Coconino Master Gardener Association: March 2024

CMGA General Info

Species tulips planted in fall. These appear in early spring. Olivia White Hospice Garden.
Photo by Loni Shapiro.

Welcome to the Coconino County Master Gardeners Association blog. The mission of the Master Gardener Program is to create a corps of well-informed volunteers, and to deliver quality horticultural education programs adapted to our regional high elevation environment. The purpose of the association is to provide support for those volunteers and Master Gardener graduates, continuing education, and opportunities to participate in community programs that increase the visibility and participation in the Master Gardener Program.

The Coconino Master Gardener Association (2009) began in 2009. This blog contains information on:

-How to become a member

-Volunteer and Education hours reporting

-Calendar of Events

-General gardening information articles

-Master Gardener Association Documents and forms

-References and Resources

-Interesting Websites and Blogs

-Old Gardening Etcetera columns

-Recipes

-Book Reviews

-How to contact Board or Committee Members

Meetings are held monthly on the 2nd Thursday from 600pm - 8;30pm. We meet at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church at 1601 N. San Francisco. This includes continuing education and a business meeting.

Reporting Master Gardener Hours

All master gardener trainees and certified master gardeners need to report their hours.
Beginning in 2010 certified master gardeners need to have 6 Education hours and 12 Volunteer hours in order to maintain certification.The on line reporting system allows you to report Education or Volunteer hours. You can sign in to record hours in the right hand column under Recording Volunteer and Education Hours. Just click on the U. of A.
If you have any questions or concerns about the new reporting system, please contact Brenda Smith (A - M) or Sue Madden (N - Z). Their contacts are listed at the bottom of the blog under Contacts.

Ideas for hours------
--Attend monthly meetings
--Work on an association committee
--Work at an informational booth for the Master Gardeners
--Be a speaker about gardening topics at a variety of venues
--Host a garden tour
--Work at a fundraising event (Plant Sale - Garden Tour).
--Work at a MG site (Olivia White Hospice, the Arboretum, Riordan Mansion, or school gardens (many others)). Check out the Assoc. Doc. & Forms under Volunteer Sites.
--Work in the Extension office
--Write an article for the newspaper column -Gardening Etcetera
-Volunteer with the Seed Library
Be creative! There are many ways to fulfill your hours. Just remember for volunteering it needs to be a non-profit endeavor or an approved for profit site.

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Clarkdale Plant Sale and Garden Festival

Clark Memorial Clubhouse image. Click for full size.

The annual Clarkdale Plant Sale & Garden Festival will happen this year on April 20th from 9am-1pm. This is a very popular sale and plants sell early so if your driving from Flagstaff arrive early. Click pmn link for the flyer.

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Vegetable Gardening

Wednesday, March 20, 27, April 3, 10

5:45 to 7 p.m.

Plan your vegetable garden with the help of local Master Gardeners with the Coconino Cooperative Extension. Zoom option available.

This four-week series will help you get started with this year’s vegetable garden! Attend in-person or by Zoom.

Week 1 (March 20) is Planning Your Vegetable Garden, with Jim Mast.
Week 2 (March 27) is Best Vegetable Varieties for Coconino County, with Jackee Alston.
Week 3 (April 3) is Understanding Garden Soils and Composting, with Frank Branham.
Week 4 (April 10) is Seeds and Starts, with Adair Patterson.

The course instructors are all Master Gardeners with the Coconino Cooperative Extension. This program is offered in partnership with the University of Arizona Coconino Cooperative Extension.

Vegetable - Learn more and register!

Friday, March 29, 2024

Docent Training at the Arb

2024 Docent Training

by Helena Murray - Education Manager

Coming this April, the Arboretum at Flagstaff will be hosting 3 Saturdays of education for anyone interested in becoming a docent for the 2024 season!

Docents at the Arboretum are vital volunteers who help us interact with the public, sharing the amazing work that we do while increasing the understanding, appreciation and conservation of plant and plant communities native to the Colorado plateau by leading tours to the public throughout our season.

Topics covered through the course of classes include an overview of our conservation projects, wildlife at the Arboretum, botany, the history of the Arboretum, touring the gardens and the greenhouses and learning how to give a tour as a docent.

Docent classes will be held on Saturdays April 6th, 13th, and 20th from 10:00am-2:00pm with approximately 30 minutes for lunch (please bring your own) and will feature staff as well as current docent/volunteer speakers.

Attendance is free to members or with the purchase of a membership. All docents of the 2024 season who serve 18+ hours at the Arboretum will receive a free renewal of their membership for 2025.

Please make sure to wear comfortable and weather appropriate clothing as we will be exploring the Arb grounds together!

Please register online by clicking this link.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Talk on the Columnar Cacti

From Susan Holiday at the Native Plant Society:

Allow me to introduce myself -- I’m the Communication Coordinator for the Natural History Institute, a non-profit in Prescott that hosts a wide variety of natural history talks, field experiences, a 9,000 specimen herbarium, and a nature art gallery. We are also the meeting place for the Prescott Native Plant Society and the Prescott Audubon Society.

All of our talks are live-streamed to our Youtube channel, so they can be attended remotely as well as in-person in Prescott. We have an upcoming talk that I think will be of interest to AZ Native Plant Society members, and I was wondering if you could share it with members of your chapter.

***

"On Growth and Form: Ecology and Evolution of Columnar Cacti"

A free talk with Dr. Alberto Búrquez

Thursday, March 28th at 7pm

Natural History Institute

Registration for in-person attendance

Livestream link

Terra Birds Hiring

Thursday, March 14, 2024

CMGA March Meeting Agenda

Coconino Master Gardener Association Meeting Agenda
Shepherd of the Hills-1601 N San Francisco St Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Thursday, March 14, 2024, 6:00-8:00 PM

Reports:
President, Committee and MG Coordinator Reports
MG Coordinator Report—Hattie Braun is out of town
o Class Update
o Seed Library Workday: Monday, March 18th from 10-noon at Cooperative Extension office
o Arboretum Docent Training begins April 6th (4/13 and 4/20) from 10-2 Registration now open at www.thearb.org

Events:
o Seed Swap-Sunday, March 24th from 2-4 pm at East Flagstaff Library (Free)
o Viola’s Pansy Party, Saturday, April 13th from noon-2pm @ Viola’s Flower Garden (Free)
o Earth Day, Saturday, April 20th from 11 am-2 pm @ Bushmaster Park- (Free) Need Activity Volunteers for Table
o Plant Sale, Saturday, May 25th (details and sign-up at next month’s meeting)-Need Volunteer for staging

Tonight’s Education-
Restoration Soils: Compost, Soil & Mulch https://www.restorationsoils.com/ 928-250-1040 Chris & Finn

Emily Melhorn, Water Conservation Specialist; City of Flagstaff: Phone: 928-213-2403 emily.melhorn@flagstaffaz.gov

Next Month:
Olivia White Hospice Garden

SNACK & MINGLE BREAK & RAFFLE
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Remembering Beverly 1928-2016

On Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, Beverly Jean MacAllister passed away fully lucid and comfortably in Santa Cruz, CA, at home and in the presence of her daughters, just three days after her 88th birthday. For many months she sought a way out of or around a severe lung infection. She was a Master Gardener and tended 12 vegetable and flower beds at her home in Timberline. She supported the master gardener program in many ways - providing consult to a local fire department to grow vegetables for food, assisting with regional conferences, and helping each year with the Coconino County Fair in the agriculture building. In addition for several years she worked as a Senior Companion with 5 clients that she helped with aging issues. A celebration of Bev’s life will be held at 11 am on Saturday, Sept. 17, at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 510 N. Leroux St. Memorial gifts in her name may be made to Poore Medical Clinic, 120 W. Fine Ave., Flagstaff, AZ 86001; or Bonny Doon Fire Safe Council, 150 McGivern Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
I will personally miss her guidance on aging well. The photo above is from a Christmas card I received from her. On the back it says "Kindness is a language we can all understand. The blind can see it and the deaf can hear it. Thank someone who has touched your life today. Thank you for being part of my life. Bev." Loni Shapiro

Dana Prom Smith 1927-2015

On Sunday, Jun 28th, Dana Prom Smith passed away from a
heart attack at the age of 88. Dana was a long time supporter of the Master Gardener program and association . He was certified as a master gardener in 2007. He worked on his own garden at home, and since then has shared his wealth of knowledge and creative writing skills to write and edit weekly columns for the AZ Daily Sun -Gardening Etcetera. We will miss learning more about life and gardening and the humor with which he presented it.

On August 24th, a Blaze Maple was planted at Olivia White Hospice Garden by his gardening friends in rememberance.

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” ― Marcus Tullius Cicero

Coconino Master Gardener Association