Garden Journal

On the morning of May 3 about twenty volunteers congregated in Celina to hear Billy Kniffen speak about the advantages of rainwater harvesting and then a short summary of the Thrips research performed by Kim Schofield at the A&M test farm in Prosper.

It was a really interesting and eye opening morning. The flood of rainwater flowing uselessly down storm sewers is staggering. Who would have believed that someone could be self sufficient on as little as 5” of rain per year?

Our next stop was in Prosper for lunch and the thrill of receiving free rose bushes. All we had to do was dig them out of the ground. Even though it was rather muddy from the previous night’s thunder storm, it did make the digging considerably easier. For some of us, it became a tag team effort.

The roses were absolutely stunning with the extra rain we’ve had this spring. Last year, I spent one evening every other week watering the same roses without the spectacular results created by Mother Nature.

And here is a picture of our newest Master Gardener. I’d actually met him last summer during my frequent trips to the farm. He is very curious and wants to see everything that’s going on. He is very well mannered and never begs for food, nor approaches closer than 20 to 30 feet unless invited. You never know who you’ll run into during a Master Gardener’s outing