by Kristina Gabalski
Even in the middle of the winter there are many gardening-related activities to enjoy.
Gardening experts say now is the time for working your way through that colorful pile of garden catalogs and planning for the coming growing season.
Those gardeners with cold frames are enjoying fresh salad greens and tasty crops like herbs, edible sprouts, and micro greens that can be grown inside. Cat grass is easy to grow and provides springtime color indoors.
On warmer days, outdoor work, especially pruning, can be accomplished while trees and shrubs are dormant and their structure can be more easily seen. Branches growing inward should be cut as well as any broken or dead branches.
It’s also a great time for activities like attending gardening workshops, lectures, conferences and seed swaps to add variety to your next planting.
On Saturday, January 26, the Rochester Civic Garden Center (RCGC) will host its 6th annual Seed and Houseplant Swap from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at 5 Castle Park, Rochester.
The event includes two fun and informative talks/demonstrations, refreshments, and an opportunity to swap seeds and houseplant cuttings with fellow gardening enthusiasts.
“You don’t have to bring stuff to swap and you can still go home with seeds and houseplants,” RCGC Education Coordinator Judy Hubbard says. “It’s fun to get together with other gardeners – the demonstrations and talks are really fun.”
Nellie Gardner of Flower Fields speciality cut-flower farm in Ogden will demonstrate how to make an assortment of small wreaths, tussie mussies and small bouquets using natural materials like dried flowers, leaves, pods and herbs during “Creating Arrangements with Dried Flowers and Herbs” from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The decorations are suitable for your home, office or to give as gifts.
From 11 a.m. until noon, a terrarium demonstration will be presented by Angela Ingraham of Bristol’s Garden Center. Ingraham will show how to plant an assortment of styles, and discuss proper soil, care and appropriate plants for these charming, miniature garden worlds inside a glass jar.
The seed and houseplant exchange will be held from 10:30 to 11 a.m.
“You can bring cuttings from houseplants,” Hubbard says, “or bring the whole plant.”
The RCGC says cuttings can be transported in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel or in a jar of water. Label seeds you have collected with as much information as possible – common and botanical names; annual, perennial, biennial; hardiness; variety; size; sun; soil and moisture preferences; bloom time and color.
Seeds can be divided into small quantities and placed into small envelopes with information written on the envelope. The RCGC library can provide assistance. Seeds and information can also be brought to the Seed Swap and envelopes will be available to participants.
Hubbard says refreshments are provided. There is a registration fee of $15 which includes both talks, the swaps and the refreshments.
“We try to encourage everybody to pre-register,” Hubbard says, “but we will take walk-ins.”
To register, call 585-473-5130 or visit www.rcgc.org.
