2022 Master Gardener Annual Report

Statewide Highlights

• 3,304 active Penn State Extension Master Gardener volunteers
• 517 newly trained Master Gardeners
• 197,385 volunteer hours reported for a value of $5,911,680

Direct Contacts

Master Gardeners Speak

• 1,052 single-session face-to-face classes or workshops, online classes
• 288 radio, podcast, TV, or internet audio/video (example: Facebook video clips) spots taught by Master Gardeners

Master Gardeners Write

• 539 news articles published in newspapers, magazines, or external newsletters

Master Gardeners Educate

• 81 face-to-face symposiums or conferences or online webinars with multiple sessions/speakers
• 121 spotted lanternfly webinars and face-to-face presentations
• 438 educational displays at county and regional events
• 351 spotted lanternfly educational displays
• 126 programs offered to at-risk populations, underserved/limited resource communities, or people with disabilities
• In 343 schools
• In 62 youth camps
• In 112 community gardens
• In 222 demonstration gardens

Master Gardeners Partner

• 598 community, nonprofit, and county organizations including food banks

Master Gardeners Donate

• 9,813 plants (including vegetable seedlings)
• 7,569 seed packets
• 22,997 pounds of fresh produce

Home Garden News Newsletter

• 19,121 subscribers

Statewide Facebook Group

• Over 17,500 members

Master Gardeners in the News

• 259 news articles, radio, or TV spots published about Master Gardener projects

State Conference

Photo Credit: Tara Mondock

The Penn State Extension Master Gardener program hosted the "Gather and Grow-Together Again" statewide conference September 22-25 in Scranton, PA. The conference is a biennual professional development opportunity for Master Gardener coordinators and volunteers.

Scranton's rich history was a consistent theme throughout the conference. Scranton earned its nickname ("electric city") when electric lights were first incorporated in 1880. In 1886, Scranton was the first in the nation to have streetcars powered exclusively by the city's electricity.

During the opening reception at the historic Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, Master Gardeners mingled around the stately lobby viewing many original features that remain from the railroad heydays. Notable features are the marble columns, the Tiffany stained-glass ceiling, sienna marble walls, and Grueby Faience tile murals.

The Hilton Scranton Conference Center was the main site for the conference. Over thirty-five diverse educational lectures were presented. Topics included pruning, terrestrial orchids, Asian jumping worms, and engaging stories of famous gardening authors.

Master Gardeners took part in bus tours to Cornell Botanic Gardens, Cutler Botanic Gardens, and Grey Towers--the home of Gifford Pinchot, who was deemed "the father of American conservation." A highlight for many was the Nature Conservancy's Tannersville Cranberry Bog, which is one of the first nature preserves in Pennsylvania. Another tour was to Rodale Institute, an organization considered to be the pioneer of organic agricultural research. Master Gardeners went deep underground into a historic coal mine at the Anthracite Heritage Museum and toured an arboretum planted atop the capped Alliance Landfill. This innovative landfill management plan provides wildlife habitat and green spaces.

Master Gardeners from all over the state were in attendance as well as the city council president of Scranton, Kyle Donahue, who kicked off the conference during the opening reception. Mayor of Scranton, Paige Cognetti, delivered opening remarks the following morning, and Brent Hales, director of Penn State Extension, and Tara Mondock, associate director of client relations, distributed awards.

Attendees enjoyed seeing everyone in person and are looking forward to the next conference in 2024.

Sponsors and Donors to the Conference

• Back Mountain Bloomers Garden Club
• Bert and Valerie Sesler
• Blueberry Hill Farm Greenhouses
• Bob and Michele Davis
• Carol and Francis McMullen
• Corky's Garden Path
• Deborah Filler
• Delia Egan
• Dillion's Floral
• Dr. P. Kurt and Laura Haarmeyer
• Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery
• Ernst Conservation Seeds
• EverJoy Flower Farm
• Geisinger
• Hart Law
• Heidi Chau
• Honesdale National Bank
• Janine Oliveri
• Joseph Patti
• Judy Tchinski
• Katie Klaber
• Kevin's Worldwide
• Keith Eckel's Farm
• Laurel Garden Club
• Lena Turgeon
• Lois Miklas
• Lori Voll-Wallace
• Martz Bus Company
• Metzler Forest Products
• Nancy Knauss
• Nanticoke Gardens
• NEPA Bonsai Society
• Scranton Tomorrow
• Spearhead Spades
• Susan Dove
• Susan Witter
• The Mountain View Garden Club
• Tom Reed
• Toyota of Scranton
• Tricia Flinn
• Wegmans
• 4imprint

Master Gardener Programs

• Allegheny County
• Beaver County
• Blair County
• Bucks County
• Butler County
• Centre County
• Clinton County
• Columbia County
• Cumberland County
• Erie County
• Fayette County
• Lawrence County
• Lebanon County
• Lycoming County
• Mercer County
• Montgomery County
• Venango County
• Washington County
• Westmoreland County
• Wyoming County
• York County

Flight 93

Photo Credit: Drew Leister

Penn State Extension Master Gardeners partnered with the National Park Service at Flight 93 National Memorial for the second year in 2022 to work collaboratively to beautify the garden areas around Memorial Plaza and the newly opened Tower of Voices. The Master Gardeners were joined this year by members of the College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Association and the College of Education Alumni Association. Around 100 volunteers converged on the park on a pristine August day to prune trees and shrubs and weed garden beds showing signs of invasive species.

Master Gardeners and alumni from across the Commonwealth worked together on this day of service to spruce up the gardens and to remember the brave Americans who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. "To be trusted to help maintain this sacred space was an absolute honor," said Shelly BouSamra, Master Gardener from Allegheny County.

The event was the culmination of a collaboration between the College of Agricultural Sciences, the College of Education, and Master Gardeners. Over the winter, the Master Gardener program offered a three-part webinar series on horticultural topics for alumni. "We are thrilled to partner with the Master Gardener program to engage alumni from our respective colleges by offering a unique and meaningful service project at the Flight 93 National Memorial," said Stefanie Tomlinson, assistant director of alumni relations in the College of Education, and Kelly Praskovich, associate director of alumni relations in the College of Agricultural Sciences. "It was both humbling and inspiring to connect with volunteers at a location that preserves, protects, and shares the stories of one of the most important days in our nation's history."

Woody Plant ID

Photo Credit: Erin Kinley. Dr. David Sanford, associate professor of ornamental horticulture, leads a plant-matching activity before a plant walk.

We are proud to announce that sixteen Master Gardeners completed their Woody Plant Identification Advanced Certificate this past year. Initiated in 2013, this advanced training in plant identification was designed to prepare Master Gardeners to become more proficient in answering Garden Hotline questions. To receive their Advanced Certificate, Master Gardeners must complete six different course modules: Plant Taxonomy and Morphology, Broadleaf Evergreens, Conifers, Deciduous Shrubs, Flowering Trees, and Shade Trees.

Prior to the pandemic, individual modules were offered as day-long, in-person classes at various locations around the state, which limited registration capacity as well as certificate accessibility. In 2021, the Master Gardener Program collaborated with a team of Penn State faculty, fellow extension educators, and partner organizations to introduce a hybrid model that includes online lectures, a homework assignment, and a plant walk. This new model has already increased certificate enrollment by 25 percent.

2022 Certificate Recipients

• Pamela Haze, Adams County
• Barbara Murphy, Allegheny County
• Maureen Karl, Allegheny County
• Mary Ellen Mahan, Berks County
• Traci Rhoads, Berks County
• Pam Rose, Blair County
• Mary Jo Gibson, Columbia County
• Chris Coulter, Delaware County
• Stephen Hinds, Delaware County
• Julie Baker, Indiana County
• Linda Rankin, McKean County
• Virginia Cunningham, Montgomery County
• Susan Doblmaier, Montgomery County
• Kym Richardson, Schuylkill County
• Larry Moyer, Schuylkill County
• Cynthia Ferrari, Westmoreland County

Social Media

The Master Gardener Facebook group has hit a high of 17,675 members. In the past year, the group has had over 10,000 posts, 65,000 comments, and 220,000 reactions. The team of dedicated Master Gardener coordinators and volunteers who monitors and interacts with group members in this peer-to-peer learning environment are rock stars!

"This happens to be about the best site ever! I am not only a fairly accomplished gardener but a certified Master Gardener, and I have learned more on this site than anywhere else!"
-Elizabeth Simpson, Bridgeton, NJ

Ag Progress Days

Penn State's Ag Progress Days is Pennsylvania's largest outdoor agricultural exposition. In August 2022, thirty-seven Master Gardeners and coordinators from across the Commonwealth volunteered 124 hours and made 3,985 contacts during the three-day event. This is a value of $3,307 to those that participated in the Yard and Garden educational presentations, activities, and the spotted lanternfly exhibit.

Ask a Master Gardener Table
A total of 379 questions were answered, which involved plant care, selection and identification, soil health, and pest identification. Extension fact sheets, educational brochures and garden articles, and soil test bags were shared at the site.

Youth Education Tent
A total of 545 youth learned about insect parts and created insects with Play-Doh, engaged in an insect scavenger hunt throughout the garden, learned about pollinators at the pollinator wheel, and dug for root crops in the Growing Gardener digging pots.

Horticultural Presentations
There were 242 participants in 14 horticultural presentations, including tomato grafting, propagation, soil basics, container gardening, building a raised bed, winter sowing, flower arranging, and seed saving.

Demonstration Garden Education and Butterfly House
Seventeen Master Gardeners engaged with 850 guests at the demonstration garden by giving tours of the pollinator gardens and raised-bed trials, and giving plant advice. A total of 515 youth learned about monarch butterflies in the butterfly house.

Spotted Lanternfly Exhibit
Twenty Master Gardeners engaged with 697 adults and 472 youth in the college building to teach and spread awareness of spotted lanternfly.

Master Gardeners from across the commonwealth joined staff members from the spotted lanternfly research team to provide the latest research-based information about the spotted lanternfly. Individuals visiting the booth were able to see actual samples of the insect through each of its life stages, including a live specimen of an adult, as well as view photos and video clips of them feeding on tree of heaven and grapevines in Pennsylvania.

Spotted lanternfly headbands were a popular takeaway for every age. When asked if they knew what bug was on the headband, the resounding response from the kids was "a bad bug," and when asked if they knew what to do if they see that bad bug, they responded "Squish them!" Everyone who visited the spotted lanternfly booth over the three days walked away better prepared to identify the pest, report it, and take the necessary steps to manage it on their property.

"I want to thank you and all of the Master Gardeners for the hard work they put into the site and show. You have a great team, and it really shows. Please let them all know their hard work is very appreciated."
-Jesse Darlington, APD manager

Master Gardeners Educate PA Residents at Farm Show

Photo Credit: Andy Faust

The Pennsylvania Farm Show draws scores of visitors to our capital city every year for a mid-winter celebration of Pennsylvania agriculture. As the largest indoor agricultural exposition in the nation, the event highlights the quality and breadth of Pennsylvania's agricultural industry.

Over 150 Master Gardeners volunteered their time to teach over 3,500 adults and youths at Penn State Extension's Master Gardeners and spotted lanternfly booths by answering 477 gardening questions, handing out horticulture fact sheets, sharing spotted lanternfly educational material, and showcasing a vermicomposting display to educate adults and youths on best practices in home composting.

Volunteers engaged with children at the Ag Explorer Apple booth by testing their apple IQ, learning fun apple facts, and offering several self-exploratory apple games to further their knowledge.

Adults and youths were able to test their knowledge at the Pesticide Education Program display, where volunteers helped guests learn about pests, integrated pest management, and poison prevention.

Garden Hotline

A free service is provided by each county to help homeowners get science-based answers to their gardening questions or problems.

• Volunteer hours: 19,241
• Participants: 16,316
• Total questions answered: 21,557
  - Gardening questions: 21,497
  - Ask Extension: 60 questions

"The Master Gardener was personable and understanding and provided information that helped me in making a decision on my problem. She also provided me with an article that was very helpful in addition to providing helpful advice verbally."
-Dauphin County resident

"Advice was very timely, clear, and useful. Many thanks!"
-Allegheny County resident

Results from the Follow-up Survey of Garden Hotline Users

• 94 percent found the information they received useful.
• 93 percent ranked the ability of the Master Gardener to answer the question as "excellent" or "very good."
• 44 percent said they would change or adopt a new gardening practice based on information they received.
• 21 percent said they saved money based on the advice they received.

Partnerships

Bee Monitoring Project
Bees are the most important pollinators of flowering plants in natural, agricultural, and urban habitats, and are critical for their ecological function. The decline of bee populations worldwide has called attention to the need to better understand the diversity, distribution, and abundance of wild bee pollinators.

The Master Gardeners are continuing a collaboration with the López-Uribe lab to study native bee populations, especially in counties that had little data. This important work began in 2021 with ten Master Gardeners and has expanded to twenty total Master Gardeners in 2022. Master Gardeners are trained to collect, identify, and pin specimens throughout the season in their home counties. Ultimately, the specimens are sent to University Park for final identification and data analysis.

In the latter part of 2021, Master Gardeners collected bees from five of six families found in Pennsylvania. Bees in the Apidae (bumblebees, carpenter bees, longhorn bees, etc.) were the most abundant followed closely by bees in the Halictidae (sweat bees). These two families tend to be most abundant in bee collections in general and are most active in summer and fall. Many bees in the Andrenidae (mining bees), Megachilidae (mason bees, leafcutter bees), and Colletidae (cellophane bees, yellow-faces bees) are most active in spring. See Figure 1.

The Bee Monitoring Project was made possible by a Science-to-Practice grant awarded by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. The Science-to-Practice program provides funding to support the formation and development of teams proposing to explore innovative methods, structures, and projects that foster the translation of research into outputs for dissemination and implementation.

Figure 1

Figure 2. Shown here are native bee-sampling locations and the number of bee-monitoring specimens per county to date (including 2021 and 2022).

Grow-Save-Repeat
Grow-Save-Repeat kicked off its second year with a 500 percent increase in participating counties. Started in 2021 with just three counties in eastern Pennsylvania, the project boasted eighteen county Master Gardener demonstration sites across the commonwealth in 2022. Designed in partnership with Dr. Sarah Dohle of Delaware Valley University, Grow-Save-Repeat aims to provide Master Gardeners with the resources and knowledge to educate home gardeners on seed saving and home plant breeding.

Master Gardeners were provided with their choice of hybrid peppers, tomatoes, squash, and lima beans from Dr. Dohle's own plant breeding program. Master Gardeners observed and sampled the trial plants in their demonstration gardens for differences in growth and taste throughout the summer. This year the project also included advanced training opportunities for Master Gardeners with hands-on plant breeding demonstrations to teach them how to crossbreed different varieties of peppers, tomatoes, and squash in their own gardens. Master Gardeners have already started saving seeds from their successful crosses to add into their breeding programs next year.

Home Garden Vegetable Trials
Have you ever looked at the hundreds of new and heirloom vegetable cultivars in a seed catalog and wondered, "Which of these is best for my Pennsylvania garden?" You're not alone! This question doesn't just plague home gardeners; it is also a challenge for greenhouse growers who have to pick which vegetable varieties to sell as seedlings to their customers each spring. This year the Master Gardener program has teamed up with extension educator Tom Butzler and horticulture professor Elsa Sanchez to produce a research-based solution for both groups of stakeholders.

In eight pilot counties across the commonwealth, Master Gardeners began trialing six popular varieties of bell peppers to determine which ones perform best in Pennsylvania home gardens. The volunteers received special training and equipment for data collection in the spring, with weekly Zoom check-ins throughout the growing season to share observations and troubleshoot problems.

The team plans to repeat the trial in 2023 to validate the data before making recommendations to both home gardeners and commercial growers.

The Arboretum
Master Gardeners collaborated with the Arboretum at Penn State to deliver seven youth and adult programs in 2022. Programming was developed by the Growing Gardener youth program team made up of extension staff and Master Gardeners. Programs that were delivered included Winter Sowing, Spring Bird Academy, Arboretum Insects, and a Tree/Shrub Walk. Over 330 adults and youths participated in the programming and walk-in workshops at Childhood's Gate Children's Garden and pavilion.

Winter Sowing
Get a jump on the spring garden by growing your own seedlings in DIY mini greenhouses. Join Penn State Master Gardeners for Winter Seed Sowing and learn how to make a greenhouse from a milk jug and plant seeds. After over-wintering seedlings will grow in the warmth of spring and be ready for transplanting.

All materials will be provided, including seeds for good pollinator plants.

Who is this for?

• Beginner gardeners
• Intermediate gardeners
• Advanced gardeners

What will you learn?

• Advantages to winter sowing option for seed starting
• How to create mini greenhouses and paper seed pots
• Good plants for pollinator gardening

Spread your wings
Penn State Extension Master Gardeners educated seventy-five youth in Childhood's Gate Children's Garden during two Spring Bird Academy events where participants learned about ornithology, including three species of birds that can be found in central Pennsylvania any time of the year.

Youth created a special seed blend for Northern Cardinals, sorted leaves and branches to create the best nest for a Red-tailed Hawk, and learned what makes the Canada Goose special, from its webbed feet to its "honk."

Arboretum tree and shrub walk
Master Gardeners led community members throughout the arboretum to identify and learn about specimens that add interest and value to their home gardens. The program highlighted arboretum species that are wonderful additions to any landscape in central Pennsylvania. Styled as an adult scavenger hunt, the program tasked participants with locating twelve trees and learning the benefits of adding them to their home garden and landscape. There were over fifteen attendees at the event.

Exciting Entomology!
The Growing Gardeners youth team also created an "Exciting Entomology" program to teach youths about entomology. All participants learned insect anatomy, made their own insects with Play-Doh, looked at insect specimens from Frost Entomological Museum, and searched for insects during a scavenger hunt.

There were a combined 240 youths and adults that attended 4 program drop-in sessions.