What a fantastic surprise we Adams County Master Gardeners had last Thursday afternoon when so many eager people came to learn how to care for their crape myrtle trees.

They learned by watching the Adams County Master Gardeners demonstrate how to properly prune the beautiful trees at the Natchez-Adams County Airport.  The community response was fantastic.  Bringing their own tools, they jumped right in, eager to learn and to help with the task at hand.

Thanks to the great front-page story by David Hamilton in the Monday, Jan. 22 edition of The Natchez Democrat, we had over thirty people in attendance.  This included master gardeners, Adams County Airport crew members, and members of the community.  A big “thank you” also goes to Ben Hillyer for giving David Hamilton the assignment.

We credit this enthusiastic response to the advance coverage; then when the Democrat photographer, Nicole Hester appeared, snapping photos of the event —well that was just icing on the cake.

Our next scheduled crape myrtle teaching event will be on Feb. 8 at Copiah Lincoln Community College.  We will meet at the greenhouse at 9:30 a.m.  Remember to bring your tools, marked with your name.

And don’t forget the deadline, Thursday, Feb. 15 to register for the classes to become a master gardener.  We are a congenial group who are eager to share information with one another.  For details see the special release in Sunday’s paper, Jan. 28 on page 4C.  For additional information you can also call the Extension Office at 601-445-8201.

Rita Tebbetts

Adams County Master Gardener