upcoming event
Seed Swap & Dahlia Tuber Swap
FREE EVENT — OPEN HOUSE
Date: Saturday, March 28, Noon to 2:00 pm
Location: Ode to Joy building
Dahlia Presentation: 1:00 pm
As you prepare to start rearing seedlings for the upcoming garden season, you won't want to miss The Garden Club of Kent's Seed Swap & Dahlia Tuber Swap on Saturday, March 28 from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. in the Ode to Joy building on our Ravenna Rd. property. This open-house event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends and family members. No registration is necessary. Come early for the best selection.
Seed Swap and Seed Giveaways
If you have seeds to swap, please bring them to the event to share with other seed swappers. But we aren't just swapping seeds — we're also giving seeds away! The club acquired a huge donation of Ferry-Morse seed packets at the end of last summer. Over the winter, members of the Gardens and Conservation committees have stored the seeds appropriately and will bring them out of hiding to give away.
Each attendee is welcome to take five packets of seeds, which will be organized on tables by category — tomatoes, peppers, greens, beans, flowers, herbs and much more.
Dahlias Swap, Sale and Demo Workshop
The event also includes a dahlia tuber swap and sale. Dahlias are gorgeous, but some gardeners are daunted by or at least unfamiliar with how to grow dahlias and care for the tubers.
Barb Gedeon of Josiah Lincoln Clouser Flower Farm in Peninsula will present a demo on dahlias at 1:00 pm. She will cover the full growing cycle. You'll learn how to acquire tubers; plant and tend them over the summer; split the tubers at the end of the growing season; and store them over winter for the next year.
Barb will have tubers to sell at the event. This ardent flower fan works with Josiah Lincoln Clouser Flower Farm and has been selling flower bouquets at the Cuyahoga Valley Farmers Market.
If you have questions, contact us at BackyardPest@gmail.com
upcoming event
APRIL MONTHLY DINNER MEETING: DR. BOB HEATH PRESENTS "Inviting Native Bees to YOUR Garden"
Date: Monday, April 27, 6:00 p.m.
Location: United Methodist Church of Kent, 1435 E Main St.
Cost: $16 per person, cash or check at the door
On the Dinner Menu: Stuffed Shells (meat and vegetarian options), salad, garlic bread, beverages, dessert
RSVP by Thursday, April 23 to BackyardPest@gmail.com
Bees are among the best pollinators of our favorite fruits and flowers. Besides being useful, they are beautiful insects with a wide variety of shapes, sizes and coloration. Dr. Heath will discuss the difference between native bees and honey bees – especially why keeping honey bees will not solve the problem of declining pollinator populations. He will present some results from a couple of research projects in which he participated. Then he will focus on bumblebees and describe how best to attract them to your gardens by providing habitat they prefer.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Robert T. (Bob) Heath, PhD: Pollinator Specialist
When he retired from Kent State’s Department of Biological Sciences, Dr. Heath became interested in the essential ecosystem activity: pollination. On the faculty as an ecosystem ecologist, with a degree in Biophysics, he needed to expand his horizons into the realm of native bee ecology. He studied with Denise Ellsworth locally and also with Dr. Olivia Carril in field bee biology. From there he has participated in several research projects to identify the phenology of native bees in Ohio and an exploration of habitat bumblebees prefer.