Hi Gardeners
Spring is ever so slowly advancing here. We got to 80 degrees on Sunday, but temps
fell back to the 50’s as a high on Monday.
We may have had frost last night; I couldn’t be sure this morning. I had covered everything that needed it just
in case. I had looked ahead at the
weather and decided to move the plants off the porch this weekend. I had also bought a few annuals at the
greenhouse last week. That shows you
mother nature can make a fool out of even an old experienced gardener.
So, I am going to exercise that
patience I spoke about just last week and hold off a bit longer before I plant
those annuals- they are still being held on the deck- to make them easier to protect. The May full moon has passed and usually we
don’t get frost after that, but this weather has been crazy. I shouldn’t
complain because some places actually had snow this past weekend and others had
tornadoes.
My magnolia is in bloom and so is the
redbud, flowering quince and the apple and cherry trees. My akebia will be in
bloom soon. The tulips are in full bloom, but the daffodils are starting to
fade. The first iris will be blooming soon. The sweet woodruff is in
bloom.
I hear baby birds in our big white
pine, I think it’s robins but I’m not sure.
The birds are eating like – well- birds.
Birds eat a lot. How we got the
saying eating like a bird to denote a picky eater is beyond me. I am constantly filling one feeder or the
other, suet, seed, nectar or jelly.
My houseplants are wishing they could
be outside. How can I tell? Lots of new growth and buds, but things are
getting a bit lanky. I am hoping to get
them outside soon. I enjoy them more
outside I think because it’s easier to see the individual plants when they have
more room. One of the tropical hibiscus
bloomed and I had to look at the flower from outside through the window because
it’s buried in front of the others. I
also have a “holiday” cactus blooming again.
Mary Helen my “special” plant is going
to go outside as soon as it’s warm enough.
I have two grow lights on her now and she makes me raise them every few
days she grows so fast. It’s not just the power usage though, it’s the
smell. I guess modern cannabis plants
smell stronger than the ones I remember growing on a windowsill in the 70’s. After the timer turns out the lights on her
in the evening a strong skunk smell drifts out of that room.
I’m going to plant sweet corn this
weekend. The ground seems warm enough
and surely frost danger should be over by the time it germinates. I have one large tomato plant to put out, an
Early Girl with fruit already. I hope to
get more this weekend. And the peppers
and cucumbers will be planted too.
Its Memorial Day weekend coming
up. I hope all of you get to a
greenhouse near you and indulge your plant obsession.
Vegetable gardens in containers
Growing your vegetables and fruits in
the ground is the preferred way to grow them, if we are talking about outside
growing. You’ll get the best production from plants in this way. (Raised beds
built on the ground are basically a subset of in ground gardening, while raised
beds with a floor and on legs are actually container gardening.) If you can plant your vegetable garden in the
ground, you should do so. Poor soil can
be improved and is rarely a reason to use containers for food gardening.
However, there are reasons that people might
need to grow their veggies and small fruit in containers. You may not be allowed to have a garden in
the ground where you live, or you may be planning to move before harvest
time. You may not have soil to garden
in, such as your only outdoor growing area is a roof top or paved area. Soil that remains too wet through the growing
season and that can’t be drained might be unsuitable for food gardening. And sometimes soil has been heavily polluted
and becomes unsuitable to grow food. In these cases, growing in containers is
justified.
There are two reason why growing food
in containers often fails to meet expectations; not having big enough
containers and not growing the best varieties for containers. Having unrealistic expectations is also a key
part of dissatisfaction with container gardens.
Most vegetables and fruits grown in containers do not produce as well as
those grown in the ground. And the work
involved really isn’t much different.
Food crops need room to grow and the
containers you plant them in must be large enough for the type of plant you
want to grow. That can be much larger
than many people expect. Some crops
require deep pots and others do better with shallower and wider pots. The weight of the pot needs to be enough to
keep large plants from toppling over in the wind. The good news is that there are many
inexpensive container options on the market now and many ways to repurpose
objects to make plant containers.
The most critical part of the container
is good drainage. All containers must
have drain holes. You cannot substitute
rocks or other things in the bottom of the pot, hoping to create a place for
water to drain to. This almost always ends badly. When pots are outside a
period of heavy rain will fill those rock spaces and there is no way to drain
them. There are containers you can buy that have a water reservoir, but these
usually have an overflow drain or a spigot to drain off excess water.
A growing trend is to use “bags” for
plant containers. They are made of
material that is coarsely woven and that allows for drainage and air
circulation. They come in many sizes and
are generally cheaper than other types of containers. A draw back to the bags
is that they can be hard to move if that is needed and some don’t last more
than one season.
If the drainage holes for your
container are on the bottom of the container, the container should be raised
just a little bit off the surface the pot is sitting on, so the drainage holes
aren’t blocked. Put something under the corners, a ½ inch off the surface is
good. Some pots are made with little
“legs” and you won’t need to do this. If
you are drilling holes in a container put them on the pot sides, near the
bottom, instead of on the bottom. If
water running out of the pots is a problem, you can use trays under the pots.
Defining pot sizes is hard to do. When you buy pots you may see them listed by
the gallons or by diameter. One nursery’s
gallon pot can be different from another’s gallon pot. Even a 10” diameter pot can differ in how
much soil it holds. And if you are repurposing something as a pot it can be
even more confusing to guestimate equivalent sizes. A rough guide is:
A 7-8” diameter pot at least 10” deep =
1 gallon pot
A 10” diameter pot at least 10” deep =
a 3 gallon pot
12” diameter pot plus 12” or more deep
= 5 gallon pot
16-17 “diameter pot plus 14” or more
deep = 10 gallon pot
20-22” diameter pot plus 18” deep = 20
gallon pot
Measure diameter across the pot top. If
you are unsure what size pot to use always go bigger. Fill pots for veggies entirely with potting
medium or soil. Do not use rocks or
other things on the bottom. Vegetables
and fruit seedlings should be planted in the pot that they will stay in until
harvest, don’t transplant them into progressively bigger pots. If you really messed up with picking the
right pot size and the plant is in a much too small pot you can try carefully
transplanting into a bigger pot.
Here are some suggested pot sizes for
various plants and some good varieties;
Tomatoes- 5 gallon minimum, 10 gallon
or larger containers are better, deep containers are best. The tomatoes will need some kind of support,
cages or stakes or set the containers by a rail or fence. There are several tomato varieties developed
for containers. ‘Tasmanian Chocolate’, ‘Tidy
Treats’, ‘Gold Nugget’ are some or try these determinant tomatoes, ‘Defiant’
and ‘Valley Girl’ that work well in containers and are disease resistant.
Don’t try to grow cherry tomatoes in
hanging baskets. It looks cute but they
are a nightmare to keep healthy outside the greenhouse. They will need almost constant watering and
feeding.
Peppers and eggplant - 5 gallon pot minimum,
deep containers are best. Try ‘Patio
Baby’ eggplant, ‘Hansel’ or ‘Gretel’ eggplants, ‘Eros’, ‘Cupid’ or ‘Lunchbox’
mini bell peppers.
Potato plants need deep pots, a 10
gallon pot minimum per plant. Fingerling
type potatoes are probably the best container potatoes, but any kind could be
grown. To make the best use of container potato growing, fill the pot about 1/3
full, add your seed potato pieces and lightly cover them. When the plants are 6 inches high fill the
pot to about half full, the tops of the potatoes should be above the soil. When the potatoes get above the top rim of
the pot, finish filling it with soil to within 1” of the rim. This encourages the plant to make potato tubers
deep into the pot.
Leafy greens- shallow containers can be
used, 6- 8 inches deep. Surface area
will determine how many plants per container, give each plant 2 square inches
of space.
Root crops like carrots, onions and
beets need deep containers, 12” or deeper, with a surface area of 3-4 inches
per plant. Onions do not make big bulbs in pots. It’s best to use onion sets and harvest them
as green onions. If you want to try carrots in containers use varieties whose
roots are ball shaped or short and stocky. Some carrots to try; ‘Danvers Half Long’,
‘Adelaide’ baby carrots, ‘Thumbelina Baby Ball’, ‘Atlas’.
Broccoli, brussels sprouts, and
cauliflower – even cabbage, can be grown in containers. Each plant needs a
minimum 3 gallon pot. Use miniature
cabbage varieties in containers. Try ‘Aspabroc’ baby broccoli, ‘Alcosa’ baby
savoy cabbage, ‘Katarina’ baby cabbage.
Cucumbers can be grown in pots with a
trellis, against a fence or the container can be set up high where the vines
can trail down. Each plant needs a 3
gallon pot minimum. Try ‘Bush Pickle’ or ‘Salad Bush’.
Squash of bush types can be planted in 10
gallon pots, one plant per pot. It’s
probably better not to try growing vining type squash, melons and pumpkins in
containers. If you do, use mini
varieties and trellis them. Remember
that some pumpkins and squash with mini fruits do not have mini vines, they are
as big as other squash and pumpkin vines.
Try ‘Honeybaby’ winter squash, ‘One Ball’ summer squash or ‘Minnesota
Midget’ cantaloupe.
Corn is very hard to grow successfully
in containers. You’ll need large
containers, and smaller varieties of sweet corn. There are one or two varieties developed for
containers. Corn has to be planted in
clusters for pollination so plant 3-4 plants in a 20 gallon pot and preferably
group several pots together. You’ll
probably get one ear of corn per plant, rarely two. Try ‘On Deck’ or ‘Early
Sunglow’ corn.
Beans and peas are also difficult to
grow well in containers. It would be
best to use a large container like a muck tub or half barrel with 3-4 plants
per pot. (20 gallon or larger). Peas and
pole beans will need supports, maybe a teepee of poles. Bush type beans would be simpler.
Strawberries can use shallower
containers, about 8 inches deep. They
need about 6 square inches of surface per plant or a 1 gallon pot per plant.
Raspberries can be grown in 5 gallon
pots, one plant per pot.
Blueberries can be grown in pots
too. Dwarf varieties could go in 10
gallon pots. Full size plants need tubs
of 20 gallon or larger. Full size plants
are better grown in raised beds.
Some dwarf fruit trees can be grown in
containers. Don’t try growing semi-dwarf
or full-size fruit trees in containers for more than a year. The containers for dwarf trees need to be
quite large, 20 gallon tubs or larger. For
growing a small starter tree of a semi-dwarf or standard fruit tree for just a
year or less, 5 or 10 gallon pots could be used.
If it’s a fruit variety not hardy in
your area, such as citrus in the north, plan how you will move those large
containers inside in winter. Even hardy trees in containers may experience cold
damage to the roots during winter. You
can insulate the pots in winter with straw or even bags of woodchips to help
protect the roots.
It’s best to use a commercial potting
medium in containers but you can fill them with garden soil mixed with compost
in a pinch. If the growing medium didn’t
contain fertilizer you will need to add it.
You can use a general purpose garden fertilizer such as 5-10-5, or one formulated
for the plant, like blueberry or tomato fertilizer. Follow label directions carefully. Do not
use Epsom salts in containers.
With the exception of leaf lettuce and
maybe other leafy greens your vegetables and fruits in containers need to be in
full sun. Full sun means at least 6
hours of sun per day, preferably mid-day sun. The greens may do fine in 4 hours
of sun.
 |
| This type of raised bed could be considered a container also |
You will need to carefully monitor
watering your containers. In hot, dry
weather they may need watering every day.
If it’s cool and cloudy make sure you don’t overwater. The surface of the soil should feel dry
before you water, but the plants should not be wilting. If you are going to be planting a lot of veggies
in pots, you may want to invest in a soil moisture gauge.
If you can’t garden in the ground it is
possible to grow some of your own food.
You may get a smaller harvest, but it will be a tasty one.
Vegetable and fruit garden planning
chart
Are you planning your vegetable garden but don’t know how many
plants you need? Check out this link.
Magnolias
The magnolias are blooming here and in
many places in the country. It may not
be the same species of magnolia everywhere- there are over 200 species, but
magnolias are a common garden tree around the world. When most gardeners see magnolias, they want
to grow them. There’s something about
these magnificent blooming trees that stirs the senses. Maybe it’s because they are thought to be some
of the earliest flowering plants and have been on the earth long before we
humans, some 100 million years.
Magnolias not only make excellent spring
flowering trees; the larger species make good shade trees and their foliage is
attractive all season. The seeds they
produce in late summer are eaten by many birds.
 |
| Saucer magnolia |
Choosing magnolias
There are magnolias native to Asia,
North, Central and South America, and the West Indies. There are deciduous and evergreen types, tall
and short types, and multi-stemmed types.
Most magnolia flowers are large, and
cup or saucer shaped but there are some with smaller star shaped flowers. Flower size ranges from 3 inches to 14 inches
in size. Flower colors range from deep purple to pink, white, and yellow.
Sorting out the various species,
subspecies, sub genera (Magnolia and Yulania) and so forth is a job
for the botanist. Magnolias have been
hybridized in so many ways between so many species that gardeners have a vast
assortment to choose from. What’s most
important is to pick a magnolia that’s hardy in your growing zone, some are
hardy to growing zone 4, but many are only hardy to growing zone 7 or higher.
The most common species grown in
gardens are Southern magnolias (Magnolia
grandiflora), Saucer
magnolias (Magnolia ×soulangiana), Star
magnolias (Magnolia stellata) and their hybrids and hybrids with other
species. Some native species that have
been used to hybridize with these or that are planted for native landscapes,
are Cucumber tree (M.
acuminata), yellow cucumber
tree (M. a. subcordata), Sweet
bay (M. virginiana) and Bigleaf magnolia (M.
macrophylla). Many Asian species are
used to make garden hybrids also.
When you see
a magnolia in a nursery or garden that you like get someone to identify it for
you so you can choose one for yourself.
Make sure it’s hardy in your area. The evergreen types are usually for
zone 7 and above. Saucer and star magnolias are often hardy to zone 4 but check
the cultivar. Another thing to check is
how early the variety blooms. Some
species and hybrids of species can be hardy, but their flowers are so early
that they are usually killed by frost.
You’ll also
want to make sure the adult size of the magnolia is suitable for your
garden. Some magnolias make huge 40 feet
trees that cast a lot of shade and make growing grass under them hard. The
roots of these large trees can damage driveways and walks. But there are magnolias that make smaller
trees more suitable for a garden accent.
 |
| Hybrid magnolia |
Magnolias don’t like root disturbance
and nursery specimens are often small compared to other trees. Pick your site for the magnolia well so you
won’t have to transplant it. In some
saucer type magnolias blooming begins when the trees are quite young and small,
even at 3 feet tall, so you won’t have long to wait for blooms. The southern types of magnolias, however, may
take 10 years to bloom. The planting
site should be in full sun and in well drained soil. The only magnolia that tolerates damp soil is
Sweet bay (M. virginiana).
Magnolias
prefer rich soil high in organic matter that is slightly acidic to neutral in
pH. They are adaptable though and many
will grow in less suitable soils. When
young and getting established they should be watered regularly if it’s dry, but
as they get older, they are fairly tolerant of dryness and will only need to be
watered in severe drought.
Usually magnolias
in good soil won’t need to be fertilized.
If leaves are yellowing or the plant doesn’t seem to be growing well
have a soil test done to see if some nutrient is lacking and then fertilize
with what’s needed.
Magnolias also
don’t need much pruning and if pruning is needed to correct a problem or shape
the tree do it right after flowering ends.
Avoid pruning that isn’t necessary.
Magnolias are usually deer resistant, but you might want to protect
young trees with a circle of wire in winter.
More about magnolias
Magnolias existed before bees and they
evolved to be pollinated by beetles.
Because of that they don’t have nectar, but their pollen is very rich in
protein and fat and sought after by beetles. Most have a strong sweet smell to
attract those beetles and flowers are large and sturdy to support them. Some
magnolias do produce a sugary secretion that isn’t the same as nectar.
Some deciduous magnolias have flowers
that bloom before the leaves emerge, which makes the flowers even more
prominent. The flower buds are large and
hairy and may be seen on the plant all winter.
What we see as a magnolia flower is
actually a mixture of petals and similar looking sepals. Depending on the species there can be from
5-17 or so these sepal-petals. Magnolias
prefer to be cross pollinated rather than self-pollinated so they are protogynous, which means when the
flower opens it’s female stigma is ready to be pollinized but the pollen
bearing anthers are immature. As the stigma
ages beyond the receptive stage or is pollinated, the anthers mature and
release pollen.
Fertilized flowers produce a reddish
cone like fruit with red kidney bean shaped seeds. The seeds are mature in early autumn and if
you rescue them from the birds you can start new magnolias from them. Remember that the seed from hybrid plants may
not produce plants like the parent.
The leaves of magnolias are oval, dark
green and leathery with a waxy coating. The
margin is unbroken, and leaves are arranged alternately on the branch. The size
of the leaves varies by species. When
young, magnolias have smooth gray or light brown bark. As trees get older the bark develops scales.
In China the bark and flower buds of
native magnolias are used in traditional medicines and are said to have anti-
anxiety properties and are used to shrink tumor growths. In Japan magnolia
leaves are sometimes used to wrap or serve food.
In late 2017, a bigleaf magnolia
planted in 1828 on the south lawn of the Whitehouse by President Andrew Jackson
had to be cut down. This caused a public
outcry, but the tree was long past it’s normal life span and dangerously rotted
inside. The tree was featured on the $20 bill up to 1990. Seedlings from the tree have growing in a greenhouse
and will be used to replace it.
There are other species of magnolias on
the White House grounds. In March of 1962 some magnolias were being installed as
part of the new rose garden President Kennedy wanted. The underground cables that connected the
White house and the Airforce Strategic Command were severed when the holes were
dug, creating a temporary crisis.
Magnolias can become a prominent part
of your landscape too. Just be sure to
pick a magnolia that’s right for your location and 100 years later someone else
may be enjoying it.
Mosquito control
It’s been wet over much of the United
States this spring, there is standing water in many places, and that means a
bumper crop of mosquitoes will soon be upon us.
Mosquitoes are annoying but they are also dangerous to your health and
to that of pets and livestock. No matter
how you feel about natural ecosystems, which mosquitoes are a part of, you
should try and control mosquitoes in your immediate environment.
If you are a gardener you may be
wondering if you should be concerned about Zika virus, which can be contracted
through the bite of a mosquito. In the south, yes you should. In much of the northwest, midwest, and northeast
the mosquitoes that carry Zika virus, Aedes
aegypti and A. albopictus are not
yet common. There are concerns however,
that other mosquitoes may eventually carry it.
And with a warming climate these mosquitos may eventually work
northward.
But there are other viruses carried by mosquitoes
such as chikungunya, dengue, West Nile Virus, and several other encephalitis producing
diseases, even malaria and yellow fever to be wary of too. Every state has some virus that can be carried
by mosquitoes. West Nile cases occur every year across the US. Horses can be
killed by WNV. Your dogs can be killed
by heartworms, which are carried by mosquitoes that are in most states.
As our climate warms and international
travel becomes more and more common, mosquito vectored diseases we never had
here in the US could pop up. These diseases are all serious and can cause
death. It’s very important to control mosquitoes in areas where people live.
As a gardener you should do all you can
to prevent mosquitoes and to keep from being bitten by them. This is not the time to trust your health to
home remedies and mixes. And it would be
wise to support a mosquito control program in your county, even spraying with
pesticides for adult mosquitoes. The risk of these pesticides causing harm is
less than the risk of the mosquitoes causing it.
Controlling mosquitoes in the home environment
Mosquitoes need water to lay eggs and
some mosquitoes can go from egg to larvae to adult in 3-4 days in the right
weather. Mosquito eggs turn into those
swimming larvae known by many as wigglers.
They have a tube on their back end that they stick out of the water to
get air, but you will also see them moving up and down in the water.
Empty anything that holds standing
water every few days to prevent mosquito breeding. Empty pet bowls, livestock tanks, kiddie
pools, plant saucers, bird baths and watering cans. (Swimming pools that are chlorinated and
filtered shouldn’t allow larvae to live.) Look for old tires, cans, and other
junk that collects water and remove the junk or empty out the water. Rainwater barrels should have screens or
treat them with BT (see below). Clean gutters so that water doesn’t stand in
them. Holes in stumps and trees can be filled with sand.
Keep long grass and brush trimmed
around your home as adult mosquitoes rest there during the day. That’s a good reason to maintain some kind of
mowed space around a home, even if it’s not your manicured lawn. Use window screens on your house and don’t
raise your kids in a barn (teach them to keep the doors closed-LOL).
After a flood there may be low areas of
standing water for days. If drains can’t
be dug to draw off the water, you could fill the spots with soil or sand or
treat them with BT.
One way to kill wigglers is to put a
thin layer of something oily on the water surface, which keeps them from
breathing. You could use vegetable oil, but never engine oil. This may hurt other wildlife though, so a
better plan is to use BT products in the water.
This is sold as mosquito “doughnuts” as a granule or tiny tablets in
many stores.
BT is a natural fungal disease of
larvae/caterpillars. It won’t hurt you or other animals or even pollinators if
it’s put in water. (It may harm some
other aquatic insect larvae such as dragonfly larvae.) It won’t harm fish or frogs. Your dog or horse
can drink the water without harm. I
strongly recommend gardeners use a form of BT in garden water features such as
decorative ponds and reflecting pools.
Use it even if you have fish as they often don’t eat enough
wigglers.
 |
| Decorative ponds should be treated with BT to control mosquitoes |
If you have a water feature where the
water is vigorously run through a filter or even just a fountain pump you may
not need BT. But if a pump is on one end of a large pond or there are lots of
potted plants that create “safe” areas of still water use the BT.
You can use BT in natural ponds,
depressions that hold water and ditches that are on your property and that do
not empty into public drains, lakes, rivers, or streams. Most places prohibit treating water with
anything if it runs into public drains or natural water sources.
Some things that do not work to control
mosquitoes are ultrasonic devices and light traps. Those bug lights may kill some mosquitoes, but
they also draw more toward the light and if you are close, they may bite you
before flying into the light. Some traps
using carbon dioxide and pheromones show promise but are expensive and each
trap appeals to different species of the hundreds of mosquito species in the US.
Citronella candles don’t work either. Most
studies find that burning a plain candle is just as effective as burning a
citronella one. Most citronella products
you buy at the store are so diluted that they contain almost no active
ingredient. It is a waste of money to
buy citronella oil or candles to burn unless you just like the smell. No other products you burn to make smoke are
any more effective.
Controlling mosquitoes on you
There are no plants that you can plant in a pot on the patio or in
the garden that will keep mosquitoes away from you. None. This is the worse
kind of folklore because it can cause severe illness and death when people think
this stuff is true. It should be illegal to allow ads that promote this, since
it’s a matter of public health. Some of
the plants cited in these folk tales do have repellent properties if chemicals
are extracted from them and applied to the skin, none work by simply being near
them.
If you have no problem applying make-up, sunscreen,
or using over the counter allergy medications you should have no problem using
a good commercial mosquito repellant on your skin. Deet is the most studied insecticide in the
world and has been used for over 50 years.
It is a synthetic chemical product but if label directions are followed
it is extremely safe, probably safer than some sunscreens. Since mosquitoes can carry deadly diseases,
keeping them from biting you is extremely important.
To keep from getting bitten the CDC suggests using
these products on your body and clothing. Products with DEET including Off!,
Cutter, Sawyer, and Ultrathon brands. DEET also repels ticks.
Some other recommended mosquito repellants are
products with Picaridin, also known as KBR 3023, such as Bayrepel, and
icaridin, Cutter Advanced, Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus. Products with IR3535
such as Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus, (another formula), Expedition, and
SkinSmart are also good. Products with oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) or
para-menthane-diol (PMD) such as Repel are fairly effective.
Interestingly one research project found that using
Victoria’s Secret Bombshell perfume repelled mosquitoes. The ingredients are secret, so we don’t know
what causes the effect. However, you
would have to apply it all over your exposed skin and it’s expensive.
Along with repellent, wear long sleeves and pants
when working in mosquito infested areas, especially at dawn and dusk and on
cloudy days. Some mosquitoes bite right through clothes so a repellent safe to use on clothing should be sprayed over clothing in high population
areas. There are nets you can wear over
a hat that can protect your face from mosquitoes.
You may want to avoid floral scents on your body
and clothes and drinking alcohol before going out to garden. Research has
indicated these things attract more mosquitoes. And here’s a funny fact I found out
about mosquitoes- they are attracted to the smell of limburger cheese. Scientists found that the cheese produces a
bacterium very similar to that produced by dirty, sweaty human feet, so similar
that it fools mosquitoes. And since
mosquitoes like the smell of dirty, sweaty feet it might be good to keep your
feet cool and clean while gardening.
If you are sitting on the porch resting after
gardening one of the most effective and safe mosquito repellents is a simple
box fan, with the air turned right on you.
Mosquitoes won’t fly into a strong “wind”. This is very safe and effective when protecting
infants from mosquitoes.
More information, references
"If it's drama that you sigh for, plant a garden and you'll get
it. You will know the thrill of battle fighting foes that will beset
it. If you long for entertainment and for pageantry most glowing, plant a
garden and this summer spend your time with green things growing."
- Edward A. Guest,
- Edward A. Guest,
Kim Willis
All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be used without
permission.
And So On….
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I write this because I
love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my
research each week (or things I want to talk about). It keeps me engaged with
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