Have you obtained a copy of our new Tucson Gardening Handbook yet?

Sonoran Seasons

Pima Master Gardener Newsletter

Foresummer Drought 2016
 

Helping you become a more successful gardener.


A Special Treat in June--Queen of the Night Cactus, Peniocereus greggii
Photo A. Knight
Thanks for Supporting Our Plant Sale
and Home Garden Tour

Master Gardeners Colette Petrie and Kathleen Roberts helping on the Home Garden Tour
Many thanks to all of you who attended our recent Plant Sale and Home Garden Tour fundraising events. It was wonderful to see so many friends and neighbors. As you may know, we are a self-supported, volunteer organization. So we depend on these events to keep us going in our educational outreach activities to the community.  We can't do it without you, so please plan to attend future events as well, including our Fall Plant Sale in early October.

In addition to those who attended our events, we want to recognize and thank these organizations that helped promote them:  Rillito Nursery, Bach's Nursery, Mesquite Valley Growers, Harlow's Nursery, ECOGro, KXCI 91.3 FM Radio, Tohono Chul Park, Green Valley Gardeners, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, Arbico,  KGUN 9 "Morning Blend", Community Gardens of Tucson, Tucson Backyard Gardening, Edible Baja Arizona Magazine, Elena Acoba and the AZ Daily Star Newspaper. Special thanks to Debby Larsen of Tucson Lifestyle Home and Garden Magazine for their wonderful article on our Home Garden Tour.

Thanks one and all, and don't forget to increase your irrigation. It's getting mighty hot and dry out there.

Paul Ellis
Master Gardener Coordinator
By Deborah North, Master Gardener

Tank drains from roof, over flow runs into swale.
Sixty percent of the fresh water used in metropolitan Tucson is used outdoors. 
One solution to reducing the use of fresh water for gardening is to begin harvesting rainwater. 

By David Williams, Master Gardener

Do you know who this guy is? You may have several plants in your landscape named for him. He was a very active observer, diarist, explorer, and plant collector in the early 1800s, and this is the only known image of him. Is he:
        • George Engelmann
        • Charles Parry
        • Josiah Gregg
Click the title to find out.

By Laura Mellow and Judy Hiner, Master Gardeners

Photo Dale Windham
The focus of our Container Garden is that of a true Demonstration Garden--showing visitors ideas they may not have considered, modeling plant groupings, and displaying plants that do well in containers in our climate.

Many people who want to garden in containers do so because either they have a small space, they are renters and cannot put in permanent plantings, or their hardscape has no areas of soil for in-ground plants.  

Photo Dale Windham
Shrimp Plant 
Justicia brandegeeana
 
The Shrimp plant is a unique plant that is very attractive to hummingbirds.  

Please answer two quick questions by clicking the link above to let us know how we're doing at providing you with interesting, helpful gardening information.

Thanks very much.
Monthly Gardening Reminders
 
Here are some tips to help you succeed in this very hot, very dry season. Click on the month.

May         June
        

Which one of these bugs would you not want to include in your Integrated Pest Management program? Click title for answer.

A
B
C



All photos by A. Knight




This excellent 3rd Edition of the Tucson Garden Handbook is now available to help our friends in the community become more successful gardeners under the challenging conditions in the greater Tucson area.

Click  here  for a list of Handbook Vendors.

Upcoming Activities

More learning  activities available with  our  Campus Arboretum and Demonstration Garden Tours. Our  Activities Update will fill you in.

If you like our Sonoran Seasons Newsletter
Share it with  your friends by clicking here   Also, visit our  website  for access to many resources and publications, and like us on   Like us on Facebook Facebook to stay in touch. 

By Jean Lewis, Master Gardener
 
The Pima County Master Gardeners Plant Clinic can help you solve your garden and landscape problems.    
Our experts will come to you.
 
Master Gardener Consultants who are experienced and knowledgeable in urban horticulture will come to your residence and identify plants, diagnose insect problems and plant diseases, evaluate watering issues, and provide general care guidelines.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Jeffrey C. Silvertooth, Associate Dean & Director, Economic Development & Extension, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona. The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.