PORT ANGELES — The WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners’ Green Thumbs Garden Tips series will feature two presentations this month via Zoom.
Attendees are asked to login early to make sure the connection is working properly, volume on the speakers is adequate and microphone is muted so that attendees cannot hear background noise and video is off.
Phosphorus
Muriel Nesbitt, an educator who taught biology for 35 years at the University of California-San Diego, presents “Phosphorus” at the next Green Thumbs hour-long lecture set for noon Thursday.
Nesbitt will address the discovery of phosphorus, its necessity for all living things, some of its uses and soil testing for this element. She also will discuss the probable impending shortage of phosphorus for fertilizer and the implications of that for food security.
Join the presentation here.
Nesbitt will make the case that we need to begin now to develop phosphorus recycling strategies and what those strategies might involve.
Nesbitt said she became interested in providing information on phosphorus to gardeners when she became aware of its scarcity and non-renewability and when she realized the negative effect of oversupply of phosphorus on mycorrhizas.
In addition to her tenure at UC-San Diego, Nesbitt earned a doctorate in genetics from the University of Washington. She directed the Clallam County Master Gardener program from 2009 to 2012 and now teaches courses and gives lectures.
Nesbitt is a recipient of Lifetime Achievement status with Clallam County Master Gardeners. Her interests include using science, experience and experiment in her own garden to grow clean, nutritious food and flowers for bees.
Propagation
Rosalie Preble, a 1997 alumna of the WSU Clallam County Master Gardener program, will present an overview of the basics of softwood cutting propagation via Zoom at noon on July 23.
Preble will tell of the process for rooting softwood cuttings and will instruct attendees on the care of newly rooted ones. She also will recommend the best plants for rooting success, how to take cuttings from the parent plant and when to take them.
Join the presentation here.
Preble has gardened in the Sequim area for 24 years. She has propagated plants from cuttings and other methods for more than 20 years, both to support the annual Clallam County Master Gardeners’ plant sale and to share with family and friends.
She was awarded the Golden Trowel for lifetime achievement for her contributions to the Washington State University Master Gardener program.
The Green Thumbs Garden Tips education series is sponsored by the WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners and held on the second and fourth Thursday each month through October; in November, December and January, one lecture is offered.
Scheduled presentations are subject to change.
Visit extension.wsu.edu/clallam for the latest information on upcoming presentations.
For more information, call 360-565-2679.