Tuesday, October 7, 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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Harvesting rainwater conserves resources, reduces water bills and helps landscapes survive in drought or water restriction periods.
Join the Washington County Master Gardener Association for a Zoom webinar presented by Lincoln County Master Gardener, Ann Geyer.
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Ann will introduce the basic concepts of how to collect, store, and distribute rainwater. She will provide examples based on her own experience using only rainwater for her 1-acre garden,
Ann Geyer was introduced to gardening by her grandfather who was a landscaper at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. While in college she worked at the University of California Botanical Garden tending primarily to local natives.
Ann joined the Master Gardener program in 1981 and has been active ever since. She is past president of the Lincoln County Master Gardener Association and is a frequent presenter in the Gardening Roundtable series as well as assisting with Master Gardener volunteer training.
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I keep hoping for more rain, and the temperature seems summery. The asters are out; a sure sign of fall and I surprised a hummingbird in the zinnias this morning.
I enjoyed the Social on the 13th. I’m sorry more people weren’t able to attend to admire all the hard work done in the garden.
Four Board positions are open – Recording Secretary, Publicity, Chapter Relations and Communications. You can find position descriptions on our website. Several current Board members came on as Interns. We welcome the energy and ideas of new members
And finally, membership renewal is open starting this month.
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Don’t forget to report your volunteer and continuing education hours for Master Gardener certification or recertification!
Thank you so much for all your time and efforts volunteering with WCMGA and Metro Master Gardeners this year! We want to make sure that you are credited with the time you spent from November 2024 through October of this year.
All 2025 volunteer and continuing education hours are due to be reported by October 31. You can access the VRS reporting system through a button on WCMGA’s member portal page or directly here: https://metromg.org/sec_Login/
You can check to see which of WCMGA’s classes and monthly chapter meetings count towards continuing education hours by looking for the red asterisk next to any event on our Calendar of events here: https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-WCMGA-Calendar-of-Public-Events_1pg_12.16.2024-1.pdf
Our monthly chapter speaker webinars are all available to watch on our Youtube channel if you still need a few towards your total of 10 hours. (Don’t forget to check the Calendar of events to see which count towards continuing education credit.). The Youtube channel is accessible from the Education and Resources page on our website or directly here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCym_aEAW6oo72GYVus7GZnw
Requirements for maintaining certification for Perennial Master Gardeners and for gaining certification for 2025 Interns can be found by going to the Metro Master Gardener webpage and scrolling down the page here: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/metro/volunteer-resources
We’ll also have the Renew/Join Membership page on the WCMGA website updated for 2026 soon, but please do go ahead and report those volunteer and continuing education hours now!
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Education Garden Featured in OSU Extension Garden Future Blog
Climate resilience gardening is on full display at the Education Garden. Sue Ryburn and Susan Albright (with input from other Ed Garden team members) worked with OSU Extension Statewide Master Gardener Outreach Coordinator, Leann Locher, to share how the Education Garden serves as an example of sustainable gardening practices in a changing climate. The blog on the Garden Future website reviewed the evolution of the garden and the vision of the Master Gardeners who believed a sunny gravel parking lot could become a thriving, diverse demonstration garden. A bonus addition came from MG Lakshmi Srinivasan who had a colleague with talents in videography. Hai Nguyen and Chris Tran volunteered their expertise, and MG Lisa Hansen narrated a short video describing how the Education Garden’s Pacific Northwest Native Hedgerow and Waterwise Garden represent climate resilient planting ideas that can be incorporated into home gardens.
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Master Gardener and author, Elizabeth Price, working in the Education Garden
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American Conifer Society’s Conifer Quarterly Magazine Features the Education Garden
The Education Garden, jointly with the Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus, received designation as an American Conifer Society (ACS) Reference Garden in 2022. MG Elizabeth Price authored an article on the ACS reference garden designation and descriptions of the respective conifer collections in the summer 2025 issue of the Conifer Quarterly. Elizabeth’s article describes the educational value of the huge variety of trees found on the PCC Campus. She goes on to highlight various conifers on the PCC campus and in the Education Garden. The species and cultivar descriptions are enhanced by her excellent photography skills. This article’s publication is timely as the ACS will hold their annual meeting in Portland in 2026 and our reference garden will be on the list of recommended tours. You can read Elizabeth’s article on the WCMGA website here.
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Andrea Flint shows off her steady hand on the shed trim.
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Office Shed Gets an Upgrade
The Education Garden office shed was moved from the old WCMGA garden at the Washington County Fairgrounds to the Education Garden back in 2018. Its exterior had seen better days and its faded paint was a stark contrast to the more youthful Tuff Sheds in close proximity.
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Office shed placed at PCC RC Education Garden in September 2018
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Larina Hoffbeck reaches for the eaves.
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Helen Dorbolo tackles the trim
Some Master Gardeners are also master painters and they went to work to bring a new cloak of paint to an old shed. Thanks to Helen Dorbolo, Andrea Flint, Lisa Hansen, Larina Hoffbeck, and Sue Ryburn for their painting expertise! And thanks to Ron Spendal for repairing the door, sparing us the considerable expense of buying a new one!
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Planning for Fall
The Education Garden team has been planning for fall activities. Native plants have been ordered and will be planted later this month. Plants have been identified for relocation and new plants have been added to the Fragrance Garden. New and creative ideas continue to emerge from our team and we look forward to garden improvements in the coming months.
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Other Happenings
- Saturday, October 4th MG Intern Workshop –Weed ID, Management, and Tools, 10 AM – 12 noon and 1 – 3 PM Sessions, Susan Albright, Eric Butler, Lisa Hansen, Sue Ryburn. Registrations waitlisted.
- Saturday, October 11th MG Intern Workshop – Conifers of the Pacific Northwest – Pine Family, 10 AM – 12:30 PM. Elizabeth Price. Registrations waitlisted.
- Saturday, October 18th IGS Session - Lawn Be Gone - 10am-Noon at PCC Rock Creek, Building 4, Room 103 - Susan Albright, Lisa Barnhart, Tamara Newton Baker
- The next monthly Education Team Meeting will be held Wednesday October 15 from 6:00 – 7:00 pm. Watch your email for the agenda and Zoom link.
If you’d like to join the Education Garden email list, contact Susan Albright albright.becker@gmail.com or Sue Ryburn sue@sueryburn.com
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Over the past few weeks, the garden buzzed with energy—harvesting fresh crops, diving into hands-on learning, launching projects, and sharing plenty of laughter. Master Gardeners took center stage, hosting an Intern workshop and offering three engaging classes for the public amidst the blooming beds. Meanwhile, 9th graders from Beaverton International School soaked up the garden’s beauty during their back-to-school offsite, discovering nature’s classroom firsthand. As September ended, volunteers came together to celebrate the season’s bounty with a relaxing fall potluck, savoring community, and tasty food beneath the autumn sky.
In August, Interns dove into the world of composting with Michael Donoghue, soaking up a rich variety of techniques from his deep well of knowledge. His beginner-friendly tips made the complex process approachable and exciting. What truly stood out was the chance to watch composting in action and have their specific questions answered on the spot—turning theory into practical, down-to-earth understanding.
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Michael Donoghue demonstrates composting with three bins. Photo courtesy of Anna Stubbs.
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In late August, Master Gardeners Anna Stubbs, Judy Fenker, and Lorill Hirschberger brought the garden to life with an inspiring In-the-Garden class all about Growing Herbs. Participants eagerly learned hands-on techniques for propagating and growing herbs, then wandered through the lush Herb Spiral, marveling at the vibrant variety of thriving plants that displayed the art and science of herbal gardening.
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Judy Fenker (center) points out and answers questions about specific herbs in the Herb Spiral. Photo courtesy of Anna Stubbs.
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Lorill Hirschberger (center) presents information on herbs. Photo courtesy of Anna Stubbs.
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Harvests by the Vegetable Garden team are going to a new food pantry partner, St. Vincent de Paul in Hillsboro. They are open daily, and their "shopping cart" style of delivery provides their clients with a method of selecting items according to their dietary needs and preferences. They appreciate all the fresh herbs along with the vegetables and are often able to distribute the produce on Thursdays right after it has been picked.
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Jennifer Rosenquist showed a huge radish that was harvested. Photo courtesy of Anna Stubbs.
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Lorill Hirschberger shows how fast okra is growing this season. Photo courtesy of Robin Burnham
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Joe Porter and Bob Campbell developed a method to strengthen the plastic shed for table and chair storage. Photo courtesy of Robin Burnham.
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Native plants never fail to captivate, and this month’s class led by Kari Woyak and Jennifer Legault drew a lively crowd hungry for knowledge and eager to have their questions answered. Beyond the engaging discussions, participants explored a stunning variety of native plants, including the top pollinators spotlighted in OSU’s research—bringing science and beauty together in the garden.
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Kari Woyak and Jennifer Legault teach Growing Native Plants class. Photos courtesy of Robin Burnham.
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Dorothy Erpelding discovered a new volunteer hard at work in the garden! Photo courtesy of Anna Stubbs.
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Learning Garden regular work parties are on Thursdays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. - feel free to come at any time during those hours. For more information contact Steve Kister kansammy@yahoo.com or Robin Burnham robin.e.burnham@aol.com.
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Plant Propagation Work Group — PCC-Rock Creek Greenhouse: Tickling roots and more
This past month we, in the Plant Propagation group, continued to reap the benefits and face the challenges of adding a summer dose of slow-release fertilizer to our leftover plant stock. Managing vigorous plant growth along with the emergence of weeds kept us busy at the greenhouse.
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Larry Waterbury keeps plant jungle organized!
During each weekly session, volunteers pulled weeds from potted plants, trimmed off roots, and repotted or up potted many of these happy growers.
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Cathy George assess plant fit on pot up. Rosa Seda, Rick Johnson and Lauren Murphy up potting.
We continued making cuttings, or clones, of many plants. These cuttings are placed onto a mist table to keep the leaves from dehydrating and encourage new root formation. Depending on the species, cloned plants can form roots within a week or two while others require months. Some of these plants will be ready for our May sale while others will need a year or two of TLC to help encourage robust growth.
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Bridget Shaw prepares cuttings for the mist table. Cuttings “under mist”
Other tasks included: sanitizing 3”- 4” square pots to decrease the risk of disease transmission during the cuttings’ process, cleaning and sorting all of those colored price tags from GF25, and organizing our shared pot storage shed.
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Cindy Muir and Larry Waterbury sort and clean up the pots— the before and after shots.
We need your help! Now is the time to begin thinking about wholesale plant orders from local nurseries for those plants that we can’t grow well in our facilities—think tomatoes, showy blooming annuals, natives. If you have an interest in working with a small, experienced team to order these plants, or would like to be added to our propagation email list, please email Karen Anderson (worthog42@gmail.com).
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Intrepid volunteers manage nursery deliveries early morning on Gardenfest set-up day.
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Finally, as promised, here’s another helpful resource for learning about propagation, this time for native plants: Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants by Robin Rose, Caryn E.C. Chachulski, and Diane L. Haase published by OSU Press in 1998. Included are useful tips from seed starts to many asexual techniques including layering, division and various cuttings’ techniques for many of our favorite natives. A web search shows copies are still available, if interested.
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PlantFest 2025
19600 Molalla Ave, Oregon City, OR 97045
Clackamas Community College in Oregon City at the Gregory Forum,
Saturday, October 4th, 10:00AM - 2:30PM
PlantFest is a celebration of the changing seasons and the arrival of fall! Enjoy a speaker presentation by Master Gardener Lisa Graff of Lux Perennials Nursery about the power of fall planting, shop from boutique nurseries and garden art vendors, and take advantage of on-site tool sharpening. It's the perfect way to say goodbye to summer and welcome the crisp, colorful days ahead.
For more information and tickets:
https://www.hardyplantsociety.org/plantfest
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Join the Washington County Master Gardeners for a free in person class that will cover methods to remove turf and look at what to do next. Whether it is installing an eco-lawn, planting drought tolerant plants (both native and non-native) or moving towards all-native planting, we will cover planning, prepping, planting, irrigation and growing. OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers Susan Albright, Tamara Newton Baker and Lisa Barnhart will lead you through the steps and answer your questions.
For more information:
https://washingtoncountymastergardeners.org/event/lawn-be-gone-2/
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Marilyn Berti’s contribution to Grow1/Give1 this year was essential to its success. She was the volunteer coordinator for the project. She was tireless in ensuring we had adequate numbers of volunteers for the multiple locations at which plant starts are provided to people in Washington County. Her interest in including new MGs from the 2025 class resulted in several of them connecting with our Chapter through participation in Grow1Give1.
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Beyond that, Marilyn noticed and filled gaps in the organization of plants for distribution. This resulted in a smoother process this year. It also enabled us to develop a systematic process going forward that provides more opportunities for MGs to participate in a variety of roles.
Marilyn's efforts were essential to the success of Grow1Give1 in 2025. She is recognized as our Chapter’s MG of Note for October.
G1G1 distribution figures for 2025:
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Opportunity: Come and enjoy some quality time with Master Gardeners at Plumper Farms Pumpkin Patch, a family owned and operated farm.
What to wear and bring?
Dress according to the weather - a hat is always helpful.
Pricing: You can purchase your ticket online or at the gate
https://plumperfarms.ticketspice.com/2025-fall-festival
What is included with your ticket/
https://plumperpumpkins.com/admission-info/
Hope to see you!
Our last event…was a very fun and successful Tool Sharpening event and Pot Luck, thanks to Bob Campbell’s expertise, and Lisa Barnhart’s hospitality. Here are some pictures from the event:
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The Education Garden hosted our Fall Social September 19th with an abundance of sunshine. We shared food and drink, socializing and an overview of some our Chapter’s activities
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There was a call for new Board members for Recording Secretary, Publicity, Communications, and Chapter Relations with VP Tera Ramsey in charge of seeking candidates. Contact her at: qltera71@gmail.com
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Our display featured Chapter and State recognitions, Gathering Gardeners outings, and Master Gardeners volunteer contributions.
Grow1 Give1 and Garden Future had table displays.
Many thanks to all the volunteers helping with set up and take down and with the event activities.
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When I write that this book is about the relationship between woman and a newborn hare she rescues from certain death, you might think it would be a simple story of a human saving and adopting a wild animal. It is that and much more. It is an amazing recounting of how the author’s decision grew her philosophy of the abundance found in unconditional giving and love and changed her relationship with the natural world.
The pandemic afforded Chloe Dalton the opportunity to claim a space in a rural setting she would have missed without the mandated isolation. Living within this rural setting she had daily impactful experiences, many with her “guest”, the leveret than grew up to be the hare she credits with her life-changing experience.
Their relationship grows inevitability as the hare matures with both taking risks to trust each other. The most basic proof of their relationship is that while most hares die of shock or starvation in captivity, this hare thrives in an environment of non-captivity living with Dalton. I am purposely not sharing any of the amazing and endearing interactions between them so that you can experience the surprise and joy of reading about their life with each other.
This is not a wildlife memoir, although there is much information about the amazing abilities and lives of hares. Hares and the broader scape of wildlife evolve their necessary survival characteristics genetically; from the author, “in the hare – and nature’s – endless capacity for renewal, we can find hope.”
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Submitted by Leslie Ray, Lead, Grow1/Give1 2025
The purpose of WCMGA’s Grow1/Give1 Drive is to provide vegetable starts to limited-income residents of Washington County. The primary goal of this fourth year was to expand to cover more of Washington County and to gain sufficient understanding of the processes needed in order to share with other Master Gardener™ chapters.
We added Tigard Friends Community Church Food Share and Banks Community Food Bank to our current roster of One Church in Aloha, Holy Trinity Church in Beaverton, Centro Cultural in Cornelius, Free Food Market in Forest Grove, St Vincent de Paul in Hillsboro, and Packed with Pride in Tigard.
As in previous years, WCMGA again distributed starts of three different types of tomatoes (Oregon Cherry-cherry, Siletz-slicer, San Marzano-paste) and also added 2 other types of peppers (habanero and Thai) to jalapeño. along with various packets of vegetable and herb seeds. Because many recipients live in situations without yards for planting, we purchased seeds for varieties that would grow well in small spaces and distributed them to Master Gardeners™ to grow the starts. Additionally, we included grow bags filled with potting medium and fertilizer for the plants unless the recipients indicated that they had yard space. Recipients also received an instruction sheet in both Spanish and English.
Year four of the Grow 1 Give 1 Project exceeded expectations with 1,100 plants grown. Unfortunately, while there was a limited number of donated seeds available, we were able to give away much of what we had. The table below shows the growth in the program.
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Working with eight food pantries, we were able to reach across the county at 17 events. People were very appreciative of the tomatoes, peppers, and seeds to grow in their gardens or on their balconies or patios. For the fourth year, Root Pouch (Hillsboro, Ore.) donated grow bags that we could give to people without yard or garden space for planting, along with fertilizer donated by Clean Water Services (Hillsboro, Ore.).
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Our goals were met through the efforts of 52 Master Gardeners who grew the seedlings, filled grow bags, transported materials, distributed at events and myriad other tasks needed to get plants to the people. Nearly 60% of the 92 identified tasks were completed by volunteers who simply gave their time and efforts a single time. Without this participation, G1/G1 would not have been as successful. See list of volunteers below.
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This project would not be as strong without the support given our first year from Lauren Tobey and her Food Hero staff and Maureen Quinn Lores with the Nutrition Education and Outreach Programs. Because of their support, we started strong in our pilot year and this laid the foundation for continuing and growing.
The project team plans to continue our goals for Year 5 with a focus on sustainability of the project, specifically
• Volunteer recruitment
• Leadership
• Expanding the model to include other plant donations in addition to events
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