Update

June 2019 Vol.31 No. 6

June 19, Monthly Meeting 2019

Creating English Gardens…in the Prairies

In this talk, English-trained garden designer Cynthia Gillis examines the design

elements that make an English garden English. The talk covers formal garden,

country gardens, and perennial borders. Gillis will show us how we can use the

English design elements (hedging, lawns, planting techniques and plant combina-

tions) despite our very non-English climate and soil.

Cynthia was born in Winnipeg Canada, where winter temperatures routinely go to

40 below; gardening was hardly a top-of-mind activity. A full-blown love of land-

scaping began after moving to New York when she and her architect husband John

moved into a Brooklyn townhouse with a small garden space. Her love of English

gardens grew, and in 1986 she went to England, where she studied with John

Brookes at the Clock House School of Garden Design. And now, with over 30

years of garden making under her belt (and fingernails), she is attempting to make

the garden of her dreams here in Kansas, where she is quickly becoming quite ex-

pert at discovering – and slowly overcoming -- the challenges of making a garden

in the Kansas City area.

The presentation is open to the public and will be at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19th, in the Dreher

building after our business meeting at 9:00 a.m.

Cindy Hornberger, Vice-President

K-State Research and Extension Douglas

County 2110 Harper Street

Lawrence KS 66046-3242

(785) 843-7058 batesm@ksu.edu

Update

A monthly newsletter for Extension Master

Gardeners in Douglas County

Douglas County Agent-

Horticulture

Tom Buller Association President

Nancy Smelser Vice President

Cindy Hornberger Treasurer

Mary Dillon Secretary

Sharon Laverentz Public Relations

Andrea Verbanic Board Members

Judy Adams

Susan Rendall

Jane Stiles-Potts

Ron Spangler Dg Horticulture Program Assistant

Sharon Ashworth Editor

Bekki Heckman

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

Cooperating

All educational programs and materials available without discrimination based on race,

color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or

disability.

Douglas County Extension Master Gardener

2019 Advanced Education Programs July 20th – Victory Gardens with Loretta Craig August 21st – Field Trip to Henry’s Plant Farm – Succulents with Jozie Schimke and Brian Henry September 21st – Unique Facets of Gardens on the Spring Tour 2019 with Cathi Hamilton, Sharon Davis and Kevin Nelson October 16th – TBA

A Peek At Two Beautiful Gardens From Our Garden Tour!

The Rodriquez Garden

The Nelson Garden

Notes from Sharon Notes from EMGs I have a nice used garden window that someone in MG might like to have. It is ready to install and is free to the first person that contacts me. Thanks, Judy Northway We have many, many cedar (pressure treated) cedar pieces that are 12” X 5 ½”. Seems like they would be great for bird houses. If there is interest, we will save them, otherwise they go to the Olathe landfill to be-come mulch. Thank you, Karen Ragland

Important information from the Board On Wednesday, June 12, the EMG Board discussed raising the required volunteer hours for EMGs from 20 hours per year to 30 hours per year. The rationale for this change comes from numerous discussions over the last few years about struggles to fill volunteer obligations. The list of struggling committees continues to grow and includes demonstration gardens, hotline, and farmer’s market, and the speakers’ bureau. At present, with the current obligation of 20 hours per year, an EMG can fulfill half the required hours or more by traveling to and attending the monthly business meeting. That leaves just 10 hours per year of “boots on the ground” volunteering. Furthermore, the EMG Handbook states, under “Membership Expectations”, that “Every EMG should be an active member of at least one committee established by the Association.” For your information, Shawnee County requires 25 volunteer hours per year plus attendance at 4 business meetings, Johnson County requires 30 volunteer hours per year, and Sedgewick County requires 48 volunteer hours per year. The Board voted to approve raising the required volunteer hours to 30 hours per year. Travel and monthly business meeting attendance would still qualify as volunteer hours. No changes are proposed for education hours or for first year volunteer requirements (new EMGs are required to submit 40 hours of volunteer service during their first year). Discussion of this issue will be on the agenda for the June 19th business meeting. A vote of the membership will take place at the July meeting.

Volunteer Opportunities

Help with the Library Programs for kids

Program – Growing Plants in Plant Growing Space Pods (PGSP)

7-11 year old 5-6 year old Teen July 8, 2-3pm July 10, 2-3pm July 16, 3-4pm The 5-6 year old kids always need an extra hand doing some of the activities. Set up is 1 hour before start of program. Contact Sindey Platz.

Enchanted Evening in the Garden

Just a heads up as we’ll need a handful of volunteers for this event. Evening in the garden at Susan Rendall’s on Saturday, July 20th. More information is forthcoming. This is a fundraiser for the EMG program. As part of this event, snacks and drinks made with garden herbs will be served and the committee organizing the event is in need of the following: Lavender (3 cups), rhubarb (12 cups), anise hyssop (1 cup), lemon verbena (1 cup), pineapple sage (1 cup), red or pink hibiscus (10 cups), mint (1 cup) roses. If you have enough to share please pick and freeze! Contact Susan Rendall.

Speakers’ Bureau

The public loves to invite master gardener speakers to their meetings. If you’ve got a gardening passion to share, contact Pam Patrick. If you are worried about creating a Powerpoint Sharon A. can help!

HOTLINE AND FARMER’S MARKET – TIME TO SIGN UP!!!!!

Critical dates: June 28, all of July!! Slots for new EMGs are on June 21, 24 and 26. Share your passion at the Farmer’s Market. Any topic welcome, booth provided, hang out at the Farmer’s market some Saturday morning. Many dates available. Link to sign-up sheet

Recruiting for new EMG Class The sun is shining, the vegetation is lush - it’s time to recruit new EMGs. If you know someone who is interested please give them an application or direct them to fill out an application online. https://www.douglas.k-state.edu/lawn-garden/EMG%20Application%202019%20fillable.pdf

Upcoming Advanced Education Jon Standing will lead a Grandparent/Grand kid class/bus tour to learn about and to appreciate our common

trees. We'll focus on some basic tree biology, a short tree walk, and measurement of a state champion tree. This Lifelong Recreation opportunity is a chance for adult and child to work together on a common project and is sponsored by Lawrence Parks and Recreation. It is scheduled for 9:00 to 11:00 AM on Thursday, July 25. For more information contact Gayle Sigurdson.

Monarch Conservation Webinars. https://monarchjointventure.org/news-events/events

Clinton Parkway Nursery has a number of education programs throughout the year, starting on February 7th. Check out their Facebook site for announcements: https://www.facebook.com/Clintonparkwaynursery/ Bekki has them listed above. Those not listed as beginning gardening can count as advanced educa-tion. SAVE THE DATE – ANNUAL ADVANCED MASTER GARDENER TRAINING WILL BE IN TOPEKA THIS YEAR!!

Other Gardening Events of Interest:

June 20th – “Japanese Beetles” at 7:00 p.m. at the Leavenworth Public Library, 417 Spruce St., Leavenworth. Patrick

Paden, a Leavenworth County MG, will lead a discussion on the life cycle of the Japanese Beetle and determining the

control method that suits your gardening goals. The meeting is free and open to the public.

June 28th & 29th – “Midwest FlowerFest Public Day”, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at the Overland Park Arboretum &

Botanical Gardens. The Midwest FlowerFest for 2019 will showcase over 250 containers and in ground trials planted

with over 100 established and trial varieties. For more information visit https://www.opkansas.org/events/midwest-

flower-fest/

July 3rd – “Summer Perennials” from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., at Clinton Parkway Nursery, 4900 Clinton Pkwy. We will

discuss some of our favorite sun and shade perennials for summer. There will be time for questions afterward.

Admission is free, but seating is limited, so RSVP by calling 785-842-3081.

July 4th & July 5th – Daylily Open House from 9:00 am to 1:00 p.m., at Hart’s Daylilies, 7460 W. 255th, Louisburg, KS.

See over 900 varieties of daylilies. Call 913-837-5209 for more information.

Newsletter Quiz for June!

Here’s our quiz for June! A number of fruits are commonly thought to be vegetables. Can you guess what

they are? Which one is the most surprising to people when they learn it is a fruit? Send your answers to

me at by 6 p.m. on Monday, June 17th

The Monthly Update is your chance to make your committee or activity known. If you are having organizational meetings,

activities, or a call for volunteers, let the Update help you get the word out. Send the write up to Sharon Ashworth at

Sashworth@ksu.edu or Bekki Heckman at bekheck@gmail.com by the 5th of the month to be included in the newsletter. To assure your place on the next regular meeting agenda send a request to Nancy Smelser at nsmels1@yahoo.com 3-5 days before

the meeting. You will also get a chance to speak at the meeting, but this will reserve a space on the agenda. If you are planning to distribute handouts, papers, or publish advertisements on behalf of EMG’s, these need to be reviewed by Marlin Bates, prior to

distribution or publication, to make sure we are on track with Kansas State University requirements.

Organizational Meetings for Members

Extension Master Gardener Board Minutes May 8, 2019

Present: Nancy Smelser, Sharon Laverentz, Mary Dillon, Andrea Verbanic, Judy Adams, Susan Rendall, Jane Stiles-Potts, Ron Spangler, Sharon Ashworth, Tom Buller.

Absent: Cindy Hornberger

President Nancy Smelser called the meeting to order at 9AM.

Sharon Laverentz was asked to send a congratulations card to Cody Bruce and his wife on the birth of their new baby.

The date for the 2020 Garden Show was set for March 27 and 28th.

Treasurer’s Report: Mary had no report because the Extension Council had not had their meeting yet. She will have a report for the business meeting. However, she did report some bills she had received. Judy Adams turned in a bill for $17.24 for Monarch watch. Jane Stiles-Potts turned in $76.13 for Junior Master Gardeners and Debbie Zabel turned in a combined total of $258.75 for Jr. MGs. These bills are in budget and do not require board approval.

Public Relations Report:

Jennifer Smith plants to write an article for the Lawrence Journal World about the upcoming Garden Tour.

Members at Large:

Susan Rendall: The Monarch Watch open house and plant sale is on May 11th.

There was a discussion about how to encourage members who sign up to help in a garden to actually show up and work. This is a problem in all the demo gardens. Some suggestions were: increase the number of hours required to remain active; encouraging coordinators to carefully consider the available manpower before they add new projects; not offering extensive amounts of help to people whose gardens will be on the garden tour.

Judy Adams: Megan McGlinn said the Garden Tour tickets are now on sale and posters are being placed around town. Judy also reported that the Jr. MG committee has received donations of plants for the school gardens.

Ron Spangler: Things are going well with the new class.

Horticulture Agent /staff report:

Tom Buller: It may be possible to find a grant, which will help hire someone to assist with gardening with children. All elementary and Jr. Hi schools have gardens at the present time and the high schools are working on it.

Sharon Ashworth: The garden workshop at the Habitat for Humanity house was postponed due to rain. Perhaps something can be scheduled in June.

An Evening in the Garden event:

Susan Rendall presented an outline of her ideas for this event. Tickets will be limited to 100 with the cost being $20 for one ticket or $30 for a pair. No advertising will be published until all details are settled. The event will be advertised as a Douglas County Master Gardeners benefit for educational programming and community partnerships.

Jane Stiles-Potts moved that the event take place July 20 (rain date July 21). Motion passed.

Either Ginny Turvey or Mary Dillon will create an invitation for this event to show at the general meeting on May 18.

With the Evening in the Garden project underway, it was agreed to table ideas about creating a garden calendar until later.

Workshops:

There was discussion about creating a new committee to be in charge of providing gardening workshops to the community. These workshops might also be added to the Speakers Bureau committee. Sharon Ashworth agreed to be the point person for possible topics.

New Business:

The trip to Saint Louis will be June 20 -22, 2019. There will be no bus transportation.

Thank you to: The “Big Event” people from KU and to Phillip Schonberg from Eudora who brought wood chips to the Monarch Watch garden.

Susan Rendall moved and Judy Adams seconded the meeting adjourn. Motion passed. Meeting

adjourned at 10:45AM.

Respectfully submitted, Sharon Laverentz, secretary

Extension Master Gardener Business Meeting May 18, 2019

President Nancy Smelser called the meeting to order at 9AM.

Nancy asked that the minutes of the April meeting, as written in the Update, be approved. Kathy Bourgeois so moved. Bobbie-Francis McDonald seconded. Motion passed.

Board Reports:

President – no report

Vice-President (Cindy Hornberger): The June field trip to Saint Louis will be on June 20-22, 2019. Travel is by private car. The total cost will be $290 per person. Please RSVP to Cindy by May 23.

Treasurer’s Report (Mary Dillon): The current account balance is $23,931.74 with 412,705.76 remaining in the 2019 budget. The Eudora Demonstration Garden, a new EMG project, is asking for $1,000 as a line item in the budget. (as per the by-laws, this is the third time this project has been seen by the membership). Andrea Verbanic, chair of the Eudora garden, explained the committee’s plans for the coming year. Jeanne Klein moved that the $1000.00 budget line item be approved. Kathy Bourgeois seconded. Motion passed.

Members-at-Large:

Susan Rendall: The Monarch Watch held their plant sale and the event went well.

Judy Adams: no report

Jane Stiles-Potts: There will be an EMG plant sale along with the Garden Tour. This will take place at Deal Six.

Ron Spangler: All members of the 2018 class have fulfilled their hotline requirements.

Agent/Staff report:

Sharon Ashworth: No report

Tom Buller: The building permit for the hoop house should be ready soon since all requirements have been met.

Garden Tour update:

Megan McGlinn: Excess water from recent rains is a problem for some gardens on the tour. Help is still needed at some gardens on tour day – please sign up for a shift. All workers need to avoid parking in spaces needed by tour attendees. Please car-pool if possible. The pre-tour potluck will be at the Train Station. You may bring your food to the station after 3:15 PM on May 30. If you have food that needs to be kept cool, please furnish your own cooler, as refrigerator space is very limited. Dinner will be held after the pre-tour, about 7PM.

Native Plant Sale Update:

Therese Lawrence: There will be a pop-up art sale as well as a plant sale at Deal six from 10-12 on Friday, May 31 for EMGs only. On Saturday, June 1, the sale will be from 9AM until everything is sold.

2020 Garden Show Update:

Thelma Simons has agreed to be co-chair of this project. Pam Smith has also agreed to be on the committee. More volunteers are needed! The garden show dates are March 28, 2020 with set up planned for March 27. Planning meetings will start later this summer.

Farmers’ Market:

Bobbi -Francis McDonald: If you are making a presentation at the market, bring some props or something to show to people in order to attract the attention of passers-by.

An Evening in the Garden:

Susan Rendall: Susan announced an upcoming fund raising event at her garden on July 20. This will be an evening event with music, treats and a chance to visit her garden at sunset. Tickets will be $20 each or two for $30.

Jeanne Klein moved the meeting adjourn. Bobbie-Francis McDonald seconded the motion. Motion passed at 10:10am. Sharon Laverentz, Secretary