An American Native Plant Celebration - Natureworks Email News

An American Native Plant Celebration!

What better way to celebrate the birth of our country than to celebrate the native plants that make our gardens and landscapes so beautiful, productive, and functional. That is why I decided that this Saturday morning (following our EARLYBIRD SALE FROM 7-9), my garden walk will focus on native plants- BIG TIME! The timing is perfect as we head into the summer season, a time when many of our favorite, easiest to grow native plants are at their peak.

A bevy of native beauties!

Let's start by talking about Asclepias. We saw our first monarch butterfly at Natureworks on Saturday, and naturally, it was flitting around our ridiculously massive stand of milkweed. We finally have baby milkweed plants for sale as well as LOTS of other Asclepias species. All Asclepias are larval food plants that the monarchs lay their eggs on. For a basic rundown of the differences between them and to gauge which ones are right for your particular garden, read the article below.

There are so many plants on our benches that you may not know are native. Phlox paniculata is one of them. My favorite this week is 'Blue Paradise'. I have this in my own yard, and the color is indescribable, starting off one color in the morning, morphing to a different color by evening. I also couldn't design perennial gardens without Phlox paniculata 'Jeanna'. She has tall, pointed panicles and is a pollinator magnet. Echinaceas are starting to hit their stride right now. As I look out my home office window, I see orange Asclepias tuberosa and orange Echinaceas blending with the first blossoms of blue balloon flowers- all natives, all happily growing and flowering with very little help from busy me.

Gaura blooms and blooms and blooms... Try it in a sunny garden or in a container. A wonderful prairie native that tolerates drought conditions like a champ.

There are natives for the shade (Gilenia, Chelone, Cimicifuga) and natives to plant NOW for a fabulous fall display (Aster, Eupatorium, Gaura, Vernonia). There are natives that have beautiful foliage (many ferns, Baptisia) and natives that are edible (Agastache or anise hyssop is my favorite).

Aster 'Blue Autumn' is actually a great

summer bloomer that starts NOW and continues into August (don't ask me where the name came from). Butterflies love the nectar of all asters, they must realize asters are very important plants for our native pollinators.

This Thursday evening we are open until 7 pm and I am THRILLED to tell you that Mavi Nadeau, a new Natureworks employee hired this spring, will be teaching an exciting class: Essential Oils 101. I have always used lavender for relaxation and I knew a little about essential oils, but Mavi has opened my eyes to an entire world of using essential oils for stress relief, muscle pain, and so much more. Ironically, I have other friends that have also started using them and raving about them. So I basically begged Mavi to share this with you! Registration information can be found below.

We are open all weekend our regular June hours, and we are closed on Monday, July 4th.

After that we switch to our off-peak, summer hours which are:

Monday-Sat 9-5, closed on Sundays until the early fall.

What did I do on my days off? Well, I spent most of my time planting in my vegetable beds! I pulled out lots of self-sown poppies and borage to make room for lots more tomatoes. I planted carrot seeds, and did all kinds of mulching, staking, and installing tomato cages. I liberated my celery plants from a sea of weeds. I planted up three more containers on my deck with hummingbird flowers and they immediately visited them. Magic! I deep soaked everything with watering cans filled with Organic Plant Magic compost tea. I picked (and ATE) tons and tons of fresh blueberries and raspberries. My husband and I have been eating broccoli every other day for a week; now I have room in that bed to plant something new. Diane has put the rest of our organic veggie seedlings on a BLOWOUT sale at 75% off. They need a home in someone's garden- NOW. Can you adopt another tomato plant or two? Second sowings of seeds are happening every day among my staff of food-growing gardeners. Diane says "plant bean seeds". I say "plant zucchini and yellow squash seeds." Don't leave a square foot open, just keep growing and planting food.

'Clara Curtis' is an old fashioned variety of pink, perennial hardy daisy mum that has stood the test of time. It blooms for two months or more, from June thru the end of the summer. Very pretty, the bees love it, and it is a great cut flower too.

Besides native plants, we have a LOT of other very colorful perennials and flowering shrubs on our benches and arriving regularly. We keep our nursery well stocked with FRESH COLOR every week of the summer. I am absolutely in love with the new 'Glass Slippers' butterfly bush with soft, pale blue flowers that smell just like dusting powder. Anthemis 'Charme' is a charming buttery yellow perennial marguerite daisy with ferny foliage; it is totally deer resistant and a long bloomer. Salvia 'Black and Bloom' is an improved version of the gorgeous 'Black and Blue', a tender perennial salvia that loves the heat, attracts hummingbirds, and makes a great cut flower.

Speaking of cut flowers, my Playing with Flowers workshops each month are starting to really inspire customers and my staff to cut flowers from the gardens and make arrangements. Our store now has the prettiest arrangements that change regularly in all sorts of neat containers. I am thrilled that the gardens are no longer just for admiring and learning- we are also harvesting and arranging beautiful bouquets.

Phlox paniculata 'Blue Paradise' in my home garden. It changes from purple/blue to blue as the day progresses. Last year mine was eaten by the deer. This year I protected it with Repellex Systemic. I adore this variety!

With the holiday weekend coming up, be sure to stop in and unwind on Thursday evening with our essential oils workshop. Take advantage of the many "pop up", explosively wonderful sales my staff is putting together. Grab a wagon load or two of fresh color to pretty up the place before your picnic or holiday gathering. Don't forget the all-natural bug spray and herbal incense. We are filled with color and the gardens are abundant and beautiful. Stop in and see for yourself, perhaps at our Earlybird Sale this Saturday morning. If you arrive before 9 am you will get a $5 gift card good on any purchase of $20 or more. It's a monthly tradition that gives you some quality, quiet time in our little patch of paradise.

I look forward to seeing you very soon...

The Genus Asclepias- Milkweed and its Relatives

Milkweed, three years after planting from a tiny seedling in Diane's garden

As many of you may already know, Natureworks is Monarch Butterfly headquarters in the area. Our gardens are filled with milkweed and many other species and varieties of the genus Asclepias. Why? All butterflies must lay their eggs on what we call their larval food plants. These are the ONLY plants that the caterpillars can eat. For monarchs, its Asclepias.

We finally have very young milkweed plants available for sale. Shown above is a stand of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) that Diane planted from a tiny seedling three years ago. Once it is established, it spreads really fast. It is not a good choice if you only have a small garden as it will take over the garden and other plants will be crowded out. It's best in larger borders where you want it to spread. In my own yard, I let it grow in masses beneath flowering shrubs, mingled with goldenrod (for fall pollinators) and mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) for summer pollinators. In one of my perennial beds where I inherited a big stand of invasive (but pretty) gooseneck loosestrife, I seeded in milkweed and the two battle it out quite well together. In my lower backyard, where I have recently done a lot of clearing, I spread milkweed seed with New England aster and Rudbeckia triloba seeds last year. All three are weaving together nicely from that small effort in late fall.

If your garden is too small for common milkweed, consider some alternatives:

Asclepias tuberosa is called butterfly weed. It comes in orange and yellow


	Asclepias tuberosa, orange butterfly weed

('Hello Yellow' is the name of the variety, I love that!). It grows 18-24" tall and is in bloom now, continuing through July and early August. It has a tuberous root and wants full sun and a well drained soil. It is not a spreading plant. It forms a clump about 18-14" across.

Asclepias incarnata is called swamp milkweed but it doesn't have to grow in wet soil. We have it growing in our Naturworks borders, in regular garden soil that is not regularly irrigated. This species grows 5' tall and 18-24" wide and has pink flowers. There is a white form called 'Ice Ballet'. It will grow in full sun and also tolerate partial shade.


Asclepias incarnata 'Ice Ballet'

Asclepias purpurescens is another form of perennial milkweed that has a darker pinkish/purple flower and is clump forming, ideal when you don't want it to take over. It likes sun and grows 2-3' tall.

Asclepias curassavica is a tropical form of butterfly weed that we love to plant in our gardens and containers as an annual each summer. It comes in reddish orange, bright yellow (the variety is 'Silky Gold'), and the new


	Annual Asclepias curassavica is great in containers or in the garden.

variegated 'Monarch's Promise' with white, cream, and green leaves and orange flowers.

There are other species of Asclepias that we occasionally carry when we can find them. All are excellent larval food plants for our precious monarch butterflies. Because we raise the migrating generation in CT, it is critical that we offer them plenty of milkweed and all of its relatives when they arrive- which is NOW!

It's Daylily Season!

Nancy's favorite: 'Indian Giver' daylily

It's 4th of July week and the orange daylilies are in bloom along the side of the road. The combination of these classic summer perennials with blue chicory and white Queen Anne's lace speaks of summer to most of us.

There are over 35,000 cultivars of daylilies in cultivation around the world! The common roadside daylily is Hemerocallis fulva. It is not native to the United States, but it has become naturalized here. It is a vigorous grower that will overtake hybrids very quickly if planted together.

At Natureworks we are quite picky about the daylily varieties that we sell. We choose them mainly because we have grown them in gardens and have found them to have exceptional qualities that set them apart from the common one. Repeat blooming is one quality that we look for. The average daylily blooms for a mere 3 weeks. Repeat bloomers cycle on and off in bloom all summer and into the fall. Long bloomers are another category. If a daylily blooms for 6 weeks or more, it is considered a long bloomer. Exceptionally high bud count per stem is another characteristic that will catch our eye and help a daylily variety to earn a place on our benches and in our gardens. Sometimes it's just an outrageously beautiful flower that we can't resist.

'Chesapeake Crablegs'

A few years ago I discovered 'Chesapeake Crablegs'. I am building a daylily border along the road in front of my house focusing on hot color and an extended bloom period from June through August until late September or early October. 'Chesapeake Crablegs' bloomed all during August and September for me, a time when many of my varieties were finished. It is tall, dramatic, and an eye-catching spider flower form.

I have been specifying deep rosy/wine/purple 'Indian Giver' daylilies in my garden designs for many years. It is a Trophytaker brand daylily, meaning it blooms for over 6 weeks and has a high bud count. I love the rich color that contrasts with the bright yellow throat. It often reblooms for me in the fall as well.

Did you know daylily blossoms are edible? In some cultures, they pick the buds, dip them in batter, and fry them the same way as squash blossoms. I snip the petals into long, thin strips and mix them into salads along with the flowers of nasturtiums, calendulas, borage, and summer Alliums.

For all repeat blooming or long blooming daylilies, I do a mid-summer feeding of compost and organic fertilizer in mid-July to keep them happy. I deadhead them as soon as they are finished flowering so they don't waste any energy on forming seed pods. I comb out the older leaves to make room for a crop of fresh, new green leaves. This makes them a valuable contributor to the late summer garden in my yard.

Come on in and check out the selection we have chosen for this year...

What's Bugging You this Week?

With the stretch of dry weather that we have had for the past few weeks, we are seeing a lot of powdery mildew fungus problems beginning to show up on our customers plants. Powdery mildew is a fungus. What does that have to do with dry conditions? I have observed that when plants that are susceptible to powdery mildew are dry, overcrowded, and/or underfed, they develop this fungus much more readily. Therefore, if you notice that rain has been scarce, deep soak your Phlox paniculatas, bee balms, Pulmonarias, and other mildew-susceptible plants. Be sure you feed them well in the spring with our Magic Formula of compost and Pro Gro. If you neglected to do so, you can do it NOW. Then mulch with at least 2" of shredded bark or leaves to keep the moisture and organic matter in the soil.

Jane is spraying BioSafe on our Phlox, bee balm, roses, and other plants susceptible to mildew as a preventative measure.

Scout for the very first signs of powdery mildew and "head it off at the pass".

We spray with BioSafe hydrogen peroxide spray. Not only does this prevent mildew spores from sprouting, it kills them in the early stages. If you wait too long, the plant will begin to lose leaves and you will have to clean it and then spray it with copper. Cultural conditions often drive disease outbreaks. This is a great example of how giving your plants the conditions that they love will help them to fight off problems.

The tiny white egg of the White Cabbage Butterfly. Its scientific name is Pieris rapae.

Do you see it? That tiny white dot is the EGG of the cabbage white butterfly. Squish it and they won't hatch and eat your plants. Scout early and often.

Another pesky pest that everyone is talking about right now is the cabbage white butterfly. They are flying all over my yard, laying their eggs on all members of the cabbage family- broccoli, Brussel sprouts, collards, cauliflower, kale, and cabbage. Diane has figured out a way to outsmart them. She turns the leaves over and looks for their white eggs and squishes them. The eggs are easy to spot. When they hatch and become caterpillars, they are almost impossible to see as they are tiny and the same color green as the leaves they are eating. Spraying the plants with B.T. 2-3 times per growing season is also very helpful. This is an organic product that kills only caterpillars and won't harm any other bees or beneficial insects in your garden. It is host specific.

The hibiscus sawfly is here. It is flat and green and chews holes in the leaves. It's hard to spot, scout NOW and look carefully.

I have seen the Hibiscus sawfly on my perennial Hibiscus plants over the weekend. Even though this looks like a caterpillar, it is NOT. Instead it is the larval stage of a fly and is best controlled with regular, targeted sprays of Neem alternating with Spinosad or Pyrethrum each week until their feeding cycle is done. They are flat and green and also camouflage themselves well against the green leaves.

For anyone who, like me, is battling asparagus beetles, not that they have a second hatch out now. I noticed them on Sunday and have been squishing them for a few days. If they multiply too quickly for squishing, I will spray them with Neem. I weeded and fed my plants when I noticed the damage of the first hatch out about 3 weeks ago. I deep soaked them and mulched them to reduce the stress and help them to grow back new fronds. But I didn't realize there are two generations of this destructive pest. I went online and researched their life cycle. Now I understand much better what I am up against.

In conclusion, here are some golden rules of organic gardening to follow when it comes to pests:

KNOW YOUR ENEMY- only then can you intelligently control any pest problem organically.

SPRAY ORGANIC PESTICIDES only at dusk. That is the only time the pollinators are not flying. The native bees begin flying very early in the morning.

SCOUT DAILY- if you find a problem early, it is much simpler to control.

Find the
Flag 40% off Sale!

Special Pricing* - 4 days only!

Thursday, June 30th

through Sunday, July 3rd

We are placing small American flags in blocks of plants throughout the nursery. They will be marked with a special red tag and will be 40% off for FOUR DAYS ONLY.

Don't miss these great deals on high quality plants that will make your garden explode with beauty. They will be stars that shine in your borders. We're talking about plants of all stripes and colors. Plant for your picnic. Plant for your party. Plant for the pollinators. Just keep planting...!

*Sale applies to in-stock items, while supplies last and does not apply to special orders.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, June 30 ^th

5:00-6:00 pm What's This Oil About? Essential Oils 101
Join Mavi for this class filled with information on essential oils. Some of the topics to be discussed are: What are Essential Oils? Why are they beneficial to us? How do we use them? There will be many essential oils to smell and experience, a Q & A time, and handouts, give-aways, and prizes!
Registration in advance is required. FEE: $15. Class limited to 20.

Saturday, July 2 ^nd

>> 7:00-9:00 am Early Bird Sale. Coffee and a free $5 gift card for those who shop before 9 am.

>> 9:30-10:30 am Natives Talk with Nan

Stroll our latest and greatest new bench for native plants where Nancy will not only discuss the importance of natives, but expose you to unique plants that may surprise you that they are native. This workshop will be an informal walk through our native benches with a Q&A format; demystify the world of native plants and be part of the native plant movement!

Monday, July 4 ^th CLOSED ON INDEPENDENCE DAY

SUMMER HOURS BEGIN Tuesday, July 5 ^th

Monday-Saturday 9-5 Closed Sunday until early fall.

Thursday, July 7 ^th

10:30-11:30 am Grow Organic Kids - Create a Collage

Seed Collages of Butterflies followed by Giant Bubbles: Jillian invites young ones to come by and create a beautiful collage of our favorite pollinators---out of our favorite pollinator flower seeds! Use your creation as a decoration and then plant the paper in your garden for a nice pollinator flower patch. After our collages are made, we'll have fun blowing Giant Bubbles and plenty of giggles.

Registration in advance is required. FEE: $5. Class limited to 10 participants.

Saturday, July 9 ^th

9:30-10:30 am Garden Impression Stepping Stones

The garden contains some amazing leaf textures, and we aim to immortalize them in this hands-on workshop. Join Kassie as she guides you in creating a beautiful stepping stone for your garden. Fee includes hypertufa, a container to cure the stone in, leaves from the Natureworks gardens, and our expert guidance.

Registration in advance is required. FEE: $50. Class limited to 15 participants.

For the July Natureworks Events flyer, click here.

Unless otherwise noted, events are held on-site at Natureworks.