page links

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

April 12, 2016, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

April 12, 2016, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter    © Kim Willis

Hi Gardeners

Yesterday was a nice day- I actually got outside to garden a bit.  Today is not so nice but a warmup is coming and I am ready!  I noticed dandelions and purple deadnettle blooming in the lawn today.  Most of my outside flowering plants had their blooms wilted and bedraggled looking but I see lots of buds coming on a variety of things and I doubt those were harmed. The pansies I planted earlier also had their flowers destroyed but the plants look ok.

A walk around the yard saw green buds and even tiny leaves on many things like barberry, honeysuckle, including the honeyberries, clematis, willows, and some of my roses.  Despite the cold recently my roses look like they don’t have much winter damage.  The common daylilies, the ditch lilies that I have a ton of around the yard, were up about 6 inches and they are showing some cold damage.  But I am sure it won’t kill them.

I have two new plants blooming inside which I am excited about.  One is Orange Jasmine, which smells like orange blossoms or jasmine and the other is Jamaican Lady of the Night, which smells like an Easter lily.  I love experimenting with new plants.  I have had these a year and they are not very big but I am hoping they get much bigger.

I filled and hung outside one of my hummingbird feeders as my records show that the hummers start arriving soon.  I need to get my jelly feeder out too. The birds are singing like crazy and on the warm days the frogs are too.

Growing great salad greens

If you are a gardener that is eager to plant in the spring why not start with salad greens? There is nothing tastier than a salad straight from the garden.  Salad greens can be planted early, while the soil is still cool.  They are easy and quick to grow and take up little space.  Salad greens are also an excellent beginning gardening project for children. 

Types of greens

Great salad greens include more than iceburg or head lettuce.  In fact, any other type of greens will give you more taste and nutrition and are easier for home gardeners to grow.  A mixture of greens including lettuces is often called a mesclun mix.  You can buy pre-mixed mesclun greens or mix your own with seeds from things you like.

Easiest of all greens to grow is leaf lettuce.  Leaf lettuce grows as single leaves on a stem and does not curl into a head.  It comes in various shades of green and red.  Some leaf lettuce has flat leaves but there are also frilly leaved and lobed leaf varieties.  Leaf lettuce can be planted outside a month before the last frost is expected and will be ready to harvest in as little as a month. Leaf lettuce is more nutritious than head lettuce, but the taste is a little different.  

Head lettuce or iceburg lettuce is the lettuce most familiar to people but the hardest lettuce for home gardeners to grow.  It makes round heads of pale green and yellow with a very mild taste.   It is low in nutrition compared to other greens.  Head lettuce needs a long season of cool days to make mild flavored heads.


Butterhead lettuce has leaves curled into loose heads.  The individual leaves are somewhat thicker than leaf lettuce.  They can be solid green or tinged with red.  The flavor is mild and crisp.  Thy have more nutrition than head lettuce and are a favorite of home gardeners.

Romaine or cos lettuce has leaves that grow more upright, with a heavier rib to each leaf.  The leaves in the center of the lettuce clump blanch to a creamy yellow.  They are excellent for Caesar salad.


Spinach is another easy to grow green for salads.  There are several types of spinach.  The oriental types have arrow shaped leaves.  Conventional spinach comes in flat leaf and savoy varieties.  Savoy leaves are deeply quilted or crinkled.  New Zealand Spinach is not true spinach, but very close in taste and it grows better in warm periods.

Both beets and turnips have greens that are very tasty in salad.  You can use whole baby plants you have thinned from the rows or pinch off leaves from plants you intend to eat the roots of later.  There are also varieties of beets and turnips that are grown primarily for the leaves that don’t form large roots.

Escarole/ endive have leaves similar to lettuce but thicker.  The taste is a little stronger.  Escarole tolerates both heat and cold.  Mustard comes in plain and frilly leaved varieties and has a somewhat “sharp” or pungent taste.  Kale has firm, upright leaves and also comes in red and green varieties. It makes a good fall crop.

Other greens include cress, chicory, arugula, purslane, pak choi, orach and sorrel.

Planting greens

Most salad greens like to grow in the cooler times of the year and benefit from early spring or fall planting.  They tolerate frost quite well.  Full sun is best in spring and fall but in the heat of summer an area that is shaded in the middle of the day would be ideal.  

Most greens should be sown directly where you want them to grow.  Firmly press lettuce seed down on the soil but don’t cover it, it needs light to germinate.  Cover the seed of other greens lightly.  Keep your greens moist until they germinate and keep them well watered while growing.   You may want to start the seeds of head lettuce inside and transfer plants outside. 

Greens are also good crops to grow in containers.  They need only 6-8 inches of soil and a few large pots can grow a good amount of greens.  Growing in pots can allow you to have greens close to the kitchen or to be able to move pots to other locations as the seasons change.

Greens should be sown in small quantities at three week intervals so you don’t have too much to harvest at a time.  They don’t take long to grow so they could be sown early where you will plant warm weather crops later.  They can also be sown between slow growing crops.

Greens appreciate nitrogen fertilizers.  A fertilizer for grass, with high nitrogen content but no weed killers will really give them a boost.    You can also use a garden fertilizer at planting.

Flea beetles, tiny black bugs that eat holes in the leaves and end up in your salad, are often a problem in plantings of greens.  The good news is that greens don’t need pollination to produce a crop so they can be covered to keep out bugs.  Use a really lightweight spun row cover and make sure it is well anchored at the ground.

Slugs and snails can also be a problem in plantings of greens.  You can cover the soil around the plants with a layer of diatomaceous earth or sand which often helps.   Raised beds or containers will also help.  Row covers don’t keep out slugs and snails all the time, but may help.

Harvesting greens

Pick the leaves of all greens when they are small and sweet.  As they get older they get tougher and bitter.  Keep the plants from going to seed as this tends to make the greens taste bitter also.  If you see the plant putting out a long, tall, narrow stalk it is a flower stalk and it should be snapped off. When it gets really hot any greens still growing can get a bit bitter.  You may want to pull out all the remaining plants and discard them on the compost pile.  In late August you can plant another crop for fall greens.

Head, romaine and butterhead lettuces are usually harvested as whole plants.  But you can snip or pull off leaves of romaine and butterhead lettuce and the plants will produce more leaves for a while anyway.  You can cut or pick leaves off leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, turnips, beets, mustard, escarole and the plants will keep producing more leaves.   If you want the roots of turnips and beets to develop then only harvest a few leaves from each plant. 

Growing your own salad is one of the great joys of gardening and greens take so little space and time that almost anyone can grow them.  Plant some today!

Mosquitoes, Zika virus and other considerations

Gardeners get bitten by mosquitoes, it’s a given.  And if you are a gardener you may be wondering if you should be concerned about Zika virus, which can be contracted through the bite of a mosquito.  In Michigan and much of the northeast the mosquitoes that carry Zika virus, Aedes aegypti and  A. albopictus are not yet common.  There are concerns however, that other mosquitoes may eventually carry it.  And with a warming climate these mosquitos may eventually work northward.

There are other mosquito carried viruses such as chikungunya, dengue, West Nile Virus, and several other encephalitis producing diseases, even malaria and yellow fever to be wary of too.  West Nile cases occur almost every year in Michigan. These diseases are serious, and can cause death.  As a gardener you should do all you can to prevent mosquitoes and to keep from being bitten by them.  This is not the time to trust your health to home remedies and mixes.  And it would be wise to support a mosquito control program in your county, even spraying with pesticides for adult mosquitoes.

To keep from getting bitten the CDC suggests using these products on your body and clothing. Products with DEET including Off!, Cutter, Sawyer, and Ultrathon brands.  Deet is the most studied insecticide in the world and has been used for over 40 years.  It is a synthetic chemical product but if label directions are followed it is extremely safe. 

Some other recommended mosquito repellants are products with Picaridin, also known as KBR 3023, such as Bayrepel, and icaridin, Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus. Products with IR3535 such as Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus, (another formula), Expedition, and SkinSmart are also good.  Products with Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) or para-menthane-diol (PMD) such as Repel are fairly effective.


Along with repellant, wear long sleeves and pants when working in mosquito infested areas, especially at dawn and dusk and on cloudy days.  Some mosquitoes bite right through clothes so a repellant safe to use on clothing should be sprayed over clothing in high population areas.

You may want to avoid floral scents on your body and clothes and drinking alcohol before going out into mosquito areas.  Research has indicated these things attract more mosquitoes.

To prevent mosquitoes from hatching

Empty out all standing water around the home.  Mosquitoes need water to lay their eggs and it only takes 3-10 days to hatch and grow a new brood of mosquitoes.  Empty bird baths, pet dishes, stock tanks, and wading pools at least every other day.  Pick up or empty anything in the yard that holds water, such as toys or trash. 

Fill in low spots in the yard that hold water with soil.  Fill holes in trees that collect water with sand.

Clean clogged gutters.  Make sure rain barrels have a screened top or are treated with Bt.

Put screens on septic vents or other sewer vents.

If water cannot be emptied or drained treat the water with mosquito controls containing Bt, a natural organism that harms only mosquitoes.  You can find the doughnut shaped briquettes in garden stores.  Fish in ornamental ponds help control mosquitoes and Bt won’t hurt them.

Make sure all windows and doors have screens that are in good shape.

Getting rid of adult mosquitoes
Keep grass and weeds trimmed around homes and outbuildings.  Adult mosquitoes rest in vegetation during the day and you don’t want to encourage them. Weedy areas can be sprayed with insecticides like pyrethrins or 5% malathion to kill adult mosquitoes but such spraying also kills many beneficial insects.  Many counties have mosquito control programs but these generally spray along the roads.  You may want to spray around your home if it’s far from the road.

You have to weigh the pros of spraying pesticides with the cons of reducing helpful insects.  If mosquitoes are very numerous and diseases carried by mosquitoes have popped up in the area it’s probably wiser to spray.

What doesn’t work for mosquitoes

There are no plants that you can just sit on the patio or plant around the house that will effectively repel mosquitoes, despite all those advertising claims.  No objective studies have ever found a plant that will do that. NONE! The chemicals that repel insects must be extracted from the plants in some way and applied to the skin.  Even burning the chemicals in a candle or as incense has little effect.  Most studies find that burning a plain candle is just as effective as burning a citronella one. 

The citrosa plant (Pelargonium citrosum ‘van Leenii’) sometimes advertised as Mosquito plant, Mosquito Shoo, and other assorted names, is useless as a mosquito repellant.  No plant repels mosquitoes just by sitting near you.  This plant is actually a scented leaved geranium and it does have a very small amount of citronellol in it just as many other plants do.  You would have to crush the leaves and rub them on your skin for it to have even the most fleeting effect.

Thousands of these plants are sold each year, even though they don’t work and don’t even have a pretty flower or form to redeem them.  Common Lemon Balm has 3-4 hundred percent more citronellol than Citrosa, but don’t expect it to repel mosquitoes.

Citronella has some repellant properties.  The problem with using citronella as an insect repellent is that it must be used in a very strong concentration and the effect wears off quickly.  Citronella is only effective if applied to the skin.  That causes another problem, many people are allergic to strong concentrations or their skin becomes irritated.  Citronellol is absorbed through the skin and some studies are linking exposure to the chemical to liver damage and cancer.

Most citronella products you buy at the store are so diluted that they contain almost no active ingredient.  It is a waste of money to buy citronella oil or candles to burn unless you just like the smell.  No other products you burn to make smoke are any more effective.

Some plants have chemical ingredients that when extracted, do have mosquito repellant properties.  The problem is that the active ingredients are costly and hard to extract or they have some serious side effects.  A chemical found in mints for example, is effective as an insect repellant but some studies have found kidney damage and genetic damage when it is used. 

Using essential oils and other home concocted mosquito repellants may have a fleeting repellant effect.  They wear off rapidly and need to be re-applied frequently.  And because they are “natural” does not mean they are safe.  Many of these home concoctions have oils and other extracts that have serious side effects. You don’t want to avoid mosquitoes by getting liver or kidney failure.

Other things that do not work to control mosquitoes are ultrasonic devices and light traps.  Some traps using carbon dioxide and pheromones show promise but are expensive and each trap appeals to different species of the hundreds of mosquito species in the US.  They haven’t been very effective on many species of mosquitoes that are most likely to carry diseases.

In short – don’t trust your life to these home remedies and so called natural repellants.  Use something with proven, scientific based research backing it up, not just some claim by a salesperson.  Because it’s what’s at stake- your life.

Butterfly Gardens

Cabbage butterfly on asters.
Gardeners generally love butterflies (well except for the few who actually damage our garden plants) and want to attract more butterflies to the garden. There are some interesting and beautiful moths that are also fun to watch.  It’s more than choosing plants for butterflies and moths to sip nectar from; it’s also about providing plants for them to lay their eggs on and their caterpillars to eat.

All butterflies and moths lay eggs that turn into caterpillars, which then spin a pupae case or cocoon and then emerge from that as a butterfly.  The caterpillars or larval stage of butterflies and moths can be very destructive because they will be feeding on the plant they hatch on and maybe others nearby. However only a few species of butterflies and moths cause long term damage or death to their host plants.  Adult butterflies and moths don’t live very long, a few months at most.  They usually don’t cause any damage and are helpful pollinators of many plants.

You don’t have to plant only native plants to attract butterflies and moths.  While there are a few specialists who only prefer one “host” plant (the plant they lay eggs on) many butterflies accept several host plants and most visit a number of plants for nectar.  Some of our butterflies are themselves introduced species so they are flexible in food and egg laying resources.  When glancing through any butterfly and moth identification guide you’ll often notice that many of the plants that they prefer to get nectar from or lay eggs on are non-native, common weeds or garden flowers.


Many butterflies prefer flowers that have flat surfaces, or have short nectar tubes although a few butterflies and moths are drawn to flowers with long tubes.  Butterflies and moths seem drawn to colorful, bright flowers like yellow, orange, red and pink.  Some also like purple or blue flowers. Scent in flowers is not as important as it is for bees. Night flying moths prefer white flowers. Some butterflies and moths don’t eat at all as adults, some only sip at mineral enriched mud, some prefer rotten fruit or sap, and some are even carnivorous.  And even in this advanced scientific world we don’t know what nectar plants and host plants that some of the rarer species of butterflies and moths prefer.

You probably won’t be able to attract all the butterflies and moths that exist in your state to your garden, because some butterflies and moths prefer plants that themselves like to grow in a specialized environment like a bog or beach.  And some butterflies and moths may actually be unwelcome on your property, like the pretty sphinx moth who lays eggs on your tomatoes that turn into ugly tomato hornworms and the cabbage butterfly who lays eggs on your cabbage and broccoli that turn into little green cabbage worms. But many gardeners do want to attract as many kinds of non-harmful butterflies and moths as possible. 

When you want to attract butterflies and moths to your garden you should provide colorful nectar flowers in larger patches of the same color, rather than as individual dots of color here and there.  Host plants for caterpillars should also be in patches.  One large buddleia can provide a good patch of color but for maximum attraction you’d want to plant a lot of marigolds for example, of about the same color. 

Butterflies seem to prefer flowers in the sun, although they sometimes visit shade flowers.  A patch of mud, especially with a little manure mixed in, and some soft fruit like a mushy banana, a slice of melon, soft strawberries on a plate somewhere can increase the number of species attracted to your garden.  But beware soft fruit can attract bees and hornets as well as flies.

Butterfly feeders also exist in which you place sugar water like a hummingbird feeder but they are not that effective in attracting butterflies and will attract a lot of bees, hornets and ants too.  It’s probably best to stay natural with plants.

There are some plants that will attract the maximum number of harmless butterflies and moths in a list below.  These are plants that a number of species use.  Some may be both nectar sources for adult butterflies and moths and host plants for caterpillars.  A good identification guide will often tell you if a rare species of butterfly or moth has been seen in your county and what host and nectar plants it prefers.  You may be able to add these plants to your garden also. 
Tiger swallowtail on calibrachoa

If you wish to attract butterflies and moths you’ll have to decide if you are willing to tolerate some plants that are considered weeds and that may not be very attractive to the human eye.  You can choose only pretty garden flowers but that will limit what species are attracted.  One idea is to let one area of your property grow the weedy plants, maybe one that can be hidden a bit.

Plants that might attract butterflies or moths but those butterflies or moths would be unwelcome, such as cabbage, aren’t mentioned.  Try to add as many of the listed plants to your garden as possible, remember patches of the same plant are better than singles. The plants on the list below are chosen for Michigan and surrounding states but many are good for other places as well.

Butterfly plants
Anise hyssop
Asters, native species and cultivars
Baby’s breath
Baptisia
Bee balm- monarda, all kinds- bergamot
Bearberry
Beech
Beggars Ticks- bidens- any kind
Black eyed Susans, rudbeckia species
Blackberries
Blueberries
Black cherry, choke cherries
Black locust
Bog rosemary (Andromeda glacophylla)
Boneset
Buddleia
Burdock
Buttonbush- Cephalanthus occidentalis
Calibrachoa (Million bells)
Campion
Catnip
Ceanothus  sanquineus (wild lilac)
Cheese mallow
Clovers of all kinds- gardeners may want some of the ornamental crimson/reds
Columbine, all kinds
Crown vetch
Currants
Daisies of any kind, wild and domestic
Dames Rocket
Dandelions
Dill
Dogbane
Fireweed
Fleabane
Grasses- native and non-native, bluestem, bentgrass, Bermuda, beardgrass, lovegrass, panic grass and others – many butterflies, skippers and moths that favor grasses are pretty but pests.
Goldenrod
Gooseberry
Hawkweed, orange and yellow
Hollyhocks
Honey locust
Honeysuckle, native and non-native
Hops
Iris versicolor
Ironweed
Joe Pye Weed
Knapweed
Unknown butterfly on Dames Rocket
Knotweed
Labrador Tea
Lambsquarters
Lantana
Leadplant
Lobelia
Lupines
Pearly everlasting
Phlox, both native species and domesticated cultivars
Pigweed
Plantain
Mapleleaf viburnum
May apple
Milkweed- Butterfly weed- ascleplias any kinds
Mints of any type
Mustard/rape, Brassica kaber
Nettles (Urtica species)
New Jersey tea
Oaks – native species
Oregano
Passionflower
Paw Paw
Prickly Pear cactus
Privet
Purple loosestrife (yes many butterflies like it)
Purslane
Queen Anne’s Lace
Redbud
Rockcress
Sassafras
Self-heal
Senna (cassia)
Sheep sorrel (Rumex)
Shrubby cinguefoil (Potentilla) all kinds
Spicebush
Staghorn sumac, other sumacs
St. Johns wort
Monarch on Milkweed
Strawberries, all kinds
Sunflowers, all kinds
Teasel
Tickseed
Toadflax
Thistles, bull, Russian, all kinds
Vervain
Vetches, all kinds
Violets, all kinds
Wild plum, Prunus americana
Willows
White pine
Wisteria, native or Chinese
Yarrow- all types
Zinnias

This is not a complete list of all the plants that butterflies utilize.  Many tropical plants put outside in summer also attract them and many other annuals and perennial flowers get at least some attention from them.  A colorful garden with a variety of species and letting the garden edges go a little wild will do wonders to attract butterflies and moths.

Sugar doesn’t belong in the garden

As spring planting season arrives I am seeing and hearing planting recommendations that make me cringe a bit.  One of these is to put sugar in planting holes, or pots or to sprinkle sugar or jello with sugar around seedlings.   Now this idea may have started when people hear that plants need sugars to grow or that they transport sugars through their leaves and stems and store sugars in their roots.  However using table sugar or products with table sugars in the garden to help plants grow is pure hogwash, to put it politely.

Plants make their own sugars.  They do not take up sugar from the soil through their roots.  They do not absorb it through their leaves. It will not make them grow faster or taste better. Sugar does not kill pests or stop diseases.  It will not “sweeten the soil”- that term means to make the soil more alkaline, which does not happen from sugar, but rather from lime, and all soil does not need “sweetening”.  You need a soil test to see if your soil is too acidic or alkaline.

The only thing putting sugar in the ground or on a plant does is attract pests, from ants to coons.  And in eating that sugar the pests often damage plants.  Sugar can cause mold and fungal growth if the pests don’t get to it first.  It may change the beneficial soil microorganisms.  In short there is no reason to put sugar in your garden.  It’s as bad for your plants as it is for you.

Get ready- real spring is here
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. You can also ask me to post garden related events. Kimwillis151@gmail.com

An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

Here’s a seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook

Invitation
If you are a gardener in Michigan close to Lapeer we invite you to join the Lapeer Area Horticultural Society. The club meets once a month, 6:30 pm, on the third Monday at various places for a short educational talk, snacks and socializing with fellow gardeners. No educational or volunteer requirements for membership, all are welcome. Membership dues are $20 per year. Come and visit us, sit in on a meeting for free. Contact susanmklaffer@yahoo.com  Phone 810-664-8912

New-Lapeer Area Horticulture Society, Plant and Garden Sale,  May 7, 2016  8 am - 4 pm at Siciliano's,  1900 North Lapeer Road, Lapeer.  A variety of plants and garden items from LHS members will be for sale.  Please stop and shop.

New- A new way of looking at “invasive plants”. I will be speaking at the Lapeer Horticulture Society meeting April 18, 6:30 pm, Mayfield Township Hall, Lapeer.  I’ll be exploring some of the new research that suggests we are not thinking about non-native plants correctly. Most non-native plants are not our enemies or the ecological problem we think they are.  Come and listen.  If you need directions call the number above for the Lapeer LAHS secretary.

Companion Planting” Tue, April 19, 6:30-7:30pm, MSUE Assembly Room, 21885 Dunham Rd # 12, Clinton Township, MI
Mary Gerstenberger will discuss friend & enemy plants. Sponsored by Macomb County Master Gardener Association MCMGA meeting to follow- $5.

Heritage Peonies: Beautiful Then, Glorious Now Fri, April 22, 9:15am, Meadow Brook Hall, 480 South Adams Road, Rochester MI
A talk about heritage peonies and how to grow them, featuring guest speaker Dr. David C. Michener. Sponsored by Meadow Brook Garden Club $5. 2483646210.

2016 Educational Gardening Conference, Sat, April 23, 8 am – 4:15 pm, Oakland Schools Conference Center, 2111 Pontiac Lake Rd, Waterford Twp, MI
Keynote Speakers: Karen Bussolini,(Jazzing Up the Garden),  Ellen Ecker Ogden, (The Art of Growing Food), Barry Glick (Woodland Wonders from the Wild). Garden marketplace, entertainment and more.         
Sponsored by Master Gardener Society of Oakland County, Inc.  $80. No registration at the door.  Registration brochure at http://www.mgsoc.org/2016_ConferenceRegistrationColor.pdf

Attracting Bees & Maintaining Beehives, Thu, April 14, 1pm, Burgess-Shadbush Nature Center Utica, Mi.
 The Shelby Garden Club presents bee keepers Mary Jo Showalter & Joanne Gartner for a quick session on attracting bees and beginning beekeeping. FREE   For more info call - 586-873-3782..


Here’s a facebook page link for gardeners in the Lapeer area.  This link has a lot of events listed on it.

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

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

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


Newsletter information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an educational event  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


No comments:

Post a Comment