A Publication of the Howard County Master Gardeners

June 2013

From Georgia’s Desk

The last week in April was National

Volunteer Week, and that really was an appro-

priate time to say thank you to all of you who

dedicate time and effort to our programs. But

then, this week Linda Decker and I met with

folks from the Office on Environmental Sus-

tainability regarding the new stormwater util-

ity fee. I want to acknowledge Linda's

thoughtful message in this issue of Looseleaf,

and also let you know that I appreciate all her

work in regard to the Bay-Wise program, in-

cluding, and especially the fee.

We are fortunate that this program,

and all the other public educational efforts are

highly regarded by the Howard County com-

munity, AND HOWARD COUNTY GOV-

ERNMENT! So all these activities prod me to

share with you that many times I hear very posi-

tive comments from the community, County

government and Extension faculty and staff,

about the services you provide which reinforce

my gratitude and admiration for the reputation,

and high visibility you have earned within the

community. You are highly respected, and ap-

preciated.

Georgia Eacker

Master Gardener Coordinator

410-313-1913

geacker@umd.edu

University of Maryland Extension programs are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, gender, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, or national origin.

Educating People to Help Themselves

HOWARD COUNTY ∙ 3300 NORTH RIDGE ROAD, ∙SUITE 240, ELLICOTT CITY, MD 21043

HOWARD COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS ∙ (410) 313-2707 ∙ FAX (410) 313-2712

www.mastergardener.umd.edu/local/howard/index.cfm

LOOSELEAF

June 2013 Looseleaf 2 Howard County Master Gardeners

June 2013 Looseleaf 1 From Georgia’s Desk 3 Mt Pleasant 5 Conservation Stewardship 6 Bay-Wise

Suzette Holiday, MG, Editor webbrats@hotmail.com 410-903-6809

Please submit items for the July

Looseleaf by Thursday, June 6

About a year ago, I took a MG course advertised to learn

about Great Kids Farm in Catonsville. It was most of a day and had

people from the facility as well as teachers from Baltimore County

and Baltimore City to speak to us about the venture of growing

fresh fruits and vegetables to be used to augment school menus, to

provide healthy snacks, and to help some of the schools start a

school garden. Also, the facility hosts visits from many inner city

schools to demonstrate the workings of a small local farm to chil-

dren who have never seen a fresh carrot or beet.

I realized I was looking for a hands-on sort of teaching

mechanism to introduce kids to the wonders of gardening, the value

of good home-grown food, and to learn a little about farming. I

started volunteering at the Catonsville facility last fall and to date

have spoken to most grades of kids about everything from bee-

keeping to growing and using fresh veggies, to putting straw down

to mulch tender plants--on and on. I am having a great time and I

am only going right down Route 40--not a long haul. I feel we do a

lot to expose city kids to proper nutrition as well as give them a fun

and interesting field trip--won't you read the Great Kids Farm flyer

(on the last page of this newsletter) and think about joining me? All

hours volunteered count as MG volunteer hours.

Submitted by Anne Roy, MG 2007

Volunteer at Great Kids Farm

The annual plant sale benefitting Whipps Garden Cemetery was off to a busy start Friday, May 10. Photo-graph: William Deming.

June 2013 Looseleaf 3 Howard County Master Gardeners

Doings at the Howard County Conservancy at Mt. Pleasant

Our 2013 continuing education program continues with informative, energizing speakers. Each talk focuses on a different gardening aspect to drive your gardening knowledge to new heights. Mark your calendars; you won't want to miss a single program! All programs are at UME, Suite 240. Aromatherapy by Anne Roy MG Tuesday, June 11, 9:30 - 11:30 am Bay-Wise by Jim Caldwell, Howard County Stormwater Manager Tuesday, July 9, 9:30 - 11:30 am Succulents by Carrie Pirie, MG Tuesday, September 10, 9:30 - 11:30 am Plant Names by Janet Koles, Brookside Gardens Speaker

Tuesday, October 8, 9:30 - 11:30 am Bees by Carol Link MG Tuesday, November 12, 9:30 - 11:30 am

SUBMITTED BY KARIN DELAITSCH

Continuing Education Speakers for 2013

Continued cool nights have meant a slow start for

our warm-loving vegetables, but the cool season ones have

thrived. We started harvesting produce at the end of April

and contributed five pounds of produce to the Howard

County Food Bank by the first week of May. This month

we will put in the warm weather crops such as tomatoes,

peppers, squash and sweet potatoes. Our native plant polli-

nator beds are also thriving. Come work with us on Friday

mornings from 9:00-11:00 am and see what new and un-

usual vegetables we may have growing.

Tuesday Preschool Programs are back in June

from 10:00-11:30 am. June 4: Sounds and Songs of Sum-

mer, June 11: Summer Scent-sations, and June 18: Summer

Flare. These programs include a nature related craft, activ-

ity, nature walk, and story. Retired kindergarten teacher

Caroline Kosisky will be joining us again to lead these pre-

school classes! Parents, please plan to remain with your

child during the program. For ages 2 and up, $5/child. All

children must be registered in advance. Please log on to the

Conservancy’s website to register your child.

On Saturday, June 15, starting at 10:00 am, the pro-

gram is Take Your Children Fishing. This is a great Fa-

ther's Day weekend activity! No experience necessary.

Learn how to teach your children to fish and help them do

it! Children of all ability levels between the ages of 6 and 15

are welcome. Fishing regulations, ethics and safety will be

covered before fishing. This program will be led by Martha

Shaum from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources

and Woody Merkle from the Conservancy. Participants will

meet at Patapsco State Park's Lost Lake. "Lost Lake" is a

restricted fishing area. The cost is $5/child for bait and use

of rod and reel.

Monday, June 24, Weekly Summer Camps begin.

Then, on Thursday, June 27, from 6:00-9:00 pm, the pro-

gram is Fiddlers and Fireflies- Bring your family and pic-

nic dinner to the Conservancy as Fiddlers and Fireflies, one

of our most popular programs, returns this summer. As the

fireflies begin to flicker in the tall grasses around our

grounds, listen to Steve Hickman's band, great performers of

fiddle music who have electrified audiences for close to

thirty years. Children and adults alike will enjoy dancing

with the fiddles and the fireflies. Kids will also learn inter-

esting facts about fireflies and are invited to make a firefly

craft. Bring your own picnic blanket or chairs $10/car

Conservancy trails are open dawn to dust 7 days a

week, and the nature center is open Wednesday – Saturday

from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. Come out to hike the trails and

see what is currently in bloom on the property. Find addi-

tional information on upcoming activities on the website

(www.hcconservancy.org). BY JO ANN RUSSO, MG AND TABBY FIQUE, MG

June 2013 Looseleaf 4 Howard County Master Gardeners

Dawn broke and the air was soft. Slowly

across Howard County light after light pierced the

darkness and as the precious minutes passed, weap-

ons were chosen, vehicles were packed and one by

one the dedicated stalwart crew, faces tautly deter-

mined, wise and seasoned, headed into battle. The

Howard County Master Gardeners were going to

weed at Ft. McHenry once again.

The fun-loving, weed warriors who

came together on Friday, April 26,

were:

Barbara Smith

Clare Openshaw

Sharon Khoury

Rose Marie Meservey

Barb Polonsky

Katy Ekey

Joe (Tankman) DiGiovanni

Barb Langridge

We weeded the berms just past the

Visitor Center to the great entertain-

ment of astonished visitors who

walked by with curious and smiling

faces. Several groups stopped to

find out who we were and why we

were there. Families were over-

heard explaining to their children

that we were volunteers.

The battle lasted the usual one hour and fifteen min-

utes. Restaurant suggestions were exchanged, CSA

information was discussed, family stories were

shared. The weeds could only stand in awe of the

group's determination and friendly spirit.

We came, we saw, we weeded. We will weed again

another day and if you'd like to join this valiant

force, we'd love to have you. You probably know

some restaurants and hiking trails we haven't dis-

cussed yet! Watch for the email with the next weed-

ing date.

MGs 3...Weeds 0

BY BARB LANGRIDGE , MG

MG weed warriors at work.

June 2013 Looseleaf 5 Howard County Master Gardeners

Middle Patuxent Environmental Area Conservation Stewardship Project

As the photos show, Alison Milligan was a most

enthusiastic first-time participant in the first of this

year’s Spring ephemeral walk/work day. That gar-

lic mustard root she is holding might be the longest

I’ve seen in the many years of removing this plant,

but, admittedly, I haven’t really been watch-

ing. Happily, the amount of garlic mustard evident

seems to have dropped, attesting to our hard work

over the years. Alison was rewarded for her efforts

by posing amid the VA bluebells in a spot we’ve

visited repeatedly.

Unfortunately, two very unwelcome invasives,

lesser celandine and wavyleaf basketgrass, have

stealthily intruded on the scene. Both plants

spread like wildfire and control is difficult. I have

seen the former, which is small and ground hug-

ging, like a golden carpet (monoculture) stream-

side in the Patapso Valley State Park and in Rock

Creek Park, where Montgomery County recently

did massive spraying. It spreads by tiny bulblets

(like violets).

Wavy leaf basketgrass spreads by tiny burrs that

cling to clothing or animals (attention dog owners)

and hitch a ride to ―who knows where.‖ Please

get the details from the flyer on page 8 of this

newsletter, and plan to attend our June 25 event

when Dr. Vanessa Beauchamp will reveal a new,

exciting, and innovative development to enlist

public support in the wavy leaf basketgrass battle.

Dr. Beauchamp, Assistant Professor of Biology, in

Towson’s Dept. of Biological Sciences, will speak

about the ecology of this species and demonstrate

a new cell phone application specifically designed

to map wavyleaf basketgrass. Come with your

Android or iPhone smartphone or handheld GPS

and get ready to join this citizen-science initiative.

For more information on the mapping project you

can contact Dr. Beauchamp at

vbeauchamp@towson.edu.

BY AYLENE GARD, MG

Alison Milligan with contender for longest garlic mustard root pulled today. See, it's not all about loung-ing in a bluebell patch.

Alison amidst the VA bluebells on the Spring ephemeral walk. Photographs: Aylene Gard

June 2013 Looseleaf 6 Howard County Master Gardeners

With apologies to Kermit the Frog….‘It isn’t easy bein’ green.”

Once a Master Gardener only needed to dis-

pense advice on lawn care, selecting appropriate

plants, composting, vegetable gardening, dealing with

insects, planting trees, applying fertilizer, and diag-

nosing problems in the landscape …. Now we’re get-

ting questions about the storm water utility fee and

what can be done to lower it. Because storm water

management and proper fertilization have been at the

heart of the Bay-Wise program since its inception, we

have been in contact with the officials in Howard

County responsible for the program to stay informed

and to make sure they are aware of our programs.

We’d like to pass along our information.

Succinctly stated, the Storm Water issue is

this: When it rains, water accumulates on roads,

roofs and parking lots. These impervious surfaces pre-

vent the rain from soaking in to the soil, nature's

"green filter." Water runs off the impervious surfaces

through gutters and storm drains to the nearest stream

and it eventually finds its way into the Chesapeake

Bay.

Storm water carries contaminants including

nutrients, sediment, toxic metals, herbicides, and pes-

ticides. As impervious surfaces channel large quanti-

ties of rainwater into streams at high velocity, the run-

off wreaks havoc. The flow scours stream banks, de-

stabilizes stream contours, and alters depths. Loss of

tree cover and shallower streams results in warmer

water and destroyed habitat for small fish and am-

phibians.

In the Bay, eroded material and dirt from the

land become suspended in the water, blanketing

aquatic habitat. Nutrients and warmer water support

the growth of algae blooms. Together with sediment

they keep sunlight from reaching underwater grasses.

Decomposing algae and grasses deplete the bay of

oxygen creating ―dead zones‖. As these plants die,

the bay inhabitants that rely on them are imperiled.

Actions to restore the Chesapeake Bay:

Recognition of the fragility of the Bay ecosystem is

not new but after decades of slow progress in efforts

to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the U.S. Environ-

mental Protection Agency (EPA) set limits in 2010

known as Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) on

the amounts of nutrients and sediment that can enter

the Chesapeake Bay. Six states and the District of

Columbia were required to participate and submit a

Watershed Implementation Plan to the EPA demon-

strating how they will achieve their target pollution

reduction. All of the watershed states agreed to imple-

ment 60 percent of their Bay cleanup plans by 2017,

and 100 percent by 2025.

The Maryland plan calls for continued up-

grading of the state's sewage plants to limit nitrogen

discharge. To reduce pollution from agriculture, farm-

ers will be incented to plant cover crops to take up

excess nutrients in the soil and implement a variety of

other "best management practices." In suburban and

urban areas the focus is on treating polluted storm

water runoff. In 2010 the Maryland General Assem-

bly passed legislation requiring the ten largest juris-

dictions to impose a Storm Water Utility Fee to fund

projects that will allow those jurisdictions to meet the

standards set by the EPA and MD Dept. of Environ-

ment for reducing the nutrient and sediment load in

our waterways. Each jurisdiction was given the lati-

tude to determine their own formula for determining

the fee.

Howard County has chosen to base the fee on

the amount of impervious surface on each property;

that is, larger homes with longer driveways have more

impervious surface and therefore are deemed to con-

tribute more to the storm water problem unless steps

are taken to mitigate the runoff. The County Council

approved a fee of $15.00/year for each 500 square feet

of impervious surface. But, along with collecting the

fee, Howard County must also institute a program to

provide credits which reward property owners who

take steps to absorb runoff. A panel of experts is cur-

rently working to develop this program which should

be available in June of this year. Credits will be given

for ―Best Management Practices‖ that are measurable

and verifiable, for example rain gardens, rain barrels,

riparian buffers, permeable pavement, etc. A tool is

under development that property owners and evalua-

tors can use that will support the credit program.

Once we have more details we will share them with

you so that you may continue to be informed and an

asset to members of the community interested in how

they can reduce their overall impact on the watershed

and decrease their storm water utility fee.

BY LINDA DECKER BAY-WISE COMMITTEE

June 2013 Looseleaf 7 Howard County Master Gardeners

Penneywort—A Rare Find

Twenty-three spring ephemerals were

identified on the spring ephemeral walk of April

23, and an additional three on the May 2 follow-

up. Among them was a unique wildflower called

pennywort (Obolaria virginiaca), a delicate little

perennial bearing multiple clusters of bell-shaped,

white flowers that can often be overlooked in leaf

litter, until it achieves its 6-inch height. Techni-

cally pennywort stretches the definition of a

spring ephemeral

because it ap-

pears earlier, in

late February and

early March, and

there is some

evidence the

plant is depend-

ent on mycorrhi-

zal fungi for

nourishment.

While reading about this plant, I came

across the article ―The Hills Are Alive!‖ by Emily

Grafton in the West Virginia Wildlife Magazine.

She wrote the following:

“Most spring wildflowers produce fragrant nectar that attracts hun-dreds of species of flies, bees, ants and beetles. The nectar not only provides their food, but their pollen-doused feet insure that cross-fertilization and seed pro-duction will occur. Plants and in-sects of a given region have co-evolved and have become interde-pendent. Some plant species would not propagate if moved too far from the insect species that aids in its pollination.”

The last two sentences reinforce our emphasis on

the importance of native plants, keeping a balance

in nature, protecting the environment and being

good stewards of the land.

By AYLENE GARD, MG

Photograph courtesy of University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture

Sam Droege has stated ―Plant a tree, kill a bee.‖

Below is his clarification of this statement. It becomes dou-

bly important at this time for two reasons. The first, it's

spring and many of us are out designing/redesigning our gar-

dens, and planting, yes, trees. The second, our county is in

the midst of attempting to ameliorate negative influence on

our Chesapeake Bay via residential water run-off. Toward

that end the county is engaged in a 'stream releaf' program

through which they are offering twelve—yes again—trees to

eligible individuals.

If you already have a fair number of trees on your

property, do consider complementing your existing trees and

landscapes with native shrubs and native perennials. With

this approach we can help protect both our bees and our Bay.

'Plant a tree, kill a bee'

That comment has to do with several factors.

"In mature woodlands there is usually a lovely un-

derstory of spring blooming forbs and shrubs and a

few trees. After may all that blooming stops and

thus there are no bees in woods after May. Most bee

species occur in open habitats where they gather

pollen from a variety of field flowers.We are pretty

well off (in general) with protected woodlands. We,

however, are losing open meadows and open lands

in general and the types of plants they contain and

thus bees and other insects that like those habitats

are on the slide. People (mostly due to lack of guid-

ance) now plant any open land that is not going to be

used into trees rather than maintaining them as

meadows or do not mow or cut down trees periodi-

cally to maintain a meadow as a meadow instead of

a new tree lot. Thus, I actively try to dissuade people

from planting trees and encourage them to plant

flowering shrubs and perennials...and keep trees

from taking over parks that have meadows. If people

feel they have to plant a tree then I would favor the

lower growing fruiting trees or trees with obvious

spring blooms like willow, fringe tree, magnolias,

ilex, cherry, dogwood "

The Xerces Society would add Amelanchier

arborea (Downy Serviceberry) and Tilia americana

(Basswood, American Linden) to Sam's suggested

list.

BY CORLISS GLENNON, MG

Plant a Tree, Kill a Bee?

June 2013 Looseleaf 8 Howard County Master Gardeners

June 2013 Looseleaf 9 Howard County Master Gardeners

Do you have free time during week between the hours of 8-4? Do you love being outdoors with students?

Great Kids Farm may be the place for you!

Great Kids Farm is in need of out-going and fun-loving volunteers to assist with our year round educational pro-

gramming. We are a 33 acre outdoor learning laboratory that provides Baltimore City Public Schools’ stu-dents with hands-on, real world experiences. The Farm engages students from pre-kindergarten through graduation in programs that begin with experiential learning visits and culminate in career path-ways. More than two thousand City School students utilize the farm annually to connect classroom cur-riculum to the world around them through experiential learning. Great Kids Farm would not be able to pro-

vide these experiences to students without the generous donation of time and talent from volunteers like you!

As a volunteer, you would be responsible for leading small groups of students through scripted lessons and tours

of our grounds. Volunteers will be completely trained and prepared for every visit by the educator at Great Kids

Farm.

Qualifications:

Must be over 18 years of age

Have an open heart and love of children

Experience working with children (This does not have to be in a formal setting)

Experience or interest in gardening, agriculture, or the sciences

Possess enthusiasm for the outdoors and a tolerance of most weather conditions

Register with Baltimore City Public Schools as a volunteer and submit to a free background check and finger

printing

If you would like to become an educational volunteer with Great Kids Farm or for additional information, please contact Beth Mathie, Great Kids Farm educator at bmathie@bcps.k12.md.us or 410-744-1096

Great Kids Farm · Baltimore City Public Schools · 6601 Baltimore National Pike, Catonsville, MD 21228 www.greatkidsfarm.org · 410-744-1096