MASTER GARDENERS WILL BE AT WHITESIDE GARDEN

Don't let the cool weather fool you. Spring is here and Memorial Day is coming up. Memorial Day weekend marks the end of school, the beginning of summer vacations and lots of opportunities to visit public and private gardens.

For the past twenty years Memorial Day weekend has been the occasion of a rare opportunity to visit the most beautiful and unusual private garden in the area, right here in Coles County. Dr. Wesley Whiteside's five-acre garden will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29 and this year the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners of Coles County are helping the Coles County Historical Society celebrate the garden walk's 20^th anniversary.

If you are new to the area, or have not yet visited this garden, be prepared for lots of surprises. There are at least a dozen varieties of magnolia, including the native big leaf magnolia, which usually is in bloom by Memorial Day. There is a collection of weeping cedars, including the cedar-of-Lebanon, silky camellias and other rare species seldom grown in this climate, and the piece-de-resistance to my mind, the Ben Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha), discovered in southeastern Georgia in 1765 and last seen growing as a wild plant in 1803. There are many, many other rare plants including one of the largest collections of carnivorous plants in the U.S. There are also roses, daylilies and wildflowers, all artistically planted to best display each species.

This year the garden will be open on Saturday and Sunday only with a nominal admission charge, children free.

Also in honor of the twentieth anniversary, the Coles County Extension Master Gardeners will have a booth selling plants and gently used garden books, ornaments and tools for the benefit of the Coles County Extension program. They will also have several U of I Extension horticulture publications available for purchase. Master Gardener experts will be available to answer gardening questions all day at no charge. Other vendors will be selling plants and garden related items in an area adjoining the garden. Refreshments will be available.

There will be special programs and lectures each day at no additional charge. At 1 p.m. each day the owner of the garden, Dr. Whiteside, will be speaking about the history of his garden and about various unusual plants and their habitat and propagation.

On Saturday at 2 p.m., Master Gardeners Joyce Allen and Don Terrell will demonstrate how to compost yard waste and turn it into free food for your plants. Believe me, its fun – don't miss this. Then, at 3 p.m. Master Gardener Kathy Hummel will tell us a dozen good reasons to use native plants in the garden. Kathy knows her native plants and can teach us how to use them for beauty and conservation in our home landscapes.

On Sunday at 2 p.m. Master Gardener Susan Humphreys will present a historical program on the medicinal use of herbs. Susan sure knows her herbs. I've seen her do her thing and if you are interested in herbals at all this is not to be missed. Also on Sunday the renowned Larry Shobe, Coles Master Gardener, Illinois Gardener TV personality and one of the chief caretakers of EIU's beautiful grounds will tell us how he does it.

Afterwards Dyke Barkley of Barkley Farms will present a program on ornamental grasses and more. If you've ever visited Barkley Farms display gardens near Paris, Illinois you'll want to hear his presentation.

There is no extra charge for the lectures and special programs. Admission to the garden is $6.00 for adults, free to children under 12. Parking is also free. This garden is only open to the public once a year and the proceeds from admission support the work of the Coles County Historical Society.

By the way, if you somehow missed Kevin Kilhoffer's beautiful pictures of Mattoon's Friendship Garden in the May 14 issue of the Journal Gazette you can probably see them online, or better still visit the garden itself. This peaceful spot is located in the heart of Mattoon at 17^th Street and Lafayette and looks wonderful right now, thanks to our cool spring.

The Mattoon City Council has announced that it cannot afford to plant more street trees this year. Let's hope that is a temporary decision, as all their hard work and commitment to the tree commission programs in the past has suddenly paid off. The city trees look extraordinarily beautiful this year, and so do those in Charleston and our neighboring communities. Just because the city can't plant trees this year doesn't mean you can't plant one yourself. Our tree stock does diminish as trees die or are damaged in storms. I don't need to tell you how much they contribute to the beauty of our communities and to mitigating pollution and cooling the environment. It's a green thing, if you will pardon the expression, so plant a tree. (If you wish to plant on the city right-of-way, at least in Mattoon, you must ask permission.)

And take time to visit a garden, any garden. It will raise your spirits.

If you have any horticulture questions, call the U of I Extension office 345-7034. Volunteer Master Gardeners are in the office on: Monday—2 to 4 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday—9-11 a.m.

This column is based on information and materials at the University of Illinois Extension office, located at 707 Windsor Road, Suite A., Charleston, 61920; phone 345-7034; or web site: www.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/