January 28, 2014, Kim’s Weekly Garden
Newsletter
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
 |
Denali Park, Alaska, northern lights- by Daniel Liefheit
|
Here we are again on another cold
day. The sun is shining but you don’t
want to be outside today. I read that
the weather patterns are starting to shift and that after the next couple days
we will slowly return to normal Michigan winter weather. When Alaska is warmer than Michigan you know
something isn’t right.
Most of you who contacted me after last week’s debut of a
new newsletter format said you liked it.
However a few of you couldn’t open the attachment. So this week there will be an attachment and
a link to my blog site. I am going to
put the whole newsletter complete with events on the blog site from now
on. Those of you who cannot open the
attachment should be able to go to the blog and there you will be able to see
pictures as well as all the other information.
Eventually I will probably just post on the blog site and email you a
link to the new blog each week.
I am going to be re-working my gardening blog to include
many of the articles posted on Examiner, on a wide variety of garden
subjects. You should be able to type in
a word in the search box and find the article right on the blog. This may take a few weeks.
Make sure to check your houseplants to see if they need
water during these really cold spells.
It seems counter-intuitive as houseplants usually need less water during
the winter. But when it’s really cold
the furnace runs more and the air gets very dry. Pots will lose water quickly. Also make sure the foliage of plants doesn’t
touch cold windows as this may damage leaves.
The birds have returned to my bird feeder in mass, and I
find I am filling the feeder more often than normal. My feeder is hanging quite high and I am not
seeing any tracks beneath it so I don’t think deer are eating the feed. But many people are telling me that deer are
emptying their feeders each night. Bird
feed is quite expensive so you may want to ration what you put out in the morning
so it is gone by nightfall.
If you feel sorry for the deer don’t feed them close to
your house. There will enough damage to
the landscape this spring without encouraging deer to hang out and eat your
plants. The deer in this area won’t be
harmed too much from this winter but without supplemental feeding they will
have fewer twins and triplets this spring which is a good thing. And rabbits will also eat the feed you put
out for deer and you do not want their populations to increase either.
So if you are seeing a lot of birds at the feeder you may
want to participate in:
The 2014 Backyard Bird Count
If you enjoy watching birds and like being a citizen
scientist you may want to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)
which takes place this year from February 14th – 17th. Go to this website http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html to get
directions and sign up. This is a world
wide effort with people around the world observing birds and reporting the
species they see on those days. It is
sponsored by Cornell University, Audubon and several nature societies. It’s free to participate in( although
donations are accepted) and you will
help researchers determine what bird species are declining, rising or moving to
new areas.
 |
| Cardinal |
Basically you need to count-observe birds for at least 15
minutes on one of the days. You can do
much more time than this if you like.
You can observe birds at a feeder from the warmth of your house or take
a bird walk. You’ll enter your counts on
a checklist and submit them to the site.
You’ll also plot the location you saw the birds on a map. You download the checklist and it’s easy to
follow the directions. You will need to
have a good bird guide if you are not familiar with many bird species. You can also look at this online bird guide
from Audubon at http://birds.audubon.org/birdid
On the GBBC site you can look at the compiled lists of
other birders and get a lot of interesting
information about birds as well as see some beautiful photos of
birds. In 2013 citizen scientist
submitted 134,935 checklists and counted 34,512,432 birds.
Black Super
Moon
When the moon reaches its closest proximity to the earth
during a full or new moon it is called a super moon. When the super moon is full and the skies are
clear the beautiful large full moon will enchant viewers. But when the closest proximity occurs when
the moon is new or dark it is really not a big deal. A small increase in the heights of the tides
occurs with a super moon but it is not something experts worry about.
It is worth noting that 2014 will include 5 super moons,
two of which occur this month. The first
was January 1 and the next is January 30th, Thursday. Both of these are black super moons , which
means if you are crazy enough to go outside in the cold and scan the skies
Thursday you will not see the moon. If
the skies are clear though you may see Mercury, which will be at its highest
and most easily seen point on January 31st, although it can be seen
from the 24th through February 4th.
Look for Mercury, (a bright star) in the west- southwest horizon about a half
hour after sunset. It will get brighter
as it gets darker but will disappear quickly.
And if you really want to see a super moon wait until July, August and
September- when there will be full super moons each month and much nicer
viewing weather.
Subnivean
lifestyle
The deep snow we have this year doesn’t seem to have any
advantages and other than insulating our favorite garden plants it probably
doesn’t help us humans much. But under
that insulating snow pack many animals, plants and tiny organisms are living
quite comfortably. This under snow
world is called a subnivean environment.
Under a deep layer of snow down near the ground the
temperature stays about 32 degrees which is much warmer than the surface
temperatures. After a snowfall the
warmth from the ground starts melting the snow, causing water vapor to rise and
form a crust on the snow’s surface and leaving a drier, light, crystalized area
of snow at the bottom.
In this fluffy layer protected from wind chill and swings
in temperature, mice, voles and pocket gophers happily tunnel. They tend to socialize more than they do
above the snow and form little sleeping colonies in comfy nests where the
temperature may rise to 50 degrees or more.
The concentration of carbon dioxide may rise under the
snowpack, which benefits the buried plants but could be harmful to
animals. But mice and voles make small
tunnels to the surface to release this gas and they avoid low spots where the
CO2 may concentrate.
Under the
snow the tiny animals find seeds, dormant insects and vegetation,( including
the stems of some of your garden plants), to eat and they are fairly well
protected from predators, although some predators can find them through the
snow. But shrews and weasels enter the
subnivean world also, following the tunnels the mice and voles make and
gobbling them up. They may choose to
make their own nests under the snow.
 |
Owls can find mice in the snow. Credit -Steve Jurvetson
|
Red Squirrels, those pesky small red
squirrels with white eye rings also utilize the subnivean world, making
tunnels
under the snow to look for buried nuts and vegetation. Some may also make nests there if there are
no suitable tree cavities to protect them. And when there is a good snow pack ruffled
grouse dive bomb from trees into the snow, and then tunnel into the snow
further, digging out a snow cave to sleep in.
In the Artic seals and polar bears also make snow caves.
Plants are also happy under the snow and some dim light
seeps through the snow, especially toward spring. Many seeds will start germinating, and moss
will grow. Plants like snowdrops develop their buds and begin stretching to the
light so they can bloom as soon as they can pop through a melting snowpack. If
grass and other vegetation was buried in snow before being exposed to really
cold weather it will stay green. Soil
microorganisms will remain active and there are certain microorganisms that
have evolved to live very well in the subnivean environment.
As deer and rabbits scavenge our landscapes and struggle
to survive a brutal winter with a deep snowpack, populations of mice and voles
may actually rise. Shrews and weasels fatten
up on them and produce more babies.
Hopefully the hard winter will result in fewer deer and rabbits being
born in the spring but the mouse, vole, shrew and weasel population may be
larger.
If you are a chionophile, or snow lover, you may go for a
winter walk on the rooftops of creatures buried below you without any
harm. Just don’t use a snowmobile on top
of their homes as this will compact the snow pack and destroy the subnivean
world.
There is some risk to the subnivean population as spring
nears. If a warm up occurs rapidly the
snow may melt too rapidly to be absorbed into the ground quickly or evaporate
into the atmosphere and a wet, even flooded environment will occur under the
snowpack. This will drown some animals
or give them hypothermia and may also drown plants and germinating seeds. So as much as we want the warm up to come
quickly there are many small creatures out there
hoping it doesn’t.
Woodland
Gardens
If you have property that has lots of mature trees you
may be considering a garden that features woodland plants. Woodland gardens are gardens where humans
manipulate the understory plants- the plants which tolerate conditions of shade
and competition from larger plants and fill in the space under them. You may be thinking of a wooded glen full of
native wildflowers or of a place to showcase hosta, heuchera and other shade
plants. There are many plants that will
grow in the shade of other plants but not every shade loving plant will grow in
any shaded area.
When you are considering developing a garden in a wooded
or shaded area there are several considerations. One is, of course, the light available for a
garden. There are very densely shaded
areas under trees that won’t be suitable for most types of understory
plants. The best areas for woodland
gardens are where there is filtered light, with a light tree canopy and
shifting patterns of sunlit spots. In
nature this occurs at the edges of woodlands and around areas where trees have
fallen or died. A path or road through
your woodlands may provide these conditions on either side of it.
The shade from deciduous trees (trees which lose their
leaves in the winter) is different from the shade under evergreen trees. Deciduous wooded areas offer the chance for
many understory plants to grow and bloom in the early spring to early summer
period, before the trees have heavy leaf coverage. Many native wildflowers fall into this
category and are called ephemeral flowers.
They grow and bloom early in the season then die back and go dormant
until the next spring. There are also a
few plants that bloom in autumn, after the leaves begin to fall.
In contrast when shade is from evergreen trees plants
have to adapt to a continuous level of low light. These areas can support good woodland gardens
if they are thinned and “limbed up” to allow some light to penetrate. This is generally easier to achieve under
pines, which tend to lose their lower branches as they grow anyway and still
maintain a pleasing look when lower limbs are removed. In contrast spruce and firs tend to look a
bit odd when lower limbs are pruned to allow more light to penetrate under
them.
Very densely planted stands of evergreens such as those
in windbreaks and abandoned Christmas tree farms will need a lot of thinning
and pruning, including the removal of whole trees, if you want to plant a
woodland garden under them. Some
deciduous stands of trees may also need thinning and pruning before a garden
under them is attempted. If you have
property like this and want to put in a woodland garden you may want to consult
with and or use the services of a registered arborist or forester. They can advise you how to correctly thin and
remove trees.
Competition for water and food
The area under trees often has drier
soil than other areas. While shade helps
keep moisture from
evaporating from soil as quickly as in a sunny area, the
trees that cause the shade also prevent some rain from ever hitting the ground
under them. And when rain does hit the
soil beneath the trees it is quickly soaked up by the trees roots. Moisture levels under trees can be a limiting
factor as to what plants will grow there.
Some areas turn out to be quite dry.
Areas under deciduous trees may have more moisture in the soil because
at times of the year rain and snow can reach the ground readily. |
| Lightly shaded area featuring astilbe. |
Tree roots also grab soil nutrients. Some trees have many surface roots that make
planting understory plants under them difficult. The soil characteristics such as soil fertility
and soil pH under trees can vary just as it does anywhere else but it is harder
to amend these things than in an area not under trees. It’s a good idea to get a soil test done
before beginning a woodland garden. Then
you may have a better idea of what plants will do well there.
Usually soil under wooded areas has a lot of organic
matter in it from rotting leaves and needles.
Most woodland plants really appreciate this. But in some cases the property owner has
removed leaves or needles every year and the soil is low in organic
matter. While some organic matter can be
worked into soil at planting time no more than 3 inches of soil or organic
matter such as compost or wood chips should be put over tree roots each year. Adding more may cause stress or death to the
trees.
Some tree roots may actually give off chemicals that interfere
with the growth of plants near them.
Black walnut trees and Tree of Heaven, (Ailanthus altissima), for example, stunt the growth or kill plants
growing near their roots. Other trees
which may have allopathic (suppressant ) factors include Sugar maple, Black
Locust, Eucalyptus, Sassafrass, Red oak, Black Cherry, and Sycamore. There are plants which will grow near these
species but your selection will be more limited.
If you are willing and able to use some irrigation and
supplemental feeding you can grow many species of woodland plants that might
not grow in your woodland area naturally.
If you want your woodland garden to be completely self-sustaining you’ll
have to carefully select plant species that suit your conditions.
Deciding
what to plant
After you have determined light, soil, moisture and
nutrient conditions of your woodland area you’ll need to decide just what type
of plants you want to grow- and can grow- in those conditions. You can choose to grow only plants native to
your area. You can use plants that are
native to your area with a few “wild flowers” from other places with similar
climates and conditions. You can use
only cultivated shade species such as heuchera, hosta and similar plants. Or you use in your woodland garden any kind
of plant that will grow well in your shade conditions, including annual plants
and tropical plants during the summer.
Make sure that you research the zone hardiness and specific
cultural requirements of plants that you select for your woodland garden just
as you would for other gardens. Some
woodland plants such as violets and sweet woodruff can spread quickly so keep
the invasive qualities in mind as you choose plants too. Some species of plants have varieties that
have different requirements for light.
Certain hosta varieties, for example, need more light than others to do
well, so pay attention to specific variety requirements.
 |
| Varied textures and colors are pleasing in a woodland garden |
Don’t just
count on flowers
In any garden
it’s important to plan on plants whose foliage, form or texture, are as
important as the flowers. In woodland
gardens it is even more important because most woodland plants only have a
short blooming period, which tends to be concentrated in the spring, and when
they do bloom the blooms may not be very conspicuous. Some woodland plants may disappear
altogether once summer arrives.
Plants with gold or white variegated
foliage, blue or red foliage can add color without flowers. Light colored foliage, especially in the
golden range, brightens dark areas and is very effective in small amounts. Don’t overdo such color spots though- it will
not look natural in a woodland setting.
Varying the texture; ferns, broad leaved hosta, Japanese Forest grass,
and form; ground covers, upright, arching spreading and so forth of plants is
also more pleasing than plants that are all of one size and shape.
If you
observe your wooded area carefully you may notice areas where “spotlights” of
sun fall at least part of the day. These
areas may support plants that more evenly shaded areas won’t. These areas are also great for a “focus
point” perhaps an exuberant basket of tuberose begonias or a cluster of
fuchsia. They are also good areas to locate a water feature in the shade garden
as the light is reflected off the water.
Below are some species of plants that
can grow in shade.
 |
| Spider plant spotlighted by sun. |
Bulbs and
small spring plants for woodland gardens
Crocus, snowdrops, wood hyacinth, cyclamen( spring
blooming), anemone, Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon species) Helleborus species,
Lily of the Valley, Blood root, Hepatica
species, Erythronium( Trout Lilies), Trilliums, Arisaema species( Jack in The
Pulpit), Corydalis, Arum, primula, violas and violets, Bleeding hearts,
Epimedium, Tiarella, Uvularia, Chionodoxa ,Hyacinthoides( English Bluebells),
Scilla, Eranthis, Fritillaria
Summer and
fall blooming
Astilbe, Aralia, Aconitum, Kirengeshoma, cyclamen ( fall blooming),
Trycyrtis (Toad Lilies), Cranesbill geraniums, Hypericum, Siberian Iris,
Lobelia( some) Polemonium (Jacobs Ladder),
Cypripedium ( Lady Slipper orchids), Autumn Crocus.
Ground
covers
Sweet Woodruff, Bunchberry, Pachysandra, Ajuga, Lamium,
Chrysogonum, Liriope, Phlox stolonifera, Phlox divaricate, Asarum ( Wild
Ginger),
Foliage (some also bloom)
Hosta, heuchera, heucherella, Brunnera, Aruncus,
Cimicifuga(Snakeroot), Mukdenia, Rodgersia, Ferns (various), Hakonechloa
(Japanese Forest Grass), Solomon’s Seal, Pulmonaria, Goldenseal, Paris
Polyphylla, May Apple
Larger
plants for wooded areas
Japanese Maples, rhododendrons, azaleas, Calycanthus,
Dogwoods( some) Clethra, Fothergilla, Daphne, Itea, Hydrangea (some),
Schizophragma (vine) Viburnum,( some)
Your woodland garden will probably evolve a bit through
the years as you discover what species do well and where you need more color,
form or interest. Being open to adding
non-native plants or supplementing with annuals and tropical plants will often
provide the most pleasing and interesting woodland garden. Many woodland native plants are now available
through garden stores. New shade plants are being discovered and new varieties being
developed from older ones each year. You
can have a soothing, pretty garden even under trees.
Stay warm and do some desk gardening!
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
More Information
How cold
is too cold for Michigan fruit crops?
Extremely cold temperatures in January have
the potential to damage Michigan fruit crops during winter dormancy. Peaches,
blueberries and wine grapes are the most cold tender.
Posted on January
21, 2014 by Mark Longstroth, Michigan State
University Extension
It is not
unusual to have plants damaged by winter cold. Winter injury normally occurs
from three possible causes.
It got too
cold early, before the plants were sufficiently hardened to handle the cold.
It got cold
late in the winter after growth began and plants had lost the ability to
acclimate to increasing cold.
Severe
winter cold – these events are usually the result of a mid-winter warming event
followed by severe cold.
Most of the
perennial plants grown in Michigan can easily handle a Michigan winter. When
the days began to shorten in August and September, the plants began preparing
for winter. As we got the first frosts of the winter, these plants got their
second cue that winter was coming (see the Michigan State University Extension
article, “Fall color show and winter dormancy in woody plants”). In the winter
many, plants enter a form of dormancy called endo-dormancy, meaning that
something inside the plant inhibits its growth. The plant monitors the time the
temperatures are above freezing to monitor the passage of the winter.
Most
Michigan plants need about 1,000 hours of chilling. The best temperatures are
those between 35 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Once chilling is complete, the
plant can grow when warm temperatures return. This chilling requirement
prevents the plant from growing during winter warm spells (see the MSU
Extension article “Winter dormancy and chilling in woody plants”).
During
dormancy we often talk about cold hardiness. Cold hardiness is the plant’s
ability to withstand subfreezing temperatures. The plant does this by
controlling when and where the water freezes in the plant. I think of a plant
cell as a soggy cardboard box with a balloon inside. The wet cardboard box is
the cell wall made of cellulose that gives the cell and the plant its shape.
The balloon inside the box is the living cell. The constituents in the cell
changed during the fall and early winter to lower the freezing point. Increased
sugars and salts in the cell solution lower the freezing point. Proteins and
membranes are changed to withstand colder temperatures.
As the
temperature falls below freezing, water begins to freeze between the cells. As
the temperature continues to fall, more and more water will migrate outside the
cell and freeze. This ice outside the cell causes no harm and as temperatures
continue to fall, more water moves outside the cell and freezes. This
concentrates the solution inside the cell and lowers the freezing point even
more. If the cell freezes, it will be killed. If enough cells freeze, we will
see damage in the plant as growth begins in the spring or collapse of the plant
in the summer when it is stressed.
When the
plants are dormant in the winter, they gain and lose cold hardiness depending
on the weather. If the temperatures are below freezing, plants can actually
acclimate to the cold and gain cold hardiness (see the MSU Extension article
“Winter cold hardiness in Michigan fruit crops”). My rule of thumb is that most
of our fruit crops can handle 0 F during the winter as their minimal cold
hardiness. With colder temperatures I expect our plants to handle more cold.
Our cold tender plants such as peaches, blueberries and wine grapes can
withstand temperatures down to -10 F before we see injury to the fruit buds and
the stems can handle temperature down to -25 F in peaches.
There is a
lot of variation between grape varieties. Many of the European wine grapes
suffer injury as the temperatures fall to zero and below -10 F, but the
hardiest grapes can withstand -30 F. This -10 F threshold is only for cold
tender – a relative term – plants such as peaches, wine grapes and blueberries.
More cold
hardy are cherries and European plums that can withstand -20 to -25 F. Apples
and pears should be able to go to -25 F with little damage and I would expect
damage when temperature fell below -30 to -35 F.
If the high
or low temperatures drop more than 50 F, I worry, 70 F I really worry. This
means we had a lot of free water in the plant, or as the growers would say the
sap is up. All this water can freeze quickly and this prevents the orderly
controlled freezing, which allows the plant to withstand real cold
temperatures. These temperatures are for healthy plants that are acclimated to
the cold.
If the
weather has been cold – below freezing – for several days, I don’t worry unless
the temperatures drop to -10 F, then I start to worry about peaches,
blueberries and wine grapes. If the temperature has been above freezing recently,
the plants have lost cold hardiness. The plants will have lost all their
acclimation to cold weather and will be back to the 0 F damage threshold.
There is
actually a fourth cause of winter injury and that is when the plants were
weakened going into the winter. It takes a lot of metabolic energy to change
the constituents of the cell to get ready for winter. Plants that have been
stressed by insect or disease pests, heavy crops or poor growing conditions
such as drought do not have the ability to harden off to withstand cold levels
as low as healthy plants. Work done by MSU’s Stan Howell here in Michigan over
40 years ago indicated that weak plants were slower to develop cold hardiness,
did not acclimate to as low a level as healthy plants and developed later in
the spring. This means that stressed plants will be much more susceptible to
winter cold injury than healthy plants in the fall and winter.
2013 was a
stressful year for many Michigan fruit crops. After the disastrous spring of
2012, most fruit crops had little if any crop in 2012 (see the MSU Extension
article “With a backward spring, Mother Nature pitches a change-up after a
fastball”). These rested trees, vines and bushes entered 2013 with a lot of
vigor and many fruit buds. Many Michigan fruits had bumper crops in 2013.
Plants that were stressed by heavy crops in 2013 along with drought or other
problems will be much more likely to suffer from the cold in January 2014.
There is no
quick way to assess winter injury during the depths of winter. You need to
collect shoots and carefully dissect the buds and look for damage. Later in the
year after the plant’s chilling requirements have been met, you can collect
shoots and force them looking for injured buds. See the MSU Extension article
“Forcing cuttings to determine the end of dormancy in fruits and other plants.”
This article
was published by Michigan State University Extension.
Events, classes and other offerings
Please let
me know if there is any event or class that you would like to share with other
gardeners. These events are primarily in
Michigan but if you are a reader from outside of Michigan and want to post an
event I’ll be glad to do it.
Master Gardeners if you belong to an
association that approves your hours please check with that association before
assuming a class or work day will count as credit.
Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or
share? Post them here by emailing me at kimwillis151@gmail.com
New- 2014
Know and Grow Seminar-
Saturday, February 22nd, 2014 - 8:15AM, Bullock Creek High School Auditorium,
1420 Badour Rd. Midland, MI 48640. Early registration fee: $60.00, After February 7th, 2014 $75.00
This
seminar is hosted by the Midland Master Gardener Association. It includes
speakers Rick Darke “Balancing Natives and Exotics in the Garden”, Dan Heims “Garden
Gems”, and Janet Macunovich “Pluses and Minuses of Gardening in Zone 5” .
There is a garden marketplace and lunch is included in the cost.
Get a
registration flyer and more info at http://media.wix.com/ugd/a6644a_813a73b611d74331a99e3e7512baa553.pdf
To REGISTER
BY PHONE call Dow Gardens at 631-2677 or
1-800-362-4874. Please have your credit card information ready.
New- Getting
Started with Selling at Farmers Markets Webinar- February 19, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Cost $10.00
This
two-hour Adobe Connect webinar is part of the ongoing “2014 Beginning Farmer
Webinar Series.” MSU Extension educator Julia Darnton will present information
for those interested in selling their product successfully at a farmers market.
Topics covered will include: choosing farmers markets at which to sell,
negotiating the rules and regulations of a market, market governance, creating
a connection with customers, setting up a stall as well as resources for
practical tips on tents, tables, displays, and cash handling. Questions and
discussion will take place through the webinar ‘chat’ function. Supporting
written materials will be available for download during and after the
webinar. A recording of the webinar will
be made available to registered participants.
Visit the
Getting Started with Selling at Farmers Markets registration page http://events.anr.msu.edu/event.cfm?folder=GettingStartedFarmersMarket
for more information. Or you can contact Julia
Darnton: darntonj@anr.msu.edu or 989-758-2507
Establishing A Rain Garden – Matthaei Botanical Gardens,
1800 N. Dixboro Rd. Ann Arbor,
MI 48105 Feb.12, 2014, 6:45 pm to 8:30
pm
Susan
Bryan, Rain Garden Coordinator for the Washtenaw County Water Resources
Commissioner's Office, discusses the benefits of rain gardens for the home
garden and how they help our rivers and streams. Program also includes how to
build and plant one at home using readily available tools. Presented by Wild
Ones Ann Arbor. Free. Call 734-647-7600 for more information.
Third Annual Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Academy - Feb. 18-19, 2014, at the Okemos
Conference Center in Okemos, Mich., located just outside of East Lansing,
Michigan
The 2014 IPM Academy is
a two-day workshop packed full of information to help you improve your IPM
practices and take advantage of all the great resources MSU has to
offer. The presenters at this program include a number of MSU’s best and
brightest research
and Extension faculty, offering a rare opportunity to hear from experts working
in a variety of disciplines and cropping systems at a single event.
The first day of the program will cover fundamental topics, including
IPM strategies for disease and insect control; promoting and protecting
pollinators; alternative weed control strategies; pesticide basics; the impacts
of weather on pesticides; invasive pests; and IPM resources from MSU. On the second
day of the workshop, participants opt into two, half-day sessions focused on
the topic of their choice.
The cost of this event is $225. Please note that snacks, lunch and
parking are included. Participants also receive a notebook with program
material and a complimentary IPM-related MSU bulletin. Michigan pesticide
recertification credits and Master Gardener credits will be available.
Plants of Distinction- February 3,
2014, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Grand
Rapids Crowne Plaza, 4747 28th Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
New plants
are the life-blood of the landscape and gardening economy. Plant research and global exploration
influence the number and types of plants available. However, we all know that
“new” is not always “best” for our landscapes. With consumers turning their
attention to sustainability and green practices, the question arises “how much
maintenance do these plants require?”
MSU Extension has developed a portfolio of renowned plant experts to
present this annual seminar. Speakers will enrich your knowledge of widely
sought-after plant material while remembering the foundational messages of
“right plant right place.” Cost is
$80.00.
Contact
Rebecca Finneran, finneran@msu.edu, 616-336-3265 Register online and see
speaker info http://events.anr.msu.edu/event.cfm?folder=plantsofdistinction2014
Newsletter information
If you would like to pass along a notice about an
educational event or a volunteer opportunity please send me an email before
Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also if you have a comment or opinion
you’d like to share, send it to me. Please state that you want to have the item
published in my weekly notes. You must give your full name and what you say
must be polite and not attack any individual. I am very open to ideas and
opinions that don’t match mine but I do reserve the right to publish what I want.
Once again the opinions in this newsletter are mine and I
do not represent any organization or business. I do not make any income from
this newsletter. I write this because I love to share with other gardeners some
of the things I come across in my research each week. It keeps me engaged with
local people and horticulture. It’s a hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If
at any time you don’t wish to receive these emails just let me know. If you
know anyone who would like to receive these emails have them send their email
address to me. KimWillis151@gmail.com
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