Spring Awards Banquet Charlene Woeste Plant Sale By Karen Woeste, Beula Dvorak and Phil Pfister, Co-Chairs

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1 Vol. 28, No. 4 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery April 2018 LINN COUNTY MASTER GARDENER EVENTS Steering Committee Meeting Extension Office April 3 6:30 pm Extension Council Meeting Extension Office April 9 5:00 pm Executive Council Meeting Extension Office April 16 3:00 pm Spring Awards Banquet The Flamingo 1211 Ellis Blvd. NW Cedar Rapids April 17 6:00 Social 6:30 Dinner Creative Gardening Series Cedar Rapids Public Library April 5, 12 & 19 6:00-7:00 pm April Library Talks Topics and Speakers Page 8 Lisbon Library 101 E. Main Street, Lisbon Wednesdays (6:30-7:30) April 4, & 25 Ladd Library 3750 Williams Blvd. SW Cedar Rapids Wednesdays (6:30-7:30) April 4, 11, 18 & 25 Spring Awards Banquet Tuesday, April 17, :00 pm Social; 6:30 Buffet Dinner The Flamingo, 1211 Ellis Blvd. NW Expect to see your invite in the mail shortly; RSVP with payment will be due April 9. Hope to see you there! 2018 Charlene Woeste Plant Sale By Karen Woeste, Beula Dvorak and Phil Pfister, Co-Chairs The 18th Annual Charlene Woeste Plant Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, This year, the sale will take place at the American Legion Post 298, st Street, Marion, IA. The hall is large enough that we should be able to hold the sale indoors, so no worries about weather like we had Continued Page 2 What s Inside Spring Awards Banquet Page 1 Plant Sale (Guidelines) Pages 1-3 Garden Walk Preps Needed Page 3 Garden Fair Recap Pages 4-5 Gardening for Food & Fun Page 5 Creative Garden Series Set Page 6 WMT Outdoor Living Show Page 7 United Way Day of Caring Page 7 April Library Talks Page 8 Program Receives Grant Page 9 Iowa s Living Landscapes Page 10 Steering Cmte Pages April

2 Continued from Page 1 last year. This location also means we will not need to carry plants, tables, etc., up and down stairs, and that as plants arrive on Friday, we can groom, price and place them where they will be for sale, which means we will be able to setup the sale on Friday, instead of Saturday morning. We are very excited to try this new location. This sale is important, because it is one of our major fundraisers, but also because it s a chance for the Master Gardeners to share some of their favorite plants with the public, and for the public to be able to enjoy some of our favorite plants. In addition to the plants donated by the Master Gardeners, we will have a nice selection of flowers, herbs, arrangements and vegetables grown at the Lowe Park Greenhouse. So even though it is still chilly, it s time to start thinking about what you can contribute to the sale. May 19 will be here before we know it. The plant sale guidelines (below) are intended to answer many of the questions we have encountered over the years. Please contact us if you have questions or need help with your donations. Guidelines for 2018 MG Plant Sale The 18th Annual Linn County Master Gardener Charlene Woeste Plant Sale, in honor of our plant sale founder and long-time chair, Charlene Woeste, will be held on Saturday, May 19 (8:00 am-noon) at the American Legion, Post 298, St., Marion. The plant sale is a major source of income for the MG program and its success depends on donations of high quality plants, named varieties, and unusual plants from the Master Gardeners. Please donate as many plants as you can. Please dig your plants as soon as possible, so they can adjust to the containers and look salable by the time of the sale. We would like to have all the plants brought to the American Legion by 3:00 pm Friday the 18. If you are not able to bring the plants on Friday, please contact one of the co-chairs: Karen Woeste ( ; Hab319kiowa@gmail.com), Beula Dvorak ( ; bdvorak4@aol.com) or Phil Pfister ( ; ppfister47@gmail.com) or the Extension Office to arrange another drop-off time. Be as generous as you can with plants for the sale. We need a good selection of many kinds/xhoices of plants. Let us know of any unique and interesting plants by April 14, so we can include them in the promotions. If you need help potting plants, let us know as soon as possible. As Master Gardeners we want to be proud of the plants we are selling to the public, and our buyers look forward to, and expect to get really good plants from this sale. Please read and follow the instructions below. Perennials and other plants need to be planted in their pots at least 3-4 weeks before the sale to give them time to recover from transplant shock and they will put on some nice growth during this time. Do not plant up plants the night before the sale. Do not plant up plants that are too large. Make divisions of daylilies with 2-4 fans in each pot. Daylilies should be planted in a one gallon pot. Put a label in each pot with the name and color of the daylily. Make divisions of hosta with 2-3 plants in each pot. If you are sharing some of your more expensive hosta, one plant could be enough, but two would make it sell better. Put the name of the hosta in each pot. If the name is not known just put Name Unknown. If you know the growth habit, add that information (height, width, etc.). Also if it is one of your more expensive hosta, please put a suggested Continued Page 3 2 Germinator

3 Continued from Page 2 selling price on the label. Other perennials should have large enough divisions that will make them attractive to our shoppers. Put the name of the perennial, its cultivar if you know it, and the color, on the label in each pot. You can use an ice cream stick, white plastic knife or spoon, or a venetian blind as your label. There will be labels available at the Extension Office. After planting up, water with a water-soluble fertilizer according to package directions. Water every 2 or 3 days, or as needed to encourage good root and top growth. Two weeks later, water with the same fertilizer at ½ strength. A day or two before the sale, groom each plant by removing any yellowed or dead leaves, or any weeds that have come up in the pot. Water each plant thoroughly. Look at each plant, and decide if it looks like a plant you want to buy. If not leave it home and plant it out in your garden to bring next year. If you have plants that you would like to donate, but don t know what they are, let us know as soon as possible. We will help identify them. To avoid confusion, if you use a pot that has a price written on it, please remove it or mark it out. If you need pots please contact Phil Pfister ( or ppfister47@gmail.com) Calling All MG s Who Like Getting Their Hands Dirty! By Kathy Hughes The Garden Walk Committee needs volunteers to help prep hosts gardens for the July 9th Garden Walk. If you are interested in this volunteer opportunity, please let one of the Garden Walk Co-chairs know which garden you prefer (Kathy Hughes hughesydoozey@yahoo.com; Barb Neal xword417@gmail.com; Sarah Neff sarahkathleenneff@gmail.com; Julie Stark julie-stark@uiowa.edu). This year s host gardens are: * Wanda Lunn, 526 Bezdek Drive, NW * Kay Schultze, 2501 Paulyn Court, NW * Sue Usher, th Avenue, SW * Brenda Havlik, 1850 Hudson Street, SW * Laura Friedman, 401 Wolfe Lane, Mt. Vernon Be on the look out for a more formal sign-up sheet requesting volunteers for the day of the walk which will be distributed in the next month or so. April 3

4 2018 Winter Gardening Fair Recap By Larry Edwards and Sam Krumbholz, Co-Chairs In this slow to come spring, the 2018 Winter Gardening Fair provided a spark of hope that we soon will be able to get our gardens growing. Over 100 Master Gardeners spent March 3 at Kirkwood College hosting 382 registered guests interested in expanding their knowledge from 46 topics and hands on workshops. A terrific lunch and 25 door prizes added to the enjoyment along with shopping many vendors offering both information and items for sale. Besides offering a colorful display of plants to welcome guests as they arrived, the Lowe Park greenhouse crew sold nearly $1000 worth of plants and center pieces! The publications table also made almost $500 is sales! The overall income for the event was $24,268! There will be expenses to be paid with a net profit of approximately $8,560. A review of all phases of the day has been held by the Winter Gardening Fair committee to capture ideas of what can be done better for the 2019 event. Julie Clemons and Beverly Whitmer shadowed this year s leadership team of Sam Krumbholz and Larry Edwards. Continued Page 5 This year s keynote speaker, Adam Janke, presented Making Landscape Work for Wildlife. Louise Harn and Pat Beaty assist Karla McGrail in her hands-on workshop Butterfly Nectar Feeder. Numerous vendors line the hallways showing what they have available for purchase. Lisa Hinzman Howard presented Cheap Tricks. Jane Schlidroth and Barb Neal at the Connect. Grow. Share a Row table. 4 Germinator

5 Continued from Page 4 Julie and Bev will be co-chairs for 2019 and will be holding their first planning meeting for next year in April. Master Gardeners interested in being a part of the committee are encouraged to join by contacting Julie or Bev. An will be sent to all MGs announcing the first committee meeting date and time. Stay tuned. Thanks to all Master Gardeners who were a part of this year s event in anyway through speaking, planning, hosting, and helping things run smoothly! 2018 Family Gardening for Food and Fun By Phil Pfister Please join the Linn County Master Gardeners for an evening with the Master Gardeners, Family Gardening for Food and Fun programs, on the third Tuesday of the month, April through September, at the Lowe Park demonstration gardens and greenhouse. The programs are listed below and will be followed by light refreshments. Container Gardens Tuesday, May 15 (6:30 pm 7:30 pm) This discussion will cover design and growing in containers. We will have examples, and participants will have a preview of plants for sale at the Charlene Woeste Plant Sale, on Saturday, May 19. This year the sale will be at the American Legion in Marion. Program TBD Tuesday, June 19 Top SHADE Pollinator Plants Tuesday, July 17 (6:30 pm 7:30 pm) Tired of reading "Full Sun" on pollinator plant descriptions when your property is mostly shady? Linn County Master Gardener Becki Lynch will share the best SHADE pollinator plants in her 1 1/2 acre woodland garden from spring through fall, as well as information on which "Full Sun" pollinator plants do well in shade. There ARE pollinator plants for everywhere! Salsa Making Workshop Tuesday, August 21 (6:30 pm 7:30 pm) Participants will have a chance to learn how to make a great salsa. Advance registration is required. Class size limited to 20. Build a Mini-hydroponics System Tuesday, September 18 (6:30 pm 8:00 pm) This is a hands-on workshop where you will be able to build a mini hydroponics system, for growing greens indoors all winter. Class size is limited to 10. Materials fee: $60.00 April 5

6 2018 Creative Gardening Series The 2018 Creative Gardening Series will begin on Thursday, April 5th. All talks will be held at the Cedar Rapids Public Library (Whipple Auditorium) and are free to the public. Thursday, April 5 (6:00 pm 7:00 pm) Speaker: Kathy Wilson, BA, MA Topic: A Place to Escape During the 1700s, formal gardens were all the rage with wealthy Britons and Americans, but by the early 19th Century, they had fallen out of favor. Still, it would be another 60 years before country gardens, as most Americans know them, found a place in middle and upper-class residential landscapes. What caused these transformations? How did those highly structured gardens become places of controlled chaos hidden behind high walls, where emotion, not logic dictated the landscape? Join historian Kathy Wilson to learn the answers to these questions and others, and discover the roots of quintessential English country garden. Thursday, April 12 (6:00 pm 7:00 pm) Speaker: Megan Cain Topic: Beyond the Herb Rack: Using Herbs Creatively in the Vegetable Garden There are few greater delights than grabbing a handful of fresh herbs to complete your evening meal. And creatively incorporating herbs into your garden design can help elevate your garden from ordinary to extraordinary. Megan will share the simple step-by-step process on building an herb spiral to add structure and interest to your garden, how to artistically mix herbs into your plantings, unique and colorful varieties to grow, and super easy ways to preserve herbs for off-season use. Thursday, April 19 (6:00 pm 7:00 pm) Speaker: Rhonda Fleming Hayes Topic: The Layered Landscape Learn how to use a variety of plants to increase wildlife habitat and visual interest while decreasing maintenance. Rhonda Fleming Hayes is a native Californian with southern roots living in Minnesota. She is a writer and Master Gardener who has learned how to bloom where she is planted. She will be discussing how to add a variety of native plants and plant structures as lawn alternative in our Iowa backyards. 6 Germinator

7 2018 WMT IHeart Outdoor Living Show By Sue Usher and Barbara Wing The IHeart Outdoor Living Show was held Saturday and Sunday, March 10 and 11. We were given a generous space for our setup as well as the seminar area. We had four tables with free publications, paid publications and an information area. A large number of handouts were distributed and a few books and publications were sold. Volunteers answered lots of questions. Many were solicited and many came up through conversations as the volunteers talked to the attendees coming up to our tables. Twenty-one Master Gardeners volunteered during the event. We received many good comments and responses about our willingness to share our knowledge and expertise. Deb Walser presented on Saturday; her classes were Square Foot/Raised Bed Gardening (20), Blueberries, Raspberries, Strawberries and More (7), Container Gardening (13), and Best of Annuals and Perennials of 2018 (13). Wil Carew presented on Sunday his classes were Spring Garden Maintenance (10) and A Few of My Favorite Things (8). Total attendance for all classes was 51. Show attendance was down from the 2200 of last year to 1800 this year. This event gives Master Gardeners and Iowa State Extension an excellent opportunity to reach another demographic of people to become more aware of what we do. Save the Date United Way Day of Caring! Thursday, May 10 th is the United Way Day of Caring. Several of our Community Garden partners have projects happening that day. We would like to have a few MGs at each of those gardens for support and help as needed. We know Olivet, Catherine McAuley and Wellington Heights are involved, and there may be more. If you would like to help at one of the gardens, even for just an hour or two, please contact Beula Dvorak (bdvorak4@aol.com or ) for further information and getting connected. THANK YOU for supporting our community garden partners in this way. April 7

8 April Library Talks Lisbon Library 101 E. Main St., Lisbon Wednesdays (6:30-7:30) April 4: Pleasing the Bees & Butterflies: Planting for Pollinators (Devon Dietz) Our lives on Planet Earth are intertwined with those of many creatures, including pollinators like bees and butterflies. But pollinators and their habitats are disappearing. Learn about the bees and butterflies and other pollinators, what's happening to them, what's being done to save them, and how you can help by planting beautiful plants in your garden. April 11: Raised Bed Gardening (Deb Walser) No space for a garden? You can plant enough vegetables in a 4 x4 garden to feed 2 people or 4 x8 for a family of 4. Hate the weeding and bug control? Having trouble getting up from the ground? Raised bed gardening is for you. Learn the how tos with Deb. April 18: Containers - Beyond Thrillers, Spillers, Fillers (Cindy Fagan) Come to this class to learn how to elevate your container arrangements in dramatic ways! April 25: Choosing True Lilies for Your Garden (Wanda Lunn) Explaining the difference between Asiatics, Orientals, Trumpets, Martagons, Species etc. Lots of photos of the 290 True Lilies grown in Wanda s garden. Overview of choosing, planting & care for sun vs shade. Ladd Library 3750 Williams Blvd SW, Cedar Rapids Wednesdays (6:30-7:30) April 4: Raised Bed Gardening (Deb Walser) No space for a garden? You can plant enough vegetables in a 4 x4 garden to feed 2 people or 4 x8 for a family of 4. Hate the weeding and bug control? Having trouble getting up from the ground? Raised bed gardening is for you. Learn the how tos with Deb. April 11: Herbs for the Butterflies (Judy Bemer) Judy will match herbs to butterflies in our area. She will share a couple of projects that are easy to make and will also provide herbal treats. April 18: Spring Garden Maintenance (Wil Carew) Wake your landscape up: it s spring! Time to get your yard, landscape and gardens ready for another growing season, but how do I start? Join Wil as he covers what to do, when to do it, and why! April 25: Your Backyard is For the Birds (Devon Dietz) The presentation will concentrate on the needs of birds and what will attract them to your yard. The focus will be on the most popular birds for Iowans. The year round enjoyment of birds is the objective. 8 Germinator

9 Master Gardener Program Receives Mini-Grant By Buela Dvorak We are delighted to announce that Linn County Master Gardeners has received our third mini grant for 2018 from Iowa State University Extension & Outreach. The Community Outreach Gardens Project will be overseeing the grant as we partner with community gardens, individual Master Gardeners, and individual community gardeners. The main focus of this grant is to increase healthy food access for Linn County residents with low income by increasing the amount of fresh garden produce donated to area food pantries. Goals and activities of the grant project include: To start maintain or expand a minimum of 9 community garden partners, providing education/support as needed. Our targeted gardens include Old MacDonald Farm Garden, Dept. of Correctional Services Garden, New Bo, Olivet Missions Garden, Hiawatha School Garden, Catherine McAuley Garden, Wellington Heights Neighborhood Garden, Lowe Park Community Garden, Uptown Marion Blue Zones Garden, and PrairieWoods Community Garden. To donate a minimum of 5000 lbs. fresh produce to HACAP for distribution and/or to local food pantries already partnered with some of the gardens. To encourage individual gardeners to Connect, Grow, Share a Row. To provide a variety of educational workshops/presentations for growers and for families receiving the produce. SO, how can Master Gardeners get involved with this project? Join the Community Outreach Garden (COG) Project and become more actively involved with one or more of our partner gardens. Join the Connect, Grow, Share a Row aspect of this project. This includes committing to donate produce from your personal garden to HACAP for distribution to a local food pantry. Indicate an interest in helping with the grant project as a driver to pick up produce from gardens to deliver to HACAP. Indicate an interest to help provide some of the educational components at one or more of the gardens. If interested in getting involved with this project, you may contact the Extension Office ( ) or Beula Dvorak (bdvorak4@aol.com; ) and we will get you involved! April 9

10 Iowa s Living Landscapes Awareness. Opportunity. Reality! By Phil Pfister This is an annual event and this year it was held at the Marion Lowe Park Arts and Environment Center on Tuesday, March 20, The invitation to attend goes to a wide range of people, businesses and government organizations. Master Gardeners were invited to attend, and the Linn County Master Gardeners were also asked if we would like to have a table at the event, to talk about all that we have going on as Master Gardeners at Lowe Park and as an organization. We set up two tables (photos below), one that focused on Master Gardener activities at Lowe Park, and the other contained pubs and the Master Gardener upcoming events and educational opportunities. Over 100 people attended this all-day event. The program was very interesting. It included a discussion on Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri), how to identify it, and steps that should be taken to prevent the spread of this noxious weed. The next talk was on ID & Management of non-native invasive shrubs and their native alternatives. Some of the landscaping plants that were very popular, such as barberry, honeysuckle privet, Norway Maple, to name a few, are now determined to be invasive. Following a break, there was a discussion on a new broadleaf herbicide that has a reduced risk to the environment that can be used to manage invasive plants in mixed plantings. This presentation was followed by a review of data collected over the past 30 years, showing that approximately 80% of the federal disaster declarations in Iowa were related to flooding. The discussion included financial losses for property and crop losses. After a break for an excellent lunch, catered by Ramsey s in Marion, the program continued with a discussion on creating the case for habitat in rights of way. The last presentation was on Partnering for Pollinators, 1000 acres pollinator initiative. This talk discussed the conversion of park space that is just being mowed, and rights-of-way into pollinator habitat. The final event was a walking tour around some of Lowe Park. The tour started with a discussion of what is involved in setting up a Monarch Zone at Lowe Park, and the Monarch life cycle. We moved from there to the demonstration gardens, hoop house, greenhouse, public gardens, and the orchard, where we discussed the trees that have been planted, the past and current prairie seedings, and maintenance of the prairie, including past and planned prairie burns. All in all, this was a very educational day. 10 Germinator

11 March 6, 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, Jackie MacLaren, Kay McWhinney, Linda Shepard, Bev Whitmore, and Diane Wiesenfeld. Absent: Sam Krumbholz, Sylvia Kelley and Jean Wilson Announcements: The Steering Committee welcomed Randy Dusil as a new member, replacing Peggy Green who moved to St Louis. Finance Report: Linda presented the financial reports. A question was asked about the length of time it takes for the intern income to appear since payments are made by credit card in October. Shelly will ask Johanna and let us know. Still no budget from Phil for the Head House. Shelly to meet with the greenhouse committee to confirm there are/will be appropriate resources to support the Head House and greenhouse. Early numbers indicate that the Winter Garden Fair produced approximately a $10,000 profit. Project Reports: No discussion, reports w ere 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: MG Coordinator Report: Shelly confirmed that Chelsea Delarm is the new HORT line writer committee chair. She will work with the Gazette on the monthly articles. City Reveal is asking for a monthly article from LC Master Gardner s beginning in April, 700-word max. Jackie will pare down her current Gazette article to 700 words. An on-line MG training application will open on March 15. Interviews will occur the 2 nd -3 rd weeks of July and classes will start in August. Project request for WMT show will be sent to Executive Committee for approval. There is an interest in grandfathering in old life time member rules. Anyone graduating before 2013 would follow the rule of 10 years/500 hours or 15 years. New requirements are 10 years/1500 hours. Motion to grandfather old rules was approved. Old Business: Concern has been expressed regarding a 3-member awards committee. Awards are primarily determined by statistics that are accumulated and tallied by Will Carew and policy handbook defines how awards are to be calculated. SC will recommend that awards committee consist of 5 voting members, Shelly as chair (a non-voting position) and that at least one member of committee be an MG from the Extension Council. Dianne met with Ceramics Center and said they have a lot to offer including partnering with the COG committee, participating with us at NewBo and providing a mobile lab ($15 per person cost) to teach kids to Continued Page 10 April 11

12 Continued from Page 10 create garden related objects. We could have a group event if interested: 90 minutes at a cost of $25 per person for participants including catering. New Business: The subsidy for the Awards Banquet was approved: $5 for MGs and $10 for spouses identical to last year. Money is already budgeted for this year. Tables have been ordered for EcoFest at NewBo. One will be manned by greenhouse personnel who will be selling things, second table will be for kid s activities focused on pollinators. Next Steering Committee: April 3, 2018 at 6:30pm. Next Executive Meeting: March 19, 2018 at 3:00 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 Germinator