Chapter Chat - February 2025
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Reporting Continuing Ed hours in VRS
The Volunteer Reporting System (VRS) team has been working full time on verifying everyone’s final 2023/24 hours. That should be completed about the time you read this. This has not left time to update the Continuing Education hours with the 2025 classes. So, keep track of those on your own for now. A memo will come out as soon as VRS has been updated with this year’s classes.
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Tuesday, February 4, 2025
7:00 - 8:00 PM PDT - Free Webinar, Open to All
Registration Required
8:00-9:00 PM PDT - Members Meeting
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Leslie Madsen, PhD, is the Oregon statewide Master Gardener Volunteer Program Manager for OSU Extension Service. She combines expertise in developing educational programs with her avid interest in gardening. She came to OSU from Boise State University, where she served as associate director for educational development in the Center for Teaching and Learning.
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Dr. Madsen will share what she has learned during her first year as statewide program manager for the OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program—and how that knowledge and understanding are shaping her vision and plans for the program. The second part of her talk will be interactive, with opportunities for volunteers to influence the direction of the program in 2025 and beyond. She’s eager to hear your thoughts and ideas!
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I haven’t quite known what to do with this cold sunny weather we’ve had lately. It’s thrown off my sit-inside-and-read vibe.
Please make sure to register for and attend our Chapter meeting Tuesday. Leslie Madsen, our state Master Gardener Manager will be presenting then opening the floor for feedback and suggestions. This is our opportunity to hear her thoughts and give her ours. It should be a very worthwhile session.
We’ve got three workshops this month. If you are volunteering for one, thank you, and if you want to learn more about pruning, blueberries, or mason bees please attend.
And I hope to see many of you at our almost-spring social at the Beaverton Library on the 15th. More information is below.
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Thirteen of the Learning Garden MGs completed outlines in January for the six workshops that will be offered in the garden for the 2025 Interns starting in February. These workshops, along with five at the Education Garden, will allow Interns to meet in person and gain hands-on experience in various topics. We are looking forward to meeting the new Interns!
Even in January, the garden still boasts numerous blooms and seeds for our pollinator friends. The cover crops in the vegetable beds are thriving, and early signs of spring are starting to appear.
A Winter Walk around the Learning Garden
Photos Courtesy of Terri Rottman
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Cover crops in the Vegetable garden, cool seed pods in the Pioneer Herb garden
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Rose Hips in the Pioneer Garden, Snowberries and Rose Hips in the Natives Garden
Where Terri Leads...
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Manzanita and mahonia in the Waterwise Garden, Autumn Joy Sedum in the Pollinator Garden
And bulbs popping up everywhere...
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The Urban Edibles, Companion Plantings, and Deer Resistant Gardens
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Learning Garden regular work parties will resume on Thursday, February 6th, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., weather permitting. Feel free to come at any time during those hours – the garden is more pleasant in the late morning in the winter. For more information contact Steve Kister kansammy@yahoo.com or Robin Burnham robin.e.burnham@aol.com.
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Burgundy foliage of Mahonia repens in January. Abies concolor ‘Wintergold’ peeks out from behind.
Sunny skies brought a few intrepid Master Gardeners out to the Education Garden for some planning and pruning this January. Elizabeth Price and Lisa Hansen met to determine the list of trees and shrubs that will be on the agenda for the February 1st Aesthetic Pruning consultation with Marianne Lewis.
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Elizabeth Price is curious about candling techniques to control the size of Pinus densiflora 'Golden Ghost' in the Pine bed.
Marianne’s initial event at PCC Rock Creek and the Education Garden in 2023 was an aesthetic pruning class that was quite insightful for Master Gardeners. February’s consultation will be her second invitation from Education Garden Team to help guide them in pruning some of the maturing conifers, deciduous trees, and challenging shrubs in the various garden classrooms.
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Callicarpa 'Purple Pearls' and Cryptomeria japonica 'Mushroom’ pruned to shape by Susan Albright, Elizabeth Price, and Lisa Hansen. Sue Ryburn tackled the Forsythia (back right) that was invading its neighbors.
A relatively mild January afternoon was met with enthusiasm and pruning tools as Susan Albright, Elizabeth Price, Sue Ryburn, and Lisa Hansen set out to address several pruning priorities. An overgrown Beautyberry received an attractive reshaping, the exuberant Forsythia was corralled again, and the Cryptomeria ‘Mushroom’ endured its annual shearing. Other conifers were combed to remove dead inner foliage while dead and damaged branches were removed.
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Susan Albright takes a turn with the new chainsaw.
Finally, Elizabeth Price provided instruction on safe use of the new battery-powered chainsaw. The chainsaw was tested on the declining Arctostaphylos ‘Monica’ that will eventually be removed. Although we will be sad to see Monica go, the chainsaw will make the chore much less onerous.
Regular work groups at the Education Garden will resume in February.
Other Happenings
- Marianne Lewis Aesthetic Pruning Consultation Saturday February 1st. The registration for this consultation in the Education Garden is full.
- The monthly Education Team Meeting will be held February 19th from 6:00 – 7:00 pm. Watch your email for the agenda and Zoom link.
- In the Garden Series: Saturday February 8, 2025, 10 am – 12 noon. Blueberry Care. PCC Rock Creek Building 7, Room 105. Presented by Master Gardeners Sue Ryburn, Lisa Barnhart, Susan Albright, Stephanie Engle.
- In the Garden Series: Saturday February 22, 2025, 10 am – 12 noon. Raising Mason Bees. PCC Rock Creek Building 4, Room 103. Presented by Master Gardener Ron Spendal.
- If you would like to be added to our Education Garden email list, contact Susan Albright or Sue Ryburn.
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Volunteer for Gardenfest 2025!
The Gardenfest Steering Committee has been hard at work planning for the big event at the PCC Rock Creek Campus on Saturday, May 3. We’re currently scheduling volunteers to work all the areas during the sale, setting up and taking down, and the many jobs that will be required before and after Gardenfest. We’ll need the majority of our members to help with this fun event and fundraiser, so please fill out the volunteer form at this link,
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdFzzsmwDFhxrEXnA92rn0c6UrgYB-ilOMd8esRNQLi-xRujw/viewform?usp=sharing
so that we can get everyone on the schedule. Please check all the areas in which you can help, keeping in mind that there are enough opportunities that each person can do more than one thing. You’ll also find buttons leading to the volunteer form and the different Gardenfest volunteer job descriptions listing duties, accessibility, and other information in the Member Portal section of the WCMGA website. We encourage you to invite friends and family members to help out as well!
This is a great opportunity to work with your fellow Washington County Master Gardeners and earn volunteer hours for 2025. Please contact Larina Hoffbeck at hoffbeck@frontier.com with any questions.
Thank you for volunteering, and don’t forget to spread the word! We have a public Gardenfest page with more details here: https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/gardenfest-plant-sale/
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Join Washington County Master Gardeners for this in person class. Blueberries are easy and fun to grow. Learn about planting, fertilizing, plant selection and care for blueberries, including pruning techniques. Bring your hand pruners and garden gloves for a hands-on opportunity to prune. Class will start indoors followed by a short walk outdoors to the PCC RC WCMGA Education Garden. Please dress accordingly.
The class will be led by OSU Extension MG Volunteers:
Sue Ryburn, Susan Albright, Lisa Barnhart, and Stephanie Engle
For more information:
https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/event/blueberry-care-3/
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Join the Washington County Master Gardener Association for discussion and pruning demonstrations of various landscape perennials. We’ll start with general guidelines - when to prune, what to prune, and the proper use of pruning tools. Pruning specifics will be covered for a variety of clematis, hydrangeas, roses, and more, all of which are grown in the Companion Planting Garden within the Learning Garden at Jenkins Estate.
This class will be led by OSU Ext. MG Volunteers, Tamara Newton Baker, Cindy Muir, and Annette Bell
For more information:
https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/event/pruning-perennials-2/
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Join the Washington County Master Gardener Association and mason bee expert Ron Spendal for a class focusing on environmental needs, nesting behaviors and housing devices attractive to mason bees. Ron Spendal is an OSU Master Gardener who has been providing mason bee education to the public for over 15 years. He operates educational mason bee displays across Washington County, Oregon and runs highly sought-after courses on mason bee management through the Washington County Master Gardener Association. Ron designs and builds his own equipment. He conducts research in conjunction with Oregon State University and Montana State University. Ron’s work with mason bees has been featured on the Oregon Field Guide program on OPB.
For more information:
https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/event/raising-mason-bees-3/
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A Seedy February
by Karen Anderson
I am fortunate to volunteer inside a warm greenhouse in February. During our Plant Propagation sessions at the PCC greenhouse, our volunteers’ tasks are many. We clone plants by taking stem and leaf cuttings. We set-up hardwood cuttings.
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And then there is plant maintenance: potting up successfully propagated plants that grow robust roots (yay), watering, fertilizing and scouting plants for nuisance critters. Many of these plants will be offered at the May 3rd fundraiser, Gardenfest, to help support our chapter’s many activities. Some will be offered in our pop-up sales. (See the flier in this edition of Chapter Chat for our Houseplant sale on Saturday February 8th.)
Our activities continue year round. Some of us keep the plant inventory, print and insert informative plant stick labels, and clean up moss from plants held outside. Others research and order plants from wholesale nurseries, for those plants we can’t grow and want to be “retail ready” for sale by Gardenfest.
Currently, the members of the Plant Propagation are gearing up to start seeds, yet another way to propagate plants. We plan to add some flats of veggies and annuals to our inventory. Many seedlings destined for last year’s Gardenfest 24 were damaged by slugs. The little munchers had laid eggs in our potting soil. What slug doesn’t like a newly emerged tasty seedling?
So this year, we are using what we hope is an improved strategy. Beginning with a bag of seed start mix, a donated shelving unit with grow lights, and an Oregon seed start guide, we’ll implement the following:
- Using sanitized well-draining soil mix in sanitized containers will reduce the chance that seedlings will croak due to some microbial beasties and larger ones that leave slime trails.
- While it helps having light filtered inside the greenhouse, we’ll place grow lights just a few inches above the seedlings. This will help keep the new plants from becoming leggy.
- A warm environment is a must!! Inside, 60 degrees F or warmer, will help seeds germinate. Check! Another bonus of a heated greenhouse.
- Keeping the soil Goldilocks-moist, just right, encourages growth and discourages seedling damp off. The task of watering will be provided by many helping hands from our volunteers.
- Starting the seeds according to the information on a seed packet or using a handy growth chart from OSU extension will place our plants in the right time frame for our May sale. (See the link in resources).
- Finally, depending on the plants, using a fan to simulate wind can help strengthen or harden-off new plants that transition from an indoor to outdoor garden existence. Another way to harden tender plants is to move them outside for short stints in dappled sunlight on warmer days.
- If needed, we’ll deploy the bread dough slurry slug traps. (See links in resources).
Some of you, no doubt, have volunteered to grow tomatoes and peppers for the Grow 1/Give 1 campaign at home! If you can lend us hand at the greenhouse growing and caring for a few flats of propagated plants from seeds (not tomatoes or peppers), come to our Friday propagation sessions in February or contact Karen Anderson, worthog42@gmail.com .
Resources:
Short video: Start your own vegetables from seeds
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/video/start-your-own-vegetables-seeds
When to start seeds indoors in Oregon
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/techniques/when-start-seeds-indoors-oregon
How to create a slug trap using bread dough slurry:
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gallery/how-create-slug-trap-using-bread-dough-slurry
Get slugs out of your garden!
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/video/get-slugs-out-your-garden
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Jorie Helwig
Jorie Helwig has immersed herself in a number of Master Gardener initiatives and has done so quickly since she is part of the 2024 MG training cohort. She has applied her many skills to help in several areas including serving as Photographer for the 2024 Education Garden Open Garden and the 2024 Learning Garden Fair. In addition she created drone videos and images of the Education Garden, adding to the chronological library of drone videos/ images that has been done at various intervals since establishment of the garden a few years ago. Our former photographer for drone images is no longer at PCC, so Jorie’s skills are much appreciated.
Jorie has also volunteered for the Gardening Speakers Guild to make presentations, thereby adding to the MG educational outreach to the community. She readily stepped up to take the lead on making the graphical/design changes for the three WCMGA Brochures, making it possible for us to update these key publications that were overdue for a refresher.
Her many skills and generosity in volunteering have been of great benefit to the Master Gardener program already in a short period of time.
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This is the time of year State (OMGA) and County (WCMGA for us) annual awards are solicited. Master Gardeners are recognized and some receive their awards at the statewide "Joy of Gardening" conference. (Scheduled for July 11 and 12 this year)
The WCMGA Board asks the membership for nominations for these awards knowing that members are the best source of knowledge for the work done by its members.
If you want to make a nomination, or have questions, contact me. My contact information is in the Directory.
Terry Wagner
Chapter Relations Director
Brief Synopsis of Awards
OMGA Master Gardener of the Year Award – Each of the counties in the State with an MG organization nominates an individual for this award which is presented cooperatively by Oregon State University and the Oregon Master Gardener Association. The nominees are selected for contributions above and beyond those associated with various leadership positions. This is the highest award for an Oregon Master Gardener and is given to only one recipient.
OMGA Behind the Scenes Award – This award is also given to just one Master Gardener in the State. The nominees’ contributions to the organizations will be above and beyond those associated with various supporting roles.
WCMGA Master Gardener of the Year Award – Recognizes an individual for outstanding dedication, externally focused service, and contributions to WCMGA’s work. Service of the selected individual will have benefited our county as a whole.
WCMGA Behind the Scenes Award – This award recognizes an individual for outstanding dedication, internally focused service and contributions to WCMGA’s work.
Special Act/Making a Difference Award – the recipient of this award has performed MG volunteer work in an exceptional manner with significant impact and benefit to the community served.
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While working as the Head of Libraries and Exhibitions at the Royal Horticultural Society, Fiona Davison found a collection of letters written by a young female gardener. With this introduction to Olive Cockerell, the writer of the letters, Davison researched the lives of Olive and five other women who were gardening pioneers. They fought against derision, prejudice, and hostility to change the expectations of what gardening women could do in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The women who prevailed and gained both the opportunity to study horticulture and pursue it as a career were faced with the attitudes widely held and expressed in this quote by Sir Joseph Hooker, the director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. ‘Gardening, taken up as a hobby when all the laborious work can be done by a man, is delightful, but as a life’s work for a woman, it is almost an impossible thing.’
This a well-researched and compelling story of Britain’s first professional women gardeners and how they achieved recognition as serious horticulturalists, gaining social and political independence which was entirely unheard of during this time.
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