Volume 8 Issue 5 June 2017 Editor: Carol Machael,

Transcription

1 Over the Garden Gate Clinton County Master Gardener Newsletter Volume 8 Issue 5 June 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. This major Master Gardener event will be held (rain or shine) on Sunday, June 25 th from Noon to 4:00 pm. Six gardens are included in the walk, all in and around DeWitt. They include shade gardens, perennial flower beds, a variety of annuals, recycled planters made of unusual materials, yard art (airplane surrounded by plantings) and the recently refurbished Outdoor Living Classroom at the Clinton County fairgrounds. These gardens are located at: Outdoor Living Classroom, th Avenue, DeWitt Judy Williams, th Avenue, DeWitt Deb & JC Monroe, th Street, DeWitt Janis & Wayne Harbison, th Street, DeWitt Madonna Sagers & Lowell Gehrls, th Street, DeWitt Jean & John Moffit, th Street, DeWitt Tickets cost $5 and may be purchased at the Clinton County Extension Office at 400 East 11 th Street in DeWitt, the Bickelhaupt Arboretum at 340 S. 14 th Street in Clinton, and at each garden site during the walk. All gardens may be viewed with the purchase of a single ticket. Proceeds from the Garden Walk support the Master Gardener scholarship program and educational projects. Come & enjoy a beautiful summer afternoon. Bring your family & friends! *Volunteers are still needed. If you are able to volunteer at one of the gardens to greet visitors, please contact Brenda Council at or Bonnie Meyers at Volunteers are asked to work a two hour shift.

2 Volume 8 Issue 5 Page 2 June 2017 CLINTON COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES May 16,2017 DeWitt Ext Office-9AM Roll Call: Deb M., Brenda C., Willard L., Bonnie M., Deb N., Margo H., Bonnie H., Gayle P., Dave & Mary M., Approval of Minutes: approved by all Financial Report: Change was made on how money is handled for purchases. Specific vendors are set up for credit purchases. Up to $50 for personal purchases will be allowed & paid back. Please let Deb Monroe know amounts of purchases via . Budget is set at $4200 for the year starting in July. Committees/Projects/Events OLC- workdays will be planned as needed to finish mulching. New plantings will continue. Publicity: Deb N. Update on "Let's Get Growing" 15 volunteers helped with the day. Table displays were great. Positive feedback from attendees. Will plan on trying again next year. Events: Plant Sale-Brenda-both sales are ready to go Garden Walk-Bonnie-brochures are done. Gardens are lined up. Volunteers to help are being lined up by Brenda C. Deb Monroe made a motion to use $ to use on expenses for the Garden Walk. Willard Larsen 2nd the motion. Motion approved by all. Old Business: Van Allen Building Window-possible MG Window in future New Business: Monarch Migration Day-Aug 26 at the OLC from 11-12:30. May make milkweed balls again for event. Next meeting June 20,2017 at Bickelhaupt Arboretum in Clinton at 9AM. Brenda Council, Secretary

3 Volume 8 Issue 5 Page 3 June 2017 Dates to put on your calendar for fun with fellow MGs, learning new things and earning hours! Garden Walk June 25 MG Day at the Fair July 12 Monarch Migration September TBD Master Gardener s Day at the Clinton County Fair July 12, 2017 Free Admission Come out to the fair & enjoy the day! We are hosting a variety of events: Outdoor Container, Vegetable, & Photo Contests Registration begins at 9 am & ends at noon Workshops scheduled for 9:30 am, 10:30 am, Noon, & 1 pm 4 Educational Hours available Lunch from 11:30 to Noon 2 free lunch tickets per Master Gardener Announcement of Outdoor Container Contest Awards at 2 pm Bring your family & friends. Everyone welcome! If you would like to help on Master Gardener s Day, please contact Willard Larsen at or him at willardflarsen@gmail.com. A HUGE THANK YOU! Thank you to all who helped with the plant sale at DeWitt and Clinton. Your efforts from digging & potting, to set up, to working the sale and thru cleanup was very much appreciated. The weather was not very nice during the sale, but we all survived! We also want to thank those who donated plants and items for the Garden Treasures Sale. All in all, a good sale despite the outside conditions. Brenda Council, Clinton sale & Willard Larsen, DeWitt sale. Permaculture = is a holistic, living-in-harmony-with-nature worldview, as well as technical approach for how to do so. The root word permanent is intended as a reference to sustainability an unsustainable society would, by definition, eventually cease to exist; it would be impermanent.

4 Volume 8 Issue 5 June 2017 Got an Outstanding Display This Year? Enter the OUTDOOR CONTAINER CONTEST! As part of Master Gardener s Day at the Fair, we are again sponsoring this contest on Wednesday, July 12 th. The contest will be held in the large tent near the Outdoor Living Classroom (OLC). Check in of containers is from 9:00 am to 12 noon. Classes to be judged are: Most Colorful, Outstanding Use of Foliage, Succulents (new), Best Design, Most Unusual Container, Kids Class (12 & under) The People s Choice Award Prizes for each class are as follows: First $25.00 Second $10.00 Third $5.00 Best of Show Award $25.00 People s Choice Award $25.00 AND VEGETABLE CONTEST This contest is also part of Master Gardener s Day at the Fair. It is held in the north room of the Auditorium at the fairgrounds. Likewise, check in of vegetables is from 9:00 am to 12 noon. Ribbons are awarded to the winners. For complete information and rules concerning both of these contests, please refer to the Clinton County Fair Book Or contact the Iowa State Extension Office, 400 East 11th Ave, DeWitt, Ia Phone# 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

5 Donald Lewis, ISU Extension One of the more interesting "conversation pieces" to display in a home, natural history museum or office is the nest of the baldfaced hornet. The baldfaced hornet is a social wasp that constructs the familiar large, gray, paper nests attached to a tree branch, shrub, utility pole or By house. Donald Lewis, ISU xtension Baldfaced hornets are large, black insects about 7/8 of an inch long with white to cream-colored markings on the front of the head and at the end of the abdomen. Like all wasps, bees and ants, hornets have a complete life cycle of four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larva is a legless grub reared within cells in the nest. Hornets are beneficial predators that feed on other insects, particularly flies. The hornet s nest is a marvel of nature s engineering. The nest shelters the colony through wind, rain and hail and provides a secure location for raising offspring. The nest is constructed of paper like material made from chewed wood fibers mixed with saliva (technically known as wasp spit ). The nest is composed of 3 or 4 tiers of open-celled combs within a thick, multilayered outer shell. A single opening at the bottom allows the hornets to fly in and out. Each colony of social wasps such as hornets, yellow jackets and paper wasps lasts only one year. Each nest is built from scratch each year. The previous year s nest can not be reused and in the case of hornets, disintegrates quickly in late fall winds and rain. Queens are the only members of the colony able to survive the winter. In April or May, the queen selects a suitable location, constructs a small, round nest the size of a tennis ball and begins laying eggs, gathering food and raising her offspring. The first offspring of the queen are all sterile daughters. These workers take over the duties of enlarging and maintaining the nest, foraging for food and caring for the larvae while the queen retires to only produce more eggs. Peak worker population is 100 to 400 hornets by the end of the summer. Males and new queens produced in late summer leave the nest to mate. The fertilized queens hibernate and begin the cycle again the following year. The remainder of the workers, the old queen and the males die of old age or freezing temperatures, whichever comes first. Unless a hornet s nest is built in a high-traffic area where the threat of stinging is unacceptable, they should be left alone. However, if control is warranted, use one of the several aerosol products specifically designed for this purpose ( wasp and hornet killer, etc.). Colonies should be exterminated at night, if possible, when workers are least active and the maximum numbers are at the nest. But rather than control the hornets and risk ruining the nest, why not take it down and hang it up for display. I can attest; they are great conversation starters. The easiest method of collecting a nest is to wait until after the hornets have abandoned the nest in the fall (after the first hard freeze or by late October). Collect the nest as soon as possible because exposed, unprotected nests are subject to destruction by wildlife and weather. There may be few, if any hornets in a nest collected in late fall. If you feel the need to be extra-cautious, leave the nest in a garage or porch where it will be protected from the weather until mid-winter. Then bring the nest indoors for display. Leaving the nest in the garage also eliminates the slight risk that the carcasses of hornets and larvae that remain in a collected nest may produce a mild odor before they completely dry up. It is not necessary to treat the collected nest in any way. Varnish or preservative is not required. The nest will last almost indefinitely if it is suspended in a dry location where it will not be damaged by handling or vibration. Just hang it up, sit back, admire and enjoy!

6 Iowa State University Clinton County Extension 400 East 11th Street DeWitt, Iowa Horticultural images of Ireland Gunnera manicata, a giant rhubarb, which grows successfully in damp boggy areas, or beside a large pond where the reflections reveal the prickly undersides of the leaves. Very showy, but can t survive frost. Gorse (Ulex europaeus), a yellow-flowered shrub of the pea family, the leaves of which are modified to form spines. It beautifies the landscape but is invasive. They form compact shrubs, sufficiently dense and spiny to create an impassable hedge. Good for small animals and birds. This plant was growing in a garden in Belfast. It displays both deep pink and white flowers on the same large bush, which somewhat resembles rhododendron. Rhododendrum grows wildly out of control in Ireland, probably due to its temperate climate and frequent rain and mist. In this rather poor but enthusiastically taken photo, it climbs wildly over other plants in a woodland setting, blooming profusely.