President's Letter – October 2025

 

By MG Linda Barrett

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. Cooler temperatures and falling leaves are a welcome change from the sweltering heat and humidity of summer. It's fun to watch native plant seeds and stalks dry up and provide food and shelter for wildlife.

If you haven’t already, please consider volunteering with Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 4, or Close Encounters with Agriculture on weekdays throughout October. We really need your help! 

We’d love to have you share your time and talents in a leadership position. Six years ago, I took on a committee chair job in order to learn more about the Urban Gardening committee and how it fit into the MCMG organization. I've enjoyed working with some amazing MGs and interns and have learned so much. Please email me if you'd like to discuss a leadership opportunity.

The following leadership positions are open:

• Second Vice President

• Community Events co-chair

• Speakers Bureau scheduler

• MG Plant Swap organizer 

You can read about these positions on our website. If interested, contact Nominating Committee chair MG Dave Ottalini using his contact information in VMS. 

Thank you for all you do to support our MG mission!

Linda

17th Annual Fall Conference

By MG Alison Edwards

The 17th Annual Fall Conference will be held on Thursday, October 9, 2025 from 9 am to approximately 1 pm. MGs can earn up to 3.5 Continuing Education hours for attending the conference. Please sign into Zoom using your full name per University of Maryland policy. (See the October newsletter for the Zoom link.)

The agenda includes general MCMG membership announcements and presentation of the 2026 slate of MCMG board members, followed by three guest speakers. We will take 10-minute breaks between each speaker. Conference speakers’ presentations will be recorded and posted on the MCMG website as soon as possible, but only live participants will be able to pose questions in the Zoom chat. All MCMG members are encouraged to attend!

Our program will feature the following topics and speakers:

Eva Monheim
      Photo: courtesy of Eva Monheim      

Assisted Plant Migration Helps to Expand Our Native Plant Palette for Climate Change

Eva Monheim, Co-Principal of Verdant Earth Educators

How can we help plant species to move northward as temperatures rise? The disruption of our highways and other man-made structures inhibits plant movement, including buildings and heavily paved surfaces. In this talk, we look at the role humans play in helping to move plants as well as helping animals to move more freely to aid in seed dispersal.

Ben Gregory Photo: UMD Department of Entomology

Natural Mosquito Control

Ben Gregory, PhD Student, Megan Fritz Lab

Ben will talk about our local species of mosquitoes in Maryland and the disease risks they present, and how natural landscaping/ecologically-friendly urban planning can mitigate those risks.

Dr. Karin Burghardt Photo: UMD Department of Entomology

Selecting Trees for Resilience and Landscape Biodiversity
Dr. Karin Burghardt, UMD Assistant Professor

Municipalities and states are ramping up their tree-planting efforts to expand canopy cover and provide ecosystem services, such as shade, biodiversity support, and stormwater management. Achieving these goals requires not just planting trees, but ensuring they survive and thrive in often harsh urban environments. Because heat and pavement are unevenly distributed across cities, species selection and site-specific planning are critical. This talk presents strategies for building resilient, biodiverse urban forests through targeted species choices, with preliminary findings from a field study in Baltimore, MD, on the performance of native street trees. We will also discuss incorporating evidence-based cultural IPM principles into suburban plantings and gardens to decrease the risk of pest outbreaks in yards while increasing the ecosystem and biodiversity
services provided by those spaces.

MCMG Board Slate for 2026

By MG David Ottalini

The Nominating Committee is happy to present our proposed slate of MCMG officers for 2026. There are only a few changes in leadership, with a notable opening for a Second Vice President. Elections will be held during the November 6, 2025 general meeting. 

• President – MG Linda Barrett

• First Vice President – MG David Ottalini

• Second Vice President – OPEN

• Secretary – MG Carol Kosary

• Advisor to the President and Board – MG Renu Murik

• Program Directors:

• Information Tables and Education – MG Beth Meyers

• Hands On Education – MG Anne Hilliard

• Demonstration Gardens – MG Susan Kirby

• Major Education Events – MG Terri Valenti

• Communications – MG Intern Imane Zouhar

• Treasurer – MG Sue DeGraba

• Intern Class Representative – MG Intern Tracy Katoski

• Task Forces – MCMG Coordinator Steve Dubik (non-voting)

The duties of each position are described on the MCMG website. If you are interested in the Second Vice President position, please contact MG Dave Ottalini using his information in VMS.

Call for Nominations for Master Gardener Awards

By MG Linda Barrett

It’s that time of year when we ask you to nominate MG’s for their exceptional work. There are two awards: the Outstanding Service Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award. Recipients will be honored at our Holiday Party in December. All nominations are due by Saturday, November 1.

Criteria for the Outstanding Service Award

1. Any MG or MG intern may nominate a MG for the Outstanding Service Award.  

2. You may nominate someone for dedication and commitment, creativity or innovation in their assignment, leadership, superior organizational skills, use of new methods or technologies, contributing to achieving project goals and the MG mission, or reliability in committee tasks.

3. MGs may receive this award more than once. However, priority will be given to MGs who have not won the award previously and who have actively participated in more than one activity or event this year.

 

Criteria for the Lifetime Achievement Award

1. Any MG or MG intern may nominate an MG for exceptional commitment to the mission of the MG program for 15 or more years.

2. MGs from the class of 2010 and earlier are eligible. You can find eligible MGs in VMS: once logged in, go to Directory > select Search (NOT Quick Search) > search on "Class Year less than 2011."

3. The MG nominee will have served as a board member or chairperson of a committee, had active participation within one or more committees, or performed outstanding service in a special task or role.

4. MGs may only receive this award once.

To submit a nomination, send an email to MGs Linda Barrett and Sreemoti Mukerjee-Roy which includes: 

   

• Your name

• Your contact information

• Name of the MG you are nominating

• A short paragraph about the exceptional work the nominee has done

• A picture of the nominee (posed or candid while volunteering)

For examples of previous award writeups, consult the announcement of our 2024 award recipients. 

October 2025 MG recognitions

By MG Sreemoti Mukerjee-Roy

This month we salute the contributions of enthusiastic volunteers associated with five MCMG demo gardens: the Beall-Dawson Medicinal Garden, the Derwood Demo Garden, the Fairgrounds Demo Garden, the NLM Herb Garden, and the USO Garden.

Photo: MG Betty Cichy

Beall-Dawson Medicinal Garden

MG Esther Simon is an active member of the volunteer crew that maintains the Beall-Dawson Medicinal Garden in Rockville. Along with her regular work of pruning and weeding, Esther has been an enthusiastic garden guide during public events such as Rockville’s recent Heritage Days. A retired architect, Esther is working on a map of the garden’s layout and plantings.

Derwood Demo Garden

MGs Linda Stein and Belinda Radko have jumped in wherever needed to maintain the Demonstration Garden and make it a welcoming place for all. From helping out with autistic  children to taking care of the plants, no project is too much or too little for them as long as it is for the good of the garden.

MG Joan Schrauth has almost single-handedly maintained the Children’s Garden. With only occasional help, Joan has made the Children’s Garden the highlight of Derwood Demo Garden.

Fairgrounds Demo Garden

MG Matt Bates volunteered to rebuild the garden wall that holds potted herbs for the Fairgrounds Demo Garden.  He donated the materials and his time to get the fence ready for the fair.

MG Irene Eckstrand was the mastermind behind this year’s scavenger hunt, “Animal Habitats in the Garden.” She developed the content and put it all together.

Photo: MG Pam Bates

MG Aimee Freeman is the Fairgrounds plant cataloguer, maintaining a directory of plants. An expert at identifying plants, she has identified the true natives in the Native Garden and placed labels to identify every plant in the Demo Garden.

With a focus on irrigation, MG Dick Evans has ensured that the garden was watered. From fixing hoses to fixing leaks, without Dick, the gardens would have dried out. 

NLM Herb Garden

MG Paula Desio has been volunteering for two years at the NLM Herb Garden. She enthusiastically volunteered for public outreach and education opportunities. Her contributions of both gardening expertise and donated plants have enhanced the garden.

USO Garden

MG Nena Thayer tirelessly lends a hand whether it is keeping up the USO Healing Garden, helping at the Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy garden, or doing plant demonstrations with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder patients—always with a smile on her face. When the newly propagated plants for Psychiatric Continuity Services needed babysitting, Nena graciously volunteered to care for them. 

Photo: MG Michaela Barnes

President’s Letter – September 2025

By MG Linda Barrett

Summer just isn't complete without a visit to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. A big thank you to Pam Bates, the Fairgrounds Garden group, and all the MGs and interns who interacted with residents at the Fairgrounds Garden.

As we approach the end of summer, please consider volunteering with the Harvest Festival on October 4 or Close Encounters with Agriculture on weekdays throughout October. Beyond that, if you feel called to volunteer your time and talents in support of other programs, we are still seeking MGs/interns interested in a leadership position with the Community Events or Speakers Bureau committees. You can read about these positions on our website. Please contact our Nominations Committee chair, MG Dave Ottalini, if interested, using his contact information in VMS. 

Thank you for all you do to support our mission! 

Linda 

New Workshops Committee

By MG Terri Valenti

MG Dara Ballow-Giffen conducts a workshop.
Photo: MG Robert Toborek

A new Workshops Committee will offer workshops much like those previously provided by Montgomery County Master Gardeners as part of Garden Discovery Day and by our Grow It Eat It Committee from 2011-2024. MG Mary Gallagher will schedule all workshops.

Workshops offer information on specific topics, accompanied by an activity that produces an item participants can take home and use. Over 30 vetted and approved workshops have been offered by MCMG in the past. Topics have included Planting Vegetables or Herbs in Pots, Planting Seeds (Microgreens, Salad Boxes, Natural Seed Stratification/Early Seed Starting), Plant Propagation, Vermicomposting, Mushroom Growing, Tea Garden-Making, Hands-on Designing Your Vegetable Garden, Tomato Grafting, Soil Testing, Hydroponics, and all the Discover Series children’s programs.

If you have a topic for a workshop you would like to give in the future, please contact MG Terri Valenti, Major Events Director, to discuss. If you know of groups who are looking for a workshop, please contact MCMG Coordinator Steve Dubik (sdubik@umd.edu), who will start the approval process. Questions can be sent to MGs Terri Valenti or Mary Gallagher; you can find their contact information in VMS.