June 2006 Unit Reports
AMHERST, CAMPBELL and LYNCHBURG (Hill City MGA) Al Thompson	The Hill City Master Gardener Association (HCMGA) in cooperation with Virginia Cooperative Extension will present the Thomas Jefferson Tomatoe Faire Saturday, August 5, 2006, at the Miller Park Aviary in Lynchburg, Va. Since 1986, at Lynchburg’s bicentennial, the City has celebrated this event on the first Saturday in August. All area citizens are invited to enter their vegetables, fruits, flowers, and flower arrangements for judging. Ribbons will be awarded for “Best in Show”. Free lectures will be offered on Amphibian Allies, Tomato Pest Organic Cures, Herbal Harvest, and Backyard Birds. For more information on this event including rules and guidelines for entries, please contact either S.J. Birgbauer at (434)-239-9991 or B. Drinkard at (434)-525-2852. website - www.hcmga.com
BEDFORD Patty Gamache	Bedford Area MG's have just completed their annual Poplar Forest Program, Herb Festival, and Coffee and Saunders Day where the Bedford MG's had well attended information tables.  Spring plant sales went well and we are now gearing up for the Fall plant sale.  Buffer garden at Smith Mountain Lake was undertaken in conjunction with Franklin County and Bedford County MG's with Franklin County in the lead.  Because of the drought we are now experiencing, the Bedford Extension Office and Bedford MG's are now organizing two drought seminars to better help residents in the area.  PIP gardens are growing well and irrigation is in the process of being installed.
BOTETOURT, CRAIG and city of ROANOKE - Kathryn Debnar	Roanoke is very pleased to report that they are in the process of forming a public education event.  Our very successful neighbors, the Bedford Area Master Gardeners have graciously offered their assistance in getting us started in the right direction.  We will begin with a small half day event this fall, to get our feet wet.  Hopefully we will be able to put on better and bigger educational events as time passes.  It's great to have the benefit of such an experienced group nearby.  We hope to announce our program SOON ! Thanks Bedford! We also want to let the state units know that the evening meetings have great turnouts, and that we have had a few members return to our activities.  A social time after the meeting is also working well.  Changing the meeting location when possible, also adds to the interest.
CARROLL, GRAYSON and city of GALAX (Blue Ridge) Charles Whittle	The Master Gardeners of the Blue Ridge gained 9 new members thanks to last fall’s course offered by Wythe/Bland & Smyth. All 9 new members have completed their requirements to become full volunteers. The unit is involved in numerous gardening projects in the area including a historic farm museum, the Blue Ridge Music Center and a centennial tree planting in Galax. Booths were set up at the Galax Leaf & String Festival and the Earth Day Festival to attract new members.
CHESAPEAKE Pinky Derieux	Our annual plant sale was held on May 5-6 and consisted of plants grown by CMGVs. Proceeds netted $5,724. The Jubilee Festival took place May 19-20-21 at Chesapeake City Park. The horticulture display was "Backyard Buddies" featuring beneficial insects. On May 19 an educational program for primary grade children was given on site relating to "the benefits of good bugs" and approximately 300 children participated. web site - cmgv.org
CULPEPER, MADISON, ORANGE, RAPPAHANNOCK (Four County) Betty Fortner	Four County Master Gardeners had another great year with Ready, Set, Grow, planting hundreds of sunflower and zinnia seeds. At Madison Primary, MGs helped kindergarteners plant spring vegetables in raised beds. On June 1^st Salad Day, the children harvested and enjoyed delicious fresh salads grown themselves! First graders transplanted seedlings started in early May to beds so they can see their zinnias and sunflowers in full bloom next fall! Second graders studying underground stems planted two types of blooming bulbs, corms or tubers. For Cinco de Mayo and Culpeper Fest, MGs gave out gardening information and promoted Jamestown 400 Anniversary gardens with red and white zinnias and a raffled red, white, and blue container garden. Rappahannock’s local newspaper is running a monthly “Tips from a Master Gardener’, prepared by Sally Price, with very positive response from the community. MGs manned stations for 4-H Water Quality Field Day at Graves Mountain Lodge, helping 7^th graders test pond and stream water for pollutants, oxygen, wildlife sustainability and overall environmental quality. And, of course, Help Lines are busy fielding questions on a daily basis.
DANVILLE - Jeff Beck	The Danville Master Gardeners have had the following programs presented during April, May, and June: Allen Greenstreet of Greenstreet Landscaping present a program entitled “Landscaping with Walls, Walks, and Pavers”; Sandy Pruitt of Danville Science Center presented “ Creating a Vision for Butterflies; Dr. John J. Neal, Jr., a recognized authority presented a program on “Camellias and Rhododendrons”; and April Daly, City of Danville, presented “Danville Flora” and had a Power Point presentation which showed the plants the city is using to beautify the area. The annual spring plant sale which featured plants grown by members was held at the Danville Community Market on June 3. The proceeds from the sale will be used to continue the organization’s objectives. Volunteer activities have included staffing an information booth at the Danville Community Market, participation in the Habitat for Humanity program for new home owners, and several plant clinics around the city.
FAIRFAX (Green Spring Unit) - Susan McDonald	The big news from the Green Spring Unit is that in late winter, the Wildlife Garden (formerly known as the Backyard Habitat Garden) was assigned to Susan McDonald, Unit Coordinator, to manage with the help of the Master Gardeners. We’ve spent the spring getting to know the garden and researching its permanent plantings, and have done weekly maintenance on it as well as planting tender perennials and annuals attractive to wildlife. This demonstration garden fits in perfectly with the EcoSavvy Gardening theme of our unit’s educational activities. The first interpretation of the garden to the public happened earlier in June, when it was included on a tour of Watershed-Friendly Gardens in Northern Virginia.
FAIRFAX (Merrifield) George Graine	Susan Renna was hired to help manage the FCMGA program. Her focus will be in two prime areas: the “Help Desk” and “how to” programs for senior citizens. Fairfax is in the midst of our busy season with plant clinics going on every day of the week except Sunday.  We are also preparing for our 30th anniversary - the oldest Unit in the state.   website - www.fairfaxmastergardeners.com
FLUVANNA Pat Platt	Our Horticultural Help Desk is in full swing every Wednesday for the gardening season. We all learn something new every time we work on that project. In May, we welcomed a new class of 15 Master Gardeners as they completed their courses and began helping with our various projects. Our hypertufa workshop produced some interesting new pots and was buckets of fun. We continued a tradition started last year of having summer meetings at member's homes so we could see each others’ gardens. website - www.fluvannamg.org
HALIFAX (Southside) Bill McCaleb	The Southside Master Gardener Association just finished up with two public educational programs;  5/20 was our Hypertufa Class which was a mix of both MG's and the public and on 5/22 we had a class on Raised Bed Gardening.  We will be hosting an informational program on July 24th to showcase the "Beautiful Garden" evaluation site to our agricultural community, the supporters of this program and its partners.  More will follow as the program develops.
HANOVER Christy Brennan	Workshops and Labs for diagnosing plant diseases, insect diagnosis, and weeds have been scheduled for continuing education throughout the summer and fall. Extension and Master Gardeners have voted not to have a new Master Gardener class in the winter but to focus on more extensive training and team building for active Master Gardeners while offering a selection of workshops for the home gardeners. Hanover is confident that The Riverene Chapter of the Master Naturalist Program will begin in the spring of 2006. A regional event involving Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield Master Gardeners for the Central VAFood Bank Family Fun Day was very successful with 316 contacts. Its time to start thinking about the Sate Fair, held at the Richmond Raceway Complex again this year from September 28^th to October 8^th 2006. Sign up your MG unit now. website - hanovermastergardeners.org
ISLE OF WIGHT, SOUTHAMPTON, SUSSEX (Western Tidewater) Betty Jo Hendrix	Western Tidewater MG’s kicked off our summer season with a Spring Fling for our 4-H/Jr. MG’s with about 65 children and parents. That ended our program for this school year but will start again in September. We, 4-H members and MG’s planted an Anniversary garden at the apartment complex entrance. Next was the 4-H/Jr. Master Gardener day camp with 15 children in attendance. In addition to some great crafts and project they repotted red, white and blue flowers for each child to be entered in the IOW County Fair in September. An Herb program was given at the Smithfield YMCA. The Southampton County 4H/Jr. Master Gardener day camp will be held the week of July 10.
JAMES CITY COUNTY / WILLIAMSBURG Ann DeForest and Anne Odle	In May, in partnership with the Williamsburg Botanical Garden MG’s met to plant perennial beds at Freedom Park. Plant a Native America’s Anniversary Garden planting day was held at York River State Park with 24 native perennials and shrubs planted by MG and residents of James City and surrounding communities. June 17^th, The Virginia Gazette will feature MG column in the Backyard Gardener section. On Sunday, June 25^th 12 noon - 5:00 PM the Taking Root Farm Tour (self-driving/biking tour) of small farms in Kew Kent County will include visits to 6 diverse farm & garden businesses sponsored by JCC & New Kent County VCE. On Sat., July 1 8-12 noon the MG booth at the Farmers’ Market will feature the America’s Anniversary Garden displaying various AAG container gardens and promo. info. website - www.jccwmg.org
MONTGOMERY, FLOYD, GILES, PULASKI (New River Valley) Paula Van Curen	We raised almost $1000 from our Silent Auction in June, which will go toward our Grant Program. We have arranged an educational bus tour and seminar to Andre Viettes and Buffalo Spring for our members and the public on July 22nd. We are recruiting a new Plant Clinic Coordinator and volunteers for the annual Steppin’ Out festival in August. Our 2006 Friendly Garden Tour is scheduled for Saturday, July 8^th. NRVMGA is a co-sponsor of this event along with the Friends of the Library. Half of the proceeds from this will benefit our Grants program. The Master Gardeners will showcase an educational theme for each garden. website - www.civic.bev.net/nrvmga/
NELSON Maudie Ratliff	Recently we helped a new Habitat for Humanity home owner plant shrubs and trees given by our group in conjunction with Saunders Brothers Nursery. Horticulture therapy is beginning to really blossom. The senior citizens with MG help planted vegetable and flower seeds and grew plants to set out in the new planter boxes in the courtyard at the Nelson Center. They are now making stepping stones to place in the courtyard. The Save Our Streams group has scheduled monitoring sessions for the Rockfish and Tye rivers in Nelson County. It's fun to gather, classify and identify critters and use their count to determine the health of a stream. We had a very successful plant sale in May. Plants not sold were donated to an organization which is planting community gardens to help needy people. Members are available on the weekend to explain pioneer gardening at Humpback Rock on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Some MGs are propagating and working with plants at the Wintergreen Foundation. We had a help desk at the recent Nelson County Festival and we have a weekly help desk at the Farmers' Market at Nellysford. website - www.nelsonmastergardeners.org
NORFOLK Don Snipes	Our spring plant sale at Stockley Gardens May 20 and 21, 2006 was a huge success.  This will help us fund our many projects this year.  Several Norfolk MGV will be at the Tree Steward training July 10 - 14, 2006 in Norfolk at HRAREC and Norfolk Botanical Garden. web site - www.nmgv.org
NORTHUMBERLAND, LANCASTER, RICHMOND, WESTMORELAND and ESSEX (Northern Neck) Jinny Estell and Pat Rogers	On May 12^th ands 13^th the Northern Neck Master Gardeners participated in the annual “Just Gardens “ garden tours, a fund raising event for the Haven Shelter & Services, an organization that provides crisis shelter and services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Master Gardeners were stationed in each of the gardens to help visitors identify plants and their cultural necessities. We continue with our plant clinics at the monthly Farmers’ Markets in Irvington and Heathsville as well as hosting “one time” plant clinics at local venues such as Allisons ACE Hardware in Lottsburg, Murphy’s Seed Service in Mt. Holly, and Down to Earth Garden Center in White Stone. From June 13^th through 15^th several of our members traveled to the Jamestown 4H Center to lead a community service activity during 4H Camp. We instructed and assisted the campers in planting a landscape beautification project outside the building housing the camp cafeteria..
ROCKBRIDGE AREA Ted Jenks	We had a terrific turnout for our Garden Tour. It had been at least 3 years since the last tour. One hundred paying guests visited our gardens on that sunny Saturday, as well as many RAMGA members. On May 13 our annual plant sale and clinic took place and, once again, was very successful with 1500 plants sold, and earning over $4000 for our organization. MG Jane Comstock addressed the Glasgow Ruritans on April 13 on America’s Anniversary Garden and Linda Davis addressed the Kerr’s Creek Ruritans on May 11 on the Rockbridge area Master Gardener Program, bringing plants left over from the sale as premiums.
SUFFOLK Danna Vroman	Master Gardeners and 4-5 Interns have been working bi-monthly on a Hort Therapy project with 6-10 patients at Nansemond Point Rehabilitation Center in Suffolk planning, planting in a raised bed and planters, and various other activities and  crafts such as drying flowers and making salad from things they grew. In April  Master Gardeners and Interns helped at the Heirloom Botanica Spring Sale and participated in Keep Suffolk Beautiful Week by picking up litter around the Human Resources Bldg and surrounding area. Master Gardeners and Interns helped with games for the children as well as manning a plant/compost sale. We also set up a booth as part of Suffolk's Garden Week. Headed by park ranger and Master Gardener, Cheryl Pisani, we continue to work with 3-5 yr olds the 2nd Wed of each month. April's theme was Earth Day and Lowe's donated a tree which was planted by the children.  June's theme was Dirt and Worms and July will be Good Bugs.  We are proud to announce that we recently received a $1000 grant from Wal-Mart for the Children's Learning Garden. In May we planted an American's Anniversary Garden at our Research Center in Holland.  It was a rather large undertaking and the result was a lovely perennial garden which is easily seen from Rt 58. In June we set up a booth at the Suffolk Aviation Day at the Suffolk Airport.
VIRGINIA BEACH Liz Maurer	VBMGs participated in the Virginia Dare Tree Wrap and distribution in April and helped the Virginia Beach Arbor Day Committee by helping pot up live oaks. These seedlings were given away as part of the Arbor Day celebration which the VBMG Tree Stewards helped with at the historical Francis Land House. The Tree Stewards continue to present their spring program, The Meaning of Arbor Day to third graders. VBMGs are guiding school tours around the Hampton Roads AREC Display Gardens this Spring. Garden Tours will see five VBMG gardens opened for visits from other VBMGs in May and June. VBMGs will sponsor a Junior Master Gardener Summer Camp at the Adam Thoroughgood House week of June 26-30 and July 17-21. Children (9-12 year olds) will learn about the plants and wildlife from both current times and Colonial Days. Our MG Association has awarded two $1,000 scholarships to deserving students. The Green Thumb Series, a joint public education series of six Tuesday night lectures, produced by Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach Master Gardeners at Virginia Wesleyan College, has been sold out this year! Classes have covered subjects like landscape design, pruning, insects, and propagation and 50-75 people have attended each session.. website - www.vbmg.org
YORK - Jackie Lohr	The learning garden held a very successful plant sale due, in part, to a generous Yorktown homeowner’s donation of the protected Yorktown Onion. We helped to plant three Chionanthus virginicus, White Fringe Trees, at the Watermen’s Museum. The tree has been adopted as the official tree of the Jamestown 2007 celebration, and they were donated by Howmet Castings. Our lawn team has participated in its advanced training in preparation for our lawn clinics. The 4-H Chrysanthemum project people have just taken their “first pinch.” Our Junior Master Gardeners replanted their plot in the learning garden and have planted beautiful arrangements in pots along the riverfront. Local stores have continued to be generous with their extra flowers allowing Hort Therapy to continue to flourish. The summer landscape series is allowing us to visit and learn from several outstanding gardens in the area. Some of us attended Master Gardener College while others are working at the 4-H Camp.