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TRANSCRIPT
Garden
The
Spade July 2016
Why Elderberries? Patrick Byers, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
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**In This Issue**
Why Elderberries?
Water Wisely
Plants for Acidic
Soils
Rain Lilies
Musings: This and
That
“Reliable, Responsive and Relevant Information for the Missouri Gardener”
Why the buzz about elderberries? In recent years, Dr. Oz and Martha Stewart,
among others, are trumpeting the virtues of this interesting plant. The
University of Missouri is also spreading the good news through the Missouri
Elderberry Development Program. Why would a
Missouri gardener or farmer consider planting
elderberries? Here are some reasons…
Elderberries are interesting! Humans and
elderberries have a long association, extending
back to prehistoric times. Elderberries of one
sort or another grow around the globe, and are
utilized by humans for food, for medicine, and as
a dye. Elderberries are mentioned in literature,
the subject of artwork, and figure prominently in
folklore.
Elderberries are healthful! Long used in
traditional medicine, elderberry is now of interest
in the 21st Century. Research at several
universities is demonstrating the healthful
aspects of elderberry, which is high in
antioxidants. Initial results suggest benefits
related to brain health, resistance to viral
infections, and anti-cancer properties. Stay tuned
for more information as these research studies
continue.
Elderberries are attractive! The elderber ry
plant is a large shrub or small tree, with lovely
fragrant blossoms in June. Continued to page 2
Golden Elderberry (top),
Black Lace Elderberry
(middle) and Elderberry Fruit
(bottom).
The Garden Spade July 2016 · 2
Plants with Winter Interest Katie Kammler, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Why Elderberries? Patrick Byers, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
The fruit crop ripens in July and August, covering the plant with clusters of purple
berries. The foliage is interesting, with a tropical appearance, and the stems are highlighted with large
bumpy lenticels. Horticultural forms have golden or purple foliage, which is fern-like in some cultivars.
Elderberries are Missouri natives! Elderberry fruit are an impor tant food source for native birds
and mammals. The blossoms are rich with pollen, which is utilized by a host of insects. The plant
produces a sugary substance from nectaries, located near the leaves, which is also an insect food source.
The foliage is consumed by the larvae of the spectacular cecropia moth.
Elderberries are easy to grow! As a native plant, elderber ry is well adapted to Missour i’s climate,
and offer potential as a cash crop. The plants do require watering during dry periods, adequate fertilizer,
and a well-drained fertile soil. Otherwise, the plants are not of demanding culture. Purchase plants of
named cultivars initially and propagate additional plants from hardwood cuttings, or collect and root
cuttings from a favorite wild plant. What could be easier? Check out the publication “Growing and
Marketing Elderberries in Missouri”, available at http://www.centerforagroforestry.org/
pubs/2014GrowingElderberryGuide.pdf.
Continued from page 1
Once again, we are finding ourselves amid another dry spell! Climatologist have referred to it as a “flash
drought”. The definition for a flash drought is a sudden onset of high temperatures and decreases of soil
moisture. It has left many of us asking where our wet spring went to? The moisture sure disappeared fast
leaving many plants stressing.
Dry weather sends many people out with their hoses to water their yards,
gardens, and flowerbeds. Watering wisely saves money and helps grow
a healthier garden with less effort. Watering too much or too little leads
to stressed plants that are more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
Also keep in mind that watering is not like rainfall. Rainfall replenishes
all the ground and surrounding area. It replenishes whole root systems.
When we irrigate, it only waters a particular area or a particular plant. Therefore, there is always a chance
we are not irrigating whole root systems or penetrating deep enough. We irrigate for plant survival and
that doesn’t always mean that a plant will thrive and perform at its best. With that said, here are some tips
for watering. I want to share some tips and tricks that will make watering less expensive and more
effective.
Water deeply and infrequently. Shallow water ing encourages shallow roots. Deep water ing causes
the plant roots to grow deeper seeking moisture and allows them to be less vulnerable to drought and heat
stress.
Avoid runoff. If the water is running off or pooling on the surface, you are
Water Wisely Donna Aufdenberg and Katie Kammler, MU Extension Horticulture Specialists
Continued to page 8
Picture from MU Extension Guide 6879
The Garden Spade
January Gardening Calendar
Donna Aufdenberg, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Ornamentals
Perennials that have finished blooming should be deadheaded especially if
reseeding is not desired. Cut back the foliage some to encourage a tidier
appearance.
Remove any infected foliage from rose plants, pick up fallen leaves and
continue fungicidal sprays as needed. Watch for any unusual growth that
might indicate Rose Rosette disease.
Newly planted trees and shrubs should continue to be watered thoroughly at
least once a week if regular rains are not occurring.
Deadhead spent annual flowers for continued bloom. Keep fertilizing them at
least once a week to keep plants looking their best.
Plant Zinnia, Cosmos, and Cleome seed by July 4th for late bloom in annual
planters and borders.
Monitor trees and shrubs for Japanese Beetles. Your local Extension agent
can give current control recommendations.
Vegetables and Herbs
Blossom-end rot of tomato and peppers occurs when soil moisture is irregular
or uneven. Irrigate regularly during dry weather and try to mulch sufficiently
around vegetable plants to conserve the moisture.
Dig potatoes when tops die and pull onions when tops fall over and start to
turn brown. Dry in a ventilated area and store in cool and dry place.
Make successive plantings of beets, beans, cucumbers and carrots to be able to
harvest into fall.
Continue to control weeds, this is the time of year that weeds get ahead of us
in the garden.
Watch for summer insect problems: squash vine borer, cucumber beetle,
squash bug, and Japanese beetle.
Fruits
Prune out and destroy old fruiting canes of raspberries after harvest is
complete. Watch for diseased canes and plants.
Blackberries are starting to ripen. Get ready for picking!!
After harvest, remove excess strawberry runners and any unhealthy runners.
Keep an eye on peach trees for brown rot. Keep trees sprayed for diseases.
Monitor for new invasive pests: spotted winged drosophila and brown
marmorated stink bug.
Lawns
Water grass frequently enough to prevent wilting. Early morning irrigation
allows turf to dry before nightfall and will reduce the chance of disease.
Gradually increase the mowing height of zoysia lawns throughout the summer.
By September, the mowing height should be 2 to 2.5 inches.
If your garden beds
have a pH between
4.5 to 6, you might
consider these
landscape plants.
Azaleas
Andromeda (Pieris)
American Holly
Blue Indigo (Baptisia)
Bleeding Hearts
Bluebells
Blueberry
Chestnut
Clethra (Summer
Sweet)
Columbine
Coreopsis
Dogwood
Fir (Abies)
Hemlock
Liatris
Lily of the Valley
Monkshood
Oak family species
Phlox
Pink Turtlehead
Pine Species
Primrose
Rhododendrons
Spruce
Valerian
Viburnum
July 2016 · 3
July Gardening Calendar Donna Aufdenberg, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
The Garden Spade
Rain lilies have fascinated me since I was a child. I always loved watching
how they would bloom after a good rain fall. They are also a plant that has
been passed down through the generations. My granny had a pot of them,
my mom, and now I have my own. However, they have been frustrating me
this spring. I got them out early and we had a lot of rain early but I didn’t
have any blooming. Finally, this morning there was one blooming after the
rain we had over the weekend! My mom’s have been blooming all along
after each rainfall. I guess it means it is time for me to fertilize them!
Rain lilies are a bulb in the amaryllis family. They are not hardy here so
mine stay in the pot. In the fall I let them dry out and store them in the
basement for the winter. Then when danger of frost has past, I bring them
out and water them. Watering them will not get them to bloom, just rain
does. Rain lilies come in various colors, pink is the most common. I also
have white ones but they don’t bloom like the pink ones do. They tend to
bloom in the late summer, early fall. There is a yellow variety too. Several varieties are native to the
southeastern US.
Rain Lilies Katie Kammler, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
July 2016 · 4
What Is It?
Can you figure out what plant this
mystery picture is from?
Turn to page 6 to find out if you are right!
I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy of seeing them grow. –David Hobson
Garden Quote….
The Garden Spade
Cucumbers are a little different. Cucumbers taste
the best right from the garden. From the time they
are picked it seems like the flavor goes downhill.
You can store them for several days but I’d eat
them as soon as you can. If your house has AC you
can store them on the
counter but probably
the frig is better. If
you can tolerate
vinegar, I’d cut them
up and store in the ice
box in a vinegar/water
mix with some sugar
and salt and pepper
added.
I take some cucumbers
and skin them and slice
them in 1/8 or ¼ inch
slices. I then pour a
half water and half
vinegar mix with sugar
or sweetener, salt and
pepper over them. You
can adjust the amount
of vinegar or salt to fit
your taste buds. You
can add onion and
garlic or even a pepper.
Store this in the frig
and eat them when you
want a cucumber. I eat a few and then add more.
They will keep for a week or two like this in the
frig. I like this cool summer time treat.
When we pick more cucumbers than we can eat,
Marge also makes me a batch of refrigerator
pickles. You can find a recipe on line or email me
and I’ll send you one. These have to stay in the frig
but they will keep for several months. As a rule,
we make three or four gallons
of them.
July 2016 · 5
Most of what I’m writing about today is pretty
much common knowledge. For some of you it may
be new, and some may not agree. But it’s kind of
how we do vegetables in our household. I grew up
country. Always had a big garden and still do.
And even when we moved to Oklahoma and on to
Wilmore, KY we still had a garden. I learned a lot
in both Oklahoma and Kentucky about gardening.
In the spring everyone’s mind and taste buds seem
to call for bacon and tomato sandwiches. Love
them. But there are literally hundreds of different
brands or kinds of tomatoes. Learn what kind you
like and then buy them. Some tomatoes will be
juicy and some never will. Some will stay firm till
they go bad. I don’t like a firm hard juiceless
tomato. Ask the vender what kind of tomato he’s
trying to sell you. Google it and read about that
variety.
We never put our tomatoes in the ice box. We may
put a slice or two of leftover tomatoes in the ice
box but never a whole tomato. We put our
tomatoes in the window in the kitchen right in the
sun. Tomatoes like it hot. If the tomato is ripe you
can set it on the counter.
If you get a tomato with a crack, eat it first. The
crack is normally from getting too much water and
expanding faster than the skin will allow, so the
skin cracks. I believe a tomato with a cracked skin
says it’s “juicy”. I like them. If the crack is deeper
I cut a v down in the tomato taking out the exposed
meat. Then I devour the tomato.
A good juicy tomato will have a decent shelf life
but it won’t last for weeks. Some of those from the
grocery store will last for weeks but not a good
home grown juicy tomato. If you are buying
tomatoes and know you aren’t going to eat them
right away buy some that aren’t ripe. This will
allow them time to ripen and give you a few more
days if you aren’t ready to eat them right away.
Musings: This and That Rennie Phillips, Scott County Master Gardener
Continued to page 6
Rennie’s Garden Areas filled
with vegetable plants!
The Garden Spade July 2016 · 6
Growing Winter Onions Rennie Phillips, Scott County Master Gardener
Musings: This and That Rennie Phillips, Scott County Master Gardener
What Is It? Kathy Kammler, MU Extension Horticulture Specialist
Missouri primrose
(Oenothera macrocarpa)
This is one of the showiest native
wildflowers with lemon yellow flowers blooming May to June. My plant had an early bloom in May, was blooming again
last week, and bloomed last fall. They tend to trail over the ground with many stems. They work great in rock gardens,
glades, and other rough areas because they tolerate dry, hot conditions.
For more information, check out…
http://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/missouri-evening-primrose
Green beans go down fast after they are picked and allowed to get hot. If you buy
green beans or raise them yourself the best place to store them is in the frig. Leafy
vegetables like kale, Swiss chard, or collards need to be kept cool as well. I normally pick the Swiss chard
that I’m going to eat and take it straight to the kitchen. I picked some Sunday and brought it to the house.
It was in a pan within 30 minutes and cooking.
When I’m getting a bunch of peppers we keep them cool but not necessarily in the frig. You can store
them in the frig if you want. Same with egg plant. We keep them cool.
Corn should be kept cool or at least in the shade. If corn is allowed to get hot it will probably not be as
good. Corn is best when it’s picked and taken care of the same day.
One can take root crops like beets or turnips and clip the tops off leaving a couple inches of stem. If you
can keep them cool they will last several days. You just can’t let them get hot. You can store them in the
frig if you want. We normally keep them in a room with AC. When I dig my onions or garlic I hang them
in the shop in the shade and let them dry. The garlic will normally dry well. Some of the onions will spoil
when I hang them so I kind of watch them. If one looks like it’s spoiling, we try to use it right away.
Cantaloupe or watermelon can be stored where it’s cool till they get ripe. Once ripe they have to be in the
frig. We watch our cantaloupe till it smells ripe or looks ripe and then we cut it off and store in the frig.
Can’t think of any other garden crop. Drop me a note if you have a better way of keeping your veggies
fresh. I’d appreciate it.
Continued from page 5
The Garden Spade
July 2016 · 7
Upcoming Events The following Master Gardener meetings are held each
month. All are welcome to attend. Please contact your local extension office to confirm location if you did not
attend the previous meeting.
Parkland MGs - 1st Monday at 6:30pm, Horticulture Classroom at MAC, Park Hills
Poplar Bluff MGs - 1st Tuesday at 6:00pm at Fist Episcopal Church in Poplar Bluff, MO (Do not meet in January)
Ste. Genevieve MGs - 2nd Thursday, at 6:30pm, Ste. Gen. County Extension Center
Cape Girardeau MGs - 3rd Thursday at 7:00pm, Cape County Extension Center in Fall and Winter and Shawnee Park Center in Spring and Summer. Call 573-238-2420 for questions.
Perry MGs - 4th Monday at 6:30pm, Perry County Extension Center
JULY
7-10 Ste. Genevieve Fair at the Ste. Genevieve fairgrounds.
http://www.stegencountyfair.org/schedule-1.html
12 - Green Thumb Workshop, Gardening for Pollinators.
Shawnee Park Center from 6 to 8 pm. Call 573-339-6340 for
more information.
14 - Summer Celebration “The Garden of Eatin’” at the West
Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center at Jackson, TN
Website: http://west.tennessee.edu/events/summerceleb.asp
18 - Diverse Farm Enterprises Twilight workshop. Spring Valley
Farm in Pulaski, IL. Register online at http://
web.extension.illinois.edu/ghhpsw or call 618-382-2662.
26 - Garden Grub Cooking Workshop, Grilling from the Garden.
Shawnee Park Center from 6 to 7:30 pm. Call 573-339-6340
for more information.
Master Gardener Training / Garden Classes
Do you have an interest in gardening? Would you
like to learn more about working with plants? This
is an opportunity for you.
The University of Missouri Extension is offering
educational events through October to enhance
your gardening skills. For those who wish to
become a Master Gardener, you need to attend a
minimum of 10 events – total cost $150.
July 12 Insects - USDA office Hwy 25, Dexter; 1-4pm
August 18 Landscape Design - 4-H Building in Doniphan; 4-7pm
August 23 Plant Propagation - USDA office Hwy 25, Dexter; 1-4pm
September 15 Insects - Extension Center in
Poplar Bluff; 4-7pm
To register for this Master Gardener Core
Training, please contact the Extension Center at
573-686-8064.
Master Gardener Core Training Classes
Perryville and Ste. Genevieve
Thursdays, August 18 to November 3, 2016
from 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Where: The first 6 classes will be at the Ste.
Genevieve County Extension Center and the last 6
classes will be at the Perryville County Extension
Center.
Cost: $165 each person
Please register for this Master Gardener Core
Training before August 11, 2016 by contacting the
Extension Center at 573-238-2420.
21st Annual Master Gardener
Conference. Early Bird Rate
ends on July 31st.
Three– day conference beginning
on Friday, September 16th features
uniques tours, continuing ed
classes, adv. Ed classes, fabulous
food, local vendors, silent auctions,
door prizes and much more. www.mggkcconf.com
The Garden Spade
Water Wisely
Donna Aufdenberg and Katie Kammler, MU Extension Horticulture Specialists
applying water faster than the soil can accept it,
therefore it is not doing anything for your plants.
Adjust sprinkler position. Water only targeted areas. Applying
water to pavement does not accomplish anything.
Preferably, use soaker hoses or drip emitters. These types of
watering methods slowly emit water through small holes allowing the
water to soak into the soil slowly over time. When left on for a set
time, they are more efficient at irrigating than sprinklers.
Use a timer. Water can be turned off after a set amount of time
and run at certain times of the day.
Water plants in the morning or evening. This timing reduces
water loss to evaporation and wind.
Overwatering drowns plants. Plant roots cannot get oxygen in a
water logged soil. Overwatering also causes disease problems. Use a
rain gauge to measure the amount of water the sprinklers are putting
out. Turn off sprinklers if it has been raining (like this spring!) Most
lawns and gardens need 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
Know your soil. Have your soil tested—the type of soil you have
will determine how fast water is absorbed, how much and how often
your plants will need to be watered. Soil can also be improved by
adding organic matter which increases water holding capacity.
Group plants by their water needs. Some plants just need water ing
when they are getting established and others will require routine
watering.
Plant natives. Native plants are adapted to local growing
conditions, including poor soils and hot dry summers. They will not
need to be watered once they are established.
Mulch, Mulch, Mulch! Mulch holds in moisture. Pick your
favorite mulch and enjoy the added benefits of less weed plus the
moisture holding capacity. Caution, do not mulch over dry soils during
dry spells. Water thoroughly and then apply the mulch.
For more information, see…
MU guide G6879 Irrigating Trees and Shrubs During Summer
Drought. It can found at http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G6879
MU guide G6720, Home Lawn Watering Guide. It can be found at
http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G6720
July 2016 · 8
Published monthly by University of
Missouri Extension Faculty for
individuals and families living state-
wide in Missouri. This newsletter is
provided by your local Extension
Specialists and Extension Councils.
Newsletter Editors:
Donna Aufdenberg
MU Horticulture Specialist
Marble Hill, MO
573-238-2420
Sarah Denkler
MU Horticulture Specialist
Poplar Bluff, MO
573-686-8064
Katie Kammler
MU Horticulture Specialist
Ste. Genevieve, MO
573-883-3548
Guest Writers:
Patrick Byers
MU Horticulture Specialist
417-881-8909
Rennie Phillips
Scott County Master Gardener
573-382-9031
The Garden Spade Continued from page 2