I N S I D E TH I S I S S U E :
Coordinators Corner 2
Adkins’ Native Garden Tour
3
Flower Shows 4
Education Ops
Conference
Volunteer Ops
5
6
Bay-Wise Report 7
An Unexpected
Houseguest
What’s the Buzz?
8-9
10
Beekeepers Assoc.
Outside the
Garden Gate
Calendars
11
12
13
V O L U M E 1 8 , I S S U E 1 1 J A N U A R Y , 2 0 1 6
Debbie Pusey—207.5 hrs
Nick Stoer—114.5 hrs
Connie Metcalf—95.5 hrs
Nancy O’Connor—89 hrs
Liz Hammond—83 hrs
Patricia Bowell—77hrs
Denise Malueg—72.5 hrs
Cathy Tengwall—67.5 hrs
Lynn Wait—65.5 hrs
Margaret Gardner—56.25 hrs
Karen Iiplenski—51 hrs
*Shane Brill—50 hrs
Karen Wimsatt—48.5 hrs
Margaret Carter—46.5 hrs
Jane Smith—43 hrs
Laura Klinger—41 hrs
Susan Seth—39 hrs
*Robin VanMeter—38 hrs
Jim Persels—37.25 hrs
Pamela McClean—35.5 hrs
Barbara Flook—33.5 hrs
Louise Shearer—33.5 hrs
Betty McAtee—25.5 hrs
*Bob Macfarlane—25 hrs
Sabine Harvey—25 hrs
Fred Kurst—23.5 hrs
Judy Geggis—23.25
Lois Noonan—22 hrs
Jane Chambers—21.5 hrs
2015 Holiday Master Gardener Recognition Luncheon

P A G E 2 C
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Thank you all again for yet another year of growing and learning! I hope that this new year will be one of continued growth and renewal from both new and past members getting involved. As mentioned in our previous newsletter, this coming Spring we have several new projects and ideas in the works from a new community garden on Kent Island, to a new QAMG Pollinator Team, a summer weekend educational workshop and a Bay-Wise collaboration opportunity with QA
Parks & Rec open spaces. If at any time you have a new interest related to the MG mission or want to be involved, but not sure where to start you can always reach out to me and I’d be happy to help you find your way! Looking ahead to our January meeting, Intern Shane Brill will be giving a presentation on Permaculture. For a warm-up to this topic check out: http:// permacultureprinciples.com/
Many thanks again,
Molly
A
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P e o p l e t o k n o w P l a c e s t o s e e W o r d s t o r e a d
PITH + VIGOR (In print) became a reality in the fall of 2014.
The project was kicked off by a successful indiegogo campaign that pre-sold subscriptions and substantially exceeded the fundraising goal. Currently we are printing an issue every spring, summer, and fall. Back issues are available in the webshop.
Our stories aim to instill and inspire a romance and charm and cultural identity back into the practice of gardening and cultivating beauty – we believe it is something that we all kind of yearn for.
The P+V mission:
Celebrate native plants and regional landscapes.
Talk with real gardeners; share their stories.
Inspire planting design. Encourage bio-diversity by featuring interesting and lesser known plants.
Celebrate local artisans, designers, creatives, and writers.
Teach how to create gardens of all sorts – but most importantly gardens that reflect our own passions.
Connect readers with growers, makers, builders and each other.
Foster a sense of regional pride in local landscapes and the food and floral artistry that they generate.
Discuss trends, current events, news and issues of the day.
Challenge, entertain and re-imagine garden writing.
Subscribe here: http://pithandvigor.com/product/one-year-subscription-to-pith-vigor-usa/
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 3
A
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21, 2016
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This year's tour offers six private and rarely seen Kent County gardens that feature native plants and/or sustainable practices. Some of the highlights of this year's tour are a small garden in Chestertown that is packed with native plants; another small property in
Chestertown that features a xeriscape garden and a shed with a living roof; sustainable vegetable and fruit gardens; formal gardens with native plants; old, large native trees and shrubs; and very special woodland and waterfront gardens.
The tour is self-guided. The brochure includes garden descriptions, directions and a map.
Docents at each garden will help visitors identify unusual plants and special design elements.
LEASE CONTACT
LICE
ACNOW AT ALICEJEAN
NETZERO
NET OR
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VOLUNTEERING
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 4
The PHS Philadelphia Flower Show is an annual event at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in March.
It is the world’s oldest and largest indoor flower show, attracting more than 260,000 people annually.
The Show features large-scale gardens, elaborate landscapes, and over-the-top floral creations.
Visitors to the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show are treated to fabulous design, live entertainment, gardening how-to workshops, and lectures by experts. Show week begins with an exclusive black-tie
Preview Party, one of Philadelphia’s premier events. http://theflowershow.com/
Admission: $27
Show Hours
Friday, March 4 (PHS members preview) 12:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Saturday, March 5 (PHS members preview) 8:00 am - 11:00 am
Saturday, March 5 11:00 am - 9:00 pm
Sunday, March 6
Mon. - Fri., March 7-11
Saturday, March 12
Sunday, March 13
8:00 am - 9:00 pm
10:00 am - 9:00 pm
8:00 am - 9:00 pm
8:00 am - 6:00 pm
*All proceeds from ticket sales support the charitable work of PHS including City Harvest, feeding more than 1,200 families in need in Philadelphia.
Produced by the Virginia Horticultural Foundation and Pilot
Targeted Media, the Expo promotes horticultural education for everyone from professionals to the weekend enthusiast.
This is the one time each year when Hampton Roads residents can get information on virtually every aspect related to flowers and gardening, at a single climate-controlled location. Experts and knowledgeable professionals will be there to discuss plants, plans, products and practices. More than a hundred vendors, exhibitors and displayers provide guests countless ideas and products they can use. http://www.vafgs.org/
Admission: $10
Discounts: Pre-purchase, group and individual discounts available
Virginia Beach Convention Center
Friday, February 5 30, 2016 - 10am - 7pm
Saturday, February 6, 2016 - 10am - 7pm
Sunday, February 7, 2016 - 10am-5pm
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 5
O NLINE W ORKSHOPS 2016
Horticulture Magazine Garden How-To University http://www.hortmag.com/smart-gardening-workshops
C AN F OOD P RODUCTION AND A C LEAN C HESAPEAKE B AY C OEXIST ?
A panel discussion between farmers, environmentalists, and the public
Moderated by Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest
6:30 pm | November 19 | Decker Theater @ Washington College
We all want clean water and vibrant rivers. We all need food to survive, but farming practices are often blamed for the deterioration of the Chesapeake Bay. Can we have both?
Join us at 6:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 19 for a panel discussion by farmers, environmentalists, and local residents about challenges and successes in the effort to achieve a healthier Chesapeake Bay while continuing to produce food. The event is free and open to the public. The discussion will be driven by questions from the audience.
Panelists
Kim Coble – VP Environmental Protection and Restoration, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Annapolis, Md.
Judy Denver – Hydrologist, US Geological Survey, Dover, Del.
Trey Hill – Harborview Farms, Rock Hall, Md.
Jeff Horstman – Miles-Wye RIVERKEEPER ® , Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, Easton, Md.
Sean Jones – Jones Family Farm, Massey, Md.
Mike Twining – VP Sales and Marketing, Willard Agri-Service, Dover, Del.
O NE OF THE REGIONS LARGEST FARM AND FOOD GATHERINGS :
Enjoy Local Fair, Interest
Gatherings, Chesapeake Farm
Dinner, and a Photo Contest!
Interact during pre-conference, skill-building workshops for farmers and food lovers alike!
Experience SEVEN conference
For more information: tracks and THREE keynote speakers—something for everyone! http://futureharvestcasa.org/conference/program-preview
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 6
The Farmers Market is at Christ Church, 830 Romancoke Road (aka Route 8). We set the booth tables up at 3 to 3:15 pm to be ready for bugs, citizens, and damaged plants by
3:30 pm. We start knocking down the booth around 6 pm. Bring a beverage bottle to stay hydrated.
Next Plant Clinic: Thursday, January 14th
Please consider volunteering at YOUR MG table ONE day this year!
Nick Stoer 301- 219-9098 nickstoer@gmail.com
Cathy Tengwall 443-994-2523 cathy1542@gmail.com
Next committee meeting to be held directly following February’s monthly MG meeting on the 17th. All are encouraged to hang around and check all the work the committee has been doing to assemble a community garden starter kit. Come this Spring the committee will be working to revive a new community garden located in the Harborview neighborhood of Chester.
• Tuesday, February 23rd, 10-1pm, at Carroll County Extension office, Westminster
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Wednesday, July 27th, 10-1pm, at Center for Educational Partnership, Riverdale (tentative)
Tuesday, November 15th, 10-1pm at Baltimore City (tentative)
Caroline Co.- Saturday, January 23rd from 10am- 1pm at the Central Library-
Denton. The seed swap is followed by a pot-luck meal. http://www.carolib.org/content/central-library-denton
Kent Co.- Saturday, March 19 from 11:00am-1:00pm at the Kent County
Library in Chestertown. Call 410-778-3636 for more information.
Consider being a host or hostess for this years upcoming MG Basic Training. It’s a great way to obtain educational hours listening to the speaker and gain volunteer time by offering to bring drinks and yummy goodies! Contact Molly at mgarret1@umd.edu if there is a specific date or topic you would be interested in attending and helping!
February 11th—April 9th
(Chesapeake College Campus)
If you know of anyone interested in becoming a Master Gardener please encourage them to sign-up!
Contact: mgarret1@umd.edu or call 410-758-0166
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 7
2015 was a reorganizing year for the Bay-Wise committee. Meeting every other month after our regular monthly Master Gardener meetings, we established some guidelines for determining how to contact prospective homeowners.
After numerous concerns were voiced about homeowners backing out of consults because they were o ver whe l me d w it h th e in it i al information they received, we formed a small committee to revamp the letter that goes to the homeowners and determined that it would be better to just send out the Bay-Wise brochure with the letter rather than the Yardstick. The feedback from that change seems to be more positive. We’ll see how that helps us in 2016.
We did 7 consults with 6 of them certifications this past year. We hope our revised information will draw more interest in our program.
In November, a Bay-Wise Advanced Training course was held in Queen Anne’s
County at the Wye Research and Education Center in Queenstown. This course was well attended by both Queen Anne’s and Talbot County Master Gardeners.
We now have 8 new Bay -Wise certified Master Gardeners in QAC as well the 7 who took the course as a refresher. After two full days of classes, the training ended with a site certification visit. Shane Brill volunteered his property for our final class site visit.
What an educational and fascinating visit that was! In the eight years that Shane has lived in his current residence, he has taken a property that had only two trees, one in front and one in back, and developed multiple gardens throughout the front, back and side yards. His goal is to have all gardens and no lawn, with only pathways between gardens. Have you heard of Permaculture? None of us attending this site visit, including me, had heard of it before. As we walked around
Shane’s yard, he educated us on how the various plants in each of his gardens are helping each other. Of course Shane passed with flying colors. Shane will be our featured speaker on Permaculture at our monthly meeting in January. Plan to attend because it will change how you think about what plants you place together in your gardens.
Moving forward, we know there are many new interns and recently recognized
MG’s from the class of 2014 that have not had their gardens Bay -Wise certified.
One of our goals for the coming year will be to have as many of them certified as possible.
Our committee meetings and site visits are open to all MG’s, but you must be Bay -
Wise certified to lead a visit. Please plan to get involved in this very worthwhile program. Our first meeting in 2016 will be after our regular monthly meeting in
January.
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 8
Our Christmas miracle almost turned into a
New Year's nightmare.
While walking around our yard with my husband
Dave Kyger, on Christmas afternoon, we noticed a wrinkly monarch, freshly hatched from a chrysalis. We left town the following day, so bid our farewells, hoping there would be enough warm days and nectar flowers along his flight down the East Coast.
To our surprise, upon our return two days later, we found that monarch still where we'd last seen him. It had been rainy, but unseasonably warm in that time. So I encouraged the monarch onto a water-logged branch and walked around the yard to show him all the flowers oddly in bloom. He had his choice of hellebore, zinnia, violet, primula and borage. He did not show interest in any of them. At this time, I noticed he had a tear in his right wing, which I speculated may be why he hadn't flown away. I left him on the borage, near the back door... where I noticed him every time I looked outside to see if it was still raining. It was. And he was still clinging to the borage, seemingly unaware of what he should be doing. I could see he was withering away, saggy and soggy.
Wednesday, five days after our friend hatched, I happened to hear a radio blurb with a monarch scientist, Dr. Lincoln Brower. He's studied monarchs for more than 50 years. So I emailed him! He replied that evening, and said that it was unlikely our guy would reach Mexico, but we could bring him indoors and feed him with a mixture of 1 teaspoon sugar dissolved in ½ cup of water, soaked onto a paper napkin. He went on to write, “Take a tooth pick and holding the wings between you thumb and forefinger, let the butterfly feet touch the napkin and uncoil the proboscis until it touches the wet napkin. It should drink. Needs to be warm under a lamp. Let drink of about one and a half minutes.
Wash its feet and put back in a cage.”
So at 8:45p, Monty the Monarch moved indoors, into a mesh butterfly enclosure we just happened to have. He perked right up after feeding, and was quite active. The tear in his wing prevents flight, so he flaps around and crawls on the mesh of the enclosure. But mostly he is still and calm.
We decorated his space with hellebore flowers in a clay saucer filled with pebbles and water, some feathery fennel and some stems of Monty's familiar borage – stuck thru a slit in the top of a plastic lid of a container filled with water to keep it fresh. Sometimes we soaked a fennel stem with the sugar water and allowed Monty to investigate that with his tongue. We added a couple sticks for exercise, but they don't seem to interest him as much as sugar.
A week later, and after several online searches, we decided to try fruit. Turns out Monty loves mango!
He seems to like pear even better, since he's been cuddled up next to a slice all day. So much for following the scientist's advice of feeding for 1.5 minutes, and washing his feet afterward..... The fruit is changed daily, because it will ferment! Monty uncurls his proboscis by himself now, when he tastes the fruit through the pads of his front feet.
Sto ry c ontinu es on n e xt pag e...
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 9
Monarchs do not usually live long. Summer monarchs may only live a couple weeks. For instance, female monarchs mate, take as much as a few days to lay 100-200 eggs individually, and then die. But this Fall generation of monarchs live the longest – months – they fly all the way to Mexico to overwinter, and in early Spring mate and die, leaving three more generations to finally reach us on the
Eastern Shore.
Monty got a really late start. It is not unusual to find some monarchs hatching late. I read of “late hatches” in November in Texas. Our guy is really outside the bounds. There is some research underway at the University of GA with regards to migration and infectious diseases. Could the increased availability of tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) impact late migration? Or is late migration due to the increased incidence of the Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) disease which is easily spread by monarch larvae through the tropical milkweed? Don't know yet.
But I do know that we grew a lot of A. curassavica in our yard this year, simply because it does flower so late into the Fall. There was some suggestions in literature that OE would die off in cold winters, so tropical milkweed would be safe to grow in our region as an annual, whereas gardeners in FL, TX, the
Gulf Coast and southern CA are cautioned against growing it to curb the spread of OE because the plants do not die back. Dave & I do grow two native varieties of Asclepias, but those flowers are long gone in the Fall, and we wanted to fill the gap for the migrating butterflies. This was a banner year for monarchs in our yard, but we may need to rethink our cultivation of A. curassavica.
In the meantime, we will enjoy our unexpected house guest, Monty the Monarch, for as long as he will be with us. We would rather he die of old age than freezing temperatures.
Want know more about monarchs, butterflies and other pollinators?
Check out these sites: http://www.monarchwatch.org/ http://www.xerces.org/ http://monarchlab.org/ http://www.monarchparasites.org/
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 1 0
Are You Prone to Proselytize on Pollinators?
On December 11, 2015, I attended the first state wide MG meeting about pollinators & natural enemies. Arranged by the state MG coordinator,
Jon Traunfeld, and hosted by the Baltimore County
Master Gardeners – their P&NE team is referred to as the Pollen Nation – this meeting brought together many counties to exchange ideas and shine a spotlight on the importance of preserving pollinators and using natural enemies to the gardener's advantage in home landscapes, thus avoiding the use of synthetic controls. With the decline in pollinators already in the headlines, the need for a dedicated team in the master gardener corps may be helpful to field questions from the public.
At this first meeting, info regarding what counties are already doing to reach out to the public on this topic was exchanged, and Traunfeld asked that c o u n t i e s s h a r e t h e i r m a t e r i a l s ( h a n d o u t s , presentations, etc.) with him so he may distribute to MG offices for their use (we don't need to re -invent the wheel). Mike Raupp, PhD, from UMD -Dept of
Entomology, discussed the decline of bees and the double lives of pollinators which makes the use of the term “Good Bugs & Bad Bugs” a misnomer; all bugs have a place in the world. He stressed that pollinators are in peril, and that their health helps make our landscapes more sustainable, so everyone has a stake in preserving their habitat. Current research about bees found on eight groups of plants was presented by Olivia Bernauer, a graduate student of Raupp's, who will continue the research at least two more years (budget constraints prevent her from including counties on the Eastern Shore). Her study in Maryland carries forward similar studies conducted in California, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, and will contribute valuable data to the understanding of the national bee population.
The meeting ended with a discussion of the future of a statewide MG Pollinator &
Natural Enemies program. It's a shoestring budget, at best, for now, but everyone agreed that advanced training about natural enemies should be developed for master gardeners (either independently scheduled or held at the annual training day) and that the Home & Garden Info Center (HGIC) should provide detailed descriptions and identification tools of beneficial insects. Already available on the
HGIC website are 20 Recommended Native Plants for Maryland to guide home gardeners in building the diversity of pollinator populations. Traunfeld concluded that pollinators cross the three ubiquitous MG programs: Grow It! Eat It!, Bay
Wise, and IPM. These three programs are a good place to tie in a new Pollinator &
Natural Enemies initiative.
If you would like to build a Pollinator & Natural Enemies program within our own
QACMG group, please let me know ( d.malueg@gmail.com ). We will meet (soon!) to discuss how we can help the public better understand the importance of preserving pollinators and embracing natural enemies.
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 1 1
Michael Embrey is offering a beginning beekeeping classes in both Talbot and Kent
County (same classes, separate locations). There will be a total of seven classes, the first five of will be held every other week until April. The two final sessions will be held in August and September. These sessions will teach how to winterize your hives and how to protect your bees from diseases and pests.
You will learn…..
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About bees, in general
About beekeeping equipment
How and where to set up and establish a hive, i.e. location, wind, etc.
How to use a smoker
How to hive a package of bees
About “b” pests and diseases
About winterizing your bees
How to manage your colonies
Honey Bee Union Rules
Registration fee is $125.00. Recommended textbook: “The Beekeeper’s Handbook, Fourth
Edition” by Diana Sammataro
For more information or to register contact the following people:
Talbot County (Easton)
Saturdays. Starting date: January 23, 9 until noon
Pam Chollet, 410-822-1244 or pchollet@umd.edu
Kent County (Chestertown)
Thursdays. Starting date, January 28, 7-9pm
Mike Wham, (302) 354-3150 or MLWham@gmail.com
The next meeting of the
Beekeepers Association will be on
Wednesday, January 13 at 6:30pm at the Kent County Library, yellow building. Cindy King will lecture on bee friendly plants, trees, and shrubs as well as native plants.
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

P A G E 1 2
A DKINS A RBORETUM P ROGRAMS & E VENTS C https://adkinsarboretumorg.presencehost.net/programs_events/calendar/2015/12
A N O RCHID E XTRAVAGANZA
January 23—March 27 http://longwoodgardens.org
For more information, call (610) 388-1000
ALENDAR
M T . C UBA C ENTER C LASSES & L ECTURES http://www.mtcubacenter.org/education/continuing-education/
http://issuu.com/mtcubacenter/docs/fawi15_program_guide?e=14731861/14447371
T H E W A T E R I N G C A N

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MANTS, Baltimore Convention Center
13 Beekeepers
Meeting, 6:30pm,
Chestertown
14 KI Plant Clin15 16 ic, 3:30-6:30pm
Future Harvest CASA Conference, Hyattsville
20 Monthly MG
Meeting, 9:30am,
Centreville
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27 28 Beekeeping
101, 7-9pm,
Kent County
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10 Beekeepers
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Chestertown
11 KI Plant Clinic, 3:30-6:30pm
MG intern
Training, 5:30
17 Monthly MG
Meeting, 9:30am,
Centreville
18 MG intern
Training, 5:30-
8:30
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24 25 MG intern
Training, 5:30-
8:30
13 MG intern
Training, 9-12:00
20 MG intern
Training, 9-12:00
26 Kent Horticulture Lecture
Series, 10am
27 MG intern
Training, 9-12:00

University of Maryland Extension
505 Railroad Avenue, Suite 4
Centreville MD, 21617
Phone: (410) 758-0166
Fax: (410) 758-3687 http://extension.umd.edu/queen-annescounty/about
QACMG Website: http://extension.umd.edu/queen-annescounty/home-gardening
Master Gardener Coordinator,
Queen Anne’s County
The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity and expression. Equal opportunity employers and equal access programs.
University of Maryland Extension
Queen Anne’s County
505 Railroad Ave.
Suite 4
Centreville, MD 21617