Pearl River County Master Gardeners
Learning, Sharing, and Growing
The Pearl River County Master Gardeners are actively engaged in youth and community education programs and community beautification projects. Master Gardener projects include: Plant Clinics, Answering home horticulture questions, Developing demonstration/teaching gardens, Assisting with research projects, Providing leadership to county or state organizations, Participating in 4-H Junior Master Gardener or other 4-H gardening projects, Participating in community beautification/landscape projects.
WE WON 1st PLACE!
The All-American Selection competition is held each year and gardens across the United States and Canada compete against other gardens who have similar numbers of visitors. Gardens are divided into three categories based on the number of visitors per year:
Category I: fewer than 10,000 visitors per year, Category II: 10,001 – 100,000 visitors per year, Category III: Over 100,000 visitors per year
Click below to see a wonderful drone video of the Display Garden made by Scott Langlois, Senior Research Associate and Facility Coordinator at MSU South Experiment Station.
2023
MSU Poplarville Experiment Station – Display Garden
A Whimsical Garden is the All-American Selection (AAS) theme for 2023. The PRCMG embraced this year’s theme by planting over 1,000 flowers and vegetables, they grew from seeds selected from the AAS website. Besides planting all those flowers, whimsical items were added to the garden in the form of fairies, gnomes, flamingos, peacocks, snails, ants, turtles, frogs and various other yard art. The seed planting started during the winter, with bumping the plants into larger containers happening in the spring. By June 10th, during the Blueberry Jubilee the plants had reached their peak and were on display for all to see. As part of the Jubilee, tractors with trailers were loaded with people and driven from the downtown area to the Experiment Station. The people listened to members of the USDA explain the projects they work on, then were escorted to the Display Garden. PRCMG greeted the visitors and welcomed them to our award-winning garden. The MGs answered questions about the plants and distributed gardening information. The Blueberry Royalty posed on the bridge for a picture and then enjoyed the Display Garden. The Experiment Station is located at 711 West North Street, across from Pearl River Community College and The Display Garden is open to the public.
Planting Seeds
Planting A LOT of Flowers
The Finished Display Garden
We are gardeners. We are community.
Volunteer Master Gardeners connect with tens of millions of people each year. Rolling up their sleeves to empower local communities through horticulture… one person, one question, one garden at a time!
#PlantsMakePeopleHappy
EVENTS
Calendar
Would you like to meet the Pearl River County Master Gardeners? Below are events where they will be providing gardening information and answering questions or helping at the Crosby Arboretum’s plant sales. We would love to meet you!
2024
The PRCMGs would like to Invite the Public to join our meetings to listen to some very interesting speakers at our Education Series.
JUNE 7 – 12:30 Monthly Meeting – Extension Office, 204 Julia Street, Poplarville. Speaker: Mandy Rigsby, Environmental Stewardship Specialist at MSU Coastal Research & Extension Center | MS-AL Sea Grant. Presentation – Bats of Mississippi: Gardening for Bats on the Mississippi Coast”.
JULY 12 – 12:30 Monthly Meeting – Train Depot, 200 Highway 11 South, Picayune, MS. Speaker: Ben Missimer – Permaculture and Computer-Generated Garden Designs
AUGUST 2 – 12:30 Monthly Meeting – Extension Office, 204 Julia Street, Poplarville, MS. Speaker: Butch Bailey, Forester, MSU Extension Service. Presentation: Drought of 2023 and how it has affected trees and forests.
SEPTEMBER 6 – 12:30 Monthly Meeting – Train Depot, 200 Highway 11 South, Picayune, MS. Speaker: Dr. Eric T. Stafne, Professor, Fruit Crops, MSU. Presentation – Passionfruit
NOVEMBER 1 – 12:30 Monthly Meeting – Extension Office, 204 Julia Street, Poplarville, MS. Speaker: Dr. Christine Coker, Urban Horticulture Vegetables, MSU. Presentation – Farmer Florist Extension Publication Series.
ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS TO SEE THE PRCMGS
CROSBY ARBORETUM PLANT SALES
(370 Ridge Rd, Picayune, MS)
JUNE 1 – Pollinator Plant Sale
Plant Clinics
MAY 4 – 9:00 – 12:00 – Community Plant Swap – The Pearl River County Master Gardeners will be at the Community Plant Swap providing free publications on plants and answering plant questions. The Swap is open to the public. Bring some plants to swap with other plant lovers. The MGs will be bringing some plants to swap also. There will be music, food trucks and plants! What a great day. Come visit us and get some plant knowledge! Location: 510 W. Canal, Picayune, MS.
MAY 1, 2 and 3rd – 2024 MMGA CONFERENCE, Hosted by Harrison County MG at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, MS. The public can attend by paying the registration fee.
Keynote speaker will be Doug Tallamy. Additional speakers include: Dr. Gary Bachman, Felder Rushing, Aaron Lynn-Vogel, Anthony and Leilani Rosenbaum, Dr. Jeff Wilson, Dr. James DelPrince, Dr. Christine Coker, Linda Auld, Martha Whitney Butler, CFD, and Dr. Eddie Smith.
27th Annual Mississippi Master Gardener State Conference | Facebook
Visit the website to see the schedule of speakers and to register for the conference. www.digginitonthecoast2024.com . The Registration price $225. Contact the Harrison County Master Gardeners for information on being a vendor or sponsor.
SE District Meeting
The Master Gardeners participated in the SE District Meeting of the Mississippi Master Gardeners. There were several speakers, and it was a great time of fellowship with other Master Gardeners.
50 YEARS!
The Master Gardener Program started 50 years ago!
50 years ago the Master Gardener program began at Washington State University. The Co-Founder & WSU Urban Horticulturalist, David Gibby, believed in the power of volunteers. What began with 300 volunteers in Washington state has grown to over 84,000 volunteers showing up in communities across the country!
PRC Master Gardeners Plant Clinics
The PRCMGs had Plant Clinics at Paul Bounds Feed & Seed and Crossroads Feed and Seed. We were happy to see so many plant-loving people. We answered a lot of questions and distributed a bounty of information. See our calendar above for the dates we will be at these locations.
2022 MMGA State Conference
The Mississippi Master Gardeners Association held their State Conference May 3-5, 2022. The event was held at the BancorpSouth Conference Center, 375 East Main St. in Tupelo, MS. Several of the Pearl River County Master Gardeners attended. Everyone enjoyed the conference, learned a lot from the many educational sessions available, visited many of the Lee County Master Gardener’s personal gardens, and celebrated awards with a wonderful banquet and Elvis. The PRC Master Gardeners received the following awards: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd most service hours in the Southeast District. 1st place to Phyllis Goodwin, 2nd place to Patti Murphy and 3rd place to Teresa Covington (who accepted the awards for the others not present). Sandy Love-Thompson received an award for her Graphic Presentation: Mycorrhizae Power Point Presentation. Here are a few pictures from the conference.
What are the Master Gardeners up to?
The Master Gardeners work on a variety of projects in the community.
Display Garden
Posing on the bridge at the Mississippi State University Experiment Station’s Display Garden in Poplarville after working. The Master Gardeners assist in planting seeds, transplanting small plants, installing plants in the Display Garden and helping to maintain the garden through the season. If you love flowers and get a chance, visit the garden. You will enjoy it!
AAS Award 2022
Games in the Garden
All American Selections (AAS) awarded the Mississippi State University Experiment Station’s Display Garden 3rd Place in the category of Gardens with under 10,000 visitors in the US and Canada. The PRC Master Gardeners are extremely proud of their work on this project.
Lenore Ladner, of the Pearl River County Master Gardeners and Project Chair of the Display Garden, accepting an award on behalf of the PRCMG for the AAS Display Garden that won Third Place, from Scott Langlois, with the Mississippi State University South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station.
Installing the plants, adding pine straw and planting seeds in the ground.
Stennis Farmer’s Market
The Master Gardeners have a table at the Stennis Farmer’s Market on the first Tuesday of each month. We provide pamphlets and flyers on a variety of gardening topics and answer all kinds of plant questions. It is a joy to meet and talk with everyone that stops by.
Proving a wealth of information
Dividing aloe and giving them to the great people who work at Stennis.
Picayune Senior Center
The Master Gardeners removed the old flowerbed plants, amended the soil, and planted new shrubs, plants and bulbs at the Picayune Senior Center.
Senior Center Walking Track
A new walking track has been installed at the Picayune Senior Center. The MGs are busy working on the vegetation around the track and will soon install plants.
The Pollinator Garden at the Experiment Station
Master Gardeners installing plants at the Pollinator Garden at the Experiment Station in Poplarville.
The Dried Flower Project
Dried Flower Project with Dr. Jim DelPrince, MSU. The MG planted the seeds for the flowers in the greenhouse while it was still cold outside. Once it warmed up, the plants were planted outside. The MG harvested the flowers, placed them in bunches, assisted Dr. DelPrince in recording the plant information and weight, then hung the plants to dry. This project is part of a research study MSU is conducting to find the costs associated with growing flowers, particularly dried flowers. The data collected will be used to help farmers understand the potential for these crops, from the benefits to the drawbacks.
Education
Learning about various plants and how to care for them.
A group of the PRC Master Gardeners who attended a lecture by world renown horticulturist Felder Rushing (holding the chicken statue).
Community Partnerships
The Crosby Aroboretum in Picayune.
The Master Gardeners and other Green Team volunteers spend time every week volunteering at the Crosby Arboretum. They plant seeds and plant plugs. Some are planted in the Pollinator Garden at the Arboretum, and some are used in the plant sales that take place there. If you are looking for a good place to purchase native plants, see native plants and watch the Master Gardeners at work, come to the plant sales hosted by the Crosby Arboretum. The Pollinator Garden is a project that was started by the Crosby Arboretum, under the direction of Mississippi State University, to educate the public as to 1) pollinator plants that are native to South Mississippi. and 2), how these plants are used by bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds as a food source. The Garden has grown from a small project to one that has incorporated the original garden as well as a repurposed Children’s Garden. The Children’s Garden will be maintained by Master Gardener volunteers, Green Team volunteers, and 4-H Jr. Master Gardeners.
The MG getting things ready for the Arbor Day Plant Sale that happened on February 12th.
The Arbor Day Sale
Enjoying the Pollinator Garden at the Crosby Arboretum.
The Junior Master Gardener Program
We are starting the next generation of Master Gardeners with the Junior Master Gardener Program. It is a 4-H youth gardening project. This is a great program for youth ages 8 to 18. It will introduce participants to the great world of plants. Participants will enjoy hands on lessons and activities that will help show how select plants are propagated, their life cycle, soils to use, and garden design. The program is led by two Master Gardeners who have been certified through 4-H to teach the program. Classes are held every 3rd Saturday of the month at 10:00 AM at the Pearl River County Extension office at 204 Julia Street in Poplarville. For information on registering your child for the next program, contact the Pearl River County Extension office at 601-403-2280. Additional information on the program can be found on the MSU website at : http://extension.msstate.edu/publications/information-sheets/mississippi-4-h-junior-master-gardener-program-guidelines-for
Coastal Marine Extension
The Coastal Marine Extension (CME) has asked the Pearl River County Master Gardeners (PRC MG) to assist in their Coastal Wetlands Restoration Project. CME provided seeds of Black Needle Rush and Smooth Cord Grass for the project. PRC MGs have planted the seeds. Once the seeds germinate, the seedlings will be transplanted into custom planters made by the PRC MGs. When the plants are mature, they will be planted in a marsh area to help prevent coastal erosion.
MG Having Fun
Boots on the Ground. Sometimes as a Master Gardener you have to get your feet in the mud!
It is not all work. When we play, it almost always contains plants. One of our favorite past times is visiting nurseries to add to our personal plant collections and gardens. Our other favorite pastime is having lunch together.
