Master Gardener Week 9

March 19, 2009 was the Week 9 meeting of the master gardener class at Boerner.

The topic was lawns and weeds.

We spent a lot of time talking about the planting, mowing, feeding, etc. of lawns.

We talked about weeds in the context of lawns, but never actually got to the unit on weeds, which was supposed to have a big section on identification.

The laboratory exercise was analyzing the information on the labels of lawn seed, fertilizer, and herbicide.

First duck of 2009

There was a male mallard on the garden pool today.

First of the new year.

First bloom of 2009

The first bloom of the new year opened in the garden today.

It was a snowdrop, trying to catch up with the snowdrops in the neighborhood who enjoy sunny south-facing slopes.

Mourning Cloak

I saw the first butterfly of the new year in the garden today.

It was a Mourning Cloak similar to the one pictured (from wisconsinbutterflies.org).

Bees in the garden

Today was the first day of the new year to have bees (bumble and honey) in the garden.

They were just passing through as there is nothing in bloom yet.

Some of the neighbors with sunny south-facing slopes have a few snowdrops in bloom so hopefully the bees can survive on those until my own early bulbs start.

Bill 1, Widowmaker 0

Yesterday, I took down a widowmaker in the backyard.

It was an ash tree hung up in an adjacent basswood.

It went ok, but it would have been a lot easier if I would just go ahead and buy a coffin hoist.

More on rain gardens

"The best rain garden plants are those that can take up a lot of water into the root system - they have to be happy when their roots are wet, and when their roots are dry," said Gail Epping Overholt, natural resources educator with the University of Wisconsin Extension.

- jsonline (link here)

Interesting article on rain gardens and rain barrels.

Bergamo Bouquet

An annual Monarda available at Renee's Garden (link here)

Worth trying.

Selected as one of the best annuals for 2009 by Better Homes & Gardens.

Angelica gigas

Angelica gigas from Heronswood (link here)

On my wish list.

Rain Gardens

Today we attended the rain garden workshop held at the Hales Corners Public Library 10am-noon.

It was sponsored by the Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network.

The workshop was free, and they also gave us a free how-to manual for homeowners.

Informative and entertaining.

If we meet the criteria, we might be eligible for a grant that would pay for half the native plants to put into a new rain garden.

Garden pool update

When we left for Baltimore on February 26, the water in the garden pool was perfectly clear.

When we returned on March 3, there was a fair amount fo green algae in the water.

On March 5, I applied barley straw concentrated extract to control the further growth of algae.

It should be reapplied every 30 days.

Master Gardener Week 8

March 12, 2009 was the Week 8 meeting of the master gardener class at Boerner.

The topic was flowers and butterfly gardening.

Ann Wied (Waukesha horticulture agent) was the guest instructor.

We covered annuals, perennials, and bulbs.

There was no laboratory exercise.

Master Gardener Week 7

March 5, 2009 was the Week 7 meeting of the master gardener class at Boerner.

The topic was vegetables.

The emphasis was on the vegetables most often grown in Wisconsin.

We talked about the three main perennial vegetables: asparagus, horseradish, and rhubarb.

The laboratory exercise was analyzing the information on vegetable seed packets in terms of best time to plant, whether to plants seeds directly into the garden or use transplants, etc.. Each table had 18 packets of seeds. Our table had a some interesting choices like radish, leaf lettuce, broccoli, melon, zucchini, carrot, tomato, turnips, etc.

Master Gardener Week 6

February 26, 2009 was the Week 6 meeting of the master gardener class at Boerner.

The topic was soil and composting.

I missed it because I was in Baltimore.

It would have been nice to attend, because it is my favorite subject, but we had a wonderful time with Elizabeth in Baltimore.

Opossum

There was an opossum in the garden today.

Unusual to see one in the middle of the day like that.

Beets in the Hood

Thanks to Elizabeth for calling my attention to this article about urban farming in Milwaukee.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/03/beets-hood