URI MGP Newsletter, June 15: Awards, New Leader, Tour Next Weekend!

Reminder: Garden Tour is Next Weekend!

GardenTourDon’t miss the chance to peek inside 26 private gardens during the Gardening with the Masters Tour!   During the registration process, you’ll be given the chance to pick up your tickets at three different locations on Saturday morning, 6/24 in Saunderstown, North Stonington, CT; or Barrington.

Please come and support the Master Gardener tour hosts and find your garden inspiration (and up to 5 continuing ed hours)!  Invite your friends and family!  P.S. Spots still available to serve as a docents in Volgistics to gain volunteer hours.

Registration (deadline 6/24): https://web.uri.edu/mastergardener/tour/

Time to Nominate for MG and Rookie of the Year Awards

As you may be aware, each year we nominate those Master Gardeners and Interns whom we feel have done an exceptional job.  It is now time to do just that. If you know someone who goes above and beyond for the Master Gardeners please nominate them!

The guidelines for these nominations are also found with the forms in the documents page of the website. 

Click here for Rookie of the Year form.  Click here for Master Gardener of the Year Form.

All nominations are due by August 1st so that the Recognition Committee has time to vote on the nominees.  Winners (and nominees) will be announced at the September 16th Volunteer Recognition Event.  In addition, this year we will also  be announcing a Project of the Year award winner to be selected by the Recognition Committee.

Thanks in advance for your help! – Charlie Junod, Chair, Recognition Committee

New Council Member: Volunteer Engagement Coordinator

JudyWe are pleased to announce that Judy Arruda, URIMG Class of 2011, has been selected as Volunteer Engagement Coordinator to serve on the URI Master Gardener Program Council.  Judy officially begins the job on July 1.  Judy has been an active volunteer in the kiosk, with a special interest in health fairs as related to her career in the medical field.  She was involved in planning the demonstration gardens at Mount Hope Farm and her garden was featured on the garden tour in 2013.  Judy was the Clinical Coordinator at Sturdy Memorial and has served on numerous other boards including the Good Neighbors Soup Kitchen, Food Pantry and Day Shelter.  We are so pleased to have her on the leadership team, as she shares her passion for the URI Master Gardener Program!

– Vanessa Venturini, State Program Leader

Note from Judy Arruda, Volunteer Engagement Coordinator

I am so excited to have been appointed to the position of Volunteer Engagement Coordinator and look forward to working with you all and to learn about how this wonderful organization works. It is my belief that, together, we can make our little corner of the earth sustainable, amazing and green….one garden at a time! It would be a huge job to try to fill Lee Menard’s shoes, so I won’t even try….but I might try to fill her hat!

Special Volunteer Event: URI Botanical Gardens on June 21

botanicalGardensYou may have visited the URI Botanical Gardens as the setting for this year’s URI Spring Festival.  As a keen gardener, you may have also noticed the need for some tlc.  Please join us on Wednesday, June 21 out in the garden for a cleanup day.  Shifts are 9am-1pm and 1pm-5pm.  Stay for a full or partial shift or the whole day to gain a nice chunk of volunteer hours (Ag, Experiment Station Maintenance – Support Service).  We’ll be working alongside Dr. Brian Maynard and other faculty, URI Lands and Grounds staff and (hopefully!) Alex and Ani employees so there will be opportunity for learning and mentoring.  Rain date is Thursday, June 22.

Please join the rest of the URI community in supporting this beautiful, sustainable garden space.  We ask that everyone brings garden gloves and tools to weed the garden.  Sign up for a shift in Volgistics, “My Schedule” tab.  Thanks in advance!

Help Wanted: Docents for Gardening with the Masters Tour

Would you like to help welcome the public to our garden locations during the Gardening with the Masters Tour?  Garden tour docents will be trained by the hosts to teach the lessons of the garden. We have 2 shifts for garden tour docents from 10am-1pm and 1pm -4pm on both days of the tour, June 24 and 25.  Sign up for one or both shifts to get a nice chunk of  volunteer hours!  All volunteer hours are entered under “Garden Tour – DIRECT EDUCATION SERVICE” in Volgistics. 

To sign up:

Shifts are available in Cranston, Cumberland, East Greenwich, North Kingstown Richmond, Saunderstown and Tiverton.  Please sign up for a shift in Volgistics by clicking on “my schedule”.  EXTENDED Deadline to sign up for a shift is this Monday, June 19, 2017.

Volunteers Needed for Poinsettia Project

poinsettiaThe URIMGP Poinsettia Project is still in need of volunteers starting in August of this year.  The Poinsettia Project is a support activity that is part of the North America Poinsettia Trials.  We receive over 1700 poinsettia cuttings from breeders and grow them in our greenhouses and evaluate different varieties of poinsettias.  We then provide feedback to the breeders on the growth patterns, bloom time and bract size and color.   The project runs from August through November.  We need volunteers on all days except Thursday.  The length of time is usually 3 hours in the morning once a week. The job demands tolerance of the heat in summer, moderate lifting, and being on your feet.

Poinsettias are unlike any other plant you will grow.  If you can grow a poinsettia, you can grow anything!

Please contact Kathy Larson @ klarsonrn@cox.net or 828 5128 by June 30th if you have questions or are interested in joining the poinsettia team.

Thank You,
Kathy Larson

Sally Shwartz winner of Elizabeth Abernathy Hull Award

sallyshwartzURI Master Gardener – Sally Shwartz-  won the 2017 Garden Club of America’s (GCA) Elizabeth Abernathy Hull award.  Sally was chosen for this award by the “Perennial Planters” of Providence, a GCA member, for her dynamic leadership in environmental education at the Botanical Center in Roger Williams Park.

This annual award honors the outstanding achievements of its recipients who inspire children under 16 to appreciate the beauty and fragility of our planet.

Sally was in the 2003 MG class. She is a Hall of Fame member who has volunteered with Learning Landscape field trips, and at the ornamental greenhouse. She has served as a leader at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Gardens, engaging people of all ages in horticulture education through creative events and programs, notably serving as a founder for Fairy Garden Days, one of the Botanical Center’s most popular events.  Sally has participated in seed sort, soil testing, and serves as a dynamic speaker for the URIMGP public presentation program.

In addition!  Sally takes off this July to Crested Butte, Colorado to intern and teach about wildflowers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in the high country. Ride Sally Ride!

– Terry Meyer, URI Master Gardener Class of 2011

Farm to Table: Cooking with Native and Locally Sourced Produce

Wednesday, July 19, 2017, 2:00PM
Beechwood Center; 44 Beach Street; North Kingstown

Executive Chef Branden Read is the co-owner, with Cheryl Zannella, of the Celestial Cafe in Exeter, RI, a local family-owned restaurant specializing in the use of locally sourced food from various local farms and fisheries. Branden will be discussing the various locally sourced produce he utilizes and the benefits of employing these items, including native Herbs and Veggies in his cooking.

If interested in attending, please contact Rayna Wilcox, Volunteer/Program Coordinator, at The Beechwood Center for Life Enrichment at 401-268-1594; or email her at: RWilcox@northkingstown.org.  These programs are offered to members and the public at no charge.  Master Gardeners receive education credits for attending.

We are also excited to announce the rest of our upcoming 2017 Lecture Series!  We have a great group of speakers who we are sure will prove to be dynamic and educational.  The talks are held every other month and we hope to see you all there!  The following is an outline of our speakers and topics for 2017:

  • 9/20/17 Creating Pollinator Habitat,  Vanessa Venturini, State Program Leader, URI Master Gardener Program
  • 11/15/17 Designing the Ecological Landscape, Kevin M. Alverson Landscape Architecture

Summer is the perfect time to learn in the field!

All Continuing Education Offerings This Summer!

July Continuing Education Classes

AgronomyFarmURI Agronomy Farm Tour
July 19th, 10-11:30 am
Agronomy Farm, URI Kingston campus
Dr. Rebecca Brown, URI Plant Sciences

Join Professor Rebecca Brown for a tour of the URI Agronomy Farm. The URI Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology manages over 50 acres of turfgrass, horticulture, and agronomy farms for teaching, research, and outreach. Attendees would be able to see various cover cropping strategies, vegetable production and season extension techniques.
Please register in Volgistics.

NormanBirdHabitat Restoration Walk at Norman Bird Sanctuary
Norman Bird Sanctuary, Middletown
July 20th, 3-5 pm
Hope Leeson, RI Natural History Survey

Learn about how to increase habitat resiliency on a landscape level with RI’s premier botanist. Coastal forests provide habitat for migratory nesting birds; a critical function which is at risk due to changes in the plant community. In this walk you learn how removing invasive species from the forest and replanting with diverse local ecotypes of native species play an important role for wildlife. We’ll also gain a greater understanding of the influence white-tailed deer exert on forest regeneration at the Sanctuary.
Please register in Volgistics.

AgronomyFarm2URI Agronomy Farm Tour
July 26th, 5-6:30 pm
Agronomy Farm, URI Kingston Campus
Andy Radin, URI Cooperative Extension

Join URI Agricultural Extension Agent Andy Radin for a tour of the URI Agronomy Farm. The URI Department of Plant Sciences and Entomology manages this Agricultural Experiment Station Farm for teaching, research, and outreach. Attendees will learn about several vegetable crops research projects in progress, and there will be open discussion about soil health, pest management and other topics of interest.
Please register in Volgistics.

August Continuing Education Classes

Diagnostics Skill-Building Series: Vegetables
URI East Farm Demo Garden 
August 8th, 5:30-8:00 pm

be at full strength.
REGISTRATION FULL

pollinatorbeePollinator Meadow Walk
Location (To be determined)
August 17th, 5:00-7:00 pm

Join Natural Resources Conservation Services Biologist Gary Casabona exploring a pollinator meadow in Rhode Island.
The lecture will include all of the key topics for establishing quality pollinator habitat:

  • The many different options for site preparation — which is perhaps the most important step toward success of a pollinator seeding !
  • Recommendations on the best woody and herbaceous plants, and the reasons why they are valuable to both pollinators and migratory birds, will be discussed in detail.
  • Ongoing mowing and maintenance practices to maintain a large percentage of native wildflowers with relatively few invasives.

Please register in Volgistics.

PollinatorInvasive Plant Management: Late Season Strategies and Methods for Restoring Habitat
August 31st, 9-12 pm
Canonchet Farm, Narragansett

Join Thomas Fortier, for session 2 of a guided field study at Canonchet Farm Habitat Restoration.  While participants are not required to attend both sessions, the effective strategies for invasive plant removal and habitat restoration in the late season vary significantly from those used in the early season.  We’ll look at the methods for restoring the native plant complexes and delve into plant identification.  Each participant will have the chance to try out a range of tools for invasive removal. Dress for field work.  Space is limited.
Please register in Volgistics.

Hot Topics from the URI Consumer Horticulture Educator

rosanneThe following science-based articles may help you answer questions from the community.  Rosanne Sherry, URI Consumer Horticulture Educator, recommends you read them to help sharpen your own gardening and educator skills! Please send comments or suggestions for articles to rsherry@uri.edu.

We now have a new URIMGP Powerpoint template to use when creating a presentation as a URI Master Gardener.  Remember, we ask that all presentations are vetted before presentation to the public. If you have a new talk, please feel free to send it on to me for vetting. I’m simply checking for accuracy and a second set of eyes for any glitches. I am not rewriting your presentation. I am also looking for someone willing to help convert the existing vetted presentations onto the template. If you are interested in this tech process please let me know. The presentations are all in Google drive.

You can find the new template in the Documents page under “MG Gardening Resources”
https://web.uri.edu/mastergardener/documents/

From UMASS Landscape Message May 26, 2017.

Check this out and subscribe for weekly updates on common pests.
http://ag.umass.edu/landscape/landscape-message-may-26-2017

Plant of the week: Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’

Palibin

Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ is a compact, densely branched lilac growing 4-5’ tall with an equal or wider spread. The pale pink, fragrant flowers are in smaller panicles than the common lilac, but are abundant, covering the plant. Flowers occur in May, and emerge after the common lilac. Leaves are small (less than 2”) and ovate. Palibin Korean lilac is best sited in full sun for best flowering but will tolerate part shade. Plants can be used as a specimen, as a foundation plant, in the shrub border or in groups. They should be planted where the fragrance can be appreciated. Foliage is resistant to powdery mildew, but plants will still benefit from good air circulation. Prune after flowering. Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ is drought tolerant once established and attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. This plant is a great choice for someone that wants an old-fashioned common lilac but doesn’t have the space.

Report by Mandy Bayer, Extension Assistant Professor of Sustainable Landscape Horticulture, UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture

Beneficial Insects in New Hampshire Farms and Gardens.

From Rosie, while the title says NH, this is an excellent resource for all of New England’s gardeners and farmers.
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000499_Rep521.pdf

Debunking the Horticultural Myths. Fascinating discussions.
http://puyallup.wsu.edu/lcs/

Resource for sound IPM solutions
http://www.birc.org/index.html