Aransas/San Patricio Master Gardeners

By:  Timothy Mullin, Master Gardener It would be an error to assume that the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Dr. Joel Poinsett ‘discovered’ the plant we call by his name.  While Mr. Poinsett was the first person to bring the plant back to the United States, the native inhabitants of Central America had known about this winter blooming plant for a long time. Spanish overlords sent samples to Carl Linnaeus for official descriptions and naming in the 1700s, but it isn’t an easy plant to bring into bloom,… Read More →

Due to construction at the Agri-Life building, the November Brown Bag will be held at the Aquarium Education Center, 706 Navigation Center, Rockport. It is not necessary to register, just come and enjoy this free program hosted by the Aransas/San Patricio Master Gardeners and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Aransas County Office. For more information call 361- 790-0103. Feel free to bring your own brown bag lunch. The Pop-Up Plant Sale usually held after the Brown Bag has been cancelled due to flooding in the Garden.

No, it is not a swamp.  It is the entrance to the Coastal Oaks Demonstration Garden.  The drainage pond has been out of its banks for over a month and has kept areas in the Demonstration Garden under almost knee deep water. Since it started raining in September, work at the Coastal Oaks Demonstration Garden has been limited to the upper gardens.  The Children’s Garden Area, Granny’s Garden and the Office beds are doing well and all the rain has been making them look lush. We have lost… Read More →

Granny’s House was toppled by hurricane Harvey in August of 2017. The Nueces County Master Gardeners came to help with garden clean up in September of 2017.  Workers removed the fallen trees and debris so that the house could be righted. Once the area was cleared of all the debri.  Granny’s house was set back up but still in need of some major repair work. San Patricio County Master Gardener, Gus Halliman accepted the challenge and began the repairs.  He finished all the repairs this summer and brought… Read More →

Final preparations are underway for the Aransas/San Patricio Master Gardener’s Fall Plant Sale.  The sale will be held this Saturday, September 8 from 9 am until 1 pm at Coastal Oaks Garden, 892 Airport Road, Rockport, TX 78382.  You will want to come early for the best selection. Master Gardeners will be working all week setting up the propagation area in the Coastal Oaks Demonstration Garden for the sale.  They will be busy tagging plants and moving them around to the sale tables to make them easy for… Read More →

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Rockport exactly one year ago – August 25, 2017.  So on August 25, 2018 the Master Gardeners remembered by holding a workday in the Children’s Garden area of the Coastal Oaks Demonstration Garden. Master Gardeners along with members of the 2018 Intern class met at 7:30 am to weed flower beds, clear paths and prune trees. Another special event was held last Thursday, August 23 during the regular Landscape Committee meeting.  At that event Master Gardeners and Interns worked in the main garden… Read More →

We had a full house on Tuesday when Aransas County AgriLife Extension Agent, Virginia “Ginger” Easton Smith took to the floor to talk about TREES.  Our local tree population is still stressed one year after Hurricane Harvey blew through the Coastal Bend.  Ginger shared with us what we need to do to help our trees to not only live, but to thrive.  Unfortunately, she said that many of our trees are barely hanging in there and that we may still loose some of them.  She told us that… Read More →

It is always sad when one of our members moves away but it was doubly sad today when we gathered for a luncheon in the AgriLife Conference Room to say goodbye to two of our members, Laurel Cahill and Todd Cutting. Laurel is leaving us to move back to her hometown in Ohio.  She, her husband Dave and her mother June will be leaving in a couple of weeks. Todd and his wife Charlotte will be moving back to Michigan at the end of the month. Laurel has… Read More →

ROCKPORT – Pot People invaded the AgriLife Conference room on Saturday, July 21, 2018 from 10 am until noon.  They are currently bringing joy and whimsy to 15 different backyards in the Rockport area. Linda Swiggett, Aransas County Master Gardener once again presented her very popular workshop on how to make Pot People.  Linda has been a Master Gardener since 2014 and has created much of the art that can be seen in the Coastal Oaks Demonstration Gardens, especially in the Children’s Garden area which was a special… Read More →