Grow Your Gardening Skills at Gardenfest

Get a head start on your garden by learning how to improve soil, sow seed and grow specific plants at the annual McHenry County Gardenfest.

Gardenfest 2022 will run from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at McHenry County College, 8900 U.S. Route 14 in Crystal Lake, offering seminars on plants and the latest trends and techniques in gardening. Gardenfest, co-sponsored by MCC and the University of Illinois Extension’s McHenry County Master Gardeners, will feature morning and afternoon keynote speakers and 14 seminars during three sessions. The seminars will be taught by industry experts, U of I Extension educators, McHenry County Master Gardeners and MCC instructors. Exhibitors will also be onsite selling garden-related products.

The morning keynote address will be “The Gardener as an Artist,” presented by Nina Koziol, a garden writer and horticulturist. She wrote garden articles for the Chicago Tribune for 22 years as well as for Chicagoland Gardening, Old-House Journal, Organic Gardening and The American Gardener. Koziol also writes for The Landscape Contractor, PlantersPlace.com and the Chicago Botanic Garden. She has taught horticulture, design and residential landscape design history at the Chicago Botanic Garden and The Morton Arboretum since 1997.

The 14 Gardenfest topics include: “Improving Your Garden Soil” and “Pests and Disease in the Garden” by Rich Tobiasz; “Container Gardens” by Michael Fedoran; “You Can Grow It From Seed” by Christine Nye; “Unexpected Edibles” by Heather Moister; “Native Landscaping for Winter Beauty” by Sarah Michehl; and “Weed Management in Vegetable Gardens” by Sarah Farley. During the three sessions, attendees can choose three of the 14 topics, which will be taught in a classroom setting.

Chris Benda, a botanist and past president of the Illinois Native Plant Society, will present the afternoon keynote address, titled “Botanical Humor: You Never Knew Plants Were So Funny.” Benda works as a researcher at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he coordinates the program Plants of Concern for the southern Illinois region and teaches “The Flora of Southern Illinois.” Besides working at SIU, he conducts botanical fieldwork around the world, teaches classes at The Morton Arboretum and leads nature tours for Camp Ondessonk.

Registration for Gardenfest 2022 is available online at mchenry.edu/gardenfest. The cost is $45, payable via credit card online. The registration deadline is March 25. Tickets are nonrefundable.

For more information, email Brenda Dahlfors at dahlfors@illinois.edu or call the U of I Extension’s McHenry County office at 815-338-3737.