Master Gardener: Garden tips for the New Year | Home and Garden

Master Gardener: Garden tips for the New Year | Home and Garden

Joyful New Calendar year! Hopefully this is a thirty day period of continuing snow, rain, fog and misty mornings. That is just what our local weather-adapted gardens want. Although expansion slows down in the cold soils of wintertime, some advancement proceeds, usually only underground. Our wintertime and early-spring blooming shrubs, bulbs and perennials appreciate all this frosty damp temperature. And what humidity is not utilized can be saved deep in the soil for afterwards use.

PLANTING: Despite the fact that we can plant 12 months-round, we typically hold off most planting until finally the (fairly) warmer times of mid to late February. The exception is bare root planting. Here are some tips:

  • Bare root fruit trees are now out there. Check their pollination requirements not all fruit trees are self-fertile, and some will need a cross pollinator. Discover the range of chill hrs expected. Our winters common 700-800 chilling hrs.
  • Bare root roses — Hybrid teas, floribundas, climbers, miniatures and shrubs are obtainable.  All do pretty properly in the San Joaquin valley.
  • Bare root berries and grapes — Plant grape vines, cane boysenberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries.

You can also plant beets, carrots, leek, lettuce, onion, parsley, radish, seed potatoes, onions, peas, radish, spinach, artichokes, and asparagus specifically in the backyard this thirty day period. Start sowing seeds for summer time annuals and veggies like tomatoes and peppers in a shielded location you can hold the seedlings heat and where by they will acquire plenty of gentle. I might also get in a last sowing of wildflower seeds in a weed-cost-free space. Wildflower seeds like my gravel driveway, so I check out to let volunteers along the edges and even now have a room for the automobiles.

Keeping: We have fewer to do in January, but there are a few of chores that are ideal to do this month. One particular of them is spraying roses, deciduous flowering trees and deciduous fruit trees with winter horticultural oil to smother overwintering insects like spider mites, scales, mealy bugs, and peach twig borers. Spray the branches, crotches, trunk, and the ground beneath the tree’s drip line. Maintain off spraying if rain is forecast, or if the temperature is underneath 45 levels. Hardly ever spray oil on walnut trees. If you failed to spray your peach or nectarine tree for peach leaf curl in November or December, spray now with a copper-based mostly or a synthetic fungicide. You really do not have to apply horticultural oil if you are lucky more than enough not to have these specific pests, but if you have had a dilemma each spring, summer season, or fall, be proactive now and hold your trees and roses healthier yr-spherical.

The other primary chore of January is pruning deciduous trees, shrubs, and roses. Continue to keep pruners & loppers sharp. Sterilize the pruners or loppers in among vegetation.  Use a 10{d4d1dfc03659490934346f23c59135b993ced5bc8cc26281e129c43fe68630c9} bleach solution or white vinegar. Take out all broken, diseased, or crossing branches first. Two essential slicing techniques are made use of in common pruning: thinning and heading. Thinning cuts take away whole branches, resulting in a additional pure search. Thinning cuts are also utilized to make it possible for far more air circulation and gentle into the interior of the tree and are the cuts to make first. You might want to just take a split halfway via and phase again to study the tree from a quick length. You want to finish up with a tree that seems balanced and nicely-composition. Heading cuts shorten branches and should only be utilised on little branches. Use heading cuts judiciously to shorten around-very long branches. You can consider off about a quarter of the former season’s growth on these newer smaller branches if you want to keep the tree smaller sized. Make certain to reduce back again to an outward dealing with bud to direct new growth absent from the inside of the tree. Prune from the bottom up and from the inside of of the plant to the outside the house. Do not be too nervous about it. Wholesome trees will recuperate and re-increase.

Implement pre-emergent herbicide for warm time weeds. Read through and follow the bundle instructions very carefully. If you really don’t decide on to use chemical weed handle, lightly until your younger seedling weeds routinely.

Monitor or transform off your irrigation controller if you have not now. You will want to deep h2o if we have an extended dry time period, but don’t waste drinking water and all the resources it normally takes for the water to get to the sprinkler or drip emitter if we do not will need it.

CONSERVING:  I enjoy a good foggy working day for chipping some of the brush we’ve been gathering all 12 months on our rural assets. Although we leave brush piles for wildlife, some branches, which includes the Xmas tree, are great replenishment mulch for our planting beds. Alternatively of sending leaves off your property, shred them and use them as mulch far too.

Yet another wintertime position is to make new bee nesting boxes or mend more mature types as desired. Often our more mature types have loaded tubes, this means they are “in use.” We also test to make absolutely sure spiders or earwigs are not hanging out nearby waiting around to eat the bee larvae within the tubes. To learn more about this good way to assist solitary nesting indigenous bees, visit the xerxes.org internet site.

A “new” trend is some thing referred to as “regenerative landscaping,” which is what a lot of of us have been accomplishing for many years: choosing approaches that increase soil, plant, and earth wellbeing for the generations to appear, even if it is often messy or doesn’t final result in instant bouquets. In all types and sizes of gardens, we can use “least harmful first” pest regulate techniques, tolerate a small wildness in components of the garden, improve some plants just for the birds, pollinators, lizards, toads or even tiny mammals, and tolerate some destruction in get to continue to keep the chain of everyday living healthy. Plants are resilient. They can tolerate a whole lot.

This year I will carry on to yard with a spirit of partnership with the vegetation, supporting them as desired, but also permitting them to build associations with the rest of the garden’s lifestyle. I’m an important portion of this backyard garden, but when I stage again (or get occupied and am compelled to go away the back garden alone), I am frequently astonished at how very well matters get on without the need of me.

The Tulare-Kings County Learn Gardeners will be accessible to response your inquiries:

Hurley Visalia Farmer’s Marketplace- initial and 3rd Saturdays, 8-11 a.m., 2100 W. Caldwell Ave (guiding Sears Developing) Yard Fruit Trees Pruning Demo – Sat., Jan 22, 1-3 p.m., Hurley Elementary University, Visalia

Public Rose Pruning Demonstrations:

Jan. 17, 2022, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Previous Grangeville Church, Hanford

Jan. 22, 2022, 10  to 11 a.m., Ralph Moore Rose Garden, Corridor and Main Road, Visalia

Jan. 22, 2022, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Woodlake Botanical Backyard

Phone us: Grasp Gardeners in Tulare County: (559) 684-3325, Tues & Thurs, 9:30-11:30

Instagram at: @mgtularekings

Ask the Master Gardener: Moon gardens can be mesmerizing

Ask the Master Gardener: Moon gardens can be mesmerizing

Remedy: Moon gardens have a tendency to be monochromatic. They commonly slide into the realm of an all-white yard. A moon backyard garden is intended to be liked by the light of the moon or evening. It is supposed to be a tranquil location to rest, rest and take pleasure in celestial magnificence. A moon back garden style has plants with white bouquets and silvery foliage that mirror gentle from the placing sunshine and mounting moon. Reds, blues and other deep shades seem to be to disappear at dusk, but whites and silvers really pop in even the slightest sum of moonlight. This backyard generally has aromatic, nocturnal blooming flowers, which bring in nighttime pollinators, like the sphinx moth.

When COVID-19 is guiding us and folks are touring extra, there are a few all-white gardens truly worth traveling to. The Sissinghurst Castle Gardens, in Kent, England has the most well-known all-white backyard. It was created by Vita Sackville-West in the 1950s. The Munsinger-Clemens Gardens in St. Cloud have an all-white backyard garden that was 1st planted in the summertime of 1994, and was encouraged by the planet-renowned White Yard at Sissinghurst Castle. Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, which was the residence of Pierre Dupont, also has an all-white garden. White gardens have numerous positive aspects in addition to trendiness. Brilliant white blooms are true eye-catchers. A white yard usually has a feeling of crispness, course, sophistication, and elegance. Moreover, in a shade back garden, white brightens up the darkness of shade through the working day and will come alive at dusk.

Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, with its all-white, monochromatic flowers, is an example of a moon garden. 
Contributed / Jennifer Knutson

Longwood Gardens in Kennett Sq., Pennsylvania, with its all-white, monochromatic bouquets, is an case in point of a moon yard.
Contributed / Jennifer Knutson

A shade themed backyard garden is just one of the simplest and most worthwhile patterns you can do. A white backyard garden is an quick way for newbies to attempt a monochromatic scheme simply because most species feel to have white bouquets. A monochromatic plan is less distracting — the eye does not require to regularly refocus on ever-changing coloration. In a monochromatic backyard, the visible excitement that ordinarily comes from distinct colors as an alternative comes from the interplay of many flower types and foliage textures consequently, it’s vital to incorporate distinct flower and leaf shapes.

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Similar: Check with the Master Gardener: Acquiring the suitable plants for the holiday break time

Dear Learn Gardener: I have trouble with chipmunks. Is there a repellent or some thing I can use to preserve them from detrimental my gardens?

Reply: Chipmunks are so cute! Nevertheless, quite a few of us would relatively not have to deal with them in our gardens. Not only do these lovable small rodents problems gardens, but they can also trigger structural damage to stairs, retaining partitions or foundations from all their in depth burrowing. They scurry close to the property gathering and hoarding meals for the winter — typically seeds and nuts. Have you at any time viewed a sunflower coming up in your flower pot or back garden, or bulbs you planted in a single spot coming up in a further? A chipmunk or squirrel is the possible perpetrator. My sister-in-legislation had an unidentified plant coming up in the miniature backyard garden by her entrance doorway. It looked like it need to be in a “Jack in the Beanstalk” story. She remaining it there all summer as it built for excellent discussion and seemed kind of magical.

To maintain them from digging up recently planted bulbs in the fall, rooster wire or components cloth can be placed on best of the spot. You just have to recall to remove it in the spring just after the snow is long gone. You can hide the chicken wire with soil or mulch. If you are planting bulbs in individual holes, these kinds of as lilies, put some sharply crushed stones or shells in each and every hole prior to refilling to prevent their digging. You can even come across bags of them in yard facilities for that function.

Linked: Inquire the Learn Gardener: Brighten the dark of winter season with these indoor vegetation

Fallen hen seed from feeders also appeals to chipmunks and squirrels, so if you have a chicken feeder in your yard, that could encourage them. Try out to continue to keep chicken feeders at minimum fifteen toes from your backyard garden. Keeping your grass minimize shorter could also aid, so they are not presented deal with and will with any luck , burrow somewhere else.

According to Professor Perry at the College of Vermont, taste repellents that are utilized for squirrels can also be used for chipmunks and may be a good very first line of protection. Regretably, like all animal repellents for the garden, it desires to be reapplied following a rain, so it can be high priced in excess of time and usually does not supply finish control. Trapping is an effective implies of handle. A lot of men and women desire using a stay-catch wire mesh trap, then dropping them off someplace else so they don’t return. Dependent on wherever you fall them off, you could be transporting the pesky little difficulties to another person else. According to the Minnesota DNR, if you relocate a captured wild animal, you have to take it 10-15 miles absent from in which it was captured to be certain that it doesn’t return. You will have to also get permission from the governing agency or landowner of the residence just before releasing the animal.

Relevant: Question the Master Gardener: Aloe crops offer you positive aspects apart from their elegance

Expensive Learn Gardener: Which vegetation are toxic to canines and must be avoided in the landscape?

Response: There are a selection of common garden vegetation that are harmful to cats and/or canine. Lots of bulbs, such as daffodils, crocus, gladiola, hyacinth, iris, scilla (squill), and tulips, are poisonous to both of those human beings and animals. The ASPCA lists the pursuing landscape vegetation as the most poisonous for cats and dogs: azaleas and rhododendrons, yew, autumn crocus, chrysanthemum, English ivy, and castor bean (incredibly poisonous!). Lilies are toxic to cats.

Related: Inquire the Learn Gardener: Caring for colourful cyclamen vegetation

You might get your backyard questions answered by contacting the new Master Gardener Aid Line at 218-824-1068 and leaving a message. A grasp gardener will return your call. Or, emailing me at umnmastergardener@gmail.com and I will reply you in the column if room makes it possible for.
College of Minnesota Extension Grasp Gardeners are experienced and accredited volunteers for the University of Minnesota Extension. Information provided in this column is dependent on university analysis.

Master Gardener: Succulent gifts from your garden | Home and Garden

Master Gardener: Succulent gifts from your garden | Home and Garden

Looking for an affordable gift made with love from your garden? How about a unique gift for the special gardener in your life? Or a gift for the hard-to-buy-for person who already has one of everything, Pay Per Touch?

You can easily make a number of gifts using succulent cuttings. Succulents are perfect for gardening “Central Valley Style” because they love the sun and are drought tolerant. Start now, and by gift-giving time, all your creation will need is a bright bow!

Some craft ideas are: a living wreath for hanging or for use as a table centerpiece with a candle, a living picture frame for a garden or patio wall, a fairy garden, a succulent globe, or a cute basket filled with different succulents. Making these gifts is affordable — no need to go searching the garden centers for succulents. Look no further than your own —or your friend or neighbor’s — succulent garden. Pinch a little here, trim a tad there, uproot a few that are too crowded, or rescue a forlorn “pup” from its parent.

Succulents are native to Mexico and South Africa. They have fleshy leaves and stems that hold and store water to help them survive drought. Most are frost tender, and they don’t like either overwatering or extreme desert conditions. Because succulents have a fairly thick skin, they are not prone to insect damage. Mealy bugs or woolly aphid are the more common pests but they are rarely troublesome and can be controlled by dislodging them off plants with water.

Starting/rooting succulents is fairly easy, but there are a few tricks of the trade to make it even easier. To root succulents with stems, cut them off the main plant and let them sit for 7-10 days to “harden off” or callus. This helps avoid fungal damage to the root. For more rosette-type succulents like aloe, agave and sempervivum, pull off the “pups” or “babies” on the sides and replant them.

Plant in clean moist potting soil specifically formulated for succulents. Hormone rooting powder is not necessary. Put the pots into a tray of water for a minute or two so the soil becomes saturated, then keep the plants just slightly moist. Resist over-watering at this stage. In the spring, all succulents appreciate some light fertilizer.

Be creative in mixing different succulents together to make a design. Just as in a flower arrangements, using different colors, leaf shapes and textures adds interest.

Here are a few general instructions for crafts:

  • To make a succulent wreath, purchase a wire wreath form, line with mesh, fill with soil, wrap with coco fiber, and insert cuttings in a variety of colors and shapes. If this is going to hang, you can wrap it with thin wire or fishing line until it’s sufficiently rooted to hold together.
  • Try making a succulent topiary with styrofoam, wire, plants and rocks.
  • You can build a short box, plant it with succulents and then put an old picture frame around the arrangement – a real Living Picture. This could be hung on a wall, or add legs to make a small table.
  • Fairy Gardens are the very latest design element. Using miniature accessories and garden accents, sedums, moss and pebbles, even tiny electric lights can turn a boring container into a Fairyland.
  • Succulent globes can be made by wiring two hanging baskets together, lining with coco fiber, then filling with soil. Poke holes in the fiber and insert succulent cuttings. Keep moist by light spraying until the cuttings are rooted (a gentle tug should not loosen the cutting if it has rooted) before watering the ball.

Search online for “succulent crafts” for more ideas. The possibilities for a gift of succulents are limited only by your imagination, and are sure to make your holidays Merry & Bright!

VISIT : https://paypertouch.com/

Master Gardener: Helpful garden tips for December | Home and Garden

Master Gardener: Helpful garden tips for December | Home and Garden

I’ve been thinking about plants of the late Pleistocene era, and the animals that ate them, described in a pictorial essay by David Bryant in the fall 2021 issue of Flora, the California Native Plant Society’s quarterly magazine. Among them are Joshua Trees, California lilac, manzanita, grasses, sedge, rush, Pinyon pine, juniper, and sycamore, to name a few. I’ve also been thinking about one of the biggest trends in gardening this year: “regenerative landscaping,” which is broadly defined as future-looking, considering all the creatures of the garden, recognizing that more than just humans use the space. As gardeners out in it, we know this mixed-use firsthand, but it can be valuable to take some time occasionally, such as in the slower winter months, to reflect, observe, appreciate, and plan. This doesn’t mean allowing total destruction by pest insects and herbivores. It means learning what is a tolerable threshold, using modern methods of IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and letting go of perfection.

Must we have an attitude of battle, or can we learn to share the garden, even making friends and allies with creatures beyond the hummingbird and butterfly? Can I learn to appreciate the Western ground squirrel?

While doing all this pondering, there are a few tasks we can do in December:

PLANTING:  Finish planting most species by mid-month. Bare-root planting begins in December and can extend through winter. Plants that are frost sensitive should not be planted until spring. Even for frost-hardy species, use a layer of mulch to protect plant crowns and roots from freezing. Finish planting bulbs for spring color. In the edible garden, in addition to perennial herbs, you can still transplant seedlings of most cool-season vegetables. Also plant bulb onions, asparagus, and rhubarb. These last two are perennials, so you won’t be harvesting them until well into next year. You can also plant lettuce and related salad green seeds in cold frames.

MAINTAINING: Watch for frost warnings and protect your sensitive plants. Plants will survive better if kept moist but not overwatered. Remove old fruits, called “mummies” left on fruit trees. Water citrus trees well this month if the rains aren’t steady to have a good crop next year. Also, deep water your other trees during a dry spell that lasts more than two weeks, even if they are dormant.

You can begin to prune your winter deciduous trees, shrubs, and fruit vines, or wait until January, especially if plants aren’t fully dormant and safety isn’t an issue. Don’t prune if frost is expected within the week. Force your roses into dormancy by removing leaves that haven’t fallen Mow cool weather lawns, which should be actively growing now, at three inches. This also applies to over-seeded lawns.

If you had major problems with aphids, mites, scale or whitefly on your fruit trees or roses, spray with dormant oil spray after the leaves have fallen to kill overwintering adults. Handpick slugs and snails or set out iron phosphate as a bait. You must replace iron phosphate after a rain, but it is not toxic to people, pets, and beneficial insects and won’t harm soil microorganisms either. In late December, spray early blooming peach and nectarine trees with copper fungicide to control peach leaf curl.

See any white moths around your winter veggies?  The moth is looking for good spots to lay her eggs, which will hatch into the cabbage looper and eat holes in the leaves, sometimes decimating the crop. You can’t do much about the moth, but seeing the moth is a signal to start looking under the leaves for the next several days to snag the small, green caterpillars before they do much damage. Large plants can survive some damage, but seedlings can be devoured. Chemical control is BT (Bacillus Thuringieis). Be sure to spray plant leaves thoroughly on the tops and bottoms.

Remember many caterpillars, especially on ornamental plants, do little harm and turn into desirable moths and butterflies. And all Lepidoptera are food for birds, lizards, toads, and other creatures in the food chain. Use common sense and a little tolerance for damage to encourage a healthy garden full of interesting life, even in the urban neighborhood.

Finally, keep up with cool season weeds so it doesn’t become a tiresome and overwhelming job later. Common household white vinegar or commercially formulated non-systemic organic herbicide can be kept in a labeled spray bottle in the garden to zap weeds on sunny days. Or lightly hoe them out. You can also try piling on more mulch and shading them out, which works well in these weak-sun days.

CONSERVING: Leave a pile of branches from trees and shrubs for birds to shelter in.

And don’t forget the water. Small creeks as part of a water garden design, mister-style sprinklers, or a bird bath with fresh water are all popular with our wild bird friends. When getting ready to prune trees, examine the high branches of large trees for bird nests and avoid pruning if hawks or other birds are nesting.

If you haven’t already done so, cut the flowers off tropical and other non-native, orange-flowered milkweed varieties. The Monarchs that stick around because of a ready food source will not survive the cold winter; they need to migrate south. You may want to consider replacing it with a native milkweed. On the other hand, we have so many hummingbirds that do not migrate, it is okay to continue to provide them with hummingbird feeder food through the winter.  

I hope you have wonderful winter holidays, full of beneficial garden companions and delightful surprises.

Call us: Master Gardeners in Tulare County: (559) 684-3325, Tues & Thurs, 9:30-11:30

Instragram at: @mgtularekings

Master Gardener: Tips for selecting a live Christmas tree | Home & Garden

Master Gardener: Tips for selecting a live Christmas tree | Home & Garden

If you decided to select a pre-cut tree, pick one of the freshest you can find. Fresh needles bend easily. When the trees have dried out, their needles will snap.

Once you have your tree home, it’s a good idea to saw off about one inch from the bottom of the tree. After doing this, place the tree in a container of water. If it will be a few days before you bring it in to decorate, store it in a cool place such as your garage.

When you do bring it inside, be sure you place the tree in a stand that will hold some water. Keeping your tree dry should help minimize any fire hazard with the tree.

Another way to minimize the risk of fire is to locate the tree away from heat sources such as a heater vent or especially the fireplace. And make sure your stand is of an appropriate size to keep the tree anchored in place because no one wants their tree to fall over.

Also, to help ensure a safe Christmas, only leave the tree lights on when a responsible person is home, and never leave the lights on if you are going to be away from the house. After Christmas, be sure to remove the tree before it gets overly dry. Good luck!



Robert Knight explains pecan harvesting at Knight Creek pecan farms.







You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th St., or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org

YARD AND GARDEN: Interested in becoming a Master Gardener? | Home & Garden

YARD AND GARDEN: Interested in becoming a Master Gardener? | Home & Garden

Interested in becoming a Master Gardener? This week, Kathy Hummel has the information to help you realize that you might already be qualified and not realize it.

When I retired from teaching 23 years ago, I had a list of activities I wanted to do: writing sparkling children’s books that would have all the publishers clamoring to represent me, taking piano lessons, finishing the cross stitch I’d started 18 years ago, organizing and labeling drawers full of photographs, volunteering at Lincoln Log Cabin and 5 Mile House and taking the Master Gardener training. Hey four out of seven ain’t too bad…


YARD AND GARDEN: Canada Geese can be real pests!

Partaking in the Master Gardener training and volunteering with University of Illinois Extension’s Master Gardener program has proved to be one of my most fulfilling leisure time activities. The group has a great, friendly can-do attitude, ready to pitch in for our projects. I’ve learned so much about gardening just by chatting with other Master Gardeners. To see if you meet the criteria, try taking this quiz.

1. Are you at least 18 years old? Never fear we won’t ask your actual age.

2. Do you enjoy puttering around with plants? Would you like to study research-based information to learn more about them?

3. Would you be interested in receiving 60 hours of training, incorporating the latest field research from University of Illinois professors on a myriad of gardening topics, including soil types and enrichment, landscaping and lawn care, pruning practices, vegetable and fruit growing, insect and disease management, flower and ornamental cultivation, composting and much more?

4. Would you enjoy interacting with other gardeners, swapping plants and ideas?

5. Are you available one day a week for 12 weeks during February, March and April for the training?

6. Do you have a strong internet connection? The classes will be a hybrid of on-line and in-person meetings.

7. Very important: After the training, are you able to give back 30 hours of volunteer time each year? This can take many forms: working in the Idea Garden, answering gardening questions phoned in to the Extension Office, giving talks to community groups, writing articles for the newspaper, judging 4-H entries for the fair, attending gardening conferences, attending monthly Master Gardener meetings, viewing online educational gardening seminars, working in the greenhouse and Mater Gardener gardens, etc.


YARD AND GARDEN: What do do before winter to prepare for springtime

If you answered affirmatively to all seven questions, you really ought to sign up. You fill out a brief application and go through a short, friendly interview process. Applications will be taken through Jan. 24.

To apply visit extension.illinois.edu/ccdms/become-master-gardener or stop by your local Extension office.

Cost for the training is $200 but includes a huge manual, which is yours to keep. That might seem like lots of moola, but you wouldn’t believe how chocked-full of up-to date research-based information it contains. Think of it as getting all that training plus a superb lifetime reference manual. I still refer to mine when I have questions. Financial assistance is available.

One thing Master Gardeners are not. We do not consider ourselves experts in all areas, nor are you expected to be. People often ask me questions out of the blue, and often I confess I don’t know the answer, but I can look it up (we have a superb reference library in the office).

If what I’ve described above appeals to you, why not give the Master Gardener program serious consideration this year? You’ll be glad you did!

If you have questions about your garden or landscape, contact a master gardener at the University of Illinois Extension office in Mattoon at 217-345-7034 or through our online hotline at https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1523725. Be sure to visit U of I Extension’s horticulture website http://web.extension.illinois.edu/ccdms/ and like the Master Gardeners’ Facebook page www.facebook.com/ColesCountyMasterGardeners.