You wouldn’t guess that February is a busy month for the Master Gardeners, but it is! February finds us cleaning garden beds, pruning ornamental grasses, roses and many flowering shrubs in preparation for spring growth. It also is the time when we organize and plan for the season to come by looking at our gardens and determining what needs to be moved, cut back, divided or removed. If you have a garden bed that is overgrown and needs to be divided or removed, the Master Gardeners will be happy to help divide and donate the excess plants to our annual plant sale. We are looking for quality plants that are overgrown and require periodic dividing such as peonies, hostas, ornamental grasses, variegated liatrope, nandina, Solomon’s seal, quality lilies, to name a few. (No, we don’t do weeds!) Your beds are revitalized and we repot the extra plants with fresh soil, fertilize and sell at the plant sale which is May 9, 2105 in conjunction with Fairfield Bay’s Bloomin’ in the Bay festival. You can contact Marylou Horvath at (501)884-6934 or Eleanor Hilsenrath at (501)253-7272 to discuss a “dig and divide” in your garden.
If you swing by Ed Leamon Park in Fairfield Bay, you will see that some of the Master Gardeners have already been hard at work in the Herb Garden, removing the lumpy stone walkway and installing a smooth gravel path to make viewing the many plants easier and safer for all. The herb garden is a colorful, fragrant garden that inspires folks not only to stop and smell the plants, but to appreciate the many textures and colors as well. There is nothing as beautiful as a feathery dill swaying in the breeze or a perky garlic chive showing off a purple pom-pom flower in the spring sun.
For more information on the Master Gardener program, please contact Verna Hicks, President, VBC Master Gardeners at (501) 884-3164 or our VB County Extension Agent Danny Griffin at (501)745-7117.