Green thumbs will be plentiful on Saturday, April 9, when the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History presents the Garden Festival from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. This year marks the Division’s ninth day-long celebration of the growing season with workshops, exhibitors and demonstrations. All activities, located on the plaza deck and in the Great Hall of the Cultural Center, are free and open to the public.
Gardeners, agricultural experts, herbalists, organic gardeners, landscape designers, lawn and garden suppliers and others will be on hand to answer questions and sell their wares, including plants native to West Virginia. In addition, lunches provided by K-Mac Mills of Mt. Nebo will be available for purchase from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Concurrent workshop topics include “Be Nice to Your Shrubs and Trees,” “Growing 101: Making Good Soils and Starting Seeds and Plants,” “Landscape Do’s and Don’ts,” “Container Gardening: You Don’t Need a Yard to Grow Beautiful Plants,” “Basics for Growing Beautiful Roses,” “Growing and Arranging Fresh Cut Flowers,” “Wild Things,” and “Deer Resistant Gardening.”
In addition, a special session entitled “The Gardens and History of Kingwood Center” will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The workshop will be led by Chuck Gleaves, director of the Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio. Created in 1926 as a private estate and later reconfigured as a public garden in 1952, Kingwood Center is a creature of its history. While retaining the feel of a private estate from the famous “Country Place Era,” Kingwood’s gardens feature colorful seasonal displays and horticultural collections created to enhance its appeal as a public garden. The illustrated lecture will explain the balance between the two and Kingwood’s ambitions to restore its featured historic garden.
Gleaves has worked for public gardens for 26 years. Prior to working at Kingwood, he was the director of horticulture at the Indianapolis Museum of Art where he developed new gardens and initiated the restoration of historic gardens. He has botany degrees from Ohio State University and the University of North Carolina. In addition, Gleaves is an avid home gardener, garden photographer, garden visitor, writer and speaker.
A special “Children’s Gardening Workshop” will be held from 1:30 - 3 p.m. on the Cultural Center’s outdoor plaza.
For more information about the Garden Festival or other programs of the Division, call (304) 558-0162. A complete list of workshops and exhibitors is attached.
The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Department of Arts, Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Garden Festival
Saturday, April 9, from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston
Concurrent Workshops
Norman L. Fagan Art Gallery
West Virginia State Theater
10 a.m. Be Nice to Your Shrubs and Trees Growing 101: Making Good Soils and
Starting
John Marra Seeds and Plants
WVU Extension Service Melissa Dennison, Master Gardener
Cabell County Garden Treasures Farm
Ona Clem
11:15 a.m. Landscape Do’s and Don’ts Container Gardening: You Don't
Need a Yard
Tom Vasale to Grow Beautiful Plants
Tom's Word Horticulture Consulting Mary Anne Michael, Master Gardener
Charleston Kanawha County Master Gardener Association
Charleston
12:30 - The Gardens and History of Kingwood Center
1:30 p.m. Chuck Gleaves, Director
Kingwood Center, Mansfield, Ohio
1:30 - 3 p.m. on the Cultural Center Outdoor Plaza -- Children's Gardening
Workshop
Kanawha County Master Gardener Association
and WVU Extension Service Volunteers
1:45 p.m. Basics for Growing Beautiful Roses Growing and Arranging Fresh Cut
Flowers
John and Diana Fleek Ruthie Knabb
Charleston Rose Society Petal Pushers
Cross Lanes Madison
3 p.m. Wild Things Deer Resistant Gardening
Sue Cosgrove Rose Ann Felts, Manager
Certification Coordinator Valley Gardens
Mountain State Organic Growers Charleston
and Buyers Association
Chloe
Exhibitors: By the River Creations, Charleston Rose Society, Enchanter’s Garden, Fire Creek Salsa, Forren Soil, Garden Treasurer Farm, Hardscrabble Enterprises Inc., Hickory Knoll Farm, Honey of an Herb Farm, La Paix Herb Farm, LeeJun Farm, Mountain State Organic Growers and Buyers Association, Patty’s Daylilies, Petal Pushers, Plant and Gnome, Porterbrook Native Plants, Primitive Wood Wares, Spoons & Sweets, Straight Fork Farm, Sugar Creek Recipes, Summer Kitchen Pottery, Sunshine Farm & Gardens, TerraSalis, 30 Acre Wood, West Virginia Department of Agriculture, Windbeam Way Nursery, WVU Extension Service, Kanawha County, Valley Gardens