CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Gardens across Illinois take many forms. Apartment dwellers embrace balcony potted plants, flowers fill fields on rural roads and front yards in the suburbs, and neighbors come together to grow vegetables and find fellowship among their harvests.
Illinois Extension’s Master Gardener training and volunteer program, which is beginning to celebrate its 50th season of impact and now encompasses over 2,300 volunteers statewide, has always been a source of trusted guidance that reaches nearly all Illinois counties through local Extension offices and a special partnership with Chicago Botanic Garden.
On Sept. 12 and 13, hundreds of volunteers and statewide Extension Master Gardener staff gathered in Champaign County for two days of professional development, networking, and shared knowledge. The conference featured tours of diverse regional gardens; breakout sessions on critical gardening issues like soil lead, tree diversity, climate change, and invasive species; a keynote address from Horticulture Educator Ryan Pankau, who spoke about native plants, pollinators, and some of Extension’s resources around sustaining and creating pollinator habitats; and a special time for awards and volunteer recognition.
Master Gardener training is open to any adult with an interest in plants and a desire to share knowledge with others. The “Illinois Extension Master Gardener” certification designation is for those enthusiastic individuals who have completed training and agree to volunteer at least 40 hours within two years to their local University of Illinois Extension office. Those who complete training but choose not to volunteer are given a certificate of training completion. Training is available via in-person, online, and hybrid modules. Each year, volunteers contribute over 165,000 hours that benefit their communities through help desks, produce donations, and overall knowledge sharing.
For questions about the Illinois Extension Master Gardener program, please contact State Master Gardener Specialist Candice Anderson at mille116@illinois.edu or 217-300-3198 and follow Illinois Master Gardeners on Facebook.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.