Prepare for a mindful gardening season by beginning or refreshing your understanding of horticulture. This introductory course will cover a wide variety of horticultural topics important for home gardeners to consider when growing and managing plants on any scale. Subjects will range from the theoretical to the practical, beginning with scientific foundations such as plant nomenclature, biology and ecology, pollination, and propagation. Other topics will include applied and artistic practices exploring plant selection, cultivation, and installation of new plants.

For shade gardens, a wide variety of planting options exist featuring amazing texture, foliar color, and bright floral accents. In fact, some of the most fragrant flowers prefer the cooler temperatures shade offers. CMBG’s Dan Robarts, horticulturist and grower, and Andy Brand, Curator of Living Collections, will take you through our extensive shade gardens, pointing out the classics as well as the unusual perennials, their characteristics, habits, and cultural preferences. Come with your curiosity and leave inspired!

To provide safe, in-person classes at the Gardens, classes are held entirely outdoors and have been reduced to 12 students. We are practicing Maine CDC social-distancing protocols.

Rain Date: Saturday, June 12, 2021

In this panel presentation, four CMBG horticulturists will review their top five perennials, from longtime favorites to new darlings from the 2021 growing season. With so many beautiful perennials at CMBG, each showing off unique foliage, flowers, structure, and wildlife benefits at various times of the year, it’s difficult to choose which ones to feature—but these top-20 are a good place to start!

Put on your Sunday best, folks, because these plants are dressed to impress! They might be hard to find, hard to grow, or hard to afford, but these? You’ve gotta have ’em—CHOICE perennials that will make you the envy of your local garden club! Come join horticulturist and plant breeder Dan Robarts and explore these maddeningly limited plants—the native, exotic, wild, or advanced hybrids that will dress your gardens to the nines! Sun, shade, wet, or dry, Dan will have his thinking cap (complete with feather) on, espousing the greatness of so many wonderful horticultural selections, you’ll beg him to put a sock in it. They may be elusive, but don’t get a bee in your bonnet. Dr. Robarts will score a true hat trick, with propagation, acquisition, and cultivation tips to make these plants a reality for your gardening endeavors.

Please note this class requires participants to show proof of having received all eligible Covid-19 vaccinations, as recommended for their age by the CDC, in order to participate. Because of the dynamic nature of this situation, we ask that you agree to abide by potential future changes in CMBG’s Covid-19 policy designed to address evolving public health recommendations.