Upcoming Events
Are you an aspiring orchid grower? This beginner’s workshop will familiarize you with the orchid family and teach you how to maintain and propagate healthy plants. You will receive your own orchid to start your collection.
https://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/event/orchids-for-beginners-2/
The annual symposium is the Botanical Garden’s signature educational opportunity for advancing gardening in Iowa. Each fall, four internationally acclaimed lecturers visit Des Moines to speak about current topics that impact home horticulture, plant sciences and/or ecology.
This year’s symposium theme is The Resilient Garden. Discover multi-layered, colorful and resilient gardens, from a rural presidential estate to the Brooklyn Bridge, that will inspire you to balance biodiversity with beauty in your own garden.
https://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/event/annual-symposium-the-resilient-garden/
The EASTERN IOWA ORCHID SHOW for 2019 will be held at the ELKS LODGE Hall: 801 33rd Ave SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa on October 26-27, 2019. http://easterniowaorchidsociety.org/index_files/Show.htm
The show will feature orchid displays and orchid related crafts by exhibitors from around the Midwest plus blooming orchids for sale by several regional vendors. Put this on your calendar. We will again have a Halloween theme, Orchids Are a Scream ‘2’! The show is FREE and open to the public.
he Des Moines County Master Gardeners are proud to sponsor the Fall Gardening Seminar on Saturday, October 26 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. at SCC's Little Theater in West Burlington. Gary Wittenbaugh will speak about Gardening with Conifers, and Rock Gardens and Their Plants.
Registration is at 8:30 am and admission is free.
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/desmoines/news/master-gardeners-fall-gardening-seminar
This year our program will feature presentations delivering cutting-edge information for greenhouse growers. Specifically, our program will feature talks on: nutritional monitoring; managing and controlling root rots; sensitive sites impacted by pesticides, REI, and pre-harvest interval; consumer research; new greenhouse trends; fungicide rotations; pricing products; containerized floriculture and hydroponic food crop nutrition research updates. The cost for the Short Course (including lunch) is $60. Additionally, we will be offering Pesticide Continuing Instruction Course (C-CIC) credit for greenhouse pesticide applicators for an additional fee of $35.00.
PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK TO REGISTER: http://www.aep.iastate.edu/greenhouse
Spiders can be found almost anywhere - indoor closets to outside dwellings - and in the soil too. These 8-legged beneficials often get a bad rap. Vicky Bertagnolli, Clemson Extension, will talk to us about identification, ecology, and management of our commonly found spiders. https://learn.extension.org/events/3602
Come to a symposium filled with garden experts in Waterloo. $30 registration fee
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/blackhawk/news/2019-fall-master-gardeners-symposium
Spend a fall morning on the prairie at Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt learning about prairie plants and harvesting seeds along the way. This hike is suitable for all ages but will include walking off-trail on uneven ground. Participants should wear long pants and close-toed shoes. Transportation is not provided. Seeds collected on this hike will be used for a follow-up class, Prairie Seed Stratification, on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Participants need not attend both events.
https://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/event/seed-collecting-hike-2/
Join the Master Gardeners for a full day of creativity. Making a pine cone wreath, a teacup fairy garden, and a yule log for your table will all be part of this day of creativity. http://bit.ly/MG_Hands
Learn about the processes scientists and gardeners use to help harvested seeds germinate in the spring. Learn how to stratify native Iowa prairie seeds through hands-on demonstrations and take home seeds to plant next spring. This class will utilize seeds collected during our Seed Collecting Hike at Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt on Saturday, Nov. 2. Participants need not attend both events.
https://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/event/prairie-seed-stratification/
Come to the Ladd Library for this community talk presented by Master Gardeners
Identify your landscape goals, determine the “why” behind your vision and learn how to bring your dream to life while making your yard more functional, manageable and sustainable. Through lecture, discussion and case studies, Landscape Architect Lynn Kuhn will help you identify what type of yard you want and how to best achieve it. Class fee includes both sessions.
https://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/event/landscape-with-intention/2019-11-12/
Farmers and those who advise them on conservation practices should consider attending a field day Nov. 19, from 3-6:30 p.m. at the Iowa State University Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm, near Crawfordsville.
The 19th annual Iowa Organic Conference will be held Nov. 24-25, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Producers and experts from across the country will share tips for transitioning into organic production and methods to enhance organic operations.
The red-cockaded woodpecker has been the focus of conservation efforts for many years. Management of their nesting sites is extremely important for reproduction and longevity. In this webinar, we will learn about the behavior, history, and management strategies to bring endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers back to the urban forest. https://learn.extension.org/events/3603
Saintpaulia, otherwise known as the African violet, is one of the most popular houseplants for good reason. Learn about the history and care requirements of these beautiful blooms and take home an African violet of your own.
https://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/event/african-violets-history-and-care/