HAPPY GIVING TUESDAY! 

Here at the Ag Center in Modesto, we are dreaming about next steps for our Pollinator Garden/Outdoor Classroom. You can see in this photo that native plants in bloom are quite beautiful.

Please help the UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program reach our goal of raising $5,000 to help fund a pathway and sign for the garden. Today, November 29, 2022 on Giving Tuesday* is a great time to make a contribution, which will be directly reflected in our garden, which you can visit at anytime! 

Right now, the garden doesn't look like much. It was just planted this past week, and the drip irrigation was installed. Native plants such as Cleveland sage, coyote bush, penstemon, and ceanothus are just "babies." By this time next year, they will have grown in size and be flowering! We hope to see visiting hummingbirds, bees, moths, butterflies, bumblebees, and YOU!

How to Give 

Visit the UC ANR website https://donate.ucanr.edu/ and click on the Master Gardener icon. Then, from the drop down menu labeled “Choose a County,” select “Stanislaus County” to make your desired donation. We are a 501 c3 organization, so your donation is tax deductible. Donors will receive a packet of narrowleaf milkweed seeds as a special “thank you!”

If you prefer to donate by check, please make it out to: UC Regents and send to:
UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program
3800 Cornucopia Way, Ste A
Modesto, CA 95358

Thank you!
*sorry for any confusion, the last post said Nov 28 was giving Tuesday which is incorrect and has been changed.

Anne Schellman has been the UCCE Master Gardener Coordinator for Stanislaus County since 2018.

Greetings newsletter subscribers! Giving Tuesday is next week, Tuesday, November 28, 2022. It's an ideal time of year to support a local organization you care about. If we have answered a question for you, you've learned something new from us by attending a class, or you feel inspired by our work, we hope you'll consider donating to our program.

Currently, we are installing demonstration gardens to be used as outdoor classrooms that the public can visit anytime, and we need your help!

Pollinator Garden 

Our Pollinator Garden is in the installation stage, and we could not be more thrilled. Currently, the irrigation and native plants are going in. Our Master Gardener volunteers were hard at work leveling, raking, and planting just this week.

Thank you Local Donors!

A big “thank you” to the West Resource Conservation District that helped us prepare the garden site, and to our local North San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society https://nsj.cnps.org/ for purchasing and donating the native plants! Many of these species are unusual and not normally found in the landscape. Although newly planted, everyone is welcome to stop by and visit*.

Your Funds Help Make this Garden Happen

Help make this demonstration garden come to life! Funds will be used to purchase additional plants, tools, and educational signage. Our big funding goal is a decomposed granite walkway. This is a pricey item, which can cost several thousand dollars. The benefits are a pathway accessible to everyone that avoids runoff and allows good drainage.

How to Give

Visit this website https://donate.ucanr.edu/ and click on the Master Gardener icon. Then, from the drop down menu labeled “Choose a County,” select “Stanislaus County” to make your desired donation. We are a 501 c3 organization, so your donation is tax deductible. Also, donors will receive a packet of narrowleaf milkweed seeds as a special, “thank you!”

If you prefer to donate by check, please make it out to: UC Regents and send to:
UCC Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program
3800 Cornucopia Way, Ste A
Modesto, CA 95358

Thank you

We look forward to meeting you in the near future in our “outdoor classroom” aka Pollinator Garden for classes on pollinators, California native plants, and how you can support them in your backyard garden, patio, apartment, or classroom.

* Our gardens are located at the Ag Center complex on the corner of Crows Landing and Service Roads in Modesto at 3800 Cornucopia Way, 95358. The Pollinator Garden is on the east side of the Stanislaus building, while the Sensory Garden is on the west side.

Signs of autumn are all around us. . .we've had some rain, trees are showing off their fall colors and losing their leaves, fewer plants are blooming, the days have gotten shorter with the nights getting chillier. While nature has its own way of coping with the colder winter months, there are plants in our gardens that can be sensitive to freezing temperatures. Citrus, succulents, perennials, young plants that recently went into the ground, and many tropical and subtropical plants can be vulnerable. But there are a few things you can do to help protect your garden during potential freezing spells.

Mulching Perennials

Perennials return year after year. Hardy ones will need little, if any, assistance to get through the cold months, but some may need protection. Mulching helps even the soil temperature, preventing the ground from freezing when the temperatures drop below 32°F/0°C. A layer of 2-3 inches is best. A deciduous plant's own dead leaves can help protect its crown and roots from the cold, so leave the leaves until next spring, adding more mulch as needed. Other sources of mulch include bark, straw, shredded branches, and compost.  

Trees and Shrubs

Trees and shrubs usually have an easier time getting through the winter if they are in good shape. However, if a freeze is forecasted, one of the most important things to do is to ensure they have been watered 2-3 days prior, especially if autumn has been dry. As with perennials, mulching with fallen leaves or other mulch will help protect the roots, but do not have mulch up against the tree trunk or plant stem, which could cause rot to occur.  

Wrapping trunks of young trees with blankets, towels or piping insulation will provide added protection.

Bulbs

Fall is the time to plant hardy spring-blooming bulbs, but some bulbs such as gladiolus, cannas and dahlias are sensitive to winter cold, and may not survive. You may wish to dig these up and store them over the winter.

Wait until after the first frost, then gently dig up the bulbs or tubers. Cut away any leaves and brush off as much soil as possible. Let them dry out in a cool spot for about a week. Label them so you'll remember what they are!  Pack them in a breathable box, such as a cardboard box, storing the bulbs so they don't touch each other, and cover them in sawdust or shredded newspapers. Keep them in a cool, dark location that is below 45°F, but doesn't freeze.

Citrus

Different types of citruses have different cold hardiness. The leaves, green wood and fruit are more frost sensitive than hard wood. Mandarins and kumquats are the most tolerant of cold, with oranges, lemons and limes being less tolerant. However, if a cold snap has colder than usual temperatures and/or lasts more than a short period, even mandarins and kumquats can suffer. Any ripe fruit should be removed prior to freezing temperatures.

Citrus plants can be protected by frost cloths which allow some light and air to penetrate and can stay on plants for a few days at a time. They can also lay directly on plant foliage. If you use other type of cloth such as burlap or cotton sheets, use stakes to hold the cloth away from the plant greenery. Remove it during daytime when temperatures are above freezing and sunny, and replace it each night prior to sunset. Whatever cloth you use, make sure the cloth goes all the way to the ground to capture radiant heat from the ground. If there is mulch around the plant, rake away during the day, if above freezing and sunny, to allow the soil to warm up. 

Roses

Some roses are more sensitive to cold than others. As a group, hybrid tea roses are the most vulnerable. Make sure they are watered prior to predicted freezing temperatures, protect the root zone with mulch on the soil mound. You may also wish to cover your sensitive roses with frost cloths.

Container Plants

As always, water the plant a few days prior to an expected freeze. Ideally, if you are able to pull plants in pots into the garage, shed, or other enclosed area, do so.  While not as effective as an enclosed area, moving container plants onto a patio, or up against the side of the house or garage, preferably beneath an overhang will provide some protection. If unable to move the container, you can cover them up with frost cloth as discussed in the citrus section.

What do do if frost damages your plants? Wait!

Frost damage occurs when the water inside the cells of a plant freeze, causing damage to the cellular walls, which harms the overall health of the plant. Frost damaged vegetation will wilt, turning brown or black, as if they have been scorched. The bark may crack, or split. In severe or prolonged periods of frost the plant can die.

If you see what appears to be frost damage, wait until late spring until all chance of frost has passed. Plants are resilient and can often recover on its own, producing new growth.  Pruning what seems to be damaged branches too soon can cause significantly more trauma, even death, to a vulnerable plant that might otherwise have recovered in the spring. 

Resources

• https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=22929
• https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/Frost_Protection/
• https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=45517
• http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/ENVIRON/frostdamage.html

Denise Godbout-Avant has been a UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener in Stanislaus County since 2020.

Giving Tuesday is November 29, 2022! Please join us in this opportunity to give to your local UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program. Your dollars are used locally to make our county a better place.

Thanks to generous donations from individuals like you, as well as in-kind donations and funding from sponsors, our Sensory Garden has been installed! In fact, the last landscaping step, adding mulch, will be done by volunteers on Giving Tuesday!

We removed old landscaping and revamped the broken irrigation system for the Sensory Garden space. Grover Landscaping donated time to help with irrigation, and Master Gardener volunteers learned how to install drip irrigation.

These photos show our Master Gardeners installing drip irrigation donated by Hunter Industries, and plants donated by Frantz Nursery.

Where can I see the Sensory Garden?

This garden is located on the east side of the Stanislaus Building, at the main entryway. The garden will be used

to teach classes on drip irrigation and low water use landscaping. It will also be a place where employees and visitors can relax on benches we plan to install later.

The Pollinator Garden

Thanks to a generous donation from the West Stanislaus Resource Conservation District, we are starting our Pollinator Garden. The Great Valley Seed Company donated milkweed seeds which will be planted in the garden, too. Next week, volunteers will be installing irrigation and planting.

How You Can Help

Any amount you can donate helps us grow our gardens and our program! The purpose of the gardens is to showcase low-water use plants the public can see anytime. In addition, the areas will be used as outdoor classrooms to teach topics such as drip irrigation, pollinator gardening, plant identification, low water use gardening, and more!

We also plan to install a pollinator hedgerow to showcase plants farmers can use in rows along their property to provide food for pollinators, in addition to helping keep dust levels low and create privacy. The garden will also include plants for pollinators, especially the endangered monarch butterfly.

Our Goal

We are looking to raise $5,000 to help with irrigation installation, tools, seeds, and other needed materials. We are a 501 c (3), so your donation is tax-deductible. https://ucanr.edu/sites/givingtuesday/ This site allows you to give by credit card. (A fee is taken for the use of a credit card.) If you would prefer to give by check, make your check out to “UC Regents” and mail it to:

UCCE Master Gardener Program
3800 Cornucopia Way, Ste A
Modesto, CA 95358

Thanks for your support!