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Ask an Expert is now Ask Extension

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Ask an Expert is now Ask Extension.  This service offers one-to-one expert answers from Cooperative Extension/University staff and volunteers within participating Land-Grant institutions from across the United States.  Before posting a new question, you may also search previously answered questions in the Knowledgebase catalogue.

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Frozen Plants? Aggie Horticulture Facebook Live Events

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Texas A&M  Extension Horticulture faculty are using their weekly Facebook live events and one additional event to talk about the freeze and what to expect with plants. The schedule will be as follows:

Wednesday 1:00 p.m. Ornamentals & Vegetables

Friday 1:00 p.m. Fruit

Friday 4:00 p.m. Turf

These events can be found on Facebook on the Aggie Horticulture page and will be useful information for Master Gardeners and the public.  All events are free and open to the public.

Online Chapter Meeting – Texas Tough Roses

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ONLINE TEAMS MEETING

Date:            Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Time:           10:00 a.m.- 12:00 a.m.

Format:       Online Microsoft Teams meeting

Topic:          Texas Tough Roses

Presenter:   Suzanne Gilbert-President, Houston Rose Society

General BMGA business meeting to follow.

BMGA members will receive an email with the link to the meeting.  Be sure to check your “junk” or “SPAM” folders if you do not see the email in your Inbox

 

Online Horticulture Learning Could Never be Easier

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LogoSo many online horticulture learning opportunities you don’t know where to start?  This guide can get you started learning from horticulture experts.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension recorded many of their programs for viewing on your own schedule.  These recorded presentations are free to the public.

Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association members may claim Continuing Education Units (CEU) for these all AgriLife programs that pertain to gardening and horticulture; live or recorded.  Just watch the presentation and record your time as CEU.  BMGA members, remember to get your CEU credits recorded by December 31, 2020 to apply those hours to your re-certification requirement.  For 2020, you need 6 CEU credits.

Below are links to some of these programs to start learning from our Aggie experts.

Gulf Coast Gardening Online Series
There are 22 videos for more than 24 hours of learning. Topics include:

Young Tree Care – Video  #5
Earth Kind Pest Disease & Weed Control – Video #10
Texas Superstar Plants – Video #19

Horticulture & Gardening Webinar Series with David Rodriguez, County Extension Horticulture Agent, Bexar County
There are currently 17 of these recorded sessions for more than 13 hours of education. Topics include:

Getting Your Lawn and Landscape Ready for Summer Heat – Video #9
Tomato Basics 101 – Video #13
Butterfly Gardening – Nectar Plants – Video #5

Aggie Horticulture Facebook Live Recordings
There are 55 horticulture recorded events. Wow!  You do not need a Facebook account to watch.  Topics include:

Homeowner Greenhouses- Video #41
Transitioning to a Fall Garden, Two Parts – Video #40 & #45
Toys for Vegetable Gardening – Video #50
Fall Blooming Flowers & Biennials Planted in Fall – Video #51
Growing Blueberries in Containers – Video 18

 

Live Lunch and Learn Gardening Series – September 2020

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Lunch & Learn

Live Lunch and Learn Gardening Series – September 2020

Join Horticulturist David Rodriguez and Entomologist Molly Keck for their Live Lunch and Learn Gardening Webinar Series.  Learn about your landscape and vegetable gardening.   To join, click link below and put in the meeting id and passcode at the date and time of the presentation.
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Central Time

Click Here to Join

Meeting ID: 990 2593 9574
Passcode: Garden2020

September 16: Where do Insects Go When it Rains?
September 23: September is Butterfly Month!
September 30: Dragonfly Watching

 

9th Annual Texas Fruit Conference – Online

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Texas AgriLife Extension announced today that The 9th Annual Texas Fruit Conference on September 21st and 22nd will be held On-line, rather than in person.   The program is committed to providing an easily-accessible, Online web conference that will be practical and educational for the diverse Texas fruit growing community’s needs.

The tentative program plan is as follows:

Session 1, Monday, September 21st: 1 pm to 5:00 pm: Intro to Fruit Growing Workshop—a crash course in starting a fruit orchard—crop and variety options, soil and water evaluation, orchard design, planting, irrigation etc.

Session 2, Tuesday, September 22nd: 9 am to 11:30 am: Texas’ Fruit Future—a series of presentations aimed at new growing practices, new crops and new marketing strategies (Titles and speakers to be determined)

1:30 pm to 3:00 pm: Experiences in Growing Fruit Trees—a virtual field trip to one or more established fruit growers in Texas (Site(s) to be announced)

3:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Hard Questions—Good Answers—Live panel discussion with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Fruit Team

Registration Fee:
Monday (9/21) Only: Intro to Fruit Growing Workshop: $50
Tuesday (9/22) Only: Texas’ Fruit Future, Experiences in Growing Fruit Trees, Hard Questions/Good Answers: $35
Combination package: both sessions $70.00

Registration site: http://Agriliferegister.tamu.edu/ (Registration begins 8/14/2020)

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For more information contact:
Monte Nesbitt
Horticultural Sciences
mlnesbitt@tamu.edu

2020 BMGA Scholarship Awards

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The Bluebonnet Master Gardener Association is proud to announce its annual college scholarships winners.  Three $1000 scholarships were awarded today to high school graduates from Washington, Fayette & Colorado Counties, Texas.  The winners are Braylee Schomburg (Washington County), Megan Schultz (Fayette County) and Zane Wanjura (Colorado County). Each recipient attended the BMGA July 28,  2020 online video conference meeting to introduce themselves to the entire membership.  The bright students received some words of wisdom from some of the Master Gardeners and fielded questions from the audience.   Read more about them below or click this link:  Scholarship Winner Bios.  

Congratulations to all three winners!

 

Breylee's Note

 

 

  

Zane's Thank You Note

 

Backyard Bug Hunt Recorded Series

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If you missed Wizzie Brown’s Backyard Bug Hunt webinars, below are links to recorded series to date.

Ms. Brown is an Integrated Pest Management Program Specialist in Travis County.  She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Entomology from the The Ohio State University in 1996 and her Masters in Entomology at Texas A&M University in 1999.

When you find insects in your garden, your first instinct might be to destroy them, but that’s not always the best action.  Of the 1.5 million known insect species in the world, more than 97% are beneficial to gardens, or simply benign.  That leaves less than 3% that are agricultural and nuisance pests.

Bluebonnet Master Gardeners may claim CEU credit for these live or recorded events.

You may watch these webinars on the Travis County AgriLife Extension site or click the topics below:

Butterfly & caterpillar ID (Nymphalids & Papilionids)

Attracting insects to your yard

Veggie pests

Spiders

Fire ant biology & management

All about ants- ID & biology

Mosquitoes

Fly identification & management

Stinging & biting arthropods