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She also believes in the "language of flowers" and those ideas were brought to bear on her wedding cake, as well. It has 900 sugar paste flowers, and each tells a story. The cake was designed for the couple by Fiona Cairns -- and it was a fruit cake!
Catherine Middleton's wedding bouquet was a shield-shaped wired bouquet of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth. The bouquet was designed by Shane Connolly and draws on the traditions of flowers of significance for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and on the Language of Flowers.
The bouquet was extremely small in comparison to the beautiful, sweeping gown she wore, but the tiny blooms echo the delicate lace on the bodice of the dress.
And ther bouquet contained a charming tribute to her husband -- sweet William.
The bouquets carried by the little bridesmaids used the same flowers, but the wreaths worn by the little girls echoed Catherine's mother's wedding flowers: ivy and lily-of-the-valley.
The new princess will not toss her simple little bundle of flowers to the single girls during the reception. Instead, it will be returned to Westminster Abbey to be placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The memorial on the floor around which the red carpet was laid marks the tomb.
In addition, Kate and Wills have asked that all the trees that lined the Abbey be replanted, along with any of the flowers that can be replanted. The rest, the newlyweds asked, should be given to charity.
Almost 30-thousand flowers were used for the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday, and most of them were taken from Windsor Great Park's Valley Gardens in Surrey.
After the wedding, the flowers and plants will be left in Westminster Abbey for the public to view until May 6. After that, the couple has asked that the plants and flowers be donated to charities or re-planted.
Behnke's Nursery
Beltsville, MD
Scales and Tales, Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will be on hand with birds and reptiles exhibited in an informative and interactive manner. Naturalists will be on hand to answer questions, and there will be children’s activities. Find out how you can support the department through its Animal Adoption Program. Free
Mt. Cuba Center
Hockessin, Del.
7th Annual Wildflower Celebration: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Free parking, free admission and free wildflower to the first 500 families
This year's learning stations include: native azaleas; meadow plants & birds; plants that attract butterflies; moss garden companion plants, and rock garden plants
Also, follow "The Journey from Caterpillar to Butterfly" for family fun, then take the Wildflower Challenge and win a 2-for-1 tour coupon.
To learn more, visit our website, www.mtcubacenter.org or call 302-239-4244
Please note that all parking for this event will be at Red Clay Reservation, 1003 Old Wilmington Road, just east of Brackenville Road. Parking closes at 3:30 pm.
Historic London Town Public House and Gardens
839 Londontown Road
Edgewater, MD 21037
Annual plant sale: Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs and kitchen garden specialties will be for sale. Anne Arundel County Master Gardeners and London Town's new Director of Horticulture, Nathan Powers, will offer advice on plant selection and culture.
Sale features plants that are found in London Town's eight-acre Woodland Garden, including native and exotic plant species, cold-hardy camellias, and new and unusual varieties. Over 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes will be available, too.
A special Member Preview Sale will be held on Friday, April 29 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Become a member, purchase plants in advance of the Saturday sale, and receive a 10 percent discount.
May Day children's celebrations: Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Children of all ages will be engaged in the enchanting story of spring with music and songs led by Fairy Princess Ruthanne Emilene Ankney, and her festive troupe of musicians playing hammered dulcimer, mandolin, concertina and fiddle. Maypole ribbon weaving. Spring English Morris garland dances taught on the spot.
Children encouraged to dress up in their fairy garden finest and will be given pixie crowns (boys) and fairly wands (girls) to welcome in the spring in song and verse.
$5 for children under 17, $10 for adults. Free with year-long family membership to Historic London Town and Gardens ($75)
Greenstreet Gardens
Lothian, MD.
Tomatomania! -- Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tomato lovers unite! Tomatomania! is back for the 3rd year in a row at Greenstreet Gardens. 175 varieties of rare, classic and brand new tomato plants available, all grown right here in South County.
The aisles are crammed with every size, shape, color and taste you can imagine. The “tomatomaniacs” and Greenstreet’s knowledgeable staff are here to help you with everything you’ll need to make your tomato season a huge success, including pots, organic lobster compost fertilizer, stakes.
Expert advice includes Mike McGrath, Your Garden Guru, from WTOP Radio. Mike will be giving a seminar at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
May Day basket on the gates of the U.S. Naval Academy
Photo credit: Susan Reimer/Baltimore Sun
Sunday is May Day and in Annapolis that means doors, fences and gates on businesses and homes will be adorned by beautiful and creative May baskets.
The floral arrangements will be judged -- for the 55th year -- by volunteers from the Garden Club of Old Annapolis Towne.
You can find the May baskets in the Annapolis Historic District as well as parts of the city's Murray Hill community. Judging begins at 10 a.m. and all baskets must be visible from the street.
This year, the Annapolis Business Association has partnered with the Garden Club of Old Annapolis Towne and will host the first People's Choice Award for downtown businesses that participate.
The public is encouraged to text their vote for the best business display on May 1. They should submit 44087 and the name of the business they are voting for and the code to 22333.
Only one vote per cell phone is permitted. The winner of the People's Choice Award will be announced May 2 on the ABA's Facebook page.
For more information on categories and contest rules, contact Beth Dolezal at 410-263-9443.
Photo courtesy of Bartram's Gardens
This weekend in The Baltimore Sun's Travel section, I am writing about 10 public gardens in the Mid-Atlantic that are worth a day trip. And there is a terrific gallery of photos of them.
Five of them are from among the big-name public gardens -- Longwood, Winterthur and Nemours, for example.
And the others are little gems that don't get as much attention: Bartram's Gardens and River Farm, among them.
Choosing just 10 from among all the public gardens in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia is much like choosing your 10 favorite flowers. You are going to leave some real beauties off the list.
So, I invite readers to let me know what your favorite public garden is and a few lines describing what you like about it. I will post about them all here on Garden Variety. With pictures!
Winterthur: photographed by Jed Kirschbaum/Baltimore Sun
Garden Variety readers!
Here's a sneak preview of my Sunday story in the Travel section of The Baltimore Sun. We chose 10 public gardens -- show-stoppers and little gems -- to visit in the region: From Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania to George Washington's River Farm in Virginia.
We give you tips on how to get there and what you'll see, as well as a brief introduction to each garden and its history.
And, we've put together a spectacular slide show of photographs from these gardens, as well as a link to Cheval Opps, a retired IBM executive who now has her dream job -- arranging garden tours for groups.
The memorial garden to the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is the first of its kind in the nation, according to organizers. And the youngest daughter of the couple, Dr. Bernice A. King, will deliver the keynote address.
The event, scheduled for noon, is open to the public and there is no charge.
Mrs. King would have been 84 years old this month.
The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, which supports injured servicemen and women and their families, will be the beneficiary again this year of a fundraiser at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville.
(The fundraiser will occur again next weekend at Homestead's Severna Park store.)
Raffle tickets -- $5 each or 5 for $20 -- will be sold on Saturday and Sunday for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Homestead as well as gift cards to local restaurants. In addition, all participants in the fundraiser will receive a coupon good for 25 percent off one regularly priced item.
Or you can contribute by visiting www.semperfifund.org.
Since 2004, the fund has given $39 million to aid injured service members.
The fund not only provides financial and emotional support for families during the recovery of their injured loved ones, it has built homes, ramps and provided special cars and other equipment.
The Homestead fundraising effort is the brainchild of Gloria Rodriguez, who works at Homestead. She fled Castro's Cuba 40 years ago with her husband and two sons, and expresses her gratutude to this country by volunteering to help injured Marines and by raising money for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
She has also put together a cookbook, filled with recipes from Marine families, which sells at Homestead. All proceeds benefit the fund.
Saucer magnolia ‘Jane’
Magnolia soulangiana ‘Jane’
Text by Christine McComas
Photo by Christine McComas
What a spring nightmare--your saucer magnolia at its blooming best gets zapped by frost, turning a blossoming beauty into a sad, brown tree overnight.
In the 1950s, the National Arboretum tackled this problem, and in 1968 ‘Jane’ was released. The result of carefully controlled crossings, this hybrid saucer magnolia blooms two to four weeks later than other magnolias. By blooming later, frost damage becomes unlikely.
‘Jane’ covers herself with a rich display of dark pink tulip-like flowers with white throats, opening from fuzzy brown buds. Growing to 10 to 15 feet, ‘Jane’ is a large shrub or small tree.
'Jane' magnolias do well in full sun to light shade and a loamy soil with decent moisture, though they can tolerate poorly drained, heavy clay soils as well as dry soils.
They came bearing African violets.
The business leaders and Broadway fans who gathered outside the Hippodrome Theater to await the motocade carrying the body of former Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer had one thing in common.
They were holding pots and baskets of African violets, the flower Schaefer's beloved mother cultivated and which he raised in both Baltimore's City Hall when he was mayor and the State House when he was governor.
It was a case of persnickety meets persnickety. The politician and the potted plant could be equally difficult. And Mr. Schaefer often lamented that fact when he talked with constituents.
And I am guessing, those conversations won him many votes.
All the African violets collected during the governor's final tour of the city will go on display at City Hall.
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Barbara Haddock Taylor
My colleague here at The Sun, Julie Scharper, is writing about urban farming in Baltimore today.
It seems the city of Baltimore has 10 one-acre plots -- which are now just vacant lots -- that it is going to turn over to people willing to vegetable garden. As many as 40 city acres have been indentified as potential "farm" land.
Denzel Mitchell of the Belair-Edison neighborhood in east Baltimore is shown in the photo above working at Five Seeds Farm, his community garden. The city would like to replicate the success of this garden on other vacant lots.
City officials will accept applications until early next month from those who would like to cultivate city plots. Those applying should demonstrate knowledge of the practical and business aspects of managing an agricultural operation.
There will be a workshop Saturday morning from 9:30 to 12:30 at Real Food Farm, 2801 St. Lo Drive to learn more about the practical skills needed for food production in the city. Topics will include: vermiculture & composting, irrigation, microgreen cultivation, crop & livestock integration, and kid-friendly activities. (To register, please e-mail realfoodfarm@civicworks.com or call 410-366-8533 ext. 203)
The proposed farms would be near the city's "food deserts" — urban expanses bereft of stores that sell produce and other healthful foods. Eventually, the farmers could sell their crops at new farmers' markets in these areas.
Photo credit: Alex Stawinsky/Patuxent Publishing
Q: When do I prune my big blue hydrangeas? Spring or fall? They are much too big.
A: The big blue "mophead" type, hydrangea macrophylla, is the exception to the rule for summer-blooming shrubs (which ordinarily are pruned in spring.) This is because mopheads form their flower buds the summer before they flower, not the spring before flowering.
For mophead hydrangeas, the best option is to prune immediately after flowering in the summer, before next year’s buds are formed. The problem with that timing is that many people like to enjoy the old flowers as they turn colors and fade over the autumn and don't want to cut them off. However, that is the only time you won’t be hurting the next year’s flower display.
In spring the shrub has already formed its buds for the summer display and a severe pruning will cut off those buds. Yet mopheads often suffer some tip dieback in winter, and all dead or damaged wood should be pruned out in spring as soon as leaf buds swell and you can assess damage.
If your hydrangea is overgrown and requires a heavy renovation pruning, that should be done in the dormant season, not fall, so as not to promote rapid new growth in a warm autumn. That tender new growth could be burned by frost.
The best bet with hydrangeas is to place them where they can grow to their heart’s delight and never need pruning.
Q: A friend gave me a pair of bedside lamps, and now we have bedbugs! Is that just a coincidence? What can we spray for bedbugs?
A: Yes, bedbugs could come in on lamps. Because of the rising incidence of bedbugs infestations, we all need to be especially careful of secondhand items. Never take furniture or articles left at curbside for pick up!
Bedbugs are not something you can tackle all by yourselves, however there are many things you can and must do. First, read the information on our website: http://www.hgic.umd.edu/ (or call us for hardcopy). In the publications online, go to the “Pest Control” category. There are three excellent short publications as well as a video, You can also type “bedbugs” in the search box.
This is the last weekend of Historic Garden Week in Virginia, and 250 homes and gardens are open to the public.
And, as you will see, the Maryland Home and Garden Pilgrimage, which spans four weekends in May, is on the list.
Better Homes & Gardens is providing free passes to a long list of gardens, nationwide. All you have to do is sign up.
Adkins Arboretum is the only Maryland Garden on the list, but there are plenty of others nearby in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., including Longwood Gardens and the Smithsonian Gardens.
If you have a favorite public garden, check to see if it is offering free admission or a special program on National Public Garden Day.
Hens and chicks, the succulent that is an old staple of rock gardens, gets new life in a metal basket in this how-to video by container gardening maven, Kerry Michaels.
A whole new way to think of an "Easter basket."
Kerry, who uses absolutely everything as a container for plants, also has a new take on the Easter egg. And you won't have to worry about your cholesterol.
With the lake, the bike and walking trails, the pool and the conservatory, the park is a natural gathering place for city residents, and another excellent venue to emphasize the value of eating locally grown fruits and vegetables.
The Friends of Druid Hill Park and the city's Department of Recreation and Parks will hold a meeting tonight at 5:30 at the Rec and Parks building next to the swimming pool in the park.
The group meets every Wednesday at that time as it prepares for the first market day, Wednesday, June 1, from 4 to 7 p.m.
If you are interested in helping this effort, why not show up for a meeting?
The folks at the Earth Day Network expect more than 1 billion acts of kindness toward the Earth this week, and they are keeping a list.
Visit the website and post your plans. And let me know here at Garden Variety.
What am I doing? Saturday will be my own personal Earth Day and I will back in my garden, fluffing it up for all those who pass by on the way to the park in my neighborhood.
My garden seems to make more people than just me happy.
Among the garden tasks I completed last weekend -- dragging all my pots and containers out of the garage, dumping the old soil into the garden and lining the pots up for a bath.
I have all kinds of pots, from plastic self-watering ones to pretty glazed pots, and including plenty of the old stand-by clay pots. And I grow everything in them, from herbs and tomatoes to succulents.
Stacey Pierson, who blogs at The Garden Plot, is talking pots today. With lots of advice from designer John Carloftis about the perfect pot for the perfect spot.
Calibrachoa ‘Million Bells’
‘Million Bells’Text by Christine McComas
Photo by Ellen Nibali
In summer you can’t help but notice certain containers with their small petunia-like flowers cascading crazily over the sides. It’s the oh-so-easy and rewarding calibrachoa, also known as ‘Million Bells.’
This low maintenance mounding annual comes in a color palette wide enough to please the artist in every gardener. They are beautiful solo, yet those with a contrasting throat color look especially nice in the company of container-mates of that color, for example a geranium or verbena.
Calibrachoa like sun to part sun, moderate water, and good drainage. They are neat and need no spent flower removal. Known to attract hummingbirds, they will put on their exhuberant show until a hard frost.
In honor of Earth Day Friday, AAA Mid-Atlantic will plant a tree in a national forest for every member who calls AAA Mid-Atlantic to have a new car battery installed and the old battery recycled.
To take advantage of this offer, you can call the AAA Mobile Battery Serivce between now and Friday.
AAA Mid-Atlantic is also asking motorists in the Frederick area who may have an old car battery stowed in their garage or basement to bring it to AAA’s new Car Care, Insurance and Travel Center for recycling now through Saturday, April 23.
The center is located at 5620 Buckeystown Pike in Frederick.
Car batteries contain a high level of lead content, which can be highly toxic. It is important to the environment that they be disposed of properly and not be left sitting around the house or discarded with the trash.
Additionally, sixty to eighty percent of car batteries are made up of hard rubber or plastic that can be recylcled.
The tree plantings are made possible through the Arbor Day Foundation.
Photo credit: AFP/Getty
Fellow garden writer Virginia Smith writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer that, with all the earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear power plant meltdowns, the apocolyptic seed business is going well.
The economic downturn sparked the birth of these companies, which will sell you 37,000 seeds (really?) in the equivalent of ammo boxes that can be buried for decades and still geminate. The seeds, not the ammo boxes.
It is a lively read, whether or not you have a bomb shelter in your backyard.
I didn't mulch last year.
I was trying to save some money -- my garden expenditures seemed to have spiraled out of control. And I was worried about the impact of having dumped 3 or 4 yards of mulch on my gardens every year for, like, 15 years.
I lived to regret it. The weeds were a horror, and so was August. Without the moisture retention qualities of mulch, I had trouble keeping my plants going.
This year, I decided to mulch. Four yards of the stuff arrived Friday in my driveway and I finished prepping the beds for it this weekend.
Now I am doubting myself again after reading the garden advice of Debbie Hadley on About.com
She writes that mulch is a barrier to pollinators -- several types of bees that live in the ground. Add a weed barrier such as plastic or newspaper under the mulch and it is impossible for them to burrow.
That doesn't mean you can't mulch at all, she said. Just leave areas of your garden open so the bees at least have a shot of finding a home near the plants you want pollinated.
Starbucks in Annapolis is looking for volunteers to help plant the gardens around the new Light House Shelter, built to temporarily house homeless individuals and families.
Starbucks is providing all the plant material, but volunteers are needed to do the digging on Tuesday between 10 and 2 p.m. at the shelter on Hudson Street in the city.
The service project is being supported by all the Starbucks in the Annapolis district and is part of a corporate initiative for community service in April.
Tools will also be provided by Starbucks.
And -- just guessing here -- coffee.
Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville
Saturday
Growing Fruit Trees in Maryland, 10 a.m. With Terry Freed of Eastern Shore Nursery.
Music by Rob Levit Trio, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enjoy the smooth jazz, Latin and pop sounds of Annapolis' most popular jazz group, the award-winning Rob Levit Trio.
Herbal Remedies for the Gardener, 11:30 a.m. With Catherine Cusack, RN, esthetician and avid gardener.
How to Grow Twice as Much in Half the Space, 1 p.m. With WTOP’s Mike McGrath.
Edible Matchmaking from Roots to Fruits, 2:30 p.m. Lost in a sea of varieties? Homestead Gardens Education Coordinator Gene Sumi hosts a Q&A session to guide you to the best edible plants for your garden.
Sunday
Black Gold, 10 a.m. Gene Sumi teaches the DO's and DON'Ts of composting.
Edibles in the Landscape, 11:30 a.m. Homestead Gardens Annuals Manager Kerry Kelly will discuss incorporating herbs and vegetables in throughout your garden.
Southern Maryland Meats Program, 1 p.m. An introduction to the region’s livestock farmers.
The Grassfed Gourmet Fires it Up, 2:30 p.m. Cooking demo & book signing with Rita Calvert
Herbal food tastings throughout the weekend. All events take place in Davidsonville.
Valley View Farms in Cockeysville
Saturday
Vegetable Gardening in Containers, 9:00 a.m. Not all of us have the room for a half-acre vegetable garden, or even a 100-square-foot garden bed. Maybe you're fighting tree roots or want to garden closer to the house on a balcony or deck. Container gardening may be for you! Learn how to successfully grow ANY vegetable in a pot or planter.
Perennial Trough Gardens, 11:00 a.m. Join David Culp (from Sunny Border Nurseries), the “perennial rock star”, in a talk and demonstration featuring rock garden and alpine plants for troughs and dish gardens.
Vegetable Gardening for Kids, 1:00 p.m. We've read that getting kids involved in growing food leads to better nutrition. Valley View will take time with the children to talk about planning a vegetable garden of their own and have them plant some seeds to get them started.
Saturday
Orchid Diagnostic and Repotting Clinic with Carol Allen, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Have an orchid question? Ask Carol! Her vast knowledge of orchids comes from many years of hands-on experience. She would love to answer your questions and, for a minimal fee, she will expertly repot your orchid.
Photo credits: Kathryn Blom
Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory opens its spring flower show Saturday and the theme this year is very Peter Pan and Wendy.
Titled "Spring into Neverland," the show in the glass house in Druid Hill Park features a crocodile and a flying ship with Captain Hook aboard, in addition to an incredible array of tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs.
The doors open at 10 a.m. on Saturday and will continue, Wednesday through Sunday, until May 1. (The Conservatory is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.)
There is no admission charge but donations are appreciated. This is perfect kid-friendly event on what might prove to be a rainy weekend in Baltimore.
Washington Gardener magazine, Cheval's 2nd Act Garden Tours and Behnke Nurseries of Beltsville are sponsoring a trip to Mt. Cuba Center in Greenville, Del., on Thursday July 21.
The cost is $60, and Monday is the deadline for reservations. The bus leaves Behnke's at 9 a.m. and returns at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Mt. Cuba is one of the nation's most celebrated wildflower gardens, with more than 50 rare species located on the former private estate of Mr. and Mrs. Lamont du Pont Copeland, built in 1935.
For more information, email gardentours@gmail.com or call 703-395-1501.
This is the first of four garden tours that will leave from Behnke's this year.
The others are Viette's Annual Daylily and Wine Festival on July 16; Chanticlear and Nemours on Sept. 21, and Longwood Holiday Extravaganza on Dec. 15.
Q: A flat patch of something with yellow flowers is spreading more and more in a woodsy area. The flowers have eight buttercup yellow petals, not cupped. Leaves are glossy green. I’m afraid this stuff will take over my woods.
A: It will. You have lesser celandine, a non-native invasive flower forming impenetrable mats which overrun native species.
It greens up very early in spring, then goes dormant by June. Its small bulblets or tubers easily break off the roots to start new plants.
If you try to dig it up, shovel up the whole clump including the soil to be sure you get every bulblet. Any systemic herbicide containing glyphosate works well on the solid mats.
Q: What vegetables can I plant outside while the ground is still cold? Will frost kill them?
A: You can still plant a slew of vegetables that like cool temperatures, such as carrots, beets, lettuce, potatoes, radishes, and Swiss chard.
For more options, see the new planting calendar on our HGIC website: http://www.growit.umd.edu/GE007_Vegetable_Planting_Calendar_for_Central_MD.pdf .
If a hard freeze is predicted, you can protect them by throwing on row cover or a sheet, or placing cardboard boxes over the plants.
But this year, the prime minister's wife, Mrs. Fionnuala Kenny, presented first lady Michelle Obama with a white wicker basket filled with 20 white primroses, bred in Ireland this year to honor the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's inauguration.
The primroses were bred at FitzGerald Nurseries by hybridizer Joseph Kennedy -- names that certainly have the ring of memory in the United States.
The primrose is called "Drumcliff," and is named after the final resting place of the famous Irish poet, W.B. Yeats.
It was propagated in County Wexford, Ireland, and grown to flowering size in County Kilkenny and then shipped to Heronswood Nursery in Pennsylvania, from which it can be purchased.
A second variety of primrose, called "Innisfree," after the Yeats poem, "Lake Isle of Innisfree," is also available and can be purchased from Heronswood.
When I think of invasive plant species, I think of kudzu, that leafy green vine that has been known to cover houses and cars in a matter of days.
I generally don't think of those lovely, white pear trees that cover the hillsides like snow drifts at this time of year in Maryland as invasive.
The Callery pear originated in China and was brought to this country in the early 1900s as possible root stock for cultivated pears.
Soon, it was widely used to landscape residential developments and public areas because of its graceful beauty.
It has a dark gray bark against which its white spring blooms look striking. When blooming is over, it has shiny green leaves. In the fall, those leaves progress from red to gold. And it has a compact, pyramid shape that is attractive. And, at first, it produced no seeds or fruit.
By 1982, it was the second most popular tree in this country.
However, cross pollination with other varieties of Callery pear trees inevitably occurred, and the tree began to produce small, olive-brown fruits that do not mature into pears.
It is those fruits that are the problem.
Birds love them, eat them, and deposit them all over the place, and Callery pears, pears spring up, driving out less robust native plant species. That's why the hillsides look almost white this time of year. That is waaaayyyy too many pear trees.
"It is not the Bradford pear in and of itself," said Kerrie Kyde, invasive plant ecologist for the Natural Heritage Program at the Department of Natural Resources.
She was using the name commonly associated with these pear trees. "It is the Callery pears as a group. Bradford pears are self-incompatible. You can have just one. But as soon as we started producing all kinds of different cultivars -- there might be 50 of them -- you got a hybrid, and that is what is proliferating.
"The trees completely encircle the Washington beltway," she said.
And I can testify to its profusion on Interstate 97 and U.S. 50.
"It is knocking out space for all the things that would be there, like redbuds and dogwoods, and you can see how incredibly spready it is."
As prolific as they are, they are not strong and do not live long. They can grow as high as 60 feet but the tree often splits, breaks up or comes out by its roots during storms, causing damage in neighborhoods and along highways.
"That state highway administration is trying to control them," Kyde said.
If you have a Bradford pear in your home landscape, consider replacing it (before you have to replace your car, your neighbors fence or part of your roof.)
Cut it down with a chain saw and treat the outer two inches of cut surface of the stump with undiluted glyphosate concentrate. Large saplings can be treated in a similiar fashion, taking care to treat the entire cut servaces.
What to plant in its place? How about an American Plum, a flowering Dogwood, or an Eastern Redbud?
Photo courtesy of Adrian Bloom
The Horticultural Society of Maryland will present "An Evening with Adrian Bloom" on Sunday, April 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Vollmer Center at Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore.
Bloom, internationally recognized for his perennial introductions, will be speaking on plant choices for a year-round garden, the subject of his new book, "Bloom's Best Perennials and Grasses: Expert Plant CHoices and Dramatic Combinations for Year-Round Gardens."
The event is open to the public at a cost of $45 for society members and $60 for non-members, there will be a book signing by Bloom and some of his favorite plants from the book will also be on sale.
Wine and a light supper will be served between lectures.
For reservations, call 410-821-5561 or visiting the Society's web page.
Tree Peony
Paeonia suffruiticosa
Text and photo by Christine McComas
If you love flowers and only have space for one new shrub, consider Chinese tree peony.
The national flower of China and once grown only by the emperor, it is now widely available to all. With huge, stunningly beautiful flowers, tree peonies are actually graceful, deciduous shrubs, growing slowly to 3 to 5 feet and long lived.
Flowers come in many colors and have been depicted in centuries of art. Unlike their herbaceous cousins which die to the ground each winter, these peonies grow in a loosely branching woody form, the flaky bark itself attractive when the serrated leaves fall.
Tree peonies like rich, moist, well-draining soil. Plant in full sun for best blooms. In part- sun or dappled shade they may flower less but flowers last longer.
Protect from winter wind by planting close to a building or windbreak. With patience it’s possible to grow a spectacle of over one hundred 5 to 6” multi-petaled yet delicate flowers blooming all at once.
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jed Kirschbaum
The Home Garden Seed Association has published its list of the 10 easiest plants to grow from seed -- and all of them can be sown directly into the garden. No need to start them indoors.
They are (drum roll, please):
Though Maryland celebrates it a little early, the official Arbor Day is April 29, a day set aside many years ago to encourage people to plants trees.
The Growing Home Campaign is giving homeowners in Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Harford County a $10 coupon that will be honored in area retail nurseries and garden centers toward the purchase of a tree costing at least $25.
In addition, there is plenty of how-to information on line and in libraries, recreation and parks facilities and senior centers in Baltimore County and the City of Baltimore.
The Growing Home Campaign is an award-winning public-private partnership to encourage homeowners to help increase the tree canopy in our region.
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jerry Jackson
Faithful readers of Garden Variety know that on Fridays I offer a list of weekend chores to do in the garden.
I cull this list from the experts. There are several garden bloggers are who very good at keeping the rest of us on task. Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden. Susan Harris, a multi-tasking blogger, who is writing for Behnke's Nursery of Beltsville. And Kathy Jentz of Washington Gardener Magazine.
This week, I'd like to share my own, not-very-expert, list of chores -- a list that can be found in the pink marble notebook I have been keeping since 1999.
On most weekends, I do two or three hours of work and then pour myself a glass of wine and sit on the front steps to record my thoughts in this battered old notebook.
Sitting outside is not only pleasant, it reminds me of what I saw in the garden that needed done.
In spring and again in fall, the lists are long, and they usually involve plans for major changes in the gardens. Sometimes I follow through, but often I do not. I often bite off more than I can chew.
The Spring 2011 list is made up of notes from the fall about that I must remember to do this season -- I am going to do a lot more cutting back of perennials, like Joe Pye Weed and helianthus, that grew much too large last year.
And notes from last weekend, about what is left to do to get the gardens ready for summer. I still have to spread my coffee grounds and my osmocote on the perennial beds, turn the compost pile and change the batteries in the garden lights.
(There is also a list here for my DH. He has to cut back the ornamental grasses and the liriope and edge the beds for me. It would also be a help if he would finally take down the Christmas lights in the Nelly Stevens. But he might argue the point.)
If I look back through the pages of this book, I see the lessons I have learned in the garden and the plans I have made and changed and changed again.
It is not very formal, not very complete. But it is serviceable.
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Jed Kirschbaum
Vegetable gardeners who had a bad time with stink bugs last season -- or who fear one this season -- are wondering what they can plant that these annoying and damaging insects don't like.
Stink bugs not only cluster in great numbers and smell terrible when crushed, they use their mouthpieces to pierce fruits and vegetables and suck out food and moisture. The resulting puncture wound causes fruit and vegetables to decay or develop disease.
I asked Ellen Nibali of the University of Maryland Extension's Home and Garden Information Center what she would recommend. Here are her thoughts on which vegetable to plant, the use of row covers and mulch. (There is more information at the HGIC website on dealing with stink bugs in your home.)
Early crops will probably avoid the wrath of the stink bugs, at least intense damage. Also, very late crops. So, timing is something to experiment with.
However, all we can say for certain is that legumes, tomatoes, pepper and sweet corn were heavily infested last year There were reports on cucurbits, i.e. cucumbers and squash, plus the melons. However, we don't know for sure exactly what part of the plant was damaged. Stink bugs generally go for flowers, stems and pods of legumes (especially soybeans) and fruits of plants such as tomato. They can insert their proboscus through the husk of corn.
All of which is to say, plant other crops. Try lettuce or eggplant or any of the brassicas--cabbage, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radish, turnips, etc. Stink bugs have been seen on eggplant, but no injury has been officially reported.
Last summer we got reports, and noticed ourselves, that stink bugs seemed to leave some varieties of plants alone more than others. In the case of tomatoes, we suspected that the thicker-skinned varieties may have been less attractive to the stink bugs. I had a orangy yellow variety that definitely was their least favorite. There should be more information on all this by the end of this growing season as much research is on-going.
Incidentally, blueberries and blackberries were reported to have no injury. Red raspberries, I can say from experience, were hammered. But I went out once or twice a day and knocked off the nymphs and adults into soapy water and got a reasonable crop.
We highly recommend floating row cover for any vulnerable crop that does not require pollination. For those that do, row covers can be used up to that stage. Patrol your crops, watching for egg masses. Only the nymphs are vulnerable to sprays of horticultural oil and/or pyrethrins. Once they are adults, even the big guns, such as Sevin, they just consider a dust bath.
Another thought: stink bugs are elusive and drop when threatened. They loved hiding in my mulched-leaf mulch last summer and tomatoes lying on the mulch were much more heavily damaged than the top fruits of staked tomatoes. This summer I'll be mulching with landscape fabric--carefully, so it can be reused.
Q: The vegetable transplants I’m growing indoors are really tall and spindly. I don’t see how they can keep growing like this--they’ll fall over! I water them just enough to keep the soil moist, don’t fertilize, and use a heating mat underneath and a ceiling florescent light.
A: Repot them in larger containers, planting them deeply so that much of the stem is buried. Then, lower the light to just an inch or two above the plants. As the plants grow, raise the light. (Next time, do this when you plant the seeds.) Lights suspended on chains make this easy to do. Brushing the plants with your hands each day is supposed to stimulate sturdier stems.
Transplants often get too large when seeds are started too early. Refer to our website publication, “Growing Vegetable Transplants” for planting dates.
Q: Last year we had lots of beautiful zucchini plants but only one miserable looking squash to eat. Plants were deep green, had many blooms, no disease or pests, were spaced 3 to 4 inches apart, and got 8 hours of sun. We watered them at the base during drought.
A: Your zucchini were unproductive because zucchini are big plants that need room. They should be spaced 2 to 3 feet apart, not inches. Otherwise, you did everything right. They’ll grow in average soil, but they’ll appreciate some compost or fertilizer, too.
See our Grow It Eat It website: www.growit.umd.edu. The Vegetable Profiles give specific fertilizer rates and timing.
Photo credit: Reuters
My dear husband (or DH, as we call our mates here at the Internet honeymoon cottage) is in Augusta, Ga., this week covering the Masters golf tournament, where the azeleas that fail to bloom at the perfect moment are pulled and replaced with more cooperative shrubs.
I, too, covered the Masters when I was a sportswriter, and it is true that Augusta National Golf Course is the place where spring is born.
You can see a photo gallery of the beautiful course at Augusta.com. (Fans are not allowed to take cameras or cellphones onto the course during the tournamernt). It may be be as close as you ever get.
Membership at Augusta is limited to the cream of American money (and only men can be members) and it is by invitation only. The membership list is a closely held secret.
The estimated 40,000 tickets to watch the tournament are passed down through families. Even tickets to the practice round are premiums.
The tournament begins in earnest on Thursday and will have live television coverage on the weekend. Tune in for the flowers, if not for the golf.
(Even if you are not a golf fan, you might like to follow the clever Tweets of my DH during the tournament on Twitter. He is @garymihocesusat.)
A year in advance of the scheduled publication of Michelle Obama's book on the White House vegetable garden, Clarion Books has released "First Garden: The White House Garden and How It Grew."
Written and illustrated by children's author Robbin Gourley, the children's book includes a forward by Alice Waters, who created The Edible Schoolyard campaign, and it includes recipes from the White House and watercolor drawings of the first lady and her school children helpers.
For more details about the book and a conversation with the author, who pretty much scooped the White House, check out Eddy Gehman Kohan's blob, Obamafodorama, She also got a "no comment" comment from the White House that seems a tad chilly.
One of the best things about the Internet is, you can ask it a question, and get an answer.
That's true for gardening questions, too. So, after working in my garden for a couple of hours, I came inside and typed a question in the Google box on my laptop:
"How do I prune my beautyberry?"
I planted two Calicarpa americana last year after seeing their beautiful pale green leaves and lavender berries. Beautyberry for sure.
But I wasn't sure whether this year's spring blooms and fall berries would arrive on new or old wood.
I got my answer on the Internet. I should be pruning it to the ground now. But this isn't the only shrub or perennial that needs pruning and I am timid about using my pruners. What if I wreck things?
Sure enough, my friends at Gardener's Supply, writing on their Gardening Journal blog, have tips and resources for spring pruning jobs. Take a read for their advice on tools as well as an excellent pruning book.
Generally speaking, prune spring flowering shrubs after they bloom but before they set buds for next season. And that could happen as early as July if we are talking about lilacs and August if we are talking about hydrangeas.
There is plenty of good advice here for the beginning pruner. Take a read.
One of my favorite spring garden chores is lining up my containers, cleaning them and filling them with fresh potting mixture.
I worry about what plants to put in later. Between fresh herbs, a new set of succulents and the annuals that strike my fancy, that usually takes care of itself.
My friend Kerry Michael, who writes about container gardening, is myth-busting again this week, warning us not to fill the bottom of our containers with gravel under the misconception that it will improve drainage.
Read Kerry's post to learn the science behind this, but the fact is, gravel will actually cause your container to hold onto water. She uses coffee filters, paper towels or a bit of window screen to keep the soil from spilling out.
But NO gravel.
Purple Passion Plant, Gynura
Gynura sarmentosa
Text and photo by Chris McComas
Looking for an unusual looking houseplant? How about one with hairy purple fuzz covering dark green leaves?
This striking combination describes purple passion plant’s soft-as-velvet, deep purple, haze-covered leaves. This easy-to-grow houseplant is not large, with leaves 3-4 inches long and wide. Left on its own, it has a trailing habit but retains color and is more upright when growth tips are pinched out.
They benefit from at least some direct sun daily to keep the purple foliage bright. Gynuras grow well in normal room temperatures but like humidity, so place their pot on a tray of damp pebbles for best results. Water moderately, then let the top inch of standard potting mixture dry out before watering again.
Like other hairy-leaved plants, avoid wetting the leaves. Apply standard liquid fertilizer no more than once a month throughout the year.
Photo courtesy of Southeast Missouri Extension
I look forward to opening day at my farmers' market in Anne Arundel County the way baseball fans look forward to the Orioles' opening day.
I was there early Saturday morning at the market on Riva Road just outside Annapolis, and there were quite a few early birds there with me. There was also plenty of coffee and plenty of seedlings. But the spinach and lettuces went fast.
So I bought some peaches. Blossoms, that is.
Among the most popular booths at the market each year are the folks from Harris Orchards, who sell the most wonderful peaches. There is always a line and they sell out fast.
It is much too early for peaches, of course. So instead Bill Harris was selling the stems from the pruning he has to do each spring. Five small branches for $1. I bought $2 worth.
At home, I snipped off about a quarter inch of the stems and put them into a vase with water about 100 degrees -- just slightly warmer that body temperature -- as instructed by Bill.
By Sunday, the blossoms were already starting to emerge. The stems should last me about 10 days.
Hey. If you can't have peaches, you might as well have peach blossoms.
Kim Roman, a certified square-foot gardening teacher from Glen Burnie, has openings in an up-coming class.
Here's the information:
Our next class will be Saturday, April 16 at 10 a.m. in the Glen Burnie area. The cost is $20. Each person may bring one guest for just $5 more. Anyone interested needs to register by calling me (Kim) at 443-995-1288, emailing at sfgkimroman@yahoo.com or they may register & pay for the class by logging onto our web site www.sfg4u.com. Class size is limited.
If anyone else has information on square-foot gardening classes, let me know and I will post the information.
Illustration courtesy of Arbor Day Foundation
Arbor Day, the nation's celebration of trees, is usually held on the last Friday in April.
But in Maryland, it will be celebrated on Wednesday in order to take advantage of the fact this is the perfect time of year to mark the day by, of course, planting a tree.
If tree-planting is part of your Arbor Day plan, keep these things in mind:
And when planting a conainerized tree, follow these steps.
Arbor Day began in 1872 when Nebraska City, Neb., civic leader J. Sterling Morton urged Nebraskans to "set aside one day to plant trees both forest and fruit." Today, the holiday is observed in all 50 states and in many other countries.
In her new book, "Founding Gardeners," Audrea Wulf gives us a fresh perspective on the founding fathers -- men as passionate about their gardening as they were about liberty.
She writes that while British ships were gathering off New York, George Washington was worried about his gardens at Mount Vernon and was writing instructions to his manager.
She also describes how a trip to botanist John Bartram's gardens helped the delegates to the Constitutional Congress break their deadlock.
She tells us that during his years at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson tried 170 different fruits and 330 different herbs and vegetables.
At Mount Vernon, Washington grew grapes, apples, peaches, cherries and plums.
But beyond a list of crops, Wulf's book is a fascinating and quite different look at "the land" the revolutionaries were defending.
As a bonus, the book has a lovely collection of portraits, line drawings and botanical prints.
Readers: I have a copy of Founding Gardeners I would be delighted to send to the 5th person posting a comment here on Garden Variety.
Independent lawn and garden centers are getting VERY Internet savvy.
Most of the larger centers have developed websites that include garden advice and a schedule of events.
But some are also listing the plants, shrubs, trees and other items that are on sale, or coupons for discounts.
It is a brave move because these centers are up against the Big Box stores, which use volume to undercut everybody else's prices.
But the advantage of visiting a dedicated garden center is that the employees there are smart about gardening and can answer your questions. That's key when you are making this kind of an investment.
So, take a look here at the long list of specials being offered at Homstead Gardens in Davidsonville to their "Garden Club Members." Join and take advantage of their specials.
And check here for special offers and coupons from Behnke's in Beltsville and Potomac.
And here for the new varieties being carried by Valley View Farms in Cockeysville.
Greenstreet Gardens in Lothian has lost of advice on aquatics.
Does your favorite garden center have a website? Let me know and I will include it in this list.
Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Amy Davis
Baltimore's Farmers' Market under the Jones Falls Expressway isn't the only one opening this weekend.
Anne Arundel County's Farmers' Market on Riva Road will open Saturday at 7 a.m. as well for its 30th season.
And my colleague Richard Gorelick over at Dining@Large says the market in Silver Spring is opening, too. (If you go, Richard says, there's a different location this Saturday only -- Gateway Plaza at he corner of Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road.)
Farmers markets used to wait until May or June to open. Now, because farmers have so many spring crops to offer, they are opening earlier.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture is pulling together a list of all the markets, their times and locations, and we'll share that will you as soon as it is done.
Valley View Farms in Cockeysville
Create Your Own Bonsai Workshop (kid-friendly), Saturday, 9:00 a.m. Here's your chance to prune, wire and style a Bonsai plant with Martha Meehan and other Bonsai enthusiasts by your side. A Bonsai starter tree, soil, wire, pot and tools will be provided during the class. There will be a $35 fee for supplies to all participants.
Lawn Clinic, Saturday, 11:00 a.m.: Join Jonathan Green's lawn expert, Rick Hardie. Whether seeding a new lawn or renovating an old one, Rick will advise participants on the right products and processes to follow for success. Please bring a soil sample to be analyzed by Valley View staff.
Roll Out the Rain Barrel, Saturday, 1 p.m.: Come visit with representatives of a company that sells oak rain barrels that are beautifully retrofitted to help retain rain water and reduce polluted runoff water from our urban and suburban streets that goes into the Bay.
They will provide information on how to install rain barrels, the tax credits associated with them, and landscaping tips on the best use of rainwater.
Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville
Golden Spades with Gene Sumi; Tuesday, April 5, 10 a.m.: "What Can I Plant and What Should I Plant?”
These are the two most often asked questions Gene Sumi gets each year in the month of April. Spring planting time for trees, shrubs, summer-blooming bulbs and perennials will already be here and the time to plant summer-flowering annuals and vegetables will start at the end of the month.
The April meeting of Golden Spades will discuss the choices and take a lot of your questions about what should you can and should be planting in your garden this year. Gene will be prepared to talk about varieties of plants that are new this year as well as old stand-bys that have stood the test of time.
Bring a friend and bring lots of questions.
When the forsythia blooms, it is time to prune the roses.
And it is time to feed them, too.
Paul Zimmerman, a veteran grower of roses and a contributor to Fine Gardening magazine, advises us to spray roses with a foliar feeding solution as soon as those little burgundy leaves appear on the canes. Which is right about now.
He believes it boosts the plant's immune system in advance of black-spot season.
Feed the roses again in two weeks and then begin to stretch out the feedings, he writes.
It is April and outdoor garden chores should have begun in earnest by now.
But if you feel like you are far behind, you are forgiven. The cold and rain -- especially in the normally temperate mid-Atlantic -- has delayed spring and made gardening not only unpleasant, but unwise.
If you are out tramping around in soggy ground, you will be pressing the air pockets out of the soil, and that air is critical to the development of helpful microscopic creatures and to the uptake of nutrients by plants. And that includes your lawn.
We may all be sitting on our hands for another week or two. I already postponed my mulch delivery. (Yes, I am mulching this year. Learned my lesson last year.)
But if and when you get the chance to work outside, here are some of the chores you need to attend to.
Susan Reimer has spent 16 years writing about raising kids - among other topics - in her column for The Baltimore Sun. And every time son Joseph or daughter Jessie passed another milestone - driver's license, college, wedding or a move to a new military duty station - she has planted another garden. Now she will be writing about those gardens - and yours - here on Garden Variety. 
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