April 2018 Turnip News

Master Gardeners

Prince William

Editors: Maria Dunbar Stewart Rebecca Arvin-Colón

Inside this issue:

Earth Day Garden Tea 2 MG President’s Message Upcoming Events and MGPW 3 Meetings—At a Glance An Honor. It is an honor to be part of an outstanding Board Container & Small Space Gardening 4 of Directors that is dedicated to representing the Master Gar- Landscape Ready for Spring 5 deners of Prince William (MGPW) in the best way. Thank you for your support and all you do for our organization. Teaching Garden Workdays 6 Saturdays in the Garden 7 Board Member Changes. Thanks to our two departing board members. First, Janene Cullen for her leadership as our The Frozen Side of Herbs 8 Treasurer. Due to Janene’s thoroughness she received high ku- 9-12 In Praise of dos from the MGPW auditors over the past two years. Second, Upcoming Events and Meetings 13 Jeanne Lamczyk for her tireless efforts to support the organiza- Native Seedling Sale 14 tion as our Member-At-Large. Jeanne constantly sought feed- Compost Awareness Day 15 back on how to make our organization even more effective. Wel- come to Christina Hastings as our new Treasurer and Spencer Donations for Spring Sale 16 Williams as our new Member-At-Large. Both have impeccable Community Shredding 17 credentials and will be superb additions to your Board or Direc- Drinking Water Clinic 18 tors. Gardening with Wildlife in Mind 19 Index to “Turnip News” 20 PUZZLER 21 Turnip News

Recertification Meeting. Thanks to the superb presenters. Much valuable information was shared. Your Board and Virginia Cooperative Extension appreciate you taking time to provide us feedback on how we can guide the organization to better fill your needs. My observation has been that high performing organizations, like ours, have members and leaders who are 1) technically knowledgeable and 2) attuned to making sure personal interactions are positive and fulfilling. Your Board is interested in your input on both areas. Let us know your thoughts over the coming year. MGPW in 2018. I know you join me in looking forward to this coming year with optimism. To- gether we will do our part to improve the environments in our county and cities for the betterment of our citizens, plant life, and critters. It will be a good year. Thanks for all you do. - Larry Lehowicz, President, The Master Gardeners of Prince William, Inc., [email protected]

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Upcoming Events and MGPW Meetings—At A Glance April

THURSDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 5 7 8 Manassas Plant A Row Produce Container & Small Bluebell Festival at Collections Start Space Gardening Merrimac Farm

WEDNESDAY SATURDAY SATURDAY 11 14 14 Getting Your MGPW Board Saturday in the Landscape Ready Meeting Garden for Spring

SATURDAY SUNDAY SATURDAY 21 22 28 Billi Parus with Prince William Making Herbal Ice Earth Day Compost Awareness Cream Garden Tea Day

SUNDAY 29

BioBlitz

May

SATURDAY SUNDAY THURSDAY 5 6 31 Saturday in the Dale City Plant A Garden and Row Produce Composting Class Plant Sale Collections Start

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2018 Teaching Garden Workdays

Join us at the Teaching Garden—9535 Linton Hall Road, Bristow—on any of the below scheduled workdays to help keep our garden looking beautiful! Email Leslie Paulson at [email protected] with any questions.

Tuesday Mornings, Saturday Mornings, 9:00 a.m. – Noon 9:00 a.m. – Noon April 3, 10, 17, and 24 April 7 and 28 May 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 May 19 June 5, 12, 19, and 26 June 2 July 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31 July 7 August 7, 14, 21, and 28 August 4 September 4, 11, 18, and 25 September 1 October 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 October 6 November 6 and 13

Thursday Evenings, 6:30 p.m. – Dusk April 12, 19, and 26 May 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31 June 7, 14, 21, and 28 July 5, 12, 19, and 26 August 2, 9, 16, 27, and 30 September 6, 13, 20, and 27

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2018 Saturdays in the Garden

Also join us at the Teaching Garden for Saturday in the Garden!

Register online at www.pwcgov.org/grow or by contacting the Extension Horticulture Help Desk at 703-792-7747 or [email protected].

Saturday Mornings, 9:00 a.m. – Noon

April 14 - Plant Propagation Increase your knowledge and success making new through seed starting, cuttings, layering, and division.

May 5 – Best Practices for Your Landscape and MGPW Plant Sale Speakers will cover lawns, annuals, perennials, bulbs, vegetables, and care. This class will help you come up with a plan to keep your landscape healthy and sustainable.

June 9 – Container Gardening Container gardening know-how is in high demand, particularly in suburban settings. Learn how to create a container garden for your patio, terrace, or entryway that is both functional and gorgeous. Discover techniques for getting your plantings to thrive. Vegetables, ornamentals, and irrigation will be covered.

July 14 - Spectacular Salvias and Comforting Cut Flowers Get to know the popular of the Salvia that grow well in Northern Virginia. Also, learn how you can have cut flowers all growing season long.

August 11 – Growing Herbs This class will teach you the basics of growing your own herb plants. Learn the soil, light, temperature, fertilizing, and climate requirements for the basic culinary herbs. See our herb garden and wall of herbs at the Teaching Garden.

September 8 - Native Shrubs for the Home Garden and MGPW Plant Sale There is a native shrub for every location and desired seasonal interest. This class will help you decide which native shrub for your landscape is right.

October 13 - Fall Weed Identification and Management This class will focus on common broadleaf and grassy weeds found in our landscapes and turf and includes a walk to see these weeds up close and personal.

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In Praise of Apples by Abbie Panettiere and Vincent Panettiere

pples are my favorite , but alt- local farm animals, disease or other pests, and hough I’m very familiar with them the warming climate. In the article, Glausiusz A when it comes down to crunching on quotes Newton on the subject: one, I was aware that there was much more to know in addition to their delicious taste. Know- “One of these threatened , ing that their recorded history goes a long way sieversii—a wild that back, I decided upon a little research and won- Newton describes as ‘small but dered if any of the descendants of the originals highly colored with a very nice are still with us. sweet flavor’—is one of the key ancestors of all cultivated apples is thought to be the ancestor of grown and eaten around the apples we see today. As it turns out, they are world. So rich and unique is this native to southern , Kyrgyzstan, species, Newton says, that on one Tajikistan, and Xinjiang, China. There are said wild apple tree, ‘you can see more to be ancient forests of these ancestors of the variation in apple form than you modern apple still living in various places. see in the entire cultivated apple From the descriptions, they have had similar crop in Britain. You can get varia- success that weeds have in surviving from gen- tion in fruit size, shape, color, fla- eration to generation by coping on their own vor, even within the tree, and cer- with their surrounding situation. Their genome tainly from tree to tree.’” has not been effected by generations of careful selection and backcrossing. Apple are thought to be the earliest trees to be domesticated, perhaps in The cultivation of apples, while breeding in de- 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Alexander the Great, sirable traits such as taste, color, shape and in the midst of conquering the world, is said to size, may breed out qualities such as disease have found dwarf apples in Kazakhstan in 328 resistance, which the apple tree needs to sur- BC. The development of the Silk Road, begun vive. Parenthetically, “good” traits may be put during the reign of the Han Dynasty when Chi- back in by backcrossing a hybrid with one of its na opened trade with the west in the year 130 parents or an individual genetically similar to BC, helped the spread of apples westward its parent, in order to achieve offspring with a along these routes as humans, horses, and genetic identity which is closer to that of the camels ate the apples and discarded the seeds parent. by the wayside. This process also helped in the genetic crossing of the species, creating new An article by Josie Glausiusz in a 2014 Nation- varieties along the way. al Geographic covered the ancient apples. A British forest conservation ecologist, Adrian “Modern” apples were brought into this country Newton, visited forests in the western Tien in the 17th century. The first known apple or- Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan to conduct a chard was planted by Reverend William Blax- survey of these trees, which are currently un- ton in 1625 in Boston. der threat by being cut down for fuel, grazed by

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The modern apple tree, Malus pumila, is a sity of Minnesota and was scheduled to be dis- member of the family. All of the carded but, after being saved from this fate, breeding and hybridization over the centuries was released commercially in 1991. This is one has produced more than 7,500 known cultivars of the most popular varieties available today of apples presently, which are bred for different and is, it turns out, about as far from a wild purposes such as cooking, eating raw, and also plant capable of living without the defensive for the production of apple . The require- efforts of human kind as you could imagine. ments for each sort of apple are different, de- The trees are patented and growers must ob- pending on their intended use. For apples in- tain a permit from the university before they tended for eating raw, modern tastes prefer a may propagate or grow them. Growers pay the large, sweet apple, though tart apples are pop- university for each tree they buy, which helps ular as well. Apparently, apples that are very to explain why a pound of will cost sweet and have little or no acid flavor are pre- you perhaps several dollars more than a pound ferred in Asia and India. Apples for cider need of . to have a rich flavor and those making it use varieties that are too tart to be enjoyed raw Its parents were originally thought to be such as those hybridized with the European “” and “Macoun” apples, but a group crabapple which helps produce a smaller, tart of researchers studied the apple’s genetic struc- apple. ture and determined that the ‘Keepsake’ apple - also developed by the University of Minnesota The United Nations Food and Agriculture Or- - was one parent and the other was a ganization has statistics that in 2014, “...the developed by the university and given a num- worldwide production of apples was 84.6 mil- ber: MN1627. That one never made it to the lion tons, with China accounting for 48% of the public. The grandparents of Honeycrisp on the total.” side of that unnamed parent are the Duchess of Oldenburg, an apple that was brought into In 2010, a group of Italian scientists who se- America from Russia during the 17th Century, quenced the genome of the ‘’ and the Golden Delicious apple. On the Keep- apple at Washington State University found it sake side, grandparents are MN447 (another to have 57,000 genes which, at that time, was University of Minnesota variety) and the the highest number of genes found in any . plant. To put us humans in our humble place, we have only about 30,000 genes in our ge- The requirements for growing Honeycrisp are nome. The intent of these scientists was to help extensive and from the descriptions, quite ex- in discovering genes and gene variants that hausting. One site quoted a grower as saying helped the plants deal with drought and dis- that Honeycrisp were the most difficult trees ease so that future scientists are able to prac- he had ever grown. One of the growers said tice better selective breeding. The research was that the “trees which grow Honeycrisp apples also able to confirm that Malus sieversii was are relatively weak and break easily and they the wild ancestor of the domestic apple; appar- yield very large fruit, so they require a trellis ently this had been in doubt in certain quar- system to hold them up and keep their branch- ters. es from breaking or hitting the ground.”

This brings us to an excellent and much-loved The apples are very thin-skinned, which is an example of the modern apple, the Honeycrisp attractive feature, but it means that they have apple. This apple was developed by the Univer- to be handled very gently during picking to

10 Turnip News avoid bruising. This adds to the cost and time of harvest. Workers are paid by the hour in- Apple Information stead of by bin of apples picked. Pickers must also clip the stems as closely as they can to https://goo.gl/qvWFXF each apple so that the stem won’t bend and National Geographic graze the skin of the apple. The proof of this is Apples of Eden: Saving the Wild Ancestor of on the apple. I went to check what I had Modern Apples chilling in the fridge and the stems were in- Josie Glausiusz deed cut very close to the apple. May 9, 2014

Generally, most apple varieties are picked all https://goo.gl/CkE7VM at one time, but the Honeycrisp crops don’t University of Minnesota come ripe all at the same time. It takes three Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station pickings before the season ends (sometime in Honeycrisp November), which certainly would also add to the cost of the fruit. https://goo.gl/aieFsN University of Minnesota The apples are hardy, growing between zones 3 College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Re- to 9. However, like most apples, Honeycrisp are source Sciences not self-fruitful, so a good pollinating apple, Who’s your daddy, Honeycrisp? Uncovering the such as Golden Delicious, must be planted as Honeycrisp family tree well increasing the need for space in the or- Echo Martin chard. They are picky, requiring full sun and good air circulation to thrive and to be pollinat- https://goo.gl/317cRE ed. The University of Minnesota itself acknowl- Nature Communications edged that their vigor as trees was “low to Genome re-sequencing reveals the history of moderate”. apple and supports a two-stage model for fruit enlargement As you would probably expect by now, it is Naibin Duan, Yang Bai, Honghe Sun, Nan commonly afflicted by the usual suspects: cedar Wang, Yumin Ma, Mingjun Li,…Xuesen Chen apple rust, codling moths, leafrollers, aphids, August 15, 2017 , scale, and fireblight. And, finally, Honeycrisp trees are likely to produce a crop https://goo.gl/Q6dDgM only every two years. SFGate Problems With Growing Honeycrisp Apples However, several sources pointed out that “...its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make https://goo.gl/4QLuhR it an ideal apple for eating raw. It has much The Guardian larger cells than most apples, which rupture Geneticists trace humble apple's exotic lineage when bitten to fill the mouth with juice.” all the way to the Silk Road Davis Maybe I’ll check the refrigerator and see if August 15, 2017 there are any apples that require my attention.

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https://www.ancient.eu/Silk_Road/ https://goo.gl/u39rTS Ancient History Encyclopedia Wilson’s Orchard Silk Road Duchess of Oldenburg Joshua J. Mark March 28, 2014 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple Wikipedia https://goo.gl/1v1M2b Apple Orange Pippin Fruit Trees Specialist fruit trees for your orchard or back- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backcrossing yard Wikipedia Triploid apple varieties Backcrossing https://goo.gl/jpfcPp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeycrisp Growing Produce Wikipedia The Dark Side Of Honeycrisp Honeycrisp Christina Herrick January 27, 2015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malus_doumeri Wikipedia https://goo.gl/N5mVBS Stemilt World Famous Fruit Honeycrisp Apples

https://extension.umd.edu/smallfruit/tree-fruit/apple

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Upcoming Events and MGPW Meetings

MGPW Board of Directors Meeting—Wednesday, April 11th, 5:30 p.m. at Sudley North Government Center, Room 102 D (8033 Ashton Ave., Manassas, VA) As always, all Master Gardeners and Master Gardener Interns are welcome and encouraged to attend!

Manassas Plant A Row Produce collections start Thursday, April 5 (weather permitting) and continue every Thursday until November. Arrive at the Harris Pavilion (9201 Center St, Manassas, VA), and introduce yourself to other Master Gardeners near the ice skating building (you will see the pick up trucks) at 12:30 p.m. (earlier, if you want to shop). For additional information, email Patti Thompson at [email protected] or Kyleen Dodrill at [email protected].

Dale City Plant A Row Produce collections start Sunday, May 6 and continue every Sunday through some of November. Arrive at the farmers’ market entrance (14090 Gemini Way, Dale City, VA), and check in with the Master Gardeners standing near the Vulcan trucks between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m. You are usually finished at 1:30 p.m. For additional information, email Jeanne Mitchell at [email protected].

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DONATIONS FOR THE SPRING PLANT SALE By Leslie Paulson, Master Gardener

It may be hard to believe that the Master Gardeners Prince William Spring Plant Sale is just around the corner, but it is only one month away!

Master Gardeners, please consider donating:

 Non-invasive plants from your own gardens, and/or

 Plants or vegetables you may be starting from seed - new this year!

Remember: ∗ Plants need to be of good size and healthy. ∗ Quart size pots will be allowed this year, to accommodate the starter vegetables and plants.

All donations are gratefully received. Thank you for supporting our beautiful Teaching Garden!

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Bev Veness, Master Gardener Announces: Index to “Turnip News” is Now Available!

Due to Master Gardener Bev Veness’s hard work, there is now an index to the “Turnip News.” The Index can be found on the Master Gardeners’ website mgpw.org. The online issues are also at the website under NEWS – ARCHIVES. Have fun reading through the index to find articles and/or notices of interest, or just to enjoy recalling the past. You can also use “Control F” on your keyboard to find any word in the index.

Take a look at the index and peruse the older online issues of the “Turnip News!” Enjoy!

Click above or here to check out the new Turnip News Index: http://www.mgpw.org/index.php/news

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PUZZLER

Do you know what this is? See next month’s Turnip News for the answer!

Last Month’s Answer: Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule)

Henbit: “Henbit is a sparsely hairy winter annual with greenish to purplish, tender, square stems. Its opposite leaves are broadly egg shaped with bluntly toothed margins and prominent veins on the underside. Up- per leaves are sessile (directly attached to the stem) and lower leaves have petioles. It has a fibrous root system and can grow to a height of 16 inches. Henbit’s distinctive flowers are reddish purple in color with darker coloring in spots on lower petals. It flowers in the spring with the flowers arranged in whorls in the upper leaves.” / “It most commonly occurs in open disturbed sites, often in fields and along roadsides. It is also found in home lawns.” / “Henbit is commonly confused with purple deadnettle (Lamium purpureum). However, purple deadnettle has upper leaves that are triangular, occur on peti- oles, and are distinctly red or purple-tinted, unlike the upper leaves of henbit.” Source: Clemson Cooperative Extension: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/pests/weeds/ hgic2321.html

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