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grEen News from
June 2012 |
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1972 ~ 2012
Celebrating Our 40th Year |
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Dear Friends,
Welcome to summer, well almost. Technically the summer solstice isn't until the 20th, but if you have lived here for more than 12 months, than you know summer comes early in Tidewater. As we do every year, we celebrate the changing seasons with our annual Flower Festival. This year it will be Saturday, June 23rd from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and the following are just a few of the things we have going on that day:
- There will be lots of sales and unadvertised specials.
- We will have drawings for door prizes.
- This is the only day you can use your Flower Power Money (You are collecting FP Money, aren't you? Between 5/14 and 6/22/12 you get $1 of FP Money for every $10 you spend, and on the day of the festival you can apply it towards your purchase).
- The Isle of Wight Humane Society will be here selling hamburgers, drinks, chips and baked goods. Plus, they will probably have some puppies and kittens for you to adopt.
- Our friend The Moonlight Beekeeper will be here with local honey.
- The Bon Vivant Market will be holding a beer and wine tasting from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is a small fee, but the proceeds go towards the Isle of Wight Humane Society.
- For just a little bit of money, you can enjoy a real taste of the south - boiled peanuts from The Market.
- There will several local, talented artists here who will be displaying and selling their art.
- Joining us will be The Tidewater Daylily Society, The Hampton Roads Iris Society, and The Suffolk Master Gardeners.
- We will have several free classes throughout the day (see our Events Calendar below for topics and times).
- We will have lawn and garden experts here throughout the day to answer your questions. Also, there will be a "walk-in clinic" from 10:00 a.m. to noon for those of you who need a more in-depth consultation.
We hope you will join us as we say goodbye to spring and hello to summer. Happy gardening!
Your Friends at Smithfield Gardens |
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Upcoming Events and Classes at Smithfield Gardens
Attracting Native Pollinators & Beneficial Insects to Your Garden
June 2nd (Sat.) 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
By now, every gardener should know there are good bugs and bad bugs. Come let Ann Weber and Jeff Williamson show you how by putting in the right plants and employing the right gardening techniques, you can attract good insects to your garden.
High Tide Gardening
June 3rd (Sun.) 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Many gardens in Hampton Roads are occasionally subjected to salt water flooding or salt spray; it's one of the trade-offs for living in this beautiful place. Come let Les Parks tell you what strategies are needed to succeed, and which plants tolerate coastal conditions.
Gardening with Cats & Dogs
June 10th (Sun.) 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
One thing many gardeners have in common is also a love of cats and dogs. However, the furry members of our family do not always make it easy for us to garden (indoors or out). Come let Les Parks tell you about a few of the strategies he has learned over the years, so the gardener and pet owner in each of us is happy.
Join Us for Our 23rd Annual Flower Festival
June 23rd (Sat.) 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Please see our welcome letter above for full details.
Selecting and Growing Hydrangeas
June 23rd (Sat.) 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Come let Les Parks show you what you need to know to grow these beautiful shade-loving shrubs. Selection, planting, maintaining and drying will be covered.
Gardening with Perennials and Daylilies
June 23rd (Sat.) 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
With daylilies coming in so many colors, there are lots of other perennials that would make perfect companion plants. Come join this class and let Ann Weber and Jeff Williamson show you a marriage made in the Garden of Eden.
Would you like to save 10% on your purchases at Smithfield Gardens? Monday is Military Discount Day and active duty military, Coast Guard, police, fire and rescue personnel all are entitled to this discount. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are Senior Days. Also, anyone who attends one of our free classes is entitled to a discount on the day of the class. All of our discounts apply to any item not already on sale and can not be used towards landscaping services or bulk materials.
Other Events
Rain Barrell Workshop
June 9th (Sat.) 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
This event is sponsored by the Suffolk Master Gardeners will be held at the Suffolk Art Gallery, 118 Bosely St., Suffolk. There is a $50.00 fee for each barrel. Call 514-7284 for more information and to reserve your spot.
The John Clayton Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society has numerous outings and events planned for the month. For more information, please visit their fieldtrip and events page.
The Williamsburg Botanical Garden has several events specifically designed for children scheduled during the month. More information can be found on their website.
The Norfolk Botanical Garden has classes and events throughout the month. Please click here for more details. |
Good Bugs
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Ladybugs are perhaps the most familiar of beneficial insects. |
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Syrphid flies are often mistaken for bees. They are also known as hover flies. |
"I'm just looking at the beneficial insects," said the older gentleman bending over a plant in my front garden a few years ago. I'd seen him walking his dog many times before but always thought he was interested in the annuals and perennials when he stopped to stare. I garden to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, and try not to use any chemicals except horticultural oil and the weed killer BurnOut II by St. Gabriel Organics. I also have a few herbs because the bees and smaller butterflies like them. Who knew that I had inadvertently been attracting those valuable beneficial insects all along by having some of their favorite plants and not using insecticides?
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The larvae of green lacewings live up to their other name, aphid lions. |
Fortunately many of the plants that attract Mother Nature's "good "garden insects SWAT team, like lacewings, hoverflies, tachinid flies and ladybugs, are also attractive to you. Some of these beneficial insects have probably been lurking around your garden for years, silently doing their part to keep the populations of pest insects at a manageable level. There are a few points to remember if you want to encourage beneficial insects to hang around your garden. Most chemical sprays work on both bad and good bugs, so you might have to learn to live with a little damage on plants when you stop the spraying. "You must eliminate insecticide use in the areas where these bugs live and work", is the way one site put it. And sometimes it is the larvae that are doing the work of destroying the pests so you must be able to recognize them, as well. For example, lacewing larvae are also called aphid lions for their habit of dining on aphids.
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Yarrow is an old favorite that is attractive to humans and beneficial insects alike. |
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Although it is not native, Queen Anne' lace is a naturalized wildflower. |
Intersperse a few of the plants they like to visit for food and shelter in the areas where you've seen "problem pests" like aphids, mites, and mealybugs. If you plant your beneficial insect selections in containers you can move the pots around as needed, but you will have to be diligent about checking the pots for water. A clever idea I saw online years ago was making a portable "good bug tub" from a galvanized metal or plastic tub that was on castors so that you could move it around the yard. After drilling some drainage holes they filled it with plants like basil, dill, catmint, gazania, monarda, yarrow, fennel, cosmos, parsley, lemon balm, Queen Anne's lace, mints and sweet alyssum. Bees (very important pollinators) are also attracted to many of the same plants beneficials like, so having some of these plants near your vegetable garden is a great way to insure pollination takes place.
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Fennel is not only edible, but it attracts beneficial insects and is favorite food source for black swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. |
Have you made the decision to invite beneficials to your garden? Whether you choose to plant some of their favorites in the ground or in containers you can see that it's easy to get started. Visit online sites dealing with plant lists for beneficials and then pay us a visit. And remember to be kind to the bees, too!
Ann Weber
(FYI, I will be teaching a class on beneficial insects and native pollinators on Sat. June 2nd. Check out our events calendar above for details, and call 238-2511 to reserve your spot.) |
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Native Beauties: Summersweet Clethra
(another installment from our occasional series on some of our best garden-worthy native trees and shrubs)
With the arrival of summer, one of our best native shrubs is about to bloom and perfume the air of local gardens and woodlands. Clethra alnifolia, or summersweet, has 2-6" long, white bottlebrush flowers that open in June and continue in to July. While the blossoms are a visual standout, you could just as easily let your nose and ears lead you to clethra. The fragrance of these blooms is very, very sweet and many of our native bees and other pollinators are drawn to them like a magnet, so much so that a plant in full bloom buzzes with busy little bodies gathering nectar.
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Clethra begins blooming in June, and it is one of our best native shrubs. |
Clethra grows wild from Maine, down the east coast and over to eastern Texas. Though they will grow in full sun, they are probably happier in a partially shaded site where they can also get plenty of moisture. In fact, clethras will even grow in wet areas that drain poorly, and they are quite salt tolerant* as well, so a marsh-side location would be fine. Although they are deciduous, the foliage turns a beautiful pale yellow to golden brown in the fall. Clethras will reach about 4-8' tall by slightly less in width, and if they are happy, will form a broad colony. If they ever get too tall for you, you can prune them in late winter.
For a garden setting you may want to look for one of the named varieties. 'Hummingbird' is a dwarf form that only gets about 30-40" tall, has numerous and slightly larger flowers, and forms a large colony. 'Sixteen Candles' is a compact rounded variety that will reach about 5' tall. Its flowers are also upright, like birthday candles. 'Vanilla Spice' is a newer variety whose individual flowers are about twice the size of regular clethras. It should reach about 3-6' tall. If white flowers are not to your liking, you may want to try 'Ruby Spice' which has a rose pink color, and it reaches about 6-8' tall.
Les Parks
Previous Native Beauties:
Trumpet Vine - July 2011
Winterberry Holly - Oct. 2010
Flowering Dogwood - April 2010
Bald Cypress - Sept. 2009
Virginia Sweetspire - June 2009
Carolina Jessamine - March 2009
American Beautyberry - Oct. 2008
Oakleaf Hydrangea - June 2008
Redbud - March 2008
*If you would like to learn more about plants that can tolerate salt, please sign up for our High Tide Gardening class, being held on Sat. 6/3/12 at 2:00 p.m. Seating is limited, so please register by calling 238-2511. |
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Bad Bugs
Now that we are into the bad bug season, and I am going to talk about a few most pesky biting bugs.
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Don't worry about grizzlies, great white sharks or alligators, mosquitoes have killed more humans than any other animal. |
Here are a few facts about mosquitoes:
* Only females bite.
* The average lifespan of the female is 3-100 days, the male is 10 - 20 days.
* A mosquito develops from the egg to adult in 4-7 days and remains 1 mile from their breeding site.
* Mosquitoes do not "feed" on blood, the females need it for the development of their eggs.
* Worldwide there are 3000 species of mosquitoes and the diseases they carry kill more people than any other factor.
* People are not their first choice to bite, they prefer small herbivorous (vegetarian) mammals and birds.
Remember the Mosquito Man coming down your street? Maybe like me, you could be found running to the edge of the yard basking in the sweet aroma of DDT! Those days are long gone (thank goodness), and I lived through the toxic fumes, however the mosquito remains to be at the top of our bugs that bug us list. The best way to knock down the population is to eliminate the breeding areas. Make sure there is NO standing water in your yard, even a 1/16" is too much. If you have a pond, birdbath or other water feature or even standing water, pop a Mosquito Dunk in the water. Mosquito Dunks look like doughnuts and the friendly bacteria in each dunk disrupts the larvae development, while being safe for animals fish and birds. You can also spray your yard with Mosquito and Gnat Barrier... It kills ants, fleas, ticks and mosquitoes. It covers 5000 sq.ft. and lasts up to 4 weeks! You can also arm yourself with Liquid Net every time you go out. Liquid Net is a deet-free product that can be used by the whole family, even the 4 legged members.
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Why is it that chiggers always bite in places where one shouldn't scratch while in polite company? |
Here are some facts about chiggers:
* Chiggers are not insects, they are mites.
* They only feed in the larvae stage and contrary to popular belief they are born red - It's not because they suck blood, they actually turn yellow when they are engorged from feeding.
* Chiggers prefer women and children to men, due to the softer skin.
* They are fast... and can go from your shoe to your belt in 15 minutes. That is more than 5000 times their size. That is the same as us scaling a mountain on a empty stomach.
* Chiggers DO NOT suck blood! They inject saliva into your skin which make your skin liquid. After a few hours your skin reacts by forming a straw-like wall on all sides of the saliva path, and they use this straw to drink up your liquified skin, like a milkshake (not a pretty picture). These walls that form are what causes the irritation, inflaming the surrounding tissue. The longer it feeds, the deeper the wall .
* Some believe that the red dot in the center of a chigger welt is the dead bug when in fact it is the feeding tube.
* Chiggers can feed up to 4 days if left undisturbed.
Chiggers HATE sulphur. If you dust your shoes and pant legs with it, they will not get on you. However, the aroma will keep your friends at bay as well. The best treatment after exposure is a hot soapy bath. The hotter the better, as chiggers don't like high temperatures. Scrub the affected area well and this will get them off you. You can treat your yard with Turf Ranger and Kill a Bug to control chiggers, as well as many other bothersome pests.
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Think fleas are just a problem for pets and pet owners? Do you remember something called The Black Death from your world history classes in high school? |
Here are some facts about Fleas and Ticks... the real Blood Suckers!
* Fleas live about 100 days, and a pair can produce 400-500 offspring.
* Fleas can jump up to 4' high.
* The bubonic plague came from fleas.
* A female lays eggs immediately after a blood meal and can produce 2000 eggs in a lifetime.
* The largest recorded flea is almost 1/2" long.
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Of all the pests mentioned, the tick perhaps poses the greatest threat to our health. |
* There are 200 species of ticks in the U.S.
* They can live as long as 200 days without water or food.
* Ticks are not insects, they are arachnids.
* Ticks are not born with disease, they contract it from their hosts.
The most talked about disease from ticks is Lyme disease. The most effective organic way to kill fleas is with diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth, also known as D.E., is made from siliceous sedimentary rock. It is ground up and has sharp edges (to a soft bodied insect ). When you put it in your yard, the insect digests it and it cuts their insides or they crawl across it and it cuts their bodies. D.E. can be used in carpet and in animal bedding and can even be used on your pet. There are several products we carry that will kill both fleas, ticks and many other insects in the yard. A few to look for I have already mentioned, including Turf Ranger, Kill a Bug, Mosquito and Gnat Barrier and Bug Blaster.
As always, read the label carefully. Come in with what's bugging you, and we can help!
Rhonda Grinels
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Contact Information and Store Hours
Smithfield Gardens is located at:
1869 Bridge Rd. (Rte. 17)
Suffolk, Virginia 23433
Click here for a map and directions
Our phone number is 757.238.2511,
and our fax number is 757.238.3836
Our email is smithfieldgardens@yahoo.com
During the month of June our hours are:
9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily |
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