1. Autauga County MGA By Nancy Waggoner

Garden Pathways Winter- 2013 - Volume 13 -Issue 56

HAPPENINGS

AROUND

ALABAMA

MASTER

GARDENERS

Page 1

This fall, ACMGA members were busy and active sharing knowledge of horticulture through educational projects in Autauga County. On Farm Day, October 3rd, members Anthony Yarbrough, Bob Scheffler, Lynn Yarbrough, Rose McCauley and Paula Seamon demonstrated seed planting to Prat-tville Kindergarten School students; varieties of seeds and where they come from in fruits and vegetables were shown. Each child had an op-portunity to plant turnip seeds. The students were taught how seeds turn into plants and produce vegetables. They were most interested and en-thused to learn that worms turn gar-bage into compost! ACMGA members were well represented at the 2013 Fall Confer-ence in Montgomery. Outstanding and entertaining speakers were en-joyed by all! A gem of an idea inspired the theme, “Gardening is for Chil-dren of All Ages”, for the ACMGA exposition at the Autauga County Fair this fall. Attractive exhibits, col-orful posters and hands-on materials focused on the information on the label that comes with plants that we

buy from commercial growers: plant size, season of bloom, types, sun exposure, zone, spacing and other critical facts about each plant. Activ-ities such as a scavenger hunt drew children into the booth and this often got their parents interest-ed in our exhibit and organiza-tion. Recruit-ment of potential Master Garden-ers is always a goal. Not only did our booth win a Blue Ribbon, but it won Best of Show Booth award for this year. Congratulations to chair Deborah Cheatum and interns Shari McCandless, Leanne Wadsworth, Elise Smith and Linda Parrish who worked so hard to create this out-standing exhibit! How privileged we were to partner with Capitol City Master Gar-deners Association and Central Ala-bama Master Gardeners Association in sponsoring an event in which the public was given the opportunity to

enjoy a seminar at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts by renowned plant enthusiast Felder Rushing on “Slow Gardening”. Master Garden-ers learned about container garden-

ing in a second Felder Rushing presentation at Taylor Road Baptist Church the next day. A program on community forestry by guest speaker Patrick Cook, Agent for the Extension System, Forestry Wildlife Natu-ral Resources was most interesting.

Lorice Goorley of Capital City Master Gardeners Association, presented a

program on terrariums. She brought quite a few attractive examples of terrariums she had created. To wrap up 2013, we had a lovely Christmas luncheon at the Extension Office in Autaugaville when we welcomed new interns into our family of mem-

bers and installed officers for 2014: President Rose McCauley, Vice President Carolyn Gray, Secretary Kathryn Whaley and Treasurer Tina Reed. We look forward to a wonder-ful and productive New Year.

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 -Issue 56 Page 2

2. Baldwin County MGA By Frieda Romanchuk

Fall began with a wagon tour of the Auburn 104 Research Station. The director conducted a great off-road tour of the huge agri-cultural/livestock center highlighting many of the research projects along the way. In early October, an annual project is to volunteer for the annual Weeks Bay Foundation’s Native Plant Sale. The monthly meeting at Weeks Bay featured a Fred Nation lecture/tour of the Longleaf Pines area. Later in the month, the annu-al fall seminar, Growing in Beautiful Alabama, was held in Fairhope. Fred Spicer, Executive Director of Birmingham Botanical Gardens,

and ACES Regional Extension Agent III, James Miles, shared and entertained with their knowledge on thee topics. BCMGs continued our ‘love affair’ with Long Leaf pines. With love, come weeds! One Saturday morning found many BCMGs hunting for hundreds of longleaf seedlings in the future long leaf forest; later in the day the weed sanctuary had been cleared to show the little seedlings. The objective was met: pull the weeds, not the seedlings! A member, John Kitch, spoke in November on winter vege-table container gardening. Small spaces produce lots of greens! In mid-December BCMG held the

semi-annual Awards Banquet, a covered dish luncheon, at the Jubi-lee Church. Badges and stars were bestowed upon deserving mem-bers. The annual pictorial review of participants in various activities was presented by Loree Hadley; Loree created all of those 2014 Conference promotional choco-lates, mints, and book marks! Finally, the Baldwin Master Gardener of the Year was an-nounced. A first: the dynamic duo of Nancy and Jim Gaines, who to-gether and separately have sup-ported/managed BCMG projects over many years, shared this hon-or!

3. Barbour County MGA By Jackie Devlin

4. Blount County MGA By Sarah Pass

Blount County Master Gardeners had an ex-traordinary 2013 with the leadership of President Sherilyn Osborne, Agents Dan Porch and Charles Pinkston, and a willing-and-able host of committee chairs and volunteers. Charlsie and Don Crowder or-ganized a successful plant sale. Over sixty volunteers worked at the Blount County Fair. Another “Best Ever” mini-conference was held in the fall. The ga-zebo and bridge were beautifully decorated for the Christmas light show at Palisades Park. Gen-erous donations were given to the Blount County Scholarship Fund and The Chil-dren’s Center. Dona-tions of unwrapped toys were gathered for The Children’s Center, our local child advocacy agency. Numerous other small projects were continued. At our Christmas party our 2014 officers were introduced and sworn in. Our new

President is Harold Deason. Although relatively new to the Blount County Association, Harold brought a lot of talent and experience from his years with the Jefferson County group. He has been proven to be an eager and energetic worker and “plays well with others”.

Barbara Andersen is vice-president and brings extra talents, people skills, and knowledge of the county partially gathered in her work as a realtor.

Brenda Armstrong is sec-retary and has been a faithful member of our group as well as having served as our presi-dent. Brenda LOVES plants and we jokingly say that you need to be on the alert when her shovel is handy. (And it is

ALWAYS handy.)

Vickie Hallman is Treasurer and is a retired teach-er and incredibly good-natured in handling all the money transactions for the group. We are looking forward to a delightful 2014 with this cast of char-acters.

(L-R) Vickie, Brenda, Barbara and Harold

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013- Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 3

5. Calhoun County MGA By Sherry Blanton

By the time this issue of Pathways reaches your inbox, we will be into 2014 and 2013 will be a good memory. Our fall was wonderful–from our suc-cessful Fall Fest to our end of the year Awards Event. More than 20 Master Gardeners worked Fall Fest spon-sored by our County Extension Office; doz-ens of others baked items for our bake sale, prepared the grounds, and helped to create a successful event for the entire community. In November our local Association elected new officers and members at large; our new leaders are a mix-ture of long time Master Gardeners and newly certified Master Garden-ers. We look forward to their guid-ance. We also thank our newly retired board for the great work on

behalf of our organization. In December we held our annual awards event. Our members decorated our clubhouse for a fes-tive evening with a covered dish supper, member recognition, and a rousing game of “Dirty Santa.” We presented Janet Evans and Gary

Lawson with the “Red Bandanna” award for out-standing volunteer service to our MG organization. Our 2013 interns received their certificates making them “Certified Master Gardeners.” Congratula-tions to all of them! We are thrilled to have gotten a tractor for Cane Creek Community Gardens. Our members contributed to a special tractor fund and the Cal-houn County Commission-ers generously donated the remaining amount. A tractor is surely going to help with the maintenance of the sev-

enteen acres at Cane Creek, the home of our local association. Our members would like to wish Master Gardeners across the state a happy, healthy, and suc-cessful New Year.

6. Capital City MGA By Eileen Webb

On September 26, CCM-GA members and the Lilly’s Gar-den Volunteer Committee held a meet and greet party for Forest Avenue Academic Magnet School teachers and parent volunteers. Fifteen CCMGA members greeted faculty, parents, and student visi-tors to the garden. Visitors were provided the beautiful sights and sounds of the garden, heard the history of the garden, viewed scrapbooks, and were treated with an array of pastries and beverag-es. Lilly's Garden was created in 1997 in memory of Lilly Thompson, a former student at the school. Our 2013 CCMGA intern class donated a beautiful teak bench to the gar-den. Our Educational Events committee did a great job in plan-ning and organizing the event at

the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts on September 29th featuring Felder Rushing as the guest speaker. One hundred and thirty-three attendees enjoyed his in-formative and humorous talk at this beautiful venue. On the following Monday, he gave a second talk to 112 area master gardeners. A talented group of CCM-GA members spent months creat-ing weathered wood boxes deco-rated with natural materials to hold floral arrangements. These and many other handmade decorative items for the home and garden were sold at the annual Pike Road Arts and Crafts Fair in November, making it our second largest fund raising event of the year. Many of our members at-tended the ground breaking cere-mony in November of the Mont-

gomery Botanical Garden in Oak Park in the heart of the city. Exten-sive landscape plans designed by Ethel Dozier Boykin and Fairlie Rinehart were on display and will include the following specialty gar-dens: Alabama Native Plants, Chil-dren's Garden, Biblical Garden, Japanese Garden, Fern, Hosta and Hydrangea Garden, Ground Cover Garden, Butterfly Garden , Rose Garden, Rock Garden, Coni-fer, Holly and Evergreen Garden and a Serenity Garden. For more information, see capcitymga.org events page. Fifteen interns were certi-fied at our annual Christmas Luncheon on December 10th. Te-rese Goodson, head of the Educa-tional Events Committee was named Master Gardener of the

(Continued on page 4)

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 -Issue 56 Page 4

It was just meant to be. If you search the grounds of Oak Park, you will find a historic marker that includes the following sentence. “In February of 1965, the City Com-mission voted to reo-pen its recreational parks with Oak Park as a botanical garden.” Many years have passed since that date without the botanical garden coming to fruition. It took a passionate group of citizens, educa-tors and gardeners in the area, all coming together, to promote the idea of making it happen by plan-ning, organizing and approaching city leaders. On Thursday, November 7th, it became official. The ground breaking ceremony took place on an overcast windy day with rain clouds all around, but not a drop fell. Mayor Todd Strange spoke of what the gardens will mean to the city, the community and visitors to Montgomery. The Montgomery Garden Club provided the delicious refreshments at the inspiring groundbreaking ceremony lead by Lallie Rogers who is the great, great grandchild of the Josephs, who were the former land owners of the Oak Park Property. Heather Coleman and Ethel Dozier Boykin, both key players in promoting the project, presented the master landscape which is currently on display at the park. It was created by Ethel Dozier Boykin and Fairlie Rinehart and features the following specialty gardens: Alabama Native Plants, Children's Garden, Biblical Garden, Japanese Garden, Fern, Hosta and

Hydrangea Garden, Ground Cover Garden, Butterfly Garden , Rose Garden, Rock Garden, Conifer, Hol-ly and Evergreen Garden and a Se-renity Garden. The park is the per-fect venue for future adult enrich-ment programs in gardening, bota-ny, nature-related art, floral design, bird watching, botanical crafts, pho-tography and health and wellness as well as children's outdoor classroom activities. The park will be a key desti-nation for the city with the following concepts of its role developed by the Montgomery Botanical Garden Board of Directors. A destination location for those traveling through Montgomery and for our citizens. A natural sci-ence-based educational experience. A role model for environmentally sound, sustainable horticultural practices. An important and profita-ble venue for events and functions. A plant collections-based living mu-seum. A museum of Alabama out-door art. Committees are being formed if you would like to sign up for any of the following: Steering, fund raising, events planning, strategic planning, history, member-ship, plant procurement, finance and

budgeting, research and park devel-opment. How can you help? The gar-dens will be developed in stages as money and hands are available. If you would like to help volunteer to work in the gardens, doing some-thing as simple as weeding, provid-ing refreshments for volunteers, or helping on a committee, please email: montgomerybotanicalgar-den@gmail.com. You may also make donations in memory of a loved one or in honor of someone. Honor bricks will be sold in the near future for paving in a garden near the front entrance. Please send donations to: Montgomery Botanical Gardens,

P.O. Box 344, Montgomery, Alabama 36101 For many, Oak Park is only a memory, but it now has a bright future role as a major recreational and educational asset in the River Region. Come watch the transfor-mation taking place in our once beloved park. It will be an exciting journey. Be a part of it.

Year and Carolyn Love Dorsey was named Intern of the Year. Our an-nual Silent Auction was again a

very fun and successful fund raiser. Our upcoming officers for 2014 were installed. Tom McLemore is serving a second term as President,

Terese Goodson as Vice President, Janine Koslofsky as Secretary and Jan Gill as Treasurer.

(Continued from page 3)

A Dream Come True ...The Montgomery Botanical

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013- Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 5

7. Central Alabama Master Gardeners By Iva Haynie

We have had a busy year. Ten of us were fortunate to attend the State MG Conference in Flor-ence earlier this year. Two of our own, Tillie Morgan and Ginny Hol-land, were recognized with their Gold Star badge for earning a thousand hours. We are still a very young club, so this is a great accomplishment. Congratula-

tions, Tillie and Ginny! Also, local members have assisted in the Classroom in the Forest—Forest in the Classroom program held at two of the Treas-ure Forests in our county. This

involved area fifth graders. We have assisted Junior Master Gardeners in programs at both the Centre Middle School and Cedar Bluff School, by plant-ing raised beds and growing

plants in a greenhouse. Some of our members assisted on campus at Auburn University for Student Career

Days earlier this year. Environmental Steward-

ship Clinics were offered by ADEM, through a Clean Water Act Section 319 and a non profit source grant provided by the US EPA of Region 4. Classes were free to anyone interested in healthy water and land manage-ment. Landon Marks of our local Cherokee County Extension Of-fice coordinated the speakers for the six classes. Eve Brantley conducted Introduction to Water Resources and Managing Streamside Forests; Kent Stan-ford did Soil Management for Healthy Water; Norm Haley III did Farm Pond Management for Healthy Water; Jennifer Johnson did Grass Management for Healthy Water; and we concluded with a Smart Yards for Healthy Water class taught by Chris Becker. We want to also thank Carolyn Landrem from the Weiss Lake Improvement Association for getting the grant for this pro-ject. Three of our MGs- Kathy Fowler, Janice Knight and Sandra

Ledbetter-attended five out of the six classes and received a note-book, tee shirt, metal yard sign,

and certificate. At monthly meetings this year, we learned all about day lilies, Firewise Landscape Design, Native Plants, Butterfly Gardens, and making our own dried flower designs and pot-

pourri. We had both a Spring and Fall plant sale. We are main-taining plantings at the Centre City Hall, Centre City Park, and the Little League baseball field. We have helped with plantings at the local radio station. We deco-rated the area for the first Chero-kee County Agricultural Fair, and

had an educational booth as well. Many thanks to all our members who have worked so hard this year. Our newest class of interns is doing a great job of pitching in and earning their re-

quired hours as well.

8. Cheaha MGA By Debbie Masters

9. Cherokee County MGA By Doug Ford & Janice Knight

In October, we held our meeting at Lanark where Maria Pacheco-West gave an interest-ing talk on native plants. Phil Easter brought lots of plants, donated by a neighbor who was moving away, and all who wanted one took them home. Our pro-jects Committee hosted an in-house plant swap in October with 11 participants and about 70 plants to swap. This will be an annual event. After 3 months meeting off site, our November meeting was at home and our program was by one of our own, Phil Easter. He demonstrated making

decorations with natural materi-als. We took home some good ideas. Some of our Master Gar-deners have volunteered at the Governor's Mansion and are making progress in getting the gardens in shape. There is much work still to be done. Other ongoing projects include work at Lanark, the Wetumpka middle school and the Lunch and Learn programs. Also, some of our members attended the ground-breaking for the Montgomery Botanical Gardens and will volun-teer their services there. The Lunch and Learn programs will

continue and the schedule and speakers are in place for 2014. We have elected officers for 2014 and they will be installed at our Christmas Luncheon which will be a catered event held at Mulder Methodist Church near Wetumpka. We look forward to good food, fun and fellowship. We will again donate peanut butter and funds to the Wetump-ka Food Bank. HAPPY HOLIDAYS. We look for-ward to another great year.

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 5 Page 6

10. Chilton County MGA By Sondra Henley

CCMGA had their second logo item sale of the year. Alice Broome who handles these two major sales does a great job selecting new colors and styles for our gardeners.

The 2013 MG Class spon-sored and manned the Chilton County fair booth during October. There they handed out upcoming class information and sold raffle tickets for a rain barrel and a wooden chest. At our November meeting we drew names for our raffle winners. Winners were; Sharon King of Ra-leigh’s Place won the rain barrel and Kath-leen Wyatt won the wooden chest. Funds raised go toward our donation to the AMGA Scholarship Fund for 2013.

We sold our left over plants from the Expo at Thorsby’s Swedish Fest held in October. This is always a fun event with crafts, food and plants being sold. The weather was nice and the attendance was great!

At our November meeting we took pictures for our 2014-15 Pictorial Directory. We decided on a half size binder so pages may be inserted or taken out and infor-mation can be easily updated. Audrey Giles and John Sanders have taken this project under their very creative wings again this year.

City planters for Clanton and Jemison were planted for the Fall and Win-ter seasons. MG assists with the planting of the Clanton planters. however, in Jemison the team selects the plants and sometimes grows them. Then the planters are planted. Both cities maintain the watering of the planters.

The Nominating Committee asked the current officers to stay on board for an-other year. All four agreed. The CCMGA 2014 Officers are: Sondra Henley, Presi-dent, Pat Farmer, Vice President, Lanell Baker, Secretary and Margaret Goolsby, Treasurer. Committee Chairman will be announced in January 2014.

Judy Wilson of Mobile, AL gave the November meeting program, Medicinal Properties of Plant Oils. She shared the uses of fresh herbs and essential oils used medicinally. The program was very educa-tional and encouraging. If you would be interested in having her for a program, you may contact her at HealthyLivingWithEssen-tialOils@gmail.com.

Sunday, December 8, the CCMGA

hosted their first Christmas Home Tour. This committee met and planned with three Clan-ton homeowners who opened their lovely homes, allowing MG to put fresh greenery among their decorations. This presented how to use fresh greenery during the holiday season. These gracious homeowners were: Melvin and Dot Hartley, Judge Bobby and Judy Martin and Joe and Adrianne Dennis. We cannot thank them enough for their gen-erosity and hospitality especially since the day was wet and muggy. After touring the homes, guests were invited to the Chilton County Extension Office for hot cider and cookies. Our Awards Ceremony Committee has been hard at work making decisions on awards and nomination forms. This is our first year to recognize CCMGA members for the outstanding work they have always per-formed. The committee worked many months deciding on nomination forms, se-lecting judges and awards. November 19, Mallory Kelley, Kevin Corley & Patrick Cook met at the Chilton County office and select-ed the winners out of two categories. Ms. Sam prepared a wonderful lunch for all in attendance afterwards. Alice Broome worked closely with this group ordering lapel pins for the awards and designing the cer-tificates. Sadly our Committee Chair-man, Mrs. Mary Ann Braden “Ms. Sam” Whisner was killed in an auto-mobile accident shortly before the cere-mony. We will miss her sweet smile and presence. Her husband Dick Whisner was scheduled to emcee the festivities. We quickly regrouped and carried on with her vision.

At our December meeting held our first Awards Ceremony and Christmas Luncheon. Our awards presented were: For Outstanding Service and Dedication to CCMGA – Our nominees were Audrey Giles, Jimmy and Mildred Knowles, Steve McNally and Trisha Williams. Our winner was Trisha Williams. For the Service Project of Year Recognition - The nominees were County Planters, Creation Kids Program, Fig and Vine Team and the Website Team . The winner was Creation Kids Program of Bluff Park UMC. Chilton County Master Garden-ers working with this program are: Chris Kirkland, Wayne Freeman and Joan Davis. Top Hours (excluded Officers and Hours Coordinator) , 1st place - Audrey Giles, 2nd Place- Steve McAnally, 3rd Place - Bettye Glass and MG 2013 Intern Top Hours - Margie Robertson, Top CEU Hours – Jimmy and Mildred Knowles. Our Friends of CCMGA are the keys to our success, the 2013 awards were given to: Mayor Eddie Reed and the City of Jemison – thank you for working with the CCMGA and providing our meeting room. Judge Bobby and Judy Martin, Joe and Adrianne Dennis, Melvin and Dot Hart-ley – gracious hosts for our 2013 Christmas Home Tour. Elaine Densmore, Elaine Staton, Sandra Steverson – Chilton County Exten-sion Office Secretarial Staff- always gra-cious helpful and cheerful. Emily Beckett of Clanton Advertis-er – works hard to keep us in front of the community in the news. Marty Martin, Landscape Consult-ant – gives freely of his time, his advice and

his garden junk and pots. Certificates of Appreciation went to Regional Agent Nelson Wynn, Coordi-nator Gay West and Director Jim Pitts. There are not enough words to express how much we appreciate each of them. After the awards presentation we had a sumptuous meal prepared by CCM-GA cooks. Our special guests, city work-ers, and family members were fed a won-derful holiday meal with all the trimmings. Tables were covered with red tablecloths

and centerpieces were provided by our more crafty members. Presents were exchanged before members went home. CCMGA wishes you and yours a Merry Christmas and a joyful and peaceful New Year.

“Ms. Sam”

Tour guest, Chilton County Extension Coordinator Gay West and Joan McGriff,

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 7

12. Coffee County MGA By Jim Coles

11. Claybank MGA By Carole Ball

The Claybank Master Gar-deners had a busy Fall season. For the first time, the CMGs initiated and successfully carried out a big Fall Plant Sale on September 14. The sale raised funds for the Vivian B. Adams School (VBA) and the Ozark Dale County Public Library.

The Claybank Jamboree followed on October 5, which was a great time to promote the CMGs and ACES by handing out publications and providing general information about planting, drip irrigation, insect control and the like. Guest speaker, John Bar-baccia presented a seminar on herbs at the CMG monthly meeting on October 17. Mr. Barbaccia owns “The Herb & Spice Shop” In Enterprise, Al. He was a wealth of information about medicinal herbs.

Interns from the Recent MG Class in Coffee County came out to help sell plants and earn some hours for certification.

Starla Andrews, greenhouse coordinator, worked hard to offer all the favorite seasonal plants for the VBA’s annual Christmas Bazaar. Master Gardener’s Susan Kenny, Janet Shinaberry and Dee Gilbert helped plant little succulents in cups and saucers for the sale. Susan also donated her crafty wreaths and Twila

Baldwin propagated the kalancho’s for this particular event. The CMG Christmas party was held at Applebee’s on 12 De-cember. A child’s gift was donated by each member and the group par-ticipated in a plant swap that was anticipated and enjoyed by all at-tendees. Children’s gifts were placed under the tree and Jan Shinnaberry delivered them to the drop off at the Ozark Fire Department.

Secretary Dee Gilbert arranged the gathering, decorations and placed surprise gifts on the tree for members. President Mike Porterfield declared 2013 a very successful year for the CMG’s and would like to extend Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas to all and a Blessed 2014!

We are so excited to welcome our newest Master Gardeners to the Coffee County Master Gardeners Associa-tion family. Of the 17 interns who took the 2013 class, 8 were certified at our October meeting. Our members ended 2013 with a November Christ-mas/Holiday party involving lots of good food and fellowship and the fun with a Dirty Santa game.

Here it is December and another year has passed. We look forward to a great new year and many new pro-grams. It is time to thank all our members for their enthu-siasm and hard work. This is our New Year’s Wish: “A happy and bountiful New Year. May you

be rewarded with plenty of flowers , and abundance of fruits and vegetables, and enough rainwater to take away the garden’s thirst. Sunny days to lift your spirit and a shady spot to sit and enjoy this beautiful world.” HAPPY NEW YEAR.

15. DeKalb County MGA By Dawn Earley

Garden Pathways Winter- 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 8

The last quarter of 2013 may have been slow as far as gardening goes, but the CCMGA has been bustling as always! Our County Fair ran from September 12 – 23, and we are happy to report that, in a contest against other com-munity clubs and local chari-ties, the CCMGA took the prize for best booth! (This makes the 3rd year running!) Our theme this year was on attracting our native pollinators, which is important not just for home grounds, but for agriculture and the environment as well. On October 3, 30 of us took a field trip to the Atlanta His-tory Center. While the lavish, historic gardens and verdant pathways were awe-inspiring, the camaraderie on the bus trip truly made half the fun getting there. Then on October 26, several MGs pitched in to help with Peinhardt

Living History Farm Day. Forty acres of land were open to share a wealth of information about our agricultural herit-age. About 2,000 people came out for such activities as an antique tractor parade and show, a plowing mule, sor-ghum making, and to pick corn, cotton,

and okra. Our County Fair booth made another appear-ance; we shared information on gourd cleaning; and MGs also helped children paint pumpkins. We had a Work Day at the Demonstration Garden on November 6. Plants were divid-ed and trimmed, and we all had a merry time, ending in lunch at the Busy Bee Café. Then we made headway in our Rain Gar-den – finishing the deck, plant-ing trees, and placing the large rocks. Thanks to Dodd Natives nursery, several shrubs were donated that will soon be plant-

ed. Finally, we had a candy-cane themed Christmas party on

December 8. The decorations were fes-tive; the food, scrumptious; the Dirty Santa gift-swapping… in the true spirit of gardening, “dirty!” And that wraps up the final quarter for the CCMGAI – with a bow!

14. Cullman County MGA By Jennifer Underwood

Blessings of the season fellow gardeners. 2013 is almost over and it has been a busy year. Many of our members are already preparing for our Spring plant sale. We have cut-tings down for several plants and those which aren’t ready for 2014 will be sold in 2015. The Children’s Advocacy Cen-ter in Dekalb County moved into a new facility this year and has asked us to help with the design and planting of the grounds. We are more than happy to help with this project. They provide such a vital service to our area. We are now discussing having

a Lunch and Learn program for lunchtime in Fort Payne. Starting with Linda Stephens, who will do a program on birds and getting lists of possible subjects from attendees for future events. We are also planning a Spring conference for Saturday, March 8 or 15 with Dani Caroll discussing vegetables and Stanley Sims talking about raised bed gardens. We lost one of our members early in the Fall. Emma Jordan passed away on Sep 30. She was a ray of sun-shine and always had a smile on her face. She is greatly missed.

13. Covington County MGA By Bonnie Reed

Emma Jordan

The County Fair booth that Holly Hirsbrunner, our elected MG of the Year, helped design. Also in the photo is Vanda

Antaillia,

18. Fayette County MGA

Garden Pathways Winter 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 9

Etowah County Master Gardeners had a busy fall. In October, we made a day trip, by bus, to visit the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, to view the Mosaic Sculp-tures from Canada that were on display at the time. The speaker at our October meeting was Dan Spauld-ing, from Calhoun County, who gave a presentation on endangered animals. In November, Jahn Coppey, of Wills Creek Vineyard (a local vineyard and winery) gave a presentation on growing muscadines and making and merchandizing muscadine wine. Lawrence Brasher (Birmingham Southern College) gave a presentation on native plants in De-cember. In addition, new officers and board members were elected for 2014. The Etowah County association is publishing a cookbook as a fundraiser. Recipes in the book were submitted by local Master gardeners and their friends and family. The books should be available in mid-December. The association's greenhouse work crew has begun propagating plants for the annual greenhouse plant sale, which is held each year, in April. The greenhouses have been cleaned, sanitized and newly renovated, and an amazing number of plants are be-ing planted and maintained daily. Our association is in the process of purchas-ing the property where our greenhouses have been located since the construction of the first greenhouse. Currently, the association has three greenhouses,

with a fourth greenhouse scheduled to be erected, in early 2014.

Photo 1: Etowah County’s green-houses are filling quickly with plants, in preparation for the annual sale in

April. Photo 2: At the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, this large shaggy dog was the most realistic of the assortment of mosaic sculptures. The dog, approxi-mately 5 feet tall, is made of living, stiff, brown ornamental grass. The eyes and nose are made of glass and plastic.

He's beautiful.

17. Etowah County MGA By Carol Link

We are so excited to welcome our newest Master Gardeners! Of the 17 interns who took the 2012 class, 15 were certified at our November meet-ing. We also have one 2009 graduate who was in-spired to earn her hours and was certified in Novem-ber.

Front row: Cookie Smith, Syble Benefield, Ann Boozer Second row: Laurie Howe, Janet Smith, Sheila Bolen,

Elaine Harris, Trudine Smith, Baisy Thompson Back row: Tommy Harris, Harry Clark, Jackie Bolen,

Gary Smith, and Paul Smith Toni Gay and Ann Neighbors were unable to attend. We also elected officers at our November meeting. They are Syble Benefield, Historian; Almeta Partin, Treasurer; Ann Hammond, President; Vickie Stapler, Vice President, and Sheila Bolen, Secretary/Newsletter Editor. Following the certification of our interns, we enjoyed a bountiful Thanksgiving meal.

16. East Central Alabama MGA By Martha Burnett

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 10

On a beautiful fall day in October, the JCM-GA held their annual plant swap at a very special place. Bob and Nita Head have donated their 486 acre property in the Paint Rock Valley to the Ala-bama Coopera-tive Extension System via the Jackson County Extension Of-fice. The donat-ed property had been in Nita’s family for 81 years. To honor her family and to highlight the historical signifi-cance of the ar-ea it has been named the Gra-ham Farm and Nature Center. Mike Sims, Jackson County Extension Coordinator, has worked closely with the Heads. He reports, “The whole mission of the project is to provide historical and natural re-source education, to serve as a base site for research to release scientific information and to become a model site for the management of natu-ral resources. We also have the responsibility of

developing programs in order to create funding for the site.” This is an ongoing project in its earliest stages of development. It will be exciting to see what important educational and recreational pro-

grams come from this generous gift to the people of Jackson County and the state of Alabama. The legacy of the Graham family will live on in the form of an outdoor retreat and educational center. Pictured are the house and one

of the barns on the property.

Please join us for this 2014

webinar series for information you

can use about good and bad

insects.

Webinars will be on the first Fri-

day of each month at 2 p.m. East-

ern.

February 7 If Flowers are Restau-

rants to Bees, Then What Are

Bees to Flowers?

Dr. John Skinner

March 7 Straight Talk About Ter-

mites

Dr. Xing Ping Hu

April 4 Get Tick Smart: 10 Things

to Know, 5 Things to Do

Dr. Thomas Mather

May 2 Are Those Itsy Bitsy

Spiders Good or Bad?

Dr. Nancy Hinkle

June 6 Fire Ant Management

Elizabeth Brown

August 1 Minimize Mosquito

Problems

Molly Keck

September 5 Kudzu Bug Takes

Over the Southeastern U.S./

Brown Marmorated Stinkbug—All

Bad

Dr. Michael Toews/Dr. Tracy Les-key

October 3 Alien Invasions,

Zombies Under Foot, and Billions

of Decapitated Fire Ants

Dr. Sanford Porter

November 7 Where Have All the

Honey Bees Gone? Hope for the

Future

Dr. John Skinner

For more information on the series and how to connect to the webinars, visit: http://

www.extension.org/pages/70120.

19. Jackson County MGA By Judy Lessmann

All Bugs Good and Bad

21. Lee County MGA By Tomi Dugas

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 11

20. Jefferson County MGA By Fletcher Harvey

With changing (and falling) leaves, and more than a few plant sales, seminars, work-shops, and symposia, October worked its magic and settled into

the record books. The folks from the Community Gardens Coalition for Birmingham held forth at our October meeting, explaining the

mission of the coalition as well as some interesting volunteer opportunities. New officers of JCMGA were elected at the meet-ing, and we extend hearty congratulations to

Roger Clarke and his crew. Master Gardener Hope Long, director of the Library at BBG, brought us Amy Stewart,

author of The Drunken Bota-nist. Amy dis-cussed her latest book and at-tendees sipped representative libations from her

recipes. Those present agreed that this was

truly a special evening with a very special speaker. Several local Master Gardeners were joined by MGs from Mobile, Nash-

ville, and beyond. Our November meeting was our annual banquet honor-

ing the twenty six graduates of the 2013 Intern Classes and installation of officers for the upcoming year. Gary Gerlach, who retired

“several” years ago as Director of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, entertained with anecdotes and reminiscences of the early days of BBG and the origins of our Jefferson County Master

Gardener program. Our congratulations are extended

to our officers for 2014; President, Roger Clarke; First Vice President, Ann Gray Har-vey; Second Vice President: Pat Cosgrove; Treasurer, Lisa Ennis; Secretary, Hope Cooper and Immediate Past President,

Fletcher Harvey. On December 5, Friends of Bir-mingham Botanical Gardens launched a yearlong celebration of its 50th Anniversary at its annual Volunteer Appreciation Lunch-

eon. Honored at the luncheon were A. Brand Walton, Jr. Unsung Hero Volunteer of the Year, Natalie Lee; Ida C. Burns Volunteer of the Year, Mike Rushing; Plant People of the Year, Alicia and Ken Hall; Educator of the Year, Carol Hagood…all Master Gardeners! Volunteer Partner of the Year was awarded to the Native Plant Group, several members

of which are also Master Gardeners. 2013 has been a great year for JCMGA, and we look forward to the same for 2014. Gardeners are special people, and Master Gardeners are VERY special people. We wish you a happy holiday season and a

very happy new gardening year. War Tide, Roll Eagle and other

appropriate sentiments…

NATIVE PLANT PEOPLE

JEFFERSON COUNTY GRADUATES

AWARD WINNERS

AMY STEWART

PLANT SALE

Gary Gerlach

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 12

24. Marshall County MGA By Linda Widner

As always the fall and winter has been busy for the Master Gardeners of North Ala-bama. We have arranged and taught gardening classes to our new Habitat for Humanity home-owners, finished up a another wonderful Master Gardener class (44 new Master Gardeners this year), had a fantastic plant swap with lots of new plants, and end-ed up with another outstanding Christmas Social with the best food ever and lots of well-earned

awards. In October we worked

with the Huntsville Botanical Gar-den Plant Sale and did pH testing for many local gardeners. In Oc-tober we also had a fantastic plant swap during our meeting with over 100 plants for the mem-

bers. As part of our outreach to

the community we decorated a Christmas Garden tree at the Huntsville Library to showcase

Master Gardeners and we han-dled tickets and movement of cars for the Huntsville Botanical

Garden Galaxy of Lights. In December we had over

150 folks for our annual Christ-mas Social and Awards night. We awarded Max Campbell the New Project award. Max worked with an Eagle Scout to form a large vegetable garden on diffi-cult property behind the Exten-sion Service building on Cook Ave. Max did a great job and raised a ton of vegetables given to those in need. Carolyn Wade and Tom Simpson shared Intern of the Year. Project of the Year was given to Andria Cummings, editor of “Garden Thymes,” who pulled articles out of the mem-bership, scrapbooks, and tall ta-les to write the best newsletters we’ve ever had—citing, especial-ly this year, the 25

th Anniversary

of MGNA. Each edition has been a work of art. Our Master Gar-

dener of the Year is Dorothy Thomas who has served the Herb Society while serving as Secre-tary for MGNA and doing any job that needed to be done. Janet Szofran received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work starting the Horticultural Therapy project and also helping every-where needed. Congratulations

to all our honorees. Our big winter project is a

new irrigation system for the Demonstration Vegetable Garden at the Huntsville Botanical Gar-den. It is in process and Joe White who has led this project the last two years is excited about the help it will be in the

next season. A new year has begun

and we are excited about all the projects we are doing. From our association, Happy New Year and Happy Gardening in 2014 to all of

you.

23. Marble County MGA

22. Limestone County MGA By Joni Gruber

25. Master Gardeners of North Alabama By Elouisa Stokes

"The name, given to the month of 'January', is derived from the ancient

Roman name 'Janus' who presided over the gate to the new year. He

was revered as the 'God of Gateways', 'of Doorways' and 'of the Jour-

ney.' Janus protected the 'Gate of Heaven', known as the 'Lord

of Beginnings', is associated with the 'Goddess Juno-Janus', and often

symbolized by an image of a face that looks forwards and backwards

at the same time. This symbolism can easily be associated with the

month known by many as the start of a new year which brings new opportunities. We

cast out the old and welcome in the new. It is the time when many reflect on events of

the previous year and often resolve to redress or improve some aspect of daily life or

personal philosophy." - Mystical World Wide Web

27. Morgan County MGA By Sonja Hyatt

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 13

Field Trip to Jim Allen's Garden Morgan County Master Gardeners enjoyed a beautiful day in October visiting our fellow Master Gardener Jim Allen's tropical garden. We entered the garden gate sheltered by a Pom-egranate tree brimming with fruit. Appropriately placed was the "Kiss Me by the Gate" shrub. After walking by the Paw Paw tree, Chaste tree and Fig trees,

we were soon surrounded by hardy palms, banana trees, several varieties of alocacia and colocasia. It was like we were in the middle of a tropical forest. Jim's garden is in North Alabama in Zone 7. Capturing the tropical setting required

much work to create and maintain season after season. As we strolled the brick pathways lined with mondo grass, we saw the many structures Jim has constructed. There are three shade shelters made of reclaimed cedar fence posts for hanging plants, many of which are succu-

lents. Another shade structure for vines, along the back fence, follows the same rugged cedar post theme as the birdhouse above the fence and the fascia on the greenhouse. Construct-ed as a solar passive structure, the greenhouse has shelves and hangers throughout to ac-commodate over 600 of Jim's plants during the winter. Many of his plants, including cacti and succulents were already in the greenhouse because of ex-pected freezing temperatures.

(Continued on page 14)

26. Mobile County MGA By Nancy Adams

December already….What happened to September, October, and November? In September, the 2013 Master Gardener Class was busy learning about soil types, insects, landscape design, and all that goes into this great program. Penny Claiborne organized a great field trip to Bellingrath Gar-dens in Theodore, where the cas-cading mums were at their peak. JoAnne Ortmann presented an en-lightening program on shade gar-dening for the regular first Monday Lunch & Learn program. And Ma-rie Dyson gave tips on ways to use native and drought-tolerant plants in appropriate locations – all for the ultimate purpose of protecting our Gulf and the environment. She

recommended the publication, Ala-bama Smart Yards, for detailed information. Sadly, in September we mourned the loss of Marion Drum-mond, former Executive Director of Mobile Botanical Gardens, who was a valued member of Master Gardeners and was known all over the South for her work with various plant societies. Thanks to County Exten-sion Agent Ellen Huckabay and Master Gardener President Connie Barron, plans are for us to imple-ment in the winter/spring gardening season a program called Harvest for Health, an educational program that pairs Master Gardener volun-teers as mentors with cancer survi-vors who are non-gardeners.

Several Master Gardeners spent the first week in December creating beautiful wreaths, table decora-tions, mailbox toppers, and more with natural greenery donated by our members and friends. These creations, along with beautiful bows, were then sold on December 6-7 at the annual Master Garden-ers’ Christmas Greenery Sale. Proceeds from this sale each year provide a scholarship for a deserv-ing Mobile County horticulture stu-dent at Auburn University. Connie Barron was cho-sen Master Gardener of the Year, and Genie Schneider, Rookie of the Year at the annual Christmas banquet.

Spring IS ON MARCH 20, 2014 …. Only 66 days away!

Page 14 Garden Pathways - Winter 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56

Outside the back fence were more banana trees and Jim's special composting system. He gathers leaves and lawn clip-pings from the neighborhood to provide compost for his garden. Just inside the fence is a small vegetable garden where he grows tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers and beans. There are many varieties of ferns, rex begon-ias, and lilies. When asked about his favorite plants, Jim replied, "Some of my faves in the garden during growing season are the alocasias, colocasias, and xan-thosomas but I also like the bana-nas. In the greenhouse I lean to-ward the euphorbias and cacti. But I like them all. They are my chil-dren…you can’t pick one over the other." As we left through the gate on the other side we passed a fruit-ful Asian persimmon tree waiting for its first frost to sweeten the fruit. Along the side of the house was a dense bed of ferns. A set of bells made from propane cylinders is example of Jim's artistic creativity in his garden as well as the clay pot bell on the gate. He has created an exotic paradise. Field Trip to 1818 Farms We left Jim Allen's garden to visit a working farm in Moores-ville, Alabama, called 1818 Farms. The Farms are operated by Laurence and Natasha McCrary and their children. Mrs. McCrary explains “The idea for this family

project originated with my middle child, Gamble, who fell in love with the Baby doll Southdown Sheep that he met at a petting farm we visited in October 2011. Owning a Baby doll was all he could talk about, so, thinking this would be fun and educational for our family to do together, I began research-ing where to buy a few lambs to raise as a family project on our land here in Mooresville. And then, as Gamble, my 8 year-old entrepre-neur, began to plan what he was going to do with his sheep: sell the wool, sell the manure to garden shops, charge for photographs, and even stage a Nativity scene at the church if he could find a baby, I began to dream my own plans for a small profitable farm where we could teach our children to appreci-ate the land and animals and to be good conservationists. We also wanted to teach them the im-portance of being self-sustaining.” They have barn cats, hens, a pot-bellied pig, Pygmy and Nubian goats, Baby doll South-down sheep and two Great Pyre-nees guardian dogs. We enjoyed getting close to the animals in their fields. "In an adjacent field laven-der and other herbs are grown for the fragrances in hand-made soaps and for wreaths and bou-quets. Classes in raised bed gar-dening, food preservation, wool spinning and knitting, and parties for children are held in a small building on the farm." We walked along the garden to see the zinnias, lavender, other herbs and heirloom vegetables which they sell at local

markets. We enjoyed a nice lunch in the garden house/classroom prepared by Chef Jake Reed of Albany Bistro. This was truly an amazing day. *Some of the italicized text is excerpted from the website, 1818Farms.com . December Meeting/ Christmas Social

In December, we ended our year by gathering to share holiday foods, stories, laughter and memories. We want to recognize and remember the fellow Master Gardeners who have passed on this year. Their contributions to our association are appreciated. Floyd Mims was a very pleasant and friendly man. He worked with Cotaco School toward developing an outdoor classroom. He helped each year with the greenhouse cover and potting supplies. We always enjoyed the desserts he made. Our Honorary member, Tom Close, husband of Brenda Close, was ready to help with any projects we had going on. He helped with the Hypertufa Work-shop and many greenhouse pro-jects. Quite often he met the "greenhouse ladies" for lunch after they had worked on Wednesdays. He added an extra touch to our plant sales each year by playing the harmonica. Others who were members in previous years: Jean Morrow Tune, 89, was a very interesting person involved in many things, including wildflower gardening, herb and or-ganic vegetable farming. She and her family started Tune Organic Farms in Falkville, Alabama. George Hobart Sipes, Jr., 90, was our parliamentarian in pre-vious years. He spent much time going over the by-laws at our meetings trying to keep us straight.

(Continued from page 13)

Garden Pathways Fall 2013- Volume 13 Issue 55 Page 15

30. Shelby County MGA By Susan Seng

29. Russell County MGA

31. Shoals MGA By Sarah Haggstrom

Shoals Master Gardeners have been busy this fall working on several projects for the com-munity. We have two ambitious projects in Muscle Shoals work-ing with the public library and McBride elementary school. The library requested our assistance designing an outside fairy gar-den for the younger children. It is almost complete and we invite you to visit this project if you are in the area. McBride Elementary school asked us to continue an old project they started several years ago showing different types of gardens in the central courtyard. We added a butterfly garden, wildflower garden, frog

habitat, and are working on a secret garden with space for children to enjoy many types of plants. Shoals Master gardeners are also helping our extension agent Chris Becker develop a community garden for the city of Florence. The raised beds are built, irrigation installed, and many of the beds are filled with cotton gin trash as a start for planting next spring. Other pro-jects include landscape design for the Healing Place and Shoals Save a Live. In addition to these activities we decorated a 12 foot tree for the Tennessee Valley Art Center's "Trees of Christmas" event. Our tree is called "one for

the Birds" and it will be dis-played until the end of December at the art center. The November meeting was exciting because we wel-comed our intern class as "official new members". This class has been outstanding in their service to our group. De-cember we will enjoy our annual Christmas party and welcome

the new officers for 2014.

Kaye Hillis - President

Peggie Lazenby - Vice-

President

Martha Black - Secretary

H.L. Noah - Treasure We have had a busy year and look forward to 2014 with it's

new challenges.

Shelby County had our election for new officers during our December meeting. They are as

follows:

Susan Seng - President

Karen Jensen - Vice President

Beth Heerten - Secretary

Debbie Kattus - Treasurer

Our officers are off and ready for our first

board meeting in January! We had a great time at our December meet-ing with about fifty members present! Our yearly December meeting is dirty Santa and our garden-ers had to fight over a hand tool or bird house! We sure gave lots of fun! Ten of our members have agreed to be a part of a partnership program with recovering can-cer patients. Training was held this past week and

our folks are very excited to be a part of helping

others grow healthy foods! Our November meeting was so much fun also. All members brought anything growing or dried from their own back yards. We then had a contest to make basket arrangements from these treasures. We made ten baskets and ten lucky

members took them home! Our Vice President, Mary K. Tomas did an outstanding job this year planning our programs! Not only did she utilize our own talented members, she also planned great programs on native plants,

ferns and others. Thanks, Mary K! Our local Botanical Gardens and Aldridge gardens benefit from the help of Shelby County Master Gardeners. Many hours are spent in these

beautiful places!

28. Pike County By Sheri Brooks

Here's to the bright New Year, and a fond farewell to the old; here's to the things that

are yet to come, and to the memories that we hold.

Page 16 Garden Pathways - Winter 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56

Oh, the weather might be frightful with all the fog that we have been having but we have a brand new year to look forward too. Recapping 2013, we have had many projects completed so hats off to a good project chair and members. This year most of our CEU’s were gained by the wealth of information that our

members have shared. We have had an excellent year. December was installing new officers to begin their role in 2014. The officers are Frank Peo-ples, president; Gloria Adams, vice present; Donnie Olis, secre-tary; Tim Barnes, asst. secretary; Adrienne Bourland, treasure; Pam Garrison, asst. treasure. We

had a wonderful Christmas party and our interns were awarded their badges. January’s meeting will be a planning session in get-ting new committee chairs and making more plans for the year. What an exciting year ahead for

us.

33. Tallapoosa County MGA

32. St. Clair County MGA By Patricia Peoples

34. Tuscaloosa County MGA By Judith Rives

As we finish up 2013, the Tuscaloosa County MGA feels we had a very productive year. Sep-tember was extremely satisfying as we hosted a very successful fall conference on landscaping with edibles. We were busy in October as well. Local designer Claire Nichols instructed us on “The Prin-ciples of Landscape Design” at our meeting. Also that month, we part-nered with Tuscaloosa County Ex-tension to host a Seed Saver Workshop. Charlotte Hagood of Sand Mountain Seedbank came to present the program which was open to the community. We have a website under construction, and we are the first association to use the new Ala-bama Cooperative Extension Sys-tem server. Although she has a full-time job, our Webmaster, Amelia Pilsch, has been working on this

tirelessly. Our new web address is www.mg.aces.edu/tuscaloosa , so check us out! We had a very special De-cember meeting, where we recog-nized our 2013 MG Intern class. Dr. John C. Hall gave an entertain-

ing and educational program, “William Bartram in Alabama”. Members were asked to bring food donations for the West Alabama

Food Bank, and the total weight of the donations was 294 pounds! We have a new President and Vice-President for 2014 so changes and new ideas are forth-coming.

Our new officers are

President - Jeanie Gray

Vice-President - Ann Hewitt

Secretary - Joan Wood

Treasurer - Linda Baggett

2014 - here we come!

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

32. Tallapoosa County MGA By Prencella Hamby

33. Tuscaloosa County MGA By Judith Rives

This summer, Tuscaloosa County Master Gardeners have continued to help maintain planted beds at the University of Alabama Arboretum. We also help promote Tuscaloosa County Extension work-shops and invite the public to our regular meetings during the monthly “Master Gardener Monday” seg-ment on a local television station. We are furnishing herbs for the Hill-crest High School greenhouse, a program for special needs students. We had meetings that in-cluded Michelle Reynolds speaking on native succulents, Barbara Saurer encouraging us to invite chickens into our backyard, and the one and only “Captain Compost”, William Cureton. We finished off the summer with a picnic at the UA Ar-boretum and plant swap for our September meeting. Our main focus this sum-

mer has been to prepare for our fall conference, “The Tasteful Land-scape; Mixing Flowers & Food”, which was held September 7. We learned so much from our speakers, and were happy to welcome the general public and Master Garden-ers from other associations. We are now inspired to have vegetables, fruits, and herbs included in our home landscapes, with plenty of plants to attract pollinators. Fall gar-dening, here we come!

Garden Pathways Fall - 2013- Volume 13 Issue 55 Page 22

34. Walker MGA By Linda Wilson

35. Wiregrass MGA By Beth Arnold

Garden Pathways Winter - 2013 - Volume 13 Issue 56 Page 17

36. Wiregrass MGA By Beth Arnold

2013 has proven to be a unique learning experience for members of the WMGA. Earlier this year the WMGA began the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, only to find that an effort to complete this pro-cess in 2006 left our organization classified as a C-Corp for the past seven years. To be brief, we owed taxes for the past seven years, and will incur more tax lia-bility in the New Year. Despite this, our organization remains driven to work on our designated projects and fulfill our mission as Alabama Master Gardeners. At some point during 2014 the WMGA should become an official 501(c)(3) organization. I couldn’t be more proud to be associated with this organization. Our volunteers continue to spend many hours working at Landmark Park, the Dothan Area Botanical Gardens, Southeast Alabama Youth Services, and other local agencies who conduct horticulture education programs and services. And, although our financial support for these organi-zations will be negligible this year, our volunteer services remain strong and willing to put forth 110% effort. This past October, Mr. Monte Baugh, a graduate student from Auburn University’s school of Horticulture, completed the plant-ing of three raised beds, as well as numerous, large container gardens full of annuals at the Dothan Area Botanical Gardens. This project will continue through April when final evaluations of the

plants will be made and Mr. Baugh will prepare the results of the study. There are only three such research projects taking place in the state, so we are honored to have been chosen to assist Mr. Baugh with his trials. Next week our associa-tion members will come together to celebrate the birth of Christ. As we do so, it is important to recog-nize our outgoing President, Wayne VanLandingham, for his dedication to this organization. Wayne shares his love of Christ with everyone he knows. We thank him for his hard work during his time as President these past two years. As the incoming Presi-dent, I am most thankful that he will remain active on the board. His knowledge and experience will be invaluable for the coming year. It is so important for com-munity organizations such as Wiregrass Area Master Garden-ers to pull together for the better-ment of our state. In these times, we can all make a difference and bring joy into the lives of others. Gardening may seem like such a small thing to some, but the peace people can find in the soil and plants is what we offer. As 2014 approaches, we remain optimistic about the suc-cess of the WMGA. Our volun-teers will continue to educate the public, conduct research, and pro-vide the expertise of volunteers to many other organizations and events. The WMGA has an amaz-ing board ready to begin.

Officers for 2014 are: President - Beth Arnold, Vice President – Devonne Ellis, Secretary – Lamar Glover, Treasurer – Catherine Fancher.

35. Walker MGA By Linda Wilson

Master Gardener Glenda Haney teases the roots of a new variety of ornamental kale

being planted at the DABG Research

beds.

School children come to the vegetable garden at Landmark Park to learn how early

settlers grew crops for food.

"...gardenmaking is a joyful pursuit that evolves and changes over time."

Julie Moir Messervy, The Inward Garden