Brucemore Art & Garden Show August 27 By Carrol Elliott

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1 Vol. 26, No. 9 Editors: Julie Stark/Lisa Slattery September 2016 MASTER GARDENER EVENTS Steering Committee Meeting Extension Office September 6 6:30 pm Expert Ed Workshops Extension Office September 1 & 15 6:30 pm Fall Library Talks All Talks: 6:30-7:30 pm North Liberty Library September 12, 19 & 26 Coggon Public Library September 7, 14, 21 & 28 Hiawatha Public Library September 7, 14, 21 & 28 Family Gardening for Food & Fun Lowe Park Demo Gardens September 20 6:30-8:30 pm MG Intern Training Schedule Extension Office September 22 & 27 6:30-9:30 pm MG Plant Exchange Lowe Park Greenhouse September 24 10:00 am Swamp Fox Festival Lowe Park Greenhouse September 24 Seed Saving 4:00 pm Tomato Tasting 5:00 pm Sweet flowers are slow/and weeds make haste. - William Shakespeare ( ) Brucemore Art & Garden Show August 27 By Carrol Elliott The Brucemore Art and Garden Show was a great success. Volunteers were ready for anything, arriving with rain gear, bug spray and sunscreen. We had a soggy setup in the morning, but in the end, it was a beautiful day with over 1500 in attendance. Becki Lynch was our keynote sharing Pleasing the Bees and Butterflies: Planting for Continued Page 2 What s Inside Brucemore Art/Garden Show Pages 1 & 2 Swamp Fox Festival Activities Page 2 Expert Ed: Weed Identification Page 3 Coordinator Comments Page 4 Family Gardening for Food/Fun Page 4 NewBo Tomato Testing Page 4 Upcoming Library Talks Pages 5-6 Popcorn/Pop Webinars Page 6 Volunteer Spotlight Page 7 Intern Training Schedule Page 8 Things We Love:Popcorn Plant Page 9 Merry Marigold Maidens Page 9 Steering Committee/Project Reports Pages 9-11 September

2 Pollinators. Walkabouts provided visitors with a wealth of information on seed saving and tree identification. Our display area provided a mix of crafts, cuttings and top notch displays. For those who wanted to explore the formal gardens, our MG's were ready to identify plants and provide helpful tips on how to grow plants at home. I met several "regulars" who attend this show annually and new visitors who will now plan to make it an annual event. I asked them what they like most about the show. So many great positive comments! What a difference the LCMG's make in our community. We have already received a note of heartfelt thanks from the Brucemore staff. They truly appreciate the collaboration between our LCMG's Devon Dietz, Pam Brackey and Shirley Thorton help as garden guides in the Brucemore Formal gardens. groups. A special thanks to Peggy Green, our 2016 chair, and the Leads for making the event run so smoothly. Can't wait for the 2017 event! Visitors fascinated by a praying mantis munching on a bee. Quite a crowd Attendees learn about tool maintenance from LCMG Doug Smith & Gene Nassif Swamp Fox Festival Activities at Lowe Park Saturday, September 24 By Phil Pfister Seed Saving (4:00 pm): LCMG will lead this hands-on workshop in the methods for selecting, collecting and saving seeds. Participants will be provided a listing of plants in the Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens at Lowe Park, and containers to collect seeds. Tomato Tasting (5:00-6:00 pm): Join the LCMG at the Lowe Park Greenhouse for a tomato tasting. There will be a mix of heirlooms and hybrids, from cherries to beefsteak. The number of tomatoes and varieties are subject to weather and tomato availability. *** Look for October-December Lowe Park Workshops in next month s Germinator. 2 Germinator

3 Expert Ed Weed Identification By: Bev Whitmore If you missed the Weed Identification Class on August 4th, you missed a great presentation. Karla McGrail and Fran Potratz passed around live specimens of 22 common Midwestern weeds and provided handouts. Did you know weeds can be annual, biennial and perennial? One example of a perennial weed is Curly Dock (rumex crispus). A biennial is Burdock (arctium minus and arctium lappa) and an annual is Black Medic (medicao lupulina). Another fact is that some weed seeds are viable for up to 50 years, like Velvetleaf (abutilon theophrasti) which you may know as Button Weed. Seeds can lay dormant for years until the soil is disturbed, they get enough light, moisture and proper temperatures, then they germinate. Weeds have neat names. Ever heard of Three Seeded Mercury? This is really Virginia Copperleaf (calypha virginica) named for a bit of Greek Mythology, which claims a Greek God had "winged feet". When this weed is toward the end of its lifespan, it turns copper colored. Some weeds really are beautiful like the Poke Weed with purple stems, nicely shaped leaves and berries with indentations - like someone "poked" them. Poke weed is poisonous! Another pretty weed is Climbing Nightshade (solanum dulcamara) which has purple flowers and clustered green berries that can hold up to 30 seeds; this weed can also be poisonous. The common names of some weeds are interesting, like Henbit, which gets its name from "seeds eaten by chickens." Which makes me wonder...can you eat weeds? Yes, you can eat some weeds like Lambsquarters (chenopodium album) which can be cooked like spinach. But do your homework before you cook or eat any weeds to make sure they are edible. Weeds are very individual. They can be beautiful like Queen Anne's Lace; they can be terrible like Wild Parsnip which causes a bad reaction to your skin; and they can be unusual like Yellow Wood Sorrel whose leaves look like Shamrocks. Karla McGrail shows Burdock (Arctium minus and Arctium lappa) Fran Potratz talks about Queen Anne s Lace (Daucus carota) Thanks to Karla and Fran for a great presentation, and now you know a little bit more about these plants that "get no respect" as Rodney Dangerfield says! September 3

4 Coordinator Comments By: Shelly O'Neal Hello MGs! We have arrived at September and I am working with the Interview Committee to start the process of selecting the class of 2017! This is the first time that I will be a part of the course from start to finish, so I thought to myself what a perfect opportunity for me to become a certified MG. Of course, I will have to be interviewed and selected. I hope they pick me! If you know of other individuals interested in becoming a Master Gardener, be sure to direct them to the website to complete their online application before September 1. Interviews will be held between September The training schedule is included in this Edition of the Germinator. I am also looking forward to attending the Midwest MG Conference in September at the Wisconsin Dells. The registration is currently open and will be held September There are many interesting classes to choose from and it is a beautiful place when you get away from the strip. I hope to see some of you there! Have a wonderful September! Shelly Family Gardening for Food and Fun All Master Gardeners are invited to attend the final Family Gardening for Food and Fun on September 20, at 6:30-8:30 at Lowe Park Demo Gardens, Lowe Park, 4500 N. 10th Street, Marion. The evening will be an informal/interactive discussion focusing on Putting the Garden to Bed followed by a snack and beverage. The evening may include a walk through the demonstration gardens, the new orchard, or just an evening in the Park. No registration is necessary just show up! Mexico Midget Wins 2016 Tomato of the Year By Carol Elliott Thanks to all for your donations, time and support for the Tomato Tasting held at the NewBo City Market on Saturday, August 20. There was over 100 visitors, with over 80 votes for the 2016 Tomato of the Year. Thanks much to the donors who provided 30 different varieties to sample. Your contributions made this a very fun event! Nearly every tomato had at least 1-2 votes; funny how this always works. Thanks to Peggy Green for organizing the tomatoes into categories Winners are: #1 Mexico Midget (23 votes) #2 (two-way tie) Beefsteak & Wapsipinicon Peach (15 votes each) #4 Aroma Sweet Hybrid (12 votes) #5 Ukranian Purple (10 votes) 4 Germinator

5 Fall 2016 Library Talks North Liberty Library; 520 W Cherry St, North Liberty, IA Mondays: 6:30-7:30 September 12: Ornamental Grasses (Deb Walser) - Do you want to plant ornamental grasses with wonderful fall seed heads? Are you worried about the grasses spreading? Gardening expert Deb Walser will show you which grasses are non-spreading/clump forming and hardy for Eastern Iowa. Many she grows herself. Come see and start planning for next spring. September 19: A Few of My Favorite Things (Wil Carew) - Join Master Gardener Wil Carew as he talks about raindrops on roses and fungus on leaves. Bright copper ninebark and cottonburr compost. He ll touch on coralbells, tied up tomatoes on netting, flowering weigelas and hydrangeas, fruit, vegetables, tools, trees and gardening in general. These are just a few of his favorite things. September 26: Thinking About a Home Greenhouse? (Phil Pfister) - Listen and learn as Phil Pfister, LCMG, demystifies the process of setting up and operating a home greenhouse. Topics include site selection, greenhouse material options, heating and cooling requirements, cost calculations, plant care and integrated pest management. Coggon Public Library; 202 East Main Street, Coggon, IA Wednesdays: 6:30-7:30 September 7: Growing and Arranging Cut Flowers (Judy Stevens) - A bouquet of flowers is always welcome whether it be to a shut-in, your neighbor, your office or your own home. The flowers need not be exquisite or the containers expensive. The most common and easily grown flower in your yard can be arranged into a small or large bouquet without a lot of effort. Come to this fun class to share some tips for making your flowers last longer, arranging techniques, and finding and using interesting containers. September 14: Starting Garden Transplants at Home (Zora Ronan) - This class will give you all the information you need to successfully start garden transplants at home, with a minimum amount of equipment, and vegetable or flower seeds. Save money and get the special varieties you want to grow. September 21: Organic Vegetable Gardening at Home (Phil Pfister) - What s better than home-grown vegetables? Raising home-grown vegetables using proven organic techniques is. Phil will provide you information to help you maximize the production of your garden, without spending a lot of time or using harmful chemicals. September 28: Blooms for the Birds (Sylvia Kelly) - Basics of attracting birds to your yard; what to plant, where to plant and what birds September 5

6 Hiawatha Public Library, 150 W. Willman Street, Hiawatha, IA Wednesdays; 6:30-7:30 September 7: Moonlight Gardens (Debbie Main) - Love your gardens from warm summer evenings through snowy winter nights by choosing elements and plantings to take advantage of romantic moonlight. LCMG Debbie Main will give you lots of ideas on how to love your gardens every hour of the day. September 14: Ornamental Grasses (Deb Walser) - Do you want to plant ornamental grasses with wonderful fall seed heads? Are you worried about the grasses spreading? Gardening expert Deb Walser will show you which grasses are non-spreading/clump forming and hardy for Eastern Iowa. Many she grows herself. Come see and start planning for next spring. September 21: Flowers with unusual shapes and names (Judy Stevens) - Join Master Gardener Judy Stevens to learn about flowers with interesting names and shapes! September 28 - Conifers for the Garden (Devon Dietz) - It is said that evergreens are the bones of garden design. Devon will share his love of conifers in general, and dwarf conifers in particular. He will include information on the planting and care of conifers, conifer sources, and public places to view them. Expert Ed Webinars By Linda Hayward Popcorn and Pop Webinars are held on Thursdays at 6:30 in the large conference room at the Extension Office. Each webinar is about 2 hours. When viewing them at the Extension Office, handouts will be available. Following is a brief description of each webinar and the dates they are to be shown. Thursday, September 1 Tree Problems (Lina Rodriguez-Salamanca): Become familiar with some of the common symptoms of tree problems and learn what to keep an eye out for. Thursday, September 15 What s the Buzz About (Nathan Brockman): Learn about insects native to Iowa and what to do to increase the enjoyment of these sixlegged garden visitors. To register, please contact Linn County Extension by calling (319) or by ing soneal@iastate.edu 6 Germinator

7 Volunteer Spotlight Sandy Fiegen Interview by Linda Skvor Meet Sandy Fiegen! Sandy grew up on a farm in South Dakota and attended a one room schoolhouse during her elementary years. She is a garden lover, having been raised by a mother and grandmother who loved plants. When Sandy s family from far away come for a visit, they always start with a walk around the yard to see all of Sandy s plants! The flowers that Sandy incorporates most in her landscape are daylilies, but probably her favorite is the peony, since they are so beautiful to look at and elicit such special memories. Sandy decided to complete the Master Gardener Program in 2014 to ease into active retirement (although she s still working full time), to meet wonderful plant-loving people and to help other people with their own mysteries in the yard. Sandy stated she has learned so much about the organization and running of a greenhouse! My gosh--there's so much more to know too! Any one of us who has had the privilege to walk into a light, tropical greenhouse in the middle of the bleak winter days knows pure joy. Amen, Sandy. Sandy said she s learned that seedlings need consistent temperatures, growing conditions and misting, and that the plants that are eventually sold have moved into different pots as they grow. Sandy has also learned that the potting equipment must be carefully cleaned and sterilized and pot washing parties are a lot of fun --at least for a while! Sandy has volunteered at most of the major activities throughout the year ---the Winter Gardening Fair, the Garden Walk, Brucemore Art Festival, and the annual spring plant sale. She is also a frequent volunteer at Lowe Park in the greenhouse and the gardens there. Sandy is the mother of four adult children, all of whom are married; three live close in the Cedar Rapids area, and her oldest daughter lives with her husband and grandchildren in St. Louis. Sandy has been a consultant for the Iowa Department of Education for child nutrition programs and has held that position for the past 18 years. She considered a music education career and still enjoys singing and playing piano. In Sandy s spare time she also enjoys stained glass crafting and sewing. Sandy is so glad she decided to become involved with the MG program, and looks forward to many more years of involvement! September 7

8 2016 Master Gardener Training Schedule Each Tuesday or Thursday class is 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Linn County office, 383 Council Street NE, Ste. 201 CR, Iowa. Saturday campus class is held 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at Iowa State University, Horticulture Building, Ames, Iowa. It would be appreciated if 2 or 3 MG s could volunteer each class period to assist with signing in attendees and setting up and closing up. If interested, contact Shelly (soneal@iastate.edu). SCHEDULE: DATE TOPIC PRESENTER(S) Thurs, September 22 Orientation Shelly O Neal Tues, September 27 Tues, October 4 Sat, October 8 or 22 Tues, October 11 8 Germinator Plant Pathology and Entomology Weeds, Integrated Pest Management and Pesticides Class on ISU Campus, Ames, IA Soils and Botany Donald Lewis Lina Rodriguez- Salamanca Kristine Schaefer Laura Jesse Numerous Lee Burras Denny Schrock Tues, October 18 Fruit Culture Diana Cochran Tues, October 25 Thurs, October 27 Tues, November 1 Sustainable Home Landscape Design House Plants and Propagation Turfgrass Management Thurs, November 3 Vegetables TBD Tues, November 8 Thurs, November 10 Landscape Trees and Shrubs Herbaceous Ornamentals Lisa Orgler Deb Walser Adam Thoms Jeff Iles TBD Tues, November 15 Animal Ecology Adam Janke Thurs, November 17 Composting Wil Carew Glen Babinett

9 Things We Love Popcorn Plant Visits Keegan Garden By Kathy Hughes Wow, this really DOES smell like buttered popcorn! exclaimed guests at Vicki Keegan s garden during this year s July 9th Garden Walk. I got the idea to bring my popcorn plant to Vicki s from when I volunteered at Barb Wing s when her garden was featured on the Walk a couple of years ago. Barb brought her popcorn plant to the ticket table for guests to enjoy and that s exactly what I did this year at Vicki s garden. The popcorn plant (cassia didymobotrya) is grown as an annual in Iowa and can grow 4 to 5 feet tall (currently, mine is almost 5 feet tall). In warmer climates (Zone 9b and warmer) this Guests at the Keegan plant is a perennial that can reach 6 to 8 feet garden are amazed by the tall. Its blooms are bright golden-yellow with Plant s smell. plump black buds and, in our zone, will bloom from summer to fall. It will bloom year round in those warmer zones. I have found my popcorn plant to be very easy to grow with low maintenance. It likes full sun, humidity and daily watering. Other attributes include that it is deer repellant and attracts butterflies, bees and birds! Even though the blooms are very striking, my favorite part of the popcorn plant is its intoxicating smell of buttered popcorn. Just gently run your hand over the leaves and smell..ahhh it smells JUST LIKE POPCORN! When our guests arrived at Vicki s, we encouraged them to rub the leaves and smell their hands. You d see a smile come to their faces when they recognized that wonderful scent of buttered popcorn. It s a calorie -free summer treat!!! Merry Marigold Maidens By Bev Whitmore Recently the "Merry Marigold Maidens" got together for a group photo at Lowe Park Demo Garden. Sarah Neff, Sandy Fiegen, Jan Knott and Beverly Whitmore planted the garden this spring and have watered, fertilized and weeded all summer, and will continue to do so until the season comes to an end. Thanks ladies, for all your work! The Popcorn Plant can reach 6-8 feet. September 9

10 August 2016 Steering Committee Minutes DRAFT Abridged for Germinator Present: Steve Bartlett, Cindy Fagan, Darrell Hennessey, Linda Hinzman, Sylvia Kelley, Sam Krumbholz, Jackie MacLaren, Kay McWhinney, Linda Shepard, Jean Wilson, Diane Wiesenfeld. Absent: Jackie Baumhauer, Larry Dawson, Beula Dvorak, Jane Schildroth. Guests: Shelly O Neal, Phil Pfister. Quorum established. Minutes of July 5, 2016: Approved. Announcements: Kirkwood College was chosen for the WGF. They are most cost effective, have computers, advertise in the Kirkwood brochure, and have a good lunch option. The lunch fee will be around $10, and coffee will be $14.40 per gallon. Financial Report: Linda Hinzman gave the fiscal year end report. LCMG needs to pay Coe for the WGF venue. ($2, posted in June); Income is $42,839; Expense is $31,101: Balance is $35, $5,100 will be transferred to the Executive Operating Fund. The budget report was approved by the committee. Project and Committee Reports Brucemore: August 27. All presenters, volunteers are getting ready. Garden guide training will be on 8/24. Presentation and display materials will be staged in the Hortline room and moved over to Brucemore. Creative Gardening Series: The dates for 2017 CGS are April 11, 18, & 25, at the downtown Cedar Rapids library. Each session will begin at 6 pm. We will now searching for speakers. Contact Linda Hinzman, Kathy Hughes or Linda Eggleston with names. Community Outreach Gardens: The committee continues to be busy with the community garden partners. A few highlights: David McClain, the photographer for Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones Solution, photographed the Marion Community Garden and the Urban Orchard. Marion was one of six certified communities in Iowa to be selected for the photos. The photos are being used on a national scale for marketing. The Committee has new displays with pictures of all the partner gardens that will be displayed in the NewBo Food Security event and Brucemore. On July 7, Beula met with two ISU graduate students doing research on community gardens/food security. They visited both the Wellington Heights and Ely Public Library Gardens and were very impressed. Wellington Heights and Olivet gardens continue to engage students in gardening projects, collaborated with Horizons and Boys & Girls Club. All gardens are producing abundantly. Demo Gardens Lowe Park: Gardens continue to be damaged by heavy rain run off from the roof. Three possible options are: 1) Meet with the parks dept. to see 10 Germinator

11 if we can collaborate adding topsoil to raise the beds 2) Work on relocating the garden or 3) Discontinue garden altogether. Noelridge: Flutterby Acres (monarch & swallowtail) tents are full of activity. From eggs hatching, to munching caterpillars forming chrysalises, to beautiful butterflies being released; there is something happening daily. MG's have daily shifts with tasks like removing pests, observing the stages, recording numbers & releasing butterflies. There were three tours of the tents in July organized by MG Linda Eggleston. Weeding/harvesting of the MG Herb Garden, the AAS demo gardens and the Winnie the Pooh Children's garden continue on a weekly basis. Noelridge volunteer hours for May totaled 420.4; were MG hours. For June, total 236.8; being MG hours. Year to date total volunteer hours at Noelridge are New Bo: We had a successful tasting at the NewBo Learning Garden last week. Over 60 guests sampled vegetable stir fry, and we distributed over 250 common milkweed plants. We will be participating in the Fighting Food Insecurity event at the Market on July 30. In August, we will talk about succession planting. Our annual tomato tasting is August 20. We will need more tomato varieties. If you grow tomatoes, we'd love to share a few samples at the NewBo tasting. Expert Education: On August 4 at 6:30 at the Extension Office, Fran Potratz and Karla McGrail will present a Weed Identification. The Expert Ed Committee will have a meeting on July 28 at 6:30 to decide dates for the Summer Webinars. From the Ground Up: A planning meeting is set up August 2 at 5:30. Garden Walk: The 2016 Garden Walk was a wonderful success. The weather was beautiful and the garden walk properties looked fantastic. Close to 50 MG and Interns volunteered for this year's event. 525 wristbands were sold. Gross profit was $2375 and 6 MG Books were sold at $15 each. Thank You to our hosts this year; Noelridge Park Gardens (City of CR Parks & Recreation Dept.), Diana North, Dave Mahlke, and Vicki Keegan. Also, a BIG Thank You to Shelly and the Extension Office staff for helping us prepare for the event. The follow-up meeting was held on July 18. MG photographer Sam Krumbholz put together a slide show of the Garden Walk and the Friday night preview for all to enjoy. Green House: We continue some maintenance in preparation for cleaning and sanitizing, which will take place in August. Hortline: There will be some changes in the Hortline office. The wall will be redone and the window opening will have sheetrock over the entire wall. The bookcases may be relocated, but are handy where they are. A longer table will be brought in so the microscopes and microscope supplies will have more room and won t be sitting on top of the file cabinet. Any other changes or suggestions concerning the hortline office or hortline operating procedures that the hortline volunteers have will be welcomed. September 11

12 Feel free to make your suggestions known to the committee members. We want the hortline operation to run as smoothly as possible. Pruning was added to the log sheet and summary sheet. INQUIRIES PENDING SHEET is marked MG ; SUMMARY OF SESSION sheets are marked MG002 rev ; and the LOG OF HORTLINE INQUERIES COMPLETED sheets are marked MG003 REV Wil Carew did the revisions. These are the forms we will use. Those are the numbers you look for to run copies. They will be saved on Kingston flash drive. Plant Exchange: The annual LC Master Gardener Plant Exchange is set for Saturday, September 24 starting at 10:00 at Lowe Park Greenhouse and you are all invited. Bring a perennial division, woody plant divisions, cuttings, bulbs, seed, houseplants or any other plant material to share with another Master Gardener. For each selection shared, you will receive a new one. If 3 items are donated, you ll take 3 different home. Refreshments will be served, please RSVP. Planting for Pollinators: Planting for Pollinators will be having a display at Brucemore, which Karla is putting together. Becki is also speaking at Brucemore on "Pleasing the Bees and Butterflies: Planting for Pollinators." Project Independence: The gardens are growing like crazy! Winter Gardening Fair: The Venue Committee contacted seven locations for possible sites for the 2017 Winter Gardening Fair. The selection will be announced at the August Steering Committee meeting. The Program Committee is actively working on speakers and potential keynote speakers. MG Coordinator Report: Shelly provided us a copy of the MG Coordinator Notes she gave to Paul. She gave updates on the Winter Garden Fair, including the date of February 25, 2017 pending approval from the Linn County Extension Council. Her notes also included updates on Mini-grants, Fall registration for MG applications, Outreach Events, and Calendar Items. Next meeting is Sept. 6 th at 6:30pm. Respectfully submitted, Sam Krumbholz, 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