Greenhouse Notes. A quarterly newsletter for Coastal Master Gardener Association members. President s Notes

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1 Greenhouse Notes A quarterly newsletter for Coastal Master Gardener Association members. President s Notes Autumn 2010 We knew it was hot and now it s confirmed.i saw on the local weather news this summer set an all time record for heat, the most consecutive days above 90 degrees, surpassing the previous record summer of A lot of gardeners were chased inside to AC, or only worked in the mornings before the mercury climbed to unbearable. As we head into fall, the heat is abating slightly and Master Gardeners crank up another busy fall season. We started with the Organic Farm tour on Saturday, September 25. This has been an elusive venue, but was well worth the wait. The outings away from a normal sitdown meeting format have been well received by the membership. The Bamboo Farm and Coastal Gardens has a new interim Superintendent, James D. (Jim) Fountain. Jim has come out of retirement to assume this role. He has a long history with the Cooperative Extension Service - was District Director for fourteen years, has a Master's in Crop and Soil Sciences, was instrumental in initiating the Friends of the Coastal Gardens, and excels in management, communications, and public relations. He is a true friend of the Coastal Master Gardener Association. The University of Georgia held a reception hosted by University President Michael F. Adams on Thursday, September 2 nd at The Bamboo Farm. This was part of a tour Dr. Adams hosted the first week of September, visiting University campuses throughout the State. His brief message was the importance of UGA to its students, alumni and to the community as a whole. Jim Fountain introduced Dr. Adams to the 125 or so guests and our own Freya Zipperer led a Bamboo Farm tour following the reception. With so much talk about University cuts earlier this year, I was encouraged that University President Adams chose Bamboo Farm as the venue for his Savannah visit. I hope this personal contact helps assure the University s continued support of the Bamboo Farm and Coastal Garden.

2 Jeff Kirkland from Chatham County did a thorough and interesting presentation at our July meeting at Hospice about stormwater runoff in the Savannah area. He had numerous pictures showing both effective and ineffective handling of stormwater treatment. Retaining ponds and plantings are very effective means of controlling runoff in high density developments. Happy Gardening, Bill Grubbs CMGA President Are you certifiable? If you are getting this newsletter, you most likely have successfully completed the Coastal Master Gardener course. If you have, but are not sporting a fancy certificate attesting your achievement prominently on your foyer wall, you need to contact Dave Linvill. Spell out your name exactly how you want it printed Month, day, year you graduated Address to mail certificate David Linvill (912) mailto:dlinvill@uga.edu Also, to receive the - Coastal Homeowner Landscape & Turf Update (a monthly newsletter - no charge) Dave and type' subscribe' in the subject line

3 Bonaventure Update NEWS FROM THE PROJECTS COMMITTEES Projects Committee: Jay Ulrich & Pat Ryan Gardening at Bonaventure has certainly had its share of ups and downs this summer. Our old plants, including recent air layers planted in the last few years, have been flourishing despite the long stretches of extremely dry, hot weather we encountered this summer. That is the good news. The bad news is that as an act of kindness the landscaping crew at the cemetery planted fifteen sasanquas along Mullryne Way to fill in the gaps created by the older camellias that have died through the years. It initially sounded like a good idea as sasanquas are known to be more sun tolerant than japonicas and the cemetery is not as shady as it used to be. For a week it looked quite lovely with these new additions and we had visions of beautiful blossoms brightening up the sometimes dreary days of fall and winter. Sadly, our hopes were short-lived as after an extremely heavy downpour it became apparent that many of the plants were infected with glomerilla, one of the dieback diseases. Several other plants, in full sun, fried from the heat despite being regularly watered so a bit of advice I d like to share is that unless you have wonderfully amended soil, lots of mulch and can water frequently, you may want to ignore the full sun claim with this species. It does not apply to sandy soils. So, of the original fifteen we are now down to seven but we are hopeful. You have to be hopeful if you re a gardener and Bonaventure is quite an inspiring place. There is always something to do and we would love to have some new MG s come and help us sometimes. If anyone would like some info about volunteering, please me at richardgsommers@comcast.net it s much easier than the phone. Jane Sommers

4 More Volunteer Opportunities Two Workdays at the Old Darien Jail Project The Old Jail Art Center is planting again! CMGA has been involved with this project since its beginning. This time they ll be planting all native perennials to complete the side island bed and create an English garden look along the walkway. They need our help on either one or both of their planned workdays Thursday October 28th, and then again on Thursday November 18. Work starts at 9:00 and the McIntosh Art Association will again provide Subway sandwiches for lunch in appreciation for our help. If you can help or have any questions, please contact CMGAer Ginger Pruden at or Botanical Gardens Volunteers are needed to establish a native plant garden at the Botanical Garden on Eisenhower. Work will include site preparation, planting design, and planting. If you can help in any way, please contact Pat Ryan at , or pryangarden@att.net. Coastal Gardens & Bamboo Farm Help is needed to design and implement two new beds out near the old greenhouses. There will be an herb bed and a Fall and Winter annual bed. Contact Stewart Parker to volunteer at or jsparker@uga.edu. Savannah Animal Control Shelter Diane Abolt, a former CMGAer, is the Director of Volunteer Services at the new Animal Control Shelter. With the new facility, there was new landscaping; and after a couple of months the weeds are thriving and Diane is looking for some volunteers to help her out with it. If you might be able to help, give Diane Abolt a call at and she can give you further details. Habitat for Humanity Again CMGA will take responsibility for landscaping a new Habitat for Humanity home. The work will be done the morning of either Tuesday, October 19 or Wednesday, October 20. The home is in the same neighborhood as the last one we did earlier this year (near the intersection of Montgomery and Derenne). From Derenne, drive north to Staley Avenue. Turn left onto Staley and drive about 2 or 3 blocks to Temple St. Turn right onto Temple and drive about 2 blocks to 4821 Temple St. If you will be able to help on either the 19th or the 20th, please contact Jay Volker at or jcvolker@coastalnow.net.

5 Bamboo Farm Fall Festival The Bamboo Farm needs volunteers to help in a number of areas for this year s Festival on Saturday, October 23, running from 9:00 until 4:00. Volunteers are needed for parking, snack bar, plant movers, face painting, hay ride, information booths, petting zoo, pony rides, Panda Club, etc. If you can help in any way, for any amount of time, please call Cassy Davis at Also at the Festival, CMGA will have our Ask a Master Gardener Booth. We are looking for CMGAer s to sign up for 1 1/2 hour shifts during the afternoon. The plan is to have 3 people per shift, so don t worry about being all by yourself! If you can help with the Ask a Master Gardener booth, please contact Jay Ulrich at or nativsun2@yahoo.com. Do you have some plants that need a good home? This year we would like to put our over-indulgent, can't-throw-away-that-cutting, got-tokeep-all-those-seeds passion to good use. If you would like to donate any plants or good, viable seeds, you can bring them to the 'Ask a Master Gardener' table at the Bamboo Farm Fall Festival. They should have labels/tags with their common name (also Latin, if possible), and basic care instructions. $$ All proceeds will go to the Coastal Gardens & Bamboo Farm. $$ Check the last page below for other exciting, on-going volunteer opportunities and who to contact. For current updates and good info, don't forget to check out the Coastal Master Gardeners website at If you have any great ideas, pictures, suggestions, etc. you can Jeannette Byrd, the website's curator, at rj.byrd@att.net.

6 On Saturday, September 25 th, The Coastal Master Gardeners took a trip into the country to visit Heritage Farms, the first certified organic farm in Georgia. We were met at the farm by the founder and owner, Shirley Dougherty. Shirley is a retired principal and originally purchased the 20 acres in Guyton to pursue her hobby of growing organic produce. One thing lead to another and Shirley s hobby turned into a full time farming business. Shirley s passion for organic farming is evident in everything she does on the farm and she is a leader in the organic farming community. Upon arriving, we all sat under the barn with the chickens and received a very informative talk about organics including growing tips, organic pesticides, organic fertilizers, organic seed, and the process of becoming organically certified. We were given the opportunity to ask a lot of questions and received a tremendous amount of information on our short visit. After the presentation by Shirley, we walked through the farm to a cool storage building where Shirley showed us samples of the organically balanced produce boxes that are for sale. We all gathered back under the barn for some refreshments and social time. Heritage farms have about 500 customers who purchased fresh fruits and vegetables. Produce boxes are delivered to Savannah and Richmond Hill on a scheduled basis or you can drive to the farm and pick them up. For more information about the Heritage Farm box program visit their website at Bob Izzo CMGA Veep Heritage Farms Tour Calendar of Upcoming Events Looking ahead, we are expecting Richard Wallace on November 9th to speak to us at Hospice on Bananas and Tropicals. I heard his talk about two year ago and it was very informative. Our thanks go to Marianne Izzo for arranging this. Also, thanks to committee member Jeannette Byrd for keeping our calendar current on the website. Please note that we will not have a social in December. Programs will resume again in January with the installation of officers and the low country lunch. In the meantime, the programs committee have put on their thinking caps to plan a fun and informative Cheryl Drwiega

7 The metamorphosis of Papilio polyxenes (Black Swallowtail Butterfly) by Cheryl Drwiega The following pictures were taken on my deck. The first is a caterpillar eating my parsley, the second is the cocoon, nearly camouflaged, on a nearby basil. The third is the newly emerged butterfly. I ran back in the house for the camera, but missed it sitting on the basil. He (she?) is just resting on the decking, drying its wings. Editor's note: I had one lone parsley plant in my back yard and there were fifteen of the parsleypillars scavenging it. As you can see from the picture on the left, not a bit was wasted - they stripped the green off the bark! I promise - I have already planted six parsleys and scattered numerous parsley seeds so next year will be easier for these guys. CMc

8 Frolicking Fish I have built and maintained two or three fish ponds in my yard both here in Richmond Hill and formally in Atlanta. My first pond that I built in our backyard in Atlanta was built into the ground with a large waterfall. That pond was very natural in appearance and I had lots of plants in the pond. As you can see from the picture, there were abundant areas for fish to hide and reproduce. In the 8 years I had that pond, we did not have one new baby fish from any of the Koi, Shubunkin Goldfish, or Fantail Goldfish. That natural in-the-ground pond was pretty big and could have handled a few more fish without causing problems. The pond that I built in 2007 here in Richmond Hill is a much more formal pond that I designed for ease of maintenance. Having plants in a pond are very beautiful but require lots of pruning, dividing, fertilizing, etc. My new pond is rectangular in shape with very straight sides. There are no ledges, or stones in the pond where fish could lay eggs and reproduce. As you can see from the pictures, there are only 2 plants in the pond both of which sit on plant stands. The corners of the pond liner are folded like a Christmas package, no rocks, ledges, or any other place for fish to hide. One day over the summer, I was netting some of the leaves out of the pond and noticed a couple of very small fish swimming around. In the coming weeks, I counted about 15 new fish. The Koi and Shubunkins had reproduced and the pond was overwhelmed with babies. The only place that I can think of that they could have laid eggs was in the corners where I folded the liner to fit the rectangle. My pond cannot support this many fish so I needed to either make fertilizer out of them (Marianne would kill me) or find happy homes for the new arrivals. One of our friends just put a new pond in his yard and I told him to come over and we would net some of the babies and he could have them. Little did I realize how hard it is to catch a 4 fish in a small pond. I ended up putting on my bathing suit, taking all of the plants out of the pond and it took us over an hour to catch 6 small fish. I even went online and purchased a large dip net thinking that would make things easier. The fish saw that net coming and headed for the other end of the pond as quickly as I could scoop the net. Fortunately, I found homes for all the little ones before the water got too cold for me to go swimming. Happy Gardening Bob Izzo CMGA Veep

9 JUNE Mystery Plant - I'm afraid this one remains a mystery Autumn Mystery Plant There is a prize for the correct guesser It might be exotic seeds or a unique plant, or an absolutely cutesy gardener's doo-dad. (Answers should be sent to mm_mccurdy@msn.com.) I would like to apologize for the lateness of this newsletter. CMc Meet my Muse

10 CMGA CMGA On-going Volunteer Opportunities Contacts Ask a Master Gardener... Jay Ulrich Bamboo Farm... Kathy Deloe Bonaventure Cemetery... Jane Sommers Botanical Gardens... Bill Grubbs Downtown Extension Office... Tonia Rudrow/Susie Edwards Habitat for Humanity... Jay Volker LeConte Woodmanston Plantation... Stacey Ferrier Native Planting... Pat Ryan Oatland Island Heritage Garden... Roy Powers... Old Darien Jail... Ginger Pruden Owens-Thomas House... Diane Houston Roots & Shoots... t b a Savannah-Ogeechee Canal... Chica Arndt Savannah Tree Foundation... Diane Houston Board Members President... Bill Grubbs wgrubbs62@comcast.net Vice President... Bob Izzo robizzo1@gmail.com Secretary... Marianne Izzo maizzo1@gmail.com Treasurer... Louise Grotheer gmagrotheer1@bellsouth.net Past President... Doug Webb douglaswebb@bellsouth.net Directors...Jeannette Byrd rj.byrd@att.net... Cheryl Drwiega cdrwiega@bellsouth.net... Erv Houston ervdiane@bellsouth.net... Bob Izzo robizzo1@gmail.com... Carol McCurdy mm_mccurdy@msn.com... Sandra Morgan sandra@levyjewelers.com... Ginger Pruden ginpruden@darientel.net... Pat Ryan pryangarden@att.net... Jay Ulrich nativsun2@yahoo.com... Freya Zipperer wc951@bellsouth.net Programs... Cheryl Drwiega Projects... Jay Ulrich Membership... Sandra Morgan Communications... Erv Houston ( ote: All Area Codes are 912)