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08/03/2018 - 11:37 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
VIMGA Open Gardens – Vanisle Volunteers Relaxing Together
VIMGA Open Gardens – Vanisle Volunteers Relaxing Together - Please see the PDF for photos This summer’s gatherings brought together members from all the districts, beginning with 3 in June. On June 14th a group from 2 districts (Parksville-Qualicum and Nanaimo) drove a few miles...08/03/2018 - 11:37 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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05/26/2018 - 12:00 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
Vanisle Parties in Style – by Emmy Sampson
A new venue, called the Garden Advice Party (GAP), is proving very popular with home gardeners on Vancouver Island. The GAP combines the traditional Master Gardener clinic and the popular home garden tour so often hosted by many local garden clubs. A few highlights of a recent...05/26/2018 - 12:00 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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05/14/2018 - 20:05 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
Morrell Plant Sale
Into the Woods On Vancouver Island you are never far from nature, but many sensitive areas nearurban centres are easily polluted and their precious ecosystems destroyed. Saving them is the job of the Nature Trust of British Columbia, and one of thepreserves is the Morrell Nature...05/14/2018 - 20:05 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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03/10/2018 - 16:00 in MGABC | Read more
Master Gardener Basic Training Program
The MGABC Master Gardener Program welcomes enthusiastic gardeners with a willingness to share their interest and experience with the public. To become a Master Gardener you must take the Master Gardener Basic Training Program offered through a Master Gardener Chapter or an...03/10/2018 - 16:00 in MGABC | Read more
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12/20/2017 - 16:01 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
VIMGA Finishes The 2017 Volunteer Year
With our home gardens put to bed for the season and the holiday season beginning, VIMGA has completed a good year. Dorothee Kieser, long-time Master Gardener, held 2017’s last clinic on 25 November. Her seminar titled, “Crop Rotation and Companion Planting,” was well attended,...12/20/2017 - 16:01 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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12/08/2017 - 12:05 in Vancouver | Read more
FROST HEAVES: Cause and Prevention
Cause: Frequent temperature cycles above and below freezing cause water near the soil surface to freeze, expand, and pull up more water from underground. This causes desiccation underground and, due to pressure, compaction. The ice layers near the ground surface create pressure...12/08/2017 - 12:05 in Vancouver | Read more
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06/14/2017 - 08:44 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
Master Gardener Program offered this fall at VIU
Vancouver-Island-University,-Master-Gardener,-June-2017.jpg Vancouver Island University and the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association collaborate to offer the Master Gardener Basic Training Program. Designed for the experienced home...06/14/2017 - 08:44 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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05/30/2017 - 17:32 in Vancouver | Read more
The Girl Who Liked Strawberries
Master Gardeners have now completed two years volunteering at Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Vancouver. In 2015, a new facility opened accommodating 73 families from outside Vancouver who stay for a few days or several months while their child receives treatment at the nearby...05/30/2017 - 17:32 in Vancouver | Read more
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05/12/2017 - 15:58 in Vancouver | Read more
Increasing Biodiversity in the Garden
Increasing Biodiversity in the Garden – notes from our recent lecture by Egan Davis Currently, it’s considered desirable to bring a bit of wildlife into city gardens; to look at the ecological role of trees & shrubs; to consider native species which are adapted to local...05/12/2017 - 15:58 in Vancouver | Read more
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01/22/2017 - 20:03 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
Exotic Indoor Winter Blooms
Nothing says winter exotica like the blooms of the winter lily. I began my adventure with these beauties last year when I rescued a bulb that, mistreated, was struggling to survive in the back of the display box. I was always appalled at the price asked for these bulbs, but...01/22/2017 - 20:03 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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09/01/2016 - 02:32 in MGABC | Read more
POWDERY MILDEW & APHID INFESTATIONS in early to mid fall
The following information has been provided by Linda Gilkeson. The fungus is among us, with powdery mildew top of mind for many gardeners. That's the white, dusty coating you might be seeing on leaves of squash, peas, and other plants. Different species of fungi cause 'powdery...09/01/2016 - 02:32 in MGABC | Read more
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05/26/2016 - 12:18 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
Me and the Hornet Queen: When the Wasp Decoys Don’t Work
For many years I’ve kept yellow jacket wasp nests away from our house with a wasp nest decoy. I bought the first one which cost $10, and was eaten by the wind by June. Then I discovered a DYI that has worked beautifully for years, and cost nada. These decoys work because wasps...05/26/2016 - 12:18 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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05/03/2016 - 06:24 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
Lessons Learned Transplanting in the Dry Areas of the West Coast
After a recent gardener to gardener chat, it was suggested to me that I might commit some of my thoughts ‘to paper’. For the scientists in the crowd there are no p values, just things I have learned, mostly the hard way. I am a master gardener, with basic training. I think by...05/03/2016 - 06:24 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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03/08/2016 - 17:43 in Vancouver | Read more
I Love Tree Peonies
This is a story of my experience with peonies, particularly tree peonies. I have found them to be well suited to the Pacific Northwest. Summer drought tolerant, deer resistant, (in my world deer proof plants are those inside yards with large dogs and surrounded by 7 foot fences...03/08/2016 - 17:43 in Vancouver | Read more
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02/24/2015 - 09:51 in MGABC | Read more
THE LOVELY LEMON TREE
This year, Christmas baking reached a new culinary high: lemon tarts filled with lemon curd made from lemons from my own 'Improved Meyers Lemon' tree. Not only is it an attractive and exotic-looking plant, especially in winter, it is relatively easy to grow and the fruit are an...02/24/2015 - 09:51 in MGABC | Read more
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02/23/2015 - 09:40 in Vancouver | Read more
ROMANCE BLOSSOMS - A Trip to the NW Flower and Garden Show
This years' show embodied the theme 'Romance Blossoms' with stunning landscaped gardens by the region's best known landscapers and growers. The exhibition featured 23 grand display gardens, daily schedules of instructive and entertaining seminars, floral competition, city...02/23/2015 - 09:40 in Vancouver | Read more
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02/10/2015 - 09:29 in Vancouver | Read more
SPRING FORWARD - March 8th 2015
Another fabulous day of Lectures , Vendors and Plant Sales. Spring Forward 2015 , was Sunday, March 8, 2015 10 am - 4:30 pm MJ Fox Theatre, Burnaby We welcomed over 250 people: Friends, Family and the General Public to this once a year event! -----------------------------...02/10/2015 - 09:29 in Vancouver | Read more
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01/20/2015 - 12:13 in Vancouver | Read more
A TALE OF TWO TREES
Growing in my neighbourhood, I have watched these two monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana) trees for some three or four years. They receive the same amount of light, are the same distance from the road, grow in very similar soil and receive the same sparing amounts of dry season...01/20/2015 - 12:13 in Vancouver | Read more
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11/27/2014 - 12:31 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
Mid Island VIMGA members - Horticulture Therapy at Cerwydden Long Term Care Facility in Duncan
DSC_0138_1.jpg DSC_0146_1.jpg DSC_0150_1.jpg DSC_0151_0.jpg DSC_0176_1.jpg DSC_0185_1.jpg...11/27/2014 - 12:31 in Vancouver Island (VIMGA) | Read more
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11/22/2014 - 05:23 in Vancouver | Read more
ADVANCED TRAINING - Trees : A Walk at Dart's Hill
More stunning shots this time of the October field trip for Advanced Training : Trees, to Dart's Hill, in Surrey BC - Click here for more info on Advanced training A remarkable Heritage Tree, Juglans cimera x J. sieboldiana v. Cordiformis (Canadian/ Japanese walnut hybrid) ...11/22/2014 - 05:23 in Vancouver | Read more
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09/25/2014 - 07:35 in Vancouver | Read more
A NEW HOUSE & GARDEN IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD
Gardening can be a hobby, a passion, our way to help the environment, grow great fresh food, help defray the cost of living, or all of this and so much more. We can learn so much from the experience of others in our own neighbourhoods, and not so infrequently the lessons...09/25/2014 - 07:35 in Vancouver | Read more
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09/25/2014 - 07:29 in Vancouver | Read more
ADVANCED TRAINING - Trees - A Walk in the Garden
A stunning example of Sequoia sempervirens, the California Redwood at VanDusen Botanical Gardens. For more info on Advanced Training click here Instructor Nancy Moore leads the ATP Class on a garden tour, explaining the significant features of many landscape trees Acer...09/25/2014 - 07:29 in Vancouver | Read more
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09/18/2014 - 02:27 in Prince George | Read more
DUNSTER TOUR
Read about the Dunster Tour in the PDF below.09/18/2014 - 02:27 in Prince George | Read more
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09/01/2014 - 07:51 in Prince George | Read more
HYPERTUFA WORKSHOP
Members of the David Douglas Botanical Garden Society, under the leadership of the MGAPG, gathered in late August to begin work on a fundraiser for the Garden. Ten members created over 20 hypertufa planters from plastic bowls and various other containers. The planters will be...09/01/2014 - 07:51 in Prince George | Read more
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05/27/2014 - 07:15 in MGABC | Read more
MG ADVANCED TRAINING : Shrubs ~ A Walk in the Garden
On a beautiful spring day at VanDusen Botanical Gardens, our enthusiastic instructor, Betty Cunnin, explains the characteristics of Rosaceae, the Rose Family. (The name comes from the type genus Rosa. Among the most species-rich genera are Alchemilla, Sorbus, Crateaegus,...05/27/2014 - 07:15 in MGABC | Read more