News from Master Gardeners: soil blocks, swamp milkweed & more

bee on swamp milkweed flower
Swamp milkweed. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko

Check out these two publications from Master Gardeners in Western New York–they’re full of great information.

Learn about soil blocks in the newest edition of The Optimistic Gardener, produced by the Master Gardeners in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties.

You don’t need containers for seedlings when you have soil blocks, according to Mark Messinger, Master Gardener apprentice.

“You can see the roots fill out the blocks
completely, and instead of swirling around and tangling themselves, each root just stops
when it hits the air at the edge of the block,” Messinger said in the article. “That triggers new roots to form, and you end up with many small branching roots, rather than the long roots that need untangling. When that time comes to transplant, popping the blocks into a furrow couldn’t be easier.”

See the soil blocks article on page 3.

Swamp milkweed is the topic of an article in the newest edition of WNY Gardening Matters, produced by the Master Gardeners in Erie County.

Unlike common milkweed (Asclepias Syriaca ), which can spread too much for a small garden, swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) behaves well.

“Not only does this beautiful plant provide food for the monarch larva, it produces copious nectar that feeds many butterflies AND pollinators like honeybees,” said Lyn Chimera in the article.

Find out about sowbugs and pillbugs–they’re not bugs and they’re not insects. Learn more in this article.

5 Comments on “News from Master Gardeners: soil blocks, swamp milkweed & more

  1. Note: I have changed the text in the article so that it is now correct regarding the Latin name for common milkweed. Thanks for pointing that out, Joe!

  2. Hi Jen, you probably have butterfly weed or butterfly flower (Asclepias tuberosa), which is indeed a milkweed. Thanks for that tip!

  3. Hi Joe,

    Good catch! You are right. A. purpurascens is “purple milkweed”. Looks the same and has the same growing habits except the flower is deeper almost purple color. A. Syriaca which is common milkweed has a light pink color. Both would be aggressive in the garden but perfect for a meadow planting. Swamp Milkweed, A. incarnata, will reseed but the seedlings are easy to pull out.

    I apologize for not catching the error.

  4. If there are any other WNY gardeners out there who have had trouble keeping swamp milkweed starts alive, due to squirrels cutting off the tops (like they do with tulips) I just wanted to share that I’ve had success with growing orange-flowered butterfly weed (which is also a milkweed). You can see it and read about the different kinds here: https://savvygardening.com/monarch-butterfly-host-plant-milkweeds-grow-seed/

    I purchased a swamp milkweed from Reinstein Woods plant sale and it was decapitated by squirrels within the first 24 hours. Last year I purchased milkweed from the Buffalo Botanical Gardens and that was also killed immediately. However, the orange-flowered butterfly weed has been left alone by the squirrels and came back stronger this year. 🙂

  5. I was a little confused by the designation of A. purpurascens as “common” milkweed. I have always seen “common” milkweed identified as A. syriaca, while A. purpurascens is “purple” milkweed. I suspect they might both be “common”, in terms of their occurrence, though syriaca is what I usually see out on walks and hikes. It is usually 4′ or 5′ tall, whereas purpurascens is a lot shorter. However, I think they are both aggressive and the admonition against using them in a small garden is probably a good idea for both. I agree with swamp milkweed as a good alternative, though I have found it to also be a spreader, just not as aggressive. For that matter, I’ve also seen butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) spread, but again, it’s also better controlled.

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