Mill Creek Parish United Methodist
7101 Horizon Terrace
Derwood, MD 20855
Join us for a special presentation on an “All About Chiles”, by guest speaker, Betty Cichy, Master Gardener on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 at 7pm.
FREE
Light Refreshments provided
Master Gardener Betty Cichy will cover topics in this talk related to how to choose, grow, cook, preserve and enjoy hot peppers and Chiles. Learn about how to garden and take care of your Chiles, hot peppers, and how to incorporate them into your cooking.
Betty Cichy Bio:
A master gardener since 2020, Betty Cichy was a reporter and features writer for the Bucks County Courier Times and the Doylestown Intelligencer newspapers in Pennsylvania for 20 years, eventually serving as Food Editor. She also covered gardening for the papers, and became a Master Gardener after retirement. She has had home vegetable gardens for most of her life, and those gardens have always included chile peppers – a special interest. She now writes a column, “The Seasonal Kitchen,” for The Seed, the monthly newsletter of the Montgomery County Master Gardener organization.
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.
Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year! Here are some garden tips, educational opportunities, and videos for December. Some upcoming events/resources include Master Gardener Lectures – Gardening 101 – Things I Wish I Knew When I Was a Novice Gardener, Wednesday Water Webinars, Montgomery Parks – Events: Christmas on the Farm – December 6-7, 2025, Winter Snowcials – January 11, Brookside Gardens’ Garden of Lights, Project FeederWatch, Greenscapes Symposium February 2026, Meadowside Nature Center December Events, Seneca Creek State Park December Programs, Montgomery College Lifelong Learning Home and Garden Classes – Fall 2025 & Spring 2026, 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
Evaluate your gardening year, make notes of what worked well for you this season and what didn’t.
Collect plant seeds for next year and for trading.
Gather seeds and carefully label them. Store in dry location.
Clean, sharpen, and store your garden tools.
Check out gardening books from your local library to read on vacation.
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.
Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year from Mill Creek Towne Garden Club!
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Seasons Greetings! We wish you and your family a Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year surrounded by family, friends, and wonderful memories!
Our 2025 year of the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club began with an outstanding garden presentation entitled “Make a Spectacle in the Garden!–” by Marie Rojas, a master gardener with the Montgomery County Master Gardener Program. Below are some events and activities that we provided to the community and our garden club members this year.
Community Events
Make a Spectacle in the Garden!– Tuesday, March 25
Mill Creek Stream Extreme Cleanup – Saturday, April 19
MCT Garden Club Plant & Yard Sale – Saturday, May 3
Introduction to the World of Herbs – Tuesday, October 28
Club Activities
Native Seed Workshop Hosted by Lauren Hubbard on January 25
Beyond the Garden Gates Garden Tour in Frederick, MD on May 18
MCT Garden Club Luncheon in June
MCT Garden Club provided beverages for the Mill Creek Village Community Picnic in September
In addition to opening our programs to the community, we are hard at work maintaining the Roslyn, Shady Grove, and Miller Fall entrances to MCT, as well as the Mill Creek Drive Circle, keeping several of our members busy with weeding, transplanting, watering, pruning, and erosion control! We provide monthly garden tips/events and share them on our Facebook page, website, and in the Mill Creek Village newsletter. We are very pleased with the Mill Creek Village “Welcome Bag” program for new residents. Our garden club contributes a seed packet and welcoming note as part of their package.
We would like to thank you for your support in the past years! Donations to pay for landscaping and maintenance of the Mill Creek Towne Entrances and our garden-related programs at our community meetings are greatly appreciated and accepted year-round! Please help support the Mill Creek Towne Garden Club! To fulfill our mission, we depend on the generosity of donors who appreciate the value of our services. If you can help, please visit our donations page (see link below). We accept online and check donations.
Submitted by Beth Giannone, MCT Garden Club President and Nancy Brady, MCT Garden Club Communications
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:
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
Cut back perennials that have turned to mush. Leave others with seedheads on Black-eyed Susan, Echinacea, Goldenrod, Sunflowers, and Thistles for the birds to enjoy over the winter.
Check the plants under tall evergreens and under the eaves of the house to see that they have sufficient moisture.
Last chance to plant bulbs, or if you have waited until the ground is frozen, pot them up for forcing indoors.
Provide some special protection to tender or early flowering plants like Camellias.
Check any tropical or summer-blooming bulbs, corms, tubers, and bare root plants in storage for rot or desiccation.
Bulb foliage already starting to surface? Don’t fret. It is also normal and will not affect next year’s blooms.
Force spring bulbs for indoor blooms this January by potting them up, watering thoroughly, and placing them in your vegetable crisper for about 10 weeks.
Collect dried flowers and grasses for an indoor vase.
After hard frost, sow seeds of spring-blooming hardy annuals & perennials, then mark beds!
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.
Begin mowing leaves into turf to add organic matter and nutrients.
Do any filling or grading around your yard. The soil will settle during the winter months.
Some alternatives to de-icing salts include sand, beet juice sugars, light gravel (grit), or non-clumping kitty litter. Using de-icing salts around driveways and sidewalks can harm your garden plants and turf.
Avoid walking on frozen grass to avoid damaging the crowns.
Turn off outdoor water valve and store hoses.
Clean yard of leaves and other debris.
Mulch bare areas.
Get your lawnmower serviced.
Apply grub control to your lawn.
Sharpen your lawnmower blade.
Check and tune-up power equipment (mowers and trimmers).
Turn your compost pile.
Diseases to watch for: brown patch, and red thread
Keep watering your poinsettias and give them plenty of light. Ensure they are away from drafts and that the pots drain freely.
Reduce fertilizing of indoor plants (except cyclamen).
Do not fertilize until January.
Deadhead flowering plants.
Start new indoor plants from cuttings – try an easy one such as violets.
Do not place live wreaths or greenery in-between your door and a glass storm door, especially if the doorway is facing south. This placement will “cook” the arrangement on a sunny day.
Scan houseplants for insect activity.
Maintain moisture in pots, but do not overwater!
Set up humidifier for indoor plants or at least place them in pebble trays.
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, stinkbugs, and whitefly.
Rockville Memorial Library – 1st Floor Meeting Room
Age group: Older Adult, Emerging Adult, Adult
Join Master Gardener Meipo Martin for a basic course on gardening.
What are annuals, biennials, & perennials. USDA zones. Site assessment: sun/shade, soil type. How to pick a plant, plant various plants. Watering: how, how often, how much, when. Different fertilizers. Why weed and what different weeds indicate about the garden. Learn to ID poison ivy. Mulching: why and how to mulch, different kinds of mulch. What is IPM? What is organic gardening? What tools one really needs to start.
Speaker bio: Meipo Martin was born in Hong Kong, where she started growing houseplants and herbs on the apartment windowsill. In 1998, she moved to the United States. In her new garden, her love for plants came into full bloom and she became a Montgomery County Master Gardener in 2015. Meipo believes gardening should be accessible to all, and it does not have to be expensive or hard. To share her knowledge, Meipo gives a variety of presentations on gardening methods for the master gardener organization. When she is not gardening, Meipo is a wife, an Aikido instructor, a woodcarver, a blogger and a sewist.
Questions about this program? Contact the branch at 240-777-0140.
Don’t have a card right now? No worries! Find out how to Get a Library Card.
Library Program Attendance (both virtual and in the branch) is limited to participants within the suggested age range of the program. Children attending an MCPL program under the age of 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Adults attending a program intended for children must have an accompanying child.
If you plan to attend with a group of ten or more, please contact the branch at least one week before the program to discuss how your group might be accommodated.
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.
Come enjoy “Christmas on the Farm” at Agricultural History Farm Park from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6. The farm is located at 18400 Muncaster Road in Derwood. The scenic park features rolling hills, open fields, and trails. Admission and parking at the family-friendly event are free.
Visitors can enjoy free cookies and cider, a bake sale, hayrides, barn decorations, live music, holiday crafts, and farm animals. Stop by the tool museum and explore the farm’s historic features.
Bundle up and bring the whole family out for some fresh air and festive fun at Winter Snowcials! Enjoy the crisp winter atmosphere in the coziness of the barn with a steaming cup of hot cocoa or cider, a tasty donut, and plenty of smiles to go around as you warm up by the fire pits. Kids can take part in winter-themed crafts and activities, and little ones can gather for a fun farm-themed story. It’s the perfect way to relax, connect with members of the community, and celebrate the winter season together. You might even learn a bit about the rich history of our historic Farm Park. It’s a great way to connect and celebrate community in the chillness of winter.
Please note that this event will take place outside, so be sure to dress for the weather. Please check our website and Facebook page for updates in case conditions get too icy.
Shine bright with us as Brookside Garden’s gets a glow up this season! From late-November to early January, you can stroll through the one-half mile, outdoor, walk-through exhibit and enjoy the twinkling lights and glimmering one-of-a-kind displays adorning the flowerbeds and grounds throughout the 50-acre horticultural gem in Wheaton.
Project FeederWatch: Thursdays & Fridays, December 4, 2025 – Friday, February 27, 2026 | 11 am to 12 pm | All Ages | FREE | Locust Grove Nature Center, 7777 Democracy Boulevard, Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Greenscapes Symposium February 2026
2026 Speaker Lineup Announced
Join us for a fascinating day of presentations offering practical strategies to design sustainable and resilient landscapes. Don’t miss out on the Early Bird fee of $50 that ends Friday, January 9. To learn more and register for this live Zoom event, click on this link: www.brooksidegreen.org.
2026 GreenScapes Symposium Overview
Integrating Ecology, Beauty & Adaptability In Design Thriving landscapes that support wildlife, enhance biodiversity, and respond to environmental challenges require thoughtful design and tested practices. This engaging symposium brings together experts in horticulture, ecology, and design to share solutions that work—from small gardens to large public landscapes.
Learn how native keystone plants and layered “soft landings” can support pollinators from canopy to ground, and explore regenerative approaches that blend beauty, function, and biodiversity in every setting. Through illustrative real-world case studies, you’ll discover how dynamic, naturalistic plantings can adapt and thrive, and how climate-resilient and diverse plant palettes can strengthen ecosystems in both urban and suburban environments.
Attendees will gain practical tools for plant selection, soil preparation, and habitat design, along with proven strategies for creating landscapes that actively support wildlife and the environment. Whether you’re tending a home garden or shaping public spaces, this symposium provides the knowledge and solutions to design with purpose—and with the future in mind.
About GreenScapes The GreenScapes Symposium is an annual program planned by Brookside Gardens since 2004. The Symposium explores the latest topics related to landscape sustainability and the environment. This event appeals to a broad audience ranging from landscape architects and designers to master gardeners, horticulturists, and urban planners.
Seneca Creek State Park 11950 Clopper Road Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Here’s a link to Seneca Creek State Park’s December Programs. Featured events for December include Winter Scavenger Hunt, December Hikes, Nature Crafts – Snowflakes, Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!, Winter Solstice Hike, Nature Crafts – Tree Cookie Ornaments, Candle Making at Grusendorf Log House, Nature Crafts – Beaded Ornaments, Nature Crafts – Hibernating Animals, 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.
