St. Croix Valley Master Gardener Association
The St. Croix Valley Master Gardener Association (SCVMGA) serves Pierce and St. Croix Counties. The organization has approximately 120 members and meets on the 4th Thursday of each month. Most meetings are at the River Falls Public Library in River Falls, Wisconsin, unless a field trip or tour is planned. SCVMGA sponsors a number of annual events, including:
Garden U - a day-long educational seminar open to the public. Garden U usually takes place in mid-March.
Plant Sale - Usually the first Saturday of June, located at the Octagon House in Hudson, Wisconsin. A wide variety of plants is available, including perennials, annuals, vegetables, and the occassional houseplant!
Information and education booths at the Pierce and St. Croix County fairs, and at the weekly Farmers Markets in Hudson and River Falls.
Information and education booths at the River Falls Home Show, and the St. Croix County Farm/City day event.
Monthly meetings with educational programs.
Grants Available
In addition to the variety of educational events, SCVMGA also provides grants for horticulture projects in Pierce and St. Croix Counties. Grants of up to $300 are awarded for appropriate projects.
Grant Application
Meeting Schedule
The St. Croix Valley Master Gardener Association meetings start with a business meeting at 6:45 p.m., followed by an educational presentation beginning at 7:30 p.m. For 2007, a variety of great speakers and topics is planned:
St Croix Valley Master Gardener Assn.
2009 Monthly Programs
River Falls Library – Union and Main, River Falls (unless otherwise stated)
Date |
Speaker and subject |
Jan 22
River Falls Library basement room |
Carrie Hanten Larson -New Annuals from Proven Winners - Carrie will be talking about the fun new annuals available from Proven Winners for container and landscape use. She works for McHutchison, a broker which supplies cutting, plugs and prefinished materials to greenhouses and has grown most of the annuals herself. January is our Welcome Meeting for new MGs and get reacquainted while starting the new garden season. |
Feb 26 |
Heidi Doering - Colorful Combinations - Get Moody with Plants.
Do you carefully choose which plants to include in your mixed combination planters based on color and texture or do you chose combination components based on what you used last year? Are you paralyzed by sensory overload with the dizzying number of choices for combination components at the garden center in the spring!? Heidi will review the basic components needed to create a balanced planter and find out what makes a combination planter 'POP'. See how color can be used in a combination planter to 'create a mood' or make a statement in your garden. Lighten up a dark corner, draw attention to an entry, or scream to your neighbors 'I LOVE PLANTS!' using color to help you make your statement. |
March 21
Saturday
Valley House |
Garden U - Valley House Hwy 35
Vince A. Fritz - Take 2 Brussels Sprouts and call me in the morning - prescription production for enhanced health benefits in vegetable crops. PhD, Uof MN in field oriented vegetable research
Lynne Steiner, Landscaping with Native Plants, Author, Stillwater area prairie expert
Jeff Gillman - The truth about organic gardening, PhD U of MN, author
Garden Marketplace with vendors and educational materials |
March 26 |
Pauline Heacock & Heather Lacke – Pruning care and techniques. They will discuss pruning care and techniques for trees and shrubs just in time for pruning your spring blooming shrubs. Both own businesses specializing in garden and landscape maintenance and have shared their expertise in dividing perennials and other garden techniques with us before.
Pauline is a SCVMGA president and owner of Shifting Sands, Hudson. Heather Lacke is the SCVMGA editor of The Sprinklings; her landscape business is Your Gardener, LLC |
April 23 |
Paula K. Kleintjes Neff, Ph.D. Biological Control and IPM in preparation for the growing season. A professor in the Department of Biology U W-Eau Claire, Paula 's PhD from UC-Berkley was in Environmental Science, Policy and Management with emphasis on entomology. She'll be emphasizing insect control in our gardens to us. Among her activities in this area is habitat restoration and conservation of the Karner blue butterfly. |
May 28 |
Ann Pierce, MN DNR, Interaction between Invasives and our Native Plants. Ann is the former head of DNR's Invasive Species Unit and now heads up the Conservation Management and Rare Resources Unit for Minnesota's DNR. |
June 6 |
Octagon House Plant Sale |
June 25 |
Anna McCabe, St Croix County Recycling Office. Anna has worked with both St Croix and Pierce County Recycling programs. She's on top of new changes coming in St Croix Co's program and has some new recycling ideas to share. |
July 23 |
Open House at Cheryl Barker's, 1269 60th St, (north of Co Rd E in St Joseph). garden tour and pot luck |
July 23-26
Aug 6-9 |
St Croix County Fair
Pierce County Fair |
August 27 |
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Sept 24 |
Andrew Sankey - English Gardens Learn about the social history of gardening and how gardens influenced those before us. What were some early landscaping techniques? What are kitchen gardens, ornamental gardens, and hobby gardens? Jean Haut 377-0645 |
Oct 22 |
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Nov 19 |
Annual meeting and election of officers, adoption of budget - Diana Alfuth - leader |
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