If you are interested in gardening, you have a treat coming up April 20-21 in Discovery Gardens. The Central Florida Landscape and Gardening Fair is preparing a great lineup for you with educational seminars and activities, as well as garden-related vendors.
Starting at 10 a.m., April 20, Dr. Jamie Ellis will be talking about the plight of the honey bee. Well known for his beekeeper college, Ellis’ talk will be more general about the recent declines in honey bees, and other interesting bee facts. All speakers will be around for questions afterwards, so store up some questions for our experts.
Next on the agenda is Jonathan Squires, our local barefoot gardener, with a talk on no turf landscaping, a subject dear to the heart of those who hate to mow grass.
Robert Bowden, director of Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, will be talking at 12:30 p.m. about setting the record straight on gardening myths. His wonderful photography and humor, as well as his gardening knowledge, have made him a favorite speaker for gardening audiences.
Following him at 2 p.m. will be Keri Leymaster, Orange County Extension agent and past Sea World horticulturist. She will tell us how to use those confusing irrigation controllers that are worse than TV controllers to program. Research at UF/IFAS has shown that people can save as much as 70 percent of their irrigation water if they use their controllers properly.
Meanwhile, if your in terests are more along the lines of cooking what you grow, Julie England, our own Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent, will be teaching cooking with herbs in our kitchen. Find out what herbs grow well here and how you can use them in delicious, nutritious recipes. Taste testing will be included.
Vendors and other speakers will be available in the Discovery Gardens both days, and there will be children’s activities in the children’s gardens including the butterfly house. At 10:30 a.m., Saturday, and 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Bill Ferree of WattNext, Inc. will be talking about using solar power in the Horticulture Learning Center (HLC) building. A federal grant was used to outfit the HLC with solar panels that now provide the electricity for the building with the excess sold back to the utility.
Master Gardeners will be stationed in seven of the gardens from 11 a.m. to noon and 2 to 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday to answer any horticulture questions about the tropical shade garden, camellia shade garden, nectar garden, palm walk, herb garden, cottage garden and butterfly house.
If you are interested in backyard fruit production, our own commercial fruit production agent, Gary England, will be in the fruit garden to answer questions from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Steve Earls, our local square foot gardening guru, will be available at our square foot vegetable garden on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. and 1:40 p.m. on Sunday for demonstrations and questions.
On Sunday, our auditorium speakers start at 10 a.m. with Carl and Bernie Moro talking about gardening with worms. They are the owners of Our Vital Earth and have extensive knowledge of composting and gardening with worms.
At noon on Sunday the keynote speaker Tom MacCubbin will be talking about gardening challenges for Florida gardens. MacCubbin is famous in central Florida as a long-time UF/IFAS Extension agent, now emeritus, for his TV and radio gardening programs.
Teresa Watkins, host of “In Your Yard” radio program, will follow him at 1:30 p.m. to talk about how to implement Florida friendly landscaping in your community. This is an introduction to the course used for state certification of HOA and property managers.
In the gardens on Sunday at 10 and 11 a.m., Maryann Krisovitch from the Lake County Water Authority will talk about using rain water at the cistern and rain barrels that capture water from our HLC building.
If you are interested in purchasing and painting your own rain barrel, Christina Miller from the city of Mount Dora will be in the gardens from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday with rain barrels and paint so you can make your own to take home.
Wildflowers are the topic for Wendy Poag, Lake County Parks and Trails, Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. starting in the Wetlands pavilion. She will take you through the gardens to see the various wildflower plantings and answer questions about how you can start your own.
If you are interested in more detailed information on wildflowers and native plants, we have a program called “Expanding Your Plant Palette” on April 24.
As you can see, we have a lot of great speakers and activities for you on April 20-21 in the Discovery Gardens. I hope you will join us and discover your own gardening talents at the second annual Central Florida Landscape and Garden Fair.
Visit the Discovery Gardens and our plant clinic with your plant problems and questions from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekdays, at the Ag Center, 1951 Woodlea Road, Tavares.
Speak Your Mind