- Author: Mary Louise Flint
-- Mary Louise Flint, Associate Director, Urban and Community IPM and Extension Entomologist
Poison hemlock, Conium maculatum, was brought from Europe into the U.S. as an ornamental in the 1880s and now occurs throughout North America. In California it is most commonly found at lower elevations and coastal regions but it is continuing to spread into other areas.
Although made famous by Shakespeare and other literary giants as a murder weapon, cases of human poisoning are rare in California; however, poison hemlock is a serious concern to the livestock industry. Cattle, goats and horses are most sensitive to the plant’s toxic alkaloids but pigs, sheep, elk, turkeys and wild animals may also be poisoned.
A new Pest Note: Poison Hemlock outlines identification, biology, impact and management for poison hemlock. It also includes a map of the weed’s distribution in California and areas where it is spreading. Poison hemlock is a biannual plant which grows as a low rosette in its first year and, in the second year, develops tall, up to 6 feet high or more, branching stems that bear small white flowers in spring through early summer.
Find the Pest Note: Poison Hemlock at http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74162.html. Authors are J.M. DiTomaso, Plant Sciences, UC Davis; J.A. Roncoroni, UCCE Napa; S.V. Swain, UCCE Marin County; and S.D. Wright, UCCE Tulare/Kings County.
- Author: Melissa Gable
For the past seven years, the heart of the Master Gardener Program has been Pam Geisel. At the statewide office, Pam has worked hard to advocate on behalf of the Master Gardeners. She secures funding for statewide trainings, supports the creation of new programs, as well as creates and maintains alignment to UC Cooperative Extension initiatives. During her time as Director, Pam has been the visionary behind the program cohesiveness that gives us professionalism and credibility throughout the state.
This Thursday, Pam is retiring and I am looking to the over 4500 Master Gardeners in our state to help me thank her. To Pam: Your passion for the Master Gardener Program is contagious and we are incredibly grateful for your hard work and tireless support. You so greatly deserve and have so fully earned all of the joy ahead of you in your retirement. Thank you for being a friend, a leader and an educator to all of us.
In recognition of Pam's valuable intellectual contributions, she has been granted Emeritus status with the University. This is great news for us – Pam will make herself available as an expert speaker for presentations so she can continue to enrich our learning. She will also be volunteering as a Glenn County Master Gardener, serving on the Master Gardener Steering Committee, and has generously offered to assist with preparations for the 2014 Conference. I suppose in her free time, she might also get in a bit of gardening, traveling, biking, cooking and enjoying time with her husband, Ralph.
As for Pam's position, my name is Missy Gable and
Pam, we can't thank you enough!
- Author: Missy Gable
I look forward to getting to know each of you so please excuse the impersonal blog post, but I had promised a little information on who I am and what you can expect from me in the near future.
The most important thing you should know is that I am passionate about horticulture and couldn’t be happier to be working with the Master Gardeners. For me, sparking interest in outdoor environments is a way I can influence lives, communities and the environment. To be a part of an organization 5500 people strong and working together to inspire horticultural interest through education is truly thrilling.
My Bachelors is in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Plant Biology (2004, UC Davis) and my Masters is in Environmental Horticulture (2007, UC Davis). I’ve continued my learning with classes through the American Management Association and completed a two year leadership program with the CA Agricultural Leadership Foundation in 2011.
Since 2007 I have worked for the CA Center for Urban Horticulture and the UC Davis Arboretum on projects ranging from the UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars to horticultural trainings/workshops.
In the near future, I will work closely with Aubrey in her new role as Statewide Training Coordinator as we develop the Volunteer Management Institute (October 16-17, 2013) and endeavor to create online training courses. A new program representative will be hired this summer and he/she will take over responsibilities for the website and VMS.
I’m particularly looking forward to August - October when I’ll travel to each county and we can get to know each other better. In addition, I hope to collect information about programs, outreach activities, and hear any needs you have from the statewide office. I genuinely look forward to our future together as the UCCE Master Gardeners!
Happy 4th of July!
Missy
- Author: Aubrey Bray
Program rosters now tell us that statewide we have 5,404 volunteers who dedicate themselves to extending UC research-based home horticulture information to the public. Programs range in size from fourteen to over three hundred Master Gardeners, but the thing they all have in common is their passion for horticulture and the desire to not only learn more, but share what they learn with other Californians. From July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013 UC MGs donated over 348,132 volunteer hours to their respective communities. If we want to think about this monetarily (and who doesn’t?!), the value of this time to UC ANR comes in at over $8.6 million!* Another way to think of it, is to compare these hours to current resources UCCE has at its disposal. As of this last year the University of California Cooperative Extension had 171 advisors listed in the directory that were categorized as specializing in “Plant Commodities or Products” –only forty of which specialized in “Ornamental Plants, Landscape, and Turf”. When we compare the staggering number of volunteer hours, we find that this figure equates to approximately 180 full time employees** for the University of California. In effect, with the Master Gardener program in place, we more than double our “staff” available to answer plant and pest-related queries from the public and provide that invaluable arm of extension by connecting California residents with UC research.
Volunteering for their communities is not the only way UC Master Gardeners spend their time, however. Last year over 76,480 hours were logged in continuing education as Master Gardeners worked to keep themselves informed about new or advanced horticultural topics and trends. In addition to presentations and workshops presented at the local program level, the Statewide Master Gardener Program hosted six 2-day regional trainings on Edible Landscaping and four regional workshops on Advanced Citrus and Avocado Care (including special focus on new citrus threat, Asian Citrus Psyllid). The Statewide UC IPM program also hosted opportunities for Master Gardeners to expand their knowledge of home and garden pests and treatment options via three regional Advanced IPM trainings.
The volunteers aren’t the only ones putting in the hours, though! The Statewide Master Gardener Program has also been hard at work this year working to support and provide developmental opportunities for the 45 Master Gardener programs around the state. One of the most exciting ways we were able to offer support in the last year and moving forward was a grant opportunity for programs to seek partial or full funding for a Program Representative (local MG coordinator) position starting July 1, 2013 and continuing through June of 2015. Many applications were submitted and in total the grant funded 19 county-based positions, including one brand new program that will take shape in the Lassen, Sierra, and Plumas counties. In order to aid programs in continued development, the Statewide Master Gardener Program also hosted 13 webinars and a two-day training for Program Coordinators, ranging in topics from best practices for Social Media to Volunteer Recognition. In November 2012 the Statewide Program also hosted the first ever Volunteer Leadership Summit, in which we invited each program to send a Master Gardener volunteer who was directly involved with the leadership of the local program to attend a day-long training on Middle Management topics and provide an opportunity for networking across counties.
It certainly has been a year of many triumphs for the UC Master Gardener Program. Thank you for the time and effort that you put into this program. We are continually astounded by the work that is accomplished by California Master Gardeners and feel extremely lucky to work with such talented and selfless individuals. We look forward to another incredibly successful year and can’t wait to chart the leaps and bounds we are sure to take statewide this year!
*Value of volunteer time found by using Independent Sector estimate of $24.75/hour in California. Find current rate at: http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/volunteer_time.html
** assumes 1928 working hours per year.
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
Do you have snails and slugs chewing up your favorite garden plants? Are spiders hanging out in and around your home? How can you get rid of those pesky webs?
The UC Statewide IPM program has just released six short videos to help you find answers to these questions. Find the videos on the UC IPM YouTube channel or linked from the specific Pest Notes publications on Snails and Slugs or Spiders.
Snails and slugs chew holes in leaves and fruit of many different types of plants, but they aren’t always present when the damage is discovered. Caterpillars, earwigs, grasshoppers, weevils, and others cause similar damage. How can you identify the culprit? The short video clip “Did a snail eat my plant?” shows damage caused by various pests and can help you identify snail or slug damage by looking for their characteristic slime trails and excrement.
If you do have snails and slugs in the garden and want to control them without using pesticides, learn how to combine trapping with other nonchemical methods for best results in the clip “Trapping snails and slugs.” If you decide to use a pesticide, check out the video on ”How to apply snail and slug bait.” You’ll learn what types of baits are best, which ones to avoid, and how and when to apply them for best results.
Although many people fear them, most spiders you encounter during the day are harmless and can be beneficial in your garden and landscape by eating pest insects.. You can see different kinds of spiders in the short clip “Common garden spiders.” However beneficial they may be, you might not want them inside your home. Even though the easiest method of getting rid of a spider is to kill it, why not trap it and let it loose outdoors to eat those garden pests? “How to catch a spider” shows several ways to easily trap a spider and let it go, including two types of nifty spider catchers that catch spiders in hard-to-reach places. Now what about those sticky webs? “How to clean up spider webs” shows practical methods for removing webs from around your home such as vacuuming, sealing holes in cracks or screens, hosing them off, or using a Webster tool. These methods can also help to keep spiders out of your home.
For more information on snails, slugs, spiders, and other home and garden pests, visit the UC IPM web site.