DOWNLOAD OUR WEEKLY FLYER FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF PLANTS AND PRODUCTS ON SALE

	The Thriller: This is usually the "head" plant that has an interesting shape, bold flowers or big leaves. It should add vertical interest and say "Wow" to passersby. The thriller will take up position in the center or back of the pot. Grasses, dracena spikes, cannas, banana plants, tall ferns, colocasias, tall coleuses are just a few examples.
	The Filler: Just as the name suggests these are the "body" of the container garden. They fill in around the thriller and usually compliment or contrast it in color or texture. Most of the time these are flowering annuals (impatiens, petunias, geraniums, etc.) or perennials (heuchera, hosta, low grasses, etc.)
	The Spiller: These are the "feet" of the container garden anchoring it to the ground. In addition, the spiller will soften the edge of the pot and again help unify the composition through color or texture. Included in this group are trailing vinca, licorice plant, bocapa, sweet potato vine, creeping dusty millers, lysimachia.

	Terra Cotta Pots: Rustic and comfortable, terra cotta pots are a gardener's staple. They are simple, become more charming with age and feel down-to-earth. The bowl shaped ones make great Fairy Gardens.
	Ceramic Pots: Bright or subtle but always a classic, ceramic pots make a statement. Their lacquered, shiny finish can add another layer of style to  container gardens. Many sizes and types available to dress up your area and set the mood.
	Campania Cast Stone Pots: Very grounded, cast stone is ageless and sturdy, denoting a sense of establishment. To this, Campania provides a wonderful selection of styles and color finishes old and new. Look through our store and definitely check out our special orders book.
	Poly Pots: It's really not fair to call these "plastic". Many are made from combinations of materials and present themselves as faux stone or clay but much, much lighter. Our selection of poly pots starts with the very small and extends to large porch pots perfect for container gardens.

Chew on This!

	Amish Paste Tomato: Amish Paste is one of the best paste tomatoes! An indeterminate plant, Amish Paste will bear a great crop of bright red, plum-shaped, 8 to 12 ounce fruits all season long. The flesh is sweet, delicious, juicy and meaty. Known for making wonderful sauces. If you are planting tomatoes for sauce this year, give Amish Paste a try.
	Pepperoncini Pepper: Italian Heirloom, Mild with slight heat, the pepperoncini is often used in Italian and Greek dishes (on sandwiches, in salads, and as a garnish) and typically pickled. Though the slightly wrinkled fruits will mature to red, they are usually harvested at 2-3 inches long when they are still bright green.
	Beautiful hanging baskets of flowering annuals add instant pizzazz to any garden area hanging from a shepherd's hook, sitting on a patio table, or suspended from a tree branch. Choose from many different kinds of flowers in lots of colors.

From The Behnkes Garden Blog, Here are some tips and a "to-do" list for the month of May.

Annual Plants

• Time to buy and plant summer annuals, and start watering and feeding.
• Time to plant tender bulbs like cannas, elephant ears, dahlias and caladiums.

Edibles

• In early May, do your garden prep if you haven’t already.  For most gardens that means adding compost (Leafgro is great), turning it in gently rather than tilling it.
• Mid-May is the traditional time in our region to plant summer vegetable seedlings . Click here to see a list of heirloom and unusual varieties of tomatoes and peppers offered by Behnkes.
• In early May plant woody herbs now – like rosemary and thyme.
• Seeds and tiny seedlings of fleshy, nonwoody herbs like cilantro and basil are good eating for birds, so keep them protected from birds until they’re larger.
• If you haven’t already planted your potatoes, do it now.
• Time to direct-sow beans in the ground.
• Beans need really warm soil, so wait until late may to plant them – or in early June, depending on the kind of weather we’ve been having.
• Weed, weed, weed – they compete too darn well with your desirable edibles.  You can just snip off the annual weeds, but perennial weeds really need to be dug up.

From The Behnkes Garden Blog, Here are some tips and a "to-do" list for the month of April.

Annuals

• There’s still lots of time to enjoy cool-season annuals like pansies and violas.

Edibles

• If you are growing plants from seed, don’t oversow. For fine seed, mix it with sand so it is easier to spread over a larger area.

• Don’t start warm weather plants too early. Peppers and basil, and to a lesser extent tomatoes—hate cold weather. Wait until May and a forecast for consistently warm weather before planting these.

• Plant radishes now. They grow in cool weather (the flavor is more mild) and they grow fast–you can harvest the first ones about a month after sowing. They are fun for kids because you get results fast. Some people are known to eat radishes, too.

• Prepare soil for growing summer vegetables by adding organic matter. (Chickity Doo Doo is a favorite of one Behnkes staffer). And weed your asparagus patch if you haven’t done it already (March is the best time to do it.)

Vegetables and Herbs

• If you haven’t prepared your beds yet, do it soon – by turning the soil and adding your yearly amendments, like 1-2 inches of compost, well-aged manure, mushroom soil or leafmold into worked the vegetable beds (as soon as the soil is workable, which is definitely is now).  All that turning of soil was best done last fall and if you haven’t done it yet, do NOT do it when the soil is sodden. Crumbly soil is what you want before turning and amending. Oh, and if a soil test indicates that lime is needed, do it at the same time you’re adding the other amendments, using crushed dolomitic lime.
• Put up trellises and teepees for peas, pole beans and other climbers.
• If you haven’t already bought seeds of cool-season vegs, do it now and sow them. If you’re using old seeds, check their viability first by doing your own germination test. (Place 20 seeds on a moistened paper towel, roll up the towel and place it in a plastic bread bag. Put the bag on top of the refrigerator or other warm location and check after 5-7 days to see what percentage has germinated. Discard seed lots with less than 50% germination.)
• Early March: Start seeds of broccoli and cabbage indoors under lights, to be ready for planting outdoors in six to eight weeks. Late March: Start seeds of eggplant and pepper indoors under lights, to be ready for planting outdoors in six to eight weeks.
• Start seeds of eggplant, pepper (if not started in February) broccoli and cabbage indoors under lights, to be ready for planting outdoors in six to eight weeks.
• It’s still too early to start tomato transplants.
• Plant cool-season vegetable transplants of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, etc.
• Potatoes, onion sets, onion seedlings, leeks and peas can be planted as soon as the soil can be lightly worked – now. Same goes for other cool-weather crops like beets, Chinese cabbage, kale, mustard and turnips.
• In early March you can also start sowing seeds of spinach, lettuce, kale, mustard, sorrel, corn salad and other greens indoors under fluorescent tubes. They’ll be ready to transplant outdoors in 2-3 weeks.
• You can also start sowing seeds of spinach, lettuce, kale, mustard, sorrel, corn salad and other greens indoors under fluorescent tubes. They’ll be ready to transplant outdoors in 2-3 weeks and should be protected by a cold frame or floating row cover.  Alternatively, you can start sowing spinach and lettuce seed outdoors in cold frames.
• Consider purchasing some floating row cover material to protect crops against insects and promote early growth. Floating row covers are made from a spun-bonded polyester material and are available from mail-order seed and garden supply companies.  We recommend Harvest Guard brand.
• Rosemary, thyme, lavender, sage, basil, and tarragon seeds can be started indoors in late March. Fresh tarragon, rosemary, and mint sprigs can be purchased in food markets and rooted indoors in potting soil and can be grown under fluorescent bulbs. The new plants can then be set outdoors in pots or garden beds in May.
• Now is the time to cut back last year’s old perennial herb plants. This will make them look better and make room for new growth.  It will also help reduce insect and disease problems.
• March is also a good time to divide over-grown rhubarb plants and top dress with a balanced fertilizer or well-rotted horse or cow manure. Weeds in asparagus and rhubarb beds can be difficult to control because they are so entangled with the crop plant. It is always best to hand-pull weeds or cut them off cleanly at the soil line with a small, sharp hoe. Be careful not to cut into crowns or emerging spears. All old asparagus foliage should have been cut down and composted last fall.

March Annuals at Behnkes

Annuals (“flowers”) and herbs arrive at Behnkes throughout March along with cool-season vegetables like lettuce and broccoli. As soon as we have the first warm day, we have folks coming in for tomatoes and geraniums. They can’t go in the ground until mid-April and even then that’s risky. But there will be plenty of cool-weather plants that are appropriate to plant for the early-birds; blooming pansies which are really the best annual for early spring color. Stop by often, you will see big changes from day-to-day. March is just that kind of month. Larry Hurley, Behnkes Perennial Buyer

Annuals

At the end of February, look at the long-range weather forecast. It may be time to put out pansies or cool-season vegetable plants if it’s going to be mild for the next ten days.

Edibles

• Time to start these seeds indoors: broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, parsley (which can be started as early as January), onions and leeks.  Click here for lots more about seed-starting and veg-garden prep in February by resident horticulturist Carol Allen.
• Scout for Eastern Tent caterpillar egg cases on your apple, sherry and crabapple trees – just twist them off.
• If you have a cold frame, you can sow an early crop of spinach and lettuce in it this month.
• Buy your veg seeds now before the supplies dwindle.
• If you’ve had problems with aphids, mites and scale insects, spray trees thoroughly with a dormant oil spray before bud break, making sure that temperatures are expected to remain above 40 degrees F. for the 24 hour period after spraying. Follow label directions.

Edibles

• Plan for spring seeding now.  Here’s how to check your last year’s seeds to see if they’re still viable:  Place 10 seeds between moistened paper towels, roll up the towel and place it in a plastic bag. Put the bag on top of the refrigerator or other warm location and check after 5-7 days to see what percentage has germinated. Discard seed lots with less than 75% germination.
• Get your seed-starting gear in order.  Lights working?
• By mid-January, seeds will be in stock.  Buy them early, before the supplies dwindle.
• Fall-bearing raspberries can be cut down to the ground and the spent fruiting canes of June bearers can also be removed now.

Vegetables and Herbs

• Protect beets, spinach, lettuce, broccoli and other cool-season greens that have already germinated in the fall garden with a cold frame, plastic sheeting or floating row cover.   And remember to vent the cold frame or plastic cover on sunny days to prevent heat build-up.
• You can over-winter carrots, parsnips and turnips by covering the bed with a deep straw or leaf mulch.  Just pull them up throughout the winter when you’re ready to eat them.
• Keep garden beds covered with shredded leaves or mulch to minimize the risk of soil erosion and nutrient run-off.
• Store dried herbs in a cool, dark location away from the stove but in full, direct sunlight (or give them 14 hours of fluorescent lighting each day).
• Applying compost now to your vegetable garden – like Maryland’s own 100% organic Leafgro – will give it plenty of time to enrich the soil before spring.

Water Gardens

• If you didn’t cover your pond to prevent leaves from falling in, remove the leaves from the water now.  (If you don’t, the decomposing leaves will produce gases that get trapped under the ice and can sicken or kill your fish.)  Cover the pond with screen after its been cleaned.
• Stop feeding your fish – they can’t metabolize food easily during cold weather, and that can make them sick (or worse).

Perennials, Annuals and Border

• Now’s a good time to collect free seeds from your own garden – from plants like cleome, zinnias, cosmos, celosia and butterfly weed.
• If you apply compost now to your borders (and we love Maryland’s own 100% organic Leafgro) – it’ll have plenty of time to enrich the soil before spring.
• Evergreen perennials like hellebores prefer sunlight to being buried under six inches of wet leaves for the winter, so remove leaves from around and on top of them.  Also, remove leaves from near creeping and woodland phlox.
• If you didn’t get around to putting your potted perennials in the ground, don’t panic.  Our perennials manager Larry Hurley has found that most pots of perennials overwinter quite well if placed on the ground and covered with 8 or 10 inches of leaves, preferably oak which doesn’t mat down as badly as maple. Uncover the plants in early March.
• If you have lavender in your garden, it survives the winter better if mulched with gravel rather than bark mulch – because lavender hates soggy soil and moisture around the stem.  White marble chips are a good mulch for lavender because the dust reduces soil acidity, something else that’s good for lavender.

• Spinach, lettuce, arugula, kale, and other cool-season crops can be protected from freezing with a cold frame, plastic sheeting or floating row cover to extend their productivity.  Be sure to vent the cold frame or plastic cover on sunny days to prevent excessive heat build-up.
• Carrots, parsnips, and turnips can be over-wintered by covering the bed with a deep straw or leaf mulch.   These root crops can be harvested through the winter, as needed.
• Spinach can even be sown this month, for early spring harvest.
• Plant garlic soon after the first frost.
• This is a good time to incorporate organic matter (like composted manure) into garden beds.   Speaking of organic matter, you can use shredded leaves to keep the beds covered over the winter to minimize the risk of soil erosion and nutrient run-off.  The leaves can be tilled into the garden in spring or left in place as a mulch between rows of vegetables.
• Alternatively, grow a cover crop to improve the soil for the next season and protect the soil from erosion and run-off all winter.  Clover is great as a cover crop – it fixes nitrogen – drawing it from the air and putting it into the soil. Annual Rye grass is another great option – when turned under in the spring it adds organic matter and the roots break down the heavy compacted clay soils.
• Remove all dead and weak herb plants from the garden. Dried herbs should be stored in a cool, dark location.

Vegetables and Herbs Garden

• Plant cool-season vegetable crops now – cabbage, turnips, kale, mustard, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, collards, carrots, and beets. Keep seedlings and transplants well watered and mulched.  (The seeds will need at least 2 weeks more time to grow to maturity now than they did in the spring due to reduced light.)  You can cover fall garden crops later in the month with a floating row cover or cold frame to further extend the harvest period.
• Brassicas all taste better after they have been touched by a frost or two and if covered (even just with leaves), most vegetables will survive the winter to provide an early spring harvest.
• Feed your fall vegetables weekly.  Mary Ellen in Behnkes’ Potomac store recommends Miracle-Gro for Vegetables and goes on to say, “When feeding, it’s fine to wet the plant foliage, but be sure to soak the soil around the plant, too.  It’s easy to mix the powder with water in a watering can, or simply attach the LiquaFeed sprayer right to the end of the garden hose and water as usual.”
• If you continue to feed them weekly, rosemary, thyme, and basil will continue to produce leaves until frost.
• Garlic cloves can be planted up until Thanksgiving for harvest in June.  Choose the largest cloves from the largest heads, plant the cloves root end down, spaced 4-6 inches apart, and cover with 1-2 inches of soil.  Use your own home-grown garlic rather than store-bought, if possible.
• Dig storage potatoes on a cloudy after the plants begin to die back, then let them dry for a few hours before bringing them inside – but don’t wash them!  Store potatoes in a dark, cool location. Sweet potatoes should be harvested the same way, except that it’s best to cure the roots for 10-14 days in a warm, dark location and then store them for the winter in a cool, dry location.
• Harvest your onions, once their tops have withered, by lifting the bulbs and drying them in a warm, dry, sunny location for 10 days. Then store them in a cool, dark, dry place.
• To harvest herbs, remove individual leaves of tarragon, rosemary, basil, sage, etc.  and dry them indoors. Herb leaves are most flavorful right before the plant blooms. Snip foliage in the morning after the dew has dried. To dry herbs for storage, tie the cut stems together and hang them upside down in a dry location. Cover with a paper bag to avoid losing the shattered leaves. Store dried herbs in glass jars away from light and heat. Fresh basil can be processed into pesto or frozen in plastic containers for winter use.

Annuals

• Plant hardy mums now so they will become well established prior to cool weather.
• Pansies, violas, ornamental cabbage and kale can also be planted this month.  More great plants for fall color include sweet alyssum and dusty miller.
• Continue to fertilize your annuals this month – a liquid fertilizer gives them the boost they need and is fast-acting.  Alex Dencker at our Potomac store likes Espoma’s Gro Tone.  It’s a fish protein-based liquid fertilizer that doesn’t smell as bad as most fish-based products.  He says “It’ll maximize your annuals’ lifespan and increase their vibrancy and color.”

From The Behnkes Garden Blog, Here are some tips and a "to-do" list for the month of August.

Vegetables and Herbs

• From Sissy McKenzie: “August is the time to clean up the old vegetables in your garden and get ready for the new, so start thinking about your fall garden now.  In the fall garden you can have leafy vegetables, head vegetables, and underground vegetables.  Yes, around August 15^th – September 15^th it’s time to plant your fall vegetables.  Here are some of the fall vegetables you should look for:  broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale ( of many kinds), cauliflower, collards, mustards, turnips lettuce.
• Sign up for our free August 20 seminar Fall Planting of Root Vegetables, with Ryan Cooper.  Learn about growing a variety of root crops like beets, radishes, potatoes, turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, and rutabaga.  Call (301) 937-1100 to reserve your seat (or just show up – no one turned away!).
• To harvest white storage potatoes on a cloudy, dig them the plants begin to die back, then let them lie on the ground for a few hours before bringing them inside. Don’t wash them – that can cause them to rot in storage. Store potatoes in a dark, cool location (35º- 40ºF.)”
• Harvest watermelon on the vine after the first tendril next to the fruit has turned dark brown and there’s a yellowish white spot on the bottom of the watermelon. Harvest a muskmelon when it twists easily off the vine.
• Peppers that are allowed to ripen on the plant may suffer from fungal disease, so pick them before they’re fully ripe.  Picking peppers while they’re still green also encourages plants to produce more fruit.
• Tomatoes not bearing fruit in hot spells? It’s the heat. They stop setting fruit if night temps are over 80 degrees.

Perennials and Annuals

• Starting August 15, it’s the season for mums and Behnkes will carry them in an assortment of colors, sizes and bloom types.
• Miri reminds us of plants that can be planted now for blooms in August and later: “Don’t forget that you can have flowers from now until fall, too, not just great leaf color. Bluebeard shrubs bloom as early as this month, and many perennials do, too -  Aster, Boneset, Goldenrod and Ironweed are late-season butterfly magnets.  Japanese Anemone also blooms late, and their Asian brethren, Camellias, start showing off as early as October. Start planning now so you can grab what you want when fall restocking season hits.”
• Hostas: bloomed-out flower stems should be cut off close to the base of the plant.  Hosta plantaginea and some white-flowered hosta cultivars such as ‘Royal Standard’ are going to flower in August.  They have fragrant flowers and are showier than the ones that have already bloomed, so even people who don’t care for hosta flowers may want to let these bloom.
• Daylilies:  There are late-blooming cultivars of daylilies that haven’t started to bloom yet, so be careful not to cut off new bloom stalks. Old ones will be starting to brown, and may form seed pods.  From August through the fall is a good time to dig and divide your daylies (except for those late-blooming ones, of course).
• Deadhead (remove faded flowers from) perennials unless they have showy seedheads, or seedheads that feed the birds (like that goldfinch magnet, the Purple Coneflower).
• Keep feeding flowering annuals in containers for more  blooms.

From The Behnkes Garden Blog, Here are some tips and a "to-do" list for the month of July.

Annuals

• Just keep on watering and feeding – all summer.
• Many annuals look better and have more blooms if their dead flowers are regularly removed.

Edibles

• Keep on top of weeding – lots more about weeding here – and watering - click here for more about watering your garden.
  
• Keep feeding your summer vegetables, too.
• A late crops of beans, beets, carrots, Swiss chard, and cucumbers can be direct sown through the end of July.

Pests in Edibles

• Squash vine borers are hatching out and boring into squash and pumpkin vines. Monitor plants for signs of wilting and entrance holes on lower stems. The easiest and surest method of control is to cut a slit in the stem above the hole with a razor, remove the 1 inch long brown headed white larva. Mound up soil around the wound.
• Blossom-end rot of tomato, pepper, squash and watermelon may be observed now. Remove fruits that have blossom-end rot or are badly malformed. This nutritional disorder is caused by a lack of calcium in developing fruits and is brought on by dry conditions. Water your plants deeply and regularly and keep them mulched. Tomato plants may need 1-2 gallons of water each at least twice a week during droughty periods.

From The Behnkes Garden Blog, Here are some tips and a "to-do" list for the month of June.

Borders, Perennials and Annuals

• Water, water, water, as often as daily for new plants and almost all plants in pots.  The rest of the garden generally needs one inch of water every week – whether from rain or from the gardener.  Remember to water deeply, not superficially, because deep watering encourages deeper roots and more drought-resistant plants.
• Weed regularly, and not just because they’re unsightly, either.  Weeds rob water, light and nutrients from the plants you DO like.  Always remove weeds before they have a chance to go to seed – this is the first line of defense to keep weeds in check.
• Feed plants in pots regularly – once or twice a month.
• Deadhead perennials (remove spent flowers) to encourage rebloom.
• Remove daffodil leaves after they’ve gone brown and wilted.
• Snails and slugs are out in force, eating their way through the garden.  If they’re dining on your plants, Sluggo is the answer.

Edibles

• Cage your tomato plants and tap them occasionally to encourage pollination. Keep plants moist and once fruit appear, feed them with Tomato-tone.  Remove suckers that grow at the soil line throughout the season.
• Weed vegetable garden regularly, not letting the weeds go to seed.
• Direct-sow bush beans every two weeks.
• Thin out all vegetable seedlings to the correct distance from each other.
• “Water as needed” sounds unhelpful but it’s true that no one frequency of watering makes sense.  Besides rainfall, the amount of watering required depends on the plants and how much mulch you’re using.  And DO use mulch!
• This month and through the summer cut back herbs to keep plants bushy and productive.  Don’t fertilize herbs.
• Prepare for fall vegetables by planting broccoli and cauliflower seed in containers the 3rd to 4th week in June, to be transplanted into the ground mid July through mid August.

April 28th 2011 - Thanks to Marian Parsley for the inside dope on so many of the Heirloom and unusual varieties of vegetables that Behnkes is carrying this year.

Peppers

• Bhut Jolokia (Hot) is one of the world’s hottest peppers.  Its 3″ fruit grows skyward, not down.  Ornamental, with high yields, too.  To 40″ tall.
• Comstock Purple (Hot) is a cross between Tasmanian and Jwata.  Upright, producing elongated purplish fruit with the same heat as cayenne peppers,.  Grows to 24-36″.
• Serrano Del Sol (Warm to Hot) is a Southwestern-style chili.
• Sunny Border Black (Hot)  produces black fruit that stays black till fall.  Same heat as Jalapeno.  Grows to 24-36″.
• Trinidad 7 Pod (Hot) is “outrageously hot”, according to the grower.  Its fruits are red or yellow or both.  Great in stews, salsas, and sauces.
• Orange Bell (Sweet)  is an orange, medium-sized Sweet Bell, extra sweet when ripened.  Compact plant, so excellent in containers.  Known for flavor and disease resistance.
• Ubatuba cambuci (Sweet) is an Heirloom Brazilian pepper that looks like an umbrella.  Squat, wide fruit turns from yellow to orange to red. Likes staking.  Grows to 36″.

Tomatoes

• ‘Amish Paste’ (Heirloom) is a favorite with home gardeners – sweet, meaty and flavorful.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Abe Lincoln’ (Heirloom) has a sweet taste and produces right up until frost.  Great for tomato juice.
• ‘Arkansas Traveler’ (Heirloom) produces a large bounty of dark pink fruit, which is sweet, even in the worst heat.  Tolerates high humidity, too.
• ‘Amanda Orange’ (Heirloom) produces a huge fluted orange fruit that’s so sweet, it’s almost tropical.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Black Prince’ (Heirloom) produces medium-sized deep garnet fruits with a rich flavor.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Boxcar Willie’ (Heirloom) is a slightly flattened Jersey-type fruit that resists cracking.  Indeterminate.
• Comstock Sauce and Slice (Heirloom) is great for pastes – meaty with few seeds – and in salads and sandwiches, too.  Must be staked.  Grows to 36″.
• ‘Evergreen’ (Heirloom) is very productive, with fruits that are green, then yellow.  Great for salads, or frying up as fried green tomatoes.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Garden Peach’ (Heirloom) produces meaty fruits that are mild and sweet.  Peach-shaped and -colored, it’s a pretty novelty.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Hillbilly Striped’ (Heirloom) is a huge bicolor with rich, sweet flavor.  Great slicing tomato.  Indeterminate.
• Principe Borghese is a popular Italian Heirloom.  Compact, so great for containers.  Small, plum-shaped fruit. Heavy producer, widely used for sun-dried tomatoes.  Best given support.  Determinate.
• Tomatillo Purple is the primary ingredient in salsas.  Tart, and the size of cherry tomatoes.
• Tomatillo ‘Verde’ looks like a regular tomato, except it’s green.  Used in salsas, dried, or baked in pies and preserves.

Watermelon

‘Moon and Stars’ (Heirloom) produces massive fruits – 25 to 30 pounds each and its thin rind is a pretty dark green. The flesh is a sweet pink.