What’s Cookin’ and Good Lookin’ In the Kitchen Garden, Spring

Witness the seasonal evolution of the Burpee Kitchen Garden. Filled with edibles and floral accents, the garden’s wares range from arugula to zinnia, itty-bitty seedlings to 12-foot stalks. Diane Walden, the Burpee Kitchen Garden’s designer and tender, will share her favorite garden occupants. In this unconventional kitchen/cutting garden, you'll discover new and unusual selections as well as the classics, whether planted in-ground or in containers, vertically trained with tuteurs.

This session is about the bones of the garden and covers early-season preparation; the planting of the first crops, seeds, and plugs; establishing larger plants; and laying out tuteurs and pots. Learn about soil preparation and how to implement a design that will evolve long into the summer and autumn.

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, May 29, 2021

Location: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 105 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Diane Walden
Price: $25 / $32

What’s Cookin’ and Good Lookin’ In the Kitchen Garden, Mid-Season

As warm temperatures and longer days drive an abundance of growth, the Burpee Kitchen Garden series will focus on how to grow warm-season greens, herbs, flowers, and vegetables. Diane will elaborate on practices such as weeding, successional cropping, and harvesting, all while highlighting her favorites, alliums and basil.

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Location: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 105 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Diane Walden
Price: $25 / $32

Container Garden Inspirations: Styles and Management

Join horticulturists Diane Walden and Brent McHale on a tour of their container garden designs in the Burpee Kitchen Garden, the Arbor Garden, and the Great Lawn. Learn about the different styles on display, from the organized to the whimsical, the bold to the muted, and the minimalistic to the complex. Diane and Brent will describe the plant varieties providing those stylistic differences and how plant placement can affect the design and overall management throughout the summer.

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

Rain Date: Saturday, August 14, 2021

Location: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 105 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Diane Walden
Price: $25 / $32

Making a Festive Winter Arrangement

Horticulturist and floral designer Diane Walden creates wild and whimsical arrangements all year round. Join this master of her craft in this virtual workshop and create your own arrangement, a perfect reflection of your personal taste and a festive nod to the season. Everything from evergreens to birch bark, berries, seedheads, and select floral options combine to create a stunning arrangement. Diane will guide you through the steps, freeing you from the traditional store-bought arrangements. Students can register with an option to pick up greenery from CMBG; instructions will be provided in a follow-up email. All registered students will receive a helpful list of suggested resources for other necessary supplies in that same email confirmation.

Location: Online
Instructor: Diane Walden
Price: $18 / $45

Fantastic Floral Arragements

We have been so lucky to have such beautiful flower arrangements over the years here at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Largely behind these works of art? Diane Walden-Rapalyea—and she’s ready to take us through the gardens, gather flowers, and share her tips and tricks. A live arrangement demo follows.

Location: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 105 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Diane Walden