TheThe AmericanAmerican GARDENERGARDENER® TheThe MagazineMagazine ofof thethe AAmericanmerican HorticulturalHorticultural SocietySociety November / December 2014 Marietta and Ernie O’Byrne’s Hellebore Haven A Straw-Bale Garden Primer Gardening for Native Bees Crapemyrtles for Smaller Spaces Gifts by will or trust benefit you and the American Horticultural Society. Gifts through your estate can provide important benefits to you and the Society. Gifts may be made by will or trust, through which you may direct either a specific dollar amount (e.g. $250,000), a percentage (e.g. 25%), or the remainder after provisions for your loved ones. Through your gift you can: • Preserve current assets. • Reduce or eliminate estate taxes. • Leave a legacy of a greener, healthier, more beautiful America. • Become a member of the Horticultural Heritage Society. We will be pleased to discuss ways to make a gift through your estate to benefit the Society. Contact us at [email protected]. contents Volume 93, Number 6 . November / December 2014 FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 5 NOTES FROM RIVER FARM 6 MEMBERS’ FORUM 8 NEWS FROM THE AHS AHS receives Spirit Award from America in Bloom, River Farm meadow becomes national model for creating pollinator habitat, corporate volunteers help out at River Farm. 12 AHS NEWS SPECIAL America in Bloom Community Involvement Award. 13 AHS MEMBERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE Rick Sherman. 40 HOMEGROWN HARVEST page 14 Aromatic and fl avor-packed culinary sage. 42 GARDEN SOLUTIONS 14 “JUST-RIGHT” CRAPEMYRTLES BY GARY W. KNOX Compost’s dual benefi ts. Not too big and not too small, mid-size crapemyrtle cultivars fi t perfectly in modern gardens. 44 TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO GARDENS Florida’s Flamingo Gardens. STRAW BALE GARDENING BY MARY YEE 20 46 GARDENER’S NOTEBOOK This newly revived growing technique is gaining popularity with Alternate host for emerald ash borer gardeners looking for a space-saving and versatile way to grow discovered, scent of cut grass linked to both edible and ornamental plants. drought tolerance, top landscape architecture awards announced, the Cultural Landscape Foundation releases 2014 list of endangered HOOKED ON HELLEBORES BY KYM POKORNY 24 landscapes, award-winning plants for 2015. Breeding exceptional hellebore varieties has been a labor of love for Ernie and Marietta O’Byrne. 50 GREEN GARAGE Gardening indoors. GIVE SHOOTS A SHOT BY ELIZABETH MILLARD 30 52 BOOK REVIEWS Keep winter at bay by growing tender and tasty shoots of peas, Taming Wildfl owers, Apples of Uncommon popcorn, and sunfl owers indoors. Character, and The Big, Bad Book of Botany. 54 GIFTS FOR THE GARDENER 34 GARDENING FOR NATIVE BEES BY JESSIE KEITH North America’s native bees are under threat from habitat loss, pes- 56 REGIONAL HAPPENINGS ticides, and climate change. Here’s what gardeners can do to help. 58 PRONUNCIATIONS AND HARDINESS AND HEAT ZONES 60 2014 MAGAZINE INDEX ON THE COVER: One of the selections from the Winter Jewels™ hellebore series developed by Ernie and PLANT IN THE SPOTLIGHT Marietta O’Byrne of Northwest Garden Nursery, ‘Jade Star’ has single pale green fl owers with variable 62 purple-maroon markings. Contorted hazelnut (Corylus avellana GARY W. KNOX Photograph by Josh McCullough ‘Contorta’). November / December 2014 3 AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 1,3/)2321+$-. Making America a Nation of Gardeners, a Land of Gardens ,1/+$&'/&1-'3,$+2/ Board of Directors CHAIR Amy Bolton Falls Church, Virginia FIRST VICE CHAIRMAN Jane Diamantis McDonald, Tennessee SECOND VICE CHAIRMAN Mary Pat Matheson Atlanta, Georgia SECRETARY Leslie Ariail Alexandria, Virginia TREASURER J. Landon Reeve, IV Woodbine, Maryland IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Harry A. Rissetto, Esq. Falls Church, Virginia EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Henrietta Burke Alexandria, Virginia Marcia Zech Mercer Island, Washington Sandra Address Chevy Chase, Maryland Q Skipp Calvert Alexandria, Virginia Q Nancy Hargroves Manakin Sabot, Virginia Tom Johnson Washington, D.C. Q Louis B. Lynn Columbia, South Carolina Q Holly Shimizu Glen Echo, Maryland Ed Snodgrass Street, Maryland EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tom Underwood PRESIDENT EMERITUS Katy Moss Warner President’s Council The President’s Council is comprised of dedicated members whose annual support makes many of the Society’s programs possible, from youth gardening activities to horticultural awards programs. FOUNDER’S CIRCLE ($25,000+) Mr. and Mrs. George Diamantis Q Mr. and Mrs. Klaus Zech CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE ($10,000–$24,999) Mrs. Leslie S. Ariail Q Mr. and Mrs. Bill Barnett Q Mrs. Kurt Bluemel Q Mrs. Elisabeth C. Dudley Q Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Farrell Q Mrs. Shirley Ann Nicolai Q Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Rissetto Q Ms. Katy Moss Warner (+$23,.3#'-..+.*!302//+.*3&#!3-.( LIBERTY HYDE BAILEY CIRCLE ($5,000–$9,999) Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Bogle Q Ms. Inger Fair Q Mr. and Mrs. Albert Huddleston Q Mr. and (20+*.+.*3 ,&13*-1(2. Mrs. J. Landon Reeve, IV Q Mr. and Mrs. Tom Underwood Q Mr. and Mrs. W. Bruce Usrey #21/!32-1/)%1+2.(' 3/2$).+&203%,1 HAUPT CIRCLE ($2,500–$4,999) Mrs. Sandra L. Address Q Ms. Amy Bolton and Mr. Philip Schoene Q Mr. and Mrs. Taylor Burke, III Q Ms. 0&$$200%&'' 3*1,+.*3-.(3)-120/+.* )21"0!3%1&+/0!3-.(32*2/-"'20 Petra Burke Q Mr. and Mrs. Skipp Calvert Q Mr. and Mrs. James R. Cargill Q Mr. and Mrs. Andy Daniel Q Mr. Joseph Errington and Mr. &**20/+,.03,.3/)23"20/3$1,#3 William Pullen Q Mr. and Mrs. Carl Estes Q Dr. Amy Goldman Fowler Q Mr. and Mrs. Joel Goldsmith Q Ms. Christina Grady Q Dr. and Q Q Q Q -1+2/+203%,13(+%%212./312*+,.0 Mrs. William O. Hargrove Mr. and Mrs. Herbert F. Hargroves Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hofley Mrs. Marta J. Lawrence Dr. David 302-0,." 02-0,.3*&+(23%,1 D. Parrish Q Ms. Katherine Ward "1+.*+.*3/)23%120)20/3%1&+/0!3)21"0!3 COUNCIL MEMBER’S CIRCLE ($1,000–$2,499) Ms. Pauline Adams Q Mrs. Lynda A. Bachman Q Mr. and Mrs. Robert Baillie Q Mrs. Katherine -.(32*2/-"'203%1,3*-1(2.3/,3#'-/2 McKay Belk Q Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Benedict Q Dr. and Mrs. Charles A. Binder Q Mrs. George P. Bissell, Jr. Q Dr. Sherran Blair Q Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs Q Mr. and Mrs. Allen W. Bush Q Mrs. Ellen Cabot and Mr. Matthew Watson Q Ms. Mary Ann Carey Q Mr. and Mrs. John E. Clark Q Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Conlon Q Ms. Mary O. Dyer Q Ms. Katherine B. Edwards and Mr. John A. Ronveaux Q Ms. Julie Ernest Q Ms. Megan Evans and Mr. Howard M. Tucker Q Mrs. Walter S. Fletcher Q Dr. and Mrs. John A. Floyd, Jr. Q Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Gellman Q Dr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hall, III Q Mr. and Mrs. Scott A. Harris Q Ms. Catherine M. Hayes Q Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Hess Q Ms. Nancy Hockstad Q Mr. Philip Huey Q Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Johnson Q Mrs. Virginia Korteweg Q Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Kral Q Ms. Elaine Lee Q Mrs. Carolyn Marsh Lindsay Q Ms. JoAnn Luecke Q Dr. Louis B. Lynn Q Mr. and Mrs. R. Scott Lyons Q Mr. and Mrs. Bob J. MacLean Q Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Marshall Q Mrs. Dorothy W. Marston Q Mr. Egon Molbak Q Mr. and Mrs. Peter Morris Q Dr. and Mrs. David E. Morrison Q Mr. James R. Moxley, Jr. Q Mr. and Mrs. Robert Murray Q Mr. and Mrs. James T. Norman Q Mr. and Mrs. Al Osman Q Ms. Julie Overbeck Q Mr. and Mrs. Bill Paternotte Q Ms. Allison Porter Q Mrs. Lynn C. Rhomberg Q Ms. Rachael A. Rowland Q Dr. and Mrs. Dennis J. Rudzinski Q Mr. and Mrs. Mike Rushing Q Mr. Witney Schneidman Q Mr. and Mrs. William Schuiling Q Mr. R.P. Simmons Q Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Smith Q Mr. Ed Snodgrass Q Mr. C. Hugh Stephens Q Dr. and Mrs. Steven M. Still Q Dr. Adrian Tiemann Q Mr. Joseph B. Tompkins, Jr. Q Mr. Joe Viar, Jr. and Ms. Bonnie Christ Q Mrs. Angela M. Vikesland Q Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Volk Q Ms. Elizabeth M. Wehrle QMrs. Corinne Winburn Q Mrs. Dudley B. White Q Mr. and Mrs. Harvey C. White Q Mr. and Mrs. Donald Winship Q Dr. Dorothy Yang and Mr. Ray Carlsen Q Mr. and Mrs. John Zoldak 3 HONORARY PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL (in memoriam) Ms. Louise Fruehling Q Mrs. Enid Haupt Q Mrs. John A. Lutz Q Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Miller -.( 3$)-1/03/)-/3/2''3 ,&3)2.3/, Ms. Wilma L. Pickard 0,3022(03-.(3)-120/3(+%%212./3 2*2/-"'20 Corporate Members 20,&1$23'+0/3-.(3*',00-1 ,123/)-.33$,',13#),/,*1-#)0 Bonnie Plants Q The Care of Trees Q Chapel Valley Landscape Company /)1,&*),&/3 The Espoma Company Q Monrovia Q Osmocote Q OXO -#21"-$!3 3333#-*20 Horticultural Partners America in Bloom Symposium & Awards Program Q Bellingrath Gardens and Home Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Garden Symposium Q Cox Arboretum MetroPark Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens Q The Gardeners of America/Men’s Garden Clubs of America The Homestead in the Garden Symposium Q Inniswood Garden Society 4 the American Gardener The American NOTES CFROM RIVER FARM GARDENER EDITOR David J. Ellis MANAGING EDITOR AND ART DIRECTOR Mary Yee ASSOCIATE EDITOR Viveka Neveln T IS SECOND nature at this time of year to stop and reflect on the things in EDITORIAL INTERN life —both large and small—for which we are thankful. One huge thing that Mary S. Chadduck all of us here at the American Horticultural Society are particularly apprecia- CONTRIBUTING EDITOR I tive of is the support we receive from volunteers, who so Rita Pelczar generously give of their time and talents to further the CONTRIBUTING WRITER mission of the Society.