May 8, 2018 Kim’s Weekly Garden Blog

Hi Gardeners

Fritillaria meleagris- Guinea hen flower

It’s another nice day here in Michigan. We survived 3 days without power after a Michigan hurricane (strong windstorm), passed through on Friday.  We had sustained winds of 30-50 miles an hour with higher gusts for about 6 hours. It was sunny, no rain, but very, very windy.  Trees, power poles, and signs toppled.  I was glad we had the dead trees taken down last month, but we still had big limbs come down to clean up again.  Our brush piles have become immense.

When you live in the country when the power goes out you have no water either.  Luckily, I had just drained and refilled my little water feature made from a horse trough.  We used that water for flushing the toilet. We had stored water for cooking and hand washing and I had my Pepsi to drink.

We have a small generator and it kept the refrigerator and freezer cold.  But I had to stay sleeping in my chair in the living room at night, so I could hear the generator running out on the front porch and switch the power between the frig and freezer every so often.  It was a long few days and I so glad to see the lights come back on and I was really glad to get a shower again.

In my garden this week I have grape hyacinths, big hyacinths, tulips, trilliums, fritillaria, guinea hen flowers, trout lilies, windflowers, and daffodils in bloom.  The clove viburnum, apricot and forsythia are in bloom and my tiny magnolia is almost blooming and the redbud is just starting bloom.

The tulips are not as nice as last year.  They are shorter for one thing, the quick switch from 30 degrees to 80 degrees is probably the cause of that. Deer ruined some of them.  And many things are already out of bloom, a very quick season. The hostas are slow to unfurl this season too. We’ve only mowed once so far this year.

Dill and lettuce are coming up and my blueberry is about to bloom.  It looks like the blackberries had a lot of dieback and I need to prune a lot of dead wood off. The honeyberry is blooming. The transplanted strawberries seem to be doing good. Rhubarb is ready to pick.

The orioles are back, as well as rose breasted grosbeaks.  I saw my first hummingbird the day of the big windstorm.  He was trying to feed at a feeder which was swaying wildly in the wind. I haven’t seen it since.  The sandhill cranes in the farm fields on our road have cute little babies trailing them and the Canada geese have babies too.

Admitting to a mistake

I’ve had this big, wild looking rosebush beside the front porch since we moved in some 25 years ago.  It has white single flowers that are very fragrant once a year in the spring.  In fall it’s covered with tiny red rose hips.  I had just assumed it was multiflora rose, a non-native invasive plant.  I identified pictures of it as such.

Then when I was pruning it back this spring I had an “A Ha” moment.  This rose has no thorns.  The stems are smooth.  Multiflora rose is covered in tiny thorns and intensely prickly.  What is wrong with me?  I have battled multiflora rose in the pasture for years, why didn’t I realize this was not the same? Sure, there are similarities but no thorns?  What was I thinking?

Now of course, I am on a mission to determine just what rose I have here. The house is almost 100 years old so it’s probably an old variety.  Or it may be something that was used as root stock for a grafted rose where the top part died. I didn’t plant a rose there though. I always defended multiflora rose because of the pretty specimen I thought I had by the porch. Well I was wrong.

If anyone reading this is an old rose expert I am going to post a picture of my rose and if you recognize it, send me a message.  It has pink buds and now that I think of it the flowers are probably a bit bigger than multiflora rose.  Its very fragrant.  It has a tall, arching habit and grows vigorously.

You live and learn and realize you aren’t always as smart as you think you are when you get older.

Mystery rose

One quick note, there will be no blog next week.  I am having a medical procedure the day before and don’t think I will be able to get it done. 

Warning about Jack Seeds

Normally I wouldn’t give the name of a company I was writing about critically, I would give a general warning.  But this company deserves any bad publicity they get.  Jack Seeds is a fraud.  They have a Facebook page, a web page, and advertise on Amazon and eBay.  Gardeners have helped this company perpetuate fraud by passing around the name of where they got seeds for something, usually before they try to grow the seeds and see what they actually have.

Jack Seeds shows pictures of things like rainbow roses, blue marigolds, purple watermelons, blue strawberries, blue brugmansia and multi-color lily of the valley and tomatoes.  That’s just to name a few of the things they advertise that don’t exist.  They photo shop the pictures.  They try to look professional by providing so called scientific names, often using a plant name totally different from what is in the picture.  Sometimes they combine scientific names of two different species.  For those who don’t know scientific names this may not matter but even some of the common names used are combinations or made up names.  Most things are labeled “RARE”.

The seeds they sell (which they often call particles) range from less than a dollar a package to about $10.  Here’s a description from their website.  These rainbow strawberry seeds sell for $4.99.

In-Stock and Ships within 24-hours
Fast Delivery - Within 5-10 business days
96% reviewers recommend this product
100% Money Back Guarantee

Grow your own fruits with these 100 pcs Rainbow Colored Magical Strawberries Seeds. Each pack contains 100 seeds.

Highlights:

Photo by Jack Seeds  These strawberries don't exist except the red one.

• Product Type: Bonsai
• Size: Small, Large, Medium
• Climate: Temperate
• Classification: Happy Farm
• Model Number: 1000caom
• Full-bloom Period: Winter
• Flowerpot: Excluded
• Applicable Constellation: Cancer
• Use: Outdoor Plants
• Variety: Strawberry
• Style: Biennial
• Function: Interest
• Location: Courtyard
• Type: Herbs
• Cultivating Difficulty Degree: Very Easy

If you don’t read it carefully their webpage looks pretty good.  It claims the company was established in 1859 – what a hoot. A company that doesn’t know the difference between coleus and rex begonias hasn’t been in the plant business very long. It claims good reviews, but no reviews are listed on the webpage. But read it carefully and the terrible English and equally awful growing information help give it away. (“ Most seeds can germinate as top message. After the seedlings after germination and other robust transplanted into the ground.”) HUH?   Anybody ever hear of a climbing orange tree?  Or a pecan walnut tree?  There are a few offerings that actually may be what they claim to be interspersed among the obvious fakes.  Whether you actually get seeds of those items is debatable.

Here’s what they use to try and keep out of trouble- they have a similar statement on Amazon.

“Special Note

Since the products are displayed online on different screen resolutions, there may be possibilities that colors or design of the product delivered may vary in actual colour. Customers are requested to read all the details and disclaimer on product page before placing the order.”

So, go back and read the description of the rainbow strawberry seeds above.  Would that be any help to you in deciding whether the item was fake or not?  Would that picture look different on different screen resolutions? 

This company also sells a line of pots and other supplies.  I don’t know whether the prices are good on these or the quality, but with the obvious fraud on the plant end I wouldn’t trust buying these.

Jack Seeds is a fraud.  Don’t buy from them.  But they aren’t the only so-called seed company advertising on EBay and Amazon that are frauds.  Be very careful when you shop on line at these places.  They count on you buying the seeds but by the time the seeds germinate- if they do- and grow large enough to flower or let you otherwise know that they aren’t what you thought you bought, the 45 day refund period has passed.

Many people besides me are trying to get Amazon and other sites realize that the company, and others like it, are fraudulent. The seller blocks bad reviews, which I guess they have the right to do.  But as long as they put disclaimers in the ad and people don’t read them, they get away with the scam.

We can’t do anything about the website though.  It’s a shame because there are many good companies on line that gardeners can trust to sell them what they advertise. But if they get burnt by the bad ones they will be reluctant to buy online again.

I feel bad for people who spend their money on something they think will be fabulous and are getting cheated.  And I have had gardeners sheepishly tell me they fell for one of these cons.  I love buying plants and seeds on line, but you must be careful.

So how do you know what companies are scamming you?

Here are some clues on detecting a good on-line merchant.  There should be a way to contact them and a physical address of the business listed.  Jacks Seeds above does list a contact number and email address on their website.  However, if you call the 800 number listed you’ll find it’s not in service. 

Here’s the reply I got when I sent an email to the email contact address asking what country the seeds came from.  First, I got an automatic reply but the next day I got this:

Kimberley Willis	4:33 PM (19 hours ago)
to info

Can you please tell me what country your business is located in?  City state and country would be nice.

K.Willis

Kimberley (Rama Deals)

May 7, 23:30 EDT

Hello Kimberley,

Thank you for contacting us with your concerns.

All of our products are third party of a generic brand and manufactured and shipped from our warehouse in China. We work closely with many professionals abroad to save our costs so we can bring you premium quality goods at the best possible price!

Please feel free to contact us with any of your future questions and concerns. Thank you for shopping with us, we wouldn't be around without your continued support.

Best Regards,
Kimberley
Rama Deals CSR

You notice that I did not get an exact answer, China is a big place.   Rama Deals is the name of another company they do business as, and it has horrible reviews on line.  I understand they sell under several names.  I typed Jack seeds reviews in a goggle search box- (try this) and read some seriously bad reviews.  It seems some people had packages destroyed by US customs and didn’t get refunds.  Others just never got anything, and some got seeds and realized they were ripped off.

The country the plants/seeds will be shipped from should also be listed on a good company website. Read the “about us” section most on line stores have to see if a city, state and country is listed or to see if they have an actual physical store/greenhouse that customers can visit.  If you are suspicious you can look the address up on line and see if the company is actually listed there.

On the Jack Seeds site they talk about supplying customers across the US but are careful never to mention that they are located in the US. They mention a city- Lowell- but not a state or country- where they supposedly trial plants.  They also claim to have a “full in house germination facility” but it’s not mentioned where that is and why they would have it when they are selling seeds, not plants.

On line scam businesses rarely sell plants, because if they are located in another country, as most scam businesses are, they can’t get plants through customs easily and it would be harder to make an easy profit on them. 

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t scam artists on Amazon and eBay selling plants.  There are. Often in these cases you get plants when you order but if you aren’t knowledgeable about the plant species you may not get the variety you wanted.  You ordered a rare specimen of sedum for example but received some common variety instead.

Photo by Jack Seeds-
this is not a green coleus as claimed, it's a rex begonia

Once again look for a physical address and working phone number for sellers. When you realize you didn’t get what you wanted, contact the seller and ask them to make it right.  Good companies want happy customers.  If they don’t help you contact Amazon, eBay or whatever company is hosting the site and complain about the vendor.

Read all the disclaimers and plant descriptions carefully.  Good companies make it clear what size and kind of plant they are selling.  When you order a plant, you don’t receive a wilting unrooted cutting instead. Check to make sure you can specify that you don’t want substitutions if the plant you want is out of stock. Some fraudulent companies will advertise a certain orchid for instance, but the fine print says they can substitute another plant if the one you want is not in stock, which it never seems to be.

There should be a stated refund policy.  Some scam artists do have this, they just don’t honor it. Some have so many conditions attached to the refund policy that it is virtually unusable.  Jacks Seeds has a 45 day refund policy- if merchandise is returned in a saleable condition.  If you planted seeds and waited for them to germinate and then bloom it would take longer than 45 days to realize any error and then of course you couldn’t return the product in a saleable condition.

The best way to keep from falling for a scam is to educate yourself on the plants you want to buy.  If you see something you like that you’ve never heard of before, like “Campanula Orchids” do a search to see if it exists.  If the color of a fruit or flower seems unusual do a search to see if it actually exists.  Colors are easily manipulated in photos.

When not to buy seeds

There are many things that reputable companies do not sell seeds for, they sell plants or bulbs for the plant.  That’s because the plant is either very hard to grow from seed or doesn’t come true from seed.  Some gardeners like the idea of starting things from seed because it’s much cheaper than buying plants but for many types of plants it’s not a good idea.

Here’s a list of plants that you should not buy seeds for: roses, apples, strawberries, raspberries, banana, grapes, blueberries, lilies, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, orchids, tuberous begonias, day lilies, bearded iris, hosta, calla, tropical hibiscus, bleeding hearts, Bonsai anything (bonsai results from a pruning technique not seeds), mushrooms (they grow from spores and are usually sold as inoculated logs, they do not have seeds), ferns (also do not have seeds).

Photo by Jack Seeds- blue marigolds don't exist!

That doesn’t mean the plants can’t be grown from seed by experts.  It means that the plants don’t come true from seed and/or that they may take a long, long time to flower or fruit from seed.  Roses and apples are good examples. If you plant seeds from either you will get a wide variety of fruit/flower types in the seedlings that come up.  Most won’t be very good, and they certainly won’t look like the beautiful picture you saw. It will take years to see what the seeds actually produced. You then have something you spent a lot of time caring for that isn’t what you expected.  

Here’s a list of colors that don’t exist in the variety of plant specified.  Remember that clause, “colors or design of the product delivered may vary in actual colour”? That’s all they need to justify selling you seeds for orange marigolds when the picture shows blue ones. 

There are no blue marigolds, true blue roses (lavender ones exist), true black roses (some very dark red ones are real), rainbow roses (growers dye them), blue dahlias, lilies of the valley in any colors other than white and a very pale pink, blue coleus or rex begonias, blue, purple, red or yellow baby’s breath, blue or purple apples, no blue or purple strawberries (a very dark red strawberry can look black), blue or purple watermelon (white, yellow and orange fleshed watermelon exist), no blue echinacea, rainbow chrysanthemums, rainbow gooseberries, or purple kiwi.

If you know of other companies advertising fake seeds and plants let me know.  I’ll put them in this blog, so others don’t get fooled.

Photo by Jack seeds - this daylily is labeled as  yellow canna seeds

Deer- the gardeners enemy

Deer damage was bad across much of the US this year.  I know I had more damage than I ever had before. I don’t feel sorry for the deer at all, if you have read my blog you know I dislike deer. New research shows that deer fawns survive better in agricultural and suburban areas than they do in really wild places.  People make things better for deer, not worse.  It’s estimated that there are 35 times more deer now than there was before European settlement of this country.  (I’ll post reference links below the article.)

Deer thrive in agricultural areas and suburbs because they like edge habitat, open land surrounded by a few trees and some shrubbery, typical of suburban areas.  They are protected from hunting in many areas, people feed them intentionally and unintentionally, and until recently native predators were also discouraged by humans sharing deer habitat.

Deer not only damage gardens and crops they are an important cause of environmental damage and loss of native plant and even animal species. Many researchers think that deer are as responsible for as many non-native invasive plant populations as humans are and may cause more extinctions of native plants in an area than human activities.

Deer prefer plants they are used to eating, which means native plants in many cases. They avoid eating many non-native invasive plants, which gives those plants an edge over natives that the burgeoning deer populations keep munching on.  When they do eat non-native plants it’s often ones whose seeds survive a trip through the digestive system and are spread far and wide in deer poop.

In many areas with high deer populations wildflowers like trilliums have disappeared.  Humans can’t bring them back until the deer population has been drastically reduced or excluded from areas.  Some parks are now fencing off areas from deer so people can see what native habitat really looks like. 

Deer eat the seedling trees and understory plants in forest areas.  This leaves ground nesting birds and small animals without the cover and foods they like and leads to their decline in areas with a lot of deer.  It affects forest succession, and drastically changes the environmental conditions over time.  

Where deer go larger predators follow.  Coyotes like fawns, for example, but when they get into suburban areas looking for fawns they also discover cats, small dogs and pet bunnies and chickens make good meals. Bobcats and black bear also prey on fawns and weak deer and are turning up more frequently in suburban and agricultural areas.

Deer are also carriers of ticks which have human and pet health implications and they carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans, pets and livestock.  A new tick-borne disease has surfaced in deer populations in some Eastern states that affects humans and just recently it was found that deer also carry a strain of malaria.  So far, this strain has not jumped to human populations, but is suspected in some song bird deaths.  Researchers worry that the booming population of deer in suburban and even urban areas may result in human cases of malaria. And let’s not talk about the human deaths caused by deer- car collisions each year. 

If you enjoy native plants, are concerned about environmental change, worried about your health, and like to have a nice garden you’ll want to do what you can to discourage deer from thriving in your area.  It starts with not feeding them.  Intentionally feeding deer, except in places where hunting is allowed, and seasonal bait piles can help hunters kill them, should be outlawed.   If it isn’t in your area you may want to introduce the idea to your local authorities.

Don’t feed the deer, even if it’s legal.  Deer are like rats, if you feed them more come and they multiply. Soon they turn to destroying your landscaping and that of neighbors.  Don’t put out salt blocks or water for them.  Keep bird feeders out of their reach.  Deer will knock over or knock down feeders to eat the seed.  Keep pet food picked up at night or inside a deer proof fence.   If you have horses or other livestock feed them hay inside or in amounts they quickly clean up, so deer don’t find the leftovers.

Gardeners need to protect their plants from deer or plant deer resistant plants in the landscape.  Protection can be from a fence, black netting will work most of the time and it comes in 6 feet and higher rolls, is light weight and easy to install.  Electric fence is good, although not always attractive.  There are solar and battery powered models and it can be turned off in the daytime.  Fencing can be right around the plants or around the perimeter of the yard.

There are commercial deterrent sprays that do work although they must be reapplied when ever it rains. The problem is they smell bad to humans too and aren’t for use on food crops.  Having some of that outside your window on a 80 degree day isn’t appealing.  Home mixed remedies only work for a while, if that, and deer then ignore them. Irish spring soap, hair in bags, bloodmeal and so on only work for a short time also.

If you read this blog regularly you will have heard me talk about the solar powered twinkle lights deterring deer.  They worked for me for several winters.  This winter the deer ran through the wires in several places and the lights stopped working.  I guess you could say that was also a failure of the product.  I had the lights strung around my plants on poles. I am going to try a different system with them next winter.  I am also going to try them around some flowers I want to take the netting off this spring.

Plants deer like- which must be protected

When you have the plants in the list below you are really feeding deer, unless you protect them.  I know I don’t want to give up growing many of these.  If you don’t have deer damage now you may in the future.  Keep your eyes open for signs of deer.  If someone nearby reports deer damage protect your plants immediately.  Deer can roam a mile or more at night feeding.

Here’s the deer candy: hosta, day lilies, true lilies, tulips, trilliums, pansies, violas, columbine, periwinkle, roses, sweet potato, sweet corn, beans, peas, all forms of greens like lettuce, kale and so on, turnips, carrots, arborvitae (white cedar), balsam fir, Frasier fir, yews, rhododendrons, azaleas, euonymus, young maples including Japanese, lilacs, clematis, strawberries, blueberries, apples, plums, and pears.  Most native wildflowers are eaten by deer.

Deer resistant plants

Here’s some landscaping plants that are deer resistant.  A word of warning, deer sometimes eat these too, but are far less likely to do so.  Sometimes deer in one area have different tastes than others.  Some plants may taste bad or be poisonous or be too hard to eat because of thorns.

Here’s the plants least liked by deer list; daffodils and narcissus, alliums, bergenia, larkspur, bleeding heart, yarrow, echinacea, foxglove, most ferns, fritillaria, lavender, lamiums, rose campion, Russian sage, snapdragons, snakeroot, colchicum, oriental poppies, yucca, marigolds, tansy, thyme, sweet woodruff, rhubarb, onions, leeks, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, dill, sage, spruces, junipers, holly, Austrian and red pine.

Most other plants fall into the “sometimes damaged” category. 

Everyone should do their best to discourage deer in gardens and around homes. They are a health hazard and contribute to the decline of other species.  Too many deer in an area leads to problems for them too, with diseases and poor growth.  Deer are definitely not endangered and the use of them for food should be encouraged. If hunting is allowed in your area encourage people to hunt them. Chase them away if you see them, they may be pretty to watch but deer are not good for people or the environment.

It’s not that we should eliminate deer entirely, but they should be culled back to reasonable populations away from human habitations.  The old argument of “we took away their space” is so wrong, we made their space better by moving into some areas and that has allowed the deer population to explode.  We need to better control the deer population so we don’t lose other valuable native species of plants and animals.

Some references:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171006142158.htm

http://www.northeastipm.org/neipm/assets/File/Insights/InsightsJul2017.pdf

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160205153323.htm

Chickweed and other creeping spring weeds

This time of year gardeners often notice mats of low growing plants in the lawn and garden beds and wonder what they are.  While chickweed is one of the weeds you may see not all prostrate, creeping weeds are chickweed.

There are two common types of plants called chickweed in the Eastern US.  One is smooth or common chickweed (Stellaria media) and the other is mouseear chickweed (Cerastium vulgatum).  Common chickweed is an annual plant, and mouse ear chickweed is a perennial. They both have creeping sprawling stems with small rounded oval leaves and tiny white star shaped flowers. They appear in early spring.  Both prefer to grow in early spring and summer and again in fall when it is cool and moist.  They go dormant or die in hot dry weather.   

Common chickweed

(There are also two other species of Cerastium chickweeds that are not as common and can require a very well - trained eye to distinguish from common chickweed.)

The difference between the species of plants commonly called chickweed is subtle to the untrained eye. Both have opposite leaves. The leaves of mouseear chickweed are a narrow oval and the whole plant is covered in tiny hairs. Common chickweed has smooth, broad oval leaves with a pointed tip. Mouseear chickweed starts blooming later than common chickweed, not starting bloom until May and common chickweed begins blooming soon after the snow melts.  Mouseear chickweed will root at the stem nodes and common chickweed does not.

Both types of chickweed have shallow, fibrous roots and are easy to pull from the ground.  Both reproduce by seed, which may germinate in late fall and survive under snow until spring or in the case of common chickweed seeds may germinate in early spring.  Mouseear chickweed can stay green under snow or in a protected area all winter.

Thymeleaf speedwell, (Veronica serpyllifolia) is another low growing early weed that greatly resembles common chickweed. The leaves are round at the base of the stem and more oval shaped higher on the stem. Many leaves will have a notch at the tip, and the tips are rounded, which helps distinguish from common chickweed.  It is a perennial and can root at the nodes of the stems. 

Thymeleaf speedwell has tiny, 4 petal flowers on short stems that are usually pale blue with darker blue or purple vein lines.  Petal tips are rounded.  They normally bloom in late April-May in zone 5-6. In flower it’s easy to distinguish thymeleaf speedwell from chickweeds.

Thymeleaf speedwell- by Forestry Images

Catchweed bedstraw (Galium aparine) is a bit easier to distinguish from chickweed and thymeleaf speedwell.  While it’s a low growing, mat forming weed it has square stems and the blade shaped leaves are arranged in whorls on the stem.  Stems and leaves have tiny prickles, which accounts for the name.  Another common name is cleavers.

Catchweed bedstraw has tiny, white 4 petal flowers that are produced in the leaf axils in late spring, usually May here. It is an annual that reproduces by seed. The plant has a fresh scent, like new mown hay when dried, which accounts for the bedstraw in its name. It was once used to fill mattresses because it doesn’t mat down as quickly as some plants and has a nice scent.

Catchweed bedstraw’s tiny prickles can inflame the intestines of animals grazing on them and the seeds often contaminate grain crops.

Cleavers or catchweed bedstraw

Control of chickweed and other creepers

All of these plants like cool, moist conditions and usually are not problematic later in the summer.  While a product like Round-up would kill them they are so easily pulled that it seems silly to use chemicals. Just use a rake and rake them out of unwanted areas. Or just leave them alone and summer heat will generally kill them or make them go dormant.  You can gather the plants and feed them to chickens or livestock or compost them.

Although the flowers of these plants are tiny they do furnish pollen and nectar to small bees and flies early in the spring.  And poultry, birds and small animals eagerly feed on them in spring and hunt for the seeds later. There is little harm in leaving them in the lawn.  Help nature and spare a weed.

Beer Biscuits

These biscuits, made with beer, have a yeasty flavor like good homemade bread. They can become your signature side dish and are quick and easy to make.  Serve them with jam or honey or add some sausage gravy for a yummy breakfast. They freeze well so make a batch or two on the weekends for school day breakfast during the week.

        3 cups flour

        3 teaspoons baking powder

        1-1/2 teaspoon salt

        3 Tablespoons sugar

        1 cup beer, any kind

Grease a cookie sheet.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients together, kneading with floured hands right in the pan until the dough feels smooth.

Pick out a small ball of dough and flatten it on the greased pan.   The size can be any biscuit size that appeals to you.   The recipe will make about 18 medium biscuits.

Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown.

Mothers day is this Sunday- buy her a plant!

Kim Willis

And So On….

Find Michigan garden events/classes here:

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

(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners facebook page)

Newsletter/blog information

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 blog 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