University of Nebraska Extension - Holt/Boyd News Column for the Week of March 17, 2024

LaDonna Werth, Extension Educator Phone: 402-336-2760 E-mail: LWerth2@unl.edu

Parents Can Be Positive Examples When Teaching Children Honesty

Honesty is an important character trait to teach children. Without honesty, children may find it difficult to build healthy relationships and have a successful future. It takes time, patience, and effort to teach children honesty.

Parents need to set a positive example by being honest themselves. Many of children’s senses of manners and morals are learned through imitation of their parents. If parents model cheating and lying, children may learn these as acceptable behaviors (e.g., keeping someone else’s belongings without their permission, keeping extra change from a cashier, or telling a lie).

Children sometimes start a dishonest tendency during the pre-school years. For instance, they may grab toys from a child or try to take candy in a store. Parents should correct this type of behavior immediately by teaching children to return what was taken, apologize for their behavior or teach children a way to pay for what was taken. Use age-appropriate language to teach positive character development. Help young children understand honesty and why dishonesty is bad by reading stories related to honesty. Ask children questions throughout the story. This process gives children time to share their thoughts, understanding and questions.

Children often lie out of fear or to protect themselves — they worry about being punished or making parents mad. When parents react harshly to children’s mistakes, it may result in more lies instead of taking responsibility for their behavior. It is important for parents to talk to children about their behavior, what they could have done differently and what they can do to make things right. When children tell the truth, parents should praise them for being honest. Children should know that their parents value and appreciate the truth.

Selection And Care Of The Easter Lily

A popular symbol of Easter is the trumpet-shaped, white, fragrant flowers of the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum). Plants are available from flower shops, greenhouses, and other retail outlets.

Selection
Select a compact (short) plant with dark green leaves, 1 or 2 open flowers, and several unopened buds of different sizes. These plants should bloom for 2 to 3 weeks in the home if given good care.

Care in the Home
In the home, Easter lilies prefer daytime temperatures of 65 to 70°F with slightly cooler night temperatures. Avoid drafty locations. Place the Easter lily in bright light, but out of direct sunlight.

Water the Easter lily when the soil surface becomes dry to the touch. The pots of Easter lilies are usually placed inside molded, decorative pot covers. Carefully remove the Easter lily from the pot covering. Place the plant in the kitchen sink. Water the plant thoroughly. Continue to apply water until water flows out the bottom of the pot.  Let the potting soil drain for a few minutes, then carefully drop the plant back into the molded pot cover.

As the flowers open, remove the yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. Removal of the anthers prolongs the flower's life and prevents the pollen from staining the white petals or table linens.

Remove the flowers as they wither. After flowering, the Easter lily can be discarded or saved and planted outdoors in the perennial garden.

Planting Outdoors
Individuals wishing to save their Easter lily should place the plant in a sunny window after flowering. Remove the spent blossoms but retain the leaves. Continue to water the plant when needed. Fertilize once or twice a month with a dilute fertilizer solution.  Plant the Easter lily outdoors when the danger of frost is past.

Harden or acclimate the Easter lily to the outdoors prior to planting. Initially place the Easter lily in a shady, protected area for 2 or 3 days, then gradually expose it to longer periods of direct sun. The Easter lily should be properly hardened in 6 or 7 days.

Easter lilies require a well-drained, full-sun location. Greenhouse growers use growth regulators and growing techniques to keep plants short. In the garden, the plants will grow much taller, often reaching 2 to 3 feet in height. In the landscape, Easter lilies look best in small groupings or clusters of plants. When possible, plant several bulbs in a cluster spaced 12 to 18 inches apart.

When planting, place the bulb about 6 inches deep. Often, the planting hole will be deeper than the height of the root ball to get the bulb at the correct depth. The original plant will die back within a few weeks of bloom. At this time it should be cut back to the soil surface.  New growth will emerge by summer.

After the initial planting, lucky gardeners may be rewarded with a second bloom in late summer. Often, the bulb will stay dormant and emerge next year to bloom. In the landscape, flowers can be expected to open in July in Iowa.

Easter lilies are not reliably cold hardy in all of Iowa. Most cultivars are hardy from USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 11 (although some may only be hardy to Zone 7). However, they may survive and bloom in the garden for several years, especially if heavily mulched in the fall. Several inches of straw placed in mid to late November should provide adequate protection. Remove the mulch in the spring (mid-to-late March).

History
Easter lilies are forced to bloom for the Easter holiday, which is weeks, sometimes months, before its natural bloom period. Since Easter is celebrated on a different day each year (the first Sunday following the first full moon after the first day of spring which may be anywhere between March 22 and April 25), it takes a lot of planning to get them in bloom at the right time.

The species is native to a few small islands in southern Japan. Despite its small native range, it has been cultivated for many years and grown around the world often as a cut flower. The plant was introduced to England in the early 1800s, and commercial production increased rapidly after that. For the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century, Bermuda, then Japan, was a major supplier of bulbs. However, after World War II, production for U.S. markets moved to the Pacific coast of southern Oregon and Northern California, where most bulbs for U.S. commercial production are grown today.

The most common cultivar used for forcing is 'Nellie White'. Other varieties include 'America,' 'White Elegance,' 'White Heaven,' and 'White Glory.'  All are selections with pure white blooms and vary slightly in height and the typical number of blooms per stem. Cultivars with pink flowers, such as 'Triumphator' and 'Elegant Lady,' are also available. Many pink forms are interspecific hybrids, often between Lilium longiflorum and Oriental types.

Toxicity
Easter lily, along with many other species in the Lilium genus, are toxic to cats. If any part of the plant is ingested by a cat, it can lead to kidney failure. Keep plants out of reach of pets and contact your veterinarian immediately if you suspect a cat has ingested an Easter lily.

Source: Aaron Steil – Iowa State Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist (Yard and Garden – March 2024)

Vitamin A Levels At Calving Can Have A Big Impact On Calf Health

Vitamin A is one of the most important keys to a healthy immune system in newborn calves. Colostrum is the only way calves can get the vitamin A they need to fight off bacteria that will make them sick, said Mary Drewnoski, University of Nebraska—Lincoln beef systems specialist and associate professor. But not all colostrum contains enough vitamin A, and recent research suggests that “enough” is more than previously thought.

Calves need vitamin A for healthy eyes, skin, respiratory systems, and digestive tracts. “Calves are born deficient in vitamin A and depend on colostrum from the mom to provide what they need,” Drewnoski said. Calves that don’t get enough vitamin A from colostrum are prone to scours and respiratory disease.

The amount of vitamin A in colostrum depends on the cow’s diet in late pregnancy, and how much she has stored in her liver. However, the liver stores aren’t sufficient to fortify the colostrum, so vitamin A must also come from her diet. Hay, dormant forage and grain are low in vitamin A, so the only option to ensure sufficient vitamin A for pregnant cows is through supplementing.

Drewnoski said research at UNL recently showed that a cow needs more vitamin A in her diet than previously recommended to provide enough to her newborn calf. “We now suggest 75,000 International Units per day (IU/d). That means in a mineral mix assuming 4 ounces per head per day producers need to look for a supplement with about 300,000 IU per pound.” The previous recommendation was 30,000 to 50,000 IU/d.

The cow’s milk is usually low in vitamin A and supplementing during lactation doesn’t meet the calf’s need, which stresses the importance of making sure the calf gets adequate colostrum.

Colostrum replacers and milk replacers do contain vitamin A and can help when colostrum isn’t available. There are also injectable vitamin A options, and Drewnoski said those can be used to “top up” a cow or calf that likely has low vitamin A levels, but they aren’t an effective primary source and aren’t necessary with a good nutrition program.

In addition to choosing the right mineral supplement, it’s important to make sure all cows have access to it and that it’s always available. Drewnoski recommends providing one mineral source per 30 head of cattle. She said it’s also important the mineral doesn’t run out because the most aggressive cows will hog it when it’s available again. If mineral does out, she suggests providing loose salt for a day to satisfy their craving before putting out the mineral mix again.

For more about cow nutrition and supplementing check out https://beef.unl.edu/.

Source: Maria Tibbetts - UNL Beef Communications Specialist (BeefWatch - March 13, 2024)