2023 BVGC TV Programs

The January 2023 Program guest is Brenda Anderson, President of the Benton County Master Gardeners.  The topic of the show is What is a Master Gardener? and the requirements to become a Master Gardener are listed.  A history of how the Master Gardeners began is given and the Benton County Master Gardeners have 14 projects and 11 committees to beautify, educate, donate to a food pantry and provide scholarships in our county. 

The February 2023 Program guest is David Cramer, owner of YardworX of Bella Vista, LLC.  The topic of the show is Neat New Tools and the old standbys.  David gives hints on what to look for in a tool that will last and there are many new battery-operated garden tools that come with various attachments to perform many tasks.  While professionals prefer gas powered tools that can be refilled as they are used all day, the battery-operated tools will be adequate for homeowner use.  Pictures are shown of various tools available and examples of a small electric pruner, a leaf gathering fold-up holder, and great garden gloves are shown.   

The March 2023 Program guest is Brenda Anderson, President of the Benton County Master Gardeners.  The topic of the show is New Plants for 2023.   The variety of new annuals and perennials coming into the market is amazing and the bloom time, new colors and profusion of blooms will add a lot of pizzazz to your garden.  These new plants can be used in containers or in the garden bed.  Every year Pantone announces a Color of the Year and this year it is Magenta.  There are a number of new plants in this bright color.  Also new packaging is being introduced using compostable containers instead of plastic that can be planted directly in the ground.

The April 2023 Program guest is Cathy Downard, a member of the Bella Vista Garden Club.  The topic of the show is From Greenhouse to Plant Sale and the process of growing tomatoes, zinnias and coleus from seeds and cuttings to be sold at the club's plant sale is reviewed.  The greenhouses are a necessary element in the process and photos of the development of the seedlings and small cuttings are shown.  A brief history of the plant sales over the many years and at several locations is given.  All sales are now held at the Village Wastewater Company and sand beds are provided to hold plants year-round as they are potted for the sales.

The May 2023 Program guest is Ginny Vance, a member of the Bella Vista Garden Club and a Benton County Master Gardener.  The topic of the show is Rain Barrels and the benefits of collecting rain water for your garden are emphasized.  Rain barrels can be purchased or made from food grade barrels up to 55 gallons or large heavy duty trash cans.  The process to make your own rain barrel is on the BVGC website under Gardening Info.  Although this presentation was made in 2009, it is still a good plan to follow.  Pictures of various barrels and how to link several together and several ways to connect to your gutter system are shown.  Winterizing and mosquito control are also covered.  

The June 2023 Program guest is Eric Fuselier, President-Elect of the Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists and a National Director of Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.  The topic of the show is The Importance of Native Plants and how to incorporate them into your landscape to provide food and shelter to our butterflies, bees and other vital insects.  Eric shows photos of some of his favorite native plants that would be great additions to your garden.  Many more local plant sales and nurseries are carrying natives and the more we ask for them, the more they will carry.

The July 2023 Program guest is Ginny Vance, a member of the Bella Vista Garden Club and a Benton County Master Gardener.  The topic of the show is Drip Irrigation Systems and Professionally Installed Systems and Do It Yourself Systems are discussed.  Samples of soakers, backflow preventers, timers, tubing, emitters, tools and various options of specialty sprayers are shown along with instructions of how to set up systems connected to your faucets.   Sources of box stores and catalogs are discussed for various types of systems.  YouTube videos can be a great source as a starting guide. 

The August 2023 Program was not produced due to scheduling difficulties.

The September 2023 Program guest is Sharon Kerr, a member of the Benton County Master Gardeners.  The topic of the show is Benton County Fair and Sharon describes the areas that the Benton County Master Gardeners oversee and maintain which are horticulture and floral design entries, a scavenger hunt contest for children attending, a scarecrow contest with a photo-op area for families to make memories with the largest pumpkin winner.  How to prepare your produce and flowers for judging is discussed and examples of what and what not to do are shown. 

The October 2023 Program guest is Janet Conboy, a member of the Bella Vista Garden Club.  The topic of the show is Exposing Your Houseplants and the plants that do well with South, North, East and West facing windows are discussed.  Each plant has specific needs for light and watering and those receiving direct sunlight will need their water needs checked more often.  Bringing houseplants in from the garden when night temperatures are below 50 degrees requires a process to acclimate them to the new environment and you also need to spray the plant with insecticidal soap.  A homemade recipe is given for making the soap.  There will be a variety of houseplants available to purchase at the Bella Vista Garden Club Spring Plants Sale. 

The November 2023 Program host is JB Portillo and the guest is Tony LiCausi,  both members of the Bella Vista Garden Club and Benton County Master Gardeners.   The name of the show is changing from Bella Vista Gardening to The Gardening Show to include the larger area we are directing our programing to since we will soon be an application you can add to your Roku device.  The topic of the show is All About Bulbs to make your spring garden more colorful.  Several preferred catalogs are shown that have been around for many years and carry a large variety of bulbs.  All types of bulbs are mentioned and how to plant, fertilize, protect and care for your bulbs are discussed. 

The December 2023 Program guest is Ginny Vance, a member of the Bella Vista Garden Club and a Benton County Master Gardener.   The topic of the show is Christmas Trees Turned into Bird Feeders and samples of items that can be used to make ornaments that can feed the birds.  Recipes for making birdseed ornaments and birdseed suet cakes are shown that can be used by little ones to help make the bird feeding ornaments.  A small potted evergreen tree was shown that was decorated with a variety of ornaments and garlands that the birds will love.  Ways to recycle Christmas trees after the holidays are also mentioned.