AMES, Iowa – Landscape color themes are a highlight of the 2009 Garden Calendar just released by Iowa State University Extension.
Illustrated with more than 70 color photographs, the calendar features monthly gardening tips.There also is room to record your own gardening notes for future reference. Designed as a 12x9-inch booklet, the calendar also is punched so it can be used as a 12x18-inch wall calendar.
Cindy Haynes and Richard Jauron, ISU Extension horticulture specialists, prepared the calendar, which provides tips for using color in the landscape. “Color is often the first feature we see when looking at a garden, flower arrangement or landscape,” Haynes said. “Plants, containers, deck and fence materials, arbors and walkways all contribute to our overall impression of color.”
The calendar has an illustrated section on how to use color combinations in the home landscape, including monochromatic colors, analogous colors, warm colors, cool colors and complementary color pairs or trios.
Each month features a specific color with one full page photo and several smaller photos of plants or objects found in the garden that posses the featured color To assist gardeners, a list of plants is provided for each color. The list contains annuals, perennials and woody plants for each specific color. A literary quotation on the featured color also is included for each month.
The calendar includes a map of cold hardiness zones in Iowa as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a list of ISU Extension horticulture publications on general garden topics, fruits, garden flowers, houseplants, trees and shrubs, and vegetables and herbs. A list of phone numbers for horticulture resources at the university also is provided.
The 2009 Garden Calendar, PM 815, is available from local ISU Extension county offices or can be ordered from the ISU Extension Online Store at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/store/ or at (515) 294-5247. Cost is $6 plus shipping and handling.
Haynes and Jauron were assisted in preparing the 2009 calendar by Diane Nelson, extension communication specialist, and Jane Lenahan, extension graphic designer. Photography was provided by Peter Krumhardt.
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