Barton County Extension Master Gardeners

05/31/2026

05/21/2026

Congratulations Monica! A well deserved honor! We are so fortunate to have you in our group of growers.

Master Gardener Spotlight:🌷🪻 Monica Bowers🪻🌷

🌿Years of Service:

12 years in Barton County

🌿Favorite plant:

A live one lol! But seriously, Lantana. The color, choices in size, few pests, and take little care for a lot of performance.

🌿Why I volunteer:

It serves my community and gives me a flexible way to share my experience. It’s an organized, collaborative effort to educate others and help beautify our surroundings, encouraging people to use whatever desire and skill they have to grow what they can. It also helps others understand that resources are available whenever questions come up.

🌿My favorite memory of Master Gardeners:

Working with my fellow EMG & friend, Karen Morton. For 8 years we planted and cared for several dozen pots at Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo. We now do the same work (with only 3 pots!) at the Golden Belt Community Foundation Office. We also help at Horticulture check in and judging time together at the Barton County Fair. Friends make good growing partners.

05/20/2026

Monarchs love a variety of flowers for nectar 🌸🦋 …but they have one non-negotiable favorite:

🌱 Milkweed

Milkweed isn’t just another pollinator plant, it’s the ONLY plant monarch butterflies lay their eggs on. And the ONLY food monarch caterpillars can eat.🐛

No milkweed = no next generation of monarchs 💛

Planting nectar flowers helps feed monarchs, but planting milkweed helps them survive.

Which monarch-friendly flower do you have in your garden? 🌼

05/16/2026

🌺 Gathering of Gardeners - Great Bend Vegetable & Flower Garden Tour this year is presented FREE OF CHARGE by the K-State Extension Master Gardeners of Barton County.

🌸 The tour will be Friday, June 12th from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and will feature three outstanding local vegetable and flower gardens.

🌹 The individual garden growers and Master Gardeners will be on hand at each location to show visitors around, offer gardening advice, and answer any plant questions that may arise.

🌻 This year's stops include: 4912 Quail Creek Drive, 1221 McKinley, and 377 Grove Terrace. We invite all gardening enthusiasts, from novice to vintage, to come enjoy touring these gardens with their friends and families.

05/14/2026

The April Master Gardener meeting featured an Educational Moment by Miranda Huston of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. She shared how gardeners and home owners can create habitats for stem-nesting bees. Learn more about how you can help provide nesting habitats for native bees at: xerces.org/pollinator-conservation/nesting-resources

05/14/2026

Barton County Extension Master Gardeners, along side the Great Bend Beautification Committee, maintain many demonstration gardens that give community members the opportunity to scan a QR code to learn more about the plants and flowers that are in the garden beds or containers.
Miranda Huston, Horticulture Program Assistant
K-State Extension - Cottonwood District, explains how community members can also browse our complete Plant Reference Guide to discover detailed information about the plants showcased in the gardens.

04/06/2026

We are proud to be a part of this community support organization.

From gardens to classrooms to community boards, K-State Extension volunteers gave over 208,000 hours in 2025, creating a $7.2 million impact across Kansas. 💜

April is National Volunteer Month. Thank you to all of our Kansas volunteers on behalf of K-State Extension!

For more information, visit http://extension.k-state.edu/about/volunteer-resources/

03/28/2026

Fun Fact Friday!

Did you know the K‑State Garden Hour has been helping Kansans grow healthier, more successful gardens with free monthly webinars? Each session includes a 45‑minute lesson plus live Q&A with horticulture experts from across the state. It’s like having your own garden coach, right at lunchtime! 🌱🌼

🌿Next Class: April 1st at 12pm!🌸

https://hnr.k-state.edu/extension/consumer-horticulture/garden-hour/

03/15/2026

Great advice from the experts at Mississippi State University Extension Service

Don’t touch the daffodil leaves...At least not yet! The downside to these wonderful spring-flowering plants is that the foliage begins to look ratty after the flowers are spent.

Every year we always field questions about what to do at this point. Some want to tidy up the landscape by clipping all the foliage off, clipping it in half, or folding the leaves and wrapping them up with a rubber band.

No matter how bad the foliage looks, it plays an important role. Next year’s flowers are being formed during this ratty-looking stage. The leaves gather sunlight and, through photosynthesis, store sugars in the bulb for next year’s growth. Leave the leaves alone for at least SIX WEEKS after blooming. Then, you can begin to clip the foliage for a "tidier" look.

01/08/2026

WHAT IS WINTER SOWING?
Winter sowing is the process of planting seeds outdoors in a container during the winter months. The container remains outdoors until the seedlings emerge in the spring. The container protects the seeds from animals and harsh weather, but the exposure to colder temperatures breaks dormancy and the seeds germinate. The container also provides an ideal environment for germination in the spring.
The best time to winter sow perennials and hardy annuals is generally December to March depending on the weather conditions in your area. These seeds require a consistent period of moist, cold temperatures before germination occurs in spring. Tender plants including annuals and vegetables can be sown later in spring (March or April) as they do not require a cold period in order to germinate.

Containerized seedlings stay more compact and do not need to be hardened off before planting in the garden. Winter sowing is ideal for those with limited indoor space for seed starting. No special lighting or equipment is required for germination.
Open the link for diagrams and complete instructions:
https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/ym105
Image via N. Tennefoss