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Nonprofit Organization
U.S. Postage Paid Kingsport, TN
Zip Code 37664 Permit No. 41
The Wheelbarrow Southern Appalachian Plant Society 418 Greenbrook Circle Unicoi, TN 37692
2015 SAPS Board of Directors
President: Earl Hockin 423-817-5473 [email protected]
Vice President: Jane Mullins 423-212-0173 [email protected]
Secretary: Marcia Vandermause 423-921-3199 [email protected] Treasurer: Joy Moore 423-348-6572 [email protected] Program Chairman: Hugh Conlon 423-282-9215 [email protected] Editor–THE WHEELBARROW Pat Westington 423-328-7169 [email protected] Tomato Fest Chairman: Dennis Marshall 423-288-3675 [email protected] Website Manager: Carol McCreary 423-817-5668 [email protected] Membership Chairman: Jim Hill 423-246-7246 [email protected] Discount Vendors: Eva Johnson 423-753-5562 or 483-1453 [email protected] Members-at-Large:
Celia Cox 423-247-3637 [email protected] Michele Bradley 423-257-2246 [email protected] Margaret Seymour 423-534-1191 [email protected]
www.saps.us Southern Appalachian Plant Society April 2015
Ten Medicinal Herbs for the Home Garden Dr. Jeanine Davis
Associate Professor of Horticulture and Extension Specialist,
North Carolina State University
Thursday, April 16, 7 pm
Johnson City Seniors' Center 510 Bert St., Johnson City
Dr. Davis’s research and extension programs are dedicated to sustaina-
ble and organic production of medicinal and culinary herbs, vegetables and
specialty crops. She will introduce to us medicinal plants that can be
grown in our gardens and discuss the research and use of each.
Dr. Jeanine Davis is a researcher and extension specialist with NC State
located at the Mountain Research and Extension Center, Mills River, NC,
in the mountains of western North Carolina. For over 25 years, her pro-
gram has been focused on helping farmers improve profitability by grow-
ing new crops, transitioning to organic agriculture, and adopting more sus-
tainable practices. Medicinal herbs are among her specialties and she is co-
author of the book Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal & Other
Woodland Medicinals. She is also a frequent and popular public speaker
on medicinal herbs, specialty crops, and sustainable living. Her current re-
search efforts are focused on woodland botanicals, Chinese herbs, hops,
truffles, broccoli, and organic heirloom tomatoes. www.ncherb.org
Directions to Johnson City Senior Center at
Memorial Park Community Center:
From I-26 South, Take the Market St. Exit. Market St. only goes right,
so go straight through the intersection and turn left on Main Street. At the
intersection of Main and State of Franklin, turn left. Bert Street is the first
STREET (not parking lot) after you go past the post office. (Don’t be
fooled by the driveway on Main Street. That is the back of the building.)
Turn right on Bert St. The main parking lot will be on the right.
April SAPS Meeting
I am writing this on March 15th a beautiful warm Sun-
day, so welcome after the 2 weeks of snow we recently
experienced. It is little more than a week since the snow left
and yet already a few daffodils are already blooming and the
rest are close to bloom, the tulips are well up and I see some
of the day lilies poking out from underneath the mulch. The
peas and spinach that I pre-sprouted in the kitchen and put in
the ground 6 days ago are all above ground about ½ inch. I
am so glad that gardening season is upon us and by the time
you read this; garden season will be in full swing. Since, I
am new to North East Tennessee I am still learning when is
the best time to start seeds indoors or to transplant or sow
outdoors. There are many on-line calculators that make it
easy to determine when to sow or plant. One that I find
useful is located at http://awaytogarden.com/when-to-start-
seeds-calculator/
Also, the local nurseries and big box stores will have lots
of plants on display. But for me even more enjoyable are the
various plant festivals including the Abingdon Garden Faire,
those in Rogersville, Johnson City and especially the annual
Exchange Place Spring Garden Fair. As in previous years,
the Exchange Place Spring Festival is the last weekend of
April. This year in addition to all the wonderful plants and
crafts on sale there will also be a Rain Barrel workshop/sale.
For a mere $40 you can get a 55 gallon Plastic Food Grade
Barrel and all the fittings. You can either take the kit home,
with instructions to assemble it at home or you can assemble
it on-site. Yours truly will be there guiding people who want
to assemble the kit on-site. I hope to see you April 25th or
26th at Exchange Place Living History Farm in Kingsport.
Across the President’s Desk By Earl Hockin
Hosta Convention
Those who want to learn even more about
Hostas should know that the 2015 National
Hosta Society Convention will be held in
Raleigh, N.C. June 18-20, 2015. Hosta plant and
leaf judging,visits to some beautiful area gardens
and nurseries will take place. You must be a
member of the national American Hosta Society
to attend. americanhostasociety.org News Flash! Hugh asked Dr . Janine Davis to mention 4 out of 10 herbs
that she will be covering in her April presentation: "Let's choose two shade
plants and two sun plants: ginseng, goldenseal, arnica, and calendula."
April Events: April 11
Hugh Conlon will present a program
on "12 Flowers I Can't Garden
Without" at 10 a.m. ‘til noon at
Martins Greenhouse in Rogersville on
11-W (next to Quality Inn)
April 11
UT Gardens Spring Plant Sale. UT
Gardens Knoxville. 9am to 2 pm.
http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/
April 15 and 22
Garden Lessons, Workshops on the Art
of Practical Gardening
In the Garden, Parrottsville, TN.
10am til 2:00, followed by Afternoon
Tea.Class size limited. $45 SAPS
members, $60 non-members. To
register email bccyphers@ hughes.net
or call 423-613-5197.
April 19
Green & Growing Garden Show &
Sale, 10 am – 5 pm at the Kingsport
Farmers Market. 423-392-8814 or
April 17-19
Spring Nature Festival. Warriors' Path
State Park. Seminars, hikes. Topics
include: spring wildflowers, tracking,
astronomy, stream life, local geology,
spring trees and more! Free but pre-
registration is required. 423-239-6786
or 423-239-8531 or
April 24-26
18th Annual Mid-Atlantic Garden
Faire, Southwest Virginia Higher Edu-
cation Center, Interstate 81, Exit 14,
One Partnership Circle, Abingdon,
VA. http://gardenfaire.net
April 24-26
57th Roan Mountain Naturalist Rally.
Seminars, hikes.
April 25
Spring Plant Sale. Knoxville Botanical
Garden. 9am-3pm. 865-862-871.
www.knoxgarden.org/
April 25-26
Exchange Place Spring Garden Fair
April 28
Weed and Feed Join fellow SAPS members to spruce
up the flower garden at the Netherland
Inn in Kingsport at 5 pm on Tuesday,
April 28. This annual get together and
community service project includes
about 1-1.5 hours of weeding and
planting flowers followed by a potluck
supper in one of the log cabins at the
Inn. SAPS provides wine/soft drinks,
plates, napkins and utensils. It's fun
and you get to know fellow SAPS
members. Please bring your favorite
weeding tool and a dish to share. This
year we will also be planting a tree in
memory of Laurie Feit in preparation
for the dedication ceremony at the Inn
on Saturday, May 2, at 11 am. For
more info call Celia Cox at 247-3637
May 1-3
26th Asheville Herb Festival. Western
NC Farmers Market, Asheville, NC.
Largest herb festival in Southeast.
May 21
SAPS Meeting. “Native Plants at Your
Fingertips -- Brought to you by TN
Smart Yards”, with Ruth Anne Hana-
han and Joy Stewart 7 pm at Kingsport
Renaissance Center
Mize Farm and Garden in Gray
April Seminar Schedule
April 4 Veg Container Gardening
with Master Gardener Jeanne Cope
April 11 Perennials with Master Gar-
dener Nina Hedrick
April 18 Chickens With Tiffany Stan-
ley, NPIP certified
All seminars will be held 10-11:30 am.
Free, but please call 423-467-2300 to
reserve a spot.
2015 Household Hazardous
Waste Collection
If you are a Tennessee resident and
your garage or cabinets contain house-
hold cleaning products, pesticides,
herbicides, pool chemicals, fertilizers,
out-of-date medicines or other hazard-
ous items you no longer need, you
have an opportunity to get rid of them
safely at the free annual household
hazardous free collection events
scheduled this spring.
Saturday, April 11,
9 am - 1 pm, at Daniel Boone High
School, at 1440 Suncrest Dr. in Gray.
423-753-1652.
Saturday, April 18,
9 am - 1 pm, at Sullivan Central High
School, 131 Shipley Ferry Rd.,
Blountville. (Just off Hwy 126 at I-81,
Exit 66). 423-279-2879
For a complete listing of acceptable
and unacceptable items see: http://
www.tn.gov/environment/solid-waste/
docs/hazcoll.pdf.
Three Native Plants For Your Landscape
By Hugh Conlon
Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) is nearly a perfect small
native tree for full or part sun gardens. Decorative 5 to 9
inch long reddish flower candles form at the tips of branch-
es in late April and May (USDA hardiness zones 6 - 8).
Hummingbirds will seek out the dark orange to scarlet tub-
ular blooms.
Lustrous, dark green, palmately compound leaves cover
branches from spring thru most of summer. Leaf diseases
and summer drought may scorch or mar leaves in late sum-
mer. Generally, leaves drop prematurely by September
ahead of other landscape trees.
Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica) shrub
flowers in late spring,
dark green, pest-free
summer foliage that
turns brilliant red in
fall (USDA hardiness
zones 5-9). It thrives
in full sun to partial
shade, and in moist,
mildly acidic soils.
Once established, it is also highly drought tolerant. Fertilize
with a slow release fertilizer in early spring.
VA sweetspire grows 4 to 6 feet tall and wide, depend-
ing on cultivar. Pruning is rarely needed except to remove
unwanted suckers after flowering has finished. Selected
cultivars include: ‘Henry’s Garnet’ @ 5-6 feet; ‘Little Hen-
ry’ @ 4 - 5 feet; or ‘Merlot’ @ 3 – 3 ½ feet.
Plumleaf azalea (Rhododendron pruni-
folium) is an Alabama/
southwest Georgia
native shrub that
blooms in late July
here in northeast TN
(USDA hardiness
zones 6-9). Orange-red
flowers brighten up
where it’s located in the garden in part day sun. A dark red
flower selection is also available. Flowers are not fragrant,
but do attract butterflies and bees.
Plumleaf azalea grows in average well-drained soil and
needs very little attention. Irrigate during summer dry
spells. Shrub seems almost soil pH insensitive, although
likely prefers an acidic range between 5.5 to 6.5. No diseas-
es, pests, or deer trouble it.
Pruning is rarely necessary. Plumleaf azalea grows 8-
10 feet tall, but may be maintained to 5-6 feet in height and
width.
Note: These wonderful natives are rarely sold at local gar-
den centers. Find them at native plant or at e-commerce
nurseries on-line.
For more information, visit Hugh’s website
www.whatgrowsthere.com.
The 31st annual Exchange Place Spring Garden Fair
will be held Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and
Sunday, April 26, from 12 - 5 p.m. at Exchange Place
Living History Farm, 4812 Orebank Road in Kingsport,
Tennessee. The oldest garden fair in the region, the event
will feature thousands of plants for sale - perennials,
annuals, trees and shrubs - with the emphasis on herbs,
natives and heirloom plants (including a wide variety of
heirloom tomatoes), along with garden related arts and
crafts. The Fair is also an educational and family event that
fills the grounds and buildings of the historic site, and
gardening experts will lead “Talks and Walks” and Master
Gardeners will be on hand to answer home gardening
questions throughout the weekend. Heritage breeds of
animals and the spring activities on a mid-1800’s farmstead
will be featured as volunteers shear the sheep, spin and
weave the wool, cook over the hearth, and shape iron over
the forge. Children's activities abound as volunteers help
children create garden crafts and learn gardening skills, and
area 4-H groups show their animals. Ol' timey music and
traditional foods add to the atmosphere. Admission is $3
for adults and free for children under 12. For more
information, call 423-288-6071 or go to
www.exchangeplace.info.
Exchange Place Spring Garden Fair Bloomin' Bucks Brent and Becky's Bulbs are now taking orders for Summer
Bulbs. (And Fall Planted Bulbs will be added to the website soon.)
So if you've been craving Dahlias, Colocasias, Lilies, Gladioli,
Caladiums, Crocosmia, Lycoris, Alstroemeria, or other summer
blooming bulbs, check out Brent and Becky's large selection of fine
quality bulbs and support SAPS at the same time.
Go to http://www.bloominbucks.com, and choose Southern
Appalachian Plant Society (SAPS) from the pull down menu, agree
to the terms, then off you go buying bulbs to beautify your garden,
while SAPS receives 25% of the bulb total! Also, on your digital
receipt, you will see the total you helped SAPS earn, which you can
then use for tax purposes!
By the way, Becky Heath will be speaking on Friday at the
Mid-Atlantic Garden Faire in Abingdon.
Volunteers Needed for
Jonesborough Garden Gala Volunteers are now being organized to
help in the gardens of Historic Jonesborough
for this year’s Garden Gala on Saturday, May
23, 2015. By volunteering, SAPS members
receive complimentary admission to the event
and, of course, the fabulous Tea. Some SAPS
members volunteer for this event every year,
but we would love to have newer ones, too. It
is an enjoyable way to see the gardens in His-
toric Jonesborough and have a wonderful after-
noon, so mark the date and plan to attend. To
volunteer please call Pam Pope at (423) 571-
7673 or email at [email protected].