June 2016
Celebrate Summer with MG Gear! 
 
The new Iowa Master Gardener red t-shirts with white logo are available for sale through the ISU Extension Online Store. You can also get a polo shirt, water bottle, and more! Check out the options and show your Iowa State University pride!

MG Gear from the ISU Extension Store
Teaching Gardening for Community Food Security
 
This spring as part of a larger federal grant through the SNAP-ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-education) program, the Iowa State University Master Gardener Program awarded $20,000 in mini grants to Master Gardener groups for volunteer projects related to food security. The Master Gardeners of Linn County were awarded a mini grant to provide garden activities for youth in Cedar Rapids. In this photograph, youth planted herbs and vegetables in a community garden for local food pantries.

Let us know about food security projects happening in your area!

Photo courtesy of Diane Wisenfeld 
 
Grow in Knowledge with Webcasts this Summer
 
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach county offices are hosting the seventh annual Growing Season webcast series at multiple locations across Iowa. Gardeners are learning about native plants for shade in the landscape, tree problems and native insects in the garden. The series provides a total of 6 hours of containing education. Contact your local Extension & Outreach county office to find out when the webinars will be offered near you. Learn more here.

Thanks for Reporting Your Volunteer Hours

As of mid-June, Iowa Master Gardeners have already logged more than 32,000 hours of volunteer service in various projects around the state. We know that number is increasing daily. Don't wait until the end of the year to report your hours; sign in to the online volunteer reporting system and track those hours of service while they're still fresh in your mind. We know that reporting is not why you volunteer, but doing so is important to show the impact of Master Gardener projects.

The minimum requirements to remain an active Master Gardener are 20 hours of volunteer service and 10 hours of continuing education annually. Thank you for submitting your hours on the Volunteer Reporting System.
Register by September 1st 
Encourage your friends to start their journey to become a Master Gardener beginning this September. This will be the only training class for the 2016-2017 school year.

Classes will be held on Tuesdays from September 27 through November 15, 2016, plus four additional locally scheduled classes and a Saturday class on the Iowa State University campus (either October 8 or 22). The training will be hosted in more than thirty locations. Contact your county ISU Extension and Outreach office for details.  
Calling All SFE Awardees

We are proud of the 12 Iowa Search for Excellence award winners. Iowa State SFE winners are also eligible to apply for the International Master Gardener Search for Excellence award, however, applicants for the international award are not limited to state winners. If you have an outstanding local Master Gardener project that is innovative and has provided measurable impacts in your community, consider submitting an application for this award. (You can also submit for the state award next winter.) IMGC applications are due August 1, 2016. Submission guidelines can be found here.

The International Search for Excellence awards will be presented at the 2017 International Master Gardener Conference, July 10-14th in Portland, Oregon.  
September 14-17: Regional MG Conference

Registration is open for the 2016 Upper Midwest Regional Master Gardener Conference September 14-17 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The bi-annual conference is open to Master Gardeners from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, and Canada, as well as their guests.

Don't delay, early registration is available through June 30! 
Super Sleuths   

Congratulations to our Super Sleuths for May. This was a difficult plant for many to identify, with Queen Anne's lace and yarrow being the most widelly suggested incorrect solutions. However, Faye Waterman from Scott County and Brenda Knipper from Jones County correctly identified this herbaceous perennial as Valeriana officinalis, commonly called white valerian, garden heliotrope or all-heal. These common names point to the problem of using common names
to identify plants because they could easily be confused with other plants with similar common names. Valerian is also used for Centranthus ruber; heliotrope is also used for Heliotropum arborescens; and all-heal sounds a lot like self-heal, Prunella grandiflora.

Valeriana officinalis is native to Europe and western Asia, but has become naturalized in some sections of eastern North America, and even is reportedly invasive in some sections of New England. It spreads both by rhizomes and seed, so it may need deadheading to prevent getting out of hand. The attractive white blooms appear from May to July on stems 3-5' tall atop deeply dissected foliage. It grows well in full sun to light shade and prefers moderately moist to wet soils. As the botanical name suggests, this is the official source of the drug valerian, which has sometimes been used to treat anxiety, restlessness and insomnia.


June Mystery Plant  
As summer heats up, the cooling effect of blue flowers in the garden is greatly appreciated. This alpine native from the borage family is technically a perennial, but it's best to treat it as an annual. Because it self-seeds readily, once planted it will likely return year after year unless you fastidiously deadhead it. It requires well-drained soil, but will bloom from June through August either in full sun or light shade on a compact plant just 6-12 inches tall. It makes a good substitute for Myosotis, the common forget-me-not, which can be susceptible to powdery mildew. What is it?

Send your response including its common name and botanical name (bonus points for cultivar name!) in your reply to Denny. In the next newsletter, we'll recognize up to the first 10 respondents that provide the correct identity of the mystery plant. 
  Upcoming Events
What  
When
Where
 June 25   Dubuque  
Garden Tour   June 25   Polk County 
Pollinator Fest   June 25   Reiman Gardens 
 Iowa Regional Lily Show   June 25   Reiman Gardens 
Linn County Garden Walk   July 9   Linn County 
 Home Demo Garden Field Day     July 19   Rock Rapids 
Growing Herbs    July 25   Rock Rapids 
Home Demo Garden Field Day   July 28   Lewis 
Home Demo Garden Field Day   August 2   Kanawha 
Home Demo Garden Field Day   August 4   Ames 
Home Demo Garden Field Day   August 6   Nashua 
Cooking with Garden Veggies   August 9   Rock Rapids 
Home Demo Garden Field Day   August 9   Fruitland
Home Demo Garden Field Day   August 10   Crawfordsville 
Cooking with Herbs   August 11   Rock Rapids 
All-Iowa Master Gardener Art Show   August 18-October 16   Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden 
 September 14-17   Wisconsin Dells 
 September 27   Over 30 locations