Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

The United States Botanic Garden has posters that we create in with the Northeast IPM Community Horticulture Working Group on display in their gardens and posted on their web site. So if you haven’t seen them yet, here’s your chance.
http://www.usbg.gov/education/events/exhibitors_map.cfm

Our lawn care display is under Bartholdi Park #32 Sustainable Turf Care, the bloopers are #33 Don’t Do This at Home. The site can be painfully slow…just hit reload if it gets hung up.

• If you click on an exhibit number (black circle) photos of that exhibit appear - these will be updated as the summer goes along.
• If you click on the listed exhibitor name then you see interpretive material, any resource material, and a link to your web site
• If you click on the gold star the over all exhibition introductory panels can be viewed
• If you click on the information icon (i) then the Exhibition Visitors Guide is viewable.

is a community science project with the goal of increasing our understanding of where bees are doing poorly and how the pollination of our garden and wild plants
are being affected. We’re hoping you will join us by planting
sunflowers in your garden. Community, demonstration, and school
gardens are invited to participate.

We’ll send you some free native sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seed and
twice a month, we’d like you to time how long it takes for 5 bees to
visit that sunflower. This information will give us an
index of pollination that we can compare across the United States.
Once we know where bees are in trouble, we can start developing a plan
to help them.

You can see the details about the project and register at
www.greatsunflower.org or contact us at sfbee@sfsu.edu.

Do join us!

Thanks so much,

Gretchen LeBuhn
Associate Professor
San Francisco State University

Gretchen LeBuhn
The Great Sunflower Project
www.GreatSunflower.org

“New Frontiers” in horticulture and gardening — March 22-26, 2009 Las Vegas

The Las Vegas International Master Gardener Conference will address issues that gardeners everywhere face — water conservation, proper plant selection, soil enrichment, pest control — while also presenting new concepts in environmental stewardship and “green” technologies. Since what is old has become new again, we will also explore historical and traditional plants and methods.

Workshop Topics:

Green Technologies, Water Conservation, Heirloom Plants, LEED, Healthy Gardening, Native Seeds, Farm to Restaurant, Ancestors’ Gardens, Trees for Tomorrow, Artful Gardening, Water Harvesting, Soil Microbes, Interactive Learning.

Tours:

Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, LV Springs Preserve, Ethyl M Cactus Garden and Living Machine, Red Rock Canyon, Spring Mountain Ranch, Desert Rose Garden, China Ranch Date Farm, Gardens at the Bellagio and Wynn resorts.

Website here

Deadline: October 15, 2007

The National Gardening Association Healthy Sprouts Award helps support the growth of health-focused school and youth garden programs that teach about nutrition and the issue of hunger in the U.S. To be eligible, a school or organization must plan to garden in 2008 with at least 15 children, ages three to eighteen.

http://www.kidsgardening.com/healthysprouts.asp

Trying to reach new audiences in your community?

Cheryl Hearty from Dutchess County CCE shares this national Gardening Association site brought was brought to her attention by a Master Gardener Volunteer.

She says it is easy to post events and it can’t hurt to help spread the word about your CCE educational opportunities. Check out the events calendar section at:

http://nationalgardenmonth.org/index.php

By Evelyn Alemanni
Towns that participate in America in Bloom receive detailed evaluations from their judges. In fact, some communities enter America in Bloom specifically to get those recommendations and insights. Towns including Loveland, Ohio and Eureka Springs, Arkansas, have told us that getting an equivalent report from a consultant would cost thousands of dollars. Elfin Forest, California took their judges suggestions and ended up with more than $100,000 in grants for community improvements.

In your evaluation, judges will mention projects that they admire and also offer suggestions for enhancements and improvements. You can use the evaluation to bring specific needs to the attention of your local government, to support material in grant applications, and also to brag about your accomplishments.

Publishing parts of the evaluation, for example, in newspapers, on a city website, and in newsletters, helps share good ideas with everyone in your town. The judges are sensitive to limitations that towns have, for example, weather, funding, etc., and will try to make recommendations that are achievable. So send in your application for this year’s contest, so you can look forward to receiving your evaluation in September.

America in Bloom

Take your garden to the next level!

And now, in celebration of the National Wildlife Federation’s 70^th anniversary this year, we’ve set forth a goal of certifying the 70,000^th Backyard Wildlife Habitat site. Certify your yard today and you can help get us there!
nefits!

• Recognition - Receive a Certification Packet and a personal Certificate of Achievement suitable for framing.
• Enjoyment - Be rewarded with a beautiful yard filled with colorful butterflies, sweet-singing songbirds and other fascinating wildlife.
• Satisfaction - Feel good about nurturing wildlife all year long by providing food, water, cover and places to raise young.
• Useful Tips - Receive a free subscription to the quarterly email newsletter, Habitats, with tips on improving your yard and attracting wildlife year after year.
• Unique Sign - Be eligible to purchase a special yard sign to show your commitment to nature and wildlife.
• Free Membership - Get a complimentary membership to NWF including a full-year of the award-winning National Wildlife magazine, a $15 value in itself!

Click here to complete the application. It costs only $15! Once your application is accepted, you’ll begin to enjoy the benefits listed above.

Help Us Reach Our 70,000 Goal Certify Today!

We’re getting
so close!
Help us hit our 70,000 goal in 2006!

Friend of Wildlife, in the U.S., 63,525 citizens have already certified their backyards.

Certify your yard today and receive many benefits, including a free NWF membership.