TOP AREA GARDENING EVENTS

Classes, Events, and Plant Shows/Sales

• Summer 2023

Two Summer Horticulture Classes

Herbaceous Plant Materials meets on Wednesday evenings from 6–9pm, starting June 7 until August 9. Integrated Pest Management meets on Fridays from 8:30am–1:45pm, June 9 through August 11. Held by the Community College of Baltimore County, Dundalk, MD, campus. For more information, call the CCBC Sustainable Horticulture office 443-840-3787 or visit thttps://www. ccbcmd.edu/.

• May 20–June 4, 10am–4pm

Satsuki Bonsai Exhibit: Azaleas of Old Japan

Colorful cultivars of late-blooming Satsuki azaleas have been hybridized in Japan for hundreds of years. This annual exhibit showcases the U.S. National Arboretum’s most spectacular examples in a two-week indoor display in the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. Based on individual bloom times, trees may also be displayed in the outdoor pavilions before and after the exhibition. The museum is open daily.

• Wednesday, May 31, 7–8pm

Arlington Central Library Garden Talk: Gardening with Kids

Gardening is fun! Learn simple growing techniques to engage children in a lifetime of growing their food. Observe and plant a salsa garden in a container or bed. Free, no registration required. Sponsored by Friends of Urban Agriculture and Extension Master Gardeners. Held at Arlington Central Library, 1015 N. Quincy Street, Arlington, VA. Details at https://arlingtonurbanag.org/gardentalks-2023/.

• Friday, June 2, 10–11:30am

Summer Pruning

Summer provides a second and sometimes much-needed time to prune a variety of spring flowering trees and shrubs and to help perennial flowering plants look their best. Summer pruning helps you improve the overall structure and size of your woody plants or boost fruit and flower production in fruit trees and shrubs. Hosted by the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, Free. Held via Zoom. Register at https://mgnv.org/ event/summer-pruning/#rsvp-now.

• Saturday, June 3, 9am–5pm Spring Fruit Festival

Edible Landscaping in Afton, VA, is hosing a day of orchard tours, fruit tastings, medicinal plant walks, organic growing lectures, door prizes, and all plants 20% off. There will be a plant sale Friday and Sunday for walk-up orders only. See details at ediblelandscaping.com.

• Saturday, June 3, 10am–5pm American Landscape Institute’s Annual Plant Sale

The plant sale fundraiser for the American Landscape Institute is held at The Farmyard in Parkton, MD. The money raised goes to scholarships for students. Plants at the sale are from The Perennial Farm, Manor View Farm, Heartwood Nursery, American Native Plants, just to name a few. Go to the American Landscape Institute’s website at www.americanlandscapeinstitute. com and click on the Plant Sale tab for more information.

• Saturday, June 3, 8am–6pm Politics and Prose Day Trip to Winterthur Museum and Gardens

Politics and Prose bookstore offers day trips and walking tours in the area. They handle all the travel arrangements and go by coach bus, leaving and returning to the bookstore at 5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The price is $150.00 per person. This includes tickets, bus coach travel service and guided tours. You will be able to purchase lunch on-site. See https://www.politics-prose.com/pp-tripwinterthur-museum-spring-2023-datejune-3rd. Any questions can be sent to classes@politics-prose.com.

• Saturday, June 10, 10–11:30am Know to Grow Spring Workshops: Bay Wise Gardening

You don’t need to own waterfront property to make an impact on the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Improve biodiver- sity + clean rainwater through the roots of native plants. This make-and-take will dive into what happens when rain hits a fertilized lawn, impervious pavement, and other elements before draining into the Chesapeake Bay. Even houses inland can make a difference. The cost to participate in this hands-on workshop is $50. Register at https://homesteadgardens.com/upcoming-events/.

• Saturday, June 10, 10:30–11:30am Garden Talk: Townhouse Gardening VA Extension Master Gardeners share tips for making a big impact in smaller landscapes. This session will be useful not only for townhouse owners but for anyone looking for creative solutions for a small garden space. Fee: $12 per person. Register online at http://www. fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes or call Green Spring Gardens at 703-6425173. Code QKL.H92W.

• Saturday, June 10, 11:30–12:30 p.m. Dogs, Dogwood, Digging, Oh My! Plants and Pets with a Vet Does your dog like dogwood? Or really dig your Daffodils? Plants and pets can coexist! Join Dan Teich, veterinarian and U.S. Botanic Garden volunteer, to learn how to have a happy life with both flora and fauna. After a short online presentation, Teich will answer questions about the safety of your plants and pets. Please note: This program will be offered through the online platform Livestorm. FREE: Pre-registration required at https://www.usbg.gov/ learn/programs-and-events.

• Saturday, June 10, 9am–11am, and Saturday, June 24, 10am–3pm. The Mountain Laurel Garden Club Plant Sale and Country Gardens Tour The plant sale is on June 10 and the tour is two weeks later on June 24. Both events are held rain or shine (no pets). The plant sale is at the gazebo in downtown Oakland, MD (no admission fee) and includes many native plants from members’ gardens that are proven to thrive in western Maryland, plus a selection of succulents. The Country Gardens Tour includes two gardens in the Paradise Point area of Deep Creek

Lake, a fern and hosta garden in Mountain Lake Park, and a flower farm off Gorman Road (Route 560). In addition to the gardens, tour attractions include a presentation by the Floral Design Committee of spiral hand-tied bouquets using local flowers, an invasive plant display, and a progress report on the Habitat for Humanity pollinator gardens. Tickets for the tour are $10.00. See www.MountainLaurelGardenClub.com.

• Monday, June 19, 7:30–9pm

Silver Spring Garden Club Meeting:

A Talk about “Great Groundcovers” Groundcovers are low-growing plants that serve many different purposes in the landscape from limiting weed growth to stabilizing slopes to adding texture to your garden. Kathy Jentz, author of the book Groundcover Revolution, will cover several of these beautiful, hard-working plants and the best kinds to use for your region. The meeting will be held at the Brookside Gardens Visitors Center/Education Building 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Wheaton, MD. This meeting is FREE and open to all. After the talk is a book signing and sale as well as refreshments. Details at www.silverspringgardenclub.om.

• June 19–25

Pollinator Week

Pollinator Week is an annual celebration in support of pollinator health. It is a time to raise awareness for pollinators and spread the word about what we can do to protect them. See more at https://pollinator.org.

• Friday, June 23, 6:30–8:30pm

Foodie Fridays: Cultivating Traditions Montgomery Parks Community Garden Program is hosting Foodie Fridays, a monthly speaker series from June to October. The series will feature farmers, educators, community organizers, food lovers, and changemakers. Presentations will highlight why food matters and the many ways the food system impacts residents of Montgomery County. The first event will be at the Josiah Henson Museum Visitor Center. We’ll have a panel of three growers discuss how and why history, ancestral and traditional knowledge, and culturally important foods influence their farming practices. The panelists are Tanya Doka-Spandhla (Passion to Seed Gardening), Tony Cohen (Button Farm), and Nia Nyamweya (Beauty Blooms Farm). Tickets are $10. See https://montgomeryparks. org/events/foodie-fridays-cultivatingtraditions/.

Looking Ahead

• Thursday, August 10, 6:30–8pm

Washington Gardener Magazine

Garden Book Club Summer Meeting

For our next Garden Book Club selection, we will discuss A Way to Garden: A Hands-On Primer for Every Season by Margaret Roach. (2019 updated edition). You can order it new or used at our Amazon link: https://amzn.to/3qbBku3 or at our Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/ a/79479/9781604698770.

The Summer 2023 club meeting will be held via Zoom. To join us, register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqf-GgrDouHNazm_heaAAxP2EDXkZ7EDg.

The Washington Gardener Magazine’s Garden Book Club meets quarterly via Zoom and is free and open to all.

• Sunday, July 30, 2–3pm

Garden Photo Show Opening

Washington Gardener invites you to the opening reception of our garden photo show at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA.

Event Listing Updates

See updated event listings on the Washington Gardener discussion list. Join by emailing WashingtonGardenersubscribe@googlegroups.com

How to Submit Events

To submit an event for this listing, email washingtongardenermagazine@gmail. com with “Event” in the subject line. Our next deadline is June 5 for the June 2023 issue, for events taking place after June 15. o

“Inspire. Connect. Grow.”

The National Garden Bureau is a nonprofit organization that exists to educate, inspire, and motivate people to increase the use of garden seed, plants, and products in homes, gardens, and workplaces by being the marketing arm of the gardening industry. Our members are experts in the field of horticulture and our information comes directly from these sources.

Find out more at https://ngb.org/

By Kathy Jentz