Mark your calendars for the 27th annual Joys of Gardening program offered by the University of Illinois Extension and the U of I Extension Master Gardeners. Slated for Saturday, February 22, at the Highland Community College Student Conference Center, 2998 W. Pearl City Road, Freeport, registration will begin at 8 a.m., the program starting at 8:25 a.m. with a keynote, and breakout sessions following.
The Keynote presenter is David Stevens, Curator, Longenecker Horticultural Gardens. David will present Introduction to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum and the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens. From the birthplace of ecological restoration to the largest and most diverse collection of woody plants in Wisconsin, the arboretum has been a vital part of the Wisconsin landscape since its inception in the 1930s. Today’s talk will introduce us to the arboretum and explore the beauty of the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens’ living collection of woody plants.
Following the keynote presentation will be two breakout sessions. Each breakout session will include unique garden-related classes. Session 1 classes: Secrets of Seed Starting, Growing Great Apples, and Enchanted Spaces: Designing a Whimsical Garden. Session 2 classes: Indoor Gardening for Food and Fun, Branching Out: Choosing the Perfect Trees for Your Landscape, and Fruit Tree Pruning 101: The Basics.
Local professionals, Extension Staff, and U of I Extension Master Gardeners will lead each of the classes. For more information about Joys of Gardening visit go.illinois.edu/jog or call (815) 235-4125. Registration is $15.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.