Author: trisha

June CCMGA Meeting

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Chilton County Master Gardens enjoyed the June program presented by Central Alabama MG and horticulturist Jane McCarthy on efforts to create a historically correct garden at the Governor’s Mansion in Montgomery. The first step was to educate the inmate workers that help with the gardening. Cleaning the garden and a lot of renewal pruning was done. Her group is trying to ID existing plants, create a plan and plant with emphasis on plants that would be historically correct. Jane is also involved in the Old Alabama Town Herb Society and the creation of Montgomery Botanical Gardens at Oak Park. All the projects are in progress. She invited us to set up a tour of the Governor’s Mansion garden and she would even welcome us to her personal garden.

The highlight of our meeting was the presentation of badges and certificates to three interns that have met the requirements to become certified Master Gardeners. Congratulations to Joyce Lawson, Susan Cleckler, and Donna Babin!

Article and photos by Trisha Williams

June CCMGA meeting

Ebenezer Swamp Tour

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On May 25th, several of the Chilton County Master Gardeners went on a guided tour of the University of Montevallo’s Ebenezer Swamp Ecological Preserve. Our guide, Mike Hardig, Department Chair at UM, discussed the history and importance of swamps as he walked the boardwalk with us. He pointed out the native trees and plants and told us no visit to the swamp was complete unless you spot a snake and we did!

Mike showed us plants native to the swamp including Tupelo gum trees, sycamore trees, Lizard’s Tail, Swamp Dogwood, Arum, Virginia Sweetspire, Leatherflower(native clematis) among others. He told us that the swamp is home to water moccasins, timber rattlesnakes, copperheads, beavers, turkey, and deer.

The swamp is used by UM for hands on science classes. It also features abstract sculptures of a frog, a heron and a dragonfly made from recycled steel by students in UM art classes.
Article and photos by Trisha Williams

 

 

 

 

 

May Plant Swap

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Chilton County Master Gardeners held their annual Plant Swap on May 9th at the home of Lee and Wally Walters on Lake Mitchell. The weather was perfect for our meeting and lunch on the patio overlooking the lake. We enjoyed BBQ pork provided by our hosts and side dishes and desserts our members brought. We drew numbers to swap plants and had a great variety of plants to share including tomatoes, ginger lilies, daisies and daffodil bulbs. As usual we all went home with lots of new plants for our gardens. Now to convince someone to dig those holes–oh, I guess that is me!  A huge thank you goes to the Walters for hosting our Plant Swap this year.

Photos and article by Trisha Williams

 

AMGA Conference

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On May 1-3 several Chilton County Master Gardeners attended the Alabama Master Gardener Association Conference at the Huntsville Botanical Garden and the Jackson Center in Huntsville. Classes included Ferns, Orchids, Roses, Hummingbirds, Landscape Design and Miniature Landscapes. We especially enjoyed Traditional Folk Herbalism, Seeds of the South (Heirloom Seeds) and Protecting our Pollinators. Some of our group also made  a Papercrete planter. This year the conference included a Seed Swap for the first time and we were able to select some seeds that were new to us. Of course no conference is complete without great vendors with lots of plants and unusual crafts.
Article and photos by Trisha Williams

 

Kaul Wildflower Garden Tour

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John Manion, Director of the Kaul Wildflower Garden at the Birmingham Botanicals Gardens, led a guided tour of the gardens for several Chilton County Master Gardeners on April 20. He told us of the history and construction of the Kaul Wildflower Garden and shared great information on native plants and stories that go with many of them. He has started an area of eight plants that are only found in the wild at the Bibb County Glades. We learned the difference between the Bigleaf Magnolia and the Ashe Magnolia, two native deciduous magnolias. Some of the native plants we learned about included Indian pink, trillium, May apples, ferns, yellow root, bluebells, Mt. Laurel, climbing hydrangea and many more. Our group also visited many other areas of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and enjoyed lunch on the terrace. Many thanks go to Sue Webb for planning this tour and for providing the delicious chicken salad sandwiches.  Attending were Catherine Williams, Essie Edel, Harriett Jackson,  Sue Webb,  Sondra Henley, Dianne Clapp, Trisha Williams, and Bonnie and Bill Hairrell. Photos and article by Trisha Williams.

April Master Gardener Meeting

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Jason Powell at April meeting
Jason Powell at April meeting with Sue Webb

Chilton County Master Gardeners met at Petals From the Past in April and thirteen of our Master Gardener Class members joined us. Jason Powell presented a program on Tough as Nails Plants for the Southern Garden. He discussed bulbs that bloom in spring or summer, lose their foliage, survive in place and reappear the next year. Reseeding annuals drop their seeds and need no care through the summer. He also discussed some tough roses, perennials and shrubs that can withstand drought conditions. Photo by Trisha Williams

 

June Mays Garden Tour

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In early April Chilton County Master Gardeners had the pleasure of a guided tour of June Mays’ garden in Mt. Brook. June is a retired landscape designer, author and speaker. Her garden starts in the parking area and covers every part of her property. From the driveway our eyes followed the line of the driveway to an arbor covered with Lady Banks roses. Gravel pathways meander throughout the property and lead to special features such as a small  water feature, a bench to enjoy the garden, or the potting shed. There was even a muscadine arbor and two raised vegetable beds. June has included many native plants such a blood root, sweet shrub, partridge berry, Oak Leaf Hydrangea, and May apples. We could tell that she is a plant lover from the variety of plants she has included, many that are unusual cultivars. We enjoyed hearing her say that she had moved plants because they did not do well where she first planted them–seems that all gardeners do that! She also told us of her garden challenges that included the recent loss of a large shade tree. She was in the process of recreating that area of the garden. The shade was gone and and many plants were damaged. We really enjoyed our visit with June Mays and her garden.                                                                                                                              Photos and article by Trisha Williams

Master Gardeners tour garden Master Gardeners tour garden Master Gardeners tour garden Master Gardeners tour garden

Long Grain and Wild Rice Chicken Casserole

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This chicken casserole was a favorite at our Master Gardener Intern Class lunch.

1 medium chicken, cooked, deboned, and shredded
1 can French style green beans, drained
1 can shoepeg corn, drained
1 can diced water chesnuts, drained
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small onion, chopped
1  8 oz. carton sour cream
1 box Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain & Wild Rice, cooked & drained
1 package Ritz crackers, crushed
1  12 oz. package Swiss cheese*, shredded
1 stick butter

Mix chicken, green beans, corn, water chestnuts, celery soup, mushroom soup, chopped onion, sour cream, and rice. Coat a 9×13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Pour half of mixture into dish and top with half of shredded cheese.  Add remaining mixture and top with rest of cheese. Melt butter and mix well with Ritz crackers, sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

**Mozzarella Cheese may be substituted for Swiss**

Original recipe provided by Audrey Giles

Fruit Workshop and Grape Pruning

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Chilton County Master Gardeners  attended a Small Fruit and Grape Production Workshop on March 8 at the Chilton Research and Extension Center.  Dr. Elina Coneva, Auburn University Department of Horticulture spoke on blueberry and grape varieties and gave a demonstration in the field on pruning European hybrid grape vines. Dr. Edgar Vinson, Extension Horticulture Specialist, discussed commercial strawberry production.  Kevin Burkett, Regional Extension Agent for Farm and Agribusiness Management, spoke on Commercial Farm Budgeting. A muscadine pruning demonstration was given by Matthew Price, CREC Research Assisstant. Our Master Gardeners found the workshop to very interesting and informative.

In preparation for the fruit workshop, Chilton County  Master Gardeners volunteered at the CREC pruning  grape vines. On the first day Diane Clapp, Lamar Giles, Bill Hairrell, Sondra Henley, Harriett Jackson, Rick Miller, Alan Reed and Lee Walters helped. The second day the MG volunteers were Alice Broome, Lamar Giles, Harriett Jackson, Rick Miller, Alan Reed, Lee Walters and Sue Webb.  Harriett Jackson and Alan Reed finished up on the third day.

Photos by Harriett Jackson

 

Master Gardener prunning grapes

Master Gardeners pruning vines

Minooka Park Project

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Sue Webb, Harriett Jackson and Rick Miller met with Gerald Arrington at Minooka Park to walk the hiking trails and see what needs to be done first.  Chilton County owns the park and it features walking trails, bike and ATV trails, picnic areas, inside and outside venues for gatherings of all kinds, lakes, woods and views aplenty. If you haven’t been there take a break and visit. You may even see wild turkeys on the way in. The park will be a lovely place for Master Gardeners to spend time volunteering. Much of the existing hiking trail just needs some raking and marking. Sue has plans for 3 hour work days and designs to use more native plants and identification signs to add educational value to the trails. But for now some leaf raking in the dappled shade will do much to preserve the already existing trail and make it user friendly and easy to follow. This is going to be a really fun project for Master Gardeners!

Sue will have a consultation with a member of the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail Association to plan and mark a new section of the trail to make it more accessible to the office. The trail association is dedicated to and has experience with planning, building, and maintenance of footpath only trails

by Harriett Jackson and Sue Webb
Photos by Harriett Jackson