Washington County Cooperative Extension Service

Transcription

1 Washington County Cooperative Extension Service April 2016 Volume 12, Issue 4 Inside this issue: Ricks Retirement 2 A Note From Dennis 3 Beekeepers News 3 Master Gardener News 3 Farmers Market 4 HORTICULTURE April Plant of The Month - Crabapple Profusion Scientific Name: Malus 'Profusion' Summary Light Requirement: Full Sun -partial shade Cold Hardiness: Zone 4 Height: feet Width: ft Flower: April to May/ Purple-Pink flowers Foliage: Green. Form: Rounded. Wheelbarrow Schedule 5 April To Do s 6 Springfield Green Festival 7 Recipe of the Month 8 Plant of the Month Hellebores Recipe Of The Month 10 Follow Us at Washington County Horticulture 9 Raise your neighbor s curiosity with this unique, colorful tree. Intense red flower buds bloom into a cloud of bright purple-pink flowers. New leaves appear early in the season, and are a rich coppery red. The leaves don t turn plain old green when summer arrives they bronze. Profusion stands out from most other trees around it. The Profusion Crabapple is extremely hardy, resisting disease and pests. The tree does well out in the country as well as in urban areas. This lovely Crabapple is not bothered by pollution or salt!

2 Retiring after 46 years! Please join us as we honor Rick Greenwell Thursday, April 28th From 3:00-6:00 at the Washington County Extension Office 211 Progress Avenue

3 A Note From Dennis Spring has sprung and I am really behind...it happens every year but when things start to grow it happens quickly! Tori and Gabby are doing very well in school with Tori having straight A s and Gabby having one B and the rest A s. I can forgive Gabby for her B it was in handwriting and she has inherited bad handwriting genes from her parents. To continue bragging Gabby was the Star Student in her grade for March and Tori won her class 4H speech contest and is now moving on to the county competition. Her speech was about our trip to pickup a beehive last spring.we drove in a van with 10,000 honeybees! My last brag, Gabby is in the 2nd grade and is reading close to a 5th grade level. Her mother is a Librarian after all. Don t forget to come to Ricks retirement celebration on April 28th and to stop buy the Master Gardener s Booth at the Springfield Green Festival on April 30th. We will have a much larger selection of plants for sell than in years past.! Happy Gardening! Lincoln Trail Beekeeper s Association News and Events Meets monthly on the first Monday of the month at 6:15 PM at the Extension Office. Washington County Master Gardener Association News And Events April 21st, 6:00 PM at the Extension Office to plant hypertufa pots. April 23rd, Green Festival Want To Become A Master Gardener? Contact The Washington County Extension Office For Details New Classes Start Fall 2016

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5 2016 Gardener s Wheelbarrow Series Schedule You Still Have Time To Sign Up!!! January 26th Morning Great Annuals For Cutting, From Seed $5.00 Evening Great Annuals For Cutting, From Seed $5.00 February 9th Morning Straw Bale Gardening Free!!! Evening Straw Gale Gardening Free!!! February 23rd Morning Growing Honeyberry In Kentucky $20.00 Evening Growing Honeyberry In Kentucky $20.00 March 8th Morning Dennis Favorite Summer Vegetable Varieties $10.00 Evening Dennis Favorite Summer Vegetable Varieties $10.00 March 22nd Morning Dennis Perennial Picks $20.00 Evening Dennis Perennial Picks $20.00 April 5th Morning Fabulous Phlox $20.00 Evening Fabulous Phlox $20.00 April 12th Morning The Summer Garden Headliner, Hardy Hibiscus $20.00 Evening The Summer Garden Headliner, Hardy Hibiscus $20.00 April 26th Morning Growing Magnificent Melons In Kentucky Free!!! Evening Growing Magnificent Melons In Kentucky Free!!! May 10th Morning Culinary Herbs For The Epicurean $10.00 Evening Culinary Herbs For The Epicurean $10.00 May 24th Morning Fabulous Ferns For Indoors And Out Free!!! Evening Fabulous Ferns For Indoors And Out Free!!! June 7th Morning Hens And Chicks Free!!! Evening Hens And Chicks Free!!! June 21st Morning Cold Hardy Bamboo Free!!! Evening Cold Hardy Bamboo Free!!! August 16th Morning Fall Vegetable Production Free!!! Evening Fall Vegetable Production Free!!! August 30th Morning Pollinator Friendly Gardening Free!!! Evening Pollinator Friendly Gardening Free!!! September 13th Morning Delightful Daylilies $15.00 Evening Delightful Daylilies $15.00 September 27th Morning Peonies The Queens Of Spring $25.00 Evening Peonies The Queens Of Spring $25.00 October 11th Morning Alternative Alliums $10.00 Evening Alternative Alliums $10.00 October 25th Morning Garden Tool Maintenance And Storage Free!!! Evening Garden Tool Maintenance And Storage Free!!! Basic Registration For Any and All Classes $5.00 x Total From Above Total

6 April To Do s If you haven t cut your perennials back, do it before the new growth starts. Pinch off the spent flowers from spring bulbs before they make seed heads. This will cause more food storage in the bulb and increase flower size and productivity for next year. Don t cut spring flowering bulb foliage back until it turns completely yellow or brown. Plant trees and shrubs now, spring rains will help them to get established before hot dry weather sets in. Save money on fertilizer by adding organic matter to your flower and vegetable gardens. You can plant tender bulbs such as canna, calla, and dahlia later in the month. Apply slow release fertilizer at planting. gradually acclimate them to the outdoors. They will sun and wind burn easily. Give them 30 minutes to an hour the first day outdoors and gradually increase it in 30 minute to an hour increments for a week or so until they have toughened up. Uncover your roses! Keep the mulch handy in case we have an extreme late cold snap like last year. Prune out any dead, damaged or diseased tissue. Spray your lawn for broadleaf weeds. For more information stop by the Extension Office and pick up the publication AGR-78. Don t apply nitrogen fertilizer to your lawn in the spring. Sharpen mower blades and change the oil in you mower before making your first cut of the season. After flowering spray fruit trees with an all purpose fruit tree spray. Never spray while in flower you will kill the bees that you desperately need for pollination. Apply a fresh layer of mulch to your landscape beds. Plant your mail order or bare root plants as soon as possible. If you haven t cut your blackberry canes that fruited last year back do it now before the new growth begins. Depending on the Raspberries you are growing you should cut back the canes that fruited last year. If you are growing the varieties that fruit on new and old wood cut them back to the ground if you didn t do it last fall. These will grow all summer and give you a large crop in late summer and fall. If you haven t planted your spring vegetable garden due to the wet weather you still have time. You can plant potatoes, onions, cole crops, lettuce, peas, carrots, beets, etc. now. If you started seedlings indoors

7 It s that time of year, can you feel it? Spring has started and it seems to have started all at once, the birds are chirping and the sting of cold has been replaced by mild fresh air. I don t know why but spring just smells better, sounds better, and feels better this year! It must be because winter felt like it lasted ten years. We are still going to have some cold weather, frosts, and freezes but there are a lot of plants that can and should be planted now in the vegetable and flower garden. In the vegetable garden there are numerous crops that should be planted now to give you a great spring crop of fresh, delicious, and nutritious veggies. Crops such as peas, radish, potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, spinach, kale, collards, mustard, beets, and lettuces should be planted now through April. These crops are cold hardy and actually prefer or require cool weather to thrive. There is no need to run out and cover them when frost is forecast nor is there any need to keep sprinklers running over them to keep them from freezing. These crops are at their peak when the weather is cool and it actually improves their taste and nutrition. In the flower garden there are a lot of plants that can be planted now or should be up and growing actively. Most people see the flowers such as crocus and daffodils blooming now with hyacinth and tulips coming on as well. Again, these are cold hardy as anyone that has daffodils and crocus in their garden can tell you, since they have been growing since early February! There may be the odd year where it can get freakishly cold in April like it did a few years ago when daffodils got their blooms burned off but according to meteorologist that was a once in 100 year freeze! So, spring bulbs are only guaranteed to bloom 99% of the time! You may have also noticed peonies coming up this past weekend, and again there is no need to worry. Peonies are hardy this time of year and will

8 Washington County Cooperative Extension Service 211 Progress Road Springfield KY, Office Fax We Are On The Web!!! washington.ca.uky.edu Facebook at: County-Horticulture/ Recipe of The Month - Almond Bibb Salad Ingredients 1 head Kentucky Proud Bibb or romaine lettuce torn 1/4 head Kentucky Proud iceberg lettuce torn 1/3 cup thinly sliced Kentucky Proud celery 2 Kentucky Proud green onions thinly sliced 1/4 cup soybean oil Ingredients Directions Place the Bibb lettuce, iceberg lettuce, celery and green onions in a large sealable plastic bag. Seal the bag. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Mix the soybean oil, sugar, wine vinegar, parsley, salt and red pepper sauce in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Chill, covered, until ready to serve. To serve, pour the dressing over the lettuce mixture and seal the bag. Shake the bag well to coat. Arrange the lettuce mixture on individual salad plates. Top with mandarin oranges, almonds and red onion slices. Credit: Pride Of Kentucky Cookbook