SheriLL123's Blog

Ya know, I really had intended to Blog after each class, hopefully going forward...

Our 1st Master Gardeners class was 2/28 "Orientation"

Our first class was mostly a meet and greet.  They gave us our manuals and talked a little about the origins of the Extension Service. Land grant colleges, where our funding comes from, and what kind or services we provide rounded out most of the class.  We also played a few 'ice-breaker' games to get to know the others in our class.  There are about 25 of us.  Most are retired persons.  A least I'm not the baby.  Two of the people in the class are Extension employees and they appear younger than me. 

3/4 Entomology "Bugs"

Eeeew.  Glad we got that out of the way first thing.  I had the creepy crawlies for two days!  Bugs are a big problem here.  Because we have such mild winters, bugs often just breed year round.  Where some insects would only have a generation or two of invasion up north we often get 4 to 7 generations per year constantly attacking.  That was a lot of scary information about invasive bug species too.  I hadn't realized how bad the problem was.   Over the last 3 to 6 years we have had some invasive species arrive that have devastated some of our major ornamental and native species.  In some areas there in not a living sago palm left.  Species such as Fica and Cassia that were viewed as hardy and nearly indestructible are dying in startling numbers.  Sad news

3/6 Applied Botany

This class mainly delt with leaf, flower, and fruit structure.  The focus was mainly learning how to 'professionally' identify and describe plants.  What is a leaf; simple, pinnate, & palmate forms.  What are their arrangements and so on, the same with flower forms.  I did go to the library after class to check out a couple Biology books.  I though a quick review on plant biology might be beneficial.  It's been a "few" years since high school Biology and I never took it in college.  Besides my youngest will have Biology in Middle school soon.  I will be a better homework helper. =)

Unfortunately there has not been much time for gardening.  My hubby is fishing in a tournament this weekend so Sat we will be at the Seafood Festival watching the weigh-ins. Then on Sun we are all headed to the Rodeo.  I love the barrel racing!  So, probably not much time in the garden this weekend either.  I have discovered aphids on my Arugula, Fire Bush, and Hibiscus so I do need to do battle with them today.  I have tried just spraying them off but they keep coming back so it's time to take off the gloves...