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
 

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.

​Do you know the difference between a ground cover and a cover crop?  Do you have bare ground that it weed prone? 
 
Consider getting covered!  Bare soil is a magnet for weeds and the new trend is to cover with living plants.  Mulch has been the cover of choice in both the vegetable garden and perennial beds for years but there are many other options.  When referring to covers that use actual plants you will see terms such as green manure (for vegetable and annual areas) or green mulch (ground covers for perennials beds).  
 
In the Teaching and Display Garden we have examples of many different mulches and the use of living plants. 
 

The Spooner Agriculture Research Station Teaching and Display Garden will host visitors for a relaxing program in the garden on Tuesday, July 16 starting at 6:00 pm.  This garden session will focus on reusing found objects, recycle, and re-imagining our gardens.  UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteers will be on hand to share tips on small scale gardening including square foot and straw bale gardens.  A tour of the gardens will highlight All America Selections annuals within this theme as well as demonstrate the gardening techniques being used in 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.   

Yoga in the Garden with a therapeutic dog and baby goat will be presented on Monday, July 8th from 4-5:30 p.m. and again on Tuesday, July 9th from 9:30-11 a.m. at the Spooner Display Gardens on Orchard Lane just off HWY 70. Instructor is Deb Nebel. Please bring a towel for your child.

Kids yoga may help your child keep focused, build comprehension, and problem-solve effectively. Many of our "Little Learners"  face extreme challenges. We hope to see great results from our students in the classroom and in their personal relations.

Kids In the Garden is a free program sponsored by North Country Master Gardeners as part of our educational offerings to the public. Yoga in the Garden is the third in a five series Summer program that was started in 2018. Please see our full schedule for Kids in the Garden.

Fruit and Herb Infused Water
For a fun way to stay hydrated, try infused water. It is easy to do.
Here are a few fun ideas.

Blueberry and Lemon Verbena
Strawberry and Chocolate Mint
Cucumber and Peppermint
Orange and Basil

Just add the fruit and herb to your water, let it sit for a few hours or press the leaves for more flavor.
Add ice cubes and enjoy.

Join us at the Annual Twilight Tour to see our herb garden. 
We will be sharing recipes, giving out samples and much more.

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

The vegetable beds have been planted and the display beds are beginning to show evidence of the creativity intended by the gardeners.   The vegetables are doing well in colorful grow bags and the straw bale bed. 

The All-America Selection display beds have been completed by the trainees in the just completed Master Gardener Level 1 training.  In a few weeks you will be able to see what is intended with the Recycle, Repurpose, and Re-imagine theme for 2019.  

The Teaching and Display Garden is open for self-guided tours during day light hours daily from mid-May through mid-September.    Meet Me in the Garden series starts on July 16 at 6:00 pm - we hope you plan on attending. 

Author and photos by Sue Reinardy, UW-Extension Master Gardener Volunteer