The River Valley MG training is a full week of classes.They are completing all 40 hours in one full week.I spoke all morning on ornamentals and this class of 20 men and women was full of questions. They are eager to learn and I think will be a great addition to the River Valley program.  Not only did they have questions for me, but they were very engaged getting to know each other.I left them as they were about to eat their lunch. It was bright and sunny in Fort Smith but raining as I neared LR. I, for one, am about done with rain for a bit! It was also quite cold today. When I got up they said the temperature was 44 but with the wind chill it felt like 39 and it is MAY! It only got up to 60 degrees in LR and all the men working on the house were in sweatshirts today it was so cold. And just a day or two ago it was in the 80’s! Weird, weird weather.

There were many more storms throughout Arkansas yesterday and once again trees are down, including many small branches in my yard but this large tree in my neighborhood. You can see the obvious decay in the tree from an old wound. This makes trees much more susceptible to falling apart in a storm.

It finally stopped raining early evening and I did walk outside. My potato plants are not looking good–too much rain maybe. The hellebores have about finished making seeds and the seed heads are beginning to open and scatter seeds.

The pineapple guava plants are producing an abundant amount of blooms  with many more buds to bloom.  My pomegranates are also blooming.They produce two types of flowers–male and hermaphroditic (perfect) blooms. The top bloom which is fuller or more vase-shaped is the perfect bloom containing male and female parts while the more bell-shaped bloom is the male bloom and will fall without producing a fruit.Better production will occur with multiple plants, but I only have one and am hoping to see some fruit this year.

Rain was predicted today and they nailed it.It was sunny as I left LR but the skies quickly turned darker. I was meeting the tour committee in Altus to look at potential pre-tour options for 2018. I made it to Chateau Aux Arc a bit early and I am glad I did. I pulled in and parked and it was cloudy.  and within 5 minutes the skies opened up and it poured rain along with lightning, thunder and marble-sized hail.  Luckily the heavy rain did not last long and by the time everyone had arrived it was just lightly raining. We met with folks at Chateau Aux Arc, Wiederkehr and Post. All have great options for us.  Then we went to Subiaco and met with their head gardener and learned about options there. They had some of the most spectacular Gloxinia I have ever seen.  Driving back towards Fort Smith we stopped in at a long running family owned azalea and Japanese maple nursery –Cardin Harris nursery.  We were also told by many that we needed to go to Nanna’s Iris garden in Charleston. So we did and met with the most wonderful gardener.  Then it was back to the Learning Fields.I had time to check in to my hotel and catch up on phone calls and emails before our committee chair meeting tonight. Things are coming together.

Tomorrow morning I speak for their new MG training class before heading back home. Let’s hope the rain clears out and the temperatures warm up just a bit.It was cold today and very wet!

I had a half of a day at the office and it felt like 10 minutes. We have a lot of last minute details to wrap up for the state conference, and it was a flurry of phone calls, emails and meetings before I had to leave for Garvan to tape our monthly tv spots. The rain and wind this past week had many of the lingering blooms on azaleas and dogwoods knocked off, but the later blooming deutzia, roses and leucothoe were filling in. 

Many perennials were in bloom with a whole host of bees, butterflies and other insects hovering.

The stand of verbena bonarensis just gets bigger and bigger and does not stop blooming.  Some of the more drought-tolerant perennials were a bit worse-for-wear with all this rain.I have a milkweed that is toppling and this yarrow is sprawling too much as well.

The Garland County Master Gardeners have done themselves proud with the Southern Inspiration Garden.It looks amazing and has the most color of any part of the garden.  It was a beautiful day to be in the garden, but it was much warmer than yesterday (and this morning).It has definitely been a weird weather pattern so far this year.

I made it home to a new experience.They have taped and draped the whole upstairs in preparation for spraying trim tomorrow.    We are painting additional rooms since walls have been knocked out. It was a maze navigating upstairs.I had to go downstairs and up to the deck to have access to my refrigerator and Clay had to do the same to get to his TV! But I do have a sink and RUNNING WATER and my stove top and hood are in. There is light at the end of the tunnel.   Each day is an adventure, but it has really not been bad and I have a great crew of guys working for us!    I will miss the spraying tomorrow as I head north to Fort Smith for a couple of days!

We had a very enjoyable time at the 2017 Texas State MG Conference aboard a cruise ship out of Galveston. There were over 600 Master Gardeners from all over Texas along with about 15 from Arkansas and one from Michigan.The two days the ship was at sea were loaded with educational events and the room was packed for all seminars as well as the opening welcoming session.  The Texas Extension Director was in attendance at all events and was the welcoming speaker. I had a great time presenting Garden Inspiration from Travel yesterday afternoon.I did a similar topic once many years ago, but I added a lot to it.It brought back a lot of good memories of all our MG adventures and I believe it was well-received.

At meals the we could change seats each meal as long as we sat at a MG table, so we got to visit with a lot of great volunteers from all across Texas as well as our Arkansas folks. I always think you learn as much from networking with other volunteers and agents as you do from the educational sessions.

Our day in Cozumel was on our own.The ship offered a wide range of tours or you could stay on the boat or just explore on your own. Many of ours did the latter and explored close to the ship. Some of us did the ruins and city tour, while others went snorkeling, dune-buggying and more. 

Last night the crew entertained us for our last meal.

We had to pack up and have our bags out before we went to bed.We had a beautiful sunset for our last night and a gorgeous sunrise as we headed into port at Galveston this morning.  For the Texas folks many were staying another day to do their awards luncheon in Galveston along with some garden tours, so they unloaded a bit earlier than we did.

The cruise lines have this loading and unloading down to a science.We were supposed to be off by 9:45 a.m.and we were done by 9 a.m.and on our shuttle headed to the airport by 10. It was an easy flight home and I was walking in the door by 5 p.m. I think we were lucky to be flying today and not yesterday.Many folks were still catching up from cancelled flights yesterday due to weather.We saw a lot of flooding from the air as we were landing. I can’t believe how much rain we got while I was gone. There were small branches all over the yard but overall the plants looked great. I have tons of lettuce and I also harvested some peas, green onions and broccoli is ready too.

Our office was closed today because of no power. Not sure if it will be back on by early tomorrow. I have seen so many posts on Facebook about flooding across our state and more rain is predicted!

It is good to be home and the kitchen is coming along.Tomorrow I head to Garvan Gardens in the afternoon to tape TV and I am off to Fort Smith Wed and Thursday for state planning and MG training.