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CARVER/SCOTT MASTER GARDENERS HAD A BUSY YEAR 2000
Every year our Carver/Scott Master Gardener coordinator, Jackie Smith, compiles a wheelbarrow full of statistics about our organization's collective volunteer efforts. As I listened to her recount our achievements for the year 2000, I felt pride in the spirit of volunteerism among our members.
Our 71 active Master Gardeners tallied a collective 3,725 hours of volunteer time, or 52.5 hours per person. We answered 809 phone calls about horticultural-related problems and questions, taught 125 classes, and conducted 14 plant clinics and 40 question and answer sessions. To keep ourselves sharp and up-to-date, we attended 877 hours of continuing-education classes.
Tree questions comprised the number one subject of phone calls, with maple tree concerns and pruning techniques the most-asked-about topics.
I've remained an active Master Gardener since 1993 because it's obvious this University of Minnesota Extension Service volunteer program is helping a lot of people. Our Carver/Scott unit produced a whopping 12,600 public contacts last year.
Dogwood: Cold Hardy to -300°F!
Ever since I read that redosier dogwood can withstand winter temperatures of -300°F, I've had cold hardiness of plants on my mind. I'm not sure how researchers made the determination but it explains why some plants don't even blink as temperatures plummet off the bottom of the thermometer. With winter's severe cold, unfortunately, many trees, shrubs and perennials may show signs next spring that December's frigid temperatures were too extreme for their internal genetic codes.
Cold hardiness refers to a plant's inherited ability to withstand harsh winter conditions. A plant's cold hardiness has three components: acclimation, mid-winter hardiness, and deacclimation.
The acclimation process is triggered in the fall by shortening day lengths and falling temperatures. These environmental cues induce physiological and biochemical changes in the plant that result in greater cold tolerance.
Mid-winter hardiness is the lowest temperature a plant can survive without injury after it has gone through the acclimation process and has reached its maximum hardiness level.
Deacclimation refers to a decrease in the hardiness of plant tissues in response to warming temperatures in late winter and early spring.
The suitability of a plant for a particular climate depends not only on its maximum mid-winter hardiness level, but also on the timing and rates of acclimation and deacclimation in response to environmental cues. A plant that acclimates too slowly can be injured by low temperatures in early winter -- so our -25°F in late December might have caught some plants off-guard.
Here in USDA Hardiness Zone 4a, plants need to withstand winter temperatures of -25° - -30°F. It's important to check plant hardiness when you shop for plant material at nurseries and garden centers, and particularly when you order from catalogs. If a plant description says Zone 5 or 6, it is very probable that plant won't survive our winter. Remember, our last three winters were the exception to the rule, and our weather in December 2000 is the "real" Minnesota winter.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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