The Wrack

A look at what you'll find in the native plant border in July.

In June, the native plant garden is graced with the lovely blooms of foxglove beardtongue.

This common and casual shrub is called serviceberry, wild currant, shadbush, and sometimes So-Delicious-Its-Sinful-Berry.

Eastern red columbine is a great plant for the natural shade garden. Hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and moths savor the nectar, and you can add its blossoms to your salad.

Pollinator heaven: The purples and pinks of bee balm and liatris.

Elderberry is a pioneer species that is found in disturbed and open areas. It displays opposite branching, deeply cut green leaves, and creamy, flat-topped blossoms. Its berries are important food for birds.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 9/20/2015, and Making It At Home newspaper.

To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. To a man at a coastal research center during Maine Coast Week, all the worlds a coast.

We're setting the stage for growing vegetables throughout our Maine winter with the installation of a hoop house alongside our existing garden. Thanks to York County Master Gardeners for constructing it as part of our joint workshop series.

This hoop house is a modified Gothic-arch high-tunnel design oriented roughly east/west and is light weight and movable (a movable greenhouse allows soil to be restored by sun, rain, and deep-rooted cover crops). Row covers of translucent fabric, such as Agribon or Remay, will be laid over a wire armature to offer an additional layer of cold weather protection.

We had a great crew of volunteers for our first Spring Spiff Up on the morning of May 18. Folks from near and far, some old friends and some new to the place, pitched in to dig ditches and dandelions, plant trees and flowers, and paint fences and bathroom walls. After a busy and beautiful few hours, many paused to help us dedicate the ecology center solar panels before venturing off. Some went home or off to lunch or on to chores, while others headed down to the beach or into the woods for a well deserved relax. We appreciate everyone's help and hope the day was as rewarding for you as it was for us.

WELLS, Maine, May 21, 2013  York County Master Gardeners and the Wells Reserve at Laudholm are offering local gardeners several opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills around their home gardening through a series of workshops this summer at the new All Seasons Garden at the reserve.

All Seasons Garden workshops begin with Sheet Mulching and Home Composting on May 30 and continue with Drip Irrigation on June 4, Yardscaping on June 19, and Four-Season Gardening on August 29. Each two-hour, hands-on workshop begins at 6pm and costs $7 ($5 for members of Laudholm Trust). A special noontime brown-bag talk on Three Sisters Gardening and Companion Planting will be offered June 12 for a $2 suggested donation. See wellsreserve.org/calendar for details and to register in advance for each evening workshop.