MARCH 2015 VOL. 10 NO. 1 WWW.WASHINGTONGARDENER.

COM

WASHINGTON
WAS
W
WASHINGTO
ASHINGTO
ggardener
the magazine for gardening enthusiasts in the Mid-Atlantic region

10 Tips for
Easy-Care Beds
and Borders
March
Garden Tasks
Visit the Virginia
House and Garden
Bletilla: A Hardy
Orchid for our
Climate
Organic Lawn Care
Practices
Growing
Strawberries
in Containers

Cabbage-Growing Guide
for the Mid-Atlantic
Local Garden
Events Listing
Reader Contest
RESOURCESsourc

ooo
Business Card Templates by Vertex42.com

Need a Garden
Edible Landscapes for the
Home Gardener
Coaching /Maintenance /Seasonal Services
Email: garden@loveandcarrots.com to learn more!
www.LoveandCarrots.com
o oo Club Speaker?
Washington Gardener Magazine’s
staff and writers are available
to speak to groups and garden
clubs in the greater DC region.
Call 301.588.6894 or email
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for available dates, rates, and topics.

Burtonsville, MD RARE AND EXCEPTIONAL PLANTS

FOR THE DISCRIMINATING
(301) 821-7777 GARDENER AND COLLECTOR

• Ponds - Waterfalls Barry Glick

Sunshine Farm and Gardens
• Disappearing Fountains HC 67 Box 539 B
• “Pondless” Waterfalls Renick, WV 24966, USA
Email: barry@sunfarm.com
www.premierpond.com www.sunfarm.com

Specializing in Garden
Renewals & Renovations
Yard By Yard Makeovers, LLC
7304 Carroll Avenue, #229
Takoma Park, MD 20912
301-270-4642
yardmakeovers@yahoo.com
www.yardmakeovers.com
We can reshape and beautify
neglected yards.

Green Spring Gardens

A “must visit” for everyone in the met-
ropolitan Washington, DC, area. It’s a
year-round gold mine of information and
inspiration for the home gardener. It’s
an outdoor classroom for children and
www.greenspring.org their families to learn about plants and
wildlife. It’s also a museum, a national
historic site that offers glimpses into a
long, rich history with colonial origins.
Located at 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alex-
andria, VA. Information: 703-642-5173.

2 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015

o INSIDEcontents

FEATURES and COLUMNS

8 BOOKreviews 6-7
Pruning and Training, Compost,
Bonsai Bible
DAYtrip 8-10
Virginia House and Garden
GARDENbasics 16-17
Organic Lawn Care
KNOWitall 21
Container Strawberries,
Kamikaze Robins, Cocoons in
Compost, Replacing an Ash
NEWPLANTspotlight 11
Pear ‘Gem’

o
Explore the Virginia House garden in Richmond, VA. Photo by Cheval Force Opp.
PLANTprofile 18-19
Bletilla — Hardy Chinese Orchid

14 EDIBLEharvest
Cabbage-Growing Guide
TIPStricks
14-15

Easy-Care Flower beds, Frog

20

Poison Controls Fire Ants

DEPARTMENTS
USDA scientists analyzed
key nutrients in 25 varieties ADVERTISINGindex 22
of microgreens and found BLOGlinks 11
that red cabbage micro-
greens (shown here) had the EDITORletter 4
highest concentrations of GARDENcontest 5
vitamin C. These nutritious
microgreens are ready to LOCALevents 12-13

o
harvest just 10 days after MONTHLYtasklist 11
planting. Photo by Peggy
Greb. NEXTissue 3
RESOURCESsources 2
ON THE COVER
Win a Seed Starter Kit from A cabbage growing in a local commu-
Gardener’s Supply Company!
See page 5 for entry details.
nity garden. Photo by Kathy Jentz.
Entry deadline is 5:00pm March 29.
In Our Next Issue:
APRIL 2015
A partial list of varieties of Bletilla
available through East Coast
Ground Beetles
nurseries includes: Bletilla striata Garden Tour Listings
‘Innocense,’ Bletilla striata ‘Kuchi- Spring Ephemerals

obeni,’ and Bletilla striata ‘Yellow

Stripe.’
and much more...
Be sure you are subscribed to:

18 Click on the “subscribe” link

at http://washingtongardener.
blogspot.com/

MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 3

EDITORletter

Credits
Kathy Jentz
Editor/Publisher
& Advertising Sales
Washington Gardener
826 Philadelphia Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: 301.588.6894
wgardenermag@aol.com
www.washingtongardener.com
Call today to place your ad with us!

DC Gardens — Ruth E. Thaler-Carter

Proofreader
Beyond Cherry Blossoms Campaign Cover price: $4.99
Back issues: $6.00
The beloved cherry blossom trees are predicted to be in peak bloom around April
Subscription: $20.00
11–14 and they will be feted and celebrated for several weeks before that flow-
Foreign subscription: $24.00
ering date — and deservedly so! But, like many gardeners in our region, I have
to sigh a little bit inside whenever anyone extols their virtues and is completely Address corrections should be sent to
ignorant of the gorgeous saucer magnolias in bloom almost simultaneously at the the address above.
Smithsonian’s Haupt Garden or of the many other flowering trees in our public gar-
• Washington Gardener Blog:
dens, parks, and private landscapes. What can be done to educate them?
www.washingtongardener.blogspot.com
Many of you may be aware by now of a new campaign in the form of a web site • Washington Gardener Archives:
whose goal is to raise awareness of gardening and gardens in the Washington, http://issuu.com/washingtongardener
DC, region. A group of us local gardening writers, spearheaded by Susan Harris of • Washington Gardener Discussion
GardenRant.com, just launched DC Gardens—Beyond Cherry Blossoms. To fund our Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
outreach efforts, we are seeking to raise $25,000 in donations through Indiegogo WashingtonGardener/
by May 1. Most of the funds raised will pay for monthly email updates on garden- • Washington Gardener Twitter Feed:
related events in our region and a coordinated social media campaign. We want to www.twitter.com/WDCGardener
bring awareness of DC gardens to outside tourists as well as to hometown audienc- • Washington Gardener is a woman-
es. The web site will also identify local gardening information such as lists of great owned business. We are proud to be
plant choices for our area, garden clubs, garden design sources and resources, etc. members of:
Most of our local public gardens are limited in the promotions they can do for them- · Garden Writers Association
selves. Some are handcuffed by local and federal government regulations. Others · Think Local First DC
are limited by their resources -- lacking in funds, staff time, or expertise. We are · DC Web Women
seeking to step in and do what they cannot do for themselves -- create a hub for · Green America Magazine Leaders Network
garden tourism and awareness in our region. · Green America Business Network
Retail stores wishing to sell our publica-
DC Gardens is a grassroots, independent media campaign using images of DC-
tion should contact Kathy Jentz at the
area gardens by month to entice people to discover them. DC Gardens is also a
contact information above.
hub of info that helps locals learn to garden and connect with the gardening and
greening community. To order reprints, contact Wright’s
Reprints at 877.652.5295, ext. 138.
Can you do me a favor today and sign up for the email list and make a small dona-
tion to the Indegogo campaign? To do both, just go to www.DCGardens.com. Please Volume 10, Number 1
also pass along this information to your fellow gardening friends, garden clubs, ISSN 1555-8959
plant societies, public garden “friends” groups, etc. You have my permission to use © 2015 Washington Gardener
this text in gardening organization newsletters. All rights reserved. Published quarterly.
No material may be reproduced without
Happy gardening!
prior written permission. This magazine
is purchased by the buyer with the under-
standing that the information presented is
from various sources from which there can
Kathy Jentz, be no warranty or responsibility by the pub-
Editor/Publisher, Washington Gardener lisher as to legality, completeness, or techni-
wgardenermag@aol.com cal accuracy.

All uncredited photos in this issue are © Kathy Jentz.

4 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015
 READERcontt

Local Gardening Calendar
Each month includes a list of what to
do in the garden for local DC-MD-VA
and Mid-Atlantic gardeners, along
with a gorgeous photo of a seasonal
flower from a local public garden col-
lection in our area.
Go to http://www.cafepress.com/
washgardener to order this new cal-
endar for gifts and to treat yourself!
Be sure to note on your order
what month you want the calen-
dar to start with. This calendar is a
keeper that you can use for years!
Reader Contest
For our March 2015 Washington
Gardener Reader Contest,
Washington Gardener is giving
away a GrowEase Seed Starter Kit
from Gardener’s Supply Company
(prize value: $17).
They’ve solved the challenges
of over- or under-watering with
the no-fail self-watering feature.
Simply fill the reservoir and plants get the water they need, when they need it.
That’s worry-free watering! Forget flimsy, single-use look-alike seed starting kits;
this heavy-duty system is reusable, again and again. It includes an extra-sturdy
leak-proof reservoir, platform and planting cell tray that are all dishwasher-safe,
making them easy to clean and sterilize between uses. And the capillary mat, which
delivers moisture as seedlings need it, can be used over and over; simply hand
wash between uses. A clear germination cover maintains proper humidity while the
seeds are germinating. The support platform that holds the planting cells doubles
as a seedling ejector. Read more about it at www.gardeners.com/how-to/all-about-
growease/8570.html.
To enter to win the GrowEase Seed Start Kit, send an email to
WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on Sunday, March 29 with “Seed Starter
Kit” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Please also include your full
name and mailing address. The pass winners will be announced and notified on
March 31.

Caption Contest


We asked our Facebook page followers to caption this photo:

What are these tiny seedlings, seen at the recent Philadelphia Flower Show, saying to each other?
Look for more monthly caption contests at the Facebook.com/WashingtonGardenerMagazine page.

Winning Captions:
“Cool bean bags, guys.”
~ David Hobson
“PlantPorn, here we come!”
~ Luis Mármol
“Bean there, done that.”
~ Holly Heintz Budd
“Guess she’s an early bloomer.”
~ Julie Blackwell
“Beans in a Bag.”
~ Joanna Protz
“Pisum in paper pots: Vulgare to some, but clever and com-
postable egg carton cups, toilet paper rolls, or just glue and
paper pouches — add a dollop of seed-starting mix, plump
seed, and a sunny window — withstand watering and sog
until that morning you pop them into a warming spring soil.”
~ Liz Kirchner Seedling photo by Kathy Jentz

MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 5

BOOKreviews
Pruning and Training
By Geoff Hodge
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley
List Price: $19.99
Reviewer: Martha Sykora
“Some gardeners worry unnecessar-
ily that cutting off even the smallest
twig will have dire consequences for
the plant. In fact, most plants are very
forgiving and respond well to prun-
ing. Some even thrive on being cut
back hard. On the other hand, there
are some plants that do not really like
being pruned hard or at all.”
So, how to know the difference?! For
a comprehensive yet concise guide
to the sometimes intimidating task
of helping your plants grow to their
best appearance and function, take a
look at Pruning and Training. Widely
published British garden writer Geoff
Hodges provides reassurance and clear
explanations of why, how, and when to
prune a variety of plants. Following a
chapter on “Rules and Tools,” addition-
al chapters cover such topics as peren-
nials, ornamental trees and shrubs,
climbers, hedges, roses, and fruit trees
and bushes. Abundant illustrations
complement the text — photographs
as well as clear drawings. A pruning
directory with specific details for 160
plants gives recommendations for type
of pruning and time of year. The book’s
size is manageable for slipping into a
large pocket to take outdoors for refer-
ence if needed.
As it was first published in England
as part of a Royal Horticultural Society
6 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015
reference series, the reader should
note the book includes some informa-
tion that may not be relevant to our
area. However, the instructions for
pruning such undesirable plants as
honeysuckle and wisteria could be
used as a guide for other similar but
non-invasive vines. There is also an
emphasis on training plants on wires,
either free-standing or attached to
walls, which is less common here. But
if that is your intention, this is the book
for you!
Note: For comparison, I consulted
the American Horticultural Society
(AHS) book of the same title. The AHS
book is larger and more detailed, but
covers the same general topics (with
the omission of hedges). However it
includes many more photographs and
has a more-extensive index. I would
suggest looking at both books before
making a purchasing decision. Each
is a wonderful resource individually,
although there is a significant informa-
tion overlap.
Martha Sykora has been lucky to try gar-
dening in climates as diverse as Maryland,
Colorado, and England. She currently lives
in a LEED-certified homestead-wannabe in
Annapolis. The bees haven’t survived a full
year yet but the vermiculture composting
operation is doing well.
The Bonsai Bible
By Peter Chan
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley
List Price: $14.99
Reviewer: Jim Dronenburg
This small-sized book is perhaps
wrongly named; a better name would
be “Guide to Bonsai Treatment of
Various Species.” Your reviewer knows
nothing of bonsai and, when reading,
I came across the names of various
bonsai styles (ex. “formal upright” and
“forest groups”) with no explanation of
what they, or other styles, were. On the
other hand, it does go into soil mixes,
acidity, etc, for the various species of
plant material used. These are hand-
ily broken down into outdoor conifer-
ous bonsai, outdoor broadleaf bonsai,
outdoor flowering bonsai, and indoor/
tropical bonsai. Within the groupings,
listings are alphabetical by Latin name,
with English common (and sometimes
Japanese common) names. For each
species listing, the overall natural habit
of the plant is given with how to keep
a bonsai in terms of sun, shade, water-
ing, protection in winter, pest control,
when to wire it, and when to repot it
(usually every X years, at such-and-
such a season). When new growth is to
be shortened, it lists how and when. A
lot of the book seems repetitious — but
it must repeat, when the same thing
holds true for X many species.
The book is refreshingly blunt about
starting out — the author says to find a
local bonsai group and learn the basics
hands-on before jumping in with both
feet. (This may be difficult, say, on a
farm in the Midwest, when your nearest
neighbor is miles away, let alone a city,
but here in the DC region, we’re good
to go. See the profile of the Northern
Virginia Bonsai Club in the September
2014 issue of Washington Gardener
Magazine.)
One of the more common-sense
parts of the book is the listing for most,
if not every, species — “for beginners”
or “not for beginners.” This probably
will prevent a lot of weeping, wailing,
and dampened enthusiasm, when your
first forays go metabolically challenged.
Sometimes things are handled very
off-handedly in the book and suggest
further investigation — mention is
made of “exhibition of bonsai-compan-
ion plants” — with pictures, one might
add — and of microminiature bonsai.
One particular picture that sticks in
the memory is a forsythia bonsai, and
another is a flowering cherry bonsai,
where the height of the plant is only
about five times the size of an indi-

vidual flower, and in a tiny pot perhaps
an inch square.
The list price on the book jacket is
$14.99, which is perhaps more than
someone just starting out would wish
to spend for a book as specialized as
this one. But it seems (on the basis of
no experience) a very useful small ref-
erence once someone has gotten their
feet wet and starts to branch out.
Post-review: I called Peter Jones
in Northern Virginia, who is a bonsai
enthusiast and teacher; he says to
look up the Potomac Bonsai Society
online at www.potomacbonsai.com. It is
composed of nine local groups. These
groups teach, meet, exhibit, and oth-
erwise herd people along the path of
knowledge and skill.
Jim Dronenburg is an accountant by day, an
Irish harper/singer by night, and a Behnke
Nursery weekend warrior to support his
expanding gardens in Knoxville, MD.
organisms. And as I learned, without
organic matter, your soil’s structure will
fall apart.
This helpful book gives you every-
thing you need to start composting:
instructions on how to build your very
own compost pile, things you should
and should not put in that compost
pile, and activators and additives to
speed up and improve the quality of
your compost. This book explains every-
thing about composting. Even the book
can be composted! Ben Raskin is a
genius about everything compost. Once
you read this book, you’ll agree with
me, too!
Hannah Nolte, age 10, lives with her fam-
ily in Bowie Maryland, where they have
recently started composting. She reviewed
this book at the request of her great-aunt,
Kathy Parrent, who runs “Green Thumb to
the Rescue” on Facebook. .
Love Reading?
To join the Washington Gardener
Volunteer Reader Panel, please send
an email with your name and address
to: wgardenermag@aol.com. o
BOOKreviews
Garden
Book Club
For our next
Washington
Gardener
Magazine Book
Club selection, we
will be discuss-
ing: Braiding
Sweetgrass
by Robin Wall
Kimmerer. The book club meeting
will be held at the Tenley-Friendship
Neighborhood Library in the Medium-
sized Conference Room on Wednesday,
April 22, from 6:30 to 8:00PM. The
library room allows food and drink and
you may bring your dinner.
The book club meetings are FREE
and open to anyone who would like to
attend.
Please RSVP to “WG Book Club” at
WashingtonGardener@rcn.com. I will be
limiting attendance to 20. If you need
to cancel, let me know ASAP so we can
give your spot to someone else, should
we have a wait-list.

Y ou Can Make a Difference. . .

by Sharing Your Harvest

Compost: A Family Guide to Making

Soil from Scraps
By Ben Raskin
Publisher: Roost Books
List Price: $16.95
Reviewer: Hannah Nolte
Compost is a book I would recommend
for ages 6-9, but whether you’re old
or young, you can still learn from this Plant an extra row in your garden and deliver the harvest
amazing book! Compost uses games, to a local food bank or shelter. The need is great!
pull-outs, and stickers to entertain the
reader, with two whole chapters just
about worms. With your help, PAR can continue to make a difference for
With introductions on compost and America’s most vulnerable.
soil, this neat book tells you the “dirt”
on topics from photosynthesis to mak- Call our toll-free number (877.GWAA.PAR) or visit our
ing your own compost tea. You can find
out what kinds of organisms live in and
website at www.gardenwriters.org/par for more information.
help soil and how compost helps those

MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 7

DAYtrip
Virginia House and Garden
A hidden historic gem in Richmond, Virginia
Text and Photos by Cheval Force Opp
I first saw the Virginia House and its
garden on a visit to several other Rich-
mond, VA, gardens. Tucked away in
the elegant residential Windsor Farms
neighborhood, Virginia House sits next
to its sister, Agecroft Hall, another
reconstructed English manor house.
Have you ever toured ancient homes
and wished you could bring back one
for your very own? In 1925, Alexander
and Virginia Weddell did just that. They
bought a priory at a demolition sale in
England. The Priory of the Augustinian
Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusa-
lem was established by Henry de New-
burgh, first Earl of Warwick, in 1109.
The building that housed the order was
completed sometime around 1119.
Over the years, ownership changed and
the building was abandoned.
Shipping to Richmond meant the
house had to be dismantled. The story
is told that the company hired to pre-
pare the priory for shipment feared
8 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015
the stones would crumble, so they
decided to set off a small explosion in
the middle of the building. The stones
that survived the blast would be boxed
and shipped to America. To everyone’s
amazement, most of the stones were
unharmed.
Virginia House (named for Mrs. Vir-
ginia Weddell, not the state) is situated
on a hillside overlooking the historic
James River in Richmond. Its archi-
tecture is based on three noteworthy
homes. The center section is a repro-
duction of the priory; the west wing is
copied from Sulgrave Manor, George
Washington’s ancestral home in
Northamptonshire; and the east wing
is modeled on Wormleighton Manor, an
estate of the Spencer-Churchill family.
Although the Weddells favored historic
English Tudor designs for the stately
exterior, the interior included all the
modern home comforts, with seven full
baths, central heat, a modern kitchen,
and roomy closets.
Mrs. Weddell’s sense of style can
be admired as you meander through
rooms adorned with English and Span-
ish antiques, silk draperies, Oriental
carpets, and fine silver and china.
In 1927, her gift for style extended
to their selection of landscape artist
Charles Freeman Gillette. At that time,
he was already well-established in
Richmond as a residential landscape
designer.
Charles Freeman Gillette
Charles Gillette (1886–1969) is a
name garden visitors might recognize
from other southern-style gardens in
our region. He was a prominent land-
scape architect specializing in the
creation, or if needed, re-creation of
gardens befitting Colonial Revival archi-
tecture, particularly in Richmond, VA.
He is credited with defining a regional
style — known as the “Virginia Garden.”

Gillette moved to Richmond with his
new wife in 1913 to supervise the
completion of the landscape design for
the University of Richmond’s new cam-
pus. By all accounts, he fell in love with
the Commonwealth state and never
left. In 1915, he began designing the
grounds of the Nelson House in York-
town, and in 1924, began working on
the landscape restoration of Kenmore
in Fredericksburg. A few years later, he
initiated plans for the landscaping of
Virginia House and Agecroft Hall, both
reconstructed English manor houses
During the 1950s, Gillette redesigned
the gardens of Virginia’s Executive
Mansion at the request of Governor
Thomas B. Stanley, as well as designed
the grounds for the Richmond head-
quarters of the Reynolds Metals Com-
pany and the Ethyl Corporation. His
other commissions included hundreds
of residential projects throughout Vir-
ginia and North Carolina.
In his book, Genius in the Garden,
Charles F. Gillette and Landscape
Architecture in Virginia, George C.
Longest writes, “The peak years of Gil-
lette’s career as a landscape architect
coincided with the height of the Coun-
try Place-era, when wealthy property
owners throughout the United States
built impressive country residences
surrounded by meticulously conceived
gardens and dramatic vistas ….”
The “Virginia Garden”
If you would like to know more about
Gillette, the Library of Virginia, Fiske
Kimball Fine Arts Library, has the Gil-
lette Photograph Collection, consisting
of 892 images. Approximately 200 pho-
tographs are the work of either Harry
Bagby or George Moffett, both profes-
sional photographers. The images pri-
marily depict Virginia houses, estates,
gardens, and other landscape design
projects. There are also many personal
photographs of Gillette, his wife Ellen
Cogswell Gillette, and the various
homes in which they lived. The web site
defines the “Virginia Garden” for us.
The “Virginia Garden” — a style char-
acterized by its understated classicism
and attention to detail.
Gillette linked architecture and land-
scape in a manner seldom found today,
not only emphasizing the traditional
features of landscape design but also
carefully shaping each of his creative
outdoor environments to complement
the most distinctive elements of his cli-
ents’ homes and broader surroundings.
It is a joy to view the garden’s struc-
ture and reflect on Gillette creating
“The Pleasances” for the first time
and then returning to adjust, enhance,
and refine his design over the next
20 years. Over those years, he also
became a close friend of the Weddells.
The design’s first phase was an
informal Tudor-style garden on one
acre. As you walk out from the house,
the land falls off to a very steeply slop-
ing hillside. We all know homeowners
who look at these impossible sites and
decide to plant English ivy to run wild.
Gillette created interconnecting cascad-
ing ponds, flagstone walkways, and
terraced garden beds. It is a delight to
saunter diagonally down the hillside,
encountering a series of terraces that
distract thoughts about the steep pitch
downward. The mellow heritage salmon
brick is used to create decorative
retaining walls adorned with Crossvine,
roses, and creeping fig evincing the
aura of bygone eras.
The Weddells purchased more land
to enlarge the back of the property
in 1932. Gillette seized the opportu-
nity for a second phase of design. He
reworked the original plan by overlaying
DAYtrip
a cross-axis and supplemented with
additional lush flower beds.
The third phase in 1939 extended
the landscape down toward the
James River. This area was extensive-
ly planted with grasses and he posi-
tioned evergreens in an asymmetrical
pattern to mirror the rambling archi-
tecture of the house.
A Garden for Black-Tie
or Barbeque
Today, the walks allow visitors to sur-
vey dense planting with very diverse
plants. More than 1,000 different
ornamentals crowd the eight-acre
site. Notice how traditional styles are
softened with native plantings, a sig-
nature of Gillette’s style. He created
a garden to make everyone feel at
home, giving a theatrical backdrop for
black-tie parties or barbeques.
Every season has some plantings
that steal the show. Sugarcane reach-
ing a height of 12 feet in summer
serve as a backdrop for other tropi-
cals, both new and exotic. Summer
annuals are replaced by salvia and
anemones in the fall. Hellebores
bloom in January and daffodils litter
snow dotted expanses in February.
English and American boxwood
plantings create the dark-green struc-
tures, containing the exuberance in
the flower beds. Hollies, southern
MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 9
DAYtrip

magnolia, and red cedar was when the Weddells

frame views on the horizon resided there.
toward the James River. It is located at 4301
Gillette’s playful meld- Sulgrave Road, Rich-
ing of Italian and English mond, VA. The museum
gardening styles at Virginia and gardens are open
House gives us a uniquely by appointment only. If
American garden. Enjoy his you plan to visit Virginia
use of narrow linear canals House museum and gar-
or rill to connect fountained dens, call ahead to set
pools to define the garden up an appointment or
spaces and connect the gar- register for a programs
den rooms. by contacting Tracy
Over the 20+ years they Bryan, site manager, at
owned the property, Alex- tbryan@vahistorical.org or
ander and Virginia Weddell 804.353.4251.
traveled extensively in the Admission for Adults is
diplomatic service. This $6. Seniors (65 and older)
allowed the couple to con- pay $5 and children/stu-
tributed inventive sculptural of Virginia into a truly American look dents are $4 each. It is
pieces for the garden, sent home from that borrowed elegance and fine details free for Virginia Historical Society mem-
various duty posts. Gillette took care to from the old world. A visit to Virginia bers. o
set the stage for these grand objects House is a lesson in history, art, and
gardening passed down by an Ameri- Cheval Force Opp lives and gardens in his-
using traditional English garden plants
can master. It is a day trip you do not toric Dunn Loring, VA, with her husband,
like cedars of Lebanon. You will dis-
want to miss. Dana, and corgi, Marzipan. When she is
cover statuary from Florence, a basin
not pulling weeds, she is visiting, writing, or
unearthed near the Alhambra palace in
Spain, and a fifteenth-century baptis- Plan Your Visit speaking about gardens.
Now owned and operated by the Virgin- Special thanks to Tracy Bryan, Site Man-
mal font from France.
ia Historical Society as a museum, the ager of Virginia House, for allowing me to
Gillette’s sophisticated eye allowed
house has been preserved much as it visit the garden and answering questions.
him to meld the plants and topography

3rd
Annual Grow Your Health
A Gardening, Local Food IER

& Wellness Festival

PREM NING
E
SC R E

Gardening Classes · Children’s Activities

50 Local Vendors · Food Court
Supported
By:

Saturday, March 28 2015 ~ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Woodson High School in Fairfax VA
$10 Adults ($15 at the door), free under 16

Sponsored By:

All Proceeds Benefiting the Weston A. Price Foundation and Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture

www.GrowYourHealthNova.com
10 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015

Photo by Steven Castagnoli, Oregon State University.
New Plant Spotlight
Disease-resistant Pear ‘Gem’
A new pear cultivar, ‘Gem,’ has been
released jointly by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA), Oregon State
University, Michigan State University,
and Clemson University. Gem is ideal
for the fresh market, combining high
yields with excellent appearance, fruit
quality, and long-storage potential. The
new cultivar is resistant to fire blight
and isn’t prone to brown discoloration,
called “superficial scald,” that affects
some pear varieties.
Gem requires at least three weeks of
cold storage before normal fruit soften-
ing, but it will last for at least 28 weeks
in cold storage without core breakdown
or superficial scald. The fruit can also
be eaten immediately after harvest
without softening, as it has a crisp, juicy
texture. Its flavor is sweet and mildly
aromatic. When compared to Bartlett, a
popular pear variety, sensory panelists
rated Gem similar in appearance, flavor,
and whether they’d purchase it.
The original seedling tree of Gem
was from a cross of ‘Sheldon’ and
US62563-004 made in 1970. Bell
selected Gem in 1981 from the seed-
ling orchard at the ARS Henry A. Wal-
lace Beltsville Agricultural Research
Center in Beltsville, MD.
The source of Gem’s fire blight
resistance comes from the cultivar ‘Bar-
seck.’ Subsequently, Gem was evaluat-
ed for fruit quality, fire blight resistance,
and productivity in replicated trials.
Gem is recommended as a fresh-mar-
ket pear for both commercial and home
orchards. While budwood of Gem is
limited, genetic material of this release
will be deposited in the National Plant
Germplasm System, where it will be
available for research purposes, includ-
ing development and commercialization
of the new cultivar.
GARDENnews
Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts
• FREE Seeds to Kickstart the Gardening Season
• Looking Forward to Springtime Natives
• Winning Garden Photos Wow Crowds
• Bringing Publicity to Public Gardens
See more Washington Gardener blog posts at:
WashingtonGardener.Blogspot.com Photo by Karl Gercens, Longwood Gardens.
If you are a fan of felines and gardening as well, you might also enjoy the
Cats in Gardens blog at http://catsingardens.blogspot.com/
March Garden To-Do List
• Avoid walking on and compacting wet soil in the garden.
• Prune grapevines.
• Put up trellises and teepees for peas, climbing beans, etc.
• Plant peas, potatoes, beets, turnips, radish, cabbage, mustard greens, onion
sets, carrots, and kale.
• Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles.
• Get a soil test.
• Do soil preparation — add lime, compost, etc., as needed.
• Mulch beds with a light hand.
• Start or update your garden journals.
• Clean out any old debris from last season from your growing beds.
• Turn your compost pile.
• Repot root-bound houseplants and start fertilizing them.
• Clean leaves and debris from your water garden.
• Do not be alarmed if your pond turns green from algae bloom — this is natural
until your water plants fill the surface area. Add a barley ball to combat it for now.
• Cut back ornamental grasses.
• Water during dry spells.
• Cut your Daffodils for indoor bouquets, but do not combine daffs with other
flowers in one vase. They give off a toxic substance that may kill your other
blooms off prematurely.
• Weed by hand to avoid disturbing newly forming roots.
• Walk your garden — look for early signs of fungal disease.
• Divide perennials and herbs.
• Fertilize new growth.
• Plant and prune roses.
• Transplants small trees and shrubs.
• Buy or check on your stored summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot
them and start to water, if you want to give them an early start on the season.
• If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening-off process.
• Start some more seeds — try flowering annuals like impatiens and petunias.
• Prune fruit trees as their buds are swelling. Check for dead and diseased wood to
prune out. Cut a few branches for indoor forcing, if desired.
• Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
• Buy an indoor plant to liven up your office space. Try an orchid or African violet.
• Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds.
• Feed birds and provide nesting materials (try dryer lint) as well as houses for the
start of their family season.
• Plant a tree for Arbor Day. Arbor Day comes on different dates in different states.
In our area, it is the first Wednesday in April for Maryland. Virginia has it on the
second Friday in April, and DC has it on the last Friday in April. In addition, many
local groups and towns have their own celebrations.
• Read a good gardening book or magazine.
• Cut some branches (forsythia, quince, bittersweet, redbud, willow, etc.) for forcing
into bloom and enjoying indoors.
MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 11
TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS
DC-Area Gardening Calendar ~ Upcoming Events ~ March 16-April 15, 2015
• Thursday, March 19, 7:30pm
Grow It Eat It Class
Get started growing your own food
this year with Introduction to Organic
Food Gardening in Silver Spring, MD.
Targeted at beginner and intermediate
gardeners, we’ll cover where to plant,
what to plant, when to plant, and what
to do when pests find your plants. What
better way to welcome spring than plan
your garden. To sign up, please go to:
http://silverspringvegetablegardening.
eventbrite.com.
• Friday, March 20, 1:30-2:30pm
Garden Talks with Master Gardeners:
Composting
Don’t drag your garden and yard waste
out to the curb week after week. Learn
how to turn it into compost or black
gold. Master Gardeners show you
the right way to make rich, nutrient-
filled compost that plants love. Fee:
$10/person. Green Spring Gardens,
4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria,
VA 22312. Register online at www.
fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/greenspring
using code 290 183 3501 or call Green
Spring Gardens at 703-642-5173.
• Saturday, March 21, 1:30-3:30pm
Hands-on Workshop: Easy and Exotic
Tropicals for Your Home
Held at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gar-
dens in Washington, DC. See details at
hillwoodmuseum.org.
Also, March 3-31 is Orchid Month at
Hillwood.
•Saturday, March 21, 9 to 11am
Propagation Workshop
Held at the Sunny Demonstration Gar-
den, Bon Air Park, corner of Wilson
Blvd. and Lexington St., Arlington, VA.
Ever wonder how to make more plants
from the ones you already have? Come
spend a morning with Master Gardener
Bob Lund for a hands-on workshop on
dividing all types of perennials. Bring
your gardening gloves, and we will pot
up extras to share. Limited to 12 partici-
pants; registration required. Sign up at
mgnv.org. Questions? Telephone 703-
228-6414 or email mgarlalex@gmail.
com.
12 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015
• Saturday, March 21, 12noon-2pm
Rose Bush Pruning Demonstration
Held at the Washington National Cathe-
dral in Bishop’s Rose Garden. Con-
ducted by Arlington Rose Foundation.
Learn how to sharpen your pruners and
prune different varieties of rose bushes.
Please bring your by-pass pruners and
wear gloves. Free. 703-371-9351.
•Saturday, March 21, 10am–1pm
Arlington Food Assistance Center’s
“Plot Against Hunger”
Spring Garden Kick-Off
Hosted by the Arlington Food Assistance
Center’s (AFAC) “Plot Against Hunger”
program, the spring garden kick-off
will include an overview of urban agri-
culture in Arlington. Presentations will
include: schoolyard and community-
based gardens, permaculture, rooftop
and container gardening, and rainwater
recovery and irrigation. Participants will
have a chance to meet and learn more
about the many gardeners in Arlington
who support AFAC by growing fresh
vegetables for the food pantry and how
to donate harvests to AFAC. Free seeds
will be provided to AFAC gardeners.
Refreshments will be served. Through
the Northern Virginia Rain Barrel pro-
gram, and Arlingtonians for a Clean
Environment (ACE), rain barrels will be
distributed after the event. Rain barrels
may be pre-ordered for $65 at: www.
arlingtonenvironment.org/
rainbarrel. This program is free and
open to the public. For details, call
Puwen Lee at 703-845-8486.
• Tuesday, March 24, 7pm
A Life: The Story of Lady Bird Johnson
The Environmental Film Festival will
present a screening of this film at the
National Museum of Women in the Arts
as part of the National Cherry Blos-
som Festival. This event also coincides
with the 50th anniversary of the 1965
Highway Beautification Act -- which also
included beautification of our urban
areas with flowers and gardens. The
event will include discussion with Lady
Bird’s granddaughter, her former press
secretary, and the film’s producer,
Grace Guggenheim. Details at dceff.org.
• Friday, March 27 and following
fourth Fridays, April-June and Sept-Octo-
ber, 11-11:45am
Guided Garden Tours:
Historic & Growing
Enjoy the historic landscape deeply on a
lively walk led by an expert. In the land
at Tudor Place, you will trace the his-
tory of Washington and the horticulture
of centuries-old trees, heirloom plants
and flowers, and abundant English box-
wood. See how orchards, stables, and
grazing land made way for lawns, foun-
tains, and stately garden “rooms” and
how four owners and six generations
cared for and embellished their land as
their city changed and grew. Details at
TudorPlace.org.
• Saturday, March 28, 10am- 5:30pm
Grow Your Health Festival
The Northern Virginia Whole Food Nutri-
tion Meetup Group will host its third
annual Grow Your Health Festival at
Woodson High School in Fairfax, VA. The
event will celebrate home gardening,
sourcing organic and local food, and
nutrition and wellness. They will show
the documentary film “GMO OMG” and
offer class instruction on gardening
and nutrition, and host an exhibit hall
for gardening services, farmers, food
artisans, organic food distributors, and
wellness products and services.
Details: www.growyourhealthnova.com.
• Saturday, March 28, 8:30am–3pm
Lahr Native Plant Symposium: Making
Connections
Explore a variety of ways to use native
plants in the landscape to make posi-
tive connections to the natural world.
Fee: $95. Registration and all details at
www.usna.usda.gov.
• Saturday, March 28, 9:30am–2pm
Native Plant Sale
Get a jump-start on spring by shopping
at this annual sale featuring several
local nurseries offering an extensive
collection of high-quality, locally grown
native plants. Held in conjunction with
the Lahr Native Plant Symposium at the
USNA; attendees get early-bird admis-
sion to the sale at 8:30 am. Free admis-
sion. Details at www.usna.usda.gov.

DC-Area Gardening Calendar ~ Upcoming Events ~ March 16-April 15, 2015
• Through March 29
Orchid Extravaganza
Longwood Gardens is anything but
dreary this winter. The heated 4-acre
conservatory transports guests into a
warm oasis featuring thousands of col-
orful orchid blooms displayed in extraor-
dinary ways from 9am-6pm daily. Orchid
Extravaganza is fun for the entire family
with concerts, talks, tours, and OrKid
Days on select weekends. Longwood
Gardens is on US Route 1 near Kennett
Square, PA, 30 miles west of Philadel-
phia. Admission is $20 for adults; $17
for seniors (age 62+); $10 for students
(ages 5–18) or with valid student ID)
and free ages 4 and under. Group rates
available. Details at www.longwoodgar-
dens.org.
• Sunday, March 29, 2:00-4:00pm
Potomac Hosta Club, Inc.
Annual Spring Meeting
Held at Merrifield Garden Center’s
Fair Oaks location at 12101 Lee High-
way, Fairfax, VA 22030. The guest
speaker is Roger Smith, AHS Education
Chair, and hosta hybridizer, on “What’s
Hot in Hosta.”
• Sunday, March 29, 2:30pm
Secret Garden Stroll – Early Spring
Edition
Celebrate Rock Creek Park’s 125th
anniversary by taking a 1.25-mile stroll
through Dumbarton Oaks Park with
Scott Einberger, author of A History
of Rock Creek Park: Wilderness and
Washington, DC. Discover the restora-
tion work being done to save this 27-
acre wild garden and explore the park’s
unique design and history. Please email
scott@dopark.org to RSVP for this free
tour.
• Thursday, April 2nd, 2-3:30pm
OR Saturday, April 4, 10-11:30am
Container Gardening Basics and
Beyond
Instructor: Kathy Jentz, editor/publisher,
Washington Gardener Magazine. Kathy
will cover the basics of growing suc-
cessful container plantings, from orna-
mental to edible containers, as well as
the different styles and fashions in con-
tainer gardening. Fee: $22, FOBG: $20;
TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS
registration required. Held at Brookside
Gardens in Wheaton, MD.
• Thursday, April 9, 7pm
Landscaping with Heirloom Flowers
and Herbs - Smithsonian Style
Smithsonian Gardens horticulturist
Erin Clark will share secrets of creating
fragrant and colorful cutting and herb
gardens using plants that are tried and
true over generations of gardeners.
Free garden lecture at the Virginia
Cooperative Extension, 30 Catoctin
Circle SE, Wells Fargo Bank Building, in
Leesburg, VA, to learn about old favor-
ites and more obscure treasures almost
lost to cultivation — and how to suc-
cessfully design with them.
• Friday, April 10, 12noon-1pm
Plants with Benefits Talk
Are some plants aphrodisiacs, or is that
just a myth? Garden expert and plant
detective Helen Yoest takes readers on
a romp through history, lore, and eth-
nobotany to find out how 45 of these
plants got their “hot” reputation — and
what modern science has to say about
it. US Botanic Garden’s Conservatory
classroom. Pre-registration required at
www.usbg.gov.
• Friday, April 10 and Saturday, April 11
Annual Spring Garden Market
This year’s Spring Garden Market at
River Farm in Alexandria, VA, will be
bigger and better than ever with new
hours, more vendors, demonstrations,
kids’ activities, and more. More than 30
vendors from across the Mid-Atlantic
region will offer a large selection of edi-
ble and flowering plants, as well as gar-
den art, tools, and other accessories.
In addition, Rocklands Barbeque and
Grilling Company will be on site serving
their peerless cuisine and you can get
your caffeine fix from Cafe Kreyol, offer-
ing free samples and selling gourmet
coffee beans. Catch seasonal cooking
demos by Whole Foods and pet live
alpacas from Kino Criations, which
will offer yarn and a selection of items
hand-crafted from their wool. Other
highlights of the event include a free
raffle for garden goodies and special
giveaways from our generous sponsors,
such as tote bags from Beyer Subaru to
carry your purchases, seeds, and more.
A small selection of carts and wagons
will be available for toting purchases
thanks to Village Hardware, but guests
are encouraged to bring their own.
Parking is $5 (cash only) per car;
waived for AHS members showing a
valid membership card or other proof
of membership. Non-members who join
during the event can apply this fee to a
new membership. For more information,
visit www.ahs.org.
Save These Future Dates:
• 7th Annual DC Plant Swap hosted
by Washington Gardener Magazine, on
Saturday, June 14, at 11am. Meet at
the US National Arboretum’s R Street
parking lot. Anyone is welcome and it
is FREE to participate. Bring your well-
labeled plants and seedlings to share.
• Private Gardens of Mink Hollow
Visit some of the most inspiring private
gardens in our area at the height of gar-
dening season. This year’s Brookside
Gardens benefit tour features gardens
have been artfully created by their own-
ers over a number of years: a painter’s
palette of blossoms arranged by room,
a veritable botanical library of speci-
mens, and more. Saturday, May 16,
10:00-4:00. Fee: $20 All-garden Pass
($5/garden if paid at the door). Map to
gardens will be sent to registrants.
Still More Event Listings
See even more event listings on the
Washington Gardener Yahoo discussion
list. Join the list at http://groups.yahoo.
com/group/WashingtonGardener/.
How to Submit Local
Garden Events
To submit an event for this listing,
please contact: Wgardenermag@aol.
com — put “Event” in the email subject
head. Our next deadline is April 10 for
the April 15 issue, featuring events
taking place from April 16 to May 15,
2015. o
Your Ad Here
Contact wgardenermag@aol.com
or call 301.588.6894 for ad rates.
MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 13
EDIBLEharvt
Cabbage-
Growing Guide
by Elizabeth Olson
The 1997 AAS Vegetable Award Winner Cabbage ‘Dynamo’ F1. Photo courtesy of All-
America Selections.
It is often said that home-grown vegeta-
bles taste best. This is especially true of
cabbage. A home-grown cabbage has a
wonderfully fresh and savory flavor, and
the texture is remarkably crisp.
Cabbage is grown for its leaves that
form into a tight head. The leaves can
be green or dark red, depending on
the cultivar. Most cultivars produce a
rounded head, but some produce a very
interesting cone-shaped head. Cabbage
is a hardy biennial that is grown as an
annual. It performs best in spring and
autumn in the greater Washington, DC,
region, but some cultivars perform fairly
well in warmer weather if well-tended
and established before the hot days of
summer.
This vegetable is a source of Vitamin
C as well as calcium, iron, and dietary
fiber. Cabbage has many culinary uses
and can be consumed fresh or cooked.
It is great added to soups or stews or
when steamed, sautéed, stir-fried, or
baked. Cabbage can be preserved by
pickling or dehydrating.
14 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015
How to Grow Cabbages
The scientific name for cabbage is Bras-
sica oleracea var. capitata. It belongs
to the same plant family as cauliflower,
Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and kale,
and should be included in the same
crop rotation schedule.
Seed starting for the spring growing
season should begin about four to six
weeks before the last expected frost
date in spring (early to mid-May for our
area). Use a sterile potting medium
in starter pots placed on horticultural
heat mats and grown under grow lights.
Seedlings need to be carefully hard-
ened off before transplanting them to
the garden. Transplants purchased from
greenhouses should also be hardened
off. Cabbage seedlings that are hard-
ened off will tolerate frost.
Start the seeds for an autumn har-
vest based on the projected harvest
date. Check the calendar and work
backward in time to calculate the date
to plant the seeds. They can be started
indoors or outdoors (but in a protected
location); either way, the seedlings will
need to be hardened off before being
transplanted to the garden.
The plants need good air circulation
and careful spacing. Be sure to follow
the spacing recommended for each
individual cultivar. Cabbage grows best
in full sun in fertile, well-worked soil
that has good drainage and a consis-
tent moisture level. Install a soaker
hose to supplement rainfall, keep the
area weed-free, and heavily mulch the
soil. Fertilize with an organic vegetable
fertilizer. Cabbage is bothered by a
number of flying insects; make sure
to cover the plants with a floating row
cover. Perform routine checks and
weeding chores early in the morning
and carefully re-cover the plants without
trapping insects.
Cabbage can also be grown in large
containers with drainage holes. Some
of the smaller-headed cultivars are
very well-suited for this. Make sure that
container-grown plants have adequate
nutrition and a consistent moisture
level in the potting medium — which
should be mulched. Container-grown
plants, too, should be covered with a
floating row cover.
Cabbage Availability
Many garden centers sell seedlings for
both green and red cabbage in late win-
ter to early spring. Some garden centers
also sell cabbage seedlings late in sum-
mer for fall harvest. Seeds for standard
cultivars are available at many garden
centers. More cultivars are available
from seed companies through mail or
online order.
Excellent green cultivars include
‘Gonzales’ baby cabbage (F1) and the
heirlooms ‘Early Flat Dutch,’ ‘Early
Jersey Wakefield’ (cone-shaped head),
and ‘Late Flat Dutch.’ Cultivars with
extremely crinkled leaves are called
Savoy cabbages. ‘Savoy Perfection’
(green) and ‘January King’ (green outer
leaves develop red splashes in cold
autumn weather) are beautiful and
tasty. Highly regarded red cultivars
include ‘Kalibos’ (cone-shaped head),
‘Mammoth Red Rock,’ and ‘Red Acre.’
If you only have room for one type of
cabbage, try ‘Red Acre.’ Red cabbage
makes a lovely slaw; see the recipe on
the opposite page.
 EDIBLEharvt

When/How to Harvest
Red Cabbage Slaw The dates for maturity listed on a seed
Recipe courtesy of Elizabeth Olson package or transplant container indi-
Ingredients for the slaw cate how long it takes for that cabbage
1 small head of home-grown red cabbage cultivar to reach harvesting size after
1 to 1½ cups chopped Vidalia® or other sweet white onion the seedlings have been transplanted
¼ to ½ cup finely chopped cilantro leaves; flat-leaf parsley may be substituted. to the garden. This can be anywhere
from about 60 to 100 days, depending
Ingredients for the dressing on the cultivar.
¼ cup grapeseed oil The growth habit of a cabbage plant is
2 tablespoons, plus a little extra, of freshly squeezed lime juice (This requires two open at first and the oldest outer leaves
to three regular-size limes, depending on how juicy they are. Do not use bottled stay open. The head begins to form in
lime juice.) the center from the newer leaves as the
1 freshly ground chipotle pepper — no substitutions. (Chipotle peppers are dried, season progresses. Harvest a cabbage
smoked jalapeño peppers. They are available in the spice or ethnic food sections head when it has reached the desired
of many markets.) size and the head is full and tight. Use
A pinch or two of salt sharp parrot-beaked shears to cut the
2 teaspoons of a mild-flavored honey stem just below the tight head. Store
fresh cabbage in the refrigerator crisper
Directions for the dressing drawer.
• Make the dressing first.
• Grind one whole chipotle pepper into powder. Cover the powder and set it aside. Cabbage Fun Fact
• Zest the limes before juicing them. The zest can be reserved for another recipe, After an early summer harvest, keep
or a little can be added to the dressing. the stumps firmly planted and allow
• Juice the limes. a few of the open, outer leaves from
• Combine a small amount of lime juice and a pinch or two of the chipotle pepper the cabbages to remain on each stem.
powder. Make sure that the chipotle powder is completely moistened, then add 2 Small side sprouts will emerge at the
tablespoons of lime juice and stir. Reserve any remaining juice for another recipe. base of the leaves; thin to one sprout
• Add a pinch of salt and stir. per plant— it will grow into a head of
• Add the honey and stir the dressing until it is thoroughly mixed. cabbage that can be harvested later in
• Add ¼ cup of grapeseed oil and stir. the growing season. o
• Taste the dressing. If it needs more chipotle pepper powder, gently sprinkle
in a little bit more and stir. Repeat this step until the desired amount of heat is Elizabeth Olson is a Maryland Certified
attained. Be careful how much you add at any one time — fresh chipotle pepper Professional Horticulturist. She is also an
powder is strong. avid home gardener who is fascinated by
• If the dressing needs more salt, add another pinch now and stir. the stories behind the plants that she grows.
• Set the dressing aside and cover it. She can be contacted through Washington
• Please note: This recipe makes about one-third cup of dressing. Be careful not Gardener magazine.
to make too much dressing as the slaw needs to be lightly dressed. The cabbage,
onion, and cilantro (or parsley) will give off juices as the slaw marinates.

Directions for the Slaw

• Carefully quarter the cabbage by slicing the head in half lengthwise, then care-
fully slicing each half down the center lengthwise. Core all four quarters.
• Slice the cabbage quarters crosswise into thin to medium-thin slices. Cut longer
pieces into shorter pieces. Place the cabbage pieces into a large bowl.
• Remove the cilantro (or parsley) leaves from the stems and finely chop them.
Add ¼ to ½ cup of finely chopped leaves to the cabbage bowl.
• Peel, core, and chop enough Vidalia® or other sweet white onion(s) to make 1
to 1½ cups of medium-small pieces. Add the chopped onion pieces to the cab-
bage bowl.
• Thoroughly toss the cabbage, cilantro (or parsley), and onion to make a slaw mix.
• Stir the dressing and add it to the slaw mix; toss the mix to make sure that the
dressing evenly coats it.
• Place the dressed slaw in a ZipLoc® bag or other plastic food container, and
seal it tightly. Store the sealed container in the refrigerator for several hours or
overnight. It can be made up to one day in advance of serving. Keep the slaw
This red cabbage is starting to form a
evenly dressed by stirring it every so often.
head. Photo taken at Mount Vernon by
• Stir the slaw before serving. Elizabeth Olson.

MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 15

GARDENbasics
Organic Lawn Care
We buy green cleaning products, eat
organic veggies, and drink filtered
water, but do you ever give any thought
to the grass that you, your family, and
pets play on every day? Did you know
that pesticides and fertilizers are not
tested for their long-term effects on
your health or the environment? Earth
Day is this Sunday, April 22, and what
better way to pay back Mother Nature
for all she has provided to you than to
convert to organic lawn practices?
There are between 40 and 50 million
acres of turf in the US alone, and pes-
ticide and fertilizer applications to this
ground can be three to six times that of
agricultural land.
A national campaign for safe lawn
care practice, SafeLawns.org, was
launched about 10 years ago on the
front lawn of the U.S. Capitol on the
Mall here in Washington, DC. Experts
from industry, government, health orga-
nizations, and environmental activists
gathered to kick off a public education
initiative. They issued a challenge to day
cares, grade schools, universities, and
companies across the US to discontinue
16 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015
by Kathy Jentz
the use of chemicals on their lawns.
Pesticides and fungicides aren’t safe
for people, pets, or even the planet.
Eliminate the need for harmful garden
chemicals by pampering your plants
with healthy, nutrient-rich soil from the
get-go. “Healthy soil, rich in minerals,
nutrients and ‘good bugs,’ maximizes
a plant’s own healthy immune system
to let it naturally resist pests and dis-
eases,” says outdoor living trendspotter
and garden guru Susan McCoy, founder
of the Garden Media Group, a public
relations firm specializing in all things
gardening. Compost your own or look
for organic potting soils like Organic
Mechanics (organicmechanicsoil.com),
available at Whole Foods stores and
local garden centers.
According to Ethne Clarke, former
garden editor of Traditional Home,
“Most gardens have lawns, and in some
cases, the lawn IS the garden.” She
suggests mowing less frequently, cut-
ting the grass longer so the top growth
protects the roots, and watering less
frequently to force the roots to go deep-
er, which keeps them cooler and less
Source: Photodisc
susceptible to dry-spell damage. She
recommends using cornmeal or diato-
maceous earth as an insecticide and
pulling weeds before they set seed. For
tough lawns, use a soil conditioner with
good micro-organisms and aerate to
encourage soil health. Try compost tea
or worm castings tea for an easy spray-
on solution without back-breaking work.
Recently, organic lawn care consul-
tant Chip Osborne was invited by the
town of Takoma Park, MD, to present
a program on natural turf manage-
ment for lawn care professionals. He
maintains that organic methods equal
proactive management. “Organic does
not mean substituting chemical inputs
one-for-one, nor does it mean subtract-
ing all chemicals and just letting it go,”
said Osborne. “It is about a systemic
approach to get your soil healthy so that
turf lawn is strong enough to fight off
weeds and plant pathogens.”
Osborne maintains that: “Nature has
put everything in place that we need to
grow healthy grass. Our job is to opti-
mize that system and to stop practices
that compromise it.”

Here are 10 Essential Tips
for a Natural Lawn
Here are the organic lawn care basics from the folks at
SafeLawns.org.
1) Obtain a Soil Test — Never spend money on any fertilizer
or soil amendment without first consulting the results of a
soil test.
2) Grow the Right Grass — The most common lawn grasses
in North America, Kentucky bluegrass and Bermuda grass,
also need the most water and fertilizer to grow well. Other
species, such as perennial rye grass, fescue, seashore pas-
palum, and centipede grass, may be better for your region
of the country.
3) Water Well — Morning watering is always recommended
so that the surface of the lawn dries off during the day.
Water deeply and infrequently so the roots of the grass
learn to grow down into the soil to get the water they need.
4) Think of Your Soil as Alive — “Dirt” is what you track into
your house. The material that grows your lawn, the soil, is
alive with organisms large and small. Nurturing that life
through proper use of natural materials will lead to a suc-
cessful natural lawn.
5) Mow Properly — Recycling your grass clippings by leaving
them on the lawn will provide approximately half of your
lawn’s fertilizer needs for the season. Keep your mower
blades sharp. Depending on the species — Bermuda grass
and seashore paspalum are the exceptions — lawns should
be mowed to no lower than 2.5 inches, even higher in the
summer.
6) Avoid Synthetic Materials — Fertilizers manufactured in a
laboratory often burn lawn grasses and soils. Fertilizers and
soil amendments should come from materials that were
once living plants or animals, or mined minerals such as
lime or sulfur.
7) Add Compost — Nature’s most magical soil additive,
compost, contains all sorts of beneficial microorganisms
that add life to the soil. These organisms will interact with
organic fertilizers to provide the green lawn many of us
covet. Compost in liquid form, known as compost tea or
extract, should be used in combination with dry compost
because the liquid form is available to the soil and grass
more quickly. This is especially important during the years
of transition from a synthetic system.
8) See Weeds as Messengers — Weeds usually appear on
lawns only when something is wrong with the soil. Even if
we kill the weeds, they will come back unless we fix the
underlying problem within the soil.
9) Similarly: See Insects as Messengers — A rush of new
grass growth caused by synthetic fertilizers will often attract
insects. Predatory insects are rarely a problem in a natural
system that is in balance.
10) Overseed Regularly — In nature, all plants produce seed
to reproduce themselves. In a lawn system, where we mow
regularly, grass is not allowed to reproduce and even the
healthiest plants get tired. By overseeding in spring or fall,
you are introducing robust young plants that will fill in bare
areas and compete aggressively against weeds. o
GARDENbasics
Osborne recommends studying basic soil biology and abandoning
applications “by the calendar.” He maintains that conventional turf man-
agement treats the systems, but does not address the core causes of
lawn issues. “Be patient,” he advised. “It takes many years for a lawn to
recover from conventional turf grass management methods.”
By going organic, not only will you be doing the right thing environmen-
tally, you can also add to the value of your home! That’s right, a program
for “kid-safe lawn” certification was started by realtors, so that when
you buy or sell a home, you can be certain that the lawn has not been
treated with dangerous chemicals.
Having a natural lawn will also be helping the health of yourself, your
children, and your pets. In addition to those benefits, going organic can
also save money, help wildlife, reduce pollution, and conserve our limited
resources. o
Kathy is editor of Washington Gardener Magazine (www.WashingtonGardener.
com) and a long-time DC area gardening enthusiast. Portions of this article origi-
nally appeared in the DC Examiner newspaper.
The American Horticultural Society’s
Spring
Garden
Market
at River Farm
Shop for natives,
specialty plants,
edibles and more!
APRIL 10 & 11
AHS MEMBERS-ONLY MORNING
(with current membership card)
Friday, April 10, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
PUBLIC SALE
Friday, April 10, 12 a.m.– 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 11, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
River Farm is located at 7931 East
Boulevard Drive in Alexandria, Virginia.
Parking is $5 per car (cash only); free for
AHS members (with valid member card,
receipt, or other proof of membership).
for more information
Call (703) 768-5700 or visit www.ahs.org.
MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 17
PLANTprofile
Bletilla:
Hardy Chinese Ground Orchid
Pretty in pink, purple, and white, with a
ruffled lip and pleated leaves, Bletilla
striata is a plant that’s all dressed up
and happy to be here.
Also known as Chinese summer
ground orchid, Urn orchid, or Hyacinth
orchid, Bletilla is an orchid that is ter-
restrial, herbaceous, perennial, and
hardy.
It’s non-invasive, forming clumps over
time, but not taking over completely. Its
requirements for success are simple: a
well-drained site with composted mate-
rial to provide nutrient-rich humus and
sufficient moisture, but not wet feet;
shade from the harsh afternoon sun;
and, the warmth of a blanket of pine
needles when temperatures go into the
teens. Provide a seasonal dressing with
18 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015
by Judith Mensh
compost and shredded leaves. It is not
too fussy about soil pH. It is amenable
to morning sun with afternoon shade or
dappled shade all day long. Considered
a well-behaved and beloved garden
member by those who grow them and
know them, they are routinely described
as user-friendly.
With long-lasting cut flowers that
resemble a Cattleya orchid (the classic
prom flower) in shape, Bletilla has sev-
eral of the interesting, unusual features
of an orchid: leaves and flowers arise
from pseudobulbs (modified stems
produced by rhizomes); flowers are
hermaphroditic; pollination by insects,
e.g., bees and bumble bees. The Bletilla
flower has no nectar, offering no reward
to its pollinators, and must rely on its
physical beauty and provocative scent
to deceive and attract its insect pollina-
tors, who fly off dusted with the pollinia
and move over to the next flower, hop-
ing that this one will pay off.
The occasional slug or snail may
munch on Bletilla leaves. Although it
is not on any deer-resistant list, unless
hard-pressed, deer will often ignore it in
favor of almost anything else.
Lobelia, Monarda, Zizzia, and your
native shady garden plant friends make
room for a new old garden plant: the
hardy Chinese ground orchid. Bring the
unique charm of an orchid into your
everyday life in USDA hardiness zones
5-8. Bletilla blooms three to six weeks
in situ, providing cut flowers that are
easy to pull — no scissors necessary
— and have a long vase life.
Bletilla History
Orchidelirium overcame the English
during the Victorian years (1837-1901),
much like the Dutch tulip mania of the
17th-century. One-hundred years later,
orchids continue to intrigue. Today, trop-
ical orchids can be bought at the super-
market, and even bright-blue (dyed!)
is an option. The delirium of the 19th
century coalesced into the devoted fol-
lowing that orchids have today.
Orchids had reached England earlier,
but lack of experience and knowl-
edge of life cycle and nutrition led to
a high rate of demise. Hunting and
removing orchids in the wild is now
outlawed. Propagation methods have
advanced so that, between working
with clones, tissue culture, and old-
fashioned growing from seed, orchids
are now readily available, affordable,
and relatively low-maintenance (think
of the now-common Phalaenopsis).
Today, all orchids are protected, by the
international treaty organization — the
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES). Responsible ownership
requires that we purchase only nursery-
grown specimens.
Hardy orchids are not found on lists
for the colonial garden, the cottage
garden, or native plant gardens. Look
under “Rare and Unusual.” Despite the
craze for tropical orchids, terrestrial
orchids have remained a mystery to
many.
Due to a physical resemblance, the

name Bletilla is a diminutive of Bleti, a
genus of small native terrestrial orchids
found in the wild, but otherwise unre-
lated, and named by Linnaeus after the
Spanish Botanist Luis Blet.
Of course, these orchids have been
known forever in their home territory,
Eastern Asia. The European Age of
Discovery included plant exploration,
bringing orchids never seen by the
Western world. In Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM), Rhizoma Bletillae (Bai
ji) and its rhizomes and pseudobulbs
have been used for their antibacterial,
anti-inflammatory, and styptic qualities,
for more than 1,000 years. A gum can
be rendered from the pseudobulbs,
and an invisible ink can be made from
the mucilaginous pulp. Add water and
hold it up to the light to read your
secret message. In current times, its
anti-bleeding and healing qualities have
been included in toothpastes for those
with bleeding gums. (Note that Bletilla
root is incompatible with Aconite root in
TCM.) The bulbs are harvested during
dormancy, are dried and ground into a
powder, mixed with sesame oil for topi-
cal treatment, or mixed with hot water
and imbibed as a tea.
Many familiar with our native ground
orchids have heard of Lady’s Slippers
(Cypripedium) and Lady’s Tresses
(Spiranthes), but Bletilla, native to
Eastern Asia, maintains its best-kept-
secret status.
Best Growth Conditions
To begin with, stick with the species;
they are usually priced with their peers,
not above them. Plant the pseudobulbs
(the thickened moisture- and nutrient-
holding stem) at a shallow one to three
inches in depth. (Although mostly sold
as a bulb, strictly speaking, bulbs are
enlarged roots.) A shallow root system
develops over time. Be careful to hold
the plant steady when you pull weeds
that have grown under or through it.
It does not disappoint and “stunning”
does not exaggerate its beauty as it
blooms from May to June, then again
from June on through frost.
A planting mix of Bletilla striata will
grace a garden with an impressive color
display of white, pink, lavender, and
purple. If you’ve thought of converting
your landscape into a woodland setting,
consider Bletilla for adding a long-last-
ing floral display. If you want to, you
can create a succession of blooming
Bletilla, start with the B. striata spp.,
add in some B. striata ‘Kate,’ then the
B. ochracea.
Orchids are gorgeous flowers and who
wouldn’t want one. But we all know the
common lament: Orchids are difficult.
Establishing a new clump of these
orchids, although they are not native to
our area, still supports biodiversity.
Easy-to-grow is the general consen-
sus. Equal with the importance of our
native gardens is a curiosity for learning
about new plants. If you have a love of
woodland dappled-shade or shady-edge
gardening or are a collector of exotic or
medicinal or terrestrial orchids, Bletilla
should be on your list of shade-tolerant
summer-blooming bulbs.
Cultivars for the DC Area
Bletilla striata and Bletilla striata ‘Alba’
(a brilliant white) are the two starter
outdoor orchids. Bletilla ochracea, a
yellow version, is perhaps less hearty,
but responds to protection. Bill Mathis,
author of The Gardener’s Guide to
Growing Hardy Perennial Orchids
and owner-operator of The Wild Orchid
Company, Doylestown, PA (www.
WildOrchidCompany.com), recommends
buying mature plants, rather than start-
ing from rhizomes and pseudobulbs.
Many of the mail-order nurseries send
them as bare-root pseudobulbs. A new
planting will take two to five years to
bloom. A mature plant will begin its
life in your garden or container as an
adult, ready to bloom from the bottom
up, providing cut flowers and beauty in
the environment. Give it space and let
it spread. Clear out a patch of wayward
ivy and replace it with Bletilla.
Companion Plants
Bletilla is effective in containers and
appropriate in the medicinal garden,
the afternoon shade garden, or en
masse in a woodland garden. Possible
combinations include Hosta, Geranium
‘Rosanne,’ Campanula carpatica,
low-growing ferns such as Sword Fern
(Polystichum munitum), Epimedium
(so many choices), Podophylum, and
other woodland plants. Calanthe striata,
another Asian terrestrial orchid, pro-
vides a compatible note. Where a native
plant collection overlaps with an inter-
PLANTprofile
est in terrestrial orchids, plan to team
North American native orchids with
compatible planting conditions, such as
Rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pube-
scens), and Nodding Ladies tresses
(Spiranthes cernua).
Also, look for B. striata ‘Ogon’ (Ogon
Hardy Orchid), a striking golden-leaved
variety. Warning: Some new hybrids
have been found to revert back to the
plain species.
Sources and Information
Ask for Bletilla at your local garden
center. It often arrives in bloom in the
spring, and may appear again in the fall
for the beauty of its foliage. Look for it
at nurseries that specialize in rare and
unique plants.
In some quarters, terrestrial orchids
are still categorized as plant novelties.
Pseudobulbs are available from Brent
and Becky’s Bulbs and Michigan Bulb
Co. Other online resources include
Plantdelights.com (NC) and the Wild
Orchid Company (PA), which are both
accessible also by car from DC.
When in London, look for it at the
Chelsea Physic Garden, in the Herb &
Medicinal plant collections; you will also
find it at Kew Gardens.
Nearby, look for it at JC Raulston
Arboretum (NC) and Chanticleer (PA).
Locally, you can find it in abundance
at the National Arboretum and in the
rock garden by the visitor center at
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.
If you are open to exploring the world
of the hardy terrestrial orchid, it is an
underused gem that deserves a place
in your garden — from its crenelated,
green monocot leaves (sometimes
striped with white) to the fancy rippled
flower petal called the lip, decorated
with splashes and drips of color, lightly
scented, it is a delight in color and form.
It’s a topic with a following, a fan base,
and a growing awareness. Time heals
all wounds and Bletilla has healed
wounds for a long time. For many of
us, hardy orchid is an oxymoron — like
hardy begonia and hardy geranium
— but yes, it really does exist. o
Judith Mensh is a local horticultural consul-
tant. She is available to walk your yard with
you and identify plants and possibilities.
She can be reached via email at
JudithMenshNurtureNature@gmail.com.
MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 19
TIPStricks

Easy-Care Beds & Borders Poison-Frog Compounds

by Judie Brower to Control Fire Ants
Here are 10 tips and tricks to keep in by Sandra Avant
mind for easy flower gardening: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
1. Select eco-friendly, low-maintenance scientists and their collaborators have
plants. Investing in low-maintenance found that naturally occurring com-
Volcano® phlox. White blooms often
plants that are drought-tolerant and pounds — alkaloids — that are found
show up even in the dark, and as an
require no harsh chemicals to perform on the skin of certain poison frogs can
added bonus, many, such as flowering
will pay for themselves 10 times over. incapacitate and kill fire ants.
tobacco, brugmansia, and moonflower,
2. Create a framework. Shrubs are The red imported fire ant damages
are quite fragrant in the evening air.
often thought of as stand alone plants, crops, devastates small animal popu-
5. Create a backdrop. “A tall flowering
but when interspersed throughout a lations, and inflicts painful stings to
hedge at the back creates a canvas
bed or border, they add “framework” livestock as well as to humans. To
for the rest of your ‘art,’” says Anthony
and structure. Shrubs are available in determine whether poison-frog alka-
Tesselaar. He suggests Fairy Magnolia®
a variety of sizes and shapes, foliage loids would kill fire ants, scientists at
Blush, with its dark-green, compact foli-
types, bloom time and colors, and much the Agricultural Research Service’s
age and masses of russet-colored buds
more. The University of Illinois web site (ARS) Center for Medical, Agricultural,
followed by heavenly scented spring
offers a great deal of helpful informa- and Veterinary Entomology (CMAVE)
flowers: “Who wouldn’t love a fragrant,
tion for Selecting Shrubs for Your Home. partnered with researchers at the
flowering hedge to divide or frame gar-
3. Spread the love. To create season- Smithsonian Conservation Biology
den spaces?” Limited space? Use a few
long color, select flowers that last for Institute at the National Zoological Park
pieces of ornamental fencing material
long periods of time and then add in in Front Royal, VA, and the National
to create your backdrop.
more seasonal color and spread these Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
6. Make it mow-friendly. When creating
long bloomers throughout the garden. Poison frogs, natives of Central and
new beds or adding to old, stay away
For instance, in our region, Salvia South America, do not make alkaloids,
from sharp angles and tight corners.
‘May Night’ sends out 12" purple/blue but instead sequester them by eat-
Straight lines or broad curves look
blooms starting in mid-spring and ing ants, mites, millipedes, and other
best and are easy to keep mowed. One
continues to bloom all summer long. arthropods that produce these com-
of the easiest ways to plan (and test
Flower Carpet, the original “eco-rose” pounds, according to Robert Vander
mow-ability) for new beds is to lay out a
blooms from late June through October Meer, research leader for CMAVE’s
garden hose to form your border, mak-
and comes in a variety of colors. One Imported Fire Ant and Household
ing certain the curves are smooth and
of Pennsylvania garden writer Doug Insects Unit. He and his colleagues
gradual enough to mow around easily.
Oster’s favorite long-bloomers is developed a bioassay to measure the
7. Choose a range of heights. “Go tall
Corydalis ‘Canary Feathers,’ which is toxicity of 20 poison-frog alkaloids,
in back, medium in the middle, and low
filled with bright-yellow blooms from some of which were very effective in
in the front,” says Tesselaar. “But don’t
April until October. controlling fire ants, while others were
line them up like a school photo. Think
Space these long-bloomers through- not.
of overlapping drifts.”
out your beds and then fill the areas Alkaloids derived from mites and
8. Include evergreens, ornamental
in-between with more partial-season found on the skin of Central America’s
grasses, and foliage plants for year-
bloomers such as spring-blooming poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, were
round color and texture. Ornamental
bulbs and early summer-blooming more effective at incapacitating fire
grasses add color and texture all year
Siberian iris, Oriental poppies, and ants than the fire ants’ own alkaloids.
long, as do a variety of evergreens.
peonies; low-maintenance mid-to-late Scientists are considering expanding
9. Select plants with strong form and
summer bloomers include daylilies (the their research to include mosquitoes.
color. “One or two kinds are enough,
Stella-types rebloom for even longer Earlier work published in Proceedings
and repeat them throughout the bor-
color), Phlox paniculata, achillea, cam- of the National Academy of Sciences
der,” says Tesselaar.
panula, coreopsis, asters, and hardy demonstrated that a poison-frog alka-
10. And finally, never underestimate the
mums. And don’t forget the silver! loid called pumiliotoxin 251D was effec-
value of mulch! Applying mulch is ulti-
Silvery-blue artemisia comes in all sorts tive against the yellow fever mosquito.
mately the most important time-saving
of shapes and sizes, and adds a con- Insects that landed on surfaces treated
and labor-saving measure you can take.
stant neutral tone to any garden, blend- with the compound could no longer fly
Regardless of the type of mulch used, it
ing with most other colors. and died.
helps to discourage weeds and hold in
4. Don’t underestimate the power of Mosquitoes cause problems world-
moisture, thereby reducing the amount
white. White can be used to break up wide, transmitting pathogens that can
of water you need to keep your garden
otherwise clashing colors and helps lead to serious diseases. In the future,
looking great all season long. Organic
to soften harsh edges. Try combining poison-frog alkaloids or derivatives may
materials include grass clippings, shred-
white-variegated or white-blooming prove useful in helping control mosqui-
ded leaves, pine needles, shredded
plants with contrasting shapes, like toes, according to Vander Meer. o
bark, wood chips, and newspaper. o

20 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015


Ask the Expert
by Debra Ricigliano
Growing Strawberries
in Containers
I am thinking about growing some
strawberries this season in containers.
Have you had any success with growing
them here? If so, please let me know
when I should plant them.
Strawberries can be grown in the
Washington, DC, area successfully. They
would prefer being in the ground, but if
space is limited, containers will suffice.
However, as production declines, replac-
ing soil and plants every two or three
years will probably be necessary.
June-bearing strawberries will pro-
duce a crop the second year after plant-
ing (remove all flowers the first year).
Day-neutral varieties, which produce
flushes of berries from late spring to
fall, can also be grown.
Typical “strawberry pots” are difficult
to keep watered, so a weather-resis-
tant large container or a half whiskey
barrel is recommended. Plant them
after the danger of frost has passed
(early to mid-May). Strawberries need
well-drained rich soil; mix three parts
bagged potting mixture to one part
compost. Place in full sun and keep
them regularly watered. See the
Maryland Extension Home and Garden
Information Center (HGIC) publication
on small fruits for a list of recommend-
ed varieties at http://extension.umd.
edu.
Cocoons in Compost
We built a raised-bed garden and used
it last year with great success. My wife
also started composting last summer,
and we put the compost on the garden
last November. This spring, I noticed a
lot of cocoon-looking carcasses all over
the top of the soil. Can you tell what
these are? If so, should we do anything
about it?
Glad that you had success with your
raised bed and with composting. From
the photos you submitted with your
question to the “Ask Maryland’s Garden
Experts” widget on the HGIC web site,
we determined that the larvae are sol-
dier flies. It is not unusual to find them
in compost. These, and a number of
other soil-dwelling invertebrates, play
an important role by breaking down
organic matter and recycling nutrients.
Do not be alarmed; these will not harm
your plants or cause you trouble in your
landscape. No control is necessary.
Black soldier fly larvae photo by Whitney Cran-
shaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org.
Replacement for Ash
We had to have an ash tree removed
from in front of our house last fall. I
do not think it had emerald ash borer,
but because ash trees are susceptible
to this insect, I do not want to plant
another one. What do you suggest as
some replacement trees?
Emerald ash borer is an exotic invasive
beetle that was accidentally introduced
into Maryland back in 2003. It is a seri-
ous pest of ash trees and therefore it
is not a good idea to plant those. You
are wise to look for an alternative tree.
Some native suggestions are Black
Gum (Nyssa sylvatica), Willow Oak
(Quercus phellos), and Red Maple (Acer
rubrum). Japanese Zelkova (Zelkova
serrata) is a well-behaved non-native
tree. These trees have relatively few
KNOWitall
pest problems. For additional informa-
tion on emerald ash borer, look in the
November/December 2008 issue of
Washington Gardener Magazine.
Robin Flying into Glass
Why would a robin fly into the glass of
my living room windows? This has been
happening for the past two weeks. It
flies away when I go outside, but then
it starts right back up again when I go
back in. Do you have any idea why he
would be doing this?
What you describe is a fairly common
spring behavior for territorial bird spe-
cies like robins, sparrows, and cardinals
that nest close to houses. Both males
and females do this as they attempt
to thwart possible competitors or birds
they view as a threat to their young.
They see their reflections in your win-
dow and assume these are birds they
need to drive away, which leads them to
fly into the glass. You can prevent this
temporarily by covering the outside of
the window with bird netting or fabric
so their reflections are no longer visible
to them, or hang shiny objects like CD
discs or Mylar tape in front of the win-
dow. There are also semi-transparent
stickers sold to prevent birds from flying
into windows. o
Debra Ricigliano is a Certified Professional
Horticulturalist. She has worked as a hor-
ticulture consultant for the University of
Maryland Extension Home and Garden
Information Center since 1997. Debra enjoys
gardening at her home in Highland, MD.
She is a graduate of the Institute of Applied
Agriculture at UMCP and a talented, all-
around horticulturist. To
ask a gardening or pest
question, go to http://
www.extension.umd.
edu/hgic and click on
“Ask Maryland’s Garden
Experts.” You can also
attach a digital photo.
Got a gardening question you need
answered? Send your questions to
wgardenermag@aol.com and use the
subject line “Q&A.”
Please also include your first name,
last initial, and the city and state you are
writing from. Then look for your answered
questions in upcoming issues.
MARCH 2015 WASHINGTON GARDENER 21

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MARCH/APRIL 2005
• Landscape DIY vs. Pro
• Prevent Gardener’s Back
• Ladew Topiary Gardens
• Cherry Trees
MAY/JUNE 2005
• Stunning Plant Combinations
• Turning Clay into Rich Soil
• Wild Garlic
• Strawberries
JULY/AUGUST 2005
• Water Gardens
• Poison Ivy
• Disguising a Sloping Yard
• Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005
• Container Gardens
• Clematis Vines
• Sponge Gardening/Rain Gardens
• 5 Insect Enemies of Gardeners
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005
• Backyard Bird Habitats
• Hellebores
• Building a Coldframe
• Bulb Planting Basics
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2006
• Garden Decor Principles
• Primroses
• Tasty Heirloom Veggies
• U.S. Botanic Garden
MARCH/APRIL 2006
• Top 10 Small Trees and Large Shrubs
• Azaleas
• Figs, Berries, & Persimmons
• Basic Pruning Principles
MAY/JUNE 2006
• Using Native Plants in Your Landscape
• Crabgrass
• Peppers
• Secret Sources for Free Plants
JULY/AUGUST 2006
• Hydrangeas
• Theme Gardens
• Agave
• Find Garden Space by Growing Up
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
• Shade Gardening
• Hosta Care Guide
• Fig-growing Tips and Recipes
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2006
• Horticultural Careers
• Juniper Care Guide
• Winter Squash Growing Tips and Recipes
• Layer/Lasagna Gardening
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007
• Indoor Gardening
• Daphne Care Guide
• Asparagus Growing Tips and Recipes
• Houseplant Propagation
MARCH/APRIL 2007
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• Franciscan Monastery Bulb Gardens
22 WASHINGTON GARDENER
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MAY/JUNE 2007
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MARCH/APRIL 2008
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WINTER 2010
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SUMMER 2011
JULY/AUGUST 2008 • Ornamental Edibles
• Landscaping with Ornamental Grasses • Urban Foraging
AHS Spring Garden Market 17
• Edible Grasses to Graze On • Amsonia/Arkansas Blue Star
• Growing Corn in the Mid-Atlantic
Behnke Nurseries 2
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FALL 2011
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008
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• Toad Lilies
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• Best Time to Plant Spring-blooming Bulbs
Grow Your Health Festival 10
• 14 Dry Shade Plants Too Good to Overlook WINTER 2011/EARLY SPRING 2012 Leesburg Flower Festival 23
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008
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Love & Carrots Edible Landscapes 2
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• How to Prune Fruiting Trees, Shrubs, Vines SPRING 2012
• 5 Top Tips for Overwintering Tender Bulbs • Pollinator Gardens Plant A Row for the Hungry 7
• Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick • Brunnera: Perennial of the Year
• Growing Yacon Premier Ponds 2
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 SUMMER 2012 Sunshine Farm & Gardens 2
• Compost Happens: Nature’s Free Fertilizer
• Managing Stormwater with a Rain Garden
• Tropical Gardens
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Washington Gardener Back Issues 22
• Visiting Virginia’s State Arboretum • Icebox Watermelons Washington Gardener Calendar 5
• Grow Winter Hazel for Winter Color
SPRING 2013 Washington Gardener Speaker Bureau 2
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MARCH/APRIL 2009
UT!
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D O Garden Tips • Squash Vine Borer
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UT! Guide
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UT!
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O
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 Donate to Support DC Gardens and Gardening in DC!
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dc-gardens-beyond-the-cherry-blossoms
What is DCGardens.com?
• Images and videos of DC-area gardens by month, enticing people to visit year-
round. (See DCGardens.com for examples.)
• Deep local resources turning more residents into gardeners.
• Digital images are donated by volunteers, so DC Gardens is inexpensive.
Managed and funded independently from the gardens; nimble and very useful!
Why Gardens (and Gardening) Matter
The Washington, DC, area is blessed with fabulous gardens that are open to the pub-
lic, most of them free. Sadly, many are largely unknown and lack the funds to get the
word out. If people could just see what they look like — throughout the year — more
would visit and that matters because:
• Gardens bring visitors close to plants and to all of nature, which benefits them
mentally, spiritually, and physically.
• Visiting gardens is a gateway experience to taking up gardening at home and in
the community.
• Public gardens are the primary teaching facilities for turning residents into
gardeners, with classes and workshops on growing food, providing for wildlife,
protecting our waterways from polluting run-off, and creating beauty in our home
gardens or balconies.
• Turning people on to gardening results in more beauty for all of us to enjoy and
better stewardship of our land — without nagging.

Go to donate now at:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dc-gardens-beyond-the-cherry-blossoms

24 WASHINGTON GARDENER MARCH 2015