When N.C. State’s Rhonda Sherman started her large-scale vermiculture workshop in 2000, there were only a handful of attendees. But at this year’s 10th annual Vermiculture Conference, the room was filled to near overflowing with 116 participants from 28 U.S. states – including 49 from North Carolina -- and five other countries.

Sherman, Extension solid waste specialist in biological and agricultural engineering, hosts the conference each year, bringing together experts from around the world to share information on vermicomposting, the process of using earthworms to break down organic wastes. As the only conference of its kind, it has a loyal following of participants, ranging from backyard gardeners to entrepreneurs to municipal waste managers.

Blog posts can be found directly at blogs.extension.org/mastergardener or through the new national Extension Master Gardener Web site at extension.org/mastergardener. With over 94,000 volunteers contributing more than $100 million in service nationwide, the EMG program is hoping to take its volunteer program to a new level by increasing the social interaction of its participants.

Read more from the eXtension blog

www.cals.ncsu.edu/extgardener/latest%20issue_eg.htm

The spring 2010 editions also include statewide articles on fragrant shrubs for the home garden, asparagus and pollinators. A seasonal pest alert focuses on gypsy moths.

Master Gardeners who support N.C. Cooperative Extension in Wake County recently celebrated 30 years of service with a birthday party, cake and all. One highlight was a panel discussion with former horticulture agents and MG volunteers reflecting on the program's history. Wake's MG program began in 1979 when agent Victor Lynn learned of a program called "Garden Leaders" while attending a national agricultural agents meeting. Lynn returned to Raleigh to begin a similar program in Wake County. Today, Wake County Master Gardeners have 129 members and three emeritus members. In addition to answering home horticulture phone calls five days a week, the group is responsible for five demonstration gardens, three WaterWise gardens, horticultural therapy, Successful Gardener clinics, youth horticulture and a speaker’s bureau.

-A. Hertzberg

On May 3 from 3 to 7 p.m., the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University will hold its annual Gala in the Garden. Themed "An Enchanted Garden Party," the gala is open to the public.

In addition to the silent auction, guests also will enjoy live music by the Southern String Band and gourmet hors d’oeuvres, including a special dessert reception.

Gala tickets are $60. Proceeds from the event will benefit the JC Raulston Arboretum, a working research and teaching garden of N.C. State University.

To become a corporate sponsor or to purchase tickets, contact Anne Porter at 919.513.3826 or anne_porter@ncsu.edu.

“A long, long time ago, all we knew was an avocado,
but we got better and now we know broccoli from tomato.”

This was the rap that erupted from the creative North Carolina youth delegates, remarking on their plant identification experiences in the Performing Arts category of the 74th National Junior Horticulture Association’s annual convention. Traveling down to Spartanburg, S.C. , 14 youth and five adult leaders from across the state spent five days discovering Southern horticulture and sharing their horticultural knowledge through speeches, presentations, demonstrations, essays, experiments and the Horticulture Judging Contest.

From Ikebana flower arrangements to strawberry- and honey-glazed fruit kebabs, the North Carolina youth articulately showed their skills. Our delegation was a merry bunch of youth, who enjoyed supporting each other with cheers, shouts, the wave and chants, earning them the Most Spirited State Award for the second year in a row. “Our North Carolina delegation is a dynasty!” remarked Michael Costa, a returning delegate, and enthusiastic and witty teen from Camden County.

Watch UNC-TV Saturday, August 23 at noon for the season premiere of In the Garden with Bryce Lane.

Now in it's sixth season, In the Garden continues to get rave reviews from viewers across the state. This program is a 30-minute home horticulture show that doubles as an introduction to horticulture course and it's a product of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences! Bryce Lane, instructor in the horticultural science department hosts the show. Communication Services produces the program.

This season Lane offers tips for the conscientious gardener. He focuses on water wise gardening -- how to best use this limited, precious resource and still maintain a beautiful landscape. Plus, as prices continue to rise, so do concerns about how to keep gardening in the family budget. Lane provides tips on how to save money at the garden center and still fulfill your plant wish list. This season Bryce also takes viewers to the Delaware Valley area to visit Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer Gardens. Tune in to UNC-TV each Saturday at noon!

The show repeats Sundays at 11:30am. Check local listing for air times on UNC-TV's digital channels.

Food and garden guru Martha Stewart, center, recently visited the North Carolina Research Campus as guest of campus founder David Murdock. One of the gardening editors for Stewart's magazine, Andrew Beckman, has subscribed to Extension's Successful Gardener newsletter the past few years. Leah Chester-Davis, left, who has served as newsletter editor and team leader, asked Stewart to autograph a copy. Chester-Davis is coordinator of communications & community outreach and Extension communication specialist with the Program for Value Added & Alternative Agriculture based at the research campus. Also pictured is Tara Vogelien, director for business and research administration for N.C. State University's Fruit & Vegetable Science Institute.

Christopher Reid and Chase Erwin, recent North Carolina State University graduates, this spring were each awarded a $1,500 Wakefield Development Co. scholarship for a drought-tolerant landscape design for a public village green at Renaissance Park community near Raleigh.

Reid’s and Erwin’s winning design, “Olio Trace,” which combines elements of historic Tryon Palace architecture and an appeal to Generation X lifestyles, includes drought-tolerant ornamental grasses, trees and perennials, as well as open-space pockets.

On-site work began on implementing the design in mid-June, Erwin said.

"Almanac Gardener," the UNC-TV gardening show featuring host Mike Gray and N.C. Cooperative Extension agents, is completing its 25th season and featuring Great Moments in Almanac Gardener History. The show airs Saturday at noon and Sunday at 11:30 a.m., with several additional runs during the week on digital UNC-TV channels. Retired panelist Larry Bass makes a cameo appearance on the May 31 and June 7 programs. The panelists and topics for upcoming show are below:

For one day at the Southern Spring Home and Garden Show in Charlotte, professionals from N.C. State University took center stage. On Feb. 29, three professors from the university and one faculty member from the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, shared their knowledge of plants with participants of the show.

Will Hooker, N.C. State professor of horticultural science; Mark Weathington, assistant director of the JC Raulston Arboretum; Liz Driscoll, Extension associate in horticultural science; and David Goforth, Cabarrus County agricultural agent, each took their place on center stage at the Merchandise Mart in the Queen City. All speakers were participating in Extension's Successful Gardener & Master Gardener Day, dedicated to the volunteer efforts of the state's Master Gardener volunteers.

The presentations were open to the nearly 12,000 daily attendees at the show. In addition, Extension agents and Master Gardener volunteers from Alexander, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Polk and Union counties, helped answer questions from those visitors to the home and garden show. The MGs volunteered at the show's Successful Gardener Learning Center.

The North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association and North Carolina Cooperative Extension will kick off the inaugural year of Showstopper Plants at the Southern Spring Home & Garden Show at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart, Feb. 27 through March 2.

The 2008 Showstopper Plants are promising new cultivars or iron-clad plants that thrive across the region. They are great choices for Carolina gardeners. This year’s selections consist of three shrubs: ‘Kaleidoscope’ Abelia, ‘Limelight’ Hydrangea and ‘Chindo’ Viburnum. Lenten Rose is the Showstopper perennial. The tree selection is ‘Oklahoma’ Redbud. Many of these plants will be featured in the show gardens. They also will be showcased as part of Extension’s Successful Gardener Learning Center at this week’s show.

On May 4, 2008, from 4 to 7 p.m., the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University will once again hold its annual Gala in the Garden.

"Many will come in festive hats, others in their finest garden party attire; while others will be too focused to care as they bee-line to the botanicals to see what was donated for this year's event," said Dr. Dennis Werner, Arboretum director. "The Gala in the Garden at the JC Raulston Arboretum draws the diverse gardening community that surrounds the arboretum and beyond."

Enjoy music by the Southern String Band, gourmet hors d'oeuvres including a special dessert reception and bid on a variety of unique plants and other special items in the silent auction.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the JC Raulston Arboretum, a working research and teaching garden of NC State University.

Tickets are $60. To become a corporate sponsor or to purchase tickets, contact Barbara Kennedy at 919-513-7004 or barbara_kennedy@ncsu.edu. For more information about the JC Raulston Arboretum please visit http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/

The Summer Solstice Celebration can be any party of the host's choosing. Hosts invite their friends to a party at their home asking for a donation to the arboretum at a set amount determined by the host. A tax-deductible in-kind donation will be given to the hosts for their expenses. Their guests also will receive a tax deduction for their donations.

"For one night, we hope to have more than 50 parties across the state," said Dr. Dennis Werner, director of the JC Raulston Arboretum. "The Summer Solstice Celebration will enable us to draw attention to and raise money for the arboretum, a nationally acclaimed garden that is certainly one of the state's gems."

Proceeds from this one-night event will benefit the JC Raulston Arboretum, a working research and teaching garden of N.C. State University. Half of the money raised will go to the JC Raulston Endowment for Excellence and half will go to implementing the arboretum's new master plan.

To host a party, contact Barbara Kennedy at 919-513-7004 or barbara_kennedy@ncsu.edu. For more information about the JC Raulston Arboretum please visit http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/.