Nursery School 2025 Lessons in Gardening
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Get inspired and grow your horticultural knowledge on February 22nd, 2025 at the 26th annual Nursery School: Lesson in Gardening produced by University of Illinois Extension staff and Master Gardeners. Horticulture experts will lead workshops and share tips, pointers, ideas, and information everyone can use - from the novice to the most experienced gardener.
Registration is $70.00 and closes February 17, 2025. Advanced registration is required, no walk-ins will be accepted. Registration includes morning coffee and rolls, the keynote sessions, taco bar buffet lunch, two additional sessions of your choice, and access to the Nursery School vendor area offering a host of merchants and agencies selling a variety of garden-inspired gifts, crafts, plants, and resources. Doors open at 8 a.m., keynote session starts promptly at 8:45 a.m.
- NEW this year is bookend keynotes where you start and finish the day as a whole.
- Plan to visit the vendors. Fill out your library card as you "check out" the vendors and earn entry to the vendors giveaway drawing.
Bookend Keynote: 8:45-9:45 am: Perfectly Paired: Plants, Pollinators, and You presented by Emily Swihart, University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator
Explore the perfect pairing of plants and pollinators. The program will highlight how their interactions help sustain ecosystems, many of which directly benefit people. Bring your curiosity and leave with practical tips and tricks that will help you create a beautiful, pollinator-friendly garden.
Here are your "Chapters" the speakers and topics from which you can choose one from each session. Note: class sizes are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Chapter 1: 10-11am
- Ornamental Horticulture: Plan to Plant your 2025 Garden: NEW Plants for Current Trends presented by Kate Terrell, President Wallace's Garden Center
Plants that are big for 2025 trends are heat/drought (water-wise) plants, natives or nativars. Also, there is high demand for cutting garden plants and are seeing new breeder introductions.
- Edibles: Honey and Health: Nature’s Sweet Treat presented by Kristin Bogdonas University of Illinois Extension Nutrition and Wellness Educator
Honey is a true superfood with unique characteristics and nutritional value. There are over 300 varieties of honey each with unique flavor, color, and aroma profiles. The popularity of honey has continued to grow over the past decade due, in part, to its nutritional and therapeutic uses. After this session, you will walk away with a better understand of honey varieties, health benefits, and therapeutic uses. You will also receive recipes and food samples highlighting the different honey types.
- Nature: Jumping Worms: Illinois update What they mean for you and and the Environment presented by Chris Evans, Illinois Extension Forester
Jumping worms are an exotic earthworm species that are found throughout Illinois. They have potential to change soil properties, impacting fertility, water holding capacity, and the ability of plants to grow. This presentation will discuss how to identify jumping worms, their ecology and impacts of invasions. Also discussed will be practices landowners can do to help prevent the spread of jumping worms.
Chapter 2: 11:15 am-12:15 pm
- Ornamental: Elevate Expectations with Raised Bed Gardening presented by Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator
Whether for convenience or accessibility, raised beds are a popular option for growing vegetable, fruits, and ornamental plants. Raised bed structures elevate the soil, and with it comes a variety of advantages for growing plants.
- Edibles: Tapestry Farms: An Urban Farm System in the QC presented by Ann McGlynn, Executive Director Tapestry Farms
Welcome to Tapestry Farms, a nonprofit urban-system that invests in refugees who live in the Quad-Cities. Tapestry has gardens at 11 sites, where refugees work as part of a job training program. Learn about what we grow, how we grow it (in-ground and hydroponically) and where the food is distributed. In the 2024 season, we grew more than 10,000 pounds.
- Nature: Dragonflies and Damselflies presented by Amy Loving, Director of Education at Nahant Marsh
Ever wonder why dragonflies and damselflies are found near water. It’s because of their unique life cycle, In this presentation, you will learn about the biology and what common species are in our area.
Lunch Buffet 12:15-1:15 pm: Taco bar on the vestibule and visit the vendors
Bookend Keynote and "epilog" celebration with prizes: 1:15-2:30
Landscape Design presented by Nancy Kreith, University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator
If you wonder where to get started with landscape design, this session is for you. Learn basic design principles and installation recommendations for home and community landscapes. Starting with hardscapes, layouts, and plant combinations followed by a review of case studies.