Get to know our 2025 Co-Recording Secrtary: VIcki Toth

What is your favorite thing about gardening?  

Being outside experiencing the tranquility and noticing the small things in the garden.  And in the end, the final product.  The beauty, simplicity, and how things can change overnight and from year to year.

What led you to become a master gardener?

My mother would introduce me to one of her friends and say, "You know, SHE is a MASTER GARDENER!"  I felt like it was such a special thing that I vowed to one day achieve that distinction as well.

What is your favorite thing about being a master gardener?

I have learned so much and continue to learn.  Every meeting, garden visit, and interaction with my fellow MGs serves as fuel to try new things.  And of course, the friendships and acquaintances that would never have developed without the Master Gardener experience.

What is your favorite memory during your time as a master gardener?

I am from the Class of 2023 and we had more fun in class - it was Amy's first year as well and it seemed so special.  I really missed the classes once they were over.  

What is your favorite season as a gardener?

Spring

How many years have you been gardening?

Since I was 7 years old and my father had an acre of vegetables that seemed to need weeding way too often.  

Have you always gardened in TN or did you start somewhere else? What is the same/different?

I started gardening in Western Michigan where it could frost as late as the end of May.  Memorial Day weekend seemed to be when everyone planted without fear of it freezing.  Also, it could snow in October so we picked ALL the tomatoes early, whatever color they were to avoid the freezing temperatures.

If you were moving and could only take one plant with you, what would it be?

If it were a tree, it would be my ginkgo.  My orchids would be my plant choice (indoor) and peonies (outdoor).

What are some staples that you will always grow in your garden?

Iris, peonies, echinacea, hydrangeas, asters, pentas, ferns, allium, lilies, lantana, daffodils, hibiscus, hollies, kniphofia, coreopsis, azaleas, and lots of herbs.  I love trying new things and try to have something new every year.  They don't always cooperate and we have lots of deer in and around our neighborhood so I must go with deer resistant plants.  They just started eating my hydrangeas this year, among other things!!

What is the most important lesson you have learned about gardening?

Each year is different depending on the weather and climate.  You can't always predict what will work and won't, but that is part of the fun, right?  So you start each season very hopeful and go from there.