Thirty-eight Master Gardeners graduated on Tuesday, April 27 during ceremonies at the Champaign County Extension office. They had successfully completed 55 hours of training on many aspects of horticulture such as flowers, trees, lawns, fruits and vegetables. The new graduates will be involved in many community projects along with the other 162 Master Gardeners in Champaign County. Projects include the Idea Garden, Garden Walk, and community gardens. Master Gardeners also handle over 2,000 calls into the Extension office for information on home gardening.

The new graduates are Joan Arnold, Kim Bartlow, John Bergee, Eileen Blackwell, Mary Connors, Jennifer de Groot, Margaret Ford, Sharon Hamilton, Margaret Hoffman, Cheryl Hulvey, Joyce Hurley, Trudy Jewell, Kelly Johnson, Siska Kallio, Karen Kane, Ruth Kelly, Stan Levy, Polly Martin, Keely McDaniel, Katrina McDaniel, Sally McMahan, Belinda Meyn, Jane Nathan, Marsha Osterbur, Cheryl Pettus, Alice Pfeffer, Victoria Robertson, Birgit Scherer-Wiedmeyer, Rebecca Shelton, Paul Smith, Amy Swanson, Joyce Thomas, Shirley Traugott, Billie Waddell, Karie Ann Wallace, Suzanne Warner, Priscilla Wood, and Ernest Young. Congratulations to them all!

U of I Extension Master Gardeners will have their fifth Garden Walk on Sunday, June 13 from 10-5 rain or shine. Eight gardens are included in this year's walk. Each year the Master Gardener Idea Garden offers new ideas in gardening. Additional featured gardens this year include: a cottage garden with an extensive variety of vines, perennials and colorful containers; a garden of lush flower borders; an organic garden of vegetables, herbs, small fruits and dwarf conifers; gardens for sun and shade and a 2 1/2 acre property of flowering shrubs and unique garden ornaments. One of the gardens will also have the bluegrass band, The Prairie Dogs, performing from 2-5 p.m. If water gardening is your interest, the garden walk includes several water features of all sizes and styles.

Tickets are $10 and are available at the Champaign County Extension office, Country Arbors Nursery, Greenview Nursery, Illini FS Farmtown, Jack's Greenery, Kleiss Nursery in Tolono, Pages for All Ages bookstore, Pine Acres Trees and Shrubs in Sidney, Prairie Gardens, Rick Orr Florist and Mourning Dove Farms and The English Hedgerow in Mahomet.

Come join us for Garden Gatherings at the Idea Garden (near the corner of Lincoln and Florida Avenues in Urbana) on the following Saturday mornings from 10 am to Noon. Champaign County Master Gardeners are sponsoring four programs that you won't want to miss.

• "Window Boxes" – May 15
  Includes plants to select, soil mixes, and different styles of boxes. Instructor: Josh Schneider, owner of Mourning Dove Farms in Mahomet.

• "Get the Scoop on Soils" – TBA
  Find out what kind of soil you have in your garden and what you can do to improve it. Instructor: Marilyn Sullivan, Soil Specialist

• "Small Bush Fruits" – June 5
  Learn about care, feeding and selecting bush fruit varieties for Illinois. Instructor: Bob Skirvin, UI Small Fruits Specialist

• "Tour of the New Herb Garden" – June 26
  Discover the different herbs, their uses, care and selection. Instructor: Chuck Voigt, UI Horticulturalist

I knew I was a true gardener when I introduced a prominent citizen at a public meeting, quite by accident, as Erb rather then Herb. Luckily Erb had a good sense of humor.

Unlike the human variety herb, the garden variety can be correctly pronounced erb or herb. With our Master Gardener from New Zealand, Heather Young, the word rolls off her tongue quite beautifully as herb. It would be less embarrassing for me if I followed suit.

A fascinating aspect of herbs, no matter how you pronounce it, is their long association with human civilization. Herbs and herbal preparations were mentioned in Chinese, Indian and Egyptian culture some 6000 years ago. Not having a lot of corner drugstores, people relied on herbs as medicinals.

Herbs were also very important in masking the unpalatable taste and aroma of foods due to poor food preservation techniques. Sanitation was not high on the list of social priorities in most ancient cities, so the fresh fragrance of herbs was a welcome experience over the everyday smells of city life. When this country was first settled the settlers brought their useful plants with them. The colonists grew herbs such as lavender, rosemary, thyme, savory, dill, mint, basil and parsley. They also grew dye plants such as tansy, calendula and saffron. Thomas Jefferson grew 26 kinds of herbs in his 1000 foot kitchen garden at Monticello.

Now many people are discovering the superior quality of using fresh herbs in cooking and using herbs as ornamental plants. With herbs we learn to appreciate the beauty of plants not just for their flower, but for the tremendous variation in leaf texture, fragrance and color.

Herbs include plants that are used for their culinary, aromatic, cosmetic, dyeing or medicinal properties and now includes plants used for dried flowers such as statice. A popular segment are the culinary herbs such as parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (you remember the song), basil, dill and chives.

Sage is a two-feet tall woody, hardy perennial with oblong grey-green leaves. The leaves can be used fresh or dried in cooking. Sage is also a very attractive addition to a flower garden looking beautiful with blue salvia or red petunias. Purple sage and Tricolor sage look striking with lavender, pink begonias and Sedum 'Autumn Joy.'

Basil is an annual that grows 1-2 feet tall with many different types of leaf colors and sizes such as purple basil and globe basil. Purple basil makes a beautiful pinkish purple vinegar and looks lovely in the garden with silver artemisia and pink globe amaranth which are used in dried flower arrangements. Globe basil has very small leaves and makes a beautiful, instant 2 foot border.

Lovage is a more unusual perennial herb, growing 6-7 feet tall. The leaves and young shoots taste and smell very similar to celery. Lovage tastes wonderful in soups.

Salad burnet may not be well known, but its attractive leaves and taste are worth remembering. The leaves appear to have been cut with pinking shears. This perennial is great in salads having a delicate flavor of cucumbers without the after effects.

Be sure to check out the lovely new herb garden at the idea garden. It features a garden of culinary herbs for a family of four. There will also be a marvelous selection of lavender.

Dates for your calendar

May
15	"Window Boxes" program at Idea Garden, 10 a.m.
TBA	"Get the Scoop on Soils" program at Idea Garden, 10 a.m.
June
5	"Small Bush Fruits" program at Idea Garden, 10 a.m
13	Garden Walk
26	New Herb Garden Tour at Idea Garden, 10 a.m.

Timely tips

• Remove flowers from newly planted strawberries for better growth.

• Some rhubarb plants try to bloom periodically. For best yields keep the flower heads cut off so that growth will be forced into the leaves and stalks. Remember rhubarb leaves are poisonous and stalks showing cold injury should not be eaten.

• It is better to plant warm loving tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, sweet potatoes, impatiens and geraniums after May 10th.

• Control lawn weeds now through late May before they get too large and temperatures get too high (above 85 degrees) to apply herbicide safely.