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Many exciting things are happening in the MG program. In fact, President Obama and Ag Secretary Vilsack recently visited a Henry County MG on her farm. Iowa MGs are teaming up with 4-Hers to grow food. A new Summer Webinar Series (see below) is planned. At the national level, a new MG blog was just launched with contributions from state MG program coordinators - watch for a contribution from Iowa in mid-July. Finally, please encourage Extension staff to post all of the exciting upcoming MG activities in your county on the ISU Extension Calendar. |
MG Highlight of the Month
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| Patricia Stutzman in a Lauritzen Gardens greenhouse. Image credit: Lauritzen Gardens
 | Patricia Stutzman, MG in West Pottawattamie
County since 2008, has volunteered many hours at Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha's Botanical Center. Jane Diesen, volunteer coordinator at the Lauritzen Gardens says,
"Patricia Stutzman truly is a rock to our greenhouse staff and volunteer crew
and comes with so much knowledge." Patricia has nearly 2000 volunteer
hours on record at Lauritzen Gardens since beginning in 2005 as a volunteer.
Diesen says most weekdays you will find Lauritzen Garden volunteers
along with MG volunteers helping in the greenhouses. "We at
Lauritzen Gardens support the Master Gardener programs both in Iowa and
Nebraska; going through the training is like taking a year's worth of
university studies" states Diesen. During the Spring into Spring festival, Lauritzen Gardens has an Ask the Master Gardener Table. We
appreciate all MGs such as Patricia Stutzman and their many hours
of service. -Rachel Summy, ISU Extension
in West Pottawattamie County
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Emerald Ash Borer in Iowa
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|  In mid-May, Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) arrived in Iowa. See the official ISU news release with an excellent 2.5 minute video for more details. Additionally, the ISU publication Emerald Ash Borer Management Options PM2084 is available.
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| ISU Home Demonstration Field Days
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Mark
your calendars for the 2010 Home Demonstration Garden Field Days! There
are several field days scheduled across the state at different ISU Research and
Demonstration Farms. Themes this year include: a giant pumpkin contest; a
compost trial; a blooming quilt block; eggplants; and other new or unusual
flowers and vegetables. Come join us in the garden!
Date Time Farm/Location
July
27 6:00pm Rock Rapids County Fair
July
28 6:30pm Armstrong/Lewis
Aug 7 4:00pm Northeast/Nashua
Aug 9 6:30pm Muscatine/Fruitland
Aug
10 6:30pm Northern/Kanawha
Aug
11 6:30pm Hort. Station/Gilbert
-Cindy Haynes, Associate Professor, ISU
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Hosta Awareness
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| HVX-infected hosta (left) vs. healthy (right)
 | While Hosta virus X (HVX) may sound like a nasty computer
virus, it's actually a virus
of the most beloved shade plant of gardeners - the hosta. HVX-infected plants can be
symptom free, or the leaves can appear twisted, puckered, have unusual color
variations and spotting. Some hosta
aficionados may actually like these unusual looking plants, but you don't want this disease in your garden. HVX is transmitted when plant sap from infected plants are mingled with sap from healthy plants.
Therefore, gardeners must take special care when dividing hostas. See ISU publications SUL 14 and PM 1594 for more information or contact the ISU Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic for help with diagnosis. -Robin Pruisner, State Entomologist, IDALS
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Seeking Potential Trees for Thousand Cankers Survey
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| USDA Forest Service specialists, in cooperation with state agency
specialists, plan to conduct a targeted survey of black walnut and pecan trees with
reported occurrence of trees exhibiting unexplained dieback in the their
crowns. Samples will be collected from >2 in. diameter branches from
affected trees. Insects and fungi associated with the symptomatic branches will
be identified. The geographic focus of the survey will be states on the western
edge of the range of black walnut (Juglans nigra), including Iowa. If you know of a plantation, stand (particularly in a riparian area), urban
and community forest, or roadway setting with trees meeting these criteria and
think they would be good candidate trees for the survey, would you consider
supplying the information to us? Please complete the online form. Your interest and cooperation is much appreciated! -Jill R. Johnson, US Forest Service
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| MG Educational Opportunities
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| NEW! Summer Webinar Series: Gardening Green 2010 brought to you by ISU Extension. Webcasts will be on the fourth Tuesday of each summer month and include topics on green roofs, organic gardening, and rain gardens. Ask your Extension Office about local participation.
The 2010 Wisconsin MG Conference will be in
Sheboygan, WI, on July 23-24.
The 2nd annual All Horticulture Field Day will be at the ISU Horticulture Research Station in Gilbert, IA, on July 29th.
The 2010 Upper Midwest MG Conference is a regional conference just for MGs. This year it will be in Rockford, IL, on September 16-18. Registration starts June 1!
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Image of the Month
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| Image credit: Ron Reed, MG in Polk County
Garden credit: ISU Polk County Master Gardeners at the Demonstration Garden in Urbandale.
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MG Advisory Committee
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| The state MG Advisory Committee had a biannual meeting in late April to
discuss MG programming. Committee members are MGs, MG Coordinators, and ISU faculty and staff. Highlights of the meeting include reviving the MG Summer
Session in 2011, reviewing the recent MG program updates described in
the May 2010 newsletter, and deciding preliminary
details about Fall MG Training.
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