garden pathways june 15, 2013

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P a t h w a y sSpecial Points of

Interest:

The Winners Are?

2014 Conference

Fall SeminarRegistration

AlabamaMasterGardenersAssociation

Garden

Summer 2013 Volume 13 Issue 54

Community Service:Mobile County Master Gardeners -

Farm to TableDemonstration Garden:

Master Gardeners ofNorth Alabama -

Demonstration Vegetable Garden.

Inside thisissue:

Search ForExcellence

1

PresidentsMessage

Board HighlightsEndowment/Scholarship

2

33

MembershipData-Base Update

Fundraising

Awards

Attracting BeneficialInsects

Fall Seminar - THEGIVING GARDEN

Registration

3

5

5

7

7

8

Alabama . . . A Gar-deners JUBILEE!HAPPENINGS

9

10

LINKS 24

www.alabamamg.org

AMGA Website

Congratulations!2012 Search for Excellence Winners

Culinary students and guests Master Gardeners teaching garden guests.

Search for Excel-lence (SFE) is the recog-nition program of Master

Gardeners volunteer workthroughout the UnitedStates and Canada. It wasdeveloped by the Interna-tional Master GardenersConference Committee.Search for Excellence hasseven categories in whichMaster Gardeners candemonstrate their out-

standing contributions totheir communities. AllSFE applications must

show that significantlearning took place,whether by the MasterGardeners or the generalpublic they were involvedwith.

Search for Excel-lence is designed to rec-ognize a group project,not an individual who

does outstanding work.AMGA has several awardsthat recognize outstand-

ing individual Master Gar-deners.

It must be simpleto replicate. A goal ofSFE is to share the excel-lent ideas and programsso they (or parts) can bereplicated by other MGgroups.
http://www.alabamamg.org/http://www.alabamamg.org/http://www.alabamamg.org/


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Page 2Garden Pathways - Summer- Volume 13 Issue 54

In Loving Memory of FRED EVANS

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE By Dottye Pierce

Fred Evans, age 71, aresident of Deatsville, AL wenthome to be with the Lord onMonday, May 20, 2013 at a lo-cal hospital. Funeral serviceswere held on Thursday, May23, 2013 at 2 p.m. from thechapel of Brookside FuneralHome with Rev. Brett Medley,Rev. Tom Ward and Rev. BillHassell officiating with burialto follow at Brookside Memori-

al Gardens with Military Hon-ors. Mr. Evans was a valuedmember of the Alabama MasterGardeners Association since1999. He served on the Boardof Directors. Mr. Evans was aUnited States Airforce Veteranand retired from the State ofAlabama Department of Trans-

portation. He is survived by hisloving wife of 52 years, LindaP. Evans of Deatsville, AL;daughter, Lynn Evans Fanning(Greg) of Millbrook, AL; sister,

Carolyn Evans Lusk (Bobby) ofPrattville, AL; granddaughter,Danielle Fanning Vines (Matt)of Millbrook, AL; grandsons,Joshua Allen Fanning ofMillbrook, AL, Nathan GregoryFanning of Millbrook, AL; great-granddaughter, Ally Best ofCalera, AL; sister-in-laws, MaryTucker of Montgomery, AL andNell Hassell (Ray) of Millbrook,AL. Pallbearers will be Frank

Ott, Ronnie Talley, DannyFloyd, Leon Hancock, DougMoore and Ken Dyess. Thefamily will receive friends onWednesday, May 22, 2013 from5-7 p.m. at the funeral home.Brookside Funeral Home ofMillbrook, AL directing.

I want to

start bythankingthe MastersGardenersof Alabamafor entrust-ing me withthe leader-ship of AM-GA for thenext twoyears. I am

honored by the trust placed in

me, and I hope to live up to yourexpectations. There is a verycompetent and supportiveBoard behind me, and I amgrateful for that. I also want tocongratulate the Shoals on agreat conference, and Im look-

ing forward to next year in Bald-

win County. The format therewill be a little different than usu-al, so I know it will be a wonder-ful experience. I am also look-ing forward to the Fall Seminarin Montgomery, and full infor-mation is available elsewhere inthis newsletter.

It appears that Springwhizzed by us and Summer ishere. Im sitting in the cool(relatively speaking) mountainsof northeast Alabama, but its

very warm up here as well. Iknow Huntsville is hot, and amsure its that way further southalso. But my tomatoes and pep-per plants are happy and grow-ing well, so hopefully we willenjoy those soon. Im trying a

new variety that claims to be

able to continue producing wellinto the very hot months; wellsee how that turns out. I will bedoing some transplanting ofsome overgrown plants, but notuntil Fall when its cooler andbetter for the plants.

I look forward to meetingmore AMGA members and Mas-ter Gardeners over the next twoyears, especially at our variousconferences and seminars.Thanks again for all you do!

Dottye


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Garden Pathways - Summer- Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 3AMGA Board Meeting Highlights By Joyce Davis

The AMGA Board met at the Ala-bama Power Company in Clanton Alabamaon June 4 for the regular quarterly meetingwith President Dotty Pierce presiding. Kerry Smith, State MG Program

Coordinator reported that there will bea fall seminar Giving Garden Sep-tember 10th at Taylor Rd BaptistChurch in Montgomery. Each localpresident will be receiving informationabout all the details. Kerry reportedthat she was working on an onlinestore where logo items will be availa-ble. Also there will be online MG clas-ses that will be directed more to thepeople who would like gardening infor-mation but not be part of a master

gardener group. Representatives from the 2014

Conference which will be in Baldwin

County and the 2015 State Confer-ence, Blount/Cullman Counties were atthe board meeting and shared theirplans for the respective conferences.Sound like we are in for a fun andinformative time.

Brenda Tapp, Chair of the Adviso-ry Council reported their next meetingwill be at Alabama Power Company inClanton on July 9th.

The Scholarship Committee,Jeanon Massien Chair, reported thatthe endowment scholarship fund wasat 75 thousand with a goal of reachingone hundred thousand. There was adiscussion about starting a secondendowment that would focus on gradu-

ate students, the recipient would workwith Kerry and the AMGA.

President Dottye Pierce asked the

Communication Committee to work onupdating the AMGA Board Manual.There was a discussion about gettingall AMGA records compiles in a waythat they could be easily searched.

Membership Committee Chair,John Baker reported that several asso-ciations have not attempted to updatetheir membership information to thenew forms.

The Nomination Committee re-ported opening for two board membersand one opening on the nominationcommittee. Tom Boyle will replaceFred Evens on the nomination commit-tee.

The Project Funding Committee,

reported they have had no request forthe 4 thousand dollars available thedeadline is January 15, 2014.

Endowment/Scholarship By Jeanon Massien

2012 Marked a Banner Year forContributions to the Endowment! Throughyour generous support our EndowmentFund now stands at $72,000 with a record$12,800 contributed from Conference 2012to Conference 2013. Word from Auburn is

the AMGA Horticultural Endowment Fundhas been and continues to be the fastestgrowing Endowment from individual contri-butions. THAT MEANS YOU! Were notfinished yet. As we approach the $100,000mark in our Endowment, Id like you to un-

derstand just what that means. Based onhistorical data (2008 2012) this Endow-ment Fund will be producing approximately$2,800 for scholarship award money. Ashas been customary, our scholarship recipi-ent has attended the Awards Banquet dur-

ing Conference. Due to our 2013 and 2014Conferences taking place on Mondaythrough Wednesday, we determined it un-fair to require a student to take time, possi-bly two days, away from studies and clas-ses to travel the distance to address the

membership. Therefore, we will ask ourscholarship recipient to attend the AwardsBanquet when feasible. Otherwise ourscholarship recipient will address the Boardof Directors at their September Board Meet-ing held in Clanton.

Master Gardeners are making adifference and your Board of Directors com-mends you for it. Thank you one and all forsupporting the future of Horticulture throughyour support of the AMGA Horticulture En-dowment.

MEMBERSHIP Data-Base Update By John Baker

The new Membership/DuesTracking Database is now up and running.For you Presidents, Treasurers, and Mem-bership Chairs, it is ready and waiting for

your input to make it function. It will only besuccessful with your input and promises tobe a great tool for your local organization.The new database will give you a methodto track your membership, and to see whoowes and who has paid dues. There is nolonger a requirement to send an update tothe AMGA. The AMGA now has the capa-bility to read the data you enter on line.Quite a few of you attended the Database

Roundtable at conference this year andwere able to learn the ins and outs of thedatabase. For those of you who were notable to attend, there is a tutorial on line.

To access the tutorial go to:1. AMGA Web sitealabamamg.orgAt the bottom of the page locate AMGABoard of Directors Calendar2. Open Dues and Membership Report-ing3. Click on last item which is AMGADues Tracker Training

It is a very straight forward andeasy to understand program. You can go

over it and if there is something you missedyou can back up and review it again. If,while you are entering data, there is some-thing you might have forgotten you can

always go back and review it. This is a self-study program, or if you prefer, there willbe a class following the Advisory Councilmeeting on July 9th at noon in Clanton atthe Alabama Power Company. All Presi-dents, Treasurers, Membership Chairs, and

Advisory Council Reps are welcome toattend.
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/alabamamg.orghttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/alabamamg.orghttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/alabamamg.org


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Page 4arden Pathways - Summer- Volume 13 Issue 54The next AMGA Board Meeting

will be September 9 location TBA.

GOT BULBS?????AMGA has partnered with Brent and Beckys Bulbs for fundraising. Just

visit www.bloominbucks.com, selectAlabama Master Gardener Associationregistered name from the drop down list. AMGA will earn 25% of all of the sales!You can also order by phone and tell us that they'd like to support AlabamaMaster Gardeners, but you have to remember to tell them! You can also"writeAlabama Master Gardener Association in" at the bottom of their orderform in their catalogue.

Support Volunteering Master Gardener Front Car Tags

Tags are currently available at $20 each. Proceedsare a 50/50 split between theAMGA Endowment FundatAuburn Universityand the Program Alabama MasterGardener.

Tag sales are not limited to Master Gardeners; theyare available to anyone supporting the above programs.These look great on the front of your car, golf cart, RV, orgarden wagon. They also make great gifts.

Contact Kathie Bass [email protected] 256-457-6530 and we will getthem shipped out to you. We will also send out bulk orders to local Associations who wish to makethem available to their membership and the new Master Gardener Interns.

You can find a link on theAMGA website, just click and go. So shop from home at one of the

countrys best bulb suppliers and support AMGA at the same time.

Fundraising By Kathie Bass

AND THE WINNERS ARE

The AMGA Awards Commit-tee appreciates all of the nomina-tions submitted for the variousannual AMGA awards. The com-mittee, (Lynn Andrews BaldwinCounty, Jerry Belcher Capital

City, Karin Carmichael CapitalCity, Sarah Haggstrom Shoals,Patti Householder Lee County,Jeanne Massien Shelby Coun-ty, and Dottye Pierce MGNA),had some difficult decisions tomake, but we want to stress that

all submissions were seriouslyconsidered.This year was the third year thatAMGA recognized the associa-tion judged to have the bestnewsletter in the state. The Out-standing Newsletter Award for2012 was given to the Wire-

grass MGA for its publication,The Garden Plot, Beth Arnold,Editor. In addition to a certifi-cate, a check for $100 wasawarded to WMGA.

The Top Hours of theYear Award recognizing the mostvolunteer hours earned during

2012, was given to Jerry Belch-er, nominated by the Capital CityMGA. Jerry reported a total of1,246 hours.

The Jean Lee LifetimeHours Award honors the personreporting the most volunteerhours since completing the MG

class and becoming a certifiedMaster Gardener. The 2012 re-cipient was Linda Stephens,nominated by the De Kalb CountyMGA. Linda has earned 7,798

(Continued on page 5)

AWARDS By Karin Carmichael
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Page 5arden Pathways - Summer- Volume 13 Issue 54

hours since becoming a MasterGardener.

The winner of the GaryMurray Outstanding Serviceand Dedication Award for 2012was Chris Becker, nominated bythe Shoals MGA. Chris was ap-pointed as the Regional ExtensionAgent and Master Gardener Coor-dinator for the North West Ten-nessee Valley Region in 2008.He has worked in the Horticultural/Environmental field for the lastfourteen years everything from aLandscaping/Nursery business,Disney World, Home Depot andan Environmental ConsultingGroup to his present job with theExtension Service. His other ac-complishments include conductingMG Training Courses, endlessMaster Gardener project involve-ment, conducting workshops, at-tending conferences and complet-ing numerous speaking engage-ments. To quote his nominationletter sums up how he is regardedby those with whom he works:Through his committed support of

SMGA members and involvementwith their activities, he has helpedto strengthen the relationship be-tween the members of the Ala-bama Extension System and theircommitment to support ACES inother areas, such as 4-H. He isalways approachable and willingto help anyone in any way he can.He attends the SMGA monthlymeetings and contributes toward

the program. He has become aninvaluable asset to both the Ex-tension System and Alabama

Master Gardeners, and membersof the Shoals Master GardenerAssociation have benefited greatlyfrom his guidance and assis-tance.

The 2013 recipient of theMary Lou McNabb AlabamaMaster Gardener of the YearAward was John Baker, a mem-ber of the Shoals MGA. John hasheld numerous offices within theSMGA, has chaired many majorprojects, taught MG Intern clas-ses, worked the Helpline, has spo-ken to various groups, sold T

-

shirts, worked the plant sale, cre-ated gardens and conducted gar-den tours. In addition to his localMG activities, he has served asAdvisory Council rep and on theAMGA Board of Directors for sev-eral years. For the past fouryears, John has served as bothVP and President of AMGA re-spectively. Quoting from his nom-ination letter: Johns enthusiasm,energy, forward thinking, humor,

community mindedness, andMarine style of getting thingsdone have helped our local chap-ter achieve new goals that wenever thought possible. He haslogged 24,571+ miles travelingaround the state on MG businessand has acquired over 300+CEUs. He has earned 4,600+and counting volunteer hours in-cluding working every plant sale

and garden tour for the past tenyears. He also has attended eve-ry state conference, seminar,

workshop and symposium sincebecoming an MG in 2003. He hasattended every Advisory Councilmeeting for four years. Johnmissed only one local MG meetingsince 2003 and that was to attendthe funeral of his brother-in-law.Now thats DEDICATION!

In the Reach for theStars Program, 23 countiesreported member hours for badg-es and advanced stars awards. 53 Gold Badges,

17 Platinum Badges,

4 Ruby Stars,

7 Emerald Stars and

1 Lifetime Badge were givenout during the annual busi-ness meeting on Tuesdaymorning of the conference.

Again, the Awards Com-mittee would like to commend thehard work represented by theseoutstanding accomplishments aswell as the commitment of everymember of AMGA and our localassociations. We will be seekingnominations for all of theseawards in January of 2014, andlook forward to reading about allof the accomplishments of ourfellow Master Gardeners. Thanksagain for all of your assistancethis year.

Karin Carmichael, OutgoingAwards Committee Chair

(Continued from page 4)

AWARDS By Karin Carmichael

Gardeners: People who try to keep plants alive in and around their homes.

They're divided into the following categories based on their level of expertise:

*novice gardener: Someone who hasn't gardened long enough to kill one hundred plants.

*experienced gardener: Someone who's gardened long enough to kill one thousand plants.

*expert gardener: Someone who's qualified to tell others how to kill ten thousand plants


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Garden Pathways Summer - 2013 Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 6

Whilehoneybees getmost of the atten-

tion as gardenhelpers, there isa vast array ofinsects who con-tribute to the suc-

cess of plants. Youve likely heardthe statistic that honeybees contrib-ute to one in three bites of food weenjoy. But consider this. Any in-sect visiting a flower is a potentialpollinator. In North America, in-sects annually provide billions ofdollars to agricultural production.

There are three main

groups of beneficial insects pred-ators, parasitoids, and pollinators.Predatory insects include bugs,mantids, and others. They trap orcapture other insects as their pre-ferred diet. Parasitoids, wasps andflies, not only live in or on other in-sects, but actually kill them as partof the parasitoids life cycle. Pollina-tors are dominated by various beespecies, but again, any insect visit-ing a flower often assists in pollendispersal. A garden without insects

really isnt a garden for long.Now, why do these amaz-

ingly helpful animals get so littleattention? My opinion is that hu-mans love a drama. The shock ofColony Collapse Disorder a few

years ago had us running aroundlike hamsters in wheel trying to grabonto a solution. Was it climate

change, or new honeybee pests, orbee forage nutrition, or pesticidesused in colony management, or celltowers, etc., etc., etc.? The con-sensus from most researchers isthat multiple factors contribute tohoneybee decline and furthermore,these factors vary from location tolocation based on still other envi-ronmental factors.

Our good news in Ala-bama? The Varroa mite (bee pestand disease carrier) is still not amajor problem here as it is in other

states. Not so good news? Ala-bama beekeepers report continuedpest pressure on honeybees fromthe small hive beetle (cool, wetsprings help this pest prosper).

Putting the drama aside,heres my advice to all gardeners. Insects, with amazing diversity,

contribute to garden/landscapesuccess.

Pest insects are the MINORITY less than 1% of all insect spe-cies. Find a good book or

browse the web to learn thedifferences. Look for images ofa: small footed fly, ladybug lar-vae, big-eyed bug, chalcidwasp, hover fly, lacewing ormantid egg masses, predatory

stink bug, tachinid fly, etc.Share what you learn with oth-ers!

Many beneficial insects are tiny,solitary and difficult to see.Two parts to this point itslikely why we overlook them;and we should learn to be ob-servant of small details.

Choose plants that attract andsustain beneficial insects. Beesforage heavily on flowers inthese plant families: Maple,Mint, Bean , Rose/apple, Holly,Cyrilla, Aster, and Heath.

Other beneficial insects benefitfrom flowers when their pre-ferred prey or hosts arent avail-able. They choose high proteinpollen, and also benefit fromthe nectar of flowers in theseplant families: Aster, Bean,Mustard, Mint, and Parsley.

As Master Gardeners Ihope youll seek to learn moreabout all insects, add some plantsto attract beneficials, and share in-formation with other people.KerryIf youre interested to learn moreabout pollinators and/or earnCEUs, follow this link -https://learn.extension.org/events/1077 -Gardening for Pollinators

Attracting Beneficial Insects By Kerry Smith

Fall SEMINARThe 2013 Fall Seminars

theme is The Giving Gardenhow gardening can give back to ourcommunities and beyond by foster-ing healthy lifestyles, providing pureenjoyment, and sustaining our frag-ile eco-system for future genera-tions. You will travel from down-town Montgomery for a lesson onurban gardening and arrive at yourfinal destination in the AlabamaTREASURE Forests, with a coupleof stops in between. Speaker Ed-

win Marty from E.A.T. South startsour day sharing their vision of com-munities across the Southeast hav-ing access to fresh, healthy, afford-able food through education to sup-

port a healthy lifestyle. Super Gar-dener Captain Compost (WilliamCureton II) will talk about organicgardening methods, and HayesJackson, Urban Regional ExtensionAgent, will share his advice for get-ting more enjoyment from your gar-den. Wildlife biologist Joel Glover,Alabama TREASURE Forests,

ends our day among the trees withan overview of his program andhow-to knowledge of landscapemethods and plant selection to sup-port Alabamas eco-systems.

Please plan to spend the day withus to learn how we can grow andnurture The Giving Garden!

Join us on September 10,2013 in Montgomery at TaylorRoad Baptist Church (9:00 3:00).Registration information is includedon the following pages; 7 and 8..
https://learn.extension.org/events/1077https://learn.extension.org/events/1077https://learn.extension.org/events/1077https://learn.extension.org/events/1077


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Garden Pathways - Summer- Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 7

Taylor Road

Baptist ChurchMontgomery

Sept. 10, 2013

AMGA Fall

Seminar

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Contact Information:

Carol Rattan

(general)

334-478-3221

Becky Ashurst

(registration)

34-514-1576

Registration:$20

Send registration

& check to:Becky Ashurst

PO Box 381

Wetumpka AL 36092

Payable to:Central Alabama MGA

Seminar Goals:

1. See examples of SE community gardens

and learn how they work

2. Learn the principles and benefits ofcomposting

3. Learn ?????

4. Learn about landscapes and plants that

support Alabamas wildlife

(Full day = 4 CEUs)

The Giving Garden

Gardens offer many gifts they have the capacity to impact our communities, fosterhealthy lifestyles, provide enjoyment, and sustain Alabamas natural eco -systems.


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The Giving Garden

September 10, 2013

Name: MGA affiliation:

Address:

Email: Phone:

Lunch sandwich option: __ turkey wrap __ roast beef sandwich __ veggie wrap

Registration forms must be received by September 3rd to guarantee your slot.*The $20.00 registration fee includes a snacks, a box lunch and drink.

For more information contact: Carol Rattan 334-478-3221, or Becky Ashurst, 334-514-1576,email: [email protected]

Please mail your check made out to Central Alabama MGA along with this form to:Becky Ashurst

PO Box 381, Wetumpka AL 36092

*Refunds will be decided on case by case basis and cannot be guaranteed after lunches are ordered.

AMGA Fall

Seminar


9/24


Alabama . . .A Gardeners

JUBILEE!The AMGA 2014 Con-

ference webpage will be availa-ble on the AMGA website atthe beginning of July, 2013.On the HOME PAGE is the in-formation explain-ing a JUBILEEand how it appliesto gardening in

Alabama. After

all, isn't gardeningin Alabama a Jubi-lee of sorts?

The Steer-ing Committee forthe AMGA 2014Conference [2014]accepted this as-signment over 3 years ago[yes, time period of the Mont-gomery conference]. One areawe deliberated a year on was

the selection of the WHERE tohold 2014! The beach? TheGrand Hotel? A more northernlocation? We worked withsome wonderful sales peopleat all locations. The three of ushad some down and soily discussions on the advantages/disadvantages of each locale.Each location had unique ad-vantages. We eliminated thebeach location after being rele-

gated to the basement due tolarger conference signing thatfar in advance. The Grand orDaphne Civic Center. Forthose of you who have stayedat The Grand Hotel, you knowthat it should be treated as anexperience the whole time youare there. You also know that

AMGA conferences have aschedule that would not allowtime to enjoy that experience.

The Monday-Wednesday Con-

ference allows plans for aweekend arrival prior to or re-maining after 2014 Conferenceto spend a few days enjoyingthe amenities of the beaches orThe Grand Hotel.

Daphne, AL. TheJUBILEE CITY! For the expe-rience being offered, Daphne isa great fit. The program will be

at the Daphne Civic Center[DCC] beginning Monday atnoon, April 28 and it will end atthe same place, Wednesdaynoon, April 30. If you are thetype who wants to be in onelocation the whole time, youcan be at the DCC. If youwould like to combine outdoorlearning experiences with clas-ses at the DCC, we will be of-fering some remote educa-

tional opportunities in variouslocales of N Baldwin County atsome of the same timesroundtables and gigs will beheld at the DCC [Mon PM, veryearly Tues AM, and Wed AM].Rough estimate of total CEUsavailable: 26. Realistic maxi-

mum CEUs for one person:12.

Hotels. Hotel choice

becomes your decision. Onthe website, you should findthe initial HOTEL INFO that willintroduce you to some of ourhotels. The responsibility isyours to insure that you havethe best rate. We have seen in

recent years where con-ference rate is some-times not the best rate[AAA, AARP, SeniorRate some/all are bet-

ter], you might actuallypay less/person by shar-ing a suite with severalpeople, and we urge youto choose a hotel thatoffers a complimentarybreakfast. Eat a good,relaxing breakfast at

your hotel [often visiting withfellow MGs], grab a piece offruit for a morning snack totake to the conference, and

head to the DCC where yoursecond cup of coffee will awaityou!

The main point of com-munication and updates withthe AMGA members and oth-ers who will be attending 2014will be through the website.Please continue to check forupdates, news via the Face-book link, background YouTubes of some remote sites,

and, the first YouTube,WELCOME TOBALDWIN COUNTY.

2014 Conference By Frieda Romanchuk


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1. Autauga County MGA By Nancy Waggoner

Garden Pathways Summer - 2013 - Volume 13 -Issue 54

HAPPENINGS

AROUND

A

ALABAMA

MASTER

GARDENERS

Page 10

2. Baldwin County MGA By Frieda Romanchuk

Autauga County Master GardenersAssociation is composed of a group of indi-viduals who demonstrate exemplary serviceand dedication to the association mission.

At the 2013 AMGA Conference, our SherryHodge was awarded the Platinum badge for2,000 volunteer hours earned from 2001 tothe present and a Gold Badge was awardedto President Deborah Cheatum for 1,000volunteer hours earned from 2008 to the

present.In addition, ACMGA presents a

Hummingbird Award each month to anyindividual member who has performed out-

standing service in any association activityor project. So far, for year 2013, our recipi-ents have been:Paula Seamonfor being an out-standing commit-tee assistant,Kathryn Whaleyfor editing the2012 newsletterDirty Digs, PamOlson for servingas Volunteer

Hours Coordinatorand AMGA Advi-sory Council representative, and preparingour annual membership directory and hand-book, Carroll Bonifay for directing theDemonstration Garden, Deborah Cheatumfor chairing the annual plant sale, andGaines Smith for giving invaluable assis-tance in preparing for the plant sale.. Con-gratulations to all badge earners and awardrecipients!

Our plant sale netted over $2,000.Part of this profit will be used to fund com-

munity outreach projects such as monthlyLunch and Learn seminars, our communitygardens and other endeavors.

Members and interns enjoyed a

delightful and most interesting tour of theBonnie Plant Farm in Union Springs Ala-

bama in May. A guided tour of the facilityenabled us to see seed plantings that resultin biodegradable containers of herbs andvegetables for mass retail production.

We were honored to have JaneMobley from Central Alabama Master Gar-dener Association present a program titledThe Butterfly Garden and Donnie Tomlin ofTomlin Landscaping Services in Montgom-ery whose presentation on Japanese Mapletree grafting was fascinating.

18 interns completed training inApril. 13 completed the requirements byMay 31 to receive their badges at the July 11

AWARDS & PICNIC celebration. Congratu-lations to our incoming members! In addi-tion, Harry Anderson, Sam Andrews, andTanys Waldron will each be honored with adiamond star [6000 hours] for their service.

Another award that is bestowed on a deserv-ing member monthly is the Busy BeeAward. The recipient is strictly in the mindof our president who has a tough time mak-ing that choice from the membership.Sometimes, the choice is obvious. Othertimes, presidents have found those whowork very hard and long but out-of-the-spotlight. The award is a purple fabricbadge that sticks onto members namebadge.

Sam Andrews reports that 3 Bald-win County students will receive $1000scholarships towards graduate/undergraduate tuition at Auburn. Thesestudents programs of study fit the parame-ters set by Baldwin County Master Garden-ers [BCMG] Scholarship Committee. Theannual Plant Sale affords us the ability to

bestow these scholarships.Recent events included 9 in at-tendance at the SHOALS AMGA 2013 con-ference where they learned, laughed, en-

joyed, ate, networked, and spent money forsome great vendor offerings!

The May association program washeld at the plant development division site atFlowerwood Nurseries. This trip [taken eve-ry few years] is always informative and notnecessarily to the same division so different

segments of the growers site are explored.In June, one of our favorite spots to visit, tolearn, and where we hold our plant sales,Weeks Bay Reserve, will be the topic of ourspeaker, LG Adams, the reserve manager.What has happened, is happening, and isplanned will be included in his talk concern-ing estuarine ecology.

Last, members of the 2014 Steer-ing Committee are ramping up their effortsin the final months prior to conference 2014.3 years of deliberations, considerations,reconsidering, changing up and changingdown. We were asked to think out of thebox and we have done just that. We lookforward to providing you with more details onthe conference website. We look forward to

welcoming you to Baldwin County.

Bonnie Plant Farm Tour


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Garden Pathways Summer - 2013- Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 11

Spring findsour Association in-volved in a variety ofactivities. The TreeAmigos and the GreenTeam both had suc-cessful plant sales.Heavy rains on saleday did not dampenthe spirits of the volun-teers or customers.Proceeds from theTree Amigos sale ben-efit the therapeutic horti-cultural program at

Coosa Valley Attention Home; proceeds from the An-niston Museum Green Team benefit Longleaf BotanicalGardens.

More than 800 county 4th graders and 80 vol-unteers participated in our annual April Earth Day fes-tivities at Cane Creek Community Gardens, the homeof our MG Association. MGs led a spirited day of Birdsand Worms Relays teaching the kids the benefits ofcamouflage in the animal world.

We meet monthly on the second Wednesdayat noon for lunch, a short business meeting and an ed-ucational program. Stephen Faughn, a 4H educator in

Calhoun County pre-sented a programabout Alabama Wild-life in May. Exten-sion Agent DanPorch from BlountCounty visited us inJune to talk aboutAlabama Wildflow-ers.

Lunch andLearn 2013 began inApril with VickySmith of A to Z Ani-mals and her fasci-

nating program about bats. May speaker Roger Vinesspoke about Hatchet Creek, known for its beautifulscenery as well as its Cahaba Lilies. Lunch and Learnmeets the 4th Wednesday of the month from Aprilthough September.

In May Hayes Jackson led us on a HydrangeaWorkshop through Etowah County MG Betty Halls gar-den. Bettys beautiful garden is a great outing for a MGgroup.

Thank you to the volunteers who contribute toand write Pathways!

5. Calhoun County MGA By Sherry Blanton

Master Gardeners prepare to greetthe studentsat Earth Day celebration.

The 2013 Blount CountyMaster Gardener Scholarship win-ner is Mary Elizabeth Towns,granddaughter of member LoreneAllcorn.A graduate of OneontaHigh School, Mary Elizabethis the

daughter of Mark and

Andrea Towns.

She willbegin a study in phar-macy at Samford Uni-versity in the fall. Shehas proven herself to beoutstanding, notonly in academ-ics, but in leader-ship roles in herschool, communi-ty, andchurch. BCMG isproud to be able

to encourageMary Elizabeth toward herlifetime goals. She was intro-duced to our group at ourannual picnic which was anotherevent honoring Blount County Mas-ter Gardeners' 20 years of success-

ful service.

In May, a reception washeld at the Frank Green Building inOneonta to reunite the manyfriends who have been a part of theOrganization.

Wendy Ulrich and Matharee Boles,two of our charter members whoattended the 20th year reception.

4. Blount County MGA By Sarah Pass

3. Barbour County MGA By Jackie Devlin


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7. Central Alabama Master Gardeners By Iva Haynie

It is with sadness that I write

this quarter's article. We said a finalgood bye to Fred Evans on May23rd. Fred was known by many per-sonally and at both the local andState levels of Master Gardeners.He had been an active member ofour association since 1999 andlogged over 3,000 volunteer hours.He most recently served on theState nominating committee.

In March, Mr. Fred Bassettspoke to us about hummingbirds.We learned about the many speciesand the habits of these fascinatingcreatures. Our association hasdone work at the Eclectic SeniorCenter and Farm Day and volun-

teers presented programs at the Au-

tauga Master Gardener class, apruning seminar, Blue Ridge GardenClub, Lanark, and the Earth Dayplant swap.

Our Lunch and Learn pro-gram continues to draw participantsand is being promoted on WSFAtelevision. An Organic Gardeningworkshop at Lee and Amanda Bor-den's farm drew about 60 partici-pants.

Our April meeting waspushed back a week due to theState Conference. Fourteen of ourmembers attended the conference.In addition to Fred Evans serving onthe nominating committee, our Mary

Long was elected as secretary.

In April, Debbie Boutelier presenteda very interesting and informativeprogram on medicinal uses forherbs. Linda Griebel received aplatinum badge for over 2,000 volun-teer hours.

Our spring plant sale was ahuge success in spite of inclementweather. Even in the pouring rain,we netter over $1800.

Our May program was allabout Garden Pests; The goodand bad.

We look forward to a busy,productive and hopefully not too hotand dry summer.

8. Cheaha MGA By Debbie Masters

9. Cherokee County MGA By Janice Knight

Montgomery mayor ToddStrange, recently announced theapproval of a botanical garden inthe city of Montgomery at Oak Park.

It all began as a grass roots cam-paign by citizens to promote thecause and convince the city govern-ment of its positive impact on thecommunity. Our membership will bewell represented at the first botani-cal garden planning meeting onJune 18th. We are ecstatic!

This spring, our memberskept their calendars booked withmany educational events includingour monthly Lunch and Learnseminars and workshops on Hy-

pertufa Container Gardening,Growing Tomatoes and How toMake Succulent Wreaths. TereseGoodson and the educationalevents committee did an outstand-ing job making it all happen.

Karin Carmichael and the

plant sale committee went all outthis year, planning and organizingevery detail of the sale for months,including standardizing pots, simpli-

fying pricing, segmenting the plantsby category, extensive advertising,providing a refreshment booth forworking members, an informationalbooth for customers complete with

handouts and plant referencebooks, and a speaker's area featur-ing on-going garden talks. A greatnew location was selected that pro-

vided us with much more space in amore central part of the city. Weheld our breath on making themove in addition to changing thedate this year but were all delightedwith a super turnout, more thandoubling our previous year's sales.

We are excited about spon-soring a seminar by re-knownspeaker Felder Rushing at theMontgomery Museum of Fine Artson September 29th at 2:00 p.m. Formore information, call 334-270-

4133 or visit our website atcapcitymga.org.

6.Capital City MGA By Eileen Webb
http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/capcitymga.org.http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/capcitymga.org.http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/capcitymga.org.


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Garden Pathways Summer - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 1310. Chilton County MGA By Sondra Henley

Chilton Master Gardenersare busy preparing for the Homeand Garden Expo at the ChiltonCounty Research Cen-

ter on Saturday, August3. We are taking careof fig and vine cuttingsthat will be for sale,along with shrubs andflowers. This eventoffers a taste of thefruits that Jim Pitts andhis crew grow on thisvaluable Auburn Re-search site. MasterGardeners help pick,peel and make icecream from various

fruits. The best newsis all the tasting is free. Not only dowe help out with the fruit serving butwe have our Demonstration Gardenon site. Demo Garden Chairmen,Alan Reed and Jerry Farmer, alongwith other Master Gardeners, havebeen working each Monday morningto weed and maintain the irrigationsystem so our newly planted flowerswill be beautiful to view by August.Come out and join us!

AMGA conference at-tendees brought back lots of infor-

mation, trunk loadsof plants and Kombishovels. The easeof digging with this

weapon like tool isamazing! Florenceis a beautiful placeto visit along withthe Florence City Garden Tour thatwas offered. We were invited toview Margie Andertons natural gar-dens after the conference and alt-hough it was north of our home des-tination, we all agreed we wanted togo. We were not disappointed!Thanks Margie

Clanton and Jemison CityPlanters were planted in April. Thisis a fun event for our association.Clanton city streets are lined withplanters and baskets. Marty Martinis their landscape advisor andchooses a variety of lovely annualsand perennials to grace them. Thisis our first full year with the Jemisonplanters and we are looking forwardto working with the city.

Also in April, was the

Maplesville Heritage Day Celebra-tion. The Master Gardener ClassInterns hosted their first plant salethere and were trained in the differ-ent responsibilities of plant sales.They found out they knew more thanthey thought they knew and it gavethem a good confidence boost forother upcoming plant sales.

In May we had a great PlantSwap at Bettye Glass in Jemison.Across from Bettyes house is the

oldest home in the Jemison areaand more of the Glass vegetablegarden and fruit trees. Left overplants from our Maplesville Plant

Sale were sold, along with gardencrafts. Gardeners took home lots ofpretty plants and plants that werebrought to be shared. We votedunanimously to raise our countydues. Alice Broome announced thatround CCMGA magnets which canbe used on mail boxes, vehicles orrefrigerators would be available forsale at our next meeting.

Mr. Ralph Hayes, fromR .& N. Goat Farm of Thorsby, gaveour June Program. His informativepresentation included the uses of

goat milk, what goats eat and goatmilk production. A tour of his goatfarm followed our meeting. Goatmilk and milk products will soon beavailable through Debra StonesHapersville store. It is his goatsmilk that provide the source forthese natural products.

Even though it is HOT andHUMID, our gardens are producingand we are gathering, canning andtrying out new recipes. Christy Men-doza, AU Extension Kitchen Special-

ist, gave our April program onCooking is an Art and Canning is aScience. She reminded us of theimportance of following canningguidelines for everyones safetywhen consuming home cannedgoods. Practical advice for every-one!

Hope you have a bountiful summer!Sondra Henley, President

Chilton County Master Gardeners


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Garden Pathways Summer - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 547 Page 14

12. Coffee County MGA By Jim Coles

11. Claybank MGA By Carol Ball

We were so grateful for Spring this year. It seemed so long in coming as the Claybank MasterGardeners spent a good deal of their time outdoors maintaining and propagating plants for the up-coming plant sale.. The greenhouse at Vivian B. Adams school was still under construction in Aprilso the CMGs got real creative with their operation. The sale was held at the Ozark Dale County PublicLibrary on April 6 . The weather cooperated with a beautiful day for the successful event.

.

A program on honeybees was presented by Phillip Carter on May 11. Phillip is the extensionagent for Dale and Houston Counties and is the beekeeper for Landmark Park. Phillip talked aboutbeekeeping, honey extraction, how to build and maintain a hive, decline of bees and their importancein pollination and the environment. It was a program well worth waiting for and by the end of thepresentation attendees were all excited about the prospect of owning their own bee hive.

The Vivian B. Adams greenhouse opened in May with a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremo-ny on the 17th. The CMGs assisted in preparations for the grand opening. Thanks to plant donationsfrom Wal-Mart and many of our MGs, along with lots of hard work, the greenhouse looked amazingand all were delighted with the new look inside. Concrete flooring replaced the asphalt to accommo-date wheel chairs, modifications were made to tables and a new greenhouse cover added the finishing

touch to this long awaited project.

en

OLD GREENHOUSE NEW GREENHOUSE

13. Covington County MGA By Bonnie Reed


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15. DeKalb County MGA By Dawn Earley


The CCMGAI has been all abuzzwith activity this quarter!

Our plant sales at the annual

Bloomin Festival (in April) and StrawberryFestival (in May) brought swarms of pass-ersby to the MG booth, where the plants arealways a main attraction. As usual, theMGs were happy to share their gardeningknowledge with the curious crowds.

In other fundraising news, ourupcoming cookbook, Harvest to Table, isin the printing stage and should be availablefor sale as of mid to late July. This year, weare including nutritional information for themajority of our tasty recipes.

On May 14th, Auburn UniversitysDr. Kathy Flanders spoke to us about fireant management at Wallace State Commu-nity College. An informative -and stunning -3-D Fire Ant movie followed the presenta-tion.

On May 15th, Jefferson CountyMG David Doggett along with Ann McAd-ams graciously donated their time to give 27of us a tour of Aldridge Gardens in Hoover,

Alabama. Resplendent with lush greeneryand interesting sculptures, the beautifulgardens provided repose and inspiration toall.

At the annual awards banquet(May 17th), the title of CCMGAI MG of theYear was presented to Holly Hirsbrunner. A

2004 MG graduate with a background indesign, Holly drafted the Agriplexs RainGarden plan, a project which is currentlyunderway. She also designs MG ClubGear (hats, t-shirts, totes, and aprons) andcreates photographic plant tags for our plantsales. The CCMGAI County Fair booth haswon 1st prize for the last 3 years in a row,thanks in part to her ideas for the boothsdesign. In addition, Holly serves on variouscommittees, assists at work-day events,and is one of our leaders for the JuniorMaster Gardeners. Way to go, Holly!

We continue to work on ourDemonstration Garden and Rain Gardenprojects. The Demonstration Garden haswon Beautification Awards the last 3 yearsin a row and has been nominated again thisyear. Meanwhile, the groundwork has beencompleted for the Rain Garden and we allcant wait to begin planting this fall.

In upcoming events, we are excit-ed to announce that the CCMGAI, in con-

junction with Blount County, will be hostingthe state AMGA conference in 2015. Wewill also be contributing to what promises to

be a well-attended agricultural festivalFarm YAll featuring celebrity chefs, localfood, giant pumpkin and watermelon con-

tests, music, and much more. The farm-to-fork festival will be held Saturday, August24th at the Festhalle, preceded by a whitetablecloth dinner August 23rd.

With all the bustling activity thispast quarter and more exciting events com-ing up, it looks like the CCMGAI has quite abit to keep us busy as a bee!

14. Cullman County MGA By Jennifer Underwood

April is always abusy month here in DekalbCounty for us Master Gar-deners. With our annualplant sale on the horizon,we put the final touches onthe plants we had beengrooming for sale all winter.

As the day neared, we

made labels andprayed it would-nt rain. AU hor-ticulture schooldonated severalplants as they do

every year and weGreatly appreciate it.

At last, the day ar-rived and what a dayit was. People werealready lined up tobuy when we arrived.We were busy thewhole day and ended

with a record settingsale. The rain startedthat evening.

We hadplanned a trip forMay but Mother Na-ture had other ideas

so it rained on our parade so our trip waspostponed.

The gold badges that wereawarded to Mimi Anderson and Ann Gil-breath at the state conference were placedin their hands at our regular meeting.

Most of May and early June hasbeen full of rain but we know it is good formost things. It is just makes for interestinggardening. quiet however, we had andinteresting talk on gardening by the Alma-nac presented by Mr. Ledford. I wonder if Ihad that, if I could have worked around therain?

Celestine with some

young gardeners.

Heavy work left to the men.


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18. Fayette County MGA


19. Jackson County MGA By Judy Lessmann

Our association is pleased tohave president, Dale Garner, back onhis feet after months of recuperationfrom an accident that occurred back inSeptember.

Several crews of EtowahCounty master gardeners worked longand hard to prepare for the eleventhannual greenhouse sale, our associa-tions only fundraiser, which got theyear off to a good start.

This year, proceeds from thesale will provide $4000 in scholarships,to horticulture students, at Auburn Uni-versity. Several excellent speakershave attended monthly meetings thisyear, including Doug Phillips, of APTV,(Discovering Alabama), who gave apresentation on Alabamas NaturalWonders, in May. Newsletter editor,

Carol(Bonnie) Link published and

distributed a 2013 directory, listing con-tact information of current members. InMay, several members and spouses

took a chartered bus trip to Lake Mitch-ell, near Alexander City, for an educa-tional tour of the magnificent garden ofattorney, Jim Scott.

A second educational field tripis in the planning stage. The horticul-ture helpline is up and running for theseason and the horticulture demonstra-tion garden is being cleaned, sanitized,planted and maintained.

Several master gardeners par-ticipated in the annual Spring CleanupDay, at Eura Brown Elementary School,in Gadsden, and plans are in the worksfor providing plants and labor for theinitial landscaping of another new con-struction for Habitat for Humanity.

Calhoun County ExtensionAgent, Hayes Jackson, conducted aHydrangea Walking Workshop, at the

home of local master gardener, BettyHall, teaching about the extensivevariety of hydrangeas that grow well inAlabama Gardens.

1. At 8 a.m., on opening day of ECMGAsGreenhouse sale, customers rush through thefront gate to have first change at purchasingplants.

2. On the Educational field trip to Jim Scottsgarden, man-made features in the garden includethis lovely waterfall. The narrow dark opening tothe left of the waterfall leads to a hidden roomtucked in beneath the roaring water.

17. Etowah County MGA By Carol Link

In a nutshell, weve had abusy second quarter. Our plantsale was a huge success with oursales almost doubling last yearssale. In a joint effort with the Hoo-chee Poosa Locavores (SlowFoods Group), we helped theWedowee Elementary School stu-dents plant and maintain theirraised beds. The children plantedsalad crops so as to be able to en-joy the "fruits of their labor" beforethe school year ended. MasterGardeners participating were Jackand Sheila Bolen, Paul and TrudineSmith, Gary and Janet Smith, JudyConaway, Cookie Smith, and Ann

Hammond. Construction of theWedowee Middle School raised

beds got off to a great startunder Ann Hammonds lead-ership. A big shout out to ourwork crew of 11 who helpedconstruct the beds: PaulSmith, Ann Hammond, Garyand Janet Smith, Jack andSheila Bolen, along with MattStapler, Michael Scharko,Gene Thornton, and Jamesand Maggie OQuinn fromHoochee Poosa Locavores.

We also built two raisedbeds, which are wheelchair acces-sible, for the residents of Ava HillsAssisted Living Home (see photo).Flowers have been planted in these

beds for the residents to enjoy.

Pictured left to right:Charlie Partin, Almeda Partin,Gary Smith, Janet Smith, MarthaBurnett, Toni Gay, Sheila Bolenand Jack Bolen. Not pictured are

Ann Boozer and Ann Hammond(photographer).

16. East Central Alabama MGA By Martha Burnett


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21. Lee County MGA By Tomi Dugas

Garden Pathways Summer - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 1720. Jefferson County MGA By Fletcher Harvey

As spring burst forth, LeeCounty Master Gardeners upped thepace of work on our three main projectgardens. In particular the Caroline DeanWildflower Trail in Opelika has seenmajor changes. A fence has been put inand a refurbished message board nowdisplays photos of native azaleas andlists other native shrubs. New areashave been cleared of invasives and morethat 100 plant species line the trail. Our

monthly meeting in April was held at the siteso our members could see how much pro-gress has been made on this project.

For the summer months we havescheduled a Hypertufa workshop, a sessionby guest speaker Dr. Arlie Powell on citrus

trees and trips to Youngs Plant Farm andthe Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Our garden

tour committee is already busy scoutinggardens this season for the 2014 tour.

Our fundraising efforts have beenquite effective. During the spring mulchsales we netted $1,667 and still have moreto sell in the fall. The native azalea fund-raiser was popular, especially among ourown MGs and brought in $1,574.

A new temporary project underconsideration involves landscaping an areaof the Lee County Humane Society facility.

This year we gave $200 to 4-H and also toan AU horticulture scholarship fund and willcontinue to look for other ways to benefit thecommunity with the funds we have raised.

22. Limestone County MGA By Joni Gruber

Was Spring briefer than usual, ordid Summer sneak in ahead of schedule?Whatever the case, the last couple ofmonths have truly whisked by, and the heatof mid-year Alabama is upon us.

April was a very busy month.Dozens of Jefferson County Master Gar-deners volunteered at the BirminghamBotanical Gardens highly successfulSpring Plant Sale April 3-6. On April 9th,Dan Spaulding made the trek from Annis-ton to deliver an excellent program onferns. Curator of the Anniston Museum ofNatural History, Dan is co-author of the wellreceived Ferns of Alabama, the latest ad-dition to the Gosse Nature Guides.

We had an opportunity to hearDan again at the AMGA conference in Flor-

ence April 15-17. Our large JeffersonCounty delegation agreed that our compat-riots in the Shoals really know how to throwa party. Excellent facility, outstanding pro-grams, great fellowship, good weatherwhat more could a gardener ask?

In May, Linda Em-erson returned to referee ourannual plant swap provingthat horticulturists neverreally retire. Formerly on thegardening staff at BBG, Lin-da has been an integral partof our Master Gardener activ-ities for some time.

Also in May, folks from JeffersonCounty were again privileged to join folksfrom Blount, Cullman and Madison Coun-

ties to take part in judging the CullmanCommercial Beautifica-tion Awards.

Several of our

gardeners joined othermembers of the BBG ona field trip to Pat DyesQuail Hollow Farm.Coach Dye was a gra-cious and knowledgea-ble host, proving there is

definitely life after coaching. War Maple!June marked the return of Herb

Lewis (and Terry) and the remarkable,continuing saga of his Backyard Birding.It just keeps getting better and better. Junealso heralded the beginning of our firstsummer Master Gardener class. This classwill cover all the bases but will meet twodays a week for two months rather thanonce a week for four.

Jefferson County Master Garden-ers still found time this quarter to continuetheir involvement in community outreachthrough Childrens Hospital, the Ingles DayCare Center and the Norwood LearningGardens as well as various volunteer posi-tions at both Birmingham Botanical Gar-dens and Aldridge Gardens.

23. Mable County MGA

Master Gardeners visit Caroline Dean

Wildflower Trail as part of their April MGmeeting. Billie Oliver in the center of thephoto coordinates work on the trail. Photo

credit: Sam Oliver


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Garden Pathways Summer - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 1824. Marshall County MGA By Linda Widner

25. Master Gardeners Of North Alabama By Andrea Cummings

MGNA Celebrates 25 Years; first MGA in Alabama

Master Gardeners of North Alabama has silversparkles all around it this year. Back in 1988, MGNAwas the first MG Association to form in Alabama. OnJune 9, 2013, members held a 25 th Anniversary Recep-tion at the Huntsville Botanical Garden, attended by

about 120 Master Gardeners and distinguished guests.Attendees included some of MGNAs past presi-dents, HBG Chief Horticulturist Harvey Cotten, stateMaster Gardener Program Coordinator Kerry Smith, andseveral AMGA board members and committee chairs.

Also in the crowd were now-retired MadisonCounty Extension Agent Gary Murray, MGNA memberMary Lou McNabb, who is the namesake for that AMGAMaster Gardener of the Year Award, and Robin Cham-bers, who worked at Alabama A&M here in Huntsvillewhen the first AlabamaMaster Gardener Programclass took place at A&M in1981. They all workedclosely to get the Programoff the ground!

The City of Madi-son Mayor Troy Trulockalso attended the recep-tion. On May 28, hesigned a proclamationmaking June 9, 2013,MGNA Day in Madison.Huntsville Mayor Tommy

Battle also signed a proclamation May 28 making June9 MGNA Day in Huntsville.

MGNA has grown in many ways through theyears, and many notable activities and firsts were docu-mented in 25 years of MGNA newsletters and 17 yearsof scrapbooks. This year, the MGNA Garden Thymesnewsletter is telling some of those stories in each issue.

Please go online at www.mginfo.org to read thetwo proclamations, our history recapped in the 2013issues of the Garden Thymes, and updates on what ishappening with Master Gardeners of North Alabama!

Attending MGNAs 25th Anniversary Receptionon June 9 at the Huntsville Botanical Garden were several

past MGNA presidents, shown here. From left: PaulThompson (president from May 1996-December 1997),Terry Lewis (January 1998 to December 1999), Teresa

Smith (January to December 2003), Jim Kennedy (January2004 to December 2005), Sue Toole (January 2006 to

December 2007), Dottye Pierce (January 2010 to

December 2011) and Janet Boothe (January 2012to the present).

25th Anniversary Logo

Awards Program*Reach For the Stars Program:*Silver Star Recipients:

Bonnie Ballard

Betty Mathews Brenda Potts Barbara Rowland

*Marshall County Master Garden-ers Awards:* Thanks for Volunteering Award1. Rookie Award2. Leadership Award3. Paul James of Marshall

County Master Gardeners4. Martha Stewart of Marshal

County Master Gardeners5. A Job Well Done6. Green Thumb Award

7. Going For the Gold8. Helping Hands9. Thanks for Being There10. Gold Digger

Bonnie Ballard and CeciliaPullen receiving an appreciation giftcertificate for co-chairing the plant salecommittee last year. They did a great

job allowing us to contribute to theEndowment fund.

Nell Amador and Joyce Kirkpat-rick won a tie vote for being the MarthaStewart of Marshall County Master Gar-

deners. They do things right!


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Garden Pathways Summer - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 1925. Mobile County MGA By Nancy Adams

The big news among Mobile County MasterGardeners is the enthusiastic response of guests atthe second annual Farm to Table Tasting Event heldon June 3 at the beautiful 5 Rivers Delta Center.

With an emphasis on eating local, the MasterGardeners who planned this gala matched chefs fromten local restaurants/eateries with local farmers, grow-ers, and seafood establishments to create a dinner

unlike any we have experienced. Each chef had astation where he served his specialty for the evening,and guests were encouraged to move among the sta-tions, sampling and tasting as they pleased. Some ofthe favorites were mini crab cakes, eggplant sliders,and warm, fresh corn soup garnished withof allthingscaramel popcorn. The flavors were fabuloustogether. Another favorite was crabmeat with limejuice, green onions and avocado. And the desserts,such as chocolate mousse served in meringue cupstopped with slivers of chocolate, were equally deli-cious.

Coupled with the view of Mobile Bay, beautiful

guitar music, a silent auction, and a flat screen viewingof the working operations of some of the suppliers, thisevent made for a very memorable evening.

The 150 tickets sold out and left many wishingthey had reserved places earlier. Those who attendedare wondering what this group of talented and focused

Master Gardeners have in store for the third annualFarm to Table affair.On the first Monday of each month, Mobile

County Master Gardeners are offering a Lunch andLearn series where anyone is invited to bring a lunchand learn something about gardening. The series be-gan in May with Alice Martys presentation on ButterflyGardening, followed in June by a class on Beekeepingled by Jane Spicciani. The classes have been wellreceived among Master Gardeners and the greatercommunity.

Master Gardener, Judy Weaver with Farm to Table guests.

Chefs at the Farm to Table Tasting Event June 3, 2013

Farm to Table Event Guests.

A local chef preparing food for the Farm to Table Event


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26. Morgan County MGA By Sonja Hyatt


27. Pike County MGA By Sheri Brooks

Chicken & Egg FestivalOn April 13, members from our association volunteered

at the Extension Booth at the Chicken & Egg Festival in Moulton,Alabama. They assisted children in learning how to pot tomato

plants provided by Bonnie Plants. Below are grandchildren ofMaster Gardeners Darryl and Nancy Waldron at the festival afterpotting their tomato plants.

Other workshops were conducted by Master Gardenersthroughout the weekend on a variety of subjects including PalletGardening, Soil Testing and Building Bluebird Houses.

Plant SaleThe greenhouse team's work in the spring produced a

very successful plant sale on April 20 - 21. Many of our memberswere there to help and sales were the best ever. We were able toreduce our inventory enough to move into our newly constructedgreenhouse at the fairgrounds. Proceeds will help to purchase set-up materials for our new location as well as fund other projectssuch as a yearly donation to the Auburn Endowment Fund.

Ask a Master GardenerA new project intended to bring information to the com-

munity is the "Ask a Master Gardener" table at the Morgan CountyFarmers Market. We will be there every Saturday from 8 - 11 a.m.beginning June 15 through the end of August. We will assist homeowners with their gardening questions and offer soil testing kitsand literature on various gardening topics.

Jim Scott's Garden"The Gate of Indecision"; that's where Morgan County

Master Gardeners found themselves on a beautiful day in May.As we passed through the portal into Jim Scott's private garden

an architectural and landscaping adventure awaited us. "Whichpath should I take? Which garden do I love?"

We started our journey at the barn, which was muchmore like a woodsy retreat overlooking Lake Martin in central Ala-bama. Mr. Scott built his garden for his family and friends to enjoy.He has continued to add garden rooms, each connected to theother by paths that twist and turn. The multi-dimensional garden

features a central waterfall routing through the garden creatingpools and streams. Statuary and a Shakespearian verse add anatmosphere of thoughtfulness. There are benches and tables

throughout, each room inviting you in. There is a place for every-one to enjoy, from the children's garden with its giant see-saw andswing to a quiet reading nook. A boardwalk overlooks the gardenbelow for the less agile visitor.

Our members were delighted with the variety and place-ment of plants, most of which were perennials. There were shadeplants, water plants, with a few sunny annuals mixed in the rightplaces. This garden looks like a natural landscape with its rocksand boulders, but everything there was completely created afterdamage from a tornado. From Jim Scott we learned that beautifulplaces can be made with persistence, work and creativity. Bypaying attention to the changes in our lives, we can change ourlandscapes for our enjoyment.

Rosita's FarmA group from our association visited Rosita's Farm in

Hartselle, Alabama for a monthly pot luck meeting. This was anauthentic exposure to farm life complete with the cow patty obsta-cle course, haystack seating in the barn and outhouse facilities.

After a brief tour of the farm we enjoyed a healthy assortment offoods made with fresh vegetables and herbs. Afterward, we visit-ed the garden and high tunnel where we learned from KarenWynne about the no till farming method they are using. Weedsare controlled with mulch and ground cover. Emmaline spokeabout pollination problems and how to aid the plants when there isa problem. We learned about the importance of beneficial insectsand the decline of the honey bee. Gardening organically helps

protect these beneficial insects.

We will be relaxing by the Tennessee River and visitingwith each other for our next meeting/picnic on June 17.


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29. Shelby County MGA By Susan Seng

We have been Hard atwork and hard at fun! The Bir-mingham Botanical Garden PlantSale and the Aldridge GardenPlant Sale have many volunteersfrom Shelby County. Not only dowe work, but we are good spend-ers!

Every May we visit ourown members' gardens. Thisyear we had about 40 folks visitEdith Johnston's garden. Fernswere everywhere and she hastwo garden ponds. We endedour visit with a plant swap.

We had a terrific speaker,Arnold Rutkis (of Stoneshov-el). He gave an outstanding talkabout 'Native Plants". He soldout of many plants. Go visit hiswebsite!You will love it.

Our very own Vice Presi-dent, Mary K Tomas, brought up

a great idea. She asked ourgroup if anyone wanted to helpout some of our members thatmay not be able to garden likethey did before. A group ofabout eight folks have alreadyhelped a member. We will con-tinue this volunteer program.

We are proud of our men-tor program for the new classesof Master Gardeners. SundraSmith is the coordinator of thisprogram this year. She is work-ing hard making sure each newMaster Gardener is matched upto a caring mentor. ShelbyCounty Master Gardener class

begins this August

28. Russell County MGA

30. St. Claire County MGA By Patricia Peoples

27. Pike County MGA By Sheri Brooks

31. Shoals MGA By Sarah Haggstrom

Thank you for attending the 2013 convention.We hope you had a good time in the Shoals and willcome back again!

On the heels of the convention we jumped intoour Arts Alive plant sale. Granted, our members wereworking with their tongues hanging out, but we hadone of the best sales ever.

Now we are going to enjoy working our gar-dens, as well as, working on a few projects.

I want to thank all our SMG members for theirhard work this spring on the garden tour, the stateconvention, the plant sale, and our projects. Youwont find a better group of gardeners in the wholestate.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=thank+you+in+different+languages&FORM=HDRSC2


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Garden Pathways Spring - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 53 Page 19

32. Tallapoosa County MGA By Prencella Hamby

33. Tuscaloosa County MGA By Judith Rives

Spring is always the busi-est garden season and this yearwas no exception. TCMG mem-bers seemed to be everywhere!Early in April, we were part of theEarth Day Celebration at the his-toric Battle-Friedman home inTuscaloosa, encouraging at-tendees to recycle, reuse andrepurpose with our demonstra-tions. It was a perfect day to beoutside and there were a lot ofpeople asking us questions.

The AMGA State Confer-ence helped inspire us for thegardening ahead, and we helpedwith the Wildflower Society and

the Hillcrest HighSchool plant salesas well as hosting

our own 5thAnnual Pass-Along Plant Sale,which was verysuccessful thisyear.

We areproud to use theproceeds fromour plant sale toannually fund a$1000 scholarship

to Auburn University. The schol-arship is designated for a junioror senior Horticulture major who

is from Tuscaloosa County or anadjacent county.

We continue to volunteerat the University of AlabamaArboretum weekly, and assistedthe Tuscaloosa County Exten-sion staff with a 4H program onplanting and using basil. Thestudents all went home with to-mato and basil plants.

In May, we werehonored to help host theTuscaloosa Garden Tour,

which raised money forlocal cancer patients whoneed financial assistance.

We are workingnow on our Fall Confer-ence, The Tasteful Land-scape: Mixing Flowers &Food. Programs will in-clude how to use herbs,vegetables and citrus inornamental borders andsmall spaces. For infor-mation, Like Tusca-loosa County MasterGardeners on Facebook,or email Judith Rives [email protected].

I assumed AMGA Treasurer responsibilities from Jane Shalhoop on June 4th

. All funds

for deposit and requests for payment or reimbursement should be forwarded to: Mary Howe,

204 Buckeye Lane, Brownsboro, AL 35741. Requests for payment may be submitted by

e-mail along with scanned receipts or other information to support the payment. E-mail

address is: [email protected]. My home telephone number is: 256-534-4773.

Garden Pathways Summer -013- Volume 13 Issue 54 Page 22

TREASURER By Mary Howe
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected].


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35. Wiregrass MGA By Beth Arnold

The Wiregrass Area Master Gardeners areheaded into a summer that promises to be hot andhumid. And yet, gardening chores much still be com-pleted. We want to encourage everyone to be safein the summer heat and cognizant of the symptoms ofheat related injuries. Watch for these signs of heatstroke: Fainting, throbbing headache, dizziness, dryskin that is hot to the touch, cramps, muscle weak-ness, nausea, elevated heart rate, rapid breathing,confusion, seizures and/or unconsciousness. If younotice someone with these symptoms, call 9-1-1 im-mediately and render first aid until they arrive.

April found several of our members heading

to North Alabama, Florence to be precise, for the AM-GA Master Gardener Conference. It was an amazingconference and our sincere gratitude goes out to theShoal Master Gardeners who made this years con-ference such a success. Our own Tom Boyle wassworn in to serve on the Board of Directors for theAMGA. We are very proud to have him represent our

Association on the State Board. Also, we had threeof our members receive their Gold Name Badge.Cheryl Hatcher was able to receive her bad at theconference. Pat and Bill Wente were not able to at-tend the conference, but will receive their Gold NameBadges at home. We are so proud of all of them forthis accomplishment. Finally, the WMGAs Newslet-ter won Outstanding Newsletter Award. The editor,Beth Arnold, was present to accept the award as wellas a $100 check for the WMGA.

April seems to be a month full of special

events and activities for the WMGA. The SpringPlant Sale was held in early April and was a hugesuccess. Proceeds from the sale were just under$10,000. We are looking forward to helping severalorganizations within our community with proceedsfrom the sale. The WMGA Fall Plant Sale will beheld on Saturday, September 28th. We hope thatyou will come to the Wiregrass Area and visit ourlovely BotanicalGardens and pur-chase some beau-tiful plants.

TheWMGA is continu-

ing to work on bothold projects andnew. We hope thateveryone is able tostay healthy andenjoy their garden-ing season thissummer. See youin the fall!!

34. Walker MGA By Linda Wilson


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ALABAMA MASTERGARDENERS

ASSOCIATIONOna Garwood-

Editor312 Bellwood Trail

Enterprise, AL 36330

AMGA Officers

President: Dottye Pierce - (MGNA)256-881-8053 [email protected]

Vice President: Jeanon Massien - (Shelby)

205-991-3125 [email protected]

Secretary: Mary Long - (CAMGA)334-514-0860 [email protected]

Treasurer: Mary Howe (MGNA)256-534-4773 [email protected]

Board Members at Large

Term 2011 - 2014

Larry Gullett (Shoals) 256-764-1626Cell 256-335-5154 [email protected]

Kathie Bass - (MGNA)256-457-6530 [email protected]

Term 2012 - 2015Brenda Armstrong - (Blount)205-647-1731 [email protected]

Joyce Davis - (Marshall)251-593-7977 [email protected]

Jimmie Van Valkenburgh - (Baldwin)251-968-8866 [email protected]

Deadline for Fall Issue is September 15th, 2013

GardenPathwaysFVolume 13Issue 54Summer 2013

GOT

QUESTIONS?WEVE GOT

ANSWERS!

http://

www.aces.edu/

STATE ADVISOR

Kerry Smith,State Master GardenerProgram Coordinator

101 Funchess Hall,Auburn University

Auburn, AL 36849334-844-3036;

Cell [email protected]

Term 2013 - 2016

Tom Boyle (Wiregrass)334-794-2094 [email protected]

Jane Trawick 251-443-9175

Cell 251-402-3463 boja7@yahoo,.comAdvisory Council Chairperson - Brenda Tapp256-859-8703 [email protected]

NOMINATING COMMITTEE (Elected Members)Term 2011-2013

Cathy Canant - (Shelby)205-260-7748 [email protected]

Term 2012-2014Delores Dee Hubbert (MGNA)256-760-4603 [email protected]

OTHER

Newsletter Editor: Ona Garwood - (Cof fee )334-475-3138 [email protected]

Webmaster: Diana Hansen - (MGNA)256-430-0693 [email protected]

Membership Chair: John Baker - (Shoals)256-764-5527 [email protected] 256-577-1338

Fundraising: Kathie Bass - (MGNA)256-457-6530 [email protected]

AMGA Website

www.alabamamg.org
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.aces.edu/questions/http://www.aces.edu/questions/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:boja7@yahoo,.commailto:boja7@yahoo,.commailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:Term%202013%20-%202016mailto:Term%202013%20-%202016mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.alabamamg.org/http://www.alabamamg.org/http://www.alabamamg.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:Term%202013%20-%202016mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:boja7@yahoo,.commailto:[email protected]://www.aces.edu/questions/http://www.aces.edu/questions/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

garden pathways june 15, 2013

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