Southeast Gardener’s April Checklist

Posted on March 29, 2015March 29, 2015 by ampil2010

The entire month of April is wrapped in spring. With March madness behind us and the merriment of May ahead, many feel the need to stop and appreciate our gardens in April(or at least I do). The month of april is full of tulips, daffodils, Virginia bluebells, Yoshino cherry and crabapple blossoms, flowering dogwood, candy tuff, azaleas, creep phlox and more!

Everyone is a gardener in springtime!

Southeast Gardener's April Checklist

Southern Living Magazine

Mulch―Now that winter is gone, remove and replace mulch around such plants as azaleas, roses, and camellias because disease spores and insects may have overwintered in this material. If you think disease or insects are not a problem, just freshen your mulch.
Lawns―It’s time to start cutting warm-season turf such as Bermuda, St. Augustine, and centipede. Be careful not to scalp your lawn. Adjust the blade height so that the turf looks cut when finished, but you can’t see spots of soil. A good rule of thumb for spring cutting: Remove only about the top third of the grass blades each cutting. During periods of fast growth, try to cut your lawn at least once a week.
Herbs―Once the frost period has passed, it’s time to plant herbs. Culinary herbs are easy to grow, but be sure that you’ve planted enough of the ones you frequently use. As a general rule, it takes twice as many fresh herbs as it does dried ones to equal the same amount of flavor in cooking.

Locally: Petals from the Past Saturday, April 4, 2015, 10:30 am, Perennials for Every Spot in the Garden presented by Jason Powell

Tuscaloosa County Master Gardeners is now following Melinda Myers on Twitter @Melindagardens and you can too!

And finally, here are some statistics for The Tuscaloosa County Master Gardener website. We’ve had over 12,000 hits in the last year. 11,000 of those hits have occured in the last 30 days. Pretty impressive!

Postcards from the Alabama Master Gardener Conference 2015

Posted on March 25, 2015March 29, 2015 by ampil2010

Enjoy! Courtesy of Judith Rives

@TuscCoGardeners traveled to the Alabama Master Gardener Conference

@TuscCoGardeners donated this item for the silent auction.

This terrarium was made by Tovah Martin for the silent auction.

James Miles, son of TCMG Olivia Miles, was nominated by the Mobile Co. MGs for The Gary Murray Award for outstanding service and dedication to the AMGA programs.

More Spring!

Posted on March 22, 2015March 22, 2015 by ampil2010

Happy Spring everyone!

A team of MGs recently went to answer an emergency call for weeding at Woodland Forrest Elementary School’s outdoor classroom. The teacher who was to do it, had unexpected surgery and we were asked to help so that the students could began planting next week. Now all the raised beds there are weed-free and ready to plant. The long one contains strawberry plants. The other beds contain vegetables and herbs. I’m not sure what the kids are going to plant next week, but we did our job!

Planning a new garden bed? Here’s a helpful Garden Layout Planner from Better Homes and Garden on-line to help you get started.

One of my favorite books with flowers as a central theme is The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

I loved learning about communication through flower arranging, floriography, and I really identified with the theme of the restorative power of nature in this book. I couldn’t put it down and hope you will give it a try, too!

Coming soon: TCMG Monthly Meeting April 14

TCMG Pass Along Plant Sale April 25

Welcome Interns!

Posted on March 5, 2015March 5, 2015 by ampil2010

Welcome to our 2015 Spring Intern Class: Lucia Duggin, Susan Gaskins, John Hewitt, Rena Jarvis, Jenelle Marsh, Barbara Martin, Ronald Phelps, Laura Whitaker, Jill Wright, Terry Reaves, Linda Holifield, Ann Schaetzle, Catherine Hummel, Eddie Yessick

Congratulations to March Master Gardener of the Month: Tom Whitehead

TCMG will meet TUESDAY, MARCH 10 AT 5:30 IN THE AUDITORIUM OF THE EXTENSION SERVICE.

Our educational presenter will be Gregory Whitis, Extension Aquaculturist of Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Alabama Fish Farming Center; Greensboro, Alabama.

As always, we look forward to sharing and tasting, so, “LET’S DO IT IN GREEN”! You are invited to bring your favorite “GREEN” appetizers, desserts, or salads as we secretly begin to celebrate the arrival of springtime!

New Volunteer Opportunities:

Contact Jeanie Gray for more information jrgray33@bellsouth.net

Eagle’s Wings

10:00 a.m. to around noon, beginning Wednesday, March 4

(inside activities) Eagle’s Wings is located:

12379 Eagles Wings Drive

Coker, AL 35452

( 5.5 miles past Northport Walmart on Highway 82, 1/2 mile beyond mile marker 39 on the right)

Oakhill School

Julia Bush at Oakhill School has requested help with a butterfly garden and planting fruit trees. We will need a team of 4-5 people to take this project on. The hours are flexible, Monday-Friday between 8 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @TuscCoGardeners

Ready, set, go get your seedlings and root cuttings prepared!

Posted on February 17, 2015 by ampil2010

TCMG Pass-Along Plant Sale

Tuscaloosa County Master Gardeners: mark your calendars! Our annual Pass-Along Plant Sale will be Saturday, April 25. Setting up for the sale will be the afternoon of Friday, April 24. This sale funds our $1000 scholarship to an area student studying a horticulture-related field at Auburn University.

Now is the time to consider the plant materials you plan to bring to the sale. It’s almost time to start seeds for bedding plants and vegetables, and to root cuttings of other plants. Sybil Phillips and Susan Kilgore are the co-chairs of the 2015 plant sale, and we anticipate another successful year.

Annual Tree Giveaway

Posted on February 15, 2015February 20, 2015 by ampil2010

A Scoop of February and a Barrel of Spring

Posted on February 13, 2015February 13, 2015 by ampil2010

Thank you Dr. Ed Stephenson from UA’s Dept. of Biological Sciences for your informative presentation on GMO technology.

Congratuations to these Master Gardeners for their achievements:

Bobby Cherones (TCMG Class of ’97) February’s “MASTER GARDENER OF THE MONTH” for TCMG!

And, to the following Master Gardeners who earned and were awarded designated volunteer hour stars of achievement.

BRONZE STAR: Randy Hoggle (TCMG ’11), Kim Lawrence (TCMG ’12), and Sailaja Reddy (TCMG ’13)

SILVER STAR: Ann Hewitt (TCMG ’13)

GOLD STAR: Linda Baggett (TCMG ’09) and Octavia Miles (TCMG ’10)

GOLD BADGE to be presented at the AMGA in Cullman (March 23-25) to: Jeanie Gray (TCMG ’04) and Thomas Whitehead (TCMG ’99)

Barrel of Spring Bulbs

by Judith Rives

One Wednesday workday at the UA Arboretum, in the fall of 2013, Jackie McConnell and I were given our task for the day. We were handed several bags of various spring flowering bulbs to plant together in a whiskey barrel. There were at least 6 different types, of varying size and bloom time.

If they had been thrown in the barrel haphazardly, they might have been just as beautiful a sight the next spring. However, both Jackie and I were in our professional lives, medical technologists. Precision and accuracy were our guidelines, and there was no way we could just “throw them in the soil”. So we looked at soil depths, spacing, and bloom time for each type of bulb. We tried to visualize what would be blooming together at the same time. We used a ruler to measure depth and spacing. We probably really put WAY too much thought into it and took a lot longer than necessary to do the job….but just look at the results!

February TCMG Meeting and Information about GMO

Posted on February 6, 2015 by ampil2010

Just a REMINDER that our membership meeting will be on Tuesday, February 10 at 5:30 pm in the auditorium of the Extension Office.

Our social hour theme: TASTING “RED”: Spaghetti, Lasagna, Barbecue;

Strawberry, Cherry, Or Raspberry salads or desserts.

Come and bring any one of your favorite, delicious “RED” dish servings!

Our educational program “GMO Seeds & Plants” will be presented by Dr. Ed Stephenson.

For those of you who are like me and may not know, a GMO is defined as an organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering so that its DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there.

Note: A high percentage of food crops, such as corn and soybeans, are genetically modified. (dictionary.reference.com)

From UGA Extension Service:

Men’s Journal provided a balanced discussion of GMOs and their place in agriculture.

http://blog.extension.uga.edu/climate/2014/12/interesting-climate-stories-in-the-news/

A January blog entry from the UGA Extension Service has a link to an article “How do we know what to believe?’ about GMOS.

http://blog.extension.uga.edu/climate/2015/01/can-we-have-a-civil-debate-about-science-an-essay-about-gmos/

Thank’s to Judith Rives for contributing to this post.

Hope to see you at the meeting!

January Meeting

Posted on January 18, 2015February 1, 2015 by ampil2010

Jason Powell Petals from the Past — Jason Powell
Petals from the Past

Tuscaloosa County Association of Master Gardeners held its January 2015 meeting in the auditorium of the Tuscaloosa County Extension Office on January 13, 2015 with Octavia Miles presiding.

Patricia Williams and Kristin Capley were recognized as “Master Gardeners of the Month” for their outstanding services to TCMG’s fall conference in October and TCMG’s first “Lunch and Learn” in December. Patricia and Kristin also regularly provide horticultural services throughout the community as well as assistance at The Plant Lady Nursery.

Jason Powell, owner of Petals From the Past in Jemison presented a workshop on pruning techniques and proper pruning tools. The next meeting of TCMG will be February 10 at 5:30 in the auditorium of the Tuscaloosa County Extension Office.

The 2015 classes for anyone interested in becoming a certified master gardener will be offered in late February at the Tuscaloosa County Extension Service Office. Interested persons should contact Neal Hargle, County Extension Agent at (205) 349-4630 by January 31, 2015 in order to enroll in the classes.

January News

Posted on January 8, 2015February 1, 2015 by ampil2010

Tuscaloosa Master Gardeners will meet TUESDAY, JANUARY 13 at 5:30 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Tuscaloosa Extension Service Building.

The speaker will be Jason Powell of Petals From the Past.

Our Social (refreshments) will focus on “A Taste of CHILI, SOUP, SANDWICHES, & COOKIES”, so please bring your “favorite” of any one of those!

A new Master Gardener Class will begin in late February. There needs to be 15 participants for the class to make. This year the class is going to be a DAY class and will run on Tuesday mornings from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. The cost of the class is $150.00

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