The Master Gardener program began in the 1970's in response to the many gardening questions that resulted from the rapidly increasing level of interest in home gardening. The idea was to train knowledgeable gardener volunteers to help University Extension staff deliver home gardening information to the public.

Our local Master Gardeners are able to build on their interests and acquire greater expertise through the resources available through the Extension Service and the University of Missouri.

University of Missouri Extension provides equal opportunity to all participants in extension programs and activities, and for all employees and applicants for employment on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without discrimination on the basis of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or status as a protected veteran.

Hickory County Master Gardeners recommend contacting your local Extension Service for more complete plant and growing information and how to become a Master Gardener.

Meetings are reserved for Master Gardener members, but community programs hosted by the Master Gardeners are public events and will be announced in the local newspaper.

As of 12/31/2014, this blog will no longer post new articles. It will remain active as an archive. Please use the tools available in the right column to search for information and source links provided in previous articles.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://extension.missouri.edu/ and http://mg.missouri.edu/.


Attracting Hummingbirds

Welcome Hummingbirds with their Favorite Plants
April 11th is the date shown on the 2014 Natural Events Calendar from the Missouri Department of Conservation as the day the ruby-throated hummingbird arrives.  It would be a good time to have feeders ready for the tiny travelers after their long flight from Central America.  Red is a favorite color.  Better yet, have a variety of plants that they find attractive and hopefully return and possible nest in the area.  The ruby-throats only weigh an eighth of an ounce but they must consume almost half their weight each day in food from nectar and insects - typically mosquitoes, spiders, gnats, fruit flies, and small bees.

Blooming plants may be the best indicators as to when the hummingbirds arrive and some of the first ones they can be seen enjoying are honeysuckle and red/yellow native columbines.  Other native herbaceous plants the ruby-throated hummingbirds visit both for nectar and insects include:  bee balm, bergamot, blazing stars of all types, evening primrose, fire pink, hibiscus, irises, lemon mint, various species of milkweed, obedient plant, Ohio horse mint, penstemons (beard tongues), phlox, rose mallow, rose verbena, royal catchfly, sweet William and turtleheads.  Native trees and shrubs that are effective are black locust, buckeye trees (especially the red-flowered one), gooseberries, hawthorns, New Jersey tea, and tulip poplar.

Gardeners have quite an array of hummer-attracting plants to choose from.  An added bonus of many of these plants is that they also attract butterflies.  Some cultivated flowers and shrubs that attract hummingbirds include beauty bush, butterfly bush, cannas, day lilies, flowering tobacco, geranium, gladiolus, hollyhock, larkspur, lilac, Mexican sunflower, mimosa, montbretia, nasturtium, petunia, phlox, salvias, snapdragon, weigela and zinnia.  

Trumpet creeper is a vine that is frequently visited by hummer; it may be hard to control so find a place it can be itself such as climbing up a fence post along the road or in an area where mowing can keep in in bounds.  Some more controllable vines to consider are cardinal climber, cypress vine, morning glories and scarlet runner bean.

How about those shade areas?  Try ajuga, azaleas, coral bells, hostas and toad lily in addition to shade-loving native plants such as blue lobelia, cardinal flower, columbine, copper iris, figwort, jewelweed and wild geranium.

For more information about growing native plants in this area check out the Grow Native program that serves the lower Midwest including Missouri, eastern Kansas, southern Illinois, and northern Arkansas. A great source for all wild plants is Missouri Wildflowers Nursery located 10 miles south of Jefferson City, MO off Hwy 54 at W. Brazito Road and turn left on Pleasant Hill Road.  It is not visible from Hwy 54.

Other techniques to encourage resident hummers is to deadhead flowers in an effort to lengthen their bloom time and provide resting and lookout perches.  Leaving spider webs is also recommended because female hummers use them to hold their nest together and give it strength.

Hummers feed from dawn to dusk so their antics can be enjoyed by all. Watching them is a delightful way to relax and enjoy your horticultural efforts.

Source:  Anastasia Becker, Integrated Pest Management, UMC

 Posted: 4/11/2014

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Petunias


Sweetunia Bubble Gum

The Modern Petunia: 

Not Your Grandmother's Flower 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – In 1937, animator Frank Tashlin borrowed the name of petunia for Porky Pig’s girlfriend. Just as animation has changed greatly in nearly 80 years, today’s petunia is a far cry from yesteryear’s flower.
“Years ago when Petunia Pig was first named, petunias were nonhybrids, rank in growth, floriferous in season and suffered from ‘summer swoon,’ meaning they reacted very poorly to the heat of summer,” said David Trinklein, horticulture specialist for University of Missouri Extension.  Trinklein says crossbreeding unrelated seed lines has greatly improved the petunia. Today’s petunias are much more compact and free-flowering, giving them a more pleasing structure and appearance.
Potunia Piccola Pink Vein
Most importantly for Midwesterners, today’s varieties can put up with the heat of summer, Trinklein said. Modern petunias are showy in a multitude of colors and color combinations, and will flower continuously throughout the growing season until the first hard frost.  Many of the new generation petunias are clones.  “There are companies that will cross petunias and select from those crosses superior individuals that are not yet genetically stable, so they cannot be seed-propagated. They have to be maintained as vegetative clones,” Trinklein said.  For example, Surfinia, Potunia and Supertunia are all examples of vegetatively propagated petunia brands, he said. In the case of the latter, a new level was set with the development of Supertunia Vista Bubblegum.  “First of all, you better like the color pink, because you’re going to get it,” Trinklein said. “It’s like a petunia on steroids. You see nothing but flowers from the time you put them out until frost knocks them out. It’s an amazing accomplishment.”  However, vegetatively propagated petunias are a bit more expensive.  “Gardeners have learned that their performance is so superior that it usually takes fewer of them,” he said. “They thrive even in the brutal heat of summer, so they may be worth the expense.”
Surfinia Trailing Heaven

Tidalwave Silver
If you prefer growing the plants from seeds, there are new and better seed-propagated varieties available. Ball Seed has the Wave series, he said. They are almost as heat-tolerant as the vegetatively propagated varieties and much more compact than earlier seed varieties. They are also less expensive.

Your grandparents could have only dreamed of the modern petunia. The myriad of horticultural advancements may have prompted the National Garden Bureau to name 2014 the Year of the Petunia.
“I think the National Garden Bureau wanted to call attention to the fact that if you haven’t grown petunias lately, it’s not the flower that you knew 25 years ago, so you ought to give it another try,” Trinklein said.
 Petunia petals
  • Related to tobacco, tomatoes, deadly nightshades and potatoes.
  • Derives its name from the Brazilian word “petun,” which means tobacco.
  • Discovered in South America by explorer James Tweedie, who sent specimens to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens in 1831.
  • Attracts both hummingbirds and moths.
  • The flowers can be white, yellow, pink, purple, red and blue, as well as bicolor.
  • It is semi-frost-hardy and able to withstand temperatures down to 26-28 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Petunia seeds are very tiny. If you want to grow your own plants from seeds, it’s best to start them in a light garden.
  • In 2011 Ball Seed introduced a black petunia. Once the novelty wore off, its popularity declined. A black flower fades into obscurity in the garden.
  • The common garden petunia carries the scientific name of Petunia x hybrida, indicating it is hybrid in origin.
  • Classified into several flowering types:
    • Grandiflora have large, heavily ruffled, individually ornate flowers.
    • Multiflora have smaller, less ornate flowers, but more of them.
    • Hedgiflora, or spreading, are low-growing plants that can be used as flowering ground cover.
    • Floribunda utilizes the best traits of grandiflora and multiflora and comes in single- and double-flowered.
    • Milliflora are about two-thirds the size of a normal petunia and flower abundantly.
  • Petunias are typically 2-4 inches in diameter and 3 inches in length.
  • The tallest of the petunias might be Tidal Wave. They can grow 24-30 inches tall.
  • Will flourish in full sun as long as you keep them well-watered.
  • They will grow in partial shade, but won’t flower as much and the stems will stretch more.
  • Can be used in beds or borders, as edging or ground cover. Will grow in containers, window boxes and hanging baskets.
For more lawn and garden articles from MU Extension, go to extension.missouri.edu/LawnGardenNews. 
Source: David Trinklein, 573-882-9631
For 100 years, MU Extension has engaged Missourians in relevant programs based on University of Missouri research. The year 2014 marks the centennial of the Smith-Lever Act, which formalized the Cooperative Agricultural Extension Service, a national network whose purpose is to extend university-based knowledge beyond the campus.


Posted: 4/14/2014
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