Learn something new and reconnect with yourself or your loved ones. Support our “growing community” and take a class at our local botanic gardens and garden centers.
The Gardens at Spring Creek
The Gardens at Spring Creek are located on Centre Avenue, just south of CSU and Prospect Avenue. To register for a class, call 970.416.2486. This time of year, the Gardens are open Monday - Friday from 9-5 and on Saturdays from 9-4.
The Art of Grafting
Saturday, Feb. 14 from 2pm - 4pm
Students will make grafts of two different conifers with Kirk Fieseler of Laporte Avenue Nursery. Come Spring, you will be able to plant your grafted conifers outdoors. This would be an unusual and loving way to spend Valentine’s Day with your family or your sweetheart, and you get to go home with a living Valentine you made together by grafting two compatible plants. It doesn’t get more romantic than that! …Or, if you like to plan ahead, this would also make a great Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift later this year when the time is perfect for planting! ($15 for members/$20 for non-members)
Successful Seed Starting
Saturday, Feb. 21 from 10am - noon
Ted Schaaf, Horticulturist at the Gardens on Spring Creek, teaches you the best kept secrets to starting seeds indoors. After class, you’ll have a vegetable seedleing to take home and nurture until it’s time to pop it in the ground! ($10 for members/$15 for non-members)
Beginning Watercolor at the Gardens
Saturday, February 28 from 9am - 4pm. Bring a lunch.
Karen Ramsay, a CO Institute of Art grad and a nationally-featured artists, teaches you teh fundamentals of painitng with watercolors. You’ll learn everything from how to set up your palette to painting techniques including the importance of shapes and color values. If you’re looking for a new hobby or have always wanted to try your hand at painting, you’ll want to spend the day learning from Karen’s personal feedback and attention. ($45 for members/$50 for non-members
The Annual High Plains Landscape Workshop
Beyond Sustainability: Landscaping for the Spirit
Saturday, Feb. 28 from 8:30am - 3:30pm
Location: Fort Collins Senior Center (near Pulse Fitness) just North of Drake off Shields
The workshop features Martin Mosko and Alex Noden of Marpa Design Studio spekaing on “Beyond Sustainability: Landscaping for the Spirit”. Other workshop topics include organic gardening, ornamental trees and shrubs for small spaces and outdoor livng spaces. ($30 before Feb, 18, $35 after — fee includes lunch)
Fort Collins Nursery
Fort Collins Nursery is located at 2121 East Mulberry, on the southside of HWY 14 halfway between I-25 and downtown Fort Collins. To register for a calss, call 970.482.1984. Currently, Fort Collins Nursery is open Monday - Friday from 10am - 5pm, Saturdays 9am - 5pm and Sundays 12:00 - 5:00pm.
Food Dehydration
Saturday, February 7 from 10am - noon
Esther Haas takes the mystery out of food deyhdration She’ll show you what to look for in a dehydrator, which foods you can preserve, and especially how to preserve the produce you grow in your own garden. ($10)
From Garden to Table
Saturday, February 7 from 1pm - 3pm
Sue Oberle and Linda Hoffman will teach you their tips for growing great herbs and produce, plus simple, elegant ways to bring out their best at your kitchen and dining room tables. ($10)
Plant Driven Design: Creating Gardens that Honor Plants, Space and Spirit
Sataurday, February 14 from 10am - noon, and then the same class repeats from 1pm - 3pm
Lauren Springer-Ogden and Scott Ogden show their approach to beautiful, ecologically intelligent garden design built on the primordial connections between people, plants and place. ($15)
A Year in the (Dry) Garden
Saturday, February 21 from 10am - noon
Join Pat Hayward, Executive Director of Colorado’s Plant Select, in a discussion of the best specialty conifers and the toughest, low care perennials (including flowering plants, grasses and groundcovers) for dry and xeric gardening. ($10)
Principles of Rock Alpine Gardening
Saturday, February 21 from 1pm - 3pm
Learn the principles and best practices for building your own rock garden. Mike Kintgen, Alpine Rock Garden Horticulturist at the Denver Botanic Gardens teaches you how to use texture, foliage and flowers to create unusual, interesting combinations in even the smallest of spaces. ($10)
Home Fruit Production
Saturday February 28 from 10am - noon
Scott Skogerboe collects and propogates rare and historic trees and shrubs, and you’ll learn the very best varieties of trees and small fruits (e.g. berries) for home production. ($10)
High & Dry: Gardening with Cold-hardy Dryland Plants
Saturday, February 28 from 1pm - 3pm
Bob Nold, and his wife, painter Cindy Nelson-Nold, award-winning authors of the Timber Press books Penstemons and Columbines, will give you a primer on our region’s drought tolerant native plants and drought-tolerant exotics. ($10)
Bath Garden Center and Nursery
Bath Garden Center and Nursery is located at the corner of Timberline Road and Prospect Avenue. To register for a class, call 970.484.5022. Their winter hours are Monday - Sunday from 9am - 5pm.
Fairy Gardening
Saturday, February 7 at 11am
Create a small garden for fairies today and watch them visit it tomorrow. The young and the old get a kick out of fairy gardens, for sure. ($25, which covers all your materials for your very own fairy garden)
Valentine Orchid Class
Saturday, February 14 at 11am
Want to give your loved one something that will outlast cut roses? Spend the morning together at Bath and learn about the beautiful and unique orchids that will make a long lasting Valentine’s Day gift. Then, based on what you’ve learned and the orchids that strike your fancy, you’ll be better prepared to take home a beautiful plant that will give your partner pleasure for months, even years to come. (the lecture is free, orchids are sold separately)
Plant a Better Life
Saturday, February 21 from 11am - 3pm
Pop in and join the free seminars on organic gardening, hydroponics, composting, seed starting, houseplant care and more. (free)
Beginner Bonsai
Saturday, February 28 at 11am
Learn the basics to growing your own bonsai. Come in and pot up your own tiny tree to take home and enjoy. (Alexa’s Note: I’ve taken this course and loved it! My insructor was a nurseryman named Jonathan, and he was fun, knowledgable and really passionate about bonsai. This would be a great class to take kids to, or people you love who tend to “fuss” over details. Bonsai is just one small part of my growing fascination with Japanese gardening techniques.) ($25 for the supplies you’ll need to plant your own bonsai)
Fossil Creek Nursery
Fossil Creek Nursery (and Alpine Gardens) is located at 7029 Sout College Avenue, just south of Harmony Road on the west side of the street. Reserve your space at classes by calling 970.226. This winter, they’re open Monday - Saturday from 9am - 5pm.
Backyard Retreats
Saturday, February 21 at 10am
The design and build experts at Fossil Creek and Alpine Gardens are presenting their portfolio of backyard hardscapes including firepits, outdoor kitchens, water features, etc. Not really hard-core gardening knowledge, but maybe it will help you visualize and achieve your backyard and garden areas full potential. (free, but they recommend you call to reserve your space)
Seed School
Saturday, February 21 at 1pm
Jill White teaches you when to start seeds for specific crop yields throughout the season, including how to get late season bumper crops. (free)
The Colorado Home and Garden Show
Saturday, February 7 -Sunday, February 15
The CO Home and Garden Show celeberates 50 years this year at the Colorado Convention Center. (Alexa’s Note: Personally, I don’t enjoy these events. But, I know some people who look forward to them year after year. I figure, if it turns people onto gardening or inspires them to spend more time outdoors, great. Go for it. Also, according to their website, “In the past 20 years, organizations throughout Colorado have received grants totaling over $1,000,000 from Colorado Garden Show, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to furthering the horticultural industry.” So, yeah, they’re doing some really good things.)
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