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22 Articles

EDITOR’S NOTE

In the garden, fall is the season to look back on what went wrong and right. This year my major mistake was planning a new bed and ordering plants for it before I hired an arborist to trim a nearby red maple. I had in mind a quasi-meadow, with a groundcovering matrix of Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) and spotted geranium (Geranium maculatum). Those I would plant most thickly near the tree, and progressing toward the sunnier edges of the space I would intersperse heart-leaved aster (Aster cordifolius), smooth penstemon (Penstemon digitalis), Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) and pale coneflower (Echinacea pallida). In an afterthought, I decided to get the maple cleaned up. The crew did a fabulous job on this neglected tree, leaving it elegant and sound. But they really had to…

BY THE TIME summer shifts to autumn, the warm-season crops have started to wind down. The homegrown harvest is far from over, however, as this is when the salad greens, root vegetables and cabbage cousins begin to mature for months of autumn meals. Cabbage family vegetables include cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi and kale. They grow best when planted in a site with full sun and compost-enriched soil. You can direct seed these vegetables in mid- to late summer (depending on your region and the crop’s number of days to maturity), but I prefer to give them a head start by sowing the seed indoors. I harden off and transplant the seedlings into the garden three to four weeks later. There are four cabbage cousins I consider essential for my autumn garden:…

AUTUMN CHECKLIST

Harvest! There are many crops to be harvested in September, but I pay particular attention to tomatoes. Fully ripe tomatoes are a garden treat but they can split or crack after rain or watering. They also don’t keep long once harvested. I therefore harvest large-fruited tomatoes when they’re three-quarters ripe, bringing them indoors to finish coloring up. This reduces splitting, prevents pests from being tempted by the fully ripe fruits and increases their shelf life. Prepare! By late September, the risk of frost is looming in my garden. I want to make sure my covers are ready to go by mid-month. The biggest task is to ensure my row covers and polyethylene sheets are clean, because dirty covers block light. If row covers need washing, I hang them on my clothesline…

AUTUMN CHECKLIST

THE PLANT KINGDOM today is dominated by flowering plants—and the pollinator world, by bees. There are some 20,000 species of bees globally, 4,000 in the United States. In the tiny state of Vermont, there are more than 300 species of wild bees—miners and masons, carpenters and bumblebees, sweat bees and cuckoos. Some form complex social groups, but many are solitary, living in hollowed out sticks and holes in the ground. And, yes, there’s also Apis mellifera, the domestic honeybee, which has played a central role in feeding the world, providing not just honey but pollination to gardens and crops. Now this dual bee story is faltering: the deep-time story of wild bees, and the 9,000-year-old story of domestic bees that probably began in pottery jars in what is now Turkey. Many…

“ELIMINATE LAWNS” has long been the cry of environmentally minded gardeners. With good reason: when maintained in the traditional style, lawns function as biological deserts, providing no benefit to pollinators or other wildlife while serving as a disproportionate source of water and air pollution. Yet the general public has staunchly resisted this campaign, not eliminating but rather steadily expanding the area of greensward so that it now covers more than an estimated 40 million acres of the United States. The lawn, it seems, is here to stay. What if, though, you could have your green open space with less work, with little or no pollution and create a biodiverse habitat as well? Such a transformation was not Krissy Boys’s initial aim, she told me in a podcast interview, when she encountered a…

MT. CUBA CENTER is a Delaware botanic garden devoted to native plants. Since the late 1980s, it has introduced roughly 20 cultivars to the nursery trade. Recently, five of these were designated as the Mt. Cuba Collection, an all-star team from the site’s continual studies. “With the collection, we’re taking a snapshot of the better older introductions that you can still get commercially, plus some newer standouts,” explains Sam Hoadley, Trial Garden Manager. Trials run for three years, assessing performance plus value to beneficial insects, with detailed reports made freely available at https://mtcubacenter.org/research/trial-garden/. As interest in native plants continues to rise, the Mt. Cuba Collection plants receive a well-earned moment in the sun. ‘PURPLE FLAME’ BLUE FLAG IRIS VERSICOLOR ‘PURPLE FLAME’ Years ago Mt. Cuba gardeners noticed an unusual plant growing by the property’s…

MY SWEET FIRST-GRADE granddaughter, Isla, sometimes quietly looks over my shoulder and reads whatever I am reading, be it in a book or on a screen. She sounds out an unfamiliar spelling in a way that would make her teachers proud, but still many words make no sense to her. Her most recent query of me: “Papa, what’s a Papa-ya?” Well, I gave her the short answer and promised that I would soon buy a small “pa•pa•ya” for the two of us to cut up and share together. The papaya is my latest plant love interest, which is why the word was on my computer screen. I serially flirt with various plants. Last winter in Sarasota my eye wandered to observe how attractive Carica papaya can be with its deep green,…

AS THE DIRECTOR of Horticulture for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (CZBG), Steve Foltz leads the planting of animal exhibits and beds that enhance visitors’ experience. He also oversees CZBG plant trials and projects that benefit the surrounding community. SCOTT BEUERLEIN: You once told me of some adolescent mischief that involved a city park, cops and the transplanting of some trees. SCOTT BEUERLEIN is the Manager of Botanical Garden Outreach at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. His Garden Views Horticulture column presents perspectives from fellow gardening professionals across the United States. STEVE FOLTZ: When I was a kid, I saw a great-looking ash tree with the best bright-red fall color growing near a telephone pole in Devou Park (Covington, Ky.). It was only about two-foot-tall, so I thought I could just…

For me, the most wonderful time of the year is tomato season. It means all the fresh salsa I can possibly eat—now that I’ve learned to build my garden with that goal in mind. My Southern California home garden is about 200 square feet. In years past I lived by the fittingly clunky motto “plant all the things now and figure out what to do with them later.” (To be honest, I still struggle with that urge come spring.) But each year I would end up with the same result: swimming in tomatoes, stumbling over zucchini and cucumbers, watching extra basil go to seed. Ironically, I also found myself lacking enough of the right ingredients to make a substantial dish. For example, one of my favorite summer recipes is blistered Shishido…

I’ve covered new plant introductions for Horticulture for more than 15 years, and in so doing there’s one word that I think I’ve typed a million times: compact. There’s no doubt that breeders have worked to shrink plants into smaller cultivars that suit scaled-down gardens, city and suburban lots and patio containers. I’m not knocking the trend—far from it! My own home sits just 15 feet back from the street, so I understand the necessity for smaller selections. But let’s not lose sight of large plants, including perennials that are downright shrubby. They have their own places and purposes in today’s gardens. Here are nine fine reasons to go big. MEGHAN SHINN is Horticulture’s editor. She gardens in USDA Zone 6 Massachusetts. 1 SHRUBS CAN BREAK YOUR HEART Readers may be wondering: Why not just…

It is safe to say that any parent who loves plants hopes to instill in their children a similar passion. Perhaps that’s because weeding is tedious, and outsourcing the work to a child is much less expensive than a maintenance crew! Ulterior motives aside, gardening can benefit young minds in endless ways, at almost any age. Littlest sprouts When a child is old enough to walk, or even crawl, they are old enough to start playing in the garden. Your front or back yard offers the perfect place to develop both gross and fine motor skills for your toddler. The child with boundless energy will be happy to run through the sprinkler or jump in leaves; these activities provide them physical benefits and you the chance to work through your to-do list, too.…

TODDLER AND PRESCHOOLER

• Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson • Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson • Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert • The Very Hungry Caterpillar (and others) by Eric Carle GRADE SCHOOLER • The Night Gardener by Terry and Eric Fan • The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett • Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke • The Plant Sitter by Gene Zion • The Girl and the Witch’s Garden by Erin Bowman • The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne YOUNG ADULT • Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce • Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan • The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson…

The Charms and Challenges of Mountain Ash

One of the first trees I grew (and pruned—incorrectly, I’m sad to say, by removing a limb while its fruits were ripening) was a Sorbus, or mountain ash. It grew in a garden in Minneapolis. At that time I was a landscape student, and while my designer’s eye was drawn to the unique charms of this genus, my gardener’s skills didn’t quite match up with its required care. The USDA Zone 4 location, however, gave me a fighting chance to succeed if I learned a little bit more about these trees. Mountain ash, whitebeam, service tree, rowanthese are all common names for trees and shrubs within Sorbus, an overlooked genus of the Rosaceae family. All species share a preference for cool, dry summers and a proclivity to produce pendant clusters of…

The Charms and Challenges of Mountain Ash

KOREAN MOUNTAIN ASH Sorbus alnifolia Korean mountain ash is the most borer-resistant species, which makes it a popular landscape tree. Fast-growing once established, it boasts a densely branched form that adds to its charm. Golden-orange fall color is one of its most striking attributes. Simple ovate leaves and smooth grayish bark make it easy to mistake for a beech tree. Cultivars like ‘Redbird’ produce bright pink, orange or scarlet berries that persist into winter and serve as a spectacular food source for birds. Korean mountain ash reaches 40 to 50 feet tall with a 20- to 25-foot spread. Zones 3–7. AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH Sorbus americana American mountain ash is a small multi-stemmed understory tree or shrub. Native throughout northeastern North America, west to Michigan and south into the Appalachians, it’s one of the more versatile…

KASHMIR ROWAN Sorbus cashmiriana Kashmir rowan is an unusual species native to the Himalayas. The blooms start in April or May and come in white or pink clusters, followed by pure white berries that persist into winter. Though it tolerates most soils, a little rotted leaf mold added to the planting hole will make it happy. It likes full sun but enjoys dappled shade, too. A small tree, it can reach 30 feet tall and wide at maturity, making it perfect for small gardens. The catch: it grows best in cool-climate gardens. Cultivars of S. cashmiriana with stunning berries have been developed by hybridizing with S. aucuparia. ‘Carpets of Gold’ bears yellow fruit; ‘Maiden’s Blush’, pale pink fruits; ‘Kristen Pink’, dark pink. Zones 3–6. WHITEBEAM Sorbus aria Called whitebeam, this European species is named for…

Daffodils (Narcissus) have so many selling points: They’re easy to grow and untroubled by rodents, beautiful to behold at winter’s end and oftentimes fragrant, too. A drawback in certain situations? The size a clump of daffs can achieve, both in height and width. But in front-and-center spaces, amid delicate-looking companions or as an up-close spring vignette, miniature daffodils come to the rescue. what miniature means The American Daffodil Society (ADS) recognizes 13 divisions of daffodils, but “Miniature” is not one of them. However, they do recognize Miniature as a special class for cultivars with single flowers smaller than 1.97 inches across, or a multi-flowered head smaller than 2.83 inches across, with other parts in good proportion. Individual plants within this special class also fall into whichever of the 13 divisions they best match. For…

It’s the end of May. I’m wearing a down jacket, fleece-lined leggings, waterproof pants and a rain poncho for a mostly outdoor workshop on no-till methods for “low-maintenance, climate resilient, bountiful gardens and farms,” at Seeds of Solidarity Farm and Education Center in Orange, Mass. Deb Habib and Ricky Baruc have been farming and teaching carbon farming and gardening here for more than two decades. It will be 46 degrees, windy, rainy—and I want to be here. Just two days ago the temperature reached into the 90s and it will soon soar again. Five other participants have come to learn no-till methods, to become part of the solution to reverse climate change. How can small-scale farmers and gardeners make a difference? Plants draw down carbon dioxide, sending more than half the carbon…

IT’S ELEMENTAL

EVERY ELEMENT of every living creature on earth—animal or vegetable—was forged in the stars, literally within the furnaces of the stars. We and our plant friends have that in common. We shared the nursery when we were just a collection of newborn atomic elements. All elements carry an electrical charge: positive, negative or neutral. It is in the nature of the elements to want chemical stability; that is, to get off the merry-go-round of constant combining and splitting up with other elements and find an arrangement that remains constant. The elements do this by sharing electrons with other elements. To become stable, oxygen, for instance, needs to find two electrons from somewhere. Hydrogen is always handy, and each hydrogen atom has one electron available. In a blink and a click, we…

BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN

NESTLED ALONG the northeast corner of Prospect Park in New York City, Brooklyn Botanic Garden traces its history to 1897, when the state government set aside 39 city acres for a botanical garden. The space opened to the public in 1911. Many of the areas a contemporary visitor sees date back to those early years, including the Native Flora Garden; the Children’s Garden, where city kids can grow vegetables; the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, one of the first of its type in the United States; and the Rock Garden. Today the garden also provides much education and outreach, through school partnerships, programs like the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest and newer areas like the Elizabeth Scholtz Woodland Garden, which showcases plants that flourish in dry shade, and the Discovery Garden, where children…

BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN

EXPERT ADVICE: MAKE AN INSECT HAVEN

With pollinators and the other insects that help sustain our ecosystems in decline, now is the time to welcome what biologist E.O. Wilson called “the little things that run the world” into our gardens. Many gardeners plant flowers to attract bees and butterflies, but insects can’t live on flowers alone. They require shelter, water and, in some cases, very specific food sources to raise their young. Consider creating a habitat for pollinators as well as the amazing array of less beloved, but still important, insects out there. Here’s how: 1 | Offer an insect buffet Cultivating native plants and letting bugs nibble them is perhaps the most effective thing you can do to support a healthy population of insects and other wildlife. Unfortunately, most garden plants are non-native and inedible to native insects.…

EXPERT ADVICE: MAKE AN INSECT HAVEN

4 GROUND-LEVEL PLANTS FOR AUTUMN COLOR

1 WILLOW-LEAVED SPICEBUSH Lindera angustifolia var. glabra Native to wooded areas in western Korea, this under-story shrub is planted for its loose, natural form and lush, fragrant foliage that turns shades of orange and deep coral-red in fall. By early winter, the leaves fade to an even beige that pops amid evergreens. They persist until early spring, weathering wind, ice and snow with little damage. Full sun to part shade. USDA Zones 6–8. 2 RED CHOKEBERRY Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’ This shrub native to eastern North American woodlands is double red in fall: Its foliage bursts into scarlet, as does its glossy, berrylike fruit. Its rather flouncy cultivar name, ‘Brilliantissima’, does aptly describe this small shrub. Compared to the straight species, this compact cultivar produces more fruit and has longer-lasting, cardinal-red foliage. Full sun to part…

4 GROUND-LEVEL PLANTS FOR AUTUMN COLOR

THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF A TOUR

IT’S HARD TO PUT into words the huge, heaping volumes of psychodrama that slowly but surely overcome you after you casually agree to be on a stop on a garden tour. Think of all the crooked roads your mind takes when you suspect that a mechanic is trying to swindle you. Consider the abounding brainpower your imagination consumes in the time between an online search of your symptoms and your medical appointment. Recall, if you dare, that absurdly slow and painful breakup with that one college sweetheart and the nights you lay awake trying to figure out what went wrong. Take all that, add it together and double the sum. This is how—a week before the tour—your spouse comes home to find you fully clothed, curled up in a dry bathtub, drunk,…

THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF A TOUR

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