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e-Newsletter | April 2019 |
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April Gardening Tips Try the annual moon vine,
Ipomoea alba, to attract sphinx moths to your garden. Nick the hard seed coat carefully with nail clippers and soak in water overnight to hasten germination. (And check out the last article in this
newsletter for another tip on attracting sphinx moths!) |
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What's in Season in Your State Botanical Garden of Tennessee? |
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Jackson - Richard and Jason are sowing the last seeds for the UT Gardens, Jackson May 4th plant sale - hyacinth bean vine (Lablab purpureus) on left
and sword bean (Canavalia gladiata) on right; and check out that sword bean pod!
Crossville - Spring has finally arrived on the Plateau! This PJM Rhododendron certainly doesn't disappoint. View this beauty near the office at the west access to the garden.
Knoxville - Tranquility, the Cornelia B. Holland Garden is flourishing with unfurling hostas. Some hostas are just coming up while others, like
Hosta 'Uguis' (pictured above) have already leafed out considerably. Other gems in this garden include trillium, ginger, rhododendron, hydrangea, and maples. |
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Plant of the Month |
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April: Iris
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UT Gardens Knoxville |
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Saturday, April 6 from 9am - 2pm Member Preview Sale - Friday, April 5 from 4 - 7pm The UT Gardens, Knoxville will hold its annual Spring Spectacular Plant Sale on Saturday, April 6, 2019, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Celebrate the joy of spring with beautiful new additions for your garden. The inventory for
this sale is selected for ornamental appeal, plant hardiness and environmental adaptability. Many selections will not be found easily locally and may be new to the market. Shoppers should find true garden gems to add to their home landscape. Professional horticulture
staff and Tennessee Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions and provide design advice.
A preview sale will be held on Friday, April 5, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. for all UT Gardens' members, Gardens' volunteers, and UT employees. An additional perk of Gardens membership is a 10% discount off plant sale purchases; that perk will
apply during the Friday preview sale as well as during the public sale on Saturday. Memberships can be renewed or purchased on Friday in order to attend the preview. Admission is free. All sale proceeds benefit the UT Gardens, Knoxville.. You can view more details, including a plant sale inventory list on our website. It will be updated as more items are confirmed.
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UT Gardens, Crossville |
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You don't want to miss out on this year's sale! We've added more plants, including more shrubs! So come on out and purchase something for your garden to help fund ours! All proceeds go directly to UT Gardens,
Crossville. View available plants and pricing at
https://www.ccmga.org/plant-sale |
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UT Gardens, Jackson |
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The UT Gardens, Jackson, along with Madison County Master Gardeners, will host their annual Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, May 4. Sale runs from 7 a.m. until noon and will take place in and around the main auditorium
at the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center (605 Airways Boulevard, Jackson, Tennessee). The sale features a large selection of annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs and some edibles. Follow the UT Gardens, Jackson
Facebook page for announcements and insights in to Jason Reeves' top plant picks. |
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UT Gardens Knoxville |
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Don’t miss this opportunity to join UT Gardens’ director, Dr. Sue Hamilton, and fellow gardeners as we visit the North Carolina’s Piedmont Region for 4 days/3 nights to see a wonderful selection of private and
public gardens to remember. We’ll travel to Raleigh on a deluxe motor coach departing Knoxville on Thursday morning, May 30th and returning Sunday evening, June 2nd. We’ll have four fabulous, non-stop days visiting choice private gardens, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, J.C. Raulston Arboretum, Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden, and shopping at a few, choice
specialty nurseries and garden centers. You will find more information about specific tour stops on
our website, along with a link to register online or to download the form to register using a check.
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UT Gardens Knoxville |
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We hope that you will
join hosts Steve and Ann Bailey at our spectacular annual gala on Friday, April 26, in Knoxville. Our 2019 Gala theme is Conifers and Cocktails, and we will recognize Alan Solomon as an avid collector of conifers. The memorable evening will have music,
drinks, hors d'oeuvres, dinner and live and silent auctions to benefit our beautiful State Botanical Garden. |
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UT Gardens Crossville |
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EDUCATION, EXHIBITS, MARKETPLACE Presentations begin Friday at 11am (Central) as Dr. Tom Samples kicks off with 'Healthy Roots=Healthy Turfgrasses'. Other subjects include: Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and Ashborers, Building Hiking Trails, Firewise
Landscaping, Pollination, Edible Mushrooms, Snakes of East Tennessee, and Cumberland Homesteads Gardens and Agriculture. (Presentations held both Friday and Saturday) For full details and a list of vendors visit:
www.ccmga.org |
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UT Gardens Knoxville |
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Celebrate springtime at the Gardens with wild bird education and an egg hunt! Families will learn how to attract birds to their home garden and create natural spring inspired crafts. Find more information
about the event here. April 13 from 1:30-4:30pm Cost is $8 per child Advanced registration is required
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UT Gardens, Knoxville |
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UT Gardens, Knoxville |
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We have a variety of workshops planned this year. Visit our website at
tiny.utk.edu/gogarden for a complete listing and to register.
Simply Natives Cost: $35 members/ $45 nonmembers Participants will receive a 1 gallon container of Goldenrod 'Fireworks' to plant in their home garden.
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UT Gardens, Crossville |
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Date: Saturday, April 6, 2019 Time: 10:00am – 12:00pm (Central Time) Cost: FREE Class limited to 60 Placement of plants is important for a number of reasons, including pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial creatures, maximizing use of space, and to increase crop productivity. Join Master
Gardener Dick Kaleba to learn all about it.
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2019 Time: 9:30am – 11:30am (Central Time) Cost: FREE Class limited to 60 Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes.... He's at it again! Join local fruit and vegetable guru Fred Mullen to learn which grow best on the
Plateau and steps needed for a successful harvest.
Date: Monday, April 22, 2019 Time: 9:00am – 11:00am (Central Time) Cost: FREE Class limited to 60 Gardening with plants native to our region protects biodiversity and creates an authentic sense of place. See photos and hear about the benefits of utilizing native plants that thrive here on the Plateau.
Date: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 Time: 9:00am – 11:00am (Central Time) Cost: $15/person Class limited to 25 This month we are doing a more decorative version of this recycled bird feeder found on Pinterest. We will be using vintage china, recycled wine bottles, clay mold, metal wiring, and paint to make your one of
a kind bird buffet. Classes are held at Plateau Research and Education Center, 320 Experiment Station Rd., Crossville, TN Contact Jennifer to sign up! Phone: 931-484-0034 Email:
[log in to unmask] |
Companion
Planting
Small
Fruits and Berries
Using
Native Plants in the Landscape
Repurposing
with Angela: Recycled Bird Feeder
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UT Gardens, Knoxville |
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Are you clearing out your garage or garden shed this spring? With increased volunteer participation the UT Gardens, Knoxville could use the gently-used tools and gardening implements that you
no longer need. Contact Alex Smith at [log in to unmask] for donations. Items needed include:
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UT Gardens, Crossville |
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Dr. Sue Hamilton was kind enough to share
her article from a previous issue of Home&Farm magazine. I am familiar with moles and voles, but never encountered the damage as I have in the UT Gardens, Crossville. I began
my position as Garden Coordinator here on May 1st of last year. It didn’t take long before I noticed the tunneling through the lawn and garden plots. The tunneling was more of an eye sore at first, then a hazard after a good rain, and ultimately
a real problem for the livelihood of the garden. Voles began snatching perennials like Bugs Bunny in my favorite childhood cartoon. They seemed to have favored the Hostas last year. This year they chewed off several of the Heucheras and five ‘Firepower’ Nandinas.
I’ll admit that I’m not that upset about the Nandinas, but was shocked how quickly they could do such damage. I set traps that unfortunately were unsuccessful. They have now found their way to the turf plot, as you can see in the photo to the left. Luckily
this damage is not a big deal since it’s a wheat cover crop soon to be tilled in to make way for some Zoysia. My next steps will be implementing some of the control methods discussed in
Sue’s article. |
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Carol Reese |
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Have you ever found seedlings germinating in the soil around last year’s tomato patch? If you are debating whether or not to let them grow, here are a few thoughts. One is to at the very least move them as part of your integrated pest management program, as it is recommended to rotate crops. Last year’s disease inoculum may linger in that soil. But the more important issue is whether these seedlings will grow to produce a worthy tomato, and that depends on last year’s tomato plantings. Hybrids will not dependably reproduce the same fruit since they contain
genes from two different parents. Just as you and your siblings have the same parents, you turned out to be different, sometimes very different than the others. The differences that are to be celebrated in your family (hopefully) may not be cause for celebration
in the vegetable world, where you want predictable size, flavor and productivity. Though open-pollinated or heirloom varieties are often said to be those that will come true from seed, this is not always the case unless you have maintained the “sanctity” of the pollen exchange. In other words,
two heirloom varieties grown within pollination range of each other have the capacity to be “open-pollinated” which means uncontrolled. Insects or even wind could have carried pollen from one to the other, and the seedlings that result will contain genetics
from both parents. As we know, pollen can be ferried great distances by our insect friends. Most of us don’t grow just one variety of tomato, and most of us don’t take special measures to prevent cross-pollination, so unless you grew only one kind of tomato
last year and it was not a hybrid, you may be wasting garden space on an unproven plant. I’d rather plant something known. I know, it is hard to rip out that little plant that wants to grow and toss it heartlessly into your weeding basket, so here is an option. Maybe choose a place far from the vegetable garden where you give it a
chance. It might turn out to be something fun, and even if it doesn’t, the foliage could be fodder for tomato hornworms. Instead of killing them when you find them on your desirable tomato plants, you could move them to “their tomato plants”. Why on earth would anyone provide for tomato hornworms? They become the large sphinx moths that often come to the moonvine flowers that many of us grow for the evening fragrance,
and it is enchanting to watch them extend their long proboscis into the creamy petals as they unfold. They look so much like hummingbirds that they are often called hummingbird moths, and provide unforgettable entertainment for family and friends at dusky
events on your patio. |
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UT Gardens, Knoxville
2019 Community Partners and Sponsors!
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