Education » Gardening Study Courses » Course II Testimonial » 

      All the cold, snowy winter, I buoyed my spirits with thoughts of spring and the next Gardening Study School. Finally, the day was here and I was up early and ready to learn more about gardening and see all the new friends I met last September. The day was rainy and all of us were grateful for the rain. Gardeners know April showers bring May flowers.

     When I arrived, I was cheerfully greeted by Donna Dolinski, our registrar. I found a seat close to the front so I wouldn’t miss out on anything. Then it was time for a tour of the continental breakfast table and some treats, coffee, and conversation before we got down to business.

     Our first instructor was Elly Maxwell, Staff Entomologist, from Dow Gardens. Elly presentation gave a new definition to insects, diseases, and pests. She bubbles and shines as she talks about “bugs”. She also brought us up to date with IPM (integrated pest management). My plants will appreciate having the “good” while I remove and control the “bad” and the “ugly”

    After a break, we welcomed Stephanie Szostak, Midland City Horticulturist. Stephanie creates the plan for all the beautiful hanging baskets, flower pots and municipal plantings in Midland. She shared her expertise on hanging baskets. She had baskets and plants to illustrate her talk. Her enthusiasm is contagious and I already have some ideas for our house.

    We had a catered lunch again this session. This spring’s selections of beef barley soup and chicken noodle soup went really well with the fresh salad, fruit and cookies. 

     Our afternoon continued with Stephanie sharing on container gardening and the differences from hanging baskets. Suggestions on colors, types of plants but most important deciding where the particular plant will grow best in which spot made me rethink my pots and how to best use them. 

     After our afternoon break, we met Melissa Butkiewicz, Dow Gardens, Children’s Garden Horticulturist.  Melissa’s topic was planning a vegetable garden. She also began with choosing the best location for the plants. I know now that location is the first step for all our gardening efforts. She makes garden planning fun. We even got to build a model raised bed. She also emphasized keeping a journal so we can remember what worked and what did not work.  At the end of her presentation, she gave us each a geranium plant that they had started at the Dow Gardens Greenhouse in February. She sure know the way to a gardeners heart.  

     At the end of the day, Nancy Passfield, our proctor for the test, reviewed the topics for the test. Monday was a full day of fun learning. It whets the appetite for more on Tuesday.

     As I returned to Midland on Tuesday, I was looking forward to the schedule of speakers.

     Our first instructor was Jeanne Henderson, Educator and Interpretive Guide form Chippewa Nature Center. This topic was one of special interest to me as we live in the country and have eight acres of woods with trails winding through them. Jeanne had a beautiful slide show of the wild flowers found in Michigan in the spring. She also had some books for references that will help identify the flowers we have and ways to sustain them. Jeanne is a great resource herself and she is readily available at the nature center.

    After our extended afternoon break, Len Szymanski, Turf Specialist, shared on the best techniques for having a presentable, not perfect, lawn. His suggestions for types of seeds, mowing heights, irrigation, fertilization, aeration, weed, and disease control will help us all have healthier lawns. He provided a seasonal growth chart to help in planning our lawn care throughout the year. 

     We had a delicious box lunch. There was a short time of sharing with each other before our afternoon class.

     Our last class was titled “How Plants are Evaluated and Marketed”. Mike Heulitt, Training Coordinator at Four Star Greenhouse, Inc. shared how the Proven Winners brand plants are developed and marketed. Four Star is a wholesale business in Carleton, MI. The plants chosen Proven Winners take 5 to 6 years to develop. Then Polly Bailey-Rule, Landscape Account Manager, gave us a preview of the Proven Winners that will be introduced 2009-2010. The plants won’t be available until next year but we gardeners always like to look at beautiful plants. At the end of the presentation, ten lucky winners received Proven Winner plants and each of us also received a Proven Winner to take home. Everyone was excited about receiving plants. The room just lit up with signs of spring.

     Well, the exam followed the open book, open note format again. Another two days of learning and fun had come to an end.   Now to go home and put into operation all the good information we received. 

      Two classes down and two more to go! It is a good thing that the classes are spread out over time as I am sure I would get information overload if they were too close together. Our next class is September 21-22, 2009. Hope to see you there!