Garden Gate May/June 2019

Pretty, but don’t touch I first became aware of wild parsnip when I was trout fishing with my son several years ago. The gorgeous streams we had visited for years were suddenly lined with drifts of tall yellow-umbel flowers. They were pretty scattered among the other wildflowers and grasses and seemed harmless as we made our way along the banks. But a few days later my son’s arm was covered with painful blisters that left scars behind. With a bit of research we learned that we’d been walking through stands of wild parsnip, and it was the combination of sap and sunlight on his arm that caused the blisters. Now we are much more cautious. It’s a serious and sad reminder that this plant, as well as similar ones, are…

Planting Tips Make sure you’re getting your new plants off to the best start. Follow our step-by-step tips and advice on how to plant almost anything! GardenGateMagazine.com/articles/how-to/ SEE WHAT WE’RE UP TO Follow Us On Instagram! See what’s blooming in our gardens, what’s inspiring us and follow our travels. GGMAGEXTRA.COM Keep an eye out for this icon throughout the issue and check out GGMagExtra.com for expanded articles online.…

How To Enter: INSTAGRAM: Submit photos of your garden using the hashtag: #ggmagReaderGarden MAIL: Reader Garden Award Garden Gate Magazine 2143 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312 EMAIL: Email your information and a link to your images in cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon Cloud Drive, etc.) to ReaderGarden@aimmedia.com GUIDELINES: Only amateur gardeners are eligible for awards; participants cannot earn their living from gardening, landscaping or interior design. Gardens that have received other national gardening honors or awards or have been featured in a national magazine are ineligible. Please retain an original copy of your complete entry for your records; materials will not be returned. Images from entries may be shared online. DEADLINE: Submissions must be received by October 15th, 2019. Award winners will be selected by Garden Gate editors…

WHAT I’VE LEARNED... My hostas need to move. I had to take out some big trees a couple of years ago and now the hostas are burning up. This year I’ll try them under the walnut trees. Thank goodness hostas are juglone tolerant! I started gardening because of my grandmother. She had a huge vegetable garden. In high school, I grew catnip for my cat. She loved it. Grow ‘Halfway to Arkansas’ amsonia. It has pretty blue flowers in spring and bright yellow foliage in fall. I love visiting California gardens. When I first started going there I was amazed that all the plants we grow as houseplants here in the Midwest are pretty much shrubs there. You can actually mow down an oakleaf hydrangea plant and it will survive.…

A thrifty seedling cover Karen Riggs, AZ Did you come home from the nursery with one of these plastic trays that hold small plants above? Karen Riggs found a way to reuse them in her garden: Turn them upside down and place them over your seedlings for protection. She uses two-pronged metal plant markers to secure them to the ground. Make sure the tray has openings large enough to let light in, but small enough to prevent critters and birds from digging up or eating seedlings. She sometimes even attaches frost protection cloth to prevent frost damage. Remove the trays when seedlings start to reach the top—they are usually less susceptible to damage by this point. Save empty potting mix bags and use them to catch debris as you repot…

Pipevine swallowtail Battus philenor What it looks like Both male and female pipevine swallowtails are deep blue with bright metallic blue hindwings and a shiny blue body. The males are brighter and more iridescent. White spots line the inside edge of the wings and orange dots, the outside. The eggs are red and round. Brown-black caterpillars have lines of red spots along their backs. Where to find it This species is found in the southern half of the United States in meadows, woodlands and gardens with pipevine plants (Aristolochia macrophylla). They prefer warm climates, though they’re occasionally spotted in the Midwest. The plant it loves Females lay their eggs on pipevine plant, whose leaves contain a toxic acid that makes the caterpillars inedible to birds and predators. But the tropical…