This coming Saturday (August 28th) is an event I have looked forward to all year.  And when I say all year, I mean since this time last year!

Brucemore is a 26-acre estate in the middle of Cedar Rapids.  It is a National Historic Trust Site and is a museum and a lot more!  It has Queen Anne style mansion that was built in the 1880s and lots of green space.  There are events on the estate all year long but my favorite is the Brucemore Garden and Art Show which takes place from 9 AM to 4 PM. 

Courtesy of Brucemore, Inc., Cedar Rapids, IA

One of the gardens. Courtesy Cedar Rapids Gazette.

I went for the first time last year and, of course, left my camera at home. But it was a wonderful experience.  There are “classes” that you can sit through and even participate in.  This year Linn County Master Gardener Bill Oliver will give a presentation on heirloom vegetables and fruits, the Brucemore Cutting Garden’s florists will demonstrate ways to create unique and simple arrangements using materials from their gardens and Bobbi Marti and Hope Gericke from Mercy Medical Center will teach you how to prepare delicious meals using fresh garden produce.  There will also be a demonstration on how to create vessels using a potter’s wheel along with a walking tour of the estate with Brucemore’s Head Gardener, Deb Engmark. 

There will also be dozens of artists and vendors (over 60 according to the Brucemore Garden and Art website) that you can peruse and enjoy. Some of the artists from last year offered garden art made from old pieces of cars, or garden art from metal (I bought what looks like a cuckoo bird), pieces of furniture painted with garden themes, ceramics, bird feeding stations that I couldn’t buy because they wouldn’t fit in the car, jewelry, glass works and many other items.  There are also plants that you can purchase as well as a lot of food to try.  I spent almost the entire day there and still didn’t get to see everything.  I managed to keep my spending to a minimum, but mainly because there is only so much you can fit into a smaller car.  This year I’ll bring the truck!  Don’t tell Dwayne….

If you want to learn more about Brucemore and the events that are coming up, click here.

And check out the information I found on Wikipedia here, including the history of the three owners of the estate.

Dig it!

Posted under Event

Well, now is your chance! 

Each year from September through the winter Iowa State offers Master Gardener classes.  The deadline to sign up this year is August 26th (classes start September 9th), so you will need to decide soon.  There are a few counties that have a spring training schedule, but only about six and only Clinton county is in Eastern Iowa.  This is new, so I am not sure what the schedule is for that. 

According to the Iowa Master Gardener Program webpage, “The mission of the Master Gardener Program is to provide current, research-based, home horticulture information and education to the citizens of Iowa through ISU Extension programs and projects.”  In other words, help other Iowans with their gardening questions, help run Farmers’ Markets, help communities look better and help kids (and adults) about eating fresh and eating local. 

Here are the requirements to become a Master Gardener:  a registration fee that covers the cost of educational materials and a commitment to do 40 hours of extension service.  The fee is $150, but includes two rather thick books and lots of information.  You will be overwhelmed with all the info thrown at you, but concentrate on what you are interested in and keep notes on the rest.  You will learn about a wide range of horticulture and related areas: houseplants, flowers, turfgrass, vegetables, woody landscape plants, plant propagation, botany, fruits, soils, wildlife management, pesticide safety/ integrated pest management, plant pathology and entomology.  The sessions last for three hours and are usually held twice a week.  The classes I took were on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  One class per week was in the Extension office and was connected by Internet to Ames and the instructor presented his class and took questions.  It was pretty cool.  The other class was usually someone local who taught whatever the subject was for that day.  And you must go to one of two full Saturdays in October (or the spring if you take the spring classes) in Ames.  You will spend some time in several different rooms in a couple of different buildings and learn a LOT.  I felt like I was back in college… one of the buildings was the one I was in most of my meteorology training!

After the training, you are a Master Gardener Intern.  You have to complete your 40-hour service commitment before you become a Master Gardener.  That was the hard part, although there are always plenty of projects that you can get involved in.  You can always come help me weed at the Vinton Community Youth Garden! And don’t worry… once you become a full-fledge Master Gardener you remain an active member by attending 6 or more hours of in-service education and doing at least 6 hours of community service.  I’m already at about 100 hours so far this year with the Farmers’ Market and the Youth Garden.  You can definitely keep busy!  You, however, can’t count working in your own garden or helping out at your mom and dad’s place.  And each individual county may have different requirements for how many hours you have to volunteer.

If you are interested or just have some more questions, contact your local Iowa State Extension office.  Greg Walston, the Benton County Program director said you could email him, too.  He can be reached at gwalston@iastate.edu and he will help you out or at least point you to the right county contact.

Click here to learn more about the history of the Master Gardener program.

I have wanted to become a Master Gardener for quite awhile.  When I started taking the courses I felt a little over my head… and sometimes I still do.  But there are a lot of people who are there to help you help other Iowans.

Dig it!

Posted under Education, General

I would love to have a Magnolia tree in our yard, but we don’t have any place to put it on our slightly-less-than-a-quarter-acre-lot-that-already-has-seven-trees-on-it. 

For those fortunate enough to have a Magnolia tree, you may be dealing with an unfortunate aspect of that ownership.  Magnolia scale.  The Magnolia scale is the largest scale insect in Iowa. 

Adult females may reach nearly 1/2 inch in diameter when they are fully grown.  It is a shiny tannish brown and smooth.  As scales grow they are often covered with a white, mealy wax that is lost when the crawlers emerge.   The crawlers are the babies.

Magnolia scales have sucking mouthparts and feed on the sap of the tree, which stresses a heavily infested plant and can result in stunted growth, yellowish foliage, branch dieback or even the death of the plant.  Scales have also fed on Daphne and Virginia Creeper.  Magnolia scales produce large quantities of honeydew (which is a sugary excretion) that build up on the tree’s leaves and twigs.  Sooty mold is a black fungus that grows on that honeydew and turns the covered leaves and twigs black.  The honeydew also attracts ants, bees, wasps and flies.

The honeydew formed by the Magnolia scale.

The sooty mold that forms on the honeydew along with the adult females and the crawlers (babies).

From Ohio State University Extension, “the magnolia scale spends the winter on one to two year old twigs as tiny, dark-colored nymphs.” In the spring, with warmer temperatures, the scales start to suck the sap and molt once in May. This is the point where the males remain small (only about 1/8 of an inch) while the females get to their larger size.  (read more here).

If you are looking at adding a magnolia tree to your yard, check the new plant out carefully before you buy it.  Most of the scale infestations come with the plants with the large scale exoskeletons being left from the previous season.  If you find any of these remains, don’t buy the tree.

In order to control the scale, remove and destroy any heavily-infested branches and then treat with a contact insecticide which includes horticultural oil, insecticidal soap or other ornamental synthetic insecticide.  Or use a systemic insecticide (imidacloprid) in late August or early September.  A dormant horticultural oil can also be used in late fall or early spring when the tree is, obviously, dormant. 

-Horticultural oils at 1.5 to 2.0″ can be applied after the crawlers have settled into their feeding site in late August.  This can be very effective in reducing the scale population.  Make sure you thoroughly wet the stems and leaves. 

-Dormant oils can be applied in October to November and again in March to kill the nymphs that have overwintered on the stems.  Be sure to check spring buds for damage as they begin to swell. 

-Insecticide application can also be successful if they are applied when the insects are in their fresh crawler stage.. usually late August or early September.  If you apply the spray before crawlers appear or after they become dormant, it will have little effect on controlling the infestation.

Check with your local Extension office or favorite garden center for specifics on the oils or insecticides. 

At least this sounds a bit more manageable than those darn Japanese Beetles!

Dig it!

Posted under Pests

The ribbon cutting for the Vinton Youth Community Garden was last Tuesday evening.  Aside from the VERY high humidity, it was a great event. 

I, Edwon (one of the other Master Gardeners helping out), our helper Martha and two of the girls (Sarah Kreutner and Aspen Hepker) showed up on Monday to help finish weeding.  Sarah’s mom and brother and sister helped out too.  We didn’t get everything done, but we got quite a bit done. 

These are two of "my girls"... Aspen Hepker is on the left and Sarah Kreutner is on the right.

We wanted to have some of the produce available for the event attendees to sample, so Sarah took some cherry tomatoes home to wash and Aspen took some carrots.  Martha had taken some cucumbers and peppers and Greg (our Benton County Extension guy) took some of our sweet corn home and cooked it up on Tuesday.

Good food enjoyed by all!

We agreed to show up around 4:30 on the day of the event so we wouldn’t be all sweaty from weeding.  We didn’t have to weed to get all sweaty with the dewpoints in the mid to upper 70s… we just had to stand there!  The AmeriCorp kids had been by to finish the weeding earlier in the day, so the hosta bed looked terrific. 

We got most of it done, but it sure looks great now! I wonder if the AmeriCorp group will come back when the weeds grow back?

The Parks & Rec guys had come by with the weed-whacker and cleaned up around the Cannas. 

People started to show up and we ended up with a pretty good crowd including Vinton Mayor John Watson.  We also had a couple of reporters there and a lot of people with cameras.  Hopefully there will be some better pictures than mine in some of the Vinton papers!

Some of the many people that came to celebrate with us. Sorry that my pictures aren't better...

Some of the AmeriCorp group that has helped out. The left side of the picture shows Edwon (with the straw hat) and Martha listening intently to the speaker.

Duane Randall, the Parks and Recreation Director, ran the ribbon-cutting and had the girls and a couple of other people (including myself) come up to “cut the ribbon”.  We couldn’t really cut the ribbon since they needed it for another ribbon cutting at 6, but we got to hold those big scissors while Brian and Al from the Parks and Rec department held the nice red ribbon.

Duane Randall, our MC for the evening. He is also the Director of Parks and Recreation in Vinton.

Greg Walston is on the left and Al and Brian are getting ready to hold the ribbon for the "cutting".

Here are the girls with the ribbon.

The AmeriCorp group got to pose with the ribbon and scissors, too. Thanks for all your help!

It appeared that everyone had a good time and everyone was pleased to see the garden go from the ugly, empty lots to something with a lot of green growing… and not just weeds!

And, we are already starting to talk about how we can get more kids interested next year…. and what else we can put in the garden. 

I’ll keep you posted.

Dig it!

Posted under General

Short notice, but there is an event in Cresco in the next few days that you may want to check out.  Plantpeddler’s is having their Annual Summer Open House and Trial Garden events. 

On Saturday the 7th from 11 AM to 2 PM Plantpeddler’s “Day in the Garden” will take place.  From their press release: “This event is open to Master Gardeners, horticulture professionals, and the general public.  All are invited to come and view our terrace boulder gardens, trial gardens, and aquatic landscaping.  There are five outdoor arbors full of the newest genetics in Spring Annuals. You can tour the grounds and facilities of Plantpedder, mingle with others enthused about gardening, vote on your favorite plant varieties, and enjoy refreshments from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.  Additionally, there area a few brief seminars for your growth in knowledge of gardening.”

It is free of charge.  And if you can’t make it, they will welcome you anytime.

The gardens are at 524 7th Ave SW, Cresco, IA 52316.  Call Plantpeddler at 1-200-827-1654, check out the website at www.plantpeddler.com or email events@plantpeddler.com. 

Dig it!

Posted under Event

Delores sent me an email with a couple of pictures of a mushroom that popped up in her yard.  She wants some help identifying it. 

It looks square from this angle...

It does not look square from the top, but it does look spotted.

Delores mentions that the stem is about 4 or 5 inches tall and the cap is a whopping 7 1/2 inches across!

I am very nervous when it comes to mushrooms.  I don’t particularly like them anyway, but I really wouldn’t eat something that I am not familiar with.  (Don’t worry. Delores said they weren’t going to eat it, they just wanted to know what it is)

I found some large white mushrooms listed on the Internet, such as Horse mushroom, White dapperling, and Parasol mushroom, the Species Agaricus’ genus Xanthodermati is not good to eat, but others in the species ARE edible.  Another listed another large white mushroom, the Amanita, as poisonous. 

In other words, I have no idea what kind of mushroom Delores has in your yard.  I am leaning toward Amanita, but I haven’t found anything that looks just like the photos she sent to me.

Essentially, if you aren’t 100% sure what type of mushroom it is, DON’T EAT IT.  I did find an article that said that mushrooms can’t hurt you unless you eat them, so you can push, poke and prod… just don’t put them in your mouth unless you are sure of the variety’s safety.

For more information on what a mushroom is and what makes up a fungus, check out Dave Fischer’s North American Mushroom page.  Click here for a look at Iowa State University Extension’s publication on Iowa’s mushrooms and non-flowering plants.  You can also contact the local mushroom club, Prairie States Mushroom Club, in Robins, IA.  Maybe they can help you identify that fungus that is popping up amongus.

Dig it!

Posted under General