Washington County VA Master Gardeners

Washington County VA Master Gardeners Washington County Master Gardeners are trained volunteer educators who serve their communities through a wide range of projects.

We host Garden Faire each spring to provide unique garden shopping in our region and to fund projects and scholarships.

The attached photos show more ribbon winning entries in the Canned Goods and Farms Crops categories. Cecily Corcoran wo...
09/22/2026

The attached photos show more ribbon winning entries in the Canned Goods and Farms Crops categories.

Cecily Corcoran won Best-in-Show in Canned Goods with her entry of dried Feverfew. Cat Talbot won ribbons in all categories - Farm Crops, Horticulture, Crafts, and Foods. Gil Kaelin was very excited about his first-ever fair entries which included a ribbon for canned Jalapenos. He plans to compete again next year.

Participating in the county fair is just plain fun!

Congratulations to Master Gardeners who won ribbons in the Washington County Fair Home Economics and Adult Farm Crops co...
09/22/2026

Congratulations to Master Gardeners who won ribbons in the Washington County Fair Home Economics and Adult Farm Crops competitions. Ribbon winners included Ginger Addison, Holly Baumgarner, Cecily Corcoran, Susan Howard, Gil Kaelin, Sarah King, Andrea Metcalf, and Cat Talbot. The attached photos show winners in the Horticulture and Craft Departments. Not all ribbon entries are shown due to the limitations of the Better Impact system.

Master Gardeners and out of town guests got to view up close Monarch caterpillars, chrysalises, and newly born butterfli...
09/22/2026

Master Gardeners and out of town guests got to view up close Monarch caterpillars, chrysalises, and newly born butterflies, plus witnessing them being released in the enclosure before taking flight. Ray has an impressive knowledge of butterflies. Many thanks to all that came and especially to Ray for hosting us.

The 9/12 WCMG booth at the Abingdon Farmers Market was a fantastic success for Ray Minor’s Monarch butterfly exhibit ! D...
09/14/2026

The 9/12 WCMG booth at the Abingdon Farmers Market was a fantastic success for Ray Minor’s Monarch butterfly exhibit ! Dottie West, Joanne Stanley, and Ray welcomed 160 visitors to the WCMG table and signed up six students for February’s class. They also shared pollinator seeds and handouts for everyone to enjoy. The kids were thrilled to hold the caterpillars, and we even stamped their hands with adorable flower designs, with many taking home coloring pages.

Ray has been dedicated to farming monarchs for eight years, carefully protecting about 300 eggs each year to ensure safe hatching. That’s a whopping 2400 more monarchs he’s helped add to the world!

Keep planting milkweed to encourage continued growth of our monarch population! For more interesting content about monarchs, including videos on their migration, click here: https://www.monarchwatch.org/

Bristol Conservation Camp Volunteers Susan Gannaway, Joanne Stanley, Cheryl Sams, Rebecca Tate, Vickie Boese, Teresa You...
09/14/2026

Bristol Conservation Camp Volunteers Susan Gannaway, Joanne Stanley, Cheryl Sams, Rebecca Tate, Vickie Boese, Teresa Young, and Sally Wassom taught for 3 days to 396 3rd grade students from Washington County on Amazing Water last week. There were 43 staff members there with a total of 439 contacts for the 3 days. Weather was great! We presented an excellent and involved lesson for 10 minutes to each group and they rotated to the next station. Big thanks to the Conservation Camp Team!

09/11/2026

SAPS has a program next week with Garry Menendez. While his program is about landscape design, Gary is a big advocate for using native plants. This program is free and open to public.

September 17
SAPS Meeting. 7 pm. Garry Menendez,12 Common Mistakes in Landscape Design
& How to Avoid Them
An area where folks are most tempted to bypass the advice of professionals is in the
creation of garden and landscape design. It’s true that gardening is an extremely rewarding endeavor and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with shaping a
beautiful space is unmatched. Unfortunately, when it comes to choices about the
design of our gardens, we’ve all made a mistake or two. Blending his knowledge with
humor, Garry Menendez will show us some common not-so-good landscaping practices
and offer tips to help avoid them. Garry is sure to inspire you to see your property
with new eyes just in time for fall planting! Signed copies of his garden design
book, A Home for Your Gnome, will be available for purchase.
Garry Menendez is a registered Landscape Architect and Professor Emeritus in the
Department of Plant Sciences at The University of Tennessee. His primary areas of
interest include residential garden design and native plant communities. For fifteen
years he led study-abroad experiences throughout Europe and Japan focusing on
historic gardens, architecture, culture, and on-site sketching. Garry currently maintains
a small private practice emphasizing environmentally sensitive landscape design.
He has authored several articles featured in such publications as The Tennessee
Gardener, Landscape and Irrigation, and Garden Guide. Throughout his tenure
at The University of Tennessee, Garry received awards for advising, writing, community
service, and teaching which included the National Alumni Association’s Award for
Outstanding Teaching. To see more of his work and talents visit [garrymenendez.com](http://garrymenendez.com/)
and ahomeforyourgnome.com.
Details
Date:
September 17
Time:
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT

Venue
BrightRidge Auditorium
2600 Boones Creek Rd (Hwy 354
Johnson City, TN 37615

At the AFM on 9/5/26, Lisa Sykes, Mae Humiston, & Dottie West ran the WCMG table to discuss Native Plants of SW Virginia...
09/05/2026

At the AFM on 9/5/26, Lisa Sykes, Mae Humiston, & Dottie West ran the WCMG table to discuss Native Plants of SW Virginia. They managed to reach 61 people before the clouds started turning gray and the winds began to really blow! Fortunately, they were able to give away numerous native plants like cinnamon ferns and maypop flowers in addition to native seeds like PawPaw & Milkweed. They showed table visitors the SW Virginia Native Plant book and provided ideas for ground cover, flowers, & trees that would aid our local pollinators. You can grab your free electronic version of the book here:https://nrvrc.org/images/pdf/Plant%20SWVA%20Natives%20Guide_web.pdf

The WC Public Library in Abingdon also has a hard copy you can check out or you may purchase one for $10 at the link below

If you’re interested in a free e-book or to purchase a hard copy of native plants for other regions in Virginia, please visit: https://www.plantvirginianatives.org/

Susan and Cheryl were at the WCMG table (again!) for the August 29 Abingdon Farmers Market, and what a great day it was!...
08/31/2026

Susan and Cheryl were at the WCMG table (again!) for the August 29 Abingdon Farmers Market, and what a great day it was!
We welcomed 79 visitors to the table, many of whom were new to gardening and arrived with great ideas and lots of questions. It was wonderful to see their excitement about growing their own vegetables and ornamentals and to hear about their garden and landscape design plans. The day’s topic was “All About the Dirt: Soils and Amendments,” and soil test kits were especially popular. We also shared lots of free seeds and gave away a dozen hellebore plants. 🌿Several visitors added their names to the list for next year’s Master Gardener training, too!
Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat, ask questions, pick up some seeds or plants, and share their gardening enthusiasm. We love helping our community grow! 🌻

The Fall Plant Swap yesterday was the most well attended of all this season's WCMG activities with 27 Master Gardeners a...
08/31/2026

The Fall Plant Swap yesterday was the most well attended of all this season's WCMG activities with 27 Master Gardeners and 10 guests attending. Many thanks to Jean Lusardi for hosting this event, and thanks to everyone that supplied items for the swap.

The theme for the WCMG tent at the August 22nd Abingdon Farmer's Market was cover crops. Thanks to the table volunteers...
08/22/2026

The theme for the WCMG tent at the August 22nd Abingdon Farmer's Market was cover crops. Thanks to the table volunteers--Mae Humiston, Miranda Mingle, Jaymie Derden, and Gil Kaelin. They interacted with 30 market visitors, and a good number of folks signed up to get information about future Master Gardner training.

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234 West Valley Street
Abingdon, VA
24210

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