July 26th 2016, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

  

07/2016 © Kim Willis - no parts of this newsletter may be used without permission.

Hi Gardeners

 

We did not get much rain this weekend – sprinkles that’s all.  The last time we had a good rain was almost 2 weeks ago and things are starting to brown up fast.  Corn is rolling up in the fields, and that means it’s dry and hot.  I am hoping we get some rain in the next few days.  We have slight chances every day for a while.

I bought an inexpensive hose timer.  You attach a hose that’s hooked to a sprinkler for example and set the dial to water for various time periods.  No electricity or batteries required.  It was $10.99 and well worth it.  I do hate hooking the hose up to sprinklers though.  I wait as long as I can but if you want to keep things blooming and green it’s sometimes necessary.

Things are maturing very fast now from the heat I guess.  Blooming in the garden are sunflowers, oriental lilies, rose of Sharon, Joe Pye weed, morning glories, canna, coneflowers, rudbeckia, veronica and many other things.  I have been picking green peppers and cukes, and we will probably have sweet corn before next week.  I have large tomatoes ripening but the vines are starting to get early blight.  We will be picking blackberries this week.  I’m getting a few raspberries, but like last year Japanese beetles are damaging them.

My garden is very weedy right now.  I spend so much time watering I am falling behind in weeding.  I have gourds, tomatoes and cleome coming up from seed everywhere, even in flower pots.  Don’t leave your decorative gourds in the compost pile if you use the compost for potting plants.

I keep my bird feeders filled through summer and they attract many kinds of birds.  I put out grape jelly, hummingbird sugar water, suet and sunflower seed.  Lately, about the same time each day I see a chipmunk visiting the bird feeder outside my home office window.  He climbs right up the metal pole holding the feeder.  I should be trying to catch the bugger, but if he stays out of the house I may let him live.  He does chase birds away though.

Chipmunk at feeder- taken through window screen.

The Eastern Michigan State fair is this week, through Saturday at the Imlay City Fairgrounds, Lapeer County.  It’s one of the biggest county fairs in the state.  There’s a big Master Gardener building at this fair.  This fair has free parking and a one price for everything admission, (which varies by day), including rides. Thursday is free for veterans.  Why not take a trip to the fairgrounds this week?

Menstrual blood in the garden?

You may have heard of saving your urine for the garden but the latest fad sweeping the “natural” garden set and much talked about in social media is the use of menstrual blood to fertilize the garden.

The author of one article I read used a menstrual “cup” to collect her blood and then mixed it with water and sprinkled it on lettuce.  Another person said she soaked cloths used for menstruation in water and used that water on plants.  Some of you are gagging right now.  I don’t blame you. 

There is so much wrong with this that I don’t know where to start.  And it’s not about menstrual shaming either. But let’s start here.  Why do doctors and nurses wear gloves when they handle any body fluids?  Because body fluids can carry disease.   And doctors or nurses aren’t even eating those body fluids. 

If you are the only person eating from a garden sprinkled with your body fluids then you probably won’t have any problems.  But children, older adults and immune compromised people should never eat anything contaminated with body fluids/feces from other humans, and that includes menstrual blood, urine and feces (poop).  And to use such fluids on things like lettuce, things that are not cooked before consumption, is just asking for trouble.

Yes body fluids are usually sterile when in the body.  But the minute they hit a canal exposed to the outer world like your vagina, urethra or rectum they are contaminated.  Things that can be found in body fluids and feces that could cause trouble are hepatitis (several kinds), HIV, cytomegalovirus, salmonella, Giardia, Campylobacter infection, Cryptosporidium, shigella, E. coli, and a few more exotic things.

Some disease organisms and parasites are killed with a few minutes of exposure outside of the body, but many are quite persistent.  That’s why we periodically have food borne illness outbreaks that come from fruits and vegetables. 

You may think you are perfectly healthy and your body fluids and feces are harmless.  But many people are unaware of illnesses and parasites they may be carrying.  And all people carry such things as E. coli, many strains are harmless but people carrying a harmful strain may not have any symptoms. When someone with a compromised immune system becomes infected after consuming contaminated products, the results can be serious illness or death.

Your body fluids and feces may also contain medications you take and things like heavy metals you are exposed to.  Adding these to the garden where they are exposed to other things, and can breakdown and combine with other products is also unwise.  And to me that certainly doesn’t sound like organic gardening, where chemicals are not wanted.

It’s always recommended to keep pet feces and urine out of gardens because some diseases and parasites can be transmitted from them to you. And even livestock manure should be composted first or put on the garden in the fall, after harvest is complete.

We know that gardeners can’t keep every bird or stray animal out of the garden.  But we should do everything we can to minimize exposure to disease and parasites and that means keeping human body fluids and feces out of the food garden at the least.  If you want to sprinkle menstrual blood on your roses fine, but remember someone handling those roses and then eating without washing their hands could have a problem.

People argue that using menstrual blood is no different than using blood meal.  But blood meal you purchase at a store is usually dried at high heat to minimize pathogens.  So are commercial fertilizers made from sewage.

Saying people used to do it, or that other countries do it isn’t a valid argument either.  People died from diseases caused by poor sanitation- which includes using body waste on food crops- in great numbers in the “good old days”.  People in poor countries still die from poor sanitation like this.

Recycling is a fine idea.  Add your menstrual blood/ urine/feces to a compost pile that heats up and let them sit for several months if you must recycle your own waste.  But be aware there may be laws against using human waste in home composting.

Commercial fruit and vegetable growers who want to sell to large stores must get “certified” as to safe food handling/growing practices.  They are require to have porta potties and hand washing facilities in fields for workers and if an inspector finds “evidence” or sees someone using the field as a toilet they won’t be certified.  I’d like to think that small growers and home gardeners take at least the same care as the large growers.

I wash all produce and fruit from my own garden or that I buy before eating it and I suggest you do too.  Washing properly removes most contamination. But even washed produce has been known to transmit diseases.  Organic produce is just as liable, if not more so, to transmit disease as conventionally grown produce.  Thinking about a person offering lettuce for sale at a farmers market that they fertilized with their menstrual blood makes me feel ill.

Personally I don’t want to eat from anyone’s garden that uses their own waste on food crops.   And you can be assured that if I offer you tomatoes from my garden they haven’t been sprinkled with menstrual blood.

Cannas- Bold and Beautiful

If you crave bold accents and lush tropical foliage in your northern 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.

 

Canna flower

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.

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 the north, 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 and store them over winter. 

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 zones 6 and lower, 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. 

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.

Lemon Balm- Light and Lively

Lemon Balm is another herb that anyone can grow in the garden.  With its lovely lemony flavor it complements many dishes.  It has many medicinal uses and is currently being studied for use in suppressing tumors, and in HIV, Herpes, and Alzheimer’s treatment.  Lemon Balm is so easy to grow that many people consider it invasive.

Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis, is a member of the mint family. Several species are native to Europe.  It will happily grow anywhere in zone 3-9.   It is commercially grown in many areas.  

The plant has square stems like most mints; the leaves are dark green, broadly oval with toothed edges.  Lemon balm grows to about 2 foot tall when it is in a spot it likes.   In midsummer Lemon Balm begins blooming, with small spikes of pale yellow flowers arising from where the leaf joins the stem.  The flowers are tiny but are loved by bees which flock to the plants.

The Lemon Balm plant is not very attractive as garden plants go, but it does have that delightful aroma of lemon when the leaves are handled.  It spreads quickly through the garden by seed and by runners and you will soon have many plants to share with friends.

 

Lemon Balm

Growing and Harvesting Lemon Balm

Most gardeners will start with Lemon Balm plants; anyone who has the plant should be able to give you a seedling in the spring.  They are perennial, dying back to the ground each winter.  Large clumps of Lemon Balm can also be divided.

Lemon Balm prefers full sun although it will tolerate partial shade.  It will grow in almost any soil.   For the best plants a well draining, moderately rich soil in full sun, and watering when conditions are very dry is preferred.  After frost has killed the foliage cut off the stems to the ground.

The leaves of Lemon Balm can be harvested at any time.   Most of the active ingredients are found in the leaves, although flowers are also good as a dried herb.  The flowers are edible.   Simply remove the leaves needed from the plant or if you have an abundance of plants you can pull whole plants. Leaves and flowers can be used fresh or dried.

Using Lemon Balm

The active ingredients in Lemon Balm include terpenes, tannins and eugenol.  In traditional herbal medicine Lemon Balm was usually a complementary addition to other herbs.  The lemony flavor helped make other herbal medications easy to take.  Lemon Balm is mildly sedative and helps decrease anxiety and aid sleep.  It is used to aid in gas and colic relief.   Lemon Balm leaves were also crushed and warmed to use as a poultice on wounds.

A current popular use is a lotion or cream containing Lemon Balm that is used on cold sores and other Herpes sores.   Cooled Lemon Balm tea can also be used on sores.  It does not control pain but speeds healing.  Much research is being focused on the anti-viral properties of Lemon Balm in Herpes and HIV treatment.

Other research is focusing on Lemon Balms ability to aid memory and restore some cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients.  Some research suggests that Lemon Balm may destroy certain tumors.

 Lemon Balm is a mosquito repellant when rubbed on the skin.  Lemon Balm is also used in potpourri. 

Lemon Balm has many culinary uses, wherever lemon flavor is required in cooking it can be substituted for lemon.  The essential oils from the plant are used in a wide variety of things from perfume and cosmetics to furniture polish.

To make a tea with Lemon Balm use about a cup of fresh, crushed leaves to a pint of boiling water and steep.  Use about a teaspoon of dried herb to a cup of boiling water.  Strain and sweeten if desired.  Adult dosage of tea should be limited to about 4 cups per day, children about a cup. Lemon Balm is available in the market place as dried herb, extract, essential oil, capsules and lotions.  Follow dosage directions on the labels.

An old recipe for using Lemon Balm as a cooling drink includes a bottle of claret wine, a couple cups of crushed lemon balm leaves, a sliced orange, a half of a sliced, peeled  cucumber, and a half cup of sugar.   All ingredients are mixed together and allowed to steep for a day in a cool place, then the liquid is strained and poured over ice.

Cautions

Before using Lemon Balm preparations on the skin test a small area of skin for allergies.  Pregnant and nursing women should consult with a doctor before using Lemon Balm. 

Some medications may interact with Lemon Balm, in particular thyroid medications, and if you are on medications you should consult with your doctor before using Lemon Balm.

The Bindweeds

Bindweed is a common name and it can cover several species of plants.  Your bindweed may not be my bindweed.  What these plants have in common is an amazing tenacity in smothering our garden plants and resisting eradication.  Some bindweeds have pretty flowers and some people consider them to be wildflowers.

The morning glory family

True morning glories are in the Ipomoea family.  They include the morning glories we grow in our gardens as ornamentals and that have large flowers in a variety of colors.  As any gardener knows who has planted morning glories they have a tendency to re-seed and come back in abundance, sometimes to the point of nuisance.   After a few years of coming back from seed morning glories tend to revert back to the smaller, purple flowered, wild version. However pink and other colors may linger for many years. 

Morning Glory

Morning glories can become a weed, if you mean they are unwanted where they are.  They can smother plants every bit as easily as the other bindweeds.  All parts of the  morning glory are poisonous and the seeds can cause hallucinations. 

Morning glories are annual plants that reproduce by seed.  The leaves of common morning glory, Ipomoea purpurea are heart shaped.  The flowers of various colors are trumpet shaped and in wild types about 1 ½ inches across.  Cultivated types have larger flowers.  Morning glory flowers open in the morning and close by mid-afternoon except in the cool shorter days of early autumn when they may remain open most of the day. 

One other morning glory family member is sometimes found in the north east, Ivyleaf morning glory.  The flowers are similar to common morning glory but they are blue when they first open and change to a rose purple.  The leaves have 3 lobes, similar to ivy and are covered with fine hairs.

The tenacious vines of morning glory can climb 10 feet or more.  They will also sprawl along the ground.  They will cover other plants and stunt their growth and sometimes even kill them.

Control of morning glories is to try and prevent them from going to seed by plucking off spent flowers or cutting the plants down before they go to seed.  You must be vigilant in pulling seedlings as soon as they emerge and they will continue to sprout long into summer.  Once the plants twine about other plants they are difficult to remove without damaging the plant and you cannot use weed killers if there are plants you want present.

  

Hedge and field bindweed

These plants belong to the Calystegia or Convolvulus family.  The flowers are very similar to morning glory flowers but smaller and they are often called wild morning glories.  They are also called Devil’s vine for good reason.

Hedge bindweed, Calystegia sepium, has small ½ inch trumpet shaped white or pink flowers.  The leaves are arrow shaped, with a pointed front and the two lobes of the back are squared with points on each side.  Hedge bindweed has leaf bracts which cover the base of the flower and its sepals.

Hedge bindweed

Field bindweed, Convolvulus  arvensis has even smaller, usually white, flowers and smaller leaves.  The leaves have a rounded point in the front and the 2 lobes in back also come to a point.   Hedge bindweed is often seen climbing high into plants or on fences.  Field bindweed does climb plants but also makes mats along the ground.

Both field and hedge bindweed are perennials and they spread by both seeds and rhizomes.  Any tiny piece of the roots (rhizomes) left in the ground will start a new plant.  And the plants return each year if not totally removed.  While the tendency to smother and overpower other plants is less than that of morning glories the name bindweed describes what the plants do.  They keep flowers from opening and bind plants into a messy thicket, preventing good air flow. Removing the twining stems can damage the plants they are climbing on.

The buckwheat family

Wild buckwheat, Polygonum convolvulus, is also frequently called bindweed.  It is not related to cultivated buckwheat, a grain crop.  There are other plants called wild buckwheat to add to the confusion, but those are not generally found in Michigan.

Farmers and gardeners greatly dislike wild buckwheat as it climbs desirable plants, strangling and shading them and it interferes with mechanical harvesting of crops. It occurs throughout the entire United States.  Wild buckwheat grows in any kind of soil, prefers sun but will survive shade, and may be found anywhere from gardens to crops to roadsides.

 

Buckwheat bindweed

The flowers of this bindweed (wild buckwheat) distinguish it from other bindweeds.  They are small, flattened and greenish white knobs, inconspicuous clusters which arise out of leaf joints near the top of the plant.  They are not showy and you will rarely notice them.

The wild buckwheat flowers turn into small hard, 3 sided dark brown to black seeds.  Each is enclosed in a papery pale green cover until it falls from the plant.   The seeds can survive in the ground for many years until a favorable time for germination.

The leaves of wild buckwheat are arrowhead shaped, with a sharp tip and 2 points at the back which curve slightly toward each other.  The color is blue-green to green, and young leaves may be slightly reddish on the back.

Wild buckwheat is a sprawling vine.  In favorable conditions each plant can cover 6 feet or more of space.  It is an annual plant, appearing when the weather warms in May from seeds that over winter.  It prefers to climb on other plants, wrapping its slender stems around them tightly, but it will scramble good distances along the ground if there are no plants to climb.

Controlling bindweeds

Don’t you hate it when someone says you can’t get rid of it?  All of the bindweeds are hard to eradicate and most gardeners have to settle with just controlling them.  As the weather turns hot we are less likely to be out weeding and this is when bindweed populations grow quickly

You must be alert to the beginning growth of the plants in late spring and keep pulling or cutting them.  If the bindweeds get into the garden plants you may want to trace the vines down to ground level and cut them off there rather than trying to pull them off the plants.  After they have been cut and they dry for a few days they are easier to remove.  Pulling them off while green and growing can damage your plants.

It’s extremely hard to pull up all of the bindweed roots and treating with weed killers is difficult if they are among other, wanted, plants. Mulch rarely controls them.  Some people have dug up whole beds of perennials, washed the roots, sifted the soil looking for bindweed pieces and still had bindweed appear.  That’s because it also spreads by seed and it’s easy to miss minute root pieces.

Monitoring and cutting it off at ground level is your best bet for control.  The more you can prevent it from going to seed and the more you can pull out of the ground the less likely it is to increase its population.  But because it probably in the lawn or unused areas around the garden, total eradication of any of the bindweeds is unlikely.

Rain dancers needed, start immediately

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

https://www.facebook.com/groups/623997204362467/?fref=nf

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

https://www.facebook.com/groups/875574275841637/

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

For Sale:  I have baby parakeets for sale, hatched this spring $10 each.  They are not hand fed.  Beautiful colors, lutino, (yellow) and shades of pale green, olive green, and sea green.  Some I can sex now, others are a guess.  You’ll need to bring your own cage.  Parakeets are active birds that are a lot of fun to watch.  Call at 989-761-7609.

Also for sale Muscovy ducklings, black laced, about a month old, fine to be without mom but you must buy at least 2.  Two for $20, each additional $8.  Can’t be sexed yet.  Call the number above.  Muscovy are flying ducks, large sized and make good meat ducks.  They do not quack- and are very quiet.

Summer is here! Our days are longer and there is more hours of light to enjoy being outdoors. We welcome you to join us: experience nature and be inspired! Back Track To Nature will offer programs on two of Lapeer Land Conservancy properties. As well as at Three Roods Farm and the Tibbits Nature Sanctuary both located in Columbiaville, MI.

We offer environmental education programs for scouts, seniors, homeschoolers, garden clubs, youth groups, retreats, special interest groups and we will tailor programming to fit your specific needs.

A Council of All Beings 10:30am - 4:30pm,Saturday, August 6, 2016      Three Roods Farm

A Great Hundred Acre Wood Adventure  ( Kids program)   2pm - 3pm Sunday, August 14,2016      Tibbits Nature Sanctuary

Aldo Leopold Bench Building Workshop    1:30pm - 4:30pm, Saturday, August 27, 2016     Tibbits Nature Sanctuary

Reservations are needed for all programs listed. Please call or  email Karen at 810-969-1023 and pagekp@gmail.com  Directions to the Tibbits Nature Sanctuary and Riseman Refuge will be given at the time of registration. Thank you!

MSU Garden Day Sat, August 6, 8am-4:15 pm, MSU Horticulture Gardens, 1066 Bogue St, East Lansing, MI

At this conference you will be able to select your favorite garden-themed workshops and enjoy two keynote presentations by David Culp. Pre- registration is $86 until 7/25 Go to http://www.hrt.msu.edu. To see the class selections and register.

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

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118847598146598/

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. 

http://campbellsgreenhouses.com/garden-center/classes-events/

Here’s a link to classes and events at Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor

 http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/happening/calendar.asp?date=5/18/2015

Here’s a link to programs being offered at English Gardens, several locations in Michigan.

http://www.englishgardens.com/events

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.

http://tellys.com/system/files/Tellys_WinterSpringGuide_Web-2015.pdf

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

http://www.bordines.com/events/

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

http://hiddenlakegardens.msu.edu/events

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

info@meijergardens.org

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 email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com