2017 International Master Gardener ConferenceJayme Grzebik, UHMG Statewide Coordinator

Nearly 1300 Extension Master Gardeners and Extension Agents working with Master Gardeners met in

Portland, Oregon for the 2017 International Master Gardener Conference.  We learned from many great garden

leaders, including Renee Shepherd from Renee's Garden Seeds, author of "Weedless Gardening" Lee Reich, Seat-tle area garden radio personality Gardening with Ciscoe, Heronswood Garden Director Dan Hinkley, The Gar-

den Professors member John Porter and many more!  Mahalo to all of the UH Master Gardeners that attended the IMGC in Portland, our time among so many

Extension Master Gardeners will be one that we will remember for a long time. What a sight to see all of the

green shirts of our UH Master Gardeners, 21 in all! Thank you for attending this awesome opportunity for us to learn and grow together.

OSU Master Gardeners hosted 1,294 registrations, the highest ever for an International MG Conference,

which included 3 countries - U.S. (46 states and the District of Columbia), Canada (5 provinces), and South Ko-

rea, 48 presentations (3 keynote speakers and 45 concurrent classes), 18 tours with about 700 sign-ups, 39 spon-sors, 50 trade show vendors, over 100 volunteers, 17 decorated bicycles, and 26 Search for Excellence awards.

With such a rich experience, we want to share the highlights. I’ve included in few links for you to peruse and encourage you to meet with your fellow Master Gardeners and discuss them as a group. We are also encourag-

ing peer-to-peer sharing of information through internal newsletters or MG meetings where those that attended

could share what they learned. Some of our programs have already started to do this, thank you for sharing with those who could not attend.

Click on this link to see a collection of social media posts and photos shared by the attendees https://walls.io/7CiipXe0D

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Straight from UH MGs that attended:Portland was awesome! I experienced much joy in talking to fellow gardeners! I am grateful for my stipend and the opportunity! ~ UH MG on Oʻahu

The weather was beautiful and the light rail and streetcar system made getting around super easy. Each day had concurrent sessions leaving you wishing you had numerous selves to attend them all. Lunch with beautiful and incredible tasting food was one of many opportunities to exchange ideas. ~ UH MG in East Hawaiʻi Program

I didn’t know what to expect when I first arrived in Portland, Oregon. But I quickly came to realize that I only had to stand in the conference center; close my eyes; listen to the conversations of the people passing; and feel the vast positive gardening energy from 1,500 other likeminded Master Gardeners surround me and know the con-ference would be a success. It humbled me and excited me at the same time to realize just how much I don’t know and continually strive to learn about gardening after listening to people talk from the general session. ~UH MG in West Hawaiʻi Program

I loved meeting MG's from all over the country. It was also amazing that we had 21 MG's from Hawaiʻi! I was impressed how organized and how smoothly it all ran! One of the best sessions I went to was by Harry Olson called "Better Vertical Vegetable Gardening" which could be done easily in Hawaii. He has a website harrysgarden.org which has pictures and information regarding construction of vertical gardening trellises and raised beds. His garden is impressive, he even grows melons vertically! ~UH MG on Oʻahu

Links and resources from the awesome line up of educational sessions provided at the IMGC in Portland:

Pocket Guide of Natural Enemies, Oregon State Universityhttp://www.ipmnet.org/Pocket_Guide_of_Natural_Enemies.pdfThe cards in this guide are designed to help you quickly learn the main groups of natural enemies of crop and garden pests, their predacious activity, and tips for observing them. Photographs are of the most common species in the Pacific Northwest. Use this guide as a field supplement to other publica-tions that provide more detail on how to scout for and manage specific pests and natural enemies.Print each sheet on regular paper or cardstock. Then fold on the central horizontal line and cut on the dotted orange lines to create three 2-sided cards. (Laminate if needed.)

Impact of Mineral Deficiency Stresshttp://www.plantstress.com/articles/min_deficiency_i/impact.htmFlowchart for the identification of deficiency symptoms

Sick of buying mulch for the garden? The pros have a different idea.https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/sick-of-buying-mulch-for-the-garden-the-pros-have-a-different-idea/2017/07/12/5025c60c-61b3-11e7-84a1-a26b75ad39fe_story.html?utm_term=.9f77e3d43779An article about using sedges under planted trees or among landscape plantings to replace mulch. To find sedges native to Hawaii visit your local native plant nursery. Find a list of hedges here: http://www.starrenvironmental.com/images/family/?q=Cyperaceae

Flower bling braceletshttps://youtu.be/jhxtpFUNthE

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Renee Shepherd, Renees Gardenhttps://www.reneesgarden.com/blogs/gardening-resources A great online resource of information about flower, vegetable and herb seeds including sowing instruc-tions, seed selection, varieties for growing in containers, how-to videos and great recipes.

Some of Jayme’s favorite varieties that the speaker talked about:Tuscan baby leaf kaleRound carrotPadron pepper: https://www.reneesgarden.com/products/pepper-tapas-spanish-padronIce box watermelon: rainbow sherbet Japanese tomato variety: Little BitesMascot container beanBulls horn peppers

Please eat the flowers, by Renee Shepherdhttps://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0844/5779/files/EdiblePlants.pdf?2725064670782758750

Tours, tours and more tours

The IMG Conference hosted tours almost every day. If you are planning to travel to the Portland area, you’ll want to consider paying a visit to a few of these places. Simply email me if you’d like a list of all the tour destinations. I also have links to most of the tour destinations to explore virtually. I’m happy to share this with you.

Many thanks to the organization skills of Jayme Grzebik that she brought to Portland in this large undertaking and to Ty McDon-ald for his support to me in West Hawaii Kona. I’ll be back to my 2nd conference in June 2019 when the next IMGC happens in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (near Valley Forge). I would recommend thinking about at-tending this event in two years. ~UH MG in West Hawaiʻi Program

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International  Master  Gardener  Conference  2019

Penn’s  Woods:  Digging  into  our  Roots  June  17-­‐21,  2019

Valley  Forge  Casino  Resort  ,  Valley  Forge,  PA  Come  early  and  stay  late!    

Half  and  full  day  tours  to  area  public  and  private  gardens  

June  16,  17,  21,  and  22,  2019https://internationalmastergardener.wordpress.com/