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May 2016

Muscatine County

Our own Plant Sale is a great opportunity for us all to get our hands dirty and contribute to our Master Gardener organization. The money raised has a great purpose as we renew our scholarship program to help local young people get their education in horticulture. Please dig up your extra plants, pot them and bring them in !!!

PAGE 2 WORTH WH ILE D IR T MAY 20 16

Muscatine County Master Gardener Events — Mark Your Calendar!

May 3 Garrison’s Greenhouse Tour 6:30 pm 610 W. 5th Street, Wilton

May 5-7 Muscatine FFA Plant Sale Variable Muscatine High School Greenhouse

May 5-11 West Liberty FFA Plant Sale Variable West Liberty High School Greenhouse

May 6 (3-7pm) Hostas & Hodgepodge Trinity Plant Sale May 7 (8am-N) New Hope Church Parking Lot

May 7 Spring Bird Festival 7 am—Noon Port Louisa NWR Headquarters

May 10 Board Meeting 5:00 pm Muscatine Arboretum

May 10 Arboretum Tour by Charles Rickey 6:00 pm Muscatine Arboretum

May 12 Food Preservation 101 12N—1pm Muscatine Hy-Vee Club Room

May 14 Our Plant Sale 8:00—noon Muscatine County Extension Parking Lot

May 14 Searching for Wild Flowers 8:00 am Zoo Garden; by Randy Elder

June 11 Tai Chi in the Garden 8:00 am Zoo Garden; by Caleen Pagel

June 14 General Meeting & Fair Preparation 6:30 pm Joyce Gauger’s Garden Tour 613 N. Perkins Street, Lone Tree, Iowa

June 23-24 Quad Cities Pollinators Conference All Day River Center, Davenport, Iowa

June 28 Linda Starcevich Garden Tour 6:00 pm 2615 Bidwell Road, Muscatine

July 9 Perennials for Butterflies 8:00 am Zoo Garden; by Kathy Chalupa

July 19 Bucket Brigade Judging 6:30 pm County Fairgrounds Floral Hall

(continued above right)

July 21 Flower Show; lead by Joyce Gauger 6:00 pm County Fairgrounds Floral Hall

July 23 Flower Showing Information Session 9 & 11 am County Fairgrounds Floral Hall

Aug. 9 General Meeting & Demo Farm Tour 6:30 pm ISU Research Farm

Aug. 13 Trees for Wildlife 8:00 am Zoo Garden; by Hannah Howard

Sept 10 The Mississippi Flyway 8:00 am Zoo Garden; by Ron Knopik

Sept 13 Board Meeting 6:30 pm Extension Office

Oct. 11 General Meeting; Ron Knopik (F&WL) 6:30 pm Extension Office

Nov. 8 Board Meeting 6:30 pm Extension Office

Additional Upcoming Events Hosted

by Master Gardeners in Iowa

(Check ISU Website for Details)

What: Plant Protection System Clinic When: May 2; 10:00-12:00 noon Where: Reiman Gardens, Ames

What: Emerald Ash Borer Workshop When: May 3; 6:30-8:00 pm Where: Clinton County Extension Office

What: Monarch Butterfly Habitat Presentation When: May 26; 7:00-9:00 pm Where: Greene County

What: 2016 Upper Midwest Regional MG Conf. When: September 14-17 Where: Wisconsin Dells (it is fairly close to Iowa)

Hello Master Gardeners! So, our busy season is upon us. I am so impressed with the amount of activity you have going on; garden tours, greenhouse tours, plant sale! I am excited to be bringing back the Summer Growing Season webinars, and hope to have all the details to you soon. Also, the Demo Garden Tour date has been released by the Muscatine Island Re-search Farm - mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 9th. I want to send out a thank you to Chris Humrichouse, 2015 MG Intern, for volunteering to coordinate volunteers for the home demo donation garden at the Research Farm. They will be relying on Master Gardeners and other community volunteers to harvest food and transport it to community food banks. Keep an eye out for more infor-mation on this opportunity. With all of these great events and opportunities don't forget to start logging your volunteer and education hours! I think most of you underreport, so I en-courage you to log on at least once a month so you give yourself (and Muscatine County) the credit you deserve! We have lots of great programming happening through ISU Extension and Out-reach Muscatine County - if you haven't yet, I encourage you to "Like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MuscatineExtension<http://www.facebook.com/MuscatineExtension> to keep up on all we have going on. Also this is a great way and "Like" and "Share" news about Muscatine Mas-ter Gardeners (such as the story featured in the Voice of Muscatine on April 17th about the Food Security Project). Summer Growing Season Webinar Series will be offered Three two-hour webinars will be offered over the summer for Master Gardeners to receive education hours. The topics are: * Got Shade? ISU Extension and Outreach horticulturist Denny Schrock will teach participants how to utilize shade plants in the landscape while focusing on plats native to Iowa. * Getting to the Bottom of Tree Problems. Linda Rodriquez-Salamanca, ISU Extension and Outreach plant pathologist and diagnostician with the ISU Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic will help participants become familiar with some of the common symptoms of tree problems and learn what to keep an eye out for.

(Continued next page — DIRECTOR)

Director’s Input

By Krista Regennitter , Muscatine County Extension Director, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

Telephone 563-263-5701

PAGE 3 MAY 20 1 6 WORTH WH ILE D IR T

Let’s all support Chris Humrichouse as she coordinates our work with donation gardening at Muscatine’s ISU Re-search Farm

Check us out on Facebook

Webinars are a great way to get more continuing education

PAGE 4 WORTH WH ILE D IR T MAY 20 16

(Continued from previous page — DIRECTOR)

* What's all the Buzz about? Nathan Brockman is the curator of the butterfly wing of Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University. Attendees will learn about insects native to Iowa and what to do to increase the enjoyment of these six-legged garden visitors.

Webinars will be open to the public and will have a $5 registration fee each. The dates and times will be released soon, so watch for more information in an email and on the Master Gardener Facebook page. Food Preservation 101 Lunch and Learn at Muscatine Hy-Vee Thursday, May 12th, noon to 1 at Muscatine Hy-Vee Club room Join us for this introduction to safe home food preservation methods including can-ning, dehydrating and freezing. This overview presentation will include home pres-ervation handouts and various food preservation supplies and equipment will be on display. The presentation is FREE; a $5 healthy lunch will be available for purchase from Hy-Vee. Information on the ISU Extension and Outreach Preserve the Taste of Summer home food preservation course will be available. Sponsored by ISU Exten-sion and Outreach Muscatine County, Muscatine Blue Zones Project and Muscatine Hy-Vee.

Home Garden Tours

All of our members have great gardens so when one of them offers a garden tour be sure to get it on your calendar.

Here are two member garden tours scheduled for this spring/summer:

June 14, 6:30 pm General Meeting & Fair Preparation Joyce Gauger’s Garden Tour; 613 N. Perkins Street Lone Tree, Iowa

June 28, 6:00 pm Linda Starcevich Garden Tour 2615 Bidwell Road, Muscatine

Be watching for the Summer Webi-nar Schedule

Another local learning opportu-nity for Master Gardeners — and it is FREE

“Garden Tour” signs are available at the Extension Office if you want to use them to advertize your event. Might bring in a few visi-tors and a potential Master Gardener!

PAGE 5 IL WORTH WH ILE D IR T MAY 20 16

Muscatine County Master Gardeners General Meeting Minutes April 12, 2016

Muscatine County Extension Office

By Louise Adballah, Master Gardener

The Meeting was called to order by Co-Chairperson Lynn Pruitt. There were 38 members present.

Treasurer’s report - $5062.76. The minutes from the February General Meeting and the treasurer’s report were unanimously approved.

Deidre Zihlman introduced Hannah Howard. She has degrees from ISU in Forestry and Animal Ecology and is the Tree’s Forever coordinator for southeast Iowa.

Tree’s Forever works through volunteers throughout the state on community for-estry and water quality initiatives. Over the past 25 year they have planted over 3.4 million trees. The division in Muscatine County is called Branching Out.

Hannah gave an enthusiastic presentation on the benefits of using native plants and suggested reasons why we may want to use them in our gardens:

They offer food sources and refuge for the declining pollinator population as well as birds, insects and wildlife.

Native plants have an extensive root system which allows water to be ab-sorbed back into the soil. This mitigates water runoff and improves soil quality and nutrient retention.

She also gave members tips and suggestions on which native plants, shrubs and trees to select to enhance their landscapes.

Lynn Pruitt, Chairperson, introduced the next speaker - Susan DeBlieck. Susan is the ISU Extension Iowa Master Gardener Program Assistant. She came from cam-pus to discuss the opportunities for Master Gardener’s to volunteer through the ISU Donation Garden Program at the Muscatine Island Research Farm.

In appreciation for all the work Master Gardeners are presently doing, ISU is offer-ing state-wide support to participate with this year’s food security project.

The annual theme for this year’s demonstration garden at the research farm is “producing what food banks want”. The amount of food produced and donated will also be tracked in pounds which gives ISU a measure of how much work is be-ing done.

The research farm will be taking care of the planning and maintenance of the dem-onstration garden which will be 40 by 80 feet and located on the left side this year. There will be four quadrants with walkways in between. Three quadrants will be planted with vegetables the food pantries are interested in and the 4th quadrant will be pollinators.

(continued next page — MINUTES)

(Continued from previous page — MINUTES)

Master Gardeners are being asked to help with harvesting and delivering food to nearby food pantries. This includes weighing the amounts donated and filling out a data tracking form.

These activities will most likely be scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons when the research farm is open. There is a possibility of Saturday as well.

A sign-up sheet was passed around for volunteers. Chris Humrichouse agreed to be the volunteer coordinator. Krista suggested there is a need for a key contact person for the food pantries and another for harvesting.

— Break - members enjoyed finger foods —

The meeting resumed with several orders of business.

1. Art of Gardening report by Jo Ann Christofferson.

There were 165 attendees and this year’s event received very good evaluations. Classes will be recycled based on evaluations. expressed appreciation for all those who helped.

2. Update on Plant Sale by Susan Cradick

The sale will be held from 8 AM to noon on Saturday, May 14 at the exten-sion office parking lot. Plants should be labeled with the common name and colors. There is no limit on how many plants each participant can bring. Leftover plants will be donated to organizations. Master Gardeners can come help with pricing on May 13 or with customer’s questions on the date of the sale. They may also receive a flyer in their email that they can pass out for publicity. Contact Susan if you are interested in getting some plants from her.

3. Spring Nursery Tour Schedule by Jane Hodge

April 19 Hilltop Greenhouse Tour 6:30 pm 11606 233rd St., Illinois City Topic is pollinators.

April 26 Mairet’s Garden Center Tour 6:30 pm 4707 US 61, Muscatine, Topic is the process of determining the perennial of the year.

May 3 Garrison’s Greenhouse Tour 6:30 pm 610 W. 5th Street, Wilton, Topic not announced.

A reminder that a 10 percent discount is available to those who come early.

4. Muscatine Arboretum Tour May 10 — by Charles Rickey

Participants will meet at 6:00 pm by the shed (drinking fountain). The tour

(continued next page — MINUTES)

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(Continued from previous page — MINUTES)

should last about 1 hour and is wheelchair accessible. Parking is available.

5. Zoo Garden update by Maryrose Peterschmidt and Kathy Chalupa

A Day of Caring on Friday, April 22 starting at 8:00 am until noon

From May through September the 2nd Saturday of each month at 9:00 AM there will be a meeting at the zoo garden. Topics will be announced in the newsletter. Attendees will receive 1 hour educational credit.

They are seeking a lead person for each of the 9 gardens.

6. Member Garden Tours

Joyce Gauger at 613 N. Perkins, Lone Tree on June 14 at 6:30 pm (next general meeting). Go west (left) at Dollar General and then straight on down to her house.

Linda Starcevich at 2615 Bidwell Road on June 28 at 6:00 pm. Additional parking is at Community of Christ Church.

7. Scholarship

Joyce Gauger presented an opportunity to award a scholarship of $500 to Hailey Daufeldt, a senior at West Liberty who is going into Horticulture at ISU. Charles Rickey made a motion to award a $500 scholarship to Hailey Daufeldt upon receipt of a scholarship application. Jan Koellner seconded it. The motion was unanimously approved.

8. Bucket Brigade update by Linda Wells and Barb Woods

This year’s theme is Our Iowa. The colors are pink for the state flower, yellow for the state bird and orange for the sunsets.

9. Muscatine County Fair update by Joyce Gauger.

The fair will be held July 20 - 24. More information will be given at the June meeting. Bill and Jan Koellner will be lining up hosts for the Floral Hall.

10. Area Plant Sales

Flyers were presented for a plant sale given by Des Moines County in Burling-ton on May 7th and 8th till 1:00 pm. Another will be given by Cedar Valley Iris and Day Lilly Club by the gazebo at the Discovery Center on May 7th. Friends of Trinity plant sale – also May 7

Lynn Pruitt announced that attendees of this meeting could log in 1 1/2 hours edu-cational and 1 hour volunteer. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Louise Abdallah

PAGE 8 MAY 20 16

Random Thoughts from Co-Chair

by Lynn Pruitt,

Master Gardener

I am excited about all the activities we have as Master Gar-deners in Muscatine County. Please take full advantage of our home garden tours. We currently have two garden tours scheduled, but there is still time for a few more if we have members who would like to “show off” what they grow and how they do it.

Greenhouse visits are also fun and educational. We have three greenhouse visits scheduled; two done and one to go in early May. While there are some similarities, each greenhouse has some unique plants, and each one is offer-ing us 10% discount on day of visit purchases. We also get 30 minutes or more of education credit thanks to the greenhouse staff sharing some of their expertise.

Plant sales are very prolific this time of year. We have sent out notices of several area-wide plant sales and now we have our very own coming up Saturday, May 14, 8 a.m. until noon. Please see Susan Cradick’s article on page 10 to be a part of this exciting and worthwhile event. The photo at the right shows many of our volunteers at our 2013 plant sale.

A few weeks ago Emma Mae and I attended Maryrose Peterschmidt’s Zoo Garden planning meeting at Jane Hodge’s home. I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of organization and volunteer commitment that has become evident in the various gardens that comprise the Zoo Garden. Make sure you take your family there this spring and summer, and also tell Maryrose and her crew thanks for their wonderful efforts.

Our participation in Farmers Market is scheduled to start Saturday, June 11. See Susan’s article on page 9 to volunteer for the remaining open dates. Our county fair is scheduled for July but it is now time to start planting for fair ex-hibits and for your competitive floral bucket.

Muscatine has many opportunities this year to help eliminate hunger in Iowa through donation gardening. Let’s all do our part to share our blessings with those who have special needs.

Happy Gardening! Lynn

WORTHWHILE DIRT

Garden tours are fun ad educational

Join in Garrison’s Greenhouse visit on May 3 at 6 pm

Pot some of your extra plants, label them and get them to our Plant Sale on May 14

Thanks to all our volun-teers who take respon-sibility for organizing and tending our various community gardens

There is still room for you to volunteer to help at Farmers Market

Eliminate hunger in Iowa!

FARMERS’ MARKET SCHEDULE 2016

By Susan Cradick, Master Gardener

Following is the current schedule. Others are interested but do not want to commit far in advance so I will keep you posted and as times get nearer you can let me know. Par-ticipants are responsible for getting three or so recipes to

Carolyn Lemaster a week in advance so she can type and get to Krista for copying. You can then pick up the sheets when you pick up the equipment (canopy, literature, etc.) the Thursday or Friday before you’re scheduled to work. One of the recipes is to be the one you prepare for “samples.”

June 11 Janet Martz/Susan Cradick

June 18 Mary Danner

June 25 Lori/Jeff Underwood

July 2 Holiday

July 9 Susan Cradick/Janet Martz

July 16 (open)

July 23 Muscatine County Fair

July 30 (open)

August 6 (open)

August 13 Chris Humrichouse

August 20 Jane Hodge/Carolyn Lemaster

August 27 Bonnie Reeb

September 3 Holiday

September 10 Laura McGinnis/Carolyn Lemaster

September 17 Laura McGinnis/Sara Carroll

September 24 (open)

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Those who will work on Saturday: Mary Danner Kathy Haltmeyer Jane Hodge Christine Humrichouse Ed Moreno Emma Mae and Lynn Pruitt Susan Cradick A couple of people requested left-over plants for areas they’re working with on other projects. Let me know if anyone else is interested in looking at what we might have left-over.

Kathy Haltmeyer – West Food Garden

Bill Koellner – West Liberty Public Garden

We can use any additional help in any of these areas so if your schedule permits please contact me or show up.

Thanks.

Susan Cradick- 288-9809 (h); 299-9114 (c) cradicks45@yahoo.com

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Master Gardener Plant Sale

Planning Information

By Susan Cradick, Master Gardener

May 14, 2016

8 a.m. until Noon

Extension Office Parking Lot

Those who signed up at the last General Meeting are as follows: (anyone not attending and wish to contribute let me know).

Those Bringing Plants:

Kathy Chalupa Mary Danner Kathy Haltmeyer Heather Harroun Jane Hodge Laura McGinnis Maryrose Peterschmidt Emma Mae and Lynn Pruitt Linda Starcevich Kay Walter Linda Wells Susan Cradick

Those who will help in price marking plants on Friday, May 13 (Friday the 13th!):

Sandy Danner Bill and Jan Koellner Maryrose Peterschmidt Emma Mae and Lynn Pruitt Linda Starcevich Kay Walter Susan Cradick

WORTH WH ILE D IR T PAGE 1 1 M AY 2 01 6

SAVE THESE DATES:

WEED PARK ZOO GARDEN VOLUNTEERS

PRESENT

COFFEE IN THE GARDENS

SECOND SATURDAYS

8-10 a.m. May through Sept

Programs start at 9 a.m.

Topics for 2016

May 14 — Searching for Wildflowers

Randy Elder

Landscape Architect

Jun 11 — Tai Chi in the Garden

Caleen Pagel

Physical Therapist

Jul 9 — Perennials for Butterflies

Kathy Chalupa

Kellor & Kellor Landscape

(please bring a lawn chair

- shelter not available)

Aug 13 — Trees for Wildlife

Hannah Howard

Trees Forever

Sep 10 — The Mississippi Flyway

Ron Knopik

USDI—Fish and Wildlife

PAGE 12 WORTH WH ILE D IR T MAY 20 16

Common or Mid-Summer Leaf Drop By Bill Koellner

Lifetime Muscatine County Master Gardener 2016 Co-Chair

While mowing the yard in mid to late June, I have no-ticed what seems to be a large amount of leaves that

have dropped from my trees. After research for potential diseases, I actually found out that it was not a problem, but is common, so I thought I would share what I have found.

Home owners often observe leaf drop occur-ring in mid-summer. Sometimes the number of leaves falling appears excessive, but actu-ally, the number of leaves lost is small when considering the amount of leaves on the to-tal tree. Here are some of the normal rea-sons for the common leaf drop:

1. When the summer is more dry, than wet, trees may lose as many as much as 10% of their leaves during a dry period. Once a dry period begins, leaves begin to drop and continue to drop for the extent of the dry period. While a tree uses leaves to make food, this amount of leaf loss does little or no harm, and may actually be helpful to the tree. By shedding these leaves the tree loses less water through transpiration.

2. Internal leaf drop is when leaves are falling from the center of the tree because they may have been shaded by the leaves on the outside and top of the tree. These leaves are so thick that the leaves inside the tree do not receive enough sunlight. After such leaf drop, the larger branches in-side the tree and close to the trunk look bare. Inner leaf drop is normal and not harmful.

3. Leaves can be lost due to shading from a larger tree. Trees may grow so large that it begins to cast shade on another tree which was once in sunlight. The smaller tree no longer receives enough light to support its leaves which begin to drop. Another form of shading occurs when closely planted trees grow so large that they begin to shade each other on the sides that face each other.

4. Leaves may fall when they have been damaged by insects. Most types of trees can be affected by one type of insect or another, few insects affect many types of trees. Aphids that attack tree leaves during the summer can also cause early yellowing and leaf drop. This is most common on tulip trees, oaks, birches, ashes and some maple trees.

(continued next page — LEAF DROP)

PAGE 13 WORTH WH ILE D IR T MAY 20 16

(continued from previous page, LEAF DROP)

5. Some insects excrete a substance that is called sooty molds. These in-sects are usually aphids or scale insects. However, leafhoppers, plant hoppers and spittlebugs also can produce these molds. The coating of sooty mold is another form of shading. The sooty mold does no direct harm to the tree.

6. Leaves may fall after they've been infected by various leaf spot dis-eases. Several anthracnose diseases may cause leaves of maple, black walnut, oak or ash to fall in early to midsummer. Leaf drop usually ap-pears sudden and dramatic. The number of leaves lost to these types of disease is not significant. If ALL the leaves are lost, the observer might consider treatment of the tree the following year.

7. Leaves may fall if a tree has been seriously injured or is in the process of dying. A lightning strike may cause leaves to fall and may lead to death of the tree.

Finally, do not be alarmed when you leaves falling from your tree. Examine

the tree and the leaves for a closer diagnoses, or ask a Master Gardener.

Gardening Quotes and Quips

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments — Janet

Kilburn Phillips

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise

grows it under his feet — James Oppenheim

Land is not merely soil, it is a fountain of energy flowing

through a circuit of soils, plants and animals — Aldo

Leopold

To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to

forget ourselves — Mahatma Gandhi

No race can prosper until it learns there is as much dig-

nity in tilling a field as in writing a poem – Booker T.

Washington

PAGE 14 WORTH WH ILE D IR T MAY 20 16

May Gardening Guide (Courtesy of Nebraska Extension)

Here is a checklist of gardening tasks that should be done in May:

* Grow your own dried flowers. Raise statice, globe amaranth, straw flowers and other everlastings to provide flowers for this year's arrangements.

* Plant gladioli bulbs in late May.

* Set out marigold, petunia, ageratum and fibrous begonia transplants. All are good border plants.

* To grow annuals in containers on the patio, use a light weight soil mixture. Keep the plants well-watered, because the soil dries out fast. Apply a water soluble fer-tilizer according to package directions every two weeks.

* Watering roses with soaker hoses or drip irrigation will reduce the spread of black spot disease.

* Plant ground covers under shade trees that do not allow enough sunlight to grow grass. Vinca minor or English ivy are ground cover plants that grow well in shade.

* Mulch around newly planted trees and shrubs. This practice reduces weeds, con-trols fluctuations in soil temperature, retains moisture, prevents damage from lawn mowers and looks attractive.

* When you visit botanical gardens and arboretums, take your camera and note pad with you. Plan now for changes you will make in your landscape.

* For maximum landscape interest in a small, vertical space, try annual vines. They can disguise ugly walls and fences. When trellised, they can create shade and pri-vacy while hiding undesirable views. Try morning glory, nasturtium vine and scar-let runner bean.

* Plan a landscaping project on paper first. Do not over plant. Be sure you know the mature size of each plant and allow for growth.

* Lawns maintained at the correct height are less likely to have disease and weed infestation. Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue should be mowed at two or three inches in height. Mow frequently, removing no more than one third of the blade at each cutting.

* Grass clippings can be used as a mulch in flower beds and vegetable gardens if allowed to dry well before use. Never use clippings from a lawn that has been treated with a herbicide.

* Cabbage loopers and imported cabbage worms are green worms. They leave large holes in the leaves of plants in the cabbage family. For control, caterpillars can be picked off by hand or sprayed with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a natural, non-toxic preparation available by various trade names.

PAGE 15 WORTH WH ILE D IR T MAY 20 16

Muscatine Master Gardeners — at your SERVICE

Arboretum: - Charles Rickey 563-260-5807

Art of Gardening – Chair position open for 2016-17

Bucket Brigade: - Barb Woods 563-506-4506 and Linda Wells 563-263-0292

Community Donation Gardens – Chris Humrichouse

Fair Floral Hall: - Joyce Gauger 319-330-5235

Garden at Melpine School: - Joyce Gauger 319-330-5235

Farmer’s Market Committee – Susan Cradick 563-288-9809

Historian – Chair position open. Volunteers: Don Paul, Carol Gundrum

Manning Desk at Extension Office – Krista Regennitter 563-263-5701

Member’s Garden Tours — Chair position open: Volunteers: Linda Starcevich, Joyce Gauger

Mulford Community Gardens – Heather Harroun 563-554-0028

Muscatine Branching Out – Kathy Chalupa 563-299-0887

Muscatine County Fair Office Garden – Bill Koellner 319-627-4545

Newsletter: Lynn Pruitt 319-723-4362

Newspaper Articles: Linda Meloy 563-263-8473

Muscatine Bridge Entry Sign Area – Laura McGinnis 309-791-0054

Publicity: - Ed Moreno

Senior Resources – Louise Abdallah 563-299-0212

World Connection Garden – Linda Meloy 563-263-8473

Zoo Garden: Maryrose Peterschmidt 563-263-0846

More Gardening Quotes and Quips

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. — Luther Burbank

What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it — Charles Dudley Warner

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt — Margaret Atwood

Interns & Mentors

for 2016:

Pam Viner

Kathy Chalupa

Mary Wildermuth

Jo Ann Christofferson

Janet Lohse

Emma Mae Pruitt

Ed Moreno

Lynn Pruitt

Bill Koellner

Chris Humrichouse

Janet Koellner

Linsay Sauer

Susan Cradick

Muscatine County Extension Office 1514 Isett Avenue Muscatine, IA 52761-4629 563-263-5701 or 800-992-0894

Krista Regennitter Muscatine County Extension Director Master Gardener Liaison

. . and justice for all

Iowa State University Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.

Iowa State University and U.S. Department of Agriculture coop-erating.

2016 Muscatine County Master Gardener Board

Board Members Bill Koellner, Co-Chair (16) Lynn Pruitt, Co-Chair (17) Louise Abdallah, Secretary/Treasurer (16)* Carolyn Lemaster (16)* Deidre Zihlman (16)* Emma Mae Pruitt (17) Mary Danner (17)* Jane Hodge (17)* Chris Humrichouse (Intern) Ed Moreno (Intern) ( )Year term expires as of Dec. 31

* Going off Board Dec 31, 2016/2017 but eligible

Current Emails and Addresses As a reminder – keep both the Extension Office and Lynn Pruitt current on any changes of e-mail addresses, phone numbers, or mailing ad-dresses. These need to be current to keep you — our members — informed.

Garden Tours are FUN !!!

WORTH WH ILE D IR T PAGE 1 6 MAY 20 16

Editorial Comments:

Thanks to the various contributors to this month’s Muscatine County Master Gardener Newsletter. Please remember, this is YOUR newsletter. Your articles, photographs and other tidbits are welcome. Send them by the end of each month to pruitt.lynn@gmail.com or call 563.260.0234

— Lynn Pruitt, Editor —