VOL. 9, NO. 5 The Univereity of Arizona Cooperative Extension MAY 1998

Cochise County Master Gardener

The University of Arizona and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating.

Garden Basics:Zones and Double

Duty Plants

Last mcKith I discussed Water-

Wise and Firescaping audits.This article will cover Mdiat zeris-

cape and defensive space zonesare and die plants di^ are bodiWaterWise and Firescape smart.

First let's discuss zones. In

zeriscape there are three zones.Zone 1 is the place closest to thehouse and is the mini oasis in

your landsc^. Potted plants, asmall lawn or water feature, andthirstier plants are typical in thisarea.

Zone 2 consists of low water use

plants that would (mly need anoccasional deep watering duringthe hot, dry months. This is agood area to use contouringtechniques such as berms to catchrainwater or installing a drip irrigation sj^tem.Zone 3 is dra transiticmal area,where plants that require litde orno supplemental irrigation areused. If you have any naturalvegetation and plants in this areaon your property-keep it. Sincethis is the zone furthermost from

the house and pr<feably least visited, die onphasis here is to useplants that can survive on rainfellalone.

In Firescaping there are fourzones.

The first is The Home Zone, 0to 6 feet. The goal is to prev^the spread of fire firom the structure to v^etation or v^etation tostructure. It is recommended that

all fuel sources from this zone be

removed. The objective is to landscape this zone with gravel, concrete, or left bare. Using lessflammable plants, small lawns,and flower beds are good choicesifthey are kept wellvs^ttered.The Yard Zone, 6 to 30 feet.The goal is to prevent a fire fircrnimoving firom grcnmd fuels tobrush or tree crowns and to slow

the rate offire spread. The objective is to eliminate fiiel ladders,limit litter layers to three inchesor less, removing dead materialsoff the ground and from plants,and pruning brandies of trees toat least 10-15 feet above theground.The Brush and Screen Zone, 30to 75 feet. The goal is to keqi awildland fire on the ground tonunimize intense burning anddamage to ov^story v^etation.

It is die primary zone for firesuppression. The objectives arethe same as the yard zone.And finally there is TheWoodland/Forest Zone, 75 to100 feet. The goal is to provideaspace where a fire will "cooldown, slow down, and stay on dieground" to maintain fire safety.Objectives are the same as tteyard zone to inclutfe creatingpatdiy landscaping, thinningtreesto 20 feet trunk spacing, and remember that the fuel reducticxa

zones increase for properties onridges and slqies.

As for plants, any succuloitplant such as ice plant, sedums,sempervivums, portulaca, pricklypear, barrel and hedgeht^ cactusare highly recommended for usein the home zone, being the mostfire resistant plants for firesc^-ing. Other WaterWise/Fir^cape-wise plants include desert marigold, globemallow, penstem(ai,desert willow, daleas, salvias, andthe Atriplex species, particularlyfourwing saltbush, wUch is veryfire resistant. There are dozens

more plants on both lists^4oo numerous to list here so I've listed

my fevorites!(continued on nextpage)

Cochise County Cooperative Extension1140 N. Colombo, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635(520) 458-8278, Ext 141

450 HaskeU, WiHcox, AZ 85643(520) 384-3594

Now for the "Risky Business"-these are the plants that are veryvolatile and should be avoided, ifpossible, in the h(»ne and yardzone for firesc^ing: Acacia,Cedar, Cyprus, Eucalyptus, Juniper, ornamental grasses. Pines,Carolina Jessamine, Bougainvillea,and berry vines.

Specie Thanks! to Cado Dailyand Mary Dalton for providingsource information. To receive an

audit contact Cado Daily, TheUniversity of Arizona CooperativeExtension, Water ConservationEducator, WaterWise Pr(^ram, at458-8278 ext. 141. Mary Dalton,Fire Prevention Technician, SierraVista Ranger District, CoronadoNational Forest, can be reached at378-0311. Visit the Home Fire

Protection website at ht^;/www.firewise.org/.

Cheri MeltonMaster Gardener/StaffWriter

> Deep water> Plant warm season crops> Check tree ties

> Control pests> Ccmtrolwe^s

{Controlling Weeds - a bulletinavailable from the CooperativeExtension)

Newsletter Staff:Carolyn GruenhagenCheri Melton

Virginia WesQrhal

Robert E. Call,Extension Agent, Horticulture

Page 2

Cuttings'N'

Clippings• Cochise County MasterGardeners Association meets thefirst Wednesday of each month inthe Mona Bishop Room of theSierra Vista Library at 5:00 pm.The May 6 speaker is John Miller,Ft. Huachuca Forester. All

certified Master Gardeners/ Train

ees are invited to attend.• The Sierra Vista Area

Gsudener's Club meets the thirdThursday of each month at 2:00pm at the Mona Bishop Room ofthe Sierra Vista Library. On May16 diey willhave a plant sale at theSierra Vista flea market and the

May 21 meeting will feature anE.M. Product demo.

• Park Naturalists at the SaguaroNational Park East Unit willconduct a leisurely one-mile DesertBird Walk on May 10 beginning at8:30 am. An Early Bird Breakfiistand Walk event is scheduled for

May 9 at 7:00 am. Participants areexpected to bring their own sackbreakfests. Longer, more vigorousSutuise Bird Hikes b^in at 6:00am cm May 2 and 16. Advancer^istration is recommended. Toregister or for further informaticm,call the Visitor Center at (520)733-5153. It is suggested thatwalkers bring water, binoculars,and a bird field guide.• If you cut the bottom out ofgallon-sized plastic milk jugs, dieymake excellent covers for smallgarden plants. They are transparentenough to admit sunlight. Removethe c^s to let in firesh air.>• If you have a large gardra, butnot a lot of time to we^ put twolayers of newspaper between yourrows. This keeps the weeds downand savesyou a lot oftime.

1998

Xeriscape GardenTour

sponsored byMaster Gardeners

&

Saturday, May 29:00 am to 1:00 pm

Three low-water use

landscape gardens and thenew Plant Science Center at

The University of ArizonaSierra Vista campus will be

on display in the Sierra Vistaarea. Guides will be at each

stop to describe thexeriscape plants and designs.

A plant sale will be held atthe Plant Science Center

9:00 am to 3:00 pm(this day only).

Tour maps are available fromthe Sierra Vista CooperativeExtension office, 1140 N.Colombo, through Fridayafternoon. On Saturdaymorning, after 9:00 am, theymay be picked up at thePlant Science Center.

Ttic Victual Sacucncc-

Native Plants

Master Gardeners advocate

landscaping with native plants.Since the spripg planting season isupon us, I thou^t it might be funt^s month to take a look at whatthe Web has to say aboutlandscaping widi natives.

What is a native plant? Forstarters, we can assert that nativeplants must be plants that grow"wild" but that's not the onlyrequirement. Some plants diat growin the wild are not native. A perfectexample in our area is Lehmann'slovegrass {Eragrostis lehman-niana) which grows profusely inthis area but is not native here. It is

a South Afncan plant that wasintroduced by cattlem^ less than100 years ago to provi(te rangegrass for catde. Since that time ithas become naturalized and spreadwidely, choking out some of thetrue natives. The standard

definitionof a native plant requiresnot only that the plant grownaturally in the wild but also that ithas not been introduced by humans... or at least so &r as we can tell.

Left to themselves, plants innature over generations migrateslowly ftom place to place toaccommodate themselves to changing environments. The slow pace ofthis migration means that the plantsbring their enemies along withthem—insects, diseases, andcompeting plants. When hiimansspeed up Ae process by transporting seeds or living plantsacross long distances, the enemiesusually get left behind.

One ofthe dangers of introducingexotic plants into an envircnunentisthat without natural enemies, theymay take over an area. Such plantsare said to be invasive. A good

example for those of you who havetraveled in the South is the kudzu

vine wiiich was brought fiomJapan in the late 1800's as anornamental. Finding itself in a^vorable environment and wiftiout

any natural enmies, kudzu hasspread a smothering, green mantletluoughout the South,covering 2 to4 million acres and killing entireforests. In additimi to killiiig offlocal vegetation, invasive exoticplants also destroy wildlife habitat.Less dramatic but a little closer tohome, is die pqiular ornamentalfountain grass (Pemesetum sp.)that naturalizes in our area and

often becomes a nuisance.

Fortunately, most of the plantsavailable fiom commercial nur

series do not threaten us with amassive kudzu-type invasion. Thisis because plants are carefiiUyscreened before diQ^ are placed inthe commercial trade. The greatestdangerof creating a green invasioncomes fi-om tte acddoital intro

duction of exotic species whenseeds orspores hitchh^ a ride intoan area or the deliberate introduction by people vsho travel toother areas and bring exotic plantsback with them. Althou^ thedanger of introducing an exoticpest is a good negative reason tostick with natives, there are somepositivereasmis as welt.

From the gardet^r's perspective,the best reason for landscapingwith native plants is that nativesrequire much less care andmaintenance than most non-natives.

Most of the non-native plants thatpeople attempt to grow are just notadapted to our soils and climate.Plants that are not used to die hightemperatures, low humidity, and

alkaline soils found here in CochiseCounty haveto be iKpt in botanicalequivdent of intensive care fortheir entire lives. This means thatthe gardener is constantly fightingwithnature to keepthe plants alive.Native plants have chosen this areato grow in because diey like thelocal envirorunent. They thrive inalkaline soils and have develtqiedmedianisms to deal with the heatand dryn^s.

Anofoer, more subjective, reastmfor choosirig native plants is thatthey look like they belong herevdiile many non-natives don't.Alpine vegetation looks goodin themountains and jungle plants lookgood in a rain forest but neith^look very good in Cochise County,Arizona. If you really like Uvinghere, w^ytry and make it lode likesomeplace else?

The last reason to go nativeis forthe animals that live in this area.They are ad^fted to the nativev^etadon which provides diemwith food, prol^on^ and nestingmaterials. If you like birds andother animals in your yard, plantnative.

If you are interested in thissubject and would like to learnmore, do a Web search on "nativeplants." My search on AltaVistagave more than 16,000 hits. Somespecific sites that I foundinteresting indude: www.nfw.org/nwfihabitats/workplace/natives,www.maxinet.com/gannour/ctq)s-ml2.htm,noumenon.cfo.(miu.edu/nmr/research/nativeplants.httnl,lgx.com/Native.Plants/, and www.flsun.com/wildlife/lookback.htm.

Another interesting site is theArizona Native Plant Society atwww.azstarnet.com/~anps/.

Happy surfing!

GaryA. Gruenhagen, Master Gardenergruenha@sinosa.com

ooooooooo

Page 3

The Agent'sObservations

^^^^^Last year my bermuda5S lawn seemed

yellow in the spring so^"• |̂nitr(^en fertilizer was

applied. The lawnlooked b^r but later in the

summer it looked yellow again.Nitrc^en was applied but fee lawnwas still yellow. Why did feespring applicationof nitrogenworicand fee summer ^plication didnot?

. 'Nitrogen is needed for^fest spring growth,

lipilron becomes less^^available in alkaline

" ^^Psoils as the seasonprogresses. Nitrr^en deficiencyshows up in older leaves feat ateyellow. Plants can break downnitrogencontainingconqroimds andmove it ufeere fee greatest need is,normally growing points, leavingolder tissues yellow. On fee otherhand iron is used by plants toproduce several conqioun^ including chlorophyll. Plants can notbroken down iron and moved it toother parts of fee of fee plant. Asfee growing season progressesalkaline soils bind iron and itbecomes less available. So new

leaves bec<»ne chlorotic. Ironchlorosis has visual symptoms ofgreen veins on new leaves but feeinterveinal spaces are yellow.Excessive watering can also causeiron chlorosis because soil oxygenpore space is filled wife water. Nooxygen-no root growth and little ifany iron uptake.Control: To correct iron deficiency, apply either ferrous sul

phate, ferrous ammonium sulphate,or a chelated iron source to feelawn following label directionswhen first symptoms appear.Chelates are more expensive butwill last longer than the otherproducts, which will need to beapplied more often. Usually two tofour ounces of product are appliedper 1,000 square feet. Mix theproduct wifeenoughwater to applyone to three gallons of water per1,000 square feet of lawn area.Spray fee lawn in the morningletting fee spray dry all day long.Water fee lawn before mowing.Excess iron spray will be stored infee soil and/or taken up by theturfgrass. Be careful not to stainconcrete areas wife the iron spray.Within a few days the turf shouldstart greeningup.

Mi^^SWhen my roses bkxanbrown and

i^^M»black petal edges and^' are deformed. Also fee

leaves are sticky.Some of fee leaves are covered

wife yellow spots mixed wife feegreen color of fee leaves. What iscausing these problems and whatcan I do?

^®ii^^Your roses have two,insect problems and a

-virus. The flower

I. \y] petals are brown or^^i^^^P^bladc because ofa verysmall insect called fee western

flower thrip, Franklirriellaoccidentalis (Pergande). Adultthrips are about 1/8", (2 mm), inlo)^ usually tan-to-dark brown-bodied, wife four feafeer likewings. The young or nymphs arecreamy white and wii^ess anddevelop into adults in about twoweeks. The adults enter a rose bud

and lay eggs inside fee immatureflower. The eggs hatch and feeresulting nynqihs aiui adults injurethe plantby rasping fee bud, flowerand leaf tissue of host plants andthen suck the exuding sap. Thiscauses petal tissue to die and results in brown or black petal edges,hrips also a£^ mfaer flower, finitand vegetable plants. Theseincludeapples and peaches which result insurfoce damage to the fhiit.Onions, sn^ beans, chrysan-feemiuns, gl^olus and iris arealso damaged by other thripsspecies. There have been manymore thrips the last couple ofyearsbecause of fee above normal

rainfell vfeich has provided abundant wildflower and weed crc^s forfee thrips to live oa and feusincreased populations. The otherinsect problm is aphids. Thesesmall insects are yellow to green incolor and sudc sap fi'omplants fliatthey infect. The "sugars" whichfeey do not metabolize are excretedand foil onto fee leaves of feeplant. This is fee sticky, shinysubstance that you see. S(»netimesants and flies will "milk" ^hidsfor this exudate and feed on it. So

ifants are spottedon plants there isa good chance feat aphids arepresent. The yellow marks mixedwife the green color ofthe leaves isa virus or a corrqrlex of severalviruses. The spott^ yellow-greenleaf color is known as mottling andis very symptomatic of viruses.These viruses generally do not killfee plant but can weaken it.Control: Several insects are predators of thrips and aphids. Theseinclude ladybird beetles and then-larva, minute pirate bug and lace-wings. Thrips have alternate hosts

(continued on nextpage)

Issued in flirthetanoe ofCooperative Extension woilc, acts May 8andJone 30,1914, incooperation with the United States Department ofAgriculture, James A. Qiristenson''̂ ^.Director, Coopmtive Extension, College ofAgriculture, The University ofArizcm and Arizona Counties cooppating. Hie University ofArizona College ofAgriculture isaiequal opportunity employer authorized toprovide research, educational information and other services only toindivi&als and institutions that function without regard tosex,race,religion, color,nationalorigin,age, VietnamEra Veteran'sstatus,or chsability.Theinformation givenherein is su{^liedwiththeunderstanding thatnodiscrimination is intended andno endorsement byCooperative Extension is implied.Anyproducts, services, or organizations that are mentioned, shown, or indirectly implied in thispublication donot inqilyendorsement bythe University of Arizona.

Page 4

of weeds and wildflowers. Bycontrolling host plants thnppopulations will be lowered.Because thrips do damage insidetherose buds a systemic insecticideshould be used. There are severalproducts on the market whichcontrol thrips and aphids system-icaUy. Sometimes disystox, asystemic insecticide, is included inrose fertilizer. Always follow labeldirections when applyingpesticides. To reduce the problemsof viruses in plants purchasevirus-indexed or certified virus fi:eeplants. Virus infected plants can bea source of infection that can betransmitted to healfey plants by^hids or other insects. Therefore,control the aphids and other insectsvectors to control the spread ofvirus diseases.

Source: Insect Pests of Farm,Garden and Orchard. 7th Ed. R.H. Davidson and W. F. Lyon. pp.305-6,311-12.

Robert E. CallExtensionAgent, Horticulture

Plant Science

Center-

An UpdateHas anyone seen the orange (now

feded to white) marking flags alongHighway 90to Benson? InJanuary1997, the Sierra Vista City Councillaunched a special task force tostudy thefeasibiUty ofdeveloping alocal plant sciaice research fecihtyto propagate and reintroduceendangered, threaten^ or rareplants. That group soon evolvedinto the current Plant SciencesTask Force, and began focusing itsefforts on an important initiative tosalvage native plants that wouldotherwise be lost to highway

widening and improvemoit projects. The orai^ flags are markingplants destined for the new PlantSciaice Carter, aflfectionatelyknown as the Plant Prison. Theseplants will be used to relandscapethose same roadsides and othermunicipal landscaping projects aswell. Located on ^ South side ofThe U. of A. Sierra Vista campusbuilding, the Center houses eightholding beds for cacti, agaves,yuccas, ocotillos, grasses and othaassorted salvaged plants. Alreadythe center has 61 barrel cacti{Ferrocactus wislizenii) and moretiian 100 grass plants includingbush muhly, Arizoia cottontop,black grama, and only 3 miles onone side of the road has beensalvaged!

The Center was built wifegenerous contributions fixnnvarious businesses and individuals.Materials wae supplied by theArizona Dq)aitment of Transportation, the City of Sierra Vistaprovided funding, approx. 14,000square fea of land was donated byThe University of Arizona SierraVista campus, Cathy Wertz ofChulo C^yon Seeds consulted,lots of leg work is still b^ doneby Jan (Jroth, De Lewis drives amean trencher and tractor, utilitypoles and electric installaticm weredonated bySSVEC, Valley Rentalsdonated machine time. Phew! Thelist could go on.

1 can't forget to mention ourHorticultural Teclmician-a nameyou are all femiliar witii-CheriMelton. We were very pleased tohave hired her, assuring the bestcare possible for plant survival.She is responsible for hardening offthe plants after they arrive, andgetting them ready to go back intothehot, harsh world! Cheri is fouruiat the center during the weektrimming roots andleaves, paintingsulfur solutions over the wounds to

guard against fungal rot, keepii^records of what came in and wtot'sgoing out and ofcourse oohing andahhing over all tire neat stuff thatcomes in.

Besides the aforonentionedrts, the center also has

Calliandra eriophylla (feirydusta), Ephedra sp. (Mormantea), Mammillaria gummifera(cream pincushion) which isUooming!, Echinocereus triglo-chldiatus (claret cup), Echinocereus pectinatus (rainbowcactus), Opuntia engelmanni andDasylirion wheeleri (desert spoon).

We're hoping that this salvagecenter will serve as an ocample forvdiat other projects can doinvolving the clearing of largetracts of land. The Carter alsoserves as an excellent educationalsite for viewing native vegetationwhich will help others with speciesidentiflcaticm. It is a source ofinformation on the success ofsalvaged plants, what size plantssurvive salvaging, how to care forthem while waiting transplant, andvdiat affect stress has on them.Alreatfy we are flndmg out that atype ofMiridae bug (called a plantbug-really!) is sucking the juicesand creating httle spots on theagaves!

Master Gardeners andTrainees, if you would like tovolunteer for Master Gardaierhours at the Center, please callCado Daily at 458-8278 ext. 141.

Cado DailyMaster Gardener/WaterWise

Pages

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURETHE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

TUCSON, ARIZONA 85721

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300

Portrait of a Parasite

The cowbird is a brood parasitethat lays its ^gs in the nests ofother birds. Molothrm ater, thebrown-headed cowbird, measuresseven and one half inches long. Themale has a metallic blackish-greenbody, darkbrown he^ with a finchlike bill. The female is grayish-brown with sl^t streaidng.Molothrus aeneus, the bronzedcowbird, is six to nine inches long,the male sporting a blackbody widia bronze sheen, has a larger billthan that of the brown-headed cowbird, and has a red eye. Femalespliunage is gray and she also has ared eye. Cowbirds area gregarious species that is often seen nuxedwith blackbirds. Due to the femaleandjuveniles dull streaked plumageand small size they can be often

mistaken for a House Finch orSparrow. Cowbirds do not buildtheir own nests or evai raise theirown young. The female, who matesseveral times in foe season. Maythrough August, isenable oflayingone e^ per day at tte peak of the

breeding season vfoich may translate into 30-40 nests parasitized.She finds a nest where ^s have already been laid and ofien r^ovesone of foe eggs and replaces it withher own. The young cowbird is usually foe first e^ to hatch, larger

BULK RATE

POSTAGE & FEES PAH)USDA

PERMIT No. G268

than foe other birds, therefore exhausting foe "host" parraits for itsfeeding routine and can crowd foenftstlings out of foe nest, perishingthem in the process.

Sheri Williamson, SoutheasternArizona Bird Observatory (SABO),Bisbee, suggests keeping cowbirdsfiom hanging around foe yard bytaking down bird feeders during thebreeding season or switching over toblack oil sunflower seeds vfoichcowbirds seem to dislike.Sources; SABO, (520)432-1388,

e-mail: sabo@SABO.org;Website: www.sabo.org,Smifosonian Migratory Bird Center-Fact Sheet No. 3,Gulfs Field Guide Series - A FieldGuide to Birdsofthe DesertSouthwest, Barbara L.Davis.

Cheri MeltonMaster Gardener/StaffWriter