By Cathie Draine, Special to the Journal

Searing heat and growling blizzards evoke the same response in me: I retreat, grudgingly, indoors and clean closets, drawers and files. I start looking for a place to put al lof the small, miscellaneous (obviously important) bits and pieces. It’s the same with gardening. It’s hot. I’m going through magazines, notes and files. Here are the bits and pieces.

Mulch, glorious mulch

It’s not wishful thinking. Notice as you drive through Rapid City neighborhoods and commercial areas that more and more people are using organic mulch in and on gardens and in landscaping. After almost driving the car up a light pole because my attention was caught by the recently finished landscaping surrounding the restored office building at 832 St. Joseph St., I called Ron Schmidt for permission to discuss the property. He referred me to his wife, Priscilla, who was the driving force not only of the landscaping project but also the rehabilitation of the historic building, bought in April 2003. Built in 1915 and landscaped with a grass lawn, hedge and two trees, it had been used previously as a funeral home, a residential hotel and a retail furrier. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior in February 2004. Restoration was aided by the receipt of a Deadwood grant in April 2004.

Priscilla found an enthusiastic partner in Liz Albrecht, a landscaper at Heritage Nursery, who acted on Pricilla’s criteria for the site — easy care of hardy plants, pleasing plant color and texture in all seasons, plants that are appropriate to the vintage and the use of the building. “Generally,” Priscilla said, “I thought that the plantings should anchor the building, soften its look and provide a break from brick and concrete. I want them to grow fast so that I can see if they do what I imagine.”

The plants, all well mulched, are on a drip irrigation system. They should grow well with no competition from grass, require minimum care and deliver on all of the artistic expectations. They include Cotoneaster, Boston ivy, Karl Forester grass, Hughes juniper, Mugo pine, Viburnum “Alfredo,” Crimson Pygmy Barberry and Dart’s Red Spirea.

Tenants of the building include a branch of the Schmidt, Schroyer, Moreno, Lee and Bachand law firm, All Continents Travel, Grable Investment Services and Fennell Design.

The magazines

The July/August 2006 copy of The American Gardener, the magazine of the American Horticultural Society, is so on target with gardening issues that apply to us that it reminds me of how highly I regard the AHS.

Lee Reich, the author of “Weedless Gardening,” wrote an article on drip irrigation (trickle irrigation) that should be required reading for every gardener here. He clearly describes the advantages of drip irrigation over soaker hoses. Installing, maintaining and modifying a drip system is extremely simple. We have used drip systems on the windbreaks for a decade. Ask your local hardware store or nursery if they do or could carry drip system components. The article lists a number of sources, all with Web sites.

Elsewhere in the magazine is a write-up on Colorado State University’s new, first-in-the-nation, science-based organic agriculture program for undergraduates. (About time.) To learn more, go to http://organic.colostate.edu.

There is also an article on research done at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln on the desiccating (drying) effect of wind on plants. They studied three measures, antitranspirant spray on a plant’s leaves, polyacrylamide gel on the roots and external protection by a windbreak. The results (drum roll, please) show that physical protection is the best, followed by the gel and the antitranspirant. This wind protection can be provided by walls, fences, trees and shrubs. Many of us know, advocate and use wind protection for the gardens, but it is grand to have the belief validated by the study.

And a small notice states that earlier this year the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened a new research facility to focus on the challenges of growing in dry climates. Among other things, the center in Maricopa, Ariz., will study water management and conservation, pest management and biocontrol (as opposed to chemical control) and plant physiology and genetics. They further state that this research is likely to benefit home gardeners. The final statement — and who needs reminding? — is that severe or extreme drought affects about 12 percent of the United States.

Check www.ahs.org for more information about the American Horticultural Society and to explore their many helpful links.

Name that Plant

Plant families, like other families, are made of many very different members. It pays to remember that, I told myself, after being asked to identify a plant in a garden at the Hot Springs garden walk. The plant was Lychnis chalcedonica, Jerusalem or Maltese Cross, but not the one, the only one it transpired, that I was familiar with. The one that grows in our garden is L. coronaria, also known as Dusty Miller, (but not the one you are thinking of) or rose campion. I have also heard members of this family called Ragged Robin, Scarlet Pimpernel and catchfly. Here is an example of needing to know the Latin botanical name.

Name that pollinator

While I was working in the garden last week, I spent some time looking for insect activity on the tiny flowers of the sedum alba Stu Steele. Each flower petal is incredibly small, less than 1/4-inch long. As I watched, I was embarrassed to discover why I had never seen butterflies and bees. They are far too large to service the tiny flowers. Instead, the pollinators are tiny, sleekly designed fly-like insects. The mystery, although not the name, of the pollinator of that ethereal sedum is solved — I think.

Cathie Draine is a member of the Garden Writers Association and a SDSU/Pennington County Extension Service Master Gardener. She lives and gardens in Black Hawk. Readers may send comments or questions to her in care of The Rapid City Journal, Box 450, Rapid City SD 57709.