 Bougainvilleas require lots of light when they're grown indoors. Mine are happy in the southeast corner of my dining room. This photo was taken during February—it was 20 degrees and snowing outside. |
I used to have dozens of houseplants, but over the years I've cut way back. Today, there are only three plants in the sunny, southeast corner of my dining room and all three are bougainvilleas. They are orchid-pink ‘Texas Dawn’, the deeper pink ‘Barbara Karst’ and sunny yellow ‘California Gold’.
These plants started out in little 2” pots that I got from one of my favorite wintertime escapes: Logee’s Greenhouse in Danielson, Ct.,(due west of Providence, R.I., just over the Connecticut line). Before I fade away completely in a daydream about the botanical wonders that live beneath Logee's ancient glass roofs, I’ll just tease you with the image of a 100-year old Ponderosa lemon tree that fills one entire greenhouse. If you can't visit in person, Logees has a great catalog and web site.
OK, back to my bougainvilleas. If you have a sunny indoor space, order yourself a couple plants. They are dead easy to grow. When I was in Mexico and Puerto Rico, I learned why, after all these years, mine are still alive. They grow like weeds along the sides of the road with very little water and very poor soil. It’s a lot like growing in my house!
Bougainvilleas actually respond well to abuse. Like many plants, they set flower after a rest period of reduced water and fertilizer. Mine bloom almost year-round and I think it’s partly because I always let them go completely dry between waterings. When I see the leaves are wilting, that's when I water.
Winter and early spring are the most difficult time for house-bound bougainvilleas. Some years all three of my plants get completely encrusted with whitefly and aphids. The plants are so big now that I can’t muscle them upstairs to the shower. So I have to wait until a warm early spring day, when I can drag them out onto the deck and hose them down.
My bougainvilleas are trained on a variety of different trellises. A nice thing about ‘Texas Dawn’ is that it stays very compact (for me, at least). It’s the shortest of the plants in the picture (at the back), yet requires little to no pruning to maintain this compact form. The other two varieties get cut back pretty severely every year or two. Most of the time, I just wind any wayward stems back into the plants to keep them from taking over the dining room.
As for fertilizer, I spread a couple cups of worm castings (which I make in my Worm Chalet) on the top of each pot about twice a year. When the plants aren’t resting, I also give them liquid fertilizer every time I water.
The only downside to growing bougainvilleas indoors is that they’re messy. All those clouds of papery flowers eventually drop to the floor. I’m not a fussy housekeeper, so this doesn’t really bother me. But if you keep your house as neat as a pin, bougainvilleas probably aren’t for you.
-Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening
Autumn owes its bright colors to red, gold, and apricot maple leaves.
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The big old maple tree in my yard finally came down last summer after years of dropping twigs and branches. I loved its dappled shade and fiery autumn foliage, but not its huge size. I’m planning to replace it this year with a smaller maple variety that has good fall color and a finer texture. There are two new maples being introduced for 2008 that are both contenders for the empty spot in my side yard.
The foliage and shape of the native Big Tooth or Rocky Mountain Maple resemble those of its eastern Sugar Maple cousin, but at half the size. The new variety called Rocky Mountain Glow® Maple (Acer grandidentatum 'Schmidt') from J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. has intense red to apricot autumn leaves and grows only about 25’ tall and 15’ wide.
Another Schmidt introduction, Rugged Charm™ Maple (Acer tataricum ‘JFS-KW2’), is about the same size and has the added bonus of yellow flower clusters followed by bright red seed wings and yellow-orange to scarlet fall foliage. This one is hardy down to USDA Zone 3. Hot Wings™ Maple (Acer tataricum 'GarAnn' #PP 15,023) from Bailey Nurseries is similar.
If you'd like to add a maple tree to your yard, but don't have quite enough room for a 40 foot giant, take a look at these new varieties when you're at your local nursery this spring.
-Ann Whitman, Horticulturist
'New Millennium' Delphiniums are available from a handful of U.S. nurseries this spring. The photo above comes from Graceful Gardens, which is offering several different cultivars.
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I wish marigolds did it for me. Why is it that we always crave the flowers that are most difficult for us to grow?
In my garden the soil is heavy and shallow. Winters are cold (zone 4) and snow cover is pretty undependable. Summers can be warm and humid. The prevailing southerly winds are strong, and they funnel right up the valley into my perennial border. It's not a very good situation for delphiniums.
Of course this has not deterred me. I've been trying to grow delphiniums in my long perennial border for more than 20 years now. Sometimes a couple of plants manage to reappear for a second year, but they rarely do more than survive. So each spring I plant a few new delphinium plants in the back of the border, ever optimistic that they'll be something like the delphiniums I've seen in England and Scotland. Sometimes the odd plant takes hold and puts on a wonderful show. But it's nothing you can count on.
For Christmas this year, my friend Sue gave me a package of delphinium seeds that she ordered from New Zealand. I won't reveal the price, except to say that it was rather dear with the shipping and all. Her gift came with a condition that I grow out the seeds in my greenhouse and give her half the plants. (Only family and very good friends get by giving gifts like that!)
Sue had read about a new strain of delphiniums bred in New Zealand by Terry and Janice Dowdeswell. Called ‘New Millennium’ Delphiniums, they are reputed to be more sturdier of stem, more vigorous in habit, longer-lived and more floriferous. All good things.
This spring I’ve noticed that a couple nursery catalogs are starting to offer New Millenniums. Our sister company, Dutch Gardens, is offering the cultivar 'Purple Passion'. Graceful Gardens
in Mecklenburg, N.Y., has four varieties (and lots of other tempting delphiniums!).
If you’d like to have plenty of delphinium plants for your own garden (and extras for friends), you might want to try your hand at growing them from seed. You can purchase seed directly from the breeder, like we did. At the very least, take a tour of the Dowdeswell’s web site: Dowdewell Delphiniums, Ltd. If you have a minute, you can also read Terry Dowdeswell’s blog: Delphinium Down-Under
The seeds are in my refrigerator now. Since I’ll be away in early April, I’m not going to plant them until I return. I’ll be report back later in the season as to how they’re doing.
-Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
When I read those words last year, written by Michael Pollan, all of my questions about what to eat were answered. Simple, clear and direct.
As we struggle to eat right—whether it's for personal health or global sustainability—we are presented with many labels: low-fat, organic, vegan, sustainable, local, whole-grain, grass-fed and more. Many choices-perhaps too many. And what do these terms really mean? A free-range chicken from California is organic, but is it sustainable to have it shipped across the country to me here in Vermont?
In Michael Pollan's writing, I find direction as an eater—and a gardener. I don't find rules and standards; I find guidance and points to consider. The choices are myriad, and nothing is black and white. It's all gray. The only "wrong" is not thinking about what you eat. For instance, I have a goal of eating more local foods. Not only local foods, but more. In the winter, it's hard to find fresh, local produce—especially in the north. But if you look carefully, it's there.
Michael Pollan is author of several books, including The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. To learn more, visit www.michaelpollan.com. |
We have the locavore movement to thank for the raised profile of local foods. In my local grocery store, I see dozens of items on the shelves that are drawn from the region: produce, dried beans, meats and cheese. Each is highlighted with a shelf sticker. Still I'm not committing to a locavore pledge of eating products from the area from a 100-mile radius of my home. Coffee, orange juice and wine are pleasures I'm not willing to give up just because they're not harvested and produced here in Vermont. Plus, I believe there are ways to support sustainable communities in far-off places by making thoughtful choices.
So this year, I encourage all gardeners to grow something. Or grow more. Or get to know someone who does. Make a connection with your food that will ensure greater health, happiness and sustainability. With humble apologies to Michael Pollan, I offer my own version of his succinct advice:
When you eat, eat. Not in the car. Taste your food.
-David Grist, Online Content Coordinator
Once you've cultivated a taste for arugula, you'll probably want to eat it as often as possible, dressed very simply as the Italians do. |
Arugula (Eruca sativa) is a non-heading, peppery green, also known as rocket or roquette. Popular in Italian cuisine, it’s been cultivated since Greek and Roman times. Usually eaten raw in salads, it can also be made into pesto, sprinkled on a just-cooked pizza or be tossed into hot pasta.
The smell of arugula leaves can be a bit “skunky” (my kids feel the same way about arugula as they do about cilantro) but as I’ve come to love the taste of it, I have come to love its smell as well. Hot weather makes the leaves get spicier. It also makes the plants go to seed pretty quickly. When arugula does start to flower, the plant stops producing new leaves and it’s time for the compost pile.
Arugula leaves are very perishable—they bruise easily and get limp fast – so they’re a perfect crop for the home gardener.
There are many different varieties of arugula and the look, texture and taste of the leaves varies a lot. In my experience, the “wilder” strains are the spiciest. They have longer, thinner, darker green leaves that are deeply cut with sharply pointed ends. The paler, domesticated arugula has thinner, more paddle-like leaves. Apollo is a good example of the latter type. Its leaves are relatively mild and great for arugula-only salads with goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and pears. Last year I bought Apollo from Seed Savers Exchange, but I see it’s also available from Gourmet Seed International. Another arugula I've grown is Runway, which is deeper green and has more jagged leaves, but is still quite mild in taste.
It’s rare to see arugula plants for sale in a nursery. That's because it’s best to grow it from seed yourself. In early spring I sow arugula right in a garden bed, but I have also had good luck growing it in 4x6” fiberpots. Once the seedlings have two to four leaves, I transplant little clumps of three to five plants into the garden. This works especially well in late summer when soil in the garden beds can be too hot and dry for good germination. Cover the bed with shade cloth and water frequently until the plants get established.
I must admit that I often have trouble growing arugula in the spring. Our weather usually goes from cold to hot in the span of about three weeks, and before I have time to make a salad, the plants go to seed. It helps to choose a relatively cool part of the garden where the plants will get a little shade. As a fall crop, it can’t be beat. Last year I covered my arugula with Garden Quilt in mid-October and was still picking it for salads a month later!
-Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening
Rex Begonias paired with silvery Dichondra and Sedum light up a partly shaded garden. |
Choosing plants and planning color combinations for my collection of garden pottery is a satisfying way to spend a snowy winter afternoon. Every spring, I fill these mini gardens with foliage and flowering annuals to decorate my deck, add fragrance to the sitting area in the perennial garden, and flank the path through the orchard.
This year I’m considering a red-hot color scheme for the cobalt blue glazed pot on the sunny south porch. Scarlet-flowered Golden Delicious pineapple sage, deep gold Sunny Alex African daisy (osteospermum), and Tangerine Punch Superbells from Proven Winners will add punch to the front entrance. The cool, ethereal, silver-white flowers and foliage of Diamond Frost euphorbia will cool the mix and cascade over the sides. Tall stems of Spirit Frost cleome add height to the pot and echo the frothy white euphorbia.
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The pair of tall planters at the edge of the shade garden were spectacular last summer. Their silver, white, and green palette glowed in the evenings and will be repeated this year. Calla lilies from Dutch Gardens and White Christmas caladiums added height, bold green-and-white-splashed English ivy and frosty White Licorice helichrysum spilled over the edge. I used pale-pink, double-flowered Rockapulco™ Appleblossom Impatiens for the filler and tucked in a couple of Fire and Ice hostas for bold foliage contrast.
I plant the most fragrant annuals in pots by garden seats to entice visitors to linger and enjoy their perfume. Sweet alyssum and purple-blue Atlantis heliotrope combine the scents of honey and vanilla. Devon Cottage™ Rosie Cheeks pinks (dianthus) add a whiff of clove and dash of pink to the mix.
-Ann Whitman, Staff Horticulturist
A bee at work in an apple orchard. |
As gardeners, we are more aware than most, of the role bees play in pollinating flowers, fruits and vegetables. In the U.S., 30 percent of the food we eat requires bee pollination. European honeybees (Apis mellifera) in particular, do about 80 percent of that work.
Bee colonies are transported in hives so the bees can pollinate a cherry orchard. |
European honeybees have been working in the U.S. for several hundred years. Unlike wild bees, which tend to be solitary workers, honeybees congregate in colonies with as many as 50,000 individuals working under the supervision of their queen. Honeybees are valued for their honey production (most bees don’t produce honey) but it’s their colony-forming lifestyle that has made them so easy to domesticate and set to work for us.
Today, the number of commercial honeybee hives in the U.S. is estimated to be about 2.4 million. Most of these hives are constantly in motion, being trucked from state to state as various agricultural crops come into bloom. California’s almond crop alone requires the services of approximately 1.3 million honeybee colonies each spring.
When scientists mapped the honeybee genome, they discovered that honeybees have about half as many toxin- and disease-fighting genes as most insects. This genetic vulnerability is a likely reason for the honeybee’s population decline over the past 50 years. Losses have been traced to a number of factors, including mite infestations, competition from invasive species such as Africanized bees, and most recently, a mysterious die-off referred to as colony collapse disorder.
Wild and native bee populations are under similar stresses and have definitely experienced population losses, but thus far they are proving to be much hardier. Researchers for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and many other research institutions are studying wild bees and other pollinators to understand how these insects can be enlisted to give honeybees a break. Bee experts at the ARS Bee Biology and Systematic Laboratory in Utah have cataloged more than 1 million entries about wild, native and non-native bees and other pollinators in six ecosystems across the country.
To learn more about our native bees and how to attract and protect them, read Alternative Pollinators: Native Bees, published by the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA). Though the article was written eight years ago, it provides a good overview.
Another excellent resource is the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign. One of our own articles on the subject is: What's the Buzz in Your Garden?
-Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening
When starting plants from seed, it's a good idea to experiment with different sorts of pots and trays. |
I like the fact that gardening is a leisure-time activity that doesn’t require buying a lot of stuff. Of course my basement, barn and garden shed tell quite a different story, but most of it isn’t anything I really NEED to be a successful gardener.
That said, I've found there are a few gardening activities in which gear does make a difference. One of those is seedstarting. It’s true that even a kindergartener can get a marigold seed to germinate in a recycled yogurt cup. But if I’m starting peppers, petunias or parsley from seed, or am trying to fill my cutting garden with the latest and greatest annuals, I want to use the best gear for the job.
In the lab at Gardener’s Supply, we’re currently testing a dozen or more different types of seedstarting pots, trays and specialized propagators. This year’s tests are still underway, but every year, try as we might, we can never get anything to germinate seeds faster and more dependably than the APS system.
APS is an acronym that stands for Accelerated Propagation System. Though it’s a mouthful, the name has proven to be an accurate one. The APS creates an ideal environment for germinating seeds. When you plant seeds in the growing cells, they seem to be overcome with an eagerness to sprout and flourish.
In this year’s tests we’re seeing good results from a couple of other systems, including the Deep-Root Seedstating System, but the APS is still winning, hands down. This doesn’t surprise us, as the APS has garnered more customer love letters than any other product we’ve ever sold (24 years running!). What does surprise us is how difficult it’s been to replicate its success.
If you’re an avid seed starter and would like to share your own results with the APS or any other seedstarting system, please leave us a comment on this post. Thanks!
-Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening
February is here and if you haven't done so already, now's the time to order your dahlias. Since the selection of dahlia bulbs and plants is usually limited at local garden centers, I always order my dahlias by mail. This gives me access to the full range of colors, forms and sizes.
Dahlias have become a staple in my cutting garden. They mix well with other midsummer and fall bloomers, and easily hold their own in a vase. Few annuals or perennials can compete with their dramatic blooms.
If you're relatively new to growing dahlias, it can be a bit overwhelming to wade through the dozens and dozens of choices. The American Dahlia Society sorts dahlias into categories based on their flower form. The number, shape, and arrangement of the flower's petals determine its form.
The ADS recognizes 20 different flower forms, from the familiar cactus dahlia with spidery petals to the aptly named pompons. Some dahlias resemble peonies, some look like waterlilies, and others could be mistaken for daisies or coneflowers.
For bouquets, I especially love the quilled white-and-purple-accented flowers of ‘Blackberry Ripple’ and ‘Dutch Explosion’. ‘Halskraag’ means collar in Dutch and is an appropriate name for the eye-catching blooms of this unusual form. Each flower has a row of shorter petals that encircle a center disk, which is often in a contrasting color.
Dahlia flowers range in size from 12" across to the diminutive double Pompons and Mignon Singles that measure less than 2” across. Although not a formally ADS-recognized category, most dahlia purveyors offer the largest blooms as "dinnerplate dahlias". They typically reach 8” or more across. It only takes a few flowers of yellow ‘Kelvin Floodlight’ or deep red ‘Zorro’ to make a stunning bouquet!
The more petite, windowbox dahlias have their own special charm. I use them for small arrangements, mixed with mums and dwarf asters. With colors ranging from white, golden-yellow, and cherry-red to pink and lavender, the Mignon and Pompon mixtures also make cheerful bouquets.
If it takes your garden soil awhile to warm up in the spring, you may want to get your dahlia bulbs started in nursery pots. Once the plants have leafed out and the soil in your garden has warmed up, you can dig a large hole and carefully place the developing root ball right into your garden.
To ensure your dahlia-growing success, here's a how-to article with lots of helpful tips and techniques.
-Ann Whitman, Staff Horticulturist
Opuntia cactus covered with white scale insects. |
I hate scale. This persistent insect pest eventually caused the untimely death of my prized Meyer lemon tree. During the annual winter infestations, I would try to keep the insect in check with periodic applications of Neem oil, but after several years of battle, I grew weary of fighting and let the tree die.
Scale isn't all bad, though. On a recent trip to Mexico I discovered that there's a type of scale (different from the one that plagued my lemon tree) that people have been putting to good use for thousands of years. Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) latches onto several species of opuntia cactus, most notably Opuntia ficus-indica. The Zapotec people in Oaxaca, Mexico, collect the insects from the cactus pads growing in the region. The pests are dried, ground and mixed with liquid to create a vibrant dye that ranges in color from red to purple. This dye can be used in many things, including foods and fabrics.
The red color in this rug is made with wool that's been dyed with cochineal. |
Samuel Bautista Lazo and his family are Zapotec weavers that use cochineal to tint the wool they spin and weave into rugs. The weavers can produce lighter red tones by adding acid (lemon juice), and more purple tones by adding crushed limestone. In fact, all of this family's wool is tinted with natural sources: mostly from plants and, of course, from cochineal, the scale insect.
"We use natural dyes because our ancestors taught us how to use them; it was how they painted their manuscripts and murals," Bautista says. "Plus, it is well-known now that synthetic dyes can be highly toxic—another reason we use natural dyes."
Celestino Bautista Lazo works on a new rug, featuring yarn dyed with cochineal and plant parts. |
Among the plants foraged for dyes:
• Walnut leaves and shells provide brown tones
• Pome-
granate peel is used to make orange to yellow hues
• Marigold flowers (cempazuchitl) can be used to create golds and yellows
• Indigo, a shrub, yields beautiful, blue tones
-David Grist, Online Content Coordinator
Wool yarn being dyed with cochineal. The yarn simmers for several hours to set the color. |
 Grow your own vegetables when you can, especially those that appear on the "dirty dozen" list: sweet bell peppers, celery and strawberries |
Unless you grow your own or buy organic, you can be fairly sure that the canned, frozen, and fresh fruits and vegetables you drop into your shopping cart have been sprayed with chemicals. The tantalizing bins of lemons and oranges, apples and bananas, mounds of melons, green beans, and colorful peppers come to our local grocery store from all over the world. Regardless of the source, most conventional farmers rely on pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides to increase their crop yields and provide blemish-free products. It’s hard to know what’s safe to feed our families.
To help consumers make informed choices, a nonprofit research group, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), published a “Dirty Dozen” list and a “Consistently Clean” list for fruits and vegetables. The lists are based on nearly 43,000 pesticide residue tests conducted on fruits and vegetables between 2000 and 2004 by the USDA and Federal Drug Administration (FDA). By avoiding the most contaminated products, consumers can sidestep 90% of their potential pesticide exposure from produce.
Eating conventionally produced products on the Dirty Dozen list, including peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery and strawberries, can contribute as many as 15 different pesticides to your diet per day. The 12 cleanest include onions, sweet corn, cabbage and broccoli, which contribute fewer than two. To read more and find the complete lists, visit the Environmental Working Group’s web site.
-Ann Whitman, Staff Horticulturist
Sedums and other succulent plants add color and texture and thrive in hot, dry gardens.
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Succulent plants, like Sedum, Hens and Chicks, and Stonecrop, have really caught my eye over the past couple of years. I’ve seen many of them used in containers and small gardens where their textures and colors stand out from early summer right through September. Their fleshy leaves take heat, full sun, and drought in stride.
Proven Winners® offers several Sedums, including two with trailing, fine-textured, golden foliage—Angelina and Lemon Coral—and Garnet Brocade™, which has dark burgundy, upright growth and red flowers. Angelina thrives on top of a stone retaining wall in my Zone 4 garden.
Recent introductions from other plant breeders include Mr. Goodbud stonecrop from Terra Nova. This one grows just over a foot tall and has pink buds that open to dark mauve flower clusters. Red Cauli Sedum is another winner in my garden with its serrated blue-green leaves and pink-turning-red flowers.
Cottage garden favorites, Hens and Chicks, are popular in Europe as container plants and for growing on roof gardens. These tough, old-fashioned plants have made a comeback here, too. I’ve even seen them used in living wreaths and as centerpieces for outdoor tables.
—Ann Whitman, Horticulturist
P.S. From Kathy LaLiberte, Director of Gardening: I've planted lots of succulents in troughs. You can see them in the Gardener's Supply Photo Center. Just look at my album called Succulents.
-Kathy LaLiberte
Gardener’s Supply has been promoting organic gardening techniques and composting since 1984. During these past 25 years, our customers have produced millions of tons of carbon-rich compost to make their gardens more productive. Here in Burlington, Vt., the community composting program that we started about 15 years ago, is now converting hundreds of thousands of tons of organic waste into compost for area gardeners, landscapers and farmers.
And guess what? All this carbon-rich material that we’re adding to the soil is also removing excess CO2 from the atmosphere. This means that while we’re making the soil more productive, we’re also helping to mitigate climate change by sequestering some of the excess carbon that’s been released by human activity over the past 200 years. What’s good for our gardens is also good for the planet!
Here I am at the farm with Tierra Pacifica's organic farm manager, Elias Roriguez. We're experiencing great success by combining traditional agricultural methods with contemporary innovations. |
For the past several years, I’ve been spending winters in Costa Rica where my wife’s family lives. In the tropics, deforestation, thin soils and unrelenting heat, wind and sun make soil building a far more critical need than it is here in North America.
Since 1999 I’ve been working with a small horticultural training center on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, to develop new gardening and farming techniques that store more carbon and produce more vegetables and fruits on less land. We call this system “chinampas” growing, because it’s based on the traditional Mayan raised/sunken growing beds, combined with agro forestry and organic gardening techniques.
Below are a couple photos of the gardens. If you’re interested in learning more, please check out www.elcentroverde.org, or contact me (see the El Centro Verde website) if you’ll be in Costa Rica and would like to visit our test gardens at Tierra Pacifica in Guanacaste.
-Will Raap, Founder and Chairman
Growing beds are heavily mulched to retain moisture while seeds are germinating. Fruit-bearing trees have been planted throughout the farm as windbreaks and to provide shade for understory crops. |
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Shade netting is one of the "modern" innovations that's proving to be very useful, especially for greens and transplants. In this photo you can clearly see the concept of chinampas gardening, in which some growing areas are raised and some are at or below grade. |
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