Don’t miss this landscape plant workshop

This is a call out for plant lovers! Join me on Friday, Oct. 12, for a great day of learning about plants for your landscape. We have a great lineup of speakers and topics on nothing but plants.

I am really excited about our speakers as they are some of the best in Ohio.

My colleague and friend Jim Chatfield, Ohio State University Extension specialist in horticulture, will start the day with Small, but Mighty Trees. If you have a small area or just want a smaller tree to put near the house, Jim will share the best of the best.

The key to success in using these small trees is selecting the best one for the right location.

Next is Paul Snyder, horticulturist and program coordinator at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster. Paul’s presentation, Room for One More, focuses on small shrubs that can be used in the landscape.

Shrubs are growing in popularity and are really easy to maintain. Pick the right one for the right location and you won’t have to prune. Paul is a true plantsman and his passion for plants comes out in his outstanding presentations.

Relatively new to OSU Extension, Dr. Ann Chanon, Extension educator in Lorain County, is not to be missed. Ann specializes in the genus Aesculus and for those not familiar, this is the genus that contains Ohio’s beloved state tree (and our football team!).

Ann’s doctoral work was on buckeyes and their reproductive capacity. Believe it or not, buckeyes are not good at producing fruits. They have lots of flowers but not a lot of fruits comparatively.

Ann is going to talk about the “ins and outs” of the buckeye. For instance, the common name buckeye was derived from the Native Americans who noticed that the glossy, chestnut-brown seeds with the lighter circular eye looked very similar to the eye of the buck (male) deer.

I will finish up the day with a presentation on the most popular annuals and perennials for your garden and landscape. Learn about those low maintenance plants that give you lots of color.

The “Plants for Your Landscape” workshop will be held on Oct. 12 at Snyder Park Gardens and Arboretum in the Clubhouse.

The address is 1900 Snyder Park St. in Springfield.

Cost for the day, including a great barbecue lunch, is $40. Registrations can be found at go.osu.edu/clarkgardenworkshops . Or you can call 937-5213860 to register with a credit card.

This workshop is back by popular demand. We held our first one last year and it sold out quickly — therefore, first-come, first-served! Pamela Corle-Bennett is the state master ga rd en ervo lunteer coordinator and horticulture educator for Ohio State University Extension. Contact her by email at bennett.27@osu.edu.