Over Thirty Attend KC Master Gardener Mini-Workshops and Sales
The Kaufman County Master Gardeners hosted a series of mini-workshops and a tool and plant sale at the Garden Learning Center (GLC), located at 3003 S. Washington St. in Kaufman on Saturday, April 14th. Thirty-three people attended the Greenhouse Construction and Management presentation by Master Gardener and Greenhouse Specialist Lynn Ackerman. Ms. Ackerman illustrated the principles of planning and construction using the not-yet-complete greenhouse located at the GLC.
Master Gardener and Rainwater Harvesting Specialist Brad Ackerman showed fifteen people “How to Make a Rain Barrel,” using 55-gallon, food-safe barrels that can be purchased locally. Participants received a handout with a list of parts and detailed instructions for construction. Mr. Ackerman said that these instructions are available on the home page of the KCMGA website, www.kcmga.org.
Eighteen people learned several types of plant propagation with Master Gardener and Propagation Specialist Nancy Bowman. After hearing Ms. Bowman explain and demonstrate the processes, participants were able to practice the techniques at workbenches in the greenhouse. Participants took home at least four plants they had propagated, with the oversight of Ms. Bowman and Frances Holmes, another Master Gardener and Propagation Specialist.
At the tool sale, participants in the plant propagation workshop, and others, were able to purchase tools especially selected by the Plant Propagation Specialists. Many plants, propagated from the Garden Learning Center as well as from the personal gardens of Master Gardeners, found new homes during Saturday’s plant sale. Available plants included herbs (catnip, lamb’s ear, and spearmint), succulents (cholla cactus, Euphorbia, Agave, red Yucca), trees (oak, crepe myrtle), bulbs (iris, canna), and a large variety of flowering plants.
A second plant sale, along with a silent auction, will be held in conjunction with the Spring Seminar program, “EarthKind™: It’s Not Just Roses,” scheduled for May 12 at the Grace Fellowship Baptist Church in Oak Grove. Save the date; you won’t want to miss this event, which will feature practices and plants suited to drought conditions. More information will be available on the KCMGA website later this month. For more information or to request accommodations for individuals with disabilities, please call Sharon Burden at 972-932-9069.
The gardens are in peak condition now, with new plants blooming daily. The succulent garden is particularly spectacular this year; buds and blooms abound on all the cacti, and the Bird of Paradise is in full bloom. In other gardens, the iris and roses are putting on their own show, along with lantana and daylilies. The Garden Learning Center is open to the public, so come by and enjoy a stroll through the gardens.