March Calendar of Triangle Gardening Programs

'Garden Geometry' will be presented March 22 at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens
420 Anderson St., Durham, NC.
http://gardens.duke.edu/events 
Please call 919-668-1707 to register.

Plants of Distinction: Hellebores in the Winter Garden

Tue, March 1, 2016, 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM

 

Pest Management in the Organic Garden 

Wed, March 2, 2016, 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Course meets for 3 sessions

 

Plants of Distinction: The Spring Awakening 

Thu, March 10, 2016, 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM

 

Durham Garden Forum: Epic Success with Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplants

Tue, March 15, 2016, 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

 

Landscape Plants for North Carolina Gardens: Spring 

Wed, March 16, 2016, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Course meets for 4 sessions

 

The Art of Gardening: Inspiration from Chanticleer 

Thu, March 17, 2016, 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Garden Inspiration

Fri, March 18, 2016, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

 

Cooking from the Garden: Spring and Summer Vegetables 

Sat, March 19, 2016, 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM

 

I Need a Plan: The Geometry of a Garden

Tue, March 22, 2016, 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Course meets for 2 sessions

 

Plants of Distinction: The Scent of Spring

Thu, March 24, 2016, 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM

 

Tour: Pine Clouds Mountain Stream Garden

Fri, March 25, 2016, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

 

Gardening in Durham for Beginners and Transplants: Everything You Need to Succeed

Thu, March 31, 2016, 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM



Fifth Annual Spring Egg Hunt runs all week at the JC Raulston Arboretum from March 21-27.

JC Raulston Arboretum
Ruby C. McSwain Education Center, JC Raulston Arboretum
4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC.
http://jcra.ncsu.edu

Plantsmen's Tour: "Early Bulbs"
Tuesday, March 1, 2016 – 1:00 pm–2:30 pm

Mark Weathington, Director
Some of the earliest bulbs are delicate little plants that give the first taste of spring after a cold winter.

 

Garden Cart Activity:  Everything's Coming up Bulbs!
Saturday, March 5,10:30 am–12:00 pm

 

Friends of the Arboretum Lecture :  "The Value of Seed Banks"
March 10, 7:30 p.m.

Janice Swab, Retired Professor, Department of Biology and Health Sciences, Meredith College

 

Friday, March 18

Plan—and Plant for a Better World—J. C. Raulston and the NC State University Arboretum
6:00 pm
Lecture

Plan—and Plant for a Better World—J. C. Raulston and the NC State University Arboretum
7:30 pm
Exhibit Opening and Reception

 

North American Rock Garden Society (Piedmont Chapter) Lecture:  "NARGS Trips: Santa Fe and Ann Arbor"
Saturday, March 19, 10:00 am

Tim Alderton, JC Raulston Arboretum

Fifth Annual Spring Egg Hunt: Family Fun Event Children's Program
Monday, March 21, 2016 – 10:00 am–3:00 pm
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 – 10:00 am–3:00 pm
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 – 10:00 am–3:00 pm
Thursday, March 24, 2016 – 10:00 am–3:00 pm
Friday, March 25, 2016 – 10:00 am–3:00 pm
Saturday, March 26, 2016 – 10:00 am–2:00 pm
Sunday, March 27, 2016 – 1:00 pm–4:00 pm
Welcome spring this year with the Fifth Annual Spring Egg Hunt! The fun starts on March 21 and stays until March 27.



Craig LeHoullier returns to the Durham Garden Forum to present
growing amazing quantities and varieties of vegetables, container plants,
and in-ground plants, on March 15.

 

North Carolina Botanical Gardens 
100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC.
http://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=5&wp=184&aid=NCBG

'Diggin' Spring Vegetables' - Family Workshop
Saturday. March 12, 1 p.m.

Indentifying and Controlling Invasive Plants
with Neville Handel, NCBG Land Manager
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 from 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Weeds for Your Needs: Celebrating The Healing Wild Plants
with Doug Elliott
Thursday, March 17, 2016 from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Sustainable Lawns
Saturday, March 19, 9:30 - 12:00 PM 
with Alan Johnson, Professional Landscape

Spring in the Garden Walk
Saturday, March 19, 2016 ;10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Meet in the Pegg Exhibit Hall of the Education Center

Ephemerals
with Linda Koffenberger, Professional Artist
Saturday, March 19, 2016; 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Spring Flora
with Milo Pyne, Plant Ecologist
Saturdays, 1:00 – 4:00 PM
March 19: (NCBG)
*These dates are OFF-SITE classes
April 9: (Moorefields) https://moorefields.org/visit/
April 23: (Eno Pumpstation) http://www.enotrails.com/pump-station-trail.htm
May 7: (Sarah P Duke Gardens) http://gardens.duke.edu/directions

Signs of Spring on Nature Trail Hill
with Carol Ann McCormick, Curator of the UNC Herbarium
Sunday, March 20, 2016 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Composting Workshop with Muriel Williman
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM

OFF-SITE: For directions: Carolina Campus Community Garden


Durham County Cooperative Extension

Durham Garden Forum: Epic Success with Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplants
Tue, March 15, 2016, 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

Durham Council of Garden Clubs Business Meeting: March 1

The Durham Council of Garden Clubs will hold its next business meeting at 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 1 at the John Sprunt Hill House, 900 S. Duke St., Durham, NC 27707.

The agenda will include an update by the Planning Committee for the Annual Meeting of The Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc., to be held in Durham April 17-19, 2016.

Council Committee Chairs should attend and present their respective reports.

Town & Country Garden Club Sponsors $1K Grant to Brogden

Town & Country Garden Club President Robin Marin (second from L) helps present a $1K NC Beautiful award Monday, Feb 8 at Brogden Middle School of Durham. This is the second of two grants the T&C Garden Club awarded to Durham Public Schools this year.

Brogden Middle School was recently awarded a $1,000 grant by NC Beautiful and the Town & Country Garden Club.  The Windows of Opportunity grant was given to Brogden for it’s planned efforts to improve the school’s grounds and to revitalize its pond area.  NC Beautiful executive director, Steve Vacendak presented the check during a special ceremony last week.

“The goal is to bring the pond back to life and provide a space for teachers to bring classes studying ecosystems and for students to observe habitat. With a new pump, koi fish, protective covering, plants and more, we can turn this dilapidated pond into a place all of our students and teachers want to be”, says Abby Exum, Brogden’s AIG Facilitator and Support Specialist.

School leaders say the project will also serve as a service learning opportunity for students and a video diary will be kept to document the transformation.

NC Beautiful has been providing environmental education and beautification opportunities that elevate the quality of life of North Carolinian's for almost 50 years.  Through the Windows of Opportunity competitive grant, teachers are rewarded for their innovation and creativity as they promote environmental stewardship with their students to improve appreciation of the environment. 

http://www.dpsnc.net/pages/Durham_Public_Schools/News/Brogden_Awarded_NC_Beautiful_G

Petals with Provenance: Heirloom Flowers

Spring’s plant catalogs with heirloom varieties. Photo: F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Anne Cardenas.

            

By Bart Ziegler

WSJ, ZieglerFeb. 18, 2016                     

In 1792, Thomas Jefferson wrote to a fellow plant enthusiast to gush about the snail flower, an ornamental bean vine named for its buds that curl like the shell of a mollusk. It is “the most beautiful bean in the world,” Jefferson said of the purple-and-white flowers, whose heady scent resembles jasmine.

Despite the founding father’s endorsement, the snail flower, Vigna caracalla, fell out of favor, and seeds from the annual vine, a South American native, were no longer sold in the U.S., the fate of a surprising number of once-popular garden plants.

“We were looking all over for it,” said Peggy Cornett, coordinator of plants at Monticello, the Jefferson estate in Virginia. Eventually, the historic site’s horticultural staff located the beans in a European catalog, began cultivating them and now sells them on monticelloshop.org.

Heirloom vegetables have been the rage for more than a decade in the garden world, with foodies cooing over zebra-striped tomatoes and blue potatoes. But a lesser-known category of historic plants has its own devoted following: heirloom flowers.

Even as this spring’s mass-market plant catalogs promote the horticultural industry’s latest inventions—black petunias, anyone?—many gardeners choose to nurture such plants as the meadowsweet, available at heritageflowerfarm.com, which Emily Dickinson is believed to have tended in her Amherst, Mass., yard in the mid 1800s. The frilly white blooms were found in her dried-flower collection.

Cooking-school manager Alicia Guy, who grows antique dahlias at her home outside Seattle, said of doing so, “It makes me feel like I have a connection with gardeners from 100 years ago that transcends technological change.” Older varieties of the summer showstoppers unfurl in color combinations today’s versions can’t deliver. Bishop of Llandaff’s brilliant red petals and yellow stamens pop against its dark bronze-colored foliage. And Ms. Guy likes knowing her great-great grandmother might have cared for the same flowers.

While not strictly defined, heirloom flowers generally date to at least the first half of the 20th century, before modern breeding techniques, which serve the needs of wholesale greenhouses. Rapid and uniform growth are often prized over fragrance and longevity in the garden, said Peter Zale, curator at Longwood Gardens, a public garden west of Philadelphia. Ms. Guy said her heirloom dahlias tend to come back more reliably each spring than contemporary versions. Heirlooms usually come “true to seed” as well: Seeds they create produce the exact same color and variety—not always the case with modern hybrids.

The bragging rights historic plants give gardeners are well-founded. You can grow the same tulips planted in the White House Rose Garden when it was redesigned for President John F. Kennedy, in 1962; the variety of tuberoses Louis XIV enjoyed at Versailles; or the diminutive Silver Bells daffodils that author Eudora Welty tended in her Mississippi yard in the 1930s. All are available through Old House Gardens (oldhousegardens.com).      

Antique plants reward gardeners with quirkiness, too. Brilliant purple-blue blooms emerge along the 3-to-4-foot spikes of the perennial bee larkspur—a type of Delphinium elatum, the ancient European parent of modern delphiniums—but a peep at their deepest petals brings a surprise.

“It looks like a bee is hanging out of the flower, down to its fuzzy stripes,’’ said Amy Murray, coordinator of horticulture at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Mass., a historic site whose gardens host flowers popular from 1790 to 1840. Find bee larkspur seeds at anniesannuals.com.

Raising heirloom plants yields more than beauty: You ensure their survival. Catalogs from the late 1700s and early 1800s offered hundreds of varieties of hyacinths, said Scott Kunst, founder and owner of Old House Gardens, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Today, most purveyors sell a half-dozen or so types of these Easter favorites.

Heirloom flowers can’t be conserved in a museum like historic documents or antique furniture. “The only way to save them is to grow them,” Mr. Kunst said.

See specific heirloom flower profiles and entire article at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-guide-to-planting-heirloom-flowerswith-links-to-thomas-jefferson-and-more-1455811830

2016 GCNC Annual Meeting: Registration Now Available

GNNC Annual Meeting

April 17-19, 2016

Sheraton Imperial, Durham NC

Official Call Letter-corrected with schedule of events

GCNC REGISTRATION #4

Free Bulbs Offered from Keep Durham Beautiful

Are you ready for spring yet? We are giving out flower bulbs for the ‪#‎BulbBlitz16‬ giveaway! Enter for the chance to win your Durham-based community group 100 bulbs. Sign up today at Keep Durham Beautiful: http://bit.ly/1R4cJM7

Gardening with Deer: Even Beach Homeowners are not Immune!

Watch this 20-minute Dare County Extension video with NC Master Gardener Lois Chatham explaining how to manage deer damage in your garden. Whether you live in the Piedmont or at the coast, deer attack most vegetation, so learn about different types of fencing and natural deterrents such as herbs, ferns and poisonous plants.

Valentines Weekend at the Four Seasons George V Paris: Part of $1M Annual Floral Budget

Spend $1M a year on fresh flowers? The Paris Four Seasons George V does. See the monochromatic lobby design for Valentine's weekend.  http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/jeff-leatham-flowers-four-seasons-george-v

“It never stops,” Jeff Leatham says as he works buckets of crimson ‘Naomi’ roses (named for Naomi Campbell, of course) into slick black vessels in the lobby of Paris’s Four Seasons George V. As the hotel’s artistic director, Leatham and his team change the floral scheme every three weeks, like clockwork. The actual flowers, though, are changed every single day, which adds up to roughly 12,000 stems a week and an annual flower budget of over $1 million.

“We’re big on first impressions,” Leatham says. “When people walk into the hotel, you want to make them say, ‘Wow!’”

But it's more than just the entryway. Flowers are incorporated throughout the hotel—in the restaurant, in the guest rooms, in the spa, and, of course, in the courtyard, where, come spring, orchids will cascade from the sky.

The master plan for today’s assortment of Valentine’s Day–hued blooms—10,000 ‘Naomi’ roses and 2,500 phalaenopsis orchids—was that they be frozen inside glass boxes à la Damien Hirst. But when container destined for the lobby inconveniently shattered, Leatham had to think on his feet. The new plan is no less stunning. Black vessels in varying heights host dense bouquets in the lobby. A Flemish tapestry serves as a painterly backdrop to architectural arrangements in a vestibule toward the hotel restaurant, Le Cinq. And a gleaming silver faceted polar bear—a Leatham hallmark—whose nose stretches up to practically touch the chandelier in a hallway is surrounded by a bed of crimson roses.

And in just a few short weeks, it will all be transformed yet again.

“So many people say they stay here because of the flowers,” Leatham says. “So it’s a huge responsibility. I never want a guest to come in and say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen that before.’

Pest Spotlight: 'Arthropods in our Homes' (Triangle Edition)

As part of their initiative to inventory the arthropods found in US homes,
researchers found this search party of little black ants (Monomorium minimum),
which found food on a couch. Photo by Dr. Matt Bertone, NCSU Entomologist.

NCSU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Center Newsletter

January 19, 2016

 

The first study to evaluate the biodiversity of arthropods in U.S. homes finds that humans share their houses with any of more than 500 different kinds of arthropods — at least on a short-term basis. Arthropods are invertebrate animals with exoskeletons, segmented bodies and jointed limbs, such as insects, spiders, mites and centipedes.

“This was exploratory work to help us get an understanding of which arthropods are found in our homes,” says Dr. Matt Bertone, an entomologist at North Carolina State University and lead author of a paper describing the work. “Nobody had done an exhaustive inventory like this one, and we found that our homes host far more biodiversity than most people would expect.” The work was done by researchers at NC State, the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Under an initiative called the “Arthropods of Our Homes,” the researchers visited 50 free-standing houses within 30 miles of Raleigh, North Carolina, between May and October of 2012. Going room by room, the research team collected all of the arthropods it could find, both living and dead.
Across all 50 homes, the researchers identified no fewer than 579 different morphospecies of arthropod from 304 different families. Individual homes had, on average, about 100 morphospecies (between 32 and 211) and between 24 and 128 distinct families. The most commonly collected groups of arthropods in the homes were flies, spiders, beetles, ants and book lice. The term morphospecies is used to characterize animal types that are readily separable by morphological differences that are obvious to individuals without extensive taxonomic training.

“While we collected a remarkable diversity of these creatures, we don’t want people to get the impression that all of these species are actually living in everyone’s homes,” Bertone says. “Many of the arthropods we found had clearly wandered in from outdoors, been brought in on cut flowers or were otherwise accidentally introduced. Because they’re not equipped to live in our homes, they usually die pretty quickly.”

For example, researchers found gall midges (Cecidomyiidae) in all 50 homes. But these millimeter-long flies feed on outdoor plants and can’t survive indoors.

“The vast majority of the arthropods we found in homes were not pest species,” Bertone says. “They were either peaceful cohabitants – like the cobweb spiders (Theridiidae) found in 65 percent of all rooms sampled – or accidental visitors, like midges and leafhoppers (Cicadellidae).”

One of the findings that surprised researchers was that only five of the 554 rooms they sampled did not contain any arthropod specimens.

“We think our homes are sterile environments, but they’re not,” Bertone says. “We share our space with many different species, most of which are benign. The fact that you don’t know they’re there only highlights how little we interact with them.”

The research will likely open the door to new lines of scientific inquiry.

“This is only a first glimpse into the species that live in our homes, and more work needs to be done to flesh this picture out,” says Dr. Michelle Trautwein, the Schlinger Chair of Dipterology at CAS and co-author of the paper. “But these insights give us the opportunity delve down into some exciting scientific questions. Now that we have a better idea of which species are most common in homes, we can focus on studying them.

“Do they provide important services that we don’t know about in the ecosystems of our homes? Do any host microbial organisms that affect our health, for good or bad? And we can also begin to explore their traits to see if they share evolutionary characteristics that have made them better suited to live with humans,” Trautwein says.

“We also plan to assess how a home’s structure, its outdoor environment, and the behavior of its human residents influences the biodiversity of arthropods in the home,” Bertone says.

###

The paper, “Arthropods of the great indoors: characterizing diversity inside urban and suburban homes,” appears in the Jan. 19 edition of the journal PeerJ. The paper was co-authored by Keith Bayless and Rob Dunn of NC State; Misha Leong of CAS; and Tara Malow of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants 1257960 and 0953350.

https://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/news-center/media-releases/first-study-of-arthropods-in-us-homes-finds-huge-biodiversity/

National Garden Club South Atlantic Region Convention to Meet in Raleigh: March 13-15

Registration can be found on:  http://www.gardenclubofnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/2016-SAR-Covention-Registration.pdf

2016 Witherspoon University for Roses Begins Feb. 6

 

 

Register today for our 2016 Witherspoon University classes. Join us this year as we take you through all aspects of growing beautiful roses. Participated last year? No problem - these classes are great for all levels of rose growers. Register now. https://goo.gl/0qmNJ2

Our first class is this Saturday, February 6 at 10am. Join us in Durham or Charlotte. Come early to pick up your packet and some coffee!

Durham's Tree Canopy Replacement Program Needs Support

Durham Councilman Steve Schewel spoke about the city's replacement program for trees at Tuesday's DCGC meeting at the Hill House. Mr. Schewel encouraged all garden clubs and residents to appeal to the City Council and request tree funding be allocated in the 2016 budget.

By Shelley Deckker
Blossom Garden Club

THE ISSUE: 

Durham is losing its tree canopy at an alarming rate.  The thousands of mature willow oaks planted along city streets in the 1930s by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) are dying from age, disease, drought, storm damage, and improper pruning by Duke Energy.

The Durham Environmental Affairs Board issued a report on Durham’s tree canopy in 2015.  Their findings indicate that in order to maintain the current tree canopy on public land over the next 20 years, Durham will need to remove 750 trees per year and plant 1680 trees per year.  In the past year, about 500 trees were removed and 950 planted by the City’s Urban Forestry Department.

The Urban Forestry Department’s budget has remained stagnant since 2010, while the number of tree removals has increased dramatically each year.  The small staff is strapped just to keep up with removals, and the lack of functioning, well-maintained heavy equipment to do their job often puts their work at a standstill.  They have little to no resources for tree planting and healthy tree maintenance.

THE SOLUTION:

The Durham Council of Garden Clubs and its member clubs have long been involved in tree planting in Durham.  The tree canopy is of vital importance to the health and well-being of all of Durham.  Maintaining a healthy tree canopy should be an ongoing and long-term priority of the DCGC.

The urban forestry department needs a larger budget, but before they will be given a larger budget, the City needs to fund a tree inventory and master plan for the Durham’s urban forest.  We need all DCGC garden clubs and members to write to the mayor and city council members to request funding for the tree inventory and master plan.  It would be especially helpful for members to come to “Coffees with Council” to tell the council members in person that we care about our tree canopy. 

 

These dates and places can be found here: http://durhamnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8489

To email City Council members as a group:  council@durhamnc.gov
or individually:

• Bill Bell, Mayor: bill.bell@durhamnc.gov
• Cora Cole-McFadden, mayor Pro Tempore: cora.cole-mcfadden@durhamnc.gov
• Eddie Davis, Ward 2 Council Member: eddie.davis@durhamnc.gov
• Jillian Johnson, At Large Council Member: jillian.johnson@durhamnc.gov
• Don Moffitt, Ward 3 Council Member:  don.moffitt@durhamnc.gov
• Charlie Reece, At Large Council Member: charlie.reece@durhamnc.gov
• Steve Schewel, At Large Council Member: steve.schewel@durhamnc.gov

Make Your Own Pink Clay and Primrose Hand-Milled Soap

Valentine's Day is around the corner and the perfect holiday to tap the garden for gifts!
You’ll find the results of this delightfully feminine project featured in our home-fragrance story in the January/February 2016 issue of Victoria magazine. 

F
Formulating personalized skin-care products yields hours of enjoyment—first in their creation, and later in the moments of pampering provided by these toiletries. Kits give crafters the ease of melting and customizing premade cold-process soap before pouring the mixture into molds. Our friends at Bramble Berry, a trusted resource for soap-making supplies since 1998, have graciously shared their tutorial for making a fragrant, rose-garnished soap, using their Pink Clay and Primrose Hand-Milled Soap Kit.

 

Pink Clay and Primrose Hand-Milled Soap

Yields approximately 12 bars

 

Ingredients

1. 1 tablespoon pink Brazilian clay
2. 6 ounces plus 1 tablespoon rose water, divided
3. 2 pounds Luxury Rebatch
4. 1 tablespoon evening primrose extract
5. .8 ounce Ylang Ylang III essential oil
6. 1 (12-bar) oval silicone mould
7. Rose petals

Instructions

1. In a small container, combine pink Brazilian clay with 1 tablespoon rose water. Use a mini mixer to get clumps worked out smoothly. The clays tend to sink to the bottom of the container, so be sure to give them one final mix right before you add them to the soap.
2. In a slow cooker or double boiler, heat Luxury Rebatch and remaining 6 ounces rose water over medium heat until the mixture reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes, stirring frequently to ensure the soap heats evenly.
3. Add pink Brazilian clay mixture to soap, and use a spatula to stir in and fully incorporate.
4. Add evening primrose extract and Ylang Ylang III essential oil, and use a spatula to fully incorporate.
5. Once all additives are fully incorporated, use a spatula to scoop soap into silicone mould. Using your hands or the spatula, press soap into mould to eliminate bubbles and air pockets.
6. Sprinkle rose petals on top of soap, and use your fingers to gently press them into rebatch to ensure they adhere.
7. Allow soap to remain in mould for 5 to 7 days. Once it is firm enough to remove, allow soap to cure for several more days. This will enable moisture to evaporate, creating harder and longer-lasting bars.

 

*Ingredients are available online in Bramble Berry’s Pink Clay and Primrose Hand-Milled Soap Kit.

February Calendar of Triangle Gardening Programs

"Grow Native Wildflowers in Your Garden" Durham County Extension Gardener Series
will be held Thursday, Feb. 18, 6:30-8 p.m. at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens
420 Anderson St., Durham, NC.
http://gardens.duke.edu/events 
Please call 919-668-1707 to register.

I Need a Plan: Garden Fundamentals - Create a Bird-Friendly Garden
Tuesday, Feb. 2, 6:30-9 p.m.
Course meets for 2 sessions

Keeping That Tree Alive and Thriving!
Thursday, Feb. 4, 6:30-8 p.m.

 

Mushroom Logs
Saturday, Feb. 6, 10 a.m. - noon, and 1-3 p.m.

Basic Botany and Plant Growth
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 6-9 p.m.
Course meets for 4 sessions

I Need a Plan: Create a Colorful Mixed Border
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 6:30-9 p.m.
Course meets for 2 sessions

Landscape Plants for North Carolina Gardens: Winter
Tuesday, Feb. 23, 3-5:30 p.m.
Course meets for 3 sessions

Wayfaring Insects: Invasive Pests in Our Back Yards

Friday, Feb. 26, 6:30-8p.m.

 

JC Raulston Arboretum
Ruby C. McSwain Education Center, JC Raulston Arboretum
4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC.
http://jcra.ncsu.edu

Introduction to Insect Identification: The Good, the Bad, and the Buggy
John Meyer, Ph.D., Retiring Professor, Department of Entomology, NC State University
Mondays, February 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, 2016 – 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Plantsmen's Tour:  "40th Anniversary Tour—Winter Flowers"
Tim Alderton, Research Technician
Tuesday, Feb 2, 1 p.m.

Garden Soils Class:  "If You Build It, They Will Come: Understanding and Improving Garden Soils"
Saturday,  Feb. 6, 8:30 a.m.

Bryce Lane, Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor Emeritus and Lecturer Emeritus, Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University

 

The Ins and Outs of Home Landscaping: How to Choose, Use, and Care for Plants in the Home Garden   
Wednesdays, Feb. 10, 17, and 24 and March 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Bryce Lane, Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor Emeritus and Lecturer Emeritus, Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University

Friends of the Arboretum Lecture and Book Launch

Thursday, Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m.
"Good Berry, Bad Berry: Finding and Identifying the Most Common Wild Berries of North America"
Helen Yoest, Gardening With Confidence

 

North American Rock Garden Society (Piedmont Chapter) Lecture: 
"Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Texas Wildflowers"
Saturday, Feb. 13, 10 a.m.

Damon Waitt, Director, NC Botanical Garden

 

Winter Symposium:  "On the Edge and in the Box: Gardening in Unusual Spaces"
Saturday, Feb. 20, 8 a.m.

 

Gardening Adventures with Extension Master Gardener Volunteers:
"Vermicompost for Healthier Plants"
Monday, Feb. 22, 10 a.m.

Rhonda Sherman, Wake County Extension Master Gardener

 

Rain Garden Design and Installation Workshop
Thursday, Feb. 25, 8 a.m.

Sponsored by the Department of Horticultural Science, Stewart Design, and the JC Raulston Arboretum

North Carolina Botanical Gardens 
100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC.
http://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=5&wp=184&aid=NCBG

Darwin Day LUNCHBOX Talk with Allen Hurlbert
Friday, Feb. 12, noon - 2 p.m.

Love is for the Birds - FAMILY WORKSHOP
Saturday, Feb. 13, 10-11:30 a.m.
For ages 6-12 with accompanying adult.

Get Ready for Spring: A Vegetable Gardening Workshop
Claire Lorch, CCCG Garden Educator; Greta Lee, Certified Permaculture InstructorThis event is full. Now accepting wait list registrations.Sunday, Feb. 21, 1:30-3 p.m.

Durham County Cooperative Extension

Durham Garden Forum: Edible Plants and Permaculture Techniques
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, 6:30-8 p.m.

Grow Native Wildflowers in Your Garden: Durham County Extension Gardener Series Thursday, Feb. 18, 6:30-8 p.m.

Briggs Ave. Community Garden - Seed-Starting Workshop 
Saturday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m. - noon
Aisha Sanders, Durham Co. Master Gardener, Call 919-560-528 to register.