Studiology

Lectures, Events, and Workshops for Fall

I have some interesting events coming up this fall. Here is the roundup of dates and topics. Many are free, a few have a materials fee or a registration fee. Links are provided.

Saturday, September 29th at Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria, VA

I will be joining Kathy Jentz in a "Shade Garden Intensive" lecture, mine will be on plant combinations for the shade garden, Kathy will talk about plants for dry shade. There is a $39. registration fee, the program runs from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Kathy Jentz is the editor of the Washington Gardener magazine, so I think this will be a fun day! You can register here.

Monday, October 1st at Art A La Carte

The show opens! Two artists, one show, this year I am joined by Kathleen Kendall and we have worked together for the whole year on a circus themed art show. She is an oil painter and figurative ceramics artist, I will be displaying my assemblage art, which will include a lineup of circus themed Pez dispensers. If you follow me on Instagram, you can look up #admitoneshow and see photographs of the artwork and eventually the show.

  Sunday, October 7th at the Fair Oaks branch of Merrifield Garden Center.

This is a workshop, I will be working with Wilson Vertin, the floral arranger at the Fair Oaks store, to help participants create a fall wreath. There is a $40. materials fee and limited registration. Held from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, we will be working with a grape vine base and decorating it with artificial (yet organic style) items. You can register here.

Saturday, October 13th at the Gainesville branch of Merrifield Garden Center

This is Merrifield's Fall Harvest Festival. There will be food and wine tastings and a great lineup of speakers. The event is free, the time is 10:30 AM to 3:00 PM. My lecture is on "Pollinators", more specifically the ways that plants function to get what they want. Of course this can't go without talking about the players that make it happen. Other speakers include Ruth Clausen, a well known author and lecturer, Bonnie McDaniel, also an author, and Kim Scott who will speak on "Native Plants for Fall". Ruth Clausen will be speaking on "The Impact of Public Gardens", specifically the Delaware Botanic Gardens, which are all the buzz in the horticultural world but haven't even opened yet. This is a very exciting event, don't miss it! You can get more information here.

Saturday, October 27th at Art A La Carte Gallery

Meet the artists at the gallery, myself and Kathleen, as we talk about the techniques behind our art. The reception is from 2:00 PM to 5 PM with wine tastings and finger food. Come in costume, we will. The address is: 310 Mill Street, Occoquan, VA. #admitoneshow

 

Sunday, October 28th at the Fair Oaks branch of Merrifield Garden Center

I'm flying solo on this one, a lecture on "Perennial Companions". I will be talking about my favorite perennial combinations from spring to fall, plants that grow well together and look good while they do. The time is 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and it's free with no registration required. You can read more about it here.

Saturday, November 17th at the Fair Oaks branch of Merrifield Garden Center

Working with Wilson Vertin, the floral designer at the Fair Oaks store, this will be a Thanksgiving Holiday table arrangement workshop. Everyone will be taking home their own creation, built after a demonstration and some hands on assistance. There is a $60. materials fee and registration is required because there is limited space. I have worked on two prior floral workshops with Wilson and they are really fun. Plus you get to take home your own creation, just in time for Thanksgiving. You can register here.

 

Fatal Attraction

The most lively spot in my garden is my patch of milkweed. Three of its regulars are all seeking the same thing, toxic cardiac glycosides. As they feed on the milky latex, an acquired taste for sure, they become more and more toxic or poisonous, the key to survival. Not only does it keep birds, frogs, and other bug eaters from feeding on them, it improves their sexual partnerships. The degree of toxicity is viewed as highly desirable, it will be passed on to their progeny, which female partners see as a win, win. 

The milkweed bug, one of the three frequent visitors, is easily seen. Bright orange-red with black bands, this beetle-looking bug feeds entirely on the seed pods. Technically known as Oncopeltus fasciatus, which means banded, they huddle in large groups of 20 or so. The coloration is known as aposematic from Greek; away, meaning keep away. Red is the common example of this, like the poison dart frog, it's a warning. The gardener is wise to pay heed, the strategy may not always mean poisonous to eat, but painful to touch. Stinging insects, like the velvet ant, with its bright red band (actually a wasp), should always be left alone. 

The milkweed bug will go through several molts or instars, developing wings in the end and leaving. Their feeding location, just on seed pods, makes them relatively harmless; there is usually plenty to go around. 

Secondly we find the oleander aphid. They feed on new growth and will cluster at the end of stems. Yellow in color, they are also hard to miss. Other common names include milkweed aphid and sweet pepper aphid, they are Aphis nerii, the epithet for a Celtic tribe of Spain, it speaks to a location. One can also find hawk moth - Daphnis nerii or oleander hawk moth from the same place. 

Most gardeners are alarmed at both of these feeding insects. Sheer numbers and bright colors make them hard to dismiss. The truth is, they don't kill the plant. Do not run and grab the insecticide. The relationship with the plant was intended, one makes poison, the other feeds on it. 

Our third visitor and feeder is the monarch butterfly larvae. The more desirable guest, maybe the reason we are growing milkweed in the first place. Not as colorful, striped yellow, black and white, they like the leaves but will also dine on seed pods and flowers. In hard times they will chew on bare stems, ingesting as much of the toxic extract to make them undesirable to birds. The bright color comes as the butterfly emerges with wings of orange.

All three of these feeders share milkweed, the monarch attracted to the leaves for laying eggs and then eating and nectaring as adults. I do not try to spray off the aphids or the milkweed bugs, chances are I'm also spraying off caterpillars. Over the years I have watched my plants get devoured. So much so, that this year I had to make extra runs to the nursery to get more plants. As all three players move from plant to plant, I watch them feed and have seen the caterpillars actually eat the aphids as they reach the tops of the stems. Like popping a poison pill, it's all good.

Oh, the Garden

 My garden is full, not just with flowers but caterpillars! It's been a good year. The monarchs are there everyday, ladies laying eggs and sipping, babies munching, and munching. To my eye, the effort is paying off, the move to plant milkweed by so many is paying off, at least on this end. 

There also a few newcomers, white lined sphinx moth caterpillars. They ate voraciously on my Mirabilis longiflora, which is also known as the Sweet Four O'Clock. I had never grown this species and found it easy from seed and another perfect candidate for my night garden with an intensely sweet fragrance at night. 

They have been eaten to the ground, but will recover before fall. The white lined sphinx larvae are already done (they ate every leaf) and in the ground as cocoons. In 3 weeks I can expect them to join me at night as lovely large moths. 

And my oh my, do I have some luscious sweet nectar for them!

#Admitoneshow

Every year, for the past four years, I have been the featured artist at the "Art A La Carte Gallery" during the month of October. Every year I come up with a theme and work on it until it's time to put up the show. This year the show is a two person show, Kathleen Kendall will join me and we have themed and schemed together. The title is "Admit One", a circus show, or shall I say a circus art show. There will be clowns, a trapeze lady, jugglers, fortune tellers and palm readers. I am creating assemblage pieces while Kathleen is an oil painter and figurative clay builder. The show will open on October 1st at the gallery in Occoquan, Virginia and the "meet the artists" will be on Saturday, October 27th, from 2 to 5. I am using the hashtag #admitoneshow, so if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you will see more photographs of the artwork and eventually the show. You can also google #admitoneshow. 

My work for this show began in February, and I am super excited about what has been accomplished. Here is a teaser preview, the last photograph is one of Kathleen's oil paintings.