DECATUR, Ill. — The winter months are perfect for getting a head start on your gardening season. Education is essential whether you are interested in growing vegetables for fresh produce or landscaping your yard. Gardening Insights, a one-day workshop hosted by University of Illinois Extension’s Master Gardeners in Macon County, offers various educational sessions focusing on relevant horticulture topics. Macon County 4-H will also provide activities for children while parents and caregivers attend the sessions.
Gardening Insights will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 1 Bachrach Ct, in Decatur, Il. Chris Benda, also known as Illinois Botanizer, will begin the day with his keynote presentation: Botanical Humor: You Never Knew Plants Were So Funny.
Chris Benda’s unique teaching style incorporates puns, jokes, and whimsical pop culture references to entertain and educate audiences. He is a botanist and past president of the Illinois Native Plant Society. He works as a Researcher at Southern Illinois University, coordinates the Plants of Concern Southern Illinois Program, and teaches the Flora of Southern Illinois. Chris also conducts botanical fieldwork worldwide, teaches at the Morton Arboretum, and leads nature tours for Camp Ondessonk. He has research appointments with the University of Illinois and Argonne National Laboratory. He is also an accomplished photographer and author of several publications about nature areas in Southern Illinois.
Gardening Insights participants may choose to attend three sessions from a total of twelve, covering topics such as raised bed gardening, diseases and diagnosis of plants, beneficial home and garden insects, and xeriscaping, a gardening strategy to minimize water usage and make every drop count. The morning session will follow the keynote, and the other sessions will be after a lunch of sandwiches, salads, and dessert.
Macon County 4-H is partnering with the Master Gardeners to provide STEM, gardening, and cooking activities for children ages 5 to 18 while their parents and caregivers attend the sessions. Youth will make their own pizzas. Availability for youth activities is limited.
The fee for this event is $35 and includes the three educational sessions, keynote speaker, children’s activities(if needed), and lunch. Register by Feb. 19. at go. illinois.edu/GardeningInsights2023. For more information, please contact Whitney Allison at wallison@illinois.edu or call 217-877-6042.
The Macon County Master Gardeners are volunteers trained by University of Illinois Extension. Master Gardeners fulfill their mission of Helping Others Learn to Grow by volunteering their time and horticulture skills through community gardening projects and educational outreach.
University of Illinois Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate, please contact wallison@illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time for meeting your access need.
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