All-America Selections announces a revolutionary change to the introduction schedule of AAS Winners. Based on your input, the AAS Board is proud to announce the immediate introduction and availability of AAS winning varieties.

Seed is now available from your favorite seed supplier. Plants will be available this spring. Make room in your garden for these exciting AAS Winners!

Windy City Harvest is offering a series of monthly short courses on organic vegetable production starting in January 2010.

Workshop Topics & Dates:
Crop Planning January 23
Seed Starting February 27
Season Extension March 27
Window-box or Container Gardens April 24
Building Healthy Soil May 22
Organic Pest Control June 26
Harvest Techniques July 24
Cover Cropping August 28
Seed-Starting: Cool-Season Crop Planning September 25
Season-Extension Techniques October 23
Troubleshooting Cool-Season Production November 27
Fruit Tree Pruning December 2010

All workshops are held Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon in the greenhouse classroom at the Arturo Velasquez Institute, 2800 S. Western Avenue. The cost is $30 each or $25 for five or more courses. All materials and handouts are provided. Workshops are taught by Chicago Botanic Garden and Windy City Harvest staff.

You can download registration form: http://www.chicagobotanic.org/windycityharvest/courses.php

Master Gardeners in Springfield, Missouri started a European themed 2,300 square foot vegetable garden. Master Gardeners are growing heirloom vegetables, fruit, flowers, and herbs. The garden includes a raised bed Square Foot Garden, wildlife habitat, vertical structures, grafted tomatoes, low tunnel cloche, & companion planting. The produce is donated to Ozarks Food Harvest.

Video story of vegetable garden

Just got off the phone with William Shoemaker, University of Illinois Extension Vegetable Crops Specialist. I was just checking with him if there had been any reports of outbreaks of late blight of tomatoes in the state. He said at the moment there have been no reports of abnormal outbreaks of the disease in the state, but he did say that are recent cool temps and rain make conditions ripe for disease.

The University of Minnesota has developed an informational series on how to reduce the amount of chemicals and fertilizer used to maintain your lawn.

Sustainable Lawncare Information Series

According to one estimate, 40 million acres of land is devoted to turfgrass in the United States with nearly 75 percent in home lawns and more than 30 billion dollars spent on annual lawn maintenance. It is no wonder that the large amount of resources allocated to lawn care and the impact that they have on the environment has called the sustainability of lawns into question. This critical attention has challenged lawn managers and turfgrass research programs across the country to develop and work toward more sustainable, lower input turf/lawn ecosystems.

While SULIS defines sustainability in a general way, sustainability as it relates to lawns can be defined as a lawn area that requires few material inputs while having a positive impact on the environment. Creating and maintaining a more sustainable lawn begins with proper selection of the best adapted grass species and varieties. Proper site preparation, lawn installation, and appropriate follow-up care will help reduce the need for inputs of the established lawn.

We are pleased to launch today -- Food Fun from Apples to Zucchini. This website is designed to teach elementary students about fresh produce -- many they may not know.

It can serve as an excellent resource to encourage healthy eating and to the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for schools as well as other childhood obesity programs. The site includes information about 37 different produce items, a variety of online activities and coloring sheets.

You can visit the site at:

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/foodfun/

A new, late-ripening apple named WineCrisp™ which carries the Vf gene for scab resistance was developed over the past 20 plus years through classical breeding techniques, not genetic engineering. License to propagate trees will be made available t nurseries through the University of Illinois.

Being resistant to apple scab is a big plus for growers, said University of Illinois plant geneticist Schuyler Korban, as it significantly reduces the number of chemical fungicide sprays. "Apple scab is the number one disease that growers have to spray for – 15 to 20 times per season – so not having to spray for apple scab lowers the cost for the grower and is better for the environment."

Why does it take over 20 years to make an apple? "It takes a long time to develop an apple because you want to test it in different locations, you want to observe it over a number of years, and it takes awhile for an apple to get noticed," said geneticist Schuyler Korban. "I liked it the first time I saw it and I liked the flavor. It has an excellent mix of sugar and acid and a very pleasant flavor, but I was hesitant because of the finish – it's not glossy."

Korban thought the finish might pose a problem because consumers are accustomed to seeing waxed fruit in stores and may not like the matte finish that Korban calls "scarfy" or dull. "Red Delicious is a very good looking apple, but has no flavor, very bland. It's still ranked as the number one apple in the industry; however, there are more new apple varieties available now."

After some time, Korban decided that the crispness and the flavor would be more important factors to consumers than the finish and continued to develop the new apple.

His research, in collaboration with breeders at Rutgers and Purdue Universities, will be published in a 2009 issue of the journal of HortScience, and a U.S. patent is currently pending. The apple is available now to nurseries who want to apply for a license to propagate trees and make them available to apple growers nationwide. "There is a nursery in the southeastern part of the United States that really liked the apple and feel that there is a market for it in the south so they're getting a license to grow it."

It also takes time for a new orchard or even for an existing orchard to plant new apple varieties. But when WineCrisp™ cuttings are grafted into a fast-growing root stock, Korban says there could be fruit on the tree in as little as three years.

Korban said that the tree is extremely productive and the fruit is firm, but it's not a bright red color. "It's more of a dark red and looks like a deep red wine so we wanted to include 'wine' in the name. It also resembles an older variety that consumers are familiar with called Winesap. "When you pick it up and squeeze it, it's very firm," he said. "We used to call it 'the Rock.' We wanted that characteristic to be in the name so we added 'crisp' and named it WineCrisp™.

"There's a market for apples with different flavors, different textures, different ripening and maturity dates – you don't know what the likes and dislikes of the consumer will be," said Korban. "Some of our recent releases are varieties that focus on late ripening which would prolong the apple-growing season and WineCrisp™ matures two weeks after Red Delicious. They can be harvested all the way through to the end of October. And in good cold storage, they'll keep for eight to nine months. That's another important trait of this variety – it keeps very well in cold storage."

The original cross in the breeding process was done at Rutgers in 1989. The seeds were grown into seedlings and inoculated with apple scab at Purdue. Those seedlings that demonstrated resistance to apple scab were split between the three universities as a part of the Purdue-Rutgers-Illinois (PRI) Cooperative Breeding Program, which has been very successful in naming and releasing over 25 disease-resistant apple varieties, some with other collaborating partners around the world. Because the University of Illinois made the selection, U of I will be the primary licensing institution.

Just a note about an article I recently saw in the New York Times about an effort by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices. This project is called the Sustainable Sites Initiative at http://sustainablesites.org/.

As the holidays approach, many families will be faced with at least two horticulture-related challenges--how to select a Christmas tree and what to do with the gift poinsettia plant.

"Information on both topics is readily available on two University of Illinois Extension websites," said Jane Scherer, U of I Extension urban programs specialist and director of its websites.

"Christmas Trees & More" (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees/) in a one-stop source for a broad array of information, not only about Christmas trees but flowers and greenery, tree farms, and recipes.

"Yes, recipes," Scherer explained. "There is a page that has recipes for Christmas tree cookies plus a holiday tree-shaped cheese ball and a Christmas tree cake."

"If you're wondering what to look for when selecting a poinsettia plant, another Extension website can help," she noted.

"The Poinsettia Pages" (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia/) include a list of things to consider when shopping for a plant.

"The length of time your poinsettia will give you pleasure in your home is dependent on (1) the maturity of the plant, (2) when you buy it, and (3) how you treat the plant," said Scherer, quoting from information on the website. "With care, poinsettias should retain their beauty for weeks, and some varieties will stay attractive for months.

"Suggestions for achieving this outcome are listed on the site."

Tender flowering "bulbs" produce some of our most colorful summer blooms. Gladiolus, canna, tuberous begonia and others are commonly grown throughout the U.S.

"These plants need special care because freezing kills them," says David Robson, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator.

The bulbs (in reality tubers, rhizomes and corms, in addition to true bulbs) need to be dug up and stored indoors just like potatoes, onions and carrots. Robson says harvesting these bulbs takes the same care as vegetable harvesting.

While the different flowering plants require different handling techniques, they all require the same care in handling.

Gladioli grow from corms. The corms should be dug once the foliage has matured or after frost. Carefully lift the corms from the ground to avoid losing the small cormels that will be future glads.

Cut the tips an inch above the corms and cure the corms for two to four weeks in a warm spot with good air circulation. Brush off any dried soil with a soft cloth. Remove the old shriveled corm on the bottom of the new tan one.

Before storing the corms, dust them with an insecticide-fungicide mixture to prevent the corms from rotting and to control thrips. Store the corms in onion bags or old nylon stockings hung in a place with good air circulation and temperatures from 35 to 45 degrees.

Dahlias grow from tubers. Cut dahlia tops back to within 3 to 4 inches of the soil after the first frost. Dig carefully to avoid damaging the fleshy roots or breaking off the new eyes. Cure dahlias the same way as glads for one to three days. Keep as much of the soil attached as possible.

Store dahlias in a box or plastic bag packed with vermiculite, peat moss or wood chips to prevent drying out. Dahlia tubers should be completely covered and stored at 35 to 45 degrees.

"The tubers should be inspected several times throughout the winter," says Robson. "If they start to shrivel, lightly sprinkle the packing material with water. If conditions are too moist and roots start to rot, move the tubers to a drier place and remove rotted portions."

Treat canna roots similar to dahlia, except store them upside down in a shallow box. Cannas do not require covering. Hold the roots in 45- to 50-degree storage temperatures.

Tuberoses should be cut back after frost and their bulbs stored in sand or vermiculite-filled plastic bags at 55 to 60 degrees.

Peruvian daffodil bulbs should be dug before frost and stored upside down in vermiculite or dry sand. Store at the same temperature as tuberoses.

Check bulbs, tubers, corms and roots throughout the storage season and make any necessary changes in their conditions so that they will make it through the winter in good shape.