New Announcements:

1.    Send us your announcements! Have you converted educational programs to an online format? You can still submit those announcements for the biweekly email! Submit an item for the biweekly update here.

2. State Office Webinar – July 23 | 10 am – Urban Forestry is a Public Service Join Jamie King, University Arborist at Virginia Tech, as he talks about the whys and hows of urban forestry. (Rescheduled from July 16.) Register in advance: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtcO6vrT4oHtd2fAEcsCSQ1D7ZEc5TIqa8

·      How to get the most from your hydrangeas – Josh Kardos, Virginia Tech – August 20, 10am https://virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIodOCtpjgjHdef-M0F1vPp9RKzdrAo5Cqt

·      Tree Risk Assessment – Joel Koci, VSU – Sept. 17, 10am https://virginiatech.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkdemvrzwiHdXROklX-zRSwdCntxsXfNni

3.    Facebook Live “Get Gardening” Series – Thursdays through the summer

·      Thursday July 23 – Hydrangea 101 with Josh Kardos, Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences

·      You can watch live or check our page later to view the recorded & saved video!

·      Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/226756471734154/

4.    Plant sale guidance available – Extension Leadership has released guidelines for Extension Master Gardener Plant Sales in light of the current steps toward reopening. You can find that information on the VCE COVID-19 page (https://ext.vt.edu/covid-19updates.html) under “Administrative Documents and Updates.” It’s at the bottom of that list under “EMG Plant Sale Guidance.

5.    Milestones – Due to delays in both our office mailing and our pin distributor, we expect to mail milestone certificates in early September. We apologize for the delay!

Other Announcements:

1. Follow the State Office on social media: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
2. Subscribe to In Season, our quarterly newsletter

3.    View our most recent webinar

a.     View a recording of our most recent state office webinar – Mark Sutphin with a spotted lanternfly update:

https://mastergardener.ext.vt.edu/webinar-archive/

4.  Resources for fertilization of lawns and for those involved with Healthy Virginia Lawns programming  
5. Do you have questions coming in to your Extension Master Gardener program and need to find some answers? Extension Search Resources for EMG Questions
6. Every Kid in a Park Program
7. Basil Downy Mildew: Occurrence Monitoring and Info Website for Gardeners
   1. A new website, created by Margaret McGrath and the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University, on monitoring occurrence of downy mildew on basil in the US and Canada:

                                               i.     It maps occurrences and replaces them into a GoogleDocs spreadsheet since 2009. There is information about BDM at the website that is geared for gardeners. Gardeners have been the primary and most important reporters in helping with monitoring this disease.

7. 2. A handout for gardeners about reporting occurrences of BDM and 2 other important diseases: late blight and cucurbit downy mildew.
8. Biweekly Update Submission form – Please use this form for submitting future biweekly update items.