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.
The Master Gardeners are looking forward to meeting more plant loving people. Join our group for lots of fun and of course PLANTS! Visit our Facebook Page to see what we are currently up to. https://www.facebook.com/PRCMasterGardeners
2024
MSU Poplarville Experiment Station – Display Garden
WE WON 1st PLACE, AGAIN!!!!
“Film A Tour”
All-America Selections’ 2024 Landscape Design Challenge took on a new angle this year in that Display Gardens were challenged to simply “Film A Tour” of their gardens to highlight the AAS Winners in their garden setting.
The Pearl River County Master Gardeners have transformed the Mississippi State University South Miss Branch Experiment Station’s AAS Display Garden into a Hollywood-themed spectacle for the 2024 competition. The garden showcased a wide variety of AAS Winners, arranged in color-coordinated quadrants and adorned with movie-inspired decorations. Visitors enjoyed guided tours, learned about the plants, and even scanned QR codes for additional information about the AAS Winners.
For the challenge, AAS provides the gardens with recent AAS Winner seeds and plants. The gardens have the option to incorporate older AAS Winners in their design to illustrate the theme. Gardens are encouraged to generate publicity and hold events to share the story of All-America Selections and AAS Winners.
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.
2024 First Place Winner (tie)
2024
MSU Poplarville Experiment Station – Display Garden
The PRCMG again planted over 1,000 flowers and vegetables, they grew from seeds selected from the AAS website. Besides planting all those flowers, a brief Film was made using the MSU mascot, Bully as the MC. The seed planting started during the winter, with bumping the plants into larger containers happening in the spring. By June 8th, 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 were able to tour the USDA facility onsite and listen as workers explained 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.
Planning The Garden and Selecting Seeds
Planting the Seeds
Baby Plants are Growing
Planting the Display Garden
Adding MORE PLANTS!
The Plants are Growing
Submissions to the AAS Contest
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!
2025
The PRCMGs would like to Invite the Public to join our meetings to listen to some very interesting speakers at our Education Series.
April 2, 2025 at 2:00 at the Pearl River County Extension Office, 835 Hwy 26 West, Poplarville, MS – Speaker: Dr. James DelPrince – Topic: An Ikebana Design
September 5, 2025 at 12:30 (Location to be announced) – Speaker: Neisy Schulte – Topic: Bees
ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS TO SEE THE PRCMGS
CROSBY ARBORETUM PLANT SALES
(370 Ridge Rd, Picayune, MS)
2023 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 Sargents 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 have Plant Clinics in 2025.
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!
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. Occasionally the Master Gardeners have plants to give away.
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.
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 is everchanging as new plants are added. Shade sails have been added to the Garden to provide a place to sit and enjoy the flowers.
STRAWBERRIES & CREAM AT
CROSBY ARBORETUM
The MG getting things ready for a Plant Sale.
PLANTING AND GROWING TREES
Frank Jackson, with over 1,000 trees growing for the Arboretum.
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 835 Highway 26 West 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.
