Thanks, Roger, for your comment. The name is unfortunate but the Extension Agent in Washington who formed the program many years ago picked it. I know of no MGs who feel that they are really master gardeners, including myself. I have learned who to ask and where to look things up and that was the point of our training, initially and again, every month. Our member education committee works very hard to bring in experts in their field but we get do some duds now and then. The MG program trains us to help every day home gardeners to garden without pesticides, grow the appropriate plant, water responsibly, and enjoy themselves. We try to keep it simple and easy. I know a little bit about tomatoes if you have any questions. :-) Our efforts to stem invasive plants through surveying nurseries has turned up some interesting results. Plants that were widely sold a few years ago - broom, ivy, certain grasses, periwinkle - have been reduced in numbers and availability this past year. The state of California is working with nurseries and growers to remove these plants from their sales. Here are the results of the two survey's so far. Retail Nurseries Selling Invasive Plants in 2004 & 2008 Species Name 2004 2008 Arctotheca calendula capeweed 1 0 Carpobrotus edulis iceplant 4 0 Cortaderia selloana pampas grass 9 3 Cytisus scoparium Scotch broom 13 1 Cytisus striatus Portuguese broom 2 0 Elaeagnus angustifolia Russian olive 3 0 Eucalyptus globulus blue gum 3 0 Genista monospessulana French broom 5 0 Mesembryanthemum crystallinium crystalline iceplant 7 0 Myoporum laetum myoporum 16 0 Pennisetum setaceum green fountain grass 21 10 Spartium junceum Spanish broom 2 0 This is my last email on this topic. Cheers, Bracey -----Original Message----- From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [ <mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org> mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of totototo@telus.net Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 11:21 AM To: Pacific Bulb Society Subject: Re: [pbs] plant regulation-Trivial-and OT On 29 Jul 2009, at 7:58, Bracey Tiede wrote: > Our [Master Gardener] program has been tapped by the local ag commissioner > to help with field surveys for pests and we have contributed research data > twice over the past three years to the state invasive plant people on which > nurseries are selling which invasive plants. My opinion of the usefulness of the MG program has gone up a notch or two. I think my main objection to the MG program lies in its name. Simply put, the graduates from the program are not master gardeners in the ordinary everyday sense of the phrase. Far from it! Having known a few professional horticulturists who underwent old-school training in Britain, the gulf in knowledge, experience, and expertise between us amateurs and a well-educated pro gardener has always amazed me. We amateurs tend to have very deep knowledge of very narrow fields of interest; the pros know about everything, not in such depth, but deep enough they can keep their heads above water no matter what task is put to them. Ask me to grow a tomato and I'd be hopeless! Incidentally, what are the worst invasives in your area? Around here, Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) and ivy (Hedera helix) are pretty bad. Broom has been an issue since the 1850s when six of twelve seeds planted at Sooke BC by an homesick early settler from Scotland germinated one spring, but ivy has only begun to cause serious trouble in the last ten years or so. Sure, it was around before then, but you didn't see it taking over the forest floor in parks, clambering up trees, and so on. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island <http://maps.google.ca/maps/…> http://maps.google.ca/maps/… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org <http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php <http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/