Philadelphia Flower Show

“Jazz It Up”
March 2 to 9, 2008

Some of it was glitz and glitter, some of it was informational and inspiring, all of it was loaded with fun and a spirit of New Orleans. (Pictures: Above French Quarter “Jazz It Up” main theme. Carnation saxophone - Fairmount Parks Commission “A Splash of Jazz.”)

Walter B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences in partnership with Philadelphia International Airport presented “Under the Tarmac”. The informational, well-documented exhibit included habitats, animal facts and environmental issues of the wetlands ecosystem surrounding the airport.

“Children Jazz It Up” by Camden City Garden Club highlighted primary colors in the musical instruments, gazebo and exercise equipment. A vegetable garden promoted a healthy diet. Information was available for the Camden Children’s Garden http://www.camdenchildrensgarden.org/ According to the brochure, “The Garden provides horticultural experiences for creative and imaginative play.” It sounds like a fun place to visit.

Winner of the People’s Choice Award (and more) Waldor Orchids of Linwood NJ produced realistic view called “Down On The Bayou”. Waldor’s brochure says it best.

“As the morning mist rises over the Louisiana bayou, a young lad fishes for catfish from the porch of an old fishing shanty. Spanish moss dangles from the branches of the Bald Cypress trees which are laden with colorful orchids and tillandsias. Beware of the alligator lurking nearby in the swamp. It’s just another day in bayou country.”

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The setting made me catch my breath. It was a storybook interpretation of the bayou. Orchids on trees were icing on the cake.

Almost without fail, all exhibits noted plant genus and species. It was good to see many environmentally conscious displays from the Philadelphia Water Department’s “Jazz Up Your Roof” to Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades “Springtime in the Wetlands”.

“The Second Line” brass band snaking its way among the lush exhibits made it truly a N’awlins experience.


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Allentown Flower Show

2013 -
 ValleyFlower, Garden, and Pool Show  -
3/8-9-10/2013 
Ag Hall, Allentown Fair Grounds, PA

2012

Valley Flower and Garden Show

Ag Hall, Allenttown

• New Dates: March 2, 3 and 4 -- Mark your calendars!!!

Adventures in Agriculture

Palmer Park Mall, Easton

Friday, February 10, 4pm – 9 pm

Saturday, February 11, 10am – 9 pm

Sunday, February 12, 11 am – 4 pm

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Philacelphia International Flower Show

March 4-11, 2012 = Islands of Aloha

2011 SPRING SHOWS -

Adventures in Agriculture Feb 11-13, 2011 http://shoppalmerparkmall.com/calendar/event/11082

Philadelphia Flower Show “Springtime in Paris” March 6-13, 2011 http://www.theflowershow.com/home/index.html

Valley Flower, Garden and Patio Show - Ag Hall, Allentown Fairgrounds, March 11-13, 2011 http://www.valleyflowershow.com/

Lehigh Valley Green Builders Expo March 19-20, 2011 http://www.lvgreenbuilders.org/expo/

ALLENTOWN FLOWER SHOW WAS CANCELLED (2009-10) - NEW SHOW SCHEDULED FOR 2011 (see above)



“Tapestry of Green”Lehigh Valley Flower and Garden Show 2008
Agri-plex Allentown Fairgrounds March 7, 8 & 9
http://www.allentowntradeshows.com/html/flower_show.html

This is the weekend for Lehigh Valley Flower and Garden Show. With rain predicted for Friday night and Saturday, it’s a good way to be dry outdoors, sort of.

As promised, there are a few more plant sellers at this year’s show. Penn State Master Gardeners will be selling all the shrubs in the display. You can stop by the booth and reserve a plant but you must be there at 4:45 to pick up your plant at 5 pm on Sunday or it will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Landscaper’s sale & Lehigh Valley Florists Association auction also take place at the end of the show on Sunday.

The kids will love the train display by Lehigh Valley Large Scalers. And across the way, they will be able to landscape a model farmhouse with miniature shrubs at the Master Gardener exhibit.

Lehigh Career and Technical Institute constructed a sophisticated informational garden. Kutztown High School’s display is quite professional and includes a cold frame and gazebo.

There are booths of crafts, garden “art”, garden structures, demonstrations as well as professional landscapes.

Let’s get out of the rain and pretend it’s spring.

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Spring Fever

All it took was one warm day. Temperatures above 60 on Monday made me antsy to get out and work on garden cleanup. I trimmed the pussy willow and cut back the hellebores and sweet autumn clematis.

I don’t want to walk on the garden while it is soft and wet but I can reach a lot of from paths and stepping stones.

I need to cut back Autumn Joy Sedum, Purple Coneflower, Black-Eyed Susan and other perennials where I left the seed heads for the birds over the winter. Ornamental grasses need to be cut. I don’t see any new growth from the hellebores which is unusual. Hopefully they’re late and not dead. There are leaves to be cleaned out. I’m sure I’ll find much more when I get outside on the next balmy day. Believe it or not I can see some weeds popping up. They will go ASAP.

The Japonica is almost in bloom.

Snow drops are everywhere.

Heather blooms cheerfully at the top of the bank.

I can see the tops of daffodils, crocus and miniature iris.

Ah yes, spring is almost here.


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Eco-gardening

(I apologize – the sidebar “About Me”, “Previous Posts” and “Archives” has moved to the bottom of this blog. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get it back to the top. I haven’t been able to get an answer from Blog Spot. If anyone out there has the answer, please let me know.)
Eco-gardening

Eco-gardening, sustainable landscape, xeriscape, organic gardening, native plants, bio-diversity – words that elicit strong opinions but are not easy to define. There is controversy at every turn. Experts don’t agree on what organic means. How much organic fertilizer is too much?

Brian Higgins review of Jeff Gillman’s recent book Truth about Organic Gardening http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/20/AR2008022000952.html

‘”…if you are simply replacing synthetic products with organic ones, you are missing the point. The aim is to reduce the need for fertilizers and, especially, pesticides. How do you do that?
You build the soil with correct amounts of compost and mulch, choose plants that do well and place them in their optimum locations. These are the true parts of organic gardening," says Gillman, a professor of horticultural science at the University of Minnesota.’

Here’s a British article on Eco-gardening:
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article1289066.ecerticle1289066.ece The comments are especially enlightening and outline some of the problems and differences of opinion with sustainable landscaping. The controversies, large and small, are not exclusive to England.

As we all try to be eco-friendly, it’s not easy to follow the many differing viewpoints. And some experts are very opinionated.

Doug Green’s Gardening Blog February 24 “Gardening as a Religion” illustrates just how opinionated some gardeners can be http://blog.douggreensgarden.com/

‘“…I see this extreme attitude in individuals in a huge variety of gardening groups. From the native “plant nazi’s” (yes, that’s how they’re referred to in the trade) who reject any plant that isn’t “native”. (whatever that is)…’

Native plants are good, right? IPM Choosing Healthy Landscapes http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uj238.pdf has tips for choosing plants well adapted to your site.

“Sometimes, exotic plants are more resistant to pests than are their native relatives. For example, Cornus kousa, an exotic dogwood that was introduced from the Far East, is less susceptible to infestation by the dogwood borer than is Cornus florida, the flowering dogwood, one of our native species.”

I chose the Cornis florida for my garden because I think it’s prettier. Even if it may be shorter lived, the squirrels continue to plant replacements. That’s sustainable enough for me.

Marianne Ophardt Master Gardener, Central Washington Editor, Extension Area Educator, Washington State University recommends trying some unusual weeping trees. ‘. . . the discriminating gardener that “takes the road less traveled” should consider some less familiar, more unusual weeping specimens.’ Well, who wouldn’t want to be known as a “discriminating gardener”?

Rhododendron is an acid soil loving plant. Does it have a place in our limestone soil gardens? . Do we need to add Holly Tone or Mir-Acid? Is that sustainable? New construction changes the natural soil. Most experts seem to agree that soil testing is a good idea. (See September 29, 2007 post)

Bee Colony collapse, white nose syndrome in bats, fish abnormalities, frog and toad deaths, air pollution, water pollution, carbon footprint – we all want to do the right thing. The problem - what is the right thing to do?

Here’s my starter list:
- Don’t spray indiscriminately
- Don’t fertilize indiscriminately
- Read and follow all label directions

Most important
- Make compost
- Use mulch
- Do the research
- Be patient

Bat Problems

These little brown bats in a New York cave were suffering from a disease scientists have dubbed "white nose syndrome." (NANCY HEASLIP/NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION)

2/28/08 - Local update from the Morning Call: "Bucks County bat cave escaping 'white nose' die-off plaguing Northeast." http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-bats-feb28-cn,0,3013519.story

White Nose Syndrome

Elizabeth Licata’s February 20 post on Garden rant http://www.gardenrant.com/ contained a “scary report” on a mysterious disease that is wiping out bats in the northeast.

According to the Boston News, “In March (2007), officials at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation determined that as many as 11,000 bats had died from the disease, dubbed "white nose syndrome" because of a flaky white fungus on the nose of many of the sick and dead bats.”

"I've studied bats for 40-something years, and I've never seen anything like this; it's alarming," said Thomas Kunz, a preeminent bat researcher at Boston University. "It's frustrating and perplexing, because we don't know what it is and we don't know how to control it."

Kunz and other scientists will be entering New York caves this spring to study the bats.

“There is a lot we don’t know,” said Scott Darling, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. “There is a real threat.”

Although not the most beautiful animal, a quote from "Homeowner’s Guide To Northeastern Bats And Bat Problems", Penn State, College of Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension. http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh081.pdf

"Bats make good neighbors. As the only major predators of night flying insects, bats play an important role in controlling many insect pests. A single bat can consume as many as 500 insects in just one hour, or nearly 3,000 insects every night. A colony of just 100 little brown bats, the most abundant species in the Northeast, may consume more than a quarter of a million mosquitoes and other small insects each night."

A small animal – a big problem!

Snow

Tired of snow? Me too. I choose to ignore the snow and think about indoor plants, garden catalogues and flower shows.

The coleus cuttings are due to be trimmed for more cuttings. I'll pot them in peat pots so they can go directly into the garden in May.

Fuchsia cuttings grow well under the lights. They are also ready for cuttings.

The rosy amaryllis is ready to bloom.

Pussy Willows produce fuzzy little blooms.

As I continued to ignore the snow, I put through my first garden catalogue order. From Gardener’s Supply – Large Tip Bag, 31" Diameter - “Self-Standing Bags Make Yard Clean-Up Easy”. I borrowed one of these bags last fall for leaf cleanup. It worked so well that I had to have one for myself. They are sturdy and collapse for storage. I also ordered two Drip-it Pro waterers for my container vegetables - ”Two-Week Plant Sitters” according to the catalogue. I’ll let you know how they work out.

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Next month the 36th Annual Lehigh Valley Flower and Garden Show "Tapestry of Green” will be held at the Allentown Fair Grounds Agri-Plex - March 7 to 9. You can print a $1 off coupon and read the press release at http://www.allentowntradeshows.com/html/flower_show.html The press release promises more plants for sale this year.

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The Philadelphia Flower Show "Jazz It Up" takes place March 2 to 9 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. http://www.theflowershow.com/home/index.html According to the promotional material, ' "Jazz It Up" will celebrate the birthplace of jazz and much more, as exhibitors take gardening to the next level with pumped-up versions of New Orleans walled courtyards, cast iron balconies, fountains and canals. If you like music, there will also be the toe-tapping sounds of great Jazz legends.'

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Think spring!

Adventures in Agriculture

February 15, 16, and 17, Palmer Park Mall in Easton hosted “Adventures in Agriculture.” It was sponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension and Northampton County. The displays covered a wide variety of conservation and agriculture as well as home gardening topics.

Hens, chickens, rabbits, dogs and alpacas grabbed the kid’s attention. Games and prizes were available throughout the mall. 4H members helped the children make silly putty and butter. Other 4H members displayed project rabbits. The soft, cuddly animals begged to be touched. Guide dog handlers answered questions while the kids stroked the young dogs.

Local food was available to taste and buy. Becker Honey Farm, Klein Farms Dairy & Creamery, the old Copella store & farm and Reeder Farms were among the local food vendors. Smith Krekk Alpacas displayed soft and luxurious scarves, gloves, skeins of yarn and alpaca toys while 2 patient alpacas rested in their cage.

Master Gardeners were on hand to help identify the seeds of common vegetables and answer questions about seed starting. Informational sheets included vegetable variety recommendations and seed starting instructions. The display included a soil-less potting mixture and how to make paper pots.

Northampton County Conservation District brochures included “Backyard Conservation.” This colorful brochure highlights “10 conservation activities, adapted from farms and ranches, that can be used in your backyard.” - planting tree windrows, providing wildlife habitats, composting, cover crops, creating a pond, soil testing, terracing, drip irrigation and pest management. More information at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Feature/backyard/

Other informational displays included Northampton Farm Bureau, RSVP groundwater flow model, Forks of the Delaware Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and Burnside Plantation. Mall stores offered up to 70% off on merchandise. There was something for everyone. Don’t miss it next year.

House Plants

I’m finally out of the closet. The second and final closet is painted.

Recently, Doug Green wrote in his Garden Blog http://blog.douggreensgarden.com/ that he gave away all his house plants before he moved to a new house. Every room in my house contains house plants. Wherever there’s a window, there’s a plant (or two or three).

Doug’s blog got me thinking. I really don’t need all those plants.

Beware of a friend bearing plants! I plan to reduce the number of plants in my house by half.

Spring Planning

I’ve been busy removing wallpaper and painting the inside of a closet the last few days – something I like about as much as having my boot sucked off in a muddy paddock.

I haven’t done a lot of garden related thinking. I did manage to start a list of things I’d like to do this spring.

Plants to divide:

Coral Bells (Micrantha ‘Palace Purple’), Coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata Moonbeam)


Daylilly (Stella D’Oro)

Liriope

Lilly of the Valley

and - mums (Chrysanthemum Koreanum ‘Single Apricot’), Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus), Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum) and zebra grass.

I hope to get at least half of these plants divided and share some with friends. I also started a “to prune” and “to plant” and (best of all) “to buy” list. But before any of that, I have one more closet to paint.

Hemlock

More information and opinion on Hemlock wooly adelgid from Garden Rant writer Susan Harris. Susan also writes Sustainable Gardening Blog and is co-founder of DC Urban Gardeners.

http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2007/12/god-help-the-ca.html

Coleus

A recent article in American Horticulture Society’s “The American Gardener” magazine is titled “Coleus Comeback” by Ray Rogers.

According to Rogers, “Coleus are more than just simply the darlings of a monomaniacal collector’s eye or quaint Victorian throwbacks for the odd shady corner . . .”

Season-long color, ease of propagation, infinite variety, sun tolerant as well as shade plants, specimen plants or mass planting, upright, mounding, or trailing, in containers or in the garden - what’s not to like? Yes I’m one of those monomaniacal collectors. But, it’s not my fault. My good friend Myra gave me a few plants several years ago and touted their beauty. I’ve been hooked ever since.

I’m seeing a greater variety in local garden centers recently. Dan Scantz Greenhouse donated sun coleus for Musikfest’s Blumenplatz (shown here). ‘Pink Chaos’, ‘Merlin's Magic’, ‘Religious Radish’ and ‘Pele’ created quite a splash of color in the corners of the bed.

I don’t try to remember all the cultivar names. Every supplier seems to have their own set of names.

A Master Gardener once told me square stemmed plants are the easiest to propagate. Most of the coleus have square stems. I usually root them in water then plant them in a mixture of three cups potting soil, one cup vermiculite and one cup peat moss. Sometimes I plant directly in the soil after dipping the stem in rooting hormone.

I clean all the pots in the summer in 1 to 9 solution of chlorine bleach to water and rinse thoroughly. I’ve lost about 15 to 20 percent this year. Mostly to damping off. I think I just don’t pay enough attention to the potted plants and probably overwater or overcrowd the trays. But every year I end up with 60 to 80 plants for the garden and friends.

I’ve been browsing through Rosy Dawn online catalog. Oh my, temptation! http://www.rosydawngardens.com/


See posts – 12/29/06, 5/8/07, 5/26/07, 7/11/07, 8/18/07, 10/20/07, 1/5/08

Hemlock

Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand) has become a problem in eastern Pennsylvania forests.

Penn State Department of Entomology fact sheet: "The most obvious sign of a hemlock woolly adelgid infestation is the copious masses of white filaments of wax produced by females. These "cottony" masses normally persist throughout the season and into the following year, even after the insects are dead”. http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/hemlockwoolly.htm

Our 35-year-old hemlocks are about 70 feet tall. (see picture below) That’s too large for me to spray with insecticidal soap. I’m keeping an eye on them. Hopefully, they will last another 35 years.

Here are a two sites that illustrate the difficulty of control.

USDA Forest Service “An Exotic Pest Threat to Eastern Hemlock: An Initiative for Management of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid” http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/hwa/pub/hwa_mgt_plan.pdf

Save Our Hemlocks Action Team http://www.saveourhemlocks.org/controls/my_prop.shtml

Hemlock

Snow on the Hemlocks - 1/19/08

God made snowy days so gardeners could get the housework done.

Heron

Snack attack?

Over the weekend our neighborhood was visited by what I believe was a heron. It was strange to see a huge bird fly to the top of a neighbor’s house.

There are several ponds in the neighborhood. I guess this bird is looking for a tasty Koi.

Bougainvillea

From April 18, 2007 post: “The Bougainvillea is blooming in my living room”

Well, it’s starting to blooming again. This plant started life in my house as a small plant in a 3" pot. I brought it home from the Philadelphia Flower Show about 8 to 10 years ago. It is now 4 to 5 feet tall in a 15" pot.

I don’t know why it keeps growing. I put it out on the deck in the summer and feed it sometimes. It’s full of thorns and grows over the sofa and into the corner hutch. Getting it outside is a mess. It lives on a wheeled wooden caddy. I try not to get falling leaves all over the house or poke my eye out when I drag it outside. Every year I say I’m not going to bring in again. Every fall I drag it back to the living room.

I grew a cutting a few years ago. One winter the cutting got stuck behind some other house plants and I forgot to water it. End of plant.

It usually doesn’t bloom in the summer. According to Plant Answers http://www.plantanswers.com/bouganvilia.htm , it is a heavy feeder. Maybe I’ll feed it more this summer to see if I can get it to bloom outside. I'm sure it's pot bound but I’m not about to try to re-pot the monster. Maybe I won’t bring it in next fall.

Garden Book

The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control, edited by Barbara W. Ellis and Fern Marshall Bradley. 1996 Rodale Press, Inc.

I’m enjoying browsing through this Christmas gift. You need to be really, really interested in gardening to stay with this book. Realizing that it is a reference book, I found the identification parts of the book the most valuable. I’m not so sure about the recommended controls.

The “Problem-Solving Plant Guide” starts with a plant description. The by-plant section includes flowering plants, shrubs, vegetables and fruits. Then, a list of problems the plant may have ends with page number for control information.

The section, “Insects. Recognizing Your Friends – Eliminating Your Foes,” includes everything from aphids to yellow jackets. The illustrations are small but each insect is accompanied by 2 to 6 pictures. Each insect section includes Description, Life Cycle, Beneficial Effect or Damage Control or How to Attract. The life cycle information is important since some insects can only be controlled at a specific stage of life. It’s nice to have this information in one book.

The book continues with “Diseases and Organic Controls” again with pictures. Type of Problem, Symptoms, Plants Affected, and Prevention and Control for each disease is listed.

Most of the general advice is not something we haven’t heard before. Use disease resistant plants. Clean up plant debris. Prune to insure good air flow. Eliminate weeds. Select the right plant for the space. Use compost and mulch. – a brief synopsis of good advice.

It’s a good reference book and reads like, well, a reference book. I’ll have to force myself to read through some sections. Maybe I’ll read “Diseases. Identifying the Cause – Implementing the Cures” during the next snow storm - unless Dan Brown writes a new book.

A Gardener’s Christmas

All I need is a few garden gifts and life is good.

Please add a comment and share the gifts you received for your garden this season.

Christmas Cactus - 2

Schlumbergera

Some of my Christmas cacti may actually be Thanksgiving cactus. The white blooming plant from December 1, 2007 post always blooms in November. I call them all Christmas cactus because I’m too lazy to make a distinction.

In early December, the red-orange flowering Christmas cactus started to bloom. The leaves are wider and thicker than my other cacti. This year it had a few large blooms.

I’ve had the traditional red Christmas cactus for many years. I received the original plant from my aunt. By cutting a length of a few leaves and rooting in potting soil, I’ve grown new plants to give away. They are very easy to propagate.

After blooming, the plants take a rest. In May, I will trim all the cacti and set them outside in a shady area. They seem to like being pot bound. I may repot and prune the roots once a decade. I fertilize about every two weeks in summer using Miracle Gro or Fish Emulsion. In late August, I bring them in and set them in a sunny window. The room is cool and gets very little artificial light. They bloom reliably each year.

For more information see Purdue Ext Christmas Cactus FAQ http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/cactusFAQs.html