Flower Arrangements from the Flower and Vegetable Gardens

by Carol Kagan, Master Gardener

A few miniature eggplants and a red onion

Look what you can do with flowers from your garden and a little time. Oh, and vegetables, too!

Perfect centerpiece of a picnic table

This lovely centerpiece is made with hydrangeas, different kinds of tomatoes (and  tomatillos) as well as a sunflower. Hosta leaves were used as a base for the basket.

From your yard-zinnias, hosta leaves, Queen Anne's lace, hydrangeas

Master Gardeners of Franklin County created these floral arrangements from flowers and plants in both the demonstration gardens and their own backyards.

Check out the zucchini used for a base and container. Add some greens with different textures, a few colorful flowers and a sprig of parsley.

Zucchini as a base and container

Also, a bell pepper and watermelon. Perfect for this time of year.

There's enough peppers in the veggie garden to eat so use one as a flower vase.

Watermelon with corn, eggplant and lollipop cherry tomatoes

Flowers found in most yards: hostas, zinnias, cosmos, black-eyed susans, Queen Anne's lace and beautiful grasses (if not in your yard, certainly in a nearby field!), hydrangeas, blanket flowers, garlic chives, and petunias.

Hearth basket uses dried grasses for texture

A beautiful hearth basket, or to use by the front door, has sunflowers, dried grasses, blanket flowers and black eyed-Susans.  The stems are not that long but are discarded stems added to the arrangement.

Vegetables and herbs with a few blooms and grasses tucked in

And here's an attractive basket full of vegetables with some herbs tucked in as well as a few dry grasses.

Go out in your yard and find a few blooms, a few green leaves, and maybe a vegetable or two and put together you own celebration arrangement of summer's bounty.

Beautiful but Invasive Gypsy Flower or Houndstongue

 by Carol Kagan, Master Gardener

Houndstongue is one of many common names (Wasacth Audobon)

Discovered near the greenhouse, the beautiful maroon flowers intrigued me. I cut a stem and grabbed the wildflower identification book when I got home. It is Cynoglossum officinale or houndstongue as listed in this book.

Houndstongue seed pods clinging to livestock

Oh, no! This lovely plant is invasive, a non-native exotic weed, harmful to livestock. The most annoying characteristic is the seeds which are covered with barbed prickles that have been referred to as nature's Velcro ®.The heavily burred seeds stick to animals and, if eaten in sufficient quantities, the plant can be poisonous.

Dig out the long tap root (Montana State Univ. Ext.)

If you see it, dig it out, especially now before it seeds. It has a long taproot, developed during the first year, which should be dug out. Any seeds on the plant or on the ground should be collected and burned, or you may wrap them and discard in the trash.

Burred seeds - help prevent spread by destroyed these

If the plants are around animals, review any precautions if you elect to spray a weed killer.

Beautiful flowers and prickly seeds

According to a U.S.D.A. research report, hounds tongue reproduces by seed only and was probably introduced to North America as a grain seed contaminant.  It invades grasslands, pastures, forests, and croplands. It is an effective competitor the readily displaces desirable species.

A NOTE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC NAMES

On another note, while Master Gardeners are sometimes scoffed at for using the scientific or Latin names for plants, knowing the correct name for a plant can be important.

In the wildflower book this plant is referred to as houndstongue and a search for photos of the seeds on the Internet revealed that houndstongue is also the common name for several plants in the hawkweed family (Hieracium cynoglossoides).

Houndstongue is a common name for some hawkweeds

Cynoglossum officinale has many common names: houndstongue, beggar's lice, dog's tongue, sheep bur, dog bur, sheep lice, glovewort and woolmat. It is in the borage family (Boraginaceae) and the similarity between the two can easily be seen.

L-Cynoglossum officinale       R- Borago officinalis (Borage)

For more information, check these links:
Montana State University Extension: Houndstongue: Identification, Biology and Integrated Management (Lists information about poisoning)

Colorado State Parks Weed Management

U.S.D.A.Ecology and Management of Houndstongue (Cynoglossum officinale)

Fire EffectsInformation System: Cynoglossum officinale

Notable Native Herb: Redring Milkweed

By Carol Kagan, Master Gardener

Redring Milkweed (T.G. Barnes, USDA)

Selected by the Herb Society of America, Asclepias variegata [Ass-KLE-pee-us  var-ee-GAY-tuh] is the Notable Native Herb for 2014. This species of milkweed has white, waxy flowers with reddish rings around the middle resulting in its common name, Redring Milkweed.

Redring Milkweed native areas & endangered in CT, NY & PA

This perennial plant is native to the lower 48 states as well as Canada and is hardy in zones 6a-8b. It is on the endangered list in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. It does best in moist to dry shaded roadsides, woodlands and open forest. While it likes moderate shade it tolerates full sun.

Redring Milkweed on edge of forest (J.S.Kos)

The plant grows to 3 ft. tall and has terminal clusters of white waxy flowers with a red ring between the sepals and the upper part of the flower. This species of milkweed has many of the same characteristics as other milkweeds. The plant has a long taproot that makes it very hardy and it produces lots of nectar.  The broken stems and leaves leak a milky liquid.

Crab spider on redring milkweed (J.S.Kos)

The flowers have a sweet odor. Bees, wasps, butterflies, flies, spiders and ants can be seen on its flowers. Although pollinator fans know milkweed as a host plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars, the milk of this species is not an important food source for them. The stands of this plant are sparse and often in shade which may contribute to the few monarchs seen on them.


Redring Milkweed Pods (G.S.Williamson)

This plant flowers from May to June and produces narrow, upright seed pods. It can be propagated from the seeds or plant division. Note that it is on the endangered list in Pennsylvania.

Redring Milkweed Close-up (D.D. Taylor, USDA)

Links for more information

Herb Society of America: Notable Native – Redring Milkweed

US Forest Service: Celebrating Wildflowers- Redwing Milkweed

USDA Plant Database: Redring Milkweed
Anybody seen my focus-JS Kos Blog: Redring or White Milkweed

 

 

 

Yes, I am a Recovering Perennial Snob...

but please don't tell anyone.  I admit at one time when I was a young sprout myself, I was proud to say only perennials could be found in "my" garden.  As my gardens have aged along with me, we have both become more relaxed.  I have learned to embrace the beauty and need of annuals in my perennial garden; but I rely only on self-sowers and throw-and-growers...you know, the easy annuals.  These annuals add a relaxed feeling to the gardens and are wonderful fillers.  Like Diane Linsley, I now refer to my garden as a cottage garden rather than a perennial garden...besides, it sounds more romantic.

Of course, two of my favorite easy annuals are spring bloomers.  Could it because it is now spring?  Larkspur is the annual that opened my eyes to the beauty of easy annuals.  Who would not love a beautiful flower that starts as seeds sown in the fall.  Now that's my kind of gardening.  According to Greek legend, Achilles' mother requested that her son's armor be given to the most heroic Greek warrior during the Battle of Troy. To the dismay of the brave warrior Ajax, the armor was awarded to Ulysses. Dejected, Ajax threw himself on his sword, and small blue delphiniums or Larkspurs sprung from the blood that fell to the ground. Delphinium petals are marked with the Greek letters AI, the Greek cry of mourning.

Forget-me-not is another easy flower I welcome in the spring.  The famous forget-me-not story involves a German knight gathering blue flowers for his lady love along the banks of the Danube. He is said to have scurried down the bank to gather the flowers just as a “freshet” (flash flood) roared down the river. As he was swept away forever, he tossed the bouquet to his lady with three immortal words, “Forget me not.”  While romantic, forget-me-nots are rampant reseeders, so be sure to tear out some plants before they go to seed to control or throw the seeds where you would like more.

Come summer these flowers will become my favorite easy annuals:

• Cleome, more commonly known as the spider flower, is an old- fashioned flower that attracts humming-birds.
• Calendula is one of the few easy seeds that demands to be covered lightly in soil.  I love the new lemon-colored calendula.
• Cosmos is one plant that doesn't mind being crowded.  I opt for the smaller cosmos so they do not overpower my perennials...after all, I'm still a perennial lover at heart.
• Sweet alyssum  There is a reason this flower is called sweet...the aroma on a hot summer day is one to remember.
• Scarlet flax.   I discovered scarlet flax three years ago.  This is one easy annual that demands attention.

Reseeding annuals fall into two categories, hardy and half-hardy.  Half-hardy annuals need warmer temperatures to germinate and are best sown in the spring after the last frost date the first year.   Hardy annuals can usually be sown in the fall.  It is important to know what type of annual it is  before sowing.  Two excellent sites, Self-Planting Gardens  and Wildflower Information, give some great tips on self-sowing.  I frequently purchase from  Wildseed Farms,  Select Seeds, Swallowtail Garden, and American Meadows. These sites also offer a wealth of good information.

While I tend to remain true to those easy annuals I have already mentioned, I will generally try some new flowers each year.  This year my new annual is Gomphrena Fireworks.  Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of self-sowing is that I never know what flower will show up in any one spot.  Usually it will turn out to be a spot that is better than one I would have picked myself...just as it is in nature.

Native Plant Tour - Spring Haven

The Cumberland Woodland Owners Association (CWOA) is sponsoring a Native Plant Tour at Spring Haven Nursery in Newburg at 6:30 PM on Thursday, April 8th and invites all Master Gardeners.  Spring Haven Nurseries specializes in native woodland plants and shade perennials grown either in propagation beds or in the gardens located there. Nursery owners, Dave and Dianne Cornman, will lead the tour and explain how to protect native plant communities and how to practice responsible landscaping. The tour is open to the public. You do not have to be a member and there is no cost to attend.

If you recall, we visited there a few years ago.  It's where I purchased one of my favorite Spring Ephemerals, Twin Leaf, or Jeffersonia diphylla.  I saved some seed from last year's bloom (check out the strange seed pod below) and I'm using Karen's Winter Sown technique that I learned in January as a way to try and propagate it.  We'll see how successful I am in a few weeks.  The plant is featured in the Native Plant Garden at Rutgers Gardens.  It is increasingly rare.

Twinleaf is protected by state laws as a threatened or endangered plant in New York, and New Jersey. Named by John Bartram for his friend, Thomas Jefferson, this plant has beautiful and unusual foliage, with two oval leaves arranged opposite each other on a stem. Attractive white flowers appear in April. Woodland soils and shade.

Interesting thing I just learned:

Native Americans used the root as a tea for cramps, spasms, nervous excitability, diarrhea, a diuretic for kidney stones and urinary infections, and as a gargle for sore throats. Externally it was used as a wash for rheumatism, sores, ulcers, inflammation, and cancerous sores. The plant is probably toxic, so caution should be used if preparing it for modern day use!

More here.