DNR Urban Wildlife Habitat Cost Share Assistance Available

Calling all property owners and managers— a new DNR program is providing financial assistance for creation of wildlife habitat, specifically pollinator habitat, on urban lands In Hamilton County. Individual properties, HOA common areas, and more are eligible for this funding immediately. These funds can combine with SWCD cost share funds for even more assistance for your project. Whether you’ve received cost share assistance through the SWCD in the past or are starting a new project, contact the SWCD to learn more about the assistance and financial resources available. These DNR funds are time sensitive so do not wait!

Project examples:
 Warm or cool season native grass establishment
 Grain or legume food plots
 Tree/shrub establishment
 Woodland edge feathering, fencerow rehab, etc.
 Interseeding forbs
 Native pollinator habitat and native shrubs

For more information contact Claire Lane, Backyard Conservation Coordinator with Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District.  

All-America Selections Introduces Nine Exciting Winners for the 2016 Garden Season

Did you know that Hamilton County Master Gardeners receive and maintain a display garden of each years winning annual and perennial plants in the All-American Selections (AAS) program. The garden is located at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds, outside the Winks building. Make a note to stop by next summer when these new varieties are at their peak.

This month the All-American Selections announced that nine new plants that have been trialed by horticulture experts throughout North America and deemed worthy of the All-America Selections® brand.

All of the following new varieties were trialed during the 2015 growing season and exhibited outstanding garden performance as noted in each of the following descriptions.

This grouping of AAS Winners for 2016 includes:  Look here for more information.
Geranium Brocade Cherry Night (National)
Geranium Brocade Fire (National)
Pepper Cornito Giallo F1 (National)
Pepper Escamillo F1 (National)
Pumpkin Super Moon F1 (Regional: Southeast and Great Lakes)
Salvia Summer Jewel™ Lavender (Regional: Southeast, Heartland, Great Lakes)
Strawberry Delizz® F1 (National)
Tomato Candyland Red (National)
Tomato Chef’s Choice Green F1 (National)

B. Rosie Lerner, Purdue Extension Specialist in Consumer Horticulture recently focused a news article describing the first ever AAS strawberry variety.  This latest annual strawberry variety boasts fruit production for up to 4 weeks on compact plants that do well in planters or small beds.  For additional information see her full article here.  
Photo credit to All-American Selections

State climate office: Mild and dry weather expected initially this winter in Indiana

Indiana likely will be mild and dry early this winter and then return to more normal weather later in the season, the Indiana State Climate Office says.

The outlook will be seen as comforting to those who don't like cold and snow. The two previous winters in Indiana for the most part were cold - at times brutally so - and included heavy snowstorms.

Yet climatologists caution that this does not mean Indiana won't have blustery cold snowstorms that blow through the region during the peak of the winter months.

Winter weather in the Midwest is often driven by combinations of global weather patterns, known as oscillations. One oscillation may have more influence over all others in determining what any winter season turns out to be like in Indiana.

Click here for the full article provided Ag Answers