these drought-tolerant, heat-loving members of the mallow family. It is a diverse clan that also includes hibiscus, cotton, and okra - componenets of what could be the metrosexual redneck trifecta: hebal iced tea, tee shirts, and Cajun food.

Three years ago Marsha coaxed some seeds out of several dormant southwest hollyhocks and sowed them in one of our perennial beds. We had been told that hollyhocks could be finicky starters - that they might be biennials, triennials, or one-season perennials. They also are subject to rust - brown spots on yellow, sick-looking leaves.

During their first growing season a couple of them poked their heads a few inches above ground, apparently decided they didn't like what they saw, and just hung out at that height, in that flowerless state, for the duration.

That autumn Marsha appropriated some more seeds.

Last spring they reappeared, and seemed to be going great guns (getting tall, showing buds) until an unanticipated monsoon season overwhelmed their vascular systems with too much H2O and drowned them.

Not to be deterred, Marsha repeated the southwest to northeast transplant ritual one more time.

This spring's rainfall was more normal. Then in early July a duo of hollyhocks suddenly shot up to N.B.A. heights, with buds and flowers sprouting out of every pore. Other shorter ones surrounded them in the backcourt. One could be an aberration; two is a trend; but three or more is definitely a movement.

I have felt for a long time that gardens were way too short. The flowerbed where the hollyhocks are housed is tall. Virtually every plant, other than the six tomato plants that are shoehorned therein, is above my height - although admittedly not entirely by design.

This particular patch became designated as the "rescue garden" after I found some pitiful perennials left behind by the recent construction at the town hall/library building.

With no idea of their identity I dug them up, brought them home, and imbedded them into the section of earth up against our garage that had formerly served as our vegetable garden. Several losing battles with the neighborhood rabbits, and the improved availability of locally grown veggies had convinced us to abandon our self-sustainability efforts and convert this fertile area into a less functional but hopefully more attractive horticultural site.

Other endangered - or, more accurately, free for the taking - flora followed quickly thereafter. Most of them turned out to be yellow-flowered. All of them are towering, multistory plants with disproportionately small florets. Many require assistance in the form of plastic tomato stakes or wire supports in order to stand upright. Still the majority of them collapse to the ground at the slightest hint of precipitation or breezes.

One of my daily gardening chores is to rearrange these hung-over stalks into a self-sustaining vertical position. Neither Miracle-Gro nor Viagra nor any other blue colored pharmaceuticals seemed to cure this mass outbreak of ED.

In mid-spring Marsha tried cutting back some of these behemoth buds in hopes that they would flower again at a lesser altitude. The plants ripped the pruning shears out of her hands and were dragging her slowly into their lofty lair when I happened on to the scene. After a brief tug-of-war I wrested her from their tenacious tendrils. Now we never venture into that part of the yard without our cell phone in hand, and 9 1 1 keyed in and ready to call.

Through this all the hollyhocks have behaved like the perfect well-behaved guest who also turns out to be interesting and entertaining - elegant in a wayward, random fashion. They are truly the highlight of this year's gardening season - and I do mean high.

They also seem to be the only growth of Alcea rosea in town. This should not be.

Like apples once had in Johnny Appleseed, today's hollyhocks clearly need a champion with the missionary zeal, energy, enthusiasm, and wherewithal to wander around the countryside spreading his seeds.

Or perhaps we need a whole band of such zealots. It could be a garden club community outreach project. Seeds will be provided, but b.y.o.V. - there will be no drooping on this job.

Growing Hollyhock by Kim Potter (www.helium.com)

Hollyhocks are one of the easiest plants to grow from seed. In fact, they will reseed themselves. And that is where the problem lies. Very soon, you could be inundated with these beautiful, spiky, tall flowers. And who said you could never have enough flowers in your garden!

Hollyhock seeds can be tossed onto the soil anytime from early Spring to early Fall. They should be lightly covered with soil so that they do not blow into your beautiful lawn; this would be a dreadful mistake as you would soon need broad-leaf weed killer to kill off the new rosettes. In my garden, I soon learned that when I left a seed-forming stalk lean over the grass, or if I pruned, and then carried, one to the compost pile, I would be digging out new seedlings in the near future.

I quickly learned to bag every browning stalk before I cut it down. Even still, I do gather and strew a multitude of seeds produced by my plants because I love their abundant color and size. Talk about height! Not many other plants have such stature. This is one of the main attractions of the hollyhock; it makes a grand statement at the back of the sunny border.

Hollyhocks adore the hot, dry, sunny border. They need very little soil to grow. I have two hollyhocks that grew between two unistone pavers (the seeds fell off a stalk I was carrying). I also have hollyhocks growing in semi-shade; they are a little more spindly but they flower just the same.

Hollyhocks are easily attacked by rust; a good application of fungicide in the early Spring should control it. To help cut down on the risk of rust, you should avoid crowding the plants, water only in the early part of the day and avoid splashing water on the foliage. If the plants leaves turn yellow and become unsightly, they can be cut off and thrown in the garbage, but not in the compost.

Hollyhocks are usually biennial, but perennial hollyhocks do exist. Biennial plants are those that put out leaves the first year and flower the next year. The stalks can be 3.5 meters tall and the flowers generally are pink, white, red, or dark purple. Hollyhocks have a long taproot, which makes their transplanting or eradication difficult. They are hardy in Zones 2-10.

Design a Tall Sunflower Garden in the Backyard to Use as a Screen Bridget Cohen (flowergardens.suite101.com)

Sunflower plants, Helianthus annus, are believed to have originated in North America, but nowadays they're found in backyard gardens worldwide. The tallest varieties can reach twice the height of an average man and sport blossoms the size of dinner plates from a single seed no larger than a fingernail.

Sunflowers Brighten the Backyard Landscape. Cheerful yellow blossoms top the typically non-branching stems to bring color and pizazz to a sleepy, drab garden.

The Alternative Field Crops Manual compiled by the University of Wisconsin-Extension and the University of Minnesota describes the sunflower blossom as not being a very large single bloom, but rather 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers attached to a common receptacle. The outermost flowers rimming the bloom lack stamens or pistils, the reproductive parts of a flower, and are usually yellow although they may be shades of orange or red, as well. The flowers inside the circular head are arranged in a spiral pattern. They create pollen for visiting bees before maturing into seeds.

Green leaves sprout along the tall stems which grow thicker as they grow taller, creating a bushy screen. The larger the variety of plant, the larger the leaves it produces, with many single leaves growing broader across than a human hand. Hide that unfinished project in the yard or a neighbor's unsightly shed behind a shield of green capped with glorious yellow blooms.

When designing the backyard garden to use sunflower plants as a screen the amount of sun or shade isn't nearly as important as the richness of the soil. The better the soil, the more vigorous the plants will grow. Plants do grow and flower in poor soil, but they won't grow as tall and their blooms won't be as large as those grown in rich well-drained soil. Occasional applications of plant fertilizer will help with less than desirable soil conditions. They prefer full sun, but will grow adequately in shady conditions.

Sunflower seeds can be sown directly into the garden as soon as the danger of frost is past. Plant as instructed on the packet they come in. If birds or squirrels dig up the seeds try laying a screen over them until they germinate. Staggering sowing dates will assure blooms all summer long.

Seeds may be planted up to 100 days before freezing temperatures set in.

There are several types of fungi that can cause sunflower plant damage. The most damaging is Sunflower Stem Rot or Sclerotinia Rot. An infected plant will wilt soon after flowering and a tan band is evident around the stem near the bottom. Black resting bodies within a fluffy mass may be seen in the rotted heads and stems. Because this condition is so harmful and can be passed from one plant to another it's recommended the affected stems be removed and burned.

Fortunately, few insects attack sunflower plants. There are a few moths whose larvae will damage the heads and if there are pests feeding on the plant an application of insecticide safe for use on crops will solve the problem. The flowering heads attract bees and they are beneficial to the plant. Ants are attracted to the nectar and not harmful to the plant in any way.

Hungry birds and squirrels will sometimes feast before the seeds ripen. Try covering the heads with old nylons or fine mesh fabric tied behind the head until the seeds are ready for harvesting.

Summer is over and the screen has done it job, but all those sunflower heads have produced hundreds of seeds that can be put to good use. Birds and wildlife will enjoy being fed the seeds during the cold winter months. Sunflower kernels make a healthy human snack or addition to a dish. The National Sunflower Association reports 1 ounce of sunflower seeds provides more nutrition than many other fruits and nuts.

As a general rule, the seeds are ready to be harvested when the flower dies back, most of the petals have dropped off and the back of the head turns brown. When the head is ready for harvesting cut it off about two or three inches down the stalk. Hang the stalk to dry in an airy location. Circulation is important to avoid mold while drying so don't stack the heads in containers. The seeds will separate from the heads easily when they've finished drying and can be removed by rubbing two heads together or with a stiff brush.

Seeds that fell to the ground may sprout the following spring adding once again to the backyard garden. Design a new screen with more sunflower varieties and enjoy the beautiful view.

Math Problem of the Month How much rain can I expect to collect in my rain barrel?

"For every inch of rainfall that falls on a catchment area of 1,000 sq. ft. you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons of rain water. Your roof catchment area is equal to the total square feet of your house (one story) plus the extension of your eaves. To calculate the square footage of your home's catchment area, measure the outside walls of your home, including the overhang of any eaves. Multiply the width times the length of your home to get the total roof catchment area. Let's say your home has a roof catchment area of 2,000 sq. feet. Since one inch of rainfall provides approximately 600 gallons of water for a 1,000 sq. ft catchment area, you could collect 1200 gallons during a 1" rain." (from the Water Education section of the Nashville.gov website)
Any questions?

Lasagna Gardening - No-Till, No-Dig Gardening By Colleen Vanderlinden, About.com Guide

Lasagna gardening is a no-dig, no-till organic gardening method that results in rich, fluffy soil with very little work from the gardener. The name "lasagna gardening" has nothing to do with what you'll be growing in this garden. It refers to the method of building the garden, which is, essentially, adding layers of organic materials that will "cook down" over time, resulting in rich, fluffy soil that will help your plants thrive. Also known as "sheet composting," lasagna gardening is great for the environment, because you're using your yard and kitchen waste and essentially composting it in place to make a new garden.

One of the best things about lasagna gardening is how easy it is. You don't have to remove existing sod and weeds. You don't have to double dig. In fact, you don't have to work the soil at all.

The first layer of your lasagna garden consists of either brown corrugated cardboard or three layers of newspaper laid directly on top of the grass or weeds in the area you've selected for your garden. Wet this layer down to keep everything in place and start the decomposition process.

The grass or weeds will break down fairly quickly because they will be smothered by the newspaper or cardboard, as well as by the materials you're going to layer on top of them. This layer also provides a dark, moist area to attract earthworms that will loosen up the soil as they tunnel through it.

Ingredients For A Lasagna Garden: Anything you'd put in a compost pile, you can put into a lasagna garden. The materials you put into the garden will break down, providing nutrient-rich, crumbly soil in which to plant. The following materials are all perfect for lasagna gardens:
* Grass Clippings
* Leaves
* Fruit and Vegetable Scraps
* Coffee Grounds
* Tea leaves and tea bags
* Weeds (if they haven't gone to seed)
* Manure
* Compost
* Seaweed
* Shredded newspaper or junk mail
* Pine needles
* Spent blooms, trimmings from the garden
* Peat moss

Just as with an edible lasagna, there is some importance to the methods you use to build your lasagna garden. You'll want to alternate layers of "browns" such as fall leaves, shredded newspaper, peat, and pine needles with layers of "greens" such as vegetable scraps, garden trimmings, and grass clippings.

In general, you want your "brown" layers to be about twice as deep as your "green" layers, but there's no need to get finicky about this. Just layer browns and greens, and a lasagna garden will result. What you want at the end of your layering process is a two-foot tall layered bed. You'll be amazed at how much this will shrink down in a few short weeks.

You can make a lasagna garden at any time of year. Fall is an optimum time for many gardeners because of the amount of organic materials you can get for free thanks to fallen leaves and general yard waste from cleaning up the rest of the yard and garden. You can let the lasagna garden sit and break down all winter. By spring, it will be ready to plant in with a minimum of effort. Also, fall rains and winter snow will keep the materials in your lasagna garden moist, which will help them break down faster.

If you choose to make a lasagna garden in spring or summer, you will need to consider adding more "soil-like" amendments to the bed, such as peat or topsoil, so that you can plant in the garden right away. If you make the bed in spring, layer as many greens and browns as you can, with layers of finished compost, peat, or topsoil interspersed in them. Finish off the entire bed with three or four inches of finished compost or topsoil, and plant. The bed will settle some over the season as the layers underneath decompose.

When it's time to plant, just dig down into the bed as you would with any other garden. If you used newspaper as your bottom layer, the shovel will most likely go right through, exposing nice, loose soil underneath. If you used cardboard, you may have to cut a hole in it at each spot where you want to plant something.

To maintain the garden, simply add mulch to the top of the bed in the form of straw, grass clippings, bark mulch, or chopped leaves. Once it's established, you will care for a lasagna garden just as you would any other: weed and water when necessary, and plant to your heart's content.

Advantages Of A Lasagna Garden: While you will be maintaining a lasagna garden the same way you would care for any other garden, you will find that caring for a lasagna garden is less work-intensive.

You can expect:
* Few weeds, thanks to the newspaper suppressing them from below and the mulch covering the soil from above.
* Better water retention, due to the fact that compost (which is what you made by layering all of those materials) holds water better than regular garden soil, especially if your native soil is sandy or deficient in organic matter.
* Less need for fertilizer, because you planted your garden in almost pure compost, which is very nutrient-rich.
* Soil that is easy to work: crumbly, loose, and fluffy.

Lasagna gardening is fun, easy, and allows you to make new gardens at a much faster rate than the old double-digging method. Now your only problem will be finding plants to fill all of those new gardens!

Lasagna Bulb-Planting Technique
Plantanswers.com

Whether your backyard is a postage stamp balcony in a city high-rise or a rolling spread of a suburban green yard, you can enjoy the fun, fashion and creativity of a container flower garden. Growing flowers in containers is a simple, sensible and flexible method of decorating your outdoor living space.

Fall is the perfect time to start a container garden. Spring-flowering bulbs such as narcissus, daffodils and anemones are easy to grow and especially suited to growing in containers. You can get continued use from container flower gardens in the spring by replacing bulbs with annuals.

When planning a container garden, first consider the site. What scale will complement the area? Will your area look best with large containers, clusters of small containers or a mix?

Interesting containers such as traditional pots and planters and whiskey barrels can be used. Some great choices include an old wheelbarrow, a retired automobile tire, old bath tub, toy wagon, milk crates, old fixtures-even old Volkswagen bug convertibles have popped up as "containers."

When choosing a container, remember that, like potted plants indoors, outdoor containers must have drainage holes for water to run out. This prevents root rot. If you can't bring yourself to or it would be too difficult to drill a hole in a special container, you should consider planting in smaller pots that would fit inside. These must themselves have drainage holes and be elevated within the larger container so water can drain. (This drainage water should be removed periodically).

To begin your container garden this fall, you should choose specific bulbs. Characteristics such as: blooming period, color, height, and fragrance should be considered. For example, early-flowering ranunculus and anemones offer a choice for planting in containers along walkways and at entrances. Later?flowering daffodils are good follow?ups.

One easy planting technique especially suited to container gardens is the "Lasagna" technique. The idea is similar to making a lasagna. Plant a layer of tall growing bulbs such as narcissus, daffodils and snowflakes six inches deep in the container. Cover with two inches of soil, add a second layer of bulbs such as hyacinths and Dutch iris, cover with another two inches of soil, and add the final layer of small bulbs such as Ranunculus, anemones and grape hyacinths. Finally, add an inch of soil followed by an inch of mulch. Top off the Lasagna planting with a plant cover of annuals such as pansies, dianthus, bluebonnets plus mulch. Water well.

In spring, the results are stunning: a container of beautiful narcissus and Dutch iris above a lush multicolored carpet of flowers from smaller bulbs. You should remember to remove old blooms from one group of bulbs as other layers display their blooms to insure a neat, tidy container appearance.

Aside from good drainage, another consideration for spring?flowering bulbs is temperature. Bulbs need a minimum 15?week cold period, but they mustn't freeze. Bulbs in containers are more susceptible to extremes of cold than those in the ground. Be prepared to move small containers to a sheltered area or an unheated garage or shed to protect them from unusually hard freezes (below 20 degrees F.). Large containers (the larger the better for cold protection!) can be wrapped or padded.

Be sure to water planted bulbs throughout the winter. If you have planted cold?hardy, flowering annuals such as pansies and dianthus on top of the Lasagna planting, adequate watering and fertilization of these plants will suffice for the bulbs planted beneath.

When spring bulbs have faded you have several options. Container gardens are also perfect for perennials, annuals, and summer bulbs.

Horti-Culture Corner
Henry Ward Beecher, Star Papers: A Discourse of Flowers

Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.

Weeds are an important fact of life.

In his play Richard III William Shakespeare wrote, "Sweet flowers are slow and weeds make haste." - using a garden metaphor to explain the political problems of the day.

Philosophers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson seem to like them -
"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered."

But poets like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow do not -

"Take care of your garden
And keep out the weeds,
Fill it with sunshine
Kind words and kind deeds."

And botanists seem ambivalent - "For me, a weed is a plant out of place."...(Donald Culross Peattie)

There is even "weed dating", a garden-based process for those in the mate-hunting game to meet someone new. (http://www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/wnpr/inviting-cupid-farm)

But, whether you consider them to be an apt analogy, a guilty pleasure, the ultimate pain, or a roadmap to romance - without them, there would not be no such thing as weeding - an activity that I, at least, would sorely miss.

There is comfort in

the simple act of weeding -

if you're not the weed.

June 2010

Planters Punchlines
Men's Garden Club of Wethersfield
June 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANNUAL PICNIC - Monday June 28th, 5:30 -8:00 p.m. at the house of President John Swingen, 72 Old Mill Road in Wethersfield. Wives, dates, potential members are cordially invited. The club will supply hot dogs, hamburgers, etc., beer, wine & soda - as well as (the traditional) strawberry shortcake. You are asked to please bring an appetizer, salad or side dish & your own lawn chairs.
A short business meeting to (1) VOTE ON A PROPOSED BYLAWS AMENDMENT TO MAKE THE CLUB MALE-FEMALE NEUTRAL and (2) TO SELECT THE NEW SLATE OF OFFICERS will precede the festivities. Please call President John @ (860) 529-5355 or (860) 817-2181 (cell) to let him know how many people & what you are bringing.

An informal meeting and home garden tour will be held on Monday July 26, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. p.m. at the home of Ed Goracy @ 30 Juniper Lane in Glastonbury. Spouses are cordially invited. Light refreshments will be served. Rain date t/b/d.

The guided bus tour of historic Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford is tentatively scheduled for the week of August 23rd. More details at the picnic. Call John Swingen at (860) 529-5355 or (860) 817-2181 (cell) to reserve your places

Weekly Rose Garden Team Maintenance - Every Saturday 8-10 a.m. Drop in any Saturday throughout the summer to pitch in. If you cannot make Saturday, please drop in and work by yourself or with a friend in the garden at your convenience. Bring your own tools. Questions - Call Anthony Moir @ 563-5476

KUDOS to Tom Gibson and the organizers of and workers at the annual plant sale. Over $1,000 profit and 95% sales spells success. Great job everyone! Now is the time to prepare for next year's sale by digging up and potting some of those small perennials popping up in your garden, or adopting and raising a newborn "plugged" hosta from Fred Odell. (He has a dozen left which he will bring to the picnic.) Plans for easy-to-build winter-over outdoor cloches will be available in the autumn. Come on guys! We are a garden club. We're supposed to get our hands dirty.

Compostable Matter
By Jim Meehan

Dr. Flora: Hello. It's me, Dr. Flora - the "Gorgon of the Garden" - here on your AM dial to preach, teach, and nag about morals, values, and ethics in the garden bed.
Let's go right to our first caller.

Caller1: Hi. This is Samantha.

D.F. Samantha how can I help you?

C1. Dr. Flora. I am a faithful listener and a first time caller and I wanted to personally thank you for changing my life. I listen to you advocate all-natural gardening all the time and I went to tell you that I took your advice and got myself my very own Orgasmic groundskeeper.

D.F. Samantha honey, I think you mean organic

C1. No. I'm sure you said orgasmic. Anyway I found him on the Internet on "Craig's List" under "Adult Landscaping".

D.F. That's not...

C.1 Thor's "Hands On" Orgasmic Services - Medicare Accepted

D.F.

C1. He comes at least five times a week.

D.F. I'm sure he does...

C1. Sometimes two or three times a day.

D.F. This is so wrong in so many different ways.

C1. And he doesn't use chemicals. Chardonnay's not a chemical, right?

D.F. But your yard...

C1. Who cares! I have never been happier.

D.F. Well...

C1. Sorry Dr. Flora. Gotta go. Time for my two o'clock pick-me-up.

D.F. Samantha, wait. I want Thor's phone number...

C1. (A gasp, a moan and the sound of a phone hitting the floor)

D.F. Damn. Next caller.

Caller2: This is Edgar. I grow just one vegetable every year. The same variety each time. I've done it forever - or at least since puberty. I nurture it from a little seedling all winter. Then, when the warm weather begins, I start to expose it to the outside world. It works great every time. But this spring my cucumber just won't harden.

D.F. Edgar. Don't worry. This happens to everybody.

C2. Doctor Flora. You don't understand. I'm famous for my cucumber. It's what I am. I even have a name for him - I mean it. It's the biggest, hardest...

D.F. Calm down Edgar. We are both getting way too excited. Let's take a brief musical intermission while I talk to you off the air, and find out what size problem we really have here.

Musical intermission: Lady Gaga sings, "Inch by inch"

D.F. (Heavy breathing) Some problems just cannot be handled over the airwaves. Sometimes Dr. Flora has to make a personal house call. (Squeaky voice) BY-EEE! See you tomorrow. Or maybe not. Eat your heart out Samantha!

The More Things Change...

In 1928 the Wethersfield Town Plan Commission hired Herbert S. Swan, City Planner, New York to prepare a "Plan of A Residence Suburb" to guide the city in its transition from a "semi-rural" community to "one of Hartford's densely-built suburbs".

One chapter of the recommendation dealt with "The Amenities of a Residence Suburb" - "this vague, intangible collective quality that impresses each neighborhood with its own distinctive personality is know as 'amenity'."

According to the report, two of the eight key contributors to "amenity" are "Garden Clubs" and "House Plantings".

"Many communities have found that the organization of a garden club, which interests itself especially in the cultivation of flowers, shrubs, and trees is of considerable value in stimulating the development of an attractive community.

"A popular slogan among nurserymen is that a house is not a home until it is planted...There is always a tremendous difference between the two - one dreary and bleak because barren of all vegetation; the other rich in its attractive foliage and color with the finished appearance that comes from beautiful plantings.

"Although many owners will, of course, do everything possible to enhance the appearance of their own grounds, the lack of proper teamplay among the numerous home-owners in a district makes the ultimate neighborhood result unsatisfactory and inharmonious.

"Wethersfield might well profit from the experience of other communities by starting an organization which will have as its chief function the distribution of information relative to different plants and shrubs suited to its climate and soil and the encouragement of individuals in planting their grounds properly.

"Second only in importance to the design and execution of the dwelling is the treatment of its site.

"Since the services of a professional landscape architect are beyond the means of the average small house owner, a few principals can be outlined to aid in obtaining better planting effects around the small house.

"...grass, trees, shrubs, and flowers...when discriminately chosen and arranged with nicety and refinement make for attractiveness and character, obtainable by no other means.

"If the best effect is to be gotten, most of the plant materials should be of varieties that tend to be neutral in both tone and color, and the habit of growth should be horizontal rather than vertical. It is only by means of such material that well-rounded silhouettes can be achieved. Vertical plant materials or plants of striking color should be sparingly used, but have a place where emphasis or accent is desired, as, for instance, around the doors and corners of a house.

"Some of these things may be considered as comparatively small matters in the plan of a community. And yet it is numerous small things, none of which taken by itself may be of outstanding importance, that make a city what it is."

(All quotations from "Plan of A Residence Suburb - Wethersfield, Connecticut; Town Plan Commission; 1928; Herbert S. Swan, City Planner, New York")

Death by Mint Oil: Natural Pesticides
By GWENDOLYN BOUNDS (Wall Street Journal 7/30/09)

This summer, the pests around my house are dying of more natural causes.

One colony of wasps on my deck got neutralized by shots of mint oil. The cabbageworms shredding my broccoli plants were done in by an ingredient culled from seeds of trees native to India. And I annihilated several fire-ant compounds by enticing them to eat bait packed with a soil-dwelling bacterium that fried their tiny nervous systems.

Natural alternatives are available to kill aphids, cabbage loopers, carpenter ants and other pests.

Surprisingly, none of these products were hard to find. Increasingly, well-known insecticide manufacturers, retailers and even professional pest-control services are rolling out solutions derived from natural materials like animals, plants, bacteria and minerals, many of them considered potentially safer to humans, pets and the environment than their synthetic-chemical counterparts. Fueling the move is increased governmental scrutiny over what pesticides we spray in and around our homes, as well as a bid to satisfy more health-conscious consumers-especially women, who typically dictate household pest-solution purchases.

Targets include everything from carpenter ants and mosquitoes to the slugs, caterpillars and mites that feast on fruit trees and vegetable plants. For instance, Terminix, a large professional pest-control company and division of Memphis, Tenn.-based ServiceMaster Co., is introducing its first consumer product called SafeShield. The $9.99 indoor insecticide spray contains active ingredients thyme oil and "geraniol," a substance found in geranium, rose, lemon and other plants.

Meantime, St. Louis-based Senoret Chemical Co. is expanding its line of Terro brand ant- and bug-bait products using a mineral containing the element boron, which is generally considered low in toxicity to humans and animals. And Lititz, Pa.-based Woodstream Corp. last year bolstered its Safer product line with an organic mosquito- and tick-control concentrate made in part from chrysanthemum flowers.

The biggest bellwether came earlier this year when lawn and garden giant Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., Marysville, Ohio, introduced a seven-product "EcoSense" line under its home pest-defense Ortho brand sold in major retailers such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart. Included in the EcoSense arsenal: an indoor insect-killer spray made from soybean oil and an insecticidal soap for vegetables and plants. EcoSense is on track to meet or exceed sales expectations, the company says.

"There are consumers who want a more natural product lineup," says Jeff Garascia, Scotts senior vice president of global research and development. "A few years ago, we decided that even though the performance didn't meet our traditional products, we would push through anyway.
Now we are starting to see efficacy there."

Efficacy is tantamount to survival. Manufacturers know there's often disconnect between what consumers say we want (natural products) and what we really want (dead bugs, now!). Plus, pests can transmit illnesses such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease that can be more harmful than some potential side effects from pesticides. S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., for instance, launched a Raid "Earth Options" product in 2006, then discontinued it the next year due to low consumer acceptance. Spectrum Brands Inc. offers a lemon-eucalyptus version of its Cutter mosquito repellent without DEET (a common chemical repellent) but says it doesn't sell very well.

Still, the category continues to draw investment dollars. Next year, Spectrum plans to launch a natural indoor bug killer to go along with its Hot Shot and Spectricide insecticides. "There's just a lot of movement out there now to use safer chemicals," says Jay Matthews, a business director at Spectrum.

Meantime, sales of organic and natural products in the past 18 months have risen 30% to 40% at the Web site DoMyOwnPestControl.com, run by P&M Solutions LLC in Norcross, Ga.

Best-selling natural items include "MotherEarth D," a powder made of diatomaceous earth (ground fossils) that triggers dehydration and death in bugs, as well as an "EcoExempt IC-2" spray made from botanical oils such as spearmint and rosemary. The latter targets a wide range of pests from mosquitoes to bedbugs.

Even the $6.6 billion professional pest-control industry, where efficacy directly affects profit margins, is adopting more natural alternatives. For instance, Mesa, Ariz.-based Bulwark Exterminating LLC, which operates 11 branches in eight states, uses only botanical sprays and boric-acid products (also derived from boron) whenever customers request all-natural solutions and often includes them as part of an overall treatment plan even when they don't.

"About 35% of people who call now ask us, 'Will this hurt my kid or dog?'_" says Bulwark founder Adam Seever. One customer, Carol Kidd, lives in a rural suburb of Phoenix and recently rang Bulwark to cancel her service because she was experiencing hormone imbalances and had read pesticides might be a contributing factor. Bulwark instead switched her to an all-natural service, employing botanical oils and boric-acid bait around her foundation instead of a synthetic solution, and didn't raise her $44-a-month price.

"I've seen no excess insects since switching," 39-year-old Ms. Kidd says, "and I've got bugs in the yard around my chicken coop, but not on my patio or in my house."

The Environmental Protection Agency registers pesticides-an umbrella term for products that kill insects, fungi and weeds-for use in the U.S. The agency says general health issues from exposure to pesticides may range from simple skin or eye irritation to hormonal and endocrine disruption, cancer and other illnesses.

For instance, a study published in 2000 in the Journal of the American Medical Association with research from Stanford University found that in-home use of insect-killing chemicals was associated with a 70% increased risk of Parkinson's disease, compared with no use of pesticides.

And in April, the EPA said it will intensify evaluation of spot-on pesticide products used in pet flea and tick control due to increases in reported problems ranging from skin irritation to seizures and death of the animals. Some of the active ingredients also are found in household insecticides.

Over the years, the EPA has banned some insecticides considered too risky from use in the home market, such as diazinon and chlorpyrifos. It also now maintains a list of active ingredients used in what it dubs "minimum risk" pesticides. "It's a pretty good bet it's a safe product if it's on that list," says John Kepner with Beyond Pesticides, a not-for-profit group based in Washington, D.C.

Today, the most commonly used synthetic residential insecticides fall into a broad category called pyrethroids-common names include permethrin, cypermethrin and tetramethrin-which are essentially juiced up, longer-lasting human-made versions of the natural chrysanthemum "pyrethrins" used in some natural products. Both affect an insect's central nervous system; both can be harmful to aquatic life and honeybees. The EPA will re-evaluate pyrethroids' and natural pyrethrins' risks starting next year.

To be sure, natural products can trigger health concerns as well. Citric sprays, for instance, can hurt the eyes, and there have been questions about the safety of inhaling powders made from diatomaceous earth or boric-acid powders, Mr. Kepner of Beyond Pesticides notes. "There are plenty of things from nature that can hurt us-like nicotine."

In general, though, the EPA says biopesticides are usually "inherently less toxic" than conventional pesticides and decompose more quickly, thereby resulting in lower exposures and largely avoiding pollution problems caused by conventional pesticides. What's more, the agency says, they often primarily harm only target pests, which can help protect beneficial bugs and other animals.

Generally, my own pest issues have disappeared using only natural products. One exception: carpenter ants, likely a byproduct of multiple firewood piles around the property and a recent roof leak (the ants like moisture). To wage war, I carefully applied a tiny bit of a synthetic pyrethroid dust inside crevices around my ceiling beams where no children or pets could reach-and where the bugs had left traces of activity. (At the time, I didn't have the botanical version on hand.) Elsewhere, I've used all natural controls, including a mint and herbal oil spray along the backyard foundation where my dog roams and MotherEarth's and Terro's boric-acid bait near woodpiles and the front door where I saw ants marching. So far, it's working pretty well.

One day, however, my dog Dolly got free from her fence and gobbled up a mouthful of the boric-acid bait. Panicked, I called a pet poison control hotline (800-213-6680) and was told not to worry, that the active ingredient was "very safe" with low concern for toxicity, and Dolly would be fine. That was the most compelling sales pitch for naturals yet.

Garlic Mustard is an Invasive Plant in Connecticut and Michigan. In Michigan it also is the basis of a competitive sport. (Melissa Block on National Public Radio)

It's high season for garlic mustard, an invasive weed that spreads like crazy. And that means it's also high season for garlic mustard pulls around the country - groups of volunteers heading out to parks and woods to get rid of the plants. Jason Frenzel is coordinating a garlic mustard Weed-Out Day tomorrow in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And he joins us now.

BLOCK: And how much garlic mustard do you think you'll be pulling there?

Mr. FRENZEL: It's a bit of a competition in the southern tier of the state, so we try not to give up too much information. We've already pulled a good six or 7,000 pounds and we hope to double that.

BLOCK: Wow.

Mr. FRENZEL: But we're in competition with the western side of the state and we kind of want to keep our lips tight a little bit.

BLOCK: I didn't know this was a competitive sport.
(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. FRENZEL: No, it's fun.

BLOCK: Well, what does garlic mustard look like?

Mr. FRENZEL: Once it bolts, it gets about three to four feet tall. The leaves are roughly triangular with teeth on them, about one inch to two inches in width - in length, and then at the top of that is a seed stalk. The flowers are white, four petals, pretty easy to discern at this point in the year.

BLOCK: And is it the kind of thing that spreads so widely that a lot of folks listening to this probably have some in their backyard?

Mr. FRENZEL: Absolutely. There are accounts of it in about half of the states of the U.S. as far as Alaska, Georgia and Maine.

BLOCK: Now, why is garlic mustard considered to be such a problem?

Mr. FRENZEL: It doesn't have natural competitors or very few natural competitors. It was brought here by European settlers in the 1800s and the natural competitors are the diseases that would live on it and the things that predate the plant weren't brought with it or they don't survive here. And so it takes off and it lives on its own and it can outcompete other things because of those lack of predators.

And then also, as opposed to most of our native wildflowers, it stays green underneath the snow, so it has a competitive advantage early, early in the spring, so when the snow melts it just starts going well before our native wildflowers come up out of the ground.

BLOCK: Uh-huh. So when you go out this weekend for the weed-out, what are the techniques? What do you tell folks about how to get rid of garlic mustard?

Mr. FRENZEL: It's like weeding your garden but out in the woods. It's actually really fun and you commune with nature. You grab it by its root collar, right above the soil, and jiggle that root a little bit so that you can pull out the whole root. And then at this point, because the flowers are well in bloom and some of the seed pods are starting to develop, we remove it from the site.

BLOCK: Remove it from the site and then where does it go?

Mr. FRENZEL: Well, in Ann Arbor, we have a really nice properly functioning municipal compost system which will break down any of the seeds and turn them into compost. And so we send all of our invasives to the compost facility, but I would not recommend that in a backyard scenario. And so in other municipalities around the country, it's wiser to put it in the trash.

BLOCK: In other words, if you're doing it in your backyard, it might just sprout again?

Mr. FRENZEL: It certainly will. But once it's got good flowers on that, that flower head will rise back up to the sun and the root reserves that are still just sitting there will lead it to produce fruit just (unintelligible) outside of the dirt. It's an amazingly competitive plant.

BLOCK: Well, it sounds tempting. I mean, garlic mustard, sounds like there should be something you could do with it in the kitchen.

Mr. FRENZEL: Exactly, and that's the reason it was brought here by the European settlers. People eat both the leaves and the root. I've made garlic mustard pesto and garlic mustard chutney, which both use both of those components of the plant. It's rather bitter. If you like bitter greens, if you like really bitter greens, it's good in the salad. Must people cut it with more traditional vegetables, but it's a really good substitute for mustards as well as for garlic in a lot of recipes.

BLOCK: Well, Jason, good luck this weekend.

Mr. FRENZEL: Thanks so much.

Good Herbs to Tend in Pots By STEPHEN ORR (NY Times)

Q. I want to grow herbs in pots this summer. Which ones should do well?

A. Good idea, but first let's discuss what you mean by "herbs." Horticulturally speaking, this group of plants is hard to define. The Herb Society of America describes it on its Web site (herbsociety.org) as plants that "are valued for their flavor, fragrance, medicinal and healthful qualities, economic and industrial uses, pesticidal properties, and coloring materials (dyes)."

That covers a lot of plants. But because I imagine that you want to use your herbs for cooking,
we'll concentrate on the culinary variety.

All cooking herbs like regular water and good sun, and most don't need any fertilizer. Too rich a soil, in fact, can yield leaves that lack the all-important flavor of their essential oils.

But some kitchen herbs have different requirements, so it's helpful to divide them into groups: annual, hardy perennial and tender perennial.

Annual herbs, like basil, cilantro (a k a coriander) and dill, are among the easiest to grow but live only one season before flowering and going to seed. Even though they love the sun, most bloom more quickly as the weather becomes hot, so it is good to plant them early and to snip the flowers to prolong leaf production.

Unlike perennial plants with woody stems, annual herbs tend to need more water. Put them in a pot at least 18 inches in diameter - the larger mass ensures that you won't have to irrigate as much.

For something more unexpected, try chervil, a French favorite with a subtle taste blending the best notes of French tarragon and parsley (two hardy perennials). Or scatter a few seeds of dark-leaved perilla - the Japanese call it shiso - which is as decorative as a coleus and has a flavor similar to that of basil.

Once these annuals bloom, they scatter seeds with abandon. Next year you may get a bumper crop in and out of your pots, so be prepared for early spring weeding.

Hardy perennial herbs (as well as some shorter-lived biennials, which last only a couple of seasons) are more forgiving when it comes to water. Most of them come through the winter in the New York area reliably, depending on the severity of the season. Mint, parsley, English thyme, rosemary, sage, chive, French tarragon, winter savory, salad burnet, oregano and its near twin, marjoram, all grow well in smaller to medium pots.

If you have larger pots, you might also try a striking species like fennel, which produces an anise scent, or the statuesque lovage or angelica, both of which grow four to six feet tall before blooming.

And don't forget a pot of fragrant lavender - added sparingly, it can flavor baked goods.
Certain valuable perennial herbs are too tender for cold winters but can be brought indoors as houseplants and placed outside in spring. A small pot of bay laurel, for example, is worth the effort: fresh bay leaves have a superior taste to those bought dried in the store.

Tea lovers may enjoy other tender perennials, like pineapple sage, rose geranium and lemon verbena, which not only flower beautifully but also grow large in one summer.

Horti-Culture Corner

"It is better to be a young June-bug than an old bird of paradise"
Mark Twain