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Arlena's GardenWise Report
Arlena writes a regular article in the local Paper "The Pulse". The Pulse is published twice a month
and is dedicated to the arts of Wisconsin.
The Heartbeat Center for Writing, Literacy and the Arts, Inc., The Pulse is delivered free to all homes
in those communities and surrounding areas. http://www.thepulsenews.org
Fall is for planting~~~ Nov 26 2012
Even as Fall turns to Winter here in
My number one Garden Wise Rule is “If I can dig a hole I can plant!
This stands true for all shrubs and trees that we may have purchased and intended on getting into the ground and there they are, still sitting in the driveway .Yes even I have a few perennials, trees, shrubs and spring flowering bulbs to get planted before the Wisconsin Winter takes hold.
A lot of us looked around at our landscape and there wasn’t as much beautiful Fall color as we would like there to be in our gardens. For instance we may have seen those beautiful bright Oranges ,Yellows and Reds of the Maple Trees and thought “I want a few of those” or maybe the bright Peach ,Red and Orange colors from some flowering shrubs and knew you had just the place for some of that fall color.
Is it too late to get those plants in the ground for the next fall color show? NO!
There is still time and a lot of options out there at our Independent Garden Centers and they are ready to help.
Here are a few of Garden Wise Livings Favorite Fall Color Providers.
Trees
Sugar Maple
Sugar maple offers gorgeous red, orange, or yellow fall color.
Growing Conditions: Sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 70 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Autumn Blaze Maple
Autumn Blaze Maple is one of the fastest and more upright of the maple trees. In the fall this tree is a stand out when its normally bright green leaves turn bright red.
Growing Conditions: Sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 45 feet.
Zones: 4-9
Ginkgo
Slow-growing ginkgo tree has fan shaped leaves that turn beautiful shades of golden-yellow. This is a small ornamental tree here in
Growing Conditions: Sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 18 feet.
Zones: 4-9
Flowering Crab Apple
Most Varieties of Flowering Crab Apple trees give us several shows during the season. First for its Spring Flowers, then its bright fruit that feed the birds and the finally comes with their fall color that will depend on the variety that you plant.
Growing Conditions: Sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 28 feet.
Zones: 4-9
Shrubs
Burning Bush
Burning bush is well known for its rounded habit, green leaves in the summer and gorgeous red color in the fall.
Growing Conditions: Sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Standard will grow to 12 feet, Dwarf will grow to 4 feet.
Zones: 4-9
Birch leaf Spirea
Birch Leaf Spirea is one on of my new favorite flowering shrubs to add to any landscape. In the spring the well rounded shrub has tiny green leaves followed by a bursting of itty bitty white flowers. In the fall she changes to many colors, yellow, peach and then bright orange.
Growing Conditions: Sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: 3-4 feet tall
Zones: 3-8

Tiger Eyes Sumac
Tiger Eyes Sumac is a relatively new variety that I am very fond of for her beautiful fall colors that range from Bright Yellow to gorgeous shades of
Growing Conditions: Sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: 5 feet tall
Zones: 3-8
Now for those top question that have been asked for the past few weeks.
Q: Becka from
A: Becka you are not alone!! No it is not too late. Get them planted now and enjoy them this spring but don’t wait to long the ground is cooling as we speak!
Q: Lisa from Osseo WI writes : I have always wanted to plant a Flowering Crab Apple in memory of my grandmother, we have a lot of family coming for thanksgiving will it be to late to plant one then.
A: Lisa this is such a wonderful Idea and a great way to remember a loved one through out the years. No it is not too late. What I suggest is to get to your local
when the family comes plant the tree as if it were summer and add your soil. Say a nice blessing and enjoy!
Fall blessings and don’t forget to Garden Wise
Joe Knight from the Leader Telegram did a story on Arlena and Garden Wise with Arlena that ran in last Mondays paper right along with all the news on our Green Bay Packers star quarterback Brett Favre.
To read this article

Local Producers brought home several Working with Mom on the production of shows seems to have rubbed off on Arlena’s daughter Demi- Jo, who got a Merit Award for her show “Kids Corner” which was an entry in the Children’s category. Demi-Jo attends the Osseo-Fairchild School. The segment featured Demi – Jo, her Nephew Trent and her friend Emma making Gingerbread Houses during the Christmas season. Ron Henry from Osseo received the Significant Community Program Award which acknowledges volunteers in each Community whose productions have been shown to generate a meaningful community impact. Besides being an occasional employee of TCCTV recording sports events, Ron has for several years volunteered to tape a large number of programs on his own time. He has recorded many concerts at the Independence Opera House; just recently he taped the UW Marching Band and the Stoughton Norwegian Dancers at the All in all it was a good showing for |
-MILLS
FALLON STAR PRESS CORRESPONDENT
July 14, 2006
Do you remember Arlena's Garden Shop Nursery on the Reno Highway? If you do you have been living in Churchill County for at least eight years. Since then Arlena moved to Wisconsin but soon, if you watch the local public access station, you will see her doing what she loves best; talking about gardening and related matters.
No, Arlena is not moving back to Fallon but she is doing an internationally televised gardening show called "Garden Wise with Arlena". Her show soon will start airing every two weeks on Carson, Reno/Sparks, and Fallon public access television. Recently she was in Fallon to film a program on the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, Lattin Farms and farmers' market.
Arlena got started with public television about three years ago when Wisconsin was having its version of a drought; no rain for two weeks! She had started a nursery and landscaping business there and observed that people were not watering their trees and shrubs. Her 14 years of experience in the nursery business in Fallon told her that "if these people didn't start watering their landscapes soon, they would lose them over the winter," she said.
So Arlena called her local public access station and asked the manager to do a program on the need for watering landscapes during a drought. She pointed out that the manager told her he "didn't have anyone to do it, but if she would like to, he would send a cameraman out." She agreed and to her surprise the cameraman ended up being the station manager. She said she had such a good time doing the film clip and the station manager was so impressed that he urged her to start a regular show. There was just one catch; Arlena would have to find her own cameraman.
To Arlena this was no problem since she said she had "a supportive, talented husband and talented children." So she started filming a regular program with either her husband or one of her children running the camera. Sometimes they would also get in on the project to be filmed and Arlena could see how they reacted to being on camera. She said her son Brett, now 18, is quite a ham and daughters Dina and Ashley, 24 and 23 respectively, "loved working the camera so much they are now professional photographers." Her husband is talented musically and, together with some of his musical friends, does the background music.
Soon there were requests from other public access stations and Arlena looked for more stations to add. Her program became so popular that now a cameraman has been assigned to her show and she is viewed not only in Wisconsin but also Dublin, Ireland and Adelaide, Australia. Soon she will also be viewed right here in Central and Western Nevada.
She said she does programs on music in the garden, herb gardening, irises, potatoes, compost production, gardening tools, archaelogy, barbecuing, brewing, and making coffee. Arlene explained that "some of these topics may seem a bit unrelated to gardening but to me and my viewers they are related, because gardening is related to everything and everything is related to gardening." For more information on "Garden Wise with Arlena" and when it will first air in Fallon, go to www.arlenagwise.com .
Arlena's next venture is going to be a magazine entitled "Garden Wise with Arlena" and it will mirror the topics on her television show. Family members again will be very involved with her daughters obtaining more photography experience.
Who knows what other talents this venture may expose in her family since she has another child, DemiJo who is 12?