Anchorage Daily News

The containers are out on the deck, the hanging baskets have been retrieved and hung, and by now most of us have mowed the lawn at least once. The weather has been fine and you should have at least a good portion of the gardens in, if not all done. But are you forgetting a couple of very important, "must do" things?

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Gardening calendar (6/4/09)

Delphinium defoliators: They are hitting every delphinium in town. Squash by hand. They hide in the folded leaves. Apply a Bt containing product when it is sunny and dry for 24 hours.

Cotoneaster leaf rollers: Treat as you would the delphinium defoliators.

Mulch: There is no such thing as bare ground in nature. Use leaf or other brown mulches around trees, shrubs and on perennial beds. Use grass clippings or straw on annuals and vegetables:

Containers: Mulch as above. There should be no such thing as an unmulched container.

Nurseries: Don't stop going as now is when you need to get those fillers. Don't delay.

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First of all, life may be good for you, but there are plenty who are not so lucky. You eat every night; they don't. So if you have not already done so, it is time to plant at least one row in your garden dedicated to feed the hungry.

If you are new to Alaska you may not be aware that the highly successful, national "Plant A Row For The Hungry" program was started right here by readers of this column. Originally it went under the banner of "Plant A Row For Bean's."

We dedicated a row in our gardens and took the harvest down to Bean's Cafe, which serves free meals to hundreds of Alaskans in need every day. It didn't require a staff, government funds or any additional monetary input.

In 1995 the Garden Writers Of America had their convention in Anchorage, visited Bean's Cafe, and unanimously pledged to adopt and promote the program throughout North America.

Renamed "Plant A Row for the Hungry," it has grown tremendously since then. I am told that in just the past week, Plant A Row had 41,000 mentions on the Internet. These were mostly stories about the program gearing up in local communities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

More important, every year millions and millions of pounds of fresh, home-grown produce is being donated to soup kitchens like Bean's and food banks like the Alaska Food Bank.

You may not be aware of the dimension of the hungry problem here. It lingers, an ugly truth, hidden in the background. You don't see most of the 83,173 people the Food Bank of Alaska fed last year. They are your neighbors and workmates who just ran out of luck.

Our Plant a Row For Bean's program was an example to the rest of North America's gardeners; most of the articles written about PAR (Plant a Row) mention the spirit of Alaska gardeners who initiated the program. Let's continue to be an example of a gardening community that cares. This weekend, plant one row for the hungry. Just do it.

The other worthy cause (and here I admit to an ex-officio board membership) is the Alaska Botanical Garden. Did you remember to renew membership for the family? Did you forget to become a member this year? Now is the time to act.

The Alaska Botanical Garden, off of Tudor Road across from Baxter Road for those who are new, is a young institution, but so was the Anchorage Museum umpteen years ago, and look at the place this week. Twelve thousand people are estimated to have attended the grand reopening celebration.

ABG is featuring a new garden this year and advancing in leaps and bounds in so many other ways. Now fenced to keep the moose from destroying the collection, it keeps getting better and better.

You can join The Alaska Botanical Garden out at the garden or you can go to www.alaskabg.org and join online.

Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.

Gardening calendar

Delphinium defoliators: They are hitting every delphinium in town. Squash by hand. They hide in the folded leaves. Apply a Bt containing product when it is sunny and dry for 24 hours.

Cotoneaster leaf rollers: Treat as you would the delphinium defoliators.

Mulch: There is no such thing as bare ground in nature. Use leaf or other brown mulches around trees, shrubs and on perennial beds. Use grass clippings or straw on annuals and vegetables:

Containers: Mulch as above. There should be no such thing as an unmulched container.

Nurseries: Don't stop going as now is when you need to get those fillers. Don't delay.

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