Volume 30, Issue #10 – October 2020
BCMG President
October is pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, and cool-season veggies. It’s mari-mums and fall zinnias in gardens and containers, leaves changing colors, and the temperatures cooling down. For me, October is one of the best months to spend time outdoors!
October also starts a new series in the Scion. Bexar County Master Gardener, Bill Swantner, is going to delve into What’s Wrong with My…?. This series is designed to help you understand more about what affects your plants and what might be causing the problems you experience.
So, get outside if you can, enjoy the great outdoors and the wonderful gardens in San Antonio and Bexar County! And if you have a “what’s wrong with my…” problem, remember, the Master Gardeners are always ready to help you!
Stay safe!
Lynn
Scion Index – Click and Go!
- This Month’s Presentation– The Garden Snake by Gilbert Martinez
- Gardening
- Water Wise Words
- Texas Superstar Spotlight – Mari-Mums
- In the Garden Articles
- Poison Gardens
- Queen’s Tears
- How and When to Divide your Irises
- What’s Wrong With My……?
- Gardening Education – Online Opportunities
- Master Gardener Corner
BCMG offices are open at 25%. You must have an appointment to go in. Call before going over.
All monthly meetings and presentations for the rest of 2020 will be on-line webinars held on Zoom.
The first time you use Zoom, allow a few minutes extra to get set up. Zoom can be used free on home PCs, Macs and on smartphones.
Pre-Registration on Zoom is required for each webinar. (Equivalent to the “Sign-in sheet”). Register weeks ahead of time or even just a few minutes before the webinar and the link will be sent to you in email.
Hello Fellow Gardeners!
We have finally gotten some rain and relief from the triple digit temperatures! The mornings and evenings have been perfect for taking a stroll through the garden and catching up on some fall garden tasks.
This much needed rain we have received should remind you to switch the irrigation system controller to manual and also to check your irrigation systems for any leaks or problems. Remember that cooler temperatures mean less evaporation so the soil will retain moisture longer, which means we don’t have to apply water as frequently. Check the soil to make sure the top 2-3” are dry before applying additional water.
Fall is a great time to identify and pull any weeds that have made their way into our landscapes. Weeds compete with the same water, sunlight, and nutrients our plants need, removing them gives a direct benefit to the health of our plants.
This is also a great time to add a 1” layer of complete compost to our garden beds and turfgrass. Remember that organic matter benefits our plants in so many ways including adding nutrients, giving clay soil better drainage, and allowing sandy soil to hold more moisture. In the garden beds, move mulch out of the way and add the compost right on top of the existing soil and bring the mulch back on top.
And finally, this is a great time to top off all our beds with another layer of mulch to insulate the soils and plant roots for the upcoming cooler temperatures. You don’t have to remove the older mulch, just place another 1-2” right on top.
These little steps will make your landscape plants stronger and healthier while saving water (and money) as well. Enjoy this upcoming fall season!
Conservationally Yours,
Anna Vogler, BCMG Water Conservation Coordinator
Poison-Gardens3-bolded
Queens-Tears-Sept-Scion
Irises-How-and-When-to-Divide-Your-Iris-Rhizomes-Oct-Scion2
Whats-Wrong-with-My-new-on-Sept-27
Gardening Education Opportunities
Gardening-for-Monarchs-and-Other-Pollinators-Marybeth-Parsons
Oct 14 – 12 pm – 1 pm Common Spiders of Texas
Oct 21 – 12 pm – 1 pm – Common Arachnids of Texas
Oct 28 – 12 pm – 1 pm – Venomous Spiders
Join these webinars Meeting ID: 990 2593 9574, Passcode: Garden2020
How to choose the right fertilizer for home vegetable gardens
Apply fall preemergence herbicide to avoid spring weeds
Top tips for a successful fall vegetable garden
How to avoid and remove poison ivy
Frequently check the BCMG Calendar, as that is where all the new, upcoming programs will be posted. Click Here
Past webinars are posted on YouTube for your viewing (or reviewing) pleasure! Check often for new postings! Click here for the list.
- Where Do Insects Go When It Rains? *Molly Keck*
- 12 Months of Vegetable Gardening by David Rodriguez
- Pests of Tomatoes by Molly Keck
- Growing a Fall and Winter Vegetable Garden
- 12 Months of Pollen and Nectar Producing Plants for Pollinators
- Turf Grass Basics: Surviving Summer and the Rest of the Year
- Vegetable Garden Basics
- Top 10 Insects of Summer
- Tropical Escape with Texas Superstar Plants
- Growing Citrus on your Patio and Landscape
- Beneficial Insects!
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fblive/https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fblive/
Just a few of them are:
- Raised Garden Beds, Location, Soil Mixtures and more!
- Home Fruit Production – Tips for Success!
- Small fruits for the backyard
- Floral Designs from your backyard – Growing, Cutting, Using your flowers and shrubs!
- Backyard Grapes/Vineyards
- How to Prune Your Trees
- Drip Irrigation Essentials
- Indoor Gardening
- Growing Blueberries in Containers
Get the full list here
- Landscape Water Conservation
- Low-Volume Irrigation
- Irrigation System Auditing
- Safe Use and Handling of Pesticides
- Safe Use and Handling of Fertilizers
- Composting
- Designing an Earth–Kind® Landscape
- Landscaping for Energy Conservation
- Creating Native Habitat
- Earth–Kind® Roses
- Integrated Pest Management
Free and open to the public.
Click here to register
Learn more about:
- Plant Growth and Development
- Soil, Water and Plant Nutrition
- Earth-Kind landscaping
- Plant Health
- Fruit and Nut Plants
- Vegetable and Herb Gardening
- Landscape Horticulture
- LawnCare
BCMG is on YouTube! Watch classes on a computer (or on your smartphone)!
- Native Plants for Native Birds
- Crape-Myrtle Bark Scale
- Herb Gardening
- Propagation by Cuttings
- Rainwater Harvesting with Lou Kellogg
- San Antonio: It’s History and Water
- Texas Superstars
- Starting Vegetables from Seed Indoors
- Organic Gardening
Check often for other new videos! The whole list of available videos is HERE.
Call in to Live Radio on Saturday mornings, with your gardening questions for David.
Call in: 210-737-1200 or 1-800-383-9624 on Saturdays from 7 am to 10pm
Or just listen to the show, and learn from everyone else’s questions!
WOAI 1200 AM – Lawn and Garden Show
Host: David Rodriguez, Bexar County AgriLife Extension Horticulturist.
Past shows are archived here, for easy listening on your computer, tablet or phone, anytime! Listen on your phone while you drive!
Ask a Master Gardener
Master Gardeners are available to help you with your gardening questions. We provide unbiased, research-based, locally relevant gardening information. Free service. You can reach us:
By phone: 210-631-0400 (Ask to speak to a Master Gardener)
Mon-Fri 9 am – Noon, 1-4 pm (Closed on county holidays)
Even during Covid-19 precautions, the phones and the Hotline are being operated from home telephones, hotline calls are being directed by AgriLife Extension receptionist Nick Vasquez.
Member’s Corner
Each year, Master Gardeners must certify for the following year. Once they complete requirements, they receive the Maroon Bluebonnet Service Pin. They must complete:
- at least 30 volunteer hours in the community
- 6 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to keep their knowledge current
- attend two regular BCMG monthly meetings.
Congratulations to the Bexar County Master Gardeners who earned their 2020 certification in September.
- Veronica Long
- Arthur Vasquez
- Andrew Waring
We won’t have any Halloween photos to show for October 2020, so we thought we’d show a few from last year! Photos by Lou Kellog -Thanks, Lou!
Oct-2019-at-SABOT