​Have you visited our Teaching & Display Garden? This is a wonderful visit to make during this socially distant summer. Kevin Schoessow, Area Ag Development Agent, takes you on a tour of the popular pinwheel bed of the gardens. These beds have been "adopted" by Master Gardener Volunteers and reflect their different visions. Our gardens are open for self-guided tours during all daylight hours. Please follow the social distancing guidelines that are posted.

UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Carla TePaske provides tips for great bouquets in this video.  For more tips, check out this handout: "Cut Flower Tips" . 

​Easy steps for a successful Victory Garden 2.0…(with recommendations from the 1943 Victory Garden Manual by James Burdett, adapted for today’s world.)
1. Know your growing zone!– Just enter your zip code here to find your zone.

​You are invited to a Zoom  program.
When: May 14, 2020 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
 Register in advance for this program:
https://uwextension.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrdO6urTgqGtNnaA1I0y3rpgP6VS5s8xNv
 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching and Display Garden will host visitors for a final workshop on end of the season activities Saturday, September 7 10:00am to Noon.  This garden session will be held at the Teaching & Display Garden and focus on seed saving, fall garden activities, tender bulb storage, garlic planting, spring bulbs and what was learned during this garden season. 
 
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.   
 
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. 

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

​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 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.

Planting Dahlias

1. Select a sunny garden spot with freely draining soil and prepare it thoroughly before planting.
2. To plant, dig a hole 4-6 inches deep and place the tuber on its side, horizontally with the growing eye facing up. Once in place, refill the hole with soil. Dahlias get quite large, so allow at least 12-18 inches of space between plants.
3. Dahlias require consistent water throughout the growing season.  Dahlias should not be watered until you see the first green shoots poking through the ground. Overwatering before shoots are visible can lead to tuber rot. After plants reach a foot tall, give them a hard pinch by snipping out 3-4 inches of the growing center to encourage low basal branching, which increases flower production and overall stem length.

Click on the below link for more information on tips and tricks with growing dahlias.
How to Grow Dahlias - Floret Flower Farm
www.floretflowers.com/resources/how-to-grow-dahlias/

The NCMG have a Dahlia garden starting to sprout.. come and visit the 
www.northcountrymgv.org/teaching--display-garden.html