Nursery School presented by the Rock Island County Master Gardeners at The MARK of the Quad Cities. Saturday, Feb. 18. Call the Rock Island County Extension office at (309) 796-0512 for more information.

Know and Grow presented by the Carroll County Master Gardeners, Sunday, Feb. 19 from 1 to 5 p.m. See attached sheet for full details and registration information.

Joys of Gardening presented by the Stephenson County Master Gardeners, Saturday, Feb. 25 at Highland Community College.

Color in the Garden, coordinated with HCE, presented by Candace Crossley, Jo Daviess Master Gardener, 1:30 p.m., Wed. March 8, Elizabeth Extension Office.

Wildlife Nuisance Control – March 14. See page 2 for this special teleconference.

Lawn and Garden Expo presented by the Jo Daviess County Master Gardeners, Saturday, April 8, Stockton High School. The MGs are planning a big event to help area gardeners get their lawns and gardens ready for 2006.

The University of Illinois Extension 2006 series of educational programs via the teleconferencing system will begin Tuesday, Feb. 7.

All programs will be presented twice and at both Extension Offices. The Tuesday session starts at 1 p.m. and the Thursday sessions begin at 7 p.m. Cost per session is $3.00 per person. Advance registration is needed. Call 815-244-9444 to attend in Mt. Carroll or 815-858-2273 to attend in Elizabeth. If you have disability needs, please indicate when registering.

Worm Composting will be presented at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7 and again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 9.

The first program in the Winter Series will discuss Worm Composting. The benefits of worm composting include:

• Reduces waste disposal costs.
• Raises worms for fishing.
• Has no foul smell or pests.
• Provides a convenient method for converting kitchen vegetable wastes into a rich organic fertilizer for house and garden plants.
• Educational family activity.

The seminar includes tips on setting up an indoor worm compost bin to recycle food wastes all year long.

Ron Wolford, U of I Extension educator in urban horticulture and the environment, will present the program.

Indoor Air Quality will be presented at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21 and repeated on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.

Plants that Improve Indoor Air Quality will be presented by Duane Friend, U of I Extension natural resources educator. He will report on NASA studies that explored how various plants remove indoor air pollutants. Participants will learn which plants are best suited to improving indoor air quality.

Dwarf and Unusual Landscape Conifers will be presented a 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7 and repeated at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 9.

Dwarf and Unusual Landscape Conifers will be presented by Martha Smith, U of I Extension horticulture educator. She will show participants how dwarf conifers are ideal for small gardens and narrow landscape beds.

Believe it or not, spring is just around the corner and with it comes the promise of warmer weather, blooming flowers and budding trees. Unfortunately, those may not be the only signs of life appearing in your yard this spring. Skunks, moles, raccoons and deer also enjoy blooming flowers, budding trees and the warmer weather.

Although these animals are generally fun to see, they can cause considerable

damage to outdoor plants and landscaping. On March 14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., via the teleconference system, U of I Extension Educator, Dave Shiley, will discuss control options that can be used to prevent damage caused by wildlife. The program will be held at both the U of I Extension Offices in Mt. Carroll and Elizabeth.

Following the seminar, Shiley will answer specific questions. A handout

To register send $3 per person to the U of I Extension Office in the county in which you want to attend (807D S. Clay St., Mt. Carroll, IL 61053 or P. O. Box 600, Elizabeth, IL 61028. Registrations must be received at the respective Extension Office by March 7

Some of the most common and most damaging pests affecting houseplants are the spider mites. Fine webbing over yellowed leaves on houseplants often indicate a spider mite infestation. Spider mites are very tiny animals that are not really insects, but are more closely related to spiders and scorpions. Adults have 4 pairs of legs and are usually light yellow to red with dark spots.

Mites feed on plant juices and chlorophyll. Light feeding gives the leaves a mottled appearance with light areas where the chlorophyll has been removed. More heavily damaged leaves have a bronze cast, with high infestations causing the leaves to turn yellow or gray and die.

Spider mites are extremely active and spin fine webbing where the leaf

joins the stem, over the leaves and between the leaves. In bright light, they are easily seen as specks crawling along the webbing. Since the mites are so small, the webbing and off-color plants are usually noticed long before the mites are seen. Another test is to shake a leaf over a piece of white paper. Watch the paper carefully to see if any dots start moving. If they do, you probably have mites.

Not all plants are susceptible to mites. Some that are include schefflera, cyclamen, palms and citrus trees. Most philodendrons and ferns seem to be immune.

Female mites lightly glue their round, almost colorless eggs on the underside of the leaves. The eggs look like miniature pearls under a hand lens. Check the surrounding plants carefully. If the infestation is severe, it may actually be better to discard the plant completely.

A thorough shower or rinsing will dislodge many of the mites from the leaves. Spraying the plant weekly with an insecticidal soap is the best practice. Rinse the plant forcefully with water about 30 minutes after spraying to remove the soap and any mite eggs on the foliage.

Miticides can also be sprayed weekly to kill the mites. Whether one uses soap or a pesticide, two or three treatments are recommended to get adequate control.

Know and Grow Gardening Workshop A mid-winter gardening workshop to help you plan and grow your 2006 garden. Sunday, Feb. 19 1-5 p.m. Naaman Diehl Auditorium Mt. Carroll, Illinois (Northwest corner of Rt. 52/64 & Rt. 78 intersection) Presented by the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners of Carroll County.

Schedule

This afternoon gardening workshop offers you three concurrent sessions, a snack break, lots of hand-out materials and a silent auction...all for $10. Doors open at 12:30 and Session I begins at 1 p.m. The topics, led by Carroll County Master Gardeners, are as follows:

Seed Starting: 1 p.m. (repeated at 3:25 p.m.) Connie Zink explains the basics of seed starting at the perfect time of year to give it a try. Whether you are interested in annuals, perennials or vegetables, she'll cover what you need and what to watch for as your seedlings mature. This is a hands-on session during which you start your own seeds. Because of the nature of this session, class size is limited and requires an additional fee of $4 for materials.

The Lure and Lore of Wildflowers: 1 p.m. Nancy Gmitro shows you what to look for as the weather moderates in this PowerPoint presentation. She also includes the legends associated with various Wildflowers.

Take the Pain out of Gardening: 2:05 p.m. JoEllen McCaskey teaches you how to eliminate those aches and pains normally associated with gardening, especially in the beginning phases, by using proven techniques and tools.

Add Pizzazz with Color: 2:05 p.m. Patt Caldwell explains the basics of color theory and how to use it as a design tool in this PowerPoint presentation. She also covers color enhancing combinations.

Break: 2:50-3:20. A brief welcome will precede the break during which you can enjoy light snacks, browse the booths, and select your choice amongst the silent auction items.

Making Potpourri: 3:25 p.m. Nancy Gmitro teaches you to make your own potpourri from your 2006 flower petals and other plant materials from your garden and beyond.

Seed Starting: 3:25 p.m. A repeat of the 1 p.m. Seed Starting workshop.

4:30-5 p.m. Evaluations / Wrap-up.

______________________________________________________________________________

The mission of Master Gardeners is "to help others learn to grow." This program, offered through the University of Illinois Extension, provides 60 hours of gardening instruction to each trainee. In return, the volunteer "gives back" 60 volunteer hours of service to become an Active, Certified Master Gardener. Thereafter, to remain certified, a Master Gardener volunteer provides a minimum of 30 hours per year.

Carroll County Master Gardeners annually help over 100 of their fellow residents by maintaining a Help Desk for gardening questions from May through September. In addition, we sponsor each year "A Day in the Garden" garden walk and plan to make "Know and Grow" an annual winter event.

We have also worked on a Food Pantry Garden, the Miles Museum Garden, the Savanna Beautification project around City Hall, offered traveling help desks at libraries, worked with Campbell Center, given programs to civic groups and we still have more projects in mind. Care to join us? We'd love to have you.

"Know and Grow" Registration Form (return by February 10)

Name:______________________________ Address_________________________

City:__________________ State:______ Zip:________Phone:________________

Choose one from each Session:

Session I Session II Session III

___Seed Starting* ____Take the Pain Out of ___Making

Gardening Potpourri

___Lore and Lure ____Add Pizzazz with Color ___Seed Starting*

of Wildflowers

*Additonal $4 fee required.

Make checks payable to University of Illinois. Base fee is $10 per person. If you are taking the Seed Starting Workshop, add $4 more for supplies. Please mail (or deliver) this form and your check to the Carroll County Extension Office, 807D S. Clay St., Mt. Carroll, IL 61053 by February 10. For more information, call 815-244-9444.

If you need reasonable accommodations to participate in this program,

please contact Mark Maidak, Jo-Carroll Unit Leader at 815-244-9444

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign / College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

United States Department of Agriculture * Local Extension Councils Cooperating

University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.

Good Gardening is a University of Illinois Extension bimonthly newsletter on yard and garden topics intended

for citizens in northern Illinois. The newsletter is coordinated at the Lake Unit for distribution through University of Illinois Extension unit offices, located in each county in northern Illinois.

Can I Prune Now?

As we transition from late winter into early spring, the question of pruning comes up. Some plants can be pruned now, but others cannot. Here is a list to help you decide.

Plants to prune now:

-deciduous trees (except those

that are bleeders-maples, elms and birches)

-shrubs that bloom in late summer or fall

Plants to prune later:

-evergreens (pruning of these plants usually coincides with new growth)

-shrubs that flower in spring (prune them within two weeks after they finish flowering)

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Garden tidbit: Are your garden tools clean? If not, spend a little time in the garage getting them in shape for the coming season. Then when the weather is right, you will be ready.

Weird Weather

This has certainly been anything but a normal northern Illinois winter; a really warm November, followed by a bitter and snowy December and then a return to above normal temperatures in January. How will the weird weather affect this coming gardening season?

This is something that no one will be able to predict with any accuracy, but let's look at the situation as it stands now. At this point, we should not be worried about major losses among our garden plants. Only a few plants have tried peeking through the soil and the late January snow provided some insulation.

At this point, our trees and shrubs may be most at risk. Woody plants need a certain number of hours of chilling to overcome their winter dormancy. Each species varies in the number of hours needed. These chilling hours are accumulated, not in the coldest days of winter, but in the days when temperatures range between 32 and 45 degrees F. This year, many of our trees and shrubs are well on their way to getting their chilling requirements met. The problem arises when the chilling requirement is met early and the leaves and flowers start to emerge from the buds earlier than normal. Once these buds begin to open, they are at the mercy of changing spring temperatures. A frost or freeze could be quite damaging to young leaves and flowers.

So what can we look forward to? Again it is hard to predict. If our weather stays somewhat constant, we may have relatively few problems. Unfortunately, northern Illinois winters (and springs) seldom have consistent weather patterns. Often many plants make it through winter to be killed or damaged by wildly fluctuating spring conditions. Stayed tuned to your local weather station and keep your fingers crossed. Spring is just around the corner.

Check out our website!! Start planning for summer Use tropical plants in your garden: www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/tropicalpunch/index.html Want to get started with roses? www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/roses/index.html Need a new tree in the yard?: www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/treeselector/index.html

Remember the Drought...

....it is still here. Northern Illinois is still considered to be in a drought situation and a fairly serious one at that. What does this mean for gardeners? As spring comes we may need to do some supplemental watering if the spring rains are less than usual.

How will you know what the situation is so you can know whether to water or not? There are several way to get that information. The meteorologist on your local news often gives information regarding how much rainfall is below normal. NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) has a great website with a lot of weather information including links to drought monitors. Their site is www.noaa.gov/

On a more local level, put a rain gauge in the yard, so you can monitor spring rains. Sometimes we have several cloudy days in a row with little or no rain. These cloudy days leave us with a false impression that we had rain. A rain gauge will tell the truth.

As spring arrive, don't automatically fertilize everything. If a plant is stressed, fertilizer can make things worse. Evaluate plants and fertilize on need. If your plants showed stress from drought last summer, water them first. If they respond well to that, then water was really what they needed. Fertilizer only solves the problems of nutrient deficiency, it can't fix drought.

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Garden Tidbit: As we spring into March, start looking for new growth on ornamental grasses. We need to get the grasses cut back before the new growth really gets going.

It's March, Let's Start Seeds Indoors

Mid-March is a good time to start seeds indoors. Most annual and vegetable seeds need from 6-12 weeks to grow to be full size transplants. If we start in mid-March, the plant will be ready mid- to late May.

1. Be sure that all containers (flats, cell packs, etc.) are clean.

2. Fill containers with potting mix. Potting mixes are often dry, so moisten them before use. If using peat pellets, soak them in

water so they expand. The side with the indentation is the top of the pellet.

3. In flats: make shallow rows and plant seeds in the rows. In cell packs or peat pots: put 1-3 seeds per cell or pot. In peat pellets: put 1-3 seeds in the indentation. For all, cover seed at a depth 2-3 times the diameter of the seed.

4a. The pots and flats can be placed in clear plastic bags to form 'mini-greenhouses'. The plastic bag will help retain the moisture in the potting mix. Keep the plastic bag in a warm site (65-75 degrees), but out of direct sun.

4b. If the pots are not placed in a plastic bag, check daily to see if the potting mix needs additional water. It should be consistently

moist, but never wet. Keep seeds at 65-75 degrees. Place in direct sun or under fluorescent lights.

5. Good light is needed to produce strong seedlings. Fluorescent lights are very beneficial. Special grow lights are NOT needed. Regular fluorescent tubes can be used. Lights should be on 14-16 hours each day and kept about 2 inches above the tops of the seedlings. If fluorescent lights are not available, place seeds in a sunny window.

6. Harden off the seedlings before transplanting outside. This acclimates the seedlings to their new environment. A few days before transplanting, put the seedlings outside in a shady, sheltered spot for a few hours. Increase the length of time each day, gradually raising the time to 24 hours a day. At this point, seedlings are ready to transplant. This process will be governed by the weather. Do not put tender seedlings outside if the weather is too cold or windy.

Jo-Carroll Extension Unit Carroll County 807D South Clay St., Mt. Carroll, IL 61053 Tele: 815-244-9444 Jo Daviess County 204 Vine, Box 600, Elizabeth, IL 61028 Tele: 815-858-2273

University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment to all persons regardless of race, color, sex, creed, national origin, or socioeconomic backgrounds. United States Department of Agriculture • Local Extension Councils Cooperating

- Lake County U of I Extension