Welcome to Mississippi

Mississippi has an abundance of visual beauty that is enhanced by mild climate and diverse vegetation. It ranges from Gulf coast semi-tropical palms and citrus plants to the cool-loving shrubs in the foothills of the Appalachians. A great place to live and enjoy the pleasures of gardening. This site is devoted to encouraging others to travel the many trails that meander through the gardening map of Mississippi.

The Summer Edition of Botanical Blurbs is now on the website. To read the MSMG Newsletter, just click on the MSMG Log-in link and enter the ID and Password that was sent to all members of the MSMG Association members.

Mississippi Master Gardeners Assoc. News
August 2010

Dear Master Gardener Assoc. Member

Below are several events that you might find of interest.

Logo Contest
As you may know, the Southern Regional Conference will be held in Natchez from May 2 - 5, 2012. Now 2012 may seem as if it is a long way off, but rest assured your planning committee is already formed and hard at work.

In planning our printed materials and give-away items, we have decided to hold two contests. The second one will be to design the artwork that will be featured on all printed materials. Each of the winners will receive recognition in the Conference materials for being the winners, and each winner will also receive free admission to the Conference.

Second Contest: The contestant will submit a design that will be placed on all printed material. The design must incorporate at least three items: the winning slogan, the Master Gardener name or symbol, and the Magnolia (since we are the Magnolia State).

The deadline for submitting the artwork for the second contest that combines the slogan, the Magnolia, and the Master Gardener logo will be September 1, 2010. The winning design will be published on November 1, 2010.

''Organic Gardening for the Deep South'',Presentation by Nellie Neal

''Organic Gardening for the Deep South''

For the ninth year, Wildwood Garden Club and Lincoln County Master Gardeners are sponsoring their joint meeting to benefit garden lovers in the surrounding area. The public event is at 9:30 AM on Wednesday October 13th and will be held in Brookhaven in Cannon Hall, Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 230 West Monticello Street, Brookhaven, Mississippi.

Nellie Neal, the ''Garden Mama'', author, radio personality and Horticulturist extraordinaire, will be the featured speaker. Her new book, ''Organic Gardening for the Deep South'', will be available.

For more information you may contact Shirley Estes at boguewild@bellsouth.net.

Symposium
Bob Brzuszek of the Department of Landscape Architecture requested that I share this information with you.

MSU historic landscape design symposium to be held on Oct. 20

MISSISSIPPI STATE - Landscape and gardening enthusiasts who want to
learn about historic gardens of the South should attend Mississippi
State University's 55th annual Edward C. Martin Jr. Landscape Design
Symposium on Oct. 20, 2010.

The MSU Department of Landscape Architecture and the Garden Clubs of
Mississippi, Inc., sponsors the event each fall to introduce the public
to topics in landscape architecture and gardening. This year's theme
concerns gardens and historic plants and landscapes of the Antebellum
South.

The symposium begins at 9:00 a.m. with MSU department of landscape
architecture associate professor and symposium chairman, Bob Brzuszek,
with a narrative on the Southern U.S. regional ecology and its
contribution to sense of place.

At 9:30 a.m., guest speaker Jim Cothran from Atlanta, Georgia will
present on the Gardens and Historic Plants of the Antebellum South. Mr.
Cothran is author of two award-winning books, Gardens of Historic
Charleston and Gardens and Historic Plants of the Antebellum South.
"Special emphasis will be given to distinguishing features of gardens
of the period, historic plants, and the dissemination of gardening
information and fashion that played an important role in shaping the
horticultural and gardening legacy of the South," Cothran said. Mr.
Cothran will also present a second lecture on small space gardening.

MSU landscape architecture assistant professor Michael Seymour will
present on the historic layouts of Mississippi's town squares. By
using historic photographs and maps, Mr. Seymour was able to document
the patterns of vegetation, circulation, structures, fencing and
furnishing of the period. Seymour mentions that "this important
research helps communities in Mississippi to value and preserve their
town layouts and patterns."

The symposium will be in the Bost Center auditorium. Pre-registration
is $20 by Oct. 15 and $25 at the door the day of the event. Forms are
online at http://www.lalc.msstate.edu. Click on "Edward Martin
Landscape Design Symposium" under the "Coming Events" menu.
Contact Debbie Whitfield at 662-325-4554 or email to
dww12@lalc.msstate.edu for registration or more information.

Southwest District Meeting
Mark your calendar. The next Southwest District Meeting will be hosted by Pike County Master Gardeners on November 6th 2010. More to come. Your Southwest District Chairman is Margaret Lamb.

Sincerely,
Kelly Parks, President

reply to this email goes to.

Carolyn Dickson, Membership Chairman
Mississippi Master Gardeners Assoc.

Also, information on the Mid-South Native Plant Conference being held in Memphis October 8-10, 2010, can be found here: Information and Registration.

A new section has been added to the MSMG Website ... A Master Gardener Speakers Bureau! A request was made at the recent MSMG Conference that we provide a resource of master gardeners who would be willing to make gardening/horticultural related presentations to interested community groups. If you enjoy giving presentations in particular areas of interest, please send along your information for including on the Speakers Bureau list. We would like to have a variety of subjects to give a selection to choose from for local groups.

Click here to check out the this new area of service by Mississippi Master Gardeners to their nearby communities and consider being a presenter.

2010 Mississippi Master Gardeners Conference - Hosted by Northeast District

Here are a few pictures from the conference with others in the "Photos" area. If you have a few pictures that you took at the conference that might be of interest to others, please send them in and they will be posted in the Photos section.

Award winners at the 2010 MSMG Conference

OUTSTANDING MASTER GARDENER ASSOCIATION

ADAMS COUNTY MG-with total membership of 56, publicize the MG program in the local newspaper the Natchez Democrat. All activities relating to educational opportunities, new member classes, and gardening activities are promoted by this means. The group is active in the Junior Master Gardener program, in the Crape Myrtle Pruning program at the Natchez City Cemetery, the maintaining of the nature trail at the Historic Jefferson College, the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians nature trail, the Natchez National Historical Park, and the Watkins Street Historic Cemetery. They helped plan the Southwest District Meeting in Natchez in the spring of 2010, and are currently in preliminary planning stages for the Southern Regional MG Conference to be held in Natchez in 2012.

COORDINATOR OF THE YEAR

Dr. David Carter, Adams County MG Coordinator, came to Adams County in February of 2007 from LSU. He has wonderful people skills, and interacts with all age and status groups. He provides educational opportunities for the MG's to learn, be involved and share in gardening knowledge and skills. He helped establish the first Jr MG Program, encourages the writing of articles, and teaches classes on pruning techniques, Topsy Turvey gardening, composting, and Lasagna Gardening, attract visibility for the Adams County Master Gardener Association.

MASTER GARDENER OF THE YEAR

DONNA TUCKER-LEE COUNTY MASTER GARDENER is a charter member of the Lee County MG's since 1995. She has been tireless in promoting all aspects of the MG program. For five hears she has taught monthly over 100 children in the Junior MG Program, presented “Plant Propagation” in the Learning Series program. She is instrumental in developing the greenhouse from a former storage building, and

her leadership has led to spring plant sales exceeding $3,000 for several years in a row. Of those earnings, $1,000 is applied to a Student Scholarship at MSU for a student in the horticulture field. Donna has giving excess of 200 volunteer hours, and has earned over 30 hours of continuing education. For fifteen years, Donna has been one of the strongest motivating forces in our local association, she is the personification of an ideal Master Gardener.

OUTSTANDING MG PROJECT

WARREN COUNTY FARMER'S MARKET PROJECT-The 2008 Warren county Interns, envisioned a new project of education for the public, in coordination with the newly organized Farmers' Market in Vicksburg. Each Market day, the volunteers secured free booth space, purchased items needed, and developed a series of focus topics for each week, and organized a schedule so that all WCMG members could participate. In 2008, 22 MG's participated, with 750 visitors to the booth.

In 2009, 20 MG's participated in the educational talks, with 1,310 visitors attending. The gardening topics included nineteen different subjects, with questions answered by the Master Gardeners.

PUBLICATION AWARD

LEE COUNTY-Continuing the objective of Public Education, this group through six of their MG's contribute approx. 100 hours annually to produce articles for the N M Daily Journal with annual distribution of over 1 million copies.

GRAPHIC PRESENTATION

LINCOLN COUNTY-Continuing the objective of Public Education, Homer Richardson created the Lincoln County MG Website to display and promote gardening activities, not only of the county MG's but of other organizational

activities in the area by The Forestry Service, State MG Projects, LCFA , the Brookhaven Camellia Society and the Lincoln County Chamber of commerce.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

LEE COUNTY MG Association has been a leader in the field of public education.

Beginning in the year of 2009, monthly sessions were available for public education at the Extension office. The particular program presented in early spring, “So You Want To Grow Your Own Vegetables?” , a three hour program, was presented twice due to the overwhelming attendance of 137 from the first session. Attendance at the second session was 50. The program was promoted in the local news paper, and on the local television news at noon.

NEWLETTER AWARD

LEE COUNTY Volunteer Program Coordinator, along with the Extension Secretary, compile a very attractive monthly Northeast Mississippi Master Gardener Newsletter, containing all of the local events in education, MG projects, and dates of continuing education programs, along with gardening tips each month. This publication is in Color, with graphic designs and format, and is sent to the local chapter members via electronic transmission. Copies are distributed to members who do not have email.

MS FRIEND OF MASTER GARDENERS

SAINT FRANCIS CATHOLIC CHURCH OF BROOKHAVEN has faithfully provided an ideal site for the Lincoln County MG to meet from the inception of the program in Lincoln County, for over a ten year period without any request or suggestion of payment. They also provide kitchen supplies, heating, cooling, and rest room supplies that are needed. The partnership includes the development of a vegetable plot called Peas for the People, an outshoot of the St. Francis food pantry. The MG's provide expertise and help with planting the garden. Yields are used as part of the Food Pantry ministry.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION-PAT WHEELER-OF STATE TREASURER

Service Pin Awards Application (Service Pin Awards Application.doc)

Mississippi Master Gardener Association
Service

Recognition Program

These pins are to recognize years of active service in the Mississippi State University Extension Service Master Gardener program. Eligibility for these pins is determined by the Extension professional managing the county program; therefore, the signature of the Extension professional managing the county program is required.

Member:

County:

District: Northwest_______ Northeast _______ Southwest ________ Southeast

Address:

City: MS, Zip

Phone: Extension Agent’s Name:

Extension Agent’s e-mail:

Applying for 5 year membership pin ___________ 10 year membership pin

Signature of County Extension Master Gardener Coordinator (Extension Agent)

Application must be postmarked after January 1^st, but at least 60 days prior to the current year’s MMGA State Conference. Complete application and send to:

Kelly Parks

2112 Hawkins Rd.

Pattison, MS 39144

Upcoming Master Gardener Conferences -

2011 - May 11-13, 2011 in Jones County at the Jones County Jr. College Advanced Technology Center in Ellisville.

2012 - May 2-5, 2012 in Natchez - The Southern Regional Master Gardener Conference. Yes, Mississippi is hosting the SRMG conference.

Note: We now have a Southern Region Master Gardener Conference Website on msucares.com. http://msucares.com/lawn/master_gardener/2012conference/index.html
As information about this conference develops it will be posted. Please mark your calendars for May 2-5, 2012 in Natchez.

More ways to get Master Gardener Information -- We are now blogging... check it out.

Counties and Master Gardener county e-mail contacts,
You may not be aware that eXtension has launched a new blog specifically for Master Gardeners.

These volunteers now have a new communication tool to encourage interaction and sharing at the national, state and local level. Check it out http://blogs.extension.org/mastergardener/

Statewide Master Gardener Project: The creation of a password-protected site on msucares for Master Gardener generated Consumer Horticulture educational materials.

Objective: To provide a resource for Master Gardeners and Extension professionals to avoid “recreating the wheel” when looking for material to use in Extension programs and activities. Compiling materials that were created by Master Gardeners and are already in use at a central, accessible location will save time and help us reach our audiences more effectively.

These materials would be available only for use by Master Gardeners or Extension professionals. Materials would include powerpoints, word documents, such as fact sheets, FAQ’s or other appropriate materials generated by a Master Gardener or MG group and already being used for Extension programming in the county.

Master Gardeners are requested to submit their materials directly by e-mail attachment to Kelly Parks, kellyparks99@yahoo.com, or mail a CD to Kelly Parks, 2112 Hawkins Road, Pattison, MS, 39144.

All materials will be subject to peer review by a committee of selected Master Gardeners. Materials will be edited, formatted and then submitted to the state coordinator for further review and revision if necessary before putting on the password protected website.

Certain criteria should be met before submitting the material for review.

Criteria:

1. Must be approved by your County Master Gardener Coordinator

2. Should be original work or include citations indicating the source of the material, if possible

3. Powerpoints should include speaker notes with the slides for clarity. Please indicate if the photos in the powerpoints are original (your own), if source is unknown, or the source of photo (book, web-site etc.), if possible

4. Should have application statewide, if possible

5. Must be in electronic format

6. Must include names of Master Gardeners responsible and county name on all documents

If you have any questions about this project or whether your material is appropriate please contact Dr. Lelia Kelly, leliak@ext.msstate.edu, or Kelly Parks. Thanks in advance for your submissions.

Are you ready for 2010?? -- Lot of activities ahead for all MSMG. Information on state, district and local events will be included on the website so you can stay current with what is going on. If you have events or items from your county that you would like to have included, please send the details to homerrichardson@hughes.net so they can be included.

A few pictures from the Crystal Springs 2009 Fall Garden Extravaganza - submitted by Wanda Holmes

A number of people at the May MSU MSMG Conference asked about being able access the presentations by several of our speakers. Here are the links to the presentations submitted:

Lynette McDougald - Instructor, Floral Management -- Presentation on Floral Design

http://theuniversityflorist.com/news/slideshow/project/index.html

Tim Schauwecker's Presentation - Successful Landscape (Takes several minutes to download - Complete Powerpoint presentation)

http://www.lalc.msstate.edu/faculty/schauwecker/schauwecker.php

Jermiah Dumas Presentation - From Community to Landscape (PDF)

A few more pictures from the

2009 MSMG Conference

Pictures above submitted by Wanda Holmes -- from Starkville 2009 MSMG Conference

Submitted by Kelly Parks - Adams County MG at MSU Conference

Other pictures will be posted as we get them

Note: Mississippi Master Gardeners should renew their 2010 membership through their County Extension Service Master Gardener Coordinator at the end of the year. They will be collected and sent in from the counties as a group to help getting all members into the system.

Note: Three new awards are being introduced for 2010. This includes awards for Education Program, Graphic Presentation, and Publication. Check the "MS MG Awards" link to review the applications for these new awards.

Take a look at the list of horticultural publications that are being revised by the Education & Training Committee on the Education & Training Link

Benefits of being a MS Master Gardener member

These membership fees are used to support:

Mississippi Master Gardener Website www.msmastergardener.org
Scholarship, Educational Training
Annual MG State Awards
State Membership Cards
The State MG Newsletter
Support for the State Conference
Voting Rights at the State Conference
Educational Materials, i.e. Rose Short Course

The "News & Events" link will be updated with things happening in the four Master Gardener Districts in Mississippi. This will include Newsletters, seminars or special events that may be of interest to others. Please send any items you would like to include to the webmaster so we can keep information current.

Fall Garden Fest was held at Crystal Springs on October 17 -18... here are a few pictures from the event.

If you have items to submit for the MSMG Newsletter ( Botanical Blurbs) from you Master Gardener Association, please send to: Barry & Sherri McCalla at email: catldog@bellsouth.net

Two of the most frequently asked questions asked when a group of master gardeners get together are:

1) What kind of interesting projects are you working on?

2) How does your group make money to fund different projects?

If your MG Association has been working on some interesting projects or managed to find some unique ways of getting them funded, pass them along and we will build a section on the MSMG website where others can visit and maybe even stimulate more ideas.

Again, if you have a gardening or plant question, Go to "Garden Question" link, then ASK JAY!

Our Purpose

To promote responsible horticultural practices in accordance with the research and recommendations of the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service