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The Vine Franklin County Master Gardeners
University of Missouri Extension in Franklin County 116 W Main, Union MO 63084 636/583-5141
Vol. 9, Issue 2, June 2011
Floral Abundance in the Far East—A Feast for the Soul Lynne Moll, Franklin County Master Gardener
A lthough observing the
plants of the countries
we visited was not our primary
purpose, being the gardeners
that we are, we could not help
commenting and taking pic-
tures constantly. For us that
was a delightful “secondary”
experience, which we just enjoyed between us. Probably
the people we were with thought we were a little crazy
taking so many plant pictures, but oh well!
Philippines: In the city of Manila we noticed many more
billboards than plants, although there was a street of great
nurseries, at which we never got to shop. I guess it’s not
very portable material for an airplane trip, or clearing cus-
toms, but we looked as we rode by!
However, our conference was located at a very lovely
seaside resort with some professional and lovely landscap-
ing. It was built on a hill going up from a lovely white
sandy bay that was lit up at night. There were well
designed paths lined with white stone dry beds. Many
varieties of palms and tropical plants abounded and were
often set off with little decks, statuary and pebbles. Dave
particularly noticed all the colored varieties of bougainvil-
lea—pink, orange and white, even growing on the same
plant!
Indonesia: In this very densely populated island, we ex-
perienced the heat of the equatorial doldrums. Our friends
lived on a nice size lot in the city, which they developed as
a means of rest and recreation from the hectic life and
noise of the city. Immediately, we noticed some orchids
growing outside the front door on the railings. That would
be a treat. The property also provides food from various
tropical fruit trees. Barbara had banana plants that actually
produced quite a “handful” that we enjoyed while we were
there. She also grew papaya, guava, mango and other fruit
basic to their daily diet. She didn’t have a Dorian tree,
although we were served its fruit in Indonesia and it is the
national fruit of Thailand where I saw a tree growing. It’s
a very large bumpy fruit that really stinks and doesn’t taste
much better. That was a real exercise in congeniality!
In the middle of Timothy and Barbara’s property was a
nice pond with blooming water lilies. And along the back
border they had planted a row of “white teak”, which is
pretty fast growing. In fact, everything was pretty fast
growing and most of their gardening involved removing
things that had become too large. I guess everyone gets to
that point, sooner or later.
As we drove along the roads in a village near the city,
we were able to see rice paddies that were so central to the
economy and food production of the country. You could
tell that many of these were very old and had built up
terraces along hillsides for many years. In the middle of
one was a kiln that the villagers showed us; it is where
they would fire the handmade clay bricks they made. It
seemed like a good location—lots of water and far away
from people.
Since the houses were very close to the road all
through the country, there were not many landscaped
places. One interesting hedge we noticed throughout all
the countries we visited was an annual called Pentas. It
was normally an orange/pink color and used everywhere
as we might use boxwood, but it bloomed all the time.
When we went up into the mountain village we noticed a
croton “tree” that was at least twenty feet tall. Their color-
ful leaves were used decoratively in many yards.
Char & Lynne
Dakak Resort Phillippines
2
Far East (continued from cover page)
Lynne Moll, Franklin County Master Gardener
Thailand: In contrast to Indonesia, the first thing we
noticed, even on the ride from the airport, was how beauti-
fully areas were landscaped. When we walked down the
city street in Chiangmai I was amazed by a very beautiful
plumeria tree. I hadn’t seen that since Hawaii. What a per-
fect flower and lovely scent. I put one behind my ear for
the rest of the walk! Each little storefront had a deck that
had beautiful container plants spilling out, or miniature
water gardens.
We ate at one of the prettiest restaurants I’ve ever been
called The Jungle (something else in Thai). It was out-
doors, covered with a huge pavilion. There was a lagoon
and waterfalls beside the deck where we were seated at
our long hardwood table. Beautiful huge pots of tropical
plants, as well as many planted in gardens abounded and
made an exquisite setting that was so restful. Of course,
Thai food is our favorite too. But the restrooms were the
most memorable, each “water closet” had plants in it and
the hand washing area had gorgeous double begonia plants
beside the faucets that actually came out as small water-
falls.
A special treat was a drive to the mountains with Char
Spreckelmeyer, who also loves plants and is an experi-
enced horticulturist. We visited a lovely orchid farm that
had a restaurant, gift shop and other gardens around it.
The orchids were suspended in rows, which you walked
through. Not all were blooming, but there were such beau-
tiful colors, sizes and shapes. They were not in a designed
setting as you see at orchid shows in our country, but they
were so abundant and vivid in this greenhouse environ-
ment.
We also visited an insect museum and farm for Dave’s
special interest. That’s another story, but I will include the
fact that there was a walking stick at least a foot long that
Dave took a picture of as it climbed on Char’s shirt. Not
me!! He really enjoyed a large display of rhinoceros
beetles and tarantulas, but again—NOT ME! I did enjoy
the butterfly house, though.
The highlight of the trip was to the Queen’s Botanic
Garden, high in the mountains. We drove through most of
it, since it was located on a very steep hill (I thought our
Missouri yard was steep!). There were always workers in
the gardens, which were kept very well. I think it is also a
research garden and the gift shop had many books on
tropical plants. When we walked around we saw plants
that we consider annuals growing out in full sun in
profusion—dahlias, coleus, yellow cannas, hydrangeas, to
name a few. On the very top of the hill overlooking spec-
tacular mountain greenery views seen through huge entry
trellises, were stylized greenhouse displays. There were
about ten and each was a unique delight. Each one was a
special display with a theme: begonias, ferns, orchids,
bromeliads, rare plants, water plants, carnivorous plants
and then a huge rain forest. I recorded in my journal, “All
the botanical desires of our heart were fulfilled! It was
such a treat to see such an unusual, lovely garden.” And
truthfully, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words
for our horticultural adventures. We would love to give
you the opportunity to see some of them!
Editor’s note: Dave and Lynne Moll recently spent a
month in the Far East on a missionary project sponsored
by their church.
Thailand Queen’s Garden
3
From Matt’s Desk You may have read of the announcement by our Governor that higher education will be
looking at additional cuts in state support. Difficult economic times challenge our elected
officials to make decisions about how to spend our tax dollars. University of Missouri Extension
has been planning for these cuts for some time and thus far we have been able to manage by
holding positions open and cutting other costs. In Franklin County we are fortunate to have four
specialist positions and two education assistants, or associates. Franklin County has also been
supportive of Extension and has not reduced the budget to operate your local office. Strong
programs and active volunteers like you deserve the credit to maintain funding for University of
Missouri Extension programming. You are to be congratulated for making a difference in
improving the lives of those in Franklin and surrounding counties.
I also wanted to let you know that we are planning Master Gardener training that will begin with an orientation
session August 29. If you know someone who would like to participate in Master Gardener training please encour-
age them to call our office at (636) 583-5141, or email me at [email protected]. We offer the training to 24
people and we seem to fill it each time it is offered.
Looking forward to hearing how your projects and your gardens develop this summer.
Matt
Editor’s note: Since I was
traveling in April and missed
Georgianne’s presentation at
our April meeting, I asked her
to synopsize it for me and our
other members who were not
present. Thanks, Georgianne.
Working with hard clay soils:
One approach is to cover over the soil by bringing in
good soil and creating a berm, or using planting holes,
improving them with peat, sand and compost and
using the clay you removed to fill ruts.
Another way to cover over the soil, is by lasagna
gardening. Briefly, this no till, no dig method piles
organic materials in layers, which rot in place without
turning, assisted by earthworms.
Clay soils can be softened with products like Turface
and gypsum, which are very effective with compacted
soils.
Ordinary dish soap, about half a cup in your watering
can, filled with water is very good for softening soils.
Citrus and mint scent dish soaps have the added bene-
fit of repelling some pests.
In the garden a green manure like legume, tilled under
will eventually lighten the soil while adding nitrogen.
For really bad soil the best thing might be to simply
replace it, especially for foundation plantings.
Readying the garden for early planting: Laying a large
tarp, ideally at the end of March—heats up the soil, kills
weeds and gets seeds to sprouts faster. It also gives the
gardener more control over when to plant. With all this
year’s rains, it’s been hard to till and plant at the most
ideal times without “tarping”. Good sources for big tarps
are pool and silo covers.
Moving heavy objects: This task can be made easier by
incorporating a track made from 3” round logs. I cut a
fence post into 18” sections. A rock bar wedged at the last
section provides the push (this method does not work up-
hill). You can also use a tarp to drag, mover’s straps or a
dolly.
Digging large planting holes: A rock bar can be used to
dislodge gravel and stones and a sharp ice scraper tool is
the best for cutting roots.
Transporting water to garden areas: Pool tarp hold
downs, or water bags can fit into a wheelbarrow and don’t
spill as large buckets tend to do.
Places like Harbor Freight Tools, Rural King and most
large farm supply stores are great sources for garden re-
lated items; pool stores have water bags, tarps and diato-
maceous earth, a natural product used in pool filters, but
has gardening applications such as insect repelling. A
search on the Internet will yield information on lasagna
gardening.
Gardening Made Easier
Georgianne McClanahan, Franklin County Master Gardener
4
M aybe I’m not a very
sophisticated art con-
noisseur, but Impressionism has
always been my favorite art
form. Although Monet was not
the first Impressionist, he is
considered by some to be the
Father of Impressionism and is
my favorite of the group so
classified. Over the years I’ve been mesmerized by his
haystack and water lily paintings at exhibits in the
St. Louis Art Museum. I dreamed of visiting his home in
Giverny and actually seeing the inspiration for his work
especially, as a gardener, the water lily pond. So you can
imagine how excited I was when I researched my recent
trip to France and learned that Giverny was only an
hour’s drive from Paris.
Before I could broach the subject with our Tauck tour
guide, Jackie, she suggested Giverny as an option for one
of the two free afternoons during our stay in Paris. I im-
mediately asked her to
make the arrangements for
me. Promptly at the desig-
nated time the van arrived
at our hotel and I joined
four other Americans for
our trip to East Normandy
where Giverny is located.
Our very engaging local
driver was accompanied by
a young woman who he
introduced as a “trainee”—
she did handle the credit
card transactions. Shortly
after leaving the environs
of Paris, our driver offered
us a bonus; if we were in-
terested, he would exit the autoroute, (think Interstate),
and take us through the countryside of East Normandy. It
would be a little longer but since none of us had to be back
in Paris before 7:00 P.M, we opted for the detour. Riding
through the villages of East Normandy would certainly be
preferable to viewing endless fields of blooming rapeseed,
(think canola), along the Autoroute. Incidentally rapeseed
is a major crop in France and other areas of Europe.
Shortly we were driving along narrow country roads. In
the villages, the houses, some of which are several hun-
dred of years old, abutted the road, originally designed for
farm carts or one horse and rider. Throughout Europe,
East Normandy being no exception, houses in season are
festooned with window boxes, baskets and any kind of
container with artfully designed flower arrangements.
There are actually two gardens at Giverny, the more
famous water garden and the walled garden. Monet, his
wife and eight children, settled in the pink house in
Giverny in 1883 and he lived there until his death in 1926.
Ten years after his arrival at Giverny, Monet dug his first
pond, which he later enlarged it to its present day size.
The water garden is full of asymmetries and curves. It is
inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from
the prints he collected. In this garden is the famous Japa-
nese bridge covered with wisterias, other smaller bridges,
weeping willows, a bamboo wood and of course the
famous water lilies which, unfortunately were not bloom-
ing during my visit. The pond and the surrounding vegeta-
tion form an enclosure, which provided a serenity that
could not be lost even with the many visitors and school
groups who were there. Monet, like no other painter,
shaped his subjects in nature before painting them, thus
creating his works twice. He found inspiration in this
water garden for more than twenty years. As a true Im-
pressionist, he looked for
mist and transparencies
and dedicated himself less
to flowers than to reflec-
tions in water. After the
Japanese bridge series, he
devoted himself to the
giant decorations found in
the Orangerie*. I was so
memorized by the serenity
and beauty of the water
garden that I lost track of
time and suddenly realized
I had not seen the walled
garden nor toured Monet’s
pink house.
The rectangular Walled
Garden, Clos Normand, lies in front of the house, with
archways of limbed plants wrapped around superbly col-
ored shrubs. When Monet bought the farmhouse, he
cleared the area, a tired and untidy orchard at the time, and
ripped out all but a few healthy trees. He laid out the area
in symmetrical beds, split down the middle by a “grandee
allee” covered with iron trellises of climbing roses.
In a deliberately careless manner he threw together
hollyhocks, daisies and poppies. But each flowerbed has
an overall color scheme that contributes to the look of the
whole garden. (Cont’d on page 6)
A Dream Realized
Rosalie M. Laune, Franklin County Master Gardener
walled garden
5
Preventing Foliar Tomato Blights Adapted from: the MO Environments Garden Newsletter May 9, 2011—http://ppp.missouri.edu/newsletters/megindex.htm
O ne of the most revered summer vegetables by home
gardeners is the tomato. Wet growing seasons
aggravate our most common foliar diseases, often referred
to as blights. These diseases are caused by two fungi:
Septoria leaf spot and Early Blight, and two bacteria:
Bacterial Spot and Speck. The disease descriptions are
presented below. However, correct diagnosis can be
extremely challenging, especially when two or more dis-
eases are occurring at the same time. It is best to have
plant problems either diagnosed by a local extension
agent, or by submitting the sample to the Plant Diagnostic
Clinic. Please note that bacterial diseases are controlled
with different chemicals than fungal diseases, as the biol-
ogy of the diseases is different.
The most serious problem has been inattention to dis-
ease prevention. Preventing foliar diseases should start by
minimizing disease inoculum, which can be harbored on
diseased plant residue, or wooden stakes in contact with it.
Dispose of tomato residue away from the vegetable gar-
den, or burn it. If tomato diseases have been a problem,
consider changing to metal stakes/supports, or sterilize
wood stakes by soaking in a bleach solution. Proper spac-
ing is also crucial to preventing disease. It is better to give
a little more space than is required than crowding plants.
Over-crowding plants encourages disease by increasing
the humidity, decreasing air movement, and increasing
competition between the plants.
Several common foliar diseases exist in the soil and are
spread to the plant by splashing water from irrigation and
rain. Mulching around plants will help by reducing water-
splashed soil and the pathogens that are spread with the
particles. However, organic mulches like straw will sup-
press soil temperatures and may keep the soil too wet dur-
ing periods of heavy rainfall in the spring. Plastic mulch
(usually black), or black weed barrier cloth, “landscaping
fabric”, or a similar product are good choices of material,
as they allow water to pass through.
Many gardeners wait until they see disease symptoms
before they apply a chemical for disease control.
“Preventing” the disease is easier than controlling it.
Diseases which may appear:
• Anthracnose (fungus): Anthracnose fruit rot. It is spread
in an odd way, establishing in the leaf lesions of Early
Blight and then splashed onto the fruit. Infections begin on
green fruit and, symptoms become most apparent when
ripe.
• Bacterial spot (bacterium): small, angular, water soaked
spots on leaves and stems. Raised, crusty spots on fruit.
• Bacterial speck (bacterium): The foliar symptoms of
speck consist of small, 1/8 to 1/4 inch black lesions, often
with a discrete yellow halo. The lesions of bacterial spot
are similar, but tend to have a greasy appearance, whereas
those of speck do not. Speck seems to curl the leaves more
severely than spot. Both diseases affect flowers.
• Early blight (fungus): starts at bottom of plant and ad-
vances upwards, as dark-brown circular spots with con-
centric rings, or “targets,” on leaves. Tissues around spots
become yellow. When spots are numerous, leaves wither
and dry up.
• Fusarium wilt (fungus): lower leaves turn yellow and
dry. Leaves roll up and wilt during hot part of day. Inner
stem tissues have dark discoloration.
• Septoria leaf spot (fungus): small, roughly circular spots
with dark-brown borders and gray centers on leaves.
Leaves may die and drop off if heavily infected.
University of Missouri, Lincoln University, U.S. Department of Agriculture & Local University Extension Councils Cooperating.
http://extension.missouri.edu/franklin equal opportunity/ADA institution Live. And Learn.
6
W eather challenges plagued our May and June
activities. In May, member, Karen Geisert, in-
vited us to view her peonies, which under normal weather
conditions, would have been in full bloom by early May.
Unfortunately, cooler than normal temps this spring de-
layed their bloom cycle and, adding insult to injury,
shortly before our 6:30 arrival, it started raining.
However, Karen rose to the challenge preparing her
garage for our meeting and enlisting her grandson, um-
brella in hand, to flag and direct traffic. Karen’s home,
which has been in the family for three generations, over-
looks the Missouri River. The peony garden includes some
heirloom plants, which are as old as the property. Since
many of these plants are no longer common, Karen has
done extensive research to learn their names and history.
Some of the peonies were starting to bloom and under um-
brellas we walked around the house, viewed the peonies
and also Karen’s beautiful hosta gardens. Following our
tour and refreshments, we held our annual plant exchange.
Just as we were leaving, the sun peeked out from between
the clouds. Thanks Karen for inviting us to your home and
gardens.
Betty Altemeyer coordinated our June activity, a Satur-
day excursion to the annual Hermann Garden Tour. I
guess we can’t hold Betty responsible for the heat wave,
including on the day of the tour, which beset much of the
mid-west in early June. The plan was for the MG’s to
meet in Washington and arrive in Hermann at 10:00. Betty
and I left from New Haven along with four members of
the New Haven Garden Club. We ran into Karen Geisert
and the Molls when we arrived in Hermann. We broke
into three groups and at noon reassembled for lunch.
Later on, we met Carlyn Cikovic and her husband. The
tour features gardens in town and in the country. Partici-
pants can opt for the complete tour or the city tour. Most
of the gardens in town were within walking distance. Two
of the country gardens were in the Rhineland/Starkenberg
area and one was in New Haven. I’m sure we would have
had more participants if the weather had been more ac-
commodating. Thanks to Betty for doing the legwork on
this activity.
From the Editor –May and June Activities Rosalie M. Laune, Franklin County Master Gardener
A Dream Realized (Cont’d from page 4)
Rosalie M. Laune, Franklin County Master Gardener
Seeing it from the second floor of the house, one looks at a
perfect Impressionist painting. Giverny is open from April
through October and the walled garden is in bloom during
the entire cycle. After a quick tour of the gift shop, it was
time for our return trip to Paris.
I think Elsepth Thompson in her June 13, 2011 article
in The Telegraph sums up Giverny best: ―Apart from
painting and gardening, I'm not good at anything‖ Monet
once remarked. Yet his talents in both areas put most
other painters and gardeners in the shade, and they came
together in the creation of the garden at Giverny. Com-
posed as if it were a painting, and the subject of much of
his best work, it is considered by many to be his greatest
legacy – as beautiful and inspirational to today's garden-
ers as it was a hundred years ago.‖
*The Orangerie, built in 1852, is located in the Tuller-
ies Gardens near the Louvre, and was in walking distance
from our Paris hotel. On the Sunday following my visit to
Giverny, I went there to see Monet’s panoramic cycle of
eight water lily paintings, which he donated to France to
celebrate the end of the First World War. The restoration
of the building to accommodate his gift took twenty years
to complete and Monet spent over a decade to complete
the monumental paintings.
lily pond