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

May 2010

Men's Garden Club of Wethersfield

May 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEXT MEETING - PLEASE NOTE SPECIAL DATE Monday May 10 - Pitkin Community Center - 7:00 p.m. Hear the preliminary results of the Plant Sale - buy some of the leftovers for your own home garden. If the sale is postponed to 5/15 then the meeting will be held on 5/17.

Today - Donate some perennials from your personal collection to the Plant Sale
Plants should be split and potted ASAP to look good for the sale. Please label all plants. Contact Chairman Tom Gibson (1-860-208-5195) for info or planting pots.

Plant Sale Saturday May 8th (Rain Date May 15th)
7:00 - 8:00 Set Up Deliver homegrowns, unload plants, price plants, set up tables
8:00 - 1:00 Sell Help customers, total up sales, answer questions
1:00 - 2:00 Close Clean up, break down tables, pack up leftover plants
Volunteer! Contribute your own "homegrowns"
Call Tom Gibson @ 1-860-208-5195

Weston Rose Garden
Weekly maintenance has begun - Saturdays 8:00 to 10:00 OR drop in on your own at your convenience any time of the week to dead-head, weed, etc. BYO tools. Your help is needed - this is our club's major community service project. We will mulch the garden in mid June. Questions - Call Anthony Moir (563-5476)

Mark Your Calendars
A special informal meeting of the club will be held on Monday July 26 at the home of Ed Goracy @ 30 Juniper Lane in Glastonbury. More details to follow.

Compostable Matter
by Jim Meehan

Dandelions are an "In Danger" species.

They are not "Endangered", ("a species present in such small numbers that it is at risk of extinction"), but rather "In Danger" (a species present in such large numbers and in so many unwanted places as to constantly be at risk of individual extinction at the hands of all those who are really, really annoyed by them.)

You would think if you were "in danger" you would go out of your way not to draw attention to yourself. You would try to blend in with your surroundings and match the colors and textures within which you like to hang out. You would never, ever be a jagged-edged plant snuggled in the midst of soft blades of grass, or a tall yellow flower looming above a solid green background.

And you definitely wouldn't hide out along the outer edges of your target territory with half of your body nestled in the thick grassy lawn, and the remainder blatantly hanging out over the sidewalk like a black spider on white shower tile - "I'll just crouch down really low. Yup. They can't see me now."

But if you are not endangered, that is to say you've got the numbers, then I guess that you just wouldn't care.

There was a time in my life when I would have mocked and ridiculed the very thought of anyone wandering the perimeter of their property - weeding tool in right hand, plastic bag in left - eyes peeled for the slightest hint of sharp leaf angularity or startling gold coloring - dropping to a combative squat at the first hint of "dent-de-lion" - plunging their snake-tongued blade in quest of the unseen, infinitely deep tap root - bagging the trophy - wearily forcing aching legs to straighten - and moving on in search of the next prey.

Now every day I patrol the border of my land doing exactly that - and I love it.

I think it's my residual hunter-gatherer heritage - a rekindling of the basic primal urges that fueled our prehistoric ancestors' survival.

Some modern weed stalkers use lawn fertilizers or herbicides as their weapon of choice. These hands-off methods sort of satisfy the predator portion of our genetic makeup - but not really. I prefer hand-to-root combat - seeking out and tracking down the dandelions, prying them out, and tossing their pelts into my plastic prey-pouch - hunting AND gathering - paying homage to my roots, and showing respect for my quarry.

And they are worthy of our admiration.

First, you just gotta love their ingenuity and tenacity

"The head of a dandelion is not actually a flower; it is a cluster of flowers ..... between 150 and 200 of them, each bursting with a type of nectar that is irresistible to bees, who swarm from plant to plant, pollinating each one with fanatic loyalty.

"And even if an individual dandelion is missed by the pollinating insects, it is equipped to pollinate itself.....

"The seeds, once they develop, have two parts, the actual seed, which is called an achene, and a fluffy, parachute-like tuft of hairs called a pappus, which catches the wind and can carry the seed as far as 25 miles in a stiff breeze. The achene is covered with little hooks that give it tremendous gripping ability; when the seed lands, it grabs the ground tightly and quickly works its way into the soil." (www.almostgruntled.com)

And secondly, in the right setting, they are aesthetically pleasing. An uncultivated field filled with bright golden dandelions is a thing of beauty - the more the merrier, the bigger the better - weed heads packed wall to wall, heads of jagged leaves larger than the unhealthiest "Fried Onion Blossom". It is a tribute to Nature's ability to decorate itself.

But lawns are not natural. Neither are gardens.

Dead branches are natural. Lifeless bushes are natural. Plant diseases are natural. Dehydrated plants are natural. One shrub crowding out another is natural. Ground covers running amok are natural. Dandelions with wide spreading skirts that prevent anything else from sharing their food and drink are natural.

It is the nature of Nature to achieve abundance by occasionally being unattractive and disorderly. It is the nature of gardeners to seek perfection by tinkering with Nature.

Most horticultural fine-tuning is background work - in many instances the problem and the solution are visible only to the plantsman himself. But some things that need fixing are smack in yo' face - like a single taunting dandelion on an otherwise green lawn. To be just one weed away from flawless is enough to turn even the most laid-back, Type-B gatherer into a ranting and raving, Type-A+ hunter.

Bring it on dan-de-lion! Booyah!!!

Succulents: Ideal Plants for Summer
By Jeanne Huber (www.thisoldhouse.com)

With plants, as with people, there are savers and there are spenders. Where _water is the currency, succulents are the thriftiest of their kind, their fleshy leaves hoarding water for times of drought. This built-in resiliency makes them a _perfect choice for problem places in the yard: patio containers set in blazing sun, windy spots that make roses wither, rocky slopes where grass won't grow. _Gardeners in the arid West have been using succulents in water-thrifty xeriscapes for years. Now more nurseries across the country are carrying these intriguing plants, some of which grow well even in damp or cold climates.

John Spain, a Connecticut-based gardening expert who pioneered ways of growing succulents outdoors in the frozen north, discovered their advantages years ago, when he often traveled for business. "The only plants that survived without any care in my makeshift greenhouse were the succulents and cacti," he says. "I would leave for a month, and they'd be fine." That sent him searching for more cold-hardy succulents. He found enough to fill a 20-foot-long berm with a carpetlike tapestry of leaves in green, chartreuse, rose, purple, and even nearly black. Today he also tucks succulents among alpine plants in his 2,000-square-foot rock garden.

A Size And Shape For Every Situation: At least 60 plant families have some succulent species. The adaptations that these plants have made to hold on to moisture make them especially interesting garden specimens. Ground-hugging rosettes pack water into thick, pointed leaves that hybridizers have edged with ribbons of color or rose-petal-like frills. Some species have a swollen stem known as a caudex that serves as a water storage tank. Others resemble cacti, complete with ridged stems and spiky thorns.

Among the most familiar succulents are sedums, including that perennial _favorite Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy,' which grows 18 to 24 inches tall and bears dramatic rosy-red flower heads in late summer. Another sedum, two-row stonecrop (Sedum spurium) is a low-maintenance groundcover with fine _foliage and white, pink, or purple flowers in summer. Low-growing Sedum rupestre 'Angelina' has yellow blooms.

Another groundcover, ice plant (Delosperma spp.) has tiny, fingerlike fleshy leaves and blooms in full sun with masses of daisylike flowers all summer. Delosperma nubigenum is a noninvasive type that bears yellow blooms.

Hens and chicks-the common name for the similar-looking but unrelated Echeveria x imbricata and the more cold-hardy Sempervivum tectorum-is a longtime favorite for contain__ers, rock gardens, and growing in the crevices of stone walls. Sempervivum's ground-hugging rosettes can be green, red, chartreuse, or purple to silvery blue in color. Echeverias come in rose, green, gray, and mauve, often with a contrasting edge color or a stripe. Both multiply without much effort, sending out shoots with their progeny attached; these may root on their own if they are in contact with soil. Otherwise, they can easily be detached and rooted.

Desert-loving yuccas, agaves, and aloes, with their swordlike and strappy leaves with sharp tips, add a sculptural element to any garden. Though these large-scale specimen plants have long been associated with the dry Southwest, there are hardy varieties that withstand below-freezing temperatures.

That indoor classic, the treelike jade plant (Crassula ovata), is another favorite for outdoor containers-though it is not hardy in cold climates. In the same family, baby necklace (Crassula rupestris x perforata) looks like a string of beads or buttons.

The lesser-known, multistemmed Aeoniums bear striking rosettes, sometimes variegated, in shades of green, red, and blackish purple, at the ends of their branches. Equally good as container and garden specimens, these generally grow 18 inches to 3 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide. They don't tolerate freezing temperatures, however, so they need to winter indoors in cold climates.

Planting and Care: Although succulents generally require minimal care, most have one need that is absolute: good drainage. Many have shallow roots that spread out so they can take advantage of even brief rainstorms. But the roots succumb to disease if they stay damp.
The right soil depends on rainfall where you live. In desert areas, some succulents grow even in clay. In wetter climates, though, mix sand and airy lava rock into the planting area. Dig holes only as big as the nursery containers or even a little less deep, so that the plant crowns don't settle below the surface. Mulch with pea gravel to keep surface moisture to a minimum. For containers, mix two-thirds gravel or lava rock and one-third loam if you live where there is a lot of rain. In a dry climate, reverse the proportions.

Most important, don't overwater. Though container plantings need more water than those settled into the ground, probe the soil to be sure it is thoroughly dried out before watering. And always empty any standing water from saucers. In garden areas, feel the soil 3 to 4 inches below the surface to make sure it's thoroughly dry before giving plants a good dousing.

Occasional rainfall may mean you'll only need to water succulent plantings now and then, even during the sultriest weeks of the year. That's when you may really appreciate the savings bonus these plants offer-not just the lower water bill, but the extra hours freed up from coddling your summer garden.

Book Review: The Truth About Organic Gardening
(www.gardenrant.com)

In his straightforward introduction, Jeff Gillman outlines a personal history with pesticide use that he probably shares with most of us: chemicals were an accepted element of his family's horticultural practice. He then makes a distinction that will be important to anyone reading this book. Growers may be producing food for market while gardeners tend to be working a small plot of land primarily for their own personal use. In much of the book, Gillman aims his discourse first at those who grow food, and it's something to keep in mind.

Here's something else to keep in mind. Just as Gillman boils his discussion of each type of pesticide, herbicide, disease control, and fertilizer down into 3 conclusive summaries-benefits, drawbacks, and the bottom line-much of his advice could be summed up in a similar fashion: use common sense, read the labels, and follow the directions. And don't assume. Unfortunately, we can't depend on people doing all of that, so this book is needed.

The Truth About Organic Gardening does not sensationally debunk organic gardening principles; instead, it continues the discussion of the various chemical strategies (organic or otherwise) we use in our gardens that Gillman started in his excellent The Truth About Garden Remedies. As with the earlier book, chapters are organized by type of problem (pests, poor soil, weeds, disease, etc.) and each type of chemical is discussed-its benefits, its weaknesses, its dangers.

Any surprises here? Well, yes. I would have expected Gillman to come down hard on pesticide use, organic or otherwise, but I was a bit taken aback by his "respectful disagreement" with those who consider glyphosphate (Round-Up) a dangerous chemical. (He doesn't feel that the studies about its dangers are convincing, though he notes them.) I did enjoy this statement in the same chapter:

"The beauty of hand weeding is to thoroughly annihilate, in a very personal way, those evil plants that thought they could park themselves right next to my carrots."

I also liked this one in another: "One of my favorite ways to deal with pests is by ignoring them."

You'd have to be a professional horticulturalist yourself not to learn something from Gillman's wide-ranging descriptions of the more arcane chemical and mechanical garden methodologies that are out there. Like Reemay, a clear polyester covering to kill (edit) bugs, or minute pirate bugs, a beneficial insect you can buy that will voraciously consume thrips, mites, and aphids. I'd also never considered flaming my weeds, and I can hardly wait for good weather, so I can take my new propane torch (purchased for crème brulée) out there and light up some of those babies.

Just for fun. I must confess that's what I got from this book, for the most part: fun. I'm not a grower; I have a small urban courtyard and I just don't have enough land or plants for any garden problem to be a huge worry-i.e., where I'd be considering hurling an arsenal of chemicals at it. Like Gillman, I think it's fine to use synthetic fertilizer for containers, but that's become the extent of what I buy, these days. However, for those of you who tend larger domestic landscapes or are growing a good quantity of food crops, this book is useful. It discusses most of the strategies that exist, including many I'd never heard of, and debunks the overreactions on both sides of the equation, explaining that chemicals exist on both sides of the aisle-organic and synthetic-and it's important to know their properties and effects, either way. It's also fascinating to learn exactly how the nitrogen and phosphorous in synthetic fertilizers are produced.

If I had to distill Gillman's thoughts on this issue, I'd say that he, like many of us here, believes that a healthy plant in a healthy soil (well amended with compost) will withstand just about any threat. But I'd add that he's a scientist, fascinated by how chemicals work for good or ill in the garden, and in his book he shares his knowledge and experience in a way that entertains, enlightens, and sometimes surprises.

Horti-Culture Corner

There was a young lady of Leeds
Who swallowed six packets of seeds
In a month, silly lass
She was covered in grass
And she couldn't sit down for the weeds!

The truth about Organic Fertilizers
By Susan Harris
(www.organicgardener.com)

There's lots of confusion nowadays about "chemical" versus "organic" fertilizers but really, they're all chemicals, so the correct distinction is between organic and synthetic. Organic fertilizers break down slowly, so they last longer in the soil than synthetics and their effect isn't an instant "greening up" effect. They also require much larger quantities than synthetics to yield the same amount of each nutrient, and they're more expensive. It's those quick and cheap qualities of synthetic fertilizers - plus large advertising budgets on their behalf - that account for their popularity. That popularity will diminish if current trends towards organics continue, as expected.

Professor Jeff Gillman wrote The Truth about Organic Gardening to help steer environmentally concerned gardeners through the minefield of misinformation about organics. He warns readers that some organic fertilizers - like rock phosphate - are mined from nonrenewable sources and do considerable damage to the land. (The same harmful effects result from the mining of potassium used in synthetic fertilizers.) Nonmined organic fertilizers include compost, bonemeal, blood meal, seaweed extracts, alfalfa meal, and fish emulsions.

A common criticism of the excessive use of fertilizers is that they leach into groundwater, but the notion that only synthetic fertilizers do this is wrong, says Gillman. If organic fertilizers are overapplied, they're just as likely to pollute our waters as synthetic ones.

But probably the biggest misconception about fertilizers as a group is that they're even necessary! Usually it's far better to just feed the soil so it'll support healthy plants, and not just by providing the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in most packaged fertilizers. Healthy soils also need organic matter, plus beneficial bacteria and fungi, and the best source of all of that is compost. For growing food, Gillman recommends mixing a half-inch of aged composted manure into the soils

I asked Gillman about growing shrubs, trees, and perennials and his good-news answer was that they don't even need compost! He simply gives his a yearly 2-inch layer of a good organic mulch, which has been my own practice for 30 years, with good results. (I use leafmold, which is chopped and aged leaves, supplied free of charge by my local public works department.)
One small exception is that to maximize blooms on roses, many growers recommend applying an organic rose fertilizer like Rosetone in mid-April and again in mid-May, and Gillman himself applies alfalfa meal to his roses. The other exception among ornamental plants is container plants. They're watered SO frequently, their nutrients leach right out the drain hole, and most are planted in sterile "soil-less media" anyway. For pots, Gillman recommends fertilizers based on fish seaweed.

But what about the primary recipient of overfertilizer in the garden - our lawns? Turfgrasses DO need nitrogen, so a yearly application of any prepared organic fertilizer or a half-inch of screened compost is recommended. Even better, though, is corn gluten. Applied at the right time (when the forsythia are blooming) corn gluten will prevent weeds in addition to providing all the nitrogen the lawn needs. What a deal!

Garden Q. & A.: Poppies and Dill
By Leslie Land (NY Times)

Q. Years ago, I saw a magnificent stand of plume poppies in Maine and have wanted some ever since. Now that I finally have a place to plant them (in New Hampshire) I have two questions: Are they really invasive? Are they really poppies?

A. The plume poppy, Macleaya cordata, is really a member of the poppy family (Papaveraceae). It is not one of the poppies (Papaver species).

Compared to the usual, plume poppies are huge, anywhere from 6 to 8 feet tall. Instead of round poppy blossoms, they have long sprays of tiny flowers.

And unlike garden poppies they have beautiful broad leaves, olive green on top and silvery underneath.

To reach magnificence, plume poppies need fertile, well-drained soil and consistent moisture. Full sun is best, though they will grow in light shade.

In the south, where they can ripen seed, they can be invasive. Up north they are simply aggressive.

The rhizomes creep outward persistently, sending up new shoots as they go. But they prefer to stay in the garden, and they are easy to rip out. So as long as you are willing to weed, you should have no problems.

If you know someone who grows plume poppies, plants can be yours; those ripped-up bits come with roots. Nursery suppliers include Big Dipper Farm, (360) 886-8133 or bigdipperfarm.com, and Perennial Pleasures Nursery, (802) 472-5104 or perennialpleasures.net.

Q. The dill that has self-sown in my garden for years has always tasted fine, but I wonder if I'm missing something. Is there any reason to buy varieties like Dukat and Fernleaf?

A. The reasons for Dukat are homemade gravlax, potato salad for 20 and other recipes that call for large amounts of green dill. Dukat makes a lot of fronds. The reason for Fernleaf is restricted space. Fernleaf is bushy and short.

Dill that seeds itself usually grows tall and thin and starts flowering early. There is nothing wrong with it; in fact it often has the best flavor. But even large dill plants do not need much room, so why not have an assortment? Sources include Territorial Seed Company, (800) 626-0866 or territorialseed.com, and Harris Seeds, (800) 544 7938 or harrisseeds.com.

We All Play a Part in the Dandelion's History (www.naturewatch.com)

Ask your relatives if they have any experiences with the Dandelion. Remember that it originally came from Asia where it played an important role in both food and medicine. Arabian physicians, even before the year 1000, used this plant as a medicine. The Dandelion has not established itself in the wild in the Southern Hemisphere. Dandelions made their recorded appearances in Canada with the French in the 1700's where it was used in salads and as a health remedy.

This plant also appeared in New Mexico, USA when Spanish people brought it over for a medicine and food source, they called it chicoria. Germans brought the plant to Pennsylvania in the 1850's and used it as an early spring infusion of nutrition and vitamins. The English also brought the plants over to cure liver problems and other illnesses. Native Americans soon started to see benefits from the plants and started to grow them for the same uses as others. The plant is grown in India and is used mainly for a remedy for liver problems. Most recently the dandelion root is being grown and exported to Russia for use in medical remedies.

Interesting Facts

The word Dandelion comes from the French name for the plant dents de lion. This means teeth of the lion and refers to the jagged edges of the leaf of the plant.

The other French name for this plant is pis-en-lit, in English this means wet the bed. Dandelions deserve this name because their greens, when eaten, remove water from the body. So eating the greens could cause someone to well... you can guess the rest. Not recommend for a bedtime snack.

The dandelion first came from Asia but it now calls the entire planet home!

Each year fifty-five tones of coffee substitutes made from roasted Dandelion roots are sold in England, Australia and Canada.

The Dandelion provides an important food source to bees. The pollen from this plant helps bees out in the spring because it flowers early and the flowers continue through to the fall providing constant food. In fact no less then 93 different kinds of insects use Dandelion pollen as food.

The Dandelion seeds are important food to many small birds.

Horti-Culture Corner Bonus By Emily Dickinson

The Dandelion's pallid tube
Astonishes the Grass,
And Winter instantly becomes
An infinite Alas -

The tube uplifts a signal Bud
And then a shouting Flower, --
The Proclamation of the Suns
That sepulture is o'er.

April 2010

Planters Punchlines
Men's Garden Club of Wethersfield
April 2010

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uncover the Weston Rose Garden -
Saturday April 17 @ 8:00 a.m.

Weed, compost and prune back. BYO tools & thorn-proof gloves. Contact Anthony Moir (563-5476) for more information.

The Rose Garden is our organization's principal ongoing civic contribution, and the major source of good publicity for the club.

The Garden Maintenance Team, a.k.a Anthony's Anti-Aphid Army, will meet every Saturday morning at 8:00 beginning t/b/a to perform regular maintenance (deadheading, etc.) Anyone interested in joining this elite group of combat gardeners and learning more about rose gardening while contributing to our town is welcome - regulars, part-timers, or drop-ins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monthly Meeting - Monday April 26 @ 7:00 p.m.@ Wethersfield Community Center

Final planning for the Plant Sale."Official" pots and labels for donated plants will be available.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annual Plant Sale - May 8 (Rain Date May 15)

This is our major fundraiser.

CRITICAL NEED - Club members are asked to contribute "home grown" perennials to the sale. Plants being donated should be split and potted as soon as possible in order to allow them time to develop in the pot and look good for the sale. Please label all plants.

Contact Chairman Tom Gibson (1-860-208-5195) for pots for your perennials or for more information.

Help will be needed for: early morning set-up (7-8:00); sales and service (8-1:00); end of business shutdown (1-2:00 approx.).

Compostable Matter
By Jim Meehan

"The last thing we need is a platform or manifesto. This party is about anger, blame and raging paranoia." ("Bunkerbuster" at taxdayteaparty.com)

"Bunkerbuster" is right on. We don't need no manifesto. We don't need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom. Teachers leave them kids alone.

Instead we should follow with fervor the standard for unreasonableness set on that cold winter morning when the founding members of the Mens Garden Club of Wethersfield filled the waters of the towne cove with thousands of small, green, spherical legumes - in the great Wethersfield Pea Party.

They were mad as hell and not going to take this anymore.

"This" was of course the selection of our official town emblem.

There were just two candidates - the "Wethersfield Red Onion" versus the "Mister Big" Large Pod Pea. Both vegetables had their own set of loyalists. And town members of all ages and genders aligned themselves fiercely with their favorite contender - berating and maligning the opposition crop and its supporters with even more fervor than they devoted to extolling the virtues of their own nominee.

The onion was the fave of the fawning Francophile followers of that effete French nobleman Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur count de Rochambeau, who several years later, would visit our fair city to plot military strategy with General George Washington.

The Mens Garden Club threw their backing to "Mr. Big". There were several reasons for this choice, such as the pea's shorter germination time and innate disease resistance. But the main one was expressed perfectly by the organization's campaign slogan, "Mister Big - Because That's Just The Way We Are!"

The opposition countered with their own series of catchphrases, the most famous of which of course was: "Mister Big! Ha! In Your Dreams!"

The Mens Garden Club had published its first "Horticultural Hunks" calendar that year. Unfortunately for the plantsmen some of the un-retouched original illustrations, which had been posed for in unusually cold winter weather, found their way into the public market. They had nothing that could stand up to the belittling counter claim of the Onion supporters.

As a result, the pungent tasting edible bulb was victorious. And for almost three hundred years the anger over that bitter defeat has simmered just under the surface of the otherwise placid demeanor of the gentlemen of the club.

In addition to the original "Pea Party Revolt" held in 1772, just one year before the idea was stolen by a bunch of tea-sipping Bostonians, there have been several other efforts over the year to bring the issue before the public. With each failure - and each attempt was an utter failure - the decibel level of the whining has increased incrementally.

For example, in 1900 the club endowed the first Nobel Peas Prize. But, like the aforementioned act of water-based vegetative rebellion, this idea was also hijacked - this time by a horde of Norwegian peace mongers - before the membership could agree on its initial honoree.

And in the 1960's the club issued its professionally produced recording of "All we are saying is give peas a chance. All we are saying is give peas a chance." But, as usual, nobody did.

You people just don't seem to get it! So listen up! Here is the real story.

The word "onion" comes from the Middle English "unyun", which in turn comes (of course) from the French "oignon", ultimately deriving from the Latin "unio", meaning one or unity.

Does that sound like socialism or what? Is it just coincidence that the enemy is a "RED" onion? I don't think so. Plus it is French.

Would not a well-endowed green legume make a much more memorable souvenir of our all-American village?

Picture this. Roadside stands set up on all of the entrances into town, manned by loyal and patriotic volunteers. Colonial pottery bowls filled with handpicked and hand-polished exemplars of "Mister Big", free for the taking.

And our new town motto: "It is a long drive from New York to Boston. Why not stop in Wethersfield and take a pea!"

In the words of Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry, "It is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of [Wethersfield]! The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat, Sir, let it come! Give me liberty. Or give me death!"

Wait a minute. Death? The end of life! Most importantly my life! All over some dumb little green legume. Maybe I am being a little overzealous.

Besides, all that planning, organizing, supervising and (worst of all) then actually doing something just really seems like an awful lot of work to me. And when it's all done you just know someone is going to complain about it.

Instead I'm going back to my own private bunker where I can hunker down with a cheap cigar and an ice-cold six-pack - and bitch with the impunity that is granted to irate ignorance.

"Viva le Pea Party!" (Oops, my bad.)

GARDENS IN THYME Paul Courchaine
An English Herbal Garden

In this, the second article to address the history of gardens and gardening through-out the centuries, we go "across the pond" . We will look at 18th century herb gardening in England. The styles and the botany of such gardens played an important role in early America, as England was considered the epitome of all fashion. Gardens as those described in our inspiration book were copied by the wealthy and aspiring throughout the Eastern seaboard of America.

The book, in fact really a pamphlet, was published by The Herb Growers Press, a now-defunct organization which was located in Falls Village CT. The pamphlet came out in 1954. It is a reprint of an 17th century work by Leonard Meager, originally published in 1688. The Meager title was The English Gardner. Its sub-title tells the whole purpose of the tract - A catalogue of divers Ordinary Herbs and Roots, by the View whereof, any Gardener may readily call to mind what Sorts of Herbs he is to provide for the Furnishings of his Garden; also briefly by what means increased. (The spelling and punctuation are Mr. Meager’s). Notice the interesting use of the word Furnishings in how he views the role of herbs in the garden.

Meager begins by giving us a list of herbs called sweet herbs. What to include or not in this category have been an item of dispute for many years, but in his list they include such common, and easily grown, herbs as balm (probably lemon), basil, costmary, hyssop, lavender, five types of mint, five of marjoram, pennyroyal and rosemary, sage, summer and winter savory , six varieties of thyme and tansy. These sweet herbs were intended for culinary use, and were chopped fresh or dried for seasoning soups, stews, and pottages.

The next section of the pamphlet discusses "Physick Herbs", those which were used for medicinal purposes.It is an extensive list, and while some may not be known to American gardeners (bears-foot, harts-tongue, pelletary), others are rather commonly found in gardens (garlic, horseradish, peonies, rhubarb). Included in this section is a recipe of sorts for a spring salad, which is worth stating in its fullest:

There is a sort of sallet commonly gathered in the spring, consisting of diverse young buds and Sprouts both of trees and herbs, the which being gathered discreetly, with nothing but what is Very Young and tender, and that no one thing do too much exceed another, but that there is fine Agreement in their relish, if so it will be very acceptable to many. Violets with some young leaves Primroses and some young leaves small sprouts of burnet, also of mints. Sorrel, and diverse other of the like also small buds of gooseberries, roses, barberries, etc. Also when they are to be had The flowers of borage, bugloss, cowpagles, archangel, with diverse others

Although a salad composed of just these items might not fit all modern tastes, the addition of flower buds to "gourmet" salads is becoming very common-place in American restaurants,

Also included is a list of sallet-herbs and roots, for kitchen-uses. It’s a typical list of vegetable plants. Comparing it to the Williamsburg list from our first article, one finds many of the same plants. Interestingly enough, the Williamsburg list had seven varieties of peas. This pamphlet has eight. But only two are the same - Hotspur and Reading. Included here are sandwich, sugar (white and gray) , tufted or rose, gray Windsor, maple, Bowlins and great blew. But knowing that Thomas Jefferson knew, and planted , over 100 varieties, it is not surprising that the lists vary. It does show how much of our agricultural heritage we’ve lost as fruits and vegetables have been "developed" for long-distance transportation.

After Meager describes some herbs suitable to pickling, he describes the various forms of herb gardens "with divers forms of knots and plots for the purpose". Attached are plans for some of the more common types seen in England (as would also be seen in the colonies).

Paths would have laid with stone, brick-work, gravel, sand, or cropped grass. Meager lists some plants “to edge Borders to keep them in fashion”. These include box, hyssop, thyme, germander, thrift, marjoram, pinks, violets, grass, periwinkle, lavender cotton (santolina), lavender, rosemary, sage, primroses and double daisies. All should be “oft cut”. (Neither rosemary or lavender would do that well in the harsher climate of the Northeast.. The pamphlet concludes with instructions on sowing seeds.

I hope some of you might take inspiration to try some of these planting options. The book is well-worth seeking out through used book dealers. As some of the lists in the book were rather long, they were not included. But send a note to us and we’ll see what we can get for you.

Natural Pest Control (Other Than Caller ID)
Attracting Beneficial Insects to Your Garden by Eartheasy.com

A garden insectary is a small garden plot of flowering plants designed to attract and harbor beneficial insects. These "good insects" prey on many common garden insect pests and offer the gardener a safer, natural alternative to pesticides.

The garden insectary is a form of "companion planting," based on the positive attributes plants can share in deterring pests, acquiring nutrients, or attracting natural predators. By becoming more diverse with your plantings, you're providing habitat, picture of predatory wasp shelter, and alternative food sources (such as pollen and nectar, something many predators need as part of their diet.

Here's an example. You can control aphids with an aphid predator like aphidius, and you can encourage aphidius to set up shop by planting sunflowers or lupin. Of course, the aphid predators need the pests to be present in order to eat, thrive, and reproduce-that is, they need aphids to be found in and around the general area you're trying to protect from the aphids. But that's where stocking your insectary with the appropriate plants comes in.

The idea of inviting the pests in to munch on plants in your insectary may seem alarming, until you understand that you are doing so to encourage host-specific pests. The pests remain on the desired plant in your insectary yet provide an ideal breeding ground for the associated predators and parasites.

Your insectary plot does not have to be large, just big enough to hold six to seven varieties of plants that attract insects. Once the garden has matured, you can watch your personal security force of beneficial insects do the work for you.

Table A. - Natural Pest Control by Insect Species

Pest Insect / Predator Insect

Aphids / Aphidius
Aphids / Aphidoletes
Thrips, spidermites, fungus gnats / Beneficial mites
Eggs of many pest insects / Damsel bugs (Nabidae)
Whiteflies, aphids, thrip, spider mites / Dicyphus
Slugs, small caterpillars and grubs / Ground beetles
Grubs Spring / Tiphia wasp
Aphids, mealybugs and others / Hoverflies
Scale, aphids, mites, soft-bodied insects / Lacewings
Aphids, mites / Ladybugs
Thrips, aphids, mites, scales, whiteflies / Pirate bugs
Caterpillars; beetle and fly larvae / Tachinid flies
Whiteflies; moth, beetle and fly larvae / Parasitic wasps

Table B. - What to Plant to Attract Beneficial Insects (Predator Insects)

Predator Insect / What to Plant (Insectary Plant)
Lacewings, aphidius, ladybugs / Achillea filipendulina
Hoverflies / Alyssum
Ground beetles / Amaranthus
Spring Tiphia wasp / Peonies, firethorn, forsythia
Ichneumon wasp, ladybugs, lacewings / Anethum graveolens (dill)
Lacewings / Angelica gigas
Ladybugs, hoverflies / Convolvulus minor
Hoverflies, parasitic wasps, lacewings / Cosmos bipinnatus
Dicyphus / Digitalis
Lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies / Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Damsel bugs, ladybugs, lacewings / Foeniculum vulgare (fennel)
Pirate bugs, beneficial mites / Helianthus annulus
Hoverflies / Iberis umbellata
Hoverflies, parasitic wasps / Limonium latifolium (Statice)
Aphidius, aphidoletes, hoverflies / Lupin
Parasitic wasps, tachinid flies / Melissa officinalis (lemon balm)
Parasitic wasps, hoverflies, tachinid flies / Petroselinum crispum (parsley)
Pirate bugs, beneficial mites / Shasta daisy
Pirate bugs, aphidius / Sunflowers
Ladybugs, lacewings / Tanacetum vulgare (tansy)
Dicyphus / Verbascum thaspus

A garden insectary should be thought of as a long-term permanent component of your garden. Results are not instant and conclusive; rather, the benefits to your garden are cumulative. As your plantings mature and resident populations of beneficial insects are established, the need for chemical pesticides and other aggressive insect control techniques will diminish. Your garden will become a more natural and balanced environment for the healthy production of vegetables and flowers.

God on Lawns
richsoil.com

God: Hey St. Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in the Midwest? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect "no maintenance" garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

St. Francis: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

God: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

St. Francis: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. The begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

God: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

St. Francis: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it... sometimes twice a week.

God: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay?

St. Francis: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

God: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

St. Francis: No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

God: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

St. Francis: Yes, Sir.

God: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

St. Francis: You are not going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

God: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life.

St. Francis: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

God: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose?

St. Francis: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. The haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

God: And where do they get this mulch?

St. Francis: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

God: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. Sister Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

Sister Catherine: "Dumb and Dumber", Lord. It's a real stupid movie about.....

God: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

Perennial Vegetables
perennialvegetables.org/

There are perennial vegetables for almost every climate in North America - and many are suited to the shady, dry, infertile, or wet parts of your garden where annual vegetables won't grow.

They include not only herbaceous plants, but trees shrubs, vines, cacti, bamboos, bulbs, groundcovers, and even water plants. These crops are for the most part easily grown, and return year after year for delicious harvests.

Perennial in all of the Cold Temperate zone: This is a large and highly populated region covering much the eastern and central United States, as well as much of the warmer parts of Canada. This region corresponds with USDA Zones 4-7, and Sunset Zones 2-4, 6, 11, and 32-43.

Allium fistulosum Welsh onion
Allium tricoccum ramps
Allium tuberosum garlic chives
Apios americana groundnut
Aralia cordata udo
Asparagus officinalis asparagus
Bunias orientalis Turkish rocket
Camassia cusickii Cusick's camass
Camassia leichtlinnii Leichtlin's camass
Camassia quamash camass
Camassia scillioides wild hyacinth
Chenopodium bonus-henricus good king Henry
Cicorium intybus chicory
Crambe maritima sea kale
Dioscorea japonica jinenjo
Dioscorea opposita Chinese yam
Helianthus tuberosa sunchoke
Hemerocallis daylily
Laportaea canadensis wood nettle
Levisticum officinale lovage
Malva moschata musk mallow
Matteuccia struthiopteris ostrich fern
Nasturtium officinale watercress
Oenanthe javanica water celery
Oxyria digyna mountain sorrel
Petasites japonicus fuki
Phytolacca americana pokeweed
Polygonatum biflorum canaliculatum giant Solomon's seal
Rheum rubarbarum rhubarb
Rumex acetosa French sorrel
Rumex acetosa 'Profusion' sorrel
Rumex acetosella sheep sorrel
Rumex scutatus silver shield sorrel
Sagittaria latifolia arrowhead
Scorzonera hispanica scorzonera
Sium sisarum skirret
Stachys sieboldii Chinese artichoke
Taraxacum officinale dandelion
Tilia spp. linden
Urtica dioica nettles

Horti-Culture Corner

The Praying Mantis
By Ogden Nash

From whence arrived the praying mantis?
From outer space, or lost Atlantis?
glimpse the grin, green metal mug
at masks the pseudo-saintly bug,
Orthopterous, also carnivorous,
And faintly whisper, Lord deliver us.

Organic Lawn Care For the Cheap and Lazy (Excerpts)
(http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp)

A little knowledge makes it so damn near anything can qualify for the "cheap and lazy" label. Including lawn care. Organic is just a bonus.

This is a game of competition. You want to make things favorable for the grass and unfavorable for the weeds so the grass will choke out the weeds. Naturally.

Mow high: There is a fight for sun. If the grass doesn't shade the weed, the weed will shade the grass. Sun is food. Food is strength and life. Shade is weakness, disease and death. Grass will shade the weeds only if it is tall enough. The shade of tall, dense grass turf will prevent essential light from reaching most weeds and, will aid in the destruction of new baby weed seedlings (such as the notorius dandelion).

Water infrequently: This will force your grass roots to go deep into the soil. Deeper than most weed roots. As the top few inches of soil becomes bone dry, the weeds and weed seedlings up there die while the grass still enjoys moisture from a little deeper.

Shallow, frequent watering encourages "thatch" (the grass propogates with above-soil runners (like strawberry runners) rather than rhizomes under the soil - there gets to be so many runners that they weave a mat that chokes out water and air). Since the roots are in the top inch or two of soil, a hot day will quickly dry the soil and much of the grass will brown. Weeds and weed seedlings looooove a daily watering. It's just what they need for a good start.

Two methods to tell when it is time to water: (1) The grass will start to curl before it turns brown. When it starts to curl, that is the best time to water. Anything after that is time for "intensive care watering" (water half an inch, wait three hours and water an inch). (2) Take a shovel and stick it into the soil about six inches. Keep the sun to your left or to your right when you do this. Push the handle forward. If you can see any moisture, wait. If it's all dry, water. If you can't get your shovel to go into the soil this deep, you need more soil.

Fertilize: Grass is a nitrogen pig. Legumes (such as clover and black medic) can get their nitrogen from the air (remember that the air we breathe is 80% nitrogen!). So, when you see legumes taking over your lawn (clover, medic, etc.), you know that your soil is nitrogen poor.

If your lawn needs fertilizer, sprinkle a little Ringer lawn fertilizer in the spring and fall. Why this brand? Well, there is nothing scary in the ingredients list; the stuff looks like rabbit food; and it works great.

If your lawn is in serious need of fertilizer, use a third of what the package recommends every three weeks in the spring and fall. Otherwise, use half of what the package recommends at the beginning of spring and the beginning of fall.

Cool season grasses are semi-dormant in the summer. Fertilizing in the summer feeds the weeds, not the grass.

pH: Dandelions love a pH of about 7.5. Grass loves a pH of about 6.5. So if your pH is 7.5 or higher, your grass will probably never beat out the dandelion. Lower the pH to 6.5 and your grass has the advantage!

Soil depth: My soil was only half an inch deep. Even weeds had a tough time growing. Below my half inch of soil was huge river rocks separated by smaller rocks, separated by sand. It bore no resemblance to soil. I added four inches of topsoil. This was done with two dump truck loads at $100 a pop. It covered all of the weeds with enough soil that they could not work through - I could start from scratch with my grass seed of choice!

This is a good time to talk about soil quality too. There is a big difference between dirt and soil. Soil is rich in microbial life and has a lot of organic matter in it. Dirt comes in many forms and it's a challenge to get anything to grow in it. If you are getting "topsoil" delivered to your house, be prepared for it to bear more resemblance to "dirt". You may want to have compost also delivered to your house so that you can mix the two and have the beginnings for "soil". One part compost to two parts dirt is a good mix.

Weeds: The above lawn care advice will eliminate 95% to 99% of your weed problem. But there are some weeds that are almost impossible to get rid of, no matter what. Some of these are even resistant to the chemical army. The two to be careful of in my area are BINDWEED (looks like white or pink morning glory) and CANADIAN THISTLE. These two have HUGE root systems that might go as deep as thirty feet into the soil. They spread with rhizomes, just like your grass.

The above techniques will discourage them enough to go to your neighbor's instead. They don't like tall grass or mowing. They might try to pop up on fences or other lawn borders. Fifty outcroppings could all be part of the same plant, so you really have to get as much of them as you can. The key is to remove the green plant that provides it with sugar. It needs sun and sugar to support that massive root system. Repeated digging will weaken it to the point that bugs and bacteria can take over.

DANDELIONS are a sign of alkaline soil. Refer to the pH stuff above. The above methods will prevent dandelions from propogating. Since dandelions live about five years, the mature dandelions will struggle with the tall, thick turf and die off in two to three years. I now think that a few dandelions poking up once in a while are kinda nice and I leave them alone.

BLACK MEDIC is a sign of low nitrogen soil. Refer to fertilizing above. The above methods will keep black medic in check. You will occassionally see a little once in a while, but it is kinda pretty when it isn't taking over your lawn. This stuff is sometimes called "yellow clover". When it's taking over, it will choke out grass and make flat mats about a foot in diameter. I found a litte in my current lawn and it was a single tiny strand with little yellow flowers.

CLOVER is a sign of low nitrogen soil. Refer to fertilizing above. White and pink clover is often desired in a lawn. It contributes nitrogen to the soil and doesn't compete strongly with the grass. Yellow clover is actually "black medic" (see above).

KNAPWEED tries to poison plants around it with niacin. A little water washes the niacin away
and the plants around it can have a fighting chance. Especially if mowing is involved. Mow a little more frequently in late June and early July to wipe out knapweed.








Links

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/04-26/beneficial-insect-natural-pest-control-article.htm

perennialvegetables.org/

http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp