Hempstead County Master Gardeners Hold Spring Gardening Seminar

The Hempstead County Master Gardeners held their annual Spring Gardening Seminar at Hempstead Hall on Tuesday (2-25). After registration, Kim Rowe, CEA-Agriculture, spoke briefly followed by James Lamb, the president of Hempstead County Master Gardeners who introduced the first speaker. There were two guest speakers – Randy Forst and Amanda Malcom.

Forst is an Extension Educator for Consumer Horticulture and Master Gardener Coordinator for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. In his spare time, he has a small farm, raises dorper hair sheep, cattle, free-range laying chickens, vegetables, and blackberries.

Amanda Malcom is the owner of Love Creek Nursery in Okolona which offers a variety of annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs, along with pottery and metal planters.

There was a silent auction at the event with gift certificates to a variety of local businesses and other items. There were also vendors selling plants, carved bowls, hand-sewn items, and bread. Finger foods and light snacks were prepared by the Master Gardeners and enjoyed by guests.

Forst spoke about the incorporation of edible plants in the ornamental garden. Fruit plants he spoke about included blueberry and blackberry bushes, muscadine vines, pear, persimmon, fig, and citrus trees. Herbs Forst spoke on included rosemary, lavender, chicory, and basil. He mentioned lavender needs sandy soil and suffers if it receives too much care. Herbs are one of the easiest things to incorporate into the garden to attract pollinators. Forst also talked about the importance of making sure what is used on the plants is safe for consumption and the difference between ornamental and edible plants. Forst said he grew everything in containers except for corn and okra. He produced 55 pounds of sweet potatoes in a 4×8 bed.

Malcom spoke about both the benefits and challenges of incorporating pollinators into the garden. She said the gardener would have to accept collateral damage from caterpillars. She also mentioned plants that could help distract the pollinators and what were natural foods for them. Malcom was asked by Domtar in Ashdown about planting wildflowers in areas damaged by logging equipment and she accepted that challenge.  She demonstrated remarkable success with her custom wildflower seed mix in logging sets. Malcom talked about the importance of preparing the site to keep it weed free. She talked about different native plants to use in the garden such as rattlesnake master and purple coneflower.

Upcoming events mentioned were the Nevada County Master Gardener’s event on April 12th which includes a plant sale as well and the Miller County Red Dirt Master Gardener’s plant sale on April 26th at the Four States Fairgrounds.