Board Meeting: 8:30 – 10:00
Social: 10:00 – 10:30
Program: 10:30 – 12:00
Officer Elections & Faye Berry on Laws and Regulations
Lunch-N-Learn Series Fayette County-Tree Facts
Tree Facts by Daniel Lewis
Registration at 11:50-12:05
Program from 12:05 – 12:50
Bring your own lunch and drink.
All programs are free to the public!
BMGA Chapter Meeting – Weimer
BMGA Chapter Meeting
Board Meeting: 8:30 – 10:00
Social: 10:00 – 10:30
Program: 10:30 – 12:00
Wildseed Farms, Inc.
Wildseed Farms has been growing fields of wildflowers for the production of seed for over 35 years. We are the nation’s largest working wildflower farm with over 200 acres in Fredericksburg Texas.
BMGA Chapter Meeting – La Grange
Board Meeting: 8:30 – 10:00
Social: 10:00 – 10:30
Program: 10:30 – 12:00
Presentation: Water Features and Small Fountains for the Landscape/Yards by Richard Schafer – BMGA, Designs & Creates Fountains & Ponds, 254-644-1193, Email: richardtschafer@yahoo.com
Canceled – Kids’ Kamp – Austin County
Tuesday – Thursday
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 P.M
All About Trees: Forests – Living Pharmacies
All About Trees: Forests – Living Pharmacies
Registration: Please cut and paste the link into your browser.
https://tfs.webex.com/tfs/onstage/g.php?MTID=e46376572ab72e9dea2d947c49b06c626
June 25, Thursday
2 p.m. – 3 p.m.
All About Trees: Forests – Living Pharmacies is bringing the science, the chemistry, the biology to the field of wild edible and herbal medicine. Dr. Mark Merriwether Vorderbruggen is a chemist, with an MS in medicinal chemistry and a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry.
“An estimated 50,000 plant species are used medicinally. Within the plant kingdom, trees make a substantial contribution to this figure, and many species are used in traditional and modern medicine.”
“Medicine from trees, extracted from the wood, bark, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, or seeds is fundamental to the well-being of millions of people. Where access to modern pharmaceuticals is limited, trees offer living pharmacies open to anyone with traditional knowledge on their medicinal properties.” (Global Tree Campaign)
Texas A&M Forest Service’s ALL ABOUT TREES has moved our live presentations to a web-based platform. This is in response to the important stay-at-home ordinances related to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Join us for this presentation series created to bring experts in forestry, arboriculture, chemistry, and science to answer your questions interactively through a dynamic CHAT feature.
Check with your local Texas Master Naturalist or Texas Master Gardener chapters for Advance Training AT credits. For CEUs from ISA, SAF, TNLA, and other organizational providers, a certificate of participation may be sent to you upon request for verification of attendance.
This class will be live on our WebEx platform allowing experts to answer your questions in real-time meeting state AT requirements.
__________________________________
For more information, contact:
JOHN R. WARNER, CF, CA, AF
URBAN DISTRICT FORESTER IV
Texas A&M Forest Service
1328 FM 1488, Conroe, TX 77384
936/546-3169 cell
tfsweb.tamu.edu
Plant Pathology for Master Gardeners – Free Online Course
Texas A&M AgriLife Exension offers a variety online gardning courses free of charge. One such offering is a self-directed course designed for Master Gardener interns to introduce the basic concept of plant disease development and an overview of the four common plant pathogen groups.
Plant disease is one of the most difficult topics for home gardeners. Although this course is designed for Master Gardener interns, experienced Master Gardeners may find this online course a good refresher on a complex topic.
These modules will provide some base information which will help participants gain a foundational understanding of the different plant-pathogen types, and will enhance better understanding of the material presented at classroom Master Gardener intern training on plant pathology.
See all available AgriLife online courses under the Plants and Garden.
Canceled – Kids’ Kamp – Fayette County
Tuesday – Thursday
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 P.M
Canceled Kids’ Kamp – Colorado County
Tuesday – Thursday
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 P.M
Canceled Kids’ Kamp -Washington County
Tuesday – Thursday
8:30 a.m. – 12:30 P.M
Gulf Coast Gardening Online Series – Free
Join Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Horticulture agents and specialists as they discuss gardening in the Gulf Coast Region of Texas. Mark your calendars for these CEU opportunties.
June 3 at 10:00am – Annuals in the Summer Heat by Paul Winski, AgriLife Extension Horticulture Agent in Harris County
June 10 at 10:00am – Olives on the Texas Gulf Coast by Stephen Janak, Extension Program Specialist
June 17 at 10:00am – Gardening in Containers by Skip Richter, AgriLife Extension Horticulture Agent in Brazos County
June 24 at 10:00am – Turf Irrigation Audit by Michael Potter, AgriLife Extension Horticulture Agent in Montgomery County
Invitation to Virtual Master Gardener College
Texas Master Gardeners are inviited to join the online Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener College June 25-28, 2020. This is really a neat opportunity to learn from another state’s Master Gardener program. Although not all of the information pertains to Texas gardeners, much will. Please take this opportunity for more innovated learning.
BMGA CEU credit.
BMGA Interns Only: Apply time to their volunteer hours.
Register by June 19, 2020:
From Garden to Glass: DIY Mocktails/Cocktails – Online Event
Join Aggie Horticulture & Denton County Texas A&M AgriLife Extension online for a Facebook Live event on “From Garden to Glass: DIY Mocktails/Cocktails”. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Horticulturist Janet Laminack will be sharing about how to create mocktails and cocktails from plants in your garden. A team of Extension Specialists will also be available to answer questions in the chat window during the event.
Friday, May 22, 2020 at 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM CDT
CEU credit for Master Gardeners.
Aggie Horticulture Live Facebook Events!
Join Aggie Horticulture on Wednesdays & Fridays at 1 p.m. Central time on the Aggie Horticulture Facebook Page to watch Facebook Live events!
Aggie Horticulture Live Facebook Events
Upcoming Events:
- 5/22/2020 – Friday 1:00 pm – From Garden to Glass DIY Mocktails/Cocktails
- 5/27/2020 – Wednesday 1:00 pm – “Some Like it Hot” – Growing Vegetables in Summer
- 5/29/2020 – Friday 1:00 pm – TBD
- 6/3/2020 – Wednesday 1:00 pm – Check your crape (and other plants) for scale
Qualifies for Master Gardener CEU Credits.
Prior Live Event Videos Available on Aggie Horticulture’s Facebook page:
- Raised Garden Beds, Location, Soil Mixtures and more!
- Starting vegetable seeds at home
- Planting vegetable transplants or direct seed into your garden!
- Home Fruit Production – Tips for Success!
- Small fruits for the backyard
- Floral Designs from your backyard – Growing, Cutting, Using your flowers and shrubs!
- Growing Herbs: Basil Bounty
- Backyard Grapes/Vineyards
- Pecan Grafting
- How to Prune Your Trees
- Lawn Care & Fertilization
- Drip Irrigation Essentials
- Grapevine Planting & Training Demo
- Tidying up your Irrigation System
- Keys to Successful Peach Production
- Indoor Gardening
- Growing Blueberries in Containers
Growing Blueberries in Containers – Online Event
Aggie Horticulture is hosting and online for a Facebook Live event on “Growing Blueberries in Containers.” Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Specialist Tim Hartmann will share about how to grow blueberries in containers. A team of Extension Specialists will also be available to answer questions in the chat window during the event.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM CD
Online Event: Join Event
CEU Credits for Master Gardeners.
Online Backyard Basics Gardening Workshop -May 29, 2020
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will a present a Backyard Basics: Gardening webinar on gardening and landscaping from 9 a.m.-noon May 29.
“This is a free workshop, and we hope folks from across Texas will join us,” said Matlin Sain, AgriLife Extension agent, Presidio County. “We’ll have a group of experts covering the backyard basics you need to know to have a more successful garden.”
Tree disease and pruning will both be discussed at the Backyard Basics webinar. (AgriLife Research photo)
Participants need to register in advance for the event, which will be held on the Zoom meeting platform. Contact Sain with any questions.
Scheduled topics and expert speakers are:
- Integrated Pest Management for Your Garden – Jeanette Castanon, AgriLife Extension horticulture agent, Midland.
- How to Identify Tree Diseases in Your Yard – David Appel, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension plant pathology specialist, College Station.
- How to Properly Prune Your Trees – Jonathan Motsinger, Texas A&M Forest Service, Central Texas Operations department head, Idalou.
Each topic will be followed by a Q&A period. For more information, visit the website for the AgriLife Extension office in Presidio County.
Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association members participating in any AgriLife sponsored horticulure educational program may claim CEU credit for the program.
This post and the photo were taken from AgriLife Today’s article of May 13, 2020.
BMGA Graduates 19 New Interns
The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association is proud to announce the graduation of 19 Master Gardener Interns who completed its 2020 Master Gardener Training Class. Master Gardener training is tough any time, but this group of interns are a particularly hardy, dedicated, flexible and passionate group. The class endured unique challenges due to the pandemic sending the last five training classes, a total of 20 hours, to online video conference sessions. Even the required intern presentations and the final exam moved to an online format. All but one field trip was cancelled.
Congratulations to the 2020 BMGA intern graduates:
| Bobby Bentke | Linda Hufford |
| Mary Jane Berger | Lillian Kwiatkowski |
| Rex Boyd | Kathleen Lannou |
| Terri Burnham | Mike Lannou |
| Deanna Butler | Cindy McAllister |
| Cameron Carper | Scarbrough, Carol |
| Michael Fromm | Gary Scardino |
| Esther Hartman | Stephanie Vickers |
| Randy Hegemeyer | Bonnie Wills |
| Linda Hill |
The class started out as one of change, including a new statewide Texas Master Gardener Handbook with new material to include in the program. In addition, the class was held for the first time in Washington County, first steps were taken to revive the mentor program and at the start of the class, efforts were made to move some administrative components of the class online. Although bumps in the road were expected due to the changes, a pandemic shutting down in-person training halfway through the 15-week program was not anticipated.
However, with the work and guidance of Washington County Texas AgriLife Extension Agent Kara Matheney, the many professionals associated with Texas A&M University and the class participants’ eagerness to continue their training, classes moved online with Zoom video presentations from AgriLife Specialists and others to complete the course. Although challenges persisted, the material and speakers were of the high quality required for Texas Master Gardener training.
The BMGA 2020 Training Class Committee gives a special “thank you” to all who presented to the class in-person or via video:
Kara Matheney – Introduction to AgriLife
Dr. Jake Mowrer – Soil Characteristics & Soil Improvement
Elizabeth Wizzie Brown – Insects
Joseph Johnson – Tour of the Leach Teaching Gardens at Texas A&M
Charlene & B.R. Koehler – Plant Propagation
Randy Albers – Plant Propagation
Michael Potter – Landscape Design
Jayla Fry – Plant Development
Sheila McBride – Diseases
Joel Pigg – Water
Tim Hartman – Earth-Kind Landscapes
Erfan Vafaie – Integrated Pest Management
Tim Hartman – Fruit Trees
Rebecca Bowling – Lawns & Weeds
Skip Richter – Vegetable and Herbs and Organic Gardening
2020 TMGA State Conference in Waco
Save the Date! More information to come.
ONLINE BMGA Vegetables & Organic Gardening
We are excited to welcome Mr. Skip Richter for our BMGA Intern Training Class & Chapter Zoom Meeting on Vegetables and Organic Gardening.
Details to join the meeting were provided separately.
Webinar for Urban Garden Grants Application Process
NRCS will host a webinar, open to both conservation partners and the general public, on Monday, April 27, 2020, from 2 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST). To join the webinar, visit: http://nrcs.adobeconnect.com/tx-nrcs-grants/. Log in to Adobe Connect using the guest option and enter your name. To join by teleconference, call 1-888-844-9904 and enter access code: 1946147.
Grants are available for up to $4,000 for a vegetable garden, $3,000 for a pollinator garden, $5,000 for a rainwater harvesting system, and $6,500 for a seasonal high tunnel.
Review the Notice of Funding Opportunity before the webinar to be prepared to ask questions. The notice of funding opportunity for both grants is available at https://www.grants.gov. Applications for Project G.R.E.E.N. (opportunity number USDA-NRCS-TX-PG-20-GEN0010731) and applications for the Texas Urban and Rural Conservation Project (opportunity number USDA-NRCS-TX-URCP-20-GEN0010730) are due May 29, 2020.
Canceled – Lunch-N-Learn Series Fayette County-Irrigation for Pots/Containers
Irrigation for Pots/Containers by Carol Daniels
All educational programs begin with
Registration at 11:50-12:05
Program from 12:05 – 12:50
Bring your own lunch and drink
All programs are free to the public!
LIVE EVENT – Tree Pruning & Planting – VIRTUAL CLASS
Texas A&M Forest Service’s ALL ABOUT TREES has moved several presentations to a WebEx platform. This series of presentations was created to bring experts in forestry and arboriculture together to answer your questions interactively through a dynamic CHAT feature.
BMGA Members recieve 1 CEU credit hour for participating in this live program.
Proper practices in pruning and planting will improve tree health and increase longevity. Before the first cut or tree is planted, having a purpose in mind will alleviate issues and problems down the road.
COST: FREE
Thursday, April 16, 2020
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Aggie Horticulture Videos and Live Events
Aggie Horticulture is hosting live horticulture events on Facebook. Aggie Horticulute serves gardening and horticultural crop information and news. These events are live but the recorded videos are available on the facebook page. While the way we learn and share has changed, there are still plenty of opportuntiees to continue your gardening education.
BMGA Chapter Meeting – La Grange – Canceled
Both the Board Meeting and the Chapter Meeting are Canceled for the month of March.