budding
DECEMBER 2014
BCMASTERGARDENERS.WEEBLY.COM
news
A PUBLICATION OF UME MASTER GARDENERS OF BALTIMORE COUNTY
P re s id e n t’s Le tte r
C a le n d a r
DECEMBER
11 General Meeting, Holiday arrangements
with our own Pat Parker, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
JANUARY
3 Tree walk
8 General meeting, Recognition and
graduation ceremony, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
FEBRUARY
12 Creating a native wildflower meadow
10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
JUNE
4 Annual State Training Day,
College Park
Th e Ba ltim o re
C o u n ty E xte n s io n
O ffic e h a s a n e w
p h o n e n u m b e r:
( 4 1 0 ) 8 8 7 -8 0 9 0
RANDY LOW
As my tenure as president draws to a
close, I want to thank everyone for giving
me this honor. The last two years have
seen much activity and change. I will highlight some to illustrate the reach of our
organization.
Our membership has grown to 172
strong. Continuing to be enthusiastic and
hard working, we volunteer thousands of
hours every year.
Our educational efforts are varied,
including the speakers’ bureau, library talks,
Ask a Master Gardener, Teachers Night
Out, the 4H fair, MARC farm camp, Home
and Garden Show, Spring Lecture Series,
and demonstration garden events such as
monthly garden education chats, garden
fest, and Family Farm Day.
We are becoming known in the community for the information we provide on a
wide variety of gardening issues. Not only
have we educated others, but we have also
continued to educate ourselves through continuing education offered at our monthly
meetings, master gardener training day, special classes offered by extension, and our
special native plant talk.
Our Demonstration Garden has benefitted from much of our effort. We have
expanded the Bay Wise, pollinator, Grow It
Eat It, and children’s gardens, as well as the
composting area. We also added an allee of
trees, an entry arbor, and shade in the children’s garden. We are beginning to consider
a pavilion.
Our members have also worked in the
community with the Clear Creeks project,
completed Bay Wise yard certifications,
helped at the Gallagher Center, Cromwell
Valley Park, and several schools with their
gardens.
Our members have enjoyed fellowship
at our annual Harvest Fest Dinner, our
monthly meetings’ social time, and a field
trip to Chanticleer.
Our Plant Sale deserves special mention. The funds it raises make it possible for
the organization to do the bulk of its work.
Growing every year, the plant sale not only
serves as a fundraiser but also as a great
educational event for the membership and
the public. Being a great team building
activity for the organization is a bonus.
The biggest change for us came when
Katie Dott resigned as Master Gardener
Coordinator. Katie was an invaluable
resource to our members and leaders. Anna
Glenn has now stepped into the position;
we look forward to working with her. The
months without a coordinator were weathered thanks to the committed efforts of the
committee chairs who kept the wheels turning. I’m proud to report that our programs
didn’t miss a beat.
After years of reporting volunteer
hours on a paper or Excel, this year brought
an online reporting system. This has been
intimidating for some, but all will soon see
how easy this makes an onerous task.
I cannot close without saying a special
thanks to the steering committees and committee chairpersons for their work and counsel. Without them, our organization would
not have accomplished as much as it has.
As I said before I am honored to have
worked with all of you and am amazed at
how much we have accomplished over the
last two years.
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NEWS
NORMAN’S PATCH 44
NORMAN COHEN
Th e An a to m y o f a
Na tive P la n t Be d
My obsessive compulsive plant behavior got the best of
me as usual. The Irvine Nature Center has a native plant symposium and plant sale. “Ask a Master Gardener” has a table at the
event. A benefit of volunteering is to make a few purchases of
natives that you usually do not see in the local nurseries.
Hopefully, all purchases have the proper provenance.
Two trees on the want-list, purchased at the 2013 Irvine
Nature plant sale were Crataegus crus-galli (Corkscrew
Hawthorn), and C. viridis (Green Hawthorn). The Corkscrew is
native to all Maryland physiographic regions; the Green
Hawthorn only to the coastal plain. The Hawthorn is in the
Rose family and subject to fireblight, rusts, powdery mildew,
aphids, borers, apple leaf blotch miner. None of thist detered me
from making the purchase. (Due to the two inch thorns, the tree
is not recommended where small children play.)
Generally, my criteria are: theoretically deer resistant,
native to the piedmont; exposure and a plant not in my collection. A native to Maryland or non-native, non-invasive is
acceptable if deer resistant. The proposed bed is drawn on paper
with the potentials listed.
Hawthorns do not usually exceed 20 feet when growing in
partial shade to full shade. They would make an excellent under
story planting to Tulip Poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera) which
dominate the landscape. Since the purchase was made compulsively with no landscape plan, they were placed 30 feet from
each other, the Cockspur located where it would receive maximum sun and the Green Hawthorn in the shaded area to meet
minimum exposure requirements.
To finish the bed, I also purchased the Maryland natives
Spiraea tomentosa (Steeplebush or Hardback Spirea) and Spiraea
alba var. latifolia, syn. S. latifolia (Broad-leaved Spirea). The
selections may be questionable: S. latifolia is indigenous to the
mountain region. Both require a sunny exposure, and finally
Spiraea sp. are also in the Rose family with all its insect and disease issues. Should I not practice what I preach, “The right plant
in the right place makes for sustainable horticulture”?
Before becoming a master gardener, I bought some S.
japonica. The non-native, invasive is one of the most deer resistant shrubs in my garden and performs well in part sun. Hopefully,
PAGE 2
Spirea tomentosa
its cousins will have the same attributes. Incidentally, in the market place there are now sterile cultivars of Spirea: Crispa, Dart’s
Red and Neon Flash.
Two Maryland piedmont perennials selected are Monarda
punctata (Horsemint or spotted Bee Balm) and Symphyotrichum
cordifolium (Aster cordifolius or commonly Heart-leaved Aster).
Monarda sp. are members of Lamiaceae which are for the most
Monarda punctata
part deer resistant. The plant was available at the Master
Gardener plant sale, thanks to Kim Barnes’ seed donation and
their propagation by Debbie McKearney. Asters are not deer
resistant, so I have resigned myself to spraying them with deer
repellant every two weeks from leafing out through flowering.
The highlight of the project was my nine-year-old grandson, Merrick, artfully placing the flagstones around the bed and
helping me plant the perennials. As usual, monetary compensation was asked for and received, but not enough for an ‘app.’ A
quick update: my Corkscrew Hawthorn has already suffered
from Cedar Hawthorn Rust and the deer ate the flowers of the
Horsemint, but did not partake of the Spirea.
BALTIMORE COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS
budding
NEWS
Na tive p la n t c la s s
HARRY MERRITT
Saying a plant is a “native” is not
enough, says Sara Tangren, Ph.D., an
expert on the subject.
“Lots of plant sellers will say just
‘native,’” Tangren told about 80 Baltimore
County Master Gardeners attending her
“Native Plant Essentials, Part 2” class in
November. “ … That word [by itself]
means nothing.”
“You have to say native to some
place,” Tangren, Associate Agent and
Master Gardener Trainer for the Home and
Garden Information Center, explained.
Native plant species are native to ecoregions and to habitat, she said. “A native
plant species occurs naturally, not as a
result of intentional or unintentional human
influence, in their eco-region and habitat
where, over the course of evolutionary
time, typically thousands of years, they
have adapted to physical conditions and
I N F O R M A T I O N A B O U T A L L MG
ADVANCED TRAINING
CLASSES MAY BE FOUND AT:
H T T P :// E X T E N S I O N .
UMD.EDU/MG/ADVANCEDTRAINING
co-evolved with the other species in the
system.”
From an ecological perspective, by
landscaping with native plants “you actually have the opportunity to reverse some of
the damage” caused by invasive species.
There are also native plant products –
“genetically suitable” partners for cross
pollination with wild native plant populations in your eco-region, Tangren said. But
options for obtaining such plants are limited, she said.
“In Maryland and in other states,
there are a few nurseries that do a spectacular job” of identifying native plant products, she said, noting that some even certify their plants using the yellow tag of the
Association of Seed Certification Agencies.
“But in a big box store, if you ask if
the plant was grown from seed that was
‘wild collected,’ … the floor guy is going
to go, “Huh?”
There are lists of native plant species,
Tangren said, “but they are not quite good
enough and they are not quite big enough.
There are errors … and they don’t list
enough plants. There are 2,500 plants
native in Maryland.”
A few lists—such as Native Plants for
Wildlife Habitat and Conservation
Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed,
familiar to most Baltimore County Master
Gardeners—could use some updating, she
said.
Planting with natives helps beneficial
insects, pollinators and songbirds, Tangren
said. “Natives are the foundation of nature
ecosystems.”
For too long, however, the focus has
been on specific sites—such as an
Extension agent helping a farmer with his
farm—at the expense of the big picture,
Tangren said.
Over the years, people have planted
“genetically inappropriate plant materials”
—bringing their associated pests and dis-
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EXTENSION...SOLUTIONS IN YOUR COMMUNITY
eases—and the native ecosystem was
thrown off balance, Tangren said.
“What you put into a system affects
what you get out of a system,” she said.
“… Garbage in, garbage out.”
Among the results of these bad choices: erosion, weeds, invasives, extinctions,
water problems, alien insects, fewer pollinators, fewer songbirds, less shade, less
beauty, less food for wildlife.
“Insofar as the landscaping going
wrong, we can fix this problem,” Tangren
said.
“More important than anything you
can do with invasive plants is preventing
the next one.”
The Pollinator Commitee is most
grateful to Barbara Gruver for her
expertise and help with the pollinator
garden and their education comittee.
Her help has been invaluable.
Thanks, Barbara!
PAGE 3
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NEWS
Winte r Tre e ID Fie ld
Trip + P la nt ID La bs
Winter tree ID workshop and plant
collection at the Baltimore County Ag
Center on Saturday January 3 from 1 to
4 p.m. (snow date Saturday, February 7)
We'll look closely at trees, and along the
way we'll collect plants for an inventory of
the Baltimore County Ag Center. Plan to
walk outside for an hour and a half and
then head inside to press the plants.
Plant identification 7:00 to 9:00
p.m. every second and fourth Monday at
the Natural History Society of Maryland
Learn to identify plants in an informal setting with other inquisitive people while
consulting with an experienced botanist.
You can bring and ID a specimen that’s a
native, an invasive, or any other plant that
interests you. Or, work on identifying a
plant collected during the ongoing inventory of the Baltimore County Ag Center. The
next sessions are scheduled for December
22, and January 12 and 26. You can choose
to come to any or all of these sessions.
Find full descriptions and sign up by
clicking on the events listed on the calendar at www.meetup.com/marylandnature/
events/. These workshops count as either
advanced training or volunteer hours.
They are facilitated by Charlie Davis
and Judy Fulton.
D E C E MBE R G E NE R AL
ME E TING
De ce mbe r 1 1 th, 6 :3 0 p.m. to 8 :3 0 p.m.
Please join us for a wreath-making workshop following the monthly business
meeting. We will adorn fresh fir wreaths (22 inches) for use as holiday centerpieces
on your dining or buffet table. When you get home add a pillar candle or hurricane
lamp to the center, and an underlay cut from wrapping paper to protect your table
from scratches or sap..
Some accessories will be provided—think woodland!! berries, nuts and fruits
(some fresh some faux), plus an abundance of wine corks (your centerpiece could
adorn a beverage table!) But you may want to enhance what we have with your own
things. Do you have any ornamental birds, mushrooms, twigs, moss, magnolia
leaves for yourself or to share? Any attractive cuttings of greens, holly, pine, and fir
for the greens pool would be appreciated.
Bring clippers and scissors. Glue sticks will be provided, but bring glue guns if
you have them.
To reserve a wreath ($10.00) and a spot at the workshop, contact Pat Parker,
patpparker@aol.com. Limit 30 participants; only 6 spots remain.
Even if you don't make your own wreath, you might like to help someone else
or just socialize and enjoy wonderful food provided by our Master Gardeners.
PAGE 4
De m o n s tra tio n
G a rd e n C o m m itte e
The demo garden committee is comprised of interested BCMGs who oversee
the development of the Demo Garden
according to the master plan. Tasks include:
Developing budget for Steering
Committee review. Reviewing garden proposals and plans to start new plots within
the Demo Garden.
Helping make and adjust policies as
the Demo Garden grows and changes.
Assisting with work days as worker or
supervisor. Dealing with any issue within
the garden.
Planning and implementing growth in
the garden according to the master concept
plan of shared garden areas, such as foursquare sod, paths, and future areas.
These are the futher tasks for the
chairman.
Scheduling and running meetings,
keeping notes, presenting garden proposals
to the committee. Communicating with the
Steering Committee about the Demo
Garden.
Preparing the yearly budget and keeping track of the spending, signing reimbursement requests.
Supporting and helping different garden captains. Staying in communication
with them, helping with issues that arise.
Planning future direction and growth
of the garden with the Steering Committee
using Master Concept plan for guidance.
Keeping the Ag Center Building
Manager informed of what is being built,
because we are on County property and
that requires certain approvals.
Communicating with MARC.
Purchasing any large items needed for
the garden and taking care of tools and
equipment. Approving any signage that is
on the garden fence and in garden.
Turning water on and off, bringing in
umbrellas, spraying and keeping edge of
BALTIMORE COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS
budding
NEWS
Th a n kfu l fo r th e
G a rd e n
JEN KOSTICK
I am lucky to have a garden. I can use
the bounty of my garden for myself and my
family or I can give to friends. I’ve seen
others do the same. So many of my coworkers bring in their extras and leave them
on the tables in the lunch room to share.
Having a garden doesn’t just impact
your own life, but ripples through the lives
of the people close to you like a seed
spreading roots through the soil. Our gardens embody the ideals of the holiday season—being thankful, sharing and giving.
With the stress of the holidays just a
week from exploding into all out chaos, it
is easy to forget the reason for the season
amidst all the grumpy faces and bad attitudes. Our gardens may be tucked in
against the wintery cold and rimmed with
frost, but our gardens are always there in
the harvest that has been set aside for the
family feasts and the homemade crafts to
be given as gifts.
So this holiday season, I want to say
I’m thankful for my garden, for being a
Master Gardener and having such a wonderful group with which to work. Finally in
the spirit of the season, I want to share a
recipe that has been included in my holiday
celebrations for years. Have a safe and
happy holiday!
RYE BREAD DIP
2 cups sour cream
4 tsp. dill weed
7 ½ oz. chopped olives
½ of 1 pkg. Hidden Valley buttermilk dressing
2 cups mayonnaise
4 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. seasoned salt
chopped tomato and chopped ham to
preference
Mix together and serve with rye
and/or pumpernickel bread. Best if
chilled for 24 hours.
A R o u g h Id e a
LYNDA MCCLARY
The Demo Herb Garden ‘extension’
started as a beautiful idea and was fueled
by the desire to bring further educational
focus to history, use and cultural identity of
herbs. The Bouquet Garni Committee
(Herb Committee) is grateful to have Lisa
Airy, Rose Marie Fury, and Varetta
Hamlin to kick the concept into reality by
raising the funds needed to build and by
designing the layout for the new garden.
Thanks to the herculean efforts of a
few stalwart committee members and
interns, rock was moved into place to outline the new garden and prepare the way
for planting in the spring. Spectacular
‘Rockers’: Lisa Airey, Jeff Brown, Paul
Dorsey, Laura Holley, Winnie Huskey,
Deb & Don Hyson, Lynda McClary,
Sheila Polley, Elliott Weidow, and
Heather Wight—thank you all for the
heavy lifting and the light spirits!
What started as a beautiful idea now
exists to give you a rough idea of what the
garden will encompass; outlined with
Colonial Gray Stone and awaiting the
spring for planting. The plan is to plant
with an eye to international herbal selections that will showcase herbs typically
used in different quadrants of the world.
You may see herbs in one quadrant typically grown and used in Asia; in another
quadrant you will see herbs grown and
used in Africa. The herbs will be chosen
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EXTENSION...SOLUTIONS IN YOUR COMMUNITY
for their unique cultural value in culinary
or medicinal or utility and perhaps just
chosen for their beauty.
The committee has researched and
compiled a list of plants native to North
America and will move on to other continents during the winter. Research is
involved with identifying the usages of the
herbs as well as the history and local folklore. The North American Native herb
research is presently being turned into
another terrific presentation that Bouquet
Garni can present to the public through the
Speaker’s Bureau. We cannot wait to play
in the dirt this spring and watch the international herb bounty come to Baltimore
County!
He rb ic id e s /
P e s tic id e s c la s s
If you are interested in using herbicides or pesticides in the Demonstration
Garden, you must attend Dave Martin’s
class on February 24 at 7:00 pm to receive
instruction on policy and periodical and
record keeping on the Ag Center property,
which is belongs to Baltimore County.
Please contact Heather Wight to sign up.
2 0 1 5 De mo Ga rde n
S e mina rs s che dule d
Each monthly seminar will run from
10:00-11:00 a.m. in the demo garden.
March 28: Open
April 25: GIEI (Opening your vegetable
garden)
May 30: International Herbs at Home
June 27: Bay-Wise
July: no classes
August 29: Pollinators
September 26: Composting at Home
October 31: Open
PAGE 5
budding
NEWS
Ha ve you me t your
Life 's Little
2 0 1 4 hours to re ma in S u rp ris e s
DEBBY HYSON
a n a ctive MG?
As of October, only 50 percent of our
registered Master Gardeners have entered in
their 2014 volunteer hours. If you have
hours that you have not yet recorded, please
make an effort to report these immediately
because, come 2015, it will be too late! As a
reminder, to remain an active Master
Gardener, volunteers must provide 20 hours
of service, participate in 10 hours of continuing education requirements, and attend three
general membership meetings. If you have
not been able to complete your requirements
this year, please contact Anna Glenn, BCMG
coordinator, for ideas on where you can volunteer or get education hours.
Additionally, if you have not yet set
up an online account to enter your hours,
please contact Anna Glenn
(amglenn@umd.edu) or Wendy Dilworth
(wendydil@umd.edu) for help. We will
send you an email with a user name and
then you will be able to generate your own
password and begin entering your hours. If
you are having trouble using your account,
please don’t hesitate to contact the office.
There are also instructions on the Weebly
website for how to enter online hours.
Some of the most delightful aspects
of gardening are the many surprises that
appear along the way: the self-seeded
flower that looks prettier in its chosen spot
than where you had it planted, an unexpected color combination that shouldn't
work but does, and the many insects—
dragonflies of every color, and butterflies
and their progeny, the caterpillars.
Oh, there was a time in my inexperienced young motherhood when my son
would suddenly burst into the house with a
loud “Mom! Look what I found!” and proceed to dangle some atrocity in my face
waiting for the inevitable scream. Toads,
turtles, lizards, crawdads, and crawly
things like caterpillars were all fair game.
Who would have ever believed that
years later I'd actually be planting host
plants like fennel, parsley, milkweed and
dill in both Marshy Point's butterfly garden
as well as my own garden specifically to
attract the Monarch and Black Swallowtail
butterflies and their egg deposits.
I owe my new-found love and appreciation of this aspect of nature to education
and a desensitizing approach that I've
received in various venues – environmental
studies, Master Gardener training, and
most importantly, my association with
Marshy Point Nature Center where I've
gradually become comfortable with those
scary, crawly things. At Marshy Point's
Fall Festival, the beautiful striped caterpillars are always a big hit with the kids, and
I can't help but think that my own son
would be proud of me if he saw how gently I handle these fragile little critters—
after he got over his surprise.
J ANUAR Y G E NE R AL
ME E TING
J a nua ry 8 th, 6 :3 0 to 8 :3 0 p.m.
Awa rd s C e re m o n y
2 0 1 4 re c o g n itio n a n d g ra d u a tio n
budding
NEWS
Editor: open
Designer: Natalie Hamilton
Submissions are welcome!
Please forward to
infobcmg@yahoo.com
The Maryland Master Gardener Program was started in 1978
as a means of extending the horticultural and pest management
expertise of University of Maryland Extension to the general
public. The program is designed to train volunteer horticultural
educators for the University of Maryland Extension—the principal outreach education unit of the University of Maryland.
UME B A L T I M O R E C O U N T Y E X T E N S I O N
1114 Shawan Road
Cockeysville, MD 21030
NEW Phone: (410) 887-8090
Fax: (410) 785-5950
NEW website http://extension.umd.edu/baltimore-county
www.bcmastergardeners.weebly.com
Anna Glenn, Horticulture Faculty Extension Assistant,
amglenn@umd.edu
University of Maryland Extension (UME) 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 or expression.