From The President. In This Issues. The Bridge to Knowledge Volume 87, Issue 11. Wow, how did November arrive so quickly?

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1 20 17 The Bridge to Knowledge Volume 87, Issue 11 In This Issues 1 President s Message 2-7 MCMG Corner Upcoming Events MG Member articles 8 Meeting Notes From The President Wow, how did November arrive so quickly? It is hard to believe that the last meeting of 2017 is this week. Carol Reece will be our speaker and her topic is Special Effects And Clever Solutions. We are very fortunate in Madison County to have Carol as well as Jason Reeves as regular speakers. I feel that they are among the best garden related speakers, as well as writers, in the South. Fall is not my favorite time of the year, but without Fall and Winter, there would be no Spring. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which has been planted; Ecclesiastes 3:1-2. This is the time of year that gardeners pluck up or put those plants that we desire to save for next year in a warm place. Each season has its own purpose as well as its own beauty. It is difficult for many of us to remember this as the days become dark and cold. This is also the season to collect seed in your garden. Please remember to continue to collect seed for the seed bank as well as the swap at the November meeting. Ensure that they are clean and dry before storing. Please make the November meeting a priority as we will be electing Officers and Board Members for I hope to see you then. Elizabeth Edwards, President, Madison County Master Gardeners 1

2 Plant of the Month Redbor kale has become a musthave for winter containers and it s becoming more common in garden centers. This stunning foliage plant came to my attention as part of a winter color display in the Chicago Botanic Garden, so that should tell you something about its ability to stand up to low temperatures. I ve sought it out as one of the truly hardy winter cole crops. Carol Reece We are so excited about our upcoming Big Bugs event here at the Memphis Botanical Garden. If you have not heard about it, the new exhibit features wooden sculptures of huge bugs by David Rogers displayed throughout the garden representing eight different species, this nationally recognized traveling art exhibit features ten giant wooden bug sculptures towering up to 18 feet tall. Big Bugs will inhabit all 96 acres of the Memphis Botanic Garden. They will be in the Garden September 16- December 31. We thought the Master Gardeners might be interested in the selfguided and guided tours that we are offering to enjoy with family and friends. #ilikebigbugs 2

3 David W. Sams November 2017 October meeting and plant sale: Jason s programs and plant sales are always both well received. The Scotland trip looked like a great trip but I have about seen enough castles and formal gardens for now. Weather: October is frequently the driest month of the year in West Tennessee. We are helped only in that the days are shorter and usually a bit cooler. Once again it is the middle of October and there is no frost in sight in this ever-warming climate. We all need to keep watering those newly planted perennials and evergreens until and unless the weather turns wet. Those plants which lose their leaves and go dormant will require less water once dormant but they will still require some and may still need watering if it is dry. Mulch for winter protection and to hold down winter weeds as indicated under To Do Now below. Hypertufa: Draped and regular hypertufa sell well every year at our plant sale. Our hypertufa work day was small but successful with about 16 regular hypertufa and 26 draped hypertufa being made. Look for the majority of these to appear at the next plant sale. A big thank you to Ken Stumpenhorst who did a great deal of the physical work and without whose help I would have been totally exhausted. To do now: The number one tasks which needs to be done immediately after watering are preparing plants to reenter our homes and mulching! Some of us have recently planted buddleia or loropetalum or even pansies or mums which are only marginally hardy here. Others have plants of hardy amaryllis, cannas, crinums, elephant ears, gingers and some of the more tender salvias in our gardens. These are among the plants that are more likely to survive if the soil around their underground parts does not freeze. Mulch them now. The easiest and cheapest way to acquire mulch in the late fall is to use the leaves which are falling. I would avoid leaves of black walnuts which may inhibit plant growth. Run a lawnmower over fallen leaves to chop them up and they will blow around much less when applied to the soil near your plants. Use a 2-4 inch layer and weight them down with wire mesh or something similar if necessary. Sometimes nice people will collect their leaves, bag them and sit them by the curb for you to collect. Watch out for surprises in these bags. Last year I tested to see whether imidacloprid would clean up the plants I overwinter in the garage and/or sunroom. It is systemic and legal on container plants. Aphids, whiteflies, thrips and other insect problems which I bring in are on the label. It controlled everything but spider mites. I wonder if summer oil and/or neem would be more effective on spider mites and whether or not I can find any summer oil. There is always the Internet for summer oil sources and Neem is widely available. Planting for spring sale: We have not yet began planting for the spring sale but will in early November. We find that ferns and certain other plants do better if planted in the fall so that they can establish roots before they emerge in the spring. We hope to have our usual assortment of hardy ferns as well as purple Royalty raspberry and a couple of other new plants at our next sale. 3

4 . Mark Your Calendar! The Nashville Lawn and Garden Show March 1-4, 2018 The Fairgrounds Nashville Tickets available November More details coming soon! Gardens Free Lectures Workshops Floral Designs 175+ vendors Saturday Wine Festival & more! Nashville Lawn and Garden Show The Fairgrounds Nashville The Nashville Lawn and Garden Show is produced by the Nashville Lawn and Garden Foundation A few Tips from the UT Site for this month. Mulch flower beds with 3- to 4-inches of good compost or fine mulch to keep soil temperature stable and prevent winter plant injury from frost heaving. As the compost of fine mulch decomposes, it will enrich you garden soil as well. Mulch existing trees and shrubs to help reduce weeds, provide insulation from freezing temperatures, and conserve moisture. Keep heavy layers of leaves raked from the lawn. They should be composited. Alternatively, you can mow over a light layer of leaves, turning them to a mulch that adds important nutrients back to the lawn. Winter annuals, such as pansies, violas, Dianthus chinensis, red mustard, snapdragons, ornamental cabbage and kale can still be planted. The earlier in the month, the better You can continue to transplant perennials throughout the fall and winter, as long as they remain dormant. Cut chrysanthemum and other perennials' stems back close to the ground once they have begun to die back. Leave ornamental grasses to provide winter interest until spring. Force bulbs indoors like narcissus, hyacinths, and amaryllis for color early in the new year. Start paperwhites in late November for Christmas flowering. Keep you papwhites from flopping over by adding alcohol. Stop fertilizing indoor plants until spring. Begin to increase the time between waterings, but do not cut back on the amount of water. Check newly planted evergreen plants regularly during the winter to ensure they are getting enough water It's not too late to fertilize your cool-season fescue lawn. Use a turf fertilizer and follow label directions. The fertilizer encouages good root development and helps improve the color of the lawn. It's an ideal time to plant or transplant trees, shrubs and fruit crops. Be sure to water well and add a good 3- to 4-inch layer of mulch to new plantings. 4

5 Celeste Luckey Scott November 2017 Project Recaps and Thank Yous - The Western Region MG Workshop on Thursday, October 12 th in Memphis was a huge success! Thank you so much to all those who took time out of their schedule to attend. We had a great representation of the membership in attendance from board members, to seasoned members, 2-3 year members, and interns as well! The main speakers were captivating and entertaining to say the least, and the breakout sessions were full of valuable & useful information. I think a few members may have been inspired by the youth gardening breakout to take the necessary steps to establish a Jr. Master Gardener Program here in our county which makes me so happy you cannot even imagine!! I have prepared, recruited, and longed for the creation of this program for 2 years, and I think we may finally have just the right folks to undertake this large project! If you are interested in helping in any capacity please let me know. We will soon be forming a committee and starting preliminary planning for the year 2018 very soon!! - Downtown Planter Boxes- Thank you to EVERYONE who turned out to help with this semiannual project. Once again, we came forward in strong numbers and completed the job. The issue of water availability on the day of planting was brought to my attention the following week. On Saturday, the shop keepers/business owners are not open to water the planters immediately, and in most cases the plants must wait until Monday before they receive any water. This can take a toll on plants, especially those containers that also needed new/additional soil which is very dry by nature. If you have ideas on how we may be able to improve this situation, please let me know, and I can forward that onto Carol Emery & the folks with Keep Jackson Beautiful! - Liberty Park Clean-up Day- Jack Baudo reported that we had a wonderful turnout at Liberty Park Clean-up with 20 MG s in attendance, several of which were trainees! He says that all of the desired projects were completed and that we can be looking forward to improvements of the freedom plaza and children s garden this fall by students from Union University. I love how this park helps to create a sense of community and involvement and hope that we can continue to support this project for the years to come. Upcoming Events & Reminders - Search for Excellence Awards applications are online and ready for us to share some of the excellent service and outreach work being done in our County. Tennessee Search for Excellence awards are recognition of outstanding outreach and service carried out by Extension Master Gardener groups across Tennessee. Applications are due January 20th, These awards occur every other year, and winners will be recognized at the TEMG state conference on April 6th, This fall, applications will be accepted for projects conducted in 2016 and On the front page of the website, you can find all the information and links. 5

6 You will find a handbook detailing the entire submittal process as well as a link to all of the application forms. The link will take you to a Google Docs folder with all the forms. Once in this folder, right click on the form needed and save it to your computer as a Microsoft word file to edit and submit. Please don t edit the form in Google docs. Let Suzanne Allen the SFE chair (sallen0126@gamil.com) or myself know if there are any questions. These are the categories for this year: o Demonstration Garden o Youth Program o Workshop or Presentation o Innovative Project o Special Needs Audiences o Written Education o Research o Outstanding Extension Master Gardener o Outstanding Program Partner - Our State Conference for 2018 is going to be at Montgomery Bell State Park on April 6 th and 7 th with a pre-day tour/grafting workshop on the 5 th. We will be getting a schedule overview out in the next few weeks, with registration opening soon after the New Year! This is the closest proximity to West TN that the State Meeting (once called winter school) has ever been held. As with the Regional Meeting in Memphis, I hope that MANY of you take advantage of the short drive and are able to represent our organization for this fun filled weekend!! Certification Reminders & Tips for 2017 Reporting I ask that all reporting for 2017 be completed by December 15 th. If you have hours that will be completed between the 15 th and 31 st of Dec., please estimate that time and go ahead and report it by the deadline. Due to last year s changes in certification requirements, I know we will have several folks reporting who have not done so in recent years. I am more than happy to help you with this! I can train you, or enter them for you if you wish. If you need this type of assistance, please contact me NO later than Dec. 1 st Interns: 40 hours of volunteer service & 8 hours continued education 2017 Interns: You have until December of 2018 to complete your initial certification requirements of 40 hours service & 8 hours education!! However, if you are planning on graduating early in Feb. of 2018, I will need those hours reported by Dec. 15 th. Membership Certification 1-9 years: 25 hours of volunteer service & 8 hours continued education Membership Certification 10 + years: 15 hours total of any combination of volunteer service &/or continued education *Keep in mind that continued education comes in many forms, not only attending meetings, garden lectures, and tours. You may count time spent watching educational gardening programs like The Family Plot, TN Gardener ect, and reading/learning any gardening information that is NEW to you!! 6

7 Hypertufa Workday with David and Carol Sams The group listens intently while Dr Sams explains the dos and don ts His right hand helper. They get their hands dirty too Everybody pitches in 7

8 Carol the expert Some of the finished products. We had perfect weather and a great place. The always gracious host and hostess, the Sams always do some of the work for us. The knowledge is invaluable. Because they Have already made many they knew how to steer us to make a good product. One thing I learned was an old towel doesn t mean thread bare. Liz Whitsitt 8

9 Wanted!! Articles for the Newsletter November Meeting You can earn volunteer hours by writing about some garden you visited, some technique you tried which worked (or did not), or share your enthusiasm for some special plant, or condensing a gardening article you read. Keep contributing. Keep reading. Keep sharing. Please send your contributions to: Liz Whitsitt lizv@tds.net Pam Stanfield pamstanfield@gmail.com Carol Reece Special Effects And Clever Solutions Election of Officer and Board Members For 2018 Thurs., Sept. 7 6:30 pm West Tennessee Research and Education Center Board of Directors Check Out UT Gardens Jackson On Facebook! Lots of great info being shared there, and you don t have to wait for a monthly newsletter! President- Elizabeth Edwards 1st Vice President/Programs- Christine Warrington 2nd Vice President/Projects- Glenn Fesmire Secretary- Mary Kay Havranek The Bridge to Knowledge The University of Tennessee Extension Madison County 309-C North Parkway Jackson, TN Phone Fax cscott52@utk.edu (Celeste Scott) Treasurer- Tammy Overby Board Members Wayne Gerler John Havranek Susan Luckey Bill Wyatt Master Gardener financial standing information is available upon request.