​
​The Baxter County Master Gardeners are a fun group of folks who enjoy sharing their love of gardening with any visitor.

At our meetings we have speakers, refreshments, & fun.

Come join us!



Next Meeting Date:
April 11th from 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Meeting Place: 
The First Presbyterian Church
1106 Spring Street
Mountain Home, AR

April Speakers: 
Guest Speaker: Alan Gregory
                           Topic: A Bird Friendly Yard: 
                                      How to make yourself wildlife land manager of your own property
Horticulture Table: Audrey Holt
                           Topic: Poisonous Garden Plants
​
​Master Gardeners Monthly Radio Program:
Mountain Talk Radio April  17th on 97.1   7:15 a.m. - 8:am.
Master Gardener Hosts this month are Tommy Hagan and Ceil Gasiecki

Directions:
From Mountain Home
Take US Hwy. 62B East through Mountain Home until you come to Cardinal Street. Cardinal Street is the intersection just past Harp's Grocery.  Turn right onto Cardinal Street and travel South until you come to the first stop sign which should be Spring Street. Turn left onto Spring Street and go down the hill past the bridge and the First Presbyterian Church will be on your right hand side. 

From Gassville:
Take Hwy. 62/412 towards Mountain Home. Once you get to Mountain Home continue on into Mountain Home on US 62B. This will take you through town till you get to Harp's Grocery and you come to Cardinal Street. Cardinal Street is the intersection just past Harp's Grocery.  Turn right onto Cardinal Street and travel South until you come to the first stop sign which should be Spring Street. Turn left onto Spring Street and go down the hill past the bridge and the First Presbyterian Church will be on your right hand side.

The 2019 Annuals to Perennials programs
for first-year Master Gardeners and their mentors
are coming this summer.
Be sure to mark your calendar and plan to attend!


Hope: Monday, June 24, 2019 from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Fayetteville: Friday, June 28, 2019 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Batesville: Saturday, July 13, 2019 from 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Little Rock: July 14, 2019 from 2 - 5 p.m. 

​
Additional information will be coming soon!
 

​WHAT:    The Baxter County Master Gardeners Plant Sale
WHEN:    Saturday, April 27th 2019
WHERE:  Baxter County Fairgrounds 
TIME:       9 AM -  NOON

We are setting up in the larger room so we will have a lot more room to display our plants.
Plants for the sale are annuals, perennials, bulbs, roots, rhizomes, bushes, trees, shrubs, vines, house plants, succulents and vegetables all grown by Baxter County Master Gardeners.

Come early for the best selection!!!

See our web page for directions ​https://www.baxtercountymg.com/annual-plant-sale1.html

Whether you’re a new or expert gardener you can learn more about native plants at our annual plant sale and seminar. Stop by to purchase plants and garden related items from a variety of vendors, get growing tips from one of our many exhibitors, and attend our informative programs. All ages. No registration required.

Call 417-888-4237 for more information or stop by the Nature Center for an event flyer.

When:
Saturday, April 6, 2019
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Located at:
Springfield Conservation Nature Center
4601 S. Nature Center Way
Springfield, MO 65804
(417) 888-4237

​Get Directions

SOURCE: Missouri Department of Conservation/ActivePrograms/UpcomingEvents/
​
https://mdc-event-web.s3licensing.com/Event/EventDetails/166338

​Baxter County Master Gardeners hosted their 25th annual seminar on Saturday, March 23 as part of our group's 25th anniversary celebration.  Our largest crowd to date, close to 300 people, enjoyed presentations by four high-profile speakers.  

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Doug Tallamy, gave two presentations during the event.  His entertaining presentations stressed the importance of each individual developing a nature friendly yard.  He showed us the benefits to pollinators by our choosing the right plants at our homes.  He showed how long it takes nature to adapt to introduced plants, and encouraged us to make our gardens up to 70% nature compatible plants.

The theme continued with Lucinda Reynolds giving us many ideas on plant selections we might consider.  We next enjoyed hearing Lissa Morrison, one of the designers of the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, showing us how native plants can be used beautifully and manageably in residential plantings.  She encouraged the group to check the BCMG website, www.baxtercountymg.com, for a listing of suitable plants in residential settings.

To complete the day, we enjoyed hearing from Ken Forman of Arkansas Fish and Game, who gave us an animated history of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC); discussed the impact of the portion of our state sales tax that is allocated to natural resources; and stressed what the state is doing with the development of nature centers and educating our children to the values and beauty of Arkansas, the Natural State.  Arkansas is one of 2-3 states that has a conservation tax, 1/8th% of our sales tax, which can only be used for conservation purposes.
 
During the day, attendees did not go hungry, enjoying a great lunch prepared by the Methodist Church, as well as many different selections provided by BCMG members.  Many folks did not go home empty handed, enjoying items won in our special raffles, door prizes, and opportunity table selections.  Though in a sense, no one went home empty handed, full of the knowledge we gained.

Many thanks to all our speakers, and to all BCMG members who helped make this event our best ever.  We encourage everyone to visit our website, baxtercountymg.com, go to "Gardening Tips", to view many of the handouts from our speakers, including a list of great plant selections.   

GO NATIVE!!!!

​Last Monday, Patsy Louk, County 76 President, along with Ryan Neal, Benton County Extension Agent and JB Portillo met with Marina McCoy of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville to plan our MG Appreciation Day which is scheduled for Monday, October 14, 2019.

We will be sharing details for this free event to all MG's later. Save the date!

From: https://uofacesmg.wordpress.com/2019/03/27/crystal-bridges-to-host-mg-appreciation-day-oct-14/

​Here’s this month’s gardening checklist. Just a few things to consider as we head into peak gardening season.
 

• Last average frost is about mid-April for Baxter County. You can get away with planting frost sensitive plants earlier if you are prepared to do some frost protecting when a frost is predicted.
• Early treatment can prevent damage by cabbage worms on cole crops such as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Cabbage looper, diamondback moth caterpillar, and the imported cabbage worm can cause serious damage pretty quick.  Check weekly for eggs and larvae under the leaves.  Use Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) spray as soon as they are first noticed. Also, this group of vegetables are heavy feeders of nitrogen and can use a side dressing of nitrogen 3 to 4 weeks after planting.
• Onions are rapid growers and heavy feeders. To grow monster size onions, fertilize weekly with a water-soluble fertilizer and mix at half rate.
• Plant warm season vegetables from mid month on. Don’t be in a hurry, or you may have to replant.
• Hold back on planting okra, peppers, southern peas and sweet potatoes until late this month or the first of May. Warm soil temperatures are critical for these warm season vegetables.
• Spray hybrid tea roses with a fungicide to prevent black spot. Spray according to label directions.
• Hold off on fertilizing your bermudagrass or zoysiagrass lawn until it has fully greened up. This is usually early to mid May.
• Prune and fertilize spring blooming trees and shrubs immediately after bloom. Remember to remove the old canes of forsythia, quince, weigela, spirea and other cane producing plants.
• Summer bulbs such as cannas, caladiums, dahlias, gladioli and tuberoses can be set out in mid-April. Plant gladioli several times at two-week intervals for blooms throughout the summer.
• After Easter lilies fade, plant the bulbs in a sunny part of your perennial garden. Foliage may die back but will green up this fall and take off next spring. Don’t expect blooms until late spring to early summer. Easter lilies are pretty reliable perennials if planted in a well-drained spot.
• To keep annuals blooming at their best, make regular applications of water soluble fertilizer.
• Continue to divide summer and fall blooming perennials.
• As flowering bulbs fade, allow 6-8 weeks of green growing time for bulbs to replenish their nutrients. Crocus and daffodils do not have their flower heads removed, but it is beneficial with hyacinths and tulips. Fertilize with complete fertilizer. You can transplant and divide spring flowering bulbs after foliage begins to die down.
• Use bird netting to keep birds away from strawberries. Watch for slugs.
• Encourage production of runners on newly planted strawberries by removing all flowers the first season. Also fertilize strawberry beds in late August or early September to encourage good bloom set.
• Watch for spider mites and bagworms on plants.
• To attract butterflies to your garden try planting some host plants that will nourish the young caterpillars after they hatch. Plants to try to include, butterfly weed, parsley, dill, fennel, rue, passionflower, and tulip tree.
• Plant seeds of annual vines such as hyacinth vine, moon vine and cypress vine from mid to late this month.
• Mulching is your best method to prevent weeds, plus it maintains soil temperature and moisture.
• Aphids can occur in large numbers in the spring. Aphids dine on the sap of an endless number of garden plants. Their feeding weakens plants and in some cases a total destruction of plants. They are a very prolific insect bearing live young. Fortunately, they are easily controlled by a spraying of bifenthrin, malathion or insecticidal soap but beware, reinfestation can occur in days.
• This is the time of year when honey bee hives swarm. If you see a swarm and are needing someone to collect and move them, call me. I have a list of people who will come and get them at no charge.

 
Reminder – Baxter County 4-H Rabies Vaccination Clinic is Friday, April 12 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 13 from 8:00 a.m. – noon at all Mtn. Home veterinary clinics.
 
For more information on any of the above points, contact the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service at 425-2335.
 
 

It's THAT time again (thankfully):  SPRING is coming.
And that means it's time to get the PEDs ready!!!




Pick any (or all!) of the PEDs and join in the prep. It's not work when you're with friends, sunshine, and PLANTS!





Call a PEDs coordinator today for work dates and times.

​Fairgrounds Gardens: Kathrine and Rod Gilmore

Bull Shoals-White River: Jeffrey Pearson and James Loveless

Clysta Willett Nature Trail: Penny Wells and Phyllis Henley

Cooper Park Gardens: Priscilla Jamnicky and Janelle Stookey

Fish Hatchery Gardens: Darrell Stewart

Extension Office Gardens: Judy Niziolek

Memorial Gardens: Susan Chamberlain, Kay Kunkel and Ceil Gasiecki

Library Pollinator Garden: Jane and Frits Druff