Jeff Dodson, MG 2014
To paraphrase Garrison Keeler, “It’s been a quiet month in Whatcom County, my home town.” According to past records, in the past these last few months have buried the clinic volunteers alive with tons of plants and insects to I. D., diseases to diagnose and advice to administer to home gardeners. However, this year seems to have been a steady stream but not overwhelming. I say “seems” because when I went and looked up what we had done in clinic this year I found there was certainly as much as a workload, if not more than in the past. What accounts for my faulty perception? The many volunteers that have been coming in and doing what they do best, helping garden and fellow gardeners. You have all made the clinic something of a “go to” source for those seeking answers to their gardening questions. The word seems to be spreading as more and more individuals are taking advantage of the service we offer free of charge. It is really wonderful and gratifying for all involved with this service at the Extension Office. Well done. Really, really, really well done.
We had an interesting situation arise that illustrates what goes on at the clinic desk on a regular basis. I would like to tell you about it as an example of what is done to help those in gardening need. A woman brought in a sample of a bushy shrub that was taking over her vegetable garden. Although an experienced gardener, she could not figure out what the plant was but suspected it might be invasive or noxious or both. When I looked at the sample I thought it was going to be a snap as there were pods present and leaves that looked as if they were from some sort of legume. Not that many bushy shrubby legumes…right? This’ll be a breeze. Alas and alack it was not to be so. Three of us went to work on it and after an hour we still had no answer for the client. We tried our own knowledge banks, we tried the reference books in the clinic library, we tried keying the plant, we tried ALL our usual online references, we even resorted to searching images brought up by several key-word searches. At the end of the shift, we took some pictures and sent them to several of our fellow Whatcom Master Gardeners that really know their plants. Bingo! Karen Gilliam was able to put us on the right track. Ever heard of a plant called Dead Man’s Finger? How about Snot Pod? No? Me, neither. Naturally, this is not what Karen called it. These are common names and she is always correct by applying scientific nomenclature. The genus is Decaisnea. Further research identified the species as insignis.
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| Decaisnea insignis, "Dead Man's Finger" |
NOT a legume. Also, not noxious or invasive (whew) but it is a little on the unusual side as this was a variant that had green pods instead of the usual purple. Mystery solved and the client was informed.
But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Mostly, I am using this only as an example so that you might note that we have many, many resources at our command in clinic. Personal knowledge, hardcopy written references, online power at our fingertips and an army of experienced experts in all areas of botany/gardening. And that is just via the Whatcom County Master Gardeners. State and federal diagnostic labs and personnel are also available to help us. What I hear over and over again from our cohorts is that they are intimidated by what might be asked of them if they come into clinic to volunteer. What I hope my narration illustrates to all reading this is expertise is not a requirement at clinic, expertise is provided as is the instruction on how to access and use it.
Volunteer, then bring in several plants from your own garden or neighbors’ to learn or gain clinic experience on while simultaneously solving your personal gardening needs.
Best Regards to All,
Jeff