Garden Newsletter March 26, 2013

March 26, 2013 - Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/country-living-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/cooking-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

These weekly garden notes are written by Kim Willis, unless another author is noted, and the opinions expressed in these notes are her opinions and do not represent any other individual, group or organizations opinions.

Hi Gardeners

I am chomping at the bit to get gardening but the weather is limiting what I can do.  I have dozens of things to get done maybe hundreds of things, and it seems like everything is going to have to be done at once.  I have been outside poking around a bit, measuring and planning, picking up trash, pruning but so many things are left to be done when the soil is not frozen.  Maybe we will start seeing some improvement at the end of the week.

Grape Hycinths

One of my garden mail orders has arrived already so now I have a peach tree, blackberry bush and a grape planted in 5 gallon buckets on my porch and I just received notification that another order has been shipped.  Now normally you would be able to plant these dormant things now but not this year. This is the coldest, latest spring in many years, according to my garden notes.

We had a huge spruce that had pretty much succumbed to the spruce “blight”,  that combination of fungal diseases that has destroyed so many spruces, cut down last week.  I asked them to leave all the wood chips and I now have a huge pile as high as me and 15 feet long or so right by my driveway.  I am going to use it to make paths but the frost needs to be out of the ground first.  Soft ground and mud make it hard to get a loaded cart around so it will probably also have to wait until the ground is dried up a bit too.  So one warm weekend in a month or so I will probably need to get everything done at once.

Inside I have an amaryllis getting ready to bloom; I hope it will make it for Easter.  A red Easter Lily, so to speak, I hope that isn’t an omen or anything.  It’s amazing how much it grows every day. Sunday evening I noticed the bud poking up from the bulb; today it’s about 8 inches high.   I have a beautiful lavender ivy geranium blooming in my kitchen window and I did have some pretty geraniums blooming on my porch, until the squirrel got back in there and ate all the tops off the plants.  I do hate those squirrels.  I have a rat trap out there but it never gets caught. 

I worked on covering some pots with cloth as I talked about last week.  I didn’t have the colorful fabric I really wanted, except for one silky floral piece.  It proved almost impossible to glue the fabric to its self at the seams.  The material really resisted the glue.  I found that stretchy sleeves and socks really made nice, easy pot covers.  Everyone has socks around without a mate; just slip them over a pot.  Socks fit around 4 inch and if real stretchy even 6 inch pots.  The sleeves of old sweaters, shirts etc.  will stretch over bigger pots and just need to be cut off at the right length, no glue needed.  If they need to be more colorful socks are easy to dye.  You can use some acrylic craft paint diluted in a little water, food coloring, plant based dyes, or regular fabric dye.  I am going to post pictures of some pots I covered on my blog soon.

Easy way to figure out how much you need.

Do you ever wonder how much mulch or planting soil or compost you need for a certain area?  I found this easy calculator on the Campbell Greenhouse site, it works great.  Go to this address http://campbellsgreenhouses.com/Bulk_Material_Calculator.php  to find out how much bulk product you need for a project.

Watch those weeds

At some point this spring the weeds will begin growing and we will all be pulling them.  But be careful what you do with weeds like ground ivy, hensbit, shepherds purse, common violet, and the various forms of bindweed.  If you toss these into a “cold” compost pile, they often survive, even if they are reduced to tiny pieces and will jump to life when spread on the garden with the compost.  Some aggressive spreading perennial garden plants like bishops weed, beebalm, common tawny daylily, comfrey, bamboo, even phlox will also survive the compost pile. Jerusalem Artichoke and potatoes also survive cold composting.  Cold composting is when you simply heap discarded plant material and make no effort to keep it composting at a “hot” level by turning and managing it as needed.

If you have plants that you do not want to see live again let them dry out in the sun until crisp before adding them to the compost pile.  Spread them thinly as some will survive at the bottom of a pile. You can put them in a black plastic bag also and set the bag in the sun to cook them for a few days.  Then add it to the compost pile.   (Yes husband there is a method in my madness for my throwing weeds all over the lawn, I’m drying them out.)

Gravel Gardening

When most people think of gravel gardening they think of gardening minimally, with sedums, cacti and other drought tolerant plants and a sort of zen-like simplicity.   Now however, there is an intriguing new take on gravel gardening, growing food and ornamental plants in gravel instead of soil.  It is said that deep layer of gravel laid on moist soil not only conserves moisture but as the rocks heat up they draw moisture from deep inside the earth through condensation and water the plants rooted in them. 

There has been limited studies on this but there is a book out that purports to explain the system in detail.  I declined to purchase the book for $20 but went to the website for this researcher and also read a few additional articles on the subject.  Here’s the website address http://tosoilless.com/  The author claims to have planted corn and beans in a gravel bed and without any additional water or fertilizer was able to harvest crops.  It is also claimed that with only minor amounts of water and fertilizer dozens of food crops and most ornamentals can be grown very successfully.

I do see some advantages to this method.  Soil borne diseases and diseases that are often splashed onto plants from spores laying on the soil such as some of the tomato fungal diseases could be greatly lessened or diminished. And as water becomes more expensive and harder to get, methods of gardening that “find” water or conserve it are welcome.

Spring violas

But I have some unanswered questions about this method.  Plants often have a symbiotic relationship with soil microbes, especially plants that are evolved to live in organic based soil. This relationship helps plants get the minerals and even the water they need.  Without organic matter and the attendant microbes and fungi, do they do well? If the gravel gets hot enough to produce condensation wouldn’t it be hot enough to harm the roots of plants?  And if food and ornamental plants can grow in the gravel weeds could too.  Usually we mulch gardens to prevent weeds.

People have used gravel beds outside to do a sort of outdoor hydroponic gardening, where fertilizers and water are flushed through a gravel bed many times a day.  This works well but is expensive and requires electricity for pumps in most cases.  There is really no savings in water or energy use.

I have decided I may try a small experiment this summer with a gravel garden.  Maybe some of you would like to try it also.  If you do please let me know your results.  It sure would be nice to develop a way to grow tomatoes without fighting the battle with the various fungal diseases that always develops.

Easter facts

The Christian celebration of Easter is this Sunday.  Easter wasn’t celebrated immediately following Christ’s crucifixion.  It took some decades before anything other than the traditional Passover celebration was followed.  On the old calendars the time around the spring solstice was devoted to celebrations of renewal and fertility.  When Easter became a Christian “feast day” or holy day it incorporated many pagan celebrations associated with the spring solstice into the rituals and customs.  The Pagan goddess of spring and renewal is called Oestar. (In Greek oistros means 'gadfly' or 'frenzy' and is associated with the same Goddess.) The Assyrians and Babylonians called her Ishtar which is pronounced like Easter and that is where the name Easter comes from.

The egg is one of the oldest symbols of renewal and new life and the rabbit is a symbol of fertility and both are still prominent Easter themes.  "Omne vivum ex ovo" is a Latin saying which means, "all life comes from an egg” and when you think about it, it’s absolutely correct. In early times people dyed eggs in pastel, spring colors and presented them to others as a gift during spring solstice.  In early Christianity eggs were often dyed red to symbolize Christ’s blood and given out.  Easter “baskets” were made to look like bird’s nests to hold the decorated eggs. 

The earliest foods associated with Easter were pretzels, dough twisted into the shape of a cross in a circle, and hot cross buns, a bread treat with a cross on top that monks made and distributed to the poor on Easter. Eggs were turned into candy confections, often elaborately carved for table decorations in the 1800’s and eventually chocolate eggs were being made for consumption.  Now candy is forever a staple of Easter celebrations, (maybe because it makes children go into “oistros”). 

In 2012 Americans spent 2.1 billion dollars on Easter candy, more than on any other holiday.  Chocolate is the favorite Easter candy, especially in the form of chocolate Easter bunnies. (A poll found that 76% of Americans prefer to eat a chocolate Easter bunny starting with the ears.)  But marshmallow “peeps” and jelly beans are also top favorites.  In 1953 it took 27 hours to make a marshmallow peep, now it takes just 6 minutes.  Jelly beans were first made by a Boston candy maker, William Schrafft, who cleverly sold his new product by urging people to send them to soldiers fighting in the Civil War.  They did not become associated with Easter until the 1930’s.

Have a Happy Easter everyone

Kim

Garden as though you will live forever. William Kent 

Garden newsletter March 19, 2013

 March 19, 2013 - Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/country-living-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/cooking-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

These weekly garden notes are written by Kim Willis, unless another author is noted, and the opinions expressed in these notes are her opinions and do not represent any other individual, group or organizations opinions.

Hi Gardeners

Tomorrow is the official first day of spring but it sure wasn’t very spring like this morning as I went out to feed my animals.  The wind was blowing and it was very cold.  And of course it was cloudy.    It’s hard to believe that this time last year it was in the 70’s, the grass was green and the flowers were blooming.  Of course we now know that wasn’t an entirely good thing.

On the rare days that the sun shines you can feel how warm the sun is now.  You can close your eyes and feel summer just around the bend.  And the birds are singing, nesting and coming back from southern homes.  I have seen a turkey buzzard and red- wing blackbirds.  Great flocks of Canada geese were flying north this week.   Signs are saying springs coming but I’m having a hard time patiently waiting for it.  It’s supposed to be warmer by this weekend so let’s hope that’s the start of real spring.

On the vernal equinox, first day of spring, an egg is supposed to stand on its end.  Try it, (and then try it again in a week.)  Equinox is supposed to mean that the days and nights are equal in length but that isn’t exactly true.  If you count twilight and dawn as day, there are about 13 hours of light.  You have to count the day time from the time the center of the sun rises over the horizon and that’s a tricky thing for ordinary folk, to see the equal day/night thing.  Technically spring arrives at  7:02 am March 20.  There is about 12 hours of light now though.  The sun is moving from its southern inclination to higher in the sky or to the north.  It’s half the distance it will travel upward at the spring equinox.

Around the time of the equinox there is often interruption in services that are beamed off stationary satellites.  That’s because the orbit of these satellites means that the sun will block them from Earth at some point during the day.  As the sun moves higher in the sky this ceases, until the autumn equinox. 

The ancient peoples were very aware of the equinoxes.  The Egyptian sphinx points directly to the sun at the spring equinox.  The equinox signifies renewal in the northern hemisphere, a time when everything is awaking from dormancy.  In ancient history the spring equinox symbolized the dividing line between the dark and light times of the year.  Almost every culture has a deity that is resurrected from the dead at this time of the year.   The Christian celebration of Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon after the equinox ( although current historical dating would place Christ’s crucifixion as sometime in late April/early May.)

I wanted to write about Easter Lilies this week since they are in all the stores right now.  I had written an article several years ago on Easter Lilies but I no longer had it saved in the computer.  So I went on line to get some basic info refreshed in my mind, typed in Easter lilies in Michigan (because we are the top producer) and what pops up?  My original Easter lily article on a Yahoo site.  My name was attributed so that’s fine.  I have put a shortened version in this newsletter under more information.

I also hope that the ground thaws soon as I was notified that some nursery stock I ordered was going to be shipped at the end of the month.  I wandered through a garden center this week, just soaking in all the smells and sights that feed my garden addiction.  I have found that I can get supplies like seed starting mix very cheaply on Amazon and get it shipped right to my door.  Maybe I’m a Johnny Come Lately to the internet buying thing but I am enjoying browsing the garden supplies without having to stand on my aching legs.

One thing that you probably don’t want to buy on Amazon is plants and seeds.  There are other, much better on line companies for the plants and seeds.  I got a little ticked off when I browsed through the plants and seeds section on Amazon at some of the things offered.  Take for example the Purple, black and green rose seeds offered.  Yes seeds.  There were at least two places selling rose seed through Amazon.  They were probably related as the rose picture seemed to be the same, just photo shopped into different colors.   

Of course at some point in order to get new rose varieties roses have to be crossed and the seed planted.  It then takes years to grow the resulting seedlings to blooming size and evaluate them.  When a good new variety is determined it is then reproduced by cuttings – and those cuttings are generally grafted onto hardy root stock, except for landscape roses.  Roses don’t come true from seed.  No one can guarantee you that you will get a certain color rose when you plant seeds and you certainly won’t get the colors they show in the Amazon descriptions, which don’t exist in roses.  The seeds weren’t expensive but what bugged me is that many people rated the product as good because they got the seeds promptly – and they hadn’t even started them to see if they would grow.  If you know me you know I had to jump in there and add a warning comment.

Gardening in March

Yes there are some garden chores you’ll want to do in March, (other than starting rose seeds).  If the weather improves many of you will be out there doing garden cleanup and that’s fine as long as you remember that the cold weather probably isn’t over.  Don’t remove protective mulches just yet.  You can remove some of the mulch over early blooming bulbs like crocus if it is heaped deeply over them.  Don’t rake off mulch if you will damage emerging bulbs or perennial crowns, carefully remove it by hand.

Hold off on pruning plants like clematis, roses, and other plants that leave woody stems up through the winter and have the ability to put out buds in the spring along those stems.   Often plants like roses will have several inches of the stem die but buds will remain viable down low on the stem.  It’s often hard to tell whether the stem is dead or not and even if you can tell before it leafs out, you’ll want to avoid pruning off the dead areas for about 30 more days.  That’s because the dead area acts as protection for the living buds below it.  If you cut off the dead growth now, a cold snap may kill a new area of the stem and take off precious buds.

You want to carefully remove dead foliage over mums.  It’s better to wait until several new leaves can be seen at the base of old stems, and then carefully cut, not pull off the old stems.  If you pull you’ll probably break off the new growth.

It’s a fine time to cut some branches of spring blooming shrubs like forsythia, flowering quince, and limbs of cherry or apricot trees to bring inside to force into bloom.  All you have to do is cut the branches and place them in jars of water inside and you should have blooms in 2 weeks or so.

As long as active growth hasn’t resumed there is still time to prune fruit trees and oaks.  You’ll know the sap is flowing and trees are coming out of dormancy if the buds are swelling and showing green.  You can apply dormant oil still too, when temps are above 40 degrees but below 80 degrees.

You can plant peas and grass seed even when the ground is wet and cold.  Inside you can plant the seeds of plants that can be planted outside before the last frost, like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, calendula, Sweet Peas, pansies, violas.   You can plant lettuce in a cold frame outside or a pan or other container inside.  It’s also a good time to test seeds you stored over the years.  Place some seeds on damp paper towels and put them in a plastic bag in a warm spot.  You’ll be able to see how many germinate and whether the seed is still worth planting, either in the garden or in pots next month.

It’s a good time to make plant labels, birdhouses and draw out your garden plans.  You want to check over your tools, sharpen pruning shears and mower blades, and maybe paint the handles of tools a bright color so you won’t lose them in the weeds.  Order the seeds, plants and supplies you need so you’ll be ready to get right in the garden on the first nice day instead of spending it in a store check-out lane.

Save the stems

If you are doing some spring pruning of plants whose stems are hollow save some of them to make a home for solitary mason bees.  Bamboo pieces are excellent, if you have bamboo that has suffered winter die back or that needs pruning.  The stems need to be about the diameter of a straw or pencil.  Find a small can or waterproof box and stuff your stems in it, cut to fit.  (You could paint or decorate the can or box.) Some people spray a little glue inside the can or box so the stems won’t slide out.  But if you pack the item tightly with stems that probably won’t be a concern and you avoid adding chemicals in the glue to the set up.   If you are worried about stems sliding, use rubber bands around the bundle instead.

You could also make a sling around a bundle of stems with a piece of canvas, denim or other heavy fabric.  Now hang the sling, can or box in the garden for the bees to use as a home and to raise more bees.  They lay their eggs in the hollow stems and fill them with nectar and pollen for the babies to eat. Mason bees are excellent pollinators and we need all the pollinators we can get.

Ideas for pretty pots

Speaking of buying supplies I love to look through garden supply catalogs for good ideas this time of year.  I love the bright colorful pots that are the hot item this season.  I see many places are selling pots covered in colorful floral and patterned fabric.  There are even fabric lined hanging baskets.  The items seen in the catalogs are expensive. A six inch fabric pot cover is about $7.  The fabric covered baskets are about $25.  

Why not cover some cheap black plastic nursery pots yourself?  Surely you save them- doesn’t every gardener?  If you have some old clothing around you can cut out pieces of fabric and glue them to the pots using a spray craft glue and viola!, trendy looking pots.   How about inserting a pot into each leg of a pair of boxer shorts ?

Those plain, inexpensive hanging baskets could be transformed by using a sleeve or pant leg that the basket could be inserted in or maybe pillow cases cut to fit. If you have no scraps of clothing around perhaps some cheap plastic table cloths, place mats, shower curtains, bandannas or such from the dollar store could be used.

There are spray paints now that cover plastics.  You could spray paint plain pots in a variety of hot new colors or make all your pots one simple color.  You could cut out simple stencils and make designs on a black or painted pot also.  If you have clay pots they take any acrylic paint well and the paint job lasts a long time.  How about coating a pot with glue and rolling it in colored sand?

I can see fabric pots getting a bit stained and messy ( let’s not think of the boxer shorts idea here),  so maybe a clear craft coating could be applied as protection. I have made novelty planters out of blue jeans but they do rot by the end of the season from the soil contact, water and sun.  Glued onto a pot the fabric would probably last longer and coated with a protective covering you might get several seasons out of them.  I’m going to try some ideas and I’ll post pictures on this blog.

Calendula

Need a colorful cool weather plant in the garden?  Try calendula.  It’s a plant I almost always have in the garden.  It’s considered to be both an herb and an ornamental.

Calendula is an ancient garden plant and was commonly known as the marigold or Pot Marigold, and was grown throughout Europe, both as a medicinal plant and as an ornamental. Then the other type of marigold was discovered in the New World, the bedding plant that Americans commonly refer to as the marigold.  It was confusing to have two common garden plants with the same name, so now we use the name marigold for the species Tagetes and calendula for the wonderful, but almost forgotten, plant formally known as the marigold.

Calendula flowers seem to glow or shine, in clear shades of vivid orange and yellow, and they are wonderful in flower arrangements.  The flower is daisy-like and 2-4 inches in size. For a long time calendulas were always a solid color but recently plant breeders have introduced varieties with blends of colors and some softer pastel colors. Calendula flowers open in the day and close at night or in bad weather.

Good ornamental varieties of calendula are ‘Citrus Smoothies‘, very double flowers in pastel blends of apricot and lemon with a light outer edge, ‘Orange Porcupine’, which has a quilled look to the bright orange petals, ‘Geisha Girl‘, which is a another deep orange with a very full look, almost like a small mum, and ‘Neon‘, a deep orange edged in burgundy.  The ‘Flashback’ strain has maroon on the back of each flower petal and the front of the petal is a contrasting color, including peachy pinks.  The ‘Pacific Giant’ strain has been around a long time and is a blend of many shades of yellow and orange.  It has some resistance to heat. There are other improved varieties of calendula and new varieties are coming on the market every year.

Calendula is extremely easy to grow.  The seeds are usually planted where they are to grow, but they can be started inside. Outside, plant seeds 2-3 weeks before the average last frost in your area.   If planting inside, start them about six weeks before your expected last frost. Cover the seeds lightly and keep them moist. They bloom quickly from seed, often as soon as six weeks after planting. You can sometimes find calendula plants in nurseries in the spring for immediate color, but sowing seed in early July in the garden will give you beautiful fall flowers as well.

Calendulas also need to have the flowers picked off as they fade, or they will quit blooming.  They are an annual plant, but they will re-seed freely in the garden, and you will get new plants each year if you let some go to seed.  Calendula grows to about 18 inches high and branches freely.   Calendula prefers full sun and average soil moisture.  Little or no fertilizer is needed.    They prefer cool weather and tend to sulk or die in hot humid weather. 

Calendula flowers are edible and can be added to salads for a colorful touch.  The petals of calendula have long been used to impart a golden color to soups, egg dishes, rice, cheese and even butter.   Calendula flowers are fed to chickens to make egg yolks a deeper yellow and to give the skins of broilers a golden color.  (If you use calendula flowers in food make sure they have not been sprayed with any pesticides.)

Calendula can be used as a tea for stomach upset by steeping 5 teaspoons of fresh flower petals in hot water.  If this mixture is allowed to cool it makes an excellent mouthwash, especially for sore and bleeding gums, because of its antiseptic properties. Crushing a calendula flower on an insect sting will ease the pain.  Calendula is used in soothing salves, foot baths, and facial care products.  If you want the variety used for most commercial herbal preparations look for ‘Erfurter Orange‘.

Buy a chocolate bunny and bite its ears off.

Kim

More Information

Easter Lilies

By Kim Willis

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet..... Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The Bible.

Even in ancient times a white lily was the symbol of grace and purity. In the late 1800's a white lily from Japan, Lilium longiflorum, became the Christian symbol for Christ's resurrection from the dead. They were imported from Japan and Burma and given as gifts at Easter. When WWII cut off the supply, production of Easter lily bulbs began in the United States. A small area on the border of Oregon and California, within sight of the Pacific Ocean, is where virtually all of the Easter lily bulbs that are used for potted flowers are now produced. The bulbs are usually sent to other areas to be potted up and forced into bloom.

It can take three to four years for a bulblet, [ baby bulb] to produce flowers. Each fall the Pacific coast growers dig up their fields and sort the bulbs by size. Mature lilies produce new bulblets every summer, which are loosely connected to the "mother" bulb. These new bulbs are removed and replanted as are the bulbs in the field that are not large enough to bloom. The blooming size bulbs are cleaned and packaged for shipment to nurseries where they will be forced to bloom in time for Easter. The bulbs must be kept chilled for at least six weeks or until the grower is ready to start the forcing process.

Easter Lilies are the fourth largest potted plant in terms of wholesale value. Michigan is the number one producer of potted Easter Lilies in the United States. About 55 Michigan growers produce about two million dollars worth of Easter Lilies each year. And it isn't an easy job to have the lilies in bloom for Easter. Easter comes at different times each year. It's always the first Sunday after the spring equinox, which can be anywhere from March 22 to late April.

Lilies are only in bloom for a period of one to two weeks so growers have to be quite knowledgeable about manipulating the bloom time. It's done by regulating the length of day and night and the temperatures the plants are growing in. Growers actually prefer the early Easters, because as the days get longer and the temperatures higher, it's harder to keep the plants from blooming too early. Growers count the number of leaves on a plant and note how they are expanding to get an idea when the plants will bloom. If it looks like the plants are progressing too fast, the temperature and lights have to be adjusted. Once the flower buds are visible, the plant will be in bloom in about 30 days.

Of course Easter isn't the normal time that these lilies should bloom. In my zone 5 garden the longiflorum lily blooms in late June or early July. If you receive an Easter Lily as a gift and want to try to move it to your garden in the spring, do these things. When the blooms open, carefully cut off the stamens, the little dangling things covered in yellow pollen. This prolongs the bloom and keeps the pollen from staining the flower and your clothes. As each flower dies cut it off.

While blooming, the plant should be in bright light but not direct sunlight. Blooms will last longer if the plant is kept at cool temperatures, 60-65 degrees would be nice. Keep the plant watered but don't over water. You may have to remove decorative foil pot covers so it can drain. Keep the plant out of cold drafts and away from heat ducts, which will dry it out. When the plant is done blooming, move it to a sunny window. Do not remove any leaves unless they yellow and die. The leaves are producing food so the plant can produce new buds for next year.

As soon as the danger of frost has passed you can remove the lily from the pot and plant it in the garden. Choose a spot in full sun with good drainage. It is natural for the plant to die back now, but keep it watered and new shoots should soon come up.

The lily will probably not bloom again this year, but should bloom next summer if it survives winter. The Easter, or Madonna lily as it is sometimes called, is marginally hardy in zone 5, and does well in zones 6 -7. It should be mulched well to over winter. If you don't have luck saving your gift plants you can buy bulbs that haven't been forced to bloom, and those may do better for you.

It is amazing how such a beautiful flower with its sweet, intoxicating scent arises from a dull, brown bulb deep underground. It is an ideal symbol of resurrection, of new life and hope. I hope your Easter is blessed with peace, joy and new beginnings.

plans for spring

I woke up this morning to about 2 inches of snow.  It’s wet and melting but still its snow.  I am so ready to get gardening.  I have a tree company coming next week to chop down the almost dead spruce by my barn and a dead pine in the yard and then I want the garden season to begin.  Looking ahead in the weather forecast I don’t see any major warm ups and more snow coming early next week.  But I am determined to get working outside next week.   At the very least I will clean out the barn so that doesn’t take up nicer weather for gardening.

The front of the house the year the ramp was installed.  The plants in front have grown a bit but  I want to take out all the lawn while still keeping a green and restful look.

I have very ambitious plans for my first year as a retired although somewhat handicapped gardener.  Two major projects, relocating the veggie plot and building more beds and taking out all the lawn in the front yard and replacing it with plants are on the agenda.  There are several smaller projects that go along with those two.

The veggie garden will be relocated to the bare spot that will be left after the big spruce is removed.  I envision a fence in back to hide the chicken coop- compost area and new raised beds in front of it.  Steve has experience building the raised bed frames and that can be done fairly early in the spring.  But then they have to be filled. 

Now we have lots of acreage here where we could get soil, but that isn’t easy and some of our soil is very sandy and not great garden soil.  We also have some compost we can add but that too, is hard for us.  I am considering hiring a teen for a few day’s work- if I can find a willing one- but Steve is resisting that a bit.    He filled the previous raised beds by sitting in his wheelchair and shoveling soil/compost into my wagon and then pulling that with his chair to the bed- where I helped dump it.  But its slow work and we only did 1 new bed each spring previously.  A healthy young back and set of legs would greatly help.

The “small” jobs associated with the new veggie garden will be taming and re-doing the curved flower bed in front of the spruce location.  The garden will need to be fenced because it’s so close to the chicken coop and birds are always getting loose.  And I am planting some perennial fruits in the old beds farther down in the yard and they will need to be cleaned up and prepped for that.  We will also have to re-route a garden hose to the new area but that shouldn’t be hard. 

The propane tank is on the west of this site and I had a small raised bed in front of it where I planted things that grew high enough to hide it.  Since the opening to the new veggie garden will be there that raised bed needs to be moved.  I envision an arbor type entrance that will also hide the tank.  I’d like to put a white picket fence around the whole veggie area but I will see what time and money will stretch to.

The front yard looks like a daunting project but the worst part of it is finalizing a vision of what I want in my brain.   Our yard is close to the road-too close.  The handicap ramp is bright aluminum and the old foundation planting is now behind it, which consists mainly of lilies and ferns with a few hibiscus plants.  The plants die back each winter and the whole thing ramp, foundation and bed look pretty ugly.  And you can see under the ramp in winter when the plants I planted on the outer edge die back.  In the summer when everything is lush and blooming it isn’t too bad.  I have so many decisions to make- evergreens in front of the ramp, fill in under the ramp with wood or fence, even paint the ramp a less jarring color.

I have a narrow bed just in front of the ramp now, planted with heuchera, hosta, and a few other things.  I generally hang baskets of plants from the ramp rail in the summer.  And I have pots of annuals on and in front of the porch where the ramp is the highest.  Then there is a strip of grass used as a path, which gets torn up with Steve’s electric chair when the soil is wet in the spring.   I have 3 “Shepherds” hooks with bird feeders in the yard and a pole with a bird house on it next to the cable dish, which we really need to remove-( the dish) since we aren’t using it now.   Last year I made a small garden around the pole outlined in rocks from the road- I pick them up each spring.  That needs to be re-done, it isn’t visually right.

There is only about 25 feet of space from ramp to the roadside ditch edge.  About 4 feet of that will be a path in front of the ramp.  So I have a space about 20 feet wide by 55-60 feet long that will become garden, not lawn.  The whole area is partly shaded.  I want low maintenance plants.  Part of the space I will have mulched around the bird feeders, I think.  Maybe something that hides spilled birdseed would be better.  I want to centrally locate a birdbath-fountain in the correct proportions to the area.  I want to be able to sit on the ramp top over the old porch and see something restful and pretty.  I want it to look good all year.

Over to the west of the house are some cedars, old and gnarled, where the shade is deeper.  We used to have a sitting area there and there is still some mulch which will need to be renewed.  However I found it was too dry of shade to keep many plants in the ground looking good.  I now put my houseplants there in the summer.  I want to do that again this year, maybe on pillars of different sizes and put a small table and some seating there.

So there are the plans, along with planting all the things I ordered this spring, the things I hope to accomplish.  My time of active, physical gardening is limited; I want to accomplish things that can be sustained with little work in the years to come. I am hoping to get the hardscape, the bones and edges in this year at least.  The path may need to be hard surfaced in years coming but this year will probably be mulched.  We’ll see how the wheelchairs work through that. 

Now you see why I am anxious for spring to get here.  So much to do!

Garden newsletter March 12

Pansy

The sun is trying to peek through and make the day less gloomy.  I appreciated the warmer weather this weekend but since I still had lots of snow and icy spots I wasn’t able to do much outside.  The rain last night did remove a lot of it but there is still some ice here and there.  This week the weather doesn’t really look too spring-like but I know we have to be getting there.  The daffodils I brought inside have finished blooming but just outside my door I have a clump of crocus that will bloom if they are just given a day or two of mild, sunny weather.

The USDA has said that the recent snow melt and rain have restored our soil moisture levels to “adequate.”  That’s a good thing as we went into winter with a strong deficient in soil moisture.  A slow wet spring may be torture for us gardeners but good for the plants.

I am waiting for a man to give me an estimate on removing a 50-60 foot high blue spruce by the barn that has pretty much died from the  fungus complex that has affected so many spruce in Michigan.  It was such a magnificent tree for so long and it hid our compost pile and junk areas pretty well.  Now it has only a 10-20 foot area near the top that is still green and all the lower branches have pretty much died.  There is no hope it can be cured and ever look good.  It’s too big for us to remove ourselves.

The spruce a year or so ago.

I hate to cut trees down, but it looks bad and I talked myself into it because I have convinced myself that I can use the newly bare spot to move my vegetable garden to- since its close to the house and water and a much easier spot to get to than the pasture where we were going to move it.  And the old veggie spot will again be sunny, since the top of the spruce cast shade on it in the afternoon.  I won’t need to remove any grass like I would in the pasture.  And there will be lots of pine needle mulch. 

I intend to build raised beds so I won’t worry about roots and soil acidity from the spruce doesn’t concern me.  I am hoping who ever chops it down will chip the branches for me to use as mulch there and in other places.  I think I can get 7, 4’ by 20’ beds there, which will greatly expand my growing space.  You can see I am still talking myself into the benefits of removing the grand old tree.

We will have to install a bit of privacy fence in front of the compost pile and my storage spot for pots and such.   But even that gives me some ideas.  I have some Honeyberries coming that would look good along that fence.  And the Goji vine definitely will go there.  Maybe some tall sunflowers and cucumber vines too. Lots of work ahead.

The shamrock

The Festival of Drunks, commonly known as St Patrick’s Day is Sunday.  For some reason 4-leaf clovers, called shamrocks, are associated with the day and stores will have pots of oxalis, the closest thing to a shamrock, on sale.  Most oxalis come from South America or Africa and are tender perennials. There are a number of oxalis varieties on the market. Not only is the foliage attractive but most have pretty flowers too.  Many people buy the plants around St Paddy’s Day but don’t take care of them and discard them soon after the holiday.  If they are well cared for, however, they will last several years and get bigger and prettier.  The bulbs are also sold in bulb catalogs and are easy to start. Oxalis are sometimes called wood sorrel but they are not related to our native sorrels.

Oxalis leaves may be traditional green, usually with red or bronze markings or they may be reddish or purple.  Flower colors are white, red, pink and yellow.  The flowers are small and held above the foliage, some are flat, with 5 petals; other types have funnel shaped flowers.  Throughout the winter, spring and fall they are happy in moist but well drained soil in bright light.  Fertilize occasionally, even in winter, to promote spurts of bloom.

When temperatures get very hot in the summer, oxalis goes into dormancy and the leaves dry and fall.  People sometimes think the oxalis has died when it goes into dormancy. Let the pot dry out a little and store it until fall brings cooler temperatures.  Water well, give it a little fertilizer and soon it will be blooming again.  We had an oxalis plant in the Extension office that did not go into dormancy for at least two years, maybe because of the air conditioning.

Re-assigning flower names

The shape of flowers and their reproductive parts has long been one of the primary ways that botanists classify plants and assign them to family and specie groups.  With the event of DNA testing however botanists are finding that flower shape may not be the best way to find related plants.   Research has indicated that many plants thought to be related because of similarities in flowers and sexual parts might not be so closely related after all. 

Unlike animals plants cannot move when their environment changes, they have to quickly evolve strategies to deal with the change or face extinction.  So rather than plants being related because they are found in a similar environment with similar flowers, they have similar flowers regardless of the family tree because that type of flower is more suitable for the environment.  It may be because of pollinators the flowers need to attract or that a certain kind of flower is better suited to distribute pollen in the wind or water in that environment. Flower shapes that look very similar weren’t passed down through genes, they evolved separately to get mating done efficiently.

As botanists begin to DNA test more and more plants those assignments of plants to certain families and species are going to change.  I personally hate it when a plant that has been known by one Latin name is changed to another.  To make it even more confusing there are several “schools” of botanical classification that often have different names for plant families and species.  Latin names are supposed to make it easy for everyone to be on the same page when it comes to a plant but all of the recent flurry to re-classify plants is only going to create confusion.  It’s too bad botanists can’t find a way to keep a plants name while acknowledging that it belongs to a certain “family” of related plants.

Daffodils are different

Daffodils and narcissus often have a crown shaped structure in the center of the flower, called the corona.  It’s often colorful, the same color or a contrasting color to the petals.  Until recently it was assumed that the corona was a modification of flower petals, possibly to aid pollination.  Recent research has determined that coronas are not modified flower petals.

The corona is the cup shaped peach colored center.

Once again genetic analysis along with the study of developing daffodil flowers led researchers at the University of Oxford, Harvard University, the United States Department of Agriculture and the University of Western Australia to conclude that coronas are a separate structure that develops after the flower petals and sexual organs are fully formed in the bud.  Coronas are genetically similar but not the same as the stamens, or male sexual organs, of the daffodil.

So what is the function of the corona?  Since daffodils and narcissus typically bloom in early spring maybe they are an extra layer of protection from the cold for the sexual organs of the flower.  They may also serve to guide early spring pollinators to the right spot.  One other plant that I can think of, Hymenocallis ( Peruvian Daffodil, Spider Lily) has a flower structure similar to daffodils and since it too flowers in spring, it may be another case of flowers evolving to suit the environment.  However Hymenocallis is native to places where conditions are somewhat warmer than where daffodils and narcissus grow.  We may find out in the future that coronas have some other function.

Green tea news

We have all heard of the benefits of green tea and now new research has shown that chemicals in green tea may help prevent and breakdown the accumulations of proteins in the brain called amyloid plagues that lead to Alzheimer's disease.  Scientists are working to separate and tweak the chemical epigallocatechin-3-gallate, known as EGCG found in green tea to create a treatment for Alzheimer’s and other plague diseases.  Other research has found that the eye tissue absorbs the same chemical compound and the antioxidant properties it has may help with glaucoma and other eye diseases.    And you can get the eye and possibly the brain benefits simply from drinking green tea.

Banana Uses

Bananas and their peels have many, many uses.  You can use a banana peel to polish your shoes and silverware, and fertilize houseplants.  But it seems there is a new exciting use for this old product.  Researchers found that ground banana peels are extremely effective in removing heavy metals from water. A purification device made simply from chopped banana peels could filter metals like lead and copper from water 11 times in a row as well as or better than most other forms of water filters.

And dried green banana can be turned into flour that has antioxidants and fiber and a low glycemic index, meaning it doesn’t cause a steep rise in blood sugar.  It also has no gluten.  The green banana flour has been added to pasta flour to make it healthier and flour made totally from green bananas is being used to produce gluten-free products for people who think they suffer from the effects of gluten in the diet.

Wishing you could grow bananas? The Musa Basjoo is said to be hardy to zero if mulched. That would mean Zone 6 gardeners can probably grow them, at least in a protected location such as against a house.  It will die down and come back from the roots each year.  However it doesn’t have edible bananas, just large tropical foliage.  But you can grow the Dwarf Cavandish banana ‘Mahoi’ in a pot if you have a sunny spot indoors in the winter and it will reward you with clusters of small, very tasty bananas after the second year.  There is also a small red banana you can grow indoors.

If you want to learn more about bananas and how to grow them, outside and inside, I recommend the book Bananas You Can Grow by Stokes and Waddick.  The book covers 66 banana cultivars and species.

Disneyland features gardening

If you are thinking about going to Disney World this spring you may want to visit the Epcot Center which is hosting the International Flower and Garden show now through May 19^th .   Along with the beautiful gardens and topiary offerings there will be classes held with HGTV celebrities on several days of each week.  There is a new “Oz” play land and all of the international eateries will be offering special “garden” menu items such as green asparagus and lobster with a garden cocktail sauce, stir-fried veggies and soba noodles, or savory bread pudding with spring peas and wild mushroom ragout.

If you want to watch a video about the behind the scenes prep of topiary at Disney and get the speaker schedule you can click on this link. http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/03/behind-the-scenes-horticulture-preps-100-topiaries-for-the-epcot-international-flower-garden-festival/

Get your green beer and shamrocks and celebrate spring!

March 5 newsletter

March 5, 2013 - Kim’s Weekly Garden Newsletter

http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/country-living-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

http://www.examiner.com/cooking-in-detroit/kimberley-willis

Redbud blooming in spring.

These weekly garden notes are written by Kim Willis, unless another author is noted, and the opinions expressed in these notes are her opinions and do not represent any other individual, group or organizations opinions.

Hi Gardeners

March is here, the season of hope, early spring, when we start to see the promise of renewal. Someone once said that the winds of March is nature yawning as she awakes from sleep. Charles Dickens describes March as “when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade”.  Native Americans called the March full moon, the Worm moon, when the earth softens and worms make their way to the surface again.

Early settlers often referred to the March full moon as the “sap” moon.  Often the weather around the March full moon is excellent for collecting Maple sap and boiling it into sugar.  The early settlers were taught how to do that by Native Americans.  They would collect the sap on sunny days and then spend much of the night boiling it down into sugar.

It’s time to stretch and get busy. The gardeners favorite season is coming quickly now. When we have one of those rare sunny days above 40 degrees, when it’s not windy, it’s time to apply dormant oil to the fruit trees and those other woody ornamentals you want to protect from insects before their buds swell too much.  Finish up that pruning too.  Pruning should also be done before you can see a green tip on tree buds.

St Patrick’s day is a traditional day to plant peas.  If you can reach the soil, even if it’s half frozen, you can plant peas in the garden.  Why not start some leaf lettuce in a cold frame or sunny windowsill in an unheated room? 

It’s time to get serious about ordering seeds and plants if you have delayed.  If you wait much longer some things you want will be gone and most of the early bird deals will shortly be over.  Mail order nurseries usually ship plants to you when weather reports indicate the time is right in your area and orders go out from south to north and not always in the order that people placed orders.  Sometimes by the time shipping is right in some of these northern areas (like ours) they have run out of an item or only the smaller, less perfect specimens are left.  If you have the ability to pot up a bare root plant and/or hold a potted plant in a sunny, not too warm but frost free place you can often ask the nursery to ship at an earlier date than normal for your area.

Any hardy, dormant woody plant that arrives can be planted as soon as you are able to dig a hole.  Dormant, hardy perennials can be planted as soon as the soil is thawed.  However anything that arrives that is breaking dormancy or is leaved out requires more care.  These should not be planted out until hard freezes are unlikely and the soil has warmed a bit.  A good test to know if the time is right is to look for similar plants outside and see what stage they are at.  For example if hostas are just starting to poke above the ground you can plant any new hostas which are just starting to sprout but hold off on planting those new plants that are fully leafed out until the hostas in the garden are pretty well leafed out.

Marsh marigolds, an early spring flower.

March almanac

Daylight savings time begins next Sunday, March 10^{th .}  On March 19^th 1918 congress approved daylight savings time and it began on March 31.  Remember to set your clocks ahead an hour.  There will be less sun in the morning and more in the evening. Spring begins March 20, when the days and nights are equal in length, 12 hours.  By the end of March our days are 12 hours and 27 minutes long.

The dark of moon is March 11, 1^st quarter March, 19^th, full moon is the 27^th .  Best days to plant above ground crops are the 20,21, and below ground crops on the  29,30.  Best days for fishing are the 11-27 and the best days to set eggs for hatching are the 26-27.

The 11^th is  Johnny Appleseed day, the  12^th is  plant a flower day and girl scouts day,  the 15^th is the  Ides of March, the 14^th is  learn about butterflies and potato chip day,  the 17^th is St Patrick’s day, the 18^th is goddess of fertility day, the  20^th is  international earth day and proposal day, on the 29^th of 1886 coca cola was introduced and this year Easter is on the 31^st.

On March 27, 1513, Ponce De Leon sighted Florida.  On March 30^th 1867, the US bought Alaska from the Russians.  It’s National Women’s History month, Irish American month, National Craft month, Frozen food month, National Red Cross month and National Peanut month. The bloodstone and aquamarine are the birthstones for March. The violet is the flower for the month of March.

Choose purple

At the 42nd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), held in Denver August 29, 2011,   scientists reported on research done with purple potatoes on a group of overweight people with high blood pressure.  The group of volunteers were fed 6-8 small purple potatoes that were cooked without oil in a microwave twice a day for a month.  The researchers found that the study participants all had a decrease in blood pressure and that none of them gained weight.  Purple potatoes were chosen because the purple-blue pigments in plants are known to be high in phytochemicals that promote cardiovascular health in humans.  (Researchers are now doing studies using red and white potatoes to see if there are equal benefits there).

There is a lot of interest in the anthocyanin compounds in plants that have blue-purple- red-purple coloration.  Several studies have shown that the deepest colored plants provide the most health benefits.  Snapdragon genes were inserted in tomatoes to produce a deep purple tomato.  When these tomatoes were fed to mice their lives were much longer than mice fed other colors of tomatoes.  A Kansas researcher is using a specially bred purple sweet potato in cancer studies.  Scientists at the Agricultural Research Station in Beltsville MD found 36 beneficial anthocyanin compounds in red, (purple) cabbage.

Many common vegetable varieties now have purple or blue varieties.  You may want to consider these when you are choosing vegetables to grow this spring.  There are purple carrots, potatoes, red cabbages, red-purple kale varieties, chard, red-purple lettuces, basil, beans, peppers, sweet corn, onions, eggplant, broccoli, and kohl rabi, and probably more.   And when choosing fruit you may want to buy purple grapes, black or purple raspberries, purple plums rather than other colors of those fruit. 

Organic plants contain health benefits for you – but they are not the happiest plants

New research has given some credence to the often heard line that organic food is healthier for you.  Researchers at the University of Barcelona, Spain, showed that organic tomatoes contained higher levels of phenolic compounds than conventional tomatoes. Phenolic compounds have proven human health benefits for the prevention of cardiovascular and degenerative diseases. Tomatoes also contain lycopene and other carotenoids, and vitamin C.  While organic tomatoes are higher in phenols, research still needs to be done to see if that makes them more beneficial to humans than conventionally grown tomatoes, although it would seem logical to assume that.

However, even if the high phenol plants are healthier for humans, it doesn’t mean that high phenol levels make for happy, healthy plants.  This same research found that the more stress tomato plants were under, the more phenols they produced. In other words, what’s good for us may not be best for the plants.  And in these studies, organically grown plants showed more stress than conventionally grown plants.

 A research study published February 20 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Maria Raquel Alcantara Miranda and colleagues from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil also found that organic tomatoes had higher sugar content, Vitamin C, and phenols.  However they also found that the organic tomatoes were 40% smaller and plants were less productive.  This was caused by the plants having to expend more resources defending themselves from insect and disease, the stress which also cause the high phenol levels.  Plants also have to work harder to extract maximum benefits from organic fertilizer compared to conventionally fertilized plants.

Researchers are now trying to figure out how to best balance stress in plants to produce maximum benefits for humans while preserving good production and healthy plants.

How plants are like us

One of the first things you are taught in Master Gardener Class or any botany course is how plants differ from animals.  But as science progresses, we are discovering amazing things about plants.  While plants may have developed different ways of doing things than animals, they are much more complicated and more like animals than previously thought.  This year for the first time there will actually be a plant neurobiology conference, where researchers will discuss such topics as how plants communicate, how plants adapt to change, animal like behaviors of plants and consequences of plant misbehavior.  The conference takes place in July in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  You can see the research based plant behavior website at http://www.plantbehavior.org

Violas in spring

I am reading a new book on plant senses ( What a Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz) and it explains that while plants don’t have eyes they do have photoreceptors similar to those in animal eyes.  One type of receptor is located in the tips of shoots and tells the plant to grow toward light.  The part of the plant that grows is actually the middle part of the stem and it will curve toward light.  The plant processes information the shoot “eyes” send it to make the plant grow.  There are different types of light receptors in leaves that measure the length of light- how long the day is.  The day length determines many plant processes, such as flower initiation.  Only one leaf exposed to light can relay that information to the plant.  For parts of the plant to send information to other parts of the plant implies a “nervous system” and some sort of conscious “control”. 

I used to joke that vegetarians were worse than meat eaters because they ate defenseless creatures alive. ( A carrot is alive until you cook it.)  What will it mean to vegetarians if we find out that plants actually feel fear and pain, if even in a primitive sense? Even seeds are tiny plant embryos and they are alive.  There are some intriguing hints that this may be so. 

Other books

Another book I have come across is Master Gardener by Rolf Margenau.  It’s a kind of cute mystery story ( fiction) about MG’s who try to smuggle in and release a milkweed that resists roundup – to save the monarchs and it’s written by a MG.  It’s only 2.99 on Amazon, a quick read although not the most professional writing, and supports a MG.  And for those of you who are poultry – animal lovers you’ll love this book from a Michigan writer- Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte.  It is professionally written and quite funny,  a memoir of the authors move to the country and his wife’s love of animals.  My husband says he and Bob should talk.  You can find it on Amazon.

A reader sent me this and I thought I would include it.

National Wildlife Refuge Survey – Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge

The Center for Food Safety is currently investigating the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s decision to allow the growing of genetically engineered soybeans and corn at the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Saginaw, Michigan.   The Service has not considered the various risks to the environment or wildlife posed by cultivating genetically engineered crops at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.  National Wildlife Refuges are important places for wildlife and serve as wintering and breeding habitat for migratory waterfowl, among other restorative purposes.  A variety of waterfowl depend on the aquatic and wetland habitats at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. Such species include Canada goose, mallard, green-winged teal, and ring-necked duck. These waterfowl currently use these pesticide-intensive, genetically engineered crops as a food source. 

Genetically engineered crops have no place on the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, and we need your help to stop it. 

We are looking for information from members who live near or visit Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge, located in Saginaw, Michigan.  If you reside near or have visited this National Wildlife Refuge we could use your help.  In your email, please tell us: 1) Where you live, 2) The last time visited Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge.   office@centerforfoodsafety.org

Go play in the dirt

Kim Willis

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” ― Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard's Egg

More information

I am putting something a little different in this week’s information segment.  Many of you who took the Master Gardener class are struggling to decide how to proceed with certification, remaining in a Master Gardener club etc.  I found this article on Master Gardeners- whether they should have another name, and about the animosity many people in the gardening world feel about MG’S.  I am going to re-print the original article and give you a link to the site.  There are a lot of comments posted there now and those comments are as interesting as the article.  I suggest you go there and read them http://gardenrant.com/ministry_of_controversy

This is not my article, I just found it interesting.  It’s on the Garden Rant Blog page written by Susan Harris- if it doesn’t come up on the home page type in Master gardener  in the search box on the home page.

Recently there was a lively garden-writer discussion on Facebook that began with this question:  “I’m a member of several professional garden groups and a recurring theme that comes up is anti-master gardeners. Why?”

Boy-oh-boy, did people have answers.  One opined that Master Gardeners represent a “stale and stagnant status quo,” another had seen them selling known invasives in their area, but the main complaint against Master Gardeners was about their very name.

Bad Name

I totally agree with the commenters that “Master Gardener” is a misnomer and I weighed in to say that attending classes (where attendance wasn’t even required), completing a take-home test and then performing 40 volunteer hours does not make anyone a “master” at anything.  There were people in my class (in DC) who’d never put a plant in the ground in their lives, and after MG “training” and certification, still hadn’t.

That “master” in the name leads to problems like:

- People thinking it’s on the same level as “Master Carpenter,” a tittle that represents actual mastery.

- Apparently, it can go to people’s heads.  “Some MG’s take that title too seriously and are extremely pompous.”  “Extremely pompous about the mostly abstract info they have.”

- It makes people boring:  “They use the title of ‘Master Gardener’ as a badge of all-inclusive expertise. Plus they tend to be really really boring.”

- The name is often mistakenly assumed to indicate a higher level of knowledge and training than actual horticulturists!

- From yours truly, a complaint that America’s Master Gardener Jerry Baker is a known quack who’s made beaucoup bucks off that self-proclaimed title.  (Which I ranted about back in ’06.)

Better Name?

Garden writers seem to agree it’s time for renaming. “If they’d rename the program to something more honest, that made it clear that the level of education is meant for homeowners and not as a professional certification, I’d have fewer sore feelings about the program.”

“Horticultural Research Volunteer” was suggested as “something that allows the public to know that they are not BETTER THAN US.”

Taking Work from Garden Writers

Some complain of MG writing columns competing with paid (hopefully) garden writers.

And a related pocketbook complaint is that you can’t use your Master Gardener credential for commercial purposes.  “A pure interpretation of this means that you can’t put MG on your resume, on the cover of your book, on a byline or author bio for a magazine or newspaper article (for which you get paid), on your business card, and so on.”

Coming to their Defense

“We are not volunteer gardeners nor do we compete in any way with professional horticulturists or designers; we provide RESEARCH-BASED gardening information to the public. We are taught during our training that it isn’t necessary to have all the answers; it’s only necessary to know how to find them. ”

And several writers sang the praises for MG programs in their area.  (And I’m always happy to hear about MG programs that are nothing like the one in DC I’ve ranted about.)

 No Surprise: It Starts in Washington

Responding to a suggestion that the garden writer group rename the MG program, one writer answered that the name can only be changed at the national level (by the Department of Agriculture, presumably) and continued:  “I think the lack of consistency form place to place is one of the problems w/the program as a national institution.”  Others echoed this complaint about the lack of consistency across the country.

And we heard from Canadians about what the program can be:  “In Ontario, we’re required to take a horticulture certificate from one of two universities (three courses, usually taking two years of distance ed) and write a qualifying exam before being accepted into the program. Each year, we have a compulsory technical update, and monthly meetings, of which we must attend at least four, include one hour of education. Thirty hours of volunteer time annually (most do more; I did nearly double that last year) is essential to remain in the program. It’s a shame there’s so much anti-MG feeling.”

What do YOU think of Master Gardeners?  And can you suggest a better name?

Weigh in, and I’ll try to get a response from the USDA folks who have jurisdiction over the program, from the Extension Master Gardener bloggers and from the Garden Professors.

( Please, readers of this newsletter- if you want to comment go to the website.)