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4 • OSU Extension Newsletter • March/April 2015 )NTHE/35%XTENSION#OMMUNITY(ORTICULTURE program, you will learn how to grow and care for plants using sustainable and researchbased techniques, produce your own food and MEETOTHERGARDENERS)FYOULIKETOTEACH become a Master Gardener™ volunteer. Bring your gardening questions to our office or to a local Master Gardener Clinic. Community Horticulture The deadline for the Marie Madison Scholarship application is the second Monday of April. This is a $1000 scholarship for plant science and horticulture majors at LBCC and OSU. The scholarship is offered by the Benton County Master Gardeners to further our mission of education in the science and art of growing plants. To find out more go to: http://extension. oregonstate.edu/benton/marie-madison-horticulture-scholarship Give Peas a Chance! PHOTO CREDIT PETER AND LYNDA TONER PHOTO CREDIT JESSIE HIRSCH Get a jump start on your vegetable garden by planting peas this spring. Peas are easy to grow in the Willamette Valley and thrive in our cool spring conditions. There are two main types of peas that gardeners can grow: edible pod peas and shelling peas. Edible pod types of peas include snow peas and sugar snap peas. Snow peas have flat pods with very small peas inside while sugar snap peas have juicy edible pods and larger peas formed inside. Shelling peas are best used for cooking-just use the pea as the pod may not have the best flavor or texture for Young pea shoots are eating. edible. Peas can be planted directly in prepared soil, in raised beds or in containers (make sure there are adequate drainage holes). Peas grow best in well-drained, fertile soil that has adequate levels of organic material. Peas are considered cool season crops and grow best in Some peas need a trellis to spring. Seeds can be support vines. planted as soon as the soil temperatures reach 50F (use Pea varieties to try in a soil thermometer available your garden at garden centers for the best accuracy). Check • Shelling peas: Novella II, Oregon Trail, Oregon the seed package to see if Pioneer, Green Arrow, soaking the seed in water Maxigolt overnight is recommended • Snow peas: Oregon Sugar to help increase germination Pod II, Oregon Giant success. Typically it is • Sugar snap peas (bush recommended to plant pea variety-no trellising seeds 2 inches apart and required): Sugar Daddy, about 1 inch deep. Leave Super Snappy, Cascadia, two feet or more between Sugar Sprint, Sugar Ann rows of peas to allow for • Sugar snap pea: Sugar good air circulation. Young Snap pea shoots are edible, so plant some extra seeds to have greens to tuck into a sandwich or toss on a salad. Some pea varieties grow in a bush form, but others are vining and will need a support structure. Grow along a fence or use a short trellis (3 feet is usually adequate). As your pea pods begin to develop, do a taste test and harvest as soon as they are ready. Pods left on the plant will become tough and inedible if left on the vine too long. Problems growing peas? Generally, peas are an easy to care for crop, but there are some common problems you may encounter. Occasionally pea seeds won’t germinate. This could be because the soil temperatures were too cold or the moisture level was too high and the seed rotted. Wait a few weeks for the soil to dry out and warm up and then replant. Slugs are attracted to newly germinated peas, use bait registered for use on vegetables and always read the label for proper application. Plant a Pollinator Friendly Garden This Spring Let basil flowers attract bees and other pollinators. Native bees and other pollinators (like birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles) are essential to help seeds and fruits develop in natural areas and home gardens. Gardeners can protect and encourage pollinators by creating a pollinator friendly landscape. This can be as simple as designating an area as a pollinator patch or incorporating pollinator friendly plants into your existing landscape. Some keys to the best success are to 1) offer diverse types of plants, 2) have flowers present over the entire growing season and 3) try to plant in groupings of multiple plants (larger clumps of plants are most attractive to pollinators). Butterflies and moths are best encouraged by providing the required host plants and flowering plants used as nectar sources. The foliage of the host plants are eaten by caterpillars and the flowering plants are used as a food source for the adult butterfly or moth. Sometimes the host and nectar plants are the same plant species, but not always. A great resource is the OSU Extension publication, Create a Butterfly Garden (EC1549). This publication lists the host plants and nectar plants for over twenty species of butterflies common in the Pacific Northwest! Encourage native pollinators in your garden by also providing the other components of a healthy PHOTO CREDIT KEN SLADE Attention Horticulture and Plant Science Majors Pami Opfer PHOTO CREDIT SUE REYNODS Brooke Edmunds PHOTO CREDIT ANDY CIORDIA Master Gardeners Sunflowers attract many bee species. Pollinator friendly flowering plants that do well in the Willamette Valley • • • • • • • • • • • • • Asters Alyssum Baby blue eyes Basil Cilantro Cosmos Crimson clover Fuchsia Impatiens Single-petal marigolds Nasturtiums Stonecrop sedum Sunflowers habitat: water, shelter and space to reproduce. Many species of butterflies use puddles during the dry summer months to drink and obtain nutrients. Mix equal parts of sand, manure, and soil in a shallow dish. Place the dish on the ground near flowering plants, add water until saturated and place a few rocks in the dish to serve as perches for the butterflies. In early spring, mason bees need moist clay mud to use when building the walls of their nests. Leave an area of your yard bare or provide a tray or pile of clay mud. Place near your bee house and keep the mud moist. Provide shelter and space for all pollinators to reproduce Crimson Clover attracts many different pollinators. by designing your garden with layers of short, medium and taller height plants. Leaving some areas undisturbed in the non-gardening months will help pollinators overwinter. Be careful when managing pests (insects, weeds, vertebrates) in your garden. Pesticides (insecticides and herbicides) don’t discriminate between beneficial insects like pollinators and the harmful ones. The best option is to properly diagnose the problem and use Integrated Pest Management to choose least toxic management methods first. Want more information on protecting pollinators in the Willamette Valley? Register to attend The Beevent: A Pollinator Conference hosted by the OSU Master Gardeners in Linn County. This regional, full-day event is on Saturday March 21st at the Phoenix Inn and Suites in Albany. Learn about the current state of our pollinators in Oregon and find out what home gardeners can do to support pollinator health. Topics include: Creating Healthy Spaces for Bees, Current Bee Health Issues, and Pollinator Landscapes. There is also a vendor fair with local honey, photographs of pollinators, seeds, bee-related jewelry, mason bee houses and more! Pre-registration ($25) is required: Visit http://extension. oregonstate.edu/linn/horticulture to sign up and for more information. March/April 2015 • OSU Extension Newsletter • 5 March/April Garden Calendar MARCH Planning • Plan your vegetable garden carefully for spring, summer, and fall vegetables that can be eaten fresh or preserved. If you lack in-ground gardening space, plan an outdoor container garden. • Use a soil thermometer to help you know when to plant vegetables. Some cool season crops (onions, kale, lettuce, and spinach) can be planted when the soil is consistently at or above 40 degrees Farenheit. Maintenance and Clean Up • Lawn mowing: Set blade at 0.75 to 1 inch for bentgrass lawns; 1.5 to 2.5 inches for bluegrasses, fine fescues, and ryegrasses. • Compost grass clippings and yard waste, except for clippings from lawns where weed-and-feed products or herbicides (weed killers) have been used. • Spread compost over garden and landscape areas. • Prune gooseberries and currants; fertilize with manure or a complete fertilizer. • Fertilize evergreen shrubs and trees, only if needed. If established and healthy, their nutrient needs should be minimal. • If needed, fertilize rhododendrons, camellias, and azaleas with acidtype fertilizer. If established and healthy, their nutrient needs should be minimal. • Prune spring-flowering shrubs after blossoms fade. • Fertilize caneberries using band fertilizer, broadcast fertilizer or a complete fertilizer or manure. Planting/Propagation • Divide hosta, daylilies, and mums. • Use stored scion wood to graft fruit and ornamental trees. • Plant insectary plants (e.g. Alyssum, Phacelia, coriander, candytuft, sunflower, yarrow, and dill) to attract beneficial insects to the garden. For more information, see Encouraging Beneficial Insects in Your Garden (PNW550). • If soil is dry enough, prepare vegetable garden and plant early cool-season crops (carrots, beets, broccoli, leeks, parsley, chives, rhubarb, peas, and radishes). Plant onions outdoors as soon as the soil is dry enough to work. • Plant berry crops (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, and other berry-producing crop plants). See OSU Extension publications for berry varieties. Pest Monitoring and Management • Spray trees and shrubs for webworms and leafrollers, if present. • Protect new plant growth from slugs. Least toxic management options include barriers and traps. Baits are also available for slug control; use with caution around pets. Read and follow all label directions prior to using baits or any other chemical control. • Learn to identify the predatory insects that can help keep aphids and other pests under control. • Spray to control leaf and twig fungus diseases in dogwood, sycamore, hawthorn, and willow trees. • Prune ornamentals for air circulation and to help prevent fungus diseases. • Start rose blackspot control tactics at budbreak. Control rose diseases such as black spot. Remove infected leaves. Spray as necessary with registered fungicide. • Monitor for European crane fly and treat lawns if damage has been verified. • Monitor landscape plants for problems. Don’t treat unless a problem is identified. HouseplantsandIndoorGardening • Trim or shear heather when bloom period is finished. • Start tuberous begonias indoors. • Take geraniums, begonias, and fuchsias from storage. Water and The Oregon Season Tracker program is a collaboration between OSU Extension and HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. Trained volunteers collect precipitation data and observe and report seasonal plant changes as citizen scientists. fertilize. Cut back if necessary. Move outdoors next month. APRIL Planning • Write in your garden journal throughout the growing season. • Prepare garden soil for spring planting. Incorporate generous amounts of organic materials and other amendments, using the results of a soil analysis as a guide. • Prepare raised beds in areas where cold soils and poor drainage are a continuing problem. Incorporate generous amounts (at least 2 inches) of organic materials. • Use a soil thermometer to help you know when to plant vegetables. When the soil is consistently above 60 degrees Farenheit, some warm season vegetables (beans, sweet corn) can be planted. Maintenance and Clean Up • Allow foliage of spring-flowering bulbs to brown and die down before removing. • Apply commercial fertilizers, manure, or compost to cane, bush (gooseberries, currants, and blueberries), and trailing berries. • Place compost or well decomposed manure around perennial vegetables, such as asparagus and rhubarb. • Cut back ornamental grasses to a few inches above the ground, in early spring. • Cover transplants to protect against late spring frosts. • Optimum time to fertilize lawns. Apply 1 pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet of lawn. Reduce risks of run-off into local waterways by not fertilizing just prior to rain, and not over-irrigating so that water runs off of lawn and onto sidewalk or street. • Optimum time of year to dethatch and renovate lawns. If moss was a problem, scratch surface prior to seeding with perennial ryegrass. • Prune and shape or thin springblooming shrubs and trees after Workshop participants learn reporting protocols. certified weather geeks, tracking not only their own weather, but watching the data maps to compare their data with their neighbors. Thirty-three new OST rain stations cropped up this winter helping to fill in missing microclimate data in eight western Oregon counties. The job of OST citizen scientists Planting/Propagation • Plant gladioli, hardy transplants of alyssum, phlox, and marigolds, if weather and soil conditions permit. • It’s a great time to start a vegetable garden. Among the vegetables you can plant, consider: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, chives, endive, leeks, lettuce, peas, radishes, rhubarb, rutabagas, spinach, and turnips. Pest Monitoring and Management • Clean up hiding places for slugs, sowbugs and millipedes. Least toxic management options for slugs include barriers and traps. Baits are also available for slug control; use caution around pets. Read and follow all label directions prior to using baits or any other chemical control. • Monitor strawberries for spittlebugs and aphids; if present, wash off with water or use insecticidal soap as a contact spray. Follow label directions. • If necessary, spray apples and pears when buds appear for scab. See Managing Diseases and Insects in Home Orchards (PDF - EC 631). • Cut and remove weeds near the garden to remove potential sources of plant disease. • Use floating row covers to keep insects such as beet leaf miners, cabbage maggot adult flies, and carrot rust flies away from susceptible crops. • Help prevent damping off of seedlings by providing adequate ventilation. • Manage weeds while they are small and actively growing with light cultivation or herbicides. Once the weed has gone to bud, herbicides are less effective. • Spray stone fruits, such as cherries, plums, peaches, and apricots for brown rot blossom blight, if necessary. Oregon Season Trackers Jody Einerson Oregon Season Tracker Program Off to a Great Start! Workshop participants at the fall Oregon Season Tracker (OST) trainings asked a lot of good questions: Do you report moisture in your rain gauge the same for fog, rain, or snow? Must you mount your gauge on a post with a beveled top? How do you distinguish the difference between swelling buds and bud break? How do you measure fruit drop? And so much more! We have a great group of volunteers that have jumped on board to contribute as OST citizen scientists. They have put up official rain gauges and marked key native plant species to monitor for seasonal changes. At events where OST Extension volunteers tend to hang out I hear conversations start with “How much rain did you have in your gauge this morning?” They are becoming a group of blossoms fade. is to track precipitation data in their backyards, on their farms and woodlands, and in school yards. Filling in data helps researchers get a more complete picture of our weather and the long term effects on plants. This spring they are tracking when the first leaves, flowers, and fruits appear on native plants. Our goal is to spread the OST program out over the landscape. We have a special interest in more rural sites and hillside locations. If you like the idea of contributing to science research, enjoy the outdoors, and would like to be an OST volunteer, we have several new OST trainings taking place. The timing will fit well with watching plants leaf out this spring. See our website for details http:// oregonseasontracker.forestry. oregonstate.edu/ Oregon Season Tracker Website We would like to announce the new Oregon Season Tracker website http:// oregonseasontracker.forestry. oregonstate.edu/ Our website has information about the program, how to become involved, upcoming trainings, and resources to help you in your observations. In addition to the website, we have a newsletter (Oregon Season Tracker Observer) and a Facebook page for our OST volunteers. Watch the website for many changes in the upcoming months. Oregon Season Tracker Trainings Spring 2015 See website for details • HoytArboretumVisitor Center, Portland Wednesday, March 4 10:00 am - 2:30 pm • ClackamasTreeSchool, Oregon City Saturday, March 21 Registration deadline Feb. 27 • Oregon Garden, Silverton Thursday, April 2 Hood River Monday, April 16