nags of a similar ilk

Today was the third web sprint for the Master Gardener's website. I swear, this is feeling less like a sprint and more like a marathon. We've made fantastic progress, but, good lord, there is a lot of work left to do. I'm really impressed with how far the group has come, and how much several people have learned about web pages and the like.

What's been the biggest eye-opener, however, has been how much I had taken for granted that a process was both usable and (I'm almost embarrassed to say) easy. For someone without web experience, the process was not easy, and much of it did not make sense. Fortunately, everyone has been as patient with me as I have been patient with them (which is to say, I can a heck of a lot more patient with other people than I can be with myself, so I'm making progress in this journey called "life"), and I've been able to fix the workflow processes and update the documentation.

The Master Gardener's group is a far different group than ultimate players (including an age swing of near, oh, half a century) , but the lessons I've learned with them have been just as big and just as interesting as those from ultimate.

The best part of this sprint, other than Abby's blueberry cobbler?

Running water.

Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 19:07:53 -0700
From: Bracey Tiede
To: leeannray
Cc: master-gardeners
Subject: RE: [master-gardeners] Propagating cuttings

Hi Lee Ann,

I've not used hormones for rooting but instead paid close attention to the
proper timing on when to take the cuttings.

Books can give you that info and websites too.

There is a UC database of when to take cuttings of specific plants to be
successful and how to treat them.

http://rooting.ucdavis.edu/idx/i0000001.htm

There is also one for propagating native plants at

http://www.nativeplantnetwork.org/network/

Click on Search Protocols, continential US and then start your search. It's
both seed and cutting info.

Cheers,
Bracey

_____

From: master-gardeners
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 6:58 PM
To: master-gardeners
Subject: [master-gardeners] Propagating cuttings

Greetings all,

I am looking to do some propagating from softwood and semi-hardwood stem
cuttings this summer and am wondering if anyone has any favorite rooting
hormone they have had good results with.

The MG handbook has a section on pg 100 - 104, but no recommendation of
brand. I know much depends on the type of cutting as well as seasonal
timing, maybe even the phase of the moon.

I have tried Rootone, both liquid and powder, and was really disappointed
with the success rate...and the disposal of the used liquid is an issue. My
mentor, Louis Saso, swore by Hormex Powder #1 but the man had a green thumb
like nobody's business and could coax a rose to grow from a brick.

Anybody tried old-school soaking their cuttings in willow bark water?

Enquiring minds would like to know,

Lee Ann Ray
2007

*Tip: Last month we suggested planting citrus for year-round fruit
and foliage. This month we highlight Mandarins! *

This is the month to plant new citrus

http://www.mastergardeners.org/picks/citrus.html as local nurseries
are loaded with fresh shipments of Mandarins and more. Mandarin
http://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/crops/mandarin_factsheet.shtml
choices are extensive. For an early harvest in October - December,
try seedless Kishu. Satsumas follow with fruit in
December and January. As you are finishing your seedless and
easy-to-peel Satsumas, Page will be producing. Known for being one of
the best tasting and having the longest harvest season (January
– June), Page is a great bang for your buck. Gold Nugget, also
seedless, richly flavored, and easy to peel, begins bearing in March.
Gold Nugget is remarkably frost tolerant
http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/8100.pdf, and unlike many other
mandarins, the fruit holds well on the tree through summer. For the
latest season fruit, look for Encore, while Fremont is another master
gardener favorite http://news.ucanr.org/newsstorymain.cfm?story=752.
Some newer varieties that are quite early, large, and nearly seedless
are Shasta Gold and Tahoe Gold
http://ucanr.org/delivers/impactview.cfm?impactnum=215.

*Tip: If you want more bees in your garden, plant some bee-attracting
annuals such as Cosmos, or simply allow your herbs to flower.*
With few exceptions, fruit will not form until pollen from male
parts is transferred to the female parts of a flower. Without
pollination
http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/general-pollination.html, flowers
may bloom abundantly, but will not bear fruit. Some plants
http://www.mastergardeners.org/publications/insectsbirdsbutterflies.html
are better at attracting bees and other pollinating insects and
animals than others. Give your fruit trees the gift of an
insect-friendly environment and give your family a better harvest!

*Tip: Bring your cut roses inside to enjoy.*
Cutting rose blossoms allows the plant to conserve energy and leads
to further flower production. During the growing season, the
rule-of-thumb for cutting blooms
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/pmg/pestnotes/pn7465.html on first-year
plants is to make the cut above the first outwardly facing
five-leaflet leaf. On well-established plants, cut blooms somewhat
lower to ensure new canes can support the weight of the blooms. To
deadhead a rose bush, use the same guidelines as those for cutting
blooms. Landscape varieties do not need to be deadheaded. For all
your rose questions, be it cultivation, pests, or pruning, UC IPM
online http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/pmg/garden/plants/rose.html has
the answers.

*Tip: If your neighbor’s lawn makes you green with envy, the
number one, easiest way to make your lawn look better is to not mow
your grass too short.*
Any time your lawn is mowed
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/tools/turf/maintain/mowthird.html, its
ability to photosynthesize and to produce carbohydrates essential for
growth decreases. To maximize photosynthesis and reduce turf stress,
remove no more than one-third of the blade at one time. If the lawn
is repeatedly cut too short, carbohydrate reserves will be depleted,
weakening roots and predisposing the grass to weeds, diseases,
insects, and drought injury. For ideas about lawn alternatives
http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/pdf/aahpa-21-32-lawn.pdf (PDF),
or for more sustainable lawn tips
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/tools/turf/, check out these sites, too!

The Master Gardener program is full of a lot of people who are not quite my generation. Most are my parent's generation, but way not all of them. So, when I walk into classes with a t-shirt on it that reads "Kitt is a Cylon," most of them, okay all of them, look at the shirt and say, "Huh?"

Which also means when I run up to one of them with a camera in hand, even the younger ones look at me like I'm crazy.

At least Jack smiled.

Today's hotline training was a stark contrast to last week's training. Where last week was a non-stop answer of phones and garden research, this week was a relatively quiet ordeal, with only three of us at the hotline. We did have phone calls, but they were few, and Sue Bell did most of the talking. Which seemed to suit both Jack and me just fine.

The highlight of the day was the seed search. The Master Gardening program will often receive donations of seed packets. Seeds are packed for a season/year, with date expirations. If the seeds don't sell by the end of the season, they can't be sold, so they are donated to the Master Gardening program. The Master Gardeners then use them in trials or volunteer projects.

For this project, a group of people were going to grow chile peppers to make holiday wreaths (next year, of course). This year's project included the gift of these seeds.

Since the seeds aren't fully organized, Jonica asked us to flip through the seed packets and pull out all the pepper plants. As an added bonus, if we found seeds we want, we could have them. What a deal!

I looked for yellow flowers, to match the front yard yellow design. I pulled out a few vegetable plants, and excitedly took them with me.

At work, I mentioned them to Doyle. He suggested I mention them to Shirley. When I did, wow, did her face light up. She sifted through the packs I had, and found Chinese chives. Apparently, she's wanted to grow them, but couldn't find them in the store. Her mom couldn't find the seeds, either.

So, yay! Serendipity!

And seeds!