I became a Missouri Master Gardener in May of 2012, the first Spring after I retired. I participated in all the classes required initially and all the required continuing education hours each year after. This program is sponsored by the University of Missouri at Columbia.
According to the bylaws:
Purpose
The purpose of this Association is exclusively for horticultural education to supplement the effort of the University of Missouri Extension Program and thereby provide education and information on horticultural and environmental stewardship to the residents of Missouri. The Association will:
- Support local Master Gardener Chapters.
- Provide a centralized method for information exchange among the members.
- Facilitate Missouri Master Gardener educational opportunities, partnerships, training sessions, fundraising efforts, conferences and association meetings; as well as coordination with other agricultural associations, gardening associations, and public and private gardens as determined by the board.
- This organization is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The Hickory County Chapter has various community projects throughout the county located on public property and is mostly about beautification. The greenhouse and vegetable garden projects at the McCarty Senior Center in Wheatland are one of many outside sources that the center uses to feed the elderly of our community. Primarily, the greenhouse is used to grow plants for a fundraising plant sale each spring. Funds are used mostly to support the greenhouse expenses and provide what the other service projects may need.
I have always considered the Settlers Village in Wheatland as my primary service project and my husband joined me after he qualified in 2014 and had more time for it after he retired in 2019. This is what we do together and it is just the two of us as we have made it low maintenance over recent years. There is another organization that takes care of the restored log buildings and the landscape in this city park as we do the gardens only. My purpose has always been to replace the established non-native plants with Missouri natives and pollinator-friendly plants to establish and support a variety of bees, bugs, and butterflies. Together my husband and I have made this project one that is basically self-sustaining and low-maintenance that is primarily to improve the natural community while pleasing to the public. We especially try to choose plants that will be in bloom during the fall festival in early September which is also the best time for monarch butterflies!
May of 2022 will be my 10th year. I will no longer have to complete the required service project or continuing education hours but will be allowed to retain the title of Missouri Master Gardener as an honor with emeritus status. I will support my husband as the project manager until he gets his 10 years completed and then we will see if we are still interested. We have much satisfaction with our own home landscape and that may be enough in our Golden Years!
I have included many posts in this blog over the past 10 years about my service with the Master Gardeners. It is easy to search using the tools provided to see the progression. Just type in search words such as Settlers Village and Master Gardeners. Below I have included the 2021 Fall Harvest Festival event from September that coincided with the 20th Anniversary of 911 so it was a larger participation from the public this year than recent years. Photos show what we had in bloom mostly at that time. I find most pleasure these days chasing the butterflies which are plentiful and fun to photograph!
This area faces the north city street and Hwy 54. It is out of the way of most of the foot traffic. It is basically my project and I enjoy a large selection of native plants and annuals to support mostly the bees, bugs, and butterflies.
Overview of Settlers Village at the corner of the north city street and the east city street; basically the city square park area. We've lost a few buildings over the years but I think there's about 8 now still standing. They were originally built around 1840s and were moved and reconstructed on this site from the area about 20 years ago.
Mid-view of the native garden area I maintain mostly by myself facing the north city street.
A very showy native aster!
Central garden area between all the log buildings
American Beauty Berry
Blue salvia
Mexican Sunflower in with the blue salvia
Various annuals are planted from the excess greenhouse plants. Many have reseeded themselves such as marigolds and zinnias.
This 3rd central garden Has had non-native crepe myrtles in the center that are in the process of removal this year because they are very high maintenance. They are Japanese beetle magnets and grow too tall for the security cameras. There's some ajuga ground cover and succulents remaining.
A pleasant surprise found this year are several honey vine milkweed plants showing up on their own in this 3rd garden. It is a host plant for monarch butterflies!
So hard to choose just a few of the many butterfly photos I took this day! This is the time for the monarchs to come through and I'm so happy to have what they want to help them on their long journey south!
Getting ready for the parade on the main street of Wheatland is showing a larger crowd than in recent years. Population of this town is less than 400.
To each there is their season...young and old alike! Good to come together in a place that allows time to stand still for a little while. Time moves forward and nothings stays the same but the memories are what you make of them when you capture a moment.
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