Lecture Topics

 

Garden Diva also creates custom talks for audiences of any size upon request.

 

All programs include a slide presentation, extensive information, handouts for the audience and door prizes.

 

Easy-Care Landscaping:  Start from scratch or redo a portion of your yard with fast techniques that create sustainable landscaping that will last for decades with minimal maintenance.  Build a flower bed in 30 minutes, add color with shrubs, create fast curb appeal, make your lawn no-care and more.

 

Beautiful Edibles:  How to grow and savor luscious vegetables and fruit.  Green and gold striped tomatoes, blue sweet corn, orange peppers that look like rosebuds, pearly white currants—the plants we eat are as beautiful as any peony, rose or delphinium.  And, they are tasty.  Savor apples with pineapple aroma and flavor, black tomatoes with the complexity of fine wine or lemon cucumbers more refreshing than iced tea on a hot summer day.

 

Roses Anyone Can Grow:  Roses have changed, and it’s about time!  No longer are they the intimidating prima donnas of the garden.  New varieties available in the last five years are easier to plant, maintain and enjoy.  Gone are the days when endless pruning, spraying and dusting are required to produce a vase full of perfect roses.  Easy care tips, the best varieties, landscaping ideas and how to grow roses successfully in containers are covered.

 

Container Gardening:  Containers have become the flower beds of this millennium due to time constraints and their versatility.  Tropical gardens and exotic plants once relegated to greenhouses are now possible with containers, too.  Besides the basics, this program includes new plants on the market, picking the right pot, how to make your own planting soil and over-wintering containers in cold climates.

 

Yo-Yo Ma’s Music Garden:  The world-acclaimed musician decided in 1986 to interpret the six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello composed in 1700’s by J.S. Bach with various artistic methods.  His first thought was to use nature to mirror the music.  He took the concept further and collaborated with landscape designer Julie Merservy of Boston.  Together, they created the Music Garden, based on Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello.  It sits on the shore of Lake Ontario with the spectacular skyline of Toronto behind it.  This slide presentation shows all six movements, from the Prelude to the Gigue, as they are interpreted with plant materials and hardscape.

 

 

Rates

Dependent upon group size.

Non-profits are given consideration.

Travel expenses and/or mileage are expected if venue is 50 miles or more from

Rockford, Illinois.

 

Email for more information: gardendiva@charter.net

 

Or call: (815) 623-6533