Maryland Grows
UME Master Gardener “Learning Garden” at State Fair
A team of UME Master Gardeners working with UME field faculty created an outstanding Learning Garden that inspired and educated residents during the 11 days of the Maryland State Fair. Practical, small-space gardening techniques were demonstrated in 25 distinct beds.
A dramatic “three sisters” bed served as the central point of visual interest, attracting people from across the fairgrounds: ‘Honeybush’ butternut squash at the base, sunflowers (instead of corn) growing upright, and ‘Algarve’ pole beans climbing to the top of the bamboo frame:
Fall Gardening – Featured Video
Gardening isn’t only for the Summer! Take a look at this introduction to fall food gardening.
Black-eyed Susans Attract Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects
Black-eyed Susans are easy to grow and will attract many pollinators to your garden. The dark center or eye of the flower head holds 250 to 500 individual flowers, and to pollinators, each one of these is a shallow nectar cup. These are shallow enough that even small wasps and flies can drink from them, and many small wasps and flies are predators or parasitoids of pest insects. These tiny, dark flowers bloom from the outer rim of the eye and progress inwards with time. It’s a buffet that attracts a wide variety of small to medium-sized pollinators, including many species of insects beneficial for pest control. This blog provides a few examples of the wonderful insects you can attract to the home garden by planting Black-eyed Susans.
A Black-eyed Susan isn’t a single flower, it’s actually hundreds. Notice the individual corollas of the “eye”, and the yellow pollen along the outer ring which indicates those flowers are in bloom. Watch a pollinator visit, and you’ll notice that they rotate around, drinking nectar from each one of the tiny blooms in this ring. The Metallic Green Bee, shown here, is a good example of the small bees that enjoy Black-eyed Susan’s big, soft, landing pad and shallow flowers. Notice the pollen packed onto the bee’s hind legs. Read More
Why is My Tree (Or Shrub or Flower) Dying? Abiotic Problems Could be the Cause
Hydrangea leaves damaged by a late spring freeze. Photo: D. Ricigliano
Professionals in the landscape and greenhouse industry, trained horticulturists, and Master Gardeners often use the term “abiotic disorder” when diagnosing a plant problem. To the layman, this can be very confusing. To add to the confusion, signs and symptoms you see on your plants can look very similar to the damage caused by insects and diseases.
Surprisingly enough, the vast majority of plant problems are not caused by insect pests or diseases. Typically, the first thought that comes to mind when a plant is looking “ill” is that some insect or fungus has attacked it without much thought that it could be something else.
Year of the Pepper
A melange of interesting peppers from the Derwood Demo Garden
For this month’s post I was going to write about tomato successes and failures, but the latter part of tomato season has been depressing, so I’ll put that off and cover peppers instead. 2018 has been Grow It Eat It’s Year of the Pepper, and on the whole I think we chose well! My own pepper beds have been plagued by some of the same fungal diseases that are taking out my tomato plants, but our Derwood Demo Garden beds are beautiful and productive. All the peppers there are growing in raised beds, which in my experience peppers really seem to prefer – maybe it’s the extra room in loose soil for their roots, or the slight warming effect in the early part of the season, or the excellent drainage. In any case, they’re thriving.
Monthly Tips for September
Houseplants
- Before bringing houseplants back into the house: Check plants for ants, earwigs, pillbugs, and other nuisance insects. Wash off insect pests or apply a labeled houseplant insecticide to control any plant pests such as aphids, scales, spider mites, and mealybugs.
- If the plants have outgrown their pots repot them into the next size pot or remove them, trim back the roots and repot in the same container. Use lightweight, well-drained soilless potting mixes. Contrary to old established practice, pebbles, stones, and shards from clay pots do not need to be added to the bottom of planting containers. This actually creates a higher water table and may reduce plant growth. When repotting, cut the root ball with a sharp knife at 2-4 inch intervals and remove brown, dead roots.
Lawn
- If needed, this is the ideal time to begin a total lawn renovation project. Total renovation is best if your lawn is always failing due to poor soil, has over 50% weeds or is mostly dead. See our lawn renovation publication, (PDF) HG 102 Lawn Establishment, Renovation, and Overseeding.
- Whether renovating or just over-seeding, the seedbed should be raked vigorously with a metal rake to loosen the soil and promote good seed to soil contact. If your entire lawn is compacted, machine aerating will help improve seeding, water, and fertilizer penetration. Watch our turf establishment video for more information.
Things All New Vegetable Gardeners Need to Know
Do you have garden envy? Do you think seasoned gardeners have perfect looking gardens every year? Think again!
Thanks to my daughter-in-law, Lauren, I’ve become aware of so many things novice gardeners are unaware of. Each year brings different weather patterns and new garden challenges, but some perceived challenges sometimes just need a different perspective.
- Even professional gardeners grow odd looking tomatoes.
My daughter-in-law sent me these photos wanting to know why her tomatoes were growing together and not separate. And why weren’t they turning red?
My first thought was, why not leave it on the vine and see what happens? But legitimate questions deserve answers and she honestly wanted to know if she was doing something wrong so she could change her practices.
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