All the Dirt on Gardening

Kew is working as project partners with Durham Wildlife Trust (DWT) in an attempt to grow 20,000 marsh violet plants, the food plant of the larvae of the small pearl-bordered fritillary. With only six small colonies currently known within the county, this is County Durham’s rarest breeding butterfly . small pearl fritillary butterfly According to the USDA the native range for the marsh violet is across the U.S. Marsh Violet in Illinois http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VIPA4 Threatened and Endangered Information: Viola palustris L. This plant is listed by the U.S. federal government or a state. Common names are from state and federal lists. Click on a place name to get a complete protected plant list for that location. Maine : alpine marsh violet Endangered New Hampshire : alpine marsh violet Threatened The best way to help endangered wildlife is to grow the food they need. I confess to pu...

The Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha NE started with a rose garden in 1995. Today, beautiful plantings, water features, educational classes, shows, and events bring 200,000 visitors a year to the 100-acre botanical garden. The Omaha Botanical Center is on the site of woods and rolling terraces on a bluff, giving spectacular views from some locations. The Missouri River is a short distance to the east and is visible from Kenefick Park that houses Union Pacific Railroad’s Big Boy No. 4023 and Centennial No. 6900. The walk from the railroad cars to the museum itself is through well-tended perennial and annual beds as well as giant containers of flowers and plantings. Visitors enter Lauritzen through a 32,000 square-foot visitor/education center which by itself is worth a trip. At the center of the building there is a dramatic 65-foot tall vaulted glass roof that is visible from the highway. When we visited a few weeks ago the 5,000 square-foot display hall housed a fall chrysanthemum show an...

Quayside Publishing Group released a cool new book promising that anyone anywhere can grow fruit trees. Many of us in OK would challenge that assumption after losing so many fruit trees over the decades. But, one characteristic gardeners have in common is the endless desire to keep on trying. Whether you are an experienced gardener or not, there is a lot to learn about growing fruit trees in a state where Mother Nature is so fickle. This book is unique in its approach since the authors' goals are unusual.  One of the authors is Cem Akin, the executive director of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. Akin's bio says "Cem has created charitable programs and planted thousands of trees on five continents - in jungles, deserts, and in between." Jungles and deserts both? Intriguing. The other author is Leah Rottke, a landscape manger specializing in arboriculture. The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation is a big deal that most people have not heard about. The non-pro...

Yesterday at the annual Oklahoma Urban Forestry Conference, several trees were recommended that we commonly forget about or do not know about. Here is a selection of recommendations with links to more information. Every one of these has beautiful features whether it is catkins, flowers, fall color, or bark. If you are considering planting something unique, check these out! Acer saccharum, Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple   Information Acer truncatum, Purple Blow Maple, Shantung Maple  Information Aesculus, Buckeye. Look for A. Glaba, Bottlebrush Buckeye   Information Asimina triloba, Pawpaw hybrids   Information on several hybrids Castanea mollissima, Chinese Chestnut Information Carpinus betalus, Hornbean Information Chionanthus retusus, Chinese Fringe tree, American Fringe tree. Information here Corylus avellana, European Filbert, Harry Lauder's walking stick  Information Cotinus obovatus, Smoke Tree Information Magnolia...

Your home is your castle. Surround it with beauty! Ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials planted in the fall have the entire winter to grow roots and settle in before their spring growth above ground. And shopping for trees now will give homeowners an opportunity to see the plant’s autumn leaf color. Maple trees are hard to resist in the fall. Many trees are on sale at a discount right now, and it is important to check their roots before bringing them home. A simple inspection will reveal if they became dry too many times over the years they grew in the can or if they have been in the container for too long. Slip the root ball out of the container. The roots should be visible. But if the roots are growing in a circle around the outside of the root ball, you will have to do a little extra work to untangle them before planting. If the roots are larger than your finger, they should be pruned before planting. Tree selection begins before the trip to the nursery. Consider the rea...

A little basil plant growing in between some rocks in a path. All the larger plants were harvested today, pulled up by their roots.  We are washing all the succulents to take them either into the house or the lighted shed for the winter. At the beginning of the summer I stuck a cutting into a pot and put it outside between 2 larger pots and forgot about it. And it grew into a decent size plant. Then, today as I was relocating it, I noticed that a single leaf fell onto the soil, took root and made a tiny new plant. Notice the 3 little leaves emerging on the left side. Swallowtail caterpillar on Rue The swallowtail caterpillars continue to grow and grow. Yesterday I found one as large as my pinkie finger sunbathing on a rock so I just transported the rock under a rue where it would be less visible to birds.  A beautiful fungus  (polyvore) is growing at the base of this well-chomped Rue and African Daisy. Above these plants is a large planter filled with w...

Do you visit gardens when you travel in the U.S. and Canada? Do you take destination garden trips? We do! And, I know many other people who do. Whenever we plan a trip we go online and look for nearby gardens, butterfly houses arboretums and notable parks. This much needed, up to date, book from Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp will become well-worn in our house. Not only is the basic information provided on a state-by-state basis but a smart phone icon is available on some pages to provide more on-site tips. (We don't have smart phones so the Internet will have to continue to be our guide for the additional info.) So to use the guide, go to the state you'll be visiting, then to the city and its gardens. You'll find the address, phone, website, hours and whether or not there is an entry fee. A line of icons tell you whether or not there is food, a children's garden, historic identification, annual events, hiking trails, gift shop wheelchair access, etc. The garden d...