Community Services
Serving and Educating the Community
The objective of the SCMGA Gardening Community Services program is to serve the public by providing gardening information and assisting and supporting the Texas Cooperative Extension in Tyler and Smith County. The program was started in 1994 and today offers a wide variety of projects that disseminate research-based horticultural information that supports our community in important ways.
Gardening Community Services Programs we offer:
From Bulbs to Bloom
We often offer gardening seminars in the spring. However, back in 1997, few programs addressed fall gardening. The Smith County Master Gardeners wanted to fill this void. Therefore, we brought in outstanding speakers to give relevant, seasonal presentations.
We wanted to encourage gardeners to take advantage of this great planting opportunity. Furthermore, we decided to present this program at no cost to participants.
Today, the Bulbs to Blooms event continues each fall. Several hundred people regularly attend. Check our Events listing to find the next scheduled program. We typically hold this event in October.
The Home Garden Tour
We all want to peek into other people’s backyards for great design ideas to copy! Fortunately, our annual Home Garden Tour lets you do exactly that. We travel throughout the community and invite local homeowners to showcase their beautiful spaces.
This educational project teaches the public what they can try in their own home gardens. In addition, we station Master Gardeners at an information table in each home. These volunteers answer your tough gardening questions, give live demonstrations, and hand out helpful printed materials.
We typically hold this tour in May. Remember to check our events listing to find the next scheduled tour!
East Texas Garden Guide and Calendar
We began this project in 1997 to create a special 1998 gardening calendar. Specifically, we wanted to raise money to support Smith County Master Gardener activities. The calendar also provides excellent educational gardening information to every purchaser.
From the very beginning, this venture achieved great success. We added a beautiful color painting to the cover, starting with the 1999 calendar. A talented Master Gardener created the original watercolor. Over the next few years, members produced a brand-new painting for each annual cover.
As the Guide developed, we included more and more relevant gardening information. Furthermore, we revise and update this helpful information each year to benefit the local gardening community. Recently, we changed the colored covers to real photos. The committee now chooses a photo taken directly within our local community.
