Daily Sun Gardening Etcetera 4/9/11

HORTICULTURAL THERAPY
Loni Shapiro
Gardening, as most gardeners know, is a therapeutic experience. It’s the big reason most gardeners like to garden. Some claim necessity, such as growing food to save money. Others like to eat safer and better tasting food; however, all of them still enjoy nature doing its own thing. That joy is in part the reason that gardening is a form of therapy.

I saw the therapeutic effects of gardening while working in the gardens of the Olivia White Hospice Home for the last 7 years. The residents are brought into the gardens by their families or hospice volunteers. Sometimes, the gardens were soothing to the residents as they experienced the joys of nature: the sights, sounds, aroma, and touch of a garden. Other times, the gardens brought back pleasant memories or the enjoyment of actually working with plants and the soil. They’ve planted tomatoes, dug up potatoes, and started zinnias in their rooms.

A resident who had never gardened before learned how to plant tomatoes from her cart. Her face lit up with joy as she watched them grow. She came from a senior living home where she was active and socializing daily to a home where many residents were in their rooms and too sick to talk. She found happiness in the garden.

The gardens also help grieving family members to find peace, the staff to find needed respite from their work, and volunteer gardeners to reap the rewards of gardening as well as seeing the benefits to others.

Gardening as therapy is different from Horticultural Therapy (HT) which is an innovative treatment method used by trained horticultural therapists, using plants and gardening to improve the social, educational, psychological, and physical adjustments of an individual. As a healing element, it is used to help the lives of people disrupted by illness, trauma, injury, social, and economic problems and psychological and developmental disorders, as well as aging.

Horticultural therapists work in schools, nursing homes, prisons, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation centers, or hospices. One program I visited was a summer garden program in Colorado for developmentally delayed youth in middle school. They spent their summer growing food for themselves and a local shelter, gaining experience not only in gardening, but in providing for their community. Their pride and knowledge was evident as they showed me through the garden explaining how things grow and what their garden practices were. Many garden programs have also been initiated in prisons. Initial goals were to grow food, keep the inmates busy, and provide some work skills for reentry into society. The inmates also learned they could nurture, provide food for others, and gain self-esteem in their ability to carry out a job from start to finish.

There are several HT programs in Arizona. One of them is at a center for autistic children in Glendale. They have a greenhouse and a variety of outdoor plots they work. Several Horticultural Therapists on staff do programming. In Prescott a long time HTR, Pam Catlin, works in several programs. She has helped create a large garden for the residents of the Margaret T. Morris home for residents with Alzheimer. It has a long wandering path, raised beds, and many opportunities for sensory experiences. She also works in a local nursing home doing an intergenerational program for residents and a local grade school.

Last fall, I attended the National Horticultural Therapy Conference with participants from all over the world which was held at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, home to a large HT Program started by Gene Rothert, HTR. He has written several books about adapting gardens for those with physical limitations and created an amazingly large, adaptive garden within the CBG.
The conference and visit reinforced the healing effects of gardening for all of us, and the need to clarify what we call it. Therapeutic horticulture is what we all experience in gardening. Horticultural Therapy has the same benefits but is provided by a certified professional, using goals and measurements that help clients improve their health and quality of life. More information on Horticultural Therapy is available at the web site ahta.org.

Loni Shapiro, a Master Gardener and Occupational Therapist with training in Horticultural Therapy, will speak on Horticultural Therapy at the meeting of the Master Gardener Association this coming Thursday evening, April 13, 6:30 p.m., at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutherans Church. Dana Prom Smith (http:highcountgrygardener.blogspot.com), editor of GARDENING ETCETERA, can be reached at stpauls@npgcable.com

Arizona Native Plant Society - Flagstaff Chapter

AZNPS Monthly Talks and Field Trips

All talks begin at 7:00 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of the month in Room 328 of the Biology Building on the NAU campus (unless a room change comes about, which we will alert you to). Field trips normally are held the Sunday following the evening talks. Meet at 10:00 am at the Arizona State Credit Union parking lot, southwest corner of Beaver and Butler. Come prepared with sun protection, water, food, and a car or gas money for carpooling.

For information about the Flagstaff Chapter, contact Barb Phillips.

Tuesday, April 19: Jan Busco, “The Grand Canyon Visitor Center/Mather Point Vegetation Project.”
Grand Canyon National Park Vegetation Program Horticulturist Jan Busco will talk about Grand Canyon National Park’s ambitious project to create a world-class experience at Mather Point, the most-visited place in this World Heritage Site. Find out how the park works to preserve native vegetation, follow the Vegetation Program staff and program volunteers through planning, surveying, salvage, plant propagation, planting and project maintenance, and find out about how you can participate as a volunteer to continue caring for and sharing this amazing site with visitors from around the world.

The Amphitheatre is one component of ongoing work at Grand Canyon National Park’s Mather Point that Jan Busco will discuss on Tuesday, April 19. (Photo submitted by Jan Busco)



Saturday, April 23: Grand Canyon Restoration Ecology Tour
Join Grand Canyon National Park’s Horticulturist Jan Busco for a fun-filled day touring a few of the park’s vegetation program highlights. We will see the Native Plant Nursery and the Endangered sentry-milk vetch (Astragalus cremnophylax ) ex situ population in the new passive solar greenhouse; visit the sentry milk-vetch disturbed lands restoration site and explore the new Mather Point/Grand Canyon Visitor Center improvements where over 20,000 salvaged and nursery propagated plants have been planted to date. Plan to bring a picnic lunch to be enjoyed at one of the new canyon view picnic areas at Mather Point. Please RSVP to Janice_Busco@nps.gov, 928 638-7782.

Flying M Ranch Seeking Volunteers

Flying M Ranch is seeking volunteers!

Saturday, April 9 & Sunday, April 10
9am to 4pm
Lunch included as a thanks for helping the Flying M!

The Flying M Ranch is seeking volunteers wishing to learn about high desert gardening and its challenges while helping a local farm prepare for the season ahead. The Flying M plans to expand its current growing space with the introduction of lasagna gardening. This practical method of gardening is growing ever more popular for its incredible increase in soil bounty and can be used in all soil types to improve quality and yield. Come help the Flying M and learn the secrets of creating a bountiful garden in your space. Work will include digging, rock removal and wheelbarrow use.

For more info, directions, or to RSVP please email alifleck3@gmail.com

Hattie Braun
University of Arizona
Master Gardener Program Coordinator
Coconino County Cooperative Extension
2304 N. 3rd St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86004

Phone: 928-774-1868 x 170
FAX: 928-774-1860

Garden Column from the Daily Sun 4/2/11

A GARDEN AS A USED CAR
Dana Prom Smith

Approaching my 85th year, I’ve been thinking about growing old, especially after receiving an invitation to my 60th college class reunion. Old age took me by surprise. It’s something like that used car I bought when I was in high school. A 1929 Model-A Ford Coupe, it had no floor boards and was sans a right front fender; however, it had a rumble seat. It ran, but something always needed fixing.

Since we never look back on old age and there’s no future to it, I’ve become an existentialist. Everything is now. Given the alternative, I’m grateful for my creaky knee, arthritis, left-leaning, friendly-fire hole in my back, slightly damaged ticker, and Selma-gifted, racked-up left shoulder. Alive in good health, I always need fixing.

All of this is like a garden. Something always needs fixing. Two fixable problems are aphids and grasshoppers. Anyone who doesn’t believe in the existence of demons has never dealt with grasshoppers and aphids. Evil is random. It doesn’t make sense. We’ve all suffered for our sins and stupidities, but with evil there’s no quid pro quo. Random, demonic forces strike without reason. We ask, “Why me?” A bit paranoia helps.

However, we can strike back! NoLo bait spread throughout the garden before the grasshopper larvae hatch in early spring will lay waste grasshoppers; not instantaneously, but gradually; not merely over the season, but throughout the years. NoLo is a targeted weapon, sparing everything else, including human beings. It’s an eco-healthy malaise. Cannibals, grasshoppers eat their own who’ve fallen with NoLo, ingesting their fallen comrades’ NoLo. It’s an affliction that keeps on afflicting.

Actually, the grasshoppers aren’t attracted to the NoLo but to the wheat bran in which it is served, something like cyanide in lemonade.

Also, we’ve an ally in a fellow flesh-eating predator, the praying mantis, who could well be called the preying mantis. Waiting in ambush, when a grasshopper comes close, our friend grabs it with spiked forelegs and devours it with a gluttonous lust. An asymmetrical warrior, it’s adept at camouflage, looking for all the world like a leaf.

Praying mantises are mercenaries. They can be bought and sent into battle to devour the demonic. If gardeners are fleet of foot and swift of limb, they can grab a grasshopper in flight, squeeze it, feel the crunch of death, and then wash off the green residue. I, for one, prefer the mercenaries.

Next in our demonic litany is the aphid, an icky, soft-bodied, foul-looking manifestation of evil. It lies in wait underneath leaves, sucking out their life-juices and then emitting at the end of its alimentary canal sweet offal, favored by ants. As a matter of fact, ants farm aphids just to eat this gooey mess, commonly called honeydew.

Aphids signal their presence by yellowing, curled leaves and a plant’s withered death. Also, if they overgraze, they produce flying aphids, clouds of them, which spread to trees like aspen and drop their honeydew on cars, fouling the finish.

Initially counter-attack with a hose, nozzle attached and turned down, washing off the buggers underneath the leaves, sending them to a watery grave. If that fails after a couple of tries, then it’s time to use insecticidal soap, again blasting away at the leaves’ underside. Generally, one time doesn’t do it, the conflict being a war of attrition, wearing the bastard’s down. Also, if there are aspens in the yard, spray them, too.

Of course, we have allies, chief amongst who are lady bugs, green lacewings, and parasitic wasps, all of whom like to dine on aphids. Lady bugs can be purchased from local commercial nurseries but are best sent into battle in the evening hours, lest they fly away. Fickle, the best thing to do is provide them with an attractive bivouac, buying their loyalty by planting sweet clover, spearmint, sweet fennel, and Queen Anne’s lace, their favored confections.

As our gardens age, be grateful. They’ll always need fixing along with the rest of us. This means fighting the good fight, finishing the race, keeping the faith, persevering therein to the end, and laying waste the demons.

Copyright © Dana Prom Smith 2011

Dana Prom Smith (http://highcountrygardener.blogspot.com), a Master Gardener, is the editor of GARDENING ETCETERA and can be reached at stpauls@npgcable.com.

Warner's Update

Watch for Warner's gardening and cooking seminars throughout the spring on the calendar. Stop by the nursery and meet the 2 new 4-legged employees - Cruiser (a black and white feline) and Pancho Bob (an elusive white cat with a large tail). They are still kittens in training for their work and sometimes difficult to find but worth the effort.

If you are itching to get started with gardening they have lots of new seeds and material to get them started.

Enjoy!

1st Friday Art Walk Fundraiser for Olivia White Gardens

The Flagstaff Leadership Program has chosen the Olivia White Hospice Garden as their project for 2011. They will be spending a workday in the garden, helping us to get the garden started for the season in April.

In addition they will be doing a fundraiser for us on 4/1 in conjunction with First Friday Art Walk in the courtyard in front of Rainbow’s End, Black Bean, Flag Brewery, etc. There will be music at Rainbow’s End, which is always packed full of people in that small space. There may be music on the outdoor stage at Flag Brew. They will have members of the class at each of the businesses, with OWH brochures and a donation jar. The members will solicit funds and the amount gathered will be matched by the businesses up to a certain amount (which has not yet been determined).

Please come and join in the fun while supporting the gardens at Olivia White.

Loni Shapiro
Volunteer Garden Coordinator
Olivia White Hospice Home

Gardening Column from the Daily Sun 3/26/11

LATIN NAMES FOR PLANTS
Susan Lamb

I remember how bored I was in Latin class, gazing out the window at birds chirping in the trees. I’d been persuaded that Latin would come in handy for its own sake but also as the basis for lovelier languages. True on both counts, but sing-songy grammatical drills and readings from pompous elders of the Roman Republic seemed awfully irrelevant at the time. Biology class was much the same in those days: studying life sciences meant rote-learning of taxonomic terms and performing ghastly dissections. I didn’t see a connection between either of the subjects and the real world that called to me from outside that window.

But life has a funny way of creating connections, of tapping all our experiences and yearnings to assemble the creatures we eventually become. I thought I’d left those rigid disciplines behind when I joined the National Park Service but failed to consider how interpreting the natural world would bring me face to face with my old adversaries: Latin and Life Sciences.

I resisted them at first, preferring folklore to facts and stubbornly refusing to learn the Latin names of plants. Of course, this couldn’t last. Simple curiosity and the urge to do my job properly soon had me reading books and magazine articles about scientific discoveries and learning Latin names.

A world of wonders unfolded! Scientists now have the most remarkable tools to observe the infinite forms and behaviors with which life expresses itself, and they describe much of what they learn using the Latin vocabulary. There are so many stories in those clickety-clack names as well as puns, tributes, geography lessons, pharmacological tips, rapturous descriptions, and most of all, connections.

People everywhere have always given interesting “common” names to local plants they use for medicine, food, and ceremonies. In western culture, it was Greek philosophers who began to organize the known world systematically. Romans adapted Greek names into Latin forms that persisted in medieval texts about herbal remedies. During the Age of Exploration, scholars continued to use Latin in their efforts to organize the flood of unfamiliar plants and animals brought back to Europe.

In 1757 the Swedish physician Carl Linnaeus conceived the system still in use today. Linnaeus’ father was first in his family to adopt a last name, Latinizing a word from his local dialect for a giant linden tree on his land. Carl used Latin names to classify plants and animals according to what he thought were family resemblances. (With the advent of DNA analysis, science is now in the process of revising the Latin names of plants using genetics instead of flower shapes.) For instance, Linnaeus placed milkweeds — a group of plants with similar flowers and potent chemistry — into the family Asclepiadaceae, a Latinized name for Aesculpius, the Greek god of medicine.

Linnaeus further divided families into groups called genera (think “generic”), based on even closer similarities in flower anatomy. He modified each genus name with a species (“specific”) name to distinguish between closely-related plants, resulting in our binomial system of paired names such as Valeriana arizonica. Valeriana is from valere which means “health” in Latin, for the plant’s tranquilizing properties later synthesized as Valium. The species name arizonica means “of Arizona” because this sweet little pale pink shade lover is a local native.
“All rootedness is learning to call things by their right name,” Confucius. Instead of spending six years majoring in Greek and Latin, it’s much easier now to discover the meaning and derivations of plant names in The Names of Plants by David Gledhill and websites such as Calflora.net/botanicalnames/.
Try it yourself! Look up Calochortus nuttalli, the Latin binomial for sego lily. You will learn that the genus of this member of Liliaceae — the Lily Family — means “beautiful grass” (a description of its leaves) and that it was named for the English botanist Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859), who ventured into the wild American West to collect plants. Voyageurs who accompanied Nuttall described him as “some whimsical kind of madman” who used his rifle to dig up plants and store seeds. You’ll never see a sego lily the same way again.
Susan Lamb is a local writer and naturalist (www.susanlamb.net). Dana Prom Smith is the coordinating editor of the column. He can be contacted at stpauls@npgcable.com.

Gardening Column from the Daily Sun

Whetting the Penstemon Appetite

CINDY MURRAY Master Gardener | Posted: Saturday, March 19, 2011

My neighbor, Judah, one a blustery June afternoon asked me, "Cindy, what're all those tall pink flowers growing in your front yard?"
"Oh yes, they're my Palmer's Penstemons."
"Oh, that's what they're called! Could you spare a few plants?"
I said, "Sure. Come on down. We'll dig up a few."
Penstemons have a way of doing that to a person. Once people see these seemingly delicate beauties, they want to grow some for themselves.
Penstemon is a genus of perennial wildflowers composed of 250 species endemic to North America with the highest concentration growing in the Four Corners area. Arizona boasts over thirty native Penstemon species, many of which grow in the Flagstaff area. The name, Penstemon, comes from the Greek pente meaning five and stemon meaning thread, referring to a filament-like and sterile fifth stamen. Since the sterile stamen is hairy and hangs out of the bilaterally symmetrical tubular flower, Penstemons are sometimes dubbed "beardtongues." Most are hummingbird magnets.
Penstemon blossoms may be delicately beautiful, but the plants can be tough as nails. Jennifer Temkin of Flagstaff Native Plant and Seed says, "Penstemons generally prefer full sun and dry soil. They don't like wet feet." Additionally, they're best left to their own devices-too much fertilizer or mulch will shorten their normal several-year lifespan.
One of the first wildflowers to herald in the summer season is the Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon strictus). Don't let the name fool you -- it's native to our region and you can't miss it. Sporting deep purple, slender flowers on 2- to 3-foot stalks, it thrives on gravelly roadsides, ponderosa forests, and open meadows. Its dark green foliage stays lush all winter.
Another early bloomer is the imposing Palmer's penstemon (Penstemon palmeri). Its inflorescence consists of a 2- to 7-foot stalk bearing pale pink flowers. The Palmer's blossom consists of a uniquely large, bulbous tube with two small upper lobes and three rounded lower lobes. This provides the perfect landing platform for a prime pollinator, the bumblebee. Judah says her favorite thing about Palmer's is the exquisite fragrance, a rare attribute in the genus.
At the opposite end of the size spectrum are the diminutive pineleaf Penstemon (Penstemon pinifolius) and narrowleaf Penstemon (Penstemon linarioides). Both form compact clumps less than 15 inches tall. Pineleaf is noted for its narrowly tubular crimson flowers and bright green needlelike leaves. Narrowleaf has lavender flowers and tiny linear leaves. They're great specimens for rock and fairy gardens.
Growing throughout ponderosa pine forests and roadsides all over northern Arizona is the beardlip penstemon (Penstemon barbatus). Its tall spikes hold dense clusters of drooping vermilion flowers. Beardlips are more tolerant of shade and moisture than the average penstemon.
My most prized penstemon is the Sunset Crater penstemon (Penstemon clutei). In the wild, it's geographically restricted to the cinder fields of Sunset Crater National Monument. At first glance, you might confuse it with Palmer's, but the stalks are much shorter and the blooms are a deeper pink. Although rare, this penstemon is not difficult to grow. Mine thrive along the edge of the gravelly ditch at the front of my property. As with others of the genus, I deadhead regularly to encourage new flower stalks throughout the summer and into the fall.
Because Penstemons typically take two years to flower, propagation by seed calls for a bit of patience. Temkin says penstemon seeds also require a cold treatment, which is simple: to simulate a winter's exposure to cold, mix sand or perlite with the seeds in a ziplock bag and add enough water to make the mixture moist. Put it in the refrigerator for one to three months. Once the ground has warmed in the spring, stomp the mixture into the soil. Water regularly until the monsoon kicks in. Of course, you can avoid all this by purchasing plants at a nursery, but not all varieties are always available.
The list of penstemon species that thrive in the high country is too long to address here, but hopefully, this introduction will whet your appetite. You may even become one along with me and Judah, a "Penstemaniac."

Cindy Murray, a biologist and substitute elementary teacher, is a Master Gardener. Dana Prom Smith, editor of the gardening column, can be contacted at stpauls@npgcable.com.

Coconino Master Gardener Assoc. Meeting Minutes 3/10/11

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
1601 N. San Francisco
6:30pm – 8:30pm

Attending: Linda & Ted Neff Mast, Faith Brittain, Tess Wymore, Ed Skiba, Polly Velie, Carolyn Larson, Jeff Best, Beth Tucker, Rebecca Moore, Mathew Moore, Juanita Gillis, Paul & Julie Lambert, Irene Matthews, Sandy Bayes, Susan Thompson, Linda Guarino, Loni Shapiro, Crystal Wells, Ann Eagan, Liz Taylor, Rebecca Rosemon, Pam Koch, Andrea & Galen Gurerette, Leslie Penick, Beth Dykstra, Mary Latu, Linda Moriarity, Bob Corrigan, Debbie Shepard

6:30pm-6:40pm Welcome – Agenda Jim Mast
Brief review of agenda for the evening
Beth Tucker, the Director of the Extension announced that Jim Mast has been named the Extensionist of the Year.
Introduction of speaker

6:40pm-7:30pm Continuing Education
Chaa Organic Farm in Belize
Linda Neff, anthropologist
Linda and her husband have traveled to Belize for two years to do research and work on a farm/resort. They have farmed, and looked at the Mayan culture and their farm practices in this area. Much of the farming was done with terraces and rock walls. Stone tools, rock walls, and cultural remains tell the history. The area they visited is now a farm/resort, with the farm supplying the food for the resort. They went there as part of the Foothill Belize Program from a community college in northern California (Los Altos) and will be returning again in June of this year for the 3rd time. They will be working with other young students at the farm. The Neff’s focus is also on anthropology. The remainder of the talk was about what they looked at – cultural practices, gardening methods, mapping the area, soils, selection of plants and methods, climate effects, and this year they will focus more on plant inventories.

7:30pm-7:45pm Refreshments
Thank you to Andrea and Galen Guerrette

7:45pm - 8:30pm Business Meeting – Jim Mast
7:45pm – 8:00pm Overview of recent Executive Meeting – Jim Mast
Bylaws – changes briefly reviewed and approved by the association. New version of the bylaws will be on the blog if anyone wants a copy.
Volunteer vs. Education hours document – Crys Wells reviewed the document outlining guidelines for recording volunteer and education hours. It is also posted on the blog. The main point was that Volunteer hours require you be doing something (does not have to mean hands in the dirt) and Education requires to attend some kind of educational program (not just reading your favorite garden seed catalog). Volunteers can help with planning and other work required by the Association or Extension. Educational opportunities abound this spring check out the agenda or the blog.
Volunteer hours for February 42.25/YTD 106.75
Calendar – Loni Shapiro went over the calendar photo contest requirements and urged people to get their photos in. We have only received photos from one MG thus far. The deadline is May 4.
Historian & need for photographer – Val Bryant is the historian and we are looking for a photographer. Several people offered association photos – Ed Skiba, Andrea Guerrette. If you have any send them to Loni. If you would like to become our official photographer contact Loni.
Finance Update – Ed Skiba & Jim Mast
Fundraising/Banking/Use of funds collected/new committee –
Ed reports more than $1200 now in savings for the association. These funds are used for paying for our venue ($250 per year), office costs, fundraising costs, and misc items. Other possibilities could be MG projects, conferences, scholarships to the MG program, MG University and the Intnl MG Conference. A committee needs to be formed to decide priorities for raising funds and what they should be spent on. If you are interested in chairing this committee or participating contact one of the officers or come to our next Executive Meeting on April 7, at 7am, at About Coffee.

8:00pm – 8:20pm Committee Reports:
Continuing Education – Dana Prom Smith (see schedule)
Community Programs
Home Show update Hattie Braun & Faith Brittain. Meeting was held following our regular business meeting to plan final details. The schedule for talks was circulated among those attending and is now posted on the blog.
Coordination of MG Projects – Linda Guarino
The latest list of MG projects is posted on the blog and includes Jan Busco’s projects at the Grand Canyon.
Volunteer Support/Social – Hattie Braun/Crys Wells
Membership Cards - Crys Wells passed out the new membership cards which include discounts for a variety of nurseries. The details are posted on the back of the cards. Members are encouraged to wear badges to meetings so all can get to know each other.

8:20pm – 8:30pm Garden questions?
Russian Olive seeds – What kind of birds eat? Grosbeaks and maybe others.
Discussion about tree – pros vs. cons, flowers, seeds (sweet), etc.
Okra – Any ideas about growing in Flagstaff? Needs protection at this elevation – longer season – not sure of varieties.
Loppers – Are they useful? Some use, but require good arm strength/vision.Faith willing to loan to try.
Dalhia – When can I move? – Maybe dead from cold winter, if not as soon as the soil an be worked. Ed reports his survive outdoors in a protected area near rock.

Next meeting: April 14, 2011
Shepherd of the Hills Church
1601 N. San Francisco
Therapeutic Horticulture vs. Horticultural Therapy
Loni Shapiro

Flagstaff Home & Garden Show

The Coconino MG Association is participating in this years Home & Garden show which will be from March 25th through the 27th. Because of remodeling at the Snow Dome it will be at the old K-Mart store on 4th street. The Association will have a variety of garden talks over the 3 days. Please check this link for the current schedule.
Link

Come visit our booth or stop by for one of the talks. The talks will qualify for continuing education for yearly certification.

Loni Shapiro
Secretary
Master Gardener Association