FEBRUARY 2020 YARD AND GARDEN NEWSLETTER Picture This: Top Ten Annuals in 2019 Growing in Your Yard

Article Submitted by Norla Hesse, Minnesota River Valley Master Gardener

Some people are checking seed catalogs for the best vegetable seeds. Then there are some of us who cannot wait for the nurseries to open up with their collection of for 2020! My longing for SPRING was set off by an article in a local magazine, “River Valley Woman”, written by Laura Schwarz, native of New Ulm, currently a resident in Minneapolis. She is a horticulturist and writer with personal experience and access to many coworkers planning and caring for many private garden beds, containers and window boxes.

Laura’s list of best flowering annuals: 1 – Angelonia ‘Archangel’ – colors ‘Raspberry’, ‘Cherry Red’, and ‘Dark Rose’ 2 – Canna ‘Cannova’ – colors ‘Mango’, ‘Rose’, and ‘Lemon’ 3 – Petchoa ‘SuperCal’ – colors ‘French Vanilla’, ‘Cinnamon’, Bordeaux’, and ‘Caramel Yellow’ 4 – Impatiens ‘Sunpatiens Compact’ – colors ‘Pink Candy’, ‘Deep Rose’, and ‘Royal Magenta’ 5 – Lobularia ‘ Stream’ – colors ‘Purple’, ‘Raspberry’, ‘White’, and ‘Lilac’.

Next step: why not find sources on the Internet for seeds for all of the above suggestions and I will start my own ! Well, I soon found many of these annuals are only available to wholesalers or nurseries in large quantities. O.K. small road block – but I am not easily deterred when it comes to flowers!

Step Two: check out the West Central Research/Outreach Center in Morris, MN. Heartbreaker Coleus. Photo by West Central Research and They are a site for AAS winners. BINGO – Outreach Center. they have a “Top Ten Annuals for 2019” list: 1 – ‘Begonia x benarionsis’ BIG Pink Bronze , 2 – ‘Calibrachoa Cabaret’ Good Night Kiss, 3 – ‘Calibrachoa Superbells’ Watermelon Punch, 4 – ‘Coleus’ Heartbreaker, 5 – ‘Impatiens Beacon’ Salmon, 6 – ‘Marigold’ Big Duck Orange, 7 – ‘Petunia Color Rush’ © 2018 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. University of Minnesota Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this publication/material is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to 612-624- 0772 or [email protected]. Printed on recycled and recyclable paper with at least 10 percent postconsumer waste material.

Pink, 8 – ‘Petunia Supertunia’ Mini Visti Indigo, 9 – ‘Verbena EnduraScape’ Pink Bicolor, and 10 - ‘Zinnia Magelian’ Pink.

Step Three: Maybe I don’t want to buy seeds and start a lot of plants of one kind; maybe I just want one or two of each variety. I love lots of variety and color! I thought about getting out and visiting some local nurseries to see what they are planting for this year. But it was cold and snowing outside and many nurseries are not even open in January. I sent an e-mail to several nurseries in the Verbena Endurascape. Photo by West Central Research and area that are open all year, to see if they Outreach Center. would share their plans for annuals this spring. One source replied immediately with the great news that they will have ALL of plants available with one exception: Marigold – Big Duck Orange! One source replied and said they would send their list when they returned to work later In the week. So far it hasn’t arrived, but that’s okay – I will be checking them out soon after they open. There is no better treatment for “Spring Fever” than the first visit to a greenhouse in April!

Step Four: Who am I kidding – I cannot wait for a fix until April! I e-mailed my order for two packages of seeds to Park Nurseries today: “Marigold” Big Duck Orange, 25 seeds for $4.95 (it was impossible to resist the name and description) and “Zinnia Magelian” Pink, 25 seeds for $5.50. IF I am successful in starting these plants and IF I have enough to satisfy family and friends, then maybe I will have some at our Master Gardener Sale this year.

Take a few minutes and type in “West Central Research and Outreach Center” on your internet. Look for the section – Horticulture and then the Annual Flower Research Center. Look at every category on that page – there is a ‘printable’ section for 2019 winners with glorious pictures and descriptions of each flower.

Check out your favorite nursery this spring. I’ll probably be there too!

Resources: -RIVER VALLEY WOMAN January, 2020. “Best Flowering Annuals for 2020” by Laura Schwarz. -WCROC, Morris MN. Horticulture, Annual Flower Research. Top Ten Annuals -www.parkseed.com

Extension Corner By Shane Bugeja, County Extension Educator

THE MYSTERY OF THE MALTESE MUSHROOM

When I visited the Mediterranean country of last summer, the weather and landscape differed so much from Minnesota that I might as well been transported to another world. I distinctly remember looking up the 10 Solarizationday weather In forecastThe Garden and being shocked there was not Solarizationeven a 1% Inchance The Garden of rain on any day listed. The plants on the island have never heard of 500 year floods or tile drainage. Instead, the native trees and herbs deal with salty ocean spray, season long drought, and thin topsoil. In this harsh environment, Maltese plants have several tricks under their when it comes to survival. One plant in particular is not only is a survivor, but has a fascinating, strange history. Even its name shows how peculiar a plant it is, Cynomorium coccineum, also known as the Maltese mushroom.

The Maltese mushroom’s reproductive parts do indeed look like a —similar to a common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) or maybe even a morel mushroom (Morchella esculenta). Ancient peoples saw only this plant’s reddish, scaly, cone-shaped flower head emerge from the ground—no leaf to be seen. However, it always seemed to emerge near another plant, often a Maltese mushroom’s flower head. Photo weedy aster called golden samphire ( by: Hans Hillewaert crithmoides). Later on, naturalists determined that the Maltese mushroom was no mushroom at all, but instead was a parasitic plant. Living mostly underground, this “mushroom” fed off of the sugars from the golden samphire. Plants that are parasites are not unusual in nature. Even in Minnesota we have several which are parasitic too. These include dodders (Cuscuta species), wood betony (Pedicularis canadensis), and eastern dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium pusillum).

Yet, the Maltese mushroom held many uses aside from pestering its neighbors. Extracts made from the plant were used to dye cotton. Also, its and flower head were occasionally eaten. The taste was noted to be quite astringent, drying out your mouth. This “drying” Dwejra Bay and . Photo by: Shane Bugeja effect may have led people to believe this plant could heal bleeding or . Soon, the plant was highly prized and unsustainably collected. The

Knights of St. John, a military order who ruled the island for much of the 1600’s, then imposed harsh punishments for unsanctioned harvests. This allowed the knights to essentially run a cartel, charging steep prices for export or as a present to visiting dignitaries.

One location in Malta, near the fishing town of Dwejra, was known to have numerous Maltese mushrooms. Called “Fungus Rock”, this islet is difficult to climb, and in fact had one side purposely smoothed to deter poachers. If you were caught by the knights, your sentence could include prison or years of rowing a galley, a job that frequently ended in death. Today, the Maltese mushroom is still extremely rare on the island, even with efforts from the government to protect it. Despite its parasitic nature, the Maltese mushroom deserves preservation. While its use as a primary treatment for serious ailments are dubious, the plant nevertheless has a high amount of antioxidants and biologically active chemicals. In the last few years, several studies about the Maltese mushroom explored its use as a cancer treatment or revisiting its natural dye. It appears the mysteries of the Maltese mushroom are like the plant itself—far more than what you see on the surface. Botanical diagram of the Maltese mushroom. Illustration by: Pier Antonio Micheli Works Cited:  Jabli, M. (2018). Extraction of eco-friendly natural dyes from tradescantia pallida purpurea and cynomorium coccineum growing naturally in . Trends in Textile Engineering & Fashion Technology, 1(1).  Lanfranco, G. G., FBES, F., & MB'OU, F. (1960). Cynomorium coccineum Linn. A Maltese historical plant. J Malta Hist Soc, 3, 53-70.  Li, X., Sdiri, M., Peng, J., Xie, Y., & Yang, B. B. (2020). Identification and characterization of chemical components in the bioactive fractions of Cynomorium coccineum that possess anticancer activity. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 16(1), 61.  Mifsud, S. (2018). “Cynomorium coccineum.” Malta Wild Plants. http://www.maltawildplants.com/CYNM/Cynomorium_coccineum.php  Nickrent, D. (2018). “Cynomoriaceae Lindl.” Southern Illinois University Carbondale. https://parasiticplants.siu.edu/Cynomoriaceae/  Zucca, P., Rosa, A., Tuberoso, C., Piras, A., Rinaldi, A., Sanjust, E., ... & Rescigno, A. (2013). Evaluation of antioxidant potential of “Maltese Mushroom” (Cynomorium coccineum) by means of multiple chemical and biological assays. Nutrients, 5(1), 149-161. Save the Date: Spring Alive Eight! Minnesota River Valley Master Gardeners Saturday, April 25th. 7:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. @ Christ the King Church, Mankato. See the full agenda here: https://www.facebook.com/events/754094795080563/

© 2019 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. University of Minnesota Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this publication/material is available in alternative formats upon request. Direct requests to 612-624-0772 or [email protected]. Printed on recycled and recyclable paper with at least 10 percent postconsumer waste material.