Master Gardeners Answer Questions At Ela Library

When an employee on Thursday morning stopped by the Master Gardeners table at the library with her wilted spinach, Marijean Hilsop and Deborah Finch-Murphy immediately went to work.

The two women, both certified Master Gardeners through the University of Illinois Extension in Grayslake, started examining the specimen. While Finch-Murphy said the brown, dying areas most likely were caused by a fungus; she and Hilsop planned to take the spinach back to the University of Illinois Extension office to have it looked at under a microscope.

Finch-Murphy and Hilsop set up shop at the Ela Library on Thursday to answer patrons' gardening-related questions. Master Gardeners will return to the library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 25 to chat with patrons yet again.

"It's a great way to give back to the community," Finch-Murphy said of visiting local libraries to talk to patrons.

Finch-Murphy and Hilsop said they have been avid gardeners their whole lives. Both went through a four-month process to become Master Gardeners.

"In order to become a Master Gardener, you go through some pretty rigorous training," said Finch-Murphy. From January through April, budding Master Gardeners attend school for six hours each Friday. Then the students take an exam. Once they pass the test, they must complete a service commitment.

"What we hope to do is to be able to diagnose people's plant diseases," said Finch-Murphy. "We love it."

Finch-Murphy, who got her love of gardening from her mother, said she worked in the corporate world for a long time and "gardening was my salvation."

"It was therapy," added Hilsop.

Master Gardeners, the women said, come from all walks of life. Finch-Murphy, for example, is an attorney. Other Master Gardeners are nurses, biologists, horticulturalists and flight attendants.

The Master Gardeners, Finch-Murphy said, "do a whole host of things." Aside from holding plant clinics at Lake County libraries, they staff a help desk that is available by phone – or in-person at the University of Illinois Extension in Grayslake – from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday during the summer months. The help desk is available year-round, with different hours from November through March.

Last year, many gardeners' questions dealt with tomato diseases.

"It's seasonal," said Finch-Murphy. "There are a lot of fungal diseases right now."

The Master Gardeners also frequently are asked about insect and animal problems.

"People always ask what to do about deer eating their flowers," said Hilsop. "I don't know what to tell them."