THE GARDENER S DIRT The Latest Scoop from the Scott County Master Gardeners

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THE GARDENER S DIRT The Latest Scoop from the Scott County Master Gardeners December 2014 Annual Meeting Please mark your calendars for the ISU Scott County Extension Master Gardener Annual Meeting

1 THE GARDENER S DIRT The Latest Scoop from the Scott County Master Gardeners December 2014 Annual Meeting Please mark your calendars for the ISU Scott County Extension Master Gardener Annual Meeting to be held Wednesday, January 14, 2015, at the Rogalski Center on the St. Ambrose campus. Tentative plans are as follows: cash bar from 6:00 7:30; dinner at 6:30. Dinner will be followed by a business meeting, an awards presentation, and signup for committees for In addition, there will be an educational presentation highlighting our committees. Please call for reservations by phone or vgall@iastate.edu. We need a head count for dinner. Dinner will be free, as a token of appreciation for all that you do as Master Gardeners. Once again this year the MG Advisory Board has committed to providing items for a local food pantry. Please remember to bring a nonperishable food item(s) to the meeting. It will be a good time to visit with your fellow Master Gardeners and meet the new class of Master Gardeners. We'll see you there. Master Gardener Board of Directors Board Briefs Submitted by Wayne Hannel The Master Gardener Board of Directors (ISU Scott County Extension) meets monthly at the Extension Office on the first Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m. All meetings are open to members, who may attend as observers (MG Bylaws, Article IV, paragraph 4.b). If a guest wishes to make a presentation to the Board, the individual should advise the Board Chair in advance so that a request may be placed on the meeting agenda. At the monthly meeting held on November 6, 2014, the following items were addressed: Peggy Dykes presented a summary of the MG Marketing Brainstorming Meeting held on October 8, The Board decided to hold the MG Annual Meeting at the Rogalski Center on the St. Ambrose campus on January 14, The MG Board visited the new Master Gardener class and summarized the various committees prior to the new class signing up for committees for Our Mission To provide home horticulture information and education to the citizens of Scott County consistent with Iowa State University recommendations. We also strive to increase members knowledge of horticulture through educational programs.

2 BOARD ELECTIONS REMINDER Submitted by Wayne Hannel There will be four terms on the Scott County Master Gardener Advisory Board that will be expiring at the end of Elections to fill these vacancies will take place at the annual meeting in January Master Gardeners must be in good standing met the volunteer hours (20 hours) and continuing education requirements (6 hours) for the current year. Anyone who is interested in being nominated or wants to nominate someone, please contact Duane. NOTE: This is a good time to ensure that you have reported all of your volunteer hours and continuing education hours (CEU s) Tree Planting and Care Committee Wayne Hannel Chair, Tree Planting and Care Committee Thanks to the dedicated volunteers who assisted the Bettendorf Trees Are Us Committee and the Bettendorf Tree Committee (through Bettendorf Parks and Recreation) pruning and mulching trees at the Bettendorf Library on November 1, Approximately 22 volunteers (10 Master Gardeners) assisted with the planting and mulching. Master Gardeners assisting with the effort included: Chuck Doss Britt Etheridge Lois Fradel Diane Hindman Elizabeth Jansen Doug McDonald Arnold Olson Ron Philips Dean Stotz Faye Waterman Thanks again! Remember to turn in your volunteer hours (2014 MG class = after January 1, 2015.) BACKGROUND SCREENING As many of you are aware starting in 2015 background checks on all Extension & Outreach employees and volunteers will be required. If you are not volunteering with youth or other high risk clients you will be rescreened every three years. If you volunteer with youth or other high risk clients you will need to be screened every year. The purpose of a county employee and volunteer background screening process is to create and maintain the safest possible environment for clients and program participants of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. This is one step in selecting and placing qualified employees and volunteers in appropriate positions. The background check provider is First Advantage Background Screening Series (FABSS). Please be advised that you will receive background screening packets at the 2015 annual meeting. Please return your forms that evening if possible or no later than January 30. If you choose not to be screened, you will no longer be able to serve as a Master Gardener for Iowa State University and Outreach.

3 Thoughts From The Belly By: Dan Mays In the past, I have enthusiastically endorsed purchasing Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) bulbs for a muchneeded explosion of botanical color during the dead of winter. Incredibly, in the big-box stores you can still buy an Amaryllis kit (pot, bulb, growing media, and instructions) for five dollars. These make the perfect gift for someone (like your mother) who really does not need anything, but you would still like to give something. These kits make quite a something for the next six-to-eight weeks as they transform from a dried-up bulb in a pot to a towering green stalk with stunning blooms. Of course, you can spend much more than five dollars. Typically, larger bulbs cost more, but they also produce several more flower stalks. Fancier containers may also add to the cost. If you have not tried growing one yourself you are missing out on a delightful winter experience! Clearly, these bulbs are one of the biggest no-brainers of the horticultural world. Success just does not get much simpler. Potting up an Amaryllis bulb and getting it to bloom is fool-proof. But as the old saying goes: Never underestimate the ingenuity of a fool!... and this is where Master Gardeners can save the day. Way back in my early training as a Master Gardener trainee, I remember a professor telling us, The most common thing in horticulture is misinformation. Over the years, I have seen this statement proven over and over again. There is no shortage of information out there, but unfortunately, far too much of it is inaccurate. In addition, many folks learn just enough of the good information to be dangerous. For example: People seem to remember the part about cutting off the Amaryllis leaves, but remain oblivious as to when to do it or why it is done in the first place. Far too many people blindly conjure up the idea that cutting all the leaves off their Amaryllis is either required or good for it. I can t tell you the number of people that ask my advice about attempting to keep an Amaryllis so that it can bloom the following year. Typically the conversation begins with, Hey, Dan. My Amaryllis just got done blooming and so I cut off all of the leaves like you are supposed to. (Huhh???) What should I do now? Ummm... throw it away? Without leaves to photosynthesize energy for next year s blooms, how can you possibly expect success? For the most part, removal of the leaves is merely a cosmetic procedure to accommodate shipping from growers to retailers. Removal of the leaves also helps to reduce transmission of disease that is often required by phytosanitary import regulations. I remove the old, dried-up leaves from my bulbs after they have gone through a fall dormancy period, just prior to planting. Actually, I would not have to remove those old, dead leaves at all, but do it simply for cosmetic purposes. Otherwise, I allow the green leaves to pump energy into that bulb for as long as possible. As another example of misinformation: Last year my lovely wife, Cyndia, gave Amaryllis kits as Christmas gifts where she works. About six weeks later (when they should have been ready to bloom), I asked how their Amaryllis were doing. Two of her co-workers told me that they needed to bring them back inside. I said, Inside. What do you mean inside? It seems that one of these gals spotted some little bugs (harmless fungus gnats, commonly found in potting soil) and decided to put her pot outside in the freezing weather to kill those bugs. She then called another of her co-workers and advised her to do the same which she also did. Now they were asking me what to do next. Ummm... throw it away? As Master Gardeners, we need to actively provide the public with research-based horticultural information they need. In addition, we need to make sure that we provide the whole story, not just enough information to be dangerous. Of course, human nature seems to get in the way. It is our job to keep trying to minimize the damage. The wonderful thing about ignorance is that it is curable.

4 Proposed Changes to Master Gardener Bylaws to be voted on at the Annual Meeting in January The Master Gardener Board of Directors makes the recommendations below for changes to the Bylaws. Changes to the Bylaws must be approved by the Members (Article IX: Amendments to Bylaws). Effective January 2015, ISU requirements will be 20 volunteer hours and 10 continuing education hours. (We need to change our Bylaws to coincide with ISU requirements.) Current Bylaws wording Item 1.b.: b) met the annual requirements of the ISU Scott County Extension Master Gardeners of 20 hours of volunteer service and 6 hours of continuing education. Proposed Change to Bylaws Item 1.b. b) met the annual requirements of the ISU Scott County Extension Master Gardeners of 20 hours of volunteer service and 10 hours of continuing education. Comparison table Carryover CEU s. Our current policy is that 6 CEU s (beyond the 6 required for the current year) may be carried over into the following year. Currently, this policy is not addressed in the Bylaws. With the new ISU requirement for 10 CEU s in a given year, the Master Gardener Board of Directors recommends that the carryover CEU s be raised to 10 CEU s per year. Proposed wording: Master Gardeners may carry over up to 10 earned continuing education units (CEU s) beyond the 10 required for the current year into the subsequent year. This item will be added to subparagraph 1.b. under Item 2. Lifetime Master Gardener. ISU has adopted the following: The state minimum standard of Lifetime Master Gardener will be 10 years and 1500 volunteer hours, taking effect in Local programs may set more stringent standards if they wish to do so. Comparison table of the two versions Scott County current ISU statewide Jan 2015 Volunteer Hours / year Cont Ed hours / year 6 10 Years Hours Effective Date Scott County - current 20 OR 2000 January 2013 ISU 10 AND 1500 January 2014 Continued on next page,

5 The Gardener s Dirt ISU Scott County Extension 875 Tanglefoot Lane Bettendorf, IA (563) Fax (563) continued from last page The Master Gardener Board of Directors recommends combining the two versions. The revised wording will read as follows: Lifetime Master Gardener: Lifetime Master Gardener status may be conferred on a Master Gardener who falls into any of the below categories: Category 1. Has been an active Master Gardener for 20 years or more. Or has contributed more than 2000 hours of volunteer service to the Master Gardener program. Or as been nominated for such status based on special circumstances (i.e., a Master Gardener who has been inactive for a year for personal reasons.) Category 2. Has been an active Master Gardener for 10 years or more. And has contributed more than 1500 hours of volunteer service to the Master Gardener program. The Master Gardener Board of Directors has the authority to approve Lifetime Master Gardener status. Once a Master Gardener has attained Lifetime Master Gardener status, the Master Gardener is no longer required to meet volunteer service nor the continuing educational requirements to be entitled to the full benefits of membership. However, Master Gardeners with Lifetime Master Gardener status are encouraged to continue to seek continuing education and to continue volunteer service. Master Gardeners with Lifetime Master Gardener status are required to report both volunteer hours and continuing educational hours in support of the program. 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

THE GARDENER S DIRT The Latest Scoop from the Scott County Master Gardeners

THE GARDENER S DIRT The Latest Scoop from the Scott County Master Gardeners June 2011 Garden Walks Master Gardeners are invited to visit the following gardens. The hosts have put effort into preparing