We've spent the last year in the laboratory putting Phoenix under the microscope to reveal hundreds of specimens of the best culture, outdoor adventures, shopping, dining, and nightlife the city has to offer. And we're finally ready to publish our results. Nerd alert! Now presenting Scientific Phoenix.
If you've ever tried to plant something in Phoenix, you've probably realized it takes a little more than "just add water" to get something to grow (or, harder yet, survive). Luckily, there are teaching professionals like Carol Stuttard to help you contrary Marys get your gardens up and growing. Among her credentials (which include certified desert landscape gardener at the Desert Botanical Garden and president of the Scottsdale Community Garden Club), Stuttard is a Maricopa County master gardener.
See Also: Home Gardening Lessons with Master Gardener Carol Stuttard (Slideshow)
You can be one, too.The Maricopa County Master Gardener program is part class, part volunteer service that digs into the science of horticulture as it applies to the desert. Master gardeners complete the program with a thorough knowledge of the what, where, when, and how of growing plants in Phoenix. They then take that knowledge and use it to better the community by contributing 50 hours or more to program-approved services such as managing gardening phone lines and providing educational programs to adults, students, and children.Troubled gardeners not in the program can even take their plants, on assigned days, to the one of the several master gardener office locations for what the program calls their Diagnostic Clinic.
Of course, the master gardener program doesn't have to be a one-time deal. Program graduates can maintain their master gardener status by fulfilling 12 hours of additional training and 25 hours of addition service each year. It's the green gift that keeps on giving in a too-often crunchy-brown town.
Check out the complete edition of Best of Phoenix® 2012.
...And take a scientific journey through the Best of Phoenix® 2012 micro-site.
