Pass it Along

This past week the Saginaw Valley Master Gardener Association held their annual plant exchange. This is one of the perks of being a member as you can bring along some of your plant divisions and exchange them for some plants you don't have and are anxious to try. I have many nice plants in my garden courtesy of the plant exchange. And hopefully some of my divisions have found good homes with other members. This year I took Angelica to the exchange. Angelica is a biennial, a plant that grows the first year, then flowers and sets seed the following year before dying. The seeds germinate and you have more new plants. It also has a stunning green flower, not something you see too often.

 

 Irises of many varieties are easy to dig up and divide and pass along. I tend to wait until after they have flowered, then split them and ensure that no plant borers are hiding in the rhizomes before passing them along.

Columbine self seeds easily in my garden, plants that are easily dug up and then passed along. There are so many beautiful colors to be had with this plant and they are always misbehaving with each other, creating a more colorful garden.

Being a gardener means being generous and sharing your lovely plants with others. And in return, they share with you. Everyone wins!



Eastern Market 2012

Yesterday I went with some friends on our annual pilgrimage to Eastern Market, truly the mecca of plant and food lovers in the southeastern Michigan region. I am walking in the footsteps of my grandmother, Mary Cassidy Birkam, as she was a frequent visitor many years ago. When my father was growing up back in the 1920s and 1930s she used to take the bus to the market to do some Saturday shopping.

We got to the market about 7:15 in the morning yesterday and already it was teeming with people. Fortunately, getting there early meant we did not have to wait to rent a cart. And a cart was definitely needed as the four of us made many purchases that we trucked to our cars. Walking 10,000 steps came easily this day for me. I was amazed after our first trip back to the car how many more people had arrived at the market during that time period. Getting there early is definitely a good idea!

One of my favorite vendors, Hampshire Farms, was there and I bought two packages of black beans, along with navy beans, red beans, eggs and the best bread ever. The farm is located in the thumb in a town called Kingston and well worth of visit if you are ever in the area.

We also made the obligatory stop at Rocky's for dried fruit, nuts and other goodies and then it was on to DeVries to shop for cheese. DeVries used to be the R. Hirt Jr. store but the retail operation at Eastern Market is now operated by David DeVries, a third generation family member and has a new name this year. The R. Hirt store was opened by David's grandfather Rudolf Hirt Jr., a Swiss immigrant who started the family business back in the late 1800s. 

After a very successful morning of shopping (i.e. I spent lots of money) we had a pleasant and delicious lunch at the Sala Thai Restaurant located a couple blocks north of the market. All in all, yesterday was a grand day spent with good friends doing two things I really like to do, shop for plants and eat good food.

Up Close and Personal

Last Saturday I braved a bit of rain and went to the Lavender Fleece Farm in Midland which was celebrating farm day and selling lavender plants. The farm is home to a variety of different four footed creatures including Icelandic sheep, Leicester Longwood sheep, a variety of dairy goats and may other animal friends. If you like to knit you can get some pretty special yarn, and if you are like me and not at all crafty you can get some lavender soap. If I looked good in hats I would probably buy one of the hand knitted/felted hats they have for sale. They are just beautiful.  

Of course the incentive for me to go is the variety of lavender plants available for sale. This year I bought one called Lodden blue as it is a hardy lavender and compact. Without a lot of space to plant small is always good.

This farm is a treasure for those of us living in the Saginaw valley area so check out the website and give her a call if you want to visit.

If You Plant it They Will Come

Last year I went through the process (and yes, it was a process) of starting some red milkweed from seeds that I got from the Seed Savers Exchange because it happens to be the plant that the caterpillars of monarch butterflies love to eat. I sowed the seeds 1/4 inch deep in moistened soil which I covered with plastic bags and refrigerated for ten days. Then I stuck them under light and lo and behold the seeds germinated after about 15 days.

I planted my seedlings last summer and saw a few monarchs, which I generally do see. But this year the monarchs are out in full force. Much more than a few!

The milkweed is a perennial and it is coming back (though slowly). This is one perennial I will definitely hang on to as the monarchs keep me company and let me know that something good is going on in my garden.

Critters on the Loose

Whether you grow flowers or vegetables, perennials or annuals, fruit trees or Japanese maples, or a little bit of everything, the likelihood is that you are going to have a variety of wildlife visit your garden, not all of them benign. What to do, what to do!

My neighbor called me because after planting a variety of perennials she went out this morning to find them dug out of the ground and laying on the ground. No, it probably wasn't the local children. Because the perennials she planted were small and tender I suspect a rogue critter of the four legged variety. No, you don't need to get your shotgun just yet. I have used a variety of tricks over the years, some of them working better than others. Here's a few.



Tender plants have not had a chance to establish strong roots and when they are young, they are especially seductive to all sorts of critters including squirrels, rabbits, birds and cutworms. For perennials that are small, protecting them with some type of fencing around them until they have had a chance to grow larger and establish deep roots is one possible solution. I have some wire fencing I cut and place around certain plants until I know I don't have to worry about them anymore. I remove the fencing once I am sure the plant isn't attractive to that pesky squirrel who can't distinguish something good to eat (tulip bulb) and something that's only good for playing with.

My garden seems to attract all the neighborhood cats. The cats are good for keeping the mice at bay, however they are not good for making use of my vegetable garden as a litter box. I lay bird netting over the entire area until I have my vegetables up and going and taking up all the available space. The cats don't like to get their claws stuck in the netting so it works pretty well.

One year my potatoes were overrun by Colorado potato beetles. The next year I waited to plant my potatoes until the end of June. They didn't look like much, and my season was shorter, but all worked out fine. I had just as many potatoes and nary a beetle. I tricked them. They came along at the time of year they usually come, but didn't have anything to eat in my garden so went bye bye. Lately I use Potato Shield that I get from Garden's Alive a company that sells organic products to help you get the better of the pests that inhabit your garden. It works just fine.

And your garden will be just fine. A wise gardener won't give up. She will merely draw another card out of her sleeve.