Get to Know your WSU King County Extension Master Gardeners

Q&A: Get to Know your WSU King County Extension Master Gardeners

By Extension Master Gardener Emeritus Nancy Gardner

Ever wonder who your fellow WSU Extension Master Gardeners are? So do we! We like to periodically profile ourselves, so whether you’re intern or emeritus status, just let us know and we’ll do our best to feature you in a future column.

Michele Ohge in her garden

In this issue, we catch up with Michele Ohge, one of our newest interns, and at age 69, is proud to finally be part of the WSU Extension Master Gardener program. 

She says she has wanted to be a master gardener for about 25 years and finally had “all my plants in a row” to be able to take the course.

Question: Perhaps most importantly, for the icebreaker, what’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate chip mint!

Question: What’s your go-to tool? The Hori Hori knife.

Question: What is your number 1 invasive nemesis? 

Rubus armeniacus, the Himalayan Blackberry, although English Ivy, Hedera helix, is a close runner-up (pun intended).

Question: Why did you first get into gardening and how long have you been at it?

My grandfather loved gardening and when I was 4 years old, I remember going out with him to his dahlia garden to deadhead the flowers. He used a cane to steady himself and with his other hand, picked off the dead flowers. He was taller than my dad and the dahlias were much taller than me. 

At our house, my dad was the gardener, and I was always following him around. He taught me so much about plants and gardening and helping him with the gardening chores. I always felt so special and then accomplished when he would let me water his roses and I had to be very careful about how high I turned on the bubble or oscillating sprinklers so as not to get the rose plants and petals wet.

Daphne odora is a favorite winter-blooming plant for its pop of color and intoxicating scent.

Question: What do you like to grow in your own garden now?

In my front yard, I designed it to have at least one plant emitting fragrance every day of the year, to have flowers blooming every day of the year, and to have color. All of these features come from leaves turning in the fall, to unique trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals providing leaf color, to unique textures and structure visible every day of the year.

Herbs in blue pots populate Michele’s front walkway, where she can see them
from her living room window.

I love using pots to also provide color in the beds along with whatever plant is in them. I use herbs and vegetables throughout the front garden. 

People are surprised that I do that, but there are areas in the front where some of the herbs and vegetables get more sun and do better.

The nectar of Sweet William, a species of Dianthus, attracts birds, bees, and butterflies. Michele keeps hers in a pot in her front yard.

Question: Other favorite plants in your garden? 

Star Magnolia, heaths, heathers, quince and heucheras.

Question: What are some of your other passions?

I do all sorts of crafts, enjoy photography, and dabble in woodworking. I’m going to learn to play the piano soon. I love to take long walks and day hikes and especially love to read with my two cats (Felis catus) stretched out on my legs.

--Nancy Gardner is an Extension Master Gardener Emeritus who enjoys cultivating her own annual and perennial seeds.
--Photos by Michele Ohge