From the Coordinator

From the MG President

The Year of the Bee

Earth Notes

2009 MG Training Schedule

Fall Fest

HO Smith Botanic Gardens

Food Preservation Workshops

August Road Trip

From Penn State

Thanks to all of the MGs who have recorded hours for the first half of the year. For those who have not yet reported, please do so and include your contacts.

We interviewed for the new class the week-end of June 27-28. There are many excellent candidates in this group, and I’m looking forward to working with them. Many thanks to Lorraine Altrichter and Marianne Martin who were part of the interview team. Training begins August19th. A schedule of classes is in this newsletter for those of you who wish to sit in on any of the sessions.
Members who are attending the Master Gardener Conference in Lancaster are eligible for a $50 scholarship. The registration deadline is July 15th.

The Garden Contest judging is scheduled for August 3rd and 4th. Applications are on our web site or can be mailed to interested gardeners from the office.

We’ve been asked to have an information table at the 4-H Fair on August 8th. Please let me know if you are available and interested in helping.

Our July 21st meeting is at the Grange in Havertown. We are meeting at 6:30, and will have a special presentation by the Grange Beekeepers. I hope to see you there.

ARALIA SPINOSA – “DEVILS WALKING STICK”, “HERCULES CLUB”

Some years back when The American College, who I worked for, had a full time horticulturist to care for it’s arboretum, I can remember the e-mail all of us employees were sent announcing the discovery of a Devils Walking Stick growing on the edge of the property. We were all invited to see this native specimen in a lunch walk, and about a dozen of us did accompany the horticulturist to the site. There stood a very ferocious looking spine covered plant about four feet tall and bearing these huge leaves. Well, I thought they were lots of leaves at first until I was enlightened to the fact that these were very few leaves but that one leaf could grow to be five feet long and were 2-pinnate leaves with 80 or more ovate leaflets. If you look at the structure of the plant this is quite evident. Each “leaf” grows out of the trunk. We were told at the time that the tree would grow as one stalk to a height of about 30 feet and then flower. I thought it was a rare thing and as I am not averse to spiny things (my children always complained about the English Holly, the Rosa Rugosa and my cactus collection) I was intrigued.

About five years ago there appeared near the base of my catalpa tree a spiny little thing that I immediately recognized as a Devils Walking Stick. As I had been told it would grow a single trunk for 30 feet and bloom I decided with little prodding from a fellow gardener to let it grow so we could see the blooms. It reached its mature height in two years. The “flowers” are a large spray of fine white flowers which our native pollinators love. There is a lot of buzzing and fee sounds in the cloud of blooms the plant does branch after reaching its designated height. The wood is very soft and easy to prune.

What to do with a plant like this? If you have a need to block access to your yard I understand these trees are capable of producing a thorny thicket in a few years and I have seen one – a wanted one I may add in the corner of someone with a large property. I hang my tropical cactus pots from the thorny branches as the dappled light is what they like then the thorns make it easy to place the baskets. It is an interesting plant and a native. I would recommend it except it has one nasty habit, it sends up shoots via runner roots and you have to keep after it. The shoots come up about 1-5 feet from the parent plant.

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Take care,
Chantal

 
Hope everyone is enjoying this interesting summer...first too cool, then too wet....now beautiful temps for the month of July...what more could we ask for this year. I hope everyone plans to attend the July meeting at the Grange Estate in Havertown on July 21 at 6:30 PM, where we will hear about beekeeping as well as receive a tour of the historic Grange Mansion. I thought I would give you some bee facts to sweeten you up for the talk...lets see what you remember by that night.
 
How do honeybees make honey?

Worker bees collect nectar (water and complex sugars) from flowers and pass it to other workers, which convert it to digestible sugars. Bees evaporate the nectar's water by working it in their mouths and then depositing it in cells and fanning it with their wings.  When the liquid is reduced to about 18% water, the honey is ready for them to use.

How fast can a honeybee fly?

A honeybee can fly up to 15 miles per hour when searching for food. When it is returning to the hive and is laden with nectar, its speed is only about 12 miles per hour. It beats its four wings at a constant rate of about 240 beats per second.

How is beeswax made?

A young worker honeybee eats lots of nectar or honey and later emits a drop of wax via one of eight glands on its underside. The wax hardens into a flake, which the bee (or one of its neighbors) then chews, mixing it with secretions until it's workable. Beeswax is used to build a honeycomb.

Can honeybees see color?

Honeybees can sense colors ranging from yellow and green to blue and ultraviolet. They can also detect an ultraviolet-yellow combination named "bee purple." The bees can't see red--it would appear black to them.

Do honeybees sleep?

Honeybees sometimes exhibit sleep behavior, although not exactly as humans experience it. Research has shown, however, that their muscles relax, body temperature decreases, movement is at a minimum, and reaction to stimuli is slowed.

How long do honeybees live?

Drones live from 3 to 10 weeks; if food is scarce or winter arrives, they are usually evicted from the hive. A worker bee's life span is shorter in summer than in winter and can range from 1 to 6 months. The queen can live from 2 to 5 years.
 
Study and remember these facts....the quiz will be given out at the end of the meeting. See you in a few weeks and have fun in your gardens. 

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Mosquito Alert

First it was ticks carrying Lyme disease—now it’s mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus. You’ve probably heard that West Nile has made an appearance in Delaware County. Mosquitoes used to be annoying—now they can be downright dangerous. As if we didn't have enough reason to avoid these irritating insects--now we have to be extra vigilant to protect ourselves from being bitten.

Female mosquitoes must have blood to lay eggs. When a West Nile virus-infected mosquito settles down for dinner on a host, it infects the bite-ee with the virus. WNV is most dangerous for people over age fifty and anyone who has a weakened immune system.

How can you protect yourself? For starters, know the enemy! Mosquitoes are out and about at dusk, dawn, early evening and after a rain, so take precautions at those times. Temperature affects a mosquito’s level of activity. They are most active at 80 to 90 degrees, become lethargic at 60 degrees and are inactive at 50 degrees. Mosquitoes can’t handle winds in excess of ten miles per hour, so a fan on your patio could spoil their meal. Incandescent lights attract mosquitoes, so use fluorescent lights outdoors.

The best way to foil the bloodsuckers is to stop them from multiplying. Take the following steps to prevent mosquitoes from breeding on your property:

Do not allow even one drop of stagnant water on your property. Dispose of ANYTHING outside that could hold water—saucers under flowerpots, used tires, tin cans, old buckets.

Clean your gutters. Clogged gutters are a choice egg-laying environment for female mosquitoes.

Empty your birdbath and refill it with fresh water daily. (the birds will love you for it—and they deserve it, since they work hard eating mosquitoes)

Use Mosquito Dunks in pond water, water gardens, gutters and ornamental pools. Mosquito Dunks contains BTi (Bacillus thuringienis israelensis), a natural bacteria that is safe for the environment.

Alter the landscape of your property to eliminate standing water.

Tell your neighbors! Mosquitoes can travel up to three miles in their quest for blood, so eliminating breeding areas is a cooperative effort.

Delaware County is working with our Penn State County Extension in Smedley Park to implement a mosquito control and surveillance program. For comprehensive information about West Nile virus, how to protect yourself and Delaware County’s program to control it, go to http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/intercommunity/westnile.html

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2009 Master Gardener Training Schedule

August 19 – Orientation
August 26 – Soils
September 2 – Botany
September 9 – Entomology
September 16 – Plant ID
September 23 – Plant Propagation
September 30 – Weeds
October 6 – Plant Pathology
October 14 – Vegetables
October 21 – Turf
October 28 – Planting/Pruning
November 4 – IPM
November 11 – Communications
November 18 – Diagnosis
December 2 - Natives

Fall Fest is coming! Fall Fest is coming!

Do you have lots of small pots from all those annuals you put in this spring? How about recycling them and planting up some “babies” from your garden to include in the plant sale at Fall Fest. We all seem to have some perennial that excels, so instead of ripping out, try planting up some. This is always a great fundraiser that helps fund all our programs so please be generous! Thank you very much for all your support and help with this. Gardeners are the best!

On that same vein (or vine) if you, like so many others, are feeling overwhelmed with various items in your house, garage, attic………how about lightening the load and donating some garden-oriented items for the Frugal Gardener. Tools, baskets, pots, garden magazines, garden-themed gifts are always welcome.

Here’s the info:

Fall Fest is Saturday September 26th. Please drop off plants and Frugal Gardener items at Smedley one week before that (by September 19th) so that we can process the donations. Let’s continue to make this a great event at our educational center and gardens for everyone to enjoy. Now get out there and starting potting up plants!!

On May 18, 2007, President Graham B. Spanier announced to the board of Trustees that Charles H. “Skip’ Smith, a 1948 Penn State alumnus, has donated $10 million to The Arboretum at Penn State. The board acknowledged this lead gift, made in honor of Mr. Smith’s father, by naming the Arboretum’s gardens the H. O. Smith Botanic Gardens.

Mr. Smith’s donation has been used to build Phase I of the gardens. Located in the 58-acre parcel formerly known as the Mitchell Tract, the H. O. Smith Botanic Gardens will serve as a gateway to the 370-acre Arboretum and the University Park campus. As the site of the Arboretum’s educational facilities, they will also be the most frequently visited part of the Arboretum. With over 700 different varieties and 17,000 plants, the collection will be a balance between natives, exotics and cultivars.

Phase I was designed by MTR Landscape Architects, LLC, who also created the master plan for this portion of the Arboretum. Phase I of the H. O. Smith Botanic Gardens will be open to the public in July 2009, but the formal dedication of the gardens will occur in April 2010. Phase I includes an Overlook Pavilion whose terrace will be covered from April through October by a fabric tent under which 200 people can be seated at tables; a one-acre Event Lawn; two Pollinators Gardens (butterfly and hummingbird); and an Esplanade Garden consisting of annuals and perennials. The first phase also includes a series of walled gardens – the North Terrace (featuring subtropical plants), Oasis Garden (containing a pool of lotus plants and water lilies), and the first part of the Rose and Fragrance Garden.

The Overlook Pavilion complex is wrapped in mounds of planting to the north and south which recall the richness of the Appalachian forests, and envelop the structure, reinforcing the views to the east and the west. Designed in the style of a woodland garden, the Overlook Pavilion Garden includes conifers and spring-flowering trees including multi-stemmed serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.). It is a four-season garden in grays, whites, and blues with accents of yellow in earliest spring. The blooming will start with mahonias, daffodils, and hellebores. In the summer, a variety of colors and textures will be evident, including soft ferns, black, lacy-leaved snakeroots, native hydrangeas, and hostas with their large, spade-shaped leaves. The bright fall foliage of the serviceberries and maples will appear as the woodland asters are coming into bloom. In the winter, the gray stems of the serviceberries will provide interest against evergreen trees, mahonias, viburnums, hellebores, and ferns. Rainwater from the pavilion and tent roofs will be guided through pebble gardens adjacent to the Event Terrace.

The Tropical Grove features tree species native to the Northeast and Midwest that are anomalous representatives of tropical plant families – remnants of a time tens of millions of years ago when this land supported a tropical flora. Several of the candidates for this grove are the most northern representatives of their families in North America, and all belong to families whose species are found principally in the tropics. Although none of these species is rare, all are minor components of the native forest and for that reason, and perhaps their tropical affinities, most are somewhat unusual – even exotic – in appearance. The visual effect of gathering them all into a single grove is to emphasize the vague strangeness of these plants in contrast to the more common and typical temperate trees.

Some of the trees that are represented in this grove include:

Asimina triloba (pawpaw) – the most northern member of the Annonaceae, a tropical family containing ca. 2300 species. Custard-apple, native to the West Indies, is a member of this family.
Catalpa speciosa – one of the most northern members of the Bignoniaceae, a tropical family containing ca. 800 species, particularly abundant in northern South America. The native trumpet-creeper and a number of notable tropical tree species are also members of this family.

Sassafras albidum (sassafras) one of the most northern (in America) members of the Lauraceae, a pantropical family of 2000 to 3000 species. Avocado, cinnamon, and camphor are members of this family.
Maclura pomifera (Osage-orange) – one of the most northern (in America) members of the Moraceae family, most of whose ca. 1100 species are found in tropical and subtropical regions, primarily in Asia. Breadfruit, jackfruit, and figs are members of this family.

Diospyros virginiana (persimmon) – the most northern (in America) of the ca. 500 species of Ebenaceae, a mainly tropical and subtropical family that is most abundant in southern and southeastern Asia. The several species of ebony are also species of Diospyros.

Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky coffeetree) – one of the most northern (in America) members of the Caesalpiniaceae (formerly a subfamily of Leguminosae). The Caesalpiniacaeae contains about 2200 species of mostly tropical trees and shrubs, including the tropical and subtropical trees brazilwood, royal poinciana, paloverde, bubinga, zebrawood, purpleheart, and tamarind.

Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac) – one of about 20 American species of Anacardiaceae, a primarily tropical and subtropical family of about 600 species including cashew, mango, pistachio, and also the familiar poison-ivy.

Over centuries of cultivation, the rose has remained one of the most beloved flowers. The Rose and Fragrance Garden features roses and complementary perennials and herbs. This romantic cottage garden is designed to burst forth with color and fragrance. Climbing roses and clematis vines will trail over the walls that enclose the garden and twine around pyramids, frames, posts, and trellises. They will creep out over walkways as ground covers. They will be under planted with herbs and other fragrant plants that billow out onto walks and release scent as they are brushed. This garden features the true roses of the rose family and also the mint family which contains so many of the herbs that we use today. Clipped evergreens and lilacs will divide the larger garden into smaller rooms that explore various themes.

Features for which the Arboretum is still seeking funding include an Education and Visitor Center, Conservatory, Perennial Garden, Fruit and Vegetable Garden, Children’s Garden, Shade and Woodland Garden, Meadow Garden, Orchard, River of Grasses, and Dry Stream. Donors will also be sought to fund the design and planting of gardens along Park Avenue – a Winter Garden, Winter Garden Terrace, and a Four Seasons Garden.

To read more about the Arboretum, please visit the Arboretum’s Web site (www.arboretum.psu.edu). You may also write to the following: The Arboretum at Penn State, The Pennsylvania State University, 336 Forest Resources Building, University Park PA 16802-3604, e-mail (Director): steiner@psu.edu, e-mail (Event and Marketing Coordinator): kkr1@psu.edu, e-mail (Director of Development): patrickwilliams@psu.edu, e-mail (Horticulturist): rhj3@psu.ed.

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FOOD PRESERVATION WORKSHOPS

Want to learn how to preserve fruits and vegetables? Have an abundance of garden vegetables – this is the class for you!! Pick a class from those below. Instructor, Fran Alloway, Nutrition Educator and Home Economist from Penn State Cooperative Extension, will bring the most recent research based education from Penn State to these classes. Classes will be held at Penn State Cooperative Extension in Smedley Park, Springfield, PA 19064. To register, send a check made to DCCE with your name and class preferred or call office for registration form.

Food Preservation Overview Workshop – August 12, 1-3 p.m. or 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Learn the proper methods to freeze, dehydrate and can low-acid (green beans) and high-acid foods (tomatoes and peaches). Information on purchasing equipment will be given. Handouts from Penn State’s Let’s Preserve series will be distributed.
2 hours. $10.00 /person

Hands-On Food Preservation Workshop –
Schedule for your site! Call 610-690-2655
Participants will make jam and can green beans in a pressure cooker. Participants will get a jar of preserved food to take home. Site must have a kitchen with a gas stove large enough for two large pots. Participants should wear comfortable shoes and clothing. Penn State’s Let’s Preserve materials will be distributed.
3 hours. $20/person or $35/couple.

Jams and Jellies – July 24, 10 – 12 a.m., August 10, 1 – 3 p.m. or 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Learn to make jam from summer fruits and use safe methods to preserve your foods for the winter. We will make freezer and cooked jams in class. Participants will get a jar to take home. Penn State’s Let’s Preserve materials will be distributed. 2 hours. $20/person or $35/couple.

August  Road  Trip    ........August 18......6 PM

Fellow Master Gardeners......Since we aren't having a monthly meeting in August and many of us will be home for the dog days of August, we are planning a short trip to a new local garden center:

Michael Petries'
Handmade Gardens
Plants/Design
Objects/Trouves
320 W. Uwchland Avenue (Rte. 113)
Downingtown, PA 19335
www.handmadegardens.net

 
If you are interested in going please let Linda Barry or me know so we can give Michael an approximate number of people who will be coming, and if you aren't sure about how to get there, we can carpool from Smedley Park. The date is August 18 and we want to be there by 6 PM, so if you plan to carpool, please be at Smedley Park by 5 PM to give us enough time to get there. It would be great to support a local horticulturist in his new adventure. I'm sure you remember all the creative ideas Michael came up with for the Styers displays at the Philadelphia Flower Shows. So, beat the heat and join us on a short jaunt to visit this unusual and special garden center. 

Joe Daniels

NEWSLETTER STAFF:

Editor: Barbara Smith
Web Designer: Kristi D'Amore
Committee: Linda Barry, Joe Daniels, Carolyn DiPaulo, Marianne Martin, Elsie Mueller, Marion Nelson, Cynthia Sabatini, Mary Sambor, Carl Pfeiffer & Arlene Pugh

Cooperative extension e-mail: DelawareExt@psu.edu
Blog Address: http://go.philly.com/gardenerjournal