Iris Sale

The Verde Valley Iris Society is holding their annual iris sale on September 7, Labor Day at Mt. Hope Foods in Cottonwood.  This is a great place to pick up some beautiful iris at a reasonable price and get expert information.

L to R—(top) Blenheim Royal, Tomorrow May Rain

(2nd row) Poem of Ectasy 

The annual Highlands Garden Conference is coming up soon.  It's always a great event and I've been told the gardens on the tour are fabulous.  I heard Jeff Lowenfels at the International Master Gardener conference and Las Vegas.  It was a great program.  Hope to see you in Flagstaff!

Web Site for registration and all information http//cals.arizona.edu/coconino/highlandconference.htm

Registration materials are available at the Cottonwood and Prescott Extension offices or Contact Beverly Emerson: bjemerson11@juno.com    or (928)646-0379

The Arizona Highlands Garden Conference is planned and presented by University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers from Coconino, Yavapai, Gila, and Navajo Counties. The conference offers presentations on a variety of topics related to high elevation gardening and landscaping.  This year’s theme is ‘From the Ground Up’ and features two nationally known speakers:  

Jeff Lowenfels, author, radio host, and America’s  longest-running garden columnist 

Brad Lancaster, a dynamic teacher, author and rainwater harvesting expert. 

Conference registration is $65 if received by September 1 and $80 if received after Sept. 1. To register fill out and mail the registration. Participants may also register for a pre~conference tour of six Flagstaff gardens for an additional fee of $15.

PRE-CONFERENCE GARDEN TOURS Friday, September 18, 2009 10am-4pm $15 

Visit six gardens in Flagstaff, one of which has been a Master Gardener project for over six years and features over three dozen roses, a garden with wonderful outdoor living space, an award winning Xeriscape garden, and a local landscaper’s garden paradise that features an island, lake with water lilies, extensive perennial beds and much, much more. You will also receive information about several community gardens in Flagstaff. This is a self guided tour with Master Gardeners at each site to answer your questions. Once we receive your registration and additional $15 fee, we will send you information about the tour and a map to the gardens. You will be on your own to visit each garden between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm. You must pre-register to attend. For more information, call Eleanor at 928-606-4930. 

LODGING 

Rooms have been reserved at La Quinta Inn & Suites located less than one mile from the du Bois Conference Center. We have been given a conference rate of $107 to $116. You must reserve your room by August 18. 

La Quinta Inn & Suites 

2015 South Beulah Blvd. Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (928) 556-8666, $107 - two double beds for up to 4 people, $116 - king size bed, free Bright Side Breakfast

Farmers Market

The county now has farmers markets sprouting up everywhere.  I encourage everyone to support fellow gardeners and farmers and their local market.  It's fun, its tasty and beautiful.

Sedona, Camp Verde and Prescott have markets on Saturday morning.

Cornville has one Monday evenings.

Cottonwood is Thursday evenings.  

If you know of more let me know.

Have Blooms, No Fruit!

One of the questions that comes up each summer is why some plants bloom but don't set fruit.  You find it in tomatoes, chilies, peppers, squash, tomatillos and others.  There are a couple of things going on.  For plants like tomatoes, chilies, peppers and other related types, it is probably just the hot weather.  Once the temperatures reaches a certain point, the pollen loses its ability to pollinate the flower.  For tomatoes it is approximately 90°F.  For chiles and peppers it is a bit lower.  You may have noticed that if you plant early enough you might have fruit in the spring and then in the fall have another flush of fruit with not much going on in July and August.  That's because during the hottest days, the plant continues to bloom but the pollen gets sticky and can't move.  There is a product, Fruit Set, (I am not even sure it's available any longer) which is the hormone gibberellic acid, ( http://www.crfg.org/tidbits/gibberellic.html )  that will cause the flower to develop fruit without pollination and I have used it with some success, but have since decided it really isn't worth it.  You can help the plant along by giving it some shade to help lower the temperature although that is difficult to do if its 105°F outside.  One of the other methods is to go out early in the morning before the temps hit 90°F and give the plants a good shake.  Yes, just grab the stems and briskly rattle them.  This helps move the pollen.  I use this method and it does help.  The best thing is to hope it cools down a bit.

Cucumbers, squash and melons have both male and female flowers on the vine.  (see photos) The male flowers show up first.  The females show up when the weather is warm enough for them.  If all you see is male flowers you just have to have patience and wait for the female flowers. I have heard that by cutting the tip of the vine once it is over 10 feet or so long, encourages the plant to develop female flowers.  I do it occasionally on my gourd plants but it's not particularly a scientific experiment so not sure how effective it is.  Maybe someone will do a more rigid experiment sometime.

If you have female flowers but they are just shriveling on the vine it likely means that they are not getting pollinated.  If that is the case you can simply hand pollinate to improve fruit set. Then next year I would think about what I could plant to attract more pollinators.  The web site has information on hand pollinating.   http://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/FruitSetProblems.pdf

The lose of pollinators is getting to be a problem in some areas.  Honeybees have been particularly hard hit.  It isn't just the insects, it is also birds and bats that have been declining.  (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/05/05/pollinators.peril/)By growing plants that serve as food and home to native bees and flies you provide them with the resources they need and in return they help pollinate your melons.  It is also important to not use broad spectrum insecticides.  They kill all insects including the ones you need.  The key to solving an insect problem is to target the problem and figure out how to solve that and not just spray everything.

Welcome

Now that we have revealed this new feature to the Master Gardeners I hope you will visit frequently and find it useful.  I would really appreciate comments, suggestions and ideas that have worked in your garden.  Also feel free to send me pictures and articles (keep them short).  I would like to see pictures of your successes and failures.  I can post extra pictures on Flickr (see link)  If there is something you would like to see addressed, let me know.  The article on blooms and fruit came because of an email from a Master Gardener.  This is not designed to replace the newsletter, but give us a place to have a discussion, deal with questions quickly, a place to post pictures and to let you know about upcoming events.  For now I plan on posting at least once a week.  As my work schedule changes frequently these days, for now that post will be up by Friday at the latest.  I am working on a list so that you can be notified when something new is posted.  I will let you know when I figure that out.  I could use some help also.  If someone would like to post, manage or is more computer savvy than I am, please let me know.

Nora Graf

Home Canning Class

Here is one way to preserve your harvest—

Introduction to Safe Canning Principles Workshop 

An introduction to safe canning principles workshop  will be held Saturday, August 29, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at the University of Arizona, Yavapai County Cooperative Extension Office, 840 Rodeo Dr, Bldg C.   The workshop will be presented by Marta Elva Stuart, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, who will introduce basic food safety principles to properly can foods using the hot water bath method for high acid foods and the pressure canner method for low acid foods.  Free pressure canner testing will be provided from noon to 2:00 p.m. (we do not test All-American pressure canners).  There is a $10 fee for the workshop and preregistration is required.  Make check payable to the University of Arizona and send to:  Attn:  Canning Workshop, Yavapai County Cooperative Extension, 840 Rodeo Dr. Bldg C, Prescott, AZ  86305.  For additional information contact Marta Stuart at  (928)445-6590 x225.

Master Gardener Conference

Yavapai, Coconino, Gila and Apache County Master Gardeners share the Arizona Highlands Master Gardener Conference.  Each year one county takes on the project.  This year the event is hosted by the Coconino County Master Gardeners in Flagstaff, Arizona.  The conference is open to everyone, not just Master Gardeners and is a terrific place to get gardening information specific to the area.  The conference has excellent speakers, garden tours and vendors and you will meet new gardeners.  We're a fun group!  Use the link below to find out more information.  Hope to see you there.

Arizona Highlands Garden Conference 

September 19, 2009   du Bois Conference Center Flagstaff, AZ

Web Site for registration and all information http//cals.arizona.edu/coconino/highlandconference.htm

The Arizona Highlands Garden Conference is planned and presented by University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers from Coconino, Yavapai, Gila, and Navajo Counties.  The conference offers presentations on a variety of topics related to high elevation gardening and landscaping.  This year's theme is 'From the Ground Up' and features two nationally known speakers: 

Jeff Lowenfels, author, radio host, and America's  longest-running garden columnist Brad Lancaster, a dynamic teacher, author and rainwater harvesting expert. 

Conference registration is $65 if received by September 1 and $80 if received after Sept. 1. To register fill out and mail the registration form linked above. Participants may also register for a pre~conference tour of six Flagstaff gardens for an additional fee of $15.

Tomato Bounty

Can't help but show off my tomatoes.  This year was a good tomato year for many people.  There have been problems with curly top virus but most of the gardeners I've talked to have said its been a good year.  It helped that I put plants in early and we had a mild June.  Its been a joyous summer feasting on gloriously ripe tomatoes and a bountiful crop of basil and garlic.  

Curly Top & Skeletonizers

Each week the Master Gardeners handle phone calls on a number of problems.  Two that have come up recently are on Grape Leaf Skeletonizer and Curly Top Virus.  Curly Top Virus is carried by the beet leaf hopper which transmit the disease when it feeds on the plant.  It is a recurring problem in Yavapai County gardens.  There are a couple of remedies that may be helpful.  Check out the articles on Curly Top at  http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/curlytopvirus2008.html

http://ag.arizona.edu/gardening/news/articles/14.3.html

The grape leaf skeletonizer strips the green of the leaves between the veins.  Without the green the plant can't survive.  The skeletonizer is a colorful black, yellow and blue striped catepillar that turns into a small black moth.  The caterpillars feed side by side and can quickly strip a leaf to a "skeleton."  You can hand strip the caterpillars from the leafs but be careful.  Wear gloves and a dust mask as they have sting hairs on them that can become airborne.  Spraying Bacillus thuringiensis is also an effective way to control them.