budding
APRIL 2015
BCMASTERGARDENERS.WEEBLY.COM
news
A PUBLICATION OF UME MASTER GARDENERS OF BALTIMORE COUNTY
P la n t s a le lo o m in g
C a le n d a r
APRIL
6 Spring Lecture Series: Native Plants
9 General Meeting, Vegetable gardening,
10 a.m.-12 noon
18 Plant ID training, 10 a.m.-12 noon
25 Free Demo Garden lecture: Growing
your own mushrooms, 10-11 a.m.
MAY
4 Spring Lecture Series: Container
Gardening and New Plants for 2015
7 General meeting: Plant sale preperation
9 Plant Sale, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
30 Free Demo Garden lecture:
International herbs at home, 10-11 a.m.
JUNE
1 Spring Lecture Series: Small Space
Vegetable Gardening
4 Annual State Training Day, College Park
11 General Meeting, Pollinator garden,
Jack Leonard, 10 a.m.-12 noon
JULY
9 General Meeting, Ferns, Judy Fulton,
6:30-8:30 p.m.
AUGUST
1 Master Gardener Fest in conjunction
with Hereford Junior Farm Fair
13 General Meeting, Tree ID @ Oregon
Ridge Nature Center, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
NANCY LEWIS
Our annual plant sale is just a month
away, and some exciting new plans to build
on our past successes are in the works.
Right now plants are growing under lights
and in your gardens that are key to the
sale’s success. The funds raised from the
sale are a major source of support for our
outreach programs. For the first time, a free
lecture to boost sale traffic in the middle of
the day will be given by our own Pam
Spencer who will speak on Monarch butterflies at 11:00 a.m. We also are focusing on
Monarch-friendly plants, the local ecotype
plants, and custom grown plants of our
choosing from our partner White House
Nursery. New this year, the Friday MG presale has been cancelled due to the amount
of work it takes to rebuild displays and
another work day for our cashiers. Please
bring your own wagon.
We need your help again this year to
make this sale better than ever. Each day
when you arrive, please sign in and review
the daily task list. There are important tasks
for all strength and experience levels.
Please pick an area in which you want to
work.
Our set up and plant deliveries will
begin on Wednesday, May 6 at 3:00 p.m.
and run until 7:00 p.m. We will move tables
and straw bales for the displays. So members with arm strength and strong backs are
especially needed that day. Since this is the
third year we’ll be selling from these barns,
setting up should be a smooth process.
Wednesday will be mainly display
placement and beginning to post signage in
addition to accepting plants from MGs who
can only drop off during evening hours.
Thursday will be plant acceptance, sorting,
pricing and making sure each plant has a
label. Friday will be final plant placement,
late deliveries, price and label checking and
individual plant signage placing.
Plants will be accepted Wednesday
from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., Thursday from 8:30
a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 to
10:00 a.m. Please make sure that your
plants are labeled. As you dig your plants,
email Katie Dott with your plant names
and counts so that she can make labels. As
she has before, Katie will mail you the
labels so that all plants can be delivered to
Plant sale, continued on page 4
budding
NEWS
NORMAN’S PATCH 48
NORMAN COHEN
Ye a r o f th e Le g u m e
The statewide GIEI group elected the bean and pea to be
this year’s vegetables. The bean and the pea are part of the
Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family, which includes trees, shrubs,
and herbaceous plants, easily recognized by their fruit (legume)
and compound leaves. The group is widely distributed and is the
third-largest family in terms of number of species, with 630 genera and over 18,860 species. Our native tree Black Locust
(Robinia pseudoacacia) and the non-native invasives Mimosa
(Albizia julibrissin) and Wisteria sinensis are also members.
The ordinary green pea (the canned type that, as a child,
was forced down my throat) is Pisum sativum: pisum, the Latin
for pea and sativum meaning cultivated. The bean is Phaseolus
vulgaris (phaseolus, the Greek for bean); bush, pole, shell and
dry beans are varieties or cultivars of the species. Fava, lima and
soy beans are in different genera: Vicia faba, Phaseolus lunatus,
Glycine max, respectively.
Beans and peas contain symbiotic bacteria called Rhizobia
within the nodules of their root systems. These bacteria have the
special ability of fixing nitrogen from atmospheric, molecular
nitrogen into ammonia. This arrangement means that the root
nodules are sources of nitrogen for legumes, making them relatively rich in plant proteins.
Many gardeners, before directly sowing, inoculate the seeds
with Rhizobia. (Please note: inoculants have annual expiration
dates; always purchase fresh to ensure viability.) The bacteria
take a few weeks to form the nodules; therefore, when the
seedlings are two to four inches tall, fertilize with a low number
organic fertilizer such as fish emulsion, even though it has a vile
odor.
Beans and peas are directly sown when the soil temperature
reaches 60 degrees. The optimum soil temperature to germinate
beans and peas, however, is 75 degrees. If planted too early, the
seeds become susceptible to disease and rot.
Peas are categorized into three groups: garden (English),
snow and sugar. Though I’ve yet to grow them myself, snow peas
are of particular interest to me now as they are used in ChineseAmerican cooking. The large-podded variety ‘Oregon Giant,’
once getting past the description hype, is disease resistant to
fusarium wilt, pea enation mosaic virus, and powdery mildew.
PAGE 2
The three basic bush bean groups are: snap, shell, and dried.
Snaps are eaten pods and seeds together when young and tender.
The tastiest snap is the French or filet. The variety ‘Provider’ has
been considered a favorite for decades because the pods are
sweet and meaty. The plant is disease resistant to bean mosaic
virus and powdery mildew and does well in cool weather.
Shells are eaten fresh from the pod and dried for soups,
stews and casseroles. The easiest time to assess a bean group is at
time of harvest when the differences between snap, shell and
dried beans become most apparent and important. The best indicator to harvest snaps is the diameter of the pod, rather than its
length and, if left unpicked, the plant will stop producing new
beans. Harvest dry beans when the pods are completely mature
and dry. Shell beans are grown the same as snaps, but harvested
later, when their pods are swollen with plump, tender seeds.
Beans are compatible with all vegetables except those in the
onion family, thus they can be planted and rotated anywhere.
Peas, however, should be followed with terrible tasting kale.
Bean’s only pest is the ubiquitous bean beetle. One should scout
daily and be prepared to squish ova, instars and adults.
If you
have a rare
copy of the
Baltimore
County
Master
Gardener’s
ookbook
Grow It Eat It:
Cooking with
Maryland’s
Bounty, published in 2009,
you will find
some tasty
bean dishes.
Give them a
try, you will
not be disappointed!
BALTIMORE COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS
budding
NEWS
POLLENNATION STATION
April s howe rs bring..
GLEN SCHULZE
As the leaves and buds begin to
unfurl and blossom, emerging beneficial
insects in turn shake off the winter chill
and start to pollinate the early flora. We all
are eager to get busy working on our garden dreams. Early spring is a perfect time
to keep the pollinators in mind. Beneficial
insects like butterflies and bees provide
important services, including pollination.
Butterflies, bees, other beneficial insects
and hummingbirds profit from our garden
practices.
BUZZES
AND
flies are attracted to blueberry, viburnum,
and legumes. Among nature’s recyclers
are Question Mark, Mourning Cloak and
Red Admiral butterflies. Rotting fruit and
tree sap entice these beneficial butterflies.
Young orchard bees, honey bees, and bumble bees favor fruit tree pollen.
WET
BLOOMS
Diversify! As gardeners, we love
variety throughout the seasons. Beneficial
insects also enjoy their seasonal delights.
Spring blooms bring hope and early pollinators. Once the beneficials arrive, keep them
interested with annuals, perennials, shrubs,
trees, grasses, ground covers, and herbs.
Do you want to attract a variety of “good
guys”? Consider using different shapes,
sizes and colors of flora. Provide an exciting habitat including sources of nectar and
pollen, and landscapes with overlapping
bloom periods. Prepare our pollinators for
the coming fall and winter by including
shelter and host plants.
Serve up a banquet! Herbs such as
fennel, dill, garlic, and chives provide a
feast to attract an
assortment of beneficials. Early season butterflies need
an assortment of
sustenance.
Woodland flowers
are some favorites
for swallowtail butBumble Bee Photo by
terflies. Early gosBarbara Gruver
samer-wing butter-
faces, such as flat rocks, in and around the
gardens provides basking sites.
Leave some dead wood! According
to The Xerces Society, cavity-nesting bees
utilize hollow plant stems or holes and narrow tunnels in wood as nesting habitat.
Dead branches, shrubs with soft centered
twigs, rotting logs, and dead or dying trees,
called “snags” also provide habitat for solitary wood nesting bees.
HAVE
FUN WITH CONTAINERS!
Listen to the silly chirps and whir of
wings; watch the loop de loops of hummingbirds upon their arrival at the advent of
spring. Hummingbirds are beautiful and
entertaining; they are also important pollinators. Encourage adults and their broods with
homemade nectar feeders, and container
gardens. They need nectar and protein
sources; their protein comes from feeding
on tiny insects. Some favorite flowers of
hummers are common geranium, coral bells,
and black and blue salvia.
Guidelines for nectar feeders and easy
instructions for homemade nectar can be
found at http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/
Habitat/WildAcres/wahumbutbee.asp
STICKS
AND STONES
Create a place in the sun!
Butterflies need sun; they warm themselves
to be able to fly. Placing reflective sur-
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EXTENSION...SOLUTIONS IN YOUR COMMUNITY
AND WILD
Offer special features! Spring is an
ideal time for much needed precipitation
and ground moisture. Moisture brings special habitat components: puddles, clayey
mud, and water sources. Early spring is
blue orchard mason bee season. The female
mason bee requires clayey mud (mud with a
high percentage of clay) that she uses to seal
her egg chambers and protect her brood. If
there’s no mud, the bee will leave.
A shallow dish of water and stones
provides a source of water and a landing
pad for beneficial insects. Another landscape addition could be a “puddling” station. Butterflies will gather and “puddle” on
wet sand or mud to get the minerals found
in the soil. Azures and Elfins are among
those early spring butterflies that appreciate
mud. For information and instructions on
creating puddling areas, visit the Maryland
Department of Natural Resources website:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Habitat/
WildAcres/habichat37.asp
HIDE
AND SEEK
Provide a security system! Crucial
factors for survival are protection, defense,
and security. For pollinators, this includes
reducing exposure to the elements. Since
butterflies depend on sun to warm themselves, they need at least partial sun. They
also need shelter from high winds. Trees
and shrubs can help provide a partial sun
environment for protection including restPollenNation, continued on page 4
PAGE 3
budding
budding
NEWS
NEWS
PollenNation, continued from page 3
ing and hiding places. Shady spots are
essential, too, for shelter.
Natural nesting sites such as open
bare patches of soil for solitary bees and
homemade mason bee nesting houses provide vital lodging. Leave perennials and
ornamental grass to provide protection
during winter.
CONTINUING
EDUCATION
A P R I L 9, 10 A M -
NOON
Ve g e ta b le
G a rd e n in g
Jon Traunfeld, principal agent,
director, and state MG coordinator, will
talk about what’s hot in the vegetable
garden as well the state’s Grow It Eat It
program.
Starting its seventh year, GIEI is
thriving on the growing public demand
for food gardening information and
help. Jon will discuss important
updates on plant problems and pests,
some trending crops, cultivars, and
techniques, and provide advice that will
help clients be more successful in their
vegetable gardens.
APRIL
S H O W E R S B R I N G ...
Endless opportunities for each of us
to enhance our gardening practices and to
continue to support, preserve, conserve,
and encourage the beautiful, fascinating
and essential pollinators. For additional
resources, please visit the sites noted within this article and http://extension.psu.edu/
natural-resources/wildlife/landscaping-forwildlife/pa-wildlife-8 (Penn State
Extension: Gardening for Butterflies)
http://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/ (The Xerces Society: Pollinator
Conservation)
Continue to explore and learn about
pollinators: habits, habitats, your role and
more; watch for next month’s
PollenNation Station article, “Here I
Come to Save the Day!”
MAY 7
P la n t s a le
p re p a ra tio n
We have the barns all week. Please
come help for as long as you can beginning at 9:00 a.m.
INFORMATION ABOUT ALL
MG A D V A N C E D T R A I N I N G
CLASSES MAY BE FOUND AT:
H T T P :// E X T E N S I O N .
UMD.EDU/MG/ADVANCED-
Plant sale, continued from page 1
the sale already labeled thus sorting and
pricing will proceed quickly. Katie can
research your plant names and culture for
you if you only know the common names.
Plants should be dug prior to April 22
to avoid poor looking plants suffering
transplant shock. After digging, place your
plants in a shady area out of the wind to
help them adapt. We will post a list of
invasive plants that our sale will not accept
on the website and at the April meeting
We need your plant donations badly;
no plant is too common for our sale. Every
year it seems one type of plant that hadn’t
sold in the past sells out quickly. If you
can’t donate plants, please donate $10 so
that we can buy beautiful “retail ready”
plants at our partner nurseries.
In past years, we have had wonderful
donations from local nurseries and garden
centers. At the April meeting, please
review the list of businesses that have previously donated and sign up to contact one
or more of them. This is an easy process to
visit and ask for support again.
Prior to the sale, we will need people
to dig, pot and label plants. We also will
need members with trucks to transport
plants from Monkton and Parkton to the Ag
Center early in the sale week. Anna will
send out an email with more details and
things we need for the sale such as wagons.
If you have any kids or grandkids who
need community service hours, we can use
them on sale day for boxes, assisting customers with wagons, and clean up.
Please show up to help our sale, stay
as long as you can and make sure to meet
Master Gardeners you have never met
before and have fun!
TRAINING
PAGE 4
BALTIMORE COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS
budding
NEWS
A Ma s te r Ga rde ne r’s
Da y in th e S u n :
E ric Ke lly
MARK DENNIS
Not all food gardening takes place in a
traditional plot in the backyard. For Eric
Kelly (Master Gardener Class of 2012), gardens can thrive in vacant lots, forest fragments, or even underutilized urban corners.
Last November, the Baltimore Sun
profiled Eric’s efforts to establish a food forest in Baltimore’s Clifton Park. This spring,
the founder of Charm City Farms is already
at work preparing to survey the fruits of that
labor and introduce further programming to
the forest. In particular, Eric, a selfdescribed hobby mycologist, hopes to
experiment with controlling the spread of
tree-of-heaven using oyster mushrooms. He
hypothesizes that if the trunks are cut at a
height of five feet, and if the exposed tissue
is inoculated with mushrooms, then the tree
won’t send a “panic” to the roots. Thus, the
tree won’t try to re-vegetate or recover.
Instead, the mycelium will parasitize the
Ne w we b s ite
H T T P :// E X T E N S I O N . U M D . E D U /
BALTIMORE-COUNTY/
MASTER-GARDENERS
still-living tree, eventually yielding mushrooms fit for the dinner plate. (As an aside,
for those interested in fungiculture, come to
the free Demo Garden lecture, Growing
Your Own Mushrooms, on April 25 at 10:00
a.m. at the Ag Center).
Eric’s website, www.CharmCity
Farms.org, is full of resources. In addition
to his recommended books, plant walks,
cooking demonstrations, outdoor skills
courses, and nature studies workshops
(sign up early, these sell out quickly), he
offers a weekly forage report. For a very
modest fee, subscribers to this report
receive real-time information regarding
nature’s current offering of wild foods. If
you are interested in a more intense outdoor experience, Charm City Farms does
offer a Wildcraft program “for those more
inclined to really want to dig in.”
The year 2015 is shaping up to be a
big one for Charm City Farms, especially
now that such a fierce winter has passed and
spring has delightfully sprung. Like most
gardeners weary of winter, Eric looks forward to the prime growing seasons. “Right
now I’m eager for tomatoes and peaches, so
tired of cabbage, ale and bread.”
(Catch Eric’s “Permaculture
Demystified” presentation at the September
10th general meeting)
sound landscapes for their local conditions.
Having conducted extensive research on the
specialized relationships between animals
and plants, Tallamy will explain why it is
important to restore life to residential properties, and what can be done to make landscapes living ecosystems once again.
A professor at the University of
Delaware in the Department of Entomology
and Wildlife Ecology, Tallamy has taught
for 33 years and has authored 80 research
articles. His book Bringing Nature Home:
How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our
Gardens was awarded the 2008 Silver
Medal by the Garden Writers' Association.
The Living Landscape: Designing for
Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home
Garden, his co-authored book with Rick
Darke, was published in 2014. Among his
awards are the Garden Club of America
Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation
and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence.
This free presentation is open to the
public, but due to limited seating requires
registration at: https://www.eventbrite.com/
e/rebuilding-natures-relationships-speakerprofessor-doug-tallamy-tickets16219867059. This event was made possible by generous support from Straughan
Environmental Inc., Howard County
Conservancy, and River Hill Garden Center.
Do u g Ta lla m y to
s p e a k in Ho wa rd
C o u n ty in Ma y
Big Tre e s S a le
Howard County Master Gardeners is
pleased to announce that Professor Doug
Tallamy will serve as the keynote speaker
for its continuing education series on
Tuesday, May 12 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at
the Howard County Conservancy, Gudelsky
Center. A well-known author and researcher,
Tallamy will present “Rebuilding Nature’s
Relationships at Home,” focusing on how
the community can create ecologically
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EXTENSION...SOLUTIONS IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Baltimore County Big Trees’ spring
sale will have 13 species available, in addition to tree shelter kits to protect trees from
deer. Due to a limited selection this year,
online pre-ordering is open to Baltimore
County residents only. Unordered trees at
the May 9 sale will be available to residents
outside the County, with a limit of two trees
per residence.
More information and the online preorder form are available from our Big Trees
website: www.baltimorecountymd.
gov/bigtrees
PAGE 5
budding
NEWS
S p re a d th e wo rd !
G
BCMG events are underway and the
Plant Sale is just a month away.
Please share the flyers and website
links wherever you can. You might post the
pdfs or website links on your Facebook
page, share them on your neighborhood
blog, submit them to your community or
organization’s newsletter, and maybe even
print a few out to post at local businesses. .
S
SM
M
Baltimore County
2
2O15
O15
Spring
Sp
pring
Baltimore
Ba
a
altimore
Co
County
ounty
y
Master
a t Garde
G
deners
Master
Gardeners
Lectu Series
Le
Lecture
MG p riva te we b s ite
March 2
The website that strictly houses all our
internal content can be found at AGNR
Groups: https://agnrgroups.umd.edu/baltimore-county-mg. All MGs should register
to get connected; already more than 50 people have. To access this content, each MG
will need to create a username and password, request permission to join the group,
and then be added to the group by the website administrator (Anna). Instructions are
available at: https://agnrgroups.umd.
edu/how-use-site/information-newusers/registering. Please note that this
username and password are separate from
those used to complete online hours.
Anybody can plant a tree but how do you raise a tree?
Stephen Allgeier
Native Shrubs
Stan Kollar
April 6
Get on board about natives
Connie Schmotzer
May 4
Growing a work of art (container gardens)
Marilyn Sparks
What’s new in 2015
Pat Sherman
June 1
Small space vegetable gardens:
How to get a lot from a little
Chrissa Carlson
All classes are from 7 pm to 9 pm at 1114 Shawan Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030
Registration Required. Lectures $15 each or $50 for 4 nights.
For more information about the Spring Lecture Series, Disability Accommodations,
Baltimore County Master Gardeners, or the University of Maryland Extension please
call or go to our website at: 410-887-8090
www.extension.umd.edu/baltimore-county/home-gardening/2015-lecture-series
Registration: To sign up online go to https://15lectureseries.eventbrite.com
or you can register at the door with cash or check made out to BCEAC.
The University of Maryland, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources programs are open to all and will not discriminate against anyone because
of race, age, sex, color
color,, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability
disability,, religion, ancestry,
ancestry, or natural origin, marital status, genetic information, political
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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
Phone: (410) 887-8090
Fax: (410) 785-5950
NEW website:
http://extension.umd.edu/baltimore-county/master-gardeners
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.