Mill Creek Parish United Methodist 7101 Horizon Terrace Derwood, MD 20855
Join us for a special presentation on an “Introduction to the World of Herbs”, by guest speaker, Pat Kenny, Master Gardener on Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at 7pm.
FREE
Light Refreshments provided
Learn about the care, maintenance, and uses of the different types of herbs, a popular and interesting aspect of gardening.
Pat’s Bio
A Master Gardener for over 25 years, Pat is a well known speaker on the topic of herbs. She has been a member of the Herb Society of America for 40+ years and a medical and biological illustrator at NIH for 30 years. Pat was also the caretaker of the National Library of Medicine Herb Garden at NIH. Over several decades, she has taught about herbs and herbcraft for the USDA Graduate School – Evening Programs, the Montgomery County Recreation Department, and the University of Maryland – Extension Master Gardener Program. She adds more herbs to her vegetable garden every year!
RSVP: info@mctgardenclub.org
Please do NOT attend this event if you are or have been experiencing symptoms of illness.
THIS EVENT IS FREE, BUT DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED!
Donations pay for landscaping, repair and maintenance of the Mill Creek Towne Entrances, and our garden-related programs at our community meetings.
NOTE: If Montgomery County Schools are closed due to inclement weather, the Garden Club meeting will be cancelled.
Happy Fall Season! It’s harvest time, enjoy your fall garden crops! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for September. Some upcoming events/resources include Fall Plant Sales, PlantNative Nativescaping Series, Wednesday Water Webinars, Montgomery County Master Gardeners Garden Discovery, Birdability Week 2025 – October 20 – 26, Master Gardener Lectures – All About Chiles, Brookside Garden Events: In-Person and Virtual Programs, Behind-the-Scenes Greenhouse Tour, Nature Walk: Native Plants, Pollinators, and Edible Gardens, Doug Tallamy’s “How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard” Talk, 2025 H20 Summit, Urban Tree Summit, Harvest Festival at Agricultural History Farm Park, Seneca Creek State Park September Programs, Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Home and Garden Classes – Fall 2025, and more! A lot of gardening events are announced on Facebook as well as on our website. These events will be hosted as online or in-person events.
Planning Tips
It’s harvest time and also a good time to start taking stock of what worked well for you this season and what didn’t.
Take advantage of plant sales.
Begin planning for fall plantings.
Order garlic, onions, and shallots for fall planting.
Get your fall bulb order in soon for best availability.
Start collecting plant seeds for next year and for trading.
Check out gardening books from your local library to read on vacation.
Check your local garden center for mid-summer bargains.
Take garden photos and make notes in your garden journal.
Pick up new gardening books and magazines for inspiration.
Buy a good gardening book or magazine subscription for a gift for your favorite gardener.
Have a question about gardening? Check the University of Maryland Extension’s New Maryland Grows blog for garden tips.
Join Mill Creek Towne Garden Club!
Are you interested in gardening? Perhaps you’re a beginner, looking to learn more, or an experienced gardener interested in sharing your experiences and learning from others?
Are you interested in making your home and community a more beautiful place to live?
Are you interested in getting more involved in your community and getting to know your neighbors better?
Visit Our MCT Garden Club Website for Gardening Resources
Local Gardening Resources: Looking for a Master Gardener as a guest speaker, need gardening advice, or want to learn about resources in or near Mill Creek Towne? Visit our Resources page for details.
MCTGC Blog: Check our monthly blog for garden tips and local/online garden-related events.
Gardening Books: Looking for a gift for your favorite gardener? Visit our Gardening Books Resources page for holiday gift ideas.
Local Gardens: Visit our Local Gardens page to learn about local gardens in our area.
Montgomery County Farmers’ Markets: Support our local farmers. Check this page to learn about local farmers markets in our area or join a CSA and get fresh local produce year-round!
Online Gardening Resources: Looking for gardening apps or online resources to help with your gardening? Check out our Online Gardening Resources page for some apps for your smartphone and online gardening resources focused on the DMV area.
Recipes: Looking for a recipe for your home-grown veggies and fruit? Check our Recipes page for ideas.
Maryland Grows Blog
In weekly posts on MD HGIC’s blog, learn about pollinator conservation, growing native plants and food, and how to solve plant pest and disease problems.
Plant Clinics are held at several sites in the county on a weekly basis and at special events such as garden festivals and the county fair. Regularly scheduled Plant Clinics are located at public libraries and farmers’ markets throughout the county as well as at the Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase. There are also clinics three days per week at Brookside Gardens. The busiest season is April through September, but some clinics are open year-round. Bring your plant samples and questions to one of these locations in Montgomery County, MD (see link below to find a location near you):
UMD Home and Garden Information Center: Ask a Master Gardener
Do you have a gardening question? Our Certified Professional Horticulturists, faculty, and Master Gardener Volunteers are ready to answer – year-round!
See below to ask a master gardener a question on the UMD Extension website:
Buy Fresh Produce and Support Farms at County Farmers Markets
SATURDAYS, 9AM – 1PM Until OCTOBER 11, 2025
16501 Redland Road, Rockville, MD 20855
Visit the Derwood Farmers Market on Saturdays and enjoy the amazing flavors our food and beverage vendors are bringing to the table! Whether you’re planning your market brunch, stocking up on fresh-baked treats, or cooling off with a smoothie, there’s something delicious waiting for you. Our market participates in nutrition assistance programs including eWIC & matching dollars for SNAP. The Derwood Market also collects food scraps for composting through a partnership with the Department of Environmental Protection.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) in partnership with University of Maryland Extension, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Maryland Native Plant Society is proud to introduce the MDA’s Maryland’s Best Native Plant Program.
This program aims to bring education, awareness, and recognition to consumers and producers about the importance of native plants by:
recognizing retailers, wholesalers, and growers who are selling native plants via a tiered (bronze, silver, gold), voluntary certification program, and helping consumers know where to buy native plants
providing marketing materials- including a MD Native Plant logo- to help consumers identify what’s native to Maryland
Begin replanting pots with hardy annuals. Plant newly purchased plants. Continue to deadhead.
Remove spent annuals and replace with fall annuals. Water deeply.
Cut fully yellow lily stalks.
Start planting spring bulbs.
Fertilize established bulb beds.
Divide and transplant perennials – in particular, Iris and Peonies.
Cut foliage of irises to 2″.
As the days get cooler, plant hardy mums and fall season annuals.
Take cuttings from coleus and begonias to propogate and over-winter indoors.
Dig up bulbs from your Gladiolus, Canna, Caladiums, and other tender bulbs; cut off foliage; let dry for a week; and store for the winter.
Water thoroughly, especially if you receive no rain for more than seven days.
Annuals are now hitting their peak. Keep them well-watered and add a little liquid fertilizer every few weeks to keep them going through September.
Renew your container plantings, which may be looking a bit ragged at this point. Pinch back overgrown plants. Pull out any spent ones and pop in some substitute annuals or mums. Keep them well-watered and add a little liquid fertilizer every few weeks to keep them going through early autumn.
Inspect for powdery mildew. If seen, prune back perennials to create needed circulation. Discard properly (i.e., not in your compost bin).
Rake up weeds and their seedlings, especially look for fast-growing vines such as honeysuckle, autumn clematis, bittersweet, wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy.
Pests to watch for: Aphids, 4-lined plant bug, slugs, snails, spidermites, deer, voles, and whiteflies.
Diseases to watch for: Blackspot on roses; powdery mildew, rust, bacterial diseases
Maryland’s goal is to plant and maintain 5 million native trees by 2031. There are various ways you can get involved – plant trees and register them — or volunteer! A number of tree-planting assistance programs are available at the municipal, county, and state levels.
Fertilize if necessary for the last time this season.
Avoid late summer pruning.
If your conifers start shedding their needles or your spring bulb foliage starts peeking out of the ground, don’t worry. This is normal for our autumn cycle.
Look out for any Poison Ivy vines, which will turn crimson in the fall and be easy to distinguish from other vines.
Thin out small trees and cut off any suckering branches growing from the bottom root ball.
Prune foundation shrubs and trees to be no closer than 1 foot from the house.
Remove rotting fruits from fruit trees and compost them.
Prune and thin shrubs that have already flowered.
Take cuttings from azaleas, boxwoods, and camellias to start new plants.
Contact a certified arborist to have your trees’ health inspected.
Directly after blooming, prune flowering shrubs and vines.
Water shrubs and trees deeply during any dry spells.
IF YOU MUST MULCH: Remove old mulch, then add 2″ – 3″ shredded pine or pine needles, keeping away from trunk.
Do not fertilize newly planted or transplanted plants the first year.
Soil test established trees that have not been performing well.
Plant evergreens for winter interest.
Keep mowers and trimmers away from trunks!
Prune broken, dead, diseased, or damaged branches.
Keep an eye out for bark damage from rabbits or deer.
Check often and water newly planted trees if they don’t pass the finger test (stick your finger deep into soil – dry? Water!)
Check for vole problems and set out traps.
Spray broadleaf evergreens with anti-desiccant to prevent dehydration.
Diseases to watch for: Anthracnose, Exobasidium gall on azaleas, Apple scab Cedar-apple hawthorn or quince rust, Verticillium wilt, Oak leaf blister, Phytophthora, top dieback and root rot on azaleas.
Bring in tender plants before night temps dip to 60 degrees.
Bring in houseplants if you took them out for the summer.
Take cuttings of plants you want to overwinter inside and place in water.
Begin conditioning Christmas cactus and Poinsettias indoors in preparation for holiday blooming. Fertilize them and put them where they’ll get just 10 hours’ bright light per day.
Bring Amaryllis indoors before a hard freeze. Repot every other year at this time. Store in a cool, dark place and do not water until flower buds or leaves emerge.
Caulk and seal your outside walls to prevent insect entry into your home.
Check for any stagnant water mosquito breeding grounds, especially your gutters. Dump out any standing water that sits stagnant for more than three days.
Add Mosquito Dunks to any standing water in your yard such as birdbaths, downspouts, plant saucers, and gutters.
Check your plants at night with a flashlight for any night-feeding insects like slugs.
If you find slug damage, set out beer traps or Sluggo pellets.
Check indoors for termites and ants.
Scan houseplants for insect activity.
Start/keep fertilizing your indoor plants.
Maintain moisture in pots, but do not overwater!
Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film build-up.
Give your houseplants a quarter turn every few weeks.
Keep all houseplants out of drafts and away from heat vents.
Keep succulents and cacti on the dry side.
Check on your container plants daily and keep them well-watered.
Remove old leaves, damaged stems.
Pinch out growing tips of leggy cuttings and plants that are overwintering.
Clean the leaves of your indoor houseplants to prevent dust and film build-up.
Pests to watch for: aphids, spider mites, mealybug, scale, and whitefly.
Our plant sales are back for all your fall gardening needs. Reward your garden with gorgeous native plants of all sizes and help support the efforts of our nature centers.
University of Maryland Extension will be hosting monthly webinars on various water quality related topics. Join Andrew Lazur, Water Quality Specialist, as he dives into water topics that affect us all. These webinars will take place via Zoom on the dates shown below, allowing time for Q & A at the end.
Montgomery County Master Gardeners Garden Discovery | Sept. 2025
Savor the end of summer and welcome fall with hands-on learning! 🌳🌳
The Montgomery County Master Gardeners will be offering programs for children grades K-12 (including Scouts) on September 13, 27, and 28, 2025 at the Montgomery County Agricultural History Farm Park, along with TBD dates in May, 2026.
Programs cover topics from growing seasonal plants to sustainable food systems in the county. Children grades K-12 participate in garden demonstrations and take-home activities. Additionally, Scouts have the opportunity to earn badges.
Birdability Week is an annual occasion to exchange valuable resources and innovative ideas, aiming to foster an inclusive and accommodating environment within the birding community. By encouraging accessibility, embracing diversity, and promoting a warm and open atmosphere, Birdability Week aims to ensure that birding is an enjoyable experience for everybody.
Celebrate the beauty of birds and enjoy a welcoming and inclusive birding experiences October 20 through October 26, 2025 in Montgomery Parks. Check back later for more programs and details!
Master Gardener, Betty Cichy will share her knowledge of chiles and how to select, grow, and preserve them.
In this Master Gardener talk you will learn how to choose, grow, preserve and enjoy chile peppers. The speaker encourages you to steer the focus based on your preference for heat level – from mild to the hottest. The talk starts with the basics of heat levels and moves on to the flavors and best uses for individual varieties. You’ll learn how to choose which chiles to grow and what types are best suited to use in your favorite dishes.
Questions about this program? Contact the branch at 240-777-0140.
After a five-year hiatus, the Butterfly Experience at Brookside Gardens is back and on view through September 21, 2025. The display features live butterflies from North America, Costa Rica, Africa and Asia. Hundreds of these enchanting insects will delight and amaze visitors with their intricate patterns and delicate aerial flight paths. From July 1 – August 31, the exhibit is open daily: 10am – 1pm weekdays, 10am – 4pm weekends. Additional hours are listed on the website.
Nature Walk: Native Plants, Pollinators, and Edible Gardens
Monday, September 15 / 10:30 am – 12:00 pm OR Thursday, September 18 / 1:00 – 2:30 pm Fee: $12 / FOBG: $10 Instructor: Beto Diaz Galvan, Brookside Gardens Horticulturist Location: Meet at Visitor Center Entrance
Join us for a bilingual guided tour in both Spanish and English celebrating Latino Conservation Week. Explore the biodiversity around our ponds and stream, discover sustainable gardening practices, and learn about native plants that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. You’ll be inspired to cultivate your own edible garden at home as you stroll through the new food forest.
Friday, September 19 / 10:30 am – 12:00 pm Fee: $12 / FOBG: $10 Tour Guide: Brookside Gardens Staff *Address and parking logistics will be sent after registration.
Opened in 2018, the O’Rourke Greenhouse consists of four growing areas totaling 10,000 square feet under glass. Participants will take a closer look at the state-of-the-art technology that enables staff to grow a variety of beautiful plants year-round while getting a sneak peek at the fall chrysanthemums being grown for displays.
Tuesday, September 30 / 7:00 – 9:00 pm Fee: $25 / FOBG: $22 Instructor: Doug Tallamy, author and Professor of Agriculture, Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware Location: Brookside Gardens Visitor Center Auditorium 1800 Glenallan Avenue Wheaton, MD, 20902 (301) 962-1404
Don’t miss this opportunity to see Doug Tallamy, a national leader of the native plant movement, speak in person. He’ll discuss his new book on ecological landscaping and share insights on biodiversity, native plants, conservation, and how we can help restore ecosystems at home. Tallamy’s new book will be available in the gift shop, with a signing to follow the talk.
Registration Now Open for 2025 H20 Summit in October
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection’s 2025 H2O Summit will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, at M-NCPPC’s Wheaton Headquarters, 2425 Reedie Drive in Wheaton. Attendees can learn from experts, connect with others who share a passion for protecting water resources and explore innovative ways to make community waterways more resilient.
Wednesday, September 17 | 8:30 am to 5 pm | All Ages | $89**
Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza
Explore the ways we can all adapt to a changing climate, extreme heat, and declining biodiversity. You’ll hear from an outstanding lineup of experts in the fields of urban forestry, conservation, and environmental sciences.
Whether you’re an arborist, designer, developer, or just someone who believes trees make everything better, this is your chance to learn practical strategies we can all use to protect our urban forest and create greener, cleaner cities.
Harvest Festival at Agricultural History Farm Park
Saturday, October 4, 2025 11:00AM – 4:00PM
Location: Agricultural History Farm Park 18400 Muncaster Road Derwood, MD 20855
Admission is $20/Car (cash only)
Participate in hands-on farm activities such as candle dipping, tin-smithing, painting pumpkins and building scarecrows. Enjoy live music. Play historic games and explore farm equipment demonstrations. Meet heritage farm animals and experience live sheep herding demonstrations with Trial & Error Acres herders. Don’t leave with taking a hayride around the farmstead!
Food, refreshments, and some activities will have additional fees ($)
Seneca Creek State Park 11950 Clopper Road Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Here’s a link to Seneca Creek State Park’s September Programs. Featured events for September include TGIF Walk, Fungi Finders Hike, Greenway Trail Hike, Birds, Izaak Walton League of America Open House, and more! These events are provided by The Friends of Seneca Creek State Park.
The only State Park entirely in Montgomery County, featuring Hiking, Disc Golf, Boating, Fishing, Peony Display Garden, Recycled Tire Playground, and Winter Lights display from Nov. 27th through December 31st. Entrance is free from November through March.
The Friends of Seneca Creek State Park collect dues and donations that are used to support the visitor experience in the park. We are a 501(c)(3) designated charity, so all donations, including dues, are tax deductible as allowed by law.
“Grow” your gardening know-how! Our free online gardening program, Let’s Talk Gardens, covers a wide range of topics presented by our own professional staff, as well as guest speakers.
