Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade. — Rudyard Kipling

 

Gardens are made by kneeling in the soil, getting one’s hands dirty and having lots of patience.

 

And with Spring right around the corner, The Master Gardeners of Sherburne County planted their seeds in Becker Saturday morning with a seven-hour Expo at the high school.

 

Thirty booths and over 140 registered attendees descended upon the school’s cafeteria and auditoriums to share ideas, buy product and listen to a nationally-known speaker, radio host, columnist and author.

 

Melinda Myers, a well-known gardening expert with more than 30 years experience in horticulture, was the featured speaker. She talked about many ways to add sparkle to gardens and yard landscapes.  Myers discussed some award-winning plants for gardens and containers and gave a few suggestions on garden accessories to add a little “bling” to ones terrain. She talked annuals, perennials, vines, bulbs, shrubs and edibles.

 

She captivated the audience with her expertise for nearly an hour and a half. By the time she concluded her presentation, the visitors (mostly women, but a few men, too) exited the chamber with renewed zeal and enthusiastic energy, anxious to get started on the new season.

 

In the commons area, dozens of booths were set up all along the concourse to  try and coax the novice and expert gardeners to try some of the new products and gadgets destined to make ones garden and yard a visual delight. There were handmade birdhouses, planters, water gardens, pottery, garden stones, terrariums, hummingbird feeders and mushroom kits as well as jewelry, garments, books and preserves.

 

Annie Felix-Gerth — a former Becker graduate — answered questions and looked to sign up  members to start a new food co-op in Elk River. So far, she has over 100 members and they hope to have 600 by the end of 2016.

 

“We think it’s important to have a co-op nearby since the nearest ones are in St. Cloud and Anoka,” said Felix-Gerth. “Membership funds are a huge part of the funding that is needed to get the store established.”

 

Gina Hugo, a resource conservationist  and Andie Bumgarner, a marketing/administrative assistant with Sherburne County, manned their booth where they helped people conserve plant and animal life and warned guests to be on the lookout for signs of the Emerald Ash Borer.

 

They also entertained the youngsters with a Pollinator Plinko game and handed out small prizes and informational packets.

 

The Master Gardener’s event also featured 65 items up for bid in a silent auction as well as 15 door prizes  and three raffle items. Some of the items in the silent auction included an angel statue, a garden stone, a metal garden cart, a fountain, wall sconces, a bird bath and a bird house. The raffle was for a hanging basket planter, a garden sign and a tricycle planter.

 

Throughout the day, guests could choose between attending several sessions that included shade gardening (hostas), garden seeding, about bees, kitchen gardening, demystifying orchids, small water features and making an alpine garden, among others.

 

In session 1A, Myers returned to the front of the auditorium to talk hostas and shared lots of colorful and interesting options for going beyond hostas for those shady spots in one’s yards.

 

Session 1B was led by JoAnn Weaver and she helped those who have had trouble finding the exact variety of certain plants they’d like to see in their gardens. She had suggestions on how to find seeds one is looking for and how to start them indoors for the best results.

 

Session 1C was conducted by JoAnn Sabin, a trained beekeeper and instructor. She gave insights about bees including why they are so important, how they pollinate, what other creature pollinate and the challenges these pollinators face in today’s world.

 

Session 1D was piloted by Coralee Fox and she provided sensible tips for changes gardeners could incorporate into their gardening activities as they age.

 

Just after lunch, Sabin returned to the teaching area to discuss feeding bees and finding plants they like to provide food sources for the insects.

 

Weaver gathered with her group in Session 2B to discuss how a beautiful garden feeds the soul and stomach. She talked about growing food from ones garden and showed how to plan, plant and maintain a kitchen garden of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers.

 

In Session 2C, Terry Engels shared six practical gardening techniques to use during the growing season plus pre and post-season preparations.

 

Session 2D had Fox explore the intricacies of the Monarch butterfly, its migration practices, the threats to the butterfly and how one can get involved to help bring the Monarch back to prominence.

 

In the final hour of the Expo, four more sessions were conducted and the first one was held by Linda Sizer, who spoke on the mystique of the orchid and eliminated any doubts about the orchid being finicky and hard to grow. The class explained how orchids are different from other plants and instructed attendees on how to grow the plant best.

 

Session 3B featured Engels talking about the top plant choices for ones backyard following a survey that was conducted that had suggestions for trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals from the Master Gardener Advisory Board.

 

Session 3C was led by Soni Forsman, who gave a virtual journey on how to add big water to ones landscape — but on a  small scale. Forsman spoke on water gardens, water plants, fountains and waterfalls.

 

In the final session of the day, Shirley Friberg discussed how to make an alpine garden. She examined the planning, soil mixes, stone placements, plant requirements and identified several alpine plants that grow in Minnesota.

 

Evaluations, raffles and grand prize drawings concluded the event at 3 p.m. 

 

This year’s garden expo was an undeniable success and organizers can now look forward to 2017, where they hope they can continue to seed, plant and grow better gardeners throughout the county.

 

Sherburne County Master Gardeners can be contacted through the University of Minnesota Extension Service, phone: 763-765-3075; email: mnext-sherburne@umn.edu, or online: www.extension. umn.edu/county/Sherburne.