 The Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching and Display Gardens hosts the Monarch and Pollinator Sanctuary. There are blooms throughout the growing season and the this garden highlights mostly native plants to feed hungry pollinators and host larva for monarchs. To learn more about Monarch Waystations go to MonarchWatch.org Here are a few that are blooming in late August. Left to right: Culvers Root (Veroncastrum virginicum), Chelone Lyonii Turtlehead 'Hot Lips', and Showy Goldenrod Solidago speciana. All three attract pollinators and are worthy of space in home gardens. The Teaching & Display Garden is open to the public for self-guided tours during day light hours seven days a week mid-May through mid-September.
The Station’s Teaching and Display Garden is located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner. Due to construction on Highway 70, Orchard Lane and Hwy 70 is closed at the Yellow River bridge so the only access to the Garden is via Orchard Lane to the north from Ramsdell or Ojibwa Rd.
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The Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching & Display Garden has some great ideas that you can use next year when ordering seeds for your 2024 garden. Several that stood out as especially striking are shown below.  This combo is Black Magic Kale and Holi Scarlet Zinnia. The Zinnia is a 2019 All-America Selections winner. "AAS Judges deemed this an “excellent flower” because of the bright solid color, size, and the number of blooms as well as the disease resistance, which was superior to the comparisons."  The other combo that received raves from visitors and pollinators included two All-America Selections winners. Snapdragon Double Shot TM Orange Bicolor F1 (Antirrhinum majus nanum) was a winner this year and combined beautifully with the 2022 winner Verbena Vanity (Verbena bonariensis). Bees and butterflies were constantly visiting both of these in August.  This 2019 All-America Selections winner is Big Duck Gold Marigold. It looks good in both a planting bed as well as in containers. Large blooms and full bushy plants really stand out.
The Teaching & Display Garden is open to the public for self-guided tours during day light hours seven days a week mid-May through mid-September. The Station’s Teaching and Display Garden is located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner. Due to construction on Highway 70, Orchard Lane and Hwy 70 is closed at the Yellow River bridge so the only access to the Garden is via Orchard Lane to the north from Ramsdell or Ojibwa Rd.  The Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching & Display Garden holds a host of great gardening tips. Plan a visit now to gather these tips and see the garden at its peak. What's going on with this netting? Answer: Physical pest prevention as an alternative to using chemicals.
Physical Pest Prevention: Some insect pests can be controlled by putting up physical barriers that prevents the adults from reaching the plants to lay their eggs. This floating row cover protects these cabbages from imported cabbage worms and cabbage loopers, two highlight destructive caterpillars. Another example of this is burying squash and pumpkin vines to prevent Squash Vine Borer. The Teaching & Display Garden is open to the public for self-guided tours during day light hours seven days a week mid-May through mid-September. The Station’s Teaching and Display Garden is located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner. Due to construction on Highway 70, Orchard Lane and Hwy 70 is closed at the Yellow River bridge so the only access to the Garden is via Orchard Lane to the north from Ramsdell or Ojibwa Rd.
Speakers and topics covered this year are:
 The University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Spooner Agricultural Research Station, UW-Madison Extension and Master Gardener Volunteers will be holding their Annual Twilight Garden Tour on Thursday, August 24 from 4-7 p.m.
To be held at the Station’s Teaching and Display Garden, located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner, this is one of the region’s premier summer gardening events and it includes displays, speakers, demonstrations, and guided tours of the garden plots. Vegetable and home-made wine tastings will be available. The staff from UW-Madison Spooner Ag Research Station, Extension Educators, Master Gardener Volunteers, as well as the event’s speakers will be available to answer gardening questions and identify plant, insect and disease samples. Attendees are welcome to explore the Teaching and Display Garden as well as bring samples of diseased plants or representative photos for identification and advice. Displays will feature The American Hazelnut Company, Spooner Farmers Market, Foodwise, Wellbeing with Danette, as well as others. The expert panel of speakers will kick-off at 4:45 p.m. and then provide walking tours in which they will answer questions. Speakers and topics covered this year are:
The Teaching & Display Garden is an official All-America Selections (AAS) display garden featuring both flowers and vegetables and has been awarded multiple awards in the National Landscape Design contest sponsored by AAS. The garden also includes organic vegetable gardening, a children’s garden, container gardening, displays of table and wine grapes and the Monarch and Pollinator Sanctuary perennial garden featuring native plants. As in the past there is no charge for this educational event. In the case of severe inclement weather, the event will be cancelled and not rescheduled. Please visit www.facebook.com/spoonerag to learn more about event status in case of weather. For more information, please contact Kevin Schoessow at 715-635-3506 or 1-800-528-1914, or learn more at https://spooner.ars.wisc.edu/ or https://www.northcountrymgv.org/twilight-garden-tour.html. UW-Madison Extension provides equal opportunity in employment and programming including Title IX and ADA requirements. Please call our toll-free number 800-528-1914 if you have any special needs or require special accommodation.
The first part of the program will be held at the Station Building, 1036 E Maple Street (State Highway 70), with a program “Helpful Insects and Pollinators”. This presentation will focus on native plants along with other annuals and perennials that support pollinators. Also included will be information on native trees that provide important shelter and food for birds and pollinators, along with native shrubs that attract wildlife and provide several seasons of interest. You will learn what, when, and where to cultivate native plants that provide food for butterflies, songbirds, hummingbirds, and beneficial insects.
The second part of the program will move to the Station’s Teaching and Display Garden, located at 780 Orchard Lane off Highway 70 just east of Spooner where a walk through the Teaching and Display Garden will showcase plants for our northern climate that are beneficial for pollinators. The staff from UW-Madison Spooner Ag Research Station and Master Gardener volunteers will be available to answer gardening questions and identify plants and pollinators. Wisconsin Celebrates Pollinator Week, June 19-25, 2023, is dedicated to raising awareness through statewide and local activities and events to support National Pollinator Week. By increasing knowledge and adopting pollinator friendly practices, we can improve pollinator health and habitats. National Pollinator Week is an annual event managed by the Pollinator Partnership to help spread the word about what we can do to protect pollinators. For more information and events go to https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/pollinator-week/ The Teaching & Display Garden is an official All-America Selections (AAS) display garden featuring both flowers and vegetables and has been recognized with multiple awards in the National Landscape Design contest sponsored by AAS. The garden also includes organic vegetable gardening, a children’s garden, and the Monarch and Pollinator Sanctuary perennial garden featuring native plants. There is no charge for this educational event. For more information, please contact Kevin Schoessow at 715-635-3506 or 1-800-528-1914. UW-Madison Extension provides equal opportunity in employment and programming including Title IX and ADA requirements. Please call our toll-free number 800-528-1914 if you have any special needs or require special accommodation.  This is a guest blog post from Melinda Myers Photo credit: Paul Skawinski Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is an aquatic invasive species that can grow quickly, forming dense mats that restrict light to the underwater environment. In February, I asked for your help spreading the word about the impact aquatic invasive plants have on Wisconsin lakes and waterways. Now that summer has arrived and we are spending more time outdoors, you may encounter gardens and natural spaces where these plants are growing. So once again, I am asking for your help.
Start by familiarizing yourself with the more common aquatic invasive plants. For some, this may be a review while others may be surprised to find some beautiful plants are actually problem plants that need to be removed. See Regulated Aquatic Invasive Plants in WI and Common Wetland Invasive Plants in WI for pictures of restricted and prohibited species. The Wisconsin Invasive Species Calendar from the University of Wisconsin Madison First Detector Network is also a helpful tool. It provides a timely reminder of invasive plants to watch for throughout the season based on their life stage and visibility. A new video “Identifying Eight Aquatic Invasive Species in Wisconsin” provides images and identification clues you may find helpful as you enjoy the outdoors and tour gardens. For more detailed information and images of native and invasive aquatic plants see Paul M. Skawinski’s book Aquatic Plants of the Upper Midwest – Fourth Edition. It is available from the Extension Lakes Online Bookstore where you can also find the updated Wisconsin AIS Early Detector Handbook. To learn more about the distribution and control methods for invasive plants you are concerned about contact your regional WI DNR AIS Coordinator found here[JSS1] [JSS2] . If you discover aquatic invasive plant populations in public spaces and waterways, please report them to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WI DNR) so they can contain and manage the problem. You will find the details for documenting and reporting aquatic invasive species on the WI DNR's Invasive Species Reporting page. Also, watch for invasive plants as you visit and consult with gardeners throughout the summer. When invasive plants are found be sure to make it into a learning opportunity. First assure the gardener that many of us have purchased plants in the past unaware they would eventually become a problem for native plants, wildlife, and beneficial insects. As more gardeners are now purchasing plants online it increases the risk that prohibited and restricted plants find their way into Wisconsin. Add to this the fact that there are many new gardeners that may not be aware this problem exists. Help them understand that how we plant and manage our gardens has an impact on Wisconsin’s natural spaces. Growing even one or two invasive plants in your garden, shoreline planting or pond can have an impact. Invasive plants tend to be vigorous growers, reproducing faster than our native plants, and are more tolerant of adverse conditions. This allows them to quickly spread, take over and cause harm. Advise gardeners on how to dispose of invasive plants properly. Composting is usually not the best option. Most of us do not create compost piles that reach high enough temperatures to kill these weeds, insects, and diseases. To prevent them from invading natural areas it is best to bag and dispose of invasive plants in the trash. The more people you reach with this important message the more gardeners there will be helping in the containment and management of these plants. My AIS partners at UW Madison Extension and the WI DNR AIS remind us that “maintaining and restoring our waters and landscapes can reduce the impacts even when we don’t have other management options for an invasive species. Reporting invasive species is a first step in containing their spread.”
Have you heard about “No Mow May?” Many people have committed to not mowing their yards in May, allowing flowering plants to grow to help provide food for pollinators. Before you stow away your mower for May, let’s look at what options you can take to help pollinators this Spring.
Do pollinators benefit from my unmowed lawn? Sometimes – it depends on your lawn. Lawns that consist solely of turfgrass provide little to no resources for pollinators. However, lawns that also contain low growing flowering plants, such as dandelions, can provide nectar and pollen to a wide range of pollinators. Lawns that are mowed higher (more than 3”) and less often tend to have more flowering plants, supporting a greater diversity of pollinators and other insects. However, if you let your lawn go unmowed and then mow more than one-third of the height at once, this can be stressful to both the turfgrass plants and the mower. For more information about how to take care of your lawn, see our Extension publication about lawn maintenance. For the complete resource go to: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/whats-the-deal-with-no-mow-may/ Kevin Schoessow, University of Wisconsin Extension Area Agriculture Development Educator for Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Counties has been getting many questions about rodent damage. Here's his advice. Question: Because the snow was so deep this year, rodents were able to chew the bark from the trunks of our fruit trees. Is there any way the trees can survive this amount of damage? Response: Rest assured you are not the only person with this frustrating problem. If the girdling is more than 2/3 of the way around the tree trunk, there is little chance the tree will survive if nothing is done. This rodent damage removes the cambium tissue (new bark) layer which is responsible for moving nutrients and water from the roots to the buds. With this disruption in the trees ‘plumbing’ there is no way to keep buds and branches alive. Where there is partial girdling, there is a chance that part of the tree will remain alive, but the tree parts above girdled area will eventually die.
About the only hope to save or replace the missing bark and re-plumb the tree is to do a tree grafting technique called the bridge graft. This involves harvesting a one-two year old scion twig from the same tree or another apple tree and using this twig as a means to transfer nutrients and water. The twig must be long enough to bridge the gap from the base of the tree to above the girdled area. The twig is cut to a point on both ends and then inserted under the new bark at the base of the tree and above the wound. Several twigs are used, with a twig placed every inch and a half or so. This scion twig is then nailed into position with a small finish nail, then sealed with wax or pruning seal and perhaps some tape as well. The wounded area is left as is as there is no need to put a wound sealer over that. If the graft union is successful nutrients and water flow through the grafted scion twigs and feed the upper portions of the tree. Here is an article with some good pictures showing this process. https://www.matsumastergardeners.com/uploads/2/7/3/9/2739768/special_edition_2012_update.pdf Right now is the perfect time to do this! While twigs are still dormant. Here are additional resources
Pruning Practices Much of the damage can be mitigated by using standard pruning practices. Obviously damaged limbs or trees should be removed. Brian Hudelson, UW-Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic provides advice on those practices. Late winter is an excellent time to prune since it is easier to see where to cut and to reduce the chance of diseases. Hudelson writes: “Check out Wisconsin Garden Facts XHT1013 (Pruning Evergreens), XHT1014 (Pruning Deciduous Trees) and XHT1015 (Pruning Deciduous Shrubs) for pointers on how to prune. Prune only when it’s dry and decontaminate pruning tools between cuts (or at a minimum between each tree or shrub) by treating them with 70% alcohol (e.g., rubbing alcohol right out of the bottle, spray disinfectants containing ~70% alcohol) or (in a pinch) 10% bleach. Decontaminating tools kills off disease-causing organisms that you might pick up as you prune. Once done pruning, if you’ve used bleach, be sure to thoroughly rinse your tools, and oil them to prevent them from rusting.” Kevin Schoessow, UW Extension Area Agriculture Development Educator for Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn Counties, has been getting questions about tree wound sealants. He does not recommend applying anything including a wound sealer to the damaged area. "Just let it be. The surface may bleed sap but overtime it will dry and the callus formation and compartmentalization will follow (may take several years). The only time a wound sealant is recommended is on pruning cuts or injuries to oak trees (red, pin, black) during the growing season. The reason is to provide a physical barrier to reduce the spread of oak wilt by sap feeding beetles." Below is a link to an article that you may find reassuring. The second page discusses Care for Tree Wounds. https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/SP683.pdf This one from University of Illinois is a good read too. https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2020-09-02-should-we-paint-tree-wounds Bent Trees There are many trees and large shrubs that have bent over, many with tips frozen in the snow. Shrubs can be pruned, but what to do about trees? Paul Cigan advised: “Many birch and aspen, but not all, have significantly straightened since December. Some will suffer a permanent lean. If a tree has over 30% lean following spring thaw, it will likely suffer from permanent bending. I would recommend waiting until consistently warm weather above freezing to determine if a given tree should be cut based on non-correctable lean.” Oak Trees According to Paul Cigan, Forest Health Specialist with Wisconsin DNR, it’s important to avoid any cutting or injury to oaks after March and through the end of July. Broken limbs and broken stems should be cut prior to April. A pruning sealer is not recommended unless the cuts will occur after March. More information is available on the DNR website: www.dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/foresthealth/oakwilt and this article on storm damage: https://forestrynews.blogs.govdelivery.com/2022/05/12/spring-cleaning-storm-damage-cleanup-brings-oak-wilt-risk/ Spruce and Pine If a spruce or pine has the top broken off, will it continue to grow? According to Paul Cigan: “Many spruce and pine with broken terminal leaders can be nursed and kept growing well in the long term by cutting off all but one of the lateral branches. Selection of the strongest lateral branch should be made. Over time, the remaining lateral branch will grow upward and assume the main leader position. The tree will show a signature of the lost limb for decades or permanently, but it can still provide ecological and economic services to the property.” Tree Debris Already those limbs that broke are starting to show through the melting snow. That debris can be turned into opportunity by leaving some to decompose in a natural woodland edge. Chipping the limbs and using as mulch in planting beds or at the woodland edge is an excellent use of the material. It is beneficial for the woodland habitat. Wisconsin DNR provides advice to wood lot owners in this online article: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/forestlandowners/stormrecovery/firsts
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