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EnglishWhat Can I Find on the Hennepin County Master Gardeners Gardening Tales Blog?
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The Gardening Tales blog on hennepinmastergardeners.org is a seasonal, story-driven blog where Hennepin County Master Gardener volunteers write about plants they are actually growing, plus practical care tips and notes from the intern class. It is most useful if you want research-based horticultural information in a readable, first-person form rather than a formal fact sheet — and it is a good companion to the organization's hotline and events if you garden in or near Hennepin County, Minnesota.
What the blog covers
Based on the posts currently featured on the site, Gardening Tales mixes three kinds of content:
- Plant stories with a backstory. Posts profile individual plants and explain where they came from and why they are worth growing.
- Seasonal care advice. Posts are tied to what is happening in the garden right now, such as moving plants indoors for winter.
- Volunteer and intern experiences. A recurring series follows the current intern class through the growing season.
Examples of current posts
| Post | What it is about |
|---|---|
| Oval Office Ivy | How this easy-to-grow plant traveled from the White House to the Hennepin Master Gardeners, with a note that you could pick up your own at the Houseplant Sale on October 3, 2026 |
| Squiggle the Spider Plant | How this spider plant makes its annual move from an outdoor window box back inside for winter, plus tips on keeping houseplants pest-free for the season |
| Intern Microblogging Project – July | A check-in with the 2026 HCMG intern class, part of a series running through the year |
The site also lists a "View All Blog Posts" link, so the three above are the latest entries rather than the full archive.
How to use it
- Start with the latest posts if you want advice timed to the current season — the spider plant post, for example, is written around the fall move back indoors.
- Read the plant profiles as growing references. They combine a narrative with care information, so you get both context and practical guidance for a specific plant.
- Follow the intern series if you are considering volunteering, since it describes what the HCMG intern experience is actually like.
- Treat the blog as one input, not the only one. The organization's stated purpose is providing research-based horticultural information, and the blog sits alongside its hotline and educational activities.
What it is not
The blog is not a searchable plant database or a diagnostic tool. If you have a specific problem in your yard, the site points you to the Master Gardener hotline at (612) 301-7590 rather than to the blog. The blog is also local in orientation — it reflects growing conditions and programming in Hennepin County, Minnesota, so readers in very different climates should adjust accordingly.
A practical way to decide
- If you want seasonal, story-based gardening reading tied to a real county program, the blog is worth following.
- If you need a fast answer to a plant problem, call the hotline instead.
- If you are curious about volunteering, read the intern microblogging series first — it is the closest thing on the site to a description of the day-to-day experience.