This year Monarda is one of the 2021 National Garden Bureau’s featured plants, and a great choice for your garden too!
A Native Species, Monarda has a long medicinal herbal history that Native tribes taught early settlers to utilize. Bee Balm, Monarda’s common name, I am certain came to be due to its ability soothe bee stings, other medicinal uses included treating chills and fever all information shared with early settlers from Native Americans.
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The Ashland/Bayfield County Master Gardeners are hosting two virtual programs “Unsung Heroes of Nature” on February 11 from 6:30-8 pm and “How to Attract Pollinators to Your Home Gardens” on March 11 from 6:30-8 pm. You can find out more about each program and registration information by clicking on the links below. A program link and password will be provided the day before the program by Sarah DeGraff, UW-Extension Bayfield County.
Hello Friends, I want to share a helpful book that a friend recently shared with me. Raising Butterflies in the Garden ~ author Brenda Dziedzic A little about Brenda Dziedzic. She is an award winning Master Gardener and an expert on the subject of raising butterfly and moth species. Her memberships include the Southeast Michigan Butterfly Association, Monarch Watch and the North American Butterfly Association. I appreciated all the tips she shares on how to attract butterflies to your backyard. And why it is important to plant both nectar and host plants. She also shares how to create your own butterfly nursery. Black Swallowtail have been visiting and living in our garden for the past two seasons. I was so happy to learn from Brenda, how to help our Black Swallowtail survive and flourish during the seasons by planting host plants and nectar plants. Brenda goes into detail with the following butterfly and moth families.. Swallowtails Whites and Sulphurs Blues Brushfoots Skippers Silk Moths Sphinx Moths Tussock Moths As the winter months are fast approaching and we soon will be looking at seed catalogs. We can start to plan our gardens around attracting our favorite butterflies. Some people may feel they need to have a large garden to attract butterfly. Hey, no worries, butterfly enjoy small gardens and container gardeners too. If you are a container gardener, Brenda gives tips for the container gardener on attracting butterfly. If you like butterflies, you will enjoy this book. Happy Butterflying! Author Carla TePaske ~ NCMGV
It's a new installment in our Kids in the Garden Series! Master Gardener Volunteer Linda Anderson teaches all about the life and life cycle of the magnificent Monarch butterfly.
Really, this isn't just for kids. From her seat in the beautiful Teaching & Display Garden, Linda explains everything we need to know about what Monarch butterflies do for us and how we can protect them.
Kevin Schoessow, University of Wisconsin Extension Area Agriculture Development Educator forBurnett, Sawyer and Washburn Counties spent well over an hour observing a Bombus (Bumble Bee) nest in the compost bin at the Spooner Agricultural Research Station. He used an upturned bucket to make for a nice observation seat in front of the nest entry. They pretty much ignored him as he sat there. Here are his observations:
"If I stand over the opening to the top of the bin and look down on the pile of grass and then tap the edge of the bin with my foot, the hive comes to life. The buzzing sound is almost deafening, and its amazing how bees almost magically appear from under the grass. It’s like they are sentinel laying in wait just beneath the surface. In a matter of seconds there are close to a dozen crawling and flying above the grass and I have been chased away on more than one occasion. Hopefully all this attention doesn’t interfere with their business. Based on what I am seeing/hearing we have a very healthy nest."
Now is the time to observe bumble bees at their busiest. There are a number of resources to learn more about these important pollinators.
The Spooner Agricultural Research Station Teaching and Display 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 Roseann Meixelsperger provides information on Hummingbirds.
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. The program handouts are now available. Listed below and on our 2020 Events Handouts page.
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. 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:
Fragrant Garden at the Spooner Agriculture Research Station in early June and mid-July. 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. Learn more at the upcoming Twilight Garden Tour on August 13 starting at 4:00pm. Submitted by Roseann Meixelsperger, Master Gardener Volunteer
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