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Hendricks County Master Gardeners, Inc.
Hendricks County Extension Office 1900 E. Main Street P.O. Box 7
Danville, IN 46122-0007
317.745.9260
www.HendricksGardeners.com
Eloisa Garza, President [email protected]
Jim Trocha Vice President [email protected]
Linda Rogers, Treasurer [email protected]
Kerry Cates, Secretary
Donna Mears, Editor [email protected]
Ed Freeman, Webmaster [email protected]
Jon Cain, AG and Natural
Resources Educator [email protected]
Becky Troutman
HENDRICKS GARDENER THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
OF THE HENDRICKS COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS
WWW.HENDRICKSGARDENERS.COM
June 2011
Mission statement:
The mission of the Master Gardener Program is to provide
current, research-based, home horticulture information and
education to the citizens of Indiana through
Purdue University Extension programs and projects.
More than any other flower, the rose has been prized for its beauty the world over. Symbolic associations with the rose have existed since the days of the ancient Romans and Greeks. Roses have been identified with love and passion since those times, beginning with their association with the goddesses Aphrodite, Isis and Venus. Cleopatra is said to have received Marc Anthony in a room literally knee-deep in roses.
Flower Trivia
Rose—rosa
Eloisa Garza
President;
Hendricks County
Master Gardeners
Association
Reminder: Please con-tact the president 5 days prior to meetings about business or committee
reports so that it will be put on the agenda for the
meeting.
A Letter From Our President… Yes, I know The Indianapolis 500 was in May, but this is a personal favorite time for me. Oh how wonderful to hear the sounds of race cars on the track, then coming home to the sound of our farmer’s tractors in the fields. We live in the best part of Indiana where we are all about racing. Racing to start engines, plant seeds, buy plants, plant trees, mow grass, till dirt and spread mulch. I can hear the race fans cheering their favorite race driver and home gardeners cheering when their favorite flowers blooms. Yes THE race is on!
A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. What an array of lovely and healthy plants at our fifth annual plant auction. Thank you Jim, for bringing so much fun as auctioneer, who made you buy plants. Thanks Colletta, for highlighting some exciting new plants and older favorites. Thanks Kerry, for buying plants at Munchkin Gardens during our field trip, then donating those plants to our auction. Thanks Annabelle for calling in a matching bid on this sale. The evening was an exciting success. We use the money raised for our community projects and education. You'll find inspiration and ideas for taking your garden to the next level. By joining us at our next meeting Eloisa
CONGRATULATIONS M. G. INTERNS CLASS OF 2011 WE ARE GLAD TO HAVE YOU ALL BECOME A PART OF THIS ORGANIZATION!
Tuesday evening, May 3rd, Board Members, Jim Trocha, Linda Rogers, Kerry Cates, Donna Mears, Pat Harmon, Maria Huffman were on hand to serve cake and ice cream and punch, along with presenting each intern a bag of Gladiola bulbs. Each in attendance truly enjoyed the treat and were most appreciative.
The 9th Annual Native Plant Sale Thank You’s
Thank you Kerry for buying and donating the lovely plants for our auction. In appreciation for all who did their garden digging to
bring us plants that were easy to sell.
Thank you buyers.
Jim our fun auctioneer Colletta for giving us the plants
requirements, Ann Selvy and Karen Halas for being
runners (helpers).
Thanks to those who provided refreshments.
Carol Ford and all you great MG volunteers.
Geranium Festival
Geranium Festival Chuck and Pat Dallas, Ed and Suzy
Freeman and Jackie Rosales.
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2011 Geranium Festival
This year’s festival was truly enjoyed by everyone. There were lots of choices on plants to buy along with local honey
and plenty of baked goods. There was even someone selling raised garden beds! The weather held out much to eve-
ryone's delight. Many wonderful people stopped by our booth to get advice and literature. One couple brought in a
bug to be identified after Suzy Freeman sent a picture to Jon Cain it was identified as a camel cricket. Hopefully next
year more Master Gardeners come and enjoy.
Ed Freeman, Pat and
Chuck Dallas Visitor getting information
Tough question !! Visitors
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Master Gardeners Farmers Market Appearance May 2011 Pat Geer, Kerry Cates, Robin Elizabeth Parlsey and Colletta Kosiba shared tips with the shoppers about planting fabulous containers on May 21st on the Square in Danville IN. Pat showed a container that fit on your deck rail planted with herbs; herbs are close to her kitchen. Robin Elizabeth had a bag to plant your potatoes in, with a zipper in the side to harvest without disturbing the plant! Kerry had a lovely pot planted for display. Several visitors signed up for the MG classes next year. Next date is June 18 8-12, when we will focus on Pesticides and Insecticides. The thought is to encourage "green solutions" before chemicals. Colletta Kosiba Chairman.
Master Gardener’s Booth at Farmers Market in June Pat speaking about containers
Signing up for Master Gardener Classes
Information specials Colletta Kosiba, Kerry Cates,
Robin Elizabeth Parsley, Pat Geer
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Getting to know you.. Donna Abshier Advanced Master Gardner
I became a master gardener because I love to have a beautiful yard and enjoy watching things grow. I really enjoy digging in the dirt; would much rather do yard work than house work! My passion is perennials and my vegetable garden.
I work full time at St Vincent Hospital as surgery scrub nurse. (18 yrs.) I dearly love my job as it keeps me on my toes. Technology is always changing in the O.R.. It is fast paced and never boring. My indoor passion is primitive rug hooking. I share this infatuation with my sister-in-law, Master Gardener Debbie Abshier. We often travel to camps, finding teachers that are expanding our talents. Plus, we have loads of fun!
We recently lost my dear dog Holly. We had her for 15 years. Our cat Tippy is 18 years old! We are trying to decide if we are ready for another puppy or not!
I was really inspired at Colletta's house to make yard art and have been working on making lots of creative pieces for my yard. I would like to learn to mosaic some things to put in my yard. Due to my heavy work load, I am unable to pursue all the activities in MG I would like to. You will see me more when I work less. I have learned so much between the classes and our meetings. Love to see what others are doing and enjoy the company of the many wonderful people that share my enthusiasm for gardening.
Donna setting up at Adventurers in Gardening
One of Donna’s photo contest winners
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The Indigo's blue-green foliage 2 to 3 feet in height resembles a small rounded bush. In June tall spikes of deep pea shaped blue flowers bloom above the foliage turning into large charcoal black pea pod shaped seed pods. The seed pods may be used in flower arrangements.
The Cherokees used the dry black leaves and pods as a source of blue dye, as did the European settlers. A root paste was used on tooth aches. With a long taproot, this tough native legume, fixes nitrogen in the soil and is very successful on poor soils. Blue false indigo was the 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year. A sun loving easy plant for the back of the bed.
Scarification: (need for seeds with hard seed coats to improve germination). Scrape the seed coats with a file, or rub the seeds between 2 sheets of coarse sandpaper. Another method would be to immerse the seeds in hot water letting them soak overnight as the water cools. Blue Wild Indigo has a hard seed coat.
Colletta Kosiba Master Naturalist, Master Gardener
Native Plant of the Month - Blue False Indigo Baptisia australis
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Field Trip to Munchkin Gardens
From Hosta to Hellebore and Trilliums to Tiarella, the gardens of Gene Bush are an inspiration, clothed in shades of green, and yellow with wonderful splashes of color!
On May 7th, a small band of Master Gardeners gathered together at the Complex and headed out for a pleasant drive to Munchkin Gardens located in Depauw, IN. Although threatened by rain showers, we were determined to enjoy the day, come rain or shine. It was fun to drive along and enjoy the leafed out trees and flower gardens dotted along our route. Progressing further south, we were treated to see the beautiful lime-stone cliffs along the highway and Indiana’s sinkhole region. Joe, fascinated with natural history, shared his knowledge about Oolitic limestone and the quarries that have produced the finest and most sought after stone. Massive buildings around the world have used Oolitic limestone in their construction. Another fasci-nating fact, following along Rt. 150, from Paoli towards Depauw, we drove parallel along what is known as the ―Buffalo Trace‖. It was the first travel path across southern Indiana, and was created by American Bison moving from the falls of the Ohio River where they came together to cross the river, and head out to summer pasture. The pathway stretched northwest to Vincennes where the Buffalo spread out to graze on the open prairies of Illinois. The Trace varied from 12-20 feet wide and had been in use for centuries, some places worn through solid rock to a depth of 12 feet.
We arrived at Munchkin Gardens at about 11:30 am and began our tour of the gardens with Gene. Armed with an encyclopedia of knowledge, Gene shared information about the many plantings in his numerous garden settings. A delight to the senses, we learned about shade plants, some common, and some unfamiliar to us. I was amazed to learn about the length of time it takes for a Trillium to grow from seed. It takes two years to germinate, then producing the tiniest of leaves; it takes approximately 7 years to come to bloom. It was wonderful to see the flow of the gardens and to learn how to place plants to get a stunning ef-fect. A new favorite of mine is Japanese Shade Grass that has a beautiful yellow color that drapes over hillsides or stone walls. The contrast with darker green hostas or other plants that are ―chocolate‖ colored is stunning. The information that we gleaned from this two hours of garden heaven was priceless. While we got a few sprinkles, it didn’t dampen our spirits, just our shoes and umbrellas and pine trees provided an on-ly brief need for protection.
Following our walk, we gathered in the greenhouse where a table was waiting for us as we all sat around discussing the plants, and asking Gene our own gardening questions. Joan, Gene’s other half, treated us to homemade cookies and Chocolate brownie cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing. Sorry that those who didn’t come along, had to miss that!
Munchkin Gardens have a huge volume of plants available to purchase and of course, we had a very good time selecting some beautiful plants to bring home to place in our own gardens. We filled our cars with our treasures and sadly had to leave. It was a very worthwhile visit and one that I would do again.
We traveled next to Commiskey, IN as we headed back home, and stopped at the Historic Steam Cliff Herb Farm. We only had a short time to stay, but the gardens were so quaint and fun to see and the amount of plants available was awesome. A few of us made some more purchases at this location and given more time, it would have been fun to explore more of what was there. It seems that there is no end to the possibili-ties that await us in the garden world.
Submitted by Debbie Ashby
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EDITOR’S REQUEST
Master Gardeners…..Please consider writing an article, or poem, or suggest a gardening book or
magazine article with a review, send recipes that pertain to the season, share your gardening ideas
or share photos of your own gardens with fellow members in the newsletter.
Please email copy to the editor no later than 4 days following the meetings.
Remember, this is your Newsletter! Thank you.
Pictures from Hendricks County Master Gardeners field trip to Munchkin Gardens
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Pictures from Hendricks County Master Gardeners field trip to Munchkin Gardens
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Weeding By Brenda Sinclair Sutton From the neighbor’s window my yard appears verdant. Green in a garden is good, right? Each day I stroll from the porch along the path up the drive. Each night I return, first sensing then spotting the weeds – thorns imitating roses, tares hiding near tendrils, clover cloaked as ground cover. Spring, summer, and fall spent bending, kneeling. There’s a right and a wrong way to weeding. Yank too hard, pull too soon in too-solid clay, and you’ll feel, then hear, that…pop...when the root snaps. Don’t cheer over what’s left in your hand – half the harm. Know that all too soon you’ll be down on sore knees again tugging at that very same snare. As in all things, timing, timing, timing... Enjoy the work. Take a rest. There’s no need to rush. Dandelions missed this morning, will be removed later when grown a tad taller, a scosh more conspicuous. Chickweed occupies patches of turf, but only by your leave. Grant no mercy, no leniency, no last minute Governor’s pardon. Expulsion from the garden is immanent. After all, this is your microcosm. So pick a dewy morning after water has worked its will. Push fingers through moist mulch. Track the trail from stem to root; inch to the base of the corm. Envelop the unsuspecting invader, then clench the cursed critter and lift it into momentary daylight. Toss the sorry remains into a yard waste tomb. Shed no tears for future compost. The same sense should apply to folks, to watch them for a while. Are they flowers? Are they frauds? Wrap your arms around them. Breathe in their subtle fragrance. Stay close until intent, the foliage of the soul, reveals itself. With patience petals and leaves unfurl exposing wastrels, identifying true shape and shade. I have such beautiful gardens.
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*****WANTED**********WANTED**************WANTED****
Looking for a weeping willow tree that can be transplanted, call Donna Mears at 317-837-1159
*****WANTED**********WANTED**************WANTED*****
**************************ANNOUNCEMENT********************
Lynn Cochran announced that we will need new Event Chairmen Volunteers for 2012 Gardening for
all ages Event. April 17 2012
They will be available with all their excellent records and Time –Tables
***************************ANNOUNCEMENT*******************
It is the policy of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service that all persons have equal opportunity and access to its educational programs, services, activities, and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, National origin or ancestry, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, disability or status as a veteran. Pur-due University is an Affirmative Action institution. This material may be available in alternative formats.
