The GrapevineJanuary - February 2016

.A newsletter for the Lubbock Texas Master Gardeners Charlotte Davidson, editor

You will notice that the newsletter has a new look. That is because it is being done on a MAC and the last newsletter was done on a PC in a program that is not available for MAC. So, new Program new Look.

Growing LavenderTopic at January Meeting

Master Gardener, Julie Domansky right talks with Danny and Laurie Davis of ThistleDew Farm.

Lavender Brings in the Green at ThistleDew FarmDanny Davis, owner of ThistleDew farm, was the speaker for the January meeting and told his story of how he took 35 acres over around Dickens and turned it into a lavender farm selling everything from lavender lemonade to body butter. As the story goes, he was still a @ire@ighter in Lubbock in 2002 when he bought the farm at the end of nowhere and planned to just do something with the land part-time. But, he and wife Laurie went to visit their military son in Washington and she had a cup of lavender tea and it was lavender from then on.People told him that it wouldn't grow here. "Why not? It likes dry, sandy soil, alkaline PH, full sun, no mulch or fertilizer necessary, and it is deer and rabbit resistant," he says.Last year the *irst weekend in June ThistleDew farm celebrated its *irst "Lavender Days" with huge crowds each day.

Editors note: Danny and Laurie Davis will be looking for volunteers to help them set out the lavender plants in April.

As for the future he plans cooking demonstrations and will have bee hives to sell "honey from the lavender farm." "The essential oils market is booming and people are using lavender for insect repellant, and our sales of body butter have tripled," he added.

Coming UP

Growing Amaryllis Indoors -- By Cecilia George , Lubbock Master Gardener

Anida Yoeu Ali

Alis work is interdisciplinary in its approach. Weaving installation and performance, she creates work that investigates the artistic, spiritual and political collisions of a hybrid transnational and diasporic identity.

Wednesday, January 20 Texas Alliance for Water Conservation Water College. At Bayer Museum of Agriculture, 1121 Canyon Lake Drive. 8:30 am 4:30 pm. Speakers on such subjects as "Weather and Climate Outlook," "Texas Agriculture Matters," "Cotton Management Options." For more info. check www.tawc.comSaturday, January 23 Victory Garden Workshop at the Silent Wings Museum. 6202 Interstate 27 Service Rd. 10:30 am noon. Ages 10 and up. Cost: $20, A unique workshop that takes a hands-on look at life on the home-front during World War II. Participants will learn about the idea of a victory garden and rationing during World War II, then plant their own miniature victory garden in a window box. Paints will also be provided so the participants can decorate their window boxes.Master Touch in Feb and March 1 to 2 hours. More informationwill come from Clair.Thursday, Friday, Saturday March 10 12 Master Garden Vegetable Specialist Texas A & M AgriLife Extension ServiceTarrant County, Fort Worth, Texas and Dallas County, Dallas TexasTuesday May 17 - Thursday May 19 --State Master Gardener Conference, McKinney Texas

The dreary weeks of winter are hard on a gardener with no outdoor plants to tend. Forcing bulbs to bloom indoors provides winter color and the pleasure of watching plants grow even when snow is on the ground.

My favorite bulb for forcing is the amaryllis. You can buy amaryllis kits at most garden centers, but I have had spectacular results with large, good quality bulbs that I have purchased from bulb catalogs. Another advantage of purchasing through bulb catalogs is that you can get a wide variety of bulbs, including those that produce double-owered or miniature blooms.

Plant the bulbs, pointed side up, in a 6-8" pot in good quality poGng soil. Do not use outdoor soil, as it will not drain properly. Leave the top third of the bulb exposed. Saturate the soil and place in sunny window, if you have one, or in bright light if you don't. When leaves start developing, keep the pot evenly moist, and turn the pot regularly so that the stem will grow straight. One good quality bulb will produce two stems at a Ome with four blossoms on each stem -- a spectacular show! Last year I had a bulb produce a third stem aQer the rst two had nished their blooming.

When the bulb nishes blooming, cut the stem back to within an inch or two of the bulb. If you want to keep your bulb so that it will bloom next year, keep it in a sunny spot and give it regular feedings of liquid house plant ferOlizer. The bulb will produce leaves over the summer that help to strengthen the bulb. In mid-August, cut back on water and allow the leaves to yellow and die back and the soil to dry out completely. When the leaves have died back, place the pot in a cool, dark place for a minimum of 8 weeks.

(conOnued on page 4)

The Grapevine January - February 2016

Pruning -- by Cecilia George

SomeOmes, when shrubs become overgrown and ungainly, the only soluOon is drasOc renewal pruning. Renewal pruning entails cuGng the enOre shrub to the ground and can be a scary proposiOon to the concerned gardener. But shrubs, which grow from mulOple stems rather than from a single trunk, have a remarkable ability to renew themselves. Dras%c renewal pruning should only be done in the late winter when the shrub is dormant. If you prune severely a;er new growth has started, it is possible to dwarf or kill your shrub.

I have experience with renewal pruning in my xeric garden. The Texas sage in the photo above had been cut to the ground twice. Each Ome I pruned it in the late winter and each Ome it came back to nearly its original height by summer.

Also I planted a vitex four years ago and tried to prune it into a tree shape. This seems to be the pracOce in Lubbock with vitex trees. But the vitex is actually a shrub.

(ConOnued on page 4)Photos:(Top) Vitex cut downAnd in JulyIn September, with my husband, who is six feet tall, standing next to it.

Pruning cont'd from page 3Vitex is actually a shrub and will respond to this kind of shaping by sending out numerous shoots from the ground and water spouts along the limbs. I quickly grew tired of the constant pruning required to make it look like a tree and decided to allow it to assume its natural shrub form.Checking the Aggie Horticulture website, I was surprised to @ind drastic renewal pruning recommended each year for vitex. So, with a little trepidation, and to the horror of my neighbor, I took saw in hand and cut the plant down.Butter@ly bushes also respond well to drastic pruning to keep them in boundsIt takes a little courage to prune a plant this radically, but the results can be quite beautiful.

Amaryllis cont'd from page 2About 5-8 weeks before you want your bulb to bloom, check to see if you need to repot the bulb. An amaryllis enjoys being pot-bound, and there is no need to re-pot unless the bulb is crowding the sides of the pot. Re-pot in a slightly larger container, if needed, leaving about two inches between the bulb and the edge of the pot. Begin watering sparingly and increase watering as the leaves appear.

You can plant an amaryllis bulb outside, but it will not survive hard winters. In Lubbock, it is best to treat it as a house plants. Be sure to leave the top third of the bulb exposed. Plant in a pot only slightly larger than the bulb. Be careful not to overwater while it is dormant, or the bulb will rot.

I enjoy forcing red amaryllis bulbs for Christmas. I like to start pink ones in January. That way I have a nice Valentine's present to myself! Intern Classes Start Jan. 30

Master Gardener classes for interns start Saturday Jan 30. Classes will be on the first and third Saturdays of the month, and fifth Saturday in April. Online classes will augment the classroom hours. Certified Master Gardeners can repeat classes for Continuing Eduction Units. Check with Vikram Baliga for a class schedule.

Master Gardeners are needed to mentor new interns for one-on-one connection. You do not have to attend the classes but helpful to come to at least one to connect with the intern you are mentoring. Call Empress Terrell and sign up to talk gardening to a new class intern. It looks like we will have 16 - 18 new interns.

Whatever !!Starting this month we are going to have a monthly column called Whatever.It will just be short blurbs about master gardeners anything you want to give away, sell, swap, stuff you are doing, places you are going sort of gossip meets classi@ieds -- you know . . . WHATEVER. Nothing is too dumb, too unimportant, too crazy. But, you have to send me your stuff. Email to cdavidsonforsure@aol.comStuff like:Dennis Howard has about 25 seedling peach trees he wants to give away. These are seeds from the trees in his yard which produce abundant sweet peaches. Variety unknown. Still in the ground. Contact him by phone at 806-787-3151 or email him at dkhoward8219@gmail.com. BRING POTS! Des Dunn has a new silver food truck. She and Lynne Murray will be serving gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade soups and chili and cookies from The Cheese Chicks truck at lunch spots and events around town. As of date this newsletter was done, they were at 5th and J from 11 - 2 on Mon. Tues. Wed. and Fri. Vikram Baliga and his wife, Alana, have a new baby boy. Bradley Joseph was both January 14, a whopping 8 pounds and 4 ounces.

Don't miss Des and Lynne at the "The Cheese Chicks" food trailer around town.

Autry and 30 Kids Clean Up This TownQuestion: When 30 kids from Sunset Church of Christ decided this summer to do their mission work locally, where did they go and what did they do?Answer: They did heavy landscaping such as pulling weeds, trimming trees, and cleaning trash and rubble here at Tent City," says Autry Freeman. Master Gardener and Link Ministries volunteer. "It sure gave me high hopes for our future as a community.They also helped weed and replant in the vegetable garden and power washed the day shelter barn, Autry added. They were hard workers and a pleasure to work with. Autry, who graduated in the 2013 master gardener class, works closely with the Tent City and High Cotton Projects for the homeless which are under the umbrella of Link Ministries. Link Ministries is a charitable organization which provides clothing, food, counseling, and shelter at their Tent City for the homeless here in Lubbock.Autry is also the creative, organizational and promotional force behind the recent Tent City Art Project which showcased art done by the homeless residents and displayed in the Texas Tech Main Street lobby gallery on the First Friday Art Trails each month.The art, sold at each First Friday, is a collaborative effort of members of Tent City residents and volunteers and features the talents of artists ranging in age from three to 70.One of them does copper wire wrapping sculptures, another has taught me about airbrush art, and everyone seems to remember at least one origami technique, Autry says.As Autry said in her interview with KCBD, When you come in with a bunch of markers and crayons and book pages and say, Lets draw,' I think a lot of peoples initial reaction is that it is silly. But once they kind of get into the process, its really fun to watch them enjoying that process.

Autry shows some of the art in the homeless project. "There were a lot of unique ideas that the Tent City residents used for making their art like junk mail and old book pages taking things that would normally be thrown away as trash, and making them into art."

Looking Back at 2015Our booth was at the Farmers Market on Buddy Holly Avenue on many Saturday Mornings.

Clair Jones, Coordinator for External Education, welcomes Jody Jones, speaker for the July meeting. He is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service here in Lubbock and gave an excellent idea of what the Lubbock staff of 24 does to predict tornadoes and weather here on the high plains.

Looking Back at 2015 January - February 2016

Jean Anne Stratton, our new president, left, and Autry Freeman,our new VP

We End 2015 With ABlowout BanquetNovember 3, 2015 was the big night for Master Gardeners. We ended our year, gave awards, and recognized our interns who had completed their hours as the newest Lubbock Master Gardeners.The Intern with the most hours was Dennis Howard with 245 hours.The Master Gardener with the most hours was Dale Shaw with 235.In 2015 the members had a total of 1, 448 hours and the interns had 3,035.Cecilia George was honored for her eight years as a board member. Two master gardeners were recognized formembership going back more than 20 years. Jean Anne Stratton was president in 1993 -- Karen Jackson in 1994.Interns who received their certi@icates were Marcia Abbott, Kristin Bingham, Kimberly Copeland, Betsey Heavner, Dennis Howard, Chai-Shian Kua, Michelle Lang, Aria Loter, Irene Mitchel, Sheela Noble, Anne Polk, Karen D. Silvas-Weston, Linda Slatton, Linda Strong, Dianna Thomas, and Mary Tibbit.One of the highlights of the night was a truth or lie game. Players were asked to submit two lies and one truth about themselves and members had to guess which was the true statement. We sure found out some fun facts about the people who are Master Gardeners. Who knew that Kimberly Copeland was born in the Bahamas, that Dennis Howard had partied hardy with ZZ Top, that Jean Anne Stratton could @ly a plane, or that Linda Slatton spent years in her body shop working on cars!Everybody took a break to enjoy the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and now it is business as usual in January.

New Master Gardeners fromthe 2015 Intern Class

Dennis HowardDiana Thomas

Anne Polk Aria Loter

L Looking Back at 2015 (cont'd) New Master Gardeners

Karen Silvas-Weston

Kristin Bingham

Linda SlattonLinda Strong

Marcia Abbott

Mary Tibbit

Michelle Lang

Sheela Noble

Betsy Heavener

Chai-Shian Kua Kimberly Copeland Irene Mitchell

Looking Back at 2015 (continued)

So Lubbock Master Gardeners put out $116,558 in volunteer hours in 2015.

"Show and Tell" -- A Fun Wayto End our 2015 Meetings

The October 6, 2015, meeting was a combination of great food, great fun and great information from our speaker Patrick Porter, Extension Entomologist, AgriLife Extension, who told us about the "Relative Toxicity of Some Common House and Garden Insecticides."

Lilla Jones had everybody's CEU and Volunteer hours ready for people to check.She reported that in 2015 we had 3,035 volunteer hours by interns and 1,448 hours by Master Gardeners. Vikram told us that the state values each hour at $26.

Jean Anne Stratton brought some strange looking cones that she had found on her tree roots and wanted to "show and have somebody tell her what the heck there were." Vickram Baliga told us that they are a Ganoderma Fungus -- something you do not want on your tree roots. To avoid make sure you don't let your yard stand in water.

Kimberly Copeland had a full basket of show offs including these great gourds. She had just returned from the International Master Gardener Conference in Council Bluffs Iowa. Over 750 Master Gardeners were at the event which was put on by Iowa and Nebraska master Gardeners. She also got this cool shirt at the convention.

Show and Tell (continued)

Dale Shaw showed off vegetables grown by Rush Elemenetary in their garden project.

Marcia Abbott showed off her photograhy of wild flowers and told us about seed information we can get from www.seedsource.com

Everybody brought goodies to share during the "Show and Tell." Anjali Rohra and Melba Block were pushing some great cookies.

San Angelo SymposiumLooking Back at 2015

Five Lubbock Master Gardeners headed down to San Angelo on Saturday, September 12, for the Concho Valley Master Gardeners Fall Landscaping Symposium.Barbara Robertson, Charlotte Davidson, Kimberly Copeland, Michelle Lang, and Arla Loter were there to hear Neil Sperry, syndicated garden columnist and TV and radio personality, talk on the Myths and Mystiques of Texas Gardening and Water-Conscious Landscaping.Other speakers were Cindy Burkhalter, Master Gardener and former aid in the operation of the Butter@ly House at Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg; Charles Floyd, retired teacher and a master bird bander; and Steve Lyons, meteorologist and former hurricane expert on the Weather Channel.

The Symposium was a sellout, Charlotte said. They cut it off at 200 attendees and had to turn people away. "The speakers were great and I learned a lot that had never been covered in other Master Gardener seminars or at the State Convention. For example, I didnt know that you if you want songbirds you should never put out feed or grain -- because they only eat insects. Grain just attracts grackles and doves. Good to know!Cindy Burkhalter covered How to Start and Maintain a Butter@ly Garden in the South. Steve Lyons talked on Weather and Gardens Taking Weather Away From Plant Growing Woes. Charles Floyds topic was Creating Mini-Habitats in Your Landscape for Desirable Songbirds.

Charlotte Davidson and Kimberly Copeland

Barbara Robertson, who used to live in San Angelo, met up with old friends who are Master Gardeners and showed off the fine tote bag each attendee got.

Michelle Lang and Arla Loter enjoy the box lunches on the library's beautiful roof deck.

Come on Master Gardeners send me your stories, story ideas, news, photos and blurbs for the "Whatever" column. If you don't want to write a story -- just send me the information and I will write it. Remember if you don't send me articles and stories -- I will probably just make up some!! -- Charlotte Davidson, editor

cdavidsonforsure@aol.com Cell: 615-512-2124