Master Gardeners hear it... through the Grapevine

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1 UT Extension Service The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Volume 13, Issue 5 May 2006 Master Gardeners hear it... through the Grapevine Master Gardeners of Hamilton County Words of Wisdom Roses are red, Violets are blue, But they don t get around Like dandelions do. -Slim Acres A yard is a blank canvas waiting for an artist s brush. -Stephanie Buckley In a Nutshell: Tom s Tidbits 2 Changes in the Grapevine The Grapevine is about to take on some new and interesting changes. This is the last paper edition for the Grapevine for many of you. In order to save trees (by way of paper) and time, starting this month, Hamilton County Master Gardeners will be able to access the newsletter on the website! Folks who do not have home access to a computer will still receive a paper copy. Starting next month everyone with home computers will receive an e- mail letting them know that the current newsletter is now available on the Hamilton County Master Gardener s Website. You can access the newsletter at In addition, we will begin to maintain a history of newsletters on the web site, so you can refer to old issues from the convenience of your home computer. If you change your address it is important for you to contact the newsletter editor with your new address. Editor Gina Turley can be reached at leobishop@comcast.net. Assistant Lucie Brant can be reached at lkbrant@aol.com. Cookbooks 2 President s Letter 3 Calendar of Events 3 Gourds 4 Hot Plants 5 May s Meeting The May membership meeting will be held at the Ag Center on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Pattie Dial, owner of Scapes Creations Garden Center, is our speaker for the May Master Gardener Meeting. She will be speaking about new plant varieties, garden products, and examples of what is hot the season. Lights and Plants 6 Websites: Check it out Find UT Ag extension pubs online at:

2 Page 2 Master Gardeners hear it... Tom s Tidbits The 2006 Master Gardener Class graduation was a wonderful event this year. There was over a hundred people crammed into our tiny little seminar room. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Thanks to Kelly Walker and her crew who put together the food and door prize part of the celebration. Now we need to push for The Southern Region Master Gardener Conference (June 8-11). I encourage everyone to help in some way to make this a successful conference. Contact a board or committee member for information. Last Saturday about thirty people worked on the outside butterfly garden down near the Tennessee Aquarium. Sod was removed, soil tilled and topsoil was added. That was a lot of work in itself. A few plants were installed but most of the plants will be planted on June 9 when the conference attendees help. Master Gardeners from many different states and counties will come eat breakfast, outside near the project. Teams will be divided, led by Hamilton County Master Gardeners. This will represent the theme of the entire conference, which is Cultivating Ideas. This will be a beautiful garden for years come. Thanks to Mike Payne, Dee Clark and many others for coordinating the work day and garden design. Hard work lets dreams happen. For Masterful Gardens Tom Hamilton County Master Gardener COOKBOOKS!!! Cookbooks are now on sale: 750 recipes For the month of May, 3 books for $40 (Master Gardener Price only) After May, books are $15 each Books will be available for purchase at the May Membership Meeting They make wonderful gifts for family and friends!!! Contact Melissa Wehman at Pinkdaylily@aol.com; or

3 Volume 13, Issue 5 Page 3 President s Letter Well, we are into our first full month in office, and it has been great. I keep thinking back when I first wanted to become a Master Gardener, it turned out to be one of the best thing's in my life to happen. I have so many that have come forward to help; this is truly an association of volunteers. We are just starting the new year, what with the conference and all of the other great projects that are coming our way, please volunteer for a project and enjoy the Hamilton County Master Gardeners Association as much as I do. We have a healthy treasury. Cookbooks as of this date sales are going very well (we still need to put on a push for sales). This a big money maker for our treasury. We have our own booth there at the conference where we intend to sell cook books, and show all the other Master Gardeners all we have done and our future projects and also to have a silent auction of our own. ANYONE WITH ANY ITEMS FOR OUR SILENT AUCTION see me or contact me at "swtdolly2003@bellsouth.net" as I am collecting the items. We have already 2 contributors. Anyone wanting to help at the conference please contact Linda Billingslea "bigbull4@cs.com". I am quite sure she can find you a good job there In parting all I can say is, it is quite an country wide honor to host the Southern Region of Master Gardeners Conference. Of all the associations in our region alone, we have the honor of hosting it. I know that you will all do a good job. THANKS! Dick Monnich Calendar of Events MAY 18: Master Gardener Meeting, Hamilton Co. Ag Center, 6:30 pm, Pattie Dial, featured speaker MAY 20: Tri-State Rose Society Rose Show, tentatively at Northgate Mall. Many classes of competition. Free. Jeff Garrett, , JUNE 11-17: Daylily Show, Northgate Mall on June 11; daylily garden tours on June Free. Karen Newman, June 8-11th: Southern Regional Master Gardener Conference, Chattanooga Trade Center June 10th-11th: Chattanooga Area Food Bank s Garden Tour

4 Page 4 Master Gardeners hear it... Gourds..Gourds..Gourds My favorite subject - I don t know why but I love to grow gourds. The luffa, serpent, apple, dipper, crown of thorns, etc., and there are just too many to mention. Gourds are tender annuals and the temperature needs to be warm if they are to thrive. A gourd seed might rot if planted in cold, wet soil. They demand a long growing season so starting them indoors might before the best way to start off with gourds. The containers to start your gourd seeds in should be one such as peat pots as to not disturb the roots. A side dressing of fertilizer should be added to help maintain optimum growth. During hot, dry spells water should be provided. Gourds produce separate male and female flowers. The female flower can be distinguished by the presence of the immature fruit at its base. Several male flowers are produced before any female flowers and the male flower drops without setting fruit. Although in time both female and male flowers are produced and the first fruit is set. The squash bug, cucumber beetle and squash vine borer could be a serious pest of gourds. Also, mosaic viruses, bacterial wilt, powdery mildew should be kept under control. When the stems dry and turn brown the gourds are ready for harvest. Harvesting should take place before frost. Do not bruise the gourds because this increases decay during the curing process. The gourd should be cleaned with soap and water, dried, and rubbing alcohol applied to the surface. Gourds should also be cured. This process can take many months, depending on the type of gourd. The first step is surface drying and the second is internal drying. When the gourd is dried the gourd is light in weight and the seeds can be heard rattling inside. There have been times that I have had to soak the dried gourd in a solution of bleach for a few minutes and rub gently with a sponge to clean the outside. At this time, gourds can be painted, waxed, or decorated and shellacked for the final finish. Harvest the luffa gourds to get the quality sponges inside. The outer shell must be dry and the gourd is light in weight. Remove the stem end of the gourd and shake out the seeds. The luffa gourd must be soaked in warm water until the outer skin softens to the point where it can be easily removed. Afterwards soak the fibrous sponge in a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water to obtain the creamy-white appearance. Rinse in water. Seeds that are saved from gourds grown in the garden probably will produce a mixture of fruit of different shapes, colors and sizes. None of which may resemble the fruit from which the seed was saved. Your gourd seeds need to be grown in areas free from pollen of any other varieties. Gourds are kin to the pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, and melon family. For thousands of years gourds have been cultivated by many cultures and used as storage containers, utensils, and ornaments. Now, lets go paint a gourd! I m ready. Donna Adams

5 Volume 13, Issue 5 Page Southern Region Master Garden Conference Cultivating Ideas Thursday, June 8th through Sunday, June 11th Chattanooga Convention Center Thursday begins with check in and Convention Welcome. Dinner and Aquarium Tour along the River is that evening. Friday lets everyone go play in the dirt in the Gardens of the River. Afternoon include 24 difference sessions in which to choose. Saturday starts with a Networking Breakfast and Gardner s Expo. Six classes that day include Southern Gardens, Secrets Behind Creating That Perfect TV Garden, and Perennials...The Mainstay of the Garden. Sunday begins with breakfast presented by the Arkansas Master Gardeners who are hosting the 2007 International Master Gardener Conference. Scheduled Tours of Gardens are available for an additional cost. Visit for more information. Hot Plants! Coming through-your ! Lisa Lemza will launch a 'HOT PLANTS!' list to anyone desiring to participate. It's designed for short- notice of specially wonderful plant/garden deals stumbled upon with no particular method or system. For example, " First wave petunias spotted at Lowe's on HWY 153"; "glazed strawberry pots (in black, grey, and green) at Southeastern Salvage for $19.99." It would also be a list to post your plant request/swap needs: " wanted: lemon balm. Anybody got some?"; "needed: asparagus sets-- who's seen them?"; "desired: a metal gazing ball. Has anybody seen one for sale?" And so forth and so on. It's for garden and garden-related items, and although recipients are free to forward the list it's designed as a service for local master gardeners. Input is limited to Master Gardeners: NO COMMERCIAL INPUTS ALLOWED. If you want to sign up, send her your at lemzala@aol.com. She will send out an initial blast, and anyone wishing to disenroll can merely reply to that effect. -- Lisa Lemza,

6 LIGHT and PLANTS -- Gene Howard MG2005 Webster defines light as an electromagnetic radiation visible to the eye, a stimulation of the visual organs. SPECTRUM AND SPECTRUM ANALYSIS In the chart to the left we learn that a small percentage of what we call light is visible to the visual organs. There are night and day creatures that see more of the light spectrum than the human eye. Pure light contains all the spectrum except black. What we call black is the absence of color. Light is composed of wave lengths of energy. Each shade of color has its own wave length. Color is the reflection of those wave lengths from the visual object. A light wave is measured in angstroms. An angstrom is one ten billionth of a meter. PHOTOSYNTHESIS Photosynthesis is the name given to a process which occurs in the leaves of plants. Plants with green leaves are a unique creation. The green leaves contain tiny units called chloroplasts. Each cell of the leaf contains a compliment of chloroplasts. In the presence of sunlight, these chloroplasts act as a catalyst in changing water, (H2 O) and carbon dioxide, (CO2) into sucrose and free oxygen. Sucrose is a simple plant sugar. (C6 H12 O5 ) The process also produces a free atom of oxygen. (O) This is the only known process in the world that actually produces food. All flora and fauna are dependent upon this basic food supply. Almost all life forms are dependent upon the oxygen produced by plants to drive their metabolic engines. Other food products are modifications of this simple plant compound. All life forms have the ability to take the sucrose molecule, modify it, build upon it, and to make stem, root, and fruit or to make bone, flesh and brain. Without plants with leaves, sunlight, water and carbon dioxide, all life on earth would come to an end!

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8 Master Gardener Officers: President Dick Monnich Vice President Stephanie Payne Secretary Joy Sewell Treasurer Jane Elmore Past President Donna Adams Master Gardener Coordinator Tom Stebbins Advisor- Sue Henley New Class Representative-Bud Hines Certification Officer-Gretchen Rominger Board of Governors 2 Year Members Linda Billingslea Lisa Lemza Wayne Dickwell 1 Year Members Charles Quarles Nona Harp Sue Michelena Master Gardeners Committee Chairpersons- Bonny Oaks Arboretum: Elaine Barker Budget/Finance: Sue Henley Jane Elmore County Fair Committee- Mike Payne Crabtree Garden Plot: Linda Billingslea Tommy Jackson Food Bank Garden Tour: Susan Babineau Historian: Joy Sewell Hospitality Committee: Kelley Walker Photo Directory: Wanda Wilkey Project Committee: Sue Henley Rebecca Goldberg Nominating Committee: Dick Monnich Newsletter Committee: Gina Turley Sertoma: Wanda Wilkey Service Hours (ACE/CEU): Gretchen Rominger Southeast Regional Convention: Mike Payne Website Committee: Mike Smith Master Gardeners of Hamilton County P.O. Box Chattanooga, TN 37422