News for Delaware County Master Gardeners

Vol. 11 No. 5 May 2006

Thanks to the many volunteers who have responded to community requests for Master Gardeners during April and May. Check the volunteer opportunities section in the newsletter to find dates and events for May and June activities that still need volunteers.

Elsie Mueller and Mary Sambor did an excellent job presenting the Arbor Day program in Smedley Park. It was the only really rainy day in April, but the committee switched gears quickly and the scouts had a great time.

Thanks also to Joe Daniels and Cathy St Clair for educational presentations, Carl Pfeiffer for cooking the hot dogs under a tent, and Steve Kosiak and Steve Hinds for planting 10 trees near the steadily rising creek.

The Teaching Gardens committees have been busy cleaning, mulching and planting the beds. We will have Gardeners' Selects trial plants in the Terrace Garden again this year. The shade garden has new plant signs that will be installed in the near future. Birds are nesting in the bird and butterfly garden, and we have some new natives on the hillside. If you wish to be involved with our Teaching Gardens, please let us know.

Veronica Connor has offered to assist with the Hortline scheduling, and she is a very welcome new co-chair. Liana has assumed the Treasurer's responsibilities and is very relieved to have some help. We always need Hortline volunteers, especially in the spring and early summer. If you have a Tuesday or Thursday morning to help, contact Veronica or Liana.

Thanks also to Alyce for scheduling the special Master Gardener's Day at Miller's Nursery. I saw many of us there, and we were doing some serious shopping.

The second plant and seed pick-up will be May 20 at the Intergenerational Garden. You are welcome to come and make some selections from the many vegetable varieties that the Master Gardeners have grown. We will also have some flower selections for sale.

Don't forget to pot up your extra plants for the May picnic and swap. We will provide hot dogs and hamburgers, and members are asked to bring something to complete our picnic. Check with Hope Jones-Gary to see what is needed if you have not already signed up. Family members are welcome. We will have a very brief business meeting for announcements and updates. I hope to see you there!

Master Gardeners will have an exhibitor table, and we would like to have a team of volunteers to represent us. The purpose of the expo is to inform senior citizens of the services available to them from state, federal and local providers. If you are interested, please contact Linda Barry.

Predacious Ground Beetle
by Marie Hofer, Gardening editor, HGTV.com

It's a nocturnal creature, so you've probably only seen it--or one of its many cousins--scurry for cover when you overturn a log or rock in the garden.

A gardener's friend, the predacious ground beetle feeds on caterpillars, cutworms, slugs, tent caterpillars, fly maggots and other garden and household pests, crushing them with powerful chewing mouthparts. Although it's has been known to feed on earthworms and a few other "good" bugs in the garden, the predacious ground beetle eats far more bad bugs than good.

Sometimes called carabids (they belong to the Carabidae family), predacious ground beetles are usually black or very dark brown, and sometimes metallic green or purple. Their head is usually considerably smaller than their body. They're often found in moist to wet locations. Some types exhibit defensive behavior (like emitting strong odors) when disturbed. They're fast runners.

These beetles are sometimes attracted to lights and find their way inside the house. If you find one indoors, carry it outside and release it. It's a good guy.

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Plant to Human: "Hands Off, Buster !"

If you think plants can't tell you're touching them, you may want to think again. In fact, a gentle tap or squeeze may trigger a kind of "911" call to all of the plant's cells, placing it on red alert.

"Squeezing the leaves probably gives the plant the feeling that it's already in the jaws of an insect," says Frank J. Turano, a molecular biologist.

A group of students from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Md., helped Turano show that even a gentle pat can send a plant's stress levels off the chart.

To a plant, these gentle taps may seem like the soft steps of an approaching insect, sneaking in for a bite to eat. Turano credits the students with helping set the stage for learning how plants make their 911 calls.

Talking, and even singing, to plants to see how they respond is a common science fair project, he notes. But results have been mixed.

Turano's studies suggest maybe it's because students just aren't using the right form of communication. Maybe, the trick is to stop talking and just reach out and touch the plant.

Then, let it do the talking back.

That's what happened when Turano asked the Greenbelt high schoolers to touch the plants at 1-, 2-, 5- and 15-minute intervals. The object of this touchy-feely experiment was a type of wild mustard plant called Arabidopsis thaliana (Uh-rab-ih-DOP-sis thal-ee-ANN-uh).

Turano found that the students' touching set off high levels of two substances called amino acids. They signal that the plant is really stressed out.

It may happen something like this: touching triggers the amino acids' release. They in turn set off a chain reaction that unlocks a gate-like area on cell walls, called receptors.

Through this receptor gate flows a stream of electrically charged molecules called ions. They become part of the 911 call that rapidly alerts other cells--from the plant's top down to its roots. It's probably a long distance call, but one that Ma Nature doesn't charge for (after all, the plant is stressed enough as it is).

Turano says it's possible the plant's long distance calling may send messages a bit like that of our own nervous system.

More research is needed to prove this is what actually happens in plants. For now, it's a hypothesis, he says. Instead of electrical, for example, the plant's SOS signals may turn out to be chemical.

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So why worry about plant SOS signals anyway?

At ARS' Climate Stress Laboratory in Beltsville, Turano's job was to find out how plants handle-- or don't handle--stress. This can result from severe heat or cold, dryness or flooding or damage from chewing insects, says Turano (he's now a professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.).

Eventually, the findings may help plant breeders find ways to breed crop plants that don't get so stressed out.

For the farmer, that could mean more crop to sell as food, fiber or livestock feed and less to throw away.

The stress research could also mean better-adapted trees, beautiful shrubs, flowers and houseplants. Hopefully, they won't mind being touched--or maybe it's the singing that really bugs them.

- - By Don Comis, Information Staff, Agricultural Research Service

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ODDS 'N ENDS

Lending Library

We have a wonderful self service lending library available during office business hours (weekdays 8:30am to 4:00pm). If you haven't seen it, maybe you should stop in.

Four weeks has been established as the time limit to keep a book. The office management committee has two requests:

• If you have a book(s) that you checked out and you have had it for more than 4 weeks please bring it back.
• If you have any books that are no longer needed in your personal garden library consider donating them to our lending library.

Office Management Committee

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NEED HELP

The Urban Gardening Committee will need some volunteers to help with the heavy tree planting on Tuesday, May 23 at the site in Chester.

We are planning on some digging for the prep work and planting of 3 large trees. You can reach me by cell phone or email if you need any more info.
Thanks for your help.
Wilma J. Ervin

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

June 3 - Hazardous Waste Site Sharon Hill

We will distribute information to residents. Our organization received a check for $120 for our participation.

June 3 - Composting Workshop at Merry Place. Contact Janae Alberts if you are available to help.

May 13, 14, 21, 28 & 29 at Linvilla. We need 2 volunteers for each day - Noon to 3.

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For Sale:

NIB - (New in box) 12" Bulb Pans for sale. Start thinking now about planting bulbs this fall and forcing for wonderful displays of color and cheeriness in the winter. They are near impossible to find. I had to purchase an entire case- $1.50 each Call or send email to: Barbara Smith

PS - My experiment with the flowers for the Spring Tea turned out to be a mishap with the bulbs blooming 10 days before my event. Thanks to everyone who offered advice - a good stiff drink was all I needed. As usual Mother Nature had the last laugh!

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