It may be cold outside, but at a couple of area garden centers, the focus is on spring.
Graf Growers and Donzell’s garden centers are again offering Saturday morning gardening seminars this winter. Here’s the information.
Graf Growers
Graf’s starts its series next weekend. The schedule is:
• Jan. 25: Jump Start Your Thinking & Create Your Garden Bucket List.
• Feb. 1: Flowering Shrubs for Every Season.
• Feb. 8: Embellishing the Garden: Adding the Frills and Thrills.
• Feb. 15: Cool Perennials for Trouble Spaces and Color Spots.
• Feb. 22: Gardening in Containers for All Seasons.
The programs are from 10 to 11:30 a.m., but participants are invited to come for coffee at 9:30.
Seminars are $12 each. Advance registration is preferred, but walk-ins are welcome.
Graf Growers is at 1015 White Pond Drive, Copley Township. For information, call 330-836-2727 or visit the In Season section of www.grafgrowers.com. A mail-in registration form is on the website.
Donzell’s
Donzell’s seminars start in February. The schedule is:
• Feb. 1: Nature’s Way Brings Birds to Backyards.
• Feb. 8: Growing Orchids in Your Home.
• Feb. 15: Purple Martins Majesty.
• Feb. 22: Seed Starting Basics.
• March 8: Spring Seeding & Feeding for the New American Lawn.
• March 15: Gardening With Herbs.
• March 22: Vegetable Gardening Basics.
The programs start at 11 a.m. They’re free, but reservations are requested at 330-724-0550, ext. 110.
Details are in the Events section of http://donzells-gales.com.
Donzell’s is at 937 E. Waterloo Road, Akron.
Events, programs
• Community garden meeting, 10 a.m. today, Broadview Heights City Hall, 9543 Broadview Road. Meeting for those interested in community gardening in Broadview Heights. Afterward, Christine Harris, a Cuyahoga County master gardener, will present Waking the Garden on preparing a vegetable or flower garden for spring. www.broadview-heights.org/357/community-garden.
• Cleveland Botanical Garden events, 11030 East Blvd. Garden Book Club meeting, 2 p.m. today, Beginning Botanical Painting, 1:30-4 p.m. Tuesdays for seven weeks, starting Jan. 21 (members $130, others $145, registration required). Garden admission: $9.50; children ages 3-12, $4; members and younger children, free. 216-721-1600 or www.cbgarden.org.
• Gardeners of Greater Akron meeting, Monday evening, St. George Fellowship Centre, 3204 Ridgewood Road, Copley Township. Social hour starts at 5:30, dinner at 6:30. Program: A Tree in Every Garden by Tom Dayton of Dayton Nurseries. $13. Reservations: 330-336-6269. Information: 330-673-3553 or www.ohiogardeners.org.
• Waking the Garden in Spring, 7 p.m. Wednesday, F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm, 1828 Smith Road, Akron. Presentation by Christine Harris, Cuyahoga County master gardener. Part of the Summit County Master Gardeners’ Meet Me in the Garden series. Free.
• NARI Home Improvement Show, Thursday through Jan. 26, I-X Center next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Vendor booths, home-improvement displays, stage presentations, giveaways, Appearances by HGTV’s “Kitchen Cousins” at noon, 1:30 and 3 p.m. next Saturday. Show hours: noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and next Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 26. $14, free for those 16 and younger, half price for seniors and active military members on Thursday only. $4 discount coupons at Northeast Ohio Sherwin-Williams stores; $2 discount coupons at www.narihomeshow.com. Parking: $8.
• Ohio Maple Days workshop, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Mennonite Christian Assembly Church, 10664 Fryburg Road near Fredericksburg, Wayne County. Workshop and trade show for hobby and commercial producers. $35 at the door. Event also offered Thursday in Morrow County and Jan. 25 in Geauga County. www.ohiomaple.org.
• Quilting and Foundation Piecing, 2-4 p.m. Friday, Peninsula Art Academy, 1600 W. Mill St. Bring a sewing machine, scissors, pencil, seam ripper and pins. Members $87, others $95 (prices include $15 material fee). Questions: kfocazio@roadrunner.com. Registration: 330-657-2248.
• Fiber CAFE (Center for Alternative Fiber Experience), 10 a.m. to noon next Saturday, Peninsula Art Academy, 1600 W. Mill St. Share a project or technique or get advice. 330-657-2248.
• Preservation Alliance of Greater Akron dinner meeting, 6 p.m. Jan. 27, Old Town Hall, 10 Tallmadge Circle, Tallmadge. Program: Historic Preservation as a Community Development Tool by Kathleen H. Crowther of the Cleveland Restoration Society. $30. Reservations due Monday. Write a check to Preservation Alliance of Greater Akron and mail it to the alliance at 2074 W. Market St., Akron, OH 44313.
• Gardening for Romance: Garden Themes for Valentine’s Day, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 1, Brunswick Library, 3649 Center Road. Presented by the Medina County Master Gardeners. Information on landscape designs to create romantic settings, history and lore of flowers and chocolate-theme gardens. $10 per person or $15 for any two people who register together. Registration deadline: Jan. 27. Details and mail-in registration form in the Events section of http://medina.osu.edu, or call 330-725-4911, ext. 106, to request a flier.
Submit notices of classes, programs and events two weeks in advance to mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com or Home and Garden News, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309-0640. Please include name and phone number. All events must be open to the public.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/mbbreck, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckenridge and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.