VOL. 7, NO. 8 University of Arizona Cooperative Extension AUGUST 1996

Cochise County Master Gardener

Nea/itetU/iUniversitv of Arizona and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.

PLANT PROFILE-A Notable NativeBotanical name: Fallugiaparachxa

Family: rose

Common names: feather rose, feather duster bush, ponil. Apache plume

Range: New Mexico, southern Colorado, West Texas, Arizona, southern California,southern Utah, southernNevada, and northernMexico on gravelly or rocky dry slopes anddry arroyos from 3,000' - 8,000'

Apache plume is a medium-sized, multibranched, semi-evergreenshrub that is long lived and depending on available water growsfrom 2 to 8 feet tall and wide. It has very small, dark green triangular leaves with three to seven deep lobes. The white flowers arefive-petaled and resemblean old fashioned rose. The finit is an ach-ene, a dry fruit that does not split open when ripe and contains a single seed. Paradoxa stands for the unusual habit to produce bothflowers and fhiit at the same time. It is easily grown from freshseeds, which requires no special treatment and usually flowers thefirst year after germination. The fragrant flowers and long-tailed,feathery, pink fiojit seed heads bloom from May through October.Pruning is not necessary since the plant has a nice rounded shape,but new growth flowers best so pruning the older stems in earlyspring will produce a showy display. Site plants where the seedplumes are backlit by the rising or setting sun. Drought tolerant, heat loving, and hardy to-30® F., it also provides cover and seeds for birds and is very effective for controlling soilerosion.

Fallugiaparadoxa-^. plant you should get to know!

Cheri Melton

Master Gardener/Staff Writer

Cochise County Cooperative Extension

Fallugiaparadoxa

1140 N. Colombo, Sierra Vista, AZ 8S635(520) 458-1104, Ext 141

450 Haskell, Willcox, AZ 85643(520) 384-3594

Cuttings'N'

Clippings

> It's that time of the yearagain when fresh produce isavailable in "Arizona's Heart-

land"-Southeastem Arizona!

The state's largest assortment ofdirect-sales farms are located

here with the greatest selectionavailable from July through October. A brochure locating thesefarms is available from the Co

operative Extension offices orby writing the Willcox Chamberof Commerce at 1500 North

Circle I Road, Willcox, AZ85643. Tel. (520)384-2272

> Now that you have all thelovely fresh veggies, whetherfrom the direct-sales farms or

from your own garden, whatshould you do with them? TheCooperative Extension officeshave many brochures/fliersavailable to you at little or nocost. You can pick up a set of13 on Food Preservation, dryingor freezing, curing olives, andeven one on desert edibles. Give

the Cooperative Extension acall!

Page 2

> Nowhere in the United

States are there more rare and

unusual native plants than inArizona, and most of theseplants are protected by law andcan only be removed after a permit has been obtained. For more

information contact the Department of Agriculture District Office, 515 S. Haskell, Willcox,AZ 85643.

Garden TipNumber 9284

I was reading a magazine article the other day that explainedthe "politically correct" way ofreferring to birthdays. Oneshould not refer to people whohave birthdays as "older," butrather as being "chronologicallyenhanced." Having celebrated abirthday not too many monthsago, I resemble that remark, sothis tip is for all you who, likeme, are chronologicallyenhanced.

Anyone who has taken theMaster Gardener training coursefrom Rob Call has been indoc

trinated in the screwdriver

method of checking for soilmoisture. Ifyou want to know ifyou have watered your plantsenough, stick a screwdriver inthe ground. The depth to whichthe screwdriver penetrates thesoil indicates how deep the water has gone. For example, ifyou have watered a mature oaktree and find that your screwdriver will only penetrate a couple of inches into the ground inthe area under the tree, you

know you probably better watera little longer.

For the chronologically enhanced among you, the groundcan be an awfully long distanceaway and a screwdriver can bean awfully short tool. This tipremedies that problem. Insteadof using a screwdriver, you caneasily manufacture your own"professional" water testing toolwhich will not only add to yourimage as an expert gardener butbe easier on the back as well.

To make your water probe,get a "faucet key" from a hardware or other store that sells

gardening supplies. A faucet keyis a gadget about two and a halffeet long that has a "D" handleon one end and two prongs (the"key") on the other and is usedto turn the handle on a water

faucet. Cut the "key" off theend (alternatively you could cutthe "handle" off, but that wouldmake the tool a little more diffi

cult to use). The extra length ofyour new water probe as opposed to a screwdriver helpsconsiderably to shorten the distance between the ground andchronologically enhanced armsand makes your watering checka lot easier.

Gary A. GruenhagenMaster Gardener

Newsletter Staff:

Bany R. BishopCarolyn GruenhagenCheri Melton

Virginia Westphal

Robert E. Call, Extension Agent,Horticulture

DRIP, DRIP,DRIP...

Want to save time? Want to

stop and smell the roses andquit dragging the hoses overthem? Want a lush garden and alower water bill? Then get onthe drip. This spring I convertedmy garden to a drip system andhave been singing its praisesever since to anyone who willlisten. Imagine my joy when thelast goof plug was inserted and Iwent to turn the system on.Then hearing pop, pop, pop andlooking up to see every goofplug and emitter flying throughthe air. To my amazement I hadcreated a huge water fountain inthe garden! Of course, this wasnot my intention.

Luckily, Master Gardener DeLewis and Extension Agent RobCall were presenting a To Dripor not to Drip seminar the following week. I'm not going togo into the details of how to setup a drip system, but rememberwhen you were a kid and madethings from Leggos and LincolnLogs? It's that simple. Checkout the library for info and dripequipment companies usuallyprovide a free pamphlet withtheir systems. What I do wantto relay to you is the absolutejoy it has provided me. I wasspending three hours, threetimes a week dragging a hosethrough my garden watering.Now I water once every 10-14days as necessary (use your soilprobe to check if watering isneeded). Plants that were on theverge of dying are now huge,lush jungle plants. You can

expand the system-when addingnew plants it's so easy to getthem 'on-line.' Just locate the

poly hose, punch a line into it,add the appropriate emitters andyou're done. You can regulateprecisely the amount of waterthat is being delivered to a plantand wean them off or increase

the water as needed.

Drip waters the root zonethoroughly without loss toevaporation. The water is keptoff the foliage which decreasescertain diseases. You can put iton a timer so watering is doneautomatically when you're onvacation. The only thing I cansay against drip is that it cancost a little during initial set up.Oh, but returns I gain-sitting onthe deck enjoying the sunsetwith a glass of lemonade watching the hummers while theplants are being watered-ispriceless. By the way, if youalso create a water wonderland,check your pressure regulator.A great big THANKS to De andRob for a great class.

Cheri Melton

Master Gardener/Staff Writer

Note: Watch for announcements

in this newsletter of other semi

nars sponsored by the MasterGardeners in the upcomingmonths.

—'

To Oleander or

Not to Oleander

This is the first article in a se

ries of reports on local poisonous plants.

Nerium oleander

Dogbane ^zxdAy-Apocynaceae

Area gardeners/landscapershave an important decision tomake:

1. to permit the oleander intheir yards.2. to keep the oleander out oftheir yards.

Why should one have to decide this issue? The oleander is

both very beautiful, and at thesametime, extremelydeadly.

Flowering oleanders with theirstriking color range of white tored and shades of yellow, pink,and salmon make exceedinglyattractive borders and hedges asthey easily reach 8 to 20 feet inheight. It is no wonder thatmany Cochise County landscapes feature them.

Besides their good looks, oleanders tolerate all types of soil,as well as heat and cold tem

perature extremes, plus theygrow easily and rapidly.

A super plant for your yard?Remember that ALL parts ofthe oleander are poisonous ifeaten. Exercise extreme caution

with both children and animals

regarding its leaves and flowers.Horses experience a bloody diarrhea after consuming minuteamounts of this plant and itproves to be fatal to them almost 100% of the time. Also,oleander fiimes are dangerous,so don't use the wood for barbe

cue purposes.

The decision to permit theoleander in your yard is yourdecision.

Peggy DierkingMG Trainee

Page 3

The Virtual GardenerNative Plant Database

The Apache plume (Fallugiaparadoxa) profiled this monthby Cheri Melton, is one of myfavorite plants, so I thought Iwould look to see what one of

my favorite Web sites(http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/) had to say about it.This U. S. Forest Service Web

site contains a database of use

ful information about native

plants of the United States andis well worth a visit.

The USES database is called

the Fire Effects Information

System (FEIS) and provides up-to-date information on the ef

fects of fire on native plants andanimals. Although the databaseis designed to support forest firefighting efforts, it also has lotsof information of interest to

anyone wanting to grow nativeplants. The information on eachplant in the database comprisesthe following sections: Introduction, Distribution and Occurrence, Value and Use,Botanical and Ecological Characteristics, Fire Ecology, FireEffects, and References. Theamount of information on each

plant varies with the amount ofresearch that has been done on

that plant. The Introductionprovides the scientific and common names of the plant as wellas its taxonomy and Federal legal status. The Distribution andOccurrence section not onlylists areas where the plant occurs (by state, ecosystem, andnational forests and parks) but

also its habitats and associations

with other plants. The Valueand Use section describes the

commercial value of the plantand its importance to livestockand wildlife as well as how the

USES manages its growth in thewild, including susceptibility todisease. The Botanical and Eco

logical Characteristics sectiongives a general description ofthe botanical characteristics of

the plant, its form (tree, shrub,etc.), information on reproduction, a description of the environment where the plant growsin nature, its successional status,and phenology. The sections onFire Ecology and Fire Effectsdiscuss the plant's vulnerabilityand response to fire.

Although all the informationin the database is interesting, thesections on botanical and eco

logical characteristics and distribution and occurrence are of

most interest to gardeners. It ishere that you can find out howthe plant propagates in the wildand the environmental condi

tions that favor its growth. Forexample according to the database, Apache plume seeds germinate best when sown at 60 to

70° F. on a prepared bed andcovered with fine loam or sand.

The plant grows naturally indeep soils on moist, rich sitessuch as canyon bottoms but alsoappears to thrive on dry, rockyridges and slopes. This is usefulinformation to anyone attempting to find a home for the

Apache plume in their ownyard.There are many plant databaseson the Web, but the FEIS is theonly one that lists only nativeplants and gives so much usefulinformation to the gardener andbotanist.

By the way ("BTW'), if youhave any comments on this orany other article or any suggestions for Web sites that should

be featured here, drop me a lineat gruenha@c2i2.com or writeto Rob Call at

recall@ag.arizona.edu. Happysurfing.

Gary A. GruenhagenMaster Gardener

4yKu0ust

y Keep pulling the weedsy Fertilize

y Prolong annualsy Plan your spring wildflowergardeny Watch for nutrient deficien

cies, sunburn, saltbum, over

watering, and insectsy Plant cool-season flowersand veggies (See related articleon back page.)

The Agent's

Observations

My apple tree hasQ branches that aredead or dying.Leaves are dryingup and the bark is

sunburned. What can I do to

stop this?

What you are see-Aing are the symptoms of a problemin the root systemof the apple tree. Itcould be a soil

bom fiingus like phytophtera,but is more likely to be a grounddwelling insect pest called awooly apple aphid (Erisomalanigerum). Also, pears are injured by the wooly pear aphid(Erisoma pyricola). Theseaphids are native to the easternUnited States and Canada, butare a worldwide pest that attackelm, mountain ash, and somespecies of hawthorn trees as alternate hosts. It is the fluffywhite wooly covering over mostof the insect's posterior end oftheir blue-black bodies that ac

count for its name. This cottonylooking substance can be seen insmall masses on branches and

shoots where injuries or pmningcuts have been made, as well ason roots.

The life cycle of these insectsis rather complicated. Femaleslay eggs on the bark of host oralternate host trees in the late

summer or fall. These eggsoverwinter and hatch in the

spring as wingless partheno-genic (development from an unfertilized egg) females producing ovoviviparous (eggs hatchwithin the females' body) stemmothers which establish colo

nies on the terminal leaves.

These leaves soon become

curled and stunted from feeding.By early summer winged formsappear and fly to other appletrees or hosts to establish new

colonies. Repeated generationsare produced during the summer. Some of the individuals

may crawl to the roots wherethey continue to reproduce indefinitely. In the fall, winged individuals develop again and flyto hosts and give birth to sexualforms which eventually mateand lay overwintering eggs. Notall aphids leave the apple trees,some wingless forms remain allwinter, both above and belowground, thus maintaining a continuous infestation year around.

root nodules

On the roots nodules are formed

fi^om the insects feeding. Thesenodules are rough and bumpylooking and restrict the flow ofwater and nutrients from the

roots to the leaves. Small leaves

form and eventually the bark becomes sunburned and dried out

and limbs die over several

growing seasons. Winter soil

temperatures in the Southwestare not cold enough and normally do not freeze deeply,therefore the wooly appleaphids do not remain in check.Control: When planting appletrees semi-dwarfing and dwarfing rootstocks with MM beforethe rootstock number should be

used. . Example: MMI06 orMMl 11 are semi-dwarfingrootstocks which are resistant

to the wooly apple aphid, butnot immune. The MM stands

for Malling-Merton which areagricultural research stations inEngland which developed theserootstocks. Currently chemicalcontrol is the only means available to control wooly appleaphid. However, BioLogicCompany, a bio-engineeringfirm has developed a parasiticnematode (Steinemema car-pocaposae) that has been 80%effective in controlling theground dwelling form of thispest. They are not yet marketingthe nematode. Chemical con

trols include dimethoate (Cy-gon), a systemic insecticide.Other organic and chemicalbased insecticides that control

aphids will control the aboveground generations of this insect when they are in the tree,although the ground dwellingforms will not be affected.

Source: Insect Pests ofFarm,Garden, and Orchard. R. H.Davidson and W. F. Lyon.1979. 7th Ed. pp. 392-393.John Wiley and Sons, NewYork.

(Continued on nextpage)

idmfiiftheranM ofCoopmtive Extension work, acts ofMay 8and June 30,1914, in cooperation with the United States D^artment ofAgriculture, James A. Christenson,Lwector, Coqperative Exlmsicm, College Agriculture, TheUnivmity of Arizona amiAriz<Hia Counties coopatning. T!m University of Arizoiut Collegeof Agriculture is anespial opportunity employerauthorized to provide researdi,educational information and otherservices onlyto indivithials and institutions that function withoutregardto sex,race,religion, color,national origin,age, Vietnam Era Veteran*s status,or disability.Tl^ information given herein isapplied withtheunderstanding thatnodiscrimination is intended andnoendorsement byCooperative Extension is implied.Anyixfoducts, services, or organizations that arementioned, shown, or indirectly implied in thispublication donotin^ly endorsement bythe Univoaityof Arizona.

Pages

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

^ TUCSON, ARIZONA 85721

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300

QAre there any garden vegetables thatI can plant for afall harvest in

Cochise County?

Many of the cool-A season crops,those that can

withstand freezingtemperatures, dovery well in

Cochise County during the fall.In fact, the fall in CochiseCounty is better generally thanthe spring to rmse cool-seasoncrops. These vegetables includethe cabbage family, i.e. broccoli,cauliflower, kale and cabbageamong others. Also, spinach,small beets, peas-both snap and

edible pod-turnips, radishes,lettuces of all kinds, mustardgreens and other greens may beplanted. The onion family doesbest when planted in the fall andthen over-wintered and har

vested in early summer. Members include garlic, onions andchives. Prepare and plant duringthe last week in August or firsttwo weeks in September. I havehad broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and onions growing thewhole winter long during mildwinters, pulling the plants out inMay to make way for warm-season crops.

Robert E. Call

Extension Agent, Hori

BULK RATE

POSTAGE & FEES PAH)

USDA

PERMIT No. G268

Master!Gardener |

Picnic Planned

Masim Garden^ ^

win be hM m Sepl^ftr 4.b^nmitg a| i:QO pm, #ehavereserved Eamadk #1 ^ Vd:er-ami Men»3nal Park ut SimaVista, Plan to attend-Hfis is agreat to see d^d frteadsand make««wooes,

salad, or dessert to

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