CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Are you longing for Spring? Cabin fever got you down? Don’t despair! Come join the Ontario County Master Gardeners for a day of horticultural inspiration at the 22nd Annual Spring Garden Symposium. It is being held on Saturday, February 11, 2017 from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm at Club 86, 86 Avenue E, Geneva, NY 14456.
Ken Harbison will be presenting: Butterflies and Other Pollinators. Ken has been a Master Gardener since 2005 and has planted several butterfly and pollinator gardens. Certification has been received from Monarch Watch and the North American Butterfly Association. Ken is a member of the Rochester Butterfly Club and the National Audubon Society. Over three quarters of flowering plants need the assistance of pollinators in order to set seed. The design of gardens to attract and provide for the needs of butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, moths, and other pollinators will be presented. The aim is to provide nectar and pollen sources over the whole season and provide for reproductive needs. Specific host plants required to nourish various caterpillars will be discussed. In addition, the overwintering strategies of butterflies and other pollinators will be covered.
Sandy Ebberts will be presenting: Moon Gardening. Sandy is an Ontario County Master Gardener. Sandy is a retired nurse and has been a gardening enthusiast for over 25 years. She has designed and maintained her own gardens while helping friends, family, and neighbors with their gardens. Moon gardening is a sensuous experience: as you rely less on sight, the other senses come into play. Warm fragrant air caresses bare skin while fireflies glimmer and dance their mating dance. The sound of trickling water travels further in the still of the night as do the sounds of visitors to your garden. Sandy will guide you through creating your own oasis from designing to plant selection.
Dr. Bruce Gillman will be presenting Invasives: Alive and Well in the Finger Lakes Region. Dr. Gillman is in the Department of Environmental Conservation and Horticulture, Finger Lakes Community College for the past 40 years. His teaching expertise includes aquatic ecology, field botany, glacial geology, agronomy, and environmental science. He curates the Finger Lakes Herbarium and author of the Ontario County Flora. With growing concerns about unwanted plants and animals in our local habitats, there is an imminent need to discuss what might be done to minimize their impacts. This presentation will focus on aquatic and terrestrial species, the nature of their impacts, on-going field survey work conducted by researchers, students, and citizen scientists to map the extent of the infestations, and potential control strategies that are being applied locally.
Cost: $40.00 per person which includes refreshments, hot buffet lunch, registration, and a folder with all the presenters’ handouts.
Registration deadline is February 3, 2017. The registration flyer is available at www.cceontario.org. For more information or to receive a flyer, call 585-394-3977 x 427 or email nea8@cornell.edu
In the event of cancellation, please listen to any of the following radio stations, WYLF (am radio 850); WHAM (am radio 1180); SUNNY 102.3 FM; Finger Lakes News Radio-WGVA 1240, 1590/98.1, WAUB and 104.5/1550 WCGR.
—Cornell Cooperative Extension
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