2.2017 Turnip News Final.Pub
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
February 2017 Turnip News Master Gardeners Prince William Editors: Rebecca Arvin-Colón Maria Stewart Inside this issue: MG President’s Message Upcoming Events and MGPW 3 Meetings - At a Glance FEEDBACK. Over the past year, in these notes, we have dis- Teaching Garden Workdays Starting! 4 cussed that the Master Gardeners of Prince William (MGPW) Mt. Cuba Center—Conserving Native 5-6 is a feedback-based organization. Most major issues consid- Plants ered by the Board of Directors have been in response to your Greener Gardens with Barbara W. 7 input. To continue this idea, as mentioned in last month’s Ellis Turnip News, you will be receiving five feedback questions The Basics of Gardening 8 with instructions via an email from Nancy Berlin in Febru- Upcoming Events and MGPW 9 Meetings ary. Please take a few minutes to answer. Your thoughtful Master Gardener Photo Directory 10 comments are our way into the future. 2017 Sustainable Vegetable 11 One of our major projects this year, driven by your feedback, Gardening Series was to develop a MGPW Strategic Plan to help guide our ac- VCE—Prince William Drinking Water 12 Clnic tions over the next few years. Below is an extract from the Get to Know a Critter 13 first page of the Plan that describes its purpose. If anyone is PUZZLER 14 interested in the details of goals, measures, and other finer points please check www.MGPW.org or contact me at the email address below and I will send you a copy of the complete Plan. STRATEGIC PLAN EXTRACT. “This Plan provides the Turnip News MGPW Board of Directors with benchmarks to help accomplish our organization’s mission and vision. It highlights that the Board’s decision making is enriched by seeking feedback from our MGPW Association members. It also puts forward measurable steps to increase our environ- mental outreach to the greater Prince William community. The Plan provides a means to look critically at and measure what we are doing well, what we are doing poorly, and then trying to improve. As the Board implements this Strategic Plan, we should be able to communicate better with our stakeholders. Over the duration of this Plan and beyond our reputation for being a high per- forming organization that is dedicated to excellent environmental education can flourish.” “The Mission Statement1 of the Master Gardeners of Prince William (MGPW) is to pro- vide current research-based, horticultural/ environmental outreach and education programs for Prince William area residents. The Vision Statement2 of the MGPW is to develop a culture of environmental steward- ship within the Prince William area through education, outreach, and volunteering.” Notes: 1. The Mission Statement describes what we do. 2. The Vision Statement describes that to which we aspire. RECERTIFICATION. Please remember to mark your calendars for “Recert” Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., March 7th at the Kelly Leadership Center, 14715 Bristow Rd., Manassas, VA 20112. Photos for the MG Directory will be taken at this event, starting at 6:00 p.m. More to follow from Nancy. -Larry Lehowicz, President, MGPW, [email protected] 2 Turnip News Upcoming Events and MGPW Meetings - At A Glance February SATURDAY SUNDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY 11 12 14 16 Basics of Greener Gardens MGPW Board Piedmont Gardening Barbara W. Ellis Meeting Landscape Seminar SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY 18 18 18 25 Pruning Basics of EcoSavvy Basics of Workday Gardening Symposium Gardening March TUESDAY SATURDAY TUESDAY 7 11 Save the Date: SNOW DATE: 14 Recertification Basics of MGPW Board Gardening Meeting SATURDAY SATURDAY MONDAY 18 25 27 Sustainable Sustainable Drinking Water Vegetable Vegetable Clinic Kick-off Gardening Gardening 3 Turnip News Teaching Garden Workdays Starting Tuesday, March 14! Here’s the full schedule for the season: July Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon March (11th, 18th, 25th) Every Tuesday starting the 14th, Every Thursday 6:00 p.m. - dusk 9:00 a.m. - noon (14th, 21st, 28th) (6th, 13th, 20th, 27th) Saturday March 25th 8:00 a.m. - noon Saturday, 8th, 8:00 a.m. - noon April August Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon (4th, 11th, 18th, 25th) (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th) Every Thursday 6:00 p.m. - dusk Every Thursday 6:00 p.m. - dusk (6th, 13th, 20th, 27th) (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st) Saturday, 15th and 29th, 8:00 a.m. - noon Saturday, 12th, 8:00 a.m. - noon May September Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon (2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th) (5th, 12th, 19th, 26th) Every Thursday 6:00 p.m. - dusk Every Thursday 6:00 p.m. - dusk (4th, 11th, 18th, 25th) (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th) Saturday, 6th and 27th, 8:00 a.m. - noon Saturday, 2nd, 8:00 a.m. - noon June October Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon (6th, 13th, 20th, 27th) (3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st) Every Thursday 6:00 p.m. - dusk Saturday, 14th, 8:00 a.m. - noon (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th) Saturday, 10th, 8:00 a.m. - noon November Every Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - noon (7th, 14th) 4 Turnip News Mt. Cuba Center – Conserving Native Plants by Abbie and Vincent Panettiere e had a fruitful conversation with Nancy Berlin at a Master Gardener With this as a background, the Mt. Cuba Center W event a few months ago, and among began with Lammot du Pont Copeland, the the topics she mentioned was the Mt. Cuba Cen- great-great-grandson of E.I. du Pont, and his ter. When we looked for information about the wife, Pamela Cunningham Copeland. They mar- center, it became apparent that its history is de- ried in 1930, moved to Delaware, and bought pendent on the du Pont family. The du Pont Mt. Cuba, which was a 250-acre estate, in 1935. family and their company, surprisingly, have had a very close connection with horticultural They built a home there, which was finished in and farming matters throughout much of the 1937, and lived an active life. Mr. Copeland company’s history. graduated from Harvard University in 1928 with a degree in industrial chemistry and joined This was not true at the beginnings of the the DuPont Company fresh out of college. He DuPont company, at the Eleutherian Mills near worked at various positions until he became its Wilmington, Delaware. Then, horticultural or president from 1961 through 1971. even peaceful activities were not in sight. Éleuthère Irénée du Pont and his family, their During the 1950s, they became concerned with lives at risk after the French Revolution, left land conservation and the encroachments of France in 1800. Two years later, in 1802, he commercial development. Mrs. Copeland was founded DuPont using funds raised in France particularly concerned with the survival of na- and machinery for the making of gunpowder, tive plants in the surrounding area as these be- which he had imported from France. He had came threatened. They bought 17.72 acres ad- seen that the newly formed United States lagged joining their property to develop naturalistic behind Europe in the making of gunpowder and gardens, which became Mt. Cuba Center. In saw a need and an opening. 1989, Mt. Cuba Center was incorporated as a foundation. Mrs. Copeland, in the online site for The company was successful and prospered in the Center, is quoted on their intentions for it: many fields through the nineteenth and twenti- eth centuries, going into the development of dy- “I want this to be a place where people namite, smokeless powder, and products involv- will learn to appreciate our native plants ing cellulose chemistry, lacquers, and other and to see how these plants can enrich non‑explosive products. They have an impres- their lives so that they, in turn, will sive history of inventions including: neoprene, a become conservators of our natural synthetic rubber; the first polyester superpoly- habitats.” mer; nylon; and Teflon among others. Their concern was for native plants, particularly As a side note, the company, in 1910, promoted of the Appalachian Piedmont. Their collection, the idea of “Farming with Dynamite.” The represented informal to naturalistic gardens, thought was that if you used dynamite to re- has more than 6,500 plants of 2,200 taxa (taxa is move tree stumps and other obstacles, it would a taxonomic category, as a species or genus), and certainly be a good deal easier and quicker than their research concentrates on Coreopsis, Heu- any other method you might be using for those chera, Baptisia, Monarda, and Trillium. Their purposes. collections of wild ginger (Hexastylis) and tril- 5 Turnip News lium are considered a “national collection.” prepare individuals for a job in the field of bo- tanical gardens. Our goal is to seed public gar- The Center offers quite a few educational cours- dens with talented individuals who are inspired es and a Certificate in Ecological Gardening. by native plants so conservation can take root.” The variety of educational opportunities is im- There are internships in “Greenhouse Produc- pressive. They offer many classes, in both single tion,” “Native Plant Curation,” “Natural Lands,” and multiple sessions, on topics ranging from and “Public Engagement.” “Plants with Winter Interest” (single session) to “Environmental Landscape Design” (multiple The 12-week summer program is offered for sessions). There is “...college undergraduate the option to com- students or recently grad- plete all of the clas- uated students majoring ses to gain the cer- in horticulture, landscape tificate or to take architecture, ecology, or only those classes related plant science which are of inter- fields.” Students obtain est or importance to hands-on experience and you.