Photo taken by Kenny Point.

Gardening is a way of life. Every week we will post a photo that captures the essence of why we garden. If you’d like to share a moment of your own, please leave a link to the image in the comments section.

   The plant grew like crazy, covering a large section of the split-rail fence and sending stems along the ground in all directions. But the plant would not flower.

   My research suggested that flowering could be induced by physically abusing the main trunk, root pruning it, feeding it with phosphate, or drought stress.

   For the next 10 years, I beat the plant with a pole, trimmed the roots, fed it super phosphate, covered the base of the plant with plastic so it would get less water and even tried swearing at the plant.                                   But still NO FLOWERS! 

   Two years ago, I dug up the main part of the vine and threw it out and replaced it with a wisteria I found at a local nursery that had blooms all over it when I bought it. That plant also has not bloomed since. Finally, I GAVE UP!

   Then one day in early May, my wife told me to look at the top of two trees that stand about 30 feet tall at the back of our property. To my amazement, the top portions of both trees were covered with wisteria flowers.

   The original wisteria vine I planted 18 years ago had sent stems in all directions.  Apparently, it grew across the ground to the nearby trees, climbed the 30-foot trees and 18 years later decided to bloom.

   My wife now has wisteria flowers to look at.

   So here’s my advice on how to get a wisteria to bloom:

   1.) Plant the vine.

   2.) Forget about it for 18 years.

   3.) Do this well before your 80th birthday in order to hope to live to see it bloom.

Blueberry Blossoms in Kenny Point’s back yard.

Photo taken by Kenny Point. 

Gardening is a way of life. Every week we will post a photo that captures the essence of why we garden. If you’d like to share a moment of your own, please leave a link to the image in the comments section.

My Asian Garden in bloom in May.

Photo by Susan Weigel

Gardening is a way of life. Every week we will post a photo that captures the essence of why we garden. If you’d like to share a moment of your own, please leave a link to the image in the comments section.

Permaculture’s essence is based in morality and the philosophy of conservation. Previously, I’d known permaculture plantings were the antithesis of monocroping. I knew that the systems draw from nature’s map of combining various plants together for a symbiotic relationship. I knew a greater emphasis was placed on perennial plants – when the bulk of our commercial agriculture – agronomy certainly – relies on annual plantings. What I really didn’t know was that the best reason to create a garden based on permaculture principals was ethical.

The Wilson’s introduced me to the sayings and work of permaculturalist Bill Mollison; a thinker and grower who has clarity to see the broader economic, environmental and food insecurity issues we’re experiencing. Here are a couple of Mollison quotes they shared;

“The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Make it now,” said Mollison.

‘Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple,” said Mollison.

The Wilson’s had many great offerings. Here is just some of what they said;

- “What we really need to live in abundance and security is plant life.”
- “Permaculture isn’t going back to something. It’s going forward.”
- “Nature never creates a monoculture.”
- “Permaculture is about gaining clarity in how we as humans can live abundantly well while also leaving the planet in better condition then when we arrived on it.”

The Wilson’s explained that broader term philosophy dealt with viewing anything unused – or perhaps unexhausted- as a resource. The idea is what comes from nature can be returned. The philosophy teaches us that as we follow nature’s plan, the harvests for all are increased while the workload is lowered. In the process, the environment is cared for.

Check out Midwest Permaculture for more info and for more education. They offer classes and training.  Consider planting some perennial food sources like asparagus or hardy to learn more. One more quote from Bill Wilson to end;

“Permaculture is a creative and artful way of living, where people and nature are both preserved and enhanced by thoughtful planning, the careful use of resources & technology, mimicking the patterns found in nature – bio-mimicry- and a respectful approach to life.

Thus embraced, these attributes create an environment where all may thrive for untold generations.”

Thanks to FamilyFarmed.org for organizing the event and including me in it.  I will continue to share info garnered from Good Food Festivals Chicago 2012. 

Thanks, as well, to wonderful Duane Marcus – permaculture educator and designer – for lending me his Nanking Cherry image.  Most of all, Duane, thanks for your ongoing friendship and leadership in permiculture. Follow Duane at @leekfixer.

Globe Artichokes – Not the most productive plant in the garden, but I raise these just for the ornamental value they offer. The large leaves are deeply cut and very exotic looking, but it’s the flower buds that provide the biggest show. The problem is that you’ll have to make a choice between harvesting the “chokes” or buds for the kitchen, or leaving them on the plant to open into a huge attractive blossom.

Baby Ginger – Last summer was the first time I tried to raise this tropical root crop in the garden and the results were incredible. Big, beautiful clumps of baby ginger were grown and harvested here in Central PA from seed that was pre-sprouted indoors and planted out after the soil and weather warmed. It wasn’t the same as the tough and tanned rhizomes that you find in the store but the white rhizomes with pink tips were just as flavorful and useful in the kitchen.

Gourmet Garlic – Garlic, leeks, ramps, shallots, and perennial are some of the gourmet cook’s best friends. And because they are so easy to grow they should be the some of the gardener’s best companions also. There’s no comparison between the quality and taste of home grown garlic and another plus is that all these crops can be started during the fall our growing region to get a jump on the spring season.

Leafy Greens – There’s more than lettuce that makes a great leafy green vegetable in the garden. Have you experienced the funky flavor of fresh arugula, or the spicy zing of a leaf of mustard? Others such as Swiss Chard and Malabar Spinach will enable you to harvest greens during the hottest part of summer, while kales and collards will be there for you despite frost and cold temperatures.

Assorted Beans – Why settle for bush beans when you can broaden your harvest to include others like favas, runner beans, yard longs, asparagus beans, runners, black-eyed peas, runner beans and others that will add interest and entice everyone from your family, to beneficial insects, and even hummingbirds. You can also save space in the garden by choosing climbing varieties that will decorate a trellis or fence as the produce a bountiful harvest.

Fingerling Potatoes – You may have seen these small, slender, finger shaped potatoes at the market or a specialty supplier. I like them for the unique shapes, colors, and textures that they are available in from the seed sources. In addition to normal uses, some are perfect for roasting, and others have reputation for producing the best potato salad you ever made!

Purple Veggies – I love growing purples and blues in the garden, whether they are flowers or edibles there is just something special about seeing vibrant hues dark purple standing out in the midst of a sea of green. Try your hand at growing one of the following vegetables in an a variety that sports a purple shade: snap beans, artichokes, eggplants, sweet potatoes, carrots, kohl rabi, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, and more.

The foliage of these 'Knock Out' roses is a nice compliment to the orange colored tulips.

A closer look at the great pair.

My back yard. 

Photos taken by George Weigel.

Gardening is a way of life. Every week we will post a photo that captures the essence of why we garden. If you’d like to share a moment of your own, please leave a link to the image in the comments section.

What is Amercia in Bloom?

It is a program that promotes urban beautification and participation of citizens which has been a huge success in countries around the world for more than 50 years! It is a rare opportunity for Hummelstown.

A team of judges from ‘America in Bloom’ will visit Hummelstown June 21 and 22, to check out our beautiful town.  Not everybody gets this opportunity. We will be judged in friendly competition against other towns our size in several categories: floral displays, landscape areas, environmental efforts and historical preservation.  The objectives are to build civic pride, increase community involvement, improve economic well being and bring residents together to work on a common goal, making our town the best that it can be!

This is a perfect opportunity for every Hummelstown resident to be involved in the final product. What can the residents of Hummelstown do to help? Look around your property; maybe it’s as simple as cleaning the curb and sidewalk in front of your home. Pull the weeds; clean dead leaves and debris from your flower beds. Take advantage of the chipping program available through the Borough. Prune dead trees and remove dead annuals.

Street cleaning will be done in an organized fashion. If you can help when the call comes, pitch in for an hour or two.  Assistance will be offered to citizens who may have problems doing the physical work but who would like to join in the ‘spruce up’.

Add some color to your porch with baskets, planters or the colorful bunting which is now available at ‘Down A Country Road’ for only $10.00. Window boxes and colorful garden flags could work as well!

An organized clean-up will be spear headed by Councilman Joe Simonetti and Mr. Jay Stanton is taking the lead on the America in Bloom project.  Watch for further information and announcements that will be published in the local press. Signs will be forthcoming. Information is posted on the website: http://www.hummelstown250.com. Be ready to help out in the days ahead.

We are fortunate to have ’Amercia in Bloom’ in Hummelstown sponsored by Giant Foods.

This will be the start of something wonderful!

Spring has sprung in Kenny Point’s garden!

Photos by Kenny Point. 

Gardening is a way of life. Every week we will post a photo that captures the essence of why we garden. If you’d like to share a moment of your own, please leave a link to the image in the comments section.

For example:

* Milton Hershey wasn’t much of a gardener, but his wife, Katherine (Kitty) was. She played an active role in the design and care of their High Point Mansion landscaping. Good-husband Milton made sure Kitty had a bouquet of fresh flowers every day.

* Mr. Hershey nevertheless appreciated plants and especially trees. In planning the town, he set aside 150 acres for a public park and made sure all company housing had yards for flowers. He also staged public flower shows for many years.

* What’s now that beautiful lake with the roses all around originally was a drainage pit to catch water coming down the hill from Hotel Hershey.

* One of Mr. Hershey’s favorite spots anywhere was sitting next to a boxwood by a small, landscaped lake off to the secluded eastern end of Hershey Gardens. He’d sit there many evenings and read the paper. Staff knew to let him alone during that time of peace.

   * Up until the 1970s, Hershey Gardens was unenclosed and charged no admission. For much of its early history, people were allowed to drive their cars through the 23 acres.

   * Hershey Gardens is the site of an annual interdenominational Easter sunrise service, which is free to the public. The first one dates back to 1947 – just 10 years after the Gardens came into being.

* Tiny Tim (remember him?) came to Hershey Gardens to mark the 50^th anniversary. He sang his then-famous “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.”

* When Hershey Gardens added a Butterfly House in 1998, the original structure was the steel arches from the Hershey Estates Greenhouse, originally built in 1930.

* The Butterfly House every summer is home to about 400 butterflies from three dozen species, including black swallowtails, painted ladies, white peacocks, gulf fritillaries and zebra heliconians.

* The Gardens have an underrated collection of big, old and unusual trees species. Seven of them are listed as “Champion Trees of Pennsylvania” by the Pa. Forestry Association, recognizing them as being the biggest of their species in Pennsylvania. Among them: a linden, a pine, a cunninghamia, a columnar beech and a greenthread falsecypress. (More on champion trees at www.pabigtrees.com.)

* The Hershey Gardens plant with the most distinguished past is the ‘Dense Jade’ Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) at the entrance tothe Rock Garden. This 35-foot-tall needled evergreen is a “mother tree” that was the original source of all the ‘Dense Jade’ Japanese cedars in cultivation today. The J. Vermeulen and Sons nursery in Neshanic Station, N.J., donated the tree to Hershey Gardens in 2006.

* Hershey Gardens rescued the famous “Testa fig” that people have seen growing at Hockersville Road and Route 422 for more than 50 years. The house there was about to go on the market, and people worried about what would happen to the fig. Hershey Gardens planted divisions, which can now be seen in the Herb Garden. Turns out the property didn’t sell anyway.

* Milton Hershey once had a rose named after him. Hershey Gardens planted dozens of this dark-red ‘M.S. Hershey’ hybrid-tea rose, but the numbers dwindled to a hand full. In honor of this year’s 75^th anniversary, the survivor plants have been propagated to create 75 new offspring that are to go in the Gardens’ newest theme area – the “M.S. Hershey Tribute Garden” being installed this summer.

* Want to get in Hershey Gardens free? You’ve got a few options. One is to be under 3 years of age. Another is to be a father on Father’s Day or a mother on Mother’s Day. And everyone gets in free for the annual Gardenfest, a day of special exhibits and activities. Gardenfest 2012 is scheduled for Sat., Sept. 23.

* Hershey Gardens has only 7 full-time gardeners but 190 volunteers who help prune the roses, plant the bulbs and generally keep the place looking good. It takes 46 hours of mowing time each week to keep the grass cut and 130 man-hours to deadhead the first bloom of roses. And while we’re at with the numbers, the Gardens now have 275 different varieties of roses and nearly 5,500 rose bushes.

* How many people visit Hershey Gardens a year? The total is about 100,000. Will you be one of them? The gardens are opening daily on April 6^th. For hours and more details, visit www.hersheygardens.org.