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Master Gardener course being offered in Faulkner County. She completed the course and became a Master Gardener in 1998 – a passion that has remained with her and flourished since that time.
“I became obsessed,” she laughed, adding that one of her favorite plants is “Nandina,” (also known as “heavenly bamboo).” She said they have to be pruned properly to maintain their “heavenly” looks. Barbie said for five months out of the year, the “Nandina” produces clusters of beau- tiful red berries and she uses the foliage from the bush as greenery in creat- ing flower arrangements.
“I’m a foliage person – just drawn to foliage,” she smiled, explaining that she also likes to grow bushes, flowers and shrubs that have been around for a while. One of her favorite flowers is a rose known as “Belinda’s Dream,” that produces beautiful pink blooms all summer.
“Indian Pinks” is another one of her favorite flow- ers. She said the bush is a native plant of the south- east and in 2003 while in Vilonia, during a state Master Gardeners meeting (held every year at various locations in the state), she discovered “Indian Pinks.”
At a state Master Gardener meeting in Searcy, Ann Woods, anoth-
er Master Gardener, had a “big clump” of “Indian Pinks.” Barbie said Master Gardeners are very pas- sionate as they talk about and share some of their favorite bushes, shrubs and flowers.
“Possum Haw,” a decid- uous holly, is a tree that Barbie said she brought to El Dorado from Vilonia. “I got as many roots as I could (of Possum Haw) and they rode in the back of a truck to El Dorado. After she arrived with the trees and got them plant- ed, it wasn’t long before she noticed that all the berries had disappeared from the trees. It was then she discovered that Cedar
Waxwing birds love those berries and had plucked every berry from her transplanted trees.
In order to become a Master Gardener, Luther explained that after taking a course for a fee, new Master Gardeners are requiredtospend40hours working on community projects that first year and then 20 hours in the fol- lowing years. Gardeners work on “sanctioned proj- ects,” she said, explain- ing that when Master Gardeners are approached to take on a local proj- ect, members of the group vote on whether or not to accept the project.
She said during those
40 hours of community service projects, Master Gardeners train others about soil, pruning, veg- etables, flowers, shrubs, perennials, annuals and trees – most anything that grows.
The eight-week Master Gardener program pro- vides five hours of training in horticulture, gardening and soil science each week. The cost for the class is $80. For more information about the Union County Master Gardener program, contact Union County Extension Service agent, Robin Bridges, at 864-1916.
Every year, Union County Master Gardeners go on several tours of gardens,
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