by Kristina Gabalski
Karen Bussolini will discuss how to make good plant choices at a workshop May 11.Frustrated by purchasing beautiful plants at the garden center only to find that after you’ve got them home and planted, they fail to thrive or are hit by disease?
It can be easy to fall in love with plants that just aren’t happy where you plant them, so it’s worth it to take some time in advance to learn what plants will be happy in your yard before you go ahead and make a purchase.
On Saturday, May 11 from 9:30 a.m. until noon, the Rochester Civic Garden Center is presenting, “Planting the Fittest: Survival in the Darwinian Garden,” a master-class lecture by Karen Bussolini – a photographer/author of gardening books and articles.
The lecture will be held at Warner Castle, 5 Castle Park in Rochester, at the corner of Mt. Hope Avenue.
Bussolini has a long-time interest in eco-friendly gardening and her lecture will focus on exploring adaptations plants have developed that help them survive many different challenges. She will then discuss how to use these principals when gardening at home.
The lecture “is really timely,” RCGC Executive Director Christine Froehlich says. “After a long winter, all of us are raring to go buy plants. The question is which ones are we going to buy? Karen’s lecture will cover the many facets of plant survival and how to choose varieties that will flourish.”
Froehlich notes the lecture is great for anyone, whether they are new to gardening, a new homeowner or an experienced gardener.
“Everyone has had the experience of trying to make something grow where it doesn’t want to grow,” she says.
Bussolini’s lecture is based on her latest book, The Naturescaping Workbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Bringing Nature to Your Backyard, which explores how plants arrange themselves in nature and how to use those observations to develop strategies for encouraging plants to survive beautifully in your garden.
Bussolini will bring her books to the lecture. “They are excellent, hands-on, how-to books,” Froehlich says, “with everything you could want to know about what to buy and which to plant. It’s about looking at nature and how plants naturally want to arrange themselves. It’s about using your eyes and paying attention.”
The class will include inspiring slides and the opportunity for questions and discussion. There will also be plants (provided by a Rochester-area garden and design center) allowing participants to see first-hand examples of what Bussolini discusses.
There is a $25 registration fee for the lecture. Register by going on-line at www.rcgc.org or call RCGC at 473-5130.
