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Tuesday, June 6, 2017

June 6, 2017, Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter


Hi Gardeners

Bristly Locust
Read an article about this plant to the right of blog.
Well it’s June already.  Half of the year has passed.  How quickly time flies when you get old.  June is the month I wish would stay the whole year; it’s such a beautiful month here in Michigan.  It’s the month of promise, when you see the potential in your gardens and are hopeful they will meet your expectations.  Things are just beginning to mature and everything still looks fresh.  It’s sad to think that before the month is over we will see the days start to shorten again.


I don’t know about your state but here in Michigan we have been having some unusual weather.  It was 86 Sunday, sunny and humid, 66, cloudy and dry on Monday. The summer long range weather predictions have been issued by the National Weather Service and they are calling for normal or average summer temperatures across the US but summer will be wetter and stormier than normal.  Across the country soils are high in moisture, which keeps things a bit cooler, with climate warming that turns out to be average temperatures instead of higher than normal like the past few years. 

When soils are wet they feed the moisture into the atmosphere, which causes more rain, driving the cycle.  And stormy weather is aided by temperature differences between the ground and upper atmosphere.  So hopefully all our gardens will do well and we won’t be spending all our time watering.

I am noticing a small apple and pear crop setting on my trees and very small cherry crop.  According to MSU I’m not alone.  Between poor pollination this year due to lack of bees and frost damage early in May many people are seeing the same things on their fruit trees.  It remains to be seen how the total fruit crop will turn out.  I am still not seeing honeybees, although bumble bees and small native bees seem to be increasing.

The vegetable garden is looking good. The sweet corn is up and I planted popcorn this week.  Cukes are starting to vine and I have little peppers and tomatoes on the plants.  The dill is growing like crazy.

In my garden the bristly locust, ninebark, spirea, mockorange, Korean lilacs and peonies are stealing the show.  Siberian and bearded iris are still in bloom as well as various roses, including the sweet smelling multiflora rose.  The clematis will be blooming any day.  The earliest daylilies are in bloom and baptisia is beginning to bloom.   My 2 feet tall magnolia has one flower.  The hardy gloxinias I planted are blooming nicely and I’m sorry I never had them in the garden before.  They are really nice flowers and I suggest you try some.

I do have a mystery pot.  Despite my usual care in labeling I somehow have a pot I don’t remember planting that isn’t labeled.  I found it on the porch when I was moving things outside and it looked like an empty pot.  I started to dump it out when I noticed a tiny spike coming up.  So I set it on the deck and two weeks later there are several single sword like leaves popping  up.  They look like glads, but I certainly don’t remember putting glads in a pot.  They could possibly be crocosmia, but I don’t remember planting them in a pot inside either.  They may be Siberian iris coming up from seed I planted but I can’t remember that either.  Only time will tell I guess.

Multiflora rose

June almanac

June is a wonderful month in the northern hemisphere, the month when strawberries ripen and roses begin to bloom.  Indeed this month’s full moon,(June 9th),  is called the Full Strawberry moon in North America and Full Rose moon in European countries.  The moon perigee is June 23.  I have found that over the last few years my weather records indicate we are more likely to get rain around the perigee than any random day.  I don’t know if that holds true for other places, try keeping your own records.  Apogee is June 8th, and there seems to be a slightly increased rate of precipitation around apogee too.  Perigee is the closest the moon gets from earth, apogee the farthest.

Summer solstice is June 21, 2016 at 12:24 a.m. EDT. At the time of the solstice the sun is at its highest point and the point farthest north that it gets in the northern hemisphere.  Solstice comes from Latin, roughly meaning sun stands still.  At the solstice the sun seems to pause for a few days, and then slowly reverses its direction, moving back toward the south and lower in the sky.  Sadly it’s the longest day of the year and the nights get longer after the solstice. 

In ancient times this event, the solstice, was always celebrated.  It’s still a good day to have a campfire, gaze at stars and wonder at the immensity of the universe and our place in it.

June’s birth flower is, of course, the rose.  There are actually 3 birthstones for June (thanks to greedy jewelers), the pearl, the moonstone and the alexandrite. The month of June is named after the Roman goddess Juno, the goddess of marriage, family and childbirth.   To marry in June was said to make a couple fertile and blessed with prosperity.

June is National Rose, Dairy, and Fresh Fruit and Vegetables month.  It’s adopt a cat month. It’s also Gay Pride month and Fight the Filthy Fly month. 

June 4th is Old Maids Day (don’t they deserve their own day?) and the 5th is World Environment day. Flag Day is June 14th and Father’s day is June 18th this year.  The 17th is Eat your Vegetables day.  The 26th is Forgiveness Day.

Peony



Garden ethics- stealing plants

When I was a young girl and interested in gardening I had a habit of roaming the alley’s and rescuing plants that “peeked’ through peoples fences.  People gave me plants, but finding my own little treasures was exciting.  I went too far one day when I snuck into the garden of a neighbor to dig up a “start” of a double daylily I greatly admired.  She caught me.  I had never liked this older lady before; she was usually crabby with kids in the neighborhood.  I was very scared when she caught me, if she told my parents I would be in big trouble. 

But this women, probably amazed that a child would steal a plant, did lecture me on stealing and trespassing but gave me the plant.  She asked me if there were any other plants in her garden that I wanted a piece of and I left with several other things.  That’s the thing about gardeners; we are usually willing to share, if we are asked. 

So many times on social media gardening sites I see people bragging about stealing cuttings, digging up and dividing plants secretly and plain out stealing plants.  And then there are the people on social media upset because someone has stolen their plants or damaged them getting “starts” from them without permission.  There are garden shop owners telling stories about people who never buy anything but take plenty.  Can you see how these things are related?

Ethics, doing what’s right and just, are somewhat relative to circumstances.  But as adults we should all know that stealing is just wrong in almost every instance.  It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford the plant, if the owner has a lot of them and shouldn’t miss one, or if you think you won’t find it anywhere else, stealing a plant is wrong.

People often talk about pinching off a cutting “ because it doesn’t hurt anything.”  And in some cases it might not hurt.  But if you are a retailer whose livelihood depends on growing plants that look nice so that people buy them every little piece that comes off the plant makes it less appealing  to paying customers.  And if you are stealing a piece of the plant you certainly aren’t buying it. Small retailers can really be hurt by this practice.

In places where there are many people passing through if even a small percentage of them take a piece of the plant you can see what would happen in a short time. I was waiting for my husband in the lobby of a large medical complex that had some beautiful plants.  In the time I sat there I saw 7 people sneak pieces of various plants.  Can you imagine that going on continuously every day of the week?   Someone I knew who serviced tropical plant displays in businesses told me that they have to keep replacing plants that people pick to pieces.  That makes some businesses decide not to use live plants and makes the surroundings less pleasant for everyone.

But what about pieces that break off a plant accidently and fall on the floor?  Aren’t these fair game? When I worked in a retail shop I actually saw people deliberately shaking or roughly handling plants so that pieces would break off and they could feel justified in picking up the pieces.  I always took the pieces away from those people.  If it’s on the floor and you weren’t responsible for the breakage most places will allow you to take the pieces.  But ask first, it’s the right thing to do.

An ethical gardener will always ask if they can take a cutting.  Whether it’s in a public garden, at a business or in someone’s yard if you take pieces of plants without permission it’s stealing. Find someone in charge and ask.  Most of the time you will cheerfully be given what you ask for.  Sometimes the owner will want to remove the piece, to minimize damage to the plant.     But if your request is denied, accept the answer.  There may be a logical reason, for example if everyone who asked for a piece of a rare plant in a botanical garden was given a piece there would soon be no plant left.

Never ever go into someone’s yard or business premises and help yourself to plants.  That’s flat out stealing and you could be arrested.  Digging up and dividing plants is also stealing if you don’t have permission.  It doesn’t matter if they look neglected or you think they are overgrown.  That’s not your call.  I think the people most likely to sneak into yards and business property are the ones that know the least about plants.  They probably don’t know when or how to divide them and do considerable damage to the plant that’s left, if not destroy it.

If the house/business doesn’t seem occupied it still belongs to someone.  Perhaps someone bought that property because they liked the landscaping and have to wait until they move in.  Think how disappointed they will be if you steal the plants. Removing the landscaping decreases the value of the property also, and causes a loss to the owner.  If a house is scheduled for demolition it can be a judgement call on removing plants, but if it were me I would try to get permission from whoever owns it.

The strip of land between the road and the sidewalk or what appears to be the property edge is also not yours to plunder.  In general it’s owned by the property owner on either side and there is just an easement to the center of the road for the road.  If it’s obvious someone has planted and tended gardens along this easement it’s really obvious to the ethical person that they shouldn’t be helping themselves to plants.

If a group was nice enough to spend time and money planting median strips or the sides of major highways and you stop and dig up plants you are stealing and you are discouraging beautification projects as well.  People who steal plants from public places like rest areas, government buildings, memorials and parks are not nice people and very selfish.

Don’t dig up wildflowers and trees in natural areas either.  All property in this country is owned by someone.  If its government owned, like state and federal parks it’s illegal to remove most plants.  Outside of parks vacant property may look like wilderness but someone owns it.  Get permission before harvesting anything from property you don’t own, whether its herbs for medicinal uses or tiny trees or wildflowers.  This applies to plants you may feel are invasive.  If it’s not your property you don’t have the right to pull up the Autumn Olive or multiflora rose.

Whenever you are tempted to dig up plants or take cuttings stop and think how you would feel if the plundered plants were yours. Or how it will feel to be in jail and have a record for theft.  We’ve all been in positions where we want a plant we can’t afford.  You probably don’t steal cars you can’t afford so why steal a plant?  Gardeners generally love to share plants so if you have a shoestring budget join plant groups that hold swaps.  Ask other gardeners what they can share.  Get a job in a nursery or greenhouse and use an employee discount.  Just be nice and don’t steal other people’s plants.


Daylilies

Daylilies are easy to grow and have an unbelievably large selection of flower colors and shapes.  There are few homes or commercial landscapes that are without daylilies, one of the top garden perennials.  Daylilies are suited to both beginning gardeners and avid plant collectors and breeders. Most daylilies are hardy in planting zones 3-9, so they can be grown in most areas of the country.



Most garden daylilies are hybrids of several species of Hemerocallis that are native to temperate Asia. These species have been turned into an unbelievable range of flower colors, types and sizes in the last 100 years.   Daylilies are easy to hybridize and people all over the country are breeding daylilies in the backyard as a hobby.  But you don’t have to be interested in breeding daylilies to enjoy them; they are the workhorse of the perennial garden.

The common daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) sometimes referred to as the ditch lily or wild daylily is an old variety of daylily of uncertain origin, and can be used as a garden plant. It can be quite invasive however, and tends to look bad shortly after blooming when it yellows and dies back.  It is a very old garden plant that escaped cultivation and the mystery of its creation has been lost.  It is self- infertile and never sets seed but the pollen can be used to fertilize other garden daylilies.  It spreads by rhizomes.  There is a double flowered variety also.

I have tons of common daylily and I do enjoy the pretty orange flowers.  However once you get them in the garden they can be hard to control and will take over vast areas of space.  I suggest using them in wilder, rougher areas where you don’t mind them spreading and using newer hybrid daylilies in the perennial border or beds.  After the common daylily starts yellowing mow them down and they will come back green and nicer looking until frost kills them.

Common daylily

Varieties and forms

Daylilies sell for a few dollars up to hundreds of dollars for new varieties.  If your budget can’t afford a daylily you see in a catalog, keep looking.  Chances are that there is an older variety that is very similar and a whole lot cheaper. Catalogs may overwhelm you with the selection of daylilies they carry and you need to get to know some daylily terminology to make good choices.  In the description of the plant you’ll see some abbreviations that indicate plant characteristics.  While some of these abbreviations are common in all catalogs you need to find the key that explains what the abbreviations mean in the catalog/on line site you are looking at.

The best daylilies have many flower stalks, called scapes, with branches that hold a lot of buds.  The size of a daylily plant with flower scapes may range from 18 inches to more than 3 foot.  When a daylily height is mentioned in a description it generally refers to the height of the plant with bloom scapes.

Try to choose an assortment of daylilies that bloom early, midseason and late or that are continuous bloomers so you’ll have flowers for a long period. The most famous of the continual bloomers is probably ‘Stella D’ Oro’ but there are others. There are also daylilies listed as repeat bloomers, which generally means 2 distinct bloom periods.  The bloom period is generally listed in the description.

Foliage descriptions are generally listed as dormant, the type of foliage that dies to the ground each winter or when conditions are hot and dry, semi-evergreen and evergreen. Plants listed as dormant  tend to turn yellow and die back soon after blooming, and are typically older varieties. Semi-evergreen foliage stays green most of the year in mild areas.  Evergreen foliage will remain green looking all year except in very cold areas.

The terms Diploid and Tetraploid seen in plant descriptions refer to the genetics of the daylily.  For gardeners who aren’t interested in breeding daylilies this isn’t very important. Diploid daylilies have two complete sets of chromosomes, tetraploid have four and if you get into breeding daylilies you’ll find other numbers of chromosome sets.  Diploid daylilies are easier to breed and there are more diploid than tetraploid varieties.  Most good pink, double and spider type daylilies are diploid.  Tetraploids tend to have bigger flowers, sturdier scapes and a more vigorous growth pattern.



Breeders have created all sorts of flower shapes from narrow twisted petals, to double flowers, to huge petals with ruffled edges.  Daylily colors range from the palest yellows and creams to reds, purples and mixtures of colors.  Despite catalog pictures and misleading names, there are no true white or blue daylilies yet. There are smooth petals, glistening petals, diamond-dusted petals, creped petals and more.  Diamond dusted and glistening daylily flowers have small crystals in the flower cells that reflect light and look like a drop of dew on the petal.

Some daylily flowers are open for more than one day, called extended bloomers.  Some open at night, and they are called nocturnal bloomers.  Some daylilies are fragrant.  These things are generally noted in the variety description.

Daylily foliage is grass-like, with a single deep rib running along the underside.  The leaf blades can be narrow or broad, depending on the variety.  The roots are fibrous and some may form white tubers, which store water and sugars.  From the clump of leaves long flower stalks (scapes) arise. 

Daylily flowers were originally trumpet shaped with the flowers facing upward.  Each daylily flower consists of three petals and three sepals that look like petals (except in double flowers).   Each typical flower is only open for a day, usually opening in the morning and closing by early evening.  Breeders have developed daylilies that open in the evening and flowers that stay open about 16 hours.  Since each plant normally carries many buds, the plants actually bloom for quite some time.  Some daylily varieties will bloom continuously all summer.

Growing Daylilies

Daylilies are purchased as plants and the larger the plant the more flowers you will have the first year after planting.   Daylilies should be planted in the spring.  Avoid planting or transplanting modern daylilies in hot, humid weather.  They tend to rot before rooting. The common daylily can be moved at any time and is very hard to kill.  I once took a box of rhizomes to someone who left them under a bench near a community garden and forgot about them.  They grew through and out of the box in a couple months.

Plant daylilies so that the crown, the area where the roots and leaf bases meet, is just at ground level. Flare the roots out in the hole and keep them well- watered as they establish.  They will withstand some dry weather once established but are probably not ideal for really dry, hot areas.



Daylilies will grow in almost any soil as long as it is not waterlogged. They prefer full sun, although some will bloom in light shade.   A light application of slow release fertilizer in early spring may aid blooming.  Keep daylilies well-watered, especially as they make buds and bloom.  Mulching cools the roots and keeps out weeds. Daylilies have few insect or disease problems.

Older varieties of daylilies tend to get yellowed leaves with browned edges soon after blooming and are not very attractive.  Newer varieties tend to stay green until cold weather (listed as semi-evergreen).  If leaves do yellow and look bad gently pull them off; it will not affect next year’s blooms.  Cut off any seedpods that start to form and remove the old stem back to its base.  Many people remove each flower as it dies, as the mushy remains are not very attractive. 

Daylilies will form large clumps after several years.  Unlike other plants they don’t need to be divided to keep them blooming well.  However, they may out grow their area or you may want to share the wealth.  In early spring as new foliage starts to grow, lift and divide the clump, making sure that each piece has at least one good set of leaves, or “fan“.  Some varieties of daylilies also make little baby plants on the flower stalk, where a branch joins the main stem.  These can be taken off and planted although it may take a year or two before they bloom.

Uses of daylilies

Daylilies make excellent plants for mixed borders and beds.  Small varieties can be used in containers.   Daylilies can be used as cut flowers if a stem with many full buds is cut.  Each flower only lasts a day and must be removed, but the buds will continue to open in the vase.

Daylily flowers are edible.  They can be added to salads, stuffed or battered and fried.   Chinese cooking uses daylily flowers in soups and other dishes.   It is said that moderate amounts of the young foliage can be cooked and eaten, but that large amounts will cause hallucinations and digestive problems.  Just make sure no pesticides have been used on them. 



There are some herbal remedies using daylilies, although the plant isn’t widely used medicinally.  The roots were sometimes used to ease pain in childbirth.  They are folk remedies for arsenic poisoning and cancer treatment, although no medical evidence supports those uses.  The flowers are said to be a treatment for hemorrhoids, but I did not find a reference as to how you are supposed to use the flowers- perhaps as pretty toilet paper?

Daylilies are an excellent addition to almost every garden.  The names alone will make you want to collect them.  How about ‘A Heavenly Flight of Angels’ or ‘Velvet Thunder’ or ‘Veins of Truth’ or ‘Amish Patch Quilt’?   Just remember many varieties are very, very similar to each other, and one can usually find satisfying choices that won’t break the budget.  If you don’t have daylilies in your garden it’s time to get some.

Outbreak of salmonella poisoning

A quick note to those gardeners who keep chickens- the CDC has recently posted an advisory about salmonella cases in 47 states linked to backyard/small poultry flocks.  Salmonella is a serious gastrointestinal disease that can lead to death.  Since the first of this year there have been 372 cases and 71 hospitalizations linked to backyard poultry.  And yes, it’s possible to know where the infection came from by testing the strain of bacteria.

Most chickens carry salmonella and they won’t look sick.  If proper hand washing and other health procedures are followed keeping chickens shouldn’t be a problem.  I have kept them for 50 years.  But there is a big trend now of keeping chickens in the house, and nuzzling and kissing them for those cute photos.  Keep your mouth off chickens unless they are cooked.  Chickens should not be kept in the house, where surfaces can be easily contaminated with salmonella.

Salmonella is bad enough but the same conditions that lead to outbreaks of it can also favor other diseases such as bird flu.  Please go to the link below if you keep chickens and review the CDC recommendations for home poultry keeping.  The CDC is not trying to keep people from keeping chickens.  They are just trying to avoid deaths and complications from disease.  Be sensible and don’t risk your life when simple hygiene precautions can prevent the disease.

For women only

I was horrified this week to see the suggestion on line to insert the galls of wasps into the vagina.  It was being touted as a way to tighten the vagina and also as a cure for vaginal infections and discharges.  The galls form on oak leaves and are round, rough, golf ball sized things.  They contain the larvae of a wasp.  The galls and gall powder are being sold on EBay and Amazon and various herbal sites.

Oak gall
This silly and dangerous fad harkens back to some old granny medicine where ground galls were used after childbirth to prevent infection. Since there is some slight antibiotic properties in ground galls they may have been a bit of help when nothing else was available. Or not, we don’t really know. The old use was recently misinterpreted to mean oak wasp galls are a great toner and cleaner/ cure all for vaginas.  Another good way to make money I guess.

Doctors are warning that this practice is extremely dangerous, especially for the idiots who insert whole galls.  They have been seeing people recently with horrible infections after trying this. There’s no indication that any antibiotic properties are working, quite the opposite.  The galls or gall powder dries out the tissues in the vagina and causes abrasions.  Leaving the galls in there to soften as some places are suggesting is a good way to get toxic shock syndrome.  Pockets of powder left in there can cause bad infections, possibly requiring hospitalization and leaving permanent damage.

Instead of better sex you’ll probably get extremely painful sex after using galls or gall powder.  The galls have also been linked to urinary tract infections.  The powders and galls being sold are coming from foreign countries and there’s no way to even be sure of what you are being sold or how contaminated it is.

When did people stop trusting science and modern medicine? When did we start rejecting all the modern medical advances that have lengthened and improved our quality of life?  Because it’s “natural” doesn’t mean it’s safe.  “Do it yourself” medicine isn’t always helpful.  If you are having problems with your reproductive organs see a doctor, a real doctor.  Don’t rely on cures found on line and in old books.

I guess women who read on line to insert oak wasp galls in their vagina and run out and buy some to try it deserve what they get.  Hopefully there are no women reading my blog that are that stupid, but just in case- here’s your warning.  DON’T insert oak wasp galls in your vagina!

Growing radishes

One of the easiest and fastest root vegetable to grow, radishes are excellent choices for beginning gardeners and for children to grow.  They can be grown in containers and take up little space in the garden.  Because they reach eating size quickly, several crops can be grown in the same place over a season.

Radishes, Raphanus sativus, are an old crop, grown for thousands of years. Different cultures developed different types of radishes.  Asian radishes are usually long and hot and spicy while European varieties are round and not as piquant.  The root is the part of the radish most often eaten, although the seed pods are edible and eaten in some places.

There are many colors of radish roots from the familiar red outside, white inside commonly seen in salad bars to those with white on the outside and fuchsia centers, solid white, purple, and black radishes. Roots can be small and round, long oval shaped or long and tapered like a carrot. 

A special kind of radish – daikon- gets quite large and takes several months to mature.  It can be eaten like other radishes when young.  The seeds of daikon radish can be pressed into oil which is used as a biofuel. It’s sometimes used as livestock feed or as a weed suppressing cover crop.

Radishes have short leafy tops.  The leaves have a rough feel.  Leaves have been used as a pot green.  If left too long before harvest radishes will bolt- or go to seed.  The flowers have 4 petals and are white or lavender.  They will mature quickly to long pods filled with black seeds.  Immature pods are quite tasty and can be used in salads or stir fry.  The Rat Tail radish has a long, curled pod and the pods are often pickled.

Culture

Radishes are a cool weather crop and should be sown as soon as the soil can be worked.  Sow several small batches a few weeks apart to extend the harvest.  They will go to seed quickly or become tough and woody in hot weather so use the garden space for other crops in the heat of summer.  You can then begin sowing radishes again in late summer, as the weather cools.  Frost won’t bother them much.  Hard freezes will make the roots soft however.

Radishes, being a root crop, prefer sandy light soil.  If your soil is heavy clay you may want to grow radishes in containers of light weight potting soil.   Containers should be 6 inches deep for round root varieties, or a foot deep for long tapered root types. You generally won’t need fertilizer, unless you are using a potting mix or your soil is very poor.  You can add a garden fertilizer when you prepare the soil if needed.

Radishes should be grown in full sun.  They need even, consistent moisture.  Dry conditions tend to make them pithy and very hot tasting.  Too much moisture may make them crack, but they are still edible. 

Sow radish seed about a ½ inch deep and ½ apart.  They usually germinate quickly if the soil is moist, within a week.  Thin to 1 or 2 inches apart, depending on the size of the varieties mature root.  And they grow very quickly; you can usually begin harvesting them in a month.  Harvest the roots as soon as they are big enough for you.  Don’t let them get too big or they will become woody and tough. 

Store radishes with the tops on or off, in the refrigerator, loosely wrapped in a damp paper towel and they will last a couple weeks.  Radish pods should also be stored refrigerated.

Pests of radishes include flea beetles and root maggots.  Flea beetles are small black beetles that make the radish leaves holey and make plants less vigorous.  Root maggots come from flies that lay eggs on the soil next to radishes.  They eat the root part of the radish and make them very unappealing.

Both pests can be stopped by covering your radish crop with a lightweight, spun row cover, well anchored down on the soil.  Or gardeners can use pyrethrum to control these pests.  Root maggots can be prevented by growing radishes in containers.  While the flies could lay eggs in that soil they rarely do.  Alternate the spot where you plant radishes each year.




Radish recipes

Once you have your radish crop you may be looking for ways to use them, other than making little radish flowers for a veggie tray or slicing them into a salad.  Radishes served with butter and sea salt is a popular new dish in fancy restaurants, and comes to us from old French recipes.  To make fancy cuisine with the little round radishes wash and trim them, then make those cute little radish “roses” or score the radish several times, cutting almost through the root from top to bottom. 

Put each radish in a small cup like a mini muffin cup, then pour hot, melted butter over the radish and sprinkle with sea salt and let cool before eating.  Honey butter works well with this too.

You can take a crusty piece of French bread, spread it with butter and add thinly sliced radishes, then sprinkle it with sea salt or coarse kosher salt.  This is often served at picnics.  You can use any kind of radishes or bread.  This was a favorite of my grandfather, who planted radishes very early every year in a cold frame so he could have radish sandwiches.

You can also slice radishes of any kind very thinly; add some thinly sliced green onions and fry them in a small amount of hot bacon drippings or if you are a vegetarian in olive oil.  This is a good low fat sub for fried potatoes. 

Take the fried radishes above and toss them with a little cooked pasta and some olive oil or your favorite dressing and add some cooked salad shrimp for a good side dish.

Spicy radishes can be added to dishes like tacos or to soups.  They are good added to a cucumber salad or chicken salad.

Radishes can be roasted for a different and delicious side dish.   Wash and halve radishes, then toss them in a plastic bag with your favorite seasonings, I like salt, paprika, onion and garlic powder.  Spread on a baking sheet and cook at 400 degrees until slightly crispy on the outside.  You may be able to cook these on the grill too.

Take lots of pictures so you can remember June in December.

Kim Willis
 “He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero

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

And So On….
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
Join the
LAPEER AREA HORTICULTURE SOCIETY on our 35th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, JUNE 19th at 6 P.M., SUNCREST DISPLAY GARDENS, behind the Lapeer County Medical Care facility, 1455 Suncrest Drive, Lapeer, Mi.

All Past, Present, and Prospective members are invited to attend this special event. This will be a special time to meet old friends and share some of our memories of the activities of this group.

Guests are welcome.

Displays will be set up showing past activities, as well as old newsletters of the group. Refreshments provided.

For more information contact:
Dave Klaffer at 810-656-7770 or 664-8912

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:
(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)
An interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook

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

Newsletter/blog 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 or you can comment directly on the blog. Please state that you want to have the item published in my weekly note if you email me. 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. Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com

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 people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you know anyone who would like to receive a notification by email when a new blog is published have them send their email address to me.  KimWillis151@gmail.com


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