Curious Gardener Newsletter

In this issue:

• Fertilizing Your Trees
• Unusual Edible: Chocolate Vine
• Cover Cropping in Foothill Gardens
• Hotline FAQs: Soil for Raised Vegetable Beds
• All-Star: Marina Madrone
• Water-Wise Gardening
• Nevada County Demonstration Garden News
• 2025 Gardening Guide and Calendar Hot Off the Press!
• Insect Bytes: Meet the Spotted Lanternfly
• BotLat: Red Flag Color
• Diagnosing Why a Plant Fails
• Video Tour of The Estes Garden
• Placer County Demonstration Garden News
• Creating a Pumpkin Succulent Centerpiece
• Events Calendar

In this issue:

• Summer Fruit Tree Pruning 
• Hotline FAQs: Controlling Leafminers 
• Visit UC Master Gardeners at Your Local Farmers’ Market 
• Master Gardeners of Nevada County Demonstration Garden News 
• Unusual Edible: A High Octane Berry
• Become Water Smart and Make Your Plants Happy 
• Ergonomic Tools 
• Tips for Creating and Using Microclimates in your Yard 
• BotLat: Tomatoes
• All-Star: Coral Fountain 
• Events Calendar

In This Issue

Wigglers Offer Enrichment for Gardens ...........................................1
BotLat: Loooong Plant Names ......2
The Myth of Firewise Plants ............3
Hotline FAQs: Cottage Garden Under Oaks? .........................................5
Insect Bytes: Monarchs .....................5
All-Star: Chinese Ground Orchids 6
Planting Bushes and Shrubs ...........7
Invasive Mosquitoes in Roseville ..7
Nevada County Demonstration Garden News ........................................8
Unusual Edible: Purple Passionflower .........................8
Placer County Demonstration Garden Update ....................................9
Abiotic Plant Problems: Herbicide Drift .....................................9
Kids Korner: Differences Between Honeybees and Wasps ..................10
Events Calendar ...............................11

In this issue:

• Low Maintenance Gardening
• Unusual Edible: Cocoxochitl
• Mediterranean Oak Borer
• Myths of Winter Fruit Tree Care
• Nevada County Demonstration Garden News
• Hotline FAQs: Redbud Damage
• USDA Updates Zone Map
• BotLat: Add Grasses for Winter Interest
• Ground Broken for Demonstration Garden in Placer County
• Things You Might Not Know About Honey Bees
• Events Calendar

In this issue:

• Red Imported Fire Ants
• UC Master Gardeners Transforming Education in Placer County
• Garden Ghoulishness II
• All-Star: Winter Honeysuckle
• Unusual Edible: Wapato
• BotLat: Plant Names
• Creating Defensible Space: Quick Tip on Shrub Maintenance
• Kids Korner: Pine Cone Bird Feeder
• Abiotic Plant Problems: Mechanical Injury
• 2024 Gardening Guide and Calendar: Try Something New
• Nevada County Demonstration Garden News
• A Brief History of The Curious Gardener
• New Video Series: Garden Adventures
• Events Calendar

In this issue:

Planning and Planting a Slope...1

Go Bananas—with Pawpaws! ....2

Harvesting Rainwater..................3

Insect Trivia..................................4

Hotline FAQ: Codling Moths.......4

Visit Us at Farmers’ Markets.......4

Insect Trivia Answers..................5

Cool Down and Conserve...........5

Yellow Starthistle.........................6

Nevada County Demonstration

Garden News ...............................7

BotLat: Fruit or Vegetable...........7

Events Calendar ..........................8

In this issue:

• The Dance of Defensible Space
• All-Star: Crape Myrtle
• 2023 Spring Garden Faire
• Spring Plant Sale
• Biotic vs. Abiotic Plant Problems
• BotLat: Farm Animals
• Nevada County Demo Garden News
• Unusual Edibles: Jujube
• Ground Squirrels
• 2023 Mother’s Day Garden Tour
• Are Your Mature Trees Healthy and Stable?
• Kids Korner: Wildflower Cards
• Spring event:  Jennifer Jewell Presentation
• Workshops and Events

Happy Holidays and New Year in advance!  Enjoy our new issue of the Curious Gardener!

Gardening in Placer County:

A Different Kind of Gold ................ 1

Important Invasive Species Updates

from UC IPM....................... 3

Nevada County

Demonstration Garden News ....... 4

BotLat: Winter Food ..................... 4

Winter Garden To-dos Include

Weeds, Daffodils .......................... 5

Unusual Edibles:

Aztec Broccoli Anyone?................ 5

Hotline FAQ: Trees for Shade ...... 6

Insect Trivia: The Wonderful World

of Cicadas .................................... 6

All-Star: Bush Germander ............ 7

Cicada Trivia Answers .................. 7

Gophers: Eating Machines ........... 8

Events and Workshops................. 9

In This Issue

Nevada County

Demonstration Garden News ......2

Create Habitat with Hedgerows... 3

Hotline FAQ:

Benefits of Soil Testing ................4

All-Star Western Redbud.............5

Unusual Edibles: Name Games ..5

Insect Trivia .................................6

2023 Calendar and

Gardening Guide .........................6

Smelly Guests: Skunks ...............7

Insect Trivia Answers...................7

The Dogface Butterfly..................8

BotLat Tongue Twisters ...............8

Workshop and Events Calendar…...9

What Makes a Plant

Drought Tolerant? .......................1

A Different Kind of ‘Potato’...........2

What’s Wrong with My Tomato?...3

All-Star: Cape Balsam..................4

Hotline FAQ: Gophers..................4

Sustainable Lawn Care ...............5

Nevada County

Demonstration Garden News ......7

Insect Trivia..................................7

Raccoons .....................................8

Master Gardeners

at the Farmers’ Market ................8

BotLat: Not Cutting Flowers!........9

Events Calendar ........................10

In This Issue

• Ornamental Pond in Your Landscape?
• BotLat: Pass-along Plants
• Integrated Pest Management for Weeds
• Spring Plant Sale
• Nevada County Demo Garden News
• All-Star: Aster ‘Purple Dome’
• Evaluating Fire Damage on Trees
• Unusual Edibles: Chinese Water Chestnuts
• Garden Faire
• Voles and Moles
• Mother’s Day Garden Tour
• Workshops and Events

In this Issue:

• Moonlight Reflected
• Invasive Pests and Diseases
• BotLat:  Winter interest revisited
• Nevada County Demonstration Garden News
• All-Star:  Toyon
• Pruning Citrus
• Hotline FAQs:  Winter Bloom, What to do about Moss
• Deciding to Keep or Remove an Old Tree
• Events and Workshops

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

In This Issue

Native Ground Covers................. 1

Unusual Edibles: Lotus................ 2

Mammalian Pests........................ 3

Gardening Guide and Calendar .. 4

All-Star: St. Catherine’s Lace ...... 5

Hotline FAQs: Fall Watering ........ 5

Garden Ghoulishness ................. 6

BotLat: Another Name Change ... 7

Invasive Stink Growing in Placer..7

Arborists, BIG and small.............. 8

Demonstration Garden Turns 30..8

Events Calendar.......................... 9

In this issue: 

• Growing Cut Flowers
• Unusual Edibles: Sorrel
• Container Gardening
• Garden Design: Where to Start?
• Nevada County Demonstration Garden News
• BotLat: Poetry in the Garden
• Grafting Roses
• Arboretum All-Star: Coral Yucca
• Hotline FAQ: Leafrollers
• Events Calendar and Virtual Workshops (via Zoom)

Spring 2021 issue:

• Basic Vegetable Garden Tips
• News from the Nevada County Demonstration Garden
• Don’t Buy These Plants!
• Gardening in a Changing Climate
• HotlineFAQs: Pokeweed
• House?y Trivia
• Mushrooms in My Mulch
• Unusual Edibles: Chinese Artichokes
• All-Star: Penstemon
• BotLat: Pronunciation
• Events Calendar, Virtual Workshops

Please feel free to share this newsletter anywhere and everywhere!

In this issue:

• How to Read and Understand a
  Pesticide Label
• Black Widow Spider Quiz 
• All-Star: Winter Daphne
• Plant a Colorful Late Winter/
  Early Spring Garden 
• Great Trees: Douglas Fir 
• Nevada County Master
  Gardeners: “The Producers” 
• BotLat: Winter Interest
• Placer County Master
  Gardener Zoom Workshops
• Events Calendar

Enjoy this issue!

• Orchids
• Spring Bulbs
• Saving Seed
• Master Gardeners ZOOM
• 2021 Placer MG Calendar
• Wicked, Poisonous Plants
• Demo Garden News
• Great Trees:  Oaks
• Master Gardeners Partnering
• Protecting Trees During Construction
• 2020 Nevada County MG Foothills Garden Guide
• Socially Distant Resources
• and more!!!!!!!!

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Horticulture and Composting Education

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

In this issue:

• Scenes of respite
• Reader survey
• Great trees
• Q&A with Christine Casey of Honey Bee Haven
• BotLat feature
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• UC Arboretum All-Star - Pink Phlomis
• Western Tent Caterpillars
• Hotline FAQ:  Dividing Iris
• Check our websites for up to date information on our MG activities

PLEASE CHECK WITH MASTER GARDENERS IN EITHER COUNTY TO CONFIRM UPCOMING EVENTS ARE OCCURRING AS THEY ARE SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION.

PLACER:  530-889-7388

NEVADA CO: 530-273-4563

In this issue:

• Seed Starting
• Nevada County MG Garden Guide
• How to Select Trees
• Water Lilies
• Camellia Petal Blight
• BotLat
• Beetle Trivia
• UC All-Star plants
• Nematodes
• TAKE OUR SURVEY!!

In this issue:

• Is Your Soil the Cause of Your Plant Problems?
• BotLat:  Culinary Terms
• Shade Garden Conditions
• All Star:  Poker Plant
• Frost Protection
• How to Prune CA Native Plants
• The December Garden
• Hotline FAQ:  Transplanting Heritage Roses
• Elderberry
• Dormant Fruit Tree Care
• Events Calendar

In this issue:

• Salvia:   All-Star Standout
• Tree Staking
• Fall Plant Sale
• Magnificent Monarchs
• Azolla:  Friend or Foe?
• 2020 Calendar (Placer County)
• BotLat feature
• Leaf Composting
• Event Calendar

Enjoy!

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Hort and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

In this issue:

• Drip Irrigation
• Cucumber Beetles
• Managing Deer in the Foothill Garden
• Control your Controller!
• Sizzling Summer in the Garden
• You Stink!  (Stink Bugs)
• BotLat Corner
• All Star - Dwarf Oregano
• Events Calendar

Enjoy!

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Hort and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

Happy Spring everyone!  See you at the Garden Faire on April 13 (page 4).

In this issue:

• Vermicomposting
• Insect Trivia:  Lady Beetles
• Pet Safe Gardening
• Powdery Mildew on Oaks
• Summer Watering
• BotLat Corner
• Hydrozoning
• All Star:  Howard McMinn Manzanita
• A Weekend of Gardening Fun!

Happy Holidays!  In this issue:

• Ornamental Grasses
• Pruning Fruit Trees
• Insect Quiz
• Calscape
• UC Davis Arboretum All-Star
• BotLat
• Breaking Dormancy
• Kohlrabi
• Crown Galls
• Clematis Care
• Events Calendar

In this issue:

• Biochar in the Home Garden
• Gardening for the Birds
• A Fire-Safe Garden
• Fall Plant Sale
• The Marketing of Mycorrhizae
• Insect Trivia - Dragonflies
• Hotline FAQ:  Fall Color
• BotLat Corner
• 2019 Placer County Master Gardener Calendar
• All-Star:  Yarrow
• Events Calendar

Happy Summer!  Enjoy this issue of the Curious Gardener!

In this issue:

• Hotline FAQs:  Ants and Sunscald
• Propagating Succulents
• Black Walnut - know before you grow
• BotLat Corner - Mule Fat
• The Phosphate fertilizer garden myth
• All-Star:  Hybrid Catmint
• Events Calendar

Thanks for subscribing!  Feel free to share with gardener friends!

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Hort and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

Enjoy this SPRING issue of the Curious Gardener and don't forget to take advantage of FREE research-based gardening advice at our Master Gardener HOTLINES in Placer (530-889-7388) and Nevada (530-273-0919) Counties.  You can also submit questions and attach a picture at either of our websites as well.  Like us on FACEBOOK!

In this issue:

• Buying Compost? Ask the ROTLINE!
• Placer County Master Gardener GARDEN FAIRE - April 14, 2018 - Rocklin, CA
• Low Tech Solution for Toxic Soils
• The Vitamin B1 Myth
• Hotline FAQs and Insect Trivia
• Lady Beetle life cycle photos - know the stages to identify the good guys!
• Plant Growth Regulators
• Placer County Mother's Day Garden Tour 
• Arboretum All Star:  Isomeras arborea
• Nevada County Master Gardener Spring Plant Sale - May 12 in Grass Valley

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Hort and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

Happy New Year to all of you!  Enjoy this winter issue of the Curious Gardener and don't forget to take advantage of FREE research-based gardening advice at our Master Gardener HOTLINES in Placer (530-889-7388) and Nevada (530-273-0919) Counties.  You can also submit questions and attach a picture at either of our websites as well.

In this issue:

• Citrus "A-peel"
• Mistletoe:  More than a Kiss
• Growing Fern Indoors
• Decreasing Water Runoff
• Garden Myths:  Gravel in Planting Pots
• Hotline FAQs - Cover Crops
• Cockroach Trivia
• All-Star Highlight - Pigsqueak
• Botanical Latin column

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Hort and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

In this issue:

• Attracting Pollinators
• How to Grow Garlic
• Citrus Quarantine info
• Replanting After Conifers Die
• BotLat Corner
• Why are my oranges splitting?
• UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars
• Multipurpose Herb Gardens

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Hort and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter!  In this issue:

• Growing Cactus and Succulents from Seed
• Lawn Removal with Sheet Mulching
• Soil Solarization
• UC All-Star plant:  California Pipevine
• Memories of Flowers
• Hotline Question:  Blackberries
• Seeds Contain Past and Future
• BotLat:  Size Matters
• Event Calendar

Kevin Marini

UCCE Placer and Nevada Counties

Home Hort and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 (Auburn ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 (Grass Valley)

Happy Spring!  This issue is packed full of informative articles and announcements of all of our Master Gardener events and activities coming up this spring in both Placer and Nevada Counties!  

• Phytophthora tentaculata: A New Exotic and Invasive Disease
• Daffodils
• Butterfly trivia
• Placer MG Garden Faire and Garden Tour
• BotLat Corner
• Nevada County MG Plant Sale
• What is a soil blocker?
• Much more!!!

Happy Holidays to all of you!

In this issue:

• Fruit Trees
• Asian Citrus Psyllid
• Blueberries
• Tool cleaning
• Luffa
• Arboretum All Star:  Goldenrod
• Greenhouse pest control
• More!!!

• Edibles in the Landscape
• Brussels Sprouts
• Weeds and Compost
• Protecting Your Winter Vegetable Garden
• Tomato Tasting
• Calendar/Gardening Guide
• BotLat Corner
• Fall Plant Sale
• Hotline FAQs:
  • Pomegranates
  • Hummingbird Sage
  • The Frugal Gardener
• Events Calendar

In this issue:

• Auburn Trail of Treasured Trees
• Try Something New:  Buckwheat
• Can Bees have heart attacks?
• Second Act:  Your Winter Vegetable Garden
• Hotline FAQ's:  Fireblight
• All-Star:  Walking Iris
• Deer Consuming Photinia
• BotLat Corner
• The Frugal Gardener
• Event Calendar 

A full issue with plenty to read about!!!

So much to read in here!  Don't forget to that it's spring time and the Master Gardeners have many events coming up!

In this issue:

• Glorious Dahlias
• Insect Trivia
• Growing in a Greenhouse part 3
• Arboretum Allstar highlight:   Heuchera
• Spring Plant Sale
• Mother's Day Garden Tour
• Monarch Butterflies
• BOTLAT corner (Botanical Latin Names)
• Event Calendar

New issue includes articles on:

• Cruciferous Vegetables
• Growing in a Greenhouse part 2
• Dormant season fruit tree care
• Arboretum All-Star:  Santa Barbara Daisy
• Houseplants and Air Quality
• Master Gardener Event Calendar for Placer and Nevada Counties

In this issue:

• Growing in a Greenhouse
• 2016 Placer County Master Gardener Calendar - NOW AVAILABLE!
• Trees and Artificial Turf
• Insect Trivia:  Mosquitos
• Arboretum All-Star Plant Highlight
• Some Truths About Neonicotinoids
• Want to Help Bees?
• Drought and Oak Trees
• Event Calendar

Enjoy!

In this summer issue, you'll find information on:

• Unusual Vegetables for the Foothills
• Disease Prevention Tip
• Creepy Crawlies in the Movies
• Poison Oak 
• Compost Corner
• Drought Tolerant Q&A
• Arboretum All-Star highlight
• Master Gardener Events in Placer and Nevada Counties

ENJOY!!

Kevin Marini

University of CA Cooperative Extension – Placer/Nevada Counties

Home Horticulture and Composting Educator

Master Gardener Programs Manager

530-889-7399 – Auburn (ROTLINE)

530-273-4563 – Grass Valley

krmarini@ucdavis.edu

Inside this issue:

• Biofungicides:  Do TheyWork? Are They Safe?
• Vegetable Gardening with Less Irrigation
• Insect Trivia
• What is Compost Tea?
• Arboretum All-Star:  Iris douglasiana 'Canyon Snow'
• Trees and Drought
• Event Calendar

In this issue:

• Pruning Ornamental Shrubs and Trees
• Insect Trivia
• Seed Catalogs
• Arboretum All-Star:  Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Mozart’
• USDA kicks off 2015 "International Year of Soils"
• Event Calendar

The Curious Gardener newsletter has a new look!!  Of course, the high-quality UC Master Gardener content still remains!  Enjoy the new electronic version of the Curious Gardener Fall 2014 newsletter.  

In this issue:

• Snails and Slugs
• Placer MG Calendar - ON SALE NOW!
• Unusual Fruit 
• Drip Systems
• UC Arboretum All-Star - Oregon Grape
• Soil Microbiology
• Pruning Tomatoes
• Event Calendar
• About the Master Gardeners

• CA Native Shrubs for Fall Planting!
• Bulletin Board
• Berryland
• Artfully Balancing Plants and Rocks
• Calendar of Events

Check out our latest newsletter:

Insects as Vectors of Disease

UC Davis Arboretum All Stars

Summer Blooms:  Visiting Gardens in Placer and Nevada Counties

Calendar of Events

Bulletin Board

• Preparing Your Soil for Spring Planting!
• Mosquitoes
• Bulletin Board
• Heirloom Vegetables
• Calendar of Events

• Daffodils!
• What's In That Bag?
• Bulletin Board
• Mistletoe
• Calendar of Events

• Tomato Hornworms
• Controlling Rodents
• Natural Herbicides
• Vegetable Crop Rotation
• Bulletin Board
• Calendar of Events

Articles:

*Vegetables for Food Preservation

*Ants

*Orchard Mason Bees

*Bulletin Board

*Much Ado About Mulch

*Calendar of Events

• Climate-Adapted Plants
• What is an "F1 Hybrid"?
• Bulletin Board
• "Natural" Herbicides
• Attracting Bug-Eating Birds to Your Garden
• Calendar of Events

• Gardening in the Winter - try Bareroots!
• Weed Management
• Bulletin Board
• Peach Leaf Curl
• Calendar of Events

• UC Davis Arboretum All-Stars
• Fall Planting Time!
• Quality Home Composting
• When NOT to plant in fall
• Bulletin Board
• Fall Calendar of Events

• Got Compaction? How to Improve Soil Drainage
• Culinary Herbs in the Garden
• Bulletin Board
• Ask a Master Gardener: Summer Care of Fruit Trees
• Master Gardener Fundraising Events
• Calendar of Events

• Tales of Integrated Pest Management
• Secret Garden in Nevada County
• Growing Potatoes
• Master Gardener Events
• Bulletin Board
• Calendar of Events

• First Blooms of Winter
• Dormant Spraying for Fruit Trees
• Staking a Newly Planted Tree
• A Children's Garden to Play In
• Bulletin Board
• Calendar of Events

• Nonchemical Codling Moth Control
• Tips for Harvesting Veggies
• Storing Your Harvest
• Western Redbuds
• Bulletin Board
• Calendar of Events