The Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching and Display Garden will host visitors for a workshop on cut flower gardens and arrangements on Thursday, August 29 starting at 6:00 pm.  This garden session will start at the Teaching & Display Garden with growing tips on a few outstanding plant selections to grow for cut flowers including dahlias and annuals.  The session will then move to the Research Station for an in-depth workshop on tips and tricks of the art of flower arranging using both perennial and seasonal flowers from the garden.
 
This year’s theme  “Re-use, recycle, and re-imagine” comes from the All-America Selections.  The displays have been created with this theme in mind.  The Teaching and Display Garden is one of eight in Wisconsin that display vegetable and flower varieties who have been awarded this designation as an outstanding cultivar.   
 
Save this date for the last program of the season at the garden:  September 7 at 10:00 am focusing on seed saving, fall rejuvenation, bulb storage, winter sown, garlic planting, spring bulbs and what was learned during this garden season.  
 
Remember to bring your own lawn chair for the Meet Me in the Garden Seminar.  The session is free and open to the public and will be held rain or shine – please dress accordingly.  In case of inclement weather, the program will be held at the Station Building at 1035 E Maple Street (Hwy 70), Spooner.    The garden is located at 780 Orchard Lane, 1.5 miles east of Spooner on Highway 70 or 1/2 mile west of the Hwy 70/53 interchange.  Watch for garden meeting signs.
 
For more information and a map visit the station’s web site at: http://spooner.ars.wisc.edu/ or contact Kevin Schoessow or Lorraine Toman at the Spooner Area UW-Extension Office at 715-635-3506 or 1-800-528-1914. 
 

Photo credit:  Sue Reinardy, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer
 

Several years ago there was a Meet Me In the Garden program at the Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching and Display Garden featuring growing in containers with invites to compete/show a container from home. I happened to win a door prize of some grow bags with the picture of the plant on the front.

I found that using potting soil mixed with compost proved to be too heavy for those bags. The rain and weight prompted the bottoms to fall apart.  I’ve used several different types of bags since then and have been able to reuse them for almost 5 years now. I have them on my decks facing south and east.

The display grow bags are from Gardener’s Supply Company, which provides many different sizes. Since our garden site is very sunny and often quite windy I chose to use potting MIX with moisture control in all the bags. I also used an organic Tomato fertilizer as well a soluble fertilizer for the other plants.

There is a purple potato bag planted with purple fingerling potatoes, a dwarf tomato plant called Arctic Rose as well as other vegetables.  There are two large black bags one of which contains Kale, eggplant and Spooky Squash which I received from Seed Savers. If the lone squash left survives the critters, it will provide enough for a pie. The other grow bag I used as the “right plant in the right place” of succulents needing less water and lovers of sun.

Like any container you need to water them often, which in our garden setting has been quite the challenge this year. At home, since they are lighter and have handles, I’ve been able to move them out of harm’s way during strong hail and thunderstorms.

I hope that you enjoy this display and consider trying them, a kitchen garden on a patio would be a good place for a large black bag.

Carol Taylor, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

Photos by: NCMGV Sheila Squires of her sweet momma in the Sunflower Patch!

2019 is the National Garden Bureau's Year of the Pumpkin. The association with with autumn, Halloween and Thanksgiving will be with us always but the pumpkin is also a very nutritious and healthful  Cucurbitaceae that should not be overlooked in our year round diet.

Pumpkin is said to help regulate blood pressure and promote heart health. It is low in calories, fat and sodium and rich in fiber, potassium, iron, and vitamins A, B and C. Besides pie, pumpkin is excellent in soups, stews, casseroles, pasta, and sauces.


Start pumpkin seeds indoors in mid-April or seed pumpkins directly into the garden from late-May to mid-June giving them plenty of space to spread out. Flowers will need to be pollinated to set fruit. This can be left to bees or done by hand.  Some gardeners turn their pumpkins while they grow to keep them from flattening on one side but be careful not to step on vines. You will know when it's time to harvest by the stems that will begin to dry out.  Harvest before the first frost.

The first European settlers were introduced to pumpkins by the local indigenous peoples who ate the flesh roasted and used the skins for fibers to weave into mats. The Europeans improvised a way to roast pumpkins by cutting the top off, hollowing them out then filling them with milk, honey and spices and roasting them over hot embers.

Make a rich and delicious soup by combining pureed pumpkin with sauteed onions and garlic, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, chicken stock, water and heavy cream. See link for recipe
https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/easy-pumpkin-soup/

You can also harvest pumpkin seeds. The seeds of some varieties are in hulls. Roast these until golden brown for a crunchy treat. Or grow pumpkin with "naked" seeds for eating raw or lightly roasted.

Pumpkins are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Some are better for cooking while others are great for carving or painting or just looking pretty in a table display. Check out the National Garden Bureau's article on pumpkins for varieties that suit your needs and aesthetics.
https://ngb.org/year-of-the-pumpkin/

Growing pumpkins is also a great way to get kids interested in gardening.

Here are links to helpful YouTube videos on growing pumpkins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3cc2QeSfWw
This British series on pumpkin growing is full of good tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOY2T_7bx-A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_7DxgDXu5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbPYUelrW7c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNDs9mpNteI

Article submitted by Pam Davies MGV

The University of Wisconsin Extension, The Spooner Agriculture Research Station and North Country Master Gardener Volunteers will be holding their Annual Twilight Garden Tour on Tuesday Aug 13th from 4 - 7:30 PM.  This is one of the region’s premier summer gardening events and will feature University speakers, demonstrations, displays, food tastings and walking tour of the Seed to Kitchen Collaborative, and organic vegetable variety research trial partnering with nationally recognized plant breeders, chefs and local growers.  The venue for the Twilight Garden Tour is the award-winning Teaching & Display Garden located on Orchard Lane, just east of Spooner.
 
Speakers will be PJ Leisch, UW-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab Director; Brian Hudelson, UW-Madison Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic Director; and Brian Smith, UW-River Falls Professor of Horticulture.
 
Master Gardener Volunteers and invited speakers will be available to answer your gardening questions and identify plant, insect and disease samples.
 
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 fruit trees and the newly renovated Monarch and Pollinator Sanctuary perennial garden.
 
As in the past there is no charge for this educational events.  
 
The Teaching and Display Gardens are located on Orchard Lane, 1 mile east of Spooner on Highway 70.  Watch for Garden Tour signs.  For more information please contact Kevin Schoessow at 715-635-3506 or 1-800-528-1914, or online at http://spooner.ars.wisc.edu or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/spoonerag.
 
UW-Extension provides equal opportunity in employment and programming including Title IX and ADA requirements.  Please call our toll free number if you have any special needs or require special accommodations.
 
 
Lorraine Toman
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Wisconsin-Extension
Spooner Agricultural Research Station
W6646 Highway 70
Spooner, WI  54801
 
715-635-3735
715-635-3506
Toll-Free:  800-528-1914
FAX:  715-635-6741
711 for Wisconsin Relay
lltoman@wisc.edu
http://spooner.ars.wisc.edu/
https://www.facebook.com/spoonerag

​Make an eye-catching garden more enjoyable by including fragrant plants.  Incorporating aromatic flowers into the landscape adds an unforgettable dimension.  Fragrant plants tend to bring up pleasant memories, and scented flowers also attract pollinators, such as bees and butterflies.
Fragrance is produced by plants when their essential oils evaporate and the molecules enter the air.  The most fragrant flowers are white and pastel.

​Create your own fragrant garden with these tips:

1.  Avoid using pesticides and chemical fertilizers.  They detract from the pleasant odors and can kill or harm beneficial creatures like birds and butterflies.
2. Use drip irrigation.  Overhead watering interferes with the release of nectar in aromatic plants, which will cause them not to smell.  Drip keeps the water at the root zone and off the plants.  If you can’t install drip irrigation, try to water at the roots.
3. Plant aromatic plants in high traffic areas.  You want the plants close enough so you can smell them.  Good locations include entryways, passageways, and enclosed areas where the odors can linger, such as patios, courtyards, and atriums.  Spots near windows that you open are also good.
4. Locate low-growing fragrant plants near nose level.  Place short aromatic plants where they can easily be appreciated, rather than on the ground.  Good locations include elevated containers located on tabletops and hanging baskets.
5. Consider time of day.  Some plants only smell at certain times of the day.  Weather can also make a difference.  Hot days tend to stir up the volatile oils in plants more than cool days, which means you’ll have a more fragrant garden when the weather is warm.
6. Balance and layer.  Avoid putting too many different types of fragrant plants into your landscape.  The results of doing this can be overpowering and even unpleasant.  Some plants, like night-blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum), are so strong that you only need one in your yard.  Other flowers, like alyssum, require that you plant several in order to notice the scent.

​The specific plants in our fragrant garden are:
Bordering the walkway is Sweet Alyssum (Rosie O’Day).  Starting to cascade up and over on our arbor are both Moonflower and Sweet Pea.  In the main part of the garden are Bee Balm,  Carnation, Chocolate Flower, Heliotrope, Hyssop, Lupine, Marigold, Nicotiana, and Penstemon.   

​Submitted by Roseann Meixelsperger, Master Gardener Volunteer

The Herb Garden

Come on out and visit the gardens. Reach down and brush the plants in the herb garden. What can you smell?
Do you smell pizza? Do you smell pickles?

We have dill, basil, garlic chives, onion chives and more planted in the herb garden.

Come join us at the Annual Twilight Garden Tour.
We will have recipes to share using herbs and different herb infused water to sample.
And other fun and simple ways to include herbs in your day.

Annual Twilight Tour in the Teaching and Display Garden
Tuesday, August 13, 4:00 to Twilight
Features guest speakers, demonstrations, displays, vegetable tastings

​The North Country Master Gardener Volunteer Association invites everyone to our annual Twilight Garden Tour on Tuesday August 13 starting at 4:00 p.m. and closing around 7:30 p.m.  The event will be in the Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching and Display Gardens at 780 Orchard Lane, Spooner.  The gardens are located 1 ½ miles east of Spooner on Highway 70 or ½ mile west of the Highway 70/53 interchange.  All ages are invited to attend and there will be handicap parking near the gardens.