Anacortes Senior College

Class 1: Toni Caskey – Beautiful Bulbs in Your Garden

Toni Caskey has been a WSU Skagit County Master Gardener for 25 years. “I love this program! I was our annual Tulip Tours Director for 21 years. I truly enjoyed escorting over 120 tour groups as we trekked through the tulips and daffodils throughout our unique Skagit Valley.  As we travelled to Roozengaarde, TulipTown, and the Skagit County Master Gardener Discovery Garden, our guests were always amazed and delighted. This flowering patchwork industry started with six different colors and now has nearly 200 varieties! I am here today to speak about how you, too, can be involved as a home tulip and other bulbs grower!”

Class 2: Sheri Rylaarsdam – Vegetable Gardening in the PNW

Sheri Rylaarsdam is a transplanted farm girl from Iowa. She has been gardening in the Pacific Northwest for almost 50 years. Sheri completed the Master Gardener training with WSU in 2019.

Sheri will talk about soil: the basis of everything, planning: what to do before you set foot in the garden, and timing: what to do when you get there. Hopefully you will learn something new and together we can discuss practical advice that will encourage and inspire you on your gardening journey.

Class 3: Hallie Kintner and Diana Wisen – Pruning Shrubs

Hallie Kintner is a Skagit County Extension Master Gardener and has taken many pruning classes from Plant Amnesty. Diana Wisen has been an active Skagit County Master Gardener for 35 years. She has taught classes on numerous gardening topics and is on the Board of Directors of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation.

This class will discuss what, when, why, and how to prune ornamental shrubs for a healthy and beautiful garden.

Class 4, 1st hour: Diana Wisen and Janet Kowalski – Right Plant Right Place Right Purpose

Diana Wisen has been an active Skagit County Master Gardener for 35 years. She has taught classes on numerous gardening topics and is on the Board of Directors of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation. Janet Koalski has been a Master Gardener since 2019.

Successful gardening depends on many factors including knowing your site and its conditions as well as selecting plants which thrive in those conditions. This class will focus on how to decide what to plant and why, in order to have the garden of your dreams where you live.

Class 4, 2nd hour: Bobbi Lemme – Irrigation

Bobbi Lemme became a Master Gardener in 2019.  She eventually gravitated to the drip irrigation system at the Discovery Garden and is now in charge of any additions or repairs, along with the assistance of other dedicated volunteers.

This one-hour presentation will cover the basics of setting up a drip irrigation system in your own garden.  There will be hands-on demonstrations of how to connect tubing and make repairs.  It's not rocket science!  Start small and add on to your system as you feel more comfortable.  It's so nice to free up your time from watering to work with those lovely plants!

Class 5: Diana Wisen - Gardening for Fragrance

Diana Wisen has been an active Skagit County Master Gardener for 35 years. She has taught classes on numerous gardening topics and is on the Board of Directors of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation.

Growing fragrant plants adds a powerful dimension to the pleasures of gardening. Scent is the most potent and bewitching substance in the gardener’s repertory and yet it is the most neglected and least understood. Throughout history plant scents have delighted and served people. This class will encourage you to discover the pleasure of gardening for fragrance and will include take home plant lists.

Class 6: Deborah Smeltzer – Composting

Deborah Smeltzer (Master Gardener Class of 2012) currently serves as chair of the Training Team, treasurer of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation board, Discovery Garden Front Door Garden Co-Coordinator, and member of the Web/Communications, Recruitment & Retention, Front Door, and Strategic Planning project teams. She has been a master gardener instructor for soils, soil fertility, composting, mosses, lichens, fungi, online tools, and presentation skills. 

This class will provide attendees with information about reducing garden waste, understanding what compost is and what it is not, how to make compost, including hot, cold, & vermicompost, and basic tools for composting. You should come away from this class with a love of sustainable gardening practices that help us achieve a healthy planet. By the end of the class, we hope you will understand the benefits of incorporating compost into garden soil and how vermicomposting is a benefit year-round for city dwellers. A detailed resources and reference list will be provided.