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GUADALUPE GARDENER AUGUST 2020

A monthly publication of the Guadalupe County Master Gardeners in cooperation with the Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension, Guadalupe

President’s Message Volunteer Opportunities 2-4

Member Photos 5-7

Facebook 8

County Fair 9

Wandering Gardener 10-12

Marion Veteran’s

Memorial Park

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Continuing Education 15

Members in Service 16

Watering is the big chore right now for me in my garden. It is hard to

imagine we are just a few weeks from cooler times. I know it's here as the fall

starts in my grow room are starting to look closer to planting size. This is a good

thing. For one it shows me that nothing is canceled on the garden calendar.

The tasks that need to be done are always consistent and dependable. My

garden is a great escape. I wish I had endless time to manicure, culture, and

tend all my plants. I am grateful for the escape it brings me. I hope you are

feeling the same about all your plants.

Not much to report this month. We did have our first monthly speaker

record a presentation for everyone to view. For now, the file is large, and it

took me some time to download at home internet speeds. Hopefully this week

I’ll get a YouTube channel up and we can just store it there. This will let you

view it with just a click of the mouse any time you would like. If we are

successful, I’m sure we can add other presentations down the road.

Thanks for all you do,

Jerry

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Courtesy of Ray Matthews, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Park

Note!

The following volunteer

opportunities

may be available with

"social distancing"

on an individual basis.

Please contact the coordinator

of the activity to volunteer.

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Courtesy of Ray Matthews, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Park

Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities

At Your Convenience:

•Kingsbury - Kingsbury Habitable Spaces Garden, 3050 FM 1104, Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to

5:00 p.m. Contact Cathy Medlin at cathmed2003@yahoo.com or 830-221-8596 the first time you

go so she can meet you at the gardens and discuss what needs to be done. Bring tools (hoes,

trowels, etc.), gloves, hats.

•Schertz – Gutierrez Xeriscape Park, 1231 Borgfeld Rd. Contact Judy Stanley at 830-765-4613 or

jstanley20@satx.rr.com for further information.

•Seguin – Rain Garden at the Irma Lewis Seguin Outdoor Learning Center, 1865 E US Highway 90

(just past the Geronimo Creek bridge east of town on HW 90). Contact Mag Holm-Roesler at

mrhr816@gmail.com or 512-656-2360 to discuss what needs to be done.

•Marion — Veterans’ Memorial Park from 8:00 a.m.to 11:00 a. m. (summer hours). The park is

located next to the Schulz Nursery parking lot, 100 W Huebinger St. Contact Joyce Friesenhahn at

210-452-2404 or email her at omaannie2@gmail.com

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Courtesy of Ray Matthews, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Park

Scheduled Workdays on Tuesdays & Fridays:

•Schertz — Guadalupe County Community Garden, 1101 Elbel Road, behind the County Annex

Building. Start time is 8:00 a.m. Check with Ann Odvody at odvodyd@swbell.net or 210-994-9664.

Scheduled Workdays on Wednesdays:

•Seguin — MG Office/Library, 210 E Live Oak, is open from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Volunteers are

always needed. Ernestine Sykes ejackson.sykes@gmail.com or 210-544-0756. The office number is

830-379-2153

•Seguin — (Only 1st and 3rd Wednesdays) Park West Pollinator Garden, 600 Block of North Vaughn

Ave., 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Maintenance of the pollinator garden and care of new plants. Bring

gardening tools, water, hat, sunscreen, insect spray and wear appropriate gardening

shoes. Contact Clara Mae Marcotte, rcm.marcotte@gmail.com or Liz

Romero, fleurromero@gmail.com

Scheduled Workdays on Fridays:

• Seguin — Big Red Barn Gardens, 390 Cordova Road. Start time is 7:30 a.m. for the summer hours

and 8:15 a.m. for the winter hours. Check with Janice Knobles at 830-379-6193 or e-mail

jmknobles@yahoo.com

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Yellow flowers– Blooming cactus

Purple flowers– Duranta Erecta

Pink flowers– Rose of

Sharon

All photos by William

Nodine

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Mary Miller– Eggplant

bloom

Sylvia Skorupa -Mini Crepe

Myrtle

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Jerry McNulty– Tumeric

Jerry McNulty– Cantaloupe

If you would like to publish photos of what you have

been growing, please send them to Mary Miller at

marymcmmiller@gmail.com. Since we can’t meet

and discuss in person, this is a good way to share

what you have been doing in your garden!

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The heat is on! South Texas has seen some brutal temperatures this last month, but you’d not know

it by seeing some of William Nodine’s flowers, gorgeous and Jerry McNulty has some very interesting

plants growing, ginger and turmeric, are we in Texas or Hawaii? This just proves that Master Gardeners

can get it done, even with virtually no rain. There’s a lot to learn from these two and all our Facebook

Page members are doing just that!

The Guadalupe County MG Facebook membership has gone up another 6% in the last 30 days, putting

us at 601 members! We’re getting up there. Top contributors this month were:

Jerry McNulty

Peggy Jones

Melinda J. Bruce Lucas

William Nodine

Katherine Bennett

Thank you! You are making a difference by helping many in our community that are new to gardening

and are full of questions. Come on the rest of you! Post your photos, answer questions, ask questions,

brag about your harvest, give us a gardening joke/comic, show off your landscaping endeavors, or just say

“hi” to all the other gardeners. Facebook is keeping us in touch and keeping us informed.

Speaking of getting information, we are going to have two, not just one, but two Guadalupe County

MG Lunch and Learns in August. Yours truly will be giving a webinar lecture on August 12th,” Preserving

Your own Food,” and Christy Rohlf will present “Allelopathy – The Impact Trees Have on Other Plants,”

on August 26th. Mark your calendars and tune in, Lunch and Learn lectures will be from 12:00 -1:00 p.m.

There are lots of continuing education opportunities to be found online and we try our best to keep you

informed of upcoming events through our Facebook page. Having trouble getting into the webinars? My

husband Frank can help, for free! Give him a call and he’ll try to help you, some of the webinars are not

easy to get into but it can be done, and most webinars are at no cost. Call Frank at (830) 379-7203.

Join us on Facebook! You too can share your photos, ideas, comments, questions, events, and articles

- all through our Facebook Group. It’s easy to join. All you need to do is log into Facebook and in the

search box type “Guadalupe County Master Gardeners,” the Group will show up, click on it and request to

join, you are guaranteed to be approved. Still, need help to join? Give me a call at (830) 379-7203 or

e-mail me at adrippel@gmail.com and I’d be happy to walk you through the procedure for joining the

group or even how to create your new account for Facebook, all questions are welcome, and to all the

Facebook Group members, keep those photos, questions, links, and advice coming. We all enjoy the posts.

Thank you all for sharing!

April Rippel– Class 27

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Sad news folks, along with the Texas State Fair and many other county fairs, our local Guadalupe

County Fair has been canceled for this year due to ongoing health concerns. I received the official word

last night.

But, not canceled altogether! We’re working with the Guadalupe County Fair Association to come

up with options so that our beloved fair will hold onto the consecutive annual event status.

Many of you count on the County Fair to accrue your required Master Gardener volunteer hours

I’m working on projects to help you, our MG organization, and the Fair Association all at once.

On the Fair Association’s end, one of the things they are going to do is hold a virtual raffle with

some awesome prizes. As soon as tickets are available, I will let you know, along with a list of the prizes

to be won. The GCMGs have pledged to provide a rain barrel as one of the prizes if anyone would like

to earn volunteer hours by putting one together, please contact me ASAP, the cost of the barrel, pieces,

and parts, etc. will be provided or reimbursed.

On our organization’s part, one of the things I’m planning is a virtual Horticulture Division Produce

Competition. I’m still working on the details but basically, all the rules for entering your horticulture

items will remain the same, the only difference being that you will be submitting a photo instead of the

item. As with many areas this year, it will have to be done online somehow, if you have any ideas or

would like volunteer hours helping with this virtual event, please contact me ASAP. The Fair Association

will be providing REAL ribbons for winners, including the tricolor and grand prize ribbons! All ribbons

will be mailed to the winners. A scape book will need to be submitted to the Fair Assoc. documenting

this virtual event – another volunteer opportunity, contact me ASAP.

For all of you that have already put in volunteer hours towards this event, lucky you, you get to

keep those hours! Please hold onto the projects that you worked on; everything will be used at next

year’s County Fair (hopefully!).

As soon as things get organized, you’ll get an e-mail with the 2020 Horticulture Division rules and

entry information.

Let’s have some fun with this! It will be on the honor system. All items must have been grown/

made in Guadalupe County this year and by you. As with past county fairs, entries will be accepted

from everyone countywide, so spread the word to friends and family. Happy growing everyone!

April Rippel GCMG 2020 County Fair Coordinator

adrippel@gmail.com Daytime: (830) 379-7203

Evening (830) 401-4450

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Wandering Gardener

Marilyn Moltz

Wildflowers to Port Alto

Near Port Lavaca, Texas

These pictures were taken June 4, 2020, on my trip to Port Lavaca, TX. This short 2-mile road (County Rd 159) was solid wildflowers on both sides of the road. Luckily, there was little traffic so we could slow down and take pictures. The road ends at Matagorda Bay and there are no services. Just by chance, we had decided to see where the road went.

These are flowers that we have here and some we do not. I hope they are labeled

correctly. There are several names for each flower so you may know it by another name. The purple thistle is part of the Asteraceae family and is a Cirsium but not sure which one. Not the one that grows on my gravel road.

I look at books, online pictures, and small pamphlet guides to help name the flowers in my

pictures. Unfortunately, I still do not always find a picture and description to match what I have. Hope you enjoy my efforts!

blue—Commelina Erecta

(dayflower)

purple thistle (basket flower?)

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mixture of flowers—

Mexican hat, unknown

white, wild petunia

Mexican hat, gulf

vervain

Unknown yellow, Rud-

beckia (?)

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Above—Verbena xutha—Coarse vervain, gulf vervain

Below-Asclepias viridis—green milkweed, green antelope horns

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Marion Veterans Memorial Park & Butterfly Garden

Joyce Friesenhahn and Melinda Lucus

The most magical section of the Marion Veterans Memorial Park is the butterfly garden. It hosts many different butterflies for over five years. As the hot Texas summer progresses and we are all praying for rain and cooler temperatures, this part of the garden, which encompasses the east side of the brick plaza area and historical (1936) Tondre playhouse is alive with a mirage of beautiful colorful flowers. The hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies are seen visiting the Gregg’s Blue Mistflower, Morning Glory Bush, Giant Pink Zinnias, Butterfly Weed, Mexican Sunflowers, and Turk’s Cap, salvias and more. Little Lady Bugs dot the plants as Queen Butterflies, Swallowtails and a few other varieties flit from one plant to another. The garden is a certified Monarch waystation and we look forward to attracting the Monarchs during their fall migration period. Tom DeKunder takes great pride in the butterfly garden and has chosen plants that are quite self-sufficient and not only bring in the butterflies but give them the habitat to thrive and repopulate. Tom DeKunder is also currently working on getting the irrigation system updated.

Tom Richardson, Joyce Friesenhahn, and Melinda Lucas are the primary MG caretakers currently. We enjoy putting our Master Gardener skills into practice and welcome anyone who cares to join us. The COVID virus is a serious challenge for all of us but there’s plenty of room to social distance and enjoy nature if you so desire.

We’re excited about the Gold Star Family project to honor those who have lost family members in the line of duty. The project entails a large star on the ground northwest of the gazebo. The preliminary work has been done. Plans are to have it completed by this fall with a dedication on Veterans Day 2020.

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Photos by Tom DeKunder

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Courtesy of Joseph A. Marcus

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Continuing Education Events August2020

Please be aware that due to current COVID-19 situation all training offered is online. Notices from Bexar and Travis counties will be sent out to members as they are received, including reminders and updates. At the time of this writing we have no information on scheduled August training from those

organizations, but it will be sent to members as soon as it arrives.

"Non-members wishing to view a Lunch and Learn ZOOM webinar can send an email

to guadalupecountymastergardeners@yahoo.com" and you will be sent the link when available."

Lunch & Learns

*August 12, 12:00 – 1:00 – April Rippel – “How to Safely Preserve the Food You’ve Grown – Canning, Freezing, Dehydrating & More”

*August 26, 12:00 – 1:00 – Christy Rolhf – “Allelopathy – How Trees Impact the Growth of Plants Around Them”

*Both Lunch & Learns will be online and an email with the link to connect to the workshop will be sent to all members a few days before the event.

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REMINDER

If anyone needs a card from

the organization for an illness

or loss of a family member,

contact: Amy McNulty ,

Secretary, 830-491-4742 or

e-mail amcnulty4@yahoo.com

Newsletter Staff

Editor - Mary Miller

Photographer - Marvin “T” Taylor

Proofreaders- Bob Teweles, Beth Zies,

Randee Malmsten

Wandering Gardener - Marilyn Moltz

IT Guru –Greg Miller

Texas Master Gardener Board of Directors

Two Year Term (2020/2021) Mark Mullen, Alternate – Rachel Cavazos

One Year Term (2020) Barry Jackson, Alternate – Kim Darrough

Speakers Bureau - Treva Hicks

Guadalupe Co. Community Garden - Dale & Ann Odvody

Master Gardener Office/Library - Ernestine Sykes

Refreshment Coordinator - Treva Hicks

Big Red Barn - Janice Knobles

Gutierrez Xeriscape Park - Judy Stanley

2020 County Fair and Facebook Administrator - April Rippel

Christmas Tree Decorating - Ernestine Sykes

Newsletter Editor - Mary Miller

Web Master - Bob Teweles

Fall 2020/Seguin Class Coordinator – Kay McElveen

Members in Service

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Guadalupe County Master Gardeners, Inc.

210 East Live Oak St.

Seguin, TX 78155

GCMG Officers & Board of Directors

Jerry McNulty- President

Mark Mullen-Past President

Barry A. Jackson-President Elect

Kim Tessanne -Vice President

Amy McNulty -Secretary

Rachel Cavazos -Treasurer

Janice Jadwin -Publicity Director

Kim Darrough -Membership Director

Kay McElveen -Education Director

Carol Calentine-Volunteer Director

Travis Franke -AgriLIFE Agent Master Gardener

Coordinator

Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the

understanding that no discrimination by the Master Gardeners is

implied, and no endorsement by the Master Gardeners is implied.

The members of Texas A&M AgriLife will provide equal opportunities

in programs and activities, education, and employment to all

persons regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age,

disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or

gender identity and will strive to achieve full and equal employment

opportunity throughout Texas A&M AgriLife.

Mary Miller, Editor marymcmmiller@gmail.com

Guadalupe County Master Gardeners http://www.guadalupecountymastergardeners.org 830-379-1972 Ext 210

Guadalupe County Texas A&M AgriLIFE Extension http://guadalupe.agrilife.org/ 830-379-1972

Texas Master Gardeners http://www.txmg.org