Increase your knowledge of home horticulture - attend one or all of these classes covering hot topics and the latest trends in gardening. The programs begin March 3 and continue for six consecutive Monday evenings from 7:00–9:00 p.m. All sessions will be held at the Quad City Botanical Center, 2525 4th Avenue, Rock Island. The cost to attend is $5, general public and $3 for active Rock Island County Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists, per person per program.

March 3: Salsa – It's the Number One Condiment in America! Salsa is not just made from tomatoes any more. Many of our favorite fruits and vegetables are appearing in salsa. Serve salsa as a side dish, meat accompaniment, or the traditional dip. U of I Extension Educator, Shirley Camp, will tell you how you can use salsa to help meet the current recommendations of more than 4 cups a day of fruits and vegetables. She will also demonstrate some quick tips to make salsas and give taste samples.

March 10: The Art and Science of Pruning with Chris Hilgert, U of I Extension Horticulture Educator. Sharpen your skills and your pruning saw! Learn pruning techniques for ornamental trees and shrubs. During this class Chris will demonstrate pruning techniques used for shaping, training, and maintaining a variety of plants.

March 17: A New Path to the Lost Treasures of the Heartland with Jim Johansen of Wesley Acres Produce & Tropical Treasures with Dave Searl of the Quad City Botanical Center. Jim will walk us through his journey back to the family farm with specialty crops. Then enjoy a guided tour of the tropical Sun Garden through the eyes of QCBC Gardener Dave Searl who will unveil the tropical garden paradise with fun stories and interesting plant facts.

March 24: Growing Herbs at Home with Kari Houle, U of I Extension Horticulture Educator. Growing herbs at home can be an easy and rewarding experience. Learn about growing, maintaining, harvesting, and the history of different herbs that can be raised in the home landscape.

March 31: A Tale of Two Gardens with Martha Smith, U of I Extension & Home Garden Floral Design with Damian Parizek, Milan Flower Shop. Journey through the seasons in two Illinois Gardens. From Southern Illinois to the northern suburbs of Chicago, this program shows how gardens change through the seasons. Learn to keep a watchful eye on your own garden to discover visual interest spring, summer, fall & winter. Followed by Make Garden Magic in Your Home with Damian, Milan Flower Shop. Bring garden magic inside with fantastic floral arrangements from the flowers growing in your own backyard.

April 7: New Plants for 2008 with Kathryn Newman, Sunnyfield Greenhouse & Gardens. Learn about some of the exciting new arrivals for 2008 and how to use them in your home landscaping plans this season.

University of Illinois Extension Rock Island County Master Gardeners presented the 12th annual horticulture seminar, NURSERY SCHOOL: LESSONS IN GARDENING! on February 23. Workshops were presented by regional horticulture, nursery and landscape experts and University educators. An added feature this year was an opening Keynote Session presented by Denny Schrock on "Container Gardening", Author & Garden Editor, Meredith Corporation. Workshops included What's New for 2008, Midwest Vegetable Gardening, Beekeeping Basics, a hands-on demo Everything You Want to Know About Orchids, How to Create Curb Appeal, Evergreens and many more. Once again, the break snacks and lunch were wonderful. The halls of the Mark were also lined with beautiful products and displays by vendors such as The Quad City Botanical Center, Kuhl's Under the Sun, the African Violet Society, Full Circle Soaps and others. We send thanks to all the vendors and others that provided the many wonderful door prizes that were given away. For those of you that joined us, we hope you enjoyed the day. It was said that this was the best conference yet. If you didn't get the opportunity to attend this year, we hope to see you in 2009!

This year's Nursery School hadnew feature ... a full day of gardening activities geared to kids.Thanks to the help of some very energetic Master Gardeners, we pulled together a day full of different activities related to gardening.-three young people (ages 8 to 15) participated in the day's events.Youth learned about gourds and then had a great time painting and decorating their own gourd birdhouses. Each person made a terrarium to take home.then learned about flower arranging and each person made a colorful arrangement.explored plant propagation and planting from seeds.afternoon featured a trip across the street to the John Deere Pavilion where they had a guided tour to learn more about John Deere's role in growing and harvesting plants.were many positive responses to the day and we look forward to making this a regular addition to Nursery School.

- Diane Baker, Youth Development Educator, U of IL Extension, Rock Island County

Years ago, the nature-essayist Hal Borland wrote "Sun dogs and moon dogs are beautiful accents to a winter day or night as the rainbow is to a showery Summer day."

Sun dogs usually appear in pairs on either side of the sun. They are more commonly noticed in the winter months when the sun is low in the sky and ice crystals in the atmosphere are more common. We can also see them in other seasons whenever cirrus clouds are abundant in the sky.

Sun dogs are atmospheric phenomena created by the reflection or refraction of sunlight by small ice crystals in the clouds. Sundogs typically appear when the sun is low, either at sunrise and sunset, They are often bright white patches of light looking much like the sun or a comet. Sometimes they exhibit a spectrum of colors, ranging from red closest to the sun to a pale bluish tail stretching away from the sun.

There are records of sun dogs in ancient Greek and Egyptian writings and evidence that the Greeks used these to predict rain.

Whatever causes them, they sure are a beautiful sight on cold winter days.

Researched and written by Sugandhi Sivakumar

References: Wikipedia and http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/sundog.htm

What does transpiration mean?

How you get from one place to another

When carbon dioxide and water, in the presence of chlorophyll and light energy, are converted to sugar

C) The process that occurs in plants so that minerals can be transported from the soil to plant parts, leaf and stem tissues are cooled through evaporation and plant turgor is maintained.

- Written by Kathy Tack

It is my deepest honor to have been chosen as the new director of the Rock Island County Extension Unit. What an amazing institution, and what an exciting time to be joining the organization!

As I rearranged my new office and unpacked boxes, I found some....tattered files full of notes and ideas, some much-beloved books, and a lamp for the office, some gifts from past colleagues, and some rocks, which I collect wherever I go.

Each day as I look around my office now, I see the lamp, the books, the rocks, and the gifts.item typically carries with it some fond memories. Ironically and joyfully, I am discovering that I am already creating fond memories with my new wonderful unit colleagues and volunteers. I am incredibly lucky to be amidst such compassionate, hard-working, creative, and enthusiastic people.

While it is wonderful to reflect on one's past memories, I am equally excited about my new surroundings because the new environment provides a comfortable context for my old mementos.old lamp aids in shedding light on each new project offered by our dedicated volunteers and staff.rocks from afar are a reminder to stay grounded. The tattered files are in a new file drawer full of hope. The dog-eared books remind me to continue to seek wisdom from each page of life. While one of my most cherished gifts is a clock...a gift of time...one of the most precious gifts anyone can share.

I invite you to stop by my office and sit for a moment so we may share a moment of time, or to ask a question, deal with a concern, or just say hello.Like a garden, I hope to become a friend that you can visit any time.

Best regards...Michael

Michael D. Woods, Ph.D.

Director, Rock Island County

University of Illinois Extension

- Michael Woods

I still remember my mother telling me bedtime stories about our ancestors from far away countries. I guess the stories are true. I am part Japanese, Bermudian, and American. In American, my ancestors grew up in California. Sure, my ancestors got to grow up in those exotic and interesting sounding places! Me, I live in Michigan. Mom said when I was a little tiny bulblet, still attached to her, I was in California. I don't remember, it was 3 years ago. I don't think it is fair. I would like to have stayed in California, but, Mom says our kind is a commodity, and so we must go and grow where we are planted. I don't know why, but I have a reoccurring dream of being stuck underground for 1000 days! Mom won't tell me what that means.

Dad usually tells me all the "fairy tales" about our kind. I call them fairy tales. Dad says they are true. Like the story about Juno, the queen of the gods in Roman mythology. Juno was Hercules mother. When she was nursing him, excess milk fell from her breast. Part of it remained above the Earth and became the Milky Way Galaxy. The rest fell to earth and became our kind. That is a pretty nice story. I like to think it is true. Then Dad tells another story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As Eve left the garden in disgrace, she cried and her tears turned into our kind. The spiritual principle held here is that true repentance is the beginning of beauty. That's heavy. But, it is true that we are beautiful.

I could go on and on. Ok. I will. Persephone gathered us when Hades kidnapped her and carried her to the underworld, symbolizing the childlike unawareness of the dangers of life. We are linked to purity, chastity, grace, joy, hope, life, celebration, resurrection, the Virgin Mary, and Christ's sweat. We grew in the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ's sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress. We were discovered in the Virgin Mary's tomb 3 days after her burial, denoting the resurrection of the Virgin. Our petals signifying her spotless body, and our golden anthers, her soul glowing with heavenly light.

We decorated the pillars of Solomon's temple (see the Bible, 1 King 7:19,22) representing the resurrection, because we are buried in the ground, like a human corpse, then arise as a beautiful flower. There is that word again, beautiful, yeah that's me.

On another note, someone had the bright idea to remove our stamens and pistils because someone thought they represented sexuality and convey impure thoughts. Well, I never!

Enough of my history. Now for some current information about me. My name is Nellie and my brother's name is Ace. I had another brother, Arai, but he died of necrotic fleck. Have you heard of that? It is caused by two viruses. One day, he became chlorotic, then brown ,then gray, and then he was gone. I don't want to talk about it too much. I will just say, as in your kind, some of us get the good resistant genes and some of us don't.

Our claim to fame is our color, form and fragrance. We should be medium to compact, well-balanced, and proportional in size. The same thing they say about your kind. However, not everyone fits that mold, as you know.

We should also have an abundance of dark, rich green foliage that is dense and plentiful all the way down to the soil. If we have this (of course I do), we should have a good, healthy root system too.

I am the crème de la crème, and therefore, I will be gracing the altar of some most fabulous church come Sunday morning. And, the next Sunday morning, I will still be looking good. After that, I don't know my fate. It seems that I may fall into the hands of someone who does not know what to do with me. I hope that does not happen because I can still live way beyond just those two weeks in church.

Here is how to handle me so I can live as long as possible;

As my flowers mature, remove my yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. I will live longer without them. Kinda like a bad appendix in your kind. Take it out and you will live longer. When my first blooms fade, cut them off, and enjoy the next ones. I feel better when I am displaying my best blooms. Otherwise, I feel like it's a bad hair day.

I like moderately cool temperatures. You know, somewhere around 60-65 degrees. A little cooler at night please. I don't like drafts, either hot or cold. Actually, my favorite place is near a window, but not directly in the sun. My mom always told me that sunburns were bad for me. It's true.

Sometimes, humans put our pots in decorative foil. That traps moisture! Be careful that my soil does not remain wet. You can always take me out of that foil and water me, let the excess fall in the sink, and then put me back in the foil.

After I stop blooming, because I am out of energy, I will be very happy just sitting in a sunny location in the house. Once again, not in direct sunlight.

When the weather warms up, I can be planted outside. I really like good drainage. So the recipe for my feet is one part soil, one part peat moss, and one part perlite. Mix that together, place in the hole and then add some rich soil to the top of the bed. Sorry, I am fussy about that. Now, plant me.

Plant my bulb 3 inches below ground and put 3 inches on top of my bulb. Work the soil around me so there are not any big air bubbles. Not only is it unattractive, the water will not reach my bulb correctly with air bubbles around.

A good rule of thumb is that I like my head in the sun and my roots in the shade.

And, I do not want anyone any closer than 12 to 18 inches from me! I need my space!

When my foliage dies back, I will produce more, and if I feel energetic enough, I will bloom in the summer. But, I might be too tired and then I won't bloom until the next summer. Sorry, it's a crap shoot.

When fall arrives, cover me with a thick layer of mulch, and hopefully, I can stay warm enough to bloom again in the spring. I am told I am hardy, and will live through the winter in Illinois and Iowa. Just make sure you use a generous layer of mulch, such as straw, pine needles, corncobs, pieces of boxes or bags. In the spring, move the mulch away, so I can burst forth with foliage and blooms.

I hope you like me. Thank you for your time. Happy Easter.

Love,

Nellie White, Easter Lily Extraordinaire

(aka: Lilium longiflorum)

Researched and written by Fran Pearson

Sources: University of Illinois Extension, University of Vermont Extension

Annual Plant Sale -

Pre-plant Perennial Plant Sale - Raffle

Saturday, May 10

U of IL Extension, Rock Island County Master Gardeners will again hold their Plant Sale. You will find lots of very reasonable plants for your home gardens!It will be held this year from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. in the Extension parking lot at 4550 Kennedy Drive, East Moline, IL.will also be Master Gardeners there to answering your gardening questions.

This also is the day for our pre-plant sale plants to be picked up.read more about them and to order on- line, please go to web.extension.uiuc.edu/rockisland and click on the right side Master Gardeners Perennial Plant Sale.may also stop by the Extension to order.will also be available for order at the Flower and Garden Show at the QCCA on March 14 – 16.(Deadline to order the plants - March 30). They are also great bargains – we are offering 1 gallon potted plants of three different varieties for only $12.00 each.are so fortunate to have Sunnyfield Greenhouse and Gardens in Galva as our supplier again this year.is the grass Miscanthus s. 'Morning Light' which is a clump grass.has white edged leaves in the summer and beautiful reddish plumes in the fall.second plant is the 2008 Perennial Plant of the Year, a geranium named 'Rozanne' which is a beautiful plant with intensely-colored 1-inch blooms of violet-blue with a large white eye which will appear in early summer and continue blooming until early fall., we have a wonderful Heuchera 'Citronelle', an accidental mutation of the orange-russet toned 'Carmel'.'Citronelle' has beautiful foliage and is topped by small creamy-white bells in mid to late summer.These are great plants for Mother's Day gifts too!

The raffle drawing will be held on May 10 also – at 1:30 p.m.need not be present to win.offer four chances of winning!!There is the well known Isabel Bloom Remembered 'Violet'(large size), a garden basket "Nature's Path Picnic Basket", a "Plant Me! Basket" and a "Cooks' Container Garden." To purchase tickets you may stop at the Extension or ask any Master Gardener.will also be available in our booth at the Flower and Garden Show on March 14 – 16.Tickets are only $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00.

Proceeds at these events go toward funding for the Rock Island County Master Gardener program.

As gardeners most of us are also interested in attracting a wide variety of birds to our yards. We pride ourselves in the different kinds of birds we are able to bring to our feeders and plan on planting various berry-bearing bushes and shrubs to keep our feathered friends coming back year round. When the fruit is not available naturally in the surroundings, offering fruits either fresh, frozen or dried can bring rare birds like orioles, tanagers or warblers to your backyard.

Apples can attract bluebirds, cardinals, catbirds, flickers, woodpeckers, and several other birds. Ripe bananas are especially good for attracting warblers, also tanagers, orioles, catbirds, and thrushes. Oranges attract orioles. Thrushes, towhees, tanagers, bluebirds, and grouse come for a meal of various berries. Hummingbirds like the juices from fruits and the small insects that it attracts.

Here are a few ways of setting the table to attract those otherwise reluctant visitors.

Cut apples, oranges and grapefruit in slices or in quarters. Tie pieces of fruit to sturdy branches with thread or thin wire.

Make fruit kabobs by threading several pieces of fruit onto a thin wire. Attach firmly to a tree branch

The rind from a grapefruit or orange half makes a great bowl to put the bird's fruit in.

Researched and written by Sugandhi Sivakumar

References: University of Illinois Extension

A new website has been launched by the U of IL Extension and covers the USDA's hardiness zones, 4 – 6. Home gardeners and professional horticulturists can gain information about plant pests, diseases and plant performance. You may access the information by different routes. One approach is to search plant and its category which include, annuals, groundcover, ornamental grass, perennials, roses, shrubs, small fruits, trees, tree fruits, turf, vegetables and vines. If a particular problem is affecting your garden, you can try the "search by problem" feature and search by the problem or pest or the plant affected, with categories for common and scientific names. The website allows users to proceed through as much information as they desire and gain insights and tips about how various plants will look and perform in your own garden. This website, because of its complexity, took several years to develop. The designers of the web site include Greg Stack, U of I Extension horticulture educator, former U of I Extension specialist Bruce Pallsrud, the website was developed by Jane Scherer, U of I Extension urban program/web coordination specialist, James Schuster, Maurice Ogutu and Sharon Yiesla, Extension horticulture educators. Please visit it at "Hortanswers" http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/hortanswers/

My first memory of hoar frost was when I was a child. We slept in an unheated upstairs bedroom and in the winter there was what my mother called "hoar frost" on the inside of the windows. That is actually a form of hoar frost called window frost or fern frost because of its formation that looks like a fern. As I got older, I discovered there were several kinds of hoar frost, each being different.

Hoar frost is the icy crystals that form directly on a freezing surface as moist air contacts it. It may have different names depending on where it forms. For example air hoar is a deposit of hoar frost on objects above the surface, such as tree branches, plant stems, wires, etc. and as we have seen this past winter. As a child, I didn't appreciate its beauty, however, this winter on more than one occasion when trees, plants, poles and wires were covered with ice and the hoar frost would form on the ice, it was absolutely beautiful. It would stay until the air warmed.

Other kinds of hoar frost include wind

frost, which is tiny ice spikes forming

when there is a very cold wind blowing over branches of trees and other surfaces and forms against the direction of the wind. It can occur any hour of day or night. White frost is another form of hoar frost, which is a heavy coating of frost with big and interlocking crystals. It forms when the air has a relative humidity above 90% and a temperature below –8 degrees C (18 F).

Depth hoar is another form of hoar frost and refers to cup shaped, faceted crystals formed within dry snow, beneath the surface. It is not beautiful but treacherous. It is a common cause of avalanches when it forms in air spaces within snow, especially below a snow crust, and subsequent layers of snow fall on top of it. The layer of depth hoar consists of angular crystals that do not bond well to each other or other layers of snow, causing upper layers to slide off under the right conditions, especially when upper layers are well bonded within themselves such as a slab avalanche.

There are other types too but I prefer to think of the one I have seen this winter several times and appreciate the beauty that air hoar brings and presents itself as a winter wonderland.

Researched and written by Dallas DeShane

A Bit of Trivia . . .

Eighty percent of the world's rose species come from Asia.

Bananas are considered the world's largest herb. They are related to the lily and orchid family.

Rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme and marjoram all belong to the mint plant family.

Sources: www.shelsgarden.com/index2.html

The answer is C) The process that occurs in plants so that minerals can be transported from the soil to plant parts, leaf and stem tissues are cooled through evaporation and plant turgor is maintained.

The amount of water lost from a plant through transpiration depends on several environmental factors such as humidity, temperature, and wind. As temperature and air movement increase, so does the water loss from the plant.