Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2020 i Garden Gate

Hollyhock Alcea spp. and hybrids Biennial or perennial Blooms All colors except blue in early to late summer Light Full sun Soil Moist, well-drained Pests None serious Size 5 to 9 ft. tall, 1 to 2 ft. wide Cold hardy USDA zones 3 to 9 Some flowers never seem to go out of style. Take hollyhocks for example—you can use them in so many ways. They look picture-perfect next to a picket fence, adding structure to the homespun jumble of a cottage garden. Tall and stately, they make an eye-catching focal point along a rustic wall (the group at right has reseeded there for years). Or add them to the back of a flowery border using the plants in “Perfect hollyhock companions” below. There are even dwarf varieties you can…

If I could only grow one herb in my garden, it would be basil. Basil is the flavor of summer, lending its spicy-clove essence to pasta, pizza, caprese salad and, of course, pesto. It’s also easy to grow, thriving in sunny garden beds and containers and offering months of aromatic leaves. I start my own basil seeds indoors in midspring under grow lights, sowing seeds for a handful of varieties. When the weather has warmed and it’s time to tuck those seedlings into my raised beds, I laugh at myself because I usually have at least three dozen basil plants—far too many for one family. But soon, those seedlings begin to grow and I quickly realize there’s no such thing as too much basil. Excess basil is turned into pesto,…

• If your soil is dry, water plants thoroughly the day before you intend to divide. • Starting on an outside edge, use a spade or garden fork to lift the clump by digging 2 to 4 inches away from the crown. • Use your hands to gently pull and break plants into divisions. If the clump is woody or large, you may need to cut it with a soil knife or a spade. Make sure each division has at least two or three shoots and some healthy roots. • Plant the new division at the same depth that the old plant was growing and water well.…

Limbing up a tree or shrub means removing the bottom branches to expose one or more main trunks. This can be done with almost any shrub or tree and can change the look dramatically. SHOULD YOU CUT THE BRANCHES? Nima uses a pruner or hand saw to take out branches (no more than one-third at a time) that obstruct the views beyond, and for other surprising reasons: 1 Elegant, draping plants that surround her pond create a romantic look. It’s not very obvious, but they’ve been limbed up a little, keeping branches out of the water while still maintaining their attractive shape. 2 This dwarf hinoki cypress was munched by grazing deer. No worries! Nima just cut off the damaged branches and now it has a new look.…

Lamb’s quarters Chenopodium album What it looks like Dusty-looking leaves shaped like a goose’s foot produce spikes of very small, green flowers in summer with five green sepals but no petals. The leaves can grow up to 4 inches long and are light green on the top and white underneath. Mature plants can reach 4 or 5 feet in height. One lamb’s quarter plant can produce up to 75,000 seeds, which can remain viable in the soil for 40 years. Where to find it One of the most common weeds in North America, lamb’s quarters (sometimes called pigweed) thrives in gardens and roadsides, near streams, rivers, forest clearings, fields and disturbed soils. It’s a favorite of foragers because the leaves taste like a mild version of spinach and are widely…

Enter your own garden for a chance to be photographed and featured in a future issue of Garden Gate magazine! Open to U.S. and Canadian residents How To Enter: EMAIL ( PREFERRED METHOD ) Email your information and a link to your images in cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon Cloud Drive, etc.) to ReaderGarden@aimmedia.com INSTAGRAM: Submit photos of your garden using the hashtag: #ggmagReaderGarden MAIL: Reader Garden Award Garden Gate Magazine 2143 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312 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…

Shade gardens are so cool! Yes, literally, because nothing beats taking a seat and relaxing under the canopy of a big tree. But also because of the plants you can grow there. Hostas spring to mind first, of course. They’re a classic. But there are lots of other options for shady borders, too. Some, such as the sweet alyssum at right, are flowery while others have awesome foliage: Imagine scalloped coral bells, lacy ferns, spotted lungwort and colorful coleus—all bringing their own unique look or texture to shady beds and borders. Whether it’s dappled, partial or full, there are some practical benefits to gardening in shade. For example, weeds have a harder time getting established and the soil stays moist longer than in full sun. Ready to add some variety…

For lily lovers, nothing is more exciting than the launch of lily season. Our hearts swell in proportion to the plump buds that burst open into magnificent starlike or trumpet-shaped blooms. Lilies are ideal for people looking to squeeze more color into chock-full garden beds since their narrow habit takes up a small footprint. These towering flowers are definitely “thrillers.” By planting a mix of the types you’ll see here, it’s easy to extend the bloom season from early summer to fall. Asiatic lilies kick off the show with a dazzling array of flower colors and patterns. Oriental lilies, like the famous ‘Stargazer’, pick up where the Asiatics leave off in midsummer with their large, showy, fragrant blossoms on taller 3- to 5-foot stems. Many of the lilies you see…

Coneflower Echinacea purpurea Purple-pink or white blooms arrive in early summer and reseed, too, creating an easy-care combo. Coneflower grows 1 to 4 ft. tall, 1 to 3 ft. wide and is cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. False sunflower Heliopsis helianthoides Add another easy-care butterfly magnet to the back of the border with the yellow daisy-shaped summer blooms of false sunflower. Plants grow 1 to 6 ft. tall and 1 to 4 ft. wide and are cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. Garden phlox Phlox paniculata Contrast dome-shaped garden phlox with spiky hollyhocks for instant drama. Garden phlox flowers in pink, magenta, red, lavender, purple or white and grows 12 to 48 in. tall and 12 to 36 in. wide. Plants are cold hardy in…

Flip through any seed catalog and you’ll quickly notice there are a lot of different types of basil. Most of us are familiar with sweet basil, but what about Greek, purple, and lemon basils? Do they deserve a place in our gardens and kitchens? Definitely! They offer a wonderful range of flavors beyond that of sweet basil. Here are a few of my favorites. SWEET BASIL Ocimum basilicum Sweet, or Genovese, basil is the classic culinary basil that lends a spicy clove flavor to pastas, pesto and countless other dishes. Plants typically grow 18 to 30 inches tall and have cup-shaped oval leaves. Prospera® (photo) This newly introduced basil grows up to 2 feet tall and offers a generous harvest of 3-inch-long flavor-packed leaves. It’s also the first certified…

Deer are frequent visitors to Nima’s countryside garden, and instead of installing large fencing around their property (which would intrude on the view), this is what else she does: 1 She secures her shrubs and some trees with deer netting, tying it around so that it covers the bottom 6 feet of the plant. 2 In spring, she sprays azaleas, annuals and her hostas as they emerge with Deer Out deer repellent. If they deer start to become a problem later in the season, she reapplies the spray. 3 The easiest (and most enjoyable!) repellent is her Jack Russell terrier, Margauex, who loves to chase the deer away.…

Floss flower Ageratum houstonianum Artist ®  series What’s great about it: This series has purple or blue-purple flowers all summer in full sun to part shade. Plants grow 8 to 12 in. tall, 10 to 12 in. wide and are cold hardy in USDA zones 9 to 10. Alternanthera Alternantheraspp . and hybrids What’s great about it: Colorful foliage in shades of red, green or pink — no deadheading required! Plants grow 6 to 36 in. tall, 15 to 36 in. wide in full sun and are cold hardy in USDA zones 10 to 11. Coral bells Heucheraspp . and hybrids What’s great about it: Coral bells provides colorful foliage even in shade. Plants grow 6 to 24 in.…

1. MULCH ACIDIFIES SOIL Pine bark, pine needle and leaf mulches may temporarily change pH slightly, but it would take years of adding these mulches to significantly lower the pH. Most plants won’t notice. 2. MULCH ROBS NITROGEN FROM SOIL It is true that decomposing mulches use nitrogen in the soil, but this only happens at the point where the soil meets the mulch, and most plant roots are below that zone. Once the mulch has broken down, it actually releases nitrogen back into the soil. If you’re worried, sprinkle a slow-release granular fertilizer before you add a layer of mulch to counteract any potential deficiency that could affect shallow-rooted plants. 3. MULCH ATTRACTS TERMITES Very few insects can survive the processing (shredding, bagging, transport) of mulch, so its not…

1 | Solo Vase This unique vase creatively displays one floral stem at a time in a way that’s reminiscent of a vintage botanical illustration. A black, white or gray marble base holds a slender metal rod that inserts into the stem of the flower. Make a flat cut at the bottom of the stem, and pour up to 3 ounces of water in the base to keep the flower fresh. Don’t remove all the leaves, because this vase showcases the foliage, too. Solo Vase, solovase.com ($39.95) 2 | The Lifelong Gardener The beauty of gardening is that there are many outlets to suit every stage of life. Toni Gattone uses her personal experience and expert green thumb to create a resource of practical encouragement for gardeners who are looking for…

Keep your spray paint bottles organized and easy to access for whenever you need to touch up your garden accessories: Store them in an unused wine rack!Elizabeth Fox, MI Oyster shell solution Kirsten Sayers, OH If your tomatoes get blossom end rot, it might be because of a lack of calcium in the soil. Kristen knew that crushed oyster shell is commonly sold as a calcium supplement for laying hens, so she wondered if it would work in her soil, too. She sprinkled a handful or two of the ground oyster shell in the planting hole and in the soil as she backfilled around the roots. Success! It’s helped combat the blossom end rot and now it’s less likely she’ll lose her tomatoes to the malady. A potting bench to…

We know dividing perennials is a good thing to do because it helps rejuvenate tired old plants (see “How to Divide Perennials” opposite). But what is a gardener to do with all of those extra plants? Plant swaps, of course, are a great way to trade your extra divisions and seedlings with other gardeners. But that’s not the only option. Here are five great ways to put those extra perennials to good use. 1 SHARE WITH FRIENDS Go ahead and plan that plant swap with a group of your green-hearted friends. Begin with a meet-and-greet to check out each other’s plants and include a follow-up session with a question-and-answer period on plant care. Share only healthy, disease-free plants, including cuttings as well as divisions. Consider also including seeds, containers and…

Black locust Robinia pseudoacacia Dwarf hinoki cypress Chamaecyparis obtusa Dwarf mondo grass Ophiopogon japonicus Hakonechloa Hakonechloa macra Heavenly bamboo Nandina domestica Japanese iris Iris ensata Japanese maple Acer spp. and hybrids Kousa dogwood Cornus kousa Willow Salix integra Begonia Begonia hybrids Geranium Pelargonium hybrids Japanese maple Acer spp. and hybrids Comfrey Symphytum x uplandicum Daylily Hemerocallis hybrids Giant dogwood Cornus controversa Korean lilac Syringa meyeri Peony Paeonia hybrid Tiger lily Lilium lancifolium Yellow loosestrife Lysimachia vulgaris Giant dogwood Cornus controversa Sedum Sedum spp. and hybrids Angelonia Angelonia angustifolia Azalea Rhododendron hybrids Clematis Clematis hybrid Hosta Hosta hybrids Lantana Lantana camara Red Abyssinian banana Ensete ventricosum…

Plant selection in a small space is key. The plants featured here can take part shade (as well as full sun) and they exhibit more than a single season of interest. Don’t clutter a small backyard with too many design elements. This will make it seem even smaller and more crowded. Using simple elements with clean lines makes for a balanced look. Maintenance for the plants featured here could not be simpler. Once these plants are established, they should not require any coddling. And all of the maintenance can be taken care of in spring (if you leave the seedheads on the perennials for the birds over the winter). Simply cut the perennials (the amsonia, the goldenrod, the blazing star and the black-eyed Susans) back to the ground. When you…

With showy flower spikes in a range of pastel colors, ‘Southern Charm’ mullein definitely lives up to its name. Even better, deer will usually pass this perennial by. Don’t worry, this hybrid isn’t weedy or aggressive like its roadside cousin, common mullein. ‘Southern Comfort’ is a seed mix so each plant may be a different pastel color—buff, cream, rose or lavender. Be sure to buy plants in bloom at the garden center if you’re looking for a particular shade. To get the full range of colors, direct sow a package of seed in late fall or spring. ‘Southern Charm’ often blooms the first year from seed, but these young plants won’t be the showiest. In the second year and beyond, plants produce more and bigger blooms like those in the…

Shade Stars EVER SO EXUBERANT There is nothing shy about this container. With billows of coleus and calibrachoa, feathery plumes of fountain grass and a shouting orange begonia, it demands attention. And it’ll look better and better right up until frost. With all of these out-of-control plants, a low-key wooden planter box is a good idea. You can plant straight into it as we did, or tuck plants into a large plastic pot, then slip the pot into the wooden planter. (The plastic liner method will help the wooden box last longer.) Trailing coleus grow even faster than the upright kinds, so don’t be afraid to pinch or cut them back a few inches at a time as needed. (The cuttings root easily if you stick them in potting mix,…