here - Beaufort County Center

Spring, 2011

What’s New?

Volume 2, Number 1 Edie Miller, Editor

It is spring here in the IBX, ing, he gave us his plans for and we slackers can finally get Master Gardeners. See his MG outside and finish all those job description on page 2. tasks we failed to finish last Monthly meetings will stay the fall. I am speaking of myself, same for the time being, the of course, as I am sure the rest third Tuesday of each month at of you finished those tasks at 10:00 am. their appointed time. And, just Second - Me, Edie Miller. I as we head out to the garden, have taken over the editor’s job the trees begin their annual for the “Inner Banks Gardener” mating rituals. Even if the polfrom the great Laura Staton. len doesn’t affect your nasal Many thanks for her work! I passages, that yellow pine polwould like to have different Jacob Searcy len sticks to everything! Horticultural Agent BCCE voices to add to the IBXG, so if Technically, the last freeze you have anything you would date here in zone 8a can occur between Febru- like to see, or say, in this newsletter, let me ary 28 and March 31. I’ve never seen a frost know. MGs have a lot of gardening knowlthat late in my short gardening efforts here, edge to share. So send me an email at eycmilbut I’m not planting any tender annuals yet. I [email protected]. did finally plant my bulbs, though. They’ve Third - It looks as though dry conditions been in the refrigerator since October, so I am will continue for most of the southeastern US. anxious to see if they will still come up, thus While Beaufort County is not experiencing rewarding my laziness. drought conditions yet, our precipitation has So what’s new for Master Gardeners here been sporadic. Time to think about xeriscapin the IBX? ing your yard. First - A new Horticulture Agent- Jacob Fourth - We are moving into the busy time Searcy, formerly of Bertie County, has befor BCMGs. Please check the calendar on our come our new leader. At the March 15 meetwebsite: http://www.ncsugarden.com As always, Onward and upward in the garden! A Publication of the Beaufort County Master Gardeners Beaufort County Cooperative Extension Washington, NC

Inner Banks Gardener

Master Gardener Volunteer Job Description Spring, 2011

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Jacob Searcy, Horticultural Agent

It is the job of the Horticultural Agent to manage the Master Gardener program and to provide training to the Master Gardeners. The Horticultural Agent should also make sure master Gardener programs are in compliance with NCSU recommendations. It is the mission of the Master Gardener Volunteers to use their training to teach the citizens of their county the fundamentals of gardening while under the guidance of the NC Cooperative Extension Service. Master Gardeners are NOT a labor force, but rather a Knowledge Resource! The Master Gardener’s secondary mission is to promote the important economic role agriculture plays in eastern North Carolina. Key target audiences are children, urbanites and representatives. Volunteer Hours are considered any time spent planning and implementing a program that teaches horticultural skills to a target audience. ● Master Gardeners are expected to get at least 20 of these hours a year unless special circumstances prohibit. ● The Extension Horticultural Agent should be made aware of these circumstances before the end of the year. ● Master Gardeners who don’t meet this 20-hour minimum for two consecutive years will no longer be considered “Active” Master Gardeners and will become Master Gardener Alumni. ● Alumni who wish to become active MGs are requires to attend 5 training hours along with the 20 volunteer hours. ● For the spring of 2011, inactive Master Gardeners will be given the option to become active members just by signing the Recertification form. ● For the spring of 2011, any Master Gardener who does not sign the Recertification form will become an Alumnus. Training Hours are considered any time spent (face to face) learning a horticultural skill from a qualified instructor. ● There is no minimum requirement for these per year unless an alumnus wishes to be active again. Meetings will be during business hours unless otherwise specified. ● Meeting etiquette will default to Roberts’ Rules of Order ● Committee chairs should give reports and recommendations at each meeting. ● We will continue to use the Steering Committee instead of a president and vice president. ● The Extension horticultural agent will have the final say on any disputed issues Funds raised by the Master Gardeners will be used for horticultural education only.


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● Master Gardeners are not to make a personal profit for their teaching services. ● Reimbursements for expenses should be requested in advance. Receipts need to be provided whenever possible. End of Year Evaluation will take place before December 15th when hours are turned in. ● This is an opportunity for Master Gardeners to discuss problems they encountered. ● This gives the horticultural agent insight on what areas training should be focused in the following year.

2010 Accomplishments

By Judy Keohane

2010 was a very busy year for the BCMGs. I compiled a list of our accomplishments, and it makes me tired just reading them! I am looking forward to working with our new hort agent, Jacob. With his help and guidance, 2011 should be an active, busy and successful year. Here is what we did: Deer-resistant plants presentation at Cypress Landing- Judy/Kay 1/15/10 MG Hotline/Info-line 2/1/10 started up again – continued all year with team help! P/P/P's Course at Ext. office 3/9/10, 5/11/10 Educational Materials Committee – BCMG Gardener’s GuideJudy/Julie/Carol/Mara - 3/15/10 1st meeting, completed by 9/25/10 Plant Sale - 3/16/10-1st meeting Fire ant workshop for Beaufort County at Ext.- Tanya/Judy 3/18/10 Community Gardens (educational) meeting- Judy/Tanya -3/29/10 - & weeding days! Farmer's Market Information Booth 1st day in April – all summer!!! Eleanor/ Chris/team! NCMGVA Conference, New Bern- 3 attendees -4/25-4/28/10 Herb garden cleanup and planting-Julie/ Eleanor/Yvonne/Judy -5/3/10 2 Stepping Stone Workshops by Julie Parkerseveral attendees – July 2 Hyper-tufa Workshops by Julie Parker – several attendees – July 2+ Leaf Casting workshops by Julie Parker – several attendees – Summer months [Phew!!!! Julie!!! Thanks!!!] Propagation Gardens - started planning - Kay/ Judy/Carol/Julie - -8/26/10 Carol explains it all! Plant sale setup and sale- many MG's in the blistering heat!!! -9/23-25/10 Aurora Red Hat group- Judy/Carol- "Fall planting" --11/9/10


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BCDC Horticulture education program Meeting with Mark Batton to discuss Mara/Julie/Judy/Carol - 11/30/10 Steering Committee Meetings – Quarterly – Judy/Eleanor/Louise/Pat Axness/ Julie/Laura/Carol Goose Creek State Park Butterfly Garden – Planned, planted, & cared for! Chris & team 4H Camp – One week in the spring Livestock Fair – MG Food Concession Stand, May Wreath Sale – During our Plant sale and the following months, in support of 4H Monthly MG meetings with guest speakers: January 19 Ross Hamory, President of DWOW February 16 - Bob Kellam, President of NCMGVA March 16 Rodney Woolard, Soil & Water Conservation, Dist. Coord May 18 - Blanche Monroe, BCMG, Bonner House June 15 - Tanya Weyhrauch, Hort Agt., Last Meeting & Planning September 14 - Martha Baynor’s Apiary Farm Tour October 19 Rod Gurganus, Coop. Ext. Agt, Next Steps for us? Linda Beddard, BCMG, Apiary Tour Pix & Overview November 16 - Ben Davis, Leggett Organic Farms December 10 - Holiday Social – GREAT FOOD & FUN!

Say it Correctly! We gardeners, no matter how expert, have all mis-pronounced some plant scientific names. To help us all learn the correct pronunciation, I plan to include a few names in each issue. However, do not get too confident about your abilities, because next year either the name or the pronunciation may change! I give as an example my pronunciation of Liriope. According to “Wyman’s Encyclopedia of Gardening,” it is pronounced leer-ee-OH-pee. No longer is this true. Everyone now says lur-EYE-oh-pee. I have my own ideas about this change, but I’m keeping my mouth shut! This pretty little shade perennial is Pulmonaria (pullmoan-area), or lungwort. Here is the catch. WORT in any plant name is correctly pronounced WERT, not WART. Just like the O in word, worry, worth - well, you get the idea. Thus, Saint John’swort is WERT not WART. Another problem is that many plants are named after a person. That changes all the rules. The crepe myrtle is an example of this. It was named after Magnus Lagerstrom, thus: Lagerstroemia - lah-ger-STRORM-ee-ah not the more logical lah-gur-strow-ee-mee-ah Narcissus - nar-KISS-us - Daffoldils - you learn something new every day! Asparagus - as-SPARE-a-gus That was easy! Pisum sativum - pee-sum sa-tee-vum Guess what this is? It shows up in the spring and early summer, and you have all eaten some. More next issue...


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Plant Locally, Think Globally There you are, on your hands and knees, trying to pull out all the *%#!! Mimosa seedlings and cursing the idiot who planted the stupid trees near you. While you may be incapable of much rational thought, this may be a good time to start thinking about non-native invasive plants. Well, maybe not, but at least you should think about the problem as you start adding plants to your landscape. All southerners know about Kudzu, the plant that ate the south, and relocated Yankees like me have watched the march of lythrum, Purple Loosestrife, as it takes over the wet lands of the northeast. (Confession, I even planted some, supposedly a non-invasive variety. There ain’t no such thing!) But there are quite a few invasives that you probably never think about, such as buddleia or multiflora roses. For instance, that Chinese Wisteria looks great in southern yards. It even looks pretty in the woods as you drive south on I-95, but it can eventually kill the trees it climbs on. So, all we can do is be ever vigilant. Go ahead and plant those gorgeous new cultivars, but keep a close eye out for wanderers and volunteers. And please, if you have a Mimosa, burn it! I did some research on the NCSU web site, and found the following link: http://www.invasive.org/eastern/srs/ which takes you to a 2003 article by James H. Miller, a Research Ecologist for the USDA Forest Service at Auburn University. In addition to the list which follows, he gives information on ways to control the problem. You will note that most of these plants are ornamentals that got loose and invaded the native forests and wetlands. Trees Tree-of-Heaven Silk tree, Mimosa Princess tree, Paulownia Chinaberrytree Tallowtree, Popcorntree Russian Olive Shrubs Silverthorn, Thorny Olive Autumn Olive Winged Burning Bush Chinese / European Privet Japanese / Glossy Privet Bush Honeysuckles Sacred Bamboo, Nandina Non-native Roses

Vines Oriental Bittersweet Climbing Yams Winter Creeper English Ivy Japanese Honeysuckle Kudzu Vincas, Periwinkles Non-native Wisterias Grasses Giant Reed Tall Fescue Cogongrass Nepalese Browntop Chinese Silvergrass Bamboos

Escaped Wisteria

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The Tortured Trees of Beaufort County We’ve all heard the reasons; more flowers, grandmother did it, they get too big. But the bad pruning inflicted on poor, innocent crepe myrtles is appalling. I have taken the liberty of including below pictures of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Try not to cry.

You probably recognize this one.

This one has been tortured so long it has no dignity left.

The plastic flowers are nice touch!

Words escape me!

This is a crepe myrtle in all its glory! Note the beautiful red bark.

Good effort here, they still look like trees.

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Recipes for Spring Asparagus Risotto Serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a side 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cooked 5-6 cups of chicken broth 2 tablespoons chopped onion or shallots5 5 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 cups Arborio Rice ¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley Salt and Pepper 1. Cut the asparagus into ½ -inch pieces. 2. Heat broth to a simmer. 3. In a heavy-bottomed pan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and all the oil over medium-high heat. Add shallots or onion and cook until translucent. Add rice and stir to coat. Sauté for a few minutes. Add ½ cup of the warm broth, and stir the rice often until the liquid is absorbed. As the rice dries out, add ½ cup of broth and continue to stir frequently to prevent it from sticking. (A non-stick pan makes this job easier!) Continue to stir and add broth until the rice reaches the al dente stage, soft but not mushy, about 30-40 minutes. 4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of butter and the Parmesan. Carefully stir in the Asparagus and chopped parsley. 5. Serve with more Parmesan if you would like. Rhubarb Custard Pie Even though it is hard to grow rhubarb in the IBX, you can usually find it at Harris Teeter. If you have never prepared or eaten it, use only the stems, the leaves will kill you! Pie Crust for 2-crust pie 2 cups rhubarb in ½ -inch slices 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 ½ tablespoons of flour 1. Heat oven to 350 F 2. Prepare pie crust, fit bottom crust into pan 3. Mix eggs, sugar and flour, add rhubarb. Pour into prepared crust and top with second crust. 4. Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes, until pie filling is bubbly. If crust browns too quickly, cover it with foil until pie is done.

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Its really spring!

Creeping phlox

Nancy’s weeping red bud You can grow lilacs in the IBX!

Pisum sativum sprouts

I hope you have enjoyed this issue of the Inner Banks Gardener. Please let me know what you like and don’t like. Also, send me articles, pictures and anything else you would like to share with your fellow MGs. If you don’t like to write, (and if you can talk, you can write!) just send me the facts and I will put it together into an article. One nice thing about an email newsletter is that length doesn’t matter too much, so let’s pack as much information as we can into each quarterly issue. Deadline for the summer issue is June 15, 2011. Send everything to me at: [email protected]. Thanks, Edie