A long-awaited addition to Tucson’s gardening community is finally complete: the Pima County Master Gardeners unveiled a new state-of-the-art greenhouse last weekend, designed to expand sustainable growing, hands-on education and public outreach across Southern Arizona.

“Every seed that takes root will stand as a reminder of the generosity that made this space possible and the collective efforts of those who believe that knowledge should be shared and that communities thrive when they learn together,” said Dr. Edward Martin, associate vice president and director of the Arizona Cooperative Extension System.

Pima County Master Gardeners is a volunteer-based group that provides science-based horticulture education to the community through the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.

“The extension’s mission is to essentially take university knowledge, research and science and extend that information out to the public and share it,” said Pima County Master Gardeners Program Coordinator Celeste Gambill.

Cooperative extensions are nationwide programs established under legislation signed by President Abraham Lincoln and are operated by land-grant universities in each state.

Located at the Pima County Cooperative Extension, the greenhouse took about three years to complete.

“It’s a huge opportunity for our program to have this done and complete our entire mission to educate the public,” Gambill said.

The project’s primary donor was Curtis Jones, a member of the Tucson Village Farm Advisory Board, who contributed $150,000.

“When you donate to the Master Gardener program…it goes directly to the extension,” Jones said, adding that the program has almost 300 master gardeners and not enough infrastructure. “The Master Gardeners will be able to do all of the things they love and to contribute to the education of people much better now that they have the resources to do it.”

Jones, originally from Tucson, founded a seed packet company called Botanical Interests, which he later sold.

“What I was missing was purpose and purpose in life is the most important thing there is and all these people have given me that opportunity to have purpose again,” he said.

Jones’ interest in plants began in high school, thanks to his track coach and biology teacher, John Brooks.

He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in plant protection and a master’s in plant science. After selling his company, he bought a house and moved to Tucson, where he was introduced to Gambill and the Pima County Cooperative Extension.

“She showed me all around the gardens and everything,” Jones said. “I was kind of thinking, this place is fantastic.”

Soon after discovering the group, Jones asked Gambill if the university could fund the construction of a new greenhouse.

“I said, ‘How much would this cost?’ and she said, probably the greenhouse, about $150,000 and I said I’ll pay for it and I think she actually cried,” he said.

The greenhouse will support year-round demonstrations, propagation, seed starting, climate-resilient growing practices and deeper public learning about plant science and sustainable food systems, according to a press release from the Master Gardeners.

The new structure is larger than the group’s previous space and includes two climate zones: humid and dry.

The humid zone is used for seed starting, the process of sprouting seeds in a controlled environment, while the dry zone supports the propagation and growth of native plants.

The dry zone also houses a water filtration system. Roughly 85% of the filtered well water will be used inside the greenhouse, with the remaining 15% used on outdoor plants. Purified water is especially helpful for propagating new plants and extends the life of the filtration system, said Master Gardener Fern Goldstein.

In addition to funding the greenhouse, Jones also matched every donation made to the program up to $25,000. He said he had always planned to donate more because he knew the group would need additional supplies to support the new infrastructure.

A few of the Master Gardeners were shocked and surprised by the additional donation, calling it a big relief.

“The most important thing is I wanted to donate to something that mattered to me,” said Jones.

Arilynn Hyatt is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact her at arilynndhyatt@arizona.edu.

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