Master Gardeners hear it... through the Grapevine

Transcription

1 UT Extension Service The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Volume 13, Issue 7 July 2006 Master Gardeners hear it... through the Grapevine Master Gardeners of Hamilton County Tom s Tidbits Volunteerism and Hamilton County Master Gardeners Words of Wisdom If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. -Buddha I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died. -Richard Diran In a Nutshell: Cookbooks 2 Bloom Days 2 President s Letter 3 Calendar of Events 3 Fair Time 4 Lavender Classes 4 Southern Nursery Trip 5 Why do so many Hamilton County Master Gardeners put so much effort into big activities? I have to admit I m amazed at the huge projects our Master Gardeners have completed recently. The Southern Region Master Gardener Conference was a great success! So many volunteers pulled together to make it what several participants called The best Master Gardener Conference they have ever attended. The cookbook project is also amazing. 750 recipes pulled together in a polished publication. This cookbook is the envy of many other MG groups. Sales have already recouped the expenses and the rest is profit. Financial success is superceded by the lasting pride of this fine accomplishment. That s not all. Some Master Gardeners have been busy organizing mini-events. An educational garden series on Signal Mountain took place this spring. Children s gardening classes continue at Siskin. The Sertoma Lawn & Garden exhibit handed out bulletins and answered many questions. Numerous other activities also take place. These projects take planning to pull off successfully. So many things could go wrong, but in reality so many things just go right. These faithful volunteers personify volunteerism. Their creed is what else can I do? Ideal volunteers have strengths in taking initiatives once the task is clearly understood. A willingness to learn. A persistently cheerful and positive demeanor. Active effort to promote human welfare. A genuine liking for people. Strengths in organizing and documenting their work. Thanks for all you do for the Hamilton County area. For Masterful Gardens Tom July s Meeting The July membership meeting will be held at the Ag Center on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. At the July MG meeting Michele Brown from Possum Creek Herb Farm will be our speaker. She will be speaking on herbs. She will discuss companion planting and what to do with the herbs once you harvest them such as how to dry, freeze, make ointments...etc.

2 Page 2 Master Gardeners hear it... Hamilton County Master Gardener Cookbooks!!! Cookbooks are now on sale: 750 recipes Books are $15 each They make wonderful gifts for family and friends!!! Contact Melissa Wehman at Pinkdaylily@aol.com; or Knoxville Bloom Days Trip We for all of you Master Gardeners that missed the trip up to Knoxville, you really missed some wonderful flower displays, vendors, seminars, and music. We had a small group that left at 9:00am, but what a great day. All the flowers were in full bloom and some of us even help the gardens by deadheading the plants. (Of course we kept a few seeds.) We spent about 4 hours looking at the displays and of course we just had to purchase a few plants. Not only did we get to view the displays of the gardens, but we also got to learn about the new varieties for this year. Mike Payne Newsletter Articles Needed: Do you know about interesting new plant s or seeds? What s your gardening specialty? We want to hear from YOU!!! You can receive master gardener hours by writing articles for this newsletter! Deadlines for articles are 5th of each month. Then look for your own work in the next newsletter by the second week of the month! Eden Climber Named World's Favorite Rose The World Federation of Rose Societies voted Eden Climber ('Meiviolin') as the World's Favorite Rose. It was bred by Meilland of France and introduced by Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses in Eden Climber features a blend of pastel pinks, creams and yellows coupled with deep-green foliage. It's a bushy, vigorous climber. Petal count is and it has a slight fragrance.

3 Volume 13, Issue 5 Page 3 President s Letter This past month has been an eventful one, to say the least. As you have undoubtedly heard, the Southern Region Master Gardener Conference went extremely well. We have gotten excellent feed back. So, to everyone that attended, volunteered and contributed to the Conference Congratulations on a job well done! Hamilton County has a great group of Master Gardeners and this event was definitely a feather in our cap. The upcoming events over the next several months are sure to be enjoyable. The events include Michele Brown from Possum Creek Herb Farm who is scheduled to speak at our meeting this month and Karen Creel from GardenChick who is offering a Lavender class. The Hamilton County Fair and MG BBQ are scheduled for September. Scott Drucker and Charlene Smith are heading up our Fair Committee, so look out for a stunning display! The Fair is not only one of our most ambitious projects; it is one of the most enjoyable. Be sure to make plans to attend, volunteer and have fun! On a more serious note, Dick Monnich regretfully tendered his resignation as President. Dick has personal obligations that make it difficult for him to commit the time needed to be an effective President. Dick will, however, continue to be an active Master Gardener. As Vice-President, I will be stepping in to fill some mighty big shoes. Our past Presidents have worked hard to lay a solid foundation for us to build upon and I can only hope to live up to their standards. I know all of us will work together to make this a great gardening year for the Master Gardeners. I especially look forward to working with everyone. Stephanie Payne President Calendar of Events All July: Pick Your Own Blackberries at Crabtree Farms on Tuesdays- Saturdays from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Visit for more information. July 15th; Summer Vegetable at Crabtree Farms Cooking by Chef Paul Sellas, Gorham's Bluff from 10am-12pm. Call to register. Cost is $20 a person and preregistration is required. Register by phone x16. July 22; Food Preservation at Crabtree Farms by Chef Sara Benoit, 212 Market Restaurant from 10am-12pm. Call to register. Cost is $20 a person and pre-registration is required. Register by phone x16. September 23-26; Hamilton County Fair at Chester Frost Park. Features music, games, country crafts, livestock, rides and more. Don t forget the Hamilton County Master Gardner exhibit too!

4 Page 4 Master Gardeners hear it... Are You Ready Its Fair Time Success for winning a blue ribbon at the Fair starts with the selection from your garden. You need to carefully select your exhibit as if you were sending your produce to your family table or a market. Now is the time to start thinking what you want to enter and fertilize, fertilize, fertilize. Keep those vegetables watered and do a little gig over them each night and I know you will be proud. Some of the criteria that you should use are form, size, uniformity, condition, color and maturity. You can get much of the information you need by calling or looking at The Hamilton County Fair will be September 23 and 24 th this year at Chester Frost Park. The park is 280 acres lakefront and located in North Hamilton County. Master Gardeners will have another wonderful display this year and on Friday September 22 nd we will have our great BBQ which will include fun..fun..fun.. Bring your vegetables, agricultural products, crafts, bake goods, can goods, arts, and floral arrangements this year and enter. We ll see you all at the fair this year, ya hear.. Donna Adams Everyone Loves Lavender Join us on July 27th at the GardenVignette Shop, where we will explore the history of this versatile plant. We will discuss how lavender grows, how to plant, care for and harvest the plant, while sipping Lavender Lemonade and tasting other lavender treats. Participants can choose two lavender products to make including lavender dryer bundles, sachets, linen water, bath teas or a dream pillow. 10 students minimum, 18 maximum, 6:00-8:00 p.m. Cost $ GardenVignettes is located at 202 Tremont Street on the Northshore. (Downtown Chattanooga). Take the 4th street exit. Stay in the left hand lane and at the Veterans Bridge turn left. Turn left at the first red light, and turn right at Tremont. The Fine Print: You MUST pre-register and prepay for your classes. We can refund your payment if we have a minimum of 48 hours cancellation notice. To pre-register and prepay by July 20th Call GardenVignettes at Or you may pay by credit card at go to the Learning Center button on the home page.

5 Volume 13, Issue 5 Page 5 The Southern Nursery Association Trip SNA 2006 is August 10th - August 12th Atlanta The Southern Nursery Association (SNA) is having their convention at the Georgia World Congress Center (building C). Master Gardeners get in free. We are getting a group together to attend one or more days. A sign up sheet will be at the next MG meeting. For more information contact Tom Stebbins. The TechShop Educational Series, for the Horticulture Professional is only $95 until 7/15/06. TechShop 2006 is designed to give horticultural professionals quality education at an affordable price. Five tracks will fill the day including Color in the Landscape, Pest & Disease Management, Production Management, Retail/Business and Retail/Products all totally 25 sessions. Look for workshop series like: TechShop Super Session, featuring Dirr, Gaydos & Cappiello, included with TechShop. The TechShop Super Session will feature three of the industry's leading plantsmen. Dr. Michael Dirr, University of Georgia, will focus on woody ornamentals, John Gaydos, Proven Winners, will share the secrets of bringing new color to the marketplace, and Dr. Paul Cappiello, Yew Dell. Gardens will highlight trees with a focus on dogwoods. Other features include Landscape Design & Graphics Workshops; Consumer Buzz Live; and 51st Annual SNA Research Conference. Mechanization Update for the Nursery & Greenhouse Grower is one of the most pressing issues facing the green industry today and integrating mechanization not only alleviates labor pressures but results in a more skilled workforce. This session will feature an Overview of Mechanization in the Green Industry, an Overview of MSU's Efforts, Systems Analysis Summary, and Socio-economic Impact Study. There will also be over 600 exhibitors! For full information visit The SNA website is SNA.org. Report sheds light on summer trends Thanks to the high price of gasoline, 47% of American households plan to decrease summer travel and spend more time on home and garden projects -- according to the latest summer trends report from Garden Writers Assoc. Foundation. And it appears that these homebodies will be adorning patios with container gardens. Almost half of the survey respondents (43%) do some form of container gardening, with 25% citing outdoor decoration as the leading reason. Chemical weed control will be practiced by 28% of households, while 24% plan to use more mulch and 54% plan to weed by hand.

6 Master Gardener Officers: President Stephanie Payne Vice President open 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 1 Year Members Charles Quarles Nona Harp Sue Michelena Master Gardeners Committee Chairpersons- Bonny Oaks Arboretum: Elaine Barker Budget/Finance: Jane Elmore County Fair Committee- Charlene Smith Scott Drucker Crabtree Garden Plot: Linda Billingslea Tommy Jackson Food Bank Garden Tour: Susan Babineau Historian: Joy Sewell Hospitality Committee: Kelley Walker Tammy De Ark Photo Directory: Wanda Wilkey Project Committee: Sue Henley Rebecca Goldberg Newsletter Committee: Gina Turley Lucie Brant Service Hours (ACE/CEU): Gretchen Rominger Website Committee: Mike Smith Web sites: Check it out Find UT Ag extension pubs online at: http// Master Gardeners of Hamilton County P.O. Box Chattanooga, TN 37422