This month's Master Gardener spotlight is on Julie Dillon, Master Gardener, Class of 2019. Julie has been with us for
Another way that our Master Gardner volunteers support the community is by supporting behind the scenes logistics that are key to making all our public outreach a success. Julie is a vital part of our behind-the-scenes support by making sure our volunteers know where to go, when to be there, what to bring, and more through our VMS or Volunteer Management System. It is not an understatement to say that Julie's support of our main system calendar impacts everyone of our over 200 volunteers. Making sure the details of our many partner events is shared with our volunteers is a job that requires attention to detail, patience, and persistence and Julie does it with ease…or at least she makes it look easy! If you are a Master Gardener reading this, or a partner who we work with, send a little thanks to Julie through the universe because she is a central part of how we make the magic happen!! Read on to learn a little more about Julie, in her own words!
-Maggie O'Neill, Master Gardener Program Coordinator
Tell us a little about yourself Julie:
I have worn many hats in my life. But the one I'm most proud of is being a Mom and now Grandmother ( Nana) to our grandkids Hudson, Sabrina and Ophelia (twins). I have always been interested in growing flowers and vegetables. We always had a garden in Central Pa. where we raised our boys. They helped can applesauce, peaches and pears. I made my own grape jelly with the grapes we grew in the yard. We moved to California in 2007 and lived in Idyllwild until 2017. I was a member of the Idyllwild Garden Club where I first heard about the Master Gardener Class. When we moved to Redlands, I decided to take the class.
Why did you decide to be a MG?
I decided to take the Master Gardner Class so that I could learn how to be a better gardener. How to figure out why my vegetables weren't surviving the heat and what I needed to do to make my soil beneficial for my plants and the environment they are growing in. If you don't take care of the soil your plants will surely suffer. I'm fascinated with the connection our soil has with the mycorrhizae and mycelium and even the tree roots. They communicate with each other and it is so important that we find a way to keep the carbon out of the air and more in our soil, as that is where it is needed.
What are your gardening passions?
I grow so many plants and vines that I can't say that I favor one over the other. I just like growing Plants!! My passion is to go out in the morning and early evening and see “what awaits me?” Sometimes it's an epiphyllum blossom on a plant that hasn't flowered for years or my African Blue Basil plant that has so many bees on the purple flowers you can hear a low buzz. Monarch Butterfly's laying eggs on my Milkweed plants and Butterfly bushes and, the quick flying Hummingbirds who are always looking for nectar from my White Bird of Paradise or my Million Bells. I love to dead head all the plants and flowers in my yard and find it most rewarding and beneficial to my health and the plant!! I have some plants in my yard I have had for years. I have a Japanese Maple that I have had in a pot since 2008. It changes color in the winter from green to yellow and then red tips. My son was growing a Red Flame grape vine in a pot for 7 years and it is in the ground in my yard going on 2 years now and I'm determined to get it to produce fruit. You see, I have a little habitat in my yard for the birds, spiders, bees and butterflies. I share this with my grandkids as I want them to know all about nature and why it is so important to take care of it.
What is a tidbit or two you've learned as a MG that the public reading our newsletter could gain from?
We all have that pesky bug/insect that likes to eat our leaves on our garden plants and flowers. But that's the beauty you get to enjoy. The good with the bad……That's what being a Master Gardner is all about. When you take the Master Gardener Class you have all these resources on how to find out how to control what is going on in your Garden and your Soil. You meet so many people who have different ways to solve these problems and you learn from each other. The presentations are learning experiences and you gain so much information and resources.
What advice would you give someone considering becoming a UCCE MG?
I would highly recommend the Master Gardener Class to anyone who has a passion of learning more about growing plants, vegetables, fruit trees, ornamentals and taking care of the soil in your yard. It will give you so many opportunities to find out how to figure out what you might need to do to get the pesty bug off your tomato plants?? And so much more!!! Knowledge is a wonderful thing in the Garden and to share it with others is even Better!! I know I have learned a lot…
“The Earth Laughs in Flowers” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
