Don’t miss out on the 21st annual perennial school

Despite the crazy Ohio weather patterns, the calendar shows that spring is on its way! That means that our 21st Annual Central Ohio Perennial Flower School is coming up as well.

I say this every year and I will continue to say it until my retirement — this is one of my favorite educational programs offered. I love welcoming gardeners to this annual school and love watching them salivate over the beautiful plants show by the speakers.

This year will be no exception. We are very fortunate to have two outstanding speakers, both authors of excellent books.

Denise Wiles Adams is the author of “Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940” (Timber Press, 2004) and co-author with our other speaker, Laura Burchfield, of “American Home Landscapes, A Design Guide to Creating Period Garden Styles.”

Denise is an ornamentalplant and garden historian; she received her Ph.D. in horticulture from The Ohio State University and is a prolific writer and lecturer on topics related to the history of American ornamental gardens.

Her presentations are titled “Perennials of the Past for the Present” and “The Garden at Stony Point.”

Laura taught residential design, plant selection, and landscape management at The Ohio State University for many years. She has master’s degrees in both landscape architecture and horticulture from The Ohio State University and lectures and writes on many aspects of horticulture and landscape design.

Laura will present “Gardens of the Past for Today: Designing Period Gardens for Modern Living.”

Everyone is talking about using native plants in the garden, and now you can learn how to as well.

Dave McPheron will discuss “Using Native Plants and Nativars in the Perennial Gardens.” Dave owns Star Farms Native Plants in Kenton and has a great deal of experience with growing and using native plants.

I will round out the program with the “Top Ten Pest Problems with Perennials and How to Manage.” However, I need your help with this topic. I know what I deal with in my gardens, but I would like to hear about your problems — perennial pest problems that is!

Please email me your top pest problems in your perennial gardens. Use Perennial Pests as the subject so that I can find these in my email search. In the body, tell me about your pest problems that tend to be the most annoying.

I’ll compile these and talk about them at the perennial school. Therefore, you must attend if you want to learn more! My email is bennett.27@osu.edu.

The Perennial School is on March 5 in Springfield at the Hollenbeck Bayley Creative Arts and Conference Center, 275 S. Limestone St. Cost for the School is $75 and includes continental breakfast and lunch.

Thank you to our door prize sponsors who include Crown Market and Country Gardens, Knollwood Garden Center & Landscaping, Meadow View Growers, Master Gardener’s of Clark County and Young’s Jersey Dairy.

Pamela Corle-Bennett is the state master gardener volunteer coordinator and horticulture educator for Ohio State University Extension. Contact her by email at bennett.27@osu.edu.