Plant ID and Ecology: Hardy Ferns (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Ferns are commonly used to add elegance, texture, and an ethereal feeling to any shade garden, and did you know there are thousands of fern species? To learn more about fascinating fern ecology, genera, species, and cultivars, join Bill Cullina, former Director of Horticulture and President & CEO of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, now Director of Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Native Ferns, Mosses, & Grasses for a captivating slideshow and garden tour exploring the extensive inventory of ferns at the Gardens. Class Level: All Levels

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Bill Cullina
Price: $36 / $44

Integrated Pest & Disease Management (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | State Horticulturalist Gary Fish leads this one-day class, which covers extensive ground on the insects, diseases, and deficiencies found on plants in the landscape. Applying principles of integrated pest management (IPM), the course will help students identify, monitor, and prevent poor plant health and, when necessary, deal with treatments. Mr. Fish will emphasize preventative measures and help students determine methods to mitigate further plant pest problems. Class Level: Intermediate

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Gary Fish
Price: $50 / $62

Landscaping for Wildlife (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Habitat loss is the primary cause of declining wildlife populations, and learning how vital native plants are to wildlife and how much our landscape choices matter is one of the most critical steps we can take to divert such loss. Combined with a short online lecture followed by an interactive workshop and field study at the Gardens, students will learn how and what to manage in the landscape and how to incorporate certain native plants to create welcoming habitats that attract wildlife, conserve natural resources, and encourage biodiversity. Class Level: Intermediate to Advanced

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Location: Online / at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 132 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Deb Perkins
Price: $62 / $75

Field Trip to Captain Fitzgerald Recreation & Conservation

Visit one of Maine's few remaining Sandplain Pine Barren communities, and you will learn how to identify endemic native plant species and how to recreate elements of this native plant community in your home landscape. If the weather permits, we will see dozens of pollinating insects and birds, so bring your hand lenses and binoculars. We'll have extra on hand if you don't have these items. Come prepared with sunscreen, water, and good walking shoes. Class Level: All Levels. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Captain Fitzgerald Recreation and Conservation
Instructor: Catherine Kaczor
Price: $10 / $32

Block Printing with Jordan Parks

Explore traditional block printing methods with a modern touch, which can be used anywhere, as a printing press is not required! Participants will leave the workshop understanding basic block printing techniques and multiple prints of their designs. We encourage students to use the gardens as inspiration and/or to bring ideas, sketches, or photographs from home. During this two-day workshop, you'll learn about the various tools and materials used in linoleum block printing, how to transfer ideas to sketches, and how to take those sketches from tracing paper to block and paper. No previous printmaking experience is required, but students with experience are also welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Jordan Parks
Price: $210 / $295

Is it Really a Weed? ID and Management

Weeds, by casual definition, are undesired plants found in a specific location. Delany Pitman, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Horticulturist, leads a combination of field study and lecture discussing the perception of weeds, identification, cultural management, and ecology. You'll leave with a broader understanding of what & why plants are commonly known as "weeds" and whether they might be embraced or removed from a garden or landscape. Class Level: All Levels

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Delaney Pitman
Price: $28 / $36

Photography Workshop: The Art of Flower Portraiture

Known for her creative use of natural light and unique artistic composition, Kathleen likens flower photography to painted portraits. In this workshop, she will share her favorite equipment and techniques. Topics include lens choice, lighting, subject selection, focus issues, aperture choices, background selection, and how to simplify a subject to truly capture its natural beauty.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Kathleen Clemons
Price: $95 / $125

Plant Problems? Ask Garth (Cancelled)

Are yellow, wilting, puckered, or folding leaves getting you down? Is Google simultaneously telling you that you're under and over-watering? Enter our staff expert, Garth, to assess, and accurately diagnose your plant problems in real-time, and provide recommendations to resolve the issues. You'll gain the tools to help you identify any more problems you may encounter in the future and even learn how to prevent them when possible. Students are encouraged to bring photo samples of up to two different plant issues for Garth to help identify. To prevent spread, please do not bring live samples of the plant(s). Class Level: All Levels

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Garth Welch
Price: $32 / $40

Art & Botany: Creating a Botanical Dissection Plate

Combining botany, design, and illustration, students will have the opportunity to create an artful botanical dissection plate during this two-day workshop. Botanical dissection plates have been around since the invention of the microscope and are realistic educational illustrations of plant anatomy. Participants will learn valuable techniques used by science illustrators, such as field sketching, plant dissection, and drawing from magnified plant specimens. Students will also learn how to use color and design to create eye-catching compositions. The workshop will take place both in the gardens and the classroom, where students will learn how to translate their knowledge into creative and visually appealing illustrations. This workshop will take a loose and artful approach to this typically technical and time-consuming process. All experience levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Joy Grannis
Price: $245 / $310

Garden Groundcovers: Plants and Uses (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Groundcover plants combine beautiful form and function, supporting healthy soils and providing texture and color to any garden. In this class, you'll learn from staff Horticulturalist Jen Dunlap about the wide variety of groundcovers, especially those indigenous to the Northeast. We'll uncover their economic and ecological benefits, such as a solution to replace the need for any other kind of mulch.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Jen Dunlap
Price: $28 / $36

Create a Nature Collage Map (Canceled)

Join artist and forest therapy guide Susan Bickford for a guided, mindful walk and craft workshop. Returning to a time pre-technology, participants will employ their eyes, ears, and touch to document their experience, transferring their observations into a 3-dimensional creative collage map. This fun, interactive, and tactile activity further deepens awareness of nature's elements, resulting in a texture-rich, aromatic artistic representation that participants will take home. Locally foraged herbal tea will be offered during the workshop to sustain participants' newly awakened senses and imagination. All materials will be supplied.

Class Level: All Levels. Suited for teens 14+.

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Instructor Biography:

Susan Bickford, Certified Forest Therapy Guide, leads walks throughout coastal Maine and co-manages a retreat event annually called the Stillness Kitchen. Susan has many talents connecting her to nature, including a visual arts instructor at the University of Maine Augusta. A native of Maine, Susan has a strong connection to the flora and fauna in our verdant landscape.

Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Susan Bickford
Price: $30 / $62

Introduction to Native Flora of Maine (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | The first step to gardening with Maine’s native plants is meeting them in their wild habitats. Over this three-day in-person class, Melissa Cullina, the Gardens’ Director of Plant Science & Collections, will help students recognize around fifty frequent coastal species. As a staff botanist, Melissa will cover plant identification skills, terminology, and botanical etymology. Through guided walks, both at the Gardens and a Boothbay Region Land Trust property, students will practice skills and collect samples for identification and botanizing native species. Class Level: Intermediate-Advanced

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Melissa Cullina
Price: $175 / $205

Monotype Workshop with Suzanne Stokes

This two-day workshop will focus on how to create monoprints, which are one-of-a-kind prints where an image made with ink is transferred onto various papers. Unlike most printmaking techniques, which allow for multiple originals, monoprinting creates a single, unique image at a time. The beauty of this technique lies in its spontaneity and its allowance for combinations of printmaking, painting, and various mark-making methods that can be printed multiple times in a variety of ways. Open to all artistic and printmaking skill levels. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Suzanne Stokes
Price: $235 / $325

Plant ID and Ecology: Goldenrods and Milkweeds

Milkweeds and goldenrods adorn our New England landscapes from July through October in shades of white, pink, and yellow, providing beauty and valuable nectar and pollen to native pollinators. Native plant ecologist and botanist Ted Elliman will lead students through a deep dive into the botanical and ecological lessons of these genera and species through a lecture, slideshow, and outdoor field study. Class Level: Intermediate-Advanced

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Ted Elliman
Price: $46 / $58

Selecting Native Woody Plants

Learn about native woody plants that contribute so much to our landscapes and local biodiversity in this two-day hybrid class. Andy Brand, Director of Horticulture at the Gardens, will discuss identification, habitat, and the role woody plants play in plant reproduction and management as hosts for insects, birds, and other wildlife. You'll leave with recommendations for native species and cultivars and guidance for cultivation, landscape uses, and soil and light considerations. Class Level: Intermediate-Advanced

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Location: Online / at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 132 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Andy Brand
Price: $140 / $175

Forest Therapy Walk and Tea: Late Summer (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Deepening your connection to nature through moving meditation offers enormous benefits for personal well-being. In this gentle and sensory-oriented class, students will experience the practice of walking mindfully through a forest to gain deep serenity and new awareness. Follow Susan Bickford, a certified guide in the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or forest therapy/forest bathing, as she gives you the tools to begin your own meditation practice. The walk ends with a tea ceremony that honors the experience. Class Levels: All Levels. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Susan Bickford
Price: $15 / $36

Mosaic Botanicals and Beach Finds

Make your own small sparkling mosaic wall piece (or two) in this two-day workshop. You will be provided with a variety of pre-cut shapes. Experiment with various types of glass, ceramic tile, beads, and shells. Add dyes and glitter to your grout for added sparkly, colorful texture. All levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Timber Frame
Instructor: Caroline Davis
Price: $145 / $215

Turning Garden Plants Into Houseplants

Improved air quality, aromatherapy, aesthetic interest, and emotional and edible nourishment are a few of the benefits of having houseplants. Join Brent McHale to learn about the garden plants that do best indoors, what kind of indoor conditions and considerations to be aware of, and the numerous ways to display the plants that you love outdoors, now indoors. Each student will pot and take home a young new houseplant. Class Level: All Levels. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Brent McHale
Price: $25 / $52

Invasive Plants: Identification, Issues and Ecology (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Invasive species are considered highly undesirable by botany, ecology, horticulture, and conservation professionals—and for good reason. In this three-part course, Amanda Devine, Regional Land Steward for Maine Coast Heritage Land Trust, will identify the basic ecological problems surrounding these aggressive, tenacious plants. We'll discuss the complicated, and sometimes political issues, and how a plant becomes labeled "invasive." Class Level: Intermediate-Advanced

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Location: Online / at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 132 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Amanda Devine
Price: $140 / $175

The Maine Forage: Five Days of Maine Forage Drawing with Mindy Lighthipe

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is filled with natural treasures waiting to be drawn and painted! Join Mindy Lighthipe for this fun five-day workshop as we focus on capturing wild Maine. From the beach to the woodlands, learn to draw forms and figures like shells, seaweed, woodland creatures, mushrooms and more in graphite, and then transpose into full-color illustration. On the last day, we will take all our sketches and drawings and create a coastal Maine original composition. All levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+. Get the best value by signing up for all five classes. For those who can't attend all five, you may sign up for individual days.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $450 / $615

The Maine Forage: All Things Beachy in Graphite, Day 1

Bring your beach-combed treasures or borrow from our collection as we investigate shells, seaweed, crab claws, horseshoe crabs, and more through form and shading. On day one, we will draw with graphite. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $100 / $145

The Maine Forage: All Things Beachy in Color, Day 2

Bring your beach-combed treasures or borrow from our collection as we investigate shells, seaweed, crab claws, horseshoe crabs, and more! For day two, we will draw and paint in color using colored pencils, watercolor, and gauche! Students choose their medium. All experience levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $100 / $145

The Maine Forage: Woodlands in Graphite, Day 3

From woodland creatures to forest floor treasures of Maine, students will study specimens and photographs and render them in graphite. We'll explore the fur textures of the red squirrel, mushrooms in leaf litter, twigs, acorns, and more! All experience levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $100 / $145

The Maine Forage: Woodlands in Color, Day 4

From woodland creatures to forest floor treasures of Maine, students will study specimens and photographs and render them in the color medium of their choice. Starting with graphite drawings and learning to transfer to full-color illustrations, we'll explore the fur textures of the red squirrel, mushrooms in leaf litter, twigs, acorns, and more! All experience levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $100 / $145

The Maine Forage: Grand Finale, Day 5

Day five is the culmination of five days of exploration through Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Combining shells, leaves, and forest friends, we'll create an original composition. Students can use the medium of their choice, either in graphite or color. All experience levels are welcome. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Mindy Lighthipe
Price: $100 / $145

Propagating Native Wetland Herbaceous Plants (Canceled)

Whether working adjacent to or amongst a wetland area, understanding specialized wetland species is vital to conservation and future growth. In this lecture and hands-on workshop, learn how to successfully propagate and grow wetland herbaceous plants, which will help sustain local provenance genetics by using locally sourced species beneficial to the environment. Students will learn how to propagate ferns, sedges, arrowheads, and more from experienced plant propagator Shawn Jalbert, owner of Native Haunts. Class Level: Advanced

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Shawn Jalbert
Price: $75 / $90

Trees of Maine: ID, Ecology and Management, Autumn

Immerse yourself in a fall woodland walk and field study celebrating our northeastern forests and learning more about their fragile ecosystems. Wabanahkik (Dawnland), the broader territory that includes the area now known as Maine, consists of a variety of climate conditions that host an assortment of deciduous and coniferous species valuable to thousands of living organisms. We will discuss individual tree species, their ecological roles, cultural values, and management practices that support the health of the living matrix.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Multiple Instructors
Price: $28 / $36

Encaustic Critters with Hélène Farrar

This is a unique opportunity to work with wood and the ancient medium of encaustic in creating a "critter" in the form of a relief wall piece! Whether a chipmunk, baby barred owl, or hedgehog is your critter of choice, we'll explore forms on board and then learn to cut with a jigsaw to establish wings, feet, and other creative design elements. Students will be introduced to the molten beeswax paint to create a rich surface for their critter.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Hélène Farrar
Price: $295 / $325

Propagating Native Wetland Woody Plants

Wetlands are extensive in Maine and are ecologically rich. Woody species living within them are unique to the ecosystems and environmentally critical to Maine and the Global community. Learn from Shawn Jalbert, owner and professional propagator of Native Haunts, how to grow native woody species of these local systems, which can lead to sustainable business opportunities and ecological benefits. Growing, selling, and planting locally grown perishable plants can be used for wetland restoration or wetland-like landscape garden projects, such as rain gardens, swales, water-accumulated topography, and more. Class Level: Advanced

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Shawn Jalbert
Price: $75 / $90

Painting the Autumn Gardens with Pastels

Be inspired by the brilliant colors of autumn and beautiful gardens in this two-day pastel workshop. Geared for all levels of experience, this course will introduce beginning artists to pastels with pure pigments that offer the perfect complement to the colorful bounty of nature. For experienced painters, the course offers techniques to create painterly works with bold color and mark-making. Diana combines demonstrations with one-on-one attention and encouragement at the easel. Using fun exercises, participants will learn how to use color and value selection, simplified compositions, and mark-making to create expressive garden and landscape paintings. Participants will have plenty of time to paint and complete fully developed paintings. Suitable for teens 14+.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Diana Rogers
Price: $210 / $295

Ecological Landscape Design (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | To design landscapes inspired by—and inclusive of—nature, it is essential to study design principles through the lens of natural systems. In this three-day course led by landscape architect Lisa Cowan and landscape designer and horticulturist Irene Barber, students will learn to identify and incorporate the components of ecological landscape design. Online and onsite, we will examine the systems influencing design decisions, practice environmental site analysis, and design conceptual plot plans for a selected site. Class Level: Intermediate-Advanced

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Location: Online / at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens 132 Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Multiple Instructors
Price: $160 / $190

Green Spotlight Series: Sustainable Lawn Opportunities

What if you could grow a lawn that required barely any mowing, no pesticides or irrigation, and fostered pollinators and other wildlife? Tom Christopher will share his years of research and experience creating and maintaining such alternative greenswards. Transform turf into a healthy and attractive asset for the local ecosystem while saving money and reducing maintenance. Yes, the grass—and other adapted plants—can be greener on your side of the fence. Level: Intermediate to Advanced.

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Location: Online
Instructor: Thomas Christopher
Price: $18 / $25

Resilient Landscapes in Built Environments: Plants and Practices (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Tailored to emerging or current professionals in the green industry, Plants and Practices guides students through the valuable process of landscaping with native plants and working in harmony with nature to achieve high-performing, resilient landscape systems. The four-part course features detailed instruction about native woody plants and native herbaceous plants for specific environmental applications; instruction and discussion about effective implementation and long-term management practices for various projects; and how to establish comprehensive, functional, and successful communication between clients and contractors. We will discuss biodiversity in plant communities, plant adaptation, successional design and growth, erosion control, installation of green infrastructure, building trust and establishing landscape programs that include long-term management and design, and much more. These interactive virtual sessions will help native-plant-savvy students plan for the next level of design and management. Class Level: Advanced

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Location: Online
Instructor: Multiple Instructors
Price: $260 / $325

Making a Winter Wreath, Friday (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Just in time for the holidays, make a wreath from sustainably harvested, fresh, and aromatic evergreen materials, berries, decorative twigs, and fuzzy flower buds that will be the perfect addition to your winter decor.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Multiple Instructors
Price: $35 / $65

Making a Winter Wreath, Saturday (Sold Out)

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Just in time for the holidays, make a wreath from sustainably harvested, fresh, and aromatic evergreen materials, berries, decorative twigs, and fuzzy flower buds that will be the perfect addition to your winter decor.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Multiple Instructors
Price: $35 / $65

Green Spotlight Series: Rebuilding Abundance

There is a pressing need for more inspiring and ecologically rich planting in our urban and rural landscapes. Constraints such as tight budgets, environmental extremes, and limited familiarity with diverse planting systems among clients and crews present significant challenges. Representing Phyto Studio, Claudia will delve into the scientific models and techniques to surmount these obstacles. Join us as she shares insights on enriching, even the most challenging, spaces with evocative planting, offering ecologically rich, appealing, resilient, and maintainable solutions. Level: Intermediate to Advanced

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Location: Online
Instructor: Claudia West
Price: $24 / $30

Make A Festive Arrangement

Set your festive tablescape off with a handmade floral arrangement. Floral designer and Gardens' horticulturist, Lesley Paxson will guide you through the steps of composition and arrangement with some tips and tricks to ensure your personal arrangement will last as long as possible. Skills developed can be translated into seasonal arrangements all year long. All Levels. Available for students 14 and over.

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Location: Bosarge Family Education Center Botanical Gardens Drive, Boothbay
Instructor: Lesley Paxson
Price: $35 / $65