Purdue Extension Service
Purdue Extension Service
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Subject: HORT ALERTS: Master Gardener Plant Sale, robot lawn mower, Cicadas?
4/28/2008
I hate to say anything and jinx it, but I really think spring has finally sprung! Lots of neat and fun things happening this week, so let’s get to it!
1. Master Gardener Plant Sale:
This Saturday and Sunday, the Southwestern Indiana Master Gardeners Association will be holding their annual Plant Sale. The plant sale hours are Saturday, May 3 (8 am-5 pm), and Sunday, May 4, 2008 (10 am-2 pm). To provide more space for our shoppers, the sale has been moved to the Vanderburgh County 4H Center on Boonville-New Harmony Road. Here’s a link to a map of the 4H Center...we’re in building number 5, the Show Barn: http://www.vanderburgh4hcenter.com/gmap.html
Thousands of plants will be available, including sun and shade perennials, annuals, herbs, vegetables, water plants, house plants and more. Garden related items, and Mother’s Day gifts, will also be available.
Some of the exciting varieties to look for include Brunnera ‘Emerald Mist’, Ligularia ‘Osirius Fantaisie’, Geranium ‘Orkney Cherry’, Tiarella ‘Sugar and Spice’ and more. Many hostas, including the special ‘Deja Blu’ will be sold. Additionally, peonies grown from stock from nationally known peony specialist Roy Klehm of Klehm’s Song Sparrow Nursery will be available.
Plants grown from seed by Master Gardeners, as well as divisions from their own gardens, will also be sold.
A special feature this year will be a Black and White table, featuring plants in those color tones. Watch for black hollyhocks, black violas, Geranium ‘Midnight Reiter’, white dahlias, white Angelonia, Dicentra ‘Alba’, and other fun plants!
Informational materials, including a hand out on starting a monochromatic garden bed, will be given away. A limited number of seed sprouting kits will also be given away.
New to the sale are a series of "Gardening 101" mini-seminars, free of charge. Starting at 9:30 am on Saturday, these short presentations will provide basic information to the gardening public. Topics to be covered include:
9:30 am - Hostas and Companion Plants - Julie Mallory
10:15 am - Tool Sharpening - Joe Mills
11:00 am - Maintenance Calendar for Indiana Lawns - Larry Caplan
11:45 am - Container Gardening - Cheryl Bremer
12:30 pm - Seed Sprouting - Jane Rexing & Ann Goodman
1:15 pm - Tomatoes - Ernie Hicks
2:00 pm - Terrariums - Rhonda Schenk
2:45 pm - Controlling Vegetable Insects - Larry Caplan
Dozens of Master Gardeners will be working at the Sale, providing the public with an extensive wealth of information about gardening. Your humble columnist will be there practically all day Saturday, too.
After you're through shopping, you might want to head out to the far east side and check out a neat program at Angel Mounds State Historic Site called "Voices of the East." It's a Native American Living Village, and one of the components of the event is an herb/native plant walk, in addition to just general native plant discussions ongoing throughout the program.
Want something else to do this weekend, after you plant your purchases? Come out to the Ohio Valley Birding Festival (May 1–4, 2008). Birding enthusiasts and novices alike will want to be sure to mark their calendars for a new event this spring in celebration of International Migratory Bird Month. Wesselman Nature Society has partnered with the Evansville Audubon Society, Evansville’s Wild Birds Unlimited store, and John James Audubon State Park to bring four days of birding excitement to Evansville and the surrounding region on May 1–4, 2008. Also Saturday, May 3rd, will be a special Family Day for all ages.
We have provided the entire detailed schedule of the Ohio Valley Birding Festival events and activities below. You may also click on the following link to download a printable (PDF) version of the schedule: http://www.wesselmannaturesociety.org/society/documents/OVBF-Schedule- 2008.pdf
Remember the new plant sale location: Vanderburgh County 4H Center! There will be plenty of convenient parking, and volunteers to help get your purchases to your car. For more information about the plant sale or the Master Gardener program, contact the Purdue Extension Service at (812) 435-5287.
2. Something a little further afield, in case you’re up for a road trip:
Louisville, KY. Whitehall House & Gardens is pleased to announce that it will host its 5th annual Peony Festival on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. at historic Whitehall, 3110 Lexington Road. The public is invited to tour Whitehall’s grounds and enjoy its extensive collection of over 50 varieties of peonies, one of springtime’s most loved flowers. The alluringly fragrant blooms and lush foliage of the peony create an enchanting effect in the garden, and as a cut flower, there is simply no equal! This event is free and open to the public.
A number of peonies will be offered for sale, including old-fashioned varieties and those grown at the notable Klehm’s Song Sparrow Farm in rural Avalon, Wisconsin. Additionally, Whitehall’s team of expert gardeners will be on hand to answer your questions about the many featured varieties and how to best care for the peony. For more information, please contact Whitehall at (502) 897-2944 or email at whitehall@historichomes.org.
Proceeds from peony sales benefit Whitehall House & Gardens, a historic house owned and operated by the not-for-profit Historic Homes Foundation.
3. I always knew that robots would someday take over and try to destroy humanity...5000 science fiction writers can’t all be wrong! But here’s a serious message from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding a robotic lawn mower device:
CPSC, Kyodo America Recall LawnBott Lawn Mowers Due to Laceration Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Product: LawnBott Lawn Mowers
Units: About 530
Importer: Kyodo America Industries Co. LTD., of Lawrenceville, Ga.
Manufacturer: Zucchetti Centro Sistemi S.p.A., of Italy
Hazard: The cutting blades continue to rotate when the mower is lifted from the ground and the spacing on the side of the lawn mower could allow room for a consumer's foot to go beyond the shield and be struck by the blade. Both instances pose a serious laceration hazard to consumers.
Incidents/Injuries: Kyodo America has received one report of a consumer lifting the mower from the ground and suffered minor lacerations from the moving blade.
Description: This recall involves LawnBott lawn mowers with model numbers LB2000, LB2100, LB3000, and LB3200. The robotic lawn mowers freely and automatically cut grass by detecting the signal of a perimeter cable. The mowers have a docking station for recharging and a shiny plastic cover sold in red, green or blue. "Evolution" or "deluxe" is printed on the side of the mower.
Sold by: Kyodo America dealers nationwide from January 2006 through December 2007 for between $1,750 and $2,750.
Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled LawnBott lawn mowers immediately and contact Kyodo America to register their lawn mowers for repairs that will be ready by the end of June. Consumers who have registered their mower with Kyodo America have been sent direct notification by mail.
Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Kyodo America at (877) 465-9636 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at www.lawnbott.com
To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled products, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08256.html
4. Periodic Cicadas are due in Midwest this year.
2008 should see the return of Brood XIV of the periodical cicada, also known as the “17 Year Cicada”, to the Midwest. They normally appear starting in May and remain with us through June. Their biggest harm is that they are extremely noisy. The females can also damage the twigs of trees and shrubs as they lay their eggs. However, no matter how big and scary they look, they don’t bite or sting people, and are not a danger.
According to Purdue’s bulletin on Periodical Cicada (http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/publications/E-47.pdf ), the cicadas should be found in 40 counties in Indiana, but “heaviest in southwestern Indiana”. They should also be found in the eastern 2/3rds of Kentucky.
HOWEVER....
I keep good notes of each year’s cicada emergence, and I was here 17 years ago when this brood last popped its buggy head out of the ground. According to my notes, the only calls I remember receiving came from Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Even though Purdue’s article states that dense swarms were to be expected in Warrick County, I did not record any calls from there.
Keep a lookout for cicadas over the next 3 or 4 weeks. If you see any, please send me an e- mail. Be sure to list your county, township, or town, so I can plot where the emergences are.
That’s it for right now...remember, the Master Gardener Plant Sale is NOT at Washington Square Mall...we’re up at the Vanderburgh 4H Center.