President’s Letter

Spring is HERE! Plants are blooming and growing which puts me in the mood to plant,

plant, and plant. Good thing the Plant Sale is just around the corner on the 13th at 8am

for the public but 7:30 for all Master Gardeners. All our calendars should have the 13th

in bold and circled. Even if you can’t come on Saturday there are plenty of

opportunities to contribute to the success of the day – preparation days are on

Thursday and Friday from 8am to noon.

On another note, the Willow Park City Council declared March 27th Parker County

Master Gardeners Day. This shows us that our hard work is seen and appreciated by

the project’s beneficiaries.

There are many other opportunities for each of us to participate in the following

months:

♦ Native and Adapted Plant Presentation by Pat Posener at the Extension

Office April 4th at 6:30.

♦ Weatherford Blooms on April 27th, 9am-3pm –Signups at the next meeting.

♦ National Earth-Kind Specialist Training, Abilene on April 17-19

♦ Plant Propagation Ft Worth on April 26 -27

♦ Specialist Training Conclave Texas A&M Campus May 28th-31st (This includes

Vegetable Specialist, Earth-kind Landscape Specialist, and Pecan Specialist)

All specialist training courses are listed on the state master gardener website with the

details on cost and other specifics. Don’t forget that the PCMGA will help with tuition

costs for the courses.

Another exciting project just

beginning is a “Gardening Guide for Parker County”. This project is

being headed up by Jerry Parr and will be an ongoing project for some

time. There are plenty of opportunities for anyone wanting to help this

project in any way.

I know I have left out some activities but as you can see, there are

plenty to choose from, so get out and have some gardening fun!

Karen Lail

APRIL MEETING

April 9, 2013

Time: 12:15 – 3:00

Program: Yes, You Can Grow

Roses

Presented by Dr. Keith Roland

12:00 – 12:15

Social Time &

Refreshments

The presentation will

start at 12:15, to

accommodate his busy

schedule. So please be

on time

April 2013

Editors: Catherine Miller & Jerry Parr

In This Issue

Section Page Minutes 2 Treasurer’s Report 2 Projects 3 Committees and Study Groups (NEW!) 5 Member News 6 Rainfall (NEW!) 7 Monthly Tips 8 Photos from Chandor 9

Remember the deadline for newsletter

submissions is one week prior to the end of the

month.

Regards,

Catherine Miller, annmill1@att.net

Jerry Parr, jparr@catalystinforesources.com

There is nothing pleasanter than spading when

the ground is soft and damp. --John Steinbeck

- 2 -

Minutes: March 12, 2013

Monthly General Membership Meeting

Program: Phil Craighead made a presentation on “Gardening for Birds and Wildlife.”

Announcements:

♦ Refreshment reminder sign up was passed around for volunteers.

♦ The 2013 Membership Directory was also passed around for corrections and additions.

Business Meeting

♦ Minutes for the prior month’s meeting were read and approved. Treasurer’s report was read and approved.

Projects Special Announcements:

♦ Aledo: Gay announced that after the Aledo work day, there will be a class on how to make compost tea. The class

will start at 11 a.m. Also, next Wednesday the 20th, we will be having a class on successful container gardening.

♦ Chandor: Docent training on the 25th from 1-3 p.m. Greenhouse dedication was great!

♦ Extension Beds: Everything looks good. Next Tuesday at 10 a.m., prep work for the plant sale will begin.

♦ Weatherford Public Library: Quilt bed is looking fine. Working on plant labels.

♦ Vietnam Memorial: “Helicopter and Bunnies” work day is Monday at 9 a.m.

♦ Willow Park: Work days are 3rd and 4th Thursday. On March 27th at 7 p.m. the City Manager will be recognizing

Master Gardeners. We will be working on the irrigation system next work day. Karen also added there is a new

project at the court house to add color and prettiness by end of April.

Communications:

♦ Garden Information Committee is a new committee to work on P.R. to the community. Any time you have any

information you would like to share, tell them at least two weeks ahead of time.

♦ Plant sale flyers will be given to be distributed.

♦ Dr. Roland will be speaking next month.

♦ Field trip was a success. Next trip will be June 6th and 7th to Texas A & M.

♦ External Communications: Jerry gave a presentation on other Master Gardener Association’s news materials…a 44-

page booklet. Would like for us to create something like this. Asking for volunteers.

♦ Speaker’s Bureau: Recently renamed “Public Education Committee.” Asking for volunteers.

♦ Directory: There will be one per member and please make any changes necessary before printing.

♦ Food Sign-ups: Thank you to those who brought food this month. And, please remember to sign up for next month.

♦ Timekeepers are looking for time sheets.

♦ Patti asked interns to stay after meeting for Intern Project meeting.

Ways and Means:

♦ Please remember to wear blue shirts for plant sale.

Meeting was adjourned and 1 hour EX and 1 hour of CE was

awarded.

Treasurer’s Report

February 2013

Beginning Balance $15,017.10

Income 1,616.90

Expense (551.83)

Balance $16,082.17

Joan Lipscomb, Treasurer

- 3 -

Project News

Aledo — In April we will begin each workday at the

Aledo Community Center at 9 a.m. We will work on April

3, 10, and 17.

Since the construction is taking place for the new road,

the city hall will have little need for upkeep plus it might be

dangerous to work close to the activity.

On the 3rd we will work on the gardens and then take a

trip to Leila Collin's homestead on Old Weatherford

Road. She and Neil were instrumental in the beginning of

Parker County Master Gardeners. We built the rose

garden in his memory. Leila has moved to a smaller place

in Weatherford and wants to share some of her gardening

things she has collected through the years. I think a trip

over to her place and then lunch with her would be grand

fun.

On the 17th we will have our monthly horticulture lesson

for the residents of Parker County. It will be Care of

Roses. Neil's rose garden should be in full bloom. The

class will start at 10 a.m.

Our class on Successful Container Gardening was well

attended and a home schooled family won the pot with

the thriller, filler, and spiller plants. They took notes and

the children helped mix the materials for the container.

See you at Aledo in April.

Gay Larson and Ellen Woodward

Azle Central Park — A big thank you to everyone who

came to help on our March Workdays. The Park looks

great. Azle had a soaking rain last night and hopefully

more to come.

Our next workday will be on April 5th @ 9 AM. We will

be planting in the Gazebo and Entrance Gardens. We will

give a 30 minute Horticulture program on "Annuals Old

and New that love our Texas Summers".

Master Gardeners have such a busy month in April, but

isn't it fun, especially when you are able to garden and

share with other gardeners.

See you in the Garden.

Vera Beck & Gwen Williams

Chandor Gardens — Chandor work days in April will

be Tuesday the 2nd and 23rd with our NEW start time of

9:00 am. The Gardens are really starting to come alive

with color. Hope you can join us for our work days we

still have some trimming to do to get the Garden looking

even better.

The Memorial Gardens are really looking good, paper-

whites have been planted on the edges of the parking lot

and they look beautiful and the smell is breath taking. Stop

in and look at this new area, we will be adding some more

features shortly.

The dedication of the Greenhouse on March 6th was a

mix of happy and sad feelings. It had been a year since

Nancy Newby Brown passed away so unexpectedly. But

to know her generosity lives on with the Greenhouse

made it a happy occasion. Several of the Master Gardeners

and Heritage Society members attended along with Charlie

& Kay Brown; the Weatherford Democrat had a very nice

article with pictures in the paper. If you haven't seen the

Greenhouse stop in and check it out, I would be happy to

give you a tour.

Spring Fling at Chandor Gardens will be Saturday April

6th from 9-3 & Sunday April 7th from Noon-4. This is an

annual event that grows a little larger every year. Hope

you can make it out, we will have several vendors out in

the garden and in the mansion, from painters, jewelers,

metal workers, along with the PCMGA 'Ask a Master

Gardener' booth and a representative from the Texas

Forestry Service to answer questions. We even have a

few Master Gardeners that will be vendors, live music will

be performed, a face painter will be here on Sat. and a

food vendor both days. If you know anyone that would

like to be a vendor, have them call the Gardens at 817-

613-1700 for more information; it is free for vendors to

set up. Admission is $1.00 per person, so tell your friends

to come out and enjoy the Gardens.

We have had several Master Gardeners sign up and take

the Docent Training class and we are so grateful to all

that are willing to help give tours and help educate the

public about the history of the Gardens along with plant

information. I will have one more Class; if you are

interested it will be April 23rd from 1-3. Give me a call if

you would like to attend 817-613-1700.

Lee Ann

- 4 -

Project News (Continued)

Extension Office Demonstration Gardens — The

gardens look beautiful. On March 19th we had a great

turnout for the workday. A big thanks to all that helped.

We fertilized the roses and daylilies, put down compost,

and pulled a lot of weeds. We know the gardens will look

great for the plant sale.

The 2013 intern class project has been decided. They will

re-do the kitchen garden and do a keyhole garden. The

class is very excited and ready to work as soon as the

plant sale is over. This fresh look will be a welcome

addition to the Extension Gardens.

Our next workday is April 16th and we will start at

9:00AM. Come be a part of our home gardens and keep

them looking beautiful.

Pat Posener and Phil Craighead

National Vietnam War Museum Gardens (NVWM)

— In spite of the fickle weather we finally got to have 2

productive workdays at the museum gardens. On March

11th , we had several hardy gardeners and one grandchild

come out to work in the gardens. We weeded the lower

labyrinth, trimmed off the freeze damaged tips of the

boxwoods, weeded and cut back ornamental grasses in

another bed. We had some excitement with a helicopter

landing on the grounds and then finding a nest of baby

bunnies. Surely the baby bunnies were announcing the

arrival of spring! On the second workday the design for a

small island bed was laid out and planted with perennials.

This bed will feature red, white and blue as people walk

along the pathway from either direction. Purple Trailing

Lantana was planted in front of the visitors' center as a

beginning for that garden. Red Yucca was planted in the

bed near the upper labyrinth where the Gulf Muhly had

died.

In April we hope to get the new arbor installed at the

beginning of the lower labyrinth and plant Evergreen

Wisteria on each side of it. This will give the gardens a tall

focal point where people can walk under the arbor as they

begin their stroll through the garden.

We are so thankful for all of the master gardeners and

interns that volunteer to make these very public gardens

beautiful. If you haven't been to the gardens in a while,

come out and see the changes and join us for a fun

workday.

C Ya N the Gardens!

Linda Fewell and Iola Messinger

Weatherford Public Library Literary Gardens —

Workdays in April will be Monday April 1st and Monday

April 15th. We will continue to begin at 10 am. April

should find a whole lot of color showing up in the beds,

from irises to roses to other perennials. The fall asters in

the Quilt Bed that sustained a lot of trampling while

installing the new edging are showing just how hardy they

are by coming up nicely.

The plan for our part of the Kick Off for the Library’s

Summer Reading Program in June is to allow the kids to

plant watermelon and pumpkin seeds in the children’s bed.

We planted pumpkin seeds once before and got several

great pumpkins that sat at the checkout desk for a very

long time.

Patti Lankford

Junior Master Gardeners — The JMG joined with 5th

grade at Ikard Elementary School to learn about soil and

plant classification March 25th. 68 students from 3 classes

learned about soil texture and the properties of soil

particles. Students were able to classify leaves and seeds as

monocots or dicots. I want to thank Deborah, Darlene,

Linda, Coby, Liz and Dorothea for making this a successful

day.

Thresea Tabor

- 5 -

Committees and Study Groups

Gardening Information Committee

By La Donna Stockstill

This committee has been very busy drafting articles for

publication in the local newspapers. The Weatherford

Democrat has decided they want to publish an Ask a

Master Gardener column every Sunday with one feature

article each month. The first Ask a Master Gardener

column appeared on March 24. The committee has sent

articles to the Weatherford Telegram, but with no

response yet. Thanks to Homer Babbitt, Patti Lankford

and Jerry Parr for writing the first few articles and Carol

Welch for proofreading and editing. We will be adding

other local media to our list as we continue to show

Parker County residents what Master Gardeners have to

offer to aid them with their gardening questions.

Landscape Design Study Group

By Nita Whiteside

This group met twice this month on March 4 at Debbie

Collier’s and March 25 at Anita Falasco’s. Debbie has a

well-established landscape and needed some help on a

west facing wall as well as ideas for how to hide her septic

system. Anita has a new and large landscape and needed

advice on how to control an erosion issue in her front

yard as well as increasing her living space in her back yard.

Jerry Parr and Debbie Collier researched the topics of

stewardship and sustainability and led discussions on these

topics.

Courthouse Redesign

By Patti Lankford

Judge Mark Riley has asked the Master Gardeners to assist

the county in developing a better landscape plan for the

courthouse. The goals are to have more color, especially

during certain times such as Weatherford Blooms, the

Peach Festival and Fourth of July. While a number of long

term design ideas are in the works, a quick short-term

solution had to be found to improve the courthouse for

some special events occurring in April. These events are a

children’s art/photo contest in early April and tours of the

courthouse at the end of the month. To address this

short-term issue, we advised them to plant red geraniums,

so last week over 100 geraniums were planted. The

county wants to install drip irrigation in the beds and turf

grass (after April) and we are recommending the pecan

trees be pruned a bit to improve appearance and let in

more light. Courtney Blevins from the Texas Forest

Service came over and advised us on which limbs to prune,

but recommended we not do both the subsurface drip

irrigation and the pruning in the same year to avoid

stressing the trees. We hope once this April event has

passed we can begin work on the long term plan with less

reliance on annuals.

Public Education Committee

By Jerry Parr

The newly formed Public Education committee met on

April 28 to discuss the role of the committee, to plan

events for 2013 and to begin discussing events for 2014.

For 2013, the following events are planned:

♦ April 4 Native and Adapted Plants

♦ May 11 Drip Irrigation and Rainwater

Harvesting

♦ June Firewise

♦ Fall Propagation

Planning for the April event is well underway; look for

more details about the other events later this year.

Garden Guide to Parker County

By Jerry Parr

The group who volunteered to work on this new

publication also met on April 28. We envision a 24 page

booklet with many photos. The booklet has been outlined

and writing assignments made. The guide will have the

following sections:

♦ Introduction to Gardening in Parker County

♦ Plant Selection

♦ How to Make your Plants Thrive

♦ Why Plants Die

♦ Undesirable Plants

The guide is to be written for the typical homeowner, not

a gardener, and will stress water conservation.

- 6 -

Association and Member News

March Field Trip

We visited the Green at College Park at UTA and Whiz Q

Stone for our March field trip. The Green at College Park

is an extraordinary example of conservation and control of

water runoff from the UTA campus. They have a huge dry

river bed with numerous rain beds which has cut down

the amount of runoff that reaches Johnson Creek, an often

flooded waterway. They have planted native and adapted

plants such as vitex, mountain laurel, sumac, cedar elms,

wax myrtle, Knock Out roses, ornamental grasses and

many others. They have buffalo and zoysia for lawn

grasses and have used recycled materials in walk ways.

Whiz Q Stone is a very large and well stocked exterior

landscape material source. They have large examples of

the types of exterior installations they specialize in. FREE

Weekend Seminars taught by Whiz-Q Professional

Contractors are starting in April. For schedules and times

log on to www.Whiz-Q.com.

Email Changes

Joe McAdams, joejeanie2012@gmail.com

Please send all address, phone and email changes to Karen

Floyd at krossfloyd@yahoo.com

Intern Class

The Interns have determined that their Intern Project will

be to build a Keyhole Garden in the existing Kitchen Bed

at the Extension Office. Jan Rodgers has been to

Granbury for an instructional session and she and Joy

Williams went to Abilene to Big Country Master

Gardeners for their seminar for this type of bed. It is a

very efficient way to grow vegetables in a compact space.

If you are not familiar with this type of planting bed, it will

be a raised bed of approximately 6’ in diameter with a 2’

diameter central compost core. They are busy gathering

supplies to prepare for installation. The name “Keyhole”

results from the profile of a notch in the exterior wall of

the bed which allows close access to the compost column.

It should result in a great teaching tool for the public.

April Birthdays 4/12 Missy Crouse

4/21 Rebecca Jones

4/22 Donna Winbourn

4/22 Nita Whiteside

4/23 Lynda Lentz

4/28 Linda Lawson

4/30 Mary Mathieson

Iris Hill

Don't forget about the open house at Happy &

Gorden Carvers home on Friday April 12th 9-6. I

can hardly wait to see all of the Iris in bloom, I

know it's going to be beautiful. We are very

lucky to be getting the opportunity to check out

Iris Hill before the Iris Convention begins.

If you signed up to take cookies Happy said it

would be great if you bring them on Friday and

she can freeze them until the tours. Thanks to all

that signed up to help with the cookies and if you

didn't get a chance to sign up feel free to take

some with you when you go to look on the

12th. The address for Iris Hill is 448 Azle Hwy.

(FM 730) if you need directions please give me a

call 817-991-8860.

Thanks to Members who brought refreshments to the March Meeting

Grenetta Bledsoe Janna Betsill Charlsie Colvin Dorothy Babbitt Pat Posener Joan Lipscomb

Karen Lail And be sure and thank the members who will be bringing refreshments to the April meeting

Diane Fraser Jacque Brock Taresa Kelly Joy Williams

Marilyn Springer Sunshine Lockley

- 7 -

Rainfall

By Cat & Jerry

The National Weather Service has rainfall data for Weatherford (32º 45' N 97º 46' W) going back to 1883 at:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd/?n=ntexclima. We are going to use that data to provide a monthly update (monthly data as well

as cumulative) to show how we are doing on rainfall for the year versus the average of the last 123 years. The first of these

graphs are below. We are also providing the data for 2012. Our total for 2012 was 28.5 inches, a little below our average of

32.3.

Note: December data missing; used data from Mineral Wells.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

2013 3.8 1.6

Average 1.8 2.1 2.4 3.4 4.7 3.3 2.2 2.2 2.9 3.2 2.1 2.0

00.51

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.55

2013 Rainfall vs Average

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

2012 6.27 2.38 4.54 1.5 1.16 3.26 1.8 3.78 2.37 0.4 0.03 1.00

Average 1.8 2.1 2.4 3.4 4.7 3.3 2.2 2.2 2.9 3.2 2.1 2.0

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

2012 Rainfall vs Average

Cumulative Rainfall:

January - February

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

2013 Average

- 8 -

Monthly Garden Tips: April

Remove spent flowers and trim back excessive growth on

annuals in order to rejuvenate them and extend their life.

Tropical annuals can be planted late this month including

allamandas, bananas, bougainvilleas, firebush, Mexican

heather, purple fountain grass, tropical hibiscus and others.

Now is good time to plant summer and fall-flowering

perennials. Check the appropriate chapter of the

handbook for recommended varieties.

Seeds of amaranth, cosmos, marigold, portulaca, zinnia and

other warm-season annuals can be sown directly in beds

where they are to grow. Keep areas moist until seeds

germinate. Thin plants as soon as they are large enough to

transplant. Surplus plants can be transplanted to other

areas.

Herbs can be planted in beds or containers this month.

They make great additions to garden.

Check houseplants to see if they need to be repotted into

next larger size pot with fresh soil. Trim and prune

overgrown or leggy houseplants to encourage them to fill

out.

Prune spring-flowering shrubs and vines soon after

flowering. Keep natural shape of plant in mind when you

prune and avoid excessive cutting except when necessary

to control size. This will maintain good form and will

encourage vigorous regrowth.

Prune climbing roses to remove weak branches entirely

and cut vigorous canes back by 30-40%.

“Pinch” back new shoots of chrysanthemums, coleus,

copper plants and fall asters with your fingers. By removing

the growing shoots, you will encourage side branches so

they will not become so tall and lanky.

If you have been applying compost and mulch to plant beds

regularly, evergreens, shrubs, shade trees, vines, will need

very little, if any, extra fertilizer. Have soil tested and add

only recommended fertilizer. At least ½ required nitrogen

should be in slow-release form. Watch for iron-chlorosis

(yellowed leaves with dark green veins).

Container plants need to be fertilized with diluted

complete-and-balanced, (equal parts of NPK (Nitrogen,

Phosphorous, and Potash (Potassium) such as 15-15-15)

water-soluble fertilizer.

Continue to check rose varieties susceptible to black spot.

Black spot causes black-brown spots encircled by bright

yellow tissues. Many Earth-Kind roses have considerable

resistance to black spot. Thrips cause buds to turn brown

and fail to open properly.

It will soon be time for bagworms to attack junipers and

other narrow-leafed evergreens.

Treat canna leafrollers on cannas before they become a

problem.

Continue to remove weeds in flower garden. Early

competition with small plants can delay flowering. Mulch

will discourage weed growth and make those that do

come through easier to pull.

TURFGRASS

St. Augustine and bermudagrass can be planted from mid

April-early June. Until lawn is well established, keep new

grasses moist; do not let them dry out. Water lightly once

or twice daily for first 2 or 3 weeks. Gradually water more

deeply but less often.

FRUIT TREES

Continue fruit spray programs according to schedule from

Extension Office or in the Insect and Disease Chapter of

this book.

VEGETABLES

Eliminate loopers and other chewing pests on cole crops,

other vegetables and landscape plants.

WATER

Depending on the amount of rainfall you have received,

check and water as needed.

- 9 -

Photos from Chandor Gardens

Greenhouse Dedication

PCMGA Memorial Garden