looseleaf - university of maryland · 11 developing a school butterfly garden . looseleaf july 2016...
TRANSCRIPT
The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation,
physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression.
LOOSELEAF
A Publication of the Howard County Master Gardeners
3300 NORTH RIDGE ROAD, SUITE 240 ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21043
(410)313-2707 FAX (410)313-2712
http://www.extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/howard-county-master-gardener
JULY 2016
Program Update from Georgia
Looking at the calendar, summer has arrived so no doubt you are all busy with your gardens and the University of Maryland Extension Howard County Master Gardeners summer programs!
The Howard County Fair is scheduled for early August this year. We have a new, exciting exhibit to help get our message out to Howard County residents, and we'll need a great deal of staffing from Sunday, August 7 through Saturday, 13. Please consider volunteering, and while you're there be sure
to take some time to enjoy the Fair activities and exhibits! Look for contact information in this month's Looseleaf to volunteer for a two-hour shift.
Last year in the fall, we had an annual luncheon meeting. It was well received by many of you as a good opportunity to learn more about the MG committees and activities. And we all enjoyed the lunch and networking too. So I'd like to ask you to put Tuesday, September 20, from noon to 2:30 pm, on your calendar for our next luncheon. It will be held in the conference room at UME. I'll share more details next month!
Enjoy the results of your labor in the landscape/garden and be sure to include some relaxation and enjoyment of the season!
Georgia
- Georgia Eacker, Master Gardener Coordinator, WSA Liason
410-313-1913 [email protected]
INSIDE -
2 MGs volunteer for Howard County Fair
3 Continuing Education Speakers
4 Ask a MG
5 Volunteer at Mt Pleasant
6 Latin for Gardeners: blueberry
7 Baywise certification
8 MG Day at Enchanted Garden
9 Barberry Removal at MPEA
10 Aromatic Herbs
11 Developing a school butterfly garden
Looseleaf July 2016 page 2
Calendar Highlights for July
View the MG electronic calendar in your preferred
format: Month, Week or Agenda. Click here for
the calendar. You’ll find times, locations, and
contact info for these events in July.
7 Xeriscape presentation
10 Summer Spectacular, Robinson
12 Continuing Education
11 Bay-wise meeting
20 LooseLeaf Deadline!
23 Ask a Vegetable Gardener
Work Days @
Enchanted Garden, Tuesdays
Whipps, Thursdays
HC Conservancy, Fridays
Ask a Master Gardener
Volunteer for a session or two!
Catch the Gardening Fever with the MG Display
at the Howard County Fair
This year our table will be chock-full of interesting craft and gar-
dening projects to pull in Fair participants. Our goal is to inspire
and encourage them to catch the “gardening fever” no matter how
small their involvement. Children will be able to design their own
pizza toppings (using laminated paper vegetables/herbs). Some
will even be surprised to learn which ingredients can be grown at
home in their own pizza garden or small pots.
A brief review of the three posters at the beginning of your shift
should make it easier to discuss these topics with fairgoers. We
certainly encourage you to pepper in your own favorite gardening
experiences. Our third poster will show correct placement and
pruning of shrubs and trees. It will also give you an opportunity to
talk about the scourge of “Murdered Myrtles” which is rampant on
the east coast!
Our hope is that this will make your volunteer hours pass by
quickly and provide you with a jumping off point for enthusiastic
discussions.
NOTE: Please do not put craft instructions out on the table.
Keep them in a file box on the floor. They are for adults only
due to the limited number. Instructions are available for:
Kokedamas, Hypertufa, Garden Stones, and Tipsy Pot
Towers.
2016 MG Fair Committee
Volunteer for the MG Exhibit
at the Howard County Fair
We typically have a great location to meet and greet Howard County residents! It’s an ideal opportunity to
talk about gardening, and to recruit for the intern class of 2017. We’re looking for volunteers every day
during the Fair from Sunday, Aug. 7 through Saturday, Aug. 13.
Select your favorite two-hour shift starting at 11:00 am and ending at 9:00 pm. There are six shifts per day,
so you may even want to sign up for more than one! Parking is free and you’ll get a pass to enter the Fair.
Interns will be paired with an experienced MG. If you would like to work one or more shifts, please contact
MG Michele Wright at 410-465-6057 (before 9:00 pm, please) or [email protected].
Looseleaf July 2016 page 3
MGs, Watershed Stewards, Master Naturalists and their guests are welcome to attend. All sessions will be held at the UME office, except for the field trip on Sept.13. Check the MG electronic calendar for updates. For questions, contact: Karin DeLaitsch [email protected]; or, Joanna Cumbie [email protected]
2016 Continuing Education Speaker Series
JULY 12
9:30 – 10:30 AM
The Pollinator Observation Survey – Follow-up
Olivia Bernauer, Masters Student at University of MD – Dept. of Entomology
Participants in the Pollinator Survey are invited to a short follow-up training session. This will be a time to ask ques-tions about pollinator observations and to confirm pollinator identifications.
AUG 9
9:30 - 11:00 am
CORRECTION: There is no charge for this workshop
Woodland Gardening Workshop
Lyle Almond, Forest Stewardship Edu-cator at Wye Research and Education Center
Lyle Almond will cover the basics of an ecologi-cal landscape gardening practice that seeks to balance functional, aesthetic, and environmental performance standards focusing on both the rationale and the meth-ods for reducing and replacing turf lawns, using a pal-ette of native plants to increase ecosystem diversity, managing stormwater runoff, and inviting wildlife to share our landscape with us. He will then discuss sever-al of the aesthetic principles of designing the woodland garden, including distilling the essence of the forest, sculpting with layers to orchestrate light in the understo-ry, and using organic architecture to create portals, pathways, and woodland sanctuaries by choreo-graphing textured foliage in mixed plantings.
SEPT 13
Time TBD
Field trip to Patuxent Research Ref-uge (PRR)
Anne Cottle, MG
Orientation video of PRR goals and research methods, a schoolyard habitat tour, and a tram tour of the South tract. Note: this location is in Prince Georges County.
OCT 11
9:30 - 11:00 am
Bringing It Together
Ann Coren, MG
Ann teaches how to garden for pollinators, birds and water quality. She brings concepts from soil science, insect and songbird life cycles, native plant ecosystems, food garden-ing, and simple "how to’s."
NOV 8
9:30 - 11:00 am
Upcoming Advanced MG Training, plus Overview of Other State MG Programs, Activities, & Training
Alicia Bembeneck, University of Maryland Extension State Training Coordinator
Looseleaf July 2016 page 4
Ask a Master Gardener (AAMG) is one of my favorite volunteer opportunities. Meeting new people, sharing tips
and helping fellow gardeners. It doesn’t get any better than that! Before I started volunteering, other MGs shared
advice and guidance. Now that I’m “experienced,” here are observations that others may find helpful.
You Really Do Know More Than You Think You Do. I was nervous before my first AAMG session at the Central
Library. My MG partner said, “Don’t worry, you know more than
you think you do.” I wasn’t so sure. But once visitors asked about
container gardens or when to plant tomatoes, we had an answer
or referred them to HGIC. Better yet, some folks just stopped to
tell us about their gardens. And I was happy to listen.
Consider the Location. Understanding your customers’ needs is
important in marketing and with AAMG. The area near Central
has apartments and townhouses and older lots with large trees.
Many visitors were interested in container gardening and shade
loving plants. At Miller Library, there were more questions about
vegetable gardening and composting, which made sense given
the higher number of homes with larger yards nearby. You may
not get these questions, but it pays to think ahead about where
you’ll be setting up that table.
Don’t Shy Away From Props. A small jar with some hand-cut
flowers from your garden, a basket of produce or samples of
composting materials on the table can be an ice-breaker if
visitors are curious or too shy to approach.
Use the Internet. Visitors ask the most amazing questions and I’m thrilled that they think Master Gardeners know
all of the answers! My iPad has been an invaluable tool for quickly looking up a photo or researching something
such as “what’s a good native ground cover for clay soil?” Punch it in and right away there are answers and
photos to share and talk about.
People Are Really Funny. Get ready to have a good time. I think
my best AAMG moment (so far) was at Miller. I had just finished
explaining the wonders of composting and shared our flier when my
visitor had a look of happiness and relief on her face and said, “So,
my compost bin will be vegetarian, like me!”
I look forward to more AAMG assignments and trying new
locations. If you’re interested in volunteering, please reach out to
Greg Jones, AAMG Chair, or the site coordinators, Barbara White
at Miller and Clare Openshaw at Glenwood. They do a brilliant job.
Greg Jones: [email protected]
Barbara White : [email protected]
Clare Openshaw: [email protected]
~ Barbara Shuster, MG 2015
ASK A MASTER GARDENER, What a Way to Grow
Looseleaf July 2016 page 5
Volunteer in the Garden at Howard County Conservancy at Mt. Pleasant
In June we harvested mainly greens of all types. As of this writing we have taken 63 pounds of produce to the food bank. This month we plan on starting to pick our warm weather crops including potatoes, to-matoes, cabbages and turnips.
July is one of the warmest months in the garden, and our plants typically need extra watering. Vegetable harvesting is at full strength during this time too. From now through October our regular work days are every Friday from 8:00 am until 10:00 am. We do not work in the garden when it is raining!
Drop in for a bit to help weed and harvest. We always have jobs to share in the garden! There is ample space to park and the demonstration garden is easy to find – we’re next to the first barn you’ll see driving in. Bring a hat and your favorite garden tool. Remember the bug spray. Restrooms are nearby. After you volunteer, you may want to take a hike around the Conservancy grounds.
Jo Ann Russo, MG1997
Looseleaf July 2016 page 6
Latin for Gardeners July’s Native Maryland Plant: Vaccinium corymbosum (vak-SIN-ee-um kor-im-BO-sum)
Vaccinium corymbosum L. (Highbush blueberry), is a landscaping shrub that provides high value benefits throughout the year. It is native to all regions of Maryland and is one of my favorite edibles to grow – especially now when it is
harvest season! Read on and maybe it will be yours too.
The name Vaccinium comes from obscure origin but the specific epi-
thet, corymbosum, definitely refers to the structure of the inflo-
rescence being in a corymb.*
Provided acidic soil and a year of initial establishment, Vaccinium co-
rymbosum will provide you with 4 season interest in the garden. In
the spring its pollen-heavy flowers attract bees which are crucial for
pollination – even in self-fertile cultivars. In mid to late summer you
can enjoy a delicious bounty of sweet berries. In the fall the dark
green summer foliage turns a deep red or orange and in winter, once
the leaves drop, you can enjoy the visual interest of the reddish stems.
As you’d expect, Vaccinium spp’s delicious berries are not only a favor-
ite of humans - birds love this tasty fruit so if you don’t want to share
your crop with them you’ll need to cover the plants with netting once
the berries begin to form. In addition, the stems of the plant are a tasty
treat for bunnies and deer so if you grow Vaccinium corymbosum then
you will need to protect them from other wildlife as well. Growing in
pots or in a raised bed are good options for Vaccinium.
Vaccinium corymbosum is an incredibly versatile shrub that will take considerable shade (especially afternoon shade) and tolerates even
Blueberry pollen is sticky and rela-tively heavy – it cannot move on its own and is not easily dispersed by
wind.
Therefore, in order to set fruit, Vac-cinium spp. requires pollination of its
flowers by bees or other insects.
Looseleaf July 2016 page 7
Bay-Wise Certification
The Howard County Bay-Wise Committee would like to congratulate MG Phyllis Yigdall for having her property certified as a Bay-Wise Demonstra-tion Landscape. Master Gardeners Linda Decker, Sharon Smith and Dick Hammerschlag met with Phyllis at her home in May to measure her garden-ing practices against the Bay-Wise Yardstick.
A sign and certificate were awarded at the June Bay-Wise meeting. Other Master Gardeners interested in becoming Bay-Wise certified may contact Linda Decker at [email protected] for an application and copy of the Bay-Wise Yardstick.
Sharon Smith (L) and Lin-da Decker (R) present
Phyllis with certificate and yard sign.
slightly drier conditions, although you will get more berries
if you provide more sun and always water this shallow-
rooted plant during times of drought. The most important
ingredient for a good crop of blueberries is a lower pH than
most soils provide. Have your soil tested to be sure and
then acidify the soil appropriately.
*A corymb is a flat-topped flower cluster in which the
individual flower stalks grow upward from various
points of the main stem to approximately the same
height.
~ Alison Milligan – MG 2013
Looseleaf July 2016 page 8
It was a bright and warm Saturday morning in the garden adjacent to the Miller Branch of the Howard County Library. There was an ample supply of MGs and county residents exchanging gardening questions and answers. And many visitors took home Extension collateral that was on a display table near the entrance to the garden. That's where Joe DiGiovanni had a wide assortment of pruning tools, and offered advice on pruning tech-niques. Pattee Fletcher had researched the herbs growing in the raised beds and shared her exper-tise. Paul DiCrispino and Darcy Bellido de Luna talked about backyard composting, and distributed 11 compost bins compliments of Howard County.
Ann Hackeling wore two hats that morning -- as a Master Gardener and as the Enchanted Garden coordinator and research specialist for the Library. Other MGs on hand to assist included Betty Rice, Janice Winter, Kent Phillips, Caroline Feil, Jim Lumsden and Susan Bishop. And Roy Heath captured the day in photographs. Thanks to everyone who joined us on MG Day in the Garden.
Note: The Enchanted Garden is a great place to add some volunteer hours. Drop by any Tuesday or Wednesday morning between 9:30 and 11:30. We have plenty of tools!
-- Janine Grossman, MG2012 [email protected]
.
Enchanted Garden Hosts Second Annual MG Day
Janice Winter and Betty Rice talk with visitor
Susan Bishop, Paul DiCrispino & Betty Rice
near the compost display
Looseleaf July 2016 page 9
If you haven’t been to the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area for a walk in the woods you are
missing a gem in Howard County! And you can help attack the invasives there when you volunteer
for Conservation Stewardship. Fifteen volunteers took on Japanese barberry in May. Some of them
were from Amica Mutual Insurance, some from a local Morgan Stanley office, and some were Master
Gardeners. Conservation Stewardship is a cooperative effort between Howard County Recreation &
Parks and University of Maryland Extension Howard County Master Gardeners.
The monthly activity begins again on September 27 (we’re off during the warm summer months) when
we will plant and protect native trees and shrubs. A guest botanist will provide an educational
element, so you can earn volunteer hours or continuing education hours! Mark your calendar now to
join us from 9:00 am to 11:30 am, or for as long as you can, at MPEA. Check the MG electronic
calendar for specifics and a locator map.
Aylene Gard, MG 1998,
Barberry Removal at MPEA
Carla Cowell (top left), and Mike Coleman and Bob Grossman
(center) take on Japanese barberries
Unfurling skunk cabbages (right)
Looseleaf July 2016 page 10
Herbs, by their nature, are
aromatic. You may not like the
scent, but it is a persistent
characteristic of an herb. When
we say “aromatic herbs,” a
definite picture or feeling comes
to mind, be it an old-fashioned
tussy mussy, a sweet sachet for one’s purse, or a
pomander filling a room with fragrance. The aromatic
herbs are highly evocative of times, people, events,
and locales that hold special places in our memory.
Montaigne claimed that specific herbs had the power
to make him happy, sad, calm, excited, and
contemplative.
Aromatic herbs are used as breath sweeteners,
pomanders, potpourris and sachets, insect
repellents, cologne, tinctures, essential oils, and of
course, in cooking. They are often the main
ingredient in candles, incense, teas, soaps, powders,
and love potions. Attempting to narrow down a list of
“aromatic” herbs is no easy task. The Penn State
Extension offers 24 herbs in this category.
Specific herbs do come to mind time and again when
discussing the aromatics: lavender, anise, borage,
chamomile, peppermint, lemon balm, thyme, basil,
marjoram, fennel, hyssop, rosemary, sage, sweet
woodruff, and the winter and summer savories. By
themselves or combined with each other, the scents
can be intoxicating, refreshing, soothing, reflective.
Most aromatic herbs can be grown easily in
containers or your kitchen garden. Keep in mind that
herbs are sun lovers and prefer temperate climates.
If the location has sufficient sunlight, some herbs can
be grown indoors as well.
Many resources exist for how to grow, harvest, dry,
store, preserve, and use aromatic herbs.
Chew a sprig of mint to cleanse your breath. Strew
dried herbs underfoot in an entry way to carry a clean
fragrance into your home. Infuse cooking oils and
vinegars to enhance flavors. Add herbs to sugar or
honey for a new taste twist. Use dried herbs in your
bath or shower for an energy boost or to clear your
mind. Lavender in the bedroom is an inducement to a
good night’s rest. Put a pot of warm, spicy lovage on
a sunny windowsill. Whatever you do, take the time
to smell the herbs.
Pattee Fletcher, MG 2014
Aromatic Herbs
The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation,
physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression.
MG Shares Experience in Developing a School Butterfly Garden
————————————————————————————————————————————
It is easy to develop an affection for Stevens Forest Elementary School, which is 40% Hispanic, 32% African American and 14% Caucasian. SFES is a Title 1 school in the Village of Oakland Mills in Columbia.
There are many challenges at the school and I wanted to bring some beauty and outdoor learning to the student population.
Howard County cleared a 10’x10’ area behind the school and provided mulch. Other than that, the labor was up to a couple of dedicated volunteers from the PTA and me. In the fall of 2014 we planted milkweed, Joe Pye weed and butterfly weed among other pollinating plants with the help of 60 third grade students. Chaos ensued on planting day. I was not prepared for the fact that the hardworking teachers assumed I would handle the students. In the end it all got planted and no one was injured!
In the fall of 2015 I returned to have the students plant milkweed seeds in the garden. Before doing that I presented a short slide presentation on the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. The payoff moment for me was when a good portion of the students realized that the monarchs wintered in Mexico. Smiles everywhere as many students learned how far monarchs travel.
Lessons learned:
Speak up and don’t go it alone, get the support of the Youth Education Committee and ask for other MGs to volunteer.
Meet with the PTA and explain your goals and get their support.
While I am pleased with the results and garden is doing well, the question remains, “What can we do to sustain these types of demonstration gardens and learning experiences?”
Margaret Mauro, MG 2013