Feature Article - for release the week of December 7, 2008

Dan Culbert - Extension Horticulture Agent

Holiday Gifts

 

Your local Extension office recently began a column for local gardeners, and we depend on folks sending us questions.  This week we did not receive any – maybe it’s because people are too busy working in their Florida Yard, putting up the decorations, shopping to keep the economy going or otherwise getting ready for the holidays. 

So, today’s column is a collection of announcements and observations designed to keep you informed of what is going in the world of home horticulture.  Please send us some questions so we can continue to keep Okeechobee in the Green.

Okeechobee's two newest Florida Master Gardeners are Janet Holden and Martha Gape.  They are shown here with Extension Horticulture Agent Dan Culbert reviewing plants that were identified as part of their final Exam. (They passed!)  Photo: Angela Sachson, UF/IFAS

Volunteer Gardeners Graduate

Our year-round gift to the community is the gift of knowledge.  The Extension office recruits and trains several wonderful volunteers that work for you.  Those that work with kids are well known as 4-H leaders; those that provide good gardening advice are known as Master Gardeners.

Janet Holden and Martha Gape recently completed a ten-week training program with our Extension office and have now been designated as Florida Master Gardeners.  These ladies are enthusiastic gardeners and have spent nearly 60 hours since the end of September with UF horticulture experts across Florida. 

The training has helped them improve their knowledge of Florida Friendly landscaping and they are getting ready to share their new knowledge with Okeechobee.  They will be working with our other county Master Gardeners and FYN Program Assistant Angela Sachson.  Their graduation will soon allow our office to expand our Master Gardner clinic from one day per week to two.

 

Master Naturalists

Continued training is one of the requirements of keeping professional, even for volunteers.  Three of our Okeechobee Master Gardeners joined more than a dozen other south Floridians in recently completing a Florida Master Naturalist class.  The program was created by UF/IFAS, and this class was coordinated by the Florida Atlantic University's Center for Environmental Studies at their Riverwoods Field Lab in Lorida. 

The class focused on Freshwater Wetlands and taught the differences between marshes, swamps and permanent wetlands, and all of the native flora and fauna found in Florida's fragile aquatic ecosystems. 

Besides FYN Program Assistant Angela Sachson, two Okeechobee Master Gardeners, Terri Lane and Fran Everly, completed five weeks of training and project work in the area of wetlands conservation. Another Okeechobee resident, Sheri Macchia also completed the training.  She is an orchid expert.

Selecting Christmas Trees

What makes Christmas special?  For many it’s the chance to add a lot of different kind of very attractive plants to the home and garden.   The holiday season would not be the same without Christmas Trees.  I was recently asked by a reporter at the Gainesville Sun to give some ideas, pro and con, why people should choose a live (cut) Christmas tree.  Here are a few ideas that I shared with her readers:

Smell: real trees give off wonderful aroma, even though there is some evidence that some people are allergic to evergreen.  Fake trees are made of plastic, and give off a chemical smell that also contains PVC, which is not something you should smell.

Flammability:  Real trees will not burn as quickly as fake trees as long as the water level is checked in the tree stand every day.  Use approved tree lights.   Burning fake trees also give off hazardous smoke.

Supports Agriculture: where there are no Christmas tree farmers closer to us than Tampa or Daytona, going to cut your own tree can be fun.  And purchasing a cut tree helps support a grower somewhere in the US.  These trees are grown to be cut - they are not grown in forests.   The producers use practices that encourage wildlife and reduce soil erosion.  Fake trees use come from fossil fuels (plastic) and are put together in foreign countries, and then take more fossil fuels to get them here. You are shipping your dollars abroad when you buy a fake tree.

Disposal:  Real trees can be chipped and turned into mulch and used in your Florida Yard.  Fake trees fill up our landfills. 

Please support the local charity groups that are now selling Real trees in Okeechobee!

Holiday Plant Columns

If you would like to read up on other holiday plants, please check our home page on the internet: http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu .  It now has an index to some of the holiday plant articles I’ve written over the years.  If you don’t have a computer, stop by or call and we can print and send or fax you these holiday treats!

If you need additional information, please email us at okeechobee@ifas.ufl.edu or call us at 863-763-6469.  Local residents can stop by our office at 458 Hwy 98 North in Okeechobee, and visit our Okeechobee County Master Gardeners from 1 to 3 PM on Tuesday afternoons.  Remember Pearl Harbor Day, and GO GATORS!                                                

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Trade names, where used, are given for the purpose of providing specific information. They do not constitute an endorsement or guarantee of products named, nor does it imply criticism of products not named. The Florida Cooperative Extension Service - Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information, and other services to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin.  Florida Cooperative Extension Service / IFAS / University of Florida, Millie Ferrar-Chancy, Interim Dean . Last update: 11/22/2010.  This page is maintained by Dan Culbert