Susan Hampton, a Vicksburg native and this year’s Master Gardener of the Year has been interested in gardening since she was a little girl.

“When I was a little girl playing in the woods, I saw some Jack in the Pulpits and Maypops and that got me interested,” she said. “I’ve always like plants, and I’m an outdoor person.”

She has been a member of the Mississippi Master Gardener Association since 2007.

“I enjoy giving and helping other people by giving them advice on their gardens,” she said.

That willingness to help prompted Hampton to drive to Carlisle, Miss. with a few others Thursday morning to help clean up Kay Bilbro’s garden and bring a few plants back with her.

Each of Mississippi’s 82 county extension agents enter names into the running for Master Gardner of the Year, and Hampton said the competition was tough. Usually the title goes to a single person, but because of a tie, Hampton is sharing the honor with Charlie Weatherly, a rosarian from Starkville.

The Master Gardner organization is a volunteer program that consists of giving gardening advice and recommendations, to speaking to groups of people or handing out information to the public. First year interns have to take 40 hours of classwork and complete 40 hours of service. After the first year, interns become master gardeners and complete 20 volunteer hours and take 12 hours of classes a year.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service Office offers the Master Gardener program. Callers and visitors to the Warren County Extension Office from January to April of this year have likely spoken with Hampton. When the two extension agents and the secretary left the office in January for other employment opportunities, Hampton showed up to help keep the place going.

At the monthly Master Gardener meeting Hampton asked for volunteers to answer the phones and greet guests, but even with the extra help, she earned over 10 years worth of volunteer hours with her time at the office. That’s over 200 hours in three months.

“I didn’t just answer the phone,” Hampton said. “I tried to fill in on some of the things they needed help with.”

About two weeks after Hampton stepped in, with help from retired agent John Coccaro, Anna McCain was named the new extension agent for Warren County.

“She’s been a very special person to me,” McCain said. “She’s really helped me assimilate into the community, and most importantly she was a great face for our office.”

She said Hampton means a great deal to the office and is a selfless person who stepped up by volunteering her time so that their clients could be served more efficiently.

“She wasn’t asked to do what she did, she just did it out of the kindness of her heart,” McCain said. “She gave up not just a couple of hours, but she gave up months to help us. I think that says a lot about her and her personality and her willingness to give.”

Hampton received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in biology and chemistry from Mississippi State College for Women, now Mississippi University for Women, in four years. She did soybean research at Mississippi State University for five years before coming back to Vicksburg to work with the Corps of Engineers.

“I had two years in research at Waterways, two years at the Vicksburg District in the Regulatory Program and then I went to the division for 28 years, and I ended up the branch chief,” Hampton said.

In 2006, Hampton retired and took up volunteering fulltime through her work with the Master Gardeners and cooking for Meals on Wheels and also The Salvation Army along with First Presbyterian Church where she is a member.

“God created lots of unique plants, and they all have their place,” Hampton said. “A weed is just a plant out of place.”