2013 AFGC Convention: "High Desert Celebration"

2013 AFGC Convention, "High Desert Celebration"

The convention will be held April 1-3, 2013, at the Poco Diablo Resort in Sedona.  Great things are planned for the event, including seminars, field trips, a boutique, a baskets raffle, great food and great people to meet and re-meet.  

See here for more information, including the registration form.

Summer Dreaming - In March!!

Flagstaff Flower & Garden Club host Summer Dreaming - In March!

March 4th, 6-8pm
Flagstaff Public Library, Community Room
300 W. Aspen, Flagstaff

Topic:  Summer Dreaming - Making plans for a new flower or vegetable bed

This will be a hands-on session, led by an expert from Warner's Nursery.  Bring the measurements of a garden bed that you would like to plant this year. We'll have graph paper and pencils, so you can draw out your ideas and take home your concept drawing.  We'll talk about plants that can be planted together, those that should be planted separately, and what works in Flagstaff.

AZNPS Botany Conference

You are invited to attend the Tenth Arizona Botany Meeting, hosted by the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) and the Arizona Native Plant Society. This year’s theme is “Habitat and Rare Plant Conservation”. 

The main meeting will be held at DBG in Dorrance Hall on Saturday, March 30 ^th, 2013, from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. 

Our continuing goal is to foster a spirit of cooperation for the sharing of ideas among and facilitating collaboration between individuals from academic institutions, local, state, and federal government agencies, and non-governmental organizations from across the state of Arizona, and to provide a forum to meet others who share an interest in the flora of Arizona and surrounding areas within the Southwest.

Coconino Master Gardener Association Minutes 2/14/13

Master Gardener Meeting Minutes 2/14/2013

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

1601 N. San Francisco

Continuing Education, Freddi Steele, The Bees Around Us

Freddi Steele, a retired National Park Service naturalist, gave a lively and informative talk about bees.  She described the differences between bees and related species, led the audience through a bee identification exercise and outlined issues facing bees. Some recommended resources on bees include: http://bugguide.net ( a great source of photographs, information and identification help), the Xerces Society, http://www.xerces.org/, the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (the easiest guide to use), and the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. Also on the blog is a link to her Arizona Daily Sun article, “The Bees Around Us”.

Regan Emmons – Arboretum Docent Training

Regan Emmons, the education coordinator for the Arboretum at Flagstaff explained the docent training program and the Garden Starts Community Supported Agriculture program.  She encouraged master gardeners to become docents and join the Garden Starts CSA. For more information and to apply for docent training, go to http://thearb.org/about_volunteer_docent.php. To join the Garden Starts CSA, contact flaggardenstarts@gmail.com for the contract and seedling list.

Thanks for the Refreshments: Andrea and Galen Guerrette, Loni Shapiro, Debi Stalvey

Business Meeting – Debi Stalvey                 

We still need volunteers for Community Programs and MG Projects.  Ali Coates, the blog editor, is willing to also do one of these.

The Master Gardener Association executive committee has decided the Association will do at least two fundraising activities this year.  One fundraiser will continue the calendar. A coordinator for the calendar is needed.  A second fundraising activity planned is a plant and used garden tool sale.  It will take place in May or June at the Allstate office on Cedar Avenue.  An additional fundraising activity will be discussed next month.

The Association executive committee has decided to staff a booth at the Earth Day celebration at City Hall on April 20.  Volunteers are needed to staff the booth. One idea for the booth is to demonstrate the difference between normal Flagstaff soil and good garden soil.

Debi mentioned the benefits of membership, including 10 % discounts at Flagstaff Native Plant & Seed, Viola’s Flower Garden and Warner’s Nursery & Garden Center.  Details on the discounts are on the back of the membership card.  Show your card at the nurseries for your discount.  You may also pay for your membership using Pay Pal.  The link to it is on the right side near the top of the first blog entry.

Debi introduced Tammy Valdovino as the new historian for the Association.

Coconino County Parks and Recreation Seed Swap at Fort Tuthill County Park

Coconino County Parks and Recreation is hosting a Garden Seed Swap.  It will take place on Saturday, March 2 from 10 am – 11:30 am at Fort Tuthill County Park in the Mess Hall.  The cost is only $5.00 and for that you will be able to network and swap seeds with other gardeners from around the area.  Willa McAuliffe (Canning Vegetables/Preserves) will be on hand to answer some basic questions and to facilitate the whole program.  See our flyer for more details.

Registration is required and can be done so by clicking here.  

For more information, contact:

Ricky Conway

Coconino County Parks and Recreation

Recreation Coordinator

W (928) 679 8028 | C (928) 607 7096 | F (928) 913 0750

2446 Fort Tuthill Loop

Flagstaff, AZ 86001

coconino.az.gov/parks

Master Gardener Association Meeting 2/14/13

Master Gardener Meeting Agenda 2/14/2013

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church

1601 N. San Francisco

6:30pm-6:35pm                  Welcome – Agenda - Debi Stalvey

                                                      Brief review of agenda for the evening

6:35pm-6:40pm                  Regan Emmons – Arboretum Docent Training

                 

6:40pm-6:45pm                  Introduction of speaker – Jim Mast

6:45pm-7:45pm                  Continuing Education

                                                      Freddi Steele

                                                      Bees

7:45pm-8:00pm                  Refreshments

Andrea and Galen Guerrette

8:00pm - 8:25pm                  Business Meeting – Debi Stalvey                 

Still need volunteers for: Community Programs, MG Projects

Fundraising ideas

Calendar

Plant & Garden Sale

Earth Day Volunteers

Knapweed Pull

Benefits of membership

                  Nursery discounts

Pay Pal payment for membership

                                                      Financial report – Linda Guarino/Crys Wells

                                                     

                                                      MG Program Happenings (class/home show) – Hattie Braun

                                                                       

                  Committee Reports:

                                                      Continuing Education – Jim Mast                                   

                                                     

Volunteer Support – Crys Wells

                                                     

8:25pm – 8:30pm                  Gardening Questions?

Next meeting:                                     March 14, 2013

Connie Cowan                                   

Herbarium Project - MNA

Future meetings:                  April 11, 2013

                                                      Susan Nyoka

                                                      NAU SSlug garden

                                                      Insects

Flagstaff Seed Exchange - March 9th

Flagstaff Foodlink and SSLUG are partnering together to organize a seed exchange on March 9th, from 4 to 6 pm at the Murdoch Center!

Come one and all, and bring your seeds! If you don't have seeds to share, come anyway, there will be enough for everyone!

VWRC needs volunteers to help inventory/map and treat invasive plants on Prescott NF lands

The Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition (VWRC) is planning to Inventory/Map and treat invasive plants on Prescott NF lands on the Upper Verde River from Hells Canyon down to the confluence with Sycamore Creek.  We plan to accomplish these 16 miles with the help of volunteers, VWRC Stakeholders and agency personnel.

The work will entail hiking along the river in the riparian corridor where we will map the following plants:  Tamarisk, russian olive, arundo and paradise tree.  We will also be looking for other secondary weed infestations.  Plants that are found will be cut down using hand saws and loppers and herbicide will be applied to the cut stump of the plant.  The work requires the ability to walk on uneven rocky terrain through sometimes dense vegetation and possibly getting wet due to river crossings.  We will need folks to help with the following activities: mapping (collecting GPS points and infestation data), cutting plants with loppers and hand saws and hauling debris out of the high water zone.

February Master Gardener Association Meeting: BEES!

Don't forget!

This Thursday, Feb. 14 at 6:30pm Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church - 1601 N. San Francisco St.

Learn about bees in the garden with Master Gardener Freddi Steele. Stay after the talk for refreshments and for the Master Gardener Association meeting. Non-members welcome.

Gardens for Humanity 5th Annual Spring Planting Festival March 16-24, 2013 "Growing Healthy Communities"

Gardens for Humanity is hosting their 5th Annual Spring Planting Festival - a week of gardening related activities, workshops, speakers and concerts throughout the Verde Valley and Sedona.  Mark your calendars... this week is chock full of fun and learning!

A full calendar of events can be found here.

Volunteers are needed, too!  Sign up here.

Docent Training at the Arboretum

2013 Docent Training Begins March 5th! Call (928) 774-1442, ext. 110 to register today!

2013 Docent Training Dates:

Tuesday; March 5- Introduction

Thursday; March 7- Natural History and Ecology

Tuesday; March 12- Get to Know the Plants At The Arboretum

Thursday; March 14-Native and Invasive Plants

Tuesday; March 26- Threatened Plants and Endangered Animals in the Colorado Plateau. Speakers: Research Botanist, Sheila Murray and Arboretum Director, Lynne Nemeth

Thursday; March 28- Greenhouse Tour and Propagation Demo

Spring Native Plant Workshop Sedona

We open our program this year with The Slow Water Team of Marianna Hartsong and Ryan Matson. Their topic, PLANTING RAIN, explains their vision of planting small Green Infrastructures all over town to slow, plant and spread water, truly transforming our ecosystem, returning it to a hydrating rather than a dehydrating system.

Our second keynote speaker, Agriculture and Natural Resources and County Extension Director for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Jeff Schalau will close our program with BALANCING OUR GOALS: NATIVE PLANTS, WILDLIFE, FUNCTIONAL ECOSYSTEMS AND YOUR LANDSCAPE. Trying to be the best stewards of our beautiful area, this talk deals with some of these conflicting goals as we work to create functioning native landscapes in the real world.

Seven hour-long workshops are being offered with participants choosing two from this selection:

1. Carol Chambers: Nocturnal Neighbors--Bats in Your Backyard

2. Loni Shapiro: Successful Container Gardening for Veggies, Flowers, and Herbs

3. Dena Greenwood: Attracting Birds to Your Backyard

4. Hattie Braun: Native Plants 101

5. Jeffrey Adams: Watershed Regeneration from the Ground Up (demonstration limited to 20 per session)

6. Feather Jones: Native Plants of the High Desert, Their Medicinal and Cultural Uses

7. Tom DeGomez: Bugs and Crud on Native Trees