January "Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beau ful,' and si ng in the shade." Rudyard Kipling

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1 January 2014 ISU Polk County Extension 1625 Adventureland Drive, Ste A, Altoona, Iowa Phone "Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beau ful,' and si ng in the shade." Rudyard Kipling Happy New Year to all PCMG and friends. It is icy and snowing here, but warm in the new greenhouse. January 4th we start the process all over as master gardeners do every year. A few interns will meet with basil seeds and seeding trays to start the tender plants that the interns will transplant as part of the lab work in February. I have about five different varie es and we will see what works the best. The greenhouse will open Wednesday, February 12. On December 16, Bob and I were invited to a end a legisla ve recep on with board members from the Extension Council. Polk County Master Gardeners were included with other clients such as 4 H, Farm Management and EFNEP (a nutri on program) to give five minute informal talks about how Extension works in the community. We had the opportunity to share details about our projects and how they impact the lives of people in Polk County. Sen. Black and Representa ve Ridding were present and very interested in the numerous programs within the PCMG. Following the recep on we held the December Steering Commi ee mee ng and enjoyed holiday refreshments. Thank you to everyone who provided treats. This month's volunteer segment features Gladys Hertzberg. Gladys' husband, Grover, was a master gardener for ten years. Gladys was part of the class of 2004 and has been ac ve in PCMG ever since. She began to volunteer her me at the Discovery Garden in 2005 and to this day maintains a garden around the perimeter of the white picket fence. To many of you, Gladys is the cookie lady on Wednesday and Saturdays at the greenhouse. She provides her exper se in teaching transplan ng for all the interns during the labs. She also works hard at every task at hand whether watering, scrubbing pots or seeding. In addi on to her gardening me, she is a volunteer at Hospice on 56th Street. In the past she made hanging pots, took care of the flowers and the garden at that facility. She currently volunteers on Fridays and brings her famous cookies. Gladys is a spunky ISU fan and you will find her cheering the Cyclones at football and basketball games. For the past thirty years, she has helped the Waterbury Area Associa on with the holiday luminaries. She helps organize a winter display of 10 to 11,000 lights throughout the neighborhood. Gladys is a shining star in many ways. I marvel at her posi ve a tude and ability to tackle anything put before her. As she told me, "I'm a happy camper. It is up to me to be posi ve and make every day a happy day." My resolu on for 2014 is... What is not started today is never finished tomorrow. Alda Helvey, Steering Commi ee Chairman alda.helvey@assoc serv.com , cell

2 1 January is the opportunity for a fresh start for most of us. The New Year allows us to reflect on accomplishments of last year and what we would like to get done in The same is true for the Enabling Garden. We will be scheduling a planning mee ng in the near future, so look for more informa on either in a This n That or in the February Green Thumb. Thanks to all of the volunteers that have helped out in 2013 and welcome to all that would like to help in 2014! Looking forward to a fun year in the EG! EG Co Chairs: Chris ne Barker, Sandie Hamilton, & Paula Winslow Growing season starts February 1, We will need a person to water at the greenhouse on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday during February. In March and April, we will need two people to water on those days. To volunteer, please send an to bob@tsmcgrp.com with the months and days you can water. As in the past, Cer fied PCMG can earn two educa on hours by a ending the greenhouse lab. Those dates are 2/1, 2/5, and 2/8 with each lab star ng at 9:00 AM and ending around AM. If you want to par cipate in the lab, send an to bob@tsmcgrp.com and priori ze the three available days. If there is a day you are unavailable, mark it as such. Don't just send two dates. We don't know if you forgot to include that date, are unavailable, or what, so help us by sending us three dates. Priority will be first come, first served. Interns, you received an in early January asking for your priori zed lab days. You will be given top priority in scheduling dates. Just wait pa ently for your . To all, only a end on 2/1, 2/5, or 2/8, if it's your lab date.submit your requests by Beginning 2/12, the greenhouse will be open to all for volunteer hours. The greenhouse address is th Ave SW, Altoona, IA We have received requests for about half of a pallet of the transplant mix described in the last Green Thumb. Not only is the medium great for transplan ng, it's an excellent compost mix. If enough people order bags from us to fill a pallet (50 bags), our vendor will sell them to us so we can sell it to PCMG at $20 a bag. When we previously sold the le over bales at the end of the growing season, the price was $35, and the bales were heavy. If you bought from us last year you paid $35 for each 3.8 cu of medium and you had to wait un l a er the Plant Sale. For five dollars more this year, you can get 5.6 cu in manageable bags. The mix is sphagnum peat moss (75%), perlite, vermiculite, & dolomi c limestone. Par cipa on is easy. If you want any bags of this medium, send an to bob@tsmcgrp.com or call When the pallet arrives, you'll be no fied and you can pick up and pay for your bags during one of our Wednesday or Saturday work days. You can also stay and get some of your 12 volunteer hours for If you request medium but we don't get enough par cipa on for a full pallet, we won't be able to sell to you at this price. Alda & Bob Helvey (o) bob@tsmcgrp.com This is the me of year that I get lots of requests for speakers. Most frequently requested topics requested this year are vegetables and fruits. If you would be willing to help, please let me know. Mary Farlow, mfarlow@iastate.edu

3 January is my least favorite month, but two things make it tolerable for me, the sun stays up longer and all of the seed catalogs make their way to my mailbox. This year looks to be promising with new flowers and hot, bright colors. The Discovery Garden will be star ng the planning stages with a planning mee ng in February, the date has not yet been determined, but will be decided and announced soon. We are looking forward to working with some of the interns that we met in December, and of course, all of the returning gardeners from last year. Un l then stay warm. Co Chairs: Dean Brand drbrand@mediacombb.net tel: Jean Roe ljroe@q.com tel: Patrick Schmi schmi patrickj@gmail.com tel: Cheree Tilton ltoncm@gmail.com tel: As you turn your calendar to 2014, please take the me to note some important dates for the PCMG Garden Tour... Tuesday, April 15 "What's Happening at the 2014 Garden Tour?" 7pm Extension Office Saturday, June 21 PCMG Garden Tour 9am to 4pm This year's tour features gardens in the Drake, Ingersoll Park, Linden Heights, Waterbury and Westwood Neighborhoods of Des Moines. As always, the gardens are inspiring! Would you like to volunteer at the garden tour? Volunteers are needed for morning and a ernoon shi s on Saturday, June 21. Also volunteers are needed to help with weeding, watering, mulching the tour gardens before June 21. Stay tuned...detailed informa on about volunteer opportuni es with be included in the February issue of "The Green Thumb". Michelle Walke, Garden Tour Chair mwalkedesign@mac.com In preparing for the Harvest Celebra on last fall, I inadvertently missed one of the folks who earned a 500 hour pin. Congratula ons to Nancy Bodine. Nancy does most of her volunteering at the Discovery Garden. If I missed anyone else, please let me know. Mary Farlow

4 Several op ons are already available for you to start on your 6 hours of educa on for PCMG Winter Program classes are on the third TUESDAY evening of January, February, March, & April. They are held at the Polk County Extension office in Altoona and start at 6:30. The topics and speakers are listed in a flyer linked to the PCMG web page. Intern classes are on Thursday from 6:15 to 9:30 at the Polk County Extension office in Altoona. PCMG are welcome to audit but please leave the tables for the interns who need to take notes. Greater Des Moines Garden Club meets at Westminster Presbyterian Church unless noted otherwise and welcomes you to their mee ngs. (If Des Moines public school is closed, so is the church so that mee ngs can't be held.) January 23, :00 p.m. Floral Design Program by Janna Boyd February 27, :00 p.m. Sandra Gossman March 27, :00 p.m. Jim White of Bates Flower Shop April 24, 2014 Past Presidents' Luncheon Kris Evans of the Iowa Regional Lily Society will present our program. Gather at 11:30 am for lunch at Noon. Hyperion Field Club, 7390 NW Beaver Dr., Johnston, IA Advanced Reserva ons Required by April 14. Contact Karen McGe rick May 22, 2014, 1:00 p.m. Visit Neil Smith Na onal Wildlife Refuge, 9981 Pacific St., Prairie City, IA. Biologist Karen Viste Sparkman will present a program on Pollinators. June 26, :00 p.m. Hear about the Perkins Academy Junior Garden Program & Floral Design Workshop by Marilyn Moore. Learn on Saturdays at the Botanical Gardens Grow your mind and join local experts every Saturday from January through March. $5 members, $10 non members.learn on Saturday Schedule The ming of this from Ruth Doxon was very good: "This evening I opened my January edi on of Iowa Gardener, turned to page 4 and recognized the picture (of the Theme bed). The header read "Urbandale Garden Wins Honorable Men on" For those of you that do not subscribe to the magazine the brief ar cle is as follows: "An Iowa garden is among the list of interna onal winners in the second annual All American Selec ons Landscape Design Contest. The Polk County Master Gardener's Demonstra on Garden in Urbandale won an Honorable Men on in the Most Educa onal Garden category with fewer than 10,000 visitors per year. The judges liked the garden's crea ve use of repurposed items as markers. Seeing the acknowledgement in the Iowa State Master Gardener newsle er was not too surprising, seeing it published in this magazine was another. The bar has now been set." I couldn't agree more! Congratula ons to the Theme Garden: Ruth Doxon, Linda Brice, Barb Appleby, Judy Elings and Angela Mathews! Watch your calendar for the Spring Planning mee ng in March. If you need to earn some hours during the winter and are interested in helping with compiling surveys and/or making phone calls for class scheduling, please contact Margaret Spikes at or mhspikes@gmail.com. I'm also looking for anyone who may be interested in website par cipa on and/or grant requests. Thanks in advance! Stay warm! Margaret Spikes, chair margaretspikes@wellsfargo.com

5 If you've ever wondered what to do with your le over holiday plants, the Show House has a solu on: just make a bench out of concrete blocks and fill the holes with poinse as! This awesome garden seat was made by Show House volunteers Ann Goecke and Cathy Blank, with help from Ron Hun mer, and is part of our "La Dolce Vita" exhibit. Visit the Show House to see what else makes our gardening life sweet now through February 22nd. We also have a Facebook page: PCMG Gardeners Show House. We are already working on our next exhibits, "No Flowers No Problem", and "High Flight". Come to our next planning mee ng if you would like to know more: January 20th at 6:30, in the Walsh Room at the Botanical Garden. Or contact Mary or Ann if you would like to join in. New volunteers are always welcome! Mary Howell Williams mhwphoto@mchsi.com Ann Goecke: goeckeae@aol.com This new ISU E&O publica on will not be printed, but will remain online as a PDF only. Protec ng Bees Let us know if you have ques ons or comments about bees and other pollinators. Donald Lewis, drlewis@iastate.edu Update on Emerald Ash Borer h p:// cle/emeraldash borer confirmed union county iowa Recurring MG Calendar! Monday evening work nights at Demonstra on Garden, Urbandale. Suspended un l spring 2014 Tuesday & Saturday mornings Botanical Center Gardeners Show House work sessions. Tuesday evening work nights at Enabling Garden, Altoona. Suspended un l spring 2014 Wednesday and Saturday mornings at PCMG greenhouse. Suspended un l Feb Wednesday evening work nights at Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Suspended un l spring Friday morning work session at BC River Walk, suspended un l construc on is finished. Saturday morning work session at the Victorian Acres Greenhouse, Altoona. Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, na onal origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.