Plant Sale Successful With New Warm and Dry Location By Karen Woeste, Beula Dvorak and Phil Pfister, Co-Chairs

Transcription

1 Vol. 28, No. 6 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery June 2018 LINN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER EVENTS Steering Committee Meeting Extension Office June 5 6:30 pm Extension Council Meeting Extension Office June 11 5:00 pm Executive Council Meeting Extension Office June 18 3:00 pm Garden Walk Volunteer Signup Sheet Extension Office Due June 1 Regional MG Conference Scholarships Available Minnesota Landscape Arboretum June (info Page 5) Linn County Fair Community Day 201 Central City Rd, Central City June 29 9:00-3:00 Plant Sale Successful With New Warm and Dry Location By Karen Woeste, Beula Dvorak and Phil Pfister, Co-Chairs The 2018 Charlene Woeste Plant Sale was held on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at the American Legion Post 298, st St. Marion. This was the 18 th year the Linn County Master Gardeners have held a plant sale, founded by Linn County Master Gardener Charlene Woeste, and the first year it was held at the American Legion facility. Our thanks to the American Legion staff and volunteers who helped with setup and cleanup and made this transition so easy. This year the Master Gardeners donated 1,682 plants from their Continued Page 2 What s Inside Plant Sale Recap Pages 1-2 Garden Walk Hosts Pages 3-4 Monarch Zone Update Page 5 Award Committee Update Page 5 Regional MG Conf. Info Page 5 Marion City Showcase Page 6 Lowe Demo Gardens Page 6 A Note from our Director Pages 7-8 Ag in the Park Page 8 Mother s Day Showcase Page 9 Volunteers Needed Page 9 Steering Cmte Pages June

2 gardens, which included sun, shade, hostas, grasses, native plants, houseplants, perenniels, and daylilies. The blooming side of the Lowe Park Greenhouse brought 717 individual plants and 81 hanging baskets, succulent gardens, patio pots and basket gardens, each containing multiple plants, and the veggie side brought a total of 894 tomato, pepper and eggplants. There were 42 varieties of tomatoes, 18 varieties of peppers and 2 varieties of eggplants to choose from, plus some miscellaneous vegetables. Total of all plants available for sale was 3,374. Thank you to all the Master Gardeners who donated plants, and the Lowe Park Greenhouse team for making this year s plant sale a success. This is one of three fund raisers that supports all the Linn County Master Gardener programs, so the success is very important to being able to offer all the programs we do. The American Legion Hall worked out very well. The fact that we were able to receive the plants, groom and price them and move them to the sale area on the same day, really sped the process up. By the end of the day Friday, we were basically set up for the sale. Saturday morning, even though we had scheduled people to work, there was very little to do. Probably the lowest stress level we have experienced in the preparation for the plant sale in a long time. Cleanup after the sale ended at noon was completed by just after 12:30 p.m. That included everything but mopping the floor, which the Legion said they would do. Thanks to everyone who contributed plants, helped pot donated MG plants, transported plants from MG gardens and the Lowe Park Greenhouse, helped over the growing season at the Lowe Park Greenhouse, helped with setup of the plant sale, during the sale, and take down and cleanup after the sale, and transporting everything back where it belonged after the sale. Also special thanks to RaeAnn Gordon, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach County Director, and Janice Savel and Johanna Rahbusch for their support in making this a success. 2 Germinator

3 Seeds of Kindness Theme for this Year s Garden Walk By: Kathy Hughes, Sarah Neff, Barb Neal and Julie Stark, Co-chairs Be sure to add the 2018 MG Garden Walk to your list of summer activities. Five gardens are featured for the walk on Saturday, July 7. In the spirit of this year s theme Seeds of Kindness explore 5 very unique and diverse properties and experience a bit of special kindness at each one. This year will be the 1st Annual Garden Crawl. At the first garden, visitors will receive a garden card which will get stamped at all subsequent gardens. Visit all 5 gardens in any order for a chance to win a beautiful garden bench. As always, volunteers will be needed to help our hosts prep their landscaping as well as greet our guests as they attend the Garden Walk event. Typically, the Garden Walk volunteers are scheduled in two shifts, morning and early afternoon. Volunteer signup sheets were attached to last month s Germinator issue as well as ed to all MG on May 23rd. Please complete the form and return to the Extension office as soon as possible Garden Hosts Include Friedman Garden: 401 Wolfe, Lane, Mt. Vernon This stunning garden is owned by a "Friend of Master Gardeners". When visitors enter the back yard, you will be amazed at the beauty and charm of this awesome garden. The potting shed was designed by Laura s talented father. A chandelier hangs from the pergola. Antique and unique garden decorations adorn the garden beds. Havlik Garden: 1850 Hudson Street, SW, Cedar Rapids The expansive grounds of this yard have the backdrop of a large pond. There are numerous trees, shrubs and flowers including a stunning hollyhocks garden. Brenda s "serenity garden" welcomes you to relax and enjoy the beauty and sounds of nature. There is a playhouse in the middle of the grounds that visitors won't want to miss. Continued Page 4 June 3

4 Lunn Garden: 526 Bezdek Drive, NW, Cedar Rapids This garden has award winning iris, lily and daylily flowers and has been featured in the Gazette, Iowa Gardener Magazine and on television. Wanda has a wealth of information to share with garden visitors. Wanda is internationally known for her iris and lily plants. Look for the fun statuary set among the flowers. Schultze Garden: 2501 Paulyn Court, NW, Cedar Rapids Kay's garden is lovely and manicured to perfection. It features perennials, annuals and unique vegetables. The yard backs up to Ellis Golf Course which offers privacy and a beautiful expansive green space. Kay also has a tiki bar she and her husband built for entertaining that garden visitors will enjoy relaxing at. Usher Garden: th Avenue SW, Cedar Rapids Ten years after "The Flood of 2008", Sue's yard and gardens are a testament of what can be accomplished after total devastation. She will show just how high the water was to visitors' astonishment. Sue has established some charming hosta vignettes with the addition of some interesting trees and plantings. 4 Germinator

5 Noelridge Park Monarch Zone Raising Strong Butterflies! By Karla McGrail Last season we volunteers at the Monarch Zone tents in Noelridge Park had a successful year raising Monarch butterflies. We had 547 adult releases, from 2 generations of butterflies. We tagged our late season (the migrating generation) Monarch releases as part of the Kansas State University's Monarch Watch program. (Monarchwatch.org) This spring we found out that 3 of our tent-reared butterflies were recovered in Mexico! Sadly, this means they didn't survive the winter to mate and return to coastal south USA but it does indicate we are raising strong healthy butterflies that are capable of participating in this unique migration. Interestingly, the 3 recovered were found in February at 3 different locations within the central Mexican Biosphere Reserve, even though 2 were released from here on the same day (September 7, 2017). And also surprising all 3 were released by our own Beth Roof, who should now be crowned Queen Beth, the Monarch's Monarch! Monarch Watch's records of domestic recoveries and sighting also revealed that several of our tagged releases hung around Noelridge Gardens for multiple days, where they were sighted by others and reported. Who could blame them? What's the rush to head south when you have such a fabulous garden to hang out in and sip nectar all day? Awards Committee Update By Vicki Keegan This year s Awards Committee would like to recognize Diane Stevens as accumulating her first 1000 hours in A few hours were missed in calculating her total hours which, when added, put her over the accomplishment of the 1000 hour mark. Congratulations to Diane! Annual Regional Master Gardener Conference Scholarships Available The annual regional Master Gardener conference will be held this year in Minnesota, at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, June Contact Mike Anderson (mla85@mchsi.com) for information about MG scholarships to cover registration fees. June 5

6 Marion City Showcase Introduces Youngsters To Planting Seeds By Bev Whitmore On Saturday, May 5, the Linn County Master Gardeners were an active part of the Marion City Showcase Event, which was held at the Marion City Square Park. The Master Gardeners provided an opportunity for all ages to create a "seed biscuit" and take it home to plant. The visitors had a choice to select a flower or a vegetable to place in their seed biscuit choices were Marigold, Zinnias, Coneflower, Sunflower, Cucumber or Basil. Once they made their selection, they were given a scoop of the "seed biscuit mix" which was equal amounts of sifted compost and unscented kitty litter with water mixed in to create a consistency of clay. They gently tucked the seeds into the biscuit, flattened it a bit so they could then paint a little design on the biscuit. We often saw paintings of flowers or hearts from the little artists! Instructions for planting the seed biscuits were provided to each. The Master Gardeners were busy from 10 am to 1 pm with 201 visitors stopping at their table. Many young families were interested and appreciated the opportunity to begin teaching their children about planting seeds! A big "thanks" to Master Gardeners participating in this successful event: Mary Mickola, Sandy Fiegen, Denise Klemp, Fran Potratz, Peg Pearson and Bev Whitmore. Lowe Demo Gardens Begin a New Season From A (annual flowers) to Z (zucchini) you will find it this year in the Lowe gardens' beds. The annuals bed will feature a butterfly design sure to catch your eye. Also, the raised garden beds, designed for the physically challenged, will be in place and filled both with flowers and vegetables. We invite everyone to join our Tuesday evenings or Thursday mornings work groups, and share the camaraderie. Whatever your interest, we have a place for you. Interested? Contact Phil Phister or Shelby Foley. 6 Germinator

7 Message from Extension Outreach & Education Director: Dear Master Gardeners, I wanted to send a few quick updates to you all. First though, a huge thank you to everyone who helped with the annual plant sale! Whether you donated, volunteered, sent good vibes, shared the event on Facebook, told friends, picked up donuts, or something else, this could not have been done without you! This is just one more example of great things happening in our community because of a coordinated event by many. The feedback regarding the new location was positive, and preliminary counts of sales are wonderful! We will share when we have completed! Following are some pieces of information to remain attentive to as we move through the summer: We will be holding 2 nd interviews for the Master Gardener coordinator position this week. We hope to have an announcement of a new Coordinator s name no later than June 11 th, however, we will keep you all posted! While we are interviewing, we are keeping the needs of the MG programs, volunteers, and organization as a guide to asking good questions to seek the best fit! Thanks again for your patience! The MG Executive and Steering Committee have put together a short survey to solicit your feedback. This survey is to help us determine how we can best support volunteers to provide excellent programming and education in our community! Currently we have 145 Master Gardeners in our VRS system, and we hope that each of you will take a few minutes to respond. This survey will be online, and is just a few questions and shouldn t take much time! If you prefer to do this by paper, or phone, simply call the office! This survey will come out AFTER Memorial day, and will be a quick turnaround! Currently we have 9 applicants for the MG training to start on August 2 nd, 2018! Please share this opportunity with community members, friends, family, others who may want to join the team! Thanks to those of you who took time to give me feedback for coordination of a great training experience for our MGs in training. We will be recruiting for the Interview Team as well! - Watch your ! Are you new to the program and working to complete your Intern hours? Need ideas to do that? Call the office and we can help - ask for Janice or RaeAnn, or send an ! Friendly reminder to report volunteer hours! Below are two graphs for top 10 average hours for MGs across the state - one is dated 5/1 and Continued Page 8 June 7

8 the other dated 5/21. Currently the total number of hours reported by 77 MGs is 3, hours. This is a little over half of the volunteers active in our system. Thank you for all you do! RaeAnn Gordon Ag in the Park By Phil Pfister Each year the FFA chapters from Springville, Central City, Alburnett, North Linn, and Linn-Mar, sponsor an activity called Ag in the Park. This year the event was held on Friday, May 11, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Linn County Fair Grounds, and the Linn County Master Gardeners were invited to participate. During the event, teachers and students can experience animals, sample agricultural products, look at farm equipment, listen to presentations on topics such as livestock, aquaculture, plants, soil and water conservation, pets, and beekeeping. STEM topics related to agriculture are emphasized. Six Linn County Master Gardeners and Master Gardner Interns participated in the event. We made round and square paper pots (photo right top), had a demonstration and discussed the advantage of using potting mixes versus garden soil in containers, showed how to set up a self-watering container using capillary action (photo right center), and we had a working hydroponics system (photo right bottom). There were 1500 very enthused and engaged K-3 rd grade students from Springville, Central City, North Linn, Alburnett, Linn-Mar, Prairie, Marion and Cedar Rapids, who attended the event. It was fun for us as well as the students, and something we hope to be able to do again next year. 8 Germinator

9 Mother's Day Showcase By Becki Lynch The Mother's Day Showcase once again was a fun and busy day for Master Gardeners and the Friends of Noelridge. Approximately 2000 people attended to enjoy the beautiful flowers, shop for plants and other garden tools, to receive free milkweed plants, and learn about pollinators. This year, Karla McGrail led a workshop to make butterfly nectar feeders for volunteers prior to the showcase, and they were sold completely out to benefit the Friends of Noelridge fund (photo right). Thank you, Karla! Master Gardeners were busy at the information table all day with lots of questions from novice and young gardeners. The Friends of Noelridge had a Pollinator/Butterfly table all day where pollinator and Monarch Zones about Flutterby Acres information was shared. Beyond that, everyone was kept busy helping in the greenhouses, and at the plant sales. Now it's on to the Monarch Zone season outside at the park, in the tents, and completing the planting of the Master Gardener Herb garden, Winnie the Pooh's Rabbit Garden, the AAS Gardens, and the Pollinator beds. Come out on Tuesdays from 9-11 a.m. anytime to help out! Volunteers Needed Garden Walk Preps/Ticket Takers/Guides Locations: SW and NW Cedar Rapids and Mt. Vernon Flexible Hours between now and July 7 Contact: Kathy Hughes (hughesydoozey@yahoo.com); Barb Neal (xword417@gmail.com); Sarah Neff (sarahkathleenneff@gmail.com) or Julie Stark (julie-stark@uiowa.edu) Linn County Fair Community Day Location: 201 Central City Road, Central City Date: June 29 (9:00-3:00) - volunteers all day or part of day Contact: Extension Office June 9

10 May 1, 2018 Steering Committee Minutes DRAFT The meeting was called to order, roll called, quorum established, and minutes from last meeting approved. Present: Glenn Babinett, Steve Bartlett, Kathy Carew, Randy Dusil, Cindy Fagan, Linda Hinzman, Sam Krumbholz, Jackie MacLaren, Linda Shepard, Bev Whitmore, and Jean Wilson. Absent: Sylvia Kelley, Kay McWhinney, and Diane Wiesenfeld. Announcements: Linda Hinzman presented the Financial Report and it was approved. All revenue from Winter Garden Fair has not been determined yet. Income/ expenses from the Awards Banquet will be finalized next month. A decision on the future format of our participation at Lowe Park is on hold for now. The MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) needs to be reviewed and updated; it expires in 2018 or According to the MOU, there is an expectation that MGs will grow plants for some of the Marion projects, but this is not currently being done. RaeAnn plans to meet with the Marion Parks director to discuss current and future status of relationship. RaeAnn will provide a copy of the MOU to the SC members. We are unsure of the support we have from Marion. We have never received a budget from Phil a meeting will be scheduled to determine the future viability (resources, etc.) of the project. Policy Guide: MGs should go directly to the MG Coordinator for questions about policy. The Coordinator will have the most recent version. The guide is more of a guideline for new MG interns and is a living document. Minor changes were suggested to the policy guide and was approved by SC members. Changes will be made and forwarded to Extension Committee for final approval so it will be ready for new intern class. The volunteer manual states that new active Master Gardeners will receive pins. Most of the SC members did not know about this. Hard copies of new Procedure Guide and the ISU Handbook will be mailed to all MGs with a cover letter penned by RaeAnn, detailing that we must adhere to these rules as set by ISU. RaeAnn provided a draft of the letter for suggestions/approval as well as an acknowledgement form. RaeAnn clarified the communication gaps that resulted in some people not receiving awards at the Awards Banquet. She sent notes and/or spoke to those affected. Jean will be working with Johanna on revamping the website to include a section for policies. Requirements for event publicity will be added to the project descripts. The project chair will be responsible for working with the MG Coordinator on publicity to ensure compliance with ISU guidelines (such as branding). The date for next year's Winter Garden Fair has been confirmed and will be held at Kirkwood, February 16, Whether we need the auditorium or not will be determined if there is a keynote speaker. 10 Germinator

11 We are covered by the new ISU insurance policies during the Garden Walk as long as the Extension is not negligent; chairs were notified. After discussion with RaeAnn and the Benton County Extension Director, we determined it is acceptable to have a non-county person in a support position; that is, the person should not be the sole chair of a committee, but rather assist in a co-chair position. The person must abide by the policies of Linn County. This will be communicated to all MGs when RaeAnn sends out the Procedure Guide with cover letter. We will ask the co-chair to track her hours so that Linn County gets credit for their time. Dianne W. is spearheading project to rewrite/create job descriptions. We are currently developing a survey to determine why people do or do not volunteer and how they find out about opportunities. Also need to determine our capacity. Job opening for the MG coordinator position was posted in March and 4 applications have been received to date. The next step is to interview each applicant by the interview committee, to be determined, to include a current MG and someone from the Extension Council. Interviews planned during the weeks of May 7 and/or 14. RaeAnn has reached out to all the trainers for last year's flipped classroom to determine what did and didn t work and if they would be willing to train again this year. We have received 6 applications so far for the training this Fall. Applications are due by the end of May. The Awards Committee will discuss recognition for MGs at the 10 or 15-year mark. City of Cedar Rapids will have a table at WGF next year to talk about the storm water project and the rebates and other options. Project Reports: No discussion, reports were approved. Reminder Project Reports are no longer a part of the monthly Steering Committee Minutes and may be viewed by Master Gardeners at the below link: Next Steering Committee Meeting: June 5, :30 PM Next Executive Committee Meeting: May 21, :00 PM Respectfully submitted, Linda Shepard, Secretary Linn County Extension Master Gardeners 383 Collins Road NE, Suite 201 Cedar Rapids, IA ph (319) Hortline (319) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Many materials can be made available in alternative formats for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC or call June 11