joene's garden » Timber Press

Newsy Gardens & Plants – April 16, 2010

joenesgarden — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:37:52 +0000

Interested in digging deeper into the world of fungi and other tiny non-plant, non-animal organisms, check out the book by Steven L. Stephenson, a research professor of biological sciences at the University of Arkansas. In The Kingdom Fungi: The Biology of Mushrooms, Molds, and Lichens (published by Timber Press), Stephenson explains the purpose, forms, and roles of these commonly misunderstood life forms. Gardeners know fungi do more than adorn a fresh salad or top a pizza, but how many of us really understand the true extent fungi play in our lives. Stephenson's author profile notes he has studied fungi and slime mold on six continents – sounds like he's a real fun-gi (guy) – sorry, couldn't resist.

Here's an intriguing vision for gardeners plagued with Japanese beetles:

beetle eats petals,
beetle rolls over on its back with legs and antennae twitching,
beetle remains paralyzed for several hours.

«The beetles typically recover within 24 hours when paralyzed under laboratory conditions, but they often succumb to death under field conditions after predators spot and devour the beetles while they are helpless,» according to an article in the March 2010 Agricultural Research magazine. What petals, you wonder? Those of Pelargonium zonale – that's right common, everyday geranium. Scientists are analyzing specific extracts of geranium petals to determine which compounds stop the beetles in their tracks. I wonder how I could entice Japanese beetles in my gardens to munch on geranium petals rather than roses, hibiscus, and other flowers?

The same issue of Agricultural Research reports the sequencing of the complete genome of Phytophthora infestans – potato late blight – the same pathogen that attacked so many tomato and potato crops in eastern U.S. gardens last season. Sequencing allows scientists and researchers to better study how late blight works and seek ways to stop it.

Ever wonder where some of the most common varieties of strawberries come from? At least three – Earliglow, Tribute, and Northeaster come to us via work done by the Agricultural Research Service. Since I'm looking to build a strawberry bed into my new vegetable garden design I hope anyone with experience growing any of these varieties, or others, will pass on their experiences.

Finally, some stats from the Garden Writers Association offer demographic information on gardeners in the U.S. Randomly conducted telephone surveys of nearly 600 people show:

50 and 26%, respectively, have gardens in their back and front yards,
54% of these purchase their spring garden plants from a local nursery/garden center, while 37% do so at big-box stores,
37% go to retailers for advice on spring garden planning, 37% ask neighbors for advice, 34 and 31% gain advice from books and magazines, 29% use garden websites, and 7% use blogs for the same,
66% who have a garden will grow vegetables – this is 2% more than in 2009,
of the respondents 31% were 35 to 44 years old, 17% were 45 to 54 years old, and 19% were 55 to 64 years old; 14% were younger than 34 and 18 percent were older than 65.

Categories: Newsy Items.
Tags: Agricultural Research, fungi, Garden Writers Association, Japanese beetles, late blight, Steven L. Stephenson, strawberries, Timber Press.

Make a difference. Plant natives.

joenesgarden — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:07:23 +0000

Garden as if life depended on it! Doug Tallamy wrote these words in my copy of his book, Bringing Nature Home. No, I'm not a special friend or acquaintance, he wrote similar, if not identical words inside all the books he signed that day. On the other hand, though, I am special. I'm a gardener with extraordinary power … I can choose to plant whatever I want. You are also extraordinary, as you have exactly the same power as I. And if we, as gardeners, do just a little of what Tallamy suggests – increase the number of native plants growing in each of our gardens– we, individually and together, may be able to make a significant difference in the nature of our future.

Professor Tallamy chairs the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark. There he teaches insect taxonomy and ecology courses and researches how insects and plants interact. You can delve into his research simply by searching his name in Google Scholar. You'll see studies like Squash beetle feeding behavior in the journal Ecology, or Effects of non-native plants on the native insect community of Delaware in Biological Invasions … you get the picture, he's an insect junkie. But he's still able to write compelling, and very readable non-scientific explanations of the side-by-side evolution of local insects and local plants that enables them to support not only each other but the many birds and other creatures farther up the food chain … and how non-native plants are simply not as palatable or user-friendly, so to speak, to local insects … and when faced with fewer or no native food, insects either vastly decline or disappear … and when this happens local birds have fewer insects and caterpillars to feed their little bird babies … and weaker or fewer bird babies means fewer birds to feed other creatures farther up the food chain. Ok, any grammar or English teacher reading this is probably cringing at my run-on sentence, but I think I've made my, or more correctly Tallamy's point. Fewer natives = fewer bugs = fewer birds = less food for all.

Time and again Tallamy has found substantially more insect biomass (bird food) surviving on native shrubs, trees, and plants as opposed to alien greenery growing in the same area. One of his students, Meg Ballard, as her master's thesis, conducted a two-year comparison of insect biomass (bird food) found on six herbaceous natives – eastern black nightshade, black-eyed Susan, devil's beggarticks, ragweed, horseweed, and goldenrod – and six herbaceous aliens – lambsquarters, cocklebur, velvetleaf, jimsonweed, pigweed, and cosmos. Compared with aliens, the natives produced nearly 6-times more generalist insect herbivore biomass – that's science-speak for insects that eat just about any plant (generalists) rather than specialize on specific plants and therefore provide a good amount of bird food. This comparison produced no evidence that generalists prefer alien plants, Tallamy writes, or that alien plants produce as much insect biomass (bird food) as native plants.

Some of you are likely thinking, 'You want me to plant plants that attract more bugs?' The short answer is yes. More native plants = more native bugs = more bird food. An example is black-eyed Susans. They grow with virtually no work, offer color throughout mid to late summer, and provide food for local birds.

Tallamy's arguments for planting natives focuses more on trees. Consider oaks (Quercus), the mightiest when it comes to supporting Lepidoptera species (moths and butterflies). Oaks support 534, followed by willows (Salix) and cherry or plums (Prunus) at 456 each, birch (Betula) at 413, poplars/cottonwoods (Populus) at 368, and crabapples (Malus) at 311. Whereas beech (Fagus) support just 126. (Get the book and read the list on page 147.)

Bringing Nature Home includes color photos of native trees, native perennials, and native insects, as well as lists of natives for all regions of the continental U.S. – sorry Alaska, Hawaii, and other island locales - and this alone makes it a valuable reference. It also argues persuasively that gardeners move away from planting only for aesthetics and toward planting more to achieve a balanced food web. Tallamy even cites the success he and his wife have had in converting their own suburban yard from a lawn near-wasteland to a richly diverse insect-laden, bird-friendly, native-plant haven.

Humans have disrupted natural habitats in so many ways and in so many places, and this is increasingly evident in ever decreasing numbers of amphibians, butterflies, birds, and other creatures. But as gardeners and stewards of our land, we are empowered to reverse some of this disruption, simply by planting natives.

I, for one, plan to rise to Tallamy's challenge by planting more shrubs and perennials native to Connecticut. Check out the links below to learn how you can be so empowered as well.

Resources:

Connecticut Native Trees and Shrubs at A Garden of Possibilities.
Gardening with native plants, the Connecticut Botanical Society.
Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group
American Beauties, Native Plants
Dr. Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware – take some time to investigate all the links here.
Bringing Nature Home is available from Timber Press.

Categories: Gardening, On the Bookshelf.
Tags: A Garden of Possibilities, Bringing Nature Home, Connecticut Botanical Society, Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group, Doug Tallamy, gardening in Connecticut, native plants, Timber Press.

On the Bookshelf: The Truth About Organic Gardening

joenesgarden — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:54:39 +0000

December 9, 2009. Does your brain fog over like San Francisco Bay every time you try to decipher what approach might best handle a plant's attack from pests or disease? Are you overwhelmed by the organic and synthetic chemicals found on garden center shelves touting to be the «best» at eliminating what ever? Do yourself a favor then and read The Truth About Organic Gardening, by Jeff Gillman, a professor at the department of horticultural science at the University of Minnesota.

In the preface Gillman says:

I wrote this book to help the gardener, the weekend farmer, and the educated consumer see beyond dogma and into the truth behind different gardening practices, organic or otherwise.

Gillman is successful in this task. He takes an objective look at the overall safety of all kinds of gardening practices, from soil enrichment and fertilization to the use of pesticides and practices for pest and disease control. He explains why we should not automatically discount the use of synthetic, over naturally-derived, products as more harmful to us or our environment through his consistent reminders that the terms organic and natural are synonymous with safe. He notes the human and environmental impact for many commonly available compounds, and explains the controversy or opposing opinions that abound with each.

What I like about this book:

The in depth explanations on the plusses and minuses of multiple garden-related compounds including compost, mulch, cover crops, pesticides, disease fighting blends, creature deterrents, etc.
The short Benefits, Drawbacks, and Bottom Line assessments offered at the end of each explanation.
The unbiased, non-preachy, plain-language approach Gillman takes to both organic and non-organic gardening practices.
The Best Choices for You chapter summaries .
Gillman's use of the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) – zero (none) to 100 - gives quick readers a way to quantify the impact of many pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. While he acknowledges the EIQ is an imperfect rating method, it does give a sense of the toxicity level of certain compounds.
The no-nonsense look at many of the non-chemical practices for deterring pests – the flying, walking, and sliming types – and how well they work.

What I'm not crazy about:

It's easy to become bogged down in Gillman's lengthy explanations.
The lack of photos in the insect and disease control sections – it would have been very useful to have photos of the actual insects and diseases discussed.

My favorite quote from the book:

If we start to divide pesticides by natural versus synthetic rather than by their safety and efficacy in controlling pests, we're just fooling ourselves into thinking that we're making rational decisions when in fact we're making a meaningless and artificial separation that could well be to our detriment.

All in all, this is a good book for the gardener's bookshelf. The summaries provided at the end of each product or practice description, and at the end of each chapter provide the quick-look explanation gardeners may need when pressed for time. But to make best use of these summaries, you should initially read through the entire book.

I've not yet read Gillman's other book, The Truth About Garden Remedies, and would love to hear the opinions of anyone who has. Both of Gillman's books are available at Timber Press. You can also follow Gillman's blog posts at The Garden Professors, a blog collaboration of horticulturalists at Washington State University, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota, and VirginiaTech, which I find both interesting and informative.

Now … I'm signing off to set up a very effective remedy for ridding my house of the tiny 4-legged field mouse (or mice) that has taken up residence in the walls of our house. A couple of mouse traps baited with peanut butter and placed on the inside foundation sill should do the job nicely.

Categories: Creatures, Gardening, General, On the Bookshelf, Techniques.
Tags: creature control, Jeff Gillman, The Garden Professors, The Truth About Organic Gardening, Timber Press.