the tiller - the gardeners club of green...
TRANSCRIPT
Tiller
I want to send our prayers to Buddy Goeben who is now at Woodside Rehab Center. Let’s hope that he has a very speedy recovery soon. God bless Buddy.
I also heard that Mary Naumann fell on the ice and was laid up for a few weeks. We all know that this year the ice is very bad, and we all need to be very careful.
Well, we had to cancel the February meeting due to the weather with all the snow and ice. I felt that it was better to be safe than to slip and fall so
Shirley received an e-mail from the Boys & Girls Club request-ing help with gardening. Maybe we can do some sunflower and pumpkin projects with them. I think this is a great idea—it sure can get the youth involved, also a good project to do.
We also still need to talk about the YMCA. This is our last year that we are committed to this project.
With not having a meeting the last two months, we have to catch up now. Hope to see everybody at the meeting March 27.
Carl Christensen
President
BAD Buds Invitation
NEW Master Gardeners 2019
Spring Garden Series
2019 Dues Registration Form
2
Officers and Chairpersons
Club/Member News 3
Garden Club Schedule
GBBG Events 4
National Convention
Registration Form 5
Seed Starting
Recommendations 6
Shamrocks Are Not Four-
Leafed Clovers 7
Advertisers 4,7
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
TheMarch 2019
Volume 37, No. 3
From the President . . .
I sure hope that March 27 will be good weather.
On March 27th we will have Loren Hansen to talk on houseplants. Loren owns Plant People, and he has a very good selection of houseplants for everybody. Loren will speak at the meeting downtown at the ADRC on Adams Street at 6:30 p.m.
In April, our meeting will be at Ivy Trails. Steve is going to tell us about what is new in shrubs and what is new this year. Both Loren and Steve are very good speakers. I sure hope we all can make it—the weather should be great by then.
Loren Hansen, owner of the Plant People, has been in business for 22 years. The business is located at 931 Main Street in Green Bay. The website is www.theplantpeopleinc.com. The services offered include designing and maintaining environments for home, office, and commercial spaces; flowers and plants for weddings and other occasions; make-and-take classes, flower arranging and plant care classes, and much more.
Houseplants Loren Hansen, The Plant People
ADRC, 300 South Adams Street, Green Bay, Wisconsin 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 27, 2019
The Gardeners Club of Green Bay, Wisconsin
Refreshments Scott Casperson Marge Labs
Agnes Schussman
PAG E 2 Ti l ler
Dues Payment Form for The Gardeners Club of Green Bay
Please complete this form and include it with your dues payment for 2019.
Name(s)______________________________________________________________ Date ______________
Address:________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Check Applicable Classification:
______ Individual Membership = $25
______ Family Membership = $35
______ Youth Membership = $10
______ Current Life Member = $5 (local dues)
______ Purchase of Life Membership = $200 + $5 (local dues)
Make check payable to The Gardeners Club of Green Bay and bring to a club meeting or send to:
Marsha May
2611 Pine Grove Road
De Pere, WI 54115
Due to winter weather, our
February meeting was cancelled; therefore, no
meeting minutes this month.
Northeastern Wisconsin Master
Gardeners Association 2019 Robert Mongin Garden Series
“Success With Cacti & Other Succulents
as House Plants” Dr. Daniel Mahr Madison, WI
Saturday, April 6, 10 AM to 12:30 PM
210 Museum Place, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Dr. Dan Mahr was a faculty member of UW-Madison for
thirty years in the Department of Entomology. He
specialized in agricultural pest management in fruit
crops. He retired in 2011 and is now an emeritus
faculty in the department. Dan has held many
positions in the Cactus and Succulent Society of
America and been honored by the society for his work
with succulents and cacti. He has had numerous
articles on succulent plants published as well as had
his photography in various books, magazines, and
journals. Dan has been an invited speaker at several
cacti and succulents conferences in the US, England,
and New Zealand and has given over 80 workshops
and talks on cacti and succulents. He is a frequent
guest on the Larry Meiller Show on Wisconsin Public
Radio. Dan has traveled extensively visiting cactus and
succulent plants in their native habitats in over 15
countries.
To register send $15 payable to: NEW Master
Gardeners
Send to: Horticulture Program
Brown County UW-Extension
210 Museum Place
Green Bay, WI 54303
For more information, contact: Jim Radey, Volunteer
Coordinator 920-391-4615,
Club Treasury Balance: $3,450.88
The Bay Area Daylily Buds Invite Us to Join Them . . . The BAD Buds Daylily Club invites the
Gardeners Club of Green Bay to our
meeting on April 13, 2019, at the Green
Bay Botanical Garden Visitor Center.
The meeting is from 12:00-4:00 p.m.
The agenda for this meeting is as
follows:
A short Bad Buds Daylily club meeting,
followed by a complimentary lunch, then
a presentation by Rob Zimmer entitled
“Places to Visit in Wisconsin”. If time
permits, he will also include a presen-
tation on Wisconsin mushrooms. This
meeting is open and free to the general
public.
In order to get a number of people
attending for a lunch count, we are
asking that you RSVP to Bob Klika, 920-
468-3275 or [email protected] by
April 10, 2019.
MARCH 20 19 PAG E 3
Club and Member News . . .
The Gardeners Club of Green Bay Officers and Chairpersons
President
Carl Christensen, 920-425-3224 [email protected]
Vice President
Scott Casperson, 920-435-1780 [email protected]
Secretary
Agnes Schussman 920-327-1138
Treasurer
Marsha May, 920-621-0611 2611 Pine Grove Road De Pere, WI 54115 [email protected]
Past President
Scott Casperson, 920-435-1780 [email protected]
Membership and Public Relations
———————Open———————-
Sunshine
Ruth Goeben, 920-494-3008
Tiller Editor, Website Manager, and
TGOA-MGCA National Photography
Competition and Calendar Chairperson
Shirley Winnes, 920-499-4441 [email protected]
Historian
———————-Open———————-
Civic Projects and Fund Raising
Silver Trowel
———————-Open———————-
Inventory Control and
Education and Plant Records
Betty Cox, 920-468-8693 [email protected]
House and Program
Paul Hartman/Carl Christensen [email protected]
Refreshments Coordinators
Sue Rohan, 920-336-3004 [email protected] Mary Naumann, 920-866-2282 [email protected]
What’s up in your world? Please share your news in this column.
Articles for next month’s issue of the
Tiller are due by April 10. Send to
Shirley Winnes at [email protected] or
Sunshine wishes to Buddy Goeben who
was in intensive care, but is now recovering
at Woodside Rehab Center (Room 503) for
pneumonia, gout, and other ailments.
Members, Ritalyn Arps, Cookie Oryall, Mary Vandermause,
and Shirley Winnes were attendees at the March 2 Master
Gardeners garden seminar presented by Brent Heath of
Brent and Becky’s Bulbs located in Glouchester, Virginia.
Some tips for success with bulbs were given:
• A critter repellent was recommended called
Plantskyyd. It is organic, safe for food crops, and
effective for six months. This product will make bulbs
taste bad.
• Crocus tommasinianus is the most critter resistant
crocus.
• Except for species tulips, tulip bulbs are not perennial.
However, for long lasting bulbs, choose the Darwin
hybrid tulips.
• When you make flower arrangements with daffodils,
DON’T CUT them—instead pull the stem.
• Always leave daffodil foliage for at least eight weeks to
reinvigorate the bulb.
It was a joy to see the PowerPoint presentation of spring-
time flowering bulbs. Spring in Wisconsin cannot come
soon enough!
PAG E 4 Ti l ler
Coming Attractions Sponsored by the Green Bay Botanical Garden
Call 920-490-9457 or see http://www.gbbg.org for complete information, reservations,
and cost about any of the following:
Seed Starting 101, Mar 19 @ 6-7:30 pm. Lynn Clark, GBBG Member & N.E.W. Master Gardener Volunteer. Learn the art of growing your own vegetable plants from seeds. Class will include planning, seed selection, growing mix, equipment, and general knowledge to increase your seed germination success. Presented in partnership with UW-Extension and N.E.W. Master Gardeners’ Association.
Travelogue: Wisconsin’s Great River Road National Scenic Byway, Mar 20 @ Noon-1 pm. Melinda Anne Roberts, Hobby Historian, author of Little Wisconsin. The Great River Road National Scenic Byway adjoins the Mississippi River for 3,000 miles, passing through 10 states from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico—with 250 miles and 33 River Towns located along Wisconsin’s “West Coast”. In this travelogue we’ll visit seven Wisconsin Great River Road communi-ties, each with a distinct history, personality and legacy, including Maiden Rock (named for the suicide of a lovelorn Indian maiden), Stockholm (whose founding father was so unscrupulous the townspeople prevented his burial in the community cemetery) and Cochrane (home to Herman Rusch’s whimsical Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden). See more at http://www.littlewisconsin.org. Free—bring a bag lunch.
Herbal Breads: The Leavening of Literature, Mar 28 @ 6-8 pm. Jackie Johnson & Kristin Urban, Northeast Wisconsin Unit of the Herb Society of America. Books and Breads: Food plays an important part in many novels, and no food appears more important than the humble grain. From Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck to the tarts and bannock in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, breads and bakery have played an important part in a surprising number of literary works. Join us for an evening exploring the ease with which you can put an herbed bread on the table . . . and get some tasty (and yeasty) samples from a surprising number of literary classics. In addition, you’ll go home with a loaf of bread to finish in your own oven. Cost includes the pan for your take-home dough.
Pruning Shade Trees, Apr 4 @ 6-7:30 p.m. Doug Hartman, N.E.W. Master Gardener Volunteer, & Vijai Pandian, UW-Extension Horticulture Educator. Vijai and Doug will demonstrate the basics of pruning shade trees. This class takes place outside. Please dress for the weather. Presented in partnership with UW-Extension and N.E.W. Master Gardeners’ Association.
The Gardeners Club of Green Bay
Upcoming Schedule of 2019 Meetings
March 27 ................ Loren Hansen, The Plant People April 24 .................. Ivy Trails May 22 .................... YMCA Work Night June 26 ................... Silver Trowel Yard Visit Sue and Tom Cravillion July 24 .................... Silver Trowel Yard Visit Rose and Clayton Smits August 28 .............. Club Picnic September 25 ...... TBD October 23 ............ TBD November ............. Harvest Banquet December 4 ........... TBD
Special Events
July 15-17 .............. We Dig It! TGOA-MGCA National Convention, Des Moines, Iowa October 5 .............. Farmers Market - Large Produce Weigh-in and Youth Pumpkin and Sunflower Contest
MARCH 20 19 PAG E 5
Ti l ler PAG E 6
BEFORE YOU START SEEDS
• Be seed-savvy. Obtain seed catalogs from several companies and compare their offering and prices. Some of the regional companies may carry varieties better suited to your area.
• Make a list of what you’d like to grow. A good rule-of-thumb is to imagine your garden one-quarter the size that it really is. This allows for good spacing practices!
• Prepare for some losses. Though it’s good not to plant too much for your garden space, it’s also good to assume that some of your seeds won’t germinate, or that they will inexplicably die off later. Plant a few extra, just in case.
• Consider a grow light if you start in late winter. Most veggies need 6 to 8 hours of direct sun, so it’s important to have a grow light if you are sowing your vegetable seeds indoors in late winter. A grow light will also keep your seedlings from getting too leggy.
• Team up with a neighbor and share seeds if you have leftovers!
• Use clean containers. Most seed catalogs offer seedling flats, peat pots, and other growing containers, but egg carton compartments make good containers, too. Be sure to poke holes in the sides near the bottom of the containers you use in order to allow excess water to drain.
• Label your containers now! There’s nothing more frustrating than forgetting what you planted.
STARTING SEEDS
• As a general rule, most annual vegetables should be sown indoors about 6 weeks before the last frost in your area. Consult your extension services or Google information. The source of this article has a planting calendar based on ZIP codes. Go to: https://www.almanac.com/content/starting-seeds-indoors#
• Don’t start your seeds too early, especially tomatoes. Wait until six weeks before your last frost date to start tomato seeds.
HOW TO START
1. Fill clean containers with a moistened potting mix made for seedlings. Use soilless peat moss and mix in equal parts vermiculite and perlite to hold enough water and allow oxygen to flow. Don’t use regular potting soil, as it may not be fine enough
for seeds to root through properly. Pre-formed seed starters (such as Jiffy pellets) work well, too.
2. Plant your seeds according to the seed packet. Most seeds can simply be gently pressed into the mixture; you can use the eraser end of a pencil to do so. When planting seeds, plant the largest seeds in the packet to get the best germination rate.
3. Cover containers with plastic to keep them from drying out too quickly. Poke a few holes in the plastic with a toothpick for ventilation.
4. Water newly started seeds carefully. A pitcher may let the water out too forcefully. A mist sprayer is gentle but can take a long time. Try using a meat-basting syringe (turkey baster), which will dispense the water effectively without causing too much soil disruption.
5. When seedlings start to appear, remove the plastic and move containers into bright light.
6. When the seedlings get their second pair of leaves, prepare individual pots filled with a potting mix with plenty of compost. Move the seed-
lings carefully to the new pots and water well. Keep seedlings out of direct sun for a few days until they’ve had a chance to establish themselves in their new pots.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:
• You may have to soak, scratch, or chill seeds before planting, as directed on the packet.
• Seeds sprout best at temperatures of 65 to 75°F (18 to 24°C).
• Find a place in the kitchen where there is natural bottom heat—on top of the refrigerator or near the oven are good spots. (Move the tray if the oven is on, as it may become too hot!)
• If you keep your seedlings next to a window, remember to rotate the containers every so often
Seed Starting Recommendations Source: https://www.almanac.com
PAG E 7 MARCH 20 19
Garden Talk with Larry Meiller Wisconsin Public Radio
88.1 Green Bay
11 a.m. Fridays 7 a.m. Saturdays
to keep the seedlings growing evenly. If you’re using a grow light, remember to raise it a few inches above the tallest seedling every couple of days.
MOVING SEEDLINGS OUTSIDE
1. Before transplanting seedlings to your garden, you’ll first need to do something called “hardening off.” This will prepare the seedlings for the harsh realities (i.e., climate) of the outside world!
2. During their last week indoors, withhold fertilizer and add water less often.
3. Seven to ten days before transplanting, set the seedlings outdoors in dappled shade that is protected from winds for a few hours each day, gradually increasing their exposure to full sun and windy conditions. This is the hardening-off period.
4. Keep the soil moist at all times during this period. Dry air and spring breezes can result in rapid transpiration. If possible, transplant on overcast days or in the early morning, when the sun won’t be too harsh.
After the hardening-off period, your seedlings are ready for transplanting. Here are a few tips:
• Set transplants into loose, well-aerated soil. Such soil will capture and retain moisture, drain well, and allow easy penetration by seedling roots.
• Soak the soil around new seedlings immedi-ately after transplanting.
• Spread mulch to reduce soil moisture loss and to control weeds.
• To ensure the availability of phosphorus in the root zone of new transplants (phosphorus promotes strong root development), mix 2 tablespoons of a 15-30-15 starter fertilizer into a gallon of water (1 tablespoon for vining crops such as melons and cucumbers), and give each seedling a cup of the solution after transplanting.
Shamrocks Are Not Four-Leafed Clovers So, we all know about the
"luck of the Irish," and we've
seen plenty of leprechauns
with shamrocks on
St. Patrick's Day. It's easy to
get confused, but sham-
rocks are not the same as lucky four-leaf clovers.
Shamrocks are your standard three-leafed clovers.
They are associated with Ireland due to the legend
that St. Patrick used shamrocks to illustrate how
God could be both one entity and three at the
same time.
Some people say that the four-leafed clover adds
God's grace to the metaphor of the Holy Trinity. But
no matter what, a shamrock only properly refers to
a clover with three leaves.
Why do some clovers have four leaves, anyway?
Like blonde hair, blue eyes, and straight hair in
humans, the four-leafed clover is a recessive trait
in the white clover plant. That means that in order
for a stem to have four leaves, it must have
inherited the recessive trait from both of its
"parents."
Source: Sandra Grauschopf
https://www.thebalanceeveryday.com
Affiliated with The Gardeners of America/Men’s Garden Clubs of America
National website: www.gardenersofamerica.club
Local website: http://gardenclubgreenbay.weebly.com American Horticulture Society website: http://ahs.org
The Gardeners Club of Green Bay was begun
in 1967 and became chartered in 1968 by
the Men’s Garden Clubs of America (now The
Gardeners of America, Inc./The Men’s
Garden Clubs of America, Inc.).
Purpose and objectives of our club:
• to educate its members and the public
and to promote interest in horticulture per-
taining to home gardening,
• to acquire and disseminate horticultural
knowledge in regard to materials, plans,
and ideas in connection with home gar-
dens to and for the benefit of individuals
and communities,
• and to encourage and promote civic inter-
est and pride in individuals and communi-
ties, and to encourage and promote pride
in individual or private gardens, commun-
ity plantings, and parks.
Membership is extended to serious gardeners
who have a concern for the above objectives
of the organization. Membership categories
and dues for 2019 are
1. $25 per individual,
2. $35 per family,
3. lifetime: $200; $5 annual local dues.
In addition to the tiller, members receive a
national newsletter.
At the national level, a photography contest is
held each year with photographs selected to
use for a calendar, five annual $1,000 scho-
larships are presented, Youth Gardening and
Gardening from the Heart programs are
implemented, a national convention is held,
and much more.
At the local level, members are involved with
numerous community institutions through
financial support and contributions of labor
and plant materials. Silver Trowel awards are
given to recognize contributions to com-
munity beautification, four awards are given
to youth in the Big Sunflower and Big
Pumpkin contests, and much more.
Shirley A. Winnes
Tiller Editor
301 David Drive
Green Bay WI 54303
The Gardeners Club of Green Bay