MASTER GARDENER
time again
January 7, 2011
by Dick Nolen, Victoria County Master Gardener
edited by Charla Borchers Leon,
Victoria County Master Gardener
VICTORIA COUNTY
MASTER GARDENER ASSOCIATION
Master Gardener Dick Nolen assumed the presidency of Victoria County Master Gardener Association at an appreciation and awards dinner in December. Nolen said he became inspired to become a Master Gardener after his garden was on the 2004 garden tour in Victoria.
The Victoria Educational Garden Pavilion was completed last year and is available for use for private functions like weddings or birthday receptions and meetings. To reserve the facility, call the Victoria County Extension office 361-575-4581.
Victoria Educational Gardens will be available for scheduled tours starting in the spring. It is also open for public viewing dawn until dusk daily. Call the Victoria County Extension office, 361-575-4581, for tour information
2010 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
~Pavilion complete - 2010 was another successful year for the Victoria County Master Gardener Association. Our new pavilion was completed and is now in service. In addition to many gardening programs, our monthly membership meetings are being held there. Spring and fall plant sales were held there last year, too. The Victoria Educational Garden pavilion is now available for use by the public for weddings, birthdays and for whatever function that would require a large comfortable building. For information concerning reserving and using the pavilion, contact the Extension Office at 361-575-4581.
~Plant sales - Each year the VCMGA holds a plant sale in the spring and in the fall. Many of the plants for sale there have been propagated in the Victoria Educational Gardens greenhouse. The Victoria County Master Gardeners thank all of you who attend our plant sales and purchase the plants featured there. Income generated from these events help us to maintain and expand VEG, as well as providing other services to the public. Thank you for making our plant sales so successful.
~Lunch and Learn With The Masters - This program also continues to be very successful with almost a full house at every session. Thanks to Helen Boatman, Jolene Molder and especially to the speakers for making these educational gardening presentations available free to the public. As published in last week's column, the programs are held at the Dr. Pattie Dodson Public Health Center, 2805 N. Navarro St. All are invited to bring your lunch and enjoy these educational programs, which programs will resume on Jan 10, with a presentation on "Soil Preparation and Fertilization" by Texas AgriLife Extension Agent Joe Janak. Programs are scheduled twice monthly from January through May and once per month for June, July and August. The final session of the year will be held on Aug. 8 and will consist of a question-and-answer session hosted by a panel of Master Gardeners. There also will be many interesting subjects presented in the months in between. We look forward to seeing all of you there. I'll even be presenting one of the programs on propagation.
~Victoria Garden Tour - The 2010 garden tour held on Oct. 16-17 was again a very successful project with five gardens participating - and each as beautiful and interesting as the next. Thank you to all of the homeowners who have opened their beautiful gardens to the public. One of the gardens also hosted a lighted night tour. A special plant sale was also held at one of the homes in conjunction with the tour. The Victoria Garden Tours are held on an 18-month rotation with the next tour being held in 2012. It was after our home was on the 2004 garden tour that I was inspired to become a Master Gardener.
~Tours of Victoria Educational Gardens - Victoria Educational Gardens tours continue to be popular with groups of all ages from young school children to garden clubs and members of other Master Gardener organizations. The tours are free and information may be obtained by contacting the Extension Office, 361-575-4581.
~"The Dirt" - The Gardeners' Dirt articles published in the Victoria Advocate are all written by Master Gardeners and Master Gardener interns. These articles are intended to bring information to the public that will be useful in gardening efforts. These articles (in print weekly in our eighth year) are now being published on Fridays instead of the Thursday paper.
~Master Gardener training classes - Training classes are held each year starting in August and finishing in November. The classes are from 1 to 5 p.m. on each Thursday. A different subject is taught each week by speakers with expertise on that subject. So, if you are interested in becoming a Master Gardener, you can get more information by calling Texas AgriLife Extension office, 361-575-4581.
COMMITTED TO EDUCATING THE COMMUNITY
The Victoria Master Gardener Association is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit association and a part of Texas AgriLife Extension Service. We aim to fulfill our mission of educating the community about horticulture and hope that you will join in our efforts and support our activities in this new year.
President: Dick Nolen
President elect: Charlie Neumeyer
Vice president: Tom Akins
Secretary: Karla Davis
Treasurer: Charlie Boren
Treasurer-elect: Jack Goodwin
2010-11 state director: James Denman
2010-11 alternate state director: Barbara Hennig
LUNCH AND LEARN WITH THE MASTERS
Learn Two Times as Much
Two sessions January-May, second and fourth Monday
Monday - Soil Preparation, Fertilization, Etc., Joe Janak, Victoria County Extension agent - Agriculture/natural resources
Jan. 24 - Pruning Shrubs and Trees, Charlie Neumeyer, Victoria County Master Gardener
Feb. 14 - Roses: Planting, Pruning and Care, Jerome Janak, Victoria County Master Gardener
Feb. 28 - Planting and Growing Fruit Trees in Victoria, Alton Meyer, Victoria County Master Gardener
March 14 - Spring Vegetable Gardening, Gerald Bludau, Victoria County Master Gardener
March 28 - Propagating Plants You Can Use in the Landscape, Dick Nolen, Victoria County Master Gardener
April 11 - Hardy Plants for Butterflies and Hummingbirds, Carmen Price, Victoria County Master Gardener
April 25 - Beautiful Flowering Landscape Plants, Barbara Hennig, Victoria County Master Gardener
May 9 - Citrus Greening, James Denman, Kay Dillingham, Pat Plowman, Victoria County Master Gardeners
May 23 - Growing and Enjoying Herbs, Eunice Lee, Victoria County Master Gardener