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LOOSELEAF

A publication of the University of Maryland Extension

Howard County Master Gardeners.

3300 NORTH RIDGE ROAD, SUITE 240 ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21043

(410)313-2707 FAX (410)313-2712

http://www.extension.umd.edu/mg/locations/howard-county-master-gardener September 2017

INSIDE — 2 Continuing Education

3 Latin For Gardeners

5 Grow It Eat It News

5 Mark Your Calendar

6 Conservation Stewardship

6 Master Gardener Day @ Miller

6 Local Plant Sale

7 Love Your Containers

7 Howard County Conservancy

8 Unexpected July Visitors

What a record! Six hundred and fifteen people, including 22 children, received information from 31 MGs at the Howard County Fair! A note of appreciation goes to all who staffed the exhibit. Special thanks to the exhibit creators: Susan Bishop, Elaine Kielman and Carol Spencer. The display depicted a wide variety of topics and activities, like pollinators, invasives and other valuable information. Attendees also had an opportunity to view some great plants secured from the Whipps Garden Cemetery Plant Sale. This year’s display was undoubtedly the UME Howard County MG "face.”

More evidence of MGs at work, from the Kingsgate community: "The presence of the Master Gardeners (Linda Decker, Caroline Feil and Sylvia Huestis), their special handouts, and very helpful tri-fold display added a great deal to our event. Their willingness to answer questions and the brief impromptu presentation provided valuable information to all the residents gathered there. It is clear that the knowledge and enthusiasm of the MGs are a tremendous resource for our entire county and we are very grateful to all of you for sharing your knowledge with our community."

Now it's time for you, the MGs, to have some enjoyment! Please join us on Tuesday, September 12, for a tour of the Howard County Conservancy followed by a catered lunch and reports from our MG Coordinators (our annual meeting and luncheon). Tour begins at 9:30 am. Georgia

Georgia Eacker MG Coordinator WSA Liaison

Program Update from Georgia —

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2017 Continuing Education Speaker Series

MGs, Watershed Stewards, Master Naturalists and their guests are welcome to attend.

All sessions will be held at the UME office, except for the field trip on September 12.

Check the MG electronic calendar for updates.

For questions, contact: Karin DeLaitsch kdlaitsch@gmail.com; or, Joanna Cumbie rladywalking@msn.com

We will be holding the MG annual meeting/luncheon at the Howard County Conservancy immediately following the tour of the Conservancy’s gardens on Tuesday, September 12th. This is an opportunity for MG program coordinators to re-port on accomplishments and plans for the upcoming year. The event includes a catered lunch. MGs are asked to bring desserts (which is a real treat). Luncheon sign-up for headcount is https://www.eventbrite.com/e/howard-county-master-gardeners-annual-luncheon-2017-tickets-37162188105. Please join us for this social event. If you cannot participate in the Conservancy garden tours please plan to arrive around 11:30 am. In the event of rain, we will postpone the tour but still have the annual meeting/luncheon.

SEPTEMBER 12

9:30 - 11:00 am

Field Trip to Howard County

Conservancy Gardens

Explore the Honors Garden, Master Gar-deners Demonstration Garden, and sur-rounding trails and natural spaces.

OCTOBER 10

9:30 - 11:00 am

Diagnostics for Annuals and

Perennials

Stanton Gill, Principal Agent, Central MD Research and Edu-cation Center

Learn the diagnostic skills in recognizing the good and bad insects that visit herba-ceous plants and the least toxic control measures for the problematic insects.

November 14

9:30 - 11:00 am

More Than a Pretty Gar-den, Using Citizen Sci-ence to Guide Your Gar-dening Practices

Ann Coren, MG

There are dozens of Citizen Science pro-jects begging for your data. How can you use the data you collect to improve your garden, as well as benefit science. We will discuss programs such as Project Bud Burst, Project Feeder Watch, Monarch Watch, and Million Pollinator Gardens, among others.

Can you identify this lovely flower photographed on August 12? (Hint: this was not taken on a tropical isle).

See p. 8 for the answer.

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Latin for Gardeners

September’s Native Maryland Plant

Campanulastrum americanum L. (kum-PAN-you-luh-strum uh-mair-ih-KAY-num)

Common Name: American or tall bellflower

My birthday is this month, and the birthstone in September is sapphire which can be many colors but is usually associated with blue, very close to the color of Campanulastrum americanum – my new favorite plant. When it’s your birthday you often do a bit of reflection on where you’ve been and how things are going: Health okay? Keeping your mind busy? Spending quality time with family and friends?

In mid-April, I visited my good friend Judy Fulton at her home. Judy was kind enough to give me some Lindera benzoin (spicebush) saplings for my community. As I was leaving her house and walking to my truck she said, “Wait a minute Alison”, she nonchalantly reached down and gently pulled a 4” plant from the ground and hand-ed it to me. “This is one of my favorite’s”, she said, “I think you’ll like it too.” I thought to myself “that’s nice Ju-dy”, but for those of you who know Judy Fulton you know she loves native plants - seemingly all native plants - so she could have just handed me a Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan). I went home and busied myself planting the saplings, I almost forgot about this mystery plant; it wasn’t until early May that I made a home for it in my garden.

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Getting back to sapphire: sapphire is formed from the mineral corundum, normally drab and grey - also the second hardest mineral after diamond. This little 4” plant Judy handed me, seemed kind of like corundum to me (even a co-nundrum) – not much to look at, at least not in April. Like corundum, however, this plant turns out to be a sapphire in the garden – a real stunner - when it’s in its gem form; (in June-August, maybe even September if I’m lucky). The light blue, star-shaped flowers appear in clusters or solitary in the axils of the upper lance-shaped leaves. And oh, just look at that style with its three-lobed stigma!

Campanulastrum americanum is a biennial (blooms in its second year then dies), but will easily remain in a garden by self-seeding. I’ve already weeded around my specimen hoping it reseeds aplenty so I can enjoy its beauty for many years to come.

As my birthday nears, I know I have a multitude of people and things to be grateful for; Campanulastrum american-um and Judy Fulton are both high on that list.

Genus campana comes from Latin and means “bell” in reference to the bell-shaped flowers. Species means from America, North or South. NOTE: This plant was previously known as Campanula americana L. but was reassigned to its own genus because of the unique structure of the flowers.

~ Alison Milligan – MG 2013

ali_milligan@yahoo.com

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Grow It Eat It News

View the MG electronic calendar in your preferred format: Month, Week or Agenda. Click here for the calendar. You’ll find times, locations, and contact info for events. Please note: There are multiple dates for AAMG. Enchanted Garden work every Tues & Wed plus alternating Fri and Saturdays. Whipps Garden work every Thursday. Conservancy garden every Friday.

September 11 Bay-wise meeting

12 Continuing Ed, MG lunch

20 LooseLeaf deadline

26 Conservation Stewardship

Mark Your Calendar

In August I made one visit to a community gardener’s plot in West Side Community Garden with Patricia Hooker. The gardener was perplexed because his tomatoes were growing poorly in a bed where they had flourished the year before. Here’s a brief synopsis of the facts:

The gardener had purchased a load of untested compost/soil mixture from a local supplier and dumped it into a 12-inch raised bed. Some tomatoes in the bed had died while others looked anemic. A zucchini growing in the same bed looked healthy and was producing fruit. My first comment to the gardener was, “Why buy an untested, manufactured soil when tested compost is available at the Alpha Ridge landfill?” The county keeps a list of haulers or you can rent a pickup truck for a reasonable rate at one of the car rental agencies.

I was perplexed by the fact that at one end of the bed a healthy zucchini grew, while at the other end of the bed the tomatoes were small. Out of curiosity, I dug several inches into the soil, grabbed a handful and squeezed highly-saturated soil. I dropped the soil ball and it didn’t break. My conclusion was that the soil was waterlogged and the tomatoes were suffering as a result. I talked the gardener into doing a soil test. If the soil test came back with no uncorrectable problems, the recently purchased soil should be incorporated with his in-situate soil. This should help the drainage by breaking the boundary between the newly purchased soil and the in-place soil.

Two GIEI classes will be held in September:

Sept. 14 at 7 pm (Central Library): “Putting the Vegetable Garden to Bed for the Winter”

Sept. 18, at 7 pm at (Glenwood Library): “Winterizing Your Vegetable Garden”

These classes are similar, with the exception that class at Glenwood will discuss season extension us-ing cold frames, low tunnels and other season extending techniques.

There is still time to plant some fall greens and late root crops. Check GIEI publication GE 007 for time frames to plant various fall vegetables. The secret to planting fall crops is to know your first frost/freeze date, which is available on the GIEI website.

I will be stepping down as the GIEI chairperson as of January 1, 2018. While I will continue to make some presentations during 2018 and occasionally visit the local community gardens, it’s time to inject some new blood and ideas into the GIEI hierarchy. If you are interested in assuming the role of GIEI chairperson or co-chair, please contact Georgia. Many thanks to all the volunteers who have helped me with GIEI events and presentations over the last eight years, and a special thanks to Jerry Kissel, who started the GIEI team with me in 2009.

Kent Phillips, MG2009, kent.a.phillips@gmail.com

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Tuesday, September 26, Southwind Circle Trailhead

Autumn Olive Extermination— Autumn Olive shrubs are an

unwelcome remnant of the game farm that once existed in this area. It is a relentless invader that we have used a varie-ty of control methods on over the course of several years. Thankfully, we are making great headway in an area that we will expand upon this morning. We will clear away more ol-ives to make room for park staff to return and perform herbi-cide treatments to prevent new growth. A small number of Japanese barberry shrubs will also be dug up and discarded. Wear long pants; gloves and tools provided.

We start at 9:00 am at the South Wind Circle trailhead. Take Route 29 to Route 108 west toward Clarksville, or Route 32 to Route 108 east. Turn onto Trotter Road, go about one mile to South Wind Circle. Enter the circle and pro-ceed to trailhead on left, opposite Misty Top Path.

— Clare Openshaw, MG2012, helloclare@comcast.net

CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP AT THE MPEA

The third annual MG Day in The Enchanted Garden at the Miller Branch of the HC Library System was a success. A success in terms of MGs and Interns who volunteered, and a suc-cess in terms of the 50+ Howard County resi-dents who visited the garden with their ques-tions and inquiries about plants, vegetables and backyard composting. The date was moved to July this year. In the past, the event was held earlier in the growing season. The later date allowed the garden to shine as a demonstration garden.

Questions ranged from “how do I get started with gardening” to “why aren’t my cucumbers producing.” Because we had so many MGs on hand, we had lots of expertise to draw from for answers! Thank you to everyone who shared their morning and their gardening knowledge.

Janine Grossman, Class of 2012, janinegrossman@gmail.com

Master Gardener Day @ Miller

Elkhorn Community Gardens 40th Anniver-sary Picnic and Plant Sale

September 16, 12:00PM

Come visit the Elkhorn Community gardens and help celebrate their 40th anniversary in Columbia! The gardeners there are working hard to establish a Monarch Way Station be-fore the anniversary celebration. Master Gar-deners are encouraged to come share their knowledge about gardening. This picnic event also includes the other two Columbia community gardens. Elkhorn is located on Oakland Mills Road under the power lines. Or you can go to the Columbia Gardener's website: http://www.columbiagardens.com .

Any questions about the above call Sue Aldape, MG 2013, at (410) 570-9319

Plant Sale and More

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Love Your Containers Through Summers End

Now that the cooler weath-er of Fall is approaching we will go back to meeting eve-ry Friday morning, 9:00 am to 11:00 am, through to the end of the growing season.

This month Paul finished reconstructing the salad table in our garden and our bean, beets and turnips are flourishing in it. We contin-ue to compete with the crit-ters for produce and have

Howard County Conservancy at Mt. Pleasant

They call it "Second Season" in Ocean City, meaning that summertime heat and humidity doesn't stop on September 1. Labor Day may mean an end to summer vacation but it does not signify that summer is over, the proof being continued doses of heat and humidity before fall finally arrives.

This cusp period is a good time to refresh your potted plants. The fresh soil you lavished on your containers a few short months ago has lost significant nutrient value, especially for flowering plants. Just stirring the top few inches of soil in your containers with a garden fork, trowel or even your fingers and adding some fresh potting mix will go a long way toward maintaining the health of your potted plants.

Frequent watering can lower soil levels, so top off your containers and make sure there is no crusty layer of soil that encourages the water to run off the center and straight through the holes in the bottom. If you notice this is happening, you might need to do more than just scratch the top few inches of soil. Check the roots to see if the plant has become pot bound by looking for roots cir-cling the bottom of the container. Break these roots apart and add fresh soil to the bottom of the container as well as to the top.

Refreshing your potted plants is neither hard nor heavy work. Make it easy on yourself. Don't lug the whole bag of potting mix to your containers. Wear gloves, use a trowel and fill a small plastic bucket with the potting mix of your choice to take to your plants. In return, they will be sure to show their love with attractive blooms.

Bettye Phifer Ames, MG Class of 2007, bettyeames101@gmail.com

developed several new methods toward protecting our crops. In spite of the local wildlife, we have taken 329 pounds of produce to the Food Bank so far.

Everyone is invited to come see our improvements, successes and continuing problems on Septem-ber 12. Georgia has a meeting and lunch planned for us after the tour.

Jo Ann Russo, MG1997, jrusso1104@comcast.net

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While dead-heading plants this summer I noticed my Asclepias syriaca needed to be cut back because only stems remained. As I leaned in for the big cut I was startled by these fuzzy caterpillars....black, or-ange, and white. Obviously not future monarchs, but I was hopeful of another lovely butterfly. HGIC re-sponded to my photo with an ID: milkweed tussock caterpillars.

Milkweed tussock caterpillars mature into gray mud moths. So much for my excitement about a butterfly. According to HGIC these arrive late in the milkweed growing cycle and defoliate the plant quickly. That was evident as they lined the supporting frame and seemed to multiple in front of my eyes. Solution? Soapy water. Which I didn’t need to apply since the caterpillars seemed to disappear overnight.

Later, I noticed a volunteer milkweed plant growing else-where, with holes starting on some leaves. Sure enough, I discovered three milkweed tussock caterpillars busy con-suming their dinner. Too bad for them, though: no dessert, they were soon doing the dead man's float.

An internet search took me to the Michigan University web-site with a more detailed description and photos of the lar-vae development. It's worth a look.

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/milkweed_tussock_moth_larvae_feed_on_common_milkweed

Rosemary Noble

Class of 2007

roronoble@me.com

Unexpected July Visitors

Answer: This beautiful artichoke, started from seed by Barbara White, is one of the vegetables growing at the Miller Library Enchanted Garden.

Rosemary Noble

Class of 2007

roronoble@me.com