Texas Master Gardeners get ‘Superstar’ training

SAN ANTONIO – Forty-two Master Gardeners representing more than 20 Texas counties recently attended the three-day State Master Gardener Texas Superstar Training held at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service facility in San Antonio.

It was the first-ever statewide Master Gardener specialist training focused on the Texas Superstar program, said David Rodriguez, AgriLife Extension agent for horticulture in Bexar County who coordinated the training.

The Texas Superstar program is a collaboration of AgriLife Extension, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and the state’s commercial nursery industry, Rodriguez explained.

“This training was offered to and provided for Master Gardener volunteer horticulture program volunteers throughout Texas,” Rodriguez said. “It was designed to help provide them with knowledge and skills required to effectively support our statewide horticulture efforts.”

Instruction was provided by experts from AgriLife Extension and AgriLife Research, both agencies of the Texas A&M University System, along with experts on water conservation and the commercial nursery industry.

“To get the Texas Superstar designation, plants and trees undergo several years of extensive field trials and must be proven to be both beautiful and Texas-tough,” Rodriguez explained.

For the program, a variety of Texas Superstar program “classics” were set out for viewing, including fire bush, plumbago, John Fanick phlox, New Gold lantana, Pride of Barbados and hibiscus, along with Green Magic broccoli. Newer offerings included mandarin and satsuma citrus plants crossed with a more cold-hardy species for better additional performance in far North Texas.

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