Greene Garden News. Moss Mountain Farm. Greene County Master Gardeners Newsletter. County 76 Advanced Master Gardener Training Heirloom Gardening

Transcription

1 August 19, 2018 Volume 19, Issue 8 Greene County Master Gardeners Newsletter Special Interest: Plant It Forward Player: Martha Chiles Aug. Birthdays: Aug. 6: Cora F. Aug. 8: Linda G. Aug. 23: Joy Gatlin Refreshments: Joy Gatlin & Cora Flanery Speaker: Elizabeth Kimble, Crowley s Ridge State Park Individual Highlights: Pres. Notes/TR 2 Minutes 3 Projects/Com. 4 Membership 5 Mbr. Pics 6 Greene County CES 201 W. Court St. Rm. 205 Federal Building Paragould, AR Phone (870) Fax (870) Officers: President: Pauletta Tobey Vice President: Tacie Huffman Secretary: Treasurer: Jean Crossno Moss Mountain Farm P. Allen Smith built Moss Mountain Farm, known as The Garden Home Retreat in Located in Roland, just 40 miles outside Little Rock, the farm encompasses more than 600 acres of land overlooking the Arkansas River, and dates back to The centerpiece is his cottage home, built in the American Greek Revival style and constructed in an eco-friendly manner. Directly behind the cottage is the croquet lawn, which is framed by a summer kitchen and art studio. The surrounding garden includes a fountain garden that separates two wings of garden rooms filled with a mix of annuals, herbs, perennials, roses, shrubs and ornamental grasses. Beyond the flower gardens are orchards filled with heritage apple trees, stone fruit and blueberries, a oneacre vegetable garden, a bluebird trail, wildflower fields and a daffodil hill, which overflows with more than 300,000 daffodils blooming each spring. Various outbuildings, from barns to mobile chicken homes, are located throughout the grounds and surrounding pastures. Don t miss out, and make plans to go! There is so much to see and do! This is a special experience you won t forget, and you could even meet P. Allen! The deadline for registration for the Arkansas Master Gardener Birthday Celebration at Moss Mountain is September 13 th. Cost for MGs is only $30 and $75 for guests, with one guest per Master Gardener. County 76 Advanced Master Gardener Training Heirloom Gardening This very special Advanced Training Class was hosted by Washington County Master Gardeners Friday, Aug. 17th, at the Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences in Fayetteville. Anyone arriving Thursday could also enjoy a garden tour at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale, followed by an old fashioned ice cream social, and presentation, Meat, Meal and Molasses: Heirloom Eatin in the Ozarks by Susan Young. Class participants gained a better understanding of what an heirloom plant is, why you should grow heirlooms, how to save seeds, and pass along these treasures from one generation to the next. Topics included: What s the Big Deal about Heirlooms; Headquarters House Gardens; Ozark Heirloom Plants; Seed Saving; Roses Even Dead People Can Grow; and Grandmother s Plants. The speakers were both entertaining and informative and the food was deliciously available all day. Members attending from Greene County were, Susan Youngblood,, Pauletta Tobey, and Connie Whitman.

2 ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM. We are ready! The equipment and technology has been tried and it works, so our zoom program is a go. Now, we need new members to fill the class. The cost $75.00 can be partially supplemented with scholarship monies donated by Economic Development of Paragould. The class will meet at the Greene County A sincere thank you goes out to a very generous anonymous Master Gardener donor for paying PNG Registrations in full for Holly Fletcher and Joy Gatlin! This wonderful member appreciates all the good things Master Gardeners do to help our community! Events Calendar Aug 28: GCMG Meeting. 6 pm, Legacy Room Sept. 10, 17, 24: Beekeeping Course, Jon Zawislak. 6-9 pm, Paragould Community Center Sept : PNG Leadership: Ferndale 4-H Center Sept. 22: Fall Native Plant Sale, LR Audubon Center, 9-1, MG Cost: $3.00 Oct. 7-13: MG Week Oct. 13: 30th Birthday Celebration for Arkansas MG Program, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., P. Allen Smith's Moss Mt. Farm Page 2 of 5 Presidents Notes Extension office with our extension agent/advisor or one of our members leading from 8:30 to 4:30 every Wednesday starting October 17, 24, 32 and November 7 and 14. We feel this will open possibilities for a new and diversified group of members along with the online training starting in January. BBL has kicked off with our own speaking about natural habitat plants and the Cooper Garden Walk in Memphis. We have such a talented group of members, just the members alone could fill Linda s schedule for BBL. Our program director, Kathy Graber, has done an excellent job in giving us creative, interesting speakers of which we are really excited about our August speaker, Elizabeth Kimble from Crowley s Ridge State Park. We have met the half-way mark for this year and it is now time to start looking to the future, The Greene County Fair Sept. 3-8, PNG- September 18-19, Moss Mountain-October 13, and our November holiday meeting and then, time to start all over again. At the August Meeting we will need a Nominating Committee for next year s Executive Board and also an Award s Committee. I have thoroughly enjoyed being your president this year. You guys gave me a fantastic Executive Board, along with two super duper Members-at-Large. All you guys make things so easy and fun! Thank you. Greene County PNG Representation Leadership Training started in 2005 at the first County 76 meeting in Ferndale. Greene County Members began attending in The following are members who have attended over the years, and those attending this year: August 24-25, Little Rock: Jean Crossno & Kathy Graber August 2-3, 2011-Russellville: No one October 2-3, Eureka Springs: Donna & David Jones Treasurers Report FNB Beginning Balance 7/01/18-8/01/ Debits- 0 Credits-0 Ending Balance Outstanding Checks 7/24/18 Cora Flanery 7.40 Total Funds Available Respectfully submitted 8/12/18 Jean Crossno, Treasurer (David replaced Holly Fletcher) July 2013: PNG (Plant, Nurture, Grow) added to Leadership Training September 23-24, 2013-Hot Springs: Marilyn White & Connie Whitman, Dave Freeze, Ext Agent October 6-7, Little Rock: Ann Bowers, Pauletta Tobey, Dave Freeze, Ext. Agent October 19-20, Heber Springs: Carolyn Palmer & Junior Palmer (Junior replaced Holly Fletcher), Dave Freeze, Ext. Agent September 26-27, Ferndale:, Holly Fletcher, Dave Freeze, Ext Agent September 26-27, Ferndale: Bonnie Hamilton, Pauletta Tobey (Pauletta replaced Libby Christie), Holly Fletcher-ATC panel, Connie Whitman-ATC panel, Dave Freeze, Ext. Agent September 18-19, Ferndale: Jean Crossno, Sue Gilmartin, Tacie Huffman,, Vicki Griggs, Pauletta Tobey; Joy Gatlin, Holly Fletcher, & Connie Whitman presenting Project of the Year; Dave Freeze, Ext. Agent

3 Page 3 of 5 Minutes of July 24, 2018 Greene County Master Gardeners Membership Meeting July 24, 2018 GC Library Legacy Room Ann Blankenship (See Page 6 for more info) Meeting was opened at 6.30 by Pauletta Tobey. Speaker was Ann Blankenship from Rogers Greenhouse Old Business: Approval of minutes as reported in newsletter: approved by Kathy Graber Seconded by Marilyn White Approval of treasurer s report as reported in newsletter: approved by Sue Gilmartin Seconded by Susan Youngblood PNG: Members going Sue Gilmartin, Tacie Huffman, Vicki Griggs and Jean Crossno as approved by the membership. Representing Greene County Project winner Joy Gatlin, Connie Whitman and Holly Fletcher with one member from these representatives will be paid for by Greene County Master Gardeners; paying their own way, Pauletta Tobey and ; and Dave Freeze is going as advisor and county agent. This is a good representation for Greene County. Master Gardener s Appreciation Day, Moss Mountain October 13: as this has been left very late to hire a coach it was decided that we would car pool. New Business: PNG criteria: an was sent out to all Master Gardener Members on the web site documenting who may attend. It was decided the treasurer would be recommended to go if it is a new appointment or there are changes to the rules for the treasurer, or if she felt she needed to go with the approval of the group (it may or may not be paid for by the group) Fairgrounds: The fair is fast approaching so everybody help would be appreciated to get the beds presentable. Water is available at 3 different sites and it is hoped they will all be turned on Plant Sale: A date was not available. This will be needed by Aug. 1st for the calendar. Membership: an has been sent to all prospective new members detailing the different routes to training and the cost Kathy Graber recommended and made a motion to charge only what state required and the chapter would absorb the cost for t-shirt and pins. This was seconded by Susan Youngblood and approved by the membership. A new prospective membership form was presented by Hannah for us to look at and come up with any changes that need to be made. This form will be voted on by the membership at a later date. A committee comprising of Hannah Williams, Kathy Graber, Susan Youngblood and Dave Freeze was set up to look into setting up a scholarship for prospective new members. Kathy Graber mentioned that we may be able to approach the Chamber of Commerce as at one time they have offered funds to set up a scholarship. By-Law Committee: a committee consisting of Sue Gilmartin, Jean Crossno and Frieda Kelly was set up to see if any changes are necessary to the bylaws. New Sanctioned Project: Patti Roberts submitted a new project proposal to the membership to cover Horticulture Research done by Greene County Master Gardeners. Kathy Graber suggested that this should also cover demonstrations done by Greene County Master Gardeners. Changes were submitted by Patti, approved by Jean Crossno and seconded by Susan Youngblood. Motion carried. Bee Keeping Classes: These have been set for September 10th, 17 th, and 24 th, 6-9 pm at the Community Center. Plant it Forward: Brought by Freida Kelly. Martha Chiles accepted the plant The meeting was adjourned at 8:17 pm. (Continued Page 5) Mrs. Roberts did a proposal presentation to the GCMG at their monthly Tuesday night meeting. The proposal is to sanction research done in Greene County by GCMG and our local Extension office. Research projects will come from University of Arkansas Extension Horticulturist in Little Rock and our local Extension Office. There are three such research trials in Paragould now: Tomato Pruning; Greene County Court House and Centennial Park for Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale (CMBS) and downtown Caboose for an Annual Plant Trial. Please stop by these GCMG projects and other GCMG projects throughout the city of Paragould. For further information about the trials or the Master Gardener program: Provided by Patti Roberts

4 Brown Bag Lunch The August 14 th program was given by Master Gardener Linda Glickert. Hearing Dr. Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, speak on Restoring Nature s Relationships in the Urban Landscape during the Memphis Cooper Young Garden Walk- Going Native in May of this year, Linda presented a slide program to capture his high points like Plant your yard like it s a Bird Feeder. Land ownership is not just a privilege, it s a responsibility, and we can t just think of it as ornamental or decorative. We need to be creating safe havens for our wildlife create corridors to natural areas, join with your neighbors to expand corridor, offer clean water, enrich the soil. Individuals can make a difference! We know pollinators are in trouble with declining numbers, but so are North American birds. At present there are 432 species of birds at risk of extinction, 46 species of NA birds have lost half their population just since Helping change this scenario includes planting native trees and other native plants, reducing lawn areas, and removing invasive plants. After the key talking points, Linda showed many photographs of yards open to the public during the Garden Walk. There were 85 gardens front, side, and back yards- open this year, the 3 rd year for this 2-day event. While beautifully landscaped with lots of old beautiful trees, most of the plants represented were specimens often seen in gardens elsewhere. This is their first year to focus on native plants the organizer promised this would change for next year s garden walk. Page 4 of 5 Project Updates Rainbow Garden: Joy Gatlin & Richard Yeazel Chairs: In spite of the heat and dry conditions at the Rainbow Garden, our Lantana is beautiful. It loves hot weather and blooms its heart out. We have our watering system at the Garden, and the other tiers of plants are doing just great. Our petunias are a little bedraggled at the Entrance of the Home and on either side of the Balcom Learning Center. We got a pretty good rain one afternoon to revive them. Trellis Garden: Pauletta Tobey Chair: Mulched. Pulled a few stray nut grasses and looking good again. East Sign: Pauletta Tobey Chair: The sign is gorgeous. The sweet potato vines are doing their thing. The lantanas are trying to show and are healthy and blooming. The sweet potato vines just won't let them through, or barely. GC Museum: & Wanda Howerton Chairs: No update. Main Street Caboose: Tacie Huffman & Jean Crossno Chairs: The Gardens ARE LOOKING GOOD!!! Even though we have lost the Sunpatiens, every one of the other plants are looking fantastic. The Zinnias are really strutting their stuff and the Hyacinth Beans are just now beginning to flower as the yellow Black Eyed Susan s are beginning to fade. There are so many plants that are holding their own against the hot, dry days we have had lately. Come by and take a look! Airport: Kathy Graber & Tabitha McFadden Chairs: The Airport continues to look good with just a little TLC. Historical Herb Garden: Libby Christie Chair: No report. Bland Baseball Park: Kathy Graber & Sue Gilmartin Chairs: They ve changed the rules at the park; the gates are locked unless a game is being played. When the gates are unlocked you pay a fee to enter. Due to those changes we can no longer have the ballpark as a sanctioned project. We are having a work day on Wed. August 15. I asked for the gates to be unlocked. GC Flower Entries Booth: Sue Gilmartin Chair: Sept. 4th. GC Fairgrounds: Clean up continues with fair Sept Spring Gardening Seminar: Chair: Landscaping Our World-Top to Bottom Friday, Mar. 15, 2019, Paragould Community Center. One speaker booked so far - Randy Forst, Pulaski Co. CES Spring Plant Sale: No report. GC Courthouse: Hannah Williams & Susan Youngblood Chairs: Plants in the urns and first responder bed are holding up despite the heat. Judge Rusty McMillan had Adam s Nursery & Landscaping come out and work on the sprinkler system, so it is now up and running again. Operation Wildflower:, Chair: Kayti did contact me to verify the location we selected, so hopefully we re one step closer. GC Library: Sue Gilmartin & Chairs: No report. South Sign: Ann Bowers, Chair: No report. Centennial Park: Debbie Walters & Marilyn White Chairs: No report. Committee Comments Sunshine: Joy Gatlin, Lead, & Cora Flanery: I am in charge of the committee August through December. We have several September Birthday Master Gardeners and love to send cards to each one of them. Cards for get well and other special days will be sent to each of our members and other community leaders. Joy Scrapbook: Vicki Griggs, Lead: Need articles and pictures. Plant Markers: Martha Chiles, Lead: Need plant lists. Hours Management: Patti Roberts, Lead: Three meetings left in 2018 to attend for recertification for MG. Reminder, 20 work hours must be on sanctioned projects or committees. Education hours can be at a nursery, public gardens, TV garden shows, attending seminars, books, magazines, seed and plant catalogs, uaex site, research on the computer. Reminder, GCMGs that have been in for 15 years are exempt from the 20/20 hours and attendance of 5 meetings. New members have 20/40 hours to complete and attend the minimum of 5 meetings of the 11 that is held each year to certify as a GCMG. All GCMGs that have met certification will have the 20/20 hours and 5 meetings to recertify for I hope this helps to understand the requirements set by LR. (Continued Page 6)

5 Page 5 of 5 Because of the new training options being offered this year, Dave, Pauletta and I met to discuss training locations, prices, a new member scholarship, and needed updates to the GCMG application. Later, our recommendations were presented to the group during the July monthly meeting. Because of the high prices of fall zoom training and online training, we have decided to keep our costs as low as possible by not adding to the fees set by the state. This means Fall Zoom training will remain at $75 and Online at $125. We felt it important to keep the costs low, so we would not deter anyone from joining. This also means that we will absorb the cost of the name badge and t- shirt. Spending a little to gain a little is what we are thinking! At the meeting we also discussed ideas for the What s New with the Membership Committee? location of Fall Zoom training. Although we discussed using the GC Library or Black River Technical College, Dave thinks we may be able to use the conference room at the Extension Office! For those who weren t at the meeting or are not aware of the aspects of Fall Zoom training, it will take place 5 consecutive Wednesdays in October and November from 8:30am- 4:30pm. This posed a problem because we need to make sure someone is with the new trainees at all times. Providing zoom training at the Extension Office will help with this dilemma, but we will still need volunteers to attend with our new trainees. The possibility of requiring a minimum of 5 new trainees to participate in Fall Zoom training before we offered it was also discussed. When we were thinking we may have to use a room at the library or pay for a room at Black River once a week for 5 weeks, this seemed logical. Now with the possibility of using the Extension Office, we may be able to decrease that requirement. At the July monthly meeting, a committee was also formed to work on a scholarship opportunity for potential new members. GCMGs recognized the need for this option after multiple people stated that they would love to join but could not afford it. A meeting will take place later this month to set rules and regulations governing the scholarship for potential new members. Finally, updates were made to the GCMG application. The updated application has not changed much, but now includes information for all three training options and requires the applicant to choose which one they are interested in completing. Hannah Williams *********************** (Continued Minutes, Page 3) Members in attendance were: Martha Chiles, Jean Crossno, Cora Flanery, Sue Gilmartin,, Kathy Graber, Vicki Griggs, Tabitha McFadden, Patti Roberts, Pauletta Tobey, Debbie Walters, Marilyn White, Hannah Williams, Susan Youngblood, and Freida Kelly Guests and potential new members in attendance were Sue Rowton, Angela Loveless, and Channon Kelley. Respectfully submitted by Sue Gilmartin for Secretary August Trial Plant Update Update and re-cap of the status of the annual trial plants. Little Rock chose 5 counties to do an annual trial. We were lucky to be chosen as one of those counties. In May the trial plants were planted at the sanctioned project Caboose. Jean and Tacie water and care for the trial plants as well as the other plants in the bed. The five trial counties received 8 annuals, 5 of each variety. Coleus 'Kong Junior' Sunpatien 'Tropical Orange' Cuphea'Vermillionare' Verbena 'Enduro Magenta' Euphorbia 'Diamond Delight' Zinnia 'Profusion' double mixed color Purslane 'Double Magenta' Zinnia 'Zahara' double salmon The Sunpatien 'Tropical Orange' started out well and was beautiful with the variegated leaves and large orange blooms. Sadly by late June it succumbed to the heat and humidity. The other plant, Euphorbia 'Diamond Delight'- blooms are fading to an unattractive brown. All the other plants seem to be adapting well and continue to stay in full bloom. Please stop by and take a look at the whole bed as well as the trial plants. There defiantly are plants to make a list for you next year s garden. Submitted by Patti Roberts

6 Page 6 of 6 Fall Craft Sale Greene Garden News Greene County Master Gardeners Newsletter Contributors Pauletta Tobey Jean Crossno Hannah Williams Patti Roberts Kathy Graber Dave Freeze (L-R) Hannah Williams, Dave Freeze, July 15th Membership Meeting Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Phlox, Pauletta Tobey s Garden 7/15 We re going to do it again. Put your creative crafty hats on and get with it! It's usually the first Sat. in November. Mark your calendars. Editor Connie Whitman Submit articles by the15 th each month: cwhitman@grnco.net The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. (Continued Committees, Pg. 4) There are several that have not posted hours and Little Rock and our own Extension Office will be pulling reports for The Deadline for all hours to be posted is December 13. Please do not wait until the last minute to post your hours. Scholarship: Hannah Williams, Lead: Jaxon s scholarship money has been submitted to ASU. At this time, Jaxon and his family are planning to attend our August monthly meeting. Because of his generosity with the scholarship, Bob Branch was also invited to attend, but unfortunately has conflicts with the date. I have assured Bob we will tell Jaxon of his generosity and how important he is to our group! Membership: Hannah Williams, Lead: We have had a lot of interest this year, let s finish the next few months strong before training classes begin! Way to go GCMGs!! Don t forget to let me know if you are willing to be a mentor to some of our new trainees. SPEAKER: The July MG meeting was held in the Legacy Room of the Greene County Library. Our guest speaker was Amy Blankenship of Rogers Nursery, she was recommended by a former Master Gardener Becky Kirby. Amy was originally from Mississippi and worked in a large nursery that raised lots of berries. Amy relocated to Jonesboro to get married. She had visited Rogers Nursery several times and kept thinking that is where she belonged. She has become a great asset to Rogers Nursery and brought a variety of plants to show the group. Her main lessons were how you should prune annuals, we sometimes forget to prune them and they become leggy and stop blooming. If you didn t get a chance to meet Amy, be sure to visit with her the next time you are at Rogers. The August speaker will be Elizabeth Kimble of Crowley s Ridge State Park. Kathy Graber