Manster Gardners sharing their knowledge

NORWALK — Huron County Master Gardeners are taking on another project, one close to their hearts, floriculture. Working with agriculture teacher Sarah Lucha of South Central High School and Dan Stober of Danielion, Wakeman's floral shop, they have assembled a team of master gardeners to assist county agriculture students in preparing for a state-wide competition, Floriculture Career Development Event. An agricultural education/FFA membership teaches many skill sets for employment, not just farming. One such opportunity is the world of floriculture, be it plant researchers, nurserymen, landscapers, groundskeepers, florists or others. Basic floriculture is covered in agriculture classes and like most topics, there are opportunities for competition at regional and state levels. When Wayne Weber was agriculture teacher in Monroeville, he took his students and Sarah Lucha of South Central always took a team until a few years ago. Lucha plans to take a team this year and that is how local Master Gardeners became aware of this competition. The main competitive event is called Floriculture Career Development Event (Floriculture CDE), and it consists of classroom floriculture instruction and individual study prior to taking a 50-question online exam on garden and florist flowers, houseplants, tree and shrub foliage, bedding plants, vegetables, herbs, florist supplies, techniques, plant disorders, insects and diseases that affect the floriculture industry. Each high school can have unlimited agriculture students take the online exam, but the team sent to the regional and then state competition consists of only four students and an alternate. Team scores are determined by the combined scores of the team members. The state finals require the students to identify 35 plants with common names. Fifteen more are to be identified with the Latin botanical name. Fifty other specimens of insects, supplies and equipment are to be named, plus identifying five floral arrangements and corsages. Actual floral skills will be tested as the students make a corsage and a bud vase with a bow. For this state competition, each student must have a clipboard, two No. 2 pencils, a toolbox with floral shears, wire cutters and knives, all marked with school and student identification. Huron County Master Gardeners can help Huron County schools compete in the state competition by providing the needed toolboxes and equipment, plus training before the event. After the team from each eligible school — Bellevue, Monroeville, New London, South Central, Western Reserve and Willard — have been selected, students will meet in South Central High School with Master Gardeners on Feb. 26 and go through the materials they have been studying. Master Gardeners have been meeting to set up the training sessions which will introduce the teams to a taste of the Floriculture CDE testing.