This is the first class in the Climate Change series.

Heat domes, floods, extreme temperatures, and even tornados – welcome to the new normal in Northwest Washington. Barb and Cathy will provide an overview of climate change fundamentals and how changing weather patterns are affecting our lives and gardens. Are you losing plants that have thrived in the past? Are you concerned about pollinators and beneficial insects? Do you need tips on reducing water usage during the hot dry summers? Learn about steps you can take to have a healthier, resilient garden, improve habitat for wildlife and reduce your own carbon footprint.

Supports MG Priorities: Climate Change, Pollinators, Water Conservation, Soil Health, Wildfire Preparedness

This is the second class in the Climate Change series.

Join forester Collin McAvinchey on an exploration of how to develop fire resilient landscapes around your home. Learn principles of fire-resistant plant selection, spacing, and maintenance while diving into steps you can take today to protect your home from wildfire.

Supports MG Priorities: Wildfire Preparedness, Climate Change

Image credit: PNW Extension

NOTE: This class is 75 minutes in length and will extend into the free time between Sessions C and D.

This is the third class in the Climate Change series.

There is much to consider in designing a climate smart garden: how water is harvested, used, and directed; how soils are nurtured to make them more drought-resilient and fertile; how plantings can help with thermoregulation of the site; how materials choices can contribute to our carbon footprint - and the list goes on! In this class we'll discuss attributes of climate-smart gardens.
We'll cover design ideas and solutions to implement, including planting and materials choices, to meet our design goals and make our gardens - both new and existing - more resilient.

Supports MG Priorities: Climate Change, Water Conservation

This is the fourth class in the Climate Change series.

Biodiversity has steadily declined over the past 200 years. Habitat destruction, pollution, the introduction of noxious weeds and climate change have all contributed to the decline. In this class you will learn about biodiversity and ways that you can help to reverse this trend with your everyday actions. Reset your definition of a beautiful lawn. Restore native habitats in your yard or on your deck to provide food, water and shelter for native wildlife. Learn about the Homegrown National Park conservation movement and leave the class with the tools that you need to be a biodiversity superhero.

Supports MG Priorities: Plant Biodiversity, Climate Change

5 Reasons to Become a Master Gardener

Learn how to embellish your garden with the beauty of vines that do well in our area. Using great photos and a friendly speaking style, Laura will provide details about their care and pruning. Receive an informative and detailed handout to take home.

Don’t we all love strawberries? Yes, you can grow your own! Strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow, and they are far more flavorful than those you bring home from the grocery store. We’ll explore plant selection, how-to planting for your spaces — especially here on Whidbey, care and concerns through the season from harvesting to storage and some fun facts and interesting history.

The class is designed for beginners to experienced gardeners who want to expand or refresh their knowledge or get more creative with their plantings or new varieties.

Supports MG Priority: Local Food

Do you love eating from your garden? Anza’s class will help you get the most from your small farm or garden year round. This class will cover the basics of soil, bed preparation, microclimates, season extension, timing your plantings and harvesting tips. Now is a good time to create your garden maps for your best harvest ever.

Supports MG Priority: Local Food

Hubbard squash

A homegrown tomato is the Holy Grail of the kitchen garden, and yet it can be one of the most challenging hot-season crops to grow in our moderate Maritime summers. However, help is on the way! Bill Thorness will share tips and techniques to help you have your best tomato year yet. You’ll learn about season extension, pruning, trellising, pests, diseases and proper fertilizing and watering.

Supports MG Priority: Local Food

Diagnosing plant diseases and disorders is a combination of fact-filled science with the art of intuition. Jenny Glass, Diagnostician at the WSU Puyallup Plant & Insect Diagnostic Laboratory, will share her diagnostic adventures of over two decades trying to solve plant problems. Come bring your plant problem questions and expect a lively story and idea exchange. Jenny will discuss applying your strengths in the diagnostic process, looking at symptom patterns to help you determine if the origin of damage results from nonliving and/or living cause(s), and how understanding the plant disease triangle concept will help you focus your efforts on prevention and management of garden and landscape problems.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

In this engaging and informative class, we will learn how to identify and debunk common gardening myths and provide you with the tools to cultivate a thriving garden based on solid science.

Supports MG Priority: Clean Water

Chris Kelley will provide an overview of basic geology and hydrogeology of Island County including how we identify aquifers and aquitards. Chris describes risks to Island County’s sole-source aquifer systems as well as the roles and responsibilities of well owners, public water systems, and local and state agencies tasked with managing water resources to prevent contamination, over-use, and ensure safe potable water for the future.

Supports MG Priority: Water Conservation, Clean Water

We will explore soil properties that gardeners can influence and how and why to enhance them. We will show how the soil food web is essential for creating a healthy human food web and human health in general.

Supports MG Priority: Soil Health

Trees are often planted to help improve the environment and as a legacy to future generations. To reap those benefits, trees must survive for the long haul. Yet, faulty planting practices that limit tree survival are alarmingly common. Some of the smallest details of planting and early care can make biggest difference. What’s the best way to prepare the planting hole? How should root ball wrappings be handled? Is root pruning needed? Does mulch matter? Pruning? Staking? How much to water? When is a new tree "established"?

Drawing from current research, years of planting experience, and diagnostics of post-planting tree failures, Christina will answer those questions and share the most essential practices for planting, aftercare, and pruning of young trees.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Beekeeping basics. Where to get bees and how to keep them. Learn the basics of keeping bees. There will be an educational hive and the tools of the trade. Bring your questions and enthusiasm.

Supports MG Priority: Pollinators

Do you have a slug and snail problem in your garden? This class will provide information that will help you deal with these plant damaging pests. There are several ways to manage these invasive species.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Starting a new garden can be a daunting task for beginners, and for those who are more experienced. This class helps you consider the elements that make a garden a delightful place to enjoy in solitude and with friends and family. We will look at choosing plants that will mature gracefully, hardscape that showcases the plants, and ways to avoid costly mistakes.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

An overview of crevice garden theory and construction techniques using the crevice garden at Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy as an example along with crevice gardens in Europe and natural crevice situations in the wild. Suitable plants and planting techniques will be discussed. A crevice garden can be adapted to almost any situation from containers on an apartment balcony or to an elaborate endeavor in the garden. Our first crevice installation was two pieces of flagstone in a trough planter to accommodate a Turkish cliff-dwelling Campanula which is going strong 12 years later.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Birds, butterflies and other wildlife need our help to thrive. By adding native plants they’re already adapted to, you can create successful wildlife habitat. Included will be other landscaping ideas to enhance the attractiveness of your yard and increase your enjoyment of our native birds and butterflies.

Supports MG Priorities: Plant Biodiversity, Pollinators

This is an entry/beginner level class that will provide the information required to create your own English Country Style Garden. "How do I actually do it?" The fundamentals presented can be applied to an existing garden bed. Problem solving including different soil types, tackling a root bound pot, and weed management will be addressed.
There are multiple ways to approach a garden project; in this class you will learn a way to successfully accomplish the fundamentals of gardening.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Make your garden a safe haven for insects and pollinators of all types! In this class we'll talk about how to make your garden a healthy ecosystem that provides shelter and food for many types of pollinators including insects, birds and bats. In addition to lots of design ideas and planting ideas, we'll touch on garden maintenance techniques that will help build, rather than destroy, the environment you carefully create. Gardeners have a unique opportunity to offset habitat loss and help these important species survive. This class will help you turn your yard into a refuge!

Supports MG Priorities: Pollinators, Nearby Nature

NOTE: This class is 75 minutes in length and will extend into the free time between Sessions C and D.

Take your garden photos to the next level! This class will focus on learning skills that will enhance the photos you take of your garden and the wonderful natural world that surrounds us here in the PNW. We will cover what makes a good composition, how to use the light to your advantage, some basic editing skills, and a hands-on walk through the marketplace to practice the learned skills. This class will be geared towards using a cell phone camera but is applicable to any type of camera you would like to use.

A sub-irrigated planter (SIP) is a generic name for a type of container gardening where the water is introduced below the soil surface. This class will demonstrate how to apply the SIP principles to both smaller container planters and large raised or handicapped accessible beds.

Supports MG Priority: Water Conservation

This one-hour class provides an introduction to Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a sustainable approach to managing pests using a combination of effective, environmentally conscious strategies. Participants will learn to define pests and pesticides, understand the IPM pyramid of tactics, and explore key concepts such as pest prevention, monitoring, and tolerance thresholds. The course emphasizes the integration of multiple tactics to manage pests effectively, evaluating results for continuous improvement, and utilizing pesticide management resources responsibly. Perfect for gardeners, landscapers, and anyone seeking practical, eco-friendly pest management solutions.

Supports MG Priority: Clean Water

"Powdery Mildew , Nemesis of the Northwest" is a favorite subject of all gardeners whether you grow vegetables, ornamentals or flowers (especially dahlias). I will take you on a journey through the research that will help you understand where it comes from, why it appears and how you can manage your garden to prevent the spread. Come enjoy and bring your questions.

Supports MG Priorities: Clean Water, Local Food

Noxious weeds continue to put pressure on the health of our native biodiversity and disrupt the practical functioning of these systems. In this class we will look at noxious weed species that present the greatest challenge to landowners and delve into practical management tools for succeeding in control or eradication of these species.

Supports MG Priority: Plant Biodiversity

Learn how easy it can be to build your own worm bin, what it takes to keep your worms happy and how to harvest the "black gold" that is vermicompost. We will build a bin, step by step, which will be available at the market place raffle after the class.

Supports MG Priority: Soil Health

NOTE: This class is 75 minutes in length and will extend into the free time between Sessions C and D.

Pruning less often can be a boon to both the gardener and the plants! This talk will cover when to prune for optimal results, best pruning cuts, and how much to take off. We’ll review best pruning practices for promote moderate growth rates and reduce the frequency of pruning needed to keep shrubs and hedges in good form and health. Learn how to prune young trees for strong structure and to reduce future pruning needs as they mature. Pruning less often saves labor and energy and reduces green waste volume.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Composting is a powerful way to align with nature, enriching your soil with fertility, structure, hydration, and beneficial microbes while contributing to carbon sequestration. This practical one-hour workshop delves into the many benefits of composting and offers a clear, step-by-step understanding of the composting process
Topics include the "how" of composting including selecting input materials, choosing a composting location, and deciding between hot and cold composting methods, as well as troubleshooting common issues and maximizing the use of finished compost. The workshop also addresses the challenges and choices gardeners face in composting at home or in community gardens
By the end of this class, participants will have the knowledge and confidence to compost effectively, appreciate the value of composting in sustainable gardening, and feel motivated to implement or improve composting practices in their home or community gardens

Supports MG Priority: Soil Health

Learn to use the varied colors and textures of hardy succulents to create your own arrangement. I'll share the 3 most important tips for growing succulents, including what tools to use, how to deal with moss, choosing the best location, and how to choose and amend the planting soil. Each participant will go home with a small trough-style planter filled with the succulent plants of your choice.

Discover kokedama, the centuries old Japanese art form, whose origins lie in bonsai. Kokedama, which loosely translates to moss ball, provides a graceful repository and growing habitat for indoor and outdoor plants. You’ll be guided through a modern take on this unique planting technique and create a decorative plant sculpture that is a self-contained, sustainable home for a living plant. The moss surround makes these decorative kokedama orbs verdant and stunning especially when you put your own creative spin on the twined wrapping. Displayed on a piece from your cupboard, hung from an invisible string, or given as a gift, this “Make-n-Take” might be the beginning of a new hobby.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Discover kokedama, the centuries old Japanese art form, whose origins lie in bonsai. Kokedama, which loosely translates to moss ball, provides a graceful repository and growing habitat for indoor and outdoor plants. You’ll be guided through a modern take on this unique planting technique and create a decorative plant sculpture that is a self-contained, sustainable home for a living plant. The moss surround makes these decorative kokedama orbs verdant and stunning especially when you put your own creative spin on the twined wrapping. Displayed on a piece from your cupboard, hung from an invisible string, or given as a gift, this “Make-n-Take” might be the beginning of a new hobby.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

This hands-on class will guide you through the process of transplanting seedlings. You'll learn the little tricks that make transplanting a success. You will get a mini flat, a selection of tomato and pepper seedlings (maybe a flower), and planting medium (seedling soil mix). You should be able to plant all your cells in the allotted time; but if not, you can take a small selection home with you along with the mini-flat with humidity dome. Once home, bottom heat will greatly assist the growing process along with strong, indirect light and gentle stimulation. This is a "Make-n-Take" class, and you'll go home with perfectly planted seedlings!

Supports MG Priority: Local Food

This is the third in the Native Landscape series.

The world-renowned Heronswood garden is best know for its exotic plant collections, amassed over 30 years by garden creator and explorer Dan Hinkley. However, since 2012, the garden has been owned and operated by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe and a new philosophy of utilizing native plants has been prioritized. In this lecture, Garden Director Ross Bayton and PGST Tribal Member Debby Purser will discuss how Heronswood has continued to preserve Dan's legacy whilst also championing native plants and their important role in tribal culture.

Supports MG Priorities: Plant Biodiversity, Nearby Nature

This in the fourth class in the Native Landscape series.

This session will focus on some of the common wildlife species using woodlands on Whidbey Island, and ways to provide habitats for them using active (and passive) management techniques. We will also discuss animal damage issues that may come up, and ways to combat nuisance wildlife. Local resources will be identified. He might even sing a song.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

This is the first class in the Native Landscape series.

Understanding wetlands and where they are on the landscape helps us to understand the role of water, soils, and chemistry for all plants in the natural world. The different kinds of wetlands are present in response to a wide range of factors; just as certain plants do better in this part of a garden vs another location. What are the common different types of wetlands in the PNW; why are they located in particular places in the landscape? And the big question: so what? Do they have roles or functions in the natural world that influence our lives? Or, do we have choices to make which might influence the presence and viability of wetlands in our region?

Supports MG Priorities: Clean Water, Plant Biodiversity

This is the second class in the Native Landscape series.

This class will cover the basics of what it means to have a healthy forest ecosystem, common tree stressors on Whidbey Island, the influence of climate change, and when property owners should take action vs. leave well enough alone.

Supports MG Priorities: Nearby Nature, Climate Change

Most pacific northwest gardeners are not aware of the plethora of daylily plants that are available for purchase. Our local nurseries typically do not carry newer cultivars that have been hybridized, especially in the last twenty to thirty years. Learn that daylilies are not native and yet are the most hybridized perennial in North America. Learn about the diversity of daylily bloom size and forms, bloom time, colors and markings that are now available. Find out where you can view daylilies in Whatcom County in mid to late July and get a preview of daylilies that will be sold by the Master Gardener Foundation of Whatcom County in late April and May.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Join Eva, for a fungi-fantastic introduction to the magical Kingdom Fungi, where we’ll explore everything from the mushrooms’ taxonomy to their bizarre anatomy and life cycle. But wait, there's more! Eva will delve into the wild and wonderful world of fungi's ecological roles, showing you just how important these funky fungi are in our ecosystem. She’ll shine a spotlight on the two most noticeable groups of the fungal world—Basidiomycota and Ascomycota—and introduce the common mushrooms within each group. Participants will leave with greater knowledge about fungi and their ecological importance.

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature

Native to eastern Asia, camellias come from a climate very similar to the Pacific Northwest. Their gorgeous blooms brighten the winter garden. Tricia will explain the basics of camellia care to get you started growing these exceptional plants.

Genetic research has begun to open our eyes to a broader and better understanding of the dahlia. Where it came from, what causes color, shape and size difference, what we might be able to do in the future to improve disease management.
The presentation will include a review of the genetic research conducted by the Hudson/Alpha Institute for Biotechnology for the American Dahlia Society.
I addition, Paul will bring a look at the newest dahlias to the introduced and gladly answer questions about growing in the Northwest (the Dahlia Capital of the US).

Supports MG Priority: Nearby Nature