Biweekly Newsletter for June 9, 2026
- Brenda Bye
- Jun 9
- 5 min read
Urgent Volunteer Requests
This is the time of year when we have an influx in gardening questions both in-person at the Plant Questions Table as well as at the Plant Desk. Trainees can use either opportunity to fulfill their plant clinic requirements.
🐝 Plant Question Tables at both the Corvallis and Philomath Farmers Markets need your help right away! This is one of BCMGAs most rewarding and popular outreach opportunities. We need both Certified MGs and trainees to make these tabling events a success. Please email Signe Danler or Kiana Ringuette with questions. The Signup Genius is available in the emailed version of the newsletter.
Corvallis Saturday Farmers Market has one event per month. This popular Corvallis activity is a fun outreach opportunity that is also important in answering questions and referring questions to the plant clinic.
Philomath Farmers Market has three dates this summer and has multiple openings on each date. This is a good opportunity to spread our service into other areas of Benton County.
🐝 Plant Desk - Shifts are available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in both the mornings and afternoons. Answering questions at the Plant Desk is at the heart of our work as Master Gardeners and an invaluable resource for our community. Both trainees and veteran MGs wishing to retrain are welcome to volunteer. The link for the Signup Genius is available in the email version of the newsletter.
BCMGA Association News
🐝 The Date for the First Garden Tour Announced - Thanks to our Co-Vice Presidents Laura Horsey and Christine Welsch for working on this year’s garden tour schedule. Garden tours are not public events but are intended for BCMGA members and invited guests. Watch your email for more details.
June Member Garden Tour - Dancing Oaks, Monmouth
Thursday, June 25, arrive at 5:30; tour at 6:00 p.m.
Tour of gardens by owners / stewards / plant collectors
Carpooling encouraged; BCMGA members and invited guests
Volunteer Opportunities
These activities are approved by OSU Extension for volunteer hours
🐝 Adams School Garden Needs More Volunteers
The crew at Adams has done a great job revamping their space over the last couple of years with a core group of regular volunteers. In the summer the class moves to Tuesday mornings around 9:00 AM. The Adams School Garden was also approved for a special allocations project, that will help them make a sensory garden over the summer
If you are interested in joining the fun at Adams, please reach out to Nellie Oehler at oehlershrops@gmail.com.
🐝 Join CGET (Community Garden Education Team) in 2026 - CGET provides hands-on garden education in our community and is a great place to share your passion about growing edible plants. There are spots for both trainees and certified MGs. Check out the CGET Signup Genius page for all of the opportunities available.
URGENT Pepper Giveaway and Container Gardening Information Session
6/13/26 Opening for 2 Trainees
Fall and Winter Gardening Workshop
7/11/26 Master Gardener and trainee options
🐝 Just a Couple of Volunteer Spots Left for the Public Seed Library - There are spots for leaders on 6/12 and 6/13 available. If you have questions please reach out to Jill Farrow at jillsfarrow@gmail.com
Pop-Up Veg Garden Clinic - Sign up here
6/13/26 Need both Lead and Certified MG
Seed Rack Stocking - Sign up here
6/12/26 One volunteer spot is still open. Trainee or MG
🐝 Demonstration Garden Committee is at Work Again - MGs and trainees are welcome at the Demonstration Garden. Work parties are happening every Wednesday morning, rain or shine, from 9:30 to 11:30 at the Benton County Fairgrounds. You can drive through the north entrance by the gatehouse and park near the Floral Pavillion. Bring gloves and outerwear appropriate to the weather.
Continuing Education Opportunities
These activities are approved for CE by OSU Extension
🐝 Growing Oregon Gardeners OSU Level Up Series - These free online webinars are the 2nd Tuesday of the month at noon. The series runs from June through September 2026. Details and registration are available on the Extension website.
June 9, 2026 | Totally buggin': Creating beautiful landscapes that support beneficials |
July 14, 2026 | Chard catalog: Sharing through seed libraries |
August 11, 2026 | What's on the table? Ready-to-go activity kits for volunteers |
September 8, 2026 | Epiphyte club: Houseplants for health and happiness |
OMGA News
🐝 Joy of Gardening Registration is now open. This is the premier educational event put on annually by the OMGA. Join Master Gardeners throughout the state to complete your CME credits and learn about interesting horticultural topics. In honor of 50 years of Master Gardeners in Oregon, the early bird registration is only $50 until June 20th. Sign up now before your favorite classes fill up!
🐝 Summer 2026 Gardener’s Pen Newsletter is Available
Extension News
OSU Master Gardener Extension has Merchandise! If you are looking for OSU Master Gardener apparel, hats or accessories you can find it on the new online store. New items will be added throughout the year.
Let’s Keep Learning
Meadowscaping
By Paul Westerberg,
Benton County Master Gardener
We have to raise the bar on our landscapes. In the past we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water. Douglas Tallamy, Professor, University of Delaware.
This quote from Professor Tallamy inspired many of us who listened to his speech to the Benton County Master Gardener Association in Corvallis this January. Tallamy challenged his audience to implement a new approach to managing their landscapes. This approach involves replacing traditional lawns with native plants and meadows.
Now, as we approach summer with less seasonal rainfall and higher temperatures, gardeners are often searching for plants and trees that can “take the heat” and thrive in such conditions. Many are adapting their landscapes to incorporate Oregon native plants requiring less water and fewer (or no) fertilizer applications.
One approach that gardeners have used involves installing meadows in the landscape, replacing sections of water-intensive turf grass with plants and shrubs native to Willamette Valley. We call this practice “Meadowscaping”. A booklet by West Multinomah Soil and Water Conservation District describes this garden practice in detail. Here are some of the key points the booklet highlights.
By installing meadows, homeowners realize important ecosystem benefits, especially the addition of plants that provide food and shelter for insects and birds. Meadows thereby function as important habitat steppingstones for them, minimizing the distance insects and birds must travel in search of food or shelter. Meadows can thereby serve as crucial habitat corridors for them as they travel from one meadow to another.
Another benefit meadows provide is a more diverse habitat than turf grass. A meadow may include dozens of plants, shrubs, and small trees in place of “monoculture” grass. Pollinators, especially bees, benefit from this nature-provided diversity. As the Meadownscaping booklet notes, “pollinators are vital to creating and maintaining habitats and ecosystem functions that many animals depend on.”
Gardeners can start Meadownscaping by choosing one sunny section of the landscape, removing any grass that inhabits the area. Solarization, sheet mulching, and/or digging out the turf by hand are all effective ways to begin.
For more information, you may consult “The Meadowscaping Handbook” issued in January 2022 by the West Multinomah Soil and Water Conservation District.
Community News Items
🐝 Pollinator Festival at Dancing Oaks Nursery - June 20, 2026 from 10 AM to 4 PM
Free activities for adults and children. Both Linn and Marion County Master Gardener Associations are participating organizations.
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