Volume 8 Issue 7 August 2017 Editor: Carol Machael,

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1 Over the Garden Gate Clinton County Master Gardener Newsletter Volume 8 Issue 7 August 2017 Editor: Carol Machael, cmachael@gmail.com; Published on the first Monday of the month except during January and December. To submit an article it must be sent by as a Microsoft Word attachment to the above address. To be accepted for publication in the next newsletter, please provide articles 10 days before the first Monday of the month.

2 Volume 8 Issue 7 Page 2 August 2017 CLINTON COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES Advisory Brd Meeting 9AM July 18,2017 9AM Ext. Office DeWitt, IA Roll Call-Linda L. Deb M. Brenda C. Bonnie M. Willard L. LuAnn L. Bev C. Jeff M. Mark S. Linda C. Loren A. Approval of Minutes-Approved by all. Financial Report-Jeff Macomber-Balance of $ Still working on simplifying the system. Jeff & Heather are meeting to discuss. $ set up for MG Expenses for the year. Mark's Report-ISU supports food pantry programs like Spend Smart/Eat Smart. Work is progressing on the Mercy Hospital program to hand out Recipe booklets at Farmer's Markets. To help with this project contact Mercy Hospital. Bickelhaupt Arboretum-Arts at the Arboretum 2017 will be on August 5 & August 8th from 5-7pm to meet artist Jean Black. Contact Art for more information. Committee/Projects/Events OLC-Garden looks great. Lots of weddings and reception coming up. Still looking into small charge for use of garden. Suggestion was made to have work day to tag color& take pictures of Lilies for plant sale purposes in the future. MG Day at Fair-Thanks to Mark for the donuts!!!!! 22 MG's help with the event. Positive comments from MG's & visitors on the gardens and speakers. Possibility of expanding the Veg. contest next year. Would need to set guidelines if 4H kids will be allowed to enter. Container Contest entries were amazing this year. There were 55 entries. People Choice Award went to the Hay Fork Design. Will be tweaking entry types for next year. Photo Contest-27 entriesproblems with mounting. Will look into better way before next year. May look into expanding area for pictures. Need area to display pictures afterward while fair is going on. Might put winners in Newsletter next year. Old Business Monarch Migration Program-August 26, 2017 at Westbrook Park by the pollinator garden from 10:30-12 & 12:30-2. There will be craft area for kids, information booths, something for all ages. The fee for MG's to be at this event will be taken out of the MG Education Fund. Next meeting August 15, 2017 at Bickelhaupt Arboretum, Clinton Brenda Council, Secretary Thanks to all who helped with the Clinton County Fair! It took a lot of work but it paid off! The planning, the planting, the participating...it was all done well. AND we had fun!!!

3 Volume 8 Issue 7 Page 3 August 2017 Dates to put on your calendar for fun with fellow MGs, learning new things and earning hours! Arts at the Arb Photo exhibit, August and September Iowa State Fair August Monarch Migration August 26 Christmas Party December 4 Westbrook Park, DeWitt Three Sisters Garden at the OLC According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash arethree inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together. In a three sisters planting, the three partners benefit one another. Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen to the following years corn. Bean vines also help stabilize the corn plants, making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-rooted squash vines become a living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing soil moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the overall crops chances of survival in dry years. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from approaching the corn and beans. The large amount of crop residue from this planting combination can be incorporated back into the soil at the end of the season, to build up the organic matter and improve its structure. Corn, beans and squash also complement each other nutritionally. Corn provides carbohydrates, the dried beans are rich in protein, balancing the lack of necessary amino acids found in corn. Finally, squash yields both vitamins from the fruit and healthful, delicious oil from the seeds.

4 Volume 8 Issue 7 August 2017 Cleome is a genus of about 170 species in the caper family (Capparaceae). Spider flower, Cleome hassleriana,is a common annual flower from South America. It is so named for its tall, leggy appearance and the shape of its leaves. Flowers of the cleome plant are intricate, large and showy. They may be bi-colored in pink or lilac colors with white or they may be only one of these colors. Flowers of the cleome plant bloom in summer and may last until frost occurs. Once established, they are drought tolerant and hold up well during summer s scorching heat. Planting cleomes is often necessary only once, as this attractive annual flower re-seeds prolifically and returns year after year. Seed pods may be removed before bursting for use in planting cleomes in other areas of the flower bed and garden. Cleomes grow quickly from seed to form tall, strong stems up to 6 feet tall from a stout taproot. Plants branch readily, and given enough space, can grow as wide as they are tall. Cleome is a nice addition to annual beds, can be combined with perennials in mixed beds, or used in a mass planting for a dramatic effect. When planted in mass, they can look like a blooming shrub, and works well to fill empty spaces in a young planting until the shrubs mature. Depending on the variety, they may be best at the back of a border or in the center of island beds (for the tall types) or interspersed throughout (for shorter cultivars) a planting. This plant works well in cottage gardens, combined with other upright flowers such as Liatris, cosmos and snapdragons, and tall types could be used as a temporary summer hedge or as a screen along a fence. MASTER GARDENERS VOLUNTEER : Extension Office Plant Partners: Willard Larsen willardllarsen@gmail.com Eagle Point Nursing Home and Rehabilitation or Community Garden: Willard Larsen OLC/County Fair: Roger Rittmer rogr@iowatelecom.net Bickelhaupt Arboretum: Margo Hansen mahansen@eicc.edu Curtis Mansion: Liz Clements and justice for all 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 format for ADA clients. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14 th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC or call

5 it b e done? Gardeners have a wonderfully useful skill set. Not only can we make our yards the envy of the neighborhood and build cozy wildlife habitats, but we can also feed our families the freshest fruits and veggies of the best varieties. The habits that can sometimes seem a bit odd to our non-gardening friends are looked upon a bit differently when harvest time comes around. Sharing our produce is another gratifying part of this lifestyle. We have a lot to be proud of and thankful for. So what s next? A chance encounter with a homeless man inspired garden columnist Jeff Lowenfels to do something more. After denying the man s request for spare change on a cold night in Washington D.C., Mr. Lowenfels conscience was restless. On his flight back to Alaska, as he wrote his next column, he outlined an idea for his readers to donate a portion of their garden harvest to a local soup kitchen. This idea would be the seed that grew into what is now the Garden Writers Association s initiative called Plant A Row For The Hungry. Twenty years after its 1995 inception, Plant A Row For The Hungry boasts more than 2 million pounds of garden fresh produce donated each year to a broad diversity of community organizations throughout the country by backyard gardeners. But there is still work to be done. You can help by donating the extra produce from your garden. With little effort beyond the joyful work of gardening, it is possible to make an enormous difference in the lives of people who desperately need it. Using a bit of your garden space to plant a row for the hungry is a way to share your unique skills; building your community into a more secure, healthy place to live. Hunger in America may not always be evident, but it is very much present. According to a 2008 USDA Economic Research Report, 8.5 million Americans live in households where they skip meals, eat too little and sometimes go without food for a whole day; and more than 24.5 million people live in households that are at risk of hunger because of lower quality diets or necessarily seeking emergency food because they cannot afford the food they need. Hunger occurs in every community. When we support our local food banks, soup kitchens and homeless shelters with donations of fresh produce, we provide essential nutrients that are lacking in the diets of the poor. By doing so, we help combat chronic nutrient deficiencies in poor children that could otherwise lead to serious health problems including impaired cognitive development, anemia, physical weakness and growth failure.

6 Iowa State University Clinton County Extension 400 East 11th Street DeWitt, Iowa I knew nothing about catmint plants until Randy Dykstra planted one in my neighbor s yard...then I knew I wanted one too! After planting, I watered and fertilized it, until Randy told me that it thrives on neglect no fertilizer! This is my kind of plant it does its thing without TLC!. This herbaceous perennial is a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae) which includes lavender, rosemary, thyme, bee balm and giant hyssop. Catmint grows into a floppy mound 3 ft. tall and wide, but doesn t send out runners like other members of the mint family. The leaves are covered with soft hairs that send out the volatile oils that give it a distinctive scent. Catmint plays well with others. If you love the classic combination of lavender and roses but find lavender too finicky to grow in this area, catmint is a good substitute. Just like lavender, catmint can be used to cover the bare limbs of rose bushes. It s cooltoned foliage and flowers offer a pleasing counterpoint to the vivid tones of the roses. Catmint flower clusters are visited by numerous small beneficial insects. Honeybees love it! Other insects don t. If you are working in your garden and get too much attention from flies, mosquitoes and other biting bugs, grab a handful of leaves and rub them on your exposed skin for a DEET effect. Buy N. x Faasseniiare, a popular cultivar, which is sterile and does not need to be deadheaded to prevent self-sowing.