Check Out These Winter Garden Classes
MSHS offers garden classes year-round, both at our office/store in Roseville and at other locations, such as garden centers and nurseries. Winter is a popular time to take a class because it’s a good way to enjoy gardening even when the garden is under snow. In January and February 2013, MSHS is offering an assortment of classes for gardeners. Which ones would you enjoy most?
Make a Whimsical Fairy House (Jan. 10 and 17, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Garden Treasures, Anoka) In this class, you will create a whimsical fairy house to tuck into your garden. The house, complete with chimneys and doors, will be made from cement with stones and moss and other natural elements. All materials are supplied, but you may want to bring interesting old hardware like a skeleton key, old window latches or door knobs and other trinkets to embellish your house. You will add finishing touches to your fairy house, paint it if you choose, and take it home on Thursday January 17. Cost: $35 MSHS members; $40 nonmembers. Here’s a video about this class.
Gardening with Iris (Jan. 22, 6:30 to 8 p.m., MSHS Classroom, Roseville) With over 300 species and thousands of hybrids, there is an iris for every type of garden. Learn the best types of iris for use in northern climates from Bill Dougherty, the owner of SummerChase Gardens. Bill is a garden designer, plant breeder and an AIS garden judge. He has served as the regional vice president of the American Iris Society and the president of the Iris Society of Minnesota. Cost: $15 MSHS members; $20 nonmembers.
Anything But Green (Jan. 29, 6:30 to 8 p.m., MSHS Classroom, Roseville) Want a garden you can’t stop admiring? Photographer and Master Gardener Michelle Mero Reidel will provide you with many plant ideas to create gardens with colorful foliage to provide nonstop interest in your garden after the flowers have bloomed. Michelle wrote an article on this topic for the September/October 2012 issue of Northern Gardener. Cost: $15 MSHS members; $20 nonmembers.
Orange Punch (Feb. 12, 6;30 to 8 p.m., MSHS Classroom, Roseville) If you’re looking for flash and flamboyance in your garden, you can’t beat the color orange. Michelle Mero Riedel will provide you with many perennial and annual plant ideas that show you how to pair orange with friendly colors. Expect some fabulous pictures! Cost: $15 MSHS members; $20 nonmembers.
Introduction to Plant Propagation (Feb, 12, 19, 26; 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., University of Minnesota Plant Growth Facility,1552 Gortner Ave., St. Paul, near the corner of Gortner and Folwell Avenues on the St. Paul Campus.) This is a fun hands-on class where you will get to try a variety of plant propagation techniques. Keep your plants in the U’s greenhouse to watch them grow and take them home in the spring for use in your garden. Instructor Bill Peters, a U teaching specialist, will show you how to start plants from seed, cuttings, divisions, or grafts. Learn how to graft a hibiscus to get two different colors of bloom on the same plant. Fee includes all materials for plants and seeds. Cost: $65 members; $75 nonmembers. To register for any of these classes (or others in March and beyond), go to the MSHS website or call 651-643-3601.