Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kim Hairston

Hurricane Nicole dumped plenty of rain on Maryland Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and the runoff blew out the safeguards on the construction site of a new school in Annapolis.

The result was a river of clay-colored water gushing over the neighborhood streets of Homewood and into the storm drains stenciled "Chesapeake Bay."

Officials from the city of Annapolis to the Board of Education, which is building the new Germantown Elementary School, said the contractor, Oak Construction of Baltimore County, was not in violation of any codes and the plans to handle storm runoff were adequate.

Apparently not.

I would argue that the rain from Hurricane Nicole was not a "10-year storm," and not a rare event.

Nearly every fall, Maryland catches either the tail end of a hurricane - or one full bore. Sometimes more than one.

As gardeners, we kind of count on such storms to make up for all the rain we didn't get during the summer and to give trees, shrubs and plants the water they will need going into winter.

How can you NOT plan for such rainfall when you are planning a major construction project? It is practically a guarantee that Maryland will get one or more such storms.

Alison Prost, attorney for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, agrees.

She said that more inspectors are needed to make sure construction plans are up to snuff. And the standards in building codes need to be higher so that no one can say, as they did about the Germantown site, that the contractor's preparations were adequate - when clearly they were not.

For more reporting on this environmental nightmare, read my colleague Tim Wheeler on The Sun's blog, Bmore Green.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Weather
        

I have enrolled in the University of Maryland's Master Gardener program (my version of closing the barn door after the horses are out), and I am finding it, um, challenging.

The class is three hours, twice a week for about six weeks. It comes with a 600-page book and, I am guessing, another 100 pages in notes and handouts.

In my column today in The Baltimore Sun, I write about how slow my brain seems to be working.

I mean, really slow.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: My Garden
        

And I was NOT comforted.

I was worried about my little rain garden, and whether it could handle the downpour.

I was out at first light to inspect the damage and found that the rain was rushing into the street and taking soil with it.

The "outspout," for want of a better word, had been blasted away and the water was trying to escape the garden any way it could. Much of the soil had been washed away from the roots of the plants in its path.

We certainly don't get rain like this very often -- and certainly not often enough this summer -- but this is the kind of thing the rain garden is supposed to prevent -- the washing of soil into the Chesapeake Bay.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: My Garden
        

A: Because many of them are using the same hole, they are probably yellow jackets, a wasp that forms colonies in voids, often in the ground. Yellow jackets are voracious predators of plant-feeding insects such as caterpillars and beetles which they feed their young, so they are a big help to homeowners.

On the other hand, they may sting if you disturb their nest. Adults feed primarily on sources rich in sugars and carbohydrates, such as fruits, flower nectar, and the occasional soda.  With heavy freezes, they all die except the queen, who leaves and overwinters elsewhere.

Yellow jackets are so beneficial that we recommend ignoring a nest when it’s located where it will not be disturbed, but your nest is too close. Go ahead and spray the hole at dusk with an aerosol hornet and wasp spray.

Q: I’d like to take advantage of fall plant sales. Do deer eat Japanese maples?

A: That depends on each individual deer’s taste, how hungry it is, and how young, tender and convenient the tree is. Japanese maple is not usually a favorite. Deer are browsers, however, and may nibble plants until they grow out of reach. If you have a lot of deer pressure, you may want to select a taller variety of Japanese maple.  Fence it when young.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Ms. Strahan, a retired attorney, learned what she knows about gardening in Master Gardener classes and classes at Longwood Gardens and by trial and error. But she also has the help of Michael Rosendale, who teaches horticulture at Community College of Baltimore County-Dundalk.

In Susan's post, there is a link to a much longer story about this garden, and the travels that have informed it.

And Susan also paid a photographic visit to Cylburn Arboretum, and shares some lovely September pictures.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden destinations
        

Can these pansies feel the cold?

Most gardeners say they garden for the contemplative nature of the activity - this despite its back-breaking chores.

In an attempt to satisfy the thoughtful side of gardening, let me refer you to a column in the New York Times by Jeff McMahon, a philosophy professor at Rutgers, who wrote earlier this month on the moral consequences of eating meat.

His post on a Times blog called Opinionator drew such a response that he felt compelled to write a reply and in that reply he addressed one of the objections made - that a completely herbivore human race would be too large to be fed by what we could possible grow and, beside, don't plants suffer, too?

It seems like a silly argument, but McMahan takes it up in his response and I will share it here.

Gardeners are often at the front of the vegan/vegetarian debate with those who like their steak and chicken, so it is worth reading both McMahan's original piece and the response.

But if you don't have time, here is the part about all those suffering plants.

What about the suffering of plants?  Again a brief response: plants don’t suffer, though they do respond to stimuli in ways that some have mistaken for a pain response.  What was rather shocking about the repeated invocation of suffering in plants is that it occasioned no reflections on what the moral implications would be if plants really did suffer.  The commentators’ gesture toward the alleged suffering of plants seemed no more than a rhetorical move in their attack on my argument.  But if one became convinced, as some of the commentators appear to be, that plants are conscious, feel pain, and experience suffering, that ought to prompt serious reconsideration of the permissibility of countless practices that we have always assumed to be benign.  If you really believed that plants suffer, would you continue to think that it’s perfectly acceptable to mow your grass?

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Garden inspirations
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Lloyd Fox

Fall.

Another season, another opportunity to plant containers - badly.

If you are like me, your containers are so poorly "composed" that you resort to one plant/one container and tell people that you like to emphasize "simplicity" in your designs. Mums and pansies. That's all there is, right?

To the rescue is my friend Kerry Michaels, who blogs on container gardening for About.com, but has also written a guest post for The Soil Sisters on fall container combinations. As always, her ideas are different and striking.

Take a read. The pictures are terrific!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Container gardening
        

I've wanted a water feature for my garden for ages. But I didn't want to pay $150 for one, and I didn't want to have to run a power cord across the lawn.

Fellow blogger Gayla Trail at You Grow Girl offered this elegantly modest water feature, designed by a friend using spare clay pot saucers.

The difficulty would be, of course, that it is standing water and it might invite mosquitoes of not changed regularly.

But it sure is cute!

Photo credit: Gayla Trail

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

Butternut squash Cucurbita moschata

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

Almost time to harvest this popular winter squash after the long summer's wait. 

Stored indoors at 50-55 degrees, butternut squash can be enjoyed for months. Its lovely orange flesh is creamy, not stringy, with a sweet nutty flavor. 

In spring, plant 3 to 4 seeds together at 3-foot intervals after danger of frost.  Select the strongest seedling in each group and clip off others.

Don’t be surprised when only male flowers are produced for the first 1 to 2 weeks before females appear.  This is normal. Encourage pollinators by avoiding pesticides.

Three weeks after flowering begins, feed this medium feeder a quarter-pound of 10-10-10 per 10 foot row.  In fairly rich soil, you can forgo fertilizing.

Harvest before heavy frost when the pale rind is very hard and the squash is heavy.

Leave 3 to 4 inches of stem attached.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Echeveria Secunda
 
Echeveria is a large group of succulents that belong to the Crassulaceae family and are native to Mexico and northern South America.

Named after the 18th century Spanish botanist Atansio Echeverria Codoy, they are commonly called “Hens and Chicks.” You can see them now at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park.

This specimen, an Echeveria Secunda, has beautiful rossettes of ice blue and produces bell-shaped flowers of pink and orange. They will multiply and form a dense carpet and are perfect for ground cover. They also suitable for containers.

Recommended for USDA zones 9-11.

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
        

The Garden Writers Association held its annual convention in Dallas this month and handed out a batch of awards.

For your reading pleasure, here is a list of books, blogs, trade press and photography that garnered honors.

Gold Medalists

Best Book Writing
Julie Moir Messervy for "Home Outside," published by Taunton Press.

Best Photography
Roger Foley for the book "A Clearing in the Woods: Creating Contemporary Gardens," published by Monacelli Press.

Best Illustration
Sharon Lovejoy for "Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars," published by Workman Publishing.

Best Graphic Design
Robin Horton for “Urban Gardens Blog” published on www.urbangardensweb.com.

Best Book
"The American Meadow Garden," published by Timber Press.

Best Technical Book
"Rain Gardening in the South," published by ENO Publishers.

Best Trade Publication
“David Austin Handbook of Roses 2010,” published by David Austin Roses.

Writing - Book
Judy White, "Bloom-Again Orchids," Timber Press
Julie Moir Messervy, "Home Outside," The Taunton Press

Writing – Technical Book
David Deardorff & Kathryn Wadsworth, "What’s Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?)," Timber Press

Writing - Electronic Media
Rhonda Fleming Hayes, “The Garden Buzz”, www.thegardenbuzz.com
Irvin Etienne, “Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog”, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Linda Lehmusvirta, “Central Texas Gardener”, KLRU-TV

Photography – Electronic Media
Rob Cardillo, www.RobCardillo.com

Graphic Design - Book
Dan Williams, "The Dirt Cheap Green Thumb," Storey Publishing

Overall Product - Book
Timber Press, "The American Meadow Garden"
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, "Power of Gardens"

Overall Product – Technical Book
ENO Publishers, "Rain Gardening in the South"

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden books
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Kenneth K. Lam

Homestead Gardens, Davidsonville, Fall Festival, weekends through Oct. 24. This weekends events include:

Saturday, 1-3pm: Bridgette Michaels children’s musician; 2pm: “Build Your Own Scarecrow” Homestead Gardens provide faces and straw, you bring old clothes to dress him. Fee $10 Garden Club $9. Pre-registration is required at customer service 410.798.5000, no walk-ups permitted. Space is limited.

Sunday, 1-3pm: Bridgette Michaels children’s musician; 2pm: “Build Your Own Scarecrow” Homestead Gardens provide faces and straw, you will bring old clothes to dress him. Fee $10 Garden Club $9. Pre-registration is required at customer service 410.798.5000, no walk-ups permitted. Space is limited.

Valley View Farms, Cockeysville, Saturday, 9 a.m. Fall Garden and Containers Designs. Also, a look at shrubs and trees to add to the landscape now. PLUS Fall Craft Fair, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Cylburn Arboretum, Baltimore, Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon. Maryland Horticultural Society, hands-on tree care seminar. Pruning, pests, diseases and when to call an arborist and what questions to ask. Reservations required. Fee $20 non-members/$10 members.

Maryland Native Plant Society will hold is annual fall conference this weekend at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills on the Eastern Shore. "Biodiversity of Maryland's Eastern Shore." Fee is $65 for non-members/$55 for members. Register by calling 410-286-2929 or on line at www.mdflora.org

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

Q: My son saw a snake in our basement, but when I went down, it was gone.  Now I am completely creeped out not knowing where it is!  What do we do?

A: Put a wet towel on the basement floor.  Overnight, it should crawl underneath seeking a moist environment. Then place a tall flat-sided trash can on its side and quickly, using a rake or broom, shove the towel with the snake into the trash can.  Take the snake to a natural area and release.  Snakes are beneficial. They do not want to be in your house, because they cannot survive when confined there for any length of time.  They accidentally find their way inside. Check your home’s foundation for cracks, including around windows and utilities, and fill cracks with caulk or weatherstripping. Keep the foundation clear of leaves, firewood, or other objects that might provide cover for critters.

Q: What cover crop should I put on my vegetable garden this fall? Where can I get the seed?

A: Our Grow It Eat It website has a fact sheet on cover crops with planting steps and a chart at http://www.growit.umd.edu/Improve%20Garden/GE006_CoverCrops.pdf .  What cover crop you choose will be determined by the results you want.  Some cover crops are not winter hardy and die by spring, creating a mat of debris. You can use this mat as a natural mulch through which you plant, or you can till it under to enrich the soil.  Other cover crops will still be green in the spring.  Look for seed at farm stores, garden centers or on-line seed companies such as http://www.johnnyseeds.com/,and  http://www.meyerseedco.com/.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Q_and_A, University of Maryland Extension
        

Debra Lee Baldwin is a garden writer and author and she writes on the blog Gardening Gone Wild that she has stumbled on some of the loveliest garden "sheds," for want of a better word, during her travels.

She shares pictures of some of the most charming ones.

Thanks, Debra. Now we can all be daydream believers.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden photography
        

Fall arrives at 11:09 tonight, ushered in by its own personal spotlight - the Harvest Moon.

The first full day of the Autumnal Equinox coincides with the full moon and, in September, that moon is called the Harvest Moon.

Photo credit: Associated Press

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Weather
        

It is fall and, if you are like me, you are unhappy with your garden.

You have been working at it all summer and if you are not simply bored by it, you are frustrated that it didn't turn out as you has hoped.

And you forgot to plan for fall color. Again.

I am in the midst of a garden makeover - not the whole garden, just a corner - and my mind is a jumble of ideas and plants.

To the rescue? The Garden Designers Roundtable.

Each month, these generous folks take an aspect of garden design - one usually suggested by their readers - and they share their knowledge and their creativity with the rest of us. (Last month's topic was about inviting wildlife into your garden.)

This month's topic was about garden renovation and restoration. What gardeners call "editing" the garden.  You will be able to read all their comments at The Garden Designers Roundtable.  Just click on the links to the blogs of the contributors.

Check out their advice. It may help you focus on what you can reasonably accomplish in your garden this fall.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

Eupatorium perfoliatum

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

Used as medicine by Native Americans, boneset is a plant that, once recognized, you see everywhere. Happiest in damp environments, it flourishes by roadsides with bone-white blooms from July until October.

Its fondness for moisture makes it a good candidate for rain gardens or any damp spot, but it is flexible and grows in full sun to some shade and any soil except very dry. 

Its curious leaves clasp completely around the 1- to 5-foot stems, so the stem appears to “perforate” the leaves, hence its botanical name.

Its flowers attract many pollinators and dry up to fuzzy seed heads enjoyed by birds or blown away on a parachute of fine hairs. Boneset also spreads by perennial rhizomes. Not favored by deer. 

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Elizabeth Malby

Echinaceas, otherwise known as coneflowers, are far and away my favorites in the garden.

They are tough, even in drought. Their stems are sturdy. They are rarely vulnerable to disease or insects and the birds love their seed heads.

They used to come in just one color - purple, which would fade to a pale lavender as the flower aged.

Now they come in everything from red ("Tomato Soup") to white ("Fragrant Angel) with stops at yellow ("Mac n Cheese") and green ("Coconut Lime") in between.

And I bought them all.

Sadly, I didn't get the colors I paid for -- and I paid as much as $22 for some of the newer varieties

Donna Williams, who writes for the blog Diggin' It for the Christian Science Monitor, might have the answers for me.

She writes that echinaceas need to be planted early in the season - not in the fall -- so they can become established well ahead of winter.

She also provides lists of the best varieties, ones not to bother with because they don't hold their color or they invite pests, and a list of varieties (ie colors) for which is it too early to tell how they will perform.

If you like this plant as much as I do, print out Donna's lists so you can be a smart shopper.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

My friend Kerry Michaels, who blogs about container gardening at About.com and who even plants her reuseable grocery bags, has a terrific recipe for fried green tomatoes.

Kerry lost most of last year's tomato crop to Late Blight (which arrived early), so she picked her tomatoes before the plants succombed and most were still green. Hense, the recipe.

This year, without the same excuse, she's picking some of her tomatoes before they ripen so she can revisit her recipe.

(Keep reading for other fried green tomato ideas.)

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Karl Merton Ferron

Fried green tomato BLT, anyone? Fried green tomato parmasean? Kerry suggests those recipes, too.

I saw some green tomatoes at the farmers' market last weekend and I walked right by them.

This weekend, I am buying.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Punica granatum

Punica granatum, commonly called the pomegranate, is a fruit-bearing round shrub or tree that can grow up to 15 feet tall and it is currently on display at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park.

It is native to Iran and the northern part of India. It prefers a semi-dry to tropical climate and is now widely cultivated through much of the Mediterranean region.

Pomegranate trees like lots of sun and a well-drained soil. They do best in USDA zones 7-10 but can be adapted to containers or heavily mulched for the winter.
 
The pomegranate represents marriage and fertility and is full of religious symbolism. The Greeks thought of it as the fruit of the Underworld. In Judaism it is believed to have 613 seeds representing the 613 commandments of the Torah. In Buddhism it is considered one of the most blessed fruits. Some biblical versions of the Garden of Eden portray Eve eating a pomegranate instead of an apple.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
        

This week's addition to the gardening library is "Talking Dirt," by Annie Spiegelman, a California Master Gardener and garden columnist for the Bay Area's Pacific Sun newspaper, where she writes the Dirt Diva organic gardening column.

Here is a review this organic gardening primer from Booklist

"The problem with most gardening books is that they’re sooooo serious, with all the “do this” and “for heaven’s sake, don’t do that” rules. Who said they can’t be funny, too? Not Spiegelman, that’s for sure. While offering plenty of sound and sensible organic gardening advice, Spiegelman lightens the load (much the way prescribed soil amendments do) with quippy asides and pithy observations that make the experience feel more like a casual conversation with a good, green-thumbed friend than a lecture from a stuffy horticulturist....

"She shares her hard-won knowledge glibly but with a great deal of gravity, too. Gardens are fun, yes, but the benefits they provide, from the aesthetic to the ecological, should be taken seriously." --Carol Haggas

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden books
        

You can't dig with it. And you can't use it to water your plants. But there may be no more functional "tool" for a gardener than a gardening calendar, complete with beautiful garden photos and monthly garden tips.

No less an authority than Horticulture magazine is ready with its 2011 calendar and you can purchase it now for $13.99.

The artwork was provided by the winners of this year's Horticulture Garden Art competition, and represent various mediums, featuring images of plants, flowers, landscapes and gardens.

Best of all? The calendar comes with an extra month!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden tools
        

Photo courtesy of Dumbarton Oaks

Britt Conley writes one of my favorite garden photography blogs, The Photo Garden Bee, and she regularly features what passes for her backyard - Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.

She visits the garden regularly for the peace it gives her, and she says she's featured it at least 16 times on her blog.

But I also love Britt's blog for her black and white photos of flowers that she posts daily. We are all into flowers for their color, but Britt's photos allow us to see them in a different way - as shape and structure.

Visit Britt's blog. And then take a cue from her and visit Dumbarton Oaks.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden destinations
        

Annual Maryland Honey Harvest Festival, Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel. Learn about bees and other pollinators and enjoy arts, crafts, honey tastings, candle making and refuge tours. Free.

Fall Lawn Clinic, Valley View Farms, Cockeysville, Saturday 9 a.m. Fallis the best time to seed a new lawn or repair an existing one. Scott Anderson will discuss which feterlizers, seed and weed control to use for results now and next spring.

Baltimore Conservatory, Druid Hill Park, Sunday, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Plants and People: Story Hour for children 6 and under: songs, a craft and stories.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden events
        

Q: Can you identify this magnificent caterpillar? It resembles a dragon in a Chinese New Year's parade!  Friend or foe? It's nothing I'd want to wake up in the middle of the night and find sitting on my chest, though I suspect it's harmless.

A: The scary appearance is strictly to warn away predators.  It is a treat, though a bit shocking, to see a Hickory Horn Devil, the humongous larval stage (caterpillar) of the also huge Royal Walnut Moth.  You should return it to the area where you found it. It feeds on hickory, walnut, pecan, sweet gum, and sumac leaves.

Q: All of a sudden, I can’t find lawn fertilizer with phosphorus.  Why is that?  I need to do my fall fertilization.

A: Phosphorus fertilizer is unnecessary for yearly lawn maintenance and a main culprit polluting the Chesapeake Bay.  New grass seedlings do need phosphorus to get their roots established, so phosphorus can be found in starter fertilizer.  But the phosphorus needs of established lawns are minor, and phosphorus is very stable in the soil. Adding phosphorus each year that the grass cannot utilize results in excessive build up in the soil. Many soils have enough phosphorus to last them for decades. Then soil runoff carries the phosphorus into the Bay. Remember to do a soil test every few years to check for deficiencies but, for most lawns, a totally nitrogen fertilizer such as urea would be perfectly adequate.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Photo credit: Associated Press

This time of year always presents the same problem for me in the garden.

Where, exactly, are the spring bulbs planted?

I need to know, or remember, if I am going to add to the mix in a visually pleasing way - and not dig right into a patch of sleeping bulbs.

But that never stops me from buying bulbs and tip-toeing around the garden, trying to find a spot for them.

Here is some bulb advice I have collected. But the most important is: Get busy. It is time to plant.

Here in the mid-Atlantic, we have plenty of time to get bulbs in the ground. The rule of thumb is get it done before Thanksgiving.

Don't start too early or the bulbs will sprout in the warm ground and, although they won't bloom, they will dissipate their stored energy.

I don't plant until late October and I keep my bulbs in a fridge in the garage until then so they stay cool.

If you live north of here, the ground might be cool enough by the end of September.

Remember to throw in a handful of bulb food when you plant. You will feed them again when they emerge in the spring, but now is the time to give them something, too.

If you have trouble with squirrels or voles eating your bulbs, you can plant them surrounded by chicken wire or a box or bulb cages or stones or any of the off-putting chemical smells sold at your garden center.

Or you can do what I do. Go with daffodils and narcissus. There is so much variety in these two species that you will never be disappointed. And their bulbs are toxic to critters.

Remember, squirrels are smart enough to notice where the ground has been disturbed and might figure out where to dig. And using bone meal, instead of a synthetic fertilizer, is a dead giveaway.

Plant bulbs with the tips pointed skyward and the feathery roots pointing down. The flower will always find its way to the sun, but it takes time and energy. Why not make it easier?

Mulch after planting and watering. Mulch will help stabilize the ground temperature, prevent freezing and thawing and keep the ground from heaving and dislocating your bulbs.

And remember, you can always pot bulbs. I did it last fall with great success. I covered the pots with pebbles to discourage creatures and I huddled them close together on the deck under a little protection. Despite two enormous snowstorms, my tulips bloomed! and I simply moved the pots to bare spots in the garden!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden tips
        

The catalogs in your mailbox are your first clue - it is time to purchase spring bulbs.

Garden catalog people know that few of us actually tear out the order forms, fill them out and mail them in. The catalog is simply a reminder to go on line and place your order.

Garden centers have not traditionally been a good place to find a healthy selection of spring bulbs, although they are improving, their prices can be good and there is no shipping fee. But the catalogs have it all over them in terms of exotics and new varieties. But if you just want a few red and yellow tulips and some regulation daffodils, you can find them there.

What bulbs are tempting you this year? And where will you order them from?

Later today, I will share some tips on buying and planting bulbs. Stay tuned....

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden tips
        

Switchgrass

Panicum virgatum

This native grass is found in fresh or brackish marshes, wet meadows, prairies, dunes, even open wooded areas—in short, almost anywhere. 

The handsome green blades reach 3 to 6 feet.  In late summer, they are topped by wispy clouds of seedheads, changing appearance with each angle of the sun.

Give them full sun or a little shade, at most.  Non-demanding about soil or water, the clumps slowly enlarge and are good for erosion control.

Some self seedling may occur. Foliage turns tawny brown in fall and can be cut back in spring or not. New blades will grow through it.

The variety ‘Shenandoah’ has red foliage.

Photo and text by Ellen Nibali

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The group will examine a new nature theme each week, such as "Amazing Trees" or "Feathered Friends."

 Puppet shows, live animal encounters, nature walks, songs, and art projects are all part of the fun.

 Sign up to discover the wonders of wildlife this fall. Also look for a second session of Tag Along Time later in October.

 Time: 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. Fee: $45 members, $60 non-members

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Cattleya

Cattleyas are one of the true gems of the orchid family.

With their large, colorful blooms, they have been called the “Queen of the Orchids” and are one of the most popular.

Mostly used in corsages, they have earned the reputation of being the flower of love.

According to legend if you place a bloom under your pillow before you sleep, you will dream of your future love.

Cattleyas are epiphytes or “air plants”  and store water through organs known as pseudobulbs.

They require bright light, humidity, and prefer a well draining medium, such as bark. 

Photo credit: Michael Lemmon

Cattelyas have developed a reputation for being difficult to grow, but if you find their specific needs and can provide them, you’ll have a beautiful plant that will bloom again and again.

And you can find them in bloom now, at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory
        

There is another reason why stink bugs are such a nuisance - they have no natural predators.

Jon Traunfeld of the University of Maryland Extension adds these insights about the damage stink bugs can do.

Stink bugs insert their slender mouthparts and suck plant sap, mostly from fruit and seedpods, although [they] also apparently feeds on leaves. They leave behind toxins that cause “catfacing” of fruits and the “cloudy spot” symptom in tomato and pepper. While one or two stinkbugs on a tomato or pepper will cause only superficial damage, 25 or 30 stinkbugs on a tomato, pepper, or bean will ruin the fruit. Unfortunately, heavy stinkbug activity can allow fungi and bacteria to enter and ruin the fruit."

And Traunfeld offers this advice for getting rid of them:

"Some organic solutions include spraying pyrethrins (effective against the nymphs, but only marginally effective against the adults), hand-picking adults and nymphs, and tapping plants or individual leaves to dislodge them over a waiting bucket of soapy water. You can exclude this pest with a floating row cover if it’s left on all season. Removing all plant debris from the garden during and after the growing season can also help by eliminating overwintering habitat. Unfortunately, stinkbugs love the shade, moisture, and protection afforded by organic mulches, so spreading newspaper, straw, and leaves thickly in the garden can exacerbate the problem."

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Insects
        

"I don't want to be an alarmist," says Michael Raupp, professor of entomology at the University of Maryland and the scientist behind the blog, "Bug of the Week."

"But the numbers are going to be through the roof. And a lot of homeowners are going to be screaming."

The brown marmorated stink bug looks like a small brown shield with legs and antennae. Raupp thinks the term "marmorated" comes from a Latin word meaning "marbled," a reference to the coloring on their abdomens. Each female can lay 400 eggs.

The Piedmont area of Maryland, which generally includes Carroll, Howard, Harford, Montgomery, Frederick, Allegany and Washington counties, is annually infected with the stink bug, which gets its name from the smell it emits when crushed.

"But they are everywhere this year," said Raupp, from the fruit orchards of Maryland, where they are destroying crops, to the vegetable gardens of homeowners, where they are rarely seen.

"Corn, soybeans, tomatoes, peppers, ornamentals," said Raupp. "They are the perfect pest. They will eat anything.

"If they sucked human blood, there would be a national outcry."

And, pretty soon, they'll be trying to get out of the cold and into your house.

Raupp predicted that when evening temperatures drop in two to three weeks, the stink bug will be seeking warmth through every crack and crevice around windows and doors.

"There is going to be a collective howl like we haven't heard since the cicadas invaded," said Raupp

Why are there so many stink bugs this year?

It isn't clear, said Raupp. It may have been the protective covering of last winter's heavy snow. It has been an amazing year for all kinds of insects, Raupp said. Some have even managed to produce an extra generation this summer.

How do you keep stink bugs out of the house and, perhaps more important, how do you get rid of them if they get in, without causing them to release their foul odor?

The National Pest Management Association suggests sealing cracks around windows, doors, siding, utility pipes, behind chimneys and underneath  wood fascia with a good quality silicone or silicone-latex caulk.

If they are already in the home, use a vaccum cleaner to remove live or dead stink bugs, but dispose of the bag quickly.

And a licensed pest professional can provide other treatment options.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Insects
        

2004 file photo by Maja Britton, NHBG

Plant sales are the order of the day this weekend.

Historic London Town and Gardens in Edgewater on the South River holds is fall plant sale Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Offerings include camellias, magnolias, a London Town grown perennial as well as seasonal plants. Master Gardeners will be on hand to assist with plant selection.

Environmental Concern's Fall Native Plant Sale begins Friday in St. Michaels, on the Eastern Shore, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and continues Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. At Environmental Concern, 201 Boundary Lane.

Carrie Engel of Valley View Farms in Cockeysville will present her "Autumn Gardening Tips," Saturday, 10 a.m.

There will be a Fall Open House and Native Plant Sale Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the York County Annex, 112 Pleasant Acres Road, York, Pa. There will be native trees, shrubs, grasses, ferns and perennials as well as tools and books for sale. Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions. In addition, there will be a free lecture on "Native Grasses in the Landscape" at 9:45 and "Fall Plant Combinations for Fall Color" at 10:45.  Diplay gardens will be dressed for autumn. Presented in cooperation between Penn State Cooperative Extension and York Conservation District.

Erica Glasener, host of HGTV's "A Gardener's Diary," will present "Favorite Gardens from the Series," Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Vollmer Center at Cyulburn Arboretum in Baltimore. Before the lecture begins, there will be a plant swap outside the center, courtesy of The Horticultural Society of Maryland.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

Photo credit: Chicago Tribune

Anne Raver, Maryland resident and garden writer for the New York Times, writes this week about using newspapers to hold down weeds in the garden -- an old idea to which she gives some new twists.

Yet another good reason to subscribe to newspapers!

Try doing this with your Blackberry...

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden tips
        

Photo courtesy of Historic London Town

In the LIVE section of The Baltimore Sun today, I write about a pair of new tours at Anne Arundel County's Historic London Town, but visitors should also take time to see the gardens.

The Woodland Garden was created in the late 1960s and it has towering natives trees, a collection of magnolias, camellias, dogwoods, rhododendrons and viburnums, and hundreds of spring bulbs. There are paths that offer glimpses of the South River, and several gardens within the garden, which feature azaleas, hosta and winter interest plants - something for every season.

The Ornamental Gardens frame the River Deck and are often the setting for weddings  and other large gatherings. Plants are in bloom from March to October and there is a wide view of the South River.

The Environmental Gardens surround the Visitors Center and include native plants, bio-retention gardens and a green roof, plus a stormwater management system of rain gardens, step pools and water courses that direct water to a pond, preventing polluted waters from entering the Chespeake Bay.

And finally there are the Historical Gardens, including a kitchen garden, a medicinal garden and vegetable garden planted with foods and herbs the slaves would have cultivated.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden destinations
        

Photo courtesy of Purdue University

Again today, the University of Maryland Extension experts answer your garden questions.

Do you have garden questions? Send them to the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center. Click on the tab "Send a question" on the left.

Q: My Black-eyed Susans’ leaves got blotches and turned brown. What can I do to save them?

A: Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) get a leaf spot disease caused by the fungus Septoria. It starts as angular leaf spots which grow into blotches and can brown the entire leaf. Control requires good sanitation.

In fall, after frost kills foliage, cut off and dispose of all above-ground portions of the plants. This removes contaminated debris which would infect next year. Avoid overhead watering which splashes infection onto lower foliage where it then moves upward.

Thin plants and keep them weeded to encourage good air circulation which promotes quicker drying of foliage. This disease doesn’t usually kills the plant. You can apply a preventive copper fungicide or chlorothalonil spray.

Q: Many mushrooms are popping up in my lawn. I just had soil testing done for my lawn and it has pH 6.6. Is that a problem? How do I prevent mushrooms?

A: Mushrooms are an indication of healthy soil. They are not harmful to your landscape, and there is no herbicide labeled to prevent or remove them.

They grow on dead organic matter. They may be growing on rotting wood such as old tree roots under your lawn. However, spores of mushrooms float in all the time. When the conditions are right (cool wet weather ) mushrooms pop up.

 We recommend that all mushrooms merely be enjoyed for their fleeting shapes and colors. You can knock them over and they'll shrivel up sooner, but they only last a few days at most.

You could also remove them so fewer spores will be produced. And the pH of your lawn is good.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Garden Variety has reported her unscientific observation that there are a heck of a lot more butterflies this year.

And, apparently, it isn't because she planted more butterfly-friendly perennials. Or because she made a newspaper tent over the parsley to protect the caterpillars from the birds.

University of Maryland entomologist Michael Raupp, the scientist behind the blog, Bug of the Week, has his own (much intelligent) theory. He called it a variation on the "slow growth, high mortality hypothesis."

Butterflies are cold-blooded creatures, after all, and the warm summer jacked up their metabolism and rushed them through their most vulnerable stages. "When caterpillars are small, they can't escape their predators," he explained.

So, yes the cold winter probably kept parasites and diseases down.

And, yes, we are all more aware of the damage that pesticides can do to these beautiful creatures.

And, yes, some of us are providing more habitat for them.

But growing up fast helps more.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Insects
        

Photo credit: Michael Raupp, University of Maryland

There are no bad bugs. There are just bugs.

That's the kind of answer you get from University of Maryland entomologist Dr. Michael Raupp, the scientist behind the blog "Bug of the Week."

So when I asked him if the ladybug lookalikes crawling all over my butterfly weed were "bad bugs," he said with a shrug, "Bad for the milkweed seeds."

My butterfly weed has formed its pods and they are opening and sending out the same kind of fluffy seed carriers that milkweed produces.

Working in the garden this weekend, I found the pods literally crawling with these little black and orange creatures.

Dr. Raupp explained that they are milkweed bugs and the adults insert stout beaks through the leathery cover the seed pod and secrete digestive enzymes into the enclosed seeds. The liquified meal is then sucked up into the beak and into the gullet where it is digested and used for growth, develoment and the production of eggs.

The eggs are laid on the surface of the plant and hatch into small orange and black milkweed bug nymphs. They nymphs, too, eat the milkweed seeds.

The good news is, my butterfly weed is a perennial and I don't need the seeds for it to return next year.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Insects
        

Photo credit: Sarah Kickler Kelber

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

You never know where you will stumble on a vegetable garden.

I was in downtown Annapolis Friday, reporting on the non-event that Hurricane Earl became, when I saw what I was sure was a vegetable garden on the grounds of the old Annapolis Rec Center.

Sure enough. Behind a sign that read "Annapolis Grows," were rows of tomatoes, herbs, melons, peppers and more.

The gardens resulted from negotiations with Annapolis City officials, who agreed to allow the building grounds to be planted.

Located at City Dock, across the street from the playground, the soil around the old, and currently empty, building turned out to be quite fertile, said Joel Bunker, who was watering his plot and others.

About 20 yards of Leafgro was donated and added, a fence was donated as well, and 20 gardeners began planting this summer.

For some, the garden represents needed access to healthy food. For others, condo or apartment dwellers, the garden is a chance to, well, garden.

A waiting list for a plot to cultivate quickly grew, and so another garden was opened behind the Rec Building and plots were assigned.

Bunker said the faculty at nearby Greene Street Elementary School is talking to Annapolis Grows about starting a vegetable garden with, and for, their students.

And the group is looking at other sites around the city for community gardens, including near some of Annapolis' poorest communities. The City Dock garden, he hopes, is just the beginning.

The plots "rent" for $35, but there is money for those who need it.

Just outside the fence, another garden was planted for "gleaning." Passersby are welcome to help themselves to the produce from this garden, Bunker said.

 "We hope that means the plots inside the fence will be respected."

There was a happy serendipity to my discovery of this garden.

Years ago, I took my toddler daughter to the Rec Building while I did aerobics. Later, she learned to play basketball there.

Now, I am a garden writer and the Rec Center is a garden.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

More than 300 acres have been planted with the happy blooms in Jarrettsville, Norrisville, White Hall and Madonna. 

Harford's fields are strikingly visible on well-traveled roads and seem to go on for miles.

Mary Gail advises that the most florid fields are at Jarrettsville Pike and Hess Road, Baldwin Mill Road at Route 23 and Route 439 about three miles east of Interstate 83.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden destinations
        

‘White Nancy’ sparkles in all-green gardens or shady corners.  Ground cover lamiums grow 6 to 8 inches tall and evergreen. The ‘White Nancy’ variety has frosty white leaves. Ordinary lamium has only a white or yellow midvein stripe.

In spring or early summer, ‘White Nancy’ sports white flower clusters, while other lamiums are purple-pink.

 Lamium spreads slowly into a 1-2 foot mat. Average garden soil suits it fine. Generally, lamiums tolerate sun to shade, but ‘White Nancy’ does best is partial shade.

An even soil moisture is crucial, as it does not tolerate drought or wet feet, especially in winter. 

Avoid confusing lamium with Yellow Archangel, Lamiastrum galeobdolon, also a member of the mint family, which is notorious for becoming invasive.

Text and photo by Ellen Nibali

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

The birds are the hardest workers in my garden, eating all the bugs I don't want - and some that I do. They made short work of the swallowtail butterfly caterpillars on my parsley.

I feed the birds until late in the spring, so they associate my garden with food and hang around for the summer. Besides, the insect population needs time to generate in the spring.

And I don't feed them too early in the fall so they will finish the job. Besides, I have planted coneflowers and Joe Pye weed and other perennials with birds in mind.

But now is as good a time as any to clean the birdfeeders.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Weekend Chores
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jerry Jackson

The count birds, don't they?

I think they should start counting butterflies, too.

My unscientific observation is that there are many more this year than ever before, and other gardeners seem to agree.

That's particularly true of Tiger Swallowtails, which are also making a comeback in England where they have been rare for decades.

The experts say that fluctuations in populations like this are normal.

But it is also possible that this has been a bad year for the parasites and viruses that kill Swallowtails because of the cold and snow of last winter.

And it is also possible that the large numbers we are seeing are the normal August peak in the butterfly population and its activity.

I can testify to that. I have more than a dozen Swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley plants on my deck.

This is the second round of baby butterflies on my parsley. I am pretty sure the others disappeared because they were dinner for the birds.

So this time, I have hidden the parsley and the caterpillars from the sharp eyes of the birds with a gentle layer of newspaper. We will see how it goes.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Insects
        

A rainless hurricane?

That seems to be our fate in bone-dry Maryland where Hurricane Earl may pass without delivering so much as a bucket of spit.

Gardeners have a dark secret. We don't really mind hurricane season as long as nobody dies and not much gets damaged - because the garden gets plenty of water before settling down for the winter.

As a matter of fact, we kind of count on a a busy storm season to do the kind of deep watering the earth needs. Believe me, a hose doesn't get it done.

We got that kind of moisture in the form of snow last winter. And it really showed in the gardens this spring.

This from my fellow blogger Frank Roylance over at Maryland Weather:

The problem is there has been little rain since the big rainfall  in the second week in August. Worse, the western part of the state, Southern Maryland and the (until today) the Lower Shore have been extremely dry.  Washington County has had almost no rain since early August.

We all could have used some rain from Earl.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Weather
        

Baltimore Sun/File photo

Reenforcing the notion that September is as important as May in the garden, New York Times rookie gardener Sara Barrett concludes her first season with some fall gardening advice.

She gets her advice from Barbara Pierson, from White Flower Farms, and now you can, too.

Barbara tells Sara, among other things, to keep watering, divide her irises, don't hard prune hydrangeas and, most important of all, make notes about what worked this year, what didn't work, and what you would like to try next year, because you will forget by the time spring comes around again!

There is also a lovely little slide show accompanying the article.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Weekend Chores
        

Again today, the University of Maryland Extension experts answer your garden questions.

Do you have garden questions? Send them to the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center. Click on the tab "Send a question" on the left.

Q: My tomatoes have big cracks on top. I have been growing the same variety of plants for many years, and the ones in the ground are still okay.  Only the ones growing in pots are cracking.

A: One cause of cracking is excessive or uneven moisture. Cracking tends to happen when we have a lot of rain following a dry period, causing fruits to swell quickly. We did have droughts this summer, but since you have not had this problem in the past, we bet that you water your plants consistently.  Cracking can also be exacerbated by very high temperatures, which we also suffered, and this is probably the culprit in your case. Plants in a pot get even hotter than those with roots in the cooler ground. Try to cool off potted plants by mulching or moving the pots to a cooler location (such as off the deck onto the lawn.) Cracking can also be caused by excessive nitrogen, and some tomato varieties are more prone to it than others. 

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)