VOL. 8, NO. 9 The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension SEPTEMBER 1997

Cochise County Master Gardener

Ne4i/4Jtette/t^The University of Arizona and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.

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PLANT PROFILE-

The Third Annual

Texas RangerRoundup!

Family: Scrophulariaceae(Figwort Family)Common names: Texas ranger,bm'ometer bush, Texas sage,C«uza

Range: Native to Texas andMexico. Foundgrowing on rockylimestone hillsides, plains, calichehabitats, and along arroyos.

Each year to celebrate my anniversary witii the newsletter, Iwrite about my tiivorite plant, theLeucophyllum species. The firstarticle can be found in the August1995 newsletter and the second in

the 1996 July edition. T^cas rangers are a hardy and carefiree plant.Tolerant of poor soils, winds,drought, and heat—a great plantfor tiie xetic garden.

Rangers are evergreen,altiioughextended drought or cold cancause some leaf drc^. Bloom occurs during the warm, w^

summer mmiths when the humid

ity is high and color ranges fi'omwhiteto pinky roses and shades ofpurple.

This year I've added four morerangers to my growing collection.Leucophyllum "Rain Coud' is outof Texas A & M and is a hybridbetween L. minus and L. frutes-cens. Growth habit is vertical to 6

feet taU and 3-4 feet wide. Tall

"Texas rangers—^thegreatest plants on earth!''

and narrow which is unusual for a

ranger. Foliage is silver-grey withviolet blue flowers. L. revolutum'Houdini' is firom Mountain States

and has very large, showy purpleflowers and blooms profiisely.Growth pattern is like its cousin'Sierra MagicMix' to a heightandspread of four feet.L. zygohyllum'Cimarron' is another selection

fi-om Mountain States and is greatfor tight spaces-only growing 3feet tall by 3 feet wi^. Foliage issoft grey and the leaves cup up.Blooms more profusely than 'Blue

Ranger* with light blue coloredflowers. This ranger is less sus-c^tible to overwatering than others. L. frutescens 'MountainCloud' is ^ latest ranger in the"Cloud Series." Height is fram4-8 feet with a 4-6 ft spread.Foliage is light green with lavenderflowers.

Random recoit findings: Indians dry tiie leaves and flowers tomake a tea. In the U of A Extension OfiBce, Sierra Vista, cuttingsof a Texas ranger weretakenandarranged in a vase. The foliageand flowers have dried and areholding up beautifiiUy. The flowers hold on to their color so tiieymake nice dried arrangementmaterial.

On a sad note, Benny Simpson,who is responsible for introducingthe 'Texas A&M Cloud Series"passed away after Christmas.May his memory live on in themany gardens that feature hisrairgers.

Texas rangers—The GreatestPlants on Eartir!

Cheri Melton

Master Gardener/StaffWriter

Cochise County Cooperative Extension450 Haskeil, Wilicox, AZ 85643(520)384-3594

1140 N. Colombo, Sierra Vista, AZ 8S635(520) 458-8278, Ext 141

Ripping up lawn leads tolawsuit in N.M.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M—Thehomeowners association of theTowne Park community is suing aresident for breaking its covenantsby ripping up her grassy lawn andreplacing it with landscaping nativeto the Soudiwest.

The unidentified woman said shewasjust trying to be a good citizaiby rq>lacing normative bluegrass,which sucks up dwindling water reserves, with water-corrserving, native plants.

"IWs little bit ofgrass made thiscommunity different from othercommunities," Towne Prnk boardmember Joseph Gironda said."Practically everybody who purchased out here purchasedwidi theunderstanding tl^ there would begrass in frrmt lawns."

Cuttings'N'

Clippings> Cochise County Master Gardeners Association meets monthly,the first Wednesday at 5:00 pm.All certified Master Gardeners and

Trainees are invited to att«id. Call

die Sierra Vista Coqierative Extension office for the meetinglocaticm.

>• The Cochise CountyFair takesplace Septonber 17-21 at the fiur-grounds in Douglas. Fair bookletsare available in the CocqierativeExtension offices.

"BROWN BAS" liECTURE/WORKSHOP SERIES

For six consecutive weeks, the following will be offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays: ^Each Wednesday"Brown Bag" lecture will be heldat The UofASierraVista Campus InRoom 106from noon to 1 p.m.Comeduring yourlunch hourand bring your lunch! EachSaturday workshop will be held at The UofASierraVista Campusfrom 9 a.m. -10 a.m., EXCEPT on Sept. 13 whenthe workshop will be at the bandshell inVeterans Park from 9 a.m. - noon.

There will be a charge of$3for eachsession (except Saturday 13, which is free). There Isa discount for pre-registratlon.Send $25 forall 11 sessions on or before Sept. 3 to The UofACooperative Extension WaterWiseProgram, 1140N.Colombo, Sierra Vista, A2, 85635.or callforscholarship Information, 458-8278. ext. 141.

Week 1: Sept. 10 (Wed) Lecture: "Landscape Design" RosinaHarmony, Certified LandscapeArchitectSept. 13 (Sat) 9 a.m. - noon Workshop: Tree Planting and Care, Bandshell inVeteransPaik —trees will be forsale!

Week 2: Sept. 17 (Wed) "What Kindof Soil Do You Have?" Don Sreckenfeld, Resource Soil Specialist, USDASept. 20 (Sat) Workshop: Location ofSoilTypes

Week 3: Sept. 24 (Wed): Lecture: "Rain Water Management" Steve Kimble and CarolEscott, Certified PermaculturistsSept. 27 (Sat): Workshop: Constructionof Water HarvestingSystems.

Week 4: Oct. 1 (Wed): Lecture: "Plant Selection" Jan Groth, A.C.N.P., Landscaper/DesignerOct. 4 (Sat): Workshop: Planting Techniquesand Landscape Maintenance

Week 5: Oct. 8 (Wed): Lecture:"Irrigation" DeForest Lewis, MasterGardener, A.C.L.P.Oct. 11 (Sat): Workshop: Installation and Repair of Im'gation Systems.

Week 6: Oct. 15 (Wed): Lecture: "Home Hot WaterSystems Retrofit and Plumbing," presenterTBAOct. 18 (Sat): Workshop: Simple Home Plumbing Repairs *

(D —Sponsors: CochiseCounty. CityofSierraVista, AZWaterCo.,BellaVistaWaterCo.,POSWaterCo.,SSVEC, The UofACoojwsrative Extension.

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> The Sierra Vista Area Garden

er's Club meets the third Thursdayof the month at 2:00 pm at the Sierra Vista Library. Everyone is invited to attend. Members are askedto start saving their seeds for aseed exchange at the 1998 IfighDesert Gardening & LandscapingCtmference.

^ titDesert Gardening

& Landscaping ConferenceFebruary 12-14,1998

Newsletter Staff:

Peggy DierkingCarolynGruenhagenCheri Melton

Virginia Westphal

Robert E. Call,Extension Agent, Horticulture

The Virtual Gardener-

Water, Water Everywhere

Someone once said that die dueebiggest problems &ced by gardeners in the High Desert are water,water, and water. We are mostaware ofthis in die hot, dry mondisof late spring and early summerwhen we can't s^m to pourenough water on our plants to keepthem alive. We watch them dessi-

cate right before our eyes in the super dry air, and we yearn for diesummer rains, knowing diat thehigher humidity, cooler temperatures, and abundant raindill willmake our gardens flourish. Howironic, then, that some of our mostprized plants seem to languish inthe rain and sometimes even die. It

doesn't se^ dur that a plant wecarefully nursed through the dangerous dry season begins to diewhen life-giving rains begin to fall.What's happening?

You may be temptedto think thatyour plant has somehowgrown intolerant of water during the longdry seasm or perlums has fellenprey to some water-borne disease.Although disease is always a possibility, another likely cause—andone that should always be investigated— is death by drowning. Ourheavy clay soils, ofien liberallylaced with caliche, compact to aconcrete-hard substance ^t is impervious to penetration by water.When we dig (or blast!) small holesin this stuff to create homes for our

plants, we create sumps whererainwater collects and never drains

away. The submerged roots of theplants that live in these holes become starved for oxygen and theplants die. So what's a gardener todo?

If you have a caliche probl^tiie New Mexico State UniversityCollie of Agriculture and HomeEconomics has a Web page(http://elroy.iimsu.edu/CAHE/retops/a-127.html) just for you. Theauthor. County Extension Agent C.E. Siepel, points out that in addition to creatii^ water problems,caliche can restricta plant's abilityto use soil nutrients by reducingroot penetration and creatinga highpH environment. For this reason itis a good idea to keep plant rootsout of contact with the caliche.Caliche soils can bemanaged bybreaking up and physically removing the calicheand back filling thehole with a good soil mixture. Theauthor suggests that reasonablesized holes range from 2 feet deepby 6 inches wide tor flower beds toa whopping 6 feet deep by 8 toetwide for large trees. Before installing a plant, every hole should bechecked for drainage by partiallyfilling it with water and watchinghow tost the water level drops.About 1 inch per hour is mi acceptable rate. If the hole does not drainproperly, you need to either dig itdeeper or at least punch some drainholes in the bottom.

Ifyou have a h^vy clay soil, youneed to amend it so that it absorbswater and can better provide nutrients to your plants. Oregon StateUniversity has an excellent Webpage (http://wwwagcomm.ads.

orstedu/AgComWebFile/Garden/soil/howtoimproveclaysoU.html)describing how to ^ tUs. The keyis to work in plenty oforganic material and san4 but the sand shouldonly be added after the organic material so that you don't create natural concrete instead of garden soil.A couple of inches of compost orother organic material and a similaramount of sand should be thor

oughly mixed into the top 6 or 7inches of soil. Since the organicsdecomposeslowly to yield nutrientsfor plants, the b^t time to add tiieorganicmaterialto the soil is in theautumn.

BeforeI sign off for this month, Iwant to invite you to the CochiseCountyMaster Gardeners Association 'Tli^ On Trees" adopt-a-treeprogram to be held at VeteransMemorial Park Bandshell in Sierra

Vista fi'om 9:00 am to noon on

September 13th. For the price of90 minutes of your time to attend aclass on the planting and care oftrees in the High Desert, you canadopt a tree. If you're not interest^ inadopting a tree, come anyway. The class on tree care willbewell worth your time. Don't missit!

Gary A. Gruenhagerr, Master Gardener(ffvenhci@c2i2.com)

September^T^eminder^s

• Keep on watering!• You can always plantsomething-try cool season veggies• Start shopping for bulbs{Bulbs for Southern Arizonabulletin is available fi'om the co

operative Extension offices)

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Harvesting& Preserving Herbs

Part 2For drying herbs on a screen,

Ihere are commercially made driersor you can use one made from oldwindow screening elevated bywood, bricks, books, or rocks.Make sure the air will circulateover and under the screen. Wash

the herb leaves, blot dry and carefully remove them from the stems.Place leaves on Ihe screen to dry,turning once or twice to make certain they dry evenly. The windowscreens can be stacked several highby cris-crossing them on each otherto conserve space. If using a commercial drier, follow the instructions with it.

A third way to dry herbs is in themicrowave by placing leaves in asingle layer between two papertowels. Dry for 2 minutes and thecontinue to microwave for 30 sec

ond intervals rmtil leaves are brit

tle. For future reference, keeprecords of how long each varietytakes to dry.

A few herbs lose color or flavor

when dried. Chervil, chives, fetmeland biunet are best preserved byfreezirig. Parsley and dill can bestored for a short time in the refrigerator if wrapped in a moist papertowel. Bumet, chervil, fennel, parsley and tarragon benefit fromblanching in boiling water for 1minutes and cooled in ice water be

fore being wrt^ped and frozen.The other herbs just need to bewashed, stems remove4 leaveswrapped in aluminum foil or plastic bags and frozen.

For convenience, herbs may bepackaged in amoimts to be used.One way to do this is by placing 2cups of herbs in a blender with 1cup of water and blend well. Pourthe mixture into ice cube trays andfreeze. The cubes can be stored in

plastic bags for quick and freshseasoningsin soups and stews.

Herb leaves retain more flavor ifth^r are left whole and crushed orground as needed. If a storedherbhas no scent even after crushing, itwill have no flavor and should bediscarded. Store dried herbs awayfrom light and heat in airtightc(»itainers.

Leonora FrankeMG Trainee

^ij£,n aq%£,£,n t^wnusiiffnes-ds.

outfcruiqeti.

ITS FALL!

Fall is upon us and that means two things. It is the preferred time forplanting in the high desert and Fall Plant Sales! Perennials, shrubs andtrees grow about 80% or more of their root growth in late summer andearly fall. With anestablished root system bynext spring, plants will beable to handle the harsh dry winds of spring and the extreme heat ofsummer.

After planting don't forget to add a 2 inch layer of mulch. This willprotect die roots from temperature swings inthe winter and keq) the rootztHie cool in the summer.Tohono Chul Park will hold their fell plant sale October 4th & 5th,8am-5pm. Tel # (520)742-6455.Desert Survivors sateis October 3rd (members only,4-dark) 4th (8-4)&5th (10-4). Tel # (520) 791-9309.Tucson Desert Botanical Gardens sale is on October 4th (10-4) and 5th(12-4). Tel # (520) 326- 9686.Visit the Boyce Thompson Southwest Arboretum October 17th thruNovember 2nd from 8-5 for their two week sale. Tel # (520) 689-2723.

Here are two great local sources to buy native plants: Diamond JKNursery in Sonoita is located at the base of the communication tower.Speciality items include cacti, succulents, wildflower and native grassseed. Hours are Wednesday thru Saturday from 8 am to 2:30 pm. Contact JimKoweek at (520)455-9262. In ElMda,you can buy nativeplantsgrown by Peter Gierlach at the High Lonesome Trading Company located at 10343 Hwy 191. Hours are 8-5:30 Monday-Friday and Saturday 8-1. Both locations carry hard to find and unusu^ natives and ifyoucan't find it - ask! Special orders are welcome to locate that special plantfor your garden!

Cheri MeltonMaster Gardener/StaffWriter

./

The Agent'sObservations

Round growth are oc-Scurring on die leaf

my home. What iscausing this and is it haimfiil to dietrees?

The round growths

H^Mvour trees i

Sliii^^of a petiote gall-forming aphid, with a scientificname of Pemphigus popuUcaulis.These aphids induce globose gallson the leaf petiole of cottonwoodand other poplar specie. No leafblade distortion occurs fi'om die

gall formation. Cutting open thegalls will revealdie aphids. Thelife cycle of theseinsects takes placein one year. Eggs,the product of sexual unicai, are laidin autumn in crev

ices of the bark.

They hatch inspring, andnymphs feed on

newly developing leafpetioles. In afew days the up folding of gall tissue completely encloses the stationary stem mother. Birth of young isparthenogenically (meaning cloned) while confin^ inside the gall ina hollow chamber. These young,\ishen mature, have wiiigs. Duringmidsummer a slit-like orifice devel

ops, allowing the winged ^hids toescape and fly to the roots of secondary host plants in the Cruciferor Composite femily where they

PemphiguspopUtaaUlsgall

produceseveralgenerations. In latesummer winged aphids that developed on the secondary host plantsfly back to the primary host, cot-tcmwood trees. Mating occurs andtte female lays the eggs thatoverwinter.

Control: Because the gall-formingaphids do litde damage to the affected tre^ control measures are

not recommmled.

Source: Insects That Feed on

Trees and Shrubs. 1991. Warren

T. Johnson and Howard H. Lyon.Cornell University Press, Ithaca,NY. pp.461-462.

Several insects have

ing on my plants. They^^^^Sare olive/brown in

and look like an

elongated beetle. Their legs arevery long. What are these and howcan I control them?

the rose

chafer {Macrodactylus

These are general feeder' although it is associated

widi roses and grapes. Feedingalso occurs on raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, peony, iris,dahlia, hollyhock, and odier oma-moital flowers and shrubs. This

pest is abundant in areas havinglight, sandy soil. The beetle feedson flowers, leaves, fiuits and thelarvae feed in the soil on roots of

various grasses and weeds. Thelarvae are small 'Miite grubs thatpass the winterdeep in the soil andmigrate upward in the sprmg.Th^r pupate in late April andemerge as long l^ed ^ults inMay and early June. Feeding andmating occur, smnetimes simul ta-neously, in June and July, the eg^

being deposited siiigly a few inchesbelow the soil surfece. Hatchiiigtakes place in two weeks andfeed

until cold

weather ap-proadied,being nearlyfiill grown.They thenbe^ migratingdown into

the soil to

avoid cold

weaflier.

One generation occurs

per year.

Control: .Any insecticide whether"organic" or conventional will destroy the adults while they feed ifth^ occur in largenumbers. Manyyears there is a limited populationand limiteddamage. With many insects cold winters decrease theirpopulation. Cold weather, howeverwill not eradicate insects. The pastfew winters in Cochise Countyhave be^ feirly mild allowing increase insectpopulations to surviveandr^roduce.Source: Insect Pests of Farm,Garden, and Orchard. 7th Edition.1979. Ralph H. Davidson andWilliam F. Lyon. John Wiley & Sons,New Yoik. pp.436.

Robert E. CallExtension Agent, Horticulture

Macrodactylus subspinosus

F.Y.I. Many insects in yourgarden may be the plants' besttnends, and you will want to takestq}s to protect and encouragethem. Lacewings, for exanq)le,feedon a variety of mites and insects that damage plants. Severalspecies of smallwasps attack immature stages ofwhitefly.

4ued in furtherance ofCooperative Extension work, acts ofMay 8and June 30,1914, incooperation with the United States Department ofi<^ncuhure, James A.^Christeipon,Director, Coop^ive Extension, College ofAgriculture, The University ofArizona and Arizona Counties coupling. The University ofArizona College ofAgriculture is anequal opportunity employer authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals andinstitutions thatfunction without regard to sex,race, religion, color, national origin, age, Vietnam Era Veteran's status, or disability.The information givenhereinis suppliedwiththe understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Cooperative Extensionis impliedAnyproducts, services, or organizations that arementioned, shown, or indirectly implied in thispublication do notimplyendorsement by the University of Arizona.

Page 5

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

TUCSON, ARIZONA 85721

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300

Cochise County Master Garden^ Association presents

X

BULK RATE

POSTAGE & FEES PAH)USDA

PERMIT No. G268

September 13,1997. an adopt-a-tree program

at the bandsheil in Veterans Memorial Park, Sierra Vista.Following a 90 minute Tree Planting and Care workshop each

person will be ailowed to "adopt" a tree for a potting fee .

Registration begins at 8:00 am— workshop at 9:00 am(Varieties Include Eucalyptus microtheca, Chilopsis linearls, &Rhus ovata)

For further information call The U of A Cooperative Extension, 458-8278, Ext. 141.