Recently in Programs Category

More and more folks are being drawn by the allure and romance of growing wine grapes. But before getting involved, it pays to do your homework on this intensive enterprise.

Fran Pontasch, North Texas viticulture adviser for Texas AgriLife Extension Service, announced a July 22 workshop in Stephenville, designed for persons thinking about, or already are growing, wine grapes. Pontasch serves the North Texas area, which includes Tyler, and will be conducting the workshop at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Stephenville from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on July 22. The program will present "the basic know-how of commercial wine-grape production as well as some of the economics associated with a owning and operating a commercial vineyard." Some of the topics addressed at the workshop will include site selection, risk factors, vineyard labor and operational costs.The fee is $100 and includes lunch, beverages and study materials. Pre-registration is required to ensure space and to get an accurate lunch count.

For more information, contact Pontasch at 254-968-4144 or fmpontasch@ag.tamu.edu or see the news release at: AgNews

Mark you calendars June 26 for the Horticulture Field Day. This is a fun and free event, where you can see the latest flowering plants going head-to-head in the field at Texas A&M at Overton. You can vote for your favorites, which eventually become the "People's Picks" and listed at the flowers.tamu.edu web site. It starts at 8:30 at the Horticulture Farm north of the Overton Center, and then moves mid-morning to the Center where you can enjoy more flowers at the Demonstration Garden. After lunch, enjoy presentations by Dr. Brent Pemberton, Texas AgriLife Research horticulturist, and Jimmy Turner, research horticulturist at the Dallas Arboretum, on what's new and exciting in the world of annuals and perennials, plus a talk by Dr. Terry Stallman, AgriLife Research horticulturist on Container Gardening Research Trials. Click here for the a map and schedule.

Get ready to learn about butterfly gardening - growing plants in your garden to attract butterflies. That is the topic of the 1st Tuesday in the Garden series for May in the IDEA Garden, located in the southeast corner of the Tyler Rose Garden Center. The IDEA Garden has been designated as a Monarch Waystation due to its diversity of butterfly nectar and larval food plants, include at least 2 species of Asclepias, commonly known as butterfly weed - a favored larval food for the imperiled monarch.

This Tuesday, May 6 program is free, open to the public, starts at noon, and lasts about an hour long. There is ample parking available outside of the southeast gate. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs as seating in the garden is limited.

If you have been to the IDEA Garden before, you know how beautiful and diverse this

demonstration garden is all year long. A brand new feature is a pergola which now covers the patio where our lecture series are held. Also, 2 new benches have been installed to increase seating.

The "First Tuesday in the Garden" programs will continue monthly through the middle of the summer. The next program is "Texas Superstars" on June 3^rd. The series will then resume in September.

Master Gardeners, a volunteer organization of Texas AgriLife Extension, are people from all walks of life who enjoy and are dedicated to teaching others about gardening, plant diseases and pests. Additional information can be found at the Master Gardener's website, http://scmg.tamu.edu or the Texas AgriLife Extension Service East Texas Gardening website, EastTexasGardening.tamu.edu.

 

Mark your calendars for the 2008 Spring Home Garden Tour on May 3, sponsored by Smith County Master Gardeners, a volunteer organization of Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

This year's tour features 5 private gardens in Tyler. Tour times are from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and will be held rain or shine. Tickets are on sale for $8.00 prior to the date of the tour at Brookshire's, 100 Rice Rd, Tyler; The Potpourri House, 3320 Troup Highway, Tyler; Al H. Horaney's, Inc., 5520 Old Jacksonville Hwy, Tyler; and Blue Moon Nursery, 13062 FM 279, Edom.  Tickets may also be purchased by mail from Home Garden Tour, 13270 Oak Hill Lane, Flint, TX 75762.  The deadline for ordering by mail is April 21. Tickets may be purchased the day of the tour for $10.00 at any of the gardens on the tour.  For more information call 903-590-2980 or visit http://scmg.tamu.edu

This there are several educational conferences coming up this February in the East Texas area. The first is the East Texas Turfgrasss Conference, held at the Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center in Overton. While this program's main audience is for anybody involved in the taking care of lawns and turfs, including park and recreation departments, school districts, sports field managers, lawn and landscape managers, and homeowners. The agenda for this all-day program can be viewed at: East Texas Turfgrass Conference

On Saturday, February 16 is the East Texas Spring Landscape & Garden Conference at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. See the previous entry for general details. The agenda will be posted shortly at: http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/programs/programs.html

Then, the following Tuesday, February 19, is the East Texas Fruit & Vegetable Conference at the Tyler Rose Garden Center. This program is for truck farmers and folks involved or interested in commercial production of vegetables, fruit and/or wine grape programs. For details, see: http://easttexasgardening.tamu.edu/programs/fvconfagenda2008.pdf