Pima Master Gardener program

The Tucson Garden Handbook is a guide for helping people successfully garden in our desert environment.  This guide can be used by gardeners at all levels of expertise, but is especially helpful for those new to desert gardening.  The Handbook includes how to grow: cacti and agave, desert adapted trees, vegetables and herbs, citrus, flowers and roses.  It also contains guidelines for watering, working with your soil, integrated pest management, and much more.  You can buy the Handbook at the following retail outlets. The cost is $10.

                         PCMG Handbook Vendors

 

Thank you to #ThisIsTucson for adding the Pima County MG Handbook to your "2020 Summer Reading Challenge"! 

View our handbook and the other great reads on the list, here: 2020 Summer Reading Challenge

Presented by the Pima County Master Gardeners

Note - These classes will be online and live on zoom. You will need a computer or smart device to attend. 

You must register in advance for these meetings using the links above: 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thanks and see you there!

• Tues  Sept 1   1:30 pm    Cactus & Succulent Basics              Register 

presented by Deborah North      Many attractive varieties of cactus and other succulents are easily grown in our Sonoran Desert environment. Learn about their diversity of shapes, sizes, and flowers, as well as their care and maintenance needs. Incorporate them into your landscape and use them in containers on your patio. This drought tolerant group of plants asks for little and delivers a lot.

Level: beginners

• Thurs  Sept 3   11:00 am    Cool Season Vegetable Gardening           Register 

presented by Kathleen Roberts      During our cool season the weather is great, the insects and annoying critters are mostly inactive, less water is required, and the vegetables have higher nutritional value than warm season vegetables. So go for it! Learn about both in- ground and raised bed approaches, and the key steps to successful vegetable and herb gardening in the cool season.

Level: beginning to intermediate

• Sat  Sept 5   1:00 pm    Habitat Gardening           Register 

presented by Toni Moore      A Habitat Garden is full of not just plants, but also birds, helpful insects, and other wildlife. Learn how to use the elements of water and shelter, along with the best plants for sheltering and nurturing wildlife. You can attract bees and other pollinators as well as other beautiful creatures to share your yard. 

Level: beginner

• Tue  Sept 8   1:30 pm    The 12 Design Principles of Permiculture           Register 

presented by Deb North      Permaculture is a set of principles based on the features of natural ecosystems. Learn how to build a sustainable and self-sufficient environment in your own yard.

Level: intermediate

• Thurs  Sept 10  11:00 am    Herbs          Register 

presented by Kathleen Roberts      Herbs make the world go around as they tease our taste buds, enhance our gardens, and add pleasure to our dining experiences.  You can grow a wide variety of them all year in your garden. Learn which herbs do best here and how to take care of them.

• Tues  Sept 15  1:30 pm    Cool Season Vegetable Gardening          Register 

presented by Deb North      Veggie gardening in Tucson is different! Our seasons are different, our soil is different, even our sunshine is different from other places. Learn how to grow all kinds of edible plants for your family, during the cool fall and winter seasons.

Level: beginner

• Wed   Sept 16  1:00 pm    Winter is Blooming         Register 

presented by Deb North      Lovely native and desert-adapted landscape plants are blooming in Tucson as gardens in many other places lie covered in snow. Join Glenda Bavier for help in bringing joy and beauty to your fall/winter garden.

Level: beginner

• Thur   Sept 17  11:00 am    Native Pollinators and the Plants They Love         Register 

presented by Kathleen Roberts      Our southwestern landscape diversity attracts many pollinators, including 1300 species of native bees, 18 species of hummingbirds, and 3 species of nectar bats that migrate back south to overwinter. Learn about our favorite insect and bird friends, what plants they love and how to meet their requirements in your backyard. You won't need a bird feeder to bring the flutter, hum and buzz of wildlife when your yard is overflowing with native perennials, milkweeds, flowers, and agaves!

Level: beginner

• Sat   Sept 19  10 am    The Art of Seeing Plants: An Introduction to Plant Identification      Register 

presented by Heather Ellison      Learn the basics of plant identification, and build a foundation to be able to start identifying plants on your own! This class is the first in a new series of plant identification classes, and will teach the basics of how we name and classify plants, plant terminology, how we use plant traits to identify them, and resources to help you along the way. This is an intermediate to advanced level class as it goes beyond the basic gardening classes, but this "approachably scientific" class is geared towards anyone wanting to learn plant ID for the first time, or for those wanting to brush up on the basics. This class runs 90 minutes.

Level: advanced

• Mon   Sept 21  1:00 pm    Growing Garlic in the Desert         Register 

presented by Gary Vendor & Dru Duncan      Garlic is a very low maintenance plant to grow. It’s not fussy about the quality of the soil as long as it’s well drained. You don’t have to buy starts at a big-box store. Garlic is the second most cultivated plant in the world and has many documented medicinal properties, plus there are varieties that can be stored for up to 12 months.

• Tues   Sept 22  1:30 pm    Pruning Fruit Trees         Register 

presented by   Deb North       How to prune all of your edible trees. It's coming up on the cooler time of year when some trees go dormant. That means it's time to prune. Pruning of both evergreen Citrus and deciduous fruit trees will be discussed. Learn how to keep your trees healthy and how to maximize fruit production.

Levels: all - beginners to advanced

• Wed   Sept 23  11:00 am    Water Harvesting         Register 

presented by   Barry Weissman       It may rain rarely in Tucson, but when it does, we have a lot of water. What can we do with all of this rain. In the first half of the presentation we'll talk about collecting and dispersing all of the water we collect on our property. In the second half, we will show you how to make your own rainwater collection barrel.

Level: beginner

• Thurs   Sept 24  5:30 pm    Cool Season Vegetable Gardening         Register 

presented by   Kathleen Roberts       Veggie gardening in Tucson is different! Our seasons are different, our soil is different, even our sunshine is different from other places. Learn how to grow all kinds of edible plants for your family, during the cool fall and winter seasons.

Level: beginner

• Sun   Sept 27  4:00 pm    Hummingbird Gardening with Salvias         Register 

presented by   Toni Moore       From common edible sage to a rare black-flowered species, Salvias are a huge family of plants that are particularly well-suited to our desert gardens. Attractive to hummingbirds (and other pollinators), hardy in the winter and blooming year ‘round, they should be included in all gardens. Come and learn how to create your own Salvia garden

Level: all

• Tue   Sept 29  1:30 pm    The Value of Trees in the Urban Landscape         Register 

presented by   Deborah North       We love our trees, but did you know that they increase a home’s value and help to create safer neighborhoods while helping to mitigate the heat island effect? Join us to learn more about how trees are a highly prized part of your home and community’s appeal.

Level: Intermediate

• Wed   Sept 30  11:00 am    Creating Your First Raised Bed Garden         Register 

presented by   Barry Weissman       More and more people are doing their vegetable gardening in raised beds. Part one of a series of how to get started. Today’s class will cover basic ideas, as well as nuts & bolts instructions on how to build a bed.            Look for part 2 in October.

Level: beginner

• Thur   Oct 1   5:30 pm    Glorious Winter Gardens         Register 

presented by   Kathleen Roberts       How do you cold-proof your garden for Tucson winters? What plants will make it through the winter unscathed? What plants look great and are trouble-free even in the cold weather? Get the best new ideas for how to have a beautiful wintertime garden.

Level: beginner

• Sat   Oct 3    10:00 am    Family Matters - An Intro to the Plant Families        Register 

presented by   Heather Ellison       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 tidbits along the way. This is a beginner to intermediate level class and runs 60 minutes. This class is designed to be taken either as part of the series or individually.

Level: beginner to intermediate

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UPDATE [3/16/2020] In support of our community's health and following guidance from the University of Arizona, Centers for Disease Control and others, we are postponing this year's sale. Please stay tuned for further updates as we continue to monitor the situation.  

Our Master Gardeners in Propagation have been busy nurturing beautiful inexpensive plants as well as some unusual selections. 

Here are some of the plants we will be featuring in our sale: 

• Fruit: Strawberries, blackberries, figs and pomegranates.

• Butterfly Attractants: Flowering shrubs and plants for the adult butterfly nectar such as Lantana, Mt. Lemmon Marigold, Mexican Flame Vine; as well as larval food, ie. Plants meant to be eaten by the caterpillars, such as Milkweed, Rue, Parsley and Fennel.

• Hummingbird Attractants: Salvia’s of all sizes and colors, Sages and many flowering shrubs. We will feature many southwest native plants such as Parry’s Penstemon and Brittle Bush.

For the cacti and succulent lovers we will have large Crested Peruvian Apple Cactus and many varieties of succulents, including Crown of Thorns, Slipper Plants, Climbing Aloes, assorted Agaves and Trichocereus cactus of differing colors.

We also have young Moringa trees and several mature trees, such as Ponytail Palm and Madagascar Palm – bring your trucks along with some muscle!

We have an abundance of bulbs, such as Iris and Rain Lilies as well as ground covers and plants that Desert Tortoise’s love to eat.

We will have Master Gardeners available to answer questions and to help you pick the perfect plant whether to entice our feathered friends or to lure some tropical butterflies into your flight path.  In addition, we will have quality compost, garden art, decorated pots, handbooks, and soil probes available for purchase.

            Come join the fun, support a great “for the public, not-for-profit” group of volunteers and add some new life to your garden. Cash and checks only please.  Sorry, no debit/credit cards.

 

 

• Tucson Area Gardening Links

 

• PCMG Partnerships