Charles County Master Gardeners
University of Maryland Extension
Charles County Office
9375 Chesapeake Street, Suite 119
La Plata Maryland 20646
University of Maryland Extension programs are
open to all citizens without regard to race,
color, gender, disability, religion, age, sexual
orientation, marital or parental status, or
national origin.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE OF THE COMPOST
THE COMPOST
Published quarterly by the Charles County Master Gardeners
University of Maryland Extension, Charles County Office, 9375
Chesapeake Street, Suite 119, La Plata, MD 20646
Phone: 301-934-5403—301-753-8195
Cindi Barnhart
Jessica Milstead
Betsy Parbuoni
Brenda Elmore
Terry Thir
Carol Teets
Janet McGrane
Elaine Miller
Anna Haugh
Larry Martin
Gale Kladitis
Karol Dyson
Editor
Copy Editor
PDF Editor
Writer
Writer
Writer, Mail
Calendar
Mail
Mail
Mail
Writer, Mail
Advisor
Cover: Marcia Wakefield displays the Honorary Master Gardener apron
presented to her by the Charles County Master Gardeners at her
appreciation luncheon September 20, 2012.
FALL 2012
Marcia... You Will Be Sorely Missed
Dear Marcia,
How sad it is to say “au revoir” after seven years of your tender loving
care to the Charles County Master Gardeners. We won’t say “good-bye”
because we hope you’ll remain part of the life of our organization.
Where would we be without your guidance through the rabbit holes of
rules and regulations required to keep us in compliance? Your ability to
teach each and every one of us to do for ourselves will serve us well
and reflect on your unique skills as you leave us. Not having you greet
us every day with needed information and our endless questions will
leave a void not easily filled. You have offered friendship and kindness
to each of us and watched as we come and go and grow. The growth
has been in large part to your skilled contributions and invaluable assistance to the training program, the record keeping, and membership.
Your grace under fire has been demonstrated daily and appreciated by
all. Still, knowing you are doing something that will make you happy
will make our adjustment easier.
WE LOVE YOU MARCIA!
Charles County Master Gardeners
2
FALL 2012
Marcia… You Will Be Sorely Missed
2
Master Gardeners at the Charles County Fair
3
Memorial Garden in La Plata Offers Hours
4
Projects
The Newsletter is Looking for a New Editor
5
Jude House: Garden Planning is Scheduled for Spring
6
Waldorf Farmers Market: Sweet Potato Baskets
and Salad Boxes
6
Bay-Wise Advanced Training Course
7
Each Site Visit is a Learning Experience
8
Detention Center: Summer Planted Garden Yields
Tasty Fall
9
Charles County Family Recovery & Juvenile
Drug Court
10
Project Briefs
11
Fall / Winter Events
12
Wanted: Copy Editing For The Compost
13
Bug Day Request for Input
13
Book Review: Good Book About Native Plants
14
The Magical Garden a Few Months Later
15
Advanced Training Course on Shade Trees
17
AHS River Farm Tour: Great Day of Learning
18
Master Gardener T-Shirts for Sale
19
Woody Plants Certification Awarded
20
How Does Your Garden Grow?… With Turtles All in a Row! 21
Submit articles, photos, reports, and other items to Cindi Barnhart by December 1,
2012 for publication in the Winter 2013 newsletter. Submit calendar items to Janet
McGrane by December1, 2012. Articles and pictures may also be submitted at any
time for future publication.
23
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia
September 20, 2012
Master Gardeners at the Charles County Fair
By Bob Peregoy, Intern
At the Charles County Fair, September 13 through 16, 2012, the
Master Gardeners hosted two information booths. Our main
booth, located in the Flower
building, won a second place red
ribbon for education. It displayed
photos of Master Gardener volunteer landscaping projects, along
with many brochures from the
University of Maryland Extension
on topics as diverse as Lyme disease, Bay-Wise yardstick, poison
ivy, nutrient management and its
effects on the Chesapeake Bay,
and the Grow-it Eat-it program.
We also had a second, smaller
display in the Drury (canning)
building, displaying many of the
same brochures.
The display in the Flower building is
being staffed by Bob Eppley and Intern
Bob Peregoy.
Mary Cocke, Terry Thir and Neal Johnson at our MG display with new Ask A
Our membership provided over
Master Gardener tablecloth in the Drury
Photos by Cindi Barnhart
100 hours of volunteer community building.
We will miss
you!
22
service staffing these booths,
welcoming the fair-going public,
and answering questions on a
wide variety of gardening topics.
Special thanks to Mary Beth Chandler, Mary Cocke, Bob Eppley,
Mary Grant, Millie Head, Neal
Johnson, Sheila Kristiensen, Jan
Lakey-Waters, Dave Lewis, Laura
Meffley, Lin Murray, Doris Santimays, Pauline Spurlock, Terry
Thir, and Karen Westhead, for
their great volunteer efforts. Oth-
er Master Gardeners were working
at various other booths and buildings throughout the fair on other
projects, or had flower, canning,
or fine arts entries in the fair. Congratulations to all.
3
How Does Your Garden Grow?
With Turtles All in a Row!
Star Memorial Garden
Ongoing
Contact: Sherie Zimmer/Dianne Shisler
Memorial Garden in La Plata
By Mary Beth Chandler, Class of 2003
The Star Memorial Garden, 3 Firehouse Street in La Plata, is a
great opportunity for community
service hours for Master Gardeners. It is a small “pocket” garden
that is forever changing with each
season. The garden is owned by
the Town of La Plata and maintained by the La Plata Garden
Club, many of whom are Master
Gardeners, along with a wonderful Melwood crew for grass cutting and mulching. Like all gardens, it takes a good deal of TLC,
weeding and feeding to keep it in
pristine condition for visitors.
Photo by Cindi Barnhart
Star Memorial Garden in July 2012.
station and rescue squad in the
town and is now the Charles
County Firehouse Museum.
Master Gardeners Sherie Zimmer
and Dianne Shisler maintain the
work schedule for the garden
from April through September,
rotating from week to week
throughout the season. If you are
interested in working in the garden for your service hours, contact Sherie or Dianne and they
will give you more details. All
willing gardeners are welcome!
Finding the garden is a lesson in
taking time to look up. You can
see the town Star from Charles
Street looking south; just follow
the Star and you are there. The
Star is not as high in the air as it
was prior to the tornado of 2002,
when it rested on the top of the
original water tower that was
destroyed. This site was selected
for the garden because the property is the home of the first fire
By Beth Bonifant , Class of 2003
We have nearly 20 acres on the
Potomac River so it amuses me
that the turtle chose my flower
garden for her nursery. The garden is approximately 200' from
the river. That's a long way for
tiny turtles. I'm sure I'll never get
to see if and when they hatch,
though I always patrol the area. I
hope the abundant osprey and
Bald Eagles are equally oblivious
when the time comes.
Yes, I know gardens are full of
life and soil gives birth to seeds
but something else entirely is
growing in my garden now. One
morning at the end of July when I
went out to the garden to "tweak"
a few things I discovered a Diamond Back Terrapin in the act of
laying eggs. After using her back
legs to push a blanket of earth
over her future offspring she
promptly headed back to the Potomac River and dove right in. I
never saw her surface again.
Life began in a garden. I think I've
heard that somewhere before.
Editor’s note:
According to Wikipedia... The eggs usually hatch in 60–85 days, depending on the temperature and the depth of the nest. Hatchlings usually
emerge from the nest in August and September, but may overwinter in
the nest after hatching. Beth's turtle eggs were laid late in the season!
Left: Photo taken by Beth Bonifant of the turtle in her garden laying eggs.
Right: Wikipedia illustration of top (carapace) and bottom shell.
4
21
Woody Plants Certification Awarded
By Carol Teets, class of 2003
In June 2012 I completed the final
class in the course of study required to receive the Woody
Plants Certification through the
University of Maryland Extension.
This is a Master Gardener Level II
course of study, comprised of 5
classes of 9 hours each. The required classes are Evergreen Trees
and Shrubs, Plant Taxonomy, Flowering Shrubs, Shade Trees, and
Ornamental Trees and Vines.
The classes were held at the Charlotte Hall Library and I started in
2007. The focus of each of these
classes was to identify the trees,
shrubs, and vines by training the
eye to recognize their similarities
and differences. We learned to
examine the leaves, bark, and
their fruiting/ flowering characteristics through careful examination.
Then in Master Gardener tradition
we were tested.
In addition to classroom study
each of these classes included a
field trip. Three of the classes
included a trip to the National
Arboretum and another was as
simple as taking a walk around
the Charlotte Hall Library. It was
amazing to experience the landscape through trained eyes.
Although this training takes approximately five years to complete, I encourage all Master Gardeners to pursue this certification. The key is to take advantage
of the classes when they are hosted in the tri-county area. If you
have any questions concerning
this educational opportunity feel
free to speak to Carol Teets,
Sherie Zimmer or Dianne Shisler.
Sherie and Dianne completed
their certification in 2009.
Two levels of training are offered:
Level I, or continuing education training, will consist of short
courses, ranging from a one hour course to an entire day devoted
to a single topic.
Level II training will be much more in-depth, and will consist of
approximately 6-24 hours or more of training on a single topic.
20
The Compost Newsletter
Ongoing
Contact: Cindi Barnhart
The Newsletter is Looking for a New Editor
By Cindi Barnhart, Class of 2003
Editor/Publisher
stamp on the newsletter using
your own expertise and ideas.
I have been editing and composing the newsletter since 2008 and
now I am stepping away from the
job. My last issue will be the Winter 2013 edition, which will go
out in January of 2013. I am willing to assist the person taking up
the challenge of providing this
informative and well-received
publication to the Charles County
Master Gardeners.
I thank all the people who have
assisted me by editing, furnishing
photos, writing articles, assembling the newsletter and simply
helping with any task I asked of
them. I have asked the current
staff to stay on and assist the
new editor and all have agreed.
I look forward to hearing from
and working with the new Editor/
Publisher. Please contact me so
we can start working together to
make the transition.
I have enjoyed my chance to hold
the reins and steer this marvelous outreach vehicle.
The format need not stay as a
booklet and you can put your
MG Steering Chair’s Note:
of jobs to allow the information
to exchange and flow in an enjoyable manner. This tradition
must be maintained and I am
sure there are MGs or Interns who
will volunteer to learn the process before our editor’s final issue in January of 2013.
The “Crown Jewel” of the
Charles County Master Gardeners
must continue! This is a golden
opportunity for those of you with
writing skills and editorial
knowhow to gain a wealth of experience and have fun at the
same time. Perhaps we could
have co-editors or a combination
Think About It! And Then Act!
5
Jude House
Ongoing
Contact: Carol Teets
Garden Planning is Scheduled for Spring
AHS FARM (Continued from page 18)
scribes is a massive, gnarled Osage
orange tree (Maclura pomifera).
This tree measured 58 feet tall
with an average crown spread of
more than 90 feet and has been
recognized as the largest Osage
orange in the United States by
the National Register of Big Trees
in 2011, and is estimated to be
200 years old.
By Carol Teets, Class of 2003
Hopefully by spring a designated
area will have the soil amended
and we can plan this garden with
the management staff.
We were contacted by Jude House
in Bel Alton, to help them plan
and implement a Serenity Garden.
Jude House is an addiction treatment center and they feel a garden would be beneficial to their
clients.
Photo from American Horticultural Society website of Osage orange at River Farm
Waldorf Farmers Market
Ongoing
Contact: Gale Kladitis
Sweet Potato Baskets and Salad Boxes
By Gale Kladitis, Class of 2008
and printed the instructions for
distribution. Even though it
rained, the true hearts of Charles
County still came out and our table had a pretty good business.
There were a lot of questions on
container gardening and how productive they really can be. However, with the photo instructions
demonstrating the yield, it was
self-explanatory. The Master Gardeners were asked to set up a
table on September 29 at the
same location. This time we had
salad boxes to demonstrate.
The Charles County Master Gardeners were asked to partner
with the St. Mary’s County Extension office in a nutrition table for
the Waldorf Farmers Market on
Saturday, August 25. St Mary’s
nutritionist, Lait Mackey, would
offer literature and recipes, with
examples of vegetables, particularly sweet potatoes. The Master
Gardeners would introduce proper planting techniques and methods of care required to grow the
potatoes. I took a sweet potato
basket; Cindi Barnhart designed
6
Master Gardener T shirts
Please contact Terry Thir
CC Master Gardener women's polo-shirts for sale
(Med, Large, XL)-$23
(2XL)-$24
Available at the Extension Office
"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth,
and no culture comparable to that of the garden."
Thomas Jefferson, 1811
The native shrub pictured on page 16?
Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora )
Ideal for under planting in woodlands or for use in
shrub borders and large masses. These grow 8 to 12
feet high and 8 to 15 feet wide.
Photo by Beth Bonifant
19
AHS River Farm Tour: Great Day of Learning
By Millie Head, Intern
to be used for environmental sustainability. We visited one of the
oldest trees of its type in the
USA. [See Editor’s Note below.]
Its huge trunk and limbs spread
out to form a great shaded area.
We could see where cables held
up the limbs to prevent breakage.
And that was only one of the issues involved in keeping this tree
alive!
On August 17 nine Master Gardeners toured the gardens at River
Farm, the headquarters of the
American Horticultural Society, in
Alexandria, VA. Joining me on
this trip were Anne Gillespie, Cindi Barnhart, Janet McGrane,
Celine McLaughlin, Mary Grant,
Mary Beth Chandler, Dianne
Shisler and Pauline Spurlock.
Mary Grant and Anne Gillespie
served as our drivers.
Other sights included the children's garden and butterfly garden, and a garden with wrought
iron gates at the entrance. The
gates were brought to River Farm
from the White House, but
there’s a mystery as to exactly
how they happened to be placed
on the grounds of River Farm.
Our last stop, the gift shop, was
very tempting, and some of us
gave in.
Sylvia Shmeichel, our tour guide,
started us off with an introductory presentation in the Parlor,
where there was a fantastic view
of the front porch, the gardens
on the grounds below, and the
Potomac River.
Our outdoor tour began with the
colorful plantings at the front
entrance. Afterward we visited
the Meadow, filled with various
ornamental grasses and perennials. Sylvia described the burning
of the Meadow, one of the tasks
that maintains the Meadow and
contributes to eliminating invasive plants.
We finished our field trip at the
Town Mouse in La Plata, with a
lively discussion of various Master
Gardener activities.
The Green Garage has this name
because of its green roof, covered with grasses. It features the
proper choices of tools, equipment, materials and techniques
Bay-Wise
Ongoing
Contact: Ronda Goldman
Bay-Wise Advanced Training Course
By Ronda R. Goldman, Class of 2006
Charles County Bay-Wise Coordinator
October 10, 17, 19, 2012
9:30 am – 3:30 pm
The Charles County Master Gardeners will be hosting an advanced
training course in October 2012. The Bay-Wise program is designed to
equip Master Gardeners with the skills to evaluate, consult, and certify landscapes within the state of Maryland. Please join us for three
days of cutting-edge knowledge and field experiences that will give
you the tools to impact your county’s streams, rivers, and lakes, as
well as the Chesapeake Bay.
Master Gardeners and Interns are invited to participate and the fee is
$45.00. Current Bay-Wise Master Gardeners may also re-take the
course for free, but must bring their original homework notebook.
The course will be held at the Charles County Extension Office, 9375
Chesapeake Street, Suite 119, La Plata, MD 20646.
If you are interested, please respond by October 1, 2012 with a check
made payable to Charles County EAC. Send the check and registration
form to the extension office at the above address.
We hope to see you there!
BAY-WISE ADVANCED TRAINING COURSE
Registration Form
Watch for a notice about the next
garden tour, planned for May
2013.
NAME: ____________________________________________________________
Editors note:
ADDRESS: _________________________________________________________
The very large tree Millie de(Continued on page 19)
COUNTY: ___________________
_________________________________________________________
PHONE: ____________________________(H) _________________________(C)
EMAIL: ____________________________________________________________
18
7
MG Advanced Training Course on Shade Trees
By Danielle Webber, Class of 2008
Site Visits
Ongoing
Contact: Jessica Milstead
Each Site Visit is a Learning Experience
By Mary Beth Chandler, Class of 2003
The site visits this season have
been very diverse. There is much
to be considered when we visit a
property if we are to aid homeowners in achieving their gardening goals. New properties are
generally the biggest challenge -dealing with Maryland clay and
convincing the property owner
that it is essential to prepare and
amend the soil before any successful planting can take place.
This makes the difference of
whether the plant is going to survive, thrive or die. Dianne Shisler
tries to explain that good soil and
good bones are the foundation of
any garden, but most homeowners want instant gratification.
What are the water sources, do
they need drought and deer resistant shrubs, full sun or shade,
and what is the budget? For instance, one homeowner was interested in landscaping around his
swimming pool but on a limited
budget because the installation
cost of the pool exceeded his expectations.
Then there are the older homes
with overgrown shrubs and depleted lawns looking for a
facelift. What do you keep and
what do you purge, and can you
integrate the two?
Beth Bonifant and I recently
worked with a gardening friend
who wants to re-establish an old
perennial garden. This was a
challenge because we were crossing age differences of about 15
years. Beth is youthful and is
known to garden at night with a
miner’s hat, while the homeowner is a senior citizen. We had to
come up with a plan that was
easy on the back and low mainte-
How the property will be used
must be discussed with the home
owner. Are they looking to develop a formal garden, a cutting garden, perennial garden, vegetable
garden and/or outdoor living
space? Are there children who
need a recreation area or do they
want low maintenance with quiet
serenity for weekend pleasure?
A shade tree is any tree that gives
shade, Wanda MacLachlan, Extension Environmental Educator, explained in the first session of
Shade Trees, a section of the MG
Advanced Training Course in
Landscape Horticulture. I signed
up for the course, not with the
intention of getting my certification in Landscape Horticulture,
but to be able to identify the
trees in my yard when I walk
through the woods. This threesession class not only made me
capable of identifying the trees in
my yard, but also trees all over
the region. I now know which
type of trees to plant and where.
The class culminated with a field
trip to Historic London Town and
Gardens. There we were able to
identify about 20 of the shade
trees we had studied. I was the
first one in the class to identify
the Carya illinoiensis - the Pecan
tree. We also got to see the tallest tree in Anne Arundel County,
a specimen of Quercus phellos –
the Willow Oak. This tree is also
thought to be the tallest tree in
Maryland.
This class was interesting and fun
for serious horticulturists and
those of us like myself who are
simply tree enthusiasts. I encourage everyone not only to attend
advanced training in Charles
County but in other areas of Maryland too.
We studied about 45 shade trees,
their identifying characteristics,
how to distinguish between confusing look-alikes, and their cultural requirements and use in the
landscape.
Another Advanced Training Certification Program
Plant Diagnostics Certification
You will need to take 4 courses:
● Plant Diseases
● Entomology
● Ask an MG Practicum
● Plant ID/Taxonomy
Courses for each can be taken in any order.
(Continued on page 16)
8
17
MAGICAL
All in all, our magical garden was
a great adventure that gave our
family great pleasure and pride.
The grandkids are already talking
about what we will plant next
year!
(Continued from page 15)
Toward the end of the hot summer, I also discovered bottom
end rot on some of my plants. As
a novice, many valuable lessons
were learned from our garden.
Charles County Detention Center
Horticultural Education
Contact: Gale Kladitis
Summer-Planted Garden Yields Tasty Fall
By Gale Kladitis, Class of 2008
SITE VISITS (Continued from page 8)
nance, while providing lots of color
from spring to fall with no moonlight weeding.
Each homeowner and property has
a different personality and each
site visit is a learning experience.
If you would like to get involved in
the site visit project send an email
to Jessica Milstead.
P.S. from Jessica: It’s not always
landscaping as Mary Beth has de-
scribed. She has taken on a lot of
those visits, while I focus on
problems such as “My dogwoods
are dying. Why, and how can I fix
the problem?” “Or, what are
these funny-looking white things
all over the stems of my cherished shrub?” What adds to the
interest of requests like these is
that it never stops there. There’s
always a lot of “While you’re
here…” that usually involves
broader landscaping issues. So do
contact me if you’re interested
hopeful these new crops will
flourish as well as the earlier
crops did. The vegetable garden
just seems to get better with
each year; we sampled the watermelons at the end of the first
class. It was a treat to watch the
students enjoy fresh fruit from
the garden. The fall classes will
continue through October 18 with
the assistance of the project coleader, Dave Lewis. Many thanks
to all of the Master Gardener volunteers for making this project
such a joy.
Our fall horticulture sessions for
inmates started on Wednesday,
September 5. We were based in
the garden. Even though our
spring sessions ended on June 20,
we continued to visit the garden
every Wednesday to monitor progress and to help harvest the vegetables. And what a harvest this
year! We did especially well with
peppers. With the new students
we did an introduction to the
garden; harvested the watermelons, peppers, and tomatoes; and
planted the cold crops. We’re
Photos by Gale Kladitis
Can you identify this plant? Turn to page 19 to see if you are right.
16
Above are sweet basil, tomatillos, jalapeños, yellow squash, tomatoes, zucchini
cherry tomatoes, and cherry peppers grown in the Detention Center garden this
year as well as the lovely watermelons displayed on the right by Sally Hopp.
9
The Magical Garden a Few Months Later
By Terry Thir, Class of 2010
Charles County Family Recovery & Juvenile Drug Court
August 9, 2012
Contact: Gale Kladitis
By Gale Kladitis, Class of 2008
salad for an estimated 60 to 70
people. Since it was a fund raiser,
Cindi Barnhart and I joined in to
help and enjoy lunch. The group
was so large that three more tables were needed to seat everybody. A lovely program was presented with former Redskins player, Rod Milstead, as guest speaker. Karol Dyson and Emily Ferren
were in charge of the silent auction and “yes”, you guessed it,
Cindi and I did not leave empty
handed. I look forward to the
third annual luncheon and see a
need for a bigger space to hold it
in their future.
The Charles County Family Recovery & Juvenile Drug Court held
their second annual luncheon on
August 9 at the Holiday Inn Express in La Plata. Our Director,
Karol Dyson, who is a member of
the Steering Committee for the
organization, sent a request to
the Master Gardeners for fresh
garden vegetables because the
Extension Office had been asked
to donate the salad.
The only item we had to purchase
was the lettuce; the rest was
available from our gardens. The
Extension employees busied
themselves happily making the
Editor’s note:
Problem-solving courts respond to
the underlying problems that
bring certain people into court—
drug or alcohol addiction, mental
illness, and/or family or personal
issues. Charles County Circuit
Court’s rigorous programs combine ongoing judicial oversight
with intensive treatment and supervision. Participation in either
program is voluntary.
10
The programs identify appropriate persons and place them under
ongoing judicial monitoring, drug
and/or alcohol testing and community supervision, coupled with
effective, long-term treatment
services. National research shows
drug courts are successful and
cost effective for dealing with
drug-addicted offenders in the
criminal justice system.
Our beautiful garden gave the
family such pleasure! Every day,
we would go into the garden to
see how it had grown, what vegetables were ready to harvest, and
whatever surprises it offered.
We had an abundance of zucchini, yellow squash, and cucumbers. Our four tomato plants
were thriving and lots of jelly
bean and grape tomatoes were
ripening. My grandchildren were
so excited when they would come
to visit. It was our ritual for the
kids to put on their Dora and Diego gloves and go into the garden
to help grandma. The kids were
really excited and proud to help
me pick the vegetables.
One day when we entered the
garden, we discovered that
something had been eating our
tomatoes. Upon close inspection,
we discovered a bright green
worm about the size of one of my
fingers on the tomato plants. We
ran back to the house to get our
bug jar and clippers. The boys
were excited about the cool bug;
however, my two year old granddaughter just looked at it and
said “ooh.” Afterwards, we went
inside the house to research on
the computer to determine exactly what was this giant worm!
Yes, it was a green Hornworm
(really a caterpillar)! It then became my daily ritual to take the
bug jar to the garden to remove
any other unwanted bugs and save
them so the grandkids could see
them at their next visit. I discovered the Hornworm also enjoyed
eating my pepper plants. Later, I
noticed the leaves of my squash
looked like they had a power or
mildew. Since I wanted an organic
garden I just had to keep dealing
with all the surprises. I also found
a few stink bugs, which immediately went into the bug jar!
I think I was the most excited
when we discovered the cantaloupes were growing. After a twoday trip, I came home and immediately went out to inspect the
garden. To my horror, I found
that something had eaten into
most of the cantaloupes! I just
wanted to cry. It was my goal to
find out who was the culprit. Later that day, I saw three squirrels
enter the garden and head toward
my few remaining cantaloupes! It
then became my intention to protect those ‘lopes until they were
ready to harvest.
(Continued on page 16)
15
Book Review: Good Book About Native Plants
By Jessica Milstead, Class of 2002
While at the Cullowhee Native
Plant Conference in the mountains of North Carolina this summer I came across a
great book. Even
though the scope is
the southeastern
states (Virginia, Carolinas, Tennessee,
and Georgia), it’s
well worth having
for a Maryland native plant enthusiast. Many of the
plants included also
grow in Maryland,
and even where a
particular species is more southern, a closely related species is
likely to be here.
want to know more about it. The
focus is on the plants you’re most
likely to see, but there are some
rarities here too.
While it was the
plant descriptions
that made this book
a must-have for me,
there are also descriptions of a wide
variety of kinds of
habitats, and the
plants are keyed to
these habitats. I
don’t consider this a
book to carry into
the field. It weighs
2.5 pounds, but more importantly,
the paper is a clay-coated slick
variety intended for good photographic reproduction. Papers like
this don’t take well to getting
wet. But if you’d like to have a
good read about native plants that
you can put down and pick up
again after you get home, get this
one.
Even though the subtitle is “A
Naturalist’s Guide…” this is not a
field guide. It covers about 500
plants in total (trees, shrubs, and
herbaceous plants), but what it
gives you on those 500 plants
warrants a place on the bookshelf. Each plant has a clear photograph, and an essay of several
hundred words covering matters
such as its ecology, its habitat,
and its place in the taxonomic
structure. This is the sort of information that you find yourself
wishing for when you’ve identified an interesting plant and
Spira, Timothy P. Wildflowers and
Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains &
Piedmont: A Naturalist’s Guide to
the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, & Georgia. University of
North Carolina Press, 2011.
Site Visits
Ongoing
Contact: Jessica Milstead
Nature Walks with Jessica
Ongoing
Contact: Jessica Milstead
When someone calls or visits the
Extension office with a question
about problems with their
plantings, or for advice on
landscaping, the call is referred to
me, and I put together a team to
go out to look and give advice.
These are ongoing walks as the seasons allow. The walks do count as
Advanced Training for Master Gardeners and are open to all Interns.
See Calendar for dates.
Speakers Bureau
Ongoing
Contact: Marian Bruemmer
The Compost Newsletter
Ongoing
Contact: Cindi Barnhart
Use your knowledge to inform the
public and/or your fellow Master
Gardeners.
Photographers and writers are
needed to keep our outstanding
publication informative. Help to
cover our activities and contribute
to the newsletter.
Christmas In April
Ongoing
Contact: Carol Teets
Charles County Detention Center
Horticultural Education
Ongoing
Contact: Gale Kladitis
This valuable community effort
provides a wonderful opportunity
for earning volunteer hours.
Assess assigned Christmas In April
properties before April 27 or join
us for the actual day of service, on
Saturday April 27, 2013.
Spring and fall sessions at the
Detention Center offer valuable
horticultural instruction and handson experience to the in-house population. Teachers as well as other
volunteers are welcome.
Dr. Samuel Mudd House
Ongoing
Contact: Beth Bonifant
Master Gardener Training 2013:
February 19 to March 28
Contact: Barbie Walter
You may want to join the team of
MGs who maintain the herb garden
and surrounding landscape at the
Dr. Samuel Mudd House in Waldorf,
April through October/November.
Tuesdays and Thursdays for six
weeks with Project Day built in.
Contact the project leader by referring to your Membership Directory.
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11
CALENDAR
Fall / Winter Events
October
26
2
Quarterly MG Volunteer Activity Log for hours/activities
July 1 through September 30 due in the Extension Office
3
Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.; CC Detention Center
class, La Plata, contact Gale Kladitis
10
Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.; Bay-Wise Advanced
Training, Extension Office, $45, contact Ronda Goldman
13
Saturday, Plant walk, time and place TBD, contact Jessica
Milstead
17
Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p. m.; Bay-Wise Advanced
Training, Extension Office, contact Ronda Goldman
19
23
Friday, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p. m.; Bay-Wise Advanced Training,
field exercise location TBA, contact Ronda Goldman
Tuesday, 10 a.m.; Membership meeting, Extension Office,
Open to all MGs
November
27
Tuesday, 10 a.m.; Membership meeting, Extension Office,
Open to all MGs
December
4
Tuesday, 6 p.m.; Holiday Potluck, Hampshire Neighborhood
Community Center, Waldorf
January
22
Tuesday, 10 a.m.; Membership meeting, Extension Office,
Open to all MGs
February
19-28
Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Master Gardener
2013 Training Class, Extension Office, La Plata,
contact Barbie Walter
(Continued from page 12)
Tuesday, 10 a.m.; Membership meeting, location TBA,
Open to all MGs
March
5-28
Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Master Gardener
2013 Training Class, Extension Office, La Plata,
contact Barbie Walter
26
Tuesday, 10 a.m.; Membership meeting and Project Day,
location TBA, Open to all MGs
*********************************************
WANTED
COPY EDITING FOR THE COMPOST
By Jessica Milstead
I have been helping Cindi with copy editing of our newsletter ever
since Cindi became Editor. Since she is stepping down, this is an opportune time for me to step down as well, so that the new Editor can
structure the tasks of preparing the newsletter as she or he wishes.
Besides, it’s been long enough! My work has consisted primarily of
checking names and catching grammatical bobbles and the like. If
this is your forte, why don’t you volunteer your services to the new
Editor? Contact Cindi so that she can pass the information along.
While I’ll be available to consult as needed, I believe it is time for
someone else to have a chance to put her or his impression on The
Compost.
The next issue of The Compost will have an article on
Bug Day at David Lewis’s house and I am looking for a
photographer and writer to cover this annual event.
Please send photos and a writeup to me by October 20.
The newsletter will be sent out in January, but I am
gathering materials early because of the holidays.
If you would like more information on a project, please contact the
project leader by referring to your Membership Directory.
(Continued on page 13)
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