Free Online Gardening Talks!

“My earliest childhood memory is watching the sunset through a jar of amber full of wasps.” Amanda Harlech

Wasps have received a lot of bad press coverage lately. It’s time to give these insects their due respect. Let’s look at the powerful beneficial benefits these amazing insect provide and de-mythify some of the fears you may have about wasps. We’ll explore the wasps that we have in Southern Arizona and what their purpose is – because they all have a job to do!

In this Short Take we’ll focus on 5 things to consider doing in your garden during May. Some will help you prepare for the heat to come, and others will help you enjoy the garden as we move into the hot parts of the year.

In our region, we are fortunate to have so much sun and scenery, and so many interesting plants. But water is precious and expensive. How can you have an attractive landscape, and, at the same time, keep the water bill under control? Let us show you how to use the principles of Xeriscaping to build a beautiful AND low water use yard.

Join us for a virtual trip up into the forerange of the Santa Catalina Mountains, where we will learn to identify plant species in our beautiful desert grassland, oak woodland and riparian communities.

This talk is the second in a four-part series on native plant identification. Over the course of four talks, we will take a virtual tour from the Tucson basin up to the top of Mt. Lemmon, exploring our native plants and their habitats along the way. This talk runs a full 90 minutes.

Warm season vegetable gardening in Tucson is different and it’s already May. Time to step into the hot season – and yes, you can grow delicious fresh food even through the hottest part of the year. Master Gardeners have the information you need to make your best vegetable garden ever.

Grow these heat-loving members of the Cucurbit Family all summer long. From small varieties suitable for containers, to huge vines growing squashes that will store for months, we’ll help you figure out how to have success in your garden with this popular garden vegetable.

Phenology has recently come to prominence for its value in understanding changes in the developmental stages of plant species as a consequence of climate change. Join Marlene Shamis, Master Gardener and Master Naturalist for an introduction to phenology and what citizens can do to aid this important area of climate related research.

Proven techniques to help all your plants survive the 100+ degree temperatures. Learn which plants are known to thrive in the heat.

New to composting or just curious about how to compost in the desert? Join us to learn how to recycle your kitchen & yard waste into healthy organic matter for your garden. No room for a compost bin outside? We will also discuss Vermiculture which is keeping worms to produce earthworm castings.

It is often challenging to find that elusive vegetable variety that will thrive in our desert environment, and once we grow that perfect crop, we will want to grow it again in future years. Seed saving is a proven method of optimizing our garden success but can also lead to unexpected results. In this talk, we will discuss how to select and grow varieties that will yield a bountiful garden and produce seeds that can be used in future years.

Having a difficult time determining whether an insect is your best friend or a frenemy? Join us to look at 6 common insects that you want to encourage in your garden! We’ll talk about every life stage to look for to ensure that you can recognize these exceptional garden helpers. We’ll also talk about some easy ways to encourage them to stay in your garden.

Get to know the plant families! This second part of our Plant Identification Series will introduce you to some of the major plant families, with an emphasis on the plant families of Southern Arizona. For each family covered, we will learn identifying features of that family, along with interesting tid-bits along the way. Class runs approximately 60 minutes. This class is designed to be taken either as part of the series or individually.