Adam, Roger: I have the pleasure of speaking to quite a number of State Master Gardener Conventions around the country each year, and like any group, there are very knowledgable folks and a few others there only to wear the badge and proclaim that they are "Master Gardeners". I think most folks will agree that the name "Master Gardener" was a truly unfortunate choice, but that's in the past. That being said, most folks (many retired from other careers) volunteer because they want to learn and share, so please just ignore those who walk into a room and expect the group to bow when they announce that they are a Master Gardener. The program is very worthwhile, but obviously varies with the volunteers and the agent in charge of their training. Tony Avent Plant Delights Nursery @ Juniper Level Botanic Garden 9241 Sauls Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F USDA Hardiness Zone 7b email tony@plantdelights.com website http://www.plantdelights.com/ phone 919 772-4794 fax 919 772-4752 "I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent Adam Fikso wrote: > Lest I've been misunderstood--I too have not been impressed by master > gardeners of any stripe. They've never been able to answer any of my > questions > > I do consider them a possible resource though, and wanted to support > Tony's idea--gotta start somewhere -- in inaugurating a staged program for > noticing and alerting to invasiveness in either plants or their pests. But > maybe Boy Scouts would be better who were working for a merit badge would be > more eager and alert . . I remember that Bird Study was a really tough one > to attain. > > > > .. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <totototo@telus.net> > To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> > Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 7:44 PM > Subject: Re: [pbs] plant regulation-Trivial-and OT > > > >> On 28 Jul 2009, at 15:18, Robert Pries wrote: >> >> >>> plant societies are appearing to be on the way out if you look at >>> membership. >>> If their members are not a bit more generous in welcoming the less >>> informed >>> they can soon be talking to the wall. >>> >> The malaise is much more deeply rooted than that. We live in a society >> centered >> on immediate gratification and gardening is NOT that. It takes time and >> EFFORT >> and sticktoitiveness to learn the ins and outs of any one branch of >> horticulture, and that's precisely what the younger generation isn't >> willing to >> supply. >> >> Modern uninformed types want knowledge and expertise handed to them on a >> silver >> platter, want to be spoonfed what others only learned by paying close >> attention >> for decades, but that's not the way you learn to grow plants or arrange a >> garden. You learn those by getting your hands dirty, making lots of >> mistakes, >> and killing lots of plants in the process. >> >> Another element in the gradual decline of gardening societies is that >> gardening, as a hobby, has a great deal more competition these days than >> it did >> when we old fossils were first hatched from pterodactyl eggs. Why go out >> and >> spray the aphids when you can be self-actualizing in the nearest mall or >> big >> box store, or finding enlightenment at the foot of your latest guru? >> >> Even if they go hiking in the mountains, they pay next to no attention to >> the >> floral beauties they pass. >> >> >> The Master Gardener program has been mentioned in passing. Perhaps it's a >> heresy that will lead to me being burnt as part of an enormous >> horticultural >> auto da fe, but I think that program is a con, a fake, a scam. All it >> teaches >> is how to look something up in books! Those who emerge from the progam >> tend to >> think "now I know everything" when in fact they should emerge with a sense >> of >> how little they know. >> >> >> Harumph! Young whipper-snappers! >> >> >> -- >> Rodger Whitlock >> Victoria, British Columbia, Canada >> Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate >> on beautiful Vancouver Island >> >> http://maps.google.ca/maps/… >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >> > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > >