Polk County Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 2, 2015 9A
Get indoor pests to bug off
Insects lurking under
leaves, climbing up stems
and settling into the soil of
houseplants frustrate in-
door gardeners to no end.
But there are answers, ac-
cording to Amy Dreves, an
entomologist with Oregon
State University’s Extension
Service.
“Winter is a good time to
check indoor plants for sap-
sucking insects like mites,
thrips, mealybugs, scales,
whiteflies and aphids,” she
said. “Spotting problems
and responding to them
early can keep populations
from exploding.”
Dreves suggests a num-
ber of strategies to keep
your indoor pests at bay
without resorting to chemi-
cal controls.
First of all, learn your
houseplants’ needs and
keep them healthy with the
correct amount of light,
water and nutrition.
Stressed plants encourage
problems. For example, hot,
dry and dusty conditions
promote mite outbreaks
and feeding plants too
much high-nitrogen fertiliz-
er makes for a delicious din-
ner for aphids.
When you spot a prob-
lem, isolate infested plants
from others so the insects
don’t spread from plant to
plant, Dreves said.
If whiteflies are present,
you can carefully vacuum
them off with a hand-held
vacuum, dislodge them
with a soft spray of water or
K YM
P OKORNY
Stobbe-Bennett
Jesse Stobbe and Mark Bennett, both of Monmouth, are
planning a July wedding.
The bride-to-be is the daughter of Brian Lee and Tina
Hill, of Monmouth. Her fiancé is the son of Steve Bennett,
of Roseburg, and Dave and Lana Hutchison, of Camille,
Calif.
Jesse a 1998 graduate of Dallas High School.
Mark is a 1994 graduate of Cottonwood High School in
Salt Lake City and a 2015 graduate of Western Oregon
University with a Bachelor of Science in theatre arts.
The wedding is set for July 4, 2016, at Salt Creek Baptist
Church.
Your
Garden
wipe leaves with a sponge. If
you go the vacuum route,
freeze the bag to kill the
contents.
Another trick, she said, is
to place aluminum foil or
reflective mulch around the
base of a plant. This may
disorient winged pests like
thrips and aphids and dis-
courage them from landing.
Or paint a small dish yellow
and fill it with water to at-
tract and drown them.
Use yellow sticky traps,
available at garden centers,
to capture aphids and
whiteflies. Blue sticky traps
are good for snaring adult
thrips while white ones
work best for adult fungus
gnats. Kill fungus gnat lar-
vae that live in the soil by re-
ducing the amount of water
you give plants; they love
moisture. Also, remove
standing water in the
saucer.
Swabbing bug-ridden
leaves with a small paint-
brush dipped in rubbing al-
cohol will destroy soft-bod-
ied aphids and mealybugs.
This works best when infes-
tations have just gotten
started.
In a greenhouse setting,
you can release tiny para-
sitic wasps specifically for
ENGAGEMENTS
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Continued from page 8A
PHOTO FROM FLICKR BY JOHN LILLLIS
When you spot a problem, isolate infested plants from
others so the insects don’t spread from plant to plant
control of aphids and
whiteflies, Dreves said.
These predator insects are
available at most garden
centers.
Some pests can be easily
eliminated by shaking them
onto a sheet of paper and
discarding; or by hand if
you are not too squeamish.
Pinch off heavily infested
leaves or other plant parts
and destroy.
Spray plants plagued by
soft-bodied pests with gen-
tle insecticidal soaps or light
horticultural oils available
at garden centers. These
may hurt some plants, so
spot treat one leaf first. Also,
soaps and oils are not as ef-
fective on winged adults,
because they fly off and
come back later.
You may want to consider
throwing out heavily infest-
ed plants. Discard soil and
clean the pot or container
as well.
If you feel you have to re-
sort to chemical pesticides,
keep in mind that few pesti-
cides are registered or con-
sidered safe for indoor use
on houseplants, according
to Dreves. Read labels care-
fully for where and how to
use a pesticide. If indoor use
is not listed on the label,
take the plant to be treated
outside, away from children
and pet traffic areas. Leave
the plant outside a day or
two after spraying.
WEDNESDAY
• Polk County Republican Women — 11:30 a.m., Oak Knoll
Golf Course, 6335 Highway 22, Independence. No-host lunch
available; everyone welcome. 503-623-5759.
• Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce
Lunch Forum — Noon, Toys for Tots, 535 G St., Independence.
Volunteer one hour to help Toys for Tots. Light refreshments
provided. 503-838-4268.
• Free Blood Pressure Check Clinic — 2 to 3 p.m., West Val-
ley Hospital (surgery admitting area), 525 SE Washington St.,
Dallas. 503-623-7323.
• Monmouth Senior Center Music Jam — 6:30 p.m., Mon-
mouth Senior Center, 180 S. Warren St., Monmouth. Open to
the public; musicians of all types welcome. 503-838-5678.
• Dallas American Legion Post No. 20 — 7 p.m., Academy
Building, Room 108, 182 SW Academy St., Dallas. 503-831-3971.
• Helping Hands Emergency Food Bank — 10 a.m. to noon,
Monmouth Christian Church, 959 Church St. W., Monmouth. For
eligible community members; available every Wednesday. 541-
404-6517.
• Brew and BS — 7 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1486
SW Levens St., Dallas. Free. Bring your own brew — beer, cofee,
tea, cider, wine. Moderated discussions on topics of religion and
science. 503-831-5593.
MI TOWN
As we open the calendars
to the brand new month of
December, we anticipate so
many good things this
month will bring. It’s the
time of year when we can
look forward to the upcom-
ing holidays, and try to ban-
ish the darkness with
b r i g h t n e s s a n d c h e e r.
Whether we celebrate
Christmas or Hanukkah or
Kwanzaa, our spirits are lift-
ed considerably by seeing
the colorful and fun dis-
plays in all the stores and
businesses, and we can’t
help but want to sing along
to the traditional music that
is everywhere.
—
Today begins the first day
of the Monmouth Garden
Club’s Greens Sale, where
you can get your home
ready for the holidays with
amazing hand-crafted
wreaths, table arrange-
P ATTY
T AYLOR
D UTCHER
Columnist
ments and all kinds of gift
ideas. Shopping hours are
from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday (today) and
Thursday, and from 9 a.m.
until noon on Friday. For
special orders or for more
information, please call
Margaret Johnson at 503-
838-3995.
—
Why not enjoy an early
dinner at one of MI Town’s
restaurants before enjoying
a great tradition as Western
Oregon University President
Rex Fuller and MI Town
mayors John McArdle (Inde-
pendence) and John Oberst
(Monmouth) welcome stu-
dents and friends and com-
munity members to the an-
nual Holiday Tree Lighting
Ceremony at 6 p.m. on Fri-
day. We’ll dress warmly and
hope for clear skies as we
listen to the winning essays
by local elementary stu-
dents and applaud the light-
ing of the Sequoia tree in
front of Campbell Hall, then
go to the Werner Center for
more music by local school
students as well as other
events, including photos
with Santa. Whether it’s
your first opportunity to
join friends and neighbors
and students of all ages or
you’ve been enjoying the
tree lighting for many years,
there’s something really spe-
cial about this event.
—
Saturday morning is the
monthly community break-
fast at the Monmouth Sen-
ior Center. It’s a great way to
start a busy Saturday, and
all your hungry family
members will get all they
can eat for $6 for adults and
kids 12 and older, $3 for kids
younger than 12. Smiling
volunteers will serve you
pancakes, scrambled eggs,
sausage, biscuits and gravy,
with orange juice, coffee
and tea.
—
While you’re at the senior
center, be sure to check out
the silent auction table. My
friend, Judy, who creates
and assembles the superb
baskets for auction, tells me
this is the biggest and best
group of goodies ever. Get
some great Christmas gift
ideas, or something special
for yourself. Winners will be
announced at the potluck
on Dec. 11. For more infor-
mation, please call Sue Teal
at 503-838-5678.
Ben Meyer, AAMS ®
Bob Timmerman
Financial Advisor
Financial Advisor
503-606-3048
503-623-5584
193 E. Main Street Mon-
mouth, OR 97361
159 SW Court Street
Dallas, OR 97338
Kelly K. Denney
Financial Advisor
503-623-2146
244 E. Ellendale, Suite 2
Dallas, OR 97338
What’s YOUR neighbor up to?
Find out in the Itemizer-Observer.
Local stories on local people—that’s our specialty.
PEDEE NEWS
Some people in Pedee
had interesting Thanksgiv-
ings this year. I’m sorry to
say Nancy May, her mother,
and son Aaron lost their
home on Burbank Road to a
fire the day before Thanks-
giving. Kind neighbors, the
church, and the Red Cross
provided help and food for
them, but I’m sure more will
be needed. Contact the
church if you’d like to help
in some way. They will be
living on the property still.
—
Jerry Mentzer spent most
of his day hauling Christmas
trees, but he and Charm had
dinner for family and
friends that evening, includ-
ing Charm’s daughter Mollie
and Jerry’s son Jeff and
daughter-in-law Emily (of I-
O fame), plus some friends
from Dallas.
—
Paul and Diane Telfer had
Thanksgiving dinner for 14
without running water, as
they had well problems.
Their daughters Helena and
A RLENE
K OVASH
Columnist
Amber came with their fam-
ilies to celebrate the day and
spend the night.
—
Rich and Tess Simons had
25 relatives at their house,
including son Josh, who is a
junior at WOU and who now
lives in Monmouth, and son
Brandon, who is a freshman
there and lives at home.
—
Daniel and Heidi Russell
and their six drove to
Creswell to celebrate
Thanksgiving with Heidi’s
parents, Jon and Linda
Hovet and her brother’s
family, and came home with
an extra kid, 10-year-old
Owen Hovet, who will be
spending a few days with his
cousin Alex.
New
Booksto
re
in Dallas
!
147 SW Court St., Dallas
Hours: 10am - 5pm ~ Closed Sundays
Look for us on
—
Ted and Ethelene Osgood
had dinner for son Pete and
his wife Lucy, their son,
Stephen, and Jessica and 18-
month-old Nolan, and
Stephen’s two daughters
Bailee and Bridget. Grand-
daughter Paige was there
from Salem, where she is a
freshman at Willamette Uni-
versity, and grandson Cole
came from Salem. They ate
early because everyone in-
vited had to go to another
dinner with other family
members. Some were even
going to hit three dinners!
—
Pete and LaVerne Bennett
enjoyed Thanksgiving din-
n e r w i t h Pe t e’s s i s t e r
Michelle Mahana and hus-
band Gary in North Albany.
Their whole family was
there, including son Jim and
Julie Bennett and family of
Salem, son Rick and
Michelle Bennett and Nash,
grandson Josh Bennett from
Eugene, and daughter Lisa
Bennett from Newberg.
—
Dave Burbank didn’t have
to hunt all day on Thanks-
giving because he got his elk
a few days earlier, as did
Mike McBeth and Mike’s son
Morgan. They did spend a
few hours in the morning
hunting with friends who
did not get one yet.
—
Allison Barnhart is coor-
dinating the Pedee Church
children’s Christmas Musical
this year. Practices are dur-
ing kid’s church on Sundays
and on Thursday evenings
at 7, and it’s never too late to
join them. Contact Allison
with questions at athom-
son238@gmail.com. The
performance will be Dec. 18
at 7 p.m. at the church.
—
The prize for the first
Christmas lights in Pedee
goes to Rick and Leasa
Willden, who own
Willamette Valley Metal in
downtown Pedee. They are
beautiful! Don’t press me on
what the prize is, though.
Christmas in the Country
SONrise
December 5, 2015 @ 6:00 pm
Salt Creek Baptist Church
15075 Salt Creek Rd, Dallas Oregon
Free concert. Please bring canned food items
for the needy people in our community.
For more information call 503-930-8177
Providing holiday meals to Dallas-area
families in need for more than 50 years
Put Christmas Cheer on your
giving list this year!
Make
checks to:
Christmas Cheer
PO Box 661
Dallas, OR 97338
Do you or someone you know need a little help?
Ask for an application or go to our website
to apply: www.dallascc.org
All volunteers are encouraged to bring
canned goods when coming to help
sort, shop & deliver food boxes
on Christmas Eve at 6 am, Thursday,
Dec. 24th at LaCreole Middle School
More information: 503-623-3585
Coordinators: Warren & Sue Lamb
— 5013C — Non-Profit Organization
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