Here you will learn how to have flowers available all year long to arrange in your home.  The Master Gardeners will teach you the principles of flower gardening and techniques to create lovely floral arrangements. 

Master Gardener workshops are open to the public and can fill up quickly.

Date:  Saturday, June 22, 2013
Time:  8:15 am - 12:00 noon
Location:
     Hansen Agricultural Center
     14292 W. Telegraph Rd.
     Santa Paula, CA
Cost:  $30.00 (includes continental breakfast and snacks)

Click to register and learn more about the workshop.

The UC Ventura County Cooperative Extension's Master Gardeners want to show you how add your own personal touch to the holidays at their "Creating Holiday Gifts from Your Garden" workshop.  Learn how to make soaps, lotions, olive oil and other hands-on from the garden gifts.

The workshop will be held at the historic Hansen Agricultural Center in Santa Paula and the small registration fee includes presentations by UC Cooperative Extension advisors and experts and a continental breakfast.

This seasonal event is part of their Home-Garden workshop series where certified Master Gardeners and other experts share their gardening knowledge with the public.  

To register and learn more about this workshop check out this flyer.

So far 58 applicants have applied for 35 opening in this year's comprehensive gardening program.  Interviews are currently being conducted and those chosen for the program will receive over 80 hours of horticulture education in basic botany, plant pathology, integrated pest management and irrigation techniques. 

Master Gardener trainees in turn perform 50 hours of apprenticeship and volunteer in Master Gardener projects to earn their certification. 

Master Gardener volunteer efforts can be seen in the county at the Goebel Center in Thousand Oaks, the Camarillo Ranch House, Ormand Beach Wetland, the Hansen Agricultural Center in Santa Paula, Conejo Valley Botanical Gardens and other locations in Ventura County.

Have a pesty problem or other gardening issue?  The program operates a Help Line for home gardeners on Tuesdays and Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.   Volunteers draw on their knowledge, a comprehensive database of relevant information, advisors and other UC experts to dispense useful information to county gardeners.   The Help Line volunteers can be reached at 805-645-1455 or by email at mgventura@ucdavis.edu.

Not a Master Gardener, but would like to attend seminars and workshops?  The Master Gardeners conduct four seasonal Home Garden workshops annually on a variety of garden related topics designed for the home gardener.   The next workshop in November has a holiday theme, "Creating Holiday Gifts from Your Garden," and features fun hands-on projects and demonstrations.  For more details about this workshop, please see this flyer.

Want more information on the Master Gardener program?  Please click here to link to Master Gardener webpages.

The Ventura County Master Gardeners are offering a series of lectures this month at the City of Camarillo Public Library.

Remaining topics include:

• Growing your own Grub – Vegetable gardening for the beginner and expert (Tuesday, May 17)
• The Joy of Homegrown Tomatoes (Tuesday, May 24)
• 17 Steps to Sustainable Landscape Design (Tuesday, May 31)

All lectures will be held in the Library Community Room from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Everyone is welcome. There is no cost to attend.

Tomato plant flower. Tomatoes are the most popular food grown by home gardeners. Photo by Jack Kelly Clark.