The Perennial Word. Editor s Note: Inside this Issue: A Publication of Cedar Mountain Perennials. Cedar Mountain Perennials : April 2015

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1 The Perennial Word April 2015 A Publication of Cedar Mountain Perennials Cedar Mountain Perennials : Specializes in native plants for the Inland Northwest Garden. Offering a wide selection of native perennial wildflowers grown from seed or cuttings at our nursery outside Athol, Idaho. We also feature a limited selection of trees and shrubs. Our plants have been selected to be ideally suited for climate, soils, and moisture regimes of the Inland Northwest. Inside this Issue: Editor s Note... 1 Watering Native Plants... 2 Plant of the Month: The Misunderstood Goldenrod... 4 What s Bugging Me... 5 Spokane Garden Expo... 7 Products and Services... 8 Retail Locations... 8 Calendar of Events... 8 Volume 3, Issue 1 Editor s Note: Welcome to the fourth issue and third season of the Perennial Word. We have had a lot of fun assembling, publishing and sharing this newsletter with you in the past and look forward to providing our readers with more timely tips about gardening with native plants this year. This month finds us busily getting ready for the upcoming season. All of this years plants are now in the greenhouse which has been turned on so it is heated when necessary. The seed trays are out, shrubs that we ordered last fall are here, potted up and growing. We have new seedlings popping up every day! It is a joy to go into the greenhouse each morning to see what surprises await us. As always we have some new species to offer this year, perennials, shrubs and trees! These include both Western Red Cedar and Western Larch! These are both native tree species that we are fond of and occur in different habitats in the region. We are getting ready to attend our fifth Spokane Garden Expo this year. See flyer in this issue. This years Expo will be held on May 9. If you LOVE to garden, mark that date on your calendar and don t miss it! If you do come, bring a garden wagon to carry all your purchases! You won t regret it! Here are our feature articles for this issue: Watering Native Plants Plant of the Month: The Misunderstood Goldenrod What s Bugging Me: Yellow jackets We hope you enjoy this issue of the Perennial Word! Penstemon fruticosus: Shrubby Penstemon

2 April 2015 The Perennial Word 2 By Bob Wilson When it comes to conserving water in your landscape, it is hard to beat native plants. They are well adapted to the typical amounts and seasonal distribution of the rainfall we get. After all, as natives, they will establish and grow here without any supplemental water. However, there are times when watering your native plants can be helpful and even necessary. Watering Native Plants New plantings will almost always need watering until they are established. The Penstemon lyallii: Lyall s Penstemon young plants have their entire root system packed into a small container. Until they grow a complete root system in the ground, which can extend several feet or more from the plant, they will need some help. Immediately after planting it is best to hand water the plants using a hose or watering can. Sprinklers don't often water deep enough. The objective is to put on enough water to saturate the new root zone. It is helpful to build a small basin around each plant that you can fill with water. Depending on temperatures you experience after planting and how much natural rainfall you are getting, you may need to water as often as several times a week if it is hot and dry. Close attention to soil moisture is important for 4-6 weeks after planting for perennials, and 2-3 months for trees and shrubs. After this, you can begin to taper off the amounts as the plant develops a more extensive root system. After perennials have gone through the first winter, they should be well established. Trees and shrubs will need some extra watering during the second season and even the third if the plant is particularly large. Sphaearlcea munroana: Munro s Globemallow Drought-tolerance is a valuable trait to have in a plant but there is one thing that is important to understand. Once established, many native plants will be able to survive without any supplemental water. But, when the soil is dry, the plants will grow very little, if at all. They will shut down in response to extreme water stress. If you have a (Continued on page 3) Phlox diffusa: Creeping Phlox

3 April 2015 The Perennial Word 3 (Continued from page 2) small plant that you want to become a big plant, like a tree or shrub, then regular watering will allow it to put on much more growth each year. Nearly all plants will appreciate an occasional deep watering during the hot part of the summer. When you do water your plants, make sure to get water to the entire depth of the root zone. The roots of native plants are going to be deeper than many horticultural selections found in nurseries as well as your grass lawn. Artemisia frigida: Fringed Sage Deeper watering encourages deeper rooting, which allows plants to make the most of their inherent drought-tolerance. Try to get water at least 12" deep if not more with each watering. The amount of water a plant needs depends on many things including soil type, recent weather, and the habitat it is planted in. Matching the landscape habitat to where the plant grows in the wild will help maximize its ability to thrive with little care. It is also helpful to learn to recognize symptoms of drought stress. Plants will let you know when they need watering through their "body language". Wilting, the drooping of leaves and flower stems is the most obvious symptom. Stressed plants will often become paler or dull in color and lose their vibrant green appearance. In severe cases, leaves will turn crisp, starting on the edges. At this point damage has already started to occur and immediate watering is needed. Check your new plantings often to look for these symptoms and water as needed. Characteristics of Drought- Tolerant Plants Even if you are unfamiliar with a plant, if you see two or more of these characteristics in a single plant, that is a good indication that it is very drought-tolerant. 1. Silver or grey foliage 2. Succulence (fleshy leaves or stems) 3. Finely divided leaves (like yarrow) 4. Very small leaves 5. Thick leaves or needles 6. Strongly scented foliage Eriophyllum lanatum: Oregon Sunshine

4 April 2015 The Perennial Word 4 Featured Plant: The Misunderstood Goldenrod Goldenrods are members of the family Asteraceae, formerly known as compositae. The latter refers to the type of flower found in this group, in which each inflorescence consists of multiple tiny flowers. Most bear two types of flowers in each inflorescence, ray flowers are what we often think of as the petals on the daisy. Disc flowers are the flowers in the center each consisting of a tiny tubular corolla. Goldenrods are much maligned as a common cause of late summer or early fall allergies. This is however incorrect. The pollen in goldenrod species is not carried on the wind rather contained within the flowers which are insect pollinated. Plants that DO cause allergies in people produce copious amounts of pollen and are wind pollinated. It is actually Ragweed, which blooms at the same time that is one of the most common causes of late summer, early fall seasonal allergies. Goldenrods are hardy, easy to grow and add much beauty to the landscape. They are outstanding for attracting both butterflies and bees and useful for planting in a wide variety of garden settings, particularly pollinator gardens and wildflower meadows. In our own experience planting these species in our own garden we have found them to be relatively resistant to deer feeding though sometimes deer will munch on the flowers. Several species are native to the Inland Northwest. We offer one species, Canada Goldenrod, Solidago Canadensis. Goldenrod is tolerant of most conditions except for very wet and very dry. They will thrive in most soil types. Plant in full sun or part shade. Goldenrods need little supplemental water once established, though they will grow and bloom a bit better with a little bit of supplemental water during the hottest part of the summer. They certainly don t require that however. Plants are rhizomatous and spreading, so keep that in mind when planting. All species are late summer bloomers.

5 April 2015 The Perennial Word 5 What s Bugging Me? Yellow jackets By Bob Wilson Yellow jackets (often mistakenly called bees) are wasps that come to plague us every year, some years worse than others. As the summer gets hotter and hotter, the yellow jackets seem to get more ornery. It may surprise you that the most important thing you can do to combat them you can do right now, not in the summer when they are at their worst. But more on that later. Many of the large wasps, including yellow jackets, hornets, and paper wasps are in the same family, Vespidae. They all are predators on other insects and can provide some pest control by their activities. They also will scavenge meat or fish where they can find it. You can tell these different wasps apart by their general appearance and their nesting habits. Yellow jackets and hornets have a rather robust body compared to the paper wasps which are more slender. Yellow jackets nest in the ground or some small enclosed space like a building wall. Colonies can grow to the tens of thousands individuals. Our most common hornet is the bald-faced hornet, which is predominantly black with a few lighter markings. They build enclosed paper nests that are spherical to teardrop-shaped, sometimes as large as a basketball. There is a single opening at the bottom where the wasps go in and out. These usually are found well off of the ground, often in a tree. In contrast, the paper wasps build small, open paper nests in and around buildings, often under the eaves. These nests rarely contain more that a couple dozen wasps and only reach a few inches across. The level of impact these different wasps have on our outdoor activities is not the same. Both yellow jackets and hornets will aggressively guard their nest. When disturbed, an attack pheromone is released and they all come rushing out of the hive to drive off the intruder. Paper wasps seem to be much more docile and can abide the passing of people in close (Continued on page 6) Bald Faced Hornet Yellow Jacket Paper Wasp

6 April 2015 The Perennial Word 6 (Continued from page 5) proximity without alarm. They make coexistence much easier. As the summer progresses and the weather gets hot, yellow jackets and hornets become more numerous and more aggressive about sharing your picnic food. In bad years, it can be impossible to eat outside until after dark because of their onslaught. Back to the topic at hand -- what do you do about them? Only the yellow jacket queens survive the winter, all other workers die off. When the weather starts to warm in the spring, you may see a few very large yellow jackets out foraging. These are the queens which need to feed before they start their nests. This is the best time to put out yellow jacket traps. For every queen you catch, that is one yellow jacket nest that won't get built this year. There are effective traps you can purchase and homemade traps you can find on the internet. When using the purchased traps, they come with a chemical lure. Originally they only caught yellow jackets, but now there is a lure that also includes bald-faced hornets. If you are using the chemical lure, it is important to renew it every 30 days, even if it appears to be catching a few wasps. If there still are a lot of wasps in the area, the new scent will result in a large increase in numbers captured. These traps can also be baited with a piece of meat or fish, which also will need to be changed regularly. Even with the best trapping, there will be some yellow jacket nests established. If you find one, stay clear of it during the day when wasps are active. These nests can be treated with the wasp sprays that are available that allow you to spray the nest from some distance. Approach the nest after dark or first thing in the morning when temperatures are cool to spray the nest safely. Check back in a few days to see if the nest is still active and treat if needed. Great Spangled Fritillary on Showy Milkweed

7 April 2015 The Perennial Word 7 16th Annual Spokane Garden Expo May 9, a.m. 5 p.m N. Greene St Spokane CC Lair This year s theme: Four Seasons Gardening The show will have many wonderful highlights: Exotic Specialty Plants for Sale Lecture Series - Speakers will be posted as soon as available One-of-a-Kind Garden Art Door Prizes - Sign up at table in front of main eastside entrance inside Children's Activities - Kid s booth has fun things to keep little hands busy Garden Accessories & Décor Unique Gifts Food - Spokane Community College Lair Café will be open most of Expo day until mid-afternoon. There will also be plenty of food offerings outdoor Come See Us: at the Expo: Cedar Mountain Perennials We ll have a lot of great plants for you to choose from

8 April 2015 The Perennial Word 8 Cedar Mountain Perennials Products and Services Wildflowers: Our selection includes over 60 species of local, regional and western native wildflowers. Shrubs and Trees: We carry a broad selection of native shrubs and some trees. Pricing: We offer retail sales through the Kootenai County, Sandpoint Farmer s Markets and the Six Rivers Market. Volume discounts are available to landscapers and those purchasing in quantity Calendar of Events We start selling plants at the May 6 Sandpoint Farmer s Market Spokane Garden Expo May 9 Spokane Community College We start selling plants at the May 16 Kootenai County Farmer s Market Kinnikinnick Native Plant June 6 Society Native Plant Sale Lakeview Park, Sandpoint Consulting: Site Evaluations Plant Identification Plant Selection Pest and Disease Diagnosis Training RETAIL LOCATIONS: Saturdays: Kootenai County Farmer s Market Highway 95 and Prairie Ave. Hayden, Idaho Note new time 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM Wednesdays: Farmer s Market at Sandpoint Farmin Park, Sandpoint, Idaho 3:00 to 5:30 PM To Athol Balsamorrhiza sagitatta: Arrowleaf Balsamroot to Sandpoint Howard Rd. Cedar Mountain Perennials Hwy 54 to Bayview Fridays: At the Nursery 9:00 am to 1:00 pm By Appointment: The Nursery 7875 E Highway 54 Athol, Idaho Please call first (208) Hwy 95 to Coeur d Alene 1 mile east of Highway 95 on Hwy. 54

9 Cedar Mountain Perennials 7875 E Highway 54 Athol ID Place Stamp Here If you would like to receive this newsletter, please send us an at: botanybob@frontier.com