The Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners Association (WMMGA) provides many valuable services to our end of the state, including maintaining public gardens, educating the public and training new master gardeners. A lot of their work takes place behind the scenes. But one of their most important contributions has a distinctly public face. This is the series of spring gardening symposia that take place every year just in time to inspire us for the upcoming gardening season.
As in previous years, there will be three symposiums: one in South Deerfield, one in Holyoke and one in Lenox. Here is a summary of this year’s offerings.
The first symposium will take place March 23 at Frontier Regional High School in South Deerfield, from 8:45 to 2:15 p.m.
The day will offer two breakout sessions, one in the morning and one after lunch, offering a total of 17 topics to choose from on a wide range of subjects.
These include plant-specific sessions, such as homegrown tomatoes, trees for Pioneer Valley gardens and dwarf hydrangeas. There are also sessions on gardening for butterflies and spring pollinators.
Gardeners interested in hardscaping might want to check out gardening with rocks or designing and building a 3-season rainwater collection system. Indoor garden enthusiasts can learn about terrariums, house plants and tropicals.
After the morning breakout session, Dr. Stephen Rich, a professor in the microbiology department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will give the keynote address: What Every Gardener Needs to Know About Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases. Rich studies zoonotic diseases, i.e., those that originate and/or are maintained in natural animal populations but that occasionally spill over into human populations. As every gardener knows, ticks are becoming a more serious problem every year. Rich will discuss new illnesses they carry — not just Lyme disease — as well as ways to safeguard ourselves from these pests. (By the way, Lyme disease was named after the town of Lyme, CT, where the first cases of the disease were discovered. It has nothing to do with limes, and it doesn’t belong to Lyme, so it’s not “Lyme’s disease.”)
After the lecture, there will be a lunch break followed by the second breakout session. You can bring your own lunch or pre-order a lunch from River Valley Market when you register. In addition to these educational sessions, the symposium will have a marketplace for local vendors and a book table offering gardening books from Storey Publishing and Timber Press. Morning coffee and goodies will be served. Please carpool if possible, because parking is tight.
The second symposium will take place March 30 at Holyoke High School from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event will offer three breakout sessions. Session A includes topics such as pruning basics, new and exciting annuals and container gardening. Session B topics include growing roses, making trellises and other garden structures with local plant materials, and landscaping with Northeast natives. The final session includes workshops on invasive plants, controlling weeds and pests naturally and backyard water features and mini ponds. There will also be a two-part workshop on designing a pollinator-friendly garden (participants must attend both sessions).
People are invited to bring their own lunch or to pre-order lunch with registration. The Holyoke symposium also offers a soil testing service. Instructions for taking a soil sample can be found online at the address below. Bring in your samples and your email address (or a SASE), and results and liming recommendations will be sent to you. Cost is $2 per sample.
Spring arrives a little later in the Berkshires, so the third symposium will take place at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School on April 6 from 8:15 to 2:15. Like the Holyoke symposium, the Berkshire event will offer three breakout sessions. Session I topics include nuts and bolts subjects such as sensible organic lawn care and house plants and more esoteric topics such as herbs for dying fabric and exciting vines for the garden. Session II topics include container gardening and tricks for raised beds. Alison Dixon, Berkshire Outreach Program Manager of the Housatonic Valley Association, will give a talk about taking care of our rivers, a subject that concerns us all, gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Worms, pollinators and birds are some of the topics covered in Session III.
You can pre-order lunch or bring your own (take note that the school cafeteria is nut-free, so leave your PB and J, nutty granola bars and other nut-laced goodies at home!) Between sessions and during lunch, there will be several attractions, including environmental organization tables, a garden glove sale, a plant sale of early veggies and flowers from Blossoming Acres in Southwick, MA, and a used gardening book sale. There will also be a raffle.
WMMGA puts an incredible amount of energy into planning these events, bringing in interesting and informative speakers on a wide range of subjects. These sessions are a great time to learn new skills and formulate new goals. They’re also a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with gardening friends and meet new ones. Attending a WMMGA symposium feels like a communal coming out of hibernation in the company of like-minded souls who have made it through another frigid and snowy winter.
More information and registration forms can be found at wmmga.org. Make sure to register early so that you can get into the sessions of your preference. And don’t forget to bring a notebook if you plan to take notes, which I highly recommend. Happy (almost) spring!
Mickey Rathbun, an Amherst-based lawyer turned journalist, has written the Get Growing column since 2016.
Trees — the biggest plants on the planet — are essential to the wellbeing of countless life forms on earth. Trees provide oxygen, temper the climate, stabilize our soil, support wildlife and provide shade and beauty in the landscape. On Mar. 9, from 9 to 11 a.m., Kestrel Land Trust will host a guided walk in its beautiful forest, the Greenberg Family Conservation Area in Westhampton, to learn more about the function and origins of the characteristics that define each tree species.
Naturalist Michael Wojtech, an expert in trees of the Northeast, will lead the session. He will share his innovative technique for identifying trees by their bark as well as his intimate knowledge of our arboreal neighbors. During this program, you’ll become better connected with the trees in your local forests and landscapes. The program is free, but registration is required, and space is limited to 20 participants. For more information and to register, go to kestreltrust.org
Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston has a fascinating new show opening Mar. 9. This one-of-a-kind art exhibit features portraits of horticultural heroes from across time and all over the world, celebrating a diverse group of horticulturists, including local heroes and those who have been historically marginalized. This exhibit will be interactive with audio interpretation, fun activities for people of all ages, and chances to nominate a horticultural hero in your life. The opening reception will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Cost included with admission.
Get your gardens off to a good start this spring by starting vegetable, flower and herb seeds indoors. On Mar. 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston is hosting a workshop that will teach you about which plants get a benefit from a head start, the tools and supplies needed, the best sowing and nurturing techniques and when and how to transition your seedlings into the garden. Participants will sow two flats to take home.
Instructor Christie Higginbottom has worked in the gardens at Old Sturbridge Village for over 30 years. In her role as a research historian and as garden and landscape specialist, she has planned and planted historically accurate kitchen gardens and ornamental gardens and coordinated educational programs. She has been a home vegetable gardener for as long as she can remember, and grows vegetables, fruits, herbs and ornamental plants organically at her home in Rochdale.
If you’re looking for an excuse to go on a road trip, Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge also has a fabulous bulb show featuring an abundance of springtime flowering bulbs and a collection of blooming South African bulbs rarely seen in the Northeast. These are plants whose dormant period coincides with hot, dry summers rather than the cold winters that constitute the dormant period of our hardy bulbs. The environment created in the Fitzpatrick Conservatory mimics the conditions which would bring these bulbs into bloom in their native Cape Province of South Africa, home to some 1200 species of bulbous plants. Admission is free. Visit often, as different bulbs will be blooming throughout the month. Mar. 4 to 29, weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekends 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, go to berkshirebotanical.org.