My Half Acre of Paradise

Yesterday, I received a bunch of seeds from a guy in New York I corresponded with through GardenWeb. I noticed he mentioned on the perennial forum about having seeds from his large white-flowered perennial hibiscus, so I asked if he wanted to trade. I sent him him some Lavatera, Salvia, and Japanese Maple seeds, and he sent me:

• Heliotrope arborescens
• Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Blue River’
• Verbena x hybrida ‘Imagination’
• Thymus serpyllum
• Delosperma cooperi
• Dianthus deltoides ‘Brilliancy’
• Vitex agnus castus (Chaste tree)
• Syringa reticulata ‘Mandschurica’ (Lilac tree)
• Erigeron glaucus ‘Elstead Pink’ (a hardier Erigeron than the one I grew in California)

I hope the seeds are all good. I’m excited to give them a try! He was a gracious trader, because I got a lot more than I gave on this deal.

A member of the Utah Gardening Forum on GardenWeb posted some interesting information on the Master Gardener program:

• Posted by songbirdmommy UT4/5 (My Page) on Wed, Jan 17, 07 at 11:38

When I signed up for the program last week, there was a huge line. Thankfully I was determined to get in and went down there at 5 am to stand in line. I was 5th in line, one lady, bless her heart, had been out in the freezing cold since 3:30am. The doors opened at 7 am, and by that time almost 30 people had shown up for the 8 am registration. Thirty is the space limit.Early bird really does catch the worm when it comes to the sign ups. I heard while I was there that the Utah County’s Extention office has one of the best programs in the state… they have a “Master Gardener’s University” which is more intense than the regular master gardener’s program. You may want to call to see if you could still get in…. I know it would totally be worth it….but don’t get your hopes up about still being able to get in, but, you just might get lucky! Never know unless you try!

As far as time commitments. We have class once a week, every week for three hours. This runs from the first week in Feb to the last week in April, and then once a month for three hours during the summer(to give us time off to play in our own gardens) then in the Fall there is the County Fair and a social.

Volunteer hours are also expected. A minium of 40 during the training and summer, graduation is in November and the hours must be done before then. There are lots of fun opportunities for volunteering, variety of things to fit everyone’s interest and talent.

Some of the subjects we will cover will include: Basic plant science, soils, fertilizers, irrigation, weeds, pesticides, insect control, plant diseases, landscaping, composting, turf grasses, trees and shrubs, fruit trees and small fruits,perrinials and annuals, veggies, propagations, volunteering, diagnosing, woody plants, roses, shrubs, herbs, vines, groundcovers.

The classes are taught by horticulture professors from Utah State University. The cost of the program varies from county to county, generally $100 dollars, but some counties are higher, probably to cover the cost of the professor’s travel.

It is a wonderful program not only for the knowlegde, but also for the opportunity to give back to the community through service to community gardens and events.

I will keep posting what I have learned and how it is going on here…. if anyone is interested.

One of these days, I want to go through the program.

This will probably go down as the coldest week of the year, and perhaps the coldest week in the past several years. We’ve had several days running of nighttime lows below zero (about 4-5 degrees below) and daytime highs around 10-15. It’s bitter. It’s so cold the snow on my driveway is just like sand. The cats’ water dishes keep freezing over. Poor kitties. They get to sleep in the garage, but they really want to be in the house!

Anyway, it’s supposed to warm up a little every day for the next seven days, but just to the freezing mark by the beginning of next week. I remember when I was at BYU in the 1980s, I used to say, “This isn’t the same sun we had in California; it’s up there shining, but you can’t feel anything!”

I just ordered two things from Park’s Seed today. Their description of a new sweet white corn really caught my attention. It’s called Mirai, and they were almost breathless describing how people in Japan drive 100 miles to buy it at roadside stands. Here’s a quote:

Our Director of Seeds, Stephanie Turner, had the opportunity to sample Mirai last summer, and began negotiating to buy the seed that same day. “I have never tasted anything like it in my life,” Stephanie tells us. “I sampled it raw in the field, and it was all I could do not to eat the entire cob!”

It’s actually funny how hyperbolic their description is, but I’m falling for it this time. We’ll see if it lives up to the story!

While there, I also ordered some seeds for Geranium Orbit Appleblossom. It’s one of those fancy annual geraniums that is supposed to flower all summer. I hope it does.