It was good to be back in the Garden after a rain-out the week before. It was a hot and humid day, but our faithful gardeners were hard at work. The Garden is beginning to look as though the end of the growing season is approaching, but there were still many blooms to admire and vegetables to pick. Bug Report: Darlene Nicholson John R. spied a couple of these bug bunches on the Witch Hazel. After a quick check with HGIC they sent this message back. "You are correct. These are Yellownecked caterpillars. http://bugguide.net/node/view/43588/bgimage. In light infestations, individual branches may be defoliated. Trees defoliated two or more years in a row may suffer serious dieback. The clusters of caterpillars can be manually removed and destroyed, or they may be soaked with a spot spray of insecticidal oil." https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/caterpillars-trees-and-shrubs 100 Square Foot Garden Report: Linda Taveira-dasilva We hadn't been to the garden for a while because of the weather, and it looked unkempt and sad. The tomato plants had quite a bit of fungus as well as the basil. The other plants had either disease, overgrowth, sprawled out of their spaces, or in general looked neglected. One of our coverings was acting as a sanctuary city for harlequin bugs. Hope and Heidi sprang into action. (I don't think they actually saw the black whip.....) Heidi picked tomatoes and cleaned up the tomato and basil plants. Herbs oregano and chives were clipped and weeds quaked at her coming. Beans were scavenged from the bushes and pole. Hope was not having it. She clipped up and/ or quite unceremoniously eliminated ALL sad looking plants (mostly beans), replacing them aesthetically (of course) with fresh, young good- looking things (lettuce) thanks to our Garden Godmother Mary Ann. We ended DACA (the row cover) over the mustard, realizing that the bugs were taking advantage of our good will by cohabiting and eating our plants under the cover. Welcome ICE (predators). The pepper plants looked respectable and yielded a nice bag of jalapenos and fisher peppers. We did give the tomatillo plant a reprieve as it looked like it could still have a few good tomatillos in it. (You always have to give Latins a second chance. It's their nature). We were able to harvest a modest bag of lettuce as not all of the seeds germinated from the past. With the old biddies (plants) gone, trimming, weeding and replacing, the garden once more looked respectable. Therapeutic Horticulture Report: Bob Loesche Between vacation and rain-outs, I haven't been to the Demo Garden in a couple of weeks, and today I observed that things are definitely slowing down everywhere in the Garden, including in the TH beds. But . . . , we still have lots of flowers, including most spectacularly the Rudbeckia Goldquelle--photo attached. At the risk of being immodest, I'd call it the plant of the week in the DDG. Several people stopped by to ask about the plant. Since this is our first year growing it I have no personal experience to share, but my research indicates that it is a hardy perennial which can last for 15 years or so. It'd be a good choice for home gardens, as it is very undemanding in terms of soil and water and is largely deer resistant. It prefers full sun but can tolerate some shade. I'm going to try to grow it myself. Getting back to the TH beds, today I did a good bit of deadheading, weeding and staking to keep the beds looking as good as they can this time of year. I generally did not remove dried heads of flowers that are not going to rebloom (e.g. Echinacea, Achillea and Rudbeckia), thinking that they could both attract birds and be good to spray paint and use in TH projects after the growing season concludes. Details on what's looking good: In Bed 1, the Celosia are absolutely terrific--bright red and compact in shape. The Cut and Come Again zinnia continue to flower steadily, and the Artemisia just won't quit. Bed 2 is largely kaput, with the exception that the Queen Red Lime zinnia are flowering more than they were a couple of weeks ago. Bed 3 continues to flower strongly. The red Gomphrena remain in abundant bloom, and the stems have grown longer, which might make them easier to use for projects. The chrysanthemums are still flowering well, and there is a nice second round of blossoms on the Tanacetum. The Rudbeckia Goldstrum west of the fennel are doing well, but the bed on the other side of the fennel has no flowers or leaves at all, apparently the result of too much moisture (there may have been some irrigation problems in the last week or so). The pinwheel zinnia are also suffering from what appears to be too much moisture, though there are still flowers to work with. The white chives are flowering beautifully, though they appear close to going to seed so should be cut soon. Next to Bed 3, our neighbors in the Autistic Children's Garden have beautiful, very large red zinnia which they invited THer's to cut and use. In Bed 4, much of the flowering is over, but the Gaillardia are still hanging on and I did a good bit of deadheading to encourage more blooms. The Celosia here are quite large and, occasionally, rather odd in shape--check them out. And, as mentioned, the Rudbeckia Goldquelle are simply fantastic with lots and lots of neon yellow blossoms. In Bed 4.5, the pink Gomphrena also continue to flower robustly. The plants had flopped and were completely covering the path next to the bed, so Bill asked me to stake them up. I did so, but the result is that the flower heads now lean to one side rather than straight up and down. But don't be deterred--when individual stems are cut for arrangements they should be fine. Manna Report: Cindy and John Reilly We delivered 150 lbs. to Manna today. Editor's note: Thanks to John and Cindy for making the Manna delivery this week! Butterfly Garden Report: Peggy Stanford Today was a beautiful day in the Butterfly Garden. Great weather and lots of caterpillars. We saw at least 10 Monarch caterpillars feasting on the young Common Milkweed. The Derwood Butterfly Garden is doing its part in increasing the Monarch population. Also Darlene released a Monarch morphed from caterpillar she monitored at her home. "Harvey" rapidly made himself at home feasting on every thing in sight. We also had a heavy presence of Bumble bees and Skippers feeding on the Sedum Stonecrop and the Butterfly Bushes. Julie has officially adopted the Smooth Alder planted just outside the Butterfly Garden. She will keep it mulched and trimmed to promote healthy growth. Regular garden maintenance completed our day. Tomato Bed: Dan Ward and Joslyn Read Tomatoes are definitely showing signs that the end of the season isn't far off. With the exception of the cherry tomatoes, the remainder are slowing the ripening process. The plants are also showing their age, like me. Plus, with all the rain we have had lately, fungus is really running rampant through the entire tomato beds. Many thanks to Yingyan for her usual great job, and to Darlene for doing the thankless job of grabbing all the bad tomatoes for the trash. If you are planning to save your open pollinated/heirloom tomato seeds, you should be definitely be doing that soon before it is too late. The best tomatoes are the fully ripe ones. The ones that are past their prime for eating are ideal because the seeds are just fine to save. If you have any questions on how to do this I'll gladly answer those questions. It's really easy to do so. Also, a few weeks ago I found a pair of Black and Decker pruners in my bucket. If they belong to you I will have them with me next Tuesday. To all, it might not be a bad idea to label your tools that you bring to DDG. Vegetable Garden Report: Mary Ann Normile Despite a warm day in the garden, the trend is definitely toward cooler and shorter days. It has felt like a rapid transition from the hot and humid weather of early August to some early fall-like weather, and the garden is transitioning similarly. Many summer crops have been removed, affected by fungal diseases with the recent pattern of heavy rains followed by hot days, and/or insects. Taking their places are the lovely, leafy greens of fall. We made a decision early in the summer to focus the fall garden on short-season leafy crops--Brassicas, lettuces, Asian greens, and crops in the amaranth family--beets, chard, and spinach--rather than the longer-season heading crops. The fall season is always too short, and we need to devote energies to fall cleanup, restoration, and sowing cover crops, which should get underway in the next few weeks. We also want to have a good display for the upcoming Harvest Festival (October 7). Harvesting: beans (and more beans! but coming to an end soon), squash (summer and the first winter), cucumbers (the last), lettuce, mouse melons (much later than usual this year), Malabar spinach, okra, mustard, kale, celery, many green and a few blushing tomatoes, one small eggplant, and peppers--both sweet and hot, including a large harvest of the very productive jalapeno 'Jalafuego.' Tending: pulled out yellow pole beans and cucumbers, both hit by disease and insects; pulled out some bitter lettuce in salad table (but much is still sweet and edible); Linda pulled out buckwheat cover crop which was invaded by weeds; Barbara checked progress of mislabeled sweet potato which is doing better than the accurately labeled ones (it's got tubers underneath). pulled bush beans Jade II and Blue Lake, which had a short but productive season, removed fungus-affected (despite being early blight-resistant) tomato plants from deep raised bed, and removed cosmos, holy basil and a few other pollinator-attracting plants to replace with leafy greens. There are still plenty of flowering plants around to keep our visiting bees and butterflies happy. Planting: kale (lacinato and Red Russian); Swiss chard 'technicolor'; romaine 'Parris Island' and 'Freckles'; bok choy 'Prize Choy.' Herb and Fragrance Garden: Kathy Tsai After a two-week absence due to rainy weather, the Herb and Fragrance team tackled our area with shears in hand. First to be cut back was the African blue basil which had become a bully in the center of the garden. It completely covered the heliotrope and the ornamental pepper. Now those plants can once again get some sunshine. Next, the always unruly apple mint and lemon balm were thinned and cut back. On the other side of the garden, a hunt ensued to find the butterfly weed plant. We think we found it, or should I say what remains of it. It is hardly more than a root with a small crown. We will probably move it somewhere else to increase its chances of survival. Weeding, of course, needed to be done, and container plants were tidied up. The hyssop was cut back as was the tansy. When John trimmed some of the witch hazel, he found several small branches that were covered with clusters of an orangey caterpillar. They had completely defoliated those branches. An inquiry to HGIC revealed that they were Yellow necked caterpillars. According to HGIC, they can kill an infected tree if left unchecked for a year or two. We will be keeping a close eye on the witch hazel to prevent that from happening. Special Projects Report: Carol Conrad and Carol Olsen Today was mainly a harvest and cleanup day in each of the gardens. We removed the browning leaves from the tomato plants and in the process discovered a very small worm and some very tiny white critters on some of the leaves..maybe aphids? A few tomato plants needed additional support as some were heavy with green tomatoes and others needed support for their height. The straw bales held a surprise for us. Carol C discovered 3 Adirondack Blue potatoes in the front part of the bales. The above ground part of the plants had long since disappeared. The Ketchup and Fries (tomato/potato) plant has been producing tomatoes. Today we noticed new green growth at its base, and we wonder if that is a sign that some potatoes are developing. Carol O discovered another surprise in one of the keyholes. While deadheading marigolds, she noticed some carrot greens and pulled out one good sized carrot and another smaller one. In the pallets we removed yellowing leaves from the nasturtiums and refilled all the water bottles. We were sad to see that something has nipped off the mustard and radish seedlings. In addition to tomatoes, carrots and potatoes, our harvest today included basil, Sunset Runner Beans, dill, parsley, eggplants, peppers, and mouse melons. Small Fruits Report: Gail Ifshin and Ram Narula There is much consideration about next season in the small fruit world. The Goji Berry bush (Lyciym barbarum) has come under some criticism for taking up so much space and yielding very few actual berries (this year’s berry production to date can fit into the palm of a very small hand). Because Goji berries are somewhat exotic and well-known at the same time, the plant has a place in a demo garden, of course. We will do a very hard prune once it is dormant and endeavor to not permit it to overgrow its allotted space next year. We have been gifted a second fig tree which would be quite happy in the Goji berry’s current location. Speaking of figs, our fig tree (Ficus carica) is larger than it has ever been, and has quite a few fruit, several of which look like they will be ready to eat next Tuesday. So MGs, take note there may be a special treat to share next week. We did a fairly hard prune on the thornless blackberry vines (Rubus fruticosus). The plant will fruit on the new canes that are growing now. Ultimately, we will prune out all of the vines that have already fruited along with new canes smaller than a pencil, and cut back to about 5 feet tall the most vigorous of the new canes. Over the next couple weeks we will dig out and/or indicate where there are surplus plants available for interested takers. We highly recommend this producer of large, sweet blackberries. Finally, we are soliciting advice on our strawberry patch. Fruit production was quite low, and we are not sure why. In terms of preparation for winter, some recommend mowing back the plants to two inches high and then mulching with straw. Others just recommend the straw. We believe this was the second year for the current plants – and some recommend that the plants be replaced every three years. Does anyone have experience with ever-bearing varieties? Is there a better bed design/location we should consider? What are strategies that might improve the yield? Thanks in advance for your help! Children's Garden Report: Sandy Chernin It is September in the Children’s Garden and what a difference a few months make! The purple hyacinth bean vines that took off so slowly are now showing multiple and magnificent pinkish-purple flowers, enveloping the tunnel. The lion’s mane plants must be fifteen feet tall, flower stalks reaching to the sky. The teepee is engulfed with fern-like and lacy cardinal vine and its red trumpet-like flowers (attracting the occasional hummingbird). In the garden of “Plants with Animal Names”, the pink turtlehead is blooming beautifully and the white turtlehead is about to bloom. The Lamb’s Ear looks healthy and lush, next to the abundant Pigsqueak. And having been cut back during the season, the catmint is showing some continued blue bloom. The season’s end, though, is showing in Mrs. MacGregor’s garden. The Sungold tomato plant, almost bare of leaves, will likely only produce for another week. The common sweet basil plants were pulled this week due to mildew; the purple ruffle basil plants remain for now. The few pepper plants do show fruit ready to soon harvest. Radishes planted a few weeks ago in one of the raised planter boxes are doing well but radishes at the side of the bed have not fared so well. Only a handful of beets seem to have germinated in one of the other planter boxes. The peanut plants, though, continue under cover and look healthy – no further rabbit damage. The cotton plants have open cotton bolls on the lower stems and continued flowering at the top. And let me not forget to mention the gourds! The gourd vines are still going strong, despite some mildew that we are managing to keep under control with pruning. To see the gourds, go behind the plants, near the fence, and peek behind leaves to find the differing shapes and colors of this year’s harvest! Closing thoughts. . .
Thanks to everyone who worked in the Garden this week! One final announcement on the way out: we have rescheduled our rained out Open Garden to Tuesday, October 10. Tomato tasting will not be a part of the event, but we look forward to having other MG's drop by and visit. And, yes, we are keeping an eye on Hurricane Irma and the possibility of rain again (!!) on Tuesday. Lily, Susan and Bill
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