Photo by Heather Weimer, courtesy of the My Great Richmond Photo Contest

My Greater Richmond recently sponsored a photo contest all about our wonderful Richmond Region. This website is a great place to go and see beautiful photos of the Richmond and the surrounding area and to get ideas for things to go see or do. The best part of all? The first place winner for Henrico County was a photo of an amazing sunset right here at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden!

So, go check out the winning photos. Even the submissions that didn’t win, are really interesting to help us appreciate all the beauty we have here in Richmond.
And remember Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is part of your community. Yes, people drive from all over to visit, but sometimes it takes a beautiful photo like this to remind us what is in our own backyard.

The Henrico Master Gardener Association will host the Henrico Harvest Fair, Saturday, Oct. 18th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Armour House and Gardens at Meadowview Park, 4001 Clarendon Road—just down Laburnum Avenue from Lewis Ginter.  Admission to the festival is free.

Events will include classes, demonstrations, and family activities related to gardening—with topics including winter gardening, indoor herbs, buiding a rain barrel and more. Demonstrations will include beekeeping, pruning and composting along with hands-on activities.

In addition to adult classes, which are $10, there will also be $8 classes for children grade K-5. Pre-registration is required and the form can be accessed online or by calling 501-5160.

In addition, The Master Gardener Association will hold its Green Elephant

Sale of garden related books, tools and plants. And over 20 vendors will sell their products and services.

The Harvest Fair is presented in cooperation with the

Henrico Extension Office and the Henrico Division of Recreation and Parks, and will be held rain or shine.

Jonah Holland is public relations & marketing coordinator at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

The sweet aroma of roses, great blue herons flying overhead, butterflies relaxing on blossoms, children exploring their surroundings, families enjoying nature together.  Just a few of the reasons why Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a beautiful oasis which blooms brighter everyday.

Lindsay Silva is the PR/Marketing intern at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this summer.

But roses aren’t the only plants in your garden that your nose can delight in.  Lilacs, daylilies, and lavender are just a few of my favorite floral scents.  Here at Lewis Ginter, we know that nature is to be experienced not just by sight alone but with all five of your senses.

In a better effort to utilize your power of scent, please join us this Saturday, August 2nd from 9 to 10:30 a.m. for “Fragrance in the Garden”.  This workshop will be taught by Holly Shimizu, the executive director of the United States Botanic Garden.  You will learn the horticultural aspects of fragrance, such as what fragrant plants to grow, where to best grow them, how to blend and combine them, and specific aspects of the essential fragrant garden collection. Current research in the area of fragrance will also be covered.  Pricing is $20 for members and $30 for non-members. For more details, call (804) 262-9887.

I encourage you to go into your backyard, close your eyes and let your nose lead you.

Lindsay Silva is the PR/Marketing Intern at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this summer.

If you have roses at home, you may want to pick up the fallen leaves—as they can be the source of spores and bacteria that can re-infect the plant if left on the ground. It’s one of the things we do here to keep our Rose Garden healthy.

Another thought for today—I was talking with a co-worker about the abundance of herbs at this time of year. Did you know you can preserve herbs for cooking and stewing by freezing them in water instead of drying? Place chopped herbs in an ice-cube tray, cover them with water, and freeze. The cubes can be stored in plastic bags in the freezer until you are ready to add them to the pot!

Beth Monroe is public relations director at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

What does that mean? Well, there are just certain things that mean summer – and I don’t want to wake up in September and think “darn, I missed it this year.”

What does summertime mean to you?

For me, it’s colored by recollections of childhood. Eating watermelon; catching lightning bugs; running through sprinklers, the sweet smell of honeysuckle…to me, summer means nature and plants.

Last weekend, some good friends came by and brought their young children ages 2 and 3. We got out the garden hose and the kids, including my two ages 1 ½ and 4; proceeded to turn our backyard into a mudfest. One of my best memories of the summer of ’08 will be my friends’ son, covered in mud from head to toe with blackberry juice running down his chin.

Sometimes I think we underestimate the impact of these seemingly small experiences. Every day as we leave the house, my daughter pauses to check on her plants – a tomato growing in a container and a few sunflowers planted near our front door. This morning she reminded me the tomatoes need to turn red before we pick them and we will need to wash them before we eat them. Then she told her plants “good-bye,” blew them a kiss and climbed in the car.

And it occurs to me that childhood, like summer, is way too fleeting.

Beth Monroe is public relations and marketing director at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

Tips for your Backyard Garden:
• Water less often. For most fruits and vegetables, thoroughly soak the soil, with about a half an inch of water, every three or four days. This minimizes the water lost to evaporation and encourages roots to reach further into the ground to absorb extra moisture, making them deeper, stronger and less vulnerable to drying out.
• Water early in the day, to give plants more time to absorb water before the midday sun dries the soil. If possible, avoid watering in the evening because plants that are damp overnight can be more vulnerable to slugs and fungus.
• Go straight to the roots, and save water with a simple drip irrigation system, which is essentially a hose full of tiny holes that delivers moisture to your plants at a slow and steady rate, giving roots time to absorb more water. Some systems can be set to run on an automated timer, which makes them almost effortless.
• Mulch conserves water and can be a real lifesaver for plants. A three-inch layer will act like a protective coating over the ground, holding in moisture longer so you won’t need to water as often.

Here are some tips for your potted plants that you have in your home or out in your garden:
• A Good Balance. Plants in containers can dry out quickly, but it’s also easy to over water. For a healthy houseplant, water whenever the topsoil feels dry and choose a pot with holes in the bottom to allow the excess liquid to drain out.
• Bottoms Up. Plants absorb water most efficiently through their roots. For best results, place a potted plant with a drainage hole in the bottom inside a larger pot partially filled with water. That way, the liquid from the larger pot will slowly soak up through the soil of the smaller one, watering the roots from the bottom up.
• Add some Moss. Hanging baskets look lovely, but they can dry out quickly. Try lining yours with Sphagnum moss to keep the water in. It’s available at most garden stores and it can look beautiful draping down from a wire basket.

So put on some sun screen and get outside to help your garden stay cool!

Article found at: http://www.homemadesimple.com/en_US/nbrcontent.do?contentType=op&articleId=ar072

Lindsay Silva is the PR/Marketing Intern at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this summer.