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Who are your Master Gardener county award winners?

Who will be the next recipients of each county’s Master Gardener of the Year, Growing and Belonging, and Behind the Scenes awards? We’re ready to take your reporting of awards.

All county-level award submissions should be made in cooperation with your local Master Gardener coordinator. Prior to selecting your counties’ winners, please be sure to review the criteria for county awards.

We’ll celebrate the county award winners at this year’s Joy of Gardening Conference in July, and announce the  statewide award recipients.

How the county-level and statewide awards differ

  • The county-level award winners are selected by active Master Gardener volunteers in each county. Once counties have selected their winners, they report them to the state using the County Master Gardener of the Year award submission form.
  • The statewide award winners are selected through a competitive process at the state level. Each county may nominate one winner or winning team for each of the three awards. A statewide awards committee convened by OMGA and the Extension Master Gardener Program reviews nominations and selects the winners.

Please note that county-level winners are not automatically considered for the statewide awards. If your county wants to nominate a volunteer for a statewide award, you must do so using the statewide award nomination form. Typically, counties submit different candidates for the statewide and county awards.

How to submit your county’s award winners

All submissions must be made using the County Master Gardener of the Year award submission form. Incomplete submissions may be disqualified, so take your time and prepare your submission in advance. Again, be sure to keep the county awards criteria in mind when you’re selecting your winners and describing their contributions.

Deadline: May 15th, 2025

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Nominations for 2025 statewide Master Gardener awards are open.

Who will be the next recipients of the statewide Master Gardener of the Year, Growing and Belonging, and Behind the Scenes awards? Nominations are open and we’re ready to take your submissions.

All nominations should be made in cooperation with your local Master Gardener coordinator, and make sure to review the criteria for each of the awards. Remember, these are the statewide awards, not county awards which are done locally, county by county.

We’ll reveal the statewide winners at this year’s Joy of Gardening conference in July, and celebrate all of the incredible county award recipients.

All submissions must be made using this online form. Incomplete submissions may be disqualified, so take your time and prepare your submission in advance. Again, the criteria for the awards can be found here.

Deadline: May 15th, 2025

Submit statewide award nominations here
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What’s the future of gardening in Oregon?

The future of gardening can be confusing right now. With changing seasonal weather, new techniques, different plants, you might be asking yourself, what should I be doing now? What should I be doing into the future?

Garden Future is about growing resilience in a changing climate.

When it comes to climate change, there are some things we know. But there’s a lot we don’t know, too. We’re collecting information from gardeners across Oregon to find out what they’re seeing, what they’re doing, and what they need help learning about, when it comes to climate change and its impact in gardens.

And for OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteers, it’s go time. It’s time to get involved with the project, Garden Future.

Beginning in April, Garden Future will be out in the wild, and this is the official call to Master Gardener volunteers to get involved in the movement.


What is Garden Future?
Climate change is already transforming the way we garden. From shifting growing seasons to unpredictable weather, Oregon gardeners are seeing these changes firsthand. Garden Future is an OSU Extension-led initiative that empowers Master Gardener volunteers to engage the public in conversations and actions for gardening in a changing climate.
This project is built on the power of conversation—research shows that talking about climate change in relatable, solution-focused ways is one of the most effective ways to inspire action. And who better to lead these conversations than gardeners like you?

How You Can Get Involved:
We’ve created a Garden Future Volunteer Guide to give you an overview of the project and materials available to use. Inside, you’ll find:

  • Tabling resources & outreach materials – Posters, prize wheels, and interactive tools to engage the public
  • Conversation starters – Tips on how to frame discussions around climate-smart gardening
  • Training & learning opportunities – So you can feel confident talking about gardening in a changing climate
  • Ways to share stories & insights – Help collect gardener experiences and be part of the conversation

The success of this project relies on Master Gardener volunteers who can help champion it. Once you’ve read the guide, think about fellow MG volunteers who would be interested in working on this project. Reach out to them. Reach out to your MG coordinator and let them know you want to help with Garden Future. Your involvement is what will make this project thrive.

Are you ready to be part of the future of gardening?

  • Start conversations at tabling events and community gatherings
  • Share your story—how has your gardening changed?
  • Help document and uplift other gardeners’ experiences
  • Stay connected through the Garden Future Champions newsletter

Together, we can make a difference—one conversation, one garden, and one story at a time.

If you are an OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer and would like to learn more, become a Garden Future Champion, and to receive your copy of the Garden Future Volunteer Guide, please email mastergardener@oregonstate.edu.

P.S. Garden Future will be at Hortlandia – Stop by! Reach out to Amy Espinoza to find out about volunteering at the Garden Future booth at Hortlandia. Special thanks to our friends at the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon for offering us this opportunity!

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Master Gardener Trivia

Q: What’s a fun way to earn continuing education hours while flexing your horticulture expertise?

A: Our annual Oregon Master Gardener Trivia Series, of course!

We’re turning up the heat once again this fall/winter and inviting OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteers to join us for a little friendly competition with each other. One Thursday a month, November through February, at 7 p.m., hop on our Zoom to test your gardening knowledge and vie for cool prizes—not to mention bragging rights for your county!

We’ll have 50 questions related to a different theme each month, and topics range from the super scientific and technical to the practical and historical, so there’s something for everyone. (Plus, it’s multiple choice, so even if you slacked on studying, you still have a 25% chance of getting it right!)

November 7, 7pm: All about Botany. Zoom link here

Botanical terminology, classification, nomenclature, plant parts. To score well, study up on leaf shapes, margins, and arrangement; common plant families; and the parts of flowers.

December 5, 7pm: Gardens and Inventions. Zoom link here

Gardening tools and gadgets, garden inventors and innovators, historic and current garden tech, and famous historic gardens will be featured in this session. We’ll learn about the history behind common garden tools, and amazing botanists and gardens that paved the way for modern horticulture.

January 9, 7pm: It starts with seeds. Zoom link here

All things seed-related, just in time to refresh your memories for the new gardening season! Study up by viewing the seed-related videos from the Growing Oregon Gardeners “Level Up” series and you’ll be ready for this seed drill.

February 6, 7pm: The Gardeners buffet. Zoom link here

A smorgasbord of unrelated garden trivia. Questions may be drawn from the nooks and crannies of the giant Master Gardener handbook, plant clinic experiences and questions, or horticultural pests of concern in Oregon. Challenge yourself and your fellow Master Gardeners—this season closer will be tough (and fun)!

How to participate

  1. Join via zoom on the date of the event.
  2. Connect to the trivia app (Slido) on your phone or computer.
  3. At the start of the tournament evening, you’ll be directed to the Slido app to begin competing.
  4. Multiple choice trivia, 50 questions per session.
  5. Winners will be announced live during the Zoom event.

Each session counts as one Continuing Education Unit for Master Gardener volunteers.

Did we say prizes? Yes we did. For each session, you can win gift certificates to mail-order garden companies in the PNW.

  • 1st place: $100 gift certificate
  • 2nd place: $50 gift certificate
  • 3rd place: $25 gift certificate

Winners will receive gift certificates approximately one week after each event.

Accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by Nov 1, 2024 to Nicole Sanchez: nicole.sanchez@oregonstate.edu or 541-883-7131

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Summer update from the Statewide Master Gardener program 

Master Gardener trainee in purple plaid shirt at table with materials and children at a farmers market.

We hope OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteers are enjoying our beautiful Oregon summer and are having excellent experiences in your volunteerism and gardens. Here are some updates about the people and work of the program.  

Did you make it to the annual Master Gardener conference this month in Corvallis? Congratulations to the Joy of Gardening planning committee, the OMGA and the more than 200 attendees for an excellent two days of digging deep into gardening and Master Gardener education, camaraderie and connections.  

We gave a sneak peek on the climate change projects currently in development, and we received excellent feedback from the Master Gardener volunteers who attended the session. Reminder: If you feel passionate about climate change and would like to connect that to your Master Gardener volunteerism, please sign up for our email list for future news and actions to take to be involved. We are seeking Master Gardener climate change advocates!  

Congratulations to all of the winners of 2024 Master Gardener awards! Need some inspiration? Read about their accomplishments and work as volunteers in this digital booklet featuring all statewide and county award winners. You can learn more about the three winners of the Statewide Master Gardener of the Year award in this news release.

Seed to Supper is up and running again in 2024! We reprinted the course book, and thus far this year we have distributed 500 books throughout Oregon—with nearly 20% of those in Spanish. We also completely updated the facilitator support materials, and initial feedback on both the program and the support materials has been enthusiastically positive. 

As of July 2024, facilitators in 15 Oregon counties and four other states have signed up to offer Seed to Supper and to use the updated materials. We debuted a new facilitator interest form to better document the distribution of Seed to Supper in Oregon and beyond. If you’ve offered the course this year and haven’t yet filled out the form, please do so, as we want to be sure to capture your thoughts on the course and materials, as it’s undergoing major revisions for 2025. 

Thank you to the many donors who supported this progress by donating during last year’s Dam Proud Day! 

A special welcome to our newest Master Gardener program all the way in Eastern Oregon, Malheur County! Read about what the new Master Gardener trainees are up to under the leadership of Russell Smith-Ollivierre, and how the program in Malheur was started.

Welcome to new Master Gardener coordinators in Curry, Columbia and Tillamook counties.  

  • Paul Maree (he/him), Curry County, began in April.  
  • Dr. Janhvi Pandey (she/her), Columbia County, begins in August.   
  • Samikshya (Sami) Budhathoki (she/her), Tillamook County, begins this month. 

We are excited for the skills and expertise our new coordinators bring and hope you’ll join us in giving them a warm welcome.  

Goodbye to all of our Extension faculty, staff and volunteers in Josephine County. In June, the Josephine County Commissioners voted to stop county funding for OSU Extension. This is very disappointing and comes after a year of tremendous effort by Extension’s team in Josephine County and many colleagues at OSU to engage with commissioners and the community to address concerns, share progress and answer questions. This outcome does not reflect what we know to be true about our work and the value of Extension programs and services to the county. Read our full statement on this decision and our operational plan for the county. 

In memoriam: Dr. Ivory Lyles. In April, very recently retired Vice Provost for Extension and Engagement and Director of the OSU Extension Service Dr. Ivory Lyles suddenly passed away. We remember him as a visionary leader and as a vibrant and forceful advocate for OSU’s mission and the communities we serve. His career of service transformed thousands of lives he touched through extension and engagement. Dr. Kristopher M. Elliott is serving as interim vice provost and director while the university conducts a national search. 

Many of us are experiencing summer heat waves and impacts from wildfires. We encourage all volunteers to carefully consider your personal safety and local conditions when making decisions about your ability to volunteer during hazardous conditions. If you feel you cannot fill a volunteer shift due to heat, smoke,or other emergencies, it’s okay to decline attending Master Gardener gatherings; just let your coordinator know. OSU’s wildfire smoke/air quality page has resources to help you learn more.  OSU Extension has many resources for managing in heat waves, including people, plants and gardens.  

Please help inform our strategic plan! OSU Extension & Engagement is undertaking a strategic planning process and we invite you to complete this survey by July 31 to share your thoughts, input and priorities to inform our strategic plan.

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Join us for the Joy of Gardening Conference 2024!

Treat yourself this summer to two days of education and inspiration at this year’s Oregon Master Gardener Association Joy of Gardening Conference, July 12-13 on the OSU campus in Corvallis.

Two days packed with over twenty classes, keynote speakers, and horticulture tours led by OSU faculty, you’re sure to come away with new connections and ideas for your future gardening and gardening education. Current schedule includes:


Opening Remarks: The Master Gardener Program 2024 and Beyond with Dr. Leslie Madsen



Keynote Speakers

  • 10 Cool Things We Learned from Garden Research with Sherry Sheng and Dr. Gail Langellotto
  • Oregon IPM Center: Hub of Information to Solve Pest Problems with Dr. Silvia Rondon


Tours

  • Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture with Nick Cavagnaro
  • Horticulture Science at OSU (Lab Tours) with Dr. Gail Langellotto
  • A Historical Tour of the OSU Campus Arboretum with Dan Blanchard


 Classes

  • Soil – What It Is and How It Works with James Cassidy
  • Growing Your Home Lawn Sustainably with Dr. Alec Kowalewski
    Empowering Communities through Inclusive Leadership: Bridging Innovation, Diversity, and Well-being with Dr. Ana Lu Fonseca
  • The New USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map: A Look Behind the Scenes at How It Was Developed and What It Can (and Cannot) Tell You with Dr. Christopher Daly
  • The Bees You Must Have: Discoveries of the Oregon Bee Atlas with Dr. Andony Melathopolous
  • Growing Fruits and Berries in the Home Garden with Logan Bennett
  • New MG Training Module on Climate Change (Interactive) with Dr. Brooke Edmunds and Signe Danler
  • Hydrangea Highlights with Darren Morgan
  • Garden Trivia Live! with Nicole Sanchez
  • Top Picks for Low Water Use Gardens from the NW Plant Evaluation Trials with Heather Stoven
  • Outreach as a Master Gardener Volunteer: Activating Our Circles of Influence with LeAnn Locher
  • Garden Allies: An Introduction to Life in the Garden with Frederique Lavoipierre
  • Garden/Yard Tool Renovation: Maintenance, Sharpening, and Storage with Fred Alley
  • Resilient Gardens with Darren Morgan
  • Learn from Several Chapters Regarding Best Practices for Successful Plant Sales with Benton, Central Gorge, Yamhill, Douglas, and Tillamook Chapters
  • Best Practices for Growing Peppers and Tomatoes from Seed with Bruce Gravens
  • Junior Master Gardener Program with Jim Liskey and Kelly Noack
  • Heroines in the History of Botany with Lucretia Weems
  • Rainwater Harvesting for Landscape Use with Ann Geyer
  • Let’s Give Them Something to Buzz About with Dan Blanchard
  • Growing Onions, Leeks, and Shallots from Seed with Bruce Gravens
  • Safe and Sustainable Management of Pests in Gardens and Landscapes through IPM with Thomas Jima
  • Secrets for Growing Lilies Anywhere with Kenn Parry

Get the full schedule, learn about lodging, cost and other details, at the conference website.

Early bird registration ends June 15th!

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Please share your Master Gardener County awards

Who will be the next recipients of each county’s Master Gardener of the Year, Growing and Belonging, and Behind the Scenes awards? We’re ready to take your reporting of awards.

All county-level award submissions should be made in cooperation with your local Master Gardener coordinator. Prior to selecting your counties’ winners, please be sure to review the criteria for each of the awards.

We’ll reveal the county award winners at this year’s Joy of Gardening Conference in July, alongside the incredible statewide award recipients.

How the county-level and statewide awards differ

  • The county-level award winners are selected by active Master Gardener volunteers in each county. Once counties have selected their winners, they report them to the state using the County Master Gardener of the Year award submission form.
  • The statewide award winners are selected through a competitive process at the state level. Each county may nominate one winner or winning team for each of the three awards. A statewide awards committee convened by OMGA and the Extension Master Gardener Program reviews nominations and selects the winners.

Please note that county-level winners are not automatically considered for the statewide awards. If your county wants to nominate a volunteer for a statewide award, you must do so using the statewide award nomination form. Typically, counties submit different candidates for the statewide and county awards.

How to submit your county’s award winners

All submissions must be made using the County Master Gardener of the Year award submission form. Incomplete submissions may be disqualified, so take your time and prepare your submission in advance. Again, be sure to keep the county awards criteria in mind when you’re selecting your winners and describing their contributions.

Deadline: May 15th, 2024

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Nominations for 2024 statewide Master Gardener awards are open!

Who will be the next recipients of the statewide Master Gardener of the Year, Growing and Belonging, and Behind the Scenes awards? Nominations are open and we’re ready to take your submissions.

All nominations should be made in cooperation with your local Master Gardener coordinator, and make sure to review the criteria for each of the awards. Remember, these are the statewide awards, not county awards which are done locally, county by county.

We’ll reveal the winners at this year’s Joy of Gardening Conference in July, as well as all of the incredible county award recipients.

All submissions must be made using this online form. Incomplete submissions may be disqualified, so take your time and prepare your submission in advance. Again, the criteria for the awards can be found here.

Deadline: May 15th, 2024

Submit statewide award nominations here
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Welcome to, and from, our new Statewide Master Gardener Manager, Dr. Leslie Madsen

After a national search, Dr. Leslie Madsen (she/her) has joined OSU Extension as the Statewide Master Gardener Manager beginning December 29th, 2023.  Dr. Madsen most recently was the Associate Director for Educational Development in the Center for Teaching and Learning at Boise State University. She is an expert in evidence-based teaching practices that are informed by emerging technologies including different learning styles in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), as they apply to formal and informal learning platforms. She is equipped to support our coordinators and volunteers with evidence-based teaching practices, support both face-to-face and distant learning, support DEI efforts across programs, conduct educational assessment, evaluation and implementation, and support various digital accessibility technologies – among many other capabilities. Welcome Dr. Madsen!

A note to Oregon’s Master Gardener Volunteers

As I’m cleaning up my garden one last time before listing my Boise house for sale, I find myself looking eagerly to the future. I love to learn, and I have so much knowledge to glean from you about gardening in a temperate, wet forest biome rather than dry, sagebrush steppe. 

Because I’m a historian as well as a gardener, I’m also thinking of the botanist I most admire, the late Alice Eastwood (1859-1953), who served as the herbarium curator at the California Academy of Sciences for 57 years. 

Here’s my favorite story about Eastwood: 

When awakened in April 1906 by the big San Francisco earthquake, Eastwood hurried down to the Academy to check on the collections. As flames licked at the building next door, the 47-year-old Eastwood scaled the banister of the broken staircase to reach the sixth-floor herbarium. Once there, she lowered 1,500 specimens—most of them type specimens—out a window. She commandeered a cart and horse and ensured the specimens stayed ahead of the flames, even as her own home burned. (Today you can find six of Eastwood’s other specimens in the Oregon State University Herbarium.) 

Not surprisingly, Eastwood became a bit of a celebrity. On Eastwood’s 80th birthday, Smithsonian agrostologist Agnes Chase wrote,  

I recall how thrilled I was in the spring of 1906 when the men here were all talking about how Alice Eastwood had saved the precious types in the California Academy Herbarium. At that time women were not admitted to the august Botanical Society of Washington, so we rejoiced not only that the types were saved but that you saved them. And not only do we admire your work. Your unfailing kindness and helpfulness to other botanists has endeared you to all of us.

Chase’s letter to Eastwood captures the fondness I already feel Oregon’s Master Gardeners—even though I’ve only met a couple dozen of you. Your generosity with your time and knowledge is such a tremendous gift to the people of Oregon. I am so impressed with the amazing work you already have done, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work alongside you. 

Eastwood also was famous for cultivating enthusiasm for gardening by building a network of garden clubs, botanists, and volunteers. Like Eastwood, I’m eager to welcome new Master Gardeners and expand our collaborations with organizations throughout Oregon. To accomplish this, I’ll need to draw on your wisdom, experience, and imagination. 

Our work together begins in the New Year. Should you want to say hello before then, the best way to reach me is via email at madsenle@oregonstate.edu. I’m looking forward to connecting and growing with you! 

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Guide to Being a Master Gardener Volunteer: revised publication is now out

The quintessential guidebook for being an OSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer has been updated and modernized. It’s available to read online and download and features all things Master Gardener, including our connection to OSU, the priorities of the program, and policies and guidelines. Access it here.

What does it mean to recertify? What are the continuing education requirements of Master Gardeners? How do we provide gardening recommendations to the general public? What is the relationship between OSU and the county-based Master Gardener Associations?

You’ll find the answers to these questions, and many more, in the updated guidebook, plus links to even more background and items to read. The new version is a more nimble, modernized version, and can easily be updated as needed. Happy reading!