Extension Master Gardener Program Plan Auction at March Flower Show

Contact: Amy Witt, Tel. 207-780-4205 or amyw@umext.maine.edu

PORTLAND -- Volunteers from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Cumberland County Master Gardener program are preparing for the group's annual plant auction, scheduled for the Portland Flower Show on Sunday March 15. A silent auction is scheduled for noon-3:30, with a live auction and bargain table beginning at 5:30 p.m.

This 7th annual auction is an annual rite of passage to spring for UMaine Extension Master Gardener volunteers and the public alike. The live auction includes hardscape, perennials, shrubs and trees from the displays at the Portland Flower Show. Estabrook’s Garden Center in Yarmouth will donate all of the plants in their exhibit. The silent auction includes items and services donated by local garden centers, professional landscapers, UMaine Extension Master Gardener Volunteers and many of the vendors participating in the show. The bargain table offers multiple lots of the same varieties, providing options to fill spaces with mass plantings. Portland Yacht Services donate space fo the annual auciton.

This event, the UMaine Extension Cumberland County Master Gardener volunteers' largest annual fundraiser, benefits Extension's Cumberland County home horticultural programs.

Registration for both auctions is scheduled from 12 noon-3:30, during the silent auction, in Building #11 (directly across from the main entrance to the flower show) or in Building # 3 at 5:00. There is no admission fee for either the silent auction or the live auction.

For more information about the auction, contact UMaine Extension in Cumberland County at 1-800-287-1471 (in Maine) or 207-780-4205.

http://www.umaine.edu/news/article.asp?id_no=2477


For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

http://www.extension.umaine.edu/

Free Signs Will Increase Safety for Maine Farmers

ORONO, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension and several farm equipment dealers have joined forces to offer free “Slow-Moving-Vehicle” (SMV) signs to Maine farmers this year. These bright signs—fluorescent orange triangles bordered with reflective red—are mounted on the rear of farm tractors and implements traveling slower than 25 miles per hour in order to warn motorists of the slow-moving vehicle. Farmers that would like to obtain a free SMV sign should contact UMaine Extension at 800-287-1471. Farmers will receive a coupon and safety packet about how to use the sign and about the use of tractors on public roads. Farmers can then pick up their sign or signs (up to two per farmer) at their nearest participating farm-equipment dealer before June 1.

Many Maine farmers and farm workers are moving equipment, livestock, hay and crops with tractors, and on public roads this can be a dangerous situation. The reflective border of the SMV sign defines the shape of the fluorescent color in daylight, and creates a hollow red triangle when illuminated by headlights at night.

Participating farm-equipment dealers include the following businesses:
Beauregard Equipment Inc.—Scarborough
Hammond Tractor—Auburn
Greenway Equipment Sales—Bangor
Greenway Equipment Sales—Ellsworth
Hall Implement Co.—Windham
Hammond Tractor—Union
Hammond Tractor—Fairfield
Ingraham Equipment Ctr.—Knox
Kramer's Inc.—Sidney
MPG Truck & Tractor—Presque Isle
RS Osgood & Sons—East Dixfield
Shaw's Ridge Equipment—Sanford
Theriault Equipment—Presque Isle
Union Farm Equipment—Union
Wallingford Equipment—Auburn
Waterman Farm Machinery Co., Inc.—Sabattus
Wescott & Sons—Gorham


For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

http://www.extension.umaine.edu/

UMaine Sponsors Winter Tree Tour of Mount Agamenticus

York, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension will be offering a tree tour of Mount Agamenticus in York, on Friday, March 6 from 10 a.m. to noon. Eileen Willard, Teaching Assistant with the University of New Hampshire Dendrology Department, will lead the tour and introduce participants to the winter forest ecology of Mount Agamenticus. This endeavor will include identifying 15 trees and shrubs by the bark, buds and growth habit in both coniferous as well as deciduous species. Participants will also explore the reasons trees grow where they do.

This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested. Please call the UMaine Extension office in Cumberland County at 800-287-1471 (in Maine) or 207-780-4205 before Monday, March 2. Participants should wear hiking boots and dress for winter conditions. We will use trails whenever possible.

This tour is an organized outing of the Maine Tree Club, an educational outreach program established by UMaine Extension, the Maine Forest Service and the Pine Tree State Arboretum. The club is designed to teach people, young and old, how to identify 50 trees of Maine over a two-year period; to teach participants how to best care for trees on their property and in their community; and to help people to better understand the importance of trees to Maine, their ecosystems and their economy.


For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

http://www.extension.umaine.edu/

Subscribe to Maine Home Garden News

ORONO, ME—University of Maine Cooperative Extension has announced publication of Maine Home Garden News, a statewide newsletter designed to equip home gardeners with practical information on successfully growing vegetables, fruits and herbs, as well as flowers, lawns, shrubs and trees. The newsletter will be published monthly from March through October and will be available in both print and electronic forms. Subscriptions to the electronic version are free; subscriptions to the print version cost $10 to cover printing and mailing costs for the eight issues. Subscribe at extension.umaine.edu/gardennews or call 800-287-0274.

Maine Home Garden News is being developed in response to the sharp increase in requests UMaine Extension has experienced for information on gardening. At the same time, the Bangor Daily News recently cited a 20 to 30 percent sales increase realized by garden seed companies in Maine and elsewhere. Maine Home Garden News will include timely and seasonal tips as well as research-based articles on all aspects of gardening. The writers will be UMaine Extension specialists, educators, and horticulture professionals as well as Master Gardener volunteers from around the state, with Professor Richard Brzozowski serving as editor.


For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.

http://www.extension.umaine.edu/