Volume 21 Issue No. 11November 2009

Inside this Issue:

Bits ‘n’ Tidbits 2Seeds for Thought 3President’s Corner 3Hort Agent News 4EMG Calendar Year Change 4EMG Profile 5Book Review 5Plant of the Month 6Garden Review 7

2009Calendarof Events

Nov. 2! 1:30pm, Power Point trainingNov. 3! 1:30pm, Trips & Tours Committee Meeting! 3:00pm, Set up for Basic TrainingNov. 5! 9:00am, Basic Training-!AM-Entomology, ! ! ! Dr. Raymond Cloyd! ! PM-Plant Pathology, Judy O’MaraNov. 10! 9:00am, Arboretum Committee Meeting! 10:30am, Compost Committee Meeting! 3:00pm, Set up for Basic TrainingNov. 11! OFFICE CLOSED-No Hotline-Veteran’s Day-Thank You!Nov. 12! 9:00am, Basic Training-!AM Pest Management, ! ! ! Ward Upham! ! PM -!Garden Basics, Bob Neier! ! ! Organic Gardening, Mel EppNov. 15! Newsletter articles and items dueNov. 16! 9:30 am, Youth Committee MeetingNov. 17! 1:00pm, Garden Tour Committee MeetingNov. 17-18! November Journeys Tour-Joplin/SE KSNov. 18! 1:30pm, Power Point Training! 3:00pm, Set up for Basic TrainingNov. 19! 9:00am, Basic Training-!AM Lawn Grasses for KS, ! ! ! Rebecca McMahon! ! PM Landscape Design, ! ! ! Cheryl BoyerNov. 20! 9:00am, Advisory Board MeetingNov. 24! 9:30am, Horticulture Therapy Committee to CPRF! (Weidemann)! 11:00am, Horticulture Therapy Committee Meeting at CPRFNov. 26 & 27! OFFICE CLOSED-HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Dec. 1 ! 9:30am, Power Point TrainingDec. 2! 3:00pm, Set up for Basic TrainingDec. 3! 9:00am, Basic Training-! AM -! Planting & Maintaining Trees ! ! ! ! for KS, Bob Neier! ! ! PM -! Growing Vegetables, Ted CaryDec. 8 ! 9:00am, Arboretum Committee Meeting! 10:30am, Compost Committee MeetingDec. 9! 1:30pm, Trips & Tours Committee MeetingDec. 10! 9:00am, Basic Training-! AM Great Plants of the Great Plains,! ! ! ! Bob Hendrickson! 12:00pm, Christmas LuncheonDec. 15! Newsletter articles and items dueDec. 25! OFFICE CLOSED-MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

* Denotes advanced training credit, ask receptionist for room location

The Master Gardener, November 2009 Page 1

Chrysanthemum

NovemberBirthdays

Regina Sackreiter ! 11/2

Susan Havener ! 11/6

Dick Dobson ! 11/7Marcia Alter ! 11/8

Barbara Frey ! 11/8

Everett Price ! 11/8

Jerry Young ! 11/8

Gail Emley ! 11/10David Thomas ! 11/11

Vic Goerke ! 11/14

Woody Thompson ! 11/14

Helen Goering ! 11/16

Belle Borum ! 11/18Barbara Baker ! 11/20

Don Allison ! 11/21

Sharon LaForge ! 11/22

Susan Webert ! 11/26

Dianne Pope ! 11/29Sam Seminoff ! 11/29

Hotline Calls! September 2008:! 730! September 2009:!437

Speakers Bureau! September 2008:! 90! September 2009:! 0

Thanks for Your Support! Thanks for the concern and support during the time of my dad’s failing health and passing. The cards, calls and kind words have been so comforting. I was gone a lot in the last 19 months, but knew our clients were in great shape since the staff and Master Gardeners stepped forward and covered so much. Dad was a wheat farmer and stained glass craftsman. I learned from him:

• that building a proper seedbed is worked on all year

• to continually work with practices to maintain soil moisture

• that frugality pays off• that by taking time to do quality work,

your art will live beyond you• that you gain friends by being a friend

My Son Can Thank Johnny Appleseed for His Summer Job! My college-age son, Mark, spent this past summer with an internship at Folger’s (yes, coffee) company in Kansas City. During an orientation session, he found that Folger’s is owned by Smucker’s and that Smucker’s was started in Ohio in 1897 by Jerome Monroe Smucker, by making apple cider and apple butter from trees planted by the efforts of Johnny Appleseed. So my son can thank horticulture for the roots of his summer internship. Mark’s field of study is Industrial Engineering and is on track to graduate with a combined BS/MS in December.660-0100 – Extension Office Phone Number660-0190 – Master Gardener Hotline Number! The phone number for the Sedgwick County Extension Office changed last February. Since then, 3 phone books have come out and only one has us listed correctly (the others have been notified). Please include the new phone number in handouts, Powerpoints, and any other materials that you use for teaching others.Shingle Oak Planting! On October 5, the Master Gardeners planted a Shingle Oak in the Extension Arboretum in memory of David Kessler. David was an active Extension Master Gardener who died this past summer. He did beautiful carpentry projects and made our wood publication racks that we take to events. So it was appropriate to plant an oak.

! The wood of the Shingle Oak (Quercus imbricaria) was once used to make shingles – thus the common name. This stately oak is native to eastern Kansas and does well as a landscape or park tree in the Midwest. It grows to a height of 50-60’ with comparable spread. A nice feature is that shingle oak holds its leaves through the winter and is good for screening. Though it prefers a slightly acid soil, it grows quite well in the Wichita area. Growth rate is slow to medium with 1 to 1 ½ ft per year over a 20 year period.

Arboretum MemorialsIn memory of David Kesslerpurchased a Shingle Oak

Deb PlagmannDea Deutsch

Bob & Evelyn Neier

In memory of Irving Neiertree to be purchased

Nancy and Bud DillonBob and Jana Finkbiner

Fall Color in the Sedgwick County Extension Arboretum! On most any day of the year you can find a different tree or shrub showing a special feature in the Sedgwick County Extension Arboretum located on the grounds of the Sedgwick County Extension Education Center. Two nice specimens on October 15 were ‘Legacy’ Sugar Maple and a shrub form of Amur Maple.! Amur Maple (Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala) can be trained into either a tall multi-stemmed shrub or a small tree. Mature size is 15-20’ tall and spread. The cultivar ‘Flame’ gives potential

for nice red fall color. Amur Maple grows well throughout Kansas and has excellent drought tolerance. It may be grown in Sedgwick County without supplemental watering once established..

Bits ‘ n’ TidbitsContinued on page 3

Page 2 The Master Gardener, November 2009

Bits ‘n’ Tidbitsby Bob Neier,County Extension Agent, Horticulture

The frost is on the pumpkin, and it has been a beautiful autumn! I hope you’ve had a chance to take a look around our arboretum this fall, as the colors are spectacular.! 45 Master Gardeners from Sedgwick County went to the State Master Gardener conference in Manhattan this year. I’ve heard a lot of positive comments about the classes that were attended, and freshmen, you will be eligible to attend in 2010 after you have met your training and volunteer requirements. It’s a great way to get all of your advanced training credits at once, and have a lot of fun doing it!! Basic Training has been going very well and we have an energetic, enthusiastic class! Our new freshmen have been attending committee meetings, work days, and other volunteer activities. We are very glad to have you all on board!

! Autumn evenings are the best. The owl that lives in my big cottonwood tree has been keeping me company almost every evening, and if I’m really lucky, I’ll spot an occasional doe. I hope you’ve been able to enjoy some of the awesome weather we’ve had. I can’t get enough “porch time” this time of year!

“Gratitude unlocks the fu"ness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a &iend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~Melody Beattie

! May each of you have a beautiful, bountiful Thanksgiving.! ' ' Angie

Check out these Gardening Websites

U.S. Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center, the U.S. press office of the Dutch flower bulb industry -- http://www.bulb.com/

U.S & International. Botanic Gardens Listinghttp://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/botanicg.htm

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - http://www.wildflower.org/

The PLANTS Database - http://plants.usda.gov/

American Horticultural Society (contains links to other Master Gardener sites, state-by-state) http://www.ahs.org/

Bits ‘ n’ TidbitsContinued from page 2! ‘Legacy’ Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum ‘Legacy’) is a reliable sugar maple for Midwest conditions. It has thick waxy leaves that do not tatter in the wind, is glossy green in the summer and a reliable orange to

red in October. It may eventually grow to size of 50’ by 35’. Sugar maples grow best in well-drained, slightly moist, fertile soils. Do not plant in wet or over-irrigated sites.

! ! Bob

Greetings to All,! It would be impossible for me to choose which I enjoy more, gardening or reading. I ran across the following years ago, and I think it applies to us and probably applies to Master Gardeners everywhere. Hope you enjoy.

“To laugh o(en and to love much; to win the respect of inte"igent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false &iends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with

enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- this is to have succeeded.” ! Ralph Waldo Emerson! ! ! (1803-1882)

! The Appreciation Luncheon was delicious, inspiring and lots of fun. Thank you to all who worked to put it together. It was terrific to see such a turnout and to get to talk with many. I just wish I could have made it around to each one of you.! Welcome to all in our new class. I look forward to learning and working with you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

! ! Virginia

National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ - http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/create.cfm?CFID=21832246&CFTOKEN=e3ee26992e3f27c1-8E8BFE76-5056-A868-A00AA99ECBA5ECA7

The links listed above are listed (along with many others) on the following website:University of Wisconsin Master Gardener Links - http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/gardeningonline.htm

NewsletterContact Info

We request articles to be published be submitted by the

15th of each month.Mail to:

Cindy Vadakin3044 Forest Lakes Ct.

Wichita, KS 67205-1904E-mail to:

cvadakin@cox.netca": 258-1684 (cell)

The Master Gardener, November 2009 Page 3

Seeds for Thought) ) ) by EMG Coordinator, Angie Norris

President’s Corner) ) by EMG Virginia Sanders

! Whenever I teach a Basic Training class, I struggle to fit my topic into the allotted time. As I was teaching the basic fruits class in October, I was struck by how much information I wanted to share, but just didn’t have time. One of the things about fruit that I think is a common misconception is that you have to have a dedicated fruit garden to plant any fruit. Nothing could be further from the truth! Many fruit plants have a place in the average home landscape! Here are 10 things to try.

1. Strawberries make a great groundcover in a sunny area. You can even get varieties that have bright pink flowers!

2. Alpine strawberries do not produce runners. The nice rounded plants would be attractive in a border.

3. A dwarf apple or pear tree can be grown along a fence and pruned into a decorative espalier form. Check out this website for some pictures: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Espalier

4. Genetic dwarf peach trees can be easily grown in containers. A 4’ tall tree is much easier to manage than a 20’ tall tree!

5. Consider a columnar apple tree. These trees grow vertically rather than round. They can also be grown in large containers.

6. A grape or kiwi vine can be grown on a fence, trellis, or arbor. Male kolomika kiwis have pink and green variegated foliage. Think how that would look on an ugly fence!

7. Strawberries can be grown in hanging baskets, containers, or towers.

8. Blackberries or raspberries can be planted in a full sun area as a border, especially in a narrow area such as between a driveway and fence or sidewalk.

9. Currants or gooseberries have an attractive rounded shape that could form an nice hedge in a lightly shaded area.

10.Blueberries can be successfully grown in containers. Not only do they have pretty white flowers in the spring and blue fruit in the summer, but they have gorgeous maroon foliage in the fall!

! Now that you have 10 great ideas for incorporating fruit into your home landscape, head to the nursery or get out your catalog to find your first fruit tree!

! RebeccaIf you want to keep up with what’s going on in the Demonstration Garden, you can check out the blog at http://thedemogardenblog.wordpress.com.

Advisory Board Announcement

EMG Year Change! by EMG Coordinator, Angie Norris! After much discussion and consideration of the feedback we received from Master Gardeners concerning changing our fiscal year of September 1st -August 31st to coincide with the calendar year of January 1st-December 31st, the Advisory Board has unanimously approved the change. Purpose: To distribute the heavy workload associated with year end responsibilities and preparing for our Appreciation luncheon, as well as the process of selecting and preparing for a new Freshman class and Basic Training. Both of these deserve and require considerable time and attention from our staff. Most of our committees, as well as our budget run from January to December already. We believe this will also simplify tracking hours and remembering deadlines for Master Gardeners.Plan: Extension Master Gardener year will now begin January 1st and end December 31st, with all training and hours being turned in on a monthly basis, December 31 being the final deadline. The Appreciation luncheon will be held mid to late January. The Freshman class will be invited to the luncheon. They will not receive certificates for their hours, as the hours they accumulate from September to December will count towards the following year. Master Gardener volunteer and training requirements will not change.Transition year: 2009/2010 we will transition as follows:

♦The hours you have accumulated since September 2009 will count towards 2010, and be recognized at the Appreciation luncheon in January 2011. After the first year, Freshmen get hours from the day that they start training through December of the following year. Veterans get credit for the current calendar year only.♦You will effectively have an additional 4 months to accumulate your minimum of 48 volunteer hours and training. We will ask however, that you attend 3 half day sessions of Basic Training in 2009 and 3 half day sessions in 2010 in order to keep your training current. Every Master Gardener will need 3 Advanced Training credits.♦Freshmen who have completed 48 hours by August 1st are eligible to attend the State Master Gardener Conference in Manhattan and receive Advanced Training. The conference is typically held in late September or early October.A few of your concerns: ! We will do our best to plan an alternate snow day for the Appreciation Luncheon. ! Master Gardeners will have to plan ahead, as there are not as many things to do in December to accumulate volunteer hours. Angie will have a list of a few items, but meeting your volunteer requirements throughout the year is your responsibility.! We want you to know that each of your comments and concerns were discussed and the pros and cons carefully weighed. Thank you for your feedback, as it was a very important element in our decision making process. This should be a very easy adjustment, and we appreciate your cooperation. Do not hesitate to call Angie at 660-0138 if you have any questions.

Page 4 The Master Gardener, November 2009

Hort Agent News

Fruit in the Home Landscapeby Rebecca McMahon, ) County Extension Agent, Horticulture

! Cindy entered this world with a storm! She was born in Wichita during a storm so strong that it blew some windows out of St. Francis Hospital and sent mothers and babies to the hallways for cover! She attended Wichita schools, graduating from North High School, then receiving a BFA in Graphic Design from Wichita State University. She has been employed at Boeing for 30 years. Her husband Gordon, is the head coach of the WSU Shocker Bowling program. An avid bowler herself, Cindy was a member of the first collegiate national championship team in 1975, and continues to bowl two times a week. Cindy and Gordon met and began dating while both were college students and members of the WSU team. ! The Vadakin’s are proud parents of a 25 year old daughter and 22 year old son. Andrea will graduate with a Masters Degree in International Business from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona in December.

Airman First Class Kenny has been in the U.S. Air Force for one year, and is currently stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California and assigned to Air Transportation.! Cindy is a member of the Wichita Hosta Society, Project Beauty, the Wichita Rose Society and is a Consulting Rosarian with the American Rose Society. In 2007, the Vadakin garden was one of Project Beauty's Gardens of the Year. The garden features iris, hostas, clematis, peonies and roses. This past summer, she established raised beds with expanded shale and has planted a number of varieties of Earthkind roses. She is very pleased with the results and is anxious to see their first flush of blooms next spring..! Cindy became a Master Gardener in 2003 under the encouragement of her brother, David Hubbard, who was an active EMG at that time. She is editor of the Master Gardener Newsletter, a Master Tree Gardener, and participates in many MG activities, such as;. the Wichita Garden Show, Herb Day, Tomato Day and Tree Festival, Garden Tours, and the Valentine’s Day fundraiser.! Although a very active person, Cindy is never too busy to reach out to others or offer a friendly smile. I speak for all Master Gardeners and say, "Thanks Cindy for your efforts to publish our great Master Gardener Newsletter."

! Ever feel confused or uncertain when to do specific garden tasks or which plants to prune at what time? Don’t we all. If you ask two people, you receive two different answers. With Month-by-Month Gardening in Kansas, you can stop guessing and seek one resource to determine which tasks to accomplish in which month. Written specifically for the state we live in, it can help bring a whole year of success in your garden. It answers the questions you most want to ask: “when to prune your shrubs?” and “when to fertilize the lawn?” So stop feeling confused and get organized. Find the answers to basic questions, plus suggestions for new things to plant each month.! This book is divided in an easy to understand way between annuals, bulbs, perennials, ground covers, roses, shrubs, trees, and water gardens. Then within each section, the work best to be done is outlined by the twelve months. There are separate discussions for planning, planting, care, watering, fertilizing, pruning, and pests. Miller even supplements each month with helpful hints. A notes area is left blank under each month for

you to add your own personalized observations and reminders from your garden. It is very easy to use and is almost as good as having your own expert on hand to advise you.! Since this book is written just for our region, you can count on the information being right for your garden. Special lists of recommendations in the perennials section list not only common and scientific names, but also flower color, good companion plants, light, soil, and site requirements. This information is also available in the shrubs and trees sections. As an added

bonus, there is an extremely useful index to look up where to find a specific answer to your nagging plant question, a glossary of terms, and a guide to botanical and display gardens in Kansas. This book answers for you the age old question: what should I be doing in the garden this month? Check out this practical gardening guide in the Extension Master Gardener library soon.

About Mike Miller:, since 1977, he has been involved in various aspects of the outdoors including landscape consultant / designer, author, radio show host, co-founding predatory insect store. Mr. Miller was employed at Missouri Botanical Garden and is a MO. state certified nurseryman He also authored Missouri Gardener's Journal, Missouri Gardener’s Guide, and Month by Month Gardening in Missouri.

The Master Gardener, November 2009 Page 5

EEMG Profile

Cindy Vadakin) ) by EMG Norma Kemp

Book Review

Month-by-Month Gardening in Kansas by Mike Miller) ) by EMG Cherlyn Russell

! The beautiful and fragrant Magnolia is surprisingly quite primitive. It is one of the oldest flowering plants, often referred to as a living fossil. The plant has been around for approximately 100-120 million years and evolved long before bees. Its pollination was accomplished by beetles, thus the tough flowers and leaves of the species. There are over 200 natural occurring species of Magnolias, although there is much controversy over classification in academic circles. ! Native Magnolias are found in both the new and old world. Most old world species are found in southeast Asia and eastern reaches of China and also Korea and Japan. New world species occur throughout temperate and tropical zones in both North and South America. Magnolias come in both evergreen and deciduous varieties. ! While we think of Magnolias as a “Southern” plant, many varieties will grow great in zone 6. Magnolia grandiflora is the classic Southern Magnolia we all think of when we think of Magnolias. Often found in the south as just the species variety, rather than a hybrid or cultivar, they are huge evergreen trees, up to 90 feet tall. They are only reliably hardy to zone 7, although there are certainly a number of very mature trees healthy trees right here in Wichita. There are many cultivars that are hardy to zone 5, so we have a good number to choose from. Among the most popular grandiflora’s are:• ! Magnolia grandiflora

'Bracken's Brown Beauty' - 20 to 30 feet high and 15-20 feet wide, pyramidal shape. It produces flowers and leaves that are approximately one-half the size of those on species’ plants. Leathery evergreen leaves (to 7” long) are glossy dark green above and rusty-brown beneath, lending a bi-color appearance to the foliage. Fragrant, cup-shaped, creamy white flowers (to 4-6” diameter) appear in late spring, with sparse continued flowering throughout the summer. Flowers give way to spherical cone-like fruiting clusters (to 3” long) that mature in late summer, releasing individual rose-red coated seeds suspended on slender threads at maturity. Very disease resistant. Prefers well drained soil.

• ! Magnolia grandiflora 'Edith Bogue' – Among the most cold hardy of all grandifloras. Pyramidal shape, up to 50-foot-high by 30-foot-wide. Larger than Bracken’s Brown Beauty. Thick glossy green leaves with a rusty bottom. Creamy white, large fragrant flowers are very long-lasting. Showy red fruit.

• ! Another popular species is Magnolia x loebneri. Loebneri is a deciduous hybrid. It is a small tree typically growing to 20-30’ tall with a rounded crown. It is more often grown in a multi-trunked form rather than a single trunk tree. Fragrant star-like white flowers (4-6” wide) with 10-15 petals appear in early spring before the foliage. Flowers give way to cone-like fruits that ripen to red in late summer, releasing individual red coated seeds suspended on slender threads at maturity. Fruits are sometimes absent on this hybrid. A number of hybrid cultivars, such as

Ballerina, Merrill, and Spring Joy are available featuring flowers that are white, blush-pink, lilac pink or pink. It is a bit slow to produce flowers, it could take up to 5 years from the time of planting. •Magnolia x soulangeana, or the saucer Magnolia, is usually grown as a large multi stemmed deciduous shrub type plant and is probably second in popularity to the grandiflora There are a number of interesting cultivars including:

‣ ‘Lennei’ - A large, broad-spreading shrub that is most noted for its large, goblet-shaped, purple flowers and large leaves. It typically grows to 10-15’ tall over the first 10 years, eventually reaching 15-25’ tall over time. Fragrant flowers (to 8” across) bloom in early spring before the foliage emerges. Flowers are deep purple with white inside. Sparse numbers of additional flowers may bloom sporadically later in spring on new growth, but the later flowers are usually less vigorous and less colorful than those of the primary bloom. ‘Lennei’ rarely produces fruit. Large medium green leaves. Foliage turns yellow in fall.‣ ‘Alexandrina’- A large, rounded, multi-trunked shrub that is most

noted for its large, tulip-shaped, purple-pink flowers and attractive leaves. It typically matures over time to 20-30’ tall and as wide. Fragrant flowers (to 8” across) bloom in early spring before the foliage emerges. Flowers are purple pink with white interiors. Sparse numbers of additional flowers may bloom sporadically later in spring on new growth, but the later flowers are usually less vigorous and less colorful than those of the primary bloom. ‘Alexandrina’ rarely produces fruit. Large medium green leaves (to 4-8” long) are oblong. Foliage turns greenish-yellow in fall

Light: For the best flowering Magnolias require full or nearly full sun. Many cultivars will tolerate part shade, but it will usually reduce flower production. Moisture/Soil: Magnolias need adequate water and will tolerate fairly moist soils. They prefer an acidic soil (5.0-6.5) so for best results get a soil test in the area you wish to plant. ! While there are many cultivars that are tolerant of zone 6, you should check blooming time. Many varieties are early bloomers. While the plant will live just fine, you could fail to have blossoms year after year. Look for mid to late blooming varieties.! Finally, you should carefully select the site. Magnolias have a very shallow, broad, fleshy root system and do not tolerate transplanting and moving well. Also because of the shallow root system, care should be taken in cultivating the soil above the root zone. Magnolias do not generally like extensive plantings in their root zone. Some good resources on Magnolias include;

Magnolias by Rosemary Barrett, available in the Extension Library, the Missouri Botanical Gardens has some great information and pictures of Magnolias they are growing at http://www.mobot.org. Look under the alphabetical list.

Page 6 The Master Gardener, November 2009

Plant of the Month

Magnoliasby EMG Kevin Holloway

(c) 2002 Steven J. Baskauf www.forestryimages.org

ç

! On September 22, I was once again privileged to visit Monet’s Gardens at Giverny, France. My first visit was in 1984, only four years after the gardens had been restored and opened to the public, having been neglected from the period just after WWII until 1977 when Gérald van der Kemp was appointed Curator at Giverny. ! When I first saw the gardens, which occupy about one hectare (2.47 acres), one could roam freely throughout the gardens; however, when I visited again in July of 1995, barriers had been installed, limiting access to some of the paths. This year’s visit revealed even more barriers and even more visitors, which I assume is the reason for more barriers. I was also a little uneasy to see that a large parcel of land adjoining the gardens was being cleared—I suspect to enlarge the gardens so that they can accommodate even more than the present 500,000 visitors who flock there each year between April 1 and November 1. Having said that, I would still encourage people to visit the gardens, but I would suggest that June might be a better month to visit than September from the standpoint of both season and crowds. ! The gardens are made up of two parts, a flower garden surrounding Monet’s charming house and a water garden nearby. While a separate ticket is needed to visit the house, and it is worth visiting. The water garden was inspired by his impressive collection of Japanese prints, which can still be seen on the walls of the house. Both of these gardens, each complementing the each other, have been the inspiration for numerous paintings. He, in fact, designed his gardens to be subject matter for his paintings, in this way creating two masterpieces. ! Among the most well-known paintings inspired by the gardens are the series of Japanese bridge paintings. Some of these paintings feature the bridge unadorned, while others show it covered with wisteria, which has been the case each time I have seen it. The Nympheas were the main focus of the last twenty years of Monet’s life, a series of approximately 250 paintings inspired by the lily pond, which is spanned by the Japanese bridge. Individual panels are on display in museums

around the world, including The Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Mo. The most impressive ones that I’ve seen, however, are at The Orangerie in Paris, where two large oval rooms have been dedicated to the exhibition of eight of the water lily murals. ! Monet did not like formal gardens, which is immediately obvious with both gardens. He preferred his flowers to be married by color and allowed to grow freely. In the garden that surrounds the house, there are fruit trees and ornamental trees, banks of seasonal flowers, and a central alley, set off by light green iron arches, designed for climbing roses. Down the center of the alley this

September, there was an array of nasturtiums, but when I was there in July of 1995, I remember that one could stroll down that alley, and I have a photo to verify that my memory is accurate. A riot of color lined both sides of the alley: sunflowers, asters, zinnias, even mullein, and hundreds of plant varieties that I was not able to identify. Monet mixed very common flowers like daisies and poppies with rare varieties, which he purchased at great expense. The flowers and shrubs surrounding the water garden reveal equally diverse specimens. ! In his later years, Monet developed a passion for botany: “All my money goes into my garden.” He further lamented that he was only good for gardening and painting. Indeed, we are all heirs to the beauty created by his gardens and his paintings. If you can’t visit the gardens, by all means, visit as many art museums as possible to claim your very own inheritance from Monet’s bountiful estate.

Special note about the author: EMG Carol Webb taught French at Wichita East High for 23 years. She recently led a group on a tour to Wichita’s Sister City, Orléans, France, which also included the trip to Giverny. Since her first trip to France in 1984, she has returned numerous times to attend schools, or to visit friends and explore the various regions in France. -Ed.

The Master Gardener, November 2009 Page 7

Garden Review

Monet’s Gardens at Givernyby EMG Carol Webb

Photo: Carol Webb

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Page 8 The Master Gardener, November 2009

Sedgwick CountyExtension Education Center7001 W, 21st St. NorthWichita, KS 67205-1759

K-State Research & ExtensionSedgwick CountyExtension Education Center7001 W. 21st St. NorthWichita, KS 67205-1759316-660-0100www.sedgwick.ksu.edu

Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service

K-State, County Extension Councils, Extension Districts, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating.

K-State Research and Extension, Sedgwick County, is committed to making its services, activities and programs accessible to participants. If you have special requirements due to a physical, vision or hearing disability, please contact Robert Neier at 660-0100

Nonprofit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Wichita, KS Permit No. 59

Robert I. NeierCounty Extension AgentHorticulture

Rebecca McMahonCounty Extension AgentHorticulture