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April 28, 2007
Gardening Information and the Internet
Master Gardener Column 4/28/07
One of the tasks that I ask of Master Gardener volunteers is to answer calls from the Master Gardener hotline. We learn plenty about gardening in the Master Gardener class but we can’t cover every possible gardening problem. To answer these calls, Master Gardeners rely on their class notes and handouts, and the Arizona Master Gardener Manual. But when they get stumped, I direct them to Cooperative Extension Web sites for reliable information.
The internet has become a valuable reference tool for anyone wanting gardening answers. Unfortunately, some of the information that you find on the Web may be of a questionable nature. For information that you can trust, the best places to go are Cooperative Extension Web sites. Extension publications are unbiased and based on solid scientific research, and are usually easy to access and understand.
For Northern Arizona gardeners, the place to start is the University of Arizona Web site (ag.arizona.edu/extension/horticulture.) This extension site offers information on gardening and landscaping topics for Arizona. Though much of the information focuses on lower elevations, several pages are helpful to high elevation gardeners such as the Flora and Fauna Image Gallery with pictures of natives and naturalized plants, the Plant Disease Web site for information and pictures of plant diseases, the Arizona Master Gardener manual, and the Southwest Gardening Information site which is a portal to a large number of other Web sites.
You can also link to the Arizona Meteorological Network (cals.arizona.edu/azmet/) which includes data from a weather station right here in Flagstaff. This site not only provides weather data but also a lawn watering guide based on precipitation for Flagstaff.
I regularly use articles from Colorado State University Extension (www.ext.colostate.edu/) to answer gardening questions. I like this site because almost all of the information can be applied to our high elevation gardening conditions. They have excellent fact sheets on Xeriscape, basic gardening techniques, irrigation, insects, and ornamentals. Lacking a search engine, it can be a challenge to find the right publication until you become familiar with the site
Another great site within Colorado extension is Plant Talk (www.ext.colostate.edu/ptlk/) which provides short, reliable, and timely information on more than 400 horticultural topics. Click on Wildlife Issues and you’ll hit upon the publication ‘Preventing Woodpecker Damage,’ a common problem for many Northern Arizona gardeners.
After the Colorado site, I often go to New Mexico State University’s Yard and Garden Web site (www.cahe.nmsu.edu/ces/yard/) for answers. Click on ‘How-to Publications’ and you’ll find dozens of useful articles on horticulture as well as agronomy wildlife, and water. You can search this site making it easy to find a particular article.
For specific garden pest information I use the University of California Integrated Pest Management Web site (axp.ipm.ucdavis.edu/) because it promotes the use of integrated, ecologically sound pest management programs and has ample information on how to manage and identify insects, diseases, nematodes, and weeds. It also has detailed information on pesticide safety.
Utah State University Extension (extension.usu.edu/htm/publications) also has excellent publications many of which apply to our gardening conditions. A neat site from their offices is Garden Utah! (gardenutah.org) which has easy to understand seasonal information that is based on their fact sheets.
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html) provides a clickable map so that you can access every extension Web site in the United States.
Now you can try to find answers to many gardening questions. But if you get stumped, you can always call the Master Gardener hotline.
You can access all of these sites from the Coconino County Extension horticultural Web site (ag.arizona.edu/coconino/horticulture/index.html.) Just click on Links.
By Hattie Braun
The author is a Master Gardener program coordinator for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at 774-1868 ext. 19 or visit our Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.
Posted by maxmaddy at 7:51 PM
April 26, 2007
Olivia White Garden Project Update/Scheduled Workday 5/3
On April 26th we had a large crew in the garden and much was accomplished. Laura Davis and Judy Chen worked on the Tea Garden. Over the winter, mint had taken over the garden and it was removed and put back in large buried pots to avoid spreading. David Hockman repaired benches, leveled our birdbaths, and weeded a large area near the new screen. He and Alan Katte reworked tree water wells and leveled the sheep troughs. Alan is working on a way to help keep benches from turning over in the wind and repairing 2 signs in the front garden. Leslie Penick, Evelyn Haven, Cynthia Katte, Paula Andress and I weeded. Paula also found time to deep water our roses garden between weeding. Nancy Palmer and Marcia Lamkin did planning for the Faerie Garden.
Thank-yous this week to:
Our regular crew - Nancy Palmer, Laura Davis, Cynthia Katte, David Hockman, Marcia Lamkin and Leslie Penick
New master gardeners who joined us: Judy Chen and Evelyn Haven
Paula Andress
Alan Katte
Plans for 5/3/07
Get fountain up and running
Plant Rose of Sharon
Move some of the larkspur in rose garden to other parts of garden (sheep trough, etc)
Finish tree well repair at North end of garden
Continue work on Tea Garden
Finish painting the greenhouse
Re-sand path from parking lot to rose garden
As always - weeding
Watering? depends on current weather
Upcoming Plans
May 1/9am-12pm - Garden workday with Coconino High School students.
Cynthia Davis supervising - contact her at 527-7548 if you would like to help.
May 1 - First showing of original watercolors at the East Side Public Library
Paintings to be raffled/auctioned on August 18th at our Garden Tea.
June 1 - Paintings on display for the month at the Arboretum at Flagstaff
July 1 - Paintings on display at the Artists Gallery for the month
August 18 - Garden Tea - Auction/Raffle at Olivia White Hospice Garden
Details to be added later
Fundraising
We do have note cards (prints of the paintings of the garden) and raffle tickets for 2 of the paintings available for sale at the Northland Hospice Office, the Olivia White Hospice Home, and Hodge Podge. The cards come in a package of 4 for $10. The raffle tickets for original watercolors by Mary Swanson and Lynn Overend are $3 each or 6 for $15. The paintings by Roberta Rogers and Catherine Sickafoose will be auctioned at our tea in August.
We still have photo note cards and bookmarks with flowers from the garden available at the Northland Hospice office.
Profits from all items are used for creating our beautiful garden.
"More things grow in the garden than the gardener sows."
Spanish Proverb
Come join us next week or drop by and purchase some cards to benefit the garden. I will be at the National Master Gardener Conference in Little Rock for the next two weeks. Posting will resume when I return.
Thanks, Loni
Posted by maxmaddy at 4:48 PM
April 19, 2007
Fresh Local Sustainable Foods Directory
The Center for Sustainable Environments is proud to present the fourth edition of a sustainable foods directory for Canyon Country, otherwise known as the Colorado Plateau or Four Corners region. You can access the online version of the CSE local foods directory can now be found at CSE Local Foods Directory.
For more information, contact Ben Williams, Center for Sustainable Environments, 928-523-0672 or bnw7@nau.edu.
Posted by hbraun at 11:39 AM
I Knew I Was Old
Master Gardener Column 4/21/07
I knew I was old when one of my sons asked me about the merits of joining AARP. At my 80th family birthday party my other son said, “Gee, Dad, you’re as old as dirt.” Meine Überfrau thought that his remark was offensive, but she doesn’t understand male humor, not knowing that his remark was a sign of admiration and affection. As a matter of fact, I’ve always liked dirt and as a toddler ate it garnished with worms.
However, I feel more like compost which is old stuff disintegrating into new life. A rich, fertile mix of my life’s memoried debris, such as, a counter-intelligence Sgt/Maj, field hand, ditch digger, college, numerous and varied graduate schools, private investigator, parish minister, college teacher, newspaper columnist, author, jail bird, psychotherapist, clinical hypnotherapist, occasional radical, sometime conservative, triple-bypass, “regular old coot,” and gardener, compost seems a better fit than dirt. I still like dirt and worms, just not gastronomically.
Having lived as an adult for two generations, been brushed by death four times, and abided with people as they’ve died, I’ve learned to cut out the crap. Not much matters, but what remains does. My Occam’s Razor has resulted doing justice, loving mercy, and walking in faith with God. Gardening is just such a walk. While not an old man’s avocation, gardening is salutary for old people (no “senior citizen” nonsense) because it keeps up the exercise and provides life-extending nourishment.
The walk of faith begins with onions, especially the cultivar ‘Hybrid Candy’ (Allium cepa). Onions extend the notoriously short growing season in Flagstaff by at least three months. Hardy down to 20° F., onion sets can be planted in March just as daffodils begin to peek from their winter slumbers. Stored, they can be eaten throughout the winter. Besides tasting great, onions are good for what-ails-you, as in heart disease and cancer. An onion a day keeps the doctor away. I have planted 450 onion sets just to be sure.
The next horticultural glory is the beloved globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus), a thistle of beauty and taste, unlike the notoriously prickly Scotch thistle. Not native to the Colorado Plateau, the globe artichoke can be grown here if the same devotion is used as that required for an equally beloved vegetable, the tomato. If left to flower, the globe artichoke is a delight to the eye with a purple flower of extraordinarily beautiful intensity. If eaten, it is a delight to the palate as well as a tonic for the spirit.
Next on the walk to glory is the Siberian tomato ‘Galina’ (Lycopersicon lycopersicum), a golden cherry tomato of a deliciously complex taste of sweetness and acidity. In addition to that virtue, it is an early producer (59 days.) The fruit seldom gets into the house because various and sundry people eat it off the vine, dust and all.
Close in glory is the ‘Sweet Baby Girl’ tomato, a prolific producer of clustered bright red, very sweet cherry tomatoes on a compact bush. At 65 days, it is apt for container gardening. Also, the thumbnail-sized 'Red Currant’ tomato is great for salads with its intense flavor. A wild South American tomato the ‘Red Currant’ works in Flagstaff at 62 days.
A good slicing tomato and great for hamburgers is the ‘Glasnost’. A large Siberian, it matures at 62 days and, as with the rest of the tomatoes, it supplies prodigious amounts of the antioxidant Lycopene which helps to fend off cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Not forgotten is the beet, the sweetest of all vegetables, especially the ‘Bull’s Blood’ beet (Beta vulgaris) which along with Burgee’s ‘Golden’, ‘Red Ace’, ‘Detroit Red’, and the ‘Chiogga’, is an early producer and a fount of goodness. The beet lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, reduces blood pressure, helps ward of colon and stomach cancer, is colorful, and tastes great with leaves and fruit adding pizzazz.
Go gardener, go!
By Dana Prom Smith
The author is a Master Gardener volunteer for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at 774-1868 ext. 19 or visit our Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.
Posted by maxmaddy at 5:28 AM
April 15, 2007
Volunteer Orientation - The Arboretum at Flagstaff
Throughout the year, we seek volunteers to participate in our day-to-day activities and special events. If propagation, high elevation gardening, or crafting with children interests you, please consider sharing your time and talents with the visiting public and Arboretum staff. Applications may be sent to Lyn Stevens, Volunteer Coordinator, or contact her at (928) 774-1442.
The 2007 Volunteer Orientation takes place on Wednesday, April 18 and Wednesday, April 25, from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Please call Lyn at the above number to reserve a spot during these informative sessions.
Posted by hargers at 1:08 AM
April 14, 2007
Xeriscape Classes Offered at CCC
Master Gardener Column 3/10/07
Xeriscape 3 April 21
A below normal snowpack, continuing drought, weeks and sometimes months without measurable precipitation, and a limited water supply are just a few of the reasons that homeowners in Northern Arizona should use water conservation techniques for their landscapes. Fortunately, there’s a solution for landscaping with less water – Xeriscape.
Defined as a method of water conservation through creative landscaping, Xeriscape is actually a combination of seven common-sense gardening principles that save water. A Xeriscape can be any style of landscape as long as attention is given to conserving water.
An essential feature of a xeriscaped yard is the creation of water use zones where plants with similar water needs are grouped together. A vegetable garden needs more water than a low water perennial border, and drought-adapted native plants need even less. Grouping lets you water more efficiently with less waste from over watering.
In addition, a Xeriscape will be easier to maintain during extended periods of drought. If watering is restricted because of drought, inefficient water-thirsty landscapes will suffer the most. By installing a Xeriscape, you can protect your landscape investment.
Northern Arizona residents have the opportunity to learn more about Xeriscape through a series of classes being offered at Coconino Community College this spring. The first class in the four part series covers the concept of Xeriscape and introduces the seven Xeriscape principles which are appropriate planning and design, soil analysis and improvement, more efficient irrigation, practical turf areas, appropriate plant selection, use of mulches, and maintenance.
The second class in the series, Xeriscape II - Soils, Mulch, and Compost, starts with the basics of composting. Compost is one of the best soil amendments for improving garden soil. Soil improvement is the key to any good landscape and allows plants to develop bigger root systems that can access moisture more efficiently. Properly prepared soils allow for better absorption of water and improved soil water holding capacity.
Mulch is a layer of material covering the soil surface around plants and can be organic such as bark or inorganic like rock. Mulch plays an important part in a Xeriscape garden. It reduces evaporation from the soil surface, eliminates weed competition, and helps capture rainwater by allowing hard rains to soak into the soil. And, organic mulches keep the soil cooler. Plus, mulch gives the landscape a pleasing and tidy look.
Once you've installed a Xeriscape, it is important to water it correctly. Unless you have used only the most drought tolerant plants, irrigation is necessary for a xeric landscape especially during the first few years when plants are getting established. The key is to apply water as efficiently as possible. Xeriscape III - Water Management will focus on irrigation, alternative water sources, and methods to reduce water waste.
Using native and other drought-tolerant plants can significantly reduce water use in your landscape. Xeriscape IV - Plant Selection will introduce you to the many native and low-water use plants that are appropriate for our region and aide you in choosing plants for the many varied habitats found in and around Flagstaff. There are many attractive, colorful, and interesting plants available that will survive on less water; selecting these plants will help you create a beautiful, water-wise landscape.
Xeriscape I will be offered on March 31. Xeriscape II will be held April 14. Xeriscape III is on April 21 and Xeriscape IV will be April 28. You can sign up for any or all of the four-part series. Each class costs $25. For more information or to register, call 928-526-7644. All classes will be held from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Lonetree Campus of Coconino Community College. The Xeriscape Workshop Series is brought to you by the Flagstaff Xeriscape Council.
By Hattie Braun
The author is the Master Gardener Program Coordinator for Coconino Cooperative Extension. For more information about the Master Gardener program, call 928-774-1868 ext. 17.
Posted by maxmaddy at 6:23 AM
April 13, 2007
Save these dates for the International Master Gardener Conference
The International Master Gardener Conference - Celebrate Gardening in the Natural State! – will be held May 2-5, 2007 in Little Rock, Arkansas. To view the of fficial IMGC '07 Website go to mg2007.uaex.edu.
In addition to top-notch gardening information we want you to leave this conference with an affinity for Arkansas, our history, people, entertainment, and food. On Wednesday evening, May 2, we will start with a cash bar before our opening dinner. We'll share pictorial glimpses of our beautiful Arkansas scenery with you as you dine and visit with fellow MGs from all over the United States and Canada. After dinner, Dr. David Lipschitz. MD, PhD, Director of the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and author of Breaking the Rules of Aging will discuss the health benefits of gardening on mind, body, and soul. More information about "Dr. David" can be found in last month's newsletter under "News" at the official IMGC website or you may visit his website at www.drdavidhealth.com.
Thursday morning we start with some fabulous keynote speakers. Everyone is excited to hear P. Allen Smith, and you are in for a treat to learn more about Heifer International from CEO Jo Luck. After the morning sessions end, lunch is served and the trade show begins. Thursday afternoon and all day Friday you have your choice of 65 seminars or 16 garden tours. All are described in more detail on the website: mg2007.uaex.edu/registration/speaker_biographies.htm.
Committee organizers have reserved a block of rooms at The Peabody Hotel. These are filling fast. You are encouraged to call soon for reservations (501-906-4000), and to ensure your choices of seminars and tours, don't wait too long to send in your registration! Check out their Website at www.peabodylittlerock.com.
Posted by hbraun at 1:35 PM
Edibles for Education at Flagstaff Native Plant and Seed
Willow Bend Environmental Education Center has a new Garden. Willow Bend needs your help to purchase plants for our new Three Sisters Edible Plant Garden. This addition to our center demonstrates how beautiful, useful, and delicious sustainable gardening can be. You can contribute to this wonderful educational tool by purchasing a plant from the Edibles for Education registry at Native Plant and Seed. Plants vary in price from $3 to $30, and if you purchase $50 of plants or more, you will become an honorary Friend of Willow Bend and receive a FREE organic cotton Willow Bend t-shirt! Any crops you purchase will help educate thousands of local community members about sustainable gardening!!!
For more information, visit www.willowbendcenter.org or call us at 779-1745.
Posted by hbraun at 10:55 AM
Water-Harvesting
What: Water Harvesting Presentation by Brad Lancaster, author of the acclaimed Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Vol. I: Guiding Principles for Welcoming Rain into Your Life and Landscape. (http://www.HarvestingRainwater.com)
When: Wednesday, April 18 at 6:00 pm
Where: City Hall
211 West Aspen, Flagstaff,
Cost: Free
For more information, call Willow Bend at 928-779-1745
Lancaster asserts that water scarcity results when people treat rainwater as a nuisance in the home and municipal landscapes by shunting it off the land through impermeable city streets and into storm sewers. The path to water abundance begins with landscape designs and sustainable systems that encourage rain to infiltrate the soil through the watershed, nourishing plant life, people and ecosystems. This inspiring presentation shares eight universal principles of water harvesting along with simple strategies that turn water scarcity into water abundance. They empower citizens to create integrated water-sustainable landscape plans at home and throughout the community. Rainwater harvesting is the process of capturing rain and making the most of it as close as possible to where it falls. Greywater harvesting is the process of directing water from the household sink, bathtub, shower and washing machine drains into the soils of the landscape where the water is naturally filtered and reused to generate more on-site resources. The two work hand in hand. He'll give examples of enhanced local food security, passive cooling of cities in summer, reduced costs of living and energy consumption, erosion & flood control, revitalization of dead waterways, minimized water pollution, groundwater recharge, community building, and more.
Living on an eighth of an acre in downtown Tucson, where rainfall is less than 12 inches annually, Brad and his brother Rodd harvest over 100,000 gallons of rainwater a year. They have turned a barren urban lot in Tucson into a thriving, green, food producing landscape with summer temperatures 10 degrees below that of their neighbors. Brad Lancaster is a permaculture teacher, designer, consultant and co-founder of Desert Harvesters
(http://www.DesertHarvesters.org). He has taught programs for the ECOSA Institute, Columbia University, U of AZ, Prescott College, Audobon Expeditions and many others. He has helped design
integrated water harvesting and permaculture systems for homeowners and gardeners, including the Tucson Audobon Simpson Farm restoration site, and the
Milagro and Stone Curves housing developments.
Posted by maxmaddy at 10:51 AM
How to Plant a Tree
Master Gardener Column 4/14/07
In his witty and spirited gardening book 'Second Nature,' Michael Pollan pondered the importance and responsibility of planting a tree. Many hours of research and contemplation lead him to conclude that “choosing the site and digging the hole, in particular, were crucial, irrevocable acts that, handled badly, I would rue for decades.” Furthermore, “the quality of the hole I prepare will help determine the future well-being of my tree.” Pollan closes with "among plants, hole is fate."
Are these words to live by? So often we purchase a tree with high expectations only to witness its failure over time. Our tree’s demise may simply be due to improper planting of the tree. With Pollan’s writing in mind, I give you these recommended steps for planting a tree.
1) Dig the planting hole as deep as the tree's root ball. Making the hole too deep may cause the tree to settle and end up below grade.
2) Loosen the soil in the planting area three to five times as wide as the root ball. Unless you are creating a raised bed or amending the entire planting area, the roots will need to grow in the native soil so break it up with a pickax or pitchfork.
3) To prevent Glazing of the the walls of the planting hole, score and rough up the sides.
4) Place the tree in the planting hole and backfill with non-amended native soil. That's right, non-amended soil. Planting your tree in a little pocket of premium soil really amounts to planting your tree in a pot in the ground. Not all of us have soils that are easy to work with. If this is the case, amend the entire planting area with organic matter and work in well. You may even have to create a raised bed using topsoil and organic matter. Smaller trees are a better choice for the latter situation.
5) Create a berm just outside of the root ball to serve as an irrigation well.
6) Apply three to four inches of organic mulch over the planting area making sure the mulch doesn't touch the trunk of the tree. The best mulches for trees are wood chips and bark chunks.
7) Remove the original nursery stake. This stake is in the root ball and is no longer needed. If you need to stake, the stake needs to be put into the surrounding soil.
8) Stake the tree only if necessary. If the tree falls over when you remove the nursery stake, it obviously needs some support. Top heavy trees may also need stakes but only for one or two growing seasons. Make sure you use horticultural tape or straps. Hoses with wire through them often ends up girdling the tree.
9) Irrigate the tree so that the root ball and the surrounding soil are wet.
10) Continue watering deeply so that the root zone is saturated. Gradually decrease the frequency of watering as the tree becomes established. You can check whether you have watered deeply by pushing a steel rod into the soil. The rod should push easily into the soil if it is moist.
The successful establishment of your tree really does depend on all these steps. A tree is an investment into the future. Making the extra effort to provide your tree with the opportunity to flourish will allow you to enjoy it for years to come.
By Hattie Braun
The author is a Master Gardener program coordinator for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at 774-1868 ext. 19 or visit our Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.
Posted by maxmaddy at 7:14 AM
Olivia White Hospice Garden Project Update/Scheduled Workday 4/26
Work officially began in the garden on Thursday, April 12th. A crew of volunteers led by Marion Lopez and Hattie Braun pruned roses throughout the garden. We had some of our regular volunteers along with several Master Gardener trainees. We managed to get the work done before the afternoon snowfall. The roses remain heavily mulched and probably will be for some time.
On Sunday, April 15th Jan Busco came out and cut back perennials while I weeded and planted potatoes and onions (should have been sooner).
On Thursday, April 19 an orientation to working in the garden was provided for 5 new volunteers.
Before we got started Nancy Palmer and Cynthia Katte mounted bird houses on our new trellis. The trellis was completed last fall by John Gordon's Community Service Program from the Coconino County Jail. Plans are to add some vines later in the season to the opposite side to provided even more of a screen. Although this was designed as art birds have already been spotted checking out the new development.
Karen Kent dropped by to begin weeding the rose garden. She and Cynthia Katte placed several Memorial Bricks in the gazebo floor.
Cynthia Davis, our new volunteer coordinator and caretaker of the birds has been busy with the feeders and baths. This winter we had a severe rodent problem around and in the home so after advise from the local Audubon Society (Bea Cooley) we made some changes. We moved a couple of feeders to the gazebo area away from the house where the problem occurred. We will have hummingbird feeders there instead. We also purchased a catch tray for our feeder by the house and are now using hearts of sunflower seed (already shelled). This should keep birds from flicking off seed in trying to open shells. Other suggestions included cleaning bird feeder area frequently and putting out less food - only as much as is typically eaten. They even suggested taking in feeders at night, which might not be a bad idea with all the deer trying to get in them, but not practical for us since we don't live in the house.
On Saturday, April 21 we had a crew from the Youth Corp and a student from St. Mary's doing spirit hours. Emily Manone brought her crew of students and her family (husband and children) and much was accomplished. Skye Sieber, another master gardener helped on Saturday to supervise the student's work. The back patio was weeded and repaired after winter damage, many perennials were cut back, and weeding was done throughout the gardens. Emily's husband got our birdbaths and fountain back in place for the season. In only 2 hours the crew managed to get more than half of our clean-up chores for spring done.
Thank-yous this month to:
Our regular crew - Nancy Palmer, Laura Davis Karen Kent, Cynthia Katte, Cynthia Davis and Leslie Penick
Marion Lopez
Hattie Braun and Master Gardener Trainees
Emily Manone and family and the Youth Corp
Charlie Seby and his Mom
Skye Sieber
Plans for 4/26/07
Cleaning and filling birdbaths and putting up new seed tray
Rework tree water wells after winter damage
Get fountain up and running
Finish painting the greenhouse
As always - weeding
Watering? depends on current weather
Cynthia and Loni to visit Baptist church as a possible alternative site for summer auction/tea
Upcoming Plans
May 1/9am-12pm - Garden workday with Coconino High School students.
Cynthia Davis supervising - contact her at 527-7548 if you would like to help.
May 1 - First showing of original watercolors at the East Side Public Library
Paintings to be raffled/auctioned on August 18th at our Garden Tea.
June 1 - Paintings on display for the month at the Arboretum at Flagstaff
July 1 - Paintings on display at the Artists Gallery for the month
August 18 - Garden Tea - Auction/Raffle at Olivia White Hospice Garden
Details to be added later
Fundraising
We do have note cards (prints of the paintings of the garden) and raffle tickets for 2 of the paintings available for sale at the Northland Hospice Office, the Olivia White Hospice Home, and Hodge Podge. The cards come in a package of 4 for $10. The raffle tickets for original watercolors by Mary Swanson and Lynn Overend are $3 each or 6 for $15. The paintings by Roberta Rogers and Catherine Sickafoose will be auctioned at our tea in August.
We still have photo note cards and bookmarks with flowers from the garden available at all the above locations.
Profits from all items are used for creating our beautiful garden.
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." John Muir
Come join us next week or drop by and purchase some cards to benefit the garden.
Happy gardening!
Loni Shapiro
Posted by maxmaddy at 5:04 AM
April 12, 2007
2007 Orientation to Working at Olivia White Hospice Garden
Each spring at the Olivia White Hospice Garden an orientation is done for those interested in working in the garden. This year that orientation will be on Thursday, April 19th from 10am-12pm. The information reviewed will include:
What is hospice and how is the Olivia White Hospice Home used?
A brief history of development of the gardens.
Goals for the 2007 season.
Introduction of long standing volunteers.
General scheduled times for work in the garden and on fundraising activity.
Tour of the gardens - weather permitting.
Coffee, tea, water and snacks provided.
If you are interested becoming a regular garden volunteer or would like to help when you are available, please attend this important introduction. If you would like to help but are unavailable on that day please contact Loni Shapiro (maxmaddy@infomagic.net) or Cynthia Davis - Garden Volunteer Coordinator at 527-7548 (cynthia.davis@nau.edu - checks on MonWed only). If you are planning to attend the orientation please let Loni or Cynthia know - for food/drink numbers. There is no parking at Olivia White due to limited space for residents, families and staff. Please park on Turquoise just past Switer Canyon Drive or in the 1st Congregational Church lot on Turquoise.
Some of the projects that will be worked on this year include:
Installing a drip system
Planting pots/raised beds with annuals, herbs and vegetables
Increasing educational materials and resident participation in the garden
Continuing development of the Faerie Garden and Tea Garden
Caring for more than 40 roses and developing surrounding Gazebo gardens
Finishing work on the new Greenhouse and Birdhouse Trellis
Mapping the garden
Completing the circle around the house with creation of a path on the north end of the house
with a native garden
We always have weeding, watering pots and planting
As you can see there are many opportunities for just digging in the dirt and being creative in developing hardscape.
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant."
-Robert Louis Stevenson
Hope to see you in the garden this year.
Loni Shapiro
Posted by maxmaddy at 1:13 PM
Arizona Native Plant Society Meeting
Tuesday, April 17, 7-8:30 p.m., NAU Biological Sciences Building, Room 313, North Campus, South End of Beaver Street.
Brian Reif, knowledgable and energetic collector of herbarium plant specimens, will present "Importance of Floristic Inventories," which Brian believes document our present knowledge of plant diversity and distributions. Learn about plant communities , why plants choose to belong to these communities and how they interact with one another.
No fieldtrip is planned for this month.
Posted by maxmaddy at 6:06 AM
April 7, 2007
Master Gardener Hotline
Master Gardener Column 4/7/07
Spring is finally here and there is much to do in the garden. You can dig your gardens beds, turn your compost pile, plant early spring greens outside, start summer vegetable seeds indoors, divide perennials, de-thatch your lawn, build a cold frame, plant bare root plants, get ahead of weeds, and watch out for insect pests. And you can call the Master Gardener hotline with your gardening questions. Spring means that the Master Gardener hotline is up and running
The Coconino County Master Gardener Program, in conjunction with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, sponsors the Master Gardener Hotline. This is a free information service for area home gardeners. Master Gardener volunteers are available to answer your garden and urban horticulture questions and concerns.
This year the hotline will operate from April 1 through September 30. You can leave a message anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our voice mail center will record your questions and information.
When calling the hotline, please state your name and phone number clearly, and leave your question or provide an explanation of your problem. Then let us know when the best time to return your call is. A Master Gardener volunteer will research your problem and return your call.
The hotline phone number is (928) 774-1868 ext. 19. You can leave a message at any time and a Master Gardener volunteer will return your call within 72 hours.
Master Gardeners are volunteers that receive training in basic botany, soils, vegetable gardening, insect pests, plant damage diagnosis, pruning, fruit trees, Xeriscape, urban forestry, and much, much more. Once Master Gardeners complete their training, they then volunteer their services to their community in gardening activities by answering garden questions, conducting garden programs, working on community beautification projects and other activities related to gardening. Answering hotline calls helps them fulfill their volunteer requirements.
The 2007 Master Gardener class is in full swing and is busy completing coursework and requirements to become certified Master Gardeners. While they finish, members of the 2006 class have volunteered to take your calls.
Not all questions or problems have an easy answer but Master Gardeners will make every attempt to help. They have been introduced to a variety of gardens problems, but they also have access to the helpful Arizona Master Gardener manual as well useful internet sites. Links to gardening information can be provided and written material can also be sent about many gardening questions.
Last year the most common call that we received on the hotline concerned grasshoppers. Last summer grasshopper populations were out of control. If you want to minimize grasshopper damage this year, spring is the time start as the best time to control grasshoppers is when they are small and vulnerable. Adult grasshoppers are virtually impossible to control.
A long-term biological control is the use of the protozoan Nosema locustae, a naturally occurring spore that only infects grasshoppers. The disease is slow-acting and works to reduce the population but can take up to a year to affect grasshopper populations. To be effective, it must be applied when grasshoppers are young.
Grasshopper baits containing carbaryl can also be used and are most effective on the nymph population. Unlike insecticidal sprays, baits are less likely to harm beneficial insects.
You can also work to reduce grasshopper numbers by encouraging predators to visit your garden. Disturbing grasshopper breeding areas can also help but is often impractical as breeding sites are usually not on your property. You can also try the ‘picking and squashing’ method. It’s time consuming but really effective as squashed grasshoppers don’t breed.
By Hattie Braun
The author is a Master Gardener program coordinator for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at 774-1868 ext. 19 or visit our Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.
Posted by hargers at 8:01 PM