Weeder’s Digest February 2020 Jonquils Daffodils Daffodils Narcissus The herald of spring In this issue: North Chapter News .......... 8 Weed of the Month ............. 16 Upcoming Events ................... 2 South Chapter News .......... 9 Pre-emergents ................... 17 MGCG Website ...................... 5 Cover story ........................ 12 MG Program classes.......... 19 MGCG Grant Report .............. 6 Spring Bloomers ................ 15 February Trivia ................... 22 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 Upcoming Events Master Gardener Trip Saturday, February 22, 2020 ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN AND FLOWER SHOW Here are reminders and information for those who have re- served a seat on the now-full bus for our trip to Atlanta: Where and When to catch the bus: • Meet the group at the Am Star 16 Cinema, 5996 Zebulon Road, Macon, GA (off I-475) • Park on the WEST side of theatre. (I-475 side) • The bus will arrive at 8:00 a.m. and leave promptly at 8:30 am! Arrive and be ready to board by 8:15. • Gene Youmans is the driver and a friend of Master Gardeners. We will be in good hands! • Our time in the Garden is self-guided. You will be given maps and information upon check-in. Snacks Feel free to bring a personal size cooler with beverage or food of your choice for the bus ride. (Consider bringing enough to share!) Please Note: NO beverages and food are allowed within Gardens per Garden Policy. Any questions about layout of gardens, restaurant, rules, etc., please check their website: www.atlantabg.org. Dining at the Gardens: Longleaf Restaurant is available for sit down dining during regular Garden hours. Reservations are not re- quired, but reservations are welcomed. View menu. Call 404-585-2061 for more information. While the main dining area offers a full menu of garden-inspired cuisine, the Longleaf Quick Café focuses on easy grab-and- go items such as sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts for visitors on the go. You may not bring outside food into the Garden. Return: We plan to depart by 5pm but this may depend on the weather. Fingers crossed for sun! Prepare: for the trip… Get fired up for this trip by attending our February Joint Meeting Monday, February 10, 2020 1:00 – 3:00pm at the South Bibb Rec Center 7035 Houston Rd, Macon GA 31216. Our guest speaker will be Canaan Marshall, Floral Designer and Macon native, now based in Atlanta. Canaan’s presentation will begin at 1:15 and will include a flower arranging demon- stration. He is an energetic speaker and will get us charged up before our visit! Questions? Give us a call. Becca Gay or Kathy W Yawn 847-778-3605 478-737-9606 2 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 Upcoming Events From Ways and Means Chair Billie Cook: Spring Plant Sale March 19-21 I hope all the Master Gardeners are getting ready for the Spring Plant Sale. Kristina Wimberly will be assist- ing with the coordination of sale this year, and is currently signing up volunteers. If you are willing to work the sale, please contact Kristina at [email protected]. Allison Griffith is creating the plant tags again, so please send her the appropriate information for the plant(s) you are propagating/donating. The information should include both the plant’s botanical and common names, and other pertinent information. Deadline for the submission of plant tag info is February 28th! Spring Home and Garden Show April 3-4 Preparation for MGCG’s Spring Home and Garden Show is well underway and we are gearing up to have an- other successful event this year! Eleanor Sikes is our new volunteer coordinator, and will be recruiting volun- teers soon. If you have any vendor or sponsorship suggestions, please call me, Billie Cook, Ways and Means Chair at 478-501-2123 or email me at [email protected]. 3 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 Upcoming Events See Eleanor Sikes to sign-up for a volunteer slot at the show. 4 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 MGCG’S NEW WEBSITE! Master Gardeners of Central Georgia MGCG.org Check out our new website! It’s a vast improvement over the previous version. Write to Greta, our talented and tech savvy Website Manager, and tell her what you think. She would like to hear your suggestions and comments. 2020 MASTER GARDENER CLASSES Master Gardener Class Coordinator, Kathy Hensley, says that Master Gardeners are welcome to attend these classes to brush up on a specific topic, to make up a class they may have missed, or simply for the en- joyment of it. Simply notify her that you will be visiting. EVERYONE is invited to save the date for April 30 for the traditional welcome potluck lunch. See the April issue for more information about the graduation lunch. *** • Volunteers are absolutely essential to Extension’s work. Volunteers have necessary energy and passion as well as experiences, talents, skills, and community connections. • Volunteers bring to life Extension’s philosophy that active citizen participation in planning and implementation ensures success. • As the citizens actively working in the community through the MGEV Program supported by UGA Extension, MGEVs are education partners with UGA Extension. 5 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 MGCG Grant Report New Home Dedicated on November 23, 2019 ~Diane Stephens Many thanks to Middle Georgia Master Garden- ers for your support over the last few years in a very large renewal effort in the historic Wellston Villas neighborhood of Warner Robins. This massive proposal has been broken into a pro- ject for each lot or unique address that Houston County Habitat for Humanity is able to acquire. Habitat for Humanity is a people to people partner- ship drawing together individuals and communities to build decent, affordable housing. Habitat for Humanity is committed to the development and uplifting of people and communities, not only to the development of housing. Habitat for Humanity in Houston County is working with the City of Warner Robins to reclaim the Wellston Vil- las area of the city. Each construction site is landscaped by Houston Master Gardeners with the assistance of Girls Scouts, Boy Scouts, youth groups, and is supported by vol- unteers from around the community. Master Gar- deners instruct the vol- unteers in proper selec- tion, installation, and care of the plants and trees. Environmental steward- ship is promoted with the use of recycled plants, newspaper, mulch, and other suitable materials. We utilize donations for each project but have difficulty with obtaining enough suitable landscape trees and shrubs. Habitat for Humanity has a PAL Program with a Garden Buddy assigned for the first twelve months a new home owner partners with Habitat for Humanity. Garden Buddies are Master Gardeners that act as mentors, teachers, and home landscape consultants for their assigned family. The program insures proper mainte- nance of the Master Gardener designed and installed landscape through home owner and community educa- tion. (Continued on next page) 6 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 The landscaping is a foun- dational planting at the front beds and back yard of the home. This home includes many new plant introductions including Abelia Sunshine Daydream and Drift Roses. There are some older stand- ards such as Variegated Liri- ope and a must for each landscape in Wellston Villas is the official trees of Warner Robins a Crape Myrtle. In this case we planted two Red Ruffle Crape Myrtles which are a medium size tree. (See photos) Installation of the planting beds and materials was done by Master Gardeners with the assistance of Hab- itat for Humanity volun- teers. Maintenance of the land- scape project will be as- sured by Habitat for Hu- manity and the PAL Pro- gram Garden Buddies. The volunteers and resi- dents learn planting skills and landscape mainte- nance at the time of plant- ing. Garden Buddies work with the residents for the first twelve months to teach them what is required in their landscape each sea- son. Garden Buddies are Master Gardeners that act as mentors. A JOB WELL DONE Editor’s note: This article was meant to be in the January issue but got “lost” in the Christmas rush. Sincere apologies to Diane Stephens for the delay. 7 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 North Chapter News Photo: Karol Kelly On January 13, 2020, Master Gardeners visited Ula Farms just over the county line, in Jones County. This small family-owned operation uses hydroponics and aquaponics to grow sustainable microgreens, lettuces, and sprouts year-round. The plants are sold locally to many restaurants and hotels. The operation has Natu- rally Grown Certification and is seeking Global Gap Certification, which will allow sales to other countries. The outing was well-attended, informational, and tasty! At- tendees sampled radish sprouts, garlic sprouts and peanut sprouts—all delicious. To read more about Ula Farms opera- tion, visit: https://ulafarms.com/ ~Becca Gay Welcome to Paige Tench Bibb County’s newest Master Gardener! Paige is a semi-retired psychiatrist who taught at the Mercer Medical School. Her main gardening interests are native plants, pollinators, and flowers. Those interests are a good fit for the Bibb County Master Gardener demonstration gardens, where she has worked much of her volunteer time. She has also been a valuable asset as a fill-in receptionist at the Exten- sion office. ~Kathy Hensley 8 The Weeder’s Digest February 2020 South Chapter News Houston County Master Gardener Awards Five Year Award Ten Year Award Christine Kelly Cindy Photo: Suzanne Wolfe Gordon Martha Leslein Mert Dorgan Ten Year Award Angie Larry