LOOSELEAF AUGUST 2018

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1 LOOSELEAF AUGUST 2018 A Publication of the University of Maryland Extension Howard County Master Gardeners 3300 NORTH RIDGE ROAD, SUITE 240 ELLICOTT CITY, MD ) FAX (410) INSIDE 2 Grow It, Eat It News 2 August Calendar 3 Continuing Ed Speaker Series 3 Whipps Garden Update 4 Latin for Gardeners: New Jersey Tea 5 Conservancy Gardens Update 6 Landscape Lessons: Ninebark 7 Book Review: Rain Gardens FROM GEORGIA'S DESK... It's time to re-examine our public education program. My thanks to Beth Blum-Spiker, Caroline Feil and Ann Vieth for their willingness to meet with me to review our public education program. My appreciation especially to Ann Vieth, who has covered all aspects of this program for a prolonged period of time. It's time for her to take a break! We came up with several ideas to expedite the program, but I would like to suggest that "many hands make light work," so if you see an opportunity to help with this program, please take action! For example, if you frequent a library, inquire if you can help by providing educational program information. Additionally, we need an MG to commit to monthly UME office visits to check our computers and LCD equipment and make sure all the cables are in the bags as well as confirming that the equipment is working properly. Would you assist an MG speaker by attending the session and completing a demographics form regarding the audience? Public education is our mission and your help is needed to support the program. On another matter, Jon Traunfeld will not continue as state MG Coordinator. Please see me if you are interested in viewing the position announcement. A change has been made in MG participation in the MD State Fair. If you are interested in being a presenter and/or volunteering as a garden docent, please contact either Alexa Smarr (asmarr@umd.edu) or Erin Mellenthin (emelle@umd.edu), the Baltimore County and Baltimore City MG Coordinators. New raised beds and plants have now been installed and docents are needed to provide public information. Lastly, please mark your calendar for Tuesday, September 11, when our continuing education coordinators, Joanna Cumbie and Karin DeLaitsch have planned a scavenger hunt at the Howard County Conservancy. After the event we will have our annual meeting to catch up on all the MG program activities, then enjoy lunch. Enjoy your garden and the season! Georgia Eacker, MG Coordinator, WSA Liaison, , geacker@umd.edu The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression.

2 GROW IT, EAT IT NEWS Hello fellow MG s and Happy Summer to you! My name is Erica Jones and I am the new Chair of our Grow It, Eat It program. I am very excited to join the committee and looking forward to continuing the amazing work that former Chair, Kent Phillips, along with Jerry Kissel have done with the program to date. Abundant honor to them and the whole GIEI team for supporting and teaching our communities all over Howard County how to grow their own food! A little bit about myself, I'm a Howard County native with an enormous passion for growing food and then using that bounty to prepare delicious meals for the people I love in my life. I am a chef, wife, and mother of two sons, ages 3 and 7. I am primarily a container gardener since my home has limited gardening space available to me. I find so much joy walking outside my back door to pick beautiful and nutritious fruits and vegetables to prepare for my family. This is what the GIEI program is all about! My goal is to bring new and fresh ideas on ways we can continue to reach our neighbors and communities so they can be encouraged and empowered do the same. Our first line of business will be to update the GIEI committee roster. If you d like to remain engaged with the committee or come join us for the first time, please send me an to Chefelj@gmail.com and say hello! I will generate a refreshed committee roster, then we ll dive into scheduling a meeting (September timeframe) to meet each other and start building GIEI s future. I look forward to being on the team with you. Let s change the world one HoCo garden at a time, shall we? : ) Erica Jones, MG 2018, chefelj@gmail.com HOWARD COUNTY MG CALENDAR Click here to view the electronic calendar with Howard County MG activities and volunteer opportunities, including the Bay-wise meeting on August 6. Please note that Continuing Education sessions will begin again in September along with Conservation Stewardship. Scroll over an event of interest for additional information such as contacts, locations and times. NOTEWORTHY FOR AUGUST: 4-11 Howard County Fair 6 Bay-Wise meeting 20 LooseLeaf Deadline! WORK DAYS Enchanted Garden (Miller Library) every Tues & Wed Whipps every Thursday HC Conservancy every Friday LooseLeaf August 2018 page 2

3 2018 CONTINUING EDUCATION SPEAKER SERIES MGs, Watershed Stewards, Master Naturalists and their guests are welcome to attend. All sessions will be held on Tuesdays at the UME office, except for the field trip on September 11. Check the MG electronic calendar for updates. For questions, contact: Karin DeLaitsch or, Joanna Cumbie SEPTEMBER 11 9:30-11:00 am OCTOBER 9 9:30-11:00 am NOVEMBER 13 9:30-11:00 am Scavenger Hunt at Howard County Conservancy, Mt Pleasant Gardening and Climate Change Sylvia Huestis, MG and Carolyn Cradler, MG TBD Join us for a scavenger hunt at the Conservancy prior to the annual MG meeting & luncheon Climate Change and Its implications for gardeners WHIPPS GARDEN CEMETERY UPDATE Spring into summer has been a busy time, as always, at Whipps Garden Cemetery. We had another successful plant sale in May and are continuing with summer activities. Whipps lost many boxwood and some long-standing lilac bushes. The boxwood were replaced and the lilac area was cleared and is under consideration for fall planting. Tree work was completed to remove several dead trees and branches to expose our Wye white oak tree, which was being encroached upon by surrounding trees. Paul Kojzar has installed a beehive! Volunteers, Cindy Saber and Lori Koch will be volunteering with the Whipps exhibit at Hands on History during the Howard County Fair on Thursday, August 9. Many historians and people with specialties and knowledge of Howard County will set up tables for the day in the 4H Activity Building (air conditioned!). If you would like to volunteer for several hours, please contact Aleta at agravelle@verizon.net. Judging from the disappearance of brochures and other information about the cemetery gardens from our free information boxes, visitors are exploring the cemetery on a regular basis. If you have never visited the cemetery, please do so. A self-paced walking tour is available in the brochure box at the parking pad. Everyone is welcome to stroll through the garden at any time. Regular Thursday work days continue throughout the summer, starting at 8:00 am on the hot, humid days. Our greatest needs at this time will be watering and weeding. When the leaves fall, there will be plenty of work for anyone who needs Master Gardener hours! If you cannot make it on Thursdays, you are welcome to come anytime to work. For questions and/or concerns, please , text or call me at or agravelle@verizon.net. Aleta Gravelle, MG 2009 LooseLeaf August 2018 page 3

4 LATIN FOR GARDENERS August's Native Maryland Plant Ceanothus americanus L. (see-uh-noe-thus uh-mair-ih-kay-nus) Common Name: New Jersey Tea Ceanothus americanus has taken its time to grow on me. I was originally attracted to this plant due to claims of its severe drought-tolerance and ability to thrive in poor soil. I had just the right place to test these claims! I planted a 6 tubeling in an area where other plants have struggled and eventually died. I knew this plant was a favorite of deer and bunnies and, sure enough, in its first year the tubeling was reduced to 2 by bunnies that visit my yard. Not to be deterred and knowing most of the growth in the early stages was happening below ground, I kept the plant in this difficult site. I am thrilled that I stuck with it - after three years I have a fully grown, low-mounding, low-maintenance shrub that has lovely white blooms starting in May. Another benefit? Pollinators love this plant! Ceanothus americanus is a nitrogen fixing plant in the Buckthorn (Rhamnaceae) family, one of the few non-legumes that can fix nitrogen; this ability allows the plant to improve the soil and survive where other plants wouldn t stand a chance. My experience has been that this is one tough plant. It prefers full sun and doesn t want to be moved once established so consider this when siting it. Although I m delighted the plant has lived up to its drought-tolerant claims, I won t be testing out another claim that many Midwesterners have stated, the roots of the plant can break a plow. LooseLeaf August 2018 page 4

5 Fun Fact: Ceanothus americanus leaves, like Monarda didyma leaves, were used as a substitute for real tea during the American Revolution. Unfortunately for the drinkers, these leaves contain no caffeine. Alison Milligan, MG 2013, aligmilligan@gmail.com DEMONSTRATION GARDEN AT HCC, MOUNT PLEASANT By the time this appears we will be at the height of tomato season. Our most successful crops this year have been tomatoes, peppers and potatoes, which the local groundhog leaves alone. After a very slow start, our Food Bank donations have reached a total of 100 pounds. Our other successful area has been the two newly enclosed herb beds which nothing seems to bother. As the picture shows, we have healthy crops of Genovese, Thai, Purple and bush basils as well as Stevia, parsley, rosemary, lavender and dill. These herbs have been kept bushy by heavy weekly pinching. Regular workdays continue every Friday from 8-10 am. Come join us when you can! Jo Ann Russo, MG 1997, jrusso1104@comcast.net LooseLeaf August 2018 page 5

6 LANDSCAPE LESSONS: REVISITING A RECOMMENDATION FOR RED IN THE LANDSCAPE Last year, I wrote an article recommending a particular plant as an alternative to Japanese barberry. That plant was a relatively new offering of a dwarf ninebark, specifically Little Devil Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius "Little Devil"). I sang many praises for the lovely plant and promised to revisit the subject and let you know how it's doing in my garden and whether it has lived up to all my expectations. I'm happy to tell you that I am very pleased indeed by the appearance and performance of this wonderful plant which, along with its matching companion on the other side of the garden, has grown into a handsome shrub that looks wonderful in all four seasons. In planning my garden makeover, I was looking for a deciduous shrub with dark red or purple foliage that would provide a nice contrast with the golds and greens of golden globe arborvitae, the anchor shrub for that end of the garden. Little Devil has stepped up to the job very nicely as you can see in the summer photo. It also holds its leaves and colors well into the winter so that it also looks great with a snow cover. Roy Heath, MG 2001, therents2001@yahoo.com Best of all, however, is that the voracious deer in my area do NOT eat it (except for a few of the nondescript flowers in spring). And it also lives up to its reputation for being easy care, no problems with disease, pests or mildew. There is one unexpected extra worth mentioning. Praying mantises apparently love to deposit egg cases on these shrubs, so I have witnessed "hatches" of hundreds of these insects, which now patrol my gardens and keep everything pest free. So I can safely say these are wonderful additions to any garden needing a reddish-purple accent. SUMMER GARDEN PHOTOS SHARED BY HOWARD COUNTY MGS Erica Jones Frances Fico Joan Oliver LooseLeaf August 2018 page 6

7 BOOK REVIEW RAIN GARDENS: SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPING FOR A BEAUTIFUL YARD AND A HEALTHY WORLD (STEINER & DOMM, 2012) If you are thinking about installing or maintaining a rain garden, this book would be a valuable addition to your Master Gardener library. The authors have a wealth of experience in horticulture and storm water best management practices. Their expertise is coupled with their photographic talents which enliven and enlighten this wonderful book. I have a rain garden in my front yard and found plenty to interest me inside these pages about sustaining and maintaining the landscape. The book begins with a useful and readable section on the value of water, with special attention given to storm water. Their description of the journey from rainwater to a toxic soup inhabiting our streams, lakes, rivers, is stark and chilling. They temper this with measures that we can put into place in our own landscapes that remediate the water quality of urban runoff. Knowledge of the watershed, storm water permitting, and underground cables is stressed. In brief, a rain garden is a specially designed space which collects rainwater from roofs, driveways, patios, sidewalks, and other non-permeable areas. They are designed to quickly and efficiently absorb excess rainwater. Additionally, they are kind to our environment when populated with native plants. Use of fertilizer and pesticides become unnecessary. If you are new to rain gardening, this book clearly gives an excellent, logically planned, stepby-step guide to planning, locating, maintaining the rain garden. Required tools, a guide to measurements, berm installation, and year-round care for your plants are featured. The details and accompanying photographs make clear the what, the how, and the where of a successful rain garden. Bumps in the road and cautions to be aware of are also explained. I found that just reading and rereading the chapters along with attention to photographs of rain gardens and flowers provided a working knowledge of where to begin. The material is presented clearly and there was no need for a dictionary or textbook. And the authors approach makes it a project that we can envision installing ourselves, with a little help from our friends and Master Gardeners. Pattee Fletcher, MG 2014, patteefletcher@yahoo.com A RAIN GARDEN IN GLENWOOD Photos taken by MG Pat Hooker at the Gary Arthur Community Center, Cooksville, MD LooseLeaf August 2018 page 7