Spring Wildflowers for Pollinators and Our Garden

Earlier this year, we saw an abundance of spring wildflowers blooming in our garden. The early spring blooms provide much-needed pollen and nectar for honeybees, bumblebees, and other pollinators. The flowers also support other beneficial insects, which help to control insect pests that otherwise damage our vegetable crops.  

Yellow golden groundsel was the first to bloom, as usual. This is a great native plant for wet areas, like our garden, and it grows in both full sun and partial shade. It will also grow in dry and medium soil. It is multiplying and forming colonies where it is happy and serving as a groundcover and living mulch throughout the year. You can read more about golden groundsel and its use in the Chesapeake Bay watershed here. 

Golden Groundsel beginning to bloom

Colony of Golden Groundsel

 

Virginia bluebells

Virginia bluebells were the star of this year's show. These spring ephemerals pop up, bloom, set seed, and then disappear by midsummer. The plants are dormant for most of the year, with underground tubers that will send up leaves again next spring. Bumblebees, butterflies, and moths all appreciate its nectar. 

Did you know there is a geranium native to North America? There is, and it's growing and blooming in our garden! This plant grows in partial to full shade and medium to dry soil. It is native to the woodlands of the Eastern United States. We grow it in a bed at the edge of the woods, in partial shade. 

Wild Geranium (Cranesbill)

Woodland phlox (Phlox stolonifera)

This year, native creeping phlox bloomed in a new pollinator bed at the edge of the garden. Like the native geranium, it grows in full to partial shade. This plant likes the rich, moist soil of the forest floor. We've planted it in a partially shaded garden bed at the edge of the woods. 

We've planted the native wildflowers featured here with grant funding from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  

A Garden of Possibilities

Today, I am plotting—um, I mean planning—my garden. What shall I grow this year? I want plants that will thrive in the new reality of climate instability and are disease-resistant, especially to common diseases in our garden, like cucumber mosaic virus. Yes, plants get viruses. (Achoo!) I want to arrange my plants so they don't grow or lean into the path or my neighbor's plots. I also want to be careful of space-hogging plants in my 2025 garden.   

First, let's look at what grew well last year, with the cool, wet spring, typical hot summer (with a streak of horrible 90+ degree days), and months-long drought. 

Swiss chard and kale did well at the beginning of the season. Collards have done well in past years. Beets did well in the spring, but I didn't harvest them in time. Mizuna "Miz America" was a nice surprise, and the pink mizuna did well as usual. Batavian Endive was another nice surprise, producing lovely, lush heads of salad greens. The collards and kale planted last spring did well throughout the season, but the plants are now battered from this winter's snow. Cauliflower Romesco was a bust. The harlequin bugs destroyed it.   

Cherry tomatoes did well; other tomatoes not so much. The Sungold and wild red cherry tomatoes continued to produce until frost. I even found a Sungold tomato in a sheltered spot in late December. Eggplant did well. Hot peppers produced well, but my sweet lunchbox pepper plant caught a virus. (Ahhh Choo!) Purslane did really well, as always, and is now a food crop rather than a weed in my garden. 

The herbs were amazing, especially the roselle and ever-present mint. (Grow it in a pot and don't let it escape!) Lemon balm continued to expand, growing into the pathway. Oops! The basil needs another spot away from the vining cherry tomatoes. Syrian oregano did well. Lovage is seeding itself around the garden.  

Next, let's look at what grew where, especially tomatoes and cucurbits. These plants need to be grown in a different spot this year to minimize disease pressure. This is called crop rotation. I plan my crop rotations around the tomatoes. I sketch out a garden plan and make changes until I am happy with it. 

Then reality hits, as I go out to the garden to see the work I must do to pull winter weeds and prepare my garden beds for planting. Fortunately, it's early in the season, with days of surprisingly nice weather. See you in the garden! 

 

Flower Boxes Blooming with Poppies

Flanders field poppy, Papaver rhoeas, in bloom.  (Photo courtesy of A. Cuellar)

The old flower boxes outside the Mamie D. Lee Community Garden are full of red poppies - Flanders field poppies - blooming just in time for Memorial Day. There are many ways to remember and honor those who have died while serving our country  - some lay wreaths or place flags at gravesites. Some have parades. I grow poppies, the flower that has symbolized the horror of war and its enormous cost in human lives for 100 years.

During World War I, the poppies grew abundantly where the soil was disturbed by shelling, fighting, and newly dug graves. The blossoms must have been incredible, for they have been described in verse and are used in remembrance ceremonies around the world.

In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae

  In Flanders fields the poppies blow 
Between the crosses row on row, 
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly 
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago 
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 
Loved and were loved and now we lie 
In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe: 
To you, from failing hands we throw 
The torch; be yours to hold it high. 
If ye break faith with us who die 
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow, 

In Flanders fields.  

These flowers are annuals, also known as common field poppies or corn poppies. The botanical name is Papaver rhoeas. The poppies will self sow; that is, the plants will grow wherever the seeds fall and the conditions are good.  Somehow, the poppies know to bloom in time for Memorial Day. 

Note: This post reflects the views of the author, not necessarily all of the members of the Mamie D. Lee Community Garden. 

We Are a Community of Gardeners

We - the Mamie D. Lee Community Garden Association - had our annual Spring meeting this morning. We had a good turnout, with numerous returning gardeners from last year, and a few new ones. Some are recent graduates of the Neighborhood Farm Initiative. We had a good meeting, with a discussion of many things, including our community of gardeners.

Byron Adams and Ann Bemen led our meeting, while our secretary and treasurer collected dues in the back of the room. Our annual dues have increased for the first time in years, to build up a reserve to cover the costs of capital expenses, like water repairs, fence repairs, and replacing our aging tool shed. The Garden Board of Directors, elected last fall, made the decision to raise the dues, to the protest of some gardeners. One woman expressed concern that this decision was made without input of the garden community. From the board's perspective, this one-time increase is the simplest - and easiest - way to to cover capital expenses.

As a former community garden manager, I know the financial challenges of running a garden. It costs money to run a garden, and we were blessed to have gardeners donate significant amounts of money (over $1000) last year. This money went to repair the fence that keeps the deer from eating our Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes, and to keep the midnight shoppers from helping themselves to the fruits of our labor. This money also went to repair the underground irrigation system that allows us to water our plots without having to drag hoses long distances.

At the same time, I understand that gardeners want to have input on major decisions affecting the garden. All of us want to know where the money goes. The board - and our brand new treasurer - shared major expenses from last year. They have also pledged to share that information at our fall meeting and to be more transparent in decision making.

I understand that the increased dues may pose a hardship for some gardeners. The board is offering scholarships to those who are unable to pay. (I have donated to this cause.) Gardeners who have been with Mamie D. Lee for over twenty years will continue to pay the lower dues. The grandfathers have been grandfathered in, so to speak, with lower dues. A few gardeners suggested alternative means of raising money for capital improvements, such as having those who are unable to work their community hours pay more, or applying for grants, or using Amazon.Smile. A fundraising committee was born today.

We are a community of gardeners, comprised of a lot of wonderful people. Among us, we have many lifetimes of gardening experience. We may not always agree - what group of people does? Let us put our differences aside and have a great 2017 garden season.    
          

Poison Ivy - Leaves of Three, Let it be...

Our garden has few patches of poison ivy growing along and up the chain-link fence on the west side of the garden, between the garden and the school.  This weed is a potential allergen - leaves, stems, and roots all contains an oil capable of causing severe allergic dermatitis. Not everyone is allergic; moreover, allergies change over time. I used to romp in poison ivy as a child without getting a rash. I got poison ivy for the first time when I was in my 20s; now, I get it from my dogs when they brush up against it.  The last time I got poison ivy, in late July, I had blisters.    

The Park Service does not remove native weeds, such as poison ivy, because they enrich the habitat by providing food for wildlife. They will, however, cut back poison ivy, as they did in our garden, when it become hazardous for people. If you are any where near as allergic to poison ivy as I am, you really wish they would just spray it with herbicide, but they don't and they won't.and they are the landlord.  The best advice I can give is to learn to identify it, and avoid it.  There's an old saying,"leaves of three, let it be," Poison ivy leaves are shiny in the spring and scarlet in the fall.  

Poison ivy: leaves of three, let it be...

If you must work in poison ivy, wear long sleaves, long pants, closed toe shoes, and gloves.  Wash all of your clothing immediately.  I you touch it, wash thoroughly with Technu, a special product that removes the poison ivy oils from your skin.  It this doesn't work, and you get a rash, you can use a special astringent containing Aluminum sulfate to dry out the rash. This is sold under the tradename Dombrom, but CVS also carries a generic version.  

Remember, leaves of three, let it be! 

Weeds: If you can't beat them, eat them...

I hate weeds, especially those that spring up out of nowhere and smother my tender garden vegetables....my seedbeds just getting started; my transplanted tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Darn those weeds!  They compete with my garden plants for nutrients, sunlight, and water....This is not a good thing.

There can, however, be a good side to weeds. Some of them are edible.  This is something I learned as a child, when my father would take me foraging.  He referred often to a book by Eull Gibbons, Hunting the Wild Asparagus, published before I was born.  He would say often of weeds...."If you can't beat them, eat them!" and that's what we proceeded to do. However, some of the weeds that he gathered proved to be too much trouble, like pokeweed, or Poke.  It had to be boiled at least twice to remove the toxins so that it was safe to eat.  Only the tender young greens were edible. Other parts of the plants were poisonous, including the bright purple berries.  Even as a child, eating Poke seemed to be a bad idea.  I mention this because one has to be very careful when choosing to forage weeds or anything else.  Identification is key. You really do need to know your plants, and know what you know and what you don't. That said, some of our "weeds" are pretty tasty.        

A few weeks ago, I gave a workshop on edible weeds for the Neighborhood Farm Initiative's Open House.  I talked about three very safe and delicious greens that are prolific in the Mamie D. Lee Community garden.  These are considered weeds mostly because they are growing in the wrong spot. Some of our gardeners actually grow amaranth in their plots, and one can find lambsquarters and purslane for sale in farmers markets.  I guided workshop participants in identifying and gathering these greens, and then using them to make a delicious salad! 
Happy gardening, and weeding!

-Christina Scheltema    

Hope for Spring

In this bitter cold, I am thinking more about my garden, counting the days until the ground will thaw and I can play in the dirt once again. In the meantime, I am consoling myself with seed catalogues, which offer hope for spring.

Every year, the catalogues begin arriving in my mailbox before Thanksgiving.  Somehow they know that I’m an avid gardener, and that the coming winter cold will have me hoping for and dreaming of spring. The seed sellers know that I need a diversion from the holiday festivities, and that my green thumb will start itching in January.  

I must admit that I have great fun leafing through the catalogues and my leisure, looking at the new varieties and contemplating which old favorites I will grow again this year.  Jimmy Nardello and Yummy peppers are on my list, as are Juliette and Golden Jubilee tomatoes. I’m trying a new tomato variety this year – Genuwine – a cross between Brandywine and Costoluto Genovese - from Totally Tomatoes.  I will grow Ping Tung Long Asian eggplants, and Bride, a white variety I grew some time ago.  After growing Tokyo Cross turnips last fall, I will try Shogoin turnips this spring. These are two lovely Asian turnips, producing plump, tender white roots, ranging from the size of large marbles to golf balls. I also plan to grow a variety of spring greens – Swiss chard in many colors, red mustard, and two types of kale.  

My order from Pinetree Garden Seeds arrived last week, keeping hope alive. In the next week or two, I will start my winter greens indoors, in a special spot in my basement.  That’s a topic for another blog.

    

It’s time to order seeds, if you haven’t already done so. You can grow vegetables by seed that you could never purchase in a garden center or plant sale - unless you plan to spend all of your gardening time running from sale to sale. You may discover some favorite varieties.  If you are a seasoned gardener, please let us know what you like to grow...