The Cherokee County Master Gardener Association will hold its annual Spring Conference March 8, 2014. The conference will be held at the First Christian Church Fellowship Hall, 1920 Beaumont Street, Jacksonville. Registration begins at 8:30 AM and the first speaker will be at 9:00AM. There will be a $10.00 fee which includes drinks, refreshments and a chance to win one of five door prizes. The program will include three well known respected speakers. The title and subject of each lecture will be announced at a later date.

Greg Grant is Lecturer in the School of Horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University. He was formerly the Cherokee county Horticulturist with the Texas Cooperative Extension in Rusk. He is also co-author, with William C. Welch, of the book Southern Heirloom Garden. Greg is a regular contributor to Neil Sperry's Gardens magazine. He has traveled extensively to botanical and public gardens throughout the United States and Europe and is a popular public speaker in the southern United States.

Dave Whitinger is the creator of several large and popular websites, most notably Dave's Garden and All Things Plants. He moved to Cherokee County in late 2007 and lives just outside Jacksonville with his wife and 6 children.

They have a homestead with extensive gardens, cows, chickens, and various other domestic animals. In addition to being a member of the Cherokee County Master Gardeners, Dave is also a software programmer whose passion is to bring gardeners together and provide them with custom made software tools that both serve gardeners as well as take online gardening to the next level.

Keith Hansen has been the Texas Agra-Life Horticulturist for Smith County since 1992. Prior to that he was the extension agent for Nueces County. Keith has a weekly article “Keeping it Green” in the Tyler Morning Telegraph and has written numerous articles for Neil Sperry’s Gardens Magazine and in the Corpus Christ Caller-Times.

The Ruth B. Nichols Arboretum will be opened Saturday February 8 from 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm. This will allow participants in the Spring Presentation to visit the Arboretum Trails as well as tour the Demonstration Garden, The Firewise Garden and the Shade Garden. There is no charge for the tours, and there will be hosts on site to answer any questions.

For more information, call Ginny Scurlock at 903-530-8610 or [email protected]