Workshops for the Gardener

Immerse yourself in a day full of gardening topics.  It will be an exciting day full of gardening information and fun.

Master Gardener Workshops for the Gardener

September 15, 2012

Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 696 Johnson Road, Nazareth, PA 18064

All day seminar includes sessions topics:  Macro-Photography, Backyard Habitat, Composting, Vermiposting , Food Preservation, Seed Starting, Small Space Gardening, Fruit Trees, Hypertufa, Year Round Gardening, Invasive Plants, Pruning.

Keynote address "Pollinators" by Dr Anita Collins, USDA-ARS, retired. Dr. Collins has done research on honey bees for more than 40 years and is currently collaborating on a survey of native bees east of the Mississippi with the U.S. Geological Survey

Garden Fair: vendors with Birdhouses, gardening books, perennial plants, jewelry and more. 

Hurry. Registration ends August 31. Click here then click on “Workshops for the Gardener Brochure” for registration information and form.

More information or questions call:  Call Northampton County Extension Office (610) 746-1970.  Lehigh County Extension Office (610) 391-9840

The Season of the Lily

There is truth in saying “buyer beware”.

The Season of the Oriental Lily has passed for another year.  July is the month of lilies for me.  One of my favorite plants, they mostly take care of themselves.  They are reliable and bloom every year. 

Lilium ‘American Dream’ purchased from White Flower Farm in 2003 grows to 7 feet tall in my front garden. From one bulb I now have about 10 to 15 flower bearing stalks filled with large fragrant blooms in July.  Beautiful true-to-type.

Casablanca may be my favorite.  Heavily fragrant and somehow angelic, I purchased 3 bulbs from Brecks in 2009.      Beautiful true-to-type

I bought some bargain bulbs labeled Casablanca and Stargazer from a vendor at the Philadelphia Flower Show.  This lily labeled Stargazer does not look like any Stargazer I’ve ever seen.    Nice but not true to type.

This Pretty peachy colored lily came in the same batch from the bargain vendor but it is neither Casablanca nor Stargazer.  Beautiful but not true to anything I imagined.

I would not buy inexpensive bulbs from unknown vendors again.  I have a mixed bunch of lilies. Pretty but not what I had planned.

It’s something to think of as you purchase spring flowering bulbs this fall.