While we’re waiting for winter to pass we can attend some workshops and gardening classes. And, to recharge our batteries with dreams of spring and summer, the Northwest Flower and Garden Show is right around the corner.
The Master Gardener Foundation of Kitsap County has a two-hour seminar the third Wednesday of each month at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. Sometimes the seminars are in the Eagle’s Nest meeting room and other times they’re in the conference room at the pavilion. Go to kitsap.wsu.edu or www.kitsapgardens.org for a listing of this year’s upcoming seminars. If you don’t have internet access call the WSU extension office at (360) 337-7157 to request a list by mail of the seminars available.
WSU Extension Kitsap and Olympic College are partnering to offer home and garden classes. This winter quarter you can attend classes at the Bremerton campus. Soils and composting is on Jan. 26; greenhouse gardening is Feb. 2; houseplants demystified is Feb. 9; and Pruning Basics is Feb. 16. All classes are on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon in the new Science Building in Room 127. There’s ample free parking at the college on Saturdays. Each class is an affordable $35 per person. You can call the college at (360) 394-2702 to find out how to register. These classes will be repeated on weeknights during the spring quarter. Several of the spring classes will be offered at the Poulsbo Olympic College campus. If you’d like a particular topic offered through this home and garden series please call Peg at (360) 337-7224 and let us know what you’d like to learn more about.
This year for the first time, we have a few open spaces for the public to attend the WSU Kitsap Master Gardener Program basic horticulture classes. The scheduled classes are can be found at kitsap.wsu.edu. Each class is $25 per person to attend, but you must call the Extension Office at (360) 337-7157 to sign up for the class and reserve your space. The classes are in the council chambers meeting space at the Norm Dicks Government Center, 345 6th St. in downtown Bremerton. If you do not have access to the Internet you can stop at the Extension Office, Suite 550, to pick up a schedule or give us a call and we can mail you a schedule.
If you are yearning for spring and summer, then you can get a wonderful gardening and even fantasy fix at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle from Feb. 20-24. This must-attend event each year. You’ll enjoy strolling through display gardens, visiting the many vendors and you’ll be able to shop plant markets to your heart’s content. But that’s not all. Every day from morning to night you’ll be able to attend classes and demonstrations from gardening scene luminaries. The show even has events and activities catering specifically to children.
Most of our local nurseries carry and sell tickets to the show. Call your favorite nursery first to make sure. You can also order tickets online at www.gardenshow.com or by calling (206) 789-5333. The show has 26 full-scale gardens this year and features 120 free seminars sponsored by Sunset and Salmon Bay Events. Here are just a few of the titles of this year’s display gardens: “Sippy-cups to Wine Stems – Harmonious Family Living for Small Gardens,” “A Backyard Farm – Urban Agriculture in the Northwest” and “Outdoor Haven – Kick Off Your Shoes.”
Try the show, you’ll like it.
