The Peoria County Master Gardeners' PAR Garden has done well this year. Even as the growing season winds down many pounds of fresh produce continue to be donated to the Redeemer Lutheran Food Pantry, Salvation Army and Peoria County Extension Food & Nutrition Program.

The artificial mulch experiment conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the PAR Garden appears to have been a success. Preliminary results indicate an increase in vegetable production where the mulch was used. Whether this was due to reduced weed competition or conservation of water or a combination of factors remains to be determined.

The latest information on the PAR Garden, presented by Patrice Swanson at the MGs' September meeting showed a harvest of 1,745 pounds of vegetables picked and distributed by six MG gardeners in 144 hours of volunteer time. A note on the resident wildlife... the garden started the season with rabbits feeding on whatever they could find and is finishing with deer... feeding on whatever they can find.

The PAR Garden received a Master Gardener Teamwork Award at the 2003 State MG Conference, September 18 through 20 at the Naperville-Lisle Holiday Inn. The PAR Gardeners richly deserve this award for their day in and day out diligence in tending the garden.

Very few gardeners know everything there is to know about gardening. It is with the rest of us, who are toiling in the soil, that these hints are shared.

• To get the most effective herbicide treatment of your perennial lawn weeds (dandelions, plantain, etc.) spray them in the fall when they are storing food in their roots. The plants will also take the herbicide to their roots. The herbicides will always kill the leaves but unless their roots are killed they will sprout again in spring. With the herbicide in their roots, these persistent weeds will be totally eliminated.
• The flavor of kale and Brussel sprouts become sweeter after they have experienced their first frost of the season. This usually is about mid month, from Columbus Day (October 12) to October 17.

As you view you October lawn you may see a horrifying crop of crabgrass. Much of it has already gone to seed and the rest will soon follow. The good news is that crabgrass is an annual. The bad news is that it reseeds freely. All that stands between you and a lawn of pure crabgrass next year is preemergent herbicide. Be ready to apply this in April or whenever the weather indicates. Check the Extension web sites in early spring for up-to-the-minute directions on application.

Question: I have planted a bed with flower varieties butterflies are supposed to like. Some butterflies feed there regularly but others just fly around and leave.

Answer: Not all butterflies feed only on the nectar in flowers. Some have odd tastes and prefer tree sap, rotting fruit and dung in addition to or instead of nectar. Feeding butterflies as in many other pursuits, you can't please everyone, every time. For more on this topic read Dr. Phil Nixon's fascinating article elsewhere in this issue of the MG Journal.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A team of University of Arkansas researchers recently released a study that will have everyone digging for bones. Digging, planting, weeding and watering, that is. The researchers have linked regular yard work to the prevention of osteoporosis, finding that women aged 50 and older who gardened at least once a week showed higher bone density readings than those who performed other types of exercise – including jogging, swimming, walking and aerobics. Research has long shown that weight-bearing exercise can help women maintain healthy bones.

But the University of Arkansas study examines which types of weight-bearing exercise have the strongest impact on bone density, said Lori Turner, assistant professor of Health Sciences and lead researcher on the project. By knowing which exercises provide the greatest benefit, women can design a workout regimen that will ensure strong bones as they age. Such preventative measures may reduce the number of people who develop osteoporosis – a debilitating disease that currently threatens more than 28 million Americans." Within our study, more than half the women – 57 percent – showed low bone density. There's no question that osteoporosis is a problem in our society," Turner said. "But if we persist only in treating this disease, the number of victims will never drop. We have to find ways to prevent it."

As a registered dietician and as a researcher, Turner has spent the past three years trying to plant that idea in the medical community and in the minds of women, young and old. Presented at the National Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance conference, this latest study adds another weapon that women can use in the fight against osteoporosis. To gain a comprehensive look at the effects of exercise on older women, Turner needed a large field of subjects. She found it in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey – a data set collected by the National Center for Health Statistics, which contains information on more than 40,000 people.

Turner first weeded out the youngest subjects, leaving a pool 3,310 women aged 50 and older. She then examined how often these women performed different activities, including yard work, calisthenics, bicycling, dancing, aerobics, swimming, jogging, walking and weight training. Turner compared each activity to bone mass, finding that bicycling, aerobics, dancing, yard work and weight training were linked to higher levels of mineral density. The researchers then performed a regression model analysis – a statistical assessment that examined each activity independently, ensuring that no two overlapped. The results showed only two activities were significant for maintaining healthy bone mass – yard work and weight training. "We hadn't expected yard work to be significant," Turner said. "It's taken for such a dainty activity but there's a lot of weight-bearing motion in gardening – digging holes, pulling weeds and pushing a mower."

An additional benefit of gardening is the fact that it's performed outdoors, said Turner. Exposure to sunlight boosts vitamin D production, which aids the body in calcium absorption. While weight-bearing activity and vitamin D work directly to strengthen women's bones, yard work provides indirect benefits as well. Of all activities, yard work was the most popular. Nearly half of the subjects – 1,384 women – claimed to garden at least once a week. Such popularity makes it a highly effective preventative measure.

In recommending exercise options to older women, health professionals must consider three factors: the activity's effect on bone density, its safety and the likelihood that people will stick with it. For instance, other studies have shown that jogging helps maintain bone density. But its high-impact nature carries greater risk of injury, particularly for older women. In addition, 50-year-old women who have never jogged are unlikely to adhere to a jogging routine for any length of time. But Turner considers yard work an ideal activity that matches all three health concerns. "The best thing about yard work is that so many people are willing to do it. They don't dread it as exercise," she said. "People have other motivations for gardening. They take pride in a beautiful yard and pleasure in being outdoors. They'll probably continue to do it as long as they're able." And as long as people stick with an exercise, they can harvest the benefits well into old age. Turner adds a cautionary note, however. Digging into a garden does not guarantee that everything will come up roses for those at risk for osteoporosis, she says.

In addition to exercise, women must take other precautions, and must take them as early in life as possible. Turner recommends all women take in at least 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day, that they maintain a healthy body weight, and they refrain from smoking or excessive alcohol consumption. "There are many factors that contribute to osteoporosis." Turner said. "The more we know, the more we can encourage women to maintain healthy lifestyles and the more power we can give them to prevent the disease."

by Phil Nixon, PhD, Entomologist,
Dept. of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Why do butterflies prefer to feed at certain flowers but bypass others? There are several reasons in addition to food preference. Not only do flowers have to have a source of nectar, but they must also provide a proper landing and perching platform. Flower petals frequently provide this platform. It needs to be horizontal and wide enough for large butterflies, such as monarchs and swallowtails, to land on. Zinnias, daisies, Tithonia, and similar flowers provide large, flat platforms. Smaller, nectar-rich flowers such as dandelion, creeping Charlie (ground ivy), red clover, and daisy fleabane provide platforms only large enough for the smaller butterflies such as the blues, coppers, whites, sulphurs, and skippers.

Seed catalogs and other publications provide lists of plants to attract
butterflies. However, the varieties available for purchase may be those from which the nectar has been eliminated by breeding. Many flower varieties now have larger flower sizes and colors other those in the original species. Breeders tend to select flowers for color and size, ignoring nectar production. As a consequence, nectar quantity or quality be lost for the butterflies. For example, almost all varieties of double flowered roses have no or little nectar and you rarely see a butterfly, bee, or wasp on them but native single-flowered roses are heavily visited by nectar-seeking insects.

Breeders may also exclude the nectar pattern of a flower so that it becomes confusing to the pollinating insect. Nectar-feeding insects are strongly attracted to the yellow and ultraviolet areas of the spectrum. Most insects cannot distinguish red from black and consequently are not attracted to it. The black "face" in a pansy is an ultraviolet coloration.

In most flowers, UV nectar guides are masked by petal colors that are not obvious to us, since we cannot see colors in the UV range. Examine black-eyed Susan, white daisy, or similar flowers under "black light" and you will see the UV nectar guides that the insects see. Red flowers the insects visit may also have ultraviolet coloration that we cannot see. They may have an insect attracting color such as yellow with the red. Naturally red flowers are pollinated primarily by birds, such as hummingbirds. White flowers, such as Easter lilies, with no UV nectar guides, are pollinated at night; primarily by moths and bats since white is the most visible color at night.

If you are tempted to prune your roses in the fall, the University of Illinois Extension has one word of advice, "Don't." The following directions are for spring pruning and apply to all types of roses.

The pruning of rose bushes can be confusing, especially when you start talking about hybrid teas, old garden roses, shrub roses, once-blooming roses, and English roses. This confusion leads to doubt and improper pruning or no pruning. The class of rose and the time of year it blooms influence the type and amount of pruning. General pruning principles apply to all roses, but there are differences between classes. The closer one gets to species roses the less severe the pruning. Hybrid teas have the distinction of requiring the most severe pruning for optimum bloom and plant health.

Because of the variety of rose types available, one may need to have an understanding of how the rose flowers. Pruning should also be looked at as applying a few common sense principles to accomplish several tasks. These tasks are to remove dead, damaged, or diseased wood; increase air circulation; keep the shrub from becoming a tangled mess; shape the plant; and encourage the growth of flowering wood.

The majority of pruning is done in the spring. Many rose growers suggest waiting until the forsythias start to bloom as a good signal for the pruning season to begin. The goal of spring pruning is to produce an open centered plant. This allows air and light to penetrate easily.

Basic pruning fundamentals that apply to all roses include:

• Use clean, sharp equipment.
• Cut at a 45-degree angle about 1/4 inch above outward-facing bud. The cut should slant away from the bud.
• Entirely remove all dead or dying canes. These can be identified as canes that are shriveled, dark brown, or black.
• Remove all thin, weak canes that are smaller than a pencil in diameter.

If roses are grafted and there is sucker growth from below the graft, remove it. The best way is to dig down to the root where the sucker is originating and tear it off where it emerges. Cutting suckers off only encourages regrowth of several suckers where there once was one.

First Week...

• Dig gladiolus & caladiums for cool dry storage over winter.
• Check your evergreens for bagworms. Cut them off & destroy.
• If your houseplants vacationed outdoors this summer bring them inside. Check for insects.
• Dig, divide & replant or share surplus day lilies.
• Keep watering trees & shrubs. They'll need it during the winter.
• Cut herbs & flowers for drying.

Second Week...

• Harvest winter squash, pumpkins & gourds before frost. Cut the stem - don't break it. Leave about 3 inches of stem. Store at 50º to 55ºF.
• Take sample of your garden soil for testing. Base your spring fertilizing on the test results.
• As vegetable garden space becomes vacant, plant a cover crop of winter rye or buckwheat for green manure in spring.
• Mow your lawn at 3 inches for the rest of the season.
• Tomatoes and peppers are sure to be the first frost victims so pick any you want to save & let ripen indoors. Pickled green tomatoes are a special treat.
• Apply broadleaf herbicide now so perennial weeds will carry it to their roots for the best results.
  

Third Week...

• Pick fall apples from your trees or at a commercial orchard. Store in a cool dry place.
• Dig & pot herbs like chives, rosemary, thyme & parsley for a winter windowsill herb garden.
• After frost clean up garden areas & compost all plant material.
• Plant garlic so it will have an early start next spring.
• Newly planted trees with thin bark will need winter protection. Cover with corrugated paper tree wrap.
• Store pesticides in a safe place for over winter. Set aside any that will pass their "use by" date before next summer. Save for your county's next hazardous household waste disposal collection.

Fourth Week....

• Take some plastic bags to a stable & ask for some manure. Spread on vacant areas of the garden & add to your compost pile.
• Cut or break slips of geraniums (pelargonium) for drying indoors & propagating indoors.
• Check selected plants from which you want to save seeds. Collect when the seeds are ripe & dry but before they are scattered.
• Mulch-mow the leaves on your lawn. This will return nutrients to the soil & keep leaves out of landfills. It will also save much raking & bagging.
• Wait until the ground has frozen before putting heavy mulch around & on your perennials.
• Protect young fruit trees & roses from winter feeding rabbits with a loose wrapping of hardware cloth or welded wire fabric.

The fall months are a time of transition. Many of the birds that have been with us through the summer will leave for their wintering areas in the south. Some may move only as far as Tennessee and the Gulf States while other will fly to Central America, the islands of the Caribbean and South America. Some species are permanent residents while others move down from Canada, Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.

Some total strangers will stop over on their migration to rest and feed, then be on their way again. These migrating birds need water for drinking and bathing and food for the long flights ahead. If your feeders had been put away for the summer, October is not too soon to bring them out again. In the fall bird feeders are visited by many different birds from many different places. It is important that feeders and birdbaths be clean and disease-free.

Feeders should be cleaned by scraping and brushing, then sanitized by washing or scrubbing with a 10% solution of sodium hypochlorite (Clorox). Before filling and putting them out for the birds, leave the feeders in the sun to air dry. Give your birdbaths the same treatment. If they are rinsed well after sanitizing, the drying is not necessary.

Some feeding recommendations are Niger seed for goldfinches, white millet for ground feeders like doves, suet or suet cakes for woodpeckers, chickadees and the tufted titmouse (what is the plural of titmouse?). For some of these birds as well as for nearly all other species oil-rich black sunflower seeds are best.

The breeding season is over so take down your birdhouses. Cleanout old nest debris and sanitize as you would the bird feeders. Keeping in mind that in winter chickadees may take shelter in empty birdhouses, you may want to put them back up. This also saves finding a place to store them over winter.

With all of these things done you can be satisfied that you have done everything you can to assist your winter visitors and permanent resident birds in surviving the cold and privation of winter. Keep some food in the feeders but overfilling invites waste. Always keep water in your birdbaths, especially if you have a heated one. The last thing is to clean your viewing window so you won't miss any of the avian circus that will be staged in your yard this winter.

As the last issues of the Master Gardener Journal begin to take shape we find some short bits of humor and possible wisdom, of the kind we have featured over the years, may be left over. Rather than let them wither in the editor's computer we present a few on their very own page.

Reading wise words from those of advanced age
Make me wonder
Will I remember my own name if I reach that stage?

Sometimes, when you look up from your Lot in Life,
you can tell it needs to be completely plowed up and replanted.
- Laura Kalpakian

How many a man has dated a new era in his life
From the reading of a book.
-H. D. Thoreau

And now let us welcome the New Year,
full of things that have never been.
-Rainer Maria Rilke

Any idiot can face a crisis.
It's this day-to-day living that wears you out.
- Anton Chekov

Friendly people find it easy to be fair.
Being friendly and being fair both come
From believing that other people have just as much right
To be alive and happy as we have.
- Munro Leaf

To get peace, if you want, make yourself a nest
to curl up inside each night.
-John Ruskin

We would love each other better if we only understood.
- Anonymous

Although it is best to have your vegetable garden in full sun, local geography doesn't always allow us that luxury. There is no need to despair over your partially shaded site. When planning your vegetable or herb garden for next year consider making us of a less-than-sunny location.

Admittedly these plants will grow and produce impartial shade, they do require some morning, afternoon or filtered sunlight with a minimum of two to six hours of direct sun. Observe the movement of the sun as the season progresses because the sun is most nearly directly overhead at midsummer on the summer solstice around June 21, and is lower in the southern sky earlier and later in the season.

These vegetables are partially shade-tolerant and, although they will do better in full sun, will produce an edible crop in a less sunny location:

- Arugala - Garlic - White Potatoes
- Beans - Kale - Pumpkins
- Beets - Kohlrabi - Radish
- Broccoli - Leaf Lettuce - Rhubarb
- Brussels sprouts - Leeks - Rutabaga
- Cauliflower - Lovage - Salad Burnet
- Celery - Parsley - Summer Squash
- Cress - Parsnips - Salsify
- Endive - Peas - Turnips

Herbs

- Angelica - Chervil - Mint
- Borage - Coriander - Tarragon
- Caraway - Lemon Balm - Thyme

Raising these vegetables and herbs in partially shades parts of your garden will make more complete use of your arable ground.

Every gardener or homeowner who has tried to improve the landscape knows that these activities are basically learning experiences. If we don't learn from our mistakes we will inevitably repeat them, and every time we repeat them we find the price has gone up.

In the reverie of a beautiful early fall day it is no time to discuss the cruel realities of the winter to come, but winter will come regardless of our dreaming. It is as foolish to curse the gravity that brought down the dead limb that tore our power line that put our home in darkness during the nastiest storm of the winter, as it is to neglect pruning away future threats to our electrical lifelines. Now is the time to check your trees for branches that have grown enough to overhang the wires. Some of this pruning is best left to the professionals but an arborist will not come unless you call. The lesson to be learned from precautionary pruning is that the $200 spent in fall can prevent the $500+ spent in winter repairing a roof or clearing and reinstalling a power line to your home.

As we enjoy the lush, green beauty of our September lawn we can reflect on the despair over the crisp, brown turf of August. The lesson here is to realize the lawn will recover when the rains come. Use your water to insure the survival of shrubs and trees. Unless you are engaged in a water wasting contest with the neighbors, remember, trees are much more expensive to replace than turf grass.

One final lesson came when some of our tomatoes died of the same blight that killed them last year. Why? Your 2003 tomatoes were planted in the same place as your 2002 plants were. The disease spores remain in the soil waiting for the gardener to replant vulnerable varieties in the same location. Another lesson of the many we have to learn to be successful gardeners and custodians of our home landscape. Will we ever learn all of the lessons? Probably not, but that is the challenge of the environment, whether it resides is in our flowers, vegetables or the shade of our trees.

Most sowing is over for 2003 but the harvest continues. The sowing exception is a cover crop of buckwheat or winter rye than can be turned over in spring as "green manure. Plant this cover crop thickly. It will help keep bare soil from blowing and weed seeds from finding a place in which they can germinate. A hard frost should be expected in October, probably preceded by several light frosts.

• The last July-planted green beans must be picked.
• The last florets of broccoli should be cut.
• Brussels sprouts are ready & if they have been touched by frost will be all the more flavorful. Leave a couple of plants for picking in November.
• The last cabbage should be cut with special attention to any small, axial head that have sprouted along the stem of previously cut cabbages.
• Pull beets, radishes & turnips before the ground freezes.
• The late crop of leaf or loose-head lettuce is ready to be cut. It will survive light frost but will wilt after being frozen.
• Cut the last of the spinach before a hard freeze.

Two things most of the trees that were blown down or severely damaged in recent Central Illinois storms shared were high winds and weak or diseased limbs and trunks. Newspaper photographs of trees blown over in yards revealed many of them were at least partially hollowed by disease. Even if your home is insured against storm damage, considering the time and stress of emergency repairs in inclement weather, it never fully compensates for the damage and its consequences.

"Preemptive action" is a popular term that can, in this context, mean avoiding trouble. Much storm related tree damage could be avoided by inspecting your trees and removing weak or broken limbs. A tree that is dead or seriously diseased, especially if it has a hollow trunk, should be removed. The only useful function it may have is as a home for wildlife. These "habitat trees" are safe only if they are located in a far corner of your property, away from utility lines, buildings and playground equipment.

Dead or broken limbs or even whole trees that threaten buildings or power lines are accidents waiting to happen. A branch on your property that brings down a power line in winter can deprive your family of heat when it is needed most. Homes that are heated by gas still require electricity for the igniter and heat circulating system.

Tree maintenance by a licensed, bonded professional is not cheap but the cost is minor considering alternatives. Storms cannot be prevented but much storm damage can be. This may require removing dangerous limbs or unsafe trees before the ice, snow and winds of winter do it for you but this is an investment in the safety of you home and family.

It has been a busy summer for our Master Gardeners and one of many accomplishments. The Plant a Row Garden has produced an abundance of fresh vegetables for charitable agencies to distribute to the needy. The Demonstration Garden at Illinois Central College is already accomplishing the first of its goals by showing visitors what can be done with a new garden. The gardens at Bel-Wood Nursing Home have brightened the lives of the residents all through the summer. The vegetable gardens at the Peoria County Youth Farm introduced many young men to the wonders of growing things. Master Gardeners have helped at Luthy Botanical Garden, planted flowerbeds at the Peoria County Courthouse and assisted at the Parc Enabling Garden.

The telephone Help-Line will close down for the winter but the Master Gardeners will always return calls for advice. The Speakers Bureau will continue to serve the needs of area organizations by supplying informed presentations for their meetings. The award-winning radio program "In the Garden" will continue through the fall and winter, providing guidance for gardeners and home landscapers, regardless of the season. Through the winter the Master Gardeners will plan their activities and rest for the growing season to come. A new class of Master Gardeners will begin their training in January and will join them in April. We are proud of all the Master Gardeners have done and welcome their vigorous enthusiasm in the seasons to come.