This is the third post in a series that documents my journey through the Memphis Area Master Gardener training program. You can read my earlier posts here and here. And you can read more about Master Gardeners in the US here.
Yesterday was cold and dark and rainy–NOT a great day for a field trip–but my fellow master gardeners in training I and bundled up and had our class at a local botanic garden. We met at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens which is an art gallery inside a historic mansion home with 17 acres of grounds in the heart of Memphis, TN.
For me, this class has been all about learning to plant, grow and protect plants from pests so that I can become an expert at growing food gardens and helping others do the same. (My heart nearly broke when the Vegetable Gardening class was postponed because of inclement weather!) But I’ve been consistently surprised by how ALL of the topics have gotten me interested. Turf grass, weeds, and even ornamentals offer something new and exciting.
So with an open mind, I headed over to the the Dixon where I knew there were some beautiful cut flower gardens in the Spring, some immaculately designed formal gardens and woody areas. The snow in Memphis had just thawed so I figured we’d be trudging through the mud having to rely on our imaginations to envision the beauty that is to come (there are over 100,000 tulips bulbs in the ground, for example!). Well, it was dark, and it was muddy, and there wasn’t much if anything in bloom, but the greenhouse was FULL of dozens of varieties of Amaryllis and it just about took my breath away.
I’m still on the edge of my seat waiting for the make-up class on vegetable gardening, but those flowers. Wow. It was the first spot of color I’ve seen in months and I think that might just tide me over until Spring gets here.
