2012 Horticulture
Fine-tune your plant knowledge or learn a new gardening skill from expert instructors. The instructors are Arboretum staff, University of Minnesota scientists, and other invited guest speakers. The Arboretum gardens serve as classrooms and laboratories which make the classes especially unique.

The Small Enough Garden (500-03-24-12)
Saturday, March 24, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
$35 member/$45 non-member, Beginner-Intermediate, Lecture, Limit 30, Snyder Building.

There has been much attention given to the "small enough house." Now take some of those goals of simplicity, elegance, and best use to your garden. In this class with expert Arboretum gardener Mary Bigelow, you will learn, for example, how to create a small meditative garden space inside of a larger area, or how to take a small area and choose the plants and elements of design that will create unexpected and delightful scope and greater dimension.

Grow Your Own Food (500-04-07-12)
Saturday, April 7, 10 a.m. - Noon
$35 member/$45 non-member, All Levels, Lecture, Limit 100, Snyder Building.

Whether you have a postage-stamp sized urban lot or spacious farmyard, you can grow an abundance of your own food. Learn about some of the best choices for your vegetable garden from lifetime gardener and Arboretum Director of Education Tim Kenny. For a variety to become one of his favorites it must be easy to grow, harvest, and prepare in the kitchen. Selections must be relatively insect and disease free and promise fabulous flavor. By the end of the class, you'll have a list of favorites, know where to purchase them, how to grow them, and have easy-to-make recipes featuring the selections. Class is lecture style with plenty of photographs, recollections, opinions, and seed catalog references. Suitable for beginner to advanced gardeners.

Orchid Culture 101 (500-04-21-12)
Saturday, April 21, 9:30 a.m. - Noon
$45 member/$50 non-member, All Levels, Lecture, Limit 50, Oswald Visitor Center.

Growing orchids in a Minnesota home environment is easier than in a Florida backyard. Orchid grower and expert Jerry Fischer will show you how in "Orchid Culture 101." In this class, held during the exclusive Orchid Exhibit featuring hundreds of orchids on display at the Visitor Center, you will learn the tips and techniques needed to be a successful home orchid grower, including the right amount of light and water, temperature needs, insect and disease management and how to select the best plants for you to purchase. Take home a small orchid and bring the long-lasting exotic beauty of orchids into your life.

The Japanese Garden (500-05-12-12)
Saturday, May 12, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
$35 member/$45 non-member, Beginner-Intermediate, Lecture / Demo, Limit 30, Snyder Building.

The Japanese Garden is one of the treasures of the Arboretum. Learn about the elements considered in the creation and development of the collection. Get an insider's perspective on which varietals would work best in your own garden and landscape and savor the splendid beauty of the garden in summer. Mary Bigelow is an accomplished Arboretum landscaper and curator of the Japanese garden.