NewsSaturday, August 11, 2007 9:41 PM CDT

Comments (0) |

E-mail this page |

Print this page |

Enlarge type |

Reduce type |

Search archives |

RSS feeds |

Add to My Yahoo!

Plenty of sun, some rain help plants to grow

By Edith Brady-Lunny
eblunny@mchsi.com

EL PASO — Central Illinois gardeners are reveling this summer in the fruits of their labors.

Rain, which arrived in perfect intervals, combined with mild, sunny days in the early gardening season to create perfect conditions for vegetable and flower gardens, according to members of the Master Gardener program.

And the current heat wave isn’t hurting things one bit beyond forcing gardeners to get out their watering cans and hoses more often.

Recently, Mary Horgan conducted a walking tour of her garden behind her home in rural El Paso for four other graduates of McLean County’s University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener program.

Several beds of perennial plants have thrived this year on the adequate summer rainfall during June and July, she said, adding she uses rainwater collected in a 35-gallon retention system constructed by her husband, Tim Siegworth. Water that falls into two gutters on either side of a garden shed drain into one pipe that fills the water tank.

“Plants respond so much better to rainwater,” said Horgan, who with her husband maintains a 1-acre yard with 517 trees, shrubs, climbing roses and other plants.

“I think the rain has been the key this year. It’s come at the right time and in the right amount,” said Phylliss Doran, a 1998 graduate of the program.

Jerry Swartz, a recent program graduate, agreed that his raised-bed gardens have benefited from early summer’s weather.

“The water and cooler days made a big difference. I also use straw and mulch to help with the water,” said Swartz, who has seen rhododendrons and azaleas thrive in his garden this season.

Kathy McKinney, also a newcomer to the master group, said her garden is doing well but several specimens did not survive the harsh conditions of early spring. Plants that were ready for a spring debut found themselves cloaked in layers of ice and snow, she said.

For Master Gardener Candace Armstrong, zucchini is the success story of her garden this year.

“I’ve had to learn to cook so many tings with zucchini,” she said.

Becoming Master Gardeners

Horgan and the other gardeners who shared their stories completed a series of 10 weekly classes that covered everything from how to control garden pests to how to build nutrient-rich soil. But it is the daily garden work that provides an ongoing education, the gardeners agreed.

“The motto for the program is ‘Helping Others to Grow.’ It’s a never-ending process of learning from others,” Doran said.

Graduates are required to volunteer in community garden projects and spend time in the local extension office, answering questions and serving as a resource for other gardeners.

10th anniversary coming up

Next year, the Master Gardener program will mark its 10th anniversary in McLean County.

Fourteen county residents were in the 1998 class; 31 finished this year.

For Horgan and her friends, gardening tills more than the soil. It also tills their spirit and imagination.

“It’s almost spiritual. Walking through my garden at dawn or at dusk and looking at every unique bud and flower, it makes me feel so grounded,” Horgan said.

For McKinney, gardening provides a link to nature.

“I feel like I’m communing with nature, but not trying to control it,” she said.

Armstrong admits a slight obsession when it comes to her garden.

“I love to visit gardens and look at gardens. When I work in my garden, it’s a labor of love,” she said.

Master Gardener program

McLean County Extension hosts the Master Gardener program on a rotating basis with other counties. In 2008, the program will be in the Peoria area. Classes begin in January and continue until April. The Master Gardener program will be offered in McLean County in 2009.

Applications for the program are available from the extension office, 402 N. Hershey Road, Bloomington.

E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS

Show comments | Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories

Subscribe to the Pantagraph

Contact the Pantagraph staff

Home page | Previous page | Top

Ads by Yahoo!

Master Gardener Mary Horgan reaches into one of her flower patches in her home's backyard in El Paso, Illinois, Saturday afternoon (July 2j8, 2007). (Pantagraph/B Mosher)

Video

Ads by Yahoo!

Save on Bloomington Illinois Hotels

DIRECTV Official Site: Illinois

Free Illinois Dating Personals