the inside dirt · in your garden! yarrow is a great insect repellant - use it splashed over the...

March 1, 2018 of 8

The Waller County Master Gardeners

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

As you know, February in Texas is almost always a busy

month for gardeners - pruning roses, planting seed potatoes,

preparing garden beds for planting seeds and transplants. Our

members besides working on their gardening projects have

been busy as well.

We started off the year with seven Master Gardeners seeking

Master Gardener Specialist training, an advanced specialized

training supporting or expanding specific county educational

programs – examples such as Rainwater Harvesting,

Irrigation Efficiency, or Greenhouse Management.

Steve and Roger attended the Plant Health and Diagnostic Education training in Gonzales, while Deb and

Nora attended the Earth-Kind® Landscaping training in Bastrop. Attending the Junior Master Gardener

training in College Station and having a great time were Teresa, Toni and Cheryl.

I am very excited about the increasing number of members seeking specialized training and the wide

variety of WCMG specialists we are adding to our roster. A special thanks to all who continue to assist

us in growing Waller County.

Happy Gardening!

Suzanne

THE WALLER COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS

THE INSIDE DIRT

MARCH 1, 2018

VOL. 1, ISSUE 2

Officers for 2018

President: Suzanne Anderson

Vice-Pres.: Connie Holub

Secretary: Cheryl Thomas

Treasurer: Kathy Marrack

Newsletter

Editor: Connie Holub

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I like to think of March as the “anticipation month,” anticipation of healthy new foliage and beautiful

luscious blooms. With the concentration on preventive spraying, fertilization and mulching, you should

get just that.

Finished Pruning?

If you haven’t, it’s not too late. February has been a cold and rainy month for all of us. In fact, I didn’t

get mine pruned until the very end of February. Once you finish pruning, check for dieback canes. That

is, those canes turning brown or black. Prune these back to a healthy eye or cut out totally. Then it’s clean

up time. Then it’s the final cleanup of the rose beds.

New Plantings!

This is a great time to take out those rose bushes that are dead or are down to one or two stems and look

scrawny. It’s time to replace them with new healthy rose bushes. Grafted roses are not always the best

choice because their life span is short, about five years. Earth-Kind roses, however, are always a great

choice. Remember do not fertilize new roses after planting them until they go through their first bloom

cycle.

Spraying Time!

Fungus prevention should start right after pruning. Blackspot is your most prevalent fungus. The spores

are always around and with our rainy winter and now rainy spring weather will only help to incubate and

spread them more. To decimate blackspot spray with ‘Mancozeb.’ (Remember to always read directions

before using.) Spray the top and underneath the leaves and also the ground around the rose bush. Watering

the rose bush before spraying will keep the leaves from spray damage.

Feeding Time!

Fertilization is very important. However, you want to avoid burnt toes. Roses eat with their feet. Watering

before fertilizing is very important. With all the rain we have had though, I would check my beds first.

They may be wet enough to go ahead and fertilize. Watering before and after fertilizing will keep the rose

Rose Ramblings By Connie Holub

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bush from taking up the food too quickly, thereby, keeping it from burning its roots. For a good fertilizer

recipe for Spring and Fall try:

(Mix well. Each normal size rose bush gets a gallon whereas the smaller roses get half a gallon.)

Dress Up Time!

New mulch dresses up a rose bed and makes the rose bushes stand out. Get the mulch on as soon as you

can after you fertilize so as not to damage your new foliage. Mulch serves two purposes. One, it will

suppress weeds and two, it will keep the roots cool during the summer heat.

Finally, enjoy those beautiful flowers once they come. You will find that all the extra work will pay off

with healthy looking foliage and beautiful luscious blooms.

ROSE OF THE MONTH

Mutabilis

Mutabilis, also known as the butterfly rose, is a medium to large shrub rose. It is an Earth-Kind® old

garden rose dating back to the late 1800s. Its 6’x6’ stature is great for informal gardens where there is

SUPERthrive Fertilizer Recipe

2/3 cup Epson Salt

2/3 cup liquid seaweed

1Tbsp SUPERthrive

5 gallons of water

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plenty of room. Single blooms emerge yellow, changing to pink and then crimson as they age giving the

plant the appearance of being covered with butterflies. The rose bloom is not fragrant.

March in the Vegetable Garden

Tomatoes Rule!!!!!

By Connie Holub

Tomatoes Rule! At least in my garden, tomatoes

are queen. They are looked after, pampered and

talked to on a daily basis. No other vegetable in

my garden gets more attention. Once thought

to be poisonous as well as an aphrodisiac, today

it’s considered to be the second most consumed

vegetable in the country behind the potato.

Now, how many people do you know swoon

over potatoes? Not in my garden.

There are literally hundreds of types, varieties

and colors of tomatoes to choose from.

However, not all of them do well in our neck of

the woods. You have to remember that Texas

has a short growing season. Once the heat

starts, the larger tomatoes stop setting fruit.

Therefore, we need to look at varieties with a

short days-to-harvest interval. In other words,

tomato varieties that are listed as no more than

60 to 65 days to harvest.

If you are looking for a good hybrid tomato to

plant, you can’t beat ‘Celebrity’. It is my favorite

fall back to tomato in case all else fails. There

are quite a few hybrids such as ‘Better Boy,’ ‘Big

Girl,’ and others that are considered to be ‘old

faithfuls’ also.

Heirlooms are great if you are looking for flavor,

odd shapes and wonderful colors. My favorite

heirlooms are ‘Cherokee Purple’, ‘Black Krim’,

and ‘German Johnson’. ‘Cherokee Purple’ has

become very popular among many gardeners

and can now be found almost anywhere they sell

transplants.

Paste type tomatoes are well worth growing.

They are great for canning, making tomato sauce

and using in salads since they are meaty, have a

small seed cavity and are not as jelly/juicy as a

large tomato. Several varieties I like to plant are

‘Roma’ and ‘Viva Italia.’

Then there are the small fruited tomatoes who

are not so picky about fruiting in the heat. Of

the more common type to choose from are the

cherry and the grape tomatoes. They are the

perfect size for salads and just popping in the

mouth. Some of the more popular are the

‘Sweet 100’ (cherry) and the ‘Juliette’ (large

grape).

Since childhood, tomatoes have always been my

favorite. My mother planted the usual hybrids.

I started venturing out trying different varieties

after my husband and I were married and put in

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our first garden. My usual Spring garden will have up to thirty tomato plants with ‘old faithfuls’ and new

varieties of heirlooms each year.

Plants in the WCMG Butterfly Garden

Friends are the flowers in life’s garden.

By Helen Quinn

Achillea millefolium – Common Yarrow, nosebleed plant, old man’s pepper, devil’s nettle, sanguinary,

kmilfoil, soldier’s woundwort, thousand-leaf, and thousand-seal. The generic name comes from the Greek

Warrior Achilles, who is said to have stemmed bleeding during the Trojan War and made a poultice to heal a

wound to his heel during same war (Achilles Heel!).

Achillea millefolium is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae (the daisy family.) It is native to temperate

regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe, and North America. It has been introduced as a feed for

livestock in places like New Zealand and Australia. However, it is a weed in those places and sometimes also in

its native regions.

If you were a twelfth-century knight at arms, you’d probably carry a pouch of fresh yarrow leaves with

you as nature’s own first-aid kit, but these days you be more likely to grow it as a decorative border plant

in your garden! Yarrow is a great insect repellant - use it splashed over the body in the tea form or rub

the flowers on the body to repel mosquitoes while you are in the garden. Small amounts of the flowers

can be used in anticold, perspiration-inducing teas with ginger, peppermint, elderflower and ginseng. It

also helps to cleanse the liver. Yarrow tea makes a good mouthwash for canker sores. It should not be

used by pregnant women. The pungent leaves counteract oily skin or hair and aid the healing of skin

March 1, 2018 of 8


abrasions. Simmer 1 tablespoon dried leaves in 1 cup water and use occasionally to rinse hair, splash an

oily face, or apply to minor cuts and scrapes. Avoid repeated use, which may cause skin sensitivity or

irritation. Yarrow has almost no use in the kitchen.

Yarrow is a favorite in the perennial garden, the 2- to 3- foot tall plant has an airy feel, due to its feathery

foliage, which gave it the old name of milfoil, or “thousand leaves.” The white flowered species, which

escaped from gardens to grow wild, is a pretty plant for borders and cottage gardens. Newer cultivated

varieties bloom in soft salmon, pink, coppery red, and pale or butt yellow. Yarrow flowers add lasting

color to dried wreaths, bouquets, and potpourri, and in companion planting, Yarrow is said to repel

Japanese beetles, ants and flies. One reference (The Rodale Herb Book) states that when using the white

medicinal variety, it should be moved annually because it excretes a toxin to the soil that eventually will

defeat even its own growth. This could be why it tends to die out after growing several years in the same

spot. Prefers full sun tolerates part shade. The flat flower surface makes an excellent landing pad for a

multitude of types of butterflies.

Beauty is the Mistress, the gardener her slave.

Mike Garofalo

Arbor Gate Classes for March

Advanced Class Hours

March 10, 2018 9:00 am Pam and Leah Gunter, Gunter’s Heirloom Vegetables

March 10, 2018 10:00 am Ann Wheeler, Log House Herb Farm, “Looking Back, Looking

Forward”, Herbs

March 15, 2018 10:00 am Linda Crum, Texas Bluebird Society, “Bluebirds to the Garden.”

March 22, 2018 10:00 am Dr. David Creech, Prof. of Horticulture at SFA University,

Nacogdoches, TX, “Best Trees for the Gulf South.”

March 24, 2018 10:00 am Dr. Bill Welch, TAMU; Chris Wiesinger, The Southern Bulb Co.

March 25, 2018 11:00 am Angela Chandler, The Garden Academy; Matt and Kelly Brantley,

BZ Honey, The Bee Forum.

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March 28, 2018 12:00 noon Jeremy Kollaus, Swiss Alp Growers, “From seed to table, Jeremy

will share his knowledge and experience on producing a bountiful

harvest." “Lunch and Expert”

April 5, 2018 10:00 am Rand Hopkins, “What’s New Wand Unique in the Plant World.”

April 7, 2018 10:00 am Angela Chandler, The Garden Academy; “Plant Power! Gardens that

survive and thrive in Gulf Coast Extremes.”

Martha’s Bloomers Class Schedule for March

Advanced Class Hours

March 31, 2018 11:00 am Gaye Hammond, “Earth Kind and Low Maintenance Roses”

2018 Specialist Training

March 23-24 Propagation Hosted by Tarrant Co.

March 23-24 Irrigation Efficiency Hosted by Dallas Co.

April 30-May 2 Rainwater Harvesting Hosted by Dallas Co.

May 23-25 Greenhouse Management Hosted by Hill Co.

September 18-20 Texas Superstars Hosted by Smith Co.

April 4-6 2018 Texas Master Gardener Conference College Station

Annuals -live fast and die young

WCMG: Taking Care of Business

1. Don’t forget to log in your volunteer hours for the month of March. It is a good

idea to log in after each meeting or event. The person with the most hours for the

first quarter will find themselves going home with a surprise at the April 14th,

meeting.

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2. The April meeting will be held Saturday, April 14, 10:00 am, at the Hempstead

Masonic Lodge. A pot-luck lunch will follow to recognize the new Interns. A

barbecue brisket will be served, so bring your favorite barbecue side-dish or

dessert.

3. If you are interested in going on the field trip to the Antique Rose Emporium,

Thursday, April 19, please let me know by email. We will meet at the extension

office at 8:30. I will remind everyone at the meeting April 14, and send out an

email reminder for those who cannot attend the meeting.

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