From the desk of …
One word comes to mind regarding the past few months. "Challenging"
We have been faced with the challenge of funding issues. Regarding the funding, the state did release the 2008 matching funds for the current budget, ending on June 30, 2008. Now the current challenge is to make sure that we get matching funds for the budget year beginning July 1, 2008. The funds were put in the budget passed recently by the legislature, but we don't know what will be in the final budget. The saga from Springfield continues…it just points to the one area that we will need to be cognizant of for future projects and that is "cost recovery".
The weather this spring has been a challenge. Cold and wet, then windy, wet and humid. I think things will finally start looking good. At least it is green and not white with snow.
Sarah and I are constantly challenged with trying to get many things done in only 20 hours a week each. It is especially challenging since we are hosting the IL State Conference this year. Thanks to all the Master Gardeners that have been working on the conference committees.
Thanks to the Master Gardeners that fill leadership roles on all of our various projects. We couldn't do it without you. Keep up the good work everyone!
It is my hope to put together a strategic plan and set some goals for the future of our program. If you would be interested is working on goal setting and planning for future programming please let us know. We will be presenting all our MGs with a survey to help decide the direction of our programming. Look for it in the near future.
Hope you summer gardens grow well, enjoy the sunshine and warm weather and take some time to relax and reflect in your gardens.
- Mary Horek
I have modified my work schedule to save on gas and make better use of the time available to meet with Mary and Joan. My new office schedule is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Sarah Navrotski
2008 IL State Master Gardener Conference
September 11, 12, 13, 2008
Westin, Lombard
Registration will begin on June 15, 2008. Register early in order to get the sessions that you want. There is a set price for Master Gardeners and one guest who can register at the MG price. The conference will be opened up to the general public this year. That decision was made in order to make sure that the state MG office doesn't loose money. The general public can register beginning on Aug. 1st for a higher fee. So get your registration done before Aug. Also, pass along conference information to fellow garden club members, friends and community members. We hope that DuPage County has a fantastic representation at the Awards Dinner on Friday, Sept. 12th.
Conference Volunteer Assignments
The volunteer assignments for conference will be in the mail soon. We will send them out via email as soon as they are finalized and then follow up with a snail mail copy. We want to be sure that you know your assignments before signing up for conference tours and classes.
If you are volunteering as a bus host, you should report the time spent prior to loading and the bus travel time as volunteer hours. The time on the tours should count as continuing education.
If you are volunteering as a room host, you should report the time spent prior to and after the presentation as volunteer time, and the presentation time as continuing education hours.
Planter's Palette Garden Walk
We are still in need of gardens for the Planter's Palette Garden Walk. Please share your garden (no matter the size) in order to make this fundraiser a success. An application is available from the office. Return it to the Planter's Palette ASAP.
The garden walk proceeds will benefit the:
University of Illinois Extension-DuPage Co. & DuPage County Animal Care & Control
If you are interested in sharing the beauty of your garden with others while helping to raise funds for these two organizations complete the attached application and email to:
Diana Stoll at dstoll@planterspalette.com or mail to:
Diana Stoll
The Planter's Palette
28W571 Roosevelt Road
Winfield, IL 60190
Please Don't Forget!
We continue to have Master Gardeners who do not show up for their assigned volunteer events. We know that all of you have busy lives, but we really need you to remember your commitments. When you get your quarterly volunteer assignments, please don't forget to mark your dates in your personal calendars! You are required to get your own replacement when needed. Please do not ask the office to send out an email requests for a substitute unless you have already tried other options.
Have Hours to Report?
If you have any volunteer or continuing education hours to report, click here! If you report on paper, don't forget to submit your forms to the office.
Hosta Happening for Heifer International
Saturday, September 6, 2008
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Rich's Foxwillow Pines Nursery
11618 McConnell RD
Woodstock, IL
Over 500 varieties of Hosta will be sold with the sales benefiting Heifer International at this event. For more information or a map, visit www.rich'sfoxwillowpines.com
The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program
The Garden Conservancy proudly sponsors America's only private garden-visiting program. Gardens are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A $5.00 admission fee is collected at each garden. Cash may be paid at the gate or visitors may purchase admission tickets through the Garden Conservancy at a discounted price. For more information and a detailed description of the gardens, visit the Garden Conservancy web site at: www.opendaysprogram.org.
All Open Days garden visits are a rain or shine event.
Sunday, June 29th - 8 gardens in Lake & Cook County
Locations include gardens in Lake Forest, Evanston, Winnetka and Highland Park.
Sunday, August 3rd - DuPage County
The Gardens at Ball
622 Town RD
West Chicago, IL
Enjoy a unique opportunity to stroll the colorful seven-acre Gardens at Ball; the Ball Gardens have been the site for the evaluation and display of the newest annuals and perennials since the early 1930s. This is the only weekend opportunity in 2008 for the general public to see the thousands of annual and perennial varieties showcased in the Hillside Garden, the Windings, the Sky Frame Garden, the Container Trials, the annual All-America Selections evaluation trials, and many other gardens. Guides will be available throughout the day to discuss the Gardens at Ball and answer questions. Guests may also view wetland and woodland restoration projects on the Ball property. Portable restrooms and a drinking fountain will be available.
Naperville Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Drop off
Saturdays & Sundays (except holidays)
9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Naperville Fire Station
1979 Brookdale RD
(3/4 mile south of I-88, off RT 59)
Naperville
630-420-4190 www.naperville.il.us
Materials Accepted:
Oil-based paint, stain & varnish, auto fluids, aerosols cans, household cleaners, pool/spa chemicals; propane tanks (20 lb. max), pesticides, household batteries, sealed fluorescent light bulbs & tubes, expired & unused prescription medications.
Not Accepted:
Smoke detectors, fire extinguishers or ammunition
Latex Paint Recycling
June 2nd was the opening day for DuPage County's FREE latex paint recycling program:
Woodridge Wastewater Treatment Facility
7900 S RT 53
Woodridge
Latex paint can be dropped off Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. and a few Saturdays (June 14th & 28th, July 12th & 26th, August 9th). You can also pick up free paint in a variety of colors.
Thanks to Nanette A.A. Kalscheur for submitting the information about these summer events.
Like most of you, I begin each year with a plan to create or modify an existing garden within my landscape. With the focus on the environment and the impact of spiraling energy and food costs, I decided to focus on adding a vegetable garden this year to provide my family the ultimate in "locally grown food" and also help my budget. Now that I had the "what"; I was soon challenged by the "where".
My current landscape, on a typical suburban ¼ acre lot, is heavily planted with native perennials, shrubs and many trees. A double pond with a short stream completes this bird and butterfly friendly paradise, but leaves no space for grass, let alone vegetables, in my back yard. The front yard is home to a small crescent of grass (mainly to blend in with the neighbors) that could easily be removed and perennials that could easily be relocated. Another plus is that it is basically flat, (unlike the sloping backyard) and gets plenty of sun. Could I create something for this "public location" that would look good, while also providing food for my family? With this question, my winter research of kitchen gardens began.
The kitchen garden dates back to the middle ages when Christian monks and nuns began to grow their own food behind the secure walls of the monastery. Herbs and flowers and vegetables were combined to provide sustenance, and a beautiful garden for contemplation, throughout the year. In contrast to Europeans, the traditional American kitchen garden focused on the utilitarian, rather then the aesthetic, and was rooted in the need for farm families to provide family food, in addition to the cash crop for market.
With my requirement for beauty, in addition to production, the traditional American kitchen garden would not provide a solution, so I focused on learning more about the European kitchen garden, or potager. Unlike traditional vegetable gardens, a well-designed potager, with its emphasis on design considerations, can play a prominent role within the landscape – even utilizing space in a front yard, instead of being tucked into a back corner of the yard.
A potager relies on 9 basic principles to create the interplay of form and function in a dynamic and satisfying manner (Bartley, 2006). They range from considering the technicalities of the site (sun, shade, soil) and the proximity to the house to suggesting that the potager be enclosed and include raised beds. Like other landscape design principles, I have had to modify them to suit my needs and limitations; for example, my town does not allow fences in the front yard so I have needed to broaden my definition of "enclosed" while creating my plan.
My plan does rely on a symmetrical design of 6 raised beds with a circular herb bed as the focal point and long paths between beds. I am including a small bench and gazing ball with the herbs as accents as well. Because the rest of my garden is a loose, cottage garden style, the planting design is symmetrical, but not formal. The plantings will be repetitive, but stay a little loose so that beds may not be "mirror images" of each other. I have also decided to incorporate flagstone paths planted with creeping thyme and other groundcovers rather then brick, to further minimize a formal look. I am also fortunate to have a wide side yard, so the "work area", including compost piles and work table will be accessible, yet hidden from view behind a lattice fence.
Because I am concerned that my neighbors also enjoy the garden, and adjust to the lack of grass, my initial plantings will include a lot of annual flowers in the beds closest to the sidewalk and no corn or other towering vegetables! Scarlet runner beans will provide height, but this first year I will focus on the basics: tomatoes, squash, peppers, greens and carrots. Raspberries and strawberries will fill in around the edges. The potager design depends on succession planting of crops, to fill in gaps and provide a longer harvest season, so the front yard location is actually a benefit to the seed-starting operations that will be housed in the garage. Fall crops, including lettuce and spinach will be started here and transplanted later this summer.
By the time you read this, the beds will have been dug and (hopefully) paths will have been laid as well. I should also be experimenting with "rabbit deterrents" for the seedlings that are in keeping with the aesthetic look of the garden (decorative chicken wire??) I am excited to be rediscovering the joys (and frustrations) of vegetable growing again, so look for updates on how my potager is evolving and consider adding one to your landscape this year as well.
References:
Bartley, Jennifer (2007) "Designing the New Kitchen Garden", Timber Press
Bird, Richard (2005) "The Kitchen Garden", Ryland Peters and Small
Gertley, Jan & Michael (1999) "The Art of the Kitchen Garden", Taunton Press
Larkcom, Joy (2004) "Creative Vegetable Gardening", Octopus Publishing
- Sharon Devo
At a time when everyone is going green, establishing a closer relationship to nature through our gardening seems, well, only natural. While "gardening is by definition interference with nature" (Ann Lovejoy), Naturalistic Gardening encourages us to play with nature rather than against it in our own spaces. It employs design principles that evoke the layering found in wild plant communities and involves a deeper understanding of plants so that they can be sited and combined to optimize their essential qualities. As a result, plants are healthier, maintenance is easier, and our "interference" in terms of damage to the environment is minimized.
Naturalistic gardens are visually simple, uncluttered, and flow in gentle curves. Plants dominate—hard edges are avoided and vertical definition is achieved through plant material rather than hardscape. Layering is key. Not the traditional lineup of plants rigidly placed in rows by height (like a well behaved kindergarten class), rather overlapping drifts that create depth. Observe how nature layers canopy trees, understory shrubs, perennials, and groundcovers.
Debra Prinzing, author of The Abundant Border outlined the following specific techniques that are useful in implementing naturalistic layering in a border (Fine Gardening, January-February 2006):
- Use massed plants in irregular drifts—build the bed as an assembly of puzzle pieces, breaking up linear rows and moving the eye through the dynamic composition.
- Use architectural plants with strong forms to differentiate layers—umbel-shaped blooms or oversize palmate foliage work well, as do ornamental grasses.
- Place open-branched plants in front to add depth—see-through plants (like Molinia grass) create a veil behind which you can place strong forms to invite the viewer into your creation.
- Use tall plants throughout the border—stagger tall plants throughout to create depth and develop rhythm.
In selecting the plants themselves, form and structure are valued over color. Plants that have been cultivated for gardeners often have flowers that are much larger relative to the rest of the plant when compared to their native ancestors. If you focus more on form and structure, the balance of green evokes the mood of nature more genuinely and the season of interest is much longer. And, siting the plants where they will thrive with minimal pruning, spraying, etc., will make you and them much happier. Pollinators and wildlife will thank you as well.
The Lurie Garden in Millennium Park in Chicago is a breathtaking example of naturalistic gardening. Piet Oudolf created "a wild-seeming field of perennials and grasses woven in shifting tones of a delicacy that belies the hardiness of the plants." (Tim Richardson).
For further information on Naturalistic Gardening:
- KC Swininoga
Lavender – very few who read this word will not immediately recall the scent of this plant. Like many of the herbs we use today, lavender's qualities were appreciated by the Greeks and Romans and down through history. Its leaves are narrow and green, often tinged with grey, its stems square, becoming woody in their second season. Flowers are small, lavender, purple, blue, pink, and even white, borne in spikes in summer. The whole plant is fragrant, attracting butterflies and bees.
The Romans scented their bath water with lavender, hence its botanic name, "Lavandula", which is derived from the Latin "lavare", which means "to wash". It was also used as a strewing herb, to mask household smells of lives lived before washing machines. In times of plague in France, glovers who infused lavender oil in the leathers they used seemed remarkably free of disease, encouraging others to carry lavender to ward off pestilence. The scent comes from oil in glands embedded in tiny hairs which cover the stems and leaves as well as the flowers. It is this oil, distilled, which is used today.
Despite its use in the laundry, lavender plants themselves do not like the wet. Sunny, open sites suit this plant best, since it can be susceptible to mildews and other fungal diseases. Aversion to wet includes wet feet: for best results plant lavender in very well-draining soil, in a raised area. A good place is near a wall or house foundation, facing south, providing alkaline soil, lots of sun, and shelter from winter winds. Lavenders are often very late to leaf out in the spring, so wait until you see green leaves begin to appear along the stems (often not until well into April) before deciding to pronounce your plant dead. Once it begins to leaf out, then prune off dead branches and trim it into its mounded shape.
The most commonly found variety of lavender is L. angustifolia. Because our area constitutes the northernmost reaches of its range, lavender is often seen as fussy or prone to winterkill. The two varieties that seem to be most resilient are "Hidcote" and "Munstead". The latter is an old variety, with green leaves, growing 12 to 18 inches tall. Hidcote is more compact, with darker flowers and silvery leaves. Other lavenders, which we should probably treat as annuals, include L. dentata, or fringed lavender, and L. lanata, or wooly lavender. Lavenders are also variously called English or French or Italian: the problem is that no one seems able to agree on which is which.
Lavender has been used medicinally to treat headaches – its scent is widely seen as soothing – and as an antiseptic. It even has culinary uses; it is one of the components of the herb blend called "Herbs de Provence", a nod to the place where much of the commercial crop is grown. Mostly, however, it's the wonderful scent that draws us to add it to the sunniest spot in our gardens.
- Sandy Lentz
Perennials for Midwest Gardens
Anthony W Kahtz (Timber Press 2008)
ISBN# 978-0881928938 $29.95
This is a great book to add to your home library. Kahtz, a native Midwesterner with a Ph.D. in horticulture, provides experience-tested information on perennials that are easy to grow in our zone. There are over 400 plant recommendations that are grouped into 140 main descriptions. These are summarized by key characteristics of hardiness, height, ornamental attributes and bloom season. I really like the additional comprehensive information on care, when and how to propagate, pests and diseases as well as suggestions for good companion plants.
Clematis for Small Spaces
Raymond J Evison (Timber Press 2007)
ISBN# 978-0881928518 $34.95
There are now newer Clematis cultivars that are more compact and have a longer flowering period that work well in patio containers, mixed borders and hanging baskets. Evison gives us detailed descriptions of recommended choices that have interesting blooms, attractive foliage and are disease-resistant. Great photographs of 150 cultivars, many with flower shapes I have never seen before. The book includes very useful information on flowering seasons for pruning, propagation, combating pests and diseases as well as general care.
Timber Press Pocket Guide to Hostas
Diana Grenfell and Michael Shadrack (Timber Press 2007)
ISBN# 978-0881928471 $19.95
Good book, although at 8 x 6 inches it probably won't fit in your pocket. Grenfell and Shadrack recommend what they consider the best of more than 280 new and old Hostas. Each listing gives you key characteristics, growing information, a close-up photograph and detailed descriptions to help you with plant identification or selecting new Hostas to add to your garden.
Impatiens: The Vibrant World of Busy Lizzies, Balsams and Touch-me-nots
Raymond J. Morgan (Timber Press 2007)
ISBN# 978-0881928525 $29.95
Morgan's book takes us beyond the common hybridized Impatiens we all know and introduces us to over 200 unusual varieties from around the world that would be interesting additions to any garden. Problem is that after whetting your appetite for the more exotic, they are only starting to find their way into nursery catalogs. There are a dozen suppliers listed in the book and only four are in the United States. But the photographs are fantastic, so you may find the hunt for these beauties worthwhile.
- Debbye Simpson
"The Garden Thymes" is the official newsletter for DuPage area MGs. If you misplace your copy, it can be found at our DuPage County Extension website. From time to time, you may have something you would like to share with fellow MGs or perhaps include an article of your own. We would love to hear from you!! As always, your comments and suggestions are most welcome. Please note the change in issue numbers to reflect our program year.
· Issue #4 for 2008 - August 27, 2008
DuPage County Extension Office
1100 E. Warrenville Rd. – Suite 170
Naperville, Illinois 60563
Telephone: 630-955-1123
FAX: 630-955-1180
http://www.extension.uiuc.edu/dupage
The Extension Service of the University of Illinois provides educational programs and unbiased research-based information to help Illinois residents improve their quality of life, develop skills and solve problems, by helping you put knowledge to work.
The Illinois Extension Service provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.
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