Master Gardeners of Clark CountyPO Box 158, Springfield, Ohio 45501-0158 Volume 25 Number 10 Oct. 2018

IndexMark Your Calendar ...........1President’s Message .........2Pam’s Posies ......................2Janet’s Junipers.................3Jo’s Notes ...........................3Committee Reports ....... 4-7Birthdays ............................7Plant of the Month .............8

Blades and Blooms

1 10-12 Hort staff meeting 12-2 Office Conference3 9-12 Garden Clean up4 2-4 SPGA Comm. mtg. SPGA clubhouse10 6:30 Board of Trustees12 9:30-3:30 Plants for your Landscape @ SPGA19 11 a.m. Utzinger Garden Comm. wrap up @The Jaguar Rm at CTC20 B&B articles due29 5-? Recognition Celebration

Mark Your Calendar

CFAES OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION

Photos from Farm Science Review

Right- Ruth Ann Rahim has been caring for the “pond garden” since 2006. It is a beautiful collection of unusual fall blooming plants. It is here that you get lots of questions of “what is that plant?” It has a large pond and waterfall that was built in 2013.

Left- The gazebo is used as an outdoor classroom to teach horticulture practices. It fills up with speakers and gardeners throughout the FSR.

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Pam’s PosiesDear MGVs,

It’s hard to believe that fall is upon us. How fast did this year go? Holy Cow! Where did the summer go? We had a great summer in the gardens and I am really looking forward to next year. Plans are under-way to install the pavilion next spring and if weather permits, the Springfield Foundation Feature Garden as well. Keep your fingers crossed!

Once the pavilion is installed, we will begin looking at raising money for the sidewalks. The sidewalks will connect all of the gardens and make it a little easier for people to roam the garden. In addi-tion, I might have secured a label maker from Chad-wick Arboretum so that we begin labeling trees and other plants. We also need to start thinking seriously about a tree planting campaign. Lots more to do and not enough money in hand! It’s wonderful to hear all of you talk to others in the community about the garden. The word is get-ting out. This past week we had great press from the Dayton Business Journal, WYSO, and Channel 2. Keep up the great work spreading the word about the garden. A reminder that we will not be training new MGVs in 2019 but will be looking at continuing education programs. And finally, CONGRATULATIONS to the Farm Science Review team on their fabulous work on this project. Remember that we raise $10,000.00 for our MGV projects by maintaining the Utzinger Garden. Thanks to all who attended the HOT three day review and who were involved in the preparation and clean-up. This is a major project for MGVs of Clark County and you embrace it wholeheartedly. Thanks to all of you who were involved. I can never say it enough – THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO. Your efforts for our horticulture out-reach in Clark County are over the top! I truly appre-ciate all that you do for this program.

PamPamela J. Bennett State Master Gardener Volunteer Coordinator Extension Educator, Horticulture Ohio State University Extension

Erratum to my article last month. The money for the hydrangea garden came from the Young Women’s Mission. The Women’s Golf Association donated money to put a bench in the memorial garden.

President’s MessageAs I was listening to Dwight Wells address our

general meeting last month about the need for more Monarch butterfly habitat and the plight of honeybees, I began to think about our organization’s diminishing funding from the County. Just as beneficial and beautiful insects’ sustenance is slowly drying up, so it seems that MGV/Extension needs to find ways to keep healthy and do our many jobs well.

Won’t you heed Pam Bennett’s plea to us and contact our County Commissioners with some friendly and positive words about what we do? I don’t know what the result will be (If you don’t mind me mixing metaphors here, your efforts to help might be like chicken soup’s ability to help a cold—It might not help, but it wouldn’t hurt!).

Did you see Pam’s interview on Channel 2 a few weeks ago? Very effective. I do wish the station had allowed a few more minutes to show what we have already done, but I realize that the time for a feature like that is bound to be limited.

Don’t forget to get your hours in this month. Our recognition dinner comes at the end of October. I want to apologize in advance for the fact that I will be reading a paper at a conference that weekend, and so won’t be able to deliver the President’s Message at the dinner—unless we can work out a way to do it remotely. I know what you’re thinking—Great! One less speech to endure as the price for a good dinner! You’re probably right.-Steve Broidy

Judy Niggemeyer will always be a teacher. She comes up with a different theme each year for her raised beds and includes lots of information on the benefits of vegetables. This year was “Back to your Roots” and grew root vegetables.

Photo from Farm Science Review

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Janet’s JunipersPlanting, I mean “Planning” your Vegetable

Garden!

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey HepburnWe’re moving into fall and eventually those long winter days and nights, so what better time to “Plan” a Vegetable Garden?” According to Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Agriculture/Natural Resources, Wayne County Ohio State University Extension, “The potential benefits of home vegetable gardening are numerous. Successful gardens are the result of good planning, management, and careful workmanship.” Interested in learning more about the various activities required for a successful home vegetable garden? If you said “yes,” then you’ve come to the right place!

Why Have A Garden?

• A well planned and a properly cared for garden can provide considerable food for family use from a small plot of land.

• Most home gardeners agree that “home grown” vegetables, freshly harvested, prepared, and eaten are the ultimate in fine vegetable flavor.

• Fresh or preserved homegrown vegetables can help reduce family expenditures for food and make a valuable contribution to family nutrition.

• Vegetable gardening can be an educational and fun activity for all individuals, families, and com-munities.

• You can create real-life experiences and connec-tions between gardening, health, cooking, food preservation, local foods, grocery stores, farmers markets, and community kitchens.

• Good gardening results can be shared with others through vegetable exhibits at local, county, and state fairs. Gardeners find these activities excit-ing, fun, and challenging.

The “Favorite Fives” for a Successful Home Vegetable Garden!• Location – A good location provides adequate

plant exposure to sunlight, fertile and well-drained soil, a nearby source of water, is close to the house, and is appropriate to the service area of the home landscape.

• Soils – Vegetable plants grow best in a fertile, well-drained soil of loamy texture. However, most gardeners do not have such soil. Don’t overlook

Jo’s Notes:

Janet’s Junipers cont. on pg. 7

the aspect of soil preparation as less desirable soils can be modified with soil conditioners such as peat moss, compost, sawdust, or other avail-able organic materials.

• Garden Size – The garden should not be so large that the crops fail to receive proper care. Often times more high quality vegetables are obtained from small, well cared for plots than from large, neglected gardens. Don’t have any available ground? Don’t forget about container gardening and/or community/rent-a-garden space.

• What to Grow – More than 40 different vegetable crops can be grown in Ohio. If you’re from an-other state or location, check with your local cooperative extension service and/or agencies to see what’s available to you. The choice of crops depends largely upon the needs and tastes of the family and the amount of available growing space. If space is limited, consider planting crops that will be more productive.

• The Fall Garden – Late summer or early fall plantings of vegetables that make rapid growth and mature crops before extremely cold weather sets in will enable the home gardener to extend the gardening season and get best use of the garden area.

Please refer to an excellent publication titled “Planning for the Garden” by Rory Lewandowski,

Thoughts and Prayers

Donna Myers’ father passed away September 4, 2018. Donna’s address is 5300 Dialton Road, Springfield, OH 45502.

Kathy Williams’ husband passed away September 17, 2018. Kathy’s address is 1831 Timberline Trail, Springfield, OH 45503.

Claudia Fett had jaw surgery. Claudia’s address is 806 South Fountain Avenue, Springfield, OH 45506.

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CoMMittee rePorts VICTORY GARDEN COMMITTEEWe have completed all the harvesting in the Victory

Garden. 6,200 pounds of vegetables were donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank. People who have plots should have their cages and stakes pulled up by October 1. Thanks to everyone that helped.

Ed Wozniak

SPGA JUBILEE COMMITTEESuccess! What a great opportunity we had to show

off our hard work to approximately 900 visitors on August 4th. Visitors made positive comments as they walked or rode the tram around the grounds. The maps and door prizes for the “Garden Hunt” were a hit. Everyone enjoyed music throughout the day. The dedication of the Early Ohio Settlers Garden complete with the cannon shot was a highlight. Each garden had awesome activities planned for our visi-tors, and cheers to our Master Gardener Volunteers who stepped up to be speakers on various topics. The vendors added many shopping opportunities for all. 570 hotdogs were cooked with only 32 left over while countless bottles of water were kept cool in the canoe. The rain held off until all was put away. Last but not least, the money raised through donations and fundraising activities exceeded our expenses by $519.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to all who worked hard during the planning and execution of the 2018 SPGA Jubilee. Also, I want to personally thank all for show-ing great patience to me as I learned how to navigate the ropes for this event. I guess I can’t claim to be a “newbie” any more.Rita Lane

HELPLINESeptember was the last month for Helpline this

summer season. Kathy McConkey had volun-teered to do the month by herself. Thank you Kathy. Helpline would also like to thank: Mike Russell, Lola Walston, Skip Crosbie, Carrie Moore, Edith Newell-Perley, Marianne Ober, Crystal Binegar, Sherri Mohler, Rosalind Soles, Terri Lininger, and Ed Wichael & Rick McKinstry. for all the hard work they have done on Thursday mornings this season. We hope to see you all next year. Remember: Turning Vegan Would Be a Big Missed Steak.Ed Wichael & Rick McKinstry

The feel of fall, festivals, football & tailgate par-ties, caramel apples are in the air. I’m sure by now you have heard Master Gardeners of Clark County is having a fund raiser. Anyone is eligible to purchase raffle tickets to win OSU/Michigan football tickets. Your tickets are ready & waiting for you to purchase or sell to friends, family or even foes.

OSU vs Michigan Football Fundraising Raffle: Interested in becoming involved in the Master Gardener Volunteers of Clark County Fundraising Raffle? Two (2) OSU vs Michigan football tickets are being drawn on November 9, 2018. The dead line to turn your tickets in will be Friday, November 2, 2018. Purchase raffle tickets for $1.00 each or $5.00 for six tickets, with unlimited ticket sales. Contact Jane, Lo-retta or Fabenne to turn tickets & money in. Value of the tickets: $394.00. All proceeds benefit the Snyder Park Gardens & Arboretum. The “big game” will take place on Saturday, November 24, 2018 at Ohio State Stadium in Colum-bus, Ohio. To purchase or sell tickets, contact:Janie Malowney at jmalowney@gmail.comLoretta Blazer at lblazer123@gmail.com or Fabenne Brandenburg at fabenneb50@gmail.com

Hollandia Fall Festival Saturday, October 13th, Snyder Park, from 10 a.m. - 5.p.m. Fundraising has a booth reserved at the festival where we will have the opportunity to share the Clark County Master Gardener program, the SPGA project, & of course sell garden tools. We will also of-fer the OSU/Michigan Raffle tickets for sale. Do you need hours? I could use some volunteers to help. If you would be willing to help at the Festival please send me an email. Thanks in advance.

Kroger Community Rewards Program Thank you to everyone participating in the Kroger Community Rewards Program. There are 17 house-holds in the program. A total of $92.91 was earned May 1 thru July 31, 2018. Great Job!

Fabenne Brandenburg Chairman Jane Malowney Co-Chair

FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE

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UTZINGER GARDEN COMMITTEEThe 2018 Farm Science Review just ended and

thanks to a great crew of Clark County Master Gardener Volunteers, the garden looks beautiful. So many of the people that walked through it this week passed along many compliments to all of us working there. The Utzinger crew is very proud of it and so I wanted to pass along some photos and information about it.

Dr. James Utzinger was a Horticulture professor at OSU who passed away in 1990. He wanted horticulture practices taught as part of the Farm Science Review and his family established the Utzinger Memorial Garden to accomplish that. The garden they envisioned was going to need a group of gardeners to plan, maintain and teach from and Pam Bennett was approached with this task in early 2000’s and said “Yes!”. Carolyn Allen remembers the garden in those early days of it just being a tree or two and one shrub. She was part of the design team that put together a master plan to create a teaching horticulture garden that Dr. Utzinger would be proud of. I think he would have been very proud of it if he could have seen the crowds strolling through pointing and touching the plants, all the speakers and audiences in the Gazebo learning the latest ideas in horticulture, the line at the “Ask a Master Gardener” tent, the beekeepers booth, the Monarch Station, the 13 themed gardens and all the Master Gardener Volunteers that are working through out the Garden, answering questions and passing on science based garden practices. The Garden was in full bloom, full of bees and butterflies and people. Dr. Utzinger’s wife had been a visitor every year until 2017 when her health kept her from walking the Garden and she has since passed away. She always told us on her visits how much he would have loved to have seen this.

The Utzinger Garden Committee has 3 chairs- Deb Dean, Donna Myers & Marilyn Hinderer. We had a budget this year of $1500 that we used to buy supplies and plants. We have 13 themed gardens – a rain garden, songbird & hummingbird, a backyard garden, gazebo garden, a container garden, vegetables and fruit garden, a pollinator garden, the Monarch Station, a front and rear entrance garden, shade garden, and a pond garden. Clark County Master Gardener Volunteers have adopted these themed gardens and design and maintain them. Each has a budget to buy new plants. We hold two workdays a month for everyone to come together to work on their gardens and share ideas. They are not limited to those days. The FSR grounds are open M-F 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and can come and work and enjoy the Garden during that time. One of the tri-chairs is there on most days to have the shed open and access to tools and wheel barrows and cold water in the frig.

We have several gardens that are looking for a new adoptive gardener. We would love to have even several

MGV’s work together on adopting a garden. You could share the brain and back power for it!! We are planning a wrap-up meeting in October and do a pre-season planning meeting in late winter. You are welcome to attend to see if you would be interested in joining the Utzinger Memorial Garden team or just contact one of the tri-chairs. We would love to share what a wonderful garden and place it is to be. I have added some photos of our gardeners. They all have done such a great job creating and caring for their garden! Marilyn Hinderer, Donna Myers, and Deb Dean

Top - Carrie Moore took on the huge “Backyard Garden” and made it such a special place! You would want this garden in your backyard!! She should be a garden designer!

Bottom - Paul Mohler is the greatest cart driver at the FSR. He has an abundance of patience driving all of us around thru the crowded streets! He is always smiling, very witty, and always ready for the next trip! Go Paul!!

Photos from Farm Science Review

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FIELD TRIP COMMITTEEOctober Fall Color Tour

Join your fellow Master Gardeners on Oct. 23/24 for an autumn getaway. We gather at OSU Extension of-fice at 8:00 a.m. on the 23rd to carpool to the beautiful Secrest Arboretum in Wooster for a tour of the grounds. At Secrest, the beautiful theme gardens illustrate the use of style, color and texture within plant habitats to establish a sustainable landscape. Enjoy the gardens and discover plant selections for yours. Stroll the paved walkways through forests and meadows. While you are there, check out the Fortress at the Hogs-back, em-bankment slide and pavilion complete with giant frogs, tortoises and more...for kids of ALL ages! Hopefully the trees will be in full color by the time we visit. There is no charge to tour the arboretum.

After touring the gardens we will leave for a mystery destination where we will lunch and shop. In the eve-ning we will have dinner on our own and stay at a lovely hotel. We will let you know about the hotel and mystery destination a few days before the trip.

On the morning of the 24th we will depart for Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. We have a guided group tour set which will take about two hours. Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is a notable country estate, with gardens, located in Akron, Ohio. It is one of the largest homes in the United States. A National Historic Landmark, it is nationally significant as the home of F. A. Seiberling, founder of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

The estate grounds, originally about 1,500 acres were designed between 1911–1915 by Boston landscape ar-chitect Warren H. Manning, and remain today one of the finest examples of his work. Manning sited the house at the edge of the quarry wall overlooking a valley nearby and rolling hills in the distance.

Around the home, he created a series of vistas which related the home to the environment around it, inter-twining the two in a unified design. The entrance to the property (through an existing apple orchard) and the two allées on the north and south sides of the house provide examples of vistas created by Manning using arranged plant materials. Along the back of the house, Manning manipulated existing forest plantings, and removed growth to create outlooks over miles of undis-turbed countryside to capture the endless expanse of the Seiberlings’ property.

Around the Manor House, Manning designed a sequence of contrasting garden spaces which situated formal garden rooms – such as the English Garden, Breakfast Room Garden, Perennial Garden, Japanese Garden and West Terrace – within the existing natural landscape. Manning used a technique of plant massing

where he used predominately native plant materials, grouping deciduous trees with small ornamental trees and swaths of perennial plantings, to carve vistas and gardens giving definition and movement to his design. The garden spaces were tailored to the needs of the Seiberling family and envisioned as outdoor rooms for the family to use for relaxation and entertaining.

The estate also includes a conservatory and green-houses constructed by King Construction Company of North Tonawanda, New York, and specified the con-struction of a rectangular Palm House with 24’ wide greenhouse on the back with a wing on each side for a cost of $18,330. The greenhouse space behind the Palm House was initially divided into “general plant house,” “orchid house” and “vegetable house.” The original 1915 building was damaged in a wind storm in 1947. In 2000, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens constructed a new conservatory and greenhouses based on the original historic designs.

After our guided tour of the house and grounds we will have box lunches which we can eat in a lovely picnic area or a cafe if the weather is too cold outside. The cost for the guided tour and box lunch is $26. After lunch we depart for Springfield.

Please let us know by Oct. 3rd if you will be joining us. We will need to have a definite number in order to get group rates at our hotel and Stan Hywet. Call Connie Kersey at 937-667-5400 or Linda Himes at 937-631-1831 with questions.

Linda Himes and Connie Kersey

PERENNIAL COMMITTEEOur main task for September was planting the

Clematis at the south wall of the Clubhouse. A fine group of MGVs answered the call for help and on Friday, September 21, we planted our 18 vines. The root systems looked great!

If you remember from previous articles, we potted and temporarily planted, pots and all, last spring in order to take advantage of sale prices on Clematis.

Next we need to create labels and tag them. Our trellis is due to be installed late October when

Shonil returns from vacation. We can’t wait! What a wonderful way to create all season interest via a beautiful structure, while featuring a variety of Clematis!Kathy McConkey, Dot Burkholder & Fabenne Brandenburg

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SOCIAL COMMITTEEThank you to all who contributed to the Italian

Theme social last month. It was such a great dinner, with so many fabulous entrees, salads, and deserts. The November General Meeting theme is a “Chili Cook-off”. Deb and Natheta planned a “Chili Cook-off” 3 years ago and it was such a wonderful evening. There will be several different kinds of chili and the method of voting will be to place money in the voting box of your favorite chili. Whoever raises the most money will be the winner of a prize and bragging rites! Woo-Hoo!! We would like to donate the money raised to the Springfield Cancer Treatment Center. We will be seeking about 6 people to volunteer to make chili, so please sign up if you are a chili lover. Peggie Elsnau won in 2015 and her chili is still my favorite!

Jan O’Neill and Terry Reid

SNYDER PARK GARDENS AND ARBORETUM COMMITTEE MEETING

There will be an SPGA committee meeting on Oc-tober 4th from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at the SPGA Club-house. Each garden chair should be prepared to provide a summary of their garden for the 2018 season and the plans for the 2019 season. In addi-tion, the Pavilion and Sign committees will provide updates.

Pam Bennett

Extension Educator, Agriculture/Natural Resources, Wayne County Ohio State University Extension.Adapted by: Janet Wasko Myers, Program Assis-tant, Horticulture, Ohio State University Extension, Clark County, myers.31@osu.eduSources:Planning for the Garden. Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Agriculture/Natural Resources, Wayne County Ohio State University Extension. https://wayne.osu.edu/sites/wayne/files/imce/Pro-gram_Pages/ANR/Garden/Planning%20and%20Planting%20%20the%20Garden.pdfOhioline. Ohioline is an information resource produced by Ohio State University Extension. Through Ohioline, you have access to hundreds of OSU Extension fact sheets covering a wide array of subjects such as agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, com-munity development, and 4-H youth develop-ment. https://ohioline.osu.edu/aboutFood Safety in Gardens. Sanja Ilic, PhD, As-sistant Professor and Food Safety State Spe-cialist, Department of Human Sciences, Human Nutrition and Melanie Lewis Ivey, PhD, Assistant Professor, Fruit Pathologist, Department of Plant Pathology. https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1153

Happy October Birthdays

1st Susie Broidy7th Judy Niggemeyer18th Ed Wozniak26th Mike Russell31st Natheta Mercer31st Ruth Ann Rahim

EARLY OHIO SETTLERSEOSG Beautiful Again! Many vegetables in the Early Ohio Settlers Gar-den are still looking good, so a stalwart group of volunteers worked its magic, removed the plants that were finished, and turned the garden into a show-piece again. We have saved most of our seeds for next year, and the raccoons were a big help with the corn. They stripped almost all of the ears off the stalks and politely left them on the ground for us to pick up. They did eat some, but how nice of them to be so helpful. We then recycled our cornstalks into a couple of corner displays that add some interest to a garden in its autumn phase. Stop by and see how good the outhouse looks with its new stain that makes it look old. Now it blends nicely with the weathered picket fence.Peggy Shank

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Janets Junipers cont. from pg. 3

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Plant of the MonthWEED WARS & WOW’S

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. It’s possible I’m getting more forgetful. Maybe part of me is becoming a “grumpy gardener”. It seems to me this past summer has been the worst in some time for weeds growing fast and furious. Am I the only one thinking like this? I’m telling you right now I lost the battle of the weed wars.

This is the time of year when I look back and reflect on what went right and what went wrong with my garden. It’s been a very weedy season. In the spring, I was pulling up forget-me-nots and goldenrod until my muscles rebelled. Those pretty blue forget-me-nots look so cheerful in the spring but if you let them go to seed they are everywhere!

Last summer my gardening was curtailed for about two months due to minor surgery. The goldenrod ran amuck. This season I was even pulling up goldenrod in my dreams. I really like the look of goldenrod in the fall. This time of year some of the other flowers are faded and look droopy but the goldenrod has a bright, cheerful look. I’m in the

process of deadheading those golden blooms and perhaps I won’t need to weed as much in the spring.

When I got one area of my yard weeded, we would have rain 2 – 3 days in a row and the weeds came back in full force. I did not know the name of one of the weeds I was yanking out until Pam’s article in the paper. I was pulling out Marestail. Oh goody.

I still have not been able to kill Grandpa Ott (a morning glory). I’ll be dead and gone before he is. I must say he looks pretty good mingled with my hyacinth bean and sweet autumn clematis.

A “wow” look was my Itoh yellow peony mixed with May Night salvia which looks good even from a distance. Heliopsis gives a cheerful display of daisy-like yellow flowers in summer. I also like the look of cleome with its masses of spider-shaped blooms.

We all complain about weeding. I tell myself its good exercise and cheaper than a gym membership. We get fresh air and sunshine.

Moving your body keeps the blood flowing and circulation strong. Weeds can be beneficial.Dot Burkholder

Going Bananas Itoh peony from www.monrovia.com

9From the Fairfield County MGV Fall 2018 newsletter

Ohio State University ExtensionClark County3130 East Main StreetSpringfield, OH 45505www.twitter.com (user name OSUEclarkcounty)

The Master Gardener “Blades & Blooms” is a publication of the Ohio State University Extension, Clark County, 3130 East Main Street, Springfield, Ohio, 45505, 937-521-3860. The Master Gardener Advisor is Pam Bennett. http://clark.osu.edu/program-areas/master-gardener-volunteers/blades-blooms-newsletters

CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For moreinformation, visit cfaesdiversity.osu.edu. For an accessible format of this publication, visit cfaes.osu.edu/accessibility.

RememberGarden Clean Up

October 3rd

Donna Meister & Jani Malowney - These two created the “Monarch Station” which has helped fill the garden with butterflies and caterpillars. It was a huge project and lots of work!