The 11th Annual Master Gardeners Gardening Show was held at the Porter County Expo Center as planned on January 25, 2014. With the frigid temperatures and several inches of snow covering the ground everywhere you look, it’s hard to imagine planting flowers or putting in a garden, but despite the very prominent presence of winter, thousands of gardeners came to see what was the latest innovation in gardening. From the classic gardener to the modern, there was something for everyone.
Guests were all given a pin to wear with the slogan “Plant Geek” and for any gardener, novice or advanced, this applies if you truly love to garden. Greeting guests as they entered the Gardening Show was Master Gardener of 6 years Paul Pivoris. He offered advice for the beginning gardener to start small with an herb garden, a raised bed or a container garden.
Pivoris said, “Herbs are popular and very easy to grow. People love to grow herbs because they are fresh and organic. People want to cook with fresh herbs and you can grow them year round.”
Also greeting guests with Pivoris was John Fischer, Master Gardener for over 10 years. He invited people to attend a class offered by Porter County Master Gardeners.
Fischer said, “There is a spring class coming up and it’s never too late to get started gardening. All the information will be on the website at http://pcgarden.info/ .”
Seminars for those that had “A-Z Questions You Forgot to Ask” or “150 Ways To Create A Yard Totally Tailored To You” were answered by speaker Amanda Thompson. Also speaking were Stacy Hivela on “Elegant Shrubs,” Jennifer Brennan on “Instant Gratification Spring Container,” Gregg Calpino on “How We Reclaimed Wolf Lake,” Victoria Jostes on “Wetlands the Ordinary to the Extraordinary,” and Greg Stack on “Welcome Spring Hosta with Heuchera and Hellebore.”
For the modern gardener, Nick Janakas demonstrated the Tower Garden (www.buytowergarden.com). Janakas said, “At the Blue Island Salvation Army in Illinois, we have placed 30 of our Tower Gardens, planted 825 plants with the equivalent of 10 acres of land. The Tower Garden is ideal for the person with a balcony or a rooftop. They can plant herbs, vegetables or flowers.”
There were many vendors showcasing their crafts and designs including One Stroke Painting by Myca Houser, painting unique floral designs on wine glasses for the laid back gardener, and for the classic gardener, Randall Ritchie demonstrating his hand-carved wooden crafts. Offering professional opinion to gardeners was Landscape Illumination sharing advice on how to make your yard look incredible with the perfect lighting.
Pieces of Jade was there, showcasing not something for your garden but for the gardener that loves to accent their wardrobe with a bit of the outdoors by wearing handcrafted pieces of jewelry, featuring wire-wrapped beach glass, natural stones and broken pieces of pottery, beautifully designed to accent any outfit. If you loved the handcrafted jewelry so much you want to learn how to create your own designs, there are classes are taught by the designer at Taltree Arboretum & Gardens.
While mom and dad were looking at the landscape designs and variety of garden accents, children could be found at the Children’s Activities Booth making pet rocks and designing their own art pieces.
Hope, age 6, made a pet rock. It was a grasshopper. Brother Hayden (9) made a spider collage and big sisters Hannah (14) and Hallie (12) provided just a little bit of help.
For all the attendees, they were given the opportunity to participate in the Porter County Master Gardeners Seed Exchange. Master Gardeners prepared 10,000 packets of seeds allowing guests to pick out 5 different kinds with everything from herbs, vegetables and foliage to beautiful annual and perennial flowers.
Master Gardener Janet Magnuson said, “It's the biggest seed exchange in the whole country!”
Look forward to the 12th Annual Porter County Master Gardeners Gardening Show in 2015 for even more ideas and a chance once again to view beautiful handcrafted garden accents and get advice for your garden from the Master Gardeners. But before that, save the date for the Porter County Master Gardeners Garden Walk on Saturday, June 28, 2014.
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