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Garden Conferences: A Fun Way to Learn
by Judith Rives
Ok, I admit it. I am a garden conference junkie. It’s really hard for me to pass one up!
I just returned from a one-day conference in Clanton, sponsored by the 
Alabama Master Gardeners Association. There were programs on permaculture, seed saving, pollination in the garden, and bulbs. In the next 6 weeks, there are more events I’m already registered for, including an herb cooking class, a local one-day conference, and a 3-day native plants conference.
Don’t get me wrong; there is no substitute for just getting out in your own garden with your hands in the soil. However, garden classes provide you with great information and inspiration, and you sometimes need the basics to springboard into your grand garden experiment.
If you are interested in gardening, learning opportunities abound! Events range from short classes to a three-day conference. Some may even be hands-on workshops, which are especially fun to attend with a friend. For several years, my mom and I chose one workshop to attend together each fall. That was years ago and that nursery is now closed, but there are others that offer similar classes. Petals from the Past, in Jemison, Alabama, has an ongoing list of classes that can be found on their website.
Groups such as Master Gardeners or Birmingham Botanical Gardens (BBG) sponsor many educational opportunities, and you don’t have to be a member to attend the workshops. Educational outreach is actually the mission of the Master Gardener program, in support of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service.
If you are interested in native plants, there is an entire course of study offered through BBG, 
and you can take one class or the entire series. The South Central Native Plant Conference will be held Oct. 30-31 at BBG and is only scheduled every other year. Information about this conference can be found on the BBG website, www.bbgardens.org.
Locally, the Tuscaloosa County Master Gardeners will host a fall seminar on Saturday, October 17, at the Tuscaloosa County Extension Auditorium. The keynote speaker is Roald Hazelhoff, Director of the Southern Environmental Center at Birmingham-Southern College, who will speak on urban forests. There are also programs on native trees, honeybees, and bulbs, tubers and corms. Cost is $25, which includes lunch. Deadline for registration is Oct. 12, so check out our website, https://mg.aces.edu/tuscaloosa/ for information/registration and announcements of other conferences and workshops
In less that ten days our 2015 TCMG Fall Conference will take place. So, if you have not sent in your registration, please do so by October 12 so that the correct number of boxed lunches can be ordered and the correct number of registration bags can be prepared! Maybe you’ll be the lucky winner of one of the GRAND DOOR PRIZES! Click here to get a registration form.
