| The 2001 Tennessee Master Gardener State Conference, held June 22 and 23 at the West Tennessee Experiment Station in Jackson, was a masterful blend of lectures and tours, fun and business, making new friends and greeting old ones.
The Experiment Station itself is a great facility, with a meeting room large enough to fit 140+ participants, a Plant Swap, a Silent Auction and a Buffet very comfortably.
After brief welcoming notes, Madison County Master Gardeners took us on a walking tour of the trial gardens of the Station itself. Known for its research on production of agronomic and vegetable crops, the Station also has experimental areas for composting, ornamental annuals, trees, turf grasses, screening plants and extensive display gardens of daylilies, roses, perennial, grasses and a water feature.
The weather could not have been more cooperative for our bus tour to the Main Street Herb Garden. At the site of U.S. Grant's last headquarters before the Battle of Shiloh, in the East Main historical district, this garden is maintained by the Forked Deer Herb Society.
We were greeted by very hospitable and knowledgable gardeners who answered our questions about the various herbs and the topiary menagerie surrounding this public garden. From there, we went to Moore's Studio, a small urban garden right in Downtown Jackson, which uses hollyhocks and zinnias to brighten up the property where a commercial building was demolished.
Our final stop for the morning was the DePriest Shade Garden, an award-winning garden at the home of a Madison County Master Gardener. When an adjoining lot became available, the DePriests extended their already extensive garden to encompass a delightful woodland walk, full of shade-loving plants, and private seating areas to luxuriate in the cool greenery.
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Tennessee Master Gardeners convene in Jackson
for the 2001 state conference.
UT West Tennessee Experiment Station
Trial Gardens
The urban garden setting at Moore's Studio |
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