Rosetalk. By Noah Wilson.

WATER:
So far we are having a dry year. Don't forget to water your roses. Even with a good full 4 inches of mulch, roses need an inch of water a week. If God doesn't send it, get the water hose out and put that much to them. After fertilizing be sure to water it in well. If you don't have a water gauge get one. You would be surprised when you watch it rain at what a little amount we actually get. If the water gauge shows we had 1/2 inch, put another 1/2 inch from the garden hose to them.

SPRAYING.
Don't forget to spray with your favorite fungicide each week.

CUTTING BLOOMS:
In a few more days we will be cutting roses to bring in. As you cut the bloom, be sure to seal the cane ends with an exterior carpenters glue to keep the borers out of the pithy part of the cane.
If you fertilized good, and have been watering, your roses should be looking good.
If, you are seeing aphids on the new tender growth spray with an insecticide. I like orthene. I use 1 teaspoon per gal. water. Do not mix up more than you need and let it sit over a week or two. It will loose it's potency and not be effective. Later on in the white and light colored blooms you may see thrip in the blooms eating. They are very small, but once again the orthene mixture sprayed into the bloom or bud will kill the thrip and not hurt the blooms. Only use insecticides where you see the aphids or thrip. No need to spray the entire bush as this kills all insects, both good as well as bad. One final on spraying. If you are having small worms eating your foliage, it is probably web worms. Spray well with an insecticide, like orthene. Also you may spray the grass and surounding area with diazinon, or malthion. This way you kill the worms before they make it to your roses. Better yet is to go to their webs where they are hatching,( you can see them hanging in tree limbs) and spray them directly and kill them.

KNOXVILLE - The next three working sessions of the KUB Tree Trim Policy Review Panel are
scheduled for April 22, May 6, and May 20, each from 4 to 8 p.m. The meetings will be
held at KUB’s Corporate Headquarters, 445 S. Gay Street, in the first floor meeting room
located near the building’s lobby. Public input will be accepted toward the end of each
meeting.

Citizens unable to attend the working sessions at KUB may provide information or
express concerns directly to the Tree Trim Panel members using the following contact
information:
E-mail:
treepanel@kub.org
Fax:
865-594-7519
Mail:
KUB Tree Trim Panel
c/o KUB Executive Department
P.O. Box 59017
Knoxville, TN 37950

The KUB Board of Commissioners appointed the 15-member citizen panel at its
meeting on December 17, 2009, to perform a fair, meaningful, and timely evaluation of
KUB’s tree trim policies and practices. After the panel completes its comprehensive
review, it will make tree trim policy improvement recommendations. The panel members
have diverse viewpoints and experiences that will be valuable during this review
process.

For dates of upcoming meetings, meeting notes, and presentations from all panel
meetings, visit www.kub.org and click on the Tree Trim Review Panel Hot Topics link
http://tinyurl.com/tree-trim-panel. More information on KUB’s Vegetation Management
program can also be found by clicking on Tree Trimming under Tools and Tips.
KUB, a municipal utility serving Knox and parts of seven adjacent counties, provides
reliable electric, gas, water, and wastewater services to more than 439,000 customers.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Due to recurring problems with serious diseases on tomato and pepper plants, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture is encouraging Tennessee gardeners to buy their tomato and pepper plants from local greenhouses. Dr. Steve Bost, a plant pathologist with the UT Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology and UT Extension, says bacterial spot disease is often found in tomato and pepper plants. “Last year, a major epidemic of late blight disease of tomato and potato occurred in much of the eastern half of the country as a result of infected tomato plants,” he said. “Both plant diseases are very difficult to control and, under rainy conditions, satisfactory control is impossible.” These are blight diseases that cause the leaves to die, thus starving the fruit and resulting in fewer, smaller fruit. Spots and rots can also occur on the fruit. Bost says the easiest and most effective means of controlling these diseases is to buy disease-free transplants in the first place. “These diseases have not been seen in plants produced by local greenhouses, so before you purchase a plant from a garden center, look at the tag or ask where it came from. Also, many local greenhouses sell directly to the public.” The expert further says you can’t always tell whether a plant is diseased by its appearance. “A plant may show few or no dark spots on the leaves at the time you purchase it,” he said, “but it may still be infected or contaminated.” If your tomatoes or peppers had bacterial spot last year, clean up and bury old plant debris. If suspicious symptoms begin to develop on your plants this year, spray with a copper fungicide every week and don’t wet the leaves when watering. Look for brown, pinhead-sized spots on tomato leaves. On pepper leaves, the brown lesions can be slightly larger and some of them run along the margins of the leaves. Another reason for keeping these diseases out of our kitchen gardens, says Bost, is to preserve the viability of our local vegetable farmers’ operations. “Our own farmers’ livelihoods are at stake,” he emphasizes. “These diseases can ‘escape’ from your garden to other gardens or commercial fields.” The result Bost says would be that more pesticide sprays would be needed and crop harvests would be reduced. “So, do yourself, your neighbors, and the local agricultural economy a favor – buy tomato and pepper plants from local greenhouses,” Bost says.

SEVIERVILLE - The City of Sevierville, TN has been recognized by the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA community for its commitment to urban forestry. It is the twenty-sixth year Sevierville has earned this national designation.

 

[caption id="attachment_11699" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Magnolia tree in Sevierville near Sevier County High School. File photo by Laura Long."][/caption]

The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service.
 
Sevierville has met the four standards to become a Tree City USA community. Tree City USA communities must have a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
 
The City of Sevierville will celebrate Arbor Day on Friday, April 16, 2010 at 1:00PM at the Sevierville City Park. The Trees/Trails Beautification Committee will announce the tree memorials for the past year and present several new signs for wildlife and fish species that can be observed on the Greenway system. Sevier County native Stephen Lyn Bales from Ijams Nature Center in Knoxville will be the guest speaker.
 
“We commend Sevierville’s elected officials, volunteers and citizens for providing vital care for its urban forest,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and founder of the Arbor Day Foundation. “Trees provide numerous environmental, economical and health benefits to millions of people each day, and we applaud communities that make planting and caring for trees a top priority.”
 
Communities that earn Tree City USA recognition not only have taken the time to meet the four standards, they know that trees:
Promote healthier communities by filtering the air we breathe by removing dust and other particles.
Moderate climate, conserve water and provide vital habitat for wildlife.
Reduce the heat island effect in urban areas caused by pavement and buildings.
Increase property values and reduce energy use and add beauty to our homes and neighborhoods.
 
More information about Tree City USA can be found at www.arborday.org/TreeCityUSA.
 
About the Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit, environmental and education organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the foundation and its members can be found at www.arborday.org. 
 

April 2010 Plant of the Month: Columbine. Submitted by Jason Reeves. More than 60 species of columbine and many more hybrids grace our landscapes each spring. The flowers come in almost every color and can be nodding to upright, depending on the species.

My favorite of the group is Aquilegia canadensis. Sometimes called Eastern or Canadian columbine, A. canadensis is native to most of eastern North America and can be found growing wild in at least 37 states and much of Canada. It may not be as showy as some of its kin, but its flowers have a certain grace and elegance, making it one of my favorite spring flowering plants. The drooping, bell-like one- to two-inch reddish and yellow flowers are produced in April and May on two- to three-foot stalks. Many do not realize that they make good cut flowers.
 
Hummingbirds find these blooms irresistible; however, as a member of the Ranunculus family, columbine is less appetizing to deer and other pests.
 
In the wild, plants are found in a range of growing conditions, from moist semi-shady areas to dry rocky bluffs. In the garden, they perform best in full sun to partial shade and in moist well drained average garden soil, but will grow in a wide range of soils as long as the drainage is good.
 
Columbine’s glaucous blue-green compound leaves are held in groups of three by long petioles giving the plant a beautiful frilly skirt when in flower.  As compared to other species and hybrids, A. canadensis is less susceptible to leaf miners, which do little long-term harm but can make the foliage unsightly.
 
Plants freely self-seed and will naturalize in the garden.  When starting seed indoors, germination can be improved by sowing the seed in a good potting media and placing in a refrigerator for 6 weeks before moving to a warm location. From seed they will flower the second year and live for three to four years in the garden.

Jason Reeves is an Ornamental Horticulture Research Associate with the UT AgResearch and Education Center in Jackson, Tennessee. He creates the various seasonal horticultural displays, conducts research on herbaceous and woody ornamentals, and supports various educational programs. The UT Gardens in Jackson and Knoxville are both open to the public. See http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/  and http://westtennessee.tennessee.edu/ornamentals/ for more information.

KNOXVILLE - The next two working sessions of the KUB Tree Trim Policy Review Panel are scheduled for Thursday, April 8, 4 to 8 p.m. and Thursday, April 22, 4 to 8 p.m. Both meetings will be held at KUB’s Corporate Headquarters, 445 S. Gay Street, in the first floor meeting room located near the building’s lobby. Public input will be accepted toward the end of each meeting, at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Citizens unable to attend the working sessions at KUB may provide information or
express concerns directly to the Tree Trim Panel members using the following contact
information:
E-mail:
treepanel@kub.org
Fax:
865-594-7519
Mail:
KUB Tree Trim Panel
c/o KUB Executive Department
P.O. Box 59017
Knoxville, TN 37950

The KUB Board of Commissioners appointed the 15-member citizen panel at its
meeting on December 17, 2009, to perform a fair, meaningful, and timely evaluation of
KUB’s tree trim policies and practices. After the panel completes its comprehensive
review, it will make tree trim policy improvement recommendations. The panel members
have diverse viewpoints and experiences that will be valuable during this review
process.

For dates of upcoming meetings, meeting notes, and presentations from all panel
meetings, visit www.kub.org and click on the Tree Trim Review Panel Hot Topics link
http://tinyurl.com/tree-trim-panel. More information on KUB’s Vegetation Management
program can also be found by clicking on Tree Trimming under Tools and Tips.
KUB, a municipal utility serving Knox and parts of seven adjacent counties, provides
reliable electric, gas, water, and wastewater services to more than 439,000 customers.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Building on the success of last year’s first-ever event, the University of Tennessee East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center has scheduled its second Organic Crops Field Tour for April 29, beginning at 8:30 a.m. EDT. A trade show will open at 7:30 a.m. The event is free and should be of interest to home gardeners as well as commercial growers interested in the production of organically grown fruits and vegetables.

Organic fruits and vegetables are gaining in popularity with consumers and have the potential to increase the profits of local producers by reducing the use of off-farm inputs and by filling a niche in a rapidly growing market.
The 90-acre Organic Crops Unit is dedicated to organic crop research, and tours and talks at the facility during the field day will highlight current research projects and discuss organic crop production techniques. Topics to be presented include producing berries organically, natural disease control, utilizing cover crops and composting. Commercial producers may be especially interested in the talks about extending the production season with high tunnels and crop marketing techniques.
 
The day’s activities will include a sponsored lunch and feature presentation “Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat,” which will be presented by Jeff Ross, Garden Manager of Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee.  The lunch will be sponsored in part by Knoxville’s two Earth Fare stores. Earth Fare, the “Healthy Supermarket,” is one of the largest natural grocers in the Southeast. Following lunch visitors may participate in either a walking tour of the facility or an equipment demonstration, weather permitting.
 
The UT AgResearch Organic Crops Unit is located at 7315 Government Farm Road in Knoxville. The facility is approximately 7 miles south of the UT Agricultural Campus and downtown Knoxville. Visitors should follow U.S. Hwy 129 and take the exit for Hwy 168 (John Sevier Hwy). Government Farm Road will be 1.7 miles on the right. If approaching on John Sevier Hwy from U.S. Hwy 441 (Chapman Hwy), Government Farm Road will be 5.0 miles on the left.
 
Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. To register, please call the East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center at 865-974-7201 by April 23. If you need to request an accommodation for accessibility, please contact 865-974-7161.
 
UT AgResearch, in cooperation with UT Extension and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, launched the organic agriculture initiative to involve more Tennessee farmers in organic production for the purpose of increasing farm income. For additional information visit the Web site: http://organics.tennessee.edu/
 
The East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center is one of 10 outdoor laboratories operated by UT AgResearch, a division of the UT Institute of Agriculture. In addition to its agricultural research programs, the Institute of Agriculture also provides instruction and public service through the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine and UT Extension offices in every county in the state.
 
The Organic Crops Field Tour is the first of many such open houses scheduled this year at UT AgResearch facilities across the state. For more information about UT field days and special events, contact your county Extension office, UT AgResearch or visit our Web site at http://agriculture.tennessee.edu/news/FieldDays.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Beginning  Monday, February 22, University of Tennessee Extension will begin offering the  “SproUTing Growers Workshop Series,” for those who want to grow fruits and vegetables for retail sale. The six-month course is free of charge and is intended to  provide potential and beginning growers with the skills they need to plan and manage a vegetable and small fruit farming venture, including marketing their produce.

These half-day workshops are planned from 1-4 p.m. EST on the final Monday of the month throughout the spring and summer.  Workshops will be hands-on, and most will take place either on the UT Institute of Agriculture campus on Neyland Drive or at the UT Organic Crops Unit off John Sevier Highway. 
The first workshop, “Business Planning,” is scheduled for February 22 on the agriculture campus  and will be led by UT Extension Farm Specialist Alice Rhea.  It will help participants think about defining their business, including products they will offer, location, legal structure, operation procedures, personnel, accounting, and insurance, as well as help them decipher financial data. Participants should plan to meet at the South Greenhouse Classroom (room 124), UT agriculture campus. Participants must pre-register to ensure that arrangements can be made in advance for parking. To register, please contact Mary Rogers at 865-974-0710 or mroger30@utk.edu.

February 2010 Plant of the Month: Windmill Palm. Submitted by Beth Willis.

[caption id="attachment_11019" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Windmill Palm"][/caption]

The Windmill Palm, or Trachycarpus fortune, is an excellent choice for those who want a tropical feel in their landscape, but who don’t have the luxury of a year-round tropical climate. This selection is very cold-hardy – a specimen in the UT Gardens shows no damage after an extended period of below-freezing temperatures.
 
This attractive palm has large fan-shaped leaves that spread out from a single stem or trunk. It can reach 20-40 feet in the landscape, and trunk growth of up to a foot a year has been reported. The trunk is covered with a coarse mat made of the leaf bases which remain on the stem even after the leaf has fallen away. The Windmill Palm is ‘dioecious’, meaning that it has separate male and female plants. Each bear large panicles of flowers in the spring. Female plants will develop yellow to blue-black fruits that ripen in autumn.
 
Native to mountainous areas of Asia, the Windmill Palm has been cultivated extensively for centuries. The leaf sheath fiber of this plant is extremely strong, and it has been used for making ropes, sacks and coarse cloth. Throughout the world, it is highly sought-after by palm enthusiasts as an ornamental. In the United States, it has become a popular landscape specimen in much of the southeast as well as mild areas on the east and west coasts.
 
Windmill palms prefer a fertile, well-drained soil but can tolerate other conditions so long as it is not in a continuously soggy site. It will do well in part-shade to full sun. It can even be planted in containers. If planting in Zone 7 or above, a sheltered site is recommended. Once established, specimens are fairly drought tolerant, although growth will slow. They are also wind and salt tolerant, which make them suitable for coastal plantings.
 
The pictured cultivar, ‘Bulgaria’ tends to have smaller leaves and a tighter habit than the species. It has been propagated from specimens in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which have survived repeated exposures to temperatures as low as 0 degrees F. Other forms and related species are commercially available as well. The ‘Taylor form’, for example, has very droopy leaf tips, while T. nanus is a dwarf form. Any of these would bring that distinctive tropical feel to your landscape, although they do have some variability in cold hardiness.

Beth Willis is the UT Gardens Trials Coordinator.  The University of Tennessee Gardens located in Knoxville and Jackson are part of the UT Institute of Agriculture. Their mission is to foster appreciation, education and stewardship of plants through garden displays, collections, educational programs and research trials. The gardens are open during all seasons and free to the public. Online at http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/.

SEVIER COUNTY, TN - We have all seen the figures.  Job losses, more people on public assistance, food banks and pantries with seriously empty shelves and unable to keep up with the demand. We have also heard that several seed companies have had sales of vegetable seeds at unheard-of highs.  Many homeowners have expanded or even started a vegetable garden.  Some are referring to these as “recession gardens” (It was “Victory Gardens” during the world wars.)
 
The Garden Writers Association Foundation recently conducted a national study to gather data on growing edible gardens by both experienced and new gardeners. 
 
Over 41 million US households reported growing vegetables in 2009.  In addition, 19.5 million home gardeners had an herb garden and 16.5 million grew fruit last year.
 
Of those that grew edible crops in 2009, 92 percent had previous gardening experience.  One-third of these grew MORE edibles in 2009 than the previous year.  46 percent grew about the same amount and 19 percent grew less than in 2008.
 
There were 7.7 million home gardeners that were new to this growing trend of raising edible crops in 2009.
 
As far as future plans,
 
Most edible crop home gardeners (37 percent) report that they plan to increase their crops in 2010, 29 percent will produce about the same and only 1 percent will downsize for this year.  Some (15 percent) say they haven’t decided on any change of plans in their 2010 edible crop production.
 
When asked why they will increase or maintain their production of edible crops in 2010, the main reason was to supplement household food supply.  The most common reasons given for planning to plant less in 2010 were: lack of success in 2009 (14 percent), cost (13 percent), loss of interest (8 percent) and time involved (4 percent).
 
The “new-to-edible gardening” group reported receiving gardening information from these sources: 43 percent depend on friends, 29 percent use gardening websites, 22 percent rely on magazines and books.  The number of home gardeners raising vegetables is greatest in the South; the number of “first-time” edible crop gardeners is also highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast.

--Leo Lubke, Sevier County Master Gardeners

GATLINBURG - Citizen and business community participation and input are encouraged when the City of Gatlinburg hosts its second public workshop to discuss the next stages of development of the community’s Greenways Trail System master plan.

Gatlinburg staff and representatives of Barge, Wagonner, Sumner and Cannon, Inc., will conduct the workshop on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, at 5 p.m. in City Commission chambers at City Hall.

City and BWSCI officials will address the following aspects of the plan developed since the November informational workshop, which drew nearly 50 community members for a review of an initial inventory and analysis of the potential for greenways trail implementation within Gatlinburg:

• Look at construction costs
• Present preliminary phasing recommendations
• Provide examples of signage and construction
• Review refinement of trail routes presented at first workshop meeting.

      Maps will again be available for study during and after the presentation indicating general corridors where greenway development could be possible, supplemented by smaller maps.

      For more information, call Recreation Director Marty Nicely at 436-4990. 

by W. Alan Bruhin, Extension Director, Sevier County, Tennessee. I frequently get asked by homeowners as to whom they should call about selling the big tree(s) in their yard. The expectation is that a logger or sawmill owner will take the tree and pay for the logs. Unfortunately, the truth is that the homeowner should call a tree service – and will have to pay them to take the tree down.

Loggers generally operate on large scales, harvesting trees from many acres in a single job. By cutting and selling truckloads of trees at one time, they can pay for the costs associated with moving equipment, establishing access roads, etc. Individual trees are simply not worth enough to justify the expense of coming to someone’s house to cut a few trees. Cutting yard trees also takes more work than forest harvesting because there are often houses, streets and wires that need to be avoided. Furthermore, sawmills generally do not want logs from yard trees. Often the form (size, shape, number of knots) of a open-grown tree is not good but more importantly there is a higher risk of nails, chain or other metal being buried deep within the tree. The risk of damage from a saw hitting metal almost always outweighs the potential value of the lumber
 
Newly Released Estate Tax Planning Guide Available
            The USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station and its collaborators recently released the estate tax planning guide titled “Estate Tax Planning: What Will Become of Your
Timberland?” This is the updated version of one of the most widely used tax publications for
private family forest owners. The electronic version is available free at:
http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs112.pdf.
The publication contains 180 pages of practical estate planning techniques and estate tax laws
and rules with many examples and applications specifically for woodland property. It is written to assist woodland owners and their advisors—attorneys, consulting foresters, tax preparers,
financial planners, as well as state agency foresters and cooperative extension agents.
If you have any questions contact Linda Wang at lwang@fs.fed.us or (404)272-4791,
or Neal Bungard at nbungard@fs.fed.us or 603-868-7719,
or John Greene jgreene01@fs.fed.us or (504) 589-7130.

Knoxville City Council passed a resolution on KUB’s tree trimming program at its December 1 meeting. Among other things, the resolution included KUB’s suggestion to the City that we address concerns by establishing a citizen panel to perform a comprehensive review of our program policies and make improvement recommendations.

KUB has made many improvements to our tree-trimming program over the years to address issues raised by customers. We’ve improved our communications and modified our trim standards to respond to community input. We’ve also raised the level of professional oversight of the program through certified arborists on staff and use of outside consultants.

We recognize, however, that concerns and disagreements remain. We look forward to working with this new panel to address those concerns and to develop policies and practices based on a broad community consensus. We are anxious to get started and need your help to identify potential panel members.

Our goal is to identify 15 individuals with diverse viewpoints and experience. We anticipate panel members will serve for six months or less, with a meeting schedule to be determined. Meetings will be open to the public, and we anticipate one or more public forums for citizen input. The first meeting has been tentatively scheduled as a half-day session on January 22.

The resolution calls for a representative from KUB and a representative from one of several City departments. These other areas will also be included:

Neighborhood and community representatives
Professional arborists/tree experts
Business representatives
Community design experts/landscape architects
Beautification groups
Environmental groups
Others with an interest in the issue.

For more info, visit  www.kub.org).

SEVIERVILLE - The City of Sevierville Trees/Trails and Beautification Board will once again offer the popular “Give a Tree/Take a Tree” program this year. This program was started in the 1990’s but was discontinued for the last few years. The Beautification Board decided to offer the program again because of its recycling value.

A designated area will be established in the parking lot shared by the Community Center and Police Department, located at the Municipal Complex. Beginning Saturday, December 26, residents may drop-off their live Christmas trees and receive three tree saplings at the Community Center Gym/Pool Office. The seedlings will be donated by the Trees/Trails and Beautification Board; funds to purchase the seedlings come from private donations. 
 
The Community Center Gym/Office is open from 6am-9pm Monday-Friday; 9am-4pm on Saturdays and 1pm-6pm on Sundays.
 
The live Christmas trees will be mulched and reused for a required alternate daily cover at the Sevier Solid Waste landfill.
 
“The Board feels this is an excellent way to make good environmental use of your live Christmas tree, plus give you trees in return to plant, beautify and add value to your property; it’s a win/win program,” said Parks and Recreation Director Bob Parker.
 
 The program will end on January 8, 2010. For more information, call the City of Sevierville Parks and Recreation Department at 453-5441.

by Angie Jones, Special to SevierCountyNews.com. On Thursday evening, December 3, 2009, members of the Gatlinburg Garden Club came together for their annual Christmas luncheon at the Mills Conference Center.

[caption id="attachment_10211" align="alignnone" width="297" caption="Award-winning speaker Bill Landry shares some memorable and heart-warming memories with The Gatlinburg Garden Club and all in attendance at Mills Conference Center. Photo by Angie Jones. "][/caption]

The Mills Conference center was beautifully decorated for the event with Christmas decor.  The meeting tables were carefully covered in white linen and exquisitely set with centerpiece trees created with original decorations on each by club members and Luncheon Chairman B. J. Byars and Social Chairman Edna McNutt.  All in attendance were given the opportunity to buy the trees at the end of the meeting.  Beautiful door prizes and parting gifts for all were provided by Sevier County Bank.

While seated, members were welcomed by Garden Club president Teri Pizza.  The blessing was given by Father Boettner of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Lunch was served to the specifically chosen piano arrangements of Norma J. Millener who played endlessly throughout the meal to the festive crowd.

Bill Landry, former host, narrator, co-producer and five-time Emmy Award winner of “The Heartland Series” was the featured speaker. Mr. Landry shared several Christmas stories and video clips as told to him by residents throughout the Smoky Mountains.

Those in attendance listened and watched heart-warming videos of several Heartland Series clips such as “Santa Claus Comes to Tater Fork,” “The Discovery,” and “The Galax Gatherers.” Mr. Landry shared how much he had learned and enjoyed in the making of the 1,800 video clips which were each approximately 3 minutes and 40 seconds long.

Mr. Landry said, “I’m officially retired but still working all the time!”

After the program, Civic Chairman, B. J. Byars presented the Gatlinburg Garden Club’s Landscape Design Excellence Award for 2009.  This award is given each year by the club to the business with the best year-round landscaping. The award for this year was presented to Little Log Wedding Chapel which was first constructed in February 1991. Built by Richard A. Pentecost, a minister from Louisville, KY he had a dream to bring Christian weddings to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. 

“The design of the original chapel was built using logs that were constructed using the same style reminiscent of log homes and churches built 100 years ago. Gatlinburg's Little Log Wedding Chapel conveys the same essence and spirit of the mountain region that early settlers to Gatlinburg wished to bring.   Just recently, the chapel was reconstructed in the Gatlinburg Arts and Crafts Community where it could remain remote in a beautiful serene environment surrounded by nature and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The new chapel still maintains the same beautiful log cabin style and charming rustic appeal and is a perfect wedding retreat for smaller, intimate weddings but can accommodate larger, more elaborate weddings as well.”    

Many members were present for the meeting.  Other guests for the luncheon included speaker Bill Landry, The Honorable Jerry Hays- Mayor of Gatlinburg, City Manager Cindy Cameron Ogle, Gatlinburg Tourism and Special Events Department, Director of Chamber of Commerce Vicki Sims, Pianist Norma Millener, artists and designers for the Beautification Sign Zank and Vicki Zank, Kevin Tierney - owner of Lorelei Productions, Mrs. Rell (Wilma) Maples, and East Tennessee Community Writer and Photographer Angie Jones.

Special sponsors and among the guests in attendance were Mr. R. B. Summitt, President of Sevier County Bank, Mary Summitt, Lynn Perella, Juanita King, Dot Egli, Owner and Ken Webster of Mountain Laurel Chalets, owner and artist of Buie Pottery Buie Handcock, and Robin Kurtz of Tennessee State Bank.

Door prizes and closing remarks were presented by president Teri Pizza who thanked all members, guests, sponsors, and food service personnel for a very memorable “Smoky Mountain Christmas.”
 

by W. Alan Bruhin UT Extension Director, Sevier County, TN. Christmas trees are a traditional part of the festive holiday season. The most popular Christmas trees that are grown in Tennessee are Virginia pine, eastern white pine, eastern red cedar, Fraser fir and Scotch pine. Here are some tips for choosing and maintaining your Christmas tree.

1.      Measure the dimensions, including ceiling height, of the area where the tree will be placed before buying the tree. This will help you select the right size and shape of tree.

2.      The easiest method to obtain a fresh tree is to cut one from a Tennessee Christmas tree
grower. There are many growers of “choose and cut” Christmas trees in Tennessee. For a
directory of Christmas tree growers, contact the Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture, Division
of Marketing at (615) 837-5160 or access the following website:
http://www.picktnproducts.org/trees/cmastrees.html

3.      Trees in Christmas tree lots are often obtained from Michigan, Oregon, Colorado and New England as well as regionally in Tennessee and adjacent states. These trees may have been cut 4 to 6 weeks before they appear on the lot. Make sure to test the tree for freshness by placing a branch between the thumb and forefinger of your hand. Pull your hand toward you allowing the branch to slip through your fingers. The needles should bend but not break, and adhere to the branch, not fall off in your hand. A second test is to lift the tree a few inches off the ground and drop it on the stump end. Some interior brown needles should fall, but if green needles fall in abundance, find another tree.

4.       To keep your tree fresh, cut ½ to 1 inch of the bottom of the trunk. Immediately place the
stump end in water. Keep water in the tree stand at all times. A cut tree can absorb 2 or 3
quarts of water the first day indoors. If the base of the tree dries out, sap from the tree will form a seal that will not allow water absorption. Water additives to enhance the “freshness” of the tree are not recommended. Research has shown that these additives will deter water absorption. Only use clean water in your tree stand.

5.      The tree should be placed in a cool area. Keep your tree away from fireplaces, heat registers, radiators, heaters and televisions. Inspect your Christmas tree lights for broken insulation or faulty sockets each year. Always unplug tree lights when you are away from home and before you go to bed.

[caption id="attachment_10138" align="alignnone" width="220" caption="Hardy orange"][/caption]

Submitted by Jason Reeves. Poncirus trifoliata has many common names. A few include hardy orange, bitter orange, trifoliate orange and mock orange tree. Hardy orange is an old pass-along plant that is sometimes found growing at old farmsteads long after the house has rotted away. This unique plant adds year-round interest to the landscape.

In the spring large fragrant creamy-white flowers are produced which lead to bitter-tasting, golf-ball-size, orange-like fragrant fruit that mature in September or October. Sparse dark green trifoliate summer foliage turns yellow in the fall before dropping off. Large vicious spines grow randomly on green branches. This makes it a standout in the winter landscape. The branches are also useful as fresh cuts. Easily transplanted and drought tolerant, hardy orange can ultimately grow to a height of 20 feet but more commonly will reach 8-10 feet tall and wide. They are easily grown from seed and will often germinate below the mother plant where the fruits have fallen.

It is hardy to zone 6 and performs best in full sun to light shade in average to poor soil. With its vicious spines it can be grown as a living fence. Hardy orange can easily be pruned to form a dense hedge that will even contain cattle, much like osage-orange, or hedge apple (Maclura pomifera) trees, which were used by the early settlers for this purpose. The cultivar called ‘Flying Dragon’ is grown for its elaborate twisted branches and large spiny thorns. Its bare winter silhouette is especially breathtaking. It can reach 8 to 12 feet tall and wide. The seedlings from ‘Flying Dragon’ come mostly true to type. Jason Reeves is curator and an Ornamental Horticulture Research Associate with the UT AgResearch West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Jackson, Tennessee. He creates the various seasonal horticultural displays, conducts research on herbaceous and woody ornamentals, and supports various educational programs. The UT Gardens in Knoxville and Jackson are both open to the public. See http://utgardens.tennessee.edu/ and http://westtennessee.tennessee.edu/ornamentals/ for more information.

SEVIER COUNTY, TN - The holidays are one of the best times for getting in the decorating mood. There’s no need to go shopping for all of these items though; just check out your own back yard.

Jason Reeves, a horticulturist at the West Tennessee Research and Education Center for the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, provides some suggestions for bringing nature in to your holiday decorations. Jason says that, “Nature can provide you with visually pleasing art to place around your home. Plus, it’s a great way to get the whole family involved and in the holiday spirit.”
Items like pinecones, small dried gourds and dried flowers can be used to make either tree ornaments or wreaths to hang on your door. “With a little bit of glue and gold or silver spray paint, your holiday decorations can look great,” says Reeves.
Nature makes for great centerpieces. Pine cones, evergreen branches, rose hips and cranberries all make for astounding holiday table centerpieces that will delight your guests. One creative idea Reeves suggested is to place dried cranberries in a bowl, and decorate around the bowl with evergreen branches, acorns, and cranberries.
When working with nature, certain steps must be taken to keep your decorations looking their best. Reeves cautions, “If you’re using seeds like acorns or Chinese chestnuts, you can place them in a freezer for a few days to kill any insect larva that might be inside.”
To keep your evergreens looking fresh, use an anti-desiccant, which can be picked up at your local garden center. “This also helps extend the life of your evergreen branches,” Reeves says.
When using seed pods dry them thoroughly. You can brush or spray paint them with high-quality gold or coppery metallic paints. Dried pods add shape and interest to basket arrangements.
Also, give the gift that keeps on giving—a picture frame. Reeves suggests decorating the picture frame with small acorns from hemlock trees, branches and twigs. You can also dry leaves and paste them on to your frame as well. Reeves notes that, “This is a great way for kids to be involved in the gift-giving process.”
The holiday fun doesn’t have to stop in January. During the summer, keep an eye out for flowers, seeds and pods that might work. “You can also plan ahead and grow plants for decorations,” Reeves said. “Flowers, such as hydrangea, celosia or lion’s ear, make wonderful natural decorations. Gather them when they are at their color peak. Then hang them upside down to dry. Tie dried flowers into bundles with raffia,” he instructs.
            The UT Gardens are a project of the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station with locations in both Knoxville and Jackson. Admission is free, and the Gardens are open to the public seven days a week during daylight hours. Find out more about UT Gardens by visiting the Web site at http://utgardens.tennessee.edu.

SEVIERVILLE - The City of Sevierville Department of Parks and Recreation and the Sevierville Trees/Trails and Beautification Committee have applied for Level II Arboretum certification from the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council (TUFC), for the Burchfiel Grove and Arboretum located on the Memorial Greenway.

Established by donations from the Norman Burchfiel Family in the mid 1990’s, the Burchfiel Grove and Arboretum was established to add both beauty and everlasting educational opportunities for the citizens of Sevierville and the many visitors to the area.
 
To achieve Level II certification, the TUFC requires that the arboretum contain a minimum of 60 different species of labeled trees and that a map be provided for self-guided tours. The City recently installed two brochure containers at the arboretum that contain maps designed by City staff. The brochure includes a map denoting the location and species of each of the 80 trees located in the arboretum, allowing users to take a self-guided tour. There are currently 73 different species in the tour. The brochure containers are located near the parking area on Hardin Lane and the Paine Park gazebo on the east side of the greenway.
 
The City has also provided guided tours for civic and educational groups, and will continue to offer this service. Guided tours by City of Sevierville professional landscaping staff may be arranged by calling 865-453-5441 or by email to bparker@seviervilletn.org.
 
The Grove and Arboretum has three goals:
Educational: The Burchfiel Grove and Arboretum contains a diversity of trees, native and non-native, common and unusual. Individual tree signs list the common and scientific name of each tree, and the anticipated height and width the tree would grow when mature. This information allows citizens, horticulturists, to have a hands-on learning experience.
Beautification: The Burchfiel Grove and Arboretum contains over 70 different tree species along the Memorial River Greenway in downtown Sevierville, Tennessee. These trees add beautification for walkers, joggers and local residents that live along the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River.
Community Resource:  The Burchfiel Grove and Arboretum will provide homeowners, businesses, and local landscapers the opportunity to see mature trees before selecting trees for landscaping opportunities in our community. Also, this area provides for seeds and cuttings of unique and common species which can be made available through special requests.
 
The Burchfiel Grove and Arboretum is managed by the professional staff of City of Sevierville Department of Parks and Recreation along with assistance from the citizens appointed to the Trees/Trails and Beautification Committee.

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Gatlinburg - Thursday, December 3rd at 11:30 a.m., Bill Landry will be the featured speaker for the Gatlinburg Garden Club at Mills Auditorium and Conference Center. "We are thrilled to have Bill Landry, former host, narrator, co-producer and 5-time Emmy Award winner of "The Heartland Series" as our featured speaker," said Gatlinburg Garden Club president Teri Pizza. "Mr. Landry will relate Christmas stories as told to him by the former residents of the Smoky Mountains. His program is sure to be as interesting as it is entertaining. A few of our members have direct ties to these mountain pioneers and I'm sure the afternoon will prove to be heart-warming for all who attend." Music during lunch will feature the talented Norma Millener at the piano. There will be door prizes and the beautiful table centerpieces will be sold at the end of the luncheon. Civic Chairman, B. J. Byars will also present the club's Landscape Design Excellence Award. This award is given each year by the club to the business with the best year-round landscaping as judged by the members of this committee. Tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased by calling Christmas Luncheon Chairman, B. J. Byars at (865) 436-7036.