I too have a hosta fetish and some Star Trek hostas. In addition to Captain Kirk, Vulcan, and the aforementioned Enterprise, there is Starship. I have Kirk and Enterprise, and I declared to myself that 'El Capitan' is also a Star Trek hosta! (If you are a real fan that will of course make sense.) Unfortunately, I just got these 3 hostas 2 years ago and they are not ready to split yet. Otherwise I'd be glad to arrange an Enterprise/Vulcan trade... Check out the link for pictures of the hostas: Janelle Here is a link that might be useful: A Star Trek Garden

I get my 'Captain's Adventure' in the mail tomorrow (hopefully), along with the heuchera/ella I ordered. I dug up my 'Tattoo', the crown was hollow and had very few roots, so I pitched it. Too bad, it came from a good growing plant. It must have rotted during the winter under the four feet of snow. Ah well, 'Captain's Adventure' is going in that spot now between heuchera 'Caramel' and 'Stiletto'. Karen

Did you ever notice that things go along pretty smoothly on the starship Enterprise until some Klingon or Feringee gets on board? --- Live long and prosper, Ginger. ;-) Back in 1988, Michael E. Gerber in his classic book, The E Myth thoroughly explores the human psychology of the mental processes that subconsciously lead us back to the astute observation made above by ejb190: "...Master Gardeners are tentative about how much they really know. So they go back to what they are sure they know which is how to do "grunt work"." I don't have a lot to quibble with your perspective, Ginger, other than perhaps the scope of it is too limited. I am a bit more cautious as to phrasing because of the universal human propensity to gradually slide into the same situation as witnessed by ejb190. The problem, as I see it, occurs when we pursue projects when we should really be pursuing presentations. I **think** this is essentially what you are trying to say. Most any presentation is much improved when actual hands-on can be incorporated into it. I have no qualms about going out into the garden to demonstrate something and then supervise others from the community while they do the bulk of the work. This can be an opportunity for learning at its best. However, I think most of us know all too well that this is not usually what happens. Instead, we all hop in there and get good and sweaty. Yep ... we showed the community what a display garden is supposed to look like. And who learned what? Typically, the leader of some other civic organization learned that all they have to do is flip out "the garden lure" and we will bite like blue gills in the pond. There is a world of education waiting to be deployed. Quite frankly, what we really need to do is break free from the structure and typical restraints of academia. Learning should be fun. Unfettered learning is fun. We sometimes make the mistake of trying to conduct classes like we were forced to endure in elementary school. Typically, Master Gardeners are dealing with adults and the requirements of adult education placed upon the instructor (whether they realize it or not) are quite different. Hands-on is one of the most effective educational tools we can use. I suggest going out into the garden but avoiding garden projects. Give a demonstration class on pruning and make sure to bring along extra pruners. Give a demonstration on amending clay soil and let the students dig and till the stuff in. Give a demonstration on installing a terrace and have the students lay up and level a few landscaping blocks. The possibilities are endless. One demonstration I often give during a small portion of one of my classes is propagating plants by division. It is usually conducted on the tailgate of my pickup truck in the parking lot outside of where I am giving the class. I often bring a few clumps of pulmonaria, five gallon buckets, pots, potting soil and various implements of destruction. I wash off the roots in a bucket of water and then demonstrate a couple of times how to make divisions and pot them up. Pretty quickly, most of the students are hacking and planting away with me at their side answering questions. When we get done, it is break time and then we go back inside. Always a few students opt out of getting their hands dirty but everyone leaves class with a new plant. As a side benefit, I get to promote a great plant that not nearly enough people grow. I have seen wonderful herbal demonstrations where many of the actual plants were passed around in pots. Dried samples were also provided with the coup-de-gra being homemade lavender cookies for everyone. Perhaps one of the best educational formats I have ever seen is called "A Walk With The Expert." It is simply where a group of people walk around a park, large private garden or botanical center and simply talk about what they see. Several times a year we will have these and bring in several professors from different departments. Their given expertise might be in trees, plant disease, turf, insects, perennials, weather, fruit or most any other horticulturally related subject matter. We all simply walk around and they point out this or that -- typically things we all "learned" about but don't really know enough to recognize it when we see it. These sessions are very popular and extremely informative. Yes, they are spent in the garden but they avoid the project syndrome. Your chosen term of "garden coach" is probably a pretty good one. However, the organizational admonishment to avoid in-depth education smacks of academic elitism. Now, if any of you still feel compelled to do heavy garden work for no pay, please email me directly. I have lots of jobs that need doing -- especially if your labor is free! IronBelly

A lot of good ideas, but I think it should be easily recognizable as a StarTrek baby. How about Voyager Enterprise Warp Speed Klingon Vulcan Peace Live And Prosper Starfleet Of course, I haven't checked existing names. Good luck. And put my name down for one of the plants, okay? Are you going to auction off one on First Look, so it is growing in at least one other garden? Sounds good to me. I'm ready to bid. :)