Beneficial Bug: The Writer Spider

     The writer spider (Argiope aurantia) goes by several names: garden spider, writing spider, black and yellow garden spider, among others.  Whatever you call them, they are both creepy and pretty at the same time.  This spider can be quite large and is usually found hanging in the center of her web, upside down, with legs together in pairs so it appears that there are only 4.  A particularly interesting thing unique to this genus of spiders is how they construct their web. They create a zig-zag looking design right in the middle where they hang out.  This structure is called a 'stabilimentum' and its purpose is not certain.  Some think it is to camouflage the spider from prey, and others think it is to make the web more visible to larger critters like birds and moths that could fly into the web and destroy it. 

     The spider that you see in the center of the web is the female, the male is much smaller and he often hangs out near, or even in, her web once he finds her. 
     In the fall they lay eggs in one or more sacks (left- this photo is courtesy of Sheri Newell) that look like an onion bulb.  She then dies with the first frost and the babies emerge in the spring and disperse to make their own webs. Now, you may be thinking that this is triggering something from your childhood.  It should be! Charlotte from 'Charlotte's Web' was a writer spider.  Do you remember how her babies left when the wind caught a small bit of web that acted like a parachute?  Well that's really how they do it!

     Another piece of trivia about this spider is an old wives' tale that I heard growing up.  If you come across a writer spider's web and see your name spelled in it... you're doomed!

     Well, how are they beneficial you ask.  They eat bugs.  They are fairly indiscriminate eaters, but do eat mosquitoes, flies and such.  While they don't dine specifically on problem insects like the lady bug does, they are without doubt a great addition to your garden. 
     Their bite, by the way, is similar to a fire ant sting and they have to be severely harassed to actually bite you- they usually just drop out of their web to the ground.

Jessica Logan, GCLP     Horticulture Technician, Chattahoochee Technical College

    

Carolina Wren- The Teakettle Bird

This post comes courtesy of Dub Strickland.  It's not 100% horticulture-related, but we like things in nature other than plants, you know.  Thanks Dub!

The Teakettle Bird

     “teakettle-teakettle-teakettle” “teakettle-teakettle-teakettle” Ounce for ounce the Carolina Wren is the loudest little bird you will ever hear. Thryothorus ludovicianus is about 6 inches long and weighs less than an ounce. He usually keeps his tail about 90 degrees to his body. His upper parts are a reddish brown while the under parts are a buff color. He has a distinctive white supercilium (eyebrow) and a whitish throat. There are several varieties of wren in the United States but the Carolina Wren is a common year round resident in the eastern United States and the one I most commonly see in my yard.

    

They are listed as secretive birds that “creep through vegetation foraging for insects.” But my feeling is they are almost sneaky. They are very territorial so the male does not hide much and with his loud call you will know where he is most all the time. The female on the other hand can be very secretive when it is time to sit on a nest and feed the young. I walked into a little used area of the basement late one morning to find 5 little wrens learning to fly from a nest that was in a half closed cupboard on the wall. She had to wedge through the crack in the door to take care of them.

     They prefer to eat insects but in the winter they are frequent visitors to my suet feeders and the peanut feeder. They also eat more of the mealy worms I leave for the Bluebirds than the Bluebirds do.

     One last thing. Since they don’t migrate this cold weather is hard on them. Clean your bird houses out and put a handful of shredded paper or other dry fluffy nesting material in it. They might thank you.

Dub Strickland

Georgia Master Naturalist
Sautee Nacoochee, GA
dub@wildflyers.com

PLANET Student Career Days

Our First place team!

President of CTC, Dr. Sanford Chandler at the closing ceremony.

Brian Watters working for his second place win in Arboriculture with partner Kevin Porter.

Federico Trejo and Gay Lyn Ferry compete in the Truck and Trailer event.

The majority of the team hanging out after the last event, Landscape Plant Installation is finished.

These photos are courtesy of instructor John Hatfield.

April Book of the Month

Insects that feed on Trees and Shrubs- Warren T. Johnson and Howard H Lyon.  This month's book comes recommended by CTC instructor John Hatfield.  It contains clear color photos of the insect, including adult and larval forms, and the damage they inflicts on plants.  It is an excellent resource for diagnosing pest problems in your landscape.

Horticulture Book of the Month

Dr. Michael Dirr's Manual of Woody Landscape Plants

This fantastic book is often refered to as the woody plant 'bible'.  It's a great resource for identifying plants and their cultivars.  Though it features only line drawings instead of photos the information in the book is extremely detailed.  This book is more helpful for learning about the plants when you already know what they are than identifying something without any guess as to what it is.

Beneficial Bugs: The Lady Bug

There are many different critters and creepy crawlers that you’ll find in your garden.  What most folks don’t realize is that a lot of them are good guys! Now, I’m not asking you to cuddle up to some freaky spider or to think scorpions are cute; the critter we’re talking about today is much easier to love- the ladybug! It’s also known as a ladybird or lady beetle. There are hundreds of varieties of ladybugs and they range from the red and shiny ones that you know and love to plain brown guys that you’d never label as a ladybug. Nearly all of the ladybug species are considered to be ‘beneficial insects’.

     Ladybugs are considered beneficial insects because they eat the bad guys! They eat aphids, mites, and scale insects- all of which are harmful to our gardens and crops. In fact an Asian ladybug was imported for its voracious appetite for scale insects- it saved the pecan crop from cottony cushion scale! One drawback of these imported ladybugs is that they’ve taken over food resources from the native ladybug species. Native lady bugs are severely outnumbered by Asian and European ladybugs to the point that conservationists fear for the survival of several species of ladybugs. Now don’t hate the intruders; they’re still doing a good job eating bad bugs.

     Ladybugs especially like aphids and they eat them in every stage of their development, the photo of the ugly bug (left) is actually a larval lady bug. I know you’ve seen this guy and said “Ew! Look at that weird bug”! Well, don’t squish him ‘cause he’s one of the good guys!! Don’t let your gut reaction be killing every bug you come across, by spray or by shoe (exceptions being roaches, ticks, and mosquitoes, of course).

     If you’re spraying for insects in your garden you may want to think twice. Nearly any pesticide you spray is going to kill ALL bugs. This includes all the good guys; ladybugs are especially sensitive to pesticides. If you leave them to it, your ladybugs and other good guys will probably keep your pest populations under control. Now you’re wondering how to get the good guys back into your yard after you’ve been annihilating every insect or arachnid you saw for the past who-knows-how long. Well, it’s going to take a couple of years for the ecosystem to regain its balance in your garden and unfortunately the bad guys will reestablish first. There is something you can do however: you can buy ladybugs online. What??! I know! How cool is that? You can just buy a bag (they’re usually shipped as larvae but you can buy adults, too) and release them into your yard! If you do go this route try and find a vendor who sells the native species: we may as well go the extra mile since we’re already being environmentally-minded here.

In conclusion: don’t kill ladybugs! Instead of using a chemical spray, use beneficial insects to control your pest insect populations. And lastly, if you purchase them try to find a native species.

Jessica Logan GCLP, Horticulture Technician, Chattahoochee Technical College

Pruning Azaleas

     Azaleas need to be pruned between the end of blooming in the spring and before the 4th of July. If you prune after this date you will risk losing next spring’s blooms! You can begin the pruning process before they’ve finished blooming- take some of your clippings inside and enjoy them!

     There is a school of thought that disagrees with this rule however. Some experts say that if you’ve got very overgrown azaleas and you want to prune them to dramatically lower their height, called rejuvenation, do it in the late winter or early spring before they bloom. You will lose the flowers for that year. (Rejuvenation means starting over: when a plant is rejuvenated it is cut back to structural branches, usually bare, that act as a base for the plant to come back from- it isn’t pretty and not all plants will tolerate this, azaleas will). The reasoning behind the timing of this theory is that the azaleas will need a significant amount of energy to come back from being pruned severely and they also require a significant amount of energy to produce flowers… so they will come back much better from the rejuvenation if they are spared the stress of producing blooms: this needs to be done before you see any color from the flowers. The photos below are of a rejuvenation project half way done- you can see that the azaleas have been lowered by about 2/3 of their height. The photo on the bottom is a year later; see how much of the fence is visible now?

                                                        

     These photos are courtesy of Rick Smith at The Pruning Guru, www.PruningGuru.com    

    
     Another way to significantly reduce the size of your azaleas but keep your blooms, and avoid undue stress to your plants, is to spread the pruning out over several years: remove a few of the tallest branches every year. Patience, Grasshopper.

     One other concern about the timeline is Encore azaleas that have a second, or even third, bloom later in the year. You’re pretty much sacrificing a bloom cycle by pruning them, anytime. Since the spring bloom is the showiest, prune immediately after that has tapered off. Your fall show may not be as good as last year but you should still have some blooms.

     As with pruning anything, cuts should be made just above a lateral branch, any branch coming out from the main stem, branch or trunk. Cuts made in the middle of a branch will cause several problems: the wood between the cut and the branch below it will die and be an entry point for disease, or a bud (or several buds) along that branch will produce a sucker that will grow straight up, way above the existing canopy- which means more pruning for you, and it will not conform to the regular growth habit, neither result is pretty. Be sure to remove any dead wood.

     While you’re up close and personal with your azaleas it’s a good time to check for any insect or disease activity goin’ on. The most common problem with azaleas is lace bugs. If you see splotchy discoloration on the tops of the leaves and dirty looking smudges on the back, the smudges are lace bug poo and eggs; the discoloration on the top is the damage they cause (below). You may see tiny fly-looking bugs with transparent wings about ¼ an inch in length, these are the culprit. There are a number of chemicals available to nuke ‘em, read the labels at your local supplier or big box store- be sure to spray the underside of the leaves (that’s where the buggies are) when applying the chemical. Read the entire label and follow the directions exactly; pesticides are not to be taken lightly. The damage to the leaves is permanent but future growth should hide the damaged leaves.

                      Photograph by: James Castner, University of Florida/IFAS, used with permission

Azaleas really require very little pruning and maintenance but with just the right amount they will astound you every spring. If you’re rejuvenating your azaleas or they’ve got lace bug damage they’ll appreciate a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10, or similar) in the spring.

Jessica Logan, Horticulture Technician, Chattahoochee Technical College

PLANET SCD

The next SCD meeting is Wednesday March 24th!  Don't forget you need to be studying!!! 
Just for fun here are some pictures of past events.

2009's 3rd place team!

Irrigation assembly

Irrigation troubleshooting

paver installation

it's not all work...

February Book of the Month

     February's book of the month is Ortho's All About Gardening series.  Technically not a single book, this series has books titled Ortho's All About: Roses; Orchids; Lawns; Trees; Perennials; Annuals; Pruning, and on and on!  I personally own Ortho's All About Roses and Ortho's All About Pruning.  These books are easy to read even if you have no technical knowledge of the subject and they have great photos. 

A Rose By Any Other Name... Will Still Have Thorns

Pruning Roses:

    Grab your leather gloves, some band-aids, and a tube of Neosporin. You’re going to make it out alive, but chances are: you’re going to be scratched up pretty good. Pruning roses can be a time consuming, challenging, and potentially painful process. The way you prune your roses will vary depending on that type of roses you have. If you’ve got your garden-variety shrub rose, like the wonderful Knock Out, they’re not going to be the least bit picky about how they’re pruned.   You could run them over with your truck and come spring they’ll come right back. (This is not recommended.) Other varieties, such as Hybrid Tea roses, will be picky.  These instructions will suit hybrid teas, Knockouts and most other roses just fine.
      Technically you don’t have to prune them: you can let them get as big and as wild and wooly as you like! Pruning does have benefits though: we have a group of red Knock Outs here on campus that is every bit of 8 feet tall! Sure they’re beautiful when they bloom, but they’re kind of monstrous the rest of the year. Aside from maintaining a pleasing and manageable size, pruning encourages better blooming. Roses bloom on new growth; and pruning encourages growth.

     Basically when pruning roses, your objective is to establish a structure for new growth to come out on in the spring. You should prune your roses back to about 12-18” from the ground. (If you’ve got a climber, or a rose that only blooms once a year, you need a different set of instructions). You should remove any canes the look diseased or are damaged. Before you start the structural pruning take a time out and think about the growth that will come from the cuts you make. The direction the bud is facing will be the direction of your new growth; you probably won’t be pruning to a branch like you would for normal pruning, but to an OUTWARD facing bud. If you cut to an inward facing bud the new growth is going to head back to the center of the plant- not ideal or pretty. If you just chop haphazardly, and don’t cut near a bud, the wood will die back to the next bud leaving several inches of dead wood which is a haven for disease.

     I’ve included some photos of one of my roses I just pruned-February to early March is the perfect time to prune them. There are before and after shots and a photo of how the cuts should look (right). The cut on the left is too far away from the bud- that extra wood will die and be a gateway for pests and disease, the cut in the center is too close to the bud- the cut is so close it’s caused structural damage that won’t support a new branch that will come from that bud, and the last one is just right!

     During the growing season removing the spent flowers will encourage most varieties of roses to bloom even more!

If you’ve got a climbing rose I suggest you do a bit of reading before you tackle this one, especially if it only blooms once a year.  A great resource is Ortho’s All About Roses by Ortho Books and Thomas Cairns, for all roses not just climbers.

Quick note: the title of this article implies that there are no roses without thorns, that isn't exactly true.  There are a few of them; Lady Banks climbing rose being the most common in  my experience.

    

Jessica Logan, Horticulture Technician, Chattahoochee Technical College

Valentine's Day: A Brief Guide to Giving Roses

     Well, I was going to summarize the history and meaning of giving roses on Valentine's Day. In doing some research I discovered there are many, many different explanations and stories about how and why Valentine's Day and the giving of roses came about. They range from Roman gods to young single people in French society to Middle Eastern myths about birds picking their mates on February 14th. Of course, the history that we are most familiar with is the one of St. Valentine who was a Catholic priest. He was found guilty of performing marriages during a time when the Roman emperor had banned marriage. Saint Valentine was put to death on February 14th in 269 AD.

     What does this mean for you? Well, for guys it means: buy her something pretty or you're in trouble. For ladies it means: I'd better get something pretty or he's in trouble. Valentine's Day is also jokingly called "Singles Awareness Day" where people without significant others would rather vomit than see any more pink and red hearts in store displays.
     What does that flower really mean? The giving of a rose has different meanings depending on the color and the number given.  Giving a single rose is generally a gesture of new love or infatuation.  The giving of a dozen or more represents commitment and devotion.

         Red means passion and sincere love

         White- innocence and purity, young love

         Pink - thanks and appreciation

          Yellow- Joy, Welcome home, delight, friendship and in Victorian times it meant jealousy! 
     Roses aren't the only flower suitable for Valentine's Day: be creative! Tulips are fabulous, daisies are sweet... plus these non-rose alternatives will be cheaper!  Personally, gerber daisies are MY favorite... hint, hint.

The rose pictured above is from my garden, called 'Double Delight,' it's white and dark pink... so it can mean whatever you want it to I guess!

Jessica Watters, Horticulture Technician, Chattahoochee Technical College

Water Woes

     Georgia has had some crazy water issues for the past several years. First it was extreme drought and we couldn’t water at all. Then it was monsoon season and we didn't need to water, now it hasn't rained in weeks! But, here are some tidbits about you should know and utilize about watering your landscape.

    More is not always better. When the state/counties lifted the drought restrictions from level 4 (no watering –ever) you were told you could water 3 days a week, which days depending on your address. So everyone said “Must… water…!” Andy they got out their hoses and sprinkler or set their automated systems to run all 3 of those days. This is way more wasteful than you think. Just getting your grass wet does not make it happy. Water has to penetrate through the grass and down to the soil- preferably down a couple inches into the soil. If you consistently water where only ¼” of the soil gets wet, that’s where your plants’ roots will live. This means that they’ll dry out super-fast and need water that much quicker. Roots should go to a depth of 3-6” where the soil doesn’t dry out as fast. To avoid this: water infrequently (once a week) and deeply. That means you can either calculate percolation rates for your soil and precipitation rates for your sprinklers (I can tell you how to do that if you like) … or you can find a couple spots, don’t pick the lowest areas, and dig around to see how far down the soil is wet. It takes longer than you think to thouroughly soak the soil, a lot longer. If you notice that you’ve got water running down a hill or down the gutter in the street that means your watering too fast… water is hitting the soil faster than it can absorb it. This means that you should take a time out on that area after watering until you see the water start to run off , water another area, go back to the first area when the soil has had some time to soak it up, and water some more. The steeper the slope or harder the soil the less time you can water before you’re just wasting it by sending it down the gutters.

     Technically, you don’t have to water. Unless we’re in an über-extreme drought (worse than a couple of years ago) your turf will make it just fine. It may go dormant (brown, looks dead but it’s not) but as soon as it rains it’ll green right back up. You may have plants other than your turf that will need supplemental water in this situation though, like hydrangeas. These plants should be planted in their proper location- maybe they’d like more shade than they’re getting, and can be watered by themselves instead of watering the entire property to wet one small area. By the way: hand-watering with a hose is the least efficient way to water! So set up an old-school impact rotor on a stake connected to your hose. What’s an impact rotor, you ask? Think about the dance ‘the sprinkler’. Do the sprinkler! I know you’re doing it. Anyways, they are the most efficient sprinkler that can be connected to a hose. (See photo above)

     Use more efficient irrigation techniques. Drip irrigation is by far the most efficient, least wasteful way to water ever. (Sadly, you can’t do it on your lawn, only beds). Whether you install an automated system with the fancy drip hose and emitters or you go to Home Cheapo and buy the black soaker hoses, these options are way better than overhead watering. Why? Because when you water over head there is always wasted water. It gets blown away in the wind, it gets applied too fast and runs off, it’s got to soak through the mulch, blah blah. Soaker hoses and drip hoses lay underneath the mulch where the water is slowly applied directly to the soil where your plants’ roots live.

If you’ve got an automated system and don’t have a rain sensor, (shuts off the whole system when it rains!) shame on you. Get one. ASAP. It’s my water, too, that you’re wasting. Watering in the rain… sheesh.

In conclusion: water smarter- less frequently, more efficiently, and more thoroughly.  Just because the watering restrictions say you CAN water 3 days a week doesn't mean you should.


Jessica Watters, Horticulture Technician, Chattahoochee Technical College

Frosty Forecast? Tips For Covering Your Tender Plants.

     Here in the Atlanta area we tend to have crazy weather.  We've had a very cold winter this year but the past week has been sunny and warmer.  That's all it takes to make some of your plants think spring is here!  If you've got camellias or rhododendron with buds opening (or other early bloomers) they may appreciate being covered. 

How should I cover them?
     When covering plants you should use cloth (bedsheets, blankets, burlap) and drape it gently over the plant (using stakes to hold it up if necessary) and anchor it to the ground with rocks or garden gnomes. Be sure that your blanket is going all the way to the ground- the ground is going to stay warmer than the cold air temperatures and the blanket will help trap some of it around your plant.  Notice that I am saying blanket or cloth.  Do not use plastic.  Using plastic creates a greenhouse situation; when the sun comes up in the morning it rapidly increases the temperature under the plastic and can damage the plant more than if you'd just left it alone.  Rapid changes in temperature like this are detrimental to plants.  By the way, you need to remove the blanket in the morning to allow the plant to get some sunlight. 

Well, when should I cover them?
     Honestly, you don't have to cover them.  Camellias are notorious for having their buds killed by freezes before they bloom but the shrub will not die from spending the night uncovered. If you cannot live without your camellia blossoms, they're on the north side of an exposed hill, and it's supposed to get down to 23 after several sunny days of highs in the 50+s, cover them. This is pretty much what you risk with leaving shrubs uncovered- flower bud loss and foliage damage.  It's usually sustained cold that does the damage; one night of 25 isn't going to do much harm.  9 times out of 10 the plant will make a spectacular come back in the spring and you'd never know it happened.  Of course, there are times like a few years back when we had that hard freeze in April and it massacred all the hydrangeas... there was really nothing anyone could've done- that time of year there is a ton of tender new growth and that cold was just too extreme.

So really it's a guessing game.  How cold is it going to get? How long will it be that cold? Do I want to scramble around for old bedsheets and then run around in the cold?

Jessica Logan, Horticulture Technician- Chattahoochee Technical College

Book of the Month

"Gardening With Native Plants of the South"
by Sally Wasowski with Andy Wasowski

This is a fantastic book of plants native to the US southeast.  Broken into sections by plant type such as "spring blooming woodland flowers", each plant gets a color photograph, a detailed description and a paragraph with more information.  It also contains design ideas for different situations.

Winter Quarter Deadlines

Today is the last day to register and pay fees for winter quarter.  It is also the last day to drop a class and receive a refund.

Pruning Crape Myrtles

     Okay.  First thing is: wait!  Don't prune your crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.) (By the way: it's crape not crepe- they're not pastries) until after the new year, February is ideal.  If you prune too early the wound left by the cut won't heal as it would during active growth: water and disease can enter and could cause that branch to die back several inches.  You could be left with ugly dead sticks at every place you made a cut.  Also, pruning too early can cause premature growth during the random warm spells that are not uncommon during the winter in this area; the new growth will then be damaged and probably killed once temperatures return to 'normal'.   Don't wait too long though, have your crapes pruned by the Ides of March (the 15th): you want to have the pruning done before the new growth starts in the spring. 

     Second thing: Don't commit "Crape Murder".  There is no reason to whack your crape myrtles back to a certain height every year. I repeat: THERE IS NO REASON TO DO THIS.  Despite popular opinion, crape myrtles don't have to be pruned at all!  *Gasp!* It's shocking, I know, but they are trees and can be left to grow as such.  The reasons that we prune crape myrtles are 1. because our neighbors do it. 2. to concentrate those fabulous blooms into tighter more showy clusters and 3. to keep a cleaner look, as crapes like to sucker and look a little messy. 

Here we go:

• First, choose your tree carefully if you're thinking of putting one in.  There are some cultivars, like 'Natchez', that will grow to 30'+, and then there are shrub forms, like 'Victor', that will stay under 5'.  Like needing the right tool for the job, you need the right plant for the space.
• A good rule of thumb is to not remove more than a third of your tree's height. 
• When you make a cut to remove a branch, make it just above the branch collar (the little wrinkle at the base of the branch where it attaches to the trunk) pruning above or below this can damage the tree.  When you make a cut to shape the canopy you will not prune to a branch, just cut it at the height you want on the branch at an angle so water doesn't sit on it.
• Remove any branches smaller than your pinky finger, these branches will not support the weight of a bloom cluster.
• You should be pruning 8-12" above the cut you made last year; cutting in the same place makes a big knot of wood at the top of a thick trunk with teeny tiny branches coming out of it: it looks ridiculous. 
• Remove any branches growing from the outside edges back into the center, these can rub on other branches and cause wounds that allow disease to enter. 
• The finished product should look like a snow cone: V shaped with a rounded dome; the branches in the middle cut higher than the ones at the edges.
• Please see the photos, courtesy of Rick Smith at The Pruning Guru.

 Now, raise your right hand and read these words outloud:

"I (your name) do solemnly swear that I will not butcher my Crape Myrtles.  I will do one of the following three things:  I will follow these directions, I will hire a competent professional, or I will leave them alone.  With liberty and justice for all."

Now your correctly pruned crapes will be on their way to being happy, healthy and giving you beautiful blooms to enjoy all summer! 

Jessica Logan - Horticulture Technician, Chattahoochee Technical College

Winter Quarter Starts Today!

Have a great quarter!

Happy Holidays!

The school will be closed from December 24- January 3rd.  See you Monday the 4th for the start of Winter quarter.  Have a very merry Christmas, or whichever holiday you choose to celebrate, and a happy and safe New Year!

Poinsettia: The Holiday Flower

Have you ever wondered why Poinsettias are used only during the holidays? Where did they even come from?

Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are native to Mexico where the Aztecs used it as dye and to control fevers. In this ideal habitat poinsettia will grow to be a 10’ tall flowering shrub! It was brought into the States by the US Ambassador to Mexico John Poinsett in 1828 and is currently the number one selling potted plant in America.
Shockingly, despite 8 decades of popular thought, the poinsettia is NOT poisonous!!
The colorful red, white or pink parts are not actually flowers, they’re bracts-modified leaves! They surround the tiny yellow center which is the actual flower.
The story behind why Poinsettias are used so frequently near Christmas is that when Christ was born, 2 children were walking to Bethlehem to see Him. They had no gifts to bring so gathered up green leafy weeds to have something to offer. They humbly laid them at Jesus’ or Mary’s (there are 2 versions) feet where they sprang into beautiful red flowers- poinsettias.

Jessica Logan, Horticulture Technician - Chattahoochee Technical College

Want to volunteer for PLANET Student Career Days?

Follow this link to sign up to volunteer for the 2010 Student Career Days competition, April 8-11.
http://www.chattahoocheetech.edu/index.html?lmenu=planet&content=planet

Book of the Month

December's book of the month is our own Rex Bishop's "A Field Guide to Woody Landscape Plants of the South, Second Edition."  This book is a fantastic reference and quick ID guide complete with full-page color photos and a full page of information for each plant.  Excellent for homeowner and landscaper alike, this book is available in our bookstore and library.

GGIA Scholarship Deadline is December 18th

This is free money!  It'll be a $250 (minimum) check written TO YOU, not the school!  I've got a stack of applications, come get one!

Winter Quarter Deadlines

Registration: 6pm Tuesday December 15th.
Fee Payment: noon Friday December 18th.
*if you miss this deadline you will be dropped from your classes and you may not be able to get back in if it is full!

Welcome!

We've got a blog now!  It'll stay updated with school deadlines and happenings, job listings, scholarship opportunities and such... maybe even gardening tips for the weekend!