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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

August 18, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

August 18, 2015, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter    © Kim Willis

Hi Gardeners

Flowering tobacco- Only the Lonely.
I am not a fan of this hot and humid weather.  It has sped up the growth of my tropical pot plants though, and my brugmansia that I started from a tiny cutting this spring is actually getting ready to bloom as is the orange jasmine.  I have a beautiful yellow pond lily in bloom today also.  The garden is dripping with tomatoes, although my plants are succumbing fast to blight.  Our sweet corn is also ripening almost too quickly to keep up with.  August is the month of good eating from the garden.

The weather is making lots of news stories this week.  It seems the Old Farmer’s Almanac is coming out soon and it’s predicting a very cold and snowy winter.  Obviously they weren’t keeping up with the National Weathers Service’s predictions.  They came out this week with news of a “Godzilla” El Nino weather system developing.  That means a large patch of very warm Pacific water is moving toward us in simple terms.  Their prediction is that this will make a mild and wet winter for most of the U.S. and may even break the California/ western drought.  They aren’t predicting whether “wet” will mean more snow for the northern states or more rain.

For the last two years I have kept track of the weather and compared it to the weather predicted by both Farmer’s Almanacs, (there are two.)   Their predictions failed miserably and a recent scientific study of past weather records compared to both almanacs predictions found that  they were right less than 50% of the time, which would be the average if they just flipped a coin to choose their prediction.  The weather service warns that no long range weather forecasts can be extremely accurate, but they are pretty confident it will be a mild fall and early winter anyway.  I’ll hope for that.

August gardening Tips
August is a good time to stake stock of what’s growing in your Michigan garden and get things back in control.  In Michigan August is generally our warmest month, but it also means shortening daylight which pushes plants to maturity.  It’s the time of maximum home garden harvest, with ripening tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, sweet corn, beans, cucumbers and squash.   It’s also a time when many hanging baskets and container plants begin to look a little worn out and annuals get leggy and bloom less.

Ligularia blooming in August
When you look around the perennial garden in August you often can’t believe that you put all those plants in the same area, with mature plants fighting for space.   Shrubs may have grown beyond their bounds and weeds may have snuck in during the hot days and grown tremendously.  Even though it’s hot take time to weed out the perennials. Bearded iris can be divided or planted in August.  Mark other areas where you may want to divide or move perennial plants and do the actual dividing and moving in the cooler days of September.

Unless you want to save seeds deadhead perennials that have a long bloom season.  That means removing flowers as they fade and not letting them go to seed.  Also remove dried flower stalks on plants like daylilies and hosta to make the garden look nicer.  Cut down yellowing foliage on things like daylilies and bleeding heart. 

Stop fertilizing perennials and roses now.  Do water if things stay dry more than a week.   Wait until September to fertilize lawns, trees and shrubs.

While it may seem like the season is almost over, annuals and container plants may have up to 90 days left to bloom, depending on when our first frost hits.  A little care will keep them blooming as long as possible. Fertilize hanging baskets, containers and annual plants once a week.  If you used a slow release plant food when you planted, August is generally the month its strength fades.  The easiest way to fertilize now is to use a water soluble fertilizer.

If annuals are really straggly and have stopped blooming, cut them back to about 3 inches from the ground.  This may cause them to put out new growth and flowers in a couple of weeks to give a nice show in the fall. You can also trim back hanging baskets that have dried out and gotten straggly to about 3 inches from the soil surface.  They may or may not have time to put on a good show in the fall but with good watering and fertilizing many will return in a spectacular manner.

Think about replacing spent annuals with mums and other fall plants that will be coming on the market in mid to late August.   Also get out the bulb catalogs and order your spring blooming bulbs now for the best selection.  Shopping for bulbs is a fun way to spend a hot afternoon.  The bulbs will arrive later in fall for planting.

Start thinking about where the houseplants and all of the tropical plants you want to over winter will go back inside.  Re-pot them now if needed and treat with insecticides if plants need it.  It’s a good time to shop for pots on clearance and other garden supplies may also be marked down.

In the vegetable garden

Go out in the evening if you have to, but keep that produce harvested.  Remove all plants that have finished producing or are severely diseased.  You may want to start a fall garden, lettuce, spinach, beets, turnips, kale, and onion sets for “green onions” are some things that appreciate cooler weather and tolerate light frost.  If we have a mild fall as predicted you may have a long, bountiful harvest.

More people equal more trees

Typically when one thinks of people building homes, subdivisions and even cities you think of disappearing trees, shrubs, and native grasslands.  However new studies, including one done in Texas recently, find that people moving into an area usually means an increase in trees, shrubs, and other species of plants, which benefits wildlife.  Increasing farmland however, results in a loss of trees and plant diversity.

That only makes sense when you think about it.   Most new homes and subdivisions in our area for example, go up on old farmland.  And one of the first things people do when they build on old cropland is to plant trees.  And while some new owners of those 2 acre plots do an excessive amount of mowing, many also let large areas of their property revert back to more natural conditions.  Some actually take care to bring in native species.   Researchers found that when people move into an area tree cover generally rises.  The diversity of plant species also rises, some plants are not native of course, but many are quite helpful to wildlife from pollinators to deer.

When farms are expanded or when commercial use of property expands, there is a loss of trees and plant diversity.  Farmers work tirelessly to keep trees and shrubby plants from encroaching on any land suitable for crops and they spray to prevent “weeds” from taking hold too.  Even if farmers are enrolled in conservation programs, and allow windbreaks and buffer strips by wetlands, there is a net loss of trees, shrubs and plant diversity when agriculture use invades an area.

Of course there are areas where wooded property is cleared for homes, wetlands filled in and native prairies destroyed where people move into an area.  There are places where population density increases to a point where nature suffers.  But it seems that overall having people move into an area may actually increase diversity of plant species and allow more diversity in wildlife that share the habitat.


Rutgers tomatoes will soon be back- new and improved

When I was young I often helped my grandfather pick seeds for starting because he couldn’t read English.  One of the seeds or later transplants he always wanted me to find was Rutgers tomatoes.  He grew Early Girl tomatoes, but Rutgers was his choice for canning and late summer eating tomatoes.  The Rutgers tomato was developed by the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station back in the 1930’s and soon became one of the top tomatoes for canning companies as well as home gardeners.  It seemed to have the perfect combination of sweet and tangy taste and was firm and meaty for canning.

Over the years however the Rutgers tomato faded from commercial fields because it didn’t handle well in transportation, and other more disease resistant tomatoes came on the scene.  It stopped being grown by homeowners mainly because newer hybrids claimed attention.  The strain seemed to have lost vigor and disease resistance and since it wasn’t patented many alternative strains of Rutgers tomatoes muddied the genetics. The variety was almost lost.  However Rutgers Ag station found that the Campbell soup company had retained seeds from the early pure strains of Rutgers tomatoes and they set to work to revive the famous tomato and make it better.

This spring (2016) Rutgers will release seeds to home gardeners of its new improved strain of the famous tomato.  It’s said to have the great taste of the original Rutgers tomato, early and more uniform ripening, better disease resistance, and handles better in transportation.  Look for it in seed catalogs this spring.  It really hasn’t been named as yet, it may be named with “Rutgers” in it but I’m sure the description will indicate its parentage.

Sweet Grass

Sweet Grass, (Hierochloe odorata) was very important to Native Americans of the northern prairies and upper Midwest and New England.   But sweet grass also occurs in the northern Europe and Eurasia, there are some closely related species of the grass in various countries. From earliest recorded history sweet grass has figured prominently in sacred ceremonies of humans around the world and was also used as a medicinal herb.   Many anthropologists have suggested that the grass was deliberately bought into North America by migrating populations of humans.  We know that the plant was cared for and cultivated by many Native American people.

Sweet grass- notice prostrate form.  Credit: en.wikipedia.org
When archeologists are searching for the locations of ancient Native American settlements they often look for large patches of sweet grass.  Sweet grass is very long lived, it can survive for centuries, and it doesn’t occur in nature in large patches, rather it is interwoven with other grasses and low weeds in small clumps.  Since Europeans also knew and used the herb sweet grass, the presence of large patches of the grass could also indicate early European settlements.

Occasionally the plant is found in the wild where it might have grown naturally but because the plants are largely sterile and produce few seeds many plants found in uncultivated areas were at some point planted by humans.  That makes for some interesting thinking should you find a “wild” patch of the grass.  Sweet grass is often found on the shores of rivers and lakes, popular places for settlements, and along old trails used by Native Americans to move from one area to another.

Sweet grass gets its common English name from the smell of the dried grass leaves.  When dry the leaves have a pleasant, vanilla like odor.  The odor is caused by coumarin, which along with other chemical compounds in sweet grass also give it its medicinal qualities.  In Europe it was also called holy or sacred grass.  Native Americans had many common names in various language’s for sweet grass, often translated as “the hair of Mother Earth”.  We'nuskwûn and Wekusko  were words used  to name sweet grass in tribes frequenting Michigan and Ontario.  Sweet Grass is one of four sacred herbs to Native Americans, sweet grass, sage, tobacco and cedar.

Description of sweet grass
Sweet grass is a very hardy perennial and can be grown even in Zone 1.  It is a clumping grass with deep rhizomatous roots.  Sweet grass gets only 8-10 inches tall, then the blades elongate over the ground to up to 48 inches long.  This forms clumps averaging about 4 feet wide in good conditions. The blades are tough, deep green, hairless, about a ¼ inch wide and as they grow they turn over, exposing the underside. This is shiny, one of the leading characteristics of the plant. The blades are always flat and never V shaped.  The blade at the base and just under the soil is white and hairless.  The lower part of some sweet grass blades may become reddish or purplish in soils deficient in minerals. 

The fresh sweet grass blades will not smell like vanilla, the scent develops during drying.  But another identifying characteristic is that blades laid in the sun to dry will quickly curl up, whereas most other types of grass blades will remain flat.

Sweet Grass does put up small flowering spikes in spring, typical of many grasses, with flowers in small clumps of 3 arranged along a short spike.  However the flowers rarely produce seeds and when they do the seeds have a low fertility rate.  The plant reproduces itself primarily by spreading rhizomes.  This leads many biologists to believe the plant was selected and spread by humans because natural reproductive means would have been low.  The selection for long blades, which are favored for braids, may have selected inadvertently for low seed producing plants.

Cultivation of sweet grass
If grass grows in your area you can grow sweet grass. Do start with a plant, companies sell seeds for sweet grass but the germination rate is very low and it takes a long time for a seed grown plant to become a nice plant, where a small division will take off and grow quickly in the right conditions.  There are named cultivars now, but it’s not necessary to spend extra for them if you aren’t going into commercial production of braids.

Choose the location for your plant carefully and label it!  Many young sweet grass plants are “weeded” right out of the garden.  Give it room to spread.  Keep the weeds and especially other grasses pulled out around it to eliminate competition for resources and so that you know where the sweet grass plant is located.  Once it has formed a large mature clump it is harder to mistake it for something else.  Sweet grass has a very long life span, it may live longer than you.

Sweet grass likes moist but very well drained soil.  Sandy loam is excellent.  It seldom does well in heavy clay soil.  Water logged soil will quickly kill the plants. It doesn’t do well in drought and if you want good plants you’ll need to water it in dry spells.  Full sun produces the best blades although it will grow in partial shade.  Sweet grass can be grown in large containers. 

Fertilize your sweet grass with a high nitrogen fertilizer in early spring and again in mid-summer after harvesting blades and once again in early fall at the rates recommended for lawn grass for abundant growth.  Lawn fertilizer without weed or insect controls will do as will blood meal or other organic nitrogen sources.  Manure probably shouldn’t be used; it tends to introduce seeds of weeds and other grasses.

Sweet grass goes dormant in the winter.  Leave the dried leaves until spring and then cut them back.  That’s the only mulch the plant needs to survive, the use of other mulches may kill the plant.

You can propagate the plant in early spring by separating or dividing it.

Harvesting sweet grass
The first harvest of sweet grass can be done in late June-early July and if re-growth is rapid you may get a second harvest in August from cultivated plants.  Harvest must be done before frost as frost weakens the smell and probably any medicinal value of the plant.  You do want some good regrowth to protect the rhizomes before winter hits.

Cutting the blades off about an inch or so from the base is the kindest way to harvest.  When you pull a blade off it may tug up and loosen some of the root system.  It also creates a ragged edge which is harder for the plant to heal.  Early morning just after the dew has dried is the best time to harvest.  You can leave some long blades on the plant but you can also cut every blade and it will re-grow. 

Lay your leaf blades out in a sunny spot on newspaper to dry.   After the first day in the sun move the grass to a warm dry shady spot for another 1-2 days.  Modern herbalists also recommend storing the drying grass wrapped in cloth in the freezer overnight, and then bringing it out again to continue drying in the open air the next day.  This helps preserve the smell and chemical qualities.  Store dried grass in plastic bags or glass containers in the refrigerator or freezer, or in a cool dark place.

If you want to make some herbal medications, insect repellant or oil scents you need to harvest fresh leaves and use steam distillation to produce oil.  Some herbal teas call for fresh leaves also and are simply brewed as other teas.  A few leaves can be harvested at any time.

Use of sweet grass ceremonially, ornamentally
Sweet grass was used in rituals, as an offering and to induce a “spiritual” atmosphere.  It was smoked in pipes, or burnt as smudges (incense), or thrown into fires by Native Americans.  In Europe it was also burnt as incense, and was strewn on the floors and thresholds of holy places.  It was considered to ward off evil, bring luck and signify thankfulness to the creator.

In general sweet grass is dried and woven into braids for ceremonial use.  Native Americans wove the braids into their hair braids, made bracelets and armbands or carried braids or bundles of sweet grass in medicine pouches.  This served several purposes, it was an ornament- much the way we use crosses and rosaries, and it imparted a pleasant scent about the wearer.  When needed as a prayer or offering a piece of the braid could be burnt.

Native people thought sweet grass repelled insects.  We now know that sweet grass oil does repel mosquitoes as well as DEET according to some studies, although it’s not known if the dried grass has the same effect. (Read a recently released study here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150817085426.htm )  

Baskets woven with sweet grass.  Credit: Flickr.com
Smudges were burnt in homes to purify them and the smoke was waved over people in ceremonies of purification.  It is said that breathing the smoke induces feelings of calmness and peace, although scientific proof of that hasn’t been pursued.

Sweet grass was also stuffed into “pillows” and laid among bedding for its scent and insect repelling properties.  But one of the most common ornamental uses was to weave it into baskets or use sweet grass braids as decorative edging on clothing and little wooden boxes or bowls.  Only very small baskets were totally woven from sweet grass, the braids were usually woven into baskets made of willow or other materials to scent them or to make them sacred or spiritually pleasing.  Sweet grass was also soaked in water and used to wash the hair to impart a pleasant scent, (and maybe get rid of bugs.)

Sweet grass braids are still in much demand today for ritual use and for weaving and it can be a profitable herbal crop.  Growers cultivate long lengths of blade, comb blades to separate them and follow other techniques to increase value.

Medicinal uses of sweet grass
Sweet grass has many herbal uses but isn’t recommended much anymore because we now know that use of plants containing coumarin may cause cancer.  Sweet grass tea is used for coughs and sore throats and a cooled tea is used to soothe raw or chapped skin. 

Sweet grass concoctions were used to treat venereal diseases and uterine/ vaginal infections.  A tea was given to help expel afterbirths, which leads to a caution against pregnant women using the grass as it may cause contractions.  In Europe vodka was flavored with sweet grass.

Sweet grass is a great plant for ornamental and spiritual use but use caution ingesting it.

Cannas- Bold and Beautiful

Dwarf canna.
If you crave bold accents and lush tropical foliage in your Michigan garden then cannas are the plants for you.  These bold beauties have made a big come back and canna rhizomes of choice varieties regularly sell out in stores and catalogs.  Cannas are easy to grow, relatively inexpensive, and dramatic additions to tired old flowerbeds.  With a huge selection of flower and leaf colors, there is sure to be a canna that will add pizzazz to your garden.

Tall cannas are accent plants in garden borders, the center of island beds or back of other beds. There are cannas for large spaces and tiny cannas just right for containers.  While the flowers of some varieties of cannas are the show, in others it’s the huge, tropical appearing foliage.  The foliage is often more dramatic than the flowers.  Some new varieties have wonderful foliage and beautiful flowers.

Tall cannas can also be used as a screen, or flowering hedge.   Smaller cannas can be used anywhere in beds to give late summer color, for foliage color and texture, and are excellent for containers.  Cannas can also be used as accent plants in water or bog gardens.  Some varieties grow well standing in water.

Canna culture
Cannas will grow almost anywhere, in Michigan they are a summer flowering plant whose rhizomes can be easily lifted and stored in the winter.  Occasionally in a sheltered spot cannas will even over winter in the ground.  And cannas are indeed tropical plants, flourishing in heat and humidity.

Canna leaves are usually large and broad, with a heavy rib down the center.  They can be various shades of green, burgundy and red often with splashes of white or yellow or stripes of color following the leaf veins.   Depending on variety, cannas grow from 16 inches to 10 foot in height.   The rhizomes increase horizontally underground, throwing up new shoots until the plant becomes a huge clump.

The flowers of cannas come near the end of summer, on long stalks at the top of the plant.  They are often described as orchid like- or gladiolus like.  They can be large and striking in modern varieties but may be smaller and less glamorous in some older cannas.  Canna flowers come in all colors and color combinations except blue, purple or true white.  Canna seed is a hard, round, black ball which gives cannas the common name of Indian Shot.

Cannas are usually purchased as bare rhizomes in Michigan, or as potted plants.  Look for rhizomes that are large and firm with two or more buds on them.  Start rhizomes indoors about 6 weeks before your last frost in pots of good, rich potting soil.  The pots should be in a warm, sunny area and kept well - watered.   The rhizomes may also be planted directly in the ground after the last frost when the ground is warm, but they may be slow to start growth and late to bloom.  

Cannas may survive zone 5 winters in a protected area, although they are so slow to start growing in the spring that they seldom have time to bloom before fall.    It is better to dig up the rhizomes, store them over winter and start them early. 

Cannas give a lot to the garden but they are greedy guests needing lots of sun, lots of moisture, lots of heat, lots of fertilizer and organic matter.  Rich, moist soil in full sunlight is ideal for cannas.  Cannas will even do well in pots sitting in water if there is some soil above the water line.  Fertilize cannas once a month with a fertilizer formulated for flowers and water frequently for spectacular results.

In Michigan, when a frost has killed the canna foliage, carefully dig up the rhizomes.  You will probably find a few more than you planted.  Shake off the dirt and allow the rhizomes to dry in the sun a few days.  Don’t allow them to get frosted or frozen while drying.  Then store the rhizomes in a cool, but frost-free place in sand, peat or vermiculite.   Before planting you can divide large rhizomes as long as each piece has at least one bud, preferably two, to a section.  You can trade or give away the excess if you have more than you care to plant.

Some varieties
There are so many wonderful cannas on the market now that you will be tempted to become a collector.  Small canna varieties include, ‘Dwarf Wyoming’- gold flowers and dark maroon veined foliage, ‘Pink Surprise’- hot pink flowers edged with yellow, green foliage, ‘Bankok’- bright yellow flowers and green foliage striped with white, and ‘Lucifer’-one of the smallest, scarlet red flowers touched with gold and green foliage. 

Canna Auguste Ferrier. Credit: en.wikipedia.org
Large canna plants include; ‘Australia’- almost black foliage and hot red flowers, ‘Tropical Sunrise‘- a blend of peach, pink and yellow flowers with green foliage, ‘Cleopatra’- an always changing mosaic of red and yellow flowers and green leaves marked with purple in various patterns, ‘Constitution’ has narrower leaves than other cannas in an odd gray- purple shade and pastel pink flowers, “Ermine’ has very pale, almost white flowers. green leaves, ‘Tropicana’- leaves boldly striped in yellow and red on a purple background and screaming orange flowers, ‘Stuttgart’- lovely green foliage variegated with white, peach colored flowers, and the classic ‘King Humbert’- golden yellow flowers with red spots and green leaves. 

Some extreme cannas grown for their foliage are ‘Musafolia’- up to 10 foot high with huge broad leaves that are green edged with red, and ‘Intrique’- a canna with unusual narrow, gray green leaves that grows up to 7 foot tall.

Canna’ s for water
Cannas have become popular water garden plants.  Most types of cannas can be grown in a pond if the surface of the pot (in Michigan you’ll want them in pots) is slightly above the water line.  But there are aquatic canna species and hybrids of ground and water species that will flourish in water.  These cannas can be placed with the soil surface-6-8 inches below the water level.  Canna glauca is one of the common water species of canna.  It has large blue green foliage. Some of the best water canna’s are the Longwood cultivars, which are hybrids.  These include ‘Endeavor’ (red flowers), ‘Erubus’ (salmon pink flowers), ‘Ra’ (yellow flowers),‘Tanny’ (orange flowers), ‘Aloha’ (a dwarf orange flowered) and ‘Pele’ .  These cultivars have a long bloom time, are from 2-6 feet high, and often make nice clumps in water.

Water cannas normally don’t survive mid-west winters.  It’s best to pull the pot out of the water before frost, let it drain, and set the pot indoors.  Let the pot dry out.  When the foliage browns trim it off and store the pot in a cool, dark above freezing location. Keep the pot barely moist through winter.  Around April 1, bring the pot out of its storage spot into a brightly lit location and submerge the pot in a bucket of water to half way up the pot.  As the canna sprouts and grows you can increase the water level.  Put it outside after all danger of frost has passed.

I have heard of people overwintering cannas in large water features inside.  I may try that this year. ( Although my water feature will probably be an aquarium).  It’s said with enough warmth and light they will continue to bloom sporadically and the foliage remains lush.


Canna and the swastika
Conard and Jones, an early nursery, offered a canna book describing 105 varieties.  In 1914 they introduced their ‘Swastika’ line of canna’s, exceptionally wonderful cannas.   The pink flowered ‘Mrs. Alfred F. Conard’  was considered one of the top swastika  cannas and 10 roots sold for $2.50.  Advertisements for the nursery prominently featured the swastika symbol, which at that time signified good luck, and bragged that their cannas were grown at the Whitehouse.  Over 20,000 cannas were planted on the Whitehouse grounds.

Hey- watch out for severe weather tonight and tomorrow
Kim Willis
 “He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero


Events, classes and other offerings
Please let me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other gardeners.  These events are primarily in Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an event I’ll be glad to do it.

Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share?  Post them here by emailing me.

An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/875574275841637/

Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area


Here’s a link to classes being offered at Campbell’s Greenhouse, 4077 Burnside Road, North Branch.  Now open.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor
Here’s a link to programs being offered at English Gardens, several locations in Michigan.

Here’s a link to classes at Telly’s Greenhouse in Troy and Shelby Twsp. MI, and now combined with Goldner Walsh in Pontiac MI.

Here’s a link to classes and events at Bordines, Rochester Hills, Grand Blanc, Clarkston and Brighton locations

Here’s a link to events at the Leslie Science and Nature Center, 1831 Traver Road Ann Arbor, Michigan  | Phone 734-997-1553 |
http://www.lesliesnc.org/

Here’s a link to events at Hidden Lake Gardens, 6214 Monroe Rd, Tipton, MI

Here’s a link to all the nature programs being offered at Seven Ponds Nature center in Dryden, Michigan. http://www.sevenponds.org/education/progs/springprograms/

Here’s a link to events and classes at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Mi
http://www.meijergardens.org/learn/ (888) 957-1580, (616) 957-1580

Exhibitors/demonstrators wanted
Seven Ponds Nature Center ( Dryden Mi.) Heritage Harvest Days, scheduled for September 19 and 20 is looking for additional artists and crafters who can demonstrate, display, and sell their work, especially that related to nature.  All exhibitors receive free admission to the event, as well as free lunch on one day of the festival. Please contact the center at 810-796-3200 if you would like to set up a booth or exhibit this year.



Newsletter information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly notes. You must give your full name and what you say must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and opinions that don’t match mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.
I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com


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